South Africa: Tourism industry's rapid recovery welcomed President Cyril Ramaphosa has hailed the tourism industrys recovery, following the near decimation of the sector during and shortly after the COVID-19 pandemic. The President was addressing the nation through his weekly newsletter. Statistics South Africa and Tourism Minister Patricia de Lille released tourism statistics indicating that some 5.7 million visitors - an increase of 150% - graced South African shores last year with just over 2 million coming to Mzansi in the first quarter of this year. Although tourist arrivals are not yet at pre-pandemic levels, the latest figures show that a significant and rapid recovery is underway. This is taking place in the midst of heightened political and economic uncertainty across the world and particular challenges, especially around electricity supply, here at home. Yet, despite these difficult conditions, visitors see South Africa as an attractive destination with unparalleled natural beauty, warm and hospitable people, and good value, he said. President Ramaphosa highlighted that as tourists begin to stream into the country, so too does the economy benefit. Not only are we seeing more tourists coming to our shores, but they are also spending more during their visits more than R25 billion in the first quarter of 2023. This is a valuable stream of foreign exchange, sustaining and creating jobs and enabling further investment in our tourism infrastructure, he said. The President said the recently held Africa Travel Indaba served as an opportunity for smaller players in South Africas tourism sector to showcase the variety of tourism products to give further impetus to our recovery. Of the exhibitors at the Indaba, over 120 were small local tourism enterprises that were supported by Government to display their unique products and services, expand their networks and foster partnerships. This is part of our commitment to nurturing small operators in the tourism sector to encourage transformation and the creation of many more jobs, he said. Continental travellers President Ramaphosa noted that the release of the tourism figures during Africa month is particularly encouraging given that the majority of visitors to South Africa in 2022, approximately 4 million, were from our continent. In that vein, the President said, South Africa will be pressing forward with expanding the e-Visa system. Travellers from the region and the broader continent are increasingly seeing South Africa as a premier tourism destination and are flocking here to experience our natural wonders and to spend money at South African businesses. Given the importance of growing tourism to South Africas economy, we are determined to forge ahead with the process of immigration reform to improve our competitiveness as a tourism destination. At this years 5th South Africa Investment Conference, I announced that we will be expanding the e-Visa system from the 14 countries in which it currently operates to include an additional 20 countries. There are obviously linkages between tourists visiting a country and potential future trade and investment. Last week, the Department of Home Affairs published its visa reform implementation plan, which will help to further boost tourism and attract investment, he said. President Ramaphosa also noted that South African Airways steady rise into other countries also acts as a springboard to bring tourists back into the country. South African Airways is expanding into ever more markets on the continent, and we are seeing the resumption of direct flights from major destinations. By way of example, Air China has resumed direct flights to South Africa, and United Airlines now flies directly to New York and Washington DC. The latest tourism figures are very encouraging and should strengthen our resolve to ensure that tourism becomes one of the biggest drivers of our economic recovery, he said. SAnews.gov.za This story has been published on: 2023-05-22. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. Inspiring Real-Life Stories from Former Soviet Countries 'Will Give Americans Hope' ENCOUNTERING HOPE: "Encountering Hope - The Podcast" tells "incredibly gripping" stories of suffering, hardships, and remarkable hope direct from the Ukraine war's frontline and the former Soviet Union. Listen to the latest podcast at www.sga.org/podcast . NEWS PROVIDED BY Slavic Gospel Association (SGA)May 22, 2023LOVES PARK, Ill., May 22, 2023 / Christian Newswire / -- A one-of-a-kind podcast featuring inspiring stories from Ukraine, Russia, former Soviet countries and Israel will give Americans the hope they're looking for, its producers say. "We're delivering an entirely new type of podcast," said Michael Johnson, president of Slavic Gospel Association (SGA, www.sga.org) that produces "Encountering Hope - The Podcast." "They're stories of real-life heartache and extraordinary hope that will touch people's lives here in the U.S. and bring them hope when it's needed most right now," Johnson said. "Everyone is looking for hope." According to a Pew Research Center poll in April, most Americans are in a pessimistic mood and take a dim view of the future, with two-thirds saying they lack confidence in the U.S. economy going forward. Encountering Hope, Gripping Stories "Encountering Hope - The Podcast" tells "incredibly gripping" stories of suffering, hardships, and remarkable hope direct from the Ukraine war's frontline and the former Soviet Union, a region that's often perplexing to Americans. "Your morning walk or drive to work will never be the same again," Johnson said. "We bring the real struggles of everyday people -- and the hope and life-change that Christ brings -- to our audience in a conversational and personal way we can all relate to. Stories are woven with scriptural truths in a devotional style that applies to all our lives, and we believe God will use them to change our hearts, too." The podcast -- playable on phones and other electronic devices -- brings listeners "real life, real people" devotionals from the far reaches of Russia's frozen Arctic Circle, the former Soviet countries of Central Asia, Israel, and Ukraine's frontline. Infusion of Hope The idea for the hope-infused podcast series came during the pandemic, when many people across the former Soviet Union lost their jobs, facing hunger, anxiety and hopelessness, said Johnson, a regular visitor to the region. Illinois-based SGA has been supporting local evangelical churches there for nearly 90 years, including during the communist era when churches were driven underground. This network has grown to about 6,000 churches across the vast territory, stretching more than 6,000 miles, roughly equivalent of Seattle to Miami and back. "Hundreds of incredible stories of perseverance amid suffering as well as inspiring hope have been pouring in from SGA-supported local missionary pastors on the ground," Johnson said. "Our goal is to bless listeners with hope, strengthen their faith, and challenge them to draw closer to the heart of Christ, especially in these difficult times." Listen to the latest podcast at www.sga.org/podcast. Founded in 1934, Slavic Gospel Association (SGA, www.sga.org) helps "forgotten" orphans, widows and families in Ukraine, Russia, the former Soviet countries of Eastern Europe, Central Asia, and Russian-speaking immigrants in Israel caring for their physical needs and sharing the life-transforming Gospel. SGA supports an extensive grassroots network of local evangelical missionary pastors and churches in cities and rural villages across this vast region. SOURCE Slavic Gospel Association CONTACT: Matti Stevenson, 719-360-0586, mstevenson@inchristcommunications.com Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Our position remains the same, we reaffirm our approach: a simultaneous withdrawal of troops from the border line recorded by the maps of the USSR General Staff of 1975, which will mean ensuring stability in this situation. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan of Armenia stated this during his press conference Monday, adding that the aforesaid are the maps that Russia is talking about. "I have to record with satisfaction that that we see this issue worded by the international community as well, which is quite important and welcome," added Pashinyan. Referring to Azerbaijan's position on the matter, the Armenian PM said: "I cannot record a change in Azerbaijan's position, at the same time emphasizing that ensuring specific border security is the most important part of the negotiation process. "There is no secret that Azerbaijan continues to pursue a policy of military pressure, trying to obtain more favorable conditions during the talks through military pressure. At the same time, I must record that it is a violation of the internationally assumed obligation [assumed by Azerbaijan] because in the statement adopted as a result of the meeting in Sochi on October 31, 2022, the parties have committed themselves not to use force or the threat of force. We have to continue our work." "Also, I want to emphasize that the simultaneous withdrawal of [the Armenian and Azerbaijani] troops does not in itself predetermine the border delimitation work. That is a separate process, this is just about ensuring the stability of the border situation. However, we also believe that the 1975 map can and should be the basis for further border delimitation work, too, because it implies the agreements reached in Prague on October 6, 2022, regarding carrying out border delimitation based on the Ala Ata declaration [of 1991]," stressed the Armenian premier. Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute comments on scandalous video Serbia sends military units to Kosovo border Russian MFA: Russia expects Yerevan, Baku will be able to sign peace treaty Armenia MFA: Illegal abduction of 2 Armenian servicemen by Azerbaijan is attempt to deviate from its own obligations Iraq unveils Europe-Middle East road and rail project Germany: Russia to expel German diplomats in June Nairi MC: Nikol Pashinyan only came to see a patient Vucic nominates Milos Vucevic as ruling Serbian Progressive Party head Syunik governor: border settlements have enough weapons for self-defense Nepal PM to hold talks with India's Narendra Modi Nubarashen landfill fire extinguished Iran, Russia, Syria, Turkey Deputy FMs to discuss Ankara-Damascus relations Kishida willing to meet Kim Jong Un over kidnappings of Japan citizens Iran calls Zelenskyy's statement 'worthless political show' Armenia MoD publishes names of soldiers disappeared on the border Russia reports two drone attacks on oil refinery Bordachev: Turkey is very poorly represented in Central Asia Erdogan accuses Germany of violating press freedom Explosion in Russias Pskov damages oil pipeline building Nikkei Asia: Japan and NATO increase cooperation to counter China, Russia RA MOD: Car operated by 2 servicemen delivering provisions found on inter-positional roa Car overturned in Shirak Province The President of The Artsakh Republic convened a session of the Security Council Cavusoglu: Turkey's EU membership still a goal, though process unlikely to revive Turkish interior minister sued for use of facial recognition app Belgium releases Iranian diplomat Asadollah Asadi Ukraine asks Germany for Taurus cruise missiles Clashes between Iran border guards and Taliban forces Communication with 2 servicemen of the RA Armed Forces supplying food to combat positions was interrupted Pashinyan received American Co-Chair of OSCE Minsk Group Dollar, euro gain value New presidential decrees prohibit assemblies, curtail freedom of expression in Karabakh Cavusoglu: Turkey ready to take positive steps with Armenia if it signs peace agreement with Azerbaijan MFA of Armenia: Signing of the peace treaty is not included in the agenda of the Chisinau meeting Ararat Mirzoyan, Louis Bono confer about Armenia-Azerbaijan relations normalization process (PHOTOS) Azerbaijan pursues policy of energy suffocation of Karabakh but says it provides electricity Karabakh medical patients transfer to Armenia by Red Cross resumes Azerbaijan deputy PM speaks about Zangezur corridor at Kazan forum Armenia opposition MP: Russia response to Azerbaijan should have been more decisive Ruling power lawmaker:Armenian side hears for first time that Russia supports Azerbaijan position on Zangezur corridor Armenia ruling force MP: There is clear position on unblocking of regional communications Azerbaijan ambassador to France sees chance for signing peace treaty with Armenia at European summit Armenia deputy FM briefs UN Secretary General special adviser on the growing humanitarian crisis in Karabakh Karabakh's bilaterally surrounded Lisagor village head: Youth want to leave the community, go to university Russia presidential spox: Azerbaijan-Armenia peace agreement signing possible in foreseeable future Armen Grigoryan, Louis Bono discuss Armenia-US relations agenda NATO special representative holds meetings in Azerbaijan Armenia President: War of 2020 was predictable back in 1990-1991 but we didn't want to face the truth Azerbaijan defense minister visits Georgia Armenia ombudswoman briefs Netherlands envoy on problems due to Lachin corridor blockade by Azerbaijan Armenia PM: Deepening of neighborly relations with Georgia is among priorities of our foreign policy Parliament speaker to Armenia graduating schoolchildren: Try to become your best version, not to be lazy US State Department: We believe that an agreement is in reach between Armenia, Azerbaijan Philip Reeker: Armenia-Azerbaijan peace agreement must include various concepts Newspaper: Armenia authorities prominent figures involved in illegal drugs import Russia deputy PM: Azerbaijan, Armenia equally understand how transport corridors must be unblocked Full speech of Pashinyan and Putin at bilateral meeting Overchuk: We will discuss many important details with Armenia, Azerbaijan deputy PMs in one week Trilateral meeting of the leaders of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Russia ended Trilateral meeting of Aliyev, Putin and Pashinyan begins Putin: Azerbaijan recognizes full sovereignty of Armenia Putin: Russia trade with Armenia reached $5 billion in 2022 Putin: Russia has never changed its position on Lachin corridor Putin: Trilateral meeting will discuss unblocking of transport links Pashinyan and Putin meet in Moscow Pashinyan, Aliyev have war of words over Zangezur corridor term interpretation Russias Putin thanks Armenias Pashinyan for not opposing Azerbaijans Aliyev visit to EAEU meeting Putin: There are principled agreements between Armenia, Azerbaijan regarding territorial integrity Peskov: No predictions regarding Putin, Aliyev, Pashinyan meeting yet Russia defense minister signs documents on deployment of nuclear weapons on Belarus territory Georgian Airways to launch transit flights to Europe for Russians Aliyev announces possibility of signing peace agreement with Armenia Overchuk: 89% of goods transactions within EAEU are carried out in our national currencies Czech Republic embassy in Armenia temporarily suspends Schengen visa applicants registration Armenia premier: EAEU-Iran free trade agreement entry into force is paramount to us Karabakh FM sends official letters to heads of foreign diplomatic missions accredited to Armenia Armenia Investigative Committee: Detention chosen as preventive measure against Vardan Ghukasyan Putin: It will be difficult for other Eurasian Economic Union countries to reach Armenia Pashinyan: Armenia ready for dialogue to create single natural gas market within EAEU Armenia to hold several tourism festivals this year Armenia economic activity index up 12.2% in January-April Tourism Committee head: 630,000 tourists visited Armenia in 1st four months of 2023 Baku plans to relocate 1,500 Azerbaijanis to occupied Armenian Shushi city of Karabakh in 1st phase CSTO countries approve 2024 plan for collective security forces joint training Putin: Armenia is main beneficiary at EAEU because its economy growth rate is the highest Georgia arrests Iran citizen transporting 80kg of heroin via Armenia Eurasian Economic Union summit kicks off in Kremlin Sergei Shoigu: West attempts to intervene in situation around Karabakh Russia deputy FM: Armenia-Azerbaijan peace treaty should be based on long-term, stable decision Arizona State Legislature affirms Karabakh right to self-determination Armenia government gives compensation for construction equipment that came under Azerbaijan control last September Russia defense minister underscores importance of Armenia participation in CSTO joint military exercises Economy minister: Armenia pharmaceutical sector production is expected to increase to AMD 40 billion by 2027 Armenia deputy FM, Red Cross president confer about humanitarian crisis in Karabakh Russias Putin to meet with Armenias Pashinyan, Azerbaijans Aliyev in Moscow Deputy FM: Azerbaijan will not allow Israel to attack Iran from its territory Armenia premier sends congratulatory messages to King, PM of Jordan Armenia minister of defense to not attend CSTO defense ministers council meeting Eurasian Economic Commission: Number of labor migrants from Russia to Armenia increased by 272% in 2022 Armenia ombudswoman briefs Sweden ambassador on situation due to Lachin corridor blockade by Azerbaijan I don't think that the West is holding anyone's hand and does not allow them to fulfill their obligations in various domainssecurity, military, technicalrelated to the activities of Russian peacekeepers in Nagorno-Karabakh. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan of Armenia stated this during his press conference Monday. According to him, the CSTO mission in Armenia does not work for a simple reason: the organization does not indicate exactly where the territory of Armenia is located. He explained that this is the fundamental problem, and as soon as the CSTO clearly emphasizes it, 90 percent of the problems will disappear. Pashinyan assured that Armenia does not receive any signal about severing relations with Russia. "I don't think there will ever be such a signal. We transparently discuss our bilateral relations with Russian partners. There are no dark sides in these discussions regarding our concerns, which we have regarding the relations between Russia and Armenia, related to the current situation in the region," the Armenian PM noted. He recalled that according to the trilateral statement of November 9, 2020, it is Russia's responsibility to maintain control over the Lachin corridor, and the latter must remain under the control of Russian peacekeepers. "The illegal installation of the Azerbaijani checkpoint in the Lachin corridor is a violation of that obligation. Russia had to keep the corridor under its control. The statement emphasizes the concept of the line of contact, talks about Russia's obligations within the line of contact. We [i.e., Armenia] did not create any problems, but on the contrary, we helped, as much as we could, so that these obligations are fully fulfilled. I would not want any supposed statement from the West to become an important or key factor," added the Armenian premier. According to him, the most important factor in the relations between Armenia and Russia is mutual obligations and the extent to which these obligations are fulfilled. Azerbaijan's 86,600 square kilometers includes Nagorno-Karabakh. But it should also be noted that we say that the issue of the rights and security of Nagorno-Karabakh Armenians should be discussed in the Baku-Stepanakert format. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan of Armenia stated this during his press conference Monday, responding to Armenian News-NEWS.am's question: "If Armenia recognizes the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan's 86,600 square kilometers, does that include Artsakh [(Nagorno-Karabakh)] or not? Have you thereby recognized Artsakh as part of Azerbaijan or not?" "No matter what the current government of Armenia says, all the governments of Armenia have recognized the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan. I have made it more concrete, and I find it difficult to imagine more concretely, how I can say. Armenia is ready to recognize the territorial integrity [of Azerbaijan] of 86,600 square kilometers, and in our opinion, Azerbaijan is ready to recognize the territorial integrity of Armenia of 29,800 square kilometers. If we understand each other correctly on this issue with Azerbaijan, yes, Armenia recognizes Azerbaijan's territorial integrity of 86,600 square kilometers with the understanding that Azerbaijan recognizes Armenia's territory of 29,800 square kilometers," said Pashinyan. "Secondly, the issue of the rights and security of Nagorno-Karabakh Armenians should be discussed through the Stepanakert-Baku dialogue. We consider it important to create international guarantees for these talks. We mean that the issue of the rights and security of the Nagorno-Karabakh Armenians may simply be forgotten and Azerbaijan will continue to implement the policy of ethnic cleansing and genocide of the Nagorno-Karabakh Armenians using the lever of force. We consider it important that there be guarantees that this policy will not continue," added the Armenian PM. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan confirmed, during his press conference Monday, the statement by European Council President Charles Michel about the returning in a simplified manner of Armenians and Azerbaijanis who have gotten lost in one anothers country, but noted that there were no such Azerbaijanis in Armenia at the moment. "I confirm that there is an understanding in general that servicemen, citizens who got lost on the opposite side should be returned in a simplified manner. But, also, I confirm what you said that at the moment, particularly in Armenia, there are no Azerbaijanis who got lost as a result of getting lost. That is, all Azerbaijanis who are currently in Armenia, knowing that they are crossing the border with Armenia, have crossed it. I confirm that any Azerbaijani citizen who ends up in the Republic of Armenia as a result of being lost will be returned to Azerbaijan as soon as possible in a simplified manner. But at that moment we don't have such citizens," the Armenian PM said. When asked whether he rules out that he will extradite the two Azerbaijani servicemen who recently crossed the border to Armenia and one of whom is accused of murder, Pashinyan answered: "Normalization of relations envisions making very important and difficult decisions; but it cannot be one-sided. Of course, we are ready to discuss it; but only after going through the legal procedures because we cannot simply ignore on the other hand [the fact] that a citizen of the Republic of Armenia was killed. But of course we do not violate the presumption of innocence of anyone either. If I am not mistaken, the matter is under preliminary investigation. The preliminary investigation, if there will be a corresponding conclusion, will be sent to the court, the court will make a decision, after which I consider all kinds of solutions possible." Leo Docherty wants universal peace in the South Caucasusand as soon as possible. This was announced by the United Kingdom Under Secretary of State for Europe at Mondays press briefing in Yerevan held after his meeting with Armenian foreign minister Ararat Mirzoyan. Docherty was asked whether during his visit to Baku, he told the Azerbaijani authorities about the inadmissibility of blocking the Lachine corridor. Also, UK official was reminded that cooperation with London in the energy sector in Baku was perceived as a "green light" for various criminal activities. Without a doubt, Docherty responded. He added that this matter was raised in Baku, this was an important element, they had raised the matter of free movement of people, the UK has always said that the conflict should be settled only at the negotiation table, and therefore they support the EU and the US in advancing this matter. Armenia is ready to open regional communications based on the principles of sovereignty, jurisdiction, equality, and reciprocity. This was announced by Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan at a press briefing held after his meeting with the visiting United Kingdom Under Secretary of State for Europe, Leo Docherty. Answering the question about the results of the meeting in Moscow, the Armenian FM once again emphasized the willingness to establish a long-term and dignified peace in the South Caucasus, and stressed the constructive attitude of the Armenian side. At the same time, Mirzoyan made it clear that Armenia cannot unilaterally make the whole process constructive, and a constructive approach is needed from Azerbaijan as well. The Armenian FM recorded that there was a round of intense meetings in Washington, Brussels, and Moscow. According to him, some progress was made in Washington, where it was possible to reach an agreement on two more articles in the draft peace treaty with Azerbaijan. "On some more, I hope, and this is not just my assessment, there is a possibility to reach an agreement. But there are articles on which the positions of the parties are very different; they refer to the most complex issues," stated Mirzoyan. The FM noted the importance of border delimitation for Armenia. "According to many people, the positions of the parties are closer in [regional] communication issues. Our position is unchanged. We are ready and interested in the opening of communications based on the principles of sovereignty, jurisdiction, equality, and reciprocity," Mirzoyan emphasized, reminding that the opening of the communications was important not only from the point of view of the region, but also from the point of view of global logistics. In all our recent meetings with Western partners, this issue is discussed, they raise this issue before us. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan of Armenia stated this during his press conference Monday, addressing the question of whether Armenia has received a request from Western partners, particularly the Chancellor of Germany, to tighten control in Armenia over companies that help Russia circumvent the Western sanctions on it. "But even before that, this issue was on the agenda of Armenian-Russian discussions. We give the same reaction when dealing with both. We say that Armenia is a member of EAEU, Armenia has strategic partnership relations, has deep economic and strategic relations with Russia. But due to other circumstances as well, Armenia cannot allow itself to come under Western sanctions. Therefore, we will act in our relations with Russia to the extent that will allow us not to come under Western sanctions. Because if we came under those sanctions, first of all, Armenia does not have enough resources to withstand it," the Armenian PM said. "Secondly, it will not be better for any of our allies. Thirdly, we will thereby spoil our relations with our Western partners. Now, everything that fits within the framework of what I said, yes, instructions have been given and are being given. Instructions to establish strict control over these instructions are also given," Pashinyan added. "But, also, on the other hand, we work with our colleagues from the private sector because it is possible to violate the sanction by carelessness. There are cases when people unknowingly face a problem, they also put the country in front of a problem or create such a potential. We are now working in all directions not to violate the sanctions; on the other hand, to be partners with both Russia and with partners who have applied sanctions," said Pashinyan. He noted that Armenias relations with Iran are not less important, but since 2009, these sanctions have also been in effect against Iran, and Armenia adheres to them. "So what should we [i.e., Armenia] do? If we come under sanctions, will it be better for anyone? Will it be better for our friend? We are in contact also with our western partners, with local companies, with state administration bodies, so that we can position ourselves as correctly as possible," Pashinyan said. And to the question as to whether there were any Armenian companies that are already under Western sanctions or are on the threshold, the Armenian premier answered: "I know that there are companies that have appeared on the radar, so to speak; their activities will be investigated and conclusions will be drawn." Parallel to the peace talks, Azerbaijan continues to illegally block the Lachin corridor. This was stated by Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan at a press briefing held after his meeting with the visiting United Kingdom Under Secretary of State for Europe, Leo Docherty, on Monday. Armenian FM emphasized that the aforesaid blockade has caused a serious humanitarian issue in Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh), and disrupted the activities of such a prestigious international organization as the Red Cross. "It is obvious that it is a part of the [Azerbaijani] policy of ethnic [Armenian] cleansing," added Mirzoyan, calling on the member countries of the UN Security Council, including the UK, to take effective steps. Among the latter, Armenian FM pointed to the need to send a monitoring mission to the Lachin corridor and Nagorno-Karabakh, and to return all Armenian captives in Azerbaijan. Also, Mirzoyan stated that despite the ongoing peace talks, Azerbaijan continues to occupy the sovereign territory of Armenia, and this contradicts the statements adopted in Prague and Sochi. However, the FM announced Armenia's commitment to Alma Ata declaration of 1991 and readiness to open regional communications based on the principles of sovereignty, jurisdiction, equality, and reciprocity. Mirzoyan noted that it is necessary to resolve all matters without the use of force and the threat of its use, to resolve the border delimitation and humanitarian issues, and to ensure an internationally guaranteed dialogue to ensure the rights and security of the people of Nagorno-Karabakh. There was a point in the tripartite statement November 9[, 2020] that we removed and said that we would not sign under any circumstances. One of the points referred to the enclaves, the secondto a corridor through the territory of Armenia. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan of Armenia stated this during his press conference Monday. "Let me say more. There were colleagues who did not share this position; they said sign with the enclaves as well. Later, some of those people accused us of treason and demanded our resignation, but this is a fact," added the Armenian PM. Pashinyan said that he regrets that those conversations were not recorded. "() because if they were recorded, many people would simply have no way to talk about many things," said the Armenian premier. He added that there were people in Armenias ruling political team who were against the signing of the aforesaid. Pashinyan announced that the General Staff of the Armenian Armed Forces had said to "sign with the enclaves." "I said no, I will not sign. I talked about it in detail during the pre-election [campaign] period in Achajur [village]," the Armenian PM added. Even if Armenia and Azerbaijan mutually agree to use the internal administrative borders of the USSR for the purpose of delimitation and demarcation, it is worth to underline that this still does not mean the exclusion of the right to external self-determination of the people of Artsakh, at least in the former Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast. It was an enclave in the last decades of the Soviet Union and had no direct association with the borders of the two former Soviet republics. Artak Beglaryan, adviser to the Minister of State of Artsakh, wrote about this on his Twitter microblog. Some points regarding #Armenia's tendency to recognize the territorial integrity of #Azerbaijan and the recent statement of the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, relating to #Artsakh. Any document and statement recognizing Artsakh as a part of Azerbaijan is highly unacceptable, as the authorities of the Republic of Artsakh, at the levels of the President, the National Assembly, the Security Council and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, have stated in many different wordings. It is unacceptable, because: 1.1. The people of Artsakh exercised their inalienable right to self-determination with jus cogens (binding) norm in 1991 based on the fundamental documents of international law (UN Charter, UN International Covenants on Rights, Helsinki Final Act, etc.). In later years, the Artsakh people have defended their rights and proved their own will and ability of sovereignty. 1.2. Although the Republic of Artsakh has not been fully recognized by the international community, however, its independence has been accepted as a reality, and its status has been internationally recognized as a disputed and contested territory. 1.3. The main subject of any decision regarding the status and future of Artsakh is the people of Artsakh, the other big and small actors have the right only to express their positions, but not to decide on behalf of the people of Artsakh or to make Artsakh an object of trade. 1.4. Therefore, ignoring this past path and the rights and serious existential dangers of the indigenous and title-holder people of Artsakh is simply an international crime. One of Azerbaijan's regular pitfalls and false arguments is the thesis of by default continuity of the Soviet borders, on the basis of which the processes of mutual recognition of the territorial integrity of Armenia and Azerbaijan is taking place. It is baseless and false for several reasons, in particular: 2.1. The administrative territorial division of the USSR could not become a state border according to the logic of the international legal principle of uti possidetis juris (continuity of former internal borders), because that principle is not a universal principle and was applied with great reservations only with clear mutual agreement between some decolonizing states of South America and Africa. Kosovo is one of the good examples of the exclusion of that principle, because even in the case of the collapse of Yugoslavia, the primary principle in defining the borders of the former member states was the principle of "remedial secession", inextricably based on the right of peoples to self-determination. 2.2. Even Azerbaijan at the highest level rejected the continuity of the Soviet borders, when the Supreme Council of that country in 1991 adopted declaration "On restoration of state independence of Azerbaijan" and the constitutional act "On restoration of state independence of Azerbaijan". With those documents, Azerbaijan renounced the succession of Soviet Azerbaijan and declared itself the successor of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic of 1918-1920. This fact is important to emphasize not only because Azerbaijan initially rejected the application of the principle of uti possidetis juris, but also, in the pre-Soviet period, Nagorno Karabakh was internationally considered by the League of Nations as a disputed territory and had much larger territory than the former #NagornoKarabakh Autonomous Oblast (region), as well as had a common border with Armenia. 2.3. Even if Armenia and Azerbaijan mutually agree to use the internal administrative borders of the USSR for the purpose of delimitation and demarcation, it is worth to underline that this still does not mean the exclusion of the right to external self-determination of the people of Artsakh, at least in the former Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast. It was an enclave in the last decades of the Soviet Union and had no direct association with the borders of the two former Soviet republics. Therefore, in extreme cases, this is also an opportunity for the Republic of Armenia to somehow combine the continuity of the Soviet borders with the recognition and protection of Artsakh's right to external self-determination. However, the necessary condition for this solution is that Armenia should not in any way try to recognize Artsakh as part of Azerbaijan and should not close the opportunity and obligation to support Artsakh's struggle for self-determination. The actions and statements by the Republic of Armenia aimed at recognizing Artsakh as part of Azerbaijan are unacceptable and illegal, based on both the well-known international legal documents and the domestic legislation of the Republic of Armenia. In particular: 3.1. The Declaration of Independence of the Republic of Armenia clearly recognizes Artsakh as a part of the Republic of Armenia, "based on the joint decision of the Supreme Council of the Armenian SSR and the National Council of Nagorno Karabakh dated December 1, 1989, "On the reunification of the Armenian SSR and Nagorno Karabakh". Although later the path of Artsakh independence was chosen, deviating from the given provision of the Armenian Declaration of Independence, but even under that condition, the legal possibility of Armenia to recognize Artsakh as part of Azerbaijan is unequivocally excluded. Therefore, being the cornerstone of the Armenias Constitution, the Declaration of Independence is a solid legal basis for recognizing any international treaty signed by Armenia as unconstitutional and void from the start, which may recognize Artsakh as part of Azerbaijan. 3.2. The Almaty Declaration of December 21, 1991, which references also the right to self-determination, is a derived declaration from the December 8 Agreement that led to the creation of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS).This agreement was ratified by the Armenias Supreme Council on February 18, 1992, with clear reservations regarding the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, which: Article 5 was supplemented with the phrase "the right of free self-determination of nations", ratifying in the following version: "The parties recognize and respect the right of nations to free self-determination, each other's territorial integrity and the inviolability of borders." Point 10 states: After the words "open to all the member states of the USSR" in the second paragraph of Article 13 of the Agreement, add "including for the former autonomous entities of the USSR, which before the adoption of the declaration of the Supreme Council of the USSR "on the termination of the existence of the USSR" had a popular referendum on declaring independence, and based on it, the highest executive body of the autonomous entity applied to the Commonwealth of Independent States with a request to join the organization. 3.3. On July 8, 1992, the Supreme Council of Armenia adopted a decision, the 2nd point of which stipulates: "It is unacceptable for the Republic of Armenia to consider any international or domestic document by which the Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh might be mentioned as part of Azerbaijan." 3.4. In other words, the Republic of Armenia with its founding document, the Declaration of Independence, clearly and irrevocably excluded any possibility of recognizing Artsakh as part of Azerbaijan, and with the decisions of the Supreme Council, which have the force of law, established the right of free self-determination of nations and created a legal basis for the possibility of Artsakh's membership in the CIS, as well as directly considered unacceptable any document indicating the status of Artsakh as a part of Azerbaijan. So, Armenia can recognize the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan, but never with the inclusion of Artsakh or the territory of 86,600 km2. In that sense, Nikol Pashinyan's statement today regarding the readiness to recognize the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan along with Artsakh is highly unacceptable and worrying. As for the non-legal justifications, taking into account the exceptional importance of Artsakh in the security, international relations, identity and other fields of the Armenian statehood and the Armenian nation, it is even unnecessary for many to explain why any document and statement by Armenia recognizing Artsakh as a part of Azerbaijan is impermissible and unacceptable. I will cover the details of this direction in other publications. P.S. And when referring to Michel's timid and groundless urgings and expressions about the rights and security of the people of Artsakh, due to his use of Azerbaijani theses, I have to call him "the former elected representative of the population of the former Southern Netherlands". And for the Republic of Armenia, the issues of rights and security of the people of Artsakh cannot bypass the right to self-determination, which in this case is the core of the rest of the rights and even security architecture of Artsakh and Armenia, he wrote. Fake image of a Pentagon explosion briefly goes viral A fake image was spread by several accounts, forcing the Pentagon to comment that there was no explosion. File photo: AP A fake image of an explosion at the Pentagon briefly went viral and caused a ten-minute long dip on the markets on Monday, stoking further talk that generative AI could cause problems to society. The image, which many observers suspected came from artificial intelligence, was spread by several accounts, forcing the Pentagon to comment that there was no such explosion. "We can confirm this was a false report and the Pentagon was not attacked today," a spokesman said. The Arlington, Virginia fire department also reacted, posting on social media that there was no explosion or incident taking place at or near the Pentagon. The incident followed other occurrences of fake imagery that also created buzz recently on the internet, including of former US president Donald Trump getting arrested and Pope Francis in a puffer jacket. The earliest tweet found by AFP news agency sharing the Pentagon image came from a QAnon-promoting account that has previously shared disinformation, though the original source of the image was not known. Emerging generative AI technologies make it easier for non-specialists to create convincing images in just a few moments, instead of needing the expertise to use programmes such as Photoshop. The shared image caused the markets to be knocked for a few minutes, with the S&P 500 stumbling by 0.29 percent compared to its Friday close before recovering. "There was a dip likely related to this fake news as the [trading] machines picked up on it, but I would submit that the scope of the decline did not match the seemingly bad nature of the fake news," said Pat O'Hare of Briefing.com. (AFP) US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen reaffirmed June 1 as the "hard deadline" for the US to raise the debt ceiling or risk defaulting on its obligations, CNN Business reported. "I indicated in my last letter to Congress that we expect to be unable to pay all of our bills in early June and possibly as soon as June 1. And I will continue to update Congress, but I certainly haven't changed my assessment. So I think that that's a hard deadline," Yellen said on Sunday (local time) during an interview on NBC's "Meet the Press." Yellen's warning came hours after President Joe Biden delivered a grim assessment on the state of negotiations during his remaining hours in Japan. According to CNN Business, Biden issued a stark warning Sunday, ahead of his high-stakes phone call with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, that congressional Republicans could use a national default to damage him politically and acknowledged time had run out to use potential unilateral actions to raise the federal borrowing limit, a sharp shift in tone days before the deadline to reach an agreement. Reflecting that shift tone, the treasury secretary reiterated that there will be some bills that go unpaid, if the debt ceiling isn't raised, CNN Business reported. "There will be hard choices to make if the debt ceiling isn't raised," she said. "And you know, I would simply say since 1789, the United States has a history of paying its bills on time. That's what the world wants to see a continued commitment to do that. It's what underlies US Treasury securities as the safest investment on the planet. And it's not an acceptable situation for us to be unable to pay our bills." Yellen downplayed the impact of tax receipts or spending delaying the X-date past early June, saying the odds are "quite low," the US makes it to June 15 without defaulting if no congressional intervention happens. On sticking points, Yellen pointed to Republican's insistence on taking revenue off the negotiating table among other areas, CNN Business reported. "Something that greatly concerns me is that they have even been in favour of removing funding that has been provided to the Internal Revenue Service to crack down on tax fraud," she said. Yellen agreed with the president's assessment that invoking the 14th Amendment, "doesn't seem like something could be appropriately used in these circumstances," given the legal uncertainty and time frame. She downplayed the possibility of some extra unilateral action the president could take, and instead said hard choices will be made should a deal not get made and that some bill will go unpaid. "My devout hope is that Congress will raise the debt ceiling," she said. "There will be no acceptable outcomes if the debt ceiling isn't raised, regardless of what decisions we make." However, Pennsylvania Republican Republican Brian Fitzpatrick said there may be some leeway past the June 1 deadline, according to CNN Business. "The June 1st date was probably, according to Secretary Yellen, the earliest possible date," he told CBS News, adding that "we do have enough cash flow" to "pay the interest on our debt." "We're going start to see the state tax revenues come in the second week of June, so I think we're OK on that," Fitzpatrick said. Fitzpatrick appeared along with his Problem Solvers caucus co-chair Democratic Rep. Josh Gottheimer of New Jersey. Both Gottheimer and Fitzpatrick said they should still treat June 1 as the deadline even if there is some leeway. (ANI) Five thousand first-year undergraduate students from 27 states and four Union Territories will be awarded the Reliance Foundation Undergraduate Scholarships for 2022-23. Selected scholars will receive a grant of up to Rs 2 lakh and an opportunity to be part of an enabling alumni network. Reliance Foundation is the philanthropic arm of Reliance Industries Limited. The Reliance Foundation Undergraduate Scholarships are awarded on merit-cum[1]means basis for students in any stream of study. For this year, selected scholars are from streams including Engineering/Technology, Science, Medicine, Commerce, Arts, Business/Management, Computer Applications, Law, Education, Hospitality, Architecture and other professional degrees. The 5,000 scholars for the 2022-23 cycle, of which 51 per cent are girls, were selected from nearly 40,000 applicants studying at over 4,984 educational institutions through a rigorous selection process, which involved an aptitude test, Class 12 marks and other eligibility criteria. Further reflecting the diversity inherent to the programme, this round saw a selection of 99 students with disabilities for the award of scholarships. "By enabling access to education, the Reliance Foundation Scholarships hope to give wings to the dreams of young people. This is a diverse group of scholars as they are from varying disciplines of study, from nearly all the states of India and with girls and boys being equally represented. We congratulate every selected scholar and we are confident that they will build a strong future for themselves while contributing to India's progress," said Jagannatha Kumar, CEO, of Reliance Foundation. Strengthening its commitment last December, Reliance Foundation announced it will award 50,000 scholarships over the next 10 years. The award of this round of scholarships takes forward Reliance's legacy of facilitating access to education for all and nurturing talented students towards building India's future. Since 1996, the Dhirubhai Ambani Scholarships have been awarded to nearly 13,000 undergraduate scholars on merit-cum-means basis, of which 2,720 scholars were people with disabilities. "Selected scholars will directly receive communication about their selection and further details. Applicants can also visit www.reliancefoundation.org to know the outcome of their applications." The announcement of the selected Reliance Foundation Postgraduate Scholars for 2022-23 is expected in July. The applications call for the next round of Reliance Foundation Undergraduate Scholarships (2023-24) will be made in the coming months. (ANI) New Delhi [India], May 22 (ANI/ATK): Q2 has certainly seen the rise of several meme coins this season; it seems that Bitcoin (BTC) is taking a break from dominating the crypto market. This only leads to the question, where do Sparklo (SPARK) and Dogetti (DETI) seek to benefit from this alt-season? And will SUI (SUI) ever bounce back from market decline? First A Sparklo Then A GlowSparklo is currently trying to develop a marketplace for precious metal trading. The platform's main focus will be on gold, silver and platinum - copper, tin and bronze will be available later on as the platform expands. Individuals will be able to participate in the global precious metal market trade. Sparklo uses crypto-based features such as NFTs or Non-Fungible Tokens to represent each precious metal, therefore providing individuals with digital proof of their precious metals and assets. The aim of the platform is to bridge the gap between precious metal resellers and individuals that are interested in purchasing them. With blockchain technology, many doors are open for industries to 'cut out the middleman' and cut the cost of precious metal trading for the people. The platform values transparency and security as well as lowering transaction costs. The blockchain recording of every transaction ensures that no one is able to tamper with the data. SUI Sees Market DeclineThe SUI aim is to create an innovative blockchain space that redefines asset ownership. The SUI blockchain is revolutionising the industry by providing unprecedented speed and scalability. Its novel approach makes use of the fact that many blockchain transactions include non-overlapping states, allowing for parallel processing. SUI also optimises for single-writer objects, which eliminates the need for consensus in small transactions. Currently, the SUI platform is going through a market decline at the moment. Recently SUI's price dropped by over 5.96% after the all-time high price was reached on the 3rd of May. It seems SUI's reign is over before it even began. How can Dogetti fill the void that SUI will leave on the market? Go Barking Mad For The Dogetti Dream Dogetti has grown in multiple ways in recent weeks; set on achieving their well-deserved position as the Top Doge in cryptocurrency, the Dogetti family has no plans of slowing down. Don Eloni Dogetti considers everyone to be a part of a vast extended family, hence why he offers numerous opportunities for his fellow family members to gain income. Members of the Dogetti family profit merely by keeping tokens in their accounts, as 2% of each transaction is reallocated to token holders. Another 2% is contributed to a charity wallet, where token holders can choose which organisation receives the proceeds. Dogetti provides a variety of dog NFTs that serve as virtual pets for family members. There are also proposals to allow NFTs to breed with each other, with the resulting offspring sold for a profit in cryptocurrencies or conventional fiat cash. The options are limitless! Presale: https://dogetti.io/how-to-buy Website: https://dogetti.io/ Telegram: https://t.me/Dogetti Twitter: https://twitter.com/_Dogetti_ 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 22 (ANI/NewsReach): In the ever-evolving landscape of financial services, Hello Money India P Ltd has emerged as a prominent player, offering credit card sourcing and credit line products. With over five years of industry experience, this East Delhi-based startup has established itself as a trusted partner, collaborating with 17+ leading banks and major Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs). As the company enters an exciting phase of growth, it aims to expand its reach by venturing into other banking products, leveraging its unique brand name and identity. Hello Money India P Ltd stands out as a priority partner for several banks, playing a crucial role in credit card sourcing. Through a network of almost 100+ connectors, loyal partners, and a dedicated team of over 500 professionals, the company's go-getter attitude shines through in its commitment to exceptional customer service. Their core business model revolves around providing credit cards that cater to customers' specific needs and lifestyles, leveraging the wide range of offerings from multiple banks. With a strong presence in Delhi, NCR, and other locations, Hello Money India P Ltd operates through approximately 15 branches. The visionary founder, Dev Ashish, leads the company, driving the team towards its goals. Deepak Arora, a key member of the leadership team, focuses on the digital front, continuously working on technology and development to achieve rapid growth aligned with India's digitalization objectives. The company has made significant post-COVID-19 investments in its business, with a particular emphasis on transforming its sourcing model into a fully digitalized platform for retail asset products. Furthermore, in adherence to the Reserve Bank of India's mandate to activate credit cards within a short duration of one month, Hello Money India P Ltd is committed to meeting all banking regulations, ensuring a profitable portfolio for partner banks and the company itself. Their dedication and high ethical standards set them apart from other players in the banking startup and channel partner industry. The leadership team strongly believes that a robust business model is the key to sustaining and growing in the market, setting a benchmark for others to follow in the country. As Hello Money India P Ltd paves its way towards diversifying its offerings, its aggressive growth plans and unwavering commitment to customer satisfaction indicate a promising future. With a focus on innovation, digitalization, and adherence to regulatory norms, the company is poised to make a lasting impact in the financial services sector, raising the bar for competitors across the country. This story has been provided by NewsReach. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article. (ANI/NewsReach) Ahmedabad (Gujarat) [India], May 22 (ANI/NewsReach): Kshitij Vivan Education, a leading institute in the field of Animation, Graphic design, Multimedia Designing, VFX, and Gaming, continues to make waves in the education sector. Established in 2009 by Ashish Goel, a management-qualified professional with extensive experience in marketing and sales, the institute has been instrumental in providing technical support to young and enterprising students, as well as the semi-organised sector of the industry. With a vision to add value to stakeholders in a rapidly evolving world dominated by constant innovation, Kshitij Vivan Education has become a beacon of excellence. Ashish Goel, an MBA graduate from the prestigious Symbiosis Institute of Foreign Trade in Pune, has been the driving force behind the institute's success. In its early years, Kshitij Vivan Education operated under the franchise of Maac (Maya Academy of Advance Cinematic), a renowned brand of Aptech. During this period, the institute operated as Maac Ahmedabad Satellite Road. However, in 2018, the institute took a significant leap by establishing its own brand, Kshitij Vivan Education, and has since become one of the leading institutes in Ahmedabad. The courses offered by Kshitij Vivan Education cover a wide range of creative fields, including Animation, VFX, Filmmaking, Gaming, Web, and Graphics Design. These career-oriented courses have prepared thousands of students for successful careers, equipping them with the necessary skills and knowledge to excel in their chosen fields. One of the distinguishing features of Kshitij Vivan Education is its dedicated Research & Development team, composed of industry professionals from Animation, Graphic designing, Multimedia Designing, VFX, and Gaming. This team works diligently to develop comprehensive and industry-relevant curricula for each course offered by the institute, ensuring that students receive the highest quality education. Recognizing the importance of skilled faculty, Kshitij Vivan Education conducts rigorous faculty training programs. These programs are designed to enhance the teaching abilities of instructors, ensuring that students receive the best possible education. The faculty members are trained by industry professionals with vast experience in the animation industry, thus sharpening their creative and technical skills. Kshitij Vivan Education has earned a reputation for its commitment to providing top-notch job placements for its graduates. The institute maintains strong industry connections, allowing students to benefit from valuable networking opportunities and exposure to real-world projects. Graduates of Kshitij Vivan Education have gone on to achieve remarkable success in their respective fields, carving a niche for themselves in the competitive creative industry. As technology continues to shape our world, Kshitij Vivan Education remains at the forefront, empowering aspiring animators, graphic designers, multimedia designers, VFX artists, and gamers with the skills they need to thrive in this dynamic and exciting field. With its unwavering dedication to excellence, Kshitij Vivan Education continues to shape the future of the creative industry in Ahmedabad and beyond. In conclusion, Kshitij Vivan Education stands as a testament to the power of education and the transformative potential of creativity. Through its comprehensive courses, industry connections, and commitment to student success, the institute is nurturing the next generation of creative minds, ready to make their mark in the digital era. For more information visit: https://goo.gl/maps/W7QyzbwfMMKPRtUr8 https://goo.gl/maps/6BQKGnhUyDUThifR7 This story has been provided by NewsReach. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article. (ANI/NewsReach) Indian agricultural drone manufacturer, IoTechWorld Avigation, on Monday announced that it is in the process of setting up seven remote pilot training organisations (RPTOs) in five states by July as it aims to sell 3,000 drones this 2023-24 fiscal, up from 500 in 2022-23, according to an official release. During the month of June, three of them will come up in Gurugram (Haryana), Chikballapur (Karnataka), and Samastipur (Bihar) and the remaining two in Rajamundary and Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh will begin operations in July, the firm said in its release. Currently, the company has collaborated with several universities and other institutions for RPTOs. The new RPTOs too are being opened in partnership with prominent organisations. Besides training centres, for after-sales service and expansion of its network, it will also open a new service centre for agri-drones in Kolhapur, Maharashtra. By having more service centres, the company can respond to customers' needs faster and reduce downtime for repairs or maintenance, the company said in the release. "Two of the upcoming RPTOs will be functional this month. These have come up at in Gharaunda (Haryana) and Jobner (Rajasthan)," said Deepak Bhardwaj, Co-founder and Director. "We are excited about our plans and believe that they will strengthen IoTechWorld position in the agri-drone market in India. The company remains committed to providing high-quality agri- drones and excellent customer service to its valued customers as well as job opportunities for rural youths," said Anoop Upadhyay, another Co-founder and Director. Established in 2017, the drone manufacturer, planning expansion in product offerings, intends to leverage its network across India and enter new markets in Russia, Africa, Brazil, and the SAARC region. The company said in April it was already in talks with potential buyers in these countries. The firm said that its drones have a minimum of 70 per cent Made in India components, and their prices are expected to decrease as more are sold locally. The adoption of drones in the agriculture sector is considered highly economical for farmers since they can save a significant amount on spraying agrochemicals, fertilizers, and water while achieving significantly higher crop yields. The Central Government is also focused on the usage of drones in agriculture to help farmers. There is also a provision for financial assistance by the central government for the purchase of agricultural drones. Taking another step towards realising the vision of an Aatmanirbhar Bharat, the central government had in 2021 approved the Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme for drones and drone components. (ANI) Kolkata (West Bengal) [India], May 22 (ANI/PNN): International Tea Day celebrated every 21st May is a proclamation by the United Nations to recognize the history and economic significance of tea. The tea industry in India has a long history and its contribution to the economy is enormous. Chai Chun, a brand with many original offerings stressed on the quality and sustainability this International Tea Day. A special plucking and processing drill was organised in a tea estate and 9 factories to ensure quality and swift delivery. The one-day drill aimed at plucking, processing and tasting on the same day to assure the freshness that everyone seeks in a cup of tea. Chai Chun also extended the celebration to its entire retail stores spread across prime locations in India and several airports. In the stores, the day was observed by a guided and free tea tasting experience for anyone who visited the store. Simultaneously across 30 locations including factories, estate and stores, the observance of the International Tea Day was also to educate and spread awareness about the wonderfully healthy world of tea along with the history of more than two centuries. With Okayti Tea Estate and 9 modern factories as sister companies, Chai Chun offers some of the best Darjeeling & Terai-Dooars tea. The Director and founder of the company also visited all the processing units, the estate and outlets to observe supply chain and the working conditions of employees at every level. Reflecting on the event, Rajeev Baid, CEO & MD of ChaiChun and its other undertakings, stated "Running a business while simultaneously breaking away from the excessively hierarchical colonial structure that still influences the tea industry requires great courage. However, it is essential to transcend the confines of commerce and focus on building a better future for all." Tea, the second most consumed beverage globally after water, has been cherished for its medicinal properties for centuries. In the face of numerous external hazards in today's world, the promotion of tea's health aspects has become increasingly vital. Renowned for its abundance of antioxidants and nutritional value, tea has emerged as the go-to beverage for individuals devoted to their well-being and overall health. The celebration of International Tea Day proved to be a remarkable event that not only highlighted the health benefits of tea but also emphasized the significance of fair-trade practices and fostered a deeper understanding of the tea industry as a whole. This story is provided by PNN. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article. (ANI/PNN) Oscar-winning film RRR's actor Ray Stevenson passed away on Sunday in Italy at the age of 58. His reps at Independent Talent confirmed the news, Deadline reported. Further details about the actor's death are still awaited. Taking to Twitter, Team RRR shared the news on their official handle and wrote, "What shocking news for all of us on the team! Rest in peace, Ray Stevenson. You will stay in our hearts forever, SIR SCOTT." https://twitter.com/RRRMovie/status/1660706596106940416 Stevenson played a negative role in SS Rajamouli's period action drama film 'RRR' and received massive responses for his performance. The film also starred actors Ram Charan and Jr NTR in the lead roles and recently won the prestigious Academy Award in the Best Original Song category. Apart from that, he was also known for his roles like Volstagg in Marvel's 'Thor' franchise and Othere in 'Vikings.' He also has voiced Gar Saxon in the animated Star Wars series 'The Clone Wars' and 'Rebels' and was set to join Rosario Dawson in Disney+'s upcoming 'The Mandalorian' spinoff 'Ashoka.' According to Deadline, a US-based media outlet, born on May 25, 1964, in Lisburn, Northern Ireland, Stevenson began his screen career in the early 1990s, appearing in European TV series and telefilms. His first big-screen credit was opposite Helena Bonham Carter and Kenneth Branagh in Paul Greengrass' 1998 drama 'The Theory of Flight.' We went on to land roles in such features as Antoine Fuqua's 'King Arthur' (2004), Lexi Alexander's 'Punisher: War Zone' (2008), the Hughes Brothers' 'The Book of Eli' (2010) and Adam McKay's 'The Other Guys' (2010). (ANI) Earlier on Sunday, the 36-year-old man was killed after he was rammed by a four-wheeler, being driven by the accused woman, while he was returning home. The incident took place near the city's Moti Nagar flyover. Immediately the man was rushed to the hospital by the accused, but he succumbed to his injuries during the treatment. (ANI) A total of 13 live turtles of protected species were recovered from the accused by a joint team of the Forest Department and Special Task Force. "A total of 13 live turtles of protected species were recovered. The accused have been taken into custody. Further probe underway," said, Atul Kant Shukla, Divisional Director Forest, Etawah. Earlier in February this year, acting on a tip-off, Railway Protection Force personnel recovered 150 turtles from a sleeper class bogie of the North East Express at Uttar Pradesh's Deen Dayal Upadhyay junction and detained nine people in this connection. It was also revealed that the turtles were being taken from the Sangam coast of Prayagraj to Katihar in Bihar to be sold in villages there. (ANI) Following the incident, the officials of the Revenue Department sealed the Bar, they said. The deceased have been identified as Vivek (36) and Kuppusamy (68) Thanjavur Collector, Dinesh Ponraj said in a statement that around 12 pm on Sunday, two people consumed alcohol at TASMAC bar in Thanjavur and became ill. "One person died on the way to hospital while the other person died in the Hospital during the treatment," he said in a statement. "As per the Forensic report of the two deceased, there was no methanol in alcohol but a mix of Cyanide poison is suspected to be present in the alcohol," the Collector said, adding that further investigation is underway. "A First Information Report has been registered in this matter and bodies were sent for autopsy, he said. A special team has been formed to investigate this matter," he said. During a preliminary investigation, it was revealed that one of the deceased Vivek had some family issues. "We are investigating the case from all possible angles whether it is suicide or murder," he said. Meanwhile, Thanjavur SP Ashish Rawat said, "We are trying to track CCTV footage. After investigation, action would be taken on the Bar owner. A case has been registered under section 174 of the IPC. A special team is investigating this case". (ANI) New Delhi [India], May 22 ANI): Union Minister Meenakashi Lekhi on Sunday hit out at Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Admi Party and said the purpose of the Ordinance brought by the Central-led BJP government with respect to transfer of bureaucrats in Delhi is to investigate the alleged corruption of the party. Speaking with ANI, Lekhi said, "Ordinance has been brought to investigate the corruption done by them (Aam Admi Party). Those (political leaders) who will come in for their support will also be called corrupt". Her remarks came after Kejriwal said that he will seek the support of the leaders of the Opposition parties against the Centre's Ordinance days after the Supreme Court ruling empowering the AAP. Arvind Kejriwal will meet Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) president Sharad Pawar and former Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray this week in Mumbai to seek support against the Centre's ordinance on the transfer of bureaucrats in the national capital. Kejriwal will meet Thackeray on May 24 and Pawar on May 25, according to Aam Aadmi Party. Meanwhile, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Sunday held a meeting with his Delhi counterpart Arvind Kejriwal in the national capital and extended his support to the AAP chief against the Centre bringing an ordinance to give the control of 'services' back to Delhi Lieutenant Governor. Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav was also present at the occasion. On Friday, the Union government brought an ordinance to notify rules for the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (GNCTD) regarding the 'transfer posting, vigilance and other incidental matters'. The ordinance has been brought to amend the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi Act, 1991 and it circumvents the SC judgement in the Centre vs Delhi case. Earlier on Saturday, AAP national convenor called the move "undemocratic and illegal" alleging that it "attacks the basic structure of the Constitution". He also accused the Centre of "challenging the apex court" ruling and purposefully waiting for the court to close till 4 pm for passing the ordinance. Kejriwal said, "For a government to run efficiently, it is very important the officers come under the control of the elected government as the court also noted. On Friday, the SC closed at 4 pm, and they (Bharatiya Janata Party) brought the ordinance at 10 pm on the same day". (ANI) A Madhya Pradesh police constable, who had shot at a woman and her father killing him, later died by suicide by jumping in front of a train, officials said. The incident occurred at Malikhedi village under Berchha police station limits in the Shajapur district at around 1 am on Monday. After the incident, the constable ended his life by jumping in front of a train. The constable has been identified as Subhash Kharadi and he was posted in Dewas police lines. "Police received information in the night that a person had shot a woman and her father due to a love affair under Berchha police station limits in the district. Acting on the information the police rushed to spot and started an investigation after registering a case into the matter. The woman sustained injuries while her father died in the incident," Sub Divisional Officer of Police (SDOP) Bhavishya Bhaskar told ANI. In the same case, information was received in the morning that a body was found near a railway track in the area. After which, the police reached the spot and began further investigation in the matter, he added. (ANI) Kurnool(Andhra Pradesh) [India], May 22 ( ANI): Amid the protests of his party cadres, CBI officers reached Vishwabharati Hospital in Kurnool on Monday morning to question YSRCP MP YS Avinash Reddy in connection with the YS Vivekananda Murder case. According to sources, YSRCP MP YS Avinash Reddy wrote to CBI on last Saturday seeking 10-day relief from questioning in connection with the YS Vivekananda Murder case, stating his mother's ill health as the reason. But CBI has issued him a fresh summon to appear before investigating officer today. The CBI team reached the hospital today morning and police blocked the roads and didn't allow the YSRCP cadre to reach the hospital. A month before the General elections in 2019, Vivekananda Reddy, a former MP, was found murdered at his residence in Pulivendula on March 15, 2019. CBI took over the investigation in July 2020 on the orders of the High Court of Andhra Pradesh. The case was earlier registered at Police Station Pulivendula in Kadapa (Andhra Pradesh). CBI has filed a requisition with the Kadapa police before reaching the Vishwabharati hospital where YS Avinash Reddy's mother was admitted on 19th May. YSRCP MP YS Avinash Reddy wrote to CBI last Saturday seeking 10-day relief from questioning in connection with the YS Vivekananda Murder case, stating his mother's ill health as the reason. However, CBI has issued him a fresh summon to appear before investigating officer on Monday. Avinash Reddy skipped the CBI's summoning of questioning on May 16. And he claimed that on May 19 he was enroute to the CBI office to appear before its officers before he got to know that his mother was sick so he went back to visit her. Avinash Reddy's father YS Bhaskar Reddy was arrested in April in connection with the murder case and he was lodged in Chanchalguda prison along with Uday Reddy, the other accused in the murder case. In late March this year, the Supreme Court set aside the Telangana High Court order granting interim relief from arrest to Kadapa MP YS Avinash Reddy in the YS Vivekananda Reddy murder case and said such a decision prejudices the investigation. (ANI) Security was stepped up at the Guwahati airport to maintain a law and order situation ahead of Srinivas BV's arrival. On April 22, Assam police registered a case on Saturday based on the complaint filed by Dr Angkita Dutta, former President of Assam Youth Congress against Indian Youth Congress President Srinivas BV. In her complaint, Angkita alleged Srinivas BV of "harassing" and "discriminating" against her for the past six months. Meanwhile, Section 144 of CrPC was also been imposed in the Police Commissionerate, Guwahati area to ensure peaceful movement of the public, traffic and normal activities of local residents and functioning of offices of the jurisdiction of Police Commissionerate, Guwahati. Angkita, the former president of Assam Youth Congress was expelled from the party for anti-party activities on April 22. On May 17, the Supreme Court granted anticipatory bail to Indian Youth Congress president Srinivas BV in an FIR registered against him by expelled woman party member for allegedly causing her mental agony. A bench of Justices BR Gavai and Sanjay Karol granted anticipatory bail to Srinivas to cooperate with the probe and asked him to appear before the police on May 22. It also issued notice to the state of Assam and others and posted the matter for hearing on July 10. Taking into account the one-month delay in lodging the FIR, the apex court determined that Srinivas was entitled to interim protection. (ANI) Later, in the day Vice President will be inaugurating the Silver Jubilee Celebrations of the Kerala Legislative Assembly building in Thiruvananthapuram, where he will address the gathering and release a Souvenir of Kerala Legislature International Book Festival - 2023. The Legislative Assembly building was inaugurated on May 22, 1998, by former President KR Narayanan. Later in the day, Vice President Dhankhar will visit the Indian Naval Academy (INA), Ezhimala, Kannur, where he will interact with the cadets. This marks the first visit by any Vice President to the INA. During the tour of Kannur, Vice President Dhankhar will pay respects to his teacher Rathna Nair at her residence in Thalassery. Nair taught Dhankhar when he was a student at Sainik School, Chittorgarh. Earlier, on Sunday, Jagdeep Dhankhar had paid obeisance at Sree Padmanabhaswamy temple in Thiruvananthapuram. Taking to Twitter, the Vice President said, "Blessed to have the darshan at the sacred Sree Padmanabhaswamy temple today and prayed for the welfare and happiness of all. The tranquil ambience and captivating architecture of the majestic temple showcase Kerala's rich heritage." "May the Lord's blessings continue to touch the countless souls seeking guidance and solace," he added. (ANI) Three robbers allegedly trespassed into the house of a local trader at a village in Uttar Pradesh's Rampur district, locked him in a room and reportedly gang-raped his wife, and daughter late on Saturday, said the police. An FIR was subsequently registered against three unidentified persons under IPC section 392 (robbery). According to the police, they received a complaint on Sunday from Shah Mohammad, a resident of Bilari Road under Saifni police station that three robbers forcefully entered his house and took him and his family hostage and looted Rs 5,000, a mobile phone and some valuables. However, later the accused came up with a fresh complaint and claimed that during the robbery incident, the accused also raped his wife and daughter but he had forgotten to mention it earlier, added the police. Following the information, Superintendent of Police Ashok Kumar Shukla visited the spot and gave necessary directions to the officials. "At present a case has been registered, on the basis of the statements made by the complaint, Investigation is being done to verify the claims made in the complaint. Medical examination of both the females is being done." The shocking incident is reminiscent of the Bulandshahr highway gangrape case, where a woman and her 13-year-old daughter were gang-raped by five bandits near Dostpur village in Bulandshahr district on the Delhi-Kanpur highway in July 2016. (ANI) Begusarai( Bihar) [India], May 22 ( ANI): Bihar police on Monday conducted a raid in Bhagwanpur village of Begusarai district and arrested two persons allegedly possessing liquor, said the authorities. Bihar is a dry state where the sale of alcohol has been prohibited since 2016 under the Bihar Prohibition and Excise Act, 2016. "We conducted a raid in Bhagwanpur village and detained 2 persons with liquor," said Pramod Kumar sub-inspector, Excise. The police said the raid was interfered with by some miscreants who pelted stones and bricks at the police personnel. And the police team had to fire shots in the air in order to contain the situation. "Some people interfered and tried to stop us. They pelted stones and bricks. We had to fire shots into the air. No one was injured in the firing," Pramod Kumar said. In March this year, Enforcement Directorate (ED) recovered 14 bottles of liquor during a raid at the residence of SP Sinha - the owner of Patna's famous Maurya Hotel, a police official had said. The ED officials who recovered the carton of liquor handed it to the Rupaspur police station and later a case was registered in the Roopspur police station under sections of the Prohibition and Excise Act, said the officer. (ANI) In a shocking incident, a bride was shot at by a Bihar Police personnel hours before her marriage in the city of Munger on Sunday, officials said. According to officials, the accused was identified as Aman Kumar, a personnel of Bihar Police currently posted in Patna. The incident took place on Sunday night when the victim had gone to a beauty parlour for bridal make-up. The bride, Apoorva Kumari (26), daughter of Jitendra Kumar and a resident of Maheshpur, Tarapur Diara of the Mufassil police station area, was to get married on Sunday. The bride arrived at a beauty parlour to get ready for the wedding located at Kasturba Water Works of Kasim Bazar police station area, when the accused Aman Kumar fired a bullet at the bride. The accused, Aman Kumar also reached there and shot at her. The bullet hit the left shoulder from behind and exited from the right side of the chest. The beauty parlour staff said that "Aman Kumar had come along with the girl. While the bride was getting dressed, the young man stood behind the girl. We thought he was a family member." They also stated that while the bride was getting ready, the accused shot the victim from behind, after which he tried shooting himself. However, a staff member prevented him from doing so. "Meanwhile, the accused Aman loaded the bullet in the pistol and shot the girl from behind. After this Aman also tried to shoot himself, but he was unsuccessful. The staff of the parlour tried to catch the accused. However, he somehow escaped," they said. After receiving the information about the incident from the bride's father, the Sub-Divisional Police Officer (SDPO) Sadar, Rajesh Kumar and the police reached the spot. According to SDPO, after recording the statement of the family members, the CCTV footage was searched during which the police identified the accused. "The police interacted with the beauty parlour staff and the CCTV footage of the incident was also searched. Police identified the youth in the footage. Police also stated that the accused will be arrested soon. Raids are also being conducted to arrest the youth," said the SDPO. The officials said that the bride was admitted to Sadar Hospital for treatment. Civil Surgeon Sadar Hospital, PM Sahay stated that the shot was fired from behind and the bullet had passed through the victim's right shoulder. He also added that the victim was out of danger. "One bullet passed through the right shoulder and exited from the side chest. The girl's condition is out of danger. A CT scan is being conducted," the surgeon said. The police have recovered a pistol, a hollow and two live cartridges from the spot of the incident, the SDPO said. SDPO Kumar added that the police were investigating the matter further and probing it from every perspective. "The police are investigating the matter. The police are probing it from every angle," said Kumar. (ANI) Former chief minister Basavaraj Bommai on Monday accused the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) officials of negligence in taking up precautionary measures against heavy rains, despite warnings from the Meteorological Department. Talking to the media persons in Bengaluru, Bommai said, "It was painful that the life of a woman was snuffed out in rains that lashed only for a few hours in the State capital on Sunday." "Heavy rains and underpass waterlogging happened earlier also but I don't remember any death happening before...this (death) could have been avoided and timely action by BBMP could have saved the life. There are some lapses, needs to look into it": Former Karnataka CM Basavaraj Bommai on the death of techie due to the waterlogging in the underpass He added that this incident took place only due to the negligence of the BBMP officials. Soon after the incident, the civic body officials never went to the rescue of the affected people. "We have formed SDRF teams in Bengaluru but that needs to be launched and given more work. The Meteorological department has predicted heavy rains in the next five days," he said. He added, "Required precautions must be taken on war footing as several trees have fallen across the city. Those trees have not been cleared yet. If allowed as it remains, there will be chaos in Bengaluru." He further said, "Chief Minister Siddaramaiah must take immediate steps in this direction. In BBMP, some officials work continuously and many don't work at all. Proper planning must be done in advance". An FIR was registered at Bengaluru's Halasuru Gate Police Station in connection with the death of a 23-year-old woman after a car gets submerged in the flooded underpass in Bengaluru's K.R. Circle on Sunday, police said. The woman has been identified as Bhanurekha. An FIR was registered on the complaint filed by her brother Sandeep. Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah met the family members of 23-year-old woman Bhanurekha who died after drowning in the waterlogged underpass in the KR Circle area in Bengaluru. Severe water-logging was witnessed in an underpass in the KR circle area in Bengaluru after heavy rain lashed the city. Earlier, several people stuck in the underpass were safely rescued and taken to the hospital. Heavy rainfall and hailstorms lashed Bengaluru on Sunday leading to severe water-logging in several parts of the city. (ANI) Ernakulam (Kerala) [India], May 22 ( ANI): Kerala High Court on Monday issued notice to the Chief Minister on a petition seeking a directive to the State Government to provide compensation of Rs 1 crore to the bereaved family of the house surgeon Vandana Das, who died after being stabbed at a government hospital in the state. The court ordered tagging the petition along with the suo moto case initiated by it following the brutal murder. Taking suo moto cognizance of the incident, Kerala High Court slammed the state government and asked to shut down the hospitals if the government cannot protect the doctors. Following the brutal murder, the Kerala government on May 17 approved an ordinance that seeks to ensure workplace safety in healthcare facilities. According to the ordinance any person who commits, attempts to commit, incites or inspires an act of violence at hospitals shall be punished with imprisonment for a term not less than six months and five years and with a fine not less than Rs 50,000 and upto Rs 2 lakh. According to police, S Sandeep (42) out of the blue stabbed house surgeon, Vandana Das (23) when she was dressing his wounds. Having grabbed scissors from the dressing room, Sandeep, who was reportedly under treatment in a de-addiction centre, stabbed Vandana six times causing injuries to her abdomen and back. He also attacked others and vandalised the hospital. A home guard and a sub-inspector also sustained stab injuries. Dr Vandana was shifted to KIMS hospital in Thiruvananthapuram where she succumbed to her injuries, police said. Vandana was a house surgeon at Azeezia medical college, Kollam and she was on duty at Taluk Hospital, Kottarakkara. She was the only daughter of Mohandas and Vasantha Kumari, residents of Kaduthuruthy in the Kottayam district. (ANI) The seizure took place on May 19 and May 20, added the official. As per the official, the seizure included a Kenyan Airways Crew carrying around 1 kg of gold. On Thursday, Mumbai airport customs seized over 4.2 kg of gold dust worth Rs 2.28 crores from an Indian national, an official said. As per the official, the gold dust was recovered from an Indian national arriving from Muscat. "Today Mumbai Airport Customs seized over 4.2 Kg gold dust valued at Rs 2.28 Crores from an Indian national arriving from Muscat. Gold dust was concealed in meticulously stitched pockets inside the jeans, undergarments & knee caps worn by the passenger," the official said. The video of the gold being seized by the Mumbai airport customs also surfaced on social media. (ANI) The Muslim side on Monday submitted its written objections before the Varanasi District Court in the matter of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) investigation of the entire Gyanvapi mosque premises. The court has fixed July 7 for the next hearing in the case. A petition was filed in a court here last Tuesday seeking an Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) survey of the entire premises of the Gyanvapi complex, and not only the "shivling" as ordered by the Allahabad High Court. The court had also given time till May 19 to the Anjuman Intezamia Masjid Committee to file objections to the fresh petition filed by the Hindu side. A copy of the application was also given to the Masjid Committee. The petition was filed after the Allahabad High Court had ordered the ASI to conduct a scientific survey of the alleged shivling-like structure that was found in the Gyanvapi complex by the ASI last year. Later, the Hindu side came up with a fresh demand of conducting a survey of the entire complex instead of restricting it to the 'shivling' alone. Supreme Court lawyer Vishnu Shankar Jain, on behalf of six petitioners, has requested a survey of the entire area. "We had filed an application that the whole premises of the alleged mosque should be surveyed using Ground Penetrating Radar. Today, District Court, Varanasi has directed Anjuman Intezamia, UP govt to file its objection in court by May 19, next hearing May 22," Advocate Vishnu Shankar Jain told the reporters. The petition has been filed on behalf of Ram Prasad Singh, Mahant Shiv Prasad Pandey, Lakshmi Devi, Sita Sahu, Manju Vyas and Rekha Pathak The Allahabad High Court on Friday, allowed the Archeological Survey of India (ASI) to conduct carbon dating of alleged 'Shivling', which was found during the survey in the Gyanvapi Mosque campus. The 'Wazu' area of the Gyanvapi mosque is the centre of the Gyanvapi mosque-Kashi Vishwanath temple dispute between Hindus and Muslims since the Hindu parties claim that 'Shivling' has been found in that spot, however, the Muslim side disputed the same and said that it is only a water fountain. On May 20, 2022, the Supreme Court ordered the transfer of the case related to worship at Gyanvapi mosque from the civil judge to the district judge, Varanasi. On May 17, 2022, in an interim order, the top court directed the authorities to protect the 'Wazu' area where the 'Shivling' was reportedly found and granted access to Muslims for namaz. However, the Supreme Court on Friday deferred the "scientific survey", including carbon dating, of a "Shivling" said to have been found at the Gyanvapi mosque complex in Varanasi during a videographic survey last year. (ANI) A special National Investigation Agency (NIA) Court in Jharkhand's Ranchi on Monday sent Dinesh Gope, self-styled supremo of the outlawed Naxal outfit, People's Liberation Front of India (PLFI), to eight days custody. Dinesh Gope alias Kuldeep Yadav alias Badku was produced before the NIA court today, a day after he was arrested by the anti-terror agency from the national capital. Gope, a resident of Khunti district in Jharkhand, was earlier chargesheeted by the NIA in the case relating to the recovery of demonetized currency of Rs 25.38 lakh from the operatives of PLFI. He was absconding in the case which is among one of the two cases being investigated by the NIA's Ranchi branch against the PLFI. According to NIA investigations, more than 102 criminal cases are registered against Gope in Jharkhand, Bihar and Odisha, and most of these cases relate to murders, abductions, threats, extortion, and raising funds for the PLFI, a Maoist outfit formed in 2007 in Jharkhand and also a splinter group of the Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist). The NIA had also declared a reward of Rs 5 lakh for leads on Gope, in addition to the reward of Rs 25 lakh announced by the Jharkhand Government. "Gope had been absconding for almost two decades," said the NIA. On February 3 last year, the NIA said, an encounter had taken place between a Gope-led PLFI squad and security personnel in the forest area under Gudri Police Station of West Singhbhum district of Jharkhand. "Several rounds were fired in the encounter before the rebels sneaked into the forest and Gope managed to escape. He had been absconding since then, and had been taking shelter at different places while making all efforts to re-establish the PLFI's stronghold in Jharkhand," said the anti-terror agency. The NIA said that Gope used to extort money and execute attacks through his PLFI team members to terrorize businessmen, contractors and the public at large. "Gope along with his associates was involved in depositing the demonetized currency in a bank account at a petrol pump to be later collected through levy and extortion. The illegal money was then invested through banking channels and dubious shell companies in the name of close associates and family members of the accused Gope," reveals the NIA, citing its investigations. The case was initially registered on November 10, 2016, at Bero Police Station in Ranchi, and re-registered by the NIA on January 19, 2018. The police had filed the first Chargesheet against four persons on January 9, 2017. The NIA filed the first Supplementary Chargesheet in the case against 11 accused, including Gope. Subsequently, the NIA filed the second supplementary chargesheet in the case on July 23 last year against five individuals and three private limited companies. The NIA had also attached 14 bank accounts and two cars alongwith cash and immovable property worth more than a crore in the case. Known previously as Jharkhand Liberation Tigers (JLT), PLFI is responsible for hundreds of terror incidents in Jharkhand, including several murders using firearms, as per the NIA investigations. "The outfit used to lure unemployed youth by providing them motorbikes, mobile phones and easy money and after imparting training, used to equip them with lethal weapons to carry out terror incidents." "Extortion is PLFI's major source of income and the outfit has been targeting coal traders, railway contractors and various private entities involved in developmental projects in various districts of Jharkhand. The naxal outfit had also formed alliances with different criminal gangs in order to spread their nefarious activities, and executed several incidents of murders and arson in Jharkhand," said the NIA. As per the central probe agency, Gope was part of a criminal conspiracy to channelize the extorted funds collected from the contractors and businessmen engaged in the developmental projects in Jharkhand. "Gope was involved in investing these funds in dubious shell companies like Palak Enterprises, Shiv Adi Shakti, Shiv Shakti Samridhi Infra Pvt Ltd and Bhavya Engicon, formed in partnership with other PLFI associates and his family members. The extorted money was also being transferred from Jharkhand to other places through a network of hawala operators." In July 2007, Masi Charan Purty, a renegade of the CPI-Maoist, along with several of his followers, had joined Gope in order to raise PLFI as a Naxal outfit, said the NIA. Though Masi Charan Purty was subsequently arrested, the federal agency said the PLFI spread its activities under Gope's command. He used to collect huge amounts of extortion money, which was further used to procure sophisticated weapons, including AK 47s and foreign-made Rifles, such as HK 33, said NIA. (ANI) The meeting was held at Kharge's residence. RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav, who has accompanied Nitish Kumar in such meetings, was not present at Kharge's residence due to "health reasons," sources said. The meeting comes in the backdrop of suggestions for a big opposition meeting in Patna. Nitish Kumar and Tejashwi Yadav had met Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in the national capital on Sunday and had extended support to the AAP leader against the Centre bringing an ordinance which is seen to have nullified Supreme Court judgement handing over reins of "services" to the Delhi government with some exceptions. The ordinance creates National Capital Civil Service Authority. Nitish Kumar slammed the Centre and asked, "how can powers given to an elected government be taken away?" "It's against the Constitution. We stand with Arvind Kejriwal," he said. The Bihar Chief Minister said they will hold meetings in the future. "We are trying to bring together all opposition parties in the country." Nitish Kumar and Tejashwi Yadav had met Kharge and Rahul Gandhi last month also. (ANI) The 76th World Health Assembly is being held from May 21 to 30. In resonance with India's commitment to a healthier world, the Union Health Minister will deliver a keynote address at side events for 'Heal in India and Heal by India', as well as 'Together we fight against TB' reiterating India's contribution in the field of Medical Value Travel and India's resolve to eliminate Tuberculosis from India by 2025. During the course of his stay till May 24, the Union Minister will attend various bilateral meetings from nations across the globe, fostering opportunities for healthcare collaborations between the participating countries and also participating in media interaction. The bilateral meetings will engage representatives from Singapore, France, Netherlands, USA, Bangladesh, Argentina, Brazil, Qatar and Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Additionally, a multilateral meeting is also scheduled with representatives from BRICS (Brazil, Russia, China and South Africa). The key agenda for this assembly will include discussions and deliberations on the issues of Universal Health Coverage, Public Health Emergencies, Health & Well-Being, and more effective and efficient World Health Organization (WHO) emphasizing the importance of global collaborations and partnerships for building resilient global health architecture and collectively striving to achieve Universal Health Coverage through value-based healthcare. (ANI) According to the Additional Superintendant (ASI) Srinagar Police Station, Hanuman Lal, the police received the information that an unknown vehicle had hit an Eeco. The Eeco car which was en route to Ajmer from Jaipur met an accident in which the family members got seriously injured, after which they were shifted to the hospital where three of them succumbed, the police said. "The deceased in the car accident were identified as Bhagchand Taylor, a girl named Hridaya, and Gyanchand," the ASI said. The police said that the bodies of the deceased were handed over to the relatives. A case was registered against the unidentified driver of the vehicle. "We have registered a case into the matter and have also started searching for the accused driver," said the police. (ANI) As a part of the sequel undertaken to bring about police modernization in Assam, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Monday attended the first-ever conference of the commandants at the Police Training Centre in Dergaon. The conference has been organised to help the Assam Police Battalions transform them into vibrant bodies capable of meeting their mandate. Delivering his introductory speech, Chief Minister Sarma said that considering the important role played by the commandants and the Assam Police Battalions, the commandants; the conference will be organised every six months. "This will be done to bring about positive changes in the rank and file of the battalions and give a more result-oriented police force to the state," CMO said in a release. The Chief Minister also said that since Assam Police Battalions are the backbones of the policing system, he would visit the battalions during his district tours. Sarma also observed that training plays an important role and therefore in shaping the professionalism and readiness of the police personnel, retired army officers will be appointed in the rank of Additional Superintendent of Police to impart training. The officer would be in charge of a rigorous training regimen to help the police personnel to meet the changing dynamics in crimes. He also said that attention will be given to ensure that the personnel belonging to different battalions are not used for any purpose other than those exclusively connected to bonafide policing. The Chief Minister said that steps will be taken to ensure that there is a positive change in the mindset of the forces of the battalions to make them feel that Commandants and forces belonging to different battalions are an integral part of the Police Forces in Assam. "Adequate steps will be taken to empower the Assam Police Battalions so that they themselves are complete to deal with law and order in the state. They will also be reoriented to control the mob without using lethal weapons or using them to the minimum extent possible," CMO said. With the continuous improvement of the law and order situation in the state, AFSPA will likely be lifted from the entire state by the end of this year. The Armed Forces Special Powers Act empowers security forces to arrest a person without a warrant and enter or search premises without a warrant. In such a situation, Assam Police battalions would be empowered to replace Central Armed Police Forces other than the number of CAPFs whose presence is mandatory in the state as per law. (ANI) The accused have been identified as Mohammed Sojibmiya, Munna Khalid Ansari, Azarul Islam Ansari and Abdul Latif. "Based on the intel received, four illegal Bangladeshi immigrants working to recruit for 'Al-Qaeda' were arrested," Gujarat ATS DIG Deepan Bhadran said. According to the ATS, the accused attempted to radicalize people in Gujarat and sent money to Bangladesh as well. "Gujarat, ATS got information that four Bangladeshi nationals were living illegally in Ahmedabad's Odhav and Narol area on duplicate IDs. They are associated with Al-Qaeda and are motivating the muslim people of the city to join the militant organisation and are collecting funds as well for Al-Qaeda," the official statement said. Fake documents and incriminating literature were recovered from their home. "The ATS during search operation got hold of duplicate Aadhaar card and PAN card from the accused as well as documents printed by the Al-Qaeda Media wing," it said. A case has been registered against the four under Sections 38, 39 and 40 of IPC," the statement added further. (ANI) According to the Indian Army, two weapons also have been recovered. "Responding to inputs of likely clash on the outskirts of Imphal, Manipur today morning, Army and Assam Rifles columns moved in time and the situation was brought under control. 3 suspects were apprehended and 2 weapons have been recovered," an Army official said. It further said that the situation is, however peaceful. Manipur has been witnessing ethnic clashes connected to multiple issues for almost a month. A curfew was imposed on May 3 after violence broke out in the State and the Manipur 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. On Saturday, Kuki militants set ablaze houses at Meitei village Dolaithabi in the state's East Imphal district. Several houses were burnt and some were vandalized. Heavy security force personnel were deployed in the village after the incident. People gathered and raised slogans against the incident. Notably, as per the locals, the village is attacked on a regular basis. However, normalcy is slowly returning to Manipur after violence left 70 people dead and 1,700 houses were burnt down. As per the 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) The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) will organise a 'Maha-Rally' in the national capital to voice its opposition against the Centre's ordinance, Delhi Minister Gopal Rai said on Monday. The rally, scheduled to take place at Ramlila Maidan on June 11, aims to unite people in the support of Aam Aadmi Party. The Union government brought an ordinance to notify rules for the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (GNCTD) regarding the 'transfer posting, vigilance and other incidental matters'. "Against this decision of the Central government led by PM Modi, the Aam Aadmi Party has decided to run a campaign together with the people of Delhi. On June 11, the people of Delhi under the aegis of AAP will organise a Maha Rally at Ramlila Maidan to express their anger against this Ordinance," AAP Delhi State Convenor and Cabinet Minister Gopal Rai said at a press conference. Rai appealed to the people of Delhi to support and join the rally and raise their voices against this Ordinance, irrespective of political affiliations. "After the Supreme Court's decision to preserve the rights of the electorate of Delhi and grant power to the elected government over the bureaucracy, the manner in which the central government and the Prime Minister have issued an Ordinance is a betrayal of trust of the people of Delhi," he added. Gopal Rai denounced the actions of the central government and said that the people of Delhi have been shocked by the turn of events. "Ever since this Ordinance was issued, you all are seeing that the leaders of BJP are singing praises in favour of this ordinance," he said. "Whether it is the central government of India or the government of a state, every state body or agency receives power from and under the Constitution. For instance, the Constitution is very clear about what powers ought to be given to Delhi's elected government and what powers ought to be wielded by the Lieutenant-Governor," Rai added. Gopal Rai also said that despite the apex court's judgement, the central government has issued the Ordinance. "This is the insult not only to the elected government of Delhi but also to the two crore people of Delhi," he added. Meanwhile, the Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Sunday held a meeting with his Delhi counterpart Arvind Kejriwal here and extended his support to the AAP chief against the Centre's Ordinance. Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav was also present on the occasion. (ANI) A man with several criminal cases registered in his name was allegedly shot dead by unidentified persons in the Jahangirpuri area of North Delhi on Monday afternoon, the police said. "A man was shot dead in the Jahangirpuri area this afternoon. The name of the deceased is Bijendra Yadav, who was a resident of Bhalswa village," officials said. They said that the deceased, identified as Bijendra Yadav, was a resident of the same area where he was killed. "The victim was shot four to five times. Several criminal cases were previously registered against Bijendra, and he used to do property work," police said while drawing the possibility of a mutual enmity behind the killing of the man. Police said that no information about the accused involved in the incident was received, and a probe has been initiated to identify and trace them. "We are scanning the CCTV footage of the area where the incident took place," police said. They said that a case has been registered against unidentified persons, and efforts to nab the accused are on. "We are further investigating the case," the police added. In another incident reported in Delhi's Ashok Vihar area on Monday, a youth was allegedly stabbed to death during a minor fight. The victim had gone to a park with his friends when a group of people came there and got into an argument with them over a silly matter. The argument soon turned into a heated one, during which one of them took out a knife and stabbed him youth, police said. The victim was rushed to a hospital where he was declared brought dead. (ANI) The incident happened in Noorpur Bet village of the district and the deceased were identified as Kuldeep Singh (65), his wife Paramjit Kaur, and his son Pali Grewal. They had brutal head injuries. According to the police, the incident came to light when the daughter of the deceased made repeated calls which went unanswered. After this, she approached the village Sarpanch and requested to enquiry about her family. The Sarpanch and other villagers reached the spot and found three dead bodies lying in a blood-soaked condition inside the house. After getting the incident information senior police officials rushed to the spot and started an investigation. Ludhiana Commissioner of Police Mandeep Singh Sidhu also reached the spot and inspected the crime scene. "A retired ASI of Punjab police his wife and so were found dead in the house. Primarily it seems to be a murder and the assailants have attacked the victims with some sharp object. Dead bodies are being sent for postmortem," the police commissioner said. "We are investigating the matter and required actions are being taken," he added. (ANI) Uttar Pradesh government and the Gyeongsangbuk-do province of the Republic of Korea on Monday signed a slew of Memorandums of Understanding (MoU) for strengthening educational, economic and cultural relations between both the provinces. A high-level delegation led by Lee Cheolwoo, Governor of Gyeongsangbuk-do province of the Republic of Korea (South Korea) reached Uttar Pradesh for the MoU signing ceremony which was held in the presence of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. On behalf of the Uttar Pradesh Government, the MoU was signed by Manoj Kumar Singh, Infrastructure and Industrial Development Commissioner while Lee Youngseok, Director General, Bureau of Economic and Industrial Affairs, Gyeongsangbuk-do Province, represented the Korean side. Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said that the MoU signed between the Gyeongsangbuk-do province of South Korea and Uttar Pradesh is an important step towards enhancing bilateral cooperation. The exchange of expertise in various fields and the promotion of mutual investment will contribute to the prosperity and progress of the two regions. Welcoming the guests from South Korea, Chief Minister Yogi said, "The dates of Independence Day of both countries are the same. Today India is celebrating the 'Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav'. The relations between India and South Korea are old as both are members of the G-20". He further added that two thousand years ago, Ayodhya's princess Shriratna was married to King Suro of Jimgwan, who travelled to South Korea by water route and was known as Heo Hwang. The symbol of the Jimgawan kingdom is the twin fish which is found in several historical monuments in the Awadh region of Uttar Pradesh, including Ayodhya. The Chief Minister informed that the foundation of the Queen Ho Memorial Park in Ayodhya was laid on November 6, 2018, in the presence of the first lady of South Korea, Kim Jung Sook and that its construction has been completed. Referring to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's speech at the UN, the Chief Minister said that many countries of the world have given war to humanity but Buddhist followers have deep respect for India. All the important places like Sarnath, Shravasti, Kushinagar, Kapilvastu, Sankisa, and Kaushambi associated with Lord Buddha are in Uttar Pradesh. He added that the International Airport has become operational in Kushinagar under the Buddhist Circuit, boosting investment and employment opportunities in this sector. Soon Shravasti will be connected with air service. CM Yogi said that the world's renowned electronic companies including Samsung and LG are considered to be born in South Korea's GB province. Similarly, Uttar Pradesh is the largest consumer centre with a population of 250 million and is endowed with fertile Gangetic plains and abundant natural resources. Today UP is moving fast towards becoming a one trillion dollar economy, he added further. Speaking on the occasion, Lee Cheolwoo, Governor of Gyeongsangbuk-do Province, expressed his gratitude for the warm welcome and expressed commitment to strengthening ties between Gyeongsangbuk-do and Uttar Pradesh. At the end of the program, Chief Minister Yogi hosted a dinner in honour of the South Korean guests. (ANI) Dubai [UAE], May 22 (ANI/WAM): Dubai Customs (DC) has successfully seized, over the past three years, nearly 330 tonnes and over 200 samples of animal and plant species that violate the International Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), to which the United Arab Emirates joined in 1990. This came in a statement by DC where it affirmed its support for the UAE's pivotal role in preserving environmental sustainability by combating illegal trafficking in hazardous materials and waste. The UAE will be hosting COP28 from November 30 to December 12, 2023. The conference aims to make progress and create innovative opportunities for a climate-safe world while fostering initiatives to enhance sustainable economic and social development.DC plays a vital role in combating attempts to smuggle prohibited materials. It conducts extensive public awareness campaigns on the importance of protecting endangered animals and plants. This includes organising consecutive exhibitions showcasing confiscated items. This supports the "Green Customs" initiative announced by DC earlier this year. The Green Customs initiative represents a model for international collaboration to prevent illegal trade in environmentally harmful substances. As part of enhancing international cooperation in regulating and implementing the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), the CD's Customs Inspection Division is working on elevating the efficiency of inspectors through qualification and training programmes on various smuggling techniques. (ANI/WAM) The long-awaited Hindi translations of five classical Tibetan Buddhist texts, first obtained from Tibet by famous author Rahul Sankrityayan (1893-1963) for India, are now set for printing, according to Bhutan Live. Tibetan Studies (CIHTS), undertook the arduous endeavour of translating these ancient Tibetan Buddhist manuscripts into Hindi in 2019. This project attempted to bring Buddhism's profound teachings and philosophy to a wider audience. In support of this mission, the Bihar government had set aside 19.4 million rupees (USD234,000) for the printing costs of the Hindi versions. The CIHTS has received the initial funding tranche of 1.55 million rupees (USD18,700) till now. The list of sacred texts awaiting publication includes the Karma Vibhang Sutra, the Pragyaparmitahridaya Sutra, a compendium by Acharya Dipankar Srijnana (980-1053), the Madhyamkalangkar Karika Bhashya Evam Teeka, and an assortment of other rare manuscripts, Bhutan Live reported. "These are the Tibetan versions of original Sanskrit scriptures penned on palm leaves on Buddhism and its philosophy, which were housed in the ancient Nalanda and Vikramshila universities," a researcher elucidated. "These manuscripts were transported to Tibet between the 7th and 11th centuries for their translation and dissemination of Buddhism. These were then translated into Tibetan under the supervision of scholars using handmade paper and natural ink," according to Bhutan Live. Prof. Geshe Ngawang Samten explained that the benefits of translating this Tibetan literature into Hindi would not only benefit the people of Bihar but the entire country. Hundreds of volumes cover a wide range of topics, including astrology, tantra, meditation, medicine, philosophy, justice, and law. These translated texts have the potential to considerably contribute to the preservation and development of the old Nalanda knowledge heritage. "Our vice-chancellor, Prof. Geshe Ngawang Samten, has written to the Chief Minister twice over the past year and met him in person this April in Rajgir to discuss the project and secure the second tranche of funding," stated a CIHTS representative, Bhutan Live reported. Rahul Sankrityayan, known as the "Father of Hindi Travel Literature," was a linguist as well as a creative polymath. He was fluent in Sanskrit, Pali, and Tibetan, and he was well-versed in literature, philosophy, rare books, and art. During his four trips to Tibet, Sankrityayan collected over 10,000 Tibetan manuscripts. (ANI) Dutch politician and former Member of Parliament Harry van Bommel, along with a European delegation is on a visit to Bangladesh from May 20-26, where the delegation will investigate the genocide committed by Pakistan in 1971. The mission is an initiative of the European Bangladesh Forum (EBF) and will also consist of genocide scientist Anthonie Holslag (VU), political analyst Chris Blackburn, British EBF chairman Ansar Ahmed Ullah and Dutch EBF chairman Bikash Chowdhury Barua. The mission's goal is to obtain firsthand information on the genocide committed by the Pakistani army in Bangladesh during the Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971. The delegation tends to meet victims, witnesses, genocide researchers, academics, policymakers and government representatives in Bangladesh. In addition, the team visits a number of killing fields and war museums in and around the capital Dhaka and the second major city Chittagong, according to an official statement. The mission to Bangladesh takes place at a time when there is worldwide attention for the genocide in Bangladesh. Recently, two members of the US Congress submitted a resolution to the US House of Representatives calling on the President of the United States, Joe Biden, to recognize the crimes against humanity committed by the Pakistani military at the time. In the United Kingdom, too, recognition of the 1971 genocide has been discussed in parliament. According to delegation leader Van Bommel, "Dutch recognition of this genocide is relevant because in 1972 the Netherlands was one of the first countries to recognize the independence of Bangladesh." According to the official statement, the fact-finding mission will communicate its findings to the Dutch government and the House of Representatives. The European Bangladesh Forum will also organise a conference on the findings. (ANI) Pakistan Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari on Sunday kickstarted his 3-day long visit to Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) where he will also deliver an address to the people residing in the region, reported Dawn. Bilawal's visit to PoK comes at a time when India decks up to host the third G20 Tourism Working Group Meeting' in Jammu and Kashmir from Monday (May 22) amid high security. Under India's presidency, the third G20 Tourism Working Group meeting is scheduled to take place in Srinagar, the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir from May 22-24. Time and again Pakistan has shown strong discontent at New Delhi's intention to convene the G20 Tourism Working Group conference in Kashmir. Rejecting Pakistan's criticism, India had said G20 meetings are being organized in the entire country and hence it is "natural" to hold meetings in Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh as "these are inalienable parts of India." Pakistan recently slammed India's decision to host a G20 meeting in Srinagar and parts of Kashmir as an "irresponsible move". "G20 meetings are being organized in entire India, in all cities and parts of India. It is therefore natural to hold the meetings in Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh because these are inalienable parts of India," Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) Official Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said during the MEA Weekly Media Briefing. "That is what I would like to say. The meetings are being held in all parts of India, that is our natural response," the MEA official spokesperson said. India announced Srinagar as the venue for the G20 Tourism Working Group meeting scheduled to take place from May 22 to 24. The relations between India and Pakistan have been precarious for many years with regard to cross-border terrorism emanating from Pakistan. Moreover, New Delhi has consistently raised the issue of Pakistan's continued support to cross-border terrorism and terrorist infiltration. It has been said that the people of Jammu and Kashmir have borne the brunt of this terrorism campaign for decades and continue to do so. Pakistan Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari recently visited India for Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Foreign Ministers' meeting in Goa in May. At the meeting, he made remarks on not getting "caught up in weaponising terrorism for diplomatic point scoring." Following that, he was lambasted by External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, who said that it means "they think terrorism is legitimate" and that India is politically, and diplomatically exposing Pakistan before the world as it is a victim of cross-border terrorism. Jaishankar, who addressed a press conference after the meeting of SCO Foreign Ministers, said India is defending itself against terrorism. "The weaponization. It's a very interesting statement because it unconsciously reveals a mindset. What does weaponizing something mean? It means that the activity is legitimate and somebody is weaponizing it. So you say you are weaponizing trade, you are weaponizing technology. Somebody says you are weaponizing terrorism, which means they think terrorism is legitimate, and that we should not weaponize it. That is normal," said Jaishankar. However, Bilawal termed Jaishankar's comments about him being a perpetrator of terrorism as a "joke", the Dawn reported. "This country knows me, have I once even in my political history accidentally sat down with a terrorist?," Dawn quoted Bilawal Bhutto Zardari as saying. "They don't see that even in our country we (PPP) perform a role in the first ranks against appeasing terrorists," he added. As of now, the G20 Working group meeting in Jammu and Kashmir will focus on five key priority areas: Green Tourism, Digitalization, Skills, MSMEs and Destination Management. The meeting aims to strengthen economic growth, preserve cultural heritage and promote sustainable development of the region. The event will witness the participation of G20 member countries, invited countries, international organizations, and industry stakeholders. Harsh Vardhan Shringla, Chief Coordinator G20 said, that it is the vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi that the message of India's G20 Presidency is taken to the grassroot level through active Jan Bhagidari.Shringla appreciated the efforts of the Government to sensitise the people about the goals and purpose of G20 through multiple public activities. The tourism industry has played a crucial role in the development of the Union Territory. However, years of instability have impacted the tourism industry, leading to a decline in the number of visitors. Incidentally, China, which is a close ally of Pakistan on Friday said that it will not attend the next week's G20 Tourism Working Group meeting in Jammu and Kashmir, stating that it is "firmly" opposed to holding any such meetings in the "disputed territory." "China firmly opposes holding any form of G20 meetings on disputed territory. We will not attend such meetings," Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Wang Wenbin said in a regular press conference when asked about several reports doing the rounds that China will boycott G20 meetings planned in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir. India assumed the presidency of the G20 grouping on December 1, 2022, and will hold the post for a year. The G20 summit in Jammu and Kashmir promises to initiate a tidal wave of transformative outcomes, setting the region on a new trajectory towards stability, economic growth, and social development. (ANI) Indian High Commissioner to Australia Manpreet Vohra on Monday appreciated Australian authorities for their "great responsiveness" on the vandalism of Hindu temples and said that he is confident to see a better situation. In an exclusive interview with ANI, the Indian High Commissioner to Australia said, "We are seeing great responsiveness from the Australian authorities to our concerns. We are confident that they will go after those who violate the law and indulge in these hate crimes. I am quite confident that going forward, we will see a better situation." After completing his Papua New Guinea trip, PM Modi is scheduled to visit Australia today. Responding to whether Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese will discuss the issue of vandalism of Hindu temples, Vohra said, "Vandalism of Hindu temples has been a concern in India and he has also raised a concern with Australian PM Anthony Albanese when he came to India. And we received a response from him as well." Earlier during his visit to India in March, Albanese had reiterated that Australia will act with "full force" to prevent attacks against Hindu temples. The issue was raised by PM Modi in the Hyderabad House where the two sides held a formal dialogue. Modi had said the attacks on Hindu temples in Australia had "worried" India. Albanese gave assurance to PM Modi of taking "every action through our police and also our security agencies," to "make sure that anyone responsible for this faces the full force of the law. "I gave him the assurance that Australia is a country that respects people's faith. That we don't tolerate the sort of extreme actions and attacks that we've seen on religious buildings, be they Hindu temples, mosques, synagogues, or churches. This has no place in Australia. We're a tolerant multicultural nation, and there is no place in Australia for this activity," said the Australian PM. In the past few months, the attacks on the Hindu temple have increased. In March, Shree Laxmi Narayan Temple in Brisbane was attacked. Earlier, in January, Shri Shiva Vishnu Temple in Australia's Carrum Downs was also vandalised with anti-Hindu graffiti. A week before the above incident, on January 12, the BAPS Swaminarayan Mandir in Australia's Mill Park was smeared with anti-India and anti-Hindu graffiti. During the interview, the Indian High Commissioner to Australia also spoke about the education and trade partnership between the two countries Vohra said that he is happy and proud of the fact that the first two foreign universities, that were announced earlier about the opening of two campuses in India, are both Australian University: University of Deakin and University of Wollongong. He also said about the Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (ECTA), which was implemented on December 29, 2022. "...ECTA was signed last year and has entered into force also. We have already started negotiations very intensely on the next step which is the full comprehensive economic cooperation agreement (CECA). We are committed, along with Australia, to conclude those negotiations, hopefully possibly, by the end of this year," says Indian High Commissioner to Australia Manpreet Vohra. PM Modi is scheduled to visit Australia from May 22-24, 2023. On PM Modi's visit to Australia, Indian High Commissioner to Australia Manpreet Vohra, said, "He has a very substantive round of bilateral discussions with PM Albanese. He will be following up on the discussions that went on when PM Albanese was in India two months ago. We expect some outcomes & announcements." (ANI) Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday received the highest civilian honour from two Pacific Island countries: Fiji and Papua New Guinea, on the sidelines of the third Forum of India-Pacific Islands Cooperation (FIPIC) Summit. Fiji awarded PM Modi with the highest honour: Companion of the Order of Fiji in recognition of his global leadership. "PM @narendramodi has been conferred the highest honour of Fiji, the Companion of the Order of Fiji. It was presented to him by PM @slrabuka," tweeted the Prime Minister's Office. Fiji Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka conferred PM Modi with the highest honour in the country which is given to only a handful of Non-Fijians. PM Modi said, "...This honour is not just mine but that of 140 crores Indians, of centuries-old India-Fiji relations..." Papua New Guinea also conferred the Companion of the Order of Logohu to PM Modi for championing the cause of unity of Pacific Island countries and spearheading the cause of the Global South. Very few non-residents of Papua New Guinea have received this award. In a tweet, the Prime Minister's Office said, "Papua New Guinea has conferred the Companion of the Order of Logohu on PM Narendra Nodi. It was presented to him by Papua New Guinea Governor-General Sir Bob Dadae." "An honour emblematic of the depth of India-Papua New Guinea relationship. Governor-General Sir Bob Dadae of Papua New Guinea conferred PM Modi with the country's highest civilian award, Grand Companion of the Order of Logohu (GCL)," tweeted Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Arindam Bagchi. PM Modi has also been accorded the "Ebakl Award" of Palau by President Surangel Whipps Jr, on the sidelines of the third India-Pacific Islands Cooperation (FIPIC) Summit in Papua New Guinea. Taking to Twitter, PM Modi said, "Had a wonderful meeting with President Surangel S. Whipps, Jr. of the Republic of Palau on the sidelines of FIPIC Summit." The Prime Minister arrived on the second leg of a visit to Papua New Guinea on Sunday after attending G7 Summit in Japan's Hiroshima. After his visit to Papua New Guinea, Modi will travel to Sydney at the invitation of Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese. PM Modi arrived in Papua New Guinea on May 21 at the Port Moresby airport where Prime Minister James Marape touched PM Modi's feet and sought his blessings. He co-chaired the 3rd India-Pacific Islands Cooperation (FIPIC) Summit. This is not the first time when PM Modi was conferred with the international awards. In 2016, Saudi Arabia awarded PM Modi with the Order of Abdulaziz Al Saud, the highest honour of Saudi Arabia awarded to non-Muslim dignitaries. In the same year, he received the highest civilian honour in Afghanistan, "State Order of Ghazi Amir Amanullah Khan". In 2018, PM Modi was conferred with the highest honour of Palestine award the "Grand Collar of the State of Palestine Award" which is given to foreign dignitaries. Next year, UAE conferred the highest civilian honour to PM Modi which was the Order of Zayed Award. And in the same year, he received the Order of St. Andrew award, the highest civilian honour in Russia. In 2019, he also received the "Order of the Distinguished Rule of Nishan Izzuddin," the highest honour of the Maldives awarded to foreign dignitaries and the King Hamad Order of the Renaissance, this Bahrain Order which is the first class that is a top honour by the gulf country. Next year, the US government conferred PM Modi with the "Legion of Merit," which is an award of America's Armed Forces that is given for exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services and achievements. Bhutan too honoured PM Modi with the highest civilian decoration, the Order of the Druk Gyalpo in December 2021. (ANI) In another incident of gun violence in the US, three people were killed and two others wounded - including one critically - in a shooting at a Kansas City bar early Sunday (local time), police said. Officers responded at 1:25 am to the Klymax Lounge on Indiana Avenue and found multiple victims at the scene, Kansas City Police Officer Donna Drake told Fox News. Police said two of the victims died at the scene - one was found inside the bar and the other was outside the building. A third victim died at the hospital. Two other victims wounded in the shooting were also rushed to a hospital, Drake said. One of the victims was in critical condition, while the other was in stable condition, reported Fox News. Police haven't yet identified the victims other than to say they were all adults, and they didn't release many details about what led to the shooting. The victims were all believed to be adults, according to police, but their ages and identities were not immediately available, reported Fox News. Homicide detectives and crime scene investigators were processing the scene and speaking to potential witnesses early Sunday, police said. No additional details were immediately available. There have been 207 shootings in the US in 2023, as of May 7, CNN reportedThis means that there have been more shootings in the US in 2023 than in any previous year since at least 2013, according to CNN. Mass shootings in the US are being tracked by CNN using data from the Gun Violence Archive, a non-profit group formed in 2013 to track gun-related violence. Both CNN and GVA define a "mass shooting" as a shooting that injured or killed four or more people, not including the shooter. (ANI) Prime Minister Narendra Modi emplaned for Sydney from Port Moresby in Papua New Guinea. PM Modi will be on a three-day visit to Australia, with whom India signed a historic trade deal last year. The prime minister decided to proceed with his visit to Sydney, after US President Joe Biden pulled out from the scheduled Quad Summit that was cancelled and later held on the sidelines of the just concluded G7 summit in Hiroshima During his Australia visit PM Modi will hold a bilateral meeting with his Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese. At their bilateral meeting, the leaders will discuss trade and investment, including efforts to boost trade between the two countries through a Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement and work to strengthen people-to-people links, renewable energy, and defence and security cooperation, said the official statement released by the Australian government. PM Modi will also meet Australian business leaders to drive Australia's growing trade and investment relationship with India and take forward opportunities from the Australia-India CEO Forum held in Mumbai in March," according to the statement. "During the visit, the Prime Ministers will attend a community event in Sydney to celebrate Australia's dynamic and diverse Indian diaspora, a core part of our multicultural community," the statement added. Meanwhile, Australian PM Albanese said he looks forward to visiting India in September in New Delhi for the G20 Leaders' Summit, the world's premier forum for economic cooperation. Earlier today in Papua New Guinea, PM Modi underlined the role of capacity building in the India-Pacific Island countries partnership. He interacted with alumni of the Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC) from across Pacific Island Countries (PIC). "These ITEC alumni, including government officials, professionals and community leaders, are contributing to their societies using the skills gained in India. PM lauded them for keeping India in their hearts and reiterated his support for capacity-building efforts in the region," according to Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi. Earlier today, PM Modi also interacted with New Zealand Prime Minister Chris Hipkins. It is pertinent to mention that this is the first meeting since Hipkins became the country's Prime Minister. "Had an excellent meeting with the New Zealand PM Chris Hipkins and discussed the full rage of India-New Zealand relations. We talked about how to improve commercial and cultural linkages between our nations," tweeted PM Narendra Modi. PM Modi also interacted with the leaders of Pacific Island nations on the sidelines of the third India-Pacific Islands Cooperation (FIPIC) Summit in Papua New Guinea's capital Port Moresby. The Third Forum for India-Pacific Islands Cooperation (FIPIC) Summit held at Port Moresby on Monday, was jointly hosted with Papua New Guinea. Prime Minister Narendra Modi co-chaired the Summit with Prime Minister James Marape of Papua New Guinea. PM Modi also hosted a banquet lunch with Indian cuisine and millets for the leaders of the Pacific Island countries. Australia is the final leg of the three-nation visit of PM Modi who began his journey by attending the G7 and Quad Summits in the Japanese city of Hiroshima.(ANI) As per the details, the NAB has sought answers to 30 questions from former Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Buzdar n the assets beyond means case. Buzdar is accused of constructing an 'illegal' bus stand on the government's land in Muzaffargarh, reported ARY News. The former Chief Minister did not appear before the NAB office despite receiving two previous summons. Usman Buzdar has obtained interim bail from the Accountability Court, which provides him with temporary relief from potential arrest or detention during the proceedings. Earlier in the day, the anti-corruption court dismissed the interim bail that was granted to Buzdar over a no-show, according to ARY News. An anti-corruption judge scrapped the interim bail as the former chief minister did not show up before the court. Previously, the Lahore High Court (LHC) refrained police from arresting the former chief minister of Punjab and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Usman Buzdar, The Nation reported. (ANI) As Prime Minister Narendra Modi is about to arrive in Sydney in the last leg of his three-nation visit, the Indian diaspora is eagerly waiting for his arrival and to offer him a warm welcome. The members expressed their excitement to meet the Prime Minister. https://twitter.com/ANI/status/1660583670108004352 "PM Modi has given India a new identity. We are excited and looking forward to meeting him. This is a lifetime opportunity for us," said members of the Indian diaspora. "We are very excited to meet our Prime Minsiter. Last he came in 2014 but we saw him from afar. We hope to meet and greet him this time," said one of the members. Another member of the Indian diaspora said, "Besabri Se Intezar Hai PM Modi Ke Aane Ka (We are eagerly waiting for PM Modi to arrive)." "We've been all waiting for him. I've met him earlier but I'm looking forward to seeing him again. It is important for our children as well to meet him," she added. Prime Minister Narendra Modi to visit Sydney, Australia in the last leg of his three-nation visit. After US President Joe Biden pulled out from the scheduled Quad Summit that was cancelled and later held on the sidelines of the just concluded G7 summit in Hiroshima, the prime minister decided to proceed with his visit to Sydney. During his Australia visit PM Modi will hold a bilateral meeting with his Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese. At their bilateral meeting, the leaders will discuss trade and investment, including efforts to boost trade between the two countries through a Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement and work to strengthen people-to-people links, renewable energy, and defence and security cooperation, said the official statement released by the Australian government. PM Modi will also meet Australian business leaders to drive Australia's growing trade and investment relationship with India and take forward opportunities from the Australia-India CEO Forum held in Mumbai in March," according to the statement."During the visit, the Prime Ministers will attend a community event in Sydney to celebrate Australia's dynamic and diverse Indian diaspora, a core part of our multicultural community," the statement added. Meanwhile, Australian PM Albanese said he looks forward to visiting India in September in New Delhi for the G20 Leaders' Summit, the world's premier forum for economic cooperation. Earlier today, PM Modi also interacted with New Zealand Prime Minister Chris Hipkins. This was the first meeting since Hipkins became the country's Prime Minister. "Had an excellent meeting with the New Zealand PM Chris Hipkins and discussed the full range of India-New Zealand relations. We talked about how to improve commercial and cultural linkages between our nations," tweeted PM Narendra Modi. PM Modi also interacted with the leaders of Pacific Island nations on the sidelines of the third India-Pacific Islands Cooperation (FIPIC) Summit in Papua New Guinea's capital Port Moresby. The Third Forum for India-Pacific Islands Cooperation (FIPIC) Summit held at Port Moresby on Monday, was jointly hosted with Papua New Guinea. Prime Minister Narendra Modi co-chaired the Summit with Prime Minister James Marape of Papua New Guinea. Australia is the final leg of the three-nation visit of PM Modi who began his journey by attending the G7 and Quad Summits in the Japanese city of Hiroshima. (ANI) Foreign Secretary Vinay Mohan Kwatra on Monday refrained from divulging details about the discussion on Khalistani extremism and cases of vandalisation of temples in Australia, between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Australian counterpart during the upcoming bilateral talks scheduled on Tuesday. "It is not correct for me to prejudge what would be discussed between PM Modi and PM Albanese," Kwatra said when asked if PM Modi and PM Albanese, in their upcoming bilateral talks, could discuss Khalistani extremism. Kwatra made the above remarks while addressing a special media briefing on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Japan, Papua New Guinea and Australia. PM Modi is to join the bilateral talks with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in Sydney on Tuesday. Notably, several cases of Khalistani extremism and brawls between Khalistani activists and pro-India demonstrators have recently come to the fore in several parts of Australia. Indian flags were burnt and even a Hindu temple was vandalised recently in Australia. A question was raised before the foreign secretary regarding the same, reacting to which, he said, "I would only say that all issues of bilateral engagements including the issues of attaining harmony in our society and the safety and security of our two societies will be discussed." Kwatra also said that Australian PM Albanese will host a dinner for PM Narendra Modi, who will meet several officials during his stay in Sydney until Wednesday. "Prime Minister will be in Sydney till Wednesday evening during this period. This is just to give you a bit of an outline of what lies ahead of the Prime Minister's visit to Australia in Sydney. He will hold bilateral meetings with the Honorable Prime Minister of Australia, Anthony Albanese, also call on Governor General David Hurley and meeting with Leader of the Opposition Peter Dutton," Kwatra said. He also said, "Prime Minister Albanese will also host a dinner for Prime Minister and during his upcoming two days of stay, honourable Prime Minister will meet leading CEOs and address the Indian community." "Here we will share more detailed information on his various engagements during his stay in Sydney over the course of a couple of days," the foreign secretary added. PM Modi reached Australia and was received by Australian High Commissioner to India Barry O'Farrell and other officials upon his arrival. During his visit, PM Modi will hold a bilateral meeting with his Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese. At their bilateral meeting, the leaders will discuss trade and investment, including efforts to boost trade between the two countries through a Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement and work to strengthen people-to-people links, renewable energy, and defence and security cooperation, said the official statement released by the Australian government. PM Modi will also meet Australian business leaders to drive Australia's growing trade and investment relationship with India and take forward opportunities from the Australia-India CEO Forum held in Mumbai in March," according to the statement." During the visit, the Prime Ministers will attend a community event in Sydney to celebrate Australia's dynamic and diverse Indian diaspora, a core part of our multicultural community," the statement added. Meanwhile, Australian PM Albanese said he looks forward to visiting India in September in New Delhi for the G20 Leaders' Summit, the world's premier forum for economic cooperation. PM Modi, who is the first Indian Prime Minister to visit Papua New Guinea, hosted the third summit of the Forum for India-Pacific Islands Cooperation (FIPIC) jointly with his counterpart James Marape today. Earlier, he visited Japan where he attended the summit of the G7 advanced economies and held bilateral meetings with several world leaders. The Quad Summit was also held on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Hiroshima. (ANI) The French traditional military parade is held in Paris during the Bastille Day on July 14. The visit is also marking the 25th anniversary of the "strategic partnership" between France and India. "The Indian military contingent would be including a marching contingent and the Indian Air Force would be deploying its fighter aircraft to take part in the flypast of the event," defence officials told ANI. The French Air Force is planning to field its Rafale combat aircraft in the parade which is also in the Indian inventory. India may send aircraft from the Jaguar fleet which has been designed by the French and joined the Indian Air Force in the 1980s in significant numbers. In 2016, when French President Francois Hollande had come to India for the Republic Day parade, the French side also sent its contingent. At that time, the French contingent comprising 56 personnel of the 35th Infantry Regiment of the 7th Armoured Brigade had come. The soldiers of their regiment were deployed in India between 1781 and 1784. The contingent was preceded by pipes and drums comprising 48 musicians. India may also send a contingent from the units who have had a history of fighting in the French area during the world wars fought in the last century. (ANI) Harsh Vardhan Shringla, Chief Coordinator, G20 on Monday said that around 20 million tourists are expected to visit Jammu and Kashmir this year. Shringla said that the idea is to increase the number of foreign tourists visiting J-K. His remarks came while addressing a joint press conference on the first day of the third G20 Tourism Working Group Meeting in Srinagar. "We expect around 20 million tourists to visit Jammu and Kashmir this year. But the idea is to increase the value in terms of eco-tourism, film tourism, and adventure tourism, not only that but also to increase the number of foreign tourists coming to Jammu and Kashmir, and that attention the G20 meeting will bring," Shringla said. Meanwhile, G20 Sherpa, Amitabh Kant, who was also present at the press conference, said that India's G20 presidency came at a time when there is a lot of global turbulence. "Amid all these crises, India sees the G20 as an opportunity and as Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said that India's G20 presidency will be inclusive, decisive, and will be action-oriented," Kant said. Union Minister Reddy emphasised on private investments in the tourism sector and said that Kashmir cannot become a world tourist destination without it. "That's why we want global and domestic investment. We are also encouraging 100 per cent FDI under the leadership of PM Modi, including in Northeastern states and hill states," Reddy added. He also said, "Every ministry is taking some responsibility for tourism encouragement and developing infrastructure activity to encourage foreign tourists and domestic tourists. And also Government of India is committed to working with all the G20 countries, innovative countries and all international organizations to promote sustainable tourism and sustainable practice." Notably, Srinagar is decked up to host the third Tourism Working Group Meeting of G20 members. Seven countries, including Spain, Singapore, and Mauritius are discussing film tourism in the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir. Spain, Singapore, Mauritius, Nigeria, South Africa, Brazil and India are among seven countries to discuss the global perspective of film tourism, as well as, its economic benefits and impact in J-K. The side event on 'Film Tourism for Economic Growth and Cultural Preservation' is part of the mega third Tourism Working Group Meeting being organised in Jammu and Kashmir's Srinagar from May 22-24. (ANI) As Afghan women continue to suffer under the Taliban and are deprived of fundamental rights, some women activists in Afghanistan have called for 'inclusion' in social life and urged the de-facto authorities to let them work, TOLOnews reported. "We have witnessed foreign support regarding Afghanistan that supports women. But we have not seen women being supported inside of Afghanistan," said a women's rights activist, Suraya Paikan. In a statement, UN Women said that the most recent restrictions on Afghan women had specifically affected them. According to the statement, all national staff members--men and women--have worked remotely since April of this year. "Seventy per cent of our staff are women. Fifty-five per cent of our national staff are women," the statement said, according to the Afghan news agency. The advancement of society is impossible without the participation of women. We demand that the Islamic Emirate revoke its restriction on women working, said Marriam, a UN employee, according to TOLOnews. Women in Afghanistan have been prohibited from working at NGOs for more than five months. Several women and girls have repeatedly called out the de-facto authorities to provide them with work outside their houses, however, the Taliban has continued with its curbs on women in Afghanistan. Thousands of women have stayed at home since colleges and schools stopped accepting female students, and there are restrictions on the work that women and girls can do in local and international NGOs. However, some women and girls have started working, such as by picking up trades or other commercial endeavours, in order to make money. Since the Taliban regained power in August 2021 after the US exit from the country, women are not allowed to work in the fields of education with domestic and international organisations, in gyms, or in public spaces. (ANI) The South American nation has been shook by the fire, which injured at least nine more. One victim was resuscitated and remained in critical condition on a ventilator on Monday, a spokeswoman for the national fire department said, contradicting earlier reports that 20 people had perished in the fire at the Mahdia Secondary School in Guyana. According to The Washington Post, the dead included 18 girls and a child who was the caretaker's son. Guyana's President, Irfaan Ali, described the blaze as "tragic and painful" and "horrific." Nearly 200 miles from Georgetown, the nation's capital, the fire broke out at the high school in the hilly interior town of Mahdia soon after 11:30 p.m. on Sunday, The Washington Post reported citing the local media. Authorities said that the government had established "a full-scale medical emergency action plan," with planes stocked with personnel and equipment to help local first responders. Victims with critical injuries were transported to Georgetown in a matter of hours. Others were admitted to Mahdia District Hospital or were under observation. (ANI) Washington In just a few months, the U.S. received more than 1.5 million requests from individuals hoping to sponsor the entry of migrants from four countries, an extraordinary number that could jeopardize the Biden administration's objective of reducing border crossings, internal documents obtained by CBS News show. The flurry of hundreds of thousands of sponsorship applications on behalf of would-be migrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela has overwhelmed caseworkers at the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), which can approve no more than 30,000 arrivals under the program each month. American citizens, residents and others in the U.S. with a legal immigration status are eligible to sponsor migrants from these four countries, as long as they agree to financially support them. Migrants who arrive under the program are granted two-year work permits under the humanitarian parole authority. Due to the massive and rapidly mounting backlog of unresolved applications, USCIS recently altered the way it processes these cases, selecting half of the requests it reviews each month through a lottery system. The other half will continue to be adjudicated on a first come, first serve basis. The internal Department of Homeland Security documents obtained by CBS News indicated that as of the end of last month, the agency was receiving an average of nearly 12,000 applications per day from those seeking to sponsor Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans, calling the number "overwhelming." The documents noted that less than three days' worth of applications were processed per month due to the 30,000 monthly cap. More than 100,000 migrants have arrived in the U.S. under the sponsorship initiative. But the government was overseeing more than 580,000 pending cases for Haitians, more than 380,000 for Cubans, nearly 120,000 for Venezuelans and more than 20,000 for Nicaraguans at the end of April. Other cases were being reviewed or had been approved. A version of the program was first launched in October 2022 to allow Venezuelans with U.S.-based sponsors to fly to the U.S. directly, as part of an effort to reduce what at the time were record arrivals of Venezuelan migrants along the southern border. In January, the initiative was expanded to include Cubans, Haitians and Nicaraguans, who also journeyed to the U.S.-Mexico border in record numbers last year. SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES - 2023/05/12: Asylum seekers are seen scaling a hill between the US-Mexico border to reach the Mexican military who was providing aid alongside the US volunteers / Credit: Jon Putman/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images The sponsor program has been paired with a policy of returning Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans who cross the southern border illegally to Mexico, which agreed to take back these nationalities, first under the now-expired Title 42 public health order and now under regular U.S. immigration law. The combination of returns to Mexico with the sponsorship program has led to a sharp drop in illegal border crossings by migrants from these four crisis-stricken countries, whose governments won't or can't accept large numbers of U.S. deportations due to diplomatic or operational reasons. Top White House officials have boasted about the strategy's success. But the soaring number of applications for the sponsorship program, far above its 30,000 monthly cap, threatens to derail the policy's main objective: encouraging would-be migrants to refrain from crossing the southern border illegally by offering them a meaningful chance to enter the U.S. legally. The internal DHS documents say the hundreds of thousands of pending cases have caused "significant" wait times for applicants. If the monthly cap is not raised, the documents acknowledged, the program's effectiveness could diminish. "The migrants who are desperate, and they're desperate migrants, will wait only so long before they say 'it's not happening and I'll take my chances getting something else,' whether that's entering clandestinely or just show up at the border and see if they can be let in," said Theresa Cardinal Brown, a former DHS official and current immigration analyst at the Bipartisan Policy Center, a Washington think tank. Top U.S. officials have not indicated that they will raise the 30,000 monthly cap on admissions. Representatives for DHS did not say whether they were considering increasing the number of monthly arrivals. "This Administration has led the largest expansion of legal pathways in decades, and the parole processes for individuals from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela is just one of those many pathways now available to individuals seeking to enter the United States lawfully," DHS said Monday in a statement to CBS News. The department noted it had recently decided to use a random selection process to allocate half of the approximately 1,000 travel authorizations issued each day under the program, in order to "ensure that all individuals who apply have optimism that they will be able to travel to the United States soon." "Now in their fifth month, the parole processes for Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans have continued to successfully reduce irregular migration and we expect that to continue, but challenges remain, including current court cases trying to block these successful measures," DHS added in its statement. SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES - 2023/05/12: Asylum seekers are loaded into vans to be officially processed into the United States system. / Credit: Jon Putman/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images In April 2022, the Biden administration launched its first version of the sponsorship policy, setting up a program dubbed Uniting for Ukraine to allow Americans to sponsor Ukrainians fleeing the Russian invasion of their homeland. Unlike the subsequent sponsor program, Uniting for Ukraine has no numerical cap. As of earlier in May, 127,000 Ukrainians had come to the U.S. under the policy. Changing the cap for the Cuban, Haitian, Nicaraguan and Venezuelan sponsorship initiative could have legal and foreign affairs implications. The Biden administration and the Mexican government have tied the arrival of up to 30,000 migrants in the U.S. to Mexico's commitment to accept the return of the same number of Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans turned away by American border officials. "Thirty thousand for 30,000 is something that has proven to work, and we've committed both countries to continue with that arrangement of 30,000 to 30,000 after May 11," a senior U.S. official told reporters earlier this month. The sponsorship policy is also being challenged in federal court by a coalition of Republican-led states that argue the Biden administration does not have the legal authority to use parole to admit up to 360,000 migrants each year outside of the regular visa system. Blas Nunez Neto, the top DHS official for border and immigration policy, said last week that Mexico was "unlikely" to continue accepting returns of Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans if the sponsorship program was blocked in court. Daily unlawful border crossings soared to a record high 10,000 earlier this month, just prior to the termination of the Title 42 public health restrictions on migration, but have since plummeted to 3,000 in recent days. Biden officials have attributed the sharp drop in border crossings to increased formal deportations of those who enter the U.S. illegally and a restriction that disqualifies many migrants from asylum, as well as efforts by Mexican and Guatemalan military and law enforcement officials to slow U.S.-bound migration. How the U.S. is dealing with backlog of migrant sponsorships What are the sticking points in debt ceiling talks? Surgeon general shares tips to keep social media safe for kids Fire that killed 19 in Guyana school dorm may have been set 'maliciously' Investigators and government employees inspect the school dormitory where a fire killed at least 19 people in Mahdia, Guyana on May 22, 2023 The fire at a schoolgirls' dormitory that killed 19 people in Guyana may have been started "maliciously," police said Monday, as anger grew in the small South American country the day after the blaze. Sunday's inferno gutted a building housing girls aged 11-12 and 16-17. Guyana Police Commissioner Clifton Hicken said during a press conference Monday afternoon that an "initial investigation suggests... that (the fire) was maliciously set." "Our investigation is continuing," Hicken told reporters, joined by President Irfaan Ali, who declared three days of national mourning. No suspects have yet been identified, Hicken added, though he told AFP he expects to have more information in the next 48 hours. "Fourteen youths died at the scene, while five died at the Mahdia District Hospital," according to a statement from the fire department. The government had previously said 20 people died in the blaze at the Mahdia Secondary School in the central part of the country. Guyana, with a population of 800,000, is South America's only English-speaking nation. It is a former Dutch and British colony which recently discovered it holds the world's largest per capita oil reserves. After the weekend tragedy, more than a dozen children received hospital treatment locally while six serious cases were airlifted to the capital Georgetown. "Two children remain in critical condition, while four are nursing severe injuries as a result of the incident," added the fire brigade. There were 63 pupils inside the building when the fire broke out. "This is a major disaster. It is horrible, it is painful," Ali said on Sunday night. Ali said he had ordered arrangements to be made in Georgetown's two major hospitals "so that every single child who requires attention be given the best possible opportunity to get that attention." At Monday's press conference Hicken said autopsies had already been performed on the bodies of at least six of the victims, and that all of them would undergo DNA testing. - 'Pain, agony, trauma' - Around 50 relatives and friends of the victims demonstrated on Monday in Chenapau, a village close to Mahdia that is home to many of the school's pupils. "The sheer pain, the agony, the trauma," Michael McGarrell, who lost two nieces in the blaze, told AFP by telephone. "Who will be held responsible?" Protesters held up banners demanding justice and compensation, and criticizing the fact that the dormitory had barred windows. "Why are school children grilled up in death traps? What are we going to tell the parents?" said McGarrell, an activist with the Amerindian People's Association (APA) that is often at odds with the government over land rights. "Firefighters did manage to rescue some 20 students by breaking holes in the north-eastern wall of the building," the fire service said. Private and military planes have been sent to Mahdia, located about 200 kilometers (125 miles) south of Georgetown, as the region is affected by heavy rains. At least one plane with three evacuees arrived back in Georgetown, according to an AFP journalist. The government said officials were supporting efforts at Ogle airport in the capital to "receive the critical patients and coordinate an emergency plan of action." "A full-scale medical emergency action plan has been launched," it added. Natasha Singh-Lewis, an opposition MP, called for an investigation into the fire's cause. "We need to understand how this most horrific and deadly incident occurred and take all necessary measures to prevent such a tragedy from happening again," she said. Among the poorest nations in South America, Guyana hopes the discovery of oil will help spur development. The country also boasts the second-highest percentage of forest cover on earth. dc-pgf/sco/ssy/bc/caw/mlm Rachael Rollins, left, and Kim Gardner. (Brian Snyder/Reuters, David Carson/St. Louis Post-Dispatch via AP) Two of the most high-profile progressive prosecutors in the nation resigned last week, marking a significant setback for the criminal justice reform movement. Kim Gardner of St. Louis and Rachael Rollins of Boston are two Black women at the vanguard of a nationwide initiative to lessen prison sentences, implement restorative justice and hold police departments accountable. Both achieved prominence during the Trump years, when state and city officials were seen by the administrations opponents as critical backstops to retrograde policies emanating from Washington. While their resignations were not connected, the two prosecutors respective troubles represent the struggles of a movement that appears to have lost some of the public goodwill it previously enjoyed. The progressive prosecutor movement faces an unexpected challenge from a Democrat (HuffPost) >>> Celtics tickets, Biden fundraisers and political machinations United States Attorney Rachael Rollins for the District of Massachusetts. (Pat Greenhouse/Boston Globe via Getty Images) In 2018, Rollins emerged from a crowded Democratic primary to become Bostons district attorney, the first Black woman to do so. Taking cues from fellow progressive district attorneys Larry Krasner of Philadelphia and Kim Foxx of Chicago, Rollins said she would no longer prosecute certain crimes, including shoplifting and larceny involving goods valued at less than $250. One local publication called Rollins Bostons greatest hope to bring the criminal justice system into the wide, woke 21st century. In mid-2021, President Biden nominated Rollins to serve as the U.S. attorney for Massachusetts. Again, she would be the first Black woman in that role. The nomination received high praise from Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Sen. Ed Markey, both Democrats, who called her a national leader on transforming the criminal justice system. Republicans opposed her nomination unilaterally, with Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas emerging as an especially vociferous critic. Rollins was ultimately confirmed, with Vice President Kamala Harris serving as the tie-breaking vote in the Senate. Her political demise began on July 14, 2022, when she decided to attend a Biden fundraiser in Andover, Mass., despite being advised not to do so. Cotton quickly called for an investigation, as Rollins appeared to be in violation of the Hatch Act, which prohibits government employees from political advocacy. The inspector general of the Department of Justice opened an inquiry, which culminated in a report that was made public last week. Broadening its scope well beyond the Andover fundraiser, the report details how Rollins allegedly accepted free Boston Celtics tickets and also traveled to both New York and Los Angeles at the expense of Creative Artists Agency, the high-powered Hollywood firm. Her conduct fell far short of the standards of professionalism and judgment that the Department should expect of any employee, much less a U.S. Attorney, the Justice inspector general, Michael Horowitz, wrote in his long and devastating report. A separate investigation this one conducted by special counsel Henry Kerner would turn out to be just as devastating, describing how Rollins had leaked damaging information on a political rival to Boston reporters in hopes of defeating his bid to retain the district attorneys office she vacated in 2021. Kerners report was also released last week. In a letter to Biden, Kerner wrote that Rollins had engaged in extraordinary abuse of her authority. (The leaks also featured prominently in the Justice report, though Horowitz had a broader mandate.) Rollins stepped down on Wednesday, a move her nemesis Cotton was quick to celebrate. I warned Democratic senators that Rachael Rollins wasnt only a pro-criminal ideologue but also had a history of poor judgment and ethical lapses, he said in a statement. City leaders and government officials react to U.S. Attorney Rachael Rollinss resignation (Boston25 News) >>> A rudderless ship of chaos St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner. (David Carson/St. Louis Post-Dispatch via AP) Gardner, like Rollins, was a historic figure, the first Black person to serve as the chief prosecutor in St. Louis when she was elected to the position in 2017. We all want quality of life, we all want to make sure our streets are safer, Gardner said after her victory, but we have to address the broken criminal justice system. Her tenure was fraught from the start. In her investigation of disgraced Gov. Eric Greitens who had resigned amid lurid allegations of violent sexual assault she employed a former FBI agent, William Don Tisaby, who was indicted in 2019 for tampering with evidence. Like many progressive prosecutors, Gardner found her office a difficult venue from which to enact reform. In 2021, a judge charged that her office had essentially abandoned its duty to prosecute those it charges with crimes, after a prosecutor failed to show up for hearings in a murder case. Trust in Gardner was further eroded in February, when a Tennessee teenager whod been visiting St. Louis with her parents was hit by a speeding driver and lost both of her legs. The suspect was revealed to have had 94 bond violations in the two years prior to the crash, prompting calls for Gardner to resign. Earlier this year, Gardner began taking nursing classes at a local university. The states Republican attorney general called her office a rudderless ship of chaos. GOP state officials moved to strip Gardner of her power. Already planning to resign at the end of the month, Gardner said on Tuesday that she would step down at once. GOP lawmakers push for state control of St. Louis police (AP) >>> The future of the movement San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin, who was ousted in 2021. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images) The social justice protests that took place across the country were punctuated by calls to defund police departments calls that seemed tailored to the new prosecutorial approach. But persistently high crime rates eventually made many clamor for a more traditional law-and-order approach, which progressive prosecutors resisted. That led to intense new scrutiny of their policies and practices, which some of them failed to withstand. Gardner and Rollins are not the first progressive prosecutors to experience a fall from grace. In the summer of 2021, San Francisco voters ousted progressive prosecutor Chesa Boudin, handing him and the movement he represented a resounding defeat. Last year, Baltimore prosecutor Marilyn Mosby was charged with financial impropriety and perjuryand later lost a primary race. Earlier this year, Chicago prosecutor Foxx announced that she would not seek a third term. Krasner, in Philadelphia, survived a recall, and so did fellow progressive George Gascon in Los Angeles. But the movement they represent has been sapped of the strength it only recently enjoyed. New San Francisco DA vows to fight the citys lawlessness (Bloomberg) >>> 22 years after Jay-Z pleaded guilty to stabbing him, Lance 'Un' Rivera says the rapper is innocent Jay-Z, Lance 'Un' Rivera. Getty/Ron Galella; Getty/James Devaney Lance "Un" Rivera has said that it was not Jay-Z who infamously stabbed him in 1999. Jay-Z pleaded guilty and was sentenced to three years probation for the attack in 2001. "I don't know where people got Jay-Z stabbed me from," said the former music executive. Former music executive and record producer Lance "Un" Rivera has gone on the record to say that it was not Jay-Z who infamously stabbed him in 1999. Rivera, once the business partner of The Notorious B.I.G., was stabbed in the stomach and shoulder in December '99 at the now-closed Kit Kat Club in New York City. The stabbing is alleged to have occurred after Jay confronted Rivera over reports that he had leaked his third studio album, "Vol. 3... Life and Times of S. Carter," before its release. The "Big Pimpin'" rapper was subsequently charged in connection with the attack and turned himself in to the police the following day. After initially pleading not guilty and denying any wrongdoing, in October 2001, he pleaded guilty to third-degree assault and was sentenced to three years probation. "I stabbed Lance Rivera," Jay said during his court appearance at the time, according to the BBC. In an interview with DJ Vlad published on Sunday, Rivera recalled his version of what went down on the night. "Jay, a bunch of us is in there," said Rivera. "I ended up getting surrounded by a bunch of people. It was probably 10 knives that I knew of, and I ended up getting stabbed." "Me and Jay-Z had a conversation right before I got hit in the head with a champagne bottle," he added. "It was a brief conversation and I was looking at him like, 'What are you talking about? You know you fucking the money up right now.'" Asked if it was Jay who stabbed him, Rivera replied: "No. Jay-Z was not the guy that actually stabbed me that night." "I don't know where people got Jay-Z stabbed me from because if anybody knows Jay-Z, Jay-Z's a nice guy," he said. "He's an artist, he's a poet, he's gifted and it's never been his history." "If Jay-Z had stabbed me, y'all wouldn't have got 'The Black Album' because, through my whole history, I'm an eye-for-an-eye type of guy," he concluded. Representatives for Jay-Z did not immediately reply to a request for comment. Read the original article on Insider Ella, Bella and Mariela struck up a bond over their passion for all things Noughties the fashion of the late 90s and early 2000s a little over a year ago. Theyve since turned their friendship and fashion into a business venture. Noughties Market CLT is the brainchild of the three friends, Ella Vernile, Bella Hogan and Mariela Ferreira, who each established their own individual secondhand clothing shops during the pandemic. After individually selling their own vintage goods online and in Charlottes NoDa neighborhood, they realized how few vintage markets featured women vendors. Weve definitely opened the door for women to be able to be accepted into a market and also do what they love and have these events that they can do with us, Ferreira said. The people that come to our markets love fashion, and its always such a good time. Its a social event and vintage market. The community is probably the best part. These semi-monthly events feature dozens of secondhand clothing and craft vendors who all come together to create a vibrant community and supportive place for growing entrepreneurship. Gen Z looks back to Y2K Thrift and vintage pop-up markets have exploded across Charlotte over the last several years, with local vendors and craftspeople flocking to breweries to build community and create entrepreneurial opportunities. This trend reflects a growing appreciation for vintage fashion and sustainable, secondhand clothing among young Americans, said Oscar Barzuna, an entrepreneurship professor at Queens University of Charlotte. This generation (Gen Z) is dressing the way that they want and not the way the market is telling them how to dress, he said. It creates an opportunity for those secondhand entrepreneurs. Personal style and pushing the boundaries of whats trendy are core components for the women of Noughties Market. Many of the vendors (the markets founders included) have embraced trends like lingerie as outerwear, skirts and dresses over pants, sky-high platform shoes and other risk-taking fashion moves. With a general eye on the Y2K aesthetic, they pique customer curiosity by curating every market with a theme. An upcoming market on June 4 carries the theme Summer CAMP, with a color-clashing, print-filled, bold take on vintage style, hosted at Petty Thieves Brewing Co. We want to show our customer base what were all about. We do photo shoots for our campaigns and for every event, showcasing the theme of the event because we love giving a good theme so people can dress up, Hogan said. Its completely different than any other market in Charlotte. There are a few other markets in Charlotte, but we want to make sure that Noughties is unique. Fighting fast fashion While these entrepreneurs strive for fashion at all times, they also prioritize sustainability. Hogan attended Columbia College in Chicago for a semester to study fashion business and learned about the industrys toll on the environment. With this knowledge, she wondered how she could play a part in changing the field, leading her into secondhand reselling. Part of why we all started this is because the production of clothes is so bad for the environment. There are so many clothes that are just sitting or going to landfills, and I see all these people shopping on Shein, Amazon and all of these horrible websites because they want clothes for cheap, Hogan said. Were trying to let people know that these really cool clothes can be found at thrift stores. They can be found at estate sales, antique malls, vintage markets. You can go and get things for affordable prices, and you can do your part in helping the environment rather than producing more clothing. Secondhand sellers do face some unique challenges, though, such as customer reluctance to buy items without fitting rooms. Noughties Market sellers combat this by offering try-ons in the brewery bathrooms (while holding onto collateral such as drivers licenses) or by having tape measures available to help customers with fitting, Ferriera said. Inside the life of fashion entrepreneurship Each of the Noughties founders scours local thrift stores weekly, seeking out the hidden gems to bring to their customers, both online and at the in-person markets. Vernile described her regular inventory curation routine, which she called her favorite part of the business. She visits multiple secondhand stores in a day, digging through massive Goodwill bins, hunting through aisles on Salvation Army discount days and scouring Value Village stores for specific items and aesthetics she knows her customer base is looking for. The profit margins are really good, Vernile said. I try to make my prices very affordable for people, but still to where Im making a profit. Some people think youre just thrifting, you put it on a hanger and you sell it. But theres so much work that goes on behind the scenes that nobody sees. She said its important for entrepreneurs in the secondhand space to learn how to time themselves and budget to ensure the payoff balances out. Patience is also key, as the search for great pieces can be long and sometimes unfruitful. When she first started over a year ago, Vernile said she was underselling and under-pricing, but shes seen so much growth since then after learning from other sellers and understanding her customer base and their needs. She began with one rack of items and now brings five full racks. Secondhand selling in an online world Noughties Market CLT and each of the womens individual ventures grew out of the shadow of the COVID-19 pandemic, making online spaces and the local community invaluable aspects of the businesses. Hogan, owner of Shop Eternal Bella, found inspiration to sell secondhand after being forced to move home from college. She sought community and shared interests through online platforms. Vernile, owner of Pixie City Thrifts, reignited a teenage love for thrifting after moving back from Hawaii in 2021 and taking inspiration from popular Depop sellers and pop-up vendors in NoDa. Ferreira, owner of Sera Antigua Vintage, found herself laid off from a deli job and started selling from her closet to make extra money. Then she saw the growth potential. Ferreira said thrifting and selling started as a creative outlet during a difficult time, but grew into something deeper. I didnt have a job and was living off of unemployment, Ferreira said. Thrifting kind of gave me a purpose that I didnt know I needed, she said. I grew up thrifting all the time with my mom and my sister, but I never thought that other people would buy it. Social media also plays a huge role in building the three sellers customer bases. Each of them primarily promotes their work through Instagram. They sell items online on their websites, in addition to the in-person markets. If I did not have social media, I dont even know where my business would be at right now, Vernile said. Its all social media marketing. She uses her platform to show thrift hauls of what she finds when curating, to advertise markets, and to communicate with customers and sell items directly. Hogan saw the value in the online space, especially after the pandemic. I saw what happened to a lot of small businesses during COVID; it was really hard for people, she said. I thought e-commerce was a good way for people to still be able to shop and express themselves when everything else in the country is shut down. Giving people a space online to be able to find the things that they loved was really important for me when I first started. Building community through a niche experience Community is a core part of Noughties Market, they said. The market had its first event in December 2022 and has grown with each pop-up, bringing in more vendors and taking up more space. Individual vendors apply for each market. Upon selection, they pay a small vendor fee for the space, knowing that Noughties and the hosting brewery will bring in traffic to their stall. Hogan stated that the brewery partnerships also work as mutually beneficial transactions. The Noughties team then puts the majority of these funds back into preparation and advertising for the next markets. Hogan described the energy at Noughties Market pop-ups: Our community is full of amazing people who love what we love. They love sustainability, they love fashion. Theyre meeting people that are like-minded that they can form relationships with, and then theyre also coming and finding really, really cool pieces for their wardrobe. Its a really cool, niche community in Charlotte. Noughties Market is excited to grow, but they do want to maintain the exclusive vibe and keep the excitement of spacing out their pop-ups, Hogan said. The entrepreneurs also want to leverage their passion for secondhand selling into sustainable careers. I hope to open a store one day, Ferreira said. This is helping me see how I would like to run my business, the things not to do and things to do. Having that community in Charlotte, its just going to continue growing, and its going to open doors for us. And while they have all three held onto other part-time jobs, Noughties growth doesnt seem to be slowing anytime soon. Barzuna highlighted the value in finding an overlooked niche in the market, which is what Noughties is working to do. What we have seen in entrepreneurship is that the winners adapt, and the losers dont innovate, he said. The secondhand market offers multiple ways of repurposing and reusing, and I think thats the key. Caroline Willingham is a 2023 graduate of the James L. Knight School of Communication at Queens University of Charlotte, which provides the news service in support of local community news. Roughly 30 tons of ammonium nitrate, a chemical used as fertilizer and to make explosives, vanished during railway transport last month. A Union Pacific freight train is seen in Texas. Roughly 30 tons of ammonium nitrate, a chemical used as fertilizer and to make explosives, vanished during railway transport last month. A Union Pacific freight train is seen in Texas. Investigations are underway after approximately 60,000 pounds of ammonium nitrate, a chemical used as fertilizer and to make explosives, seemingly vanished during railway transport last month. A rail car carrying 30 tons of the pellets left Cheyenne, Wyoming, on April 12 and arrived two weeks later in Saltdale, California, empty but still sealed shut, a spokesperson for explosive manufacturing company Dyno Nobel told HuffPost in a statement Monday. Our review will be exhaustive to understand what led to this situation, but there is no indication of any danger to the public and no indication the pellets were intentionally taken by anyone, the spokesperson said. Every indication is the pellets fell from the rail car onto the tracks in small quantities throughout the long trip. Pellets of ammonium-nitrate fertilizer are seen here ready to be sprayed on barley crops in Spain. The chemical, which is used as fertilizer, is not believed to be a risk to public health or the environment, Union Pacific Railroad and Dyno Noble said. Pellets of ammonium-nitrate fertilizer are seen here ready to be sprayed on barley crops in Spain. The chemical, which is used as fertilizer, is not believed to be a risk to public health or the environment, Union Pacific Railroad and Dyno Noble said. This might have happened due to a leak through the rail cars bottom discharge gate, which could have developed in transit, the spokesperson said. If the fertilizer did leak throughout its journey, it should pose no risk to public health or the environment, a representative for Union Pacific Railroad, which is assisting in the investigation, told HuffPost. The fertilizer is designed for ground application and quick soil absorption, said spokesperson Kristen South, who added that no criminal or malicious activity is suspected. The Federal Railroad Administration and the California Public Utilities Commission are also investigating the incident, San Francisco station KQED reported. Though the fertilizer, which is water soluble, is capable of detonation, it requires a strong initiating source or it must be heated under confinement before initiation, according to a hazardous materials database shared by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The sale and transfer of ammonium nitrate is federally regulated to prevent its use in an act of terrorism. The chemical was infamously used in the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building, which was the largest act of U.S. domestic terrorism since the Jim Crow era. In 2020, nearly 3,000 tons of the chemical exploded in Beirut while being improperly stored in a port. It was one of the largest non-nuclear blasts ever recorded. Language in this story was updated to clarify that other large-scale acts of U.S. domestic terrorism preceded the Oklahoma City bombing. Related... A 32-year-old new mom suddenly couldn't see or hear. After 3 weeks, doctors found out she had a rare heart condition. Getty Images Antiganee Cain-Francis had multiple episodes of cardiac arrest in the month after she gave birth. The 32-year-old was later diagnosed with a rare condition that caused her heart to beat irregularly. Doctors had to burn away part of her heart muscle to correct the problem, she told Today.com. Antiganee Cain-Francis, 32, was a week into recovering from a C-section delivery when she temporarily lost her sight and hearing. The new mom told Today.com in March that she was healing well and getting to know her newborn daughter after her birth in September 2022. But weekend following her birth, she said she stood up to check on her baby and was overtaken by a feeling like "static" in her body. Although Cain-Francis could not see or hear, she was able to scream for her husband, who called her doctor. She was rushed to the emergency room at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York. Cain-Francis, a New York City public school teacher, was stabilized when she arrived at the hospital. But her health declined again in the early hours of the morning, and she went into cardiac arrest. In the weeks that followed she would be intubated, transferred, and resuscitated again before doctors would figure out what was causing her heart to malfunction. It took 3 weeks for doctors to diagnose her Cain-Francis had two episodes of cardiac arrest during her hospital stay. After her first at around 2:30am the day after she was admitted to Lenox Hill, doctors put her on a ventilator and ECMO (extracorporeal membrane oxygenation), a machine that pumps oxygen-rich blood through the body when the heart and lungs cannot function properly. Her heart rhythm returned to normal after three days on the machines and she was transferred to North Shore University Hospital on Long Island, according to Today.com. But her heart began to malfunction again shortly after the medical team decided to wean her off of the ventilator. "She seemed to be doing well," Dr. Ramanak Mitra, the specialist who treated Cain-Francis, told Today.com, "but within about 24 hours, she started to have a few of these extra beats." As her heart continued to beat rapidly, she went into cardiac arrest for the second time. Luckily, Mitra's team recorded the irregular beats and was finally able to diagnose Cain-Francis based on the strange pattern of her heartbeats. She was diagnosed with a rare disease that has no clear cause Doctors diagnosed Cain-Francis with a condition called idiopathic triggered ventricular fibrillation, where the heart sometimes beats irregularly without a clear cause. Although the condition is rarely diagnosed in young patients, it is also one of the main causes of unexplained sudden cardiac death for patients under the age of 35, according to a 2018 research paper in the journal Frontiers in Cardiovascular Medicine. "There's one particular site in the heart muscle," Mitra told Today.com, "and when it fires, it basically puts the heart into a tailspin." To treat Cain-Francis, Mitra used a technique called pace mapping to locate the source of the irregular heartbeat. Then, he threaded a tiny catheter into her heart and cauterized the problem area. Cain-Francis "passed with flying colors" when she was evaluated after the procedure, and she was taken off ECMO the next day. In some cases, doctors are able to find a genetic mutation underlying the condition, but idiopathic cases such as Cain-Francis' have no clear cause. An MRI later confirmed that she had no structural abnormalities or inflammation in her heart, Today.com reported. Cain-Francis returned home to her infant daughter in the first week of October with a defibrillator newly implanted under her skin. By December, she said she finally felt like herself again. Read the original article on Insider 4 invasive species the Ohio Department of Agriculture is worried about Four Ohio bugs make good candidates for Best Pest of the Midwest. While some little creatures roaming the state can peacefully coexist with Ohio's human population, other insects are getting away with plant homicide unscathed. And some like Asian long-horned beetles are making sure their targets die slow deaths. Invasive species can wreak havoc on crops and other plants. Here are four that the Ohio Department of Agriculture is concerned about: Asian long-horned beetles An Asian longhorned beetle. Also known as "starry skies beetles" and "white-spotted longicorns," Asian long-horn beetles are black with white spots and large antennae and can be up to an inch-and-a-half long. Native to China and the Korean Peninsula, they chew through tree trunks, often causing attacked trees to die within 15 years of infestation. Trees of interest to these menaces include maples, elms and buckeyes. The department is currently attempting to eliminate an infestation of Asian long-horned beetles in Clermont County in southwestern Ohio. Sighting reports can help the Ohio Department of Agriculture identify new potential invasions around the state. Spotted lanternflies A developed spotted lanternfly. Spotted lanternflies are invasive, plant-hopping insects from China. They pose a "major concern" for grape, orchard, tree fruit and hop growers, said Dan Kenny, chief of the Ohio Department of Agriculture's plant health division. The insect's appearance can vary depending on life stage, according to the department's website. Young spotted lanternflies have black backs with spotted white dots. Later in development, they retain the white dots but sport red backs with black stripes. When they reach adulthood late in the summer or early in the fall, they are about an inch long with colorful wings. Those who encounter a spotted lanternfly can send in a sighting report to the department online with location information and a photo. Invasive species: Spotted lanternflies have been found in Cleveland and Cincinnati. Is central Ohio next? Box tree moths Box tree moths do their damage on boxwood plants, which are common outside of homes and other buildings. The neighbors may appreciate the aesthetic of a nice boxwood plant in the yard, but these bugs won't. Box tree moths, which have white wings with a brown perimeter coating and are native to eastern Asia, will come for the leaves first and then let their larvae feast on the bark. But people around the state hoping to help stop them may have to leave this one in the hands of state agricultural officials, Kenny said. "They're very tough to find and cryptic," he said. More: Appalachian scientist uses popular Instagram account to urge public to explore nature Spongy moths Before developing into their adult stage, these European insects look like caterpillars in need of a shave, with colorful spotted dots along their backs. Like spotted lanternflies, spongy moths made a westward trek to Ohio from Pennsylvania. And like Asian long-horn beetles, they attack trees. But they aren't as patient; spongy moths can kill trees in as little as two years. Their favorite prey include American crab apple, red oak and river birch trees. These moth populations have been identified in at least 51 Ohio counties, including Franklin County. Their names were changed in 2021. The state uses a trap system to capture spongy moths and has a "pretty good handle" on spongy moths, Kenny said. JNimesheim@dispatch.com @JackNimesheim This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Invasive species on Ohio Department of Agriculture's most wanted list Human rights groups are pushing the South African government to do away with the sub-standard facilities in schools forever. GA-MASHASHANE, South Africa (AP) At a high school in rural northern South Africa, more than 300 students and their teachers share three toilets, and that woefully lopsided figure isnt the worst problem. The three toilets are pit latrines, effectively 10-feet-deep holes in the ground that students line up during a lunch break to use. The pit toilets at Seipone Secondary School in the village of Ga-Mashashane at least are covered by white toilet seats and enclosed by brick structures. Some of the pit toilets still used at more than 3,300 schools in poor, mostly rural areas across South Africa arent. Children follow school manager, Florina Ledwaba, toward pit toilets at the Jupiter Pre-School and Creche, in the rural village of Ga-Mashashane, near Polokwane, South Africa, on May 4, 2023. Human rights groups have been pressuring the government for a decade to get rid of pit toilets in schools, with the issue given added urgency by several tragic cases of young children falling into the pits and drowning. (AP Photo by Denis Farrell) Its a shameful situation for a country referred to as the most developed in Africa, and an indicator of its profound problems with poverty and inequality, say human rights groups pushing the South African government to do away with the sub-standard facilities in schools forever. Unhygienic, the latrines also present a much more direct danger. The sight that greeted James Komape one day in January 2014 at the nearby Chebeng village is horrific by every measure. Hed received a phone call asking him to rush to his 5-year-old sons pre-school. The little boy, Michael, was found dead, drowned at the bottom of a pit latrine. Michaels body hadnt even been removed from the pool of water mixed with feces and urine at the bottom of the pit he fell into when his father got there. What hurt me a lot about Michaels incident is that the people who were there saw that he had fallen in the toilet, but they did not remove him, said James Komape. They said they were waiting for the responsible authorities to come and remove him. I told them that if they had removed him quickly maybe he could have survived. It was Michael Komapes first week at a new school and his dreadful death incensed many South Africans. His family took the Limpopo provinces education department to court and won their case seeking damages. Later, court orders compelled the South African government to urgently address the issue of pit toilets in schools. But the tragedy of Michael Komape has not been unique. Other small children have also drowned in pit latrines in the near-decade since, one girl as recently as last month, another boy in March. There are no reliable figures to say how many children have lost their lives in pit toilets. The latrines, which have an outlet that is used to drain them periodically, are cheaper and more practical for poorer schools because they dont rely on a constant supply of running water. At the Jupiter Pre-School and Creche in the same Limpopo province where Michael died, children as young as 3 are still using pit toilets that have no proper seat but rather a hole carved out of a concrete slab that opens to the pit below. These are not good because of possible accidents of children falling in the toilet, the schools manager, Florina Ledwaba, said. We have to follow them (the children) every time. What if they go without you seeing them? They are not safe at all. The Equal Education human rights group has been inspecting pit toilets in South African schools. Tiny Lebelo, an organizer with the group, expresses frustration over an issue that should be a top priority for government the safety of children at their schools and still hasnt been resolved. The South African government promised to replace all pit toilets at schools nationwide by March 31 this year. It hasnt happened. Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga said there are still 3,398 schools using pit latrines and the deadline to eradicate them has been shifted to 2025. Lebelo said it speaks about how we perceive people in rural areas. What we are saying about them is that they dont deserve dignity, thats why were not going to provide you with a basic toilet. Were not going to give that to you because already youve been using it (pit toilets), she said. So, whats another year, or two years, or 10, or decades? Were saying to them youre not worthy of dignity. Students leave a toilet during a break at the Seipone Secondary School in the rural village of Ga-Mashashane, near Polokwane, South Africa, on May 4, 2023. (AP Photo by Denis Farrell) Section27 is another human rights group pushing for the pit toilets to be eradicated for safe and decent sanitation facilities. Section27 supported Michael Komapes family in their legal action against the local and national education departments and they succeeded in getting a court ruling that authorities must provide updated information every six months on schools in the Limpopo province using pit toilets and the plans to replace them. Section27 called its system to track the governments work The Michael Komape Sanitation Progress Monitor and it is able to use the information to hold the education department accountable. The department has made some progress by reducing schools using pit toilets in Limpopo from 363 in 2021 to 210 schools now. But James Komape said the government hasnt kept its side of an agreement to remove pit toilets and many children are still in real danger. At the Seipone Secondary School, the pit toilets are officially called ventilation improved toilets, and known as VIP toilets. They are anything but. There is anger and now pushback from students, too. Our health also matters, (we) cannot use toilets like these, said Tebogo Makgoka, a 17-year-old student representative. TheGrio is FREE on your TV via Apple TV, Amazon Fire, Roku, and Android TV. Please download theGrio mobile apps today! The post 5-year-old drowned in 10-ft.-deep pit toilet; 3,000 South African schools still use them appeared first on TheGrio. Floridas Division of Hotels and Restaurants routinely inspects restaurants, food trucks and other food service establishments for public health and cleanliness issues. The reports are public information. During the most recent inspections in Manatee County, local restaurants were cited for issues including live and dead roaches in the kitchen and unsafe food temperatures. Here is what inspectors found: Heinrichs German Grill, 8420 Lockwood Ridge Road, Sarasota On May 16, an inspector observed seven live roaches in the restaurant, including in the dining area and the kitchen. An inspector observe 17 dead roaches in various areas of restaurant. The establishment was operating without a license from the Division of Hotels and Restaurants. Items were stored inside and blocking access to two employee handwash sinks. A manager or person in charge lacked proof of food manager certification, and no other certified food service manager employed at the location. No paper towels were provided at an employee handwash sink. There was no proof of required food safety training for any employees. Sausage and veal were being thawed at room temperature. There was debris under a microwave oven and other equipment at the front counter. An exterior door had a gap at the threshold that opened to the outside. A follow-up inspection was required. During a follow-up visit on May 17, an inspector observed seven dead roaches on site. A restaurant operator removed them. Another follow-up visit was required. During a follow-up visit on May 18, an inspector did not document any more roaches. Other issues remained unresolved. Another follow-up visit was required. Kelseys On Cortez, 7020 Cortez Road W., Bradenton Dishmachine sanitizer was not at the proper minimum strength. An inspector took a sanitizer reading of zero. Corrective action was taken. A restaurant operator cleared the lines and re-primed the machine. An employee handled a cell phone and then failed to wash hands before touching clean equipment. Corrective action was taken. Raw ground beef was stored over ready-to-eat deli meat in a reach-in cooler. Corrective action was taken. A certified food manager or person in charge lacked knowledge of foodborne illnesses and symptoms of illness that would prevent an employee from working with food, clean equipment and utensils and/or single-service items. A slicer blade was soiled. There was no proof provided that food employees were informed of their responsibility to report to the person in charge information about their health and activities related to foodborne illnesses. Walls throughout the kitchen and dishwashing room were soiled. Walk-in cooler shelves were pitted with rust. An exhaust hood on the cook line was soiled. Floors were soiled under all equipment in the kitchen. An exterior door had a gap at the threshold that opened to the outside. A follow-up inspection was required. Speaks Clam Bar, 8764 S.R. 70 E., Lakewood Ranch The business was operating with an expired Division of Hotels and Restaurants license. There was no proof provided that food employees were informed of their responsibility to report to the person in charge information about their health and activities related to foodborne illnesses. Tongs were stored on oven handles in between uses. There was standing water an a bad smell under a slicer table. There was heavy debris and floors were soiled under and behind deep fryers. An exterior door had a gap at the threshold that opened to the outside. An employee was preparing food without a proper hair restraint. Corrective action was taken. An employee drink was stored in a food service area. There was an accumulation of limescale inside a dishmachine. There was an accumulation of mold-like substance on the interior and exterior of an ice machine. A follow-up inspection was required. China Taste, 8421 Tuttle Ave., Sarasota Employees were not wearing gloves and failed to wash hands during food preparation, according to an inspector. Non-food-grade bags were used to store food in a freezer and walk-in cooler. Cooked chicken was hot held at a temperature less than 135 degrees. A stop sale was issued due to temperature abuse. A restaurant operator discarded the food. Access to an employee handwash sink was blocked. An employee handwash sink had been removed. An inspector advised a restaurant operator that a handwash sink must be reinstalled in the same location. There was no toilet paper provided in a unisex bathroom. Corrective action was taken. No soap was provided at an employee handwash sink. Food prepared more than 24 hours prior was not date-marked. The interior and exterior of a microwave was soiled. There was soiling and mold-like substance on reach-in cooler gaskets. An employee was making food without a hair restraint. Employee drinks were stored in a food preparation area. A follow-up inspection was required. Taco Bell, 15215 Garnet Trail, Bradenton Diced tomatoes and guacamole were cold held at temperatures greater than 41 degrees. Corrective action was taken. Grill and oven cleaner was stored above seasonings and a food prep table. Corrective action was taken. There was mold-like substance on a soda machine and ice chute located at a drive-thru window. There was heavy soiling and debris on the floor under a soda machine and iced tea area at the drive-thru window. A drain cover was missing under a triple sink. Corrective action was taken. Ceiling tiles and vents over food prep and warewashing areas were soiled and dusty. The restaurant met inspection standards. Editors Note: According to the Florida Department of Business & Professional Regulation, these reports are a snapshot of the conditions present at the time of the inspection and are public record. The agency is required to inspect every licensed restaurant at least once per year, but new and high-risk establishments tend to be inspected more frequently. When an emergency shutdown order is given by an inspector, it must first be reviewed and approved by agency supervisors. In order for a business to reopen, an inspector will continue visiting the establishment daily until compliance is met. Some citations may include a financial penalty. Inspectors may also respond to complaints, which can be filed at www.myfloridalicense.com. The Bradenton Heralds weekly dirty dining reports list restaurants where inspectors found issues that might concern the average diner such as unsafe food temperatures, employee hand-washing issues or moldy drink machines regardless of whether or not the businesses passed inspection. Washingtons second-tightest knot after the debt ceiling is Sen. Tommy Tubervilles hold on roughly 200 senior civilian and uniformed Pentagon leaders. Tuberville, who is blocking the nominees in protest over the Pentagons abortion travel policy, has gotten so much attention that if he caves he risks losing face. At the same time, if Democrats and the Biden administration bargain with Tuberville, they reward his tactics and invite more such holds from others. While Tuberville is attracting some conservative support for the move, his monthslong mission is, according to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, damaging national security. Its also testing the patience of some of his Senate colleagues. Normally, a Republican on the Armed Services Committee can see the big picture, that if even our national security becomes subject to the culture wars, then thats bad for the country, Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) said. But, you know, his superpower is shamelessness. A spokesperson for Tuberville said that theres been no movement on the dispute, but said Tuberville spoke on the floor last week with top Senate Armed Services Republican Roger Wicker (Miss.) and they agreed to have a conversation about it later. The Senate recessed last week without resolving the stalemate, but there are several scenarios that could play out when lawmakers return. But none of them is easy, or one wouldve happened already. 1. Tuberville gets an NDAA vote Senate Armed Services Chair Jack Reed (D-R.I.) has said Tuberville should take the more straightforward path of seeking an amendment vote on the Pentagon travel policy via the National Defense Authorization Act, the Pentagon's annual policy bill. Its not a great deal for either side, but its probably the most likely one. My instinct would be that hes going to have to get a vote, said former Senate Armed Services staff director Arnold Punaro. He would certainly have that opportunity in the markup. And hell have to decide based on that outcome, whether he continues and hell have another shot at the floor. One predictor of how that might go is a Senate measure Tuberville led last month to scrap abortion care at the Department of Veterans Affairs, which failed mostly along party lines, 48-51. Senate Armed Services Democrat Joe Manchin (W.Va.), a co-sponsor of the bill, voted in favor, while Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) voted against. The problem: The NDAA is at best a moving target. Even if a vote in SASCs closed-door markup would satisfy Tuberville, the markup has been delayed already to accommodate debt ceiling talks. If Tuberville wants a floor vote, its a gamble whether there will even be one, since the Senate hasnt taken up its own version of the NDAA in years. A complication for Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer is whether he'd be forcing a tough vote on vulnerable Democrats and whether enough of them would defect for Tuberville to actually win. 2. Voting one-by-one on promotions Technically, the block isn't a block. It's more of a delay that forces extra votes for each nominee. So Schumer could get around Tuberville's hold by filing cloture and cutting off debate on each nominee, which requires an extra procedural vote and more floor time. This is the case with virtually all of President Joe Bidens judicial nominees and most senior picks. Tuberville himself has noted that hes really just forcing the Senate to take roll call votes. So if the Pentagon is facing vacancies at its highest levels in the coming months as members of the Joint Chiefs retire and their replacements face confirmation Schumer could file cloture and schedule some one-by-one votes to avoid gaps at DoD. The problem: Despite his argument, the Senate cant realistically vote on each of the hundreds of general and flag officer promotions expected this year, or it would have time for nothing else. Filing cloture on a military promotion is also a cave that Schumer would likely want to avoid, as it would allow Tuberville to claim validation that he isnt truly blocking anyones confirmation despite the impracticality of holding votes on so many nominees. And it would have the effect of politicizing promotions, Punaro argued, normalizing delaying them for partisan gain. The minute we just do the first cloture for a military nomination, we have now turned military nominations into federal judges, Punaro said. We will never get it back. We will totally politicize the military. 3. GOP leaders intervene Republican Leader Mitch McConnell could privately convince Tuberville to quit or compromise, using his influence or leverage. Its a scenario Democrats pressed for even before McConnell said he doesnt support Tubervilles actions. The problem: Would Tuberville listen? When McConnell told reporters this month, No, I dont support putting a hold on military nominations, it had no discernible effect and Tuberville dismissed it, saying, Everybodys got their opinion. Not all GOP leaders agree with McConnell. One McConnell ally, Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), told reporters the opposition is warranted One of the biggest problems around here is people arent held accountable when they overstep their authority and McConnell counselor and Senate Armed Services member Deb Fischer (R-Neb.) said private pressure isnt how this works. I dont believe I have ever heard of the Republican leaders pulling a Republican senator aside to have a talking to never, she said. 4. The Pentagon caves Facing a personnel crisis in the military's highest rungs if the blockade continues, Austin could give in to Tuberville and rescind the policies he issued this year, which cover travel costs and permit leave for troops who must travel to obtain abortions and other reproductive health procedures. The problem: The Pentagon is unlikely to cave because it could incentivize future holds to reverse controversial policies. Plus, Democrats who have rallied against Tubervilles tactics and in favor of abortion rights would be furious. It also would reverse a policy that Austin has publicly defended on Capitol Hill. Faced with GOP arguments that the Pentagon is undercutting laws that bar funding for abortion, Austin has told lawmakers his policy is on firm legal footing and argued its important to ensure reproductive health access for women in the military. About one in five of our troops are women, Austin said at a May 11 Senate hearing. I want them focused on the mission and not worried about whether or not they're going to have access to reproductive health care." 5. Space Command wildcard Tubervilles freezing out military nominees over abortion is playing out as his state is fighting to become the permanent home to the new U.S. Space Command amid speculation that reproductive rights could play a role in that major basing decision. Huntsvilles Redstone Arsenal was chosen in the final days of then-President Donald Trumps term. But lawmakers from Colorado, where Space Command is temporarily located, have clamored for the Biden administration to undo the move, arguing it was driven by political favoritism. Alabama Republicans have cited reports that the Space Command move could be blocked over Alabama's abortion laws, which are some of the country's most stringent. The two issues aren't directly linked, at least publicly, but the Space Command and abortion debates have overlapped and feature some of the same antagonists. Colorado Democratic Sen. Michael Bennet is one of Tuberville's top critics on the military abortion debate. Bennet has pushed to confirm promotions several times on the Senate floor, while separately working to keep the space cadre in his state. The problem: Many of the combatants have been careful not to mix the two fights publicly, wary of supercharging two already politically charged issues. Colorados delegation, which includes several Republicans, is arguing Space Commands operations will be set back by moving across the country. Still, Alabama Republicans such as House Armed Services Chair Mike Rogers have pointed to the abortion issue as evidence of politically motivated interference by the Biden team. Pentagon and Air Force leadership have been tight-lipped about the decision, which was supposed to come months ago. But if the administration elects to keep the command in Colorado, it could delay a final announcement until after the nominee dispute is resolved to avoid compounding the standoff and risk a response from the rest of Alabamas delegation. A version of this story previously appeared in POLITICO Pro's Morning Defense. 50 bodies of missing persons found in liberated territories over past month Ukrainian search teams have found the bodies of 50 people in the liberated territories over the past month. They had gone missing under special circumstances. Source: Oleh Kotenko, Commissioner for Persons Missing in Special Circumstances, on Telegram Quote: "The exclusive footage was provided by Oleksii Yukov, Commander of the search teams in Donetsk, Luhansk and Kharkiv oblasts. The footage was shot in liberated territories while working out the locations of possible graves. The search teams managed to recover fifty bodies over the last month alone." Background: As of April 2023, around 7,000 Ukrainian soldiers are considered missing. Journalists fight on their own frontline. Support Ukrainska Pravda or become our patron! 65-year-old kayaker missing after not returning home from fishing outing, PA reports say Authorities in Pennsylvania are searching for a 65-year-old man who went missing during a fishing outing. Pennsylvania State Police say Shane Allen Phillips, of Sycamore, was reported missing Thursday, May 18, in Franklin Township. His disappearance came at Wisecarver Reservoir, where he was fishing. When he did not come home as expected, discovery of both his vehicle and kayak were found at the scene, according to a Facebook page devoted to the case. An extensive search from all local authorities on Friday and Saturday has turned up nothing. Family members told WPXI that Phillips has lived in the area his entire life and knows the land well. Rebecca Phillips, the missing mans daughter, called the unsuccessful searches disheartening. To not know where our father is, is just surreal, Rebecca Phillips told the station. Loved ones said in the Facebook group the family is at a complete loss. Phillips is described as 6 feet tall and 180 pounds with gray hair and blue eyes. Anyone with information about Phillips whereabouts is asked to contact Pennsylvania State Police at 724-627-6151. Were just looking for answers and we would appreciate any information, Linette Phillips, Shane Phillips wife, told KDKA. Since the authorities have concluded that part and those resources have been exhausted, were turning to the public. Any even trivial piece of information that they feel is trivial might lead to finding him at this point. Franklin Township is about 60 miles south of Pittsburgh. Body found at Virginia national park believed to be missing college student, cops say 21-year-old mysteriously vanishes and leaves her phone and car behind, Texas cops say Search ends for woman, dog feared drowned in river while camping, Oregon rescuers say Pennsylvania Treasurer Stacy Garrity announced that more than $7.1 million of unclaimed property is owed to residents of Somerset County. One of my top priorities is to return unclaimed property to Pennsylvanians, Garrity said. Im glad to safeguard these funds, but this money doesnt belong to the state it belongs to our hardworking taxpayers. The average claim is worth $1,600, and that could really make a difference, especially in todays economy, for families trying to make ends meet. I encourage everyone to search Treasurys website to see if they or someone they know has property waiting. In 2022, Treasury returned more than $211 million in unclaimed property, the third-most ever in a single year. More than $4 billion remains available to be claimed. To see if you have money waiting, search Treasurys unclaimed property database at patreasury.gov/unclaimed-property. If you have money available, its easy to start the claims process online. More: Rockwood veterans park among Somerset County's Community Foundation grant awards Unclaimed property includes things like dormant bank accounts, uncashed checks, forgotten stocks and insurance policies. State law requires businesses to report unclaimed property to Treasury after three years of dormancy. Unclaimed property can also include tangible property, such as jewelry or other valuables stored in abandoned safe deposit boxes. Tangible property may be auctioned by Treasury after three years of trying to locate the rightful owner. All auction proceeds are available in perpetuity for the rightful owner to claim. Treasury often receives military decorations and memorabilia as unclaimed property, usually from safe deposit boxes, and works diligently to find the veterans who earned them or their families. Military decorations and memorabilia are never auctioned. About 500 military decorations remain in Treasurys vault. Anyone wanting to help Treasury find the rightful owners can visit patreasury.gov/unclaimed-property/medals. This article originally appeared on The Daily American: $7.1 million is owed to residents of Somerset County By Carien du Plessis JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - Six African leaders propose that Ukraine accept opening peace talks with Russia even as Russian troops remain on its soil, South Africa's presidency said on Monday, as South African officials prepare to visit both countries to sell the idea. Ukraine has said Russian troops must withdraw from its territory before talks start, while Moscow wants Kyiv to recognise Russian sovereignty over Crimea, which it annexed from Ukraine in 2014, as a precondition for negotiations. Russian forces carried out a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. "First is the cessation of hostilities. Second is a framework for lasting peace," South African Presidency Spokesman Vincent Magwenya said. President Cyril Ramaphosa announced the initiative on May 16. President Macky Sall of Senegal, last year's African Union chairman whose country was not present at the latest U.N. vote condemning Russia in February this year, leads the initiative. It includes presidents Abdel Fattah el-Sisi of Egypt and Hakainde Hichilema of Zambia - which both voted for the resolution - and Congo Republic's Denis Sassou Nguesso, and Yoweri Museveni of Uganda, which both abstained. The peace mission is expected to travel to both Moscow and Kiyv in early June. "My President made it very clear ... (There will be) no talks between Ukraine and Russia unless Russians leave our territory within its internationally recognised borders," Ukraine's ambassador to South Africa Liubov Abravitova said in a text message. But she added: "We will receive all delegates and speak to them". A spokesman for Russia's embassy did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The London-based Brazzaville Foundation, brain child of a wealthy French commodities trader, convened the peace mission partly in order "to secure agreements to release critical grain cargos and fertilisers for shipment to Africa," it said in a May 16 statement. Africa's most vulnerable have suffered greatly from the shocks to food and energy prices caused by the war. In response to the African plan, a U.S. State Department spokesperson said it would "welcome any successful effort to convince (Russian President) Vladimir Putin to end his war of territorial aggression". (Reporting by Carien du Plessis; Editing by Tim Cocks and Grant McCool) Insights from artificial intelligence will influence promotions and detect bias in the workplace. Yuichiro Chino/Moment via Getty Images Whether we realize it or not, advancements in artificial intelligence are increasingly influencing the paths of our careers. Advancements in human capital management systems, more strategic and data-driven human resource and talent management practices, and increased attention to bias are all factors that are changing how people are hired, developed, promoted and fired. I teach and work in talent management and leadership development. Ive used these programs and practices in the real world and continue to learn and research how these practices are changing. Artificial intelligence and systems are already big business, grossing over US$38 billion in 2021. Without a doubt, AI-driven software has the potential to advance quickly and change how companies make strategic decisions about their employees. Heres what that acceleration may mean to you. Applying Imagine you apply for a job in the very near future. You upload your carefully written resume through the company website, noting that the platform looks eerily similar to other platforms youve used to apply for other jobs. After your resume is saved, you provide demographic information and complete countless fields with the same data from your resume. You then hit submit and hope for a follow-up email from a person. Your data now lives within this companys human capital management system. Even if they collect them, very few companies are looking at resumes anymore; theyre looking at the info you type into those tiny boxes to help make comparisons between you, dozens or hundreds of other applicants, and the job requirements. Even if your resume demonstrates that you are the most qualified applicant, it alone is unlikely to catch the eye of the recruiter, because the recruiters attention is elsewhere. With input from artificial intelligence, measures of employee performance will become more objective and increasingly data-driven. Hinterhaus Productions/DigitalVision via Getty Images Getting the job Lets say you get the call, you ace the interview and the job is yours. Your information hits another stage within the companys database, or HCM: active employee. Your performance ratings and other data about your employment will now be tied to your profile, adding more data for the HCM and human resources to monitor and assess. Enhancements in AI, technology and HCMs enable HR to look at employee data on deeper levels. The insights gleaned help identify talented employees who could fill key leadership roles when people quit and guide decisions about who should be promoted. The data can also identify favoritism and bias in hiring and promotion. As you continue in your role, data on your performance is tracked and analyzed. This may include your performance ratings, supervisors feedback, professional development activity or lack thereof. Having this large amount of data about you and others over time now helps HR think about how employees can better support the growth of the organization. For example, HR may use data to identify how likely specific employees are to quit and evaluate the impact of that loss. Platforms that many people already use every day aggregate productivity data from sign-in to signoff. Widely available Microsoft tools including Teams, Outlook and SharePoint can help provide insight to managers via their workplace analytics tool. The Microsoft productivity score tracks overall usage within the platform. Even the metrics and behaviors defining good or bad performance may change, relying less on the perception of the manager. As data grows, even the work of professionals like consultants, doctors and marketers will be quantitatively and objectively measured. A 2022 New York Times investigation found that these systems, designed to improve worker productivity and accountability, had the effect of damaging morale and instilling fear. Its clear that American employees should begin to think about how our data is being used, what story that data is telling, and how it may dictate our futures. Optimizing and understanding your career Not every company has an HCM or is advanced in using talent data to make decisions. But many companies are becoming savvier and some are incredibly advanced. At a recent Microsoft Viva summit I attended, chief human resources officers from companies like PayPal and Rio Tinto outlined ways they are using these advancements. Some researchers claim that AI could promote equity by removing implicit bias from hiring and promoting, but many more see a danger that AI built by humans will just repackage old issues in a new box. Amazon learned this lesson the hard way back in 2018 when a resume-sorting AI it built had to be abandoned when it favored men for programming roles. Whats more, the increase of data collection and analysis can leave employees unclear on where they stand while the organization is very clear. Its best if you understand how AI is changing the workplace and demand transparency from your employer. These are data points that employees should consider asking about during their next review: Do you see me as a high-potential employee? How does my performance compare with others? Do you see me as a successor to your role or others? Just as you need to master traditional aspects of workplace culture, politics and relationships, you should learn to navigate these platforms, understand how you are being assessed, and take ownership of your career in a new and more data-driven way. This article is republished from The Conversation, an independent nonprofit news site dedicated to sharing ideas from academic experts. If you found it interesting, you could subscribe to our weekly newsletter. It was written by: Catherine Rymsha, UMass Lowell. Read more: I work as a consultant in corporate settings and use/have used various HCMs and Microsoft tools referenced here in that work. Photo of a prison gate at sunset. Credit - Thomas DardenneGetty Images The best time to visit a prisoner in Texas is early morning, when the crowds are thin and the lines are short. During the summer months Amite Dominick aims for mid-afternoon, not because its better for her scheduleits notbut because she knows that if she comes during the hottest part of the day her ex-husband will at least get a few hours of respite in the air-conditioned visiting area when he needs it most. Neither his cell nor the common areas of the prison where he has spent the past eight years are air-conditioned, and temperatures inside can reach triple digits in the summer. On really hot days, says Dominick, her ex-husbands white prison jumpsuit is already soaked with sweat by the time he comes out to see her. When I hug him, hes just dripping wet. Its not just uncomfortable, it can be deadly. According to research by Julie Skarha, an environmental epidemiologist at Brown Universitys School of Public Health, 271 prisoners died of heat-related causes in un-air-conditioned Texas prisons between 2001 and 2019. Many more suffer heat exhaustion each year, reporting dizziness, nausea, heat rashes, and muscle cramps. With climate change each summer is going to be worse than the last. If nothing is done about this, people will continue to die, says Dominick, founder of Texas Prisons Community Advocates, an organization that campaigns for prisoner welfare. We have people going in for unpaid parking tickets and [drug] possession charges, and they end up getting a death sentence because of the heat. Seventy percent of Texas prisons lack air conditioning in cells and common areas, and the rest of the United States is not much better, according to Skarha. Yet prisons house a growing number of people with medical conditions and mental-health concerns that make them particularly susceptible to heat-related illnesses. This leaves a vulnerable population even more at risk. Read more: Heat Waves Can Be Deadly for Those With Mental Health Issues When it is hot, there is a lot we can do to cool down, whether its turning on the AC, drinking water, taking a cold shower, changing to lighter clothes, or going to a cooler placea public library or mall, says Skarha. Thats not possible when you are on the inside. Water isnt available 24/7. Showers are limited. There is a uniform. If you want a fan, you have to buy it from the prison commissary, and for some people thats not affordable. In a March paper published in the medical journal PLOS One, Skarha analyzed summertime mortality rates from U.S. state and private prisons over the past two decades and found that the death rate rose by 5.2% for every 10F increase in temperature above historical averagessome 635 prison deaths due to high heat since 2001. While there is no national database tracking air conditioning across all U.S. prisons, Skarha was able to compare mortality data for Texas prisons with and without air conditioning. She found no association between an extreme heat day and increased risk of death in prisons with AC, she says. But prisons that didnt cool their cells and common areas saw a 13% increase in heat-related deaths compared to the rest of the population. Thats a pretty strong indication that air conditioning plays an important role in prisoner health on hot days, she says. Its not just prisoners who are miserable. The correctional officers, the administration, the wardens and the medical staff are miserable too. Tensions are high. Violence goes up. Suicides increase. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is predicting a hotter-than-average summer for broad swaths of the United States; over the next five years temperatures are likely to soar to record highs due to a combination of human-caused global warming and the El Nino weather pattern. Unless aggressive action is taken to limit fossil fuel emissions, the number of days per year above 105F will quadruple by mid-century, according to an analysis by the Union of Concerned Scientists. By the end of the century thousands of U.S. prisons will know the kind of heat Texas has today. Without air conditioning, that risks turning temporary incarceration into a death sentence. Read more: What Its Like Living in One of the Hottest Cities on EarthWhere It May Soon Be Uninhabitable Unlike prisons in the Northeast, Texas does have protocols in place for heatwaves. Fans should be brought in. Inmates are supposed to be provided with extra water and ice and offered the opportunity for cold showers. But in Dominicks experience, the protocols are unevenly applied. First of all, half the showers dont work, or the temperatures are set hot. If you are talking about a whole dorm, thats 50 plus individuals in the showers at a time. If there are not enough officers to watch over them, thats not getting done. The water coolers only get replenished every six hours, she says so what happens when you are the last person in line? And when the temperature surpasses 95F, fans arent enough, she says, quoting heat-illness prevention guidelines published by the Centers for Disease Control. In fact, she notes, the CDCs principal recommendation for high heat is air conditioning: [It] is the strongest protective factor Exposure to air conditioning for even a few hours a day will reduce the risk for heat related illness. In the Texas prison where Dominicks ex-husband resides, inmates have turned to extreme measures to keep cool on hot days. (Dominick requested not to use her ex-husbands name to protect his identity). Some force their cell toilets to overflow, so that they can take respite by lying on the wet concrete floors. Others jerry-rig swamp coolers by draping wet t-shirts over fans that they buy from the commissary. Both actions can result in a demerit that impacts the possibility of parole, but on a hot day, they are desperate, says Dominick, whose organization has become a kind of clearing house for prisoner complaints about excessively hot conditions. I struggle with the heat so bad, one incarcerated woman wrote, I cant eat I cant gain weight I get dizzy and headaches I am weak. I have diarrhea too with leg cramps at night. I have even passed out a few times. I drink plenty of water. They do not allow respite Please help me with any information to get a unit transfer. Another woman woke up at 3 a.m. from a dream of rain on her face, only to find that it was her cellmates sweat dripping down from the top bunk. I did 5 summers in there and its inhumane, wrote a male prisoner. Your survival mode has to kick in and you end up sleeping on a wet floor with wet clothes with your fan on just to make it. I most definitely have PTSD. Read more: How Extreme Heat Impacts Your Brain and Mental Health In 2021 the Texas House of Representatives passed a bill to require that prisons maintain temperatures between 65F and 86Fthe same standard used for county jailson the condition that lawmakers also come up with the funds to cover costs. They didnt, and the bill died in committee. Due, in part, to Dominicks fierce lobbying, the Texas House passed a similar bill on April 26, but once again legislators have failed to find fundingcoming in at $1.1 billion, the cost is most certainly overinflated, says Dominickand this bill is likely to wither in the State Senate this week. Texas is a very punitive state, says Dominick. Theres just an overall lack of compassion. But as temperatures keep rising, the costs of medical care for heat-stressed prisoners, wrongful death lawsuits and staffing for ever-hotter prisons will too, says Skarha. At this point the state has probably spent more money fighting these AC bills than it would actually cost to install AC in these facilities. Part of the problem is that legislators still see air conditioning as a luxury, says Skarha. No one disputes the need for TV in prison, which is arguably less important for human health than air-conditioning. In the context of climate change, AC is not a luxury. Its a human right. Correction, May 23 The original version of this story misstated Amite Dominicks professional background. She holds a Ph.D. in psychology, but is not a psychologist. This story was supported by the Pulitzer Center. Syrian kurds, who were evacuated from Sudan, arrive in Kurdish-controlled city of Qamishli, in northern Syria Sudan ceasefire starts precariously as continued fighting reported Syrian kurds, who were evacuated from Sudan, arrive in Kurdish-controlled city of Qamishli, in northern Syria By Khalid Abdelaziz and Mohamed Nureldin KHARTOUM (Reuters) -A week-long ceasefire in Sudan got off to a shaky start on Monday as witnesses in the capital Khartoum reported fighter jets flights over the city and continued fighting in some areas. Heavy bombardments could be heard in east Khartoum, witnesses said, and one resident shared a picture of thick black smoke rising into the sky. In Omdurman and Bahri, Khartoum's twin cities, people said they heard sounds of weapons firing. After five weeks of fierce battles between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), the warring factions on Saturday agreed to a seven-day truce starting at 9:45 p.m. (19:45 GMT) on Monday that was intended to allow for the delivery of aid. In the hours before the ceasefire went into effect, the army conducted heavy air strikes across the capital Khartoum against its paramilitary rivals. Although fighting has continued through previous ceasefires, this was the first to be formally agreed following negotiations. The ceasefire deal includes for the first time a monitoring mechanism involving the army and the RSF as well as representatives from Saudi Arabia and the United States, which brokered the agreement after talks in Jeddah. Shortly before the ceasefire was due to take effect, the RSF released an audio message from its commander Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, known as Hemedti, in which he thanked Saudi Arabia and the U.S. but urged his men on to victory. "We will not retreat until we end this coup," he said. Both sides accused each other of an attempted power grab at the start of the conflict on April 15. The ceasefire deal has raised hopes of a pause in a war that has driven nearly 1.1 million people from their homes, including more than 250,000 who have fled into neighbouring countries, threatening to destabilise a volatile region. It should allow civilians to move and give access for humanitarian aid, said Volker Perthes, the U.N. special representative to Sudan. "This is a welcome development, though the fighting and troop movements have continued even today, despite a commitment of both sides not to pursue military advantage before the ceasefire takes effect," he told the U.N. Security Council in New York. (Reporting by Khalid Abdelaziz in Dubai, Mohamed Nureldin in Khartoum, Adam Makary in Cairo; Writing by Aidan Lewis and Cynthia Osterman; Editing by Christina Fincher, Conor Humphries and Grant McCool) Want to be on the fast track to airman 1st class? Bring some friends to boot camp. The Air Force is promising medals and quicker promotions to airmen and guardians who convince others to join the military as well. The service announced its latest bid to reverse lackluster recruiting numbers May 18, as it enters the crucial summer push to hit its enlistment goals by the end of the fiscal year. Almost any enlisted airman excluding chief master sergeants and officers up to the rank of lieutenant colonel can earn as many as two Air and Space Achievement Medals for referring three people, as long as they ultimately enlist and ship out to basic training. The medal is a common award that recognizes those who go above and beyond in their service to the Air Force, though not necessarily in combat. Those who refer at least five applicants who successfully enlist can receive the slightly more prestigious Air and Space Commendation Medal, the Air Force said. That applies to any enlisted airman or officer up to the rank of colonel. Awards can be a boon to service members annual performance reviews and improve their odds of acceptance into competitive jobs and leadership roles. Another initiative rewards new airmen and guardians for their help by promoting them sooner. Recruits can shave more than a year off of the time it takes to jump the two ranks from newly minted airman basic to airman 1st class, the services third-lowest rank. Airmen graduate from boot camp at the rank of airman basic, or E-1. They must serve at the lowest level for six months before they are automatically promoted to airman, or E-2, barring any behavioral issues. After 10 months at that grade, airmen become eligible to move up to airman 1st class (E-3). The Stripes for Referrals initiative would allow a fresh E-1 to skip to E-2 sooner by referring two enlisted candidates, or to E-3 with four referrals to the Delayed Entry Program which gives recruits more time between when they sign enlistment paperwork and leave for boot camp. Service members must refer prospective airmen through the services Aim High recruiting app to get credit for enlistments. The programs apply to recruits of the active duty Air Force and Space Force, the Air Force Reserve and Air National Guard. And, the Air Force noted, airmen have to find new people on their own not piggyback on a recruiters efforts. Stripes for Referrals began April 28, and the awards program began May 4. Both pilot programs will run for one year and expire unless they are codified in Air Force rules, according to two memos signed by Alex Wagner, the services civilian personnel chief. Wagner also expanded the Air Forces rules to offer fast-tracked promotions to E-2 for high school graduates with an International Baccalaureate diploma, to E-3 for those who come in with at least 45 semester hours of college credit or Advanced Placement exam credit, and to senior airman (E-4) for recruits with certain cybersecurity certifications. The initiatives are among several other incentives and policy tweaks aimed at improving how the Air Force markets itself to the American public and shrinking the hurdles people may face once they apply. That has included loosening body fat requirements and standing up a new team dedicated to fielding online interest, among others. The Pentagon is broadly struggling with recruitment because of a complex web of economic and health factors, dwindling interest in military service, and the introduction of an electronic health records system that has significantly slowed the process of bringing in new people. Officials have projected that the slowdown will create a shortfall of thousands of airmen in critical specialties, from maintenance to recruitment itself. As of the end of March, the midpoint of fiscal 2023, the Air Force was less than halfway to its goal bringing in around 11,200 of the 26,877 active duty enlistees it wants. The Air Force Recruiting Service did not immediately answer where that number stands as of Monday. Lt. Gen. Caroline Miller, the Air Forces deputy chief of staff for manpower, personnel and services, told lawmakers March 29 that the Air Force expects to miss its 2023 goal by around 4,100 people on the active duty side, and by about 4,600 and 3,600 airmen in the Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve, respectively. The fledgling Space Force, whose recruiting efforts are overseen by the Air Force, has had an easier time bringing in new members because of its niche missions set and because it is much smaller than the other armed forces at 8,600 uniformed jobs overall. Interim Air Force Undersecretary Kristyn Jones told lawmakers March 22 that the Space Force was on track to meet its recruitment goal of 532 enlisted guardians by the end of the fiscal year on Sept. 30. The Collier County Public Schools logo rests on a podium before a press conference about the FLODE district and school grades, Thursday, July 7, 2022, at Naples Park Elementary in Naples, Fla.CCPS earned an A-rating as a school district. Naples grocer Alfie Oakes is suing the Collier County School Board over its superintendent search, claiming they and their search firm violated Florida's Sunshine Law. "All I want is a fair process," Oakes said Monday. "I think it's all pretty self explanatory." In his lawsuit, which was filed May 17 with the Collier County Circuit Court , Oakes claims that the school board violated the Sunshine Law by allowing search firm Hazard Young Atea Associates to select 10 candidates out of 45 applicants privately, without public notice, public comment or minutes. On May 4, the Collier County School Board in a 3-2 voted selected Leslie Ricciardelli, who had been serving as interim superintendent, as the district's superintendent. More: Collier School Board disagrees on superintendent contract length, salary Ricciardelli took over as interim superintendent in December after former superintendent Kamela Patton, who was set to retire at the end of the 2022-23 school year, signed a mutual transition agreement with the school board. The Sunshine Law The Sunshine Law is a Florida law that requires all meetings of an agency, including school boards, to be open to the public. This extends to all documents or other materials made or received in connection to the agency. Violations of the Sunshine Law can result in removal from office, noncriminal infractions and criminal penalties. "The district including the superintendent does not comment on pending litigation," District Spokesman Chadwick Oliver said in an emailed statement. Messages left with school board members were not returned Monday afternoon. Oakes claims the selection of Ricciardelli as the next superintendent of Collier County Schools should be void due the alleged violation of the Sunshine Law. In his lawsuit he's asking the board to temporarily stop the board from entering into a contract with Ricciardelli until they go through the selection process again with the 45 original applicants in public meetings. "There's incredible case law to support everything that we've alleged," Oakes said. Alfie Oakes, center, stands alongside Retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn and addresses the crowd during an election results watch party at Seed to Table in Naples Tuesday November 8, 2022. Who is Alfie Oakes? Alfie Oakes is a Naples grocer who owns Oakes Farms, Seed to Table, Oakes Farm Market and Food & Thought. His operations include a more than 1,400-acre farm and a fleet of trucks and drivers that distribute his produce across the country, according to his website. More: Seed to Table's Alfie Oakes is popular, polarizing Naples businessman He's a high-profile Republican supporter. And he's no stranger to government battles. Throughout the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, Oakes filed several pieces of litigation. In 2020, he filed a federal lawsuit challenging Collier Countys mask order. A federal judge tossed that lawsuit out in 2021. Oakes also filed a federal lawsuit against the School District of Lee County in 2020 after the district ended its multi-million dollar contract when the CEO called George Floyd a disgraceful career criminal. This article originally appeared on Naples Daily News: Alfie Oakes files lawsuit against Collier School Board Def Leppard drummer Rick Allen shared details of his recent attack in Fort Lauderdatle, Fla. (Damian Dovarganes / Associated Press) Two months after being attacked in Florida, Def Leppard drummer Rick Allen opened up about the incident that had him drawing parallels to the traumatic 1980s car accident that severed his left arm when he was 21. The British rocker, known as the Thunder God, detailed the alleged assault Monday on "Good Morning America" saying he was "totally blindsided." "I heard a couple of steps and then I just saw this dark sort of flash and the next thing I knew was I was on the ground," the 59-year-old recalled. "I landed on my backside and then continued on hit my head on the pavement." The "Pour Some Sugar on Me" musician said he feared being attacked when the alleged assailant identified as 19-year-old Ohio resident Max Edward Hartley first approached him. Allen said he reached his hand up and told him, "I am no threat to you." "I don't think he knew who I was, but he must have seen that I wasn't a threat because, you know, I've only got one arm," Allen said. The Rock and Roll Hall of Famer was staying in the Fort Lauderdale area to perform at Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino Hollywood in March during the Def Leppard and Motley Crue world tour, which began in February and will conclude in August. According to a Fort Lauderdale police report reviewed by The Times, Hartley was hiding behind a pillar before he ran full speed toward Allen. Police said Allen was standing near the valet area of the Four Seasons Hotel smoking a cigarette when he suffered the blow. He was knocked to the ground, and his head hit the concrete, "causing injury." Hartley also allegedly attacked a woman who tried to help the musician. He was charged with two counts of battery, four counts of criminal mischief and a count of abusing an elderly or disabled adult. He has pleaded not guilty. Meanwhile, Allen said on "GMA" that he was mentally better prepared for this incident than he was for the 1984 car accident. That's partly due to the fact that he and his wife Lauren Monroe, who sat for the interview with him, started the Raven Drum Foundation in 2001 to help trauma survivors, focusing on physical and mental health. "I immediately just went to that place of just feeling grateful for the fact that I have an amazing wife and an incredible family. I just started thanking a higher power for the fact that I'm still here," he said. In a March Instagram post, Allen asked his 89,000 followers to "move from confusion and shock to compassion and empathy." "We understand this act of violence can be triggering for so many people. To all of the fans, veterans, and first responders in our global community we are thinking of you all. Together with love, we can all get through these difficult times," he wrote. Last month he added that he's "still recovering and getting my mind and body ready for the upcoming Def Leppard tour." Def Leppard has returned to the stage to play a small show in their hometown of Sheffield, England also near the site of Allen's car accident and he hopes to show his resilience to fans. "I know that I'm not going to be playing music in a band forever," he said on "GMA." "But while I am, I plan on making as many people happy as I possibly can. And this is my time. This is my opportunity ... We're only here for a limited time." Times staff writers Emily St. Martin and Alexandra Del Rosario contributed to this report. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times. Black woman taking a selfie with the eiffel tower If youve been looking for a cruise experience that centers on Black heritage, set aside some time in summer 2024. River cruise line AmaWaterways will add three sailings between Egypt and France that do just that. Black travelers who booked with AmaWaterways before expressed a desire for more diverse and inclusive itineraries. Kristin Karst, the executive vice president, said the company was receptive. She explained, We pride ourselves on our warm, welcoming environment on board our ships and are always open to improvements that will enhance the experience for all our guests. This Years Black Heritage River Cruises Sold Out in Record Time It appears theres quite a demand for this kind of river cruise experience. Karst is encouraged by this demand, saying, Our first Soulful Epicurean Experience river cruise and land package in France scheduled for 2023 sold out almost immediately, exemplifying that the demand and desire for these cruises is there. Come 2024, two cruises will be on the Rhone River, one of the three major rivers in Europe. The third will be on the Nile River in Cairo. Have 2024 Dates Been Set? The answer is yes. The first sailing in Cairo takes place May 17, 2024. One on June 13 will be in Arles, a city on the banks of the Rhone, and the third will launch in Paris on June 17. For those planning to be in France or Egypt during this time, the AmaWaterways cruises can serve as a great enhancement to your itinerary. Youll have the chance to learn about these destinations through a lens that isnt traditionally focused on. USA Today writes, The May 17, 2024, itinerary will be paired with the lines 11-night Secrets of Egypt and The Nile cruise and land package, visiting Edfu, Aswan and more. Guests on this cruise will see the Great Pyramid of Giza, a Nubian village, and a number of other relevant sites. For some extra razzle-dazzle, travelers can opt for a private tour of the tomb of Queen Nefertari. The French cruises last seven nights. USA Today explains that these sailings are paired with AmaWaterways Colors of Provence itinerary. These will begin or end with a three-night land package in Paris, depending on the date. Expect stops in some of Frances most celebrated cities and towns, including Paris, Avignon and Vienne. There will be jazz music and refreshments offered in keeping with the Black heritage theme. In Paris, guests can learn about Josephine Baker, who made the capital her home for decades. Shes the first and only Black woman to be inducted into the French Pantheon, though shes actually buried in Monaco. What Will The Cost of These River Cruises Be? The starting point for the Cairo cruise in May is $5,049 per person. Both French cruises in June start at $4,499, and these fares are based on double occupancy. There might be more activities added to these itineraries, which would likely affect pricing. The cost includes beer, wine, soft drinks, food, hotel stays, Wi-Fi and more. America is on pace for its worst year of mass shootings in a decade. Whats driving the record-breaking surge? (Getty/The Independent) Even for a country with more guns than people, the level of mass shootings in the US in 2023 has been shocking. The incidents have ranged from campus shootings, like a massacre inside a Nashville elementary school that killed six in March, to a mass shooting at a mall in Texas this month that killed eight, carried out by a neo-Nazi. As of 19 May, according to the Gun Violence Archive, there have been 227 mass shootings in 2023, defined as incidents in which four or more people are wounded or killed, not including the shooter. Thats nearly two mass shootings per day so far this year. This year could be the worst for mass shootings in a decade, according to an analysis of Gun Violence Archive data by The Guardian. Unfortunately I worry were becoming a bit numb to it, Professor F Chris Curran, director of the Education Policy Research Center at the University of Florida and an expert in school shootings, told The Independent. When someone talks about an incident of gun violence, its like, Which are you talking about? Theres been so many in the news headlines. I dont know what that means in terms of where policy goes, he added. Its certainly at the forefront of attention in the media and among policymakers. Unfortunately we run a risk of reaching a place where it feels like the new normal and it becomes less shocking to us. That may slow down progress when it comes to stopping gun violence. Gun violence is a complex phenomenon, and experts say unpacking the causes of the recent spike requires a multi-faceted approach. On a very basic level, there has been a surge in gun buying, which means an increased potential for deadly violence. Throughout the pandemic, Americans raced to gun stores. Between January 2020 and April 2021, the number of first-time gun owners more than doubled compared with 2019, according to one survey. During this period, weapons like semi-automatic handguns, more likely to be used outside of recreational contexts, began outselling rifles, which are more commonly used for hunting. Then there was massive personal, social, and economic dislocation of the pandemic, further driving root issues that can lead to violence. The rest of the world was also struggling with these same issues, of course, but only the US saw this kind of rise in mass shootings. A lot of the unrest and instability we have across the world. This was a global pandemic, Vicka Chaplin, of the University of California-Davis Violence Prevention Research Program, told The Independent. Assault, that happens across the world. Where the US stands apart is easy access to so many firearms. Thats the difference that makes the violence lethal. And, Ms Chaplin urges, its important to remember that theres even more gun violence in America than the sort of mass shootings that make the headlines. These incidents, while horrifying, account for only a small portion of the vast number of Americans killed by guns each year. Over half of gun deaths in the US were suicides, according to the most recent CDC data. Whats often not covered is that there are so many more shootings and other forms of gun violence, that are really also impacting families and communities every single day, she said. In 2021, nearly 49,000 Americans died by gun violence. For every one fatality, theres an estimated two people who are shot and survive...This is a collective experience at this point. Mourners set up a memorial for victims of the Allen outlet mall shooting in Texas (Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.) Americas response has been just as multi-faceted as the problem of gun violence, encompassing both protest and laws designed to make guns even easier to access. The onslaught of gun violence has galvanised young activists and lawmakers like the so-called Tennessee Three, a group of state legislators who became national figures after they were temporarily kicked out of the Tennessee House of Representatives for joining in a protests at the capitol following the Nashville shooting. This activist energy has been felt on campus too. Joseph Kesto, a Michigan State pre-med student, told The Washington Post this month he added a policy major and became an anti-gun violence organiser, following a shooting at the university in February that killed three people. That shooting kind of reshaped my entire life, he told the paper. Other, Republican-led states, where per capita rates of gun ownership and death tend to be higher, have moved in the other direction, with states like Florida joining the more than half of US states where its legal to carry a concealed weapon without a permit. Despite the political headwinds, experts say states already have the tools backed by evidence to reduce gun violence, from safe-storage laws, to red flag provisions that temporarily seize weapons from people at risk of committing violence. Pandemic-era spike aside, states like California with such provisions have bucked trends of increasing gun violence by adopting this approach. According to Ms Chaplin of UC Davis, opponents and supporters of gun ownership are motivated by a desire for safety. The latter camp, in some cases, hold a mistaken belief that having a gun inside the home decreases the risk of being a victim of gun violence. But that common ground can still be an opportunity for reform. Mass shootings, gun violence, broadly, theyre complex issues with complex causes, she said. They require a complex solution, but thats an opportunity. It leaves a lot of options for intervention and prevention. There are areas where there is strong agreement and there are areas where its really polarising, but ultimately I think there is hope on this. American arms dealer convicted of torture, conspiracy to commit crimes against U.S. A Pennsylvania man was convicted of torture, arms smuggling and conspiring to commit an offense against the United States, becoming the second American ever to be convicted of torture, federal prosecutors announced Monday. A federal jury voted to convict Ross Roggio, 54, of Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, for the torture of an Estonian citizen in 2015 in the Kurdistan region of Iraq, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. He was found guilty on 39 counts of torture, arms smuggling, wire fraud, and money laundering, among other charges. Roggio, a former paratrooper, was linked to an illegal weapons factory project in Kurdistan, according to court documents and evidence presented at the trial. Weapons developed in the plant contributed to regional conflict after being sold on the black market in Iraq and Syria, Rolling Stone reported. The Estonian citizen, an employee at Roggio's illegal weapons factory that was intended to manufacture M4 automatic rifles and Glock 9mm pistols, was abducted and repeatedly abused by Kurdish soldiers, court documents said. Roggio brutally tortured another human being to prevent interference with his illegal activities, Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite, Jr. of the Justice Departments Criminal Division said in a statement. Roggio is the second American to ever be indicted and convicted of torture since the federal torture statute went into effect in 1994, according to the Justice Department. Mexico kidnapping case: Texas man pleads guilty to smuggling gun in connection to deadly Mexico kidnapping Estonian victim physically, mentally abused over a 39-day period The victim was employed at the illegal weapons manufacturing plant in Kurdistan when Roggio arranged for Kurdish soldiers to abduct and detain him at a Kurdish military compound, according to court documents. The Justice Department said Roggio "suffocated the victim with a belt, threatened to cut off one of his fingers, and directed Kurdish soldiers to repeatedly beat, tase, choke, and otherwise physically and mentally abuse the victim over a 39-day period." Special Agent in Charge Jonathan Carson of the Department of Commerces Bureau of Industry and Security said arms smuggling "often goes hand in hand" with other criminal activities, including Roggio's charge of torture. Roggio's weapons factory project planned to manufacture M4 automatic rifles and Glock 9mm pistols, court documents said. As part of operations, Roggio was to provide training to foreign persons in the operation, assembly, and manufacturing of the M4 automatic rifle. According to court documents, Roggio also illegally exported firearm parts that were controlled for export by the Departments of State and Commerce. 'Prince of Submersibles': Colombian gets 20 years for smuggling kilos of coke into US with narco-submarines Roggio convicted of 39 counts Roggio is scheduled to be sentenced Aug. 23 and faces a maximum sentence of life in prison, federal prosecutors said. Prosecutors said that he was convicted on multiple counts of: Torture Conspiracy to commit torture Conspiring to commit an offense against the United States Exporting weapons parts and services to Iraq without the approval of the U.S. Department of State Exporting weapons tools to Iraq without the approval of the U.S. Department of Commerce Smuggling goods Wire fraud Money laundering This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Pennsylvania man convicted of torture, conspiracy to commit crimes against U.S. The American Bar Association has joined calls to stop the execution of Michael Tisius, a Missouri man scheduled to be put to death on June 6. The bar association, a large network for lawyers, does not take an overarching stance on the death penalty, but opposes its use in some situations. Tisius legal team and opponents to the death penalty say the execution should not go forward, arguing that he regrets his actions and was manipulated by an older man, which led to the killing of two jail guards in 2000. Five jurors now say they support commuting his death sentence to life without parole. Recently, lawyers for Tisius also said they discovered that one of the jurors was not able to read or write. Under Missouri law, jurors are required to be able to read so they can understand jury instructions, evidence and reports. In 2018, the bar association passed a resolution urging states with capital punishment to prohibit the execution of anyone 21 years old or younger when the crime was committed. They cited research showing the brain is not fully developed until an individuals mid-twenties, which results in an underdeveloped sense of responsibility and an increased susceptibility to negative influences. In a Missouri case decided by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2005, youth under 18 cannot be given the death penalty. Tisius was 19 when he fatally shot two Randolph County jailers during a botched escape attempt. In a May 22 letter addressed to Gov. Mike Parson, the ABA said Tisius development at 19 was below even typical levels for his age. Michael experienced delayed maturation of adolescent brain functioning due to the childhood physical abuse and neglect he suffered, the letter said. Compounding his brain immaturity, multiple experts have found that Michael had neurological deficits at the time of his crimes. Tisius suffered beatings and neglect as a child, lead poisoning and brain damage, his attorneys said in a clemency application sent to Parson last week. Michael Tisius was abused and neglected as a child, his attorneys said in a clemency application sent to Gov. Mike Parson. That made him susceptible to co-defendant Roy Vances influence, the ABA letter continued. Tisius was jailed on a misdemeanor theft charge when he met Vance, who was 27 at the time. Once Tisius was released, Vance reportedly convinced Tisius to help him escape. In the course of the escape, Tisius shot and killed deputies Jason Acton and Leon Egley. The letter goes on to say that as an adult, Tisius has been an exemplary prisoner. He has learned self-control, has empathy for others, shows empathy for the men he killed, is no longer impulsive, and is seeking to make the best life he can in his current situation, a psychiatrist said. The letter also said Tisius was represented by a public defender during the sentencing phase who was paid on a flat-fee basis. The ABA cautions against the use of flat fee arrangements in capital cases because of the unacceptable risk that counsel will limit the amount of time investigated in the representation in order to maximize the return. The attorney failed to conduct depositions and did not present evidence about Vances significant influence over Tisius. Vance was charged with first-degree murder and is serving life without parole. Last month, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights issued a resolution calling for Tisius execution to be halted. Seventeen people are on death row in Missouri. In addition to Tisius, Johnny Johnson also has an execution date scheduled for this year. In the past six months, the state has executed three people. Parson has not granted clemency on a death penalty case. A federal jury on Friday convicted an American man on charges of torture and conspiracy to commit crimes against the U.S. Ross Roggio of Stroudsburg, Pa., was convicted on numerous charges that include conspiring to commit an offense against the United States, exporting weapons parts and services to Iraq without the approval of the Department of State, and exporting weapons tools to Iraq without the approval of the Department of Commerce, according to a Department of Justice (DOJ) news release, In addition, Roggio was convicted on charges of smuggling goods, wire fraud, money laundering and conspiracy to commit torture. According to court documents, Roggio arranged for Kurdish soldiers to abduct and detain an Estonian citizen at a Kurdish military compound. At the military compound, Roggio used a belt to suffocate the victim, threatened to cut off one of his fingers, and directed Kurdish soldiers to repeatedly beat, tase, choke, and otherwise physically and mentally abuse the victim over a 39-day period. The victim was an employee at a weapons factory that Roggio was developing in the Kurdistan region of Iraq. Roggios weapons factory was intended to manufacture M4 automatic rifles and Glock 9mm pistols. Roggio also used the weapons factory to illegally export firearm parts that were controlled for export by the departments of State and Commerce. Roggio also provided training to foreign persons in the operation, assembly, and manufacturing of the M4 automatic rifle, court documents said. Roggio brutally tortured another human being to prevent interference with his illegal activities, the DOJs Criminal Division Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite Jr. said in a statement. Thanks to the courage of the victim and other witnesses, the hard work of U.S. law enforcement, and the assistance of Estonian authorities, he will now be held accountable for his cruelty. Roggio, who was arrested by authorities in February 2022, is the second defendant to be convicted of torture since the federal torture statute went into effect in 1994, according to the news release. Roggio, 54, is scheduled to be sentenced in August and is facing a maximum life sentence in prison. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. American Idol crowned a season 21 winner Sunday night in its finale and one of Georgias own made it to the final two. Megan Danielle, who is from Douglasville right here in the metro area, finished runner-up to Iam Tongi during the finale live on Channel 2. [DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks] Danielle performed Dream Girl which is a country-rock song. Missed the finale? Well have highlights on WSB Tonight at 11 p.m. and Channel 2 Action News This Morning from 4:30 a.m. to 7 a.m. Danielle made it to the competitions top five at the beginning of the month, then she advanced to the top three last Sunday during the Disney Week episode, which aired on Channel 2. Her hometown has been rallying behind her since she entered the competition. RELATED STORIES: She made a stop in Douglasville for her hometown visit last Tuesday after advancing to the top three last weekend. The community celebrated with a parade and pep rally in the Douglasville Town Center to honor the hometown singing sensation. [SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter] IN OTHER NEWS: Americans want Prince Harry to leave, says head of leading US think tank The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are not universally liked in the US - Seth Wenig/AP Americans want the Duke of Sussex to return to Britain, the head of a leading Washington think tank has said. Kevin Roberts, president of the Heritage Foundation, is assisting the think tanks legal action to investigate the Dukes US visa application following his admissions of drug taking in his memoir, Spare. Asked whether the Duke should be deported following these revelations, Mr Roberts told The Telegraph: We dont like him being in America and we would love for him to come back to you or somewhere. I guess we as Americans, we see Prince Harry the same way you see President Biden. You can have him back. The Heritage Foundation, the biggest conservative think tank in the United States, has demanded the release of the Dukes American visa application. The US government has so far refused to release it, despite a freedom of information request, but a court will rule on whether to compel officials to release his immigration records to the public following pressure from the group. They are basing their case on US immigration laws, which state that any foreigner determined to be a drug abuser is classed as inadmissible, although immigration officials can use their discretion to waive the rule. The Duke admitted in his autobiography - and in television interviews promoting it earlier this year - to taking cocaine, cannabis and magic mushrooms in the past. He also owned up to taking magic mushroom chocolates - illegal in the US - at a party at the Los Angeles home of Courteney Cox, the actress from the series Friends, in 2016. In an interview with Variety in February, the Friends star confirmed that Prince Harry had stayed at her house but denied passing out psychedelics. "He did stay here for a couple of days probably two or three, Cox said, adding: "Im not saying there were mushrooms! I definitely wasnt passing them out." Truthful application Sources close to the Duke have previously indicated that he was truthful on his visa application, suggesting that he did disclose his past drug use. Mr Roberts told The Telegraph that only two to three per cent of the US population love the nonsense that Harry and Meghan spew and that in general, Britons dont have to worry about Americans being on their side. He added that Americans admire the consistency of the British form of government, which, of course, includes the Royal family. In previous court filings, the Heritage Foundation and Mike Howell v US Department of Homeland Security, the think tank argues that the request for the Dukes visa application is of immense public interest. Mr Roberts comments came less than a week after the Duke and Duchess of Sussex claimed that they were involved in a near catastrophic car chase involving paparazzi photographers in New York. The couple, accompanied by Meghans mother, Doria Ragland, had just left an award ceremony in New York last Tuesday when they said they were subjected to a two-hour relentless pursuit by a gang of at least six paparazzi in blacked-out vehicles. However, the account the Sussexes released last week did not land quite as they had expected, with New York authorities and other witnesses raising questions about their version of events, particularly the alleged level of intensity. City authorities played down the severity of the incident, saying that although photographers had made the Sussexes journey challenging there had been no reported collisions, summonses, injuries, or arrests. 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. Vladimir Putin has hailed the Bakhmut effort a grand victory and has promised to shower medals all round - AP/Mikhail Klimentyev Vladimir Putin claims his forces have finally seized the entirety of what used to be the city of Bakhmut in the Donbas. However, well over a year into what was meant to be a three-week lightning offensive, key questions remain unanswered about the state of Russias invasion. Having committed so many resources to capturing Bakhmut, the Russian President has claimed a victory, but can it be repeated? And is the Russian army now a spent fighting force for the rest of the year? Propaganda victory Russian trolls and officials will undoubtedly spin the advance in Bakhmut into evidence of the might of the Russian army and that the Ukrainians can be defeated. However, there is nothing in the time it has taken the Russian military or the cost in personnel (estimated, by the White House, to be 100,000 casualties since December alone, of which one fifth were killed) that speaks of an army that is in any way capable of continuing its slow advance or that has transformed itself into an efficient fighting force. The truth, as we have seen in the overnight air attack on the city of Dnipro only hours after the declaration of victory, is that Russia confuses action with momentum. Just doing military stuff on a battlefield does not constitute a sound campaign plan. Military action needs to be related, either by geography or purpose, in order to build any kind of momentum to break the opponents will or capacity to fight. Problems with Russias command and control The fight for Bakhmut has shown that Russian commanders cannot coordinate their disparate forces. Nor can they think up ways to inject elements of surprise and flexibility into their operations or show any regard for economy of effort; all vital military considerations. If they take any lessons from Bakhmut at all - and it is a big if given that the Russian army has rarely shown itself to be a self-critical organisation - they will reinforce the belief that flattening an area with artillery then pushing men forward at great cost to clear what remains is a winning tactic. It is not, or at least it only can be if you have an unlimited stock of manpower and ammunition and a society that will tolerate the butchers bill. None of these are guaranteed anymore for Putin. Russias next move It is doubtful Russia has the capacity to mount a large advance. Russia will claim that taking Bakhmut now clears the way to advance to bigger and more strategically important cities like Kramatorsk and Slovyansk. But they are over 20km away, and this exhausted and incoherent force of mercenaries, new conscripts and local militia wont be there anytime soon. The armoured vehicles are simply not there and the air cover so desperately needed to shield any ground manoeuvre is still waiting for Ukraines air defences to be emptied. On this point, Russian commanders may be waiting a long time, given the degree of international support shown for Ukraine at the G7 meeting in Japan. Was it worth the cost? Russia chose to fight in Bakhmut for symbolism (Putin needed a victory) and internal politics (Yevgeny Prigozhin wanted to burnish the credibility of his outfit in the eyes of his boss in the Kremlin). Neither of these was worth the cost. Geography can be an important reason to fight; battling for ground just because it is there, is not. Seizing a major air or sea port can be a vital action and worth the sacrifice. Capturing a small city that doesnt really lead anywhere is not worth the effort. Putin has hailed the Bakhmut effort a grand victory and has promised to shower medals all round. But the truth is that it has been a largely meaningless endeavour, and the exhausted Russian army must now lick its wounds. 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. Serbia tries to crack down on illegal weapons following deadly shootings Analysis-After two mass shootings, can Serbia rid itself of guns? Serbia tries to crack down on illegal weapons following deadly shootings By Aleksandar Vasovic BELGRADE (Reuters) - After Serbia was rocked by two mass shootings in two days earlier in May, Branko, 54, surrendered his unlicensed arms under a government amnesty: four assault rifles, nine handguns, eight grenades and many boxes of ammunition. The huge cache of weapons handed over by just one veteran of the wars that tore apart Yugoslavia in the 1990s highlights the scale of the task facing the nation, where arms from a 19th century uprising against Ottoman rule and old British Bren machine guns parachuted to partisans in World War Two are also still hoarded. "I surrendered my weapons as I was horrified at what happened," said Branko - who asked to be identified by his old military callsign - referring to the May 3 shooting where a teenage pupil at a Belgrade school killed 10 people, and another the next day when a man killed eight in a village south of the capital. Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic pledged to "practically disarm" his country, with the government quickly launching a month-long amnesty for illegal weapons. More than 26,094 firearms, over 1.3 million rounds of ammunition and 6,333 pieces of ordnance had been handed in since May 8, interior ministry official Bojana Otovic Pjanovic told state TV RTS. "There were weapons from 1847 and 1907, (old) English revolvers, a guidance system for anti-tank missiles, a fuse to which 4.6 kilograms of explosives were attached," Pjanovic Otovic said. Political opponents - who have long demanded tighter arms controls - call the move a populist step that cannot solve Serbia's illegal weapons problem, while organising mass protests against the violence they say permeates society. "This cannot be done quickly due to the estimated quantity of weapons ...People here have no awareness about the dangers of holding illegal weapons," said Jelena Jerinic, a law professor and a parliamentary deputy of the Ne Davimo Beograd opposition movement. Many of the military grade weapons which flooded into Serbia and the rest of Western Balkans as Yugoslavia disintegrated ended up in private hands, turbocharging a culture of weapons ownership that Belgrade University history professor Aleksandar Zivotic describes as "ingrained in the (nation's) foundations". Organised crime and various state-sponsored nationalist paramilitaries flourished during and after the wars, with dozens of people killed in gangland-style shootings until the early 2000s. Authorities have struggled to assess the current scale of the problem. According to SEESAC, a UN and EU-backed regional gun-control initiative, the number of registered civilian firearms in Serbia increased almost 10% between 2012 and 2016 to 618,061. Officials' estimates of unlicensed pieces range anywhere from 90,000 to 700,000. Even in a country whose gun laws are tight by some European standards, Filip Svarm, editor in-chief of the Vreme weekly and a prominent analyst in the field, said it would take years for the state to disarm its citizens and he did not believe the amnesty and harsh sentences would solve the problem. "The aggressiveness that is constantly fuelled in society affects some people in such a way that they now want to keep or get illegal guns," he said. SETTING AN EXAMPLE Since May's shootings, Vucic has halted issuance of new gun permits, tightened rules for existing owners and pledged changes to the law so it does not pay to keep illegal weapons. It is not the first time the government has offered an amnesty - according to police data, 101,283 weapons and 2,517,520 rounds of ammunition were handed in between 2003 and 2017 - and it has already been steadily tightening requirements to legally hold a weapon. Opposition politicians, however, say enforcement can be lax. Licensed gun owner Narcis Selimic, a marketing executive from Belgrade who has a 11-year-old son, was among those giving up his pistol, bought for personal protection in the 1990s, under the current amnesty. "Because of this event in the school, I decided to...set an example to my friends," he said. Prices of illegal weapons on the 1990s black market in Serbia were as low as $10 for a hand grenade and $150 for an assault rifle, and many were smuggled outside the country. Nils Duquet, director of the Flemish Peace Institute, advocates a regional approach given the high number of weapons also found in neighbouring countries. Serbia, along with Montenegro, has the highest estimated number of civilian firearms per 100 residents in Europe according to the 2018 Small Arms Survey, a Switzerland-based research project, at 39.1 per 100 residents. Between 2012 and 2016 Serbia registered a total of 10,061 gun-related crimes, neighbouring Albania 6,815 and Bosnia 5,616, SEESAC's data shows. Duquet said that while the situation in Serbia was not comparable to the United States, which has far more frequent mass shootings, the country's latest attempt to disarm may form a useful precedent closer to home as war rages again in Europe. "In the future we will likely have a similar problem in Ukraine, he said. (Reporting by Aleksandar Vasovic; Editing by Kirsten Donovan) State Sen. Anne Gobi, D-Spencer Long a champion of rural and agricultural interests, Sen. Anne Gobi, D-Spencer, was named to a new position created by the Healey/Driscoll administration and will start to oversee Massachusetts' rural and agricultural interests starting June 5. Gobi, an avid sportswoman and outdoor enthusiast, is a former teacher and lawyer. She was first elected to represent Central Massachusetts interests in 2001 and later campaigned and was elected to the Senate in 2014. Gobi co-founded the legislature's Sportsmen's Caucus, a group of legislators who champion hunting, fishing and outdoor recreation in Massachusetts. She also currently serves as the Senate chair of the Agriculture Committee, vice chair of the Higher Education Committee and the co-chair of the Commission on 21st Century Farming in the Legislature. She co-chairs the Rural Caucus and the Regional School Caucus, and serves on the East-West Rail Commission. The salary for the new position starts at $117,000. "I am thrilled to take on this important role and grateful to the Healey-Driscoll Administration for elevating our rural communities, Gobi said in a prepared statement. "While I will miss the Legislature, I look forward to continuing to work for the needs of small towns throughout the Commonwealth as their advocate in state government." The executive director of the Franklin Regional Council of Governments, (FRCOG), Linda Dunlavy, said everyone is "super excited," with the naming of the long-time senator to such an important post. "We are grateful to Gov. Healey for creating the position," Dunlavy said, explaining that the Rural Policy Advisory Commission, created by the Legislature in 2018, had suggested the governor find a way to address the needs of the state's small and rural communities. Creating the office Gobi will be filling in just two weeks, was the commission's top policy advice to the new governor. "It's a really good thing overall to have a constant voice in Boston to address the needs, issues and challenges of the state's rural communities," said Dunlavy. "Anne brings a knowledge of the Legislature, and how the system works, and a knowledge of rural issues to state government." In her new role, Gobi will help cultivate an economic development plan for the state's rural areas and ensure that the needs of the rural and regional economies are incorporated into the overall economic plan in Massachusetts. Gobi will also coordinate with the administration's secretariats and state agencies to ensure the needs of the state's smaller municipalities are met. We are building an economy that benefits all communities, businesses, and people in Massachusetts, particular those that are too often overlooked and underrepresented like rural and small towns, said Gov. Maura Healey, in a news release. Senator Gobis fierce advocacy of rural equity, agricultural and small businesses, and conservation initiatives makes her the ideal candidate to help our rural towns across the state succeed. Gobi will join the economic foundations team in the Executive Office of Economic Development, where she will work to review all state grant opportunities. Gobi will review the Community One Stop for Growth program to mitigate application and eligibility requirements for rural and small municipalities as well as to ensure all communities receive the technical assistance needed to identify and explore all grant opportunities. Gobi will also start to serve as a member of the Rural Policy Commission, an organization that advocates for the vitality of rural communities. The Rural Policy Advisory Commission was created to enhance the economic viability of rural municipalities; to review the funding formulas serving rural Massachusetts and ensure communities are not omitted from accessing state money. Dunlavy said the state must address the housing crisis which differs significantly in the state's rural districts from the needs identified in more urban communities. Western and central Massachusetts communities have more infrastructure issues; lack of municipal water and sewer, lack of roadways, as well as a rapidly aging population. "Land may be less expensive in rural communities, but the cost of developing a parcel can be greater," Dunlavy said. She believes Gobi's work will be cut out for her. "We don't want to scare her off." Colleagues also wished her the best. "I am thrilled that Senator Anne Gobi will serve as director of Rural Affairs for the Healey-Driscoll Administration," said Senator Jo Comerford (D-Northampton). "As much as I will miss Anne's steadfast leadership and partnership in the Senate, this appointment is a win for every single rural community in the commonwealth. I look forward to working with her in this new capacity." In welcoming the senator to the administration team, Lt. Gov. Kimberly Driscoll complimented her knowledge of the needs of rural Massachusetts and her understanding of the challenges communities face. Senator Gobi brings to this new role decades of experience serving the people of our state, Driscoll said. We are excited to welcome her to our administration and look forward to working with her to better reach rural communities and help them grow. The senator has yet to file her letter of resignation. Once that is filed, the Senate can call for a special election to fill her seat. It takes 300 signatures to be nominated. Once the Senate calls for an election, usually done in a formal session, candidates have some time to collect signatures and arrange financing. While many towns in Massachusetts have already held their municipal elections, cities like Worcester and Gardner hold their elections in November. A special election could be scheduled to coincide with municipal elections as a cost-saving measure for the communities. According to the secretary of state's office, the cost of printing ballots is borne by the state, however the cost of election workers, police and incidentals is borne by the community. The Worcester and Hampshire district Gobi represents, which was redrawn in the latest round of redistricting, stretches across much of the state's middle, from Gardner in the north to Brookfield in the south and from the westernmost part of Worcester out to Ware. At least four state representatives live in Gobi's district: Republican Reps. Kimberly Ferguson of Holden, Donald Berthiaume of Spencer, and Peter Durant of Spencer, and Democrat Rep. Jonathan Zlotnik of Gardner. In Worcester, Gobi's constituency overlaps with the House districts represented by Democrats Reps. John Mahoney and David LeBoeuf. Former Rep. Kate Campanale, who ran unsuccessfully for the Republican lieutenant governor nomination in 2022, lives in Spencer, and the Democratic Party's nominee for Worcester County sheriff last year, David Fontaine, lives in Paxton. Campanale and Durant are married. Gobi has handily defeated a string of challengers over the years, but joined the House and Senate after a pair of close contests. First elected as a state representative in a 2001 special election that she won by 17 votes, Gobi won election to the Senate after defeating Republican Michael Valanzola by 398 votes, 50.3% to 49.6%, in the 2014 election. Gobi serves as Senate chair of the newly created Joint Committee on Agriculture and her departure will require Senate President Karen Spilka to tap another Democrat to fill that role. Sen. Jo Comerford is the Senate vice chair of that panel. Amid a power struggle between some House and Senate joint committee chairs, Gobi told the State House News Service last week that the "grass is truly greener in the agriculture committee," where she said she enjoys working with co-chair Rep. Paul Schmid and they have already finished holding hearings on every bill in their custody. The State House News Service contributed to this report. This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Sen. Anne Gobi selected to be Gov. Maura Healey's rural affairs chief Apopkas city leaders still appear to be trying to undermine a proposed affordable housing complex next to a development they refer to as the citys crown jewel. The development, Southwick Commons, would be a 192-unit apartment complex for low- to middle-income tenants. The fight over the development began several years ago, when the Altamonte Springs-based developer Wendover bought the property and proposed putting the complex on the site. However, the city had placed a restriction on the land mandating that only luxury housing could be built there. READ: Apopka mayor recall effort still seeking signatures as deadline looms Were looking for people that can walk to our downtown and get a cup of coffee, and they dont mind spending $4 or $5 or buy a beer after work or whatever, Mayor Bryan Nelson said at a June 2022 council meeting. The developer sued Apopka for violating the Florida Fair Housing Act, and a judge later ruled against the city. Half a year later, Wendover still doesnt have the building permits thanks to a prolonged review process. The latest battle is being fought over the size of the balconies in each unit. Apopkas requirement calls for full-size balconies on the land, among other luxury amenities. The developer is proposing 1-foot balconies accessible by a door. READ: Apopka mayor: Fire chief, city attorney to keep jobs despite demands to remove them Wendover leaders say the battle as well as others they say have been caused by city staff repeatedly changing their minds is part of a delay tactic to push the project beyond a June 15 deadline set by the Florida Housing Finance Corporation, which has invested $10 million into the project. Wendover expected the project to be voted on by Apopka City Council members at its May 17, 2023 meeting, but the project was left off the agenda. I appreciate you commissioners giving me four minutes that your staff apparently unilaterally determined wasnt worthy of an agenda item this evening, Wendover Chief Operating Officer Ryan Von Weller said bitterly during public comment, before threatening an additional lawsuit. READ: Apopka citizens launch recall effort against mayor Von Weller said Nelson had made their jobs easier by writing a letter to the state asking administrators last month, requesting they revoke the funding to force Wendover to sell the land to a luxury developer. [Wendover] had the opportunity to look at the Developers Agreement and the luxury amenities that are required, Nelson wrote. We are just asking that you, the Florida Housing Authority, do the right thing and deny Wendover the funding for this project if they continue to whittle away at the design elements. Wendover in turn mailed a letter from an attorney, reminding the city of the June deadline and saying the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) opened an investigation into the city, though so far neither threat appeared to move the needle. READ: Austin Duran death: Consultant review on dysfunctional Apopka Fire Department to be released Real Estate Attorney Mark Lippman called the lengths Apopka was going to to fight the project extremely unusual, and said it made no sense. I understand the idea that they want higher income, so they can charge higher taxes I imagine, but its really unusual to see this kind of situation, he said. Lippman noted the city was already facing hundreds of thousands of dollars in attorneys fees from the lawsuit it lost, and could be hit with fees, fines and other penalties stretching into the millions if Southwick misses its deadline and HUD determines the city acted illegally. READ: Apopka fire union pushes for new chief after death of firefighter Austin Duran Lippman said the city could be threatened with bankruptcy if it didnt have strong cash reserves. If I was counseling the city, it would be okay, lets back down potentially and figure out some sort of resolution that helps both sides, he said. The opposition to Southwick has also puzzled pro-development groups who point to Central Floridas dire need for more affordable housing options, especially in growing areas like Apopka. READ: Austin Duran death: Apopka City Council votes to remove Fire Chief Sean Wylam It makes me question who you believe belongs in your community, Orlando YIMBYs Foo Phan explained. The fight for more luxury or for perception of luxury, as opposed to meeting a need, seems counterintuitive to what you would expect from a government. Phan warned Apopka could attract more criticism for being tone deaf if the land was turned over to a luxury developer. Were talking about our firefighters or teachers, he said. If they are good enough to be a part of the community in service, they should also have a place to live within that community. Several council members have indicated theyre ready to vote on the project and put the issue to rest. Multiple calls and emails requesting additional comment werent returned. 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. Black Wolf rideshare app brings armed drivers to passengers A rideshare app allowing drivers to carry guns launched in Atlanta, Georgia last week. The people behind the app say its meant to combat the rising levels of gun violence in the U.S. The app, Black Wolf, boasts that it hires drivers who are trained in private security to give passengers peace of mind on their next trip. Black Wolf will now compete with Uber and Lyft to bring a different kind of journey to riders, and founder and CEO Kerry KingBrown told Atlanta News First, Were about security and safety at all times. KingBrown, who is a private investigator and experienced bodyguard, told the outlet he wants riders to have executive protection during times of uncertainty. Who are mostly on the news getting robbed, getting raped? The average person, he said. What Im creating is a necessary evil. Its a necessity. Read more The idea came to KingBrown while working as an executive protection driver for a Congress member, who pointed out there was a gap in the market for armed drivers, according to the Black Wolf site. The company has 20+ years of combined training in Military Special Ops, Executive Protection, Private Detective, and Professional Celebrity Bodyguard Details, and says the drivers are trained in simulated combat, vehicle tactics, and active shooter situations, among others. Black Wolf did not immediately respond to Gizmodos request for comment, but KingBrown told Atlanta News, Were not here to fight anybody, were not here to draw guns. Even though it says armed, were trained not to do that. Black Wolf provides three options for passengers to choose from, the most common being the armed protection driver who is trained in using a gun in emergency situations, and a school shuttle driver which operates as a school bus to bring children to school. But for those who dont feel comfortable having an unknown entity armed with a gun driving you around, the app also provides an alternate option of an unarmed protection driver who is still trained to ensure the safety of the passenger. The cost to hire an armed Black Wolf driver is the base price of $60 according to Atlanta News, or $50 for unarmed drivers and an additional $1.75 per mile added on. Although KingBrown says the new rideshare option is necessary, Reddit users arent so sure, with many voicing skepticism over whether it is a good idea to give gig workers guns, with one person writing, Ah yes nothing I want more than to hop in a car with an armed stranger. Because none of us have ever gotten into an Uber without thinking, damn I wish this person was strapped. And while KingBrown has assured passengers that the drivers will undergo extensive background checks, these are not always foolproof as seen in the separate mass shootings in Nashville, Tennessee, and Louisville, Kentucky, where both shooters were found to have purchased guns used in the attacks legally. A study by the National Institute of Justice found that of those who carried out mass shootings, 77% were found to have purchased at least some of their guns legally, and according to Statista, in 94 mass shootings committed in the U.S. between 1982 and April 2023 a vast majority the shooters used guns they obtained legally. In other words, KingBrowns assurances that armed drivers are trustworthy are no guarantee, and as one person prophesized on Reddit: When this goes wrong, it will go very wrong. More from Gizmodo Sign up for Gizmodo's Newsletter. For the latest news, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Click here to read the full article. Area family struggling after SNAP benefits stolen, unable to get them reimbursed A Dayton family said they could not pay for their groceries after someone stole their SNAP benefits. News Center 7s Mike Campbell spoke with a mother who was worried about how she was going to feed her children. Most of the concerns about fraud involving electronic bank cards center around skimming at gas stations. Now skimming is happening at other locations, like grocery stores. It said that I spent $312.83 at a B.J.s in Massachusetts. Teresa McDaniel said. McDaniel was shocked two weeks ago when she prepared to go grocery shopping for her family of four and looked at her SNAP benefits account portal. That is our whole loaded amount for the whole month ... I havent even left the state, She said. McDaniel couldnt believe records showed she shopped at a Massachusetts grocery store. >> Nations cybersecurity agency using alerts to prevent the damage of ransomware attacks She reached out to the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services who she said told her 150 Ohio residents reported similar problems since January. A letter sent to her from Job and family services said that last or stolen benefits are not replaceable. All she could do was suggest to report the car stolen and change my pin numbers, McDaniel said. We learned that people with SNAP benefits are vulnerable to attacks. So much so that the secret service is looking into nationwide SNAP fraud. >> DMAX resumes production, makes security changes after plant shooting last week Its wide open, so you can use any reader to pull that information and thats going to give the personal information, the card information and, of course, some other details, Charles Leoperd, U.S. Secret Service Agent told CBS. Haywood Talcove with LexisNexis Risk Solutions called the card a glorified hotel room key. McDaniel isnt sure if someone skimmed her number at a store or whether there was a security breach. She does know that her financial problems are frustrating and scary. This month we used rent money to buy groceries so now were struggling to pay rent this month, she said. McDaniel said she changed her pin numbers and took extra security measures at other online retailers she uses. Tips for keeping your SNAP benefits safe can be found here. [Source] A British army veteran who lost both his legs while serving in Afghanistan has become the first double above-knee amputee to conquer Mount Everest. Hari Budha Magar, 43, reached the world's tallest peak 13 years after losing his legs in an improvised explosive device (IED) blast in 2010. The Gurkha veteran arrived at Everest in Nepal on April 17, marking exactly 13 years since the life-altering incident that resulted in the loss of his legs. Following an 18-day wait for the weather to clear, he began the challenging journey that led him to the 8,849 meter summit on May 19. More from NextShark: 4 in 5 Asian American Professionals Have Experienced Discrimination, Survey Says I hope my climb will help change the perception of persons with disabilities, Magar told Reuters. I would like to encourage all people to take to climbing any mountain of their choice, he said. For the trip, Magar acquired specially designed prosthetic legs that could withstand the icy conditions. He affectionately refers to them as his "spider legs" and ensured their warmth by installing heating socks. More from NextShark: Rally against anti-Asian hate crimes honors Atlanta spa shooting victims ahead of 1-year anniversary Upon reaching the peak, Magat relayed to ABC what he had to go through via a satellite phone conversation. We just had to carry on and push for the top, no matter how much it hurt or how long it took. If I can climb to the top of the world, then anyone, regardless of their disability, can achieve their dream. No matter how big your dreams, no matter how challenging your disability, with the right mindset anything is possible. Magar, who is also the first double above-knee amputee to scale Nepal's Mera Peak and Chulu Far East, was among those who campaigned to overturn the country's ban on disabled individuals climbing Everest in 2018. More from NextShark: Gay Man Sues Hong Kong for Preventing Him From Spreading Husband's Ashes View this post on Instagram A post shared by Hari Budha Magar (@hari_budha_magar) The collective efforts of the climbers and disability organizations successfully led to the ban being lifted, opening doors for more amputees to pursue their dreams of climbing the mountain. Throughout his challenging ascent, thoughts of his family and supporters provided Magar with the strength and motivation to complete the perilous task. "When things got really tough, it was the thought of my amazing family and everyone who's helped me get onto the mountain that pushed me to the top," he was quoted as saying. He is currently raising funds for five charities with a goal to generate 884,900 pounds (approximately $1.1 million) in a symbolic gesture representing the height of Mount Everest. Magar, who lives in Canterbury, England, plans to eventually return to the very site where he lost his legs in Afghanistan, in order to express his gratitude. In 2018, an elderly double amputee from China was able to reach the peak of Mount Everest after trying for 40 years. Xia Boyu lost both his legs from below the knees due to frostbite during his first attempt in 1975 after selflessly offering his sleeping bag to a team member while being trapped near the summit for two days and three nights. 15th National Assemblys fifth session opens The 15th National Assembly (NA) convened its fifth plenary session in Hanoi on May 22 morning, broadcast live on the channels of radio The Voice of Vietnam (VOV1), the Vietnam Television (VTV1), and the National Assembly TV. The 15th National Assemblys fifth session opens in Hanoi on May 22 morning (Photo: VNA) During the session, the NA will consider and approve eight draft laws, three draft resolutions. Legislators will also give opinions on nine draft laws and look into socio-economic issues, the State budget, and supervision, among others. Notably, NA deputies will scrutinise reports on supplementary assessments of the implementation of the socio-economic development plan and State budget in 2022 and the first months of this year, ratify the State budget balance in 2021, and comment on the report on thrift practice and wastefulness prevention in 2022. The NA will consider the supreme supervision for the mobilisation, management and use of resources serving the COVID-19 prevention and control; and the implementation of policies and laws on grassroots health and preventive medicine. Besides, the legislators will make decisions relating to the investment of some projects, the further allocation of mid-term investment and capital sourced from the socio-economic recovery and development programme, and the adjustment and supplement of the charter capital of the Vietnam Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development. The legislature will consider and approve resolutions on monitoring programmes and the establishment of a monitoring delegation of the legislative body in 2024. Lawmakers will make decisions relating to the investment of some projects, the further allocation of mid-term investment and capital sourced from the socio-economic recovery and development programme, and the adjustment and supplement of the charter capital of the Vietnam Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development. The Vietnam Fatherland Front Central Committee will present a report on public feedback in the fifth session. NA deputies will also work on a report on supervision results of the settlement of voters' petitions sent to the fourth sitting of the 15th legislature, hold a question-and-answer session, and consider and approve the resolution of the fifth meeting. The session will also discuss the personnel work, and consider and make decisions other important issues./ Asia is in the middle of a record heatwave, and Russia is reaping the financial rewards of it Russian President Vladimir Putin, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and Chinese President Xi Jinping. Mikhail Svetlov/Getty Images Asian countries like India and China have been buying cheap Russian oil despite the sanctions. Now, they are also snapping up huge amounts of Russian coal and natural gas. That's on the back of a record heatwave in the region, which is driving the demand for air-conditioning. Sweeping sanctions against the Kremlin over its invasion of Ukraine aren't denting Asian countries' appetite for Russian energy products. Apart from the bumper crude oil purchases this year, countries in the region are now snapping up massive amounts of Russian thermal coal and natural gas amid a record heatwave, Bloomberg reported on Sunday, citing data from Kpler, an energy data provider. In April, Russia exported 7.6 million metric tons of coal to buyers in Asia more than a third higher than a year ago, per Kpler data obtained by Bloomberg. Meanwhile, shipments of liquefied natural gas rose to 400,000 tons in April the highest monthly import level so far this year. In particular, India and China two countries buying so much Russian oil that exports have hit pre-war levels have snapped more than two-thirds of Russian coal sent to Asia in April, Bloomberg calculated using Kpler data. "Coal imports from Russia into China are set to be the second-highest in history in May," Viktor Katona, a lead analyst at Kpler, told Insider. China has already imported 3.7 million tons of Russian coal so far in May. The country had imported a record 3.8 million tons of fuel from Russia in July, according to Kpler. Imports of Russian coal into China are high now partly due to the heatwave it's currently facing. This fuel is primarily used to generate power for electricity and air-conditioning. Temperatures in parts of China have soared to well over 86 degrees Fahrenheit even before the regular summer season arrives. India is also baking, with temperatures hitting 113 degrees Fahrenheit in parts of northwest India on Sunday, per the Indian Express media outlet. Other countries experiencing heat waves in recent weeks include Bangladesh, Thailand, and Laos. Even before the current heatwave in Asia, several countries in the regions mired in economic difficulties like Laos, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka have joined the queue for Russian energy that is now being sold at a discount. Russia's flagship Urals crude is trading at around a $20 to $25 per barrel discount to benchmark US and Brent crude oil currently. Read the original article on Business Insider FILE PHOTO: WHO logo seen near its headquarters in Geneva GENEVA (Reuters) - Member states of the World Health Organization on Monday approved a $6.83 billion budget for the next two years which includes a 20% hike in their mandatory fees. The proposal for the 2024-2025 budget passed with no objections and was met with lengthy applause. Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus described the step as "historic and a big milestone". "We don't take it lightly, and we don't take it for granted and we'll do everything that we can to make this organisation better," he added. (Reporting by Emma Farge; editing by Matthias Williams) Ivy Pochoda, photographed in 2020 in West Adams, not far from a key confrontation in her latest thriller, "Sing Her Down." (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times) Consider the dead girl. Young, virginal (or so she may appear) and often white. The dead girl trope has sparked many a crime novel, giving the protagonist (often a male detective or private investigator) the opportunity to both tell his story and act as a savior for the next woman at risk of becoming prey. As for the dead girl herself, shes usually just a device, an afterthought in someone elses story. L.A.-based novelist Ivy Pochoda has been turning the dead girl trope on its silken-haired head, most notably in 2020s These Women . By giving voice to a diverse group of women (in this case the victims and survivors of the so-called Grim Sleeper ), Pochoda shifted the narrative to the people most directly impacted by violence rather than a glamorized killer. But in illuminating their lives she also prompted new questions about where women might fit into crime fiction. What about those who perpetrate crimes? Are women even capable of violent crimes or is it just not in their nature? Pochodas answer is the incendiary Sing Her Down , a narcocorrido -infused crime tale that nods to westerns, Shakespeare, Greek tragedy and Joan Didion , among others. The new novel centers on two adversaries, inmates at an Arizona womens prison in the spring of 2020 who appear to be polar opposites. At one pole is Florence Florida Baum, a wealthy blond from Hancock Park who claims she was framed as an accessory to a drug dealers murder because she was driving the getaway car. Her counterpart is Diana Diosmary Sandoval, a smart, beautiful mixed-race Latina, a scholarship kid who was convicted of aggravated assault against a male classmate after the victims wealthy mother egged the prosecutors on. Kace, Floridas cellmate, introduces the combatants and serves as the novels rambling Greek chorus. Summoning the library of voices in her head, Kace paints a picture of an epic battle that began in the prison and foreshadows their showdown at a mural-adorned corner of Olympic and Western in L.A.s Koreatown . Their mistake was in thinking they burned with their own unique rage, Kace declares. Something deeper, darker than what the rest of us feel. For Florida, whom Diosmary accuses of singing the white-girl blues, that rage is something she consciously tries to tamp down, to distance herself from the violent women surrounding her. Meanwhile Diosmary has fully embraced and amplified her violent tendencies, uttering Lady Macbeth s battle cry, Unsex me! as she comes for Florida in a cafeteria, then brutally turns on a placid and defenseless inmate to demonstrate her power, urging Florida to join in. Readers may be tempted to take sides in this cat-and-mouse game, but as the novel provides more context for these womens crimes, the lines between victim and perpetrator blur. And the function of class and race throughout the penal system comes into stark relief, as when a group of correctional officers watch Diosmarys violent attack: They cant hide that they love it when the women throw down especially when it's a woman like Dios someone who outclasses them on the outside but whose status here forces her to bite her tongue at their rude talk. Floridas reprieve comes via a compassionate early release from prison due to the COVID pandemic. She dreams of shedding her old prison life and returning to Los Angeles and her 68 Jaguar, which in happier days had helped her escape to smaller cities ignored by her well-heeled neighbors. But she gets a nasty surprise when she learns that Diosmary has been released too. When Florida breaks her parole by escaping on a migrant bus bound for Los Angeles. Diosmary, both goddess and demon in Floridas eyes, is right behind her, seducing her to seize the moment, to make her bloody mark on the world. As palpably immersive as Pochoda makes prison life in the first part of the novel, her writing deepens when the action shifts to COVID-ravaged Los Angeles. There Floridas and Diosmarys trail is picked up by LAPD Det. Lobos (no first name given), a woman whose work life is marred by a history of violence at home. Her estranged ex-husband, suffering from mental illness exacerbated by COVID-related isolation , is somewhere on the streets, and Lobos shifts her attention between tracking down the fugitives and trying to find him among Skid Rows undomiciled population. The detective considers this more personal quest for closure and safety not a distraction but a precondition for her professional calling: How can she keep the peace on the streets when she couldnt in her own home? Lobos is a worthy adversary to the outlaws, one who recognizes that capturing them will be a matter of not only retracing their lives to find the incidents that incited them but also overcoming the tendency to soften their crimes by calling them cutesy names lady killers, femme fatales, Thelma & Louise to make a sport or light of what they did, to make men able to consider that women can kill. Still, what of Lobos rage? What will she do with her own repressed fury at a man whos torn her life apart? Pochoda writes with insight and empathy about women pushing back on the violence perpetrated against them and also, conversely, their shame at their inability to act. Shes also a keen observer of life among the citys undomiciled citizens (to use Pochodas preferred term), whether through the eyes of Lobos, looking for her ex, or Florida, who finds refuge and wisdom among them while on the run from the law and the relentless Diosmary. Even more importantly, she continues to grow in her power to engage readers far beyond the overused tropes of the crime genre, rising to the heights of other writers whose work does not shy away from evil or bloodshed writers like Cormac McCarthy , whose No Country for Old Men provides a telling epigraph. While the first part of the novel, depicting prison violence, may be tough going for some readers, Sing Her Downs acknowledgment and dissection of womens rage how it can overwhelm or be tempered makes it a watershed achievement in Pochodas expanding body of work. Woods is a book critic, editor and author of the Charlotte Justice mysteries. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times. B-1 Bone Bombers Taking Over Hypersonic Testing From B-52s photo The B-1B bomber is set to become a key testbed for supporting U.S. Air Force hypersonic weapon development, according to Boeing. The company says a new external pylon design, rated for payloads weighing up to 7,500 pounds, will help the aircraft in this role. This all comes as the Air Force is pushing ahead with work on an air-breathing hypersonic cruise missile, which is, in part, leveraging ongoing testing of Boeing's own experimental HyFly 2 design. Boeing provided the details about the B-1B's future place in the Air Force's larger hypersonic testing ecosystem and a look at its new Load Adaptable Modular (LAM) pylon to journalists during a recent media event at Tinker Air Force Base in Oklahoma, according to Air & Space Forces Magazine. The company has previously talked about hypersonic weapon test plans in relation to the B-1B. However, at that time, this appear to be more focused on future operational capabilities rather than a focus on supporting research and development and test and evaluation activities. https://twitter.com/josh_chang123/status/1660615269910208513 "The whole point of this is for the B-1 to become the hypersonic testbed for the Air Force," Jennifer Wong, head of bomber programs at Boeing, said during the recent press tour at Tinker, according to Air & Space Forces Magazine. Because of all the modernization efforts on the B-52, we can actually not take away from what were doing on the B-52 today to have it test hypersonics." Boeing is currently the prime contractor for sustaining the B-1B, as well as the B-52. The Air Force currently plans to retire the last B-1Bs by 2036 and transition units flying them to new B-21 Raider stealth bombers, while continuing to operate heavily upgraded B-52s through at least 2050. The B-2 Spirit stealth bomber fleet is also set to be retired in the coming years. Examples of all three of the Air Force's current bombers fly together. From left to right, the B-52, the B-1, and B-2. USAF This is a significant change from how the Air Force has presented its hypersonic testing plans in relation to its bomber fleets in the past, which put great emphasis on the B-52. The B-52 has been the lone test platform for the service's AGM-183A Air-Launched Rapid Response Weapon (ARRW), which has suffered technical issues and multiple major test failures. Long expected to be the Air Force's first operational air-launched hypersonic missile, ARRW is now set to be canceled after the current round of scheduled testing ends unless Congress intervenes. A B-52 with AGM-183A test articles under its wing. USAF Boeing's Wong said that the Air Force is "not going there, just yet" with regard to past proposals for new super-heavy underwing pylons for the B-52, which had also been linked in part to hypersonic weapon development. This further underscores the shift toward the B-1B when it comes to supporting this work. In the meantime, the Air Force's plans to otherwise significantly upgrade its B-52Hs have solidified. This work will include new engines, radars, and much more, which will offer important capability boosts in various regards and significantly alter how the aircraft looks externally. The re-engining work by itself will be extensive enough to result in the bombers being redesignated as B-52Js. The Air Force hopes to have all of its B-52s fully upgraded by 2035. In that period, groups of these bombers, which are components of the airborne leg of America's nuclear triad and also important long-range conventional strike platforms, will have to be taken out of service for extended periods of time to undergo the various modification processes. So we will be doing hypersonics testing on the B-1," according to Boeing's Wong. Boeing sees the LAM pylon as a key enabler for the B-1B in this role, as well as for performing other missions. The company internally developed it, but Air Force funding is now being used to test it. The pylons attach to the B-1B's external hardpoints, which were originally intended to allow the carriage of additional nuclear-armed air-launched cruise missiles. The hard points fell into disuse after the Air Force stripped the nuclear weapons capabilities from these bombers following the end of the Cold War. Pictures showing the original external pylon design for the B-1B. USAF A B-1B bomber carrying an inert AGM-158 Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile (JASSM) on a standard, non-LAM external pylon during a test. USAF The LAM is "like Lego" and various different combinations allow B-1 to carry a variety of weapons using one pylon versus seven," Wong told reporters, according to Air & Space Forces Magazine's report. The new pylon can also be used to "carry some future concepts" and, with its 7,500-pound maximum load weight, could accommodate a single AGM-183A. Boeing estimates that a B-1B with six LAMs installed underneath its fuselage could carry up to 12 future hypersonic cruise missiles or six of the Air Force's new 5,000-pound-class GBU-72/B bunker busters externally. The pylons could be loaded with other conventional weapons, including a whopping total of 48 GBU-39/B Small Diameter Bombs (SDB), eight on each LAM. B-1Bs could still carry additional munitions in their three internal bomb bays, as well. A mockup of a notional hypersonic missile in the bomb bay of a B-1B bomber. USAF What specific hypersonic missiles might be launched from the B-1B in the future using the LAM, or any other kind of mounting hardware, remains to be seen. At the recent event at Tinker Air Force Base, Boeing displayed a LAM loaded with two mockup hypersonic missiles as an example of its capabilities. A company representative told The War Zone in a statement today that these mockups simply reflected a "representative hypersonic weapon" design. That being said, the design is similar in many respects, at least externally, to an experimental Boeing hypersonic cruise missile HyFly 2. The biggest difference between the missile mockup at Tinker and what has been seen in past renderings of the HyFly 2 is the folding tail fins on the former design. Boeing concept art showing an F/A-18E/F Super Hornet with four HyFly 2 or HyFly 2-derived missiles. Note the fixed tail fins compared to the folding ones seen on the design recently shown together with the LAM at Tinker Air Force Base. Joseph Trevithick Details about HyFly 2 are limited, but it is known to be powered by an advanced scramjet engine. Scramjets do not work efficiently at lower speeds and therefore aircraft and missiles that use them typically require some kind of rocket booster to accelerate them to an optimal velocity first. Hypersonic speed is defined as anything above Mach 5. HyFly 2 also has a so-called 'waverider' configuration wherein the missile is designed to 'skip' on the shockwaves generated during high-speed flight to help provide additional lift. Boeing has previous experience with designs like this, most notably the experimental X-51A Waverider that the Air Force conducted multiple flight tests of between 2010 and 2013. During that period, the X-51A set multiple world records for longest air-breathing hypersonic flights. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8vp-XDVauic "With our industry partner Aerojet Rocketdyne, we are continuing to perform risk reduction for HyFly 2 under government contract," Boeing told The War Zone in a statement today. "We continue the HyFly 2 risk reduction effort with the Air Force Research Lab (AFRL) and the Joint Hypersonic Transition Office (JHTO) to mature critical vehicle technologies and reduce risk for potential future applications." Right now, there does not appear to be an immediate plan to transform HyFly 2 into an operational weapon. However, the Air Force's 2024 Fiscal Year budget request makes clear that work on HyFly 2, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency's Hypersonic Airbreathing Weapon Concept (HAWC) project, and the U.S.-Australian Southern Cross Integrated Flight Research Experiment (SCIFiRE) effort are all feeding into its Hypersonic Attack Cruise Missile (HACM) program. In September 2022, Raytheon won the contract to develop HACM, which is expected to be a waverider-like scramjet-powered design. The Air Force "will prioritize integration on the F-15E [Strike Eagle] platform to enable quick entry into flight test," according to the service's proposed Fiscal Year 2024 budget. The expectation is that it will be integrated onto other aircraft after that. A section from the Air Force's 2024 Fiscal Year budget request explaining the service's plans for HACM and discussing other programs that are feeding into it. USAF B-1Bs, with or without LAMs, could be used to test other existing hypersonic designs that might be under development now in the classified realm or future designs. The U.S. Navy, for instance, is actively pursuing an air-launched hypersonic anti-ship cruise missile as part of its Hypersonic Air-Launched Offensive Anti-Surface Warfare program, or HALO. HyFly 2 is an outgrowth of the original HyFly effort, a Navy-DARPA project that developed a demonstrator design seen as a stepping stone to an operational capability for the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet. https://twitter.com/masao_dahlgren/status/1322226352670625796 Boeing has shown concept art depicting Super Hornets, which the company also makes, at least for now, loaded with HyFly 2-esque and other hypersonic missile designs over the years. When asked about future prospects for HyFly 2 or related developments in general, the company told The War Zone that "we are prepared to consider potential future applications." An artist's conception of a F/A-18F Super Hornets releasing hypersonic missiles. Boeing via Aviation Week The U.S. military, as a whole, views various tiers of hypersonic weapons as essential additions to its arsenal if it is to maintain an edge over near-peer competitors, especially China. The Chinese and Russian militaries, among others, have fielded at least limited numbers of various hypersonic missiles and are pursuing additional developments in this regard. Though their capabilities can vary significantly based on their exact design, hypersonic weapons broadly offer additional tools for striking distant hostile targets, and doing so quickly and reliably even in scenarios involving dense enemy defenses. In this way, hypersonic missiles offer especially valuable means of engaging time-sensitive strategic and tactical threats, including those inside denied areas, in a variety of crises and contingencies. It is therefore not surprising that there has been an explosion of hypersonic weapons development across the U.S. military in recent years, as well as a similar surge in demand for various assets to support their testing. Many U.S. allies and partners are similarly interested in hypersonic weapons and some could seek to partner with the United States on related development efforts. The Australian military has already teamed up with its American counterparts on SCIFiRE, which, as noted, is now feeding into HACM. Now, the B-1B, together with LAMs capable of carrying HyFly 2, HACM, and other payloads, looks set to be an important part of U.S. hypersonic weapons development in the coming years. Contact the author: joe@thedrive.com America's B-2 Spirit fleet resumed flying operations Monday, ending a five-month safety pause after one of the stealth bombers caught fire on a Missouri runway late last year. Gen. Thomas Bussiere, the head of Air Force Global Strike Command, rescinded the grounding on Thursday, and flights of the bombers -- a key component of the country's so-called nuclear triad -- resumed Monday. But it remains unclear what exactly led to the earlier incident and whether a fix was made to the fleet. "During the safety pause, we erred on the side of prudence and caution to assess any possible safety of flight issues, deliberately and methodically, within the fleet," Air Force Global Strike Command spokesman Brus Vidal said in an emailed statement. "We successfully accomplished all necessary actions to safely return to full flight operations with the B-2 fleet." Read Next: Fired Texas Army Commander Charged with Sex Abuse Faces Court-Martial The Air Force declined to provide answers when asked by Military.com about what issues were found with the fleet, whether any bombers remain out of commission and if the B-2 that caught fire in Missouri is back in the sky. Vidal said the information is "privileged" and added that there will be an Aircraft Investigation Board report on why the B-2 caught fire "at some point in the future." A B-2 Spirit stealth bomber caught fire at Whiteman Air Force Base, Missouri, on Dec. 10 following an emergency landing. Master Sgt. Beth Del Vecchio, a spokesman for Whiteman's 509th Bomb Wing, told Military.com at the time that there were no injuries as a result of the sudden landing or subsequent blaze. It took 11 days for the base to clear the B-2 from the runway. There are only 20 B-2 bombers in the Air Force's fleet, according to a service fact sheet, meaning that putting one out of commission can cause a notable impact to bombing missions. Each B-2 bomber costs approximately $1.157 billion. The same day as the B-2 fire, the fleet safety pause was ordered. The stealth bomber is a key air component of the U.S. nuclear triad, which also includes nuclear ballistic missiles on land and nuclear submarines at sea. Vidal said the fleet was still operational during the safety pause. "Throughout the fleet safety pause, our ability to execute our mission was never at risk: The B-2 fleet could still fly missions on the orders of the President of the United States or in support of the National Command Authority," Vidal said in an emailed statement. "While the B-2 fleet safety pause is officially over, our ability to deliver nuclear deterrence and provide long-range strike was never in doubt." The last major incident with a B-2 prior to the runway fire happened in September 2021, when a stealth bomber rolled off the runway at Whiteman. No one was injured, and the bomber didn't catch fire. More details emerged about that incident in a March 17, 2022, report from Air Force Global Strike Command. That plane, assigned to the 393rd Bomb Squadron of Missouri's 509th Bomb Wing, was known as the Spirit of Georgia. A photo of the mishap was widely shared on social media, showing a jarring image of the massive aircraft slumped into the ground after appearing to have had its landing gear collapse. That report revealed that the damage estimate to the plane was around $10 million, but further review is still needed. Air Force Col. Robert Cocke, the investigation board president, wrote in the report that the crash likely happened because lock link springs on the landing gear failed to provide sufficient pressure to maintain a locked position. No error was attributed to the pilot or crew. But the report said there was no requirement for routine replacement of the lock link springs. The last time the bomber went through an in-depth inspection was 2014, according to investigators. The Air Force unveiled its latest bomber, the B-21 Raider, late last year. It's the first new bomber in the American military's fleet in more than 30 years and aims to eventually replace the B-2. The Pentagon plans to build 100 B-21s, more than the Air Force's B-2 and B-1B Lancer fleets combined, with an average unit cost for each bomber of nearly $700 million, according to a service fact sheet. -- Thomas Novelly can be reached at thomas.novelly@military.com. Follow him on Twitter @TomNovelly. Related: B-2 Stealth Bomber Catches Fire After Emergency Landing Baby found dead at Homestead daycare had skull fracture for at least a week, officials say A Miami-Dade Medical Examiners office report details an injury a 9-month-old boy suffered before he was found unresponsive at a daycare in Homestead last year. The report, released Monday, said Tayvon Tomlin suffered a partially healed skull fracture that was seven to 12 days old, according to NBC 6. Tayvon had just began walking in the weeks before his death, leading investigators to consider that the fracture could have been the result of an accidental fall. Tayvons cause of death, however, is still undetermined, according to NBC6. Tomlin family attorney Michael Levine told the Miami Herald that the family is concerned about what else they dont know as far as Tayvons time at the daycare because they never saw the infant fall or get injured. The reports of the skull fractures are concerning, particularly if they happened at the daycare, which did not have working cameras in the infant room, Levine said in a statement. Although the medical examiner could not determine the cause of death, we know the daycares negligence is the reason why Tayvon is no longer with us today. In July, Tayvon was found lifeless by a daycare worker at Lincoln-Marti Daycare, 510 Krome Ave. The childs parents and other family members who rushed to the scene said he appeared energetic before he was dropped off that morning. Grandfather Sean Tomlin told the Miami Herald that he played with the infant before he was taken to school. READ MORE: 10-month-old found not breathing at Homestead daycare, rushed to hospital. It was too late A daycare worker can be seen in a series of videos holding the unresponsive child almost upside down while patting him on the back repeatedly for about 30 seconds. All Tayvon wore was a white diaper. Two other brief clips, both less than 20 seconds long, show a woman walking, cradling the lifeless child and giving him mouth-to-mouth resuscitation a few times. In August, the Tomlin family sued the Lincoln Marti Community Agency and its workers, accusing them of negligence. The lawsuit alleged that the daycare didnt have enough staff members, didnt train its workers properly and left children unattended. The lawsuit cited the Childcare Facility Handbook, which governs the laws and requirements for daycare centers in Florida. While state rules call for one worker for every four children, the lawsuit says the day Tayvon died, a lone worker oversaw eight children. READ MORE: Homestead daycare center agrees to $5 million settlement after death of infant In January, the owners of Lincoln-Marti Daycare agreed to a $5 million dollar settlement with the Tomlin family. As part of the agreement, the grieving family dropped the lawsuit. Im still hurting, Tayvons mother Keiara Whorely, 25, said in January. Something is missing. My son is missing. Miami Herald staff writer Charles Rabin contributed to this report In 22 Mays Google Doodle, the website is honouring the late Barbara May Cameron on what would have been her 69th birthday. The Google Doodle, which describes the temporary changes made to Googles logo on special occasions, features a cartoon of the photographer with a camera hanging around her neck and holding a pride flag, as she first came out in 1973. Behind Cameron in the drawing stands a group of women, to showcase fellow members of the LGBTQIA+ community. The backdrop is the cityscape of San Francisco, which is where she moved to after graduating college, and mountains in North Dakota, where she was born. The Google Doodle, coming days before Pride Month begins in the US, was created by queer Mexican and Chitimachan artist Sienna Gonzales, and included Camerons partner, Linda Boyd-Durkee, as a collaborator on the project. As Cameron was born on 22 May 1954, this illustration came out on what would have been her 69th birthday. Heres everything to know about Barabara May Cameron, the late poet and advocate for the LGBTQIA+ community. Cameron was born in Fort Yates, North Dakota, as a member of the Hunkpapa, a Native American group that was one of the seven council fires of the Lakota tribe, as noted by the Google Doodle description. After completing high school, she made her move to Santa Fe, New Mexico to study photography and film at the American Indian Art Institute. She later moved to to San Francisco, where she became a part of many organisations that advocated for the LGBTQIA+ people in the Native American community. More specifically, in 1975, she and her friend, Randy Burns, founded the Gay American Indians, which is the first organisation that was dedicated to a Native American LGBTQIA+ group. She went on to help organise the Lesbian Gay Freedom Day Parade and Celebration, from 1980 to 1985, and co-led a lawsuit against the Immigration and Naturalization Service. The lawsuit was against the government agencys policy of turning away gay people, with the case ruling in favour of Cameron and her co-plaintiffs in court. Throughout the following years, Cameron continued her work as an activist, as she became executive director at Community United Against Violence, which supports the healing and leadership of those impacted by abuse, as noted by the organisations official website. She was also appointed to the Citizens Committee on Community Development and the San Francisco Human Rights Commission by the mayor of San Francisco in 1988. In addition, she worked towards bringing awareness to how HIV/AIDS disproportionately impacted Native Americans. She was an active member of San Francisco AIDS Foundation and the American Indian AIDS Institute throughout the 90s. Following her death in 2002, she has continued to be remembered through her writing. In 1996, her essay No Apologies: A Lakota Lesbian Perspective was featured in Our Right To Love: A Lesbian Resource Book. In a statement to Google, Camerons partner spoke out about the artist dedicated to social justice. She noted that while Cameron was a busy activist throughout her life, she also had a kind heart, which showed as they raised their son, Rhys, together. She liked to set up her son Rhys to shock his mom (Linda Boyd) with language some people would punish, Boyd-Durkee explained. She understood how a kid would love to be able to say a curse word, because she was still a kid at heart. She continued: While recovering from back surgery, she enjoyed Rhys video games. She was an excellent bridge player and a great cook; we spent whole weekends at rented houses in Bodega Bay, California, playing bridge, cooking and eating with friends on the beautiful Pacific coast. File image from February shows members of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) outside the BBC offices The BBC has been ordered to the Delhi High Court over a defamation case about its documentary on Narendra Modi. The documentary focused on the prime minister's role in anti-Muslim violence in Gujarat in 2002, when he was chief minister of the state. The Gujarat-based group that filed the suit, Justice on Trial, told Reuters the documentary had defamed India. The BBC said it was aware of the proceedings but it was "inappropriate to comment further at this stage". Although the documentary, India: The Modi Question, was broadcast on television only in the UK this January, India's government attempted to block people sharing the programme, calling it "hostile propaganda and anti-India garbage" with a "colonial mind-set". Weeks after the broadcast, the BBC's Delhi offices were raided by Indian income tax authorities, and in April an investigation was opened into the broadcaster for alleged violations of foreign exchange rules. The documentary itself examines Mr Modi's leadership during the Gujarat riots which began the day after a train carrying Hindu pilgrims was set on fire, killing dozens. More than 1,000 people, mostly Muslims, died in the subsequent violence. India's PM has long rejected accusations against him, and has not apologised for the riots. In 2013, a Supreme Court panel also said there was insufficient evidence to prosecute him. The BBC has previously said the documentary was "rigorously researched" and that "a wide range of voices, witnesses and experts were approached, and we have featured a range of opinions, including responses from people in the BJP". Belarus has "pardoned" jailed Belarusian activist Raman Pratasevich, Belarusian state news agency BelTA said on May 22. The Minsk regional court sentenced Pratasevich, a former editor for Belarusian Telegram channel Nexta, to eight years in prison on May 8. The court accused him of participating in a so-called extremist group, undermining national security, and other politically motivated charges. Pratasevich's co-defendants, Yan Rudzik and Stsiapan Putsila, who were tried in absentia, were sentenced to 19 and 20 years in prison, respectively. Literally, I just signed all the relevant documents stating that I was pardoned. This, of course, is just great news, Pratasevich told reporters in Minsk. Pratasevich fled Belarus but was detained when his commercial flight from Athens to Vilnius was forced to land in Minsk while flying over the country. On July 19, 2022, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) found Belarus guilty of orchestrating the forced landing of Ryanair Flight FR4978. According to the ICAO, forced landings constitute an offense under the Montreal and Chicago conventions. Belarus Weekly: Imprisoned opposition leader hospitalized; Top activist jailed Viktar Babaryka, who ran against dictator Alexander Lukashenko in the 2020 presidential election and is now a political prisoner, was hospitalized with a punctured lung and signs of physical abuse. Belarusian authorities continue to crack down on political activists, as a Minsk court sentences acti Kyiv IndependentThe Kyiv Independent Pratasevich has been called the regimes hostage, appearing in official press conferences and on state-owned TV as an alleged remorseful opposition activist that is now loyal to Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko. Human rights groups say his confessions have been extracted through torture. The Nexta Telegram channel published videos that criticized Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenkos regime on topics like the countrys elections, the death penalty, and protests over various government policies. It extensively covered the protests that followed the fraudulent Belarusian presidential election in 2020. From Aug. 9 to 16 that year, Nextas Telegram channel audience grew from 427,000 to over 2 million subscribers, becoming the mouthpiece and coordinator for protests across the country. MOSCOW (Reuters) -Roman Protasevich, the Belarusian opposition blogger arrested in 2021 after his Ryanair overflight was forced to land in Minsk, was pardoned on Monday, the Belarusian state news agency BelTA reported. "I have literally just signed all the relevant documents stating that I have been pardoned," BelTA quoted Protasevich as telling reporters. "This is, of course, great news." Protasevich had been sentenced to eight years in prison this month for offences including inciting terrorism, organising mass disturbances and slandering Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko. He had worked as a journalist at the news outlet Nexta, which reported extensively on mass protests against Lukashenko in 2020 following a presidential election that the opposition and Western governments denounced as rigged. A clampdown around the time of the election resulted in all significant opposition figures being jailed or driven into exile. Nexta's founder Stsiapan Putsila and former editor Yan Rudik were sentenced in absentia by the same court to 20 and 19 years in jail respectively. Belarus declared Nexta a "terrorist organisation" last year. The circumstances of Protasevich's arrest in May 2021 prompted international outrage and triggered European Union sanctions against Lukashenko. After his arrest, Protasevich was shown on state television tearfully confessing to involvement in anti-government protests and plotting to topple Lukashenko. The exiled Belarus opposition said the admissions were false and had been coerced. (Reporting by Reuters; Editing by Kevin Liffey) Local American Idol contestant Nailyah Serenity is giving back to students in Charlotte. Serenity returned to Northwest School of the Arts this week after making it to the Top 20. She said she wanted to inspire students, as well as, share some advice to students who are in the same position she was not too long ago. When I was younger, I felt like I was not good at being present. I was always like Oh my gosh, when am I gonna get a Grammy? When am I gonna be Beyonce? Like I dont want to go to school. And because of that, I missed out on the beauty of this part of life, Serenity explained. PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Charlotte native receives golden ticket after American Idol audition As she pushes forward with her dreams of making music and performing, she told Channel 9 that he was excited and grateful to be back in her hometown. Its gonna sound so cliche but I really want to let the kids know that all you have to do is be yourself and believe in yourself, Serenity said. And students expressed gratitude for the thoughtful advice. Im so happy it was a great experience and hearing her say just be yourself, student Nyla said. She is so inspiring. If she can do it, than anyone can. Even coming from Charlotte. VIDEO: Charlotte native receives golden ticket after American Idol audition Bill Einreinhofer has come a long way from when he was a paper boy for The Record while growing up in Rutherford. But he's still delivering the world's stories to people's homes. Now 71, Einreinhofer attended the University of Wisconsin in Madison for a master's degree in communication in the 1970s. That's where he started making documentaries, launching a career and a lifelong passion. "I am a child of the '60s," he said recently. "I wanted nothing less than to change the world." Einreinhofer has been a documentarian for over 40 years, with much of his work done for public television. His newest project focuses on a land that has been among his favorite subjects for the last three decades: "China: Frame By Frame" will air on the World Channel, a public television network, on Thursday, May 25, at 9 p.m. It can also be viewed on the PBS app. Bill Einreinhofer in Rutherford on Thursday, May 18, 2023. Einreinhofer has been a documentarian for over 40 years with much of his work done for public television. His newest project is "China: Frame By Frame.O In the 57-minute documentary, Einreinhofer looks back on the more than 30 years he has spent covering events in the nation of almost 1.5 billion people. The film makes use of original interviews and scenes he has shot throughout the country over the years as well as historical footage from the U.S. National Archives and the Library of Congress. Einreinhofer said he started assembling the project in May of last year. It took him about seven months to complete a rough cut by Christmas, with the final version done in February. "China: Frame by Frame" focuses on "the things that I discovered, the things that I saw, the things that I learned. When I went there, especially in the early years, I did not know a great deal about China," Einreinhofer said. "There are people who over the course of the years shared with me their personal stories, some of which are incredibly moving," he said. "I interviewed them a long time ago, and so many of them are gone now. And the only way their stories live on is through me." Pop quiz: 20 facts to know for Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month More: Celebrate AAPI Heritage Month in NJ with Bollywood music, lantern festival and more Einreinhofer first visited China in 1989, when he was the executive producer of the PBS series "Innovation." He has made over two dozen subsequent trips to the country. He interviewed residents in coastal cities such as Shanghai and Guangzhou, China's capital city of Beijing where he spent three months covering the 2008 Olympics and Chengdu, in the west. "I was able to go to these different areas of China, each of which really does have its own, unique history. Everything is Chinese, but everything is just a little different," Einreinhofer said. One of the stories featured in his documentary is from one of its producers, Nancy Hanzhang Shen, a Jersey City resident, who recalled growing up in the city of Hangzhou, where she was raised by her parents and grandparents. She played an "essential role" in making the documentary happen, Einreinhofer said, due to her knowledge of China and the Mandarin language. Einreinhofer also recounts memorable stories from those who lived through Japan's occupation of China during World War II. They included Patricia Dunn Silver, the daughter of an American physician living in China at the time. "When Japan attacked the United States, all of those foreigners like Patricia became enemy nationals, and so they were sent to civilian concentration camps," Einreinhofer said. He said he hopes people watching the documentary in the United States will see that the Chinese people he captures on video are no different from themselves. A village in China that is featured in the new documentary, "China: Frame By Frame," directed by Rutherford resident and veteran filmmaker Bill Einreinhofer. "People are people around the world, and even though these folks have a very different culture, in many ways they're similar to us and we are similar to them," Einreinhofer said. China continues to hold Einreinhofer's imagination. His next documentary will focus on the nation's space program and its modern-day competition with the United States, using footage he's shot over the years. "Why China? In part, the intellectual challenge," Einreinhofer said. "It is so big, so different, so far away," 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: PBS airs documentary China: Frame By Frame by NJ filmmaker Pedestrians make their way along Rodeo Drive In Beverly Hills. The proposed Cheval Blanc hotel would be located at the intersection of Rodeo Drive and Little Santa Monica Boulevard. (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times) In a city whose name is shorthand for exclusivity and wealth, the future of a planned ultra-opulent hotel will soon be decided by the most democratic of means: an election. Beverly Hills voters will decide Tuesday whether to rescind the City Councils approval of a hotel project helmed by French multibillionaire Bernard Arnault and LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton, his luxury conglomerate. To some, the battle over the Beverly Hills Cheval Blanc hotel is a David and Goliath story, pitting a small group of residents concerned about overdevelopment and a union advocating for affordable housing against the worlds richest person. Others see it as a tale of an outside group in this case Unite Here Local 11 mucking around in the citys business and potentially depriving Beverly Hills of hundreds of millions of dollars in tax revenue over the next three decades. The politically powerful union, which represents hospitality workers across the region, collected the local signatures necessary to force the issue to a vote. Regardless, all parties seem to agree that the result will have lasting implications for a 5.7-square-mile city where roughly 31,000 residents bed down at night and many more people staff homes, offices, stores, restaurants and hotels during the day. Beverly Hills already has 16 hotels, seven of which are considered luxury, according to the city. But the Cheval Blanc would aim to be the brightest star in a galaxy of sparkle, promising an exceptionally high-end experience for its wealthy clientele. It would be the first North American property for LVMH's relatively new chain, which currently has five hotels, including a ski-in and ski-out chalet in the French Alps and a St. Barts hotel where the entire property is lightly scented with a custom Guerlain fragrance. "I think it's fair to say that this is the only city in the world that could have made this deal," Henry Finkelstein, the outside lawyer who represented Beverly Hills in the development negotiations, said during a November City Council meeting. "If you look at virtually any other place, including in the metro Los Angeles area in particular, they would be paying subsidies. And here we are exacting premiums." The Beverly Hills Cheval Blanc, which was approved by the City Council and the City Planning Commission last year after a lengthy public process, would also reshape the edge of one of the most famous retail strips in the world. When most people think of Rodeo Drive, they tend to focus on a specific portion of the roughly two-mile street: a three-block business district that doubles as an international symbol of luxury retail, where the streets are lined with palm trees and vast sums of capital. The hotel replete with a members-only club, restaurants, retail and a spa would rise at the northernmost of those three blocks, abutting Little Santa Monica Boulevard. After raising numerous objections during the planning process, Unite Here Local 11 began gathering signatures to challenge the project shortly after the development agreement and zoning amendment were approved in November. Triggering a referendum election in Beverly Hills requires the signatures of 10% of registered voters, meaning that just 2,193 signatures were necessary at the time. Representatives of the union argue that cities like Beverly Hills often change development rules to make it easier to build commercial luxury projects, but don't always do this for housing. They also vociferously object to the fact that the development agreement does not specifically earmark any money for affordable housing. Unite Here Local 11 carries tremendous political heft nine miles east, at Los Angeles City Hall, where it has pushed legislation and where one of its own, former organizer Hugo Soto-Martinez, now sits on the City Council. The union local also has been instrumental in recent policies in West Hollywood, but its influence is relatively nascent at Beverly Hills City Hall. A model of the proposed Cheval Blanc hotel in Beverly Hills is on display inside the campaign headquarters for the project. In the background, phone bankers make calls to residents about the upcoming election. (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times) The citys development agreement with LVMH dictates that the company contribute $26 million to the citys general fund, in addition to $2 million for art and cultural programs. The city would also receive an additional 5% surcharge over its regular 14% transient occupancy tax. The proposed hotel complex, designed by star architect Peter Marino, would replace a number of buildings, including the Richard Meier-designed site formerly occupied by the Paley Center for Media on North Beverly Drive around the corner from Rodeo. The hotel would vary from four stories to a partial ninth-story penthouse, taller than current zoning rules allow, according to the final environmental impact report. According to the citys analysis, the hotel is expected to funnel about $725 million into city coffers over the next 30 years, with the bulk of that coming from the combined 19% bed tax. It's money that Councilmember Lili Bosse, who served as mayor when the project came before the council last year, and other proponents see as key to securing the long-term future of Beverly Hills as a place synonymous with the good life. I think what people need to understand is the quality of life of Beverly Hills, in terms of our three-minute response time of our Police Department the best public schools, the best quality of life, being a safe city, a beautiful city that revenue mostly comes from the business community, Bosse said. But Councilmember John Mirisch, an iconoclastic former film executive and fourth-generation Beverly Hills resident who cast the lone "no" vote against the project, hardly sees the Cheval Blanc as a good deal for the city. Were effectively doubling the value of their land, Mirisch said, referring to the zoning amendment approved by the council, which will allow the developer to more than double the square footage that it would otherwise be able to build on the site. And the city negotiated, from my perspective, a measly $28 million. Bernard Arnault, whose company is behind the Beverly Hills project, attends a 2022 fashion show in Paris. (Vianney Le Caer / Invision/Associated Press) Mirisch said he voted against the project because of his critiques of the deal, along with concerns that the hotel was too large for the area. Since then, Mirisch said, he has been appalled by the amount of money LVMH has spent on the special election campaign. The LVMH-funded pro-hotel campaign had spent nearly $2.8 million by early May, according to campaign statements filed with the c ity c lerk . Among the opponents, Local 11's political action committee spent nearly $86,000 during the same period, and Residents Against Overdevelopment a grassroots group led by former City Council candidate Darian Bojeaux spent a little more than $16,000. LVMH will reimburse Beverly Hills for the cost of the special election, estimated to be about $870,000, according to the city. Boosters see the relationship between Cheval Blanc and the street that will house it as symbiotic, with hotel guests drawn by the location doubling as an ideal client base for the neighboring luxury stores. Money will beget money, with a small fraction of every transaction going directly into city coffers. Proponents also say that the sumptuous spectacle of Cheval Blanc would anchor the northern end of the retail corridor, guarding against the tired fate that's befallen several other once-hot shopping districts. (LVMHs investments on Rodeo go far beyond just the Cheval Blanc site: The conglomerate has 15 stores on the street or broader Business Triangle and owns several of those properties, according to a spokesperson.) Pedestrians walk past the former Brooks Brothers building at the intersection of Rodeo Drive and Little Santa Monica Boulevard in Beverly Hills. The Cheval Blanc hotel project would encompass this building. (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times) But Bojeaux, a semiretired attorney, said she fears that the size of the hotel could dramatically change her village for the worse. Still, the 36-year Beverly Hills resident said she had all but given up on organizing against the Cheval Blanc when Unite Here began collecting signatures for the referendum, saying, "We probably wouldn't have been able to do it on our own." Whatever their interests were, it was really wonderful for a lot of us, because they organized the referendum petition, Bojeaux said, characterizing the referendum election as like something out of my dreams." Housing particularly the ability to find affordable housing near workplaces is the No. 1 issue for the union and its members, said Unite Here Local 11 Co-President Kurt Petersen. Beverly Hills is like the worst of the worst because there's no affordable housing nearby, Petersen said, adding that Local 11 has more than a thousand members who work in Beverly Hills, but very few are able to live in the city. There are 157 deed-restricted affordable units in the city, but all but seven of those units are part of a dedicated senior housing facility, according to Deputy City Manager Keith Sterling, who said an additional 50 units are in the pipeline. Beverly Hills voters will be asked two ballot questions: whether they approve of the zoning amendment that would allow the hotel to be constructed, and whether they approve of the development agreement. Should either measure fail to pass, the project would be unable to move forward. Anish Melwani, chairman and chief executive of LVMHs North American subsidiary, said that if the voters reverse the project's approvals, the company has no plans to bring it back before the council after already going through a rigorous, years-long process. "We have no interest in building a hotel in a community that doesnt want us to be there. Vox populi, vox dei, right? Melwani said, invoking a Latin phrase that means the voice of the people is the voice of God, and saying the company would revert the properties to retail. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times. President Biden's foreign policy decisions have emboldened American adversaries, with some experts saying the administration has deteriorated America's roll as a global leader. "I have always been a firm believer that the president of the United States is in charge of the world and Congress is in charge of domestic policy," Fred Zeidman, co-chair and director of Council for a Secure America, told Fox News Digital. "We have a president right now that I think is totally focused on domestic policy and has totally ignored world policy." Zeidman's comments come as Biden has faced several high-profile foreign policy crises since taking office, including the disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan, the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and an increasingly hostile posture from countries such as China, North Korea and Iran. According to Zeidman, the growing dangers confronting the world can be traced to Biden's foreign policy strategy, which utilizes a similar strategy to former President Barack Obama that weakens U.S. ability to be a feared deterrence to the world's aggressors. BIDEN DROVE 'HISTORICALLY' CLOSE MIDDLE EAST ALLIES INTO THE ARMS OF AMERICA'S GREATEST ENEMIES, EXPERTS SAY President Joe Biden "This started under, not his direct predecessor, but under Barack Obama. to destroy American exceptionalism," Zeidman said. READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP Zeidman argued that not only has Biden "weakened our military," but he also has pursued domestic policies that have limited the U.S. ability to project power. He pointed to Biden's energy policies, arguing that moves to limit domestic oil production have left the U.S. dependent on foreign sources of energy and unable to fill the void for allies facing an energy crunch as a result of Russia's war in Ukraine. "Energy has been the source of every war, arguably, in the history of the world," he said. Zeidman also pointed to the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, arguing that the spectacle that played out for the world to see was incentive enough for American adversaries to pursue an aggressive path. "I still believe that our response in Afghanistan is what precipitated the Russian invasion of Ukraine," Zeidman said, noting that China may also see this moment as an opportunity to move on Taiwan as well. These issues, Zeidman believes, can all be traced back to a foreign policy philosophy that started under Obama, ceding America's leadership and place as the predominant world power. IRAN GAINS FOOTHOLD IN SOUTH AMERICA AS BIDEN ADMIN PURSUES NUCLEAR DEAL "President Obama was always philosophically a supporter of the underdog, and so he has always been a supporter of the countries considered to be the underdog, which would arguably be anybody other than American, anybody other than NATO," Zeidman said. James Phillips, the senior research fellow for foreign policy at the Heritage Foundation, also believes much of Biden's foreign policy philosophy is a carryover from the Obama administration. Phillips pointed out that much of the Biden administration is staffed with people who also served in the Obama administration, which has resulted in Biden chasing an "illusory deal with Iran at the expense of Israel, Saudi Arabia and other partners threatened by Iran." Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamanei "The Biden administrations foreign policy essentially is a re-run of the Obama foreign policy, particularly in the Middle East," Phillips told Fox News Digital. "Like Obama, he seeks to downplay the threats posed by Iran, while justifying a drawdown of U.S. forces in the Middle East as part of a 'pivot' to the Indo-Pacific, ostensibly to contain China." Phillips argued that the result has been not to contain China, but instead to invite their influence in a Middle East where the U.S. has traditionally been the predominant power. BIDEN LACKS COHERENT STRATEGY ON IRAN THAT IS 'WEEKS' FROM BUILDING NUCLEAR BOMB, AIDS RUSSIA: EXPERT "China has pivoted to the Middle East to bolster relations with Iran, and cultivated much better relations with Saudi Arabia and other Arab states, which increasingly doubt that they can depend on the Biden administration," Phillips said. But Joel Rubin, a former deputy assistant secretary of state for the Obama administration, argues the Iran deal negotiated under Obama was the most effective way to contain Iranian ambitions to build a nuclear weapon. "On Iran, what Trump did was destroyed a multilateral agreement on nuclear weapons," Rubin told Fox News Digital. "The result of that is that Iran is now closer to a bomb than it's ever been." While efforts to restore some sort of deal have been stalled, Rubin noted that it can be difficult to restore diplomacy once it is abandoned. However, he argued Biden's push to return to the framework of the deal would be a better step toward containing a potentially nuclear Iran. "If you want to prevent Iran from getting a nuclear weapon, the deal we had before was doing it," Rubin said. "The maximum pressure Trump policy was enacted after he withdrew from the deal, and we see the results, which is that Iran is still making a mess in the Middle East, oppressing its own people, and by the way, has a much more advanced nuclear program." NIKKI HALEY: BIDEN'S PUSH FOR NEW IRAN DEAL WILL COME BACK TO BITE THE US, ISRAEL IF NOT FACED WITH STRENGTH Rubin argues that Biden's foreign policy doctrine has been one aimed at restoring American leadership throughout the world, including repairing ties with NATO allies that often felt alienated under the Trump administration. He also pointed to Biden's work forging new commitments and alliances in Asia, something designed to help confront the emerging threat China poses. "Restoring and accelerating our multilateral alliances and putting American leadership at the top of that pyramid," Rubin noted as one of the primary objectives of Biden's foreign policy. President Joe Biden shakes hands with Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu. In addition to alliance building, Rubin pointed to Biden's domestic agenda as being a pillar of Biden's philosophy, calling it "building from the inside out." "The idea of investing in America and rebuilding it was an idea that Donald Trump had for four years and never figured out how to do it," Rubin said. "Joe Biden's now $2 trillion worth of spending on domestic industry for the future as well as our infrastructure for climara and energy infrastructure, climate resilience, new technology, road, bridges that didn't happen under Trump, it happened under Biden." Rubin added that another key pillar of Biden's foreign policy strategy is to invest in "hard power" infrastructure, pouring money into the Defense Department to build and repair what has long been neglected. SEN. JAMES LANKFORD SAYS BIDEN'S 'MIXED MESSAGING' ON THE MIDDLE EAST IS 'UNHELPFUL,' WARNS ABOUT RISE OF ANTI-SEMITISM "You have a mixture of economics, diplomacy and defense," Rubin said. "It's not just sales, Trump did a lot of sales of American military equipment, but not a lot of investment in the defense sector. We're now learning of areas that need to be invested in largely because of this hot war we're backing in Ukraine." Taken together, Rubin said Biden's foreign policy strategy has been to rebuild America's role as a leader. "Are we leader or are we following? Are we isolated?" Rubin said. "How do you cover China when you're alone? You don't. You try, but just sanctions alone on China, when countries are running away, is no good. But now they're not running away," he added, pointing to Japan's increase in defense spending "in partnership with the United States." New recruits of Chinese People's Liberation Army assemble. However, Zeidman believes the U.S. has done anything but restore its role as a global leader under Biden. "All the countries that were dependent on the United States to defend them they quickly came to the conclusion that they couldn't depend on the United States anymore," he said, pointing to the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan and how it was perceived. "We have to have a strong military. The world has to understand that we have the capability and the will and the desire to support the countries that are friendly to us." For more than a year, Kyiv has asked for modern fighter jets, and the Biden administrations answer has either been no, or not right now. That changed late last week, when President Joe Biden told allies that he would support an international coalition to train Ukrainian pilots on Western fighters, paving the way for modern jets to one day be transferred to the front line. A key turning point came in the last few weeks, when the West finished delivering the vast majority of equipment Ukraine needed for a planned spring counteroffensive. The coalition of countries supporting Ukraine has shuttled tons of heavy weaponry, including sophisticated air defense systems and armored vehicles, to the battlefield to help Kyiv repel Russian forces. With that milestone in the rearview mirror, the group turned its attention to equipping Ukraine for the long term. The first step on that path: training Ukrainian pilots to fly modern fighter jets. The decision on jets is the latest move in what has become a familiar pattern of incremental military aid to Ukraine. Time and again, the West has initially resisted sending advanced equipment, only to relent months later. This process has played out with Stinger anti-aircraft missiles after the start of the full-scale invasion last year, the Patriot missile defense system in December, M1 Abrams tanks in January, and now again with F-16s. A wide range of critics say the Biden administration has dragged its feet on sending urgently needed aid at every step, needlessly prolonging the war. But administration officials say the incremental approach is part of a calculated strategy to get Ukraine the capability it needs quickly on the battlefield, and to prevent escalation. Its been in the works, Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall told reporters on Monday, referring to the training program. We could certainly have started earlier, but there were much higher priorities, and its seen by some as an escalatory act on our part. At every stage, the United States has played a critical role in making sure Ukraine gets what it needs when it needs it, national security adviser Jake Sullivan said Monday on CNN. And we will continue to do that. This account of how the Biden administration decided to approve the training program is based on interviews with five current U.S. officials, two of whom are with the Defense Department. All were granted anonymity to discuss internal deliberations. Momentum builds The decision to support the training effort was the product of weeks of diplomacy and discussion. Sullivan began thinking about how to support the long-term modernization of Ukraines air force last year after he visited Kyiv and Poland in November. At the time, the question wasnt if, but when. Yet in public, the president himself rejected the prospect of Ukraine getting American F-16s in the near term, saying in February that hed ruled out sending the jets for now. Meanwhile at the Pentagon, top policy official Colin Kahl delivered more bad news to Ukraine, saying senior leaders believed fighter jets would not help Ukraine in the current fight, and that it would take 18-24 months to train Ukrainian pilots on the F-16. At the time, the administration was focused on getting Ukraine the air defense equipment it needed immediately to fend off Russian drone and missile attacks, and the armored ground forces necessary for the spring counteroffensive. In recent weeks, as the West finished delivering the vast majority of equipment Ukraine needs for the counteroffensive, top officials revived the fighter jets issue. Another factor was that the Ukrainians have proved a quick study on other complex equipment, completing training on High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems and Patriot air defense launchers much faster than anticipated. Secretary of State Antony Blinken was a key driver in convincing Biden to relent on the F-16s, a U.S. official familiar with the issue said. The president and other parts of the government tend to defer to the Defense Department on such matters. The Pentagon, including top military officials, have long worried about the potential of escalation on the Russian side should the West take such a step as giving Ukraine F-16 capabilities. But Blinken had observed over the past year that Russia rarely escalates beyond rhetoric, even as the West has introduced more military offerings into Ukraine. The chief diplomat also is thinking about Ukraines long-term needs given that, even if Russia were to abandon the war now, it will nonetheless be a threat to Kyiv for the foreseeable future. The jets issue came up last month at a meeting of international defense chiefs hosted by Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin at Ramstein Air Base, Germany. During the gathering, Austins counterparts sought permission to train Ukrainians on F-16s. Austin later brought up the matter with the National Security Council, and the principals agreed unanimously that proceeding with the training made sense. Austin raised the issue directly with Biden ahead of the G-7 summit, which took place last weekend in Hiroshima, Japan, recommending that the U.S. proceed with approving allies to train the Ukrainians and transfer the jets. While these planes are not relevant for this upcoming counteroffensive, Secretary Austin did believe Ukraine should have a fourth generation air capability at some point, so proceeding with training made sense, a DoD official said. The pieces fell into place the week of May 8, when Sullivan traveled to London for meetings ahead of the G-7 leaders summit. It was there that he ironed out the details of a two-part approach first training, then eventually sending the jets with officials from the U.K., France and Germany. During the trip, he also had phone calls with his counterparts in the Netherlands and Poland, which operate F-16s. Thats where the idea of starting with training first, and then ultimately getting them to agree that we would figure out the timing of giving the planes would come from at a later date, the official said. From London, Sullivan traveled to Vienna to meet with top Chinese official Wang Li. After he returned to Washington on May 11, he briefed the president that there was broad support among the allies for the two-step approach, the official said. Biden informed his counterparts that he would support the plan at the G-7 leaders meeting on Friday, POLITICO first reported. Transfers still far off Kendall and other top officials stressed that it will be many months before Ukraine will get F-16s. But as the war drags on, the decision to approve the training program was part of the administrations calculation about what Ukraines military is going to look like beyond the immediate conflict. Ukraine is going to remain an independent nation, its going to need a full suite of military capabilities, Kendall said. So its time to start thinking longer term about what that military might look like and what it might include. The first official agreed that jets are part of the Wests long term outlook for Ukraine. Ukraine has said it wants 40-50 jets. However this war ends, and whenever it ends, Ukraine is going to have one of the largest militaries on the continent, and they're going to have a long border with Russia going forward, the official said. So they're gonna need a modern air force for that effort no matter what happens. Preventing escalation is still a key consideration. Speaking to reporters on Sunday at the G-7 summit, Biden stressed that his Ukrainian counterpart assured him that he will not use the F-16s to fly into Russian territory. But where Russian troops are in Ukrainian territory, thats fair game. Sullivan noted on Sunday that Crimea is part of Ukraine. The timing of the next steps and other details remain unclear, including which countries will send their F-16s or other jets for training, and which countries will ask the U.S. to approve the transfer of American-made equipment. At the Pentagon, senior leaders were never opposed to allowing other countries to send their F-16s, officials said. The concern with sending U.S. Air Force jets was that they are expensive, and would eat up a sizable chunk of the limited pot of money Congress has provided for Ukraine aid, a senior DoD official told POLITICO in January. At the Pentagon, we've been focused on what do they need right now? because we don't have unlimited resources, the official said. I think the conversation on fourth generation aircraft we are having with the Ukrainians they've talked about F-16s, they've talked about F-15s, they've talked about F-18s. I think clearly, over some period of time, they will need to modernize their air force. That is not a capability that, even if we made the decision, would deliver in the near term, and it would have substantial trade-offs because it's really expensive. And coincidentally, the Pentagon said last week it had overestimated the value of the equipment already provided to Ukraine by roughly $3 billion freeing up that money to send more weapons to Kyiv. One European official said it was just a matter of time before the U.S. approved sending the jets. It seems to me to just fall in the line of just another capability that now is mature enough to bring on the table, the person said. Every single new advanced capability has required some processing time. Just think of the decision-making regarding the tanks donation. Nahal Toosi contributed to this report. On today's episode of the 5 Things podcast: Debt ceiling negotiations: Biden and McCarthy pledge more talks President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy plan to speak again Monday on the debt ceiling. Plus, USA TODAY White House Correspondent Francesca Chambers explains a U.S. plan to assist training Ukrainian pilots, Black women looking for Black sperm donors struggle with a shortage, how ashwaghanda helps with stress, and USA TODAY Producer Callie Carmichael speaks with Netflix Executive Producer Terry Meurer on how 'Unsolved Mysteries' solves cold cases. Podcasts: True crime, in-depth interviews and more USA TODAY podcasts right here Hit play on the player above to hear the podcast and follow along with the transcript below. This transcript was automatically generated, and then edited for clarity in its current form. There may be some differences between the audio and the text. Taylor Wilson: Good morning. I'm Taylor Wilson and this is 5 Things you need to know Monday, the 22nd of May 2023. Today, the latest on the debt ceiling. Plus, how the US plans to help Ukrainian pilots, and how a Netflix show is helping to solve cold cases. Well, get ready for another week or two of negotiations on the debt ceiling, that's even as the countdown clock gets closer and closer to a potential government default next month. Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said he and Biden had a productive phone conversation yesterday as Biden flew back from Japan and the pair planned to meet again today. Speaking earlier with reporters at the G7 summit, Biden called GOP demands extreme. Republicans want to tie a number of spending cuts to negotiations. Meanwhile, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen told the NBC this weekend that the true deadline to avoid default is up in the air and that the government could conceivably pay its bills past June 1st, but not much further. You can read more on usatoday.com and listen to a number of our episodes last week. We'll have more in the coming days. President Joe Biden told the allied nations that the US would assist with training Ukrainian pilots on modern fighter aircraft, including American-made F-16s. He did so at a closed-door meeting at the G7 summit in Japan on Friday. Over the weekend, Biden said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky assured him personally he won't use F-16 fighter jets to attack Russian territory. I spoke with USA TODAY White House Correspondent Francesca Chambers for more. Welcome back to the show, Francesca. Francesca Chambers: Hello again. Taylor Wilson: So, tell me about this plan to train Ukrainian pilots. Francesca Chambers: President Joe Biden told other world leaders during the Group of Seven summit on Friday that the US would help with training Ukrainian pilots on modern fighter jets, which includes the American-made F-16s. Now, this is a big deal because President Zelenskyy of Ukraine has been pushing the US to provide the F-16s. The US is simply saying at this time that it will help with a joint effort to train Ukrainian pilots on the fighter jets, but this could signal that Washington is getting closer to arming Ukraine with the aircraft. Taylor Wilson: Yeah, the US and other allies have been reluctant to supply the planes themselves. Why is that, Francesca? Francesca Chambers: The US has said that it's focused on helping Ukraine achieve its goals currently during a spring offensive and heading into the summer. But a senior administration official told me that this is now about helping Ukraine with longer term capabilities to defend itself against potential future threats. Taylor Wilson: Has Ukrainian President Zelenskyy's advocacy on the planes been effective in recent weeks? Francesca Chambers: Well, the fact that the United States is now saying that it will help train the Ukrainian pilots on the American-made F-16s is a shift in US position, and it comes after Zelenskyy not only visited the United States in December, but as he has been visiting European countries over the last few days. Taylor Wilson: And what other aspects of the war in Ukraine have G7 leaders been focused on this week? Francesca Chambers: G7 leaders have heavily been focused on the war in Ukraine. In fact, on the very first day of the G7 summit, they sat down for a working session to talk about Ukraine. Another key focus of the G7 summit has been sanctions on Russia. The US unveiled a new sanctions package that includes new restrictions on the architectural and engineering sectors of Russia. The other thing that the US rolled out are sanctions on individuals, including those who have been accused of helping with the forced deportation of Ukrainian children as well as their adoption in Russia. Taylor Wilson: USA TODAY White House Correspondent Francesca Chambers, great insight as always. Thanks so much. Francesca Chambers: Thank you. Taylor Wilson: Black women looking for Black sperm donors are facing the harsh reality of a shortage. That was the case for Mardochee Julien-West and her wife who decided to become moms through in vitro fertilization. They knew they wanted Black children, but didn't realize how hard it would be. She and her wife, Yevette, first looked at donors at a cryobank in 2020, but when they filtered the search for Black men, their options dwindled from hundreds of choices to just two. She told USA TODAY, "We were mind-blown. There are Black lesbians, there are Black queer people, there are straight people who have fertility issues. There's just a huge demand so it was insane." Experts say there are many reasons why sperm banks don't have more Black donors. For one, they've been historically run by white people targeting white donors and white clients. Black people also have a long history of mistreatment in the name of medicine and science. The Tuskegee Study, for instance, involved the US government denying treatment to hundreds of poor Black men who had syphilis so that researchers could study its ravages on the human body. You can read more with a link in today's show notes. Americans are stressed, and they're turning to conventional therapies for help, things like improving sleep and breathing exercises. Others find that food and the nutrients they put in their bodies can be helpful. Whole grains, fruits, vegetables, and healthy fats have all been known to reduce stress. And there's another plant-based product known for its stress relieving properties, ashwagandha. Also known as Indian ginseng or winter cherry, it's an evergreen shrub found in India, the Middle East, and parts of Africa. It can be used as a supplement in powder, capsule or liquid form, and has been used for thousands of years. They can fight against anxiety, boost energy levels, and reduce stress. Arizona State Nutrition Professor Dr. Carol Johnston said, "It is not surprising that this botanical has health benefits. Plants produce highly sophisticated compounds to protect them from environmental insults, and many of these protective properties extend to human tissues when ingested." You can read more with a link in today's show notes. A few months ago, Netflix's Unsolved Mysteries briefly featured a photograph of Kayla Unbehaun, a young girl who had been missing for years in Illinois. Six months later, that photo was seen by a viewer who recognized the girl at a clothing store in North Carolina. Just over a week ago, that little girl, now a teenager, was back with her family all because of this viewer's tip. Today, we do a deeper dive into how the Unsolved Mysteries team is leveraging its viewers' interest to help law enforcement solve cold cases across the country. My colleague on the video team, producer Callie Carmichael, recently sat down with the show's executive producer Terry Meurer to learn more. Callie Carmichael: Hey, Terry. Thank you so much for joining us. Terry Meurer: Thank you so much for having me. I really appreciate it. Callie Carmichael: Can you tell me a little bit about the Kayla Unbehaun case? Terry Meurer: Kayla was featured on one of our Unsolved Mysteries episodes that aired on Netflix. She wasn't featured as a full episode, but at the end of one of the episodes that we did about parental abductions, we did what we call a "roll call," which shows the faces of a number of different children who had been abducted by parents for about five or six seconds, and Kayla was one of those faces. So, that's why it's so incredible that somebody could actually recognize her and bring about a a resolution to this case. We present the roll calls because we want to get more cases solved, we want to get more faces out there. So, this episode we did about parental abductions aired on Netflix in November of 2022, so it's been six months. It just goes to show that cases can get solved at any time. Unsolved Mysteries has been on the air for 35 years, and we continue to get cases that are solved. It's just amazing. Callie Carmichael: Tell me, what was the tip that came in for Kayla's case? Terry Meurer: So, from what I understand, Kayla and her mother were shopping at a store in Asheville, North Carolina. They had disappeared six years earlier from Elgin, Illinois. They were just shopping in a clothing store, and one of the employees there had a connection to Kayla from when she lived in Elgin and recognized her. It must have been immediate because she went to the store manager, the store manager called the local Asheville Police Department, and they showed up and they were taken into custody. Callie Carmichael: How many credible tips have your producers received because of the show? Ballpark? Terry Meurer: We've produced and aired 21 Unsolved Mysteries episodes for Netflix, and out of those episodes, we've received a total of about 7,000 tips to unsolved.com, and about 1,400 of those we've passed on to law enforcement. Some of those tips are people submitting stories, some of them are just airing their opinion. But, we don't know how many tips have actually come in on any of the cases because, at the end of the episodes, we often put up the phone number for the Sheriff's Department or the law enforcement agency that's handling the case, and a lot of people contact those agencies directly, and we never hear quite what the results of those tips were. Callie Carmichael: How would you say you deem a tip credible? Tell me a little bit about the relationship you have with law enforcement, FBI. How does that work? Terry Meurer: Ever since Unsolved Mysteries has been on the air, we have had a very close relationship with all agencies of law enforcement, whether it's the FBI or local police, local sheriffs. I think they see us as a helping hand when it comes to solving some of these cases because a lot of the cases we do are cold cases, there's no leads coming in. So, what Unsolved Mysteries has always tried to do is to stir things up and get some more leads in. So, we often reach out to law enforcement and they often reach out to us to present a case. So, we work very closely with law enforcement. Callie Carmichael: Thank you so much for joining us, Terry. I really appreciate your insight. Terry Meurer: Oh, thank you for having me. Taylor Wilson: Thanks for listening to 5 Things. You can find us every day of the week wherever you get your audio. If you have any comments, you can reach us at podcast@usatoday.com. I'm back tomorrow with more of 5 Things from USA TODAY. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Netflix's 'Unsolved Mysteries', US to help Ukranian pilots: 5 Things podcast President Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy. Drew Angerer/Getty Images President Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) will meet on Monday afternoon to resume negotiations on the debt ceiling, McCarthy announced Sunday. It will be their third meeting this month on the matter. McCarthy told reporters that during a phone call with Biden, who is headed back to Washington, D.C., from Japan, where he attended the G7 summit, the president "walked through some of the things that he's still looking at, he's hearing from his members; I walked through things I'm looking at. I felt that part was productive. But look there's no agreement. We're still apart." The debt ceiling is the amount of money the government is authorized to borrow to pay its obligations, and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has warned that if the limit isn't raised, the country could run out of cash and default on its debt as soon as June 1. This would "generate an economic and financial catastrophe," she said. "There will be hard choices to make if the debt ceiling isn't raised." Republicans want to cut spending, reduce funding for the IRS and add work requirements for recipients of Medicaid and the Temporary Assistance of Needy Families program in exchange for raising the debt limit. Biden has said he's open to making some spending cuts as long as Republicans consider raising tax revenues. You may also like Italy's Mount Etna erupts, forcing airport closure Dianne Feinstein and the problem of America's aging politicians College student who tracks Elon Musk's jet now doing the same with DeSantis Biden to nominate Democrat for key seat on US telecom regulator FILE PHOTO: Signage is seen at the headquarters of the Federal Communications Commission in Washington, D.C. By David Shepardson WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Joe Biden on Monday said he plans to nominate attorney Anna Gomez for a key fifth seat on the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC), after Democrats had been stymied since 2021 from gaining a majority on the five-member telecommunications regulator. Gomez, a Democratic telecommunications attorney, currently serves as a senior adviser for the State Department's Bureau of Cyberspace and Digital Policy, leading U.S. preparations for the 2023 World Radio Conference. Biden said in a statement that he also plans to renominate for new five-year terms Democratic Commissioner Geoffrey Starks and Republican Commissioner Brendan Carr. Reuters reported the planned nominations earlier. Without Senate action, Starks would need to leave in January and Carr in January 2025. Since January 2021, the FCC has been deadlocked 2-2, stalling Democrats' efforts to reinstate landmark net neutrality rules revoked under Republican then-President Donald Trump. The open internet laws seek to bar internet service providers from blocking or slowing traffic or offering paid "fast lanes." In July 2021, Biden signed an executive order encouraging the FCC to reinstate net neutrality rules adopted under Democratic then- President Barack Obama in 2015. Biden's first nominee for the open seat, former FCC official Gigi Sohn, withdrew in March after three hearings. She blamed industry opponents for scuttling her nomination. Democrats hold a narrow 51-49 majority in the Senate. Gomez may have an easier time getting confirmed than Sohn, who faced strong Republican opposition and saw her unsuccessful nomination await a vote for more than 16 months. Gomez quickly won support from major telecom companies on Monday. Comcast Corp said "Gomezs deep knowledge across the breadth of issues before the FCC makes her exceptionally qualified to be a commissioner." Gomez previously served as deputy administrator of the Commerce Department's National Telecommunications and Information Administration from 2009 to 2013 and worked for 12 years in various positions at the FCC. She also was a government affairs executive at then-Sprint Nextel and a partner at Wiley Rein LLP, a Washington law firm, heading its media and technology group. One big issue at the FCC remains China. The FCC has raised mounting concerns about Chinese telecom companies which had won permission to operate in the United States decades ago. In 2019, the FCC voted to deny state-owned Chinese telecom firm China Mobile Ltd the right to provide U.S. services and later withdrew U.S. authorizations for several other Chinese telecom carriers, including China Telecom Corp. (Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Jonathan Oatis) It hardly required a degree in international relations to comprehend the weighty symbolism at play here on the final day of an unusually consequential Group of Seven summit. In the same city obliterated by the worlds first atomic bomb, leaders of the worlds top industrial democracies added a seat at their table for besieged Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, whose warnings of Russian escalation assumed new significance against the nuclear backdrop of Hiroshima. It wasnt very long ago that the eighth seat (or actually the tenth, if you count the two representatives from the European Union) was occupied by Russian President Vladimir Putin, who was ejected from the bloc in 2014 following his annexation of the Ukrainian territory of Crimea. Standing in a line of suit jackets at a photo-op Sunday, Zelenskys military uniform stood out, a reminder of the war that continues to ravage his country. Walking away, President Joe Biden wrapped his arm around Zelenskys shoulders. The transformation of the G7 in the decade since Russia was ejected and particularly the past two years has turned the group into what Bidens top aides call the steering committee of the free world. With refreshed purpose and an eye on China, no other body has been as effective in coalescing around shared action. Yet implicit in Zelenskys decision to show up here in person is the lingering fear which Moscow is banking on that fatigue and political pressure will cause Western support for Ukraine to wane. None of the G7 leaders are particularly popular at home, even as they produce results abroad. Trump on their minds Bidens fellow leaders have undoubtedly taken notice, with no small measure of alarm, at statements made earlier this month by former President Donald Trump during a CNN town hall casting doubt on his support for Ukraine and pledging to resolve the crisis in a day. Trumps potential return to the White House, or the election of another like-minded Republican, has worried Ukrainian and Western leaders alike, according to diplomats and other officials. After all, it was Trump who had argued over dinner at the 2019 G7 summit in Biarritz, France, that Russia should be allowed back into the group. As the leaders dined on plates of Basque vegetables and red tuna overlooking the Atlantic coast, Trump interjected and asked why Russia should not be included in the talks, given its size and role in global affairs. He was met with sharp resistance from some of the leaders, principally German Chancellor Angela Merkel and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, neither of whom remains in power. The exchange on Russia was notable for the fiercely argued views on both sides, shocked officials said at the time. There is little enthusiasm for that type of summit to return, at least among the leaders and their aides who currently comprise the G7. Whether Trump would even continue attending G7 summits if he returns to the White House is an open question; as president, he repeatedly questioned his team why it was necessary to attend. That level of chaos was nowhere to be found in Hiroshima this past week, when leaders appeared to generally like each other. Even Biden and French President Emmanuel Macron, whose relationship can be complicated, found themselves arm in arm as they walked away from one of a string of family photos. America is back The contrast between the 45th and 46th presidents has never been subtle and is one Biden has sought to elevate and use to his advantage to bolster the cornerstone alliances of US foreign policy. Through that lens, the gathering in Hiroshima provided a window into the degree to which the aspirational America is back proclamations at Bidens first G7 in 2021 have turned into tangible, and often US-driven, outcomes. While the unyielding unity of the coalitions support for Ukraine was at the forefront, the evolution of the G7s willingness to sharpen both tone and actions toward China is substantial even if US officials acknowledge there are areas theyd like to advance at a faster and more robust pace. The steadily warming relations between South Korea and Japan were put front and center throughout an area of intense focus for national security adviser Jake Sullivan. Though his official visit to Australia was scrapped, Bidens meeting in Hiroshima with that countrys prime minister, Anthony Albanese, marked the latest conversation between leaders who have steadily cemented a close relationship viewed as a cornerstone piece of US regional strategy. But no leader embodies what Bidens top advisers view as the advances theyve made in the region more than the host. Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has driven a dramatic shift in his countrys defense posture and capability with explicit US support each step of the way. As one US official put it after Biden effusively praised the strength of the US-Japan relationship: Not hyperbole. Fires at home And yet the same reality that has trailed, or at times threatened to consume, Bidens first two years in office wasnt far from the participants minds, several aides to G7 leaders said candidly. Even before Biden left for the G7 summit, the stalemate over raising the federal borrowing limit prompted a scramble to rearrange the presidents engagements so he could return to Washington early. Throughout the trip, Biden made apologies for the situation. His counterparts mostly seemed to understand. I would have done exactly the same thing, said Albanese, who was supposed to host Biden in Sydney. All politics is local, as you and I both understand. In his meetings with leaders this week, Biden was quizzed on the debt ceiling standoff, which Sullivan, his national security adviser, described as a matter of interest among the collective group. He described the tone as more curious than concerned: This is not generating alarm or a kind of vibration in the room, he told reporters. But in part, one European official acknowledged, that only served to exacerbate the risk of miscalculation. I mean no offense, but weve gotten pretty used to this sort of thing, the official said in reference to the debt ceiling and government shutdown crises that have defined Washington for more than a decade. Each has resulted in a last-minute resolution, so much so that it has become the baseline expectation. But the official acknowledged there were quiet whispers about whether perhaps this time it was different. Well, the official asked with a tinge of trepidation. Is it? Privately, US officials struck a more candid tone one that grew more anxious as each day of the summit passed. Debt ceiling brinkmanship that Republicans are driving in Washington, DC, undermines American leadership, undermines the trustworthiness that America can bring, a senior administration official said. Biden provided the most jarring window into the acute and different risk at hand in his news conference Sunday shortly before heading back to Washington. I cant guarantee that they wouldnt force a default by doing something outrageous, Biden said of House Republicans and what that meant for the message he could deliver to his counterparts. I cant guarantee that. That can hardly have been reassuring for leaders gathered in Hiroshima, a city scarred with reminders of Americas capacity for destruction. The self-created dysfunction in Washington made for a discordant splitscreen as world leaders met with a survivor of the 1945 bombing and toured the citys museum, where tattered clothing and scorched childrens toys served as reminders of that days horrors. Together, they placed wreaths at the curved cenotaph, its inscription pleading to the world to not repeat this evil. It wasnt a mistake that Kishida, who heard stories about the bombing from his grandmother, chose Hiroshima for his summit. Nuclear threats are on the rise, and Biden himself has warned that the risk of nuclear Armageddon is at its highest since the Cuban Missile Crisis. It will be the task of the newly marshaled G7 to find a way to prevent it. Yet as Air Force One departed here Sunday, it was a different crisis Biden was trying to prevent, and it was not Pyongyang or Tehran posing the most acute and pressing threat to global stability. It was Washington, which now has less than two weeks to prevent economic catastrophe. For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com US-POLITICS-BIDEN-BORDER President Joe Biden speaks with a member of the US Border Patrol near the US-Mexico border fence in El Paso, Texas, on January 8, 2023. Credit - Jim WatsonAFP via Getty Images Minutes before sitting down with House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy and other Congressional leaders on May 16, President Biden was asked if he had anything to say about the Southwest Border. It had been nearly a week since pandemic-era Title 42 immigration policy instituted by Bidens predecessor, Donald Trump, had ended, and the overwhelming spike in border crossings officials many had predicted hadnt materialized. The border is looking much better, Biden said. Its looking much better. Bidens looking to get credit for the new rules he put in place to replace Title 42, ones that set standards for who is allowed to apply for asylum in the U.S. that Bidens critics on the left say are as restrictive as those imposed by his predecessor, Donald Trump. The new rules largely deny entry to those who previously tried to cross between ports of entry, didnt apply for protection in any country they transited through on the way to the U.S., or approach immigration officers without an appointment made through a new U.S. government app. Four years ago, Biden made clear his presidency would unwind Trumps entire approach to immigration. The record he is building is turning out to be less clear-cut, potentially scrambling the debate about the border during next years election. Biden wants to send the message that hes willing to go where Trump went, really make his case that hes as tough as anyone on people crossing the border illegally, says David Bier, associate director of immigration studies at the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank in Washington, D.C. Its certainly the case that he thinks its a political necessity. The new asylum rules have been blasted by immigrant rights advocates on Bidens left, both in public comments and in private meetings with White House staff. Groups representing immigrants quickly sued the government to block the rules, saying they are a return to Trump-era asylum restrictions and violate U.S. asylum law designed to offer protection from people fleeing political persecution and state-sponsored violence. But Bidens tough new policy, at least in the short term, seems to be working. During the week after the changes went into effect, the number of people Border Patrol encountered crossing between ports of entry fell to an average of 4,000 per day, down by more than half from the days leading up to May 11 rule change, according to figures released by the Department of Homeland Security. Read more: Migrants Struggle to Make Asylum Appointments Through U.S. Government App Those figures havent stopped critics on the right from continuing to insist that Biden is failing the country on the border. In the House, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, cited the border in introducing articles of impeachment last week against Biden. And Trump claimed in fundraising emails that federal officials were not being honest about the situation since Title 42 ended. God only knows the REAL NUMBER of illegal aliens whove charged right past our wide open border since Biden opened the floodgates last Thursday, read one of Trumps email solicitations for donations sent out Thursday. Trump put immigration at the center of his successful 2016 presidential campaign. As President, he built and upgraded hundreds of miles of border fencing, instituted a ban on immigration from multiple Muslim-majority countries, slowed processing of legal immigration applications, and instituted a policy that separated parents from children at the border. Polls taken during his administration found most of Trumps immigration agenda wasnt supported by a majority of the American people. At a CNN Town Hall event on May 10, Trump falsely insisted the border wall had been completed during his presidency, and doubled down on his family separation policy. When you have that policy, people dont come, Trump said. If a family hears that theyre going to be separated, they love their family, they dont come. I know it sounds harsh. Some of Bidens earliest actions as President amounted to a repudiation of his predecessors approach to immigration. On his first day in office, Biden sent a sweeping immigration reform bill to Congress, stopped construction of Trumps border wall, reversed Trumps visa ban that applied to many African and Muslim-majority countries, and shored up the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program that Trump had tried to end. But the contrast gets fuzzier when it comes to Title 42, which Biden had vowed to repeal but ultimately stayed in place for more than half of his first term. White House officials rankle at comparisons of the new asylum rules to Trumps immigration policy. They argue the new rules are consistent with Bidens comments on the campaign trail. During a Democratic primary debate in July 2019, Biden said that allowing people to stay in the U.S. who crossed between ports of entry was unfair to people applying to enter from overseas. If in fact you say you can just cross the border, what do you say to all of those people around the world who in fact want the same thing, to come to the United States and make their case, that they have to wait in line? Biden said. If you cross the border illegally, you should be able to be sent back. Some immigrant rights groups believe Bidens new rules run counter to an American tradition of allowing others to seek safety and start a better life. The administration has said, This isnt like the Trump rule. Were not like Trump, and its very hard for us to understand how that is the case, says Karen Tumlin, founder and director of Justice Action Center, a Los Angeles-based nonprofit that works to protect immigrant rights. Theyve pointed to the fact that there are some exceptions, but they also talk a lot about the discretion that will be at the ports of entry. And theres also no access to counsel when folks are first arriving. Theyve talked a lot about increasing the speed of removals under expedited removal, which we know is extremely problematic, and its basically where due process goes to die. Administration officials stress that the new system in place takes a carrot-and-stick approach to immigration. While Biden has raised the bar for granting asylum, he has also worked to bring more people in through legal pathways in an effort to reduce the number of people hiring smugglers to cross the border. Bidens administration has expanded temporary parole programs for people fleeing Cuba, Venezuela, Nicaragua and Haiti, and plans to open new offices in Colombia and Guatemala, where migrants can see if they qualify for lawful means to enter the United States. This is a smart and pragmatic response by the American government to a new set of challenges on the border, says Simon Rosenberg, a long-time Democratic strategist. Voters may end up rewarding Biden for coming up with a workable solution to a complex problem on the border, Rosenberg says. Recent polling shows that an increasing number of Democrats and Independents are dissatisfied with current levels of immigration in the U.S. Gallup polling from February found that the percentage of Democrats wanting less immigration to the U.S. increased from 11% in 2022 to 19% this year. During that time, the number of independent voters wanting less immigration rose from 19% to 36%. In carving out a solution that both opens more legal pathways and tightens up asylum rules, Biden may argue to voters that hes found a way to manage the countrys immigration system as effectively as possible given that Congress refuses to reform the system holistically or approve the resources on the border hes requested. This is far more about the President being able to explain to the American people that hes put together a plan that makes the American border and immigration system work, Rosenberg says. Now I think theyve put together a smart plan that hes going to be able to explain to the American people that, look, I was given a tough job here, but weve done a pretty good job and made things better. Skincare company Biore and influencer Cecilee Max-Brown have issued an apology after facing backlash for references to a school shooting in a partnership post for pore strips. In a statement posted to social media, Biore apologised for the inappropriate TikTok video, which was posted by Cecilee Max-Brown in honour of Mental Health Awareness Month. We lacked sensitivity around an incredibly serious tragedy, and our tonality was completely inappropriate, the statement read. Meanwhile, Max-Brown an influencer and graduate of Michigan State University posted an apology to her TikTok. I am so sorry about this partnership video. This was strictly meant to spread awareness about the struggles that I have had with anxiety since our school shooting, she said. In the sponsorship post for Biore pore strips, which was taken down on Friday less than 24 hours after it was posted, Max-Brown said shes struggled from seeing the effects of gun violence firsthand after the Michigan State shooting in February. I did not mean to desensitize the traumatic event that took place as I know the effects it has had on me and the Spartan community, her apology continued. I take accountability for this and will ensure to be smarter in the future. More follows Eddie Cochran was known for his two big hits Summertime Blues and C'mon Everybody A blue plaque has been unveiled at Bristol Hippodrome to mark the spot where Eddie Cochran performed his last ever gig. The American Rock and Roll star was just 21 when he performed there. On the final night of his residency he was travelling back to Heathrow to catch a flight home to America when he was killed in a car crash. He died from the injuries he sustained in the crash just outside Chippenham on 17 April 1960. A memorial is already in place at the spot where he was fatally injured. A blue plaque was installed in honour of Eddie Cochran Broadcaster Mike Reid was in charge of the unveiling as the chair of the Blue Plaque Trust. Mr Reid said: "He was only 21. When you think about it, there might not have been a Beatles without Eddie Cochran, because Paul sang Twenty Flight Rock to John Lennon and he said 'you're in'." "If that hadn't happened, if he hadn't had an Eddie Cochran song in his pocket, there might not have been a Beatles. It's amazing. 60's star Georgie Fame also made an appearance at the unveiling. He said Cochran had been an exceptionally talented musician who could play several instruments and inspired many other artists of his time. Mr Fame had been performing at the Hippodrome the same night as Eddie Cochrane, but drove to London a different way. "We went through Bath on the A4, so we missed the accident. In those days, news didn't travel so fast, certainly on a Sunday," he said. "It was Easter Monday when we actually really heard it and it was a terrible shock because he was an extremely talented guy." Follow BBC West on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Send your story ideas to: bristol@bbc.co.uk Coroners officials have confirmed that the body found Friday at Folsom Lake is that of a 22-year-old man who was swept into the American River more than two weeks earlier near the confluence in Placer County. The victim has been identified as Victor Nguyen of Antelope, the Placer County Sheriffs Office said in a Monday social media post. Deputies on April 29 were dispatched to the confluence of the Middle Fork and North Fork of the American River, near Auburn, where a group of friends reported one person in their group had been swept away in the water, the Sheriffs Office said in earlier statements. Nguyens body was recovered after being spotted near Rattlesnake Bar at Folsom Lake, authorities said, which is roughly 10 miles south of the confluence. Sheriffs Office spokeswoman Angela Musallam said Saturday that the body may have been that of one of two swimmers who have gone missing since late April after being swept away in the American River, but his identity was not confirmed by coroners officials until Monday. The other missing swimmer, a Bay Area man who disappeared the afternoon of May 14 after jumping into the North Fork of the American River by Yankee Jims Bridge near Foresthill, has not been found as of Monday. Musallam said search efforts have been ongoing on a limited but continuous basis for both missing swimmers. Northern California rivers are running cold and extremely fast for this time of year, due to record snowpack levels from winters storms. Rivers in the Sierra Nevada foothills will likely not be warm enough for safe recreation until at least late July or early August, according to public safety agencies and weather forecasters. Public safety agencies in Placer County have launched a campaign called Be River Wise, warning that the rivers are especially dangerous this year, even as air temperatures have warmed into the 90s in Sacramento and surrounding areas in recent weeks. Please let these horrific incidents serve as an example of why we continue to warn the public to stay out of the river, the Sheriffs Office wrote Monday. This Boise City Council member isnt running again. What will happen to her seat? Boise City Council President and former legislator Holli Woodings will not seek reelection in the November election, setting up another open seat on the council as the body transitions to fully geographic district elections. What could have been a prominently contested race between former Council Member Elaine Clegg and Woodings now has no incumbent running. A lot has changed since 2018, and Im exploring opportunities for the next phase of my professional and family life, Woodings told the Idaho Statesman by text message. Woodings, a Democrat, is a former representative in the Legislature and ran unsuccessfully for secretary of state in 2014. She has twice been elected to the council, first in 2017. After the Idaho Legislature passed a state law in 2020 requiring Boise to shift from at-large to geographic districts, in 2021 the council elected half of its members by district and the rest at large. The new neighborhood boundaries set late last year would have required that Woodings run against Clegg, a longtime council president and council member for the District 5 seat, which covers the East End, parts of the North End, neighborhoods around Boise State University and Barber Valley. But Clegg resigned from the council earlier this year to take over the regions public transit agency. In a text message, Woodings said she campaigned in 2021 on updating the zoning code, planning to address the impacts of climate change and building more affordable homes. Im proud of delivering on these promises and especially look forward to our June hearings on the modern zoning code, she said. In June, the City Council is set to vote on an overhaul of the code that would allow denser homes in neighborhoods and incentivize developers to build designated affordable apartments. The citys Planning and Zoning Commission voted to recommend the zoning update which is more than 600 pages last month. Woodings said she learned about the importance of zoning in 2008 when the city was working on a new comprehensive plan, and that its a full-circle moment to see the plan, called Blueprint Boise, translated into an ordinance that sets us up for a sustainable, vibrant future. Whos running for Boise City Council? In District 6, which covers most of the North End and Northwest Boise, incumbent Jimmy Hallyburton is campaigning for reelection. Former Council Member Lisa Sanchez, who lost her seat when she moved out of her district, has also said she plans to run. Sanchez has sued the city over the loss of her position, arguing she did not actually lose her seat because she left it inadvertently. Council Member Patrick Bageant, who also lives in the new District 6, has not announced reelection plans. In West Boise, Council Member Luci Willits plans to run again. To fill the Clegg and Sanchez seats, Mayor Lauren McLean appointed two new members to the council in April: Colin Nash and Latonia Haney Keith. Nash, a Democratic state legislator from West Boise, said he plans to run for District 2 in November and to leave his seat in the Idaho House. Haney Keith said she will not seek election. A Boise man caused his sons fatal brain injury. Hell be in prison till at least 2048 A Boise man found guilty of first-degree murder earlier this year for causing his sons fatal brain injury has been sentenced to life in prison and wont be eligible for parole until serving at least 25 years, the Ada County Prosecutors Office said Monday. Thomas Rowley, now 25, called 911 needing medical help for his 4-month-old son Milo Rowley on June 20, 2020, according to a previous Ada County news release. Milo was taken to St. Lukes Regional Medical Center unresponsive and not breathing, and was found to have a brain injury, the Idaho Statesman previously reported. The child died in the hospital, and Boise police arrested Rowley. Rowley was found to have severely shaken Milo before dropping him face first in his crib, causing the victim to suffer a fatal brain injury from which he died, and he waited four hours before calling 911, according to the prosecutors office. On Monday, 4th District Judge James Cawthon sentenced Rowley to life with 25 years fixed, Prosecutor Jan Bennetts office said in a news release. I recognize no sentence handed down today can ease the unbearable loss to Milos family, Bennetts said. On behalf of my office, I extend our sincerest condolences to Milos mother and family. A monthlong trial in March ended with the jury finding Rowley guilty after just six hours of deliberation. Killer on the run after deadly shooting near a Boston middle school Some terrifying moments during the busy afternoon commute in Dorchester after a shooting just before 5 p.m. on Columbia Road left one man dead. On arrival, they located an adult male in a vehicle suffering from a gunshot wound in the area of 243 Columbia Road, said Superintendent Felipe Colon of the Boston Police Department. Sources tell Boston 25 the victim was an adult male in his 20s and was shot in his car. Monday night the Boston Police Commissioner made a plea to the public for help. Columbia Road is a very busy Street and its very close to the Frederick Middle School and so we need the publics help certainly, said Commission Michael Cox. The Frederick Middle School is just across the street. Students in after-school programs were forced into safe mode. Boston 25 obtained a letter sent home to parents which says in part: This afternoon, our school was placed into Safe Mode for approximately 20 minutes due to police activity near our school campus. This action was taken out of an abundance of caution THEY WENT ON TO SAY: The Frederick Middle Schools Safe Mode was lifted after it was determined that normal after-school activities could resume, and all students were moved to another location where they could be received by their families. The shooter fled the scene and is on the run. Police again urging any witnesses to help find who killed this man. We do need the publics help. This is a daylight shooting. It happened in the middle of the day. A lot of people are out here in general so were asking for the public to help us with this, said Commissioner Cox. Police also reminded the public that the Boston Neighborhood Trauma Team is available if anyone needs help or support after the deadly shooting. No suspects have been identified at this time. No additional information was immediately available. This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available. Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts. Follow Boston 25 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch Boston 25 News NOW Lula da Silva (in a gray suit) in Hiroshima, May 21, 2023 Read also: Brazils Lula declines invitation to visit Ukraine, sends aide instead According to the article, the Brazilian delegation was "nervous" after hearing that Zelenskyy was about to arrive at the summit. The Ukrainian president then requested a meeting with every participant. While Indian PM Narendra Modi, who also maintains a neutral position on Russia's war against Ukraine, agreed to meet with Zelenskyy, da Silva refused, citing a busy schedule. During one of the meetings involving Zelensky, da Silva "not only did not approach him but also felt somewhat awkward being in the same room with him." The Brazilian president sat at the table, did not look up, and "was busy with papers," as nearly every other world leader in the room approached Zelesnkyy to exchange a few words. G7 leaders reportedly tried to convince da Silva to talk to the Ukrainian president, to no avail. "This makes the West doubt the possible neutrality of Lula da Silva regarding Russia's invasion," the report reads. Read also: Zelenskyy wont provide any details on F-16 fighter jets for Ukraine Zelenskyy explained that he did not have a meeting with the Brazilian president due to scheduling conflicts, jokingly saying that "I think it disappoints him." The G7 summit was held in Hiroshima on May 19-21. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with the leaders of all seven countries, heads of the European Commission and the European Council, and for the first time, with Indian PM Narendra Modi. Read also: US presents new aid package to Ukraine after Zelenskyys meeting with Biden at G7 summit In an apparent breakthrough, U.S. President Joe Biden announced Washington will support a joint international effort to supply Ukraine with F-16 fighter jets. Da Silva had previously "suggested" that Ukraine should cede Crimea to Russia, in what he called a peace proposal. 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 Brigade of National Guard of Ukraine shows how it prepares for assault The National Guard of Ukraine is conducting field gatherings of volunteers, mobilised within the framework of the Offensive Guard campaign, from the Spartan brigade. Source: press service of the National Guard of Ukraine Details: The fire and tactical exercises of the troops from the 3rd Operational Brigade Spartan of the National Guard of Ukraine are being conducted in Kharkiv Oblast. The volunteers, mobilised within the framework of the Offensive Guard campaign, as well as experienced soldiers, who liberated Kharkiv Oblast and fought on the Svatove front and near the city of Bakhmut, are participating in the training. A fighter who goes by the alias of Ares, an instructor of the National Guard, states that this is a field gathering. The volunteers are being taught tactics, topography, and tactical medicine. They also undergo engineering, fire and tactical exercises. The gathering of the snipers of the brigade is being conducted simultaneously. They work both in battle formations and individually. There are novices among them who work with instructors. The National Guard of Ukraine calls upon the volunteers willing to participate to join the Spartan brigade. Updated: Ruslan Muzychuk, speaker of the National Guard of Ukraine, explained to the Ukrainska Pravda that the fighters who passed all the stages of selection and were enrolled in the assault brigades of the Offensive Guard underwent individual training. Now, in the last few weeks, collective preparation is underway: the soldiers in the units (companies and battalions) are practicing at the training grounds. Quote: "The main focus now is the issue of interaction between units, practical training of artillerymen. There is also an additional practice of driving armoured vehicles, training tank drivers, gunners. As for the training of the fighters of the Spartan brigade, now there are also elements that are inherent in the training programs of the National Guard of Ukraine special purpose units. And the experience of servicemen who fought for Kharkiv and Bakhmut is a solid basis for recruits. In modern combat, reconnaissance is important, including the use of UAVs. This component is also relevant in the work of many units, in particular, artillery. Tactical exercises, which complete collective training, are conducted under the guidance of the commanders of the units and, necessarily, with live fire." Journalists fight on their own frontline. Support Ukrainska Pravda or become our patron! Nearly three months after first taking applications for a new superintendent, the Broward School Board picked seven semifinalists on Monday to move forward in the search. Heres what to know: The semifinal candidates Peter Licata, regional superintendent at Palm Beach County Schools. Wanda Paul, chief operating officer for the Houston Independent School District and a former facilities and operations chief for Palm Beach County Schools. Jason Nault, associate superintendent of teaching and learning, equity and accountability at Waukegan Public Schools in suburban Chicago and a former Broward principal. Rituparna (Rita) Raichoudhuri, former superintendent of Kalamazoo Public Schools in Michigan. Sito Narcisse, superintendent of East Baton Rouge School District in Louisiana. Valerie Wanza, the acting chief of staff at Broward County Public Schools who has been with the district since 1992 and served as superintendent for a few days earlier this year after former superintendent Vickie Cartwright left. Luis Solano, deputy superintendent for the Detroit Public Schools Community District. The superintendent search From early March to late April, 26 people applied for the job. But only 15 met the job qualifications. One dropped out, so the board could only consider 14 candidates. Because of the limited options, the board reopened the application window for a week May 9-16. During that second time around, five more people applied, but only two qualified. In total, 31 people applied, and 16 qualified and stayed in the running for the top job of the sixth largest school district in the U.S. Picking favorite candidates At a special board meeting Monday, each of the nine School Board members picked their top five candidates out of those 16. Then David Azzarito, the districts executive director of human resources and equity at the Broward school district, tallied the votes each semifinalist got. Solano got 9 votes, Licata 7 votes, Wanza 6, Nault 5, and Narcisse, Paul and Rituparna all got 4. To see a breakdown of which candidates each board member chose, click here. Jesus Jara, the superintendent at Clark County School District the fifth-largest school district in the country considered applying but then decided not to. Whats next in the Broward Schools superintendent search? Board member Nora Rupert looks through notes on the candidates during a Broward Country School Board meeting discussing candidates to move forward as semi-finalists in the superintendent search on Monday, May 22, 2023, in Fort Lauderdale. Alie Skowronski/askowronski@miamiherald.com The seven semifinalists from Texas, Illinois, Michigan, Louisiana and Florida will now submit videos of themselves answering three questions in nine minutes by Thursday. The board will get the recordings Friday, then meet again May 30 to discuss the detailed process and vote on finalists. According to the School Boards set schedule, finalists will participate in community focus groups and meet with the nine board members one-on-one on June 14. The board will name the next superintendent June 15. According to John Sullivan, a school district spokesman, the candidates will answer these three questions: Please describe your administrative experiences and background that have prepared you for the position of Superintendent of Schools in Broward County, the sixth largest school district in the country. Just recently, as a result of unprecedented rainfall in Broward County, many of the schools experienced significant water damage due to flooding. Schools and District offices were closed for two days. Please describe how you would have addressed this issue through your leadership skills. Should you be appointed as the next Superintendent of Schools in Broward County, please describe your 90 day transition-in plan. What board members want in the next superintendent Chair Lori Alhadeff gives a briefing after a Broward Country School Board meeting on seminfinalist candidates for superintendent on Monday, May 22, 2023, in Fort Lauderdale. Alie Skowronski/askowronski@miamiherald.com The School Board on Monday didnt discuss which candidates they wanted. Afterward, Allen Zeman, from the countywide seat 9, described the semifinalists as very, very solid and said the board didnt talk much because they had already decided. We each did our homework, and we came in with the list of people we thought were most qualified, he said. Asked what hell consider the most when hiring a superintendent, Zeman said he wants someone who can handle carefully new laws coming from Tallahassee. I think the most appropriate question for the candidates is, How do you get right up to the line of what the law or the statute says that were allowed to do, he said. We cannot violate the law. We cannot violate the statute. But we can go up to the line. Board member Dr. Allen Zeman talks during a press conference after a Broward Country School Board meeting discussing candidates to move forward as semi-finalists in the superintendent search on Monday, May 22, 2023, in Fort Lauderdale. Alie Skowronski/askowronski@miamiherald.com He followed up with an example, referring to the so-called Dont Say Gay law: How do you make sure that LGBTQ students feel whole? Theyre people not gay people, not bisexual people people. And how do we make sure that they feel like people and theyre not traumatized by this Legislature? Zeman also wants an outside candidate who will change Broward County public schools, which have been rated B for the past 11 years. Lori Alhadeff, the chair of the board, agreed because she wants someone with new ideas. Neither voted for Wanza, the only internal semifinalist. Additionally, Alhadeff said the new superintendent should be someone experienced in a large school district. For me, its really about the candidates being able to tell me how theyre going to handle certain situations ... like COVID or a threat at a school, she said. I want to hear about their leadership and how theyre actually going to take action and handle those issues. Bryan Kohberger allegedly broke into female students home and spied on her months before Idaho murders Bryan Kohberger is believed to have broken into the home of a female student and then installed security cameras to spy on her in the months before he allegedly killed four other students in a horror attack in Moscow, Idaho. The 28-year-old criminology PhD student had befriended the woman after he moved to Pullman, Washington state, to begin a graduate program in criminal justice at Washington State University (WSU), according to a source. One day, the woman returned to her apartment and found that someone had broken in and moved items around the home but that nothing was missing. Since nothing was taken, the woman decided not to call the police but instead called her new friend Mr Kohberger and asked him to come over. Mr Kohberger allegedly offered to install a video security system inside her home and the woman agreed. Following its installation, investigators believe Mr Kohberger used the security cameras to spy on the woman as knowing her wifi password he was able to tap into the cameras when within close proximity to the apartment. The bombshell allegation was revealed for the first time in an NBC Dateline episode titled The Killings on King Road, which reported that Mr Kohberger is now a strong suspect in the initial break-in. Months later, on 13 November, Mr Kohberger is accused of breaking into an off-campus home in Moscow, Idaho, and stabbing to death Madison Mogen, Kaylee Goncalves, both 21, and Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin, both 20. Former FBI profiler Greg Cooper told Dateline that the incident was a step in progression for Mr Kohberger to move from breaking into a home when no one was in to allegedly breaking in when multiple people were home at the King Road address that deadly night in November. I would expect that he orchestrated the whole thing, he was not looking at her as a potential victim necessarily, said Mr Cooper. But he orchestrated it so that she would come to him and that he would be able to help her. It is another level of power and domination and control over another person. Bryan Kohberger appearing in court in Idaho in January (AP) The hero image that he can portray. Youve got this problem, Im here to solve the problem for you and to make it better for you. In the Dateline episode, sources also revealed that Mr Kohbergers sister was growing suspicious that her brother could have been responsible for the murders when the family gathered to spend the holidays together. In mid-December, Mr Kohberger left his student rental home in Pullman, Washington, to travel cross country with his father back to the family home in Albrightsville, Pennsylvania, for the holidays. During his time at home, his family members noticed that he was behaving somewhat bizarrely. The source said that Mr Kohberger was constantly wearing latex gloves, including inside their own home. One of his two older sisters began to wonder if he could have played a part in the murders and, at one point, she raised her concerns with her other family members. She loudly pointed out that, at the time of the murders, her brother was living just a few miles from the crime scene and that he drove a white Hyundai Elantra the make and colour of vehicle at the centre of the investigation. Along with his bizarre tendency to wear latex gloves at all time, she believed that the family should consider that Mr Kohberger might have killed the four victims, the source said. Mr Kohbergers father allegedly defended his son and insisted he could not have been involved. But her suspicions were so great that at one point several family members searched Mr Kohbergers white Hyundai Elantra for possible evidence of the crime, the source said. Prior to the arrest of a suspect, a group of experts, including retired FBI profiler Greg Cooper and clinical psychologist Gary Brucato, Ph.D., created a profile of the person who killed the four University of Idaho students. #Dateline pic.twitter.com/yr99aUM8wj Dateline NBC (@DatelineNBC) May 20, 2023 By that point, police said Mr Kohberger had already been spotted cleaning his car out with bleach and so the family members didnt find anything of note, the source said. It is not clear if Mr Kohberger was aware of his family members suspicions that he could have been behind the murders or what potential prior behaviour may have led his own sister to suspect him capable of carrying out such a brutal crime. Soon after, in the early hours of 30 December, law enforcement swooped on the family home and arrested him for the murders. At the time of his arrest, the source said Mr Kohberger was wide awake standing in the kitchen wearing latex gloves and putting his personal trash in plastic bags to take it out to a neighbours trash can. An attorney close to Mr Kohbergers family declined to comment on the revelations to Dateline. On Monday (22 May), he will appear in court for his arraignment on four counts of first-degree murder and burglary. The 28-year-old is now scheduled to be arraigned in Latah County Court in Moscow, where he is expected to enter a plea on the charges. Mr Kohberger had been due to appear in court for a week-long preliminary hearing on 26 June, where the prosecution would lay out the case and evidence against the suspect. However, on 16 May, a grand jury indicted Mr Kohberger on the charges, paving the way for the case to proceed without and leading to the cancellation of the preliminary hearing. Mr Kohberger is accused of breaking into the student home in the early hours of 13 November and stabbing the four students to death in a horror attack that rocked the college town of Moscow and sent shockwaves across America. Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin (Jazzmin Kernodle) The motive remains unknown and it is still unclear what connection the WSU PhD student had to the University of Idaho students if any prior to the murders. However, the affidavit, released in January, revealed that Mr Kohbergers DNA was found on a knife sheath left behind at the scene of the murders. It also revealed that his white Hyundai Elantra was caught on surveillance footage at the crime scene and that one of the surviving roommates came face to face with the killer masked, dressed in head to toe black and with bushy eyebrows as he left the home in the aftermath of the murders. New details have also emerged about what was found during an initial search of his apartment and a rental storage unit. The court documents show that two items found in his apartment tested positive for blood. The two items were a mattress cover on the bed and an uncased pillow, both of which had visible reddish brown stains. The documents do not reveal who the blood belongs to. Investigators seized a string of other items from his home including possible human and animal hair strands, a disposable glove and a computer. The murder weapon a fixed-blade knife has still never been found. Madison Mogen and Kaylee Goncalves pictured together before their murders (Instagram) As a criminal justice PhD student at WSU, Mr Kohberger lived just 15 minutes from the victims over the Idaho-Washington border in Pullman. He had moved there from Pennsylvania and began his studies there that summer, having just completed his first semester before his arrest. Before this, he studied criminology at DeSales University first as an undergraduate and then finishing his graduate studies in June 2022. While there, he studied under renowned forensic psychologist Katherine Ramsland who interviewed the BTK serial killer and co-wrote the book Confession of a Serial Killer: The Untold Story of Dennis Rader, the BTK Killer with him. He also carried out a research project to understand how emotions and psychological traits influence decision-making when committing a crime. Now, he is facing life in prison or the death penalty for the murders that have rocked the small college town of Moscow and hit headlines around the globe. Photo: Zach Wilkinson (AP) Last Wednesday, Bryan Kohbergerthe man charged in the gruesome homicides of four University of Idaho students in Novemberwas indicted by a jury on all five charges of murder and burglary against him. At a Monday morning hearing in which Kohberger was expected to enter a plea, NewsNation reports that Kohberger instead stood silent and refused to enter his own plea. The judge had to enter a not guilty plea on his behalf, as Kohberger reportedly stared forward and listened to the names of the people he stands accused of violently killing. Prosecutors will have 60 days to seek the death penalty against Kohberger. The case is set to go to trial on Oct. 2 and is expected to last six weeks. Read more Kohberger is charged with the stabbing deaths of four University of Idaho students: Kaylee Goncalves, 21; Madison Mogen, 21; Xana Kernodle, 20; and Ethan Chapin, 20. He allegedly broke into the students off-campus home early in the morning on November 13, and cell phone data suggests he visited the area surrounding the house several times before and after that day. Kohberger also appears to have repeatedly messaged one of the victims on Instagram before the killings. Statement from Kaylee Goncalves family; pic.twitter.com/o93L5ZlbLz Brian Entin (@BrianEntin) May 22, 2023 In the wake of the quadruple homicide, Kohberger evaded police suspicion until a weeks-long search ultimately led to his arrest at his parents home in December. Before that, Kohberger had been able to resume his work as a teaching assistant at Washington State University, where students he worked with said Kohberger began acting differently after the murders: He stopped leaving notes. He seemed preoccupied, one student told the New York Post in January. Family members of the Idaho victims were present in the courtroom for Mondays hearing, and some of them were seen wiping away tears. In a statement shared on Monday, Goncalves family expressed gratitude to the Latah County district attorneys prosecuting Kohberger and referenced their ongoing legal fight to lift a court-ordered gag order on the case, which prohibits attorneys, prosecutors, law enforcement, and others involved in the case from talking to the news media. We are disappointed the judicial process has not been more efficient in addressing the Gag order, the statement reads. Attorneys for Kohberger have claimed the gag order is necessary to ensure he can receive a fair trial. More from Jezebel Sign up for Jezebel's Newsletter. For the latest news, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Click here to read the full article. Major General Kyrylo Budanov, the head of Defence Intelligence of the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine, has addressed Russian servicemen, urging them to surrender because "its going to get even worse." Source: Budanovs address, distributed by Defence Intelligence Quote: "For more than a year now, the Kremlin regime has not been able to achieve any of the goals it set at the beginning of the invasion of Ukraine. I am appealing to Russian servicemen, to those who were lucky enough to survive the meat grinder and the beaten-up trenches its going to get even worse. You have a choice: to die or to save your life." Details: Budanov told the Russian soldiers what they need to do to survive in particular, about the I Want To Live project, which helps servicemen of the Russian Federation leave active military service by surrendering to Ukraine. He says Ukrainian special forces have already brought hundreds of Russian soldiers across the front line: "Now they are safe, living in decent conditions, under the supervision of the International Committee of the Red Cross, with three meals a day and the opportunity to call home and receive parcels." Budanov added that all who surrender through the I Want To Live project are registered as captured in battle, so they can still receive their combat payments and salary in Russia. Quote: "They also have a choice to sit out the war and return home after it ends, or not to return to the Russian Federation at all. You can end the war right now. No need to wait until you are killed or seriously injured. Contact I Want To Live and well help get you out of the impending meat grinder." Journalists fight on their own frontline. Support Ukrainska Pravda or become our patron! Former EU commissioner Mariya Gabriel announced the deal to end a two-year stalemate After five elections in two years, Bulgarian parties on Monday agreed to form a power sharing government with rotating prime ministers to implement badly needed reforms in the graft-ridden EU nation. Former EU commissioner for innovation Mariya Gabriel, tasked by the conservative GERB party to lead negotiations, announced the agreement with the anti-graft We Continue the Change (PP). "We all made a lot of concessions," Gabriel told a news conference in the capital Sofia. The 44-year-old ex-commissioner, who resigned from her post in Brussels last week, will initially be deputy prime minister, under the leadership of 60-year-old researcher Nikolay Denkov of the PP-DB coalition. Denkov and Gabriel will rotate as prime ministers for a period of nine months each. "We sought a solution to avoid the real danger of new elections," Denkov said Monday. - Cautious analysts - Analysts cautiously welcomed Monday's announcement, with polling institute Trend's Evelina Slavkova calling it a "step in the right direction... towards a government of salvation, almost." The European Union's poorest country has been plagued by political instability and led by caretaker governments in the past two years. A fifth vote in early April did not provide clear majorities either. GERB won 69 MP seats in the 240-seat legislature and has remained badly isolated, with their main rivals PP-DB getting 64 MP seats. Four smaller parties also secured seats. Bulgaria has never had a rotating premiership but the compromise remained the only option for a cabinet after Gabriel failed to secure backing from two out of three smaller parties for a cabinet of GERB led by herself as prime minister. Denkov, who will take over the premiership for the initial nine months will present the full cabinet list to President Rumen Radev in the coming weeks before seeking parliament approval. The government's priorities include the urgent passing of a 2023 budget, making progress on accession to eurozone and the visa-free Schengen area. - Addressing corruption - Gabriel has backed the efforts by PP-DB to oust chief prosecutor Ivan Geshev and pass constitutional reforms to improve accountability and establish a control mechanism that the EU recommended. Rampant corruption made thousands of Bulgarians take to the streets in the summer of 2020, finally forcing out GERB after a decade in power under three-time premier Boyko Borisov. The controversial yet all-powerful Geshev, in office since 2019, was also targeted by protesters who accused him of shielding Borisov from justice. Geshev refused to resign last week, theatrically tearing to pieces his written resignation in front of journalists and threatening his political opponents, including his former close ally Borisov, with revelations. Geshev on Monday insisted that he was facing "a coordinated political attack", as prosecutors said they are looking into leads incriminating Borisov and Gabriel. "The prosecutor's response has paradoxically contributed to the achievement of a political compromise", which has become urgent in view of "the extremely difficult situation in the country", Gallup International analyst Parvan Simeonov told AFP. Weakened by the turmoil, Bulgaria was forced to abandon its bid to join the eurozone in 2024 and was unable to accede to the Schengen free movement zone. The Eastern European country has also been prevented from tapping into the EU resilience and recovery fund. rb-vs-anb/ds/kym/ach General Motors today announced it will unveil an all-electric version of the Escalade later this year. It's called the Escalade IQ, which follows the same name scheme used by the rest of the Cadillac fleet of Lyriq, Celestiq, Mystiq, Vistiq and Lumistiq. Why the IQ at the end? Cadillac says "The IQ naming strategy celebrates Cadillac introducing a different type of EV to the market one that works in tandem with peoples daily lives and environments." Okay, sure. No other details about the upcoming vehicle were released, including vehicle features, electric range or pricing. Those details will likely be released later this year. Let's speculate! The Escalade IQ will likely be built off the next generation Ultium platform, the same modular EV platform used in every modern GM EV from the sporty Blazer EV to the monstrous Hummer EV. Last week, General Motors' newly named president of North America, Rory Harvey, told the media the upcoming Silverado EV will feature a 450-mile range. There's a good chance the Escalade IQ will feature a similar range. Don't expect a bargain. General Motors and Cadillac have shown recently it's able to price its vehicles at the top of their range. Cadillac's upcoming flagship EV sedan, the Celestiq, will start around $300,000, though will likely be less available and more exclusive than the Escalade IQ. The GMC Hummer EV often sells north of $150,000 (if you can find one). The same goes for the mid-engine Corvette C8, which technically starts at $65,000, but a lot are sold well above the window price, with some climbing north of $150,000. Think the Escalade IQ will be too expensive for your budget? There will likely be a lower-cost alternative, too: The Chevy Suburban. The current Cadillac Escalade and Chevrolet Suburban are nearly twins with similar capabilities and near-identical dimensions. That's by design. The Cadillac Escalade nameplate has been atop the Cadillac lineup since the late '90s. At the time, when gas was cheap and the market craved huge SUVs, General Motors saw an opportunity to print money. The automaker took its full-size SUVs, the Chevrolet Tahoe and Suburban, and upgraded the interior with better seats and softer leather and slapped the Cadillac crest on the tailgate. The result was a success, and it's been a top-seller since its debut. Now, with its Ultium platform, General Motors is likely to produce a luxury, full-size SUV (the Escalade IQ) and a pedestrian version in the Chevy Suburban. California Attorney General Rob Bonta says hes considering a run for governor in 2026 Does he want to be called California Gov. Rob Bonta? Californias attorney general last week told the San Francisco Chronicles Emily Hoeven that he is seriously considering a run for the seat that Gov. Gavin Newsom will vacate in 2026. The Bee was unable to independently confirm that statement. While Bonta has yet to form a candidate campaign committee for the office, he would be a formidable challenger should he choose to run. In 2022, Bonta, who was appointed by Newsom, won an election to a full term as attorney general with 57% of the vote. If elected, he would be the first Filipino American to serve as California governor. He wouldnt be the first California attorney general to use the position as a springboard to higher office. Kamala Harris rose from attorney general to U.S. senator and later vice president. Xavier Becerra, Bontas immediate predecessor, left the office to serve as President Joe Bidens Secretary of Health and Human Services. Should Bonta, a Democrat, choose to run for governor, he would join two others who have already announced their intentions. In April, Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis and former State Controller Betty Yee, also Democrats, both announced they want to become the first woman to serve as California governor. Prior to being California attorney general, Bonta served in the Assembly from 2012 to 2021. Like Newsom, Bonta is an outspoken critic of other states Republican administrations; he has used his position on several occasions to challenge state laws that would loosen restrictions on firearm purchases or create new restrictions on abortion access or LGBTQ equality. Bontas wife, Mia Bonta, replaced him in the Assembly. Dad who helped ducks cross road killed moments later in front of his kids A father-of-two was killed by a driver as he was trying to help a family of ducks cross the road in California. At approximately 8.15pm on 18 May, 41-year-old Casey Rivara parked his car at the intersection of Park Drive and Standford Ranch Boulevard in Rocklin, California, to help usher a group of ducklings off the road to safety, the Rocklin Police Department said in a press release. As Rivara was assisting the family of ducks, a driver heading eastbound on Stanford Ranch Boulevard struck him. Emergency first responders were sent to assist but Rivara died at the scene. According to the police, the driver, a 17-year-old girl, according to local news outlet KCRA, stayed at the scene and no arrests were made. The incident is under investigation but the driver is not expected to face charges. Casey Rivara is seen helping ducks cross the road before he was killed (William Wimsatt) One witness, a 12-year-old boy, told KCRA that several cars stopped to let Rivara help the ducks and began clapping for him. He got out of the car and he was shooing the ducks and everyone was clapping because he was being really nice, the young boy said. He helped them get up on the curb because all the little baby duckies were having trouble. A GoFundMe campaign was set up for Casey Rivaras family (GoFundMe) According to the 12-year-old boy, he and his mother rolled down the window to thank the man for his good deed but seconds later he was hit by the car. All I remember is the sound and then him flying across the intersection, the 12-year-old said. Another witness, a woman named Summer Peterson, told CBS News that her children also watched the incident unfold. They were saying, Oh its so cute. Its so nice of him. And then all of the sudden he was hit by a car, Ms Peterson said. In a video taken by KCRA, members of the community seemed to have started a small memorial for Rivara by leaving flowers and rubber ducks near the intersection. According to a GoFundMe organised by a family member, Rivara was a husband and father to two young children. (KCRA) Casey was the kindest, most amazing husband and father, the description of the GoFundMe says. Even his last act in this world was a sign of his compassion. The family is trying to figure out how to recover and keep going after this immense loss. If you would like to express your love and support for Angel and her family, we ask that you please contribute here in lieu of flowers, meals, and other acts of kindness. The Independent has reached out to the Rocklin Police Department for comment. Rocklin Police are asking anyone with information about this incident to contact them. Canadian wildfires to blame for hazy skies in Charlotte area Wildfires are raging in parts of Canada, which are impacting skies in the Carolinas. Hard-hit Alberta is currently dealing with over 90 active wildfires, which may grow in the coming days. READ MORE: Rain, even smoke help fight wildfires in Alberta; new blaze brings evacuation in British Columbia The fires have had far-reaching impacts, including 2,000 miles away in the Charlotte area. Upper-level winds high in the atmosphere are carrying the smoke all the way to the Carolinas giving the skies a hazy, milky look. These conditions in the atmosphere may be around through Wednesday with projections showing North Carolina riding on the fringe of the smoke plume. Air quality hasnt been impacted yet with most sensors in the green as of Monday afternoon. Places closer to the fires have seen significantly reduced air quality. A car plummeted down an embankment off Highway 18 Monday morning, catching fire and snarling traffic in Maple Valley. The crash, which was reported around 8 a.m., happened in the eastbound lanes just east of the 244th Avenue Southeast exit. Thick black smoke billowed into the air after the crash. According to Puget Sound Fire, a car ended up 25 feet down an embankment where it continued to burn. One person has life-threatening injuries. A King County deputy who happened upon the accident assisted in getting the person out of the car but suffered burns. The deputy suffered minor injuries but was treated and released. Today a KCSO deputy came across a car fire due to an accident on Highway 18. One occupant was able to get out while the deputy assisted the second who suffered burns. Deputy sustained minor injuries from a burn but treated and released. WSP investigating. @wspd2pio King County Sheriff's Office PIO (@kingcosoPIO) May 22, 2023 At times, one lane was blocked in both directions, but the brunt of the backup was seen in eastbound traffic. It took firefighters about 20 minutes to put out the flames. The crash was cleared and all lanes were open by 11 a.m. UPDATE: The left lane on both directions of SR 18 (and part of the right lane on EB SR 18) are blocked just east of 244th Ave SE in #MapleValley. Emergency crews are on scene. Expect delays and if possible, delay travel or seek alternate routes. pic.twitter.com/GSMnMNAAvk WSDOT Traffic (@wsdot_traffic) May 22, 2023 Tom Carper announced on Monday he will not seek another Senate term, opening up a safe Democratic seat in Delaware next year. Carper's impending retirement after four terms makes Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Del.) the immediate favorite to succeed him. Carper endorsed Blunt Rochester during his retirement announcement, setting up a potentially easy transition for First State Democrats as Carper steps away from a long history in Delaware politics. If there is ever an opportunity to step aside and pass the torch, its coming, Carper said at his announcement in Wilmington, Del. Carper is a low-key but influential lawmaker who is chair of the Senates Environment and Public Works Committee and a former chair of the Senates Homeland Security Committee. He also served as governor, a House member and state Treasurer, wins that helped the Democratic Party assert increasing dominance in Delaware. Carper wrestled with running again in 2018 for his fourth term and ultimately decided to, foreseeing a messy primary to replace him. This time around he mulled another bid, but at 76 decided that I should run through the tape the next twenty months. He said he will prioritize implementation of last Congress infrastructure and climate bills, in addition to pushing for a bipartisan energy permitting bill. Carpers colleague, Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.), said the senior senators decades of service made a lasting difference for our state and nation. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer spoke to Blunt Rochester on Monday after Carper's announcement. Schumer told her "he believes she could be a really good senator and he looks forward to sitting down with her soon," a Schumer spokesperson said. Blunt Rochester recalled serving as an intern for Carper and said his work "helped inspire a journey I could have hardly imagined as I would go on to serve as his staffer, cabinet member, and eventually, colleague in the United States Congress." She did not mention a potential Senate bid in her statement despite Carper's warm words for her. Carper often takes the train home to Delaware at night to spend time with his wife and was infamous for driving a minivan around the state, sometimes shirtless. Never an easy politician to distill down to a quick soundbite, Carper lamented the coverage of Washington in announcing his retirement and name-checked some Republicans he enjoys working with. I would get a lot more attention from the media if I would say hateful things about Shelley Capito and John Cornyn, Carper said, referring to the two GOP senators. But I dont. They are my friends. A relative centrist in todays Democratic Party, Carper was a colleague of Joe Bidens in the Senate and an early backer of his presidential campaign. Carper was asked why hes retiring but supporting Bidens bid for reelection as the oldest president ever, to which he replied: Hes actually sharper than the rest of us. Carpers retirement will also create at least one open spot in Democrats committee leadership come 2025 on the Environment and Public Works Committee. Carper is the fourth Democratic senator to announce they will retire at the end of next year, joining Sens. Ben Cardin (D-Md.), Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich..) and Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.). National Republican Senatorial Committee spokesperson Tate Mitchell said, "Senate Democrats keep retiring because they know they are going to lose the majority." But like Stabenow, who helped Rep. Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.) clear the field in Michigan, Carper is already maneuvering to avoid a crowded primary. His state has not elected a Republican to the Senate since 1994, when former Sen. William Roth won his penultimate race. Carper defeated Roth in 2000. Carper said he spoke to Blunt Rochester on Monday morning and told her: Youve been patient in waiting for me to get out of the way. I hope that you run. Blunt Rochester is the first Black woman to represent the state in Congress and is one of several potential Black women who could be senators in two years. Cars swerved back and forth before Norton road rage killing; city to give update Thursday Norton police say the department has received "numerous leads" in its investigation of the death of George Jensen, 40, of Akron, who died last Wednesday after an apparent road rage incident on Interstate 76 eastbound near the Easton Road overpass. The department said detectives plan to give an update on the investigation by Thursday. Meanwhile, a caller who reported the incident to 911 operators last week said he witnessed some of what happened. "I think he's been shot," the caller can be heard saying to others on the scene as the dispatcher answered the phone. The caller then described what he saw. "I believe there were two cars going back and forth with each other, and I think the guy got shot ... he hit the wall. He swerved right, he swerved left," the caller said. "There were two cars going back and forth, and this guy was trying to pass and I don't know ... This guy, he's not going to make it." The 911 recording was provided by Southwest Summit Communications, which serves Barberton, Norton, Copley and Springfield Township. Norton police said that before the shooting, there appeared to be a road rage incident between Jensen and another driver in a black 2018 or newer Chevy Camaro as the two traveled on I-76, and the driver of the Camaro fired multiple gunshots toward Jensen's car as it drove past. Jensen's vehicle came to a stop when it struck the concrete median. The driver of the Camaro was last seen leaving the area on I-76 eastbound. Anyone with information or who witnessed the incident should call the Norton Police Department Detective Bureau at 330-706-0084. Scott Keenan, a co-worker with Jensen at ECS, said he began making calls to area law enforcement agencies and hospitals after the incident. He said witnesses reported seeing someone firing at Jensen with a handgun. Norton has not yet responded to an Akron Beacon Journal public records request filed Thursday for the incident and supplemental reports, including witness statements, on the case. Eric Marotta can be reached at emarotta@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @MarottaEric. This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Norton road rage update Thursday; 911 caller describes incident Casey and Ron DeSantis have such a close partnership they've morphed into a singular entity people call 'The DeSanti:' Politico Ron and Casey DeSantis. Octavio Jones/Getty Images People close to Ron DeSantis say he and his wife Casey are like a singular entity: "The DeSanti." They told Politico Casey DeSantis has the most sway over her husband and is "more paranoid than he is." "She is both his biggest asset and his biggest liability," a DeSantis donor told Politico. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and his wife Casey are so inseparable they've morphed into one collective being that people close to them dub "The DeSanti." This is according to Politico's interviews with people in DeSantis' orbit and several former staffers. According to one person who got to know the couple around when DeSantis first ran for Congress in 2015, he and his wife are so in sync they have become almost a "singular identity." The couple's partnership has also led some people in the couple's orbit to refer to them collectively as "The DeSanti," per Politico. The people Politico spoke to also described in detail how much Casey DeSantis influences her husband from his policies to the way he's subtly changed how his last name is pronounced from "Dee-Santis" to "Deh-Santis." For one, she works to "humanize the robot" that is her husband and gives him a "cleaner, softer image," a former staffer told Politico. "She is both his biggest asset and his biggest liability," Dan Eberhart, a DeSantis donor and supporter, told Politico. He added that while she makes him more approachable and likable, she has a lot of sway over his political decisions and tends to alienate him from his staff. "I've heard from staffers frustrated that they think the governor's made a decision, he talks to her, comes back, the decision is the opposite or different," Eberhart added. "He's a leader who makes political decisions with the assistance of his wife, who was elected by nobody, who's blindly ambitious," another former DeSantis staffer said to Politico. Another staffer said to the news outlet that she is "more paranoid than he is." And a Republican consultant told Politico that there's been so much turnover in DeSantis' office because "if you get on the wrong side of Casey DeSantis, you're gone." "He's a vindictive motherfucker. She's twice that. She's the scorekeeper, " a high-ranking DeSantis staffer told Politico. A breast-cancer survivor, a former TV reporter, and a mother of three children, Casey DeSantis is said to have been the powerhouse behind her husband since the beginning of his administration. "It's clear she's the X factor," Scott Parkinson, one of Ron DeSantis' former chiefs of staff in the US House of Representatives, told Insider's Lyz Lenz and Kimberly Leonard. "They complete the political element that is Ron DeSantis. Without Casey, he would not be the same person." Representatives of DeSantis did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment sent outside regular business hours. Read the original article on Business Insider Are you a cat lover? WA is a top feline-friendly state. See where we rank nationally Americans are obsessed with their pets. Since the advent of the Internet, cats and dogs alike have provided an endless supply of video entertainment documenting their playful antics. Today, our furry friends continue to be some of the most-watched subjects of online videos, with popular content sites like The Dodo, a pet-centered publication, having amassed more than 13 million online subscribers on YouTube. A sizable portion of online searches for pets, particularly cats, come from Washingtonians. In fact, a new report from pet website Cats.com finds that the Evergreen State is the fifth-most cat-crazy state in the U.S. The pet website examined pet-related factors such as the number of households that own a cat, adoption rates, number of pet supply stores and online Google searches for cats to form the overall ranking. The website gave each category a normalized score out of 10. Cats.com utilized data available from Pawlicity Advisor, Census Business Builder, Eventbrite and Shelter Animals Count to rate each state on cat-friendliness. The only states that ranked above Washington were Wyoming at first place, followed by Rhode Island in second, Vermont and then New Hampshire. See the cutest cats in the region at the annual Idaho Cat Fanciers Show at Expo Idaho, Saturday, March 18, and Sunday, March 19. Why WA loves cats The cat website ranked each state in eight separate categories, as well as an overall cat-friendly score. The Evergreen State proved to be a high-end state for cat cafes, ample square footage and number of cats per household. But what pushed the state to the top was the number of cat-related online searches. Here are Washingtons results: 12th Households with one or more cat(s) (31%) 30th Average cat insurance paid per month ($17.10) 26th Adoption rate (79%) 40th Cat-related events per million people (0.13) 10th Cat cafes per million people (0.63) 2nd Cat-related Google searches per million people (24,352) 17th Pet supplies stores per million people (59.63) 10th Average house size (2,185 sq. ft) According to Cats.com, Washingtonians searched for cat-related content more than 194,000 times in the past year, or 24,352 times per million people. The most-searched related phrase were cat memes, which was searched around 81,000 times, and cats for adoption at 56,000 searches. The cat website pooled the eight categories together to form its overall ranking, in which Washington came in at fifth with a cat-friendly score of 6.39 out of 10. Cat cafe locations The most notable local cat-related business in the Tacoma area is Catffeinated, a women- and LGBTQ-owned cat cafe. The shop, which relocated from Tacomas 6th Avenue to Puyallup earlier this year, has its own lounge with a kitty playground, Cats & Mats yoga sessions, Purr & Paint art classes and a kitty book club. Local residents can also even adopt a cat from the cafe owners. Valerie Beerbower (left) of Lacey and Braxtin Angelo of Bonney Lake meet up to play with felines at Catffeinated cat cafe on Sixth Avenue in Tacoma on Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2019. Customers can sip coffee and tea drinks as they interact with adoptable cats and kittens. This is the best Tuesday ever, Angelo said. Elsewhere around Washington, you can also find these cat cafes: Celebrity chef David Burke found himself choked up when he addressed Johnson & Wales Universitys graduating class in Charlotte this month. It was a full-circle moment for Burke, who has been a pioneer in the culinary industry over the last 40 years. His was recognized with an honorary doctorate in business administration the first chef recognized by the university with that honor in a decade. ALSO READ: Soul Gastrolounge announces long-awaited relocation to NoDa Normally, I brush those things aside, Burke says. Ive won several culinary awards, but this is different. This is a legacy achievement award, and coming from a university like this, it means a lot. It also put the spotlight on his career. Burke got his start as a chef at age 18. He gained recognition as executive chef of New York Citys River Cafe. The then-26-year-old was awarded a three-star review from The New York Times and became the first American chef to win the Meilleurs Ouvriers de France Diplome dHonneur. By 1992, he had opened his first restaurant, the Park Avenue Cafe. Burke would go on to build his own culinary empire. His hospitality group now has 17 restaurants, with more in the pipeline. Hes received multiple James Beard nominations, authored two cookbooks and been a guest on Bravo TVs Top Chef. And now, Charlottes culinary scene is in his sights. Burke opened Red Salt by David Burke and Cloud Bar inside Le Meridien in uptown in 2020. He recently took over operations of Port City Club in Cornelius, which has been rebranded to Port City Club by David Burke. ALSO READ: Longtime staple Macs Speed Shop maps out plans for multiple new restaurants Burke has plans to bring his latest concept G.O.A.T. Pizza to Cornelius later this year. The restaurant will occupy a 4,105-square-foot space at the Village of Oakhurst on Statesville Road. Burke recently spoke with the Charlotte Business Journal about his commencement address and shared his take on Charlottes restaurant scene. Read that interview here. (VIDEO: Husband-and-wife team brings taste of France to Rock Hill bakery) ChatGPT copycats are taking over the App Store and costing users even more than the real thing OpenAI's ChatGPT launched on the Apple App Store this month, and a number of similar apps are showing up on search results for ChatGPT. A screenshot from the App Store. Several apps that seem to rip off OpenAI's ChatGPT are populating Apple's App Store. OpenAI launched the ChatGPT app for iPhones earlier this month. Other similar apps may charge more than the $20 monthly fee for ChatGPT Plus, per Bloomberg. ChatGPT is now available on Apple's App Store and so are a lot of similar looking AI chatbots. A slew of apps like "Chat with Ask AI" and "AI Chat Chatbot AI Assistant" have cropped up on the App Store recently. Their descriptions mirror some of the common use cases for ChatGPT promoting how they can be used to help generate recipes based on available ingredients, or to create summaries, notes, and outlines and some of them have icons that resemble OpenAI's flower-like circular logo. They're not just dupes: Some are powered by ChatGPT or GPT-4, according to their descriptions on the App Store. OpenAI has made the API for its models accessible, which lets others use those models to develop tools. It's a fairly common practice for developers to use available APIs to come up with their own products and monetize them. For its part, Apple has indicated recently that it has an extensive app review team that scrutinizes apps on the platform to remove imposter and fraudulent apps. While the ChatGPT app is free and ChatGPT Plus costs $20 a month, some of the other apps are asking for more, depending on the subscription plan. "Unlimited access" on an app called "Ask AI," which touts "answers from GPT 3.5," costs $7.99 a week or a one-time payment of $69.99. Other apps were also offering subscriptions at similar rates, Bloomberg reported. Representatives for OpenAI did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Monday morning. A representative for Apple declined to comment. Emails sent to the developer contacts for the apps "Ask AI" and "AI Chat Chatbot AI Assistant" did not receive responses. Because a number of AI chatbots available can be developed with the help of OpenAI's accessible API, these other tools can offer legitimate services, Bloomberg noted. One app called "Chat AI" responded to Bloomberg's prompt, saying "I can assure you that I am not a ripoff of ChatGPT," according to the report. "Chat AI has a million active monthly users and distinguishes itself through selectable AI roles, camera integration and tools for professionals," a spokesperson for the app's developer told Bloomberg. The official ChatGPT app is currently available on the Apple store in the US, and the company has said it will soon be rolling it out to users around the world. Read the original article on Business Insider Joe Grier, a 98-year-old man who lives in Chicago and is believed to be the oldest full-time employee in the U.S. is sharing some wisdom after he just celebrated his birthday. Grier, who still works every day, said his longtime job as a craftsman at one of The Planter Companies is part of what keeps him happy. It makes me feel good, he said in an interview with Fox 32. Im able to associate myself with things that Ive associated myself with for so long. Its a habit. As a craftsman on the West Side of Chicago, Grier makes molds for trophies. His passion, unsurprisingly, inspires his colleagues. Hes a mentor for everybody that works here. Hes just somebody who has been here for so long, who teaches us everything, who has taught us everything, Eric Priceman, owner of The Planter Companies, told Fox 32. Grier said the key to longevity is to control his own thinking, meaning he doesnt allow negative thoughts to disrupt his happiness. Whenever he faces problems, Grier looks at the challenge as an opportunity to do something greater instead of succumbing to the chaos going on at the time. Its how you look at them and how you deal with them and then, theyre no longer a problem, he said. Another key? Lots of laughter. Its easy for me to laugh, he said. Perhaps its because of my long years of living and the things that Ive experienced, most things are funny. Griers community honored him at Chicagos New Life Holiness Church on Saturday, with Mayor Brandon Johnson and Rep. Danny Davis in attendance, Fox 32 reported. Davis presented a plaque to Grier, saying the beloved Chicago resident is being recognized for his longevity, his tenacity, his inspiration, his motivation and his expertise. Mr. Grier, we want to honor your work, how much you have meant to thousands of people during your lifetime those who have known you, those who have watched you and those who have admired you, Davis said. May the good Lord continue to bless and keep you. A smartphone with a Micron logo on a computer motherboard. China says products made by US memory chip giant Micron Technology are a national security risk. The country's cyberspace regulator announced on Sunday that America's biggest maker of memory chips poses "serious network security risks". It means the firm's products will be banned from key infrastructure projects in the world's second largest economy. It is China's first major move against a US chip maker, as tensions increase between Beijing and Washington. The announcement is the latest development in a deepening row between the US and China over the technology crucial to economies around the world. The long-running dispute has seen Washington impose a series of measures against Beijing's chip making industry and invest billions of dollars to boost America's semiconductor sector. In a statement, the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) said: "The review found that Micron's products have serious network security risks, which pose significant security risks to China's critical information infrastructure supply chain, affecting China's national security." The CAC did not give details of the risks it said it had found or in which Micron products it had found them. A Micron spokesperson confirmed to the BBC that the company had "received the CAC's notice following its review of Micron products sold in China". "We are evaluating the conclusion and assessing our next steps. We look forward to continuing to engage in discussions with Chinese authorities," they added. In response, the US government said it would work with allies to address what it called "distortions of the memory chip market caused by China's actions". "We firmly oppose restrictions that have no basis in fact," a US Commerce Department spokesperson said. "This action, along with recent raids and targeting of other American firms, is inconsistent with [China's] assertions that it is opening its markets and committed to a transparent regulatory framework." Micron's share price tumbled by 5.3% in pre-market trading in the US. Analysts at investment banking group Jefferies said "the ultimate impact [of the ban] on Micron will be quite limited" because it does not rely on the Chinese government or telecommunication for most of the sales it generates in the country. Micron's chip customers in China are mostly concentrated in smartphones and personal computers. But CJ Muse, an analyst at Evercore ISI, said there was a risk that Micron customers in China might move away from the firm to its rivals Samsung and SK Hynix, both of which are based in South Korea. "The US, meantime, has urged South Korea not to fill any China shortfalls," he said. China is a key market for Micron and generated around 10% of its full-year sales. In 2022, Micron reported total revenue of $30.7bn (24.6bn), of which $3.3bn came from mainland China. It also has manufacturing facilities in the country. The CAC's announcement came a day after a G7 leaders meeting in Japan issued a joint statement which criticised China, including its use of "economic coercion". On Sunday, US President Joe Biden said G7 nations were looking to "de-risk and diversify our relationship with China". "That means taking steps to diversify our supply chains," he added. Micron chief executive Sanjay Mehrotra attended the summit in Hiroshima as part of a group of business leaders. Last week, the company said it would invest around 500bn yen ($3.6bn; 2.9bn) to develop technology in Japan. China has banned some sales of Micron products after launching a probe into the American memory chip giant for cybersecurity risks in early April. The decision is widely seen as part of the tit-for-tat in the ongoing U.S.-China economic competition, which has started to upend a deeply intertwined global tech supply chain. Last year, the U.S. added China state-backed memory chip maker Yangtze Memory Technologies Corporation to the entity list, barring U.S. companies from supplying it without approval. The U.S. has also restricted Nvidia from exporting H100, its state-of-the-art GPU for generative AI training, to China. The Cyberspace Administration of China on Sunday told domestic firms that provide "key information infrastructure" to stop buying from Micron. Products of Micron "have serious cybersecurity issues and pose a big risk to the country's key information supply chains, raising cybersecurity concerns." Micron, which opened its first factory in China 16 years ago, specializes in producing computer memory and data storage such as dynamic random-access memory, known as DRAM, and flash memory. China is its third-largest market, accounting for 10.7% of its annual revenue in 2022. Micron is "evaluating the CAC's conclusion and assessing our next steps," a spokesperson for Microns said. "We look forward to continuing to engage in discussions with Chinese authorities. "Key information infrastructure," as China defines it, includes telecommunication, energy, transportation, finance, defense and any other area that concerns national interests. The authority did not specify how Micron poses a cybersecurity risk, but it did cite China's Cybersecurity Law that took effect in 2016, a wide-ranging regulation aimed at strengthening the government's oversight on the internet, with rules like real-name verification and storing local user data on local servers. Micron anticipated its challenges in China in its 2022 annual report: In particular, we face the threat of increasing competition as a result of significant investment in the semiconductor industry by the Chinese government and various state-owned or affiliated entities, such as Yangtze Memory Technologies Co., Ltd. (YMTC) and ChangXin Memory Technologies, Inc. (CXMT), that is intended to advance Chinas stated national policy objectives. In addition, the Chinese government may restrict us from participating in the China market or may prevent us from competing effectively with Chinese companies. The ban could benefit Micron's competitors in China, the South Korean giants Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix. But the U.S. also urged South Korea not to fill China's market gap in memory chips if Micron gets banned, according to the Financial Times. In response to the ban, the U.S. Department of Commerce said it will "engage directly with Chinese authorities to detail the U.S. position and will engage with key allies and partners to address what it termed as distortions of the memory-chip market caused by Chinas actions." In recent years, China has been working to shore up its technological self-reliance in key industries like advanced semiconductors, which have historically depended on foreign suppliers. For example, there's been a push to substitute foreign hardware and software with domestic alternatives across state-owned enterprises. Added Micron's comment on May 23, 2023. (Bloomberg) -- China has questioned the sincerity of the Biden administration, as it pushes to resume high-level diplomatic talks with Beijing while also heaping tech sanctions on its main economic rival. The US side asks for communication on the one side, yet on the other, suppresses and contains China by every possible means, said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning at a regular briefing in Beijing on Monday. It imposes sanctions on Chinese officials, entities and companies what is the sincerity and meaning of such communication? she added. The US should roll back sanctions immediately, clear the hurdles and create favorable conditions for dialog. President Joe Biden said Sunday that he expected ties with China to improve very shortly, dismissing an alleged spy balloon that caused a diplomatic spat earlier this year as silly. The US leader added that his administration could lift sanctions on Chinese Defense Minister Li Shangfu, removing one barrier to a potential meeting with US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin at an event next month in Singapore. READ MORE: China Bars Micron Chips in Escalation of US Tech Clash The Biden administration has been trying to repair the diplomatic relationship with China by bombarding Beijing with meeting requests, Bloomberg earlier reported. At the same time, it has imposed curbs that thwart China from acquiring US technology applicable to military modernization, citing national security concerns. There have been signs that strategy is working to a point. Chinas Commerce Minister Wang Wentao will meet US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo and US Trade Representative Katherine Tai this week. But the two-track policy has also caused a disconnect between the US desire for more contact and its campaign to contain the worlds second largest economy. READ MORE: Biden Says US-China Relations Set to Improve Very Shortly Biden has rallied other nations to follow the USs strategy. The Group of Seven leaders released a communique over the weekend announcing a fresh initiative to counter Chinese economic coercion as they de-risk from China, while at the same time pledging to foster constructive and stable relations with Beijing. Shortly after that statement, China announced Micron Technology Inc. products had failed to pass a cybersecurity review, a move that appeared to be in retaliation to US curbs. Washington has blacklisted Chinese tech firms, cut off the flow of sophisticated processors and banned its citizens from providing certain help to the Chinese chip industry. More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com 2023 Bloomberg L.P. China seeks to cement ties with Central Asia as G7 discusses plans to counter Beijing's 'economic coercion' China promised to strengthen its economic ties with Central Asia on Thursday a day before it is expected to be targeted at the Group of Seven summit in Japan. Chinese President Xi Jinping is holding a series of one-on-one meetings with the leaders of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan at the China-Central Asia Summit in Xian. The two-day summit is the first in-person gathering of its kind since Beijing established diplomatic relations with the five newly independent countries in 1992 and will run in parallel with the G7 meeting in Japan. Do you have questions about the biggest topics and trends from around the world? Get the answers with SCMP Knowledge, our new platform of curated content with explainers, FAQs, analyses and infographics brought to you by our award-winning team. US officials told Reuters last week that the leaders of the seven advanced economies would discuss ways of countering Chinese "economic coercion" as part of wider plans to take a tougher stance towards Beijing as it seeks to challenge the US-led global order. The leaders of the Central Asian countries expressed support for deeper Chinese engagement in the region as they increasingly look to Beijing as an alternative trade and security partner to Russia as its war in Ukraine grinds on. The five spoke highly of the China-Central Asia cooperation mechanism and pledged greater participation in China's flagship infrastructure plan, the Belt and Road Initiative. Kyrgyzstan, which upgraded its diplomatic ties with China on Thursday, said it was important to speed up work on a planned China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway, a landmark project under the Belt and Road initiative. Chinese President Xi Jinping (right, back) and Tajikistan's President Emomali Rahmon (left, back) preside over a signing ceremony. Photo: EPA-EFE alt=Chinese President Xi Jinping (right, back) and Tajikistan's President Emomali Rahmon (left, back) preside over a signing ceremony. Photo: EPA-EFE> Xi said the two countries should bolster economic cooperation, adding China is willing to increase investments in the country and import more of its agricultural products. "China and Kyrgyzstan should increase mutual support, especially by clearly and strongly supporting each other's core interests, and be good friends who trust and rely on each other," Xi said. Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov, said relations between the two countries are now "at the highest level". "There are no political disagreements or unresolved issues between our countries ...The high level of mutual political trust provides an excellent opportunity to expand and build up trade, economic, cultural and humanitarian cooperation between our two countries," he said. In Xi's meeting with Tajik President Emomali Rahmon, the two countries signed 13 cooperation documents, including plans for joint counter-terrorism exercises and for the Chinese tech giant Huawei to build a data centre in Tajikistan, according to the Tajik foreign ministry. Xi said both countries should seek better synergy between their development strategies, including building "high-quality" Belt and Road projects together, while Rahmon thanked China for its infrastructure and technological support. Chinese Premier Li Qiang also held a separate meeting with Rahmon, saying China is ready to make the "pie of cooperation" with Tajikistan bigger. In a meeting on Wednesday evening with Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, the two countries agreed to accelerate the building of a third rail link between the two countries and take measures to ensure a stable gas supply through the Kazakhstan section of the China-Central Asia natural gas pipeline. Kazakhstan also vowed support for three initiatives that China has proposed - the Global Development Initiative, Global Security Initiative, and Global Civilisation Initiative - which are seen as an alternative to the current global system. The two countries also agreed to strengthen cooperation to prevent foreign interference and "colour revolutions" in their territories. Presidents Xi Jinping and Kassym-Jomart Tokayev exchange documents during a signing ceremony. Photo: EPA-EFE alt=Presidents Xi Jinping and Kassym-Jomart Tokayev exchange documents during a signing ceremony. Photo: EPA-EFE> A total of 47 agreements worth more than US$22 billion were signed between Kazakhstan and China during the summit. Trade between China and the five Central Asian countries has grown significantly since Beijing launched the Belt and Road initiative in 2013. The combined volume reached US$70.2 billion last year, up 40 per cent year-on-year, according to Chinese customs data. China is also the biggest importer of natural gas from the region. In April, the total trade volume between China and the five Central Asian countries exceeded 50 billion yuan (US$7 billion) for the first time. China's imports of coal, natural gas, and crude oil accounted for 55 per cent of the total import volume. This article originally appeared in the South China Morning Post (SCMP), the most authoritative voice reporting on China and Asia for more than a century. For more SCMP stories, please explore the SCMP app or visit the SCMP's Facebook and Twitter pages. Copyright 2023 South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved. Copyright (c) 2023. South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved. By Liz Lee and Satoshi Sugiyama BEIJING/TOKYO (Reuters) -State-backed Chinese mouthpiece Global Times called the G7 an "anti-China workshop" on Monday, a day after Beijing summoned Japan's envoy and berated Britain in a fiery response to statements issued at the group's summit in Hiroshima. Group of Seven (G7) declarations issued on Saturday singled out China on issues including Taiwan, nuclear arms, economic coercion and human rights abuses, underscoring the wide-ranging tensions between Beijing and the group of rich countries which includes the United States. "The U.S. is pushing hard to weave an anti-China net in the Western world," Global Times said in an editorial on Monday titled "G7 has descended into an anti-China workshop". "This is not just a matter of brutal interference in China's internal affairs and smearing China, but also an undisguised urge for confrontation between the camps." Beijing's foreign ministry said it firmly opposed the statement by the G7 - which also includes Japan, Britain, Canada, France, Germany and Italy - and late Sunday said it had summoned Japan's ambassador to China in a pointed protest to the summit host. Russia, a close ally of China that was also called out in the G7 statement over its war in Ukraine, said the summit was an "incubator" for anti-Russian and anti-Chinese hysteria. Separately, China's embassy in Britain urged London to stop slandering China, after British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said Beijing represents the world's greatest challenge to security and prosperity. The main G7 leaders' communique mentioned China 20 times, the most in recent years, and up from 14 mentions in 2022. "China's reaction this time is quite intense," said Wang Jiangyu, a professor at City University of Hong Kong. "The G7 mentioned many concerns (over China) in an unprecedented way. China view these issues as its core interests that are entirely its internal affairs which are not for the G7 to wag their tongues about," he said. As well as taking issue with G7 comments on Taiwan, the democratic island China claims as its own, Beijing also accused the U.S. and its allies of double standards over comments about a nuclear build-up and the use of economic leverage. Despite Beijing's reaction, U.S. President Joe Biden said he expected a thaw in frosty relations with China "very shortly". Some analysts, however, see no sign of any immediate easing of tensions, especially given Beijing's rapid and sharp rebuttal. "Beijing's reaction (especially the early timing of its release) underlines that tensions in the region are already quite high and likely to increase further," said Moritz Rudolf, research scholar and fellow at Yale University's Paul Tsai China Center. JAPAN BACKLASH China's decision to summon Japan's ambassador underlined the intensity of its anger, some analysts said. Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Sun Weidong summoned the ambassador to register protests over "hype around China-related issues", the ministry said in a statement. Sun said Japan collaborated with the other countries at the G7 summit "to smear and attack China, grossly interfering in China's internal affairs, violating the basic principles of international law and the spirit of the four political documents between China and Japan," referring to the China-Japan Joint Statement of 1972. Japan's ambassador to China, Hideo Tarumi, said it was "natural" for the G7 to refer to issues of common concern as it has done in the past and will continue to do so in the future as long as China does not change its behaviour, according to a readout. Wang Yiwei, an international relations professor at the Renmin University in Beijing, described China's overall reaction to the G7 communique as "restrained" but singled out Japan as particularly provocative. He referred to Japan's pick for the summit venue Hiroshima, the city flattened by an atomic bomb at the end of World War II, and its push for a joint statement on nuclear disarmament that raised concern about China's nuclear arsenal. "The main thing that's happening here is Japan, using its position as the rotating chair, to create an anti-China movement," said Wang Yiwei. Among the G7, Tokyo has also voiced some of the strongest concerns about China's muscular rhetoric around Taiwan, which sits just off its southern island chain. China has never renounced the use of force to bring Taiwan under its control. Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said on Monday that the country's policy toward China has been consistent, that it will insist on matters that are needed and urge responsible behaviour, while take steps to address concerns and cooperate on common issues. (Reporting by Liz Lee, Yew Lun Tian and Laurie Chen in Beijing and Satoshi Sugiyama in Tokyo; Writing by John Geddie; Editing by Michael Perry and Raju Gopalakrishnan) Photo: Flair Airlines/Facebook. Flair Airlines must pay a passenger after overbooking at Toronto-Vancouver flight. B.C.s Civil Resolution Tribunal has ordered Flair Airlines to pay a B.C. man $2,400 after he claimed he was denied boarding on a booked flight. Muhammad Adil Younus filed a tribunal small claims action for $2,692 in compensation under the Air Passenger Protection Regulation (APPR) and related travel expenses. Flair said Younuss inability to board was due to a technical glitch arising from the fact that when he booked the next-day flight, a schedule change had already occurred. Flair argued it owes no denial-of-boarding compensation under the APPR, which it says covers only overbooking, something that was not an issue in the case. Flair offered a total of $935 in compensation, tribunal vice-chair Shelley Lopez said in her May 19 decision. Flair said Younus was booked on flight F8223 that was scheduled to originally leave on July 18, 2022 at 1:45 p.m. (An online search shows the flight is from Toronto to Vancouver.) That flight was delayed until 8 a.m. the next day. Based on the evidence before me, I accept that Mr. Younus had booked his ticket on F8223 on July 18, 2022 at 9 p.m., at which point the F8223 flight schedule was already under a delay, Lopez said. She said when Younus booked his seat, Flair told him and he understood that it was a July 19 flight departing at 8 a.m. This was true, but it was also true that flight F8223 was originally scheduled to depart on July 18 at 1:45 p.m., Lopez said. Flair denied the flight was oversold or overbooked. The airline said Younus should not have been sent a booking notification. Yet, I find Flair does not adequately explain why Mr. Younus could not board the flight if it was not overbooked, Lopez said, adding Flair said the next eligible flight for Younus was scheduled to depart at 7 p.m. on July 19, but was delayed and departed at 11 p.m. The difficulty for Flair is that it did book Mr. Younus on flight F8223, Lopez said. Its argument about eligibility does not mean that it did not overbook F8223. Rather, I find it supports Mr. Younuss position that, through its own glitch, Flair did overbook flight F8223 and that Mr. Younus was denied boarding as a result. Lopez said glitch or not, it was likely the plane was full. There is no exemption in the APPR for overbooking due to glitches, Lopez said. I find Mr. Younus was denied boarding within the meaning of the APPR. [email protected] twitter.com/jhainswo China urges U.S. to meet it halfway, bring ties back on track BEIJING (Reuters) - China's foreign ministry on Monday urged the United States to have the right understanding of China, meet it halfway and bring bilateral relations back on track. Mao Ning, a ministry spokesperson, made the remarks in response to U.S. President Joe Biden suggesting that a shift in U.S.-China relations could occur soon. (Reporting by Beijing Newsroom; Editing by Toby Chopra) Chinese Citizens Sue Florida Over Ban That They Wont Let Them Buy Homes in State (Bloomberg) -- The American Civil Liberties Union sued Florida over a law championed by Governor Ron DeSantis that bars most Chinese citizens from buying homes in the state. Most Read from Bloomberg The law, set to take effect July 1, violates the equal protection and due process guarantees under the Constitution by prohibiting landownership based on race, ethnicity, color, alienage, and national origin, according to the suit filed Monday in federal court in Tallahassee. The ACLU sued on behalf of four Chinese citizens, claiming the law stigmatizes them and their communities, and casts a cloud of suspicion over anyone of Chinese descent who seeks to buy property in Florida. More than a dozen state legislatures have introduced similar bills, with many targeting people from China, the ACLU said. Floridas law, the first to take effect, comes at a time of high tension between the US and China including the shooting down of a spy balloon off the South Carolina coast. The governors press office didnt respond to a message seeking comment on the lawsuit. Under the law, non-US citizens whose domicile is China are banned from buying property in Florida, while a similar rule will apply to people who permanently reside in Cuba, Venezuela or other countries of concern. According to the suit, exceptions will be made for people with non-tourist visas or whove been granted asylum, but theyll be restricted from buying parcels larger than two acres or within 5 miles (8 kilometers) of military installations. Individuals who fall under the law but who purchased their homes before July 1 will be required to register with the state, while violators could face criminal charges. DeSantis, a potential 2024 presidential candidate, has defended the landownership law and two similar bills aimed at restricting Chinas influence in education and data storage, saying they will counteract the malign influence of the Chinese Communist Party in the state of Florida, according to the suit. Im proud to sign this legislation to stop the purchase of our farmland and land near our military bases and critical infrastructure by Chinese agents, DeSantis said on May 8 in a statement about the bills. The group that filed suit accused DeSantis of making sweeping statements about Chinese home-buyers without backing them up. At his press conference, Governor DeSantis presented no evidence that Chinese buyers of property in Florida are agents of the Chinese Communist Party or have caused harm to national security, the ACLU said. Indeed, the State of Florida has failed to identify any nexus between real estate ownership by Chinese citizens in general and purported harm to national security. Most alien land laws in the US were repealed or struck down in the 1950s, according to the suit. Floridas constitution was the last to include such a law, until 2018, when voters passed a ballot measure to repeal it. The case is Shen v. Simpson, 23-cv-00208, US District Court, Northern District of Florida (Tallahassee). (Updates with detail on the new laws.) Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2023 Bloomberg L.P. NBCs Chuck Todd knocked Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.) for defending former President Donald Trumps absurd flip on using the debt ceiling as leverage in negotiations. (You can check out Todds comments in the clip below.) The Meet the Press host asked Donalds on Sunday whether he would be comfortable with a debt ceiling deal that could pass in Congress but isnt embraced by progressives or the hard-right Freedom Caucus. When Donalds didnt give a straight answer, Todd cut to a clip of Trump from 2019. I cant imagine anybody ever even using the debt ceiling as a negotiating wedge, Trump, then president, said at the time. In CNNs town hall with Trump earlier this month, moderator Kaitlan Collins asked about the comment. Sure, thats when I was president, said Trump, who has suggested GOP lawmakers should cause the U.S. to default on the national debt if Democrats dont agree to massive cuts. So whys it different now that youre out of office? Collins asked. Because now Im not president, responded Trump, garnering laughter and applause from the friendly crowd. Donalds brought up the moment from the town hall before Todd interrupted him. Do you realize how absurd that sounds? Todd said. That is not absurd, the congressman said. How is that not absurd? Its absurd, Todd replied. Donalds noted that Trump is always negotiating, and the host interjected. But you realize how partisan that sounds? Todd asked. What is good for me is not for thee. Hes basically saying, When Im president, theres no negotiating on this but hey when somebody else is president, screw em. President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) are set to continue talks on the debt ceiling at the White House on Monday. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has warned the country could default on its obligations as soon as June 1 if the debt ceiling is not raised. H/T Mediaite Related... Rome's historic and iconic Trevi Fountain became the site of a protest Sunday when climate activists turned its water black in protest of the fossil fuel industry. Activist group Ultima Generazione said that eight people who were a part of the "Let's not pay for fossil" campaign poured "vegetable charcoal" in the water as demonstrators pushed for an "immediate stop" to fossil fuel subsidies. Video shows the protesters jumping into the fountain and releasing the black substance out of buckets before holding up anti-fossil fuel signs to the massive crowd that had gathered. Climate activists pour vegetable charcoal in the Trevi Fountain water, during a demonstration against fossil fuels, in Rome, Italy May 21, 2023 in this image obtained from social media. / Credit: ALESSANDRO PENSO/MAPS Ultima Generazione said in a press release following the protest that police "intervened immediately" and apprehended the activists within 15 minutes of the demonstration. The reason for the event, the group said, is because of the increasingly visible impacts of climate change, most recently the floods that devastated northern Italy's Emilia Romagna region. At least 14 people died because of the floods, the group said, and thousands had to evacuate their homes. Nationwide, about a quarter of all homes are at risk of flooding, with a total estimated damage of about 3 billion euros every year, the group said, citing a recent study from the Bank of Italy. One of the protesters, 19-year-old Mattia, said in the release they decided to participate because of that "horrible tragedy." "[It's] a warning of the dark future that awaits humanity, made up of drought alternating with increasingly frequent and violent floods," she said. "...The only way to prevent this from happening is to stop emissions related to fossil fuels. Our Government, on the other hand, continues undaunted to give the fossil fuel industry public funding for tens of billions of euros every year." A detained climate activist is dragged away by police during a demonstration at Trevi Fountain against fossil fuels, in Rome, Italy May 21, 2023 in this image obtained from social media. Alessandro Penso/MAPS / Credit: ALESSANDRO PENSO/MAPS The protest decision was also linked to the World Meteorological Organization's announcement last week that the planet is more likely than ever to surpass 1.5 degrees Celsius of warming compared with pre-industrial times within the next five years. That threshold marks a milestone that scientists have been warning about for years. When that amount of heat happens regularly, the world will likely experience more frequent and severe heat waves, droughts and floods. Ultima Generazione said that "no damage" was committed to the fountain, nor has any damage been done to past sites of protest by the group. But what has been damaged, they said, is the "cultural heritage in Emilia-Romagna." U.S. facing nationwide shortages of cancer drugs, antibiotics, other medications Grandma and grandson complete goal of visiting all 63 U.S. national parks Idaho murders suspect arraigned, judge enters not guilty pleas A college wrestler almost lost his leg after a regular bruise turned out to be a 'flesh-eating' infection Peyton Robb at a wrestling match on March 7. He was at a wrestling tournament when he started vomiting and couldn't get warm because of a "flesh-eating" infection. Hunter Martin / Contributor/Getty Images A college student with a bruise on his leg got sick during a wrestling tournament. The bruise turned out to be a rare "flesh-eating" infection. Bacteria may have entered his body from a wrestling mat through a cut. A college wrestler spent weeks in hospital after being infected with a rare "flesh-eating" bacteria that almost cost him his leg. Peyton Robb, 23, from Owatonna, Minnesota, initially thought he had a regular bruise on his shin, but he was later diagnosed with necrotizing fasciitis, a bacterial infection most commonly caused by strep A, which spreads quickly and can be deadly, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Robb a keen wrestler since he was four years old was competing in a wrestling tournament for the University of Nebraska-Lincoln on March 17 when he noticed the large bruise but didn't think anything of it, he told OHS Magnet, the student news site for Owatonna High School, where he graduated in 2018. The following day, the bruise felt more tender, he kept vomiting, and he couldn't get warm. "I thought I just had a stomach bug or something that was making me feel crumby," he told OHS Magnet. The infection start off with a red, warm, or swollen area of skin that spreads quickly, severe pain beyond where the skin is red, and a fever, according to the CDC. Later symptoms include: ulcers, blisters, black spots on the skin, changes in skin color, pus coming from the infected area, dizziness, fatigue, diarrhea, and nausea. Despite how he felt, Robb competed in his first fight of the day. After the fight, he was still vomiting and started shaking uncontrollably so medically forfeited the tournament, and placed sixth in the country. Later that evening, still feeling unwell, Robb visited the ER where he was diagnosed with strep cellulitis a bacterial skin infection which he was given antibiotics for. The following day he was still vomiting and was struggling to walk, so he returned to the ER where medics told him he was in septic shock, had acute heart and kidney failure, and his blood pressure was very low while his resting heart rate was very high. The CDC said serious complications are common and, like Robb, others with necrotizing fasciitis also experience sepsis, shock, and organ failure. "Looking back, I probably should've been more scared," he told wrestling podcast The Bader Show on April 18. Robb was rushed into surgery after doctors saw black blisters on his leg When doctors got his vitals back to a normal level, they saw Robb had black blisters on parts of his leg and rushed him into surgery 30 minutes later. He was told he might have to have the lower part of his leg removed. It is common for necrotizing fasciitis patients to have surgery performed very quickly because the infection spreads rapidly, according to the CDC. Robb had five surgeries it is also common for necrotizing fasciitis patients to have multiple surgeries to remove the infection. It wasn't until after his surgeries that he was officially diagnosed with necrotizing fasciitis. Necrotizing fasciitis is caused by bacteria entering the body through a break in the skin, such as a cut, burn, insect bite, puncture or surgical wound, or in some cases by blunt trauma where the skin isn't broken. Anyone can get it but those with a weakened immune system, such as cancer patients or people with kidney disease, are most at risk. It's not clear how the infection entered Robb's body but it's thought that bacteria from a wrestling mat entered a cut. After Robb's initial operations, he had sessions in a hyperbaric oxygen chamber where extra oxygen helps the body heal from infections quicker and was waiting to have skin grafts on his leg, he told The Bader Show. Robb told local outlet KCCI that he is recovering and hopes to get back to wrestling soon. Read the original article on Insider While the Farc rebel group signed a peace deal in 2016, splinter groups continue to fight Colombian President Gustavo Petro has suspended a ceasefire with a dissident Farc rebel group in the four regions where it is most active. The suspension was triggered by the killing of four indigenous teenagers by the left-wing rebel group EMC-Farc. It comes just two months after Mr Petro put on hold a ceasefire with another of Colombia's armed groups, the Gulf Clan. The president came to office in August of last year with the aim of achieving "total peace" in Colombia. But on Monday Mr Petro released a statement in which he questioned the EMC-Farc's commitment to the bilateral ceasefire it had agreed with the government following the "atrocious incident" in southern Colombia. Opiac, an umbrella group representing indigenous groups in Colombia's Amazon region, had been the first to denounce the murder of the four youngsters. According to Opiac, the four, who are members of the Murui indigenous group, had been forcibly recruited by the left-wing rebels. They managed to escape but were tracked down by their captors and shot in the head, Opiac said. One indigenous human rights advocate, Carlos Garay Martinez, told local media that the four teenagers, who he said were aged between 14 and 16, had been "massacred in front of their community". Indigenous groups have borne the brunt of Colombia's armed conflict. Not only have they often been caught in the crossfire when the security forces and rebels group fight, but many of their children have been abducted or lured away to fight for these armed groups. Colombia's peace commissioner called the killing of the four "an attack on peace" and said the forced recruitment of children was a war crime. The EMC-Farc is a off-shoot of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Farc). It is made up of left-wing rebels who refused to lay down their arms when the Farc leadership signed a peace deal in 2016. The dissident group is thought to have around 3,000 members and while it is active in most of Colombia, its stronghold is in the provinces of Caqueta, Guaviare, Meta and Putumayo. President Petro said that "all offensive operations" against the group would be reactivated in those four provinces within 72 hours. It is the latest blow to his peace strategy which has already been hampered by the crumbling of the ceasefire with the Gulf Clan and the pulling out from peace talks by the rebels from the National Liberation Army. Colombia's President Gustavo Petro has embarked on a controversial policy of seeking peace with the country's many armed groups Colombian President Gustavo Petro on Monday suspended a truce with leftist guerrillas in four flashpoint regions after authorities accused rebels of killing four Indigenous children. Leftist Petro said the bilateral ceasefire "is suspended and all offensive operations are reactivated" in the regions of Meta, Caqueta, Guaviare and Putumayo. Four children and teenagers from the Murui Indigenous community were executed in southern Colombia by dissidents of the now-disarmed Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) rebels, authorities said Sunday. The regions form a stronghold of FARC dissident guerrillas who refused to join a 2016 peace accord that saw most of the rebels lay down their arms and form a communist political party. The rebel Estado Mayor Central responded to the news with a scathing attack on the government. "The unilateral ceasefire will unleash war and the numbers of dead, injured and prisoners will multiply," the group said in a statement. But the move was praised by the governor of Meta, Juan Guillermo Zuluaga. "The patience was going to run out. The ceasefire suspension is not just for the vile murder of four children, but also for the kidnappings, extortion and other criminal behavior that never ends," Zuluaga wrote on Twitter. The four Murui minors were executed on the border between the southern departments of Caqueta and Amazonas after defecting from a dissident faction of FARC called the Carolina Ramirez front, the country's human rights ombudsman said in a Sunday statement. The front, which belongs to the Estado Mayor Central, was among the groups that adhered to a ceasefire proposed by the government several months ago and were set to begin new peace talks soon. "Recruiting and killing children and adolescents from Indigenous communities are not exactly gestures of goodwill to achieve peace. In addition to being evident violations of international humanitarian law," the ombudsman noted. Petro slammed the murders as "an atrocious crime, a blow to peace" and warned of "measures against these actions." Complicating the situation on the ground, Colombian security forces and emergency personnel in an unrelated development are searching in the same region for four other Indigenous children who went missing ago after apparently surviving a small plane crash three weeks ago on the edge of the Amazon jungle. - Government under fire for negotiating - Late last year Petro announced a bilateral ceasefire with numerous armed groups. But three of those truces have now ended following the breakdown of the peace process with the National Liberation Army guerrillas and the Gulf Clan drug traffickers. "If the ceasefire is not effective in certain territories in protecting the lives and integrity of the population, then there is no sense in persisting with it," Petro wrote on Twitter. Since coming to power last year, Petro has tried to negotiate peace with the country's various armed groups in a marked shift from his conservative predecessor's more bellicose approach to resolving the conflict. This policy has triggered a hailstorm of criticism of Petro. The opposition has branded the armed forces too weak to prevent armed groups dictating the terms of peace. "The main person responsible for the escalation in violence is Petro, who under the deceit of 'total peace' has left Colombia in the hands of terrorists," said right-wing opposition senator Maria Fernanda Cabal. Colombia has suffered six decades of armed conflict between the state and various groups of left-wing guerrillas, right-wing paramilitaries and drug traffickers. Petro, the first leftist president in Colombia's history, has opened talks with many of the armed groups, hoping to put an end to the violence in the world's largest cocaine producer. das/ll/bc/mlm The chicken doner sandwich with white sauce from Dada Doner Dada Doner, a new Columbia food truck venture, springs from proprietor Vahap Ulker's desire to see people savor more moments in their daily lives. The experience of sitting down, taking a deep breath and sharing a communal meal a value he absorbed growing up in Turkey is something he found too often lacking in the United States. "In Turkey, people eat food to be happy, to enjoy life. Here, we eat to do more work," he said. Serving up Turkish street food since last month, Dada Doner's world turns on one flavorful item: chicken doner. Cooked on a vertical rotisserie, the meat is served in wraps, on a sandwich or as part of a dinner plate with rice and a salad. The menu is that simple and that focused on making one dish perfectly, Ulker said. More: Funky and flavorful, try these 9 salads in Columbia Because of the cooking process, doner invites reference points from cultures with similar fare, Ulker said. Mexican food has al pastor; Greek cuisine includes gyros; and other Middle Eastern countries offer shawarma, a dish doner is often mistaken for, he said. Doner dates back to the 1800s, Ulker said, first served in one of Turkey's seminal cultural cities, Bursa. Its name comes from a word for "turning," as in the way meat rotates while cooked. The dish is the most-consumed fast food in Turkey but variations can also be found in nicer restaurants, Ulker said, in much the same way you might find a cheeseburger at a drive-thru or a steakhouse. And doner is a global success. Due to the influx of Turkish immigrants in the 1960s and '70s, the doner kebab has become one of the most popular fast-food items in Germany as well, Ulker said. Starting from scratch A chicken doner plate with rice and salad Ulker's story is one of making everything from scratch. Yes, his truck serves only fresh, hand-prepared food, nothing processed. But this entire experience began with a need and a notion, and not a single day of professional experience. Working through the week as a researcher at the University of Missouri's NextGen Precision Health Center, he is not a chef by trade. Whether in the laboratory or a mobile kitchen, he is the type to conceive a project, then learn everything he possibly can, finding something where once there was nothing. Ulker first had the idea which became Dada Doner in 2016, while studying in Louisville, Kentucky. He asked friends in restaurants both in Turkey and the United States to let him work on weekends, for free, to learn the art and craft of cooking, his cultivating skills with each visit. Ulker knows his limitations, he said, but these limitations have freed him to make one dish with as much heart and soul as he can muster. More: Salt-N-Pepa, Robert Cray and Japanese Breakfast form half of Treeline fest's headliners Ulker and Co. begin marinating their chicken 24 hours ahead of lunch service, using spices sourced from Turkey a practice he hopes to continue as long as possible. On a service day, chicken is stacked very carefully on the vertical skewer to ensure both outside and inside portions are cooked evenly, he said. Doner is served with a choice of three sauces, all yogurt-based: a white sauce, a curry sauce and a spicy option featuring Turkish hot peppers. And, as with science, the true test of one's labor is in the results, Ulker said. "A good taste is a good taste. Doesn't matter what culture it is," he said. Multiplying his kitchen experience with each day's work, Ulker completes every task with the customer's reaction in mind. He works to receive a "wow" or a gleam of surprise in a diner's eyes, he said. And the early feedback, in person and on social media, has been heartening, he said. Finding the right fit for everyone The Dada Doner truck serving downtown last month Transferring a Louisville-forged idea to corners of Columbia, Ulker recognized another good fit here. A wide-ranging population with a strong student presence helped him see the possibilities for Dada Doner as did the absence of something similar. "If you dont know it, you dont know if its missing or not. But I know it," he said of doner. He also seeks to create the right fit for the business within his life. Fulfilled in his day job, with no intention of stepping away, he brought on a partner who can focus on Dada Doner's growth. This choice only reinforces Ulker's deeply-held values: quality over speed, community and experience over grab-and-go meals eaten alone. He wants people on both sides of Dada Doner to enjoy more little moments in their lives himself included. Dada Doner currently serves its food on weekends in various Columbia locations. Keep up with the truck's whereabouts through its Facebook page. Aarik Danielsen is the features and culture editor for the Tribune. Contact him at adanielsen@columbiatribune.com or by calling 573-815-1731. He's on Twitter @aarikdanielsen. This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: Columbia's Turkish food truck Dada Doner is a story made from scratch Columbus father pleads guilty in death of 5-year-old who shot herself with unsecured gun Antwan Robinson, 45, is visibly upset as a senior assistant Franklin County prosecutor reads the details involving his 5-year-old daughter's death in 2021 into the record in county Common Pleas Court. Robinson pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter and illegal possession of a firearm that was left unattended when 5-year-old Serenity Robinson fatally shot herself in the family's Northeast Side home. A Columbus father pleaded guilty Monday to his role in his 5-year-old daughter's shooting death a case that has connections to the ongoing legal battle between city officials and Ohio leaders over the city's efforts to enact gun safety controls. Five-year-old Serenity Johnson shot herself in the head around 9:45 a.m. on July 31, 2021 with an unattended firearm inside her home on the 2100 block of Via Da Vinci Court on the city's Northeast Side, Columbus police and Franklin County prosecutors say. Read the series: Under Fire: An examination of gun violence across Columbus Columbus Division of Fire medics who responded to the scene reported seeing Antwan L. Robinson, 45, carrying the wounded girl outside of the home, according to a statement of facts read into the record Monday in Franklin County Common Pleas Court. The girl was rushed to Nationwide Children's Hospital, where she died about an hour later of her injuries. Robinson, of Columbus' Northeast Side, pleaded guilty Monday to involuntary manslaughter, as well as a charge of illegally having a weapon. Since Robinson was under felony indictment in separate cases at the time of his daughter's death, he was prohibited from legally possessing firearms. In exchange for his guilty plea, prosecutors dismissed a second count of involuntary manslaughter, as well as a charge of endangering children. Prosecutors also agreed to waive a repeat violent offender specification based on Robinson's prior convictions, which would have mandated a longer prison sentence. For subscribers: When are parents responsible for their child's actions? It's complicated, experts say Robinson also pleaded guilty Monday to felony charges of fentanyl possession, cocaine possession, heroin possession and theft in five separate cases, all in 2019. Two of the charges to which he pleaded guilty cocaine possession and heroin possession also included firearm specifications. Franklin County Common Pleas Court Judge Jaiza Page scheduled a sentencing date of July 31 after both the prosecution and defense requested a pre-sentencing investigation. Short North violence: Mayor Andrew Ginther asking Short North businesses to close at midnight to curb violence For pleading guilty to just the two charges stemming from the death of his daughter, Robinson faces a possible maximum sentence of 14 years in prison. Because of the Reagan Tokes Act intended to keep dangerous criminals who have not been reformed from being released, judges must give indefinite prison sentences for most first- and second-degree felonies. That means judges select a minimum sentence length five-and-a-half years, in Robinson's case at which it's presumed the defendant will be released. Can bad behavior add prison time? Ohio Supreme Court to consider whether Reagan Tokes Act sentences are constitutional Barbara Robinson is visibly upset as her son, 45-year-old Antwan Robinson, pleads guilty to involuntary manslaughter and illegal possession of a firearm in the death of his 5-year-old daughter, Serenity, who fatally shot herself with an unsecured firearm at the family's Northeast Side home. Antwan Robinson also pleaded guilty to unrelated charges in drug and theft cases against him. Serenity's mother, 26-year-old Breana R Mathews, was also at the home on the day that the girl accidentally shot herself. According to prosecutors, Mathews called 911 and later told police who arrived at the scene of the shooting that the handgun was under a mattress in the family's upstairs bedroom. Mathews was initially indicted on one count each of involuntary manslaughter and felony child endangerment. Mathews pleaded guilty in November to a single count of involuntary manslaughter and is scheduled to be sentenced on July 17. The handgun was registered to Mathews, prosecutors said, but Robinson also used it. As Senior Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Renee Amlin read the facts of the case in open court, Robinson could be seen putting his head down and closing his eyes. His mother, Barbara Robinson, also was visibly distraught in court as her son entered his guilty pleas. When approached by The Dispatch after the plea hearing, Barbara Robinson described her son as "a good person" who struggles with addiction and mental health issues. "He's a loving person," she said through tears. "And his kids are everything to him." The battle over gun laws Robinson's plea comes amid a heated battled between Columbus' Democratic city leaders and Ohio's Republican lawmakers and Attorney General Dave Yost over the city's recently passed "common sense" gun laws. Ohio divided on guns: Ohio's gun laws have seen major changes in 20 years. What happened? Columbus City Attorney Zach Klein's office filed a lawsuit Thursday against the state of Ohio in Franklin County Common Pleas Court in a renewed attempt for city leaders to be able to put into place and enforce that gun safety ordinance. Columbus City Council approved in December an ordinance that would, among other measures, effectively ban city residents from owning magazines containing 30 or more rounds. That legislation also requires safe gun storage around children and criminalizes giving or selling firearms to anyone prohibited from having them. Magazine ban: Columbus gun owners wary of city's new ammunition restriction Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost and right-leaning think tank the Buckeye Institute filed lawsuits challenging the legality of the city's law in three counties in which Columbus lies. Cases involving Columbus' law had already been heard in Franklin County where a decision allowing the new codes to go into effect was stayed and Fairfield County, which effectively declined to interfere with the new measures. But in April, Delaware County Common Pleas Judge David M. Gormley ruled that Columbus cannot enforce the city law restricting guns that went into effect in January while a challenge proceeds in that court. The city's ordinance which went into effect in January, well after a grand jury had indicted Robinson in December 2021 adds to the crimes of negligent homicide and negligent assault storing or leaving a deadly weapon in a person's home if a minor could reasonably gain access to it. Violators face a third-degree misdemeanor, or if a juvenile gains access to the weapon a fourth-degree misdemeanor. The law is intended to incentivize gun owners to secure guns in a safe, gun case or with a trigger lock. More: How big can my clip be? What we know about Columbus gun magazine ban. In what was the first test of the citys new safe storage law for firearms, Klein announced in April that a father pleaded guilty to two counts of negligent storage of a firearm. The man's child found a loaded gun between the living room couch cushions on Jan. 27 at a West Side apartment and fired the weapon, narrowly missing his face. Matthew Rivas, 28, was sentenced to 10 days in jail and two years of probation on April 4 following his plea. More: Father pleads guilty after young child fires gun in first test of Columbus storage law Eric Lagatta is a reporter at The Columbus Dispatch covering public safety, with a focus on in-depth coverage of social justice issues and crime trends. elagatta@dispatch.com @EricLagatta This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Father pleads guilty in death of 5-yr-old daughter who shot herself Comedian Nigel Ng's Chinese social media accounts have been suspended, amid what seems to be a crackdown by Beijing on comics. Last Tuesday, Ng tweeted a promo clip for his upcoming show which poked fun at China's authoritarian government. He was performing as his stage persona Uncle Roger and joked that he was "about to get cancelled". Ng's Weibo and Bilibili accounts - China's Twitter and YouTube - were frozen at the weekend. A message on his Weibo account, where he has more than 400,000 followers, reads: "The user has been banned from posting as he has violated relevant laws and regulations." Ng on Monday reposted the video on Twitter, this time with the caption: "For some reason this clip got a ton of views this past weekend. I wonder why." The BBC has reached out to the London-based Malaysian comedian for comment. Uncle Roger about to get cancelled. Buy the FULL SHOW now to watch from home: https://t.co/ebzr06mDV9 Dropping June 4 on @momentworld pic.twitter.com/zmYtTp0tBh Nigel Ng (Uncle Roger) (@MrNigelNg) May 15, 2023 In the video, Uncle Roger spoke to someone in the audience who said he was from Guangzhou, China, to which he replied: "Good country, good country. We have to say that now." He then joked about being monitored by Beijing via his smartphone: "They [are] all listening. All our phones tap into it. Long live President Xi. Long live President Xi." But this is not Ng's first brush with China's strict media environment. In January 2021, he collaborated with Mike Chen, a YouTuber who is a known critic of Beijing on Twitter, to produce a video where they critiqued a dumpling recipe. The 32-year-old comedian later removed the clip and posted an apology on Weibo. He said he "wasn't aware of his political thoughts and his past incorrect remarks about China". Ng shot to fame three years ago after posting a YouTube video where he made fun of BBC host Hersha Patel for her egg fried rice recipe, where she washed and drained cooked rice in a colander. He's the latest target in what appears to be a crackdown by Beijing on comedians. Last week, Chinese comedian Li Haoshi was arrested after he made a joke comparing his dogs to a military slogan. The company that hired him was also fined a hefty 14.7m yuan ($2.1m; 1.7m), a disproportionately large sum, and has sparked fears stand-up comedy could be wiped out in the country. Li has apologised for his comments, but could still face up to three years in prison. Photo: Pixabay In recent years, Canadians have increasingly embraced the concept of socially responsible investing (SRI) as a means to align their investment decisions with their personal values. SRI offers an opportunity to make a positive impact on society and the environment while still generating financial returns. Socially responsible investing, also known as sustainable or ethical investing, refers to the practice of incorporating environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors into investment decisions. Instead of solely focusing on financial returns, SRI considers the broader impact of a company's activities on society, the environment, and corporate governance practices. This approach allows investors to support companies that are committed to sustainable practices and positive social outcomes. When engaging in socially responsible investing, investors should consider a range of ESG factors. Environmental considerations encompass a company's impact on climate change, resource usage, pollution, and conservation efforts. Social factors may include labor practices, diversity and inclusion, community engagement, and consumer protection. Governance factors assess a company's leadership, executive compensation, board independence, and transparency. By evaluating these factors, investors can identify companies that align with their personal values and contribute to a more sustainable and equitable future. Canadians have several options to participate in socially responsible investing. One approach is to invest in companies with strong ESG practices and policies. These companies actively manage their environmental impact, embrace fair labor practices, promote diversity and inclusion, and prioritize good governance. Investors can also choose funds that focus specifically on SRI, known as socially responsible funds or ESG funds. These funds typically incorporate rigorous screening criteria to ensure that investments align with established ESG principles. A third avenue for socially responsible investing is impact investing. Impact investments are made with the intention of generating measurable positive social and environmental outcomes alongside financial returns. These investments are often targeted towards sectors such as renewable energy, affordable housing, clean technology, and healthcare. Impact investing enables Canadians to actively contribute to specific causes and directly support organizations working towards positive change. Engaging in socially responsible investing can yield numerous benefits. First and foremost, it allows individuals to align their investments with their values and contribute to issues they care about deeply. It can also provide long-term financial benefits as companies with strong ESG practices are more likely to be well-managed and resilient, potentially leading to sustainable returns. Additionally, by investing in sustainable solutions, Canadians can help drive positive change and encourage companies to adopt responsible practices, creating a ripple effect in the investment landscape. While SRI offers many advantages, it's important to acknowledge the challenges and considerations involved. One challenge is the lack of standardized ESG metrics and reporting, making it difficult for investors to assess and compare companies accurately. However, various organizations are working towards developing consistent frameworks and standards, such as the Global Reporting Initiative and the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board, to address this issue. It's also crucial to thoroughly research and understand the investment options available to them. Not all SRI funds are created equal, and investors should review the fund's screening criteria, performance track record, and management team to ensure alignment with their values and financial goals. Consulting with a financial advisor who properly understands SRI can provide valuable guidance and support. Socially responsible investing can empower investors to make a positive impact on society and the environment through their investment decisions. But the most important factor when selecting investment options is still ensuring that they are appropriate for you and your situation. Dont let its principles take priority over your own investment needs and goals. This article is written by or on behalf of an outsourced columnist and does not necessarily reflect the views of Castanet. A gathering and working space at NBBJ's new Flatiron offices. Credit - Sean Airhart/ NBBJ When many companies were trying to get rid of their office space to save money during the pandemic, the architecture and design firm NBBJ was doing the opposite. It took over the former offices of the clothing company Eileen Fisher in the Flatiron district of New York City and started ripping out walls and creating a 28,000 square foot living laba space where the company could test what type of design and layout works best for hybrid work. The idea wasnt to force NBBJ employees into the office five days a week, but instead to create a place for hybrid work where people would actually want to come, despite the long commutes typical in the New York area. NBBJ could then take what worked and use that as the basis for designing offices for their clients also looking towards the hybrid future. Were in the early stages of a deep recognition that the workplace needs to be different, says Steve McConnell, NBBJs managing partner and board chair, who spearheaded the redesign. The Flatiron space, which opened in November, feels like a mix between an office and a social club, with conference rooms giving off living room vibes, thanks to their homey bookshelves and couches; a lab where employees can look at tiny models of buildings the company is designing; green carpets throughout that feel like forest meadows; and rotating art projects on screens stretching towards the high ceilings. Its nearly twice as big as the companys former office space, and with its natural light and dark green tones, seems to communicate more cool Airbnb than office. NBBJ's new office have a variety of seating arrangements. Sean Airhart / NBBJ The commercial real estate market is still in the dumps, with office occupancy at around 50% of pre-pandemic levels in the 10 largest U.S. cities, according to Kastle Systems, which tracks unique card swipes in office buildings. Many companies are now battling workers over whether return to office will be a requirement and how many days will be mandatory, including Amazon, the Walt Disney Company, and the New York Times. But now that the Biden Administration has declared the pandemic officially over, some companies are ready to declare hybrid work the new reality and are redesigning their offices accordinglytaking advantage of low prices and desperate landlords and creating spaces in which employees might actually want to work. Were never going to force people back into the office, but we feel a sense of responsibility to build an office space that is delightful, says Holly Barbacovi, the head of human resources at the video game maker Bungie, which is nearly finished building its new office space in Bellevue, Wash. During the pandemic, Bungie decided to allow for fully remote work; today, the company is expanding its square footage from 80,000 to 200,000. Such hybrid workplaces appear to be the future of corporate offices. Though 42% of companies had a full-time in-office policy in the second quarter of 2023, thats down from 49% in the first quarter of the year, according to the Flex Index, a database of surveys and publicly available information that tracks the return-to-office policies of more than 4,000 companies. Further, around 30% of companies now allow for hybrid work, up from 20% in the first quarter, the report finds. Rotating art exhibits pop up in NBBJ's new offices. Sean Airhart / NBBJ I think a lot of employers are reenvisioning their offices to be better shared offices, less places you go into to do heads-down work, says Robert Sadow, the CEO and co-founder of Scoop Technologies, which puts out the Flex Index. This is happening more in certain companies than others, of coursearound 63% of companies with fewer than 500 employees are fully flexible, according to the Flex Index, compared to just 13% of companies with more than 50,000 employees. Some companies are completely rethinking the idea of a permanent office, says Prithwiraj Choudhury, a professor at Harvard Business School who has been studying remote work for years. Some startups are deciding that the purpose of an office is really to socialize, and theyre allowing employees to work from anywhere, and then picking a place for people to meet occasionally throughout the year to get to know each other. A company called Zapier, for example, has company retreats where it invites all workers to spend a few days in-person with their colleagues; the company pays for flights, accommodation, and food, and organizes ways for people in different departments to get to know each other. Gitlab, which Choudhury says is one of the worlds largest remote companies, with 1,300 employees, allows employees to be fully remote but has at least one offsite meetup around the world each year. Women gather at a remote workspace in a rented home Amina MoreauRadious.pro. New companies are forming to meet the needs of businesses looking for alternative workplaces; for example, theres Radious, an Airbnb-type app which allows people to rent out extra space in their homes to remote workers, and Project Pair, which helps Bay Area companies share hybrid office space. Theres a whole new generation of companies that are organizing work in a very different way, Choudhury says. How to Fix Work Even before the pandemic, many companies accepted that the office was broken. The open floor-plan offices that seemed like such a good idea a few years ago had become noisy places where workers were having trouble focusing. In 2019, people spent an average of 47 seconds on a given screen before switching to another, down from 2.5 minutes in 2004, according to research from Gloria Mark, an informatics professor at the University of California, Irvine. Some companies were even moving to four-day work weeks to try and give employees more focus time. Read more: The COVID-19 Pandemic Upended the Office. Its Time to Radically Rethink How We Work Before the pandemic, one architect, David Dewane, came up with the idea for a utopian office where employees had room to socialize but also do the kind of deep work needed for many knowledge jobshe called it the Eudaimonia machine, for the Greek word that denotes a state of flourishing and prosperity. His design had a gallery where workers would see material that would inspire them and remind them of the purpose of their work; a salon where they could socialize and have conversations, a library where they could do research; an office where they could do expenses and light work; and then an isolated room for deep work where they could focus. Today, Dewane is working with a design firm called Geniant to help companies figure out the best office space for their mix of workers. Workers collaborate at a rented workspace in a home Amina MoreauRadious.pro. The old workplace is performative, what we are trying to get to now is places where your space is enabling you to do your jobs at a higher level, he says. What NBBJ has found so far is that the new office needs to be a place where people can gather, socialize, and be inspired. Not a place where they come to sit under fluorescent lights in conference rooms and long for home. Despite the NBBJ offices large size, there still arent enough individual desks for every employee; designers assume that people will want to also sit at long tables where they can spread out papers, or at couches or comfy chairs. If youre coming back to the office, youre not coming back to sit at a deskyoure coming back to collaborate. So we worked out these areas and zones where people could really come in and collectively work together, says Suzanne Carlson, senior corporate market director at NBBJ. Carlsons preferred space: the Living Room, which has a dark green carpet, a comfy gray couch with blankets, a coffee table, and a big TV for Zoom calls. If you work with leaders in a conference room and then do a wrap up in the living room, the intimacy and quality of sharing and openness shifts, she says. Space matters. LinkedIn headquarters. NBBJ LinkedIn headquarters. NBBJ Zach Russell, Bungies senior director of employee experience, says he wants to make the office a place where people want to come versus where they have to come. Bungie hopes its new offices will help people have the type of accidental collisions that help companies be more innovative and also lead to more workplace satisfaction. Work stations are on the outside of the office, and when people get a cup of coffee or go to the bathroom, they have to move to the center of the office, where they run into other people. There are also some wide-open spaces with couches and seating areas where people can hold Zoom calls or play video gamesand throughout, there are life-sized figures from some of the companys most popular games. The company recently held an event at its new office space, and it proved so popular that some remote workers mentioned the idea of relocating to be closer to the beating heartbeat of the company, says Barbacovi. Now, Bungie has launched a new policy allowing workers a relocation budget should they want to relocate to Bellevue now or in the future. Flexibility is the most important piece Of course, many companies havent changed their offices at all. Theyre still deciding exactly what their working arrangements will look like and if they can get people to come back into the office. The risk of a recession is also making some companies hesitant to spend money on new digs. But the pandemic has changed the way office design will happen, when it does happen, going forward. With the complete disruption to society and significance of the pandemicits well understood that these kinds of cataclysmic events accelerate change, says McConnell, with NBBJ. Mitsubishi's office. Sean AirhartNBBJ Mitsubishi's office. Joshua HardingNBBJ Before the pandemic, for example, NBBJ didnt spend too much time talking about whether companies were hybrid when they were designing their offices. Now, the firm always starts by asking companies what their real estate strategy is and if they want to have a physical space in the future, and what their workforce strategy is and whether people will be hybrid. Read More: Why Return to Office Policies Spell Trouble for Working Moms Though companies have different ideas about what a hybrid workspace looks like, theres one thing that ties many of these spaces together: they are flexible, changeable, and may look different in a year or two. The shoe company Brooks started looking for commercial office space in 2020Tom Ross, the firms vice president of finance, jokes that he was the only person in Seattle looking for office space at the time. The company decided it didnt want to just have people come in now and again, but that it wanted an office where people could collaborate frequently in person. But Brooks learned from the pandemic that things could unexpectedly change again, so the company is working with NBBJ to make the office as flexible as possible. And indeed, furniture, if designed correctly, can be moved easily, as can walls, says Ross. We designed it in a way that we can make relatively quick and inexpensive changes if we need to so that were not bound to a specific design, he says. The Living Room at NBBJ's new offices is a favorite among employees. Sean Airhart / NBBJ NBBJs new officesthe living labare flexible too. Walls can be moved and furniture taken apart so a room becomes a gathering space or a seating area easily. The desks and chairs are the first New York office iteration of the Vitra Comma flexible furniture system, designed in 2022 to allow companies to easily assemble and disassemble desks and shelves like scaffolding. There are art installations that change over time, and projects that the company is working on are laid out in the open, in a way that welcomes feedback from colleagues. We want this to be hackable, flexible, if people come back in two months it will look different, says John Gunn, corporate practice lead with NBBJ. Theres one thing that companies like NBBJ cant change when they redesign new offices: housing prices, the factor that has driven so many workers to live far away and not want to weather long commutes to the office. But Gunn and NBBJ say they hope that they can design offices that will make people want to come in, even if they have long commutes. Gunn, for example, lives in Beacon, which is a two-hour commute, one way, from the new offices. Hes in just about every day. Gemma Wyatt stands outside the Apple Store in the Country Club Plaza shopping mall in Kansas City, Mo., on May 11, 2023. (Dominick Williams/The New York Times) After working for more than seven years at an Apple store in Kansas City, Missouri, Gemma Wyatt ran into trouble. Last year, she said, managers disciplined her for clocking in late a few times over the previous several weeks. Then, in February, Apple fired her after she missed a store meeting because she was sick but failed to notify managers soon enough, according to Wyatt. She was at least the fifth Apple employee the store had fired since this fall, all of whom had been active in union organizing there. The terminations came after two other Apple stores voted to unionize. Sign up for The Morning newsletter from the New York Times It took us time to realize they werent firing us just because of time and attendance, said Wyatt, who is part of a charge filed with the National Labor Relations Board in March accusing Apple of unfair labor practices. Apple said it had not disciplined or fired any workers in retaliation for union activity. We strongly deny these claims and look forward to providing the full set of facts to the NLRB, a spokesperson said. A pattern of similar worker accusations and corporate denials has arisen at Starbucks, Trader Joes and REI as retail workers have sought to form unions in the past two years. Initially, the employers countered the organizing campaigns with criticism of unions and other means of dissuasion. At Starbucks, there were staffing and management changes at the local level, and top executives were dispatched. But workers say that in each case, after unionization efforts succeeded at one or two stores, the companies became more aggressive. Some labor relations experts say the companies progressive public profiles may help explain why they chose to hold back at the outset. Youre espousing these values but saying this other organization claiming the same values the union isnt good for your workforce, said David Pryzbylski, a labor lawyer at Barnes & Thornburg who represents employers. It puts you in a little bit of corner. Once the union wins a few elections, however, you pull out all the stops, Pryzbylski said. In some cases, the apparent escalation of company pushback has coincided with a slowing down of the union campaigns. At Starbucks, filings for union elections fell below 10 in August, from about 70 five months earlier, and no Apple store has filed for a union election since November. At Starbucks, the company unlawfully dismissed seven employees in the Buffalo, New York, area last year, not long after the union won two elections there, according to a ruling by a federal administrative judge. A Trader Joes store in Louisville, Kentucky, which was the third at the company to unionize, fired two employees who were supportive of the union campaign and has formally disciplined several more, said Connor Hovey, a worker involved in the organizing. Documents shared by Hovey show the company citing a variety of issues, such as dress-code violations, tardiness and excessively long breaks. And in advance of a recent union election at an REI near Cleveland, management sought to exclude certain categories of workers from voting, according to the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union. It said the chain, a co-op that sells recreational gear, had made no such challenge in two previous elections, in which workers voted to unionize. (The union said the company had backed down after workers at the Cleveland-area store walked out, and the store voted to unionize in March.) Jess Raimundo, a spokesperson for the United Food and Commercial Workers, which is also seeking to unionize REI stores, said the co-op had formally disciplined one employee in Durham, North Carolina, and put another on leave and later fired him over a workplace action that took place after the workers filed for a union election last month. Starbucks, which is appealing the ruling involving the Buffalo-area employees, has said the firings and discipline were unrelated to union organizing. A Trader Joes spokesperson said that the company had never disciplined an employee for seeking to unionize but that unionizing efforts didnt exempt an employee from job responsibilities. An REI spokesperson said that the co-op sought to exclude certain categories of workers near Cleveland because it believed their duties made them ineligible to join a union, and that it had reached an agreement on the issue independent of the walkout. The spokesperson said the two Durham employees had been disciplined for violations of company policies, not union activity. Across the companies, the shift is such that some organizers look back on their union campaigns early days with an odd measure of nostalgia. Thinking about it, I wondered why they didnt fight harder at our store, said Maeg Yosef, a worker and an organizer at a Trader Joes in Massachusetts that became the companys first store to unionize last year. They were like Oops, you won and certified us. It was really hard, but relatively easy compared to the things they could have done. The fight at Apple followed a similar trajectory. The company did not hide its suspicion of unions when workers at a U.S. store first filed for an election in April 2022, in Atlanta. Managers emphasized that employees could receive fewer promotions and less flexible hours if they unionized, and the company circulated a video of its head of retail questioning the wisdom of putting another organization in the middle of our relationship. Apples response was similar in two other union campaigns. But although the union withdrew its election filing in Atlanta, unions won elections in both subsequent cases first in Towson, Maryland, in June, then in Oklahoma City in October. According to workers, the company became more aggressive once union organizers made inroads. Around the time that employees in Oklahoma City filed for a union election in September, managers at the Kansas City store disciplined several who supported unionizing for issues related to tardiness or absences that other workers typically have not been punished for, union backers said. Terminations began before the end of the year. Dlite Xiong, a union supporter who started at the Kansas City store in 2021 and uses gender-neutral pronouns, said they were told they were being fired just before Halloween. Xiong went on leave to buy time to appeal the decision, but they were officially let go upon returning in January. It didnt make sense to me I had recently gotten promoted, said Xiong, who speculated that the company discovered their role in union organizing after they sought to enlist co-workers. I was praised for doing a great job. The Communications Workers of America, which represents Apple workers in Oklahoma and has supported workers seeking to unionize the Kansas City store, filed the unfair labor practice charge against the company over the firings in March. John Logan, a professor at San Francisco State University who is an expert on anti-union campaigns, said companies often considered the potential dissatisfaction of customers, investors and even white-collar corporate employees when calibrating their response to a union campaign. Theres something deeply threatening about the idea that you might be on the verge of losing them, Logan said of corporate employees. But even these considerations, he said, tend to fade once a campaign gains traction: The overriding priority is We have to crush this. This year, more than 70 Starbucks corporate employees placed their names on a petition calling on the company to stay neutral in union elections and to respect federal labor laws. The National Labor Relations Board has issued dozens of complaints against the company accusing it of illegal behavior, which the company denies. Former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz was quick to push back against such accusations while testifying before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee in March, telling one senator, I take offense with you categorizing me or Starbucks as a union-buster. In late April, the labor board issued a complaint accusing the company of failing to bargain in good faith at more than 100 stores. A company spokesperson attributed the delay to the union, including its insistence on broadcasting sessions using video chat software, which could make it difficult to discuss sensitive topics. Apple, too, appears intent on signaling that it is not hostile to labor. The company agreed this year to assess its U.S. labor practices for consistency with its human rights policy. And the company has reached tentative agreements with the union at its Towson store on a handful of issues, such as a commitment that workers at the store will receive any improvement in 401(k) benefits that nonunion retail workers at the company might receive. Yet, despite these gestures, there has been little progress on most of the unions top noneconomic priorities, such as grievance procedures, and the company has sought broad contract provisions that could substantially weaken the union. For example, under a proposed a management-rights clause obtained by The New York Times, Apple would have wide latitude to use nonunion workers and contractors to do work performed by union members, which could shrink union membership. Labor negotiations typically start with noneconomic issues before moving to matters such as wages and paid time off. Apple did not comment on the contract negotiations, but the workers in Oklahoma City have characterized their initial bargaining sessions as very productive. Pryzbylski, the lawyer who represents employers, said Apples preferred management-rights clause was about as robust and aggressive as you can make it, although he said it was not unusual for companies to seek such broad rights in their first contract. Workers expressed frustration at the breadth of the management proposal. Everyone from the union at the table had never seen one so long, said Kevin Gallagher, who serves on the bargaining committee in Towson. They basically wanted to maintain all the rights of not having a union. c.2023 The New York Times Company Concern rising in Myanmar that supplies needed for recovery from Cyclone Mocha are coming too slowly An ethnic Rakhine man stands inside a damaged pagoda to help for repairing roof after Cyclone Mocha in Sittwe township, Rakhine State, Myanmar, Friday, May 19, 2023. Cyclone Mocha roared in from the Bay of Bengal on Sunday with high winds and rain slamming a corner of neighboring Bangladesh and a wider swath of western Myanmar's Rakhine state.(AP Photo) BANGKOK (AP) As residents of Myanmars Rakhine and Chin states worked Monday to repair the devastation from last weeks Cyclone Mocha, concern is rising about whether the urgent needs for shelter, food, drinking water and medical assistance can be met before the onset of seasonal monsoon rains. Mocha hit the coastline of Bangladesh and Myanmar on May 14 with winds of up to 209 kilometers (130 miles) per hour. The damage was worst around the coastal city of Sittwe, the capital of Myanmars western state of Rakhine, but was severe even as the weakened storm moved inland into Chin state. At least 148 people in Rakhine were killed by the storm, which brought flash floods and power outages, tore roofs off buildings and crumpled cellphone towers. Myanmar state media said more than 186,000 buildings were damaged by the cyclone. The U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said on Sunday that it was still in talks with officials in the national capital, Naypyitaw, for approval of a plan to provide humanitarian aid to storm-affected areas in the two states. It said some aid partners that already have access are prioritizing the distribution of food and critical relief items where they can. Myanmars Meteorological Department said on Sunday that it expected the monsoon would enter the southern part of the country in the next two days. The monsoon usually brings constant rainfall for long periods of time on the Bay of Bengal coast and the lower part of the country between June and September. Wai Hun Aung, a writer who is directing relief work in seven townships in northern Rakhine, said there have been shortages of materials to rebuild houses, including metal roofs, tarpaulins and nails, and many people were worried that they might be without adequate shelter when the monsoon arrives. The monsoon is coming and the villagers need help, especially for shelter. We also need food, drinking water, and medicine urgently. We saw the members of UNOCHA making a list of the casualties in some townships but still dont see humanitarian aid from international organizations. The amount of help from the authorities is not enough, Wai Hun Aung said Monday. Although Myanmars navy and air force have begun delivering rice and other assistance, it has not yet reached remote areas, he said. Wannisara, a Buddhist monk in Rathedaung, a northern township in Sittwe, said little aid has arrived in his area and residents are in urgent need of shelter and drinking water. "We dont even have tarpaulins to make shelters. The villagers have to get their water from the mountains, far from their villages, he said. Those who lost their homes due to the storm are now living with anxiety in monasteries and other places. Theinn Shwe, a teacher at an education center for minority Rohingya Muslims living in displacement camps outside Sittwe that were battered by the storm surge, said Monday that some people had received rice, pots and pans dispensed from trucks over the weekend, but he did not know who supplied the relief goods and more were needed. Salai Mang Hre Lian, a program manager for the Chin Human Rights Organization, said Monday that more than 1,700 buildings including churches and schools in 128 villages in Chin state were damaged. Chin state is deeply involved in the armed struggle against military rule that began when the army seized power in February 2021 from the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi. Fighting occurs in much of the country but is especially fierce in Chin state. Congress could have as little as 10 days to solve the debt ceiling crisis before Americans might start losing federal benefits and retirement savings Republican Rep.-elect Kevin McCarthy talks with Rep.-elect Andy Ogles of Tennessee who has repeatedly voted against him for speaker. Andrew Harnik/AP The US could run out of money to pay its debts as soon as June 1, and there's still no resolution. Democrats and Republicans haven't made much progress in negotiations, which resume today. If the US were to breach the debt ceiling, millions of Americans could lose jobs and retirement savings. It's crunch time for Congress to find a solution to raise the debt ceiling before the US hurdles into a catastrophic and unprecedented default in a matter of days. Right now, the country's X-date when the government is projected to run out of money to pay its debts could come as early as June 1, according to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, while Goldman Sachs and Moody's Analytics estimate that the ceiling could be hit around June 8. Even a short default could mean nearly a million Americans losing their jobs, and the country sliding into a mild recession, according to Moody's Analytics. A breach would also hit Americans in their wallets: A Joint Economic Committee analysis previously found that failure to lift the debt ceiling could cost workers $20,000 in retirement savings. "If Congress fails to increase the debt limit, it would cause severe hardship to American families, harm our global leadership position, and raise questions about our ability to defend our national security interests," Yellen wrote in a letter to House Speaker Kevin McCarthy last week. On Friday, GOP Rep. Garret Graves, who has been a key player in debt ceiling negotiations, told reporters that debt ceiling talks were on "pause" due to "unreasonable" demands from the White House, casting extreme uncertainty over whether both parties could find common ground before the US defaults on its debt. "Unless they are willing to have reasonable conversations about how you can actually move forward and do the right thing, we're not going to sit here and talk to ourselves," Graves told reporters. Over the weekend, talks did resume between President Joe Biden and Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy, but it still doesn't look like significant progress was made toward an eventual deal. "It's time for Republicans to accept that there is no bipartisan deal to be made solely on their partisan terms. They have to move as well," Biden said during a Sunday press conference in Japan. "All four congressional leaders agree with me that default is not an option. And I expect each of these leaders to live up to that commitment. America has never defaulted on our debt, and it never will." Biden and McCarthy are set to meet again on Monday, and it's growing increasingly critical that the two sides make progress in their negotiations to allow time for a bill to be brought to the floor and the legislative process to be carried out before June. "I think we can solve some of these problems if he understands what we're looking at," McCarthy told reporters on Sunday. "But I've been very clear to him from the very beginning. We have to spend less money than we spent last year." There are other options on the table that would allow Biden to address the ceiling without Congress. One of those options would be minting a $1 trillion platinum coin, which would allow the Treasury to stay on top of its bills until it finds a more permanent solution. Another option that's been gaining steam in Congress is invoking a clause in the 14th Amendment that would declare the debt ceiling unconstitutional, getting rid of the problem forever. On Thursday, a group of Democratic senators including Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren called on Biden to prepare to use the 14th amendment if Congress continues to fail reaching a debt ceiling agreement, and on Friday, the Congressional Progressive Caucus joined the push, as well. Still, Biden has continued to express skepticism with going that route. "I'm looking at the 14th Amendment, as to whether or not we have the authority. I think we have the authority," Biden said on Sunday. "The question is: Could it be done and invoked in time that it would not be appealed and, as a consequence, pass the date in question and still default on the debt. That's a question that I think is unresolved." But even with potential litigation, some Democratic lawmakers think Biden should do whatever it takes to ensure the US does not default on its debt. "There's a binding legal requirement to pay bondholders, there's a binding legal requirement to pay Social Security and Medicare recipients," Rep. Jamie Raskin told Insider last week. "So the president can't violate those statutory directives, nor can he violate the constitutional command. So a debt limit statute that purports to compel the president to violate the law in the Constitution is of dubious legality." Read the original article on Business Insider Photo Illustration by Thomas Levinson/The Daily Beast/Reuters/Getty OpenAI CEO Sam Altman made a bold demand in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday: for it to regulate the very industry that his company is at the forefront of. I think if this technology goes wrong, it can go quite wrong and we want to be vocal about that, Altman said at the hearing. We want to work with the government to prevent that from happening. Altmans testimony included his thoughts about the dangers of artificial intelligence, and warnings that tools like ChatGPTdeveloped by OpenAIhad the power to destroy jobs, even if the hope was it could create new ones. Altman went as far as to recommend that lawmakers create a separate agency to regulate AI. When compared to the pugilistic congressional tech hearings from Facebook to TikTok in the past, Tuesdays rendition was surprisingly cordiallikely buoyed by the fact that Altman shared a dinner with around 60 lawmakers the evening before, where he reportedly gave them a demonstration of ChatGPTs capabilities. Even ChatGPTs CEO Is Worried About ChatGPT Many who were present reacted as if they had just witnessed a magic show, rather than a tech demo. I thought it was fantastic, Rep. Ted Lieu (D-CA) told CNBC. Its not easy to keep members of Congress rapt for close to two hours, so Sam Altman was very informative and provided a lot of information. He gave fascinating demonstrations in real time, Rep. Mike Johnson (R-LA) told the broadcaster. I think it amazed a lot of members. But, despite the intense spotlight centered on Altman, his hearing wasnt the only one happening that day. In fact, just three floors up in the same building, another AI hearing was being held by the Senate Committee on Homeland Security & Governmental Affairs at the exact same time, featuring speakers such as U.S. Government Affairs data scientist Taka Ariga, Stanford law professor Daniel Ho, University of Tennessee AI researcher Lynne Parker, and journalist Jacob Siegeland it was arguably more important. It got maybe 1/100th of the attention, Suresh Venkatasubramanian, Brown Universitys director of the Center for Tech Responsibility, told The Daily Beast. It was looking at all the ways in which AI is being used across the board to actually impact our lives in ways that have been going on for years, and that people still aren't talking enough about. That sounds pretty important, but people remain hyper-fixated on the Altmans and OpenAIs of the world. The entire world seems to be completely zeroed in solely on generative AI, or machine learning systems that can create content when prompted (e.g. chatbots like ChatGPT and Bard, or image generators like Midjourney or DALL-E). And in doing so, we might be missing out on the actual dangers of AIand opening ourselves up to a lot of harm in the process. Derailing the AI Hype Train Since OpenAI released ChatGPT in November 2022, generative AI has dominated the headlines and discourse surrounding all things machine learning. Its created a whirlwind of hype and lofty promiseswhich is incredibly attractive to company executives and investors, but ultimately detrimental to its workers. Weve already seen instances of this playing out. Media companies like Insider and Buzzfeed announced they would be employing large language models (LLMs) to help write contentbefore laying off swaths of their workforce. The Writers Guild of America went on strike in April partly due to disputes with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers regarding the use of AI in the writing process. Scores of businesses have already begun using LLMs and image generators to replace copywriters and graphic designers for their businesses. In reality, though, generative AIs are actually quite limited in what they can accomplishdespite what Altman and other companies might have to say. My worry is that, with these systems that are powerful at completing words or pictures for us, we will feel like we can replace human creativity and ingenuity, Venkatasubramanian said. Venkatasubramanians concern is that employers will be drawn in by the allure of cutting costs with AIand if they arent, then companies might feel pressure from shareholders and competitors. Then you get this rush to the bottom to try and do cost savings, he explained. Im almost certain there will be this rush, and then a reaction where people realize that it doesnt work very well and they made a mistake. Emily M. Bender, a professor of linguistics at the University of Washington, largely agrees. The thing about hype is it generates a sense of FOMO, she told The Daily Beast. If everybody else is on board with this magic thinking machine, then I have to figure out how to use it, right? This is what makes Altmans time on the Hill particularly eyebrow raising to Bender, Venkatasubramanian, and many other AI experts. Not only did Altman get an incredible amount of media coverage from his testimony, but he also spent the evening before wining and dining with the very same lawmakers that he was about to appear in front of. He made astonishing and frightening statements about the power of AI and, more specifically, his companys technology. We Had ChatGPT Answer CNNs Questions for Donald Trump Meanwhile, lawmakers welcomed his recommendations with open arms and ears. During the hearing, Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) implored Altman: This is your chance, folks, to tell us how to get this right. Please use it. Talk in plain English and tell us what rules to implement. Bender didnt mince words when describing her reaction to the hearing. Its marketing, she said. When you have people like Sam Altman saying, Oh, no! What we've built is so powerful, you better regulate it or the people who signed that AI pause letter saying, This stuff is so powerful, we've got to stop for a little while, that is also marketing. While Altman has said he welcomes regulation to rein in generative AI, the companys refusal to be more transparent about the dataset used to train ChatGPTs and shutting down requests to up access for third party apps to use its API suggest OpenAI isnt as warm to regulation as it claims. His company is the one that put this out there, Venkatasubramanian said. He doesn't get to opine on the dangers of AI. Let's not pretend that he's the person we should be listening to on how to regulate. He added, We don't ask arsonists to be in charge of the fire department. Meanwhile, Venkatasubramanian noted, Congress and the rest of the world have paid much less attention to other forms of AI that have already actively harmed people for years. Its the tools used to decide if someone's committing fraud when asking for benefits, whether someone should be put in jail prior to their hearing, whether your resume should let you go on to the next stage of an interview, whether you should get a particular kind of medical treatment. All of that is using AI right now. Now You See It, Now You Dont Altman may not be serious in his call for more regulation over AI, but hes not wrongand there are already things that lawmakers can do. Venkatasubramanian co-authored the Blueprint for the AI Bill of Rights, which provides a set of guidelines for how machine learning algorithms can be safely deployed to best protect the data and privacy of everyday people. While the framework has yet to gain purchase in Congress, states like California are already pushing bills inspired by it, Venkatasubramanian said. And while Altmans suggestion to create a separate agency dedicated AI regulation isnt a bad idea Bender noted that existing governing bodies already have the power to regulate the companies behind these AI technologies. In fact, the Federal Trade Commission, Department of Justice, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission released a joint statement last month stating that there was no AI exemption and that the FTC will vigorously enforce the law to combat unfair or deceptive practices or unfair methods of competition. Creating a separate governing body for the technology would be a move towards misdirection, Bender argued. It sounded like [Altman] was advocating for a separate regulatory agency that will be concerned with AI separate from what this technology is actually being used to do in the world. That feels like a move towards effectively denying the jurisdiction of existing laws and agencies. Whether we see any meaningful policy remains to be seen. While Congress history with emerging technologies suggest that theyll move at a similarly glacial pace to react, the hearing on Tuesday suggests that they seem to at least be cautiously open to the idea of regulating AI. Yet, during the hearing and at the dinner before, what lawmakers and the world at large saw was effectively a magic show, Bender saidkeeping peoples attention with one hand while the other moved to do something else. From her perspective, the entire testimony underscored a lesson she has been hammering well before ChatGPT first crashed the tech scene. Resist the urge to be impressed, Bender warned. These things are impressive, especially at first blush. But its important to keep a critical distance because the people building it are trying to sell you something. Read more at The Daily Beast. Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast here Get the Daily Beast's biggest scoops and scandals delivered right to your inbox. Sign up now. Stay informed and gain unlimited access to the Daily Beast's unmatched reporting. Subscribe now. Conor McGregor has revealed that he scored Katie Taylors loss to Chantelle Cameron as a draw, after cheering on his fellow Irish fighter from ringside. Taylor suffered the first defeat of her professional career on Saturday (20 May), as she was outpointed by Cameron in Dublin. The judges scorecards read 96-94, 96-94, 95-95. Former UFC champion McGregor, a long-time supporter of Taylor, could be seen and heard cheering on the 36-year-old from ringside at the 3Arena, where he competed early in his career. McGregor, 34, took to Instagram on Monday (22 May) to write: Our hero! Thank you for an amazing event @katie_t86! I had the fight scored a draw. A very close bout where you once again showed your heart, your skills, your fitness and your toughness. You are an Irish Warrior! I love you Katie, I am honored to know you and be in your presence! Thank you so much! Onwards and upwards we go! Just another day for Katie Tay! For God and for Country. Taylor and Cameron, 32, both entered Dublin unbeaten. Taylor, who is the undisputed lightweight champion, was challenging the Briton for the undisputed super-lightweight titles. Following her defeat, Taylor called for a rematch, which her promoter Eddie Hearn said could take place in Dublin in autumn. McGregor, who was sat next to Hearn on Saturday, has not competed since July 2021, when he suffered a broken leg during his second straight loss to Dustin Poirier. The 34-year-old is set to return to the Octagon this year to face Michael Chandler, though no date, location or weight class has been confirmed for that fight. McGregor Forever, the second documentary on McGregors career, was released on Netflix this week. Read The Independents review of the four-part series here. How could Chicago sell Lake Michigan water to Joliet, 35 miles away? Five questions answered. A recreational boater glides along the Chicago River. In the 1800s, the city reversed the flow of the river so its sewage would no longer flow into Lake Michigan and contaminate its drinking water. Last month, Chicago struck a deal to sell Lake Michigan water to nearby Joliet. Last month, Chicago struck a deal to sell Lake Michigan water to a city 35 miles southwest of the city. The price tag: $1 billion. Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot signed a 100-year agreement that will transport treated Lake Michigan water to Joliet, Illinois, and five of its surrounding suburbs, starting in 2030. The fact that Illinois has a different set of rules when it comes to the Great Lakes Compact, a landmark agreement that generally prohibits diversions out of the basin, is a sore spot for many. And at a time when water is becoming scarcer, some experts believe Illinois should be focused more on sustainable water management. Heres what to know about this historic water deal. Why is Chicago selling Lake Michigan water? Because it can. The deal will likely entice industries and businesses into the area, which could mean big economic gains not just for the Joliet area but for Illinois. Chicago began diverting water from Lake Michigan in the late 1800s when the city reversed the flow of its river to keep sewage out of Lake Michigan. The river now flows into a canal system headed for the Mississippi River. Illinois and the other Great Lakes states fought for decades over how much lake water should flow through the backwards river. And in 1967, the Supreme Court set a daily water limit of 2.1 billion gallons per day, which since then has lowered water levels of Lakes Michigan and Huron by 2.5 inches. The water can go wherever the state wants. Water from the diversion is also used to keep water levels in the canal high enough for navigation and to dilute pollution in the Chicago River. The Wilmette Pumping Station north of downtown Chicago pumps Lake Michigan water into the North Shore Channel, which ultimately flows into the Mississippi River basin. In the 1800s, the city reversed the flow of the river so its sewage would no longer flow into Lake Michigan and contaminate its drinking water. More than 200 communities in northeastern Illinois tap into the Chicago diversion for their water supply. As of 2030, Joliet and its surrounding suburbs will be added to that list. Who can apply for a diversion under the compact? Besides diversions that predate the compact, there are few exceptions to who can ask for Great Lakes water. Communities that straddle the watershed line can apply for a diversion and only need approval from the state governor. So can communities that sit just outside the basin but are in a county that straddles the watershed line. This application process requires approval from all Great Lakes states as well as Ontario and Quebec in Canada. To date, only one, known as the Waukesha diversion, has been approved. But because of the Supreme Court consent decree, Illinois has a special exception in the compact, said Joel Brammeier, the CEO of the Alliance for the Great Lakes. The state doesnt need approval from the other states and provinces to divert Lake Michigans water to new communities. These communities also dont need to return treated water back to the lake like the other states do. Whats wrong with Joliets current water supply? Northeastern Illinois is facing issues with dwindling groundwater supplies from overuse, and the Illinois Department of Natural Resources wants to get communities off an underground aquifer system. The city of Joliet was expected to run out of water by 2030, according to one study by the Illinois State Water Survey. After exploring other options, they found that Lake Michigans water supply would be their best option. Compact experts like Wayne State University law professor Noah Hall, who worked with environmental organizations during the compact negotiations, said he saw this coming. It was a major concern for environmental groups because they feared it would be used to attract business, Hall said. Water shouldnt be for sale, Hall said, it should be held in trust for the people. Can other cities sell Great Lakes water? Chicago is the only city in the Great Lakes region that has this ability. The city can do whatever it wants with Lake Michigans diverted water as long as it stays under 2.1 billion gallons per day on average. Unless the water is in containers that are 5.7 gallons or less. This water bottle loophole is another contentious and scrutinized part of the compact. More: Water crisis in West has prompted desperate ideas: Drain the Great Lakes, desalinate ocean water Water bottles, beer, or pharmaceutical products are some ways water can leave the Great Lakes watershed. For instance, Blue Triton, formerly known as Nestle, withdrew more than 3 billion gallons of Michigans groundwater for bottled water between 2005 and 2015. But it was within the container limit, so its allowed. According to Hall, the two most contested aspects of the compact were this loophole and water diversions just outside the basin line, like the one to Joliet. Will Lake Michigan's water continue to be the solution? Although the Great Lakes seem like a plentiful resource of water, only 1% of the water is renewed every year through rainfall. Jennifer Bolger Beceda, the executive director of Milwaukee Riverkeeper, believes that the Illinois exception in the compact is driving suburban sprawl and mismanagement of water. There should be more conservative water planning in this area, Bolger Beceda said. Requiring communities to return treated water to the lake would also help dissuade future diversions because they would become too expensive, she said. If Illinois ever runs short on its water supply, the state will have to go back to the Supreme Court to ask for more, likely pitting the Great Lakes states against each other once again. Its in the states best interest to not only stay within its limits, but also work to reduce the amount of water used over time, Brammeier said. And one way to do this is to stop using Lake Michigans water to dilute pollution in the Chicago river, he said. Instead, they should be more aggressive with their conservation methods to help clean up the river. Caitlin Looby is a Report for America corps member who writes about the environment and the Great Lakes. Reach her at clooby@gannett.com or follow her on Twitter @caitlooby. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY NETWORK: Chicago sold Lake Michigan water to Joliet for $1 billion A state appellate court has ruled that an 8-year-old's videotaped statement about several allegations of sexual abuse by a former Plainfield music teacher can be used in his trial, though seven years later she can only recall one incident. The trial of Donnie Harrell, 58, of Bridgewater, was adjourned earlier this year pending Thursday's appellate court ruling on whether the girl's 2016 statement could be admitted as evidence in the trial that involves two alleged victims. Harrell is charged in a seven-count indictment with second-degree sexual assault, second-degree endangering the welfare of a child, second-degree official misconduct and second-degree pattern of official misconduct. The judge conducting the trial ruled the videotape could not be used, but the Union County Prosecutor's Office appealed that ruling and the appellate court agreed with the prosecutor's office. On March 30, 2016, Detective Joshua Rios of the Union County Prosecutor's Office Child Advocacy Center conducted the videotaped interview with the 8-year-old girl, a second grader at Clinton Elementary School. In that interview, court papers say, the girl described how Harrell touched her and placed her hand on his "private parts" on more than one occasion during school hours in the school's music room. However, during trial preparations in the summer of 2022, the girl, now 15, told a trial prosecutor and investigator that she could not recall most of the events she had reported to Rios in 2016. The girl said she remembered Harrell placing her hand on him, but did not remember him touching her, court papers say. Crime: Plainfield man again found guilty of stabbing girlfriend 94 times Harrell was her music teacher in first and second grades and she "really liked" him and thought he was a "really good teacher, court papers say. In a hearing before the trial, the girl said that she "didn't know at the time (the abuse) was a bad thing, but had a feeling it was a bad thing" because she was only in second grade, according to court papers. The trial judge ruled that the videotaped statements she made about incidents she could not recall now would not be allowed in the trial because Harrell would not be allowed to cross-examine her about those allegations. The girl's "failure to recall all the details bears upon her credibility and the weight of the evidence," the appellate court wrote in its opinion overturning the trial judge's ruling, Harrell started working full-time for the Plainfield school district as a music teacher at Clinton Elementary School in April 2014. A decade before he joined the Plainfield district, Harrell had been acquitted on charges of exposing himself to children at an Asbury Park elementary school. In December, the New Jersey Department of Education ruled in favor of the Plainfield school district in firing Harrell. Harrell had appealed his termination from the school district in January 2019, arguing that his tenure rights had been violated. But Administrative Law Judge Susana Guerrero ruled earlier that Harrell had never received tenure in Plainfield and the state Department of Education agreed. Email: mdeak@mycentraljersey.com Mike Deak is a reporter for mycentraljersey.com. To get unlimited access to his articles on Somerset and Hunterdon counties, please subscribe or activate your digital account. This article originally appeared on MyCentralJersey.com: NJ childs statement allowed in former teacher's sex assault case AMBRIDGE After reviewing witness testimony and video footage from the shooting of a dog at the Ambridge Police Department, officials are saying the officer involved fired in self-defense. In a release from Beaver County District Attorney David Lozier, it was announced Monday no charges would be filed against the officer who shot and killed a dog in the Ambridge Municipal Complex parking lot on May 12. When discussing the decision, Lozier said video footage from the adjacent district justice office and the police station's garage shows angles of the dog acting aggressively and attacking the officer. "The dog charged out of the kennel, barking, and went straight for the officer," he said. "The officer back peddled as fast as he could to avoid being mauled. The dog jumped at the officer, the officer, still running backward, pulled out his firearm and shot the dog as it jumped at him, mere inches from the officer." In a since deleted Facebook post, members of the Ambridge Police Department shared this photo of a female mastiff in their car on Friday, May 12. Later that day, officers say the dog became aggressive and they report that they had to shoot the animal in the parking lot. As of Monday, the Times had not been able to independently review the footage of the incident and confirm this sequence of events. The footage has been returned to Ambridge's solicitor, who will make the final determination on whether the video will be released to the public. The officers involved have not been identified. According to Lozier's release, police received reports that the large female mastiff was found wandering on its own earlier that morning and it was taken to the Ambridge Police Department to be secured in a kennel. When officers were unable to identify the owner, they report they "nonchalantly" approached the dog and it began to retreat from officers. Lost dog shot: Ambridge Police Department facing public backlash after shooting lost dog in parking lot When officers attempted to calm the dog and reached out their hands, the dog began to growl and snap at them, biting one in the knee as he retreated from the kennel. Officers also attempted to use a dog pole to snare and remove the dog from the kennel, but decided it was unsafe and left the area while they waited for the dog to calm down. Officers said around 12:32 p.m. the dog "somehow" escaped from the kennel and was found wandering around the area. As she walked back into the kennel, an officer retrieved the pole once again in an attempt to close the kennel door. When he approached, the dog rushed at the officer the officer backed up, pulled out his firearm and shot the dog. While there is no video footage of the kennel, which Lozier says was blocked by police cars in the recording, the reviewed footage does have two angles of the dog moments before being shot. Lozier said one angle, which was obtained from the district justice office, shows the officer on the phone for several minutes outside the station. When the officer sees the dog, Lozier said he moves behind a cruiser and then is seen five seconds later retreating from the dog. As the dog jumps at him, the district attorney said the officer fired at the dog, killing it. In another angle, Lozier said a second officer and witness to the event can be seen exiting the police station garage when they see the dog acting aggressively. He said they appear to be frightened from both video angles, with the two individuals then retreating into the garage. At the edge of this second video feed, Lozier said the officer can be seen again as the dog jumps to attack him. After the incident, the dog was covered with cardboard as it was left bleeding in the parking lot, in plain view of passersby on the prominent borough road. Officers said they believed the animal was dead, but when they went to take the dog to the Beaver County Humane Society, they discovered it was still breathing. When they called a veterinarian from the humane society for locations for treatment, Lozier said officers "were told to euthanize the dog." Across social media, residents have remained critical of the department's handling of the dog and demand accountability for the situation. Many critics have pointed out the differences in the department's original post about the mastiff, which they described as a "pleasant pup," from a later post that described the dog as aggressive and a "pitbull/mastiff" mix. They also take issue with the dog being left dying alone for more than an hour before police shot her again. As of Monday, no one had stepped forward to claim ownership of the dog. This article originally appeared on Beaver County Times: No charges to be filed against Ambridge officer who shot dog Welcome to the Daily Weather Update from FOX Weather. Its Monday, May 22, 2023. Start your day the right way with everything you need to know about today's weather. You can also get a quick briefing of national, regional and local weather whenever you like with the FOX Weather Update podcast. The FOX Forecast Center is monitoring an area off the Eastern Seaboard that could lead to a tropical disturbance developing over the western Atlantic, meaning trouble for those with Memorial Day weekend plans along the Southeast coast. No matter whether tropical development occurs, some Florida communities are in store for between 3 and 6 inches of rainfall over the next several days. The setup for a possible tropical disturbance off the Southeast coast later this week or over the Memorial Day weekend. The second area the FOX Forecast Center is monitoring is a disturbance in the southwestern Atlantic Ocean northeast of the central Bahamas. According to the National Hurricane Center, this disturbance only has a low chance of development, but it could bring heavy rain to parts of Bermuda later this week. Active weather returns to the southern High Plains as the Texas Panhandle is in the bull's-eye for severe storms on Monday. Large hail and damaging winds will be the primary threats across the region Monday afternoon and evening. This summer is expected to be a scorcher, according to a long-range outlook issued by NOAA's Climate Prediction Center. Hotter-than-average temperatures are expected for much of the West, South and East for June, July and August. And as far as precipitation goes, most areas east of the Mississippi River are predicted to have a wetter-than-average summer. Before you go, here are a couple of stories we think you might enjoy. Need more weather? Check your local forecast plus 3D radar in the FOX Weather app. You can also watch FOX Weather wherever you go using the FOX Weather app at foxweather.com/live or on your favorite streaming service. You can share your weather pictures and videos with us anytime, anywhere, in our America's Weather Watchers community on Facebook, email them to weather@fox.com or add the hashtag #FOXWeather to your post on your favorite social media platform. Thank you for supporting our journalism. This article is available exclusively for our subscribers, who help fund our work at the Chicago Tribune. Chicago Tribune columnist and editorial board member Clarence Page. The Chicago Tribune Opinion section is hosting a celebratory evening with Page on Monday, June 19. (Bill Hogan / Chicago Tribune) The Chicago Tribune Opinion section invites readers to a celebratory evening with Tribune columnist Clarence Page on Monday, June 19, from 6 to 7:30 p.m. This live event will take place in the Joan and Gary Gand Lecture Hall at the Chicago Architecture Center, 111 E. Wacker in Chicago. The cost is free, but in-person tickets are limited and are available at this link. Advertisement For the last 50 years, Clarence Pages work has appeared on the pages of the Chicago Tribune, where he has been a long-serving editorial staffer, reporting for decades from Washington, D.C. Join us at the Chicago Architecture Foundation in a live celebration of this Pulitzer Prize-winning Tribune journalists extraordinary career as he joins in candid conversation with Editorial Page Editor Chris Jones and recounts some of the world-changing political events he has witnessed firsthand, from the 1968 Democratic National Convention to the rise of President Barack Obama. Advertisement [ Click here to get a free in-person ticket to this event. ] Hell also discuss the past-and-present state of journalism, in light of his simultaneous run as a TV pundit, including his long tenure as a highly regarded guest on The McLaughlin Group. This is a free event, but a ticket is required. We have limited in-person tickets available, so register for the event at this link today to confirm your spot. A livestream will be available on the Chicago Tribune Opinion Facebook page. No ticket is required to watch the livestream. Click here for directions and more information about the Chicago Architecture Center. Reach out to commentary@chicagotribune.com with questions regarding this event. Vasiliy Lomachenkos team plan to appeal his decision loss to Devin Haney, according to the Ukrainians manager. Lomachenko suffered a unanimous points defeat by the American in Las Vegas on Saturday, as Haney remained unbeaten and retained the undisputed lightweight titles. Many fans, boxers and pundits felt that Lomachenko had done enough to win, however, and the 35-year-olds team plan to appeal the decision, which had Loma losing 116-112, 115-113, 115-113. The biggest robbery in the daylight, said Lomachenkos manager Egis Klimas, via Sky Sports. Haneys team got Christmas in the summer. Were going to appeal this decision. Those judges, they do not understand how the boxers are working hard. I guarantee were not going to let that go. We want to show there has to be justice. The result marked a third professional defeat for Lomachenko, a former multiple-weight world champion and two-time Olympic gold medalist. Lomachenko, who was filmed crying backstage after his loss on Saturday, also said he felt he had beaten Haney. I win this fight, he said in the ring. Twelve rounds end, I was sure I won this fight. I feel I controlled this fight. Vasiliy Lomachenko finally let his emotions show after that painful loss to Devin Haney pic.twitter.com/ga88zAXl2b Sky Sports Boxing (@SkySportsBoxing) May 21, 2023 California stands to lose hundreds of thousands of jobs if the federal government cant pay its bills. Thats the analysis from Moodys Analytics, which sees the state unemployment rate climbing from its 4.5% level last month to 6.2% this summer before peaking at 8.7% next spring if Washington continues to be stymied by an inability to suspend or increase the federal debt limit. Moodys estimates that the state could lose about 841,000 of its 18 million jobs under that scenario. Nationally, Moodys sees as many as 7.8 million jobs lost in a worst-case scenario. Few expect things will get that dire, but Washington and Wall Street are nervous that a debt limit breach could occur as soon as next week. The Treasury Department estimates that could happen if the nations $31.4 trillion debt limit is not raised or suspended by about June 1. President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, the principal negotiators in this drama, have been more optimistic they can reach a deal early this week that would prevent a crisis. Any deal would still need congressional approval, which would be expected to take several days. If a breach occurs, which Californians would be the most likely to be affected? Moodys points to the 153,000 federal employees who work in the state, as well as the private interests stores, restaurants, contractors who rely on spending by government workers. The impact would be especially pronounced in areas reliant on federal contracts, such as those in and around military bases, said Adam Kamins, senior director at Moodys, a nonpartisan economic research firm. There wouldnt be a mass reduction in military personnel, but civilian workers and contractors could face job cuts and pay cuts, he said. In addition, a lot of private-sector firms that have contracts would feel the pain pretty quickly, even if theres a (debt limit) breach thats not that prolonged, Kamins said. Theres enough uncertainty so, at the very least, it could stop growth for those firms and lead to significant layoffs. Its unclear precisely how swiftly all this would happen if the government was unable to meet all its obligations for the first time in its history. Theres no precedent for such a breach. Treasury would continue to collect money that could be used to pay some bills, though officials have repeatedly said it would have a difficult time prioritizing where to spend. Long-term unemployment pain? Experts still see the prospect of longer-term pain as a distant possibility. Washington politicians in recent years have a history of resolving what seem like intractable disputes. There shouldnt be a long-term effect on employment, said Sung Won Sohn, president of Los Angeles-based SS Economics. He also noted that in the past, federal workers got back pay when government shutdowns ended. If the impasse lasts for months, he said, the job impact would clearly be more severe, but no one can tell right now. Gov. Gavin Newsoms office cant. In its latest economic outlook, issued May 12, it mentioned how the debt deadlock was a threat to the economy, but could offer no firm estimates of exactly what it would mean. The somewhat good news for California is that the effect on jobs is unlikely to be as severe as in other states. States that rely heavily on federal employment and contracts, as well as the District of Columbia, would be hit hardest, Moodys found. An extended debt limit breach would probably send consumer confidence sinking, and when people stop buying, businesses stop making and services stop serving. Already, consumers are showing concern. The nonpartisan Conference Board surveys consumer attitudes each month. Its latest expectations index in March, which measures consumers short-term outlook for income, business and labor market conditions, tumbled to 68.1 from 74 in February. A reading below 80 is an indication people are anticipating a recession in the next year. Most impacted could be states that rely heavily on vehicle-making jobs such as Michigan and South Carolina. Moodys also cites Tennessee and Kentucky as manufacturing states that could be hurt hard. Moodys cites tourism and business-travel-dependent states such as Arizona, Florida and Nevada as having the potential for sharp job losses. Where California could notably suffer is in the leisure and hospitality sector, which is already struggling to recoup losses during the COVID-19 pandemic. Employment in that area has only recently come close to pre-pandemic levels. Debt ceiling explained: What to know about the showdown in Washington as default looms The national debt clock is seen in midtown Manhattan, Thursday, May 25, 2023. Both President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy are speaking hopefully of the likelihood of an agreement to raise the government's debt limit and avert an economically chaotic federal default. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer) WASHINGTON (AP) House Republicans still do not have a deal with President Joe Biden to raise the debt ceiling as the nation is a little more than a week away from a potentially catastrophic default. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., said Friday that negotiators were working to finish the job and seal a deal before the United States runs out of cash to pay its bills. Republicans worked through the night with the White House to find agreement on spending cuts that GOP lawmakers have demanded in exchange for raising the debt limit. McCarthy said he did not know whether they would finalize the details in the next 24 hours. I thought we made progress yesterday," he said. I want to make progress again today. And I want to be able to solve this problem. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warned Congress on Friday that the government could default as soon as June 5 four days later than previously estimated. A default would potentially devastate the U.S. and global economy depending on how long the standoff goes. A look at the negotiations and why they are happening: WHAT IS THE DEBT CEILING FIGHT ALL ABOUT? Once a routine act by Congress, the vote to raise the debt ceiling allows the Treasury Department to continue borrowing money to pay the nation's already incurred bills. The debt limit vote in more recent times has been used as a political leverage point, a must-pass bill that can be loaded up with other priorities. House Republicans, newly empowered in the majority this Congress, are refusing to raise the legal limit unless Biden and the Democrats impose federal spending cuts and restrictions on future spending. The Republicans say the nation's debt, now at $31 trillion, is unsustainable. They also want to attach other priorities, including stiffer work requirements on recipients of government cash aid, food stamps and the Medicaid health care program. Democrats oppose those requirements. Biden had insisted on approving the debt ceiling with no strings attached, saying the U.S. always pays its bills and defaulting on debt is non-negotiable. But he launched negotiations after House Republicans passed their own legislation and made clear they would not pass a clean debt ceiling increase. WHAT HAPPENS IF THE DEBT CEILING ISN'T RAISED? There isnt really a blueprint for what would happen. But a first-ever government default would threaten the economy. Yellen and economic experts have said it could be catastrophic. On Wednesday night, the rating agency Fitch put the nations credit on Rating Watch Negative, which amounts to a warning that it might downgrade the U.S. credit as a result of the impasse. If rating agencies such as Fitch were to actually downgrade Americas debt, it would mean that Washington would have to pay higher interest rates on Treasury bonds, notes and bills. White House estimates say a prolonged default could cause 8.3 million job losses and a world-shaking recession, while even a brief default could lead to 500,000 fewer jobs. Moodys Analytics has estimated that a default of no longer than a week would lead to the loss of 1.5 million jobs. The repercussions would be broad. Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moodys Analytics, said that no corner of the global economy will be spared. Yellen has said that federal government payments to millions of families would likely go unpaid, including Social Security beneficiaries, veterans and military families. Disruptions to government operations also would impact air traffic control and law enforcement, border security and national defense, and food safety. IS A RESOLUTION CLOSE? The bipartisan negotiators have routinely reported progress. But weeks of talks have so far failed to produce a deal. The two sides are looking at an agreement that would raise the debt ceiling for two years until after the next presidential election cutting spending for 2024 and imposing 1% cap on spending growth for 2025. They have been at odds over how to trim annual budget deficits. Republicans are determined to cut spending; Bidens team favors holding spending levels flat. Its really coming down to one thing, this has been about spending," McCarthy said Friday morning. But reaching a negotiators' agreement is only part of the challenge. Any deal would also have to pass the Republican-led House and Democratic-majority Senate with significant bipartisan support. In the end, leaders from both parties will need to muscle it over the finish line. WHAT ARE THE HANGUPS? Democrats have strenuously objected to a Republican push to impose stiffer work requirements on people who receive government aid through food stamps, Medicaid health care and the cash assistance programs. Biden has publicly kept the door open to some discussion over work requirements. But House Republicans say the White House is balking at their proposals. Louisiana Rep. Garret Graves, one of McCarthy's negotiators, told reporters that Democrats right now are willing to default on the debt over their opposition to increased work requirements for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or food stamps. Asked if Republican bargainers would be willing to drop their demands on the issue, as the White House wants, Graves replied: Hell no, hell no, not a chance. Republicans have long pushed to boost existing work requirements for federal aid. Democrats have successfully fought previous efforts, but McCarthy and his allies have maintained that there will be no deal this time if Democrats dont agree to changes. There are other policy priorities under consideration, as well, including steps to improve the electrical grid and speed the permitting of construction and development of energy projects. While members of both parties favor those ideas, Republicans and Democrats haven't always agreed on how to resolve it. North Carolina Rep. Patrick McHenry, another of McCarthy's negotiators, said the negotiations are small step by small step" and that there's not an hour that goes by that Republicans are not communicating with the White House. There is forward progress, but each time there is forward progress, the issues that remain become more difficult and more challenging," McHenry said. CAN THEY GET IT DONE IN TIME? As each day goes by with no deal, the timeline gets narrower. The Treasury says it could run out of money as soon as June 5. It's hard to pinpoint an exact date the government would start missing payments, because tax revenues and expenditures vary from day to day. McCarthy has promised that he will allow 72 hours for lawmakers to look over any proposed deal before it is brought for a vote, so the soonest the House could vote at this point is early next week. Lawmakers are out of town until Tuesday, though McCarthy could call them back from recess. Once passed in the House, the bill would go to the Senate, where Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., has said it could pass more quickly. So it's crunch time. And before the legislative text can be reviewed, it needs to be written, which won't happen until a deal is made. IS THERE A BACKUP PLAN IF TALKS FAIL? Democrats have urged Biden to raise the debt ceiling on his own, without help from Republicans. Progressives want Biden to invoke a clause in the Constitutions 14th Amendment that says the validity of the public debt in the United States shall not be questioned. Default, the argument goes, is therefore unconstitutional. The president has resisted that option, which raises legal issues. He says it's a "question that I think is unresolved, as to whether he could act alone. In Congress, meanwhile, House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries has launched a process that would discharge the debt ceiling issue to the House floor forcing a vote on raising the limit. But it has no Republican support. ___ Associated Press writers Colleen Long, Stephen Groves and Farnoush Amiri contributed to this report. Debt ceiling: Yellen says Treasury to run out of funds by early June and possibly June 1 Debt ceiling: Yellen says Treasury to run out of funds by early June and possibly June 1 Treasury Department Secretary Janet Yellen warned lawmakers Monday that the nation will run out of funds to pay its debts by early June, and potentially as early as June 1. In a letter to Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) sent a little more than an hour before the House GOP leaders scheduled White House meeting with President Biden to discuss the debt ceiling, Yellen offered little new information on a deadline, saying early June remained the deadline for Congress to take action. In my May 15 letter, I noted that our best estimate was that Treasury would be unable to continue to satisfy all of the governments obligations by early June if Congress does not raise or suspend the debt limit before that time, she wrote. In that letter, I also noted that while it is impossible to predict with certainty the exact date when Treasury will be unable to pay all the governments bills, I would continue to update Congress as more information becomes available. With an additional week of information now available, I am writing to note that we estimate that it is highly likely that Treasury will no longer be able to satisfy all of the governments obligations if Congress has not acted to raise or suspend the debt limit by early June, and potentially as early as June 1, Yellen concluded. Its the latest notice from Yellen warning the nation risks defaulting as soon as the start of June and putting pressure on lawmakers to move quickly. There has been some skepticism among Republicans as to whether June 1 is the actual X-date but McCarthy has pointed to it when discussing the potential timeline for Congress to pass a debt limit increase. They decide when that date is, McCarthy told reporters on Monday. The president may have more information on that, but she has been very clear. Yellen sidesteps question on which bills would go unpaid if US defaults on debt Yellen warns of catastrophic default: Time is running out The notice comes as projections released by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) have also warned the nation risks defaulting on its debt early next month. McCarthy had previously hoped negotiators could strike a deal in principle this past weekend, while eyeing a floor vote this week. But Republicans are demanding spending cuts in exchange for raising the debt ceiling, and the two sides are far apart on a number of sticking points. I think the Senate could probably act faster than I thought in the past, McCarthy said. But were going to need a couple of days to write it and to make sure that everyones able to read it and vote on it. Markets have begun to show some unease as Washington moves closer to the June 1 deadline. Yellens new warning again suggests that the government will run out of the ability to pay all its bills as early as next week, which could force a default or the inability of the government to make certain payments. We have learned from past debt limit impasses that waiting until the last minute to suspend or increase the debt limit can cause serious harm to business and consumer confidence, raise short-term borrowing costs for taxpayers, and negatively impact the credit rating of the United States, Yellen wrote. If Congress fails to increase the debt limit, it would cause severe hardship to American families, harm our global leadership position, and raise questions about our ability to defend our national security interests, she continued. I continue to urge Congress to protect the full faith and credit of the United States by acting as soon as possible. Aris Folley contributed. Updated at 4:59 p.m. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. Ukrainian forces are still fighting in Bakhmut, Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar reported. "The struggle for dominant heights continues on the flanks the north and south of the suburbs," Maliar said. "Our fighters do not give the enemy the opportunity to gain a foothold there." She noted that Russian forces are conducting a sweep of captured parts of Bakhmut, bringing in further reinforcements and supplies. "Bakhmut's defense forces are fulfilling their military tasks," Maliar said/ "The offensive potential of the enemy has been significantly reduced, huge losses have been inflicted on the enemy, we have gained certain actions, which will be discussed later." Russia takes Bakhmut: Taking stock of the wars bloodiest battle so far CHASIV YAR, Donetsk Oblast Ten months after Russias assault on the once-flourishing city in Donetsk Oblast began, Bakhmut has now been effectively occupied by Russian troops. This hasnt been confirmed yet by Kyiv, but is evident based on both official statements and those made by soldiers on th Kyiv IndependentFrancis Farrell After a 10-month-long siege, Wagner Group head Yevgeny Prigozhin claimed complete control of Bakhmut on May 21. The Kyiv Independent reported on May 22 that Bakhmut has now effectively been occupied by Russian troops. While it has yet to be confirmed by Kyiv, it is evident based on both official statements and those made by soldiers on the ground to the Kyiv Independent. On the flanks, the Ukrainian military seems to be gaining initiative, threatening to encircle the occupying forces. Washington Democratic Sen. Tom Carper of Delaware announced Monday that he will not seek a fifth term in the Senate, bringing to a close a nearly 50-year career in public office. Carper revealed his plans during a press conference in Wilmington, saying he made the decision to "run through the tape" for the final 20 months of his term "after a good deal of prayer and introspection." "I've got miles to go and I'm going to make every day count," he said. The senior senator from Delaware said he will spent the rest of his time in the Senate focusing on clean energy, tackling global warming and spurring economic growth, as well as ensuring the Inflation Reduction Act, Democrats' landmark tax, climate and health care package, is fully implemented. "If there is ever an opportune time to step aside and pass the torch to the next generation, it's coming. In fact, it will be here on Jan. 3, 2025, around noon," Carper said, adding, one of the greatest privileges of his life has been "the opportunity to serve the people of the first state of the United States in so many different roles in so many years." Sen. Tom Carper speaks during a news conference in Wilmington, Delaware, on Monday, May 22, 2023. / Credit: Matt Rourke / AP Carper, 76, is the fourth Democrat to announce they will retire at the end of their terms, joining Michigan Sen. Debbie Stabenow, Maryland Sen. Ben Cardin, and California Sen. Dianne Feinstein. His decision not to seek reelection will create an open seat in Delaware for the 2024 election cycle and likely spur a closely watched race in the Democratic primary. At-large Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester is viewed as the favorite to mount a bid to succeed Carper. The senator said he hopes Blunt Rochester runs for his seat and told reporters he spoke with her Monday morning and offered his support for a potential Senate campaign. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer spoke with Blunt Rochester by phone after Carper announced his decision not to seek reelection, a spokesperson for the majority leader said, and "told her he believes she could be a really good senator and he looks forward to sitting down with her soon." President Biden praised Carper for his long career in public service, calling the senator "my friend, my trusted colleague, and my elected representative." "Every part of the state of Delaware is better off because of Tom's devoted service," Mr. Biden said in a statement. "As State Treasurer, Representative, as Governor, and as U.S. Senator, Tom's steady leadership has made an indelible impact on the state, from strengthening our economy to protecting the environment, to revitalizing our infrastructure." The president commended Carper's work with passing the Affordable Care Act and the bipartisan infrastructure law, combatting climate change and advocating for veterans' health care. "Beyond his innumerable accomplishments in office, Tom has empowered and inspired generations of young Delawareans to enter public service and run for office," Mr. Biden said. "He has served as a role model, a mentor, and a trusted advisor to countless public servants throughout the state." Carper began his decades-long career in public service in the late 1960s, serving three tours in southeast Asia during the Vietnam War as a naval flight officer. He ended his military career in 1991 after more than 20 years of military service. In 1976, Carper was elected Delaware state treasurer at the age of 29 and served three terms in the role. He then went on to represent the state in the U.S. House for five terms after winning a seat in 1982. Carper served two terms as Delaware's governor, starting in 1993, and mounted a successful bid for the Senate in 2000, with the urging of then-Sen. Joe Biden. He became the senior senator for Delaware in 2009, when Mr. Biden stepped down following his election to the vice presidency. Carper has been elected to statewide office in Delaware 14 times. How a U.S. debt default would hurt small business DeSantis expected to announce 2024 presidential run as GOP field grows Biden, McCarthy call debt ceiling talks "productive," but fail to reach deal Demi Moore reunites with ex-'Brat Packer' after 'years and years' apart Demi Moore reunites with ex-'Brat Packer' after 'years and years' apart Way to pack in the memories. Andrew McCarthy posted a picture May 21 on Instagram featuring him reuniting with his St. Elmos Fire co-star Demi Moore, underneath a photo of the two of them in the classic 1985 movie. So great to see (for the first time in years and years) my St. Elmos Fire co-star, the wondrous Demi Moore, and catch up for my Brat Pack documentary, McCarthy, 60, captioned the post. St. Elmos Fire is one of the quintessential films featuring the so-called Brat Pack, a group of young actors in the 1980s who often appeared together in movies, including "The Breakfast Club" and "Sixteen Candles." In addition to Moore and McCarthy, St. Elmos Fire, about a group of recent college graduates struggling to navigate adulthood, starred Rob Lowe, Emilio Estevez, Ally Sheedy and Judd Nelson. The movie also featured Mare Winningham and a relatively unknown actor named Andie MacDowell in one of her earlier roles. In April, McCarthy posted a photo of him reuniting with Lowe. Rob Lowe was the first actor I met in Hollywood, he wrote. We did a movie called CLASS back in 1982, then we did ST. ELMOS FIRE. Then we didnt see each other for 30 years, until getting together recently to chat for my upcoming BRAT PACK documentary. Felt like yesterday. McCarthy did the same with Estevez in March, too. Hadnt seen my old ST. ELMOS FIRE co-star, Emilio Estevez in more than 30 years, when we got together to chat for my upcoming Brat Pack documentary. Felt like meeting a long lost brother, he wrote in part. McCarthy was one of the staples of 80s teen cinema, starring in such fare as Pretty in Pink, Mannequin, Less Than Zero and Weekend at Bernies. He has since gone on to direct TV series like Orange Is the New Black, The Blacklist and Gossip Girl. He has also become a writer, penning his memoir, Brat: An 80s Story, in 2021. Earlier this month, he released Walking with Sam: A Father, a Son, and Five Hundred Miles Across Spain, which recounts the 500-mile walk he and his son undertook in Camino de Santiago in Spain. This article was originally published on TODAY.com Sen. Tom Carper, D-Del., announced Monday that he will not seek re-election next year after more than 20 years in the Senate. During a news conference announcing his retirement, Carper said he decided against running for re-election after "a good deal of prayer and introspection, and more than a few heart-to-heart conversations" with his wife, Martha. "We decided ... I should run through the tape over the next 20 months and finish the important work that my staff and I have begun on a wide range of fronts," Carper said. Asked whether hes thought about who hed like to see replace him, Carper said he supports Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester, D-Del., to take his place. Ive known Lisa since she was an intern in our congressional office, he said, adding that she worked for his congressional office after finishing graduate school and later worked for Carper in the governors office. "We love Lisa and I spoke with her this morning. I said, Youve been patiently waiting for me to get out of the way, and Im going to get out of the way. And I hope you will run, and I hope youll let me support you in that mission. And she said, Yes, I will let you support me." Blunt Rochester, who became the first woman and first Black person to represent Delaware in Congress after she was elected in 2016, has not announced whether she will launch a Senate campaign. On Monday, her office declined to comment to NBC News about Carper's comments and only pointed to her statement praising his career. "No one put more miles in than Tom Carper," Blunt Rochester said. "No one worked harder for Delaware than Tom Carper. And Im thrilled that hell now get to spend more time with Martha and his wonderful sons. After all, I know that the titles of husband and father have always meant more to him than Senator." Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., thanked Carper for being a conscientious, hardworking, honorable, and effective senator in a statement. He has had a long and distinguished career representing the First State as a Congressman, Governor, and Senator and deserves a well-earned retirement, Schumer said. I know everyone in the Senate will certainly miss Tom, especially myself. Schumer also called Rochester shortly after Carpers announcement to say he believes she could be a really good senator and that he looks forward to sitting down with her soon, a spokesperson for Schumer said. Carper, 76, has served in the Senate since 2001. He previously served as the governor of Delaware, congressman and the state's treasurer. During his time in the Senate, Carper served as the chair of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works and as a senior member of the Senate Finance Committee. He also helped craft key provisions in the Affordable Care Act, as well as the bipartisan infrastructure law that President Joe Biden signed in 2021. The longtime Delaware senator this month was named to the National Advisory Board for Bidens re-election campaign, a group of top surrogates. Carper endorsed Bidens re-election campaign last month. Prior to his career in politics, Carper served three tours of duty in Southeast Asia during the Vietnam War as a naval flight officer for five years, and served in the Naval Reserve as a P-3 aircraft mission commander until retiring with the rank of captain in 1991 after 23 years of military service. Carpers announcement comes after Sen. Ben Cardin, D-Md., announced this month that he wont seek re-election in 2024, setting off a potentially crowded primary in another heavily Democratic state during the presidential cycle. Delaware hasn't had a Republican hold statewide office since 2018, when long-time GOP auditor Tom Wagner declined to seek re-election. Former Rep. Mike Castle was the last Republican to represent the state in Congress and left office after losing a bid for the Senate in 2010. Democrats, who hold a slim majority in the Senate, face a competitive map to maintain their control of the chamber in the 2024 elections. Democrats need to defend 20 seats, not including those of three independents, two of whom caucus with the party. In comparison, only 10 Republicans are up for re-election. (Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, I-Ariz., has not announced if she'll run for re-election.) In addition to Carper and Cardin, Democratic Sens. Dianne Feinstein of California and Debbie Stabenow of Michigan have announced their plans to not to seek re-election next year. This article was originally published on NBCNews.com By Jacob Gronholt-Pedersen COPENHAGEN (Reuters) -Denmark would like to host a summit in July aimed at finding peace between Ukraine and Russia, but such a meeting would need engagement from India, China and Brazil, Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen said Monday. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Sunday sought global support at the G7 meeting in Japan for Kyiv's plan to end Russia's war in Ukraine and proposed to hold a global summit in July. "If Ukraine finds that the time has come to have such a meeting, that would be fantastic. And then Denmark would obviously like to host the meeting," Lokke Rasmussen told reporters on the sidelines of the EU Foreign Affairs Council in Brussels. A proposal in December by Ukraine to hold a peace summit in February this year never materialized. "For starters, we need to put some effort into creating a global commitment to organise such a meeting," Lokke Rasmussen said, adding that a summit should not just be attended by Ukraine's allies. "It is necessary to build interest and involvement from countries like India, Brazil and China," he said. "It is hard for me to see" Russia taking part, he added. Zelenskiy last year proposed a 10-point peace plan, which calls on Russia to withdraw all its troops from Ukraine and to respect Ukraine's territorial integrity. The details of its implementation should be discussed at the proposed peace summit, Zelenskiy's administration said in a statement on Sunday. Lokke Rasmussen said he welcomed a decision by Washington to support joint allied training programmes for Ukrainian pilots on F-16 fighter jets. "It makes sense to begin training of Ukrainian pilots as soon as possible," Lokke Rasmussen said, adding it was too early to say if Denmark would supply F-16s to Ukraine. (Reporting by Jacob Gronholt-Pedersen; additional reporting by Louise Breusch Rasmussen; editing by Jason Neely and Nick Macfie) A North Florida sheriffs deputy collapsed and died after struggling for more than 6 minutes to take a teen suspect into custody, according to the St. Johns County Sheriffs Office. It happened around 9 p.m. on Friday, May 19, west of St. Augustine, and the deputy was identified as Sgt. Michael Kunovich, the sheriffs office said in a news release. The sheriffs office has not released a cause of death, but the Officer Down Memorial Page reports the deputy suffered a heart attack. Vergilio Aguilar-Mendez, 18, faces a murder charge in connection with Kunovichs death, officials say. Kunovich made contact with a suspect he observed sitting in the dark outside a closed business near the 2500 block of (State Road) 16. He attempted a pat down to check for weapons and the suspect pulled away and attempted to flee, the sheriffs office said in a news release. Additional deputies arrived and the suspect continued to resist. While fighting on the ground, the subject attempted to grab Sergeant Kunovichs taser and continued to violently resist for approximately 6 minutes and 19 seconds. After he was handcuffed, the subject armed himself with a pocket knife, which was forcefully removed by deputies. Moments after the suspect was disarmed, Kunovich showed signs of medical distress and collapsed, officials said. Life-saving measures were attempted by the St. Johns County Fire Rescue and Flagler Health+ emergency medical personnel, but Kunovich was pronounced dead at a hospital, officials said. He was a father of two and served with the sheriffs office 25 years, including 5 years on the SWAT Team. Aguilar-Mendez has been charged with resisting arrest with violence and felony murder, officials said. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has also placed a detainer on him, which is done in cases in which suspects are believed to be removable non-citizens. He is being held without bond, jail records show. St. Augustine is about 40 miles south of Jacksonville. Watch as deputy helps deliver baby along Florida highway and has parents laughing A father and son on vacation were caught in a Florida rip current. Watch what happened Video shows chaos as overdosing driver rolls through rush-hour traffic, Florida cops say Thank you for supporting our journalism. This article is available exclusively for our subscribers, who help fund our work at the Chicago Tribune. Richard J. Monocchio became the Department of Housing and Urban Developments principal deputy assistant secretary for public and Indian housing Monday. He exited his role of 12 years as the executive director of the Housing Authority of Cook County on Wednesday. Richard J. Monocchio, who served as executive director of the Housing Authority of Cook County for 12 years, is being sworn in Monday as principal deputy assistant secretary at HUD. (Housing Authority of Cook County) As a life-long public servant, it is my sincere pleasure to return to HUD to serve the Office of Public and Indian Housing, Monocchio said in a news release. I am thrilled to bring my experience as a leader in public housing efforts for the City of Chicago, Cook County, and as an advisor in Congress to better the lives of the people HUD serves. Together, we will enhance the quality, affordability, and safety of housing across this country. Advertisement Monocchio previously worked for HUD under former President Bill Clintons administration. He also served as the buildings commissioner, aviation chief of staff and first deputy housing commissioner for the city of Chicago. Monocchio referred the Tribune to HUD when asked for an interview. Advertisement As of Monday morning, no new executive director for the Housing Authority of Cook County had been announced. Jon Duncan, the housing authoritys general counsel, said the board of commissioners will meet sometime this week to appoint an interim director. The Housing Authority of Cook County was established in 1946 and helps provide affordable housing to thousands of residents. A DeSantis-appointed board made this college ground zero for his education agenda. In less than 6 months, the college eliminated its diversity board and will now accept a Christian-focused SAT-alternative from high schools in the state. Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida signed the Parental Rights in Education bill, dubbed the "Don't Say Gay Bill" by critics, into law last year. (Douglas R. Clifford/Tampa Bay Times via AP, File) As part of his crusade against "woke" ideology, Gov. Ron DeSantis is focusing on a public college. In January, the governor made new appointments to the New College of Florida's board of trustees. The trustees have axed an office of equity and inclusion and accepted a Christian SAT alternative. Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida is taking his crusade against "woke ideology" to higher education, taking aim at a small public college known for having an LGBTQ+ friendly community. His target is the New College of Florida, a liberal-arts school with fewer than 700 students outside Sarasota, Florida. In January, DeSantis appointed six conservative education leaders to the school's board of 13 trustees. In February, the freshly-appointed board hired a new president, Richard Corcoran, according to the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. Corcoran previously served as Florida's education commissioner under DeSantis, pushing against teacher's unions and advocating for more parental influence in schools. Under Corcoran's leadership, the New College of Florida eliminated the school's "Office of Outreach and Inclusive Excellence" and would accept a faith-based SAT alternative test centered on the "great classical and Christian tradition," AP reported. Insider previously reported that the exam, known as the Classic Learning Test, was billed as being "steeped in content that was intellectually richer and more rigorous than other standardized tests and college-entrance exams" and was largely utilized in private schools and home-school environments. The test questions are structured similarly to SAT and ACT questions, with reading-comprehension questions that are geared toward faith-based texts and themes. Though the founder of the test, Jeremy Tate, said he didn't want the CLT to "be a Trumpy or conservative test," the CLT is currently accepted in place of SAT scores at several religiously-affiliated institutions throughout the state, including the Reformation Bible College and the Trinity Baptist College. The New College of Florida is the first public school in the state to accept the CLT as an alternative to standardized tests. The college's endorsement of the test paves the way to normalizing its usage over other tests regulated by the College Board, the not-for-profit organization that oversees the SATs. In a statement announcing the change, Corcoran said that SAT and ACT scores would be accepted alongside the CLT. "Not only is this a tremendous opportunity for New College, but with the growing popularity of the CLT among Florida homeschoolers and classically educated students, we believe this is an exciting step for educational choice and freedom in our state as well," Corcoran wrote. The Herald-Tribune reported that the changes had prompted protests from students, who hosted their own commencement celebration and booed Scott Atlas, who spoke during the official ceremony. Atlas was a special adviser in the Trump White House during the COVID-19 pandemic. Representatives for Gov. DeSantis and the New College of Florida did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Read the original article on Business Insider Lets just say it takes one to know one. For the expert of grabbing attention by shipping unsuspecting migrants to an island, launching high-profile battles against Disney, gender pronouns and drag queens, every grievance is a chance to make Gov. DeSantis the topic of conversation. Its just plain ironic that DeSantis and his office called it a stunt that one of the nations most prominent civil-rights organizations issued a travel advisory in light of Floridas targeting diversity efforts at state colleges, LGBTQ people and immigrants. Puh-leeze. The NAACP issued the advisory on Saturday cautioning visitors about coming to Florida because the state has engaged in an all-out attack on Black Americans. The document listed laws limiting classroom discussions about race, banning abortions, targeting the LGBTQ community, as well as a culture of fear, bullying and intimidation by public officials. This is a stunt to try to do that. Its a pure stunt and fine, if you want to waste your time on a stunt, thats fine. But Im not wasting my time on your stunts, DeSantis said in March when the NAACP Florida State conference voted unanimously to ask the national organization to issue the advisory. After the NAACPs Saturday announcement, DeSantis press secretary tweeted a GIF of his remarks. Other groups issue call Last Wednesday, the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), one of the oldest and largest Hispanic civil rights group in the United States, issued another warning. The group advised immigrants and their families to avoid the Sunshine State after DeSantis signed a bill that, among other things, cracked down on people who transport undocumented immigrants into the state. In April, Equality Florida, an LGBTQ advocacy group, issued a similar alert. These organizations are unlikely to persuade the thousands of visitors looking forward to trips to Florida over Memorial Day weekend to change their plans. Successful boycotts which is what the advisories appear call for without spelling it out are laser-focused and well organized, if not organic. In the early 1990s, Black businesses and organizations led a three-year boycott of Miami after elected officials snubbed South African leader Nelson Mandelas visit because he expressed support for Fidel Castro. Many Black-owned businesses refused to come to Miami and the National Bar Associations 1993 convention was among the events canceled. The boycott cost Miami about $50 million, according to The Washington Post, and forced white and Hispanic leaders to respond to demands for more representation from Black citizens. It worked because Black Miamians had specific goals and it ended when boycott leaders declared they were met. Success unlikely By comparison, asking for visitors to avoid the nations third-largest state anywhere from rural North Florida to South Florida communities like Miami Beach that often are at odds with the governor and the Legislature looks like a bigger lift. It also begs the question: How and when will these organizations declare victory or lift their advisories given that the laws DeSantis signed arent going to be rescinded anytime soon, if ever? Perhaps DeSantis has a point. This all could be a stunt. But it is small potatoes given the extremes to which DeSantis has led Florida. The real problem is how our governor has antagonized any group deemed the other, how he stoked racial animosity, appropriated a word long used by African Americans, woke, and transformed it into an enemy that America must destroy. The real stunt is how he has successfully distracted Floridians from issues that impact them the most, like skyrocketing property insurance premiums. If anything, these so-called stunts are a sign of exasperation, a sign that theres no compromise or empathy in DeSantis-land. They pull a page straight out of his own playbook: Do something over the top to earn a spot on prime time. If anything, they remind Americans still learning about DeSantis what Florida has become under this presumed presidential hopeful. How DeSantis Is Trying to Lure Older Voters Away From Trump As a 44-year-old member of Generation X, Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida might be an unlikely candidate to wrest his partys older voters away from former President Donald Trump, a 76-year-old baby boomer. But he is trying anyway. As DeSantis closes in on the official rollout of a 2024 campaign for president, he is seeking to make early inroads with this large, politically influential group of voters, and doing so by appealing to their pocketbook concerns. Sign up for The Morning newsletter from the New York Times He has focused especially on his efforts to lower prescription drug costs in Florida, including pushing the federal government for permission to import cheaper drugs from Canada. This month, he signed a bill that he says will bring down costs by regulating drug industry middlemen. We think that health care is too expensive, DeSantis said as he signed the bill in Palm Beach County. Prescription drugs are too expensive. In our health care system, he went on, you see a lot of bureaucracy, red tape. And people are making money off this system that arent really providing value to the system. As he travels the nation appearing at Republican fundraisers, the governor has added a line about the new law to his stump speech. The attempts to highlight drug costs come as Trump, who would be DeSantis main Republican rival, has attacked him for having supported plans to restructure Social Security and Medicare programs that are sacrosanct to many older Americans. (Trump himself has expressed similar sentiments in the past.) More than 60% of Republican and Republican-leaning voters are over 50 years old, according to the Pew Research Center. Older voters also powered DeSantis overwhelming reelection victory last year. He won 6 in 10 votes from those older than 65, according to exit polling. The issue of prescription drugs, the prices of which have surged in recent years, reflects one of DeSantis advantages in a primary: the ability to promote a lengthy list of laws he has signed this year. But talking about drug costs also illustrates the potential messaging challenges that DeSantis could face as a candidate. The governor, who considers himself a policy expert, has sometimes struggled when trying to make the topic tangible for voters. Drug costs are far drier and more complicated than the red meat he has fed to his base on conservative causes like defunding diversity programs at state schools, banning gender-transition care for minors and restricting the ability of immigrants living in the country illegally to find work and gain access to social services. And because he is signing so many new bills including 37 in a single day even some attentive Floridians are unaware of his latest attempt to bring down drug costs with legislation that regulates industry go-betweens called pharmacy benefit managers. Al Salvi, 61, is the kind of voter who would seem likely to know about the new law. Salvi, a cancer survivor who volunteers with AARP in Florida, traveled to Tallahassee from South Florida to testify about three bills during this years lawmaking session. In 2019, he appeared with DeSantis at an event promoting the initiative to import prescription drugs from Canada and other countries. But he hadnt heard about the law targeting pharmacy benefit managers. The hell is that? Salvi said in an interview. Every time I go to the pharmacy, I see a pharmacist. Ive never seen a pharmacy benefit manager. The problem with the messaging, he added, is that people are not going to understand it, because theyve got to know how the supply chain works. Pharmacy benefit managers work with drug manufacturers, insurance plans and pharmacies to provide drugs to patients at a discount. But patient advocates question whether benefit managers pass enough savings onto consumers. All 50 states have sought greater oversight of them, according to the National Academy for State Health Policy. Lobbyists for the industry dispute that benefit managers are not helping consumers. And they say that Floridas new law, which passed with broad bipartisan support, will not reduce drug costs. When DeSantis publicly discusses the issue, he can sometimes come off as opaque. He tends to talk briefly about how he believes that benefit managers hurt both consumers and neighborhood pharmacies, before diving into detailed explanations of practices that he disparages, using technical terms like arbitrage opportunity and vertically integrated entities. He often refers to pharmacy benefit managers by the acronym PBMs. The governors office says that if voters dont know about the policy changes, it is the news medias fault. Could it be possible that people miss the great things that Gov. DeSantis does because media like The New York Times choose instead to amplify only those angles and stories that promote their leftist agenda? DeSantis press secretary, Bryan Griffin, wrote in an email. (Griffin joined the governors political operation Monday.) We have had a news conference nearly every day for the last two weeks promoting the governors record number of legislative accomplishments from this session. The problem does not lie with us. Those who study the issue say they believe DeSantis plan could have a real impact on drug prices and transparency, particularly in comparison with Trumps efforts. When Trump was in the White House, he tried to end rebates for pharmacy benefit managers, arguing that they were driving up the prices of medicines. But he ultimately dropped the issue for most of his term. Trumps plan was substantial. But it ended up being more bark than bite, said Antonio Ciaccia, the CEO of 46brooklyn, an Ohio-based nonprofit group focused on drug-pricing education and research. DeSantis plan is more bite than bark. Under Floridas new law, a state advocate will field consumer and pharmacy complaints against the drug middlemen. And state regulators will have broad enforcement authority, including the ability to dole out hefty fines and even revoke a pharmacy benefit managers right to operate in Florida. The state will also be able to inspect contracts by benefit managers, who are involved in nearly every step of drug pricing. The three largest middlemen, CVS Caremark, Express Scripts and OptumRx, own a majority of the market. They are under common ownership with insurance plans and sometimes retail pharmacies. For example, CVS Health owns CVS Caremark, as well as the CVS retail pharmacy chain and the health insurance company Aetna. The oversight should help shine a light into the black box of drug prices, said state Sen. Jason Brodeur, an Orlando-area Republican who sponsored the bill. President Joe Biden, for his part, is popular with older voters and has pushed his own plans to cut drug prices. But his administration has blocked Florida and other states from bringing in Canadian drugs, leading DeSantis to sue the Food and Drug Administration last year. Florida passed its bill allowing for the import of Canadian drugs four years ago. Its been held up by the Biden administration and the FDA because they say its not safe to purchase drugs from Canada, DeSantis said recently. Theyre just running interference for the pharmaceutical companies. Carly Kempler, a spokesperson for the FDA, said the agency had a duty to ensure that the proposed importation would pose no additional risk to the publics health and safety while achieving a significant reduction in the cost of covered products to the American consumer. For now, DeSantis still appears to be workshopping his messaging on prescription drugs. At a stop in rural Wisconsin, he briefly mentioned the law on pharmacy benefit managers. Weve moved to hold Big Pharma accountable by shining a light and reining in things like pharmacy benefit managers that cause you to pay more for expensive medication, he said. The crowd reacted with mild applause, having burst into cheers moments earlier when DeSantis described a bill he signed allowing the death penalty for sexual battery against children. c.2023 The New York Times Company As gun reform continues to be debated, U.S. Sen. John Cornyn of Texas said politicians wont be on the same page. Cornyn visited Fort Worth Paschal High School on Monday for a tour and to see its security system. President Joe Biden signed the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act into law in June 2022 to expand school mental health resources and support school safety initiatives nationwide. Cornyn, a Republican, was one of the acts key players, and Fort Worth schools were among the first to receive grant funding from from the law. School officials plan to use $359,000 they received to buy specialized radios so school security officers are able to maintain better situation awareness. They also plan to install overhead paging systems, message screens, communications devices, and ports at 105 campuses to send emergency alerts to school phones. During his visit Monday, Cornyn got to see how the new technology worked as he visited with Fort Worth Superintendent Angelica M. Ramsey, Paschal principal Troy Troy Langston and school security director Daniel Garcia. Cornyn also got to see a classroom with one-way glass. The glass looked like a mirror from the outside when the lights inside were off, but the classroom was in full view when the lights were on except for the parts blocked by a big black suitcase. Its very impressive, Cornyn said. You know, it kind of makes me sad that its necessary. But it is necessary particularly in these times were living in and with the bad experiences weve had. Cornyns visit comes almost a year after the mass shooting in Uvalde that killed 19 children and two teachers at Robb Elementary and falls as Texas lawmakers meet in Austin in the final days of the legislative session, scheduled to end May 29. Texas has not passed red flag laws or a raised the age to buy semiautomatic rifles. A Texas House committee advanced a bill that would have raised the minimum age to purchase a semiautomatic rifle from 18 to 21 in the days following the shooting in Allen, but lawmakers did not place it on the calendar for consideration before the May 9 deadline. A group of 30 Paschal students walked out of their classrooms May 12 to protest gun violence, particularly the May 6 shooting at Allen Premium Outlets that killed eight people and a January shooting outside the nearby Whataburger that killed 17-year-old Paschal student Zechariah Trevino. Cornyn said every time a shooting happens like in Uvalde or Allen, people ask whats missing and what needs to happen to make a change. His answer, he said, is not to take semiautomatic weapons away. He wants to focus on the background check system. After tragedies, Cornyn said people usually say, Do something. Cornyn said he wanted to make sure he abided by the Second Amendment as he tried to get at the problem, which he characterized as people who arent following the law or those who may struggle with their mental health. Its not easy to find bipartisan consensus in this area, because so much of this is that people are so polarized, Cornyn said. But you know, politics is called the art of the possible for reason. We cant just say, Well, we cant do anything, were not going to try. Thats unacceptable. So were trying to learn from each of these incidents. And even as the issue continues to be politicized, Cornyn doesnt have hope politicians will get on the same page. Were never going to be on the same page, Cornyn said. But its about getting critical mass. Its about getting things done and, like I said, its the art of the possible. Durham report. AP Photo/Jon Elswick Special counsel John Durham this week issued his final report after a four-year review of the FBI's decision to investigate the 2016 Trump campaign's possible ties to Russia, concluding that the agency's basis for launching the inquiry was "seriously flawed." Durham said the FBI relied on "raw, unanalyzed and uncorroborated intelligence" when it applied for electronic surveillance search warrants against Trump campaign aides, and rushed into a politically explosive inquiry based on flimsy suspicions that Trump colluded with Moscow to boost his chances in the 2016 presidential election. Durham said FBI agents dismissed "information that ran counter to the narrative of a Trump/Russia collusive relationship." But the report lacked major new revelations about the Russia investigation known as "Crossfire Hurricane" that the FBI opened after an Australian diplomat reported that Trump campaign adviser George Papadopoulos had boasted to him that Russia had dirt on Hillary Clinton, who was Trump's Democratic opponent. Durham made no new charges, wrapping up his work with a mixed and limited record: One guilty plea from a little-known FBI employee, and losses in the only two criminal cases prosecutors took to trial. Then-President Donald Trump, whose attorney general William Barr appointed Durham, had predicted Durham would uncover the "crime of the century." Trump's allies, too, had expected Durham to find proof of wrongdoing by intelligence and law enforcement officials. Did Durham deliver evidence that the FBI's investigation of Trump was partisan, or was Durham's investigation itself a politically motivated attempt to clean up Trump's reputation? 'A partisan FBI' Durham "makes clear that a partisan FBI became a funnel for disinformation from the Hillary Clinton campaign through a secret investigation the bureau never should have launched," said The Wall Street Journal in an editorial. "The pretext for the probe a random conversation between unpaid Trump adviser George Papadopoulos and an Australian diplomat was so flimsy that FBI agents complained it was 'thin' and British intelligence was incredulous." The report shows that many factors led the FBI astray, from the "bias" of investigators like former agent Peter Strzok to the agency's "willful" disregarding of indications that Clinton's campaign was using it to spread lies about Trump, like the ones in the shady Steele dossier. It will take years to "undo the damage" of the Russia collusion hoax, "but the Durham accounting is a start." Trump's "fantasies of Durham prosecuting and locking up a coterie of deep state agents who orchestrated the 'crime of the century' against him are just that fantasies but the civil liberties problems inside the FBI are very real," said C.J. Ciaramella at Reason. Durham's investigation "highlighted serious deficiencies" with the FBI's "sloppy" warrant applications before the "highly secretive Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, which is supposed to provide oversight of surveillance activities by U.S. law enforcement and intelligence agencies." Other reports, including a 2019 "bombshell" from the Justice Department Office of Inspector General, have corroborated Durham's finding that the FBI botched applications to "a court with no outside review or oversight," and that should be "alarming" to us all. All smoke and no fire "Rarely has a government report taken so long in years and pages to tell the public so little," said the Los Angeles Times in an editorial. The nation waited four years for Durham to uncover what Trump promised was a criminal conspiracy to derail his campaign, and the best Durham could produce was "a ponderous, 316-page tome that interminably chews over information that has long been in the public record." Anyone who "has the time and patience to wade through the report" will only find a few familiar, petty complaints about FBI procedure. But "Durham's mission was always questionable. After the FBI received a tip from an Australian diplomat that the Trump campaign had advance knowledge of the Russia-linked hacking of Democratic Party emails, the bureau had no responsible choice but to investigate the matter." Durham's report shined a light on a troubling investigation all right his own, said Charlie Savage in The New York Times. There were "real world flaws" in the Russia investigation, but the Justice Department watchdog, Michael E. Horowitz, had already gone over those in detail. Barr appointed Durham to find something more a smoking gun proving Donald Trump's baseless claim there was a "deep-state" conspiracy to take him down. Barr set up Durham to fail, and he did, ultimately settling for scolding the FBI when he uncovered no crimes, and complaining of "confirmation bias" because he couldn't uncover political bias. Durham's report did reveal one problem that must be addressed. This country needs to find a way to "shield sensitive law enforcement investigations from politics without creating prosecutors who can run amok, never to be held to account." You may also like Italy's Mount Etna erupts, forcing airport closure Dianne Feinstein and the problem of America's aging politicians College student who tracks Elon Musk's jet now doing the same with DeSantis Blurred shot of DW drum kit with Paiste cymbals Ever since Foo Fighters announced their intentions to continue as a band following the tragic passing of drummer, Taylor Hawkins, one question has remained unaddressed: who will be playing drums in the regrouped line-up? Months of speculation has resulted in rumours of multiple strong candidates taking on the role - Rufus Taylor (The Darkness); Atom Willard (Rocket From The Crypt, Angels and Airwaves); Jorma Vik (Eagles of Death Metal, The Bronx) are just three drummers who have been tipped for the hotseat. However, one name that has been a constant throughout is Josh Freese, whos drummed for everyone from Sting to Michael Buble (so many, in fact, that he even forgot some of the records he's played on). Freese, a veteran session drummer who has also played with rock heavyweights including Nine Inch Nails, Evanescence, was also a founding member of A Perfect Circle and counts Devo and The Vandals amongst his regular gigs. During both the London and LA Taylor Hawkins tribute concerts last year, Freese put in some heroic performances, teaming-up with Justin Hawkins, Dave Grohl and Wolfgang Van Halen on Van Halen covers, Hot For Teacher, On Fire and Panama, as well as joining Foo Fighters for a number of their original songs. For many (including us), this immediately cemented Freeses position as a front-runner, if-and-when the band announced their future plans. Now, just hours before Foo Fighters will stream Preparing Music For Concerts a free-to-watch live performance captured at the bands Studio 606 where the identity of who will be playing drums is set to be revealed Paiste cymbals (the brand Freese plays) has taken to social media with a teaser that more or less confirms the news. A post shared by Paiste Cymbals (@paistecymbals) A photo posted by on Who is the new Foo Fighters drummer? Find out May 21 12:00 noon PST. says the post, plugging a link to watch the event via Veeps. Crucially, though, is the accompanying picture which shows an intentionally blurred shot of what looks like an orange/copper kit in Freeses often-used one-up/two-down configuration. Despite the blur, the lugs clearly resemble DWs distinctive Turret design, and this being Paistes post, we dont need to see the cymbals to know what brand they are. Of course, this doesnt necessarily mean that Josh Freese is now a full-time Foo Fighter, or that he has contributed to the bands new music, however were expecting to see Freese feature on the streamed event later today, and most likely the bands packed schedule for the rest of 2023. Foo Fighters: Preparing music For Concerts will air today at 20:00 BST, 12:00 PST and 15:00 EST. To tune in, click here. Dignity denied as more than 3,000 schools in South Africa still use pit toilets Children follow school manager, Florina Ledwaba, toward pit toilets at the Jupiter Pre-School and Creche, in the rural village of Ga-Mashashane, near Polokwane, South Africa, Thursday May 4, 2023. Human rights groups have been pressuring the government for a decade to get rid of pit toilets in schools, with the issue given added urgency by several tragic cases of young children falling into the pits and drowning. (AP Photo/Denis Farrell) GA-MASHASHANE, South Africa (AP) At a high school in rural northern South Africa, more than 300 students and their teachers share three toilets, and that woefully lopsided figure isn't the worst problem. The three toilets are pit latrines, effectively 10-feet-deep holes in the ground that students line up during a lunch break to use. The pit toilets at Seipone Secondary School in the village of Ga-Mashashane at least are covered by white toilet seats and enclosed by brick structures. Some of the pit toilets still used at more than 3,300 schools in poor, mostly rural areas across South Africa aren't. It's a shameful situation for a country referred to as the most developed in Africa, and an indicator of its profound problems with poverty and inequality, say human rights groups pushing the South African government to do away with the sub-standard facilities in schools forever. Unhygienic, the latrines also present a much more direct danger. The sight that greeted James Komape one day in January 2014 at the nearby Chebeng village is horrific by every measure. He'd received a phone call asking him to rush to his 5-year-old son's pre-school. The little boy, Michael, was found dead, drowned at the bottom of a pit latrine. Michael's body hadn't even been removed from the pool of water mixed with feces and urine at the bottom of the pit he fell into when his father got there. What hurt me a lot about Michaels incident is that the people who were there saw that he had fallen in the toilet, but they did not remove him," said James Komape. They said they were waiting for the responsible authorities to come and remove him. I told them that if they had removed him quickly maybe he could have survived. It was Michael Komape's first week at a new school and his dreadful death incensed many South Africans. His family took the Limpopo province's education department to court and won their case seeking damages. Later, court orders compelled the South African government to urgently address the issue of pit toilets in schools. But the tragedy of Michael Komape has not been unique. Other small children have also drowned in pit latrines in the near-decade since, one girl as recently as last month, another boy in March. There are no reliable figures to say how many children have lost their lives in pit toilets. The latrines, which have an outlet that is used to drain them periodically, are cheaper and more practical for poorer schools because they dont rely on a constant supply of running water. At the Jupiter Pre-School and Creche in the same Limpopo province where Michael died, children as young as 3 are still using pit toilets that have no proper seat but rather a hole carved out of a concrete slab that opens to the pit below. These are not good because of possible accidents of children falling in the toilet," the school's manager, Florina Ledwaba, said. We have to follow them (the children) every time. What if they go without you seeing them? They are not safe at all. The Equal Education human rights group has been inspecting pit toilets in South African schools. Tiny Lebelo, an organizer with the group, expresses frustration over an issue that should be a top priority for government the safety of children at their schools and still hasn't been resolved. The South African government promised to replace all pit toilets at schools nationwide by March 31 this year. It hasnt happened. Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga said there are still 3,398 schools using pit latrines and the deadline to eradicate them has been shifted to 2025. Lebelo said it speaks about how we perceive people in rural areas. What we are saying about them is that they don't deserve dignity, that's why we're not going to provide you with a basic toilet. We're not going to give that to you because already you've been using it (pit toilets), she said. So, what's another year, or two years, or 10, or decades? We're saying to them you're not worthy of dignity. Section27 is another human rights group pushing for the pit toilets to be eradicated for safe and decent sanitation facilities. Section27 supported Michael Komape's family in their legal action against the local and national education departments and they succeeded in getting a court ruling that authorities must provide updated information every six months on schools in the Limpopo province using pit toilets and the plans to replace them. Section27 called its system to track the government's work The Michael Komape Sanitation Progress Monitor and it is able to use the information to hold the education department accountable. The department has made some progress by reducing schools using pit toilets in Limpopo from 363 in 2021 to 210 schools now. But James Komape said the government hasn't kept its side of an agreement to remove pit toilets and many children are still in real danger. At the Seipone Secondary School, the pit toilets are officially called ventilation improved toilets, and known as VIP toilets. They are anything but. There is anger and now pushback from students, too. Our health also matters, (we) cannot use toilets like these," said Tebogo Makgoka, a 17-year-old student representative. ___ More AP Africa news: https://apnews.com/hub/africa New usernames aren't the only change coming to the popular chat app Discord, now used by 150 million people every month. The company is also testing a suite of parental controls that would allow for increased oversight of Discord's youngest users, TechCrunch has learned and Discord confirmed. In a live test running in Discord's iOS app in the U.S., the company introduced a new "Family Center" feature, where parents will be able to configure tools that allow them to see the names and avatars of their teen's recently added friends, the servers the teen has joined or participated in and the names and avatars of users they've directly messaged or engaged with in group chats. However, Discord clarifies in an informational screen, parents will not be able to view the content of their teen's messages or calls in order to respect their privacy. This approach, which toes a fine line between the need for parental oversight and a minor's right to privacy, is similar to how Snapchat implemented parental controls in its app last year. Like Discord's system, Snapchat only allows parents insights into who their teen is talking to and friending, not what they've typed or the media they've shared. Users who are part of the Discord test will see the new Family Center hub linked under the app's User Settings section, below the Privacy & Safety and Profiles sections. From here, parents are able to read an overview of the Family Center features and click a button to "Get Started" when they're ready to set things up. Image Credits: Discord screenshot via Watchful.ai Discord explains on this screen that it "built Family Center to provide you with more content on how your teen uses Discord so you can work together on building positive online behaviors." It then details the various parental controls, which will allow them to see who their teen is chatting with and friending, and which servers they join and participate in. Similar to TikTok, parents can scan a QR code provided by the teen to put the account under their supervision. Image Credits: Discord screenshot via Watchful.ai The screenshots were discovered by app intelligence firm Watchful.ai. In addition, a handful of users had posted their own screenshots on Twitter when they encountered the new experience earlier this year, or had simply remarked on the feature when coming across it in the app. We reached Discord for comment on the tests, showing them some screenshots from the test. The company confirmed the development but didn't offer a firm commitment as to when or if the parent control feature would actually roll out. "Were always working to improve our platform and keep users safe, particularly our younger users," a Discord spokesperson said. "Well let you know if and when something comes of this work," they added. The company declined to answer our questions about the reach of the tests, or whether it planned to offer the tools outside the U.S., among other things. Image Credits: Discord screenshot via Watchful.ai Though Discord today is regularly used by a younger, Gen Z crowd, thanks to its roots in being a home for gamers, it's often left out of the larger conversation around the harms to teens caused by social media use. Meanwhile, as execs from Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snap, YouTube and TikTok have had to testify before Congress on this topic, Discord has been able to sit on the sidelines. Hoping to get ahead of expected regulations, most major social media companies have since rolled out parental control features for their apps, if they didn't already offer such tools. YouTube and Instagram announced plans for parental controls in 2021, and Instagram finally launched them in 2022 with other Meta apps to follow. Snapchat also rolled out parental controls in 2022. And TikTok, which already had parental controls before the congressional inquiries began, has been beefing them up in recent months. But with the lack of regulation at the federal level, several U.S. states have begun their own laws around social media use, including new restrictions on social media apps in states like Utah and Montana, as well as broader legislation to protect minors, like California's Age Appropriate Design Code Act, which goes into effect next year. Discord, so far, has flown under the radar, despite the warnings from child safety experts, law enforcement and the media about the dangers the app poses to minors, amid reports that groomers and sexual predators have been using the service to target children. The nonprofit organization, the National Center on Sexual Exploitation, even added Discord to its "Dirty Dozen List" over its failures to "adequately address the sexually exploitative content and activity on its platform," it says. The organization specifically calls out Discord's lack of meaningful age verification technology, insufficient moderation, and inadequate safety settings. Today, Discord offers its users access to an online safety center that guides users and parents on how to manage a safe Discord account or server, but it doesn't go so far as to actually provide parents with tools to monitor their child's use of the service or block them from joining servers or communicating with unknown persons. The new parental controls won't address the latter two concerns, however, but they are at least an acknowledgment that some sort of parental controls are needed. This is a shift from Discord's earlier position on the matter, as the company told The Wall Street Journal in early 2021 its philosophy was to put users first, not their parents, and said it wasn't planning on adding such a feature. (Reuters) - Walt Disney Co on Monday dismissed the idea of building miniparks in the United States, saying the media company would instead spend on its major theme parks and cruise ships. "Focusing on our core assets is where we should be spending most of our opportunity," Disney parks chief Josh D'Amaro said at a J.P. Morgan conference, in response to a question on whether the company planned to join Comcast Corp's Universal in building small parks. An ongoing legal dispute between Disney and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has recently led some other U.S. states to express interest in possible investments from the House of Mickey Mouse. Former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley last month tweeted that "my home state would happily accept" Disney's theme park jobs and investment "if you want to leave Florida." Earlier this month, Disney shelved plans to build a $1 billion corporate campus in Florida that would have housed 2,000 employees. It has sued DeSantis, a possible Republican presidential nominee, for allegedly "weaponizing" state government in retaliation for its criticism of a Florida law banning classroom discussion of gender identity with younger children. The political developments have not, however, impacted Disney's business results, said D'Amaro, who heads the Parks, Experiences and Products business at the company. He also hinted Disney could open a theme park in the city state of Singapore - the home port for its new cruise ship. Running a cruise ship in that region "gives you some indication of how guests are receiving the brand and what the opportunities might be going forward," he said. Disney shares were down 0.5% in a broadly stronger market. (Reporting by Samrhitha Arunasalam in Bengaluru and Dawn Chmielewski in Los Angeles; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli) [Source] Disney is now looking for an actor to play the live-action version of Moana, the titular character of the hit 2016 animated film of the same name. According to a recent casting call obtained by The DisInsider, Disney is looking for a 16-year-old actor to play the film's heroic, bold, adventurous, [and] never selfish protagonist who is also determined to fulfill the quest of her ancestors and save her people. Despite her fathers protests, and emboldened by her Grammas encouragement, the intuitive and courageous Moana embarks on a dangerous quest, sailing beyond the reef and using her strength and intelligence to overcome epic obstacles along the way, the casting call reportedly states. While Dwayne Johnson and Aulii Cravalho are both on board as producer and executive producer, respectively, only Johnson will be reprising his role in the live-action adaptation. More from NextShark: 'Puss in Boots: The Last Wish' director reveals iconic Japanese films that inspired his sequel Cravalho, the 22-year-old actor who voiced Moana in the 2016 animated film, confirmed in an Instagram video uploaded on Friday that she would not be returning for the role. When I was cast as Moana at 14, it wonderfully changed my life and started my career. In this live-action retelling, I will not be reprising the role. I believe it is absolutely vital that casting accurately represents the characters and stories we want to tell. I cant wait to find the next actress to portray Moanas courageous spirit, undeniable wit and emotional strength. https://www.instagram.com/p/CsbkPgSAxRa/?hl=en More from NextShark: Squid Game star Jung Ho-yeon becomes first Korean featured on Time100 Next list The adaptation is set to be produced by Johnson along with partners Dany Garcia and Hiram Garcia through their Seven Bucks Productions. In a statement following the films announcement in early April, Johnson said he was deeply humbled and overcome with gratitude to do a live-action project for Moana. This story is my culture, and this story is emblematic of our peoples grace and warrior strength. I wear this culture proudly on my skin and in my soul, and this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to reunite with Maui, inspired by the mana and spirit of my late grandfather, High Chief Peter Maivia, is one that runs very deep for me. More from NextShark: Everything Everywhere All at Once wins 7 Oscars, including Best Picture https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cHXB-5woeHw Although Disney has emphasized the potential candidates strong singing skills, the studio is encouraging anyone with or without acting experience to audition for the role. Those who are interested can send their details, such as their name, a recent photo and their location, to moana.casting@disneympp.com. More from NextShark: Asian Americans are still rarely represented in video games here are 10 of our favorite characters Thank you for supporting our journalism. This article is available exclusively for our subscribers, who help fund our work at the Chicago Tribune. A vacant lot on the south campus of the old Marshall Fields warehouse is set to be converted into film studio space for the Fields Studios near the corner of Diversey Avenue and Pulaski Road in Chicago May 19, 2023. The Field's warehouse building is in the background. (Chris Sweda/Chicago Tribune) Knickpoint Ventures held a topping-off ceremony Monday for The Fields Studios, what the company bills as Chicagos first purpose-built film studio, at the former Marshall Fields warehouse campus on the Northwest Side. The developer bought the site in 2018 and plans to complete construction and open nine soundstages, along with creative and production offices, by early next year. Zain Koita, the companys founder and managing partner, said the 21-acre site at 4000 W. Diversey Ave. in the Avondale neighborhood, built in 1928 but closed by Macys in 2008, will once again provide thousands of high-paying jobs. Advertisement This has always been an economic driver of the neighborhood, except for the past 10 years, and our goal was to return it to that state, he said. The film industry is generally unionized from top to bottom, and thats great for Chicago. Vacant land just south of the old Marshall Fields warehouse, foreground, is set to be converted into film studio space for the Fields Studios campus near the corner of Diversey Avenue and Pulaski Road in Chicago on May 19, 2023. (Chris Sweda/Chicago Tribune) Chicago has long been one of Hollywoods favorite locations, and the rapid expansion of television streaming services, especially during the pandemic, led to audiences craving more content. But existing studios such as Cinespace Chicago Film Studios in the North Lawndale neighborhood on the West Side cant keep up with demand. Advertisement Cinespace has been full for a long time, so places where more productions can take place and people go to work is a very good thing, said Brenda Webb, executive director of Chicago Filmmakers, a nonprofit that trains aspiring filmmakers for jobs in the industry. Studios all say, Wed love to shoot more in Chicago, but you dont have enough stages. Gov. J.B. Pritzker said generous state tax benefits and subsidies encourage producers to shoot movies and television shows in Illinois, including Chicago Fire, Chicago PD, Chicago Med, FXs hit The Bear, among many others, and kick-started The Fields Studios, as well as other studios set to open in the next few years. Part of the interior of the old Marshall Fields warehouse at the corner of Diversey Avenue and Pulaski Road will be converted into office space for the future Fields Studios, being built both north and south of the old warehouse. (Chris Sweda/Chicago Tribune) This project is an economic growth engine for Illinois, reenergizing our growing film industry and supporting growth across industries, Pritzker said in a statement. From the construction of the space to the workforce training opportunities, to the estimated $1.5 billion in new spending as a result of The Fields presence in Chicago, this studio and the work it will attract will bring revenue into Illinois and help cement our place in the national film and TV scene. State officials said film production expenditures in Illinois hit nearly $700 million in 2022, a new record and up from $560 million in 2019, resulting in more than 15,000 jobs. In March, Pritzker extended the states film production tax credit, created in 2008, until 2033. Koita said Knickpoint did more than convert unused warehouse space. Its soundstages were designed from the ground up with input from film producers and will include one of 36,000 square feet, which would be the states largest. And each production will tap local businesses to supply catering, construction, services, set design and other services. A new building is constructed on the north campus of the Fields Studios adjacent to the old Marshall Fields warehouse near the corner of Diversey Avenue and Pulaski Road in Chicago on May 19, 2023. (Chris Sweda/Chicago Tribune) The size and scale of this is going to be much different than what the market has today, he said. This will have a tremendous ripple effect throughout the economy. The 1.5-million-square-foot complex is already occupied by local grocer Cermak Fresh Market, as well as 123 rental apartments, giving studio employees opportunities to live on-site, added Koita. The new studios upper floors will provide 200,000 square feet of creative and production space, with another 50,000 square feet set aside for other retailers such as food and beverage operators. Were a real campus with a real urban feel, he said. Advertisement Webb said projects like The Fields Studio and Cinespace are creating a new industry for Chicago and stop many young people from migrating to Los Angeles or New York. I graduated from film school in the 1970s, and back then everybody said if you wanted a job, you had to leave Chicago, so this is something long dreamed for. (Bloomberg) -- Junior doctors in England will stage another 72-hour walkout over pay, as they warn of a summer of industrial action after talks with the government broke down. Most Read from Bloomberg The strike will take place between June 14-17, the British Medical Association said in a statement late Monday. The trade union, which represents doctors in the UK, said the Department for Health and Social Care had given an offer that wasnt credible or even reasonable. A government spokesperson described the announcement as surprising and deeply disappointing and said the strike will be hugely disruptive for patients. They said their offer which the BMA says is a 5% raise was fair and reasonable and that talks had been constructive. The possibility of fresh industrial action threatens to undermine Prime Minister Rishi Sunaks promise to shorten waiting lists for the National Health Service. Britains economy lost another half a million working days to strikes in March amid the most severe round of industrial action in nearly four decades the UK has now lost more than 3.5 million days to walkouts since the Office for National Statistics began collecting the data last June. While the BMA said it was willing to continue talking and expects to meet Health Secretary Steve Barclay on Wednesday, the government said strikes must be paused in order to continue negotiations. If the Government doesnt change their position, we will strike throughout the summer, Vivek Trivedi and Robert Laurenson, co-chairs of the BMA Junior Doctors Committee, said. This means we will call a minimum of three days of action every month for the duration of our mandate for industrial action. Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2023 Bloomberg L.P. Does God exist? Only half of Americans say a definite yes Only half of Americans now say they are sure God exists. That finding, from the closely watched General Social Survey, stands out among several nuggets of new data about religion in America. Not quite 50 percent of Americans say they have no doubt about the existence of God, according to the 2022 survey, released Wednesday by NORC, the University of Chicago research organization. As recently as 2008, the share of sure-believers topped 60 percent. Thirty-four percent of Americans never go to church, NORC found, the highest figure recorded in five decades of surveys. Another new report, from the Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI), said that 27 percent of Americans claimed no religion in 2022, up from 19 percent in 2012 and 16 percent in 2006. The PRRI report tracks a historic decline in the nations Christian population, especially among white people. The share of Americans who identify as white evangelical Protestants has dwindled from 23 percent to 14 percent since 2006. The share of mainline white Protestants has fallen from 18 percent to 14 percent. White Catholics have declined from 16 percent of the population to 13 percent. That is not to say Americans are not spiritual. Nearly three-quarters of people believe in life after death, NORC data show. That number has remained relatively stable over the decades. Only 7 percent of people do not believe in God. Belief is very stubborn in America today, said Ryan Burge, a political scientist at Eastern Illinois University who studies faith. Church membership, church attendance and belief in God all declined in the pandemic years, but the trend away from organized worship goes back generations. We have a data point from the 1950s where only 3 percent of people said they had no [religious] affiliation, said Mark Chaves, Anne Firor Scott Distinguished Professor of Sociology at Duke University. It got up to 8 or 9 percent in the 1990s, and its sort of accelerated since then. Religious scholars consider NORC the gold standard of surveys on faith. The General Social Survey found 29 percent of Americans claiming no religion in 2021, up from 23 percent in 2018 and 5 percent in 1972. During the pandemic 2020, the share of Americans who belonged to a church, synagogue or mosque dipped below half for possibly the first time in American history. Gallup polling had measured church membership since the Depression, when more than 70 percent of Americans belonged to some house of worship. Mainline Protestantism, the backbone of faith in many American communities, is collapsing, Burge wrote in a recent article on the decline of Baptists, Methodists and other denominations. Since the 1970s, the share of Americans who identify with Protestant denominations has declined from nearly 1 in 3 to around 1 in 10. Decades ago, nearly every American child was raised in some religion. Today, nearly 15 percent of the population reports no religious upbringing. Theyre not saying night prayers, morning prayers, taking their kids to church, said Thomas Groome, a professor in theology and religious education at Boston College. Whatever religion we have going forward will be by persuasion and choice and not by inherited identity. While many religion trend lines are sinking, one key population is rising: nondenominational Protestants, or nons, who worship outside the mainline of Protestantism. The population of nons has risen from next to nothing in the 1970s to nearly 15 percent of Americans. Nondenominational Protestants are the second-largest religious group in America today, after Catholics, Burge said. Many nons attend megachurches, large congregations that have risen up outside the mainline tradition. They might be denominational, but you wouldnt know it, Burge said. A lot of these churches are called the Arc, or the Bridge. They may not advertise their denomination. Worshippers perceive them as independent of the nations religious establishment. We dont like institutions, whether it be banks or unions or big business, Burge said. And those nondenominational churches are almost always startups. Its a guy in his basement. But the surging megachurch population is not enough to reverse the downward trend in churchgoing. On NORC surveys, nondenominational Protestants are sprinkled across two categories of religious preference, both in decline. To some extent, declining faith is a generational trend. The share of Americans who claim no religion rises with progressively younger age groups: 9 percent of the Silent Generation, 18 percent of baby boomers, 25 percent of Generation X, 29 percent of millennials and 34 percent of Generation Z, according to data from the Survey Center on American Life. But the rise in nonreligious Americans is too steep to be fully explained in terms of generational replacement; that is, religious old people dying and secular young people taking their place, said David Campbell, the Packey J. Dee Professor of American Democracy at the University of Notre Dame. Campbell and other scholars suspect many Americans are simply becoming more open about rejecting religion, an admission once clouded in stigma. It used to be that the religiously uninvolved people, when you asked them what religion they are, they would still say, Yeah, Im Catholic, Im Presbyterian, whatever, Chaves said. Today, the same Americans are taking the next step of saying, Im nothing. Changing societal norms may also explain why half of Americans can now say they arent sure there is a God. Stigma remains, however, around the idea of rejecting God altogether. The vast majority of Americans still report they believe in God without reservation, with some doubts, or at least some of the time. If not God per se, they believe in some higher power. True nonbelievers atheists account for only 7 percent of the population. Agnostics, who say the existence of God is unknowable, make up another 7 percent. Belief in God endures even among Americans who claim not to be religious: Roughly half of them believe in some sort of creator, Burge said. Assuming that church attendance is the measure of faith, that notion is becoming obsolete, Groome said. Weve always used church attendance as the hallmark of the faith in our people, and I dont think theyre synonymous. Faith and churchgoing remain particularly strong among Republicans. Forty-four percent of Republicans attend church at least once a week, compared to 29 percent of Democrats, Pew data shows. Most atheists are Democrats. But religion also remains relatively strong among Black and Hispanic Americans. Both groups are more likely than whites to attend church regularly. Thats a complication for the Democrats, actually, Campbell said, because Black and Hispanic voters remain predominantly Democratic. Despite the steady decline in religiosity, the United States remains a very religious country by world standards, Chaves said. In one global comparison, Pew Research found 19 percent of Americans claimed no religion. The figure was higher in Germany (26 percent), Britain (31 percent), France (32 percent), China (52 percent) and Japan (60 percent), but lower in Russia (15 percent), Italy (13 percent) and India (less than 1 percent). For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. Don't delay reforms to prepare for next pandemic -WHO chief Don't delay reforms to prepare for next pandemic -WHO chief By Emma Farge GENEVA (Reuters) - The head of the World Health Organization urged countries on Monday to carry out reforms needed to prepare for the next pandemic, hailing their "historic" decision to accept a major budget hike at the U.N. agency's annual assembly. Speaking at the assembly weeks after ending the global emergency status for the COVID-19 pandemic, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said it was time to advance negotiations on preventing the next pandemic. "We cannot kick this can down the road," the WHO director-general said in a major address to the agency's member states, warning that the next pandemic was bound to "come knocking". "If we do not make the changes that must be made, then who will? And if we do not make them now, then when?" he said. The 10-day annual World Health Assembly in Geneva, which coincides with the WHO's 75th anniversary, is set to address global health challenges including future pandemics, eradicating polio and supporting steps to ease Ukraine's health emergency triggered by Russia's invasion. The WHO's 194 member states are now drafting a pandemic treaty which is up for adoption at next year's assembly. "A commitment from this generation (to a pandemic accord) is important, because it is this generation that experienced how awful a small virus could be," said Tedros. At the same meeting, countries approved a $6.83 billion budget for 2024-25 - a decision that tested national commitments to fixing a WHO funding model which was seen as too small and overly reliant on the vagaries of donors. The budget includes a 20% increase in member states' mandatory fees under a preliminary agreement reached last year in exchange for a commitment to reforms including on budget, governance and finance policies. U.S. Assistant Secretary for International Organization Affairs Michele J. Sison said future increases would be "contingent upon continued reform progress". Central and South American countries also called for the WHO to address what they described as chronic underfunding of their region. (Reporting by Emma Farge; editing by Friederike Heine, William Maclean and Mark Heinrich) An El Paso man was killed when the car he was riding in was slammed into by a suspected repeat drunken-driver who allegedly ran a red light at an intersection in the far East Side over the weekend, police officials said. Valeria Mena, 24, was arrested on a charge of intoxicated manslaughter in connection with the death of Steven Anthony Hernandez, 28, after a two-car collision at 2:53 a.m. Sunday at the intersection of Joe Battle and Edgemere boulevards, police said. Mena was driving a black 2020 Jeep Wrangler northbound on Joe Battle when she allegedly entered the Edgemere intersection at a red light, police said in a news statement. Valeria Mena was arrested Sunday on a charge of intoxicated manslaughter in a two-car collision that killed Steven Anthony Hernandez, 28, at the intersection of Joe Battle and Edgemere boulevards. A white 2010 Honda Accord Crosstour driven by Destiny Anastasia Richardson, 24, of Northeast El Paso, was heading east on Edgemere when the Honda was struck on its passenger side by the Wrangler, police said. Hernandez, of East El Paso, was riding in the Honda's passenger seat and was killed in the collision. Hernandez was an aspiring local musician who went by the name of Stevie Suave, who "loved his music, family and friends," stated a GoFundMe page created by a woman who identified herself as his sister. Mena, a resident of the East Side, was allegedly found to be intoxicated and was arrested on a charge of intoxication manslaughter, police said. Mena is being held at the El Paso County Jail in Downtown on a $76,000 bond. Court records: Driver had past DWI arrests El Paso County court and jail records show Mena with two previous arrests for driving while intoxicated, in January 2020 and May 6 of last year. The 2020 misdemeanor DWI case was dismissed after she completed a year of community supervision, including attending DWI school, court records showed. Courts: Former Fort Bliss soldier sentenced to probation in fatal drunk-driving crash Last October, Mena was given a suspended sentence of one year in jail after she pleaded guilty to the second misdemeanor DWI charge. The sentence included 15 months of probation, 60 hours of community service, a $500 fine and a vehicle ignition interlock device, according to court records. It has not been disclosed by police if the Wrangler driven by Mena was equipped with the interlock device, which is intended to prevent intoxicated persons from driving. The Joe Battle collision was one of four traffic-related deaths in El Paso over the weekend, including a driver killed in a crash while fleeing from police in the Lower Valley and a woman and child killed in a two-vehicle collision on Dyer Street in the Northeast. The Joe Battle/Edgemere crash was the 23rd traffic-related death in El Paso this year compared with 28 at this time last year, according to police statistics. Traffic safety 'Click It or Ticket' campaign begins The unofficial start of summer with the upcoming Memorial Day holiday next week also means the start of annual summer traffic safety efforts. The Texas Department of Transportation's Click It or Ticket campaign began Monday to urge drivers and passengers to wear safety belts. Crime: El Paso man, 20, arrested on murder charge in Horizon City shooting death From Monday through June 4, including Memorial Day weekend, law enforcement across Texas will work overtime enforcing seat belt and traffic laws. More than 1,200 unbuckled drivers and passengers died in vehicle crashes last year, which was 2.5% more than the previous year, the Department of Transportation reported. TxDOT added that wearing a seat belt reduces the risk of dying in a crash by 45%. This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: El Paso DWI, manslaughter suspect arrested in fatal Joe Battle wreck Elon Musk is nicknamed 'Karen Musk' in a Reddit thread that slams him for calling remote working immoral Redditors are calling Elon Musk "Karen Musk" as an insult because of his remarks against remote work. Clive Mason - Formula 1/Formula 1 via Getty Image Elon Musk is being criticized for calling remote work immoral. Redditors nicknamed the billionaire "Karen Musk" and say his comments are out-of-touch. Musk previously asked both Tesla and Twitter employees to return to the office. Elon Musk is getting flack for his latest comments disparaging people for working from home with one Reddit thread dubbing him "Karen Musk," as an insult. The billionaire recently said remote work is "morally wrong" in an interview with CNBC, adding that remote workers need "get off the goddamn moral high horse with the work-from-home bullshit because they're asking everyone else to not work from home while they do." The Reddit Thread, which links to a video accusing Musk of being out of touch with the average Joe, is titled "Karen Musk: Working from home is IMMORAL!" The name "Karen" is a moniker used to refer to white women who are thought to be acting inappropriately or who are perceived as entitled. It's now being used to insult Musk who is the owner of five companies including Twitter, Tesla, Neuralink, SpaceX, and The Boring Company. One Redditor said that remote working "allows companies to not have a large real estate footprint, while employees spend less time in traffic reducing carbon footprint. This is all immoral coming from a guy who's trying to "save the world" with his EVs?" Another mocked Musk by saying that it's "immoral to work in an office if the company isn't paying rent," referring to reports that Musk hasn't paid rent to the landlords of some of his offices. Musk was previously referred to as a "Karen" in insults that were projected onto the side of Twitter's office building in San Francisco a few weeks after he bought Twitter in 2022. These messages appeared just hours after Musk gave company employees the ultimatum to either quit or join his new "hardcore" Twitter 2.0. Musk has always taken an extreme stance on remote working across his various companies including ordering Tesla workers to return to the office or quit in June 2022, and then later ending Twitter's flexible working policies by calling staff back to the office 40 hours a week in November. Read the original article on Business Insider idaho murders plea - Credit: Monroe County (Pa.) Correctional Facility/AP A judge in the Idaho Murders case has entered not guilty pleas on behalf of suspect Bryan Kohberger in the stabbing deaths of four University of Idaho college students. When the judge asked Kohbergers attorney whether he was prepared to plead to the charges, the attorney said she and Kohberger would be standing silent. This prompted the judge to enter not guilty pleas on Kohbergers behalf. Earlier in the brief hearing on Monday, Kohberger spoke loudly and clearly in a microphone when confirming to the judge that he understood his rights, the charges he faced, and the maximum penalties involved. Last week, Kohberger was indicted by a grand jury on four counts of first-degree murder and one count of felony burglary for illegally entering a house with the intention of murdering people. He could face a maximum penalty of life in prison or a death sentence. More from Rolling Stone Kohberger, 28, a former Washington State University graduate student in criminology, is accused of murdering Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Madison Mogen, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, and Ethan Chapin, 20, in their off-campus apartment during the early hours of Nov. 13, 2022. He was arrested on December 30 after a six-week investigation and charged with four counts of first-degree murder and one count of felony burglary. Following Kohbergers extradition from Pennsylvania to Idaho, a local judge issued a gag order, limiting the amount of information attorneys and involved officials can share with the media which has done little to curb the intense public interest in the case. In a filing on May 11, Kohbergers attorneys said he planned to present expert testimony on the damaging effects of intense media coverage should the judge order a hearing to reconsider the gag order. On May 16, the judge upheld the gag order. Goncalves, Mogen, Kernodle, and Chapin were found dead on November 13 after police were called to their off-campus home following a report of an unconscious person. While police responded quickly, no murder weapon was found, and it took six weeks to name and arrest Kohberger as the suspect. During the investigation, police were especially tight-lipped about case updates, creating an information vacuum that fueled wild online speculation about the suspect and their potential motives. According to an affidavit, Kohberger was connected to the crime after allegedly leaving behind DNA evidence on a knife sheath found at the scene. A roommate, identified as D.M. in the affidavit, reported seeing a figure around 510 with bushy eyebrows clad in black clothing and a mask in the house the morning of the murders. Police linked Kohberger to a car of interest seen around the house at the time of the murders, confirmed his presence near the home using cell phone data, and matched his DNA using trash from his home police recovered with a search warrant. Prosecutors have yet to release any motive or possible connection between Kohberger and the students, but reports have trickled out of his possible interactions. In January, People cited an anonymous investigator saying that Kohberger had persistently DMed one of the victims around a month before the attacks. The prosecution has not said whether they plan on seeking the death penalty but have 60 days from the time of Kohbergers plea to decide. If the death penalty is taken off of the table, Kohberger could still face life in prison if convicted. These murders have shaken our community and no arrest will ever bring back these young students. However we do believe justice will be found through the criminal process, Moscow Police Chief James Fry said following Kohbergers arrest. Be assured the work is not done. This is just getting started. A trial date has been set for Oct. 2. It is expected to last four to six weeks. Best of Rolling Stone Click here to read the full article. Fayette County could be the first district in Kentucky to bring starting teacher salaries above $50,000 if the board of education approves a $677.4 million general fund budget for next school year. The highest starting teacher salary in Kentucky right now is $45,772 in Kenton County, according to officials. The tentative 2023-24 budget will also fund Mariachi instruction and dance teachers, increase the stipends paid to fine arts teachers for the work they do outside of the school day, and invest almost $1 million to replace band and orchestra instruments held together by duct tape at some schools. Decades-old instruments still in use were shown to school board members during a budget workshop in March where various district staff talked about their departments needs. School board members said staff salaries were their top budget priority after receiving the results of a compensation study by an external firm that determined pay for teachers, principals, and district administrators was not competitive with other school districts. While discussing the tentative budget at the May 7 board planning meeting, Deputy Superintendent Houston Barber said the potential impact of the proposed budget could be epic. If approved, said Barber, the budget would be life changing and game changing and historical for our teachers and staff. Its such an opportunity to invest in the people who are doing the work on the ground and in the trenches. Key points in the budget include spending for academics, student support, personnel, strategic initiatives and operations. Its not easy to get excited about numbers, but this is truly an extraordinary budget. Im excited about the direction it will take us, said Board Chair Tyler Murphy. In the midst of nationwide shortages of teachers and school support staff, the proposed spending plan calls for a second year of historic investments in employee compensation to bolster recruitment and retention initiatives, officials said. Last years budget included $12 million to raise the pay of hourly employees such as classroom aides, school bus drivers and cafeteria staff, and an additional $12.3 million to ensure that salaried staff received a 3% salary increase for education and experience. For 2023-24, the staff recommendation is to add $24.9 million for salaried staff raises and an additional $4 million to provide a minimum 4% pay increase for hourly employees. If the budget is approved at the May 22 board monthly meeting, all employees will receive at least a 4% raise, with an average raise of 8%. Where does the revenue in the budget come from? The overall tentative budget for the Fayette County Public Schools is about $867 million and is comprised of several different funds. Many of those funds are restricted to certain uses, so the school board has the most discretion over how to spend its general fund. Total General Fund: $677,440,375; comes from local and state revenue sources and the school safety tax. Special Revenue Fund, including federal and state grants, and COVID-19 relief money: $97,988,338 Food Service Fund: $31,977,438 Capital Outlay: $3,835,378 (Money from the state to be used for maintenance and construction projects or to pay for previously bonded projects.) Building Fund: $55,497,117 (Local property tax revenue that must be used for building construction or renovation projects included on the districts facilities plan.) What are some highlights of the budget? The districts general fund includes $47.2 million of new spending. Here are the highlights: $28.9 million for staff raises $8.3 million for 148 positions working directly with students $1.6 million to support students receiving gifted and talented, special education and multilingual services $1.5 million investment in fine arts $500,000 to ensure full-time nurses in every school $466,000 to pay stipends for teachers taking on added responsibilities $450,000 to open new preschool classrooms $300,000 to expand Rise STEM and George Washington Carver academies. How is the general fund distributed? Prince Alemayehu Buckingham Palace has declined a request to return the remains of an Ethiopian prince who came to be buried at Windsor Castle in the 19th Century. Prince Alemayehu was taken to the UK aged just seven and arrived an orphan after his mother died on the journey. Queen Victoria then took an interest in him and arranged for his education - and ultimately his burial when he died aged just 18. But his family wants his remains to be sent back to Ethiopia. "We want his remains back as a family and as Ethiopians because that is not the country he was born in," one of the royal descendants Fasil Minas told the BBC. "It was not right" for him to be buried in the UK, he added. But in a statement sent to the BBC, a Buckingham Palace spokesperson said removing his remains could affect others buried in the catacombs of St George's Chapel in Windsor Castle. "It is very unlikely that it would be possible to exhume the remains without disturbing the resting place of a substantial number of others in the vicinity," the palace said. The statement added that the authorities at the chapel were sensitive to the need to honour Prince Alemayehu's memory, but that they also had "the responsibility to preserve the dignity of the departed". It also said that in the past the Royal Household had "accommodated requests from Ethiopian delegations to visit" the chapel. Prince Alemayehu lived in exile for a decade How Prince Alemayehu ended up in the UK at such a young age was the result of imperial action and the failure of diplomacy. In 1862, in an effort to strengthen his empire, the prince's father Emperor Tewodros II sought an alliance with the UK, but his letters making his case did not get a response from Queen Victoria. Angered by the silence and taking matters into his own hands, the emperor held some Europeans, among them the British consul, hostage. This precipitated a huge military expedition, involving some 13,000 British and Indian troops, to rescue them. The force also included an official from the British Museum. In April 1868 they laid siege to Tewodros' mountain fortress at Maqdala in northern Ethiopia, and in a matter of hours overwhelmed the defences. The emperor decided he would rather take his own life than be a prisoner of the British, an action that turned him into a heroic figure among his people. A 19th Century engraver imagined the scene when the soldiers discovered Emperor Tewodros II's body After the battle, the British plundered thousands of cultural and religious artefacts. These included gold crowns, manuscripts, necklaces and dresses. Historians say dozens of elephants and hundreds of mules were needed to cart away the treasures, which are today scattered across European museums and libraries, as well as in private collections. The British also took away Prince Alemayehu and his mother, Empress Tiruwork Wube. The British may have thought this was to keep them safe and prevent them being captured and possibly killed by Tewodros' enemies, who were near Maqdala, according to Andrew Heavens, whose book The Prince and the Plunder recounts Alemayehu's life. Following his arrival in Britain in June 1868, the prince's predicament and his status as an orphan elicited the sympathy of Queen Victoria. The two met at the queen's holiday home on the Isle of Wight, just off England's south coast. She agreed to support him financially and put him in the guardianship of Captain Tristram Charles Sawyer Speedy, the man who had accompanied the prince from Ethiopia. Captain Speedy became Prince Alemayehu's guardian They first lived together on the Isle of Wight and then Captain Speedy took him to other parts of the world, including India. But it was decided that the prince should have a formal education. He was sent to the British public school Rugby but he was not happy there. He later moved to the Royal Military College in Sandhurst where he was subjected to bullying. The prince had a "hankering" to return home, correspondence quoted by Heavens says, but that idea was swiftly quashed. "I feel for him as if I knew him. He was dislocated from Ethiopia, from Africa, from the land of black people and remained there as if he had no home," Ethiopian royal descendent Abebech Kasa told the BBC. Eventually, Alemayehu ended up being tutored in a private home in Leeds. But he became ill, possibly with pneumonia, and at one point refused treatment thinking he had been poisoned. After a decade in exile the prince died in 1879 at the age of just 18. His illness had become the subject of articles in the national press and Queen Victoria wrote in her diary of her sadness at his death. "Very grieved and shocked to hear by telegram, that good Alemayehu had passed away this morning. It is too sad! All alone, in a strange country, without a single person or relative, belonging to him," she said. "His was no happy life, full of difficulties of every kind, and was so sensitive, thinking that people stared at him on account of his colour... Everyone is very sorry." She then arranged for his burial at Windsor Castle. There are several photographs of Prince Alemayehu including this where he is wearing a hat with the name of the ship, HMS Urgent Demands that the body should return are not new. In 2007 the country's then-President Girma Wolde-Giorgis sent a formal request to Queen Elizabeth II for the body to be sent back, but those efforts proved fruitless. "We want him back. We don't want him to remain in a foreign country," Ms Abebech said. "He had a sad life. When I think of him I cry. If they agree to return his remains I would think of it as if he came home alive." She had hoped that she would get a positive response from newly crowned King Charles III. "Restitution is used as a way to bring reconciliation, to recognise what was wrong in the past," says Professor Alula Pankhurst, a specialist in British-Ethiopian relations. He believes the return of the body would be "a way for Britain to rethink its past. It's a reflection and coming to terms with an imperial past." Watch more on this story: Peter Stano, official representative of the foreign policy service of the European Union Read also: Are Sanctions Working? As for the deSWIFTing of Russian banks, it is part of the sanctions imposed by the European Union and other countries, Stano said, adding that the restrictions can be eased or lifted only after the end of the war. He attributed the ongoing hostilities in Ukraine as the main impediment to uninterrupted trade flows and the export of food and agricultural products through the Black Sea. Read also: 90 companies that helped Russia evade restrictions to face EU sanctions Stano said that the conflict has exacerbated already serious global food security issues. However, he pointed out that Brussels sanctions do not affect trade in agricultural and food products between Russia and third countries, and there are payment options between them as before. It was previously reported that the Agreement on the Black Sea Grain Corridor was extended for an additional two months on May 17. Russia has insisted that the reconnection of Rosselkhozbank to SWIFT is a requirement within the framework of the grain agreement. Read also: Russia agrees to resume inspections of vessels heading to Odesa and Chornomorsk Ministry of Infrastructure Furthermore, it was reported that JPMorgan bank has been authorized by the United States to process payments for Rosselkhozbank, thereby avoiding the need for SWIFT connectivity. 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 EVANSVILLE We're bringing you Tri-State restaurant happenings and food news you need to know. Here's the latest. Blues, Barbecue and Bloody Marys in Henderson The Elm in Henderson, Kentucky, will host Bloody Blues & BBQ on Sunday, May 28, from 3-6 p.m. Create your own bloody mary at the deluxe bloody mary bar, enjoy barbecue and more from the BBQ Hawgs & Dawgs truck, and relax with music by The Amazing Soul Crackers with Tommy Stillwell. The Elm is at 120 N. Elm St., Henderson; 270-748-0005. The BBQ Hawgs & Dawgs truck will be on hand with barbecue for Bloody Blues & BBQ at The Elm in Henderson on Sunday, May 28. Evansville Food Truck Festival The Evansville Food Truck Festival will happen Sunday, May 28, from 1-8 p.m. inside Bosse Field. Stop to visit more than 30 food trucks, including many out-of-town visitors with new menu items for you to try, including Chimney's Food Trailer from Paducah, Kentucky, which specializes in Chimney Cakes from Hungary, which are hollow bread tubes filled with savory or sweet fillings; Cousin's Maine Lobster; Coco Bongo frozen drinks; The Toasted Pineapple Snack Shack from Jeffersonville with loaded soft pretzles, dips and craft quesadillas, and more. There will also be beer and wine, food tents, non-food vendors, live music, family fun and much more. Get tickets here. Bosse Field is at 1701 N. Main Street. More: 3 incredibly easy eggplant dips Franklin Street Bazaar begins The first Franklin Street Bazaar will happen Saturday, May 27, from 9 a.m.-1 p.m. on the lawn of the West Branch Library at West Franklin Street and Wabash Avenue. Eating opportunities include food trucks and ready-to-eat packaged food, baked goods, fresh coffee, juice and tea drinks, local honey and fresh produce. While you're there, shop arts and crafts, jewelry, fresh flowers, handmade soap and bath products, enjoy live music and more. THe bazaar will continue every Saturday morning through August 26. The Franklin Street Bazaar is at 2000 W. Franklin St. The Franklin Street Bazaar will begin on Saturday, May 27. Newburgh Strawberry Social The Historic Newburgh Strawberry Social will happen on Sunday, May 28, from noon-4 p.m. at the Old Lock and Dam park in Newburgh. Stop to have a strawberry shortcake and visit food trucks and market vendors with food, arts and crafts, soap, plants and much more. Enjoy live music, games and rides, and a silent auction. A free trolley will run from Newburgh Elementary. Admission to the event is free but there is a charge for rides and games. Newburgh Elementary is at 306 State St. Newburgh. New food truck Larro's Like That is a new food truck in Evansville. On the menu are egg rolls, Philly sandwiches, Jerk chicken alfredo, wings, fried fish and more. Watch the Facebook page or Evansville Food Trucks for location and times of service. More: There's a new Italian restaurant in Henderson. Here's what to know about the owners, menu Lunch on the Lawn Lunch on the Lawn will happen on Friday, May 26, from 11 a.m.-2 p.m. on the lawn around the Old Vanderburgh County Courthouse in Downtown Evansville. Enjoy lunch from a variety of food trucks. This is also part of Historic Preservation Month. The Old Courthouse is at 201 NW Fourth St. Another new food truck Shortstacks Kitchen is a new food truck on the streets of Evansville. On the menu is barbecue pork and chicken, smoked turkey, Italian stromboli, ranch pasta salad, mushrooms, sourdough bread and more. Join their Facebook group or watch Evansville Food Trucks for dates and times of service. This article originally appeared on Evansville Courier & Press: Evansville food news:7 tidbits for you this week Vietnam to consider announcing the end of COVID-19 pandemic The Government Office has issued an official document on COVID-19 prevention and control in the new context, mentioning the possibility of announcing the end of the pandemic. Local residents in Hanoi wear face masks. Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh assigned the Ministry of Health to coordinate with relevant ministries and agencies to prepare a dossier to reclassify COVID-19 from group A to group B infectious disease and announce the end of the pandemic and submit it to the PM for consideration. According to the document, PM Chinh also assigned the health ministry to coordinate with the Government Office to hold a meeting on May 27, 2023, to announce the completion of work of the National Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control. The health ministry is requested to, based on the recommendations of the World Health Organization and the actual situation of the pandemic in Vietnam, develop a plan for sustainable management and control of COVID-19 in the 2023 2025 period. The document noted that WHO has declared COVID-19 no longer a global health emergency, yet the pandemic is still present and is still a part of everyday life. Countries still need to improve their response capacity, not let their guard down. WHO can still restore a global health emergency for the COVID-19 pandemic at any time if the situation is critical, the document said. According to the health ministry, the death rate from COVID-19 in Vietnam has so far been much lower than the global rate of 0.99 per cent. This is a figure showing the efforts of Vietnams COVID-19 treatment capacity over the past three years, with a very timely shift of prevention and control strategy. In order to reduce deaths from COVID-19, the health ministry has directed health facilities to continue to be vigilant for COVID-19 and early detection of infection cases. Resuscitation and dialysis facilities, and those with patients in critical conditions must closely examine to detect early and isolate to avoid transmission to other patients. The health ministry also continues to update the plan, mobilise the support of international organisations for training on emergency resuscitation for COVID-19 treatment especially on mechanical ventilation. Medical facilities are requested to strengthen infection control measures to limit the spread of disease in hospitals. Thank you for supporting our journalism. This article is available exclusively for our subscribers, who help fund our work at the Chicago Tribune. The University of Chicagos computing ambitions took a quantum leap forward Sunday with a commitment of $150 million in funding from IBM and Google to build the worlds most powerful computer. The partnership with the University of Tokyo, announced at the recent G7 summit in Japan, will seek to create the first quantum supercomputer, building up the technology over the next decade to a processing power that would dwarf any computer in current use. Advertisement The funding will also support research and training needed to operate the supercomputer. It would solve problems that current supercomputers cant solve, said Fred Chong, a computer science professor at the University of Chicago. Things like developing new materials or fertilizers or drug discovery, certain kinds of computations that are just too complex for the machines that we have now. Advertisement The agreement to develop the quantum computer technology was engineered by former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, now serving as U.S. Ambassador to Japan, who was part of the signing ceremony Sunday with top leaders from IBM, Google and the two universities. IBM will invest $100 million over 10 years to develop the supercomputer, while Google is committing up to $50 million to support quantum computing research and workforce training. The ultimate goal is to build a computer powered by 100,000 qubits the basic unit of information in quantum computing. The most powerful quantum computing chip today is a 433-qubit processor unveiled by IBM in November. A qubit is capable of faster and far more complex computations than a classic binary chip. Building a quantum computer is an ambitious undertaking that requires partnership, Hartmut Neven, vice president of Google Quantum AI, said in a news release. An emerging field, quantum technology operates at the subatomic level, building devices that detect, harness and leverage the tiniest particles to make potentially enormous advances in a wide range of applications. The University of Chicago has been at the forefront of the technology, helping the region become a leading global hub for quantum development and research. Building the worlds first quantum supercomputer would be a significant boost, Chong said. The biggest challenge, he said, is the lack of a blueprint for making one. We wouldnt be able to build it with todays technology, Chong said. It uses too many resources, actually, which is why were creating this effort. For example, quantum computers need to operate at a temperature close to absolute zero. Like a massive 1960s-era UNIVAC computer, the quantum supercomputer would be too large without advancements in technology, requiring hundreds of refrigerators just to keep it cool while calculating, Chong said. Advertisement Both universities will develop prototypes over the next decade, hopefully progressing up to 1,000, 10,000 and ultimately 100,000 qubits of processing power, Chong said. Once built, the quantum supercomputer would be exponentially more powerful than any classical computer. While the possibilities are endless, Chong said he has one application at the top of his supercomputer to-do list: fertilizer. A good one that has been proposed is to understand nitrogen fixation, Chong said. Essentially creating fertilizers using the least energy possible, with less energy producing food more efficiently. rchannick@chicagotribune.com Carlos Dominguez appears at a pre-conference hearing at Yolo County Superior Court in Woodland, Calif., on Monday, May 22, 2023, with Dan Hutchinson, deputy public defender. A judge on Monday ordered a psychiatric review of the former University of California, Davis student charged in the deaths of two stabbing victims and attempted murder of a third person as part of a series of attacks that alarmed the usually serene community. An attorney for Dominguez said in court that his client is not mentally competent to stand trial. (Fred Gladdis/The Davis Enterprise, Pool) WOODLAND, Calif. (AP) A judge on Monday ordered a psychiatric review of the former University of California, Davis student charged with two fatal stabbings and an attempted murder that shook the normally serene community outside Sacramento. An attorney for Carlos Dominguez said in Yolo County Superior Court that his client is not mentally competent to stand trial. Dominguez, 21, sat next to his court-appointed public defender and tried to speak several times during the short proceeding, The Sacramento Bee reported. Before he left, Dominguez said he did not want an attorney. Relatives of the second victim, Karim Abou Najm, a 20-year-old UC Davis student, attended the hearing, some wearing T-shirts with the young mans image. Police have not disclosed a motive for the stabbings, which took place over a span of days and rattled the community. Students stayed at home or ventured out in pairs, and some businesses closed early. Dominguez had been a third-year student majoring in biological sciences until April 25, when the university let him go for academic reasons. The body of the first victim, a 50-year-old homeless man well known in the community as the Compassion Guy, was discovered on April 27. Abou Najm was killed on April 29 as he walked through Sycamore Park. A homeless woman survived being attacked in her tent. Dominguez was caught by police after more than a dozen people reported seeing him in the neighborhood where the second victim was killed, wearing clothes recognizable from the third stabbing. A competency hearing is scheduled for late June. Former Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School School Resource Officer Scot Peterson is shown in court during a motions hearing in his case at the Broward County Courthouse in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., on Monday, May 22, 2022. Broward County prosecutors charged Peterson, a former Broward Sheriff's Office deputy, with criminal charges for failing to enter the 1200 Building at the school and confront the shooter, Nikolas Cruz, during a mass shooting at the Parkland high school five years ago. (Amy Beth Bennett/South Florida Sun-Sentinel via AP, Pool) FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) A fired Florida sheriff's deputy charged with failing to confront the gunman who murdered 17 at a Parkland high school five years ago said Monday that he is looking forward to his trial, which is scheduled to start next week. Former Broward County sheriff's deputy Scot Peterson told reporters after a court hearing that the public needs to know he did everything he could as Nikolas Cruz murdered 14 students and three staff members at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on Feb. 14, 2018. Peterson, the deputy then assigned to the school, says he didnt charge into the three-story classroom building during the six-minute massacre because he thought the dozens of shots fired were coming from outside. He was armed with a handgun at the time. Some victims parents have labeled Peterson the coward of Broward. Free on bail, he now lives in North Carolina and could face nearly a century in prison if convicted. I want the truth to come out and if it is going to be through a trial, so be it. Im eager, Peterson said. Not only the people in Florida, the country, most importantly the families, they need to know the truth about what happened, because unfortunately it has never been told. Peterson, 60, is charged with seven counts of child neglect and three counts of culpable negligence for the 10 people Cruz shot on the third floor, six of them fatally, after Peterson arrived at the building. The former deputy is not charged in connection with the 11 killed and 13 wounded on the first floor before he got there. Prosecutors say Peterson's actions show he knew the shots were coming from inside and that he could have prevented some of the shootings if he had confronted Cruz, who was armed with an AR-15-style semiautomatic rifle. Peterson's attorney, Mark Eiglarsh, said there are 22 defense witnesses who will testify that they also thought the shots were coming from somewhere other than inside the classroom building. Hes not the only one who heard those shots and believe they were coming from a different location, Eiglarsh said. Peterson retired shortly after the shooting, was fired retroactively and charged a year later. Jury selection is scheduled to start May 31 with opening statements in early June. The trial could last until August. During Monday's hearing, Circuit Judge Martin Fein rejected Eiglarsh's request to delay the trial until August. The attorney said some of his witnesses have vacations and other conflicts and say they won't appear. Fein said if the witnesses are subpoenaed, they have no choice. The judge also expressed skepticism of the prosecution's request to have jurors tour the classroom building's blood-stained halls, something Cruz's jury did during his penalty trial last year. The building has been maintained and sealed since days after the shooting and is expected to be torn down after Peterson's trial. Prosecutor Steven Klinger told the judge that the jurors need to see the distances inside the building. But Fein seemed to agree with Eiglarsh, who says there is sufficient video and photo evidence to demonstrate the distances and that having jurors tour the building would only inflame their emotions. Fein said he would issue his ruling later. It is likely, however, that the jury will be be taken to the school to see the outside area where Peterson stood during most of the attack. To gain a conviction, prosecutors must convince jurors that Peterson knew the gunman was firing inside the building and that his actions and inaction exposed more victims to harm. Security videos show that 36 seconds after the attack began, Peterson left his office about 100 yards (92 meters) from the building and jumped into a cart with two unarmed civilian security guards, according to a state report. They arrived at the crime scene a minute later. Peterson got out of the cart near the classroom building's eastern first-floor doorway to the first-floor hallway while the gunman was at the opposite end, firing numerous shots. Peterson, his handgun drawn, didnt open the door. Instead, he took cover outside next to a neighboring building. It was so loud and so close. I thought it was probably outside, Peterson told investigators two days after the shooting. He said he heard two, three shots, though security guards told investigators they heard many more, clearly coming from inside the building. Inside, Cruz climbed to the buildings upper floors, firing approximately 75 more shots over nearly four minutes. Cruz pleaded guilty to the murders in 2021, but the jury in his penalty trial could not unanimously agree that he deserved a death sentence. The 24-year-old former Stoneman Douglas student was sentenced instead to life in prison. Louisville Metro Police Sgt. Jonathan Mattingly is interviewed by Darcy Costello and Tessa Duvall of the Courier Journal. Mattingly was wounded during the botched drug raid on Breonna Taylor's apartment. Oct. 20, 2020 A lawsuit filed by former Louisville Metro Police Sgt. Jonathan Mattingly against Breonna Taylor's boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, has been dismissed, court records show. Mattingly was shot in the thigh by Walker moments after LMPD officers breached the door to Taylor's apartment during a March 13, 2020, raid. In response, Mattingly and two other LMPD officers fired 32 shots. Taylor was hit six times and died as a result. Her killing would kick off months of protests in Louisville and nationwide calls for police reform. Related: Protesters say hiring of officer who shot Breonna Taylor shows why 'we're still fighting' In September 2020, Walker sued the city and officers involved in the raid. The next month, Mattingly countersued Walker for battery, assault and emotional distress. In his counterclaim, Mattingly was seeking a jury trial as well, as damages and attorney fees. Louisville Metro Government settled with Walker in November, paying him $2 million. Walker has maintained that he did not know it was police who were outside the apartment when the door was breached. An unsigned Jefferson Circuit Court motion dated May 11 said attorneys for both Mattingly and Walker agreed that the claims of Mattingly's counterclaim were to be dismissed, with both parties bearing their own costs. Kenneth Walker, boyfriend of the late Breonna Taylor, speaks to ABC News and The Courier Journal about the night that Taylor was shot and killed by Louisville police officers. Oct. 21, 2020 An entry on a court record database maintained by the state said Mattingly's counterclaims were dismissed voluntarily on May 19. However, a signed copy of the order was not entered online on Monday afternoon, and a representative of the Office of the Circuit Court clerk said it was not immediately available. Mattingly was the only officer who fired his weapon during the raid on Taylor's apartment who was not later terminated from the force. He retired from LMPD in 2021. In August, four former Louisville Metro Police Department officers were federally charged in connection to the raid on Taylor's home. This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Ex-LMPD cop Mattingly, shot in Breonna Taylor raid, drops lawsuit By Sam Tobin LONDON (Reuters) - The former chief executive of the publisher of Britain's Daily Mirror said phone-hacking carried out by journalists she employed was concealed from her, as she gave evidence on Monday in a lawsuit brought by Prince Harry against the newspaper. Sly Bailey chief executive of Trinity Mirror, publisher of the Daily Mirror, Sunday Mirror and Sunday People, between 2003 and 2012 told London's High Court that allegations of unlawful information-gathering were "a matter of great regret". "It is pretty devastating as a chief executive, actually, to be sitting here and listening to this, and I am deeply regretful and I do apologise on behalf of the company," she said. "I hope that people will understand that I had no knowledge of these activities." Harry, King Charles' younger son, and more than 100 others are suing Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN), accusing its titles of phone-hacking and other unlawful behaviour between 1991 and 2011, with the approval of senior executives. MGN, which is owned by Reach and was known as Trinity Mirror until 2018, strongly denies the allegations. Bailey said in her witness statement that "despite our robust governance systems, a number of people on the editorial side of the national titles concealed their unlawful activities from me and from other colleagues". Pressed repeatedly by David Sherborne, a lawyer representing Harry and other claimants, about what she knew of unlawful activity at her papers and what action she had taken to address it, she said she was not specifically aware of allegations while she was chief executive. Sherborne referred to a 2006 article in which a former MGN reporter was quoted as saying that "many of the Daily Mirror's stories would come from hacking into a celebrity's voicemail". The lawyer said to Bailey that the allegations must have been discussed by Trinity Mirror's board. Bailey said that she could not remember that they were, and in response to questions about why executives had not investigated further after three reporters were questioned but not charged, she replied: "I'm not a policeman." She and her and former board members had been subjected to "terrible smears", she added. The case, due to last around seven weeks, is initially focusing on generic allegations against MGN before turning to the specific claims of Harry and three other test cases. Harry is due to give evidence himself in person in early June, the first British royal to do so since the 19th century. (Reporting by Sam Tobin; editing by John Stonestreet) BBC Verify logo In the early hours of Wednesday 3 May, video footage emerged showing what appeared to be two drones crashing into a dome of the Kremlin complex in Moscow. But was the video real or fake? Did this "attack" actually happen? And how could we tell? The exponential growth of manipulated and distorted video means that seeing is no longer believing. Consumers tell us they can no longer trust that the video in their news feeds is real. Which is why we at the BBC must urgently begin to show and share the work we do behind the scenes, to check and verify information and video content before it appears on our platforms. And as AI weaponises and turbocharges the impact and consequences of disinformation, this work has never been more important. All day, every day, the BBC's news teams are using ever more sophisticated tools, techniques and technology to check and verify videos like the Kremlin drone footage, as well as images and information. They do this to ensure our journalism meets the rigorous editorial standards the BBC is proud to uphold. But, until now, that work has largely gone on in the background, unseen by audiences. These same audiences are constantly bombarded with mis- and disinformation, and with fake images, including those generated by AI. And they are telling us that amid this noise and sensationalism, they need to see our workings, so we can maintain the trust people have put in the BBC for the last 100 years. People want to know not just what we know (and don't know), but how we know it. And this is how our new brand, BBC Verify, has come into being. Deborah Turness, BBC News CEO We've brought together forensic journalists and expert talent from across the BBC, including our analysis editor Ros Atkins and disinformation correspondent Marianna Spring and their teams. In all, BBC Verify comprises about 60 journalists who will form a highly specialised operation with a range of forensic investigative skills and open source intelligence (Osint) capabilities at their fingertips. They'll be fact-checking, verifying video, countering disinformation, analysing data and - crucially - explaining complex stories in the pursuit of truth. This is a different way of doing our journalism. We've built a physical space in the London newsroom, with a studio that BBC Verify correspondents and experts will report from, transparently sharing their evidence-gathering with our audiences. They will contribute to News Online, radio and TV, including the News Channel and our live and breaking streaming operation, both in the UK and internationally. BBC Verify will be home to specific expertise and technology. But I want the principle of transparently explaining the "how" behind our journalism to be shared by every journalist in the BBC - and thank you to those who are experimenting with new ways to do that. "If you know how it's made, you can trust what it says" - that's what our audiences have told us. Trust is earned and transparency will help us earn it. And as for that "drone"? There are a few answers on Ros Atkins' explainer video, which has had more than a million views on our website, and will give people a taste of what Verify will be doing, day in, day out. Holy cow! This year is a major benchmark for my number of trips around the sun. There is a belief that the older you get, the faster time travels. In fact, time seems to be moving so fast, sometimes I wonder if I am in the 4th quarter, or in overtime. A few years ago, when diagnosed with cancer (twice); it changed everything. Luckily, I am a 5-year survivor, and my prognosis is clear. Looking back, when the doctor first told me you have cancer, it was like being hit with a baseball bat. But, as a positive outcome, it brought a better understanding of what is important in life. First is family and friends. Best beaches: Take that, Hawaii! This Florida beach tops Dr. Beach's Top 10 list for 2023 Breweries: Tallahassee area brewery wins big at World Beer Cup competition | Brew Bend A second priority for my wife and I is to travel and explore the world by foot. This time we are off to Croatia and the Balkans. The coast of Split. Croatia which has 3,600 miles of coastline and it is a large part of the eastern shore of the Adriatic Sea. We love discovering new treks in the forest or walking along beaches with the mesmerizing sound of waves crashing, or checking out the cities along our path. A major bonus is connecting with new people. Walking provides a panoramic experience that touches all your senses such as the flowing fragrance of nature, or the sights and sounds of the world surrounding you, and your feet being grounded with the earth as you take each step. This is living life! Yes, we will use air and car to get to our destination, but exploring beautiful new places on this great planet is the goal. Checking out new locations with different people, cultures, food, and their surrounding natural features is what makes my heart sing. Plitvice Waterfalls in Croatia is one of the famous famous places in Europe. Why Croatia? According to Wikipedia, Croatia is officially the Republic of Croatia and is a country at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe. Its coast lies entirely on the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Montenegro to the southeast, and shares a maritime border with Italy to the west and southwest. It's capital and largest city, Zagreb, forms one of the country's primary subdivisions, with 20 counties. The country spans 56,594 square kilometers (21,851 square miles), and has a population of nearly 3.9 million. This country is slightly smaller than West Virginia. Gone are the days of the Croatian Homeland War in the early 1990s. A few decades changes everything. This county formerly part of Yugoslavia was at war and now it is a safe and friendly place to visit. Ethnic cleansing is something everyone wants to learn from and not repeat. The scars of war are still evident in some places, but this is a reminder that life is fragile. You never know what each day will bring, so we must live each day to its fullest. Places we plan to check out include: Croatia National Parks We love hiking. It is our understanding that there are 8 incredible national parks and 11 nature parks with lots of unspoiled nature. Many of these parks include numerous waterfalls and hiking paths. Croatia Coast We will spend time checking out the coast of Croatia which has 3,600 miles of coastline and it is a large part of the eastern shore of the Adriatic Sea. There are also thousands of islands off the coast. Croatia has a long rich history. We hope to spend time checking our Zagreb, Split, and Dubrovnik. All include a rich cultural history and marvels of architecture. We rented a flat in Split and plan a few day trips from this city. We will end our time in Croatia in Zagreb. If time permits, A side trip to Budapest may be on the agenda. On the way home we will have two days to check out walking around Paris. Health update In 2018, when heading out on the Coast to Coast in northern England, I was sidelined by an intense abdominal issue. This was totally debilitating, and we spent too much time in the Queens healthcare system. We have people asking about this reoccurring issue and I am glad to report there have been no issues for over 2 years. I urge you to grab a family member or friend, or four-legged friend. Head out for a stroll and talk about all the places you have visited or plan to visit. It's a great big beautiful planet. Seize the Day! Love is all you need. Are you in? Gregg Patterson Contact Gregg Patterson at greggbpatterson@gmail.com. This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Trip to Croatia and Balkans marks new chapter in exploration Explosions rock the city of Dnipro Explosions rocked the city of Dnipro after an air-raid warning was issued on the night of 2122 May. Source: Suspilne on Telegram Details: Loud explosions were heard in Dnipro, Suspilne reported at 02:54. Around 03:30, Suspilne reported that new explosions were heard. Dnipro Mayor Borys Filatov urged the residents of Dnipro to refrain from photographing or otherwise recording what was happening, and sharing photo and video footage on social media. Dzerkalo Tyzhnia reported that at least 40 explosions rocked Dnipro. Updated at 04:25: "Thanks to defence forces, we repelled the attack. Details later," Head of the Dnipropetrovsk Oblast Military Administration, Serhii Lysak, wrote on Telegram. Journalists fight on their own frontline. Support Ukrainska Pravda or become our patron! F-16s wont fundamentally change the wars course in Ukraine, Pentagon says F-16 fighters Read also: Ukrainian pilots have already started training on F-16s, Borrell says At the same time, Kendall is convinced that transferring F-16s to Ukraine is important in the medium term. He stressed that providing F-16s to Ukraine "creates intermediate capabilities that the Ukrainians currently do not have, but this will not fundamentally alter the situation," since "air power has not yet been a decisive factor" in the war. "F-16s will help the Ukrainians, but will not fundamentally change the balance," said Kendall. When asked about the timeline for the transfer of the aircraft, he said that many details need to be clarified before transferring F-16s to Ukraine, and this "will take several months at best." Read also: Russian military has 25 aircraft at Belarus airfields, but theyre not flying Nayev On May 19, UK PM Rishi Sunak announced that his country, along with the United States, the Netherlands, Belgium, and Denmark, will train Ukrainian pilots on Western aircraft. Read also: Over 700 invaders eliminated in a day, enemy aircraft destroyed General Staff During the recent G7 Summit in Japan, U.S. President Joe Biden announced Washington will support a joint international effort to supply Ukraine with F-16 fighter jets. Read also: Zelenskyy wont provide any details on F-16 fighter jets for Ukraine How many aircraft Kyiv cane expect to receive, or when the transfer will happen, remains unclear. 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 FILE PHOTO: A 3D printed Facebook's new rebrand logo Meta and Facebook logo are placed on laptop keyboard in this illustration By Padraic Halpin DUBLIN (Reuters) -Meta was hit with a record 1.2 billion euro ($1.3 billion) fine by its lead European Union privacy regulator over its handling of user information and given five months to stop transferring users' data to the United States. The fine, imposed by Ireland's Data Protection Commissioner (DPC), came after Meta continued to transfer data beyond a 2020 EU court ruling that invalidated an EU-U.S. data transfer pact. It tops the previous record EU privacy fine of 746 million euros handed by Luxembourg to Amazon.com Inc in 2021. The battle over where Meta's Facebook stores its data began a decade ago after Austrian privacy campaigner Max Schrems brought a legal challenge over the risk of U.S. snooping in light of disclosures by former U.S. National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden. Meta said in a statement that it will appeal the ruling, including the "unjustified and unnecessary fine that "sets a dangerous precedent for countless other companies." It will also seek a stay of the suspension orders through the courts. The social media giant reiterated that it expected a new pact facilitating the safe transfer of EU citizens' personal data to the United States would be fully implemented before it has to suspend transfers. That would mean its previous warning that a stoppage could force it to suspend Facebook services in Europe would not come to pass. "Without the ability to transfer data across borders, the internet risks being carved up into national and regional silos," Meta said. The DPC said in March that EU and U.S. officials hoped that the new data protection framework - agreed by Brussels and Washington in March 2022 - may be ready by July. Europe's top court, the European Court of Justice, threw out the two previous pacts over concerns about U.S. surveillance. Schrems, the Austrian privacy campaigner, said Meta's plans to rely on the new deal for transfers going forward was unlikely to be a permanent fix. "In my view, the new deal has maybe a 10% chance of not being killed by the CJEU (EU Court of Justice). Unless U.S. surveillance laws gets fixed, Meta will likely have to keep EU data in the EU," he said in a statement. The Irish watchdog, which is the lead EU regulator for many of the world's top technology companies because of the location of their European headquarters in Ireland, has said the suspension order could create a precedent for other firms. It has now fined Meta a total of 2.5 billion euros for breaches under the bloc's General Data Protection Regulation's (GDPR), introduced in 2018. The DPC said that it did not initially propose adding a fine to the suspension order, but that four other EU supervising authorities disagreed and the record fine was included after a ruling by the European Data Protection Board (EDPB). The Irish regulator has fined Meta more than any other tech firm and has 10 other inquiries open into the social media group's platforms. ($1 = 0.9084 euros) (Reporting by Padraic Halpin; editing by Gerry Doyle and Sharon Singleton) FILE - The Pentagon is seen from Air Force One as it flies over Washington, March 2, 2022. A fake image purportedly showing an explosion near the Pentagon has been widely shared on social media, sending a brief shiver through the stock market. But police and fire officials in Arlington, Va., said Monday, May 22, 2023, that the image isn't real and there was no incident at the U.S. Department of Defense headquarters. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, File) (ASSOCIATED PRESS) An image of black smoke billowing next to a bureaucratic-looking building spread across social media Monday morning, with the claim that it showed an explosion near the Pentagon. The posts sent a brief shiver through the stock market as they were quickly picked up by news outlets outside the U.S., before officials jumped in to clarify that no blast actually took place and the photo was a fake. Experts say the viral image had telltale signs of an AI-generated forgery, and its popularity underscores the everyday chaos these now increasingly sophisticated and easy-to-access programs can inflict. Heres a closer look at the facts. CLAIM: An image shows an explosion near the Pentagon. THE FACTS: Police and fire officials in Arlington, Virginia, say the image is not real and there was no incident at the U.S. Department of Defense headquarters across the Potomac from the nations capital. Despite this, the image and claim was spread by outlets including RT, a Russian government-backed media company formerly known as Russia Today. It was also widely shared in investment circles, including an account bearing Twitter's signature blue verification check mark that falsely suggested it was associated with Bloomberg News. Reports of an explosion near the Pentagon in Washington DC, the Russian state news agency wrote in a since-deleted tweet to its more than three million followers. RT confirmed it took down the tweet and covered the official position from the Pentagon on the matter after verifying the reports were inaccurate. As with fast-paced news verification, we made the public aware of reports circulating and once provenance and veracity were ascertained, we took appropriate steps to correct the reporting," the company wrote in an emailed statement Tuesday. Still the timing of the fake image, which appeared to spread widely just after the U.S. stock market opened for trading at 9:30 a.m., was enough to send a ripple through the investment world. The S&P 500 briefly dropped a modest 0.3% as social media accounts and investment websites popular with day traders repeated the false claims. Other investments also moved in ways that typically occur when fear enters the market. Prices for U.S. Treasury bonds and gold, for example, briefly began to climb, suggesting investors were looking for someplace safer to park their money. The image's rapid spread prompted the Arlington County Fire Department to take to social media to knock down the rumors. @PFPAOfficial and the ACFD are aware of a social media report circulating online about an explosion near the Pentagon, the agency wrote, referring to the acronym for the Pentagon Force Protection Agency that polices the Pentagon. There is NO explosion or incident taking place at or near the Pentagon reservation, and there is no immediate danger or hazards to the public. Capt. Nate Hiner, a spokesperson for the fire department, confirmed the agencys tweet was authentic but declined to comment further, deferring to the Pentagon police force, which didnt respond to email and phone messages. Misinformation experts say the fake image was likely created using generative artificial intelligence programs, which have allowed increasingly realistic, but oftentimes flawed, visuals to flood the internet recently. Inconsistencies in the building, fence and surrounding area are imperfections typically found in AI-generated images, noted Hany Farid, a computer science professor at the University of California, Berkeley, who specializes in digital forensics, misinformation and image analysis. Specifically, the grass and concrete fade into each other, the fence is irregular, there is a strange black pole that is protruding out of the front of the sidewalk but is also part of the fence, he wrote in an email. The windows in the building are inconsistent with photos of the Pentagon that you can find online. Chirag Shah, co-director of the Center for Responsibility in AI Systems & Experiences at the University of Washington in Seattle, cautioned that spotting fakes wont always be as obvious. Society will need to lean more on crowdsourcing and community vigilance to weed out bad information and arrive at the truth as AI technology improves, he argued. Simply relying on detection tools or social media posts are not going to be enough, Shah wrote in an email. Before the explosion hoax, the biggest Beltway intrigue on Wall Streets mind Monday morning was whether the U.S. government will avoid a disastrous default on its debt. But as the market is becoming increasingly reactive to headline-grabbing news, misinformation can be especially damaging when its shared by outlets even vaguely deemed as credible, said Adam Kobeissi, editor-in-chief at The Kobeissi Letter, an industry publication. A lot of these moves are happening because of high frequency trading, algorithmic trading, which is basically taking headlines, synthesizing them and then breaking them down into a trade on a millisecond basis, he explained by phone, noting that much of the market is now automated. Its basically like youre pulling a trigger every time a headline comes out. __ Associated Press business reporters Stan Choe and Wyatte Grantham-Philips in New York contributed to this story. ___ This is part of APs effort to address widely shared misinformation, including work with outside companies and organizations to add factual context to misleading content that is circulating online. Learn more about fact-checking at AP. The best pastrami in Chicago is not where I thought itd be. Sure, the brined, spice-rubbed and smoked beef is still a mainstay at plenty of Jewish delis, and a few of those versions are genuinely worth your time. But stunning pastrami is now popping up somewhere I never expected barbecue joints. Though the history is slightly contentious, most food historians agree Romanian immigrants introduced a cured meat dish known as pastrama to New York in the mid- to late 1800s. Romanian Jews cured various meats, including beef and goose, to have kosher food for long trips and when fresh meat wasnt available, according to Gil Marks Encyclopedia of Jewish Food. As the dish made its way to New York, Marks wrote, fatty portions of brisket and beef plate (the front belly, located just behind the brisket cut and below the rib) became the norm, and eventually, artificial refrigeration allowed makers to use a weaker salt brine for curing, which led to softer pastrami. Then again, a few years ago, New York food critic Robert Sietsema offered a self-described crackpot theory that perhaps the pastrami we know today actually hails from Texas. There, kosher butchers, already familiar with smoking brisket, brined the beef first, Sietsema wrote in New York in a Dozen Dishes. That made its way to New York, where it was quickly embraced and popularized in the early 20th century. His hypothesis has been tidily debunked by Robert Moss of Serious Eats and Andrew Silverstein for the Jewish news organization Forward. But Sietsema is right that there are similarities between how beef is prepared in Texas and pastrami. While it may not have started in Texas, pastrami fits right in with the modern barbecue restaurant. This pastrami boom is a big deal for Chicago, a corned beef town for at least a hundred years. In the 1920s, John P. Harding was even known as Corned Beef John in the Tribune for his many Loop restaurants offering the make em before your eyes corned beef sandwich. While Ive tried some solid pastrami in Chicago over the years, nothing came close to the supple slices I devoured at places like Katzs Delicatessen in New York or Langers Delicatessen in Los Angeles. After feasting on pastrami for the past month, Ive come to some conclusions on what makes the best stand out. Most importantly, pastrami loves fat. Disappointing versions looked stiff on the plate because they were lean and dry. Katzs makes its pastrami with beef navel, a fatty cut from the beef plate. Barbecue joints almost exclusively use brisket, which can work, though it helps when the meat comes from the fattier side. When done well, pastrami is good enough to eat by itself, though a swipe of mustard is never a bad idea. Some barbecue spots have mustard-based barbecue sauces to this effect, which can be intriguing. While I do enjoy a good Reuben, places that drown the meat in too much creamy Russian dressing (or Thousand Island) are usually just covering up disappointing beef. Ive divided my findings into three categories: barbecue, deli and restaurant pastrami. Each offers a different experience. My favorite deli pastrami is made with beef navel and has very little smoke flavor. Restaurant pastrami tends to use brisket, along with a more complex spice rub. There are exceptions, but thats life. Here is the best pastrami in Chicago. Barbecue pastrami Advertisement Soul & Smoke Smoked Pastrami from Soul & Smoke (Nick Kindelsperger/Chicago Tribune) DAndre Carters affection for pastrami started early. I spent a lot of time with my grandma growing up, and she loved corned beef and pastrami sandwiches, Carter said. But he became obsessed with the meat at Moto, the late Homaro Cantus pioneering Fulton Market restaurant. So its no surprise the pastrami at Soul & Smoke tastes both nostalgic and complex. Im looking for a nice balance, Carter said. Im always trying to be different but familiar. People have an expectation, but I want to add my own spin. Made completely in-house, Carter starts with brisket that is brined for seven to 10 days, and then covered in a spice rub and left to air dry in the fridge. Its smoked for 14 to 16 hours, sliced up and served with a fantastic mustard aioli. For the time being, the pastrami is only available at Soul & Smokes Evanston location. 1601 Payne St., Evanston; 847-859-2732; soulandsmoke.com Advertisement Green Street Smoked Meats Pastrami from Green Street Smoked Meats (Nick Kindelsperger/Chicago Tribune) Order the pastrami at Green Street Smoked Meats and youll get a few thick slices of pink-hued meat on a tray. Theres no rye bread or half-sour pickles, though you can pick up a few packets of Guldens mustard if you want. We want the pastrami to be the star, chef Dave Bonner said. We dont think it needs much. Hes right. This is pastrami worth devouring on its own. Make sure to order it on the fatty side, and youll get slices that are stunningly juicy, with a punchy black rub. The restaurant gets an outside company to brine the briskets. Bonner soaks the beef in water to decrease the saltiness, and then it is rubbed and smoked for 14 to 18 hours. While the restaurants excellent brisket is wrapped in butcher paper, the pastrami is wrapped in aluminum foil. It helps produce a little steam to make it more tender, Bonner said. 112 N. Green St., 312-754-0431, greenstreetmeats.com Advertisement Station One Smokehouse Pastrami from Station One Smokehouse (Nick Kindelsperger/Chicago Tribune) Brad Hudetz became intrigued by pastrami in 2009. At the time, he was running a butcher shop in Naperville and wanted to offer some sandwiches for lunch. Before he could add pastrami to the menu, he did some research. I took a field trip to New York and did nothing but eat pastrami at all the Jewish delis and pick peoples brains, Hudetz said. When he helped open Green Street Smoked Meats in 2014, pastrami was on the menu from the beginning. But the version hes serving at Station One Smokehouse in suburban Plainfield is closer to his original recipe. Briskets are brined for 10 days, soaked for a day, and then smoked for 12 to 14 hours. The result has a brilliant pink color, except for the dark black pepper-crusted exterior. With a strong smoke backbone, this pastrami isnt the least bit shy. 15025 Des Plaines St., Ste. 1A, Plainfield; 815-271-6328; stationonesmokehouse.com Advertisement Bub City Executive Chef, Tim Cottini with a pastrami sandwich at Bub City in Chicago. (Antonio Perez/Chicago Tribune) Chef Tim Cottini at Bub City knows great pastrami takes time. There are so many parts of the process, Cottini said. We might not make the most money on it, but it gives us such a sense of pride. The kitchen starts with prime briskets, injected with brine and then left undisturbed for almost a week. The meat is soaked in fresh water for seven hours, air dried for two days, rubbed with spices and left to rest for six to eight hours. We make sure to meticulously follow the directions, Cottini said. Literally, so many things can go wrong, and then youd have to just throw it out. The result is Bub Citys best smoked meat option, which is extremely juicy and thankfully not too salty. The smoke profile is lighter, but the spices are right on. Because of the labor involved, the pastrami is only available Fridays. I tried it on a Reuben, though next time Id ask for it simply on bread with mustard. 435 N. Clark St., 312-610-4200, bub-city.com/chicago Advertisement Chicago Culinary Kitchen Pastrami from Chicago Culinary Kitchen. (Nick Kindelsperger/Chicago Tribune) This suburban smoked meat destination offers all the barbecue standards youd expect on its regular menu. But the lengthy specials are where the owners Kristina and Greg Gaardbo let their creativity run wild. One staple there is pastrami, which you can order sliced or on a sandwich. The pastrami has an intensely bright pink color from the brine and is liberally covered in a rub heavy with black pepper. I initially worried that would destroy my taste buds, but the cure is light enough not to get in the way of the meat, while the smoke lingers mostly in the background. Next time I would ask for slices from the fattier end, but even the lean pieces were supple. (To make sure the pastrami is available before you go, check the restaurants website.) 2391 N. Hicks Road, Palatine; 847-701-8243; chicagoculinarykitchen.com Advertisement Mels Craft Barbecue Beef pastrami rib from Mel's Craft BBQ (Nick Kindelsperger/Chicago Tribune) Saturday is pastrami beef rib day at Mels Craft Barbecue in Park Ridge. Its a giant rib, owner Mel Thillens said. So its a bit of a commitment. While I dont know any Jewish delis that dish out bone-in pastrami, it makes sense from a butchers point of view. The short ribs used for this dish come from the beef plate, which is also where youll find the navel. Thanks to loads of marbling, the result is spectacularly supple and deeply seasoned. Thillens said he brines the beef ribs for at least two weeks. Im a big fan of curing, Thillens said. The meat gets a bit of tang to it. The meat is then rubbed and smoked for at least six hours. While you can eat the meat by itself, the shops mustard barbecue sauce goes particularly well with it. 24 Main St., Park Ridge; 224-985-3461; melsbbq.com Advertisement Deli pastrami Advertisement Mannys Cafeteria and Delicatessen Pastrami sandwich from Manny's Cafeteria & Delicatessen (Nick Kindelsperger/Chicago Tribune) Chicagos most famous Jewish cafeteria and deli is probably best known for its corned beef, but fourth-generation owner Danny Raskin has given the pastrami some extra attention lately. Twenty years ago, we went through about 20 pounds of pastrami a day, Raskin said. Now we sell 150 pounds. Made with the fattier beef navel, the meat is thinly cut on a massive meat slicer and stacked tall on rye bread. Interestingly, the restaurants version isnt smoked. But for Mannys 80th anniversary last year, Raskin introduced a new smoked and hand-cut pastrami called the 80, though employees just call it smoked pastrami. The thicker slices certainly taste more robust, though the smokiness doesnt jump right out at you, instead sneaking in after a few bites. They are totally different items, Raskin said. Our customers like it, and a lot of people are trying both. The smoked pastrami is only available on busier days, usually Friday and Saturday. 1141 S. Jefferson St., 312-939-2855, mannysdeli.com Advertisement Eleven City Diner Pastrami sandwich from Eleven City Diner. (Nick Kindelsperger/Chicago Tribune) If you want to get Eleven City Diner owner Brad Rubin talking, ask him what makes great pastrami. He partnered with a local smokehouse to produce the pastrami to his exact specifications. While seasoned and smoked, neither of those flavors dominate. Instead, Eleven City Diners version stands out for its ideal ratio of meat to fat. One reason is that we only use the navel, and its laden with deckle, Rubin said, using the Yiddish term for beef with lots of fat. This ensures that meat never dries out, staying sumptuous from the first bite to the last. Rubin understands those who prefer hand-cut pastrami to the machine-cut slices served here, but hes happy with his choice. Hand cut is a more romantic way to do it, Rubin said. I made a choice to offer the kind of pastrami I grew up with. Currently, the corned beef is still the bestseller at the restaurant, but you can tell hed be thrilled to see the pastrami get more attention. Personally, I wont pick one or the other because they feel like both my children, Rubin said. But Im really proud of the pastrami. He should be. 1112 S. Wabash Ave., 312-212-1112, elevencitydiner.com Advertisement Steingolds of Chicago Grandpa Joe sandwich, pastrami with mustard on rye bread, from Steingold's of Chicago. (Nick Kindelsperger/Chicago Tribune) When he opened Steingolds Deli in 2017, owner Aaron Steingold hoped to cross a classic New York Jewish deli with his Southern roots. I love low-and-slow barbecue from the South, Steingold said. I liked the idea of pastrami that rings the bell of barbecue. The result is pastrami with a smoky profile that never overwhelms the meat but instead lingers quietly after each bite. What Steingold didnt want was a noticeable black pepper presence, so he decided to make a rub without any at all. Originally, he brined and smoked the pastrami in-house, but once demand grew, he gave his recipe to Wichita Packing to make it for him. Made from brisket, the pastrami is on the leaner side, but its still remarkably tender and, of course, super smoky. 3737 N. Southport Ave., 773-661-2469, steingoldsdeli.com Advertisement Restaurant pastrami Advertisement Lardon Reuben sandwich at Lardon. (Nick Kindelsperger/Chicago Tribune) If youre looking for pastrami with the most intoxicating smoke profile, check out this Logan Square stop. Chef Chris Thompson said he doesnt have many secrets. Instead, he just makes sure to start with good meat. In this case, its prime briskets from Allen Brothers. Theyre brined for seven days, smoked with hickory wood and finished in a very low oven. Though good enough to eat with your fingers, Thompsons pastrami is put to excellent use in his version of a Reuben. Instead of overbearing, gloopy and cheesy, this one is precisely portioned and full of top-quality ingredients, including housemade sauerkraut and pickles. The biggest risk he took was using a nutty Gouda from Cyprus Grove Cheese. Its definitely the nontraditional route, but its captured peoples attention, Thompson said. 2200 N. California Ave., 773-697-4444, lardonchicago.com Advertisement Kindling Pastrami spiced short ribs at Kindling. (E. Jason Wambsgans/Chicago Tribune) No pastrami in town looks quite like the kind served at Kindling in the Willis Tower. Chef Jonathon Sawyer makes his version with short ribs, ensuring plenty of luscious fat. But instead of slicing it, he serves the meat like a steak, on a plate with bread, mustard and pickles. Though I initially worried it would be tough, the meat is so juicy that pulls apart easily. Some freshly ground pepper and coriander on top adds fresh fragrance to each bite. (Currently, the item is on the restaurants Market Card menu, so check with staff to ensure its available.) 202 S. Franklin St., 312-789-5992, kindlingchicago.com Advertisement Tempesta No. 99 D.D. Brindisis Grand Pastrami from Tempesta Market. (Nick Kindelsperger/Chicago Tribune) Tempesta Artisan Salumi produces some of the Midwests best cured-meat products, so it makes sense it could kick out some great pastrami. To set Tempesta apart, owner Antonio Fiasche decided to use wagyu beef, a fattier cut that increases the richness of the final product. After the meat has been brined, its rubbed with molasses, coated with black pepper and coriander, and then smoked until tender. Visit the companys West Town restaurant, Tempesta Market, and you can get the decadent meat thinly sliced on the No. 99 D.D. Brindisis Grand Pastrami with melted Swiss cheese, tart pickles and a creamy remoulade on griddled rye bread. If youd like to be in charge of your own sandwich destiny, you can also order the wagyu pastrami online. 1372 W. Grand Ave., 312-929-2551, tempestamarket.com Advertisement Clinton Street Smoked Meats Original pastrami on rye from Clinton Street Smoked Meats. (Nick Kindelsperger/Chicago Tribune) For years, Fumare in Chicagos French Market showcased the citys best version of Montreal smoked meat, which is so similar to pastrami that differences are academic at best. After Fumare closed in 2019, former employee Mikey Valdez opened up his own version called Clinton Street Smoked Meats in late December. Valdez uses the same smoker and recipe as Fumare, starting with brined briskets from Beas Best on the South Side. He then soaks the beef in water, before rubbing it with spices and smoking it for 45 minutes. Its then wrapped up, where it steams before service. Even when thickly sliced, the meat is genuinely juicy, with just a slight smokiness. Chicago French Market, 131 N. Clinton St.; 312-575-0306; frenchmarketchicago.com nkindelsperger@chicagotribune.com Fake cop with badge and blue lights pulls over woman leaving Wawa, Pennsylvania cops say A 31-year-old woman was leaving a Wawa convenience store when she was pulled over by someone pretending to be a cop, according to police in Pennsylvania. Authorities said she left the Wawa in Morrisville at about 12:05 a.m. Saturday, May 20. As she did so, someone in a black or blue SUV pulled her over using blue and red lights placed on the dashboard, according to a Facebook post from the Falls Township Police Department. The traffic stop seemed suspicious to her because the lights were very bright and they were in the interior of the car, and the stop was, according to her, a matter of seconds, Detective Christoper Iacono told WPVI. She reported the traffic stop and said the man had a gold badge, a flashlight and a plain dark uniform, police said. She added that he was clean shaven and not wearing an exterior vest. If you have any additional information regarding the incident, the department asks you contact Iacono at 267-979-0481 or c.iacono@fallstwppd.com. Tipsters who would like to remain anonymous can email tiplines@fallstwppd.com. Police said you should pull over into a well lit area and call 911 if you are concerned about the legitimacy of a traffic stop. Morrisville is about 30 miles northeast of downtown Philadelphia. Man posing as cop had his toddler, fake badges and drugs in car, Florida police say Fake cop tries to pull over a real cop, Michigan sheriff says. Karma bites Security guard accused of posing as officer had gun and bulletproof vest, MD cops say Social media users are claiming an image shows a fiery explosion outside the Pentagon on May 22, 2023. This is false; the Defense Department confirmed to AFP that there was no such attack , and the picture of the supposed blast appears to have been generated using artificial intelligence technology. "EXPLOSION NEAR THE PENTAGON," says one of several May 22, 2023 tweets sharing the image, which purports to show smoke billowing in front of a fenced-off building. Screenshot from Twitter taken May 22, 2023 Similar posts spread across Twitter, Facebook and other platforms, amplified by the Russian state-controlled news network Russia Today and the conspiratorial website Zero Hedge. The earliest tweet AFP found sharing the image came from "CBKNEWS," a QAnon-promoting account that has previously shared other disinformation, though the original source of the image was not immediately known. The spread of the alleged photo appeared to cause a brief dip on Wall Street on May 22, with the S&P 500 stumbling by 0.29 percent before recovering. It also prompted live television coverage from an Indian news organization, according to journalists who shared recordings of the segment. The incident follows other fake imagery that has taken off online, including AI-generated pictures claiming to depict former US president Donald Trump getting arrested and Pope Francis in a puffer coat. But there was no explosion, the Pentagon confirmed to AFP. We can confirm this was a false report and the Pentagon was not attacked today," a Defense Department spokesperson said in a statement. The fire department for Arlington County, Virginia also reacted, posting on Twitter (archived here) that there was "no explosion or incident taking place at or near the Pentagon reservation." @PFPAOfficial and the ACFD are aware of a social media report circulating online about an explosion near the Pentagon. There is NO explosion or incident taking place at or near the Pentagon reservation, and there is no immediate danger or hazards to the public. pic.twitter.com/uznY0s7deL Arlington Fire & EMS (@ArlingtonVaFD) May 22, 2023 An AFP journalist at the Pentagon saw no signs of the smoke pictured in the social media posts -- or emergency response in the area -- after the rumor went viral. The structure in the image shared online does not appear to resemble the exterior of the Defense Department headquarters, a massive five-sided building. The Pentagon in Washington, DC, on May 10, 2023, in an aerial view Daniel SLIM AFP Many on social media noted some features typical of AI-generated images, which have made it easier for non-specialists to create convincing fakes with speed. The columns on the building are mismatched sizes, for example, and a lamppost in the foreground appears disjointed. The sidewalk also seems to blend in with the street, grass and fence in some places. Screenshot from Twitter taken May 22, 2023, with elements added by AFP using the InVID WeVerify Plugin's magnifier tool Another since-deleted tweet claiming to show an explosion at the White House also appears to be a digital fabrication. The building depicted in the post does not resemble the White House, and no smoke could be seen on May 22 on EarthTV's live webcam showing the exterior of the president's home. Screenshot from Twitter taken May 22, 2023 AFP has previously debunked other AI-generated images here. [Source] The family of Christina Yuna Lee is suing the New York Police Department (NYPD) for taking too long to break into her Chinatown apartment and save her from the hands of a career criminal last year. Lee, 35, was fatally stabbed in her home at 111 Chrystie Street in the early morning hours of Feb. 13, 2022. The man accused of her murder, Assamad Nash, was found hiding under her bed after trying to flee through the fire escape. Surveillance footage shows the moment Nash a homeless man with now at least eight arrests dating back to 2015 allegedly followed Lee into the apartment. A neighbor called 911 after hearing her screams. Two NYPD officers arrived at the apartment at around 4:25 a.m., according to the suit filed earlier this month. Lee stopped screaming and Nash spoke to the police using a fake womans voice, telling them that no help was necessary, the New York Daily News noted. More from NextShark: Police arrest wife of Duck Sauce Killer, confiscate 8 firearms and 200 rounds of ammunition Lee's home remained closed for over an hour after police arrived. As per the suit, it was not until 5:40 a.m. when Emergency Service Unit officers broke in and found Lee in a bathtub with more than 40 stab wounds. Lees family is suing the NYPD for allegedly denying or unreasonably delaying assistance during her time of need, which subsequently caused her to suffer until her death. They are seeking an unspecified amount in damages. More from NextShark: Who is Harnaaz Sandhu? What the world didn't hear about Miss Universe 2021 Despite having reason to believe Ms. Lees life was in imminent danger, [the officers] failed to gain entry to Ms. Lees apartment or otherwise provide her with any potentially life-saving police or medical assistance at that time, the suit says, as per the Daily Beast. The family is also suing the police for allegedly failing to maintain safety in and around Sara D. Roosevelt Park. The suit cites the fatal stabbing of delivery worker Sala Miah near the area in 2021. More from NextShark: Military enlistment date for BTS's Jin revealed By failing to control dangerous conditions in Sara D. Roosevelt Park, (the NYPD) intentionally, recklessly, and negligently created a nuisance, says the suit. Nash pleaded not guilty to charges of murder, burglary and sexually motivated burglary in March 2022. He is still awaiting trial as of this writing. More from NextShark: Cardi B Under Fire Over 'Hindu Goddess' Pose on Magazine Cover Family of man eaten by bed bugs in jail plans to rally at state capitol to reveal autopsy results Family of man eaten by bed bugs in jail plans to rally at state capitol to reveal autopsy results The family of a man found dead inside the Fulton County jail will protest outside the state capitol to demand justice. Jail leaders said he had insect bites all over his body. >>> STREAM ACTION NEWS JAX LIVE <<< Shocked and disgusted, said Attorney Gerald Griggs with Georgia NAACP. Thats how Griggs said is the only way he could describe the photos of LaShawn Thompsons body. Thompsons family said he was eaten alive by bedbugs while he was in the Fulton County jail. Thompson was arrested last year in June, for simple battery, which is a misdemeanor. His family claims the Fulton County jail has a culture of cruelty and overcrowding. [DOWNLOAD: Free Action News Jax app for alerts as news breaks] For weeks, local pastors, the NAACP, and Thompsons family have been calling for more action. Monday, theyre taking that call for action to the Georgia State Capitol. The family of LaShawn Thompson, the legal team, and the activists, will be coming together for a rally to release the findings of the independent autopsy that was commissioned by the family, said Griggs. Griggs said the family wanted this independent autopsy to find out what really happened. Hopefully, itll shed light on what actually happened and help the family to get more closure in this case and more accountability, he said. Read: Zelenskyy says Bakhmut is only in our hearts after Russia claims control of Ukrainian city Theyre hoping state leaders will take accountability. We have several elected officials at the state level who are interested in this case. We have federal individuals who are interested in this case, said Griggs. CLICK HERE to read the original article by WSB-TV. Read: SpaceX launches 4-person crew toward International Space Station [SIGN UP: Action News Jax Daily Headlines Newsletter] Click here to download the free Action News Jax news and weather apps, click here to download the Action News Jax Now app for your smart TV and click here to stream Action News Jax live. Family to meet with special prosecutor in 2022 killing of woman by Fayetteville police The family of a Fayetteville woman shot and killed by police last July will meet this week with the special prosecutor reviewing the case to discuss the criminal investigation into her death, the family said in a statement Monday. Jada Johnson, 22, was killed July 1, 2022, when police went to the Colgate Drive home of her grandfather Rick Iwanski after Johnson and her grandparents repeatedly called 911 reporting her estranged boyfriend was attempting to break into the home. An official said that when officers arrived on the scene, they found no evidence supporting the allegations. The family said that instead, the officers threatened Johnson with arrest. The family contends the young mother was in the throes of a mental health crisis having been committed to the hospital two days prior for treatment and released just hours earlier when she pulled a gun out and threatened to harm herself. Search warrants state officers feared for their safety, as well as that of her grandfather, infant daughter and grandmother when Sgt. Timothy Rugg tackled Johnson and Officer Zacharias Borom shot and killed her in front of her family. An autopsy revealed 17 bullets struck Johnson, including at least one shot to the head. Jada Johnson in a November 2019 photo. Related: A timeline of the fatal police shooting of a Fayetteville mother In October, Cumberland County District Attorney Billy West requested a special prosecutor be assigned to the case. That prosecutor, Special Deputy Attorney General, Jocelyn Wright, with the North Carolina Department of Justice is meeting with Iwanski; Johnsons grandmother, Maria Iwanski; and Johnsons mother, Jaquaya Johnson, in Wests office Wednesday, according to the statement. After hearing nothing from NCDOJ for two and half months since their last communications, Jadas family asks for an update on Jadas case from the Special Deputy Attorney General, Ms. Jocelyn Wright, the statement said. On May 17, Wright reportedly agreed to the meeting. Ms. Wright and the NCDOJ agree to meet with Jadas family in Fayetteville for a second time on May 24, 2023. They do not add any additional information as to the status of the investigation, the statement said. Immediately afterward, the family intends to hold a news conference on the steps of the Cumberland County Court House along with their attorney Xavier de Janon, the statement said. The family filed a lawsuit in April on behalf of the estate of Jada Johnson against Officer Borom, the city of Fayetteville and Sgt. Rugg. The lawsuit is pending. More: 'He killed my baby': Fayetteville womans grandparents challenge police account of shooting This article originally appeared on The Fayetteville Observer: Jada Johnson family meeting with prosecutor reviewing case for charges All of the 'Fast and Furious' movies, ranked from worst to best The movie that started it all. Universal I've watched every "Fast and Furious" movie and have ranked the films from worst to best. Despite the fourth film reuniting Dominic Toretto and Brian O'Conner, it's the worst of the series. The best is "Fast Five," which unites previous cast members for a giant "Ocean's 11"-like heist. I'm unabashedly a big fan of the "Fast" franchise. Yes, I'm aware the films get more and more ridiculous as the saga continues. But at the heart of it, I love watching Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel) and his close-knit racing family conquer the world a quarter-mile at a time. And admit it you do, too, or this franchise wouldn't have grossed over $6 billion worldwide. Over the years, I've been updating our ultimate ranking of the "Fast and the Furious" movies. Admittedly, it's a bit rough to get through some of the early films. You're reminded there's a reason the franchise nearly went straight-to-video after the third outing. However, while most are quick to dismiss the third installment, "Tokyo Drift," for ditching the main cast, it's better than you remember, especially when you watch the films in their correct order. Keep reading to see how the new installment, "Fast X," stacks up to the other 10 movies in the "Fast" franchise. 11. "Fast & Furious" (2009) This is the one where Dom and Brian realize they're best friends. Or as they put it, "brothers." Universal "Fast & Furious" may have reset the entire franchise before it nearly went straight to video, but it's the worst-reviewed of the franchise and it's not difficult to see why. The fourth film shows Dom at one of his lowest points. The movie has little to do with family as it becomes a huge revenge film for him when he hears his wife Letty (Michelle Rodriguez) has been "killed." (In great soap-opera fashion, she returns from the dead two films later). The most ridiculous scene of the movie may be when Dom goes to the crash site where Letty supposedly died and amazingly can decipher and see exactly how she was killed. Dom may be a car mechanic, but he's definitely not Batman. The story itself is downright silly, offering two of the franchise's worst villains of the series: a Mexican drug lord, Braga, and his henchman, Fenix, who both believe the easiest way to get drugs across the border is with a team of racers through secret underground tunnels. You better bet that Dom, who tracks down Letty's killer to one of Braga's men, and Brian wind up on this same team. Other than reuniting Brian and Dom on screen as the ultimate racing bros, the film has two good scenes. The first is when Dom, Letty, Han, and several others are robbing a fuel truck at the film's start. The second is when Dom describes Letty to Gisele (Gal Gadot) after he believes she's dead. Honestly, the best thing the fourth film does is set up the next few films in the series. 10. "2 Fast 2 Furious" (2003) The best thing "2 Fast" delivers to the franchise is the jokester duo, Roman and Tej. Universal While Paul Walker returned as the film's lead, the sequel suffered without the return of Diesel in an otherwise convoluted film revolving around Brian O'Conner going undercover to bring down a drug lord in Miami. A super uncomfortable scene where a rat nearly chews through a detective's stomach is downright awful. The best parts of "2 Fast" are the introduction of wise-cracking ex-con Roman (Tyrese Gibson) and Tej (Ludacris) to the series. If you're going to watch any parts of this film, check out the final 20 minutes. Highlights include Tyrese ejecting a man out of a moving vehicle and Brian driving off of a pier onto a yacht. There's also a really cool garage fake-out scene when cops try and chase Brian and Roman down, only to be left befuddled when hundreds of cars come spilling out. 9. "The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift" (2006) Not quite Paul Walker and Vin Diesel. At all. Universal Look, there's no denying "Tokyo Drift" is definitely the outlier of the franchise. It has no returning cast save that fun cameo from Dom at the film's end and Lucas Black's southern drawl as Sean Boswell isn't great. Bow Wow is also randomly in the film and goes by the name Twinkie. However, while most may toss "Tokyo Drift" at the bottom of the list for deviating from the franchise, you're rewarded if you watch the film series in the correct order. If you view it from Han's perspective after "Fast & Furious 6," or as a followup to director Justin Lin's film "Better Luck Tomorrow," it's eerie how much of it seamlessly fits into the franchise. Han mentions he moved to Tokyo to get away from something in his past. He also makes a reference to his exorbitant wealth, which he received in "Fast 5." You're almost convinced the movie takes place after six if it weren't for so many dated flip phones and laptops. Plus, let's not forget that "Tokyo Drift" has something that later films really don't: quality racing. The fifth, sixth, and seventh films have forgone a lot of the racing for high-thrill heist sequences, but "Tokyo Drift" has racing at the heart of the movie with flashy and fancy drifting that winds down a mountain and through the streets of Tokyo. Though it was a clunker with critics for many of the cast's uninspired wooden performances and it's not a necessity to watch to understand the series' saga, it's one audiences enjoy much more over "2 Fast." Perhaps the strangest bit of the film is that Han's hanging out with a bunch of high schoolers. 8. "Fast 9" (aka "F9") (2021) Han's long-awaited return isn't enough to put "F9" higher up on our list, but it's still a fun ride. Universal Pictures I thought Braga was going to be the worst villain in the "Fast Saga" until Otto, described in production notes as a "flamboyent aspiring autocrat," showed up and said, "Hold my beer." Trailers make you believe Cipher (Charlize Theron) is the real villain of the film, but she's disappointingly sidelined most of the movie for a character who wasn't even good enough to appear on a poster for the film. (It's like Universal knew Otto wasn't a great villain.) "Fast 9" is so over-the-top it doesn't even care how ridiculous it is anymore. If you suspend your disbelief for the film's two-hour, 25-minute running time, it's kind of glorious, but that's a bit tough to do at times. Han's return and Brian's absence are explained away so quickly that those two plot points almost don't seem believable. If you can get past those flaws, "F9" delivers what fans really came here to see: massive action sequences. Every single one is satisfying (so long as you don't question the physics). Though far from the best of the franchise, there's still a lot to love, there's still plenty to enjoy. "F9" was previously the funniest of the franchise thanks to its self-referential humor, poking fun at how ridiculous its become. ("Fast X" easily bests it there, so we've knocked this one down the ranking a little.) Other highlights include Mia and Letty's long-awaited teamup on screen and Queenie's (Helen Mirren) awesome car chase. One of the best things "F9" does (other than bring Han back) is go back in time and create more of an origin story for Dom. For eight films, we've always heard about how Dom went to jail after his father died. Here, the franchise finally dives deep into the character's past to introduce a brother we never knew Dom had. For fans who have struggled with an estranged family member, it's immensely relatable. Two emotional nods to Paul Walker's character also earn this film some points. You can read our full review here. 7. "The Fate of the Furious" (2017) The good guy crew looks a little weird without Brian and Dom. Universal "Fate" is very different from the other movies that have come before it. That's largely in part because the film flips the franchise on its head. After Dom's team has been recruited for the last several films to help take down the bad guys, the "Fast" family is forced to hunt down Dom when he seemingly goes rogue. While it's a great idea in theory you know the entire time that Dom isn't really turning his back on family it's frustrating to watch Dom seemingly play a villain while his team is unaware of his true motives. It's equally frustrating to watch the franchise hero appear defeated as he's being forced to do things against his will by Charlize Theron's cyber terrorist villain. Here's where the franchise stalls a bit creatively without the franchise's second lead, Paul Walker, who died in 2013. As Roman notes in the film, Brian (Walker) would have known what to do when Dom went rogue. The problem is, as the audience knows, there's sadly no Brian to call. It doesn't help when "Fate" adds in the handsome Scott Eastwood to seemingly take Brian's place in the crew. But he's no Brian. Without a second-in-command to really guide the team in Dom's absence, everyone's just trying to hold it together. Let's be real. Dom would have never let Roman drive an orange Lamborghini on ice in Russia without snow tires. The saving grace of the film is the final 30 minutes or so when Dom is finally allowed to break free of the chains that were holding him back throughout the film. It's clear that he's the Iron Man to the rest of his team's Avengers-like squad. But the real surprise of "Fate" is that it isn't the film's big action sequences that are most memorable. It's the villain from the last film, Deckard Shaw (Jason Statham), who really steals the show in not one, but two big fight scenes that left fans wanting more. His banter with his mother, played by a no-nonsense Helen Mirren, is icing on the cake. Read our review of "The Fate of the Furious" here. 6. "Hobbs and Shaw" (2019) The chemistry between The Rock and Jason Statham is off the charts. Daniel Smith/Universal The first "Fast & Furious" spin-off is undeniably fun, and that's due to the chemistry between Jason Statham and the Rock. If you wanted to see more of Hobbs and Shaw together after their prison fight in "Fate of the Furious," the film more than delivers with the two bickering and pranking each other throughout the film as they reluctantly team up to save the world. While the Rock and Statham shine in every scene they're in together, it's two unexpected surprise cameos that make the film unforgettable. The film also manages to improve on Hobbs' character. In the recent "Fast" flicks, he was reduced to a guy who had a lot of silly one-liners. He doesn't really get any of those here, and it's immensely refreshing. But as fun as "Hobbs and Shaw" is, the film is weighed down a bit by venturing into the sci-fi genre. Idris Elba is a great addition as a villain, but the idea of a cybergenetically enhanced superhuman who, along with an evil global organization, trying to destroy the human race is a bit silly. He feels like a "Terminator" or Superman villain and you just can't help but wonder what movie you're watching at times. After all, this franchise started with illegal street racing. Now, it simply features some fast and cool cars. Though not as big as anything in "Fast Five" or "Furious 7," the fight sequences and car chases are still a lot of fun to watch. They're so fun that they feel like they should serve as the inspiration for some new theme park rides. You can read our review here. 5. "Fast X" (2023) Jason Momoa injects new life into the "Fast" franchise as antagonist Dante Reyes. Universal Pictures Cleverly rewinding to the events of "Fast Five" (the best in the franchise), Dom's crew faces the wrath of Dante Reyes (Jason Momoa) for killing his father and stealing their fortune a decade ago. The lovechild of the Joker and Thanos, Dante's so dementedly chaotic and wildly unpredictable licking blood off knives and blowing up vehicles gleefully you never quite know what move he'll make next and it makes for movie-going gold. Despite over-the-top non-stop action scenes where practicality was emphasized, "Fast X" separates large swaths of the "Fast" fam from one another for the film's majority, slightly stripping the saga of its greatest strength. Instead, the focus unnecessarily shifts to flashy, random cameos (superfan Debby Ryan, Pete Davidson) that start to take away from the franchise's core theme of family. It also loses some points for an all-too-brief and confusing "Justice for Han" moment. "Fast X" gets placed in the upper half of this ranking for its shocking reveals. No one expected The Rock to ever return to the franchise after he publicly said there was "no chance" of him coming back. That could be the best blockbuster surprise of 2023. The film's cliffhanger ending "Fast X" has about four endings intentionally feels derivative of "Avengers: Infinity War." But it will probably just lead to some massive, ultimate gathering of family in the next one to save the day that'll be delightfully bonkers. You can read our "Fast X" review here. 4. "Fast and Furious 6" (2013) A few people make daring dives from car to car in "Fast 6," and I am here for it. Universal Letty returns from the dead and a giant aircraft gets blown to bits! There's also a tank. On a highway. There's a lot to love about "Fast 6" if you don't take the film too seriously. The duo of Roman and Tej cracking jokes feels so natural that we're convinced some of their lines must be improvised. And who didn't want to see The Rock and Vin Diesel team up in a fight to bring down the bad guys? As silly as the logistics of the film's airport runway scene is, it's one of the franchise's best action sequences. But despite its fun nature, there are some things that are so over-the-top silly in "Fast 6" that you can't ignore them. Owen Shaw's car gang strangely and conveniently has a doppelganger for each and every member of Dom's gang. Then Brian goes undercover to prison for 24 hours just to find out that a back-from-the-dead Letty has amnesia. When he returns to the group to tell Dom what he learned, Dom says he doesn't even want to know. Essentially, Brian risked his life for nothing. An awesome sequence with a tank on a highway gets super dark when you realize the film's villain is casually killing people as he drives recklessly over vehicle after vehicle without blinking an eye or anyone ever bringing it up. 3. "Furious 7" (2015) "Furious 7" was a giant love letter to Paul Walker. Universal You have to give the "Fast and Furious" series some credit. Each film finds a way to have a stunt that goes bigger than the last one. "Furious 7" really did drop cars from planes for one wild stunt and, if that wasn't enough, Dom and Brian later crashed a $3 million Lykan HyperSport through not one, but two buildings in Abu Dhabi before sending it to a perilous drop. The Rock also has several scene-stealing moments, not to mention some of the film's best one liners. Who could forget, "Daddy's gotta go to work" as he busts his way out of a cast to help Dom take down Shaw? The film also set up some must-watch fights between Rhonda Rousey and Michelle Rodriguez and then Vin Diesel and Jason Statham. Who doesn't want to watch two huge action stars go head-to-head in a street fight after knocking their cars together? Action and fight sequences aside, "Furious 7" gets weighed down by a clunky subplot. Dom just wants to seek revenge on Deckard Shaw for coming after his family and murdering Han, but then Kurt Russell's Mr. Nobody comes onboard to bring the main plot to a halt. He tells Dom if he really wants to catch Shaw, he and his group need to help his covert team get a hold of a tracking device on steroids (Dom's words) called God's Eye. If and when they do that, then they'll help him track Shaw. It sounds like a good deal until Shaw shows up at every single location in the movie that Dom's team goes to, from Azerbaijan to Abu Dhabi. It becomes a bit unclear why Dom and his crew continue to work with Mr. Nobody when they don't seem to have an issue finding the one man they want to track down. Despite the film adding in some impossible tech, it's difficult not to be gutted by the final minutes of the movie. If you weren't struggling to fight back tears while Letty was cradling a lifeless Dom, telling him she remembers they're married, then you surely lost it when Wiz Khalifa's "See You Again" and a montage of the late Paul Walker through the franchise played as he and Dom parted ways down two different roads. It's definitely the most emotional film of the franchise. Knowing Paul Walker died before the movie was finished made it that much more heart-wrenching. Read our review of "Furious 7" here. 2. "The Fast and the Furious" (2001) The movie that started it all. Universal This is where the Vin Diesel and Paul Walker bromance began and the film holds up pretty well some cheesiness aside after two decades years. "The Fast and the Furious" may have been just a simple story about an undercover FBI agent, Brian O'Conner (Walker), who was trying to crack a case about truck robberies, but what he found instead was a family in Dom and his sister Mia. A lot of the 2001 movie laid the foundation for plot lines and devices that would be used again later in the franchise from Race Wars to Dom's dream about him and Letty in Mexico. The first film also includes plenty of racing and the most NOS uses of any film, something the franchise started skimping on in the sequels. You always think of the race at the end of the first film between Brian and Dom as one of the most iconic moments of the franchise. And, come on, who didn't want Dom's '70s Dodge Charger after seeing this movie? 1. "Fast Five" (2011) It's easy to forget there's an awesome train heist near the film's start before Brian and Dom rally together their contacts from the previous films. Universal "Fast Five" is when the franchise really started getting good again. This is the "Ocean's 11" of "The Fast and the Furious," as Dom and Brian rally together their friends and family from the past four films to rob the richest man in Rio de Janeiro. It's one action-packed sequence after the next as the film moves from helping Dom escape from a prison bus to an epic train heist while on the run in South America. And when the film finally brings the team together 40 minutes in Han, Roman, Tej, Gisele, Leo, and Santos it's magical. The film even brings Vin's childhood friend from the first film, Vince (Matt Schulze), back into the fold briefly. The addition of the Rock and his throwaway lines are gold. The perfect example? "Give me the damn veggies." Plus, the film gave fans exactly what they wanted: The Rock and Vin Diesel going head-to-head in a massive brawl. The giant heist culminates in one of the most ridiculous car races of any movie as every cop in Rio descends upon Brian and Dom as they drag an enormous vault by two Dodge Charger SRT-8 models while destroying everything in their path. It's ludicrous. It's over-the-top. But it's glorious and sure to bring a grin to your face. It's no wonder "Fast X" revisits this sequel. And let's not forget "Fast 5" has the quintessential Dom speech of the franchise about family. "The most important thing in life will always be the people in this room. Right here, right now." Hear, hear! Read the original article on Insider First Black musician on tenure track at KC Symphony lost his job. Was it due to racism? In early May, internationally acclaimed percussionist Josh Jones sat unemployed and holding back tears inside the Kansas City home he had purchased to be closer to his mother. Only weeks before, he had felt like a very different Josh Jones: Principal percussionist of the Kansas City Symphony, and almost, the first Black man to receive tenure in the institutions 40-year history. But that did not happen. Now, the 31-year-old has been denied tenure, leaving him with no job and no health care with less than a year left in his cancer treatment. He says the symphony held him, the only Black musician brought in for a long-term position, to a higher standard than his white counterparts. Jones said he felt isolated and, at times, treated inappropriately by staff due to his race. In an initial, Nov. 11, 2021, letter assessing Jones performance on the tenure track, the symphonys music director, Michael Stern, repeatedly referred to him as an exceptional talent and an extraordinary citizen in the orchestra and the larger community. But as the process continued through follow-up assessments, Stern revealed concerns over Jones ability to lead his section of the orchestra, culminating in a final Jan. 26 letter saying improvement in the various issues was not sufficient, and Jones would not be given tenure, which his position relied on. You simply did not have the support of your tenure review committee, the letter said. Jones denied any of the concerns were brought to him in a timely manner. He also said his organizational and managerial skills had been praised by similarly respected orchestras. In at least one instance, in Kansas City, his supervisors criticized him for assigning music in the style of another well known Black musician, Jones said. The CEO of the symphony, Danny Beckman, declined to comment on any specific matters relating to Jones, but told The Star Race is not a factor in these decisions, in a Friday morning phone call. Josh Jones plays as the principal percussionist in the Kansas City Symphony. He says he was held to a higher standard than his white counterparts and ultimately was denied tenure. Out of 80 musicians employed with the orchestra, Jones was one of three who were Black. The other two members joined in 2022 to fill temporary slots and will need to audition to secure long-term roles, Beckman said. In the weeks since Jones lost his job in March, thousands have rallied behind him over social media. Many shared messages of support, writing I stand with Josh. The Black Orchestral Network protests the Kansas City Symphonys denial of Josh Joness tenure as Principal Percussion. pic.twitter.com/uiRFrmdzOr Black Orchestral Network (@BlackOrchestral) May 9, 2023 Major donors and members of other esteemed orchestras signed letters similarly protesting the decision. The Black Orchestral Network, a nationwide support system for Black musicians, argues the decision to deny Jones tenure comes as part of a pattern with a deeper history. Weston Sprott, a Black musician and leader in the network, said the number of Black musicians experiencing denied or delayed tenure is grossly disproportionate to that of others. We know that Joshs situation is not isolated. Its not unique to the Kansas City Symphony. This is something that happens to Black musicians all across the country, he said. As of 2014, Black musicians made up 2% of American orchestras. The percussionist At 2 years old, Jones could hold a rhythm with just a coat hanger and a spoon. He mimicked the instruments, often tapping his fingers to the tempo of his parents Rocky IV cassette tape. But while growing up in Chicago, he lived in a neighborhood plagued by gun violence. There was little expectation for him to pursue a career in classical music. A video by the Detroit Symphony chronicling his achievements shows Jones strolling through his childhood neighborhood as he recalls not being able to go outside and the sounds of gunshots from across the way. So Jones stayed inside and listened to music. Josh Jones is pictured as a toddler, listening to music in Chicago, Illinois. By 3 years old he received his first drum set and 10 years later he got paid for playing them at a womens chorus in a Northbrook, Illinois, school. Patricia Dash, a member of the Chicago Symphony, offered Jones a percussion scholarship and from there Jones went on to complete a bachelors degree at the Depaul School of Music and play for major orchestras in Detroit, Chicago, Pittsburgh and Calgary, Canada. He was diagnosed with cancer while playing for the Calgary Symphony in 2018. The seven-inch tumor lodged in his lower abdomen was removed a year later. He played his first concerto, a solo composition with an orchestra, about two months after leaving the hospital. Jones went into remission and doctors shifted focus from treatment to preventing the cancer from returning. With the constant threat of another health scare, he longed to be closer to home. On March 10, 2020, he auditioned for the Kansas City Symphony. Everybody was very supportive and excited I was coming in. I felt welcome, Jones said, chuckling. Josh Jones is pictured in Chicago, Illinois, playing a drum set provided by his parents when he was 3 years old. He received a contract and earned the title of Principal Percussionist, which entitled him to solos, a leadership role in the percussion section and a chance to be the first Black musician at the symphony with tenure. According to Kansas City Symphony spokesman Jake Jacobson, Jones was the first Black musician the symphony had ever considered for tenure. Three years at the symphony Starting on his first day, July 27, 2020, Jones responsibilities included assigning parts to musicians, managing instruments, arranging production with stage crews and leading the percussion sections performance. By the time I got this job I had a really good system it made it easy to manage and adapt to peoples needs, Jones said. As part of his tenure assessment he would receive feedback from Stern, the symphonys music director, on at least five occasions. Jones received three letters documenting the meetings and the tenure committees assessment. When his probation for tenure started in September 2021, Jones received glowing feedback. This continued for at least seven months, apart from occasional reminders to keep up with managerial tasks, before the feedback turned negative, with multiple meetings scheduled in May 2022 to discuss Jones leadership. In the final eight months before Jones tenure was denied, he said, there appeared to be a pattern of withholding concerns about his performance until formal meetings and refusing to listen to his account of events. During his first meeting in November, Stern said Jones already added immeasurably to the performance standard and communal culture of the symphony. Josh Jones performs at the Kansas City Symphony. He came to Kansas City after stints with major orchestras in Detroit, Chicago, Pittsburgh and Calgary, Canada. In a letter recounting the assessment, Stern referenced a confusing incident regarding the assigning of parts. Stern surmised that None of that is an issue for me, at all, and ended with a reminder to keep the percussion room tidy. I have no doubt at all of the extraordinary contributions you are going to make This is not just my opinion, the committee and all of your colleagues support you completely, the Nov. 11, 2020 letter said. So work went on as usual, Jones said. The second meeting, scheduled for May 2022, turned into multiple discussions on May 25 and May 27. Jones quickly became discouraged, he said, because Stern refused to listen to context or his account of events that spurred negative feedback. Thats when I realized the process might start to turn against me for things outside my control, he said. In the meeting, Stern criticized Jones ability to communicate with colleagues, more confusion over past music assignments and the way they were distributed. Problems continue to center around your leadership of your section, Stern said in a letter assessing Jones performance. Jones found the feedback interesting, he said, since one of the music assignments Jones distributed that Stern used to criticize his leadership had been based on the work of the very first African American Principal Percussionist in America. When Jones attended his final meeting on Jan. 10 Stern told him he would not receive tenure. Josh Jones performs as the principal percussionist in the Kansas City Symphony. Out of 80 musicians employed with the orchestra, Jones was one of three who were Black. Throughout the first months of this season there continued to be serious issues, Stern said in a Jan. 26 letter, referring to how parts had been assigned, managed and communicated. You were not able to correct course and win the confidence of the committee. That is truly my biggest regret. For Jones, the decision felt unjustified. It made me feel as if I had to be perceived as perfect and perform at a level no one in the country would even consider appropriate, he said. And the director didnt want to see my evidence refuting it. The Black musician On multiple occasions during his time at the Kansas City Symphony, Jones said he was treated differently because of the color of his skin. Security staff questioned whether his ID card was authentic in his first and second year at his position, he said, and took precautions, such as scanning him through a metal detector, which other musicians did not have to do. One day when I came in, one of the security guards showed me a picture of a man with a hoodie and jeans and asked if that was me, he said. We have some instances where homeless people come through the parking garage and somehow get into the building. In other instances, Jones felt used. He appeared on multiple brochures for the symphony and was asked to be one of the main musicians in an outreach campaign playing live music for many low-income and predominantly Black communities in the metro area. Jones said there was no support outlet or person in the symphony with whom he could discuss his concerns. Josh Jones is pictured in a Calgary, Canada, hospital receiving treatment for cancer in 2019. He was still in treatment when he lost his position with the Kansas City Symphony When asked whether the orchestra had any initiatives to support diversity or training to keep race from impacting personnel decisions, Beckman, the symphonys CEO, said they are still looking for people who might be able to help think about this. We launched a DEI task force to look at that and assess what we need to be doing, he said. Id say weve been at that work for the last year, year and a half maybe But were pretty early on that journey, he said. He referred to the outreach Jones had been a part of as one step in an ongoing effort to try and grow the feeling that we belong to all of Kansas City. Sprott, with the Black Orchestral Network, which reached out to Jones shortly after his tenure was denied, said many Black musicians feel isolated in an orchestra setting. Musicians going through tenure, especially Black musicians, should be given an opportunity to advocate for themselves to the tenure committee and discuss their various experiences, Sprott said. And they should have an advocate alongside them during the probationary period to provide support. The likelihood that anyone in senior leadership has a shared identity with you is very unlikely, Sprott said. Jones hopes similar changes are made to support Black musicians at the symphony. But in recent weeks, hes felt worried, unsure whether he will be able to find health care as a cancer patient or someday get his job back. This has always happened, Jones said. Whether its people being upset that Im playing music the grad students are playing or getting called to play with the Chicago Symphony as a freshman. We are always told you have to be four times as good to get halfway. But then youre four times as good as the white person. So youre damned if you do, damned if you dont. A Fitchburg man is facing a murder charge in the shooting death of 19-year-old Franklin Mane, of Worcester, in 2021. Wilbert I. Nieves, 25, will be arraigned June 1 in Leominster District Court, according to the office of Worcester District Attorney Joseph D. Early Jr. Nieves is currently in custody at a Massachusetts jail on unrelated firearms charges, Early's office said. Mane's body was found by a passerby May 12, 2021, in an overgrown area at the edge of a parking lot at 46 Industrial Road in Leominster. Mane was last seen in Worcester on March 6, 2021. Investigators at the scene in Leominster May 12, 2021. Wilbert I. Nieves, 25, will be arraigned June 1 in Leominster District Court on a murder charge in the shooting death of 19-year-old Franklin Mane of Worcester. The Office of the State Medical Examiner determined that Mane had died of gunshot wounds; his death was ruled a homicide. In October 2018, Nieves was charged with making a bomb/hijacking threat. The charge was amended to threatening to commit a crime Jan. 14, 2019. The case in which he allegedly threatened to shoot employees at the business he was fired from was continued without a finding. On Jan. 31, 2020, Nieves was found guilty of a parole violation when he was charged with numerous firearm violations in Worcester Central District Court, including carrying a loaded firearm without a license, possession of a large capacity firearm, carrying a firearm without a license, improper storage of a firearm, possession of ammunition without an FID card and resisting arrest. The investigation remains ongoing by Leominster and Worcester police and the Massachusetts State Police Detectives assigned to the Worcester County District Attorneys Office. This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Wilbert Nieves charged with murdering Franklin Mane of Worcester Lets hear it for spunky women. Lets give kudos to women who filibuster for hours, in flop-flops for comfort. Lets raise a glass to the five women senators in our legislature who have labeled themselves the Sister Senators. Lets give a shoutout to these five who have not only flexed their muscle in the S.C. Senate over the last few weeks but have done something truly remarkable at the same time: they have formed their own tri-partisan coalition three Republicans, one Democrat, and one independentworking together to make certain their voices are heard. No political positions or ideologies have intruded in their mission, as they have moved forward with their agenda in a perfectly orchestrated march. Hailed in a prominent feature story in The New York Times, Sens. Katrina Shealy, R-Lexington; Margie Bright Matthews, D-Colleton; Mia McLeod, a Richland County indendent; Penry Gustafson, R-Kershaw; and Sandy Senn, R-Charleston, have made a national name for themselves for the solidarity and pluckiness they have brought to a controversial topic that has been on the agenda in state legislatures all over the country this year. In a year when abortion rights have been at the forefront of American politics and legislative dockets, five female senators from our state have carved out a preeminent stance that has gained national attention and praise. And with the recent passage in the S.C. House of Representatives of the six-week abortion bill, the Sister Senators will be called into action again when the Senate reconvenes this week to consider the House abortion bill. In the last weeks of the regular legislative session, as the Senate tried a third time to pass a law banning abortion from conception, this group of feisty female senators blocked the action. Together they filibustered for two days, taking turns speaking, sometimes for over four hours each. Their message was a clear one and, as Sen. Margie Bright Matthews said, This is certainly not a political issue. This is a human-rights issue, its an issue of womens rights, privacy rights, family rights, and certainly partisan politics should not have anything to do with it. The five senators have received threats of primary challenges from some of their fellow legislators, have been the recipients of derisive gifts in the mail from anti-abortion activists, and have been targets of demonstrations on the State House grounds. But they have also received donations and supporting correspondence from people across South Carolina. Recent polls show that most voters in our state dont approve of the overturning of Roe vs. Wade and are in favor of some level of abortion access. Within this group of five senators, there is a range of opinion about various aspects of the abortion issue, and although their philosophies do not match to the letter, they are in total solidarity that the abortion issue, with all its ramifications, should not be the business of the S.C. Senate. Shealy commented that if it were her decision to make, she would advocate for abortion decisions to be made by women, their partners, and their doctors. Now that the Senate must again consider abortion legislation, the Sister Senators will be called into action once more. Whatever ones opinion might be about the issue of abortion, you have to be impressed that five members of the Senate pushed aside party politics and political creeds and joined to become a force to advocate their ideas and beliefs. In this age of horrible partisan politics, the Sister Senators proved that cooperation and shared mission are not only still possible, but can succeed. These five women have achieved national acclaim for their sense of duty and their spirit of solidarity. I got an email from my sister who lives in North Carolina after she had read The New York Times piece about the Sisters. She put it best when she wrote, I wish we had some women in the NC legislature who had their gumption and could see the big picture. Thanks, Sister Senators, for giving us something to be proud of. We will follow your efforts as you meet the challenge once again of mediating the abortion issue in our state. Sherry Beasley is a long-time educator who lives in Columbia. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is widely expected to seek the 2024 Republican presidential nomination Benjamin Perez cleans houses in Miami for a living. Like tens of thousands of others in the Florida workforce, he toils without legal papers. The future of this off-the-books labor force today sits in limbo due to a recently approved immigration law. Conservative Florida Governor Ron DeSantis on May 10 signed what he called the "strongest anti-illegal immigration bill in the nation" to bar undocumented workers from taking jobs in the southern US state. Starting July 1, businesses with 25 or more employees will be required to use the federal E-Verify system to check the legal status of all new employees. Businesses would face heavy fines for defying the law and employing undocumented migrants. Perez, 40, has lived and worked in the United States for two decades but finds his future uncertain. He left his native Mexico looking to earn more as a skilled mason. An injury caused him to change jobs. He lives in downtown Miami with his Nicaraguan wife and a nephew of hers, Joel Altamirano. All three work. None of them enjoy legal status. "For those of us who come without papers, the desire to work remains but the paths to finding a job have become narrower," says Perez, who asked to use a pseudonym lest migratory authorities catch him. "The American Dream is just that -- a dream," he adds. "The government corners us more each day. This time, it is without mercy. We practically are worthless." - 'Devastating effects' Florida, the third most-populous US state, has 22.2 million residents, and 772,000 of them are undocumented migrants, according to the Migration Policy Institute think tank. Many of them work in vital sectors of the state economy such as agriculture, construction and hospitality. Blocking them will have severe economic consequences, warns Samuel Vilchez, director in Florida of the American Business Immigration Coalition, which advocates for better integration of migrants in the economy. "It really targets our businesses and hinders them from their ability to create new jobs... and provide the services they're seeking to provide," Vilchez said. "It goes against what we know is good for the economy, and it will have devastating effects on Florida." According to the Florida Policy Institute, the state's economy could potentially drop by $12.6 billion, or 1.1 percent, if all undocumented workers were removed from payrolls. Florida also would face losses in state and local tax revenue and reduced overall economic activity. Uncertainty created by the new law already ripples at job sites even though it has yet to go into effect and does not apply to existing employees or mandate that known undocumented workers be turned in. "Where I work, a lot of people have left. They've moved to other states. There's a lot of fear about the law," says Altamirano (another pseudonym), a 38-year-old construction worker. - 'Unfair' DeSantis, who looks likely to challenge former president Donald Trump for the 2024 Republican nomination, has gained traction by pushing a conservative agenda on issues like education, abortion and illegal immigration. Last week, he accused Democratic President Joe Biden of "reckless border policies" and touted the new law as a tool to combat crime and drug trafficking associated with illegal immigration. Perez and Altamirano deplore the fact that authorities lump them in with criminals, and complain that they are victims of DeSantis's political ambitions. "All the politicians want their share of the cake and we pay the cost," Perez says. "We came here to work, send money to our families, spend it here and pay taxes. This is unfair." If the law prevents them from holding jobs, they say they will leave Florida and start from scratch elsewhere in the United States. They will adapt, once again. Returning to their home countries is not in their plans. Family members rely on their remittances and, in Altamirano's case, returning to live under Daniel Ortega's authoritarian government in Nicaragua is untenable. Perez dreams that the country where he has toiled for so many years would one day officially recognize his presence. "For the United States, we don't exist," he says. "The United States was built by people from all over, and I am one of them." gma/tjj/mlm Foo Fighters' new drummer Josh Freese receives warm welcome from fans: 'A new era has begun' Foo Fighters' new drummer Josh Freese receives warm welcome from fans: 'A new era has begun' The Foo Fighters had a literal motley crew of cameos in their livestream, "Foo Fighters: Preparing Music for Concerts," before announcing a new addition to the band: drummer Josh Freese. In the wake of the tragic passing of Taylor Hawkins last March, the band enlisted the help of other famous drummers, including Red Hot Chili Peppers Chad Smith, Motley Crues Tommy Lee and Tools Danny Carey, to tease the ultimate arrival of Freese. Each musician was welcomed into the studio by the band, only to deliver a funny remark like, "There's a white Mercedes blocking me," "I got the P.F. Chang's" and "I groomed your poodles for you." With multiple interruptions, an agitated voice off camera can be heard yelling, "Excuse me," before cutting to Freese behind the drums. "Guys, can we just, I don't know, play a song, or two? Something," he asks, before the Foo Fighters start playing new music from their upcoming album "But Here We Are." FOO FIGHTERS ADDRESS FUTURE AS A BAND WITHOUT TAYLOR HAWKINS AFTER HIS TRAGIC DEATH The Foo Fighters teased fans with cameos from several famous drummers before revealing their new guy, Josh Freese. The reception to Freese was overwhelmingly positive, with fans taking to social media to celebrate the announcement. READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP "Absolutely phenomenal. Josh Freese is a beast on drums. I, like millions of others, have wondered how things would play out after Taylor's passing. He would be so proud of how FF has handled things. Thank you @joshfreese for your talent and stepping up to the plate," one fan wrote. "Thanks for coming back," another person added. "A new era has Begun, and Taylor, hope you are smiling from wherever you are," they noted of Hawkins. "Thanks for choosing Josh, it was the right thing to do" CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR THE ENTERTAINMENT NEWSLETTER "OMG!! You guys did not disappoint that was just BRILLIANT! I laughed, I cried and I sang my heart out with you. Way to go Josh! Loved every second of this and cannot wait for the UK tour dates to be announced when we can do it all again together," another user shared. The Foo Fighters were initially created by former Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl , who would later recruit Hawkins to the band. Famed drummer Taylor Hawkins passed away last March. He was just 50 years old. Hawkins was found dead on March 25 in a hotel room in Chaperino, Colombia, during the South American leg of the Foo Fighters' tour. Hawkins, 50, died ahead of a concert in Bogota. The District Secretary of Health in Colombia also confirmed the situation in which Hawkins passed, stating in a press release translated to English, "The city's Emergency and Emergency Regulatory Center received a report about a patient with chest pain in a hotel located north of the city. An ambulance was dispatched to attend to the case." A day after his passing, the office of the Colombian attorney general released an initial toxicology report that revealed the drummer had 10 different psychoactive substances in his body, including "THX (Marijuana), tricyclic antidepressants, benzodiazepines, and opioids, among others." Josh Freese has played with a plethora of successful bands. Hawkins' replacement, Freese, is an established musician in his own right, having played the drums for Guns N Roses, Paramore and Nine Inch Nails, among others. As they resume touring, the Foo Fighters have already sold out their upcoming show in New Hampshire on May 24, the first time Freese will play in front of an audience with the band. Foo Fighters have announced that musician Josh Freese will be the bands new drummer following the death of Taylor Hawkins in March 2022. Freese jammed with frontman Dave Grohl, bassist Nate Mendel, guitarist Pat Smear, guitarist Chris Shiflett and keyboardist Rami Jaffee during the groups streaming event on May 21, confirming he has joined the rock band. The Grammy-winning group shared a snippet from the livestream on their Instagram page. In the clip, Freese shows off his skills on the drums as Grohl belts the lyrics to Under You, one of the bands new songs. 2022 Coachella Valley Music And Arts Festival - Weekend 2 - Day 2 (Theo Wargo / Getty Images for Coachella) Fans immediately welcomed Freese with open arms in the comments. Hell never replace Taylor but thats okay cuz he knows that and hell bring his own (flair) and style, one Instagram user said. Welcome to the foo family josh. Another wrote, Welcome, Josh! Taylor surely is proud. News about the 50-year-old drummer being added to the group comes just a few weeks before Foo Fighters will release their first album since Hawkins died last year. But Here We Are, which drops June 2, was described in a press release as a brutally honest and emotionally raw response to a year of staggering losses." The 10-track album will be a testament to the healing powers of music, friendship and family." On April 19, the Foo Fighters released the first single from the record, Rescued." During the chorus, Grohl sings about recovering after tragedy. Were all free to some degree / To dance under the lights / Im just waiting to be rescued / Bring me back to life, he sings. Hawkins was found dead at age 50 on March 25, 2022, in Bogota, Colombia, while on tour with the band. The group planned to perform at the Festival Estereo Picnic before they learned the tragic news. They later announced that all upcoming tour dates were canceled. Freese will take the stage with the rock band as they embark on their latest tour, which kicks off May 24 at the Bank of New Hampshire Pavilion in Gilford, New Hampshire, according to Variety. The publication reported that Freese was one of the many stars who helped honor Hawkins legacy when he performed at the late drummers September 2022 tribute concerts in London and Los Angeles. Hawkins 17-year-old son, Shane, also paid tribute to his dad and delivered a roaring performance of My Hero on drums in London. Other musicians like Paul McCartney, Liam Gallagher, Queens Brian May and Roger Taylor and Kesha honored Hawkins, as well. Freese knew Hawkins and has been friends with Grohl for years, according to Variety. He previously performed and toured with Guns N Roses, Nine Inch Nails, Weezer and Paramore. This article was originally published on TODAY.com Foo Fighters have announced that musician Josh Freese will be the bands new drummer following the death of Taylor Hawkins in March 2022. Freese jammed with frontman Dave Grohl, bassist Nate Mendel, guitarists Pat Smear and Chris Shiflett and keyboardist Rami Jaffee during the groups streaming event on Sunday, confirming he has joined the rock band. The Grammy-winning group shared a snippet from the livestream on their Instagram page. In the clip, Freese shows off his skills on the drums as Grohl belts the lyrics to Under You, one of the bands new songs. News about the 50-year-old drummer being added to the group comes just a few weeks before Foo Fighters will release their first album since Hawkins died last year. But Here We Are, which drops June 2, was described in a press release as a brutally honest and emotionally raw response to a year of staggering losses. The 10-track album will be a testament to the healing powers of music, friendship and family. On April 19, the Foo Fighters released the first single from the record, Rescued. During the chorus, Grohl sings about recovering after a tragedy. Were all free to some degree / To dance under the lights / Im just waiting to be rescued / Bring me back to life, he sings. The 58th GRAMMY Awards - Red Carpet (Lester Cohen / WireImage file) Hawkins was found dead at age 50 on March 25, 2022, in Bogota, Colombia, while on tour with the band. The group planned to perform at the Festival Estereo Picnic before they learned the tragic news. They later announced that all upcoming tour dates were canceled. Freese will take the stage with the rock band as they embark on their latest tour, which kicks off Wednesday at the Bank of New Hampshire Pavilion in Gilford, New Hampshire. Freese was one of the many stars who helped honor Hawkins legacy when he performed at the late drummers September 2022 tribute concerts in London and Los Angeles. Hawkins 17-year-old son, Shane, also paid tribute to his dad and delivered a roaring performance of My Hero on drums in London. Other musicians like Paul McCartney, Liam Gallagher, Queens Brian May and Roger Taylor and Kesha honored Hawkins, as well. Freese knew Hawkins and has been friends with Grohl for years, according to Variety. He previously performed and toured with Guns N Roses, Nine Inch Nails, Weezer and Paramore. This article was originally published on NBCNews.com FILE - Jim Farley, Ford president and CEO, speaks during a presentation Tuesday, Sept. 28, 2021, in Memphis, Tenn. Farley says the company will stop competing in over-served market segments and instead will place big bets on connected vehicles and digital services. Farley said ahead of the companys capital markets day event Monday, May 22, 2023 that the days of Ford being all things to all people are over. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey, file) (ASSOCIATED PRESS) DEARBORN, Mich. (AP) Ford CEO Jim Farley says his company is remaking itself by cutting costs, raising quality and offering software, services and new vehicles that will make profit margins among the best in the industry. Farley and other executives gave details on how it will get there over the next few years during a capital markets day event Monday near its Dearborn, Michigan headquarters. One way is to reduce investment in hypercompetitive market segments such as two-row smaller SUVs, Farley told industry analysts. The company, he said, has been stuck in a box, with thin profit margins, weak growth and low stock valuation. Ford, Farley said, will emphasize software and services as well as iconic vehicles such as pickup trucks, large SUVs, commercial vehicles and advanced second-generation electric vehicles. He said the company is eliminating waste to close a cost gap with the best in the industry with a lean disciplined operating system that reaches into all Ford factories. By focusing on software and Ford's strengths in products, the company won't be as vulnerable to a downturn as in the past. He said the company has let complexity overrun our business as we tried to be all things to all people. Farley says Ford will be competing differently, going for tailored ownership experiences rather than jockeying for slivers of market share." He said Ford will go to non-negotiated vehicle prices. Ford has said it will get to a 10% pretax profit margin in 2026. It reiterated 2023 full-year guidance of $9 billion to $11 billion in adjusted pretax profits. Farley said the company has even greater margin ambitions. To get there, Ford says it will cut costs by reducing the number of parts in its vehicles, as well as cutting warranty and recall expenses by boosting quality. But Farley said he doesn't see reductions in the number of factory employees or among engineers and other office workers. The company predicted it would sell 5.6 million vehicles in 2026 as global sales recover, and it will need workers to design and produce them, Farley said. Ford sold roughly 4.2 billion vehicles last year. Farley has long complained about Fords high retail and warranty costs, and Kumar Galhotra, president of Ford Blue, the companys internal combustion unit, said the company is making changes to reduce those to improve profit margins. Rather than testing the new Super Duty pickup to a particular standard, the company tested it until parts and systems failed, he said. Now Ford is finding the eventual weak point and eliminating it, prolonging vehicle life, Galhotra said. Ford also is focusing on reducing the number of vehicle parts, and on the stability of parts supply companies, he said. For example, by the time Ford rolls out a new version of the F-150 pickup this year, it will have cut 2,400 parts from the existing model, We have some chronically inefficient tier one and tier two suppliers, Galhotra said. Some have caused an unstable flow of parts, he said, adding that Ford has worked with 125 key suppliers to stabilize their operations. If the present supplier is not on a path to a permanent solution, were re-sourcing the business, he said. A study by Plante Moran released Monday showed that Fords working relations with parts suppliers has declined dramatically since 2020. Ford said its new or revamped electric vehicle manufacturing plants will be far more efficient, with nearly 30% less labor overhead than the company's current large internal combustion vehicle plants. But Farley said that doesn't mean fewer factory workers because they'll be needed to make batteries and other EV parts. Ford Motor Co. also cut deals with a number of companies to supply its rapidly growing electrical vehicle division, Ford Model e, according to a flurry of announcements Monday. Ford will get more than 100,000 metric tons of lithium hydroxide from Albemarle, based in Charlotte, North Carolina. Compass Minerals International announced a multiyear deal to supply Ford with up to 40% of the battery-grade lithium carbonate coming from its project in Utah. EnergySource Minerals will supply the carmaker with lithium hydroxide from a new site in Imperial Valley, California, and Nemaska Lithium, a Canadian miner, will supply Ford with 13,000 tons of lithium hydroxide annually for 11 years. per year over 11 years. Because the materials are coming from the U.S. and Canada, it ensures that Ford's electric vehicles will qualify for new federal tax credits, making them more competitive. Ford has split itself into three business units, Ford Blue, Ford Model e for electric vehicles and digital products, and Ford Pro, the company's commercial vehicle business. Im not here to tell you that were under valued, Farley said Monday. You make your own decision. Shares of Ford fell just under 1% in midday trading Monday. The NAACP has issued a formal travel advisory for African Americans and the LGBTQ community to avoid the state of Florida. The organization says Florida has become a dangerous, hostile environment for law-abiding Americans and immigrants, because of Governor Ron DeSantis, whos expected to announce that hes running for president this week. Action News Jax spoke with Reverend Jeffrey Dove, who is St. James A.M.E Church of Orange Park and isnt associated with the NAACP. He believes this move by the organization could affect the state of Flordias wallet big time. The actions of this governor have been downright demonic, Dove said. The organization back in late March came up with a proposed travel advisory in response to certain bills being discussed in Tallahassee that the NAACP said targeted some minority and LGBTQ communities. [DOWNLOAD: Free Action News Jax app for alerts as news breaks] Governor DeSantis recently signed some of those bills into law. I think its going to energize not just the black community, but the LGBTQ community. I think its going to energize women, and I think we are going to see a reaction at the polls, Dove said. The NAACP says, Under the leadership of Governor DeSantis, the state of Florida has become hostile to black Americans and in direct conflict with the democratic ideals that our union was founded upon. Read: Florida House panel targets drag shows Revered Dove says this travel advisory will have major implications for the economy in Florida You have to speak to the economic impact of structures, that means you have to hit them in the wallet, Dove said. Action News Jax spoke with Governor DeSantis in late March when the travel advisory proposal first came out, and he dismissed it. Read: On new Fla. immigration law, S. Florida farmer warns, Get ready to pay more at grocery store This is a stunt to try to do that, a pure stunt. And fine, if you want to waste your time on a stunt, thats fine, DeSantis said. Although the NAACP has put this in place, Reverend Dove still doesnt think it will change the Governor. Its too late for him to act right. He doesnt have enough God in him to act right, Dove said. [SIGN UP: Action News Jax Daily Headlines Newsletter] We reached out to the city of Jacksonville to get their response, and we are still waiting to hear back. We also reached out to Mayor-elect Donna Deegan to get her reaction on this. She sent the following statement: Jacksonvilles strength lies in its diversity, making our city a better place for all who live in and visit it. Throughout my campaign, I made a steadfast commitment to bringing everyone to the table and creating a unified Jacksonville, and as the mayor-elect, I promise that under my leadership we will celebrate this beautiful mosaic we call home and ensure that it is a place of welcome for all. STAY UPDATED: Download the Action News Jax app for live updates on breaking stories A Wichita Falls attorney who once served as an assistant prosecutor for Wichita County has been arrested for the third time in recent days for charges in connection with his ex-girlfriend, according to online jail records. Dean Colin Godfrey, 34, was booked into the Wichita County Law Enforcement Center on Sunday on a felony stalking charge, according to online jail records. He was being held in jail without bond Monday. Wichita Falls police Before his latest stint behind bars, Godfrey was free on a $1,000 personal recognizance bond for the trespassing charge in connection with an April 29 incident, as well as a $7,500 bond for a stalking charge in connection with a May 8 incident. Godfrey was first arrested May 8 on a misdemeanor charge of criminal trespassing and then May 9 on a felony stalking charge, according to jail and court records. His arrest Sunday was also for a felony stalking charge in connection with an incident on May 8. He is accused of repeatedly contacting his girlfriend and showing up at her home and workplace where he was barred, among other allegations, in police reports and the former girlfriend's request for a protective order. Anyone charged with a crime is presumed innocent until proven guilty in court. Godfrey contacted the Times Record News on Friday afternoon, saying there are two sides to a story. I've made some mistakes just like she made some mistakes, and that's kind of how couples are," he said in a telephone interview Friday evening. "I wanted to set the record straight that I'm not a stalker or whatever the police report said. Allegations in police reports and a protective order request provide a long list of what Godfrey is suspected of: trespassing after he was barred from his ex-girlfriend's home, sending her numerous electronic messages and leaving voicemail messages after she told him not to contact her, hacking her social media accounts, threatening to come to her workplace and make a scene, and showing up there and driving recklessly soon after he bailed out of jail the first time. In addition, his former girlfriend discovered Godfrey on the roof of her home during the early morning hours of April 23, according to her affidavit to support a request for a protective order. Godfrey had broken a security camera and disabled two others, and she cut off her relationship with him, according to allegations in the protective order request. Godfrey blamed his legal problems on his ex-girlfriend's mother. "It's just that after three years of kind of being treated like this by the persons mother that's why this is all happening and I messed with the wrong mother apparently," Godfrey said Friday. News or whoever needs to know how far a simple disagreement has gone . . between two people who were dating three years," he said. TRN reached out to his defense attorney, Chuck Smith, who did not immediately return a telephone call Monday morning. I'm calling without my attorney right now because I've just had an ankle monitor put on me for a fight with my girlfriend," Godrey said Friday evening. "Im over it. Id just like somebody to see the real story. Bond conditions for the stalking charge he was arrested for May 9 require Godfrey to wear a GPS ankle monitor until he successfully completes a drug rehabilitation program. He is also required to stay away from his ex-girlfriend, her mother, home and workplace, as well as not access in any way his former girlfriend's social media and email accounts, according to the bond conditions. He is also prohibited from having guns and must submit to drug testing. A temporary protective order granted May 9 in 78th District Court also laid out conditions for him. Godfrey filed a motion in a civil case related to the protective order, requesting police return his cell phone, according to court documents. He contends it was seized without a search warrant, and that when he contacted a detective May 12 to request its return, Godfrey asked whether police had a search warrant, according to allegations in court documents. The detective told Godfrey, "We're working on it," according to allegations in court documents. The cell phone is important to Godfrey's business, and he already allowed police to have access to it. Godfrey is a former Wichita County assistant district attorney who was hired Aug. 31, 2015, according to information the Times Record News obtained from the county in response to an open records request filed May 10. He left the DA's Office Sept. 29, 2017, but the county does not have records showing whether he resigned or was fired, according to the county's May 16 response. In addition, Godfrey worked as an intern with Wichita County from Dec. 8, 2011, through July 19, 2012 and from July 3, 2014, through July 3, 2014, according to the response to TRN's open records request. Godfrey is eligible to practice law in Texas and has no public disciplinary history in this state, according to the State Bar of Texas. His practice areas include wills, trusts, probate and elder law, and he obtained his law degree from Texas Tech University. Trish Choate, enterprise watchdog reporter for the Times Record News, covers education, courts, breaking news and more. Contact Trish with news tips at tchoate@gannett.com. Read her recent work here. Her Twitter handle is @Trishapedia. This article originally appeared on Wichita Falls Times Record News: Wichita Falls attorney held without bond on stalking charge A former employee has filed a federal lawsuit against the Lexington-Fayette County Health Department, alleging the department violated the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Civil Rights Act after he was terminated for missing too many days of work. Jeremy Gayheart, of Scott County, filed the suit May 16 in federal court and alleges the health department fired him based on disability, sex discrimination and retaliation. Gayheart began work with the health department in August 2022 as a registered nurse, according to the lawsuit. One month later in September, he was approved for paternity leave for two weeks, according to court documents. Before taking the leave, Gayheart allegedly notified the health department he was seeking medical treatment for worsening problems with mental health disabilities he suffers, including anxiety, depression and PTSD, according to court documents. Specifically, he notified (the health department) that he was going to be placed on workplace restrictions due to his disabilities and would need accommodation, the lawsuit states. While on leave, Gayhearts grandfather died, and he notified his employer, court documents state. Two days before he was scheduled to return to work from paternity leave, Gayheart was fired for missing too many days of work, the lawsuit states. Health department spokesperson Kevin Hall declined to comment on the lawsuit, saying the department couldnt comment on a pending legal matter. Gayheart is suing on allegations of disability discrimination, sex discrimination and retaliation for exercising his rights. He alleges in the lawsuit he was fired because of his sex and utilizing paternity leave, and because of his disabilities. Gayheart is requesting a jury trial in the hopes they will reinstate his employment or require the health department to pay him benefits, compensation and monetary loss. He is requesting compensatory and punitive damages, payment of attorney fees and all other fees the court seems fit for the health departments alleged violations. Four indicted in Athens as gang members in Five Points slaying The four suspects charged with murder in the slaying of a man outside a party in the Five Points neighborhood on March 5 have been identified as alleged members of a street gang. State Attorney General Chris Carr announced Monday that the suspects are believed to be members of the Everybody Killa or EBK gang. The case against the four suspects was presented to an Athens-Clarke County grand jury, which returned the multiple count indictment against the suspects on May 16. Lost girl found: Abducted girl found in North Carolina, but early investigation began in Athens 'Tragic and terrible': Oconee County deputy dies in lawn mower accident The defendants, Jaden Jay Savage Appling, 20; Anthony Nick Brown, 19; XZydric Sun Sun Faust, 16; and, Glendarius Tate, 20, all of Athens, each face charges of murder, aggravated assault, possession of a firearm during a felony, damage to property and two counts of violating the Street Gang Terrorism and Prevention Act. Faust, although a juvenile, was indicted as an adult. The four are charged with murdering Javanni McDavid, 24, of Athens who was gunned down March 5 outside a house in Five Points that was rented for a private party. This violence must stop before more lives are lost and more families are destroyed, Carr said in a statement released with the announcement. We have partnered with the Athens-Clarke County Police Department and the GBI since day one and we will continue working together to protect all of our fellow Georgians. The evidence was presented to the grand jury by the Attorney Generals Gang Prosecution Unit. This article originally appeared on Athens Banner-Herald: Four Athens residents indicted as gang members in murder case Grayson McFerrin, 12, Libby Gonzales, 13, Hobbes Chukumba, 16, and Daniel Trujillo, 15, the organizers of the Trans Youth Prom pose for a photo in front of the U.S. Supreme Court Building in Washington, D.C. Grayson McFerrin, 12, Libby Gonzales, 13, Hobbes Chukumba, 16, and Daniel Trujillo, 15, the organizers of the Trans Youth Prom pose for a photo in front of the U.S. Supreme Court Building in Washington, D.C., on May 22, 2023. Credit - Anna MoneymakerGetty Images When envisioning the prom of her dreams, Libby Gonzales, a 13-year-old Texan who is helping plan the first-ever transgender youth prom at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., had a lot of big ideas. Plenty of those ideasincluding a boba tea bar and face paintingdidnt make the cut, but shes excited to share what the prom will have: a drag performance by MC Stormie Daie, live music, and mostly pop and rock anthems, (by ABBA, Taylor Swift and Katy Perry) selected by the organizers. Guests will enter the event through the Tunnel of Love with colors inspired by the transgender flag, before being met with decor that nods to the 70s, inspired by the Stonewall uprising, a six-day protest that marked the turning point in the fight for queer rights. And then theres Libbys outfit, a long, tiered polka-dot black dress with poofy sleeves and custom Converse sneakers detailed with pink stitching. She plans to don a flower crown to finish off her look. Libby and the proms three other organizers, Daniel Trujillo, 15; Grayson McFerrin, 12; and Hobbes Chukumba, 16, are among the 200 peopleincluding trans youth from 17 statesset to attend the prom on May 22 in a show of resilience during a time where trans rights are being stripped away. In America, proms have long been a celebratory rite of passage towards adulthood, self-actualization and independence. These teens, who hail from across the country, want to spend the day dancing and hanging out with their friends without the current political climate weighing on them. Theyd rather look forward to the upcoming drag performance by Grayson, who lives in Texas and who Libby describes as energetic and sparkly. The trans prom is meant to emphasize the pride and joy and happiness that is within the trans community that cannot be broken, says Hobbes, a New Jersey native, who is juggling prom committee work while he thinks about the SAT and his future career in STEM. Were trying to show that trans people can and will continue to be brilliant and great. And really, its meant to be a space that lets trans kids be kids. The concept for the prom stemmed from the frustration co-organizers Daniel, who lives in Arizona, and Libby, who first met on a camping trip coordinated by their parents in 2019, were feeling about the more than 475 anti-LGBTQ legislative bills introduced across the country in 2023. We wanted a way to be able to tell our stories ourselves and tell them the right way, Libby says. So far this year, some 20 states have passed laws banning gender-affirming care for people under the age of 18, according to the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), an organization dedicated to advocating for LGBTQ+ equality. At least three statesOklahoma, Texas and South Carolinahave considered barring care for transgender people up to age 26. Theres also been the resurgence of bathroom bills, which bar transgender people from using the restroom that matches their gender identity. In other states, individuals freedom of expression is also being stripped as seen through drag bans and a recently-decided legal suit where a federal judge ruled that a transgender Mississippi girl had to abide by her principal and superintendents mandate to dress like a boy at her graduation ceremony. A January poll by the Trevor Project, the worlds largest suicide prevention and crisis intervention organization for queer youth, showed that 86% of transgender and nonbinary youth said their mental health was negatively impacted by lawmakers debates around anti-trans bills in 2022. That sentiment proves true for both Daniel and Libby, who have been regularly involved in the world of advocacy, visiting their states capitals for the first time as young as six and nine years old to have speeches they wrote be read for testimony. Their lives continue to be disrupted by the fight to exist as they choose, they say. My GPA dropped from going [to the state capitol] consistently, and it threw all of us into a really stressful space because my parents had to keep working [and then] drop what they were doing to drive to Phoenix, Daniel tells TIME. Having to sit through testimonies for people who are saying that Im mentally ill, its really hurtful and frustrating. Libbys mother, Rachel Gonzales, says her daughter was forced into advocacy because of her identity, and recently had to take a break from testifying against bills because of the mental and emotional toll it was taking. Instead, Libby has pivoted to planning an event that she sees as a chance to reclaim her agency. How an inclusive prom came to life Libby and Daniels involvement in civic action, though difficult, also connected them to a network of support that helped bring their vision of a safe space for queer youth to fruition. Most of the organizers parents knew each other from the Parents for Transgender Equality Council at the HRC, which Gonzales refers to as her chosen family. It is also through their advocacy work that the parents were able to connect with Chase Strangio, who is the Deputy Director for Transgender Justice with the ACLUs LGBT & HIV Project. Strangio, who is a leading figure in legal battles for trans rights, helped organize the event. Lizette (Daniels mom) and I were like, OK, our kids have an awesome idea. We have to figure out how to help them do this, Gonzales says. And so we talked to Chase, and it went from Chase saying, Oh, they could do this, to this shift in the conversation where he said, We can do this. Strangio, who the organizers jokingly referred to as their trans-fairy godfather, met Daniel and Libbys parents while doing advocacy work in the south. Strangio calls his work on the prom a refreshing shift from his regular nine-to-five, which can often feel emotionally taxing because he most commonly works with trans youth in more disheartening contexts where they are involved in litigation to protect their rights. Its really easy to become jaded and exhausted and so one of the things about intergenerational organizing thats so powerful is that it gives us an opportunity to both remember how much we can survive when we organize with our elders, and also how much larger we can dream when we organize with our youth, he tells TIME. Trans joy in action For the youth organizers, the dream to show trans joy in action and show other trans youth that they can lead joyous and fulfilling lives comes in the form of Daniels guitar performance of Demi Lovatos Warrior, and Graysons planned performance. Grayson, who says they are most excited about meeting other youth at the prom because they did not grow up around many transgender people, says the event represents a safe space where they can simply celebrate their existence. You can make whatever kind of laws that you want. You can try to get rid of us, but were gonna be here, were gonna stay here. And theres nothing that you can do about that, Grayson tells TIME. And planning the event, which marks all of the teens first experience organizing, has pushed teens like Hobbes to grow as an advocate, his father Stephen Chukumba says. Hobbes was not particularly interested in advocacy until this year, after he attended a Human Rights Campaign meeting with his father. He recognized that there was a fight out there, and that there were people who were putting it all on the line in order to make sure that the future for people like him was secured, Chukumba says. Ive seen the growth of a person whos learning how to self advocate, which is important for every parent because one day, were not going to be here. And one day our kids are going to have to stand on their own. Its also a welcome reprieve for parents who worry about their childrens future. Libbys mother says she has grown and matured over the past few months. Shes had an opportunity to be super cognizant and mindful of the work that theyre doing in a whole new way that I think has opened up the world to her where she realizes that her advocacy doesnt have to be confined to a really traumatizing level of testifying, or showing up at the capitol, Gonzales tells TIME. This time the teen will be showing up at a different Capitol for a more exciting reasonto attend her first prom. And while the organizers are excited to talk about their prom looks, their faces light up the most when discussing the significance of hosting a ball of this scale. This prom is going to be really important because of all the trans youth who are going to see this big event filled with trans joy, Daniel says. I want them to see that and always remember that theres going to be a community who is there to support them. Correction, May 22 The original version of this story misstated the name of one of the organizers parents. Daniels mother is Lizette, not Lisa. BEIRUT/PARIS (Reuters) -France's judiciary has summoned the brother of and an assistant to Lebanon's central bank governor, two sources close to the matter told Reuters on Monday, as it continues its probe into alleged embezzlement and money-laundering by the bank chief. Central bank chief Riad Salameh, his brother Raja Salameh, and his assistant Marianne Hoayek are being investigated in Lebanon, France and other countries for allegedly taking hundreds of millions in funds from the central bank. The brothers have denied wrongdoing. Lawyers for Raja and for Hoayek did not respond to separate requests for comment. France has set a hearing in Paris for his brother Raja on May 31 and for Hoayek on June 13, a source close to the matter told Reuters. A Lebanese judicial source confirmed to Reuters that Lebanon's judiciary had received the summons and was working to deliver them. France last week issued an arrest warrant for Salameh, 72, after he failed to attend his own hearing in Paris. Interpol subsequently issued a red notice. Lebanon's caretaker justice minister Henry Khoury told local broadcaster Al-Jadeed that he feared more European countries may follow suit and file their own charges against Salameh, which could have consequences on the country's financial situation - already in freefall since 2019. "The governor must realize this and resign on his own," Khoury said, adding his voice to those of the caretaker deputy premier and interior minister who last week said Salameh should step down. Lebanon's cabinet met on Monday afternoon to discuss how the charges against Salameh might affect the Lebanese state and what legal options they may have to remove him, two government sources told Reuters. But the meeting produced no concrete results, according to two separate government sources. A statement issued after the meeting said the cabinet would support whatever action the judiciary decided on. The Salameh brothers and Hoayek have already been charged in two separate cases in Lebanon related to embezzlement and other financial crimes, but none of them are in custody. (Reporting by Laila Bassam in Beirut and Alain Acco in Paris; Writing by Maya Gebeily, Editing by William Maclean and Susan Fenton) Encouraging the uptake of electric cars is part of the French government's new measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions The French government unveiled a plan on Monday to accelerate cuts to its greenhouse gas emissions, targeting a reduction of 50 percent by 2030 compared with 1990 levels. Unveiled by Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne, the roadmap includes detailed figures for reductions for individual sectors of the economy, ranging from the transport industry to households. The objectives -- from speeding up the transition to electric cars or switching freight from road to rivers -- are aimed at bringing Frances ambitions for slashing carbon pollution into line with the EU's target for 2030. France has so far cut its emissions by 25 percent compared with 1990 levels, requiring major fresh efforts if it is to hit the new 50-percent target. The centrist government of President Emmanuel Macron is wary of provoking consumers with costly initiatives, with memories still fresh of an increase in fuel taxes and vehicle emissions restrictions in 2018 which sparked major protests. The so-called "Yellow Vest" revolt against Macron began in small and medium-sized towns and the countryside where locals felt they were being penalised for using their cars when no other forms of transport were available. "We're asking for a bit from the smallest (polluters) and a lot from the biggest," an aide to Borne told reporters, meaning around half of efforts would be for companies, a quarter for households and a quarter for local administrations. Concern about climate change has leapt up the political agenda in the last 12 months, with the country experiencing its hottest year since records began last year which left rivers dry, crops withered and widespread water shortages. A record nation-wide winter drought during January and February has also led to fears about water supplies this summer. Macron, who has admitted to grasping the scale of the planet's environmental problems late, promised to put climate change at the heart of his second term in office which began in May last year. He pledged to make France the first major nation to abandon fossil fuels and gave Borne an extra job title for "planning the ecological transition." But the 45-year-old former investment banker has been derided by environmental groups and Greens lawmakers for going too slow and he sparked criticism on May 11 by calling for a "pause" on EU environmental legislation. Among other developed countries, the United Kingdom has the most ambitious short-term goals of any major economy, with an objective of 2030 emissions being 68 percent below 1990 levels. The United States has committed to cut greenhouse gases 50-52 percent by 2030 below 2005 levels, while Germany has set a 65 percent reduction target compared to 1990. The UN's climate science panel has said the world must slash emissions 43 percent this decade to keep within the Paris Agreements 1.5C global warming limit. China and India have set long-term goals to become carbon neutral by 2060 and 2070 respectively, but do not have emissions reduction targets for 2030. cho-adp/rl Restaurants are among the small businesses that may be eligible for aid from the city or county of Los Angeles. Above, Antonio Espinoza sanitizes a table at a restaurant in Santa Monica in 2021. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times) With the pandemic state of emergency over, government programs tied to COVID-19 either have ended or are winding down. But if you have a small business in Los Angeles that was affected by the pandemic and which ones weren't? you still have time to apply for a shot of free money. The city of Los Angeles is offering up to $15,000 to qualified small businesses in the city that missed rent payments during the pandemic. Applications for those funds are due by the end of the day Wednesday. The county Department of Economic Opportunity, meanwhile, is offering Economic Opportunity Grants that small businesses and nonprofits affected by the pandemic can use for such things as operational expenses and pandemic-related costs. Those applications have to be submitted by May 31. Here are the details on who's eligible and how to apply. Commercial rent relief in the city of L.A. The city's Economic & Workforce Development Department is nearing the end of its third round of grants to help businesses make overdue rent payments. About $1.8 million remains of the $8.5 million the city set aside for small-business rent relief, using money from the federal American Rescue Plan Act. The grants can be spent only on rent debt accrued during the pandemic to be precise, from March 1, 2020, through April 30, 2023. And you'll have to specify how the pandemic hurt your business. To qualify, your annual revenue must be $5 million or less. But the business doesn't have to be your main source of income; if you've fallen behind on your rent payments on the L.A. garage where you store the cars you customize at night and on weekends, for example, you can still qualify. There are a number of eligibility rules that will disqualify many of the city's entrepreneurs and startups. Aid is available only to for-profit businesses in the city that have a current L.A. business tax registration certificate, and only if they have a valid lease for commercial property work-from-home operations and entities with subleases are not eligible. The business must have been operating on or before March 1, 2020, and it cannot have received aid in the city's two previous rounds of rent relief. The city has declared a long list of businesses ineligible for these grants, including lenders, insurers, landlords, publicly traded companies, gun dealers, lobbying firms and day traders. Also excluded are many of the enterprises dedicated to, shall we say, less-productive activities, such as cannabis-related operations, nightclubs, liquor stores, psychics, massage services and gambling sites. Jamie Francisco, spokesperson for the Economic & Workforce Development Department, said in an email that the grants won't be awarded on a first-come, first-served basis, so it won't hurt to apply at the last minute. Instead, she said, recipients will be selected through a lottery, although two types of applicants will have a higher chance of getting picked: those in low- and moderate-income communities, and those from more disadvantaged census tracts. Grant recipients will be notified in early July, Francisco said. If there's any funding left over, she said, the department will look at the results and decide whether to do another round or shift the money to another relief program for small businesses. Grant applications are available on the department's website. For free in-person assistance, visit one of the department's 10 BusinessSource centers around the city. To prove your business' eligibility, you'll need to submit copies of multiple documents, including your business tax returns from 2019 and 2020, the lease for your business property and proof of your previous rent payments. Aid for small businesses in L.A. County The county's Economic Opportunity Grant program has collected $54 million from the state and federal governments to provide relief to businesses and nonprofits in the county that have been significantly affected by the pandemic. It's using the funds to provide five types of grants to applicants, based on the amount of revenue they collect annually and their location. The money can be used to buy equipment, invest in operations, pay wages or other business expenses, and cover costs related to COVID-19. It cannot be used for anything else. The larger grants also bar applicants from spending the money on anything that has been or will be covered by other federal relief programs. Only businesses that are still operating in L.A. County are eligible. Apply online at the Economic Opportunity Grant program website; for assistance, visit the program's help page or call (833) 364-7268. Help is available in 15 languages, including English, Spanish, Cantonese, Mandarin and Korean. Using state tax dollars, the Economic Opportunity Grant program offers $2,500 to the smallest of small businesses: those with five or fewer full-time-equivalent workers (including those with no workers other than the owner) and less than $50,000 in gross revenue in 2019. They must have started operations before the end of 2019, and can be located anywhere in the county, including the city of Los Angeles. To apply, you must be the owner of the business, and it must be your primary source of income no side hustles in this category. And if you've already received a California Small Business COVID-19 Relief Grant, you can't obtain another one. The full list of eligibility requirements, which can be found on the program's website, details a host of excluded ventures, including lenders, stock traders, lobbyists, strip clubs, or "a business engaged in any socially undesirable activity or activity that may be considered predatory in nature, such as rent-to-own businesses or check-cashing businesses." Using federal dollars from the American Rescue Plan Act, the program is also offering grants of up to $20,000 to small businesses in the county outside the city of Los Angeles, and grants of up to $25,000 to nonprofits that serve the entire county, including those based in the city of Los Angeles. Applicants in both groups must have started operations before the end of 2021. Here's how those grants break down: $15,000 for microbusinesses with less than $100,000 in revenue in 2019, 2020 or 2021. $20,000 for small businesses with $100,000 to $2 million in revenue in 2019, 2020 or 2021. $20,000 for nonprofit social service organizations with less than $1 million in revenue in 2019, 2020 or 2021. $25,000 for nonprofit social service organizations with $1 million to $5 million in revenue in 2019, 2020 or 2021. As with the other grant programs, the county has a list of businesses that are not eligible. These include lenders, insurers, pawnshops, palm readers, nightclubs, liquor stores, cannabis businesses, strip clubs, junk stores and gun dealers. Food industry applicants have one extra requirement: They can't have a failing grade from the county Department of Public Health. Jay Tsao and Tova Mac of Align Organization, which is doing outreach for the program, said the aid is available to small-business owners even if the business isn't their primary source of income. Applicants will have to provide tax returns to prove that their business meets the income limits, though, as well as some kind of evidence that you're the owner of a real business for example, a copy of a business or professional license. The county has already started awarding the $2,500 grants to the smallest businesses, Mac said, but there is still money remaining in that program. The larger grants won't be awarded until after the application window closes May 31, she said; Tsao said the program expects to make those awards "prior to the middle of the year." Thousands of applications for the larger grants have already been received, he said, so there will probably be more demand for dollars than there is supply. But the county won't award the grants on a first-come, first-served basis, Mac said; instead, the county will be guided by the priorities it has set for its American Rescue Plan Act funding. For nonprofits, she said, the county's priorities include organizations that serve the unhoused and offer training, education and other programs for youth. And although the small-business grants are for everyone, Tsao said, the county is focusing its outreach efforts on underserved communities and those hit hardest by the pandemic. Danny Kelleher, assistant director for economic development at the L.A. County Department of Economic Opportunity, said in an email that the county "developed an Equity Explorer tool that uses a COVID Vulnerability and Recovery Index that categorizes census tracts in the county into five tiered levels of vulnerability and recovery need." The grant program "targets businesses with the highest need for assistance by utilizing the Equity Explorer tool to award grants to businesses designated in the highest, high, and moderate tiers," he said. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times. Personnel of the Russian Volunteer Corps, presumably on the territory of the Russian Federation The advanced units have entered Grayvoron. We are moving forward. Russia will be free, the Legions post read. Vyacheslav Gladkov, the governor of Belgorod Oblast, confirmed there had been an armed incursion into the territory of the oblasts Grayvoron District, referring to the volunteers as a sabotage and reconnaissance group of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Read also: Russians really afraid that Russian Volunteer Corps may advance to Moscow, says military expert The Russian Armed Forces, together with the Border Service, National Guard, and FSB, are taking the necessary measures to eliminate the enemy, Gladkov wrote on Telegram. The Freedom of Russia Legion is a unit within the Armed Forces of Ukraine, established in March 2022 to combat the Russian invasion of Ukraine. It comprises defectors from the Russian Armed Forces and other Russian volunteers who had not previously served in military units. Previously, fighters from the Russian Volunteer Corps, who are engaged in combat against the Russian army in Ukraine, reported that they had once again infiltrated Russian territory. They released videos of themselves alongside signs displaying the names of settlements in Russian oblasts bordering Ukraine. According to the videos, RVC volunteers are currently located in the settlements of Bezludovka (Belgorod Oblast, Russia), Churovichi (Bryansk Oblast, Russia), and Lyubimovka (Kursk Oblast, Russia). Read also: Russia mistakenly bombs its own city Belgorod rocked with powerful explosion 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 Freedom of Russia Legion says they are creating a "demilitarised zone" in Russia The Freedom of Russia Legion, whose fighters claim to be fighting on the side of Ukraine, said its goal was to create a "demilitarised zone" in Russias Belgorod Oblast. Source: Freedom of Russia Legion in a commentary for Suspilne, Ukraine's public broadcaster Quote from the Freedom of Russia Legion: "The situation is complicated, the Legion and the Russian Volunteer Corps are creating a demilitarised zone on the border with the Russian Federation, so that [regular Russian forces] cannot attack Ukraine from that territory. Moving forward, we aim to liberate all of Russia from Putins dictatorship and to put an end to the criminal war." Details: The Freedom of Russia Legion said this in relation to the videos they shared on the morning of Monday, 22 May, in which its fighters claim to have "liberated" the Russian villages of Kozinka and Gora-Podol, and to have started an assault on the town of Grayvoron in the Belgorod Oblast. The Freedom of Russia Legion and the Russian Volunteer Corps announced earlier that they were "liberating" settlements in Belgorod Oblast from the current Russian government. They asserted that the villages of Kozinka and Gora-Podol were just the beginning, and that their goal was to "liberate" all of Russia. Belgorod Oblast Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov claimed that a "sabotage and reconnaissance group of the Ukrainian Armed Forces" had entered the Grayvoron district. For reference: The Freedom of Russia Legion is a military unit within the Armed Forces of Ukraine, and consists allegedly of Russian prisoners of war, defectors of the Russian Armed Forces, as well as other Russian volunteers who have sided with Ukraine. Journalists fight on their own frontline. Support Ukrainska Pravda or become our patron! India has stepped up security arrangements in Kashmir ahead of the meeting India is holding a key G20 tourism meeting in Kashmir amid heightened security and opposition from China. The working group meeting is being held in Srinagar, the summer capital of the federally administrated territory, from Monday to Wednesday. This is the biggest international event organised in the region since India scrapped its special status in 2019. Over 60 delegates from G20 member countries are expected to attend the event. China, however, has said it will not attend, citing its firm opposition "to holding any kind of G20 meetings in disputed territory". The BBC has emailed India's foreign ministry for its response to China's statement. Both India and Pakistan claim Kashmir in full, but control only parts of it. The nuclear-armed neighbours have already fought two wars and a limited conflict over the region. In April, Pakistan, which is not a G20 member, had criticised India's decision to hold the meetings in Kashmir, calling it an "irresponsible" move. India, however said, that it was "natural" to hold G20 events and meetings in "Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, which are an integral and inalienable part" of the country. In 2019, the Bharatiya Janata Party-led federal government had divided the Muslim-majority state of Jammu and Kashmir to create two federally administrated territories - Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh. Ladakh is a disputed frontier region along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) between India and China, and both countries claim parts of it. The Indian government and several sections of the media have calling the G20 event in Kashmir "historic", billing it as an opportunity to showcase the region's culture. In the days leading up to the event, India had conducted several security drills in Kashmir. The region has seen an armed insurgency against India since 1989 - India accuses Pakistan of fomenting the unrest by backing separatist militants, a charge denied by Islamabad. Over the decades, opposition politicians, activists and locals have also accused successive Indian governments of human rights violations and stifling of freedoms in the restive region - which Delhi has denied. Some opposition leaders have criticised the elaborate security arrangements ahead of the G20 meet This year, the region has witnessed increased attacks by suspected militants and security officers have told the media that they are taking steps to prevent any threats designed to derail the G20 meet. Elite security forces - including marine commandos, National Security Guards, Border Security Force and police forces - have been deployed in Kashmir to provide ground-to-air security cover, according to reports. Security has also been boosted around the Dal Lake and the Sher-e-Kashmir International Convention Centre (SKICC) in Srinagar, which is the venue for the meeting. Schools around the routes that G20 delegates will use have been closed. Military bunkers, a common sight in Kashmir, have been covered with G20 banners to hide them from view. Local opposition leaders, including former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Mehbooba Mufti, have criticised the elaborate security arrangements and accused the federal government of making life even more difficult for ordinary people. In a press conference, Ms Mufti compared the restrictions in Kashmir ahead of G20 to that of the notorious US military prison, Guantanamo Bay. The Jammu and Kashmir administration has not responded to this yet. A 53-year-old businessman, who did not want to be named, told the BBC that locals had to "face a lot of difficulties" over the past 10 days due to the security arrangements. "There was a lot of frisking, checking and search operations in residential areas. Many schools and colleges are shut," he said. He also questioned the federal government's claim that the meeting would boost the local economy, saying that only "permanent peace" could achieve that. Others have also criticised the decision to hold the meeting in Kashmir. Last week, Fernand de Varennes, the UN's special rapporteur on minority issues, had issued a statement saying that the G20 was "unwittingly providing a veneer of support to a facade of normalcy" when human rights violations, political persecution and illegal arrests were escalating in Kashmir. The statement was criticised by India's permanent mission at the UN on Twitter. India has said it will showcase the cultural heritage of Kashmir and promote its tourism potential during the meeting. Delegates will be taken on sightseeing tours and there will be discussions on strategies to promote "film tourism", according to an official statement. The G20, which includes the world's 19 wealthiest nations plus the European Union, accounts for 85% of global economic output and two-thirds of its population. India currently holds the presidency - which rotates annually between members - and is set to host the G20 summit in Delhi in September. BBC News India is now on YouTube. Click here to subscribe and watch our documentaries, explainers and features. Read more India stories from the BBC: Kristina Bumphrey/Variety via Getty Images A server who was allegedly berated by Alec Baldwin last week is now claiming that the Emmy-winning actor called her a peasant, according to Page Six. Last Friday, an onlooker told the outlet that Baldwin left a female server looking shocked after a hostile exchange at the 2023 PEN America Spring Literary Gala last week. Now, the anonymous server is speaking out about her interaction with the former 30 Rock star. The confrontation supposedly started when the server asked Baldwin to move out of the aisle so the other servers could deliver dinner plates to the tables. She says she told him, Im sorry sir, but were going to have servers walking through the tables here in a minute. Baldwin, who was blocking the workers path as he spoke to someone at the head of one of the tables, apparently snapped back, So when is it a good time to talk to my friends? Do I have to explain it to you? the 65-year-old actor allegedly asked her. The server claims she responded no to de-escalate the situation before Baldwin told her to step aside. Inside Alec Baldwins Crusade to Take Down a Nobel Prize-Winning Lab Afterwards, many of my co-workers came up to me and said, Do you know what he said while you were walking away? the server told Page Six. I didnt catch it because I was focused on my work. But apparently, he was calling me a peasant. The server remarked she doesnt think its a celebrity thing because the rest of the evenings guests, including Saturday Night Live star Colin Jost, managed to be polite to her. Maybe its peoples upbringings? Who knows what makes bitter people bitter. Baldwin has garnered headlines throughout his career for his temper and hotheaded interactions with strangers, from the infamous voicemail he left for his daughter Ireland in 2007, to shoving paparazzi. If the gala incident did really happen as the server relayed it, then, it wouldnt come as a huge shock. Read more at The Daily Beast. Get the Daily Beast's biggest scoops and scandals delivered right to your inbox. Sign up now. Stay informed and gain unlimited access to the Daily Beast's unmatched reporting. Subscribe now. Gayle King has spoken out against critics of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex who have downplayed a car chase that the couple were involved in last week. The CBS Mornings host said it was troubling to hear people make light of Prince Harry and Meghan Markles experience, which also involved the duchesss mother, Dorian Ragland. Prince Harry and Meghan Markles spokesperson released a statement on Thursday (18 May) and said they experienced a near catastrophic case chase in New York involving highly aggressive paparazzi. In the following days, pundits and paparazzi have thrown doubt on the Sussexess version of the events, which occurred immediately after they left the Ms. Foundation gala in the city on Tuesday night (16 May). King, who met Harry and Meghan through her best friend Oprah Winfrey, told PageSix: I think it was a very unfortunate incident. Its troubling to me that anybody would try to downplay what that would mean to them. Thats very troubling to me. She added that it was unsettling that some people have tried to minimise how [Harry and Meghan] felt in that moment. Im just really sorry it happened and very sorry they had to go through it, the broadcast journalist continued. Everybody can have all of their opinions but I always go back to, How did they feel in that moment? The couples spokesperson said last week that the relentless pursuit lasted over two hours and resulted in multiple near collisions involving other drivers on the road, pedestrians and two [police] officers. Britain Harry and Meghan Car Chase (Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.) While New York City Mayor Eric Adams condemned the paparazzis actions, he added that is was hard to believe that there was a two-hour high speed chase. However, he said that an incident lasting even 10 minutes could have been extremely dangerous. The New York Police Department described the journey as challenging but said there were no reported collisions, summonses, injuries or arrests. Backgrid USA Inc, the agency that hired four freelance photographers to cover the gala that the Sussexes attended, insisted that the couple were not in immediate danger at any point during the incident. (Getty Images) In a statement, the agency disputed the couples claims and said it was one of the four SUVs escorting Harry and Meghan through the city that was driving in a manner that could be perceived as reckless. However, Backgrid said it was taking Prince Harrys allegations seriously and does not condone any form of harassment or illegal activity. Harry and Meghan have since demanded that the agency hand over pictures and videos taken during the encounter. A letter from their lawyers said: We hereby demand that Backgrid immediately provide us with copies of all photos, videos, and/or films taken last night by the freelance photographers after the couple left their event and over the next several hours. But Backgrids legal team responded by mocking the couple and said: In America, as Im sure you know, property belongs to the owner of it: Third parties cannot just demand it be given to them, as perhaps Kings can do. George Santos' staff hand-delivered letters to fellow House Republicans thanking them for showing 'courage' by blocking his expulsion from Congress Rep. George Santos outside on the House on May 17, 2023. Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images George Santos' staff delivered thank you notes to fellow Republicans who blocked a vote on his expulsion. "Now more than ever, the Republican majority needs to stick together," read the note. Last week, House Republicans quashed a vote on expelling George Santos from Congress. Rep. George Santos of New York sent thank-you notes to Republicans who helped block a vote on expelling him from the House of Representatives last week. Several House GOP sources told Insider on Monday that staffers for the New York Republican delivered the letters to their offices. It was not immediately clear if the letter had gone to every single lawmaker who voted to protect Santos. "I want to personally thank you for your support in referring the vote for my expulsion to the Ethics Committee," reads the letter from Santos. "This has been an especially difficult time in my life, and I want to serve my constituents the best I can." Santos went on to point to the need for Republican unity a key motivating factor behind House Speaker Kevin McCarthy declining to push Santos to resign, despite the New York congressman's recent 13-count federal criminal indictment for wire fraud and money laundering as well as his admission to an astonishing series of lies about his background. "Now more than ever, the Republican majority needs to stick together, and you demonstrated great dedication and courage by putting differences aside to allow the proper process to play out," the letter concludes. In a statement to Insider, Santos spokeswoman Gabrielle Lipsky said the congressman sent the letters because he "wanted to express his thanks to his fellow members for allowing the process to play out so that the 118th Congress can focus on the critical issues facing our country, starting with border security and addressing the issue of the debt ceiling." Rep. George Santos' letter to fellow Republican lawmakers. House Republican Source Last week, Democratic Rep. Robert Garcia offered a privileged resolution that would have expelled Santos from Congress if it had received two-thirds majority support in the chamber. Under House rules, a vote on the matter had to be scheduled within two days. Republicans, arguing that Santos has not been convicted of a crime yet and seeking to prevent rank-and-file GOP lawmakers from having to vote directly on the controversial congressman's fate, instead moved to refer the resolution to the House Committee on Ethics. That motion passed by a 221-204 party-line vote on Wednesday, with seven House Democrats most of which sit on the ethics panel choosing to vote "present." It still remains unclear how the Ethics Committee, which had already launched an investigation into Santos, will proceed from here. The committee is historically known to drag its feet, and often halts its investigations into lawmakers when asked to do so by outside prosecutors. But the committee has reportedly refused to do that this time, raising the prospect that the committee could soon take action on Santos. Read the original article on Business Insider On September 26, it became known about a sharp drop in pressure in the Russian gas pipeline Nord Stream-2 The investigation was jointly conducted by NDR and WDR media companies together with newspaper Suddeutsche Zeitung, as well as Sweden Expressen, Polish Frontstory, and Danish Berlingske. The yacht mentioned is the 15-meter-long Andromeda, which has already figured in other similar investigations. According to a media report, a group of five men and a woman with forged passports left the port in the German city of Rostock on the yacht, which was allegedly rented by a Polish company owned by Ukrainians. The journalists said they had discovered that the company was a travel agency from Warsaw. Over 100 businesses are registered at the same address. The company hasn't had any notable turnover for years, however it received about EUR 2.8 million ($3 million) in 2022 with no justification provided. Read also: Denmark confirms sighting of Russian vessel near Nord Stream explosion site According to the investigation, a woman from Kyiv was appointed as the president of the company. However, she could also have been a figurehead. German security services also found another "Ukrainian trail" leading to the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Tagesschau wrote. Among the people who rented the yacht and went to sea on it was a person holding a Romanian passport in the name of "Stefan M." However, a person with this name and the date of birth was in Romania at the time of the sabotage. The yacht was rented by a man aged 20 who lives to the north east of Kyiv, they said. The journalists claimed that they have identified this person, who appeared sometimes in a military uniform with a helmet and tattoos on Facebook. He serves in an infantry unit and hasn't left Ukraine since fall 2022, according to his relatives. Poland and Ukraine accuse Russia of causing the explosions that destroyed the pipelines last September. The Kremlin's regime, in turn, said it was "Anglo-Saxons" (the Russian term for the United States and the UK), while denying any involvement. Whats known about Nord Stream explosions Read also: NATO calls Nord Stream leaks sabotage, threatens decisive response Three out of four Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines were heavily damaged by explosions in neutral waters on the seabed of the Baltic Sea on overnight Sept. 26, 2022. They were out of service at that time, but filled with gas. A team of journalists from Scandinavian countries published on May 3 the results of their investigation proving that Russian warships able to perform underwater operations were spotted at least three times at the site of gas leaks, shortly before the explosions hit the Nord Stream pipelines. Swedish investigators reported in November 2022 that traces of explosives were found at the site of the damaged Nord Stream gas pipelines. U.S. newspaper the New York Times reported on March 7 that a "pro-Ukrainian group" may be involved in the incident, citing U.S. officials who spoke on condition of anonymity. Read also: Russia to mothball Nord Stream pipelines, Reuters reports German media, meanwhile, revealed that a yacht which could have been used for the sabotage belongs to Ukrainians. Ukraine had nothing to do with the explosion of the Nord Stream gas pipeline, said Mykhailo Podolyak, the presidential advisor. Ukraine's Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov claimed that it is a pretty strange story which has nothing to do with Ukraine. German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius also said that it was "necessary to refrain from making premature accusations." According to him, the sabotage of the pipelines could have been a "false flag operation" to later be blamed on 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 German police are investigating the possible poisoning of Putin critics The newspaper reported that two activists who had taken part in a conference organized by exiled Russian businessman and Kremlin critic Mikhail Khodorkovsky on April 29-30 later reported symptoms of poisoning. Read also: German police investigating leak of Zelenskyys Berlin itinerary German police confirmed they were investigating these incidents but did not mention Russias alleged involvement. The head of the Free Russia Foundation, Natalia Arno, said she had been one of the victims of the alleged poisoning. Read also: Russian spies use Tinder to recruit German politicians and military I suspect that I was poisoned during a recent trip to Europe, possibly with some kind of nerve agent, and one (or even more) Western intelligence agencies are investigating, she wrote on Facebook. Arno said she had developed strange symptoms after smelling an unusual odor in her hotel room in a European city. Russian news outlet Agentstvo further reported that another unidentified journalist who had left Russia had similar symptoms on the days of the conference and was treated at the Charite hospital in Berlin where suspected victims of Russian poisonings have previously been treated. Russian authorities have repeatedly been suspected of poisoning Putin regime critics both inside the country and abroad. According to the UK government, Russias military intelligence service or GRU in 2018 poisoned former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia with a Novichok nerve agent in the city of Salisbury in southern England. Read also: Poland investigates former German Chancellor Schroder's involvement in Russia's invasion of Ukraine Russian FSB special service agents are also suspected to have been behind the poisoning of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny in Russia in August 2020, after which he underwent long-term treatment and rehabilitation at the Charite hospital in Berlin. 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 race to be the next Republican presidential nominee will hit a new gear this week, with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis expected to officially launch his much anticipated campaign. But whats long been framed as a battle between Donald Trump and DeSantis, Trump's one-time ally, appears on the verge of sprawling into a crowded contest. At least one other contender is will formally declare a candidacy this week: Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina filed paperwork Friday to establish a campaign after months of positioning himself for a run, and he's set to hold his official launch on Monday. A half-dozen or more could soon join the fray. Gov. Ron DeSantis and Sen. Tim Scott. (AP) Allies of former Vice President Mike Pence last week set up a super PAC to promote his potential White House bid. New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu and former Rep. Will Hurd of Texas two Republicans who have not been shy about criticizing Trump have telegraphed that they soon could enter the race. Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, another past Trump ally who has since turned on the former president, has been making noise about a run as well. Meanwhile, Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin, who has sent mixed signals about his intentions, released a video last week that called for a new era of American values. In North Dakota, Gov. Doug Burgum acknowledged that he was thinking about 2024. This sudden burst of activity reflects several realities for the early stages of the GOP contest. The idea of renominating Trump, who according to polls is far and away the front-runner, does not sit well with a sizable segment of the party. And DeSantis, despite being presumed as the top Trump alternative, has failed to strengthen his position in the lead-up to his announcement, prompting others to ponder campaigns. The additional conservative names will be a welcome sight to levelheaded Republicans like myself, said former Georgia Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan, who has been critical of Trump. The unfortunate reality is the new names wont make a dent in Trumps current numbers. Too many Republicans are obsessed with the loudest and angriest voice in the room instead of the most articulate voice in the room. Im hoping that obsession changes before its too late. Trump allies believe a crowded field works to the former presidents benefit. Gov. Ron DeSantis (Stephen Maturen / Getty Images) One Trump-aligned operative messaged NBC News a screenshot of the RealClearPolitics average of several polls showing Trump growing his lead in recent weeks. I mean, it gets real, this person said of the pending expansion of the field. But functionally, were doing our thing while everyone else [competes] for table scraps. Another Trump ally called the emergence of potential new candidates like Scott, Christie and Burgum the biggest story of the campaign so far, predicting it would prevent DeSantis from hitting his stride. If Im DeSantis, this is the hell scenario, the Trump ally said. Remember, the conventional wisdom from January and February was, Oh, actually this is going to be a really small field. The money has been choked off. And its very clear, it aint gonna be a small field now. Erin Perrine, a spokesperson for Never Back Down, a pro-DeSantis super PAC, rejected the notion that a larger field would hurt the governor. "Gov. DeSantis isnt even a candidate, and this Republican primary is already a two-man race," Perrine said. "There is growing momentum behind Gov. DeSantis across the country as weve seen at his recent visits to Iowa ... and New Hampshire." Until now, the official GOP field had been relatively narrow. Trump launched his campaign last fall, shortly after the 2022 midterms. The most visible of the other announced candidates include former Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley, former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, a political newcomer with a knack for attracting media attention. Conservative talk radio host Larry Elder, who failed in his 2021 effort to recall California Gov. Gavin Newsom, and wealthy businessman Perry Johnson, who was disqualified from Michigans GOP gubernatorial primary last year because he did not collect enough valid signatures, are also running. Former Gov. Nikki Haley speaks at a campaign rally in Greer, S.C. (Meg Kinnard / AP file) DeSantis and his allies are expected to mount a well-funded push. He has been meeting with donors in Florida ahead of his launch and had nearly $86 million in his state campaign account at the end of April. DeSantis cannot spend that money directly on a presidential campaign. But the funds could be transferred to supportive super PACs, including Never Back Down, which has taken the lead in promoting DeSantis for president. "The energy for Americas governor to be the next president is overflowing," Perrine said. "Americans are hopeful and excited for Gov. DeSantis to get in the race because they want to move past the culture of losing and leaders of our past. DeSantis has offered only mild criticism of Trump, instead speaking more abstractly about a GOP culture of losing the same phrase Perrine used that scans as an implicit allusion to the partys losses under Trumps heavy influence in 2018, 2020 and 2022. Trump, for his part, has for months been treating DeSantis as if he were already a candidate, attacking him relentlessly on social media and through his campaign staff and surrogates. More than half the members of Floridas U.S. House delegation, of which DeSantis was once a member, have endorsed Trump. Ron DeSantis failed shadow campaign has opened the floodgates for career politicians looking to seize an opportunity to raise their profile ahead of the 2028 race, Taylor Budowich, CEO of the Trump-aligned MAGA Inc., said Friday in a response to Scotts campaign filing. "Tim Scotts entrance, and aggressive media purchase, doesnt only kneecap DeSantis, but Scott sees the same thing as Youngkin, Sununu, Burgum, Christie and others: the path to second place is wide open." This article was originally published on NBCNews.com Gisele Bundchen is making the world a better place one dress at a time Stefanie Keenan/Getty, Leandro Justen Gisele Bundchen wearing her Stella McCartney dress in 2019 and 2023 Gisele Bundchen is going green in all white. The supermodel, 42, stepped out to her Saturday night Luz Alliance Gala benefiting the Brazil Foundation in an ensemble just as eco-friendly as it was fashionable. The look was a reworked rendition of a dress she originally wore in 2019, which she auctioned off live during the event on Saturday in Miami to help support her environmentalist mission and raise funds for reforestation efforts in her native Brazil. It worked: the dress sold for $48,000 and the night itself raised nearly $1 million for nature conservation and restoration projects. Leandro Justen Gisele Bundchen at her Luz Alliance gala benefiting the Brazil Foundation on Saturday The look, designed by eco-conscious and vegan designer Stella McCartney, was a tight-fitting, ankle-length, asymmetrical white dress that swooped from one of her shoulders down underneath her arm. She paired the piece with open-toed jade-colored Jimmy Choo heels, a matching white clutch and green gemstone earrings. Related:Gisele Bundchen Fronts Sunny New Jimmy Choo Campaign: 'Who Is Ready for Summer?!' What makes the dress eco-friendly is that it is made from traceable viscose that starts as a tree in a sustainably managed and certified forest in Sweden, before becoming fabric usable for high-fashion designs. The supermodel last wore the dress to the 2019 Hollywood for Science Gala, where she was honored. Leandro Justen Gisele Bundchen and her twin sister Pati That year, though, it looked a little different. When she first wore the dress, the single shoulder strap was connected to a dramatic, trailing train that covered the entire side of her body and followed behind her as she walked and featured a silky white stripe down the front for dimension. That year, she paired it with minimalistic earrings and similar open-toed heels, also opting for a side part instead of a face-framing middle part like she went for this year. Never miss a story sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. Leandro Justen Gisele Bundchen with Robin Roberts at Bundchen's Luz Alliance gala benefiting the Brazil Foundation on Saturday After the event, the star took to Instagram to share her gratitude for the money she helped raise and gave an inspirational quote to her 21.3 million followers. Related:Gisele Bundchen Gives $1M to Youth Shelter: 'Building a Solid Community for Children Is So Important' She wrote in her Instagram caption, "I used to think how can I make a difference? I am just one person in this enormous world and there is just too much to do, but early on I understood that to amplify change it is essential to join forces and that through dedication and collaboration everything is possible." Leandro Justen Gisele Bundchen with Karlie Kloss at Bundchen's Luz Alliance gala benefiting the Brazil Foundation on Saturday Continuing to give thanks, she added, "From the bottom of my heart, I want to thank everyone who was at the Luz Alliance Gala yesterday, helping us to support nature. Together we were able to raise funds that will help so many people and projects in Brazil. A special thanks to the amazing @ivetesangalo, @robinrobertsgma , @ingridsilva and @brazilfound ." Bundchen finished the heartfelt caption off with a quote from Desmond Tutu, a South African Nobel Peace Prize winner and anti-apartheid activist: "'Do your little bit of good where you are; it's those little bits of good put together that overwhelm the world.' ." For more People news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter! Read the original article on People. Merrick Morton/HBO So youre a man of God now, Jim Moss (Robert Wisdom) tells his captive, Barry (Bill Hader), at the beginning of the most recent episode of Barry. You think because youve repented, youre going to get to choose where you go after you die? You know where youre going. And youre afraid. Barry has funneled all of his life energy into religion, listening to preachy podcasts on his way to execute a hit on Gene Cousineau (Henry Winkler) and whispering prayers to himself as Jim threatens to cut his legs off. His ringtone is a church-y song that repeats words like Hallelujah! and Jesus over and over again, almost too on-the-nose, as if it were a parody of a real song Christians might sing in church. But God cant save Barry nowor ever, in fact. If God is real, He/She/It wouldnt save killers like Barry. God would save someone like NoHo Hank (Anthony Carrigan), a killer with remorse, passion, and fury over the death of his lover Cristobal (Michael Irby). Or maybe folks like Sally (Sarah Goldberg) and her son with Barry, John (Zachary Golinger), would be rescued. Even Cousineau, who accidentally shot his own son, might fit the bill of folks God would forgive. Anyone but Barry, who is the only person praying to God at this point in the series. Barry Recap: Now Even Religious Podcasters Encourage Him to Murder But Barrys prayers, somehow, work. In the shows penultimate episode, a nice meal, Barry is awoken by sounds of scissors snapping, bones crunching, and other general torture noisesbut theyre just noises. Jim has blindfolded and tied up Barry, hoping to get revenge on the hitman for murdering his daughter, Janice (Paula Newsome). Jim, however, hasnt laid a hand on Barry. Hes only disoriented his prisoner enough to make him think Barry has lost his legs, that hes bleeding out, and that hes facing imminent death. The blindfold forces Barry into hallucinations of his son, his wife, and Cousineau. Though Barrys lines of dialogue are nearly incomprehensible, he mutters something about giving $250,000 to Cousineau. Jim presses him on the money. Why did he give a fat chunk of change to his acting teacher? Barry mentions some gobbledegook about covering things up, which is enough to convince Jim that Cousineau was in on the murder of his daughter the whole time. Henry Winkler. Merrick Morton/HBO Barry escapes from Jims grasp and heads right back over to Cousineaus, where he plots to kill his old acting teacher for meeting with Warner Bros. to produce a movie about their twisted teacher-student relationship. Only, Cousineau is actually pushing back against the moviehes done everything except start a Change.org petition to keep it from happening. His current strategy: a viral Medium blog explaining why the movie disrespects his late girlfriend Janice. Barry Star Sarah Goldberg Is Having Fun with Sallys Bleak Final Act In the beginning of this fourth season, we saw Gene struggle to keep away from the press regarding Barrys story. Now, after eight desperate years, was anyone really expecting him to say no to Warner Bros.? A studio he would kill to work with? Begging and pleading him to make a movie with them? Fat chance. As soon as Gene hears that Daniel Day Lewis is in talks to exit retirement and star as his character, he retracts his Medium article and agrees to move forward with the movie. That doesnt help his case when Jim and the rest of the detectives involved with Barry show up at his door asking for answers about this $250,000. Maybe Cousineau was working with Barry all along? The $250,000 might have been to keep things quiet. Cousineau could have been in on Barrys hitman act this whole time, and now, hes profiting off the charade even more by signing a deal with Warner Bros. This isnt true, and Gene attempts to defend himself, but he cant convince Jim to believe anything he says. Fred Melamed and Henry Winkler. Merrick Morton/HBO Gene, you are a great actor, Jim says. Jim, do you hear yourself? Youre saying this to the worst actor on the planet. Gene could never create a performance as strong as the one he gives while trying to plead his case. On what feels like the other side of the world (but is actually still Los Angeles), Hank and Fuches (Stephen Root) engage in a brawl forwhat reason? Fuches wants to kill Barry, but Hank wants to stay on the down low. They both have the same desired outcome (Barry, six feet under), but they shoot rockets at each other, cut henchmens heads off, and send the hottest men to kill one another in a head-to-head showdown that feels pointless. But thats what Barry does to peoplehe makes them kill recklessly and without reason. Hank ultimately secures the kill; or at least, he nearly does. Elsewhere, Sally ventures off to Los Angeles after last episodes horrific home invasion, where she seeks help from Cousineau, of all people. Hes too busy meeting with Daniel Day Lewis to offer her any help (brutal!), so she totes John over to his house, where she wanders around like a dazed victim of trafficking. (Essentially, thats what she is.) She wanders up to a police officer to turn herself in, but his bloody eyea shot that feels straight out of the horror movie Bill Hader should directdistracts her so much that she walks away. Anthony Carrigans Still Not Over That Big Breakup on This Weeks Barry Watching Sally meander around a quiet neighborhood, on the brink of tears, holding her son by the hand while trying to grapple with her optionsagain, it feels like a horror flick. Everyone around her is a threat. Especially when NoHo Hank appears out of nowhere, pushing Sally and John into a car to use them as Barry bait. Barry must either abandon his post to save his wife and childand, most likely, die at the hands of Hankor stay put to be safe and kill Cousineau. Obviously, hes more likely to set forth on the former path. But is Barry ever that obvious? As we head into the series finale of Barry, the titular star has some choices to make. Even Barrys beloved God couldnt predict whats coming next. Keep obsessing! Sign up for the Daily Beasts Obsessed newsletter and follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and TikTok. Read more at The Daily Beast. Get the Daily Beast's biggest scoops and scandals delivered right to your inbox. Sign up now. Stay informed and gain unlimited access to the Daily Beast's unmatched reporting. Subscribe now. Goldman Sachs says the US has an extra 8 days before it runs out of money to pay its bills. That could buy it more time to negotiate the debt ceiling. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said June 1 remains a "hard deadline" for raising the federal debt limit. REUTERS/ Robert Galbraith The US could default on its debt on June 8 or June 9, Goldman Sach's chief political economist told Bloomberg. That's about a week later than the June 1 "X-date" indicated by Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen. The X-date is when the US can no longer pay its bills if the debt ceiling isn't raised. All eyes are on the US debt ceiling right now, and there might be some good news ahead. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has previously said the "X-date," or the date when the US can no longer pay its bills and risks a default, is June 1. But the actual deadline could be a week later than June 1, Alec Phillips, Goldman Sachs' chief political economist, told Bloomberg TV on Friday. "Our guess right now is that the real deadline is probably more like June 8th, 9th, that's when they're at sort of greatest risk," Phillips said. Phillips did not explain the X-date calculation in the interview. But these forecasts could vary because these calculations depend on the amount of taxes and other revenue the US government collects versus how much it spends. While that may buy the US more time to negotiate a deal over raising the debt ceiling, it's still better to do it sooner or later, Phillips added. "The reality is that Congress has to do this at some point very soon, and they should just go ahead and do it," Phillips said. "So waiting for the last minute isn't necessarily the right move, even though we think that maybe they could go a little bit longer." The Democrats and Republicans have remained locked in an impasse over raising the US' $31.4 trillion debt ceiling which means the US could run out of money as early as June 1, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has warned. She reiterated the deadline on NBC's "Meet the Press" show on Sunday. "I indicated in my last letter to Congress that we expect to be unable to pay all of our bills in early June and possibly as soon as June 1. And I will continue to update Congress, but I certainly haven't changed my assessment. So I think that's a hard deadline," she told NBC. The US government is expecting some tax payments on June 15 that are "substantial" which would provide some revenue, but there's uncertainty surrounding the situation, she added to NBC. "There's always uncertainty about tax receipts and spending, and so it's hard to be absolutely certain about this, but my assessment is that the odds of reaching June 15 while being able to pay all of our bills are quite low," Yellen said. Insider's Filip De Mott reported on Saturday that the Treasury General Account balance fell to $57.3 billion on Thursday, the lowest since December 2021. That's about a fifth of the federal government's $316 billion cash balance at the end of April. The federal government relies on debt raised from selling bonds for its spending. US debt serves as a key benchmark for different types of credit, and hence, a default could have a domino effect on the domestic and global economy. Rohit Chopra, the director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, told CNN on May 11 that "every family should be concerned" about the debt ceiling as borrowing costs on credit cards, car loans, and mortgages could spike if the US defaults on its debt. Phillips did not immediately respond to Insider's response for comment sent outside regular business hours. Read the original article on Business Insider Republicans say theyre trying to reduce government red ink but their demands to cut IRS funding as part of a debt limit deal would actually worsen the deficit. Forecasters generally agree that beefing up tax enforcement is a money maker for the Treasury because auditors bring in far more cash than it costs to employ them. Republicans proposal to rescind $71 billion in IRS funding pushed through by Democrats last year would cut projected tax receipts by $191 billion over the next decade, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimates. The result: The government would find itself an additional $120 billion in the hole. Republicans, whove campaigned hard against the IRS money since last summer, have mostly ignored the budget warnings, arguing they are trying to protect average Americans from zealous tax collectors. Democrats disagree, saying they will train the IRSs scrutiny on the rich while emphasizing the dividends the effort will pay to the public fisc. Appearing Sunday on NBCs Meet the Press, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said potential IRS funding cuts are something that greatly concerns me. Equipping the IRS with the funding they need to audit high income individuals and corporations thats something that doesnt cost money, she said. It nets money, substantially, for the federal government. Appearing on the same program, Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.) said: All Joe Bidens trying to do is find every possible nickel out of every couch from every American to pay for his radical spending. Why would we do that? The back-and-forth comes as lawmakers edge toward a June 1 deadline for raising the legal cap on government borrowing. The IRS funding cuts are part of a sweeping plan by House Republicans that pairs a debt ceiling increase with nearly $5 trillion in budget cuts over the next decade. The projected hit from rescinding the IRS funding is essentially the reverse of what happened last year, when Democrats pushed through a one-time $80 billion cash infusion for the IRS about six times its annual budget in a bid to overhaul the agency. More than half of that money was earmarked for improving enforcement, with Democrats promising to reverse a long-term decline in audits of wealthy individuals, business partnerships and large corporations. The IRS has just 2,600 people who are responsible for examining the 390,000 wealthiest Americans, including people making more than $10 million and large corporations, Commissioner Danny Werfel told lawmakers last month. And their filings, he added, can be exceedingly complex. The returns that come from our wealthiest filers are sometimes thousands, tens of thousands and sometimes hundreds of thousands of pages long, said Werfel. Though forecasters agree spending a dollar on an audit generates that and more in savings to the government, how much more is disputed. CBO initially said last year that Democrats' plans would produce an additional $207 billion in revenue, which, once the $80 billion was taken into consideration, would save a net $127 billion over a decade. The agency later ratcheted that down to $100 billion after Yellen, in response to Republican complaints, said the IRS would not increase audits of people making less than $400,000. Democrats have long groused CBO was lowballing the estimates. And Natasha Sarin and Mark Mazur, two former top Biden tax officials, published a paper this week arguing the savings could be multiples larger than what CBO anticipates. The savings will take years to materialize and are subject to debate because it will depend in part on how many examiners the IRS can hire, something that could be tough in the tight labor market, and how quickly it can train them. It also depends on assumptions on how long audits would likely last, and how many will be won by the IRS. A substantial share of examinations, including more than a quarter of those involving people making between $1 million and $5 million, find the taxpayer owes nothing more. The administration says the additional funding will reduce the share of these no change audits because it will have more high-powered auditors on staff and will be able to fine tune how it decides whom to examine. The IRS aims to hire an additional 12,000 people in enforcement over the next two years, which would be a 36 percent increase. While Republicans want to cancel the enforcement money, they would spare about $8 billion Democrats pushed through last year as part of their climate and health care legislation. That includes $3.2 billion to improve taxpayer services and $4.75 billion to modernize the agencys business systems. Gov. Hochul joins Mayor Adams in begging Biden to expedite migrant work permits amid calls for NYC to get more state help Gov. Hochul joins Mayor Adams in begging Biden to expedite migrant work permits amid calls for NYC to get more state help Gov. Hochul, who has faced criticism lately for not doing enough to help tackle New York Citys migrant crisis, joined Mayor Adams on Monday in begging President Biden to use executive authority to expedite work papers for asylum seekers. Under federal law, asylum seekers must generally wait six months from the day they submit their claims before they can apply for U.S. work authorization, a delay Adams, Hochul and other New York politicians have said is highly problematic at a time when tens of thousands of migrants are residing in the city. In a Monday morning press conference with Hochul, Adams said Biden can by the stroke of a pen undo the six-month rule. We can do this by direct action by the executive branch of the federal government. Without legislation, we can get this done, said Adams, who has recently used increasingly heated rhetoric to criticize Biden over the migrant crisis. Theres no point in waiting on Republicans in Congress to help out, Adams added. Republicans have, as we know, blocked all attempts at fixing our broken immigration system, intentionally causing chaos and dysfunction. We cannot believe all of a sudden thats going to change with a Republican-controlled Congress, the mayor said. If we dont get it done through a presidential action, we are going to slow down the progress we need. Hochul, who unlike Adams was earlier this month tapped as an official surrogate for Bidens 2024 reelection campaign, opted against putting the president on the spot over the work authorization issue in her remarks. Rather, she said all levels of government must help find a fix. They are ready to work, they are willing to work, but theyre not able to work, the governor said of migrants waiting for months on work papers. About Bidens administration, she added: Were working with the White House. We have not received a flat no. Were going to continue working with them. Spokespeople for the White House did not immediately return requests for comment. The quickest way Biden could expedite work papers for the tens of thousands of mostly Latin American migrants who have arrived in the city since last spring would be to extend so-called Temporary Protected Status for a handful of countries from which most of them hail, including Venezuela. Citizens from countries with that status can apply for work authorization immediately upon arriving in the U.S. Supporters have said putting countries like Venezuela back on the TPS list is a way for Biden to lift the work authorization waiting period without having to rely on congressional action. Adams latest broadside against Biden comes on the heels of reporting that the presidents team is growing increasingly angry with the mayors rhetoric on the migrant crisis. In addition to blasting Biden, Adams has singled out Hochuls administration for some veiled migrant-related criticism lately. Earlier this month, he issued a statement saying both the state and the feds have left the city without the necessary support to manage this crisis. That comment from Adams came after Hochul inked a state budget deal that included $1 billion that the city can use to cover costs related to sheltering and providing services for migrants. At one point in Mondays press conference, Hochul turned to Adams and promised to deliver more state help. Be sure thats not the end of it, she told him of the $1 billion cash pot. Well just leave it at that right now, but we are going to make sure you have what you need, mayor, we are going to make sure you have what you need because we are committed to getting this right. She said the future help will likely include opening up state-owned properties for use as migrant shelters. Among other locales, Hochul mentioned her administration is looking at repurposing former correctional facilities as migrant housing, echoing a controversial proposal by Adams team to potentially put asylum seekers on Rikers Island, as first reported by the Daily News. The governor acknowledged that housing migrants in shuttered prisons is not ideal. But that is space where we can change the environment, she added. (Bloomberg) -- Greek stocks surged and government bonds rallied as strong election support for market-friendly Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis put the nation on track to reclaim an investment-grade rating, 13 years after losing it. Most Read from Bloomberg The benchmark Athens Stock Exchange General Index jumped to its highest level in almost a decade, with a gauge of bank shares rising 16%. The premium investors demand to hold Greek 10-year debt compared with super-safe bonds of Germany fell to the lowest in more than a year. Mitsotakiss center-right New Democracy received almost 41% of the vote compared with about 20% for the leftist Syriza party of former premier Alexis Tsipras. While Mitsotakis fell short of achieving a majority in parliament, analysts are confident he will secure a single-party government in about a month, when fresh elections take place under a new law that gives the winning party extra seats. Read More: Greek Premier Mitsotakis Set for New Term, Boosting Markets Moodys Investors Service, which ranks the countrys debt at Ba3 three notches into junk called the result credit positive, in a statement after the vote. The outcome increases the chance of continuity in fiscal and economic policies, Moodys said. Greece has undergone an economic transformation thats seen gross domestic product recover close to where it was in 2010. The unemployment rate has more than halved from its peak of 28%, while the nations debt-to-GDP ratio dropped faster than any other European country last year. The outcome of the vote puts Greece firmly on track to secure an investment grade rating, possibly before the end of the year, said Wolfango Piccoli, co-president of Teneo Intelligence in London. While such an upgrade is largely priced in by investors, it will be an important moment as a stigma that has been in place since late 2010 will disappear. Greeces 10-year government bond yield fell as much as 19 basis points to 3.83% on Monday. That narrowed their spread to equivalent German bonds a widely followed risk measure to 140 basis points for the first time since late 2021. The cost of insuring against a Greek default over the next five years fell more than 10 basis points on Monday to 102 basis points, according to S&P Markit data. Sean Kou, a strategist at Societe Generale in London, said the benchmark yield would fall 30 basis points if the nation regains an investment-grade score, and said the market seems to be anticipating the move. I believe rally will take place far ahead of the actual rating upgrade, probably between now and August, Kou said. S&P Global Ratings and Fitch Ratings rank Greece at BB+, one notch below investment grade. Their next scheduled reviews for Greece are on June 9, for Fitch, and Oct. 20, for S&P. Moodys has an assessment scheduled for Sept. 15. Kaspar Hense, a portfolio manager at BlueBay Asset Management, said he also expects Greece to win back an investment grade rating this year, but warned that much is already in the price. He pointed to the fact that the nations 10-year yield is now 30 basis points lower than equivalent Italian debt, which has an investment-grade score. Poor liquidity also reduces the attractiveness of the Greek notes, said Hense, who was a private investor in Greece back in 2012. Liquidity overall is currently not good and unlikely to change any time soon, he said. For now, we and we guess the market will too demand a higher liquidity premium. Stocks Spike On the equities side, all but three of the 60 stocks on the Athens index were up at the start of trading on Monday, with energy company Mytilineos SA, Motor Oil Hellas Corinth Refineries SA, and Public Power Corporation SA among the biggest gainers. The gauge is up 29% this year, largely outperforming the European benchmark. A measure of Greek bank shares rallied the most since late 2020 and lenders bonds also rose. Piraeus Banks additional tier 1 note advanced 2.6 cents to 81.2 cents, its strongest daily jump since early February, based on data compiled by Bloomberg. An AT1 bond by Alpha Banks holding company and a tier 2 note by Eurobank Ergasias also gained. We expect a sharp re-pricing of Greek assets in the coming weeks, as investors position for the compelling Greek thesis in the next few years, Eurobank Equities strategists including Stamatios Draziotis said, citing the economys growth rate, attractive debt characteristics and cheap valuations. We advocate that investors tilt towards a pro-risk stance, shifting their portfolio towards higher-beta stocks such as banks & PPC. --With assistance from Sotiris Nikas, Ksenia Galouchko and Tasos Vossos. (Updates with comments, context and market moves throughout.) Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2023 Bloomberg L.P. A man was killed and two teenagers were injured after a hand grenade that was found in a grandfather's belongings went off in an Indiana home, police said. Shortly before 6:30 p.m. Saturday, the Lake County Sheriff's Office responded to a call about an explosion at a home in the Lakes of the Four Seasons neighborhood, Sheriff Oscar Martinez Jr. said in a statement. Police found a man, identified by the Lake County Coroner's Office as 47-year-old Bryan Niedert, unresponsive. He was later declared dead, police said. Niedert's 14-year-old son and 18-year-old daughter were taken to a local hospital with shrapnel wounds, according to police. The grenade exploded after someone in the home found it among a grandfather's belongings and pulled the pin, police said. The Porter County Bomb Squad was called to secure the area and determine whether there may be additional explosive devices, police said. An investigation is ongoing, police said. Meet the convert on a mission to make compost cool again Sean Hayes discusses Tony-nominated role as Oscar Levant in "Good Night, Oscar" Brittney Griner's return, impact felt far beyond the court The News NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. Tim Scott entered the 2024 presidential race on Monday as the candidate the far left fears the most, rallying with hundreds of supporters at the college that started his journey from aimlessness to becoming the only Black Republican in the Senate. It was a proper Southern affair at Charleston Southern University; a country music playlist blared in the background as volunteers passed out Great Scott! and Tim Scott Country signs, patriotic pom-poms, and fans with a faceless Scott cartoon, designed by a teenaged supporter. We live in the land where it is absolutely possible for a kid raised in poverty in a single-parent household, in a small apartment to one day serve in the Peoples House and maybe even the White House, Scott, flanked by two jumbo-sized American flags, told the crowd on Monday. This is the greatest country on Gods green Earth. In a high-energy speech, Scott laid out an agenda that overlapped with other Republicans seeking the White House ridding schools of critical race theory, using the military to destroy drug cartels, and making it a federal crime to kill, ambush, or assault a cop in this country. But the bulk of his message, workshopped over a month of traveling to early primary states, framed the election as a choice between victimhood or victory and grievance or greatness, with an optimistic kid raised in poverty offering an alternative to President Joe Biden. SHELBY AND DAVE'S VIEW As weve reported before, Scott faces a steep uphill battle for the presidency. Hes polling around 2% nationally, and trails Donald Trump and Ron DeSantis in his home state, where fellow South Carolinian Nikki Haley who appointed him to his Senate seat has been campaigning for months. Scott's talent is not in doubt and hes found a warm reception from conservative audiences in the run-up to his launch, where hes pitched his up-by-the-bootstraps biography and unabashed patriotism as an antidote to complaints on the left about systemic racism. As one Trump ally texted after his event: Tim Scott doesnt have to write Be Likeable at the top of his notepad. For now, though, he seems to be operating in an interesting and delicate position: As a safe haven of sorts for notable politicians and donors who arent fans of Trump, but arent yet sold on DeSantis, who currently sits in far second from Trump. Former Gov. Mark Sanford, who represented Scotts old Charleston-based seat in Congress, said hed shown up to support the senator along with a lot of other people who found him inspiring. I think there are a lot of people who are worried about what's become of the party, and the way that we communicate, said Sanford. His strong popularity in the Senate gives him a credible base of potential endorsements, starting with Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., who praised Scotts work on the GOPs 2017 tax cut law and said hed bring boundless optimism into the race. I dont know about you, said Thune, but I think our country is ready to be inspired again. He also enters the race with a $22 million war chest and plenty of friends to add to it who hes cultivated after years in the spotlight as a rising star inside the party. Larry Ellison is here today, Scott said from the stage, acknowledging the Oracle co-founder whos expected to play a major role funding his campaign from the sidelines. I am lucky to have so many mentors in the house. Some of that money is already going to use: Scott appeared via video at the South Carolina GOPs convention on Saturday, and the pro-Scott super PAC Trust in the Mission sponsored a delegate breakfast. Haley had no presence at the annual convention, which Vivek Ramaswamy was the only presidential candidate to appear at in person, and where state chairman Drew McKissick fended off two MAGA challengers to retain his position. Voters at Scotts speech on Monday cited topics like his faith-based platform and positive conservative record as a lawmaker as reasons for their interest. As is common at events this early, many remained undecided about their official vote for president, but were interested in Scott as a viable alternative to the two frontrunners. Others were diehard Scott fans, arguing that hes the only choice for office. He's one of the most inspiring men I've ever met. He's one of the smartest men I've ever met. Hes one of the most courageous and authentic men I've ever met, said Tim Taylor, 53, who described himself as a friend of Scotts for 25 years. Hes assaulted all day long because he breaks with the narrative: An African-American man in what's ostensibly supposed to be just a white tribe. While Scotts team has swiftly shut down any speculation that he might be running for a vice president slot (theories that have also been raised regarding some of Scotts opponents), some attendees also told Semafor that theyd love to see the South Carolina lawmaker in that role. I think a Trump/Tim Scott ticket would be excellent, because I think Tim Scott could bring to the ticket a little more palatable public speaking, Deetz Orlowski, a founding member of the Horry County Conservative Alliance, told Semafor. Michael Creel, 49, said that hed been a fan of Scott since his 2010 campaign for Congress, and called him a viable vice president nominee whod make a good pairing with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. Hes got a great record, and has a lot of depth in his thinking. Haley, he said, wasnt really on the radar. The View From Trump world Trump welcomed Scott into the race literally in a Truth Social post shortly before the South Carolina lawmaker took the stage at his event. Good luck Tim! Trump wrote. Not content to leave anything to interpretation, Trump made crystal clear that he saw Scotts entrance as bad news for the candidate hes actually fixated on: Ron DeSantis. It is rapidly loading up with lots of people, and Tim Scott is a big step up from Ron DeSanctimonious, who is totally unelectable, Trump added. In doing so, Trump again showed hes warmed up to the theory that has been strongly held by his advisors for months now: The more candidates, the merrier for his campaign. The View From Nikki Haley As Tim Scott gathered Republican voters for his official entry into the race, Haley was also in the Palmetto State: This evening, shell be courting donors at a fundraiser hosted by Myrtle Beach Mayor Brenda Bethune, a well-known figure in local politics, and her husband, Brown, according to a source familiar with Haleys campaign. Bethunes husband previously donated to Trump, and shes recently endorsed Haleys presidential campaign. Room for Disagreement Democratic pollster Cornell Belcher offered a harsher look at Scotts announcement speech on Twitter, tweeting that its criticism of resentment over personal responsibility amounted to very sophisticated dog whistling that played into longtime conservative attacks on social programs. Just like the 2 top GOP candidates, hes also leaning into tribal politics, Belcher wrote. Notable A man died in a crash with a cement truck near Dallas Center on Monday morning. Responders with the Dallas County Sheriff's Office, Dallas County Emergency Medical Services and the Dallas Center Fire Department went to the scene of a vehicle accident around 9:46 a.m. in the 28000 block of Highway 44, east of Dallas Center, according to a news release. Emergency responders found a man who was not breathing, began CPR and attempted to use an automated external defibrillator. Michael Remus, 69, of Grimes, died at the scene. Responders transported a passenger in Remus' vehicle for medical care. The extent of that person's injuries are unknown at the time. The Iowa State Patrol is investigating the crash. The initial investigation showed that a cement mixer truck rear-ended Remus' vehicle, the news release said. The driver of the cement truck was uninjured, according to the release. Highway 44 was closed for several hours during the investigation. Chris Higgins covers the eastern suburbs for the Register. Reach him at chiggins@registermedia.com or 515-423-5146 and follow him on Twitter @chris_higgins_. This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Grimes man Michael Remus dies in crash with cement truck near Dallas Center Grupo Mexico says negotiations with government more difficult after railway expropriation FILE PHOTO: Logo of mining and infrastructure firm Grupo Mexico is pictured at its headquarters in Mexico City MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Grupo Mexico said on Sunday its negotiations with the government are facing difficulties after the Mexican Navy took over part of a railway in southern Mexico operated by a unit of the company last week. Grupo Mexico Transportes said negotiations with authorities about the railway concession spanning from Coatzacoalcos to Medias Aguas in the eastern Veracruz state would continue. The statement noted the government had scrapped a previous 2022 deal between the company and ministries of the interior, communications and transportation. Both sides have continued negotiating, but the company emphasized in Sunday's statement that last week's move made talks more "difficult," calling the decision to send in Navy personnel "surprising" and "unusual." The move sent shares in the mining and infrastructure company tumbling more than 4% after the expropriation on Friday. The company assured it would continue to operate trains and maintain infrastructure under the supervision of the armed forces. President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has clashed frequently with big business, accusing political opponents of rigging the economy in favor of corporate elites, and sparking disputes with the U.S. and Canada over his bid to tighten state control over the energy market. Earlier, his government issued a decree ordering a "temporary" takeover of around 120 kilometers (75 miles) of the firm's network in the area around the Gulf coast, home to a key area for a major infrastructure project. Known as the Inter-Oceanic Corridor, the project centers on modernizing the rail link between Mexico's Pacific and Gulf coasts on the Isthmus of Tehuantepec to create a trade route the government hopes will compete with the Panama Canal. The section "expropriated" is about 1.1% of the 11,137 km (6,920 miles) run by Grupo Mexico's transport division, analysts at brokerage Vector said in a client note. The unit generated 20.3% of the parent company's revenues in the last 12 months, they said. The official decree declared the section to be of "public utility," citing an expropriation law stating such measures could only be taken in exchange for compensation. Last week Mexico's Supreme Court struck down a government order declaring key infrastructure projects as matters of national security. The court said the measure violated freedom of access to information rights. Hours later, the government hit back with a new decree declaring various flagship projects including the Inter-Oceanic Corridor areas of national security. The government has allocated a swathe of public works to the armed forces, including part of the "Mayan Train," another of the president's projects aimed at developing the poorer south. (This story has been corrected to rectify the company name to Medias Aguas and location to eastern Veracruz state in paragraph 2 and clarify that Grupo Mexico's transport division, not the 'expropriated' section of track, generated 20.3% of the parent company revenue in paragraph 10) (Reporting and writing by Sarah Kinosian in Mexico City; Editing by Chris Reese) (Bloomberg) -- Mining magnate German Larreas rail unit said on Sunday that it was seeking an agreement with the government after the military seized a small stretch of a rail line thats crucial to one of the presidents pet projects. Most Read from Bloomberg Grupo Mexico Transportes SAB said in a statement that it was still in talks with authorities and continues to analyze what actions it could take. The company said that it was surprised by Fridays decree that deemed a section of track in the state of Veracruz of public utility. If an agreement is not reached in the negotiation, the temporary occupation will become definitive, in prejudice to company, its employees, customers, and the free market, according to the statement. The dispute comes as President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador battles with the nations high court. Last week, Supreme Court justices rejected his bid to provide national security protections to his priority public works projects. The president responded by issuing a similar, new decree to circumvent the high court ruling. The 120 kilometers (75 miles) of rail line that was taken over is part of a project to connect ports on either side of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, a relatively narrow strip of land that separates the Pacific Ocean and Gulf of Mexico. Larreas Grupo Mexico SAB is in advanced talks to purchase Citigroup Inc.s Mexican retail bank. The countrys top business lobby said Saturday the governments move against Grupo Mexico could hurt investor confidence in the country. Read More: AMLO Seizes Rail Line From Billionaire Poised to Buy Banamex Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2023 Bloomberg L.P. A guide to solving police brutality from the Minnesota AG who put Derek Chauvin behind bars Rep. Keith Ellison and Sen. Bernie Sanders on Capitol Hill. Alex Wong/Getty Images Minnesota AG Keith Ellison offered ideas on how the US can solve its police brutality problem. For one, creating a "norm of responsibility" can hold cops accountable for their bad actions. "I think that we have too many officers who think criminal liability is just too remote and too unlikely for them," he said. On April 20, 2021, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison won his case against former Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin, who knelt on George Floyd's neck for more than nine minutes, killing him. A jury found Chauvin guilty of second-degree murder, third-degree murder, and manslaughter, and he was sentenced to 22-and-a-half years in prison in connection with Floyd's killing. Ellison, the lead prosecutor on the case, only got involved after being called on by Minnesota Governor Tim Walz. In Minnesota, the governor can appoint the attorney general to lead the prosecution on any state case, even though it normally falls to the county prosecutor, Ellison told Insider. In a phone interview with Insider Thursday, Ellison reflected on his experience leading the case against Floyd's killer and offered ideas on what he thinks could help squash police brutality in the United States. Ellison's new book, "BREAK THE WHEEL: Ending the Cycle of Police Violence," in which he details the Chauvin prosecution and aftermath for Floyd's murder, will be released Tuesday. Ellison said departments should get ahead of police brutality Floyd died on May 25, 2020. Three months earlier, in February 2020, he and Minnesota Department of Public Safety Commissioner John Harington released a report under their joint Task Force to Reduce Deadly Force Encounters for Police, the first state-wide investigation into the issue Ellison said he was aware of, the Attorney General told Insider. "It wasn't in response to any particular tragic incident," Ellison said. "We said, 'Let's just not wait for a tragic incident. Let's just do something about it now.'" But Ellison said he only had the "power to advise" and that while the report was "accepted" by law enforcement, no one was required to implement change. "We knew that there were problems, and we were trying to get ahead of them, but still, sadly, you know, there you go," Ellison said. Instead, it wasn't until after Floyd's killing after which angry activists took the the streets across the world that reform began to come. He said police departments should implement discipline and make personnel changes if issues arise Ellison said Chauvin had 18 complaints made against him in the years before he knelt on Floyd's neck. Records previously reviewed by Insider show that two complaints resulted in a "letter of reprimand," but he faced no repercussions for the other 16. And there were other Minneapolis officers who had even more complaints lodged against them. "If Derek Chauvin would've had meaningful interventions, maybe he wouldn't have got to 18. Maybe he would've cleaned up his act by the time he got to George Floyd," Ellison told Insider. "Maybe he would have been fired." Ellison suggested hiring people who will discipline officers when they make mistakes. In Minneapolis, he said, they recently hired a "civil-rights-minded" police chief. Brian O'Hara took over as Minneapolis Police Chief in November 2022 after serving as public safety director in Newark, New Jersey. While in that role, O'Hara oversaw Newark's federal consent decree, including implementing new policies around police use of force. Newark was briefly celebrated after it went all of the previous year with no police shootings. That streak was broken on January 1, 2021, when a police detective shot and killed a man. Ellison said O'Hara now in Minneapolis is "trying to make sure that accountability is the norm." There should be a "norm of responsibility" federally, Ellison said Ellison said the Fourth Amendment which protects people from unreasonable searches and seizures requires "state actors act reasonably." "That means police cannot employ arbitrary violence against people," Ellison said. Still, it is "extremely hard for the federal government to criminally prosecute police officers," Ellison said. "I think that we have too many officers who think criminal liability is just too remote and too unlikely for them to ever have to worry about," he added. Ellison said, though, that the more frequently police are held responsible for misbehavior, the more frequently other officers will think about it happening to them. "If we do this enough, and we create a norm of accountability, suddenly we start approaching justice," Ellison said. Federal prosecutions, Ellison believes, would also prevent police officers who have misbehaved at one department from being rehired at another department "when they shouldn't be able to work at all." Ellison said officers should also be held accountable for reporting each other "I think we need to create a situation where you do something like what Derek Chauvin did to George Floyd, and somebody's getting charged," Ellison said, "you're going to get in trouble if you don't report." Ellison continued: "If we see that there was a horrific act by a police officer, and we find out that you saw it all and didn't do anything, you're gonna have to do some explaining yourself." He suggested creating administrative penalties for those who break the rules. He added that it doesn't only go for criminal conduct he said there's a lot of "bad conduct" happening in America's approximately 18,000 police departments. Departments should give officers the help they need, Ellison said If an officer is repeatedly making mistakes at work, Ellison said the officer's department should ask why it's happening. "We need to create an environment where we are taking officer wellness seriously," he said. "Because maybe an officer would say, 'Let me just tell you, man, I'm getting divorced.' Or, 'I got an injury, I got addicted to opioids, and I got a bad temper. I didn't used to be this way. I need help.'" He said departments need to create a situation where "officers can get the help that they need so they can be their best when they hit the street." Ellison said that state funds should be directed away from police misconduct Ellison said that police departments are spending millions in misconduct payouts yearly. In 2021, the city of Minneapolis agreed to play Floyd's family $27 million to settle a wrongful death lawsuit. In some cities, the bill is much higher for police brutality the Legal Aid Society said in February that in 2022, New York City paid over $121 million in settlements and payouts connected to police misconduct cases. Police misconduct, Ellison said, can lead to riots, which can lead to crime. He said to fix the crime problem, cities need to "build a greater connection between the communities who rely on police services and the police themselves." Ellison said if less money goes toward settling cases, the funds can instead be funneled into infrastructure improvements, police training, administrative remedies, and the criminal justice system. People protest in Memphis following the release of video showing the deadly encounter between police and Tyre Nichols Shameka Wilson for Insider Ellison said he's already seeing change at a national level In January, Tyre Nichols died after Memphis, Tennessee, police officers beat him during a traffic stop. Ellison said he thinks Memphis' swift response to the incident issuing quick charges, releasing video of the stop, and dismantling the plain clothes unit involved in the killing was "informed by what happened to Floyd." "I think there were clearly some lessons learned and I think that is very important," Ellison said. "I give those departments a lot of credit." "Some of the national big changes, we haven't seen them yet, but I believe that they'll be on their way," Ellison added. Read the original article on Insider People stand inside the remains of a burnt secondary school dormitory in Guyana At least 19 children have died in a fire in the central Guyanese mining town of Mahdia, officials say. The fire broke out just after midnight on Monday, engulfing a secondary school dormitory and trapping students. Emergency services are struggling to contain the fire because of bad weather conditions, the government says. Initial investigations suggest the blaze may have been started maliciously, police say - although no suspects have yet been identified. Earlier reports had recorded the death toll as being slightly higher, with at least 20 lives lost. Several other people have been injured and some are being prepared for evacuation to the capital, Georgetown, where a special centre has been set up. "This is a major disaster. It is horrible, it is painful," said Guyanese President Irfaan Ali. Mr Ali was quoted by AFP as saying that, as well as medical teams stationed at the airport, Georgetown's two major hospitals would be prepared "so that every single child who requires attention be given the best possible opportunity to get that attention". Home Affairs Minister Robeson Benn is at the scene of the disaster, and the prime minister and other government officials are on their way there. "It is with heavy heart and pain that the cabinet is being briefed and kept updated on a horrific fire at the dormitory in Mahdia. All efforts are being made to have a full-scale medical evacuation-supported response," the government's Department of Public Information said in a statement. Guyana is located between Venezuela and Suriname on the northern coast of South America. Hawaiian Airlines just launched its new route to a destination previously hard to reach for American tourists Markus Mainka/Shutterstock.com Hawaiian Airlines launched its new nonstop route between Honolulu and the Cook Islands on Saturday. The new service is the only airlink between the South Pacific nation and the US. American tourists previously could stop in only New Zealand or Tahiti to get to the island. Hawaiian Airlines has opened the door to a hard-to-reach South Pacific nation. On Saturday, the Honolulu-based carrier began once-weekly service to Rarotonga, which is the largest of the Cook Islands. This is the first time Hawaiian has served the country since 1993, but that route was relatively short-lived after only six years of operation. The carrier will use an Airbus A321neo on the route, departing Honolulu at 4:00 p.m. on Saturdays and arriving at 10:25 p.m. the same day. The nearly six and half hour return flight will depart Rarotonga on Sundays at 11:35 p.m. and arrive back in Hawaii at 5:50 a.m. the next day. "This service greatly expands travel opportunities between the Cook Islands and the US, thanks to our well-timed connections and robust network, including service between Hawai'i and eight California cities," Hawaiian president and CEO Peter Ingram said in a December press release. Hawaiian's new route is the only link between the Cook Islands and the US, allowing travelers to more easily reach the isolated nation. Passengers on the first flight were treated to local performers and gate festivities in Honolulu and Rarotonga. "Our Honolulu-Rarotonga flight bridges Hawaii with another South Pacific neighbor and connects two archipelagos that share Polynesian roots, rich culture, and endless tropical beauty," Hawaiian's vice president of airport operations Lokesh Amaranayak said at Saturday's launch event, reported local Honolulu news outlet khon2. While the service will now give Americans easier transit to the Cook Islands, Air New Zealand used to connect Rarotonga to Los Angeles once a week using a Boeing 777 but ceased operating the route during the pandemic, per local New Zealand news outlet Stuff. "As we grow from COVID we are focusing our attention on what we do best getting customers to, from, and within New Zealand," a company spokesperson told the outlet in June. In August, the nation's home airline, Air Rarotonga, launched direct flights between Papeete in Tahiti and Rarotonga, reported local publication Enjoy Cook Islands. The carrier also flies domestic routes around the islands. The service comes after Air Tahiti ended its route between the two nations in 2020 after 13 years. Those traveling to the Cook Islands via Tahiti on Air Rarotonga can take advantage of Delta Air Lines' new nonstop route to Papeete from Los Angeles, which began service on December 17. Read the original article on Business Insider Here's Exactly What Happens When You Remove Fillers From Your Face If youve seen celebrities with wrinkle-free faces and majorly plumped-up cheeks and jawlines, thats likely the result of facial fillers. Blac Chyna had hers for years, until she recently had them dissolved. Im tired of the [filler] look and its just not flattering, the model and reality star, born Angela White, said in an Instagram video earlier this spring, as she prepared to get her fillers dissolved from her cheeks, lips and jaw. Its just not what I look like. It totally changed my face ... It was making my face like a box. For many of us whod only ever seen Blac Chyna with fillers, the results post-dissolve showed her with a dramatically different appearance, with a much softer jawline and cheekbones. In the video, Armita Amini, a physician assistant-certified at Allure Laser in Los Angeles, administers an injection, and Chynas face immediately starts to shrink down. Sometimes it is pretty instant, if you dont have swelling, Amini says in the clip. Most people see it pretty quickly. Fillers, as we know them, have been around since the early 2000s, and theyve steadily gained in popularity over the years. In 2015, Kylie Jenner spoke about getting lip fillers, and Google searches for lip fillers increased by 11,300% in 24 hours, according to Allure. As injectors continue to hone techniques for subtle results, more and more people are trying the procedure and some havent quite figured out when to stop. I have seen patients who have gotten overfilled by seeking many different providers to keep filling, said Dr. Robert Schwarcz, a double-board certified oculofacial plastic surgeon in New York City. I have suggested in the past they dissolve and let things calm down. So, what actually happens when you dissolve facial fillers? And can you ever fully get back to your pre-filler appearance? We asked three experts on the subject to break down all our burning questions. What are fillers, and why do people get them? Fillers are injectable substances used to reduce the appearance of lines and wrinkles and overall signs of aging. They are also used to enhance facial features, such as lips and cheeks, explained Dr. Julie Russak, a board-ceritified dermatologist who helms Russak Dermatology Clinic in New York City. [Modern] fillers are typically made of hyaluronic acid, a naturally occurring substance in the body. When done expertly, fillers help restore lost volume to the face, making it look fuller and more youthful. Fillers are most commonly injected into the cheeks, lips, jawline and chin, but they can also be used in the forehead, temples, tear troughs, nose, hands, chest and buttocks. As with any cosmetic procedure, the benefits should be weighed against the risks. Common side effects include temporary redness, swelling and bruising, said Dr. Macrene Alexiades, a dermatologist and clinical scientist who runs the Dermatology and Laser Surgery Center of New York and who edited the textbook Cosmetic Dermatologic Surgery. More serious adverse events include infections, nodules, vascular occlusion, blindness and necrosis of the skin. And not everyone is an ideal subject for the procedure. Patients with a history of severe allergies might not be good candidates for certain types of injectable fillers, because they could lead to an allergic reaction, Alexiades said. Additionally, people who are breastfeeding or pregnant should not get fillers, according to Russak. People with very thin skin or large rounder faces are also not ideal candidates for fillers, and patients on blood thinners and those with skin elasticity disorders should likewise reconsider, Schwarcz said. What happens when you get fillers removed, and what are the risks? Dont take for granted that fillers are always easily removable its important to understand that only some fillers can be dissolved. The only types of fillers that can be dissolved are the ones that are hyaluronic acid-based, such as Juvederm and Restylane, Alexiades noted. Non-hyaluronic acid-based ones like PMMA filler (Bellafill), calcium hydroxylapatite filler (Radiesse) and poly-L-lactic acid filler (Sculptra), are all examples of fillers that cannot be dissolved. During the process of dissolving fillers, hyaluronidase (an enzyme that naturally occurs in our bodies and can break down hyaluronic acid) is injected to the filler site, and a chemical reaction takes place to dissolve the filler, Schwarcz said. As with the initial filler, hyaluronidase must be injected with great skill, Alexiades cautioned. If too much is injected, it can cause an indentation, and if not enough is injected, it will not be successful. The main risk of removal is also the incidence of bruising, which is relatively high. Another important variable is that multiple sessions are often required if someone has an excessive amount of filler. For Blac Chyna, multiple sessions were involved, as she noted on Instagram. (And multiple sessions, of course, means a more expensive removal process.) Additionally, loss of volume can result, as well as a rare allergy to hyaluronidase or local infection to the injection site, Schwarcz said. How do you know its time to dissolve your fillers? Fillers can sometimes get a bad rap, calling to mind images of celebrities whove overdone the procedure and changed the shape of their faces. But there is a trend toward being more selective and using a lighter touch with filler application, which yields more natural-looking results. And for anyone who feels they may have gone too far with their fillers, dissolving can be a relatively simple way to get back on track. The concept of dissolving fillers is gaining popularity on social media and providing a platform for discussing the definition, procedure, and purpose behind [fillers], Russak said. Im very excited to see the trend toward... focusing on restoring the natural appearance of the face, versus distorting it and focusing only on unrealistic expectations of cosmetic procedures. Schwarcz recommends that you consider dissolving your fillers when the face looks distorted or a patient feels they no longer look better from the volume provided by the fillers. Or, as Blac Chyna put it: Its just not what I look like. Although its ultimately a personal choice, sometimes a doctor will recommend removing fillers based on their assessment of your appearance. I have a 50-year-old model who came to me with several syringes of filler having been placed under her eyes and in her lips, distorting her facial features entirely, Alexiades recalled. When I see a patient, I know instantly whether the filler is in excess and distorting her natural features. The filler should be dissolved if it is detracting from the patients natural beauty. Can dissolving facial fillers completely restore your pre-filler appearance? Whether you can fully return your face to its pre-filler appearance largely depends on how long youve had the fillers. The bodys natural processes of aging, gravity and expression will continue to affect the face after the filler is gone, so there will be changes, Russak noted. Sometimes if the filler was done too much or placed in areas that were overstretched, you might notice sagging and changes in the skin after the filler was dissolved, and it might require a procedure to tighten the skin (most common around the eyes). Still, the skin has an innate elasticity, and provided very large amounts of fillers were not used, it should be restored to close to [the] original state, Schwarcz said. As always, please consult your board-certified dermatologist before considering any sort of treatments. Related... Noon Friday, May 26, is the deadline to appear in next weeks Around Town listing. We must receive your event in writing with a contact phone number for questions. Submissions will be edited and appear in the week before the event date. Email: lifestyle@bnd.com. Mail to: Highland Around Town, Belleville News-Democrat, P.O. Box 427, Belleville, IL 62222-0427. Questions, call Jennifer Green at 618-239-2643. Wednesday, May 24 National Alliance on Mental Illness: NAMI Connection Recovery Support Group 6:30-8 p.m. Online via Zoom. Free peer-to-peer support group for adults with a mental health condition working towards recovery. Every Wednesday. Open the Zoom app and enter 3914844542. For information: kelly.nami.swi@gmail.com or 618-798-9788. Thursday, May 25 Twilight Thursdays Concert Series: Black Magic: The Santana Experience 6-8 p.m. Missouri History Museum, 5700 Lindell Blvd., St. Louis. For more than five decades the legendary guitar music of Carlos Santana has been one of the most unique and recognized sounds in popular music, topping charts worldwide. Enjoy a blend of African-inspired rhythms, bluesy organ, and melodic guitar played straight from the heart. Bring family, friends, food and blankets/lawn chairs, and revel in the music as the sun sets. The areas best food trucks will be on hand. Concert-goers are invited to park on the lot at the Loop Trolley facility located at 5875 Delmar Ave. mohistory.org/twilight-thursdays National Alliance on Mental Illness: Family Support Group 7-8:30 p.m. Online via Zoom. The Family Support Meetings are for family members, significant others, and/or friends of persons with a mental health condition. Fourth Thursday of every month. Facilitators: Pat Rudloff and Beverly Churchill. For information: kelly.nami.swi@gmail.com or 618-798-9788. Friday, May 26 Aviston Legion Fish Fry 4:30-7 p.m. American Legion Post 1239, 601 S. Clinton, Aviston. Cod (baked or fried), catfish, shrimp, hush puppies, chicken strips, fries, baked potato, slaw, applesauce. Dine-in and carryout. 618-228-7311 or avistonlegion.com. Saturday, May 27 Benld Italian American Days Car Show 8 a.m. to noon. Benld City Park, 305 N. Main St., Benld. Registration 8 a.m. to noon. Professional judging at noon with trophies presented after judging. Registration fee: $20. Food and refreshments. Rain or shine. facebook.com/Benld.Italian.American.Days Mandela: The Official Exhibition 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursday-Monday thru mid-September starting May 27. St. Louis Science Center, 5050 Oakland Ave., St. Louis. This special exhibition will usher guests along an immersive and interactive journey into the remarkable life of revolutionary freedom fighter and iconic humanitarian, Nelson Mandela. Features previously unseen film, photos, videos and the display of more than 150 historical artifacts and personal effects many never previously displayed outside of South Africa on loan from the Mandela family, museums and archives worldwide. slsc.org Harris Cemetery Association Memorial Services 10 a.m. Harris Cemetery of Alhambra, Alhambra Road, Alhambra. The public is invited to attend. Sunday, May 28 The Saint Louis Chamber Chorus: Death to Life 3 p.m. St. Margaret of Scotland, 3854 Flad Ave., St. Louis. The Saint Louis Chamber Chorus reprises the transcendent Requiem from Sasha Johnson Manning, as well as other works suited to the spirit of Memorial Day from Jacob Handl and Melissa Dunphy. The season closes with a setting of a Sophocles chorus newly translated by the Chorus own Philip Barnes and set by Kerensa Briggs. chamberchorus.org Tuesday, May 30 Highland Farmers Market 4-8 p.m. Highland Square, 914 Main St., Highland. Local farmers, cottage food makers, and crafters will be present to sell a variety of produce, meats, desserts and more. Each Tuesday morning a map will be posted on the Highland Parks and Recreation Facebook page showing what vendors will be present. Parents of Addicted Loved Ones 7-8:30 p.m. Online via Zoom. The PAL group provides education, support and hope to family members and loved ones of someone who has an addiction of substance use disorder. Free and open to all. For info or to join the Zoom meeting, contact Craig at 618-567-6095. palgroup.org Other area happenings History After Hours at The Field House Museum 4-7 p.m. Friday, June 2. The Field House Museum, 634 S. Broadway, St. Louis. The public and members of the media are invited to explore The Power of the Press during the Field House Museums new after-hours programming series. The Power of the Press, the newest exhibit in the Eugene Field Library, dives into the cutthroat newspaper world of mid-19th century St. Louis, when the pages flying off the printing press could sway elections, influence policy, incite mobs, and ignite duels to the death. fieldhousemuseum.org Party on the Patio 6-9 p.m. Saturday, June 3. Schlafly Highland Square, 907 Main St., Highland. This event raises funds to support health care initiatives at St. Josephs Hospital Highland. The casual garden party style event will feature a full menu of appetizers, drinks and live music by the band, Phoenix. Tickets are $150 for attendees and are available now at stjosephshighland.org/foundation. HSHS Hospice Illinois Butterfly Release 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, June 6. Healing Garden, HSHS St. Josephs Hospital Highland, 12866 Troxler Ave., Highland. Family and friends are invited to celebrate and remember the life of a loved one who has passed. The ceremony will include a butterfly release and the reading of the names of those being honored. If you would like to participate in the ceremony, please RSVP to Valerie Engelbart, bereavement services supervisor, at 217-685-0702 or email valerie.engelbart@hshs.org. Butterflies will be released for all of those honored, but you are invited to personally release a butterfly for your loved one by reserving a butterfly for $15 to be paid prior to the ceremony. Highland Jaycees annual Schweizerfest 6 p.m. to midnight Friday, June 9, noon to midnight Saturday, June 10, and noon to 10 p.m. Sunday, June 11. Town Square, Highland. Rides and food vendors, games, activities and entertainment. Parades start at 5 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday. facebook.com/events/238213701924219 Gateway Arch National Park is holding Picnic in the Park Sunday, June 11, on the park grounds. Baskets are available for purchase online at archpark.org/picnic through May 31. Gateway Arch National Park: Picnic in Your Park 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Sunday, June 11. Check in at the North Gateway off Washington Avenue near the Eads Bridge in St. Louis. Event-goers will enjoy a picnic at Gateway Arch National Park, with picnic baskets available in Classic and Deluxe options. Each basket includes a picnic lunch by Butlers Pantry and a take-home Gateway Arch Park Foundation insulated picnic basket, which includes a QR code with exclusive video messages from the Foundations team and the perfect picnic playlist. Purchase your basket today at archpark.org/picnic. Basket sales close May 31. Madison County Historical Society Speaker Series: An Introduction to Armenian Culture, History, and the Armenian Genocide 2 p.m. Sunday, June 11. Main Street Community Center, 1003 N. Main St., Edwardsville. Historian Norma Asadorian, whose Armenian grandparents immigrated to Granite City, Illinois, will introduce the audience to Armenian culture and the Armenian genocide. Free and open to the public. madcohistory.org * * * Interim CEO and CNO, Teresa Cornelius presented the Nurse Exemplar awards to the recipients. Pictured from left to right: Jane Deiters, RN; Mary Kay Schrage, RN; Emily Schniepp, RN; Caitlin Harrison, RN; Lori Albert, RN; Tim Dasenbrock, floor care specialist; and Interim CEO and CNO, Teresa Cornelius. Not pictured: Kathryn Thole, RN. Nursing Exemplar Award Ceremony Held in Honor of National Nurses Week at HSHS St. Josephs Hospital Highland In honor of National Nurses Week, HSHS St. Josephs Hospital Highland hosted a Nursing Exemplar Awards Ceremony. Below is the list of winners from the ceremony. Nurse Leader of the Year Mary Kay Schrage, RN Excellence in Nursing Jane Deiters, RN Lori Albert, RN Preceptor of the Year Kathy Thole, RN Charge Nurse of the Year Caitlin Harrison, RN Rookie of the Year Emily Schniepp, RN Partner in Nursing Tim Dasenbrock The awards recognize the dedicated health professionals and nurses who serve patients each day with respect, care, competence and joy. They play an important role in providing excellent care to our communities. It is more important than ever to thank, recognize and celebrate that we have these health care professionals in our community. Please join HSHS and local hospital administration in thanking these dedicated health professionals whose skills, care, and commitment to excellence makes a difference in all our lives. For more information about HSHS St. Josephs Hospital Highland, visit St. Josephs website at stjosephshighland.org. To apply for a position at HSHS St. Josephs, visit careers.hshs.org. The Highland Area Community Foundation elected officers for the 2023-2024 year at their annual meeting held May 16. Pictured left to right: Mark Korte, Treasurer; Bonnie Gelly, 1st Vice President; Ryan Goodwin, President; Bob Luitjohan, 2nd Vice President; and Shari Ammann, Secretary. Highland Area Community Foundation elects 2023-2024 officers The Highland Area Community Foundation elected officers for the 2023-2024 year at their annual meeting held May 16. The Foundation, a not-for-profit, tax-exempt organization established in 1995, continues to have an impact on its service area, which includes the Highland Community Unit School District #5, plus Marine, St. Jacob, and St. Rose townships. To date the Foundation has given back over $5 million to the community through grants and pass through funds, helping numerous organizations and groups over the years. It has been the receiver of funds for the Korte Recreation Center, City Special Events, Hard Road Theatre, Downtown Improvement Fund, Louis Latzer Memorial Public Library, Veterans Memorial, All Abilities Playground/Park, and numerous scholarship funds, to name a few. A complete list of the various permanent and pass through funds established through the Foundation are listed on the Foundations website. For further information on the Highland Area Community Foundation, visit www.hacf.org or call the office at 618-654-4727. Between the big turnout in the grandstands and the general energy that flowed through the industry this weekend so much about NASCARs long-awaited return to North Wilkesboro Speedway felt like a success. Now a new question has come into focus. What is the future of the racetrack? The speedway that was revived after laying in abandonment for the better part of 27 years was littered in kudzu vines and dirt and crumbling wood less than a year ago. But thanks to millions of dollars in pandemic-relief funding and the cultural power of Dale Earnhardt Jr. and the opportunity Speedway Motorsports CEO Marcus Smith saw, that same speedway renovated into one of the most high-tech racetracks in the sport. Racetrack officials told reporters in the months leading up to the construction that the speedway was meant for more than just Sundays All-Star Race. That sentiment was echoed after Sundays event. When asked if there is a place for North Wilkesboro on the SMI schedule of NASCAR events next season, Smith left the proverbial door open. Its a question thats on my mind, as well, Smith said. I think that when you see a successful week of events like weve had here, its natural to think, Boy, maybe we could come back here. Im definitely thinking that way, that its got a lot of potential. Ive never been to a NASCAR week where everybody was in such a good mood and everything was just going so well. Its definitely something that were thinking about. Smith added that his company has just started working on next years schedule with NASCAR, so decisions dont have to be made immediately. Not speaking to next year specifically, I do think that theres definitely a place in the NASCAR world for North Wilkesboro Speedway, and whether its a special event like All-Star, maybe one day its a points event, I dont know, Smith said. I think its a very important place for short track racing, the late model races, the modifieds, you name it. Its a special place. Its like walking into a museum thats active and living and very special for the competitors and the fans alike. There were a few fan concerns coming into Sundays race. Most prominent among them involved the parking and traffic and general infrastructure of the rural northwestern North Carolina community that surrounded the track. Many of those were quelled Sunday. Case in point: An SMI spokesperson said that all parking lots run by the racetrack were cleared an hour and 42 minutes after the end of the race. One concern that still remains in the air, however, was the track itself. The asphalt with epoxy resin patches dotted throughout hadnt been repaved since 1981. That meant it was super slick a function that excited many drivers before the race and frustrated them during it. Does North Wilkesboro Speedway need to undergo a repave if it wants to continue racing in big events like Sunday? It depends on who you ask, Smith said with a laugh. I talked with Darrell Waltrip earlier before the race, and he said, youve got to repave this thing. I talked with the King, and he said, let them race on this old pavement. There are a lot of different ways to think about it. What I think is that our team has done an amazing job at preserving the track, keeping it together. Theyve learned some new things on the surface and kind of managing it, keeping it together and creating a really varied surface that I think challenges the teams. He added: Itll be interesting to see how it weathers, and when it needs to be repaved, well repave it. I think I would lean towards not repaving until we absolutely have to. Smith added that his goal in the next repave would be to present a track where the asphalt surface is not like a parking lot surface but something that comes out of the box racing really well. Many drivers said theyd support returning to the track. Kyle Larson, Sundays victor, said so. Bubba Wallace, who finished second, said hed fully support running 400 laps there. I think we all kind of feel that, Smith said. This is a special place and a special event, and its because of this rebirth opportunity. Its never happened before that youve taken a sporting venue and left it for dead and its been revived. Its a true Lazarus story. I intersected with a number of those fans that had a similar story, and for everybody I would say, this place is going to have racing on the calendar in the very near future. BAKHMUT FRONTLINE, UKRAINE Ready! Fire! Glory to Ukraine! an artillery officer with Ukraines 80th Air Assault Brigade shouts before he theatrically swings a large stick that looks like a baseball bat and the D-30 122 mm howitzer next to him fires. For months, this storied brigade, one of Ukraines most elite units, has been holding the line in and around the city of Bakhmut and doing so with decades-old weaponry from Ukraines Soviet-era stockpiles, buying time for high-tech weaponry promised by the West to arrive for the much-vaunted spring offensive. For a split second, a burst of flame engulfs our field of vision as the shell hurtles towards Russian positions just a few miles to our east. We are on the northern flank of the battle for Bakhmut, the focus of Russias renewed assault on the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine. The battle for the city has lasted roughly 10 months, with devastating casualties on both sides, and its become a symbol for both sides despite its relative strategic insignificance. For the Russians, it has become a fixation, a point on the map to win to show Moscow that they can. The Ukrainians used that Russian obstinacy against them, forcing them to waste tens of thousands of troops, and tons of ammunition, to take an industrial town thats not near any strategic road or waterway. The Biden White House estimates the Russians have lost 100,000 troops since December, including some 20,000 dead. As of late May, the Russians are once again claiming theyve taken the town, after forces on both sides traded fire in a deadly waltz, winning and then losing the same pieces of bombed and battered territory apartment blocks and factories smashed into ruins, gardens turned into a maze of trenches. The locals have been driven out, if they were lucky, or left lying dead in the ruinous crossfire. A few hundred civilians remained hidden in bunkers and basements, some too terrified to leave, alongside others who were genuinely pro-Russian and believed in the Kremlins promised liberation. Troops with Ukraines 80th Air Assault Brigade fire a D-30 howitzer toward Russian forces in Bakhmut April 19. (Tom Mutch/Special to Military Times) This artillery duel between Ukraine and Russias antique Soviet arsenals has been a costly exercise in buying time. This brigade along with other experienced Ukrainian units such as the legendary 93rd Hollodny Yar Mechanized Brigade and the 4th Tank Brigade have held as much of the city, for as long as possible, until Ukraine is ready for a large-scale but much-delayed spring counteroffensive, with summer starting the third week of June. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said it was simply a matter of waiting for the promised new equipment to arrive, but Ukraines apparent performance anxiety has surely been driven by the Wests high expectations. Analysts like Michael Kofman, of the Center for Naval Analyses, have said the Ukrainians will only have enough weaponry and ammunition, and time, to launch one major offensive this year, using their newly arrived Western supplies and employing thousands of troops trained by the U.S. and UK among others. And Ukrainian top brass knows the critics in Western capitals, like Republican lawmakers who oppose funding the war, will be merciless if they fail to make enough ground, or progress. The prospect of a second Donald Trump administration in 2024 is particularly worrying to them. The former president declined to tell a CNN Town Hall that he was in favour of Ukraine winning and said that the U.S, is sending too many weapons. Facing that pressure, Kyivs shopping lists for its foreign partners keep expanding. More HIMARS ammunition, longer range missiles, more armored vehicles and, top of the list, F-16 fighter jets. European leaders, also fearful of a political upset in Washington, have been answering with billions in new promised aid, as Zelenskyy jetted from capital to capital in recent weeks. Chancellor Olaf Scholz gifted Ukraine with a near doubling of military aid, worth nearly $3 billion, including 30 more tanks and over 100 more armored fighting vehicles. The United Kingdom and France for the first time agreed to send long-range cruise missiles, which can travel over 300km, allowing Ukraine to hit many previously out of range Russian logistical targets, in places like the city of Luhansk in Ukraines Donbas region. And last week, Ukraine at last got the promises of F-16 fighter jets from European powers it has sought since the 2021 Russian invasion of most of the country. As the weeks of shuttle diplomacy played out, the 80th held the line around Bakhmut with Soviet cast-offs and hand-me-downs from former Warsaw Pact states. When I visited one of their positions near the north flank of Bakhmut, the Soviet-era D-30 howitzer being fired was of a model that first entered service in 1960. It is a reliable workhorse, an artillery equivalent of what the AK-47 is for assault rifles. The other heavy guns the soldiers tell me they use the BM-21 Grad Multiple Launch Rocket System, and the 2S1 Gvosdika (Carnation) 122 mm howitzer, and close-range 120 mm mortars are also old Soviet relics. These are the kinds of weapons and fighting U.S. troops would face, should NATO ever be drawn into a direct fight with Russian forces. Medics help a wounded Ukrainian soldier at a medical stabilization point near Bakhmut in Ukraine's Donetsk region May 19. (Libkos/AP) An artillery operator, Dima, said that while they look forward to using newer systems, he is comfortable with his weapon. Ive been using this type of artillery for seven years. he said. (Dima and others in the 80th chose to identify themselves by only their first names to protect themselves in case of Russian capture.) Like the 80th, most Ukrainian units in the region have been almost entirely dependent on Soviet Era T-72 tanks, whether from Ukraines old stockpiles, former Warsaw Pact members like Poland, or captured Russian vehicles. When I visited the positions of the 3rd Tank Brigade in the Kharkiv region, most of the tanks were modified T-72 variants, many from the former Yugoslav army that were decommissioned after the Balkan Wars and passed through Romania. The strategic goal of the 80th Air Assault Brigade is to make it impossible for the Russians to surround Bakhmut, or to cut it off said Kateryna, a spokesperson for the unit who accompanied Military Times on our trip to their positions. The troops knew they might ultimately lose, but in holding the land, theyve forced the Russians to use troops they might have used on a second offensive this year an offensive that U.S. Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines says is unlikely due to Russias high casualty rate and personnel and ammunition shortages, dysfunction within the militarys leadership, exhaustion, as well as morale challenges. Pushing Russia back, time and again The 80th Air Assault Brigade is one of the most battle-hardened groups of soldiers in Ukraines entire armed forces. Dating from the Soviet era, the unit has fought Russian-backed proxies in Donbas since 2014. From the very first days of the full-scale invasion, our brigade was involved in the defense of Southern Ukraine in Voznezensk, in Kakhovka and in Kherson oblast, spokesperson Kateryna said. The unit gained fame for its clever use of scouting drones and artillery to destroy two Russian battalion tactical groups that were attempting to cross the Sivirsky Donets river with pontoon bridges near the town of Bilohorivka. In a battle lasting eight days, Ukrainian forces in the area destroyed around 70 Russian armored vehicles and killed up to 550 Russian soldiers. These feats were impressive but in the conditions of Bakhmut, they are hard to replicate. Russian forces, including mercenaries from the Wagner Private Military Group, claim to have conquered the city. Ukraines top regional commander, Colonel General Oleksandr Syrsky admitted the city is largely under Russian control as he toured front-line positions near Bakhmut. Wagner Group military company members wave Russian and Wagner flags atop a damaged building in Bakhmut, Ukraine, n this screen grab taken from video released by Prigozhin Press Service May 20. (Prigozhin Press Service via AP) As Kateryna explains it, they have been the linchpin in the defense of Bakhmuts road of life, from the city of Konstantinyvka, through the town of Chasiv Yar, to the last remaining positions inside the city of Bakhmut itself. This road, more a dangerous series of muddy dirt tracks that are out of Russian line of sight but within range of unguided artillery fire, transport ammunition and supplies into the city, while military ambulances ferry large numbers of wounded in the other direction. In March, many feared the Russians would cut these roads, potentially trapping thousands of Ukrainian soldiers in the city, as they had done in Mariupol. But through tenacious fighting, the Ukrainians kept these lines of supply open, even gaining ground back. Despite their reportedly high casualties, which they decline to discuss per Ukrainian military regulations, the troops are bullish on their prospects as the offensive approaches. We are even slowly moving forward, taking a hundred meters here, a few dozen here, with tactical offensive actions Kateryna tells me. Since my visit, they have picked up the pace, with the Ukrainians having taken several miles of ground to the north and south of Bakhmut. What keeps the soldiers going, they tell me, is keeping their families safe from the hell they are fighting through. As Dima explains to us from the relative safety of an underground trench, he has a 7-year-old daughter back at home. Hes in the trenches in the hope of keeping this nightmare from reaching her. And they are fighting in memory of their own fallen. As the Ukrainian soldiers scramble to reload the gun, one of the soldiers shows me the casing of a shell pulled from an ammunition crate stored nearby. The words For Chuba Sasha, we wont forgive, with the date April 12, 2022, the day of his death, are written on it. We hear a spotter reading coordinates, before the gun fires again. Hellish battles are going on, but we are fighting for every meter, said a 32-year-old local commander who gave his name as Misha. The intensity of the fighting varies noticeably, he said, with upticks both when they receive artillery ammunition deliveries and when the Russians they are fighting get supplied. Of course, their guns can reach us here easily, but we are not scared, he said. We are never scared when we are on our own land. Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) went after House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) and House Republicans on Sunday for saying that they are going to ... blow up our economy if their demands arent met amid debt ceiling talks. President Joe Biden and McCarthy look to meet again on Monday as GOP lawmakers seek significant spending cuts in exchange for a lift of the debt ceiling. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has warned the country could default on its obligations as soon as June 1 if action is not taken. In an interview with ABCs This Week anchor Martha Raddatz, Van Hollen said Republicans wont accept one penny in deficit reduction from closing tax loopholes before pointing to moves under former President Donald Trumps administration. The farce of this whole thing is that, under Donald Trump, we raised the debt ceiling three times. Forty percent of our national debt actually was accumulated during the four years of the Trump administration, said Van Hollen, who revealed he was extremely worried where negotiations were. And now theyre not willing to talk about any revenue from very wealthy people as part of this effort, he added. Sen. Van Hollen: "The farce of this whole thing is that under Donald Trump, we raised the debt ceiling 3 times, 40% of our national debt was actually accumulated under Trump, and now they're not willing to talk about any revenue from very wealthy people as part of this effort." pic.twitter.com/VrkrFwj3Iv Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) May 21, 2023 Van Hollen referred to the talks as an insane situation and declared that a default would destroy the American economy. What we have right now is Speaker McCarthy and MAGA House Republicans saying that they are going to push the default detonator and blow up our economy if they dont get their way on their budget proposals, he said. He later added: Republicans are saying if they dont get things their way, theyre going to blow up the economy. Van Hollen emphasized what he called a really important difference between Democrats and Republicans: Democrats, along with Biden, arent threatening to annihilate the economy if they dont get their way. Van Hollen: "I want to emphasize a really important difference. It's not just both sides say this or that ... [here's] the difference. Speaker McCarthy & the MAGA Republicans are threatening to blow up the economy if we don't do things exactly their way" pic.twitter.com/ciSqAeGNWx Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) May 21, 2023 Related... By Abu Arqam Naqash MUZAFFARABAD, Pakistan (Reuters) - Hundreds of people rallied in Pakistan-administered Kashmir on Monday to protest arch rival India's decision to host a G20 tourism meeting in its part of the disputed Himalayan region, said a government official. New Delhi is hosting the key conference in Kashmir's summer capital Srinagar from Monday to Wednesday, a move which Pakistan and longtime ally China have opposed. Several protesters demonstrated in Muzaffarabad, capital of Pakistan-administered Kashmir, and other cities, chanting: "Go India go back and boycott, boycott G20 boycott!" , said the official Raja Azhar Iqbal. Pakistan's Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari visited the region and addressed Kashmir's legislative assembly on Monday. He termed the G20 gathering as illegal, and an attempt by India to seek legitimacy over its control of the disputed region. "India is misusing its position as G20 chair," he said, and urged the world to take note of New Delhi's "gross human rights violations" since India scrapped Kashmir's special status in August 2019 and converted it into a federal territory. The G20 tourism working group meeting is the first international event in the region since the conversion. Indian foreign ministry didn't respond to a request for a comment. Nuclear-armed nations, Pakistan and India have fought three wars since independence from Britain in 1947, two of them over Kashmir, which they each claim in full but control parts of. G20 consists of 19 rich nations and the European Union. India at present holds it presidency, and is set to host its annual summit in New Delhi in September. India hopes the meeting will help revive international tourism in the scenic Kashmir Valley which has been roiled by a violent Islamist insurgency against Indian rule since 1989, although violence levels have fallen in recent years and domestic tourism boomed. (This story has been corrected to fix description of Kashmir's status from 'independent' to 'special' and India's action from 'annexed' to 'converted it into a federal territory' in paragraph 5, and 'annexation' to 'conversion' in paragraph 6) (Writing by Asif Shahzad; Editing by Bernadette Baum) Ice cream flavored with white truffle and cheese scoops world record over its $6,316 price tag The ice cream (not pictured) took more than 18 months to develop. vm2002/Getty Images The world's most expensive ice cream is being sold for $6,316 per serving. Created by the Japanese ice-cream brand Cellato, the dessert is made from high-end ingredients. The ice cream is made with white truffle, Parmigiano Reggiano, edible gold leaf, and sake lees. The world's most expensive ice cream is being sold for around 873,400 Japanese yen, or $6,316, per serving. The dessert, called byakuya, has set a Guinness world record because of its eyewatering price tag. Made by Japanese ice-cream brand Cellato, the dessert includes white truffle, which is sourced from Alba in Italy and costs around $14,500 per kg, per a blog post by Guinness World Records. Other ingredients include Parmigiano-Reggiano, edible gold leaf, and sake lees, per Cellato's website. Per the Guinness World Records blog post, Cellato wanted to include both European and Japanese ingredients in the ice cream, so it turned to a chef known for fusion cuisine for help. "It took us over 1.5 years to develop, with a lot of trials and errors to get the taste right. Achieving a Guinness World Records title made the effort all worth it," a Cellato company representative told Guinness World Records. The company is planning to release more products such as Champagne and caviar in the future, according to Guinness World Records. A representative for Cellato did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment, made outside normal working hours. Scoopi Cafe in Dubai previously served what was considered to be the most expensive ice cream in the world. The ice cream, which cost $817, also included Italian truffles, as well as other ingredients such as ambrosial Iranian saffron, and edible 23-karat gold flakes. Read the original article on Business Insider By Brendan O'Brien (Reuters) -A judge on Monday entered a not guilty plea on behalf of the graduate student charged with murder in the fatal stabbing of four University of Idaho college students. Bryan Kohberger, 28, remained mostly silent and opted not to enter a plea during an arraignment hearing in Latah County, prompting District Judge John Judge to enter the plea for him. Kohberger wore an orange jail jumpsuit and sat next to his attorney during the brief hearing. The judge scheduled the trial to begin on Oct. 2. Last week, a grand jury indicted Kohberger on four counts of murder and one count of burglary. He could face life in prison or the death penalty if convicted of murder. Kohberger is accused of stabbing three women and one man in the early morning of Nov. 13 in the home of one of the women. The crime stunned the small college town of Moscow, Idaho, home to the University of Idaho, and drew national attention, with six weeks elapsing before a suspect was caught. Kohberger eventually was arrested in Pennsylvania, where he was visiting his family, and flown to Idaho to face charges. Two other female roommates in the house at the time of the killings were unharmed. One of the women told investigators that at 4 a.m. she heard someone crying in one of the victim's bedrooms. She then watched as a masked man, clad in black, walked past her and out of the house, according to a court document. The victims - Ethan Chapin, 20, of Conway, Washington; Xana Kernodle, 20, of Avondale, Arizona; Madison Mogen, 21, of Coeur d'Alene, Idaho; and Kaylee Goncalves, 21, of Rathdrum, Idaho - all suffered multiple stab wounds. Chapin was Kernodle's boyfriend. Kohberger at the time was working on a doctorate degree in criminal justice at Washington State University, about 10 miles (16 kilometers) from the University of Idaho campus. Authorities have not publicly disclosed a motive but have said they are confident Kohberger was responsible for the killings. (Reporting by Brendan O'Brien in Chicago, Editing by Rosalba O'Brien and Cynthia Osterman) Idaho is home to huge prehistoric sturgeon. Learn how to catch one in this hands-on class! Have you ever wanted to tangle with a white sturgeon, the prehistoric giant of the Snake River? This native Idaho species is North Americas largest freshwater fish capable of growing to more than 10 feet long and we Idahoans are blessed to have a thriving population right in our backyard! If you want to learn more about these unique giants, here is your chance. My next Tight Lines 208 fishing class will be a Sturgeon Seminar, set for June 13 and 15 from 6 to 8 p.m. The first night will feature a fun classroom session at Idaho Rod & Reel in Nampa, where we will go over the gear, tackle, bait and strategies needed to catch sturgeon in the wild. On the second night, we will put our newfound knowledge to the test and go sturgeon fishing at a private lake in Parma, with all gear, bait and tackle provided. This class is only offered every other year, and it fills up fast! For details and registration, visit www.tightlines208.com. I hope to see you there! Jordan Rodriguez has been fishing Idaho waters since he was a teen. Share your fish stories, adventures and questions with him at tightlinesboise@gmail.com, or visit www.tightlines208.com for the latest local fishing reports and upcoming class offerings. Bryan Kohberger chose to "stand silent" at the hearing A judge has entered a not guilty plea on behalf of the man accused of fatally stabbing four college students at the University of Idaho. Bryan Kohberger, 28, was arraigned on four counts of first degree murder and one felony count of burglary. He chose to "stand silent", meaning he did not enter a guilty or not guilty plea when asked to in court. In such cases, the judge records a not guilty plea on the defendant's behalf. In November 2022, Ethan Chapin, Kaylee Goncalves, Xana Kernodle and Madison Mogen were found stabbed to death at their home near the college campus in Moscow, Idaho. Family members sobbed as the judge read the names of each of the victims, according to reporters present in court. If convicted, Mr Kohberger could face the death penalty, or life in prison without the possibility of parole, and fines. He told the judge that he understood the felony charges against him. Prosecutors now have 60 days to inform the court whether they will seek the death penalty in the case. A tentative trial date was scheduled for October. The gruesome murder of the four college students days before Thanksgiving in 2022 shocked the nation. In the early hours of 13 November 2022, a man entered their off-campus home. Two surviving roommates later told police they could hear sounds of a struggle from down the hall. One of the survivors said she opened her bedroom door to see a man in a black ski mask with "bushy eyebrows" walk past her down the hall and out of the sliding glass door, according to police affidavits. Madison Mogen (L) and Xana Kernodle were among the four victims murdered last year Investigators spent six weeks searching for a suspect. They ultimately arrested Mr Kohberger at his parents' home more than 2,000 miles away from the crime scene in Pennsylvania on 30 December. At the time of his arrest, Mr Kohberger was studying to earn a PhD in criminology from Washington State University, eight miles from Moscow over the Idaho/Washington border. Investigators have said the killer left DNA on a "leather knife sheath" found at the crime scene. In January, unsealed court documents revealed police collected a knife, Glock pistol, black gloves, a black hat and a black face mask during a search of Mr Kohberger's home. Days after his arrest, Mr Kohberger's public defender told reporters his client "believes he's going to be exonerated". But when it came time to enter a plea to the charges against him, Mr Kohberger elected to "stand in silence". Once indicted, defendants are generally required to enter a plea to the charges. However, according to Idaho criminal law statutes, if a defendant refuses to plead guilty or not guilty, the judge automatically enters a plea of "not guilty." Paid in Full: The Battle for Payback, which the CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation) and the BBC commissioned, will focus on the music industrys history of exploiting Black artists. Idris Elba is involved in a project that will shine a light on racism in the music industry. The Luther star is set to produce Paid in Full: The Battle for Payback through his Green Door Pictures. A collaboration with Zinc Media label Supercollider, the docuseries will take a hard look at how the music industry often exploits Black talent, according to recent reports. Idris Elba arrives ahead of Day 4 of the Cheltenham Festival 2023 on March 17, 2023 at Cheltenham Racecourse in Cheltenham, England. (Photo by Ryan Pierse/Getty Images) Pink Towel, the company of Elbas wife Sabrina Elba, is also a producer of the documentary. The three-part project, which the CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation) and the BBC commissioned, will dive deep into the pay disparities and various injustices Black artists have suffered despite their undeniable contributions to the music industrys success at large. In addition, the project is also said to explore reparations for Black artists and how that could be possible, per Variety. This is a story that touches all of us, Elba said in a statement. Its about the people who created the soundtracks of our lives in popular music and the pain of their exploitation. Its also about bringing the music industry to account for the injustice inflicted on generations of musical talents who have been deprived of their rightful rewards both financially and in terms of status and respect. At the heart of it is the need to make amends granting acknowledgment and paying back what is due. Zinc Television Tanya Shaw noted in the statement that Paid in Full: The Battle for Payback will go beyond what might be expected. Far from being a straight music documentary, this series will explore the music industry within a racial context and reflect the history of exploitation within the industry, she said. It will also major in on conversations of structural racism and those who have worked so hard to expose them. Media Musketeers Studios and Abacus Media Rights (AMR) are co-funders and co-producers of the docuseries. The latter plans to handle international distribution. TheGrio is FREE on your TV via Apple TV, Amazon Fire, Roku and Android TV. Also, please download theGrio mobile apps today! The post Idris Elba to produce docuseries on racism in the music industry appeared first on TheGrio. I'm a butler on a luxury cruise where tickets cost up to $150K. I've traveled to Antarctica and enjoyed perks like submarine rides here's what my job is like. Nenad Popovic, 36, has flown over Arctic landscapes in the Scenic's private helicopter while working aboard the ship. Scenic Eclipse Nenad Popovic is a butler on a six-star, 200-passenger luxury cruise called the Scenic Eclipse. The ship travels to far-flung places like the Arctic and Antarctica and has its own submarine. Popovic works for four months at a time on board the ship and then takes a two-month holiday. This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Nenad Popovic, the cruise butler for the Scenic Eclipse. It has been edited for length and clarity. I was working as a waiter in a cafe in my hometown in Serbia when I bumped into one of my school friends who was a stewardess on an ocean liner. After listening to her adventures, I was hooked. I began to consider life on the water. Since then, I've traveled to the Arctic and Antarctica, among other destinations, as a cruise butler. Scenic Eclipse is a six-star luxury discovery yacht that hosts up to 200 guests on board. Scenic Eclipse I started as a steward on fairy-tale river cruises across Europe In September 2014, I applied to Scenic Luxury Cruises and Tours to be a restaurant steward on its river cruises. I was accepted in October. Before I could join the boat the following March, I had to pass the maritime industry's SCTW training course a five-day intensive in first aid, firefighting, and safety training. The company covered my course fees, and once I'd passed, I was ready to join the ship. In March 2015, I started stewarding the river cruises for Scenic Luxury Cruises and Tours. Each morning at work, I could wake up in a different city or country. On the river boats, we could travel all the way from Amsterdam to Budapest for over two weeks. The river-cruise routes passed villages and castles in rural Europe that looked straight out of a fairy tale. Moving from steward to butler gave me more opportunities After two years as a steward, I was promoted to cruise butler. As a steward, I was trained in silver service. But working as a butler, I had to stay one step ahead of the guests' needs and go above and beyond to create a wonderful experience. To become a cruise butler, you need experience working for a luxury hotel or boat. I was trained by other butlers on the river cruises and soaked up everything they taught me. In May 2021, I swapped the rivers of Europe for the open ocean and became a cruise butler on the Scenic Eclipse. Now I work on a six-star luxury Discovery yacht The Scenic Eclipse is a six-star Discovery yacht that sails to the Arctic and Antarctica, among other destinations. A single ticket can cost as much as $150,000 for a 30-day Arctic voyage but prices start at around $30,000 per person. View of the Arctic landscape from a hot tub on the deck of the Scenic Eclipse. Scenic Eclipse The river boats I'd worked on were luxurious, but I was blown away stepping on board the Scenic Eclipse. There are five restaurants on board including a French fine-dining restaurant with a Champagne bar. There are also two helicopter pads, a private submarine, and a helicopter for guests. Every guest has a butler. There are eight butlers and a head butler on board. I oversee up to 10 suites and look after 20 people per cruise. I spend four months on board, then I have a two-month holiday. Every guest has a butler assigned to them with 24/7 service On the Scenic Eclipse, the butler service is 24/7. We work in shifts, so when I finish at 9 p.m., another butler will start the night shift. I work between eight to 10 hours with a break at midday. My alarm rings around 5:30 a.m. After a coffee in the crew mess, I deliver room-service breakfast to the suites who've ordered it. While my guests leave the ship for excursions, I refill their mini bar and collect their laundry. I organize restaurant bookings for them on board or arrange helicopter or submarine trips. I also ensure their suite is flawless and make sure fresh fruit or a specific cocktail is waiting for them. One of the two helicopter pads on board the Scenic Eclipse and its private helicopter. Scenic Eclipse In the evening, I offer a turndown service. I turn the lights down, make sure their itinerary for the following day is on the TV screen and leave treats. For anniversaries or birthdays, I'll leave flowers. I love overhearing guests' reactions when they discover their gifts. During my afternoon break, I'll leave the ship with crew friends to enjoy the local food or visit a heritage area. If we're docked overnight, I will go out for dinner or a walk in the evening. At sea, I hang out with colleagues in the crew mess. Over the past 2 years, I've traveled from the Mediterranean island of Madeira to the wilds of Antarctica My best day on the ship was my first trip to Antarctica. While cruising between the icebergs, two whales breached the side of the boat. It was magical. I've flown in the Scenic Eclipse's helicopter over Antarctica, which was unforgettable. Looking over the raw landscape was amazing. I was also invited to join one of the dives in the Arctic in the ship's submarine. As we submerged beneath the waves, the lights on the submarine's side shone across a shoal of tiny transparent fish, creating a rainbow-like effect. It was surreal. Scenic Eclipse's private submarine for guests. Scenic Eclipse The cruise is all-inclusive, so I don't expect any tips, but we do get them. However, my real reward is feedback from guests who say I've helped create a memory of a lifetime that's my favorite part of the job. Read the original article on Business Insider India has deployed heavy security in Srinagar as it prepares to host a G20 tourism meeting in the disputed Kashmir region A G20 tourism meeting was set to begin on Monday amid high security in Indian-administered Kashmir, with China and Pakistan condemning holding the event in the disputed territory. Muslim-majority Kashmir has been disputed between New Delhi and Islamabad, both of which claim it in full, since their independence 75 years ago. The Indian-controlled portion has been roiled for decades by an insurgency seeking independence or a merger with Pakistan, with tens of thousands of civilians, soldiers and Kashmiri rebels killed in the conflict. Police said last week that security had been beefed up "to avoid any chance of terrorist attack during the G20" meeting, the first diplomatic event in the territory since New Delhi revoked its limited autonomy and took direct control in 2019. The three-day gathering will take place at a sprawling, well-guarded venue on the shores of Dal Lake in Srinagar. Roads leading to the location have been freshly black-topped, and electricity poles lit up in the colours of India's national flag to show what officials say is "normalcy and peace returning" to the region. India has been promoting tourism in Kashmir and more than a million of its citizens visited last year. No Chinese delegates will be attending the event. India and its northern neighbour are locked in a military standoff along their mostly undemarcated border in the Ladakh region. Beijing also claims the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh in full as part of Tibet, and it considers Kashmir a disputed territory. "China firmly opposes holding any form of G20 meeting in disputed territory and will not attend such meetings," foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin told reporters Friday. Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Indonesia are reportedly also unlikely to join. India holds the G20 presidency for 2023 and has planned more than 100 meetings across the country. China has already stayed away from events in both Ladakh and Arunachal Pradesh. - Hundreds detained - Non-G20 member Pakistan controls a smaller part of Kashmir and said holding the tourism meeting in the territory violated international law, UN Security Council resolutions and bilateral agreements. Pakistan's foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said last week that India was displaying its "arrogance to the world" and that "it shows their pettiness", triggering a sharp retort from New Delhi. India accuses Pakistan of training and supporting militants in Kashmir, which Islamabad denies. Since India's 2019 constitutional changes, rebels in Kashmir have largely been crushed -- although young men continue to join the insurgency. But dissent has been criminalised, media freedoms curbed and public protests limited, in what critics say is a drastic curtailment of civil liberties by India. Last week, the UN Special Rapporteur on Minority Issues, Fernand de Varennes, said New Delhi was seeking to use the G20 meeting to "portray an international seal of approval" on a situation that "should be decried and condemned". India rejected those comments. Residents have chafed under the stepped-up security measures, hundreds have been detained in police stations and thousands including shopkeepers have received calls from officials warning them against any "signs of protest or trouble". burs-qan/dva FILE PHOTO: Members of the media work outside the BBC headquarters, in London By Shivam Patel NEW DELHI (Reuters) -The Delhi High Court on Monday issued a notice to British broadcaster BBC seeking its response in a defamation case over a documentary on Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi that questioned his leadership during the 2002 Gujarat riots. The documentary, "India: the Modi question", focused on Modi's leadership as chief minister of the western state during riots in 2002 in which at least 1,000 people were killed, most of them Muslims. Activists put the toll at more than twice that. Modi has denied accusations that he did not do enough to stop the riots and a Supreme Court-ordered investigation found no evidence to prosecute him. The suit was filed on the basis that the documentary "casts a slur on the reputation of the country" and "makes false and defamatory imputations and insinuations" against its prime minister, judiciary, and criminal justice system, the court order said. The court sought a response from the broadcaster by Sept. 25. A BBC spokesperson said: "We are aware of the court proceedings. It would be inappropriate to comment further at this stage." Relations between India and Britain have soured after the documentary and a "breach of security" incident at the Indian High Commission in March, at a time when they are struggling to make progress in free trade talks. India reacted angrily to the documentary, which aired in January, calling it a biased "propaganda piece" and blocked sharing of any clips from it on social media. Tax officials inspected offices of the BBC in Delhi and Mumbai in February and the financial crime agency opened an investigation into the broadcaster in April for alleged violations of foreign exchange rules. The tax authority had said that it found evidence of undisclosed income in records of an "international media company" without naming the BBC. A government adviser said the inspection was not "vindictive". The BBC has previously said that it stood by its reporting for the documentary, which was not aired in India, and that it "does not have an agenda". (Reporting by Shivam Patel in New Delhi; Editing by Kim Coghill, Raju Gopalakrishnan and Conor Humphries) India has deployed heavy security in Srinagar as it prepares to host a G20 tourism meeting in the disputed Kashmir region A G20 tourism meeting began on Monday under tight security in Indian-administered Kashmir, as New Delhi seeks to project an image of normality in a region wracked for decades by violence. Both China and Pakistan have condemned holding the event in the disputed Muslim-majority territory, which is split between New Delhi and Islamabad, both of whom claim it in full. Over the decades an insurgency seeking independence or a merger with Pakistan has seen tens of thousands of civilians, soldiers and rebels killed. But India wants to show that what officials call "normalcy and peace" are returning to the region after New Delhi revoked its limited autonomy in 2019 and took direct control, imposing an extended lockdown. Dissent has been criminalised, media freedoms curbed and public protests limited in what critics say is a drastic curtailment of civil liberties by Indian authorities. Since the lockdown, the rebels have largely been crushed -- although young men continue to take up arms -- and the annual death toll, once in the thousands, has been on a downward trend, with 253 fatalities last year. "Kashmir is a very peaceful destination," said India's G20 sherpa, Amitabh Kant. "We are seeing peace, progress and prosperity taking place here." India is now promoting tourism in the region -- home to spectacular mountain scenery -- with welcome signs at the airport declaring it "paradise on earth". More than a million Indian citizens visited last year, to the delight of local tourism businesses. In the past, an event like the G20 gathering would have been met with a general strike in Srinagar, but now people are "going about with their activity", said Indian science and technology minister Jitendra Singh. "Jammu and Kashmir has moved on, the common man has moved on. He's seen two generations of Kashmiris being sacrificed on the altar of Pak-sponsored terrorism, he's no longer in a mood to succumb to that," he told reporters. India accuses Pakistan of training and supporting militants in Kashmir, which Islamabad denies. Police said last week that security had been beefed up "to avoid any chance of terrorist attack during the G20", and on Monday soldiers and armoured vehicles were deployed at multiple locations in Srinagar. But many checkpoints -- wrapped in metal mesh and barbed wire -- were dismantled overnight, and some paramilitary police stood hidden behind G20 advertising panels in what appeared to be an effort to minimise the security forces' visibility. - 'Terrorist-infested places' - The three-day gathering is taking place at a well-guarded complex on the shores of Dal Lake in Srinagar. Questions have been raised over the choice of location. "Does the Modi government think that tourism can be promoted in closed conference halls next to a scenic lake being patrolled by marine commandos, with surveillance drones overhead?" columnist Bharat Bhushan wrote in the Deccan Herald newspaper. "Such staged events make it clear that the situation in J&K (Jammu and Kashmir) is far from normal." Residents have chafed under the stepped-up security measures, with one describing the situation as "just a facade" on Monday. Hundreds have been detained in police stations and thousands, including shopkeepers, have received calls from officials warning against any "signs of protest or trouble", a senior official told AFP on condition of anonymity. To visit Kashmir, foreign journalists require special permission, which is not normally forthcoming, though it has been granted for the G20 meeting. The permits are valid only for coverage of the event itself and limited to the city of Srinagar. Holders are required not to "propagate anti-India narratives", nor visit "terrorist-infested places without prior permission". The People's Anti-Fascist Front, a new rebel group that emerged in the region after 2019, issued a statement condemning the G20 meeting and threatening to "deploy suicide bombers". "Today, tomorrow or day after. It will come," it said. - Staying away - India holds the G20 presidency for 2023, and has planned more than 100 meetings across the country. Two Indian government ministers are attending the tourism event in Srinagar, but several Western nations are sending only locally based diplomatic staff. G20 member China, which is locked in a military standoff with India along their mostly undemarcated border in the Ladakh region, has refused to attend, and no government delegations are expected from Turkey or Saudi Arabia. Beijing also stayed away from earlier G20 meetings in Ladakh and in Arunachal Pradesh, which it claims as part of Tibet. Non-G20 member Pakistan controls a smaller part of Kashmir, and accused India of "arrogance" and violating international law by holding the tourism meeting in the territory, triggering a sharp retort from New Delhi. Last week, the UN special rapporteur on minority issues, Fernand de Varennes, said New Delhi was seeking to use the G20 meeting to "portray an international seal of approval" on a situation that "should be decried and condemned". India rejected the comments. pzb-slb/smw An inmate tunneled through a jail wall and stabbed a man in a neighboring cell, officials say An inmate tunneled through a jail wall and stabbed a man in a neighboring cell, officials say Photos show the hole dug through the wall of a cell at Fulton County's Rice Street jail. Fulton County Sheriff's Office An inmate at a jail in Fulton County, Georgia, tunneled his way into a neighboring cell. He then stabbed a fellow inmate multiple times, causing superficial wounds, deputies said. Officials searched both cells, finding makeshift shanks made from parts of the dilapidated building. Kavian Thomas, an inmate at the Rice Street jail in Fulton County, Georgia, tunneled his way into an adjacent cell last Wednesday, where he allegedly stabbed another inmate, according to Fulton County Sheriff's Office. The Sheriff's Office said that on May 17 Thomas dug a hole in a shower wall made of concrete and metal to get into the neighboring cell, which is where authorities say he stabbed Derondney Russell multiple times, per WSB-TV. Russell sustained "superficial stab wounds to his upper body" before being taken to the jail's medical unit to be treated for his non-life-threatening injuries, officials said, according to ABC News. WBS-TV reported that law enforcement authorities searched both cells, where they found at least five weapons. Among these were makeshift shanks crafted from parts of the dilapidated jail building, per Fox 5 Atlanta. "This jail has clearly outlived its useful life," interim Fulton County Jail commander Curtis Clark said in a press release provided to ABC News. Clark added that the condition of the building makes the "reality" of providing a safe environment for inmates and staff very challenging, per WSB-TV. It's not clear what charges Thomas was in jail for this time, but records show somebody with the same name having previously been booked for rioting in a penal institution, arson, and criminal damage to property, among other charges. The Sheriff's Office said in a statement provided to Insider that additional criminal charges against Thomas are pending. Read the original article on Insider Made up of more than 1,000 islands spread over 90,000 square kilometers, Maldives is a country like no other. The majority of the nations 160-plus resorts sit on individual islands, many of which are accessed by float plane from capital Males Velana International Airport. A private island paradise in a country thats 99% water, famed for having some of the worlds most stunning coastal scenery? Not a tough sell for most travelers. But there are downsides. Being on a remote island can limit dining options. And opportunities to learn about Maldives fascinating history and the challenges it faces as the worlds lowest-lying nation are in short supply. Thats where CROSSROADS Maldives comes in. Just a 15-minute air-conditioned speedboat ride from the international airport, its the countrys first multi-island leisure and lifestyle destination, designed to target both international tourists and locals looking for a day escape from the capital. Arriving guests pull into a picturesque 30-berth marina where theyre likely to spot a superyacht or two that connects to an open-air dining and retail zone. From there, theyre shuttled via electric buggy to one of two resorts the SAii Lagoon Maldives, Curio Collection by Hilton or the Hard Rock Hotel Maldives which occupy their own individual islands, all connected by narrow bridges. Daytrippers can head for the SAii Beach Club, a separate venue with its own private beach and dining options. A rare chance to learn about Maldivian history Though the stunning white sands and blue waters are what draw most tourists to Maldives, CROSSROADS also seeks to educate visitors on the countrys extensive history, which dates back to 2,000 BCE, as well as the environmental challenges it faces today. These issues are front and center in the Maldives Discovery Center, located near the marina. Here, visitors learn about the countrys culture, people, history and climate struggles through a series of colorful interactive displays. This is important because Maldives is always considered a luxury destination, but nothing more, says Mohamed Firash, CROSSROADS Maldives marketing and communications manager. Its also a country with a rich history. There was a disconnect before, and this will help rebuild that relationship between tourism and local culture. CROSSROADS was inspired by Maldives role as an important stop on trading routes, connecting East and West through the ages. This philosophy carries over into the dining zone, too. Its home to the countrys first and only fine dining restaurant dedicated to Maldivian cuisine Kalhu Odi. If you have been to other resorts in Maldives, usually they serve a bit of Maldivian cuisine or host a Maldivian night, says Firash. Kalhu Odi serves Maldivian cuisine in a fine dining setting. - CROSSROADS Maldives But theres no fine dining restaurant available for tourists to experience the local cuisine. This restaurant serves different types of food available throughout the country. The experience is incredible. Kalhu Odi is one of more than a dozen different dining outlets at CROSSROADS. Theres also an outpost of Sri Lankas famed Ministry of Crab, the Hard Rock Cafe, Japanese restaurant Nihonbashi Blue, Indian eatery Kebab and Kurry and Chinese restaurant Jiao Wu. Those in need of some spice can head for Thai restaurant Kinkao. Coral propagation in the Marine Discovery Centre Like most resorts in the Maldives, CROSSROADS has a watersports center for those looking to get out on boards and JetSkis or plan scuba and snorkel excursions in the surrounding reefs. Adjacent to it is the Marine Discovery Centre, which teaches visitors about the importance of sustainable practices. An onsite coral propagation nursery offers a hands-on experience that gives broken pieces of coral a second chance at life. Ali Shaamy, research assistant in the Marine Discover Centre, demonstrates the coral propagation process. - Mark Philips/CNN We collect the broken pieces from the reefs and then we bring it here, explains research assistant Ali Shaamy as he demonstrates the process. The pieces are glued to a dead rock. We call it the stone attachment method. After a week, we move them to the resorts lagoon. Its important because the islands, the ocean, the fish the whole marine biodiversity is connected to the coral reefs. If we dont have the corals, we dont have the beauty or the fish, and then guests dont come. According to the World Bank, tourism directly and indirectly accounts for two-thirds of the countrys GDP. Striking a balance between the need to welcome tourists while also protecting the countrys natural resources is an ever-present issue in this country of just over half a million people. As part of efforts to fulfill its own commitment to environmental preservation, CROSSROADS recently became the latest destination in Maldives to receive its Green Globe Certification (GGC) following a rigorous sustainability audit. Travelers dont need to look far to see why the need to adhere to strict sustainable practices is necessary. At sunset, not far offshore near the SAii Lagoon resort pool, dolphins can often be spotted leaping into the air on the horizon. During the speedboat transfer back to the airport during a recent visit, several pods of dolphins emerge to swim and jump beside the boat, their grey fins cutting through the crystal-blue waters, not far from cargo ships docked at a Male port. SAii Lagoon has 198 rooms and villas. - CROSSROADS Maldives A destination for locals, too In addition to SAii Lagoon and the Hard Rock Hotel, CROSSROADS is preparing to open a third resort, SO/ Maldives, later this year. It will feature a selection of 80 overwater and beach luxury villas. SAii, meanwhile, has 198 suites and villas both overwater and beach-access, while Hard Rock Hotel has 178 rooms including family suites, beach villas and one and two-bedroom overwater villas. Guests of the two resorts can choose from a variety of meal plans, including an all-inclusive package that offers free dining at most CROSSROADS venues. Though travelers could easily spend a few days at CROSSROADS, its also a great option for visitors needing a place to stay near the airport, depending on flight schedules, as float planes cant fly after dark. An aerial view of CROSSROADS Maldives, which is made up of several connected islands. - CROSSROADS Maldives Those who just want to come for the day can visit the marina, beach club and retail/dining zone, as well as the discovery centers. And that includes local Maldivians. This is the first project that is open for the general public and tourists as well, says Firash. Because Maldives resorts are private, locals or even visitors are not allowed to go unless you have a booking to stay. So this is the first facility that is open for locals and visitors to visit for a day use, or maybe just to experience dining facilities we have. The reaction from the locals since it first opened in 2019 has been impressive, he says. They really appreciate that they have something other than the city to come out and experience during their weekend, and bring their families out of Male. Its a bit congested, so this is a good opportunity for them to be away from the busy life. For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com MORRISTOWN New developments are among the biggest revenue generators factored into Morristown's proposed budget, but their benefits are countered by a phaseout of COVID emergency relief from the federal government. Morristown's five highest revenue increases, outlined by administrator Jillian Barrick in the budget presentation May 9, include a trio of PILOT (payment in lieu of taxes) programs contributed by developers along with a bump in state aid and taxes for local hotels and motels. The increases resulted in approximately $780,000 more revenue in the projected 2023 budget than last year. "Unfortunately, we also saw a decline in revenue sources," Barrick said in the presentation. A rendering of the six-story office and retail building that will be constructed along Speedwell Avenue in Morristown and serve as the headquarters for Valley National Bank. Demolition is underway across the street from Headquarters Plaza. Areas such as delinquent taxes, surplus money and American Rescue Plan funding are all set to decline significantly from last year's budget. Combined with lower revenue from municipal courts and various fees and permits, the five largest decreases in incoming funds total about $728,000 to nearly offset the increases. Morristown taxes In total, Morristown's proposed budget of $45.5 million equates to a 2.9% increase from last year. The homeowner of an average home assessed at $358,393 would pay $105 more per year in municipal property taxes, Barrick said. But expected decreases in Morris school district and county taxes, which the council does not control would cut the yearly increase to $66, according to the presentation. The Town Council unanimously approved the introduction of the budget following Barrick's presentation. The spending plan could come up again at Tuesday night's council meeting, but a budget hearing and possible final adoption is currently scheduled for Tuesday, June 13. New development, new tax revenues The budget shows the building boom around Morristown is paying off for Morris County's capital city, at least in terms of tax revenues. The M Station redevelopment project, which featured the opening of the Deloitte building last year, is by far the biggest projected revenue increase at $289,000. The Max on Morris and Modera 55 apartment complexes also represent substantial payment boosts that are expected to generate $92,000 and $86,000, respectively, for the town. Morristown also received a state aid increase of $169,000 a "discretionary" amount that had been flat until this year, Barrick said. "There's no guarantee that we'll get this money next year, but we will happily accept it now," she said. Morristown Mayor Tim Dougherty presents the 2023 budget at the Morristown Council meeting Tuesday, May 9, 2023. The occupancy tax for hotels and motels contributed an additional $143,000 for the town. Barrick attributed the rise to more traveling in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic as well as the renovation of the Hyatt Regency. Largest decreases Morristown has collected $220,000 less in delinquent taxes this year, making it the biggest decrease in revenue from the 2022 budget. The town's anticipated surplus is down $200,000, from $3.8 million to $3.6 million, after heavily relying on the extra funding to survive the financial hardships of COVID. "We need to start weaning ourselves off the use of surplus and get to something that's more balanced," Barrick said. "Our projections show that we will be able to maintain that into the future, but in order to do that we need to start reducing our use of surplus, and we're anticipating doing that over the next two to three years." Morristown's budget also includes a reduction of $171,000 in American Rescue Plan funding after using almost $700,000 last year. The town has about $500,000 of the funds left, which it plans to use in next year's budget, Barrick explained. The municipal court revenue is down $77,000, and fee and permit revenues are about $60,000 less than last year. Morristown housing: Town gets boost for $70M affordable housing project. Here's what state will fund Spending climbs for debt service, pensions The budget includes approximately $24.9 million in departmental operations for Morristown, about a 1% decrease from last year. The biggest jump in expenses came from interest on bonds along with medical and dental insurance and pensions, all of which came in at least $400,000 more than last year. The town was able to lessen the impact of the increases largely due to departures that were not filled in the workforce, Barrick said. Salaries for police officers and public works employees were much lower than last year's budget, with the two groups costing the town $191,000 and $104,000 less in 2023, respectively. Kyle Morel is a local reporter covering Morris and Sussex counties. Email: kmorel@njherald.com; Twitter: @KMorelNJH This article originally appeared on New Jersey Herald: Morristown NJ: Biggest increases and decreases in 2023 budget Invaders detaining men in occupied Zaporizhzya Oblast, pressurizing them to join Russian army Occupiers "The occupiers are trying to arrest as many men as possible in the temporarily occupied territories of Zaporizhzhya region, in order to then put pressure on them to mobilize into the ranks of the Russian occupation forces," the report reads. Read also: Russia to use Central Asian migrants to replenish ranks of Armed Forces, reports National Resistance Center "Men in the temporarily occupied territories are arrested on the slightest pretext, in particular, for violating the curfew established by the occupation administration." The men then are taken to field camps, where Russian recruited prisoners are also placed. The criminals put pressure on the locals, forcing them to serve in the Russian army, the National Resistance Center claimed. Read also: Russia planning to abduct children from occupied Enerhodar Under the Geneva conventions, it is illegal to recruit members of a population under occupation to the armed forces of the occupying power. 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 Iran building nuclear facility deep enough that US bombs would likely be incapable of destroying it: Report Iran is building a nuclear facility so deep underground that experts fear conventional U.S. weapons would be unable to destroy it. "So the depth of the facility is a concern because it would be much harder for us. It would be much harder to destroy using conventional weapons, such as like a typical bunker buster bomb," Steven De La Fuente, a research associate at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies, told The Associated Press in a report Monday. The comments come after satellite imagery, taken in April by Planet Labs PBC and analyzed by the AP, show workers digging tunnels near a peak of the Zagros Mountains in central Iran close to the Natanz nuclear site, a site long watched by international nuclear observers that has come under repeated sabotage attacks Iran has blamed on Israel. The satellite imagery of the site, which is protected by fencing, anti-aircraft batteries, and Irans paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, shows four entrances being dug into the mountainside. Analysts are able to estimate the depth of the entrances by looking at the size of the spoil piles and other satellite data, which they say now indicated the facility is at depths of 260 and 328 feet. BIDEN FOREIGN POLICY STRATEGY OPENS THE DOOR TO CHINA, OTHER ADVERSARIES, EXPERTS SAY Iran completing such a facility "would be a nightmare scenario that risks igniting a new escalatory spiral," Kelsey Davenport, the director of nonproliferation policy at the Washington-based Arms Control Association, told The Associated Press. READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP "Given how close Iran is to a bomb, it has very little room to ratchet up its program without tripping U.S. and Israeli red lines. So at this point, any further escalation increases the risk of conflict," Davenport said. The report comes after the U.S. flaunted pictures of a powerful bomb designed to penetrate deep into underground facilities that could be used to enrich uranium earlier this month, with the Air Force posting rare pictures of the bomb that has been dubbed the "Massive Ordinance Penetrator." However, analysts fear the bomb, which is officially known as the GBU-57, will be unable to reach the depths of the progressively deeper Iranian facility. Iran Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamanei speaks during his meeting with students in Tehran. IRAN GAINS FOOTHOLD IN SOUTH AMERICA AS BIDEN ADMIN PURSUES NUCLEAR DEAL Iran has been inching dangerously closer to the ability to make nuclear weapons since the U.S. abandoned a deal struck with the country under former President Obama, saying it is now enriching uranium up to 60%. Under the terms of the previous agreement, Iran was prohibited enriching uranium above 3.67% purity. President Biden has made rekindling the nuclear deal with Iran a primary objective of his administration's foreign policy, though those talks have stalled in recent months. President Joe Biden. While Iran has acknowledged enriching uranium up to 60%, inspectors have discovered the country has produced uranium particles that were 83.7% pure, just short of the 90% threshold of weapons-grade uranium. However, Iran has denied it is seeking to build nuclear weapons, with Iranian officials telling the AP that "Irans peaceful nuclear activities are transparent and under the International Atomic Energy Agency safeguards." Despite the claim, the country has limited the ability for international nuclear inspectors to inspect sites for years. Meanwhile, experts fear attempts to sabotage Iran's nuclear program may only work to drive it further underground. "Sabotage may roll back Irans nuclear program in the short-term, but it is not a viable, long-term strategy for guarding against a nuclear-armed Iran," Davenport said. "Driving Irans nuclear program further underground increases the proliferation risk." The Associated Press contributed to this report. Ali Akbar Ahmadian (L) speaking with slain IRGC General Qasem Soleimani in Tehran Iran's President Ebrahim Raisi on Monday appointed a Revolutionary Guards general as the country's top security official, replacing Ali Shamkhani after nearly a decade marked by headway in Gulf diplomacy. "Ali Akbar Ahmadian was appointed as the secretary of the Supreme National Security Council by the decree of the president," the official presidential website reported. The Islamic republic's highest security body, the council reports to supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei who has the final word on all major policy decision. Ahmadian, graduate of the National Defence University, was in charge of the strategic centre of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) before his appointment to the new post, the presidency said. The general, in his early 60s, has also served on the Expediency Council, an advisory board to Khamenei. Ahmadian's previous roles include commander of the IRGC's naval forces and chief of its joint staff, the presidential website added. In 2007, as head of the powerful security force's joint staff, Ahmadian was blacklisted by the United States. He replaces Shamkhani, 67, who in 2013 took over as Iran's security chief from ultraconservative Saeed Jalili. Shamkhani, an ethnic Arab who had also previously served as a Revolutionary Guards commander, has been credited with defusing Iran's years-long tensions with some Gulf nations. The Iranian admiral played a key role in Iran's landmark rapprochement with Sunni powerhouse Saudi Arabia in March after seven years of strife and enmity. Before the latest Iran-Saudi rift, Riyadh in the year 2000 had awarded Shamkhani the Order of Abdulaziz Al Saud medal -- the kingdom's highest honour -- for his work as defence minister in bringing the two countries together. Shamkhani had also been involved in talks with world powers on Iran's nuclear programme, which in 2015 produced a landmark agreement. But the deal collapsed in 2018 after the United States unilaterally withdrew from it and reimposed sanctions, prompting Iran to suspend the implementation of its own commitments to curb nuclear activity including uranium enrichment. rkh/ami FILE PHOTO: Beer bottles from all over the world are on display at the Hop museum in Wolnzach DUBLIN (Reuters) - Ireland will introduce mandatory health labelling of alcoholic drinks, warning of the links to cancer, liver disease and the risk of drinking while pregnant. The new regulations, signed into law by health minister Stephen Donnelly on Monday, will take effect in three years to give businesses time to prepare for the change. It will also alert consumers to the calorie and alcohol content. Other countries include warnings on alcohol products, but Ireland's regulations are intended to be more comprehensive. "This law is designed to give all of us as consumers a better understanding of the alcohol content and health risks associated with consuming alcohol," said Donnelly. "I welcome that we are the first country in the world to take this step." He said the law would bring alcohol packaging into line with other food and drink products, which already contain health information and warnings. The move has led several of Ireland's major trading partners to raise concerns with the European Commission. Nine EU members, including France, have submitted unfavourable opinions in response to the plans. (Reporting by Graham Fahy; Editing by Lisa Shumaker) Obit Ray Stevenson FILE - Irish born actor Ray Stevenson poses for a photo in New York on March 7, 2011. Stevenson, the Irish actor who played the villain in RRR, an Asgardian warrior the Thor films, and a member of the 13th Legion in HBOs Rome, has died. He was 58. Representatives for Stevenson told The Associated Press he died Sunday, May 21, 2023, but had no other details to share. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews, File) ASSOCIATED PRESS Illustration by Alex Cochran for Yahoo News; Photo: Giorgio Viera/AFP via Getty Images The 360 shows you diverse perspectives on the days top stories and debates. Whats happening After months of signaling his White House ambitions in speeches, super-PAC ads and visits to key primary states, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis will officially launch his bid for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination on Wednesday, according to multiple reports. DeSantiss initial announcement is expected to be virtual filing papers with the Federal Election Commission, gathering financial backers in Miami with a formal kickoff event slated to follow on or around June 1 in his hometown of Dunedin, Fla. While other Republicans are challenging current frontrunner Donald Trump for the GOP nod, DeSantis is widely seen as the former presidents most formidable rival. The latest Yahoo News/YouGov survey, conducted earlier this month, shows DeSantis (36%) within striking distance of Trump (50%) in a one-on-one matchup among potential Republican primary voters. No other GOP candidate polled higher than 4% when the rest of the current field was included. In a call last Thursday with supporters, DeSantis cast 2024 as a three-way contest between him, Trump and President Biden, arguing that he alone could win both the primary and the general election. You have basically three people at this point that are credible in this whole thing, DeSantis said. Biden, Trump and me. And I think of those three, two have a chance to get elected president Biden and me, based on all the data in the swing states, which is not great for the former president and probably insurmountable because people arent going to change their view of him. DeSantiss top advisers have pointed to their bosss fundraising prowess and higher net favorability ratings among early-state GOP primary voters as proof that the party is ready to turn the page on the former president and that DeSantis is best positioned to benefit. But not everyone believes the Florida governor still has a path to dethroning Trump. Why theres debate After most of Trumps handpicked MAGA candidates tanked in the 2022 midterms on the same night DeSantis won reelection by nearly 20 percentage points the 2024 Republican primary polls started to turn in the governors favor. By the end of the year, DeSantis was ahead of Trump by 5 points among potential GOP voters, according to a December Yahoo News/YouGov poll and by 11 points among those who say they actually voted in a 2016 Republican primary or caucus in their state. Its striking how rare it is for a modern first-time candidate to hold this level of support this early, wrote Nate Cohn of the New York Times. Since 1976, only six candidates who hadnt previously run yearlong campaigns for president or vice president have managed to consistently attract more than half of Mr. DeSantiss support in the early polls. ... [Barack] Obama, Hillary Clinton and Rudy Giuliani in the 2008 cycle; George W. Bush in 2000; Ted Kennedy in 1980; and [Ronald] Reagan in 1976. But DeSantis made a calculated decision to delay his 2024 launch until the end of Floridas legislative session. The governors goal, it seemed, was to further burnish his conservative credentials and his Make America Florida pitch by signing a raft of right-wing legislation, including bills that banned abortion after six weeks of pregnancy, outlawed gender-affirming care for trans youths, restricted drag shows, blocked African American studies programs and prohibited vaccine and mask mandates. Trump, meanwhile, has spent the last few months ... campaigning against DeSantis. Attacks have gone unanswered. DeSantis has stumbled (especially on Ukraine and Disney). And far from loosening Trumps hold on the right, the former presidents recent legal troubles being indicted for allegedly paying hush money to porn star Stormy Daniels; being found liable for sexually abusing and defaming the writer E. Jean Carroll appear only to have reinforced his cherished witch hunt narrative while preventing other candidates from getting attention. As a result, Trump has reasserted his dominance in most polls. On average, a majority of Republican voters (54%) now favor the former president; just 21% back DeSantis. Sensing vulnerability, other would-be Trump alternatives South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott; Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin are either jumping into the race or testing the waters. But is it too early to count DeSantis out? And if so, how can he mount a comeback? Whats next The first test of DeSantiss staying power will likely come later this week. During the 2022 cycle, the Florida governor was a prodigious fundraiser, raking in a record $110 million twice as much as the super-PAC backing Trump, MAGA Inc., reported having on hand at the end of the year. To signal enthusiasm, fledgling presidential campaigns typically announce how much theyve raised during the first day (or days) after their official launch. Expect DeSantis to do the same and expect the sum to be sizable. After that, the long slog to Iowa and New Hampshire will begin. In addition to demonstrating how he plans to parry Trumps jabs without alienating MAGA diehards a maneuver that no other Republican has ever really nailed DeSantis will also be determined to demonstrate that his (relatively remote) personality isnt a liability on the trail. In New Hampshire, its about meeting almost every voter, Jason Osborne, a Republican who serves as the New Hampshire State House majority leader, told the New York Times after DeSantis visited last week. [Will he] be able to connect with people as he meets them face-to-face, looks them in the eye and describes his vision for the country? Perspectives DeSantis doesnt have a shot The Ron DeSantis boomlet is done. He consistently trails Donald Trump by double digits. A Wall Street Journal poll out [April 21] pegs Floridas governor in severe retrograde, slipping 27 points since December. DeSantis mistakenly conflates his campaigns bulging war chest with adulation. Wrong! He forgot that working-class Americans dominate the Republican party and that mien matters. Voting to gut SocialSecurity comes with fatal backlash, and eating pudding with your fingers is gross. Said differently, largesse from the partys donor base coupled with little else is a losing recipe. Lloyd Green, The Guardian Actually, he does if he can win an early state like Obama or McCain Back in 2007, Illinois Sen. Barack Obama was averaging in the low 20s nationally ahead of the 2008 Democratic primary season. New York Sen. Hillary Clinton was dominating the national polls for the Democratic nomination with nearly 40% of the vote. ... And yet, Obama ended up defeating Clinton. That same cycle, Arizona Sen. John McCain was stuck in the low 20s in early national surveys of the Republican primary. ... History suggests that someone in DeSantiss polling position has a roughly 1-in-5 (20%) chance of winning the nomination. [But] both Obama (Iowa) and McCain (New Hampshire) won one of the early contests to jumpstart their campaigns. The good news for DeSantis is that he is polling better in those states than he is nationally, even if he trails Trump in both. Harry Enten, CNN The key for DeSantis is proving that hes better at governing than Trump To have a chance of besting Trump, DeSantis has to convince Republicans that as president he would deliver better results. Voters need to believe they would get the conservative policies that Trump accomplished for them, and more, without everything they disliked about the Trump presidency. Thats not just a matter of avoiding mean tweets. DeSantis would also have to make it clear that his administration would not be consumed by feuds between the president and his own appointees or the guessing games about which presidential statements were meant to be taken seriously. Ramesh Ponnuru, Washington Post After all, thats precisely how DeSantis just got reelected in Florida Many predicted that [DeSantiss] hard-charging first term in office would provoke a backlash. Instead the opposite occurred. ... What was once Americas paradigmatic swing state now pulsates bright red. For the first time in modern history, registered Republicans outnumber Democrats. The people of Florida seem to like the steady hand even if its an iron fist. To fans, DeSantis success proves that a pugilistic, big-government conservatism that promises ruthless competence instead of Trumpian chaos can win broad support, including a growing share of working-class and minority voters. Molly Ball, Time But the further right DeSantis moves, the harder it will be to replicate his Florida success on a national scale DeSantiss biggest quandary is whether to double down on the culture-war hijinks that could theoretically chip away at Trumps MAGA backing ... or instead develop some appeal to swing voters in order to show that hes the more electable Republican. ... If DeSantis possessed Reaganesque charisma an idea thats laughable even to his biggest fans perhaps he could have it both ways and charm swing voters into preferring him to Biden. Maybe they just dont know him yet. But at this point, theres nothing about the Florida governor that suggests non-Republican voters will take in his act once hes an announced candidate and think, This is what Ive been waiting for! Ed Kilgore, New York DeSantiss problem is that hes starting to look like a typical conservative His strength as a general election candidate is being questioned. This is partly because hes fallen flat on the national stage, but its also because hes slowly devolved into an older kind of Republican the kind without answers to the partys problems. Hes been bogged down in the very issues that divided and hurt Republicans in the past, like abortion, entitlements, Russia and the conduct of Donald J. Trump. Against Mr. Trump and without Democrats as a foil, his instinct to take the most conservative stance has pushed him far to the right. Hes devolved into another Ted Cruz. ... To compete for the nomination, he will [need to] appeal to the establishment and the base by focusing on the new set of issues that got him here: the fight for freedom and against woke. Nate Cohn, New York Times To pull anti-Trump Republicans together, a Hail Mary might be in order To defeat Trump, DeSantis must assemble a group that includes center-right Republicans, the old GOP establishment and movement conservatives, a coalition that has little in common except a desire for a new nominee. ... The assumption, [some] top Republicans say, is that more moderate Republicans ... will fall in line with DeSantis because the alternative is Trump. [But] DeSantis may have to take more aggressive steps to pull the ungainly anti-Trump coalition together, particularly if he wants to winnow the field by the end of this calendar year. It may seem contrived, but the challenge of dethroning Trump is going to require extreme measures. (A DeSantis-Tim Scott unity ticket?) Jonathan Martin, Politico If not, we might be in for a repeat of 2016 Remember how smoothly all of Joe Bidens rivals suddenly exited the presidential race when it was time to stop Bernie Sanders? Remember how nothing remotely like that happened among Republicans in 2016? Well, if you have an anti-Trump donor base dissatisfied with DeSantis and willing to sustain long-shot rivals, and if two of those rivals, [Former U.N. ambassador and Gov. Nikki] Haley and Senator Tim Scott, hail from the early primary state of South Carolina, its easy enough to see how they talk themselves into hanging around long enough to hand Trump exactly the sort of narrow wins that eventually gave him unstoppable momentum in 2016. Ross Douthat, New York Times JERUSALEM (Reuters) -Israel accused the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) on Monday of turning commercial ships into platforms for launching missiles, drones and commandos, saying the objective was to spread Tehran's clandestine naval clout well beyond the Gulf. The allegation by Defence Minister Yoav Gallant came as tensions between the regional foes surge afresh over Iran's nuclear drive and support for Palestinian and Lebanese militias. Showing images of six purportedly repurposed Iranian vessels, five of them named, Gallant told the Herzliya Conference security forum that these were "floating terror bases" and that one had recently sailed toward the Gulf of Aden. "This follows directly on the maritime terrorism Iran has been imposing on the Persian Gulf and Arabian Sea. It is working to expand its activity to the Indian Ocean, too, and later to the Red Sea and to the Mediterranean Sea as well," Gallant said. There was no immediate response from Iran. The last two years have seen Iran and Israel trade blame over a series of unclaimed attacks on their ships in the Gulf. (Writing by Dan Williams; editing by Mark Heinrich) Israeli soldiers launched an overnight raid on Balata refugee camp near the occupied West Bank city of Nablus Israeli forces killed three Palestinian fighters Monday in a raid on a refugee camp in the occupied West Bank, in what the army described as an operation targeting "terrorist" suspects. In a statement, the Palestinian health ministry identified the three men killed in Balata camp in Nablus as Muhammad Abu Zaytoun, 32, Fathi Abu Rizk, 30, and Abdullah Abu Hamdan, 24. The Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, the armed wing of Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas's Fatah party, said in a statement that the three were among the group's "fighters". The group's emblem was wrapped around the foreheads of the men in a morgue, while their bodies were shrouded in the Palestinian flag. The Israeli army said it had shot several fighters when a gun battle erupted during a "counterterrorism" operation. During the operation, "armed suspects fired at the soldiers, who responded with live fire. Hits were identified," it said. The army added in a statement that it "apprehended three wanted individuals suspected of involvement in terrorist activity", and that weapons and ammunition were seized. Palestinian presidency spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeineh described the killings as a "veritable massacre" and charged that repeated Israeli raids and attacks by settlers constituted a "major war crime and a collective punishment". He said "silence" from the United States had emboldened Israelis to escalate attacks, calling on Washington to "immediately intervene to stop the Israeli madness that will drag the region toward explosion". Israel has occupied the West Bank since the 1967 Six-Day War and its forces regularly launch incursions into Palestinian cities, which are nominally under the control of Abbas's Palestinian Authority. Deadly military operations have surged in recent months across the Palestinian territory. - Escalating violence - Witnesses told AFP that Israeli forces raided several houses in the camp overnight in search of people wanted by the army. Gunfire and loud explosions rocked the camp, the witnesses said, adding that a house was demolished. Israel's army, meanwhile, said it had "located in one of the residences an explosives manufacturing site" and detonated it. Following the raid, Palestinians inspected the rubble of a damaged building and salvaged belongings. The Hamas militant group, which rules the blockaded Gaza Strip, described those killed as "freedom fighters". "Hamas reiterates that resisting the (Israeli) occupation is a legitimate right for the Palestinian people in their quest for freedom," the group said in a statement. Densely-populated Balata is home to some 27,000 people, making it the largest camp in the West Bank, according to the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA). The Israeli army also reported clashes in an operation in Jenin, north of Nablus, where it said suspects hurled explosive devices and fired at the soldiers. The troops "responded with live fire" and in two cases "a hit was identified", the statement said. Israeli forces arrested three suspects in Jenin and seven others in other parts of the West Bank, it added. The latest raids come just over a week into a fragile Gaza ceasefire after a five-day cross-border conflict between Israel and the Islamic Jihad militant group. Since the start of the year, at least 153 Palestinians, 20 Israelis, a Ukrainian and an Italian have been killed in violence linked to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, according to an AFP tally compiled from official sources from both sides. They include, on the Palestinian side, combatants and civilians, and on the Israeli side mostly civilians and three members of the Arab minority. alv/rsc/jsa Wagner Group mercenaries have likely secured the western administrative borders of Bakhmut, but at the cost of depleting their capabilities for future military actions, the Institute for the Study of War said in its latest assessment on May 21. Russian forces will likely need additional reinforcements to hold Bakhmut City and its flanks at the expense of operations in other directions, the think tank said. Ukrainian hold over the city has been reduced to an insignificant part of southwestern Bakhmut around the T0504 highway. In the meantime, Ukraines troops hold the initiative in the citys outskirts and their advances threaten Wagner troops with encirclement. Russia takes Bakhmut: Taking stock of the wars bloodiest battle so far CHASIV YAR, Donetsk Oblast Ten months after Russias assault on the once-flourishing city in Donetsk Oblast began, Bakhmut has now been effectively occupied by Russian troops. This hasnt been confirmed yet by Kyiv, but is evident based on both official statements and those made by soldiers on th Kyiv IndependentFrancis Farrell Attempts by Russian regular forces to regain positions in the outskirts have been unsuccessful, the ISW wrote. In an unspecified location, the Ukrainian military claims to have expanded a salient to 1,750 meters wide by 700 meters deep. Both Yevgeny Prigozhin, the Wagner Group founder, and the Kremlin are attempting to leverage the success in Bakhmut for propaganda purposes. While Prigozhin tries to claim it solely as an achievement of his forces, Russian state propaganda presents it as an opening step toward Sloviansk, Kramatorsk, and Dnipro. Russian military bloggers offer a more sobering look, pointing out the limited significance of the city and warning of the upcoming Ukrainian counteroffensive. Wagners own troops have reportedly been severely depleted by the long fight of attrition and are unlikely to continue any military action in their current state. Russian conventional forces will be even more unlikely to pursue offensive operations if Wagner Group financier Yevgeny Prigozhin delivers on his stated intent to withdraw Wagner personnel from Bakhmut City on May 25, the ISW commented. Ten months after Russia's assault on the once-flourishing city in Donetsk Oblast began, Bakhmut was effectively occupied by Russian troops. This hasnt been confirmed yet by Kyiv, but is evident based on both official statements and those made by soldiers on the ground to the Kyiv Independent. Suspect wanted in South Florida murder who was shot, killed by JSO officers in Clay identified UPDATE, 5/22/23, 8:38 a.m.- JSO identified the suspect as 39-year-old Zonchez Delarfette Prince. Below is a picture of the gun he used in the shooting. ORIGINAL STORY: Jacksonville Sheriffs Office says that a man wanted for murder in Broward County was shot and killed on Friday evening in the parking lot of an Orange Park strip mall. The incident that took place this evening all began about a week ago. Broward County contacted Jacksonville Sheriffs Office to help in a murder investigation. JSO executed a search warrant on a residence and a vehicle that might have been connected to the suspect. Two different pistols were recovered and that information was relayed back to Broward County law enforcement. As of yesterday, Broward officials once again reached out to JSO after an arrest warrant was issued. JSO SWAT began tracking the suspect. It was on Friday evening that SWAT located the suspect in a parking lot at the 1100 Block of Park Ave. Upon making contact with the suspect, SWAT performed a tactical Blocking Technique where the suspects vehicle was pinned in, preventing escape. At this point, the suspect said, Im not getting out. Youre going to have to shoot me, kill me, a JSO spokesperson said the suspect told officers. As officers continued to tell the suspect to exit the vehicle, the suspect pointed a handgun in their direction. JSO officers fired at the suspect with their weapons. The suspect was pulled out of the sedan and given first aid but he did not survive. During a round of questions, Sheriff T.K. Waters interrupted reporters. An officer is not required to let someone shoot at them before they use deadly force, Waters said. That has never been ok and its not ok in this situation. This was the second officer-involved shooting for the two JSO officers involved in this incident. This shooting also marks the 7th total officer-involved shooting for JSO in 2023. STAY UPDATED: Download the Action News Jax app for live updates on breaking stories A Japanese artist turns unsold croissants into $88 lamps to shed light on food wastage, but the fine print warns that 'rat damage may also occur' Yukiko Morita turns unsold bread into lamps. Yukiko Morita,Yoshikazu Tsuno/Getty Images Kobe-based Japanese artist Yukiko Morita turns real bread into lamps to shed light on food wastage. Morita buys unsold croissants, baguettes, and rolls from bakeries. She told Insider that "croissant bags and baguette hats would be wonderful" in addition to lamps. A Japanese artist has mastered the art of turning real bread into lamps. And no, you can't eat them. Using a wide range of bread including croissants and baguettes, these bread lamps called "Pampshades" cost anywhere from $44 to $220 each. Combining the word "pan" which means bread in Japanese and "lampshades," Yukiko Morita's Pampshades are designed to shed light on not only the area where they are placed, but the serious issue of food wastage. Morita buys unsold bread from affiliated bakeries and turns them into various products, using every last bit of the bread she works with. Morita's Pampshades come in various bread forms. Yukiko Morita Online Shop Based in Kobe, the city known for bread in Japan, the artist was inspired by her experience working part-time at a bakery as a student, where she would take home unsold bread to eat or decorate her room with, per her website. "This modest attempt at daily resistance changed when one evening I saw the light from the western sun illuminating a piece of bread whose white contents I had hollowed out and eaten. For a brief, inexpressible moment, it glowed beautifully within the darkened room," Morita wrote poetically on her website. Morita started working on her idea two years after her graduation from the Kyoto City University of Arts in 2008, and only officially launched Pampshade as a brand in 2016, per Creative Boom. "The bread isn't edible anymore but it has a living appeal I can use," Morita told NHK World-Japan in an interview, "If I don't make it shine, who will?" In one of her YouTube videos where she documents her bread lamp-making process, Morita can be seen hollowing out a baguette while sneaking a bite here and there, and checking for the translucence of the bread shell against natural light. The Pampshades may look delicious, but Morita warns in the FAQ page that they are not edible, and that "some insect and rat damage may also occur" if the anti-bacterial and anti-fungal coating gets damaged. Her current Pampshade menu also includes batards and toasts, but the artist told Insider that she would like to try using caneles, pretzels, and bagels in the future. In addition to lamps, Morita makes clocks out of naan, as well as rusk snacks made with the leftover insides from Pampshades. "My concept is to pursue the artistic appeal of bread that goes beyond just eating it," she told Insider. "For this reason, I would like to work on a variety of works other than lamps and clocks. I think croissant bags and baguette hats would be wonderful," said Morita. Read the original article on Insider Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio) on Monday endorsed Ohio Republican Senate candidate Bernie Moreno in the states primary, marking a significant early endorsement in the intraparty battle to take on Ohios Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown in 2024. Thrilled to endorse Bernie Moreno for senate. Hes a good friend, a job creator, and will be a fantastic senator. Wed make a hell of a team! Vance said in a tweet. Moreno, a Cleveland businessman, said in a separate tweet he was honored to have Vances backing. Together we will work hard every day to fight for Ohio families and always put America first, Moreno said. The news comes after former President Trump, who is an ally of Vance, encouraged Moreno last month to jump into the primary in hopes of challenging Brown. Word is that Bernie Moreno, the highly respected businessman from the GREAT STATE of OHIO, and the father-in-law of fantastic young Congressman, Max Miller, is thinking of running for the Senate, Trump said in a Truth Social post. He would not be easy to beat, especially against Brown, one of the worst in the Senate! Moreno announced in April he was running for Senate. He ran for Senate last year, in the race to fill former Sen. Rob Portmans (R-Ohio) seat. However, he ended up dropping out of the crowded primary. He joins Ohio state Sen. Matt Dolan (R), who also comes from the Cleveland area. Both men are wealthy and bring considerable financial advantages to the campaign. But whoever advances to the general election will face a formidable opponent in Brown, who will have the backing of the national Democratic campaign apparatus and is considered a political institution in Ohio. The Ohio Democratic Party released a statement responding to Vances endorsement on Monday. The politicians vying for Ohios Senate seat have wasted no time attacking one another and the infighting will only get worse from here as candidates are forced to duke it out over new endorsements, said Ohio Democratic spokesperson Reeves Oyster. With months of mud-slinging ahead, its clear that whoever emerges from this primary will be bruised, battered, and out of step with Ohioans values. The National Republican Senatorial Campaign (NRSC) Committee has made clear Brown is one of their top targets. The nonpartisan Cook Political Report rates the race as a toss-up. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. Lauren Sanchez, left, and Jeff Bezos arrive at the Vanity Fair Oscar Party on March 12, 2023, in Beverly Hills. Lauren Sanchez, left, and Jeff Bezos arrive at the Vanity Fair Oscar Party on March 12, 2023, in Beverly Hills. Billionaire Amazon Chair Jeff Bezos and media personality Lauren Sanchez are now poised to tie the knot, People and Page Six reported Monday. The couple have publicly been dating since 2019. Hours after the news hit that Bezos, the founder and onetime CEO of Amazon, was splitting from his now ex-wifeMacKenzie Scott, a tabloid report also revealed that Bezos and Sanchez were dating. Sanchez was then in the process of divorcing her now ex-husband Patrick Whitesell, the executive chairman of William Morris Endeavor. Sanchez, 53, has three children, and Bezos, 59, has four. Shes compared their blended family to the Brady Bunch. Sanchez, who came to prominence as a television host, is also a pilot, the founder of an aerial filming company and has a childrens book coming out this year. Bezos has an estimated net worth of $114 billion and is the worlds third richest man, according to Forbes. He founded Amazon in 1994 and is the owner of The Washington Post and aerospace firm Blue Origin. He vowed to give away a large portion of his wealth to charity within his lifetime, CNN reported in 2022. Neither Amazon nor a representative for Sanchez immediately returned HuffPosts request for comment. Related... Brian Snyder/Reuters Jeff Bezos and girlfriend Lauren Sanchez are reportedly getting marriedand her estranged brother is steaming mad about it. Michael Sanchez spun an outlandish conspiracy theory on Monday, telling The Daily Beast in a phone interview that he believes the couple is getting engaged to distract from his legal battle with them. It kind of stinks to the high heavens, he said. Michael Sanchez used to be thisclose with Lauren, an Emmy-winning broadcast journalist. But that ended after the publisher of the National Enquirer, American Media, revealed he sold them his sisters texts and photos for $200,000. Michael Sanchez, a talent agent, has since been embroiled in litigation with American Media, Bezos, and his sisterclaiming he was defamed. I truly believe that this is just their way of distracting from the legal developments, he said on Monday. Several news outlets, including People, TMZ, and Page Six, quoted sources saying the Amazon co-founder and his girlfriend have gotten engaged. The couple, who are at the Cannes Film Festival in the South of France, have been dating since 2018. Bezos and Mackenzie Scott finalized their divorce in 2019, and Sanchez and her ex, Hollywood executive Patrick Whitesell, called it quits the same year. Bezos, 59, the third-richest man in the world, and Sanchez, 53, have been basking in the sun and the spotlight this month on his 417-foot megayacht, which is adorned with a figure that distinctly resembles her. Before the south of France, they were spotted on the yacht in Mallorca, Spain, and at a Carbone-sponsored beach party ahead of the Miami Grand Prix. Sanchez sparked rumors of an engagement when she started wearing a heart-shaped diamond ring in 2019, but no proposal was confirmed at the time. On a typical Saturday, we hang out, we have dinner with the kids, which is always fun because you never know where the conversation is going to go with this many kids, Sanchez told The Wall Street Journal in January. We are the Brady Bunch! Sanchez has two children with Whitesell, who has since remarried. Bezos has four with Scott, who married a Seattle high school teacher named Dan Jewett in 2021, but divorced him earlier this year. Scott has donated more than $14 billion of the money she got in the first divorce since the two split. No wedding plans for Bezos and Sanchez have been released. But its safe to say Michael Sanchez wont be getting an invitation. This is the kind of sloppy pr stunt she would come up with, he fumed. Read more at The Daily Beast. Get the Daily Beast's biggest scoops and scandals delivered right to your inbox. Sign up now. Stay informed and gain unlimited access to the Daily Beast's unmatched reporting. Subscribe now. Jeffrey Epstein had tried to blackmail Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates after discovering the billionaire had an affair with a Russian bridge player years earlier, according to a Wall Street Journal report on the notorious sex trafficker. Gates allegedly met the woman around 2010, when she was in her 20s. Epstein, a disgraced financier, met the bridge player in 2013 and reportedly paid for her to attend classes for software coding. Epstein emailed Gates in 2017 asking to be reimbursed for the courses cost, people familiar with the matter told the Journal, which published its report on Sunday. Epstein allegedly sent the email after he attempted, unsuccessfully, to convince Gates to participate in a multibillion dollar charity fund he tried to start at JPMorgan Chase. According to the Journals report, the purpose behind Epsteins email was to convey that he could reveal Gates affair if the billionaire didnt maintain an association with the convicted sex offender. A representative for Gates did not immediately respond to HuffPosts request for comment, however a spokesperson confirmed to the Journal that Epstein tried unsuccessfully to leverage a past relationship to threaten Mr. Gates. Gates began meeting with Epstein in 2011, when the financier was already convicted of sex crimes and had to register as a sex offender, The New York Times reported in 2019. Gates previously said that the purpose of meeting with Epstein was to raise money for global health, in line with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundations goal of improving health care access worldwide. In January, Gates said he regrets maintaining a relationship with Epstein despite ex-wife Melinda French Gates saying she felt uncomfortable with the meetings. Youre going way back in time, Bill Gates told Australias ABC 7.30 show. I will say for the over 100th time, yeah, I shouldnt have had dinners with him. Mila Antonova, the bridge player, told the Journal that she did not know about Epsteins disgraced reputation when Gates confidant Boris Nikolic introduced her to him. Antonova tried unsuccessfully to have Epstein help fund her business idea to teach people how to play bridge online, but the financier did help pay for her to attend a programming boot camp. Epstein agreed to pay and he paid directly to the school, she told the outlet. Nothing was exchanged. I dont know why he did that. When I asked, he said something like, he was wealthy and wanted to help people when he could. Epstein was accused in 2006 of sexually abusing young girls, and was convicted two years later of soliciting and procuring a minor for prostitution. The disgraced financier registered as a sex offender and spent time in jail in Florida. Epstein was arrested again in 2019 on sex trafficking charges after a bombshell Miami Herald report revealed dozens more women who detailed abuse. He was found dead in his New York jail cell later that year while awaiting trial. The New York medical examiners office concluded that he died by suicide. Related... US president Joe Biden is due to resume talks today (May 22) with Kevin McCarthy, the Republican speaker of the House of Representatives, over raising the debt ceiling, an arbitrary limit on issuing new debt. A deal must be struck before the debt breaks the current ceiling of $31.4 trillion, a size its estimated to reach by June 1 at the earliest. Without an agreement, House Republicans are prepared to let the US default, which could crater the domestic economy and hurt Americas credit rating for years to come. In exchange for raising the debt limit, Republicans want budgetary cuts and tougher work requirements on federal aid programs. While a deal would be the most politically palatable option, its not clear that Biden needs Republicans to solve this problem. The US Constitution may allow him to act unilaterally. Read more The 14th amendment simply reads, The validity of the public debt of the United Statesshall not be questioned. In other words, since the US needs to be good for its debts, Biden could ignore the debt ceiling, keep borrowing, and test the ceilings constitutionality in court. Earlier this month, Harvard constitutional law professor Laurence Tribewho once opposed the 14th amendment option, saying that there was no logical stopping point for entrusting the president to avoid defaultwrote in the New York Times that he changed his mind on the debt ceiling and now thinks its imperative for Biden to act. The question isnt whether the president can tear up the debt limit The question isnt whether the president can in effect become a one-person Supreme Court, striking down laws passed by Congress, Tribe wrote. The right question is whether Congressafter passing the spending bills that created these debts in the first placecan invoke an arbitrary dollar limit to force the president and his administration to do its bidding. The answer to that question, Tribe wrote, is no. Critics call the 14th amendment route an illegal, foolish idea There are plenty of critics of the 14th amendment route. Senate minority Leader Mitch McConnell called it an illegal, foolish idea. Neil Bradley, the chief policy officer of the US Chamber of Commerce, a powerful business lobby, wrote that attempting to invoke so-called powers under the 14th amendment would be as economically calamitous as a default by a failure to lift the debt limit in a timely manner. The Constitution granted Congress, not the president, the power to borrow money, he added. What Biden thinks about the 14th amendment Biden has publicly mused about the 14th amendment. I think we have the authority, he said recently. The question is could it be done and invoked in time. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has called the move legally questionable and warned of a constitutional crisis. During the last debt crisis in 2011, former president Bill Clinton urged then-president Barack Obama to invoke the 14th amendment, but Obama said his lawyers were not persuaded that this is a winning argument. An inevitable court battle Thats all to say its a sure thing that unilateral action from Biden would trigger a court battle over these constitutional questions. And while the Supreme Court is currently controlled 6-to-3 by the political right, weighing in favor of Republicans would put the Court in a tough position. Cornell University law professor Michael Dorf told Politico the justices wont want to be in the position to tank the global economy. But as Biden said, he doesnt exactly have time. 10 days isnt enough time to win a court battle. When June 1 approaches, he may just have to keep borrowing in violation of the debt limitand let the lawsuits start flying. More from Quartz Sign up for Quartz's Newsletter. For the latest news, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Click here to read the full article. How do you teach millions of people family planning? By getting them to say the word condom again and again till it shatters any form of shame or stigma around its use. Risque as it might sound, that is exactly what advertisement writer Anand Suspi did 18 years ago when his team at Lowe Lintas designed the Condom Bindass Bol (Say Condom Freely) campaign in India. Launched in 2006, the public awareness campaign made in collaboration with the Indian government was created to overturn a decline in the sales and use of condom in eight states in northern India which together comprised nearly half of the country's condom market at the time. The campaign featured comical scenarios where a shy man - ranging from a sheepish cop getting some downtime at a dingy police station, to a grubby lawyer surrounded by men outside court - is encouraged by his peers to say condom, loudly and clearly, in public. "Bol, bindass bol (Just say it and say it freely)," one of the them would urge him till he finally blurted out the word. The advert - which went viral and even won a UN award - was among a series of campaigns on family planning in India which have used witty slogans and messages to emphasise problems of rapid population growth and promote healthy sex practices. The slogans first emerged sometime in the 1950s, when India opened a new department devoted to family planning - the first in the world - and aggressively began promoting the use of contraception and methods like sterilisation to bring down its burgeoning population. The Bindass Bol campaign was created to normalise conversations around the use of condoms Catchy one-liners such as Hum Do Humare Do (We are Two, will have Two Children) and Chota Parivar, Sukhi Parivaar (Small Family is Happy Family) urging people to have fewer children were broadcast widely through TV and radio programmes, posters, and every other medium possible. Sometimes, even elephants were used to spread the message in the remote pockets of the country. The campaigns - which continue to this date - have become synonymous with the definition of family planning in India. Experts say they have also helped create a new vocabulary for sensitive topics like contraception and birth control, which are still considered taboo in vast swathes of the country. "Men everywhere crack the foulest jokes and find it funny but the minute you utter the word condom they get embarrassed," says Mr Suspi. Studies have also found that Indian men identify shyness as the reason they are unwilling to speak about safe sex practices in their relationships. Sashwati Banerjee, a public health expert who also worked on the campaign, says the idea behind Bindass Bol was simple: to get men to ask for a condom without hesitation. Because condom, she says, is not delicate word - a bad word - that needs to be wrapped in innuendos and said in hushed tones. Condoms are used by everyone, should be used by everyone. To execute this, the team partnered with over 40,000 condom marketers and chemists to enhance retail visibility of the contraceptive, so that men would generally become more comfortable about using it. "But what eventually worked was some good old humour - you first have a good laugh and then the message seeps in," Mr Suspi says. An elephant bearing the red triangle symbol to publicise birth control and family planning enters an Indian village While the government and private organisations spent much time and money on the ad campaigns, not all of them were successful - and some even generated backlash. Critics say that a lot of the programmes were also ineffective because they focussed almost entirely on women and continued to keep men on the margins. "Back in the day, women had no agency when it came to the choice of contraceptive, if at all it had to be used," says Radharani Mitra, the National Creative Director and Executive Producer of BBC Media Action. So women ended up bearing the entire burden of contraception, but men - who actually control decision-making in most homes - remained clueless and resistant to family planning practices. It's a trend that continues - between 2019 and 2021, nearly 38% of women surveyed nationwide for the fifth National Family Health Survey (NFHS) had undergone sterilisation, compared to just 0.3% of men who had undergone a vasectomy. Anand Sinha, a public health expert, says that "slogans cannot replace traditional counselling and the larger need for overall social development". But they did help in changing social norms and creating a positive momentum, he adds. Critics say a lot of family planning campaigns in India focus only on women During the 1975 Emergency - when civil liberties were suspended - India's family planning campaign suffered a setback. During this time, the government forced millions of women, men and even children to undergo sterilisation. "The measures gave the campaign a bad name and suddenly, people were scared of the very idea of contraception," Mr Sinha says. For many years after that, the biggest challenge was to reimagine family planning and give it a "more acceptable, a warmer and a friendly face". Around this time, private sector firms selling condoms began looking for more creative ways to sell contraceptives to young couples. As a result, campaigns became sexier and more relatable. A renewed and bigger marketing of contraceptive methods began from the late 1980s, when HIV/Aids became a huge threat in the West, sparking fears of its spread in a densely-packed country like India, says Ms Mitra "The topic of sex was brought out more into the open and social campaigns on condoms became common." The most memorable of these was the condom ringtone in 2008, which was part of a 360-degree "condom normalisation" campaign. The campaign, led by BBC Media Action and funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, was part of the larger programme on safer sex for HIV prevention in India. It used a mobile ringtone in which the word "condom" was repeated over and over in rich, neatly stacked harmonies, giving it the feel of a catchy a cappella arrangement. The campaign also featured a funny video which showed an Indian man who is mortified when his phone begins to buzz with the condom ringtone at a wedding ceremony. The actor who featured in the condom ringtone ad became a household face in India Ms Mitra says the ringtone went viral and had nearly 480,000 requests for download, getting played by NPR in the US and across the world from Japan to Indonesia, from South America and even Europe. "It made the headlines all over the world, won awards everywhere, but it had real impact, which is what's most important." Ms Banerjee says that behaviour change is like a big jigsaw puzzle: "You kind of pull all the pieces together, and then a picture forms," she says. "And sometimes, just sparking a conversation can help change attitudes." BBC News India is now on YouTube. Click here to subscribe and watch our documentaries, explainers and features. [Source] Australian-based journalist Louisa Lim was racially harassed at a Chinese restaurant while visiting Auckland, New Zealand, to speak about anti-Asian racism at an event. Lim, who is half-Chinese, was invited to speak at the Auckland Writers Festival, where she joined the panel Seeing Yellow to discuss the yellow peril narrative and the rise of racism against Asians since the COVID-19 pandemic. A day before the event, Lim visited a Chinese noodle shop near Aotea Square, where she encountered two men speaking offensively. It must have been 7:30 p.m., and I was just eating noodles, and these two guys came in and they were quite loud, Lim told the Herald. And one of them said really loudly, A good Asian is a contradiction in terms. More from NextShark: Salon owner in Thailand accused of killing couple in front of their child over haircut is released on bail When Lim confronted them, they reportedly discounted the comment as a joke and was questioned why she was offended. And at a certain point, I said to him, I hear that youre not apologizing to me, and I hear that you understand that it was racist and youre not sorry, Lim said, to which the men told her to f*ck off. A woman separate from the incident then chimed in and asked Lim where she was from. When the journalist replied, the woman said, F*ck off, go back to Australia. More from NextShark: TWICE returns with new album Ready To Be and 'Set Me Free' music video In that moment, I was like five years old, in the playground in London, hearing kids shouting at me Chinese, Japanese, dirty knees, Lim said, according to Stuff. That's when you realize that there are spaces that you didn't know that were not yours to enter. And they're everywhere, even in Chinese restaurants. Lim, who spoke about the incident at the panel, also shared the incident on Instagram and Twitter. Backstage before our Seeing Yellow panel, Lim wrote along with a photo of her and her co-panelists. Sadly fitting to do it the day after I was racially harassed in Auckland More from NextShark: Father who was beaten and left for dead near Chicago Chinatown wakes up from coma https://www.instagram.com/p/CsfZgYWS4S4/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igshid=MmJiY2I4NDBkZg== Race Relations Commissioner Meng Foon, who was also a guest speaker at the writers festival, said he admired Lims bravery for confronting the racist men. Its unfortunate no one stood with her. It was a surprise to us, especially since this happened in a Chinese restaurant, Foon said, according to the Herald. I dont condone this awful racist behavior - it says we still have a lot to do. More from NextShark: NJ Man Sentenced to 4 Years for Targeting Asian Woman, Children for Robbery Lim is a former correspondent for the BBC and NPR. Her work has also been published in The New York Times, The Washington Post and The Guardian. JSO says Grand Park shooting sends one woman to the hospital, police searching for suspect JSO says Grand Park shooting sends one woman to the hospital, police searching for suspect At around 3:30 p.m. on Sunday, officers with the Jacksonville Sheriffs Office responded to calls of a person shot near the area of 3600 Effee St. >>> STREAM ACTION NEWS JAX LIVE <<< Officers located an adult woman who was shot in the arm. She was transported to a local hospital and has been listed with non-life-threatening injuries. So far, an investigation into the incident has revealed the victim was outside with several other people when a suspect in a white vehicle fired multiple rounds. The vehicle then fled the area. JSO said that they do not know if this shooting is in any way connected with a shooting last week at Effee Street. Related Story: JSO investigates shooting in Grand Park neighborhood, leaving 1 dead, 2 hospitalized Anyone with information regarding this incident is asked to call JSO at 904-630-0500. You can also contact Crimestoppers if you would like to remain anonymous at 1-866-845-TIPS. Click here to download the free Action News Jax news and weather apps, click here to download the Action News Jax Now app for your smart TV and click here to stream Action News Jax live. Jude Law wore a horrifying concoction of scents, a pungent blend of blood, fecal matter and sweat, to play Henry VIII in Firebrand, a historical thriller about the final days of the king and his sixth and last wife Katherine Parr. I read several interesting accounts that you could smell Henry three rooms away. His leg was rotting so badly. He hid it with rose oil, Law said at Mondays Cannes Film Festival press conference for Firebrand, which debuted at the Palais a day prior. I thought it would have a great impact if I smelt awful. More from Variety So, he found a perfume specialist to create a custom, revolting blend of smells to capture the odor of the king, who suffered from swollen ankles and leg ulcers in his final years. She makes wonderful scents, and she also makes awful scents. She somehow came up with this extraordinary variety of blood, fecal matter and sweat. Initially, he said, I used it very subtly and thought Id use it myself. But he then went rogue. It became a spray-fest. The films director Karim Ainouz shook his head as he remembered the stinky brew, which permeated the entire production. When Jude walked in on set, he said, it was just horrible. Firebrand was greeted at Cannes with an eight-minute standing ovation, which was cut short because Alicia Vikander, who plays Katherine Parr, was motioning for the audience to stop so she wouldnt cry. Adapted from the 2013 novel Queens Gambit, the film takes place in blood-soaked Tudor England as Parr outmaneuvers her husband to survive his tumultuous final days on the throne. Despite embodying a monarch for the film, Law says hes uninterested in the happenings of the aristocracy. Earlier in the press conference, the actor burst out laughing when he was asked by a journalist to share his thoughts on the British Royal family. I kind of see it like theater, although Im slightly more obsessed by theater, Law said. But Im not one for gossip. I dont really enjoy it. I find no interest in it, and I dont really enjoy following tittle tattle stories. But he is fascinated with the way the past can inform the current times. There was something remarkable about looking at the photos of this medieval ceremony and how it applied to today made me feel very modern, Law continued, alluding to the recent coronation of Charles III and Camilla. Vikander is equally indifferent about the Swedish monarchy. I agree with Jude on most things that he said. But yeah, I dont follow it really myself. Though he played a cruel and mad character, Law remembers that he and Vikander kept it light on set. It sounds really twisted because of course we did awful things to each other, he said. But my memory is that we were laughing a lot. Best of Variety Sign up for Varietys Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Click here to read the full article. A judge is expected to rule soon on a trio of lawsuits filed by former Alachua County Sheriffs Office employees against Sheriff Clovis Watson Jr. after a hearing on Monday. Attorney Bobi Frank spoke on behalf of the three employees at the hearing, saying Watson repeatedly violated state law by denying her clients' rights to due process while on the brink of suspension or termination. A fourth separate case, in federal court, also claims he has discriminated against employees based on their skin color. That lawsuit is still pending. I am hoping that justice will prevail, Frank said. I have full confidence. Sheriff Clovis Watson Jr. speaks to county commissioners on April 6, 2023, to discuss the possibility of providing free phone calls for inmates. More: Former sheriffs critical of Sheriff Clovis Watson Jr.'s handling of employee's send-off party More: 3 ACSO officers file lawsuits against Sheriff Watson. Judge orders answers Watson was absent from the hearing which lasted less than two hours and drew a crowd of around 30 people. Attorney Wayne Evans represented the sheriff, along with general counsel Jacob Rush. Overall, Frank argued there was a severe lack of due process in the discipline of these three employees that has caused irreparable harm to their lives. Alleged misconduct varies by case and includes not properly reviewing complaints and not allowing employees to defend themselves during the investigation process. Much of the discussion centered around the Florida Bill of Rights and the section Frank called the officers bill of rights. Frank argued that Watson violated the process outlined in the law, including a portion that says law enforcement agencies shall create their own methods for reviewing complaints and then follow that method. Evans, however, argues that any potential violations during the termination or disciplinary process were internal policy violations rather than statutory ones, and therefore not a violation of the employees rights. Theres nothing in the bill of rights that says every complaint must be investigated, he said. There is in fact a significant distinction between rights and policies. The complaints In one case, Capt. Rebecca Butscher argues that she was recommended for termination following a disagreement with a former deputy who was recently promoted above her to major. Butscher was reprimanded for being "insubordinate" based on her body language and tone, the court filing states. The determination was at the sole discretion of Maj. Lance Yaeger, who had the initial disagreement with her. The lawsuit states that Yaeger and Watson violated the officers' bill of rights multiple times by continuously not allowing Butscher to defend herself from the accusations. She was ultimately suspended and given a year of probation within the agency. The second case involves Sgt. William Frank Williams, who made a social media post expressing his concern for staffing levels and Watsons continued reorganization efforts of the department. Watson, who has about 300 employees, has moved around, changed the title or demoted nearly 200 workers since taking office, records show. Some of those reassignments include longtime decorated officers being placed on night-shift duty, removed from their longtime roles or transferred to other departments where they have no prior experience. Significant jumps in rank have also become common practice under Watsons leadership, as lower-ranked officials have seemingly skipped more experienced officers within the agency by bypassing the competitive and testing processes. Despite the vast changes, data suggests that staffing woes within the agency and crime have only increased. In February, the sheriffs office had more than 100 vacant positions, including shortages at the jail and on patrol. Data also shows Alachua County had one of the highest crime rates per capita in the state last year. Crime had also increased from the year prior. Im just exhausted from constantly being disappointed by this administration," Williams wrote on Facebook. "Im done suppressing my feelings and my own mental health just to avoid retaliation. Quite literally, this is no different than a domestic violence relationship. Ill probably find myself transferred or disciplined in some fashion because of this, but I dont give a f---. Im tired of my friends, nah family, being treated poorly. Williams was suspended soon after his post. An internal investigation report found that the sergeant violated the department's social media policy, was insubordinate and disrespectful to his chain of command. Fellow officers, however, gave Williams glowing reviews and said he was one of the best leaders they had worked with on the force and painted him as a passionate member of the team who cares for the well-being of his fellow officers.The report shows that Williams met with investigators and said he needed a chance to review all the information before moving forward. The administration, however, ordered the investigation to play out without ever interviewing Williams, the report states. On March 7, Watson wrote that Williams had "outrageous criticism behavior" that warranted termination. Williams's lawsuit states that he wasn't awarded due process and was not given a chance to defend himself from the allegations. Third lawsuit and federal case Sgt. Kevin Davis, who filed suit against Watson on Monday, was also suspended for his social media use and likewise argues his due process was skipped over. But Davis, a white male with 23 years of experience, has taken his issues further by filing a discrimination lawsuit against Watson where he accuses the countys first Black sheriff of letting race play a pivotal role in his employment decisions. He, as well as other ACSO employees who spoke with The Sun, said Watson requires an image of applicants prior to making decisions on hires, promotions and transfers. He argues that more qualified and higher-ranked employees are regularly skipped over for promotions based on the color of their skin. Davis argues in the federal lawsuit that he was not promoted for being white and that his civil rights were violated. The growing frustrations among Watson's staff and the lack of answers didn't stockpile overnight. In November, The Sun reported that Watson suspended another employee who asked county commissioners for clarification after learning the sheriff opted not to give all agency workers raises, despite being given funds to do so. He claimed the employee shared false information about him, though he provided no specifics. The employee, who was facing termination, also hired Frank as her attorney and ultimately kept her job. The former jail director, who campaigned for Watson in 2020, also left the agency after expressing frustration with constant restructuring and low staffing levels. Correction: The attorney representing Sheriff Clovis Watson at the hearing was Wayne Evans, though Jacob Rush is also part of the sheriff's legal team. This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: Sheriff Clovis Watson defends case against employees in court K-9 killed after biting deputy and refusing to let go, SC sheriffs office says A K-9 trained to work with deputies was killed after it bit an off-duty deputy and refused to let go, according to the Greenville County Sheriffs Office in Upstate South Carolina. The attack happened late Sunday, May 21, and the deputy was hospitalized, according to a news release. It took place during a non-training activity at the off-duty deputys home in Pickens County, the sheriffs office said. The deputy, an experienced K-9 handler, was unexpectedly bit by the two-1/2-year-old male (Belgian) Malinois, and the dog failed to release despite repeated verbal commands and multiple attempts by witnesses to pull the dog off. A relative of the deputy rushed out and discharged their own firearm at the dog to save the deputy, according to the sheriffs office. The dog died from the gunshot wound, officials said. The deputy was taken to a hospital and is expected to recover after some time, officials said. Details of the injuries were not released. Investigators say the dog was in the deputys care, but the two were not partners in the K-9 unit. The injured handler was caring for the K-9, whose primary handler was away at training, as is standard practice, officials said. The incident is being investigated by the Professional Standards division of the sheriffs office. Belgian Malinois resemble German shepherds. They are known for being strong and well-muscled and developing an unbreakable bond with human partners, according to the American Kennel Club. Annoyed cows lead cops to fugitive hiding in their pasture, North Carolina town says Lost boy and his dog found wandering road in Louisiana. The dog led cops to his home 911 call about fight ends with Florida cop separating 2 brawling goats, sheriff says Kazakhstan has not agreed to the appointment of Serhii Haidai, the former head of the Luhansk Oblast Military Administration, as ambassador to the country, preferring to see a professional diplomat in the post. Source: Dzerkalo Tyzhnia (Mirror of the Week), with reference to sources Details: The publication's sources say Kazakhstan has refused to grant Haidai an agrement (an agreement to accept a person as the head of a diplomatic mission ed.). The Kazakh side "gently but firmly" made it clear that it would like to see a professional diplomat as Ukraines ambassador to Kazakhstan. Background: In March, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed a decree releasing Serhii Haidai from his post as head of the Luhansk Oblast Administration. Ukrainska Pravda sources reported at the time that he could become Ukraines ambassador to Kazakhstan. Background: Petro Vrublevskyi, the previous Ukrainian ambassador to Kazakhstan, is a professional diplomat. He was dismissed in October 2022 after making an outrageous statement about the need to "kill as many Russians as possible", which angered the Kazakh side. In particular, in one interview he said: "We are trying to kill as many of them as possible. The more Russians we kill now, the fewer our children will have to kill." Journalists fight on their own frontline. Support Ukrainska Pravda or become our patron! Kenan Thompson in Santa Monica in 2022. (Chris Pizzello / Invision / Associated Press) Kenan Thompson surprised Newport, R.I., police officers over the weekend with coffee and donuts during the filming of "Good Burger 2." The "Saturday Night Live" star showed up with Newport Mayor Xay Khamsyvoravong and the sweet and caffeinated treats during the morning shift change on Saturday. "Yes we really do love coffee and donuts," the Newport Police Department wrote on its Instagram, captioning a photo of Thompson and Khamsyvoravong posing with officers, adding that the "All That" actor "was nice enough to stop and hang out with some of the guys and girls from NPD." Thompson has played police officers on "SNL," including in a skit where he shared Christmas beers alongside Alec Baldwin and Matt Damon in 2018, cracking lewd jokes at one another. In January, Thompson played an FBI agent in a cold open where he asked castmate Mikey Day's Atty. Gen. Merrick Garland if "we gonna head down to Memphis and make sure justice is served down there too," a reference to 29-year-old Tyre Nichols who was killed in what authorities have called a brutal attack by five Memphis police officers. In recent days, the long-awaited "Good Burger" sequel has set up the Paramount production in the coastal city of about 20,000. Film crews have transformed one of Newport's defunct burger joints into a Good Burger restaurant, painting it blue and slapping on the iconic logo, according to the Providence Journal. The set includes a renovated interior with a full menu that includes "good meal deals." The film's stars, Thompson and Kel Mitchell, were also seen last week greeting fans and signing autographs near the set, according to the Boston Globe. More than 25 years since the release of the original "Good Burger" film in 1997, Thompson and Mitchell announced the sequel in March on "The Tonight Show" with Jimmy Fallon. The comedic duo had been teasing a return, including a bit at the 2022 Emmy awards and a "Good Burger" parody skit on SNL in December. Good Burger was a spinoff of the 1990s Nickelodeon show "All That" where Thompson and Mitchell met as teenagers. The sequel will begin with a reunion between the two characters. As Dexters career as an inventor fails, he returns to the Good Burger restaurant where Ed welcomes him back, according to a press release. While Dexter makes a plan to recover from his failures, it inadvertently threatens the fate of the restaurant. Thompson had promised he would ask some of the original film's other iconic characters, including former All That co-stars Danny Tamberelli and Lori Beth Denberg, to make cameo appearances. That includes comedian Sinbad, who would reprise his role as the short-tempered schoolteacher Mr. Wheat. Sinbad was hospitalized in 2020 after a blood clot caused a stroke, leaving him in a coma. Sinbad has regained consciousness and has been recovering and learning how to walk again. Former "SNL" cast member Pete Davidson was also spotted at the Rhode Island set last week. The film does not have a release date, but it will stream on Paramount+ when it comes out. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times. Kentucky-raised pilot John Shoffner will fulfill a lifelong dream this week as he serves as pilot for Axiom Spaces Ax-2 mission, which launched Sunday. Shoffner attended Middlesboro public schools as a child and became a pilot at 17 years old. While he currently lives in Knoxville, Tenn., he grew up in the Bluegrass State and graduated from Middlesboro High School. The space race was the biggest thing going on when I was growing up. I grew up in the early 60s at the very beginning of the space race, and it was every 8-year-olds dream to go to space. I fell in love, Shoffner wrote in an email to the Herald-Leader. One of Shoffners main goals for the mission is to develop educational videos for schools. Peggy Whitson, Americas most experienced astronaut, is commanding the mission. Whitson broke records as a NASA astronaut before moving to Axiom Space. Working with a crew thats dynamic and serving under a fabulous commander, Dr. Peggy Whitson its a dream of a lifetime to have that opportunity to fly with one of Americas most famous astronauts. This is the beginning of private and commercial space exploration and Im proud to be a part of it, Shoffner said. Whitson and Shoffner are traveling with mission specialists Ali Alqarni and Rayyanah Barnawi in SpaceXs Dragon spacecraft to work and live on the International Space Station to implement a full manifest of science, outreach, and commercial activities, according to the Axiom Space website. Its what I believe I was supposed to do, Shoffner told the Herald-Leader. Shoffner, Barnawi and Alqarni are paying customers on the Axiom Space flight, which is the second private astronaut trip to the International Space Station in history, Space.com reported. Axiom wont say how much Shoffner and Saudi Arabia are paying for the planned 10-day mission. The company had previously cited a ticket price of $55 million each, the Associated Press reported. Barnawi is Saudi Arabias first woman to visit space. Shoffner outlines mission goals Shoffners main goal for the 10-day mission is to create science, technology, engineering, art and math education videos, including demonstrations on the International Space Station. The content is slated to be available to classrooms this fall. It reminds me of when I was a student and the excitement that I wouldve had if someone came to our school as an astronaut to present and talk to us about their experience in space, Shoffner said. If I had that as a young person, it would have been truly exciting. It feels great to share that with young people today. The team will conduct more than 20 experiments throughout the mission, focusing on life sciences, bioengineering and other topics, Whitson said in a May 16 press conference. Shoffner plans to engage with students in two events while aboard the International Space Station. Student outreach will be an important component of the mission, as well. Shoffner and Whitson conducted a live video chat with students from Middlesboro Middle School and high school in March, and Shoffner will participate in two more engagements while in space. One event will take place through a 10-minute amateur radio conversation between students and the astronauts, and another will be a live interactive video where students will get a peek into the International Space Station while taking part in an interactive demonstration. Shoffner told the Herald-Leader his interactions with Kentucky students give the mission purpose. Stay interested, Shoffner encouraged students. Theres a lot going on today in space, and you can develop so many careers and interests within the space industry. From doctors, lawyers, scientists, researchers, technicians, pilots, scuba divers and more there is a place for you in the space industry. Do you have a question about Kentucky for our service journalism team? Wed like to hear from you. Fill out our Know Your Kentucky form or email ask@herald-leader.com. Stanislaus County and Superior Court officials are aiming to meet a state timeline to launch CARE Court in October as one way to expand treatment for a growing population with untreated severe mental illness. Stanislaus is one of the first seven counties in California to test the Community Assistance Recovery and Empowerment program to see if court-ordered treatment can be effective. County officials are expecting challenges, including housing and limited space in residential care facilities. Other counties in the state will implement CARE in December 2024. Stanislaus will receive $3.7 million for planning and implementing the program, in which a civil court can order mental health treatment for adults. In addition, Gov. Gavin Newsoms recent state budget revision included CARE Court funding for counties going forward, though officials dont know how much for Stanislaus. Officials expect CARE Court will be held twice a week, starting in the fall, to handle the 100 petitions anticipated the first year. The program initially could help up to 12,000 people statewide. Superior Court Executive Officer Hugh Swift said the court has funding for an analyst who will work as a case coordinator and liaison between the court and the county behavioral health department. County Behavioral Health and Recovery Services is trying to fill 15 positions to provide treatment services for participants. The staffing is estimated to cost $2.1 million annually. Ruben Imperial, county assistant executive officer, said $1.6 million will pay for a deputy county counsel, a CARE Court manager and housing for people participating in a two-year court-ordered treatment plan. The growing number of residents with untreated mental illness is more than CARE Court alone can handle. Imperial said its part of a continuum of services the county is building to reduce homelessness and commit fewer mentally impaired criminal defendants to overburdened state hospitals. Imperial said 90 to 120 CARE referral petitions to Behavioral Health and Recovery Services are projected annually, based on an internal analysis. How CARE Court works CARE is specifically for untreated people with schizophrenia spectrum and other psychotic disorders to keep them being arrested or placed in conservatorships. Its not for adults with autism, brain injury or substance use problems. The eligible adults are clinically unstable and unable to live safely without supervision. A petition referring an individual to the program may be filed by family members, first responders, public guardians, hospital directors, roommates or county behavioral health directors. The court does a review to make sure the petition is valid and appoints legal counsel for the individual, who also can choose a voluntary supporter. County BHRS will work with the individual, legal counsel and the supporter to develop a care plan, including mental health treatment, medication and housing. The county is responsible for treatment costs. Those not completing the CARE plan in one or two years may be referred to conservatorship. Imperial said the county plans public education this summer on what the CARE Court is and what it isnt, and who can file a petition. The ultimate goal is getting these adults into appropriate community-based treatment and keeping them out of institutions. County leaders foresee challenges in getting results from court-ordered treatment. Stable housing for people in treatment is considered essential, but not enough is available. In hopes of expanding supportive housing, the county plans to work with the regional Housing Authority, Stanislaus County Affordable Housing, Stanislaus Equity Partners and Self-Help Enterprises. Many adults receiving mental health services are placed in skilled nursing facilities or adult residential centers for the structured programming. Officials expect that counties will be competing for the same space in residential facilities for their CARE Court participants. Kids on way to kindergarten graduation are thrown from car during crash, Florida cops say Two kids were seriously injured after they were ejected from a car in a crash while on their way to a kindergarten graduation, according to a Florida sheriffs office. The driver, 32-year-old Ashauntie Cox, was charged with multiple counts, including driving under the influence, according to a news release from the Polk County Sheriffs Office. Cox was driving a Kia on a highway near Frostproof with two children, ages 5 and 8, and a 27-year-old passenger on May 19, the release says. Cox hit a Chevy Silverado pickup truck before speeding away at around 8 p.m., according to the release. Cox continued to speed recklessly on the highway weaving in and out of slower moving traffic until she rear-ended a Honda CRV while trying to pass between it and another vehicle, the release says. The driver of the CRV was taken to a hospital with minor injuries, according to the sheriffs office. After the collision, Coxs vehicle flipped several times and the 5-year-old and 8-year-old were ejected, the release says. Both had significant injuries and were taken to a hospital where they were in critical condition, according to the sheriffs office. The 27-year-old passenger suffered serious injuries to her spinal cord, hip and back, the sheriffs office said. She was in stable condition at a hospital. Deputies who responded to the scene smelled marijuana and found a bottle of tequila in Coxs car, the release says. Cox told investigators that she had been driving from Orlando to Avon Park, about 75 miles south, to attend the 5-year-olds kindergarten graduation, according to the sheriffs office. She told deputies that shed smoked marijuana earlier in the day and had four shots of tequila, the release says. She was taken to a hospital and was not able to complete a field sobriety test, according to an arrest affidavit. A breath test taken about seven hours after the crash showed her blood alcohol content to be 0.039 and 0.04, the affidavit says. The legal driving limit in Florida is 0.08 blood alcohol content. Due to factors observed at the scene of the crash as well as another test conducted at the hospital used to measure impairment there was probable cause to believe (Cox) was impaired by drugs and /or alcohol at the time of the crash and could not safely operate a motor vehicle, the affidavit says. A sheriffs office spokeswoman said she could not release information about the nature of Coxs relationship to the children. Cox has been charged with, according to the sheriffs office: three counts of driving under the influence with serious bodily injury two counts of negligent child abuse with great bodily harm reckless driving driving under the influence with property damage driving under the influence This woman had no regard for anyones life when she got behind the wheel intoxicated and then drove recklessly down a major highway, Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said in a statement. But whats worse is the blatant disregard she had for the lives of the innocent children in her car. Cox is being held on a $9,500 bond, according to the sheriffs office. Frostproof is about 75 miles south of Orlando. Pregnant woman dies when accused drunk driver swerves into oncoming traffic, CA cops say Pregnant woman and unborn baby killed in collision with teen driver, Michigan cops say Two found dead in ditch were hit by accused drunk driver, Washington cops say Vietnam among six largest Thai tourism markets Thailand has welcomed 9.47 million foreign tourists, including 84,221 Vietnamese visitors, so far this year, earning about 391 billion baht, equivalent to over US$11.3 billion, in revenue. Vietnamese visitors pose for a group photo at a popular tourist destination in Thailand According to Traisulee Taisaranakul, deputy spokeswoman of the Thai Government, foreign tourists visiting the neighboring country are mainly from Asian nations, such as Malaysia, China, India, and Vietnam. Taisaranakul noted that the increase in the number of Chinese tourists is expected to further boost the development of Thailands tourism industry this year. As of May, Malaysia led the way in the number of international tourists arriving in Thailand by nationality with 367,530 visitors. It was followed by China with 328,375 visitors and India with 131,230 visitors. Vietnam ranked in sixth place. According to the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), Thailand expects to welcome over 5.3 million Chinese tourists, 150,000 Saudi Arabian travelers, and six million European holidaymakers this year. Tanes Petsuwan, deputy director general of the Tourism Authority of Thailand, said at the recent Amazing Thailand Festival 2023 held in Ho Chi Minh City that Vietnam was one of Thailand's six biggest tourism markets. Last year, Thailand received 470,000 tourists from Vietnam, nearly half of the pre-pandemic figure. Cheap air tickets, simple immigration procedures, good hospitality, and modern transport infrastructure make Thailand the ideal destination for Vietnamese tourists, Petsuwan added. Currently, Vietnamese tourists can fly directly from Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi, Da Lat, Phu Quoc, Da Nang, and Nha Trang to Thai destinations such as Bangkok, Chiang Mai, and Phuket. KISS bassist Gene Simmons owned this California mega mansion for sale. Take a look A massive estate that was the longtime home of a rock music legend has landed on the real estate market in Beverly Hills, California, for a pretty penny. The 16,390-square-foot residence which is listed for $48 million was the longtime home of iconic KISS bassist Gene Simmons, numerous media outlets, including Mansion Global, reported. Simmons originally sold it in 2021 for $16 million, and the price jump over the two-year period is due to a full renovation of the seven-bedroom, 11-bathroom estate. Showcasing unparalleled design, this masterpiece is accented with the finest materials main level flooring all in natural Italian marble, custom made stone oak wood panels, lots of brass custom elements, the listing on Realtor.com says. The grand, double-height entrance showcases the epitome of architectural precision with an expansive living area flooded with natural light illuminating from the custom iron windows. The open floor plan seamlessly integrates the perfect indoor and outdoor flow, overlooking 3 wide grassy backyards from every side of the house, creating an ideal ambiance for entertaining. Other features include: Chefs kitchen Private primary balcony Media room Two primary bedrooms Knife-edge pool Parking for 30 cars Outside BBQ spot Simmons bought the home in 1986 for $1.34 million, and it was the setting of the A&E reality show that followed the bassist and his family around, titled Gene Simmons Family Jewels, the Los Angeles Times reported. Simmons was the co-founder of KISS and is known for his wild stage presence and makeup. Listing agents Josh Altman and Matt Altman of Douglas Elliman declined comment, Quirky but charming hobbit house for sale in Oregon. Check out the showstopper Fighters of the RDK in the Belgorod region of the Russian Federation The Kremlin-controlled RIA Novosti news outlet disseminated a statement from Peskov, claiming that Putin has been informed about the incursion by the Russian fighters, whom the Kremlin is attempting to portray as Ukrainian. Peskov said efforts are underway to flush out the saboteurs and eliminate the sabotage group. Amidst the failed attempts by Russian invaders to fully capture Bakhmut for over nine months, the Kremlin dictators press secretary also sought to assert that the goal of the Ukrainian sabotage in Belgorod Oblast is to divert attention from the Bakhmut area. Read also: Russian Volunteer Corps fighters claim to have again infiltrated Russian territory video The Freedom of Russia Legion, in a comment to Russian publication Vazhnye Istorii, stated that Russian forces are attempting to shell them with artillery and conducting airstrikes, but the formation continues to advance. As of 3.30 p.m., the Legion and RVC announced that they had taken control of the settlements of Kozinka and Gora-Podol in Belgorod Oblast and have initiated an assault on the settlement of Gayvoron. Earlier, fighters from the Russian Volunteer Corps, who are engaged in fighting against the Russian occupation army in Ukraine, reported that they had once again entered Russian territory. They released videos alongside signs bearing the names of settlements in regions bordering Ukraine. Read also: Russian authorities report downing two missiles over Belgorod Andriy Yusov, the spokesman of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine or HUR, commented to Ukrainian media that the Legion and RVC were engaged in the creation of a security zone in Russias Belgorod Oblast to protect Ukrainians. Yusov said that the raid into the Russian region was being carried out exclusively by fighters from the Legion and RVC, who are all Russian citizens. On March 2, 2023, Russian propagandists disseminated a false story alleging the infiltration of a Ukrainian sabotage and reconnaissance group into the territory of Bryansk Oblast. The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine described these statements as bold provocations. Read also: Freedom of Russia Legion declares liberation of a settlement in Belgorod Oblast The conflicting information provided by propagandists and local authorities included reports of taking local residents hostage, the presence of injured and deceased individuals, and an alleged explosion at a power substation. The Russian Volunteer Corps claimed responsibility for the events in Bryansk Oblast at that time. On April 6, 2023, fighters of the Russian Volunteer Corps claimed they had infiltrated Bryansk Oblast for a second time. They released a video showing a conversation with a local man, asking him about the name of the village they were in. The man responded that it was Sluchovsk, a Russian settlement. The Freedom of Russia Legion is a unit within the Armed Forces of Ukraine, established in March 2022. Both units consist of volunteers from Russia fighting alongside the Ukrainian armed forces. The corps primarily comprises ethnic Russian emigrants who previously resided in Ukraine and other European countries. 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 Kremlin says Putin has been informed of incursion into Belgorod Oblast The Russian presidents press secretary, Dmitry Peskov, says Vladimir Putin has been informed of the breach of the Russian border in Belgorod Oblast. Source: RIA Novosti, citing Peskovs statement Details: Peskov said that work is underway to stamp out "Ukrainian saboteurs" from the territory of Russia and destroy them. He believes the "sabotage" is aimed at diverting attention from the Bakhmut front in order to minimise the political impact of the "loss" of Bakhmut. Background: On 22 May, The Russian Volunteer Corps and the Freedom of Russia Legion claimed the liberation of the settlements of Kozinka and Gora-Podol in Belgorod Oblast. They added that they had entered Gayvoron and called on residents of Russian border regions to stay at home and "not resist". Andrii Yusov, spokesman for Ukraine's Defence Intelligence, has described the events taking place in Russia's Belgorod Oblast on 22 May as the creation of a "security zone" to protect Ukrainian citizens. Journalists fight on their own frontline. Support Ukrainska Pravda or become our patron! The man charged with multiple felonies after fatally shooting a 13-year-old in October 2022 is now back behind bars. Krieg Butler, 37, was arrested Sunday and is currently being held in the Franklin County jail on indirect charges of improper handling of a firearm and tampering with evidence, both of which are felonies. Butler was indicted on Friday by a Franklin County grand jury, which heard evidence related to the shooting death of 13-year-old Sinzae Reed on Oct. 12, 2022. The grand jury declined to file charges against Butler, who is white, that are directly related to the death of Sinzae, who was Black. Following the indictment being issued, a warrant for Butler's arrest had also been filed. Learn more: How does Ohio's grand jury process work? Here's what you should know. Sinzae's death had drawn national attention in early 2023 amid questions about why Butler, who was arrested and charged with murder within 24 hours of the shooting, had been released and the charges dismissed. Butler reportedly told investigators he had shot in self-defense after Sinzae fired at him on the 700 block of Wedgewood Drive on the city's West Side. Columbus police and the Franklin County Prosecutor's office have not publicly confirmed whether Sinzae had a gun or what the ballistics evidence in the case shows. On Saturday, more than 100 people gathered in downtown Columbus calling for justice for Sinzae, as well as other people who have been killed by police. Additional details about how and where Butler was taken into custody were not available. A court date has not yet been scheduled. bbruner@dispatch.com @bethany_bruner This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Krieg Butler arrested Sunday in Sinzae Reed case, no court date set You want to know what greatness looks like? All you had to do was look on pit road Sunday night. The guy fist-pumping in Victory Lane was one thing: Kyle Larson won in the most dominant of fashions in NASCARs All-Star Race at the now-revived North Wilkesboro Speedway, commanding a 13-second lead over the field by Lap 100 and then a four-second lead over the field by the checkered flag. The win marked Larsons third All-Star Race win and he became the only driver to win the event at three different venues (Texas, Charlotte and now North Wilkesboro). But the ultimate show of Larsons greatness was the shrug Bubba Wallace, who finished second, used when describing the race while he talked to media on pit lane. One reporter asked him if next year he feels confident to win the next time he runs at North Wilkesboro. I think if you just wreck the 5 (Larson) on Lap 1, its fine, Wallace said with a smile. Take him out of contention, and then you can go fight with everybody else. Another question: Was the rout of a race the result of the track? No, Wallace responded. Its been like that ever since he got in the 5 car. Every once in a while hell slip up, or Ross (Chastain) will get to him and take him out, but its part of it. We just gotta continue to work hard and be better. Larson isnt known for his bravado. The driver who occasionally goes by Young Money moves through crowds with a meek smile and an unassuming stride. But the Hendrick Motorsports star did a full-lap burn-out after he won the race on Sunday and then told the crowd and the FOX broadcast with a big smile: That was an old-fashioned ass-whoopin for sure. As Larsons crew chief Cliff Daniels told media members: He told me he was looking at the crowd with five laps to go. Can you believe that? Everyone could. It was just cool to dominate like that, Larson added in the media center post-race, and to do it kind of like how you saw people dominate races back in the 80s and 90s. NASCAR driver Kyle Larson grabs a can from a fan after winning the NASCAR All-Star race at North Wilkesboro Speedway on Sunday, May 21, 2023. If you listened to Larson earlier in the week, you mightve thought hed finish last in Sundays race. He and his team were really bad during Fridays practice session and his Truck Series win on Saturday didnt teach him much he could apply for Sundays race in a Next Gen Cup car, he said. But to understand who Larson is, listen to everyone else. Another competitor, Chase Briscoe, tried to explain why Larson was so good on Sunday and struggled to find words beyond: Thats just who he is. I feel like he was one of the best two cars, but when you got the tires it makes it where its a lot easier, Briscoe said. He then added, But a lot of other guys got tires (early), too, and he was the best car to get through there. Chase Elliott was asked if Larsons car was that much better over the rest of the field: Something was, he said. Him or the car, one of the two, right? NASCAR driver Kyle Larson and his team celebrate winning the NASCAR All-Star race at North Wilkesboro Speedway on Sunday, May 21, 2023. The 2021 Cup Series champion didnt have many stressful moments Sunday. The one moment perhaps came after a caution with 15 laps to go, when Daniels elected to have his car file down pit road. A few others followed him, but Larson wasnt in contention then. (He gruffed post-race: We were dead last.) But Larson got on new tires early, using up a limited set of fresh tires earlier than his competitors. He then got into a bigger hole speeding while exiting pit road which forced him to start at the rear. I thought at that point the caution was at 14 or 15 laps in, somewhere around there so I knew the lap count was relative to OK, if I have to eat these scuffs later, you could maybe pallet that, and we were so far back in the field at that point that we knew it was a risk, Daniels said. Lets be honest, if the caution came out with 30 to go in that stage we were going to be hosed. The field is going to come in and put on stickers. We are going to have 15-lap scuffs, really big risk. But a caution never came. And neither did another legitimate worry. Larson thereafter rose up the field unlike anyone else, passing others like they were scant debris on the way to history, and found himself in the lead by Lap 56 and never relinquished it. It was greatness personified. NASCAR driver Kyle Larson glances up at the check he and his team received for winning the NASCAR All-Star race at North Wilkesboro Speedway on Sunday, May 21, 2023. In one of the final post-race questions in the media center, with an oversized cardboard check that read $1 million and a big trophy held by members of his team to his left, Larson was asked what he made of all the monikers hes been bestowed recently. Denny Hamlins crew chief called him the best driver in the world after the Cup race at Kansas earlier this month. Briscoe was reportedly equally superlative on pit lane Sunday. So was Darrell Waltrip in the FOX broadcast booth. Larson absorbed those comments and credited his team and Hendrick Motorsports as a whole. He didnt have to speak on his greatness. His results speak on his behalf. Everyone else does too. No arrests made in connection to deadly shooting in Waltham An investigation is underway after a man was shot to death in Waltham early Monday morning, law enforcement officials said. Officers responding to a report of shots fired in the area of Lyman Street and Faneuil Road around 1:30 a.m. found a man on the sidewalk suffering from apparent gunshot wounds, according to Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan and Waltham Police Chief Kevin OConnell. The victim, whose name hasnt been released, was taken to Lahey Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Boston 25 News spotted police K9s and drone units assisting Massachusetts State Police and Waltham police at the scene. A neighborhood resident told Boston 25 that she woke up after hearing multiple gunshots ring out. I just heard shots. Like about four of five shots. But there was no noise, no yelling, no cars speeding away, the resident said. They were fast. Like you hear on TV, just bang, bang, bang. A silver sedan with a shattered window was also spotted in an area that was roped off with yellow police tape. There have been no arrests made in the shooting. Anyone with information is urged to contact Waltham police at 781-314-3550 or Massachusetts State Police detectives assigned to the DAs office at 781-897-6600. Like you hear on TV, just bang bang bang. Neighbors tell me they woke up to the sound of 4-5 gunshots on Lyman St. near Faneuil Rd. One man says @WalthamMAPolice tell him theyre investigating a homicide. FULL STORY https://t.co/EO6wB3BOHz@boston25 pic.twitter.com/YZtajgyKDP Julianne Lima (@JulianneLimaTV) May 22, 2023 BREAKING: @DAMarianRyan confirms an adult man was shot and killed in Waltham around 1:30 AM. He was found suffering from gunshot wounds on the sidewalk on Lyman St. near Faneuil Rd. No arrests yet; @WalthamMAPolice going door-to-door interviewing neighbors @boston25 pic.twitter.com/AXnJNazRtt Julianne Lima (@JulianneLimaTV) May 22, 2023 This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available. Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts. Follow Boston 25 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch Boston 25 News NOW The Oklahoma state Capitol as seen in January. State employees could get up to six weeks of paid maternity leave under new legislation filed this week. Full-time employees who have served at least two years with the state would be eligible for maternity leave, and would be in addition to any sick leave taken due to pregnancy. Senate Bill 16X covers both births and adoptions. The bill was introduced in a special session that was convened last week to give lawmakers more time to adopt the state budget. This legislation follows the introduction of paid maternity leave for teachers, which appeared in the Legislature's education policy and teacher pay package that has reached the governor's desk. Because both policies specify "maternal" leave, it appears that only mothers would qualify. Paid maternity leave for state employees uncommon in the US According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, the federal Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) provides up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave for new parents or those who are attending to a family member's health, or personal health issues. Few states, however, have expanded this practice in state law. Only three states Georgia, New Hampshire and South Carolina have offered paid parental leave for state employees, according to the conference. The bill was scheduled to be heard for the first time in committee on Monday. This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Oklahoma lawmakers propose paid maternity leave law for state workers Heres a look at how Pennsylvanias members of Congress voted over the previous week. HOUSE SEARCHES OF ELECTRONIC RECORDS: The House has passed the Nondisclosure Orders Fairness Act (HR 3089), sponsored by Rep. Scott Fitzgerald, R-Wis. The bill would place restrictions on the power of government entities to conduct searches of an individuals records that are stored remotely by third-party service providers, in the practice known as cloud computing and storage. Fitzgerald said that law enforcement agencies have been using secrecy orders imposed on the service providers to prevent the disclosure of searches of individual records, and the bill would stop this abuse, which has allowed the circumvention of Fourth Amendment protections in favor of simple convenience. The vote, on May 15, was unanimous with 412 yeas. YEAS: Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Bucks; Mike Kelly, R-Butler; Chrissy Houlahan, D-Chester; Madeleine Dean, D-Montgomery; Scott Perry, R-York; Brendan Boyle, D-Philadelphia; Matt Cartwright, D-Lackawanna; Lloyd Smucker, R-Lancaster; John Joyce, R-Blair; Guy Reschenthaler, R-Washington; Glenn Thompson, R-Howard; Dan Meuser, R-Luzerne; Susan Wild, D-Lehigh; Mary Gay Scanlon, D-Delaware; Summer Lee, D-Allegheny; Chris Deluzio, D-Allegheny NOT VOTING: Rep. Dwight Evans, D-Philadelphia NATIONAL POLICE WEEK: The House has passed a resolution (H Res 363), sponsored by Rep. Michael Guest, R-Miss., to express support for National Police Week, which took place last week, and recognize the work of U.S. law enforcement officers and the risk of violence that they face. Guest said: It is of the utmost importance that we honor the men and women of law enforcement and those who made the ultimate sacrifice in this noble pursuit. The vote, on May 15, was 413 yeas to 2 nays. YEAS: Fitzpatrick, Kelly, Houlahan, Dean, Perry, Boyle, Cartwright, Smucker, Joyce, Reschenthaler, Thompson, Meuser, Wild, Scanlon, Lee, Deluzio NOT VOTING: Evans EXPELLING HOUSE MEMBER: The House has passed a motion to refer to the House Ethics Committee a resolution (H Res 114), sponsored by Rep. Robert Garcia, D-Calif., that would expel Rep. George Santos, R-N.Y., from the House. The sponsor of the motion, Rep. Anthony DEsposito, R-N.Y., called Santos a stain on this institution, a stain on the state of New York, a stain on Long Island and a stain on the beloved Nassau County. The vote to refer the resolution to committee, on May 17, was 221 yeas to 204 nays. YEAS: Fitzpatrick, Kelly, Perry, Smucker, Joyce, Reschenthaler, Thompson, Meuser NAYS: Evans, Dean, Boyle, Cartwright, Scanlon, Lee, Deluzio PRESENT: Houlahan, Wild SELLING GUNS TO RETIRING LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS: The House has passed the Federal Law Enforcement Officer Service Weapon Purchase Act (HR 3091), sponsored by Rep. Russell Fry, R-S.C., to authorize a retiring federal law enforcement agency officer in good standing to purchase the retired handgun that the agency issued to the officer. Fry said: Not only does this legislation have the potential to save millions of dollars in waste, but it would offset the cost of purchasing new weapons and fund other agency expenses. An opponent, Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove, D-Calif., said: The good-standing qualification in this bill is too subjective to accurately protect Americans. The vote, on May 17, was 232 yeas to 198 nays. YEAS: Fitzpatrick, Kelly, Perry, Smucker, Joyce, Reschenthaler, Thompson, Meuser NAYS: Evans, Houlahan, Dean, Boyle, Cartwright, Wild, Scanlon, Lee, Deluzio IMMIGRATION AND LAW ENFORCEMENT: The House has passed the Protect Our Law Enforcement with Immigration Control and Enforcement Act (HR 2494), sponsored by Rep. Andrew Garbarino, R-N.Y., to make an assault on a law enforcement officer a deportable offense. Garbarino said the change would show our brave men and women in law enforcement that we have their backs as they continue to battle the criminal element currently taking advantage of our unsecured southern border. An opponent, Rep. Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., said: The bill is so broad and overinclusive that it could lead to truly absurd results and to the deportation of people who had no intention of ever harming a law enforcement officer. The vote, on May 17, was 255 yeas to 175 nays. YEAS: Fitzpatrick, Kelly, Houlahan, Perry, Boyle, Cartwright, Smucker, Joyce, Reschenthaler, Thompson, Meuser, Wild, Deluzio NAYS: Evans, Dean, Scanlon, Lee POLICE BILL OF RIGHTS: The House has passed an amendment sponsored by Rep. Anthony DEsposito, R-N.Y., to a resolution (H Con Res 40). The amendment would encourage states to adopt bill of rights legislation setting out the rights offered to law enforcement officers being investigated or prosecuted for alleged official misconduct as a way to help ensure mutually respectful dialogue between the police and community residents. DEsposito said: My amendment works to ensure law enforcement officials have fair administration of justice during investigations and encourages states to adopt their own bill of rights to support the brave men and women of law enforcement. An amendment opponent, Rep. Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., said: This type of legislation has been one of the greatest obstacles to police accountability, hindering investigations and shielding misconduct from public scrutiny. The vote, on May 18, was 268 yeas to 156 nays. YEAS: Fitzpatrick, Kelly, Houlahan, Boyle, Cartwright, Smucker, Joyce, Reschenthaler, Thompson, Meuser, Wild NAYS: Evans, Dean, Perry, Scanlon, Lee, Deluzio SUPPORTING THE POLICE: The House has passed a resolution (H Con Res 40), sponsored by Rep. Ken Buck, R-Colo., to state support for the efforts of local law enforcement officers to keep communities safe and condemn calls to defund or abolish the police. Buck said: These individuals put their lives on the line every single day to protect our communities and keep us safe, and it is time that we acknowledged their selflessness and dedication. An opponent, Rep. Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., said: We should oppose this resolution because it is blatantly one-sided, it blames leftist agitators improperly, and it does not deal with federal law enforcement agencies. The vote, on May 18, was 301 yeas to 119 nays. YEAS: Fitzpatrick, Kelly, Houlahan, Perry, Cartwright, Smucker, Joyce, Reschenthaler, Thompson, Meuser, Wild, Deluzio NAYS: Evans, Dean, Scanlon, Lee NOT VOTING: Boyle SENATE APPEALS COURT JUDGE: The Senate has confirmed the nomination of Bradley Garcia to be a judge on the Washington, D.C., Circuit Court of Appeals. From 2013 to 2022, Garcia was a private practice lawyer at the OMelveny & Myers law firm; for the past year, he has been a deputy assistant attorney general at the Justice Department. A supporter, Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., said that in his time at Justice, Garcia has continued to demonstrate his commitment to public service and defending the rule of law. The vote, on May 15, was 53 yeas to 40 nays. YEAS: Sens. Bob Casey, D-Pa.; John Fetterman, D-Pa. D.C. POLICING POLICIES: The Senate has passed a resolution (HJ Res 42), sponsored by Rep. Andrew Clyde, R-Ga., to disapprove of and void the Washington, D.C., Councils adoption of a law changing policing policies for D.C. police officers. A supporter, Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., said voiding the law makes D.C. safer, but it also sends a message to the entire country a message that we want safe streets, we want safe communities, we want safe schools and we want to do it in a bipartisan way. The vote, on May 16, was 56 yeas to 43 nays. NAYS: Casey, Fetterman ILLINOIS DISTRICT JUDGE: The Senate has confirmed the nomination of Jeremy Daniel to be a judge on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. Daniel has been a federal prosecutor in the district since 2014, after working for six years as a private practice lawyer in Chicago. A supporter, Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., cited Daniels breadth of experience practicing in the Northern District of Illinois and his expertise in intellectual property and criminal law. The vote, on May 17, was 56 yeas to 40 nays. YEAS: Casey, Fetterman IMMIGRANTS AND GOVERNMENT AID: The Senate has passed a resolution (SJ Res 18), sponsored by Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., to disapprove of and void a Homeland Security Department rule that would allow immigrants into the U.S. to obtain legal residency status, regardless of whether they appear likely to become reliant on government assistance. Marshall said: The Biden administrations public charge rule makes a mockery of the law and the intent of Congress to ensure that immigrants are self-sufficient. The vote, on May 17, was 50 yeas to 47 nays. NAYS: Casey, Fetterman APPEALS COURT JUDGE: The Senate has confirmed the nomination of Nancy Abudu to be a judge on the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Abudu was a lawyer and then official at the American Civil Liberties Union from 2005 to 2019; since then, she has been a lawyer at the Southern Poverty Law Center in Atlanta. A supporter, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said Abudu has dedicated her career to ensuring that dream is alive and well for everyone in this country. An opponent, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said Abudu was unfit for judicial service due to her fearmongering about alleged racist designs to the legal system and membership in groups that undermine the rule of law. The vote, on May 18, was 49 yeas to 47 nays. YEAS: Casey, Fetterman Imagine a North Carolina where everybody has access to high-quality medical care regardless of their ability to pay, a place where people dont have to live in pain or let health issues become chronic, even life-threatening because they cant afford to see a doctor. The N.C. General Assembly brought us closer to that goal in March with passage of Medicaid expansion, a wonderful step that will save lives and improve health outcomes for 600,000 people who will become eligible for the federal health care insurance program. But its just one step. According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, Medicaid expansion wont cover some 700,000 North Carolinians who will remain uninsured and unable to afford even a basic level of primary care. These are our neighbors many are essential workers we count on who have fallen through the gaps of a system that leaves folks vulnerable if they dont get health insurance coverage at work and earn too much to qualify for Medicaid. April Cook This sobering reality underscores the need to strengthen the safety net of health-care providers that serve uninsured and underinsured residents at little or no cost to the patient. As co-founder of a free and charitable clinic and now an advocate for 70 similar clinics across the state, Im gratified to see growing awareness among public health and elected officials that our safety net still doesnt protect all of our residents. We must do more. Thankfully, our state lawmakers increased support for safety-net health care providers during the pandemic and have included new funding in the proposed 2023-24 budget. They know expansion alone will not get us to the goal of access to basic care for all. Health officials statewide are calling for more resources to serve the uninsured, including expanding the safety net comprising free and charitable clinics, public health departments, federally funded community health centers, and clinics run by large health systems. In Mecklenburg County, these providers currently reach about 40% of the 124,000 people living without health insurance. While expansion will cover an estimated 64,000 of those uninsured, the safety net would need to expand dramatically to serve the 60,000 who will remain uninsured. In Wake County, the situation is similar, with about 119,000 residents uninsured. Access to preventative primary care is critical to maintaining health, spotting disease early, managing chronic illnesses, and avoiding costly complications and hospitalizations that drive up health care costs for everyone in North Carolina. Among the services safety-net providers offer, perhaps the most important is giving low-income residents a medical home where they receive care from a doctor who knows them, understands their history, and can prescribe a personalized treatment plan. Without a safety net, the uninsured turn to the hospital emergency department when they get sick, clogging EDs meant for trauma cases. Or worse, they go without care until problems become acute and more expensive to treat, racking up unpayable medical debt that fuels escalating health care costs. In 2021, free and charitable clinics saved N.C. hospitals an estimated $369 million in uncompensated care by giving 82,000 of our uninsured neighbors a medical home and providing 189,000 patient visits, $316 million in health care services and $181 million in prescriptions. Failing to provide access to care has other potential costs, too. Most of North Carolinas uninsured are the low-wage essential workers we rely on every day. In fact, more than 70% of the patients served by free and charitable clinics are employed. Keeping them healthy is essential to a thriving economy. Ill never forget the farmer who drove his tractor to my clinic because he needed medication and had no other way to get there. He is like most patients we serve, hard-working folks who bring us food and other goods and services we need. The least and best we can do is help take care of them, too. April Cook is CEO of the North Carolina Association of Free and Charitable Clinics and co-founder of the Lake Norman Community Health Clinic in Huntersville. Letters to the Editor: A nun, a gay Catholic and other Christians on the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence Members of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence participate in a Pride parade in West Hollywood in 2016. (Richard Vogel / Associated Press) To the editor: I am a Catholic Sister of the Holy Names popularly referred to as a "nun." As a Dodger fan since the team moved to Los Angeles, I have been to countless games and regularly watch the team win and lose on TV. I miss Vin Scully (may he rest in peace). The group CatholicVote does not speak for me or many of my sisters. Aging and no longer in active ministry, I was pleased to read the mission statement of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence. They are performing what we have traditionally called the corporal works of mercy. Those who feed the hungry, visit the sick and elderly and care for people with AIDS should be honored for the ways they minister to people. The Dodgers should not give in to pressure from anti-inclusion groups, which serve only to divide rather than unite our society. Jo'Ann De Quattro, Monrovia .. To the editor: There are not right-wing Catholics or left-wing Catholics. One cannot be Catholic "in his/her own way." In a world of passing fads and transitory ambitions, the wisdom of the Gospel will heal this world full of violence and hate against human life. The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence is a fringe group that often parodies sacred Catholic rites in a very offensive manner. As a gay Catholic man, I do not agree with the group's disrespectful and hurtful humor. The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence are not new to me. Though I find their actions gross, in the interest of free speech I believe they have a right to exist and I have the right to repudiate them. And that does not make me right-wing or anything. We are to believe that Dodger fans are very upset because the Sisters were pulled from Pride Night. I doubt that, especially for Latino fans who love their Virgen de Guadalupe. Raul De Cardenas, Los Angeles .. To the editor: The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence deserve affirmation and appreciation. As a retired United Methodist pastor, I have been very grateful for this group. For seven years, the Sisters gave scholarships for adults to attend a church-sponsored retreat for persons living with HIV/AIDS. It was a joy to forward their checks to the headquarters of our denomination. The Sisters are worthy of recognition for their good work. Ed Hansen, Oak Park .. To the editor: Many Catholic Californians (including me, who once considered being an actual nun) love and respect the art and community service of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence. In their own creative way, they are living the Gospel of radical love. Isn't that why they were going to be honored in the first place? For being of service to the community? To this progressive Catholic, this whole situation feels petty when we consider the real dangers of our world: the climate crisis, systemic racism, white Christian nationalism, corporate greed and more. Catholics are called to be peacemakers and to love as Christ loved. The Sisters are creative peacemakers who love the community in a Christ-like way. Lauren McKenna, Claremont This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times. This article originally appeared on Backpacker We'll be talking about the winter of 2022-23 for years. Epic snowfall blanketed much of the western U.S., creating the best ski season in memory. So far that snowpack is delivering one of the best spring rafting seasons in decades. But all that precipitation and increased snowpack also left a lot of destruction in its path, including damage to the infrastructure in some of our national parks, with projected flooding from the spring thaw prompting temporary closures in others. For example, in Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks, in California's Sierra Nevada, the record snowfall and heavy rains led to rockfall and road damage, causing closures throughout the park. "It was an intense winter for us, and we're still plowing snow and working hard on road construction," says Sintia Kawasaki-Yee, chief of communications with Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks. "It's going to be a different spring [than usual], with some areas closed." Other major events include the closure of the famous Narrows hike in Zion, flood warnings in Yosemite, and campgrounds still under snow at Grand Canyon. The Grand Canyon Lodge, on the North Rim of Grand Canyon, was still buried in April. (Photo: E. Shalla/NPS) "It's been challenging, but I don't want people to think they shouldn't come to the parks," Kawasaki-Yee says of Sequoia and Kings Canyon. "There are still things to do. They just need to be prepared and aware of certain closures." All of that snowpack means water tables are replenished to some degree, and more water is flowing through the West's parched river basins. Lake Mead and Lake Powell, both of which sit on the Colorado River, are already seeing a rise in lake levels. And park employees are working diligently to clear the snow, repair road damage and get things open. Here are seven national-park delays and closures that are a direct result of extreme weather, as well as our advice for how to deal and find alternatives. Great Basin National Park, Nevada Record-setting snowfall has delayed the spring opening date of Wheeler Peak Scenic Drive, Wheeler Peak Campground, and popular hikes like the Alpine Lakes Loop inside Great Basin National Park, as portions of the park are still buried. The roads, campgrounds and trailheads within the higher elevations of the park typically open at the end of May, but the park service expects a delay until July 1. Park management also says hikers should be cautious of flash-flood conditions as temperatures warm. Get current conditions here. Our advice: Wheeler Peak Campground might be closed, but Baker Creek and the Upper and Lower Lehman Creek Campgrounds are open on schedule. If you can't hike the high terrain, consider going underground--Lehman Cave tours are operating as usual. Yosemite National Park, California In Yosemite, Big Oak Flat Road (Highway 120) is closed from the park boundary to the Merced Grove while crews repair cracks in the roadway up to four feet deep and 200 feet long from recent storms. The park expects the road to be closed until mid-June and possibly into July, which means visitors coming from the west will have to take an alternate route to access Yosemite Valley. The Mariposa Grove Road is also closed due to storm damage through May and into June. Visitors wanting to reach Mariposa Grove will have to hike two miles each way, with a 500-foot elevation gain. The park is also closing Lower and North Pine Campgrounds starting May 15 due to potential flooding from snowmelt. There's no current timeline for the campgrounds to reopen. See conditions here. Our advice: If you want to explore the Valley, Highways 140 and 41 are still open from the west. If you're looking to camp in the Valley, Camp 4 campground is open, first-come, first-served until May 21, at which point you'll need advance reservations. Upper Pines Campground is also still open and requires reservations. Can't imagine why anyone is having trouble digging out. This is the Tenaya Lodge at Yosemite this past winter. (Photo: Courtesy Tenaya Lodge) Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona Grand Canyon has had to delay the opening of the North Rim until June because of record snowfall. The North Rim saw more than 250 inches of snow this winter, burying the Grand Canyon Lodge, necessitating plowing and facility repair. The North Rim campground will open June 9, while the North Kaibab Trail will be closed until June 1 for trail reconstruction due to rockfall and landslides. Current conditions here. Though some closures are in effect, you can still find places in Grand Canyon National Park to hike, camp, and contemplate existence. Three visitors--(left to right) Rainy Adkins, Charlie Barta, and Owen Kahn--reach an overlook last fall. (Photo: Nyima Ming) Our advice: You'll have to be patient if you're set on exploring the North Rim. Until the park service can clear the snow, the South Rim is your destination, with plenty of options for hiking and camping. We say bring your bike and pedal Hermit Road, which has more than half a dozen scenic overlooks, and is closed to all vehicles (except park shuttles) from March 1 to November 30. Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks, California Looking for sequoias? Currently the giant trees cannot be seen in Sequoia National Park due to road closures. You can see them instead in the Grant Grove area of Kings Canyon National Park. The two parks are jointly managed. Access to this loop trail is about a 20-minute drive from the entrance to Kings Canyon. (Photo: NPS) Roads inside Sequoia National Park suffered "extensive" damage from the winter storms, closing all but six miles of the Generals Highway, the main access road, within the park and preventing access to the giant sequoias at this time. The Giant Forest, Wolverton Snowplay Area, Lodgepole, Wuksachi and Moro Rock Areas are closed until at least June 9, while Crystal Cave and Mineral King Road will be closed throughout the summer because of road damage. Cedar Grove, inside Kings Canyon, is also closed due to severe road damage on Highway 180. Management doesn't expect the road to reopen until fall. The park service updates road closures frequently and maintains a map of current road status within the park. Check conditions here. Our advice: The Foothills Area of Sequoia, which is accessed by the first six miles of Generals Highway, is open, and has its own system of hiking trails and camping at Potwisha Campground (reservations required). The wildflowers are going off in this section of the park this spring, but there are no large trees. Park management is recommending visitors go to Grant Grove, in Kings Canyon National Park, to see the giant trees. Zion National Park, Utah The Virgin River shown flooding in storm, Zion National Park, Utah (Photo: John Elk III/Getty) In Zion, the popular Narrows hike, through a slot canyon along the Virgin River, is closed indefinitely due to the unusually high snowmelt and the flow levels in the Virgin River. The park service closes access to the Narrows any time flow levels exceed 150 cfs, and this spring levels have not dipped below 600 cfs. Emergency responders have already had to rescue one woman from the Virgin River's Grotto area, in April. Meanwhile, Zion Canyon Scenic Drive has been reduced to one lane because of road damage caused by rockfall, which caused a fissure in the road, and Kolob Canyons Road is closed beyond the Kolob Canyons Visitor Center for the same reason. See updates here. Our advice: The shuttle is still operating on Zion Canyon Scenic Drive, so your hiking plans are still intact. While you wait for the Narrows to reopen, try to score a last-minute permit to hike the Subway, a strenuous 9-mile round trip hike through a slot canyon on the Left Fork of North Creek. Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, Utah and Arizona Here's some good news: The winter's snowfall and subsequent melt is raising the water level of Lake Powell, inside Glen Canyon National Recreation Area. As water levels have receded on the lake during the last 20 years, park management has had to close a number of boat ramps, severely limiting boater access. But this spring, the opposite is happening; Glen Canyon recently announced the Bullfrog North Boat Ramp, in north Lake Powell, is operable again for houseboats and larger vessels. More than a dozen ramps and access points remain inoperable because of low water levels, but spring runoff has already raised the lake level by 10 feet. Check for updates here. Our advice: Take advantage of the higher water while you can. Launching on Lake Powell can be easier at the higher water and you can paddle deeper into narrow gorges like Antelope Canyon and Lone Canyon. Lake Mead National Recreation Area, Arizona and Nevada While all that snow in the mountains is helping replenish Lake Mead's coffers (lake levels had risen by three feet as of May 1 and could rise several more by the end of July), the summer heat is expected to put a crimp on hiking plans in the recreation area. Lake Mead has already announced seasonal closures to strenuous areas and trails from May 15 to September 30, citing a sharp increase in medical-emergency calls each summer. To prevent potential distress and tragedies, the park service is closing the following areas: Goldstrike Canyon, White Rock Canyon ad White Rock Canyon Trail, Arizona Hot Springs and Arizona Hot Springs Trail, Liberty Arch Trail, Lone Palm Trail, Sugar Loaf Trail and the Lone Palm and Sugar Loaf surrounding areas. See updates here. Our advice: Take to the water. While the Goldstrike Canyon and White Rock Canyon Trails are closed this summer, the hot springs at the end of those trails are not. In fact, they're accessible by boat from Lake Mohave. Just limit your soak time. You know, because it's hot outside. Graham Averill is Outside magazine's national parks columnist. He continues to be fascinated by how this winter's epic snowfall is impacting outdoor recreation well beyond the last of the flurries. The author, Graham Averill, on a sunny day (Photo: Liz Averill) For exclusive access to all of our fitness, gear, adventure, and travel stories, plus discounts on trips, events, and gear, sign up for Outside+ today. A little-known home by Neutra, steeped in Hollywood history, goes from gutted to glam "Neutra is all about orientation," says architect Erik Amir, who restored the dilapidated home with his wife, architect Dora Chi. "It's a very comfortable home." (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times) In a city with no shortage of noteworthy Midcentury Modern homes, Erik Amir and Dora Chi were surprised when they stumbled upon a listing for a little-known Los Angeles house by Richard Neutra. The husband-and-wife architects were renting in Studio City while designing their dream home when they received an invitation to tour what the Realtor described as a lost Neutra in very bad condition. The agent wasnt exaggerating. As architects, they couldnt resist the opportunity to tour a project by one of Southern Californias first starchitects. But when they entered the 3,800-square-foot house in Sherman Oaks, they found it gutted and uninhabitable. We walked in and thought, Wow, what a mess, Amir says of the three-bedroom residence on a private drive. There was no electrical. No water. The only thing that was nice was a table with sketches by Neutra along with a piano belonging to the homes original owner, Stephen Lord. That was it. The Spatial Practice architects preserved Neutra's entry with a low-hanging canopy, which crosses a bridge over a reflecting pool to the front door. (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times) Television writer Stephen Lord's sculptures in the front entrance, left, and a detail of the swimming pool in the backyard, right. (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times) According to Lords daughter Jennifer Pihlquist, 48, the sleek International Style home suffered extensive water damage after her mother, Joan, hired contractors in 2019 to improve the property. They did not finish the roof properly, and it didnt hold up during a huge L.A. storm, Pihlquist explains. The rain demolished the interiors and ruined the integrity of the house." Less than six months later, Joan died unexpectedly in 2020, and her and Lord's three daughters, who grew up in the home and lived out of state, reluctantly listed the house for sale as is. Despite its damaged state, Neutras trademark geometry of glass and wooden beams, open interiors and an easy connection to the outdoors were apparent. Neutra is all about orientation, says Amir of the homes north-facing walls of glass. It's a very comfortable home." Adds Chi: The house has a seamless integration to nature. Standing in the living room, you feel like youre outside, even though you are inside. The architects made an offer immediately, and it was accepted after they promised to restore the home to its original glory. According to public records, the couple paid $1.95 million for the house in October 2021. (They declined to say how much they spent on renovations.) The home is austere but comfortable for a family of four. "It feels like a family home," says Erik Amir, with wife Dora Chi and one of their sons, Ethan Amir, 8. (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times) Dora watches her kids and husband Erik in their backyard. (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times) Any other buyer or developer would have demolished the home, Pihlquist says. They told us, We are going to restore it to the early Neutra glory and were going to move in and live in it with our boys. That is why we sold it to them. Pihlquist remembers growing up in a home filled with guests. My parents loved to have people over and hosted parties four to five times a year, she says. Everyone used to call it the 'Brady Bunch' house." Ironically, Neutra, who was known for his interest in building simple homes, did not design the house as a family home. In 1962, Lord, a prolific TV writer, commissioned Neutra to design a one-bedroom bachelor pad on a 26,500-square-foot bluff overlooking the San Fernando Valley. With a built-in bar in one corner and his baby grand piano in the other, the spare 2,600-square-foot house was the perfect place for the writer of CHiPs, Fantasy Island and Johnny Ringo to entertain his Hollywood friends. Architects Dora Chi and Erik Amir of the firm Spatial Practice preserved the home and swimming pool. (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times) Richard Neutra's original sketch of the house rests next to Stephen Lord's baby grand piano. (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times) Lord's confirmed bachelor status wouldnt last forever. In 1972, he met Joan Hurlow, a secretary on Here's Lucy, at a Hollywood party, and six months later they were married. Over the years, the couple had three daughters in quick succession and added two bedrooms and a closet in the master bedroom. We shared one bedroom with three beds, Pihlquist says, laughing. The carport was converted into a family room, and Lord moved to an office in the backyard where he wrote scripts instead of sitting at the sleek built-in desk that Neutra had designed overlooking the pool. Touched by the familys strong ties to the house, Chi and Amir developed a relationship with Lord's daughters, who shared many stories about the house as well as the original collection of blueprints and photographs, including Neutras hand-sketched perspectives, elevations and plans. The relationship between Lord, whom Pihlquist recalls as a Sicilian Irish alpha male, and Neutra didn't appear to be amiable. We understand that our father and Richard had differences of design aesthetic when it came to certain aspects of the original house, she says. For example, when Lord repeatedly tripped on the floating hearth that was positioned in between the open living room and the dining room, he shortened it. Brothers Ethan and Ari Amir play in the living room. (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times) Chi and Amir, who are partners in the architecture firm Spatial Practice, brought their professional experience to the project during the renovation process, which started Nov. 21, 2021, and took 16 months. Before the project began, they did extensive research on Neutra. We went to the USC library and read a lot of material and dove into his world for a few months, Chi says. The main idea was to keep as much as possible. They restored the floating fireplace as designed by Neutra and they also toured several Neutra homes in Los Angeles, including the Chuey and Lew houses in the Hollywood Hills and Neutras personal residence, the VDL House in Silver Lake. Amir compares the renovation process and updates in the Sherman Oaks home to eliminating the noise and focusing on the views. It was about adding but opening up the space and reimagining what was there, he says. We would be living in a home designed by a master. We wanted to use the same logic and language of simplicity." The floors have been covered with white oak, the windows have been replaced with contemporary clear double-glazed Fleetwood windows, and the bathrooms and kitchen have all been updated in a minimal and timeless fashion. Outdoors, a new contemporary pavilion was added along with a guesthouse and a deck, which appears to float over the hillside. "We wanted to created two abstract volumes yet each has its own identity," Amir says. "The house has a seamless integration to nature," says architect Dora Chi, sitting with son Ethan. The family has spotted deer and bobcats through the home's glass windows. (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times) The new, modern kitchen was designed to complement the house, with its simple white oak cabinets and a large island that can handle a crowd. (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times) Today, the home is furnished sparely with Midcentury Modern furnishings. Chi and Amir kept Lord's baroque-style statues outdoors, and when Lord's daughters bequeathed their fathers baby grand piano to them, they graciously accepted. Just 11 years after Lords death, family gatherings continue in the home. With his family nearby, Ethan Amir plays Stephen Lord's baby grand piano. (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times) Neutras design and orientation of the house creates a very hospitable place to host, Amir says. We host often with our family, friends and fellow architecture lovers. Ethan Amir, 8, says the house is a big change from the 700-square-foot apartment his family previously inhabited in Hong Kong. Theres more space for games and for playing tag," he says. "We have birthday parties here. Its really cool to have a pool. My parents have good taste in things. Asked what its like to live in a home designed by another architect, Amir is philosophical. Each day, we are reminded of how the basics of good spatial architecture is essential, from the way the house is oriented, the spatial planning, the scale and proportions of each space and the relationship to nature, he says. We often have conversations with clients where we explain that good architecture is about going back to the essence of architecture, and it is so clearly in this house. Ari Amir, 2, plays in the living room, left, and Erik works at his desk, right. (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times) Last October, while she was visiting Los Angeles, Pihlquist, who lives in Myrtle Beach, S.C., asked the couple if she could stop by to see the house. It was a bittersweet experience, she says, for all the right reasons. I didnt cry when I saw the renovation because they kept the integrity of the pool, the front of the house and the backyard, she says. Erik sent me a picture of him and his sons playing on the floor, and it made me so happy. When I saw my fathers piano in the old family room he was a jazz musician in New Orleans and music was his passion I was so touched. I said a prayer when I walked into the backyard. What Erik and Dora did honored my parents. My mom and dads legacy lives on. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times. Ariel saves Prince Eric on the shore Director Rob Marshall (Mary Poppins Returns) brings audiences a live-action retelling of Disneys The Little Mermaid, the 1989 animated feature that revived the studio. It pays faithful homage to the original filmbut doesnt quite recapture its magic. Its saving grace is a cleverly reimagined second act carried by Halle Baileys sheer tour de force breakthrough performance as Ariel. In particular, Baileys version of composer Alan Menken and late lyricist Howard Ashmans Part of Your World is an all-timer; its destined to become the new standard of the modern Disney classic. Baileys innocence, her coming-of-age joy, and that incredible voice are the main reasons to see this Little Mermaid. Shes Ariel for a new generationplain and simple. Read more Its been a while since weve seen a live-action Disney princess so deftly capture the spirit of her animated inspiration while also making the character her own. Even beyond that familiar show-stopper, The Little Mermaids music helps in this department; new songs by Lin-Manuel Miranda and Menken help expand Ariels journey of wanting to explore the human world. In this version, shes more than just a girl who leaves the sea after falling for Prince Eric (Jonah Hauer-King). Eric is also more than just an impetus for her actionsas it turns out, he shares the same desire to see more of the world beyond his own kingdomand Hauer-King brings dimensionality to the character. (Eric even gets a song of his own!) When the romantic leads meet youre all in because its more than just about looks; they share the same dreama nice change from the animated film, which notoriously gets made fun of for seeming like Ariel only wanted human legs to get to the prince. Bailey and Hauer-Kings chemistry is electric, even in scenes where Ariel cant speak, and their exploration of the cultures beyond their kingdoms nicely shakes up the animated films very old-world interpretation of royalty. Image: Walt Disney Pictures That brings us to the Under the Sea of it all. The film misses the mark of making Ariels underwater life just as important to her as her yearning to explore the world above. In the animated film, shes surrounded by her sisters, a doting father, and a vibrant kingdom filled with life that loves her. Its really about leaving a nest thats nurturing and safe to find yourself in a new world. The stakes are high for Ariel in that sense, but all of this is gone in the live-action versionbizarrely so. The kingdom is dour and dark, and theres not many merpeople around that we can see, including Ariels sisters. Apparently, they all live in different seas while Ariel is the only one left with her father Triton, played by a very low-energy Javier Bardem. Needless to say, the song the sisters sing together in the original film is gone, and that absence is just one of the many strange choices here. The biggest one though is that apparently not all sea life is sentientwhich becomes kind of creepy when it becomes clear only the sidekicks Sebastian (Daveed Diggs), Flounder (Jacob Tremblay), and Scuttle (Awkwafina) can talk. It makes the ocean world lose so much life that youre pretty much just rooting for Ariel to leave it from the jump. Its so weird to see Diggs have to work every talented vocal muscle to carry Under the Sea without any sort of choral backup from sea creatures; Bailey steps in to substitute but the number loses its grandeur. It brings to mind the live-action Be Our Guest from Beauty and the Beastdespite the incredible talent involved, these big numbers fall short without the power of animation and additional voices. Diggs, Tremblay, and Awkwafina are fantastic but get a raw deal being the only sea-life to represent the kingdom Ariel leaves behind. Image: Walt Disney Pictures Now lets talk about Ursula. As mentioned, Bailey makes Ariel her ownbut Melissa McCarthy doesnt do the same for the Sea Witch. Its a shame because McCarthy is excellent, but she cant escape the shadow of Pat Carrolls iconic Disney villain performance. Its solid and safe, and theres nothing new here; McCarthy looks the part and delivers on homage. Most disappointingly, Ursulas big song, Poor Unfortunate Souls, loses some of its, ahem, body language in more ways than just the cut line. Its wild because the animated number draws so much inspiration from Chicagoand here you have Marshall, who directed the Oscar-winning screen adaptation of that musical, bringing us Ursula sort of just sauntering and lounging around. What happened? Thankfully, in the final act McCarthy relishes in Ursulas cruelty and goes full aquatic horrorwhich changes some key things up (for the better) from the animated story we know. Miranda and Menkens musical partnership does breathe fresh life into the story with new songs that honor Howard Ashmans work to give Ariel a voice, but its really only because of Bailey that The Little Mermaid sets a new live-action Disney Princess standard. Its a shame that even with her charismatic performance, this is yet another live-action Disney adaptation that feels safe and homogenous in its choices. The Little Mermaid opens May 26 in theaters. 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. More from Gizmodo Sign up for Gizmodo's Newsletter. For the latest news, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Click here to read the full article. Lizzo Lizzo is currently on The Special 2our, and at a recent stop, she decided to mix in a brief history lesson. While performing at the BOK Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma on Saturday (May 20) evening, the Truth Hurts songstress honored Black Wall Streets legacy. History is meant to be learned from. I dont want to talk about the tragedy because we know about the tragedy. Can we just talk about the prosperity of Black Wall Street? the 35-year-old said while on stage. Lizzo continued, That is the result of when you let people just be themselves, when you let people be a community, when you let them mind they business. On May 21, 1921, a large mob of white supremacist terrorists descended upon a successful area of the city inhabited by Black residents and business owners. The hateful group spent two days rioting and burning down the neighborhood in what became known as the Tulsa Race Massacre. "Just when we thought we couldn't love @Lizzo enough, she comes out in support of Greenwood/Black Wall Street that was destroyed in 1921, acknowledging the harm but elevates the Black prosperity with her huge platform. Tell em, Sis. #Greenwood #Lizzo #BlackWallStreet pic.twitter.com/UiGNmZ6p7B The Black Wall Street Times (@TheBWSTimes) May 22, 2023 And were seeing the exact same thing happening today. Marginalized communities are being tampered with. Our rights are being taken away. Its still happening, 1920 to 2023 is still happening still woke Tulsa! Lizzo added. The 2 Be Loved hitmakers show took place just a few blocks from where the racially motivated massacre happened. I know you know your history, but theyre trying to take [it] out of schools. Educate each other because history is meant to be learned from, she urged the crowd. Several states have recently made headlines for banning teachings regarding topics such as critical race theory. In March, a Black man speaking in defense of the history lessons, was told to go back to his country, then escorted out of the Temecula, California school board meeting. Earlier this month, the Florida Department of Education began removing textbooks referencing George Floyd or the origins of Black Lives Matter. Trending Stories Photo Illustration by Thomas Levinson/The Daily Beast/HBO/Getty This weeks Succession begins with a eulogy. No, its not for Logan Roy (Brian Cox), whose funeral takes up the majority of this episode. The speech is given by Roman (Kieran Culkin) and is actually for Roman. Roman eulogizes himself twice in this episode, a tribute to the times he held any power in the company. This is Romans swan song. Roman is still alive, but hes dead to Waystar Royco, after a dreadful attempt to salute his late father. In the beginning of Church and Stateone of the best Succession episode titles of all timeRoman rattles off his speech from a series of pink (pink!) note cards to himself, alone in his apartment. My father was a legend, Roman says, and fuck shit fuck. Or something like that. This scene plays out the same way I practiced for a science presentation in seventh grade: half-assed. But he doesnt even have a PowerPoint to back him up! Roman cant get one single line of coherent thought across in his practice round, so God only knows what mess hes about to cause at the real-deal funeral, in front of everyone in the entire worldhis siblings, Matsson (Alexander Skarsgard), even POTUS. Succession Fans Complain About Being Triggered and Traumatized by Election Episode Only Logan Roys funeral would happen the day after the election. Swarms of left-wing protesters take to the streets of Manhattan to push back against fascist Jeryd Menckens (Justin Kirk) win. Did he even win? After Milwaukees ballots were set ablaze by another batch of protesters (presumably right wing, though Roman argues the opposite) in the last episode, the election is being contested. The only news network to call the election for Mencken was ATN, which is now under fire for making an early and possibly incorrect call. Tom (Matthew Macfadyen) is so distraught by a New York Times centerfold article, which unpacks the events at ATN on election night, that he demands Greg (Nicholas Braun) to call the paper with a correction. Tom wants to be named as the one who called the election. Yes, it might incriminate himbut whats the point of getting in trouble if youre only going to be a small bubble of blame in the NYT? He wants his face as big as possible in the paper. Tom is so upset about this and all the election hubbub that he skips Logans funeral entirely. Harriet Walter, Kieran Culkin, Sarah Snook and Jeremy Strong. Macall Polay/HBO Also skipping are Rava (Natalie Gold) and Kendalls (Jeremy Strong) kids, who are shuttled upstate by their mom after violent protests rumble throughout New York. Kendall is infuriated. He threatens to stop traffic. He threatens to call the state of New York to put Rava on watch. All this angerand yet, he couldnt be bothered to protect his own kids by not calling the election early. Fans of Succession used to root for Kendall (as did I, a bit). Are we not all rooting against him, at this point? Which leaves all the attention on Shiv (Sarah Snook), who is using her fathers funeral as a way to gain leverage in the company. No longer upset about the electionthis woman has a steel wall protecting her heart, I swearShiv has set her sights on Mencken. She sets a deal with Matsson, who will promote her to CEO if Matsson is allowed to buy out the Waystar shares. The pair just have to convince Mencken that he should avoid Romans pleas to block the deal so that they can carry on. Luckily, that might not be too hard, seeing as Roman completely botches his chance to be seen as a strong family leader. After Logans brother Ewan (James Cromwell) invades the funeral stageGreg was supposed to be holding his grandfather back, preventing him from making a sceneto give a fantastic eulogy, Romans up next. He makes a complete fool of himself. After spending the last few episodes stomping around, firing everyone, trying (and usually, succeeding) to take as much control as possible, Roman loses everything as he crumbles on the stage. Who Is Actually More Toxic on Succession: Tom or Shiv? Its unclear if Roman is sobbing from sadness or embarrassment. Its probably a mix of both, though the latter makes more sense, considering how emotionally unaffected he has seemed to be following their fathers death. (On the ride over the funeral, Roman was joking about how he might find Shiv sexy during her pregnancy. How sad can he be?) Roman disappears for a while, before he gets his dignity back at the wake, in which all the attention has been diverted from Logan to Mencken. Again: Roman cant be in mourning, because he wastes absolutely no time sauntering up to the president-elect, to ask when hell block the deal with GoJo. But Mencken has been playing the idiot brothers this entire timehe tells Roman that hes still thinking about it, before Greg walks up to interrupt their conversation. Then, suddenly, everyones trying to have a chat with Mencken. Its Shiv who gets the final word, stealing Mencken away to chat with Matssonlater on, they get the yes. Matsson and Shiv will take over Waystar. Kieran Culkin. Macall Polay/HBO The biggest power play at this funeral wasnt about the company at all, though. Rather, it involved all of (unless there are more hiding beneath the woodwork) Logan Roys ex-lovers. Caroline (Harriet Walter), the mother of Shiv, Kendall, and Roman, totes her new husband around at the funeral. She makes a grand gesture, when she accepts Kerry (Zoe Winters), Logans assistant and most recent woman of the hour, into her loving arms, supporting her through lots of tears. Caroline guides Kerry through the crowd to Sally Ann, another woman whom she pulls beside her. The three walk like a line of ducklings up to Marcia (Hiam Abbass), Logans widow. Sally Ann was my Kerry, so to speak, Caroline says to the group of women. But its all water under the bridge now. The Gerri and Roman Argument Is an All-Time Great Succession Scene The women sit together in the very first row of pews. As the event starts, Marcia clasps Kerrys hand in hers. Not only is this a slightly humorous, gasp-worthy momentI could not keep my jaw closed as I watched Kerry and Marcia squeezed next to each other, staring at their shared lovers casketbut its also quite powerful. These four women have been the biggest supporters of one of the worlds most powerful menaces. Theyve seen it all. Theyve seen Logan cycle through other women (Wheres Rhea Jarrell?), trash his children, build an empireand now, they only have each other. Justine Lupe, Alan Ruck, Kieran Culkin, Jeremy Strong and Sarah Snook. Macall Polay/HBO Keeping Up With the Roys Even though they may not be in the main plot, we still want to highlight the most blazing burns and spiciest moments of Succession. Here they are from this episode: -Kendall, Roman, and Shivs mother has invited everyone to a relaxing family getaway in the Caribbean, where theyll all reflect upon the past week. Mom suddenly wants to mom now, Shiv says. Ouch. And although Kendall has been crying over his kids all morning, he has no remorse for his mother: Im a hard no. -Karl (David Rasche), Frank (Peter Friedman), and Gerri (J. Smith Cameron) chat about their former boss at his funeral. Hes actually gone, Karl says. Gerri snarks, How much of you is glad? -After Roman flubs his eulogy, Kendall takes the reins. Hes such a supportive brother. But Roman does have to face a huge blow to the ego when Kendall grabs his notecards and begins rewriting his speech on the stage, just feet away from their fathers lifeless body. -Logans tomb is a big topic of discussion. Its so big! There are empty holes in the wall for the kids to lay their bodies to rest in the futurehow thoughtful. Connor (Alan Ruck) claims top bunk. My favorite line, though, comes from Shiv, who is left aghast by his $5 million crypt decked out with red streamers: Was he in a bidding war with Stalin and Liberace? Read more at The Daily Beast. Get the Daily Beast's biggest scoops and scandals delivered right to your inbox. Sign up now. Stay informed and gain unlimited access to the Daily Beast's unmatched reporting. Subscribe now. Roman Protasevich photographed in June 2021 at a briefing for journalists and diplomats organized by the foreign ministry in Minsk A Belarusian former dissident journalist, arrested when his Ryanair flight was spectacularly intercepted and convicted this month to eight years in prison, has been pardoned, state media reported Monday. Roman Protasevich, formerly an editor of the opposition media group Nexta, was arrested two years ago and accused of helping to coordinate mass protests against President Alexander Lukashenko's re-election in 2020. He was detained in May 2021 after his flight from Greece to Lithuania was intercepted by a Belarusian fighter jet and forced to land in Minsk. Earlier this month, a court in the Moscow-allied country sentenced the 28-year-old to eight years in a penal colony. He was kept under house arrest after the trial. But on Monday, Belarusian state news agency Belta reported that Protasevich had been pardoned. "I have just signed appropriate documents confirming that I have been pardoned," Belta quoted Protasevich as saying. "I am incredibly grateful to the country and of course, to the president personally for such a decision," he said in a video released by Belta. "This is, of course, just great news." After his arrest, which caused international shock, Protasevich is believed to have been coerced by authorities into issuing apologetic statements on state television. - Political prisoners - As his trial opened in February, he said he was "fully guilty," in a video published by Belta. Little is known about how Protasevich was treated by security services. Some in the exiled Belarusian opposition have accused him of collaborating with authorities. Two other key figures behind the Nexta Telegram channel, Stepan Putilo and Yan Rudnik, were sentenced in absentia to 20 years and 19 years in prison respectively. The charges included making public calls to insurrection, organising of terrorist attacks, offending the president and spreading false information about Belarus. Belarus, ruled by Lukashenko since 1994, has cracked down on anyone linked to the protests, which were the biggest in Belarusian history. Nexta, a popular channel on YouTube and Telegram, played an active role in the 2020 protests, which erupted after Lukashenko was accused of rigging an election. The platform was banned and declared a "terrorist organisation". According to Belarus's independent Viasna rights group, there are now 1,500 political prisoners in the country. The Minsk regime, reclusive for years, has become even more isolated after brutally suppressing the protests and allowing Russia to use Belarusian territory to launch its Ukraine offensive. bur/giv/jm Lukashenko pardons Belarusian journalist sentenced to eight years in prison Roman Protasevich Ive literally just signed all the relevant documents that I was pardoned, Protasevich told journalists. This, of course, is just great news. Protasevich was sentenced on May 3 to eight years in prison by the Minsk Oblast Court. Read also: Belarusian battalion recaptures trenches from Russians on Donbas 'road of life' The court found him guilty of organizing mass riots, inciting enmity, creating an extremist formation, conspiring to seize power, and publicly insulting dictator Alexander Lukashenko. Two other defendants in the case Nexta founder Stepan Putilo and former channel editor Yan Rudyk were sentenced in absentia to 20 and 19 years in prison, respectively. Read also: Blogger convicted for online reaction to Lukashenko cartoon dies in Belarusian colony Protasevich and his girlfriend, Sofia Sapega, were taken off a Ryanair plane en route from Greece to Lithuania in May 2021 after the aircraft was forced to make an emergency landing in Minsk by Belarusian military aircraft. Western countries view this emergency landing as a hijacking orchestrated by Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko to detain a member of the opposition. In May 2022, Sapega was sentenced to six years in prison for inciting social enmity. In April 2023, she agreed to be extradited to Russia. Were bringing the voice of Ukraine to the world. Support us with a one-time donation, or become a Patron! Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine Alexander Lukashenko, the self-proclaimed President of Belarus, will meet with Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Wednesday to discuss "problems that should not exist in [their] relations". Source: BelTA, a Belarusian state-owned news outlet, citing Lukashenkos statement at a meeting with Dmitry Krutoi, Belarus Ambassador to Russia Quote: "According to government reports, there are almost no problems [in the relations between the countries ed.]. I have little faith in this. I see from the situation that there are still problems, some inconsistencies. Sometimes bureaucracy. Who is to blame for this? So when we meet the day after tomorrow in Moscow, Russian President Putin and I can discuss and remove those problems that should not exist in our relations at all." Details: Lukashenko added that he does not usually meet with Putin "to look at each other, although that is also important". In his opinion, the presidents attitudes are important. Journalists fight on their own frontline. Support Ukrainska Pravda or become our patron! Luxury Retail Employees Are Revealing What It's Like To Deal With The "Ultra Rich," And Oh My, It Gets Wild We recently asked the people from the BuzzFeed Community who have worked in luxury retail to tell us what it was like. Here are the surprising results: 1. "I worked for a boutique retail store geared toward Maserati-driving soccer moms. Someone came in with their 80-year-old sugar daddy, who stood and pointed at everything he wanted her to wear and dropped $1,200 on outfits for her. She walked in with her husband a week or two later like we didnt recognize her from before." "If we remembered anyone, it was the people who dropped four figures on clothing." fartmelons Csondy / Getty Images 2. "I worked for Michael Kors, and the theft was unreal. While working one night, a group of known offenders came into the store and started grabbing handbags while making it known that employees couldnt do anything about it. They were threatening anyone who even thought about trying to stop them, and customers were frozen in fear. After all was said and done, they got away with thousands of dollars in merchandise. I called the mall police who called in the city police, but the thieves were long gone." "When I notified my manager, her first question was, 'How much did they get?' She never once asked if everyone was OK, physically or mentally. Her main concern was merchandise, which is insured and can be replaced. I quit three weeks later." 39, Texas John Keeble / Getty Images 3. I worked in a high-end chain retail store for a long time on several malls. One of them pretty prominent in the Philly area. I had a few customers who would come in with their wife, and then later, their mistress. A lot of Amex black cards (this was the early 2000s) and a weekly visit and sometimes lunch from Bam Margera and his then-girlfriend!!" stephanieschur Jon Kopaloff / FilmMagic for Nickelodeon Magazine 4. "I worked for a very high-end luxury department store for six years. Let me tell you every single person, including myself, is doing some shady stuff. 'Accidentally' marking down items, hiding stock, stealing, hooking up with other coworkers and clients in the back, coke in the fitting rooms, getting items delivered to the wrong address on purpose, etc. The worst was we found out our store manager was using the client book to steal credit card numbers and got arrested. Great designer clothing, though." 29, Las Vegas, Nevada Helloabc / Getty Images / iStockphoto 5. "I worked for a high-end retailer for home decor. The amount of people who would begin the call with their job title was very high. It gave an air of 'I think Im more important than you.' And most of the time, they did act like they thought their didnt stink. I was berated and threatened by many 'lawyers' about back orders or damaged items I had no control over, told how 'important' the order was, had people asking if they could be bumped up in the order line because they needed it for a 'VIP party,' or some other BS." "The company itself was pretty shady about manufacturing practices also. They abused the 'made in USA' label in that only part of the furniture had to be made in the US for them to have that label, and they would get some parts from China, which really pissed people off when they discovered it on their pieces. Im so glad Ive long since left that place." panda_13 Solstock / Getty Images 6. "Always be nice to the associate showing you shoes. I worked at a luxury department store, and so many times a colleague of mine would come to the back stock room, not look for a shoe, and just tell the customer we didnt have it because 1) they didnt think they would end up buying it, 2) the customer would return it within a week, or 3) they just didnt like them." hayleys40f3254e8 Digipub / Getty Images 7. "A lot of 'luxury' items are made in Asia, but the brands use loopholes that make it look like it was made in Europe or in the US to give the illusion it wasn't mass-produced next door to the Gap sweatshops. There was a big ruckus years ago about some brands getting purses made in India and only getting them finished in Europe, but it was only spoken about in the industry never made it to the public. Lots of high-end 'American' jewelry is made in Hong Kong." "Designer brands all have outrageous markups. They could sell at 80% off and still make money, but they rarely have deep discounts because they don't want 'the wrong kind of people' buying, so unsold inventory is usually destroyed." Anonymous, Toronto, Canada Zorica Nastasic / Getty Images 8. "A sugar daddy came into our store with his two 'babies' they were sisters, by the way. They had gotten him drunk at lunch and went around the store picking out clothes, handbags, and shoes. Anytime he would ask about the price of something, they would kiss his cheek and whisper things in his ear to shut him up. It was really disturbing. In the end, he spent, like, $20K on them. Who knows what he did or how he got that money. They all looked happy in the end, so it worked out, I guess?" 26, California Sven Hagolani / Getty Images / fStop 9. "I worked as the assistant to one of the in-house personal shoppers at a high-end department store in Beverly Hills. Some of these extremely wealthy clients would not purchase anything in a size that was labeled anything different than the size they thought they were in their heads. So, I would be sent to the alterations department with multiple couture items that needed their size tags 'switched.' I would take them garments in a size 8, and they would remove the inside tags and sew in a new designer tag that would say it was a size 2 instead even though the woman buying the clothes was definitely not a size 2. I was shocked that my boss made me do this, and I felt like I was committing some type of fraud. Now, I just look back and feel sorry for those women that needed to be fed a lie in order to buy clothes." 48, Los Angeles, California Chuck Savage / Getty Images 10. "I worked at Nordstrom in downtown San Francisco (which is now closing) in the designer section. A famous news reporter came in (who was married) with a younger lady friend and bought her $3K in clothes in about eight minutes. Nordstrom also has a 'million dollar sellers club' for the sales associates that obviously sell over a million a year; they get special assistants to help them sell. The busiest time was the anniversary sale where professional women from all over the country would make appointments at our store with these associates to come and pick up their clothes or have them shipped out." "Customers were mostly pleasant at Nordstrom, although I did have a man try to come to return a pair of shoes from 1993. And yes, I did it. But only gave him the value of what theyre worth today. Oh, and I met Michael Kors's mom when she came in to present a new line of his." 30, California Justin Sullivan / Getty Images 11. "Saw Christian Slater at an art store I worked at. One of the featured paintings was of him from Heathers. He said he'd buy it if I could give him a discount." 34, Texas New World Pictures / Courtesy Everett Collection 12. "I had a client who would buy three of the same item one for his wife, the other two for his side pieces. He said he'd buy the same things so he didn't forget who he gave which item or get confused and blow his cover. And there were many, many of these guys who would do the same. We also had a lot of cash purchases that usually still had drug residue on the bills." 39, Pennsylvania Julien Mcroberts / Getty Images/Tetra images RF 13. "I worked in a womens boutique in an affluent area outside of San Francisco. It was easy to distinguish the rich from the wealthy by how they treated our sales associates when the owner wasnt around. Rich customers were some of the rudest and most insufferable people I have ever encountered while working retail. Ive had shoe boxes thrown at me and full glasses of wine spilled on designer handbags without as much as an apology. In contrast, the truly WEALTHY were the most unassuming and appreciative." "We got a lot of lonely housewives of tech millionaires (and billionaires) coming into our store regularly just to chat for an hour or two between spin classes and spa breaks. They were an absolute pleasure." 30, California Tony Anderson / Getty Images 14. "Not necessarily 'luxury,' but I sold high-end designer watches once and had a customer come in whose English was wanting. The associate who was helping her became frustrated at this and asked me to take over. Turned out, the customer ended up practically clearing the counters! A little patience goes a long way." "Also, turns out...some associates buy up newly released products, or hide them 'in the back,' to sell on eBay." conscientiousobservers Eva-katalin / Getty Images 15. "I worked at a large luxury department store in the UK, and the customers who didn't have money were so rude. We had a few regulars who would come in and buy the odd candle or designer jumper every now and then, and if you couldn't bend everything to their whim, they would become so aggressive it was unreal. The customers who would regularly do large orders with us or were shopping with us daily, however, were some of the nicest, most polite people I've ever met. One day, close to Christmas, we had a family come in with their children who proceeded to absolutely terrorize the store. When we approached them and told them they needed to control their children, they screamed that they were spending a lot of money and didn't have to do anything we asked. They spent around 200 on the cheapest things they could find in store." "Our next customer came in with children, too, and one of them broke a rather expensive vase by accident and proceeded to panic quite a bit. She calmed him down while her other children stood quietly looking at toys. She insisted on paying for the damage (I knew it wouldn't be much for her), but we told her she really didn't have to since it was an accident. She proceeded to buy every single staff member a bottle of our best champagne (around 600) and wished us a Merry Christmas. I feel like it shows you don't get anywhere in life without being nice to people." canunotmywaywardson Hispanolistic / Getty Images 16. "I worked at Rolex for exactly 30 days during busy season as their 'ambassador,' meaning I was every sales person's sales assistant and the store manager's personal assistant. Any time someone would come in and sit down to discuss a purchase, it was my job to offer fancy coffee and sparkling water; I'd then take down the order, run across the street to the boutique coffee shop, cut the line, and pay nothing (because Rolex had a limitless tab set up). When I wasn't doing that, I would be handed the boss's Amex and car keys and told to go shopping for his holiday gifting with a vague direction of 'this high-end store, no more than this amount' (which was usually a couple grand)." "Celebs and other well-known millionaires came in at least once a day, and there were always stacks of cash like an only-see-in-movies amount of cash in the back after large sales." 30, California Sopa Images / SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images And finally... 17. "There are demanding customers especially the ones who pretend that they have the money but don't. Many of the repeat customers, especially socialites, often buy expensive outfits to wear to a fundraiser or major event and return them a few days later for all sorts of odd reasons. These ladies can't be seen in the same outfit again, so they constantly wear and return garments. One time, a lady returned an expensive designer dress and claimed that she hadn't worn it, but was caught in a lie when the salesperson showed her a picture of her in it from the society column of a newspaper. She was stunned and said that she had forgotten what she had worn to that event. I've seen women try on expensive clothes and throw them in the corner of the dressing room instead of hanging the garment back on the rack or laying it on the chair in the room. There were women who would buy the same garment somewhere else on sale and return it to store to get a full price refund." "There were always women who ordered clothes during designer truck shows and not show up to pay for garments when they arrive. And the most disgusting thing I witnessed was women who would wear and return expensive handbags and/or garments with stains on them and sometimes smelled like bad body odor. I've seen it all!" Anonymous, 50s Joos Mind / Getty Images If you've worked at a luxury retail store, what was your experience like? Feel free to tell us in the comments below. Or, if you prefer to remain anonymous, you can share your response using this Google form Note: Some responses have been edited for length and/or clarity. Police have set up a makeshift base camp - Shutterstock German detectives investigating the disappearance of Madeleine McCann are to search a large reservoir in the Algarve where the prime suspect Christian Brueckner was known to frequent. Specialist divers are expected to begin examining the Barragem do Arade reservoir near Silves, around 15 miles from Praia da Luz, where Madeleine went missing in May 2007. Scotland Yard detectives are understood to have travelled to observe the operation, which is also being supported by the Portuguese Policia Judiciaria. Detectives are also understood to be focusing on one particular area of the vast lake, which has a shore extending more than five miles. It is not the first time the area has been the focus of interest for those searching for Madeleine, with operations being conducted there twice in 2008 without success. But the location has gained new significance following claims that Brueckner was a regular visitor to the area when he was in the Algarve in 2007. Barragem reservoir Silves It is thought the initial examination of the area will last for several days, with a view to extending searches if anything of interest is found. One well-placed source said it was a German-led operation being conducted in conjunction with the Portuguese police. It was organised after the authorities in Germany gleaned information about regular trips Brueckner had made to the dam and reservoir, when he lived in a camper van in the area. The Portuguese broadcaster SIC reported that German police sought permission to search the dam in an official judicial request to Portugal several weeks ago after concluding it was an area of interest. Christian Brueckner The official request said: Investigators know suspect Christian Brueckner used to come to this dam regularly. He would call it his little paradise and would often spend the night here. He was seen here often. The German authorities considered this reservoir to be an area of interest and ended up sending an international letter of request or letter rogatory." The operation, which began on Monday, was focused on a peninsula just over a mile long jutting into the lake. Several local council lorries were spotted on the piece of land as tents and other structures were erected. Behind them in another area, just under a mile away, Portuguese Civil Protection workers were seen setting up a large blue tent alongside police who had mounted their own blue tent. An onlooker said: There are around two dozen Policia Judiciaria officers who seem to be supervising things at this stage. Madeleine was just three years old when she disappeared from Praia da Luz 16 years ago. Earlier this month, Kate and Gerry posted a poignant tribute to mark their daughters 20th birthday, telling her: We love you and were waiting for you. Were never going to give up. They added: Happy birthday Madeleine. Still missing. Still very much missed. Still looking. For as long as it takes. The message on the official Find Maddie Campaign Facebook page accompanied a cherished last photo of her as a three-year-old, beaming in a pink sunhat and clutching tennis balls. Madeleine McCann disappeared in May 2007 - PA The McCanns are expected to be kept informed of any developments as a result of the new search through Scotland Yard liaison officers. Hans Christian Wolters, a German prosecutor, has consistently said he is convinced Madeleine is dead and convicted sex offender Brueckner, 45, has been named as the sole suspect. He is currently serving a prison sentence for the 2005 rape of an American pensioner in the resort from where Madeleine vanished. Last April, he was made an official suspect or arguido in Portugal over Madeleines disappearance. However, Friedrich Fulscher, his defence lawyer, labelled it a procedural trick linked to statute of limitations legislation at the time. Last autumn, Brueckner was charged in Germany with several sex crimes on the Algarve against women and children, including the rape of an Irish holiday rep in 2004 and the sexual abuse of a 10-year-old girl on a beach near Praia da Luz in 2007. In April, his lawyer revealed those charges had been dropped against him after successfully arguing prosecutors had no jurisdiction over him in Braunschweig, where the Madeleine case was being brought. The case could end up with prosecutors in Saxony-Anhalt instead, but an appeal lodged by the Braunschweig public prosecutors office has yet to be decided. Braunschweig prosecutor Mr Wolters has insisted they are still in control of the Madeleine McCann investigation and Brueckner, who denies any involvement in her disappearance, remains in custody. The Policia Judiciaria force confirmed the search was taking place. They added: Within the scope of international cooperation, in the next few days in the Algarve region, new searches will be carried out, coordinated by the Judiciary Police, at the request of the German Authorities and with the presence of the British Authorities. Information will be provided in due course on the outcome of the proceedings. 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. Police are believed to have discovered a 'relevant clue' according to Portuguese media reports Madeleine McCann was just three years old when she vanished from her family's holiday apartment in Portugal. (AP) Police investigating the disappearance of Madeleine McCann 16 years ago have brought an end to the three-day search of a Portuguese reservoir that is thought to have resulted in the discovery of a "relevant clue". The German-led investigation began on Tuesday after they requested access to the Barragem do Arade reservoir, with teams using diggers and divers to carry out the search. According to Portuguese newspaper Correio da Manha, a clue was found during digging after teams focused on a specific area of the reservoir - with sources saying pieces of clothing and plastic were among items found on the site that are set to be sent for forensic analysis. However, the McCann family may face a wait of months before the results of the analysis return, according to The Mirror, which reported that evidence had been sent to Germany in a process that may not yield results for many weeks. German authorities have not revealed why they have begun searching the site, but it is believed to have been visited by suspect Christian Brueckner, who is serving time in prison in Germany due to unrelated crimes. However, it is believed authorities were searching for a videocamera belonging to Brueckner that they believe may contain important photographic evidence. Portuguese police were told on Thursday they would no longer be needed to help monitor the roads in the region past 4pm, as the search came to an end after three days. Madeleine McCann reservoir search ends in Portugal (Sky News, 2 mins) Where were police looking? On Tuesday, search teams were seen scouring the banks hammering away at the ground with pickaxes and combing through small rocks with rakes and spades. Throughout Wednesday and Thursday, police focused on an area of woodland on the peninsula. Officers used shovels to excavate their area of focus, and sniffer dogs and pickaxes have also been deployed over the course of the searches. Portuguese police investigators dismantle base camp at the end of the three-day search for remains of Madeleine McCann. (Getty Images) As some concentrated on the digging site, others used rakes and shovels to scour the surrounding area, slowly making their way through the recently trimmed undergrowth. Divers have also been spotted investigating the water. The woodland showed pathways had been cut by heavy machinery, leading to the main, flattened 160 square foot excavation area. Holes dug by police had been left around 2ft deep. The concentrated search area was also flattened with eight small holes dug with shovels. Why did police begin the search? German authorities have not revealed why they have requested access to the site, only to say it is in relation to the McCann case. The prosecutor for the city of Braunschweig, Christian Wolters, said they were acting on the basis of "certain tips". Authorities in Braunschweig were the ones to identify Brueckner as a suspect in the case in 2020. Wolters told German public broadcaster NDR the new information had not come from the suspect and they did not have a confession or "any indication from the suspect of where it would make sense to search." The Sun reported that investigators previously found photos and video of Brueckner at the reservoir. Citing a source close to the investigation, the MailOnline has reported that police were looking for a gun and a camcorder belonging to Brueckner. Neither report has been confirmed by investigators. What is the latest on the Madeleine McCann case? Convicted paedophile Brueckner, 45, remains the prime suspect in the McCann case, but he has yet to face any charges and denies involvement. The German national is currently serving a seven-year sentence for raping a 72-year-old US woman in 2005 in the Algarve the same region of Portugal from where McCann disappeared. In 2020 German police named a man they thought was "probably" responsible for the girl's abduction and murder describing him only as "Christian B" due to the country's strict privacy laws. He was then declared an official suspect by Portuguese police in April 2022, with subsequent reports suggesting authorities in Germany were poised to charge him. Kate and Gerry McCann have refused to give up on their daughter, 16 years on from her disappearance. (Reuters) In 2005, he raped a 72-year-old US widow at her home in Praia da Luz, which he is currently serving a prison sentence for. Brueckner was convicted in 2017 of sexually abusing a child and "creating and possessing child pornographic material" in Germany and sentenced to 15 months in jail. This week's search was the first major operation of its kind since June 2014 when British police were given permission to do digs in Praia da Luz that involved sniffer dogs trained in detecting bodies and ground-penetrating radar. The reservoir being searched is near Silves where a lorry driver says he saw a woman handing a child-like Madeleine McCann over to a man two days after she went missing from her Praia da Luz holiday apartment on 3 May 2007. It was searched twice in February and March 2008 by divers hired by a Portuguese lawyer. Madeleine was just three years old when she vanished, and her disappearance has remained a high-profile case throughout, with detectives from the UK, Portugal and Germany trying to find the person responsible or her abduction. Sex offences trial of Madeleine McCann suspect cancelled in Germany (The Guardian, 2 mins) What else do we know about Christian Brueckner? Convicted sex offender Christian Brueckner is the prime suspect of Madeleine's disappearance, but he is still yet to be charged with her abduction. (AP) Born in Germany in 1976, Brueckner was 17 when he was convicted of molesting a six-year-old girl in a playground in his hometown of Wuerzburg, Bavaria, in 1994. The following year, after he'd turned 18 and got his driving licence, he moved to the Algarve with his then-girlfriend in 1995, escaping a youth custody sentence and abandoning a car mechanic apprenticeship. Brueckner, whose relationship soon ended, took on a variety of odd jobs at the Portuguese resort. He was convicted in 2017 of sexually abusing a child and "creating and possessing child pornographic material" in Germany and sentenced to 15 months in jail. In December 2019, he was sentenced to seven years in prison for the rape of an American woman. He is also being investigated for the rape of an Irish tour rep in 2004. However, the serial sex offender, who is in his mid-40s, is yet to face any charges related to the McCann case so far due to a lack of sufficient evidence. In April this year, five unrelated charges of rape and sexual assault against Brueckner were thrown out by a German court because he lived in a different region of the country at the time of the alleged offences. The courts decision means legal authorities in Braunschweig have no jurisdiction over Madeleines case. Police searching for Madeleine McCann are to conduct a major search of a remote reservoir in Portugal which suspect Christian Brueckner used to visit. A peninsula jutting into the Algarve reservoir was sealed off on Monday as police and Portuguese Civil Protection workers were seen setting up tents and various other structures nearby. One source claimed it is a German-led operation linked to regular trips to the dam investigators believe were made by sole suspect Brueckner, the 45-year-old paedophile currently jailed near Bremen for raping an American pensioner in 2005, in the resort where Madeleine vanished two years later aged three. The development comes just 10 days after Madeleines parents, Kate and Gerry McCann, issued a tribute on their Leicestershire-born daughters 20th birthday, telling her: We love you and were waiting for you. Were never going to give up. British police are due to travel to Portugal to observe the new search, the source said, with Scotland Yard liaison officers expected to keep the McCanns informed of any developments. Key Points Police investigating Madeleine McCann disappearance to search Algarve reservoir Suspect Christian Brueckner believed to have visited dam near Praia da Luz, insider says Kate and Gerry McCann issue message to missing daughter on her 20th birthday Images show authorities setting up tents near reservoir 15:53 , Andy Gregory Here are some images from close to the reservoir where authorities probing the disappearance of Madeleine McCann are expected to search. Authorities were seen setting up tents near the reservoir (Solarpix.com) The reservoir is situated some 50km from Praia da Luz, where Madeleine McCann went missing (Solarpix.com) Watch: Drone footage shows dam where police are expected to search 15:35 , Andy Gregory Christian Brueckner believed to have visited dam, insider says 15:20 , Andy Gregory A source said that the new search in Portugal is to be led by German investigators and is linked to information they have gleaned which suggests sole suspect Christian Brueckner made regular trips to the dam, reports Gerard Couzens. The insider said: Portuguese police will offer logistical support but the initiative is German and they were the ones that requested the work that is going to take place this week. Scotland Yard officers are due to travel to Portugal but theirs will be a watching brief. The McCanns are expected to be kept informed of any developments as a result of the new search through Scotland Yard liaison officers. German police expected to release statement on Tuesday, report suggests 15:15 , Andy Gregory German police would not officially confirm the search at the Arade dam some 50km from Praia da Luz but indicated that reports of the investigation are correct, according to the BBC. They are expected to release a statement on Tuesday, the broadcaster reported. Madeleine McCanns parents share message for missing daughter on her 20th birthday 15:10 , Andy Gregory The new search in Portugal comes just 10 days after Madeleine McCanns parents shared a message for their lost child on her 20th birthday. On the Facebook page Find Madeleine Campaign, they wrote: Happy birthday Madeleine! We love you and were waiting for you. Were never going to give up. The Leicestershire couple have continued to campaign despite more than 15 years passing since she went missing aged three in Praia da Luz, and they shared the message alongside a picture of Madeleine. My colleague William Mata has more in this report: Madeleine McCanns parents send poignant message for her 20th birthday Police to begin major search of Algarve reservoir frequented by Christian Brueckner 15:07 , Andy Gregory German police looking for Madeleine McCann will begin a major search of a remote Algarve reservoir suspect Christian Brueckner used to visit. A peninsula just over a mile long jutting into the reservoir was sealed off just after midday on Monday. Several local council lorries were spotted on the piece of land as tents and other structures were erected. Behind them in another area just under a mile away Portuguese Civil Protection workers were seen setting up a large blue tent alongside police who had erected their own blue tent. An onlooker said: There are around two dozen Policia Judiciaria officers who seem to be supervising things at this stage. Read the full report here: Madeleine McCann police to search reservoir visited by key suspect 14:52 , Andy Gregory Good afternoon, well be using this blog to post live updates on the investigation into Madeleine McCanns disappearance, as authorities prepare to search at a remote reservoir in the Algarve. Bryan Kohberger, who is accused of killing four University of Idaho students in November 2022, listens during his arraignment hearing in Latah County District Court on Monday in Moscow, Idaho. Bryan Kohberger, who is accused of killing four University of Idaho students in November 2022, listens during his arraignment hearing in Latah County District Court on Monday in Moscow, Idaho. The 28-year-old former grad student accused of killing four University of Idaho students in November 2022 entered a plea of not guilty on Monday to murder and burglary charges. It was the first time in six months that the public, including the victims families, saw Bryan Kohberger since his last appearance at the Latah County Courthouse. On Monday, Kohberger refused to say his plea, prompting the judge to enter a not guilty plea on his behalf, The Associated Press reported. Kohberger is accused of fatally stabbing Madison Mogen, 21; Kaylee Goncalves, 21; Xana Kernodle, 20; and Kernodles boyfriend, 20-year-old Ethan Chapin, at the womens off-campus rental house. Prosecutors have so far not revealed any information about a possible motive, and the killings rocked the small college town and prompted intense speculation on social media. According to the judge, Kohberger could face life in prison or the death penalty on the murder charges. Reporters in the courtroom said the families of Mogen and Goncalves were there watching the proceedings. Chapins family had previously said they would not attend, according to a reporter for King 5 News. A trial date has been set for Oct. 2. The defense said they expect the trial to last four to six weeks. John Judge, the new judge assigned to the case, read all five charges against Kohberger aloud in the courtroom, specifying the names of the victims while some family members cried, according to reporters in the courtroom. Dateline reported Friday that according to an unnamed source with inside knowledge of the investigation, detectives found evidence that Kohberger had purchased a Ka-Bar knife and sheath on Amazon several months before the stabbings. Police had earlier said they found Kohbergers DNA on a knife sheath discovered on a bed next to one of the victims. Two additional hearings were scheduled to follow the arraignment. The first concerned a media coalitions challenge to the sweeping gag order imposed in January that barred attorneys, police and family members, among others, from speaking publicly about the case. The state Supreme Court had previously rejected the request, saying the news organizations should have first made the request to the judge who issued the gag order. The family would like to thank everyone for continuing to follow this case and keep the memories of Kaylee, Maddie, Xana and Ethan alive, the Goncalves family said in statement their attorney Shanon Gray shared with HuffPost. They are what is important not the Defendant. We are thankful that the Latah County District Attorneys Office finally took the case to a [grand jury] and came back with an indictment. At the same time we are disappointed that the judicial process has not been more efficient in addressing the Gag order. This is just the beginning of a long journey for all the families and we are thankful for your continued support and coverage. The second hearing concerned Kohbergers request for discovery, or access to all of the evidence compiled in the case. Subscribe to our true crime newsletter, Suspicious Circumstances, to get the biggest unsolved mysteries, white collar scandals, and grim cases delivered straight to your inbox every week. Sign up here. Related... A man who allegedly sold fake ID and social security cards in Central Kentucky for years while under investigation has been charged and indicted in federal court. Tomas Leal-Paez was indicted Thursday on two counts of possessing a counterfeit permanent resident card and two counts of possessing a counterfeit social security card with the intent to sell them throughout Central Kentucky. According to an affidavit, Leal-Paez allegedly sold fake IDs, fake drivers licenses and green cards to undocumented immigrants, primarily from Mexico. The FBI began investigating Leal-Paez in 2019 after they arrested his family member for using the fake documents to obtain employment. The FBI turned them into a confidential informant, according to court documents. Over the course of four years, the FBI used the family member to text, call and set up meetings to exchange documents for money with Leal-Paez, whose true identity was unknown to investigators throughout. The informant would call Leal-Paez, request the documents with specifics on location and date of birth, and meet to purchase them once they were prepared, according to court documents. In court documents, Leal-Paez was referred to by a phone number he used to conduct his business, and other aliases he created, according to court documents. FBI investigators used the cell phone number to track Leal-Paezs whereabouts and how many calls were made from his device, according to an affidavit. They found Leal-Paez traveled frequently between Louisville and Lexington, and was in frequent contact with someone tied to creating fake documents since at least 2015. A second informant was also used during the investigation, according to court records. This informant also set up meetings to exchange allegedly fraudulent documents for money all of which were overseen by the FBI. Five controlled purchases of the documents were monitored by the FBI, according to court documents. Agents were able to track down Leal-Paezs location after executing a search warrant on his phone number and using GPS technology to trace where the phone was located. The phone pinged at an apartment complex on Surfside Drive in Lexington and El Patio apartments in Louisville, according to court documents. A task force agent and Lexington police officer attempted to knock on all the doors of the Lexington complex, but did not find Leal-Paez. They spoke with the buildings manager, who said the apartment was rented by an individual named Mario Reyes, which investigators believe is an alias, according to court documents. On May 8, Leal-Paez appeared in court for a detention hearing where he was posed as a serious risk for flight, according to court documents. Evidence produced at the detention hearing demonstrates that the defendant has long engaged in producing, selling, and personally using false identification documents, court documents allege. He has little connection to this district or even this country. Moreover, he possesses the means by which to flee or fail to appear via the production of false identification documents. Leal-Paez was ordered to be detained, and if convicted, faces 15 years in prison, $500,000 in fines, and six years supervised release. North Shore man to be arraigned on murder charge in deadly Mansfield shooting A North Shore man arrested in connection with a deadly shooting at a home in Mansfield over the weekend is slated to face a judge on Monday. William OBrien, 22, of Manchester-by-the-Sea, is expected to be arraigned in Attleboro District Court on charges of murder, carrying an illegal firearm, and carrying a loaded illegal firearm in the death of 23-year-old Samuel Waters, of Mansfield, according to the Bristol District Attorneys Office. On Monday, the Bristol County DA added a murder charger to Officers responded to the area of 42 West Church Street on Saturday just after 11 a.m. and found Waters suffering from gunshot wounds. Investigators said he had been shot several times. OBrien was detained in connection with Waters death following an investigation. Its not yet clear if additional charges will be filed against OBrien. Stunned neighborhood residents remembered Waters as a wonderful person. I was shocked, absolutely shocked. When I heard it was Sam, I was absolutely devastated, neighbor Mike Carr said. Its such a tragedy. He was such a nice person, an absolute sweetheart, like I couldnt even think of one bad thing to say. Massachusetts State Police detectives are assisting Mansfield police with an investigation. This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available. Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts. Follow Boston 25 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch Boston 25 News NOW A 40-year-old mother was killed at an Oakland County car dealership Saturday and the shooting suspect turned himself in to authorities, Michigan State Police said. The investigation into the fatal workplace shooting in Royal Oak Township is ongoing and has been sent to prosecutors for their review, police said. A message left for state police's second precinct Sunday was not immediately returned. The incident started Saturday morning when state police troopers said they arrived at Legend Motors on West Eight Mile Road near Wyoming Street around 8:40 a.m. after reports of shots fired. The business lists its address in Ferndale; a message seeking comment from Legend Motors was not immediately returned Sunday. Initially, state police said, "they found one female who had been shot and killed. A suspect is in custody and this appears to have been a domestic homicide. There is no danger to the public." More: Gun violence strikes 2 Michigan children in 2 days; toddler dead More: US doctors travel to edge of war zone to care for burned Ukrainian children Additional investigation revealed reports of a man in a white Chevrolet Equinox shooting before driving away while a woman lay on the ground. Troopers publicly identified the deceased victim only as a 40-year-old woman from Sterling Heights. Later that same morning, Detroit Police reported that that a 43-year-old man from Oak Park had turned himself to them in connection with the shooting. The suspect was arrested, but authorities did not immediately release his name. State police said that the victim and suspect have a child in common. The suspected shooter was waiting for the victim at the car dealership, her place of employment, police said. Contact Matthew Dolan: 313-223-4743 or msdolan@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter at @matthewsdolan This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Workplace shooting suspect surrenders in Detroit, police say An independent autopsy determined a man who was found unresponsive and covered in bug bites at a Georgia jail died due to "severe neglect" from jail staff, and attorneys for his family are calling for criminal negligence charges. LaShawn Thompson, 35, was housed in the psychiatric wing of the Fulton County Jail after a June arrest on a misdemeanor battery charge in Atlanta. Local officials said Thompson had diagnosed mental health issues. Three months later, he was found in his cell dehydrated and malnourished, and his body "was infested inside and out with insects," according to attorneys Ben Crump and Michael Harper. "This is the most deplorable death in custody case in the history of America," Crump said at a news conference Monday morning on the steps of the Georgia State Capitol, alongside Thompson's family and community leaders. 'Eaten alive by insects' Atlanta man found dead in jail cell infested with bed bugs, coroner says Independent autopsy cites neglect, untreated schizophrenia in death of LaShawn Thompson Crump on Monday held up an enlarged printed copy of the autopsy, conducted by the head of pathology at Howard University in Washington, D.C., and paid for by civil rights activist and football player Colin Kaepernick. Crump read through multiple portions of the report, which found Thompson had "innumerable" bug bites and was not receiving medication for schizophrenia at the time of his death. He also suffered from poor living conditions, poor grooming, dehydration and rapid weight loss, according to the report. "The cause of death should be listed as complications due to severe neglect with the contributing cause stated as untreated decompensated schizophrenia," the autopsy reads. The autopsy determined the manner of death to be homicide, meaning Thompson's death was caused by the actions of another. The medical term does not draw a legal conclusion. LaShawn Thompson: Colin Kaepernick to pay for autopsy of inmate who died in insect-infested jail cell Crump said the findings of the independent autopsy amount to criminal negligence. He attributed Thompson's death to the "inaction, cruelty and inhumanity" of the jail staff. "It is unfathomable that no one working in this facility lifted a finger to help Lashawn as he slowly died for three months on their watch," Crump said. Brad McCray, Thompson's brother, described the difficulty of seeing images of his brother and the conditions of his brother's jail cell circulating online. "These images all over the internet, all over the media its disturbing," McCray said. "I have another brother, and seeing these images and going through this as a family sent him into a mental breakdown." Gerald Griggs, president of the NAACP of Georgia, said the findings are "appalling." He called on the Fulton County District Attorney to file criminal charges. He also urged Georgias governor to meet with the Thompson family and to fully fund mental health facilities in the state. LaShawn Thompson, 35 died at the Fulton County Jail in Georgia, his familys attorney told USA TODAY. According to a Fulton County Medical Examiner's report, Thompson was found unresponsive in his jail cell Sept. 19, and pronounced dead after failed life-saving attempts by responding local police and fire medical personnel. He was found covered in insects. Medicial examiner's report on LaShawn Thompson noted 'severe bed bug infestation' A Fulton County Medical Examiner's report obtained by USA TODAY last month said Thompson was found unresponsive in his cell on Sept. 19 and pronounced dead after failed life-saving attempts by responding local police and medical personnel. The coroner's report listed Thompson's cause of death as undetermined. The report said there were no obvious signs of trauma on Thompson's body, but his entire body was covered in bed bugs. It also noted a "severe bed bug infestation" in the cell. LaShawn Thompson, 35 died at the Fulton County Jail in Georgia, his familys attorney told USA TODAY. According to a Fulton County Medical Examiner's report, Thompson was found unresponsive in his jail cell Sept. 19, and pronounced dead after failed life-saving attempts by responding local police and fire medical personnel. He was found covered in insects. Fulton County Jail 'dilapidated and rapidly eroding' The Fulton County Sheriff's Office previously said it launched an investigation into the circumstances surrounding Thompson's death and outlined a series of proposed changes at the jail. In a statement Monday, Fulton County Sheriff Patrick Labat said he has not had a chance to fully review the independent autopsy report. "However, even before this report was issued it was painfully clear there were a number of failures that led to Mr. Thompsons tragic death," Labat said in a statement. Labat said he requested and received resignations from several executive staff members responsible for jail operations. Repercussions for anyone found to be negligent in Thompsons care could come once the full investigation is turned over to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation for review, he said. Last month, the sheriff's office said it is "no secret that the dilapidated and rapidly eroding conditions of the current facility make it incredibly difficult to meet the goal of providing a clean, well-maintained and healthy environment for all inmates and staff." Labat has called for building a new Fulton County Jail and Criminal Justice Complex. Crump said he believes what happened to Thompson is part of a larger pattern at the jail. Dig deeper Idaho murders: Suspect Bryan Kohberger to enter plea today in stabbing deaths of 4 students Arizona: Border Patrol kills man who reported migrants on property, family says; FBI investigating Indiana: Man arrested on murder warrant after being shot by 3-year-old boy Contributing: Natalie Neysa Alund, USA TODAY This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Jailed Georgia man covered in bed bug bites died of neglect: Autopsy Man escapes rehab center, tries robbing bank in Shadyside for second time in a month, police say A man is facing a fresh set of charges after police say he escaped from a rehab facility where he was being housed as an inmate and robbed the same bank he held up last month. Police say, Rashon Coleman, 29, robbed two banks on the same street in Shadyside within 24 hours in April. They believe Coleman robbed the PNC Bank and First National Bank on Centre Avenue. PREVIOUS COVERAGE >>> Man arrested in connection to 2 bank robberies on same street in Shadyside Coleman was sentenced to Renewal Inc. after the first two robberies. Court documents say Coleman received a shopping pass to go to Target shortly after 9 a.m. on Saturday. He was supposed to come back at 11 a.m. but never returned. Center officials began looking for him but could not find him. Less than three hours later, police received a call for a report of a robbery at the PNC Bank on Centre Avenue. Court documents say Coleman walked into the bank, told everyone to Get down, took money from the bank tellers and took off down Centre Avenue. When police arrived, they spoke with witnesses who gave them a description of the man who robbed the bank. Police put the description out over the radio and were later notified that a man who matched the description had been detained at the FedEx on Centre Avenue. Police brought a bank teller with them to meet the other officers at the FedEx. The bank teller positively identified the man as the person who robbed the bank and officers learned that the man was Coleman, according to court documents. Officers say he had over $25,000 worth of cash on him when was detained. Coleman is facing robbery, felony theft and escape charges. Download the FREE WPXI News app for breaking news alerts. Follow Channel 11 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch WPXI NOW TRENDING NOW: Recall alert: 132K Jeep Cherokee owners told to park outside due to fire risk Daycare collapses in Pitcairn; possible explosions heard from building 1 dead, 2 injured after crash in Aliquippa VIDEO: Truly a hometown hero: Street changed in honor of fallen Brackenridge Police Chief Justin McIntire DOWNLOAD the Channel 11 News app for breaking news alerts Man gunned down in parking lot didnt notice gunman stalking him in store, Texas cops say A Texas man is accused of fatally shooting his brothers suspected killer, gunning him down in a Houston parking lot, officials say. Houston police found 38-year-old Luis Martinez shot to death outside La Michoacana, a supermarket on the citys northwest side, on May 13, according to a criminal complaint. Spent shell casings littered the ground around Martinez white Dodge Ram, and a ShotSpotter system detected a total of 22 gunshots. Surveillance cameras at the scene captured the shooting, documents said. They also show the gunman, later identified as 33-year-old Angel Chavira, arrive in the parking lot with his wife and three children, police said. Video shows Chavira pull into the parking lot and park near Martinezs pickup, documents said. Martinez walks into the supermarket, then Chavira and his family get out of their car and enter the store together. With his family by him, Chavira follows Martinez around the store, staring at him, documents said. Martinez never notices. Chavira and his family exit and get back into their car. Moments later, another vehicle arrives in the lot, picks up his wife and kids, then leaves, documents said. Chavira is alone now, waiting for Martinez, police said. Chaviras brother had been killed in a prior shooting that was still under investigation, according to the documents. He told a detective at the time that he thought Martinez was the one responsible. Martinez knew Chavira might be after him, a friend told investigators. Days before his death, Martinez confided that he was in danger, that Chavira had threatened to kill him, according to the friend. Unaware that Chavira had been shadowing him in the store, Martinez leaves and walks to his truck. The moment he climbs into the driver seat, Chavira drives up beside him and opens fire, police said. After the first volley, Chavira pulls out of the parking space, maneuvers to another angle and fires several more shots, the video shows. Then he gets out of his car and fires off more rounds while standing outside the truck, police said. Martinez died as a result of multiple gunshot wounds to his head and body, according to investigators. Chavira was arrested on a charge of murder, according to the Houston Police Department. Man trying to get into occupied vehicle is fatally shot by the driver, Texas cops say Three family members get shot trying to stop man hitting girlfriend, Texas cops say Family receives chilling video after they cant pay 19-year-olds ransom, feds say Feud between parents ends with mom shooting woman outside school, Michigan officials say Man who lived in College Hill girl's bedroom may be with missing Pennsylvania girl Jaret Wright listens to closing arguments in his bench trial before Hamilton County Common Pleas Judge Jennifer Branch on Thursday, May 12, 2022. A man being sought in connection with a missing Pennsylvania girl has been wanted in Hamilton County for more than six months for violating his probation in a local case involving a sexual relationship with a teen girl, court records show. Pennsylvania State Police say Jaret Wright, 22, is believed to be with 16-year-old Emily High, who was reported missing on May 15 from Chambersburg, Pennsylvania. Have you seen this child? Emily High Wright stood trial last year in Hamilton County on rape charges after he lived for three weeks in a 15-year-old girl's bedroom in College Hill without her family knowing. It was a nonjury trial in front of a judge, but before Common Pleas Judge Jennifer Branch issued a verdict, Wright pleaded guilty to gross sexual imposition and a child pornography charge both low-level felonies. In June 2022, Branch sentenced Wright to three years of probation. As part of his sentence, he was first supposed to complete treatment at a lockdown facility in Warren County, Talbert House Turtle Creek Center, which offers services including sex offender treatment, job education and corrective thinking. Within weeks of being sentenced, an arrest warrant was issued because Wright hadn't yet completed the treatment. He was arrested on July 14, 2022. Then three months later, Hamilton County court records show, another warrant for Wright's arrest was issued. Probation officials said Wright "did not enter or complete" treatment at Turtle Creek Center. "The defendant went AWOL on 10/17/22," the documents say. The arrest warrant was issued the same day. Jaret Wright Wright has been accused by his own family members of seeking to have sexual relationships with younger girls. His biological mother has previously told The Enquirer that when he was 18 and living in Florida, he met a 15-year-old girl on social media and was going to her house. She said the girl's parents got a restraining order against him and he eventually moved back to Ohio. And just days before Wright took a Greyhound to Cincinnati and moved into the College Hill girls basement bedroom in February 2021, he was arrested in the Akron area after police found him hiding in his uncles basement. Wright's uncle told The Enquirer that Wright broke into the basement because he was trying to have a sexual relationship with a teenage cousin. Wright faces up to 4 years in prison for violating his probation in Hamilton County. This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Missing Pennsylvania girl Emily High may be with Jaret Wright A 23-year-old man lost his arm after an alligator attack near Ft. Myers, Florida, early Sunday morning, wildlife officials said. The alligator measured 10 1/2 feet long and was later killed. The animal attacked the man, whose name has not been released, behind Banditos Bar in Port Charlotte, a spokesperson for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission said in a statement to CBS News, noting that there is a pond next to the bar. Authorities with the Charlotte County Sheriff's Office and EMS responded to the incident alongside the state wildlife agency, after receiving a report that a man had been bitten by an alligator. The man was transported by helicopter to Gulf Coast Medical Center in Ft. Myers, where he underwent surgery to amputate his right arm above the elbow, said Todd Dunn, a spokesperson from Charlotte County Fire and EMS, in an email to CBS News. Bystanders had applied a tourniquet to the arm before authorities arrived at the scene around 1:40 a.m. Manny Hidalgo, another patron who was at Banditos Bar when the alligator attack happened, said he heard screaming outside and left the bar with a flashlight to see what was going on, according to The Daily Sun, a newspaper based in Port Charlotte. The victim was in the water when Hidalgo found him, he recalled. "He was yelling and swimming toward the shoreline," Hidalgo told The Daily Sun in an interview Sunday afternoon. "I ran and dragged him up onto the sand. I was scared to get close to the water because it was dark out." The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission is investigating the incident. After the attack, the agency sent a nuisance alligator trapper to the scene, who located the alligator and removed it from the property. The animal was humanely killed, the agency said. Adobe adds new generative AI tool to Photoshop How a U.S. debt default would hurt small business DeSantis expected to announce 2024 presidential run as GOP field grows Man tunnels through jail wall, stabs inmate in neighboring cell, Georgia sheriff says An inmate at an Atlanta jail faces charges after digging a hole into another cell and stabbing the inmate inside, officials said. The inmate, identified as Kavian Thomas, burrowed through a tiled wall in a shower stall at the Fulton County Jail on Rice Street, ABC News reported. Once breaking through the wall to the other side, he climbed into the neighboring cell and stabbed the inmate inside, the outlet said. The inmate was taken to a medical unit for treatment after the May 17 attack, WSB-TV reported. Officials found several weapons, including shanks made from parts of the dilapidated building infrastructure, in both cells after the attack, officials told WSB-TV. McClatchy News reached out to the Fulton County Sheriffs Office for more information and is awaiting a response. Officials have not shared any motive for the stabbing, and Thomas faces criminal charges in the attack, FOX5 Atlanta reported. The Fulton County Jail is about 5 miles northwest of downtown Atlanta. Arsenic coated workers desks, lockers and food packaging at Georgia facility, feds say Body found in lake near Great Smoky Mountains prompts investigation, NC cops say Man accidentally shoots and kills twin while pistol whipping another man, AL cops say K-9 killed after biting deputy and refusing to let go, SC sheriffs office says Manchester Police are seeking help in locating Daniela Iriarte. MANCHESTER Township Police are seeking the public's help in locating a girl who was last seen Saturday. Daniela Iriarte was last known to be in Toms River while wearing ripped blue jeans and a white shirt with colored spots, according to police. She may be in Toms River or Manchester, according to authorities. Manchester Police are asking anyone with information about her location to call headquarters at 732-657-6111. 'He saved my life': Neptune man's untimely death gave future to teen who needed a heart Amanda Oglesby is an Ocean County native who covers Brick, Barnegat and Lacey townships as well as the environment. She has worked for the Press for more than a decade. Reach her at @OglesbyAPP, aoglesby@gannettnj.com or 732-557-5701. This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Manchester police search for missing girl last seen in Toms River The Massachusetts coastline is blessed with some of the prettiest beaches in the world. Sadly, beach erosion is washing away big chunks of the states iconic 1,500-mile coastline. Beaches are dynamic and there is always going to be a certain amount of movement between the ocean and the sand. Higher sea levels and more powerful storms fueled by climate change are accelerating that process. Jonathan Lyons has been going to South Cape Beach in Mashpee since he was five years old. Beach erosion there is obvious to his family. Its definitely something my mother pointed out. On the way up, she was saying youre going to notice the beaches are eroding. Today, he says the fishing is good here but doesnt think it would be great place to visit this summer. I mean theres not much room to put chairs outside. Its going to be hard with the big volume of people that come here in the summer. Last month, the town of Mashpee nourished the beach which is a process of fortifying the dunes by adding tons of sand. Its one method to try to slow down erosion. State Senator Julian Cyr who represents the Cape and Islands said We have a natural environment that shifts and moves sand. What climate change, erosion, and sea level rise is doing is accelerating those natural timelines. Cyr added You cant make a life on Cape Cod or the Islands and be here for very long without noticing how our shoreline is changing. Here on Cape Cod, were losing about 33 acres a year to erosion. On the Outer Cape, where I live in Truro and in Wellfleet, were seeing up to three feet of erosion every year. You can clearly see how chunks of sand and clay have been removed. North of Boston, at Crane Beach in Ipswich, the situation is just as dire. Cynthia Dittbrenner, Director of Coast and Natural Resources at the Trustees of Reservations said Over the last 20 years, weve seen 2,000 feet of erosion, so thats about 70 feet a year. Compare that to the last 180 years where weve only seen about five feet a year. Were seeing a lot faster erosion happening as a result of some of these big storms. She says theyve decided to just monitor Crane Beach for the time being, accepting that shifting sands are natural, even if the process has been accelerated in recent years. But other areas of the state, where you see accelerated erosion and you have the human infrastructure there, then that infrastructure is at risk and so towns and municipalities would want to think about how we protect or adapt that infrastructure? Dittbrenner said the erosion problem is being experienced all over the state. Parts of Plum Island in Newbury have been hammered in recent years. She said Norton Point Beach on Marthas Vineyard has lost 1,500 feet of beachfront in the last 20 years. Another consideration, according to Cyr, will be access to beaches. Were losing parking lots at Ballston Beach, there used to be about twice the number of parking spaces Dittbrenner said the issue at Crane Beach will be the access road. That has been flooding more frequently over the last three years, and by 2050, were expecting to see that underwater every day at high tide, so that will greatly restrict peoples access out here. Solutions to these problems will be pricey but ignoring them comes at a cost. Back in Mashpee, Lyons said If you dont have beaches a lot of the local economy is going to suffer. A lot of the restaurants, places that rent out bikes, and these things. It will hurt tourism. This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available. Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts. Follow Boston 25 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch Boston 25 News NOW Hundreds of Marines and local citizens are gearing up for a large exercise, involving a simulated train derailment, to prepare them for emergencies that may arise in the area of a Virginia base. Approximately 180 Marines and civilians from Marine Corps Base Quantico, Virginia, and approximately 110 people to 115 people who work for the surrounding Prince William County will respond Thursday to the derailment on base, Marine spokesman Capt. Michael Curtis told Marine Corps Times Thursday. This exercise provides a realistic hands-on scenario for our first responders, emergency operations personnel and regional partners to test our mass casualty and family reunification procedures, Brian Misner, the countys emergency management coordinator, said in a news release May 10. The representatives from the county come from the fire department, the department of public safety communications, the department of social services, the police department, the department of community services, the office of emergency management and other departments, according to Curtis. Marines meet motorist they pushed out of high floodwaters Local residents will also act as role players during the exercise, the release stated. Planning for the event began in summer 2022, well before the Feb. 3 derailment of a train carrying hazardous chemicals in East Palestine, Ohio, according to Curtis. Following that disaster, thousands of East Palestine residents were told to evacuate. It has been more than a decade since the Marine base and the county conducted a full-scale exercise together, but the two entities regularly prepare for emergencies, albeit at a smaller scale, Curtis said in his statement to Marine Corps Times. Located an approximately 35-mile drive from Washington, the Virginia base is home to many of the Corps training and education activities, as well as the commands responsible for acquiring technology, developing new tactics and managing personnel. It also houses training academies for the FBI and the Drug Enforcement Administration. A train station for Amtrak and Virginia Railway Express lines is located on the base. In 2006, a commuter train carrying hundreds of passengers derailed just north of the base, causing at least four injuries, news outlets reported at the time. In 2017, an Amtrak train crashed into a tanker truck north of Quantico, Virginia. No injuries were reported. Marissa Smith, 17, convicted of murder, to be sentenced today Marissa Smith, right, speaks with her public defender Katelyn Shoemaker in front of Stark County Common Pleas Judge Natalie Haupt. CANTON A 17-year-old girl convicted of murdering 22-year-old Michael Morris Jr. last September in Wildwood Park in Louisville will learn this morning how long she will spend in prison. Stark County Common Pleas Judge Natalie Haupt will sentence Marissa Smith, of Louisville, at 10 a.m. Smith is facing a minimum of 15 years to life in prison. A jury found her guilty of felony murder and felonious assault on May 12 after four days of testimony from witnesses, Smith's co-defendant, law enforcement and forensic experts. According to testimony, a group of teens gathered at the park to fight. Marissa Smith murder trial day 1: 'I'm not afraid to die.' Witnesses describe deadly Louisville park fight at trial Marissa Smith murder trial day 2: Marissa Smith murder trial: Louisville police recall scene at park, witness interviews Marissa Smith murder trial day 3: 'He ran into it.' Louisville teen tells jury stabbing death of Michael Morris was accident Marissa Smith murder trail day 4: 'Guilty all day long.' Prosecutor tells jury teen doesn't get a free pass on murder At some point, Smith took a knife that a co-defendant had in his waistband. Some witnesses testified that Smith moved toward the unarmed Morris, who lived in the Alliance area, while holding the knife and screaming at him. Smith and her friends testified that Morris pulled her toward him and he "walked into" the knife. The case involving Smith's 16-year-old co-defendant, who was 15 at the time he was arrested, is pending in the juvenile court system. He's awaiting a trial in June. The 16-year-old has pleaded not true, the equivalent of not guilty, to juvenile counts of murder, felonious assault, aggravated criminal trespass and carrying a concealed weapon. This article originally appeared on The Repository: Marissa Smith sentenced for murder in Stark County Somewhere in the dark and arcane recesses of the British television industry, there is a strange machine that dictates what makes it to our screens. Commissioners pull a lever, gears whir, steam spurts from mysterious nozzles and it spits out a script. The input function is simple: take a beloved domestic TV star and put them in an under-appreciated region of our shores, add in a dose of low-stakes intrigue and maybe (specially applied via a stars-and-stripes trigger) an American guest actor. It is this machine that has delivered us ITVs Maryland: Suranne Jones heads to the Isle of Man to unearth her mothers secret past, encountering there, for some reason, Stockard Channing. More specifically, Becca (Jones) is forced to reconnect with her estranged sister Rosaline (House of the Dragons Eve Best) after their mother is found, unexpectedly, dead and, unexpectedly, in the Isle of Man. What has their mother been doing in this green and pleasant tax haven, when shes supposed to be caravanning in Wales? Becca and Rosaline are cheap chalk and expensive cheese; Becca dealing with a truculent teenager, and Rosaline with a recurring health scare (in her opening scene, she takes a Zoom call during a doctors examination, so the audience knows shes a busy lady). But when they discover their mothers secret home on the island complete with walls of framed photographs of her girls they are pulled together into a journey of self-reflection. Do you know how many Sunday dinners Ive made? a frazzled Becca despairs to her big sis. And not once has she mentioned any of this? Arriving in her mothers Manx paradise, Rosaline immediately engages in flirty badinage with their cab driver. Are you the only person on the island with a taxi licence? she asks; Who says I have a licence? he (Dean Lennox Kelly) replies. Hugh Quarshie (of Holby City fame) plays mums mysterious partner: possibly in love, possibly in crime. And then theres Channings Cathy: the lone, suspicious, American on this outpost in the Irish Sea. Its all a little convoluted and a lot contrived, but the essence is that after years of near silence, the sisters are forced to confront each other, themselves, and the holes in their shared past. Co-created by Jones and Trollied supremo Anne-Marie OConnor, Maryland is not setting out to reinvent drama. The script, in its backdrop and the emotional cogs that turn throughout, is undoubtedly functional. It recalls, at times, projects like Broadchurch, Bad Sisters and Mrs Wilson. This is hardly a bad thing: it might be a hybrid of commonplace parts, but its an effective one. Jones her CV all but unblemished in three decades on TV and Best have a natural and easy chemistry. Channing, meanwhile who plays a kingpin blow-in on the island appears to have wandered in from an entirely different project. She growls things like I was no fan of her dishonesty and cradles a cup of tea like shes never touched a hot drink in her life. Far from being a negative, this schlocky impulse prevents Maryland from maudlin cliche. The show zigzags between something that looks like prestige TV predominantly when Jones and Best are alone together and something that has the plot devices (and undiffuse, shadow-casting lighting) of Hollyoaks. At its best, it is a chill-inducing, moving portrait of sisterhood. But these moments are punctuated by pulpy parentheses that prevent Maryland from becoming too trite, too predictable. On the conveyor belt of British TV which has, of late, been putting out cookie-cutter serials like Ten Pound Poms and Great Expectations Maryland has just enough bite to break the mould. It wont be a Tuesday night revelation but, in what is proving to be a Golden Age for middle-aged female actors on the small screen, Maryland is neatly packaged and infinitely watchable. After all, painting by numbers sometimes produces a perfectly pretty picture. Massachusetts troopers rush to womans aid after highway crash leaves her trapped in SUV Massachusetts State Police troopers rushed to the aid of a woman on Monday morning after a multi-vehicle crash on a local highway left her trapped inside her wrecked SUV. Troopers responding to a report of a crash on the northbound side of Interstate 91 near Exit 8 in Springfield around 8:30 a.m. found the driver of a Jeep Compass who needed to be extricated from her vehicle, according to state police. State police said troopers used a cruiser to stabilize the victims Jeep so she could be safely pulled from the wreckage. Photos shared by the law enforcement agency showed troopers holding up part of the SUV as they worked to free the woman. There was no word on the severity of the womans injuries or if the other drivers involved in the crash were hurt. State police said more information would be released at a later time. The crash is under investigation. Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts. Follow Boston 25 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch Boston 25 News NOW What we know about the massive fire near Slinger that started at a wood warehouse More than 20 fire departments are still working to put out the last of a massive structure fire outside of Slinger that started Sunday night. Once sprawling and visible from the highway, the fire has since been tamed to a controlled area of smaller fires and smoldering rubble. As fire officials continue to secure the area here is everything we know about how the fire started, how big it was and when it is expected to be put out. Where did the fire start? Shortly before 7:30 p.m., the Slinger Fire Department and Lifestar EMS were dispatched to Oak Creek Wood Products, which is located alongside Highway/I-41 south of Slinger in the town of Polk, for a structure fire. The fire was mostly contained to the complex in which Oak Creek Wood Products is located, but some of it did move into the surrounding area before being corralled by fire officials. How did the fire start? Shortly before 7:30 p.m. Sunday the Slinger Fire Department and Lifestar EMS was dispatched to the 3200 block of Sherman Way for a structure fire, the fire department shared in a Facebook post. According to the Washington County Sheriffs Department, when responders arrived they discovered equipment and piles of mulch had caught fire outside of the building and were accelerating the spread of the fire into the back of the building. Because of the mulch and various other flammable objects found in the building, officials said the fire likely spread into the rear of the building where it quickly set the structure ablaze. How big was the fire? Firefighters from more than 20 departments responded to the blaze as it grew. They were able to stop the fire from spreading into the entire building, containing it in the back portion. At one point, officials closed Highway/I-41 southbound at Highway 60 for roughly two hours while firefighters worked to contain the fire. Fire officials have not given an official number on how big the area of the fire was, however, at its apex the flames were easily visible to drivers on the Highway/I-41. Has the fire been put out? While the fire is still being put out, it has been significantly weakened since responders first arrived. A Wisconsin Department of Transportation traffic camera video shows that drivers could still see a large plume of smoke during their morning commute today. The sheriffs office has said fire crews are expected to be on the scene into Monday morning as they continue to try and extinguish the many areas still burning and smoldering. Officials have not given any indication of when they might expect the fire to be fully extinguished. Was anyone hurt during the fire? The sheriff's office has confirmed that there have been no injuries so far from the fire or the firefighting efforts. No damage assessment is yet available. Our subscribers make this reporting possible. Please consider supporting local journalism by subscribing to the Journal Sentinel at jsonline.com/deal. DOWNLOAD THE APP: Get the latest news, sports and more This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: What to know about fire in Slinger, captured by Wisconsin DOT cameras MasterChef judge Jock Zonfrillos daughter speaks out for first time since his sudden death Ava Zonfrillo, the eldest daughter ofMasterChef Australia judge Jock Zonfrillo, has spoken out for the first time since his unexpected death on 30 April. The celebrity chef died suddenly at the age of 46. His death was confirmed by Network 10 on 1 May, as well as by his family, who shared a statement. Posting a series of photographs and videos of her father, Ava wrote on Instagram: Still cant accept that well be remembering you for more time than we had you, but doesnt mean well love you any less. The 22-year-old added: I love you dad, always. Her poignant post included a photograph of her as a toddler with Zonfrillo, with both wearing comedy glasses with thick black eyebrows and large plastic noses attached. Other more recent photos show her posing with her father at various events. Ava also shared two clips of Zonfrillo, with one of him blowing a kiss at the camera. Friends of the family sent Ava love and well wishes in the comments. Chef Alex Prichard wrote: We are all here for you! Love you both. Meanwhile, Australian designer Collette Dinnigan sent so much love to Ava and wine expert Samantha Payne said: Love you dearly and will be giving you the biggest of hugs soon, my darling friend. Weve got you. Zonfrillo was laid to rest at a private funeral two weeks ago. The service was attended by his wife, Lauren Fried, and their four children. A select group of family and friends, some who flew to Sydney from other countries, were also in attendance. During the service, Fried said in her eulogy: We were two halves that found each other at the exact moment in life when we were ready. We were ready for that big love to live a life of adventure, to become parents together, to imagine extraordinary things and to actually make them happen. The late chef, who was born in Glasgow, was found at a hotel in Melbourne on Lygon Street the day before the 2023 season of MasterChef was set to be aired. The show was postponed following news of Zonfrillos passing. According to Daily Mail Australia, police believe that Zonfrillo died of natural causes and nothing unusual or suspicious was discovered in the hotel room where he was found. As news of his sudden passing broke, many in the food industry paid tribute to Zonfrillo, including Jamie Oliver, Gordon Ramsay and Marco Pierre White. Pierre White praised his former apprentice chef and said: Very few chefs have an inquisitive mind, an intellectual mind and a creative mind. Thats what makes him special, thats what makes him rare. map of Mauritania One of Africa's newest oil producers, the Islamic Republic of Mauritania bridges the Arab Maghreb and western sub-Saharan Africa. The largely-desert country presents a cultural contrast, with an Arab-Berber population to the north and black Africans to the south. Many of its people are nomads. In the Middle Ages Mauritania was the cradle of the Almoravid movement, which spread Islam throughout the region and for a while controlled the Islamic part of Spain. European traders began to show interest in Mauritania in the 15th Century. France gained control of the coastal region in 1817, and in 1904 a formal French protectorate was extended over the territory. Mauritania is rich in mineral resources, especially iron and ore. It is seen by the West as a valuable ally in the fight against Islamist militancy in the Sahel region. Read more country profiles - Profiles by BBC Monitoring ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF MAURITANIA: FACTS Capital: Nouakchott Area: 1,030,000 sq km Population: 4.6 million Languages: Arabic, plus French, Wolof, Pulaar, Soninke, Zenaga Life expectancy: 62 years (men) 66 years (women) LEADER President: Mohamed Ould Ghazouani Mauritanian President Mohamed Ould Ghazouani Former defence minister Mohamed Ould Ghazouani won the 2019 presidential election, succeeding his mentor and fellow army officer Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz. The election was presented as having been the country's first peaceful transition of power since independence. Ghazouani's El Insaf party comfortable the May 2023 parliamenatary and local elections, seen by many observers as a litmus test for him ahead of 2024's presidential poll. He is widely expected to seek re-election, although he has not confirmed his plans. MEDIA Mauritanian newspaper reader Mauritania has one of the most open media environments of the Maghreb region. TIMELINE Slavery is still practised in Mauritania and abolitionist Biram Ould Dah Ould Abeid has frequently run into trouble with the authorities over his campaigns Some key dates in Mauritania's history: 3rd-7th centuries AD - Berber and Arab migrants arrive in present-day Mauritania. 9th-10th Centuries - Empire of Ghana has its capital in present-day south-west Mauritania. 1076 - Berber Almoravid warriors defeat the Empire of Ghana. 1500s - European mariners and traders establish settlements. 1644-1674 - Char Bouba War. Attempt by local peoples to resist the Beni Hassan Bedouin tribes of Yemeni origin who are extending their authority over most of Mauritania and parts of Morocco. 1850s-60s - French forces gain control of southern Mauritania. 1898 - France wins the allegiance of Moors in the region. 1904 - Mauritania becomes part of French West Africa, first as a protectorate and later as a colony. 1912 - French forces defeat the northern emirate of Adrar, and incorporate it into the territory of Mauritania. 1960 - Mauritania becomes independent from France. 1964 - President Moktar Ould Daddah, originally installed by the French, makes Mauritania a one-party state and sets up an authoritarian regime. 1970s - Long-lasting Sahel droughts cause massive devastation and exacerbate problems of poverty and conflict. 1976 - Mauritania, along with Morocco, annexes part of the territory of Western Sahara. 1978 - President Daddah is deposed in a bloodless military coup after significant losses to the Polisario armed independence movement in Western Sahara. The military rule Mauritania for more than 20 years. 1979 - Mauritania gives up its claims to Western Sahara. 1989-91 - Mauritania-Senegal Border War. Hundreds are killed and some 250,000 people become refugees as both countries fight over natural resources and their River Senegal border. 2007 - First fully democratic presidential elections since independence take place. 2014 - France establishes a long-term military operation to prevent jihadist groups from setting up safe havens in the Sahel, including Mauritania. Hello and welcome back to Max Q! In this issue: Blue Origin lands major NASA contract News from SpaceX, and more NASA has chosen a Blue Origin-led team to develop a second lunar landing system for the Artemis program, as the agency looks to provide competition with SpaceX and support long-term exploration of the moon. The winning team includes Lockheed Martin, Draper, Boeing, Astrobotic and Honeybee Robotics. The contract is valued at $3.4 billion, but Blue Origin Vice President John Couluris said the company plans to contribute well north of that number -- meaning the entire endeavor will likely cost at least $7 billion. Blue Origin said it would develop a 52-foot tall lander it's calling Blue Moon and land it on the lunar south pole. Blue Moon is sized to fit inside the payload fairing of Blues under-development New Glenn rocket. The Blue-led team is planning to attempt an uncrewed mission a year before it will take astronauts. Another version of the lander is also being designed to take as much as 30 metric tons of cargo mass to the lunar surface. Shortly after the news was announced, Jeff Bezos tweeted that he was honored to be on this journey with the space agency. blue origin lander Image Credits: Blue Origin / Blue Origin (opens in a new window) More news from TC and beyond Astra was awarded an add-on launch contract with the U.S. Department of Defense for Rocket 4's test flight. The company is continuing to face a shortening cash runway, according to its first-quarter financial results. (Astra/Astra) NASA is targeting a two-year overlap between the launch of private space stations and the decommissioning of the International Space Station in 2030. (Michael Sheetz) SpaceX hired NASAs former head of human spaceflight Kathy Lueders as the company continues to develop its Starship launch system to return humans to the moon and beyond. (TechCrunch) Space Forge , a Welsh in-space manufacturing startup, has developed a satellite reentry system to enable rapid recovery and reuse of orbital factory spacecraft. (TechCrunch) Stoke Space has received multiple investments from In-Q-Tel, the venture capital arm of the Central Intelligence Agency. (TechCrunch) Stratolaunch submitted a $17 million bid for some of Virgin Orbit's assets, including the modified Boeing 747 aircraft Cosmic Girl, as part of Virgin's bankruptcy proceedings. (TechCrunch) United Launch Alliance is aiming to conduct a static-fire test of the Vulcan Centaur rocket soon, though the company still needs to complete its anomaly investigation before launch. (SpaceNews) Varda Space Industries, an in-space manufacturing startup, is in the process of raising $25 million at a $500 million post-money valuation. (TechCrunch) Max Q is brought to you by me, Aria Alamalhodaei. If you enjoy reading Max Q, consider forwarding it to a friend. Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), who was narrowly elected Speaker in January after 15 ballots, is coming under heavy pressure from conservatives not to agree to any debt ceiling deal that falls well short of the House-passed legislation that cut $4.8 trillion from the deficit. So far, President Bidens proposal to cap discretionary spending has fallen flat with McCarthy, who wants the White House to cut discretionary spending on domestic programs without cutting defense. McCarthy tried to sound optimistic about reaching a deal after meeting with Biden at the White House late Monday afternoon, telling reporters it was a productive session. I believe we can still get there, he insisted despite the gulf of differences between the two sides on spending and policy priorities. House Freedom Caucus members, such as Rep. Ralph Norman (R-S.C.), warn they wont accept anything less than the House-passed bill. That leaves McCarthy with strikingly little room to maneuver. The House bill cut discretionary spending to fiscal 2022 levels and then caps domestic discretionary spending to 1 percent growth over the next decade. It also expands work requirements for federal social aid programs and rescinds $30 billion in unspent COVID funding. House Republicans are also pushing for energy permitting reform, measures to secure the U.S.-Mexico border and to block Bidens plan to forgive $400 billion in student debt relief. Biden is holding fast against many of the Republican demands, which Democrats warn would hurt American families across the nation by cutting an array of federal programs, expecting McCarthy will back down. The president also is insisting wealthy companies and individuals contribute pay more in taxes as part of any deficit-reduction deal. Heres the disagreement: We have to I think we should be looking at tax loopholes and making sure the wealthy pay their fair share. I think revenue matters as well as as long as youre not taxing anybody under $400,000, Biden told reporters in the Oval Office at the start of his meeting with McCarthy. Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.), who has met regularly with House conservatives this year to call for ambitious fiscal reforms, says Biden is used to Republican leaders caving on the debt limit, but he says this time will be different. I think hes being conditioned, Scott said of Bidens stance on cutting a debt limit deal with McCarthy. Think about it, McConnell caved in 2021, he added in an interview with The Hill, referring to the deal Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) offered Democrats to let them move debt limit legislation without having to face a Republican filibuster. I dont believe the House Republicans are going to cave, and I dont think Senate Republicans are going to cave this time, he said. Scott said the tax increases White House officials are pushing to include in a deficit-reduction deal would be a non-starter with Republicans in both chambers. Its what I predicted, he said Monday. Everything Ive heard from people is that theyre pushing it, referring to the tax reforms favored by the White House. Scott warned that if McCarthy agreed to any deal that includes tax increases, he could never get it done in the House. Jim Kessler, the executive vice president for policy at centrist Democratic think tank Third Way, said Republicans have an unreasonable request on the table but questioned whether McCarthy has much room to negotiate because any member of the House GOP conference could call for a snap leadership election if they dont like what comes out of the talks. The drama has always been can a debt ceiling increase be passed and Kevin McCarthy keep his job? Thats not Joe Bidens responsibility, but thats one of the chips that Kevin McCarthy is playing on this, he said. My expectation is theyll get it done. I think well see a lot more drama, Kessler added. If youve got a deadline of June 1, May 31 is a good day to pick as the moment when the deal is sealed. Thats the way Washington generally works. Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), who initially withheld support for McCarthys bid to become Speaker in January, said the perceived threat to McCarthys job is overblown. Literally nobody except the press is talking about removing McCarthy right now, he posted on Twitter. But he also told the Washington Examiner in a statement that Speaker McCarthy simply must deliver on the promises he made in January. Former President Trump, who still wields a lot of influence among House Republicans, is urging them to force the nation into default unless Democrats agree to massive cuts. Trump doubled down on Friday, when he posted on his social media platform that, Republicans should not make a deal on the debt ceiling unless they get everything they want (including the kitchen sink.) Republicans say polls show voters agree with them on spending cuts, but its unclear whether the White House is feeling significant pressure. An Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs poll of 1,680 adults nationwide found 6 in 10 people surveyed say an increase in the debt limit should be linked to reforms to cut the deficit, and two-thirds of respondents say they are worried about the economic impact if Congress fails to raise the debt limit by the June deadline. Anxiety is mounting in the financial markets as more money managers are taking precautions in case of a federal default as early as June 1. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen again on Monday warned the federal government may run out of money to pay its debts as early as that date. Axel Merk, the president and CIO of Merk Investments, pointed out Monday that Treasury bills maturing at the end of May before the debt limit deadline are yielding only 3.2 percent, while Treasuries maturing next month are yielding close to 6 percent. He pointed out that credit default swaps hedging against a possible default or market complications associated with a default scare are elevated. There is some anxiety, Merk said, though he explained that traders are positioning themselves because of technical issues. T-bills are the oil of the financial system; they grease the wheels. You dont want to be without oil for even a second. So obviously, the market is preparing for a potential disruption. The market is not expecting that what we have right now is a deal, he said. Merk also noted yields on Treasury bills maturing in July are starting to climb, a sign some investors and managers think the impasse in Washington may force the White House and Congress to extend the negotiations past June. Democrats and Republicans on the Hill, however, insist they dont have any desire to prolong the negotiation into July or early August. Yellen warned in a letter Monday that she may not be able to postpone the debt limit deadline without action by Congress. With an additional week of information now available, I am writing to note that we estimate that is highly likely that Treasury will no longer be able to satisfy all of the governments obligations if Congress has not acted to raise or suspend the debt limit by early June, and potentially as early as June 1, she wrote, echoing her warning to congressional leaders in other recent letters. This story was updated at 8:16 pm. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) is seizing the moment in debt ceiling negotiations, staying out front in public messaging as he pushes the White House to change its debt limit posture while also keeping the right flank in his conference satisfied for now. Negotiators have yet to reach a deal, political dynamics could easily change depending on its final form and a bumpy weekend in the talks pose another challenge for him. But McCarthys public relations strategy on the debt limit has seen results so far. McCarthy united his far-flung conference to pass a bill that paired a debt limit increase with spending cuts and other GOP priorities. Shortly after, President Biden backed away from his no-negotiations stance and invited McCarthy and other congressional leaders to meet though the White House has continued to frame the talks as a negotiation on the budget separate from the debt limit. And after McCarthy expressed pessimism about how those talks were going, the structure of discussions was narrowed to be between just his deputies and the White House, cutting out congressional Democrats and Senate Republicans. McCarthy signals debt limit negotiations cant move forward until Biden returns McCarthy hits pause on debt ceiling talks Biden, McCarthy to meet as debt limit showdown enters critical week Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), who some previously thought might have to step in to negotiate a compromise, has thrown his full support behind the Speaker to negotiate a deal. The Speaker is holding frequent press conferences, gaggles, and TV interviews to advocate for spending cuts and policy reforms as a condition of raising the debt limit, a contrast to the press-shy President Biden. Rep. Andy Harris (R-Md.) said he was pretty impressed with his [Wednesday] press conference that featured Republicans from both chambers. A source familiar with McCarthys strategy said that his decision to be in front of the media shows his confidence in his policy asks and that the public will back him up in those. McCarthy embraces an underdog, House GOP vs. the world message. Heres a Republican conference that none of you gave credibility to or thought we could achieve anything, McCarthy said Tuesday. With the talks amping up this week, the White House has appeared to back away from its longtime stance that it wants a clean increase without any other conditions, though it has still framed the negotiations in terms of the budget rather than the debt limit. He has the bully pulpit of the Speakership, Rep. Jared Huffman (D-Calif.) said of McCarthys messaging in contrast to the Democrats. We always struggle to get our message amplified. Public opinion surveys have shown that Democratic attacks on Republicans for holding the economy hostage are struggling to sway the electorate in their favor. A May 17-18 Harvard/Harris poll found that 57 percent of voters think Democrats should cave their position to prevent a default, up from 55 percent in April, while 43 percent said Republicans should cave. Meanwhile, Economist/YouGov polls have found that McCarthys net job approval rating has dramatically improved in the months since January, when a 15-ballot saga ended with him being elected Speaker. A May 13-16 survey found that 42 percent of adults approved of the way McCarthy was handling his job as Speaker, while 34 percent disapproved while 24 percent were not sure. In a January 21-24 survey, just 32 percent approved, while 37 percent disapproved and 32 percent were not sure. And some Democratic messaging on the negotiations has conflicted. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) said Monday that the GOPs request for beefed-up work requirements for public assistance programs was a nonstarter. But later in the week, Biden signaled willingness to compromise on work requirements, though rejected any kind of significant change. Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), chairwoman of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, said that she was being watchful of the White House in the negotiations now that congressional Democrats have been cut out of the room. The Presidents done such a phenomenal job of leading the country over the last two years and keeping Democrats united behind core Democratic values, and I would urge them to continue to do so, Jayapal said. Some progressive Democrats have continued to hold out hope for a clean debt limit increase. I want to believe that the White House is holding firm to its commitments and our values, Huffman said. Several Democrats suggest Biden could test a 14th Amendment strategy to raise the debt limit unilaterally without the help of Congress. While Biden said over the weekend that he thinks he has the authority to do so, he warned there may not be enough time to invoke that authority, have it litigated, and still avoid a default. House Democrats have also filed a escape-hatch discharge petition plan to force a vote on a clean debt ceiling increase though that would need support from at least five Republicans, who have shown no willingness to help. McCarthy is not out of the woods yet, though. It remains unclear whether he will be able to secure a compromise that appeases the right flank of his conference some of whom expect nothing less than the sweeping policy reforms and cuts that they passed in their April debt limit bill. And others are trying to throw more policy proposals, such as beefed-up border security measures, into the mix. Political observers note that it takes just one GOP member to call a motion to vacate the chair and force a vote on ousting the Speaker. Hardline conservatives, however, insist such an upheaval is not being considered right now, signaling that McCarthy still has their support as negotiations continue. I havent heard anybody talking about motion to vacate except for reporters who asked me about that, said Rep. Bob Good (R-Va.), one of the 20 hardline conservatives who withheld support from McCarthy during the Speakers election. However, the conservative House Freedom Caucus on Thursday threw another wrinkle in the mix when it called for no further discussion on the debt ceiling, pressuring the Senate to pass the House GOP bill. That position became cloudy, though, when the groups chairman, Rep. Scott Perry (R-Pa.), later said the position did not mean McCarthy and the White House should not talk at all. And Friday, McCarthy hit pause on debt limit talks for much of the day as his top negotiator, Rep. Garret Graves (R-La.), said the White House was being unreasonable. The talks resumed that evening but made little progress before McCarthy is set to meet with Biden on Monday. That threw another wild card into the mix: Former President Trump. REPUBLICANS SHOULD NOT MAKE A DEAL ON THE DEBT CEILING UNLESS THEY GET EVERYTHING THEY WANT (Including the kitchen sink), Trump wrote on Truth Social on Friday. McCarthy had been careful to not contradict Trump earlier in the week when asked to respond to the former president downplaying the potential economic consequences of a default. I think President Trump is a great negotiator. And I think that President Trump when does that, hes trying to help the negotiation, McCarthy said. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. McKees Rocks community members came out to help their local police department raise money for their K-9 unit. The police department hosted a fundraiser dinner at the fire department on Chartiers Avenue from noon to 6 p.m. on Sunday. Officers mingled with guests and served them pasta. Money was also raised through a basket raffle. Baskets were donated by parties in the community. Download the FREE WPXI News app for breaking news alerts. Follow Channel 11 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch WPXI NOW TRENDING NOW: Recall alert: 132K Jeep Cherokee owners told to park outside due to fire risk Daycare collapses in Pitcairn; possible explosions heard from building 1 dead, 2 injured after crash in Aliquippa VIDEO: Truly a hometown hero: Street changed in honor of fallen Brackenridge Police Chief Justin McIntire DOWNLOAD the Channel 11 News app for breaking news alerts A close friend of Putin built a villa for him in Finland Khmarin and Putin were supposed to go hunting and fishing there together, independent Russian outlet the Insider said in an investigation published on May 18. Khmarin was Putin's fellow student at Leningrad State University. According to the Insider, he played an important role in Putin's relations with the Tambov Gang criminal organization and now he is actively lobbying the laws on his behalf and funding the Kremlin's propaganda projects. He built for Putin the villa with a fishing farm on Lake Saimaa in Finland. "You see, each of his friends tried to build some kind of resort so that Vladimir Vladimirovich (Putin) would come there and they could solve their problems in such a way," a St. Petersburg businessman, who knows some members of the Ozero cooperative (founded by Russian oligarchs together with Putin to develop dachas or country houses), said on condition of anonymity. The journalists visited Putin's "home" in Finland and found out that it has been abandoned for several years, as Putin is unlikely to visit it. "The door of Khmarin's villa in Finland was unexpectedly open. Inside, the heating and elevator were working. Expensive building materials were lying everywhere, electrical wires were sticking out, and there were unpacked boxes with exclusive ceramic tiles, refrigerators, washbasins, and other plumbing," the journalists said. The general plan obtained by the journalist shows that the house has an office, a dining room, a wine cellar, a billiard room, an underground garage, a small pool, a sauna, and eight toilets. The premises were decorated by Russia's workers brought from Russia. Some boxes were signed: "Do not touch without my approval" and initialed "LV." The Insider According to the Insider, the approximate cost of the fishing complex on Lake Saimaa is about EUR 3 million ($3.25 million). The preparation works cost EUR 120,000 ($130,000), the villa itself cost EUR 500,000 ($541,000), the guard house cost EUR 200,000 ($216,000), and building materials cost EUR 400,000 ($433,000). The fishing house, utility block, wooden bridges, walkways, glacier, and more are not included in these estimates. Read also: Pantsir-S1 anti-aircraft system set-up to protect Putins Sochi residence Navalnys investigative team The building teams were changed several times during the construction as some of them were dissatisfied with their salaries, while others with the working conditions. Some Finnish specialists also refused to work with Khmarin, the Insider wrote. The journalists talked to one of the Finns who brought communications to the building. He was reluctant to mention clients from Russia. "They had a hard time paying the bills, as they refused to pay five times. We constantly had to remind them. Finally, we refused to work with them, and kicked out the Khmarin's representative, who was in charge of paying the bills." Putin in July 2017 visited the Finnish city of Savonlinna, which is 10 kilometers away from the villa on Lake Saimaain. He was met by the then-President of Finland, Sauli Niinisto and his wife. According to the local press, the visit of the Kremlin's leader paralyzed the life of the small town. Read also: Forests being cut down in Moscow to deploy air defense complexes The Insider The locals had never seen so many Russian security guards before. While Putin was having talks with his Finnish counterpart, one of Khmarin's aides, who was part of the official delegation, secretly went to the villa and ordered all construction work to be stopped. "He told the workers that times have changed and Putin wouldn't have time for Finnish fishing," the newspaper wrote. Apparently, Khmarin wrote off the property as a loss: there was no buyer for the 850-meter-long, three-story building with other buildings, as owning a country house of this size is considered immodest by Finns. 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 Amanda Aston reported fellow police worker Matthew Taylor for controlling and coercive behaviour after their relationship broke down - Gareth Fuller/PA Wire A male domestic abuse charity has condemned double standards after a female police officer who invented a web of lies about her boyfriend was spared jail. Pc Amanda Aston, 44, reported fellow police worker Matthew Taylor for controlling and coercive behaviour after their eight-month relationship broke down in 2017. He was later charged with domestic abuse and remanded in custody for two months after Aston lured him into breaking his bail conditions. But the case against him collapsed and Aston herself was charged with perverting the course of justice after messages between them exposed her lies. She was found guilty in March and appearing at Maidstone Crown Court, Kent, on Monday was sentenced to 21 months imprisonment, suspended for two years. But Mark Brooks, chair of the ManKind Initiative domestic abuse charity for men, said the sentence sent the wrong message. He said: "This is as clear a case of the double standards that male victims of these crimes face that you will ever see. He ends up in prison and loses his job, but his false accuser avoids jail. How can this be right, fair or equal? If the genders were reversed, I am sure he would be in prison and rightly so. A false application As well as lying about the abuse, Aston, who was herself a domestic violence mentor, made a false application for a 5,000 grant from the Police Welfare Fund by claiming that she was forced to move home because Mr Taylor harassed her after she broke up with him. Prosecutor Eloise Marshall told the court that Aston told "blatant" lies in a 57-page statement and that she had used her specialist training in domestic abuse to construct the account. She said that Aston showed "no remorse" for her actions and that she was "motivated by jealousy" about Mr Taylor meeting other women. Ms Marshall added that Aston's lies could "prevent" victims of domestic abuse from coming forward through fear that they would not be believed. She told the court: "Matthew Taylor spent two months in custody on the basis of false allegations. "Her lies and embellishments led to the investigation. Mr Taylor has lost his job as a result. Her lies led directly to his imprisonment and breach of bail." 'Tense and difficult' Kevin Baumber, defending, said that Aston and Mr Taylor's relationship had been "tense and difficult", and that she had been "damaged" by previous experiences that "affected her perceptions". He said she had felt "professionally threatened" by Mr Taylor after they broke up and that her behaviour was "consistent with previous emotional abuse". Sentencing, Judge John Cavanagh said Aston had constructed an "exaggerated" and "melodramatic" account and that she had given a "false impression" of Mr Taylor's behaviour. He said that, while there was a "kernel of truth" about their "volatile" relationship, the "overall impression you gave was demonstrably false". 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. Mental fitness of California stabbing suspect now in question. I dont want an attorney The attorney for accused Davis serial stabber Carlos Reales Dominguez questioned whether his client was mentally sound enough to proceed with his case, forcing a Yolo County judge to suspend criminal proceedings and order a psychiatric evaluation. Doctors will now begin evaluating the 21-year-old, who is being held on murder and attempted murder charges with special circumstances in the killings of two Davis men, including a UC Davis student weeks from graduation, and the critical wounding of a homeless woman in her encampment. The weeklong blitz of knife attacks terrified Davis before neighbors near Sycamore Park ultimately led to his arrest. On April 25, just days before the violence that paralyzed the college town, Reales Dominguez, a UC Davis sophomore studying biological studies, had been expelled from the university for academic reasons. Family members of the second victim, Karim Aboj Najm, the 20-year-old student and son of a university professor, slain April 29 as he walked through Sycamore Park, sat quietly in a rear row of the fourth-floor courtroom. Some wore T-shirts emblazoned with the young mans image. Najms body was found not far from the park where Dominguez lived with roommates and where he was spotted before his arrest. Kimberly Guillory was attacked through the tent where she lived near Second and L streets before midnight May 1. Guillory was critically wounded but survived the violent assault. Najms killing came two days after David Henry Breaux, 50, the man known to Davisites as the Compassion Guy, was found dead with multiple stab wounds in the citys Central Park. Yolo Superior Court Judge Samuel McAdam told attorneys to return to his Woodland courtroom June 20 for a competency hearing. At the hearing Monday, Reales Dominguez, his long black hair again a veil over his eyes, was clad in a heavy green safety vest and shackled at the wrists and waist. He sat next to Yolo County public defender Dan Hutchinson and tried several times to speak during the hearing, before finally declaring that he no longer wanted Hutchinson to represent him. I dont want an attorney, Reales Dominguez said, as he rose from his seat. Reales Dominguez will remain held without bail in Yolo County custody while criminal proceedings are suspended. Yolo County prosecutors also announced subpoenas at the morning preliminary hearing conference. They plan to present medical records from medical and mental health care provider Wellpath as well as records from Davis fire officials related to the first victim Breauxs fatal attack at a June 6 hearing before McAdam. The attorney for accused Davis serial stabber Carlos Reales Dominguez questioned whether his client was mentally sound enough to proceed with his case, forcing a Yolo County judge to suspend criminal proceedings. Doctors will now begin their psychiatric evaluation of the 21-year-old, who is being held on murder and attempted murder charges with special circumstances in the killings of two Davis men, including a UC Davis student weeks from graduation, and the critical wounding of a homeless woman in her encampment. Yolo Superior Court Judge Samuel McAdam told attorneys to return to his Woodland courtroom June 20 for a competency hearing. to review the doctors findings. On April 25, just days before the violence that paralyzed the college town, Reales Dominguez, a UC Davis sophomore studying biological studies, had been expelled from the university for academic reasons. The weeklong blitz of knife attacks that followed terrified Davis before the calls from neighbors near Sycamore Park that ultimately led to his arrest. At the hearing Monday, Reales Dominguez, his long black hair again a veil over his eyes, was clad in a heavy green safety vest and shackled at the wrists and waist. He sat next to Yolo County deputy public defender Daniel Hutchinson and tried several times to speak during the hearing, before finally declaring before rising to leave the courtroom that he no longer wanted Hutchinson to represent him. I dont want an attorney, Reales Dominguez said, as he rose from his seat. Id like to take it myself, if possible. The hearing ended shortly after, and Yolo County Sheriffs deputies ushered him out of the courtroom. Reales Dominguez will remain held without bail while criminal proceedings are suspended. Family members of the second victim, Karim Aboj Najm, the 20-year-old student and son of a university professor, slain April 29 as he walked through Sycamore Park, sat quietly in a rear row of the fourth-floor courtroom. Some wore T-shirts emblazoned with the young mans image. Najms body was found not far from the park where Reales Dominguez lived with roommates and where he was spotted before his arrest. Three members of Reales family sat in the courtroom in the row directly in front of Najms family. The two families did not interact with each other during the hearing. Reales relatives left quickly after the hearing ended and did not speak to news reporters. Najms family left the courtroom and met with representatives from the District Attorneys Office. They left the courthouse about 45 minutes later and declined to speak to reporters. Najms killing came two days after David Henry Breaux, 50, the man known to many as the Compassion Guy, was found dead with multiple stab wounds in the citys Central Park. Maria Breaux, Breauxs sister, also was in the courtroom for Mondays hearing. It was the first time for her being in the courtroom and seeing the young man accused of killing her brother. She also declined to speak to reporters Monday. Kimberlee Guillory was the victim of the third attack. Guillory was stabbed repeatedly through the tent where she lived near Second and L streets before midnight May 1. Guillory was critically wounded but survived the violent assault. Yolo County prosecutors also announced subpoenas at the morning preliminary hearing conference. They plan to present records from medical and mental health care provider Wellpath, as well as records from Davis fire officials related to the first victim Breauxs fatal attack, at a June 6 hearing before McAdam. Kari Peterson, one of Breauxs closest friends, also attended Mondays hearing. She said it was appropriate that the judge ordered a mental health evaluation for Reales Dominguez, because he appears to be not well. Peterson said she was filled with a lot of anxiety seeing Reales Dominguez in court, thinking about what his mother and family are going through right now. She said shes heartbroken over the death of her friend, whom she wants to honor by experiencing this the way Breaux would. I just keep hearing David say You got to look at things through the lens of compassion, Peterson told reporters outside the courthouse. Theres a lot of anger and a lot of fear, and I dont begrudge people with those feelings, Peterson said. I understand them completely. Im angry, as well. The Bees Rosalio Ahumada contributed to this story. The European Union has slapped Metas business in Ireland with a record fine of $1.3 billion for transferring the personal data of Facebook users to the U.S. in breach of the General Data Protection Regulation, or European Union law on data protection and privacy. Following a binding dispute resolution process, Meta, formerly known as Facebook, was ordered to bring its data transfers into compliance with the GDPR, and to pay a record fine imposed by the European Data Protection Board. More from The Hollywood Reporter That calls for an end within six months to the unlawful processing, including storage, in the U.S. of personal data of European users. The EDPB found that Meta IEs infringement is very serious since it concerns transfers that are systematic, repetitive and continuous. Facebook has millions of users in Europe, so the volume of personal data transferred is massive. The unprecedented fine is a strong signal to organisations that serious infringements have far-reaching consequences, Andrea Jelinek, EDPB chair, said in a statement. GDPR regulations disallow transfers of personal data to so-called third countries, or in Facebooks case, the U.S. market, without ensuring the personal information of users is properly protected. The EUs Data Protection Commission, in its final decision over Metas cross-border transfers of personal information, ruled U.S. law does not provide a level of protection that measures up to that provided by EU law, and that Metas Irish division does not have in place supplemental measures which compensate for the inadequate protection provided by U.S. law. Best of The Hollywood Reporter Click here to read the full article. Meta hit by record 1.2 billion euro fine by EU over U.S. data transfers FILE PHOTO: Headquarters of Facebook parent company Meta Platforms Inc in Mountain View DUBLIN (Reuters) - Meta was hit on Monday with a record 1.2 billion euro ($1.3 billion) fine by its lead privacy regulator in the European Union for its handling of user information and given five months to stop transferring users data to the United States. The fine imposed by Ireland's Data Protection Commissioner (DPC) concerned Meta's continued transferring of personal data and topped the previous 746 million euro record EU privacy fine by Luxembourg on Amazon.com Inc in 2021, according to a DPC statement. (Reporting by Padraic Halpin) Metas new record-setting EU fine is nearly as big as its last six combined An Irish court found that Meta violated the General Data Protection Regulation, the EUs wide-ranging data privacy law. Irelands Data Protection Commission (DPC) has fined Meta 1.2 billion ($1.3 billion) for breaking Europes stringent data privacy laws. In its May 22 ruling, the DPC found that Meta had violated the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) by failing to protect European Facebook users personal data from American surveillance. The penalty, the largest possible allowed by the GDPRa landmark data privacy law passed by the European Union in 2018is equivalent to 4% of Metas global revenue last year. In a prepared statement, Meta said it would appeal the ruling, calling the fine unjustified and unnecessary. Read more Meta has already been fined about 1.3 billion by the Irish DPC since 2021, for six different violations of the GDPR across Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp. However, the size of this penalty is unprecedented, totaling nearly as much as all of the others combined. Which data laws did Meta break? The latest ruling found that Meta had violated the terms of a court case between Facebook Ireland and the DPC in 2020, which effectively struck down the open transfer of personal data between the EU and the US over documented cases of surveillance by American intelligence services. To mitigate that ruling and continue moving data back and forth between servers, Meta has been using standard contractual clauses (SCC), data protection guardrails pre-approved by European regulators. However, the DPC found that Metas use of SCCs did not address the risks to the fundamental rights and freedoms of European Facebook users, cutting off Metas last avenue for data-sharing and raising the possibility that the company will be forced to cordon off the data of European Facebook users. The case comes as American and European officials negotiate the details of an agreement that would regulate the transfer of personal data across the Atlantic. Announced last year, the deal was confirmed by the European Commission in December. If implemented, it could supersede the DPCs ruling. Quotable: Without the ability to transfer data across borders, the internet risks being carved up into national and regional silos, restricting the global economy and leaving citizens in different countries unable to access many of the shared services we have come to rely on. Nick Clegg, Metas president of global affairs, and Jennifer Newstead, the companys chief legal officer, in statement released after the DPC ruling. Clegg was once deputy prime minister of the UK A timeline of Metas fines from the Irish DPC September 2, 2021: Regulators fine Meta 225 million ($266 million) for multiple privacy breaches of WhatsApp users personal data. March 22, 2022: Regulators fine Meta 17 million ($19 million) for failing to implement technical and organizational measures to protect user data. September 5, 2022: Regulators fine Meta 405 million ($402 million) for failing to protect childrens data on Instagram. November 28, 2022: Regulators fine Meta 265 million ($275 million) for a data leak that revealed the personal information of more than 500 million Facebook users. January 4, 2023: Regulators fine Meta 390 million ($414 million) for forcing users to accept targeted ads on Facebook and Instagram. January 17, 2023: Regulators fine Meta 5.5 million ($5.95 million) for violating data protection laws in WhatsApp. Related stories: Zuckerberg says Facebook will never be a media companydespite controlling the worlds media Metas year of efficiency means job cuts, less metaverse, and more generative AI Zuckerbergs plan to open Metas Horizon Worlds to minors is facing opposition More from Quartz Sign up for Quartz's Newsletter. For the latest news, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Click here to read the full article. MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexico will present a program this week to give Central Americans temporary visas to work on public infrastructure projects, President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said Monday. Such projects require more people such as welders, iron-workers and engineers, Lopez Obrador told his regular daily news conference. "We need a workforce for these projects, especially if it's skilled labor," Lopez Obrador said. "We will guarantee them one year." He did not provide details on how many visas would be issued, or for which projects. Lopez Obrador has long pushed for investment in Central America to stem the migration of thousands of people every year fleeing poverty and violence in Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador. He has also sought to boost development in the impoverished southern region of Mexico, which sits near the border with Guatemala. Lopez Obrador's flagship projects underway include a freight rail line meant to create a trade route between Mexico's Pacific and Gulf coasts, and a tourist train linking destinations around the Yucatan Peninsula. (Reporting by Valentine Hilaire; Editing by Daina Beth Solomon and Marguerita Choy) A K-8 school in Miami-Dade County last month issued restrictions for elementary-aged students on three books and one poem after a parent objected to five titles, claiming they included topics that were inappropriate for students and should be removed from the total environment. The move which allows for middle school students at the school to access the titles is the latest example of districts and schools across the state restricting or removing books from libraries in recent months. For Stephana Ferrell, the director of research and insight at Florida Freedom to Read Project, it underscores a growing trend to redefine what is considered age appropriate, especially regarding books that address ethnicities, marginalized communities, racism or our history of racism. Books written for students grades K-5 are being pushed to middle school [libraries and] out of reach for the students they were intended for, she said. The books arent being banned from the district, she argued, but theyre banned for the students they were intended for. The challenges were school-level only and impact one school, district staff said in an email Monday. In March, Daily Salinas, a parent of two students at at Bob Graham Education Center in Miami Lakes, challenged The ABCs of Black History, Cuban Kids, Countries in the News Cuba, the poem The Hill We Climb, which was recited by poet Amanda Gorman at the Jan. 20, 2021, inauguration of President Joe Biden, and Love to Langston for what she said included references of critical race theory, indirect hate messages, gender ideology and indoctrination, according to records obtained by the Florida Freedom to Read Project and shared with the Miami Herald. READ MORE: Poet speaks up after Miami-Dade school bars elementary students from reading her poem In an interview with the Herald on Monday, Salinas said she is not for eliminating or censoring any books. Instead, she wants materials to be appropriate and for students to know the truth about Cuba, she said in Spanish. A school materials review committee composed of three teachers, a library media specialist, a guidance counselor and the schools principal, among others however, determined one book, Countries in the News: Cuba, was balanced and age appropriate in its wording and presentation and would remain available for all students. The four other titles were deemed better suited or more appropriate for middle school students, despite acknowledging that at least one book, The ABCs of Black History, was written for ages 5 and up. The books would be kept in the middle school section of the media center, the review concluded. The committee did not include examples of what the reviewers considered inappropriate for elementary students but more appropriate for middle schoolers. When asked to provide examples, district officials said staff was not involved in the committee review and therefore cannot speak to the intent, reasoning or provide examples. Salinas, for her part, also questioned the reasoning behind why some books remain available for middle schoolers. She argued the books should have been removed for all students. School libraries are meant to support the curriculum of the school and I dont see how these books support the curriculum, she said. READ MORE: Black community wants apology after School Board member tried to block colleague at meeting Roberto Alonso, School Board member for District 4 where Bob Graham Education Center is located, did not respond to a phone call request for comment. Rising number of book challenges Last year, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a slew of education bills into law, including the Parental Rights in Education law, which critics dubbed Dont Say Gay. The law prohibits instruction related to gender identity or sexual orientation in kindergarten through third grade and must be age appropriate for older students. Since then, theres been an increase of book challenges filed across the state even as DeSantis and his administration maintain that book removal efforts are a hoax. In Miami-Dade, only two other informal challenges have been raised, but were resolved between the principal and the parent without the need to escalate to a formal challenge, according to staff. In Pinellas County schools, for example, Toni Morrisons The Bluest Eye was removed after a parent informally complained about a rape scene in its pages. In April, though, a committee recommended it be available to students in grades 9, 10, 11 and 12 with no parental permission requirements, the Tampa Bay Times reported. In February, the Martin County School District removed more than 80 books from middle and high schools, according to TCPalm. More recently, the free-speech organization PEN America and Penguin Random House, an American book publisher, filed a lawsuit against the Escambia County School District and school board for violating the equal protection clause of the Constitution for disproportionately targeting books that address topics such as race, racism, gender and sexuality. As of March, 175 books have been removed across the state, according to PEN America. For Ferrell, of the Florida Freedom to Read Project, the challenges seen in Miami-Dade and across the state are the result of the lack of guidance from the state around what is or isnt age-appropriate. People think the Parental Rights in Education law is intended to eliminate representation, and theyre filing challenges, she said. Were seeing these topics pushed [away] from our kids at a time when theyre most accepting of our differences, she said. This is the time to address the rougher topics in an age appropriate way. Instead, those books are not available to them. This story was updated to reflect how many schools are impacted. This Miami man is hosting a 20-yacht party for fans of Afrobeats. Heres how to go Oluwaseun Balogun remembers the exact moment he conceptualized the Afrobeats Ultimate Multi-Yacht Party. It was December 12, 2020 and the owner of concierge service Capt Balo Miami had taken some clients out on the water. He arranged for DJ to provide the boats soundtrack yet the music being played was far from his favorite. Then came an idea: Im doing a party like this but with all Afrobeats. Baloguns dream has come to life more than two years and roughly 20 yachts later. Billed as the First Afrobeats Ultimate Multi-Yacht Party, Balogun assembled a fleet thatll set sail Friday night and exclusively play the hottest genre in the world. The yachts will meet at an undisclosed location where they will dock and the party will commence with sounds from DJs Prince, Tunez, Diversity and Oreo. The majority of people who have yachts here are either American or Latin, said Balogun, who helps spice up visitors vacations with access to an array of yachts, exotic cars and mansions. Im trying to show Black people that we can also have these kind of parties. Fridays festivities will coincide with Afro Nation Miami, also known as the worlds largest Afrobeats festival, which takes place Saturday and Sunday. There hasnt been anything like his event in Miami and beyond, Balogun said. What better way to give guests a welcoming to Miami than with a yacht, Balogun added, calling Miami the yachting capital of America. You cant come to Miami and not yacht, he added. Oluwaseun Balogun, owner of Capt Balo concierge service, is hosting a party on 20 yachts prior to Afro Nation music festival in Miami. For Hannah O. Simone, a New Yorker of Nigerian descent currently living in South Florida, the opportunity to see her culture combined with that of Miami was an experience she couldnt pass up. It highlights African culture , Simone added. Ive never seen when theres 20 plus yachts lined up on the water. Everybody has their own dance floor. Part of what influenced Baloguns decision to throw such a party is the lack of visibility surrounding West African culture in South Florida. With Afro Nation as well as the growing influence of Afrobeats, this is a chance to spotlight it here in South Florida. Afrobeats is feel good music, Balogun said. So were welcoming people to have a good time and come experience this unique party. Balogun, who has lived in Miami for the last decade, hopes to have this be a recurring party here in the 305. Hes not alone. I dont want it to be a one time thing, Simone added. I want it to be something thats happening consistently to let people know its not just the clubs you can go to. You can have fun on the water. You can have fun in the air. You can have fun on the land. And still move. You know Afrobeats, as soon as you hear it, your head starts bopping. Your leg starts moving. IF YOU GO: What: First Afrobeats Ultimate Multi-Yacht Party When: 9 p.m. - 3 a.m. May 26, 2023 Where: Location will be sent out May 25 Costs: $250 + Taxes & Fees For more info visit www.captbalomiami.com Michael Cohen has 'zero confidence' that Trump will comply with a new protective order in the hush-money case Michael Cohen and Donald Trump. Drew Angerer/Getty Images; Sean Gallup/Getty Images; Jenny Cheng/Business Insider Michael Cohen has "less than zero confidence" Trump will obey a protective order in the hush-money case. The order bans Trump from attacking witnesses by posting their confidential information online. "It's like they're forcing him to be an adult," said Cohen, the DA's key witness. "It's not going to work." Michael Cohen is not optimistic that Donald Trump will ever control those infamous thumbs when it comes to his ongoing Manhattan hush-money prosecution. "I have less than zero confidence," Trump's lawyer-turned-nemesis told Insider of the former president's ability to obey a new protective order banning him from attacking prosecution witnesses by disclosing their identities and personal information. "He gets blinded by his anger," Cohen said Monday, a day before Trump must appear virtually in a Manhattan courtroom and agree to the order. The order bars Trump from revealing sensitive prosecution evidence including witnesses' emails, texts and grand jury transcripts through public statements or on social media. Trump isn't even allowed to personally possess copies of these materials. The defense has derided the ban as a "gag order." Prosecutors and the judge, though, have stressed that Trump will still be able to speak about the case just not about confidential prosecution evidence. On Tuesday, Trump will be sworn in via video camera, and then will be asked by state Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan the judge in the hush-money case ` to affirm that he has read the protective order, understands it, and agrees to comply. Trump can be held in contempt of court if he spills forbidden beans while on the campaign trail or "on any news or social media platforms, including, but not limited to, Truth Social, Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, Twitter, Snapchat, or YouTube without prior approval from the Court," the protective order states. This latest development in the hush-money prosecution comes six weeks after Trump was arraigned on 34-counts of falsifying business records. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg alleges that Trump lied on Trump Organization paperwork to conceal $130,000 in hush money paid to porn actress Stormy Daniels just two weeks before the 2016 election. The payment influenced the election by silencing Daniels before she could reveal details of a sexual encounter she alleged she'd had with Trump back in 2006, shortly after the birth of his and Melania Trump's only child, prosecutors allege. Trump is charged with falsifying business records in order to disguise the hush money paid as a "retainer" to Cohen; the charges carry anywhere from zero to four years in prison. Trump has called the prosecution a "hoax" and a "witch hunt," and has denied that he ever had an encounter with Daniels. Donald Trump, attorney Michael Cohen, and Stormy Daniels. AP Michael Cohen says Trump's temper will override judge's protective order "Rational thought flies out the window when Trump gets angry," Cohen, the key witness in the case, said of his former employer's self control when it comes to his perceived enemies. "He's no different than a petulant child." Cohen said he has little confidence that Trump's lawyers will be able to control Trump, either, especially if they are reviewing sensitive materials with their client via video. "The second that they put it up onto a screen, I guarantee you, it's captured," Cohen predicted. "Trust me, he'll figure out a way." Lawyers for Trump declined to comment on the protective order or Cohen's comments. Prosecutors are beginning now to turn over to the defense vast amounts of so-called "discovery" evidence, including cell phone contents and witness interview notes that they gathered in the course of their investigation. It's not unusual for prosecutors to ask that protective orders be issued to defense lawyers and defendants once that happens, said Jeremy Saland, a former Manhattan prosecutor now in private practice. "It's not untypical," said Saland. "Not when there is sensitive personal information being turned over by prosecutors that could be abused, whether that means through threats of violence, harassment, or the perpetrating of fraud." It's also routine for judges to ask the defendant to acknowledge, in court, that a protective order has been issued, Saland said. Trump's prosecutors, too, have acknowledged that it's routine for a defendant to be ordered to only use discovery materials in the context of their defense. But the circumstances underlying Trump's protective order are far from routine, Assistant District Attorney Catherine McCaw told the judge on May 4, the last time the case was in court. "The defendant has an extensive history of making inflammatory remarks," regarding witnesses, McCaw said. "The defendant's words have had real world consequences," she said, citingthe case of Ruby Freeman, a poll worker in Georgia who had to vacate her home for two months, "after being scapegoated by the defendant," McCaw said. Trump's words have already created a stir in the hush-money case, she added. "The defendant posted on social media predicting death and destruction in lower Manhattan if charges were brought against him," she told the judge. As a result, "The NYPD had to mount a significant law enforcement response around the courthouse for weeks" leading up to Trump's March 30 indictment, she said. "The defendant's words have consequences," she said, noting that Trump has also made disparaging remarks about the judge and about Bragg. Read the original article on Business Insider Michelle Yeoh confirms Everything Everywhere All at Once will not have sequel [Source] Michelle Yeoh recently confirmed that Everything Everywhere All at Once" will not be getting a sequel. The 60-year-old Crazy Rich Asians star recently confirmed the update in an interview with Varietys Kering Women in Motion at the Cannes Film Festival in France. Theres no sequel, Yeoh told Variety on Sunday. We would just be doing the same thing. The hit film, directed by Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, won seven Oscars at the 95th Academy Awards in February, including the coveted best picture award, out of its 11 nominations. More from NextShark: UPDATE: Korean Siblings Who Lost Dad, Grandma to COVID-19 Still Waiting on Lung Transplant at USC Besides dominating the Academy Awards, which resulted in Everything Everywhere All at Once being recognized as the most-awarded film in history, Yeoh also made history at the awards show by becoming the first person who identifies as Asian to win the best actress award. Commenting on the aftermath of her historic win, Yeoh revealed that she has been receiving scripts that are not specifically for Chinese or "Asian-looking" characters. The best thing that has happened is I receive a script that doesnt describe the character as a Chinese or Asian-looking person. We are actors. We are supposed to act. We are supposed to step into roles that are given to us and do our job as best we can. That, for me, is the biggest step forward. More from NextShark: Women on Weibo call out men who said they wanted to take in attractive Russia-Ukraine war refugee girls Yeoh expressed hope that her historic win at the Academy Awards would pave the way for Asians and women in the industry. The day I won, I honestly heard the roar of joy that came from that corner of the world. Its been slowly moving in that way, and this has pushed the door open and its not shutting behind me When theres so few roles in the past, its so competitive. If you get the job, I dont get the job. But now we have to change the mindset. If Im successful, you can be successful. Yeoh was among the many stars who attended the premiere of Brazilian director Karim Ainouz's Firebrand at the 76th Cannes Film Festival on Sunday. More from NextShark: Disabled Korean who made history for climbing world's 14 highest peaks feared dead in Himalayas Other guests of Asian descent in attendance included Gemma Chan, Gigi Hadid and Salma Hayek Pinault. The film festival also saw the unveiling of three upcoming Donnie Yen films, including the fifth installment of the "Ip Man" movie franchise. Disney and Pixars original feature film Elemental, which stars Leah Lewis and Mamoudou Athie, is also slated to make its world premiere as a closing film at Cannes on Saturday. More from NextShark: 'Let's Eat' will have you drooling over yu choy and braised pork and also missing your parents Washington The mother of a young migrant girl who died in U.S. Border Patrol custody last week requested medical aid at least three times the day her sick daughter was pronounced dead at a Texas hospital, government officials said Sunday. Eight-year-old Anadith Tanay Reyes Alvarez, who was born with a heart condition, died on May 17 after experiencing a medical emergency inside a Border Patrol station in Harlingen, Texas. A local medical examiner is still probing the death, but an initial autopsy referenced Reyes Alvarez's heart disease and sickle cell anemia, officials said. Reyes Alvarez was detained in Border Patrol facilities with her parents and siblings for over a week, despite internal rules that instruct agents to hold migrants for no longer than three days. Border Patrol agents can release migrants pending a court hearing or an asylum interview, deport them or transfer them to another agency, such as Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). In an updated statement Sunday, Customs and Border Protection (CBP), Border Patrol's parent agency, said agents first processed Reyes Alvarez and her family on May 9. The family remained in the agency's custody for eight days. It's unclear why Reyes Alvarez and her family remained in Border Patrol custody beyond the 72-hour limit. But earlier this month, the agency struggled to house thousands of migrants stuck in detention facilities after border arrivals soared to 10,000 per day shortly before the expiration of the Title 42 pandemic-era restrictions on migration. Unlawful crossings along the southern border have since plummeted. Representatives for CBP did not answer several questions about how the family was processed, including the reason for their prolonged detention. CBP's Office of Professional Responsibility, which issued Sunday's statement, is investigating the girl's death. In a separate statement Sunday, acting CBP Commissioner Troy Miller said the results of the internal probe into Reyes Alvarez's death would be made public. Miller also announced he had ordered officials to ensure that medically vulnerable migrants were spending only a "limited" time in Border Patrol facilities and that medical contractors were providing "appropriate care" to those in custody. "The health and safety of individuals in our custody, our workforce, and communities we serve is paramount," Miller said. "To that end, we must ensure that medically fragile individuals receive the best possible care and spend the minimum amount of time possible in CBP custody." While the Office of Professional Responsibility's statement left many questions unanswered, it provided the first official timeline of what led up to Reyes Alvarez's death. According to the statement, Reyes Alvarez, her family and dozens of other migrants were apprehended by Border Patrol agents near Brownsville, Texas, on the night of May 9. The family was initially taken to an outdoors processing area, where they spent the night before being transported to a tent holding facility in Donna, Texas, the following day, officials said. Migrants look over a fence as they try to locate family members and friends that arrived at a processing center in Brownsville, Texas, on May 11, 2023. The US on May 11, 2023, will officially end its 40-month Covid-19 emergency, also discarding the Title 42 law, a tool that has been used to prevent millions of migrants from entering the country. / Credit: ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images Reyes Alvarez, officials added, was medically screened at the Donna facility and "did not complain of any acute illnesses or injuries." The parents did tell officials about the girl's heart condition and sickle cell anemia, the statement said. According to the CBP statement, Reyes Alvarez started complaining about "abdominal pain, nasal congestion, and cough" as early as the afternoon of May 14. After recording a temperature of 101.8 and testing positive for influenza A, Reyes Alvarez was provided several medications, including Tamiflu, officials said. Medical contractors also learned Reyes Alvarez had undergone heart surgery when she was five, the statement said. CBP said Reyes Alvarez and her family were relocated to the Border Patrol station in Harlingen, which it noted houses migrants "diagnosed with or closely exposed to communicable diseases." After arriving there on the night of May 12, Reyes Alvarez was again medically screened, officials said. During the following three days, CBP said, Reyes Alvarez received Tamiflu and ibuprofen. According to CBP, the situation deteriorated on May 17. "At this time, CBP can confirm that medical records documented that the eight-year-old girl and her mother came to the (Harlingen station) medical unit at least three times on Wednesday, May 17, 2023," the agency said. Reyes Alvarez was given Zofran a medication used to prevent nausea and vomiting and "instructed to hydrate and return if needed" after her first visit, during which she reported vomiting, officials said. Reyes Alvarez then complained of a stomach ache, but medical contractors instructed the mother to follow up again, saying the girl was "stable." At 1:55 p.m., Reyes Alvarez's mother came back carrying the child, who CBP said "appeared to be having a seizure" and was later unresponsive. Medical contractors called an ambulance and administered CPR, officials added. The ambulance arrived at 2:07 PM and transported Reyes Alvarez and her mother to the Valley Baptist Medical Center in Harlingen. Fewer than 50 minutes later, Reyes Alvarez was pronounced dead at the hospital. "Initial findings from the autopsy, which were shared with CBP OPR, indicated an absence of gross physical trauma, the presence of pleural effusions within the chest cavity, mentioned evidence that had been observed of the attempted surgical repair of the girl's aortic stenosis, and also referenced the provided history of sickle cell anemia," CBP said. Reyes Alvarez's mother told The Associated Press that officials at the Border Patrol facilities ignored earlier calls to hospitalize her daughter. "They killed my daughter, because she was nearly a day and a half without being able to breathe," the mother said, according to AP. "She cried and begged for her life and they ignored her. They didn't do anything for her." In addition to Reyes Alvarez and her family's week-long detention appearing to violate CBP's detention policy, it is also unclear whether the processing of the family complies with a 2022 legal agreement the government forged with lawyers representing migrant children in a landmark court settlement known as the Flores Agreement, which provides basic rights to minors in U.S. immigration custody. The 2022 agreement requires Border Patrol agents in El Paso and south Texas to conduct "enhanced medical monitoring" of migrant children if they are held beyond 72 hours. This includes constant medical checks, at least every 4 hours. "Between this settlement, and their own internal policies which acknowledge that 72 hours should be the maximum time in custody, it is extraordinarily difficult to understand how this tragedy occurred. Ultimately, Anadith's death is a reflection of our dehumanizing and dangerous immigration system," said Neha Desai, the senior director of immigration at the National Center for Youth Law, which represents children in Flores cases. While Reyes Alvarez was born in Panama, her parents and siblings are from Honduras. The family has since been released from U.S. custody pending the adjudication of their immigration cases. Honduran government officials and Democratic lawmakers in Congress have all demanded a "thorough" investigation into Reyes Alvarez's death. President Biden, Speaker McCarthy meet on debt ceiling as next week's deadline looms Carmelo Anthony retiring from NBA after 19 seasons California, Arizona and Nevada reach deal to conserve Colorado River Miley Cyrus Has A Good Reason For Not Wanting To Tour Again Miley Cyrus isnt interested in selling out arenas right now. During an intimate new interview with British Vogue, the pop star said shes over playing to stadiums of fans, telling the magazine she has no desire to do a big tour anytime soon. Cyrus said that while she love[s] performing, she prefers playing music for her inner circle these days. Singing for hundreds of thousands of people isnt really the thing that I love, she said. Theres no connection. Theres no safety. Its also not natural, Cyrus said of the pressure to please. Its so isolating because if youre in front of 100,000 people then you are alone. Miley Cyrus attends a Versace fashion show in West Hollywood, California, on March 9. Miley Cyrus attends a Versace fashion show in West Hollywood, California, on March 9. Asked if she would consider hitting the road again, Cyrus told British Vogue: After the last [headline arena] show I did, I kind of looked at it as more of a question. And I cant. Not only cant, because cant is your capability, but my desire, the Hannah Montana star continued. Do I want to live my life for anyone elses pleasure or fulfillment other than my own? Cyrus last major tour was her much-hyped Bangerz Tour in 2014, but shes embarked on several smaller junkets to promote her music more recently. In 2019, she had a seven-city tour around Europe. Last year, she focused on South American fans with the five-city Attention Tour, which hit cities like Sao Paulo and Buenos Aires, Argentina, in addition to Los Angeles. Cyrus released her eighth studio album, Endless Summer, in March. Related... Georgia man traveled to another county for a work assignment. Deputies later found him dead A missing 24-year-old Georgia man was found dead in a neighboring county, according to the Bibb County Sheriffs Office. Bibb investigators found 24-year-old Olico Dennis just before 11 a.m. on Thursday, dead in Crawford County. Dennis was initially reported missing on Wednesday after deputies said he was in Forsyth for a work assignment and had traveled to Macon on May 16. His last location in Macon is unknown, deputies say. [DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks] Deputies are ruling Dennis death as a homicide. More information about Dennis death will be released once it becomes available, deputies say. TRENDING STORIES: [SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter] IN OTHER NEWS Missing teen staying at Peculiar group home believed to be running away: Belton police Belton police are asking for the publics help finding a teenager who they believe ran away Sunday morning. Qua Na Big Spring, 17, was last seen leaving a group home in Peculiar, the Belton Missouri Police Department wrote in a news release. Qua Na is Native American and stands at about 5-feet-4-inches tall, and has brown hair and brown eyes, police said. She left the group home where she lives sometime between 4:30 and 5:30 a.m. Sunday, police said. The home is in the 600 block of B Street. The teen was carrying a purple backpack when she left, police said, adding that she might be in the Grandview area, near 140th Street and Botts Road. Qua Na takes medication daily and needs to be located, police wrote. Anyone who know where Qua Na might be is asked to call Belton police at 816-331-1500 or 911. No other information was immediately available. Missouri bill on Parsons desk would allow public schools to teach electives on the Bible In the waning hours of the legislative session, Missouri lawmakers passed a bill long-sought by a pair of Christian lawmakers that would allow public schools to offer elective courses on the Bible. The legislation, filed by state Sen. Karla May, a St. Louis Democrat, allows public schools and public charter schools to offer elective social studies classes including but not limited to the Hebrew Scriptures, the Old Testament of the Bible and the New Testament of the Bible. It passed the Missouri Senate on a unanimous vote of 31 to 0 in March. And then, with just more than an hour left in this years session and with little debate, the House voted 108 to 30 last week to send the bill to Republican Gov. Mike Parsons desk. May, a nondenominational Christian, told The Star that she wants people to be able to study these religious texts from a cultural and historical perspective. Its one of the greatest history books that Ive ever read, May said, referring to the Bible. I wanted other people who are, you know, receiving faith to see it in a different way. You get me? Culturally, language, styles of clothes. How did it impact the living conditions of people? You know, I want it to be not a myth. But while the bill received support from both parties this year and didnt drum up too much controversy, some religious leaders and the American Civil Liberties Union of Missouri say it singles out one religion over others. It states that schools cannot violate state or federal laws or favor or show hostility toward any religion. However, some critics worry it may cause schools to violate the spirit of separation of church and state outlined in the U.S. Constitution. Tori Schafer, deputy director for policy and campaigns at the ACLU of Missouri, said that there are acceptable ways to teach about the Bible in public schools, such as a comparative religion class. However, its difficult to do so in a way thats in line with the U.S. Constitution, especially when a course focuses solely on one faith or religious text, she said. Whether unintentionally or intentionally, courses focusing on one faith or religious text create conditions ripe for proselytizing and official promotion of religious beliefs, Schafer said in a statement. When asked what the bill is referring to with the Hebrew Scriptures, May said it refers to the Five Books of Moses, a term for the first five books of the Bible also known as the Torah. Doug Alpert, the rabbi at Kansas City-based Congregation Kol Ami, said while the bill appeared to be attempting to be inclusive to Jewish people, it did not specifically include references to other religions such as Islam, Buddhism or Hinduism. He said he wondered why lawmakers felt the need to pass the bill if these courses are already allowed under state and federal laws. I dont think its the legislatures place to try and state specifically that this is okay, he said. It sounds like theyre doing the courts job. May pushed back on criticism of the bill, pointing to the provision that classes would not have to be limited to these specific books. She said that because the class is an elective, students would be able to request the course from their schools. The goal of her legislation, she said, is to teach these religious texts from an educational perspective instead of lessons on morality and sin. But state Rep. Ben Baker, a Neosho Republican who has filed similar legislation, has touted the legislation as a Bible Bill on Twitter. Now students in our Missouri Public Schools can have the Bible as a full elective in History classes! Baker wrote on Twitter last week. God works in mysterious ways! Baker did not respond to a request for comment. Others, including some lawmakers who voted in favor of the legislation, say the bill wont have a major impact and that schools are already allowed to teach these classes. I know that schools can do it anyway. It doesnt mandate that schools offer those courses. It just allows that as an option for an elective but that was pretty standard, said state Sen. Lauren Arthur, a Kansas City Democrat and a former middle school teacher. Ive not heard anything in support or opposition from my school districts, which I think reaffirms for me that this probably isnt going to make much of a difference. At least two Kansas City area school districts do not have immediate plans to change their curriculum if Parson signs the bill into law. Talia Evans, a spokesperson for the Lees Summit School District, said the district approves its course catalogs in the fall and new courses would be discussed next fall. Katie Woolf, a spokesperson for the Blue Springs School District, said the district did not have any current plans to change its curriculum or add classes. Brian Kaylor, the president and editor-in-chief of Word&Way, a Missouri-based Christian media company who testified against the bill earlier this year, said he felt the bill was problematic because it was promoting one faith text over others. He said it could cause confusion because there are numerous interpretations of the Bible from different denominations and religions. Kaylor that if lawmakers wanted to teach a class that shows how religion has impacted Missouri history, the Book of Mormon, which has deep ties to Missouri, should be included. It could create some problems for students who find that their religious tradition isnt respected or treated as the standard text in this class, he said. If Gov. Mike Parson signs off on construction of a new $300-million psychiatric hospital in Kansas City and we urge him to Missouri will take a small, but important, step to fix a broken system. In 2004, the states Center for Behavioral Medicine opened on Hospital Hill, replacing the outdated and dilapidated Western Missouri Mental Health Center. But now, less than two decades later, the building housing the center is being described as a dump unfit for patients. It is in terrible disrepair, state Sen. Greg Razer, a Kansas City Democrat, told The Star I toured it a few weeks ago and, I mean, we should not have humans living there. Just the lack of sunlight, I cant even describe it. But before putting $300 million into a replacement facility, state officials would do well to figure out how the 2004 structure deteriorated so quickly. Taxpayers dont want to be told 20 years from now that this new building also has been allowed to crumble. That said, there is an urgent need for quality mental health treatment options. The COVID-19 pandemic not only added to the mental stress on the population it also revealed that our system for helping Missourians with mental illness isnt much of a well-planned system at all. Its a patchwork of public and private answers that doesnt always get the job done. As the state invests in this new facility, it also should put resources into a thorough review of what our mental health system needs to make it both effective and efficient. But expectations for a well-planned system need to be reasonable. A good system for treating people with mental challenges will not fix everything that needs fixing. For instance, after almost every mass shooting now a daily occurrence somewhere in the U.S. the public hears calls for improved mental health treatment options. And they are needed, but so are sensible laws to limit access to high-powered weapons designed to be used by the military, not by civilians. Beyond that, officials evaluating mental health treatment options need to take into account the factors that were not adding to psychological stresses just a few years ago. For instance, the high-tech companies that run social media platforms add to mental health problems by using algorithms that systematically drive users deeper into rabbit holes of misinformation, disinformation, conspiracy theories and more all in the name of profit through advertising. What once was touted as the great information superhighway has turned into what often seems like a destructive traffic jam of rage. One result is that the well-being of social media users suffers, sometimes overwhelming the capacity of the mental health system. A related issue, as The Star reported, is that a shortage of beds has forced some patients who should be in a mental health hospital to remain in jail, where they get no treatment. Charlie Shields, president of University Health, put it this way: They have folks that right now need this kind of treatment that are sitting in county jails across the state, (who), frankly, cant get the treatment they need to get them to the point where they can properly represent themselves in trial. If Gov. Parson approves the funding, the new facility would have 100 beds that the state would operate for long-term care and 100 beds that University Health would oversee. The funding also would pay for an emergency department to which anyone in crisis could come to receive care. But, of course, construction will take time, meaning that authorities should do whatever they can now to make the current Center for Behavioral Medicine as livable as possible. And the state should do a thorough review of how it approaches mental health treatment so that when the new center opens it can be part of a rational, efficient and effective system for the many people who need high-quality services. Bernice King lawyer, minister and the youngest child of civil rights revolutionary Martin Luther King Jr. on Monday criticized Sen. Ted Cruzs (R-Texas) remarks about the NAACPs travel advisory for Florida, which argues the state is hostile to Black Americans. Cruz called the advisory bizarre and utterly dishonest. In the 1950s & 1960s, the NAACP did extraordinary good helping lead the civil rights movement, the Texas senator tweeted. Today, Dr. King would be ashamed of how profoundly theyve lost their way. But King quickly responded with a photo of her father and said, What my father would be deeply concerned about is the harmful, discriminatory legislation in Florida. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), who is expected to announce his 2024 campaign for president this week, has been facing increased backlash from a multitude of organizations for signing legislation many argue is discriminatory, anti-Black and anti-LGBTQ. NAACP issues travel warning in Florida: the state has become hostile to Black Americans GOP Rep. Byron Donalds on NAACPs Florida travel advisory: This is silly, and its dumb NAACP president on Florida warning: We shouldnt use race to weaponize against people In addition to being one of the leading voices against critical race theory, DeSantis signed the Stop WOKE Act, restricting how schools and workplaces can address race, gender and sexual identity; banned an advanced placement African American studies pilot program from running in schools; and prohibited colleges and universities from spending public funds on diversity, equity and inclusion programs. Though many conservatives have applauded the DeSantis administration, the NAACP said the state devalues and marginalizes the contributions of, and challenges faced by African Americans and other communities of color. NAACP President and CEO Derrick Johnson defended the advisory on Monday. We are witnessing firsthand how hes governing, and hes governing to a small vocal minority of the community, not the majority interest of Florida, Johnson said. Nor is he governing towards a future of Florida, which will not look like the small minority that hes speaking to in this moment. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. India's PM Modi is greeted by Papua New Guinea's PM Marape at Jackson International Airport, in Papua New Guinea U.S., Papua New Guinea sign defence pact at Pacific summit India's PM Modi is greeted by Papua New Guinea's PM Marape at Jackson International Airport, in Papua New Guinea By Kirsty Needham (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said a defence cooperation pact signed with Papua New Guinea on Monday would expand the Pacific island nation's capabilities and make it easier for the U.S. military to train with its forces. Blinken and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi held separate meetings with 14 Pacific island leaders in the PNG capital Port Moresby, pledging support for the region's priorities of health, development and climate change. The United States and its allies are seeking to deter Pacific island nations from forming security ties with China, a rising concern amid tension over Taiwan, and after Beijing signed a security pact with Solomon Islands. Pacific island leaders, whose territories span 40 million square km (15 million square miles) of ocean, have said rising sea levels caused by climate change are their most pressing security priority. Blinken told PNG Prime Minister James Marape that Washington would deepen its partnership across the board with PNG, and that he expected partnerships with U.S. businesses would bring tens of billions of dollars' worth of new investment. After university students protested against the defence agreement on Monday, Marape told a joint news conference with Blinken "there is nothing for us to be fearful about". The accord updated an existing U.S. military relationship, he said, and "has nothing to do with China". "We have a healthy relationship with the Chinese government and they are an important trading partner," Marape said. Marape said on Sunday the defence agreement would see an increase in the U.S. military presence over the next decade, while the U.S. State Department said it would bolster regional security. "The defence cooperation was drafted by the United States and Papua New Guinea as equals and sovereign partners," Blinken said at a signing ceremony. It will expand PNG defence capacity to enhance humanitarian assistance and disaster response, and make it easy for U.S. and PNG forces to train together, Blinken said. In Beijing, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said China had no objection to mutually beneficial cooperation with Pacific island countries such as PNG, but added: "What we need to be vigilant about is engaging in geopolitical games in the name of cooperation, and we also believe that no cooperation should target any third parties." 'KNOW WHAT IS HAPPENING' The U.S. and PNG struck a separate agreement on increasing surveillance of PNG's exclusive economic zone through U.S. Coast Guard patrols, protecting its economy from illegal fishing. The United States will provide $45 million in new funds as it works with PNG to strengthen economic and security cooperation, including protective equipment for the PNG defence force, climate change mitigation and tackling transnational crime and HIV/AIDS, Blinken said. Blinken headed the U.S. delegation in PNG instead of President Joe Biden, who cut short an Asia trip to deal with the U.S. debt-ceiling crisis. Addressing the 14 Pacific island leaders, Blinken said he was carrying an invitation from Biden for them to return to Washington in the autumn for a second summit following an inaugural meeting hosted by the White House last year. Modi told the Forum for India-Pacific Islands Cooperation that India would be a reliable development partner and was committed to a "free, open and inclusive Indo Pacific". "We are willing to share our capabilities and experiences in digital technology, space technology, health security, food security, climate change and environment protection," he said. The Quad leaders of Australia, United States, Japan and India had agreed in Japan at the weekend to increase cooperation with the Pacific, Modi said. In PNG, the United States also signed a renewed strategic agreement with Palau, known as a Compact of Free Association (COFA), and will sign another with Micronesia on Tuesday, under which the U.S. is responsible for the nations' defense and gains continued access to huge swathes of the Pacific. Blinken said Washington looked forward to entering negotiations on a third COFA, with the Marshall Islands, "very soon" and said that under the three compacts the U.S. would commit $7.1 billion over 20 years. Biden's COFA negotiator Joseph Yun told Reuters on Saturday he hoped to finalise a deal with the Marshall Islands in the coming weeks. (Reporting by Kirsty Needham and Praveen Menon in Sydney; additional reporting by Lucy Craymer in Wellington, Liz Lee and Ethan Wang in Beijing and David Brunnstrom in Washington; Editing by Lincoln Feast, Gerry Doyle, Mark Heinrich and Conor Humphries) Moms unannounced visit had daughter worried then she saw her MD lottery ticket An 80-year-old woman was crying tears of joy after realizing she had won big with a scratch-off ticket in Maryland, lottery officials said. The Montgomery County resident had been running errands in Beltsville when she decided to buy some scratch-offs at Calverton Liquors, according to a May 22 news release by the Maryland Lottery. The woman was shocked when a $10 Money Bag Multiplier scratch-off won her a $100,000 top prize. I was shaking and kept looking at the ticket, the lucky woman told lottery officials. Ive hit small amounts in the past, but this blew my mind. Knowing she needed to confirm the potential win, the woman drove to her daughters house, the release said. I thought something was wrong, because she usually calls first, the womans daughter told officials. It took a minute for it to sink in, but I am so happy for her. The woman plans to put the money towards her grandchildrens college expenses, make some home improvements and share some of the fortune with her daughter, according to the release. Belstville is about 30 miles southwest of Baltimore. Many people can gamble or play games of chance without harm. However, for some, gambling is an addiction that can ruin lives and families. If you or a loved one shows signs of gambling addiction, you can seek help by calling the national gambling hotline at 1-800-522-4700 or visiting the National Council on Problem Gambling website. Frustrated lottery player tries different game and the ticket left him dumbfounded Dance teacher plans to help kids in native country after NC lottery win. My dream Lottery player thought he broke even on Maryland ticket but he missed a few zeros Lottery player knew something big was coming when he saw clerks reaction to ticket Woman in Moms for Liberty shirt. GIORGIO VIERA/AFP via Getty Images The conservative group Moms for Liberty plays a surprisingly significant role in the national debate over book bans and classroom discussions of race and gender identity. The latest example: The Tallahassee Democrat reported a Florida teacher is under investigation by state authorities for showing her students the Disney movie "Strange World," which features a gay character. The complaint against the teacher came from a school board member who won office after being endorsed by Moms for Liberty. Moms for Liberty says its mission is "fighting for the survival of America by unifying, educating and empowering parents to defend their parental rights at all levels of government." But it has plenty of critics. The group is "orchestrating harassment campaigns that have left people fearing for their safety," Vice News reported. How did Moms for Liberty get its start? And how is it making itself felt in American politics? Who are the Moms for Liberty? The group got its start as a reaction to pandemic-era school lockdowns and classroom mask requirements, as well, Yahoo reported. The Los Angeles Times added that the group "criticizes what it regards as an agenda-driven education system that emphasizes race, gender and diversity at the expense of core subjects." Co-founders Tiffany Justice and Tina Descovich say their goal isn't to disrupt education but to fight for parents' rights to oversee their kids' education. "We are disrupting the balance of power in education," said Justice. How does it do activism? That disruption can be, well, disruptive. "Conservative media outlets highlight videos of members of Moms for Liberty as they turn school board meetings into raucous shouting matches," Yahoo noted. "The group's incredible growth over the course of two years coincided with and helped create a wider national debate about the politicization of the education system," added Vice. But that raucousness goes hand-in-hand with more official political organizing: The group now claims 115,000 members and runs candidates in school board races nationwide, often winning: About half the group's 250 endorsed candidates were victorious in 2022. In November, Moms for Liberty-backed school members fired a school board superintendent in South Carolina. As a result of all this, Moms for Liberty "has become a major force in Republican politics," Vice described. Does Moms for Liberty favor book bans? The group has made its biggest splash advocating for "anti-woke" laws against classroom lessons and books that reference critical race theory or LGBT identities. "Moms for Liberty worked with the office of Florida's governor, Ron DeSantis, to help craft the state's infamous 'Don't Say Gay' legislation," the New Yorker reported, while the Pennsylvania Capital-Star said that "thanks to efforts by M4L and its Republican allies, Pennsylvania ranks third in the nation in the number of school library book bans." (Texas and Florida rank higher.) PEN America, the free speech advocacy group, added that Moms for Liberty is one of a range of groups behind a "dramatic expansion" in book-banning efforts in the post-pandemic years. Moms for Liberty's leaders say some books and topics aren't appropriate for young readers. "No one is looking to ban books," Justice told NewsNation. "What we're talking about is curating content in a library. You wouldn't have the same books in a medical college that you would in a seminary, and just because a book is printed doesn't mean that it belongs in a children's library." However, Tennessee members of the group drew headlines in 2022 for challenging school books about Ruby Bridges and Martin Luther King Jr. What do critics say? There does seem to be a backlash brewing. The Los Angeles Times reported that national groups like EveryLibrary and Red Wine & Blue help "people speak out against censorship at public meetings," while local and regional efforts like Louisiana Citizens Against Censorship have also sprung up. And President Biden seems ready to make library and classroom censorship an issue in the 2024 campaign. "I never thought I'd be a president who is fighting against elected officials trying to ban and banning books," he said in April. "I've never met a parent who wants a politician dictating what their kid can learn and what they can think or who they can be." What's next? While Moms for Liberty has focused largely on local school board politics, the group also has its eye on the 2024 presidential race. Justice told CNN that DeSantis has thrown himself into the "parental rights" movement more than other candidates. "Ron DeSantis stood up for parents when no one else was," she said. "I think he's a leader that way, and parents across the country have recognized him for that." You may also like Italy's Mount Etna erupts, forcing airport closure Dianne Feinstein and the problem of America's aging politicians College student who tracks Elon Musk's jet now doing the same with DeSantis Members of the audience show their support for New College during a meeting of the board of trustees. Conservatives appointed to the board by the governor have made big changes at the progressive school, drawing opposition. Prepare for backlash to culture war Gov. Ron DeSantis has denigrated the LGBTQ community, attacked public school teachers and their unions, banned books, executed a hostile takeover of New College, allowed permitless, untrained citizens to carry concealed firearms and made it illegal for women to end a pregnancy after six weeks (when many dont even know theyre pregnant yet). He ended funding for diversity/inclusion programs in college, sent immigrants legally in the U.S. from Texas to other states by lying to them and began a feud with Disney for simply disagreeing with one of his bills. These are divisive, regressive, homophobic, racist, dangerous, Orwellian and/or misguided policies that will have negative effects on our state. More: DeSantis signs bill banning funding for diversity programs More: How to send a letter to the editor Well, in response to the governors bullying, Disney just canceled a $1 billion plan to expand in Orlando, which wouldve brought over 2,000 jobs to the region. FYI, Disney paid more than $1.1 billion in state and local taxes in 2022 and draws thousands of tourists each year. The backlash has begun, Florida. Get ready for the consequences of Rons unnecessary, draconian, culture war. Con Nicholas, Sarasota Invasive pines must be removed In response to the letter writer who suggested that invasive Australian pines in Venice not be cut, I recommend she research the subject at https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/fr366. Such trees are not supposedly invasive" nor are Venice bureaucrats acting arrogantly in removing them. The Florida Department of Environmental Protection has classified the trees as invasive and subject to removal. With their shallow roots, many Australian pines in Venezia Park fell during Hurricane Ian and the city subsequently and rightly replaced them with Florida-friendly trees. Walking along the perimeter of Venezia Park it is alarming to see the hundreds of saplings sprouting beneath the remaining Australian pines saplings that have to be mowed to control their spread. An invasive tree is not better than nothing. T. King, Sarasota Banning books should be wake-up call Moms for Liberty is anything but: Backed by our governor, this group has sanctioned censorship to eliminate the power of choice and the power of choice is a basis of liberty. There have always been guidelines for selecting books for public schools. Classrooms and school libraries provide the power of choice, to question, to learn, to understand. If a parent objects to a book, there are steps and alternatives offered by teachers and librarians. Why have we become so paranoid? What has happened to dialogue and discussion? We can carry concealed weapons without a permit but be careful of books! Banning books from our schools should be a wake-up call to Floridians. Paula Klein Gray, Venice Question of the Week The Opinion page invites readers to tackle our "Online Question of the Week." If Gov. Ron DeSantis held a town hall forum and you had a chance to ask him a question, what would it be? Email responses by Thursday, May 25, to editor.letters@heraldtribune.com. We will publish the best responses Saturday, May 27, at https://www.heraldtribune.com. This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Florida should prepare for backlash to culture war More than $220 million in disaster relief coming to crabbers, salmon fishers Crabbers and salmon fishers in Washington State and Alaska will be receiving more than $220 million in federal disaster relief funds for the canceled crabbing and fishing season. U.S. Senators Patty Murray (D-WA) and Maria Cantwell (D-WA) announced the funding Thursday after urging the federal government to include disaster relief aid in the 2023 fiscal omnibus spending bill. Crab and salmon harvests are critical to the livelihoods of thousands of Washington state families and local economies across the Pacific Northwest, said Senator Murray. Our fishermen and small businesses have been grappling with disasters that have hit year after year, and they need all the help they can get. Securing these federal dollars in the end-of-year spending package was a top priority for me and Im thrilled this money is getting out the door and into the hands of those who need it. The aid covers Bristol Bay king crab harvests suspended for two years and the snow crab harvest that will be canceled for the first time in 2023. Also covered are 2021 salmon harvests from Alaskas Kuskokwim River and 2019 and 2020 Washington salmon fisheries, almond others. The Federal fishery disasters aid covers for the following harvests: 2021/2022 Alaska Bristol Bay Red King Crab and Bering Sea Snow Crab Fisheries 2019 Washington Columbia River, Willapa Bay, Puget Sound Salmon Fisheries 2020 Washington Ocean Salmon Fisheries 2021 Alaska Kuskokwim River Salmon and Norton Sound Chum and Coho Salmon Fisheries 2021 Chignik Salmon Fisheries 2020 Copper River/Prince William Sound Coho and Pink Salmon Fisheries 2020/2021 Alaska Norton Sound Red King Crab Fisheries 2022/2023 Alaska Bristol Bay Red King Crab and Bering Sea Snow Crab Fisheries Cancellations of the 2022/2023 Bering Sea snow crab, the 2022/2023 Bristol Bay red king crab, and the 2021/2022 Bristol Bay Red King Crab harvests have caused an estimated $287.7 million in economic losses for fisheries. Cancellations of the 2020 Washington Ocean Salmon Fisheries, which impacted non-Tribal ocean catch quotas for Chinook and Coho salmon, resulted in revenue losses of 50% based on preliminary data. Many of the boats and processing centers are based in Washington. The head of the Bering Sea Crabbers Association told KIRO Newsradio that some crabbers are facing bankruptcy. She said climate change, poaching, and other countries crabbing rules are all playing a part in the crab populations declines. State governors, tribes, or a representative of an affected fishing community can apply to receive disaster funding through the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Fishery Disaster Assistance program. This story was originally published on MyNorthwest. More than 23,000 still out of homes after Italy floods Residents ride their bicycle across a flooded street on May 21, 2023 in Conselice, near Ravenna More than 23,000 people in northeast Italy were still displaced Monday almost one week after heavy rains sparked widespread flooding and left 14 people dead, officials said. Most are staying with friends or family although almost 2,700 are being housed in hotels, schools, gyms and other centres laid on by local authorities, the Emilia Romagna region said. Six months of rain fell in just 36 hours early last week, causing almost two dozen rivers to burst their banks, transforming streets into rivers and submerging huge tracts of farmland. The clean-up has begun in some areas but others remain under water. Efforts began Monday to restore an Internet connection to hospitals, public offices, schools and people in isolated areas. The region said it had started to distribute 100 Starlink terminals from Elon Musk's SpaceX in the areas around Ravenna. Aside from the loss of life, as yet unquantifiable damage has been caused to one of Italy's wealthiest regions. Agricultural lobby Confagricoltura said at least 10 million fruit trees will have to be uprooted, and possibly as many as 40 million. More than 600 roads remained closed on Monday, with the region estimating at the weekend that more than 620 million euros was needed to rebuild the water-logged road and transport network. Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni returned early from the G7 summit in Japan to visit some of the worst hit areas on Sunday, and is expected to hold a cabinet meeting on Tuesday to unblock emergency funds for the region. Several private groups have already pledged money to help Emilia Romagna get back on its feet, including Italian-French car giant Stellantis, which promised one million euros Monday, matching funds also pledged by Formula 1 and luxury carmaker Ferrari, which is based in nearby Maranello. France's LVMH, the world's biggest luxury group which includes Italian brands Bulgari and Fendi, and Kering, home to Gucci, have also made unspecified donations. The president of Emilia Romagna, Stefano Bonaccini, has drawn up a list of requests for government action, from compensation for flood damage to help for temporary agriculture workers and the suspension of tax and mortgage payments. Longer term, he says the region needs a comprehensive plan "for the reconstruction, maintenance and safety of the territory", to address the flood risks. ar/cw More than $4.3 million in upgrades planned for Belleville streets. Did yours make the list? The top seven road projects in Belleville for 2023 total about $4.3 million in construction costs, according to city records. City Engineer Sal Elkott said his push for road improvements is inspired by a conversation he had with a friend who was considering whether to buy a west-side home about 25 years ago on Kilmar Woods Drive, which is one of the roads targeted for improvement this year. His friend didnt make an offer on the home because she was concerned about the poor road conditions, he said. That was alarming to her. That ought to tell you, roads do make a difference, he said. So when the rubber meets the road, I dont really need to tell you about nuclear density of asphalt, I dont need to tell you about compaction, I dont need to tell you about hydraulics and hydrology. What you need to know is what is essential to your quality of life and what is essential to your quality of life is better infrastructure, so better infrastructure brings in better rooftops, better rooftops bring in better business. It has a direct impact on the quality of the people who live in these neighborhoods. The largest project in Bellevilles roadwork plan this year calls for the $1.6 million realignment of South Sixth Street near Richland Creek. South Sixth Street will be reopened to traffic after being closed in recent years. Along with that reopening, crews will permanently close off Centreville Avenues connection with West Main Street. Centreville Avenue will be linked in a new, three-street intersection with South Sixth and West Lincoln streets. West Washington Street will remain one-way going east in this area and West Lincoln Street will remain a two-way street. Construction on this project is expected to be finished by the end of the year, weather permitting, according to Elkott. Sidewalk and curb improvements also will be part of this project. To pay for this project, the city is using property tax revenue collected as part of the tax increment financing system known as the TIF 3 Fund. Baxmeyer Construction Inc. of Waterloo is the contractor on the Sixth Street realignment. South Sixth Street had been closed while Ameren completed a cleanup of coal tar along Richland Creek. The coal tar was a byproduct of a since-demolished factory that produced gas from coal for city street lights in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Here are 2023 highlights for seven roadwork projects in Belleville: South Sixth Street at Centreville Avenue, West Lincoln Street & West Washington Street Construction cost: $1,597,777.77 Scope: Realignment of South Sixth Street, resurfacing, curbs, sidewalks Time frame: End of December, weather permitting Contractor: Baxmeyer Construction Inc. of Waterloo Funding: TIF 3 Mascoutah Avenue (from near East Main Street to McKinley Avenue) Construction cost: $699,889.49 Scope: Repave, curb repairs and some sidewalk repairs. Time frame: May Contractor: Christ Brothers Asphalt of Lebanon Funding: American Rescue Plan Act Forest Avenue (from McKinley Street to East Monroe Street) Construction cost: $560,936.35 Scope: Resurfacing, storm sewer repairs, curb repairs, sidewalks Time frame: Mid-July Contractor: Rooters Asphalt of Beckemeyer Funding: Rebuild Illinois Allsup Place (from Town Hall Road to near Illinois 15) Construction cost: $532,898.82 Scope: Repave, pavement patches, pipe underdrains subgrade repairs of roadway Time frame: Mid-July Contractor: Kinney Contractors Inc. of Raymond Funding: Rebuild Illinois East Adams Street (from Illinois 159 to South Jackson Street) Construction cost: $369,611.00 Scope: Resurfacing, some curb repairs Time frame: September Contractor: Hanks Excavating & Landscaping Inc. of Belleville Funding: TIF 8 Reunion Boulevard Construction cost: $273,629.25 Scope: Resurfacing Time frame: Completed Contractor: Rooters Asphalt of Beckemeyer Funding: TIF 10 Fourscore Drive & Kilmar Woods Drive Construction cost: $263,096.40 Scope: Resurfacing, subgrade repairs of roadway, curb repairs Time frame: Completed in May Contractor: Kilian Corp. of Mascoutah Funding: Rebuild Illinois Future projects Elkott said several projects are in the planning stages: The city plans to resurface West Main Street from 37th to 44th streets and this work is expected to be done by 2025, Elkott said. Work also is being planned for Lebanon Avenue and Susann Court near Memorial Hospital. The city has twice tried unsuccessfully to get grants to get money to extend the streetscape improvements on West Main Street from 12th to 17th streets, Elkott said, and this project remains in the citys plans. The Belleville City Council recently approved engineering design work for improvements to South Church Street and for several downtown streets including Main, West A, First, Third and Illinois streets. Biden and McCarthy to meet for debt ceiling negotiations as default looms. The Republican 2024 presidential primary looks set to heat up this week. And meet the Ukrainian team making sure no soldier gets left behind. Here's what to know today. Biden and McCarthy to revive debt ceiling talks as Yellen warns of default President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy agreed over the phone to meet this afternoon to try to continue the negotiations aimed at averting a default on the nations debt. This is Morning Rundown, a weekday newsletter to start your morning. Sign up here to get it in your inbox. The call between the two came shortly after Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said on NBC News' "Meet the Press" that early June is a hard deadline for the federal government to raise the debt ceiling and warned that bills will go unpaid if Congress fails to reach a deal before the U.S. runs out of money. McCarthy said after the call that I think we can solve some of these problems if [Biden] understands what were looking at. The speaker added, But Ive been very clear to him from the very beginning. We have to spend less money than we spent last year. Part of the stall in negotiations is that House Republicans want to force major spending cuts that would be dead on arrival in the Democratic-controlled Senate. McCarthy said both sides are "still apart," but they decided during their call to get their negotiators back together. Zelenskyy compares Bakhmut devastation to Hiroshima after World War II Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy completed his visit to the G7 Summit by stopping at Hiroshimas atomic bomb museum, saying that he saw echoes of Bakhmuts pain in images of the 1945 destruction. The Ukrainian city has become a symbol of defiance against Russia during the war. While speaking in Hiroshima, which hosted the three day summit for the leaders of the worlds seven largest economies, he said photos of the city during World War II absolutely remind me of Bakhmut. He said there was absolutely, nothing alive there, all buildings are destroyed, there is even no understanding where a street is and where a building is. Absolute total destruction. Nothing left, no people left. The comments came after Russian forces claimed they finally captured the city, but Zelenskyy has disputed those claims, insisting that his forces were holding on and fighting thanks to courage of our people and warriors, and thanks to our intelligence. GOP presidential primary might heat up this week The race for the next Republican presidential nominee will gain momentum this week as Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is expected to finally launch his campaign. But what has been framed as a duel between former President Donald Trump and DeSantis is set to expand into a crowded competition. Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina is set to announce his candidacy today after months of positioning himself for a run. A half-dozen or more other competitors could soon join in. Political reporters Henry Gomez and Allan Smith explore what the path for a 2024 nominee might look like. Meet the Ukrainian unit tasked with finding fallen soldiers A unit known as On the Shield searches for deceased soldiers that remain unaccounted for among Ukraines battlefields. The teams task, while grim, allows for some closure for the relatives and friends of the dead whether they are Russian or Ukranian. The search has now become more difficult as the warmer weather covers up clues that could assist the unit. As a result, many of the bodies they find are skeletonized, according to one team leader, adding any signs such as tattoos or other markings are no longer visible. On the Shield is made up of all volunteers. Ellison Barber reports that their main goal is to fulfill one of the oldest military mantras leave no man behind. Todays Talker The NAACP issued a travel advisory for... Florida over Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis aggressive attempts to erase Black history in the states schools, according to the organizations statement. The NAACP warned that the state is openly hostile toward African Americans, people of color and LGBTQ+ individuals. The advisory comes after DeSantis administration blocked an Advanced Placement course in African American Studies from being offered in Florida high schools. Politics in Brief Abortion rights: An anti-abortion group is trying to ban abortion in rural areas of states that allow the procedure, turning small towns into battlegrounds. G7 Summit: The United States and its allies at the Group of 7 Summit focused on Russias invasion of Ukraine, but close behind was how to approach China, with allies still divided on how to balance economic cooperation with the powerhouse. Staff Pick Uvalde families left to piece together what happened Uvalde, Texas, has been hurting for a year. Last May 24, families lost 19 children and two teachers when a gunman entered their school and began firing. Its not just the grief of loss, but the pain of wondering, could at least some have been saved? For more than 70 minutes, law enforcement waited before finally stopping the shooter. And after 52 weeks, the families still dont have an answer to the wrenching question: Why? Mary Carter, breaking news editor In Case You Missed It Select: Online Shopping, Simplified Looking for early Memorial Day discounts? Many sales are now in full swing, its the perfect time to take advantage of this weeks pre-holiday deals. Whether youre looking to replace an old mattress or stock up on some patio essentials ahead of summer, heres a list of some of Selects favorite sales happening now. Thanks for reading todays Morning Rundown. Todays newsletter was curated for you by Elizabeth Both. If youre a fan, please send a link to your family and friends. They can sign-up here. This article was originally published on NBCNews.com This is the most expensive California neighborhood. Heres what it costs to own a home there A historic suburb in Los Angeles County is host to the most expensive neighborhood in California, according to data collected from Zillow by online lender CashNetUSA. Home to A-list celebrities, palm trees and picture-perfect scenes, the houses with the highest average price tag in the state is Beverly Hills Gateway in Beverly Hills. Homes in this neighborhood cost an average of $22,771,957, according to the data. Not only is Beverly Hills Gateway the most expensive neighborhood in California, but its the fourth most expensive place to live in the United States, topped only by two Florida neighborhoods and one in Colorado. For $85 million, you can buy an 11 bedroom, 16 bathroom home in this neighborhood near the 27,000 square-foot mansion of Jeff Bezos, who paid $165 million to purchase Jack Warners estate in 2020. Bezos purchase set the record for Los Angeles priciest home sale, according to Architectural Digest. About Beverly Hills Beverly Hills is located directly southwest of the Hollywood Hills and around 12 miles from downtown L.A. The city has a population of 32,903, according to U.S. Census data. Beverly Hills has been featured in a number of television series and movies including 90210 and 90s film Pretty Woman. The city is home to the two-mile long Rodeo Drive, one of the most prestigious retail destinations in the world. Brands including Hermes, Cartier, Louis Vuitton and Chanel have stores on Rodeo Drive. Beverly Hills is home to celebrities including Katy Perry, Leonardo DiCaprio, Adele, Eddie Murphy and Johnny Depp, according to PropertyClub. 10 most expensive neighborhoods in the U.S. Below is a list of the 10 most expensive neighborhoods in the U.S. and their average house prices, according to CashNetUSA: Manalapan, Florida: $39,761,000 Palm Island, Florida: $27,624,833 Snowmass, Colorado: $23,568,750 Beverly Hills Gateway, California: $22,771,957 Port Royal, Florida: $22,032,667 Golden Beach, Florida: $18,659,412 Bel Air, California: $18,581,775 SouthHampton Village, New York: $16,719,714 Sagaponack, New York: $16,016,944 Trousdale Estates, California: $15,870,100 McClatchys Evan Moore contributed to this story. What do you want to know about life in Modesto? Ask our service journalism team your top-of-mind questions in the module below or email servicejournalists@modbee.com. Myrtle Beach man charged with setting apartment fire had been there earlier, police say A Myrtle Beach man has been arrested for arson in connection to a fire that damaged eight apartment units in the Forestbrook community early Friday morning. The man had apparently been at the apartment hours before it caught fire, police reports show. Robert Samuel Britt, 21, was charged with second-degree arson and malicious injury to personal property on Friday by Horry County Police Department. He was still incarcerated Monday at the J. Rueben Long Detention Center, according to online detention records. Eight residences were damaged by the fire that started about 3:05 a.m. Friday at 801 Burcale Road, according to Horry County Fire Rescue. One upstairs residence received heavy fire damage, the department wrote on Facebook. No injuries were reported. Britt apparently had been involved in an earlier incident regarding an assault at the same residence about 10 p.m. Thursday, according to an Horry County Police report. Because of lack of evidence, neither Britt, nor the other person, was charged. One person was taken to jail on an outstanding warrant. At 3:08 a.m. Friday, police responded to the apartment fire on Burcale Road, which the officer recognized as the same apartment officers had responded to earlier Thursday, the report stated. The officer became suspicious that Britt, who was involved in the earlier incident, might have something to do with the fire, according to the report. Britt told officers that another person was responsible for the fire. However, that person had already been taken into police custody for an outstanding warrant at the time of the fire. Police were then notified that Horry County fire investigators had probable cause that the fire was the result of arson and that Britt had committed it, according to the report. A scene sniff was conducted in the apartment by an accelerant K-9, which alerted officials of accelerants in the stairwell and by the couch on the first floor of the apartment, according to an arrest warrant. The K-9 also alerted police to accelerants on the Britts shoes. A search of Britt revealed that he had a butane lighter and a torch lighter. Britt was also charged with damage to a police cruiser after he kicked out a window in the vehicle that was transporting him to the jail. The fire displaced five families and caused significant damage to one unit at the Courtyard at Yardarm POA, according to Joe Egan with Jennings & Co. in Myrtle Beach. Egan wrote by email Friday that five other units received smoke or water damage in varying degrees, and two other units may have smoke damage. Repair work will take a few months, he said. Tony Casey, spokesperson with the Horry County Fire Rescue, could not confirm Monday that the fire was ruled arson. He wrote by text that it is under investigation by both the fire and police departments. Critics say the governor's frequent attacks on the most marginalized groups are a clear indication of what he would continue to do if he were elected president. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and NAACP members. (Photo illustration: Jack Forbes/Yahoo News; photos: Giorgio Viera/AFP via Getty Images, Nicholas Kamm/AFP via Getty Images) The NAACP issued a formal travel advisory for Florida over the weekend, warning visitors that the state has become openly hostile toward African Americans, people of color and LGBTQ+ individuals under Republican Gov. Ron DeSantiss leadership. Some of the groups top leaders call the move a direct rebuke to DeSantiss frequent attacks on the most marginalized groups, which they see as a clear indication of what he would continue to do if he were elected president. DeSantis is expected to enter the 2024 race this week. The hope is that the rest of the United States will see the pain that Gov. DeSantis is inflicting upon African American people in the state of Florida, Yvette Lewis, the NAACP branch president in Hillsborough County, which includes Tampa, told Yahoo News. This is how he looks at us, and anyone who continues to follow this man and doesnt say anything stands with him. The advisory put forth by the NAACP on Saturday joins the League of United Latin American Citizens, a Latino civil rights organization, which issued a travel warning last Wednesday, and Equality Florida, an LGBTQ advocacy group, which issued one last month. Before traveling to Florida, please understand that the state of Florida devalues and marginalizes the contributions of, and the challenges faced by African Americans and other communities of color, a statement released by the African American civil rights organization read in part. A girl participates in a Fourth of July parade in Pottstown, Pa., in 2021. (Mark Makela/Getty Images) The alert calls out DeSantis's aggressive attempts to erase Black history and to restrict diversity programs in Florida schools, highlighting controversial policies that, the group says, are the antithesis to democracy. Once again, hate-inspired state leaders have chosen to put politics over people, said Leon Russell, chair of the NAACP board of directors. Governor Ron DeSantis and the state of Florida have engaged in a blatant war against principles of diversity and inclusion and rejected our shared identities to appeal to a dangerous, extremist minority. Florida is home to more than 22 million people, 17% of whom are African American, according to the latest census data. Lewis, who leads the largest chapter in the state, first presented the idea of an advisory to the NAACP Florida State Conference in late March after believing that all other options had been exhausted. She says that nearly every instance of perceived progress under DeSantis is met with blatant contradictions for Black people in the state. [DeSantis] says parents can choose whether their child can be vaccinated and what books they read, but he ridicules the vaccine and bans books, she said. We cannot even teach the truth about African American history in the state of Florida. The governor has openly mocked the notion that any kind of travel advisory would be effective, calling it a joke during a news conference the day after the NAACP state conference in March. DeSantis with his wife, Casey, at an election night party in Tampa on Nov. 8, 2022. (Giorgio Viera/AFP via Getty Images) Doubling down on his push to stifle diversity efforts, DeSantis last Monday signed legislation that prohibits colleges from spending public funds on diversity, equity and inclusion programs. Months prior to that, he signed into law the Stop WOKE Act, which restricts how workplaces and schools can discuss race, and blocked an Advanced Placement African American studies course in the states public schools, claiming it lacked educational value. DeSantiss deputy press secretary, Jeremy Redfern, told Yahoo News on Monday that the advisory is nothing more than a stunt. As Governor DeSantis announced last week, Florida is seeing record-breaking tourism, Redfern said in an email. Travel advisory precedent This is just the second time a statewide advisory has been put forth by the NAACP. The first was in 2017, when the organization issued a travel advisory for Missouri to warn Black visitors that their civil rights could be violated if they entered the state. This move came after multiple incidents, including a Black man dying while being held in a Missouri jail and the passing of S.B. 43, which made it harder for employees to prove unlawful discrimination based on race or gender. The NAACP also cited a number of incidents of discrimination toward young African American men and women on college campuses that went unaddressed. This all came just three years after the fatal police shooting in Ferguson, Mo., of 18-year-old Michael Brown, whose killing sparked public outcry and became the catalyst of many present-day protest movements. Tourists in Miami Beach in 2021. (Chandan Khanna/AFP via Getty Images) The advisory for Florida is seen as one that could greatly affect the states tourism, one of its largest industries. Last year alone, nearly 140 million tourists visited Florida, the most in state history, according to Visit Florida, the state's tourism site. Additionally, tourism supports 1.7 million full-time and part-time jobs, and visitors spent $102 billion in Florida in 2021. Melba Pearson, a Miami-based civil rights and criminal law attorney specializing in policy, sees the advisory as a definitive way to affect a state where it hurts most its pockets. While it is unfortunate we and other groups had to take this step, it is critical for people considering travel to Florida to know what agenda they are supporting with their dollars, Pearson told Yahoo News in an email. As the legal redress chair for the NAACP's South Dade branch, Pearson said it is the organizations responsibility to warn Black residents and visitors that Florida is no longer a safe or welcoming place. It is our hope that travelers educate themselves on what is happening, and if they do come to Florida, join us in raising their voices against these troubling developments impacting our Black, LGBTQ+ and immigrant communities. Mixed reaction to advisory News of the advisory has divided parts of the state, with some seeing the need for immediate action and others seeing it as a ploy. Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla., called the advisory really stupid. I dont even know what the NAACP is talking about, Donalds, who is Black, said on Fox & Friends on Monday. This is silly, and its dumb. Its political. It makes no sense. Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla., at the Capitol in November 2022. (Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images) Black-owned restaurants and businesses have also shared concerns about what the advisory could mean for their businesses that depend on tourism. Shannea Akins, owner of Nikkis Place in Orlando, said that despite having built a strong reputation for almost two and a half decades, she believes that any kind of advisory would be devastating to her business. It would be very, very detrimental to us because everybody who comes from out of town, they really do support us in a way that some of our locals cant support all the time, she told WESH2, an NBC affiliate in Orlando, shortly after the advisory was recommended. For Lewis, the potential sacrifice for businesses in the short term is worth the long-term gains, which, she says, affects everyone. We are citizens of the United States and we have rights, but because of DeSantiss insecurities in his life, he took it upon himself to condemn certain people, she said. Ultimately, this is an injustice to all of us. Cover thumbnail: Jack Forbes/Yahoo News; photos: Giorgio Viera/AFP via Getty Images, Nicholas Kamm/AFP via Getty Images A civil rights group's advisory cautioning people from visiting Florida is "nothing more than a stunt," a spokesperson for Gov. Ron DeSantis said Monday. The statement came just days after the NAACP issued a formal travel advisory for Florida in response to what the organization described as DeSantis's "aggressive attempts to erase Black history and to restrict diversity, equity, and inclusion programs in Florida schools." The DeSantis administration in January blocked the introduction of an Advanced Placement course for high school students that focuses on African American studies. The NAACP is not alone in issuing travel advisories about Florida and they come as the governor prepares to launch his presidential campaign (perhaps this week, according to sources) and raise his national profile amid The League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) previously cautioned people about visiting the state. The LULAC advisory cited strict Florida laws dealing with immigrants. LULA's president Domingo Garcia described Florida as being "dangerous, hostile environment for law-abiding Americans and immigrants." LGBTQ advocacy group Equality Florida also issued an advisory after DeSantis signed the so-called "Don't Say Gay" bill into law in March. "That law, along with additional proposals being considered, has turned the state's classrooms into political battlefields and is telegraphing to LGBTQ families and students that they are not welcome in Florida," the group said. The law also sparked an ongoing feud between DeSantis and Disney. Most recently, Disney canceled a $1 billion plan to build an office complex in Florida. Tourism is a massive industry in Florida and Disney plays a large role. Last year, around 137.6 million people visited the state, according to tourism agency Visit Florida. Visitors contributed $101.9 billion to the state's economy and supported more than 1.7 million jobs in 2021. "As Governor DeSantis announced last week, Florida is seeing record-breaking tourism. This is nothing more than a stunt," DeSantis' spokesperson said Monday about the NAACP advisory. President Biden, Speaker McCarthy meet on debt ceiling as next week's deadline looms Carmelo Anthony retiring from NBA after 19 seasons California, Arizona and Nevada reach deal to conserve Colorado River Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks at a political roundtable, Friday, May 19, 2023, in Bedford, N.H. The NAACP issued a travel advisory to Florida in response to DeSantis restrictive policies. | Robert F. Bukaty, Associated Press The NAACP issued a formal travel advisory to Florida Saturday, telling people of color to be aware of the states politics before traveling there. The advisory comes in direct response to Gov. Ron DeSantis aggressive attempts to erase Black history and to restrict diversity, equity, and inclusion programs in Florida schools, according to a statement from the civil rights group. The travel warning reads: Florida is openly hostile toward African Americans, people of color and LGBTQ+ individuals. Before traveling to Florida, please understand that the state of Florida devalues and marginalizes the contributions of, and the challenges faced by African Americans and other communities of color. Under DeSantis, the state has banned the teaching of critical race theory, blocked an Advanced Placement course on African American studies and defunded DEI programs, CNN reported. Let me be clear failing to teach an accurate representation of the horrors and inequalities that Black Americans have faced and continue to face is a disservice to students and a dereliction of duty to all, NAACP President and CEO Derrick Johnson said. Under the leadership of Gov. DeSantis, the state of Florida has become hostile to Black Americans and in direct conflict with the democratic ideals that our union was founded upon. "Under the leadership of Governor Desantis, the state of Florida has become hostile to Black Americans and in direct conflict with the democratic ideals that our union was founded upon." NAACP President and CEO @DerrickNAACP Take a stand with us. https://t.co/zsgLbNYL8t NAACP (@NAACP) May 20, 2023 What people are saying about the travel advisory Several of Floridas Democratic mayors responded by stating that their cities were welcoming to anyone, according to The Associated Press. Tampa Mayor Jane Castor tweeted I can absolutely assure anyone and everyone considering a visit or move to Tampa that they will be welcomed with open arms. As Mayor of Tampa, I can absolutely assure anyone and everyone considering a visit or move to Tampa that they will be welcomed with open arms. Diversity and inclusion are central to what makes Tampa one of America's greatest and friendliest cities. That will never change, Jane Castor (@JaneCastor) May 21, 2023 Diversity and inclusion are central to what makes Tampa one of Americas greatest and friendliest cities. That will never change, regardless of what happens in Tallahassee, she continued. St. Petersburg Mayor Ken Welch tweeted that Everyone is always welcome and will be treated with dignity and respect. We are intentional with our work to make @StPeteFL a shining example of bridge-building, collaboration, Intentional Equity, and respect for all. #WeAreStPete means EVERYONE is always welcome and will be treated with dignity and respect. #InclusiveProgress https://t.co/2U891fYX18 Ken Welch (@MayorKenWelch) May 21, 2023 When the NAACP requested a travel advisory in March, DeSantis called the advisory a joke, WFLA reported. We get involved in these stupid fights, DeSantis said. This is a stunt to try to do that. Its a pure stunt. And fine, if you want to waste your time on a stunt, thats fine. What other groups have issued travel advisories to Florida? The NAACP is not the only civil rights organization to issue a travel warning for Florida; Equality Florida, a gay rights advocacy group, issued one last month, The New York Times reported. Meanwhile, the the League of United Latin American Citizens issued a travel advisory on Wednesday in response to the anti-immigrant measures signed into law by Gov. Ron DeSantis in Florida, according to a press release from the group. Ron DeSantis Thomas Simonetti for The Washington Post via Getty Images The NAACP issued a travel advisory over the weekend warning Black and gay or trans tourists that "Florida is openly hostile toward African Americans, people of color and LGBTQ+ individuals." Before traveling to the Sunshine State, the civil rights group added, "please understand that the state of Florida devalues and marginalizes the contributions of, and the challenges faced by, African Americans and other communities of color." Tourism is one of Florida's biggest industries. The NAACP advisory, approved Saturday, joins similar warnings issued last week from the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) and last month by the gay rights group Equality Florida. All three warnings cite laws recently signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis (R). LULAC pointed to new laws it sees as aggressively and illegally anti-immigrant, while Equity Florida criticized Florida's "Don't Say Gay" law and newer bans on gender-affirming care and efforts to remove books from school libraries. Throw in the loosening of gun restriction and the raft of news laws "pose a serious risk to the health and safety of those traveling to the state," the group said. The NAACP pointed to "DeSantis' aggressive attempts to erase Black history and to restrict diversity, equity and inclusion programs in Florida schools," calling them in "direct conflict with the democratic ideals that our union was founded upon." DeSantis in January rejected a high school Advanced Placement course on African American studies, for example, and he signed a statewide ban on public school and private businesses requiring certain racial sensitively training. DeSantis spokesman Jeremy Redfern called the travel advisory "a stunt." Whitewashing U.S. history is nothing new for DeSantis, The Washington Post said Sunday in a review of a book the governor published in 2011 that has recently "disappeared." In the book, "Dreams From Our Founding Fathers: First Principles in the Age of Obama," DeSantis "dismisses slavery as a 'personal flaw' of the Founding Fathers, irrelevant to the really important stuff: context-free, cherry-picked quotes from James Madison and Alexander Hamilton," the Post reports. The book is no longer available as an e-book and the only used copy the Post could find was selling for $1,950. "Fortunately," the newspaper says, it "purchased a digital copy last summer, in anticipation that it may someday become more relevant," and with DeSantis about to launch a presidential bid, "that time has come." Read more at The Washington Post. You may also like California is diverting melting snow to avoid flooding Foo Fighters reveal Taylor Hawkins' successor on drums Anti-Kremlin Russians fighting for Ukraine stage 'extraordinary' attack inside Russian border region NAACP says Black Americans should avoid Florida travel, says DeSantis has enabled hostility to Black Americans While the NAACPs travel advisory does not explicitly advise against traveling to Florida, it does caution visitors to be mindful of the political climate. The NAACP warns Black Americans against traveling to Florida following Gov. Ron DeSantis signing of a bill defunding diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives at the states public institutions and colleges. DeSantis contends the legislation he signed last week would guarantee that Floridas institutions encourage diversity of thought, civil discourse, and the pursuit of truth for generations to come, according to The New York Times. The Republican governor who also has attempted to outlaw publications about race and LGBTQ+ identities and ban an Advanced Placement African American Studies course has frequently criticized what he calls woke indoctrination and leftist educational goals in schools. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis arrives at the Foreign Office in London on April 28 to visit Britains foreign secretary. The NAACP has issued a travel warning advising Black Americans to avoid Florida in light of the governors recent signing of a bill defunding diversity initiatives. (Photo by Alberto Pezzali, AP, File) While the NAACPs travel advisory does not explicitly advise against traveling to Florida, it does caution visitors to be mindful of the political climate. Florida is openly hostile toward African Americans, people of color, and LGBTQ+ individuals, the advisory reads, according to the Miami Herald. Travelers should know, it asserts, that the state of Florida devalues and marginalizes the contributions of and the challenges faced by African Americans and other communities of color. The League of United Latin American Citizens, a civil rights organization, and Equality Florida, a nonprofit that supports gay rights, have also issued travel advisories about Florida. LULACs advisory raised issues with legislation DeSantis signed this month addressing undocumented immigrants. The new Florida law mandates that private employers with 25 or more employees verify an employees legal right to work in the country. Additionally, Florida hospitals that accept Medicaid will be required to ask whether patients are U.S. citizens or are lawfully present in the country. It will also invalidate ID cards provided to undocumented immigrants in other states. LULACs national president, Domingo Garcia, said the organization is considering suing the state of Florida when the law takes effect in July. Equality Floridas warning highlighted issues with several laws, including the Dont Say Gay bill, which forbids classroom instruction and dialogue about gender identity and sexual orientation in some elementary school grades. Derrick Johnson, NAACP president and chief executive officer, said failing to educate students about the inequalities and horrors Black Americans continue to endure is a disservice to students and a dereliction of duty to all, The Times reported. According to the Herald, Visit Florida, the states official tourism marketing company, reports that tourism is one of Floridas key sectors, with close to 138 million visitors in 2022. Tourist spending in 2021 was nearly $102 billion, sustaining more than 1.7 million jobs. Insiders are saying that DeSantis will officially declare his campaign for the Republican presidential nomination on social media and file papers with the Federal Election Commission on Wednesday. Once again, hate-inspired state leaders have chosen to put politics over people, NAACP chair Leon Russell said in a statement, the Herald reported. Russell slammed DeSantis and the state of Florida for openly opposing diversity and inclusion values and rejecting our shared identities to appeal to a dangerous, extremist minority. TheGrio is FREE on your TV via Apple TV, Amazon Fire, Roku and Android TV. Also, please download theGrio mobile apps today! The post NAACP says Black Americans should avoid Florida travel, says DeSantis has enabled hostility to Black Americans appeared first on TheGrio. Ron DeSantis speaks from a podium Americas leading civil rights organization says Florida is a dangerous place for Black and LGBTQ people. The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), which had been considering issuing a travel advisory for the state since March, finally did so on May 20. The advisory came days after Florida governor Ron DeSantis signed into law a bill banning state schools and universities from investing in diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives. Please be advised that Florida is openly hostile toward African Americans, people of color and LGBTQ+ individuals, the advisory reads. Before traveling to Florida, please understand that the State of Florida devalues and marginalizes the contributions of and the challenges faced by African-Americans and other minorities. Read more Previous travel advisories issued for discrimination This isnt the first time the NAACP has put out a travel advisory. In 2017, it warned against traveling to Missouri after that state passed a bill making it harder to identify discrimination. That was the first such advisory since the organization was founded in 1909. In 2017, the NAACP issued an advisory against American Airlines, lifting it nine months later. The Missouri warning is still in effect, despite the states efforts to promote supposed improvements. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) had issued similar advisories before, against Texas in 2017 and Arizona in 2010. The NAACPs Florida advisory aims to make Black and LGBTQ people aware that the state has engaged in an all-out attack on them and suggests that they think of it as a hostile location. It highlights a series of laws signed by DeSantis, of which the anti-DEI legislation is the most recent. Raising awareness and asking for advocacy We are advising African Americans and others that if you travel to Florida, beware that your life is not valued, that we have a political landscape that could cause harm as we prepare for the 2024 elections to right-size the political landscape in the state of Florida, NAACP president Derrick Johnson said on CNN on May 22. Beyond raising awareness, the NAACP advisory seeks to spark action. If you do decide to go to the State of Florida, please advocate for legislation that supports diversity in all aspects of education, it says. The advisory also asks people to advocate for the right to assemble, protest, and vote. And for those who live in the state, the NAACP has a request: If you are a resident of Florida, we ask you to join us in our advocacy efforts to defeat the regressive policies of this Governor and this state legislature. Our greatest asset is the voice of the millions who speak up every day to protect our democracy and our civil rights. More from Quartz Sign up for Quartz's Newsletter. For the latest news, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Click here to read the full article. Ron DeSantis You know Florida is getting bad when the NAACP issues a formal travel advisory warning Black people not to go there. On May 20, this the civil rights and social justice organization warned African-Americans to think twice before traveling to The Sunshine State in light of Governor Ron DeSantis aggressive attempts to erase Black history and to restrict diversity, equity, and inclusion programs in Florida schools. Florida is openly hostile toward African Americans, people of color and LGBTQ+ individuals, the NAACP said in its travel advisory. Before traveling to Florida, please understand that the state of Florida devalues and marginalizes the contributions of, and the challenges faced by African Americans and other communities of color. The conservative politician agreed that a curriculum containing teachings about critical race theory should not be a part of the education system. In April, he signed a bill banning critical race theory, which forbids race as a topic when teaching American history, even though it is part of the entire governing system the country was built on. Let me be clear failing to teach an accurate representation of the horrors and inequalities that Black Americans have faced and continue to face is a disservice to students and a dereliction of duty to all, NAACP President & CEO Derrick Johnson said. Under the leadership of Governor Desantis, the state of Florida has become hostile to Black Americans and in direct conflict with the democratic ideals that our union was founded upon. He should know that democracy will prevail because its defenders are prepared to stand up and fight. Were not backing down, and we encourage our allies to join us in the battle for the soul of our nation. The NAACP isnt the first organization that has taken this call to action. The League of United Latin American Citizens issued a travel advisory following Senate Bill 1718, a new immigration law to fight help with border control, which has caused pivotal work in Florida to slow down. REUTERS/Sarah Meyssonnier Generally speaking, every year at the Cannes Film Festival, you can not only expect a slate of buzzy films and the odd scandal or two; you can also depend upon the most well-appointed women in Hollywood to dress their best, much to the delight of the internets Greek Chorus. Last year, it was indisputably Anne Hathaway who emerged as the sartorial queen of Cannes in Armani Prive, a beaded Gucci minidress, and a hot pink Valentino jumpsuit. And the actress looked excellent this year, too, while wearing Atelier Versace at a Bulgari Mediterranea High Jewelry event in Venice. But the emergent winner of Cannes 2023 is another of our most sylphlike brunette stars: Natalie Portman, who walked the crimson carpet to promote May December, the Todd Haynes film she co-stars in with the equally iconic Julianne Moore. The Haynes movie has gotten rave reviews, and Portman has proved equally attention-grabbing at the festival, where she told journalists during a press conference that May December, like Cannes itself, examines the different roles we play in different environments. May December: Julianne Moore and Natalie Portman Are Phenomenal at Cannes Even here, the different ways we, as women, are expected to behave at this festival even compared to menhow were supposed to look, how were supposed to carry ourselves, Portman said. The expectations are different on you all the time. It affects how you behave, whether you are buying into or rejecting it or whether youre doing something in between. Youre defined by the social structures upon you. At Cannes, theres famously an unwritten but generally adhered-to rule that women must wear heels on the red carpet, which may have been what Portman was glancingly referring to. Some, like Kristen Stewart, have played with this rule in the past: Sure, she wore heels to the Cannes red carpet in 2018right before she slipped them off to scamper up the steps. As she cannily called out the different expectations placed upon her as a woman at Cannes, Portmans sartorial choices represented the height of old-Hollywood femininity. natalie portman at the cannes film festival wearing one of christian diors most iconic creations of all time, the junon dress designed in 1949!! THIS IS INSANE pic.twitter.com/LUEbzgExXp (@saintdoII) May 20, 2023 For one appearance, Portman stepped out in a faithful, spectacular recreation of Christian Diors 1949 Junon dress. Named for the queen of the gods in Greek mythology, the gowns ombre petals and clean lines suit the petite actress spectacularly. It also helps that, like Hathaway last year, Portman hadnt really been seen on the red carpet in an array of major looks for quite a while before Cannes, priming her for major social media impact. Natalie Portman at the 76th annual Cannes film festival. pic.twitter.com/JopjE0D3d0 @21metgala (@21metgala) May 19, 2023 She was just as stunning in a sparkling, belted, midnight blue column dress, also by Dior. But perhaps her best Dior look came in casual form, styled by Ryan Hastings. It takes guts to keep it nonchalant at Cannes for your daytime looks, and taking risks can wildly backfire. A pastel, rather fussy Chanel Resort 2024 ensemble selected by Marion Cotillard this year, for example, has been getting panned. Natalie Portman Wore Dior To The May December Cannes Film Festival Premierehttps://t.co/zlvoi8ORg4 pic.twitter.com/klEnONzsia Red Carpet Fashion Awards (@Fashion_Critic_) May 21, 2023 As for Portman, she went with a Dior ensemble in fire engine red for her daytime look, keeping the elements super simple: a little red belted A-line dress, red jacket slung over her shoulders, red strappy sandals, black cat-eye sunglasses. Its such a classic, foolproof look, it almost feels illegal. Jackie Kennedy Onassis, whom Portman once portrayed on screen, would certainly approve. Read more at The Daily Beast. Get the Daily Beast's biggest scoops and scandals delivered right to your inbox. Sign up now. Stay informed and gain unlimited access to the Daily Beast's unmatched reporting. Subscribe now. More ransomware attacks are happening nationwide, and every industry is a possible target. From a payroll hack impacting how you get paid to a hospital attack exposing your medical records, the damage left behind by these attacks can impact almost every aspect of our lives. A ransomware group stole confidential patient information which included names, social security numbers, and medical information from a health center, said Republican Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri during a congressional hearing about ransomware attacks in March. In some cases, the impact can even be deadly. Weve all seen the headlines about Ransomware attacks. But what if you prevent some of the damage from these incidents? Thats the goal behind @CISAgovs new Pre-Ransomware Notifications. We explain how it works tonight on @COXMG stations. pic.twitter.com/mBDYK6pNpR Kirstin Garriss (@ReporterGarriss) May 22, 2023 The attack prevented healthcare providers from using equipment that monitor a babys condition during delivery and as a result the infant tragically passed away, said Senator Gary Peters, (D) Michigan. But what if you could prevent some of that damage? Thats the goal of new Pre-Ransomware Notifications. Its run by the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency or CISA for short. Not only can we focus on preventing attacks, we can focus on reducing harm once they occur, said Eric Goldstein, executive assistant director for cybersecurity at CISA. Goldstein said some cybersecurity companies will alert CISA when a hacker gains access to a network. [Hackers will] use a phishing email that will get them access to one employees computer, but the crown jewels of that company might not be on that computer, he said. Goldstein explains that hackers will bounce around the compromised system to figure out which records to lock up for a ransom. This process can take hours or even days and thats the same critical window CISA relies on to step in and help. We send our regional personnel on the double to knock on a door and say hey if we take these steps right away, we can get a head of these bad guys before they cause harm, before they cause damage, before the worst-case scenario is realized, said Goldstein. So far this year, CISA has notified more than 200 organizations nationwide and 40 internationally. Now the agency is working to scale up the program. But Goldstein said they need companies to report these attacks whenever they happen. There is no shame in being targeted. The most important thing is what you do next, which should be reported to the federal government and take steps to respond, recover, and then harden effectively, said Goldstein. The agency says you can find more information on ransomware reporting and additional resources to manage ransomware risk at stopransomware.gov. Goldstein said CISA is also working with companies in another program to help prepare them before something happens in the first place. He explains this program will identify various vulnerabilities that could open a company up to a possible ransomware attack. Were using our free services to identify these vulnerabilities and then when we see one, then via our nationally aligned teams across the country, well get out there, well knock on a door, well make a phone call, said Goldstein. And well say you might not have had an attack yet. But you really need to fix this vulnerability pronto before an attack happens that way, ideally, well reduce the frequency of these attacks over time. NATO Parliamentary Assembly declares Russian aggression against Ukraine to be genocide According to Chernev, the adopted document includes support for the international tribunal, assistance to Ukraine and condemnation of the ideology of rashism The NATO Parliamentary Assembly has recognized Russias crimes against Ukraine as genocide, said Yegor Chernev from the Servant of the People faction, who heads the Permanent Delegation of Ukraine to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly. Unanimously. The lawmaker added that the assembly had called on the governments of its members states to openly announce at the summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, that Ukraine would become a NATO member and agree on the next concrete steps for Ukraines accession to NATO. Read also: Macron refuses to describe Russian war crimes in Ukraine as genocide Also, according to Chernev, the adopted document includes support for the international tribunal, assistance to Ukraine before and after victory, restoration of territorial integrity, sanctions, reparations, the Marshall Plan, etc. The foundation for the NATO summit in Vilnius has been laid, the MP said. Parliamentarians of the alliance states have expressed their position. Now its up to the governments. The Verkhovna Rada, Ukraines parliament, passed a resolution on May 2 that designates Russias political regime as Rashist (Russian fascist) and condemns its ideological principles and social practices. Read also: US State Department: Russia's claims of genocide in Donbas are a false pretext for invasion 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 commanding officer of the guided-missile destroyer John Finn was relieved of command Friday. Cmdr. Angela Gonzales was relieved due to a loss of confidence in her ability to fulfill her responsibilities in leading the ship, according to a brief Navy statement issued Saturday. As is the case with nearly every Navy CO firing, no other information was provided regarding the reasons for Gonzales being relieved of command. John Finn is assigned to U.S. 7th Fleet in Yokosuka, Japan. Cmdr. Matthew Hays has assumed interim commanding officer duties, and Gonzales has been reassigned to Naval Surface Force Pacific. US Navy prioritizes game-changing rearming capability for ships The U.S. Navy holds commanding officers to a very high standard and holds them accountable when those standards are not met, the Navy said in the statement. They are expected to maintain the Navys high standards for leadership, demonstrating competence in their duties at all times. The Security Service of Ukraine has detained a sailor in Mykolaiv Oblast who was leaking information to Russians about the effects of strikes with phosphorus munitions, MLRS and drones. Source: Press service of the Office of the Prosecutor General; press service of the Security Service of Ukraine Details: According to the investigation, the man travelled around the contact line territories of the oblast and covertly recorded the locations of Ukrainian defenders' personnel and equipment. He also tried to identify storage points with weapons and ammunition of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, including foreign-made ones. In addition, the man passed on information to the invaders about the consequences of their air attacks using phosphorus munitions, Grad multiple-launch rocket systems and Iranian-made Shahed drones. The Office of the Prosecutor General has reported that the traitor is a serviceman of one of the military units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and a sailor. The traitor was detained while performing a task for the Russians. He was transmitting intelligence information to the Russian secret service via a messenger. During the search, a mobile phone was found on him, which he used to communicate with the occupiers. According to the Security Service of Ukraine, the Russians used the obtained intelligence to prepare new and repeated attacks on the oblast, primarily on Ochakiv. The man was served with a notice of suspicion of high treason (Art. 111.2 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine). The measure of restraint is custody. The offender faces life imprisonment. Journalists fight on their own frontline. Support Ukrainska Pravda or become our patron! The Marine security guards who were stationed at the U.S. embassy in Sudan before deadly fighting prompted an evacuation received medals Friday from the top civilian in the Department of the Navy. At Marine Corps Base Quantico, Virginia, Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro pinned medals to the chests of the 12 Marines who were involved in preparing for the April 23 evacuation, according to a Marine Corps news release the day of the ceremony. The example that you have set protecting the life of the ambassador and the lives of all the people who were at the embassy has been nothing short of extraordinary, Del Toro said, according to the release. I wanted to make sure that before you left this building and head onto other assignments, that I came here today to look you in the eye and say, Thank you. The Marines who still have time left to serve in the embassy security program have received new assignments and will begin traveling back overseas, according to the release. What it was like for Marine embassy guards to evacuate Sudan The detachment commander, Staff Sgt. Derek Ferrari, received a Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal, awarded to service members who act in a manner above that normally expected, and sufficient to distinguish the individual above those performing similar services, according to the awards manual. Eleven Marines received Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medals, which recognizes merit that doesnt rise to the level of a Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal, according to the awards manual. Those 11 Marines are: Sgt. Komlan S. Akli, of Lyons, Illinois; Sgt. Joshua P. Arledge, of Enterprise, Alabama; Sgt. Kyle S. Bangerter, of Sarasota, Florida; Sgt. Alonzo J. Longstreet, of Milpitas, California; Sgt. Manuel Moncayo Jr., of El Paso, Texas; Cpl. Jason R. Castillo, of Houston, Texas; Cpl. Erik O. Hernandez, of Las Vegas, Nevada; Cpl. Michael T. Jones, of Flowery Branch, Georgia; Cpl. Marvin J. McCaskill, of Salisbury, Maryland; Cpl. Christopher B. Wolfert, of Keizer, Oregon; and Cpl. Karl D. Meier, of Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin. The detachment did exactly what is expected of U.S. Marines during times of uncertainty, Akli said in the release, and being awarded for that by the SECNAV means a lot to myself and the rest of the detachment. It was U.S. special operations forces, reportedly including SEAL Team Six and the Armys 3rd Special Forces Group, who evacuated the embassys personnel. The lack of outside Marine involvement in the evacuation threw into relief for some Marine leaders what they see as the under-resourcing of the Navys amphibious fleet. Because of a dearth of ready amphibious ships in the region, no Marine expeditionary unit whose job is to respond to crises was there to assist in the evacuation. Gen. David Berger, the Marine commandant, said in the days following the evacuation that he felt like he had let down the Africa combatant commander, Marine Gen. Michael Langley, by not being able to send a MEU to Sudan, Breaking Defense reported. Even so, the Marine security guards already stationed in Sudan played an important role in preparing for the evacuation and keeping civilian staff safe, U.S. officials have said. As a military power struggle erupted into violent conflict in Khartoum, the Sudanese capital, the Marines worked to get the embassy ready for an evacuation. All the while, they continued to guard the embassy 24 hours a day, according to the release. In an interview with Marine Corps Times days after their return from Sudan, the Marine security guards werent authorized to provide many specifics on the actions they took at the embassy. But Gunnery Sgt. Matthew Bragg, a spokesman for the Marine security guard program, told Marine Corps Times that embassy evacuation procedures often involve shredding or burning documents housed within the embassy, managing the efforts to recover embassy personnel stranded outside the embassy compound and ensuring the embassy is clear right before the evacuation takes place. The Marines provided command and control for the evacuation, the news release confirmed. One particularly meaningful moment, Arledge previously recalled to Marine Corps Times, was the retirement of the embassys American flag. The Marine guards lowered the flag, folded it and handed it to the ambassador one of the last steps of decommissioning the embassy. In the week-plus leading up to the evacuation, the Marines generally slept around three hours a night as they worked to get the embassy squared away, they previously told Marine Corps Times. All the Marines, we took care of each other that entire (time), Longstreet told Marine Corps Times. All of us made sure that we had a sense of humor. We were always there for each other. Some of us were cooking meals for each other. It was a full-team effort. NC nurse who stole surgical patients opioid painkillers is going to prison A former Fuquay-Varina nurse was sentenced Monday to four years in prison and three years of supervised release for tampering with opioid painkillers intended for surgery patients. Melissa Elizabeth Chacona pleaded guilty to the charges in March last year, the federal court of Eastern District of North Carolina announced. Federal indictment documents reviewed by The News & Observer show that Chacona, 45, was initially accused of tampering with at least 79 vials of powerful opioid drugs such as fentanyl, morphine and meperedine. Chacona extracted the drugs from the vials and replaced them with saline water between January and April 2019. The compromised vials were found to contain under 15% of the actual medication and that Chaconas actions made multiple vials unsterile, according to a news release. Chacona also has been convicted separately by the state for stealing medication earlier in her nursing career, prosecutors said. She will be required to permanently surrender her nursing license as part of her plea agreement. Surgical patients trust health care providers to give them the medicines they need., U.S. Attorney Michael Easley said in a news release. In delivering todays sentence the judge noted that these patients were in the most vulnerable position. My office will continue to pursue health care providers whose crimes jeopardize public safety. The Raleigh Police Department and N.C. Board of Nursing investigated the case locally along with the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Food and Drug Administration. CBS - Getty Images NCIS: Los Angeles series finale spoilers ahead. Showrunner R. Scott Gemmill has broken down the surprising twists and turns from the last-ever NCIS: Los Angeles episode. For this farewell, it wasn't a case of following the team against a network of arms dealers, instead, the aim was to settle the likes of G. Callen (played by Chris O'Donnell), Sam Hanna (LL Cool J) and Anna Kolcheck (Bar Paly) in a place of calm, which included the former duo's reunion with old co-workers Nell, Nate and Sabatino as they searched for Hetty in Morocco. "It was just about going character by character and figuring out what they've been through, what they deserve and what we'd like to see for the future," Gemmill told The Hollywood Reporter, "and what is the hopeful version of that, and I think we did our best doing that for every one of the characters." CBS - Getty Images Related: NCIS: LA wraps up with final episode after 14 seasons Asked how much prior notice the NCIS: LA team had before word of its cancellation went public, the boss also shared: "We didn't have a whole lot of time. And also, we didn't know if we were going to have one or two episodes. We originally planned it as one finale episode, and then CBS was nice enough to give us two episodes. "So then we had to rethink, again, in terms of what it means to have a two-parter. It was a little bit pressed for time, but this is what we do. We did the best job we could." CBS - Getty Images Related: NCIS: Los Angeles' final season announces Ugly Betty star for key role Considering the police procedural boasts a weekly-story blueprint, Gemmill and his writers must've had to tinker with their own usual thinking while bringing it to a close. "Writing a pilot is very difficult, and I think the next hardest thing is writing the finale of a series," he pointed out. "For us, it was really about trying to leave the fans in a really good place and not trying to be splashy or fancy or clever, but really leaving the characters knowing that they're going to be OK that they're happy going forward. "As a fan myself, when a series ends that I really enjoyed, I really prefer that it ends in a 'happily ever after' sort of way. Cheesy as it might be, I just feel like if you've invested that much time in watching a show, you want leave in a satisfied state. "That's what we tried to do, was just bring every character's story to some sort of conclusion that still offers hope for the future." NCIS: Los Angeles airs on CBS in the US and on Sky Max in the UK. You Might Also Like CBS - Getty Images NCIS: Los Angeles has bid farewell to fans in a sweet series finale, teasing there may be more ahead for its two leads. The NCIS spinoff came to a close after 14 seasons with a two-part send-off ('New Beginnings'), with the second half airing last night (May 21) in the US. The episode left the door open for more adventures for protagonists Sam (LL Cool J) and Callen (Chris O'Donnell), the two special agents that have appeared since the pilot aired in September 2009. CBS - Getty Images Related: In defence of NCIS: why the biggest show on US television deserves more love 'New Beginnings, Part Two' saw Callen marrying Anna (Bar Paly) in a spontaneous city hall wedding, with his trusted friend Sam by his side. Meanwhile, Kensi (Daniela Ruah) discovered that she and Deeks (Eric Christian Olsen) were finally going to have a baby. The series finale also included a much anticipated return from Linda Hunt's Hetty. The beloved character didn't appear in the flesh, but sent Callen a letter offering him and Anna her Mykonos place for their honeymoon. Her offer was somewhat conditional, though, as she asked Callen and Sam to take "a small side job" and help her out with a tricky situation in Morocco. CBS - Getty Images Related: NCIS Hawai'i star says role is his "dream job" and teases upcoming storylines While Amy headed for Greece right away, Callen and Sam made their way to Morocco first. There, they had an emotional reunion with a few familiar faces from previous seasons: intelligence analyst Nell Jones (Renee Felice Smith), Sabatino (Erik Palladino) and Nate (Peter Cambor). The two agents learned their mission was to find Hetty and both decided to jump in on this new quest. While this may set up a return for LL Cool J and O'Donnell's characters at some point down the line, there hasn't been an official confirmation of a comeback as of yet. NCIS: Los Angeles airs on CBS in the US and on Sky Max in the UK. You Might Also Like The following contains alllll of the spoilers from Sunday nights NCIS: Los Angeles series finale. The Office of Special Projects has closed its last case. Well, sort of. More from TVLine CBS NCIS: Los Angeles wrapped its 14-season run on Sunday night with a series finale in which the team, yes, thwarted yet another sale of very dangerous weapons. But the real draw was a 1-2-3 punch of Kensi learning she is pregnant Callen and Anna fast-tracking their wedding with a city hall ceremony and a letter from Hetty that led Callen and Sam to Morocco, where they ran into a few familiar faces. Dear Agent Callen, congratulations on your wedding, read Hettys letter, delivered to newlywed Callen by a surreptitious messenger. I am so very happy for you and for Anna. I only wish I could have been there to celebrate such a glorious occasion with all of you. Most people think I never had a family of my own, but I beg to differ, Hetty continued. I have been blessed with the greatest family one could ever have wished for. And so have you. NCIS Los Angeles Series Finale Hetty Letter Hettys missive went on to offer her place in Mykonos for Callen and Annas honeymoon, plus two plane tickets to Morocco in case Callen and Sam have time for a small side project. Anna gave her new husband the OK to fly off to Morocco, saying that shell be waiting for him in Greece. Sam, in turn, she tasked with keeping Callen alive, at least until the honeymoon. I always do, Sam nodded. Speaking with TVLine one final time about NCIS: Angeles, showrunner R. Scott Gemmil acknowledged, Its a tall order to try and wrap things up after 14 seasons where hopefully the fans feel somewhat satisfied, but we certainly tried our best. Here now our full, beat-by-beat Q&A about the series finale: Best of TVLine Get more from TVLine.com : Follow us on Twitter , Facebook , Newsletter Click here to read the full article. Nebraska state senators shielding Sen. Julie Slama from TV cameras Nebraskas unicameral legislature passed a Frankenstein bill on Friday that bans both gender-affirming care for minors and abortion after 12 weeks of pregnancy. Republicans were so intent on passing the hateful legislation that not only did one lawmaker complain how filibusters made her miss her grandsons preschool graduation, but another left the hospital so she could vote for it. Reporter Paul Hammel of the Nebraska Examiner shared a photo on Twitter of State Sen. Julie Slama (R) seated at a desk looking clearly ill, as he put it, and noted that a bipartisan group of of lawmakers both for and against the bill stood around the desk in an attempt to block TV cameras from filming her. Hammel said Slama left the hospital to be there and thanks to her presence, Legislative Bill 574 passed by the minimum number of votes to avoid a filibuster, 33-15. (The chamber has 49 members and needs a two-thirds vote to overcome a filibuster.) Read more State senators, both for and against LB 574, stood before a clearly ill @SenatorSlama today to block a view from TV cameras. Slama cast the 33rd vote to invoke cloture so that the bill restricting abortion and transgender rights could be passed. pic.twitter.com/Qf1M34XZqk Paul Hammel @paulhammelNE (@PaulHammelNE) May 19, 2023 Slama re-shared the photo and said shed been hospitalized with hyperemesis gravidarum, a rare but serious form of morning sickness that can result in weight loss and dehydration. Slama said she made it back to the Capitol building in time to vote for LB 574 and thanked her colleagues who put their differences aside to create a wall around her. She also had the gall to talk about medical privacy, writing, Do I like that [the photo is] out there? No. But sometimes in govt, private battles end up public. And sometimes politicians decide theyre the arbiters of what healthcare people can getwith her votes, Slama is herself turning private healthcare decisions into public battles. PS: Many reached out upon seeing this photo by @PaulHammelNE . Do I like that its out there? No. But sometimes in govt, private battles end up public. I shared to address questions about my health, but also to give my colleagues credit for their kindness, esp. @senatormachaela Senator Julie Slama (@SenatorSlama) May 20, 2023 Slama continued I shared to address questions about my health, but also to give my colleagues credit for their kindness, esp. @senatormachaela. State Sen. Machaela Cavanaugh (D) is the lawmaker who filibustered LB 574 for months and pledged to burn this session to the ground over this bill. Its all very rich given that Slama previously said Republicans were retaliating against Cavanaughs filibuster, which she described as Cavanaugh [running] her mouth, per the Associated Press: After lawmakers merged the abortion limits with the transgender health bill, Cavanaugh clashed with Sen. Julie Slama, who insinuated that conservatives were supporting the restrictions on gender-affirming care to retaliate against Cavanaugh. Slama noted that the restrictions did not initially have the 33 votes needed to survive. But then Machaela Cavanaugh got up and ran her mouth because she was just overjoyed that the national media was here to give her some more attention, Slama said. So that gave us 33 votes. Jezebel contacted Slamas office for comment and did not hear back by publication time. If neither Slama nor her colleague who complained about the preschool graduation had been present, the bill would have failed. State Sen. Megan Hunt (I), who has a trans son, told that RepublicanState Sen. Lou Ann Linehanyou hate [my son] more than you love your own family. And thats why youre here. Its important to note that a six-week abortion ban had previously failed, so Republicans slapped this different ban onto the anti-trans LB 574, which turned it into the disgustingly titled the Let Them Grow Act and the Preborn Child Protection Act. Republican Gov. Jim Pillen signed it on Monday, but the American Civil Liberties Union of Nebraska is exploring legal options. More from Jezebel Sign up for Jezebel's Newsletter. For the latest news, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Click here to read the full article. Two newborn babies were found dead at an Ohio home, leading to a teens arrest, police said. Police were dispatched to a Cleveland residence on the evening of May 20 after receiving a report that two dead infants were located in a garbage bin at the home, according to a police news release. Their bodies were found at the scene and homicide detectives responded to investigate. Preliminary information indicates that the mother of the child, a 16-year-old female, had given birth to the babies days earlier, police said. The mother was located and was conveyed to a local hospital for medical treatment. The person who initially called police, apparently the 16-year-olds mother, had not been aware that her daughter was pregnant, police said. Her daughter reportedly told her she had thrown the children in the trash. Neighbors said they heard the newborn twins crying several days earlier, but didnt believe anything was wrong, according to WKYC. The 16-year-old was arrested and the incident is being investigated as a homicide. Toddlers temperature was 107 degrees after her body was found in car, Florida cops say Fake cop with badge and blue lights pulls over woman leaving Wawa, Pennsylvania cops say Barbershop owner and expectant father found dead in submerged car, Florida family says Rev Al Sharpton delivers powerful eulogy at Jordan Neelys funeral: They put their arms around all of us More than two weeks after Jordan Neely was choked to death inside a New York City subway car, grieving relatives and friends laid him to rest during an emotional service on Friday. The killing of Neely on 1 May has sparked a polarising debate about the citys public health failures, citizen vigilantism and racial bias after reports emerged that his alleged killer, 24-year-old Daniel Penny, held him in a fatal chokehold on the floor of a Manhattan F train for several minutes. Neely, a former Michael Jackson impersonator who was experiencing homelessness, had walked into the train car loudly complaining of hunger and thirst and saying he was not afraid to go to jail or die when Mr Penny grabbed him from behind and wrestled him to the ground. He had been on a so-called Top 50 list of extensive mental health concerns kept by homeless-outreach workers, according to The New York Times. But whatever help Neely was meant to receive ultimately did not prevent his tragic fate, Reverend Al Sharpton said during his eulogy at Mount Neboh Baptist Church in Harlem. Jordan was screaming for help. We keep criminalising people with mental illness, Mr Sharpton. They dont need abuse, they need help. Addressing the crowd at the funeral which Democratic US Rep Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and public advocate Jumanee Williams also attended Mr Sharpton described Neelys killing as a crime and decried Mr Pennys release after his arraignment on a charge of second-degree manslaughter last week. Because when they choked Jordan, they put their arms around all of us ... All of us have the right to live, Mr Sharpton said during the service. We cant live in a city where you can choke me to death with no provocation, no weapon, no threat, and you go home and sleep in your bed while my family got to put me in a cemetery. Mr Sharpton also criticised Florida Governor Ron DeSantis assertion that Mr Penny was a good Samaritan. Andre Zachery, father of Jordan Neely, embraces the Rev. Al Sharpton at the conclusion of his son's public viewing and funeral service at Mount Neboh Baptist Church on May 19, 2023 in New York City (Getty Images) A good Samaritan helps those in trouble, Mr Sharpton said. They dont choke him out ... What happened to Jordan was a crime and this family shouldnt have to stand by themselves. Neelys funeral was held at the same church where his mothers service took place more than 15 years ago. She was killed by her boyfriend and her body was dumped in a suitcase when Neely was just 14 years old. He testified during the trial several years later. Mr Penny surrendered to the New York City Police Department on 12 May after he was charged with second-degree manslaughter. He did not enter a plea. He was released after posting $100,000 bail. Neelys death was recorded on a cell phone and shared widely. The investigation from the Manhattan District Attorneys office has involved several witness interviews, a review of photo and video evidence, and a review of the incident from the citys medical examiner, which determined Neelys cause of death was a homicide. (Getty Images) Witnesses have said that Neely did not physically attack anyone on the train that day. Lawmakers and advocacy groups have pointed to Neelys killing and prevailing attitudes endorsing vigilante violence as a tragic consequence of an epidemic of failed policy and institutional neglect towards the citys most vulnerable populations. Mr Penny has been hailed as a hero by right-wing personalities in claims that echo across social media; Fox News host Greg Gutfeld described the manslaughter charges as pro-criminal and anti-hero. An online fundraising campaign for Mr Pennys legal defence was launched on the Christian crowdfunding platform GiveSendGo, a website created in response to GoFundMe removing far-right campaigns that violated its terms of service. The fundraiser has collected nearly $2.6m as of 19 May. Neelys family and the legal team supporting them have repeatedly characterised Mr Penny as the sole aggressor who escalated Neelys distress to lethal violence. (AFP via Getty Images) Daniel Penny is getting a chance to rewrite his story as time goes by, Lennon Edwards said during a news conference in Manhattan on 12 May. He cannot rewrite how the story ends. The story ends with his arms wrapped around Jordans neck and choking him to death. Attorney Donte Mills asserted that there was no attack against subway passengers before Mr Penny grabbed Neely by his neck and pinned him to the floor of the train. Mr Neely did not attack anyone. He did not touch anyone. He did not hit anyone. But he was choked to death, Mr Mills said. Mr Penny acted with indifference, Mr Mills said. He didnt care about Jordan, he cared about himself. And we cant let that stand, he added. What did he think would happen? Neely, who was known for his precise Michael Jackson impersonation on the street and in the subway, was well-known among homeless outreach workers and emergency responders. He was arrested numerous times, mostly for minor crimes, and for at least two instances of assault on the subway. Attorneys for Mr Penny said in a statement shared with The Independent that they are confident he will be fully absolved of any wrongdoing when all the facts and circumstances emerge. When Mr Penny, a decorated Marine veteran, stepped in to protect himself and his fellow New Yorkers, his well-being was not assured. He risked his own life and safety, for the good of his fellow passengers, according to the statement from the firm Raiser and Kenniff. The unfortunate result was the unintended and unforeseen death of Mr Neely, they wrote. Mr Penny is scheduled to appear in court for his next hearing on 17 July. He told a 911 operator he shot his mom. Now, this Dover man has been sentenced A 37-year-old man who admitted to a 911 operator in January 2022 that he shot his mom in their Dover home will spend the next 30 years behind bars after pleading guilty to second-degree murder on May 11, the Delaware Department of Justice said Friday. Kyle Leonard was sentenced to 40 years in prison, which will be suspended after he serves 30 years. When he is released from prison, he'll spend six months in a work release program or on home confinement, followed by two years of probation. The sentence stems from the killing of Debra Leonard on Jan. 7, 2022, at the home she and her son shared. What happened to Debra Leonard? That Friday, Leonard called 911 around 7:20 p.m. and requested that police respond to his home in the 200 block of Harriet St. That's where he'd killed his 67-year-old mother. INITIAL STORY: 'I shot my mom': Court documents detail Dover-area killing in continued spate of violence Leonard identified himself by name and provided his date of birth to the 911 operator, court records show. When he was asked where his mother was, he replied, "She's dead," according to court documents. "Kyle stated that his mother is in the living room and stated that the shooting occurred 20-30 minutes prior to his call to 911," the document said. Leonard also told the 911 operator that the gun was in a bedroom and described it as a 9 mm. When the 911 operator asked why he'd shot his mother, Leonard said they were "arguing." The documents did not detail what about, and Leonard declined to answer any of the investigator's questions, according to the arrest warrant. What did Delaware State Police find? Delaware State Police troopers who responded to and searched the home, located in an unincorporated development adjacent to Dover Mall, found an unresponsive Debra Leonard with gunshot wounds where the younger Leonard said she would be. VIOLENCE CONTINUES: Millsboro man arrested after fatally shooting ex-wife through her Bridgeville home, police say Three spent shell casings were found near her body, which had been seated in a chair in her living room. A 9 mm gun was found on a bed. Leonard was charged with first-degree murder and a weapons offense but that was later reduced to second-degree murder. Delaware Attorney General Kathy Jennings said the murder was a tragic and disturbing crime that highlights the serious danger that exists at the intersection of gun violence and domestic strife." She added that she's hopeful the sentence "brings some peace" to Debra Leonard's remaining family. Got a tip? Send to Isabel Hughes at ihughes@delawareonline.com or 302-324-2785. For all things breaking news, follow her on Twitter at @izzihughes_ This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: Dover man sentenced for murder of his mother after calling 911 California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) is demanding information from textbook publishers and the state of Florida to determine if any companies are kowtowing to Floridas extremist agenda. You dont get to rewrite history in a back room. You dont get to erase basic facts around segregation, the holocaust, or Rosa Parks story. The extremists in Florida and textbook companies that are colluding with them are about to be exposed, Newsom said. The California governor is demanding records from publishers and Florida to find out whether any of the companies designing Californias textbooks are the same ones kowtowing to Floridas extremist agenda, his office said. The Florida Department of Education earlier this month announced a list of textbooks approved for social studies curricula in K-12 schools. Among the rejected materials, a lesson about the National Anthem was tweaked to remove a line mentioning that some citizens are choosing to Take a Knee to protest police brutality and racism.' The move comes as Florida, led by Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) who is expected to launch a White House bid soon pushes against what he considers to be woke ideology in his states education system. California will not be complicit in Floridas attempt to whitewash history through laws and backroom deals; Parents have a right to know whats happening in the dark to undermine our childrens education, Newsom said in a letter to publishers. The governors letter gave publishers until June 1 to disclose whether they submitted social studies textbooks for Floridas approval and whether they made changes at Floridas request. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. New Hampshire Attorney General John Formella initiated a civil rights case against members of NSC-131 in January. The New Hampshire attorney generals office recently met with a veterans organization that has called on law enforcement to take a stronger stance against NSC-131, a neo-Nazi group thats active across New England. The meeting comes after the nonprofit veterans group, Task Force Butler, released a report outlining their concerns about the white supremacist group. The New Hampshire attorney general is currently pursuing legal action against members of NSC-131, alleging violations of the states Civil Rights Act. More: Hate group members charged for racist signs in Portsmouth More: Portsmouth teen charged with hateful graffiti targeting Temple, businesses In the report, Task Force Butler detailed instances where NSC-131 targeted LGBTQ+ communities and other marginalized groups. Task Force Butler CEO Kristofer Goldsmith said the New Hampshire Attorney Generals Office is one of only a few law enforcement agencies that has taken significant steps against NSC-131. Goldsmith said his organization wants law enforcement to take the group more seriously and pursue criminal charges, if necessary. The purpose of our work is to provide all of the evidence that is necessary to start building cases. Goldsmith said. Michael Garrity, a spokesperson for the New Hampshire Department of Justice, confirmed the meeting between members of the agency and Task Force Butler. He said state officials encouraged the veterans group and others to report hate crimes to their office. They also discussed resources and tools, like no trespass orders and stalking petitions, that businesses and individuals can take if they find themselves targeted by hate groups, Garrity said. These articles are being shared by partners in The Granite State News Collaborative. For more information visit collaborativenh.org. This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: NH AG meets with veterans group that aims to disrupt neo-Nazis Nick Cannon Reveals Which Of His 12 Kids He Spends The Most Time With Nick Cannon speaks on stage during the Future Superstar tour on March 18 in Atlanta. Nick Cannon speaks on stage during the Future Superstar tour on March 18 in Atlanta. Nick Cannon hasnt been one to shy away from discussing his life as a father of 12 children and now, hes opening up about which of his kids hes around the most. While recently appearing on The Jason Lee Podcast, the comedian shared that his 8-month-old daughter Onyx Ice Cole is probably the child I spend the most time with. Cannon welcomed the adorable baby girl with model LaNisha Cole back in September. Im with her at least three times a week for the full day, the 42-year-old explained to show host Jason Lee during the May 10 episode. But I dont put that out there in social media its not for them. The Wild n Out host added that he and Cole have a super strong understanding and their co-parenting operation is so solid. Sharing how he balances work life and fatherhood, he revealed that he has a nursery for Onyx connected to his office so he can make sure that [he] can spend the most time with her. If you see me on Mondays, Wednesdays, or Fridays, my daughter is right next to me, whether Im on set, he said. Not against all my other kids, because all my other kids, theyre in school, theyre babies, as well as Onyx, Cannon, who is the father of 12 children with six women, clarified. I appreciate that LaNisha gives me the respect enough to allow me to have [Onyx] as equal amount of time as she does. Cannon also shares 12-year-old twins Monroe and Moroccan with Mariah Carey; 6-year-old Golden Sagon, 2-year-old Powerful, and 4-month-old Rise with Brittany Bell; 7-month-old Legendary with Bre Tiesi; and 2-month-old Halo with Alyssa Scott, as well as a son, Zen, who died of brain cancer in 2021 at the age of 5 months. The Drumline stars comments come weeks after he was blasted on social media for forgetting to mention Onyx while naming all of his kids during an interview on The Howard Stern Show. Related... Outgoing Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari Buhari described the project as 'a notable milestone' Nigeria's President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday commissioned an oil plant billed as Africa's largest oil refinery, after years of delays and a week before stepping down from office. Built by Africa's richest person Aliko Dangote in the commercial hub of Lagos, the refinery should begin operations in June with the first products expected on the market by August though some analysts said it could be later. Once at full capacity, it will have the ability to process 650,000 barrels a day, according to the company. Buhari -- who steps down on May 29 after eight years in office -- described the project as "a notable milestone" and "a game changer for the downstream petroleum products market, not only in Nigeria but for the entire African continent." The presidents of Ghana, Niger, Togo, Senegal and a representative of the Chadian leader were present at the commissioning. The refinery is expected to meet Nigeria's domestic demand as well as serve global markets, Dangote said. "Once our plant is fully commissioned... we expect that at least 40 percent of the capacity will be available for export, and this will result in significant foreign exchange entering the country," said Dangote. For decades, Africa's most populous nation and one of the continent's largest crude producers has depended on fuel imports to meet local demand because of under-performing state-run refineries. Nigeria swaps crude worth billions of dollars for gasoline that it then subsidises for its domestic market. It has caused a huge drain on foreign exchange at a time of dwindling oil revenue following the coronavirus pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war. - Costly subsidies - For analyst Tunde Leye, from the Lagos-based SBM Intelligence consultancy, it was "important for Buhari to inaugurate (the plant) before leaving power" but he doesn't expect the refinery to be fully operational before the end of 2024. Amaka Anku, Eurasia Group's Africa head, was more optimistic about the timeline. "It typically takes six to nine months to get to full operations," she told AFP, which would be "by the end of the year or next year." She said the "significant" project would also have a beneficial impact on a range of industries that need refined crude products, from pharmaceuticals to construction. Both analysts noted however that Dangote's refinery will not make the price of petroleum products cheaper but could present an opportunity for the government to remove costly subsidies and address revenue shortages. "I think that this is a significant opportunity for the government to support its goal of removing subsidies," said Anku, but "there's a political decision to be made." President-elect Bola Tinubu -- whose February victory is being contested by the opposition -- has said that he would remove subsidies once in office. He was not present at the commissioning. The refinery could also help improve transparency in the oil sector, according to Anku. "Dangote is a publicly listed company so it will be publishing information about how much crude it is purchasing and petroleum it is selling," she said, noting it as an improvement compared to the current situation where "we don't have a lot of transparency." The current opaque system has fostered corruption according to analysts, and limited the government's ability to invest in key areas like education and healthcare. The new facility, lying on 2,635 hectares (6,500 acres) of land at the Lekki Free Zone, was initially estimated to cost $9bn dollars but some $18.5bn has been spent to complete it, according to the company. Some 1,100 kilometres (about 680 miles) of subsea pipelines have been laid to link the oil-rich Niger Delta to the complex. The pipelines are also expected to create a corridor for the evacuation of trapped gas from offshore platforms and allow for the monetisation of the product. Also on the massive complex is a $2 billion fertiliser plant with a three million tonnes per annum capacity. More than 100,000 direct and indirect jobs are expected to be created through the project, the Lagos State government has said. joa-lhd/rox World Meets Chinese Tea Culture | Russia, from "tea importer" to "tea drinker" 19:12, May 21, 2023 By Chu Mengqi, Deng Jie, Elena Davydova, Liu Ning ( People's Daily Online If you drink tea, you will live to be 100! Have you ever wondered where the "drink that boosts longevity" in Russia originates from? According to historical records, the introduction of tea to Russia dates back to 1638, when Vasily Starkov, a Russian ambassador, brought tea as a gift from China to Moscow. Upon tasting it, Tsar Mikhail Fedorovich was full of praise, marking the beginning of Russia's history of tea consumption. By the end of the 17th century, the first wave of tea trade caravans traveled from China to Russia. Midway through the 18th century, a trade route from southeast China's Fujian Province to Moscow was established. By the 19th century, these caravans had reached as far as St. Petersburg. Today, this trade corridor is known as the "Great Tea Road." In Russian culture, drinking tea serves more than just a thirst-quenching purpose; it's an integral part of their social life. An elaborate tea set and a spread of sumptuous refreshments are essential elements of a Russian tea ceremony. Russians have a particular fondness for mild black tea, typically enjoyed with an assortment of snacks and sweets. Therefore, "drinking tea" in Russian refers not only to the act of sipping the beverage, but also implies satisfying people's appetites. Russians also flavor their tea with sugar cubes, lemon, honey, jam, milk or cream, and occasionally spices, brandy or rum. Nowadays, Russians consume an impressive 140,000 tons of tea leaves per year, with Chinese tea ranking among the most popular. (Web editor: Zhang Wenjie, Du Mingming) South Dakota Sen. John Thune, the No. 2 Senate Republican, plans to endorse South Carolina Sen. Tim Scotts bid for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination, according to two sources familiar with the plans. Scott, who has already filed his candidacy with the Federal Election Commission, will formally kick off his campaign Monday in North Charleston, South Carolina, and Thune is expected to deliver the opening prayer at the event, the sources said. Thune had previously encouraged Scott to enter the contest, pushing him to visit the early-voting state of Iowa and telling CNN in March that his colleague would be a great candidate. Hes really well thought of and respected, Thune said. I think hed be a really interesting candidate for president in a field that could be fairly open. Scott, the only Black Republican in the Senate, joins a growing GOP field looking to challenge President Joe Biden as he seeks a second term. Former President Donald Trump is making a third run for the White House. Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, who appointed Scott to his Senate seat a decade ago, launched her campaign in February. Others in the GOP race include former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, tech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy and talk radio host Larry Elder. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is also expected to enter the contest this week. Scott launched a presidential exploratory committee in April, emphasizing his evangelical faith, his race and his experience growing up as the son of a single mother. He defined his personal ethos as one of individual responsibility and said his approach to politics was guided by the belief that the US is the land of opportunity and not the land of oppression. Thune isnt the only Republican who has spoken positively of Scotts strengths in a presidential race. Speaking to CNNs Jake Tapper on State of the Union on Sunday, Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy called Scott a pretty formidable candidate. For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com King Charles III will be recovering from the coronation celebrations by unwinding in his secret retreat in rural Transylvania next month. According to the Daily Mail, the home is a stripped-back former farmhouse in a cosy hamlet in Zalanpatak, Romania, close to the Carpathian Mountains. The King is understood to have purchased the property several years ago. Queen Camilla will not be joining him on his annual visit, leaving the 74-year-old monarch to enjoy some R and R during the first year of his new role. Speaking on Mondays instalment of Good Morning Britain (22 May), royal expert Jennie Bond said that the King will be visiting the retreat in the coming weeks to recuperate from his coronation. She told the programme that the King has laid an ecological water treatment plant at the residence and loves it there. He sleeps in a little wooden bed, hes going there for a very short stay next month, she added. The hideaway is surrounded by hills and meadows of the Zalan Valley, frequented by wolves and bears. There is no wifi, TV or radio, but the drawing room now has a small hi-fi player with CDs. But the property is far from a man cave, with seven double rooms with en-suite bathrooms in three heritage cottages, each furnished with authentic Transylvanian antiques and textiles. A fourth building has a drawing room and dining area with a large open fireplace and a comfortable sitting area on a landing above the kitchen. It is understood that the King wishes to encourage more people to visit Transylvania and promote sustainable development, according to the official website for the guesthouse. There was some doubt as to whether the King would make his annual visit for 2023, but it is reported that he will arrive in early June and stay for a week. The property is typically rented out to visitors, with double rooms for an all inclusive-stay starting at 140 per night. California corrections officials have opened a homicide investigation after an inmate at a Northern California prison was apparently beaten to death by two other inmates on Saturday evening. This marks at least the fifth homicide investigation that the states prison system have opened this year related to inmate deaths. Around 6:40 p.m. at High Desert State Prison in Susanville, prison staff saw inmates Pedro Ayon, 30, and Brandon Martinez, 25, attack 43-year-old Jeffrey Concepcion out on one of the prison yards, according to a news release from the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. Correctional officers broke up the fight, but Concepcion was unresponsive to life-saving measures. Concepcion was transported to an on-site medical facility where he was pronounced dead at 7:45 p.m. The Lassen County Coroners Office has yet to determine an official cause of death. No prison staffers or other inmates reported any injuries. Concepcion was sentenced in July 1999 in Monterey County to life in prison without the possibility of parole on convictions for first-degree murder, second-degree robbery and attempted second-degree murder, according to CDCR. Inmates Ayon and Martinez have been placed in restricted housing, CDCR said. Ayon was sentenced in June 2021 from Tulare County to 27 years, two months in prison for two counts of second-degree murder, one count of assault with force likely to produce great bodily injury, one count of second-degree robbery and one count of attempted carjacking. Martinez was sentenced in April 2016 in Yuba County to 18 years, eight months in prison for single counts of assault with force likely to produce great bodily injury, second-degree robbery and assault with a deadly weapon. The Investigative Services Unit for the Susanville facility will work with the Lassen County District Attorneys Office to conduct the investigation, High Desert State Prison officials said. Concepcions death represents at least the seventh inmate fatality and the sixth homicide investigation within state prisons this year. Officials opened a homicide investigation at California State Prison, Sacramento, after a fight between two inmates in January led to the death of 42-year-old Joseph D. Horne. A second incident at the prison, also known as New Folsom, left Edward C. Bergman, 53, dead in his cell in May. Authorities are investigating fellow inmate Taylor Cervantes, 27, as a homicide suspect. In February, inmate Robert Aranda, 23, was found unresponsive with stab wounds in his cell at Mule Creek State Prison near Ione. Authorities named his cellmate as the primary suspect in a homicide investigation. Just a week later at North Kern State Prison in Delano, Ariel Torres, 45, was found dead in his cell. His cellmate is under investigation for homicide. Homicide investigations have also been launched this year following the deaths of inmates at Delanos Kern Valley State Prison in January and February, Pleasant Valley State Prison in Coalinga in March, Pelican Bay State Prison in Del Norte in March and Soledad Correctional Training Facility in April. In addition, officials at California State Prison, Sacramento, are investigating the death of inmate Mario Rushing, 46, who died after he refused to stop choking another inmate and a correctional officer shot him with a semi-automatic rifle. The Bees Michael McGough and Dominique Williams contributed to this story. A judge on Monday entered not guilty pleas for the man accused of stabbing four University of Idaho students to death last year. Bryan Kohberger, 28, has been charged with burglary and four counts of first-degree murder in connection with the November 2022 deaths. He declined to enter pleas on his own, and the judge in Latah County District Court entered them on his behalf. Kohberger, who was a graduate student studying criminology at Washington State University at the time of the killings, was arrested and charged last year and indicted by a grand jury last week. The judge scheduled Kohbergers trial to begin in October after the accused waived his right to a speedy trial. University of Idaho students Madison Mogen, Kaylee Goncalves, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin all between the ages of 20 and 21 were found fatally stabbed last year at a rental home in Moscow, Idaho, near the college campus. The Associated Press contributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. Oak Ridge students 'Dream it. Do it.' best Jefferson Middle School in Oak Ridge took the top prize in the seventh annual Dream it. Do it. competition for students' video describing Aisin Automotive Casting Tennessee Inc. in Clinton. Jefferson Middle Schools team received first place for their video about Aisin Automotive Casting Tennessee Inc. "Dream It. Do It. pairs Anderson County middle school students with local industries, according to a news release from Consolidated Nuclear Security, which sponsors the competition along with the Anderson County Chamber of Commerce. The students produce videos describing the businesses, then the videos are judged to determine the winners of the competition. The goal of the program is to introduce students to careers in manufacturing and help develop the future workforce. For their video, Jefferson Middle students received a $1,000 donation from CNS to fund classroom resources. Their video featured a race to highlight the car-parts manufacturer. Clinton Middle Schools video describing Magna received second place in the "Dream it. Do it." competition. The Clinton Middle School team placed second and earned a $750 donation with their detective-themed video describing Magna in Clinton. Lake City Middle School took home third place and a $500 donation for their video highlighting SL Tennessee in Clinton. The video, which featured a student pulled over for a bad taillight, also won the Peoples Choice Award, receiving the largest percentage of more than 2,500 online votes cast by the public. Many students are not aware of the opportunities in manufacturing, said Kristin Waldschlager, CNS educational outreach specialist, stated in the release. Y-12 needs highly skilled workers to support our national security missions. We hope by piquing their interest early, these students will become part of our future workforce. Lake City Middle School, which worked with SL Tennessee, earned third place and the Peoples Choice Award. With Y-12 and these other manufacturers, there are some terrific job opportunities for those entering the workforce, said Anderson County Chamber President, Rick Meredith. We appreciate the companies efforts to excite students about those local opportunities. In addition to Aisin, Magna, and SL Tennessee, local manufacturers Protomet, Techner PM, and Clayton Homes participated in the competition with Norris, Norwood, and Robertsville middle schools. This article originally appeared on Oakridger: Jefferson students 'Dream it. Do it.' best A 45-year old man has died as a result of a Russian attack on the settlement of Stanislav in Kherson Oblast. Source: Oleksandr Prokudin, the head of Kherson Oblast Quote: "Due to Russian attacks on Stanislav, a 45-year old man received injuries incompatible with life. He was repairing the roofing of a house, which was damaged earlier. A projectile fragment stuck in his heart, and the man died on the spot." Details: Four residential houses were damaged due to the Russian attack on the village of Stanislav. The settlement of Kizomys in Kherson Oblast is constantly being attacked by the Russians; two guided air bombs were dropped on the settlement last night. A house was destroyed and two more were damaged in the attack. There were no victims among the residents. Journalists fight on their own frontline. Support Ukrainska Pravda or become our patron! In the occupied territories of Zaporizhzhia Oblast, the invaders arrest men in order to force them to join the Russian army under pressure. Source: National Resistance Center Quote: "The occupiers are trying to arrest as many men as possible in the temporarily occupied territories of Zaporizhzhia Oblast in order to put pressure on them to join the ranks of the Russian occupation forces. Men are arrested for the slightest reason, in particular for violating the curfew imposed by the occupation administration. After that, the detainees are taken to field camps, where prisoners brought from the Russian Federation who have agreed to fight on the side of Russia are already waiting for them. The criminals put pressure on the detainees, persuading them to serve in the occupation army." Background: According to the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the invaders forcibly mobilise men who have received Russian citizenship in Kherson Oblast. Journalists fight on their own frontline. Support Ukrainska Pravda or become our patron! HAWORTH An off-duty Haworth police officer is being accused of feloniously pointing a firearm and making racist remarks toward a steel-distributing company employee in McCurtain County. The officer, 59, surrendered himself Thursday to the McCurtain County sheriff's office, according to Gerald Davidson, interim public information officer with the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation. As first reported by the McCurtain Gazette-News, an adult male was working at Alford Metals in Idabel on April 24, when the officer allegedly pulled up in a truck, pointed a rifle at him, and yelled a racial epithet, saying, "Run, (expletive), run!" The McCurtain County Courthouse sits on the north end of Central Avenue in downtown Idabel. The Alford Metals employee told the officer he would call the police, but the officer replied, "They're already here," according to a sworn statement from an OSBI agent and cited by the McCurtain Gazette-News. A witness told OSBI the truck the officer was driving had approached the business "at a high rate of speed," after which the officer emerged from the truck, yelling about a "mouthy mother (expletive)" and pointing his rifle at the employee. More: Federal lawsuits portray McCurtain County sheriff's office as cruel, callous The victim and the witness told OSBI that the officer said, "You've got a case now!" OSBI were requested to investigate the incident because of the officer's law enforcement background, Davidson told The Oklahoman. The McCurtain County sheriff's office is seen April 20 in Idabel. Haworth is roughly 10 miles outside of Idabel, the epicenter of an ongoing scandal involving current McCurtain County Sheriff Kevin Clardy and three other local officials, who were recorded allegedly discussing the lynching of Black people and plotting the killing of McCurtain Gazette-News journalists in early March. In the wake of nationwide outcry, the OSBI, the Oklahoma attorney general's office and the FBI have all launched investigations into the McCurtain County sheriff's office. Only one accused official, former McCurtain County District 2 Mark Jennings, has resigned. This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: McCurtain County officer under investigation for alleged racist threat How old do you have to be to get married in NC? What to know about tying the knot As warm weather becomes the norm during spring, many couples may be planning to tie the knot in North Carolina. Dates in May and June are the most preferred time to book a wedding in the Tarheel State. But before saying I do, couples in North Carolina must obtain a marriage license. Heres what couples should know about applying for a marriage license and performing the marriage ceremony. Marriage license requirements in NC According to the N.C. Judicial Branch, the following requirements must be met to obtain a marriage license: Both parties must intend to marry Both parties must not be currently married to anyone else Both parties must be at least 18 years old unless specific requirements for minors are met The parties cannot be more closely related than first cousins The parties cannot be double first cousins (the children of two sisters who married two brothers) Minors ages 16 and 17 must file with the Register of Deeds a written consent to the marriage signed by a parent with sole or joint legal custody, or legal guardian, the N.C. Judicial Branch says. Those ages 14 and 15 must file a court action if they want to get married. Both of these options are only available in cases of pregnancy or teenage parenthood. Children under the age of 14 cannot get married in North Carolina. How to get a marriage license in NC Couples whose weddings are in North Carolina can get a marriage license from the Register of Deeds in any county in the state. Applicants must pay a fee of $60 and fill out a form stating their names, ages, marital status and intention to marry. In most cases, both partners must visit the Register of Deeds office, but some counties, including Mecklenburg, allow online applications to be submitted before visiting the office to save time. Performing a marriage ceremony in NC Weddings in North Carolina must be conducted by a recognized officiant in order to be legally binding, according to the states Judicial Branch. Under state law, any minister who is ordained in a religious denomination or authorized by a church can serve as a recognized officiant. Marriages can also be performed in the recognized manner of any religious denomination that does not use officiants, or in the recognized manner of any federally or state-recognized Native American tribe, the Judicial Branch says. For those looking for a secular ceremony, magistrates can also perform weddings. Many magistrates, including in Mecklenburg County, set aside certain days and times when they are able to perform marriages at the courthouse or other court office, Judicial Branch spokesman Charles Keller, Jr. told the Observer. You should contact your countys magistrate office for more information. If youre interested in having a loved one officiate your wedding and they plan to get ordained online, you should contact your county clerks office to make sure the program they are using is acceptable under North Carolina law. Many wedding planning websites, such as The Knot, offer lists of wedding officiants available for hire. You can narrow your search based on the location of your big day and the type of ceremony youre looking for (religious, interfaith, secular, etc.). Does NC recognize common law marriages? Common law marriages, or legally recognized marriages between two people who have not purchased a marriage license, are not valid in North Carolina, according to state law. How to get a copy of your marriage license in NC You can order a copy of your marriage license online, by mail or by phone at 1-800-669-8310 through the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services. The processing time for online and phone orders is four to five months, and the processing time for mail-in certificate orders is six months to one year. Copies of marriage licenses can also be ordered in person by appointment only at the North Carolina Vital Records Office in Raleigh. Appointments can be made online, or by calling 919-733-3000. Copies can also be obtained at the Register of Deeds office where the event took place. He was only 4 years old when his family landed in a prison camp in Arkansas for Japanese-Americans. Robert Yoshiaki Yada had been forced with his family to leave their home in Stockton, California, under an executive order to relocate in 1942 as a World War II prisoner. Since he was a child, he did not know why. He only knew that he had fun during play-time and being together with his friends and family, who couldn't leave. Yada died May 15 at the age of 85 after a long battle with cancer. Yada's life was celebrated Friday at First Baptist Church in Fort Smith. From left to right: Haruye Yada (Bob Yadas mother), Richard Yada (Bobs brother in mothers lap), Bob Yada, and Sadami Hamamoto (Bobs aunt). This is believed to be taken circa 1944 (Richard was born in August 1943). Yada and his brother, Richard Yada, were two of about 8,000 Japanese-Americans imprisoned with their family at Rohwer Internment Camp in McGehee, Arkansas. His son Greg Yada, 57, of North Little Rock remembers his grandfather, Samuel Yutaka Yada, telling the story of how the family slept in a horse stall after being rounded up in California, before heading to the prison camp in Arkansas. "They were in temporary quarters at the Stockton, (California) racetrack from what I remember. I remember my grandfather told us that they were one of the fortunate families because they were assigned to a horse stall for a period of time. I don't know where the others lived but he said they were fortunate to have a horse stall. That resonated with me as far as how they were treated," Greg Yada said. After the war, Robert Yada, who was born in Hawaii, remained in central Arkansas and worked as a sharecropper on a vegetable farm. He later joined the Army that imprisoned him. At Fort Chaffee, Robert Yada worked as a civil engineer responsible for all the facilities that were designated for Vietnamese refugees in 1975. Greg Yada said his father influenced his career choice in civil engineering. "He was an inspiration to me as a role model," Greg Yada said. Painful memories Robert Yada and Sarah Yada were married for 58 years. She said the memories of the WWII prison camps for most Japanese-Americans are painful and were not discussed when Robert Yada was young. She heard stories of what it was like in the Rohwer prison camp in McGehee. How his family and other Japanese-Americans in California had to leave their property and pets behind and take a rail car to a camp in Arkansas. The people were forced from their homes in California where they were successful farmers. When they were released, they were given $50 and a ticket to take a train. "The people there, the adults at the camp did not, after they left the camp, speak very much about the camp at all," Sarah Yada said. She said it wasn't unusual for the children to learn nothing about the internment camps from their parents. "They did not talk about it very much at all. It was very painful," she said. Sarah Yada said she heard the stories of how Yada's family persevered, worked hard and became successful. Robert Yada was a patriotic man, who loved Arkansas, and the people in the state. He was also a big Razorback fan, she said. Sarah Yada was a student at Little Rock University, later UA-Little Rock, where she met Robert, who was also a student in 1959. They both attended Central High School in Little Rock, where Robert Yada was a few years ahead of Sarah. "We dated for a long time because I was a pre-nursing student. ... When we met, I had three more years of college to go and I had no intention of getting married at the time ... so we didn't marry until (February) 1964, " Sarah Yada said. She said her late husband told the stories of his life over and over to those he knew. She said only five Japanese-American families released from the McGehee camp stayed in Arkansas, and the Yada family would be the only one to plant their roots in the state. "One by one, the families started going back to California. And Bob's family was the only one from the camp that stayed continually in Arkansas," Sarah Yada said. "They stayed in Arkansas because they liked the people here," Sarah Yada said. This article originally appeared on Fort Smith Times Record: Robert Yada of Fort Smith was a prisoner of war as a child in WWII One man shot by another at Arlington QuikTrip. Police say they were dating the same woman A 31-year-old man was hospitalized with non-life threatening injuries Monday after a shooting at an Arlington QuikTrip, according to police. Officers responded to the QuikTrip in the 900 block of East Division Street around 1 p.m. Monday after reports of a shooting, according to police. Before the officers arrived, both the suspected shooter and a victim left the gas station. Police said a friend of the victim drove him to a nearby hospital for treatment of the wound to his leg. Investigators believe the shooting was an isolated incident and that the victim and suspect knew each other and have both been dating the same woman, though they arent sure what exactly happened leading up to the shooting, according to police. No arrests have been made but police said they are currently working to get the suspect into custody. The suspects name has not been publicly released. There were no reports of other injuries at the gas station. One of Putin's closest friends built him a $3.2 million fishing villa in Finland, then had to scrap it when the Russian leader showed up and wasn't keen on fishing in the country: report An aerial view of Lake Saimaa in Puumala, Finland. ALESSANDRO RAMPAZZO/AFP via Getty Images A $3.2 million fishing villa built for Vladimir Putin sits unused in Finland, The Insider reported. The luxury home has three floors, a wine cellar, a sauna, and an elevator, but was never completed. The man stopped building it when he realized Putin wasn't keen on Finnish fishing, per The Insider. Russian leader Vladimir Putin has a multimillion-dollar fishing villa waiting for him in Finland, but he'll probably never use it. The abandoned holiday home is on the coast of Lake Saimaa in southeast Finland and was built for Putin by a close friend at the cost of around $3.2 million, according to the Russian independent outlet The Insider which has no affiliation to Insider. The three-story villa boasts an elevator, a wine cellar, an underground garage, a sauna, a personal swimming pool, a billiard room, an office, and eight toilets, The Insider reported, citing a master plan of the house. But it was never completed, according to the outlet's reporter, Sergey Kanev. A video published on Thursday showed Kanev entering the empty house through an open door. Inside, he found scaffolding, stacks of building materials, tiles, a ladder, cables, refrigerators, and an uninstalled bathtub. "Don't touch these boxes without my approval!" a message in Russian on a cardboard box read. Construction was rife with issues, with building crews needing to be regularly replaced because they kept leaving over their wages and working conditions, The Insider reported. Some Finnish workers also refused to work on the house, per the outlet. The villa was funded by Viktor Khmarin, an old classmate of Putin's at Leningrad State University who now lobbies for the Russian leader, per The Insider. They went to dances together in college and were wrestling buddies, the outlet added. Now, Khmarin is the general director of the largest hydroelectricity company in Russia and is married to Putin's cousin, according to Forbes. Khmarin had built the Finnish cottage in a bid to get Putin to spend more time with him, according to The Insider. The lobbyist paid around $541,000 for the main building, $216,000 for a security house, $432,000 for building materials, and additional costs for wooden bridges, paths, a fishing house, and other facilities, per The Insider. It's unclear exactly when construction occurred, but it was before July 2017, according to The Insider. That was when Putin arrived in the nearby city of Savonlinna, where he met Finland's President Sauli Niinisto. During Putin's meeting, an aide for Khmarin arrived at the villa and told construction workers to stop, saying that Putin was no longer interested in fishing in Finland, according to The Insider, which cited a source in the Russian security services. Khmarin later wrote off the house as a loss after he couldn't find a buyer, per the outlet. The reported location of Khmarin's fishing villa puts it close to the Villa Segren, another property in the Gulf of Finland that the Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny claimed was used by Putin as a holiday retreat. Lake Saimaa is close to Finland's border with Russia. Screenshot/Google Maps Drone footage posted by Navalny in 2017 appears to show a pier and helipad on the mansion's grounds. When reached for comment, Dmitry Peskov, Putin's press secretary, told Insider in an email that the Russian leader never owned such a property. "All the property of Mr Putin is listed in his annual declaration, which is published in the media according to the law. The President does not own any of the objects mentioned in the material," Peskov said. May 23, 2023: This story was updated to reflect comment from Putin's press office. Read the original article on Business Insider Online paedophile reports more than double in Kent in five years The number of investigations into online paedophile activity in Kent has more than doubled within five years, a police force said. Kent Police said referrals from the National Crime Agency have risen from 190 in 2018 to 501 last year. A year-on-year rise has been noted since the Covid lockdowns, the force told BBC Radio Kent. It is now expanding its paedophile online investigation team to deal with the increase in investigations. Det Ch Insp Shaun Creed said: "We have seen a significant growth in reports and they haven't gone back to pre-pandemic levels. "There was a significant jump between 2019 and 2020, and at the moment it continues to rise year on year." Elsewhere in the South East, Surrey Police recently reported a 70% rise in investigations in two years. The Internet Watch Foundation (IWF), which hunts down and removes online child sexual abuse, has described the issue as "a social and digital emergency". It said children were often being coerced, tricked or pressured by abusers on the web. Imagery of young children carrying out sexual acts on camera rose more than tenfold since the pandemic lockdowns, IWF data released earlier this year suggested. It logged more than 63,000 webpages showing the material compared to 5,000 before the pandemic. Det Con Chris Horan, from Kent Police, warned parents to be aware of offenders befriending or grooming children online. "It will start off with very innocent photos being taken and they will nurture that relationship with that child to progressively more indecent images being taken", he said. Jim Gamble, who led the UK Child Exploitation and Online Protection (CEOP) organisation, told BBC Radio Kent: "Parents must take the lead in protecting their children. "They need to educate and empower themselves so they are better equipped to protect their children." If you are affected by any of the issues in this article you can find details of organisations that can help via the BBC Action Line. Follow BBC South East on Facebook, on Twitter, and on Instagram. Send your story ideas to southeasttoday@bbc.co.uk. AI is developing rapidly enough and the dangers it may pose are clear enough that OpenAI's leadership believes that the world needs an international regulatory body akin to that governing nuclear power and fast. But not too fast. In a post to the company's blog, OpenAI founder Sam Altman, President Greg Brockman and Chief Scientist Ilya Sutskever explain that the pace of innovation in artificial intelligence is so fast that we can't expect existing authorities to adequately rein in the technology. While there's a certain quality of patting themselves on the back here, it's clear to any impartial observer that the tech, most visibly in OpenAI's explosively popular ChatGPT conversational agent, represents a unique threat as well as an invaluable asset. The post, typically rather light on details and commitments, nevertheless admits that AI isn't going to manage itself: We need some degree of coordination among the leading development efforts to ensure that the development of superintelligence occurs in a manner that allows us to both maintain safety and help smooth integration of these systems with society. We are likely to eventually need something like an [International Atomic Energy Agency] for superintelligence efforts; any effort above a certain capability (or resources like compute) threshold will need to be subject to an international authority that can inspect systems, require audits, test for compliance with safety standards, place restrictions on degrees of deployment and levels of security, etc. The IAEA is the UN's official body for international collaboration on nuclear power issues, though of course like other such organizations it can want for punch. An AI-governing body built on this model may not be able to come in and flip the switch on a bad actor, but it can establish and track international standards and agreements, which is at least a starting point. OpenAI's post notes that tracking compute power and energy usage dedicated to AI research is one of relatively few objective measures that can and probably ought to be reported and tracked. While it may be difficult to say that AI should or shouldn't be used for this or that, it may be useful to say that resources dedicated to it should, like other industries, be monitored and audited. (Smaller companies could be exempt so as not to strangle the green shoots of innovation, the company suggested.) Leading AI researcher and critic Timnit Gebru just today said something similar in an interview with The Guardian: "Unless there is external pressure to do something different, companies are not just going to self-regulate. We need regulation and we need something better than just a profit motive." OpenAI has visibly embraced the latter, to the consternation of many who hoped it would live up to its name, but at least as market leader it is also calling for real action on the governance side beyond hearings like the latest, where Senators line up to give reelection speeches that end in question marks. While the proposal amounts to "maybe we should, like, do something," it is at least a conversation starter in the industry and indicates support by the single largest AI brand and provider in the world for doing that something. Public oversight is desperately needed, but "we don't yet know how to design such a mechanism." And although the company's leaders say they support tapping the brakes, there are no plans to do so just yet, both because they don't want to let go of the enormous potential "to improve our societies" (not to mention bottom lines) and because there is a risk that bad actors have their foot squarely on the gas. Opinion: A button, a love story, and an Iranian couple who will not be silenced In the Spring of 2018, two men in Tehran had a humble but risky plan to show support for women who were protesting Irans compulsory hijab laws. Jeff Kaufman - Jeff Kaufman Reza Khandan is a graphic designer, the husband of renowned human rights attorney Nasrin Sotoudeh, and a father of two. Farhad Meysami is a physician, teacher and textbook publisher. The pair bought thousands of blank buttons and a small, hand-cranked button-making machine, printed green and red labels, and took turns producing buttons that said, in Farsi, I Oppose the Mandatory Hijab. Their buttons caught the attention of fellow activists and Iranian authorities. On June 13, 2018, Rezas lawyer wife Nasrin was arrested for her work defending many of the women who publicly removed their hijabs. Soon after, Reza and Farhads homes and offices were raided, the buttons were confiscated, and they were sent to the mens ward of the same prison that held Nasrin. Reza was released on bail after 111 days. Nasrin served over three years in prison before receiving a medical furlough because of a heart condition complicated by Covid-19. A gravely ill Farhad was released from prison in February after images of his severely emaciated condition resulting from a long hunger strike caused global outrage. Im the director of a documentary about Nasrin Sotoudeh Nasrin. When the producer of the film, Marcia Ross, and I first saw a photo of Nasrin and Reza standing with Farhad the day he came home from prison, we were struck by their enduring friendship. We were also moved by the continued defiance represented by the I Oppose the Mandatory Hijab button that Nasrin wore on her jacket. Iranian couple Nasrin Sotoudeh and Reza Khandan, with their friend and fellow activist Farhad Meysami (center) after being released from prison earlier this year following a lengthy hunger strike. - Reza Khandan It inspired us to make hundreds of exact replicas of this button to express support for the right of every woman to choose what she wears, thinks and does. This led to a global campaign supported by Amnesty International, The Feminist Majority Foundation, Parliamentarians for Global Action, PEN America, Right Livelihood, Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights, and The United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran, among others. Now, as Iran continues to reel from nationwide protests sparked by the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini while in custody last year, I spoke to Nasrin and Reza about the role people around the world can also play in the movement and how to keep its momentum going. Our conversation has been translated from Farsi by Parisa Saranj and edited for length and clarity. Jeff Kaufman: How has opposition to the hijab been an important part of your relationship? Nasrin: When Reza and I first met, we were working at a magazine that presented a dialogue on social issues. It was common then for men to believe they should control how women dress and behave. When Reza asked me out on a date I told him, Look, you should know that I dont believe in the hijab. He replied that it was a private matter, and I had the freedom to choose what I want to do. This was very influential in my decision to marry him. Reza: I was attracted by her mind, her activism and her sense of civic duty. When you respect and accept someones individuality and freedom, it goes beyond the hijab or clothing choices. Im not against women who want to be veiled. I am against the governments imposition of the hijab for all women, regardless of their faith or practices. And its not just about the hijab. Im against the forced imposition of any religion or belief. Nasrin: Thats why I love him and have been praising this man for 30 years! Kaufman: Why are you and others willing to put your life at risk to oppose the mandatory hijab? Nasrin: The police drag women off the streets and beat them, arrest them, even kill them. Why? The compulsory hijab law isnt just about controlling womens bodies. Its about controlling our ability to think for ourselves. This ensnares both sexes. However, people like Reza and Farhad Meysami are willing to endure prison for producing some buttons. They go on hunger strikes and fight to an inch of their lives because they cannot bear to see how girls and women are being treated in this country. That is my reason, too. I cannot stand the suffering of my people. Kaufman: Nasrin, you have one of the last I Oppose the Mandatory Hijab buttons in Iran (the government destroyed the rest). How has that stayed with you all these years? Nasrin: The day they came to arrest me, Reza was busy making these buttons. As it happened, I had one pinned to my jacket when they took me away and brought me to prison. I was in the car with five officers, four men and a woman. The older man next to me said, Whats that on you? And I said, Oh, its a button about my opposition to the compulsory hijab. And he didnt reply. He just ignored it. When I got to the prison, I was still wearing the button. I wore it all the time they were processing me, and they never confiscated it. When they put me in my cell, I pinned the button to a sheet I hung around my bed. When my fellow prisoners would visit me, they would always look to see if the button was still there. The same with the prison officials. I had the button to the very end of my time in Evin Prison. Almost three years. Then, it was lost when they transferred me to Qarchak Prison, but someone sent me another one, and I still wear that button now. Kaufman: What does the global spread of the button campaign mean to you? Reza: I am very happy about it. The Iranian government thought that if they confiscated the buttons, stopped them from spreading, and put us in prison, they could end the whole story. However, our arrest was in the news and anyone inquiring about us would soon learn it was because of the buttons, and what they represent. Eventually, you and Marcia learned the story and gave the campaign a new life. It makes me very happy to wake up daily and see photos of people on social media or in my inbox wearing the buttons. It ended up becoming far more than we had intended. Nasrin: In the last few years that I was in prison, I noticed how important social media and technology are in the fight against oppression in Iran. The button campaign is a good part of that. Real change has to come from within, but democracy in the rest of the world can help fill the gap here. Sadly, voting in Iran is a joke. The supreme leader is a figure who stays forever. The president is just a puppet. So, we look to the world. Thats why when other nations elect officials, their candidates position on human rights issues is important. What they do will eventually affect the Iranian people. Reza Khandan and Farhad Meysami with the their hand-cranked button-making machine, in 2018. - Reza Khandan For example, when I was arrested, Reza and Farhad made the I Oppose the Mandatory Hijab buttons in the hope that people would wear them. They didnt know what effect they might have. We are delighted now to see the buttons being worn worldwide. Thats a wonderful thing. Kaufman: What is your sense of the potential for change in Iran? Reza: The movement that came after the death of Mahsa Amini resulted from decades of work and struggle that womens and civil rights activists have been doing in Iran. Undoubtedly, the Women, Life, Freedom movement has had an incredible impact. However, a strong start does not mean a victorious end. My biggest concern is that this movement will get hijacked by a small, prominent opposition group outside of Iran that is centered around the Shahs son, Reza Pahlavi. They have the ears of foreign media, are extremely rich and opportunistic, and have powerful connections. Yet they are disconnected from the Iranian people and the activists working in this movement. I fear we will go from a theocratic regime to a secular dictatorship. Nasrin: I think the only way positive change is possible is through a fair and free referendum that takes place based on international standards and in which everyone gets to freely express their opinion. My biggest concern at this moment, however, is the poisoning of hundreds of schoolgirls across Iran and the fact that nothing is happening to stop them. Schools for young women in this country were established by the efforts of courageous women about a hundred years ago. Before that, they had no access to education. Now we see our girls poisoned and terrorized by a Taliban-like government. (CNN adds: Irans intelligence ministry last month said its investigation found no actual poisonings, and accused foreign enemies and dissidents of fomenting fears.) Words cannot express the depth of our pain. During the civil rights movement in The United States, Americans had a chance to look at themselves and ask what kind of a nation allows such treatment of Black people. Thats the kind of question we in Iran must ask ourselves. What kind of society allows its children to go to school and get poisoned? My long-term concern is about freedom and democracy in Iran. Lets say we end up having that free and fair referendum. What will happen after that? Will we be able to take care of our earned democracy? I hope we will. I hope we will. For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com Along with other Air India pilots, the commander of an all-women team, Kshamta Bajpai, second from right, applauds her crew at an International Women's Day celebration. (Vipin Kumar / Hindustan Times via Getty Images) The aviation industry has a problem. A shortage of airline pilots is causing a constraint on capacity, which translates to canceled flights and delays for travelers especially on smaller airlines. Theres more: In early April, the FAA warned that a shortage of air traffic controllers is expected to gum up travel this summer, especially in the Northeast. And according to one industry observer, the lack of maintenance personnel in aviation is reaching crisis levels. Aviations capacity woes underline a massive industry blind spot: Women remain largely grounded. Women make up less than 20% of those employed in all aviation jobs in the U.S., a figure that skews that high only because so many flight attendants and customer service agents are women. Only 4.6% of airline pilots are women, and aviation mechanics fare even worse, at 2.6%. The low pilot numbers are especially discouraging compared with womens progress in other professional fields. In 2021, women made up 37.1% of physicians in the U.S., up from 7.1% in 1970. In 2022, 38% of attorneys were women, up from 3% in 1970. Overall, women account for 51.8% of those employed in professional, management and related fields. What is keeping women out of aviation? The issue is largely cultural. As several of my male colleagues like to say, U.S. aviation is male, pale and stale. A 2018 survey for Women in Aviation International found that more than a third of women in the industry perceive that a good old boy network persists. Women cited male dominated culture as a bigger barrier to an aviation career than family/life/work balance. And 71% of the survey respondents reported they had been sexually harassed at work. Male-centric defines almost everything about aviation and aerospace. The language of regulations is gendered; equipment and uniforms are designed for men; images in training materials depict mostly men. The message, in big ways and small, is that aviation is not a womans job. Even minor attempts to change the culture are often resisted. In December 2021, the FAA changed the meaning of its acronym NOTAM from Notice to Airmen to Notice to Air Missions. NOTAMs are updates sent to all flight crews in real time about weather or ground conditions that could affect a flight. In addition to being more inclusive, Air Missions is also more accurate, but from the male howls of protest that ensued, youd have thought the FAA was suddenly banning men from the cockpit. So what can be done? We can look to another country as a model: India. At 12.4%, India has the highest percentage of female pilots in the world, more than double that of the U.S. One reason is a national push that began decades ago to bring more women into STEM and aviation careers. A program for training students to fly light aircraft has existed since 1948, and many companies and state governments offer scholarships or subsidies to help women earn their wings. Airlines in India have also instituted policies that help women juggle aviation careers and family life, including allowing them to fly while pregnant, providing six months of paid maternity leave, creating flexible work schedules and offering childcare. In the U.S., airlines are slowly overhauling employment policies to make them more friendly to women, but the comparison is telling. According to one female Delta pilot, Delta provides 12 weeks of paid maternity leave and two weeks of paid parental leave. In addition to improving work/life balance issues, U.S. aviation must revamp its outreach efforts. A recent study by the Experimental Aircraft Assn. found that women who entered aviation were likely to become interested at an early age: 29% were younger than 10 when they got hooked . Another survey by the University of Nebraska found that only 15% of women were exposed to aviation during school. But instead of focused national outreach and programs aimed at school-age youngsters, introductory aviation efforts in the U.S. are fragmented, with hundreds of small and large efforts. The Civil Air Patrol, with its cadet squadrons, is one of the few national efforts to involve kids in aviation; most of the rest are programs sponsored by local airports and small museums. Unfortunately, many depend completely on volunteers, and most are underfunded, which limits the number of participants. In addition, few of the programs specifically target girls and young women. We need an umbrella organization to integrate the disparate programs, develop specific outreach for girls and lobby the industry on women's behalf. One of its primary tasks should be raising resources for robust local training programs and aviation and STEM scholarships. We should also set a goal: In 10 years, let's double the percentage of women in all segments of the aviation industry where they are underrepresented. India has done it. So can we. Last year, air travelers logged a record number of complaints with the FAA. They were angry about delayed flights and missed connections, millions of cancellations and spending hours trapped in planes that sometimes never get off the tarmac. Until we fix aviations pale, male and stale problem, the frustrations will only get worse. Eileen A. Bjorkman is a retired Air Force colonel and the author of "The Fly Girls Revolt: The Story of the Women Who Kicked Open the Door to Fly in Combat." This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times. Opinion: Teachers Want to Innovate. Schools that Dont Let Them Are Losing Out At the end of April, I attended a conference in Atlanta featuring a small but heterogenous group of self-described education entrepreneurs. It was the second year of the National Hybrid Schools Conference, which launched in 2022 to connect people involved in less conventional styles of schooling that have exploded in interest since the pandemic. I was there because a thread of my current research is focused on innovations in education happening outside of traditional districts. During a break after one session, I struck up a conversation with another attendee, a longtime educator with special ed expertise. She was a Black woman working in a rural public district two hours outside of Atlanta, and she told me how discouraged she felt by the way districts treat families of color with children who have special needs. She was frustrated about the constraints placed on her as a teacher she couldnt hug a student who was crying, for example, presumably because of rules around touch and safety. So she is starting her own microschool. It will launch this fall. Shes working with a few families, all Black, who are eager for a different and more affirming experience for their young learners. Get stories like these delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for The 74 Newsletter As I walked to my next session, I couldnt get something out of my head: This teacher has a thousand burdens, and she isnt responding by finding ways to work less. Shes taking on more work by starting her own school, an endeavor that one of the conferences main-stage panelists described as brutal in the first year. In a sector where overburdened may be the most frequently used term to describe teachers, this educator and many of her peers (fellow teachers as well as parents) at the conference were not trying to step back. They were leaping forward, taking on new challenges. Related Fueled by Pandemic, Homeschool Hybrids Gain Traction With Middle-Class Parents I was deeply inspired by their energy. But I also walked away with a nagging sense of frustration, because the public education system is harnessing so little of that energy. Most of the entrepreneurs I met are assuming personal risk and putting incredible effort into starting microschools, hybrid homeschools and homeschooling cooperatives outside the governance and structures of public education. I believe in public education, for all its faults. But I also think there are incredible resources in public school systems that are going to waste including the intellectual capital of inventive educators and community members who want to pursue new ideas. Look no further than the teacher I met, feeling like the best way to serve her students was to leave and to take some of them with her. Public schools need to reckon with the opportunities theyre losing if there arent channels inside the system to encourage creativity, ingenuity and entrepreneurship from teachers, parents and even students. There are some places where districts and charters are better channeling this energy. Consider: The Madison, Wisconsin, school district used pandemic funding to launch 14 innovative projects dreamed up by staff or community members. One winner, the antiracist microschool ALL+IN, encourages students to learn outside the classroom and in the community, like in museums and libraries. In North Carolina, the rural Edgecombe County district has used microschools and learning hubs for years to develop and test different school designs. In Indiana, Innovation Network Schools support the growth of autonomous schools that operate inside Indianapolis Public Schools, but with flexibilities similar to those enjoyed by independent charters. Across the country, teacher-powered schools are governed by teams of educators instead of a single principal. Microschools like the Black Mothers Forum, Vita Schools of Innovation, Great Hearts Microschools, Arizona State Universitys ASU Prep microschools and Gem Prep Learning Societies have launched as part of charter schools. Nokomis Regional High School in Maine, which I profiled in a case study, has created a strong culture of teacher-led innovation with support from administrators. To be honest, these glimmers are the outliers. In most school systems, teachers and parents are often expected to sit back and wait for instructions, not encouraged to generate and try new ideas. Change means nothing more than a new math curriculum. Charter school authorizers invite new ideas in theory, but then often stall their development with hundreds of pages of requirements and legalese. Related Great Hearts Hopes In-Person Pods + Online Teaching = New Type of Hybrid School Im worried theres a brain drain in public education thats been accelerated by the pandemic and divisive politics. And I dont just mean that superintendents are quitting. The parents and teachers opting out of public schools arent just leaving jobs vacant and reducing districts enrollment dollars. Some of them are walking away with good ideas for how schools can be more responsive to students varied needs. Some of them have especially good ideas for how to better meet the needs of underserved communities that are tired of being told to wait while someone else figures it out. If public schools, charter authorizers and charter management organizations are willing to embrace creative solutions from teachers and the community, there are ways to do it: State and local leaders can encourage pods and microschools, partner with community organizations to create learning hubs, allow for autonomous district schools or enable parent-teacher compacts. So, fellow believers in public education: If the cost of retaining education entrepreneurs is to give life to their ideas, what is there to lose? Orlando Family Boating, a new boating rental company in Central Florida, is providing locals and tourists with an exciting opportunity to explore the regions abundant lakes. With over 100 lakes in Central Florida alone, Orlando Family Boating is offering a hassle-free experience for individuals and families to rent boats and create unforgettable memories on the water. Orlando Family Boating offers boat rentals that can accommodate up to six people and delivers fully fueled boats equipped with amenities such as lake mats, tubing tubes, cell phone chargers, life vests, and cup holders. After the day on the lake, customers can simply walk off the boat, leaving the company to take care of the rest. Read: Orlando Fringe Festival returns with amazing performances for the whole family The rental process provides a range of options, including captained boat rides for couples, family fun on the water, self-guided freshwater fishing trips for anglers, and captained scenic boat tours. Orlando Family Boating also offers boating classes to help individuals feel confident in their boating adventures. Read: The Jonas Brothers are headed to Orlando To celebrate their launch, Orlando Family Boating has introduced two special packages. The Fathers Day and July 4th offers feature discounted rates, with a portion of the proceeds going to Autism Awareness until July 2023. Orlando Family Boating is a family-owned and operated business serving the entire Central Florida region. Their fleet consists of hurricane deck boats with various options and add-ons to cater to individual preferences. Read: Ryan Seacrest joins patients for broadcast from Seacrest Studio at Orlando childrens hospital For more information or to book a boat rental in Orlando, CLICK HERE. 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. Orlando to launch study to determine its main sources of pollution As part of its partnership with the Ocean Conservancy, the city of Orlando is launching a study to determine the citys major sources of plastic pollution. Officials said the groups will work with a team of scientists from the University of Georgia on the Circularity Assessment Protocol (CAP) study. Officials said the study will help come up with ways for Orlando to reduce its pollution. It empowers the city to answer key decision-making questions such as how plastic is used and disposed of, what actions can be taken to change the way its used, how circularity can be increased and what waste ends up on the ground and ultimately in Orlandos lakes, organizers said. Read: Orlando to join partnership to help reduce pollution in lakes, oceans A news conference will be held on Tuesday at 1 p.m. at Lake Eola to discuss the study. Stay tuned to Channel 9 Eyewitness News for updates. Click here to download the free WFTV news and weather apps, click here to download the WFTV Now app for your smart TV and click here to stream Channel 9 Eyewitness News live. Over 60,000 have fled to Chad from Sudan since conflict started -UNHCR DAKAR (Reuters) - Between 60,000 and 90,000 people have fled from Sudan to neighbouring Chad since violence erupted last month, the U.N. refugee agency said on Monday. More than 250,000 people have crossed the borders to neighbouring countries since the conflict broke out, with more expected to flee as fighting continues. "Almost 90% of new arrivals are women and children. Many have been sheltering under trees in makeshift shelters with very limited services," said UNHCR's Assistant High Commissioner for Operations Raouf Mazou after a four-day visit to Chad. "As the rainy season approaches, we urgently need to relocate new arrivals to the nearest refugee camps," he said in a statement issued in N'Djamena. The new arrivals have added to around 600,000 mostly Sudanese refugees already present in Chad after fleeing previous conflicts. Chad is now hosting almost 700,000 refugees in total, the UNHCR said, urging more international support for displaced people from Sudan. The U.N. Food Programme said earlier this month that it needed $162.4 million to support the government of Chad in assisting 2.3 million people in urgent need of food. (Reporting by Sofia Christensen; Editing by Cynthia Osterman) Overnight attack on Dnipropetrovsk Oblast: Ukraine downs 15 Russian drones and 4 missiles, but sees civilian casualties and damage to civilian infrastructure Ukraines air defence forces shot down 15 Russian drones and four cruise missiles during Russias attack on Dnipropetrovsk Oblast on the night of 2122 May. Several residential buildings, premises of private firms, and vehicles were damaged in the attack. Eight civilians sustained injuries and three were hospitalised. Source: Serhii Lysak, Head of the Dnipropetrovsk Oblast Military Administration, on Telegram Quote from Lysak: "Last night, personnel from the Skhid (East) Air Command shot down 15 drones and 4 cruise missiles in the skies over [Dnipropetrovsk] Oblast." Details: Lysak also reported that as a result of the attack: In the Dnipro district , A 27-year-old man was injured; he has been hospitalised and is currently in moderate condition. Several buildings on the grounds of the rescue department were damaged. Two fires broke out but have been extinguished. More than 10 trucks and cars were destroyed and 10 appliances were damaged [it appears these damages pertain to the rescue department - ed.], and 25 private cars and 2 buses were also damaged. In the city of Dnipro , the premises of a private firm were hit; 3 buildings were damaged as a result. A drone crashed in the Ilarionove hromada [an administrative unit designating the town of Ilarionove and its adjacent territory - ed.], Synelnykove district. Fragments of a Russian missile were also found there. Seven civilians were injured. Two women, aged 52 and 70, were hospitalised. Three private houses and 9 multi-storey apartment blocks were damaged, as were a kindergarten, several stores, and a number of administrative buildings. Six cars were destroyed. Previously: At least 40 explosions rocked the city of Dnipro on the night of 2122 May. Journalists fight on their own frontline. Support Ukrainska Pravda or become our patron! The east side of the Sierra Nevada mountain range along Highway 395 in Lone Pine, Calif. (Gary Coronado/Los Angeles Times) It didnt take long for a team of highway archaeologists to mark their first find while searching for buried human remains on an aging stretch of U.S. Highway 395 that cuts along the eastern flank of the Sierra Nevada range. That alone was enough to concern local tribal leaders, but they went on to hit more bones missed by earlier archaeological surveys required to start construction of a $69.7-million Caltrans project to convert 12.6 miles of 395 from a two-lane road to a safer four-lane expressway. State and federal laws prohibit public disclosure of information related to the locations of Native American cultural places to reduce their vulnerability to various types of theft, including grave robbing. But as of last week, tribal leaders say, more than 30 tangled human skeletons had been unearthed at the site near the Inyo County community of Cartago, many of them adorned with artifacts: glass beads, abalone shells and arrowheads. Now, as nearby bulldozers lumber over huge mounds of excavated earth, tribal historic preservation officers are demanding that the California Department of Transportation halt construction and realign the project to avoid the gravesites. Were saying, Stop! Your gigantic highway project is disrupting the peace of untold numbers of ancestors in a place that had gone undisturbed for thousands of years, said Sean Scruggs, tribal historic officer for the Fort Independence Indian Community of Paiute Indians. How many human remains must be unearthed before Caltrans decides it is time to respect our advice and perspective? he asked. Kathy Jefferson Bancroft, tribal historic preservation officer for the Lone Pine Paiute Shoshone Reservation, said, We dont want this to become another sensational case of horrific desecration. We have been trying to work with Caltrans to find a creative solution, but have yet to see a proposal that aligns with tribal interests. This needs to change, she said. The project got off to a rocky start when it was proposed in 1997, with many tribal leaders warning that nearly every slope, sage plain and shoreline in the region held evidence of Indigenous people who knew it as a kingdom of irrigated villages and plentiful game surrounded by canyons and crags sculpted by storms and flash floods. A $69.7-million Caltrans improvement project under construction along U.S. Highway 395 near the eastern Sierra Nevada community of Cartago is off-limits to the public because of the discovery of Native American burial grounds. (Louis Sahagun / Los Angeles Times) Weve had at least a hundred meetings with Caltrans, Bancroft said. But formal consultation was never completed regarding design issues that have never been addressed. The highway project, which is within a Caltrans right of way, has been identified as a priority. But unless the state government agency yields to tribal concerns, they are headed for a showdown of complicated and competing values. The colliding interests are not new. In 2012, state coastal regulators fined a property owner $430,000 for unearthing artifacts at a 9,000-year-old Native American village site near Bolsa Chica wetlands in Huntington Beach. Native American groups with ties to the land said the penalty was not severe enough. That same year, the Colorado River Indian Tribes unsuccessfully asked the federal government to slow down its development of the $1-billion Genesis solar project in the Mojave Desert because of the discovery of human remains missed by archaeological surveys in a rush to build. In 2019, construction of a San Diego Freeway widening project was halted immediately after Native American remains were discovered during excavations. Orange County Transportation Authority officials consulted with the California Native American Heritage Commission on how to proceed. The Olancha-Cartago 4-Lane Expressway project will pass west of the community of Olancha, cross the Los Angeles Aqueduct and continue through the community of Cartago to close the gap between existing four-lane sections of the route vital to the eastern Sierras regional economy. Construction is roughly 40% complete, Caltrans officials said, and expected to conclude sometime next year, barring unforeseen problems. The worksite overlooks the nearby Owens Lake playa, an arid, flat expanse best known as the focal point of a historic feud that began in the early 1900s, when Los Angeles city agents quietly bought up ranchlands and water rights for an aqueduct to quench the thirst of the growing metropolis 200 miles to the south. L.A. drained so much water via the aqueduct system that the 110-square-mile lake dried up, making it nearly impossible for local ranchers and farmers to make a living a scandal that was dramatized in the 1974 film classic "Chinatown." For Native Americans, however, the area was once an essential part of their religion, culture and history until the late 1800s before U.S. troops were sent in to protect white settlers and tribal lands and water were in effect stolen. As part of an effort to present a fuller picture of the regions importance to the Indigenous people of Owens Valley, five local tribes have nominated 186 square miles of the lake bed for listing in the California Register of Historical Resources and the National Register of Historic Places. Those tribes now want the burial site in the path of Caltrans highway project deemed off-limits to further construction until a solution agreeable to all sides is reached. That won't be easy. Caltrans in April offered a proposal to curve the disputed section of highway around the burial site. But it wouldn't move the highway far enough away to satisfy tribal leaders, who are calling for a clearance of at least half a mile to a mile. The tribes insist they are not against the highway improvement project. The problem is that it was approved for construction, they say, without their consultation. Instead, they have watched with mounting anger and frustration as Caltrans archaeologists and road crews bearing hard hats, shovels and buckets fan out each morning to search for remains of their ancestors. The yellow-vested teams work in areas slated for construction, carefully digging 10 feet or more into hard alluvial soil and pushing shovelfuls of dirt through course-mesh screens to gather the smallest pieces of evidence. The work is conducted with a Native American monitor present, a requirement under state law. "As soon as any remains are discovered, Caltrans stops work, calls the coroner, and must follow the protocol as outlined in the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, and the California Public Resources Code that outlines the process," the agency said in a prepared statement. A March 15 letter from the chairwoman of the Lone Pine Paiute reservation was pleading and tough. It requested formal consultation with both Caltrans and the Federal Highway Administration regarding the way the project has been designed and implemented. On Thursday, tribal officers finally received some good news: Caltrans announced that it has "halted all construction activities in the area in question," including its search for human remains. "Caltrans is committed to protecting tribal cultural resources," it said. "When concerns are raised, there are a variety of tools we can use, up to and including project redesign." Thats a good start, said Scruggs of the Fort Independence Indian Community of Paiute Indians, but weve still got a lot of nation-to-nation consultation ahead of us. All we want, he added, is prior informed consent before they launch something of this scale in our ancestral home. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times. Pacific soldiers see more joint exercises, tech than ever before The most junior soldiers serving in the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command train in more exotic locales and use more futuristic tech in their first assignments than even graying sergeants majors saw over decades-long careers. Thats the distillation of remarks from a panel of highly placed senior noncommissioned officers in the Army who spoke on May 16 at the annual Association of the U.S. Army Land Forces Pacific Symposium in Honolulu, Hawaii. The combination of putting junior soldiers and NCOs into a variety of exercises, the main thrust being the annual Pacific Pathways exercises, and handing them new technologies, from communications equipment to new drone and strike capabilities, continues to grow. The program began in 2014 under then-Gen. Vincent Brooks, U.S. Army Pacific commander during the U.S. strategic pivot from U.S. Central Command-based operations to an Asia-focused effort. That effort was focused on moving the service away from training for the types of operations that were ubiquitous in Iraq and Afghanistan such as striking terrorist leaders or talking with tribal elders and toward the sorts of missions they may face in a large-scale conventional conflict, which ran range from targeting enemy ships with sophisticated drone-sensor combos to detecting social media chatter aimed planting disinformation in an allys elections. What started with a brigade or less in a handful of Pacific nations for a few weeks or more has grown significantly. In 2018, then Gen. Robert Brown announced the program would see longer duration deployments, running four to six months. That Pacific Pathways 2.0 version began with emplacing soldiers for a four-month rotation in Thailand, the Philippines and Palau in 2019. Beyond the training, soldiers now have some of the new technology, such as the first long-range hypersonic weapon fielded to the 1st Multi-Domain Task Force at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington earlier this year, due largely to modernization work thats spanned everything from new field uniforms to missiles and pocket-sized Black Hornet drones, in recent years. Command Sgt. Maj. Shawn F. Carns, the senior enlisted NCO for I Corps, which oversees Army units in the Pacific and the Pacific Pathways military exercise program out of Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington, spoke candidly about his own Army experience regarding joint and partner exercises. I never got that opportunity until I was a sergeant major, Carns said. It wasnt until he served on separate assignments, one with Joint Task Force-Bravo in Honduras and the other with Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa that he had a true multinational, joint mission experience. I didnt understand joint, Carns said. But hes seeing that change at the lowest echelons within his own unit, I Corps. Now we are getting that experience to the soldier, that private, just coming out of (Advanced Individual Training) and he or she a couple of months later going over to Singapore, going over to Australia, going over to Indonesia and doing some of these exercises that are joint and multinational, he said. U.S. Navy Fleet Master Chief David Isom, the senior enlisted leader at INDOPACOM, had a similar observation in the same panel. I see NCOs strengthening our posture and building those relationships every day across the theater and its fantastic, Isom said. A real-world example came in a separate panel, held on May 18 on training for future warfare. In that panel, Lt. Gen. Romeo Brawner, commanding general of the Philippine Army, told the audience that when his country, which has been in the crosshairs of Chinese military provocations and influence operations in recent years, saw what was happening in Ukraine. We saw in the Ukraine-Russia conflict how effective Stingers and Javelins are when it comes to this type of land warfare, Brawner said. The Stinger missile is a man-portable air defense system, capable of firing from helicopters, ground vehicles and by individual users. With its infrared-homing system, it is primarily used to destroy aerial targets. The Javelin is a surface-to-air missile that can also be vehicle-mounted or shoulder-fired, carrying three rounds. A user can fire up to two missiles a minute and the system can be used against armored targets. Once Brawner and his colleagues saw the successes Ukrainian forces were having with these weapons, he said they requested training from the United States, even though the Philippines doesnt have the weapon, yet. We want our soldiers to be able to use these weapons systems in case there is a need for us to use this weapon system even if they are not yet in our inventory, Brawner said. While the Stinger and Javelin are older than many of the soldiers now firing them, new tech is making its way into nearly every training exercise, officials said. Command Sgt. Maj. Brian Hester, the senior enlisted at Army Futures Command, said in the panel that the service has ramped up its soldier touch points in the development of all new gear. Those touchpoints pair soldiers, often in field settings, with scientists and engineers developing the tech to get real-world feedback as experts design the material before fielding. Hester said the end user feedback helps developers understand what doesnt work right, fit right or integrate with the existing kit a soldier must use. In fiscal 2022 futures command held 200 soldier touchpoints, he said. There are 250 such touchpoints that have either already happened or are scheduled for this fiscal year, he said. Half of those integrated into current military exercises, Hester said. Photographers have spoken after the alleged car chase involving Prince Harry, Meghan Markle and her mother last week in New York City. The incident a Harry spokesperson called a near catastrophic car chase Tuesday night was manufactured or overhyped, according to nearly a dozen photogs who spoke to the New York Times. A photographer who works with Backgridthe photo agency that has refused to give the couple images taken during that nighttold the newspaper that there is nothing for the public or the police to actually be concerned about. Freelance photographer Roger Wong pointed out that, earlier that same day, a lawyer representing Harry challenged a decision by a London court to deny him the right to pay for police protection during his visits to the U.K. Wong told The Times that the timing of the car incident was convenient. An inquiry from Robb Report to the couples foundation Archewell was not returned. However, a representative for the couple told the Times: Respectfully, considering the dukes family history, one would have to think nothing of the couple or anybody associated with them to believe this was any sort of P.R. stunt. Quite frankly, I think thats abhorrent. More from Robb Report To that point, the incident immediately drew parallels to the death of Harrys mother Princess Diana, who was killed in a Paris car accident on Aug. 31, 1997, at the age of 36. Jurors later determined in an inquest into the deaths of Diana and her companion Dodi Fayed that the pair died due to the reckless driving of their chauffeur, Henri Paul, and the paparazzi who sped after them, The Guardian reported. But Steve Sands, a photographer who spent his career taking photos of celebrities, pointed out to The Times that coverage often neglects to mention that Paul was a drunk driver. Backing his assertion, investigators later said that Paul, 41, had well over the legal limit of alcohol in his blood, according to The BBC. The NYPD previously told Robb Report that there were no reported collisions, summonses, injuries, or arrests in the recent alleged chase. The department told The Times that the incident needs no further investigation. Sign up for Robb Report's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Click here to read the full article. Papua New Guinea, US to sign security pact with eye on China US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is expected to sign a defence pact with Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea will sign a defence pact with the United States on Monday, as it hosts Washington's top diplomat and India's prime minister for separate talks that will focus on China's rising influence. The Pacific island nation is strategically located close to trade routes to Australia and Japan, in a region where Washington and New Delhi are concerned about China trying to woo tiny nations with diplomatic and financial incentives. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will follow Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in holding separate talks with 14 Pacific leaders including New Zealand Prime Minister Chris Hipkins who have gathered in the PNG capital Port Moresby. Before that meeting, Blinken is expected to sign a defence cooperation agreement with Papua New Guinea Prime Minister James Marape that will give US troops access to the Pacific nation's ports and airports. The State Department said the pact would "enhance security cooperation and further strengthen our bilateral relationship, improve the capacity of the PNG Defence Force, and increase stability and security in the region". Marape last week said the deal would offer Washington movement in the country's waters in return for access to US satellite surveillance to battle "illegal activities on the high sea". Blinken replaced Joe Biden at the summit after the US president cancelled the trip to take part in debt ceiling talks in Washington. Biden -- whose uncle died in Papua New Guinea during World War II -- would have been the first sitting US president to visit the island nation. - No longer a 'sleepy outpost' - Washington is courting Pacific nations more intensely after Solomon Islands became the unlikely epicentre of a US-China diplomatic tussle last year when it signed a security pact with Beijing. The US defence pact is being framed as a deal to protect Papua New Guinea's territorial borders but experts say China's Pacific presence is a key driver. "Port Moresby is no longer the sleepy diplomatic outpost it once was," said Gordon Peake, a senior adviser for the Pacific Islands at the United States Institute of Peace. "While China might not be mentioned anywhere in the document, it's an important subtext in this story of deepening US-PNG relations." Marape said the deal would not prevent him from signing similar deals with other nations, including China. Modi's talks earlier in the day with Pacific leaders are expected to focus on trade, development and climate change. jfx/djw/qan (Bloomberg) -- When Jerome Eisenberg enrolled his daughter at the Brentwood School in Los Angeles, where Adam Levine met some of his Maroon 5 bandmates, the investment manager says he expected her to get a traditional liberal arts education. Most Read from Bloomberg But after the murder of George Floyd, the $50,000-a-year school said it was reimagining its purpose with an eye toward anti-racism and diversity, equity and inclusion, or DEI. In Eisenbergs view, Brentwood was pulling a bait and switch on parents. He sued the school last year for breach of contract, civil rights violations and emotional distress. The curriculum change shifted away from teaching students critical thinking skills how to think and started indoctrinating them into what to think, based on Brentwoods preferred political fad of the moment, Eisenberg said in his lawsuit. Brentwood succeeded in having the suit sent to private arbitration in November. A representative of the school declined to comment. War on Woke Republican politicians like Florida Governor Ron DeSantis have pushed laws to curtail instruction in gender, sexuality and racial identity in public schools. Private schools arent subject to those laws, but that doesnt mean theyre immune to the culture war. Conservative-leaning parents have voiced opposition in other ways, including by filing lawsuits. There is an increased appetite for parents using the legal process to fight for their kids in a way that just wasnt as prevalent before, said Sara Goldsmith Schwartz, of Andover, Massachusetts-based Schwartz Hannum PC, who frequently represents private schools. QuickTake: How Disney and DeSantis Became Locked in Battle David Pivtorak, a lawyer for Eisenberg, also said he believes legal complaints against private schools over DEI have increased, though he added that the true number may be understated because of arbitration clauses like the one at Brentwood. Others see a distortion. Jin Hee Lee, director of strategic initiatives at the NAACPs Legal Defense Fund, said the pitched legal and political battles are painting a misleading picture about opposition to DEI instruction. The majority of parents want their children to attend a school that is diverse and inclusive, Lee said, and the majority of Americans understand that we have a very tragic legacy of slavery and Jim Crow and racial subjugation that were still dealing with in this country. Breach of Contract Parents determined to challenge private school teaching and policies face a number of obstacles. Public school parents can argue that the government is infringing on their First Amendment rights by forcing DEI or similar instruction on their children. Parents largely waive those rights when they enroll their kids in private schools. Private schools are bound by their own policies and not the US Constitution, said Jennifer Rippner, a law lecturer at Indiana University, Bloomingtons School of Education. When parents do sue private schools, its usually for breach of contract, according to New Hampshire education lawyer Linda Johnson, who represents independent schools and consults with them on managing their legal risk. The process sometimes starts off with a 10-page, single-space letter addressing everything that the parent thought the school did wrong to try to justify a repayment of tuition, she said. Many of the disputes arise out of school disciplinary action, Johnson said. In the current environment, that can have political overtones. Manhattans $60,000-a-year Spence School, Gwyneth Paltrows alma mater, was sued in 2019 by Adam and Michelle Parker after their daughter was disciplined for posting on Instagram a text exchange in which she and some friends joked about dressing up as enslaved and indigenous people for Halloween. Her punishment was a half day of in-home reflection, and the school had multiple grade-wide assemblies to go over what she had done, according to the Parkers lawsuit. False Narrative The Parkers say their daughter was mocking, not exhibiting, racism. They allege that Spence disciplined the girl before even seeing the post and perpetuated a false narrative after they saw it. According to the suit, the school admitted to the Parkers that it had gotten it wrong and that Spence failed to convene a community standards committee as stipulated in their enrollment contract. Read More: Billionaires Who Love DeSantis Demur as He Turns Florida Redder The suit was dismissed in 2020. Then, last year, a New York appeals court revived a breach-of-contract claim, keeping out allegations of slander, libel and emotional distress. A lawyer for Spence declined to comment, and lawyers for the Parkers didnt respond to requests for comment. Johnson said suits focused narrowly on unequal or arbitrary discipline can succeed. If the handbook lays out guidelines for infractions but doesnt have a disclaimer that we maintain the flexibility to handle them the way we think is necessary under the circumstances, the school may be legally exposed, she said. When it comes to parents challenging private school curricula they see as misguided, Steven Ludwig, a Philadelphia-based education lawyer, said he doesnt see a viable legal path. After all, the parents made the decision to send their children to that school. If a person doesnt like what is being taught, they can go somewhere else, Ludwig said. Where to Go? Thats not always so easy. Private schools that have embraced DEI are frequently also those with the strongest academic reputations and the best records of placing graduates in Ivy League and other elite colleges which themselves have been criticized as bastions of wokeness. Senator Ted Cruz of Texas, a noted anti-DEI crusader, was called out for hypocrisy when it emerged that he sent his daughters to a Houston prep school that teaches DEI. Former investment banker Andrew Gutmann caused a stir two years ago when he wrote a letter to other parents at Manhattans Brearley School urging them to reject Brearleys obsession with race and saying he was pulling his daughter, Lauren, from the top-ranked school, where tuition is about $60,000. Brearley head Jane Fried shot out an email calling the letter deeply offensive and harmful and reaffirming the schools commitment to being inclusive and antiracist. Gutmann said in an interview that his family wasnt looking for a conservative education. He said they just want what anybody wouldve used to call a traditional liberal arts education. A representative of Brearley didnt respond to a request for comment. Parents Movement Since withdrawing Lauren from Brearley, Gutmann said, it has been nearly impossible to find a school that challenges his daughter academically but isnt politicized. He tried a small private school in New Jersey and then another in Florida before opting to home-school her this year. He plans to send her to a British boarding school in the fall. Read More: Parents Bill Wins House Support as GOP Pushes 2024 Message Gutmann clearly has no regrets. Now living in Boca Raton, Florida, he is even running for Congress on the issue, as a Republican in Floridas 22nd congressional district which, he notes, includes Donald Trumps Mar-a-Lago estate. His primary campaign announcement starts by recounting his letter to Brearley. My words were read by millions of people across America, and they helped ignite what we now call the parents movement and the fight against woke education, Gutmann said in the announcement. He name-checked other groups he said he was proud to call allies, including Moms for Liberty. The Florida-based parents rights group has been at the forefront of efforts to ban certain books and gain control of school boards for conservatives. Awake to Failure We have a nation thats awake now to the rampant educational failure thats happening in our schools, and the fact that theyve become indoctrination centers instead of places of learning, said Moms for Liberty co-founder Tiffany Justice. Lee of the NAACPs Legal Defense Fund thinks the opposite is true. Its not as if school districts and private schools are necessarily doing all they should be doing when it comes to race equity or having a more inclusive or representative curriculum, she said. Theres actually more that they should be doing, but what little they are doing is now under attack. Although the efforts of Justice and other conservative activists focus on public schools, Myra McGovern, a spokesperson for the National Association of Independent Schools which counts Brentwood, Spence, Brearley and the Dalton School among its members said private schools cant help but be affected as well. Every school across America, and in many ways around the world, is dealing with this increased polarization, McGovern said. In her Massachusetts law practice, Schwartz sees that too. Short of lawsuits, private schools have had to deal with an incredible increase in the intensity, velocity and volume of complaints generally, from students, parents and alums, she said. The world is frazzled. (Adds Lees quote in last section.) Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2023 Bloomberg L.P. A woman on a Frontier Airlines flight was cited for assault after allegedly striking a flight attendant with an intercom phone while being escorted off the plane at Denver International Airport, authorities said. The incident occurred Sunday aboard Flight 708 from Denver to Tampa International Airport, according to a Frontier statement. A customer became belligerent onboard and was asked to deplane. As she was deplaning, she picked up an intercom phone and struck a flight attendant with it, the statement said. The customer was subsequently arrested by Denver law enforcement, and the flight departed for Tampa at approximately 5:30 a.m, the airline said. The plane departed nearly four hours late, according to the flight-tracking site, FlightAware. Department personnel responded to the report of a disturbance shortly before 4 a.m., police said. "The passenger, Shuri Turner, was later cited with assault, and DPD officers assisted Turner with booking another flight," police said. Turner could not be reached for comment Monday afternoon. Sundays incident is just the latest involving unruly passengers. In March, aboard a Southwest Airlines plane in Dallas, a passenger is alleged to have punched another flyer multiple times. The incident happened one day after a man aboard a United Airlines flight from Los Angeles to Boston allegedly tried to open a planes emergency exit door and then attacked a flight attendant. In February, 2022, the Federal Aviation Administration referred 80 cases of unruly travelers for possible prosecution during incidents over the past year, as part of what was then a dramatic spike in on-board misbehavior during the coronavirus pandemic. During the first few months of the year, the pace of possible prosecutions referred to the FBI because of incidents aboard flights slowed down. The Federal Aviation Administration identified 17 cases it has sent to the FBI in the first three months of this year mostly for incidents that happened last year but took time to investigate This article was originally published on NBCNews.com Patient21, a four-year-old German startup that combines a digital healthcare platform with real-world brick-and-mortar clinics, has raised 100 million ($108 million) in a Series C round of funding led by Israeli VC firm Pitango, constituting a mix of equity and debt. Founded out of Berlin in 2019, Patient21's platform spans pretty much the whole patient cycle, from online bookings through digital case histories, check-ins, billing, insurance and more. However, while telemedicine has been on something of an upward trajectory in recent years, accelerated somewhat by the global pandemic, Patient21's platform is notable insofar as it doesn't offer a remote healthcare option like its U.S. counterpart Carbon Health. Instead, the company has developed proprietary software for managing patients, and then steers them toward its 50-plus outpatient clinics across Germany. This is partly because Patient21 is largely focused on dentistry for the time-being, with more than 80% of its clinics currently targeting oral health, with the rest split between gynacology and GP practices. "Dentistry inherently requires in-person consultations for comprehensive diagnosis and treatment," Patient21 co-founder and CEO Chris Muhr told TechCrunch. "The nature of dentistry involves visually inspecting oral health, utilizing diagnostic tools like x-rays and addressing emergencies promptly. These aspects are best served through onsite consultations to ensure the highest standards of care." Patient21 consumer app Patient21 consumer app. Image Credits: Patient21 The company says it's currently handling more than 300,000 patient visits each year, and it plans to expand to cover additional areas of healthcare in the future -- at which point it may extend into virtual healthcare. "As we continue to expand and develop our presence in human medicine, we are actively exploring the integration of telehealth solutions into our offerings," Muhr said. It's worth noting that there are multiple facets to Patient21's software, with the patient-facing app just one side. Indeed, the company also has an app for doctors and a clinic management system. "In a sector that is increasingly supply-constrained due to staff shortages, an aging health workforce and surges in chronic illnesses, our focus is on supporting healthcare professionals and making sure their time is used as wisely as possible," Muhr continued. "We've developed a suite of clinic-facing software that accommodates the needs of our healthcare professionals and local clinics -- it frees our clinical teams up from tedious administrative tasks so that they can focus on what they are best at: taking care of patients." Patient21 clinic management system Patient21 clinic management system. Image Credits: Patient21 Healthy business Patient21 had previously raised around 66 million ($71 million) in funding, and with its fresh cash injection it said that it plans to grow its software and expand beyond Germany. "We expect to launch in two new European markets within the next 12 months," Muhr noted. Opening physical clinics also instinctively seems like a resource-intensive endeavor, but Muhr said that its clinics have become "operationally profitable" quite quickly. "As a result, we grow with minimal equity investment needed to roll out new clinics," he said. "Thus, most of the funding goes towards software development to further enhance our platform capabilities." Moreover, further down the road there could be scope for Patient21 to license out its booking and patient-management software. "Long-term we believe there will be an opportunity to form partnerships or to run clinics in the form of a franchise model, providing franchisees with software and services offering that is unique in the market," Muhr added. The company's Series C round was mostly equity -- we're told "more than 70%" -- and aside from lead backer Pitango, participants included PICO Venture Partners, Bertelsmann Investments, Artian, Target Global, Piton Capital and several angel investors. The debt segment was provided by IPF Partners. Paul Whelan Shares 'Extreme Worry' He Could Be Left Behind Again Paul Whelan, a former U.S. Marine wrongfully detained by Russia since 2018, on Sunday said he and his family share an extreme worry that he could be left behind again with the arrest of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, but said hes confident the U.S. government is working hard for his release. Thats an extreme worry for me and my family, Whelan told CNN in a phone interview from prison. Whelan, who the Russians refused to include in prisoner swaps that freed former Marine Trevor Reed and WNBA star Brittney Griner last year, said he has received assurances that the Biden administration wants to get him home so they can then focus effort on Evan and his case. Gershkovich, also designated by the U.S. as wrongfully detained, was arrested in Yekaterinburg, Russia, in March. Hes the first American journalist to face espionage charges since the Cold War. The U.S. government, the Journal and Gershkovich have all denied Russias allegations. I have been told that I wont be left behind, and I have been told that although Evans case is a priority, mine is also a priority, and people are cognizant of the fact that this is having an extremely negative impact on me and my family, Whelan said. Whelan was arrested at a Moscow hotel in 2018 on espionage charges and is serving a 16-year prison sentence. I feel that my life shouldnt be considered less valuable or important than others who have been previously traded, he added. The Biden administration secured the release of Reed, who had been detained in Russia since 2019, after agreeing to a prisoner exchange with Moscow in April 2022 for Russian citizen Konstantin Yaroshenko. The White House also negotiated a prisoner swap to get Griner home in December by handing over convicted international arms dealer Viktor Bout. Griner was held on drug smuggling charges. Whelan said he is optimistic that progress is being made on his case, even though he would like to see the process move faster. I remain positive and confident on a daily basis that the wheels are turning, Whelan told CNN. He said he was heartened to see President Joe Biden discuss his case during the White House Correspondents Dinner and his sisters address to the U.N. ahead of a Security Council meeting led by Russian Foreign Secretary Sergey Lavrov. In March, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said he submitted a serious proposal to Russia for Whelans release. He urged Lavrov to free both Whelan and Gershkovich during a call last month. Meanwhile, Russia, for the second time, denied a U.S. request for a consular visit for Gershkovich, citing the fact that Russian journalists were denied visas to cover Lavrovs visit to the U.N. in New York last month, according to the Journal. Russia has so far granted only one consular visit to Gershkovich by U.S. Ambassador to Russia Lynne Tracy. You can read the full CNN interview here. People On TikTok Are Using Iodine To Target Pimples. But Does It Work? A common antiseptic is gaining popularity on TikTok thanks to a viral video on using it for pimples. Here's what experts think about the trend. A common antiseptic is gaining popularity on TikTok thanks to a viral video on using it for pimples. Here's what experts think about the trend. It happens to the best of us: Sometimes, we cant help but pop a pimple, a whitehead or a blackhead. Although tempting, dermatologists recommend that you refrain from touching or squeezing acne spots. Popping is bad because it makes the entire area more red and inflamed, making it take longer to heal, Dr. Jason Chouake, a dermatologist at the American Academy of Dermatology, told HuffPost. It increases your risk of deeper infection and scarring, which can be permanent. Nicole Olsen got such an infection after popping a pimple on her face. The Miami woman, who works in a medical office, then turned to povidone-iodine, which is commonly used before and after surgery. In a TikTok video documenting her experience, shes seen applying the orange-brown solution to her face with a cotton swab. Olsen said she used it to deal with acne and scarring. Within a few hours, I felt improvement in terms of inflammation and pressure in the area, so I reapplied and continued to spot-treat through the night, Olsen told HuffPost. The next day, the scab began to almost flake off from healing over so quickly. I was amazed there wasnt even a mark left behind like my usual scarring from a bad pimple pop. Olsens not the only one looking to povidone-iodine sometimes called just iodine as an acne treatment. Her TikTok garnered 1.2 million views, with many people leaving comments about how the solution is used in various countries and cultures. In Armenian households, its common to use iodine when sick with a sore throat or with a cough or cold. They use the iodine swab to draw a grid on either the throat, chest and back, Olsen said. We had people from Armenia, Philippines, Poland and Mexico confirm they do this as well. As for its use on pimples, dermatologists are not surprised that the antiseptic can result in clearer skin. However, people whove heard about the TikTok trend should be aware of some risks. Before you introduce the solution into your skin care regimen, heres what the experts say you should know. Povidone-iodine reduces bacteria, so it could have some acne-busting benefits. Iodine has been preventing infections for over 150 years. You might have seen iodine solutions featured in hospital shows; theyre often used by doctors at the operating table or while scrubbing in. The disinfectant can be used in skin preparation for nonsurgical procedures as well. Povidone-iodine is available over the counter in different forms, including liquid, dry powder spray and ointment. The main purpose of topical solutions is to treat small cuts, burns and scrapes. When povidone-iodine dries on the skin, it works as a disinfectant by rapidly penetrating into bacteria and other microorganisms, oxidizing key proteins and fatty acids, causing the death of those microbes, Chouake said. The fact that it works so quickly to kill those microbes is why its used to clean the skin before surgeries to prevent infection. Generally, antiseptics contain chemicals called biocides that are used to kill and control the growth of some organisms. Povidone-iodine can remove bacteria in a matter of minutes or even seconds. It reduces bacteria on the skin, which can lead to improvement of acne, Chouake said. Its well known that topical antibiotics and washes can improve acne. Thats why so many people use benzoyl peroxide, clindamycin and sulfur washes to help improve their acne. Before you add iodine to your skin care routine, here are a few warnings. Although povidone-iodine is typically safe to use, Dr. Jaishree Sharad, a cosmetic dermatologist at Skinfinitii Aesthetic Skin and Laser in India, told HuffPost that it shouldnt be applied regularly. One may develop irritation to povidone-iodine, Sharad said, adding that it should be an SOS treatment for a day or two only, if nothing else is available. Additionally, the solution might cause hyperpigmentation, a condition in which patches of skin become darker than the surrounding areas. This may present as freckles or age spots. Popping pimples can damage skin further and result in post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation, especially in skin of color, Sharad said. It can lead to secondary bacterial infection. Although the solution can help disinfect the skin, its important to test any product before using it. There is also a very good reason we never recommend iodine, Chouake said. Povidone-iodine is not meant to be left on the skin for extended periods of time. It has to be washed off, or it can cause severe contact dermatitis. Allergic contact dermatitis occurs when the immune system reacts to certain substances, even in small amounts. Contact allergies can result in a red rash, swelling, and itchy or dry skin. So, you may want to be careful before applying it all over your face. There is not a board-certified dermatologist alive who has not seen contact allergy to iodine. It is well known, Chouake said. This is why I would always caution people not to randomly use medical supplies on your skin, which to some might seem self-evident. Instead, if youre looking for a way to prevent acne or a bacterial infection from a popped pimple, Chouake recommended topical medications and antimicrobials that keep pores clear. I love gentle benzoyl peroxide washes, or hypochlorous acid washes or sprays, he said. Looking for some great acne spot treatments? Check out the list below. HuffPost may receive a share from purchases made via links on this page. Every item is independently selected by the HuffPost Shopping team. Prices and availability are subject to change. A benzoyl peroxide cream thats suitable for dry and sensitive skin Amazon A benzoyl peroxide cream thats suitable for dry and sensitive skin Both Camp and Amin recommend La Roche-Posay's Effaclar Duo treatment, which has a 5.5% concentration of benzoyl peroxide in a cream formulation that's suitable for dry and sensitive skin types. "The benzoyl peroxide in this treatment is micronized, [which] facilitates penetration," Camp said, noting that benzoyl peroxide is anti-inflammatory, antibacterial and comedolytic, meaning it helps to treat clogged pores. $22.99 at Amazon A non-drying and self-dissolving micro dart pimple patch Amazon A non-drying and self-dissolving micro dart pimple patch Amin said that acne patches have a triple mechanism of action when it comes to treating pimples: "[They] mechanically absorb oil and dirt, the occlusion of the patches delivers more localized penetration of the active ingredients, and they also prevent you from picking at lesions." He recommended the ZitSticka Killa Kit because of the acne sticker's ability to not only help address already developed superficial zits, but also access up-and-coming ones. "[These patches] feature salicylic acid and enhance product penetration through a micro dart system. The product is less drying than most because it includes hyaluronic acid," Amin said. They also contain niacinamide, which can help reduce redness and soothe inflammation. $29 at Amazon A cult-favorite drying lotion that draws out impurities from superficial pimples Ulta A cult-favorite drying lotion that draws out impurities from superficial pimples "This popular acne treatment contains both sulfur and salicylic acid to treat acne synergistically," Camp said of the Mario Badescu drying lotion. The sulfur in this formula works by drawing impurities from the blemish, while the salicylic acid eliminates redness and zinc oxide absorbs excess oil to effectively dry out and reduce the appearance of the pimple overnight. $17 at Ulta A topical retinoid gel that helps to control the formation of acne Amazon A topical retinoid gel that helps to control the formation of acne "Differin (adapalene) Gel is a great place to start when developing an acne regimen that prevents and treats breakouts. It is a mild, well-tolerated product, which is similar to retinol and can be used full-face, as well as for a spot treatment," Amin told HuffPost. Camp explained that adapalene, formerly available by prescription only, is a retinoid and works by helping to regulate the process of cellular turnover in the skin, which ultimately helps to control the formation of whiteheads and blackheads. $13.47 at Amazon A translucent protective acne patch that can be worn during the day Amazon A translucent protective acne patch that can be worn during the day Unlike the micro dart-containing acne stickers mentioned earlier, these hydrocolloid patches lie flat on a blemish and, according to Camp, work by "employing hydrocolloid to draw moisture and oil from superficial acne bumps and shrink them." He added that these patches are a good choice to disguise a pimple because they are ultra-thin, translucent, come in varying sizes and can be worn under makeup, making them difficult to see. $15.20 at Amazon A red and blue LED light therapy device with antibacterial properties Target A red and blue LED light therapy device with antibacterial properties This isn't necessarily a spot treatment, but it can really get the job done and we couldn't leave it off the list. "Light therapy sticks use blue and red LED lights to treat acne. Blue light has antibacterial properties and red light may act as an anti-inflammatory," Camp told HuffPost. This USB rechargeable light therapy system by Spa Sciences Claro comes with both a red and blue light treatment head and is one of the more affordable light therapy systems on the market. It's suitable for sensitive skin, can possibly reduce the appearance of both acne and acne scars and improves skin clarity while also preventing the formation of new pimples. It also has a built-in timer so you know just how long to use it for. $35.94 at Target Related... Farm fields, homes, and towns in the Italian region of Emilia-Romagna were flooded by heavy rains last week. Parts of Northeast Italy remain under a red weather alert after devastating rains swept through the area last week. More than six months worth of water fell from the sky in just 36 hours in the region of Emilia-Romagna and parts of neighboring Marche. Rivers swelled and breached their banks, submerging roads, homes, and farm fields in the important agricultural district. The heavy precipitation also triggered hundreds of landslides, cutting entire mountain towns off from ground-based emergency assistance, according to reporting from The Guardian. Flooding has killed at least 14 people and displaced tens of thousands from their homes, as reported by the New York Times. Evacuation orders are still in place for more than 23,000 people as of Monday, according to a statement from the regional government. Some whose homes have become uninhabitable are sheltering with neighbors, while others are in emergency accommodations in gyms and schools. Up to 27,000 remain without electricity as of Sunday, and incalculable damage has been done to crops and livestock, per CNN. Read more Floodwaters are starting to recede, and a reprieve from rain is in the forecast. But the true toll of the damage incurred is still likely to rise as infrastructure impacts become clear. More than 600 roads remain closed, and 1,629 volunteers are actively working to provide assistance, per Emilia-Romagnas government. Some are referring to the floods as a once in a 100-year event. Pierluigi Randi, president of the professional meteorological association, AMPRO, told Italian news outlet La Repubblica that the rainfall and subsequent inundation were the worst that the region has seen in a century. It is probably the most serious alluvial effect of at least the last 100 years, he added. Similar to what happened in California earlier this year, prolonged drought preceding Italys intense rainfall amplified the storms impacts. Parched soil absorbs water less readily and is more prone to collapse in landslides. The one-two punch of extreme dry and extreme wet creates a dangerous weather whiplash, which may be on the rise with climate change. A scientific study published this month found that boomerang back-and-forth precipitation trends could become more than 2.5 times as likely as they were between 1979 and 2019 by 2100. In Italys case, though there hasnt been enough time for a formal attribution study, some scientists have suggested human-caused climate change likely played a role in intensifying both the long-standing drought and rains. Yet others have also pointed out that the critical infrastructure holding rivers at bay in Northeast Italy has been poorly maintained and managed for decades. Without efforts to mitigate climate change, shoring up river banks can only help so much, Barbara Lastoria, a hydraulic engineer at the Institute for Environmental Protection and Research in Rome, told the New York Times. Rising temperature is like gasoline in the engine of extreme phenomena: It has to be dealt with first. These photos show how the vast flooding has affected people and places in Italy. Aerial Image Shows Italy Flooding An aerial photo of submerged building Floodwaters submerged buildings across the region of Emilia-Romagna. Rescue in Castel Bolognese Photo of rescue workers pulling a man out of floodwaters Firefighters pull an elderly man from floodwaters in the village of Castel Bolognese, Italy on May 17. At least 14 people were killed in the disaster. Emergency Shelter Photo of cots in a gynnasium Evacuees rest on cots in an emergency shelter inside a gymnasium in Bologna, Italy on May 18. Swollen Rivers Photo of river flooding banks Rivers swelled and breached their banks across Northeastern Italy as a result of the intense rains. In Turin, Italy, the Po River is shown overflowing on May 21. Flooding Inside Homes Photo of man standing in flooded room Guiseppe Beltrame stands in his living room in Faenza, Italy, where a water line on the wall shows the height that floodwaters reached. People Walk Flooded Roads Photo of two people wading on flooded street People use a plastic, inflatable kiddie pool to carry their belongings down a flooded road in Lugo Italy on May 18. Floodwaters and mud inundated many peoples homes. Wading Through Water Photo of two people wading in thigh deep water Two people lean on each other while wading through feet of murky water in Lugo, Italy on May 18. Roads Damaged Photo of damaged bridge and high river Rushing waters, landslides, and debris have left roads left washed out and impassable throughout the region. Here, a bridge between Dovadola and Castrocaro Terme has been heavily damaged by high waters. Submerged Car Photo of submerged car A submerged car in Faenza, Italy on May 18 following intense rains. Rescuers Search Buildings Photo of rescuers exiting flooded building Rescue workers search flooded buildings on May 17 in Castel Bolognese to check for casualties and people in need of help. Overturned Firetruck Photo of overturned firetruck beside road An firetruck lies overturned on its side in a ditch alongside a roadway, following heavy floods in Castel Bolognese, Italy. Mud Left Behind Photo of two people shoveling mud Even after water recedes, mud is left behind by flooding and landslides. Volunteers work to clear some of the much in Faenza, Italy on May 22. Belongings Piled Up Photo of household items piled up amid mud Raging floodwaters dragged peoples belongings out of their homes. A pile of household goods, feet high, is visible beside volunteers in Faenza, Italy on May 22 working to clean up mud. Cars Piled Up Photo of cars piled and covered in mud Floodwaters were powerful enough to move vehicles. One car sits piled atop another in Faenza Italy on May 22, in the aftermath of heavy flooding. Workers Clear Debris Photo of two people carrying mud covered mirror Civil protection members and others work to clear debris in Faenza, Italy on May 22 in the aftermath of flooding. Road Blocked by Debris Photo of volunteers cleaning up street Volunteers work to clean up a street surrounded by piles of peoples belonging and other debris in Faenza, Italy on May 22. More from Gizmodo Sign up for Gizmodo's Newsletter. For the latest news, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Click here to read the full article. This single engine plane crashed at it was attempting to land at Redding Regional Airport on Saturday, May 23, 2023. The single-engine plane that crashed Saturday morning in a field south of Redding Regional Airport was on its way to Watsonville when it experienced engine trouble, Redding Fire Capt. John Houston said. The 1960 Cessna 210 plane departed from Salem, Oregon, and was cruising about 7,000 feet over Redding when the plane had engine trouble, Houston said Monday. All of the sudden the engine quit on him. He tried some troubleshooting before the pilot was forced to attempt an emergency landing, Houston said. Emergency crews were dispatched to a field south of Kents Meats & Groceries just before 9 a.m., Houston said. The pilot, whose name has not been released, suffered minor injuries and was checked by paramedics at the scene, Houston said. The pilot was the only person on the plane. He (pilot) said he doesnt fly it very much, maybe 50, 60 hours a year, and that he was flying down to Watsonville to visit family, Houston said. The Federal Aviation Administration data base says the Cessna is owned by Victoria Doyle in Salem, Oregon. The plane was badly damaged and was moved from the field to the airport where it is being held for the investigation into the crash, Houston said. The National Transportation Safety Board and FAA have taken over the investigation. A preliminary crash report from the FAA said the plane experienced engine trouble before it crashed. FAA spokesperson Mina Kaji said the NTSB will be in charge of the investigation. David Benda covers business, development and anything else that comes up for the USA TODAY Network in Redding. He also writes the weekly "Buzz on the Street" column. Hes part of a team of dedicated reporters that investigate wrongdoing, cover breaking news and tell other stories about your community. Reach him on Twitter @DavidBenda_RS or by phone at 1-530-338-8323. To support and sustain this work, please subscribe today. This article originally appeared on Redding Record Searchlight: Redding Fire: Oregon plane was bound for Watsonville when it crashed "There is plenty to surprise Russia with": Ukrainian Ministry of Defence lists advantages of F-16 jets The Ministry of Defence of Ukraine has highlighted the strengths of the modern multi-purpose F-16 fighter jet, which can ensure Ukraine's advantage over the Russian invaders. Source: Military Media Centre (MMC) under the Ukrainian MoD Quote: "Is the F-16 capable of dominating the Ukrainian skies and keeping them closed to Russian aircraft? The short answer is yes, but let's deal with one thing at a time... Photo: *The specifications on the infographic are illustrative. The MMC explains that there are many F-16 model variants, and it is unknown which one the partners will provide to Ukraine MMC INFOGRAPHIC Versatility The F-16 is a multi-purpose fighter jet that, along with its direct purpose of air combat, can be used as a tactical bomber, air defence element and even a specialised electronic warfare aircraft. Therefore, the F-16 combines the functionality of all the primary Soviet aircraft in service with the Ukrainian Air Force today. Armament The variety of weapons this aerial vehicle can carry is truly impressive. Air-to-air missiles, particularly the basic AIM-7 and AIM-120 AMRAAM (the missiles in the latter modification are capable of hitting a target in homing mode at a distance of 180 km); air-to-ground missiles, particularly AGM-65 Maverick assault missile, anti-ship AGM-84 Harpoon, which Russia has faced in its ground version, the equally familiar anti-radar AGM-88 HARM, and the AGM-158 JASSM cruise missile from Lockheed Martin (HIMARS). In its basic version, the latter is capable of hitting a target at a distance of 370 km. Various bomb types can also be used, particularly adjusted, free-fall, incendiary, and cluster bombs. To cut a long story short, there is plenty to surprise Russia with. Manoeuvrability and "farsight" Although the F-16 is slightly inferior to the Soviet-made MiG-29 in terms of flight manoeuvrability, this minor difference is completely levelled by advanced electronics that allow for long-range hostile detection. The AN/APG-80 radar has a target detection range of almost 200 km, and the AN/AAQ-33 Sniper, AN/AAQ-13 LANTIRN or AN/AAQ-28 LITENING targeting containers allow for precise aiming at enemy targets. Aircraft prevalence The F-16 is the most mass-produced aircraft of the 4th generation. A total of about 4,600 fighters of this type have been produced, which is almost three times more than the MiG-29. Mass production implies a well-developed infrastructure that will be useful in servicing and maintaining the aircraft's combat capabilities, while the shortage of parts for Soviet combat aerial vehicles will obviously increase." Background: The Air Force of Ukraine explained why modern multi-purpose fighter jets could be an effective countermeasure against Russian aircraft. Journalists fight on their own frontline. Support Ukrainska Pravda or become our patron! Poland says Russian missile that crashed near Bydgoszcz in December was no threat A forest near Bydgoszcz, where the remains of a rocket were found, on April 27, 2023 The missile's arrival in Poland was not obvious, he said. "Something appeared on the radar," but it wasn't clear to the very end, if the object would enter the Poland airspace. Read also: Russian missile wreckage found near Bydgoszcz shows it could have flown 300-500 km across Poland "We should have been moderate in our assessments. We are not talking here about a missile aimed at Poland... It is about a missile that was supposed to confuse the Ukrainian anti-missile defense system but, due to malfunction, changed its flight trajectory and self-destructed," Ociepa said. The incident isn't just white and blue as someone would like it to see, he believes. However, Warsaw should be stricter in complying with established procedures and treat such cases "more carefully." He also said that there are no conflicts between the Polish Ministry of Defense and the military command, and Defense Minister Mariusz Baszczak won't be dismissed from his post in the near future. Read also: Duda comments on possible Russian missile crashed in Poland The Polish Air Force's Technical Institute said on May 10 that the wreckage of a Russian X-55 missile found near Bydgoszcz in northern Poland could have flown 300-500 kilometers across the country. Baszczak confirmed that it had indeed been fragments of a Russian missile which fell near the town of Bydgoszcz on Dec. 16, 2022. On that day Russia conducted another mass air attack on Ukraine, launching 74 missiles. Commenting on the findings, Polish President Andrzej Duda said the missile "did not pose any serious threat to the security of the Republic of Poland. Read also: Poland uncovers covert Russian cyber intelligence program The Polish military said the missile was not armed with an explosive warhead the warhead was a concrete dummy of the same weight as a real warhead, installed so as to ensure the weapon had the correct weight parameters for flight. 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 VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope Francis will travel to Portugal from Aug. 2-6 to attend the World Youth Day and visit the Shrine of Fatima, the Vatican said on Monday. World Youth Day, a global gathering of young Catholics, is being held in Lisbon from Aug. 1-6. Popes traditionally attend the event and celebrate the final Mass. The Vatican said Francis would take advantage of the trip to travel also to the Shrine of Fatima in central Portugal on Aug. 5. The Catholic Church teaches that the Madonna appeared to three Portuguese children 100 years ago in what was then an impoverished farming village. The pope last visited the shrine in 2017 when he declared two of the children saints. (Reporting by Crispian Balmer, editing by Ed Osmond) Sister Kristen Oaks smiles at her husband, President Dallin H. Oaks, as they speak to young adults of the church during a worldwide devotional from the Conference Center Theater in Salt Lake City on Sunday, May 21, 2023. | Scott G Winterton, Deseret News Young, single adults should persist in their efforts to marry and start families, a senior leader of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints said Sunday night during a worldwide devotional. President Dallin H. Oaks, first counselor in the First Presidency, reaffirmed the churchs positions on same-sex relationships and gender identity and reiterated that followers of Jesus Christ are commanded both to love God and his law while loving those who experience gender dysphoria and same-sex attraction. Anyone who does not treat individuals who face gender identity challenges with love and dignity is not aligned with the teachings of the first and second great commandments, he said. Related President Oaks and his wife, Sister Kristen Oaks, addressed a worldwide audience of adults ages 18-30 in a broadcast from the theater in the Conference Center in downtown Salt Lake City, Utah. They sat together holding hands on top of a small, brown, round table on the stage of the full, 850-seat theater and took turns speaking. President Dallin H. Oaks and his wife, Sister Kristen Oaks, speak to young adults of the church during a worldwide devotional from the Conference Center Theater in Salt Lake City on Sunday, May 21, 2023. | Scott G Winterton, Deseret News They spoke about the role and timing of marriage and children. They also urged listeners to be cheerful. They mixed their serious advice with numerous jokes that earned laughs, especially when they spoke about dating. Stand for truth President Oaks said they titled their presentation Stand for truth in reference to church President Russell M. Nelsons statement, Know the truth and stand for it, even if the truth is not politically popular. Sister Oaks told the young adults to look toward God in upholding their sacred beliefs. Look to the words spoken tonight, the words of our prophet, the scriptures, the Plan of Salvation and your patriarchal blessings, she said. Pray and the Lord will be with you. That does not mean any of us will go unscathed, but it does mean we will not be alone, and we will go forward guided and protected from the evil around us. It means we will know the truth and relish in the Spirit. President Oaks said an increasingly secularized society is making times stressful for church members, but he told young adults to be of good cheer and persist through adversity via the gospel of Jesus Christ. He reaffirmed the churchs doctrine of the Plan of Salvation that all people existed in a premortal state before birth, which is followed by mortal life and then life after death, which includes resurrection for all and a final judgment. President Dallin H. Oaks and his wife, Sister Kristen Oaks, speak to young adults of the church during a worldwide devotional from the Conference Center Theater in Salt Lake City on Sunday, May 21, 2023. | Scott G Winterton, Deseret News Audience members listen as President Dallin H. Oaks and his wife, Sister Kristen Oaks, speak to young adults of the church during a worldwide devotional from the Conference Center Theater in Salt Lake City on Sunday, May 21, 2023. | Scott G Winterton, Deseret News Vocalists Ethan Anderl and Anna Gubbay, violinist Erika Hubbard and pianist Suzannah Rose perform during the worldwide devotional from the Conference Center Theater with President Dallin H. Oaks and his wife, Sister Kristen Oaks, in Salt Lake City on Sunday, May 21, 2023. | Scott G Winterton, Deseret News President Dallin H. Oaks waves as he and his wife, Sister Kristen Oaks, exit after speaking to young adults of the church during a worldwide devotional from the Conference Center Theater in Salt Lake City on Sunday, May 21, 2023. | Scott G Winterton, Deseret News Audience members listen as President Dallin H. Oaks and his wife, Sister Kristen Oaks, speak to young adults of the church during a worldwide devotional from the Conference Center Theater in Salt Lake City on Sunday, May 21, 2023. | Scott G Winterton, Deseret News Audience members listen as President Dallin H. Oaks and his wife, Sister Kristen Oaks, speak to young adults of the church during a worldwide devotional from the Conference Center Theater in Salt Lake City on Sunday, May 21, 2023. | Scott G Winterton, Deseret News President Dallin H. Oaks and his wife, Sister Kristen Oaks, speak to young adults of the church during a worldwide devotional from the Conference Center Theater in Salt Lake City on Sunday, May 21, 2023. | Scott G Winterton, Deseret News Audience members listen as President Dallin H. Oaks and his wife, Sister Kristen Oaks, speak to young adults of the church during a worldwide devotional from the Conference Center Theater in Salt Lake City on Sunday, May 21, 2023. | Scott G Winterton, Deseret News President Dallin H. Oaks and his wife, Sister Kristen Oaks, speak to young adults of the church during a worldwide devotional from the Conference Center Theater in Salt Lake City on Sunday, May 21, 2023. | Scott G Winterton, Deseret News The purpose of our life on earth, Act 2, is to grow toward our destiny of eternal life. We do this by overcoming what the Book of Mormon describes as opposition in all things, including many temptations to violate the commandments of God, he said. Facing and overcoming temptation and drawing closer to God through right choices and repentance from wrong ones, helps us attain the eternal growth that is the purpose of the mortal life of the children of God. He also reaffirmed the church document, The Family: A Proclamation to the World, which states that gender is an essential characteristic of individual premortal, mortal and eternal identity and purpose. He also said church members should avoid judgment. Marriage, family and the purpose of life The young adults in the theater laughed as President Oaks smiled when he said the first truth they would talk about was marriage. He said marriage is on a clear decline in the United States and other places. Leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ are uniquely concerned about recent changes in the nature and extent of marriage in the United States, he said. This includes the increasing tendency of U.S. citizens, including some worthy young Latter-day Saint men and women, to postpone marriage. U.S. Census statistics show a decline in the number of American adults who have ever been married. | The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints President Oaks said marriage is central to the purpose of mortal life and the afterlife, and that the power of creation is a precious gift to be expressed only within a marriage between a man and a woman. Latter-day Saints stand out from the world because of their belief that it is a central commandment to multiply and replenish the earth within a marriage between a man and a woman. The average age of Latter-day Saints when they first marry has been rising for the past 45 years. | The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The decline and postponement of marriage Latter-day Saints were five years older at marriage, on average, in 2015 than they were in 1970 leads to belated family formation. There also are related lost opportunities for development and service, they said. President Oaks said delayed marriage leads to delayed personal growth within a husband-wife relationship, such as qualities like sacrifice and humility. There also are decreased opportunities to work together to build the Kingdom of God. Most important, it means fewer children born to grow up with the blessings of the gospel, he said. Postponing or devaluing children is evident in a new poll published by The Wall Street Journal, he said. It found that the importance adults placed on having children has dropped in the last 25 years from 66% to 33%. Sister Oaks, who married at age 53, also shared examples of what young adults lose when they delay dating, marriage and children. We learn to sacrifice and serve as we can in few other ways. As a single, I often looked for opportunities to serve. Now, every night at dinner my service project is sitting directly across from me, she said to shared laughter. I learn how to better love and help my husband; I have a friend to laugh with and cry with. I have an advocate, teacher and cheerleader who in turn helps me. She called marriage a built-in opportunity to learn communication and perspective. Life becomes better as our marriage becomes connected to something greater than ourselves and closer to our Savior. We want that for you. President Oaks said church leaders concerns extend to the causes of delayed marriage. He listed affordable housing shortages for young married couples and growing student debt. You are not the cause of those circumstances, but their victims, he said. He advised them to move ahead faithfully to find the best possible housing and minimize student debt. In Gods plan we can have it all, but not in the sequence the world seems to dictate, President Oaks said. He noted that pioneers left their homes and possessions to take their families to spiritual safety in the West. Today, we urge you not to leave spiritual safety and family to obtain material possessions, he said. Helping church members avoid debt is a regular reason church leaders give for providing more than $1 billion in tuition subsidies and other aid to Brigham Young University, BYU-Idaho, BYU-Pathway Worldwide, BYU-Hawaii and Ensign College to help over 90,000 students around the world. The presidents of BYU, BYU-Idaho and Ensign College attended the devotional, which was conducted by Elder Clark G. Gilbert, a General Authority Seventy who serves as the commissioner of the Church Educational System. Dating advice President Oaks noted that many single Latter-day Saints dont marry sooner for reasons beyond their control. Sister Oaks shared the heartache of waiting to marry. She said she cried into her pillow. I can testify of the Lords love for the valiant sisters who find themselves waiting, because I have felt it, she said. My heart also goes out to the faithful brothers who desire this, also. The struggle is real. Dating and not dating can be stressful. She said those who are waiting for a spouse should stop waiting and start preparing. Prepare yourself for life by education, experience and planning. Dont wait for happiness to be thrust upon you. Seek out opportunities for service and learning. Most importantly, trust in the Lord ... The young adults laughed along with the Oakses frequently, especially when they shared a video clip from President Oaks 2006 advice to young adults in a talk titled Dating versus hanging out. President Oaks said that advice to start looking for someone to pair off with is not dated, including a granddaughters use of three ps to define a date: planned ahead, paid for and paired off. Gender dysphoria President and Sister Oaks also spoke about issues related to sexual orientation and gender identity and how church members should navigate them. My first advice is to remember that whatever our own variations in the diversity of our Father in heavens creations, he loves all of us, and his perfect plan of happiness has a place for all, he said. While he said God has repeatedly revealed that he created male and female, he said church members can love others and find common ground while not compromising those truths. President Oaks repeated previous statements he has made that gender dysphoria assumes different forms at different times in a persons life, and that those affected by it and their families should take a long view and rely on eternal principles. He expounded on previous teachings about balancing love and gospel law. Many of us have a tendency to give less attention to loving our neighbor and to overemphasize keeping the law (commandments), he said. That is his own tendency, because of his legal training, he said, and because the first great commandment to love God includes keeping his commandments. Its just easier to judge oneself and others on whether they are obeying the law. I now believe that goal to be better expressed as trying to live both of these commandments in a more complete way, he said. Anyone who does not treat individuals who face gender identity challenges with love and dignity is not aligned with the teachings of the first and second great commandments. The church has supported Fairness for All laws around the country, and last year, it supported a similarly balanced approach in the amended Respect for Marriage Act, adding protections for religious expression while codifying same-sex marriage into federal law. Related President Oaks said church members should follow the divine example of Jesus Christ, who refrained from judging the woman taken in adultery. Instead, Christ asked those who wanted to judge her, or apply the law immediately, to first examine themselves. He knew the law would be applied at the judgment bar after this life. Then, the Savior applied the power of love, President Oaks said. He mercifully declined to condemn the woman, and that loving act lifted her to a new life, including repentance. ... The Savior extended love and mercy by refraining from condemning and then affirmed the law by saying go, and sin no more. President Oaks said record numbers of American teens are struggling with anxiety, social media addiction and drugs. Latter-day Saint teenagers and young adults, he said, benefit from gospel knowledge. You know you are children of God, a uniquely divine heritage. God loves you. He is a powerful mentor, and he has promised to help you if you but seek him in the way he has taught. Establish in your mind and your personal priorities the powerful truth that you are a beloved child of God. His love endows you with the self-respect, the strength and the motivation to move against whatever problems you face in your life, he said. And never forget that his servants love you. We love you, he added. Same-sex attraction He reiterated that the church teaches that the feeling of romantic attraction to someone of the same sex is itself not a sin, but church members are not to act on those feelings. As persons and family members experience such feelings, they should be careful with labels. He shared a video clip and quotes from last years young adult worldwide devotional, when President Nelson said labels are limiting, divisive and restrictive. No identifier should displace, replace or take priority over these three enduring designations: child of God, child of the covenant and disciple of Jesus Christ, President Nelson said. President Oaks also repeated President Nelsons statement that, Any identifier that is not compatible with these three basic designations will ultimately let you down. Other labels will disappoint you in time because they do not have the power to lead you toward eternal life in the celestial kingdom of God. The similarities were striking as Democratic gubernatorial candidate Brandon Presley held a news conference at the state Capitol last week to unveil his ethics reform package just as Jim Hood did in 2019. Both also blistered their Republican opponent, Gov. Tate Reeves. Its time for us to throw the money changer out of the temple Im talking about Tate Reeves, then-Democratic gubernatorial candidate Hood said in October 2019 during his state Capitol news conference on ethics reform. Hes been transactional. Every bill hes passed, its been to get campaign contributions back. Just a few days ago, Presley stood on the steps of the same Capitol building and said, Tate Reeves will not tackle corruption. Let me say that again, he will not tackle corruption. He doesnt have the guts to do it. It will make too many of his buddies mad and it will upset the system that he has benefited from for the entire time hes been in state service. While there were differences in their proposals, both in general touted more governmental transparency, openness and guardrails to curb the influence of big-monied special interest groups on state government. Both proposed to prohibit campaign contributions while legislators are in session writing the laws that impact lobbyists and their clients. Both also proposed banning corporate campaign contributions. There were other similarities. Presley, the four-term Northern District Public Service commissioner and the Democrats latest hope to capture the Governors Mansion for the first time since 1999, has gone out of his way to try to tell voters that he is not Hood and that his campaign is not destined to come up short in November like Hoods did in 2019. But Presley had better hope that Hood was right about at least one thing the issues. When it comes to the issues, in many respects, they are running the same campaign. Both said they would move quickly if elected to bring more transparency to state government and to rein in the influence of special interests. Both are campaigning on expanding Medicaid to provide health care coverage to primarily working Mississippians. Both also advocate for cutting or eliminating the states 7% tax on groceries, which is the highest state-imposed tax of its kind in the nations poorest state. Reeves opposes Medicaid expansion, supports eliminating the income tax instead of the grocery tax and has never voiced governmental transparency as one of his priorities. That is true now as it was in 2019 when he defeated Hood by about 5% or about 45,000 votes. Why will 2023 be any different? Maybe it will not. But each election is different. Circumstances and events change that could impact the outcome. On the positive side for Reeves, he is facing a candidate in Presley who has never run for statewide office. On the other hand, Hood was well-known across Mississippi having been elected four times to the statewide office of attorney general. But in Presley, Reeves is facing an opponent who it could be argued has abilities as a retail politician and has communication skills that are unmatched among most Mississippi politicians. And perhaps most importantly, Mississippi is in the midst of the largest public corruption scandal in state history. The disturbing saga of $77 million in misspent welfare funds intended for the states poorest citizens but instead diverted to investments in speculative drug companies, volleyball courts, fitness trainings and other activities was not public in 2019 when Hood talked about ethics. When Hood offered his proposals, close political allies of Reeves such as Nancy New and her son Zach, who had contracts to expend the funds supposedly to help poor people, had not yet pleaded guilty to charges related to the misspending of the funds. It was not known that Paul Lacoste, identified as Reeves personal trainer, had received $1.3 million in welfare funds. Text messages obtained by Mississippi Today show that John Davis, the former head of the state agency that administered the funds, told his subordinates that Reeves played at least some role in Lacoste receiving the funds. Reeves vehemently denies any involvement in the misspending of the funds. But what is harder to deny is that as lieutenant governor, Reeves presided over the Senate that had an obligation to provide oversight over the expenditure of the welfare funds. Then later as governor, he had the opportunity to offer legislation to put in place safeguards to prevent such misspending of public funds from happening again. Reeves did not offer any such legislation, and none has been passed on his watch. Those are some underlying factors that differentiate Brandon Presleys Capitol press conference on ethics reform from Jim Hoods. Time will tell whether the 2023 circumstances create a different election outcome than in 2019. This analysis was produced by Mississippi Today, a nonprofit news organization that covers state government, public policy, politics and culture. Bobby Harrison is Mississippi Todays senior Capitol reporter. A SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule carrying a retired astronaut, a wealthy adventurer and two Saudi astronauts caught up with the International Space Station on Monday, wrapping up an automated 15-hour rendezvous with a picture-perfect docking. Catching up from behind and below, the spacecraft passed 1,300 feet below the lab complex, then looped up to a point directly above the forward Harmony module's space-facing port. From there, the craft moved in for docking at 9:12 a.m. EDT. An over-the-shoulder view of Ax-2 commander Peggy Whitson, left, and co-pilot John Shoffner monitor touchscreen displays in their SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule during final approach to the International Space Station. / Credit: SpaceX "It was a lovely ride ... it was the softest docking I've ever felt," Ax-2 commander Peggy Whitson radioed SpaceX flight controllers, referring to three earlier trips to the station aboard a space shuttle and Russian Soyuz ferry ships. "Very well done." "We do aim for excellence," a controller replied. "And on behalf of SpaceX, it's been a pleasure working with you." Two hours later, after extensive leak checks, Whitson, a retired astronaut and America's most experienced space flier, led her three rookie crewmates into the station where the seven-member Expedition 69 crew was waiting to welcome them aboard. "Congratulations with successful launch and your docking," said cosmonaut Sergey Prokopyev, the station commander. "For me, this is a very great honor to work next with Peggy Whitson, the most experienced and decorated astronaut in the U.S. astronaut corps." Replied Whitson: "We really are excited to be here. It was a great launch, a great ride, we had a lot of fun on the way up. And we're really excited to get a lot of work done up here. But it's great for me to come back personally, it does feel like home." The Ax-2 mission is the second private Crew Dragon flight chartered by Houston-based Axiom Space and sanctioned by NASA as part of an initiative to encourage private-sector development in low-Earth orbit. It is the first such mission with two government-sponsored astronauts Saudi nationals Ali Alqarni and Rayyanah Barnawi. Space station commander Sergey Prokopyev (holding microphone) welcomes Whitson, a retired astronaut and America's most experienced space flier. Whitson's commercial crewmates, wearing dark shirts to her right on the back row are (left to right): Saudi astronaut Ali Alqarni, co-pilot John Shoffner and Saudi astronaut Rayyanah Barnawi. / Credit: NASA Ax-2 co-pilot John Shoffner, a retired fiber optics entrepreneur, private pilot and high-performance race car driver, paid an undisclosed amount for his first space flight while Alqarni and Barnawi, the second and third Saudis to fly in space, represent the Saudi Space Commission. Whitson is Axiom Space's director of human spaceflight. "Congratulations new astronauts Rayyanah, John, Ali," Prokopyev said. "My big congratulations to the Saudi Space Commission. I'm sure you will have a great achievement in the future in your space exploration. Thank you so much, and welcome aboard." During their eight-day stay aboard the space station, the Ax-2 crew plans to carry out 20 experiments, most designed by Saudi investigators, in a variety of fields ranging from biomedical research to technology development. The crew also plans multiple live events with school kids across Saudi Arabia in a STEM initiative to encourage interest in science and technology. In the meantime, Expedition 69 astronauts in the U.S. segment of the station will press ahead with a full slate of research while Prokopyev and his two Russian crewmates prepare for the arrival of a Progress supply ship Wednesday carrying 5,493 pounds of propellant, water, crew supplies and other cargo. If all goes well, Whitson and company will undock on May 30 and return to Earth, splashing down off the coast of Florida to close out SpaceX's 10th piloted Crew Dragon flight. President Biden, Speaker McCarthy meet on debt ceiling as next week's deadline looms Carmelo Anthony retiring from NBA after 19 seasons California, Arizona and Nevada reach deal to conserve Colorado River Ukrainian servicemen fire at Russian positions at a frontline in the eastern Ukrainian region of Donbas in 2022. (Aris Messinis/AFP via Getty Images) KYIV Russia may have taken the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut Sunday, but forces aligned with Ukraine apparently took a tiny part of Russia on Monday or so video and photograph footage suggested as of just after noon local time. Ukrainian armored vehicles, including at least one tank, were seen attacking a border post, in the town of Kozinka, in the Belgorod region of southern Russia. Drone footage, taken from the Ukrainian side of the border, showed a lone tank advancing toward the Russian border checkpoint in Kozinka, the main building of which had several large holes blasted in its exterior walls. A group of three light armored vehicles was also spotted in the same location, with Ukrainian marks white crosses clearly painted on their hulls. Footage circulating on social media and purportedly shot inside the checkpoint building showed Russian passports scattered on the floor, a portrait of Vladimir Putin hanging on the wall and a dead border guard. What seemed to be a relatively simple Ukrainian cross-border raid not the first of its kind in 15 months of war soon revealed itself to be a far more ambitious and dug-in incursion into Russian territory. From Kozinka, the counter-invaders advanced toward the larger Russian town of Grayvoron. As of Monday morning, the Ukrainian-aligned forces had advanced 3.5 miles over the border into Russia. Two groups claimed responsibility: the Free Russia Legion and the Russian Volunteer Corps, which is headed by a notorious far-right Russian nationalist. As they progressed, the pro-Ukraine Russians handed out leaflets telling Russian soldiers how to surrender and promising their good treatment if the soldiers did. The best deision for you and your family is to surrender to the Armed Forces of Ukraine! the leaflets read. The prisoners are fed according to the norm of our soldiers, and if you have desire you will be arranged for paid work. Ukraine denies involvement Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky arrives to address a news conference following the G7 leaders' summit in Hiroshima on May 21. (Louise Delmotte/AFP via Getty Images) Andriy Yusov, a spokesman for Ukraine's military intelligence directorate, claimed that the operation in the Belgorod region was carried out exclusively by Russian citizens, with the aim to create a certain security zone to protect the Ukrainian civilian population. Mykhailo Podoliak, an adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, also claimed that Kyiv had no direct involvement in the events in Belgorod, which they were watching with interest. As you know, tanks are sold at any Russian military store and underground guerrilla groups are composed of Russian citizens, Podoliak said. Ukraines denial mirrored and mocked the Kremlins own past denials of its incursions into Ukraine, including the 2014 seizure and illegal annexation of Crimea. Another senior Ukrainian military intelligence official, in what can be described as a smirking disavowal of any hand in the matter, told Yahoo News: These are not regular units of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, definitely not our style of warfare. There are many analogies in history where the people themselves decide when to take up arms and defend their rights and freedoms. Finland in 1939, Hungary in 1956, Czechoslovakia in 1968. Similarly Ukraine in 2014, in the territory of Crimea, Donetsk and Luhansk regions. As a rule, a referendum with 82% to 84% support from the local population follows. In any case, We are not there. Russian volunteers have proven that the Russian government is completely defenseless against organized resistance by Russians, the official told Yahoo News. Ukraine welcomes the desire of Russians to change the political system in their own country. Russia reacts Russian President Vladimir Putin meets with the Belgorod region's governor, Vyacheslav Gladkov, outside Moscow in January. (Sputnik/Mikhail Klimentyev/Kremlin via Reuters) The Russian military scrambled to get reinforcements to the border as the advance of the pro-Ukrainian forces continued. Mi-8 transport helicopters were seen over Kozinka and Rakitnoye, dropping flares and flying low in an attempt to avoid portable surface-to-air missiles. Local Russian civilians fled, forming long lines of traffic as they made their exit from the area. The Kremlins public reaction was first an attempt to downplay the attack. Dmitry Peskov, Russian President Vladimir Putins spokesman, described the action as the work of a Ukrainian sabotage group but said Russia had sufficient forces in Belgorod to deal with them. A sabotage and reconnaissance group of the Armed Forces of Ukraine entered the territory of the Grayvoron district, Vyacheslav Gladkov, the Russian governor of the region, said in a statement. The armed forces of the Russian Federation, together with the border service, the Russian Guard and the FSB, he added, referring to the successor agency of the Soviet KGB, are taking the necessary measures to eliminate the enemy. Russian military bloggers also claimed that the deputy head of the Grayvoron city administration was wounded during the shelling of the administration building, a claim Yahoo News cannot independently verify. Though the prospects for the invaders to hang on to any territorial gains is dim, the incursion has already embarrassed the Kremlin a day after its declaration of victory in Bakhmut, a blasted-out city in Donetsk, which Russian forces particularly the Wagner mercenary corps have been trying to sack for nine months. The Belgorod raid will no doubt force the Russian military to redeploy elements from a badly strained army to reinforce the border region. He promised his fiancee a dream wedding. Now he can deliver after winning a $150,000 scratch-off. $100 bills SOPA Images/Getty Images A North Carolina man plans to give his fiancee her dream wedding after a big lottery win. Alfred Harrell recently won $150,000 from a scratch-off game. He purchased the winning ticket from a gas station in Cary, North Carolina. Wedding bells are ringing for Alfred Harrell and his fiancee. Harrell, who is from North Carolina, made his fiancee a promise last year to host their dream wedding. Now he can fulfill that promise after winning $150,000 from a lottery scratch-off, the North Carolina Education Lottery said in a press release. Harrell purchased the $5 Super Loteria winning ticket from a Circle K gas station in Cary, about 12 miles from Raleigh, according to the state lottery. He said he's "still trying to process" winning the big bucks. "If I went the other direction and didn't get gas there, I wouldn't have won," Harrell told lottery officials. Harrell met his significant other in May two years ago and vowed that he would give her a huge celebration for their nuptials, per the press release. NC Education Lottery (@nclottery) May 18, 2023 "We are looking at parks all around the area," he said, according to the press release. "It will be a big family celebration." "May has definitely been good for us," he added. He arrived at lottery headquarters last week and left with $106,876 after taxes. Earlier this year, a Maryland couple who have been married for 58 years said that they can finally go on their honeymoon after winning $50,000 from a $5 scratch-off. Read the original article on Insider Prosecutors say Fetty Wap made $5 million with his music and he didn't need to traffic drugs to supplement it Fetty Wap attends the 2019 MTV Video Music Awards. Kevin Mazur/WireImage via Getty Images Fetty Wap will be sentenced on Wednesday after pleading guilty in connection to a drug trafficking charge. The rapper's lawyer has requested the minimum sentence 5 years in prison. Prosecutors say he should serve at least seven years and three months. Prosecutors In New York are requesting that Fetty Wap be sentenced to at least seven years in prison for dealing cocaine, saying in a sentencing memo that the crime was especially egregious considering that the rapper didn't even need to deal drugs to make money. Fetty Wap whose real name is Willie Junior Maxwell II is set to be sentenced in Brooklyn federal court on Wednesday after pleading guilty in August to conspiracy to distribute 500 grams or more of cocaine. In a sentencing memos last week, Maxwell's lawyer requested that he receive the minimum sentence possible 5 years in prison while prosecutors said he should serve between seven to nine years. Prosecutors listed multiple reasons they believe that Maxwell deserves a longer sentence, including the fact that he had a successful music career and didn't need to deal drugs in the first place. Maxwell is unlike many defendants who turn to to drug trafficking for financial reasons, prosecutors said. "He had a lucrative career as a rap artist and the ability to make an honest living and provide for himself and his family," the sentencing memo said. "Indeed the defendant told the Probation Department that he made $5 million during his music career. Nevertheless, this defendant chose to supplement his income by trafficking large quantities of drugs drugs he knew would ruin lives." While Maxwell had not been arrested previously on drug charges, prosecutors said he admitted to the probation department that he had dealt drugs previously in 2014, and that his hit song, "Trap Queen," was an "ode to a former girlfriend" who assisted him in distributing cocaine in New Jersey. Meanwhile, Maxwell's lawyer argued in her sentencing memo that Maxwell got into drug dealing to help family members, who had become dependent on him. Attorney Elizabeth Macedonio said her client is the father of nine children by seven different women, and always financially supported his children and other family members. When the pandemic hit, and opportunities to perform evaporated, Macedonio said Maxwell became desperate to start making money again to support others. "Suddenly it felt like his life was going in reverse and he became ashamed when he began to struggle to keep up the lifestyle he had created for so many," Macedonio wrote. Macedonio said Maxwell now understands that he "does not have to carry the weight of the world on his shoulders" and is not likely to deal drugs again, leading her to recommend a lower sentence. Maxwell was arrested in October 2021, and was initially released on bail. His bail was revoked two months later when he was caught on FaceTime threatening a person with a gun, and he has been in jail ever since. Read the original article on Insider Providing F-16 jets to Ukraine is priority for US Department of State The United States prioritises providing Ukraine with F-16 fighter jets and will work to achieve this goal in the coming months. Source: Matthew Miller, spokesperson for the US Department of State, during a briefing on 22 May, as reported by European Pravda Quote: "The President [Joe Biden ed.] has made it very clear that we will begin training the Ukrainian military in F-16 piloting and will work with our allies and partners to provide Ukraine with F-16 jets," the State Department official said. "I cannot announce when or how this will happen or from which countries they will come. However, it [the provision of F-16s] is our priority, and we will start implementing it in the coming months," he added. Details: Miller stressed that the United States, like other countries, does not approve of using Western weapons to strike Russian territory. "But I think it is important to remind everyone that, of course, it was Russia that started this war. It is Russia that continues to attack Ukrainian civilians. And it is Russia that is bombing schools, hospitals and civilian infrastructure," he said. "So, it is up to Ukraine to decide how it wants to conduct its military operations. But it is Russia that is the aggressor in this war," the US State Department spokesman added. Background: Last week, the United Kingdom announced the launch of an international coalition of countries aimed at training Ukrainian pilots on fourth-generation fighter aircraft, including the F-16s. The coalition already includes the UK, the Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark, the United States and Portugal. The White House also confirmed that in the coming months, the US and its allies will discuss when and how many modern fighter jets Ukraine will receive. Journalists fight on their own frontline. Support Ukrainska Pravda or become our patron! Make it rain on Mars: Just one weather experiment Axiom-2 astronauts will research while on the ISS Make it rain on Mars: Just one weather experiment Axiom-2 astronauts will research while on the ISS No rest for the travel-weary. After a 16-hour flight from Florida to the International Space Station, now it is time to work. The crew has 21 experiments and projects to work on, in microgravity, in just 10 days. "After 20 years of research, the ISS is now in its decade of results," tweeted NASA. "This is one-of-a-kind testing in a low Earth orbit." The harsh space environment tests the reliability of materials. Microgravity in the ISS allows experiments to "reveal physical and chemical properties masked by Earths gravity," NASA added. AXIOM-2 LAUNCHED SUNDAY, CARRYING 4 ASTRONAUTS TO INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION HOW DO CLOUDS FORM? The astronauts are tasked with no easy feats one is to make it rain on Mars and the moon. Scientists have been searching for water on the red planet for at least half a decade. Future colonies will need the molecule that's so abundant on Earth to sustain the life of future colonies so why not make it? Scientists start with a technology used on Earth called cloud seeding. FOX Weather highlighted an effort on Colorados Front Range that has actually wrung 5% to 10% more snow out of storm clouds in Colorado. Scientists seed the cloud or implant particles like silver iodide. Think of the tiny particles as magnets for water vapor, called ice nuclei. Supercooled liquid water, which is below the freezing point but not a crystal structure yet, gloms on onto the particle at warmer temperatures than they would in nature and "harvesting" more water in a cloud, according to the North American Weather Modification Council. NASA PHOTOS MAY SHOW EVIDENCE OF ANCIENT WILD RIVER ON MARS On the ISS, the water vapor meets the silver iodide in microgravity in a reaction chamber. The astronauts will closely watch where the water vapor condenses on the crystals to form water droplets. "The outcome of this experiment will help develop weather control technology to generate artificial rain in future human settlements on the moon and Mars," Axiom said in a statement. With a view from 250 miles above Earth, scientists have a great vantage point to study and photograph thunderstorms and lightning that trigger transient luminant events (TLEs). Examples are sprites, blue jets and elves. NASA WANTS YOUR HELP TO UNCOVER MYSTERIES BEHIND BRIGHT FLASHES IN THE SKY CALLED SPRITES File: Sprites high in the atmosphere. "These electrical phenomena occur at high altitudes above thunderstorms and are a marker of severe weather and extremely powerful lightning, called superbolts," said the Axiom statement. Researchers will observe from the sky while more look from Earth's surface to monitor the interactions between the upper and lower atmosphere. NASA says a superbolt is 1,000 times brighter than normal lightning. The bolts are so strong that they cant be reproduced in a lab. "We dont understand yet how superbolts can be so powerful," said Jean-Francois Ripoll, a senior scientist at the Commissariat a lEnergie Atomique in a NASA statement. "And unlike traditional lightning, which occurs more often in summer and over land, superbolts occur more often in winter and over water. We have no idea why." NEARLY 200 MILLION LIGHTNING STRIKES HIT THE US IN 2022. HOW MANY HIT YOUR STATE? The crew will test a new cosmic shield too. The sun and other stars constantly send out cosmic radiation. Here on Earth, the EPA estimates that 5% of annual radiation exposure comes from cosmic radiation. Even flying in airplanes exposes us to more radiation as we have a less protective atmosphere. The EPA says that a round trip, cross-country flight exposes you to radiation equivalent to a chest x-ray. Astronauts and spacecraft are even beyond the Earths protective magnetic shield and are blasted by even more radiation. Solar flares and coronal mass ejections from the sun, which give humans beautiful auroras, mean even more radiation for space travelers and equipment. 7 THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT NORTHERN LIGHTS Ray Stevenson, an actor known for his roles in the films "Thor" and "RRR," died on Sunday, his publicist confirmed to CBS News. The British actor was 58. His cause of death was not revealed. Stevenson, whose career began in the early 1990s, starred in multiple projects over the years. He had roles in "Punisher: War Zone," all three "Thor" films and the "Divergent" film series. Most recently, he starred as the villainous Governor Scott Buxton in 2022's Academy Award-winning Indian blockbuster "RRR." The actor also had a prominent part in the animated Star Wars universe, voicing Mandalorian super commando Gar Saxon in both "Star Wars Rebels" and "Star Wars: The Clone Wars." One of his final roles was that of Baylan Skoll in the upcoming live-action Star Wars series "Ahsoka," which is scheduled to premiere in August on Disney Plus. Stevenson attended the 2023 Star Wars Celebration event last month and spoke about his excitement at being part of the project, saying "getting to wield the lightsaber is just the best feeling in the world," CBS News Atlanta reported. President Biden, Speaker McCarthy meet on debt ceiling as next week's deadline looms Carmelo Anthony retiring from NBA after 19 seasons California, Arizona and Nevada reach deal to conserve Colorado River Actor Ray Stevenson, who starred in films "RRR" and "Thor," died Sunday at age 58. (Chris Pizzello / Invision / Associated Press) Ray Stevenson, an Irish actor whose career included roles in films "RRR," "Thor" and television series "Vikings" and "Rome," has died. Nicki Fioravante, a representative for Stevenson, confirmed to The Times on Monday that the actor died Sunday. He was 58. No details, including a cause of death, were revealed. "What shocking news for all of us on the team!" the "RRR" account tweeted on Monday. "Rest in peace, Ray Stevenson. You will stay in our hearts forever, SIR SCOTT." "Im shocked and saddened by the tragic news that a great actor and my good friend Ray Stevenson has passed away," tweeted actor Scott Adkins. "I will miss you Big Ray! Life is short so make the most of it people." Filmmaker and DC Studios co-Chief Executive James Gunn also remembered Stevenson on Twitter. "So sorry to hear about the passing, far too young, of Ray Stevenson. I only knew him a little from shooting post-credits of Thor 2 & a couple interactions at events, but we had some good laughs & he was a joy to work with," he wrote. "His friends & family are in my heart today." Damn. So sorry to hear about the passing, far too young, of Ray Stevenson. I only knew him a little from shooting post-credits of Thor 2 & a couple interactions at events, but we had some good laughs & he was a joy to work with. His friends & family are in my heart today. James Gunn (@JamesGunn) May 22, 2023 Born in Lisburn in 1964, Stevenson attended the Bristol Old Vic Theatre and worked in British television before making his film debut in the 1998 movie "The Theory of Flight," directed by Paul Greengrass, according to the Associated Press. In 2004, he appeared in his second film, Antoine Fuqua's "King Aruthur," where he portrayed a knight of the round table named Dagonet. More film roles followed, including a lead role the 2008 movie "Punisher: War Zone." His additional film credits include "The Other Guys," "The Three Musketeers," the "Divergent" trilogy and Marvel's "Thor," where he portrayed Volstagg, an Asgardian warrior. He reprised the role for the second and third installments, "Thor: The Dark World" and "Thor: Ragnarok." In 2022, Stevenson portrayed the violent British governor Scott Buxton in S.S. Rajamoulis Oscar-nominated film, "RRR." He starred opposite Ram Charan and N.T. Rama Rao Jr. Stevenson was also known as Titus Pullo in the HBO series "Rome." The show, which ran from 2005 to 2007, "turned my life around" professionally and personally, Stevenson said in a 2016 interview. "It got me my representation in the States as well and effectively started my movie career. So much happened because of that one," he told TV host Arthur Kade. "I, dare I say, learned to get out of my own way in that series. ... It really made me sit down in my own skin and go, 'You know what, just turn up and do the job.' The job's enough." He also starred in the TV series "Black Sails" and the German show "Das Boot." Before his death, the actor was set for several upcoming projects, including the Disney+ series "Ahsoka," starring Rosario Dawson. According to IMDb, Stevenson was also cast in the films "Gateway to the West" and "Cassino in Ischia." The Associated Press contributed to this report. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times. With an unprecedented $1.3 billion fine Monday, Meta became the first American tech giant ordered to shut off its transatlantic flow of user data under European privacy rules putting new pressure on the Biden administration to solve a major disconnect between American and European data regulations. The Irish Data Protection Commission found that Meta violated European data privacy regulations by transferring EU users data to the U.S. without a proper framework in place to protect EU citizens from American government surveillance. The agency fined Meta $1.3 billion a record under Europes data privacy regulations and ordered the company to stop transferring its data to U.S. servers. The fine highlights the need for the Biden administration to finalize negotiations with the EU to get a transatlantic data deal in place. Without that, Meta could be the first of many U.S.-based companies to face similar penalties for similar conduct. Companies could also look to make costly infrastructure investments to keep that data in the EU, but that could be cost-prohibitive for all but the largest. The gap affects not only major tech platforms like Meta, but virtually any American company, large or small, conducting transatlantic business with customers in Europe. Since 2018, European law has limited data collection on EU citizens and required that any company with that data must offer them a way to challenge companies if they believe their data was improperly collected, used or shared. In 2020, the Court of Justice of the European Union ruled that surveillance programs operated by the United States intelligence agencies violated EU privacy rules, and didnt provide a method for EU citizens to challenge the collection of their data a decision that essentially made it illegal to transfer data between the regions. The Biden administration announced an executive order last October to establish a data privacy framework between the U.S. and the EU that would solve the problem, allowing American companies to transfer data across the Atlantic while allowing EU citizens to challenge the collection of their data. The order, which still needs approval from the EU Commission, hinges on the establishment of a new Data Protection Review Court that would allow European citizens to file claims if they believe their data was not collected in a necessary and proportionate manner. Without European approval of that order, however, American companies risk facing penalties if they transfer data from the EU to the U.S., which is what happened to Meta. The resulting fine surpassed the $887 million penalty imposed on Amazon in 2021 for violating privacy standards involving targeted advertisements. Meta said Bidens executive order, once approved, should resolve this issue. That order is expected to be approved by the end of this summer. The Meta isnt required to stop transferring data between the two regions until Oct. 12, according to Monday's order, but it would still need to pay the fine. The company also has until November 12 to delete or move back all data belonging to EU citizens stored in the U.S. since 2020. This could also be avoided if the EU-U.S. data privacy framework is approved before the deadline. The order highlights the tech industrys challenge in navigating Europes new digital rules, notably the General Data Protection Regulation, which celebrates its five-anniversary this year. While GDPR is often criticized as toothless, the ruling against Meta serves as a warning as many nations regulators take a decidedly different approach to consumer protection than the U.S. government. In a statement published on Monday by Metas president of global affairs, Nick Clegg, and chief legal officer Jennifer Newstead, the company pointed to ongoing negotiations over the EU-U.S. data privacy framework and Bidens executive order from last October. The two said the company will appeal the decision, calling the fine "unnecessary" and "unjustified." We are pleased that the [Irish Data Protection Commission] also confirmed in its decision that there will be no suspension of the transfers or other action required of Meta, such as a requirement to delete EU data subjects data once the underlying conflict of law has been resolved, Clegg and Newstead said. This will mean that if the [Data Privacy Framework] comes into effect before the implementation deadlines expire, our services can continue as they do today without any disruption or impact on users. Meta has warned in the past that it could drop services like Facebook and Instagram in Europe if it cant transfer data between the EU and the U.S. The Biden administration unveiled its proposal in an executive order in October, but is still waiting for the European Commission to approve it. Negotiating a deal has taken longer than expected because of delays in setting up key elements of the order on the U.S. side, as well as strong skepticism from the EU. Negotiations on the U.S. side involve leadership from the Commerce Department, Justice Department and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. The EU, and the U.S., both negotiating teams, are seized with the importance of this Meta case and what it means. It doesnt provide a deadline but it certainly sharpens a focus to get this done, Joe Jones, director of research and insights for the International Association of Privacy Professionals, said. You can bet that Meta and other companies are knocking on this door to get this done. While key components of the Data Protection Review Court are in place, like a budget and a physical location for the building, the most important aspect, the judges and special advocates for EU citizens, are still awaiting security clearances, said John Miller, the general counsel of the Information Technology Industry Council, who has spoken with government officials involved in the process. The biggest hold-up is the clearances, which take time. As I understand it, the physical locations, the physical infrastructure, office equipment, budget, staff, all exist," he said. The Department of Justice, which is responsible for establishing the court, did not respond to a request for comment. EU officials cant properly review the framework until this court is running, but its not the only reason for the delays. Both the EU Parliament and the European Data Protection Board are skeptical of the data privacy framework proposed by the United States, pointing to issues with U.S. surveillance laws, as well as how the court will handle cases. The EU Parliaments recommendation noted that U.S. intelligence agencies are prohibited from bulk data collection of American citizens, but doesnt extend that same protection to EU citizens. There are also concerns the Data Protection Review Court could reject a vast amount of European citizens cases without valid reason or any methods of appeal. Whereas a comprehensive assessment of how these principles are implemented in the U.S. legal order might not be possible due to a lack of transparency in Data Protection Review Court (DPRC) procedures, the EU Parliament said in its recommendation against approving the order. The recommendation also cited a lack of any U.S. data privacy regulation, which Congress failed to pass last year. The American Data Privacy and Protection Act is expected to be reintroduced this year, according to the House Energy and Commerce committee chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.). Rodgers and other committee leaders did not respond to a request for comment. Companies, including Meta, have braced themselves for this decision for months. More than 80 companies have noted in public investor filings that theyre concerned about their international data transfers without a legal framework in place, the IAPPs Jones said. Those companies include Microsoft, Google, Salesforce and Zoom, and all note that cutting off international data transfers poses a significant issue for them. Suspending data transfers between the two regions could mean being unable to operate in the EU or facing expensive costs to use servers based in the EU. While some major companies will be able to afford EU-based data centers to avoid transfers to the U.S., others will not and could either run the risk of violating the GDPR or cut off data from EU users. Some companies will say its too risky to transfer data out of the EU, Jones said. Others will carry on and try to remain under the radar until theres an adequacy decision. Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.) says he plans to stay as far away ... as possible from Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene after the Georgia Republican accused him of being aggressive and making her feel threatened by him during a spat outside the U.S. Capitol. Following Greenes remarks which Bowman, who is Black, and his allies slammed as racist the congressman told New York Magazine hes keeping his distance from her, even though he believes conversations across the aisle are generally good for democracy. I like talking to people, I like debating people. I like learning from people. And I think its through the process of dialogue and debate, in learning, that we build a better country and better world, he said. Rep. Jamaal Bowman, who heckled George Santos mid Santos-gaggle moments ago, in a tiff with MTG outside the Capitol steps. AOC comes up at the end: She aint worth it bro pic.twitter.com/R5L20WvhFK Ursula Perano (@UrsulaPerano) May 17, 2023 Footage of Bowman and Greene last Wednesday showed them getting into a heated conversation outside the Capitol about a number of policy issues, from border security to gun control. Though they both raised their voices at times, Greene went on to tell reporters Bowman was yelling, shouting, raising his voice ... his physical mannerisms are aggressive. ... I feel threatened by him. She also accused Bowman of leading a mob to the courthouse last month where she was protesting Donald Trumps indictment and swarming outside her car something The Washington Post and others on the ground that day have said is a serious mischaracterization. Marjorie Taylor Greene says that when people like Jamaal Bowman call her a white supremacist it's "like calling a person a color the n-word" "His physical mannerisms are aggressive ... I feel threatened by him," Greene adds of Bowman pic.twitter.com/c0JtNN0Z5R Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) May 18, 2023 In one of her more jaw-dropping comments on Bowman, Greene insisted that his calling her a white supremacist was equal to calling a person of color the N-word. Bowman responded by saying that Greenes description of her interaction with him was reckless and dangerous. Unfortunately, this country has a history of characterizing Black men who are outspoken, who stand their ground and who push back as being threatening or intimidating, he told reporters the day after his argument with Greene. So shes not even using a dog whistle, shes using a bullhorn to put a target on my back to the people she refers to as MAGA people out there who might want to cause harm, he continued. Related... Nathan Howard/Getty Ever since Lauren Boebert filed to divorce her husband, the rumors have been running hot and heavy on social media: There must be another man, and maybe its right-wing, long-haired, guitar-strumming preacher Sean Feucht. Feucht, married with four children, was not amused by the speculation, calling it false and defamatory in a tweet that demanded retractions and apologies. This is false. And its defamatory. Im giving everyone making this accusation 24 hours to retract and apologize. If you dont youll hear from my lawyer. https://t.co/iRJgg2tHxK Sean Feucht (@seanfeucht) May 19, 2023 Boebert also emphatically says the evidence-free chatter is untrue, though she managed to crack a joke about it to The Daily Beast on Monday. How can I be with a man with better hair than me? she asked. The Colorado Republican opened divorce proceedings last week against her husband of two decades, Jayson, who told The Daily Beast that he didnt expect this and still loved her. We have been through a lot together and I just want her to be happy, said Jayson, who has four children with the congresswoman. So its whatever she wants. That, apparently, is not Sean Feucht. There is absolutely nothing romantic between Sean Feucht and I, nor has there been, she said. So he is a wonderful friend, and he and I have done a lot of events together. His wife is wonderful, and we have had worship in the [U.S. Capitol] Rotunda, Boebert added. As one would expect, Boebert blamed the rumors on the Left and said there are no skeletons in her closet to find. I have been very, very transparent with my personal life since I started campaigning. And I think there are a lot of politicians who are not transparent, she told The Daily Beast. They just give the sweet, pretty pieces of their lifeand I have been raw in the details of my upbringing and what I have been through, and the challenges my husband and I have faced over the years. Read more at The Daily Beast. Get the Daily Beast's biggest scoops and scandals delivered right to your inbox. Sign up now. Stay informed and gain unlimited access to the Daily Beast's unmatched reporting. Subscribe now. Rep. Paul Gosar is at the forefront of normalizing of white nationalism Arizona Republican Rep. Paul Gosar I received a note from an out-of-state visitor late last week expressing how her time in Arizona has left her feeling refreshed and happy as she prepared to head back home. It was the kind of flattery youd imagine the Arizona Office of Tourism might want to use in a promotional ad to lure even more travelers from other states and around the globe to our magical desert paradise. Except no. At least I hope not. How a visitor views Paul Gosar's staff The woman wrote: Im not from here and goodness knows every state has its issues but I saw earlier the reports talking about how a congressman in Arizona has white nationalist sympathizers working for him and I havent seen any follow up about outrage or demands that he fire them or anything like that. And then it was pointed out to me that you had a column saying news like this elicits a yawn in Arizona. I thought you were joking. But I take it youre not. As challenging as it can be where Im from (Kansas) this news makes me feel like were doing okay. A shoutout to QAnon? Event at the Arizona Capitol raises questions Hardly the kind of endorsement the chamber of commerce would fashion into a slogan, is it? Want to feel better about your state? Visit Arizona! What if there are white nationalists in Congress? The woman was speaking about news last week that devotees of a neo-Nazi white nationalist ran Rep. Paul Gosars social media accounts. And, yes, the news elicited yawns in Arizona and, more importantly, in Congress, where Gosars Republican colleagues expressed zero collective outrage. A local reader of the online blog I wrote about this last week asked, If it is acceptable for us to have a white nationalist or a neo-Nazi working for a congressman how close are we to having actual members of Congress with the same ideologies? I sent him a note back saying, The more relevant question might be: Are we already there? Reach Montini at ed.montini@arizonarepublic.com. For more opinions content, please subscribe. This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Rep. Paul Gosar's office is normalizing white nationalism US Senator Tim Scott is the second African American to enter the 2024 Republican primary contest South Carolina Senator Tim Scott launched his bid to become the first Black Republican US president on Monday, vowing to fight for a return to the American way of life he said was under threat from Joe Biden's Democrats. The 57-year-old brings an inspiring life story to the campaign, having risen from poverty in a single parent household to become one of the country's most influential conservatives. "Joe Biden and the radical left are attacking every single rung of the ladder that helped me climb and that's why I'm announcing today that I'm running for president of the United States," he told cheering supporters in his hometown of North Charleston. "You see, they're attacking our American values, our schools, our economy, and our security. But not on my watch. Not on my watch. That won't work. I can't stand by while this is done to America." Scott has spent months crisscrossing the states considered crucial to gaining early momentum in the primary contest, underlining his Christian faith and his unique perspective as the only African American on the Republican side of the US Senate. He joins a burgeoning field hoping to reel in frontrunner Donald Trump, but faces a daunting task matching the former president's national profile. Recent polling shows Scott's support languishing under two percent -- an average of 54 points behind the former president. Other candidates include Trump's first United Nations ambassador, Nikki Haley, ex-Arkansas governor Asa Hutchinson, tech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy and talk radio host Larry Elder, the first African American to enter the race. The most hotly-anticipated primary event so far, though, will be the official campaign announcement of Trump's biggest rival, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, expected on Wednesday. The former president, who benefits from a crowded field that would split the anti-Trump vote, took to his social media platform to wish Scott luck -- while taking a swipe at DeSantis. "It is rapidly loading up with lots of people, and Tim is a big step up from Ron DeSanctimonious, who is totally unelectable," Trump said. Scott, who is considered one of the Senate's most formidable fundraisers, brings a war chest of around $22 million -- and the notable backing of Senate Republican number two John Thune, who called his friend the "real deal." The former insurance salesman was expected to meet donors and then head to Iowa and New Hampshire, where he has already reserved $6 million worth of advertising. "We live in the land where it is absolutely possible for a kid raised in poverty in a single parent household, in a small apartment, to one day serve in the People's House and maybe even the White House," Scott said. "This is the greatest nation on God's green Earth." ft/dw A singing contest of Chinese songs for overseas Chinese was held in London on Sunday. Organized by London Chinatown Chinese Association, the contest is part of the "Cultures of China Water Cube Cup" Chinese Songs Contest, a global activity designed to introduce Chinese culture and to tell Chinese stories to the world. A total of 20 participants competed in the United Kindom division's final round. In the end, three front-runners from the youth group and the top three from the adult group, as well as the winner from the foreign-friends group, qualified for further competition at the global level. Masayo Ono, a Chinese songs' lover, told Xinhua that she grew up in a Chinese-Japanese family. Although she had taken part in the Chinese speech competition in Japan before, it is her first time being part of the "Water Cube Cup." "I love singing and love learning Chinese ... it was fun to learn one of my favourite songs in Chinese," said Stuart Boother, the winner of the foreign-friends group. His performance evoked an enthusiastic response from the audience. Boother told Xinhua it was his second time competing in the contest, and he hoped to join the contest again next year. Fascinated by Chinese culture, Boother said he went to China to learn Kungfu years ago and recently visited Guangzhou and Guilin in south China. "Today was fantastic. I listened with a lot of happiness and excitement," MP Mark Logan told Xinhua. He regards music as one of the best ways to deepen cultural exchange. The "Water Cube Cup," initiated in 2011, has attracted contestants around the world for more than a decade. It aims at strengthening the link between China and the world through the Chinese culture. A rescuer injured in the Russian shelling in the city of Dnipro last night is being operated. Two more victims are in the hospital, and the rest of the injured are being treated on an outpatient basis. Source: Interfax-Ukraine news agency with a reference to a briefing of Mykola Lukashuk, the head of the Dnipropetrovsk Oblast State Administration, at the Ukraine Ukrinform media centre Quote from Lukashuk: "There are wounded people. One of the wounded is an employee of the State Emergency Service, because the fire department of the State Emergency Service in the Dnipro district was destroyed and damaged. Now this young man (he is 27 years old) is undergoing surgery." Details: Lukashuk added that debris of a rocket and downed drones fell in the Ilarionivska hromada of the Synelnykivskyi district (a hromada is an administrative unit, which includes a town, village and adjacent settlements ed.). Private homes and five-storey buildings were damaged there. Seven people were injured; two women are currently in the hospital, and five are being treated at home on an outpatient basis. Serhii Lysak, the head of the Dnipropetrovsk Oblast Military Administration, reported that the defence forces "did their best" by shooting down four cruise missiles and 14 Shahed drones in one sitting. He added that all the victims of the attack received medical help, and the owners of damaged houses will be provided with construction materials. "We will support the subunit of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine as well. We will supply it with equipment and everything they need so that they are able to help the residents of Dnipropetrovsk Oblast. The most important thing is that there have been no fatalities," Lysak summed up. Background: Earlier, it was reported that during the Russian air attack on Dnipropetrovsk Oblast on the night of 21-22 May, the air defence forces shot down 15 drones and four cruise missiles. As a result of the strikes in the oblast, residential buildings, private business buildings and cars have been damaged, and eight people have been injured; three of them have been taken to the hospital. A rescuer was injured and over 20 items of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine were destroyed. On the night of 21-22 May, the Russian occupiers launched attacks on the military and infrastructure facilities of the city of Dnipro, having launched 16 missiles of different types and 20 Shahed drones; all drones and four cruise missiles were shot down by Ukraine's Air Force. Journalists fight on their own frontline. Support Ukrainska Pravda or become our patron! Rochester Institute of Technology will be one of 11 universities to participate in a high-level research and development program for semiconductor technology, it was announced last week at the G7 Summit in Hiroshima, Japan. The initiative, called UPWARDS for the Future, was established by Micron Technology, the company that recently announced a $100 billion investment in the Syracuse area. In will involve five schools in Japan and six in the United States, also including Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy. The universities will help develop semiconductor curricula and grow a more diverse engineering workforce. Micron and others will fund it with about $60 million over five years, according to a press release. "As a leading producer of STEM graduates, Rochester Institute of Technology recognizes the crucial role that semiconductors and related technologies play in driving innovation and economic growth," RIT President David Munson said in a statement. More importantly, we are committed to fostering diversity and removing educational barriers. We look forward to partnering with our academic colleagues in Japan and in the United States, as well as Micron, through the UPWARDS for the Future initiative to advance semiconductor research and workforce development." Rochester Institute of Technology professors Karl Hirschman, Stefan Preble and Seth Hubbard developing and fabricating integrated circuits. RIT already has a microelectronic engineering program, one of the first in the nation, and more than 1,500 alumni working in the semiconductor field now, it said. Semiconductors are a crucial component of all electronic devices; Micron focuses primarily on chips for memory and storage uses. Gaining a market advantage in their production and use has turned into an international race, particularly between the United States and China. China this month banned the use of Micron memory chips in some cases, a move viewed as retaliation for restrictions the United States lay against China in March. As a sign of the industry's geopolitical significance, U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and Japanese Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Keiko Nagaoka were present for the signing of the UPWARDS for the Future agreement. Besides RIT and RPI, the other participating universities are Boise State University, Purdue University, the University of Washington and Virginia Tech in the U.S. and Hiroshima University, Kyushu University, Nagoya University, Tohoku University and Tokyo Institute of Technology in Japan. RIT's specialized semiconductor and microsystems manufacturing lab is currently being expanded with the help of state and federal funding. Much of its involvement in UPWARDS for the Future will be concentrated in the Kate Gleason College of Engineering and the College of Engineering Technology. This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: RIT part of U.S.-Japan semiconductor development program Robert De Niro ripped Donald Trump during the Cannes Film Festival news conference for his latest movie, the Martin Scorsese-directed Killers Of The Flower Moon. The Oscar-winning actor who has savagelybashedtheformer president in the past at first slammed Trump as stupid, but without saying the former presidents name. Later, though, De Niro laced into Trump, whos running for the GOPs 2024 presidential nomination. De Niro first called out Trump when talking about his character in the film, the cattle rancher William Hale, who instigated the Osage Nation murders in the 1920s after oil deposits were found on the land. Robert De Niro rips Donald Trump while discussing "the banality of evil" in "Killers of the Flower Moon": "We see it today and you know who Im talking about but Im not going to say his name. That guy is stupid." https://t.co/YeZrO6zkFm#Cannespic.twitter.com/AbEFa515ot Variety (@Variety) May 21, 2023 I dont understand a lot about my character, said De Niro. Part of him is sincere. The other part, where hes betraying, theres a feeling of entitlement. Its the banality of evil. Its the thing we have to watch out for. And we see it today, of course. We all know who Im going to talk about. But I wont say the name, the actor continued, clearly alluding to Trump. Because that guy is stupid, De Niro added. Imagine if youre smart. Even Hale was smart in many ways. Lily Gladstone, who plays Osage tribe member Mollie Burkhart in the movie, noted that members of the Osage attended Hales funeral. They believed until the day he died, and after, that he was their friend, that he wasnt guilty of what he was charged of, she said. De Niros comments come from the 24:45 point here: I mean, look with Trump, responded De Niro, revisiting his moments-old promise not to say the twice-impeached former presidents name. You said it, Scorsese ribbed him. I hate to say it, I hate to say it, De Niro continued. But we see what that is, and there are people who think that could do a good job. Imagine that. How insane that is. Thats all Ill say. De Niro, who recently announced hed become a father for the seventh time, has publicly taunted Trump for years. Ahead of the 2016 election, he famously blasted Trump with multiple insults in a Get Out The Vote commercial, calling him blatantly stupid, a punk, a dog, a pig, a con and a bullshit artist. De Niro also fantasized about punching Trump in the face. Related... Robert De Niro & Tiffany Chen Turn Up the Glamour for Their First Post-Baby Date Night at Cannes Film Festival Robert De Niro and his girlfriend Tiffany Chen made their first red carpet appearance as joint parents at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival. The couple, who recently welcomed daughter Gia Virginia Chen De Niro, had a glamorous night out to celebrate the premiere of De Niros new film Killers of the Flower Moon. The two were all smiles as they posed for photos on the red carpet. De Niro looked dapper in a classic black tuxedo while Chen looked stunning in a floor-length, strapless gown complete with dark and shimmering sequins. More from SheKnows CANNES, FRANCE MAY 20: Tiffany Chen and Robert De Niro depart the Killers Of The Flower Moon red carpet during the 76th annual Cannes film festival at Palais des Festivals on May 20, 2023 in Cannes, France. (Photo by Stephane Cardinale Corbis/Corbis via Getty Images) After making their grand entrance on the red carpet, De Niro and Chen attended an exclusive party hosted by Vanity Fair and Prada. The event was held at Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc and featured an array of celebrities including Bradley Cooper, Cate Blanchett, and Elle Fanning, according to E Online. The matching black ensembles and hand-holding seem to suggest the two are more on the same page as ever! CAP DANTIBES, FRANCE MAY 20: Robert De Niro and Tiffany Chen attend the Vanity Fair x Prada Party at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival at Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc on May 20, 2023 in Cap dAntibes, France. (Photo by Victor Boyko/Getty Images for Vanity Fair) Click here to read the full article. The couple isnt just about after parties, though. The two have reportetdly also taken some time during their trip to France to enjoy the sights and sounds of Cannes. They were spotted taking a romantic stroll along La Croisette and admiring the Mediterranean Sea from their hotel balcony, per Page Six. Robert De Niro recently revealed that at 79 welcomed he has welcomed his 7th child! https://t.co/2ihZ15tmcw SheKnows (@SheKnows) May 9, 2023 This is not the first time that De Niro has been seen with Chen since welcoming his seventh child. In May 2021, he was spotted attending a screening of his new movie in New York City with her by his side. He also congratulated her during an interview after the screening when asked about his significant other. Its clear that De Niro is head over heels in love with his girlfriend, and it looks like he and Chen enjoyed a well-deserved night out after welcoming little Gia! Before you go, click here to see all the celebrities who kept the baby news a secret. Jessica Biel, JUstin Timberlake Launch Gallery: 15 Famous Fathers Who Had Kids After Age 60 Best of SheKnows Sign up for SheKnows' Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Rochester named as one of the best places to live in New York. Heres why In a recent analysis conducted by U.S. News and World Report, Rochester has been ranked the 3rd best place to live in New York and as the 26th best place to live among the 150 most populous metro areas in the United States. The study evaluated various factors including value, desirability, job market strength, and quality of life to determine the rankings. The rankings are based on extensive data analysis from reputable sources such as the U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Department of Labor, according to the report. U.S. News commended Rochester for its unique combination of history and innovation. Rochester features a unique blend of history and innovation. Many of the homes and commercial buildings in downtown Rochester are original, dating back a century or more, while others are undergoing renovations to become modern lofts and workspaces. Former home to pioneers and independent thinkers like Susan B. Anthony and Frederick Douglass, Rochester has worked hard to preserve and honor its landmarks, the report said. More laurels: Washington Post names Southern Tier village as the USA's Ultimate College Town However, the true gem of Rochester, according to the report, lies in its people. Rochester residents are renowned for their warmth, kindness, and welcoming nature, setting them apart from their counterparts in other regions. This friendly atmosphere might stem from the region's strong emphasis on family values or the shared experiences endured during the long, cold winters. Whatever the reason, Rochester has gained a reputation as a welcoming and amiable community, the report said. Rochester NY rankings by US News #3 in Best Places to Live in New York #26 in Best Places to Live in U.S. #9 in Best Places to Live for Quality of Life in U.S. #25 in Safest Places to Live in U.S. #50 in Best Places to Retire in U.S. Rochester NY stats complied by US News Metro Population: 1,088,373 Median Home Price: $240,332 Median Monthly Rent: $965 Median Age: 40.4 years old Average Annual Salary: $56,830 Unemployment Rate: 8.8% Average Commute: 21.3 minutes Average High Temps: 57.05 F Average Low Temps: 39.25 F Average Rainfall: 34.27 inches Best places to live New York #1 Albany (ranked #17 in U.S.) #2 Syracuse (ranked #22 in U.S.) #3 Rochester (ranked #26 in U.S.) #4 Buffalo (ranked #27 in U.S.) #5 New York City (ranked #98 in U.S.) This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Rochester named one of the best places to live in New York by US News Rock Hill man charged after shooting in shopping center parking lot, police say A Rock Hill man has been charged after a shooting Sunday afternoon in a parking lot near a shopping center, police said. The victim was found on the ground at 851 Heckle Boulevard before 4 p.m., according to a written statement from the Rock Hill Police Department. The victim was not identified. The incident address given by police is a shopping center near the intersection of South Cherry Road and Heckle Boulevard that has several businesses. No other injuries were reported, Rock Hill Police Lt. Michael Chavis said. The victim was taken to Piedmont Medical Center hospital with an arm injury, according to police. Police have charged Johntavious Dquise Burris, 33, of Rock Hill, with first-degree assault and battery, the police statement said. Officers said in the statement that Burris allegedly shot the victim after an ongoing dispute. The charge is a felony, South Carolina law states. No other information has been released. From authentic Roman-style pizza to Spanish cuisine to fine dining, Rockland is bursting with new eateries, many with an Italian or Latin focus. Four have opened; five are opening soon. Details follow. Sparkill: A new fine dining restaurant opens Where's Jeanne eating? Sign up for the free lohudfood newsletter New in Rockland: 5 spots, from coffee to Mexican food Joe Bono, owner of the newly opened Mille Luci Pizzeria & Wine Bar in New City where Roman-style pizza is served -- up to 10 feet in long boxes! Recently opened Joe Bono grew up in restaurants. Now, along with his father, Joe Sr., he's opened his first pizzeria and wine bar it opened May 21 serving an Italian-only wine list and pizza that uses a proprietary dough blended with three flours. Bono said the pizza is GMO free and has less sugar and carbs than other pizzas, making it easier to digest. It's also fun to eat as the signature Roman style pizza, which you can also get in personal Neapolitan style, comes in sizes that range from two feet (which generally serves two) to 10 feet (which can serve 10 to 12). The Neapolitan is also available gluten-free. All pizzas come with the option to add a variety of toppings. Mille Lucci is named in memory of Joe Jr.'s grandfather, Biagio Bono (his photo hangs on the wall alongside Frank Sinatra, Sophia Loren and images from 'The Godfather'), who owned the long-closed Caffee Mille Lucci in Brooklyn in the 1970s. Just be warned: This place is cash-only but there's an ATM on site, with no surcharge. Resrvations also highly suggested, especially if planning on ordering the eight or 10-foot long pizzas. 170 North Main St., 845-639-5373, millelucipizza.com The dining room of The Best Diner, which opened in Suffern May 13. Photographed May 13, 2023 Shaimi Jacob and Miguel Solarzano, the owners behind Adaraka, which had been in Suffern since July 2019, have rebranded their Indian restaurant, which prided itself on its organic food, to a new concept called The Best Diner. The family restaurant, open since May 12, is focused on filling a void left by the now closed Airmont Diner with breakfast, lunch and dinner. Diners can expect American food like egg wraps, chicken wings, pancakes, pasta, burgers, French toast, sandwiches and salads, along with Spanish cuisine such as Carne Asada, paella and Aroz Con Pollo. 26 Lafayette Ave., 845-357-5700, bestdinerny.com Latin food with Puerto Rican and Dominican influences is on the menu at this lively new spot, open since April 14. On the menu: Pernil, Churrasco, Arroz con Pollo, and Bistec Encebollado, along with fun cocktails like Fuego Frio (Beach Whiskey Cinnamon, Liquor 43, strawberry puree and lime juice), Crash Boat (Malibu, Hennessey, Blu Curacao and pineapple juice), margaritas, mojitos and frozen drinks. 191 S. Main St., 845-499-2660, sazonypilon.com This fine dining Italian restaurant which lohud did a sneak peek of opened May 9. The name Verace (Veh-Ra-Tse), which chef/owner Vittorio Lanni phonetically spells on the menu, translates to "real, accurate, genuine and traditional," and is the kind of food he prides himself on. The 40-seat, elegantly decorated space is an ode to the 20 regions of Italy featuring 90% of ingredients imported from Italy along with all Italian wines and 15 different Italian grappas and amaros. 645 Main St., Sparkill, 845-470-2505, lanniscucina.com Opening soon Angelo Competiello, who recently beat Bobby Flay on the Food Network, is opening Alta Irpinia, an Italian takeout spot in Suffern sometime in the next two months (ish). Alta Irpinia, Suffern Angelo Competiello, who in April beat Bobby Flay on the Food Network episode entitled "Under the Tuscan Sun," is opening a takeout Italian spot sometime in the next two months serving lunch and dinner. The spot will be a hybrid of a salumeria and pizzeria, he said, with woodfired pizza, homemade cheese, imported cheese, cured meats, sandwiches and other prepared foods along with a small grocery selection. The name of his place is based around Alta Irpinia, the region his father was born, and where he spent a lot of time growing up. Competiello's father, it should be noted, along with other family members, are the original owners of the A&S Fine Foods stores in Westchester and Connecticut (he was raised working in the Thornwood store). Competiello previously had a store in Wyckoff, New Jersey that he sold in 2020. 57 Lafayette Ave. Pizzetiello, Pearl River Daniel Nizzardini grew up in Clarkstown and spent the 2010s working in restaurants in New York City, most notably at Danny Meyer's Union Square Hospitality Group's Marta. He was also, in 2021, the catering manager for Westchester Chef David DiBari's woodfired pizza truck Doughnation. Most recently, he worked as the lead pizzaiolo at L'antica Pizzeria Da Michele in the West Village. Now, he's opening his own place, with a nod to Naples, where his family is from (and where he spent different points of his youth and early adulthood). Long story, short: Diners can expect an Italian-style, 40-seat rustic trattoria offering a menu consisting of shared and small plates when he opens sometime this summer. The focus will be on local producers from the Hudson Valley and greater tristate area. Nizzardini also said to expect naturally leavened personal sized Neapolitan pizzas paired with domestic and Italian biodynamic wines, along with many Southern Italian inspired tapas. 41 E. Central Ave. Dom ToGo, New City Look for an opening of this Italian takeout spot in six to eight weeks. Owner Dominick Lexandra, who built his shop to be like getting Grandma's food to go (i.e. chicken parm, meatball parm heros, fried eggplant, salads and barbecue baby back ribs), also owns a similar space in Nanuet. He's taking over the former Petey Wheaty's place. 145 S. Main St. Sofia Todisco (of Sofia's Feast) and Abby Friedman (of Baked with Love by Abigail), veterans of farmers markets (mostly in Westchester), have joined forces to open a production kitchen and grab-and-go cafe that features artisanal provisions including Todisco's pasta and Friedman's baked goods. The shop, which should open mid-June, will also offer in-store cooking workshops, custom catering and wedding cakes. 11 New Main St., flourspastabakeshop.com The Rail Trail Cafe & Mercantile in Blauvelt, owned by Rockland Chef Kerri Horgan, should open sometime in early September. The Rail Trail Cafe & Mercantile, Blauvelt Chef Kerri Horgan, who some in Rockland may remember from Nanuet Restaurant, The Grape D'Vine and Cafe Diem, is opening a cafe with her sister, Coleen Dahlem, sometime after Labor Day. The restaurant, located next to the Joseph P. Clarke Rail Trail, will feature elevated comfort food along with coffee, smoothies, baked goods, and perhaps vintage candy. The sisters also plan to pay homage to the rail trail and the Northern Railroad in their decor. The restaurant will offer breakfast and lunch to start, with dinner and special event pop-ups as a possibility down the road. The two will also sell merchandise. 545 Western Highway Jeanne Muchnick covers food and dining. Click here for her most recent articles and follow her latest dining adventures on Instagram @lohud_food or via the lohudfood newsletter. This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: New Rockland County NY restaurants opening include Italian, Spanish I rode the Train to the Clouds, one of the highest passenger trains in the world. The bird's-eye views made the altitude sickness worth it. A view of the Viaducto La Polvorilla from the Tren a las Nubes. Rodrigo Valle/Getty Images I rode the Tren a las Nubes, or Train to the Clouds, through Salta, Argentina, for the first time. It's one of the highest passenger trains in the world, rising about 13,845 feet above sea level. The 13-hour excursion was a wonderful way to explore northern Argentina, and it only cost $84. Before my recent trip to Argentina, I'd only traveled through the country by plane or bus, but it's had trains running through it since the 1850s. Following the railways' privatization in the late 20th century, the number of active passenger trains dwindled, but the most famous one the Tren a las Nubes, or the Train to the Clouds is still in operation. It's also one of the highest passenger trains in the world, rising about 13,845 feet above sea level. My friend and I signed up for a round-trip, full-day excursion through northern Argentina's Salta province aboard the Tren a las Nubes. I paid 23,850 Argentine pesos (about $84 thanks to a parallel exchange rate) for my ticket. Here's what the 13-hour journey was like. To begin the journey, we boarded a bus in Salta that delivered us to the train's departure station. On the bus, my friend and I shared a tortilla de grasa, which is a grilled tortilla sandwich with ham and white cheese. Christine Gilbert The Tren a las Nubes originally connected Argentina and Chile when it was built in the early 20th century. It's since become a popular tourist attraction with a shorter route between San Antonio de los Cubres and Viaducto la Polvorilla. First, we had to ride a bus to the train's departure station. So at about 6 a.m. on the morning of my journey, I waited to board a bus in Salta, a city with an elevation of approximately 1,187 feet, that would take us to San Antonio de los Cubres. The price of the bus ride was included with my ticket. Though we had to stand in a line that snaked around to the ticket office, the check-in process only took 12 minutes. We left the station at 7 a.m. and sipped mate, a caffeinated tea popular in Argentina, while the onboard tour guide shared a brief history of Salta, translating the information into both Spanish and English. The bus cruised along National Route 51, ascending in elevation before stopping at Campo Quijano, a town known as "the portal of the Andes" where some passengers got off to take photos with an old train engine. We passed the first viaduct of the trip and both felt a bit of altitude sickness during the bus ride. We passed the Viaducto el Toro during the first part of the bus ride. Christine Gilbert About 30 minutes into our trip, we stopped at Viaducto del Toro, an impressive structure that bridges over a river. Along the way, locals sold clothing made of llama and alpaca wool, and I bought a pair of maroon leg warmers. Quinoa plants dotted the landscape, and we passed hundreds of native cacti that can grow to 70 feet tall. As our bodies adjusted to the elevation gain, my friend got a headache, and I fell asleep. It was comforting to know that medics were onboard the buses and the train with oxygen canisters as a safety precaution. We stopped for a breakfast break along the way in a small village called El Alfarcito. El Alfarcito is a tiny village that was on the way to San Antonio de los Cobres. Christine Gilbert The bus stopped at El Alfarcito, a small village where I saw a school, a few llamas, and a bus painted like the Scooby Doo Mystery Machine. We ate our breakfast, which consisted of several kinds of dry bread and tea made of coca leaf and hot water. Andean groups have long used the plant as a high-altitude aid, and scientific research suggests that the leaves can cause biochemical changes in the body that lead to performance enhancement at high altitudes. The dark-green liquid tasted a bit too much like grass for my liking. Maybe it was the coca leaves, or maybe I was just adjusting to the higher altitude, but the mild headache I'd started to develop subsided after I drank a small cup of the tea. About five hours after our bus' departure, we finally boarded the Tren a las Nubes in San Antonio de los Cobres. Each car had quotes about travel painted on the walls from luminaries like Lao Tzu to Julio Cortazar. Christine Gilbert By 12 p.m., we reached San Antonio de los Cobres, a town that sits at an elevation of approximately 12,385 feet, and boarded the Tren a las Nubes. Our assigned seats, which were comfortable but certainly not plush, were sectioned into a group of four. Big windows were on either side of the train, meaning everyone saw the same views since the train took the same route in the opposite direction on the way back. A snack cart came by twice during the ride to sell items like ham sandwiches, but the tortilla de grasa a grilled tortilla sandwich of ham and white cheese my friend and I ate earlier looked tastier and cost less. Hot water was also available for people who had wanted to fill their thermoses to make mate. Luckily, we had access to bathrooms at the end of each car that were basic but clean. The best parts of the train ride were looking out at the landscapes and spotting wildlife. I saw a chinchilla in the wild for the first time in my life during the rail journey. Christine Gilbert Our train guide gave an overview of sites and the animals we might see, including pumas and "big-butted chinchillas." About 15 minutes later, I saw a chinchilla's furry behind hurtling over a hill, marking the first time in my life I'd seen one of the creatures. We also passed the Termas de Pompeya, an undeveloped hot spring. Train passengers were eager to get photos of the Viaducto la Polvorilla, the most famous attraction on the train's route. The Tren a las Nubes slowed down on the Viaducto la Polvorilla so passengers had time for photos. Christine Gilbert Viaducto la Polvorilla is the most famous site on the route. Built in the 1930s, it's the highest point on the journey and spans the length of a canyon. About 45 minutes after passing the viaduct, we approached our turning point, an abandoned silver mine called Mina Concordia. The train stopped for about 15 minutes, so I photographed old mining structures from the porthole windows. By 1 p.m., the train was heading back toward Viaducto la Polvorilla. Thankfully, the train slowed to give everyone enough time to take photos out the window. We stopped and got off the train to watch a flag ceremony. The Tren a las Nubes passengers gathered for the flag ceremony. Christine Gilbert I bought another tortilla and watched the Argentinian flag being raised as the national anthem crackled over a speaker. Once we got back on the train, a passenger in our car started feeling light-headed, so a medic gave her oxygen. Our last stops were at a local festival in San Antonio de los Cobres and a UNESCO World Heritage site called the Qhapaq Nan in Santa Rosa del Tastil. One of the customs of the Day of Pachamama is to put offerings in a hole. Christine Gilbert We alighted from the train in San Antonio de los Cobres, ate empanadas for lunch, and walked to an annual festival honoring Pachamama, the name of the Andean people's Mother Earth deity. Locals gathered in an outdoor courtyard, where some poured food and drinks into a hole by a smoky fire as offerings and others spun around, waving handkerchiefs as they danced. We left San Antonio de los Cobres on our bus at 4:30 p.m. and made our last stop at the village of Santa Rosa del Tastil. In pre-Columbian times, Santa Rosa del Tastil was a large city, and a waypoint on the Qhapaq Nan, also known as the Inca Trail. The only indicators of this area's former life as a metropolis are well-preserved ruins and a small museum called the Museo de Sitio Santa Rosa de Tastil. I passed shops selling souvenirs and bags of Andean potatoes, a popular item for tourists to purchase and cook at home. We arrived in Salta at 8 p.m., making it a 13-hour trip in total. I wouldn't have gotten the same experience crossing the Viaducto la Polvorilla and spotting wildlife if I was exploring by car, so I'm glad I opted for the Tren a las Nubes. The Tren a las Nubes runs between San Antonio de los Cubres and Viaducto la Polvorilla. Christine Gilbert The landscapes I saw driving around Salta with my friends were equally as stunning as the ones I saw from the train window. However, I got unique views of the Viaducto la Polvorilla and wildlife that I wouldn't have behind the wheel. I'd definitely recommend that solo travelers without a car take the Tren a las Nubes to explore northern Argentina's landscapes. Even though the Tren a las Nubes felt older than some of the trains I've taken in the US, it seemed well-maintained and was clean inside. Train travel isn't for everyone, though. Individuals who are sensitive to altitude sickness should think twice before taking the train, or at least try to acclimate ahead of time. I also wouldn't recommend the trip to those planning a very short trip (a week or less) to Argentina. Squeezing in a full-day visit to Salta from Buenos Aires wouldn't exactly be a relaxing feat. But tourists who plan on spending more than a week here and want to experience several days up north in Salta should definitely consider taking this ride to the clouds. Read the original article on Insider "Digital transformation" and AI remain very buzzy terms in the world of enterprise software, and today a startup operating in Romania that's built a platform that taps into both concepts, and is seeing user traction in the financial sector, has raised a decent round of funding. FlowX.ai -- which lets enterprises port legacy and newer software into a single place to build and run applications and services based around them -- has raised $35 million, a Series A that it will be using to continue developing its product and growing its business internationally. The company's HQ is in New York, the engineering team is in Romania and all current investors are also European. Dawn Capital led the round with PortfoLion, SeedBlink and DayOne Capital -- which previously backed the company in a $9 million seed round -- also participating. FlowX.ai today primarily works with enterprises in the financial sector -- customers include BNP Paribas, OTP, Banca Transilvania and Alpha Bank -- and leans heavily on third parties like systems integrators (IBM, KPMG, etc.) to connect with would-be users. The plan is to keep focusing on financial customers for now but to widen the funnel over time. Its sweet spot is helping these big legacy players launch new services faster that can be used internally, or alternatively externally to compete with the new products that so-called neobanks and other new players are putting out into the market. FlowX.ai claims that since launching its product in 2021, some 30 million users have interacted with products and services built using its platform. FlowX.ai isn't disclosing its valuation but PitchBook lists some of the startup's recent financials. According to those, its revenues for the year that ended December 2022 were a mere $1.55 million but grew by over 735% compared to the year before. Ioan Iacob -- the CEO who co-founded the company with Radu Cautis and Serban Chiricescu -- declined to comment on valuation and those revenue figures but confirmed the growth number was accurate. The problem that FlowX.ai is tackling is not one that is new. Companies like MuleSoft, Boomi, Sapho, Tray.io and SnapLogic, and many others, have for years been working on solutions to make it easier for enterprises to corral and make use of legacy and newer applications and to build services around them faster and easier. The fact that the first three in that list were respectively acquired by Salesforce, Dell and Citrix is a strong sign of how big the business potential is in this space, and the value of that to the bigger tech players in the industry. This startup's particular approach to the space is its application of AI, specifically using it to automate some of the integration, application and service creation that businesses are spending lots of time and money on doing manually. This is particularly an interesting problem, and solution, given FlowX.ai's target market: the finance sector. Many banks and other financial services organizations have been on long "digital transformation" roads for years -- some new software has been added to meet more regulatory demands, some to improve or launch specific new products and some in answer to the fact that newer startups are stealing customers with better services. But the reality is that many of these companies are still working with a combination of tools, including a lot of very old, legacy systems. The forever challenge at these organizations is how to get old software and old data to work with new applications and new data, or to simply get older software to work in a more modern and less siloed way. This is not just endemic to finance, but it's often seen as one of the more painful industries when it comes to modernization and what Iacob believes have been empty promises, not least because a lot of digital transformation platforms required too much input from time-poor engineers, or underdelivered on what non-technical staff could actually achieve without those engineers being involved. "Whatever good things were promised [in previous integration and digital transformation projects], no-code doesn't work in the enterprise. The cake is a lie," he said in an interview (the latter bit is a reference to this). "We believe the future belongs in bringing together business development teams and engineers, augmenting that with AI, and giving them the power to build fast and use any language to do that." The crux of the platform is an open architecture, which can be extended with any programming language, he said. This "connector technology," he said, allows users to "integrate any system." "It's a completely new paradigm for building," he added, using AI and specifically generative AI to let users ask for new services in natural language to produce results that can in turn be fine-tuned by engineers. Romania's been an interesting country when it comes to enterprise startups. It has been known for strong technical talent for years but it was only relatively recently that it marked out its place on the map of European startup ecosystems. Several years ago, a number of investors struck gold when another startup out of the region, UiPath, turned out to be one of the fastest-growing and successful enterprise startups to emerge in years, essentially leading the charge in the emerging category of robotic process automation (it's now publicly traded). That led many to look deeper at startups out of the country. For the record, UiPath's Series A, in 2017, was just over $29 million. And also for the record: FlowX.ai has all European investors, all of its R&D in Romania and three Romanian founders, but does not consider itself Romanian, or did not believe this was how I should describe them. Still, I will point out that the $35 million getting announced today by FlowX.ai is sizable not just for a startup with roots in Romania but for the market as a whole, where average round sizes are down significantly in what has been a bigger squeeze on technology finance in the last year. The argument here in some part is that this startup is valuable because it is helping to spur more business in another valuable sector: finance. FlowX.ai cites research that estimates that some $2 trillion was spent on digital transformation projects last year, and that equally $2 trillion was lost from software errors in the same period -- the idea being that its tools can both nab some of that investment, but also reduce some of that loss. And that potential to serve both financial businesses and beyond is what Dawn sees as the big opportunity. "We have seen a similar pattern before, where the company starts with financial services, which is a very demanding sector, and then move on to other categories," said Evgenia Plotnikova, a general partner at Dawn, in an interview. Updated to correct age of company (the product launched in 2021, not four years ago). The News The presidential campaign-in-waiting and super PAC supporting Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis are trying to warm up the governors cold war with the journalists who cover him. DeSantis had taken apparent pride in a combative operation, led by his former press secretary Christina Pushaw, that sparred with reporters on Twitter and often ignored their inquiries. Pushaw is poised to run his campaigns rapid response operation. But after weeks of relentlessly negative coverage of his nascent campaign, his staff have quietly begun the traditional campaign work of providing access for reporters and input for their stories, according to people close to the various DeSantis organizations and half a dozen journalists who have engaged with them. The new DeSantis Glasnost has been run primarily through the Never Back Down super PAC. Two 2024 national political reporters said the comms team for the campaign-in-waiting has also been informally reaching out to reporters off the record to spin stories, and has begun to invite some down to Florida to meet key staffers. "I'm so pushing media engagement. He can't operate like he did in FL, one person close to DeSantis told Semafor. "They have been super guarded in Florida, which I think worked very well for them there in a state environment, the source continued. It'd be one thing if we were leading or [if] we're only down five. Max's view My colleague Benjy Sarlin wrote recently that DeSantis had taken the lessons of Donald Trump literally, not seriously. Trump attacked the press but also spoke to them constantly. And its now become a common refrain among political reporters that even Trump, a notoriously aggressive critic of his press coverage, has been much more accessible and eager to engage with political reporters in recent months than the Florida governor. DeSantis still has not sat down with any of the non-Fox networks for a major interview in recent months, and often leaves political events without addressing the media. National reporters who had flown from Washington and Miami to cover the governors New Hampshire campaign stop were disappointed when he did not take questions from journalists at a diner or during a meeting with state legislators. His staff have followed his lead enthusiastically, aggressively publicly admonishing reporters who publish critical coverage of the governor. The hardball tactics of the governors office already have pushed some national journalists on the beat to be more careful: Two of the 2024 campaign reporters said they dont send any emails or texts to the governors office they wouldnt think would end up in an angry or mocking tweet from his press staff. But the pugilistic stance with the press has done the campaign-in-waiting no favors. The governors poll numbers have fallen in the months since his reelection. While DeSantis remains in second in most early primary polls, the governors absence from the media has created an opening for other media-friendly candidates like Trump and Vivek Ramaswamy to define the narratives in the race. I caught a glimpse last year of the governor and his allies odd policy toward the news media of ignoring first, and complaining later. In December, we published a straightforward story about DeSantis alternative Florida media ecosystem. While the governors team was aware of the piece before it was published, we didnt receive a response or any information or context from DeSantis camp. But despite the fact that the piece we wrote wasnt particularly negative, the governors team criticized the piece on Twitter at length after it was published. Part of the response can be chalked up to the awkward limbo the governor has been in over the past several months. While Trump and other GOP candidates got into the race early, the Florida governor has waited, meaning the bulk of requests have fallen to his gubernatorial communications staff. That staff has been overwhelmed with a deluge of comment requests, and at times, have steered questions to other employees outside his government office. Now that the campaign is beginning in earnest, DeSantis will have a larger and more official 2024 staff to respond to reporters queries. The View From The Networks DeSantis team may soon have one advantage over Trump. While Trumps team has privately made it clear that they viewed the CNN town hall as a success and would welcome others, the networks do not want to repeat CNNs apparent mistakes, and are only seeking one-on-one live or pre-taped interviews with Trump. Room for Disagreement Some of DeSantiss allies believe he will thrive by throwing himself into a more hostile press interview environment. Let the tiger out of the cage, the person close to him said. You can always dial it back in if it's not working. Notable Students create imitations of relics and artworks in a handicraft experience session at Chengdu Museum in Chengdu, southwest China's Sichuan Province, May 18, 2023. (Xinhua/Tang Wenhao) Cuban school girl Maia Santana Fong sat in silence before a small rhino sculpture and carefully colored it with bright paint. The object was a replica of an 8.5-tonne stone rhino dating back nearly 2,000 years that she had just seen on display at Chengdu Museum in southwest China's Sichuan Province. Maia is a sixth-grade student at SPGS International School Chengdu, and took part in a cooperative activity on Thursday between her school and Chengdu Museum, in celebration of International Museum Day. More than 20 classmates from different countries and regions, including Chile, Canada and Singapore, participated in the event. The students visited the exhibition on the city's history and culture, learning about the cultural connotations of the sculptures, brick portraits, lacquerware and Shu brocade through English explanations and special lectures. They also created imitations of the relics and artworks in a handicraft experience session. "I find them interesting as they are something that I've never seen, but I've long heard of," said Maximiliano, a boy from Chile, who has been in China with his parents for six years. He said the museum tour helped him to get a better feel for the richness of Chinese culture. Other students expressed their fascination with the ancient legend surrounding the stone rhino sculpture, involving a good spirit that protected the locals from flooding. Chris Rowley, a British teacher at SPGS International School Chengdu, explained that the students can normally only learn about such relics through images and videos in a classroom setting. Seeing the relics with their own eyes at the museum helps them to study China's history and culture more effectively, the teacher said. Ran Jing, director of the museum's social education department, said that the exchange activity served as a bridge between the school and the museum, between Chinese people and foreigners, by telling China's stories through cultural relics. Chengdu is constantly improving the long-term exchange mechanism by which primary and middle school students can learn more through museums. Statistics from the municipal culture, broadcast-TV and tourism bureau show that Chengdu boasts 183 museums, taking the lead nationally. Last year alone, the city's museums carried out more than 2,700 offline and online research and learning activities, with more than 1.38 million children and adolescents participating. Thai rescue workers at the scene of a collapsed metal roof on a structure at the Wat Nern Por primary school in Phichit province in northern Thailand, Monday, May 22, 2023, Six people, including four children, died after the wind from a rainstorm collapsed the roof, and 18 people have been hospitalized following the accident, officials said. (Phichit Province's Public Relations Department via AP) BANGKOK (AP) Seven people, including four children, died Monday when strong winds from a rainstorm caused a metal roof on a schools activity center to collapse in northern Thailand, officials said Tuesday. The latest casualty was a 6-year-old boy who died late Monday night in a hospital after the collapse at the Wat Nern Por primary school, according to the public relations office in Phichit province, 300 kilometers (185 miles) north of Bangkok. Several students had gone inside the activity center to shelter from the rain when the roof collapsed, according to a Facebook post from the official disaster prevention department, and 18 people were hospitalized. Patcharin Siri, a staff member of the provincial Public Relations Department, said four boys, two parents and one member of the schools cleaning staff died. The meteorological department issued a warning for heavy rain in northern Thailand this week. Monday was also the official start of the rainy season. Prince Ludwig chivalrously caught his bride after she fainted during the church ceremony Karl-Josef Hildenbrand/picture alliance via Getty Images Sophie Evekink had a graceful recovery after fainting during her royal wedding. On Saturday, the 34-year-old doctoral student briefly lost consciousnesses during her wedding ceremony to Prince Ludwig of Bavaria. The couple tied the knot on Saturday morning at Theatiner Church in Munich, Germany, and the bride fainted in church. "A spokesperson confirmed that Princess Sophie fainted during the wedding this morning. After a drink she was fine again and the ceremony continued," royal blogger ChristinZ tweeted. Quoting a guest, German newspaper Bild similarly reported, "'The bride fell backwards, the groom caught her. The groomsmen rushed over. We are glad that she felt well again straight away.' " Karl-Josef Hildenbrand/picture alliance via Getty Images Related:Prince Ludwig of Bavaria Marries Sophie Evekink in Germany According to the outlet, Sophie fainted during her vows, and Prince Leopold also came to her aid. The royal bride, who the House of Wittelsbach now styles as Princess Sophie, seemed to be in good spirits as she exited church with Prince Ludwig, 40, and gave a wave to the crowds who came out to see them. The newlyweds then traveled to Nymphenburg Palace, where Ludwig's cousin Duke Franz of Bavaria hosted an afternoon reception. Karl-Josef Hildenbrand/picture alliance via Getty Images Prince Ludwig is in line as future head of the Bavarian family behind Duke Max of Bavaria, Franz's brother, and Prince Luitpold of Bavaria, his father. The German royal is the great-great grandson of King Ludwig III, the last King of Bavaria. Though the monarchy dissolved in the German Revolution of 1918 following World War I, the Bavarian royal family has ceremoniously continued on. Ahead of the wedding, a spokesperson told PEOPLE that the celebration would reflect regional elements and personal touches, from the participation of traditional Bavarian delegations in the ceremony and church to local food and drink on the menu. Karl-Josef Hildenbrand/picture alliance via Getty Images Related:Queen of Malaysia Reveals Dress Code for Crown Prince Hussein of Jordan's Royal Wedding (No Tiaras!) Princess Sophie was a timeless bride in a Reem Acra gown with long sheer sleeves and floral lace details, tailored locally in Bavaria. She glittered in the floral tiara Ludwig's grandmother Princess Irmingard wore on her wedding day in 1950 and a complementary veil from Ukrainian brand WONA. Her groom was classic in a suit with the insignia of the Royal Bavarian House Knights Order of Saint George and the House Knights Order of Saint Hubertus. The couple announced their engagement in August 2022, and asked for donations to Learning Lions in Kenya and the Nymphenburg Aid Association Foundation in lieu of gifts. Karl-Josef Hildenbrand/picture alliance via Getty Can't get enough of PEOPLE's Royals coverage? Sign up for our free Royals newsletter to get the latest updates on Kate Middleton, Meghan Markle and more! Princess Sophie is a dual Dutch/Canadian citizen and a graduate of University College London and the University of Oxford. She previously worked for the United Nations on health and human rights in Geneva, Switzerland and the United Nations in New York and is currently researching for her doctorate at the Law Faculty at Oxford University, where she teaches a course on transitional justice at the Criminology Centre. Prince Ludwig studied law in Gottingen, Germany, specializing in human rights and international humanitarian law. Since 2011 he's been a board member of the Nymphenburg Aid Association. For the last decade, Ludwig has spent much of his time in rural Kenya, where he's founded several non-profit organizations. At the request of Duke Franz of Bavaria, he also carries out representative and honorary tasks in Bavaria. For more People news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter! Read the original article on People. The rare polar sledge flag of a "proud Irishman" and notable 19th Century naval officer has been saved for the UK. The National Museum of the Royal Navy (NMRN) bought the flag, stopping it from going into the hands of an overseas private collector. The Kellett sledge flag was used to hunt for survivors of Captain Sir John Franklin's doomed expedition. It was saved in a campaign backed by Michael Palin and Dan Snow. It will now go on display in Hartlepool, Portsmouth and on the HMS Caroline in Belfast. The flag belonged to Vice-Admiral Sir Henry Kellett, from County Tipperary, who led two Arctic expeditions to search for Sir John Franklin's lost ships. HMS Erebus and HMS Terror disappeared with all their crew and were not found for more than 160 years. The flag is made of green silk and embroidered with an Irish harp in golden thread to reflect Kellett's Irish heritage. The NMRN launched a last-ditch bid to raise the 120,000 to keep the flag. It was made possible with help from the National Lottery Heritage Fund and the Art Fund. The Kellett flag was flown during the third of a series of expeditions from 1852 to 1854 to look for survivors, or evidence of bodies, after Franklin's expedition. Sir John Franklin led HMS Erebus and HMS Terror and 129 men on a voyage in 1845 to chart the Northwest Passage in the Canadian Arctic. The expedition's disappearance shortly after became one of the great mysteries of the age of Victorian exploration. The British government sent a number of ships to search for the expedition from 1848 to 1859 without success. HMS Erebus and HMS Terror, as they appeared in Illustrated London News Kellett led two searches, one aboard the famed HMS Resolute, which itself had to be abandoned in Arctic ice. Timbers from the ship were later used to make the Resolute desk, which is used by US presidents in the White House's Oval Office. HMS Erebus was found in 2014 and HMS Terror in 2016. "Vice-Admiral Sir Henry Kellett's sledge flag and Franklin's expedition represent courage and fortitude in the face of adversity - core elements of our national identity that echo through our history," NMRN director general Prof Dominic Tweddle said. "They also reflect the British and global obsession with finding and navigating the Northwest Passage, as well as the Royal Navy's role in expedition and exploration from Captain Cook to Darwin and HMS Beagle, to HMS Challenger in 1872, and continuing today with HMS Protector - the ice patrol ship in Antarctica and the Southern Hemisphere." Charted new routes The flag measures 595 by 885mm and is fragile. Any decision to clean the flag will have to balance the long-term preservation needs with the historical significance of the staining and ingrained dirt. The museum spokeswoman said: "The green colour has faded over time due to exposure to light, but the flag remains in fairly good condition with a small crudely sewn repair that was likely done by a member of the search party whilst on the ice. "The maker is unknown but the motto Auxilium Ab Alto translates to Help From Above." Although Kellett failed in his mission to find the ships, he helped chart new routes through the Arctic. The UK government imposed an export bar on the flag in September 2022 to allow time for a UK gallery or institution to buy it at the recommended price of 120,000. Announcing the bar, the UK government described Kellett as a "proud Irishman" and a "famous Arctic explorer". Russia attacks east overnight, 4 cruise missiles, 20 flying bombs and an aircraft shot down Russia launched 16 cruise missiles over Ukraine on the night of May 22 Explosions were heard in Dnipro, Kharkiv and Zaporizhzhya overnight. Read also: Over 700 invaders eliminated in a day, enemy aircraft destroyed General Staff Ukrainian air defenses downed all of the launched drones and four out of 16 missiles, as well as an Su-35 multi-purpose fighter in Kherson Oblast. The fighter was reported to have crashed into Ukrainian territorial waters in the Black Sea. The Ukrainian Air Force said Russia attacked Ukraine with the following weapons: four Kh-101/Kh-555 cruise missiles air-launched from Tu-95MS strategic bombers from the Caspian Sea area; five Kh-22 converted long-range anti-ship missiles from Tu-22M3 strategic bombers over the Sea of Azov and Russia's Kursk Oblast; two Iskander-M ballistic missiles from Ukraines Russian-occupied peninsula of Crimea five S-300 long-range surface-to-air missiles that Russia uses for ground attacks, launched from the occupied part of Zaporizhzhia Oblast; 20 Iranian-made suicide drones, launched from the south and north; Read also: Russian Kinzhal missile production ramps up fivefold - Defense Express Dnipropetrovsk Oblast Governor Serhiy Lysak reported on Telegram on the aftermath of the attack with photos, noting that eight civilians had been injured in the region. Seven people were injured in Synelnykove District by falling debris from intercepted drones and missiles. Three houses, nine high-rise buildings, a kindergarten and administrative building were damaged, as well as six cars. A 27-year-old rescuer was injured in Dnipro District when Russia hit a rescue unit there. There were two fires that have already been extinguished. Over ten trucks and cars were destroyed, and the same amount of special equipment was damaged. Two buses and 25 private cars were also damaged. The occupiers hit a business premises and damaged three buildings in the City of Dnipro. Read also: Russian missile strike at Dnipro destroys family, kills three-year-old and her young mother Power partly went out in the city of Zaporizhzhzya due to a Russian attack on energy facilities in the region, Anatoliy Kurtev, Zaporizhzhya city council's secretary reported on Telegram. "(Repair) work is ongoing electricity and water are gradually being restored to the city," he wrote. Read also: IAEA inspectors find explosives at Russia-occupied ZNPP No damage in Kharkiv was reported. Were bringing the voice of Ukraine to the world. Support us with a one-time donation, or become a Patron! Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine UK intelligence has reported that Russia is likely to create a new "elite" attack aircraft group, codenamed Storm, to operate over the territory of Ukraine. Source: UK Intelligence update, reported by European Pravda Details: According to the UK Defence Ministry, the unit may include at least one squadron of Su-24 and Su-34 fighter bombers, as well as attack helicopter squadrons. This combination of aircraft types indicates that the group will play a major role in strikes against ground targets. The UK Defence Ministry is citing Russian media as saying that the Russian Defence Ministry is seeking to attract highly qualified and motivated pilots by offering large payments and is also opening up recruitment to retired pilots. Quote: "The creation of the group highlights how Russian assesses its regular air force squadrons have severely underperformed in their core function of conducting airstrikes on Ukrainian lines." Background: Earlier, UK intelligence reported that Russia changed its tactics in missile attacks on Ukraine, starting to use unarmed reconnaissance UAVs more often. Journalists fight on their own frontline. Support Ukrainska Pravda or become our patron! Andriy Yusov According to Yusov, the evacuation is taking place at the Belgorod-22 site, a knows stockpile of nuclear weapons. There are even reports of (further) evacuation measures; Belgorod-22 facility a nuclear armaments storage facility is also being evacuated, Yusov said. Read also: Fire engulfs administrative building in Belgorod Oblast, alleged drone attack reported He added that the Russians are using heavy equipment and a significant number of personnel to carry out the operation. Yusov also emphasized that the situation in Belgorod Oblast is an "internal conflict," and that Ukraines defense forces are solely focused on liberating their own territory. Earlier on May 22, the Freedom of Russia Legion, together with the Russian Volunteer Corps (RVC), claimed they have liberated Kozinka and Gora-Podol in Russias Belgorod Oblast. Read also: Russias missile terror has failed, Ukraines intel says Ukrainian officials said Kyiv is aware of these developments, with no direct involvement in what they described as an internal Russian matter. Belgorod Governor, Vyacheslav Gladkov, subsequently announced a counter-terrorism operation being underway in the region. Read also: Kremlin reacts to hostilities in Belgorod Oblast: Putin informed, says press secretary Were bringing the voice of Ukraine to the world. Support us with a one-time donation, or become a Patron! Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine Russia is fortifying its 600-mile front line with anti-tank ditches, mazes of trenches, 'dragon's teeth' barricades, and minefields, reports say In this photo released by Russian Defense Ministry Press Service on May 18, 2023, a Russian 152mm self-propelled Giatsint-S fires toward Ukrainian positions at an undisclosed location. Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP Satellite images show the scale of Russia's new defenses as Ukraine preps for a counteroffensive. Russia has constructed miles of trenches, rows of concrete "dragon's teeth," and minefields. Much of the defense focuses on Crimea, annexed by Russia in 2014, which Ukraine wants back. Satellite images show Russian efforts to heavily fortify positions along its front lines in Ukraine, as it prepares for an expected Ukrainian counteroffensive. These include miles of trenches, minefields, anti-tank ditches and "dragon's teeth," spiky pieces of concrete to stop tanks and other military vehicles along the front, which stretches across the south and east of Ukraine. The BBC analyzed hundreds of satellite images of Russia's front lines, and military experts also analyzed images of the 600-mile front for the Financial Times and The Washington Post. Those images reveal extensive efforts to defend key locations and routes. Military analysts told the Financial Times that Russia's defenses won't be enough to stop Ukraine moving forward, but will likely slow down its efforts. They said the defenses were likely designed to force Ukraine's army to come under intense fire. Available images show new Russian defenses along the west coast of the Crimea region, which Russia annexed from Ukraine in 2014, the reports said. Crimea holds huge logistical and symbolic significance to both countries, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has repeatedly said that Ukraine will not rest until it retakes the peninsula. Ian Matveev, a Russian military analyst, told the Washington Post that Russia's defenses there show that its military understands that Crimea "will have to be defended in the near future." Russia is using razor wire, minefields, and a zigzag network of trenches along its front line in Zaporizhzhia, which Ukraine would likely have to break through to get to Crimea, reports said. Satellite images of the town of Medvedivka, which is along one of the roads that connects the peninsula, also show long trenches and rows of "dragon's teeth," the Post reported. Other images show similar fortifications in place in other parts of the peninsula. Images show that some of the defenses in Crimea were built in a matter of days, the Post reported. The Financial Times reported that northern Crimea had been "heavily fortified with a combination of trenches and tank traps," including in areas that are key to connecting it to the mainland. Sergei Aksyonov, the Russian-appointed governor of Crimea, said last month that Russia was building defensive structures in and around Crimea. The BBC also reported new Russian fortifications near Mariupol, the southeastern city that Russia seized in May 2022. These include circular trenches that allow soldiers to use weapons that can fire from multiple angles while still being protected. One expert told the BBC that these kinds of defenses could be really obvious to Ukraine through drone and satellite imagery, which means they could be part of a trap. Russia has also put up defenses near the eastern cities of Severodonetsk, Lysychansk and Popasna, which Ukraine faces "significant challenges" to retake, the Financial Times reported. And it has also done so along the northern border of Luhansk province in eastern Ukraine, the Financial Times said. The BBC also identified anti-tank ditches and trenches along 22 miles of the E105 highway, near the southeastern city of Tokmak, as well as trenches and other fortifications north of the city itself. The UK Ministry of Defence said in April that Russia had moved to a more defensive position in preparation for "anticipated Ukrainian offensive operations." The timing of any Ukrainian counteroffensive is unclear. Ukraine's expected offensive would come after Russia managed to capture only a tiny amount of Ukrainian territory since it launched its own offensive operations in February. Read the original article on Business Insider Russia gains ground in Bakhmut, Ukraine says it will keep fighting A local man hauls a bicycle with humanitarian aid in front of a house which was destroyed by Russian shelling in Orihiv, Ukraine, on Monday, May 22, 2023. | Andriy Andriyenko, Associated Press Russia claimed it took control of the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut on Saturday a territory that it has been fighting for ground in for months. The fighting in Bakhmut marks the wars bloodiest battlefield, according to The Washington Post. The proclamation from Russia on Sunday gave Moscow its first chance to declare a substantial victory for more than 10 months, Reuters reported. Ukraine says the Russian reinforcements within Bakhmut will weaken Moscows lines elsewhere, per Reuters. The offensive potential of the enemy has been significantly reduced. Huge losses have been inflicted on the enemy. We have gained time for certain actions, which will be revealed later, Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar said, per The Associated Press. Gen. Oleksandr Syrsky, the commander of Ukraines ground forces, said that only a small contingent of Ukrainian soldiers is now inside Bakhmut, The New York Times reported. According to the Times, it seems Ukraines strategy around Bakhmut is changing Officials now appear to be acknowledging that their focus is changing from defending Bakhmut to making it difficult for Russians to hold it. Now, Russian troops are working to demine the city. The Russian forces that liberated the city are checking buildings for explosives. It is important for us to carry out a complete, thorough demining, Denis Pushilin, acting head of the self-proclaimed Donetsk Peoples Republic said, per CNN. This is very painstaking and difficult work, given the scale of the hostilities that took place there. In Ukraines perspective, the important factor has been the high number of Russian casualties and sapping of their adversarys morale for the small patch of the front line, according to AP News. Russia says F-16s to Ukraine would raise question of NATO involvement (Reuters) - The transfer of F-16 jets to Ukraine would raise the question of NATO's role in the conflict and would not undermine Russia's military goals, senior Russian diplomats said on Monday. U.S. President Joe Biden on Friday endorsed training programs for Ukrainian pilots on F-16 fighter jets and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy assured Biden that the aircraft would not be used to go into Russian territory. "There is no infrastructure for the operation of the F-16 in Ukraine and the needed number of pilots and maintenance personnel is not there either," Russia's ambassador to the United States, Anatoly Antonov, said in remarks published on the embassy's Telegram messaging channel. "What will happen if the American fighters take off from NATO airfields, controlled by foreign 'volunteers'?" Russia's deputy foreign minister Sergei Ryabkov said any transfer of the U.S. jets to Ukraine would be "absolutely pointless and stupid", state-owned news agency RIA reported. "These efforts are completely useless and meaningless: our capabilities are such that all the goals of the special military operation will certainly be achieved", Ryabkov was cited by RIA as saying, using Moscow's preferred term for the conflict. CRIMEA Antonov also said that any Ukrainian strike on the Crimea region would be considered a strike on Russia. "It is important that the United States be fully aware of the Russian response", Antonov said. Ukraine has intensified its strikes on Russian-held targets especially on the Crimean Peninsula, which Russia annexed from Ukraine in 2014. Antonov also reiterated a Russian accusation against the United States of subjecting Western countries to its agenda. "Washington completely subordinated the G7 members to its own policy regarding the conflict in Ukraine," Antonov said, adding that the United States wanted a "strategic defeat" for Russia. During their summit on the weekend in Japan, the G7 countries signalled long-term support for Ukraine. President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, who also attended the gathering, said he was confident that Ukraine would receive supplies of the F-16. Russia, which invaded Ukraine in February last year, has increasingly portrayed what it calls its "special military operation" as a campaign against the West. Ukraine and its Western allies call Russia's action an unprovoked war to grab land. (Reporting by Lidia Kelly in Melbourne; Editing by Stephen Coates and Frank Jack Daniel) Map showing the changes on the frontline in and around Ukraine's Bakhmut in the Donetsk region, between July 1, 2022 and May 21, 2023 Moscow said Monday its troops were battling a Ukrainian "sabotage" group that infiltrated Russian territory as Ukraine insisted it is still fighting for control of the eastern city of Bakhmut. The announcement of the incursion came after Kyiv said Russian forces pummelled the eastern Ukrainian city of Dnipro with missiles and drones overnight. The Kremlin said that President Vladimir Putin had been informed of the cross-border incursion, adding Moscow believed the attack was designed to "divert attention" from the situation in Bakhmut. Vyacheslav Gladkov, the governor of the southern Belgorod region, which has been targeted by attacks since the beginning of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, said troops and members of the security service were fighting a "sabotage" group that crossed over from Ukraine. Gladkov said that troops and members of the FSB security service were "taking the necessary measures to eliminate the enemy." Members of the Freedom of Russia Legion claimed responsibility for the attack. In a video released by a Telegram channel claiming to represent the group, a camouflaged spokesman, surrounded by armed men in fatigues, said: "Russia will be free!" The group's Telegram channel said that two villages in the Belgorod region had been attacked. Kyiv denied involvement. "Ukraine is watching the events in Russia's Belgorod region with interest and is studying the situation, but has nothing to do with it," Ukrainian presidential advisor Mikhaylo Podolyak said. After Putin sent troops to Ukraine in February 2022, the border region of Belgorod has been repeatedly shelled, and dozens of people have been killed. Authorities have also reported a series of incidents involving members of "sabotage" groups crossing over from Ukraine. In April, the city of Belgorod was bombed by a Russian fighter jet which dropped ammunition over the city by accident. - 'Fighting continues' - The attack was reported ahead of a widely-expected Ukrainian offensive, though President Volodymyr Zelensky has said his country is not yet ready. Ukraine's army said earlier Monday that Russian forces pummelled Dnipro with 16 missiles and 20 attack drones overnight. The army said its air defence forces had destroyed all the drones and four of the cruise missiles. Both Russian mercenary group Wagner and the regular army said over the weekend that Bakhmut had fallen following months of fighting, but Ukraine on Monday said its troops continued to fight for the devastated city. Kyiv said it still controlled a small area of the city. "The fighting continues," Ukraine's Deputy Defence Minister Ganna Malyar said, a day after Zelensky said Bakhmut was "not occupied" by Russia. "The battle for the dominant heights on the flanks -- north and south of the suburbs -- continues," she added. On Monday, Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin, whose forces have spearheaded the grinding, months-long Russian assault on Bakhmut, said the mercenaries would leave the city by June 1 and hand over control to regular Russian troops. "Wagner will leave Artemovsk from May 25 to June 1," Prigozhin said in an audio recording on Telegram, referring to the city by its Russian name. Prigozhin said the mercenaries had set up "defence lines" on the city's western outskirts before a planned transfer of control to the Russian army. "If the ministry of defence does not have enough personnel, we have thousands of generals," he said. Prigozhin has scathingly criticised Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu and Valery Gerasimov, Russia's chief of general staff, for blunders in Ukraine, accusing them of being incompetent and causing large-scale losses. - Nuclear plant power cut - Following attacks on the region of Dnipro, Ukrainian authorities said that the occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in the southeast went offline for several hours. Ukraine's nuclear agency Energoatom said it was the seventh time the plant entered "blackout mode" since Moscow's troops took control in March 2022. "The station is switching to power from the Ukrainian energy system," Ukrenergo, Ukraine's state grid operator, said later Monday. The operator said that despite the morning attack Ukraine's energy system was operating in a "stable fashion" and that there was enough electricity to "cover the needs of consumers." Located in the southeastern region of Zaporizhzhia, the six-reactor plant is the largest in Europe. The grid operator said that in the eastern region of Dnipro, high-voltage lines had been damaged as a result of Moscow's latest strikes. The last power cut at Zaporizhzhia had been caused by another wave of Russian missile attacks, Energoatom said. bur/as/rox People visit the 23rd China Hi-Tech Fair in Shenzhen, south China's Guangdong Province, Dec. 27, 2021. [Photo/Xinhua] China will take a slew of steps to expedite the building of a unified domestic market that is efficient, rules-based and open, and that encourages fair competition amid growing complexities and uncertainties in the international landscape. Experts said the move will break down walls, foster a more enabling business climate and bring out the vitality of market players, which will shore up the sound and sustainable development of domestic as well as foreign businesses. According to the decisions made at the State Council executive meeting chaired by Premier Li Qiang on Friday, China will explore an overall work plan on building a unified domestic market and take a raft of new policy measures toward the goal. The attendees decided to launch targeted rectification campaigns to address pressing concerns such as local protectionism and market fragmentation in key areas. Sustained work will be done to deliver concrete benefits on the ground. They called for greater efforts to deepen the reform. Further measures will be employed to optimize fundamental systems of the market economy, including protection of property rights, market access, fair competition and social credit, and to improve the incentive, constraint and evaluation mechanisms. Bai Ming, deputy director of international market research at the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation, said the interregional barriers within China's domestic market must be abolished to usher in greater openness and inclusiveness. Through the removal of local protectionism and sector monopolies and the implementation of standards and regulations that are applicable nationwide, the move will facilitate the circulation of capital, factors of production and commodities among regions in a way that largely reduces transaction costs and improves the operational efficiency of China's markets, Bai said. Despite its emphasis on the domestic market, the move will also act as a key tool to advance a broader agenda of opening up across more areas and in greater depth instead of creating closed and exclusive circles, he said. By providing a benchmark based on advanced international rules and best practices, the construction of a unified domestic market will enhance the connectivity between domestic and international markets and clean up policies that put foreign companies at disadvantage, enabling both domestic and foreign businesses to thrive on a level playing field, he said. The meeting urged localities to fulfill their due responsibilities with the bigger picture in mind, and take resolute steps to break a conservative mindset and guard against a silo mentality. Such efforts will fully leverage the country's edge of being a broad-based economy, make resource allocation more effective, further tap into market potential, better harness advanced resources worldwide, and provide a strong base for fostering a new development paradigm and pursuing high-quality development, according to the meeting. Xu Hongcai, deputy director of the China Association of Policy Science's Economic Policy Committee, said the building of a unified domestic market will make China even more open, transparent and predictable for galvanizing greater private and foreign investment. The coordination and unification of standards, rules and policies across regions and industries will make it easier for market players of all types to enter and expand operations throughout China because they won't have to navigate multiple, different sets of standards, he said. It will keep entrepreneurs at home and abroad fully motivated in order to leverage all kinds of resources to the extent possible and spur technological innovation, he added. Russia takes Bakhmut: Taking stock of the wars bloodiest battle so far CHASIV YAR, Donetsk Oblast Ten months after Russia's assault on the once-flourishing city in Donetsk Oblast began, Bakhmut has now been effectively occupied by Russian troops. This hasnt been confirmed yet by Kyiv, but is evident based on both official statements and those made by soldiers on the ground to the Kyiv Independent. On May 20, in his typical style, Wagner mercenary group boss Yevgeny Prigozhin stood in front of the ruins of Bakhmut's train station with his fighters to announce that Bakhmut had been taken, down to the last multi-story apartment buildings at the western entrance to the city. Prigozhin's address was recorded in downtown Bakhmut, some 3 kilometers away from the city's western outskirts where the fighting is ongoing. The General Staff and President Volodymyr Zelensky's spokesman denied Prigozhin's claims. In January, Ukrainian officials denied Russia occupied the nearby town of Soledar long after it was lost. However, Ukraine's Defense Ministry officials acknowledge that Ukrainian troops were pushed out of the last high-rise buildings and are now defending positions in the low-density housing area at the outskirts of the city. Ukrainian soldiers fighting around Bakhmut told the Kyiv Independent that battles on the outskirts of the city are still ongoing, but the Ukrainian army has indeed lost control of the last streets of multi-story buildings inside city limits. In comments to the Kyiv Independent on May 21, Serhii Cherevatyi, spokesman for the Eastern Operational Command, confirmed that the Ukrainian troops retain the positions and fortifications in the southwestern part of the city near the destroyed MiG-17 aircraft monument. Ukrainian troops are still able to approach the town, he said, but due to the intensity of the Russian army's artillery, the movement of equipment and vehicles to positions is complicated. Successful Ukrainian counterattacks to the north and south of Bakhmut began on May 9 and are ongoing but were ultimately not enough to stop Russia's final advance through the last streets of the city. "I still have my units there (in Bakhmut). Yes, there are counterattacks, and in some areas there is success," the commander of a battalion still fighting around Bakhmut under the 93rd Mechanized Brigade, who chose to be identified only by his call sign "Menthol" for security reasons, told the Kyiv Independent on May 20. The commander stated that the main problem is the intensity of Russian artillery, mortar, and tank fire, adding that shelling by the Russian army has not decreased despite Prigozhin's complaints about a lack of munitions. Smoke billows from the town of Bakhmut, Donetsk Oblast, on April 22, 2023. (Anatolii Stepanov/AFP via Getty Images) Since the country-wide jubilation that swept Ukraine with the liberation of Kherson in November, the Battle of Bakhmut was the defining engagement of a darker new phase of the war that unfolded over winter. Painfully high casualty rates among Ukrainian forces and widespread reports about units not receiving the resources and support needed proved a harsh reality check for a nation which had gotten used to cities being liberated from Russian forces, not falling into occupation. Grinding on through winter and spring, the Battle of Bakhmut showed the world a dark return to a kind of warfare that hasnt been seen in decades. Casualty figures run into the tens of thousands on each, even at their lowest estimates, likely making the battle the bloodiest single military engagement of the century and potentially since World War II. Above all, the story of how Ukraine held Bakhmut for so long has been yet another episode of immeasurable sacrifice, a high price paid to bleed out Russia's offensive potential and improve the odds of a much-anticipated Ukrainian counteroffensive that will likely decide the future course of the war. Ukraine strikes back around Bakhmut as Wagner reaches last streets in the city On the evening of May 9, just half a day after a single T-34 tank rolled through Red Square during Moscows subdued Victory Day celebrations, something unexpected happened. Yevgeny Prigozhin, leader of Russias Wagner mercenary group, announced that units of the Russian regular armys 72nd Separat Kyiv IndependentFrancis Farrell losing the pincers Russia's slow advance on Bakhmut began back in July 2022, after the fall of nearby Lysychansk in Luhansk Oblast. The siege on the city escalated in November, around the same time as Russian troops withdrew from the western bank of the Dnipro River in Kherson Oblast. As the weather worsened and Ukraine reinforced its positions in and around Bakhmut with numerous brigades from elsewhere, estimated casualty figures on both sides began to rise. A BM-21 Grad multiple rocket launcher fires towards Russian positions on the frontline near Bakhmut, Donetsk Oblast, on April 23, 2023. (Sergey Shestak/AFP via Getty Images) Russia's progress in its relentless assaults on the city's outskirts was fruitless for months, but in the countryside on either flank of the city, January saw significant breakthroughs for Wagner troops. In mid-January, Russian forces overran Soledar, 10 kilometers north of Bakhmut, cutting off a key road used by Ukrainian units. Over the following weeks, Russian troops north of Bakhmut continued to inch forward, while the same took place on the city's southern flank with the loss of Klishchiivka village. By early March, Russian forces had established fire control over all the remaining roads into Bakhmut, still under Ukrainian control, and overran the eastern half of the city up to the Bakhmutka River. Yet, Ukrainian leadership made the decision to hold on to Bakhmut until the last possible moment. Join our community Support Ukraine's independent journalism in its darkest hour Support Us Ukraines decision to stay As the last roads came under fire in early March, rumors had begun to circle that in choosing to hold Bakhmut at increasing cost, President Zelensky was overruling Ukraine's military leadership which may have favored withdrawal. Efforts were made to dispel this talk and show a united front, most notably through numerous visits made by Ground Forces Commander Oleksandr Syrskyi to the embattled city. With Syrskyi's visits came a clearer public explanation of the decision to keep fighting for the city. "The Russian occupiers threw the most prepared units of the Wagner mercenary group and other regular units of the Russian army to capture the city," the Ground Forces wrote on social media, explaining that holding Bakhmut provided the best opportunity to inflict massive casualties on these units. A Ukrainian soldier rides in a BMP infantry fighting vehicle near the town of Bakhmut, Donetsk Oblast, on April 22, 2023. (Anatolii Stepanov/AFP via Getty Images) Over March, while Ukrainian control over the roads held firm, Russian forces broke into the built-up areas north and south of the city, advancing block by block in brutal urban warfare. Russia's progress slowed down at times, with Commander-in-Chief Valerii Zaluzhnyi claiming on March 25 that Ukrainian forces were managing to "stabilize" the situation in Bakhmut. Despite that, Russian troops pushed forward. As the situation continued to worsen, Ukraine's leadership stood by their reasoning. "As of today, our main task is to wear down the overwhelming forces of the enemy and inflict heavy losses on them," Syrskyi said in a statement on March 26. "It will create the necessary conditions to help liberate Ukrainian land and speed up our victory." In an unusual interview with the Associated Press on March 29, Zelensky, however, openly admitted the political motivation behind the decision. Zelensky put forward that taking Bakhmut would give a much-needed morale boost for Russia and its allies while dampening hope among Ukraine's partners that a Ukrainian military victory in the war was achievable. Most surprisingly, the president also said that defeat in Bakhmut would make Ukrainians "feel tired" and even push for a ceasefire. "Our society will push me to reach a compromise with them," Zelensky said to AP. Ukrainian troops kept hold of parts of the city for two more months. This Week in Ukraine Ep. 1 Why does Ukraine keep up costly defense of Bakhmut? 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 #1 is dedicated to Ukraines military strategy in Bakhmut, an embattled city in Donet Kyiv IndependentAnastasiia Lapatina The Wagner factor The Kremlin-controlled Wagner Group was the key factor in Russia's successful push into Bakhmut. Wagner began to bring tens of thousands of convicts from Russia's prisons into its ranks, including those convicted of rape and murder, what proved to be the group's main recruitment drive in late 2022. Used in combination with the more professional and experienced Wagner units, the prisoners proved to be highly effective as an expendable assault force, creeping forward in squad-sized groups with little regard for their own life. In the words of many Ukrainian units working in the area, the nature of Russia's assault on Bakhmut proved more than ever that while Ukraine was losing its best people in the war, Russia was expending its worst. A woman walks by destroyed buildings 20 miles west from the front lines of fighting on January 20, 2023 in Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images) Mid-spring, Wagner began to run out of steam as the group burned through its stocks of prisoners. In April, having taken high losses, Wagner handed over the flanks of Bakhmut to the Russian army, focusing on the urban fight where the group's advances continued to slow down. Prigozhin blamed his failures on the Russian Defense Ministry, whom he repeatedly accused of deliberately depriving Wagner of munitions. He called out Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov, saying, "they (will) eventually answer for their villainous actions." Despite constantly attacking Russian military leadership and threatening to withdraw from Bakhmut, Wagner group remained Russia's key attacking force until late May, with Ukrainian soldiers interviewed by the Kyiv Independent saying they didn't see a drop in Russian military activity inside the city. They crawl forward 24/7: On the zero line with Ukrainian infantry north of Bakhmut Climbing to a firing position through trenches dug into black Ukrainian soil, the relative quiet in the air is only reassuring to an extent. At the most forward point, a Soviet-era recoilless rifle stands watch, dug into a shallow depression in the ground. Bohdan, a company comman Kyiv IndependentFrancis Farrell Beyond the fortress The turnoff to Chasiv Yar, 10 kilometers west of Bakhmut, is greeted by dusty clouds that cover vehicles and people alike. The ground all over Ukraine is becoming drier every day, improving the conditions for offensive operations. Clawing its way to the finish line in Bakhmut almost three months after most expected, Russia's capture of the ruined city is the only prize Moscow can claim from an incredibly costly winter/spring offensive campaign. Other offensive pushes in Donetsk Oblast, near Vuhledar, Avdiivka, and Lyman, all reached an eventual standstill. If Russia had taken Bakhmut earlier, when Wagner's stocks of assault troops were still healthy, there was a real threat that Russia could surge further in Donetsk Oblast. As of late May, this threat has seemingly passed. Ukrainian soldiers ride on a BMP infantry fighting vehicle toward Bakhmut, Donetsk Oblast, on May 20, 2023. (Sergey Shestak/AFP via Getty Images) Ukraine's defense of Bakhmut has come at a significant cost, but Kyiv has achieved its aims without having to send in the fresh brigades or new Western equipment that is being kept in reserve for the imminent counteroffensive. In this way, the brigades defending Bakhmut have performed a crucial role in Ukraine's hopes to liberate the rest of its occupied territory. In hellish urban warfare, they have taken on the full force of Wagner assaults and Russian artillery barrages all upon themselves, often without enough support, all to give Ukraine the best chance at making a crucial strategic breakthrough in the future. At the end of his address, Prigozhin announced that on May 25, Wagner would withdraw from Bakhmut to its bases in the rear for "rest and recuperation" and that Wagner's positions would be, in turn, handed over to the regular military. It wasn't the first time the Wagner boss told of plans to leave the city, but this time it was not a conditional threat, simply an announcement. Wagner's mission to take Bakhmut was accomplished, he said, and Wagner would prepare to enter the fight if called upon at a later date. 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 With regular Russian units struggling to hold back Ukrainian counterattacks on the flanks of the city, it is unclear if the alleged withdrawal of Wagner from Bakhmut will provide Ukraine with the opportunity to strike back immediately in the city itself. Kyiv is openly confident in its ability to turn the loss of Bakhmut into a Ukrainian victory. "We continue to advance on the flanks in the suburbs of Bakhmut and are actually approaching the tactical encirclement of the city," said Syrskyi on May 21. "Thanks to this, we will be able to control all high-rise buildings occupied by the enemy and gradually destroy them." Note from the author: Hi, this is Francis Farrell, cheers for reading this article. I have covered the post-war era's bloodiest battle since autumn, both from Kyiv and from the ground. More than ever, my thoughts are with the soldiers who have taken part in the heroic defense of the city, and with civilians I met there, the fates of whom we may never found out. I hope and believe that this is not my last report on Bakhmut, but until then, our work continues. Please consider supporting our reporting. Russia warns against F-16s for Ukraine, further NATO involvement in war Russia is warning the West of a colossal risk should nations supply F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine, suggesting that it could raise the question of NATOs role in the war. President Biden on Friday told Group of Seven (G-7) leaders that the United States will support a joint effort to train Ukrainian pilots on F-16s, an effort expected to start soon outside Ukraine at sites in Europe. Kyiv has not, however, gotten public commitments from any country for delivery of the jets. But several Russian officials have since said the move risks elevating tensions further between Western nations and Russia. We see that Western countries are still adhering to the escalation scenario. It involves colossal risks for themselves, said Russias deputy foreign minister, Alexander Grushko, according to state-run news agency Tass. It is important that the United States be fully aware of the Russian response, he said, stressing that an attack on the illegally annexed Crimea would be considered an attack on Russia. Russian Ambassador to the U.S. Anatoly Antonov, meanwhile, claimed there was no infrastructure for Ukrainians to operate F-16s in the country, suggesting NATO pilots would step in to use the aircraft instead. What will happen if the American fighters take off from NATO airfields, controlled by foreign volunteers? Antonov said on the embassys Telegram messaging channel Monday. And Russias deputy foreign minister Sergei Ryabkov said the transfer of more advanced aircraft to Ukraine would be absolutely pointless and stupid, according to state-owned news agency RIA. Ukrainian officials have pleaded for Western fighter jets such as the U.S.-made F-16 since Russia first invaded the country in February 2022. The warplanes would give Kyiv a significant leg up in its air capabilities, as the country currently operates Soviet-era MiG-29 twin-engine fighters. The more advanced F-16 was previously considered off the table over fears it would escalate the conflict. But Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has stressed to Biden that the F-16s would not enter Russian territory. Biden on Sunday reiterated that promise, telling reporters he has received a flat assurance from Zelensky on the matter. The fighter jets could be used wherever Russian troops are within Ukraine and the area, Biden told reporters in Hiroshima, Japan, at the conclusion of G-7. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. Russian attacks across Ukraine over the past day have killed three people and injured 14, according to Ukrainian officials. Russian forces launched strikes on Dnipropetrovsk, Donetsk, Kharkiv, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia oblasts. Overnight on May 22, Ukraine's Air Force reported that Ukrainian air defense shot down 20 Russian drones and four cruise missiles. Air defense intercepted 15 drones and four cruise missiles over Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, according to Governor Serhii Lysak. However, not all strikes were intercepted, injuring eight people, including a 27-year-old man and two women aged 52 and 70. The attacks on Dnipropetrovsk Oblast damaged residential buildings and civilian infrastructure, including a kindergarten. Russia takes Bakhmut: Taking stock of the wars bloodiest battle so far CHASIV YAR, Donetsk Oblast Ten months after Russias assault on the once-flourishing city in Donetsk Oblast began, Bakhmut has now been effectively occupied by Russian troops. This hasnt been confirmed yet by Kyiv, but is evident based on both official statements and those made by soldiers on th Kyiv IndependentFrancis Farrell Russian attacks on Donetsk Oblast killed two people in Avdiivka and Chasiv Yar, and injured six people in other parts of the region, according to Donetsk Oblast Governor Pavlo Kyrylenko. Meanwhile, Governor Oleh Syniehubov reported that Russian forces shelled communities in Kharkiv Oblast, injuring a civilian and destroying a residential building and two recreation centers in Chuhuiv. The Russian attacks also damaged six homes and farm buildings in Vovchansk. Russian troops shelled Kherson Oblast 57 times, striking with heavy artillery, rockets, tanks, aircraft, and drones, Governor Oleksandr Prokudin reported. The attacks killed a 55-year-old resident in the village of Kozatske. Zaporizhzhia Oblast was shelled 75 times across 16 communities, reported Governor Yurii Malashko. While there were no casualties reported, residential and agricultural buildings were damaged. In June 2023, a delegation of six African presidents plans to visit Ukraine and Russia. They want to increase grain exports from Ukraine and agree on the export of fertilisers from Russia. Source: negotiator Jean-Yves Ollivier in an interview with the Associated Press Quote: "A delegation of six African leaders set to hold talks with Kyiv and Moscow aim to initiate a peace process, but also broach the thorny issue of how a heavily-sanctioned Russia can be paid for the fertiliser exports Africa desperately needs." Details: Ollivier has reportedly been working for six months to organise these negotiations. According to him, African leaders would also discuss how to increase grain exports from Ukraine amid the war and the possibility of more prisoner swaps. The African delegation wants to visit both countries in June 2023 on a "peacekeeping mission". Ollivier arrived in Moscow and will also visit Kyiv for meetings with high-level officials to work out "logistics" for the upcoming talks. According to him, six African presidents will probably have to go to Kyiv by night train from Poland. Amongst them are the presidents of South Africa, Senegal, Egypt, the Republic of Congo, Uganda and Zambia. Olivier said that the talks have been endorsed by the US, EU, UN, African Union and China, and that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Russian dictator Vladimir Putin have agreed to host the African delegation. The key starting point for Africa is grain and fertilisers. The war has severely restricted the export of grain from Ukraine and fertilisers from Russia, exacerbating global food insecurity and hunger. Africa has been one of the most affected continents. Last week, Russia agreed to a two-month extension of a deal brokered by Turkiye and the UN that allows Ukraine to ship grain through the Black Sea and to the rest of the world, and the six African presidents would like to see a further extension of the agreement. According to Olivier, they also want to discuss ways to make it easier for African countries to receive supplies and pay for Russian fertilisers. Russian fertilisers are not under international sanctions, but the US and some Western countries have imposed sanctions on Russian cargo ships. Russia's access to SWIFT is also restricted by sanctions, making it difficult for African countries to order and pay for critical fertilisers. "We will need to have a window whereby SWIFT will be authorised for this specific point. That will be on the table and we hope that in that case we will gain the support of the Russians for the grains from Ukraine, and we will gain the support of the Ukrainians to find payments and shipments possible for the Russian fertiliser," Ollivier said. Earlier: In May 2023, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy during a phone call that he wanted to come to Ukraine with a mission from several African countries. Journalists fight on their own frontline. Support Ukrainska Pravda or become our patron! Confusion over the status of Bakhmut intensified Monday when the leader of Russia's Wagner Group said his mercenary forces will leave the battered eastern Ukrainian city by month's end and suggested the Russian Defense Ministry send its generals to hold the city. Wagner founder Yevgeny Prigozhin has until now repeatedly criticized the Defense Ministry as inept and accused its leaders of failing to control territory seized by Wagner troops. His announcement comes after he and the ministry claimed Saturday that Bakhmut "was completely taken" after several months of intense fighting. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy appeared to confirm the claim Sunday, but later his office said its military continues to control a small part of the city. On Monday, Deputy Ukrainian Defense Minister Hanna Maliar said Ukraine troops occupy the hills to the north and south and are beginning to encircle Bakhmut. "They pretend with the help of propaganda that they have taken the entire city under their control, but this is not the case," she said. Bakhmut had a population of 70,000 before becoming a crucial focus of the war that has left it virtually abandoned. You have to understand, there is nothing left, Zelesnkyy said Sunday. Ukrainian military leaders say their resistance has helped limit Russias capabilities elsewhere and enabled Ukrainian advances. The main idea is to exhaust them, then to attack, Ukrainian Col. Yevhen Mezhevikin, commander of a specialized group fighting in Bakhmut, said Thursday. This undated handout released on May 21, 2023, by the press service of the 93rd Kholodnyi Yar Mechanized Brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces shows the destruction in the city of Bakhmut. Developments: Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva urged the U.N. to conduct a summit on the war as soon as next month rather than waiting until a scheduled high-level meeting in September. Russian President Vladimir Putin congratulated Wagner Group fighters and Russian troops for their efforts in Bakhmut, which Russia calls Artyomovsk, and promised that "everyone who distinguished himself in the battle will be recommended for the state decorations." Ukraines Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant spent hours operating on emergency diesel generators Monday after losing its external power supply for the seventh time since the war began. The nuclear safety situation at the plant (is) extremely vulnerable, tweeted Rafael Grossi, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency. "We must agree to protect (the) plant now.'' Portugal is willing to train Ukrainian pilots to fly F-16 fighter jets, but sending the warplanes "is not on the table,'' Foreign Minister Joao Gomes Cravinho told the Diario de Noticias newspaper. Russian attacks across Ukraine over the past day killed three people and injured 14, according to Ukrainian officials. Ukraine's Air Force said it shot down 20 Russian drones and four cruise missiles. British: Russian military unhappy with air force performance Russia is apparently creating a new, elite attack aviation group code-named "Shtorm" to operate over Ukraine. The unit is expected to consist of at least one squadron of fighter-bombers and a squadron of attack helicopters, the British Defense Ministry says. The mix of aircraft types suggests the group will have a primary role of ground attack missions, according to the ministry's latest assessment of the war. It says "credible" Russian media reports suggest the Defense Ministry hopes to attract highly skilled and motivated pilots by offering large pay incentives and opening recruitment to retired aviators. "The creation of the group highlights how Russia assesses its regular air force squadrons have severely underperformed in their core function of conducting airstrikes on Ukrainian lines," the update says. Russian against Russian in Belgorod border battles Ukraine's Intelligence Directorate confirmed that the pro-Ukrainian Freedom of Russia Legion and the Russian Volunteer Corps are operating in the Belgorod region of Russia that borders Ukraine. The fighters, Russian military defectors and other Russian volunteers in the Ukraine military, are occupying Russian villages to create a "safety zone" to protect Ukrainian citizens, directorate spokesperson Andriy Yusov said. "The legion and the (volunteer corps) are creating a demilitarized zone on the border with the Russian Federation, from where they will not be able to shell Ukraine," the legion said in a statement. "In the future, we are moving towards the liberation of all of Russia from Putin's dictatorship and an end to the criminal war." Russia's regional Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov described the efforts as terrorism and introduced restrictions aimed at tightening security. He said Russian security forces are taking "necessary measures to eliminate the enemy," the state-owned Tass news agency reported. He also said most residents of the border villages have left the area. Presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov said the attacks were Kyiv's attempt to minimize the political impact of what Russia claims was the fall of Bakhmut over the weekend. Israel-like security model considered for Ukraine, report says Before Ukraine gains membership into NATO, a process that figures to take years if it ever happens, it could protect its sovereignty through a security model similar to Israel's that's under consideration by leaders of the military alliance and the U.S., the Wall Street Journal reported Monday. If implemented, the plan would boost Ukraine's defenses through continued supplies of Western weapons and advanced technology but stop short of calling for NATO intervention in case of a conflict with Russia, the newspaper said. The security agreement has been broached by President Joe Biden and is gaining favor as an agenda item for the NATO summit in July, according to the Journal, which quoted Polish President Andrzej Duda as saying, "The discussions on this one are going on right now.'' Oligarchs evade sanctions, continue flying private jets An analysis of sanctions that allowed seizure of planes belonging to wealthy Russian oligarchs indicates that many continue to fly freely around the world. The analysis by The Telegraph in Britain indicates that many planes were moved to more friendly confines before seizures could take place. Others were slipped off the grid and registered under different tail numbers. Data from Russias Federal Agency for Air Transport shows a jump in private jet registrations last year. The opportunity to stop the war through sanctioning oligarchs so they would turn on Putin has passed, said Sandeep Baliga, an economics professor at Northwestern University. What could have happened at the start of the war didnt, Baliga told The Telegraph. Now the war has gone on and the elite that do have power fear for their lives if they should capitulate to the West." Russia issues warrant for actor who supports Ukraine Russias Interior Ministry has issued a felony arrest warrant against film star Alexey Panin, a Moscow native. Earlier this month, TASS reported that authorities were investigating Panin for statements in which he justified the terrorist attack on the Crimean Bridge." After the October blast that severely damaged the Russian-built bridge, Panin wrote on Telegram that he cannot hide'' his joy. Panin maintains a residence in Moscow but reportedly has lived in Spain since 2020. Ukraine pursued Panin in 2015 for violating the countrys territorial integrity after he spoke out in support of Russian authorities actions following Moscows annexation of Crimea in 2014. Panin later publicly apologized to Ukrainians and said Russia had initiated a war that nobody needed. Contributing: Kim Hjelmgaard, USA TODAY; The Associated Press This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Ukraine Russia war live updates: Wagner Group fighters leaving Bakhmut Russian military has 25 aircraft at Belarus airfields, but theyre not flying Nayev According to Nayev, Russia transferred eight Su-34s to Belarus "Currently, (there are) 13 (Russian) warplanes on the territory of Belarus: eight Su-34, three Su-30SM, two Su-24MR. We also can see there 12 Mi-8, Mi-24, and Mi-28N helicopters of the Russian Aerospace Forces," he said. However, the occupying forces rarely use Belarusian airfields to attack Ukraine, he noted. "They don't fly because following Russia's invasion of Ukraine from Belarus and further its failures on the east and south, Belarusian authorities have limited their cooperation with the Russian army to weaponry and ammunition supply, as well as providing training grounds for preparing Russian conscripts," the general said. Read also: Su-34 fighter jet crashes in Russias Bryansk Oblast video The Belarusky Hajun monitoring group reported earlier that ten Russian Su-34 and Su-30 fighter jets were redeployed to the Machulyshchi air base in Belarus. Explosions sounded on Feb. 26 at the airfield of Machulyshchi, actively used by Russia for its military purposes. A Russian Air Force A-50U AEW aircraft was later reported to have been damaged in a drone attack. Belarusian partizans later released a video allegedly showing the attack. Footage from the drone camera show it landing on an A-50 and then apparently exploding. Belarusian border guards intensified checks on those exiting the country following the attack. At least six people were detained in this regard. Read also: Six Su-34 fighter jets disappear from airfield in Russias Yeysk Were bringing the voice of Ukraine to the world. Support us with a one-time donation, or become a Patron! Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine A 10-year-old boy has been injured in a Russian missile attack on the city of Izium, Kharkiv Oblast. Source: Prosecutor Generals Office of Ukraine Quote: "According to the investigation, on 22 May, at around 2:30, servicemen of the Russian Armed Forces launched a missile attack on the city of Izium. A 10-year-old boy was injured. He was taken to hospital." Details: Moreover, an enterprise building was partially destroyed, the blast wave shattered windows in near-by residential buildings, roofs and outbuildings were damaged as well. According to preliminary reports, the occupiers deployed two S-300 type missiles at the city from the territory of Belgorod Oblast of the Russian Federation. The prosecutor's office started a pre-trial investigation on violation of the laws and customs of war (Article 438.1 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine). Background: Russian occupation forces launched 16 missiles of various types and deployed 20 Shahed drones in an attack on military and civilian infrastructure facilities in the city of Dnipro on the night of 21-22 May. Ukraines Air Force shot down all UAVs and four cruise missiles. Journalists fight on their own frontline. Support Ukrainska Pravda or become our patron! A fourth-generation Russian-made Su-35 multi-role fighter jet was downed in Kherson Oblast on the evening of 21 May. Source: Air Force of Ukraine on Telegram Quote from the Air Force: "Another minus one enemy aircraft! At the end of the day on 21 May, a Russian Su-35 fighter jet suffered a negative take-off in the territorial waters of Ukraine in Kherson Oblast!" Details: It is noted that all the circumstances are being clarified. Background: Earlier, Dmytro Pletenchuk, the head of the press service of the Kherson Defence Forces, said that the Ukrainian Air Defence Forces had shot down a Russian Su-35 fighter on the evening of 21 May, but he later deleted the post. Journalists fight on their own frontline. Support Ukrainska Pravda or become our patron! Russian Volunteer Corps fighters claim to have again infiltrated Russian territory video Fighters of the Russian Volunteer Corps in the Belgorod region of the Russian Federation The post includes a video showcasing signs displaying the names of settlements in the oblasts of Russia that border Ukraine. Read also: Incident in Bryansk Oblast part of transformative processes in Russia, Ukrainian intel says RVC fighters have crossed the border of the Russian Federation once again. Russia will soon be free. We are at home, the time for the fight for the freedom of Russia has come, reads the statement issued by the fighters. All the videos were filmed during the night. The RVC volunteers said they had entered the settlements of Bezlyudovka (Belgorod Oblast, Russia), Churovychi (Bryansk Oblast, Russia), and Lyubimovka (Kursk Oblast, Russia). Read also: Russians really afraid that Russian Volunteer Corps may advance to Moscow, says military expert Formed in August 2022, the Russian Volunteer Corps is a unit composed of volunteers from Russia who are fighting alongside the Ukrainian armed forces. The corps consists primarily of ethnic Russian emigrants who previously resided in Ukraine and other European countries. On March 2, 2023, Russian propagandists disseminated a false story alleging the infiltration of a Ukrainian sabotage and reconnaissance group into the territory of Bryansk Oblast. The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine described these statements as bold provocations. The propagandists and local authorities reports contained highly conflicting information regarding the taking local residents hostage, the presence of injured and deceased individuals, and an alleged explosion at a power substation. Read also: NV examines Russian Volunteer Corps group that entered Russias Bryansk Oblast The Russian Volunteer Corps claimed responsibility for the events in Bryansk Oblast at that time. On April 6, 2023, fighters of the Russian Volunteer Corps claimed they had infiltrated Bryansk Oblast for the second time. They released a video showing a conversation with a local man, asking him about the name of the village they were in. The man responded that it was Sluchovsk, a Russian settlement. 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 One of the insurgents said that the captured APC previously belonged to the Russian FSB We didn't get anything from the Russian 'opposition,' so we got ourselves a present, the video description reads. Read also: Russian opposition figure Vladimir Kara-Murza sentenced to 25 years in prison In this case a BTR-82A (APC). In the video, RVC soldiers are seen driving an armored vehicle, with one of them saying it belonged to Russias FSB security service. Earlier on May 22, the Freedom of Russia Legion, together with the Russian Volunteer Corps (RVC), claimed they have liberated Kozinka and Gora-Podol in Russias Belgorod Oblast. Ukrainian officials said Kyiv is aware of these developments, with no direct involvement in what they described as an internal Russian matter. Read also: Russia evacuates nuclear arsenal storage facility near Belgorod, Ukrainian intelligence says Belgorod Governor, Vyacheslav Gladkov, subsequently announced a counter-terrorism operation being underway in the region. 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 Property tax, the topic that has sparked countless debates and speculation in the past decade, has again raised eyebrows as China completed building a national and unified system for real estate registration. But industry experts suggest that the establishment of the system does not necessarily mean the introduction of property tax in the near future, especially considering the status quo of the real estate sector. After 10 years of effort, the country has established a unified registration system that covers all types of immovable property rights, said Wang Guanghua, minister of natural resources, at a national work conference on natural resources and immovable property registration held on April 25. China's property registration, perfected over the years, has lent better protection to property rights and enabled safer transactions, forming a stronger foundation for the socialist market economy regarding property rights, Wang stated. However, regardless of the multiple functions of the system, including enhancing real estate transaction efficiency and better protecting property owners' lawful rights, public attention is mostly focused on the unified registration system's potential linkage to property tax. "A unified real estate registration lays an important foundation for raising property tax, but the taxation may not come immediately, especially considering the current home market that is still in the process of stabilization with insufficient market sentiment and expectations," said Chen Wenjing, director of research with the China Index Academy. Hui Jianqiang, head of research at Beijing Zhongfang-Yanxie Technology Service Ltd, also said that the timing for such taxation was not ripe. "It should only be collected during an upward and vibrant property market when the broad economy and people's incomes are on a steady growth path," said Hui. The unified registration of immovable property has fully realized and will create conditions for the collection of the real estate tax, clarify the basic details of property ownership and define the sources of the real estate tax, said Shaun Brodie, senior director and head of occupier research of China at Cushman & Wakefield, a global real estate services firm. During the first four months, despite a 24.1 percent year-on-year growth in the average monthly sales volume of newly built housing in the 100 major cities that the China Index Academy monitors, the sales figure has remained low since 2016. "Since pent-up demand from last year has mostly been digested, income and employment expectation have yet improved, the property market is still under downward pressure in the second quarter," Chen said. The connection between the registration system and a possible property tax became closer when industrial insiders recalled an article published earlier this year written by former minister of finance Lou Jiwei. In the article, Lou pointed out that real estate tax is the most suitable type of local tax and the pilot should be launched as soon as possible after economic growth normalizes. "Although property tax is a necessary part of the long-term housing mechanism establishment and perfection, the registration and rolling out of taxation will be taken step-by-step," said Xie Chen, head of research with CBRE China, a commercial real estate services and investment firm. According to Xie, the launch of property taxes will help establish a housing system that sticks to the principle of "housing is for living in, not speculation" as well as attach equal importance to renting and home buying. Further, the real estate tax will do good to the overall tax structure optimization for home trading and ownership. The real estate industry is a pillar industry within China's overall economy and plays an important role in driving economic growth. The universal collection of the real estate tax is an inevitable event, said Brodie. "When looking to the future, given the differentiated market within China as well as within cities, the level of property tax imposed might need to be tweaked according to the local market conditions," Brodie added. Shanghai and Chongqing became the only two cities on the Chinese mainland to levy property tax in 2011. In Shanghai, the taxation is only collected for families having a housing area of more than 60 square meters per person, taxed at a rate of 0.4 percent or 0.6 percent of the total property value annually, depending on the apartment's price per square meter. While in Chongqing, the trial tax is focused more on taming investment speculation in high-end properties, with the rate set between 0.5 percent and 1.2 percent of the property value annually. The Russian way of war: Drone footage from Bakhmut, Mariupol, Homs, and Aleppo looks eerily alike Drone footage of Bakhmut city seen on one of the live feed monitors in a command post of the 24th Separate Assault Battalion in Ukraine, on March 10, 2023. Photo by Wojciech Grzedzinski/For The Washington Post via Getty Images Russia has used "scorched-earth" tactics in the fight for the war-torn city of Bakhmut, now in ruins. Moscow's troops have often carried out relentless bombing and shelling campaigns in Ukraine. It's the same playbook Putin's military used against rebel forces during Syria's civil war. The Russian military has a war-fighting playbook that involves devastating cities, and it is being used in Ukraine to horrifying ends. Drone footage taken of Bakhmut, a city in eastern Ukraine that has been the epicenter of intense and bloody fighting for months, captures an urban sprawl in utter ruins, a once-thriving town that's been completely flattened by ceaseless bombing and shelling. It's a shocking but familiar sight nearly 15 months into Russia's full-scale war against its neighbor. The current scenes in Bakhmut resemble Russia's deadly siege of the southern port city of Mariupol last year, and this Russian tactic of inflicting complete destruction isn't new Russia did the same thing in Syria helping the Assad regime in its years-long civil war. Bakhmut, which has been the site of the war's longest battle, has been all but obliterated, with most of its residents gone and buildings reduced to rubble. Satellite images from Maxar Technologies and drone footage captured from various news agencies show a scarred landscape with the occasional plume of smoke a stark contrast to what the city used to look like. "The fighting is fierce on both sides. The enemy switched to the so-called 'Syrian' scorched-earth tactics," Colonel-General Oleksandr Syrskyi, a Ukrainian military commander, said of Russia's relentless and brutal efforts to capture the city in April. "They destroy buildings and positions with air strikes and artillery fire. Bakhmut's defense continues." Russian forces now claim to have fully seized the bombed-out city, though Ukraine has disputed the purported victory. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Sunday that the Russians have not yet fully occupied the city. But he also noted that there is nothing left of Bakhmut. "You have to understand that there is nothing," he said. "They destroyed everything. There are no buildings. It's a pity. It's tragedy. But for today, Bakhmut is only in our hearts." In Ukraine, Russian forces first really resorted to the use of the scorched-earth tactics referenced by Syrskyi during their months-long campaign to capture Mariupol in the early weeks of the war after the Russian initial assault on the capital, Kyiv, failed. A brutal siege on the city saw Moscow's troops relentlessly and indiscriminately bombard everything from hospitals to residential areas, giving way to scenes that would later be mirrored by the devastation of Bakhmut. But Russian President Vladimir Putin's playbook of using total destruction to completely annihilate cities is not a new approach that the Russian military introduced in Ukraine. It's done the same thing in other countries. Moscow deployed its military in 2015 to help Syrian regime forces crush a rebellion, and Russian troops soon began using artillery and air power to bomb populated areas and civilian infrastructure. One notorious bombing campaign took place in Homs, a city in western Syria not far from the country's border with Lebanon, where Russian warplanes leveled residential areas. This same tactic was used in the rebel stronghold of Aleppo, a major city in the northwest corner of Syria, where Moscow's troops were accused of targeting hospitals just like they've done in Ukraine. The Syrian Civil Defense, a humanitarian group also known as the White Helmets, described the air strikes at one point in 2016 as "horrific indiscriminate bombardment." "What Russia is sponsoring and doing is not counterterrorism, it is barbarism," Samantha Power, then-US ambassador to the United Nations, told Security Council members in 2016. "Instead of pursuing peace, Russia and [Syrian President Bashar] Assad make war. Instead of helping get life-saving aid to civilians, Russia and Assad are bombing the humanitarian convoys, hospitals, and first responders who are trying desperately to keep people alive." The Russian tactics used in both Ukraine and Syria extend beyond just indiscriminate bombing campaigns. In the conflicts, Moscow's troops have repeatedly attacked humanitarian convoys and launched double-tap strikes brutal attacks where the same target is bombed moments apart to inflict additional casualties on the rescue crews who respond to the first attack. Read the original article on Business Insider One emergency worker was injured, and over 20 pieces of equipment belonging to the State Emergency Service were destroyed as a result of a Russian night attack on the city of Dnipro. Source: Serhii Kruk, Head of the State Emergency Service, on Facebook Quote: "Dnipro. At night, the enemy insidiously fired at the emergency rescue unit. Three buildings and more than 20 pieces of equipment were destroyed. One emergency worker was injured. " Details: He stressed that the destruction of the State Emergency Service units is a gross violation of the norms of the Geneva Convention, and this once again proves that Russia is a terrorist state. Background: Earlier, it was reported that during the Russian air attack on Dnipropetrovsk Oblast on the night of 21-22 May, the air defence forces shot down 15 drones and four cruise missiles. As a result of the strikes in the oblast, residential buildings, private enterprise buildings and cars have been damaged, and eight people have been injured; three of them have been taken to the hospital. On the night of 21-22 May, Russian occupiers attacked military and infrastructure facilities in the city of Dnipro, launching 16 missiles of different types and 20 Iranian-made Shahed kamikaze drones. All UAVs and four cruise missiles were shot down by the Ukrainian Air Force. Journalists fight on their own frontline. Support Ukrainska Pravda or become our patron! Russians less eager to bomb Ukraine from north since downing of Russian combat aircraft in Bryansk Oblast Ukrainian Air Force spokesman Since the downing of several aircraft in Russias Bryansk Oblast, the Russians have been less keen to attack Ukraine with guided bombs from the north. Source: Colonel Yurii Ihnat, spokesman for the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, during the national joint 24/7 newscast Quote: "After the well-known events in the north, the enemys keenness to attack with guided bombs from the north has fallen off. Something is bothering them. Perhaps the Bryansk ghost is bothering them there. And they are afraid of him, as they were once afraid of Kyiv [a reference to the Ghost of Kyiv, an urban legend born during the Kyiv offensive at the start of the invasion - ed.]." Details: Ihnat added that the enemy carries out air strikes not only from Russian territory, but also from the occupied territories and the Black Sea (as evidenced by the example of the Su-35 fighter which suffered a "negative take-off" the day before). The Air Force spokesman gave a further reminder that this serious challenge could be dealt with if Ukraine had multi-purpose fighters such as F-16s that could be on combat duty in various regions of the country. "It is unlikely that Russian aircraft would approach the zone where guided bombs could potentially be launched if there were a couple of F-16 aircraft on duty, or more. The presence of these aircraft in the sky will not allow the Russians to approach. It is not necessary to shoot down targets over Russian territory... There should be assets that will preemptively diminish the Russian air forces desire to fly to our borders." Background: On 13 May, according to unofficial Russian data, two M-8 helicopters and two aircraft, a Su-34 and a Su-35, crashed in Bryansk Oblast. Telegram channels in the Russian Federation reported that nine servicemen were dead. Officially, Alexander Bogomaz, the governor of Bryansk Oblast, confirmed the crash of only one M-8 helicopter. The Russian Ministry of Defence has not yet commented on the incident. On 15 May, President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko confirmed that "four aircraft were shot down" in Bryansk Oblast. According to Ukraines Air Force, the total amount of air equipment lost by the Russians is five units. Colonel Yurii Ihnat, the spokesman for Ukraines Air Force, said that the Russian aircraft and helicopters "ran into some problems". Journalists fight on their own frontline. Support Ukrainska Pravda or become our patron! Sacramento woman dies after shes hit by car while running across Gerber Road, CHP says A 39-year-old woman died late Friday after she ran across a southeast Sacramento County road into the path of a car that struck her, the California Highway Patrol reported. Melina Griset Alvarez of Sacramento was the pedestrian who died in Friday nights incident on Gerber Road, just east of Waterman Road, according to the Sacramento County Coroners Office. The incident was reported about 10:30 p.m. A 29-year-old Sacramento man was heading east in a white 2019 Prius. As the car went through the Waterman Road intersection with a solid green light, Alvarez ran directly in front of the Prius, the CHP South Sacramento office announced Monday in a news release. The CHP said the cars front end struck the pedestrian, who was thrown about 20 feet in an easterly direction before her body came to rest in an embankment about 3 feet off the road. The driver remained at the scene until CHP officers arrived and spoke to him. The driver of Tesla vehicle also heading east on Gerber captured the incident on video showing the pedestrian running south across the westbound lanes, over the median and into the eastbound lane where she was hit by the Prius, the CHP said. Investigators determined that alcohol or drugs were not a factor in this fatal collision. The losing bidder for a Hanford contract valued at $45 billion says the winning bidder has a poor safety record and that its proposed management team is not as strong as the Department of Energy determined. It also says that the winning bidder, Hanford Tank Waste Operations and Closure, called H2C for short, failed to register in the federal System for Award Management for contractors and bidders. Registration was required to bid on the new contract to operate the Hanford tank farms and vitrification plant, making the winning bidder ineligible, it said. Complaints were filed in a challenge to the bid award in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims that was sealed by the court, but a heavily redacted copy of the challenge has been made public. The challenge was filed by Hanford Tank Disposition Alliance against winning bidder H2C, a joint venture of BWXT Technical Services Group, Amentum Environment & Energy and Fluor Federal Services. Hanford Tank Disposition Alliance, or HTDA, is a limited liability company comprised of Atkins Nuclear Secured, Jacobs Technology and Westinghouse Government Services. According to the documents filed in the federal court case they were the only two bidders on the contract. Together they represent most of the key companies doing environmental cleanup at the nations nuclear weapons sites. H2C responded to the allegation Monday that it had not met its requirement to file with the federal contracting System for Award Management, but the document was sealed by the federal court. Leadership of new contractor HTDA said in the complaint that the key personnel named to lead the work under the new Hanford contract was a factor given significant weight in the award, but that DOEs evaluation of three high-level managers for H2C appeared to be faulty. It said that key managers named in H2Cs proposal lack recent and relevant experience, but that H2C was rated as outstanding in the area of key personnel. Outstanding is the highest rating possible. Hanford site workers remove a pump from a double-shell underground radioactive waste tank that will be used to stage waste until it can be pretreated and sent to the vitrification plant to be glassified. HTDA said it believed that H2Cs proposed program manager was Carol Johnson. Although her name was redacted in the court document it described Johnsons work history as the project manager for the former Hanford river corridor cleanup contractor who retired from Hanford in 2013 and then was named president of Savannah River Nuclear Solutions in South Carolina. She retired from there in 2016, it said. She has participated on boards, but has not led any project or site since then, the complaint said. Given her six-year-long absence from the industry, (Johnson) lacks the experience and leadership needed to succeed in her proposed position, H2C said in its complaint. Furthermore, she is unlikely to remain on the job long, which poses another risk to contract performance. HTDA said a person it believed was another key manager, H2Cs proposed environment, safety, health and quality manager, worked for the Fluor Idaho Cleanup Project and Idaho National Laboratory Site from 2018 until her retirement in 2021. The project had safety problems before and after she arrived, it said in court documents. It also said that she previously worked at the Savannah River Site, S.C., which had security concerns. If DOE had reasonably reviewed her prior experiment, it would have recognized this trend of safety incidents and security violations, which should have increased the risk of unsuccessful contract performance by H2C, the court complaint said. It also criticized H2Cs pick for business manager, saying he has no experience similar to the span of control and dollar value of the new Hanford contract. He is the vice president of business services and chief financial officer of CH2M Hill BWX Technologies West Valley at a DOE project in New York, it said. That contracted work is valued at $95 million a year and employs 290 employees . It is not similar in size, scope or complexity to the work in the new contract, the complaint said. Contracting teams past performance DOE gave H2C a rating of good, the second highest rating possible, for its assessment of past performance. However, public records confirm numerous performance and safety issues have plagued the H2C team members in recent years, plaintiff HTDA said. The award of the first contract to operate the Hanford site vitrification plant, under construction since 2002, and manage radioactive waste tanks has been challenged in federal court. The severity of these events is reflective of the overall poor operating culture and safety management systems associated with the BWXT family of companies, which share corporate resources and assets and have significant overlap, the complaint said. They include the 2020 death of a worker in a flash fire in a supercompactor facility in the BWXT Nuclear Operations Groups plant in Lynchburg, Va. The supercompactor had crushed drums into small pucks for disposal, squeezing out 25 gallons of isopropyl alcohol. The alcohol was sparked by exposed wires, according to the complaint. The plaintiff blamed the workers death on failure to adhere to safety controls. The complaint also criticized the performance of Nuclear Waste Partnership, led by Amentum with BWXT as a partner, saying it had a history of safety failures at DOEs Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico. DOE gave Nuclear Waste Partnership only 67% of the incentive fee available to it at the start of January 2022, the complaint said. Later that year a workers hand was crushed at the plant, the complaint said. It also said that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission criticized Nuclear Fuel Services, a subsidiary of BWXT, after an operator failed to follow standard procedures in August 2020, leading to a spill of nuclear material that exposed workers. H2Cs past performance should have been graded satisfactory, if not worse, by DOE, the complaint said. HTDA says contract unlawful HTDA is asking the court to declare the contract award to H2C unlawful and to direct DOE to re-evaluate bids for the contract. BWXT, the leader for the H2C team, declined to comment on the allegations while the issue is being litigated. Environmental cleanup is underway at the 580-square-mile Hanford nuclear reservation. The underground radioactive waste storage tanks and the vitrification plant are in the center of the site. The new Hanford contract awarded in April covers operation of the Hanford vitrification plant as commissioning is completed and it starts to glassify some of the least radioactive waste in underground tanks for permanent disposal. It also will manage the tank farms where 56 million gallons of radioactive and hazardous chemical waste is stored until it can be treated for disposal. That includes continuing work to empty waste from 49 leak-prone storage tanks into 27 newer double-shell tanks. The contract award was good for 10 years, with some work assigned to the winning bidder possibly continuing for another five years. The waste is left from work at the Hanford site adjacent to Richland in Eastern Washington to produce nearly two-thirds of the plutonium for the nations nuclear weapons program from World War II through the Cold War. Two decades after celebrating her own graduation from Georgetown Law School, Savannah Guthrie returned to the school with words of wisdom for the next generation. The TODAY anchor made an emotional return to her alma mater in Washington, D.C., over the weekend to deliver the commencement speech for the Class of 2023. Savannah recounted her own journey to Georgetown while imparting the lessons she learned along the way. She earned an undergraduate degree in journalism from the University of Arizona in 1993 and embarked on a career in media, but then she decided to switch gears and go to law school. She graduated from Georgetown in 2002. "I worked in local television news, rising from market to bigger market with my reporters notebook and helmet hair and red blazer when I decided to blow it all up and go to law school," she said in her speech. "Lesson one: High school slackers can turn it around. Lesson two: Dont play it safe." Savannah shared how much taking that risk changed her life. She ended up working for a law firm and then becoming a correspondent on high-profile legal cases for CourtTV. That job led her to a position with NBC News. "Maybe law school was a big gamble for you, as it was for me," she said. "Or maybe, it was your safety net. Maybe it was your way of avoiding the scarier path. Whatever the case, Im telling you, anything interesting you want to do, anything meaningful you want to accomplish, it is waiting for you, it is possible for you, but it is on the other side of a big risk on the other side of a big bet. "No, Im not talking about crypto," she joked. "A bet on yourself, real skin in the game. It might work out, it might not. But the riskier step will be not to try." She imagined what she would've told a young Savannah Guthrie if she could go back in time to her law school days. "If you do see my old self walking around somewhere today, this was what I was thinking you could tell her: Dont worry so much," she said. "Dont sweat every tiny thing like its the ultimate end-all, be-all thing. "Tell her: Its good to have a plan but its also good to take it, rip it up and do something wild and daring, even if it feels like youre taking everything youve worked so hard for and lighting it on fire." Savannah Guthrie (TODAY) Savannah then dropped a Taylor Swift reference to keep it current for the Class of 2023. "Tell her, 'Its me, hi, Im the problem its me,'" she said. It wasn't just Savannah's speech that made her return to Georgetown memorable. She also reunited with some old law school friends. "She would get up at four in the morning in law school," her friend Lindsay said. "I mean, you really did this whole waking up early thing, like not just the TODAY show thing." "We were all pushing ourselves as hard as we could push, and we all found out what we could do," Savannah remembered. "And I think thats the value of doing something like going to law school. Thats what Im going to try to tell the students today. Push yourself, stretch yourself, find out who you are. This is the only way, you have to do it by doing the hard things." Savannah was welcomed back by William Treanor, the dean of Georgetown Law, as well as Frances DeLaurentis, one of her former professors. "So it was a class of 125 people, and I thought, 'I want to call on someone on Day One, but I dont want to intimidate them too much,'" DeLaurentis recalled. "So I cold called on (Savannah) in the middle. She was in the middle of the room in shock that I called on her, but she was a great student." Twenty-plus years after she was that nervous student on her first day, Savannah savored sending the next generation of graduates out into the world with words of encouragement. "I'm proud of you, graduates," she told the crowd. "I'm honored to be with you. Because I was here once, I know exactly what it took for you to get to this moment. I'm looking at every one of you, marveling, and cheering you on into your brave, wild and wonderful future." This article was originally published on TODAY.com U.S. Sen. Tim Scott grew up poor, and his divorced mother worked 16-hour days to raise him and his older brother, Ben. In his official 2024 presidential launch, South Carolinas junior senator portrays his life not of struggle but one of opportunity: he nearly failed out of high school, started his own business and was elected to statewide political office. But is that positive message enough to convince Republican Party voters to abandon the partys frontrunner, former President Donald Trump? Scott, 57, thinks so. We live in the land where it is possible for a kid raised in poverty by a single mother in a small apartment to one day serve in the peoples House, and maybe even the White House, Scott said. This is the greatest country on Gods green Earth. Scott formally launched his 2024 presidential bid Monday at his North Charleston alma mater, Charleston Southern University, becoming the second South Carolinian to run for president, behind former Gov. Nikki Haley. To the friendly crowd of 1,000, Scott, the only Black Republican in the U.S. Senate and the second Black candidate to launch a bid after conservative radio talk show host Larry Elder, on Monday described the country under retreat. America is not a nation in decline. But under Joe Biden, we have become a nation in retreat, Scott said. Retreating from our heritage and our history, retreating from personal responsibility and hard work, retreating from strength and security even retreating from religious liberty and the worship of God himself. They say opportunity in America is a myth and faith in America is a fraud. But the truth of my life disproves their lies. Scott joins a growing race that so far includes high-profile hopefuls Trump, Haley, former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is expected to jump into the race this week. Former Vice President Mike Pence also is considering a run. Scott, who, like Haley, previously said he would not run for president should Trump seek reelection, will campaign in early voting states Iowa and New Hampshire this week as he works to expand his name ID. Thatll be helped, in large part, because of a recent whopping $5.5 million in television ad buy, scheduled to air in Iowa and New Hampshire through late August. Ahead of Scotts Monday launch, U.S. Sen. John Thune, a South Dakota Republican and the No. 2 Republican in the U.S. Senate, backed Scotts bid, and Axios reported a political action committee supporting Scott added veteran Republican strategist Jesse Hunt as a senior communications adviser. (Scotts) also a candidate who comes in this race with boundless hope and optimism, Thune said. I think our country is ready to be inspired. Glenn McCall, a Republican National committeeman who is Black, also endorsed Scotts presidential campaign. This is the freest and fairest land, where you and I can go as high as our character, our grit and our talent will take us, Scott said Monday. I bear witness to that. I testify to that. Thats why Im the candidate the far left fears the most. Tim Scott trails in 2024 polls. Will he see a bump? Scott, however, will have considerable work to do to break through in a race that includes Trump, likely DeSantis and Haley, who tapped Scott to first serve in the Senate. Scott has trailed in most national and early primary polls, for example, showing him with 4%, or in fifth, in the most recent ABC News/Washington Post poll. In South Carolina, No. 4 on the presidential nominating calendar in February, Scott has more support. The latest Winthrop University Poll showed Scott with 7% of support among S.C. Republican voters, putting him in fourth behind Trump with 41%, DeSantis with 20% and Haley with 18%. The same poll showed Scott with a 47% job approval rating, including 69% among S.C. Republicans. Though he has structural advantage as a South Carolina native, senior campaign officials told The State newspaper that work has to be done in Iowa and New Hampshire if Scott has any chance at winning the nomination. Scott, who last won reelection in 2022 with 63% of the vote, enters the race with nearly $22 million in the bank the highest of any presidential candidate in American history, senior campaign officials said. Tim Scott has a war chest that many other candidates in this race right now wish that they had, said Dave Wilson, a longtime South Carolina Republican strategist. Scott, who owned his own Allstate Insurance office in the 1990s, formerly served on Charleston County Council, then was elected to one term in the South Carolina House, 2009-2010, before he was elected to Congress as part of the conservative tea party wave. In 2013, Haley appointed Scott to the U.S. Senate to complete the term of former U.S. Sen. Jim DeMint. In the State House, Scott was part of the so-called coastal caucus, which focused on infrastructure, the states coastal areas and beach renourishment, said state Rep. Bill Herbkersman, R-Beaufort. Herbkersman said he hasnt decided who hell back. He was always the first one here, and last one to leave (the meetings). He always wanted to learn. He picked it up pretty fast, Herbkersman said. Tim is an honest guy, he speaks his mind. Hes a good face for South Carolina. Scott lists his top accomplishment in the Senate was the inclusion of opportunity zones in the Trump-era tax cut law, an initiative encouraging wealthier developers to invest in poor areas. Since, Scott has so far unsuccessfully tried to pass police reform legislation, at one point coming close to a deal in 2021 with U.S. Sen. Cory Booker, D-New Jersey. Senior campaign officials say Scott is the most consistently conservative candidate in the race, pointing to his A ratings from the National Rifle Association and the anti-abortion Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America organization. Since announcing his exploratory committee in April, Scott has struggled to clearly answer where he stands on abortion restrictions. Scott first said that he would sign a 20-week ban, then backtracked, saying hed sign the most conservative bill that can make it through Congress. Its that conservative voting record, however, which could keep Black voters backing Scott over Biden in 2024, some say. A recent Pew Research Center showed one in 10 Black adults identify with or lean toward the Republican Party. Black voters tend to vote Democratic, but they are not necessarily a monolith, said South Carolina-based Democratic strategist Antjuan Seawright. Black voters are certainly in tune with those that fight for their shared values, Seawright said. Tim Scott has a math problem. This is a developing story. Check back for updates. School to hold vigil for 11-year-old boy whose body was recovered from Hudson River The childs 13-year-old friend, who died by accidental drowning, was found in the Harlem River. A memorial and vigil for Alfa Barrie, a missing Bronx boy whose body was found May 20 in the Hudson River, will be held at his school Tuesday, a New York television station reported. According to WPIX-TV, Barrie, 11, and his friend, Garrett Warren, 13, gained access to the Harlem River shoreline via a broken fence over a week ago. Security footage showed the boys and a third unidentified youth at Malcolm X Boulevard and 145th Street, reported WPIX-TV. (Left to right) Alfa Barrie and Garrett Warren. (Source: CBS-TV via YouTube) Barrie was last seen on May 12. The family reported him missing on May 14, and authorities recovered his body six days later. Warren was last seen in the early morning hours of May 13, was reported missing on May 15, and his body recovered on May 18, the New York Times reported. Barries body turned up in the Hudson River, and Warrens in the Harlem River. Only 8 miles long, the Harlem River flows from the East River to the Hudson River, which starts in the Adirondacks and ends in New York City, traversing 315 miles. A boating safety expert told the New York Times it wouldnt be unusual for bodies that entered a waterway at one point to end up at different locations. The speed of the current, for example, would play a factor, the Times reported. Barrie was a sixth-grader at Democracy Prep, a Harlem charter school. The schools CEO, Natasha Trivers, called Barrie a funny, bright, witty, inquisitive and brave child, WPIX-TV reported. Barries brother, Ibrahim Diallo, told WPIX-TV, No matter what I do, when a mom loses a child, theres no comfort that can come with that. This is one way to comfort her, to figure out what exactly happened. What happened to her child? The Times reported that the chief executive and founder of Street Corner Resources, Iesha Sekou, has been working with the families of both boys. Im a mother, Sekou said. And so theres no way that you could be a mother and not feel that, in particular. Street Corner Resources is an anti-violence organization in Harlem. The medical examiners office has ruled Warrens death an accidental drowning but has yet to release Barries cause of death. TheGrio is FREE on your TV via Apple TV, Amazon Fire, Roku, and Android TV. Please download theGrio mobile apps today! The post School to hold vigil for 11-year-old boy whose body was recovered from Hudson River appeared first on TheGrio. Sci-fi author says he wrote 97 books in 9 months using AI tools, including ChatGPT and Midjourney Photo illustration showing ChatGPT and OpenAI logos. Nicolas Economou/NurPhoto via Getty Images Sci-fi author Tim Boucher says he's created 97 books in nine months with the help of AI. In a Newsweek article, Boucher said he used Midjourney, ChatGPT, and Anthropic's Claude. The books contain between 2,000 to 5,000 words and feature 40 to 140 AI-generated images. Sci-fi author Tim Boucher says he's created 97 books in nine months with the help of AI. In an article for Newsweek, Boucher said he'd used AI image generator Midjourney to illustrate the books, and ChatGPT and Anthropic's Claude for brainstorming and text generation. Boucher told Insider he plans to get to "at least 1,000 books, if not beyond." He said: "My theory is that in the not too distant future, there will be tools which will enable me to piece all the disparate parts together into new and compelling combinations." Boucher's set of novels are each between 2,000 to 5,000 words and feature 40 to 140 AI-generated images. He said the books generally take around six to eight hours to create with AI tools and then publish, but some can be done in as little as three hours. The author is selling the books online for between $1.99 and $3.99. He wrote in Newsweek: "AI has proven to be a remarkable catalyst for my creative work. It has enabled me to increase my output while maintaining consistent quality, and has allowed me to delve into intricate world-building with an efficiency I could never have achieved otherwise." AI-generated novels have been flooding the market in recent months. In February, ChatGPT was credited as the author or coauthor on more than 200 titles in Amazon's bookstore. Some of the most popular genres were AI guides and children's books. Ammaar Reshi, a product-design manager at a financial-tech company based in San Francisco, previously told Insider he wrote and illustrated a children's book in 72 hours using ChatGPT and Midjourney. Reshi's book, "Alice and Sparkle," went viral on Twitter after it was met with intense backlash from creatives. Some were upset about how AI image generators use their work, while others took issue with the quality of the writing. Boucher did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment, made outside normal working hours. Read the original article on Business Insider Former Tallahassee City Commissioner Scott Maddox has been released from a federal prison camp in Pensacola after serving 18 months of a five-year sentence for his role in a notorious City Hall bribery scheme. The Bureau of Prisons website lists Maddoxs current location as RRM Orlando, the residential reentry management office that oversees prisoners from north and central Florida who are on home confinement or in a halfway house. His exact location is not publicly known. However, one person with knowledge of the situation said Maddox recently returned to Tallahassee after his release from the prison camp and is on home confinement. Another said his release was either imminent or had happened already. Others have actually spotted Maddox in public. Ben Sharpe, a digital fundraising consultant for Democrats and progressive causes, said he walked past him as the two were walking their dogs in Midtown. Sharpe, who doesn't know Maddox personally, said he didn't recognize him at first because he'd lost weight since his last court appearance. "I was kind of surprised," Sharpe said, "because I hadnt heard any news that he had gotten out." Scott Maddox walks with his lawyers into the U.S. Courthouse in downtown Tallahassee for sentencing for his federal corruption charges with Paige Carter-Smith Thursday, Sept. 9, 2021. Attempts to reach Maddox who remains under federal supervision were not successful. Maddox and his longtime aide, Paige Carter-Smith, pleaded guilty in 2019 to federal bribery charges involving payoffs they accepted from city vendors and undercover FBI agents. Their co-defendant, developer John J.T. Burnette, was convicted two years later on extortion charges after a trial that saw Maddox and Carter-Smith testify against him. In 2021, U.S. District Judge Robert Hinkle sentenced all three to federal prison, though he gave the most time, five years, to Maddox. Burnette got three years, while Carter-Smith got two. Background: Scott Maddox sentenced to 5 years in prison in federal corruption case Maddox began his sentence in early November 2021 at the federal prison camp in Talladega, Alabama. He was transferred around June 2022 to another camp in Pensacola known for its relatively cushy environs and programs that can help inmates get out faster. Its not exactly clear how Maddox got out after only a year and a half. But it's entirely possible for an inmate in his situation to do just that, said Sam Mangel, a former convict who works with white collar criminals and their families. Mangel said an inmate sentenced to 60 months could see reductions of eight months through earned time credits, nine months through guaranteed good time and 12 months through participation in a residential drug and alcohol treatment program called RDAP. That would bring their sentence down to 31 months and open the door to early release through the CARES Act, he said. The law, which was enacted during the pandemic and expired earlier this month, allowed for the early release of minimum-security prisoners who were at heightened risk of illness but were considered unlikely to re-offend. Mangel said most inmates released through the CARES Act were placed on home confinement, though some went to halfway houses. Inmates on home confinement wear ankle monitors and are generally restricted to their residence, though they are permitted to go to work, church and doctors appointments. More: The ABCs of a corruption case: Your guide to the businesses and people linked to Scott Maddox Theyre still considered in the Bureau of Prisons, Mangel said. Theyre just not serving in prison. Theyre serving in a non-custodial environment ... usually with a GPS tracker. Its unknown whether Maddox participated in RDAP. During the Burnette trial, he testified that he was drinking heavily around the time he got entangled in the FBI investigation, which began in 2015. Paige Carter-Smith arrives at the U.S. Courthouse in downtown Tallahassee before her sentencing hearing for her public corruption charges with Scott Maddox Thursday, Sept. 9, 2021. Maddox is scheduled to complete his sentence by July 15, 2024, though that date could be moved up, too, as he continues to earn good time. After that, he must complete a year of supervised release. Carter-Smith, who served her time at a federal prison camp in Marianna, was placed on home confinement last year. She completed her sentence in January, according to court records. John "J.T." Burnette leaves the U.S. Courthouse after he was sentenced to three years in federal prison for public corruption charges Tuesday, Nov. 9, 2021. Burnette is serving his sentence at a federal prison camp in Montgomery, Alabama, that's known for having stricter release policies under the CARES Act. In April, the 11th Circuit Court of Appeal upheld his conviction. The BOP lists his release date as Jan. 25, 2024. However, Mangel, who is working with Burnette, said he is expected to get out of prison sooner, perhaps within the next 30 days, and report to a halfway house for a time before going on home confinement. Burnette reported to prison in mid-January 2022. More: He 'can resume his life': Case against Andrew Gillum dropped Once considered one of Tallahassee's most powerful politicians, Maddox served on the City Commission from 1993 to 2003, including a stint as mayor, and again from 2012 until shortly after his indictment in late 2018. He also mounted several unsuccessful bids for statewide office, including agriculture commissioner and attorney general. News of his release comes just a week after charges were dismissed against former Mayor Andrew Gillum and his political advisor Sharon Lettman-Hicks for allegedly misappropriating campaign funds. The government opted to drop the case after a jury in their trial deadlocked on most counts but publicly announced that it had leaned heavily toward acquittal. The case grew out of the same FBI probe that led to charges against Maddox and his associates. Contact Jeff Burlew at jburlew@tallahassee.com and follow @JeffBurlew on Twitter. This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Scott Maddox released from prison after 18 months of bribery sentence Guests attend the 2023 China Digital Economy Development and Rule of Law Forum in Beijing, May 20, 2023. [Photo provided to China.org.cn] The 2023 China Digital Economy Development and Rule of Law Forum was held in Beijing on Saturday, with the aim of building a fair and standardized environment for the digital economy to develop in accordance with the law. The forum also strived to promote deeper integration between the digital economy and the real economy, and to create a favorable atmosphere where the whole of society pays attention to and actively participates in the building of Digital China. Peng Sen, president of China Reform Foundation, noted that the rapid development of the digital economy has provided new ideas, technologies and methods for advancing the rule of law, and that the problems facing the digital economy have also created a series of new requirements for innovation in the rule of law. Peng emphasized that the development of the digital economy must balance openness and security, efficiency and fairness, and technologies and rules. He suggested that high-quality digital economy development should be promoted in tandem with the advancement of the rule of law. For example, he said that laws and regulations should be established to guide the growth of the digital economy, while offering legal flexibility for exploring innovation. Gan Zangchun, vice president of China Law Society, underscored that the value of the rule of law must be upheld and various legal tools must be employed effectively and flexibly to respond to the challenges posed by the digital age. Gan's view was echoed by Fang Xin, a professor in the Public Policy and Management School at the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, who noted that the development of the digital economy requires legal policies and actions. He believes that it is imperative to integrate science and technology with the rule of law to ensure the sustainable and healthy development of the digital economy. Tian Lipu, former head of China National Intellectual Property Administration, pointed out that the digital economy has become an important engine driving China's steady economic growth and transformation. According to the report on the development of China's digital industry released at the 6th Digital China Summit, the scale of China's digital economy reached 50.2 trillion yuan (about $7.25 trillion) in 2022, with year-on-year nominal growth of 10.3% and ranking second globally. Meanwhile, the share of the digital economy in China's GDP rose to 41.5%. China also boasts favorable infrastructure for digital economy development. By the end of 2022, China had put 2.31 million 5G base stations into operation, and the number of its 5G users had risen to 561 million, accounting for more than 60% of the world's total. Li Changxi, director general of the Bureau of Law-Based Cyberspace Governance of the Cyberspace Administration of China, underlined China's achievements and plans regarding the development of the digital economy. Currently, the structure and total factor productivity of China's digital economy have been further improved. Relevant laws, including the Cybersecurity Law and Data Security Law, have been introduced. In local regions, 24 specific laws have been formulated in 22 provinces and equivalent administrative units, including Beijing, Guangdong and Zhejiang, to facilitate the development of local digital economy. Li said that China will further strengthen the foundation of digital infrastructure and digital resources system, deepen the integration of digital technologies with economic, political, cultural, social and environmental progress, and enhance the digital technology innovation system and digital security. The country will also optimize both domestic and international environments for digital economy to achieve orderly development at home and abroad. Other guests attending the forum shed light on topics such as digital governance system, digital culture, digitalization of community-level public legal services, intellectual property rights, and copyright to discuss how to promote the law-based development of the digital economy. At the forum, a themed case study activity was launched to collect typical cases on the development of digital economy and the advancement of the rule of law, so as to create a standardized legal environment for the growth of China's digital economy. U.S. writer and political advocate Dane Waters and Superpower co-director Aaron Kaufman announced the launch of a new global nonprofit group, Humanity for Freedom, Monday in Cannes. The organization is dedicated to the fight against authoritarian governments through educational and advocacy work. The groups global kick-off event, 72 Hours for Freedom, will feature screenings around the world of Superpower, the documentary about Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy, co-directed by Kaufman and Sean Penn. The event will take place in over a dozen countries on six continents, starting in London on June 6 and wrapping in Washington, D.C., June 8, including stops in Rome; Tbilisi, Georgia; Sofia, Bulgaria; Abuja, Nigeria; Tokyo; Sydney; and Buenos Aires. More from Variety Set on the eve of Russias full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Superpower is a courage-under-fire portrait of President Zelenskyy, a former actor who suddenly found himself in the unlikely position of leading a country at war. The film follows Penn as he travels across Ukraine in the months before the Russian attack and then lands a series of sit-down interviews with Zelenskyy once the war begins. Produced by Vice, the film met with a standing ovation after its premiere out of competition as a Special Gala at the Berlin Film Festival. Humanity for Freedom and Superpower share an intention to lift up voices of hope and raise awareness around Ukraines urgent fight for freedom and justice, said Penn, in Cannes this week to promote his latest movie, Black Flies, which debuted in competition at the Cannes Film Festival. Kaufman added: I am proud to be using our film to bring attention to the atrocities being endured in Ukraine. Superpower depicts a leader that represents the best of his people: resilient, strong and fiercely independent. Ukraine will, with the worlds help, ensure that freedom prevails. Waters, a political strategist, elephant conservation advocate, filmmaker, media pundit, author and direct democracy advocate who will serve as the organizations president, noted that a few short years ago, no Ukrainian would have believed that their neighborhoods would be the backdrops to war crimes, to children being stolen from their loving parents, to death and destruction at every turning. The mission of Humanity for Freedom is clear we must stop the erosion of freedom, he continued. Ukraine is the battlefield, physically and metaphorically, for this generational battle. Standing before us is a simple question: which side are we on? The side of peace and humanity, or violence and hatred? If we fail to pick wisely, the erosion of freedom, globally, will be impossible to halt. Humanity for Freedom seeks to educate people about the increasing threats to our freedom from authoritarian governments and movements across the world, with the purpose of pushing back those threats and helping secure freedoms future. Ongoing activities by the nonprofit group will include global multimedia communication outreach drawing attention to attacks on freedom by authoritarians, working to counter the global threat of Russias paramilitary Wagner group, implementing efforts to help bring Ukraines stolen children back from Russia and supporting advocates and leaders who are standing up to them on behalf of the rights and liberties of all. Supporting the initiative, the chief of staff to President Zelenskyy, Andrii Yermak, said: Freedom and justice. Thats what Ukraine is fighting for. And we are glad to welcome Sean Penn and Humanity for Freedom for standing with us defending these values and making a prominent impact to spread the truth about the Russian brutal aggression worldwide. Penn has been a vocal supporter of the Ukrainian war effort since the Russian invasion last year. On Monday, it was announced that the Oscar-winning actor had joined War Through the Eyes of Animals, a nine-part anthology film directed by nine Ukrainian filmmakers that tells the story of the war through the perspectives of various animals ensnared by the conflict. Penn will portray an American sound engineer who inadvertently becomes a witness to the outbreak of war in the anthologys ninth and final segment, directed by acclaimed Ukrainian filmmaker Myroslav Slaboshpytskyi (The Tribe). Best of Variety Sign up for Varietys Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Click here to read the full article. New search for vanished British toddler Madeleine McCann will focus on land, not water Police investigating the disappearance of British toddler Madeleine McCann will carry out a new search in Portugal based on a recent tip, German authorities told CNN on Monday. The new search will take place near the Arade reservoir near the Portugese city of Silves, around 50 kilometers from the resort area where McCann disappeared in 2007, according to CNN affiliate CNN Portugal. The investigation is expected to begin Tuesday and take place for a maximum of two days, CNN Portugal also reported, adding that British and German police will observe the search by Portuguese police. Authorities will focus on land rather than water, sources also told CNN affiliate CNN Portugal. Vehicles and tents of Portugal's investigative Judicial Police seen at the site of a remote reservoir where a new search for the body of Madeleine McCann is set to take place, in Silves, Portugal on May 22, 2023. - Luis Ferreira/Reuters This time, the searches will not be carried out in the water, CNN Portugal reported. Inspectors will look for objects that may be of interest for the investigation or rule out hypothesis. Madeleine McCann was three years old when she vanished from her bedroom on May 3, 2007 during a family holiday in the Algarve region, while her parents were dining with friends nearby in the resort of Praia da Luz. In April 2022, Portuguese and German officials named Christian Bruckner a German national who lived in the Algarve between 1995 and 2007 as an official suspect. Bruckner has denied being involved in the disappearance of McCann. The public prosecutors spokesperson for the German city of Braunschweig said Portuguese police started searching the reservoir after a tip off from Germany. The Arade reservoir was previously searched in 2008, when the divers found bones which were later discovered to be animal remains, according to CNN Portugal. For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com Semiconductor manufacturing company Applied Materials will invest up to $4 billion in new research and a new facility in California for chipmaking, the White House announced Monday. Applied Materials will establish the Equipment and Process Innovation and Commercialization (EPIC) Center for development with the goal to design the next generation of tools for semiconductor manufacturing, including in collaboration with leading chipmakers who will ultimately use those tools in their factories, according to senior administration officials. Vice President Harris is set to visit Applied Materials in Sunnyvale, Calif., on Monday for the announcement and will deliver remarks. She also will meet with executives from major semiconductor manufacturing, design and supply chain companies and plans to encourage them to invest in America, officials said. Officials said the implementation of the CHIPS and Science Act, which President Biden signed into law in August, has driven such investments and catalyzed the private sector to step up. Supply chain disruptions during the COVID-19 pandemic put the semiconductor industry and how vulnerable it is in the spotlight. The president has been focused on semiconductors and American manufacturing since, especially with the focus of not relying on and maintaining tough competition with China. Since the beginning of the Biden administration, private companies have announced $470 billion in manufacturing and clean energy investments in the U.S., including over $200 billion in semiconductor manufacturing, according to officials. Other investments are from IBM, which announced a $20 billion investment in New York for designing and manufacturing semiconductors; Intel, which announced a $20 billion investment for semiconductor facilities in Ohio; and Micron, which announced a $20 billion investment in New York for a megafab facility, among others. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. Tim Scott, the lone Black Republican in the U.S. Senate, announced here in his hometown Monday that he is running for president. "Joe Biden and the radical left are attacking every rung of the ladder that helped me climb," Scott said at his alma mater Charleston Southern University. "And that is why I am announcing today that I am running for president of the United States of America." Speaking before a crowd his campaign estimated to be nearly 2,000 attendees, Scott described the campaign as a time to choose between victimhood or victory and grievance or greatness. He portrayed himself as the candidate "the far-left fears most." I disrupt their narrative, he said. I threaten their control. The truth of my life disrupts their lies! Scott's bid has been months in the works as he teased his announcement in recent weeks, first announcing an exploratory committee in April and then officially filing the paperwork Friday to run. He joins a rapidly expanding field of contenders looking to knock off former President Donald Trump, the current Republican frontrunner who holds a commanding lead in GOP primary polls. Scott was first appointed to the Senate from South Carolina in 2012, by then-Gov. Nikki Haley now a presidential rival to replace retiring Sen. Jim DeMint. Scott later won the election to fill the rest of his term in 2014 and went on to win full terms in 2016 and again last year. Scott's political career began in the Charleston County Council in the mid-1990s before serving in the state House and the U.S. House. With Scott and Haley, there are now two high-profile South Carolina politicians in the GOP race. After her governorship, Haley served in the Trump administration as the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. South Carolina's early primary has long been considered one of the most important on the presidential nominating calendar. In his Monday address, Scott pledged to bolster the U.S. military, complete a wall along the southern border, "freeze" drug cartel assets and "let the worlds greatest military fight these terrorists because thats exactly what they are." He also talked up his goals for boosting domestic manufacturing, increasing employment and revamping education. I will be the president who ramps up research and development, reclaims supply chains, and re-energizes our manufacturing base with Opportunity Zones 2.0 and an entire Made In America agenda, Scott said. During a campaign call with reporters last week, senior Scott staffers detailed their theory of the case for why their candidate can win, promoting him as uniquely qualified for the job and as a messenger who can win over independents and Democrats while not straying from conservative policy positions. Scott's fundraising ability will also give him an edge, these officials said. Scott won't be straying from hot-button cultural issues during the primary but will seek to run a more positive campaign that calls out grievances and victimhood being promoted in both parties, senior campaign officials said. Tim Scott announcing his candidacy for president of the United States in North Charleston, S.C. (Mic Smith / AP) While voters shouldn't expect Scott to come out of the gate assailing Trump, Scott has already spoken of the need for the party to nominate someone who can defeat Democrats next fall an implicit shot at Trump that some of his rivals have already made. In closing his remarks on Monday, Scott said: "We need a president who persuades not only our friends and our base." "We have to have a compassion for people who dont agree with us," he added. An NBC News survey taken in mid-April found Scott tied with Haley at 3%, trailing Trump, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and former Vice President Mike Pence. Former Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam is co-chairing Scotts campaign, and hes been bolstered by endorsements from fellow GOP Sens. Mike Rounds and John Thune, both of South Dakota. But though many of his GOP Senate colleagues have warm feelings toward Scott, most were not willing to officially back his campaign in conversations with NBC News. Scott, whose voting record ranks him among the partys more conservative senators, has traveled to the early voting states in recent months, traversing Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina as part of a "listening tour" as his campaign began to come into full view. In mid-April, Scott toured all three states to meet with voters, key activists and donors. During a February event in Charleston, Scott detailed his personal story of overcoming childhood poverty and offered hints at the tenets of a potential presidential agenda promoting opportunity zones, conservative police reform, curbing federal spending and enacting school choice policies. There is a way for us to unify this country around basic principles that lead us forward, but we have to put behind us a lie that this is the worst time in American history only if American history started today, Scott said. At one point, Scott suggested conservatives are under siege and increasingly subjected to discrimination. His comments drew loud applause. Listen, I understand how it feels to be treated as a second-class citizen because of the color of my skin, Scott said. I refuse to be considered a second-class citizen because of the color of my party. Scott is one of the few top-tier challengers to Trump who doesn't owe part of his political success to either a job in Trump's administration or an endorsement that lifted him through a contested primary. Posting to his Truth Social platform on Monday, Trump wished Scott "Good luck" in his bid and took the opportunity to hit DeSantis. "It is rapidly loading up with lots of people, and Tim is a big step up from Ron DeSanctimonious, who is totally unelectable," Trump added. "I got Opportunity Zones done with Tim, a big deal that has been highly successful. Good luck Tim!" The South Carolina senator also enters the presidential race with more than $20 million in cash on hand, giving him a leg up on many of his rivals. Scott, who will travel to Iowa and New Hampshire following his Monday launch, has already placed a $6 million TV and radio ad-buy that is set to begin in those states Wednesday. Following his announcement, Democratic National Committee Chairman Jaime Harrison criticized Scott as wanting to govern from the far right "as a proud member of the Tea Party," blasting him for supporting "national abortion bans ... championing plans to end Medicare and Social Security as we know them" and for his work on the Trump-era tax cuts. "Theres no question that special interests are celebrating as Tim Scott throws his hat into the 2024 race for the MAGA base," he said. Voters here were encouraged by Scotts run but were mixed about whether he could actually pull off a victory over the former president. Helen Walker, a Charleston resident who said she has known Scott for years and is supporting him, said the senator "has a great story" and would be "good for our country" but "I don't really know if this is his time." Linda Corbett, a Scott supporter from Mt. Pleasant, was not dissuaded by Scott entering the race at a significant polling deficit to Trump. "Everything is going to shake out," she said. "The cream is going to rise to the top. That's my philosophy." Kenneth Canty, a supporter from Charleston who said he has known the senator for years, said Scott's ability to "relate to people" across a broad spectrum will be what helps his campaign take off. "Youve got people running who are completely on both sides completely un-relatable," he said, adding that Scott's consistency and positivity will boost his candidacy. "Dont sink to anybodys level," he added. "And let your record speak for itself." This article was originally published on NBCNews.com South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott speaks at an Orrin G. Hatch Foundation symposium at Zions Bank Founders Room in Salt Lake City on Oct. 29, 2021. Scott has launched a bid for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination. | Laura Seitz, Deseret News With a message focused on his faith and personal story, Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina has officially entered the 2024 presidential race, joining an increasingly crowded field of GOP candidates. After filing the paperwork with the Federal Election Commission Friday, Scott took the stage Monday at Charleston Southern University, his alma mater, to formally launch his bid. We live in the land where it is possible for a kid raised in poverty by a single mother in a small apartment to one day serve in the Peoples House and maybe even the White House, Scott told the crowd. His colleagues in Congress are already showing support for his run. Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., endorsed him and said that Scott can bring our country together, per The Hill. Related Meanwhile, Senate Minority Whip John Thune of South Dakota, who is the second-highest-ranking Republican in the GOP caucus, introduced Scott at his campaign launch, calling him the real deal, before opening the rally with a prayer. Sen. Tim Scott launches bid for 2024 Scott opened his speech by inviting his favorite American onstage his mom and giving her a heartfelt thank-you before making his official announcement. Joe Biden and the radical left are attacking every single rung of the ladder that helped me climb and thats why Im announcing today Im running for president of the United States of America, the senator said, as the crowd of nearly 2,000 people erupted in cheers. Bloomberg reported that Oracles chair and co-founder Larry Ellison was in attendance. He has proved to be a consistent supporter. His backing will help Scott build on his already impressive war chest of about $22 million cash on hand from his last Senate reelection race. Related The left shut down your schools and churches in the name of slowing down a virus. But they wont secure the border to protect your family from fentanyl, Scott said at the event, promising to freeze assets and build a wall to protect Americans from drug cartels. And I will let the worlds greatest military fight these terrorists because thats exactly what they are. Security needs to start on our borders. But it doesnt end there, Scott said. He spoke about his upbringing in a single-parent household, mired in poverty, and hailed the U.S. as the land of opportunity, not a land of oppression. Our party and our nation are standing at a time for choosing, Scott told the crowd. Victimhood or victory? Grievance or greatness? I choose freedom and hope and opportunity. Our party & our nation are standing at a time for choosing. Victimhood or victory? Grievance or greatness? I choose freedom, hope, opportunity. Will you choose it with me? pic.twitter.com/qMVQX800UY Tim Scott (@votetimscott) May 22, 2023 Sen. Tim Scott enters a growing pool of GOP candidates for 2024 His message of faith and optimism is much different than that of former President Donald Trump, who is leading in the 2024 Republican primary polls. Their demeanors, their messages, their life stories are just so diametrically different, one senior Republican strategist told Politico. For a lot of voters, theyll see obvious distinctions between the two. It might be harder for some other candidates in the race to appear different or have a different type of message. Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., told Politico he saw similarities between Scotts message and former President Ronald Reagans Morning in America campaign, which was driven by a hopeful vision for our country. Related Trump wished Scott good luck on Truth Social while also taking a jab at Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who is speculated to announce his bid for president in the coming days. The Republican primary race, he said, is rapidly loading up with lots of people, and Tim is a big step up from Ron DeSanctimonious, who is totally unelectable. Scott is the second presidential candidate to emerge out of South Carolina former Gov. and United Nations ambassador Nikki Haley was the first from the state to announce. The states Sen. Lindsey Graham, a Republican, congratulated Scott after his announcement, even though he has publicly endorsed Trump. Tim makes South Carolina proud, and he is one of the most talented and hard-working public servants Ive ever known, Graham said. He will have an optimistic vision for the future of conservatism and America, and I know he will acquit himself well. Other GOP candidates in the race include entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy and former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, as I reported for the Deseret News. DeSantis, former Vice President Mike Pence and New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu are all reportedly mulling bids. Nicole Crawford stood at the edge of Red Rock Canyon in Nevada, a pair of oversized sunglasses shading her eyes. Placing her hands on her hips, she gazed out over the desert, taking in the dark green and red landscape. From just a few feet away, the 28-year-old appeared relaxed and composed. Save for a few windblown strands, her wavy hair lay perfectly flat against her head and her purplish-blue shirt didnt show a drop of sweat. But Ashley Albert, whod been friends with Nicole since 9th grade, knew there was more than met the eye. No matter how put together her best friend looked, there was almost always a whirlwind of a backstory. Such was the case on this hot April day in 2013 when Nicole, Albert and their future husbands ventured from the Las Vegas strip, where they were vacationing, to the canyon. That morning, they had rented a Mustang and set out for what was supposed to be about a 30 minute drive. But somehow, they had ended up outside someones home. They thought theyd plugged in the correct address when they searched Red Rocks in the GPS. Yet it wasnt until they reached a neighborhood and then when they pulled into a stranger's driveway that they realized they were lost. While the group ultimately made it, that was Nicole, Albert said recently as she remembered her close friend, who was killed in Feb. 2021 at the age of 36 at her Bear home. She knew exactly what she wanted, but she never really knew how to get there, Albert said, laughing. But shed always figure out how and though shed hit a few walls on the way, nothing was going to stop her. Undying support For most of her life, Nicole, a preschool school teacher of children with special needs and a mother of two boys, never stopped moving. She wanted to experience everything the world had to offer, friends and family said from concerts to 5K charity runs for the Beau Biden Foundation to new destinations. It didnt matter if shed never tried something before, she was going to do it, and you were just along for the ride, Albert said. Occasionally, this could be frustrating. Because Nicole was always focused on her next adventure, sometimes you didnt feel heard, Albert said. Yet the womans seemingly boundless energy was also one of her greatest strengths. No matter the season, Nicole Crawford loved the beach. Though she was friendly with anyone she met, she especially made time for those she was close to. And her support for others endeavors, no matter how big or small, was undying. Albert fondly remembers when she told Nicole she wanted to breastfeed her first child. Nicole, who had breastfed her own son, was thrilled she knew that it could be difficult for a lot of first-time moms, but wanted to help Albert any way she could. Nicole would call her best friend every day, offering tips and tricks. Though she didnt live far, if Albert said the baby wasnt latching, Nicole would drop everything to come to her home and show her. This dedication to her friends and family extended to the children she taught at Charles W. Bush Early Education Center, said Jill Confer, a fellow teacher and another close friend. A love of children both her students and her own Nicole was dyslexic and made it her cause to help children with special needs. Whatever they needed, Confer said, Nicole tried to supply it which also meant that a closet in her classroom was always overflowing. The closet, which one had to open at their own peril, was filled with learning materials and education plans, as well as every toy a child could want. She even borrowed toys from her sons if she didnt have a particular item at school, Confer said. She always was determined to find a way to meet the needs of all of her students, Confer said. She was so high-energy and so passionate about her kids and their families. Nicole Crawford loved to take her sons apple picking, friends said. That passion extended to her own family, too. Nicole adored her sons, Albert and Confer both said, and wanted them to experience as much of life as they could, despite their young age. While some parents wait until their kids are old enough to remember excursions, that wasnt Nicole as young as 1, she took the boys apple picking and hiking and to Disney and Toronto, Canada. She wanted them to play and grow and learn, Albert said, which they did. She added that much of that wouldnt have been possible without the help of Nicole's mother, Araina Crawford whom she called Nicoles biggest support and best friend. They drove each other crazy, but Nicole drove us all a little crazy, Albert said recently. She was our joy. Got a tip? Send to Isabel Hughes at ihughes@delawareonline.com or 302-324-2785. For all things breaking news, follow her on Twitter at @izzihughes_ This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: Nicole Crawford remembered as loving Delaware teacher, mother Investigators are offering a $50,000 reward for information leading to an arrest after someone robbed a Concord letter carrier at gunpoint. Its the second time this month someone has robbed a letter carrier in our area. The latest case happened Friday morning, near the intersection of Blackberry Trail and Pokeberry Trail. The quiet neighborhood is near Poplar Tent Road in Concord. Channel 9s Dan Matics spoke with one neighbor who saw everything unfold. It was the barking of her dogs that let Lynn Baker know on Friday afternoon that something was off. MORE RELATED STORIES: I really couldnt believe it, she said. It was shocking. She looked out her window to see a man holding her letter carrier at gunpoint. I stayed in the house, figured I needed to call 911, she said. Then the guy just peeled off. I was like hey are you OK? He was like no, I just got held up at gunpoint, she said. Cabarrus County deputies told Matics theyre looking for a Black or Hispanic man in his late twenties. Hes described as 6 feet tall weighing more than 200 pounds. They said he got away in a silver Dodge Charger. The U.S. Postal Inspection Service is offering a $50,000 reward for information leading to an arrest. When he said gunpoint, I was like oh this is crazy. And when he said gunpoint, I knew it was more than mail, he said -- no, he wanted my master keys, Baker said. Witnesses said the robber got away with the mailmans personal keys, the mail truck keys, and what investigators say he was likely looking for, the master key. The master key can open several mailboxes in the region. The USPS says more than 400 letter carriers were robbed in 2022. Its a huge spike. Just last week in southwest Charlotte, a letter carrier was pepper sprayed and robbed. Detectives who Matics spoke with Monday said they have no idea if the cases could be connected. Neighbors said the robbery put them on edge. The guy had a gun right there -- Its just something you dont think about, Baker said. Now weve got to get cameras, weve got to be more diligent. At the national level, theres a push from lawmakers to allow postal police officers to go back into neighborhoods to protect letter carriers. Their union has been fighting to make that happen. Since 2020, the postal service has only allowed those officers to patrol postal buildings. The USPS has said its working to prevent more thefts of master keys, also known as arrow keys, by replacing 49,000 locks with electric ones. The U.S. Postal Service also said its installing 12,000 high-security mail collection boxes across the country. (WATCH BELOW: USPS unveils plan to crack down on mail theft) Will the show go on? What to know about TN's drag restrictions as Pride Month looms Preparations for Pride Month a month-long celebration of LGBTQ-identifying people held nationwide each June are in full swing across Tennessee, even as events face opposition and a new law sows confusion at city and county governments. A number of bills targeting LGBTQ people passed during the most recent legislative session. Among them was legislation restricting drag performances, signed into law by Gov. Bill Lee in early March, that prohibits male or female impersonators on public property or in locations where they can be viewed by those under 18, if they are deemed "harmful to minors." The bill has caused confusion and is temporarily on hold as a legal challenge makes its way through federal court. After being signed into law, the legislation was quickly halted by a federal judge leaving many wondering where the ban currently stands, and how it will affect Pride Month celebrations. Where does the ban stand currently? The bill was signed into law on March 2, and was set to go into effect on April 1. But just hours before the law was to be enacted, a federal judge in Memphis issued a temporary restraining order halting the law, calling it "unconstitutionally vague" and restrictive of free speech. Memphis-based LGBTQ theatre group Friends of George's filed the federal suit against the state. Drag queens walk to their spot in the parade lineup before the Memphis Pride Parade on Saturday, June 4, 2022, on Beale Street. The parade returns in-person this year for the first time since 2019. U.S. District Court Judge Thomas Parker put the law temporarily on hold and said as written it is too vague, and leaves the door open for differing outcomes based a person's assessment of what is, and isn't, obscene. "A law is unconstitutionally vague if individuals of 'common intelligence must necessarily guess at its meaning and differ as to its application,'" Parker wrote in the 15-page decision. If Tennessee wishes to exercise its police power in restricting speech it considers obscene, it must do so within the constraints and framework of the United States Constitution. The Court finds that, as it stands, the record here suggests that when the legislature passed this Statute, it missed the mark. The temporary restraining order was set to expire on April 15, but was extended on April 5 to last until May 26. The trial for the suit began on Monday, May 22, and stretched into Tuesday afternoon as Parker questioned the obscenity standards referenced by state attorneys. Attorneys for the state of Tennessee argued in March that the law banning "male or female impersonators" was necessary to protect children from harm. But the judge wanted further evidence that the ban, as written, served a purpose that is not already covered by the state's existing indecency laws. The state attorneys were unable to name a scenario that is not already legally prohibited by the indecency laws. In closing arguments, the Tennessee's attorneys requested that, should the law be found unconstitutional, Parker should only apply that unconstitutionality to Shelby County, and not the rest of the state. Read more about the trial: Attorneys finish arguments over Tennessee drag show ban, federal judge set to rule Attorneys for Friends of George's said they had never heard of a law being labeled unconstitutional for a certain area, but not applying that to the rest of the state. Brice Timmons, an attorney for Friends of George's, said, "I've literally never heard an argument like that. That was unhinged. That was pretty bananas." It is unclear when a ruling can be expected, but attorneys for Friends of George's and the state of Tennessee still have one more filing to send in, which is due by Friday the day the extended restraining order expires. What could the law restrict? The bill, sponsored by Rep. Chris Todd, R-Madison County, stemmed in part from a local controversy surrounding a drag show in Jackson, Tennessee in late 2022,. The law defines "male or female impersonators" as "adult cabaret performers," then goes on to ban "adult-oriented performances that are harmful to minors," including adult cabaret, on public property or within sight of a minor. Violation of the law carries a Class A misdemeanor on first offense and a Class E felony on second or subsequent offenses. While the bill does not explicitly state the word "drag," it does define "male or female impersonators" as adult cabaret performers, which previous legal definitions of adult cabaret did not include legally placing some drag performances in the same category as performances that are considered to be adult-oriented and harmful to minors. Supporters of drag performances say the majority of drag is not sexual in nature but conservative lawmakers view all drag as inherently sexual no matter the content of the performance. Will Pride events be affected? The application of the law is at the root of the Memphis lawsuit. Whether the law will be in effect by the beginning of Pride Month is dependent on the upcoming trial, but local Pride events, as well as county and city governments, are already bracing for changes in light of the confusion. Go deeper: 'Hard to see so much hatred': How harsh rhetoric impacts Tennessee's LGBTQ youth Most recently, Franklin Pride Festival, which drew about 5,000 people over the last two years, faced a fierce debate before the Franklin Board of Aldermen after board members expressed concern over the state law. Franklin Pride was held on Saturday, June 4, 2022 at Harlinsdale Farm in Franklin, Tenn. "I cannot, based under state law, take that chance and that risk for our constituents again, said Gabrielle Hanson, city alderman at-large, at a Feb. 28 work session. I would like a cooling off of a year before I can grant this activity in any of our public spaces." More on Hanson: Franklin alderman's controversial Covenant shooting comments spur new First Amendment debate After a lengthy and tense meeting, Franklin Mayor Ken Moore voted in favor of allowing the Franklin Pride festival, breaking the Franklin Board of Aldermans 4-4 tie but only after issuing a terse warning to Pride organizers. "If you violate the trust we are placing in you right now, he said, then I will work as hard as I work every single day to make sure that event never happens in Franklin again. A crowed of people for and against the Franklin Pride festival arrive early at the Franklin Board of Alderman work session on April 11. Despite the securing of permission from the City of Franklin, as the legal battle for the drag ban builds, more events are likely to be dragged into the crossfire of confusion. And as LGBTQ organizers carefully ramp up event preparations alongside the court fight, it's a race to the June finish line to see what Pride Month will look like this year and years to come. The USA Today Network - Tennessee's coverage of First Amendment issues is funded through a collaboration between the Freedom Forum and Journalism Funding Partners. Have a story to tell? Reach Angele Latham by email at alatham@gannett.com, by phone at 731-343-5212, or follow her on Twitter at @angele_latham This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Pride Month in Tennessee: What to know about drag restrictions (Bloomberg) -- Attorney ethics enforcers in Texas are appealing the dismissal of their complaint against Donald Trump ally Sidney Powell over her failed legal efforts to undermine the results of the 2020 presidential election. Most Read from Bloomberg A state court judge earlier this month rejected a request by the Texas Commission for Lawyer Discipline to reconsider a February order tossing out the ethics case against Powell. The commission filed notice Friday that it is taking the fight to the Court of Appeals for the Fifth District of Texas. Powell played a lead role in pursuing failed legal challenges to President Joe Bidens wins in multiple battleground states. She became one of the strongest proponents of false election fraud conspiracy theories, including that voting machines had flipped votes from Trump to Biden. The lawyer discipline commission accused her of professional misconduct. Read more: Trump 2020 Fraud Backer Powells Texas Ethics Case Tossed Judge Andrea Bouressa previously denied Powells motion to dismiss the ethics case. But in February she entered a judgment in Powells favor, finding that numerous defects in the commissions court filings meant she couldnt consider much of the evidence they had presented and that the bar regulators failed to respond to Powells other challenges to the claims against her. The commissions attorneys urged Bouressa to reconsider her rulings, arguing that any mistakes in how they had labeled exhibits were inadvertent and that the court still had the ability to consider the evidence. They also accused Powell of persistent failure to fully meet her obligations to turn over materials to the commission. As the Texas case goes up on appeal, Powell separately is facing a new ethics case in Michigan, also related to her post-election legal activities. Powell did not immediately return a request for comment. Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2023 Bloomberg L.P. Burned land is seen following fires in Shining Bank, Alberta, Canada, on May 11, 2023 Wildfire smoke blanketing western Canada has triggered health warnings in several cities, but was also helping to cool blazes by blocking out a hot sun across hard-hit portions of the country Sunday. The wildfires in Alberta province have displaced tens of thousands of people and scorched more than 941,000 hectares over several weeks. "It is a mixed bag certainly with smoke," Christie Tucker of the Alberta Wildfire agency told a briefing. "Many Albertans obviously can't get away from the smoke this weekend. It is thick in many parts of the province," she said. "But they would also have noticed that temperatures are cooler than they would have been if there was no smoke covering the sun." Less heat, Tucker explained, "has meant that we've seen less growth of fires." Only five new flare-ups were reported since Friday. On the other hand, she added, firefighters haven't been able to fly aircraft as often to get an accurate picture of the size and number of fires burning over the last few days. Weather maps have shown smoke from the fires covering more than one million square miles (2.7 million square kilometers) and stretching as far as the eastern coast of North America and the Arctic. Environment Canada issued warnings about poor air quality posing "very high risks" to health in the cities of Edmonton and Calgary, where the sky had an orange hue and the smell of smoke lingered in the air. Residents were urged to limit outdoor activities. Air quality alerts were also issued in several US states as plumes of thick smoke from Alberta drifted across the border. In recent years, western Canada has been hit repeatedly by extreme weather, the intensity and frequency of which have increased due to global warming. Above-average daytime weekend highs of 28 degrees Celsius (82 degrees Fahrenheit) were forecast to drop by about 10 degrees by Monday and stay low throughout the week. More rain is also anticipated after several showers swept through Alberta this weekend. But, Tucker said, "While we're optimistic that the forecast rain will be enough to make a difference to some wildfires in the province, we are not out of the woods yet." amc/caw Scholars laud Xi's determination to build stronger China-Arab partnership Xinhua) 08:06, May 22, 2023 Leaders attending the 32nd Arab League Summit pose for a group photo in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, May 19, 2023. (Saudi Press Agency/Handout via Xinhua) Scholars laud Chinese President Xi Jinping's congratulatory letter to the 32nd Arab League Summit, saying it is an epitome of his resolve to bring the China-Arab strategic partnership to a higher level. CAIRO, May 21 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping's congratulatory letter to the 32nd Arab League (AL) Summit is an epitome of his resolve to bring the China-Arab strategic partnership to a higher level, scholars have said. The Chinese president emphasized the long and deep friendship between China and Arab countries in his letter to Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, the rotating president of the Council of the AL, on the summit which kicked off Friday in the Saudi city of Jeddah. Noting that he is glad to see that Arab countries have continuously taken new steps and made new achievements on the path of unity and self-improvement, Xi stressed that China is ready to work with Arab countries to carry forward the spirit of China-Arab friendship, implement the outcomes of the first China-Arab States Summit, bring the China-Arab strategic partnership to a higher level, and continue to write new chapters in China-Arab friendship. Ibrahim Alluhayb, a professor at King Saud University in Saudi Arabia, said that Xi's congratulations highlight the positive trend of reconciliation within the Arab world. "China has made significant contributions to this endeavor," said Alluhayb, noting that the Chinese leader's letter specifically mentioned the China-Arab States Summit held in 2022, which has injected fresh momentum into the development of China-Arab relations. Syrian political analyst Osama Danura said that China has helped to ease tensions in the region, adding that China's recent efforts to broker a peace agreement between Saudi Arabia and Iran have catalyzed the wave of detente and reconciliation across the Middle East. Referring to the return of Syria to the AL Summit, Steven Wright, an associate professor of international relations at Qatar's Hamad Bin Khalifa University, said China's diplomatic efforts to promote peace have positively influenced the region. The readmission of Syria into the AL indicates the Arab world's desire to gain independence and adopt a more pragmatic approach to regional conflicts, which resonates strongly with China's diplomatic doctrines, he said. This photo taken on May 7, 2023 shows a scene of an Arab League (AL) extraordinary meeting in Cairo, Egypt. Arab foreign ministers decided in the meeting to restore Syria's AL membership after 12 years of suspension. (Xinhua/Ahmed Gomaa) On China's efforts to foster cooperation with the Arab states, Wright hailed the rapid progress in practical cooperation between the two sides since the first China-Arab States Summit last year. "Significant progress has been made in areas like development support, food security, public health, green innovation, energy security, inter-civilizational dialogue, and security and stability," said the Qatar-based scholar. "President Xi's congratulatory letter to the AL Summit proved China's determination to move forward hand in hand with the Arab countries," said Palestinian political analyst Haitham Daraghmeh, adding that cooperation between the two sides has always been based on equality, mutual benefit, and win-win cooperation. Samer Khair Ahmed, a Jordanian expert on Arab-China relations, said Xi's congratulatory letter showcases that China highly regards China-Arab relations, highlighting China's conducive role in addressing global challenges, especially those in the Middle East. "Currently, China represents an important international voice to address world problems and complicated issues," said Ahmed, adding that China's diplomatic approach exemplifies its status as a major country with a sense of responsibility. According to Mohsen al-Nabati, spokesman for the Tunisian Popular Current Party, China's presence in the region is widely embraced due to its dedication to peace, stability, and cooperation instead of confrontation. Nabati referred to the Belt and Road Initiative and the ancient Silk Road in explaining China's popularity in the region. "Any rational person would choose 'silk' over chaos," said the spokesperson. (Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Liang Jun) Themed "Bolstering Confidence, High-quality Financial Development Promoting a Chinese Path to Modernization," the 2023 Tsinghua PBCSF Global Finance Forum began on May 20 in Beijing. Attendees agreed that China is accelerating its efforts to allow the capital market to empower the development of the real economy, establishing a standardized, transparent, open, vibrant, and resilient multi-level capital market with unique Chinese characteristics. This two-day event, held both online and offline, focused on significant issues concerning China and the world, capital markets, and supervision, as well as academic and practical matters. It invited guests from global political, business, and academic circles to exchange ideas through keynote speeches, high-end dialogues, roundtable discussions, and report releases. Gyorgy Matolcsy gives his video speech at the opening remarks of the 2023 Tsinghua PBCSF Global Finance Forum, Beijing, capital of China, May 20, 2023. [Photo courtesy of PBCSF] Gyorgy Matolcsy, governor of Magyar Nemzeti Bank, pointed out that China, as a rising star of Asia, is at the center of a sustainable industry, and that a new era of reformation and renaissance is taking place in the country. Sheng Xitai, founding partner and chairman of Hongtai Aplus, noted that China's capital market had experienced more than 30 years of development. Compared to the decades required by developed countries to fully establish a capital market, China has shortened this period. "With the rise of our economy, the capital market in China has become more advanced," he added. Sheng Xitai explained that China has over 5,000 A-share listed companies. The pace of companies going public has significantly increased over time. It took 10 years to register the first 2,000 listed companies, six years for the next 1,000, and four years for the following 1,000. It only took slightly over two years for the last 1,000 companies to go public, with up to 800 more lining up for IPOs. As a representative of enterprises engaged in the real economy, Zhuang Dan, executive director and president of Yangtze Optical Fiber and Cable Joint Stock Ltd. Co. (YOFC), stated that YOFC's rapid growth could be attributed to its focus on R&D, investment in core technologies, expansion into international markets, and diversification. He emphasized that both business development and the digital transformation of enterprises are deeply intertwined with the capital market. "With the support of the capital market, companies can improve their corporate governance structure during development, gain more R&D investment in technological innovation, and secure continuous capital sources for operation. With the support and holistic promotion of the capital market, we can find more upstream and downstream collaborators through the industrial chain," Zhuang elaborated. Xu Ming shares his opinions on China's capital market at the 2023 Tsinghua PBCSF Global Finance Forum, Beijing, capital of China, May 20, 2023. [Photo courtesy of PBCSF] Xu Ming, a professor at the International School of Law and Finance, East China University of Political Science and Law, underscored that China's capital market is intensifying its efforts to empower the development of the real economy and gradually mature. Participants echoed Chinese Premier Li Qiang's remarks during his inspection tour of Shandong province last week. The premier stated that the real economy is the lifeblood of China's economy and called for efforts to transform and upgrade traditional industries, and foster and expand strategic emerging industries while moving them to the medium-high end. Under a broad array of themes - from Chinese-style modernization and rural revitalization through inclusive finance, to digital age financial challenges and zero-carbon financial governance - the two-day forum held discussions on key economic and financial issues. It offered advice and suggestions for achieving high-quality development and promoting a Chinese path to modernization. This year's forum was hosted by Tsinghua University and organized by the Tsinghua University PBC School of Finance (PBCSF) and the Institute for National Governance and Global Governance of Tsinghua University. It was co-organized by the Tsinghua University National Institute of Financial Research (NIFR) and the Tsinghua University Institute for Fintech Research (THUIFR). Activists claim that Republican proposals and arguments related to employment and public safety-net benefits are rooted in a history of racist policy. As closely watched budget negotiations to raise the debt ceiling and prevent a historic default on the nations bills continue in Washington, D.C., this week, lawmakers and advocates are worried Black, brown and poor communities could be critically harmed in the process. Congressional Republicans led by Rep. Kevin McCarthy, the House Speaker, have proposed cuts to public safety-net programs and rules enacting work requirements for food and medical safety benefits that millions of Black, Hispanic and poor communities rely on each month. U.S. Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) and President Joe Biden meet with other lawmakers in the Oval Office of the White House on May 9, 2023, in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images) While President Joe Biden indicated that he would not accept work requirements that would impact the medical health needs of people, referring to Medicaid, he has not categorically ruled out policies that would cut programs like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, also known as SNAP, and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF). Biden told reporters last Wednesday that whatever deal he makes with Republicans, it wont be anything of consequence. The Congressional Black Caucus released a statement on Monday saying it has no intention of allowing families to go hungry to appease Republicans, and we will stand by President Biden and fight against Speaker McCarthys red line. The 58-member caucus of Black Democratic members of Congress called the Republicans proposal of eligibility criteria cruel and ill-advised. Work requirements are nothing more than a conservative talking point, Patrice Willoughby, senior vice president of policy and global impact at the NAACP, told theGrio. She warned that establishing stricter work requirements for social safety programs could deprive potentially one million kids of their cash benefits from their family. The NAACP, in a letter to Congress, condemned Republican budget proposals that would cap overall spending for programs like Medicaid, Pell Grants, SNAP, school lunch programs and others, which the legacy civil rights organization said would disproportionately harm Black communities. Touting the policies and investments of the Biden-Harris administration and Congressional Democrats, NAACP President Derrick Johnson wrote, We have come closer than ever as a nation to closing the unacceptable gap between white and Black unemployment. Ty Cox Jones, vice president for food assistance at the Center on Budget and Policy and Priorities, told theGrio that peoples ability to eat should not be tied to their engagement in the workforce. Work requirements already exist for programs like SNAP and TANF. However, Republicans argue that they dont go far enough. I dont think hard-working Americans should be paying for all the social services for people who could make a broader contribution and instead are couch potatoes, said Rep. Matt Gaetz, (R-Fla). According to the New York Times, the Republican lawmaker introduced legislation that would deny benefits to able-bodied adults unless they work for 120 hours every month, volunteer or participate in a work program for up to 80 hours or participate in a combination of the two. Another bill from Rep. Dusty Johnson, (R-S.D.), would subject Americans between 49 and 65 who dont have children to current SNAP work requirements, which currently apply to adults 1849. A sign alerting customers about SNAP food stamps benefits is displayed in a Brooklyn grocery store on Dec. 5, 2019, in New York City. (Photo by Scott Heins/Getty Images) Cox said there are multiple reasons why people are under-employed or unemployed, adding, It is not that people are sitting on the sidelines or choosing to not work. She pushed back against those who may argue someone in their 50s or early 60s isnt that old. That argument is easy to make when its coming from someone who sits at a desk, she said. But what about the guy who was the mechanic? The nurse, the teacher, the home health aide who bends over and picks up people over and over and over again? she asked rhetorically. By the time youre 50, it feels a little different than when you did that in your 20s. These types of workers may not be disabled but they cant work the same way they worked before, Cox noted. Willoughby of the NAACP added that there are also individuals in the household helping out through caregiving, and depriving them of food assistance or cash benefits is not going to make them miraculously work because theyre already working. Activists claim that Republican proposals and arguments related to employment and public assistance programs are rooted in a history of racist policy. Willoughby recalled the rise of the welfare queen trope in the 1970s, popularized by then-Republican presidential candidate Ronald Reagan. The term was often associated with Black women. A customer shops for eggs in a Kroger grocery store on Aug. 15, 2022, in Houston. (Photo by Brandon Bell/Getty Images) The racist images surrounding Black women [have] long been used by conservatives to divide the country, she argued. And it remains in use today as a way of slandering and making people, poor people and people of color, look as though theyre lazy. The latest proposals from Republicans are nothing more than racism disguised as policy, said Willoughby, who vowed that the NAACP is not going to stand for it. When asked if the NAACP heard back from the Biden-Harris administration or Congress about its letter on the debt ceiling, Willoughby said the organization received confirmation from the White House that they understand these issues. She noted that her group understands that negotiation is a part of politics, but the well-being of Black and poor Americans should not be one of the negotiated items. Gerren Keith Gaynor Gerren Keith Gaynor is a White House Correspondent and the Managing Editor of Politics at theGrio. He is based in Washington, D.C. TheGrio is FREE on your TV via Apple TV, Amazon Fire, Roku and Android TV. Also, please download theGrio mobile apps today! The post SNAP work requirements tied to debt ceiling could harm Black people appeared first on TheGrio. Protests against Russian forces ecocidal actions at Kherson Oblasts Dzharylhach Island have taken place in a number of European cities. UAnimals, a Ukrainian animal welfare organisation, reported that solitary pickets took place across Europe as part of the #StopEcocideUkraine campaign. Pickets took place in the UK, Germany, Spain, Norway and the Czech Republic. "We are convinced that Russia has to be held responsible for every crime it commits, and we will do everything we can to make this happen," UAnimals said. A picketer protesting Russias ecocidal actions. Photo: UAnimals The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported on Friday, 19 May, that Russian occupation forces had covered the strip of water between the mainland and the island of Dzharylhach with sand, thus joining it to the occupied territories of Kherson Oblast. They have set up a military training ground on the island, which is a nature reserve, and are otherwise using the island for their own purposes. Environmental activists have stressed that blocking the strait threatens the Dzharylhach Bay ecosystem. A protester in Berlin "You dont need to explain what Dzharylhach is to a Ukrainian. It is the largest uninhabited island in Europe. The waters surrounding the island are a habitat that is considered crucial for marine mammals. They are home to unique coastal groups of dolphins, such as white-sided and bottlenose dolphins, and they have the highest density of harbour porpoises in the entire sea," Pavlo Holdin, a Ukrainian zoologist, said. Background: Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, Russian forces frequently commit ecocide in Ukraine. Their actions are threatening significant pollution to the River Dnipro. Journalists fight on their own frontline. Support Ukrainska Pravda or become our patron! Engadget has been testing and reviewing consumer tech since 2004. Our stories may include affiliate links; if you buy something through a link, we may earn a commission. Read more about how we evaluate products. Sony's WH-1000XM5 is the best wireless ANC headphone you can buy, thanks to the stellar sound quality, comfort and awesome active noise cancellation. Amazon currently has them on sale in both black and white for $348, the lowest price we've seen in months, saving you 13 percent or $52 over the regular price. The WH-1000XM5 scored an impressive 95 in our Engadget review, thanks to improvements across the board over our previous favorite headphones, the WH-1000XM4 (which are also on sale for $278 right now, by the way). Perhaps the biggest improvement is in fit and comfort thanks to the more optimal weight distribution, synthetic leather ear cups and reduced weight. Sound quality also went up, due to the new 30mm carbon fiber drivers that deliver punchier bass. They offer more clarity that helps you hear fine detail, along with improved depth that makes music more immersive. And Sony's DSEE Extreme sound processing recovers detail lost to compression, without any noticeable impact on sound quality. The ANC is equally impressive. With double the number of noise cancellation microphones found in the M4, along with a new dedicated V1 chip, the M5 does a better job at minimizing background noise. And in terms of the microphone, we found that the M5 offers superior call quality over its predecessor. Moreover, you get 30 hours of listening time with ANC enabled, enough for the longest of flights. The main drawback of the WH-1000XM5 headphones is the $400 price tag, but you can pick them up right now in either white or black for just $348 and save $52 but act fast before the sale ends. A music teacher has been arrested by U.S. Marshals on a warrant charging him with aggravated sexual assault of a child, a source told Channel 9. The man previously spoke to Channel 9 saying he had fallen victim to a rental scam. The source said Makalani Jones, who was wanted on an active full extradition warrant, was in Gaston County. He was working as a music teacher at the Killeen Independent School District in Texas when one of his students accused him of sexual assault, the source said. ALSO READ: Deputies: Teacher charged with sex crimes found with juvenile, despite court order In March, Jones left KISD and the Killeen area, which is north of Austin, the source said. He is currently employed at Hidden Valley Elementary School. A spokesperson for Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools said Jones has been suspended with pay, and said they cant provide any further information due to employee privacy restrictions. According to the source, the arrest warrant was issued by the Bell County District Attorneys Office on May 16 once the Killeen allegations were investigated. According to Texas court records, the allegations were reported in October 2022. Per Texas law, the charge against Jones indicates the victim was under the age of 14. Jones was booked into the Gaston County jail on the extradition charge. Jones contacted Action 9 earlier this month saying he found an ad on Craigslist to rent a Gastonia home and moved in. He said a few days later, the real owner called him and said the ad was all a scam. Channel 9 asked police if there are any other open cases involving Jones. (WATCH BELOW: Deputies: Teacher charged with sex crimes found with juvenile, despite court order) By Catherine Schenck HAMMANSKRAAL, South Africa (Reuters) - South Africans on Monday blamed their local government for failing to provide clean water as deaths from cholera rose to 15 in the country's most populous province. The health department in Gauteng province declared a cholera outbreak on Sunday in Hammanskraal, an area about 50 kilometres (31 miles) north of capital Pretoria, in the City of Tshwane. Almost 100 people have been seen at hospital, and 37 have been admitted to wards, the city government said on Monday, warning residents of Hammanskraal and surrounding areas not to drink tap water. "We are drinking that water, but they don't want to clean that water, or to... put another pipe to give us the all right water," said 36-year-old Sello Samuel Lekoto, an unemployed resident of Hammanskraal who is being treated at Jubilee Hospital for cholera. The municipality said in statements that the water supplied by the city in Hammanskraal is not potable, but that the city provides clean drinking water through tankers to informal settlements several times a week. "The issue of water in Tshwane has been a problem for a number of years," South Africa's Deputy Minister of Water and Sanitation David Mahlobo said in a briefing. "There have been problems politically... (and) issues over conflicts in such a way that citizens were exposed," he said. Cholera can cause acute diarrhoea, vomiting and weakness and is mainly spread by contaminated food or water. It can kill within hours if untreated. South Africa has confirmed 41 cases nationwide, including 34 in Gauteng province, one in Limpopo province and six in Free State, a health department spokesperson said. The cases in Free State province are not connected to the others, he added. South Africa reported its first cholera death in February, after the virus arrived in the country from Malawi. (Reporting by Catherine Schenck; additional reporting by Tannur Anders; Writing by Nellie Peyton; editing by Barbara Lewis) South Carolina Republicans on Saturday selected Drew McKissick as their chairman for a fourth term at a convention where some of the partys 2024 presidential hopefuls made pitches to voters in the first-in-the-South primary state. McKissick has led the party since 2017 in a state where the GOP holds all statewide-elected positions, all but one U.S. House seat and control of both legislative chambers. He defeated three challengers. Party officials said in a release that under McKissicks leadership, more Republicans than ever before had won election. Neither of South Carolinas presidential contenders, former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley and U.S. Sen. Tim Scott, attended the gathering in Lexington, a suburb of Columbia, the capital. Scott, who entered the race on Friday, sent a video that was played for delegates, and a political action committee that backs him sponsored a breakfast for them. The GOP, the great opportunity party, is in fact the dominant party in our great state, because of people just like you, said Scott. He encouraged activists to come to his formal campaign launch event Monday in North Charleston so they could be a part of South Carolina and hopefully American history. If elected, Scott would be the first Black Republican president. ALSO READ: Former US Rep. Mark Walker joins North Carolina GOP gubernatorial field Haley, a former governor who kicked off her campaign in February, did not appear in person or via video. She did get a mention from the rostrum when a McKissick rival noted that Haley had resigned as governor before the end of her second term to join the Trump administration as U.N. envoy. The GOPs 2024 field is expanding, with Scott, Haley, former President Donald Trump and former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson already running. Another hopeful, entrepreneur and anti-woke activist Vivek Ramaswamy was the sole candidate to address the convention in person. In a video, Trump said that now is the time to complete our mission and finish what we started and evict Joe Biden from the White House. A video from Never Back Down, a super political action committee supporting Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis as he prepares to enter the race, showcased DeSantis background, including his military service and ongoing disputes with the Walt Disney Co., saying the governor has refused to let Disney push us around. This past week, Disney announced it was scrapping plans to build a new campus in central Florida and relocate 2,000 employees from Southern California to work in digital technology, finance and product development. The decision followed a year of attacks from DeSantis and the Florida Legislature because the company opposed a state law that bans classroom lessons on sexual orientation and gender identity in early grades. Disney filed a First Amendment lawsuit against DeSantis and other officials last month. ALSO READ: Debt limit talks start, stop as Republicans, White House face 'serious differences' Given its prominent status on the nomination calendar, South Carolina for months has drawn a number of GOP presidential contenders. Trump visited in January to roll out his South Carolina leadership team, which includes Gov. Henry McMaster and U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham. DeSantis made his debut trip last month, drawing hundreds to two events. Former Vice President Mike Pence has come numerous times to a state where support from white evangelical Christians is critical. Trumps support in the state has remained high since his South Carolina primary victory helped propel him to the 2016 nomination. But Tyler J. Corn, who heads up the Greater Spartanburg Young Republicans, said hes somewhat dubious that those who say they support the former president will actually vote for him when it comes time to do so next year. I think theres a lot of people that realistically say they love Donald Trump who probably end up voting for Ron DeSantis, because I think a lot of believe that hes a proven winner, and the president, theyre a little bit more concerned about that, Corn said on the sidelines of the convention. Ive even heard people say, Well I love Donald Trump, I just dont love the way he always says things. And I havent heard that complaint with Ron DeSantis yet. ___ VIDEO: North Carolina Republicans unveil new proposed abortion restrictions Rapper Rick Ross event at Atlanta area mansion has police worried about traffic and safety South Fulton police are warning its residents that the city could see spillover traffic from rapper Rick Ross car and bike show set to take place at his mansion early next month. The show is set to take place at Ross palatial Fayette County estate on June 3. Ross said he will still have the event even though the county denied him a conditional use permit last week. South Fulton police said they are concerned about the potential impact on residents and businesses due to the expected influx of event attendees and the resulting traffic congestion. [DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks] Police said that Old National Highway and Highway 138 intersections are expected to be significantly affected by traffic. South Fulton officials said they have a plan to manage the situation. They said that plan includes collaborating with Fayette County deputies and other law enforcement agencies, traffic management, and increased staffing. Ross attorney Leon Rogers told Channel 2 Action News that 35 officers would direct traffic and get people who live in the area to their homes. He also said neighbors will get passes that will help them avoid any traffic. RELATED STORIES: The South Fulton Police Department said it will continue to update its residents ahead of the car show slated to take place on June 3. [SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter] South Korea to consider list of non-lethal weapons requested by Zelenskyy The Republic of Korea plans to provide Ukraine with demining equipment and ambulances, and will consider Kyiv's request for some non-lethal weapons. Source: Yoon Suk Yeol, President of South Korea, on Sunday in Seoul, quoted by Reuters Details: South Korea's president, who met with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy for the first time at the G7 summit in Japan last week, said Seoul planned to provide Kyiv with demining equipment and ambulances. Yoon added that South Korea would "carefully consider" a list of some non-lethal weapons requested by Zelenskyy. Last Wednesday, South Korea signed an agreement with Ukraine to provide a US$130 million financial aid package. This came a day after Olena Zelenska asked for military aid for Ukraine in Seoul. Background: South Korea, a major producer of artillery shells, said it would not provide Ukraine with lethal weapons, citing its relations with Russia. On 21 May, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol met with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Seoul after they arrived in South Korea together from Japan. Yoon said that South Korea and Germany will soon sign an agreement aimed at protecting military secrets in order to strengthen defence cooperation. In Hiroshima, Japan, the G7 leaders made it clear that they would not back down from their support for Ukraine and outlined a common approach to China. Journalists fight on their own frontline. Support Ukrainska Pravda or become our patron! South Korea's President Yoon Suk Yeol meets Charles Michel, President of the European Council, and Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission By Hyonhee Shin SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea and the European Union agreed on Monday to step up cooperation on security amid tension over Russia's invasion of Ukraine and North Korean nuclear threats. South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol held a summit in Seoul with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Charles Michel, during which the leaders also pledged to work together on climate change, health and supply chains. "South Korea and the EU are important partners that share universal values of freedom, human rights and rule of law," Yoon told a joint press conference. Yoon has been pushing for greater security ties with Europe and other U.S. allies to address global challenges, including the conflict in Ukraine and tension over China's stance towards self-ruled Taiwan. He also wants cooperation to curb North Korea's nuclear ambitions. In June, he attended a NATO summit for the first time as a South Korean leader. At Monday's talks, which mark the 60th anniversary of bilateral relations, Yoon and the EU leaders in a joint statement condemned Russia's invasion of Ukraine as a grave violation of international law. They also criticised North Korea's ongoing efforts to develop its nuclear arsenal and Pyongyang's threats of the possible use of nuclear weapons against South Korea. "Russia must stop its aggression and immediately, completely and unconditionally withdraw all of its military forces from the entire territory of Ukraine," the statement said. A major producer of artillery shells, Seoul has not provided lethal weapons to Ukraine, citing its ties with Russia, but Yoon signalled a possible shift in his stance against arming Ukraine in an interview with Reuters last month. At the press conference, von der Leyen thanked Yoon for South Korea's financial and humanitarian aid to Ukraine. Yoon and the EU leaders also called for freedom of overflight and navigation in the South China Sea, as well as peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait, saying they oppose any unilateral attempts to change the status quo in the Indo-Pacific. South Korea and the EU will also reinforce cooperation on economic security, including early warning systems to detect and address potential supply chain disruptions in key industries, such as semiconductor chips. South Korea is a staunch U.S. ally and hosts some 28,000 U.S. troops. It has also developed a crucial economic relationship with China, South Korea's largest trading partner. Yoon faces a tricky task of balancing those two relationships, while at the same time fending off a belligerent North Korea, which is ramping up its arsenal of nuclear weapons and the missiles to deliver them. On other global issues, a "green partnership" will be created with the EU to spur an environmentally friendly transition, the statement said, warning that a triple planetary crisis of climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution poses an "existential threat." Both sides also reached an agreement to boost health cooperation, under which they will work together to identify and counter health threats, and assist other countries to prevent and respond to them. (Reporting by Hyonhee Shin; Editing by Ed Davies and Sharon Singleton) SpaceX's Crew Dragon spacecraft "Freedom" begins its journey to the International Space Station with the 600th person to enter Earth orbit after launching from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Sunday, May, 21, 2023. The 600th person to enter Earth orbit is now on her way to the International Space Station aboard the second commercial mission to fly there. Rayyanah Barnawi on Sunday (May 21) lifted off with fellow Saudi Space Commission (SSC) astronaut Ali AlQarni, privately funded astronaut John Shoffner of Tennessee and former NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson on the second mission organized by Houston-based space services company Axiom Space. The four Axiom 2 (Ax-2) crewmates launched at 5:37 p.m. EDT (2137 GMT) on the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft "Freedom" atop a Falcon 9 rocket from Pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Less than nine minutes later, Barnawi and her crewmates began circling the planet. AlQarni and Shoffner are first-time fliers as well, but based on a precedent set in 2021 when the 600th person entered space a figure that also included suborbital flights the count is based on the astronauts' mission designations. As pilot, Shoffner became number 598. AlQarni is number 599, flying as mission specialist 1. As such, Barnawi, as mission specialist 2, claimed the round number. With Barnawi, only 72 women help comprise the 600-person total. Related: Live updates from the Ax-2 private astronaut mission More: SpaceX's Ax-2 mission for Axiom Space in photos (gallery) Ax-2 mission specialist Rayyanah Barnawi in a spacesuit. "I feel incredibly humbled to follow in the footsteps of the many astronauts and pioneers before me," said Barnawi in a statement. "As the 600th person to enter orbit around Earth, I am excited to represent the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Saudi Space Commission during this historic mission. It is a true honor to be a part of a mission that is expanding access to low-Earth orbit for people like me and you and to be able to inspire people around the world to reach for the stars and pursue their dreams." Barnawi is also now the first Saudi woman to fly in space and first Arab woman to orbit Earth, and with AlQarni, the first Arabs and Saudis to launch together on the same mission. The first Saudi (and Arab) astronaut to fly, Sultan bin Salman Al Saud, did so as a payload specialist aboard the space shuttle Discovery in 1985. Once they arrive at the International Space Station, which is expected to occur at 9:24 a.m. EDT (1324 GMT) on Monday, Barnawi and AlQarni will be greeted by the station's Expedition 69 crew, including Emirati astronaut Sultan AlNeyadi, marking the first time three Arab astronauts have been in space at the same time. Barnawi, 33, and AlQarni, 31, are not the only record-setters on the Ax-2 crew. Shoffner, 67, is the first person to have been born in Alaska (Fairbanks) to fly into space. Axiom Space's Ax-2 crew inside SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft Peggy Whitson, as a former NASA astronaut, already holds the distinction as the most experienced American and woman to fly into space, having previously logged more than 665 days on three long-duration stays aboard the space station. She will add to that count on this mission, which is expected to last about 10 days. Whitson, 63, is now also the first woman to command a commercial spaceflight. She joined Axiom Space after retiring from NASA in 2018, becoming the company's director of human spaceflight. Whitson is the second former NASA astronaut to fly for Axiom, following Michael Lopez-Alegria on Ax-1 in 2022, and the third NASA astronaut to return to space after leaving the agency, following John Glenn in 1998. During the next week at the space station, Whitson will assist Shoffner, AlQarni and Barnawi proceed through their planned science and outreach programs. The Ax-2 crew plans to conduct more than 20 different experiments, including research into stem cells, DNA-based nanomaterials and cancer countermeasures. They will also photograph lightning strikes and high-altitude transient luminous events (TLEs) known as sprites and test a wearable skinsuit that simulates Earth's gravity to counteract the negative effects of microgravity. Shoffner, a race car driver who has aspired to fly into space since his childhood, will use part of his time to announce the winners of a Crayola-sponsored art and poetry contest that was open to children from around the world. AlQarni and Barnawi will interact with students in Saudi Arabia with the goal of inspiring an interest in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education. "We're going to be doing three education awareness experiments with the kids," said AlQarni during a pre-launch press conference. "It's going to be a live event, which is going to be amazing for them because it's going to be a huge opportunity to compare the results that they had [on] the ground with the ones we are going to have aboard the ISS." AlQarni and Barnawi are also bringing a taste of their country to their temporary home in orbit. "We are taking with us Saudi coffee and dates to share with the astronauts on board the ISS," said AlQarni in a reply to a question posed by collectSPACE.com. Barnawi has a Saudi flag and packed earrings from her grandmother, who was not able to attend her launch but gave her blessing for Barnawi to fly into space. Whitson has again flown a necklace that she wore at her wedding and then flew on her three previous missions. Shoffner chose something that represents his life-long dream of flying in space. "When I was eight years old, I built a model of the Gemini spacecraft. It had little astronauts in it that could come out and I happen to still have one from 1963. So one of those little guys probably Ed White, I imagine is going with me to space again," he said. Related: Facts about NASA's Gemini human spaceflight program Mission patch for Axiom Space's Ax-2 astronaut mission to the International Space Station. Related stories: Pioneering women in space: A gallery of astronaut firsts Meet the 4 astronauts of SpaceX's Ax-2 mission for Axiom Space Building a private space station: Q&A with Axiom Space CTO Matt Ondler One other "astronaut" aboard the spacecraft was "GiGi," the mission's "zero-g indicator" and Ax-2 "fifth crew member." The result of a partnership between Axiom Space and Build-A-Bear Workshop, the fuzzy bear was dressed in a miniature version of Axiom's prototype AxEMU spacesuit, which the company is developing for NASA astronauts to wear on the Artemis 3 moon landing in 2025. Private missions like Ax-2 are part of NASA's strategy to help build a low Earth orbit economy, such that companies like Axiom Space can operate commercial orbital facilities after the International Space Station is retired. Ax-2 is the second flight for Dragon Freedom, which previously flew SpaceX's Crew-4 astronaut mission to and from the space station. Follow collectSPACE.com on Facebook and on Twitter at @collectSPACE. Copyright 2023 collectSPACE.com. All rights reserved. Senior citizens have meals at a canteen for elderly people at a community in Jin'an District of Fuzhou, capital of southeast China's Fujian Province, June 21, 2022. [Photo/Xinhua] Chinese authorities Sunday released a set of guidelines for facilitating the building of the basic elderly care system. The document, released jointly by the General Office of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and the State Council General Office, emphasized that facilitating the building of this system bears great importance in China's efforts to pursue a proactive national strategy in response to population aging and ensure equitable access to public services. According to the guidelines, basic elderly care services consist of material assistance, nursing, and caregiving services, among others. They are provided directly by the government or by parties supported by the government. The guidelines noted that the system should follow the principles of meeting essential needs and be universally accessible. In the meantime, the system should also allow families with financial difficulties to be supported in elderly care and ensure all institutional resources regarding elderly care are optimized and integrated. The guidelines listed five key aspects where more work should be done. They include forming and implementing a list of elderly care services, establishing an active response mechanism for providing accurate services, enhancing the mechanism that ensures sound elderly care services, improving service capacity, and making such services more accessible. BREVARD COUNTY, Florida SpaceX's Axiom-2 mission took off from Kennedy Space Center on Sunday night, carrying the second all-private crew of astronauts on a multimillion-dollar journey to the International Space Station. The mission for Houston-based company Axiom Space contracted with NASA is expected to last 10 days. The SpaceX Dragon "Freedom" capsule is slated to dock with the station at 9:30 a.m. EDT Monday and remain there for eight days before returning back to Earth. The crew of four is commanded by former NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson, Axiom Space's director of human spaceflight. She is joined by private spaceflight participant and mission pilot John Shoffner and the first two Saudi Arabian government-sponsored astronauts, mission specialists Ali Alqarni and Rayyanah Barnawi. Peggy Whitson: Female pioneers expanded access for women in space. Now we're doing it for everyone else. Axiom Space did not release how much Shoffner and Saudi Arabia are paying for the planned 10-day mission but the company had previously cited a ticket price of $55 million each. Before liftoff, Whitson gave a few remarks that recognized the hard work of not only launch teams, but the thousands of people that it takes to make a crewed launch happen. "Today, we stand on the threshold of a remarkable journey thanks to your unwavering spirit to explore beyond our home planet and the endless possibility it enables. Thanks to the teams that make up our very big family Axiom Space, NASA, the international space partners, and SpaceX," Whitson said. "And with that, let's get to work and build some history together." NASA contract: NASA awards multibillion-dollar lunar lander contract to Blue Origin for Artemis program Ticket-holding crew includes Saudi Arabia's first woman in space Shoffner, the only paying customer on the flight, is a businessman, aviator, and STEM advocate who was born in Alaska and now lives in Knoxville, Tennessee. He fills the pilot seat for the private mission since he is a veteran aviator with 25 years and more than 8,500 hours of flying experience. Barnawi, the first female Saudi astronaut, is a breast cancer researcher. Alqarni is a captain and fighter pilot with 12 years of experience in the Royal Saudi Air Force. The pair are the first Saudi citizens to visit the space station. Barnawi and Alqarni are the first from their country to ride a rocket since a Saudi prince launched aboard shuttle Discovery in 1985. This is a dream come true for everyone, Barnawi said before the flight. Just being able to understand that this is possible. If me and Ali can do it, then they can do it, too. While aboard the station, all four members are expected to participate in science, communication, and educational outreach projects before they return for a splashdown landing in the Atlantic Ocean or Gulf of Mexico. The final splashdown zone selection will ultimately come down to weather conditions. Demolition, preservation and cleanup: Behind the scenes at NASA's rocket test site The Axiom-2 astronauts blast off from Kennedy Space Center Sunday, May 21, 2023. This is the second all-private crewed mission to the International Space Station and is expected to last 10 days. Mandatory Credit: Craig Bailey/FLORIDA TODAY via USA TODAY NETWORK Mission marks Axiom Space's second private flight to space station Axiom-2 is part of a series of SpaceX's privately funded voyages to the International Space Station with Axiom Space. "This mission is the second in our series of bold missions to the International Space Station," Michael Suffredini, Axiom Space president and CEO, said last month. "These are really steps for us and a process to get ready to build our space station." Last year, the company launched its first mission with three businessmen and another retired NASA astronaut. The third mission, Axiom-3, ordered with NASA, could launch as early as this fall. Beyond that, Axiom Space is planning to build its own free-flying space station in the coming years. The first module of Axiom's station will launch and connect to the ISS late next year. That will be followed by another module and, eventually, a power and cooling system. The multi-module Axiom Station is planned to disengage to become a free-flying commercial destination in space before NASA retires the International Space Station in 2030. "We'll be able to work efficiently with NASA and be able to work towards a seamless transition from the International Space Station to the Axiom Space station when the ISS is retired," Suffredini said. The next SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket slated to launch from Florida will fly the BADR-8 communications satellite built by Airbus for telecommunications company Arabsat. That mission will target geostationary orbit with liftoff set for Tuesday at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. It will be the 26th launch from Florida this year. SpaceX Starship explosion: SpaceX's Starship explosion leads to lawsuit against FAA over environmental concerns For the latest, visit floridatoday.com/launchschedule. Contributing: The Associated Press Contact Jamie Groh at JGroh@floridatoday.com and follow her on Twitter at @AlteredJamie. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY NETWORK: SpaceX sends veteran NASA astronaut, Saudi Arabia's 1st woman to space Brand-A-Bear The final frontier is, apparently, the new site of brand marketing or at least, that's the message sent by a couple of new and very "huh!"-worthy partnerships between space tourism companies and consumer brands. Axiom Space you know, the first private company to send a private crew of rich folks to the International Space Station has, per a press release, sent a custom, dripped-out Build-a-Bear Workshop teddy up into orbit as a "zero-gravity indicator." The bear, named "GiGi," has become the "fifth crew member" of Ax-2, Axiom's second private space tourism mission that over the weekend launched four lucky fliers to the International Space Station aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. "GiGi going to space continues the tradition of having a zero-gravity indicator inside the spacecraft to provide a visual indicator when the spacecraft has reached the weightlessness of microgravity," reads the release. Along with being a branded reminder to "children around the world to learn about space and consider careers in science, technology, engineering, the arts, and mathematics (STEAM)," GiGi the bear is also, the release notes, wearing a miniature version of Axiom's new sci-fi-inspired spacesuit that NASA is renting from the company for a pretty penny. Pen Spaceland While the well-dressed teddy is no doubt the star of Axiom's latest brand partnerships, it's not the only one on this latest mission. In a video released last week, ex-NASA astronaut and current Axiom mission leader Peggy Whitson announced that she and her three civilian crew members on Ax-2 would be using special Fisher brand space pens that were invented specifically for microgravity environments. "I am excited about the idea that we're continuing the legacy of taking Fisher pens to space," Whitson, who holds records for the most days on the space station for any American and any woman at a whopping 665 days, said in the company's promo video. "It's really been a very long history [for] these space pens. I'm looking forward to using them again." Fisher pens have, of course, been a staple of space travel for more than half a century, but the Axiom brand partnership signals that the consumer space tourism company is taking advertising to a place far, far away the ISS. More on space tourism: Tourism Company Offering Zero-G Concerts Get up to speed on the US debt drama House Republicans are insisting on spending cuts before they will agree to raise the nations debt ceiling past $31 trillion. Democrats argue Congress already spent the money and must be allowed to repay Americas debt holders without an embarrassing and economically disastrous default. There are signs that negotiations over raising the nations debt limit are gaining momentum, but major differences remain and its unclear how quickly an agreement could come together. With no bill to vote on, House lawmakers left Washington for the Memorial Day weekend and will be given 24 hours notice to return if a deal is reached. The clock is ticking down to a US default, but its not entirely clear when the US will officially run out of cash. Its also not clear what a potential deal to avert a first-ever default will look like. Youre going to hear a lot more about this in the coming days as the country hurtles toward what previously seemed unthinkable: US lawmakers failing to agree to pay the nations debts. Economists and government officials say it would be a financial calamity of untold proportions. Some Republicans, flexing their majority in the House, argue the country must make tough choices regardless of the outcome. Democrats, meanwhile, are unwilling to give up some spending they enacted in 2022, when they had the majority. The size of the debt is eye-popping, but failing to allow the government to finance its spending would send the US economy into a tailspin and ultimately endanger the Social Security and government checks on which so many millions of Americans rely. The debt, which is largely owned by the public, pension funds, insurance companies and, to a lesser extent, foreign governments, is considered a safe form of investment and an important backbone of the economy. If America fails to pay its debt holders on time, that trust could be forever eroded. If you havent been following the debt drama, here are answers to some questions to get you up to speed. When will the government run out of cash? Its a moving target. The US actually exceeded its borrowing authority back in January, but Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen authorized extraordinary measures essentially moving money around to give lawmakers time to act. She has said those extraordinary measures will be exhausted as soon as June 1, but third-party estimates suggest it could end up taking weeks or even months longer. The government takes in and spends money every day. It also takes cash from public debt it has sold to cover expenses. So as along as taxes are coming in it will never completely run out of money. But without the ability to sell debt, it will not have enough to cover its obligations. The Treasury Department publishes a daily balance sheet. On Tuesday it showed an operating cash balance of more than $76 billion, including billions in deposits everything from income taxes and Medicare premiums to the foreign military sales program and $157 billion in cash from debt. CNNs Tami Luhby writes that if the US can limp to the middle of June, an expected infusion of estimated tax payments could forestall the so-called X-date until later in the summer. Treasury officials might not even know until a day or two before the X-date occurs. When will Congress get serious? In April, House Republicans passed a bill to raise the debt ceiling paired with nonspecific requirements for spending cuts, to undo climate change-related spending championed by Democrats and to impose new federal work requirements for Medicaid recipients, among other things. The one-sided bill was a nonstarter for Democrats, who ignored it in the Senate. But it proved that Republicans could come together and was seen as a sort of opening bid in negotiations. Those negotiations really got underway in early May, when House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and President Joe Biden met at the White House. Staff-level discussions between the White House and congressional Republicans resumed Sunday evening after Biden and McCarthy had spoken by phone in the afternoon, according to a White House official. Biden and McCarthy met again on Monday. Is cutting spending the only way to address the debt? No. Just as Democrats are generally opposed to spending reductions, Republicans are generally opposed to raising taxes. Along with the growth in government spending, the cutting of tax rates plays an important role in this story. When would a default start to really hurt? Nearly every economist and policy maker agrees that a sustained default would have catastrophic consequences for the US economy and for the many millions of Americans who rely on Social Security, Medicare, government paychecks or government help. The stock market could lose a large portion of its value if investors were spooked by the instability. But a default of a day or two might not seem quite as horrible, particularly if there were not any interruption in government services. RELATED: Heres how we know a US default would be an economic disaster What would happen immediately after default? Any default would have consequences. If investors no longer trusted the US government to pay its bills, the cost of the government borrowing money could rise particularly if credit-rating agencies downgrade Americas sterling credit rating. Thats what happened in 2011 in the lead-up to the last significant debt ceiling standoff, increasing the amount America had to pay to make good on its debt obligations. Some Republicans have already suggested that a short-term default would not be catastrophic. Its not entirely clear if Social Security payments would be immediately delayed. The Treasury Department would have to make difficult choices about which bills to pay. It has not outlined a specific plan for what happens after a default. The consequences would cascade and compound as a default continued. RELATED: 5 ways a debt default could affect you If the White House and Republican leaders announce a deal, is that the end of it? No. And this is a very important point. Any deal announced by the negotiators must pass in the House and the Senate. That takes time, which is why a deal must be reached before June 1 in order to avoid a possible June 1 X-date. McCarthy had argued that this past weekend was the real, functional deadline. Theres also a very real question about whether House Republicans will coalesce around whatever deal McCarthy makes. His position as speaker is tenuous and if he agrees to a bill that Democrats find acceptable, he could face a revolt among conservative Republicans. Whatever passes through the House will have to get support from most Republicans there. Are there other options? The debt limit exists because of laws that date back to the 1930s. Theres a compelling argument that subsequent legislation the Budget Act of 1974 gave Congress specific power over the federal budget and made the debt ceiling duplicative, essentially negating it. But thats an untested legal theory. For now, Republicans will get two opportunities to enact cuts, with the debt ceiling and in normal order of passing a budget and spending bills. What about the 14th Amendment? Democratic senators, former President Bill Clinton and some notable legal experts have argued Biden has the power to raise the debt ceiling on his own if he chooses. This more-discussed end run around the standoff is for Biden to simply invoke the 14th Amendment, ratified in 1868, and order the Treasury Department to carry on with financing the spending Congress has already authorized. Section 4 of the 14th Amendment reads: The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law, including debts incurred for payment of pensions and bounties for services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion, shall not be questioned. While Biden has not rejected the idea of invoking the 14th Amendment, he has said that since that pathway is also untested in courts, there is no time to do it for this standoff. Read more about the 14th Amendment and the debt. When will Wall Street freak out about all of this? Not yet, apparently. Market experts think a default will break the financial system. But the immediate reaction could be muted if investors cant identify a safer option for treasuries. This story has been updated with additional information. For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com The U.S. is closely watching efforts by the Wagner group to source weapons through Mali for use against Ukraine, where the Russian paramilitary is on the frontlines of some of the bloodiest battles targeting Ukrainian forces. State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller said Monday that while the U.S. has not seen any indication that Wagner has been successful in receiving military material, it is monitoring the situation closely. We have sanctioned a number of entities and individuals across a number of continents that support Wagners military operations and we will have more to share on this question soon, Miller said. The spokespersons remarks confirmed a CNN report over the weekend that the U.S. is raising alarm that Wagner is working to covertly source military equipment by routing such materials through third-party countries, in particular Mali. We have been informed that Wagner is seeking to transit material acquisitions to aid Russias war, through Mali, and is willing to use false paperwork for these transactions, Miller said. In fact there are indications that Wagner has been attempting to purchase military systems from foreign suppliers and route these weapons through Mali, as a third-party. The public warning is part of a pattern by the U.S. to declassify intelligence surrounding Russias war in Ukraine to better coordinate global action to cut off Moscows ability to wage war. The U.S. said in December that North Korea had shipped infantry rockets and missiles to Wagner and a February intelligence document revealed in a wide-ranging leak in April reportedly detailed that the group was trying to buy weapons and equipment from NATO-ally Turkey. The Biden administration designated Wagner as a Transnational Criminal Organization in January as part of efforts to identify and cut off parts of its global support network and punish the group as a mercenary fighting force supporting Russian President Vladimir Putins war in Ukraine. Wagner has a deep history on the African continent, where the group is often hired as a private security contractor to supplement weak armies but has been accused of heinous atrocities against civilians. Congress has pushed for the Biden administration to designate Wager as a foreign terrorist organization. But the White House has rebuffed these efforts over concerns that such a designation would harm efforts by Washington to engage with African countries employing the mercenary group. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. St. Johns Prep student David Kane was sitting in math class on Monday when suddenly, over the school announcements, students were told there were reports of an active shooter on campus. She just sounded very shaky and scared and that was kind of it, so we just barricaded the classroom door, Kane said of the next steps students and school staff took to stay safe. However, there were no threats identified after several sweeps of St. Johns Prep in Danvers amid an investigation into a report of a person with a gun on campus Monday, authorities said. Danvers Police and the schools superintendent gave an update just after 4 p.m. saying an officers gun accidentally went off which elevated the situation from a swatting response to an actual active shooter situation. We are aware of reports of a single, accidental discharge of a firearm by a responding Danvers officer, state police said. Local and state police descended upon the school on Spring Street shortly before 2 p.m. and immediately ordered students and staff to shelter in place. Several dozen troopers and Danvers police responded to St. Johns Prep for a report of a person with a gun at the school. Immediate entry was made and no threats were identified at this time, state police said in a tweet. Kane, the student, described a harrowing scene when, upon learning of the initial reports of an active shooter, students and faculty immediately took cover, fearing for their lives. We knew to barricade the door and kind of hide in the corner, (not near any) windows, draw the shades, Kane said. Student Dylan Aliberti said he wasnt really worried until he saw a police officer run by my class with my dean, so that got my heart racing. Aliberti said he was texting with my parents the whole time, just keeping them updated as often as I could. I basically said, Love you guys and Im sure everything is going to be fine. I just tried to get them not to worry much, Aliberti said. Law enforcement teams conducted secondary sweeps and worked to clear one building at a time. There were no reported injuries. Teams still conducting sweeps, still no evidence of a gunman or any threat located, state police said. FINAL UPDATEThreat of a shooter has been confirmed to be a hoax. All search teams secure from the school. Investigation ongoing to determine the source of the hoax threat. https://t.co/ATU3SZvdlp Mass State Police (@MassStatePolice) May 22, 2023 Students have since been cleared out of buildings. Some students who fled the school on their own were directed to the Stop & Shop on Newbury Street to be picked up by their parents. Its a tough thing to go through as a parent, but we were really impressed with the way the school handled it and the response from law enforcement, Bill Kane said. In an initial statement, St. Johns Prep said, There has been a report of an active shooter on campus at Benjamin Hall. Danvers and state police are on site. Students, faculty, and staff are sheltering in place. We will further provide updates as soon as possible. Students said those initial minutes of the shelter-in-place were the most frightening. It was a teacher who came in from the opposite classroom, who came in and told my teacher to lock down, and then immediately everybody shut the door, locked the door, started barricading stuff, said student Colt Sullivan. The first 10 or 15 minutes were actually the scariest because we had the least amount of information at this point. St. Johns Prep in Danvers sent an email out at 2:01 p.m. announcing the threat of a possible active shooter, then a follow-up at 2:57 letting parents know the threat was a hoax from a swatting call. @boston25 pic.twitter.com/DgaUD708IR Jason Law (@JasonLawNews) May 22, 2023 Benjamin Hall is home to middle school students, labs, and a dining hall. Shortly before 3:30 p.m., educators announced that they believe the school was the victim of a swatting call. We believe that St. Johns was the victim of a swatting call. Everyone is safe. There have been no injuries and police are currently clearing campus buildings as we account for all the students, school officials said. There continued to be a heavy police presence at the school and surrounding streets into Monday evening. Video from the scene showed cruisers from multiple departments, officers with rifles, and K9 teams gathered outside. The swift and professional response from the Danvers Police Department, the Massachusetts State Police, and our regional public safety partners to this potentially tragic situation made it possible clear the large campus in less than one hour. Our deepest gratitude to area agencies for their response. We also commend the St. Johns Prep administration for their composure and cooperation as the situation unfolded. Their leadership in the face of chaos made a difference, said Danvers town officials in a statement. The size of the school is 175 acres with approximately nine buildings and numerous athletic fields, along with a student and faculty population of more than 1,500 people. No classes at St. Johns Prep Tuesday, school will resume Wednesday, spokesperson Chad Konecky confirms. This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available. Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts. Follow Boston 25 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch Boston 25 News NOW Mechanical engineer Nelson Badillo is pursuing a doctorate at Harvard University. (IOScholarships) When William, one of my son's best friends, told me he wasn't going to continue studying, it almost made my stomach hurt. High school classes had finished, and grades were being handed in. His GPA, while not perfect, was very good in science and math. Why are you leaving school? I asked. "I'm not very good at school and from now until I would graduate with a degree, it's going to be a long time, and I need to work now," he told me. "Besides, I wouldn't know how to pay for university." What if you got a scholarship? How could I get one? he asked. "You have to be a 'nerd' for that, and the truth is that I am not that good at school." Two weeks later he returned very happy. He had found a $25-an-hour job at one of the Inland Empire department stores and was going to earn about $1,000 a week at age 19. With a smile, he told me, "I don't think even my dad earns what I'm going to earn now." At his age, $52,000 a year may seem like a lot of money. But it is not, especially in a state like California where the cost of living has soared. Another of my children's friends who graduated from high school with a 3.9 GPA also decided not to continue studying. My family has no money and I don't think I can get a scholarship, he told me at a farewell party my sons threw for him after he'd decided to join the Army and was about to start his training in Arizona. What is wrong with them? I thought. They both could have had bright futures if they'd decided to continue studying, but above all if they'd had the motivation, the self-confidence and a role model. This, unfortunately, is the reality for thousands of Latino students, children of working families, who have had neither the resources nor the information to help their children make better decisions for their futures. This must change, Maria Fernanda Trochimezuk tells me. She came to the United States in 2000 to continue her studies, precisely because she obtained a scholarship. After studying marketing at UC Santa Barbara and being nationally selected to be part of the Stanford Latino Entrepreneurship Initiative program, Trochimezuk never imagined that she would dedicate herself to building a path for students interested in careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics by providing them with access to economic resources and information. Why help students seeking those careers and not others? Simply because they are the ones where you can earn more money and there are more job opportunities," she tells me. In 2021, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic and while she was becoming a mother, Trochimezuk formed an organization called IOScholarships, which aims to help young people like my children's friends find the necessary scholarships to continue studying. Every year there are so many scholarships that nobody applies for. That's a waste." She's right. The National Scholarships Providers Assn. (IOScholarships is a member of that organization) reports that in the last 10 years, the number of scholarships awarded has increased by more than 45%. Yet an estimated $100 million in scholarships goes un-awarded each year, largely due to a lack of applicants, Forbes reported in November 2021. A path to follow IOScholarships fulfill several objectives. The first, Trochimezuk said, is to help students learn about these scholarships and internships, and help them get them. The next goal is to put them in touch with other students who have already traveled the path and who can motivate them to keep going. Trochimezuk used her own savings to create a platform that works through a series of algorithms to match each student with the scholarship that best suits them. She subsequently received funding from Google PowerUp. Although this tool is relatively new, its success has been enormous. So far more than 10,000 students have applied for scholarships through IOScholarships. "My goal is to get more than a million young people to apply for scholarships through this platform and to contribute more than $1 billion to the economy with their workforce," said Trochimezuk, who spent her early years in Buenos Aires. Since I was a child, my parents said that I liked networking with my friends. So that's what I keep doing." She isn't an activist who fights against the lack of opportunities or decries the inequities that Latino and other minority students face. Instead, she has focused her work on creating a community network of services that students can turn to, not only to seek funding for their studies, but to meet other Latinos who have stood out and are already working in the fields of science and technology. I believe in education as the main tool for social change, she tells me. Please open the door We need to create role models, we need other successful young Latinos to open the doors for those who come behind. If we don't help ourselves, nobody is going to do it," Trochimezuk said. In some places, the door seems tightly shut. In Silicon Valley, for example, where the largest number of STEM jobs in the country are concentrated, and where the Latino population is almost 50%, less than 3% of high-tech, high-wage jobs are filled by Latino professionals. She believes that the best way to break the cycle of poverty is by accessing well-paid STEM jobs. U.S. Department of Labor figures confirm it. While all non-STEM occupations in the United States had an average salary of $40,120 per year in 2021, the average income for STEM occupations was more than double, at $95,420 per year. According to a Department of Labor report titled "Beyond the Numbers," IT professions are expected to be in high demand over the next decade. The fastest growing STEM careers that pay more than $100,000, according to finance website Smartassest, are: physicists (median salary $152,430); computer and information researchers ($131,490); computer engineers ($128,170); computer network architects ($120,520); actuaries ($105,900); information security analysts ($102,600); and biochemists and biophysicists ($102,270). Every month, Trochimezuk said, IOScholarships adds new scholarships to its database and also posts a Scholarship of the Week on its Instagram (@IOScholarships) network accounts. In addition, the site features a scholarship organizer, news designed to provide guidance on applying, and money-saving tips. The platform also offers a career aptitude quiz designed to help students identify degrees and professions that best match their abilities and streams a podcast called "Superheroes," where ethnic minority students can hear about the path other students in similar circumstances have followed. GPA isn't everything, said Trochimezuk. One of the most important aspects is the essay that the universities and those who provide the scholarships ask for. The essay is often more important than the GPA, because it shows the persistence capacity of the person to face and solve the difficulties." Josue Gil-Silva, one young person who has obtained a scholarship from the Hispanic Scholarship Fund, agrees. What I always recommend to other students is that they write openly, that they expose the difficulties they have faced and that they aim for the most important scholarships, without fear of failure. The worst that can happen is that they say 'no.'" There are many cases where efforts are well rewarded, like that of Alyssa Garbarino, who studies biology at Cal State Channel Islands and leads the Neuroscience Society. She wants to become a doctor despite her personal and financial problems. Her path isn't easy. To support her studies, she works as a babysitter three days a week and does research 10 hours a week as part of a research grant. She recently was going to a job interview and realized that she did not have the right clothes. Fortunately, she was selected by the Giving Closet organization to receive a surprise wardrobe worth more than $10,000. "The only way to get ahead is by helping each other," Trochimezuk said. "The reward is in sight." This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times. Gov. Kevin Stitt vetoed a bill on Monday that would let state lawmakers pick two-thirds of the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority members, saying the Legislature can't control the oversight of executive branch duties. Simply put, although the Legislature declares policy, it cannot oversee the execution of the policy it declares, the governor said in his veto message. The bill was approved by veto-proof majorities of the House and Senate, meaning the Legislature could easily override Stitt on the issue if they choose to do so this week, which is the last of the regular session. Lawmakers also may consider a bill this week to take away the governors authority to appoint the director of the Oklahoma Department of Tourism and Recreation, which could potentially create more tension about Stitts executive power. The bill would restore the hiring power to the Tourism Commission. More: Turnpike authority loses bond adviser after Oklahoma's blacklist of financial institutions Gov. Kevin Stitt vetoed a bill on Monday to dilute his influence over the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority. This file photo shows a protest at the state Capitol in March 2022 against the turnpike authority. Who currently appoints members of the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority? In Stitts first year in office, 2019, the Legislature gave the governor the authority to name the heads of several agencies that were being chosen by agency commissions. In some instances, the commissions were abolished and reconstituted as advisory bodies, rather than governing ones, and the Legislature was given the authority to name some of the members. However, the governor still made the majority of selections, a distinction between those changes and the ones in the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority bill vetoed on Monday. The vetoed bill would give the governor, the House and the Senate two picks each to the six-member turnpike authority. The governor currently makes all six appointments. More: Turnpike authority, hit with lawsuits, investigative audit, halts ACCESS Oklahoma Such a shift-from six members appointed by the Governor to two members appointed by the Governor and four members appointed by legislative leadership would codify legislative superiority and control over the operation of an executive branch agency and would enable the Legislature to exercise unconstitutionally coercive influence over the executive department, Stitts veto message says. Also under the bill, the current eight-year terms would be reduced to six years. And the legislation would prohibit authority members from voting on any issue in which they have a direct financial interest. Rep. Danny Sterling, R-Tecumseh, the main author of the bill, did not immediately respond to a phone call on Monday seeking reaction to Stitts veto. The legislation was introduced amid strong opposition to the turnpike authoritys $5 billion plan to expand toll roads over the next 15 years. The turnpike authority ceased work on the plan last month, citing legal challenges. This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Gov. Kevin Stitt vetoes Oklahoma Turnpike Authority appointment bill Two climbers spent the night on a glacier in an Alaska national park after becoming stranded, rangers said. The climbers were on the Ruth Glacier in Denali National Park and Preserve when they reached out for help Sunday, May 21, the National Park Service said in a news release. They got stuck on the peak after their ropes got damaged and they lost gear, officials said. The two then asked for help through a Garmin inReach device and reported having minor injuries. The device allows users to send messages and share their location in areas without cell service. But weather conditions kept rescuers from getting to them the night they reached out for help, officials said. Rescuers reached them the next morning and used a 250-foot line to bring them to a staging site, officials said. Then they were flown to Talkeetna, about 35 miles southeast of Ruth Glacier. Lost hiker spends night in Idaho wilderness. Then his wifes concern saves him 19-year-old hiker vanishes in Glacier National Park, rangers say. Search is underway Avid hiker vanishes after being dropped off at Joshua Tree campground. Search is on Customs and cargo processing has to go through the war zone of Khartoum, where smoke hangs in the sky during battles Sudan's war has left farmers of gum arabic, a vital ingredient for global industry including fizzy drinks, bereft of local buyers but a trade group assures global stocks are -- for now -- sufficient. The golden blobs of resin tapped from thorny acacia trees are an emulsifying agent used in everything from soft drinks to chewing gum and pharmaceuticals. Sudan is the world's largest producer of the raw gum which is a major source of foreign currency for the northeast African nation. The sector has survived repeated conflicts, a warming climate and decades of sanctions. But now, since war between two generals began on April 15, "producers are grappling with disaster," Adam Issa Mohammed, a gum arabic trader, told AFP in El Obeid, the North Kordofan state capital 350 kilometres (220 miles) southwest of Khartoum. The city is one of the main local markets for Sudanese gum arabic growers. Other farming sectors are also coping with a wartime lack of buyers as fuel shortages hinder transport to market, and prices soar. However, given its importance to Sudan's economy, and the five million Sudanese which the industry supported, the war's impact on gum arabic is particularly significant. - 'No one is buying' - Battles between army chief General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and his deputy-turned-rival General Mohamed Hamdan Daglo have killed around 1,000 people, uprooted more than a million from their homes, and further devastated an already-crippled economy. The bulk of the conflict has been in the capital Khartoum, parts of which have been reduced to smouldering rubble, as well as the western region of Darfur. Witnesses have also reported fighting in El Obeid. Further east, closer to the Ethiopian border, the Gedaref area and its acacia trees have been spared the fighting but gum arabic farmers are still affected. "We have large quantities we need to sell, but no one is buying because exporters and distributors can't find any transport companies willing to risk their trucks," according to the trader, Adam Issa Mohammed. A gum arabic producer, Ahmed Mohammed Hussein, said the absence of buyers has led to a price collapse of around 60 percent. "The price of a tonne has gone down from 320,000 Sudanese pounds to 119,000 ($627 to $233)," Hussein told AFP. The risk is clear: everything including customs and cargo processing has to go through the war zone of Khartoum. Truckers who venture onto the road not only risk their lives but spend much of their time scrambling for petrol. Even if they find it, the price per litre is now 20 times what it was before the war. At the ports, however, it is business as usual, according to Sudan's port authority, which told AFP "imports and exports are operating normally." But Othman Abdelsalam, an employee of a shipping company in Sudan who has viewed the data, said numbers are down. He told AFP "exports from Darfur and Kordofan via Khartoum -- particularly gum arabic - have suffered a strong impact" since the war started. Sudan's gum arabic belt extends from Gedaref, through Kordofan, across the country to Darfur in the west. According to the Hamburg-based Association for International Promotion of Gums, which brings together importers, processors and producers, there is no current supply threat to industry users of gum arabic. "Member companies keep sufficient stocks of gum arabic imported from Sudan and other countries in their warehouses, so that possible interruptions in supply... can be absorbed," it said in a statement. The group added that Chad and Nigeria are among alternate producers, so "immediate supply bottlenecks are not to be expected because of the current events in Sudan." Industry players within Sudan or elsewhere could not, however, say how long global stocks can last. - Global importance - Sudanese exports accounted for 70 percent of global raw gum supplies, according to pre-war data from AFD, the French agency for development. Gum arabic exports from Sudan totalled 88,000 tonnes in 2021, earning $110 million, according to central bank figures, the latest official data available. Mostafa al-Sayyed Khalil, who heads the Gum Arabic Council of Sudan, said his figures show export of 60,000 tonnes in 2022, which he considers an underestimate. Khalil was not able to project the war's impact. Even before the conflict, low prices in local markets pushed many farmers to cut down their trees for building materials or firewood. Others left their lands entirely to work in nearby gold mines. Aly Verjee, a researcher at Sweden's University of Gothenburg, said fighting across Sudan has affected other sectors, leading to the country's "partial deindustrialisation" and a much poorer future. That leaves gum arabic increasingly crucial. "If we lose the gum Arabic belt, we'll drown," Khalil warned. bur/it Nahla Abugusseisa's mum Afaf can barely speak or move due to her health conditions An Oxford woman has travelled to Egypt to rescue her seriously ill mother from Sudan and bring her back to the UK. Nahla Abugusseisa was told by her local Labour MP that the 78-year-old, who is bedridden and suffers from dementia, is "ineligible for evacuation". They are currently in Egypt after she spent more than 5,000 to transport her mother Afaf across the border. At least 40,000 Sudanese civilians are travelling to Aswan in Egypt because of the conflict that began in April. A week ago, Nahla decided to make the arduous journey to Egypt, the closest she could get to Sudan, which is currently in turmoil as clashes between the country's two main military forces intensify. The conflict continues in Khartoum as thousands flee the capital city The conflict is between the Sudanese Armed Forces, currently loyal to the country's de-facto leader Gen Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and General Hemeti's Rapid Support Forces. It has led to chaos in the country, including at Khartoum International Airport, leaving many Sudanese nationals and foreigners stranded. Eight days after the fighting began in Khartoum, Afaf's water and electricity were shut off, and she had to evacuate to nearby Omdurman. Nahla said: "My mum lived on water mixed with flour as it was the only food that could be put in her feeding tube because without electricity we can't blend her food." Nahla has spent a week in Egypt trying to evacuate her mother across the border She sent emails to multiple MPs, including the MP for Oxford East, Anneliese Dodds, but was told there was nothing they could do. In response, Miss Dodds wrote: "Labour has urged the government to extend these criteria to include dependent family members - but unfortunately the government have rejected these calls, and these groups remain ineligible for evacuation." Currently, the UK government is no longer running any evacuation operations from Sudan, and the British Embassy in Khartoum is closed. "I can't think about what is going to happen to me," Nahla said. "Whatever is going to happen to my mum will happen to me. I'm fine with that. Imagine saying that to your kids." With the help of the Sudanese community in Oxford, Nahla arranged a private ambulance to transport her mother to the Egyptian border, but the hostile situation meant it repeatedly failed to arrive. She said: "Every day, we arrange an ambulance to evacuate my mum, but either they are sent back by army militia or lack of petrol. And then I found out the militia is targeting ambulances specifically." "I just want my mum to live in dignity," Nahla said On 18 May, Afaf finally made the six-and-a-half hour trip to Dongola in Sudan in more than 11 hours, and by 20 May had arrived in Aswan. Now the pair are stuck in Egypt until Nahla's mother can claim asylum. She said: "I am in the same situation as thousands of Sudanese people who have fled to Egypt. Even now I have her here, I have to fight to take her to the UK because my life, my house, my kids, are there." "In Egypt, I am a stranger - Oxford is my home, and I want to take her home to look after her." The Home Office said: "We will not be commenting on individual cases. The evacuation criteria was expanded on 29 April to include eligible non-British nationals in Sudan who are working as clinicians within the NHS, and their dependants who have leave to enter the UK. "We have no plans to open a bespoke resettlement route for Sudan." Follow BBC South on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram. Send your story ideas to south.newsonline@bbc.co.uk. A survivor is rescued from the debris about 132 hours after a self-built residential structure collapsed in Changsha, central China's Hunan Province, at around 12:00 a.m. May 5, 2022. [Photo/Xinhua] An investigation report on a self-built residential structure collapse incident that took place in Hunan Province in April 2022 was made public Sunday. The incident occurred in the provincial capital Changsha on April 29, 2022, leaving 54 dead and nine wounded. The State Council, China's cabinet, set up an investigation team for the incident shortly afterward. According to the report, deliberated and adopted at a State Council executive meeting recently, the incident resulted directly from illegal construction. The report determined that the five-story self-constructed building, which later extended to eight stories, was of poor quality and couldn't support itself after the extension, causing certain sections to deteriorate and eventually leading to the collapse. The report also mentioned that homeowners refused to follow evacuation instructions even when the building showed obvious signs of collapsing, which resulted in many casualties. The report also noted that relevant authorities of Hunan Province, Changsha, and the local Wangcheng District were sluggish in rectifying illegal construction, shifted responsibilities in daily oversight, and were negligent in delivering punishment for unlawful behaviors. It also mentioned that the local management of housing quality inspection agencies was messy, and authorities failed to exercise effective control over the planning and construction of self-constructed structures. Regarding local public servants and officials who failed to fulfill duties or were involved in corruption, relevant leads and materials have been transferred to an investigation group of the Communist Party of China Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) and the National Commission of Supervision (NCS), said the report. Four officials registered at and supervised by the Communist Party of China Central Committee were held accountable for being derelict in their duties, according to the investigation of the CCDI and the NCS. Three of them were given an intra-Party warning, while the other received a recording of demerit. Meanwhile, 62 public servants were held accountable for their alleged violations of discipline and law in the incident, and their cases were investigated by the provincial discipline inspection and supervision departments. According to the report, the incident exposes several problems, including a lack of risk awareness, the inaction of officials, and an improper approach to development, among other issues. It called for enhancing the risk awareness of officials at all levels and ensuring they take up due responsibilities for safety. In the meantime, it also necessitated improving the safety management of self-constructed structures and preventing and controlling relevant risks. (Bloomberg) -- Prime Minister Rishi Sunak held talks with his ethics adviser Monday on whether Home Secretary Suella Braverman violated the ministerial code over her handling of a speeding ticket last year, a scandal that threatens to exacerbate fast-growing splits in the governing Conservative Party. Most Read from Bloomberg The Sunday Times reported over the weekend that Braverman asked civil servants to help arrange a private driving-awareness course to prevent her speeding violation becoming public knowledge, a potential violation of ministerial rules against using public employees for personal affairs. Where issues like this are raised, they should be dealt with properly and they should be dealt with professionally, Sunak said in the House of Commons on Monday. Ive asked for further information and Ill update on the appropriate course of action in due course. It comes at a sensitive time for Sunak, who arrived back from Group of Seven talks on Russias war in Ukraine to a domestic flap about one of his most controversial appointments. Braverman, an advocate of cutting back immigration, is also at the center of Tory finger-pointing over data due this week expected to show migrant numbers are soaring. For her allies that makes the timing of reports about her speeding ticket more than a coincidence, and fits a narrative building on the Tory right wing that the civil service and even Sunak himself is working against their agenda. In my view nothing untoward has happened, Braverman told Sky News. Speaking later in the House of Commons, she repeatedly refused to answer whether she had instructed a civil servant to intervene on her behalf, saying only that she regrets speeding and took the penalty on her license. Sunak sidestepped a question about whether he still backed Braverman during a news briefing before departing Japan. But on his return to London he spoke to ethics adviser Laurie Magnus about her case. Pressure is building on him to take action, including from Tories. Opposition Labour Party leader Keir Starmer called for a full inquiry. You dont try and pull strings and seek favors because of your connections to try and cover it up, Tobias Ellwood, the Tory chairman of Parliaments influential defense committee, told TalkTV. Theres less sympathy for the home secretary because we are just beginning to return to normality after a turbulent year in Conservative politics. Its all very awkward for Sunak, who made his own statement to Parliament about the G-7 summit immediately after Bravermans appearance in the House of Commons. Its barely a month since his No. 2, Dominic Raab, resigned as deputy prime minister over an inquiry that found he engaged in aggressive and intimidating behavior toward civil servants. The premier, who promised to restore government integrity and professionalism when he took power in October following months of turmoil under Boris Johnson and Liz Truss, has already lost three cabinet members to scandal. Yet his appointment of Braverman drew criticism, coming just days after she was fired by Truss for breaching security rules. When the Truss administration imploded, it was Bravermans backing for Sunak that effectively ended Johnsons own bid for an unlikely comeback, and Sunak reappointed Braverman as home secretary in one of his first acts in office. It means any mistake or controversy surrounding Braverman will always allow Sunaks critics to label it a self-inflicted wound. And when the home secretary appeared to lash out at her own governments performance on immigration in a speech last week, there were immediate questions about who has the upper hand and whether Braverman herself is now seeking the leadership. Braverman appeared to be getting ahead of the news, with the government bracing for the release of migration figures Thursday that are widely expected to confirm a record surge of arrivals last year. During his wrap-up news conference at the G-7 on Sunday, Sunak appeared frustrated when Braverman was the first topic that came up. Do you have any questions about the summit? he asked a reporter. --With assistance from Joe Mayes, Emily Ashton and Philip Aldrick. (Updates with Sunak comment in third paragraph) Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2023 Bloomberg L.P. Suspect killed by Jacksonville police, his brother were wanted in South Florida murder, deputies say Action News Jax is learning new details about the man who was wanted for murder in South Florida and killed by Jacksonville Sheriffs Officers in Clay County on Friday. JSO identified the suspect as 39-year-old Zonchez Delarfette Prince of Jacksonville and released a photo of the gun they said he pointed at officers. According to a news release from the Broward Sheriffs Office, Prince and his brother Brandon Prince, 34, of Pompano Beach, were wanted in the Friday, May 12 murder of 32-year-old Andrew Ford of Pompano Beach. Broward deputies and Pompano Beach Fire Rescue personnel responded to shots fired just before 3 a.m. May 12 in the 2300 block of Northwest Sixth Street in Pompano Beach. [DOWNLOAD: Free Action News Jax app for alerts as news breaks] A deputy performed life-saving measures on Ford, who was found suffering from gunshot wounds. He was taken to a hospital and was pronounced dead. Detectives identified the Prince brothers as being involved in Fords killing and a warrant was issued for their arrest. Broward deputies contacted JSO for their assistance in finding Zonchez Prince and JSO began tracking him. On Friday, May 19, JSOs SWAT team located the suspect in a car in a parking lot in the 1100 block of Park Avenue in Orange Park. [SIGN UP: Action News Jax Daily Headlines Newsletter] Police tried blocking Zonchez Princes car in, and at that point, police said he told them, Im not getting out. Youre going to have to shoot me, kill me. As officers continued to tell Zonchez Prince to exit the vehicle, the suspect pointed a handgun in their direction. JSO officers fired at him with their weapons. The suspect was pulled out of the sedan and given first aid but he did not survive. On Sunday, Broward deputies located Brandon Prince in Fort Lauderdale and took him into custody during a traffic stop. Brandon Prince was booked into jail and now faces one count of first-degree murder. Click here to download the free Action News Jax news and weather apps, click here to download the Action News Jax Now app for your smart TV and click here to stream Action News Jax live. Reuters/Toby Melville Omid Scobie, the journalist whose sympathetic biography of Harry and Meghan, Finding Freedom, catalogued the breakdown of the relationship between the Sussexes and the Windsors, has said that it is not a coincidence that his friends and family are being bothered and that fake gossip to incite hate is being invented just days after testifying that he saw evidence of phone hacking when working at the U.K.-based tabloid The Mirror. Scobie said in High Court this week, where he was giving evidence to support Prince Harrys claim that the paper published articles based on illegally obtained information, that then-editor Piers Morgan, who has since become one of the Sussexes most vituperative critics, knew about illegal phone hacking. Apparently reacting in part to a story in The Times which profiled the writerand implied he was a hypocrite because he once worked at celebrity-focused British tabloid magazine HeatScobie took to Twitter Monday with a series of posts. The continued fascination some people have with my first job is bizarre. I worked at Heat magazine for 11 months after university (20 years ago!) and I quickly grew to hate it. My immediate boss therenow a columnist at a newspaperwould call me Paki as a "joke", repeatedly used Omid Scobie (@scobie) May 22, 2023 Bothering my friends, family, a lifetime of colleagues, inventing fake gossip to incite hate... all within days of me giving evidence in a media case? Not a coincidence. Been down this road many times now, I know exactly who is up to what, and I'm not going anywhere. Omid Scobie (@scobie) May 21, 2023 The Times is owned by Rupert Murdochs News Group Newspapers, which Harry is also suing for phone hacking. The article published this weekend quoted a former colleague of Scobies as saying: He was good fun, we used to go to events together and there was definitely no moral issue with any of the press. We were working at Heat when they were doing stories about cellulite and fat [based on long-lens photos]. Another said: Omid was working hand-in-glove with paps [paparazzi] for years. In court last week, Scobie also rejected the suggestion that he was a cheerleader or mouthpiece for Harry and Meghan. He said he didnt have a close relationship with them and added: Its got to the point that when I get press releases from Harry and Meghans people, I wait for other people to post it first so I dont have to deal with the Daily Mail articles saying that it came from me. Scobie does seem to break a significant amount of pro-Sussex news. After the alleged chase of the Sussexes by paparazzi in New York, last week, for example, he told BBCs Newsnight that the Sussex car was forced to drive at up to 80 m.p.h., a claim disputed by other parties. He also tweeted that the group were involved in a terrifying paparazzi car chase involving six blacked out vehicles in a chase that could have been fatal. However, taxi driver Sukhcharn Sunny Singh told the Washington Post: I dont think I would call it a chase, he said. I never felt like I was in danger. It wasnt like a car chase in a movie. They were quiet and seemed scared but its New Yorkits safe. Read more at The Daily Beast. Get the Daily Beast's biggest scoops and scandals delivered right to your inbox. Sign up now. Stay informed and gain unlimited access to the Daily Beast's unmatched reporting. Subscribe now. Target CEO brushes off critics saying the company is too 'woke' as brands like Bud Light and Disney battle backlash Target CEO Brian Cornell says diversity and inclusion are "just the right things for our business." Monica Schipper / Stringer Target has made diversity and inclusion cornerstones of its identity more than many other brands. When asked about the backlash to "woke" capitalism, CEO Brian Cornell brushed off the criticism. "Those are just the right things for our business today," he told Fortune's "Leadership Next" podcast. Target CEO Brian Cornell has long been outspoken about the importance of diversity, equity, and inclusion at all levels of his company. From hiring employees and selecting vendors to designing stores and donating to social causes, the retailer has gone farther than many national brands to establish itself as a place where all are welcome. Some shoppers have taken to social media to decry merchandising choices like transgender-friendly swimwear or rainbow designs on children's shirts, but Cornell brushes off criticism that Target is out of step with America. "What's your take on some of the pushback now on so-called 'woke' capitalism?" Fortune's Michal Lev-Ram asked Cornell on an episode of the "Leadership Next" podcast released last week. "We're seeing a lot of backlash, not just on the social justice side, but 'woke' capitalism in general. What is your take on it?" "When we think about purpose at Target, it's really about helping all the families, and that 'all' word is really important," Cornell said. "Most of America shops at Target, so we want to do the right thing to support families across the country." The company employs over 450,000 workers, and Cornell said that 40% of the roughly 2,000 US store directors are from diverse backgrounds, and half of store directors are women. He also noted that in stores where most shoppers speak Spanish, the company hired staff and designed properly translated store signage with the goal of having guests "feel at home" in the store. "I think those are just good business decisions, and it's the right thing for society, and it's the great thing for our brand," Cornell said. At a time when brands like Bud Light and Disney are embroiled in highly public, highly politicized fights over how marginalized groups should be represented, Cornell sidestepped a question about Target's stores in Florida and the state's Republican governor and leading anti-'woke' crusader, Ron DeSantis. "The things we've done from a DE&I standpoint, it's adding value," Cornell said. "It's helping us drive sales, it's building greater engagement with both our teams and our guests, and those are just the right things for our business today." Read the original article on Business Insider Displaced Bakhmut residents can see a doctor and get free clothes or bedding in support centres Residents of Ukraine's eastern hotspot of Bakhmut drop into a Kyiv support centre for medical care and clothing, weeping for their shattered town as Russia claims full control. Russia's Wagner mercenaries claim to have captured Bakhmut after months of intense attacks -- while Ukraine insists it is still fighting in the destroyed city. "I only want to say one thing to those who were waiting (for Russia): you've got what you wanted!" said Olga, who fled her hometown. Olga and other displaced Bakhmut residents visit a support centre in Kyiv set up by their local government, where they can see a doctor and get free clothes or bedding. With angry tears, Olga, 33, described how she arrived in the capital Kyiv in October, after fleeing Bakhmut with her husband and two children. "Ending up homeless when you have an address" she said, as her two-year-old daughter Nikol fiddled nervously with her dress. The Bakhmut residents follow what has happened to their homes in the once quiet and leafy town on news and social media channels, showing harrowing images on their mobile phones. Russia's "Wagner (mercenaries) went in there and we realised that was it," Olga said. "At first we had friends still there. When they (Russians) removed the last people who hadn't evacuated in time, we realised they were razing it all." Vera Biryukova, a 74-year-old retired teacher, showed a stream of pictures of a burnt-out building with empty windows -- her flat is on the ground floor. "There are battles round there now. I see from the footage that in my block the 2nd and 5th entrances were on fire and the roof too. - 'Nowhere to go back ' - "There's nowhere to go back to any more, but I want to go home, even if only to stones," she sighed. "We didn't think our town would become a fortress." The grey-haired woman in a tracksuit breaks into tears as she describes how she left for Kyiv after months sleeping in the cellar, taking only a few clothes and leaving her precious family photos. She declines to comment on Russia's actions, adding: "What can I say? I want to go home. I'm not a politician." But Iryna Tkachenko, who worked as a shop assistant for 38 years, is strongly optimistic about Bakhmut's future. "The city is not there any more, but we believe they (the Ukrainians) will seize it back, they will chase (the Russians) out," the 58-year-old said. "Of course it's a great shame that a lot of people think the opposite. It's a great shame that they support" Russia, she added. She said Russian forces had been removing locals from the conflict zone, including her brother and her sister-in-law, who stayed to work at a local children's hospital. "My younger brother and his wife have just been taken to the other side," she said, referring to Russia. "They went in (to work) to just safeguard the paperwork and worked as long as possible. Now they have been taken to Russia." - 'Think we're Nazis' - Tkachenko is herself originally from Russia and still has family there. "My relatives write to me now: 'Everything will be fine. We are liberating you'," she said. "I never expected it could be like this, that 80 percent (of Russians) now think we are enemies, that we are Nazis." The centre for Bakhmut dispalced is bustling and decorated with children's drawings. Its head, Lyudmyla Bondareva, says more than 6,500 people from the city are living in Kyiv and its surrounding region -- among them 1,400 children. Visitors say making ends meet is a struggle -- mainly due to the high rents in Kyiv -- but Lyudmyla also complained of a lack of food parcels from donor organisations. Iryna said she sleeps on a mattress on the floor in a studio flat shared with three others. She has not received any food parcels since September. "It's hard but what can you do? That's life." am/as/giv Hylian princess Zelda is staring at her open palms in Tears of the Kingdom with a mountainside in the background. He loves me, he loves me not... Since The Legend of Zeldas inception, Link and the Hylian princess have long been by each others side. That relationship has been considered platonic, with Link serving as Zeldas knight in a green tunic. Tears of the Kingdom appears to change their relationship status by having Zelda move her stuff into Links lovingly rustic home. And now, Zeldas voice actress has also commented on Link and Zeldas relationship status, which remains as complicated as ever. Read More: Nintendo Says Breath Of The Wild Is The Legend of Zeldas Blueprint Moving Forward Read more As some fans tell it, the franchises recent games, Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom, seem to suggest that the twos involvement with each other is far deeper than just fate and time. The latter game in particular, which has been a massive commercial and critical success since its May 12 launch on Nintendo Switch, shows Links house in Hateno Village populated with a plethora of Zeldas items, from pictures to her journal and more. Folks have taken this to mean that Zelda allegedly came through and redecorated Links house. This redecoration also happens to only have one bed in the room, leading fans to believe that Nintendo officially shipped the two. Its cute that Zelda moved into the house Link bought back in Breath of the Wild but why is there only one bed? Where's Link supposed to sleep pic.twitter.com/feIu5ogLKQ kremcel comms closed (@krembeni) May 15, 2023 The Hylians relationship status appeared to be further underscored when Zeldas voice actress Patricia Summersett gave an interview with TheGamer on May 18, which many understood to mean she was saying the two were in an active romantic relationship with each other. As a voice actor, looking at the overall relationship between Link and Zelda over the ages, I personally love the ambiguity and that if there is something there its left to us [to determine], Summersett told the gaming publication. I guess in my own life, I can respect and celebrate relationships that arent conventional. It also dodges the ending, and youre always wondering what may occur which keeps the relationship active. Theres a tension in that, and this defiance of a definition is something really nice. I always come back to that, and I really love it as both an actor and as a human. Those relationships are super important to portray, too, and I think theyre the best relationships we have in life, whether it be friendship or something that doesnt have to fit a definition. I know that [Link and Zelda] are in a relationship with each other, its active, theres a lot of care and a lot of listening, and I just love that about it. Theres love between Link and Zelda, just not romantic Since stories have popped up suggesting Link and ZeldaZelink? Lelda? Zink?are a thing, Summersett has taken to Twitter to clarify the record. She tweeted on May 22 that her quote doesnt imply that the Hylians are a romantic couple. Hey friends, I appreciate the passionate discourse on the subject, but must clarify: pic.twitter.com/02dLg34z2t Patricia Summersett (@Summersett_) May 22, 2023 The quote [I gave] means that we are all in different types of relationshipswith friends, family, loves, colleagues, pets, trees, dubious food, Summersett said. It is not up to me to determine. Summersett has since replied to a Nintendo Everything tweet, explaining that the publication misconstrued her words and that were all in a relationship with others. She has also replied to a Twitter fan who said they viewed Link as Zeldas loyal retainer, saying she [loves] that we all get to choose for ourselves what the relationship between Link and Zelda means to us. Kotaku reached out to Nintendo and Summersett for comment. Read More: Report: Tears Of The Kingdom Director Already Has Plans For The Next Zelda While its certainly possible the two are in some sort of active relationship, it appears to be vague according to someone who would know Zelda best. More from Kotaku Sign up for Kotaku's Newsletter. For the latest news, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Click here to read the full article. The Texas Legislature has passed a law banning diversity, equity and inclusion programs at state universities. The bill now heads to the the desk of Gov. Greg Abbott (R). The measure the second of its kind passed by any state, after Florida is one that critics say could hamstring flagship state institutions such as the University of Texas and Texas A&M University. They also warn it could chase minority students from state universities and devastate smaller schools. The bill obligates the governors of each state university to ensure their institution has no diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) office and does not consider diversity as a factor when making hires. State Rep. Tony Tinderholt (R-Arlington) told the House the bill is necessary to protect Texas from radicalism. Conservatives began this session by recognizing this simple truth: Texas has allowed leftist to infiltrate our universities for far too long, Tinderholt said Monday. If youre voting to keep these people on the Texas tax payroll at these universities, you are complicit in their subversion, he added. To proponents, DEI programs are a means to ease the integration and ensure the fair treatment of social and sexual minorities in American workplaces. Diversity is where everyone is invited to the party, inclusion means that everyone gets to contribute to the playlist, [and] equity means that everyone has the opportunity to dance/experience the music, Robert Sellers, chief diversity officer of the University of Michigan, wrote in a statement. But since the national reckoning on race that followed the 2020 murder of George Floyd, conservative activists have sought to frame DEI as fundamentally racist programs. The University of Texas has created a radical DEI bureaucracy that equates objectivity with white supremacy, recommends the word wimmin as a replacement for women, and affirms polyamory and polyfidelity as positive sexual identities, far right activist Christopher Rufo wrote earlier this month. The University of Texas at Austin is wasting untold millions on race and gender narcissism, Rufo added. In his statements Monday, Tinderholt echoed the idea that DEI was something threatening, radical and fundamentally racist. I was pretty disgusted by the things that I watched my Democrat peers say about you, my Republican peers, on Friday. We judge people by the content of their character, not the color of their skin, Tinderholt said. Texas has allowed racist programs to not only be established, but also to then hire dozens of full-time leftist activists who do nothing but spread these destructive DEI Marxist policies and worldview. But in debate Monday, several Black and Latino members all Democrats stood to recount the crucial role that diversity programs had played in their lives, or those of their children or constituents. Rep. Mary E. Gonzalez (D-El Paso) recounted encountering racist taunts in the dorms during her first semester at the University of Texas and the key role the universitys multicultural center played in her staying at the school and continuing on to medical school. What I love about these spaces is that theyre learning laboratories for our future society. And instead of creating nuance around these spaces, we are banning them, she said. With one in six Texas students now attending school out of state, Gonzalez warned that the bill would perpetuate the exodus were seeing. And since many granting institutions that professors rely on now have DEI requirements, she warned that it would harm the states abilities to attract processors. If Im a professor who is considering going to university, why would I consider coming to Texas when I could not get the research funding I need in order to do the work that I want to do? She added: Id rather go to a different state. For example, state hospitals and medical schools are only eligible to receive funding from the National Cancer Institutes $20 million F30 Grant if they they have a DEI office. Shuttering all state DEI offices which are voluntary would cost the state $1 billion in lost grant funding, Rep. Nicole Collier (D-Fort Worth) told the House. Much of that cost, she said, would fall on smaller institutions that depend on third-party grants for research dollars, which she argued they will now struggle to build. Other Democrats pointed to the message the legislation would send to young, college-bound voters in Texas, one of the most diverse states in the country. When Im out in my district, I will tell you that when I speak to young voters, this is the one thing they talk about diversity, equity and inclusion and they are not happy about this. And I can tell you when you vote in favor of this legislation, the young people in your district are watching you, Rep. Christina Morales (D-Houston) told the House. And Rep. Alma Allen (D-Houston) rose to recount a childhood in Texass then-segregated school systems. This is 2023 2023! and we are still fighting for the rights that we fought for in 1954, she said. Allen made an impassioned, doomed plea to her GOP colleagues. Your children are going to grow up with my children. They may even marry my children. Be thinking about that, she said. She urged her colleagues to vote no for my children, my grandchildren, my great-grandchildren and for your children, your grandchildren, and your grandchildren. Make this a better world, she said. Her appeal failed. The bill passed 83-60 along strict party lines Monday. Updated at 12:05 p.m. May 23 For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. The Texas Senate unanimously approved a bill Friday to allocate nearly $430 million in additional funding over two years for the state's 50 community colleges, including Cisco College. Cisco has campuses in Cisco and south Abilene. Cisco College, which offers a nursing program, may benefit from increased state funding the next two years. The Senate's version of House Bill 8, authored by state Sen. Brandon Creighton, R-Conroe, would award money to colleges based on the number of students who earn "credentials of value," complete at least 15 hours of courses and transfer to a four-year university, enroll in dual credit courses, or take courses that "apply toward academic or workforce program requirements." It would also create the Financial Aid for Swift Transfer program to enroll high school students who are economically disadvantaged in dual credit courses at no cost. "What we do for our community colleges is the future of Texas," Creighton, chair of the Senate Higher Education Subcommittee, said on the Senate floor. "The percentage of students seeking a higher education path forward and our adult learners (are) so important to recognize in this process, and what legislation like this will do for both of those subcategories will be just life-changing, generational changing for them and their families." The Senate added minor provisions from other higher education bills to HB 8, including sections on privacy and developing tools to help students assess the value of degree programs and certificates offered within the state. The House approved HB 8 last month, and the lower chamber now needs to sign off to the Senate's revisions to the bill before it can be forwarded to Gov. Greg Abbott to sign into law. The bill is one of House Speaker Dade Phelans priorities this legislative session. Rep. Gary VanDeaver, R-New Boston, initially filed the bill, which has support from all the community colleges in Texas as well as several local and statewide business leaders, higher education advocates and other community college stakeholders. Earlier this month, the conference committee for HB 1 the House's proposed state budget approved adding a provision in the budget that would increase funding for community colleges by $214 million per year if HB 8 passes. The budget, if approved in its current form, would provide a total of $2.27 billion to community colleges over two years, but the proposal still needs final approval from the committee, House, Senate and governor. HB 8 is modeled after recommendations the Texas Commission on Community College Finance released late last year, which include providing more support for small and rural-serving colleges in areas with lower property values and awarding funding to each school based on student success. Community colleges in Texas collect revenue through a combination of property taxes, tuition and fees, state appropriations, and various other sources. The bill would guarantee a certain level of state funding for smaller and rural community college districts that arent able to raise as much tax revenue as those in urban districts. HB 8, however, does not outline the exact amount of additional funding each college would receive. If it passes, the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board which oversees colleges and universities in the state would decide the exact formulas. More: Texas lawmakers could give billions to universities for research Renzo Soto, a policy adviser for Texas 2036, said by tying college funding to student outcomes, the bill helps ensure that community colleges will continue to benefit students, employers and the state. Texas 2036 is a think tank focused on preparing the state for growth. "HB 8 will benefit hundreds of thousands of Texas students, from high school students to incumbent workers, every year as they pursue the education or workforce training they need for a meaningful career," Soto said in a statement. "The new finance system will fundamentally shift how community colleges support their students, ultimately providing them with more valuable options as workforce programs receive as much of an emphasis as academic programs," he said. This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Texas Senate votes to invest $430 million more in community colleges Texas is on track to eliminate annual vehicle safety inspections, but the change likely wouldnt happen until 2025. A proposal to stop the checks on noncommercial vehicles passed out of the state Senate 20-11 on Sunday. Emissions inspections would still be required the Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston, Austin and El Paso areas. Vehicle inspections are a costly and time consuming process that provide little benefit to public safety, Rep. Mayes Middleton, a Galveston Republican who is carrying the bill in the Senate, told lawmakers. The proposal passed out of the House in early May before going to the Senate. The bill was amended to delay the end of inspections to January 2025. It was also changed to require the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles to adopt rules for notifying drivers about vehicle recalls in registration notices. Asked about the delay, Sen. Robert Nichols, a Jacksonville Republican who chairs the Senate Transportation Committee, said time is needed for courthouses, tax assessors and the Department of Motor Vehicles to update computer software. The amendment must be accepted by the House before the bill heads to Gov. Greg Abbotts desk, where it can be signed into law or vetoed. Abbotts office didnt immediately return a request for comment on his plans for the bill, were it to arrive on his desk. Most states do not require safety inspections, according to Kelly Blue Book. Opponents of eliminating the annual safety check have raised concerns about unsafe vehicles on roads and the loss of jobs if the inspection requirement is eliminated. The state is giving up knowing that cars are safe that tires arent bald and brake lights, headlights and windshield wipers work in exchange for saving 30 minutes, said Sen. Jose Menendez, a San Antonio Democrat. So thats the exchange, Menendez said. Were going to say safety of the vehicles versus a little bit of convenience. Middleton said he disagreed that eliminating the tests would make roads less safe, and lawmakers during Sundays debate cited conflicting studies examining whether there is a link between road safety and inspections. Menendez proposed keeping the safety inspections in counties with more than 500,000 people, in non-attainment areas and in areas with emissions tests. He also offered a change that would have pushed the start date to January 2026. Both amendments failed. Drivers would still have to update their registration annually. Tarrant, Collin, Dallas, Ellis and Parker counties are among the 17 that require emissions tests. The bill sets up a system to keep funding the Texas Mobility Fund, which helps finance construction for state highways. Vehicle owners would pay a $7.50 fee when they renew their registration and a $16.75 fee when they buy a new car, most of which goes to the fund. The bill passed out of the Senates State Affairs Committee in May. A separate bill to remove the requirement didnt get enough votes to advance from the Senate Transportation Committee in March. By Panu Wongcha-um and Panarat Thepgumpanat BANGKOK (Reuters) - An alliance led by Thailand's progressive Move Forward party on Monday signed an ambitious agreement to draft a new constitution, end monopolies and allow same-sex marriage, among other aims, but made no mention of a divisive royal insult law. The opposition Move Forward and Pheu Thai parties dominated last week's election in a resounding defeat of conservative parties backed by a royalist military that has controlled government since a 2014 coup. They are seeking to form a coalition government with six other parties, all of which signed the agreement on their objectives. Move Forward's leader Pita Limjaroenrat said the pact was "about shared values and commonalities and shared agenda and accountability". "All parties can propose their own policies but must not violate this agreement through ministries," he added in remarks made at a press conference after a day of negotiations. The signing took place on the ninth anniversary of a military coup against a democratically elected government, which began a phase of military rule that the winners of the May 14 poll hope to end. Move Forward was the surprise election winner, emerging with the most parliament seats with the help of young voters excited by an agenda that puts the party at odds with some conservative big business interests and institutions, including a plan to amend a lese-majeste law that punishes perceived insults of the monarchy with long jail sentences. Other alliance members have expressed reservations, and Monday's agreement did not include a proposal to reform that law. But it affirmed the country's "status as a democracy under a constitutional monarchy framework, and the inviolable status of the monarch". Pita said on Monday he did not think his party's independent attempt to push reform of lese majeste laws will put off the upper house, whose backing the coalition needs to appoint a prime minister and form a government. "We have a team to explain how to amend it so it cannot be used as a political tool ... this will ease the concern of senators," he told reporters. Separately, a royalist activist on Monday filed a complaint against Move Forward at the Election Commission over its plans to amend the law, arguing it would damage the monarchy. The alliance's agreement includes most of Move Forward's flagship polices, such as a push for decentralisation of power and budget and to "cancel monopolies and support fair competition in trade in all industries". It also takes aim at the military, calling for ending mandatory conscription and reform of the armed forces as well as the justice system and civil service. Thailand's military has staged 13 coups since the end of absolute monarchy in 1932 and confrontation between the generals and civilian politicians and activists has been at the heart of recurring instability over the years. The alliance will also seek reform of welfare and education, a balanced foreign policy and pursuit of laws to both control and endorse the use of cannabis, which Thailand legalised last year, despite confusion over regulations. Pita is seeking to be prime minister at the head of the coalition but faces a challenge in winning the required support from more than half the combined lower and upper houses, which includes rivals with whom his party has clashed. His alliance comprises 313 seats, but it needs backing from 376 legislators to vote Pita in. He will likely need to win over some of the 250 members of the conservative-leaning Senate, which was appointed by a junta and has often sided with army-backed parties. (Reporting by Panarat Thepgumpanat, Chayut Setboonsarng and Panu Wongcha-um; Writing by Martin Petty; Editing by Robert Birsel, Kanupriya Kapoor) A Long March-2C carrier rocket blasts off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China, May 21, 2023. China on Sunday successfully sent new space science satellites into orbit from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China, including Macao's first space exploration satellite project Macao Science 1. Macao Science 1 is the first space science satellite program jointly developed by the Chinese mainland and Macao. [Photo/Xinhua] China successfully sent two satellites of "Macao Science 1," a space exploration program, into space on Sunday. The China National Space Administration (CNSA) said that the satellites were launched at 4:00 p.m. (Beijing Time) by a Long March-2C carrier rocket from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China and entered the preset orbits successfully. Macao Science 1 takes a twin-satellite approach. Satellite A carries payloads like high-precision magnetometers to detect Earth's magnetic field. Satellite B is equipped with payloads like high-energy particle detectors and solar X-ray instruments to obtain space environment data. Macao Science 1 has the capability to complement the observations made by Europe's Swarm satellites and China's first seismo-electromagnetic satellite, Zhangheng 1. This collaborative effort allows for a more comprehensive understanding of Earth's low latitude magnetic field and space environment changes as well as facilitates the monitoring of the South Atlantic Anomaly (SAA). According to the CNSA, Macao Science 1 is the first space science satellite program jointly developed by the Chinese mainland and Macao. The project is also the first scientific exploration satellite placed in a near-equatorial orbit to monitor the geomagnetic field and the space environment of the near-equator SAA. The SAA is a giant region of lower magnetic intensity in the skies above the planet, stretching over the South Atlantic. The weakening of the Earth's magnetic field protection over this area allows more radiation from outer space to penetrate and get closer to the Earth's surface, which easily interferes with the communication of satellites, aircraft and spacecraft passing through this area. Scientists believe the study of the SAA can help them find the reason for Earth's weakening magnetic field. Macao Science 1 has the highest accuracy of geomagnetic field detection in China and will significantly improve the country's space magnetic survey, according to the CNSA. The CNSA and the government of the Macao Special Administrative Region jointly launched the satellite project. The satellite system is developed by DFH Satellite Co., Ltd. under the China Academy of Space Technology and Northwestern Polytechnical University. Macao University of Science and Technology (MUST) provided the scientific payloads aboard the satellites. The State Key Laboratory of Lunar and Planetary Sciences at MUST has built a data center for the satellite which will carry out processing and analysis of satellite data. The project encourages an open sharing and application of its scientific data. Under related data policies, it will promote extensive cooperation with domestic and foreign research institutions to produce more scientific research outcomes and step up joint talent cultivation and exchange. Scientists and engineers from 20 countries and regions have participated in the Macao Science 1 project, and a project scientist committee was formed comprising international experts that include academicians from Chinese, American and European institutions. The project team has signed cooperation agreements with scientific research institutions in 18 countries. According to MUST, the satellite project has attracted a large number of scientific research and engineering talents in Macao, including scientists, engineers, data analysts, satellite telemetry personnel and other professionals, helping expand the talent pool of the State Key Laboratory of Lunar and Planetary Sciences. Macao Science 1 is designed to operate in orbit for at least five years, providing a platform for the younger generation of researchers to carry out scientific research and develop advanced scientific data products and services, MUST said. The CNSA added that the project will open up a new path for cooperation between the Chinese mainland and Macao in the fields of innovative technology like aerospace, and add new momentum to the development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and high-quality development of aerospace. (Bloomberg) -- Thailands pro-democracy parties omitted an amendment to a law forbidding royal insults in a common platform to form a government after winning the election. While the move sought to bolster support for Pita Limjaroenrat to become premier, uncertainty continued to grip markets. Most Read from Bloomberg The eight parties in his coalition adopted a unified stance on issues including charter amendments and reinstating cannabis in the list of narcotics, according to a joint statement read on Monday during a briefing. The 23-point pact didnt include a campaign pledge from Pitas Move Forward party to revise the lese majeste law criminalizing royal defamation, as not all members of the coalition endorse the move. Our objective is to improve the relationship between the monarchy and the people, the 42-year-old, Harvard-educated Pita told reporters during a coalition briefing Monday in Bangkok. While the pact signals Pitas willingness to set aside a key plank of Move Forwards campaign promise at least until his government can come into power, it wasnt enough to calm investors worried over who will lead Thailand something that has kept markets on edge. Since theres no visibility on the wheeling and dealing going on in the background, it is possible there is a political vacuum all the way to mid-July, said Alan Richardson, a portfolio manager at Samsung Asset Management HK Ltd. I am not prepared to commit to country allocation until there is clarity to the political situation. Foreign investors have sold millions of dollars worth of the nations stocks and bonds since the May 14 vote. The main stock index fell as much as 0.7% on Tuesday while the baht slumped to a two-month low after losing more than 2% since the post-election rally a week ago. Investors are waiting for clarity about formation of the new government and the prime minister voting, said Therdsak Thaveeteeratham, an analyst at Asia Plus Group Holdings Pcl. Volatility will remain high until the Election Commission certifies the results and a new government is formed, according to Chak Reungsinpinya, head of research at Maybank Securities in Thailand. The Commission has up to 60 days after the vote to release official election results and certify 95% of the lower house seats. The first session of the new parliament must then take place within 15 days. That brings the timeline of government formation to late July or even early August. Move Forwards coalition has 313 seats, a clear majority in the 500-member House of Representatives. But as things stand, thats still short of the 376 needed for Pita to become prime minister. He will require broader support from the military-appointed Senate, whose 250 members also vote on who gets the top job. While Pita said on Monday that his party is leading talks with senators on government formation and remains optimistic of his chances, he also admitted that several roadblocks still exist. He added that Move Forward would push to relax the lese majeste law in parliament regardless of which parties back it. Weve been very consistent before and after the election that the law amendment will be continued but it wont be a pressure for our coalition parties, Pita said. The law, also referred to as Article 112, punishes criticisms against the king and other members of the royal family, and can put offenders behind bars for as many as 15 years if theyre convicted. Pitas alliance also agreed on several other initiatives, including making military enlistment voluntary except during times of war, and a push for a marriage equality bill. The eight parties also pledged to take steps to revitalize the economy, decentralize the budget and dismantle monopolies especially in the liquor industry. The signing of the coalition agreement came hours after a lawyer asked the Election Commission to seek a ruling from the Constitutional Court on whether Move Forwards call to amend the lese majeste law undermines the monarchy. Pita said he isnt worried about this latest complaint or an earlier allegation that he violated election rules by holding shares in a defunct media company. Move Forwards push to amend Article 112 draws opposition not only from members of the Senate, which is stacked with allies of the pro-military establishment of caretaker Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-Ocha, but also from other conservative parties. The Bhumjaithai party, the group that championed the liberalization of cannabis and finished third in the election with 70 seats, ruled out support for Pita as prime minister, saying it wont back a candidate from a party planning to make changes to lese majeste. The conservative Democrat Party hasnt begun a discussion on its stance on Pitas bid to become prime minister but it disagrees with amending the law against royal insults, party spokesman Ramate Rattanachaweng said Monday. The coalition said the deal forged Monday is also a move to restore full democracy in Thailand. A new government under Pitas leadership would mark the end of nearly a decade of military-backed rule that began exactly nine years earlier with Prayuths coup in 2014, said Cholnan Srikaew, leader of Pheu Thai party. Were declaring today, on the anniversary of the 2014 military takeover, that were ending the cycle of coups, he said. --With assistance from Philip J. Heijmans, Anuchit Nguyen, Ishika Mookerjee and Hooyeon Kim. (Updates with market reaction in lead and sixth paragraph. An earlier version corrects to say coalition seeks to make military enlistment voluntary instead of mandatory.) Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2023 Bloomberg L.P. (Bloomberg) -- A Thai lawyer filed a complaint against the party that won last weeks general election over its vow to amend the countrys royal defamation law, the latest sign that the process of forming a new government could get protracted. Eight days after Move Forward led pro-democracy groups in a historic victory in the May 14 election, lawyer Theerayuth Suwankaesorn submitted his complaint to the Election Commission. He urged the agency to seek a ruling from the Constitutional Court on whether Move Forwards call to amend the lese majeste or the royal insult law, which punishes criticisms against the king and other members of the royal family, undermines the monarchy. The partys plan could erode, damage, or undermine the key national institution, Theerayuth who previously filed a complaint against the leaders of the party that was a predecessor to Move Forward told reporters on Monday. A ruling against the party could result in its dissolution, he said. The complaint, which has not been formally accepted by the Election Commission, comes hours before Move Forwards leader, Pita Limjaroenrat, and the heads of seven other parties are scheduled to sign an agreement to push ahead with efforts to form a government following the May 14 vote. Move Forwards pledge to push for amendments to the lese majeste law, also known as Article 112, has emerged as a key dividing line between different political parties as it tries to cobble together a governing majority with a coalition of eight parties that won 313 seats in the 500-member House of Representatives. READ: Thai Coalition Talks Spook Markets Amid Split Over Law on Royals While pro-democracy parties won the election, they face built-in obstacles as the constitution approved following a military coup in 2014 allows the unelected 250-member Senate to vote alongside the lower house to pick a new leader. That means Pitas coalition still falls short of the 376 votes he needs in parliament to become prime minister without counting on Senate support. Pitas bid to take the top job has faced opposition from many members of the Senate, stacked with allies of the pro-military establishment of caretaker Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-Ocha and other conservative parties. The Bhumjaithai Party, which finished third with 70 seats, already ruled out support for Pita as prime minister, saying it wont back a candidate from a party planning to amend Article 112. The conservative Democrat Party has not begun a discussion on its stance on Pitas bid to become prime minister but it disagrees with amending the law against royal insults, party spokesman Ramate Rattanachaweng said Monday. READ: Pressure Mounts on Thai Senators to Support Pitas Premier Bid Under Thai law, the Election Commission has 60 days after the vote to release official election results and certify 95% of the lower house seats. The first session of the new parliament must then take place within 15 days. That pushes the timeline to late July. Move Forwards secretary-general, Chaithawat Tulathon, said over the weekend that he was confident the party could win over some senators, adding that an agreement to be signed by the parties in a briefing scheduled at 4:30 p.m. local time on Monday will sway members of the Senate to vote for Pita. The push to directly change laws affecting the monarchy breaks a longstanding taboo in Thailand, where in years past even the suggestion of disloyalty to the palace has been grounds for the military to stage a coup, leading to successive bouts of deadly street protests that have held back Southeast Asias second-biggest economy. While there are different views within Pitas coalition, Move Forwards plan to amend the law isnt a deal breaker, deputy party leader Sirikanya Tansakul told local media over the weekend. Support for the partys plan to amend Article 112 wont be a criteria for joining its coalition, and Move Forward will keep its word to propose the amendment for discussion in parliament, she said. Earlier this month, another lawyer lodged a complaint with the Election Commission, alleging that Pita had violated election rules by holding shares in a defunct media company. Pita has said hes not worried about the allegation, which could see him disqualified as a member of parliament, as the shares are part of an estate that he manages and he doesnt directly own them. More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com 2023 Bloomberg L.P. A person was reportedly shot inside a Dayton residential area Monday overnight. >> TRENDING: 1 hospitalized following shooting in Dayton; Officers investigating Dayton Police and Fire responded to the 500 block of Cedarhurst Avenue at 12:08 a.m. on reports of a shooting, Montgomery County Regional Dispatch said. A neighbor reportedly made the initial call to the emergency line explaining that a person was shot. However, dispatch was unable to confirm the information as Dayton Police were actively responding to the scene. There were no transports at the time of reporting; however, this might change as the scene developed. The severity of the reported gunshot wounds and the condition of the victim was unknown. It was unknown if the other two shootings that happened on the west-side of Dayton just a few minutes apart were connected. The first person News Center 7 reported on was found by firefighters at the Dayton Fire Department, on West Third Street, with at least one gunshot wound. >> PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Man found shot at Dayton Fire Department The second person News Center7 reported on was found by medical professionals at Kettering Health Dayton. The person entered the building also with at least one gunshot wound. >> PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Second person found shot at Kettering Health Dayton Dayton Police led the investigation into the shooting. News Center 7 reached out for more information. We will update this story as it develops. Thirty tonnes of explosive chemicals go missing in the Mojave Desert A 30-tonne rail shipment of an explosive chemical vanished en route from Wyoming to California last month, officials say. A train loaded with 60,000 pounds of ammonium nitrate departed Cheyenne, Wyoming, on 12 April, explosives company Dyno Nobel told KQED. When it arrived at a stop in the Mojave Desert two weeks later, the car was empty. The company notified authorities in a 10 May report to the federal National Response Center, KQED reported. The mysterious disappearance of ammonium nitrate, a key ingredient used by Timothy McVeigh in the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing, has since prompted four separate investigations. The Federal Railroad Administration, the California Public Utilities Commission, Union Pacific, and Dyno Nobel are probing the disappearance. Dyno Nobels told authorities that reason for the chemicals release was due to an unknown cause, and that it made the alarming discovery after the Union Pacific rail car arrived in Saltdale, California, more than 1,000 miles from Cheyenne. A spokesperson told KQED the nitrate had been shipped in pellet form and may have accidentally fallen out of the rail car. The train was taken back to Wyoming for an inspection. The railcar was sealed when it left the Cheyenne facility, and the seals were still intact when it arrived in Saltdale. The initial assessment is that a leak through the bottom gate on the railcar may have developed in transit, the company told KQED. A 30-tonne shipment of ammonium nitrate produced at the Dyno Nobel plant near Cheyenne, above, vanished en route to California (The Center for Land Use Interpretation) The chemical, which is also used to make fertilizer, was the primary ingredient in the 1995 terrorist attack on the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City that killed 168 people and injured around 850. It has also caused deadly accidents. In 1947, a 2,000-tonne ammonium nitrate shipment exploded in Texas City, Texas, killing at least 581 people. It was also the cause of a catastrophic explosion in Lebanon in 2020, which killed more than 200 people and injured thousands more. A Union Pacific spokesperson told The Independent that the ammonium nitrate would be quickly absorbed into the soil. If the loss resulted from a railcar leak over the course of transportation from origin to destination, the release should pose no risk to public health or the environment, the spokesperson said. At this point in the investigation, we do not believe there is any criminal or malicious activity involved. The Independent has contacted Dyno Nobel for more information. Actor Ray Stevenson, beloved for his roles in the action, comic book and sci-fi world, has passed away at 58. Deadline confirmed the news with Stevensons reps at Independent Talent on Monday, but they did not disclose any further details. HuffPost has also reached out to Stevensons team for comment. The Irish actors extensive credits include parts in Marvels Thor movies, HBOs Rome, the Bollywood smash RRR, the History Channel drama Vikings and the sci-fi trilogy Divergent. Ray Stevenson attends the premiere of Ray Stevenson attends the premiere of "Thor: Ragnarok" on October 10, 2017. (Photo by Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic) He also voiced the Star Wars character Gar Saxon in several animated series and was set to appear in Disney+s live-action show Ahsoka when it premieres this summer. Stevenson was also set to star in the historical drama 1242: Gateway to the West, replacing actor Kevin Spacey as the lead. He is survived by the two children whom he shared with partner Elisabetta Caraccia. Fans, colleagues and co-stars mourned the loss of the actor on social media. Damn. So sorry to hear about the passing, far too young, of Ray Stevenson, wrote director James Gunn. I only knew him a little from shooting post-credits of Thor 2 & a couple interactions at events, but we had some good laughs & he was a joy to work with. His friends & family are in my heart today. See more tributes below: Damn. So sorry to hear about the passing, far too young, of Ray Stevenson. I only knew him a little from shooting post-credits of Thor 2 & a couple interactions at events, but we had some good laughs & he was a joy to work with. His friends & family are in my heart today. James Gunn (@JamesGunn) May 22, 2023 What shocking news for all of us on the team! Rest in peace, Ray Stevenson. You will stay in our hearts forever, SIR SCOTT. pic.twitter.com/YRlB6iYLFi RRR Movie (@RRRMovie) May 22, 2023 Ray Stevenson was a fellow Brit and an absolute gent. Actors arent always friendly or approachable while theyre shooting but Ray always had time to chat and never failed to be gracious and kind. He treated me and my wife @Leah at the premiere like we were family. Im gutted. pic.twitter.com/qog8SZsl1T Gary Whitta (@garywhitta) May 22, 2023 Im shocked and saddened by the tragic news that a great actor and my good friend Ray Stevenson has passed away. I will miss you Big Ray! Life is short so make the most of it people. #RIP#RayStevensonpic.twitter.com/atcNWKLSYM Scott Adkins (@TheScottAdkins) May 22, 2023 So sad to hear the news that Ray Stevenson, our Pullo in Rome, has passed away. A brilliant, gutsy, larger-than-life actor who filled every part he played right up to the brim. My thoughts are with his family, his lovely wife Betta and their beautiful kids. What a loss. James Purefoy (@JamesPurefoy) May 22, 2023 Nobody argued that Jose Burgos shouldnt pay for what he had done. The 16-year-old from southwest Detroit had killed another teen and critically wounded his twin brother in a bungled drug exchange. But nobody argued over what Burgoss sentence should be, either. In 1992, the law was clear. For children older than 14, any homicide-related offenses meant trial as an adult and an automatic punishment: life in prison, without the possibility of parole. The Honorable Clarice Jobes did not have the discretion to consider Burgos circumstances the fact that hed never shot a gun before the night he tried to pass off a bunch of old rags as a bag of marijuana, or the self-destructive ways he was processing the grief of losing his mother to a bottle full of heart medication. Court Judge Clarice Jobes in her chambers in February 1994. 'I am going to impose a life sentence I have no choice' Jobes couldnt weigh the fact that for many other matters, the state deemed Burgos too young to make important decisions: about buying cigarettes or alcohol or voting in an election. Her hands were tied. I find the limitations of this statute to be totally unfair to everyone concerned, Jobes said to those gathered in the courtroom. However, I have to live with them and deal with them. I think I must sentence him as an adult, and I am going to impose a life sentence. I have no choice. Burgos was led away to a grim future that stretched beyond what he could then fathom. But he had others to light the way scores of juvenile lifers, mostly Black and brown youths whom Michigan had also decided were categorically irredeemable. Over the next decades, their ranks swelled into the hundreds. More: Opinion: Michigan has sentenced more kids to die in prison than any other US state More: Opinion: I was a Washtenaw County sheriff. Michigan must ban life sentences for kids. Michigan now has the most juvenile lifers of any state Then, ripples of change. The U.S. Supreme Court declared the death penalty unconstitutional when applied to juveniles. It decided that children who committed non-homicide crimes could not be sent away for life. And in 2012, it ruled in the landmark Miller v. Alabama case that minors could not automatically be sentenced to life without parole as Burgos had been. Children are constitutionally different from adults, the justices opined. Four years later, another ruling made the Miller decision retroactive: Juvenile lifers could get a second look, and another chance. Today, more than half of states have entirely banned the sentencing of children to life without parole. Michigan is not one of them. Our state now claims the largest population of juvenile lifers in the nation. Jose Burgos, 48, of Ecorse, a reentry specialist for the State Appellate Defenders Office, speaks about the importance of ending juvenile life sentences without parole on Monday, May 1, 2023. Burgos, who spent 27 years in prison before receiving a resentencing hearing and an opportunity to prove that he had transformed himself into a man worthy of rejoining society, is trying to change that. Hes one of several former juvenile lifers advocating for legislation currently before Michigan lawmakers that would end the states practice of sentencing children to a lifetime of incarceration without the possibility of parole. Children change, children grow out of crime, said Burgos, who works as a reentry specialist with the State Appellate Defenders Office. I think children are worthy of redemption. Cruel and unusual punishment By 2012, when the Supreme Court ruled 5-4 that sending children to die in jail without any hope of release constituted cruel and unusual punishment unconstitutional under the Eighth Amendment Michigan had at least 358 of them locked up for life. And state courts continued to hand down the sentence after Miller was decided. The state also has been slow to resentence juvenile lifers, with 294 inmates still incarcerated in Michigan for crimes they committed when they were younger than 18. Another 274 remain imprisoned for offenses they committed when they were 18, a population the Michigan Supreme Court ruled eligible for resentencing last summer. This puts Michigan increasingly out of step with other states. States as politically divergent as Massachusetts and Texas have passed legislation removing the sentence of life without parole as an option for juveniles. When Minnesota passed a public safety bill this week that stopped juvenile life without parole, that state became the 28th to ban it. Five other states have not banned the practice but have no one serving life without parole for crimes committed as juveniles. Internationally, sentencing children to life without parole is a violation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Every country in the world has signed on to this document except for two: Somalia and the United States. More: MSU research puts a new face on who is at risk for eating disorders More: Michigan child care workers were unprepared for kids' post-pandemic mental health crisis Jose Burgos, 48, of Ecorse, left, sits with Albert Garrett, 60, a juvenile offender recently released after 44 years, and Ronnie Waters, 60, of West Bloomfield, as they check out Garrett's first cellphone selfie on Monday, May 1, 2023, at the State Appellate Defenders Office. Both Burgos and Waters are part of an advocacy effort to end the practice of sentencing juveniles to life in prison without parole in Michigan. Juvenile lifers have a 1% recidivism rate Albert Garrett got lost on the bus the other day. After 44 years of incarceration, hes in a city he no longer recognizes at the very beginning of a life he hadnt dared to hope for. Garrett became a juvenile lifer when he was 17 and was released in April, at age 60. Burgos and another former juvenile lifer, Ronnie Waters, are helping Garrett find his way. Theyve helped him get a few sets of clothing and a cellphone. I probably wont need to do that, Garrett told Burgos when he tried to explain how to send a text message. Burgos just chuckled. As Garrett trails Burgos and Waters to the front desk of the Detroit Public Library, he hangs back. Its been so long since hes spoken to someone on the outside. He hasnt found his voice yet. So Waters and Burgos speak for him. Inquiring about a technology class so Garrett can learn to use a computer. Explaining to the woman at the front desk that he doesnt have a state-issued ID, just a prison one. Could he still get a library card? Advocates to ban juvenile life without parole argue that allowing juvenile lifers a chance at reentry allows them to positively influence young people in the communities they were once a part of. Albert Garrett, 60, a juvenile offender recently released after 44 years, checks out his first cellphone selfie on Monday, May 1, 2023,, at the State Appellate Defenders Office. Ive told legislators in the past, were citizens too, we pay taxes, and we have families, we want society to be safe, said Burgos. Our contribution is to make sure that those coming home have what they need so that they dont reoffend and go back. Indeed, recidivism rates for juvenile lifers are extremely low. One study puts them at a hair over 1%. Life without parole, man, its ridiculous, cause theres so many transformed human beings in there, said Waters. If you look at the record then you've got to come with a different argument than we are going to reoffend and we're going to be a detriment to society. Because, almost to the letter, each one person out here is out here doing something to make this world better. More: The hidden costs of juvenile court More: 2nd gangster gets 25 years in prison for revenge killing caught on FBI pole camera Waters was a high school junior when he fired a gun at a car window parked at a drive-in movie, trying to impress the other guys he was with and scare the driver. He had fired the gun earlier that evening into glass he hadnt known was shatterproof. He pulled the trigger this time and waited for the spiderweb of stressed glass and laughter. Instead, the scene was the incomprehensible sight of a young womans blood sliding out of the bullet hole in her neck. He was called a sociopath. A superpredator. Because he was never supposed to be released, Waters was denied education and vocational training in prison. What was the point? After decades and decades, I started to grasp that these people aren't playing, Waters said. Regardless of what I do, regardless of what achievements I have, nothing's changing. Jose Burgos, 48, of Ecorse, left, walks through the Detroit Public Library with Albert Garrett, 60, recently released from prison after 44 years, and Ronnie Waters, 60, of West Bloomfield, on Monday, May 1, 2023. Both Burgos and Waters are part of an advocacy effort to end the practice of sentencing juveniles to life in prison without parole in Michigan. Nevertheless, Waters felt he had good in him. He refused to give up on himself. Instead, he started working on himself, and then others. He helped other inmates navigate the prison system and get their grievances addressed. Waters says when he got out after 40 years behind bars, advocacy was a natural progression. Today, hes a registered lobbyist who has advocated for a host of criminal justice reforms, and a reentry specialist with Safe & Just Michigan. We do advocate for laws and policies to be changed, but we dont need a title to do this work, he said. We do this work because its whats in our heart. Failing youths, then punishing them Waters and other advocates working to end the sentencing of youths to life without the possibility of parole make several arguments. One is that judges arent always considering the childs background. Most of them came from situations that were so difficult, and no one intervened and no one helped, said civil rights attorney Deborah LaBelle, who settled an $80 million class-action lawsuit against the state for failing to protect juveniles during their incarceration in adult prisons. Theyre from areas and communities in which the schools were failing, in which there's deep economic problems and racial inequities that we would fail them and then punish them? Not just punish but freeze these children forever into molds of themselves at their very worst moment. That we would then deny them any opportunity to change and contribute seems an epitome of injustice and disregard for youth, LaBelle said. More: Hidden memo was supposed to stop Michigan prisoners from lining up in the cold and rain More: Crumbleys appeal to Michigan Supreme Court: Blame our son for Oxford shooting, not us Advocates also make the case that the courts dont apply the sentence fairly. A 2012 report by the Michigan American Civil Liberties Union, highlighted that African American children charged with violent offenses were up to three times more likely than white children to be tried in adult courts. When victims were white, offenders were 22% less likely to receive a plea deal than in cases where the victim was a person of color. In an op-ed published in the Free Press, Waters and Burgos point out that 90% of Michigan children sentenced to life without parole in the last 10 years were children of color. Albert Garrett, 60, left, who was recently released from prison after serving 44 years, bumps into his appointed attorney from 2016, Lindsay Ponce, an assistant defender from the state of Michigan Appellate Defenders Office, on Monday, May 1, 2023. The ACLU report also pointed out that juveniles who commit homicide-related crimes tend to be sentenced to life without parole at far higher rates than adults. More than 60% of adults charged with first-degree murder took a plea deal to serve less time or be eligible for parole, serving an average of 12.2 years. Young people have much less wherewithal when interacting with the justice system, and often didnt know how to contribute to their own defense. The report includes several stories of children whose attorneys did not meet with them until the day of their trials. There is no place where the disparity and inequity of being a child in an adult system is more in evidence than in the area of plea bargaining, the authors wrote. Time and time again, these adolescents said they simply could not comprehend the offer or the likely alternative and did not understand the consequences of their not taking the plea that was offered. The very same reasons that young people are deemed too immature to enter into a civil or business contract should also apply when the contract involves their life. Victims rights groups called the ACLU report insensitive propaganda filled with misinformation. Legislation would ban juvenile life without parole, cap sentences Bipartisan legislation introduced in the Michigan House and Senate would allow a convicted juvenile to be eligible for parole after 10 years and would cap sentences at 60 years. It would also remove the option of sentencing youths younger than 19 to life without the possibility of parole. These are kids, state Rep. Amos ONeal, D-Saginaw, said during a recent news conference. I cant stress enough the importance this legislation means. Its a difference between life behind bars and the opportunity for redemption, grace and mercy that all of us at one point in time have benefited from. Oxford High School shooting suspect Ethan Crumbley leaves the courtroom past victims, their family members and community members after he pleaded guilty for his role in the school shooting that occurred on Nov. 30, 2021. The ongoing trials surrounding Oxford school shooter Ethan Crumbley and his parents are casting shadows onto these proceedings, the relatively fresh horror a ready foil to arguments that children make mistakes and deserve to hold on to hope. More: Crumbley parents banned from son's hearing: They just want to silence him, prosecutor says Burgos emphasizes that passing the legislation doesnt let dangerous, unrepentant people out of prison. Anyone up for release would still have to go before the parole board. He says Michigans low recidivism rate proves the board is doing something right. If you want to keep someone in there forever, the tools are already there, LaBelle said. But give them hope. They all deserve hope, and a chance, because we cant tell who theyll become. A chance at life Waters and Burgos have met with legislators and the news media and told their stories over and over again. But they know their actions speak louder than words. They try to live their lives in a way that demonstrates that they were redeemable. That other kids are too. Jose Burgos recently visited the Michigan State Capitol to advocate for lawmakers ending juvenile life sentences without the possibility of parole. Burgos spent 27 years in prison after he shot and killed a man when he was 16. He was sentenced to life in prison without parole, but due to several key U.S. Supreme Court cases he was released in 2018. LaBelle says that approach isnt unique to these advocates. For every Burgos or Waters, she can point to 10 or 20 former juvenile lifers who are just as involved, just as passionately engaged. Were not extraordinary at all, said Waters. If you talk to any juvenile lifer they will tell you something very similar. I dont know what it is, I guess its because everybody threw us away as kids and said, You cant change, so its something in our DNA in our makeup that says, well, were gonna show you that we can. LaBelle thinks the legislation will pass in the Senate, but shes not sure about the House. For some, she knows, it doesnt matter how much guys like Burgos and Waters have changed. The heinous crimes they committed can never be undone. LaBelle says not all victims families feel the same way. Ive also dealt with a lot of victims families, she said. A lot. And you know, the portrayal of victims as this monolith of people who want deep vengeance is just inaccurate. Do Burgos, Waters and the other juvenile lifers deserve forgiveness? Maybe not. But forgiveness has a power of its own. Members of the victims families, once filled with anger and hatred, sometimes also change, LaBelle says. After 10, or 20, or 60 years, maybe theyll be ready to decide that a child who once did something unforgiveable is now a person worthy of a chance at life anyway. The next advocate Garrett will be allowed to check out two books at a time on the provisional library card he was able to get with his prison ID. Now in his 60s, in a set of donated clothes, surrounded by technology he doesnt understand and people he doesnt recognize, he has a tough road ahead. His old neighborhood doesnt exist anymore. His parole came with 19 conditions. Ronnie Waters, 60, of West Bloomfield, left, looks on with Jose Burgos, 48, of Ecorse, at right, as Albert Garrett, 60, center, who was recently released from prison after 44 years, applies for his library card at the Detroit Public library with the help of Yvette Williams, a senior customer service representative at the library, on Monday, May 1, 2023. Both Burgos and Waters are part of an advocacy effort to end the practice of sentencing juveniles to life in prison without parole in Michigan. At first, he didnt trust that Burgos and Waters were there to help him. The way Garrett grew up, people didnt give you something if they didnt want something back in return. But now, he sees that their support is genuine. So, for the first time in 44 years, he has life goals. Hed like to get married. And he wants to become an advocate, like them. I want to do what youre doing, he told Waters and Burgos. I always wanted to do this, but I didnt know where to start. Albert Garrett, 60, a juvenile offender recently released after 44 years, talks about his incarceration on Monday, May 1, 2023, while standing in the Detroit Public Library after picking up a library card to help him access services and books from the library. Garrett was on his way to his first volunteering event that day he got lost riding the bus. The next day, he climbed back on and gave it another try. Jennifer Brookland covers child welfare for the Detroit Free Press in partnership with Report for America. Make a tax-deductible contribution to support her work at bit.ly/freepRFA. Reach her at jbrookland@freepress.com. This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Legislation could ban Michigan from sentencing juveniles to life By threatening the ICC Russia disregards international law, says Borrell Josep Borrell Read also: EU refuses to lift sanctions on Russian banks amid grain agreement Published by EUs Diplomatic Service, the statement describes Russias actions as baseless, unjustified, and unacceptable. The European Union deplores the criminal proceedings initiated by Russian authorities against the Prosecutor and three Judges of the International Criminal Court, the message reads. Any Russian acts against the ICCs mandate and attempts to intimidate those involved in the ICCs investigation of international crimes committed in Ukraine are politically motivated, baseless, unjustified and unacceptable. They are further expression of the Kremlins disregard for international rules and international law. Borrell emphasized that the EU provides full support to the ICC and its staff. Read also: EU calls for criminal accountability of Russia for environmental damage in Ukraine On May 19, the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs declared prosecutor of the International Criminal Court Karim Khan a wanted person. Khan had previously emphasized that there is convincing evidence in the ICC that Russian dictator Vladimir Putin bears criminal responsibility for the deportation of Ukrainian children from occupied Ukrainian territories. On March 17, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Russian dictator Vladimir Putin and Russias childrens ombudsman, Maria Lvova-Belova, for their involvement in unlawful removal of children from Ukraine since Feb. 24, 2022. Read also: ICC team arrives in Kherson to document Russian war crimes As explained by the head of the ICC, Piotr Hofmanski, the Russian dictator can now be arrested in 123 countries that have ratified the Rome Statute. 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 FILE - The icon for the video sharing TikTok app is seen on a smartphone, Feb. 28, 2023, in Marple Township, Pa. TikTok, Inc., filed a lawsuit Monday, May 22, 2023, seeking to overturn Montana's first-in-the-nation ban on the video sharing app, arguing the law is an unconstitutional violation of free speech rights and is based on unfounded speculation that the Chinese government could access users' data. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum, File) HELENA, Mont. (AP) Social media company TikTok Inc. filed a lawsuit Monday seeking to overturn Montana's first-in-the-nation ban on the video sharing app, arguing the law is an unconstitutional violation of free speech rights and is based on unfounded speculation that the Chinese government could access users' data. The lawsuit by TikTok, owned by Chinese tech company ByteDance, follows one filed last week by five content creators. They made similar arguments including that the state of Montana has no authority to take action on matters of national security. Both lawsuits were filed in federal court in Missoula. Republican Gov. Greg Gianforte signed the bill Wednesday and the content creators' lawsuit was filed hours later. The law is scheduled to take effect on Jan. 1, but cybersecurity experts say it could be difficult to enforce. TikTok says it has not shared and would not share U.S. user data with the Chinese government and has taken measures to protect the privacy and security of its users, including storing all U.S. user data in the United States, according to the lawsuit. Some lawmakers, the FBI and officials at other agencies are concerned that the video-sharing app could be used to allow the Chinese government to access information on U.S. citizens or push pro-Beijing misinformation that could influence the public. Chinese law compels Chinese companies to share data with the government for whatever purposes it deems to involve national security. TikTok says this has never happened. The Chinese Communist Party is using TikTok as a tool to spy on Americans by collecting personal information, keystrokes, and even the locations of its users and by extension, people without TikTok who affiliate with users may have information about themselves shared without even knowing it," Emily Flower, a spokesperson for the Montana Department of Justice, said in a statement. "We expected legal challenges and are fully prepared to defend the law that helps protect Montanans privacy and security, she wrote The federal government and about half the U.S. states, including Montana, have banned TikTok from government-owned devices. Montanas new law prohibits downloads of TikTok in the state. It would fine any entity an app store or TikTok $10,000 per day for each time someone is offered the ability to access the social media platform or download the app. The penalties would not apply to users. Chatter about a TikTok ban has been around since 2020, when then-President Donald Trump attempted to bar the company from operating in the U.S. through an executive order that was halted in federal courts. Congress has also considered banning the app over security concerns. TikTok filed a lawsuit on Monday in the U.S. District Court of Montana to challenge the states ban of the social platform, as reported by The Wall Street Journal. The case was brought against the state Attorney General Austin Knudsen. Montanas governor signed the bill into law last week, just one month after it passed through the state legislature. It was met with immediate pushback a group of creators quickly sued the state, calling the law unconstitutional. Now TikTok is suing the state directly with similar claims, stating in the lawsuit that Montanas law violates the First Amendment. Montana's ban abridges freedom of speech in violation of the First Amendment, violates the U.S. Constitution in multiple other respects, and is preempted by federal law, the lawsuit reads. We are challenging Montanas unconstitutional TikTok ban to protect our business and the hundreds of thousands of TikTok users in Montana. We believe our legal challenge will prevail based on an exceedingly strong set of precedents and facts. TikTokComms (@TikTokComms) May 22, 2023 The law prohibits the ByteDance-owned platform from operating in the state, as well as preventing Apples and Googles app stores from listing the TikTok app for download. Although it isn't clear how Montana plans to enforce the ban, it states that violations will tally fines of $10,000 per day. However, individual TikTok users wont be charged. You can read the full TikTok vs. Montana suit here (via NPR). Just days after Montana banned the app TikTok statewide, its maker is suing in federal court to get the controversial new law struck down. TikTok claims the Montana government violated its First Amendment right to free speech, as well as that of its users in the state. (Under US law, companies are afforded certain speech rights.) The lawsuit (pdf), filed in the US district court in Montana, also alleges that the state illegally preempted the federal government, which handles matters of foreign policy and national security. Read more Additionally, TikTok says that Montana violated the US Constitutions commerce clause, which gives Congress the power to regulate interstate commerce, and also claims the ban constitutes an unlawful bill of attainder, effectively legislation that declares a party guilty of a crime. Montana officials didnt immediately respond to a request for comment, but governor Greg Gianforte recently tweeted that the ban on TikTok is necessary to protect Montanans personal and private data from the Chinese Communist Party. TikTok is owned by the Chinese company ByteDance. We are challenging Montanas unconstitutional TikTok ban to protect our business and the hundreds of thousands of TikTok users in Montana, TikTok wrote in a statement announcing the lawsuit. We believe our legal challenge will prevail based on an exceedingly strong set of precedents and facts. This is the second lawsuit against Montanas TikTok ban TikToks lawsuit is the second alleging that Montana overstepped its legal authority by signing this ban into law. A group of content creators sued the state of Montana on May 19, arguing that their First Amendment speech rights were violated and that the state doesnt have the legal authority to ban an app. For years, TikTok has faced an onslaught of allegations that it shares US user data with the Chinese government, though no actual evidence of this has been produced. Former US president Donald Trump tried and failed to ban the app using emergency economic powers in 2020, but a court ruled he lacked the legal authority to do so under the law he invoked. Over the past year, however, numerous US federal and state agencies have banned TikTok from government-issued devices, and public universities have banned the service on their wifi networks. More from Quartz Sign up for Quartz's Newsletter. For the latest news, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Click here to read the full article. Flash Chinese President Xi Jinping has sent a congratulatory message to Wesley W. Simina on his assuming office as the president of the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM). In the message dated May 18, Xi pointed out that since the establishment of diplomatic ties 34 years ago, bilateral relations have made great progress on the basis of mutual respect and equal treatment, bringing tangible benefits to both peoples. Xi said that he deeply appreciates President Simina's long-term commitment to promoting China-FSM friendship. Noting that he attaches great importance to the development of bilateral ties, Xi also said he stands ready to join hands with President Simina to support each other on issues concerning their core interests, deepen exchanges and cooperation in various fields, and push for continuous development of the China-FSM comprehensive strategic partnership, so as to bring more benefits to their peoples. (Bloomberg) -- TikTok Inc. sued Montana over the first statewide ban of the popular app, saying the state has trampled free-speech rights based on a misguided view that Chinese ownership of the platform poses a national security threat to the US. Most Read from Bloomberg The states Republican governor, Greg Gianforte, last week signed a measure that will prohibit the apps download by the general public beginning next year. The state has enacted these extraordinary and unprecedented measures based on nothing more than unfounded speculation, according to the complaint. The companys legal challenge to the ban Monday in federal court in Missoula follows a suit filed last week by a group of TikTok content creators who said the law violates the Constitutions First Amendment and will disrupt their livelihoods. Read More: TikTok Ban in Montana Draws Suit From Ranch Mom, Marine, Student A spokeswoman for Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen didnt immediately respond to a phone call seeking comment on TikToks suit. TikTok is a Chinese Communist Party spying tool that poses a threat to every Montanan, Knudsen, a Republican, said in a statement issued last week. I hope other states recognize the dangers of TikTok and follow suit. The new Montana law will impose the broadest and strictest limitations on use of the social media platform yet, spurred by widespread governmental concerns about the Chinese governments access to American users personal data. We are challenging Montanas unconstitutional TikTok ban to protect our business and the hundreds of thousands of TikTok users in Montana, the company said in a statement. We believe our legal challenge will prevail based on an exceedingly strong set of precedents and facts. While Montana is the first state to prohibit the general public from using the app, targeted bans focusing on government devices and networks cascaded across the country late last year. The US government and 38 states have issued such bans and President Joe Bidens administration is in negotiations with TikTok to resolve national security concerns. The European Union, UK, Canada, and a handful of other countries have more recently imposed similar restrictions. The company said its a reality of modern communication that some users aim to share inappropriate and harmful content, but TikTok said it has touted features, policies and procedures to protect minors. The alleged harms social media platforms such as TikTok pose to young users, including addiction, are targeted in a separate batch of scores of lawsuits pending in federal court in Oakland, California. How Lawsuits Seek to Make Social Media Safer for Kids: QuickTake Montana cites nothing to support its claims that the Peoples Republic of China could access data about TikTok users, according to Mondays complaint. The speculation ignores the reality that plaintiff has not shared, and would not share, U.S. user data and has taken substantial measures to protect the privacy and security of TikTok users, TikTok argued. The case is TikTok Inc. v. Knudsen, 23-cv-00061, US District Court, District of Montana (Missoula). --With assistance from Alex Barinka. (Updates with Montana attorney generals previous statement.) Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2023 Bloomberg L.P. TikTok sued Montanas attorney general on Monday over a new law that would ban the app statewide as of next year, contending it is unconstitutional. Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte (R) last week signed the first-in-the-nation law, which will bar TikTok from operating in the state and prohibit app stores from making it available to download there as of Jan. 1, 2024. In a 62-page complaint filed in Montanas federal district court, TikTok said the law violates the companys First Amendment rights, intrudes upon federal authority and unlawfully singles out the company. Through TikTok, Plaintiff exercises its constitutionally protected editorial judgment on whether, and how, to host, disseminate, and promote third-party speech created by others, and also shares its own content with users in Montana about a variety of issues and current events, the complaint states. The TikTok Ban, however, effects a prior restraint on the speech of Plaintiff and other TikTok users, unconstitutionally shutting down the forum for speech for all speakers on the app and singling these speakers out for disfavored treatment with the content-based rationale that videos on TikTok are harmful to minors, it continues. The bill cited TikToks parent company, ByteDance, and raised concerns about the Chinese governments ability to access data given that ByteDance is based in the country. The suit calls those arguments nothing more than unfounded speculation, maintaining the companys long insistence that it is independent of Chinese government and not subject to any data requests. But the legislation added to national security concerns raised by lawmakers on both sides of the aisle about TikTok. A number of states have banned the app on government devices, but Montana is the first state to pass a bill that outright bans the platform statewide. TikToks lawsuit further argues Montanas legislation is preempted by federal law. The TikTok Ban is based on the States purported concern about the security of U.S. user data vis-a-vis the Chinese government, the lawsuit states. But foreign affairs and national security are matters over which the U.S. Constitution vests exclusive authority in the federal government, not the States. Indeed, Congress has created a specific federal regulatory process by which the purported national security concerns that have animated this legislation may be addressed. Emily Flower, a spokeswoman for Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen (R), said they expected legal challenges, and the state is prepared to defend the law. The Chinese Communist Party is using TikTok as a tool to spy on Americans by collecting personal information, keystrokes, and even the locations of its users and by extension, people without TikTok who affiliate with users may have information about themselves shared without evening knowing it, Flower said in a statement. This story was updated at 5:14 p.m. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. The News TikTok sued Montana's attorney general Monday after the governor signed a bill last week that would ban the app statewide. A TikTok spokesperson said in a statement that it is "challenging Montanas unconstitutional TikTok ban to protect our business and the hundreds of thousands of TikTok users in Montana. We believe our legal challenge will prevail based on an exceedingly strong set of precedents and facts." The federal lawsuit was expected after the bill was passed by Montanas legislature and sent to the governor's desk. The ban the most extreme anti-TikTok bill passed by any state wouldn't go into effect until 2024. Know More Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte said last Wednesday that he signed off on the ban to "protect Montanans personal and private data from the Chinese Communist Party." The lawsuit calls those concerns "nothing more than unfounded speculation." The app, which is owned by China-based company ByteDance, has pushed back in recent months on concerns related to its Chinese ownership. TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew told a congressional committee in March that the company would not share U.S. user data with the Chinese government, though members of Congress from both parties were skeptical. Many said they support a nationwide TikTok ban. The suit also claims that the ban violates the First Amendment and the Commerce Clause, which restricts states' ability to conduct interstate and foreign commerce. Any laws that deal with federal affairs and national security issues, TikTok argues, should be handled by the federal government, not the states. The app is asking a judge to stop the ban from going into effect. Step Back Last year, President Joe Biden signed off on a law that banned the use of TikTok on devices owned by the federal government. A majority of U.S. states largely Republican-led governments as well as some public universities have enacted similar bans. Montana's measure goes further in blocking the app from being used on any device in the state, including personal phones and computers. Photo: Thom Bridge/Matt Slocum (AP) TikTok sued the state of Montana Monday in an effort to overturn a first-of-its-kind law banning downloads of the app in the state. The lawsuit, which comes on the heels of other suits filed by Montanan TikTok creators, alleges the states law violates users freedom of speech and illegally singles TikTok out. If the law is allowed to take effect in January, the suit argues, it could deal a devastating blow to businesses and creators who rely on the app for their income. We are challenging Montanas unconstitutional TikTok ban to protect our business and the hundreds of thousands of TikTok users in Montana, TikTok spokesperson Brooke Oberwetter said in an email. We believe our legal challenge will prevail based on an exceedingly strong set of precedents and facts. Read more The company claims the bill, which would fine app stores up to $10,000 per day for allowing downloads of the app in Montana, would shut down a major forum of speech and infringe on its users First Amendment speech protections. Montana lawmakers in favor of the bill say its necessary to protect Montanas from alleged but unproven surveillance by China, since TikTok is owned by Beijing-based ByteDance. TikToks lawyers, by contrast, say Montana has no business crafting legislation that attempts to influence US foreign policy or address national security concerns. Those types of actions, the lawyers say, should be left to the federal government. Crucially, the suit says Montana has failed to provide any evidence of supposed collusion between TikTok and the Chinese government, which serves as a main rationale for the law. These allegations are entirely false, the suit reads. [TikTok] has made clear, through its actions and statements, that it shares no U.S. user data with the Chinese government and will not do so in the future. TikTok also slammed Montana for writing the legislation in a way that specifically calls out the company by name, rather than attempting to address data concerns with social media more broadly. The company said this amounts to an illegal bill of attainder. Put simply, bills of attainder refer to laws that criminalize a specific person or individual and punish them without a trial. Those types of unjustified criminalization efforts are explicitly prohibited under the US Constitution. This unprecedented and extreme step of banning a major platform for First Amendment speech, based on unfounded speculation about potential foreign government access to user data and the content of the speech, is flatly inconsistent with the constitution, the lawsuit reads. Montanas Department of Justice did not immediately respond to Gizmodos request for comment. The law officially passed last week but isnt scheduled to take effect until January 1, 2024. Legal experts speaking to Gizmodo said the state will likely face a barrage of legal challenges between now and then and that its odds of taking effect as currently written seem slim. Even if the law does win its tough legal challenges, its unclear if the state would be able to effectively enforce the law. Montanas TikTok ban is laughably unconstitutional, but its also comically difficult to enforce, Fight for The Future Executive Director Evan Greer told Gizmodo in an email Monday. Any teenage anime fan or British TV aficionado can tell you how to circumvent such a silly ban using a virtual private network (VPN), commonly used software that obscures the location of your Internet connection. Emily Flower, a spokesperson for Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen, told Gizmodo the state expected TikTok to take legal action and that the state is fully prepared to defend the law. The Chinese Communist Party is using TikTok as a tool to spy on Americans by collecting personal information, keystrokes, and even the locations of its usersand by extension, people without TikTok who affiliate with users may have information about themselves shared without evening knowing it, Flower said. The stage is set for months of fierce legal battles TikTok isnt the only plaintiff fighting the ban in court. Last week, a handful of Montana based TikTok creators filed their own lawsuit seeking to have the law reversed. One of those creators, a young mother named Carly Goddard who spoke with Gizmodo, said the ban threatened to upend one of her familys main sources of income and force them to go back to living paycheck to paycheck. She believes the law violates her freedom of expression and is considering leaving the state altogether if legal challenges fail. I feel like there are a lot of people that dont understand this app, Goddard said. Some people think its just all about dancing. Its not. There are young moms like me that just want to be able to stay home and be able to afford groceries and pay their bills. Dozens of rights organizations including the ACLU have similarly spoken out against the ban, saying it blatantly violates users freedom of speech and could set a dangerous precedent for other states to follow. With this ban, Governor Greg Gianforte and the Montana legislature have trampled on the free speech of hundreds of thousands of Montanans who use the app to express themselves, ACLU of Montana Policy director Keegan Medrano said. Update 6:10 P.M. EST: Added statement from Montana attorney generals office. More from Gizmodo Sign up for Gizmodo's Newsletter. For the latest news, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Click here to read the full article. Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina announced Monday that he is seeking the Republican nomination for president in 2024. In a roughly 40-minute speech, Scott, the Senate's lone Black Republican, emphasized his personal background, his family and the "miracle of America." Scott declared "I am America" as he blasted the "radical left" for "pushing us into a culture of grievances instead of a culture of greatness." Criticizing the "liberal lie that our country is evil," he said he is the "candidate the far left fears the most." While he never mentioned the Republican frontrunner, former President Donald Trump, Scott took aim at President Biden, whom he called "weak," and what he described as a "nation in retreat." "My mom's work ethic taught me there is dignity in all work. It's why I know if you are able-bodied, you work! Period," he said to cheers from the crowd at his alma mater, Charleston Southern University. "My momma said we could be victims or victors and she chose victorious. But under President Biden, our nation is retreating away from work and dignity." GOP Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina announces his presidential campaign at his alma mater, Charleston Southern University, on Monday, May 22, 2023, in North Charleston. / Credit: Meg Kinnard / AP He kicked off his campaign in his hometown of North Charleston, joined by South Dakota's longtime senator, Minority Whip John Thune, who is number two in the Republican Senate leadership. Thune has long been opposed to former President Donald Trump, saying in December 2020 that any attempt to overturn the election results in the Senate would go down like a "shot dog." Thune said his Senate colleague was "the real deal" among the 2024 field. "He came in with boundless hope," Thune said before leading the crowd in prayer. "I think our country needs to be inspired again," he said. Senior Scott campaign advisers tell CBS News that Scott will hope to carve out a space in a presidential cycle that could be one of the most vicious in years. Scott filed his statement of candidacy with the Federal Election Commission on Friday. He launched an exploratory committee in April and plans to soon hit the campaign trail in Iowa and New Hampshire. According to an adviser, his campaign has bought $5.5 million in television ads that will air statewide in the early-voting states of Iowa and New Hampshire. The ads will run through the first GOP presidential debate, in a buy that includes broadcast TV, cable, satellite and radio. Scott's campaign will also launch what his adviser said was a substantial seven-figure digital ad campaign during that period. This is the largest candidate ad buy of the 2024 GOP primary campaign to date. Scott enters the race with $22 million cash on hand. The formalization of his candidacy allowed his team to put his campaign in motion before Monday's announcement, including properly filing the new ads buys it announced Friday. Scott, who was the first Black senator elected from the South since Reconstruction, is positioning himself as the optimistic candidate in the 2024 Republican field, in contrast with Trump, the early front runner. Senior campaign officials believe his optimistic tone could help carve out a lane for Scott to cut through attention paid to Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. "I see a future where common sense has rebuilt common ground," Scott said in a speech in February at Drake University in Des Moines, according to the Des Moines Register. "Where we've created real unity, not by compromising away our conservatism, but by winning converts. Where our movement can once again carry 49 states and the popular vote." Senior Scott campaign officials were confident that the financial advantage Scott has, and his fundraising ability, will keep the campaign running ads throughout the race. They note the cheaper rates campaigns get for advertisement buys, compared to super PACs. Asked about the policy differences between Scott and Trump, the officials said they would consistently discuss policies and ideas popular with the Republican base, and connect Scott's life experiences to them. Caitlin Huey-Burns contributed to this report. President Biden, Speaker McCarthy meet on debt ceiling as next week's deadline looms Carmelo Anthony retiring from NBA after 19 seasons California, Arizona and Nevada reach deal to conserve Colorado River Tim Scott, a Christian 'above all other things': How a Ten Commandments fight shaped him A cornerstone of Republican Tim Scott's political career has been an unyielding faith, which the South Carolina senator has showcased repeatedly during a state-to-state hopscotch exploring his likely 2024 presidential bid. It's a message Scott, who officially filed on Friday, is comfortable advertising whether appearing on liberal-leaning programs such as The Daily Show or speaking at the Iowa Faith and Freedom Coalition, where hundreds of Christian conservatives assembled in April. "We must tell the story of our Constitution that the First Amendment was written to protect the church from the state, not the state from the church," he said last month. Those words are identical to what Scott said during a formative fight nearly three decades ago as a new member of the Charleston County Council when he made national headlines for posting the Ten Commandments at the local legislative body's building. Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., pours himself a cup of coffee during a visit to the Red Arrow Diner, Thursday, April 13, 2023, in Manchester, N.H. Scott on Wednesday launched an exploratory committee for a 2024 GOP presidential bid, a step that comes just shy of making his campaign official. In 1997, television cameras showed a 31-year-old Scott, who took a hammer and "banged the nail into the wall" to hang the Old Testament decree outside the council chambers, according to the Greenville News. U.S. society, he said at the time, was established on principles rooted in those biblical directives. "I think if you're a Jew, a Gentile, a Christian or even a Muslim, the Ten Commandments are universal," Scott said. Politics: Tim Scott moves closer to challenging Trump, other GOP rivals in 2024, forms exploratory committee More: Will he or won't he? Republican Sen. Tim Scott weighs a historic White House bid Those who wrestled with Scott over posting Bible verses at government buildings say it was clear back then that his political views were animated by core Christian values. He was sincere in those beliefs as much as he is today. "He is radically evangelical and more than very conservative," Armand Derfner, a South Carolina civil rights attorney and one of the plaintiffs in the 1997 case, told USA TODAY. "But I think he learns from things, I would be willing to bet that if you asked him today would he post the Ten Commandments on the wall, he'd say no or might not try to answer the question." Biblical leader first, conservative second The Scott campaign did not respond to USA TODAY's request for comment on whether he still supports displaying the Ten Commandments or similar biblical teachings in public facilities. What's clear is that, since his days as a local elected official, faith is at the forefront of his political thinking and identity. "I see myself first as a biblical leader and not as a Republican or conservative leader," Scott said during a 2020 video conference with students at Bob Jones University, which is known for its conservative cultural and religious positions. "I am first a Christian," he added. "And it is the thing I have chosen to be above all other things." American families are starving for hope. We need to have faith. Faith in God, faith in each other, and faith in America. pic.twitter.com/59Bha0JpEk Tim Scott (@votetimscott) May 18, 2023 Scott senior campaign officials contend this is one of the 57-year-old Republican's strongest attributes which has been on display in the weeks since he announced his exploratory committee for the GOP nomination. Advisers assert voters will meet a candidate with shared values and temperament who has the resources and narrative to woo GOP voters away from more fiery rivalsnamely former President Donald Trump and Florida Gov. Rick DeSantis. More: Ron DeSantis plans to formally enter the 2024 presidential race next week Scott campaign officials, who asked for anonymity to speak freely, said the senator is at ease when talking about God's impact in his life with conservative evangelical churchgoers in Iowa as well as working-class independents at a New Hampshire diner. Those skills will be a particular asset in those early states, advisers say, where the Scott campaign has already scheduled events and deposited millions for TV and radio advertisements in the coming week. What do voters think of Tim Scott's faith? Even though recent polling has shown the percentage of U.S. adults who believe in God has dropped to its lowest point since 1944, about half of the country consider religion to be an important factor when picking a president. A 2020 Economist/YouGov survey, for instance, that found 48% of Americans said a presidential candidate's religious beliefs and practices are important when considering who to support. Barton Craft, a 52-year-old fine arts school administrator from Huntsville, Alabama, said faith is very important to him and who he votes for to be president. He said their particular religion doesn't matter long as the candidate sticks to the values that their faith espouses. "The vibe that I get from (Scott) is that he believes what he's saying. I don't agree with everything he says, but I do believe that he genuinely believes it," Craft, a registered independent, said. Politics: Biden campaign outlines plan to win battleground states ahead of 2024 election More: Marjorie Taylor Greene wants to impeach Joe Biden: 'A direct threat' Eric Bentil, a 24-year-old Massachusetts state trooper and independent voter, said Scott's previous support for displaying the Ten Commandments is something that makes him a more attractive candidate. "Taking the whole idea of God out of schools has our society where it is now, and I think it's not a good trajectory in my opinion," he said. "I'm not a Republican but it looks like right now my faith and everything aligns with them for the most part." Florida real estate agent Adriana Vargas-Hernandez, 51, said she was a Republican but left the party due to Trump. As an independent voter, she said a candidate such as Scott is a needed breeze of fresh air to the 2024 contest. "I believe that the Ten Commandments are really the base on what our country is all about," she said. "It doesn't matter what religion you are," Vargas-Hernandez added. "It's about being good and doing good to everyone else. So I believe that we are where we are because we have forgotten about our values." South Carolina ACLU: Does Scott believe in 'religious dominance?' Ultimately Scott and his allies on the Charleston County Council saw the Ten Commandments yanked down after a yearlong legal battle brought by the American Civil Liberties Union and other secular groups. A judge ruled the council violated the Constitution, but Scott remained steadfast in the face of that early political setback. In a 1998 interview, Scott said the fight wasn't over religion but rather history and the fabric and foundation of the country, "and that is a fight we should always wage." Democrats have signaled that their plan is to cast Scott, who at times was critical of Trump, as a disciple of his policy pursuits. They called attention to his social views, calling him a "MAGA Republican" who wants to ban abortion and block certain types of birth control. This tablet of the Ten Commandments is located on the grounds of the Texas Capitol Building. (Larry Kolvoord/AMERICAN-STATESMAN/File) Jace Woodrum, executive director of South Carolina ACLU, said much has changed in the state and country since Scott was a local elected official. He said as the senator is gearing up to be a major White House contender, it is worth knowing if he learned a lesson or has changed his mind about the Ten Commandments. Nation: ACLU plans to sue Texas over ban on certain medical treatments for transgender kids "These actions in 1997 did not reflect the core value of religious liberty that South Carolinians hold and that is enshrined in our Constitution," Woodrum said. "Sen. Scott speaks very openly about his faith and about religious liberty, but I think what he's actually talking about is religious dominance, and forcing his own religious beliefs on Americans." This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: How Sen. Tim Scott's faith, Ten Commandments fight appeals to voters NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. Tim Scotts announcement here Monday that hes running for president came mere days before Ron DeSantis is expected to declare his own, far more ballyhooed campaign, joining Donald Trump in what has looked for months like a two-person race for the Republican nomination. Scott, polling in low single digits, is starting far behind. But in what's likely to become an even wider field of longshot candidates, the South Carolina senator is plotting a path that many Republican donors and strategists consider credible if Trump or DeSantis falters. His campaign is powered by a sizable war chest and a record of electoral success in his home state that suggests he could appeal to both evangelical Christians and traditional conservatives, two significant constituencies in presidential nominating contests. We live in the land where it is possible for a kid raised in poverty by a single mother in a small apartment to one day serve in the Peoples House, and maybe even the White House, Scott, 57, said to the hundreds packed into a gym at his alma mater, Charleston Southern University. Neither fiercely defensive of the former president, nor sharply critical of him, Scott said in October 2021 that he would of course support Trump in a 2024 presidential bid, but continued for months to deflect questions about his own White House ambitions. Senior aides to Scott insist the states junior senator is uninterested in making a play for vice president, with one adviser telling POLITICO earlier this year that it was insulting to suggest that he would run for president for that reason. But Scotts success in this presidential primary is dependent on the Florida governors long-anticipated campaign flaming out, and Republican voters deciding its time, after all, to move on from Trump. DeSantis is expected to formally enter the race in the coming days on the heels of a flurry of early state travel, but as national polls have shown him on a downward slide. Others, like Nikki Haley the former South Carolina governor who appointed Scott to the Senate a decade ago Vivek Ramaswamy and Asa Hutchinson, launched campaigns earlier this year but also continue to poll in the low single digits. Ahead of Scotts announcement, two Republican colleagues, South Dakota Sens. John Thune and Mike Rounds, have already endorsed his bid, with Rounds calling Scott the closest to Ronald Reagan that you're going to see. Thune, the No. 2 Senate Republican, gave the opening prayer Monday at Scotts campaign launch rally. Glen McCall, the Republican National Committeeman from South Carolina, led the pledge ahead of Scotts speech. Among those in the crowd of supporters was former South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford, former Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam, who is serving as Scotts national campaign co-chair and Larry Ellison, the billionaire founder of Oracle whom Scott from the stage called a mentor. Scott, who frequently talks about his faith, plans to focus heavily on the evangelical Christian vote in Iowa, the first-in-the-nation caucus state where he has held meetings with pastors in recent months, according to his advisers. Its an approach likely also to be employed by former Vice President Mike Pence, should he decide to run, though the lesser-known Scott has the advantage of having not been bludgeoned by Trump as Pence was after refusing to try to overturn the results of the 2020 election. Scotts decision to enter the field was buoyed by his electoral performance in November, when he secured 63 percent of the vote in his re-election campaign a feat not accomplished in a Senate race here since the 1990 reelection of Sen. Strom Thurmond. During his 2016 reelection bid, Scott outperformed Trump in the state by nearly 6 percentage points, a sign of his appeal to moderate and swing voters. In contrast, Sen. Lindsey Grahams vote share in 2020 was just shy of Trumps 55 percent. Button and sticker-clad supporters at his Monday morning rally waved red, white and blue pom-poms and paper fans featuring an illustration of Scott, a design created by the teenage daughter of his campaign manager. They chanted Tim Scott as he, halfway through the speech, finally announced he was entering the race, and again shortly after when his microphone briefly stopped working. In interviews with several supporters at the crowded launch event, each shared some personal connection with Scott. A man knew his mother. A woman introduced herself to Scott recently at the airport and was struck by his personability. A 36-year-old man said his father used to work at Scotts insurance agency, and his family came out Monday to show their support. Scott graduated from his hometown college in 1988 after growing up here poor, entering local politics just before turning 30 and serving in the state legislature and U.S. House before becoming the Souths first Black senator since Reconstruction. I disrupt their narrative, Scott told the crowd, referring to unnamed members of the far left he said have called him a prop, a token and the N-word after opposing President Joe Bidens policies. Despite not having high nationwide name recognition, Scotts star has gradually been on the rise within the Republican Party. In 2021, Scott was tapped to deliver the GOP response to President Joe Bidens first address to Congress. His Senate voting record is considered conservative, though Scott has worked with Democrats on issues like police reform. He has also, on occasion, used his position as a Black Republican to speak out about racial issues, including criticizing Trumps comments after the deadly 2017 Charlottesville, Va. white supremacist rally, and his remarks about protesters in the aftermath of George Floyds killing in 2020. While other candidates, including Trump and DeSantis, are being aided by super PACs that have already raised big money, Scott formally enters the field with nearly $22 million, more campaign cash than any past presidential candidate. By comparison, Sens. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren had $14 million and $10 million, respectively, to transfer when they launched their campaigns in the 2020 Democratic presidential primary. Though outside spending groups will almost certainly be a powerful force in the 2024 primary as they were during the midterm elections a candidates own dollars will go significantly farther as the race continues and advertising prices surge for everyone but candidates, who receive more favorable rates. Scott has already flexed his ability to buy substantial TV time. On Friday, his campaign placed a $6 million ad buy in the early states of Iowa and New Hampshire, part of a television ad campaign that will begin this week and run until the first Republican debate in late August. The spot, which is expected to focus on Scotts life story, according to a senior campaign official, will be accompanied by radio and digital ads in those states, and will serve as a needed boost to the senators name-identification over the coming months. While super PACs supporting Trump and DeSantis have spent more than $10 million each so far in an ongoing television ad war, Scotts ad campaign amounts to the largest by any candidate so far. A super PAC supporting Scotts presidential bid, Trust In the Mission PAC, is being run by former Sen. Cory Gardner (R-Colo.) and Republican strategist Rob Collins. And besides Ellison, Scott in recent days has also seen signs of support from another billionaire: Elon Musk, now the owner of Twitter who has twice promoted videos that Scott has tweeted out, including Mondays live stream of the campaign launch. Following his campaign announcement, Scott is meeting with donors in Charleston on Tuesday before heading to Sioux City, Iowa on Wednesday, and to Merrimack, New Hampshire on Thursday. Hell be back in the Senate the following week a day job with rigid in-person demands that will restrict Scotts ability to campaign more than most any candidate in the field, with the exception of DeSantis. As he spoke to the crowd about his humble beginnings, his life being proof that America is the land of opportunity, not a land of oppression, Scott demonstrated his classic speaking style, weaving in and out of Bible verses and urging the audience to respond with Amen, as a minister would. He criticized Biden repeatedly and decried extreme liberals for policies on spending, student loan forgiveness and the southern border, among other topics. Scott emphasized the work ethic he learned from his mother, grandfather, and a key mentor he found as an adolescent. As president, I will rebuild and restore every rung of the ladder that helped me climb, Scott pledged, in addition to vowing to build the wall, as Trump promised years ago, and to use the military to fight Mexican drug cartels bringing fentanyl into the country. Scott said he will rebuild a military so lethal and powerful that our adversaries will fear us and our allies will respect us. In contrast with Trump, Scott called out Russian President Vladmir Putin and the need for the American military to intervene to curb its global influence, as well as that of China and Iran. We will not try to be the worlds police force, Scott said. But we will always defend our vital national interests and our people. And on education, which Scott described as the closest thing to magic in America, he called for Less C.R.T. and more A-B-Cs, a reference to critical race theory, and said he would destroy the liberal lie that America is an evil country. Sen. Tim Scott (S.C.) is the most recent Republican to throw his hat into the ring for the partys 2024 White House nomination, challenging former President Trump, who holds a commanding lead in primary polls. Scotts official campaign launch Monday was preceded by a launch of an exploratory committee for a campaign and a filing with the Federal Election Commission. He already has the support of two of his Senate GOP colleagues making him the only candidate other than Trump with Senate endorsements but other members of his party have said they are skeptical his candidacy will get the necessary traction. He launched his campaign from his hometown of North Charleston, S.C., where he grew up in a single-parent household and graduated from Charleston Southern University before starting his own business to sell insurance. Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C. gives remarks at his presidential campaign announcement event at his alma mater, Charleston Southern University. (AP Photo/Meg Kinnard) We live in the land where it is possible for a kid raised in poverty by a single mother in a small apartment to one day serve in the Peoples House and maybe even the White House, Scott said, according to prepared remarks shared with reporters ahead of his formal announcement. This is the greatest country on Gods green Earth. Tim Scott announces bid for 2024 GOP presidential nomination Shortly after his insurance business took off, he ran and won an at-large seat on the Charleston County Council as a Republican in 1995, winning a majority white district. He then won his reelection bids in 2000 and 2004, became the councils chairman in 2007 and ran for the South Carolina House of Representatives in 2008. After being elected to the state House, he served just two years before running for Congress in 2010, becoming the first Black Republican to represent South Carolina in Washington in more than a century, according to the states Republican Party. The lawmaker quickly rose through the ranks to become a vocal leader on a range of issues, including race and police reform, within the Republican Party. He was appointed to the Senate in 2012 to replace retiring Sen. Jim DeMint, becoming the first Black senator from the South to serve since Reconstruction, as well as the first Black senator from South Carolina. He was appointed by then-South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, who is now one of Scotts opponents in the 2024 GOP Primary. Republican presidential candidate Tim Scott walks onto stage to deliver his speech announcing his candidacy for president of the United States. (AP Photo/Mic Smith) Scott has spearheaded efforts in the Senate that some other Republicans may stray away from, including working with Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) to pass a bill to make lynching a federal hate crime. He also worked with Booker to negotiate a police reform bill, but the efforts were stalled last year. He has been outspoken about other Republican pillars, saying last month that if he were president, he would sign the most conservative, pro-life legislation to restrict abortion that he could. Scott joins the race alongside Trump, Haley, conservative entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy and former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former Vice President Mike Pence and former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie are all still mulling their own GOP bids to challenge President Biden next year. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. Senator Tim Scott has become the latest Republican to join an increasingly crowded 2024 race for US president. Mr Scott, 57, who has represented South Carolina in the chamber since 2013, promised to revive America's "culture of greatness". With about $22m (18m) in cash on hand, he enters the fray with more campaign funds than any of his rivals. Donald Trump is the front-runner for the nomination, with Mr Scott earning less than 5% in national opinion polls. At a launch event in his hometown of North Charleston on Monday, Mr Scott, who is black, touted his personal story as an embodiment of the American dream. The grandson of a Deep South cotton field worker, he spoke of being raised by a single mother and of how his family had risen "from cotton to Congress" in his grandfather's lifetime. Raised in a single-parent household, Mr Scott invited his mother on stage The Republican has spoken in the past of his experience as a black man in America, from being pulled over by police seven times in one year to being stopped inside the US Capitol building. But in his campaign launch speech, he rejected the idea that the nation is defined by racial division. "I am living proof that America is the land of opportunity, not a land of oppression," he said, railing against the political left. "The truth of my life disproves their lies." He vowed to turn around "a nation in retreat". "Joe Biden and the radical left are attacking every rung of the ladder that helped me climb," he said. "We are not in decline. We are in a Biden retreat. So all we need to do is turn around." Mr Scott is one of three sitting black US senators in the 100-member upper chamber of Congress, alongside Democrats Cory Booker and Raphael Warnock. The mild-mannered lawmaker, a teetotalling bachelor, has already picked up endorsements from two of his Senate colleagues, including John Thune, the chamber's second highest-ranking Republican. "There may be somebody in the United States who doesn't like Tim Scott, but I've never met them," long-time Republican consultant Whit Ayres said. "He's got the potential to be a very strong candidate." "For the Republican Party to be competitive in a rapidly changing America, it needs to present a different face to the electorate, and Tim Scott clearly represents a different face," he added. Mr Scott will be heading later this week to Iowa and New Hampshire, the first two states to vote in Republican primary elections. Having already filed paperwork to run for president with the Federal Election Commission, he has also snapped up $6m of air time in both states. It is the largest single ad buy in the 2024 race to date. He has the backing of some of the right's wealthiest donors, including Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison, and is expected to compete for the evangelical Christian vote, a key Republican bloc. The former insurance salesman joins a field that also includes ex-US ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley, former Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson, tech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy and radio host Larry Elder. Others such as Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and former Vice President Mike Pence are also expected to run. 'Dollars behind him' While former president Mr Trump has $14m on hand, and rivals like Mr DeSantis are likely to accrue significant outside support, Mr Scott - a strong fundraiser - is allowed by law to transfer the nearly $22m he amassed in his Senate account to his presidential campaign. "Senator Scott is going to have a huge impact on this race because he's got the dollars behind him," Dave Wilson, a South Carolina-based Republican strategist, told the BBC. "When you look at the fact that he has more money than the other candidates out there, he is going to have an easier time putting the optimistic message he has out there." The South Carolina native's campaign is expected to centre on a more positive, less populist form of conservatism but it remains unclear if he can present himself as a serious alternative to Mr Trump. He told Fox News last year he has "not very many" policy differences with Mr Trump. He was also a key Senate backer of the then-president's 2017 tax cuts. "There's a general sense that the Republican base is looking for a candidate who's confrontational and contentious," said Mr Ayres. "If that is indeed the case, other candidates will fit that mould." If he does not win the nomination, the senator has been tipped as a potential running mate for the party's eventual 2024 nominee. "Good luck Tim!" Mr Trump wrote on social media, a friendly message that stood in stark contrast to the attacks he usually launches at rivals. Mr DeSantis, who is polling in second place but has lost ground to Mr Trump in recent weeks, is expected to formally join the race later this week. Tim Scott running for president in 2024: How will he challenge Donald Trump? NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. Tim Scott, the lone Black Republican senator who showcases himself as a sunrise conservative, declared his campaign for president Monday by saying he can revive a nation that is receding from greatness. Every single one of us are here because of an American journey where there were obstacles that became opportunities, Scott said in kicking off a historic and underdog bid. But unfortunately, under President Biden, our nation is retreating away from patriotism and faith. Scott joins an expanding field of GOP contenders looking to knock out Donald Trump, the former president who remains a muscular front-runner despite qualms that he isn't the best to challenge President Joe Biden, the Democratic incumbent. Trump went easy on Scott during his announcement day, using the latest entrant in the 2024 presidential race to bash another prospective GOP candidate, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. In wishing "good luck" to Scott, Trump said in a Truth Social post that the race "is rapidly loading up with lots of people." He added that "Tim is a big step up from Ron DeSanctimonious, who is totally unelectable." Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., announces the launch of his presidential campaign at Buccaneer Field House on the campus of Charleston Southern University in North Charleston, S.C. on Monday. In planning their campaign, Scott and his team see this race as a marathon and exude confidence based on a combination of his biography and fundraising despite hovering at roughly 2% in primary polls. The South Carolina senator has leaned into a narrative that oozes optimism despite being the grandson of a Black man who once picked cotton. "We live in the land where it is possible for a kid raised in poverty by a single mother in a small apartment to one day serve in the Peoples House and maybe even the White House, Scott said during his announcement speech at Charleston Southern University. During a multistate tour after forming an exploratory committee in April, he has held up the twin pillars of faith and education as a guiding light to overcome personal hardships that Scott says is a blueprint to his governing philosophy. A deeper look: Tim Scott, a Christian 'above all other things': How a Ten Commandments fight shaped him 'A culture of greatness' Supporters who ventured to the Field House at Charleston Southern to hear Scott cited his life story as his best credential. He came from a family with nothing and went to Washington, said longtime Republican voter and Charleston County resident Steven Rubin, 79, who attended the event with his wife Toni, 67. Steven said, We should be very proud. The Scott campaign trotted out a prominent endorser at the event: Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., the Senate's number two Republican. I dont know about you but I think our country is ready to be inspired, Thune told the crowd. Scott surmounted technical difficulties, including a dead mike at one point, to attack the "radical left" for causing problems. "The radical left is pushing us into a culture of grievance instead of a culture of greatness," he said at one point. Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., greets and hugs supporters after announcing the launch of his presidential campaign at Buccaneer Field House on the campus of Charleston Southern University in North Charleston, S.C. on Monday. Scott enters 2024 contest with deep pockets One advantage Scott brings to the table compared to others is being flush with campaign cash coupled with the reputation as a prolific fundraiser. Scott has squirreled away roughly $22 million, which aides tout as the most of any presidential candidate in U.S. history. That positions the senator to be one of the few GOP contenders who can message widely to voters as a serious Trump challenger. The campaign has launched a roughly $6 million ad buy starting with a $5.5 million drop in Iowa and New Hampshire this week and will run through the first Republican presidential debate in late August. Scott proved to be a formidable fundraiser during the 2022 midterm elections when he raked in about $43.1 million for his reelection, according to the Federal Election Commission. And a Scott-aligned super PAC, Opportunity Matters Fund Action, has almost matched that figure, raising about $37.3 million, according to OpenSecrets. Politics: Who is Tim Scott? South Carolina senator weighing 2024 bid for president Tackling Trump and talking race in America Scott often talks about his racial heritage on the campaign trail, using an ad that has blasted Biden and the Democrats for promoting "victimhood" over "personal responsibility." He famously said the U.S. is "not a racist country" and has gone as far as to argue his political opponents are guilty of "indoctrinating our children to believe we live in an evil country." What's left to be seen, however, is how Scott plans to challenge Trump directly as many Republicans argue will be necessary to convince base voters to abandon the former president. "He's still the 800-pound gorilla," former Republican Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, a longtime Trump critic, told USA TODAY. Elections: What Sen. Tim Scott does and doesn't say about race in 2024 exploratory announcement More: Ron DeSantis plans to formally enter the 2024 presidential race next week "I'll say this, there are a bunch of candidates out there that can't decide what to say about Trump and whether they like him or not, they change their mind, flip-flop," he added. "No one should be in the race unless you know if they're going to be afraid to directly take on Trump because that's what it's going to take." Scott peppered Trump with criticism during his presidency, such as when he said the former president's "moral authority" had been "compromised" after Trump said that many sides were to blame for the violence during a 2017 neo-Nazi rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. Advisers who didn't mention Trump specifically added how some of the cultures of victimhood and grievance exist on the right as well, adding how Scott plans to call out those instances. During a "Faith in America" town hall in New Hampshire earlier this month, many believed Scott was alluding to Trump when he said: "The seeds of greatness, not the seeds of grievance, is our future." Contributing: Devyani Chhetri, Greenville News This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Tim Scott runs for president in 2024: How will he take on Trump? You are here: World Flash A military helicopter of the Afghan Air Force crashed in Afghanistan's northern Samangan province on Sunday, leaving two pilots dead, Afghan Defense Ministry has confirmed. "An MD-530 model chopper of the Air Force was on patrol mission when it struck a power transmission line in Khalm district of Samangan province at 09:00 a.m. local time today and crashed and resultantly two pilots were martyred," the Defense Ministry said in a statement posted on its Twitter account. In addition to launching an investigation into the accident, the Defense Ministry offered condolences to the grieved families. (Getty Images) Sen Tim Scott (R - South Carolina), the sole Black Republican in the United States Senate, announced his candidacy for the Republican nomination for president, joining a crowded field. Mr Scott made the announcement in his home of North Charleston, where he referenced his humble upbringings, noting how his grandfather worked in cotton fields in South Carolina. My family went from cotton to Congress in his lifetime. And it was possible because my grandfather had stubborn faith. A Senator since 2013, Mr Scott joins a crowded field that includes former president Donald Trump, former Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson, businessman Vivek Ramaswamy and former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley, who appointed him to become a Senate to fill the vacancy left by a retiring Senator. Florida Gov Ron DeSantis is also expected to join the Republican presidentual primary. As the Senates sole Black Republican, Mr Scott has spoken regularly about how the Republican Party can offer opportunities for marginalised communities. After police in Minneapolis killed George Floyd in 2020, he attempted to negotiate with Sen Cory Booker (D - New Jersey) to pass police reform, but negotiations ultimately fell through. During his speech, he criticised the Biden administration and Democrats for denigrating police. And in Bidens America, crime is on the rise and law enforcement is in retreat, he said. The far left is ending cash bail. Theyre demonizing, demoralizing, and de-funding the police. I grew up in neighborhoods alongside people who ended up incarcerated or in a cemetery. We needed more public safety, not less! America is not a nation in decline. But under Joe Biden, we have become a nation in retreat, Mr Scott added. At the same time, Mr Scott voted for most of Mr Trumps cabinet nominees and judicial nominees, including all three Supreme Court justices Mr Trump nominated. During his announcement speech, Mr Scott refrained from mentioning Mr Trump, preferring instead to aim his attention at President Joe Biden. Mr Scott will likely make a play for South Carolinas primary, the first Republican presidential contest in the South, which could siphon off votes from Ms Haley and Mr DeSantis. But his colleague Sen Lindsey Graham (R - South Carolina) and the states Gov Henry McMaster (R - South Carolina) have both endorsed Mr Trump. South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott launched his presidential campaign on Monday, offering an optimistic message he hopes can contrast the two figures who have used political combativeness to dominate the early GOP primary field: former President Donald Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. Scott, the Senates only Black Republican, made the announcement in his hometown of North Charleston at Southern University, his alma mater and a private school affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention. PREVIOUS STORIES: Our party and our nation are standing at a time for choosing. Victimhood or victory?, he told cheering supporters, adding, Grievance or greatness? I choose freedom and hope and opportunity, Scott said, he said that the GOP needs a candidate who can energize more than just its base. Scott has frequently denounced Democrats for raising what he calls false social and political grievances. But offering such sentiments about the GOP could be an alternative to Trump, who has for years repeated lies about how he was denied a second term by widespread fraud that did not occur during the 2020 presidential election. DeSantis, meanwhile, has pushed Florida to the right by championing contentious new restrictions on abortion, LGBTQ rights and by seeking to limit the corporate power of Disney, one his states most powerful business interests. Scott, 57, planned to huddle with home-state donors after the kickoff event, then begin a whirlwind, two-day campaign swing to Iowa and New Hampshire, which go first in GOP presidential primary voting. The announcement gathering included an opening prayer by Republican Sen. John Thune of South Dakota, the No. 2 Senate Republican, who said, I think our country is ready to be inspired again. Republican Sen. Mike Rounds, South Dakotas other senator, has already announced his support for Scott. A number of high-profile GOP senators have already backed Trumps third bid for the White House, though, including Scotts South Carolina colleague, Lindsey Graham. Trump nonetheless struck a conciliatory tone to start, welcoming Scott to the race in an online post Monday and noting that the pair worked together on his administrations signature tax cut. ALSO READ: NC Gov. Cooper on 12-week abortion ban: I will never ever give up fighting A source of strength for Scott will be his campaign bank account. He enters the 2024 race with more cash on hand than any other presidential candidate in U.S. history, with $22 million left in his campaign bank account at the end of his 2022 campaign that he can transfer to his presidential coffers. Its enough money, his team says, to keep Scott on the air with continuous TV ads in early voting states until the first round of votes next year. Scott also won reelection in firmly Republican South Carolina -- which voters third on the Republican presidential primary calendar -- by more than 20 points less than six months ago. Advisors bet that can make Scott a serious contender for an early primary victory that could give him momentum heading deeper into the primary race. But Scott is not the only South Carolina option. The states former governor, Nikki Haley, who also once served as Trumps former United Nations ambassador, formally entered the primary race months ago. Like others in the GOP race, including former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley, former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson and Woke, Inc. author Vivek Ramaswamy, Scotts early task will be finding a way to stand out in a field led by Trump and DeSantis, the latter of whom could announce his own bid as early as this week. One way Scott hopes to do that is his trademark optimistic rhetoric. With his Christian faith an integral part of his political and personal story, Scott often quotes Scripture at his campaign events, weaving his reliance on spiritual guidance into his stump speech and even bestowing the name Faith in America on his pre-launch listening tour. RELATED: The Political Beat: Expert talks AI, TikTok; the good and the bad Scott said Monday that Americas promise means you and I can go as high as our character, our grit, and our talent will take us. Thats why Im the candidate the far left fears the most. The Democratic National Committee responded to Scotts announcement by dismissing the notion that Scott offers much of an alternative to Trumps policies. DNC chair Jamie Harrison, who ran unsuccessfully for Senate in South Carolina in 2020, released a statement Monday calling the senator a fierce advocate of the MAGA agenda, a reference to the former presidents Make America Great Again movement. On many issues, Scott does indeed align with mainstream GOP positions. He wants to reduce government spending and restrict abortion, saying he would sign a federal law to prohibit abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy if elected president. But Scott has pushed the party on some policing overhaul measures since the killing of George Floyd, and he has occasionally criticized Trumps response to racial tensions. Throughout their disagreements, though, Scott has maintained a generally cordial relationship with Trump, saying in his book that the former president listened intently to his viewpoints on race-related issues. When he was appointed to the Senate by then-governor Haley in 2012, Scott became the first Black senator from the South since just after the Civil War. Winning a 2014 special election to serve out the remainder of his term made him the first Black candidate to win a statewide race in South Carolina since the Reconstruction era. He has long said his current term, which runs through 2029, would be his last. Scott rejects the notion that the country is inherently racist and has repudiated the teaching of critical race theory, an academic framework that presents the idea that the nations institutions maintain the dominance of white people. I will be the President who destroys the liberal lie that our country is evil, he said Monday. We need to stop canceling our Founding Fathers and start celebrating them. If Scott is successful, he would be the first Black person to win the Republican presidential nomination and the second elected to the presidency, following Barack Obama in 2008. Other Republicans are still deciding whether to wade into the presidential race, including former Vice President Mike Pence, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and Miami Mayor Francis Suarez. President Joe Biden is seeking reelection and faces only token opposition in the Democratic primary. His party voted to move South Carolina to the leadoff spot for next years presidential primary calendar. (WATCH BELOW: Tim Scott to unveil 2024 White House exploratory committee) Sen. Tim Scott, who grew up in working-class poverty to become South Carolina's first Black senator, and now the Senate's lone Black Republican, declared his candidacy for president on Monday, coming into the 2024 race with more cash on hand than all of his competitors -- and a story that he says embodies the American dream. The 57-year-old senator held the official announcement event inside the Buccaneer Fieldhouse on Monday morning at his alma mater, Charleston Southern University, speaking enthusiastically in front of a backdrop of supporters, his name and campaign slogan, "Faith in America." "We live in the land where it is possible for a kid raised in poverty by a single mother in a small apartment to one day serve in the People's House and maybe even the White House," Scott said, after speaking several minutes off the cuff. "Joe Biden and the radical left are attacking every rung of the ladder that helped me climb," he continued. "And that is why I'm announcing today that I am running for president of the United States of America!" PHOTO: Republican presidential candidate Tim Scott hugs his mother Frances Scott after announcing his candidacy for president of the United States on the campus of Charleston Southern University in North Charleston, S.C., May 22, 2023. (Mic Smith/AP) "When I cut your taxes, they called me a prop. When I re-funded the police, they called me a token. When I pushed back on President Biden, they even called me the N-word," he said. "I disrupt their narrative. I threaten their control. The truth of my life disrupts their lies!" Scott on Friday filed official paperwork with the Federal Election Commission to enter the race, setting into motion a $6 million ad-buy in Iowa and New Hampshire, the first two states of the Republican nominating contest, which will air starting Wednesday and run through the first GOP primary debate in late August. Choosing to take on the current president as opposed to any primary opponents, Scott offered an outlook more positive than others to assert "America is not a nation in decline," but under President Joe Biden, he says, it has become "a nation in retreat." "America is the city on the hill," Scott said in closing, walking off the stage to join standing supporters, as he tends to do on the stump. "I'm living proof that God and a good family and the United States of America can do all things if we believe. Will you believe it with me?" PHOTO: Senator Tim Scott (R-SC) speaks at the Iowa Faith & Freedom Coalition Spring Kick-off in West Des Moines, Iowa, April 22, 2023. (Eduardo Munoz/Reuters) Sen. John Thune of South Dakota, the Senate's No. 2 Republican, endorsed Scott and delivered the opening prayer at his announcement in North Charleston, describing him as a candidate who offers "boundless hope and optimism for this country." "Tim Scott is the real deal. And he will make a great president of the United States," Thune said. "I think our country is ready to be inspired again." MORE: Tim Scott to join multi-candidate 'Roast and Ride' in Iowa, with 2024 kickoff days away Scott will travel to Iowa and Hampshire later this week, adding to a handful of visits he's already made this year. His official campaign committee, Tim Scott for America, will be based in the Palmetto State, where he will return for Memorial Day weekend. While he's polling in the low single digits, major donors, including Oracle founder Larry Ellison, are banking on the senator's optimistic disposition breaking through -- and allowing him to overtake former President Donald Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, both ahead of him in voter surveys. 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) Scott's campaign has touted his joining the race with $22 million in campaign cash, which it says is the most of any presidential candidate in American history. The official campaign launch follows a season of courting voters including his "Faith in America" town hall series after forming a presidential exploratory committee, a step which allows for candidates to start raising money. Staffers say his campaign for president really came to light after he won 63% of the vote in his reelection to the Senate in November, despite an increasingly polarizing climate. The junior senator rolled out his exploratory committee on April 12, which he noted marked the anniversary of the beginning of the Civil War. His announcement video was filmed at Fort Sumter, where he once again called for Americans to overcome deep political divisions. MORE: GOP Sen. Tim Scott launches 2024 presidential exploratory committee A source close to Scott said he had not spoken to Trump ahead of his announcement. The two share a cordial relationship, but Scott sparingly condemned Trump during his presidency for racially-charged comments, such as after Trump expressed support for the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. Scott responded, "Racism is real. It is alive." A campaign staffer organizers credentials for the presidential campaign launch of Sen. Tim Scott. Scott formalized his campaign last week and held an official announcement event at , Charleston Southern University, May 22, 2023, in North Charleston, S.C. (Meg Kinnard/AP) Scott has declined to say whether he would support Trump if Trump were to win the GOP nomination, while Trump's team has painted the primary as a race for second place. "Tim Scott's entrance, and aggressive media purchase, doesn't only kneecap DeSantis, but Scott sees the same thing as Youngkin, Sununu, Burgum, Christie and others: the path to 2nd place is wide open," said Taylor Budowich, CEO of the Trump-aligned Make America Great Again Inc. PAC. "They smell Ron DeSantis' blood in the water and no longer see him as an obstacle." Scott's personal story Not only is Scott coming into the race with a heft of cash on hand, but his campaign also says he brings a different personal story to the race. Scott credits his mother who he says worked 16-hour days as a nursing assistant to support him, and a Chick-fil-A store operator, who helped Scott get his first job at a movie theater in his teens, with enabling him to pave a path from working-class poverty to the U.S. Senate. "Those 16-hour days put food on our table. And kept our lights on. They empowered her to move her boys out of a place filled with anger into a home full of love," Scott said Monday, after bringing her on stage to thank her for her support. PHOTO: Sen. Tim Scott gives remarks at his presidential campaign announcement event at his alma mater, Charleston Southern University, May 22, 2023, in North Charleston, S.C. (Meg Kinnard/AP) He also cites his experience at South Carolina's Palmetto Boys State program as influential in his decision to pursue public service. After working in insurance and financial services post-college, Scott ran for Charleston County Council and the South Carolina House of Representatives. Scott was first appointed to the Senate in 2013, plucked from the U.S. House of Representatives by then-South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley -- who he'll now face in the primary. This after another senator, Jim DeMint, resigned to lead the Heritage Foundation. Scott retained his seat in a 2014 special election and glided to victory again in 2016 and 2022, with more than 60% of the vote in both cycles. Long seen as a rising star in the GOP, Scott delivered the Republican Party's rebuttal to President Joe Biden's inaugural joint address to Congress in 2021. PHOTO: President Joe Biden speaks during a meeting with Tennessee State Representatives Justin Jones, Justin Pearson, and Gloria Johnson at the White House, on April 23, 2023, in Washington, D.C. (Chris Kleponis/CNP via Polaris) Scott's signature legislation creating "opportunity zones" was passed as part of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act under Trump. He was tapped in 2020 by Republican leaders to negotiate on police-reforms before those bipartisan talks collapsed. He's starting off his campaign with multiple colleagues' endorsements, with South Dakota Sen. Mike Rounds joining Thune. Fellow South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham is among 11 Senate Republicans already endorsing Trump, although back in 2016 he infamously said, "If we nominate Trump, we will get destroyed ... and we will deserve it." MORE: Who is running for president in 2024 and who might run Scott joins a primary field that includes Haley, Trump, former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy. Others are expected to officially enter in the coming days, including DeSantis and North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum. Scott closed his speech with several, "Let's go!" call-and-response chants with supporters like Pam Hourihan, 47, who was wearing green scrubs, having used her lunch break as a pharmacist to walk 10 minutes to the venue. She said she's known Scott personally through church, calling him a "great Christian." "He's a good person. He's been a good person forever. This isn't anything new. He's always been this way," she told ABC News. P.J. Kuyper, 55, who voted for Trump in 2020, said Scott "has a message that is exactly what America needs to hear" and that he would "absolutely not" vote for Trump again if he were to win the nomination. "I think his faith in America, the goodness of it, and the opportunities are way more powerful than any message of grievance," Kuyper said. Tim Scott joins the 2024 Republican race for president originally appeared on abcnews.go.com Migrants at border. Michael Gonzalez/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images It was supposed to be a catastrophe. When the Biden administration ended the pandemic-era policy known as Title 42 which allowed the U.S. to summarily expel migrants in the name of public health critics believed it would immediately lead to an uncontrolled influx of asylum-seekers crossing into overwhelmed border states. But so far, roughly a week after the policy's official expiration (it was never intended to stay in place permanently), the number of unauthorized entries along the southern border has actually dropped to "an average of 4,400 per day," after first soaring to 10,000 ahead of May 11, said CBS News. Officials had predicted that up to 13,000 migrants could cross the border per day once the policy was lifted. "We attribute the reduction in encounters at our border both to the consequences that we have strengthened and put in place for unlawful entry, and the lawful pathways that we have expanded, but also to the actions of our foreign partners," the Department of Homeland Security's Blas Nunez-Neto told reporters on May 17. That said, "it is still early," he continued, "and we are mindful that smugglers will continue to look for ways to take advantage of the change in border policies." Title 42 may have ended, but "the conditions that are causing hemispheric migration at unprecedented levels have not changed." What are the commentators saying? These reduced migration numbers are unlikely to last long, Adam Isacson, who works on security and migration at the Washington Office on Latin America, a human rights organization, told MSNBC. More than likely, asylum-seekers are probably in "wait and see" mode, where they're taking a beat to sus out President Biden's new rules before once again attempting to cross the border. Numbers will likely rise again by Memorial Day, and then again "throughout the summer," but are "unlikely to exceed the levels that we've already seen during this administration." Perhaps also at play is the fact that Title 42 was replaced with "an arguably tougher, more restrictive policy" that bars migrants from asylum "if they don't request refugee status in another country before entering the U.S.," wrote Justo Robles at The Guardian. And Title 8, meanwhile, "the section of the U.S. law dealing with immigration and nationality that was used at the borders before the pandemic," per NBC News, is also back in play, potentially giving further pause to those looking to cross. Under that doctrine, "migrants found ineligible for legal protections are barred from reentering the country for at least five years and can be quickly deported through a process called 'expedited removal' without ever appearing before an immigration judge," Nicole Narea explained for Vox. "And if they do try to reenter, they can face criminal prosecution." Indeed, the administration hopes that this new set of rules (which goes beyond both the asylum stipulation and Title 8) deters migrants from illegal crossings and encourages them to instead seek out legal pathways to enter the country. Ultimately, that the situation at the border feels somewhat calm is actually "a great example of managing expectations," whether "intended or not," Jonah Goldberg noted for the Los Angeles Times. "Because President Biden predicted things would be 'chaotic for a while' after Title 42 expired, 'chaos' at the border suddenly became the political metric to watch for, as if a monumental crisis absent chaos is no big deal." But make no mistake: even with the falling numbers and the reports of disconcerting quiet, the U.S. is in the midst of its a border catastrophe "whether Biden admits it or not." What's next? Well, it's possible a massive surge is still on the horizon. "[W]e still need to prepare for the unknown because we don't know what's going to happen next week and continue to happen day in and day out," El Paso Mayor Oscar Leeser told CNN on May 14. Indeed, "officials and advocates are wary that border encounters could still rise aggressively because tens of thousands of migrants remain bottlenecked at the border in large part due to U.S. policies, including Title 42," said Rafael Bernal and Rebecca Beitsch at The Hill. Meanwhile, cities that aren't typically concerned about immigration surges places like New York and Los Angeles have also begun preparing for an influx, considering the busloads of asylum-seekers that have arrived on their doorsteps in recent months. "Without federal or state assistance, we will be unable to continue treating new arrivals and those already here with the dignity and care that they deserve," New York City Mayor Eric Adams said in a recent statement. As far as legal action goes, immigration advocates and the American Civil Liberties are currently challenging the aforementioned asylum rule, which requires that migrants prove they sought asylum elsewhere before doing so in the U.S. Those able to book an appointment through the much-derided CBP app are exempt from the requirement. You may also like Italy's Mount Etna erupts, forcing airport closure Dianne Feinstein and the problem of America's aging politicians College student who tracks Elon Musk's jet now doing the same with DeSantis Toddlers temperature was 107 degrees after her body was found in car, Florida cops say A 2-year-old died after she was left in a car for about 14 hours, Florida officials say. Her parents have been arrested and charged. Dispatchers received a call from a screaming woman just before 4 p.m. on Tuesday, May 16, Holmes County Sheriff John Tate said during a May 17 news conference. When deputies arrived, they found the woman holding her toddler, who was unresponsive. First responders immediately began CPR on the child, but she was pronounced dead around 4 p.m., Tate said. Her body temperature was 107 degrees at the time of her death. Tate said the toddlers mother and father were immediately taken for questioning. The girls mother, 23-year-old Kathreen Adams, told investigators that she picked her 2-year-old and 4-year-old up from a nearby relatives house around midnight after finishing work on Monday evening, according to Tate. By the time Adams got home, her 2-year-old had fallen asleep in the car. Adams and the childs father, 32-year-old Christopher McLean, decided to leave the sleeping girl in the car, Tate said. The parents then smoked marijuana. The second child, a 4-year-old, made it inside after getting home, according to Adams, Tate said. It was not until 14 hours later, around 3 p.m., that the parents remembered their daughter was in the car and went to check on her, Adams said, according to Tate. The child was unresponsive by that point. Investigators said they searched the parents house and cars and found bags of methamphetamine, marijuana and CBD gummies. Adams and McLean were arrested and charged with child neglect, possession of methamphetamine, and possession of drug paraphernalia, the sheriffs office said. Tate said more charges are expected pending the results of the toddlers autopsy. Holmes County is about 270 miles northwest of Jacksonville. Make sure your child is not left in a vehicle Place the childs diaper bag or item in the front passenger seat as a visual cue that the child is with you. Make it a habit of opening the back door every time you park to ensure no one is left behind. Ask your child care provider to call you right away if your child hasnt arrived as scheduled. Clearly announce and confirm who is getting each child out of the vehicle. Source: Kids and Car Safety Man thought he took grandson to day care, but he was dead in the pickup, AL cops say Baby unintentionally left in car at her dads work is found dead, Florida cops say Walmart worker saves baby from hot car as intoxicated mom shops, Louisiana cops say Tones of Melanin Founder Ashley Jones transformed a side hustle into disrupting the collegiate apparel industry. While attending Norfolk State University, the Virginia Beach native designed for every organization on the campus. However, she noticed there was a void in HBCU fashion. Coming from grandparents who owned one of the first Black-owned beauty supply companies in her hometown, Jones embarked on her own entrepreneurial journey by launching Tones of Melanin. On May 19, Jones made an appearance on Shark Tank, making Tones of Melanin the first-ever HBCU athleisure brand to be pitched to the Sharks. The founder asked for $300,000 for 5% equity. Since launching in 2017, Tones of Melanin has raked in $3.3 million to date, according to Jones. The brand also made $1.4 million in sales in 2022 and $330,000 in revenue so far in 2023. Jones, who runs the business daily, told the Sharks that the money generated goes back into the business, meaning she hasnt put money in her own pockets yet. Following sharing her pitch and background story, Mark Cuban went on to offer Jones $300,000 for 15%. However, she negotiated it to 12% and quickly sealed the deal. Jones aims for landing a deal on Shark Tank to give a sense of hope to fellow HBCU alumni chasing their dreams. I think that everyone who attended an HBCU will benefit from my appearance on national television, which will show that we can thrive anywhere, Jones told AfroTech. Never give up on yourself or your dreams, regardless of what anyone else says. Understanding what your purpose is along with your vision and that no one can ever discredit you because of where your degree may come from. HBCU graduates are thriving everywhere! Tones of Melanin has 40 HBCU licenses, and its gear is in major retailers, including Dicks Sporting Goods, Belk Stores, and Follett College Bookstores. With the new investment, Jones will expand her brand, and hopefully, more HBCUs will obtain licensing programs and collaborate with her. In the future, I want to expand my company without using a third party by working more directly with HBCUs, Jones explained to us. In addition, I want to expand our empowerment line so that we can engage with more members of our community. As we start to lean more toward philanthropic efforts, we are working on partnerships and collaborating with companies and individuals who are interested in supporting HBCU students. I want Tones of Melanin to be the interface of all things HBCU. Andy Haldane It "absolutely makes sense" to be lenient with migration rules when firms face staff shortages, the former chief economist of the Bank of England says. Andy Haldane told the BBC the UK should be "liberal in our visa policies" to fill skills gaps, and that in turn would help to grow the economy. It comes after the prime minister said legal migration was too high. The Home Office said its system allowed in the skills needed while encouraging investment in the domestic workforce. Mr Haldane's comments come ahead of new figures on net migration to the UK due to be published this Thursday. While the prime minister has been facing pressure to deliver on a 2019 Conservative manifesto commitment to bring down levels of net migration, some businesses have warned it would damage their industries. Sectors such as hospitality and retail have been among those facing labour shortages. Mr Haldane, who sits on the chancellor's council of economic advisers, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme it was important to draw a distinction between "near term and medium term". He added: "Given the huge shortages in both staff and skills being felt by businesses right across the UK right now - every sector and every region - it absolutely makes sense in the short run that we are lenient in our immigration rules, that we are liberal in our visa policies, in filling those skills gaps to enable the economy to grow, to enable businesses to flourish." Last week, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak told the BBC legal migration to the UK was "too high" but refused to put a precise figure on acceptable levels of people coming to the UK. He added he was "considering a range of options" to bring down legal migration. And earlier in the week, Home Secretary Suella Braverman called for lower immigration, and suggested more British people should be trained to do jobs commonly done by overseas workers, such as lorry driving and fruit picking. A Home Office spokesperson said: "The public rightly expects us to control immigration, which is why our points-based system delivers for the whole of the UK by prioritising the skills and talent the UK needs, whilst encouraging investment in the domestic workforce." Industrial strategy Mr Haldane also said the UK was still some way short of having a fully fledged industrial strategy. "All around the world now, we see a set of countries engaging in very activist, big budget acts of industrial policy," he said. "The UK still falls short I think in having such a well-articulated, big budget plan to enable us to compete in what is a global arms race to bring business home." Mr Haldane added that the UK's strategy felt "quite responsive at the moment". "Every week appears to bring another event, another impending loss of business," he said. It comes after one of the world's biggest carmakers warned it may have to close UK factories if the government did not renegotiate the Brexit deal. Stellantis, which owns Vauxhall, Peugeot, Citroen and Fiat, had committed to making electric cars in the UK, but now says that is under threat. It warned it could face tariffs of 10% on exports to the EU due to rules on where parts are sourced from. Mr Haldane said: "Whether it's EVs last week that doesn't feel like a strategy - and businesses will tell you we're still some way short of having that plan in advance of these events tripping us up." A Department for Trade spokesperson said: "The government has shown a clear strategy for UK manufacturing with a variety of schemes that ensure sectors from auto, to aerospace, to low-carbon technologies have access to the funding, talent and infrastructure they need. "We are focusing on providing a competitive business environment to stimulate growth, reducing red-tape and investing millions in new government funding to help manufacturing SMEs increase productivity." People on computers on train Rail users could lose access to wi-fi on trains in England as part of cost cuts after the government said it was a low priority for passengers. The Department for Transport says cost pressures mean it will review whether the current wi-fi service "delivers the best possible value for money". But one rail expert criticised the move and said trains could lose custom as a result. Most operators currently offer free wi-fi as standard on their services. Transport officials cited a report from independent passenger watchdog Transport Focus, which they said showed passengers were more concerned about value for money, reliability and punctuality than access to wi-fi. "Our railways are currently not financially sustainable, and it is unfair to continue asking taxpayers to foot the bill, which is why reform of all aspects of the railways is essential," the Department for Transport (DfT) said. "Passenger surveys consistently show that on-train wi-fi is low on their list of priorities, so it is only right we work with operators to review whether the current service delivers the best possible value for money." On-train wi-fi equipment installed in 2015 is now in need of replacing and the government said many people on short journeys did not connect to the on-train wi-fi, and used their mobile phone network instead. However, Anthony Smith, chief executive of Transport Focus, said access to wi-fi was something many passengers now expect as standard. "Given the post-pandemic need to get more passengers back on the train it would be difficult to justify removing something that makes rail more attractive to customers." Christian Wolmar, whose podcast Calling All Stations first reported the DfT's move, said passengers needed the reliability of a train's wi-fi, especially on longer journeys. "People expect to be able to use wi-fi on a train in the same way they would use a toilet," he told the BBC. Mr Wolmar said the equipment would still have to be replaced for staff purposes, so any savings would be a "relatively trivial amount". Ultimately, he said the railways would suffer: "I think the operators will lose customers over this, using a train is a marginal thing anyway for many people." Mr Wolmar said train operators had received a letter from the DfT informing them of the decision to pull funding unless they could make a good business case for keeping it. He said he expected most services to lose access to wi-fi "over the next year or two". Andy Bagnall, chief executive of Rail Partners, said the focus should be on "innovating to improve customer experience rather than removing features many passengers value". "The consideration of this proposal is a symptom of the current disjointed management of industry finances where revenue and cost are looked at separately and operators are unable to innovate in response to customer needs," he said. The Rail Delivery Group, which represents train operating companies across Britain, declined to comment. Banner saying 'Get in touch' Are you affected by issues covered in this story? Share your experiences by emailing haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk. Please include a contact number if you are willing to speak to a BBC journalist. You can also get in touch in the following ways: If you are reading this page and can't see the form you will need to visit the mobile version of the BBC website to submit your question or comment or you can email us at HaveYourSay@bbc.co.uk. Please include your name, age and location with any submission. University of Idaho student homicides suspect Bryan Kohberger stayed silent when asked to enter a plea in Latah County court Monday morning, with the judge defaulting to not guilty. Kohbergers murder trial was scheduled to begin this fall at the request of his defense. The hearing was the first public appearance in more than four months for the 28-year-old man accused of killing four students at an off-campus home in mid-November. Family members for two of the victims and a throng of media filled the courtroom for Kohbergers arraignment, which lasted about 15 minutes. Dressed in a bright orange jail outfit with PRISONER in black on his back, Kohberger sat with his ankles shackled before Judge John Judge of Idahos 2nd Judicial District Court. Judge explained the five charges four counts of first-degree murder and one count of felony burglary to the defendant and the maximum penalties if hes found guilty. Bryan Kohberger, who is accused of killing four University of Idaho students in November 2022, listens during his arraignment hearing Monday in Latah County District Court in Moscow. Kohberger responded affirmatively to Judges questions about whether he understood each of the charges against him, but then declined to enter a plea when asked what is known as standing silent. Judge entered the not guilty plea on his behalf. At Kohbergers attorneys request and with the prosecutions concurrence, Judge set a trial date of Oct. 2. The trial was scheduled to last up to six weeks. Kohberger was represented Monday by his lead public defender, Anne Taylor, who appeared beside him, and her offices chief deputy of litigation, Jay Logsdon. Latah County Prosecutor Bill Thompson was joined by Ashley Jennings, his senior deputy prosecutor. Bryan Kohberger enters the courtroom for his arraignment hearing Monday in Latah County District Court in Moscow. Kohberger is accused of killing four University of Idaho students in November 2022. The first-degree murder charges qualify Kohberger for Idahos death penalty if he is convicted. Idaho law requires an aggravating circumstance for a death sentence, including the killing of more than one person. Prosecutors have yet to say whether they will seek the death penalty. They must inform the court of their decision within 60 days now that a plea has been entered. Kohberger was indicted by a grand jury last week on the five charges. A grand jury is a panel of citizens who hear evidence and determine whether criminal charges should be brought. The indictment canceled Kohbergers preliminary hearing previously set to start June 26. That hearing was scheduled to last up to a week and likely would have revealed information to the public not yet released in the case. At the request of Thompson, Judge ordered the names of all witnesses who testified before the grand jury sealed. Kohberger was a graduate student of criminal justice and criminology for one semester at neighboring Washington State University in Pullman, Washington, before being arrested over the winter break at his parents Pennsylvania home in December. The victims in the November attack were U of I seniors Madison Mogen, 21, of Coeur dAlene, and Kaylee Goncalves, 21, of Rathdrum; junior Xana Kernodle, 20, of Post Falls; and freshman Ethan Chapin, 20, of Mount Vernon, Washington. Hearings set for gag order, discovery Additional hearings held Monday in the Kohberger case related to opposition to the ongoing gag order, and the defenses motion to compel discovery after Kohbergers arraignment. The victims family members who attended the arraignment were not present during those proceedings. At a status conference on the gag order, Shanon Gray, the attorney representing the Goncalves family, requested and received a separate hearing from a media coalition. He said his issues with the gag order are different from the medias and more narrow in scope. Judge scheduled two separate hearings on the gag order for June 9. The hearing for the Goncalves family is set for 10:30 a.m. Pacific and the hearing for the media is set for 1:30 p.m. A hearing on the defenses motion to compel discovery evidence was scheduled for 1:30 p.m. Pacific on June 27. Judge also asked Gray and the medias attorneys to prepare briefs for the June 9 hearings addressing whether cameras should be allowed in the courtroom going forward. Pertaining to the request by the group of media outlets opposing the gag order in the case, Judge said the coalition of news organizations needed to tone down the challenge. He said the media has focused solely on First Amendment rights with little consideration for the Sixth Amendment, which protects Kohbergers right to an impartial jury. Theres a lot of potential irreparable harm from the media that is impacting a fair trial, Judge said. That is concerning. This is a very high-profile case. The Idaho Statesman is part of the media coalition challenging the gag order. The Goncalves family, through a statement from Gray on Monday afternoon to The New York Times, thanked the public for continuing to follow the case and keeping the memories of the four victims alive. They are what is important, not the defendant, the statement read. This is just the beginning of a long journey for all the families and we are thankful for your continued support and coverage. Do gag orders like Idaho judges in Kohberger case work? Or are they irrelevant? Watch: WSU campus police traffic stop of Moscow homicide suspect Bryan Kohberger Blood found on items seized at Moscow homicide suspects Pullman apartment, records show Author E Jean Carroll is amending her remaining defamation lawsuit against Donald Trump to include the derogatory emarks made by the former president at a CNN town hall. Roberta Kaplan filed a proposed update to the $10m Manhattan civil court complaint on Monday to include comments made by Mr Trump after he was found liable for the sexual assault and defamation of Ms Carroll by jury trial in New York. Meanwhile, Mr Trumps media company has filed a $3.78bn lawsuit against The Washington Post over alleged defamation regarding his social media platform Truth Social. The suit claims the paper had been on a years-long crusade to undermine Trump Media, which was founded in February 2021. Following the release of the Durham report last week, the former president has used his social media platform to make the claim that the FBI wanted to pay up to $1m to frame him in regard to collusion with Russia. Meanwhile, a top attorney to Mr Trump is leaving his legal defence effort, and blaming the former presidents top aide Boris Epshteyn for supposedly being dishonest and unforthcoming in his work to assist lawyers with his defence against an investigation into whether he retained classified documents illegally. His exit comes as the National Archives announced it found a trove of records proving that Donald Trump and his advisors knew they were breaking rules by taking those classified documents to Mar-a-Lago, according to a report. These records will be turned over to Special Counsel Jack Smith as part of the criminal investigation into Mr Trumps handling of classified documents. Key points Rons magic is GONE!: Trump floods Truth Social with negative DeSantis posts E Jean Carroll moves to amend defamation case against Trump to include CNN town hall insults Trump lawyer exits legal team as Mar-a-Lago classified documents probe heats up Trump takes credit for overturning of Roe v Wade and questions DeSantiss six-week ban Trumps media company sues Washington Post for $3.78bn From Trump to Tyson: The powerful men finally being held to account by sexual assault accusers 01:15 , Oliver O'Connell An ex-president, a disgraced comedian, a world heavyweight boxing champion, a deceased music mogul and a former New York City mayor. In the six months since New York passed the Adult Survivors Act, which removed the statute of limitations for certain sexual misconduct, powerful men from the worlds of politics, business, entertainment and sport have had to answer their accusers in civil court. Bevan Hurley reports. The powerful men finally being forced to face their sexual assault accusers Tuesday 23 May 2023 00:15 , Oliver O'Connell Donald Trump supporter gets former presidents signature tattooed on arm Trump bashes DeSantis as he shares surprisingly positive response to Tim Scott Monday 22 May 2023 23:15 , Oliver O'Connell Donald Trump took yet another swing at Florida Governor Ron DeSantis as he welcomed South Carolina Senator Tim Scott to the Republican presidential race. Gustaf Kilander reports from Washington, DC. Trump slams DeSantis as he welcomes Tim Scott to presidential race E Jean Carroll moves to amend defamation case against Trump Monday 22 May 2023 22:20 , Oliver O'Connell E Jean Carroll has moved to amend her remaining defamation lawsuit against Donald Trump to include his statement during his CNN town hall, the day after the verdict in the first defamation case. NEWS E. Jean Carroll moves to amend her remaining defamation lawsuit to include Trumps statements to CNN. @lawcrimenews pic.twitter.com/oedSvYJuXf Adam Klasfeld (@KlasfeldReports) May 22, 2023 Bevan Hurley has the full story. E Jean Carroll applies to expand lawsuit against Trump to include CNN town hall From South Carolina allies to 2024 rivals: Haley v Scott Monday 22 May 2023 22:15 , Oliver O'Connell As the GOP field begins to take shape, the Haley-Scott faceoff is putting some of their mutual supporters in the critical early voting state of South Carolina in a conundrum as they weigh which candidate to support. Read on... Haley vs. Scott: From South Carolina allies to 2024 rivals Monday 22 May 2023 21:45 , Oliver O'Connell Trump campaign knocks DeSantis over latest development in Disney feud Monday 22 May 2023 21:15 , Oliver O'Connell Donald Trumps 2024 campaign wasted no time in knocking Florida Governor Ron DeSantis over the news that Disney is cancelling a $1bn plan to expand its business in Florida. The campaign for the former president to return to the White House sent out a fundraising email on 18 May after the news broke about the shelving of the planned relocation of some thousands of staff to the Orlando area. Read more: Trump campaign knocks DeSantis over Disneys cancelled Florida expansion plan Damning new Mar-a-Lago papers evidence spells trouble for Trump Monday 22 May 2023 20:45 , Oliver O'Connell Donald Trumps legal troubles could be hotting up after the National Archives found a trove of records proving the former president knew he shouldnt have taken classified documents to Mar-a-Lago, according to a report. The National Archives sent a letter, obtained by CNN, to Mr Trump this week revealing that it had found 16 presidential records showing he and his top advisers were aware of the correct declassification process when he was in the White House. Rachel Sharp has the details. Damning evidence spells trouble for Trump in Mar-a-Lago classified documents probe Pro-Trump Super PAC uses Tim Scotts announcement to mock Ron DeSantis Monday 22 May 2023 20:15 , Oliver O'Connell A super PAC supporting former president Donald Trumps campaign used the entrance of Sen Tim Scott (R - South Carolina) into the 2024 Republican presidential race to hit his main rival, Florida governor Ron DeSantis. Make America Great Again Inc, a super PAC that supports Mr Trump, used Mr Scotts planned announcement to repeat Mr Trumps attacks on Mr DeSantis. Eric Garcia reports. Pro-Trump Super PAC uses Tim Scotts announcement to mock Ron DeSantis ICYMI: Trump whines that he is a victim of weaponisation of justice Monday 22 May 2023 19:45 , Oliver O'Connell Donald Trump has again complained that he is the victim of what Republicans baselessly claim is the weaponisation of the federal government. The one-term president made the remark in response to the Jim Jordan-led House Judiciary Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government hearing on Thursday. Graeme Massie has the story. Trump whines that he is a victim of weaponisation of justice As Mar-a-Lago probes heats up, Trumps White House lawyer predicts ex-president will end up in jail Monday 22 May 2023 19:15 , Oliver O'Connell Donald Trumps former attorney has boldly predicted that the former president is going to jail as the criminal investigation into the trove of classified documents found at Mar-a-Lago continues to heat up. Ty Cobb, who worked as a White House attorney for the Trump administration from July 2017 to May 2018, told CNN that he believes the evidence against Mr Trump will lead to a conviction and prison time. Rachel Sharp reports. Trumps White House lawyer predicts hell end up in jail as Mar-a-Lago probe heats up In-fighting among former presidents legal team revealed Monday 22 May 2023 18:45 , Oliver O'Connell An attorney working Donald Trumps legal team has quit, citing in-fighting among the former presidents inner circle. Timothy Parlatore left his role this week, according to The New York Times, after working for Mr Trump for at least a year. In an interview with CNN on Saturday, Mr Parlatore explained that the reason for his departure was ongoing friction with Boris Epshteyn, another legal adviser to Mr Trump. John Bowden reports. Ex-Trump lawyer reveals in-fighting among former presidents legal team From Trump to Tyson: The powerful men finally being held to account by sexual assault accusers Monday 22 May 2023 18:15 , Oliver O'Connell An ex-president, a disgraced comedian, a world heavyweight boxing champion, a deceased music mogul and a former New York City mayor. In the six months since New York passed the Adult Survivors Act, which removed the statute of limitations for certain sexual misconduct, powerful men from the worlds of politics, business, entertainment and sport have had to answer their accusers in civil court. Bevan Hurley reports. The powerful men finally being forced to face their sexual assault accusers Trump v DeSantis: A timeline of their rivalry Monday 22 May 2023 18:00 , Oliver O'Connell No one will be watching more keenly than Donald Trump this week as Florida governor Ron DeSantis finally makes the long-awaited announcement that he will seek the Republican nomination for the presidency in 2024. During his own tenure in the White House in 2018, Mr Trump loudly cheered Mr DeSantiss bid for the governors mansion, throwing his weight behind the former congressman and appearing at rallies to stump for him, playing an important role in the candidates narrow defeat of Democratic rival and Tallahassee mayor Andrew Gillum. Since then, however, a great deal of water has passed beneath the bridge and the two men are now increasingly antagonistic towards each other. Joe Sommerlad reports. A timeline of Donald Trumps rivalry with Ron DeSantis Monday 22 May 2023 17:45 , Oliver O'Connell Donald Trump supporter gets former presidents signature tattooed on arm Full story: Trump Media files $3.78bn defamation lawsuit against Washington Post Monday 22 May 2023 17:20 , Oliver O'Connell The company behind Donald Trumps Truth Social platform has filed a $3.78bn defamation lawsuit against the Washington Post. The lawsuit, filed by Trump Media & Technology Group Corp (TMTG) in Floridas Sarasota County, claims that a 13 May article that alleged the company may have committed securities fraud was false and defamatory, and posed an existential threat. Bevan Hurley has the latest. Trump Media files $3.78bn defamation lawsuit against Washington Post Voices: Tim Scott, the newest 2024 Republican candidate, is the most interesting -and most frustrating -Senator Monday 22 May 2023 17:15 , Oliver O'Connell Why Tim Scott is the most interesting - and most frustrating - Senator Tim Scott launches 2024 presidential run Monday 22 May 2023 16:45 , Oliver O'Connell Sen Tim Scott, the sole Black Republican in the United States Senate, announced his candidacy for the Republican nomination for president, joining a crowded field. Mr Scott made the announcement in his home of North Charleston, where he referenced his humble upbringing, noting how his grandfather worked in cotton fields in South Carolina. My family went from cotton to Congress in his lifetime. And it was possible because my grandfather had stubborn faith. Tim Scott, the Senates sole Black Republican, announces 2024 presidential candidacy Watch: Tim Scott to announce 2024 run Monday 22 May 2023 16:22 , Oliver O'Connell Trump wishes good luck to Senator Tim Scott as he enters GOP primary race Monday 22 May 2023 16:06 , Oliver O'Connell Former president Donald Trump has wished Senator Tim Scott good luck as he enters the Republican primary race saying he is a big step up from Ron DeSanctimonious, who is totally unelectable. Heres the full post from Truth Social: Good luck to Senator Tim Scott in entering the Republican Presidential Primary Race. It is rapidly loading up with lots of people, and Tim is a big step up from Ron DeSanctimonious, who is totally unelectable. I got Opportunity Zones done with Tim, a big deal that has been highly successful. Good luck Tim! Trump claims FBI offered $1m to frame him Monday 22 May 2023 15:24 , Oliver O'Connell Former president Donald Trump claimed on Sunday night that the FBI offered former British intelligence officer Christopher Steele $1m to frame him. The jaw-dropping allegation comes after the publication of the Durham report which found that the FBI improperly rushed into its investigation of allegations of collusion between Russia and Mr Trumps 2016 presidential campaign. Heres what the former president wrote on Truth Social: The FBI offered Christopher Steele One Million Dollars in order to FRAME me. Why arent all of the so called Special Prosecutors, together with their bosses at the DOJ, doing something about this. Why arent people under arrest. They spied on my campaign, and bribed people all over the place, and then go after ME. The people of our once great Country wont stand for it. How much more can they take, as the USA goes to HELL? MAGA!!! The FBI offered Mr Steele up to $1m to prove the allegations in his infamous dossier on Mr Trump according to testimony from FBI supervisory analyst Brian Auten at the trial of Igor Danchenko, the primary source of the allegations. He testified that Mr Steele never got the money because he could not prove the allegations, CNN reported. Mr Danchenko was acquitted on all counts of lying to the FBI. Trumps media company sues Washington Post for $3.78bn Monday 22 May 2023 14:59 , Oliver O'Connell Former President Donald Trumps social media company has sued The Washington Post for defamation. Trump Media and Technology Group (TMTG), which owns the Truth Social platform, is seeking $3.78bn in damages. The suit, filed on Saturday night in Florida state court in Sarasota County, accuses the news outlet of publishing a story that poses an existential threat to the social media company. According to the lawsuit, the Post published an egregious hit piece that falsely accused TMTG of securities fraud and other wrongdoing and has been on a years-long crusade against TMTG characterized by the concealment of relevant information in its possession. Further, it says: WaPos false criminal charges exposed TMTG to public ridicule, contempt and distrust, and injured TMTGs business and reputation. Trump Media filed a $3.78 Billion lawsuit against the Washington Post last night, claiming they published defamatory articles about Truth Social, Donald Trump and CEO Devin Nunes. https://t.co/7vAJIYLVAJ pic.twitter.com/Zhk8piFcun Ron Filipkowski (@RonFilipkowski) May 21, 2023 Trump rages at liddle lightweights like DeSantis in Monday morning Truth Social post Monday 22 May 2023 14:25 , Oliver O'Connell Former president Donald Trump began his week ranting on Truth Social that he has to listen to these liddle lightweights like Ron [DeSantis] say I cant win. Like the Dems, its just DISINFORMATION. The TRUTH is, they cant win!!! Heres the full post: Ive won two Elections, the second far bigger than the first (it was Rigged!), my Endorsement is considered, far and away, the most powerful in political history, Im blowing away DeSanctimonious in the Polls, and am leading Biden & Harris BIG, whereas DeSanctus is losing to BOTH. I have gotten more people Elected than any other human being. Yet I have to listen to these liddle lightweights like Ron say I cant win. Like the Dems, its just DISINFORMATION. The TRUTH is, they cant win!!! Damning new evidence spells trouble for Trump in Mar-a-Lago classified documents probe Monday 22 May 2023 14:00 , John Bowden Donald Trumps legal troubles could be heating up after the National Archives found a trove of records proving the former president knew he shouldnt have taken classified documents to Mar-a-Lago, according to a report. The National Archives sent a letter, obtained by CNN, to Mr Trump this week revealing that it had found 16 presidential records showing he and his top advisers were aware of the correct declassification process when he was in the White House. Rachel Sharp reports: Damning evidence spells trouble for Trump in Mar-a-Lago classified documents probe Prosecutor suggests any indictments in Trump election investigation would likely come in August Monday 22 May 2023 13:30 , John Bowden The Georgia prosecutor investigating whether former president Donald Trump and his allies broke the law while trying to overturn his 2020 election in Georgia is seemingly hinting that any grand jury indictments in the case would likely come in August. Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis sent a letter on Thursday to other Fulton County judges indicating that she plans to have much of her staff work remotely during the first three weeks of August. In the letter, Ms Willis asked that judges not schedule trials and in-person hearings during part of that time. Thank you for your consideration and assistance in keeping the Fulton County Judicial Complex safe during this time, Willis wrote in the letter, first reported by The New York Times. The Georgia investigation is one of several that threatens his campaign for 2024 president. FBI veterans admit to taking money from ex-Trump aide Kash Patel Monday 22 May 2023 13:00 , John Bowden A pair of federal law enforcement veterans who accused the FBI of drumming them out of service because of their conservative political beliefs have admitted to receiving money from a prominent ex-aide to former president Donald Trump, Kash Patel. The shocking admission came during a Thursday hearing of the House Select Subcommittee on the Weaponisation of the Federal Government. The GOP-led panel has largely devoted its time to investigating conspiracy theories about social media companies cooperation with law enforcement, as well as advancing allegations that the Department of Justice probes into prominent Republicans who may have committed crimes are politically motivated. Eric Garica and Andrew Feinberg report: Anti-FBI witnesses at GOP hearing say they took money from ex-Trump aide DeSantis super PAC tackles tricky task of organizing support for him in Iowa without the candidate Monday 22 May 2023 12:30 , John Bowden Florida Gov Ron DeSantis has yet to officially enter the 2024 presidential race. But that doesnt mean that his team has ceased laying the groundwork for his (likely) inevitable entry. Read more: DeSantis super PAC tackles tricky task of organizing support for him in Iowa without the candidate Biden and McCarthy to resume talks Monday as debt ceiling deadline looms Monday 22 May 2023 12:00 , John Bowden President Joe Biden spoke with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy on Sunday and agreed they would meet on Monday afternoon to try to break the stalemate over legislation to raise the national debt limit. A call took place, according to a White House readout, which gave no indication to the tone of the discussion. Mr McCarthy characterised the call as productive in a comment to reporters. The US remains on track to default on its debt obligations on or around 1 June if Congress does not pass legislation to extend the countrys borrowing limit. John Bowden has more: Biden and McCarthy to resume talks Monday as debt ceiling deadline looms ICYMI: Trump urged Republicans to do a default as debt ceiling deadline neared Monday 22 May 2023 11:30 , John Bowden As Republicans and Democrats battle over blame for responsibility over the nations nosedive towards debt default, its worth remembering that the de facto leader of the GOP has been the only prominent US politician openly arguing in favour of tanking the federal governments credit rating. Former President Donald Trump outlined his beliefs around the idea of encouraging the federal government ignoring its fiscal obligations during a CNN town hall earlier in May. I say to the Republicans out there congressmen, senators if they dont give you massive cuts, youre going to have to do a default, said Mr Trump. Tim Robbins forced to clarify he wasnt hanging out with Trumps favourite author' Monday 22 May 2023 11:00 , John Bowden Actor Tim Robbins clarified on Twitter that he was not hanging out with self-proclaimed Alpha Male and Donald Trumps favourite author Nick Adams. Nick Adams, an Australian man and Trump enthusiast who frequently posts absurd claims about his status as an alpha male, posted a photo of himself with the actor, claiming the two were hanging out. Mr Robbins quote-tweeted the photo and added some necessary context. Not hanging out. Dude asked for a picture. I obliged. He left, the actor wrote. Not hanging out. Dude asked for a picture. I obliged. He left. https://t.co/sd1jGg1H49 Tim Robbins (@TimRobbins1) May 20, 2023 Jim Jordan blocks Democrats from seeing evidence in chaotic weaponization of government hearing Monday 22 May 2023 10:09 , John Bowden A hearing of the House Judiciary Committee descended into chaos on Thursday morning when Ohio representative and chair Jim Jordan asserted that the Republicans on the committee do not have to turn over key evidence to their Democratic colleagues because it came from a whistleblower. Mr Jordan convened the committee on Thursday for a hearing on the weaponisation of government, calling witnesses to testify to alleged biases in federal law enforcement agencies such as the FBI. Shortly after the hearing began, however, Democrats began raising an issue: Mr Jordans refusal to turn over evidence, including witness testimony, to the Democrat members of the committee. Trump encourages Republicans not to seek common ground in debt ceiling talks Monday 22 May 2023 09:00 , John Bowden Donald Trump dished out some advice for Republicans in Congress on Friday (19 May) when it comes to negotiating for the debt ceiling with President Joe Biden. REPUBLICANS SHOULD NOT MAKE A DEAL ON THE DEBT CEILING UNLESS THEY GET EVERYTHING THEY WANT (Including the kitchen sink). THATS THE WAY THE DEMOCRATS HAVE ALWAYS DEALT WITH US. DO NOT FOLD!!! Mr Trump wrote on Truth Social. The advice comes as Republicans are trying to find middle ground with the President and other Democrats when discussing budgets. The US is expected to default by June should lawmakers fail to reach a deal. Ex-Trump lawyer reveals in-fighting among former presidents legal team Monday 22 May 2023 08:00 , John Bowden An attorney working Donald Trumps legal team has quit, citing in-fighting among the former presidents inner circle. In an interview with CNN on Saturday, Timothy Parlatore explained that the reason for his departure was ongoing friction with Boris Epshteyn, another legal adviser to Mr Trump. Mr Epshteyn, according to Mr Parlatore, has been stonewalling the legal team in their attempts to ascertain whether all presidential records that Mr Trump took with him when he left the White House had been turned over to the National Archives. John Bowden has the story: Ex-Trump lawyer reveals in-fighting among former presidents legal team Trump attorney quits legal team Monday 22 May 2023 08:00 , John Bowden One of Donald Trumps attorneys, Timothy Parlatore, has departed the former presidents legal team and in a statement Saturday accused a top adviser to Mr Trump of being dishonest. In an interview with CNN, he said that Mr Trumps aide Boris Epshteyn was stonewalling members of the legal team and preventing them from adequately defending the former president against an investigation into whether he illegally retained classified documents. The real reason is because there are certain individuals that made defending the president much harder than it needed to be, said Mr Parlatore on Saturday. There is one individual who works for him, Boris Epshteyn, who had really done everything he could to try to block us, to prevent us from doing what we could to defend the president. Ex-Trump lawyer reveals in-fighting among former presidents legal team CNNs Christiane Amanpour criticises network over Trump town hall Monday 22 May 2023 07:00 , John Bowden CNNs town hall with Donald Trump proved so divisive that even its own staff have taken issue with the event - with Christiane Amanpour the latest of the networks high-profile names to voice their dissatisfaction. The New Hampshire event drew 3.3 million viewers, who watched as the former president sparred with CNN moderator Kaitlan Collins, whom Mr Trump referred to as a nasty person. Speaking in an address to Columbia Journalism School on Wednesday, Amanpour said if she were Collins, she would have dropped the mic as soon as Mr Trump called her nasty, adding that she had spoken with the networks CEO Chris Licht and told him the ex-president should not have been able to appear in that particular format. I would have dropped the mic: CNNs Christiane Amanpour hits out at Trump town hall Village People slap Trump with cease-and-desist after his Macho Man dance Monday 22 May 2023 06:00 , John Bowden 70s disco band the Village People has asked Donald Trump to stop using impersonators while playing their music without consent. The wife of one of the band members on Monday sent a cease-and-desist letter to the former president, according to reports. Mr Trump has been using the bands songs such as YMCA and Macho Man at his events and rallies for years now. The Village People lead singer sent Trump a cease and desist over a performance of "Macho Man" at Mar-a-Lago: pic.twitter.com/meHYWMOjgf Aidan McLaughlin (@aidnmclaughlin) May 15, 2023 Trump campaign knocks DeSantis over Disneys cancelled Florida expansion Monday 22 May 2023 05:00 , John Bowden Donald Trumps 2024 campaign is going after Florida Governor Ron DeSantis over the news that Disney is cancelling a $1bn plan to expand its business in Florida. The campaign for the former president to return to the White House sent out a fundraising email on 18 May after the news broke about the shelving of the planned relocation of some thousands of staff to the Orlando area. Headlined: President Trump is always right, the email included a Truth Social post from Mr Trump dated 18 April. Oliver OConnell and Alex Woodward report: Trump campaign knocks DeSantis over Disneys cancelled Florida expansion plan The most disturbing allegations from the Giuliani lawsuit Sunday 21 May 2023 20:15 , John Bowden Rudy Giuliani, the former mayor of New York City and personal attorney to Donald Trump, has been hit by a $10m sexual assault and harassment lawsuit from a former aide who worked for him between 2019 and 2021. In a civil complaint filed with the Manhattan Supreme Court on Monday, Mr Giulianis ex-employee Noelle Dunphy, 43, alleges that he began sexually abusing her almost immediately after hiring her as an off-the-books business development director and public relations consultant in January 2019, thereafter routinely pestering her for sex, drinking to excess, withholding her salary, bragging about being able to sell presidential pardons for $2 million apiece and engaging in alcohol-fuelled racist rants. Joe Sommerlad reports: The most disturbing allegations from the Rudy Giuliani lawsuit Damning new evidence spells trouble for Trump in Mar-a-Lago classified documents probe Sunday 21 May 2023 19:30 , John Bowden Donald Trumps legal troubles could be heating up after the National Archives found a trove of records proving the former president knew he shouldnt have taken classified documents to Mar-a-Lago, according to a report. The National Archives sent a letter, obtained by CNN, to Mr Trump this week revealing that it had found 16 presidential records showing he and his top advisers were aware of the correct declassification process when he was in the White House. Rachel Sharp reports: Damning evidence spells trouble for Trump in Mar-a-Lago classified documents probe Chris Christie could enter 2024 race for president in a matter of days Sunday 21 May 2023 18:49 , John Bowden Chris Christie will reportedly be entering the 2024 presidential race soon. The Republican former New Jersey governor will make an announcement in a matter of days, and focus on the key primary state of New Hampshire, according to New Hampshire Today, citing multiple anonymous sources with knowledge of the campaign. Josh Marcus has more in The Independent: Chris Christie could enter 2024 race for president in a matter of days Trump uses Tim Scotts announcement to mock Ron DeSantis Sunday 21 May 2023 18:04 , John Bowden Former president Donald Trumps campaign used the entrance of Sen Tim Scott (R - South Carolina) into the 2024 Republican presidential race to hit his main rival, Florida governor Ron DeSantis. Mr Scott, the Senates sole Black Republican, filed paperwork to run for president. He is largely expected to announce his candidacy on Monday. But Mr Trumps campaign spokesman Taylor Budowich used Mr Scotts planned announcement to continue the campaigns attacks on Mr DeSantis. Eric Garcia reports: Pro-Trump Super PAC uses Tim Scotts announcement to mock Ron DeSantis Trump-supporting congressman dodges on six-week abortion ban Sunday 21 May 2023 17:10 , John Bowden Rep Byron Donalds, a freshman Florida Republican who became a standout member of his caucus during the negotiations over the speakers gavel in January, wouldnt commit on Sunday to supporting a six-week abortion ban at the national level. Such a ban has been introduced as legislation by Republicans in numerous states, including Florida where it recently became law. Watch the moment, via Meet the Press: WATCH: Rep. @ByronDonalds (R-Fla.), who might run for governor, sidesteps whether he would've signed the six-week abortion ban. "Honestly, that's something where you have to deal with your legislature on that." @chucktodd: "Sounds like you think 6 weeks is too" extreme. pic.twitter.com/CliO5VI80f Meet the Press (@MeetThePress) May 21, 2023 FBI veterans admit to taking money from ex-Trump aide Kash Patel Sunday 21 May 2023 16:25 , John Bowden A pair of federal law enforcement veterans who accused the FBI of drumming them out of service because of their conservative political beliefs have admitted to receiving money from a prominent ex-aide to former president Donald Trump, Kash Patel. The shocking admission came during a Thursday hearing of the House Select Subcommittee on the Weaponisation of the Federal Government. The GOP-led panel has largely devoted its time to investigating conspiracy theories about social media companies cooperation with law enforcement, as well as advancing allegations that the Department of Justice probes into prominent Republicans who may have committed crimes are politically motivated. Eric Garica and Andrew Feinberg report: Anti-FBI witnesses at GOP hearing say they took money from ex-Trump aide Republican Senator Tim Scott launches 2024 presidential bid Sunday 21 May 2023 15:41 , John Bowden South Carolina Senator Tim Scott has officially declared himself a candidate for president in next years Republican primary election. According to a statement of candidacy filed on Friday with the Federal Election Commission (FEC), Mr Scott has designated his official campaign committee as Tim Scott for America, with a campaign address in the states capital, Charleston. Mr Scott, who has served as South Carolinas junior senator since 2013, was first appointed to his Senate seat by one of his presidential primary opponents, then-South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley. He filled a vacancy left by the resignation of Jim DeMint, who left the Senate to lead the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank. Mr Scott, whose campaign website has teased a special announcement on 22 May, joins a GOP primary field that includes Ms Haley, former president Donald Trump, ex-Arkansas governor Asa Hutchinson, businessman Vivek Ramaswamy. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and ex-New Jersey Governor Chris Christie are also expected to officially enter the GOP presidential field in the coming days. Damning new evidence spells trouble for Trump in Mar-a-Lago classified documents probe Sunday 21 May 2023 14:00 , Graig Graziosi Donald Trumps legal troubles could be hotting up after the National Archives found a trove of records proving the former president knew he shouldnt have taken classified documents to Mar-a-Lago, according to a report. The National Archives sent a letter, obtained by CNN, to Mr Trump this week revealing that it had found 16 presidential records showing he and his top advisers were aware of the correct declassification process when he was in the White House. Rachel Sharp reports: Damning evidence spells trouble for Trump in Mar-a-Lago classified documents probe Sunday 21 May 2023 13:00 , Graig Graziosi The most disturbing allegations from the Giuliani lawsuit Rudy Giuliani, the former mayor of New York City and personal attorney to Donald Trump, has been hit by a $10m sexual assault and harassment lawsuit from a former aide who worked for him between 2019 and 2021. Joe Sommerlad reports: The most disturbing allegations from the Rudy Giuliani lawsuit ICYMI: New Hampshire college condemns Trump after deeply troubling CNN town hall on its campus Sunday 21 May 2023 12:00 , Graig Graziosi The New Hampshire college that hosted Donald Trumps CNN town hall has condemned the former president for the deeply troubling event. Saint Anselm College criticised both the comments of the ex-president and the reactions to his statements by the Trump-friendly audience in the auditorium. Gustaf Kilander reports: New Hampshire college condemns Trump after troubling CNN town hall on its campus Bill Barr indicates classified documents investigation could be bad for Trump Sunday 21 May 2023 11:00 , Graig Graziosi Bill Barr, the former Attorney General under the Trump administration and Bush administration, indicated that the classified documents investigation into Donald Trump could be bad news for the former president. While speaking with CBS on Thursday, Mr Barr said the situation could expose Mr Trump if he played games after the government requested the classified documents. He was given a long time to send them back. And they were subpoenaed. And Ive said all along that he wouldnt get in trouble, probably, just for taking them, just as Biden I dont think is going to get in trouble or Pence is not going to get in trouble. The problem is what did he do after the government asked for them back and subpoenaed them? And if theres any games being played there, hes going to be very exposed, Mr Barr said. ICYMI: More Trump indictments would give Biden and Democrats huge 2024 boost, poll finds Sunday 21 May 2023 10:00 , Graig Graziosi President Joe Biden would be vaulted to a massive lead over Donald Trump if the former president faces further criminal charges from the federal and state criminal investigations into his conduct, according to a new poll obtained by The Independent. The poll of 1,571 registered voters was conducted by WPA Research, a Republican polling firm. The CEO of WPA is an adviser to Never Back Down, the Super PAC supporting Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, but the survey was conducted independently without his input and was not sponsored by the Super PAC. It found that voters currently prefer Mr Biden over Mr Trump by a margin of 47 per cent to 40 per cent, including a 14-point lead for the sitting president among registered independents. Andrew Feinberg reports: More Trump indictments would give Biden and Democrats huge 2024 boost, poll finds Court finds FBI improperly used surveillance tool on Jan. 6 suspects, racial justice protests Sunday 21 May 2023 09:00 , Graig Graziosi FBI officials repeatedly violated their own standards when they searched a vast repository of foreign intelligence for information related to the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the US Capitol and racial justice protests in 2020, according to a heavily blacked-out court order released Friday. FBI officials said the violations predated a series of corrective measures that started in the summer of 2021 and continued last year. But the problems could nonetheless complicate FBI and Justice Department efforts to receive congressional reauthorization of a warrantless surveillance program that law enforcement officials say is needed to counterterrorism, espionage and international cybercrime. Prosecutor suggests any indictments in Trump election investigation would likely come in August Sunday 21 May 2023 08:00 , Graig Graziosi The Georgia prosecutor investigating whether former president Donald Trump and his allies broke the law while trying to overturn his 2020 election in Georgia is seemingly hinting that any grand jury indictments in the case would likely come in August. Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis sent a letter on Thursday to other Fulton County judges indicating that she plans to have much of her staff work remotely during the first three weeks of August. In the letter, Ms Willis asked that judges not schedule trials and in-person hearings during part of that time. Thank you for your consideration and assistance in keeping the Fulton County Judicial Complex safe during this time, Willis wrote in the letter, first reported by The New York Times. The Georgia investigation is one of several that threatens his campaign for 2024 president. DeSantis privately shares Trump cannot win election, report says Sunday 21 May 2023 07:00 , Graig Graziosi Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is confident in his abilities to win the 2024 presidential election, according to statements he made on a call as heard by The New York Times. On Thursday, Mr DeSantis reportedly called donors and supporters to unofficially declare his campaign. On the call, Mr DeSantis allegedly said, You have basically three people at this point that are credible in this whole thing,- Biden, Trump and me. And I think of those three, two have a chance to get elected president Biden and me, based on all the data in the swing states, which is not great for the former president and probably insurmountable because people arent going to change their view of him, Mr DeSantis added. Trump whines that he is a victim of weaponisation of justice Sunday 21 May 2023 06:00 , Graig Graziosi Donald Trump has again complained that he is the victim of what Republicans baselessly claim is the weaponisation of the federal government. The one-term president made the remark in response to the Jim Jordan-led House Judiciary Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government hearing on Thursday. The committee descended into chaos with lawmakers shouting at each other as two suspended FBI agents and one fired agent spoke about how the agency had retaliated against them for claims they had made about it. Graeme Massie reports: Trump whines that he is a victim of weaponisation of justice Trump could be handed Georgia indictment this summer Sunday 21 May 2023 04:59 , Graig Graziosi The Georgia prosecutor investigating former president Donald Trump and his allies possible interference in the 2020 election has indicated there could be an indictment by August. Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis sent a letter to Fulton County judges asking to not schedule trials during the first three weeks of August and announced remote working days for most of her staff. Already, Ms Willis has requested additional security around the courthouse. Ms Willis and her office have spent more than two years investigating the case. Chris Christie rumoured to be planning presidential run Sunday 21 May 2023 04:00 , Graig Graziosi Chris Christie, the former Governor of New Jersey and former presidential candidate, is apparently gearing up to announce another bid for 2024 president. Mr Christie, who has been outspoken about his disdain for Donald Trump, told supporters last month during an event in New Hampshire that, Tonight is the beginning of the case against Donald Trump. Youre not going to beat someone by closing your eyes, clicking your heels together three times and saying, Theres no place like home. Thats not going to work. In American politics, you want to beat somebody? You have to go get them, he added. Though Mr Christie has not formally announced a campaign, rumours are swirling that he may announce next week as Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is also expected to. CNNs Christiane Amanpour criticises network over Trump town hall Sunday 21 May 2023 03:00 , Graig Graziosi CNNs town hall with Donald Trump proved so divisive that even its own staff have taken issue with the event - with Christiane Amanpour the latest of the networks high-profile names to voice their dissatisfaction. The New Hampshire event drew 3.3 million viewers, who watched as the former president sparred with CNN moderator Kaitlan Collins, whom Mr Trump referred to as a nasty person. Speaking in an address to Columbia Journalism School on Wednesday, Amanpour said if she were Collins, she would have dropped the mic as soon as Mr Trump called her nasty, adding that she had spoken with the networks CEO Chris Licht and told him the ex-president should not have been able to appear in that particular format. I would have dropped the mic: CNNs Christiane Amanpour hits out at Trump town hall Trump uses Tim Scotts announcement to mock Ron DeSantis Sunday 21 May 2023 02:00 , Graig Graziosi Former president Donald Trumps campaign used the entrance of Sen Tim Scott (R - South Carolina) into the 2024 Republican presidential race to hit his main rival, Florida governor Ron DeSantis. Mr Scott, the Senates sole Black Republican, filed paperwork to run for president. He is largely expected to announce his candidacy on Monday. But Mr Trumps campaign spokesman Taylor Budowich used Mr Scotts planned announcement to continue the campaigns attacks on Mr DeSantis. Eric Garcia reports: Pro-Trump Super PAC uses Tim Scotts announcement to mock Ron DeSantis FBI veterans admit to taking money from ex-Trump aide Kash Patel Sunday 21 May 2023 01:00 , Graig Graziosi A pair of federal law enforcement veterans who accused the FBI of drumming them out of service because of their conservative political beliefs have admitted to receiving money from a prominent ex-aide to former president Donald Trump, Kash Patel. The shocking admission came during a Thursday hearing of the House Select Subcommittee on the Weaponisation of the Federal Government. The GOP-led panel has largely devoted its time to investigating conspiracy theories about social media companies cooperation with law enforcement, as well as advancing allegations that the Department of Justice probes into prominent Republicans who may have committed crimes are politically motivated. Eric Garica and Andrew Feinberg report: Anti-FBI witnesses at GOP hearing say they took money from ex-Trump aide Village People slap Trump with cease-and-desist after his Macho Man dance Sunday 21 May 2023 00:00 , Graig Graziosi Seventies disco band Village People has asked Donald Trump to stop using impersonators while playing their music without consent. The wife of one of the band members on Monday sent a cease-and-desist letter to the former president, according to reports. Mr Trump has been using the bands songs such as YMCA and Macho Man at his events and rallies for years now. The Village People lead singer sent Trump a cease and desist over a performance of "Macho Man" at Mar-a-Lago: pic.twitter.com/meHYWMOjgf Aidan McLaughlin (@aidnmclaughlin) May 15, 2023 WATCH: Former White House lawyer predict Trump will go to jail Saturday 20 May 2023 23:00 , Graig Graziosi Jim Jordan blocks Democrats from seeing evidence in chaotic weaponization of government hearing Saturday 20 May 2023 22:00 , Graig Graziosi A hearing of the House Judiciary Committee descended into chaos on Thursday morning when Ohio representative and chair Jim Jordan asserted that the Republicans on the committee do not have to turn over key evidence to their Democratic colleagues because it came from a whistleblower. Mr Jordan convened the committee on Thursday for a hearing on the weaponisation of government, calling witnesses to testify to alleged biases in federal law enforcement agencies such as the FBI. Shortly after the hearing began, however, Democrats began raising an issue: Mr Jordans refusal to turn over evidence, including witness testimony, to the Democrat members of the committee. Trump encourages Republicans not to seek common ground in debt ceiling talks Saturday 20 May 2023 21:00 , Graig Graziosi Donald Trump dished out some advice for Republicans in Congress on Friday (19 May) when it comes to negotiating for the debt ceiling with President Joe Biden. REPUBLICANS SHOULD NOT MAKE A DEAL ON THE DEBT CEILING UNLESS THEY GET EVERYTHING THEY WANT (Including the kitchen sink). THATS THE WAY THE DEMOCRATS HAVE ALWAYS DEALT WITH US. DO NOT FOLD!!! Mr Trump wrote on Truth Social. The advice comes as Republicans are trying to find middle ground with the President and other Democrats when discussing budgets. The US is expected to default by June should lawmakers fail to reach a deal. Republican Senator Tim Scott launches 2024 presidential bid Saturday 20 May 2023 20:00 , Graig Graziosi South Carolina Senator Tim Scott has officially declared himself a candidate for president in next years Republican primary election. According to a statement of candidacy filed on Friday with the Federal Election Commission (FEC), Mr Scott has designated his official campaign committee as Tim Scott for America, with a campaign address in the states capital, Charleston. Mr Scott, who has served as South Carolinas junior senator since 2013, was first appointed to his Senate seat by one of his presidential primary opponents, then-South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley. He filled a vacancy left by the resignation of Jim DeMint, who left the Senate to lead the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank. Mr Scott, whose campaign website has teased a special announcement on 22 May, joins a GOP primary field that includes Ms Haley, former president Donald Trump, ex-Arkansas governor Asa Hutchinson, businessman Vivek Ramaswamy. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and ex-New Jersey Governor Chris Christie are also expected to officially enter the GOP presidential field in the coming days. Tim Robbins forced to clarify he wasnt hanging out with Trumps favourite author' Saturday 20 May 2023 19:10 , Graig Graziosi Actor Tim Robbins clarified on Twitter that he was not hanging out with self-proclaimed Alpha Male and Donald Trumps favourite author Nick Adams. Nick Adams, an Australian man and Trump enthusiast who frequently posts absurd claims about his status as an alpha male, posted a photo of himself with the actor, claiming the two were hanging out. Mr Robbins quote-tweeted the photo and added some necessary context. Not hanging out. Dude asked for a picture. I obliged. He left, the actor wrote. Flash People rally in a protest against the Group of Seven (G7) summit in Hiroshima, Japan, May 20, 2023. [Photo/Xinhua] The Group of Seven (G7) ended its three-day gathering on Sunday in Hiroshima as crowds of protesters took to the streets against the U.S.-led bloc's latest steps to undermine world peace. Analysts have said that absolute U.S. dominance only creates deeper cracks among the group and beyond. Unity and consensus were elusive during the G7 summit held in the western Japanese city. The summit covered many topics but unfortunately ended with a focus on interfering in the internal affairs of other countries and hindering their development. Hyping up China threats The G7 Hiroshima Leaders' Communique, which was rushed out on Saturday, spilled much ink on China, unwarrantedly depicting the country as a trouble-maker, only stopped short of directly naming it. Japanese scholar Kazuteru Saionji found it absurd to demand China playing by international rules while the United States and some of its G7 partners are the major rule-breakers on the world stage. "In my opinion, it is better to return the exact same words to the G7," he told Xinhua. "It is the United States and G7 nations that should take a responsible attitude and abide by international rules," said the visiting professor at Higashi Nippon International University. The joint statement and other documents adopted at the summit also contained comments on the Taiwan Strait and accusations regarding the East China Sea, the South China Sea, Hong Kong, Xinjiang and Tibet. China strongly deplores and firmly opposes the G7's attempts to smear and attack China and brazenly interfere in China's internal affairs and has objected to the summit's host, Japan, and other parties concerned, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson said on Saturday. "China's internal affairs should be solved by China itself. Intervention is a violation of international rules," said Saionji. Days before and during the Hiroshima summit, U.S. government officials continually mentioned so-called "economic coercion" and "de-risking," alleging that the G7 leaders would adopt a unified approach by releasing "a statement on China." "By dragging the G7 bloc to suppress China under the pretext of de-risking, the country is deliberately undermining free trade and the global economic division of labor system," said Saionji, who expressed the belief that the country is peddling imaginary threats in its own version of world order. According to the Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson, the United States is the true coercer in weaponizing economic and trade relations through unilateral sanctions, decoupling efforts, and disrupting industrial and supply chains. The spokesperson urged the G7 to refrain from becoming an accomplice. A demonstrator holds a placard at Hiroshima's Funairi Daiichi Park in a protest against the Group of Seven (G7) summit in Hiroshima, Japan, May 19, 2023. [Photo/Xinhua] Against current trend Local observers said that with significantly weakening economic heft, the G7 cannot represent the world. Yet, they still cling to a Cold War mentality and fail to acknowledge current global trends toward peace and stability. A recent report from the International Monetary Fund showed that the contribution of BRICS countries to world economic growth has surpassed that of G7 nations, and the upward trend will continue in the foreseeable future. The BRICS countries will guarantee 32.1 percent of world economic growth this year, compared to G7's 29.9 percent, according to the organization's estimates. Atsushi Koketsu, emeritus professor at Yamaguchi University of Japan, said that with the international community moving toward pluralism, the G7 should take note. "I believe the major developing countries will not act according to the United States. They hope for world peace and stability," said Saionji commenting on Japan's invitation for the so-called "Global South" nations to the summit. Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, who holds the G7's rotating presidency, has been criticized for hosting the summit in Hiroshima, a city once devastated by U.S. atomic bombing, as a political stunt. In the eyes of Saionji, raising the Taiwan question is an unwise move by Japan. "The Taiwan question is one of China's internal affairs. U.S. intervention complicated the situation," said the scholar, adding that meddling in the Taiwan question will surely damage China-Japan relations. Saionji believes East Asian countries are against creating regional tensions and provoking confrontation. Therefore, the United States and Japan's attempt to play the Taiwan card is doomed to fail. Protesters rally at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park in a protest against the Group of Seven (G7) summit, in Hiroshima, Japan, May 18, 2023. [Photo/Xinhua] Looming disputes Rallies and demonstrations against the U.S.-manipulated G7 were held for days at multiple locations across the nation. Placards and banners, such as "U.S. out of Asia Pacific," "Crush the G7 Summit," "No War-themed Conference" and "Hands off on Ukraine," were seen at the demonstration on Sunday in downtown Hiroshima, where clashes between the police and protesters were reported. During the summit, G7 nations, with the United States taking the lead, vowed to escalate sanctions against Russia and intensify diplomatic, financial, humanitarian and military support for Ukraine in the leaders' communique. "The U.S.-centered bloc's non-stop military support to Ukraine will only make a truce out of reach. I strongly condemn this kind of act," said Koketsu. Trump's welcome message to Tim Scott was much nicer than to other 2024 rivals The News South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott announced on Monday he was entering the 2024 GOP presidential race. The front runner Donald Trump welcomed him to the race, a shift from his usual, harsh manner of talking about his opponents. "Good luck to Senator Tim Scott in entering the Republican Presidential Primary Race," former President Trump posted on Truth Social. "It is rapidly loading up with lots of people, and Tim is a a big step up from Ron DeSanctimonious, who is totally unelectable," he continued, taking a swipe at the current Florida governor. As the GOP race heats up, here's a look at how Trump is responding to the candidates in an increasingly large pool. Know More Nikki Haley Like his reaction to Scott, Trump offered words of encouragement to former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, who served as U.N. Ambassador under Trump. Even though Nikki Haley said, I would never run against my President, he was a great President, the best President in my lifetime, I told her she should follow her heart and do what she wants to do," Trump told CNN. "I wish her luck! Vivek Ramaswamy Trump had largely stayed silent on the candidacy of entrepreneur and "anti-woke" activist Vivek Ramaswamy, who has branded himself as a "friend" of the former president. But Trump more recently voiced approval of Ramaswamy's open admiration for many of the ex-president's politics. I am pleased to see that Vivek Ramaswamy is doing so well in the most recent Republican Primary Poll, Trump posted on Truth Social this month. "The thing I like about Vivek is that he only has good things to say about President Trump and all that the Trump Administration has so successfully done This is the reason he is doing so well." Asa Hutchinson Former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, who has labeled himself as an "alternative" to Trump and has criticized the former president over his legal scandals, has been the center of several Trump attacks on Truth Social. "So funny to watch Sleepy Eyes Chuck Todd on Meet the Fake Press interview the very unpopular former Governor of Arkansas (he couldn't get elected "dog catcher" there now!), Ada Hutchinson," Trump posted about Hutchinson on Truth Social. "He's woke, a RINO ["Republican-in-name-only"], got nothing to say, no policeis to speak of, and charisma that makes Chuck Todd look dynamic ... Other than that, I like Ada very much!" Ron DeSantis Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who is expected to announce his candidacy this week, has long been considered the main challenger to Trump for the Republican nomination, and the former president has for months been critical. "I don't know if he is running. I think if he runs, he could hurt himself very badly. I really believe he could hurt himself badly," Trump told Fox News in November. "I don't think it would be good for the party." Trump has since intensified his attacks on DeSantis, awarding him the nickname "Ron DeSanctimonious" and trying to smear his record as governor. Notable Trump took a swipe at Ron DeSantis as he welcomed Tim Scott to the 2024 presidential race, calling the South Carolina senator a 'big step up' from the Florida governor GOP presidential candidate Tim Scott delivers his speech announcing his candidacy for president of the United States on the campus of Charleston Southern University in North Charleston, S.C., on May 22, 2023. AP Photo/Mic Smith Former President Trump on Monday blasted Gov. Ron DeSantis while also praising Sen. Tim Scott. The comments came as Scott formally entered the 2024 Republican presidential primary. Trump said that Scott would be a "big step up" from DeSantis, who is also set to join the race in the coming days. Former President Donald Trump on Monday had kind words for Sen. Tim Scott after the South Carolina lawmaker jumped into the 2024 presidential race, but the ex-commander-in-chief still managed to take a swipe at his onetime ally, Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida. Trump remains the clear frontrunner for the Republican presidential nomination, but he took the opportunity to send a clear message to DeSantis, who's set to become a rival in the GOP contest as the governor is expected to announce his candidacy in the coming days. "Good luck to Senator Tim Scott in entering the Republican Presidential Primary Race," Trump wrote on Truth Social. "It is rapidly loading up with lots of people, and Tim is a big step up from Ron DeSanctimonious, who is totally unelectable." In his post, Trump said that he was able to work with Scott on opportunity zones, a feature of the GOP-authored Tax Cuts and Jobs Act that he signed into law in 2017. The former president, who usually has no reservations going after Republicans who have chosen to run in races against him, instead praised the South Carolinian. "I got Opportunity Zones done with Tim, a big deal that has been highly successful," he wrote. "Good luck Tim!" Scott on Monday announced his presidential bid in North Charleston, S.C., during an event which featured many of his friends and constituents who have witnessed his political rise from the Charleston County Council and the South Carolina legislature to the US House of Representatives and the US Senate. Read the original article on Business Insider Photograph: Evan Vucci/AP Federal prosecutors have evidence Donald Trump was put on notice that he could not retain any classified documents after he was subpoenaed for their return last year, as they examine whether the subsequent failure to fully comply with the subpoena was a deliberate act of obstruction by the former president. Related: FBI broke own rules in January 6 and BLM intelligence search, court finds The previously unreported warning conveyed to Trump by his lawyer Evan Corcoran could be significant in the criminal investigation surrounding Trumps handling of classified materials given it shows he knew about his subpoena obligations. Last June, Corcoran found roughly 40 classified documents in the storage room at Mar-a-Lago and told the justice department that no further materials remained at the property. That was later shown to be untrue, after the FBI later returned with a warrant and seized 101 additional classified documents. The federal investigation led by special counsel Jack Smith has recently focused on why the subpoena was not compiled with, notably whether Trump arranged for boxes of classified documents to be moved out of the storage room so he could illegally retain them. In particular, prosecutors have fixated on Trumps valet Walt Nauta, after he told the justice department that Trump told him to move boxes out of the storage room before and after the subpoena. The activity was captured on subpoenaed surveillance footage, though there were gaps in the tapes. The warning was one of several key moments that Corcoran recounted in roughly 50 pages of notes he dictated that were described to the Guardian over several weeks by three people with knowledge of their contents, which prosecutors have viewed in recent months as central to the criminal investigation. The notes revealed how Trump and Nauta had unusually detailed knowledge of the botched subpoena response, including where Corcoran intended to search and not search for classified documents at Mar-a-Lago, as well as when Corcoran was actually doing his search. Although ordinarily off limits to prosecutors, the notes ended up before the grand jury in Washington hearing evidence in the case after a US appeals court allowed attorney-client privilege to be pierced because judges believed Trump might have used Corcorans legal advice in furtherance of a crime. The notes described how Corcoran told Nauta about the subpoena before he started looking for classified documents because Corcoran needed him to unlock the storage room which prosecutors have taken as a sign that Nauta was closely involved at essentially every step of the search. Corcoran then described how Nauta had offered to help him go through the boxes, which he declined and told Nauta he should stay outside. But going through around 60 boxes in the storage room took longer than expected, and the search ended up lasting several days. The notes also suggested to prosecutors that there were times when the storage room might have been left unattended while the search for classified documents was ongoing, one of the people said, such as when Corcoran needed to take a break and walked out to the pool area nearby. In addition to his exchange with Trump, Corcoran described Trumps facial expressions and reactions whenever they discussed the subpoena. The unusually detailed nature of his notes is said to have irritated Trump, who only learned about them after the notes themselves were subpoenaed. The notes did not address why Corcoran only looked in the storage room, though he separately testified to the grand jury that while Trump did not mislead him about where to search, he did not say where to search either. The New York Times earlier reported a summary of his testimony. Corcoran did not respond to a request for comment. A spokesperson for the special counsels office declined to comment. Evan Corcoran, Trumps lawyer, in Washington in April. Photograph: Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images Constructing an obstruction case remains challenging, and prosecutors would need to show that Trump arranged for Nauta to remove boxes he expressly knew contained classified documents demanded by the subpoena, with the intention of concealing them from his lawyers search. Trumps legal team have consistently said the subpoena response was incomplete because Corcoran was not as thorough as he should have been, in part because he left it until right before the deadline and only realized when he got there just how many boxes were in the storage room. A Trump spokesperson has previously said of the investigation: This is nothing more than a targeted, politically motivated witch-hunt against President Trump that is concocted to meddle in an election and prevent the American people from returning him to the White House. To resolve the issue about the gaps in the surveillance footage, the special counsel most recently subpoenaed Matthew Calamari Sr, the Trump Organizations security chief who became its chief operating officer, and his son Matthew Calamari Jr, the director of corporate security. Both Calamaris testified to the grand jury earlier this month, the Guardian previously reported, and were questioned in part on a text message that Nauta had sent asking Calamari Sr to call him back about the justice departments request for the tapes last year. The justice department interviewed Nauta several times last year until prosecutors grew concerned that he failed to provide them with a complete and accurate account of his role in moving boxes that contained classified documents, according to two people familiar with the situation. To force his cooperation, prosecutors threatened to charge him with lying to the FBI after he gave differing accounts over several interviews. But that incensed Nautas lawyer, who told the justice department his client would not talk again unless he was charged or offered an immunity deal. After losing Nauta, investigators have turned to other witnesses who could shed light on his role. In recent interviews, they have asked whether Nauta removed boxes containing classified documents when he was in the storage room at the time of the subpoena, and where he went with them. Former President Donald Trump wished Sen. Tim Scott good luck with his presidential campaign Monday while also taking another swipe at Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. Good luck to Senator Tim Scott in entering the Republican Presidential Primary Race, Trump wrote on Truth Social minutes before Scott declared his candidacy to a crowd at Charleston Southern University Monday morning. It is rapidly loading up with lots of people. The South Carolina senator filed his required paperwork last Friday, entering a growing list of declared GOP presidential hopefuls that includes Nikki Haley, Vivek Ramaswamy and Asa Hutchinson. In the same post, Trump took another shot at DeSantis who is expected to announce his own presidential campaign as soon as this week. Tim is a big step up from Ron DeSanctimonious, who is totally unelectable, he added. DeSantis has consistently lagged behind Trump in polls on hypothetical GOP presidential matchups, and the former president has repeatedly slammed the governor on social media and in interviews. Trump allies see the crowding primary field as an advantage, hoping that candidates like Scott will splinter the vote away from DeSantis. I really say the more the merrier. I mean, they think they did a good job, Trump said of other candidates in his CPAC speech in March. Theyre very ambitious people, but they think they did a good job. Scott, a former insurance agent and the Souths first Black senator since Reconstruction, was polling in lower single digits earlier in May. Tucker Carlson was fired before he could give a conspiracy-theory-fueled monologue alleging a January 6 protester was actually an FBI informant, biographer says Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, the former Fox News host Tucker Carlson, and former President Donald Trump. Rich Graessle/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images Tucker Carlson was kicked off Fox News before a monologue about January 6, 2021, his biographer said. Carlson reportedly planned to talk about Ray Epps, whom some GOPers accuse of sparking the riot. Epps is the subject of a baseless conspiracy theory that he's an FBI plant. Fox News fired Tucker Carlson ahead of a planned monologue promoting a conspiracy theory that a pro-Trump protester was actually an FBI informant who sparked the riot at the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, a conservative columnist writing a biography of the ex-host said. The columnist, Chadwick Moore, said in a video posted Monday on Twitter that he saw the monologue Carlson planned to deliver on April 24, the day Fox News took his show off the air. "That monologue dealt with, among other things, investigations around January 6 and, particularly, Ray Epps, the only person captured on video inciting people to violence that day and allegedly an FBI informant who has still not been arrested and charged," Moore said. Carlson retweeted the video to his 7.6 million Twitter followers. Epps is at the center of a conspiracy theory that alleges he was an anti-Trump FBI plant who encouraged Trump supporters to storm the US Capitol. But Epps was a Trump supporter who said he took issue with the 2020 election and attended Trump's "Stop the Steal" rally in Washington, DC. Though he headed toward the Capitol, he stopped after seeing rioters attack police officers, police body-camera footage shows, and did not enter the Capitol. The FBI has denied that Epps ever worked for the bureau or was an informant. Epps told CBS News that the conspiracy theory had made him the subject of death threats from fellow Trump supporters, which have forced him to sell his home and live in an RV in an undisclosed location. Carlson has nonetheless repeatedly promoted the conspiracy theory, as have Republican lawmakers including Sen. Ted Cruz and Reps. Matt Gaetz, Thomas Massie, and Marjorie Taylor Greene. The US House of Representatives committee that investigated the January 6 attack interviewed Epps and found no links between him and the FBI. An attorney representing Epps didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. Moore, who says he's working on a biography of Carlson, also said in his video that sources who he said "have intimate knowledge of the situation" had "assured" him that Dominion Voting Systems required Fox News to take Carlson off the air as part of its $787.5 million settlement with the network and its parent company, Fox Corp. Dominion and Fox News have both denied that claim. The full terms of the settlement remain secret. Carlson and Fox News are negotiating the terms of Carlson's exit from the network. He has said he plans to stream his show on Twitter. A representative for Fox News declined to comment. A representative for Carlson didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. Read the original article on Business Insider Haythem El Mekki (C) and Elyes Gharbi (L) surrounded by protesters in Tunis Dozens of journalists protested Monday in front of a Tunis police station after two of their colleagues had been taken for questioning over comments on Tunisia's security forces, AFP correspondents said. Columnist Haythem El Mekki and presenter Elyes Gharbi were interrogated for several hours, after which their case has been transferred to the Tunis prosecutor's office, their lawyer Ayoub Ghdamssi told AFP. The pair on May 15 discussed shortcomings in police recruitment on Gharbi's programme on the private Mosaique FM radio, in the wake of a deadly mass shooting near a synagogue on Djerba island less than a week prior. The segment was subject to a complaint by Tunisia's police union, arguing the discussion had harmed law enforcement officers. "All the questioning focused on my intervention during the broadcast," Mekki told AFP via telephone after his release on Monday. Some 20 Tunisian journalists currently face prosecution for their work, according to the SNJT journalists' union. Noureddine Boutar, owner of Mosaique FM -- Tunisia's most listened to radio station -- is one of about two dozen prominent critics of President Kais Saied, including former ministers and businessmen, to have been arrested since February. The president won a landslide victory in a 2019 general election but assumed wide-reaching powers in a July 2021 power grab. Journalists and human rights groups in the North African country often protest government policies they say are aimed at intimidating the media and silencing critics. Last week, Mosaique FM journalist Khalima Guesmi was jailed for five years on appeal for disclosing information about the security services. Several local and international rights groups and trade unions have warned against the "repressive direction" of Saied's government. ak-kl/ezz/noc/ami Ultra-nationalist Sinan Ogan helped force Turkey's first presidential runoff President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday secured the endorsement of an ultra-nationalist whose third-place finish helped force Turkey's first election runoff. Sinan Ogan's 5.2 percent of the vote in the May 14 general election deprived Erdogan of an outright victory for the first time in his 20-year rule. He met the Turkish leader on Friday and held separate negotiations with allies of opposition leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu. "We will support the People's Alliance candidate, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, in the second round of the elections on May 28," he told reporters in nationally televised remarks. "I invite voters who backed us in the first round to support Mr. Erdogan in the second round." Ogan portrays himself as an ardent supporter of a brand of Turkish nationalism espoused by the post-Ottoman republic's creator Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. He has demanded the immediate expulsion of millions of migrants and sought a firm stance on "terrorists" -- a euphemism for Kurdish groups fighting for broader autonomy in Turkey's southeast. The 54-year-old also tried to stop the opposition from discussing constitutional changes that could dilute language stressing the importance of Turkishness at the expense of other ethnicities. - 'Terrorism and refugees' - Analysts question how much weight Ogan's endorsement carries with his voters. His tiny party has only been around for a few months and most of his support appears to be disaffected with both Turkey's Islamic-rooted leader and his 74-year-old secular rival. But it undermines Kilicdaroglu's urgent efforts to expand his appeal among more nationalist voters in the runup to the second round. "Ogan's newfound reputation as a kingmaker is an exaggeration.. Ogan's backing for Erdogan is no guarantee that his voters from the first round will follow in lockstep," Hamish Kinnear of the Verisk Maplecroft consultancy told AFP. "Assuming Erdogan's first round voters remain on side, only a small portion of Ogan's voters need to go with Erdogan to push the president into his third decade in power." Kilicdaroglu ran a more inclusive campaign that focused on Turkey's raging economic crisis and Erdogan's crackdown on civil liberties during his second decade of rule. But he struck a decidedly more nationalist tone in his first post-election appearance last week. The former civil servant pledged to send "all the refugees home" when he comes to power and accused Erdogan of failing to "protect the borders and honour of our country". Erdogan had signalled that he did not intend to make any concession to Ogan to secure his support. Kilicdaroglu sounded defiant in a tweet posted moments after Ogan's announcement. He accused unnamed forces of "selling out this beautiful country" and signalled his intention to continue pursuing the nationalist vote. "We are coming to save this country from terrorism and refugees," Kilicdaroglu wrote. "This is a referendum. No one can fool anyone anymore." zak/ach New Twitter boss says game on over Instagram clone rumours Instagram is reportedly planning to launch a rival to Twitter in 2023 (iStock/ Getty Images) The incoming head of Twitter has said she is ready to take on Instagrams rumoured rival to the text-based app. Linda Yaccarino, who is set to take over as chief executive of the social media platform at the end of June, shared her reaction to the anticipated Twitter clone, tweeting: Game on! Instagrams parent company Meta reportedly shared details about its plan for a microblogging app with creators last week, claiming that it would be partially integrated with Instagram. Leaked details suggest the as-yet unnamed app, codenamed P92 or Barcelona, will be decentralised and could work with Twitters rival Mastodon. Were exploring a standalone decentralised social network for sharing text updates, Meta said in a statement to Money Control. We believe theres an opportunity for a separate space where creators and public figures can share timely updates about their interests. Social media consultant Matt Navarra claimed that it would launch this summer, and that Instagrams billion-plus users around the world would be able to keep their username, followers, and verification on the new app. He added that Meta is targetting film and television actors, producers, writers, directors, showrunners, athletes, and comedians to join the new platform. Elon Musk revealed Ms Yaccarino as his successor earlier this month, saying that she will focus primarily on business operations, while he continues to oversee product design and new technology. Together, they plan to transform Twitter into the everything app, which is expected to have similar functionality to Chinas WeChat. Stretching beyond social media, Mr Musks X app could support shopping, news, mobile payments, and other services like booking restaurants and ordering taxis. WeChat has a lot of functionality that Twitter should have, he said during a Twitter Spaces session last year, just one month after acquiring the company in a deal worth $44 billion. The tech billionaire has also committed to making Twitter the digital town square, while acting as an accelerant to the X app. Two brothers were wanted in a Broward homicide. One is in custody and the other is dead One of the two brothers who Broward sheriffs detectives say killed a Pompano Beach man earlier this month was shot and killed by Jacksonville police over the weekend. The other brother was arrested in Fort Lauderdale. The pair were accused of fatally shooting Andrew Ford, 32, who was found with several bullet wounds near the 2300 block of Northwest Sixth Street on May 12 in Pompano Beach. He was taken to the hospital where he died later that day, according to the Broward Sheriffs Office. BSO detectives identified the suspects as Brandon and Zonchez Prince. Detectives tracked down Pompano Beachs Brandon Prince, 34, and pulled him over in a traffic stop Sunday in Fort Lauderdale, according to the sheriffs office. He was arrested and booked into county jail on one count of first-degree murder, BSO said. Two days earlier, police in Jacksonville had located Zonchez Prince, 39, in Clay County. According to the Broward Sheriffs Office, Jacksonville tactical officers fatally shot the Jacksonville man after he pulled out a gun when they tried taking him into custody. The Jacksonville Sheriffs Office and State Attorneys Office for the Fourth Judicial Circuit are investigating the shooting, BSO spokeswoman Claudinne Caro said. Two children, ages 6 and 12, rob Charlotte woman with BB gun, police say A 12-year-old and his 6-year-old brother robbed a woman at gunpoint in southwest Charlotte Sunday morning, police said. The two children walked up to the woman around 8 a.m. in an apartment complex parking lot and asked to use her phone. She gave it to them and they ran, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Capt. Jason Helton said at a press conference Monday. The robbery took place near apartments in the 2100 block of Diamond Creek Circle near South Tryon Street and I-485 in Charlottes Steele Creek area. The 39-year-old woman, who was not identified by police, chased the two children and the 12-year-old pulled out a gun and attempted to pistol whip her, Helton said. Police later identified the gun as a BB gun. The two children returned to a nearby apartment and CMPD was able to locate them and call their mother, Helton said. CMPD is familiar with the family and the mother was cooperative, he said. Officers confiscated the gun and charged the 12-year-old with armed robbery and destruction of property. Days prior to the robbery, the 12-year-old posed with the gun on social media, Helton said. Know where your kids are, what they are doing, whats on their social media, he said. Helton said kids as young as 11 and 12 are increasingly committing crimes in Charlotte. The 6-year-old is being treated as a victim of his circumstances and of his older sibling, not an accomplice, Helton said. Two men stabbed in separate Framingham incidents; one man faces charges FRAMINGHAM Two Framingham men were stabbed over the weekend in separate incidents, authorities said. Police arrested one man, Erick Rodas, 27, and charged him in one of the two stabbing incidents, but the other stabbing remains under investigation, police spokeswoman Lt. Rachel Mickens said Monday. The first stabbing occurred at 9:30 p.m. Friday on Franklin Street, near O'Brien's Package Store. Investigators do not have much information about the incident but do not believe it was random. The victim, a 43-year-old Framingham man, had gone to MetroWest Medical Center with a stab wound to his back. The hospital reported the incident to police, and the man was later transferred to Tufts Medical Center in Boston to be treated. 27,000 OUIs may be overturned: What we know about Breathalyzer conviction results "We don't have any suspect information in that incident," Mickens said. Police say second incident 'not random' The second incident occurred about 7 p.m. Saturday near 174 Irving St. In that case, police allege Rodas stabbed a 29-year-old Framingham man in the abdomen. "They are acquainted in some way, so this was not a random incident," said Mickens. "There was some sort of altercation." Police did not know what the altercation was about. Natick canoeing accident: Framingham man identified as person who died The victim was taken by ambulance to MetroWest Medical Center and then transferred to Brigham & Women's Medical Center in Boston to be treated for his injury. Neither of the men in the two incidents suffered life-threatening injuries, police said. Police arrested Rodas, of 176 Irving St., and charged him with assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, a knife. Rodas was ordered held on $2,000 bail at his Framingham District Court arraignment on Monday, and is due back in court on June 20 for a pretrial contract. His lawyer, Darren Sloane, could not be reached for comment. Framingham police ask that anyone with information about either incident call them at 508-872-1212. Norman Miller can be reached at 508-626-3823 or nmiller@wickedlocal.com. For up-to-date public safety news, follow him on Twitter @Norman_MillerMW or on Facebook at facebook.com/NormanMillerCrime. This article originally appeared on MetroWest Daily News: Two men stabbed over the weekend in Framingham; one man arrested Two of the rarest big cats on the planet born at Colorado zoo. Look at the cute cubs A zoo in Colorado welcomed two Amur leopard cubs, a species thats critically endangered, officials said. Anya, a 9-year-old Amur leopard, became a first-time mama on Wednesday, May 17, three days after Mothers Day, according to a May 19 Facebook post by the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo. The two cubs make up 4% of the endangered species population, the Colorado Springs zoo said. There are around 100 Amur leopards described as the rarest big cats on the planet left in the wild in Russia and China, zoo officials said. I think Anya is absolutely incredible. She looks confident and comfortable with the cubs, and were elated for her and her babies, the post read. Im so proud of our animal care team and their commitment to Anya and the future of the Amur leopard species. Animal care manager Rebecca Zwicker said the first few weeks after a leopard cubs birth are extremely fragile but that theres no reason for concern as their mother is patient and attentive. The first baby quickly showed instincts to nurse, which helped Anya get into mommy-mode when the second cub arrived, the zoo said. Once cub #2 smelled where cub #1 was having its meal, it made a baby beeline for the nipple. After a short sibling squabble, a full-bellied cub #1 moved aside for cub #2 to settle in for its first meal, the post said. Since then, both cubs have been nursing regularly and cub #2 is quickly catching up to its siblings energy level. Anya is the only one to have seen her cubs in person as the zoo is watching remotely from cameras placed in her den, officials said. Officials havent identified the cubs sex and wont be able to for some time, the post said. As for naming, the zoo plans to keep its tradition by waiting 30 days before giving the cuties a name. Colorado Springs is about 70 miles south of Denver. Watch mother chimp hold newborn after giving birth in front of visitors at NC Zoo Iconic bird was feared extinct for decades until appearing on Louisiana trail cam Two rare Galapagos tortoises stolen in Florida have been recovered. One died, cops say Typhoon Mawar impacting Guam as strongest storm in at least 2 decades: 'Conditions rapidly going downhill' HAGATNA, Guam Residents of the U.S. territory of Guam in the Western Pacific Ocean have been ordered to evacuate low-lying areas and seek shelter in reinforced concrete structures as the island finishes preparations for a possible direct hit in what would likely be the strongest storm to impact the area in more than 20 years. Typhoon Warnings remain in effect for Guam and Rota as Typhoon Mawar, equivalent to a Category 4 hurricane, approaches the island territory, home to more than 172,000 people, including U.S. military personnel. The National Weather Service (NWS) office in Guam didnt mince words when it came to providing potentially life-saving updates to those on the island. "We are looking at the high potential for a direct hit and passage of a super typhoon on Guam," the National Weather Service said in an update on Facebook. "This would be the first time in many years. This will be a benchmark storm that many folks on this island have not yet experienced." The event could be the first landfall of a significant typhoon since 2002's Super Typhoon Pongsona. 5 DIFFERENT NAMES FOR HURRICANES AROUND THE WORLD In the most recent update, Typhoon Mawar had maximum sustained winds of 140 mph, or the equivalent of a Category 4 hurricane. The FOX Forecast Center said the combination of an eyewall replacement cycle and some dry air helped weaken the cyclone from its Super Typhoon status before landfall. As the storm continues to reorganize on its approach to Guam, Typhoon Mawar is expected to bring a trio of threats winds equivalent in strength to a major hurricane, torrential rainfall and a life-threatening storm surge. Forecasters said a storm surge of 6 to 10 feet above the normal high tide is expected as Mawar moves closer. However, the NWS warned that a storm surge of 20 to 25 feet is expected for the most vulnerable storm surge prone areas near the eye wall, just north of Typhoon Mawars eye. HOW ARE HURRICANES RATED? THE SAFFIR-SIMPSON HURRICANE WIND SCALE EXPLAINED The island has already experienced tropical-storm-force winds (39-plus mph), and the NWS warned that those winds will only continue to get stronger and more dangerous as the situation unfolds. "President Biden granted the emergency declarations today for both the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands and Guam ahead of Typhoon Mawar. What this means is that it unlocks the ability of the agency to supplement territorial and local responses in efforts to help save lives, protect property, public health and safety of. More importantly, it allows us to position ourselves to deal with was predicted to be a catastrophic category four or five like storm with intense damaging winds of 160 miles an hour and life-threatening storm surges across the island," said Sherman Gillums Jr., a FEMA official. HERE ARE THE BUZZWORDS YOU'LL BE HEARING DURING HURRICANE SEASON Possible rain totals in Guam from Super Typhoon Mawar through Friday, May 26, 2023. The NWS said the island is preparing for substantial amounts of rainfall. A few inches of rain fell across Guam on Tuesday as Typhoon Mawar moved closer to the island, and much more is on the way. Forecasters say 10-15 inches of rain could fall across most of the island, with some areas approaching upwards of 20 inches or more. "Theres going to be some flooding concerns, especially along the mountainous creeks," the NWS said. Waves are also expected to continue to increase in height. "Were going to be seeing combined seas on the open oceans rising from 10 to 15 feet, steadily increasing to 15 to 25 feet," the NWS added. Waves heights could approach 40 feet during the day on Wednesday. FILE - ANDERSEN AIR FORCE BASE, GUAM - DECEMBER 8: These doors, which once allowed access to Oscars on Terague Beach on Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, are one of the few things left standing after Super-typhoon Pongsona struck the island December 8, 2002. Members of Team Andersen joined together to clean the base and restore it to pre-typhoon condition. Super-typhoon Pongsona had peak gusts of 180 mph and caused power outages, a fuel shortage, and island wide damage. Since the 1940s there have been 10 Category 4 or Category 5 equivalent storms that have tracked within 50 miles of Guam, according to NOAA. Typhoon Mawar is expected to be the strongest storm to impact the island territory in more than 25 years, with the last comparable storm being Super Typhoon Pongsona in 2002. That super typhoon caused $700 million ($1.1 billion in 2023 dollars) in damage. FILE - A Naval Station Marianas Guam barge and yard tug ran aground by Super Typhoon Paka in December 1997. Super Typhoon Pongsona was Guams third-most intense storm with sustained winds of 144 mph and gusts of 173 mph. The storm also had a pressure of 935 milibars. Only two other storms exceeded Pongsonas intensity Karen in 1962 with a pressure of 932mb and winds of 155 mph and the Typhoon of 1900, which had an unknown maximum wind speed and was estimated at 926mb. The Japan Meteorological Agency predicts Super Typhoon Mawars pressure to drop into the 920s, which means if so, it could be the most intense storm to ever hit Guam. Guam Gov. Lou Leon Guerrero issued the mandatory evacuation of low-lying, flood-prone and coastal areas of Guam and instructed residents in those locations, especially in southern villages, to seek shelter in private residents or designated government shelters in higher elevations. In a statement, Guerrero said the Guam National Guard was ordered to assist with those mandatory evacuations, as well as mayors and staff in local towns. President Joe Biden approved an emergency declaration and "ordered Federal assistance to supplement Commonwealth and local response efforts due to the emergency conditions resulting from Typhoon Mawar beginning on May 22, 2023, and continuing." FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell said she spoke with both Gov. Guerrero and Northern Mariana Island Gov. Arnold I. Palacios about the approach of Typhoon Mawar. The U.S. Coast Guard said its forces, along with federal, territorial and port partners, had been preparing for Typhoon Mawar. The United States Coast Guard Cutter (USCGC) Myrtle Hazard and USCGC Oliver Henry crews have been safely taken out to sea and away from the typhoon, while a third cutter crew on the USCGC Frederick Hatch remains on its regular patrol away from the affected area, the Coast Guard said. In addition, the U.S. Coast Guard Station Apra Harbor's boats have been hauled out of the water, trailered or secured with heavy weather tie-downs. Crews have also fastened all buoys in the buoy yard to concrete sinkers. "All ports are ready; commercial traffic departed, and teams prepared container yards for high winds," the U.S. Coast Guard said in a news release. "Crews are staffing all necessary watch sections and are actively working with on-island partners to be ready to conduct post-storm assessments." The U.S. Navy also announced the evacuation of personnel, dependents and employees in areas affected by Typhoon Mawar. In a statement posted to Facebook, the Navy said those evacuation orders would remain in effect until the governor of Guam rescinds the evacuation order. WASHINGTON The Air Force is focused on avoiding the mistakes that plagued past programs like the F-35, as the service officially kicks off its effort to build a sixth-generation fighter, Secretary Frank Kendall said Monday. That includes ensuring the Air Force has access to all the sustainment data it needs from the contractor building the Next Generation Air Dominance platform, Kendall told reporters at a breakfast roundtable hosted by the Defense Writers Group. Were not going to repeat the, what I think frankly was a serious mistake that was made in the F-35 program of not obtaining rights to all the fighters sustainment data from contractor Lockheed Martin, Kendall said. When the F-35 program was launched more than two decades ago, Kendall said an acquisition philosophy known as Total System Performance was in favor. Under this approach, he said, a contractor that won a program would own it for its entire lifecycle. What that basically does is create a perpetual monopoly, Kendall said. I spent years struggling to overcome acquisition malpractice [on the F-35], and were still struggling with that to some degree. So were not going to do that with NGAD. Kendall also singled out excessive concurrency which occurs when an aircraft moving through development and into procurement at the same time, which can make it harder to fix problems discovered in testing as a major problem that hindered the F-35 program. There will be some concurrency on NGAD, as well as the B-21 Raider stealth bomber, Kendall said. But he said the Air Force plans to do that in a rational way, that doesnt take excessive risk. Kendall said he wants the government to have much more control over NGAD than it does with the F-35. In addition to ensuring the government has access to the intellectual property it needs, Kendall said the Air Force will make sure NGADs manufacturer and subcontractors use modular open system design. That will allow the Air Force to bring in new and different suppliers as it seeks to upgrade parts of the system, he said. The Air Forces program executive officer for fighters and advanced aircraft at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio, who is now Brig. Gen. Dale White, will be in charge of the new program, Kendall said. With NGAD expected to be a very expensive proposition Kendall told lawmakers in April 2022 he expected each aircraft to cost multiple hundreds of millions of dollars apiece the Air Force wont be able to afford working with multiple contractors on the program, Kendall said. The service plans to choose a single contractor to build NGAD sometime in 2024, with Boeing, Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman expected to compete for the program. Kendall also said the acquisition strategy for collaborative combat aircraft (CCA) is moving forward in parallel with NGAD, and the Air Force is working with several potential suppliers to create autonomous drone wingmen associated with that concept. He said its too soon to say how many vendors the Air Force plans to work with, but that he wants as many as possible. He declined to describe how CCA capabilities might compare to crewed fighters, saying that information is classified. Kendall said NGADs origins date back to the Obama administration, when he in his previous role as the undersecretary of defense for acquisition, technology and logistics asked the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency to study what the Air Force would need to ensure it could dominate the skies in a future war. DARPAs response, Kendall said, was that the service didnt just need a lone fighter it needed a family of systems, also encompassing weapons, connections to assets in space, and possibly autonomous drone wingmen. Kendall then launched a program called the Aerospace Innovation Initiative to start to develop technologies that would form the core of a sixth-generation fighter. That effort led to the creation of experimental prototype aircraft, which Kendall called X-planes, to flesh out those technologies and prove they can work. Advancements in model-based systems engineering and digitalization also made it possible for both government and contractor design teams to work together much more efficiently, he said. Thats whats happening now with the offices developing NGAD, according to Kendall, with government designers and bidding companies essentially working side-by-side at Wright-Patterson. Government designers have direct access to the databases companies are using to design their pitches for NGAD, he explained. Everybody lives basically in the same design laboratory, if you will, so we have intimate knowledge of what the competitors are doing in their design, Kendall said. Were very involved with them. Were going to have as integrated and as fully integrated a design process and contracting process as possible. This is a more efficient approach than how acquisitions were run in the past, where the contractor would deliver piles and piles of documents to the government to sort through. Now you dont wait for documents, you can see the design firsthand, Kendall said. U.S., Papua New Guinea sign security agreement. What does it mean? In this image made from a video, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, left, and Papua New Guinea Prime Minister James Marape shake hands after signing agreements in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea on Monday, May 22, 2023. The United States signed a new security pact with Papua New Guinea on Monday as it competes with China for influence in the Pacific. | Australian Broadcasting Corp. via Associated Press A new U.S. security pact was signed with Papua New Guinea on Monday. The United States offered $45 million to heighten defenses within the country, develop disaster relief and work to combat climate change. President Joe Biden sent U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken in his stead, as he flew home to deal with the countrys debt ceiling issues. Blinken negotiated and signed the agreement with Papua New Guineas prime minister, James Marape, per the British Broadcasting Corporation. The work that were doing together to try to shape the future could not be more important, could not be more timely, Blinken told reporters, per The Associated Press. Were deeply invested in the Indo-Pacific because our planets future is being written here. Papua New Guinea is playing a critical role in shaping that future. The agreement includes a string of list items, including many that offer country development by expanding electricity, offering HIV/AIDS support, targeting organized crime, and combating climate change. Additionally, a bilateral agreement will give the U.S. Coast Guard access to maritime waters to combat illegal fishing. Related Why is Papua New Guinea important? Just north of Australia, Papua New Guinea is the largest Pacific Island nation with a population of more than 10 million and part of 15 island nations that together control 20% of the planets oceans, per BBC. Which makes it a valuable ally. The island nations history includes some particularly fierce battles during World War II, which has followed into the nations more recent history of receiving aid from several different countries, including the United States and China. We dont want our region to be an area of adversarial challenge between our development partners rather, we want to find areas of collaboration, where we can have the best support to achieve our development agendas and our climate agenda, the prime minister of the Cook Islands and leader of the Pacific Islands Forum, Mark Brown, told BBC. Combatting climate change, which threatens the life of the islands, is a big part of what the Pacific Island Nations are looking for, Brown told BBC. Pacific governments are relishing their place in the sun, senior adviser for the Pacific Islands at the United States Institute of Peace, Gordon Peake, told BBC. Friends to all, enemies to none is the informal foreign policy mantra of most Pacific nations and theyre sticking to it, to great net effect. Related What are other nations negotiations? Chinas negotiations with Papua New Guinea are most concerning to the United States because of heightened political tensions and competition between the two larger nations. With mounting influence in the Pacific, China warned the United States against playing geopolitical games there, reported AP. On a friendlier note, Blinken met with New Zealands Prime Minister Chris Hipkins there. He said that both countries goals are the same To make sure that it remains free, open, secure and prosperous, per AP. Hipkins differentiated his countrys efforts and clarified that it is not interested in the militarization of the Pacific but rather, issues around climate change. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi also visited the island nation to discuss cooperation, per AP. Related A diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) leader at Uber has been reprimanded after hosting an event for white women who are offended by the term Karen. According to Business Insider, employees at the ride-sharing company expressed their disdain for efforts to highlight the spectrum of the American white womans experience. The Events In Question As a result, Ubers Chief Diversity Equity and Inclusion Officer Bo Young Lee is on a leave of absence after hosting events labeled Dont Call Me Karen. The events were part of a company-wide initiative dubbed Moving Forward, which featured discussions about race and the experiences of various underrepresented groups brought to the forefront after the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests. The Company's Response In an email sent to a few Uber employees, Chief People Officer Nikki Krishnamurthy, informed people that Lee was told to step back and take a leave of absence while we determine next steps. We have heard that many of you are in pain and upset by yesterdays Moving Forward session, read the email, viewed by The New York Times. While it was meant to be a dialogue, its obvious that those who attended did not feel heard. What Is A "Karen?" Over the past few years, the term Karen has become a name used for white women who operate from a place of entitlement and often complain or report Black people to authorities and other people in positions of high power for merely existing. The employees who voiced their concern felt that the events led by Young minimized the racism and harm inflicted on Black people by focusing on how Karen was a hurtful word, rather than the effect their actions have had on people. Previous Complaints After the first event was held at the company, a Black woman posed the following question during an Uber all-hands meeting: How would the company prevent tone-deaf, offensive and triggering conversations from becoming a part of its diversity initiatives? Sometimes being pushed out of your own strategic ignorance is the right thing to do, said Lee, at the time, per notes taken by another employee attending the event, Fortune reports. For now, the company has confirmed that Lee has been placed on a leave of absence, according to MarketWatch. Uber head of diversity Bo Young Lee at a conference in 2018. Uber has put Bo Young Lee, its head of diversity, equity, and inclusion, also referred to as DEI, on leave in recent days after employees expressed outrage over a series of events she moderated titled, Dont Call Me Karen, according to report from the New York Times. The companys CEO, Dara Khosrowshahi, and its chief people officer, Nikki Krishnamurthy, purportedly told several employees that Lee had been placed on leave in an email last week, the Times stated. Employees had expressed outrage over Lees Dont Call Me Karen events, which the company described as conversations diving into the spectrum of the American white womans experience. The events focused specifically on women deemed Karens, or white women who call the police on Black people. Read more Although the talks, part of the companys Moving Forward series, were reportedly aimed to be an open and honest conversation about race, Uber employees said they felt they were being lectured about why the term Karen was derogatory and the struggles of white women. When they raised their concerns to Lee, who has been Ubers head of diversity since 2018, she reportedly dismissed them. We have heard that many of you are in pain and upset by yesterdays Moving Forward session, Khosrowshahi and Krishnamurthy said in their employee to Uber employees, according to the Times. While it was meant to be a dialogue, its obvious that those who attended did not feel heard. Gizmodo reached out to Uber for comment on the Times report on Monday morning but did not immediately receive a response. Lee moderated two Dont Call Me Karen events at Uber in April and May. After the first event, a Black woman employee at Uber asked how the company would prevent tone-deaf, offensive, and triggering conversations from being part of its diversity efforts, the Times found. Lee is said to have responded that the Moving Forward series meant to promote tough conversations and was not meant to be comfortable. Sometimes being pushed out of your own strategic ignorance is the right thing to do, Lee purportedly said. More from Gizmodo Sign up for Gizmodo's Newsletter. For the latest news, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Click here to read the full article. Professor Kevin Warwick holds a microchip August 26, similar to the one implanted into his arm. The UKs new support strategy for its homegrown semiconductor industry has surprised those who had been waiting almost two years with its unambitious nature. Prime minister Rishi Sunak said on Friday that his government will allocate 1 billion ($1.24 billion) to the industrys development in the country over the next decade, with 200 million of that sum to be rolled out between now and 2025. Some critics and investors pointed out that the sum pales in comparison to the USs CHIPS Act, announced last year, which pledged $52 billion to the industry for ramping up domestic manufacture of semiconductors. In April, the European Union announced a $47 billion semiconductor support program. Even TSMC aloneas the biggest semiconductor manufacturer, turning out more than half the worlds supplyoutpaces the announced quantum of British investment. TSMCs operating expenses for the year ending March 31, 2023 were $36.8 billion, or about $1.24 billion (1 billion) every 12.5 days. Read more A fun way to put the UK's 10-year plan to offer 1bn in semiconductor incentives over the next decade in context: it's how much TSMC spends on capital investment every 13 days or so. https://t.co/6eebJTIOuJ Mike Bird (@Birdyword) May 21, 2023 Countries are still trying to deal with global shortages of semiconductors Twin fears have propelled the US and EU to invest heavily in new chip manufacturing capacity. Covid 19 saw global supply chains of all kinds of products grind to a halt, and chips have been in short supply during and after the pandemic. Semiconductors are now so essentialused in everything from phones and laptops to bank ATMs, trains, medical technologies, and the operation of internet itselfthat no country can afford to be without them for long. Secondly, tensions have been mounting between Taiwan, the base for TSMC and other semiconductor foundries, and China. Taiwan is the biggest manufacturer of chips in the world, and any aggressive moves by China towards the island nation could potentially make a huge dent in supply. Citing this very reason, in fact, Warren Buffett sold off a $4.1 billion stake in TSMC over the past six months. The UKs strengths in the semiconductor industry have, thus far, been evident more in design than in manufacturing. Arm, a Cambridge-based chip designer, for instance, licenses its work to chips used in around 95% of the smartphones in the world. (Softbank, which owns three-quarters of Arm, has been preparing to take the company public.) The lack of a robust domestic chip supply, however, is proving to be an industrial deficiency. In February, the Cardiff-based IQE, which manufactures components of semiconductors, warned that it may be forced to move to the US or Europe, where the money is, if the UKs strategy wasnt best for its business. In a release, the UK said it is not trying to compete on chip manufacturing, but rather that its plan will focus on growing the UKs unique and already world-leading strengths in compound semiconductors, research and development, intellectual property and design. Compound semiconductors are manufactured from two or more elements, as compared to the more common kind of semiconductor, which is made out of just silicon. In the same government release, Sean Redmond, a managing partner at Silicon Catalyst, an accelerator focused on chips, said: These well thought through policy interventions will help UK companies drink from the global fire hydrant of opportunity as this critically important industry grows to $1 trillion by 2030. But others were less impressed. Simon Thomas, chief executive of Cambridgeshire electronics company Paragraf, told Politico the UKs strategy wasflaccid. Amelia Armour, a partner at Amadeus Capital Partners, which invests in semiconductor businesses, told the Financial Times that the 1 billion amount was disappointing. More from Quartz Sign up for Quartz's Newsletter. For the latest news, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Click here to read the full article. The billions of dollars in defense aid approved for Ukraine last year could dry up by late summer, but conversations on the next round of funding remain on Congresss back burner. Lawmakers say delays caused by the ongoing debt ceiling impasse and the uncertain implications of a coming Ukrainian counteroffensive have delayed serious conversations around the next round of funding. Rep. Andy Kim (D-N.J.), a House Armed Services Committee (HASC) member, said lawmakers have had conversations about what needs to be a part of the next package, but he is unsure about the timing of the legislation. The congressman said the ongoing fight over the debt ceiling was putting important legislation such as Ukraine aid at risk. Its delaying our ability to focus on these issues, Kim said. That really shows that it has national security implications because were not able to have that kind of earnest conversation about Ukraine or the [National Defense Authorization Act] until theyre done with that. The Pentagon on Thursday revealed an accounting error that frees up an additional $3 billion, but the remaining funds intended to last for most of the year would still amount to less than $14 billion, according to a review of security aid specifically for Ukraine. At the current pace of spending, its unlikely that will last beyond September. The next package will be the first test of whether the Republican-controlled House will continue strong Ukraine support, despite a vocal minority of far-right lawmakers who are opposed to more security assistance. Some Republican House lawmakers are already stressing the need for unity behind Ukraine ahead of the next package. We have to continue we are obligated to continue to help them in some way, shape or form, said Rep. Rich McCormick (R-Ga.). The question is always in the details. Rep. Bill Keating (D-Mass.) said those would ultimately depend on Ukraines counteroffensive. Its not a precise science to say what because it could be gains that were made that make more support less necessary, Keating said. Or there could be damage inflicted where there has to be more assistance. He added that Ukraine has enough right now for the near future. McCormick, a member of the HASC, said some of the most pressing concerns about U.S. security aid to Ukraine that opponents often raise are no longer major concerns. That includes the proper auditing of weapons and equipment sent to Ukraine and adequate contributions from European Union members of the Western security alliance NATO. The EU is stepping up both militarily and in training, McCormick said. So this is a NATO effort, its not unilateral [and] I think we have better accountability for the funds and for the arms that we give them than we ever had in Afghanistan. The U.S. approved $113 billion in overall emergency assistance to Ukraine last year, about $47 billion of which included direct security aid through replenishing U.S. stockpiles from equipment and supplies sent to Kyiv, the purchase and delivery of new weapons or direct funds for training or other means. As of the last package announced for Ukraine earlier this month, the Defense Department said about $37 billion has been spent since Russia invaded the country, meaning there is a little more than $10 billion left. Its unclear if the $3 billion accounting error, discovered in March through an internal audit, means there is closer to $13 billion left or if the latest Pentagon estimate has already factored that into account. Either way, it wont be long before approved funding is tapped. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre declined to detail any conversations with Congress when asked about Ukraine funding this week, but she said the world has seen our commitment to the Ukrainian people with the aid packages. Kyiv has said it is prepared to launch a long-anticipated counteroffensive to retake significant territory in the eastern and southern regions occupied by Russian forces. NATO officials have indicated Ukraine has nearly all the promised weapons and equipment it needs for the counteroffensive, including Germanys Leopard tanks, a range of infantry fighting tanks and even long-range cruise missiles from Britain. But Russian troops are dug in across the 600-mile front, and Ukraine faces immense difficulties in overcoming the fortifications. Conor Savoy, a senior fellow with the Project on Prosperity and Development at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, agreed the next package will be shaped by the coming counteroffensive. But Savoy warned a failed or stalled Ukrainian attack could work against the next package. He called it a dangerous situation politically and stressed the need to stick with Ukraine for the long haul regardless of the outcome of the counteroffensive. Its not the beginning of the end, Savoy said of the counteroffensive. Its more likely this is going to go on for a while, and absent American and European support, the Ukrainians are going to be in a very tough position. Savoy said the four legislative packages passed by the Democratic-controlled Congress last year should last until the end of the fiscal year, which is the end of September. The final package approved by Congress in December was intended to keep the aid flowing for most of 2023, including about $20 billion for Ukraines security needs. Looming over everything is how the GOP-controlled House will handle the first legislative aid package for Ukraine. Before he was elected a Speaker, Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), said there would be no blank check for Ukraine, setting off concerns he might limit how much funding Kyiv could get. But McCarthy has been more supportive of Ukraine since winning the gavel. Earlier this month, he said the GOP has been very clear about the atrocities that Russia and Putin have presented to this world and very clear in our votes as well, suggesting the House would continue doing what weve been doing. Still, a letter signed by 19 far-right lawmakers last month tied their support for any future Ukraine aid to a clear diplomatic strategy from President Biden to end the war. When asked about the far-right lawmakers stymying the next package, Rep. Chrissy Houlahan (D-Pa.), an HASC member, said you can never say youre not worried about anything. But I think the majority of people here in Congress, the majority of people in the country, she said, understand the importance of what it is that were doing to support the people of Ukraine. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. Ukraine alone decides how to conduct military operations, Washington says Matthew Miller During the briefing, Miller stated that Washington does not encourage attacks on Russian territory. Read also: Kyiv and Washington united ahead of Ukraines anticipated counteroffensive, says PM Shmyhal In respect to the broader policy question, we have made it very clear to the Ukrainians that we dont enable or encourage attacks outside Ukraines borders, said Miller. "It's important to take a step back and remind the world that of course it is Russia that launched this war, its Russia that continues to launch attacks on civilians" Read also: Kremlin reacts to hostilities in Belgorod Oblast: Putin informed, says press secretary Earlier on May 22, the Freedom of Russia Legion, together with the Russian Volunteer Corps (RVC), claimed they have liberated Kozinka and Gora-Podol in Russias Belgorod Oblast. Ukrainian officials said Kyiv is aware of these developments, with no direct involvement in what they described as an internal Russian matter. Read also: Russia evacuates nuclear arsenal storage facility near Belgorod, Ukrainian intelligence says Belgorod Governor, Vyacheslav Gladkov, subsequently announced a counter-terrorism operation being underway in the region. 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 fire department in Dnipro suffered significant damage as a result of the attack by the Russian Federation Unfortunately, we dont have enough means to counter ballistic (missiles) today, he said. We have Patriot (missile defense) systems on combat duty. But its clear this is not enough to cover all the directions we need, all big cities and all important critical infrastructure facilities. Ihnat noted the enemy had targeted military and critical infrastructure facilities during a missile strike on the city of Dnipro overnight on May 22. Read also: Russian missile strike at Dnipro destroys family, kills three-year-old and her young mother He said Ukraine needs anti-ballistic means like those that have proved themselves in Kyiv Oblast, where six Kinzhal missiles and up to 10 ballistic missiles were destroyed by the Patriot missile defense system during a recent massive Russian missile attack. Ihnat added that the Ukrainian Air Force is also waiting to take delivery of an Italian-French-made SAMP-T air defense missile system, which may soon be on combat duty in Ukraine. Our Ukraine is large, and we need more of these means, Ihnat said. And were definitely expecting F-16 fighter jets its No. 1 issue today. Read also: Multiple dead in Dnipro and Uman, scores injured in new mass missile attack by Russia Were bringing the voice of Ukraine to the world. Support us with a one-time donation, or become a Patron! Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine Ukraine will not become NATO member in foreseeable future, says Scholz Olaf Scholz It is clear to everyone that this will not happen in the foreseeable future, he said. Read also: Germany not joining Fighter Coalition for Ukraine, says Scholz Scholz said that Ukraine does not currently meet the criteria for NATO membership, which include various conditions. He said the current focus is on providing support and defenses to Ukraine. It is also clear that we will have to discuss what security guarantees can be provided in the post-war situation. But we are still far from that, Scholz added. Read also: Ukraine's NATO membership to be decided after the war, UK defense secretary says On May 15, 2023, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy urged NATO to make a positive political decision regarding Ukraines membership. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg stated on May 9 that all allies agree that NATOs doors remain open for Ukraine, but he couldnt provide a timeline for its accession. During a meeting with Stoltenberg in Kyiv on April 20, Zelenskyy emphasized that there are no barriers to political decisions regarding Ukraines membership. Read also: Ukraine has done everything it needs to join NATO, Zelenskyy says Stoltenberg affirmed that all countries agree on Kyivs future inclusion, but the current focus is on Ukraines ongoing conflict with Russia. The NATO secretary general also invited the Ukrainian president to the upcoming NATO summit in Vilnius on July 11-12. 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 Ukrainian troops outside Bakhmut Sergey Shestak/AFP via Getty Images Russia's Wagner Group paramilitary forces captured all but an "insignificant" corner of Bakhmut from Ukrainian defenders, Ukrainian Gen. Oleksandr Syrsky said Sunday, a day after Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin declared victory in the decimated town. But Ukrainian forces continued their advances on the northern and southern flanks of Bakhmut and are "close to tactically encircling the city," Syrsky added. Ukraine's control of the high ground around Bakhmut will allow it to defend vital supply lines, shell Russian forces inside the ruins of the city, and prevent further advances westward, analysts said. The nine-month battle for Bakhmut was the bloodiest of Russia's war on Ukraine, and Russia's state-run Channel 1 declared "mission accomplished" on Sunday, comparing Wagner's capture of Bakhmut to the Soviet army's capture of Berlin in World War II. Russian ultranationalist military bloggers also "celebrated the alleged capture of Bakhmut but emphasized that 'Bakhmut is not Berlin' and that the capture of the city would be simply another step in ongoing difficult operations to achieve Russian objectives in Ukraine," the Institute for the Study of War reported. "Who has won and who has lost isn't measured, however, in current control over the uninhabitable ruins that are left from Bakhmut, a once prosperous city of 70,000 people," The Wall Street Journal assesses. "The answer will depend on the outcome of Ukraine's planned offensive which hinges, in part, on whether Ukrainian or Russian military capacity has been degraded more severely" in Bakhmut. Ukrainian military officials say their controversial defense of Bakhmut was largely about pinning down Russian forces and inflicting heavy losses to destroy as much of the Russian and Wagner armies as possible while preventing them from advancing elsewhere along the war's long front line. Both sides lost thousands of troops in the fight, but Russia's losses are projected to be catastrophic. Wagner alone lost about 10,000 fighters since December, the U.S. estimates. "The Russians have kept advancing by simply leveling the city, building by building," a Ukrainian company commander in Bakhmut who backed pulling out of the city until the tide turned in April told the Journal. "They kept pushing, and we kept destroying them." You may also like Italy's Mount Etna erupts, forcing airport closure Dianne Feinstein and the problem of America's aging politicians College student who tracks Elon Musk's jet now doing the same with DeSantis Ukraine says it still controls small part of Bakhmut Ukrainian leaders on Monday again denied that Russia has taken full control of Bakhmut, stressing their forces still hold a small part of the city despite Moscows claims of complete victory. Russian private military company Wagner Group first claimed control over Bakhmut Saturday, which was later confirmed by Russias Ministry of Defense. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky denied Sunday that Russia had taken over the city during brief remarks with allied world leaders at the Group of Seven summit in Hiroshima, Japan. Ukraines Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar said in a Telegram post that Ukrainian troops still hold facilities and areas in the southwestern part of the city, though she acknowledged the enemy is sweeping the areas of the city under his control. The struggle for dominant heights continues on the flanks the north and south of the suburbs, Maliar said. Our fighters do not give the enemy the opportunity to gain a foothold there. Col. Gen. Oleksandr Syrskyi, who heads Ukraines ground forces, said recent Ukrainian advances have given his troops control of the outskirts of the city. In the future, this will give us the opportunity to enter the city when the operational situation at the front changes, Syrskyi said on Telegram. Over the weekend, Wagner Group head Yevgeny Prigozhin shared images of soldiers planting the Russian flag and a Wagner flag atop shattered ruins of Bakhmut. Wagner Group has led the bloody assault on the eastern city, sending waves of soldiers, including those recruited from prisons, toward Ukrainian lines in order to make incremental advances. The battle of Bakhmut has seen some of the fiercest fighting so far and is the wars longest battle, dragging on for more than half a year. Most of the city has been shelled into complete ruins. For today, Bakhmut is only in our hearts, Zelensky said during a meeting Sunday with President Biden in Hiroshima. There is nothing in this place. For months, Ukrainian and Russian forces were fighting block-by-block for small advances, which came at a huge cost for both sides. The U.S. has estimated that 100,000 Russian soldiers may have been killed or wounded in Bakhmut. On Telegram, Maliar said the defense of Bakhmut completed its military tasks. The offensive potential of the enemy has been significantly reduced, huge losses have been inflicted on the enemy, we have gained time for certain actions, she wrote. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. Russia may have effectively captured the symbolic prize of Bakhmut, but in many ways the battle for the city might only just be beginning. Moscow declared a triumphant victory in Bakhmut over the weekend, its first in nearly a year, with state media extolling its liberation and President Vladimir Putin promising state rewards to those who distinguished themselves in the wars longest and bloodiest battle. However, Putins troops exhausted and depleted by the sort of fighting not seen in Europe since World War II may struggle to push deeper into the eastern Donbas region while Kyivs military will seek to take advantage of recent gains by trying to encircle them, according to Ukrainian officials and Western military analysts. 'Mission accomplished'? Russian state media headlines on Monday declared Bakhmut was already being de-mined after the countrys defense ministry and mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin said Saturday that forces led by Wagner fighters had taken full control of the battered city. Prigozhin posted images of his fighters raising flags over partially-destroyed buildings in the city, which has been left in ruins by months of conflict that has seen both sides suffer huge losses. The head of the Russian private army Wagner claims his forces have taken control of the city of Bakhmut after the longest and most grinding battle of the Russia-Ukraine war, but Ukrainian defense officials have denied it. In a video posted on Telegram, Prigozhin said the city came under complete Russian control at about midday Saturday. (Prigozhin Press Service / AP) A news anchor on Russias Channel One called the citys capture an event of historic proportions and a mission accomplished, at the top of a newscast Sunday afternoon, as Putin congratulated Wagner units and Russias regular army, despite weeks of bitter feuding between Prigozhin and Russias top military brass. But the celebrations were dismissed in Kyiv, where officials insisted that the city was not completely under Russian control and that the battle was far from over. Despite the fact that we now control a small part of Bakhmut, the importance of its defense does not lose its relevance, Oleksandr Syrskyi, who commands Ukraines ground forces, said Sunday. We continue to advance on the flanks in the suburbs of Bakhmut and are actually approaching the capture of the city in a tactical encirclement, he added. Serhii Cherevaty, spokesman for Ukraines Eastern Group of Forces, also said late Sunday that its troops maintain control of several buildings and fortifications in the southwestern part of the city. NBC News could not verify the claims from either side about the situation on the ground. The conflicting messages may indicate that there are a number of things happening simultaneously and the battle for the city may not be over but rather entering a new phase, said Neil Melvin, the director of international security studies at the Royal United Services Institute, or RUSI, a London-based think tank. Wagner forces have concentrated in the central area of the city and ceded control of the flanks to reinforced troops from the regular Russian army in recent weeks, Melvin told NBC News, giving the mercenary fighters sufficient strength to seize basically all of the city. Meanwhile, Ukraines military appears to have withdrawn from its final positions in the center and concentrated on the flanks to the north and south, where it recently began pushing back Russian troops. It now seems to be aiming to surround the city, which could allow it to cut off and then destroy the Wagner forces in the center, Melvin added. We continue to advance, said Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar on Ukrainian TV Monday. "Due to the fact that we moved along the flanks from the north and south and occupied certain heights there, we made it very difficult for the enemy to stay in the city." ImageUkrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Sunday, May 21, 2023 that Russian forces weren't occupying Bakhmut, casting doubt on Moscow's insistence that the eastern Ukrainian city had fallen. (Roman Chop / AP) The battle for Bakhmut has raged since last summer, severely bleeding each sides reserves of troops and ammunition. For Russia, the city represented a potential gateway to the rest of the eastern industrial region of the Donbas, while for Ukraine the defensive stand has become a way to wear down Russian forces and buy time for its widely-anticipated counteroffensive. The battle has taken on huge symbolic value for both sides, but its strategic value to the Kremlin is likely eroded by Ukraines ability to prolong the fight and ensure the Russians could not advance beyond it and toward Putins goal of controlling the surrounding region. In strategic terms, the Russians have effective control of Bakhmut, said Christopher Tuck, an expert in conflict and security at Kings College London. But Ukrainian forces still have a presence in a very small portion of the west of the city, he said, meaning that the Russians do not have total control over it. The differences between these two positions might seem small, but they do have political significance because the Russians are keen to portray Bakhmut as a victory, whilst Ukraine is keen to demonstrate that the fighting is still ongoing. Ukraine will want Moscow to feel that Bakhmut remains vulnerable, so the Russian military is forced to reinforce its troops there and take resources away from other areas of the lengthy front-line, potentially opening up opportunities elsewhere for Ukraines counteroffensive. Ukrainian soldiers on the Bakhmut frontline in Donetsk (Vincenzo Circosta / Anadolu Agency via Getty Images) Prigozhin indicated Monday that he will pull back his fighters from the city later this week for a break and a regrouping, with regular Russian forces taking over. While Ukraine may be signaling that it hopes to prolong the fight for Bakhmut, it is unlikely to commit substantial forces to try and take the city back, analysts said. In any case, the outcome in Bakhmut itself is likely in the short-term to be provisional, despite the considerable efforts made by both sides in fighting for it, said Tuck. In the medium to long-term, what really matters will be the impact of Ukraines coming counteroffensive. This might render the current question of who controls Bakhmut largely irrelevant, he added. This article was originally published on NBCNews.com Japan G7 Summit U.S. President Joe Biden walks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky ahead of a working session on Ukraine during the G7 Summit in Hiroshima, Japan, Sunday, May 21, 2023. Credit - Susan WalshAP Photo Wearing green tactical military slacks and hoodie, protocol-shredding attire that underscored both his war-torn nations plight and his own star billing, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky made a surprise visit to at the G7 summit in Japan on Saturday, warning that Russia has tramped on everything that is civilized and calling for more help from beyond Europe. I am here in Hiroshima, so the world can hear the Ukrainian call for unity from here, he said. Zelensky also rebuked supposedly neutral countries India and Brazil, accusing them of being duped by Kremlin propaganda, while repeating his calls for access to U.S. fighter jets, which U.S. President Joe Biden agreed on Friday to allow European allies to supply to Kyiv. Also on Friday, G7 leaders announced new sanctions on Russia covering exports of industrial machinery, tools and other technology potentially helpful to Moscows war effort, while strengthening efforts to curb Russian revenues from trade in metals and diamonds. Our support for Ukraine will not waver, the G7 leaders said in a statement. Read More: The G7 Summit in Hiroshima Is a Test of Japans Peace-Brokering Power However, the bulk of business in Hiroshima was not focused on Vladimir Putins war of choice, but some 3,600 miles east of Moscow: Beijings growing assertiveness. British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak deemed China the greatest challenge of our age for global security and prosperity, remarking that President Xi Jinpings government was increasingly authoritarian at home and abroad. In two separate statements, the leaders of the worlds richest democracies reiterated their support for Taiwanthe self-ruling island that China considers its sovereign territoryand said that they were gravely concerned regarding Beijings inroads in the Indo-Pacific. On Monday, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is scheduled to sign a new security pact with Papua New Guinea in Port Moresby in whats seen as a clear attempt to offset Chinas growing regional influence. Meanwhile, to broaden the blocs Indo-Pacific leadership credentials, the leaders of India, South Korea, Australia, and the Cook Islands joined Zelensky and the G7s regular membersthe U.S., U.K, Italy, Canada, France, Germany and Japanin Hiroshima, where they laid floral tributes at the citys peace memorial. The G7 also issued a statement urging Beijing not to conduct interference activities and expressed concerns about alleged human rights abuses in Chinas far-western regions of Tibet and Xinjiang. A key focus of the G7 was on reducing reliance of China in supply chains and combating Beijings economic coercion, pointing out a disturbing rise in the weaponization of economic vulnerabilities. In recent years, China has not been shy about using trade to respond to perceived affronts, whether cutting imports from Australia over its call for an independent probe into origins of the pandemic, South Korea over its decision to host a U.S. missile system, or Lithuania after the Baltic country permitted Taiwan to establish a de facto embassy. This coercion, the bloc said in a statement, seeks to undermine the foreign and domestic policies and positions of G7 members as well as partners around the world. In response, Beijings Foreign Ministry expressed strong dissatisfaction with the G7s joint statements. The G7 insisted on manipulating China-related issues, smearing and attacking China, said a foreign ministry spokesman. In addition, China summoned Japans ambassador in Beijing for a dressing down. Professor Wang Yiwei, director of the Institute of International Affairs at Beijings Renmin University, tells TIME that Washington has recast the G7 from an economic into an ideological grouping hellbent on restricting China from catching up with the U.S. in the global value chain. At a press conference on Sunday, U.S. President Joe Biden said the G7s objective is not to decouple from China but to de-risk and diversify our relationship. The tech sector is a key battlefield between the worlds top two economies. Washington has already blacklisted dozens of Chinese tech firms, impeding the flow of sophisticated processors and banned its citizens from assisting China to develop sensitive industries like semiconductors. On Wednesday, Montana became the first U.S. state to ban short-video app TikTok on even private smartphones. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky joins G7 world leaders at a working session on the final day of the G7 Summit on May 21, 2023 in Hiroshima, Japan. Stefan RousseauWPA Pool/Getty Images On Sunday, Beijing hit back by banning operators of key infrastructure from using chips made by U.S. firm Micron, saying it found relatively serious cybersecurity risks. It is unclear whether Western efforts to stymie Chinas technological development will be effective. Keyu Jin, an associate professor at the London School of Economics and author of The New China Playbook, tells TIME that while squeezing Chinas supply chains may have short-term benefits, it could be counterproductive in the long-term. China has a very large and enclosed innovation ecosystem that links national labs with thousands of domestic tech companies, which, due to Western export controls, now have much more demand and fewer overseas competitors. Leapfrogging can happen in these kinds of circumstances, says Jin. Read More: This Is Hell: Hiroshima Atomic Bomb Survivors Live in Fear of Another Nuclear Catastrophe As well as efforts to impede Chinese tech development, the U.S. has also ramped up cooperation with allies. On the sidelines of the G7 on Sunday, IBM announced a 10-year, $100 million initiative with the University of Tokyo and the University of Chicago to develop by far the worlds most powerful quantum-centric supercomputer. China in recent years has also been investing heavily in quantum computers, which have potentially transformative military and cryptography applications. But some analysts fear the march toward tech decoupling risks entrenching economic strains across the developing world, which could backfire in terms of growing backing for populist and authoritarian modes of government. Economic problems are fueling political discontent and democratic backsliding in countries ranging from Pakistan to Tunisia, says Richard Gowan, U.N. Director of the International Crisis Group, calling for more economic assistance from the G7 for struggling nations of the Global South. Economic strains are driving political instability worldwide. The Kremlin has described reports of an incursion into Russias Belgorod city by pro-Ukrainian saboteurs as a deliberate attempt to distract attention from the battle for Bakhmut, which Moscow claims to have won. Anti-Kremlin militia launched a cross-border raid in the Russian city from Ukrainian territory, according to Ukrainian media reports and videos shared online, overrunning one Russian village and pushing on into others on Monday. Two self-described Russian partisan groups carried out the attack, one of the largest such incursions since Russia invaded Ukraine, intelligence officials in Kyiv said. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Vladimir Putin has been informed about the territorial conflict in Belgorod, and that work was under way to drive out the saboteurs, the state-run RIA Novosti news agency reported. Reports suggest there is some residual fighting still going on in the outskirts of Bakhmut even after Russia claims it captured the city on Sunday, but that the Ukrainian forces have lost control of the last streets of multi-story buildings inside city limits. Key Points Kremlin says Belgorod situation created to distract from Bakhmut loss Russia is not in control of Bakhmut, Volodymyr Zelensky insists Ukraine's strikes on Crimea are attacks on Russia, Moscow says Russia says F-16s to Ukraine would raise question of NATO involvement Eight hurt in overnight attacks on Ukraines Dnipro, according to reports Kyiv says Ukrainian troops advancing around Bakhmut as Russia brings in more forces Kremlin says Belgorod situation created to distract from Bakhmut loss 05:00 , Arpan Rai The Kremlin has blamed the incursion in Belgorod as a move aimed to distract attention from the eastern Ukrainian town of Bakhmut. Russian forces claim to have captured Bakhmut in its entirety after more than nine months of attritional fighting, while reports suggest there is some residual fighting seen in the outskirts of the city, but that the Ukrainian forces have lost control of the last streets of multi-story buildings inside city limits. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said president Vladimir Putin had been informed about the territorial conflict in Belgorod, and that work was under way to drive out the saboteurs, the state-run RIA Novosti news agency reported. We understand perfectly well the goal of such a diversion to divert attention from the Bakhmut direction and minimise the political effect of Bakhmuts loss for the Ukrainian side, Peskov was quoted as saying. Ukrainian military intelligence spokesperson Andriy Yusov said the Belgorod operation would create a security zone to protect Ukrainians from attacks by Russia, reported the countrys outlet Hromadske. Ukraine-based militia 'working in Russia's Belgorod to overthrow Putin regime' 04:45 , Arpan Rai A group calling itself the Liberty of Russia Legion a Ukraine-based militia led by Russian opposition figure Ilya Ponomarev says it is now working inside Russia to overthrow Putin. The group took to Twitter and said it had completely liberated the border town of Kozinka. It said forward units had reached the district centre of Graivoron, further east. Moving on. Russia will be free! it wrote. The group also released a video showing five heavily armed fighters. We are Russians, like you. We are people like you. We want our children to grow up in peace, one said, facing the camera. It is time to put an end to the dictatorship of the Kremlin. In Kyiv, Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak tweeted: Ukraine is watching the events in the Belgorod region of Russia with interest and studying the situation, but has nothing to do with it. Wagner Group looking to bring military equipment from Mali to Ukraine, says US 04:26 , Arpan Rai Russias Wagner Group is trying to obscure its efforts to acquire military equipment for use in Ukraine, the US State Department said. Washington has been informed the mercenary force is seeking to move those acquisitions through Mali to aid Russia in its war and is willing to use false paperwork for such transactions, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said at a news briefing yesterday. There are indications that Wagner has been attempting to purchase military systems from foreign suppliers and route these weapons through Mali as a third party, Mr Miller said. We have not seen as of yet any indications that these acquisitions have been finalised or executed, but we are monitoring the situation closely. Mr Miller said Washington has imposed sanctions on a number of people and entities that support Wagners military operations, and said the United States would have more to share soon. Videos from inside Belgorod show fighting, inspection of captured vehicles 03:58 , Arpan Rai A video posted late last night from Belgorod showed a fighter inspecting a captured armoured vehicle and another video showed what it said were fighters operating an armoured vehicle on a country road. The video was posted by one of the two armed Russian opposition groups, the Russian Volunteer Corps (RVC), carrying out the operations inside Moscows territory. Another group, the Liberty of Russia Legion, is also involved in attacking Russian forces in Belgorod, according to the Ukrainian outlet Hromadske which cited Ukrainian military intelligence. Other videos posted on Russian and Ukrainian social media channels showed pictures and video of what were described as captured Russian servicemen and their identity documents. The Telegram channel Baza, which has links to Russias security services, had earlier published aerial footage apparently showing a Ukrainian armoured vehicle advancing on the Graivoron border checkpoint. There were indications of fighting in three settlements along the main road leading into Russia, according to Baza. The Liberty of Russia Legion released a video showing five armed fighters. We are Russians, like you. We are people like you. We want our children to grow up in peace, one said, facing the camera. It is time to put an end to the dictatorship of the Kremlin. Wagner chief says he will pull fighters out of Bakhmut after capturing city 03:00 , Joe Middleton The leader of a Russian mercenary group has said he will pull its fighters from Bakhmut after claiming to have captured the Ukrainian city. Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin said Bakhmut, in the eastern Donetsk-Oblast region, had been captured by his private army on Saturday afternoon - a claim Ukraine continues to dispute. Volodymyr Zelenskys deputy defence minister Hanna Maliar instead claimed Ukrainian forces have partly encircled the besieged eastern city along the flanks and still control a part of the city. Wagner chief says he will pull fighters out of Bakhmut after capturing city ICYMI: Biden pledges shared and unwavering commitment to stand with Ukraine at G7 summit 02:00 , Joe Middleton World summits' 'family photos' show Putin's isolation 01:00 , Joe Middleton Theyre known as family photos, the images of world leaders posed in faux relaxation during global summits. And like portraits of a family that has isolated a dysfunctional member, recent family photos from the G7 and G8 the worlds most industrialized nations show how Russian President Vladimir Putin has been outcast. The Russian president has faced unprecedented international isolation since his nation invaded Ukraine in February 2022. An International Criminal Court arrest warrant hangs over his head and clouds his prospects of traveling to many destinations, including those viewed as Moscows allies. World summits' 'family photos' show Putin's isolation Rare earths, Ukraine top agenda on French President Macron's historic visit to Mongolia Monday 22 May 2023 23:59 , Joe Middleton Access to rare earth minerals and Russias war against Ukraine topped the agenda on French President Emmanuel Macrons historic visit to Mongolia. Macron met with his Mongolian counterpart Ukhnaagiin Khurelsukh on Sunday in the capital Ulaanbaatar and pledged cooperation on the extraction and trade of minerals used in satellites, cell phones and other key technologies. The visit was the first by a French head of state to Mongolia, a landlocked democracy of 3 million people twice the size of Texas sandwiched between Russia and China. Rare earths, Ukraine top agenda on French President Macron's historic visit to Mongolia Who are the Wagner Group and why are they so involved in Ukraine? Monday 22 May 2023 23:00 , Joe Middleton Vladimir Putin has leant on military contractors to claim victories in Ukraine but their leaders frank dispatches have increasingly rattled the Moscow establishment, writes Liam James. All we know about shadowy Wagner group mercenaries helping Putin wage war on Ukraine Head of Russias Wagner group claims to have captured Bakhmut Monday 22 May 2023 22:30 , Joe Middleton South Korea, EU agree to boost pressure on Russia, condemn North Korean missile tests Monday 22 May 2023 21:45 , Joe Middleton Leaders of South Korea and the European Union agreed Monday to increase pressure on Russia over its war against Ukraine and condemn North Koreas ballistic missile tests. South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol met with European Council President Charles Michel and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in Seoul after attending the weekend summit of the Group of Seven leading industrialized nations in Hiroshima, Japan. We agree to maintain and increase the collective pressure on Russia, particularly through effective implementation of the respective restrictive measures, they said in a joint statement. We are committed to support Ukraines recovery and reconstruction and remain resolved to support Ukraine for as long as it takes. South Korea, EU agree to boost pressure on Russia, condemn North Korean missile tests Ukraines cultural counteroffensive: The rush to erase Russias monuments Monday 22 May 2023 21:00 , Joe Middleton The erasure of the past has prompted a debate not unlike one in the UK and US: how to contend with the physical monuments to a fraught history? Ruby Mellen, Zoeann Murphy, Kostiantyn Khudov and Kasia Strek report. Ukraines cultural counteroffensive: The rush to erase Russias imprint Fears after Ukraine nuclear plant left without power after Russian shelling Monday 22 May 2023 20:00 , Joe Middleton Ukraines Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant was left without power today after a barrage of Russian shelling, the UN nuclear watchdog has said. Rafael Grossi, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), made an appeal for the protection of the plant after warning the situation is extremely vulnerable. He said the plant was forced to switch to emergency diesel generators after losing its external power supply for the seventh time since Vladimir Putin launched his invasion. Fears after Ukraine nuclear plant left without power after Russian shelling Putin has blown Bakhmut to smithereens. Why does he want it this badly? Monday 22 May 2023 19:15 , Joe Middleton Even if Russia and its mercenary Wagner Group have finally captured the town, its loss will not be the moral nor strategic victory that Russia desperately needs, writes Kit Macdonald. Opinion: Putin has blown Bakhmut to smithereens. Why does he want it this badly? Attempts to freeze the conflict in Ukraine where it is are wrong, says Sunak Monday 22 May 2023 18:29 , Joe Middleton Attempts to freeze the conflict in Ukraine where it is are absolutely wrong and should be called out, the Prime Minister has said. Rishi Sunak was answering former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, who made the case for a ceasefire. The PM said he could not disagree more with Mr Corbyn, an independent MP, and said a temporary suspension of fighting would not be a just and lasting peace for Ukraine. Attempts to freeze the conflict in Ukraine where it is are wrong, says Sunak Monday 22 May 2023 17:44 , Laura Sharman The flag of the Russian Freedom Legion was filmed flying over Moscow on Monday, carried by blue and white balloons. The silk, a symbol of opposition to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, has been used by Russian anti-war protesters. Russia: Flag of the Russian Freedom Legion flying over Moscow on balloons. Integrated into the Ukrainian Armed Forces, Russian Freedom Legion consists of Russian citizens fighting on the side of Ukraine against fascist Russia. pic.twitter.com/HL1qSydqEZ Igor Sushko (@igorsushko) May 22, 2023 Ukraine and Poland: More on historic mass murders Monday 22 May 2023 17:37 , Laura Sharman The massacre of Poles by Ukranians remains a sore spot between the two nations, despite their strong relations in the face of Putins war. The World War II mass murders brought death to some 100,000 Poles while an estimated 15,000 Ukrainians died in retaliation. Entire villages were burned down and all their inhabitants killed by Ukrainian nationalists and their helpers seeking to establish an independent Ukraine state. Warsaw and Kyiv now have convergent views on regional security and Poland is among the strongest supporters of Ukraine in its fight against Russias military aggression.The spat between Ukraine and its staunch ally began last week when Polands foreign ministry spokesperson Lukasz Jasina referred to the 80th anniversary. He said Poland was expecting an apology from Ukraine and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for the 1943 to 1944 massacres. Ukraines ambassador to Poland, Vasyl Zvarych, reacted by saying that any suggestions of what Kyiv or Zelenskyy should do were unacceptable and unfortunate but later toned down his message by saying Ukraine was open to dialogue about history. Ukraine and Poland spar over painful past that includes mass murder Monday 22 May 2023 17:25 , Laura Sharman Officials from the strategic partners unexpectedly exchanged bitter remarks in relation to their harrowing mutual past. This year marks the 80th anniversary of the massacres of tens of thousands of Poles by Ukrainians that Poland calls genocide. In 1943 to 1944, Ukrainian nationalists and others massacred some 100,000 Polish people in Volhynia and other regions. Then part of eastern Poland, under Nazi German occupation, they are now part of Ukraine.Seeking to calm emotions, an aide to Polands President Andrzej Duda said on Monday that the Poles only wanted the truth and respect for the tens of thousands of Polish victims. We are only expecting the truth and respect for the victims and we will be... working on this theme in order to have a full clarification of the subject and respect paid to possibly all the victims, Deputy Minister Marcin Przydacz told Polish state TVP1. Tory MP says we have failed to suffocate the financial war machine in Putins war Monday 22 May 2023 17:13 , Laura Sharman Alicia Kearns has called for a military-style economic Ramstein on Ukraine to make a meaningful different and end this war sooner. Ramstein is a US military base in Germany, where members of the Defence Contact Group have met on numerous occasions to discuss arms and supplies for the Ukrainian military. The Conservative MP, who chairs the Foreign Affairs Committee, added: Can I urge the creation of an economic Ramstein on Ukraine that mirrors that of the military because we have failed to suffocate the financial war machine that is allowing Putin to continue with this war. Russias violent resistance is emerging from underground, says senior aide Monday 22 May 2023 16:46 , Laura Sharman Zelenskys senior aide said Kyiv had nothing to do with the incursion in Russias Belgorod region, putting it down to Russias violent resistance movement. Russia announced on Monday that it is battling a cross-border incursion by saboteurs who burst through the frontier from Ukraine. The incident appears to be one of the biggest attacks of its kind since the war began last year. But Ukraines military intelligence service attributed the operation to opposition-minded Russian citizens, Ukrainian media outlet Hromadske said. In a written statement, senior Zelenskiy aide Mykhailo Podolyak echoed Ukrainian military intelligence. The violent Russian resistance movement, whose architects are exclusively citizens of Russia itself, is gradually coming out of the underground. They are independent in their decisions, have certain experience, and are free from fear. Rishi Sunak says the UK will stand with Ukraine for as long as it takes Monday 22 May 2023 16:21 , Laura Sharman The Prime Minister has today said the UK and its western allies will stand with Ukraine for as long as it takes. Rishi Sunak referred to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskys appearance at the G7 summit during Wednesdays PMQs at the Commons. He told MPs: Russias military is failing on the battlefield, their economy is failing at home as we tighten the stranglehold of sanctions... The image of the G7 leaders standing shoulder to shoulder with President Zelensky in Hiroshima sent a powerful message to the world: we will stand with Ukraine for as long as it takes. Rishi Sunak during PMQs in January (Reuters) Zelensky aide says Ukraine has nothing to do with Belgorod events Monday 22 May 2023 15:14 , Martha Mchardy A senior aide to Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said Kyiv had nothing to do with an armed operation in Russias Belgorod region on Monday. Ukraine is watching the events in the Belgorod region of Russia with interest and studying the situation, but it has nothing to do with it, presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak tweeted. As you know, tanks are sold at any Russian military store, and underground guerrilla groups are composed of Russian citizens. In a written statement to Reuters, Podolyak said Ukraines military operates only on Ukrainian territory and echoed Ukrainian military intelligence in blaming Russian partisans for the incursion. The Russian liberation movement can become something that will contribute to the correct end of the war in Ukraine and significantly speed up the beginning of transformational events in the Russian political elite, he said. The Russian violent resistance movement, whose architects are exclusively citizens of Russia itself, is gradually coming out of the underground. They are independent in their decisions, have certain experience, and are free from fear. Podolyak said Russias war on Ukraine was gradually returning to Russia itself. The authorities are losing control over the regions and the situation in general. And this is a window of opportunity for any internal protest movements, he said. Governor of Russias Belgorod says three people injured in cross-border attack Monday 22 May 2023 15:13 , Martha Mchardy The governor of Russias Belgorod region said on Monday that at least three people had been injured and three houses and a local administrative building damaged during a cross-border attack from Ukraine. Denmark offers to host Ukraine peace talks, wants India, China, Brazil to attend Monday 22 May 2023 13:55 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain Denmark would like to host a summit in July aimed at finding peace between Ukraine and Russia, but such a meeting would need engagement from India, China and Brazil, Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen said Monday. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Sunday sought global support at the G7 meeting in Japan for Kyivs plan to end Russias war in Ukraine and proposed to hold a global summit in July. If Ukraine finds that the time has come to have such a meeting, that would be fantastic. And then Denmark would obviously like to host the meeting, Lokke Rasmussen told reporters on the sidelines of the EU Foreign Affairs Council in Brussels. A proposal in December by Ukraine to hold a peace summit in February this year never materialized. For starters, we need to put some effort into creating a global commitment to organise such a meeting, Lokke Rasmussen said, adding that a summit should not just be attended by Ukraines allies. It is necessary to build interest and involvement from countries like India, Brazil and China, he said. It is hard for me to see Russia taking part, he added. Zelensky last year proposed a 10-point peace plan, which calls on Russia to withdraw all its troops from Ukraine and to respect Ukraines territorial integrity. The details of its implementation should be discussed at the proposed peace summit, Zelenskiys administration said in a statement on Sunday. Lokke Rasmussen said he welcomed a decision by Washington to support joint allied training programmes for Ukrainian pilots on F-16 fighter jets. It makes sense to begin training of Ukrainian pilots as soon as possible, Lokke Rasmussen said, adding it was too early to say if Denmark would supply F-16s to Ukraine. Putin informed of attacks in Russia's Belgorod region - RIA cites Kremlin Monday 22 May 2023 13:42 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain Russian President Vladimir Putin has been informed of attacks by a Ukrainian sabotage group in Russias southern Belgorod region, the RIA news agency cited Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov as saying on Monday. Peskov was cited as saying that Russian forces were working to eject and eliminate the group, RIA reported. Russia claims eastern city of Bakhmut, but Ukrainian military leaders say battle isn't over Monday 22 May 2023 13:23 , Martha Mchardy Although Russia claims it has won control of Ukraines eastern city of Bakhmut after a grinding nine-month conflict in which tens of thousands of fighters have died, top Ukrainian military leaders say the battle is not over. Ukrainian officials acknowledge they now control only a small part of Bakhmut. Deputy defense minister Hanna Maliar said Monday that Ukrainian troops hold some areas in its southwestern outskirts, while fighting continues for the strategic heights in the northern and southern parts of the suburbs. The offensive potential of the enemy has been significantly reduced. Huge losses have been inflicted on the enemy. We have gained time for certain actions, which will be revealed later, Maliar said. Ukraine says their fighters presence has played a key role in their strategy of exhausting Russian forces. And they say their current positions surrounding Bakhmut will let them strike back inside the 400-year-old city. Despite the fact that we now control a small part of Bakhmut, the importance of its defence does not lose its relevance, said Col.-Gen. Oleksandr Syrskyi, who commands Ukraines ground forces. This gives us the opportunity to enter the city in case of a change in the situation. And it will definitely happen. The fog of war made it impossible to confirm the situation inside Bakhmut. Russias Defense Ministry said fighters of the Wagner private military contractor, backed by Russian troops, had seized the city. Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelensky said the city was not being fully occupied. In a video posted on Telegram, Wagner head Yevgeny Prigozhin claimed the city came under complete Russian control about midday Saturday. Holding a Russian flag before a group of at least nine masked fighters in body armour with heavy weapons, Prigozhin proclaimed: This afternoon at 12:00, Bakhmut was completely taken. Who are the Wagner Group and why are they so involved in Ukraine? Monday 22 May 2023 13:08 , Martha Mchardy Russian soldiers fighting in Ukraine have been supported on the battlefield by tens of thousands of mercenaries from a shadowy group led by a businessman and longtime affiliate of president Vladimir Putin. The Wagner Group is a private military company under the control of Yevgeny Prigozhin that cut its teeth in deployments to Crimea and eastern Ukraines Donbas region in 2014 and has since dispatched troops to several conflicts in the Middle East and Africa, including the Syrian Civil War. In Russias invasion of Ukraine, Wagner has proved indispensable, but an apparent power struggle between the Kremlin and the outspoken Mr Prigozhin has led to the group having its wings clipped by Moscow. Liam James reports: All we know about shadowy Wagner group mercenaries helping Putin wage war on Ukraine Governor of Russias Belgorod says Ukrainian sabotage group crossed border Monday 22 May 2023 12:38 , Martha Mchardy The governor of Russias Belgorod region said on Monday that a Ukrainian army sabotage group had entered Russian territory in the Graivoron district, which borders Ukraine. In a statement on Telegram, Vyacheslav Gladkov said that the Russian army and security forces were taking measures to repel the incursion. Earlier, the Telegram channel Baza, which is linked to Russias security services, had published footage apparently showing a Ukrainian tank attacking a Russian border post. The reports have not been independently verified. In pictures: Destruction in Dnipro after overnight Russian air strikes Monday 22 May 2023 11:28 , Martha Mchardy People walk outside an apartment building destroyed by a Russian military strike (REUTERS) Apartment buildings destroyed by a Russian military strike (REUTERS) Workers stand next to a damaged residential building following a Russian strike in a small town in Dnipropetrovsk (AFP via Getty Images) Two women hospitalised after shelling in Ukrainian city Kupiansk - Suspline Monday 22 May 2023 11:03 , Martha Mchardy Two women have been hospitalised after shelling in the Ukrainian city Kupiansk in Kharkiv Oblast, Ukraines state broadcaster Suspline is reporting, citing Kharkivs regional governor Oleh Synyehubov. Private houses and civil infrastructure were damaged by shelling, according to reports. Power restored to Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant Monday 22 May 2023 10:54 , Martha Mchardy Ukraine reconnected the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant to its external power supply on Monday after a brief outage that had left it reliant on emergency generators. Back-up diesel generators had earlier kicked in at the plant in southern Ukraine to ensure nuclear fuel was kept cool and prevent a potential disaster. Each side blamed the other for the power outage. A Russia-installed local official said Ukraine had disconnected a power line and Ukrainian state nuclear energy company Energoatom said the problem was caused by Russian shelling. Announcing that repair work had been carried out, Ukrainian national grid operator Ukrenergo said: The station is switching (back) to power supply from the Ukrainian power system. A Russian serviceman guards in an area of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Station in territory under Russian military control (AP) The incident had alarmed Rafael Grossi, the head of the United Nations nuclear energy watchdog, who said the nuclear safety situation at the plant was extremely vulnerable and underlined the need for international protection. Even though the six reactors are shut down at the plant, they still need a constant supply of electricity to keep the nuclear fuel inside cool and prevent a possible meltdown. The plant, which lies in an area of Russian-occupied southern Ukraine near front lines along the Dnipro River, is Europes biggest nuclear power station and the area has been repeatedly hit by shelling. Energoatom said it was the seventh time power had been cut to the plant since Russias full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Ukraine said the latest Russian attacks had cut off electricity to nearly 250,000 consumers in the Zaporizhzhia region but that power had been restored to most of them. Ukrenergo said power was also being restored to consumers in the Dnipropetrovsk region after overnight Russian air strikes. Monday 22 May 2023 10:30 , Martha Mchardy Denmark would like to host a summit in July about how to find peace between Ukraine and Russia, the Ritzau news agency reported foreign minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen saying on Monday. Watch: Head of Russias Wagner group claims to have captured Bakhmut Monday 22 May 2023 10:29 , Martha Mchardy Bakhmut a mousetrap for Russian forces, claims Ukrainian MP Monday 22 May 2023 10:03 , Martha Mchardy The eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut is a mousetrap for Russian forces, a Ukrainian MP has said. Andrii Osadchuk, MP for the Golos party, told Sky News that Kyiv has done well to prevent Moscows forces from going deeper into Ukrainian territory. Mr Osadchuk said that Ukrainian forces did not let Russian forces go deeper into Ukrainian territory to other cities such as Kramatorsk. He said: From the very beginning of the war the Kremlin was desperately needing victories, they dont have victories at all, they only had losses. They created this myth about Bakhmut like its something extremely important for them. From the very beginning we understood that on a technical point Bakhmut is a regular city which is not a big one. At the end of the day, Bakhmut is a mouse trap for Russian forces in Ukraines southeast and definitely Ukraines military will continue its operation because our target is very simple - we need to liquidate their forces as much possible. Kyiv says Ukrainian troops advancing around Bakhmut as Russia brings in more forces Monday 22 May 2023 09:45 , Martha Mchardy Ukrainian troops are still advancing on the flanks of the devastated city of Bakhmut, although the intensity of their movement has decreased and Russia is bringing in more forces, Ukrainian deputy defence minister Hanna Maliar said on Monday. In televised comments, she said Ukraine had a small foothold inside the city itself, again denying Russias assertion that it has established full control over Bakhmut. Liberation of Crimea by military force only way to stop Russian aggression, says Ukrainian presidential advisor Monday 22 May 2023 09:38 , Martha Mchardy The liberation of Crimea by military force is the only way to stop Russian aggression, a Ukrainian presidential advisor has said as the Russias ambassador to the United States warns against a Ukrainian attack on Crimea. Russias ambassador to the United States, Anatoly Antonov, said any Ukrainian strike on the Crimea region would be considered a strike on Russia. It is important that the United States be fully aware of the Russian response, Antonov said in a post on Telegram. Ukraine has intensified its strikes on Russian-held targets especially on the Crimean Peninsula, which Russia annexed from Ukraine in 2014. Mykhailo Podolyak, adviser to the head of the office of president of Ukraine appeared to hit back at this claim. In a tweet he said: Crimea is an indisputable and inseparable part of Ukraine. It was, it is and it will be. The liberation of Crimea using any military force and means is the only rational way to stop Russian aggressions and bring the world back to international law. It is Ukraines direct obligation and necessity today... Crimea is an indisputable and inseparable part of Ukraine. It was, it is and it will be. The liberation of Crimea using any military force and means is the only rational way to stop "Russian aggressions" and bring the world back to international law. It is Ukraine's direct (@Podolyak_M) May 22, 2023 Antonov also warned that the transfer of F-16 jets to Ukraine by the US would raise the question of NATOs role in the conflict. U.S. president Joe Biden on Friday endorsed training programs for Ukrainian pilots on F-16 fighter jets and Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy assured Biden that the aircraft would not be used to go into Russian territory. There is no infrastructure for the operation of the F-16 in Ukraine and the needed number of pilots and maintenance personnel is not there either, Antonov said. What will happen if the American fighters take off from NATO airfields, controlled by foreign volunteers? Wagner group claims to have taken Bakhmut Monday 22 May 2023 09:20 , Martha Mchardy The head of the Russian mercenary Wagner group Yevgeny Prigozhin claimed yesterday his forces had taken the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut after nine months of fighting. Prigozhin said his forces would leave Bakhmut on May 25th. Wagner has made no advances. Wagner today captured no territory. We have captured all the territory we promised to capture, right up to the last centimetre, Prigozhin said on Sunday in an audio message on the Telegram messaging app. As we stated yesterday. We are handing over our positions to (Russias) Defence Ministry and on the 25th (of May) we are leaving the conflict zone. It came after Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said Bakhmut is no longer occupied by the Russian Federation as of Sunday, during the G7 summit in Japan yesterday. Bakhmut is not occupied by Russian Federation as of today. There are no two or three interpretations of those words, he said. In pictures: Destruction Bakhmut Monday 22 May 2023 09:13 , Martha Mchardy Pictures show destruction in the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut. Russia claims to have occupied the city, but yesterday, at the G7 summit in Japan, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said: Bakhmut is not occupied by Russian Federation as of today. There are no two or three interpretations of those words. An apartment block on fire in the city of Bakhmut, Donetsk region (Armed Forces of Ukraine/AFP via) Destruction in the city of Bakhmut (Armed Forces of Ukraine/AFP via) An apartment block on fire in Bakhmut (Armed Forces of Ukraine/AFP via) ICYMI: Putin will not break our resolve, Joe Biden tells G7 Monday 22 May 2023 09:00 , Sravasti Dasgupta Joe Biden has insisted Russian president Vladimir Putin will not break our resolve as he vowed America would show unwavering commitment to Ukraine in a speech at the G7 summit. Speaking on the last day of the summit in Japan, the US president called for peace that respects Ukraines sovereignty and territorial integrity. Martha McHardy reports: Putin will not break our resolve, Joe Biden tells G7 Ukraine shells Russian village in Bryansk, regional governor claims Monday 22 May 2023 08:58 , Martha Mchardy Ukraine shelled a Russian village in Bryansk, the regions governor has claimed. Governor AlexanderBogomaz said Ukrainian forces shelled the village of Khoromnoe in the Klimovsky district. No casualties were reported, but one household and an outbuilding caught fire, he claimed. In a message posted on Telegram, governor Bogomazsaid: The armed forces of Ukraine fired mortars at the village of Khoromnoe in the Klimovsky district. There were no casualties. As a result of the shelling, one household and an outbuilding caught fire. Operational and emergency services are on site. The claims have not been independently verified. Situation at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant cannot continue, says IAEA director general Monday 22 May 2023 08:52 , Martha Mchardy The situation at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant cannot continue, the director general of International Atomic Energy Agency said in a tweet. Ukraines state-owned power generating company Energoatom said on Monday that the outage at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant was due to Russian shelling of an external power line. #Ukraines #ZNPP this morning lost all external electricity for 7th time during conflict, forcing it to rely on emergency diesel generators for power; nuclear safety situation at the plant extremely vulnerable. We must agree to protect plant now; this situation cannot continue. Rafael MarianoGrossi (@rafaelmgrossi) May 22, 2023 Wagner founder Prigozhin says his forces will leave Bakhmut from May 25 to June 1 Monday 22 May 2023 08:47 , Martha Mchardy The founder of Russias Wagner Group Yevgeny Prigozhin said on Monday that Wagner forces will leave Bakhmut, the Ukrainian city that it successfully took on Saturday after a months-long battle, from May 25 until June 1. In pictures: destruction in Dnipro after overnight attacks Monday 22 May 2023 08:44 , Martha Mchardy A vehicle destroyed by a Russian missile strike is seen at a compound of a fire depot of the State Emergency Service, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Dnipro (via REUTERS) Rescuers walk along of destroyed vehicles at a compound of a fire depot of the State Emergency Service heavily damaged by a Russian missile strike (via REUTERS) A vehicle destroyed by a Russian missile strike is seen at a compound of a fire depot of the State Emergency Service (via REUTERS) A vehicle destroyed by a Russian missile strike in Dnipro (via REUTERS) EU won't restore SWIFT link for Russian bank till after Ukraine conflict ends Monday 22 May 2023 08:30 , Sravasti Dasgupta The European Union (EU) may restore access to the SWIFT payment system for a Russian state agricultural bank only after the conflict in Ukraine ends, according to a report in the Russian newspaper Izvestia. The paper quoted EU foreign affairs spokesperson Peter Stano as saying on Monday that the payment mode for Rosselkhozbank may only be restored after Russias war in Ukraine ends. The statement comes as the Black Sea grain deal to allow safe passage of Ukrainian farm produce was extended for two more months last week. But Moscow says it wants to see more progress on implementing parts of the package affecting Russia, including re-admitting Rosselkhozbank to SWIFT. FILE - Cargo ships anchor at the Black Sea wait to cross the Bosporus strait in Istanbul, Turkey, on Nov. 17, 2022. (Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.) Why Ukraine has fought Russia for every inch of Bakhmut, despite high cost Monday 22 May 2023 08:00 , Sravasti Dasgupta The nine-month battle for Bakhmut has destroyed the 400-year-old city in eastern Ukraine and killed tens of thousands of people in a mutually devastating demonstration of Ukraines strategy of exhausting the Russian military. While Russia claims to have captured the city, Ukraine has said it has not been occupied. Ukrainian military leaders say their months-long resistance has been worth it because it limited Russias capabilities elsewhere and allowed for Ukrainian advances. Read more in this report by the Associated Press about why the battle for Bakhmut remains important: 'Exhaust them': Why Ukraine has fought Russia for every inch of Bakhmut, despite high cost Outage at Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant due to Russian shelling of power line, says Ukraines Energoatom Monday 22 May 2023 07:36 , Martha Mchardy Ukraines state-owned power generating company Energoatom said on Monday that the outage at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant was due to Russian shelling of an external power line. The Dniprovska power line in Ukraine, which supplies power for the now Moscow-controlled Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, was disconnected after overnight Russian shelling, Energoatom said on the Telegram messaging app. Eight hurt in overnight attacks on Ukraines Dnipro, according to reports Monday 22 May 2023 07:35 , Martha Mchardy At least eight people were wounded and scores of buildings were damaged in a Russian air attack overnight on the Dnipropetrovsk region, Ukraine said on Monday, adding that air defence systems destroyed 20 drones and four cruise missiles. Seven people were injured in an attack on Synelnykivskyi district of the Dnipropetrovsk region and at least one man was wounded in the attack on Dnipro city, the governor, Serhiy Lysak, said on Telegram. With a Ukrainian counteroffensive looming, Russia has intensified its missile and drone strikes this month after a lull of nearly two months. Waves of attacks now come several times a week, the heaviest of the war. The Russian invaders attacked military and infrastructure facilities of the eastern outpost of Ukraine - the city of Dnipro, Ukraines air force said on the Telegram messaging service. The attack was carried out by 16 different types of missiles and 20 Shahed-136/131 strike drones, the air force said, adding that air defences brought down 20 Russian drones and four cruise missiles. Scores of buildings, including private homes, apartment blocks and administrative infrastructure were damaged or destroyed, he said. The reports have not been independently verified. Russia creating new elite aviation attack group, says MoD Monday 22 May 2023 07:30 , Sravasti Dasgupta The British Ministry of Defence says Russia is highly likely creating a new elite attack aviation group to join its operations over Ukraine. The new group is codenamed Shtorm and consists of at least one squadron of Su-24 Fencer and Su-34 Fullback fighter-bombers, and a squadron of attack helicopters, the MoD said in its latest intelligence update. The mix of aircraft types suggests the group will have a primary role of ground attack missions, the MoD said. It also said that the creation of the group highlights how Russia assesses its regular air force squadrons have severely underperformed in their core function of conducting airstrikes on Ukrainian lines. (2/4) The mix of aircraft types suggests the group will have a primary role of ground attack missions. Ministry of Defence (@DefenceHQ) May 22, 2023 Russia says F-16s to Ukraine would raise question of NATO involvement Monday 22 May 2023 07:28 , Martha Mchardy The transfer of F-16 jets to Ukraine would raise the question of NATOs role in the conflict, a senior Russian diplomat said on Monday, while accusing the U.S. of subordinating the Group of Seven (G7) to its policy of inflicting strategic defeat on Russia. U.S. president Joe Biden on Friday endorsed training programs for Ukrainian pilots on F-16 fighter jets and Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy assured Biden that the aircraft would not be used to go into Russian territory. There is no infrastructure for the operation of the F-16 in Ukraine and the needed number of pilots and maintenance personnel is not there either, Russias ambassador to the United States, Anatoly Antonov, said in remarks published on the embassys Telegram messaging channel. What will happen if the American fighters take off from NATO airfields, controlled by foreign volunteers? Antonov said that any Ukrainian strike on the Crimea region would be considered a strike on Russia. It is important that the United States be fully aware of the Russian response, Antonov said. Ukraine has intensified its strikes on Russian-held targets especially on the Crimean Peninsula, which Russia annexed from Ukraine in 2014. Antonov also reiterated a Russian accusation against the United States of subjecting Western countries to its agenda. Washington completely subordinated the G7 members to its own policy regarding the conflict in Ukraine, Antonov said, adding that the United States wanted a strategic defeat for Russia. During their summit on the weekend in Japan, the G7 countries signalled long-term support for Ukraine. President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, who also attended the gathering, said he was confident that Ukraine would receive supplies of the F-16. Russia, which invaded Ukraine in February last year, has increasingly portrayed what it calls its special military operation as a campaign against the West. Ukraine and its Western allies call Russias action an unprovoked war to grab land. Ukraines Energoatom says power outage at Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Plant Monday 22 May 2023 07:25 , Martha Mchardy Ukraines state-owned power generating company Energoatom said on Monday that there was a power outage at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Plant after a Russia-installed official said the plant was switched to standby and emergency power supply. Yes, we have the seventh blackout since the start of the (Russian) occupation, Energoatom told Reuters. Yuriy Malashko, governor of the Zaporizhzhia region in Ukraine said that there was a fire at one of the facilities in Zaporizhzhia city due to an overload in the power system. Problems with electricity supply that arose in the city of Zaporizhzhia are not related to shelling, Malashko said on the Telegram messaging app. Estonia and Latvia to jointly purchase German air defence systems Monday 22 May 2023 07:01 , Andy Gregory Estonia and Latvia have announced a plan to jointly acquire German air defence systems for the protection of the two Nato nations airspace. According to the provisional deal, deliveries of the medium-range IRIS-T SLM air defence system could begin next year and the systems could be operational in 2025. Estonian defence minister Hanno Pevkur described the deal as a joint project of historical proportions for our defence co-operation, the largest one to date between Tallinn and Riga. Presuming that negotiations are successful, we hope to reach contract and, subsequently, announce the official winning bidder this summer, Mr Pevkur said in a statement. The German air defence system, consisting of truck-mounted launchers, missiles and a separate command vehicle, is designed to protect cities, armies and civilian populations from air attacks and to be effective at neutralising planes and helicopters. Russia launches overnight air attack on Ukraine's Dnipro Monday 22 May 2023 06:30 , Sravasti Dasgupta Russia launched an overnight air attack on the southeastern Ukrainian city of Dnipro, according to officials. Serhiy Lysak, governor of the Dnipropetrovsk region of which Dnipro is the administrative centre, said on Telegram that the region withstood the attack, referring to Russian forces as terrorists. Thanks to the defence forces, we withstood the attack. Details will come in due time. The RBC-Ukraine news agency reported that around 15 blasts were heard in Dnipro during more than 90 minutes of air raid alerts. The Kyiv Independent reported that explosions were heard in Dnipro at 2.54am. It was not immediately known whether the blasts were air defence systems destroying their targets or Russian missiles or drones hitting their targets. FILE-A police officer is seen at the site of a residential area hit by a Russian military strike, amid Russias attack on Ukraines Dnipropetrovsk region (REUTERS) Zelensky draws parallels between Bakhmut and Hiroshima Monday 22 May 2023 06:01 , Andy Gregory Speaking at the G7 summit in Japan on Sunday, Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky drew a parallel between the destruction of Bakhmut and the atomic bombing of Hiroshima. Ill tell you openly: Photographs of ruined Hiroshima absolutely remind me of Bakhmut and other similar settlements, Mr Zelensky told reporters after laying flowers at the cenotaph to victims of the 1945 atrocity. Nothing left alive, all the buildings ruined. (AP /Eugene Hoshiko) Brazil's Lula says meeting fell through because Zelensky was late Monday 22 May 2023 05:30 , Sravasti Dasgupta Brazilian president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has said that a scheduled meeting with Volodymyr Zelensky fell through on the sidelines of the Group of Seven (G7) summit in Japan because the Ukrainian president was late. I had an interview, a bilateral one with Ukraine here in this room at 3.15pm. We waited and received the information that he was late, Mr Lula was quoted as saying by Reuters. He added that Mr Zelensky did not show up ... Clearly he had appointments and he couldnt come. Earlier Zelensky had earlier played down the fact he did not meet with Lula. On the sidelines of the summit Mr Lula also said that the Russia-Ukraine war should be discussed at the UN and not at the G7 meeting. Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva speaks during a news conference after attending the Group of Seven nations summit (Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved) Modi promises whatever is possible to find solution on Ukraine to Zelensky at G7 Monday 22 May 2023 05:02 , Andy Gregory Indian prime minister Narendra Modi has assured Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky of whatever is possible to find a solution to bring an end to the continuing war amid Russias full-scale invasion as the two leaders met in Hiroshima along the sidelines of the G7 summit, my colleague Arpan Rai reports. Over the past one-and-a-half years, we have spoken on the phone but after a long time, we have an opportunity to meet. The war in Ukraine is a very big issue for the whole world. It has had many different impacts on the whole world, Mr Modi told the Ukrainian president as the two leaders sat down for their first face-to-face talks with their delegation on Saturday. Mr Modi added: But I dont see this as a political or economic issue, for me this is an issue of humanity, an issue of human values. Modi promises whatever is possible to find solution on Ukraine to Zelensky at G7 Russia says F16 transfer to Ukraine would raise questions of Nato's involvement Monday 22 May 2023 04:30 , Sravasti Dasgupta Russia has warned of a response and said that the transfer of F16 fighter jets to Ukraine would raise the question of Natos involvement in the conflict. In remarks published early on Monday, Russias ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov said on the embassys Telegram messaging channel: There is no infrastructure for the operation of the F16 in Ukraine and the needed number of pilots and maintenance personnel is not there either. What will happen if the American fighters take off from Nato airfields, controlled by foreign volunteers? He added: It is important that the United States be fully aware of the Russian response. The remarks come days after US president Joe Biden on Friday endorsed training programmes for Ukrainian pilots on F16 fighter jets. Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky assured Mr Biden that the aircraft would not be used to go into Russian territory. (Ukrainian Armed Forces/Reuters) Watch: Ukrainian president Zelensky arrives in Japan for G7 summit Monday 22 May 2023 04:05 , Andy Gregory Russia indicts ICC prosecutor and judge who issued Putin arrest warrant Monday 22 May 2023 03:02 , Andy Gregory Russia has announced indictments in absentia for a judge and prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) who issued a war crimes warrant for president Vladimir Putin. A statement from Russias national Investigative Committee said the judge, Rosario Salvatore Aitala, and prosecutor Khan Karim Asad Ahmad are both charged with preparing to attack a representative of a foreign country enjoying international protection in order to complicate international relations. The committee also said other ICC officials are being investigated. The March warrant against Mr Putin accuses him of personal responsibility for the abductions of children from Ukraine, and the court also charged Maria Lvova-Belova, the Russian presidential commissioner for childrens rights. Russian victory in Bakhmut opens door to more hard-fought battles nearby, says analyst Monday 22 May 2023 02:02 , Andy Gregory Russias claimed victory in Bakhmut would open the the door to more grinding battles nearby, an analyst has said. These would take place in the direction of Sloviansk or Kostiantynivka, 12 miles away from Bakhmut, Kateryna Stepanenko of the US-based Institute for the Study of War think-tank, told the Associated Press. Gains around Bakhmut make it easier to deliver supplies, says Ukrainian commander Monday 22 May 2023 01:00 , AP The flanks regained by Ukraine around Bakhmut in recent days are located near two highways that lead to Chasiv Yar, a town 6 miles from the city that serves as a key logistics supply route, one dubbed the road of life. Ukrainian forces passing this road often came under fire from Russians positioned along nearby strategic heights. Armoured vehicles and pickup trucks driving toward the city to replenish Ukrainian troops were frequently destroyed. With the high plains now under Ukrainian control, its forces have more breathing room. This will help us design new logistic chains to deliver ammunition in and evacuate the injured or killed boys, said Taras Deiak, a commander of a special unit of a volunteer battalion, speaking from inside the city on Thursday, two days before Russia claimed it controlled the city. Now it is easier to deliver supplies, rotate troops, [carry out] evacuations. Ukraine may have taken advantage of weak Russian lines outside Bakhmut Sunday 21 May 2023 23:59 , Andy Gregory Some analysts have said that Ukraines tactical gains in the rural area outside urban Bakhmut could be more significant than they seem. It was almost like the Ukrainians just took advantage of the fact that, actually, the Russian lines were weak, said Phillips OBrien, a professor of strategic studies at the University of St. Andrews. The Russian army has suffered such high losses and is so worn out around Bakhmut that ... it cannot go forward anymore. Watch: Biden pledges 'unwavering commitment to stand with Ukraine at G7 summit Sunday 21 May 2023 23:02 , Andy Gregory Prigozhin claims practically no one from Russian army involved in Bakhmut capture' Sunday 21 May 2023 22:01 , Andy Gregory Claiming the capture of Bakhmut, the founder of the Wagner mercenary group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, insisted that practically no one from the [Russian] army helped us. In a braven display of insouciance towards the Kremlin, the mercenary chief has repeatedly attacked Russias military leaders over their logistical ineptitude and lack of support in Bakhmut, which Western analysts have suggested reflects Vladimir Putins weakening grip on power in Moscow. In remarks on Sunday, Mr Prigozhin said his forces would hand its territory in Bakhmut over to the defence ministrys troops on Friday. We have captured all the territory we promised to capture, right up to the last centimetre, he said in an audio message on Telegram. As we stated yesterday. We are handing over our positions to [Russias] Defence Ministry and on the 25th we are leaving the conflict zone. ICYMI: Ukraine says troops still engaging Russian forces in Bakhmut after Moscow announces victory in city Sunday 21 May 2023 21:00 , Matt Mathers Ukrainian soldiers were still engaging Russian forces in fierce battles in and around Bakhmut on Sunday, military officials said, hours after Moscow and the private army Wagner announced that their troops had taken full control of the eastern city. The fog of war made it impossible to confirm the situation on the ground in the invasions longest battle, and a series of comments from Ukrainian and Russian officials added confusion to the matter. Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minsiter Hanna Malyar even went so far as to say that Ukrainian troops took the city in a semi-encirclement. Susie Blann and Elise Morton report: Ukraine says troops still engaging Russian forces in Bakhmut after Moscow announces victory in city Ukraines insignificant territory in Bakhmut still a vital foothold, top general insists Sunday 21 May 2023 19:58 , Andy Gregory Kyivs troops are advancing on Russian forces in the suburbs of Bakhmut and are getting closer to a "tactical encirclement" of the city, the commander of Ukraine's ground forces has claimed. General Oleksandr Syrskyi said on Telegram that he had visited frontline positions near Bakhmut and thanked troops defending the area. Accepting that the area still controlled by Ukraine was insignificant, the top general insisted the foothold would be enough to enter the devastated city when the situation changed, Reuters reported. ICYMI: Russia warns of colossal risks if F-16 fighter jets sent to Ukraine Sunday 21 May 2023 19:00 , Matt Mathers Russia has warned Western countries that supplying Ukraine with F-16 fighter jets would carry colossal risks, after US president Joe Biden announced the US would support the delivery of warplanes. As G7 leaders met for the second day of the summit in Japan, Russian deputy foreign minister Alexander Grushko accused Western countries of still adhering to the escalation scenario. It involves colossal risks for themselves, he added. In any case, this will be taken into account in all our plans, and we have all the necessary means to achieve the goals we have set. Katy Clifton reports: Russia warns of colossal risks if F-16 fighter jets sent to Ukraine Opinion: Are the economic sanctions on Russia yielding desirable results? Sunday 21 May 2023 18:00 , Matt Mathers They have long been the weapon of choice of political leaders wishing to curb a rogue countrys behaviour the problem is, they rarely work, writes Chris Blackhurst. Read Chriss full piece here: Are the economic sanctions on Russia yielding desirable results? | Chris Blackhurst ICYMI: Modi promises whatever is possible to find solution on Ukraine to Zelensky at G7 Sunday 21 May 2023 17:00 , Matt Mathers Indian prime minister Narendra Modi has assured Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky of whatever is possible to find a solution to bring an end to the continuing war amid Russias full-scale invasion as the two leaders met in Hiroshima along the sidelines of the G7 summit. Over the past one-and-a-half years, we have spoken on the phone but after a long time, we have an opportunity to meet. The war in Ukraine is a very big issue for the whole world. It has had many different impacts on the whole world, Mr Modi told the Ukrainian president as the two leaders sat down for their first face-to-face talks with their delegation on Saturday. Mr Modi added: But I dont see this as a political or economic issue, for me this is an issue of humanity, an issue of human values. Arpan Rai reports: Modi promises whatever is possible to find solution on Ukraine to Zelensky at G7 Wagner chief says he will pull fighters out of Bakhmut after capturing city Sunday 21 May 2023 16:40 , Matt Mathers The leader of a Russian mercenary group has said he will pull its fighters from Bakhmut after claiming to have captured the Ukrainian city. Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin said Bakhmut, in the eastern Donetsk-Oblast region, had been captured by his private army on Saturday afternoon - a claim Ukraine continues to dispute. Volodymyr Zelenskys deputy defence minister Hanna Maliar instead claimed Ukrainian forces have partly encircled the besieged eastern city along the flanks and still control a part of the city. Full report: Wagner chief says he will pull fighters out of Bakhmut after capturing city ICYMI: Putin will not break our resolve, Joe Biden tells G7 Sunday 21 May 2023 16:20 , Matt Mathers Joe Biden has insisted Russian president Vladimir Putin will not break our resolve as he vowed America would show unwavering commitment to Ukraine in a speech at the G7 summit. Speaking on the last day of the summit in Japan, the US president called for peace that respects Ukraines sovereignty and territorial integrity. He also said Volodymyr Zelensky has given the US a flat assurance that Ukraine will not use F-16 jets to attack Russian territory after the US gave the green light for Western allies to hand over their F-16 fighter jets to Kyiv to bolster defences. Martha McHardy reports: Putin will not break our resolve, Joe Biden tells G7 Russian mercenary chief plays down regular army's role in claimed capture of Bakhmut Sunday 21 May 2023 15:39 , Matt Mathers The founder of Russias Wagner mercenary force on Sunday played down the role of the regular Russian army in capturing Bakhmut, the east Ukrainian city that Moscow claimed to have taken a day earlier. In a voice message published by his press service on Telegram, Yevgeny Prigozhin said: "During the taking of Artyomovsk, practically no one from the army helped us", referring to Bakhmut by its Soviet-era name. Kyiv denies Russia has taken full control of Bakhmut and says its forces have partly encircled the city. Wagner fighters have long spearheaded Russias campaign to take the city, taking heavy losses in the process. In the same message, Prigozhin praised individual Russsian army units, while restating long-standing criticism of the leadership of Russias defence ministry, which he has accused of hampering the war effort via incompetence. Russia Ukraine Wagner (PRIGOZHIN PRESS SERVICE) South Korea and Germany to sign defence pact Sunday 21 May 2023 15:20 , Matt Mathers South Korea and Germany will soon sign an agreement aimed at protecting military secrets to boost defence cooperation, South Korean president Yoon Suk Yeol said on Sunday as he met with German chancellor Olaf Scholz in Seoul. The military information agreement will help "smoothly operate the defence industry supply chain", amid global economic and political instability, Yoon told a briefing. South Korea, which recently pursued a similar information-sharing pact with Canada, has moved to expand its defence industry amid rising demand driven by the war in Ukraine and other global tensions, but has so far refused to provide weapons to Kyiv. Yoon said respect for freedom as a universal value was "very vital" in the face of authoritarianism challenging democracy, unstable global supply chains and the war. "From now, I expect South Korea and Germany will further expand reciprocal and future-oriented cooperation and strengthen the solidarity for peace and prosperity of Europe and Asia," Yoon said in opening remarks at the meeting with Scholz. The two leaders also discussed deepening cooperation in production of semiconductors, among other areas. Yoon Suk Yeol with Scholz Pro-government rally in Moldovan capital draws tens of thousands Sunday 21 May 2023 15:00 , Matt Mathers Tens of thousands of Moldovans rallied in the capital Chisinau on Sunday to support their pro-Western governments drive towards Europe amid what officials have said are Russian efforts to destabilise their country. Moldova has been badly hit by the impact of Moscows invasion of neighbouring Ukraine, which Chisinau has repeatedly condemned, and applied to join the European Union. President Maida Sandu has accused Russia of seeking to sabotage its European integration by fuelling anti-government protests and propaganda. Moscow denies meddling in Moldovas affairs. "Moldova does not want to be blackmailed by the Kremlin," Sandu said at the rally, which was organised by her government and packed a central square. Police said more than 75,000 demonstrators were present. "We dont want to be on the outskirts of Europe anymore," she said, pledging that Moldova would become an EU member by 2030. Russia calls G7 summit incubator for anti-Russian and anti-Chinese hysteria Sunday 21 May 2023 14:35 , Matt Mathers Russias foreign ministry on Sunday dismissed the G7 summit in Japans Hiroshima as a "politicised" event that it said had pumped out anti-Russian and anti-Chinese statements and accused the forum of undermining global stability. Moscow lashed out after the leaders of the worlds richest democracies said they would not back down from supporting Ukraine, in a warning to Russian president Vladimir Putin as he claimed to have taken the eastern city of Bakhmut, something Kyiv denied. In a statement posted on Telegram, the Russian foreign ministry said that the G7 had "irreversibly deteriorated" and that the forum had become "an incubator where, under the leadership of the Anglo-Saxons, destructive initiatives that undermine global stability are prepared". The statement accused the G7 of fanning anti-Russian and anti-Chinese "hysteria". Estonia and Latvia look to purchase mid-range air defence from Germany Sunday 21 May 2023 14:10 , Matt Mathers European Union and NATO members Estonia and Latvia will begin negotiations with Germanys Diehl Defence for the purchase of a medium-range air defence system, Estonias Defence ministry said on Sunday. The cost of the Iris-T SLM air defence system and additional capabilities such as infrastructure, personnel, training, equipment, will be determined at the negotiations, which could be concluded during the summer, it added. Our objective is to ensure operational medium-range air defence capabilities for Estonia by 2025, which means that the first systems should arrive in 2024, Estonias defence minister Hanno Pevkur said. The purchase will be led by Estonia Centre for Defence Investment. Estonias defence minister Hanno Pevkur (Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved) Zelensky likens Bakhmuts devastation to Hiroshima after World War Two Sunday 21 May 2023 13:45 , Matt Mathers President Volodymyr Zelensky likened the destruction of Ukraines eastern city of Bakhmut to that of Hiroshima in World War Two, as he attended the G7 summit in the Japanese city on Sunday. Russia said on Saturday it had captured the ruined city of Bakhmut after the longest and bloodiest battle of its full-scale invasion, though Ukraine denies Moscows forces have full control of the city. "Ill tell you openly: Photographs of ruined Hiroshima absolutely remind me of Bakhmut and other similar settlements. Nothing left alive, all the buildings ruined," he told reporters. Zelensky told the press conference that Ukrainian forces were continuing to fighting inside the city of Bakhmut and were carrying out "important tasks". "Today they are in Bakhmut which places, I wont share. But this speaks to the fact that Bakhmut has not been captured by the Russian Federation as of today. There are no two or three interpretations of this." The photos below show the scale of some of the destruction in the city, which has become the longest-running battle in the war. (Maxar/Reuters) (Maxar/Reuters) (Maxar/AP) Ukraine controls insignificant part of Bakhmut, advancing on flanks - general Sunday 21 May 2023 13:20 , Matt Mathers A top Ukrainian general said on Sunday that Kyivs forces controlled an "insignificant" part of the eastern city of Bakhmut, but that the foothold would be enough to enter the devastated city when the situation changed. In a Telegram post, general Oleksandr Syrskyi said Kyivs forces were advancing on Russian forces in the suburbs of Bakhmut and that they were getting closer to a "tactical encirclement" of the city. Ukraine says troops still engaging Russian forces in Bakhmut after Moscow announces victory in city Sunday 21 May 2023 13:00 , Matt Mathers Ukrainian soldiers were still engaging Russian forces in fierce battles in and around Bakhmut on Sunday, military officials said, hours after Moscow and the private army Wagner announced that their troops had taken full control of the eastern city. The fog of war made it impossible to confirm the situation on the ground in the invasions longest battle, and a series of comments from Ukrainian and Russian officials added confusion to the matter. Ukrainian deputy defence minister Hanna Malyar even went so far as to say that Ukrainian troops took the city in a semi-encirclement. Susie Blann and Elise Morton report: Ukraine says troops still engaging Russian forces in Bakhmut after Moscow announces victory in city Watch: Zelensky and Fumio Kishida lay wreaths at Peace Memorial Park in Hiroshima Sunday 21 May 2023 12:35 , Matt Mathers (The Asahi Shimbun via Getty Imag) (EPA) (EPA) Watch: Zelensky takes part in family photo with world leaders at G7 summit Sunday 21 May 2023 12:10 , Matt Mathers Bakhmut not occupied by Russia - Zelenksy Sunday 21 May 2023 12:05 , Matt Mathers Bakhmut is not occupied by Russia as of today, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has said. Answering questions from the media at a press conference following the G7 leaders meeting in Japan, Mr Zelensky was asked whether the battle for the city was still ongoing and whether its defence was worth all the lives that have been lost. He said: We dont have simple questions any more, as well as we dont have simple answers. Because we have a very complicated neighbour, who is a criminal and terrorist, a complicated enemy. We are keeping young, fighting thanks to the courage of our people, our warriors, and thanks to our cleverness. We are not throwing people to die. Mr Zelensky added: Bakhmut is not occupied by Russian Federation as of today. There are no two or three interpretations of those words. Situation critical in Bakhmut Saturday 20 May 2023 15:28 , Matt Mathers Ukraine has denied claims by Russia that it has taken full control of Bakhmut but warned the situation in the key battle town is critical. Hanna Maliar, Ukraines defence minister, pushed back on the claim by Yevgeny Prigozhin that his Wagner Group of mercenaries had seized the town around lunchtime. Heavy fighting in Bakhmut. The situation is critical, she said on the Telegram messaging app. As of now, our defenders control some industrial and infrastructure facilities in the area and the private sector. Ukrainian firefighter observes the damage left behind by a missile strike at a building that housed a fire station and a laboratory that was struck overnight in a round of fresh strikes in Dnipro city - Anadolu/Anadolu Agency Russia is bringing more forces into Bakhmut, Ukraine's deputy defence minister has said, after Vladimir Putin declared victory in Moscow's months-long campaign to capture the city. Hanna Malyar, the deputy defence minister, on Monday said Kyivs troops were advancing to the north and south of the city, but admitted that the intensity of their movement had decreased. Meanwhile, Russian-installed leader of the eastern Donetsk region, Denis Pushilin, said the Kremlin's troops have begun the preliminary demining of Bakhmut. A few dozen local residents remain in the ruins of the destroyed city, known in Russia as Artemovsk, a representative of Donetsk law enforcement agencies told state news agency TASS. However, the official warned that figure may change as the basements of homes are examined. 03:09 PM Today's liveblog is now closed Thanks for following today's liveblog. Please follow along tomorrow for all the latest updates on Ukraine. 02:58 PM At least four injured and buildings damaged in Belgorod, including kindergarten, claims governor At least four people have been injured during the alleged incursion in the Russian region of Belgorod, which borders Ukraine, the regional governor has said. In his latest update on Telegram on Monday afternoon, Vyacheslav Gladkov said: In Grayvoron there are three injured - two men and a woman with shrapnel wounds are in hospital in a state of moderate severity. All necessary medical help is being provided. Also three private homes have been damaged by shelling, as a result of which they caught fire. There was also a hit on an administration building. In the village of Zamostye a shell fell on a kindergarten, as a result of which it caught fire. A woman was injured with a wound to her hand, assistance is being provided on site. Information about the damage is being updated. 02:43 PM Watch: 'It's about bleeding the other side' - How Russia took Bakhmut and what it means 02:11 PM Zelensky adviser: Ukraine had nothing to do with Belgorod incident but 'watching... with interest' Adviser to the Head of the Office of President of Ukraine, Mykailo Podolyak, said that Ukraine "has nothing to do" with the events in the Belgorod region of Russia. Mr Podolyak added: "The only driving political force in a totalitarian country of tightened screws is always an armed guerrilla movement." Ukrainian military intelligence has claimed that two Russian volunteer battalions were behind the action in the region, which borders Ukraine. The only driving political force in a totalitarian country of tightened screws is always an armed guerrilla movement. #Ukraine is watching the events in the #Belgorod region of #Russia with interest and studying the situation, but it has nothing to do with it. As you know, tanks (@Podolyak_M) May 22, 2023 01:52 PM Ukrainian military intelligence claims two Russian volunteer battalions behind Belgorod incident A representative from the Ukrainian military intelligence has said that two Russian volunteer battalions have crossed into Belgorod "to create a security zone" to protect "Ukrainian civilians", and insisted that no Ukrainian personnel were involved. Andriy Yusov told Ukrainian news outlet Hromadske Television: "Russian nations, the Russian Volunteer Corps and the Liberty of Russian legion have claimed responsibility for those actions. "I think we can only welcome those decisive steps by opposition-minded Russian who have taken up arms to fight the criminal regime of Vladimir Putin that has usurped power in Russia." 01:47 PM Kremlin claims aim Belgorod 'sabotage' was to 'minimise political effect' of loss of Bakhmut Russian President Vladimir Putin has been briefed on the "sabotage" in Belgorod, the Kremlin has said, which it claims was done to "divert attention from the Bakhmut direction". Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said that the defence ministry, FSB security service and the border service have briefed Mr Putin on the "attempt to break through into Belgorod Oblast by Ukrainian saboteurs", state news agency RIA Novosti have reported. Mr Peskov said: "We understand perfectly well that the goal of such sabotages is to divert attention from the Bakhmut front line, to minimise the political effect of the Ukrainian side's loss of Artemovsk." Mr Putin said on Sunday morning that Bakhmut had been captured by Russian forces. Ukrainian military intelligence has said that Russian citizens belonging to two paramilitary groups are behind the armed operation in Belgorod, according to Ukrainian media outlet Hromadske. 01:34 PM Watch: Unidentified armoured vehicles 'approach Grayvoron border post' in Belgorod, Russia Another video of unidentified armoured vehicles approaching the Grayvoron border post. This could mean 6-8 vehicles in total. pic.twitter.com/6rRLOoFDvd Dmitri (@wartranslated) May 22, 2023 01:10 PM Zelensky: Bringing justice to 'all our Ukrainian people' is 'historic task' It is our historic task to bring justice to all our people, to guarantee freedom for our entire country without any exceptions. The task of all those who defend freedom, all those who chose Ukraine and, therefore, will win. pic.twitter.com/G133yiJdPG (@ZelenskyyUa) May 22, 2023 12:44 PM Regional governor of Russia's Belgorod claims Ukrainian 'sabotage group' has crossed border The governor of the Belgorod region of Russia has said that a Ukrainian army 'sabotage group' had entered Russian territory in the Graivoron district, which borders Ukraine. Vyacheslav Gladkov said in a statement on Telegram that the Russian army and security forces were taking measures to repel the incursion. Two people have been taken to hospital with "mine explosive wounds", with one in a serious condition in intensive care, Mr Gladkov added. Reuters was unable to immediately verify the reports. 12:35 PM 'Russian shelling' caused Zaporizhzhia plant power outage Ukraine's state nuclear energy company Energoatom has released a statement following the restoration of power to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, blaming "Russian shelling" for the outage earlier on Monday morning. Energoatom said: Ukrainian experts restored the operation of the Dniprovsk 750 kV high-voltage power transmission line, from which the temporarily occupied ZNPP supplies its own needs. The risk of a nuclear and radiation accident is minimised, the situation is stable. We will remind you that on the morning of 22 May, at 5.26am, this line was disconnected as a result of Russian shelling. Since it is the last one that powers the ZNPP, all backup diesel generators are automatically turned on. As a result, the station experienced a blackout for the seventh time since the beginning of the occupation. 12:21 PM Dozens of local residents remain in Bakhmut, law enforcement official tells TASS Several dozen local residents remain in Bakhmut, a representative of Donetsk law enforcement agencies told the Russian state news agency TASS. "So far there is the clear understanding that several dozen local residents remained in Artemovsk," the official said, using the name for Bakhmut often used in Russia. They added that the figure may change as the basements of homes are examined. The official said that the evacuation of civilians to safe locations was continuing. 11:45 AM Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant reconnected to power supply The Zaporizhzhia power plant has been reconnected to its external power supply after a brief outage that had left it reliant on emergency generators on Monday. Back-up diesel generators had to be used earlier on Monday following a blackout at the Russian-controlled nuclear plant in southern Ukraine, to ensure fuel was kept cool and to prevent a potential disaster. Ukraine and Russia blamed each other for the outage. A Russian-installed local official said that Ukraine had disconnected a power line, while Ukrainian stateowned nuclear energy company Energoatom said that the issue had been caused by Russian shelling. Ukrainian national grid operator said: The station is switching (back) to power supply from the Ukrainian power system." 11:27 AM In pictures: Destruction of Bakhmut Aerial view of the destruction in the frontline town of Bakhmut - UKRAINIAN ARMED FORCES via Reuters Aerial view showing the destruction in the frontline town of Bakhmut - UKRAINIAN ARMED FORCES via REUTERS Aerial view showing the destruction of the frontline town of Bakhmut - UKRAINIAN ARMED FORCES via REUTERS 11:16 AM Head of UN nuclear watchdog pushes for Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant safety agreement The head of the UN nuclear watchdog is pushing for a new proposal to reduce the risk of a nuclear disaster at Zaporizhzhia power plant, as reports emerge of a seventh blackout at the facility. Head of the International Atomic Energy Agency Rafael Grossi is to present a list of five principles for the UN Security Council to endorse later this month, The Washington Post reported, citing US and European diplomats. Two diplomats familiar with the negotiations told the outlet that Mr Grossis five principles include: a ban on stationing heavy military equipment and military personnel at the plant; a ban on firing from and towards the plant, including a ban on attacking personnel at the facility; protection of all systems pertaining to safety and security; and protection of all external power lines. The plan is less ambitious than the UN nuclear chief's original plans to establish a fully-fledged protection zone around the plant, however Kyiv is reportedly reluctant to let world powers broker any deal concerning the plant other than Russia's total surrender of the plant and the withdrawal from the city of Enerhodar where it is located. A spokesperson for the IAEA said that Mr Grossi remains engaged in intense negotiations with all the involved parties to secure the protection of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant. In this context, the Director General is also in close contact with members of the U.N. Security Council. 10:53 AM Wagner forces to leave Bakhmut by June 1 The head of the Wagner Group has said that his mercenary fighters will leave Bakhmut by June 1, transferring control to the Russian army. Yevgeny Prigozhin announced on Saturday that the eastern city had fallen to his fighters, who have been spearheading the campaign to capture Bakhmut for several months. Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Sunday that Bakhmut had fallen to Russia, however Kyiv denies this and says battles are ongoing. Mr Prigozhin announced in an audio recording on Telegram on Monday morning: Wagner will leave Artemovsk from May 25 to June 1. Artemovsk is the name Russian forces often use for Bakhmut, and was the former name of the city before Ukraine renamed it. Mr Prigozhin added that mercenaries had set up defence lines on the western outskirts of the city before a planned transfer of control to the Russian army. If the ministry of defence does not have enough personnel, we have thousands of generals. 10:42 AM 'Liberation of Crimea using any military force and means' only rational response to Russia, says Podolyak Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykailo Podolyak has said that "the liberation of Crimea using any military force and means is the only rational way to stop 'Russian aggressions'", in an apparent response to comments made by Russia's ambassador to the US Anatoly Antonov. Mr Antonov had said in comments published on the Russian embassy in Washington's Telegram channel: "Strikes on [Crimea] are considered by us as an attack on any other region of the Russian Feferation. It is important that the United States is fully aware of our response". Mr Podolyak wrote on Monday that "Crimea is an indisputable and inseparable part of Ukraine. It was, it is and it will be". Crimea is an indisputable and inseparable part of Ukraine. It was, it is and it will be. The liberation of Crimea using any military force and means is the only rational way to stop "Russian aggressions" and bring the world back to international law. It is Ukraine's direct (@Podolyak_M) May 22, 2023 10:20 AM Russia's hollow victory: The capture of Bakhmut in numbers The meat grinder, hell on earth, the fortress, a blackened nightmare, and now Europes Hiroshima. Bakhmut has been called many things over the course of its nine-and-a-half month siege. Few descriptions capture the scale of loss and destruction. Which side - if any - has come out on top of this costly battle is unclear, Louis Emmanuel writes. The small eastern city has undoubtedly been the site of the bloodiest fighting since Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine. It is also likely the longest battle since the Second World War. Read more on the battle in Bakhmut in numbers here. 10:03 AM Ukraine continues to advance in Bakhmut though 'intensity' has decreased, says deputy defence minister Ukrainian troops continue to advance on the flanks of the city of Bakhmut, although the intensity of the movement has decreased as Russia brings in more forces, Ukraines deputy defence minister has said. In televised comments on Monday, Hanna Maliar said that Ukraine had a small foothold inside the city itself, as she denied Russias assertion that it has established full control in the front line eastern city. Vladimir Putin claimed his first battlefield victory in a year on Sunday, with the capture of Bakhmut, which has been at the centre of the bloodiest fighting of the war for nine and a half months. 09:49 AM In pictures: Destroyed emergency service vehicles in Dnipro following air attack Destroyed emergency services' vehicles in Dnipro following an air attack - State Emergency Service of Ukraine via Telegram Destroyed emergency services' vehicles in Dnipro following an air attack - State Emergency Service of Ukraine via Telegram Destroyed buildings following an air attack in Dnipro - State Emergency Service of Ukraine via Telegram 09:32 AM Head of UN nuclear watchdog describes Zaporizhzhia plant as 'extremely vulnerable' The Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Rafael Grossi, has confirmed that the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant "lost all external electricity for the [seventh] time during conflict" on Monday morning. Mr Grossi, who has tried to negotiate with both sides to reach a deal on the safety of the plant, said that the nuclear safety situation at the plant is "extremely vulnerable" and said "this situation cannot continue". #Ukraines #ZNPP this morning lost all external electricity for 7th time during conflict, forcing it to rely on emergency diesel generators for power; nuclear safety situation at the plant extremely vulnerable. We must agree to protect plant now; this situation cannot continue. Rafael MarianoGrossi (@rafaelmgrossi) May 22, 2023 09:18 AM Putin claims first battlefield victory in a year as Russian troops seize Bakhmut Vladimir Putin has claimed his first battlefield victory in a year with the capture of the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut, writes James Kilner. The Russian president congratulated Wagner troops as well as the regular Russian army for seizing the ruined city, which has been the site of the longest and bloodiest battle of the entire war. Ukraine has denied that Bakhmut has fallen but Russian propagandists have started celebrating one of the greatest battle victories in the 21st century. Read more on this story here. 08:56 AM Emergency services attacked in Dnipro, claims Ukraine Emergency service facilities were struck in the Russian attacks in Dnipro, injuring one rescue worker and destroying three buildings and 20 pieces of equipment, officials have said. In a statement posted to the Telegram messenger service, Serhiy Krusk of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine said: At night, the enemy insidiously fired at the emergency rescue unit. Three buildings were destroyed, more than 20 pieces of equipment were destroyed. One lifeguard was injured. Mr Krusk added: Destroying State Emergency Service units is a gross violation of the Geneva Convention. Pictures uploaded by the State Emergency Service of Ukraine purportedly of the attack show several destroyed red emergency vehicles and debris surrounding heavily damaged buildings with the windows smashed. 08:42 AM Zaporizhzhia: 'Seventh blackout' at nuclear power plant since the start of the war Ukraines state energy company Energoatom said that there was a power outage at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. Energoatom told Reuters news agency: Yes, we have the seventh blackout since the start of the (Russian) occupation." A Russia-installed official had previously said that the plant was switched to standby and emergency power supply. 08:35 AM Latest MoD update: Russia likely creating 'elite' attack group to operate over Ukraine In its latest daily intelligence update, the UK ministry of defence has said that it believes Russia is "highly likely creating a new 'elite' attack aviation group" to operate over Ukraine. It added: "Credible Russian media reports suggest that the Russian MoD aims to attract highly skilled and motivated pilots by offering large pay incentives and opening recruitment to retired aviators. "The creation of the group highlights how Russian assesses its regular air force squadrons have severely underperformed in their core function of conducting airstrikes on Ukrainian lines." Latest Defence Intelligence update on the situation in Ukraine - 22 May 2023. Find out more about Defence Intelligence's use of language: https://t.co/f4SN7EUioz #StandWithUkraine pic.twitter.com/dWvk4LDFPd Ministry of Defence (@DefenceHQ) May 22, 2023 08:32 AM Protester at Cannes wearing Ukraine colours covers herself in fake blood A protester wearing a dress in the colours of the Ukrainian flag was removed by security after pouring fake blood over herself on the stairs of the Festival Palace in Cannes during the Cannes Film Festival in the south of France. The woman staged her protest, an apparent show of solidarity with Ukraine, ahead of the screening of the French film Acide, by director Just Philippot. A person wearing a dress in colours of the Ukrainian flag pours a red substance over themselves at the premiere of the film 'Acide' at the 76th international film festival in Cannes, France - Daniel Cole/AP A protester, wearing a dress in the colours of the Ukrainian flag, is detained by security after she covered herself in fake blood on the stairs on the Festival Palace ahead of the screening of the film "Acide" in Cannes - CHRISTOPHE SIMON/AFP 08:17 AM Russia's ambassador to US suggests any F-16 transfer would raise question of NATO involvement in war Russias ambassador to the US has suggested that any transfer of F-16 jets to Ukraine would raise the question of NATO involvement in the war. Anatoly Antonov said in remarks shared by the embassys Telegram channel: Every specialist knows that there is no infrastructure for the use of F-16s in Ukraine, and the required number of pilots and maintenance personnel is not there either. What would happen if American fighters take off from NATO airfields, operated by foreign volunteers? The ambassador's comments come after the US indicated that it would allow allies to send F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine and back efforts to train Kyivs pilots. 08:16 AM Good morning Good morning and welcome to today's Ukraine liveblog. We will be guiding you through all the latest updates from Ukraine. 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. Russian occupation forces launched 16 missiles of various types and deployed 20 Shahed drones in an attack on military and civilian infrastructure facilities in the city of Dnipro on the night of 2122 May. Ukraines Air Force shot down all of the drones and four of the cruise missiles. Source: Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on Telegram Quote from Ukraines Air Force: "Personnel and assets from the Skhid (East) Air Command and Pivden (South) Air Command destroyed four Kh-101/Kh-555 cruise missiles and 20 Shahed drones on the eastern and southern fronts, respectively, during the overnight attack on 2122 May." Details: The Air Force reported that Russia launched a total of 16 missiles of different types and 20 Shahed-136/131 drones in the overnight attack on Ukraine. Russian forces launched: 4 air-to-surface Kh-101/Kh-555 cruise missiles from Tu-95MS bomber jets above the Caspian Sea; 5 Kh-22 cruise missiles from long-range Tu-22M3 bomber jets above the Azov Sea and Russias Kursk Oblast; 2 Iskander-M ballistic missiles from Russian-occupied Crimea; 5 S-300 guided anti-aircraft missiles from Russian-occupied territory in Zaporizhzhia Oblast; 20 Iranian-made Shahed-136/131 drones from the southern and northern fronts. Background: Earlier, it was reported that during the Russian air attack on Dnipropetrovsk Oblast on the night of 21-22 May, the air defence forces shot down 15 drones and four cruise missiles. As a result of the strikes in the oblast, residential buildings, private enterprise buildings and cars have been damaged, and eight people have been injured; three of them have been taken to the hospital. Journalists fight on their own frontline. Support Ukrainska Pravda or become our patron! Andrii Yusov, spokesman for Ukraine's Defence Intelligence, has described the events taking place in Russia's Belgorod Oblast on 22 May as the creation of a "security zone" to protect Ukrainian citizens. Source: Suspilne, Ukraine's public broadcaster, citing Yusov Quote from Yusov: "Yes, today the Russian Volunteer Corps and the Legion of Freedom of Russia, which consist of citizens of the Russian Federation, launched an operation to liberate these territories of Belgorod Oblast from the so-called Putin regime and push back the enemy in order to create a certain security zone for the protection of the Ukrainian civilian population." Details: Yusov stressed that the operation was conducted exclusively by Russian citizens. Background: On the afternoon of 22 May, the Russian Volunteer Corps, who claim to be fighting on the side of Ukraine, and the Legion of Freedom of Russia announced the liberation of the village of Kozinka in Russia's Belgorod Oblast. They added that they had entered the Russian city of Graivoron and called on residents of the Russian border region to stay at home and "not to resist". Journalists fight on their own frontline. Support Ukrainska Pravda or become our patron! F-16 After months of requests from Ukraine, as well as pressure from some of its other allies, the United States has now relented and will support Kyivs efforts to acquire F-16 fighter jets to overhaul its air force. While a number of European countries have already indicated that theyll help Ukrainian pilots train to operate the Viper, the source of the actual airframes remains unclear, for now. Nevertheless, with various NATO air forces now in the process of retiring F-16s, there are some potential suppliers for these jets within Europe. The U.S. is also another possible source. The War Zone now looks at the status of NATOs F-16 fleets and assesses the main options for Ukraine. Despite speculation from some quarters, the idea of a vast surplus of relatively fresh Vipers is simply not borne out in reality. Ukraine aside, in recent years there has been major growth in demand for F-16s, both new and second-hand, and the United States is already using many of its own retired jets for a number of different purposes. The private sector also has a high demand for F-16s. At the same time, some NATO air forces in Europe are still just getting started, or are about to get started, operating the F-35s that will eventually replace their F-16s, meaning Vipers are still needed there, too. Other NATO members have just stood up second-hand F-16 operations. So this is something of a low period for used F-16 availability, and that isnt even factoring in the condition of the airframes that will become available in the not-so-distant future. With that being said, its worth looking at where we are now in the saga of F-16s for Ukraine. The latest development was announced by President Joe Biden, speaking after the G7 meeting in Japan on May 19. In a reversal from his previous stance, Biden said he would help secure modern, fourth-generation Western fighters for Ukraine. Among the possible types, the F-16 has long been the front-runner, for multiple reasons, not least its relative availability. Biden named it specifically. https://twitter.com/nytimes/status/1660362538347896838?s=20 The United States together with our allies and partners are going to begin training Ukrainian pilots on fourth-generation fighter aircraft, including F-16s, Biden told reporters, to strengthen Ukraines Air Force as part of a long-term commitment to Ukraines ability to defend itself. Biden added that he had received a flat assurance from [Ukrainian President Volodymyr] Zelensky that they will not use it to go on and move into Russian geographic territory. The previous U.S. position was based on the perceived escalatory nature of providing Ukraine with advanced fighter jets, encapsulated in the scenario of potential F-16 attacks on Russian Federation territory, as well as the practical difficulties of realizing such a transfer, especially in terms of the training burden and overall costs. Additional impetus to get Washington to approve the transfer of F-16s appears to have come from the Kingdom and the Netherlands, in particular, with a meeting last week between the leaders of the two countries. According to a U.K. government statement, the two countries agreed they would work to build an international coalition to provide Ukraine with combat air capabilities, supporting with everything from training to procuring F-16 jets. https://twitter.com/RishiSunak/status/1659599358797443073?s=20 While Bidens statement doesnt specifically refer to sourcing F-16s for Kyiv, its hard to see why the United States would back a training effort tailored for this particular jet without also approving the transfer of the same aircraft for the Ukrainian Air Force. That certainly seems to be the long-term aspiration outlined by Biden. The F-16 training initiative is something that has gathered serious momentum in recent weeks, with the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Belgium, and Denmark all having indicated that they were willing to participate. Notably, the United Kingdom is not an F-16 operator but says it will still provide relevant training, while Belgium has said that it can offer training but not actually transfer any Vipers (for now, at least). https://twitter.com/DefensieMin/status/1659591260913430530?s=20 There is no timeline at present to get F-16s to Ukraine, but an unnamed White House senior official indicated that the training process would take months. This training will take place outside Ukraine at sites in Europe and will require months to complete, the same administration official said. We hope we can begin this training in the coming weeks. In the past, the outgoing U.S. Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Colin Kahl said that it might take 18-24 months for Ukraine to field second-hand F-16s. There have been plenty of other differing predictions, based on the type of training that might be provided, in turn, linked to the level of proficiency of the Ukrainian pilots chosen for the F-16 course. The U.S. Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, Dr. Colin Kahl, speaking at the Pentagon in 2021. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Kevin M. Roy For example, a leaked U.S. Air Force assessment conducted earlier this year argued that Ukrainian fighter pilots could be trained in the basic operations of F-16s in around four months, something that we reported on at the time. Meanwhile, an experienced F-16 instructor told The War Zone that a pilot with around 500 hours of experience in a Western fighter would need 69 days to learn everything to safely employ the Viper in air-to-air and air-to-ground roles. Most Ukrainian pilots dont have experience in Western jets but, again, a special syllabus could be provided that focuses on the specific skills they will require in theater, as well as the key fundamentals of switching from a Soviet-era fighter to an F-16. However, these 69 days would only apply to converting already experienced aviators; the process of training a Ukrainian pilot from scratch would still take between six and 12 months, according to the same instructor. An Alabama Air National Guard F-16C taxies past Ukrainian Su-27 and MiG-29 fighter jets, on the ramp at Mirgorod Air Base, Ukraine, during an exercise in 2011. U.S. Air Force Regardless of where the F-16 training will take place (although Belgium seems to be one likely candidate, based on previous announcements), and how long the process might take, the search now appears to be on for Vipers available for transfer to Ukraine, sooner rather than later. The main candidates for supplying F-16s to Ukraine, as it presents stands, are as follows: Belgium Belgium has already announced that its able to train Ukrainian pilots to fly F-16s, although it has also said it cant transfer any F-16s to Ukraine for the time being. We have said that we cannot supply aircraft, but we can train pilots, an announcement from the cabinet of Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo stated, according to a recent report that was published in the countrys De Morgen newspaper. No details have been provided about the kind of training Belgium is able to offer Ukraine, but it seems clear that it would involve converting Ukrainian pilots to fly the F-16. With an enormous amount of experience with the type and a reduced requirement to train new F-16 pilots of its own, Belgium would appear well-placed to provide this kind of training. Two Belgian Air Force F-16s formate for the camera. GERARD GAUDIN/AFP via Getty Images Belgium will eventually replace its F-16s with the F-35A stealth fighter, although deliveries are not due to begin before the end of the year. For this reason, Belgium wants to retain its F-16s, which, in the meantime, remain its sole combat jet. The Belgian Air Force currently flies around 50 F-16s, which have been upgraded to F-16AM/BM standard, making them broadly equivalent to the more advanced F-16C/D Block 50/52. Under the Mid-Life Update (MLU) program, the jets received an upgraded AN/APG-66 radar, a new modular mission computer, targeting pods, datalinks, GPS, night-vision goggle compatibility, and new precision-guided weapons. Improvements have continued to be introduced via successive common software 'tape' updates. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5yH-2a1OGRg Similarly upgraded Vipers are also operated, or have been operated, by the other European Participating Air Forces (EPAF) countries: Denmark, the Netherlands, Norway, and Portugal. Notably, and despite their age, these jets offer a significant multirole capability, something that Ukraine is also looking for as it increasingly seeks opportunities to launch counteroffensives against Russian forces within its borders. As to when Belgium might have F-16s available to transfer to Ukraine, that seems like it could be a long time off. Although the first Belgian F-35 is due to be delivered this year, the first eight aircraft will remain in the United States to be used for training at Luke Air Force Base in Arizona. The first F-35s will only arrive at Florennes Air Base in Belgium in 2025 and initial operating capability is not expected until mid-2027. https://twitter.com/BelgiumDefence/status/1640398593700904985?s=20 In the meantime, older Belgian F-16s are being withdrawn as they reach their flight-hour limits, making the retention of the remaining aircraft even more critical. Those airframes in storage likely require service life extension upgrades and some may have been parted-out to support the existing fleet. Belgium's sale of second-hand F-16s to Chile and Jordan also decreased any available aircraft that could be transferred in any condition. Therefore, unless theres a significant policy change in Brussels, it seems as though its not currently in a position to offer significant amounts of F-16s. Although that may still change in the weeks and months to come, such a move would bring inevitable stresses and strains on the Belgian Air Force but that could be mitigated by external help. Denmark Like Belgium, Denmark is gearing up to replace its F-16s with F-35s. During a visit to Ukraine in April, Troels Lund Poulsen, Denmarks acting defense minister, confirmed that his country, together with its allies, would decide before the summer as to whether they will provide Ukraine with F-16s. Poulsen said the matter was under discussion but that the process was taking a long time due to the requirement for different countries to cooperate on any such transfer of aircraft. A Royal Danish Air Force F-16AM while taxiing to take off at Monte Real Air Base in Portugal during the Real Thaw 2018 exercise. Photo by Horacio Villalobos Corbis/Corbis via Getty Images Denmark will not do it alone, Poulsen said, adding that a decision was still achievable in the near future. He said: We need to do this together with several countries. We will also have a dialogue with the Americans about this. Those conditions would appear to have been met, thanks to movement on the F-16 issue in the Netherlands and the United Kingdom and the apparent green light from Washington. As to how many F-16s Denmark might be able to provide, this is unclear but will be determined by current demands within the Royal Danish Air Force. According to figures from Flight Global, the Royal Danish Air Force currently operates around 43 F-16s but these are its sole combat jet. Although Denmark may well retain other airframes in storage, these would require more work to prepare them for transfer to Ukraine. https://twitter.com/AvHistoryOgre/status/1617195570476498948?s=20 While Denmark received its first F-35 in April this year, this aircraft was delivered to Luke Air Force Base for training. The first F-35 operations in Denmark are slated to begin this year. Although it will be some time until initial operating capability, the pending arrival of the stealth jets in Denmark should help to relieve the burden on the F-16 fleet and help free up airframes for Ukraine. As its stands, the number of F-16s that Denmark potentially has available would seem to put it in a particularly favorable position as regards transferring at least some of those jets to Kyiv. Netherlands Compared to Belgium and Denmark, the Netherlands has made more rapid progress in replacing its F-16s with F-35s. Currently, the remaining Royal Netherlands Air Force F-16s are located at a single base, Volkel, where the local frontline fleet was reportedly reduced to just 24 aircraft last summer. A Dutch F-16AM popping flares. Royal Netherlands Air Force In January this year, the Dutch Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Wopke Hoekstra said that his government would look at any request to transfer its F-16s to Ukraine with an open mind. However, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte then significantly walked back Hoekstras comments. Dutch plans seem to have changed again, more recently, with the meeting between Rutte and his British counterpart Rishi Sunak. Rutte has also said there are no taboos and that work is being done intensively to get Vipers into Ukrainian hands. https://twitter.com/guyverhofstadt/status/1658718298911956997?s=20 Additional Dutch F-16s were available, until recently, in the United States, where 10 examples had been assigned to the Arizona Air National Guards 162nd Fighter Wing for training Dutch crews. With the training effort ended, the adversary air contractor Draken International signed a 2021 contract to purchase 12 Dutch F-16s, including those that had been based in the United States. A Dutch F-35A, a Dutch F-16AM from the 162nd Fighter Wing, Arizona Air National Guard, and a pair of Draken International A-4 Skyhawks, during an operational test exercise at Edwards Air Force Base, California. Photo courtesy of Frank Crebas The fate of the agreement with Draken remains unclear, but it appears that the company, despite some flight testing from its base at Lakeland, Florida, has not formally taken delivery of the aircraft. Rather than remaining in the United States, last December, six of the jets returned to Belgium, where they are expected to be overhauled. There are now rumors that those F-16s may be transferred to Bulgaria, which is seeking a stopgap fighter while it waits to receive new-build F-16 Block 70s from the new production line in South Carolina. Its conceivable, however, that these aircraft could also be transferred to Ukraine, although the apparent requirement to overhaul them would affect when they might actually become available. That would appear to leave the approximately 24 jets still in the Netherlands as the best candidates for Ukraine, although their availability will also depend upon continued F-35 deliveries and the operational readiness of that aircraft and its pilots. However, with a final Dutch squadron scheduled to convert to the F-35 next year, the timeline for potential F-16 deliveries to Ukraine looks generally promising. Norway Ahead of other European F-16 operators, Norway has entirely withdrawn its fleet of Vipers thanks to the relatively rapid pace of F-35 deliveries, the last examples being retired in early 2022. Norway is one of the biggest European customers for the Joint Strike Fighter, with 52 examples on order. A Royal Norwegian Air Force F-16AM. Luftforsvaret While Norway received 74 Vipers, only 56 of these were updated under the MLU program. Of these, 32 aircraft are being transferred to Romania where they will replace that countrys recently retired MiG-21 LanceRs. Up to 12 Norwegian F-16s were also acquired by Draken International, under a deal you can read about here, although its current status is unclear, especially with the U.S. military requirement for adversary air apparently drying up. Presuming the Draken deal for ex-Norwegian jets also goes through, that would leave only a dozen or so F-16s available to Ukraine, although even this number would surely be eagerly accepted. In their favor, the Norwegian jets are widely considered to be among the best-maintained F-16s within the NATO inventory and would very likely require very little in the way of refurbishment prior to delivery. The outsiders Five other NATO nations in Europe operate the F-16, although all of these plan to retain these aircraft long-term and some are continuing to receive Vipers as well as undertake significant upgrades to their existing inventories. In Eastern Europe, Poland was linked with a possible transfer of F-16s to Ukraine back in January, although reports emanating from Ukraine were quickly quashed by Polish officials. A Polish Air Force F-16C Block 52. Polish Armed Forces/Piotr ysakowski Vice-Chairman of the Polish National Defense Committee, Pawel Krutul, pointed out that transferring F-16s rather than MiG-29s, as was previously planned, would have a degrading effect on the Polish Armed Forces. Wojciech Skurkiewicz, Secretary of State in the Polish Ministry of National Defense responded in agreement, stating: There is no question of handing over Polish F-16s. Not surprisingly, Warsaw elected to transfer MiG-29s to Ukraine, rather than give up any of its F-16s, which are among the most recent and most capable in Europe, the 48 F-16C/D Block 52+ jets being delivered between 2006 and 2008. Any near-term transfer of these notably advanced jets must be considered extremely unlikely, especially as Poland transfers MiG-29s and prepares to retire its aging Su-22 Fitter attack jets, among many other factors. A Polish MiG-29 Fulcrum. Photo by Omar Marques/Getty Images The other F-16 operator in Eastern Europe is Romania, which is also the most recent country within NATO to get its hands on the jets. Romania has been gradually building its F-16 fleet, receiving a batch of 12 second-hand jets from Portuguese stocks, followed by another five from the same source, and finally agreeing to buy 32 from Norway. With the Romanian MiG-21 LanceR fleet now withdrawn, the F-16 is the sole combat jet operated by the country. While the airframes may be old, they represent new and advanced equipment for Romania, which occupies a strategic position on NATOs Black Sea frontier, as well as bordering Ukraine. A transfer of some of these jets to Ukraine seems a remote possibility, especially as momentum is only now starting to gather for a possible F-35 purchase. A Romanian Air Force F-16AM. U.S. Air Force photo by Capt. Andrew Layton As for Portugal, this country has already begun to reduce its F-16 fleet, with the aforementioned transfers to Romania. However, and in contrast to most other NATO F-16 operators in Europe, Portugal is yet to decide on a successor to its Vipers. Its therefore highly likely that the country will seek to retain its 25 remaining F-16s for the foreseeable future. Finally, Greece and Turkey possess the largest F-16 fleets in Europe but are also probably the least likely to give any examples up, any time soon. Greece received 170 F-16s of various types between 1989 and 2010 and, with a large-scale modernization program underway, the Viper will remain the backbone of the Hellenic Air Force for many years to come. Roughly 150 Greek Vipers are still operational, of which 84 aircraft more capable Block 52+ and Block 52+ Advanced jets are being brought up to Block 70/72 standard. This includes the AN/APG-83 Scalable Agile Beam Radar (SABR) with active electronically scanned array (AESA) Raytheon Modular Mission Computer. A Hellenic Air Force F-16 during one of the NATO Tactical Leadership Program (TLP) courses in Spain. Photo By A. Perez Meca/Europa Press via Getty Images Greeces oldest F-16 Block 30s have undergone the Falcon UP service-life extension and there have been suggestions in the past that they could be sold off, or perhaps used as aggressors for air-to-air training. However, Greece has hardly played a prominent role in delivering arms to Ukraine since the full-scale Russian invasion and a transfer of F-16s would be very surprising. Turkey, Greeces regional rival, is the worlds third-largest Viper operator, with a total of 270 aircraft delivered in successively more capable Block 30, Block 50, and Block 50+ configurations. Turkish F-16s have been subject to the Common Configuration Implementation Program (CCIP) upgrade, adding more sophisticated weapons and sensors and these jets remain the core of Turkeys combat fleet. Around 245 of the jets remain in use and Turkey has chosen to upgrade 35 of its oldest Block 30 jets, reflecting their continued importance. As well as ongoing upgrades, there have been repeated reports that Ankara might also seek to buy another batch of new F-16s from the United States. Meanwhile, with Turkey having been ejected from the F-35 program, retaining its F-16s becomes even more important, at least until the homegrown TF-X fighter jet can be fielded. A Turkish Air Force F-16D Block 50. Aldo Bidini/Wikimedia Commons With tensions between Greece and Turkey an ever-present factor in the eastern Mediterranean, neither of these countries can be considered a likely candidate to provide F-16s to Ukraine, despite the relatively large fleet sizes operated. Taken together, its clear that even those countries that have expressed willingness to provide Ukraine with F-16s cannot, individually at least, provide significant numbers of the jets, and especially not at relatively short notice. https://twitter.com/Aviation_Intel/status/1660057876868775938?s=20 With that in mind, a coalition effort appears to make much more sense, with different nations pooling smaller numbers of jets. Denmark and the Netherlands currently seem like the leading candidates, but Norway, and the status of its ready for sale F-16s, remains a wildcard too. This arrangement would present certain logistical problems in that the aircraft wouldnt necessarily all be to the same standards. However, the Ukrainian Air Force has shown considerable ingenuity in the past, in terms of operating disparate types amid considerable logistical challenges, so this certainly wouldnt be an insurmountable problem. https://twitter.com/ZelenskyyUa/status/1659590726840197123?s=20 Finally, there remains the option of sourcing F-16s from the United States, something that would have been seen as very unlikely only a few days ago. Now, however, its notable that Secretary of the Air Force Frank Kendall has not discounted the idea of transferring F-16s to Ukraine from U.S. stocks. When asked about that possibility today, Kendall replied: I dont know theres a lot of possibilities. https://twitter.com/laraseligman/status/1660622376705327105?s=20 The Pentagon's boneyard could ultimately be a source of F-16s for Ukraine, although most of the jets there would require considerable refurbishment to be made flyable, let alone brought up to the kind of standard as the F-16AM/BM jets as used by European NATO operators. On the other hand, the flow of recently withdrawn Vipers to the boneyard could potentially yield some windfalls for Ukraine, for example, the 22 Block 25 F-16s previously operated by the U.S. Air Forces 309th Fighter Squadron at Luke Air Force Base, before their retirement last year. Even these jets, though recently retired, would likely still require some extensive modifications. After all, these were the oldest jets remaining in the Air Force aside from a handful of Block 25s operated by the Nellis aggressors. In the words of the squadrons director of operations, the jets hadnt been upgraded for over a decade. A member of the 309th Fighter Squadron prepares to fly a retiring Block 25 F-16 at Luke Air Force Base, Arizona, on September 6, 2022. Signatures from commanders, honorary commanders, and other members of the squadron cover the aircraft for its final send-off. U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman David Busby The program to convert boneyard F-16s into QF-16 Full-Scale Aerial Targets (FSAT) has now come to an end but consumed a lot of available airframes. Other U.S. military requirements are also increasing the demand for F-16s, however, such as the U.S. Navy taking recently retired examples to outfit a newly equipped adversary squadron, VFC-13. On the positive side, Air Force and Air National Guard units, such as those flying Block 30 models, continue the process of converting to the F-35, potentially releasing more Vipers to Ukraine or other operators. Once again, while the boneyard in Arizona might look like a good place to start looking for F-16s for Ukraine, the reality will be a good deal more complicated, even providing that the U.S. government were to authorize such a move. But, as we have seen before in the provision of weapons to Kyiv, where theres a will, theres a way. And Ukraine will be almost certainly eager to get its hands on whatever F-16s become available quickest. Finally, there are many international users of F-16s beyond NATO, but none really seem suited for offloading usable airframes at this time. Of course, that could change with some pointed negotiations with Washington, although this seems like a very unlikely possibility considering the sensitivity of the topic and that this is so far a NATO-only effort. It would be an irony, certainly, if the first F-16s that do find their way to Ukraine come direct from U.S. stocks after the government resisted such a transfer for so many months. But stranger things have happened in this conflict, and the possibility shouldnt be ruled out entirely. Update: Reports in the Dutch press have been brought to our attention, which provide more insight into the numbers of F-16s the Netherlands potentially has at its disposal for transfer to Ukraine, or elsewhere. According to a recent report in the Dutch newspaper de Volkskrant, in addition to the 24 F-16s in regular use, and the 12 sold to Draken, there are another 18 jets not in use. However, according to the Dutch national accounting office, these aircraft are maintained for operational use as required and are actually rotated with the frontline aircraft to reduce flight hours per airframe. This would suggest that the Dutch have as many as 18 F-16s that would be more or less ready for transfer to Ukraine (albeit with an impact on the availability and fatigue life of the remaining frontline pool of jets). These jets are also understood to be upgraded to the same standard as the frontline F-16AM/BM jets. Contact the author: thomas@thedrive.com Ukraine's Foreign Minister warns against sprouting peace plans for Ukraine "like mushrooms after rain" Ukraine calls on the world to focus on adopting and implementing the countrys own peace plan the peace formula announced in November 2022, instead of producing many alternatives. Source: Dmytro Kuleba, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, at a press conference in Rabat on Monday following the results of a visit to Morocco. Kuleba discussed "various proposals on restoring peace in Ukraine springing up like mushrooms after a rain" with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Morocco, Nasser Bourita. "And I agree with my colleague that the uncontrolled spread of proposals leads to the fact that there are too many such proposals," the head of Ukrainian diplomacy noted. "That is why Ukraine offers the international community to focus on the peace formula proposed by the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy. It consists of ten points that relate to the security, nuclear, humanitarian, social and environmental aspects of the war, as well as the issue of rebuilding," he added. Background: Earlier, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, Dmytro Kuleba, stated that mediation between Ukraine and Russia to end the full-scale war is acceptable only if it meets two "fundamental principles". Journalists fight on their own frontline. Support Ukrainska Pravda or become our patron! Operators of the Special Operations Forces of Ukraine destroyed the modern Russian Ironia ("Irony") optical-electronic surveillance system, installed by the invaders in one of the operational areas. Source: press service of the Special Operations Forces (SOF) Details: With the help of this complex, the Russians were collecting information about the actions of the Ukrainian Defence Forces and identifying equipment and personnel of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The unit of SOF of Ukraine used an attack drone to target the Russian complex and destroyed it, depriving Russians of an important intelligence equipment piece. It is noted that during the work of the SOF soldiers, friendly units of the Defence Forces of Ukraine provided their cover. The area and timeframe of the effective work are not disclosed. For reference: The Ironia complex includes a thermal imager, a rangefinder, and a video recording function, allowing Russia to conduct round-the-clock surveillance. Journalists fight on their own frontline. Support Ukrainska Pravda or become our patron! Ukrainian army names two reasons why Prigozhin may have lied about capturing Bakhmut Prigozhin announced the complete capture of Bakhmut, the Armed Forces of Ukraine explained why this was not the case Read also: Zelenskyy's spokesperson refutes media claims that Ukraine has lost Bakhmut "There are several reasons for this. Firstly, they need some victory, even a far-fetched one, because they have already disgraced themselves all over the world being unable to seize a district center for over nine months, even though they claimed to be the second army of the world, Cherevatyi said. Secondly, as I said, the Wagner terrorist organization is incredibly damaged by huge losses in personnel. It really wants to crawl away and lick its wounds. All his claims that we are not being helped and the flanks have failed, and they are not giving us ammunition, are related to that. It's all part of the same narrative like, 'I won in Bakhmut, let me crawl away, and then let the regular army do the rest,' (an army) which he has already humiliated." Read also: Videos show Russian regular troops seeking to join Wagner, whats Prigozhin up to? Cherevatyi added that in the past day alone 166 Russian soldiers had been killed, 218 injured and five captured in the Bakhmut area mostly Wagner Group mercenaries. The Wagnerites are pretty beat up already, and would like to withdraw for a while to regroup their forces, or better (to withdraw) completely (from Ukraine), the spokesman said. "We predicted a month-and-a-half ago that if the losses remain at the same level and the supply of personnel from prisons stops, Bakhmut would become their last frontier. Back then, (Prigozhin ) denied this, but his latest statements clearly prove it," Cherevatyi said. Ukrainian forces have been successfully defending Bakhmut for almost a year now, Cherevatyi said. The main targets of the operation were achieved, namely to prevent the enemy from breaking through the defenses, destroying combat units, encircling (the city) or forcing a serious retreat of our troops, as well as to exhaust the enemy troops and inflict maximum losses. "Thanks to our actions, Wagner's criminal group can barely fulfil their combat tasks. They asked for reinforcement by airborne troops and infantry units," added the Ukrainian Armed Forces spokesman. Read also: Biden claims Russians suffered over 100,000 troop losses in Bakhmut Cherevatyi emphasized that the situation in Bakhmut is difficult but under Ukrainian control. The Ukrainian military is counterattacking on the southern and northern flanks whenever it is possible without taking great losses. Prigozhin announced the complete capture of Bakhmut, Donetsk Oblast, On May 20. The Ukrainian Armed Forces and the Ministry of Defense denied this information and said that fighting in the city was ongoing. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy also confirmed that the Ukrainian Armed Forces remain in the city. Deputy Defence Minister Hanna Malyar said on May 21 that the Ukrainian troops had half-encircled Bakhmut, while maintaining some positions in the city. Ground Forces Commander Oleksandr Syrskyi also said that a small part of Bakhmut remains under Ukraine's control, and its troops were advancing along the flanks in order to encircle the city. 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 Ukrainian defenders kill 720 occupiers and destroy 20 artillery systems in one day Russia's losses in the war against Ukraine have reached 203,880 soldiers, 7,407 armoured combat vehicles and 3,785 tanks. Source: General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on Facebook Details: Total combat losses of the Russian forces between 24 February 2022 and 22 May 2023 are estimated to be as follows [figures in parentheses represent the latest losses ed.]: approximately 203,880 (+720) military personnel, 3,785 (+2) tanks, 7,407 (+9) armoured fighting vehicles, 3,278 (+20) artillery systems, 565 (+1) multiple-launch rocket systems, 327 (+0) air defence systems, 309 (+1) fixed-wing aircraft, 294 (+0) helicopters, 2,830 (+8) operational-tactical level UAVs, 1,011 (+0) cruise missiles, 18 (+0) ships and boats, 6,129 (+14) vehicles and tankers, 427 (+2) other vehicles and equipment. The data is being confirmed. Journalists fight on their own frontline. Support Ukrainska Pravda or become our patron! Ukrainian forces down Russian Su-35 fighter jet, but then removed announcement on social media On the evening of 21 May, Ukraines air defence forces shot down a Russian Su-35 fighter jet. Subsequently, Pletenchuk removed the message about the downing of the Russian Su-35 fighter by air defence forces from the social network. Source: Dmytro Pletenchuk, Head of the Kherson Defence Forces press service, on Facebook Quote: "The spectacle of the peerless Su-35 being downed was incredible. Air defence is power!" Details: As of now, the Command of the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine has not officially confirmed the downing of a Russian fighter jet. Reference: The Su-35 is a fourth-generation Russian multi-purpose fighter. The aircraft was developed at the Sukhoi State Design Bureau and is an improved version of the Su-27. Journalists fight on their own frontline. Support Ukrainska Pravda or become our patron! Members of the 24th Mechanised Brigade named after King Danylo have destroyed a Russian Mi-24 helicopter in Donetsk Oblast. Source: press service of the 24th Mechanised Brigade Quote: "A Russian combat Mi-24 helicopter has been destroyed by the forces and assets of the Kings Brigade. The enemy Hind was attempting to fire on the village of Niu-York in Donetsk Oblast when it was neutralised with a precise attack launched from an Igla man-portable anti-aircraft missile system by a member of the rocket and artillery division of the King Danylo 24th Mechanised Brigade." Details: After being hit, the helicopter fell on Russian-controlled territory near the temporarily occupied settlement of Horlivka. Journalists fight on their own frontline. Support Ukrainska Pravda or become our patron! Ukrainian pilots have already started training on F-16s, Borrell says Borrell expressed hope for a quick transfer of F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine I think that the training of the pilots has already started, this is the first thing to do, and I hope that soon we could provide Ukraine with these kinds of arms, he said upon arrival at the Foreign Affairs Council in Brussels. Read also: Biden says new opportunities opened for Ukrainian military by F-16 supply Borrell also welcomed the G7 leaders decision on F-16s for Ukraine. That is a good initiative, the official said. That is a good thing coming out of the G7, that finally they decided to prepare the ground in order to provide Ukraine with the fighter jets they need. Amid the G7 summit in Japan, Western partners began talks about the formation of a coalition to transfer F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine, which Kyiv has been requesting for a long time. Read also: Ministerial advisor shares his opinion on when Ukraine will receive F-16s The training of Ukrainian pilots will be the first step. UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said on May 19 that his country would work together with the United States, the Netherlands, Belgium, and Denmark in order to provide the proper training for Ukrainian pilots on modern aircraft. On May 21, Sunak said that the United Kingdom would begin training Ukrainian pilots on F-16 fighter jets this summer. According to U.S. television channel CNN, U.S. President Joe Biden informed G7 leaders on May 19 that the United States would support a joint effort with allies and partners to train Ukrainian pilots on fourth generation warplanes, including F-16s. However, it has not yet been announced the timing and number of fighter jets Ukraine may receive. Meanwhile, the White House has confirmed U.S. participation in the fighter jets for Ukraine coalition. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan that in the coming months his country would work with the allies to determine when planes will be delivered, who will be delivering them, and how many. Read also: F-16 training program for Ukrainian pilots to be developed within weeks, Dutch PM says At the same time, Ukraine will receive F-16 fighter jets on condition that they not be used to attack Russian territory, Sullivan added. Earlier Yuriy Sak, an advisor to the Ukrainian defense minister, said that Kyiv expects to receive F-16 fighter jets this fall. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on May 21 that the aviation coalition for providing fighter jets to Ukraine has been created, but he cant reveal any details about the number of planes or when they will arrive in Ukraine. I cant tell you right now how many planes we will get and when it will exactly happen. But we will accelerate it, Zelenskyy said. Were bringing the voice of Ukraine to the world. Support us with a one-time donation, or become a Patron! Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine Josep Borrell, High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, hopes that the delivery of F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine will begin soon. Source: Borrell before the EU Foreign Affairs Council meeting in Brussels, reported by European Pravda Details: Borrell has welcomed the approval of the decision to transfer modern fighter jets to Ukraine, adding that the country's defence forces need them. Quote: "Pilot training has already begun, and I hope that we will soon be able to provide Ukraine with these weapons [F-16s ed.]," he said. Background: Last week, the UK announced the start of an international coalition of countries aimed at training Ukrainian pilots on fourth-generation fighters, including the F-16s. It already includes the UK, the Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark, the United States and Portugal. The White House also confirmed that in the coming months, the United States and its allies will discuss when Ukraine will receive modern fighters and how many of these will be delivered. Joe Biden, President of the United States, said he had received a "flat assurance" from Volodymyr Zelenskyy that Ukrainian troops would not use Western-provided F-16 fighter jets to invade Russian territory. Journalists fight on their own frontline. Support Ukrainska Pravda or become our patron! An enemy helicopter fell near the temporarily captured Horlivka "Today, the King Danylo Brigade eliminated a Mi-24 enemy attack helicopter," the message reads. Read also: Ukraine downs Russian Mi-24 helicopter and nine drones in the past day The invaders helicopter was trying to attack Ukrainian positions near the settlement of New York, Donetsk Oblast, when it was shot down by an anti-aircraft gunner of the anti-aircraft missile and artillery division of the 24th Brigade named after King Danylo, the military wrote. "After hitting, the enemy helicopter crashed in the enemy-controlled territory near the (Russian)-occupied (town of) Horlivka," the press service added. The day before, another Russian aircraft was destroyed. A total of 309 airplanes and 294 helicopters have now been eliminated by Ukrainian forces, according to the Ukrainian militarys General Staff. Read also: Ukraine downs Russian Mi-24 helicopter near Avdiivka 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 Tensions escalate as U.S.-manipulated G7 sparks confrontation Xinhua) 08:14, May 22, 2023 HIROSHIMA, Japan, May 21 (Xinhua) -- The Group of Seven (G7) ended its three-day gathering on Sunday in Hiroshima as crowds of protesters took to the streets against the U.S.-led bloc's latest steps to undermine world peace. Analysts have said that absolute U.S. dominance only creates deeper cracks among the group and beyond. Unity and consensus were elusive during the G7 summit held in the western Japanese city. The summit covered many topics but unfortunately ended with a focus on interfering in the internal affairs of other countries and hindering their development. HYPING UP CHINA THREATS The G7 Hiroshima Leaders' Communique, which was rushed out on Saturday, spilled much ink on China, unwarrantedly depicting the country as a trouble-maker, only stopped short of directly naming it. Japanese scholar Kazuteru Saionji found it absurd to demand China playing by international rules while the United States and some of its G7 partners are the major rule-breakers on the world stage. "In my opinion, it is better to return the exact same words to the G7," he told Xinhua. "It is the United States and G7 nations that should take a responsible attitude and abide by international rules," said the visiting professor at Higashi Nippon International University. A demonstrator holds a placard at Hiroshima's Funairi Daiichi Park in a protest against the Group of Seven (G7) summit in Hiroshima, Japan, May 19, 2023. (Xinhua/Zhang Xiaoyu) The joint statement and other documents adopted at the summit also contained comments on the Taiwan Strait and accusations regarding the East China Sea, the South China Sea, Hong Kong, Xinjiang and Tibet. China strongly deplores and firmly opposes the G7's attempts to smear and attack China and brazenly interfere in China's internal affairs and has objected to the summit's host, Japan, and other parties concerned, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson said on Saturday. "China's internal affairs should be solved by China itself. Intervention is a violation of international rules," said Saionji. Days before and during the Hiroshima summit, U.S. government officials continually mentioned so-called "economic coercion" and "de-risking," alleging that the G7 leaders would adopt a unified approach by releasing "a statement on China." "By dragging the G7 bloc to suppress China under the pretext of de-risking, the country is deliberately undermining free trade and the global economic division of labor system," said Saionji, who expressed the belief that the country is peddling imaginary threats in its own version of world order. According to the Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson, the United States is the true coercer in weaponizing economic and trade relations through unilateral sanctions, decoupling efforts, and disrupting industrial and supply chains. The spokesperson urged the G7 to refrain from becoming an accomplice. AGAINST CURRENT TREND Local observers said that with significantly weakening economic heft, the G7 cannot represent the world. Yet, they still cling to a Cold War mentality and fail to acknowledge current global trends toward peace and stability. A recent report from the International Monetary Fund showed that the contribution of BRICS countries to world economic growth has surpassed that of G7 nations, and the upward trend will continue in the foreseeable future. The BRICS countries will guarantee 32.1 percent of world economic growth this year, compared to G7's 29.9 percent, according to the organization's estimates. Atsushi Koketsu, emeritus professor at Yamaguchi University of Japan, said that with the international community moving toward pluralism, the G7 should take note. "I believe the major developing countries will not act according to the United States. They hope for world peace and stability," said Saionji commenting on Japan's invitation for the so-called "Global South" nations to the summit. People rally in a protest against the Group of Seven (G7) summit in Hiroshima, Japan, May 20, 2023. (Xinhua/Zhang Xiaoyu) Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, who holds the G7's rotating presidency, has been criticized for hosting the summit in Hiroshima, a city once devastated by U.S. atomic bombing, as a political stunt. In the eyes of Saionji, raising the Taiwan question is an unwise move by Japan. "The Taiwan question is one of China's internal affairs. U.S. intervention complicated the situation," said the scholar, adding that meddling in the Taiwan question will surely damage China-Japan relations. Saionji believes East Asian countries are against creating regional tensions and provoking confrontation. Therefore, the United States and Japan's attempt to play the Taiwan card is doomed to fail. LOOMING DISPUTES Rallies and demonstrations against the U.S.-manipulated G7 were held for days at multiple locations across the nation. Placards and banners, such as "U.S. out of Asia Pacific," "Crush the G7 Summit," "No War-themed Conference" and "Hands off on Ukraine," were seen at the demonstration on Sunday in downtown Hiroshima, where clashes between the police and protesters were reported. Protesters rally at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park in a protest against the Group of Seven (G7) summit, in Hiroshima, Japan, May 18, 2023. (Xinhua/Zhang Xiaoyu) During the summit, G7 nations, with the United States taking the lead, vowed to escalate sanctions against Russia and intensify diplomatic, financial, humanitarian and military support for Ukraine in the leaders' communique. "The U.S.-centered bloc's non-stop military support to Ukraine will only make a truce out of reach. I strongly condemn this kind of act," said Koketsu. (Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Liang Jun) FILE PHOTO: Vessels are seen as they wait for inspection under UN's Black Sea Grain Initiative in the southern anchorage of the Bosphorus in Istanbul By Michelle Nichols UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The United Nations expressed concern on Monday that Ukraine's Black Sea port of Pivdennyi (Yuzhny) has not received any ships since May 2 under a deal allowing the safe wartime export of grain and fertilizer. U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric did not say who was to blame for the lack of ships traveling to the port, near Odesa, which is also where Russia used to pump up to 2.5 million tonnes of ammonia annually for export via a pipeline from Togliati. That pipeline has been shut down since Moscow's February 2022 invasion of neighboring Ukraine. Russia used to export 4.4 million tonnes of ammonia a year - 20% of global seaborne trade - before its war in Ukraine. The Black Sea grain deal - brokered by the U.N. and Turkey last July - allows for the safe export of ammonia and Russia has been pushing for the pipeline to be restarted. Russia agreed last week for the Black Sea pact to be extended for two months. But a Ukrainian a government source told Reuters on Friday Kyiv would consider allowing Russian ammonia to transit its territory for export if the Black Sea grain deal is expanded to include more Ukrainian ports and a wider range of commodities. The Black Sea grain deal ground to a halt last week as Russia decided whether to continue it. Under the agreement a Joint Coordination Centre (JCC) in Istanbul - made up of officials from the Ukraine, Russia, Turkey and the U.N. - authorizes and inspects ships inbound and outbound. Dujarric said that since the deal was extended, nine ships have been inspected and cleared for travel, of which five are currently in the Ukrainian ports of Odesa and Chornomorsk loading cargo. RUSSIAN DEMANDS Dujarric said the JCC currently has 17 applications from vessels wanting to travel to Ukraine and that seven had been approved and were now waiting to be inspected. "No vessels seeking to load foodstuffs in the port of Yuzhny/Pivdennyi have been approved for registration," he told reporters. "The port of Yuzhny/Pivdennyi has not received any vessel since 2 May. We are concerned by this restriction, and we call again for the full resumption of operations." More than 30 million tonnes of food has been exported from the Ukrainian ports under the Black Sea deal and Dujarric said Pivdennyi (Yuzhny) port accounted for more than one third of those shipments. He noted that no fertilizers, including ammonia, had yet been exported under the Black Sea agreement. Russia had threatened not to renew the deal unless a list of demands related to obstacles to its own food and fertilizer exports is met. Restarting the ammonia pipeline is one of those demands, which the United Nations has been trying to broker. Another key Russian demand is for its state agricultural bank, known as Rosselkhozbank, to be reconnected to the SWIFT international payment network. It was cut off from SWIFT by the European Union in June over the invasion of Ukraine. EU foreign affairs spokesman Peter Stano told Reuters the EU not considering any re-swifting of Russian banks. The Kremlin said on Monday that the EU's reluctance to reconnect Russia's state agricultural bank to SWIFT showed the bloc's "non-constructive stance" on the Black Sea grain deal. As an alternative to SWIFT, the United Nations proposed that other banks could process payments. Reuters has reported that JPMorgan processed the first payment for the Russian Agricultural Bank and could help with dozens more transactions. (Reporting by Michelle Nichols; Editing by Christina Fincher) FILE - A Russian serviceman guards in an area of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Station in territory under Russian military control, southeastern Ukraine, May 1, 2022. The head of the U.N. nuclear watchdog says Ukraines Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant has switched to emergency diesel generators after losing its external power supply for the seventh time since Russias full-scale invasion. (AP Photo/File) KYIV, Ukraine (AP) Russian officials claimed that Ukrainian military saboteurs launched an attack across the border Monday, wounding eight people in a small town. Kyiv officials denied any link with the group and blamed the fighting on a revolt by disgruntled Russians against the Kremlin. Neither version of events could be independently verified in an area that has witnessed sporadic spillover from the almost 15-month war in Ukraine. The governor of Russias Belgorod region, which borders Ukraine, said that a Ukrainian Armed Forces saboteur group entered the town of Graivoron, about five kilometers (three miles) from the border. The town also came under Ukrainian artillery fire, he said. Gov. Vyacheslav Gladkov said eight people were wounded and most residents had left the area, but the situation remained tense. In nearby Zamostye village, a projectile hit a kindergarten and caused a fire. One woman was wounded in her hand, Gladkov said. He also reported that Russian anti-aircraft systems shot down an unmanned aerial vehicle over Belgorod region. Gladkov said a counterterrorist operation was underway and that authorities were imposing special controls, including personal document checks and stopping the work of companies that use explosives, radioactive, chemically and biologically hazardous substances. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russian President Vladimir Putin was informed about the alleged saboteur incursion. An effort to push them out from the Russian territory and liquidate them was underway, he said. Peskov described the action as an attempt by Ukraine to divert attention from the eastern city of Bakhmut, which Moscow claimed to have captured after months of battle but where Kyiv says it is still fighting. But Ukrainian military intelligence officials didnt confirm that Kyiv had deployed saboteurs. Instead, they claimed that Russian citizens seeking regime change in Moscow were behind the Graivoron incursion. Ukraine intelligence representative Andrii Cherniak said Russian citizens belonging to murky groups calling themselves the Russian Volunteer Corps and the Freedom of Russia Legion were behind the assault. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyys advisor, Mykhailo Podolyak, said on Twitter that Ukraine has nothing to do with it. He suggested an armed guerrilla movement was behind the attack. The Russian Volunteer Corps claimed in a Telegram post it had crossed the border into Russia again, after claiming to have breached the border in early March. The Russian Volunteer Corps describes itself as a volunteer formation fighting on Ukraines side. Little is known about the group, and it is not clear if it has any ties with the Ukrainian military. The same is true for the Freedom of Russia Legion.. The RVC was founded last August and reportedly consists mostly of anti-Putin far-right Russian extremists who have links with Ukrainian far-right groups. Earlier Monday, Ukraines Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, Europes largest atomic power station, spent hours operating on emergency diesel generators after losing its external power supply for the seventh time since Russias full-scale invasion of its neighbor, the head of the U.N. nuclear watchdog said. The nuclear safety situation at the plant (is) extremely vulnerable, Rafael Grossi, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said in a tweet. Hours later, national energy company Ukrenergo said on Telegram that it had restored the power line that feeds the plant. But for Grossi, it was another reminder of what's at stake at the Russian-occupied plant which has seen shelling close by. We must agree to protect (the) plant now; this situation cannot continue, Grossi said, in his latest appeal for the area to be spared from the fighting between Ukrainian and Russian forces. IAEA staff are deployed at the plant, which is occupied by Russian troops. The plants six nuclear reactors, which are protected by a reinforced shelter able to withstand an errant shell or rocket, have been shut down. But a disruption in the electrical supply could disable cooling systems that are essential for the reactors safety even when they are shut down. Emergency diesel generators, which officials say can keep the plant operational for 10 days, can be unreliable. Grossi said it was the seventh time the plant had lost its outside power supply since Russias full-scale invasion in February 2022. The Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant is one of the 10 biggest atomic power stations in the world. Ukraines presidential office said Monday morning that at least three Ukrainian civilians were killed and 16 others were injured in Russian assaults over the previous 24 hours. The Ukrainian Air Force reported that four out of 16 Russian missiles and all 20 drones launched against Ukrainian targets were shot down. Military targets and public infrastructure in Dnipro, Ukraine's fourth-largest city in the center of the country, were singled out for Russian attacks, which injured eight people, officials said. The Dnipro fire department was affected, and 12 houses, shops, and a kindergarten were damaged, according to Governor Serhii Lysak. ___ Follow APs coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine Tim Scott enters 2024 presidential race Senator Tim Scott announces he is running for president at his alma mater, Charleston Southern University, in Charleston, S.C., on May 22, 2023. Credit - Peter ZayAnadolu Agency via Getty Images This article is part of The D.C. Brief, TIMEs politics newsletter. Sign up here to get stories like this sent to your inbox. If you spend any time looking at the polls right now, there are essentially two obvious contenders for the Republican Partys presidential nomination: ex-President Donald Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. In almost every survey, that pair of smash-it-all-to-hell firebrands controls about three-quarters of the early support; all others are polling, at best, in the mid-single digits, while some of the most compelling cases for the future of the GOP are statistically equal to about zero. This would all suggest no one else should bother getting in the race. Instead the opposite is happening. Sen. Tim Scott on Monday jumped in with a rally in North Charleston, S.C. The likes of former Vice President Mike Pence, New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu, and North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum have been laying the groundworkwith varying degrees of intentionalityfor a run. Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin, who had said he was not running at the moment, didnt stop his super PAC from releasing a campaign-style ad that was as good as any launch video seen in some time. And dont discount former Trump frenemies like Trumps longest-serving National Security Adviser John Bolton or ex-New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie. Even former Energy Secretary Rick Perry isnt ruling out a third run of his own. Is the Trump-induced fever inside the GOP finally breaking? Or is it causing dangerous hallucinations? All these seasoned Republicans and a cadre of typically smart operatives are working to undermine the leader of their party because of two distinct, but related assumptions: 1.) Trump exhaustion is widespread, but untapped; and 2.) Republicans cant win the White House or the Senate with Trump on the ballot. If the first inflection point of the campaign cycle was Trumps indictment, those two assumptions are fueling a second one, which begins this week as a rush of credible conservatives with reform-facing pitches and central-casting-worthy stories potentially jump into the fray. On the first assumption, its helpful to remember that Trump was an annoying force in politics long before became an official candidate in 2015. He was the biggest hype man of the Birther movement, who trolled Obama relentlessly over his place of birth. (Hawaii, for the record.) In other words, the Trump Show has been going on for quite some time and its numbers are soft. The thinking so many Republicans are banking on is that Trump is an entirely over-inflated dirigible that is one errant spark from going up in spectacular flames. That flies somewhat in the face of the C.W. that Trump permanently remade many aspects of the current Republican Party; his hold is tight, his vengeance mighty. DeSantis is shaping himself as a less-indicted version of Trump but marching with the same mix of moxy and machismo right up to the front gate of the Magic Kingdom with a mousetrap. (TIMEs Molly Ball has a masterful, must-read profile of DeSantis work in Florida and what it could mean for America.) Tech investor Vivek Ramaswamy, meanwhile, is running as a less-baggage-laden Trump, although he channels plenty of the culture warrior trolling that makes Trump as amusing as any YouTube star. Former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley is also running, but seems to be slow-walking any escalating criticism of her former boss. Yet there is a whole cadre of non-Trumps in the wings or on-deck. They are careful not to be, as a whole, anti-Trumps, but its clear that theyre onto at least a hunch that Trumpism could lose its luster over the next year, which is truly a lifetime in politics. Trump captured the nomination in 2016 because everyone seemed skittish to engage him directly with any real purpose, and even then it seemed to fall on one person at a time to doff the role of Trump Foeand then to be felled by his unmatched cruelty. (Remember Little Marco? Low-Energy Jeb? Lyin Ted?) This time, the thinking goes, the slow grind of low-grade friction against Trump could whittle down his strength in a way no broadside could in 2016. Its an approach thats about to be tested. Take Scott, the only Black Republican in the Senate and the first Black Senator elected to the Senate from the South since Reconstruction. Scotts campaign is ready with $22 million in the bank, $6 million in television ads teed up in Iowa and New Hampshire, and billionaire Larry Ellison at the ready with his checkbook to give a broadside to Trumps aura of inevitability. Talk to any sober Republican on the Hilland even some Democratsand they light up at the mention of Scotts candidacy. Yes, they know the challenges, but they also know the potential: a capable fundraiser, a compelling argument for his candidacy, and a decided break from policy-devoid Trumpism. Scott has proven able to work across the aisle, is a partisan but not vindictive about it, and his base frankly breaks the mold of what a lot of the modern GOP looks like with a blend of traditional evangelicals, moderate Republicans and conservative activists. The No. 2 Republican in the Senate, John Thune, was by Scotts side Monday and endorsed him at the rally. Sen. Mike Rounds of South Dakota, too, is openly backing Scott. Its not just Scott who is drawing folks off the sidelines. Veteran strategist Scott Reed, who managed Bob Doles 1996 presidential bid and for years was the political sherpa for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, is helping organize a super PAC on behalf of Pences nascent campaign. Many of the Koch political orbits most serious players are more directly involved in Pences efforts. And former Rep. Jeb Hensarling, a close ally of Pence from their days in the House, is helping raise money for the effort that will focus on dinging Trump in the early nominating states like Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina. Bobby Saparow, who ran Georgia Gov. Brian Kemps campaign last year, is expected to run the day-to-day operations of the group. Which brings us to that second assumption, the one animating much of the actions among the Republicans most focused on winning control of the Senate. Finding an offramp from Trumpism is about more than just whether voters will back their candidates next November. Some prime recruits, frankly, dont want to run if theres a chance theyll have to spend almost a year on the trail defending Trump at every turn. Thats why Senate Leader Mitch McConnell and his allies are taking a more direct approach to the campaign. They watched through gritted teeth last year as a favorable map for them left Democrats in control, in large part because the party activists nominated candidates who stood tough odds of winning over voters in the middle. With Sen. Steve Daines at the helm of the partys official campaign arm and McConnells pals on the outside emboldened, that seems less likely this timeeven if that means running primaries against Trump-endorsed candidates. Electability over all other factors is key. As an added and implicit bonus, a lackluster endorsement trail may lead some GOP insiders to rethink Trumps primacy. Biden and his fellow Democrats have very real fissures with some parts of their coalition and Scott could peel some voters of color away from their default partisan identifications. That is compelling for some abacus-wielding Republicans who are frustrated with the fact the GOP has lost the popular vote in seven of the last eight presidential elections. If politics truly is a game of addition, Team GOP needs to start finding new supporters and hemorrhaging their deserters. Finally, for political insiders, Trump has been around seemingly forever, and the joke is wearing thin. Trump can still put on the show hes become known for, or at least some version of it. Just look at his recent CNN town hall with likely GOP voters that proved he has no intention of modulating his belligerence. He drew spiteful laughter when he joked about a civil case he had just lost, applause when he challenged the moderator, and nods when he spread lies about 2016s loss. Its [out of] amusement. Its not bemusement. And it sure isnt support, one unaligned Republican strategist up there told me. Still, theres a big gap to cover between chuckling at performance art and convincing those thrill-seekers its worth trading in the circus tent folding chair for a pew inside a stable church. Scott and his cohort think they can pull it off over the next nine months or so, and they may be right. The margins are small, the stakes huge, the pitch steep. Yet a surprising number of typically smart operatives see an objective way to deny if not derail Trumps route, and these arent the types to fall for a shallow scheme. In the meantime, theyre walking into a lot of rooms with plenty of skepticism and more than a little hesitancy toward conversion. Its now up to them to prove the doubters wrong and the heretics right. Make sense of what matters in Washington. Sign up for the D.C. Brief newsletter. The man accused of fatally stabbing four University of Idaho students last year is set to appear in court Monday, days after he was indicted by a grand jury. Bryan Kohberger is expected to be arraigned on four counts of first-degree murder and one count of burglary for the November 13 killings of Kaylee Goncalves, 21; Madison Mogen, 21; Xana Kernodle, 20; and Ethan Chapin, 20, at a home just outside the universitys main campus in Moscow, Idaho. The 28-year-old, who could face the death penalty if found guilty, is expected to enter a plea as part of Mondays proceeding. Kohberger has been in police custody since late December, when he was arrested at his parents Pennsylvania home following a weekslong search for a suspect that left the university and the surrounding community of about 25,000 people on edge. He is being held without bail. In the days after the discovery of the grisly crime scene, investigators narrowed in on Kohberger after focusing on a white Hyundai Elantra seen in surveillance footage near the crime scene, according to a probable cause affidavit released in January. By November 25, area law enforcement officers were notified to look out for the vehicle, the affidavit read. Within days, police at Washington State University in nearby Pullman, Washington where the suspect was a graduate student in the Department of Criminology identified a vehicle and found it registered to Kohberger. His drivers license information was consistent with the description of a man given to police by the victims surviving roommate, the affidavit says, specifically noting his height, weight and bushy eyebrows. The roommate told investigators she saw a man with a similar description clad in black the morning of the attack, which followed a night out for the victims: Chapin and Kernodle earlier had attended a party on campus, police have said, while Mogen and Goncalves went to a downtown bar before ordering food at a food truck. Police tape surrounds the residence where four University of Idaho students were killed as police monitor the scene November 30 in Moscow, Idaho. - Lindsey Wasson/Reuters Investigators connected Kohberger to the crime scene after DNA on a tan leather knife sheath found lying next to one of the victims was linked to DNA on trash recovered from Kohbergers family home in Pennsylvania, according to the affidavit. There, investigators seized a white 2015 Hyundai Elantra an attorney for the suspect previously said hed used to drive, accompanied by his father, to his parents home for the holidays. Court documents show investigators dismantled the vehicle, collecting parts, fiber and swabs for further examination. Investigators also seized knives, a cell phone, black gloves, black masks, laptops, dark-colored clothes and dark shoes, an evidence log shows. Following his arrest, Kohberger waived extradition and was sent back to Idaho. He was booked into the Latah County Jail on the same counts for which he was indicted. Many details about the case remain unknown, in part due to a wide-ranging nondissemination order that prevents attorneys for any interested party in the case from commenting beyond the public record, leaving in place a veil of secrecy. A preliminary hearing had been scheduled for the end of June, with the parties expected to detail evidence collected by the state. But the hearing was canceled, Latah County Deputy Court Clerk Tamzen Reeves said after Kohbergers indictment, and court records indicate the names of the witnesses who testified before the grand jury are under seal. CNNs Cheri Mossburg contributed to this report. For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com (Bloomberg) -- The US and Papua New Guinea signed two new security agreements on Monday aimed at bolstering ties in a move seen as an effort to counter to Chinas growing influence in the Pacific. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Prime Minister James Marape in Port Moresby to deepen engagement with a Pacific island nation strategically located near trade routes to allies Australia and Japan. The Defense Cooperation Agreement reached on Monday will facilitate bilateral and multilateral exercises and engagements, the US said in a statement. It also enables the United States to be more responsive in emergency situations, such as those involving humanitarian assistance and disaster relief. The move is the latest step in a period of strategic competition between the US and China in the Pacific after a decade in which Beijing has ramped up its economic and political presence in the region. In April 2022, China signed a security agreement with the Solomon Islands, its first in the Pacific and a diplomatic coup for Beijing. Blinken made the visit to Papua New Guinea after President Joe Biden scrapped a planned stop there and in Australia in order to return directly to Washington following a visit to Japan for the Group of Seven summit. He would have been the first US president to visit the island, but changed plans to continue talks with Republicans over raising the US debt ceiling. Read More: Whats the Quad and Should China Fear It?: QuickTake The US said a second deal announced Monday will also allow Papua New Guinea to take part in the US Coast Guards Shiprider program, a security cooperation program which aims, in part, to help nations protect their sovereignty and natural resources, including fisheries. That will be seen as an indirect effort to push back on China: Several nations in Southeast Asia have bristled at the armada of Chinese fishing vessels which often swarm around contested reefs, outcrops and islands, saying they are violating national sovereignty. In addition, the defense pact will also help improve the capacity of the PNG Defense Force and increase stability and security in the region, according to a previous State Department statement. Blinken is slated to meet with Pacific Islands Forum leaders on Bidens behalf while in Papua New Guinea, and had planned to discuss a range of issues including the climate crisis and advancing economic growth. Read More: Biden Says US-China Relations Set to Improve Very Shortly Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is also in Papua New Guinea to attend the Forum for India-Pacific Islands Cooperation summit and met with Prime Minister Marape on the sidelines. New Zealand Prime Minister Chris Hipkins earlier said he isnt concerned that a renewed partnership between the US and Papua New Guinea represents a militarization of the Indo-Pacific region, adding that the pact builds on existing relationships with the US and isnt just about security. --With assistance from Tim Smith and Sudhi Ranjan Sen. More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com 2023 Bloomberg L.P. US signs security pact with Papua New Guinea to counter Chinas Pacific influence The United States on Monday signed a new security agreement with the island nation of Papua New Guinea as Washington seeks to counter Chinas ambitions in the Indo-Pacific region. The Defense Cooperation Agreement enhances and modernizes an old security pact between the nations, increasing bilateral and multilateral exercises and improving the capabilities of the U.S. to respond to emergency situations. Another agreement reached Monday expands efforts to address maritime threats, including illegal fishing and smuggling operations. The pact, similar to those forged with other partner nations in the Indo-Pacific, allows U.S. Coast Guard officers to board and search ships suspected of illegal activities. Secretary of State Antony Blinken signed the agreement in the countrys capital of Port Moresby on Monday. Blinken said the two countries have a deep and rich shared history. The work that were doing together to try to shape the future could not be more important, could not be more timely, Blinken said ahead of the signing with Papua New Guinea Prime Minister James Marape. Blinken traveled to Papua New Guinea in the place of President Biden, who canceled what would have been the first visit from a sitting U.S. president to a Pacific country. Biden returned to Washington to work to resolve the debt ceiling crisis. The security agreement also includes a U.S. commitment of more than $12 million of equipment. Some Papua New Guinea citizens have protested the security agreement, expressing concern about the increasing militarization of the region. Marape said the meeting with Blinken was historic and could foster important growth in his country. Thats why across [the] country we are here to get to develop our country to be better developed and not where we are today, Marape said in his public remarks. The U.S. has been expanding its influence in the Indo-Pacific over growing concerns about Chinese encroachment in the region, including a possible invasion of the self-governing island nation Taiwan. Washington recently announced the expansion of more rotating military bases in the Philippines and has forged an agreement with Australia to boost submarine patrols and the naval capabilities of Canberra. China has reacted with anger over the expanding military presence of the U.S. and its allies, which Beijing has called hostile and an aggressive military push. The U.S. also announced a wide range of other initiatives with Papua New Guinea, including efforts to address climate change. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. FILE PHOTO: Joseph Percoco, former aid to New York Governor Andrew M. Cuomo, walks out of the Manhattan Federal Courthouse in New York US Supreme Court backs three men in Cuomo-era New York corruption cases FILE PHOTO: Joseph Percoco, former aid to New York Governor Andrew M. Cuomo, walks out of the Manhattan Federal Courthouse in New York By Luc Cohen NEW YORK (Reuters) -The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday gave a big boost to two real estate developers and a former state university official convicted of fraud for rigging bids for one of former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo's signature projects, the latest reversal for the Justice Department in a major corruption inquiry. The justices threw out lower court decisions upholding the 2018 convictions of Steven Aiello, Joseph Gerardi and Alain Kaloyeros, who were charged as part of a corruption crackdown by federal prosecutors in Manhattan centered on the state capital of Albany. The justices acted in light of their May 11 ruling overturning the related convictions of former Cuomo aide Joseph Percoco and construction executive Louis Ciminelli. The court has hemmed in prosecutors in a series of political corruption cases in recent years. Aiello, Gerardi and Kaloyeros were charged in 2016 in a sweeping federal probe into alleged corruption in Cuomo's "Buffalo Billion" revitalization initiative for the city of Buffalo in upstate New York. Percoco, a former Cuomo aide, had been found guilty of seeking $315,000 in bribes in connection with the initiative while managing the Democratic then-governor's 2014 re-election campaign. His defense lawyers argued that because Percoco was no longer serving in government at the time of the actions at issue, he could not be convicted of bribery. Lawyers for Aiello and Gerardi, real estate developers charged with orchestrating the payment of bribes to Percoco, made a similar argument. The jury that convicted Percoco had been required "to determine whether he had a 'special relationship' with the government and had 'dominated and controlled' government business," conservative Justice Samuel Alito wrote in the court's ruling in that case. "We conclude that this is not the proper test for determining whether a private person may be convicted of honest-services fraud." Lawyers for Ciminelli, a construction executive convicted of conspiring to rig bids in connection with the plan, argued that prosecutors had relied upon an invalid legal theory of wire fraud that involved depriving a victim not of tangible property but of economically valuable information. Lawyers for Aiello, Gerardi and Kaloyeros - a former official at a state university who helped administer the bidding process - raised that point as well. Michael Miller, a lawyer for Kaloyeros, said he "could not be more pleased that the Supreme Court has recognized that the government relied on an invalid theory of wire fraud" to prosecute Kaloyeros, who he said "committed no crimes in connection with his efforts to bring lasting economic development." A spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney's office in Manhattan declined to comment. Lawyers for Aiello and Gerardi did not immediately respond to requests for comment. In overturning Ciminelli's guilty verdict, the justices said that theory of fraud, known as "right to control," is "inconsistent with the structure and history of the federal fraud statutes." Cuomo was not charged in the inquiry but resigned in 2021 in an unrelated sexual harassment scandal. The Supreme Court, which has a conservative majority, increasingly has restricted prosecutors in political corruption cases. In 2020, it overturned the convictions of two aides to Republican former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie in the "Bridgegate" political scandal. In 2016, it threw out Republican former Virginia Governor Robert McDonnell's bribery conviction. (Reporting by Luc Cohen in New York; Editing by Will Dunham) The US and Papua New Guinea signed a security pact on Monday, but President Joe Biden did not attend The people of Papua New Guinea were ready to party in honour of a special guest - the president of the United States. Monday was even declared a public holiday, but the guest of honour was a no-show. Joe Biden was supposed to be the first US president to visit a Pacific Island nation on Monday, but he cancelled his trip and instead flew home to Washington from the G7 summit in Hiroshima to focus on domestic problems. Papua New Guinea (PNG) welcomed US Secretary of State Antony Blinken instead, but after six months of preparations, this is not the history making moment they'd longed for. "It is going to be a disappointment for a number of the Pacific leaders who had made special arrangements to be in Papua New Guinea to meet with him," said Mark Brown, the Prime Minister of the Cook Islands and leader of the Pacific Islands Forum in a BBC interview. Mr Biden had been expected to sign a security pact with PNG Prime Minister James Marape. The agreement, which was ultimately signed by Mr Blinken and PNG Defence Minister Win Bakri Daki, gives US forces access to the country's airfields and ports. It also pledges tens of millions of dollars to boost security co-operation. But with Mr Biden travelling home, this is not a good time for the US to disappoint leaders in this resource-rich and strategically placed region. Washington and Beijing are battling for influence in the Pacific and the US is already playing catch-up after what analysts describe as years of neglect. The 15 independent nations manage around 20% of the world's oceans. These hugely important maritime routes were used in World War Two to transport supplies to Australia and New Zealand. Western interests in the Pacific waned after the war, but Chinese investments in the region have grown. Beijing has worked to strengthen ties with several island nations over the last decade, sending aid and investing in schools, roads and bridges. When Mr Blinken arrived in Port Moresby in PNG, he was driven on a six-lane highway built by China. Last year the Solomon Islands signed a security pact with Beijing prompting fears that China could build its first military base in the region which would vastly increase the reach of its military. "Many of our countries in the Pacific have well-established diplomatic relations with China," Mr Brown told the BBC. "China has been filling a gap in the development sphere, helping Pacific countries achieve their development priorities." China's President Xi Jinping visited Papua New Guinea in 2018 He said the West was now showing "increased attention" in Pacific development needs. "I think we welcome that. But we also welcome the announcement by Secretary Blinken, in saying that he would like to see the US being the development partner of choice from Pacific countries." But analysts fear Washington may have to do more to persuade the Pacific Island nations that they are serious about becoming partners. Last year Fiji's acting prime minister told Secretary Blinken that island nations felt like "small dots" to Western leaders flying to meetings where they "spoke about us, rather than with us". Beijing's President Xi Jinping showed up. He travelled to Papua New Guinea in 2018 - four years earlier he paid a state visit to Fiji. Washington has woken up to Beijing's growing presence in the region and earlier this year it re-opened its embassy in the Solomon Islands which had been shut for 30 years. Australia too has embarked on a diplomatic push and its defence and foreign ministers have made recent visit to a number of island nations. But while Pacific Island leaders welcome the attention, they have their own priorities. "We don't want our region to be an area of adversarial challenge between our development partners - rather, we want to find areas of collaboration, where we can have the best support to achieve our development agendas and our climate agenda," Mr Brown said. "The important thing is China and the US don't have to work together, they have to work with us. There is plenty of room for all partners to come into the Pacific and help us achieve our development agendas." Instead of being caught between the two superpowers, the islands could benefit from this increased interest. "Pacific governments are relishing their place in the sun," Gordon Peake, a senior adviser for the Pacific Islands at the United States Institute of Peace told the AFP News Agency. "'Friends to all, enemies to none' is the informal foreign policy mantra of most Pacific nations and they're sticking to it, to great net effect." The key for the Pacific Island nations will be getting the US and China interested in their priorities. Cook Islands Prime Minister Mark Brown attended the G7 summit at the weekend as an extra guest where the leaders of the world's richest democracies stepped up their response to what they described as Beijing's rising military and economic threats. But there was very little information about how the Group of Seven would tackle the world's climate crisis. Pacific Island nations such as Vanuatu are greatly threatened by climate change The Pacific Islands are extremely vulnerable to rising seas and strong cyclones, and the oceans are central to their way of life as it underpins their culture, food, livelihoods, and national economies. "I think climate change is not something that's coming down the line, it's something that we live with, year after year, season after season. The impact that it has on our country is increased severity of hurricanes, storms, floods, but also the other extremes such as drought conditions," Mr Brown said. "Our message is please hear the voice of the Pacific. Hear the call for greater action on climate change. This message has been repeated in a number of forums over a number of years. But we just have to keep pushing." They will continue to push this message when Mr Blinken arrives in PNG on Monday where he will meet leaders from the Pacific Islands Forum. These often-forgotten nations are now having their voices heard on the biggest diplomatic stages in the world. And they are determined to make the most of it. John Schouest was diagnosed with Guillain-Barre syndrome, a neurological disorder that causes the immune system to attack the nerves, during a hospital stay last fall. Courtesy of John Schouest John Schouest placed first in his regional high-school-track competition last fall. Soon after, doctors intubated him before diagnosing him with Guillain-Barre syndrome. He now wants to study neurology to help patients like himself. This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with John Schouest. It has been edited for length and clarity. Last fall, I was looking forward to my senior year running track at my Louisiana high school. I thought I had a chance to do well, and I was thrilled when I came in first place at a regional competition. As I started training for the state competition, which was two weeks after that, my legs felt very weak. On the day of the race, I realized I couldn't feel my feet. Still, I ran three miles in 17 minutes and 45 seconds. It was a blistering pace, but I had been running more than a minute faster than that all season. A few days later, just before Thanksgiving, I started to feel very sick. My face drooped, and doctors diagnosed me with Bell's Palsy, a neurological condition. But I just kept getting worse. The day after Thanksgiving, I couldn't get out of bed. My parents rushed me to Children's Hospital New Orleans. I spent the next eight days on a ventilator as my respiratory system shut down. I was diagnosed with a rare neurological condition At Children's Hospital New Orleans, doctors diagnosed me with Guillain-Barre syndrome. It's a neurological condition in which the immune system attacks the nerves. Viruses trigger it. I had been around a lot of sickness there'd been a flu-and-COVID outbreak at my school. I also had received my flu vaccine, which can increase the risk of developing Guillain-Barre syndrome for about one in a million people. I still don't know exactly what triggered my illness, and I likely never will, but it doesn't really matter. As a 17-year-old boy, I didn't think anything really bad would happen to me. Despite being critically ill, I always trusted that I would be OK in the end. But getting there took a long time I was in the hospital from December to February. I had a lot of setbacks in the hospital Every time I pushed myself during rehab, my condition would flare up. I had to learn to take it slow something that didn't come naturally to me as a track athlete. My older sister was getting married in February, and I worried I wouldn't be at her wedding. Then, doctors diagnosed me with chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy, the long-term form of Guillain-Barre syndrome. Hearing I had a chronic condition was a blow. Yet the new diagnosis meant a new medication, which immediately made a huge difference. Within a week, I went from being bedridden to walking. The hospital discharged me on a Thursday and I went right to my sister's rehearsal dinner. Two days after leaving the hospital, I walked down the aisle at her wedding, with my walker. My parents said it was the most joyous day they'd ever experience. My recent 5K wasn't what I imagined for senior spring I was in the hospital for so long that I ended up befriending many staff, including the CEO, Lou Fragoso. Lou heard about my track career. He's also an avid runner, so he would come by and talk track with me. We decided to do a 5K together to raise awareness for Guillain-Barre syndrome. I had to ride in a wheelchair for most of the race, which we completed in March. But it still felt great to be back on the course in a whole new way. I was able to walk the last few hundred yards and cross the finish line. Today I still have some numbness in my feet and lingering nerve pain. I've had to learn that this isn't going to be fixed overnight it might be something I deal with forever. Even before this, I wanted to become a physician's assistant, but now I plan to study neurology to help patients like me. My senior year has turned out a lot differently than I'd planned. I ended up missing the entire spring track season. But I'm alive. I'm able to share my story and raise awareness about rare neurological conditions. That is the most important race I've run. Read the original article on Insider Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear wasted no time getting back into campaign mode after the Tuesday primaries, shifting his re-election effort into high gear with a 12-city, 3-day bus tour across the commonwealth. At back-to-back Sunday stops in Louisville, Beshears message made it clear hes not planning to shy away from issues where Republicans have already been attacking him for months namely his record on education and the response to the COVID-19 pandemic. I truly believe in that phrase you hear every election, that this is the most important election of our lifetime, Beshear said to a standing-room only crowd at the campaign field office in the Highlands neighborhood. Now, I get it. I get it. Go back to 2019. We thought that we thought the race was about right versus wrong. Turns out, it was about life versus death. Everything you did to help us win that election, thank you for helping us save tens of thousands of lives. Beshear, a Democrat, narrowly defeated Republican Gov. Matt Bevin in 2019. Earlier that year, Bevin said he intentionally exposed all of his children to the chickenpox instead of vaccinating them. Since leaving office, Bevin has downplayed the seriousness of the pandemic, which has killed more than 18,600 Kentuckians. Turns out the 2019 gubernatorial election was about life versus death, Beshear said. pic.twitter.com/knRo82AXg4 Tessa Duvall (@TessaDuvall) May 21, 2023 This November, Beshear faces off against Attorney General Daniel Cameron, the Republican nominee for Kentuckys highest office. It is expected to be the most expensive and closely watched race in the nation this year. Having emerged at the top of a 12-way contest that just ended Tuesday, Cameron is not yet airing television ads, but he has appeared on Fox News. You talk about somebody that divided us, Andy Beshear spent nearly two years dividing us because he told people that cared about faith and cared about Christ that rather than go to church, they needed to stay at home, Cameron told host Laura Ingraham. And rather than have our kids learn and be educated, he had them sit at home, and because of that, again, we have nearly two years of learning loss and were still trying to dig our way out. Former Gov. Steve Beshear the current governors father also appeared in Louisville Sunday, stumping for his son. Kentuckians, he said, wanted a courageous leader who could make difficult decisions even when it wasnt in their best interest politically to do so. Look at this record. Look at what they did in the pandemic they threw politics out the window, the elder Beshear said. They said you know what, life and death is not Republican or Democrat, and were gonna do whatever it takes to keep our people alive. And thats exactly what they did. You know, other governors were running for political cover. This governor didnt, and you know, something 60% approval rating later, I think... The crowd broke into applause, drowning out the former governor. Lt. Gov. Jacqueline Coleman, a former educator, told the crowds at both stops that Kentucky traded in the least popular Republican governor in the country for the most popular Democratic governor. It is a re-election year. And you know its an election year, not just because of the terrible ads youve seen on TV, but because here we are again, and Kentuckys teachers are under attack yet again in another election year, Coleman said. And let me tell you something our opponent dusted off Matt Bevins old playbook. Hes out there dividing and disrespecting our teachers, and it didnt work then and Im gonna tell yall what, its not gonna work now, either. At the second Louisville stop, hosted at The Palm Room in the citys West End, several educators waved their Teachers for Andy signs and posed for photos with the governor, including Cassie Lyles and Christie Mudd. Getting Andy re-elected is one of the most important things we can do for teachers. Its clear that he is 100% supportive of public education and of educators and of our students, and thats our number one priority, Lyles, a high school civics teacher, said. In his primary night victory speech, Cameron said schools are on the verge of becoming breeding grounds for liberal and progressive ideas. In response, Mudd, an elementary school teacher, said many politicians dont actually know what its like to be an educator. I hope that everyone knows that at the end of the day, our goal is to help our students be the best version of themselves they can be, Mudd said. And that I hope that my classroom is a place of love and support. ... At the end of the day if you have questions about education, ask the teachers in your community. Theyll tell you. Speaking after the first event in Louisville, Beshear said he started this campaign season off with a strong push because youve got to earn this job, and thats about showing up and working just as hard as you can every single day, both as governor and a candidate. No, were not waiting. Our future is too important, Beshear said. And youre going to see a big difference in how we run these campaigns and who lives out their faith and values. Were going to be talking about the future, about moving Kentucky not to the right or left, but forward for every family. I think you see the other side, its just going to be hurling insults. Copyright 1995 - . All rights reserved. The content (including but not limited to text, photo, multimedia information, etc) published in this site belongs to China Daily Information Co (CDIC). Without written authorization from CDIC, such content shall not be republished or used in any form. Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site. 0108263 License for publishing multimedia online Registration Number: 130349 Registration Number: 130349 Fergus Cullen is wary of Ron DeSantis conflict with Disney, dislikes how the governor once used his kids in a campaign ad, and doubts hed support the Florida Republicans presidential candidacy if it were any other election. And yet Cullen, the former chairman of the New Hampshire GOP and an avowed member of the Never Trump movement, is still open to the Florida Republicans White House bid almost exclusively because of his deep dislike of former President Donald Trump. Weve got a dilemma on our hands, and Im trying to be pragmatic here, Cullen said. Trump is an existential threat not only to the country, but to the Republican Partys prospects to be competitive. And I would accept anyone as a preferable nominee. Cullen isnt the only leading anti-Trump Republican who is begrudgingly arriving at that conclusion. As DeSantis prepares to enter the presidential race this week, a small but influential contingent of Republicans is grappling with a strategic dilemma, stuck choosing between a candidate in Trump many of them consider a clear and present danger to the republic and an alternative in DeSantis they worry would solidify possibly even intensify the GOPs turn to anti-democratic demagoguery. Ultimately, however, the real danger many of them say they have already seen Trump pose in office outweighs any potential worry about a future DeSantis presidency. I dont want Donald Trump to be the nominee because I do consider him an existential threat, said Joe Wash, a former Republican congressman from Illinois. I think most Never Trumpers would probably support DeSantis, even those who dont like him and have reservations. Ron Filipkowski, a longtime Republican in Florida and vocal Trump critic, offered an even more blunt assessment. I think DeSantis is just an ass and extreme right-winger who likes to play to the mob a little too much, he said. But I dont think DeSantis is going to pull us out of NATO or fire half the civil service. DeSantis, who has intensely courted the partys conservative base, is unlikely to wear their endorsement as a badge of honor. Indeed, many members of the Never Trump movement are deeply disliked by other Republicans, and they represent only a small fraction of the overall GOP electorate. Trump himself has long derided Republicans opposed to his presidency as elitist bureaucrats, out of touch with the partys new populist center. But the grudging support of these anti-Trump Republicans could nonetheless offer a small but critical boost to the Florida governor, as he tries to unite a coalition of GOP voters big enough to overcome the former president and his base of die-hard MAGA supporters. READ MORE: Hate-inspired leadership: NAACP joins other groups in warning against travel to Florida Most analysts believe that if DeSantis were to topple Trump, he would need to have the support of every wing of the party, from hardline conservative ideologues to more moderate voters. And the backing of anti-Trump Republicans might also come up with indirect financial support: Sarah Longwell, one of the most visible members of the Never Trump movement, declined to say specifically whether she was planning an ad campaign in the primary against Trump. But the GOP strategist pointed out that in her role with the group Republican Voters Against Trump, she has spent tens of millions of dollars opposing the former president. Ive opposed Trump every step of the way, she said. And Im going to continue to oppose him in this primary actively. WHY THEY BACK HIM Longwell said that although she supports DeSantis over Trump in the Republican primary, shed still back Democratic President Joe Biden over the Florida governor in a general election. DeSantis, she said, reminds her of Hungarian Prime Minister Victor Orban, an authoritarian leader who has spoken out about mixed race marriages and sharply cut the rights of the countrys LGBTQ citizens. But she, like others opposed to Trump, still suspects that DeSantis could become what she considers a more mainstream politician if elected president. To some extent, they argue, his public positions over the last few years amount to more of an act than a true expression of how he sees government. I think that inside of Ron DeSantis, theres a bit of a secret normie, Longwell said. Hes a bit of a monster, hes basically changed all his positions to chase the Republican Party. But deep down, if you ask him who his heroes were 10 years ago, hed say George H.W. Bush, she added. RELATED CONTENT: DeSantis more likely to double down than pivot as he enters presidential race DeSantis, Longwell and others point out, has a much different political background than Trump, who never held elected office before becoming president. DeSantis served nearly three full terms in office as a congressman from Jacksonville, a tenure in which he compiled a deeply conservative record but one that still stuck close to the partys traditional viewpoints. When anti-Trump Republicans talk about DeSantis possibly exceeding their expectations as president, most of them do so in the hope that the politician who served in Congress is truer to what they believe are his personal convictions than the man theyve seen as governor over the last few years. Carlos Curbelo, a former Republican congressman from Florida who served with DeSantis in Washington, described him as politically pragmatic, eager to help elect Curbelo even though he held a more moderate viewpoint than the average Republican official. I think hes entirely different than Donald Trump, said Curbelo, who declined to support Trump in 2016. Im just not sure he wants everyone to know that. Curbelo, an MSNBC analyst who is staying neutral in the 2024 presidential race, also said DeSantis and Trump differ in how they view the legitimacy of the 2020 election. Trump reiterated earlier this month during a town hall broadcast on CNN the lie that the last presidential race was rigged against him, a claim for which he supplied no evidence and one the courts have repeatedly rejected. Despite whatever flaws people are talking about, he understands policy, Curbelo said. He has interestingly never endorsed Trumps 2020 election lie, he has played around with it, but he has never defended it or supported it. Trumps attempt to overturn the 2020 election, including the riot at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021 that temporarily halted the certification of the race, has convinced many who are otherwise supremely skeptical of DeSantis that they would prefer him anyway. Im depressed in either case, said longtime conservative leader Bill Kristol, who called Trump the more talented demagogue of the two men. But Im more alarmed, really alarmed, if Trump wins again. I just think about the signal that sends to the world and America that Trump could win after January 6th. READ MORE: Trump uses Mar-a-Lago photo op with Florida members of Congress to flex on DeSantis WHAT DESANTIS BELIEVES DeSantis made headlines earlier this year after issuing and then backtracking from a statement calling Russias invasion of Ukraine a territorial dispute, a perceived misstep that earned him widespread criticism from many Republicans. To Longwell, however, the incident was proof of an important difference between the governor and Trump, the latter of whom she says would have simply doubled down on his original position. Him getting pushback from Republicans about Ukraine and then doing that cleanup, actually that was a little bit reassuring, she said. But even if they dont think hed try to topple a democratic government, these Republicans do have deep concerns about a new governing philosophy that the Florida governor has explicitly embraced. DeSantis has said repeatedly that Republican politicians need to do more in office than cut taxes and otherwise restrain government interference, arguing that they should use the power of the state to fight what he sees as liberal overreach in all sectors of society. If you want to have a free state, you have to be able to defend the people against having the pathologies of the left imposed on them through all these different arteries of society, DeSantis said in New York last month. So we take that head on, we make it very clear that we will fight the woke in government, but well also fight the woke in the schools, well also fight the woke in the corporations. Were never going to surrender to the woke mob. That approach has led to pushback from Republicans that he has strayed from limited government principles. This is not a free-market, old-school conservative, Filipkowski said. This is not what conservatives are about. DeSantis has also been criticized by fellow Republicans over his ongoing fight with the Walt Disney corporation, including by potential presidential candidates Mike Pence and Chris Christie. This whole battle with Disney, at first, a lot of conservatives rallied behind it, Curbelo said. Now its just getting weird. Never-Trump Republicans warn that even if many of them back DeSantis over Trump, their group is far from monolithic in its views some of them maintain that they think DeSantis represents such a danger in his own right that hes not worth supporting under any circumstances. And while others might still prefer DeSantis to the former governor, they could still back a third alternative to both men in the GOP primary. Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley and U.S. Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, among other candidates, are also running, and both have attracted interest from Trump-skeptical conservatives for their more traditional policy views. Still, if it comes down to DeSantis and Trump, many of them know how theyll choose. You cant let perfect be the enemy of at-least-hes-better-than-Trump, added Cullen, who has steadfastly opposed Trump since 2015. Which is different than letting it be the enemy of good. Aerial photo of the Pentagon The Department of Defense headquarters Pentagon Force Protection Agency had to retweet a statement on Monday clarifying that it had not been blown up, after false reports proliferated. Breaking news: The U.S. Pentagon is NOT under attack. But that didnt stop false reports of an explosion from circulating widely online along with a seemingly AI-generated image of billowing black smoke near the Department of Defense headquarters on Monday. Multiple blue-check verified Twitter users re-posted the fake photo along with text insinuating an active emergency situation was ongoing at the Pentagon, and later the White House. Accounts amplifying the false narratives included at least one that appeared to be actively impersonating Bloomberg News (the offending account, @BloombergFeed, was later suspended). Read more Verified faux Bloomberg account sends literal fake news, then gold check Russian news agency amplifies. Seems the stock market briefly dipped. More will learn to disregard Twitter as news source. All because Musk seems to have believed psychobabble about legacy blue check folks. https://t.co/5ispVh4t6m pic.twitter.com/O81gWNM3tv zeynep tufekci (@zeynep) May 22, 2023 Russian state media outlet RT news further gave the hoax story a boost when it posted about the fake incident on its gold check-wielding, paid, verified account. Though RT eventually deleted its tweet hours after initially posting it, more than 38,000 people viewed the post. Republic TV, a right-wing, English-language news channel in India also broadcast an entire news report based on the fake image. Unreality: an AI generated photo of an explosion near the Pentagon, a brand squatter with a bluecheck, and a state media outlet with no labels and 3MM followers. freedom over censorship indeed. pic.twitter.com/lIF82lCvYh Renee DiResta (@noUpside) May 22, 2023 Russian state media outlet @RT_com has now deleted a tweet sharing false reports about an explosion near the Pentagon. Oops. pic.twitter.com/xntM2BvOl6 Tyson Whelan (@tyson_whelan) May 22, 2023 The Pentagon became a trending topic on Twitter, and remains on the trending list, as of publication. In a search for Pentagon on the platform, most of the top posts appear to be debunks of the hoax explosion, while a few continued to promote the fake news. Far fewer discussed the recently released astronomically high Pentagon budget, and a new investigative CBS News report suggesting that contractors are overcharging the government. Things got out of hand enough that Virginia authorities had to step in to reassure that there had not actually been any explosion or other incident at the Arlington DOD headquarters. The Pentagon Force Protection Agency and Arlington Fire & EMS and posted a statement on Twitter refuting the hoax. There is NO explosion or incident taking place at or near the Pentagon reservation, and there is no immediate danger or hazards to the public. @PFPAOfficial and the ACFD are aware of a social media report circulating online about an explosion near the Pentagon. There is NO explosion or incident taking place at or near the Pentagon reservation, and there is no immediate danger or hazards to the public. pic.twitter.com/uznY0s7deL Arlington Fire & EMS (@ArlingtonVaFD) May 22, 2023 But beyond Twitter, the likely AI-generated explosion scare had real-world reverberations as well. Minutes after one of the first posts alleging an incident at the Pentagon emerged online, Insider reported that the U.S. stock market briefly dippedthough stock values quickly recovered. What may not recover quite as quickly is Twitters reliability and authority as a place to share and find news. Since Elon Musk overhauled his social media platforms verification system last year, and moved to eliminate most legacy checks last month, the only accounts with checkmarks remaining on the platform are those who pay for Twitter Blue or Twitters Verified Organization program and a small number of institutions and government agencies granted free, gray checks. Previously, Twitter verification was only available to accounts that were authentic, notable, and active. Users generally had to apply for a blue check, and most bids were rejected. But that verification process doesnt exist anymore. Instead, for $8 per month and without much (if any) oversight, Twitter Blue can access an aura of authority on the site. Basically as soon as pay-to-play checkmarks became available, imposter accounts for celebrities and major companies became a problem. Though Musk has attempted to institute a fix, todays incident demonstrates that the issue persists. Compounding the problem of online impersonation is, of course, the rapidly improving generative AI technology that allows basically anyone to instantly produce convincing-enough images, video, or sound clips of anything they choose to. Using AI-generated text and images, content farms have popped up across the internet, spewing completely fabricated, yet clickable content. Previously, fake photos (faux-tos?) of Donald Trumps arrest made big waves online, leading some experts to call for regulation or mandatory watermarks on generated images. Though the fake Pentagon explosion image hasnt been verified as AI-created, it almost certainly was. Inconsistencies in the fence and building windows seem very much in line with the type of hallucinations AI frequently makes. More from Gizmodo Sign up for Gizmodo's Newsletter. For the latest news, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Click here to read the full article. The two people killed last week in a shooting at a Lakewood apartment were recently identified by the medical examiner. The homicides allegedly stemmed from an overdose death. Joseph Smith of Lakewood died of multiple gunshot wounds, the Pierce County Medical Examiners Office said in a news release. Joseph Johnson died of a gunshot wound to the chest. His city of residence was listed as unknown. The office ruled the deaths homicides. The men were shot May 15 in a unit of Wisteria Walk Apartments, 3607 112th St. SW. Lakewood Police Department officers responded there for reports of gunfire at about 1:45 a.m. and found the men dead in the living room of a unit, according to court records and police. Later that day, a 30-year-old man called detectives to turn himself in. Ontario Lavell Pruitt was charged Tuesday, May 16, in Pierce County Superior Court with two counts of aggravated first-degree murder and first-degree unlawful possession of a firearm. According to charging documents, Pruitts uncle died May 14 after overdosing, possibly on fentanyl, at Wisteria Walk Apartments in Smiths unit. Smith, 70, was a tenant, police said, and Johnson, 61, was an acquaintance. Upset over uncles OD death, man shot 2 people dead in Lakewood, charging papers say Pruitt, his cousin and a friend went to the apartment to inquire about the details of the overdose, according to the declaration for determination of probable cause. The cousin later told detectives Pruitt was face-to-face with Smith when the man fell to the ground and gunshots rang out. The cousin said he immediately fled, and according to detectives, he was adamant that he and the friend he was with didnt know Pruitt had a gun, records state. When Pruitt turned himself in, he reportedly told detectives he wanted to end things without further involving his family. Pierce County Jail records show Pruitt remains in custody in lieu of $5 million bail. Getty images The incidence of violent crime dropped in the first three months of 2023 relative to the same period in 2022, according to the Major Cities Chiefs Association, a consortium of law enforcement agencies from the 70 largest cities across the country. The drop represents a deviation from a three-year trend that saw crime spike around the time the coronavirus arrived in the United States. The trend persisted even as the virus started to recede, flummoxing policymakers and law enforcement experts. Good numbers Major Cities Chiefs Association The MCCAs data is uniformly encouraging, showing that four categories of violent crime are experiencing declines nationwide: Homicides fell by 7.7% Rape fell by 8.4% Robbery fell by 7.9% Aggravated assault fell by 2.8% MCCA executive director Laura Cooper pointed to especially encouraging declines in Houston and Fresno, Calif. Members of law enforcement who continue to serve their communities with professionalism and positivity need to be acknowledged and commended for their hard work, she said. On Tuesday, a House resolution honoring police officers killed in the line of duty faced resistance from only two members, Reps. Rashida Tlaib of Michigan and Cori Bush of Missouri, who said the move was intended to advance Republicans false narrative around supporting law enforcement. Democrats including President Biden have strenuously denounced the police-defunding movement that caught on during the social justice protests of 2020, but Republicans have sought to tie with varying effectiveness the crime spike to progressive policies and proposals. but still well above pre-pandemic levels Major Cities Chiefs Association While this is excellent news for those communities, Cooper told Yahoo News of places like Houston and Fresno, the chiefs will tell you more work can and will be done to get back to pre-COVID levels. Although crime rates are falling, they remain higher than they were before the pandemic. In the first quarter of 2019, for example, there were 1,264 murders among 65 responding municipalities, 644 fewer than during the same period in 2023. During the first quarter of 2019, there were 53,246 aggravated assaults 20,145 fewer than in the first three months of 2023. Cooper acknowledged that many agencies are struggling to recruit and retain qualified individuals, a factor that likely contributes to elevated levels of criminal activity. Some cities continue to struggle Law enforcement responds to an alleged shooting in Washington, D.C., on April 22, 2022. (Bryan Dozier/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images) Violent crime has continued to rise in Washington, D.C., as well as in Memphis, Milwaukee and some other cities. The District of Columbias mayor, Muriel Bowser, was called by House Republicans to testify last week about what her administration has done to curb violence in the nations capital, which is desperate to convince tourists and commuters to return downtown. Earlier this year, Bowser received a surprising assist from Biden in blocking a City Council revision to the districts criminal code, which would have lowered penalties for some crimes. Last Monday, Bowser introduced a new plan to increase penalties for gun possession and other crimes. Wagner mercenary group fighters wave flags of Russia and Wagner group A video circulating this weekend showed a Russian soldier standing alongside a Wagner PMC mercenary, waving the flags of Russia and Wagner in the destroyed Ukrainian city of Bakhmut. Both Vladimir Putin and Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin have claimed victory in the battle for the city. While Moscow has maintained an unrealistic narrative around its barbarous war, it is sadly plausible that its forces have finally captured Bakhmut at an enormous cost in blood and treasure. And, if indeed true, it will have been achieved primarily by the Wagner group. While their brutality has been widely decried and their effectiveness denigrated, they have proved themselves on the battlefield. The Wagner group is being used in a very specialised role: its soldiers do assault, and only assault. Theyve adapted their tactics over months of gruelling warfare, and despite high-profile clashes between Prigozhin and the Russian military, they clearly have strong communications with the regular armys artillery units. A Wagner assault has a battle-tested pattern. Multiple three to five-man assault teams, well equipped relative to the conscripts in the Russian army, will assault heavily fortified defensive Ukrainian positions, usually manned by platoon-sized numbers of soldiers. They tend to pin down Ukrainians with fire and locate the position, and then the shells will start coming in. Behind the assault teams are more experienced blocking units, who shoot anyone trying to retreat a grim reminder of the Soviet-era doctrines still common in modern Russian military thinking. There is a crucial distinction to be drawn between the mercenaries and their regular military counterparts, who are now often poorly trained boys. They are rubbish fighters who have been pulled off the street and do not want to be there. The better trained Wagner men, by contrast, do not lack fighting motivation. These soldiers are hardened criminals. Murderers, rapists and armed thugs, pulled from Russian jails and given a reason to fight by a possible future pardon. When the first assault team is dead, Wagners commanders send another. And another. And another. They have a significant numerical advantage and are unafraid of using it. Lives, like shells, are simply a resource to be expended. From a Western perspective this is absolutely incoherent: in our strategies, a platoon-sized objective would be assaulted by a company, with the ratio of attacking to defending soldiers around 3:1. Nevertheless, Wagners tactics, unencumbered by concern for human life, seem to have worked. Bit by bit, they grind down the Ukrainian defences. And as always in an industrialised land campaign, over the top you have the artillery fire from the regular army. The ability to still call in tremendous amounts of earth-shattering artillery has remained a central focus of Russian doctrine; it is first and foremost an artillery-dominant army. But while the sheer number of shells it is able to fire is impressive, the ability to sustain such numbers in the long term is questionable as Western sanctions have begun to bite into Russias industrial capacity. This war, the worlds most brutal in more than half a century, has largely been a war of attrition. In Bakhmut, the objective has simply been to inflict as many casualties as possible on the enemys forces. The convicts of the Wagner group, simultaneously hardened and expendable, make perfect fodder for such battles. Warfare has been this way since the great battles on the Western Front more than a century ago. Suppress and soften up with artillery and airstrikes, then send in infantry to storm the trenches and the defended positions. Ultimately, this is how land campaigns are decided; by the ability to take and hold vital ground. This is how wars are won. In the first Gulf War in 1991, and even the invasion of Iraq in 2003, the British Army stormed Iraqi trenches. Such fighting is brutal, unpleasant and a potent reminder that while in many ways society has evolved in the last hundred years, warfare has not. It is still characterised by men killing other men, by the storming of defensive positions too tight to wield a rifle effectively, with pistols or automatic fire, and then often in hand-to-hand combat with entrenching tools, knives and fists, all in order to take and hold ground. From shattered cityscape to defensive line, the battle for Bakhmut was always going to be a form of warfare to which the Wagner groups brutal tactics were well suited. In this long war, we will almost certainly see the lessons it learned replicated in the struggle to take other important cities. As insane as the Wagner group may seem to Western observers, it may yet hand Putin victory at an immense cost in Russian lives. It would be a price he is more than willing to pay. Robert Clark is director of the defence and security unit at Civitas 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. Wagnerites unlikely to be able to continue fighting outside Bakhmut Wagner Private Military Company is holding the western administrative borders of Bakhmut while Ukrainian forces continue to focus on counterattacks on the outskirts of the city. Wagnerites, exhausted by the fighting, are unlikely to be able to continue offensive operations outside Bakhmut, as estimated by the analysts at the Institute for the Study of War (ISW). Source: ISW report Details: The ISW has stressed that, according to the Ukrainian military, they control a small area of the southwestern part of Bakhmut around the T0504 highway. The ISW considers the Ukrainian forces' statement to be a silent admission that Russian forces control the rest of the western and northwestern parts of Bakhmut, if not all of Bakhmut. Quote: "These officials statements indicate that Ukrainian forces withdrew from the remaining areas in Bakhmut except those adjacent to the two highways into the city. Geolocated footage published on May 21 showed Wagner forces raising Russian and Wagner flags over a residential building in western Bakhmut. The Wagner Groups likely capture of the last remaining small area of western Bakhmut does not impact ongoing Ukrainian counterattacks north or south of Bakhmut, nor does it impact Ukrainian control over the ground lines of communications (GLOCs) around Bakhmut that exhausted Wagner forces would need to reach in order to conduct further offensive operations. Russian forces will likely need additional reinforcements to hold the city of Bakhmut and its flanks at the expense of operations in other directions. ISW has observed artillery units of the 132nd Separate Guards Motorized Rifle Brigade (which was previously observed in the Avdiivka area) operating on the Bakhmut front." More details: The ISW has previously predicted that Wagner's offensive operations are likely to culminate after months of exhausting urban fighting and that it is unlikely that Wagner will continue fighting outside Bakhmut in its current depleted state. Quote: "Wagner forces were enabled to continue offensive operations past that culmination point as Russian regular forces took responsibility for Bakhmuts flanks, allowing Wagner to concentrate on the urban fight. Wagner forces began showing signs that they would be unable to pursue offensive operations beyond the city of Bakhmut from at least late December 2022. Russian regular forces situated on Bakhmuts northern and southern flanks are also unlikely to push west towards Kostiantynivka or north towards Sloviansk amid Ukrainian counterattacks in the Bakhmut area any time soon. Russian conventional forces will be even more unlikely to pursue offensive operations if Wagner Group financier Yevgeny Prigozhin delivers on his stated intent to withdraw Wagner personnel from the city of Bakhmut on May 25. It is currently unclear if Prigozhin will actually withdraw his forces from Bakhmut, but some milbloggers are speculating that Prigozhin will commit Wagner to a different critical frontline at the end of the month. Russian forces faced a similar culmination following highly attritional infantry attacks in Severodonetsk and Lysychansk in JuneJuly 2022." Background: In Japan, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy clarified his words about Bakhmut, stressing that as of 21 May, the city had not been completely captured by the Russians. Deputy Defence Minister Hanna Maliar said that Ukrainian defenders have taken Bakhmut into a semi-encirclement area, which allows them to kill the occupiers. Journalists fight on their own frontline. Support Ukrainska Pravda or become our patron! RUSSIA-UKRAINE-CONFLICT-WAR-POLITICS-DEFENCE Russian President Vladimir Putin delivers a speech during an expanded meeting of the Russian Defence Ministry Board at the National Defence Control Centre in Moscow, on December 21, 2022. - Putin described today the conflict in Ukraine as a "shared tragedy" but placed blame for the outbreak of hostilities on Ukraine and its allies, not Moscow. Credit - Vadim SAVITSKY- Sputnik/AFP Understanding Putins Russia, like Russia of the Communist Commissars and the Tsars before that, has always been difficult for outsiders. The Kremlin invests substantial state resources to protect its monopoly on power, hide its intentions, and spread falsehoods. Russian citizens who have challenged the Kremlins narratives have been threatened, arrested, or killed. Recently, Kremlin critic Vladimir Kara-Murza received 25 years in prison for criticizing the regime (serial killers and mass murderers in Russia receive more moderate sentences). Foreign diplomats and journalists in Moscow face oppressive surveillance, intimidation and disinformation. The arrest of Wall Street Journal journalist Evan Gershkovich and the flood of false information pumped into western (and Russian) media streams make clear that the days of Potemkin villages and KGB repression are hardly things of the past. Consequently, the West has often relied on spies and defectors to develop a basic insight into the Kremlins intentions. Professional intelligence services have had to uncover or steal the kind of information readily available to the public in the West. Those Russian spies have told a consistent story to western leaders over the past century. They warned us again and again that the Kremlin is propped up by an evil state-within-a-state, and that Russia will never be a responsible member of the community of nations until its security services are destroyed. While the Soviet Union died over 40 years ago, former KGB officer Vladimir Putin has recreated the oppressive and brutal security system that jailed and killed domestic opposition, and engaged in relentless political warfare against the west. Even if Putin dies tomorrow, the KGB state endures. Read More: Why Putin Is Right to Fear for His Life The American Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) recruits spies and sources around the world, to gain access to specific programs and groups that are not accessible by academics, journalists, diplomats or collection by technical means. The motivations of those who cooperate secretly with the CIA are as varied as there are people. Sources may seek adventure, money, help for their families, revenge against their bosses or the ego gratification that comes with assisting a superpower. In Russia it is different. The motivation and messages from Russian sources over the years have shown an uncanny similarity and consistency not found in other groups. That is, secret Russian sources almost always make the choice to help the west after concluding that their system is evil and must be destroyed. They usually express love for their culture and homeland, but are committed to smashing the leadership and secret security services that underpin their corrupt, murderous, and oppressive system. From my experience over decades working in the CIA, Russians tend to be the among the most committed sources. They are often their countrys best and brightest who eventually conclude that there is no hope in changing an evil system from the inside. In recent months, Gleb Karakulov fled while on a business trip in Kazakhstan. Karakulov was a Captain in the Kremlins Federal Protection Service. His unit was responsible for protecting and setting up secure communications for Putin wherever he went. He traveled with Putin on over 180 trips abroad. During a recent interview, Karakulov commented that, Our President has become a war criminal. He described Putin as isolated and paranoid. He reported that Putin doesnt use a mobile phone or the internet, insists that those who will be in the same room submit to a two-week quarantine, and avoids airplanes, usually traveling on an armored train. According to Karakulov, All the information he receives is only from people close to him. That is, he lives in a kind of information vacuumHe is pathologically afraid for his life. He has surrounded himself with an impenetrable barrier of quarantine and a lack of any information from the internet. In some ways Karakulovs decision to flee is similar to that of Boris Bajanov, the first defector to come to the West after the 1917 Bolshevik revolution. Bajanov was Stalins personal secretary and in the Soviet Politburo until 1928 when he fled to British India. Bajanov reported that the Kremlin viewed the British Empire as the Soviet Unions main enemy. He noted that propaganda and agitation were the Kremlins main weapons as part of a strategy to weaken Britain from within so that if war came it would be easier to win. Soviet cultural and diplomatic institutions were centers for propaganda, espionage, assassination and means to foment industrial and political unrest. According to Bajanov, their goal was to hoodwink western intellectuals by throwing dust in the eyes of educated persons in the West. He warned that the Soviet Union was a terrorist regime that suppressed domestic dissent and spread foreign disinformation because it could not survive if the world knew the truth. In the decades to come, defector after defector has arrived in the West with the same message. The Kremlin had created a ruthless police state capable of mass surveillance, empowered to destroy perceived domestic threats, and intent on relentless attack on foreign foes. In the early 1960s Soviet military colonel Oleg Penkovsky spied for the U.S. and Britain, providing the intelligence that allowed President Kennedy to navigate the Cuban missile crisis. Penkovsky was so motivated to destroy the Soviet system that he even offered to plant a nuclear device near to the Kremlin in central Moscow. In 1980, senior KGB officer Victor Sheymov defected to the U.S. Among much else, Sheymov passed intelligence on KGB plans to kill the Pope, details of the KGB assassination of the Afghan President, and the massive technical penetration of the American Embassy in Moscow which forced the US government to spend billions to tear down and build a new, secure diplomatic facility. Sheymov was a brilliant analyst and became a successful U.S. businessman. While inside the KGB with access to secret files, Sheymov studied the Soviet system and concluded that the problem was much more than corruption of the leadership. The evil in the system was fundamental, inherent in its nature. Of his own institution he commented, the KGB is supposed to defend the Soviet people, but it doesnt. It works against them and the whole world. He and his family risked capture and death in an effort to inflict as much damage on the system as possible. The head of the KGB mission in New York City Sergei Tretyakov defected with his wife and daughter to the U.S. in 2000. He passed on details of Soviet infiltration of the United Nations and its diplomats. He was a bigger-than-life figure who appeared destined for the top rungs of the Russian intelligence services. Tretyakov was initially optimistic that the changes that led to the fall of the Soviet Union would lead to a new, democratic, and powerful Russia. However, Tretyakov quickly lost hope. I saw firsthand what kind of people were and are running the country. I came to the ultimate conclusion that it became immoral to serve themRussia has been repeatedly raped and looted by its leadership. I call this process genocide of the Russian people performed by a group of immoral criminalsI realized that the intelligence information I delivered was only used to contribute to the totally corrupt political system that didnt show any signs of improvement. In democracies, security services exist to protect their citizens; while in Russia their sole purpose is to keep the regime in power. Countries that spring from revolutionary roots often create a powerful system of regime security rather than national security. Their rule is illegitimate and they need a powerful force to destroy any internal opposition. They are about protecting the leadership at all costs. Costs to the country be damned. Indeed, the Soviet founding fathers were terrorists who were in and out of Tsarist prisons. Even today we know them by their underground revolutionary names Lenin, Stalin, Trotsky. They knew when they took over the massive Russian landmass via a political coup, they needed to arrest or kill all potential opponents. Lenins first act was to create a powerful personal security service (the Cheka), calling for merciless mass terror and immediately ordering the arrest of opposition parties. The leader of the Cheka stated publicly, We stand for organized terrorthis should be frankly admitted. The Cheka is obliged to defend the revolution and conquer the enemy even if its sword does by chance sometimes fall upon the heads of the innocent. The Russian security services became an unaccountable state within a state. They killed and jailed tens of millions over the past century, and due to former KGB officer Vladimir Putins system of rule, are still alive and well today. The Kremlin engages in war, lies, and murder. We in the West experience it in a relentless form of political warfare of subversion, sabotage, agitation, disinformation, and even assassination. Russian citizens are unable to engage in politics and are under constant threat of being imprisoned or killed as a traitor for even mild criticism. Western leaders and diplomats have long tried to find a means to work with the Kremlin in hopes of evolving the system. The Ukraine war has finally convinced many that Putin will never change. If we had listened to those hundreds of brave Russians defectors who came to us over the years with powerful warnings, we would have known long before 2022 that reforming Putins rotten system is a fools errand. Russia will never be a trustworthy member of the family of nations as long as the Russian security services maintain their power over the people. Rishi Sunak Sunak welcomed new Western sanctions that will further hinder the "Russian military machine." Read also: Ukraine will ultimately join NATO, UK PM Sunak says He stated that Russian troops are faltering on the battlefield and the Russian economy is suffering from suffocating sanctions. "The West stands with Ukraine, and freedom must win," said Sunak. Read also: Russia likely creating new elite attack aviation group to strike Ukraine, says UK intelligence "(Russian dictator Vladimir) Putin should know we are not going anywhere." The PM confirmed that London will continue supporting Ukraine in its fight against the Russian invasion. Read also: London removes top FSB official from sanctions list "The image of the leaders of the G7 standing shoulder to shoulder with President Zelenskyy in Hiroshima was a powerful signal to the world that we will support Ukraine for as long as it takes," he said, referring to the recent G7 summit in Japan, attended by the Ukrainian president. On May 19, UK PM Rishi Sunak announced that his country, along with the United States, the Netherlands, Belgium, and Denmark, will train Ukrainian pilots on Western aircraft. Read also: G7 leaders pledge to continue supporting Ukraine for as long as it takes During the recent G7 Summit in Japan, U.S. President Joe Biden announced Washington will support a joint international effort to supply Ukraine with F-16 fighter jets. Were bringing the voice of Ukraine to the world. Support us with a one-time donation, or become a Patron! Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine A Hollywood studio head was met with jeers and protests when he delivered the commencement address for Boston University on Sunday amid the ongoing Hollywood writers strike. BU students booed and turned their backs on David Zaslav, president and CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery, as he delivered the commencement address at Nickerson Field, the school stadium. Others protested outside ceremony on a picket line with an inflatable rat, NBC Boston reported. Videos circulating on social media appeared to show BU students at the commencement ceremony chanting "Pay your writers" as school officials introduced Zaslav ahead of his speech; other video appeared to show the protesters outside the stadium demanding a contract. David Zaslav before delivering a commencement address at Boston University (Steven Senne / AP) The protests come as the writers' strike stretches into its third week. Unionized writers brought television production to a halt earlier this month when they started their strike, saying they are not being paid fairly. The choice of Zaslav as commencement speaker drew protests before he even set foot on campus. Several student clubs on campus launched a campaign to cancel his speech before it occurred, according to the student newspaper the Daily Free Press. BU President Robert Brown told the student newspaper prior to the commencement ceremony that university officials believed Zaslavs accomplishments are worthy of our recognition and that our graduates will find his personal story interesting and inspiring. Zaslav graduated from the BU School of Law, according to his biography. Prior to working at Discovery, Zaslav was an executive at NBCUniversal, the parent company of NBC News. In one clip of the commencement address posted to social media, Zaslav quoted the late General Electric CEO Jack Welch, saying Welch told him, If you want to be successful, youre going to have to figure out how to get along with everyone and that includes difficult people. Students responded with a coordinated chant of, "Pay your writers!" "Some people will be looking for a fight," Zaslav continued, prompting boos. Graduating students hold signs in support of the Hollywood writers' strike during David Zaslav's commencement address (Steven Senne / AP) In a statement released after the event, Zaslav said: I am grateful to my alma mater, Boston University, for inviting me to be part of todays commencement and for giving me an honorary degree, and, as I have often said, I am immensely supportive of writers and hope the strike is resolved soon and in a way that they feel recognizes their value." During an appearance on CNBC earlier this month, in which he discussed his company's first-quarter $50 million profit, Zaslav said the compensation disputes stem from ongoing changes in the industry, citing the rise of streaming platforms and different content sources. "The industry is in the middle of some significant disruption, and people are changing the way they consume content, and so it's very difficult to figure out, how does that work, what's the right value for it," Zaslav said. The Writers Guild of America, East tweeted Sunday afternoon that it was thankful to all the B.U. graduates for chanting 'Pay your writers' at Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav while he delivered the #BU2023 commencement address. The protesters also received support from some Democratic politicians. Rep. Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez, a BU alum, retweeted a video of BU students chanting Pay your writers! during Zaslavs speech, and added the comment, Go Terriers! Senator Bernie Sanders also tweeted his support for the protesters, writing: If Warner Bros Discovery can afford to pay its CEO David Zaslav $286 million in compensation over the past 2 years, it can afford to pay its writers much better wages and benefits. Mr. Zaslav: Listen to the Boston University students and the Writers Guild. Pay your writers. Representatives for Boston University did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday afternoon. This article was originally published on NBCNews.com Watch out! First white shark of season spotted off Cape Cod, scientists say Watch out for those sharks. Thats the message to beach visitors from New England Aquarium scientists, who are urging the public to report shark sightings and be aware of their surroundings after a 12-foot white shark was spotted off Cape Cod over the weekend. The shark was seen feeding on a seal off of Provincetown on Saturday. This is the time of year that scientists expect to see white sharks returning to the inshore waters off of Massachusetts, where the animals hunt seals into the fall months. Though white shark bites on humans are rare, the sighting serves as a reminder to beachgoers and boaters to be mindful of the presence of these ocean animals, said John Chisholm, adjunct scientist in the New England Aquariums Anderson Cabot Center for Ocean Life. Its important to be aware of sharks presence in shallow waters, to avoid areas where seals are present or schools of fish are visible, and to stay close to shore where rescuers can reach you if needed. Chisholm also serves as the Citizen Science Coordinator for the Atlantic White Shark Conservancy, documenting accounts of shark-seal interactions and verifying shark sighting reports made by the public through the Sharktivity app. Sharktivity provides information and push notifications on white shark sightings, detections, and movements of sharks in the region. The app uses data taken from researchers, safety officials and others who upload photos and video of shark sightings. There is a real public concern around beach safety, and we recognize the need to respond to that, said Nick Whitney, senior scientist at the Aquarium and chair of the Anderson Cabot Centers Fisheries Science and Emerging Technologies program. Thats why were excited to continue this partnership with the Conservancy to help provide accurate, timely information on shark sightings in the region. The New England Aquarium has a team of nine scientists who study shark species, from porbeagles and nurse sharks to sandbar and sand tiger sharks, officials said. Many shark species reside in Massachusetts waters. The work of Aquarium researchers focuses on monitoring these animals using tagging technologies including satellite, acoustic, accelerometer, and camera tags to track the sharks habitat use, life history, and impacts of bycatch during commercial and recreational fishing activities. This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available. Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts. Follow Boston 25 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch Boston 25 News NOW Watch Foo Fighters' debut new song Nothing At All with new drummer Josh Freese Foo Fighters Yesterday (May 21), Foo Fighters debuted a new track Nothing At All during their livestream, Foo Fighters: Preparing Music For Concerts, held at Dave Grohl's 606 studios in Northridge, California. The song is set to feature on their forthcoming 11th studio album But Here We Are, scheduled for release on June 2 via Roswell Records/Columbia Records, and follows on from last week's heart-rendering single, Under You. Nothing At All follows a jaunty and playful rhythm in the verse as Grohl questions 'Wouldn't it be dangerous, if nothing was restrained in us?', before the song escalates into a high-powered, racing chorus with tumbling drums. During the livestream broadcast event, the rockers played through a number of tracks from their upcoming project, including the aforementioned two tracks, as well as first new single Rescued, and a handful of crowd favourites, including Monkey Wrench and All My Life. On top of performances, the band revealed behind-the-scenes footage of the album's recording. The Foos also announced who would be replacing their late drummer Taylor Hawkins behind the kit, revealing that session man and longtime friend of the band Josh Freese would be joining them for their live shows. Freese's CV includes stints with Nine Inch Nails, Paramore, The Vandals and more. Foo Fighters are set to hit the road on May 24 in New Hampshire, then continue on through the US with a handful of festival dates, and a few shows over in Europe. The band have also 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. Check out the performance and live dates below: Foo Fighters 2023 tour dates: 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 May 30: Washington The Atlantis, DC 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 08: Quebec City Festival Dete De Quebec, QC Jul 12: Ottawa Bluesfest, ON, Canada Jul 15: Milwaukee Harley-Davidson Homecoming Festival, WI Jul 29: Naeba Fuji Rock, Japan Aug 04: Spokane Arena, WA Aug 06: Big Sky Wildlands Festival, MT Aug 08: Salt Lake City USANA Amphitheatre, UT Aug 10: Stateline Lake Tahoe Outdoor Arena at Harveys, NV Aug 12: San Francisco Outside Lands Festival, CA Sep 03: Aspen Jazz Aspen Snowmnass, CO Sep 07: Curitiba Estadio Couto Pereia, Brazil Sep 09: Sao Paulo The Town, Brazil Sep 15: Chicago Riot Fest, IL Sep 17: Asbury Park Sea.Hear.Now, NJ Sep 19: Virginia Beach Veterans United Home Loans Amphitheater, CA Sep 21: Louisville Louder Than Life, KY Oct 01: Dana Point Ohana Festival, CA Oct 03: Phoenix Talking Stick Resort Amphitheater, AZ Oct 05: El Paso Don Haskins CenterV, TX Oct 07: Austin ACL Festival, TX Oct 14: Austin ACL Festival, TX Nov 26: Abu Dhabi F1 Grand Prix, United Arab Emirates Iam Tongi endured a very emotional journey on his way to winning the latest season of American Idol. The 18-year-old Hawaii native was crowned the winner of the shows 21st season during a finale in which he fought back tears while performing James Blunts Monsters with Blunt. About 45 seconds in, Tongi can be seen wiping his face, as the emotions of the song got to him. He continued to wipe his teary eyes and struggled to get through the lines, Dont be afraid, its my turn / To chase the monsters away, before Blunt carried on with the song, looking directly at Tongi. Tongi eventually collected himself and proceed with the emotionally charged performance. As the duet wrapped up, Tongi brushed his eyes and hugged Blunt, while the audience exploded in applause. IAM TONGI, JAMES BLUNT (Eric McCandless / ABC) The performance marked a full circle moment for Tongi. During his audition, he performed "Monsters," a ballad about a father and son, after telling the judges about his father's death. Tongi said his dad was responsible for getting him into music. He dedicated his moving performance to his father during the audition, which earned him a standing ovation from judges Katy Perry, Lionel Richie and Luke Bryan. The finale also featured Tongi belting out another song for his dad, the original track Ill Be Seeing You. Tongi is no stranger to bringing out emotions. In April, his take on Simon & Garfunkels classic The Sound of Silence blew away fans and judges alike. This is what this show is all about, Perry told Richie and Bryan while he sang. Before Tongi made the final three on American Idol, Perry also pegged him as the man to beat during the show's "Disney Night." I believe its written in the stars, she told him on the May 14 episode. I dont believe in coincidences. I know that youre Iam, but when I see your name, I see I am the next American Idol.'" With Tongi's win on Sunday, Perry's comments proved prophetic. Megan Danielle finished as the runner-up, while Colin Stough placed third. This article was originally published on TODAY.com Seven multi-million-dollar South Carolina houses have been listed recently on a Facebook page called Ridiculous Real Estate, which features houses that will make you say, Im not believing this. The page is tied to a blog called Homes of the Rich, started in 2008 by then 18-year-old high school student Kenny Forder. He describes himself as mansion obsessed. The houses listed are a mix of homes for sale and some not, houses owned by famous people such as actor Sylvester Stallone and NASCAR driver Ricky Stenhouse Jr., and others owned by just plain rich people. Some feature things not normally seen such as a waterfall and putting green. One is all black. Inside and out. Stenhouses house is for sale listed for $15,995,000 a 140-acre equestrian estate in Mooresville, North Carolina. Among the most expensive featured recently is the $54,995,000 Beverly Hills estate of Full House creator Jeff Franklin at 10066 Cielo Drive. What the listing doesnt say is the 21,000-square foot mansion was built on the site where Sharon Tate and four others were murdered in 1969 by members of the Manson family. The new house has nine bedrooms, 18 bathrooms, living and dining rooms separated by an aquarium, multiple wet bars, billiards room, 14-seat home theater, gym, hair salon, 16-car subterranean garage, three waterfalls, a 35-foot water slide and a lazy river. In the not so rarefied air comes the South Carolina houses. In Beaufort, there is a $2.44 million waterfront farmhouse-style house for sale at 550 Distant Island Drive. Listed by Allison Sutcliffe Greco of Keller Williams Realty, the house has four bedrooms, four baths and 3,218 square feet. It has a master suite and office on the first floor with a screened-in porch. The three other bedrooms are on the second floor, which also has a living room with a balcony overlooking the water and a gym. This $2.5 million house on Lake Berkeley in Vluffton has five bedrooms and six bathrooms. At 12 Lancaster Boulevard in Bluffton, a $2.5 million house on Lake Berkeley has five bedrooms and six bathrooms. There are arched doorways, hickory floors and hand hammered faux copper barreled ceiling in the main hallway. One wing has the primary suite, the other has four ensuite bedrooms. Theres a cinema room with a bar and porch overlooking the lake and pool. This Myrtle Beach home sold in January. Also listed on Ridiculous Real Estate is a six-bedroom, nine-bath, 6,895 square-foot house at 8914 Ocean Boulevard in Myrtle Beach. It sold in January for $4,995,000 and features ocean views from almost every room. Surrounded by estate homes, truly the finest stretch of homes found in the Grand Strand, the listing said. Salt water oceanfront pool and spa, billiard room oversized terraces and a Bocce court. Perfect entertaining home, the listing said. Other South Carolina homes on the Facebook page are in Edisto, Charleston and Mount Pleasant. None are currently for sale. This house is reportedly the largest in Los Angeles and has a 30-car underground garage. And then theres this, farther afield but still not to be believed. In the Bel Air neighborhood is the 60,000-square-foot Chateau des Fleurs described as one of the largest homes in Los Angeles. French Chateau-inspired, it has five staircases, four elevators, a two-story library, ballroom, huge master suite, two gyms and a 30-car underground garage. This one is just for gawking. Its not for sale. Maryland Gov. Wes Moore in a commencement speech Sunday at Morehouse College urged graduates to celebrate Black history in order to save it. History will save you, and help you save us, he said in the commencement address to the historically Black college. Those who yearn to destroy history will not stop at our history they will go after the history of those we know, he said. That includes the Jewish, Asian and LGBTQ communities as well as women and girls, Moore said.. Im talking about everyone in this country who has been a part of the American story and who are watching the stories of those who came before them wiped away, Moore said. Moore is the nations only sitting Black governor and his states first Black governor. While each of you worked hard to get here, this degree is not the product of your hard work alone, Moore told the graduates. As Black men in America, we know our present is the result of the fights, the struggles, and the victories of the past. We are here because of people who marched and prayed over generations people who fought for you, but didnt know you; People who didnt know you, but believed in the hope of you; people who believed in the hope of you, but knew theyd never see those hopes realized in their own lifetimes. Moore himself is the product of these hopes, he said. A year ago, he was polling at a mere 1 percent in a state that was the home of one of the the largest slave ports in America and throughout the 1900s saw some of the most horrific lynchings. The courage of leaders and thinkers and writers and scholars who struggled, but had the strength to overcome, their contributions paved the way for me to run for office, and their stories helped me see the path, Moore said. Its this history that needs to be told, Moore added, despite efforts by Republican-led legislatures to minimize this history. I look around our country and I see book banning, I see teachers being censored, I see curriculum with the truth taken out, said Moore. And it is not just a threat to our history it is a threat to our strength. At least 26 states have banned books for pushing what conservatives argue is critical race theory, a legal framework taught in colleges that explores how racism is embedded in most American institutions. Last week, Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-Fla.) signed legislation prohibiting schools from spending public funding on diversity, equity and inclusion programs or, what his office called discriminatory initiatives. DeSantis is expected to announce a 2024 presidential campaign this week. Additionally, 474 anti-LGBTQ bills have been introduced in state legislatures around the nation, according to the ACLU. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. A picture released by the Iraqi border authority on March 11, 2023 shows captagon pills seized at the al-Qaim border crossing with Syria Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has returned to the Arab fold after more than a decade of isolation, eyeing reconstruction and aid from formers foes as the conflict grinds on. Since the brutal civil war broke out in 2011, it has killed more than 500,000 people, displaced millions and devastated much of the country's infrastructure and industry. AFP looks at Assad's regional rehabilitation and what it means for Syria's rebels, its refugees, reconstruction and the roaring illegal trade in the stimulant drug captagon. - How have Arab nations mended ties? - Several Arab capitals cut ties with Assad after the Damascus regime's repression of anti-government protests sparked war in 2011, with some supporting the opposition instead. States that once bet on Assad's demise have warmed to him as he clung to power and clawed back territory with Iranian and Russian support. "There is relief on the Syrian street in general, and great optimism about the future," said Bassam Abu Abdallah, who heads the Damascus Centre for Strategic Research and is close to the government. "We have turned a new page." Arab outreach peaked after a deadly February 6 earthquake struck Syria and Turkey, and gained further momentum as regional rivals Saudi Arabia and Iran patched up bilateral ties the following month. On Friday, a triumphant Assad made his first appearance at an Arab League summit since Syria was suspended at the start of the war. Rebel-backer Turkey, which controls stretches of Syria's north, has also made overtures to Assad. Lina Khatib, director of the Middle East Institute at SOAS University of London, said Assad saw the Arab League return "as recognition that he has won the war and as formal acceptance of his legitimacy as president". - Is Syria any closer to peace? - Large parts of Syria's north remain outside government control after 12 years of war that pulled in foreign powers and global jihadists. Though the frontlines have mostly quietened in recent years, Russian, Iranian, Turkish and US forces are still present in Syria. Several rounds of United Nations-brokered talks in Geneva between the government and opposition groups, aimed at forging a new constitution, have failed, with no political solution in sight. The opposition and rebels' role in determining the country's political future has vastly shrunk, said Khatib. "There is now even less hope that the UN-led peace process is going to be resurrected and result in meaningful political transition," she added. Nicholas Heras of the New Lines Institute for Strategy and Policy said "the Arab League has moved on from the Syrian opposition and is seeking to rebalance regional dynamics toward equilibrium between Iran and Arab states that compete with Iran". - What will happen to the refugees? - Neighbouring countries host some 5.5 million Syrian refugees, according to the UN. "Arab states should provide aid and assistance, particularly on the issue of the return of the displaced", Abu Abdallah said, noting the need for "funding and infrastructure". Assad is hoping wealthy Gulf states could help fund reconstruction, although Western sanctions are likely to deter investment and broader international funding remains elusive without a UN-backed political settlement. Khatib expressed scepticism about refugee returns, saying the regime was "neither willing nor able to deliver meaningfully" on issues like housing, employment and safety. "Damascus will likely flaunt refugee return as a card to attract funding for Assad and his profiteers," she said. - Will Assad curb the captagon trade? - Several Arab countries are seeking increased security cooperation with Syria, which has effectively turned into a narco-state with a $10 billion captagon industry. Saudi Arabia has become the largest market for the amphetamine, which draws both wealthy party-goers and poor labourers in an Islamic country where alcohol is taboo. At Friday's summit, states called for "strengthening joint Arab cooperation" on issues including "drug smuggling". This month, an air strike killed a major drug trafficker and his family in southern Syria, a war monitor said, attributing it to neighbouring Jordan. Khatib said Damascus would not halt the lucrative trade, but more likely "make a show of reducing some of the flow of captagon to the Gulf in return for financial compensation through other channels". Heras said that "Arab states are treating a whole range of issues -- including the reconstruction of Assad-controlled areas, political prisoners, and narcotics flows out of Assad's territory -- as if the fait accompli in Syria is that everything is resolved". Assad can now "horse-trade on all these issues with the Arab states", he added. lg/aya/fz/ami Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed into law a series of bills Monday that will allow law enforcement, family, health care providers and others to petition courts to temporarily remove guns from those a judge determines pose an imminent threat to themselves or others. With Whitmer's signature on Senate Bill 83, Michigan joins a list of more than a dozen states with so-called "red flag" laws, also sometimes called "extreme risk protection orders," in place. The legislation won't go into effect immediately because it did not garner any Republican support in the state Legislature. Instead, the law is slated to take effect 90 days after the end of the legislative session. Whitmer said the legislation would help curb gun violence, including firearm suicides and mass shootings. "We must act because week after week in America we see grim, familiar headlines," she said at a bill signing ceremony flanked by gun safety advocates including former Congresswoman and gun violence survivor Gabby Giffords. "The shooters from Oxford and MSU both showed concerning behavior beforehand." Many perpetrators of gun violence show "warning signs," Whitmer said, and now law enforcement and courts have a tool to intervene, she added. More: Whitmer expands background checks, enacts safe storage with gun safety bills More: Livingston Co. sheriff vows not to enforce Michigan's proposed red flag laws Bill sponsor state Sen. Mallory McMorrow, D-Royal Oak, said the red flag law will help prevent future tragedies involving guns. "These laws, more than anything else, will buy time. Time to prevent the worst-case scenario. Time to save lives," she said. Democrats' red flag bills passed along party lines. During the debate over the bills, GOP lawmakers argued the legislation would not have stopped the shooting at Michigan State University's campus earlier this year that left three dead and five injured. The shooting prompted Democrats to reintroduce gun safety proposals that stalled in the previous GOP-led Legislature. Some suggested that they might have prevented the rampage on MSU's campus. Congresswoman Gabby Giffords reacts after being acknowledged before Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer signs into law bills that would allow police officers, family members and medical professionals to ask courts to issue an extreme risk protection order to temporarily take away guns from those who pose a danger to themselves or others on Monday, May 22, 2023, outside of the 44th District Court in Royal Oak. "This shooter at MSU was waving red flags all over the place," said state Sen. Jeff Irwin, D-Ann Arbor, during a floor speech. At least one law enforcement official Livingston County Sheriff Michael Murphy has vowed not to enforce the new red flag law. But the Michigan State Police, which has jurisdiction throughout the state, could enforce the proposed red flag law, according to the state attorney general's office. An MSP spokesperson declined to comment on whether it would do so if a local law enforcement agency refused, calling it a hypothetical scenario. At the bill signing event, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel reiterated that she will work hard to find law enforcement officers who will comply with the red flag law if local authorities refuse to do so. As part of the red flag package, Whitmer also signed House Bills 4146, 4147 and 4148 which prohibit those subject to extreme risk protection orders from purchasing firearms, waive court fees for those seeking such an order and make it a crime to lie on the petition to temporarily take away someone else's firearms. With bill signings Monday, lawmakers have now sent Whitmer the three proposals aimed at curbing gun violence that the governor asked for at the start of the year: universal background checks, red flag laws and safe storage requirements for firearms. Whitmer did not specify what additional proposals she would like to see passed. Clara Hendrickson fact-checks Michigan issues and politics as a corps member with Report for America, an initiative of The GroundTruth Project. Make a tax-deductible contribution to support her work at bit.ly/freepRFA. Contact her at chendrickson@freepress.com or 313-296-5743. Follow her on Twitter @clarajanehen. This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Whitmer signs Michigan's red flag legislation into law Republican candidates and possible candidates for the 2024 presidential nomination. (Allison Joyce/Getty Images, Scott Eisen/Getty Images, Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images, Thomas Simonetti for The Washington Post via Getty Images, Peter Zay/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images) The field of Republicans lining up to face President Biden next fall continues to grow. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is expected to make his candidacy official this week, following on the heels of South Carolina Sen. Tim Scotts Monday announcement that he is making a run for the White House. A number of other Republicans are thought to be still mulling bids. Former President Donald Trump has established a sizable polling lead, but rivals are hoping his mounting legal troubles and concerns about his electability will have voters looking for an alternative. Heres a list of every major Republican who either has entered the race, is expected to enter the race soon or is said to be considering a run. Donald Trump Former President Donald Trump. (Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images) The former president has continued to increase his national polling advantage over his rivals, establishing himself as the clear frontrunner with a polling average of more than 50% in recent national surveys. Despite being arraigned on 34 counts tied to campaign finance fraud and being found liable by a jury in a civil case for sexually abusing and defaming the writer E. Jean Carroll, Trump has not seen his support fall among voters and has a comfortable lead in endorsements. On the policy front, he took credit for the end of Roe v. Wade in an interview last week, even as the issue of abortion continues to cost Republicans in swing elections. Ron DeSantis Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. (Thomas Simonetti for the Washington Post via Getty Images) After months of speculation, the Florida governor is set to formally launch his campaign on Wednesday with expectations for a public kickoff event after Memorial Day. In a call with donors last week, the former congressman included himself with Biden and Trump as the credible candidates in the contest and said that only he and Biden are electable. But despite his easy gubernatorial reelection victory in November, DeSantiss ability to win a national race is still up in the air, with many of his signature positions polling poorly nationally, including a six-week abortion ban he quietly signed last month. DeSantis picked up a number of early endorsements in Iowa, and he continues to publicly feud with Disney. Mike Pence Former Vice President Mike Pence. (Scott Eisen/Getty Images) The former vice president has not formally announced his candidacy, but he spoke in New Hampshire last week as he leans into a potential run. Pence has staked out unpopular positions on Social Security and abortion, saying that ending the procedure in the United States is more important than politics. Polling has shown Pence struggling to win support from Republican voters. In March, the Atlantic summarized the findings of several Republican focus groups with the headline Nobody Likes Mike Pence. Tim Scott Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina. (Allison Joyce/Getty Images) After announcing an exploratory committee in April, the South Carolina senator filed paperwork with the Federal Election Commission on Friday and held a launch event Monday morning at Charleston Southern University, his alma mater. The only Black Republican currently in the Senate, Scott has already purchased television ad time in the early states of Iowa and New Hampshire. Despite being popular among his Senate colleagues, he has yet to make a dent in early polling and at times struggled with articulating his message during his initial campaign stops last month. Nikki Haley Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley. (Peter Zay/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images) A former South Carolina governor and ambassador to the United Nations under Trump, Haley has attempted to distance herself from her old boss, saying at an Iowa town hall last week that she believed Jan. 6, 2021, was a terrible day, and we dont ever want that to happen again. Haley has stated that both Biden and Trump are too old for the job, saying last month she thought it was likely that Biden would die in office if reelected to a second term. The only woman in the race, Haley has looked to avoid staking out a firm position on abortion, saying in a policy speech last month she was seeking to start a constructive conversation. Vivek Ramaswamy Vivek Ramaswamy, chairman and co-founder of Strive Asset Management. (Eva Marie Uzcategui/Bloomberg via Getty Images) The biotech founder and author of Woke, Inc. has pitched himself as running to the right of Trump, saying he wants to shut down the FBI, IRS and Department of Education in addition to firing half the federal workforce. The 37-year-old Ramaswamy has been doing as many interviews as he can and has complimented Trump, saying the pair were friends who have a deep, mutual respect for one another. Despite lower name recognition when he entered the race in February, Ramaswamy has polled even with, and in some instances ahead of, Pence, Haley and Scott in recent surveys, something Trump said he was pleased to see. Asa Hutchinson Former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson. (Rachel Mummey/Bloomberg via Getty Images) The former Arkansas governor was term-limited out of office and launched his campaign last month, attempting to contrast himself with Trump, including calling the E. Jean Carroll trial another sign of the frontrunners indefensible behavior. Hutchinson has a lengthy history of public service, having been a congressman, U.S. attorney, Drug Enforcement Administration chief and undersecretary of the Department of Homeland Security. As governor, Hutchinson signed a near-total abortion ban without exceptions for rape or incest and said last month he would sign federal legislation restricting reproductive rights. So far, he has not gained traction in polling. Chris Sununu New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu. (Jeremy Hogan/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images) Sununu is the popular governor of New Hampshire, a swing state that holds one of the earliest primary contests. He has been openly mulling a campaign for months, telling CNN in April he thought hed be good at the job of president. Its unclear where Sununu would stand with Republican voters broadly, considering his more moderate record on abortion rights and COVID-19. (In March, Politico called him Washingtons Favorite Republican, referencing his support among the pundit class that might not extend to the ballot box.) During DeSantiss visit to New Hampshire last week he met with Sununu, who said he and the Florida governor have a great relationship. Doug Burgum North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum. (Stephen Yang/Getty Images) Multiple outlets reported last week that the second-term governor of North Dakota was seriously considering a run, telling the Forum of Fargo-Moorhead newspaper, Theres definitely a yearning for some alternatives right now." A former executive at Microsoft, Burgum has checked many of the same legislative boxes as DeSantis and other Republican governors, putting in place restrictions on gender-affirming care for transgender minors as well as a near-total abortion ban. Glenn Youngkin Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin. (David McNew/Getty Images) The Virginia governor said he wasnt planning on entering the 2024 race when asked at the beginning of the month, but on Thursday he released a minute-long video on Twitter that had all the trappings of a national campaign ad. In 2021, Youngkin was able to win in a state that has gone blue in recent elections. Touted as a relative moderate, he has proposed new abortion restrictions (which were defeated in the state Legislature) and campaigned with far-right Arizona Republican Kari Lake during last years midterms. Chris Christie Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie. (David Becker for the Washington Post via Getty Images) The former New Jersey governor ran for president in 2016, dropping out of the race early in the primaries and becoming the first governor to endorse Trump. After leaving office, he joined ABC News and helped Trump prepare to debate Biden. Christie has since turned into a voluble Trump critic, saying earlier this year that the former president cant win a general election and telling the Daily Beast in April that he was the viable Trump alternative. He has yet to formally announce a run. Larry Elder Talk radio host Larry Elder. (Bing Guan/Bloomberg via Getty Images) The conservative talk radio host entered the race in April, saying, America is in decline, but this decline is not inevitable. Elder most recently made headlines in 2021 as the top Republican vote-getter in the effort to recall Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom in California. While Newsom easily avoided a recall by more than 20 points, more than 3.5 million people voted for Elder as his potential replacement. Following in Trumps lead, Elder baselessly claimed the race was fraudulent before results were even tallied. Who's officially running for president in 2024? Get to know the candidates The 2024 general presidential election may still be more than a year away, but primary races to become the Democratic or Republican nominee are already heating up. President Joe Biden launched his 2024 reelection bid in April, making him the obvious Democratic frontrunner, though two other candidates are vying for his spot. Former President Donald Trump remains ahead of the pack in a growing Republican primary field, but two former governors, a senator and a wealthy entrepreneur have already made official their bids for the nomination. Several other GOP contenders are expected to join the race. Here are all the official 2024 presidential candidates so far. US President Joe Biden attends a bilateral meeting with Australia's Prime Minister Anthony Albanese as part of the G7 Leaders' Summit in Hiroshima on May 20, 2023. (Photo by Brendan SMIALOWSKI / AFP) (Photo by BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images) ORIG FILE ID: AFP_33FM3MN.jpg Joe Biden Biden officially launched his 2024 reelection bid in April, telling Americans "let's finish this job." "This is not a time to be complacent," Biden said in the three-minute video. "That's why I'm running for reelection. Because I know America. I know we're good and decent people. I know we're still a country that believes in honesty and respect and treating each other with dignity." Although 78% of Democrats said they approve of the job Biden is doing, less than half (47%) think he should run again in 2024, according to The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll. Overall, just 26% of Americans want him to run. His background: Biden, 80, was elected president in 2020 and is already the oldest-serving president. He would be 86 when he finishes a second term if he wins reelection. He served as vice president under former President Barack Obama from 2008 to 2016 and has held public office for more than 50 years. He was born in Scranton, Pennsylvania. His views: Biden's campaign is focused on the "battle for the soul of America," doubling down on the central message of his campaign four years ago. He said the question facing the nation is "whether, in the years ahead, we have more freedom or less freedom, more rights or fewer." Former US president Donald Trump speaks during a press conference following his court appearance over an alleged 'hush-money' payment, at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida, on April 4, 2023. Donald Trump Former President Donald Trump announced in November that he would seek the presidency again in 2024 amid a flurry of legal inquiries and skepticism from other Republicans over whether hes the right candidate for the job. "America's comeback starts right now," Trump said during his speech at his Mar-a-Lago home in Palm Beach, Florida. His background: Trump, 76, was elected president in 2016, but lost his reelection bid in 2020. He falsely claimed and still claims he won the election. He is the only president to be impeached twice by Congress. Before entering politics, he ran his fathers real estate company, renaming it the Trump Organization. He was born in Queens, New York. His views: The former president has centered much of his campaign on his purported political persecution by Democrats. He supports securing Americas borders, reclaiming free speech, and dismantling the Deep State, according to his campaign website. He has said he would consider pardoning participants in the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol riot, which was inspired by his false claims of election fraud. Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley announced a 2024 run for U.S. President Tuesday via Twitter, and rallies with supporters at the Visitors Center in Charleston, S.C. Wednesday, February 15, 2023. Nikki Haley Former U.N. ambassador Nikki Haley was the second prominent Republican to enter the 2024 presidential race after Trump, calling for a new generation of leaders. We need someone who can shake up Washington and the political class, said Haley, who was also formerly South Carolinas governor. The 51-year-old candidate has touted her youth compared to other prominent figures in politics, making mental competency tests for politicians over 75 years old a hallmark of her campaign. Her background: The daughter of Indian immigrants, Haley hails from Bamberg, South Carolina. Before serving as U.N. ambassador, she served as a South Carolina's first female governor and a state legislator. Her first job at 13-years-old was keeping the books for her familys clothing store, according to her Cabinet biography. Her views: Haley is anti-abortion and pro-Israel. She supports cracking down on illegal immigration and "getting tough" on China and Russia. She has supported Trump in the past but also criticized him after the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol attack. Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., speaks during a town hall, Monday, May 8, 2023, in Manchester, N.H. Scott recently launched an exploratory committee for a 2024 GOP presidential bid, a step that comes just shy of making his campaign official. Tim Scott South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott officially entered the presidential race Friday when he filed paperwork with the Federal Election Commission. He is expected to make his announcement speech Monday. "American families are starving for hope," Scott tweeted Thursday. "We need to have faith. Faith in God, faith in each other, and faith in America." The lone Black Republican in the Senate, Scott is vying to be the first African-American to win the GOP nomination. His background: Scott grew up in North Charleston, South Carolina in a poor, single-parent household, according to his website. His views: Scott joined the Senate in 2013. Hes anti-abortion and pro-Second Amendment. He says on his website that his signature legislation, Opportunity Zones, put $75 billion into distressed communities across the country. In this March 23, 2020 file photo, Gov. Asa Hutchinson, right, speaks in Little Rock, Ark. Asa Hutchinson Former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, a Republican, launched his presidential campaign in April, emphasizing his heartland upbringing in a hometown speech. "This campaign is about courage. It is about making the tough decisions... and we've got our work cut out for us," he said. Hutchinson has been one of Trumps most outspoken critics in the GOP field since entering the race. A former federal prosecutor, the 72-year-old candidate urged Trump to exit the 2024 contest before he was formally charged in a New York hush-money case. His background: Hutchinson was raised in the rural hills of Arkansas, which he said laid the groundwork for his early political awareness. Hauling hay, sacking groceries and being a janitor taught him the "dignity of work, he said. His views: He supports lower taxes, a strong national defense and opposing abortion. He has said the Biden administration "stood on the sidelines" in the face of crime and turned its back on the American worker." Mar 3, 2023; National Harbor, MD, USA; Vivek Ramaswamy during the Conservative Political Action Conference, CPAC 2023, at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center on March 3, 2023. Vivek Ramaswamy Vivek Ramaswamy, a wealthy biotech entrepreneur and anti-woke activist, entered the 2024 presidential race in February. The 37-year-old candidate launched his longshot bid by decrying what he called a national identity crisis, driven by a left-wing ideology that has replaced faith, patriotism and hard work with new secular religions like COVID-ism, climate-ism and gender ideology." Author of the book Woke, Inc., Ramaswamy centers much of his messaging around dismantling bureaucracies, whether in corporate America or Washington, D.C. His background: The son of Indian immigrants, Ramaswamy grew up in the Cincinnati suburb of Evendale. He attended Harvard to study biology and graduated Yale Law School the same year as U.S. Sen. J.D. Vance, another southwest Ohio native. His views: He has peddled ideas such as ending affirmative action and eliminating the Department of Education. His elevator pitch: He'll go farther than Trump ever did or could today. Marianne Williamson Marianne Williamson, a self-help author who unsuccessfully ran for president in 2020, launched another longshot campaign in March, becoming the first Democrat to formally challenge Bidens reelection bid. We are upset about this country, were worried about this country, Williamson told a crowd of more than 600 at a kickoff in Washington, D.C. It is our job to create a vision of justice and love that is so powerful that it will override the forces of hatred and injustice and fear. The Democratic Party is firmly aligned behind Biden; it does not plan to hold primary debates, even if other Democrats join Williamson in challenging the president. Her background: The 70-year-old candidate is a Texas native who now lives in Beverly Hills, California. A onetime spiritual adviser to Oprah Winfrey, Williamson has authored more than a dozen books and ran an unsuccessful independent congressional campaign in California in 2014. Her views: Williamson is in favor of abortion rights, a single-payer health care system and reparations for the descendants of formerly enslaved Americans. She has suggested creating a U.S. Department of Children and Youth to increase child advocacy, and a U.S. Department of Peace to systemize the suppression of violence. Attorney Robert F. Kennedy Jr. speaks at the New York State Capitol, May 14, 2019, in Albany, N.Y. Kennedy Jr., an anti-vaccine activist and scion of one of the countrys most famous political families, is running for president. Kennedy, a Democrat, filed a statement of candidacy Wednesday, April 6, 2023, with the Federal Election Commission. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Robert F. Kennedy Jr., an anti-vaccine activist from a storied political family, became the second Democrat to challenge Biden for the White House in April with the launch of his 2024 presidential bid. "My mission over the next 18 months of this campaign and throughout my presidency will be to end the corrupt merger of state and corporate power that is threatening... to impose a new kind of corporate feudalism in our country, said Kennedy. The son of Sen. Robert F. Kennedy and nephew of former President John F. Kennedy, both assassinated in the 1960s, Kennedy has been the subject of recent controversies for criticizing COVID-19 restrictions, making anti-vaccine comments and spreading misinformation about the pandemic and vaccines. His background: Kennedy, 69, served as an attorney for the nonprofit Natural Resources Defense Council for over three decades. He founded Waterkeeper Alliance, a network of environmental organizations advocating for clean water, and the anti-vaccine nonprofit Childrens Health Defense. His views: He is campaigning on a platform of fighting for the "liberties guaranteed by the Constitution," according to his campaign website.His stance on vaccines resembles those of Trump, who is running for the Republican presidential ticket in 2024. This story will be updated as additional candidates officially enter the race. Contributing: Ken Tran, Haley BeMiller, Associated Press This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Who is officially running for president in 2024? What we know Columbus resident and television writer Natalia Temesgen fears the inability of production studios to see eye to eye with writers will lead the current strike to drag on for months. While she appreciates the flexibility that remote working has given her, Temesgen sees a variety of systemic issues in the industry that have contributed to the stand off. As the Writers Guild of America (WGA) continues to strike over higher and stable pay, fairer contracts and provisions about regulating the use of artificial intelligence, Temesgen supports the effort while recognizing the benefits of working remotely in the industry. Before entering the world of television writing, she developed a background as a playwright and held a job as associate professor of creative writing at Columbus State University. In the middle of the 2019 fall term, Temesgen landed her first television writing job for season 4 of Dear White People, and soon joined the WGA. When you work in Hollywood as a writer, the union will find you, she told the Ledger-Enquirer. After seeing the response by studios to writers demands, Temesgen expects the strike to last months. She worries about the impact it will have on economies from California to New York, not to mention her home state of Georgia. The financial impact in Georgia alone is significant. The television and film industry spent $4.4 billion in Georgia during fiscal year 2022, according to a statement by Governor Brian Kemp, and the state hosted 412 productions between July 1, 2021 and June 30, 2022. Catalyst Productions, a Columbus-based production company, supports writers as they strive for changes in how theyre compensated, CEO John Mock told the Ledger-Enquirer in a statement. Catalyst strongly believes that all people who make stories matter and deserve to earn a fair, just and livable wage for their work, the statement reads. One of the main problems in the industry is that studios are comfortable with writing being a gig-based career for people, Temesgen said. The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), an organization representing major Hollywood studios and production companies, released a four-page document that refuted the idea that writers are part of a gig economy. The organization argued that writers are employed for a guaranteed number of weeks or episode with benefits that include health care, contribution to a pension plan and eligibility for paid parental leave. The median number of weeks writers are employed while working on a streaming series is between 20 and 24, the AMPTP said in the document. In light of the circumstances surrounding the strike, she is relieved that her family was able to stay in Columbus while she pursued her career. I, for the first time since 2019, feel vindicated for not quitting my day job, Temesgen said. COVID taught everybody about flexibility The 2019 writing job for Dear White People was in-person and based in Los Angeles. Everyone in California was telling Temesgen that to pursue writing in this industry she would have to move her family out West. It felt like there was no other option, Temesgen told the Ledger-Enquirer. So, during those months before 2020, she considered moving from Columbus and went as far as visiting potential elementary schools in Los Angeles for her children. Then in March 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic put everything on hold, and people began to learn to work remotely. COVID taught everybody about flexibility, she said. And Ive been able to work remotely since then. As a result, Temesgen didnt move. She continued teaching and secured tenure at CSU all while furthering her career in television as an editor and producer for Julia on HBO Max, a story editor on Reasonable Doubt on Hulu and a co-producer of Spirit Squad on Hulu. Natalia Temesgen, a Columbus State University associate professor of English, poses with actress Emayatzy Corinealdi on the set of the Hulu TV series Reasonable Doubt in May 2022 in Los Angeles. She is one of two executive story editors and among eight writers for the show. After negotiations between WGA and the AMPTP broke down, Temesgen was relieved the changes and flexibility COVID brought allowed her to stay in Georgia. Because she was able to continue working at CSU, Temesgen wasnt betting all of her bills on her television writing career. Studios rejected many of the WGAs proposals without making any counteroffers, she said, which made her pessimistic about writers ability to make a living in the industry. The WGA has published its proposals and the counteroffers they received from the AMPTP on its website. Temesgen would be scared right now if shed made the move to California, she said. For instance, she wouldnt be a homeowner as she lived in an expensive region of the country. Pythias Pete Temesgen, her husband and a judge in Muscogee County, would likely have had to take a step back in his career if theyd moved to another state where he would have to take the California Bar Exam. It would have been a lot of pressure on his career, she said. Thats a moment that would be an existential crisis, Temesgen said. If we had made that move, and it was all based on (screenwritings) ability to sustain us at least for the initial time. Its unsustainable One of the reasons Temesgen chose not to rely on television writing as her sole source of income was because of the long periods, six to eight months at times, that she could go between jobs. Ideally, you make enough that you can kind of cover the quieter times, she said. In todays world of streaming shows, limited series and reduced pay, the jobs are half the length of what they would have been if the shows were on ABC or CBS in the past, Temesgen said. Writers are paid half of what they would have made on a network show, she said, making it difficult to cover the down periods, especially for writers who are paying rent in Los Angeles or New York City. When she isnt writing scripts for Hollywood productions and plays for theaters such as the Springer Opera House, Natalia Temesgen teaches as an associate professor of English at Columbus State University. The WGA is asking to increase minimum pay, including residuals, each year for the next three years, according to the latest public negotiation details. While AMPTP provided a counter-offer on minimum pay, the studios rejected the proposal asking for 50% of compensation to be paid in the beginning with the remaining 50% paid out weekly over the writing period. Studios argue in the AMPTP document that their offer on minimum wage increases adds up to $97 million per year, not taking into account outsized wage increases and residual increases. The first-year general wage increase currently on the table is the highest first-year increase offered to the WGA in more than 25 years, the document reads. In addition, the companies have offered to create an entirely new category of rates that will establish a new and higher floor for mid-level writers compensation. AMPTP also rejected a guaranteed 2nd step proposal, which would pay writers for two drafts that gives them more control over the finished product and an increased paycheck. This is preferred over the one-step deals where writers are hired to produce a single draft. The studios countered this proposal by offering to educate executives and producers about writers free work concerns. Another proposal asked that writers for high-budget shows made for streaming receive a minimum weekly pay rate, 13-week employment guarantees and aggregate residuals. AMPTP countered that this would apply for comedy-variety programs with no 13-week guarantee or aggregate residuals. In the AMPTP document, the companies argue that establishing a minimum weekly rate for these comedy-variety programs is unprecedented and would be the first time this has been offered in any collective bargaining. The proposals would cost the industry $429 million per year, with about $343 million of that attributed to the eight largest employers, according to the WGA. This is a fraction of the $19 billion studios spent on original content for streaming this year, the union said. When someone works at a company like Aflac, after a decade they can expect to have received promotions and pay increases, Temesgen said.. Screenwriters dont get those kinds of incentives, she said, and it ends up with a system that undervalues its experts. It means that a creative industry has literally turned into such a booming business that the art has been squeezed and drained out of it, Temesgen said. Now its strictly about profits and endgame, and its just not what art is for. AI a big concern for writers The one sticking point in the negotiations that told Temesgen that the strike would last for an extended period is centered around the use of artificial intelligence. WGA proposed that the use of AI should be regulated, asking that the technology not be used to write or rewrite literary material, source material and that work covered under the unions agreement cannot be used to train AI. AMPTP rejected the proposal with counter offering annual meetings to discuss advancements in technology. Springer Film Institute director Sara Lynn Herman, left, and playwright Natalia Temesgen, second from left, lead rehearsals for their upcoming webseries Grounds, which will be filmed over two days at Fountain City Coffee. The five-episode show is a series of five-minute vignettes that portray a day in the life of a Columbus coffeehouse. Columbus-natives Temesgen wrote the series, and Herman and her husband, Institute producer Jef Holbrook, will direct the production. Companies argue in the AMPTP document that AI raises hard creative and legal questions. They argue that writers might want to use the technology in their writing process without changing how credits are determined, which can be complicated since the material cant be copyrighted. The document also argues that the current WGA agreement only allows a person to be considered a writer and that AI-generated material is not eligible for writing credit. People are not happy about the way they responded, Temesgen said. I think were very scared about what the idea of some kind of creative AI tool in the hands of any of these major production companies means for us. There was a sense that these companies didnt fully understand what writers were trying to do, she said, and their response to writers demands showed that the gap in understanding between the two sides was real. The response showed that AMPTP believes in a world in which AI can do the same thing as writers, Temesgen said, or that writers would be happy to be paid less and edit an AIs work to make it more artful than it really is. Thats why Im #StrikeGirlSummer at this point, she said. Because I feel like its going to last the whole summer. I dont know. Wichita building to get new life with a business that a transplant said the city needs The first signs that something new is coming to the old Firehouse No. 7 in Riverside are starting to appear. The 1922 property in the middle of a neighborhood at the northwest corner of Franklin and Porter has been home to the Civitan Club of Wichita since 1973. It went up for auction in March. Wichita transplant Tom Tarkman purchased the building as a present for his wife, Carey, who has had a dream of opening a tearoom for three decades. When the longtime Californians moved to Wichita in 2018, Carey Tarkman said her first question was, Wheres the tearoom in this town? Seeing none, shes now opening the Rose & Peacock Social Club at the former firehouse this fall. Due to zoning restrictions, shes calling it a social club that also hosts teas and dancing. Tarkman said shes sympathetic to how the building originally looked, so shes not gutting it. The goal is to just pretty it up inside and outside. We have seen pictures of old firehouse days. Were bringing it back to what it looked like in the building. She and her husband are remodeling the building themselves and updating the landscaping, too. Theyve already installed a gazebo trellis out front and are planting on and around it with wildflowers, roses and shrubs. When theyre done, there will be no grass left. The Rose & Peacock Carey Tarkman is the rose, Tom Tarkman is the peacock will be a members-only club for women and their guests to socialize over tea. Thats what its all about, Carey Tarkman said. Men will be allowed as guests. There will be full English afternoon teas with three courses, including cookies, scones, cream and jam, finger sandwiches, desserts and pots of hot tea. There will be cream tea for afternoon teas with more of a dessert snack. There will be no alcohol or smoking, and the tearoom wont be open at night. On occasion, there will be live music and dancing, such as with Sunday afternoon tea dances twice a month. We are longtime social dancers, Tarkman said. She and her husband were used to social dancing a couple of times a month in California and were disappointed to discover there wasnt anything out here like that. Vintage aesthetic If you encounter Carey and Tom Tarkman at a party or another outing, you might immediately notice theres something a bit different about the two. They often sport vintage clothing from the 1930s and 40s, such as a rayon dress with gloves, purse, hat and maybe even a fur for her and a fedora and double-breasted suit for him. We have a very specific kind of vintage aesthetic that we do, Carey Tarkman said. They have a love of that period, such as with old movies. That all ties into it, Tarkman said. Carey and Tom Tarkman have a love for all things old: clothes, movies, social dancing and tearooms. Theyre now opening the Rose & Peacock Social Club in Riverside to host teas and dancing. Shes a former teacher who also has done some accounting, and her husband is a former manager of high-rise buildings in the San Francisco area. When they retired several years ago, they began looking for places to live. A former pastor and his wife were moving back to Wichita, so Carey Tarkman came to check it out. I call it a recon mission. She said she immediately enjoyed meeting people, and she liked what she saw and started looking for things that would make her husband want to move here, too. I found everything I could in this town to pitch this man. They were visiting Frank Lloyd Wrights Allen House in College Hill, and as they were leaving, Carey Tarkman said, I turn to the left and go whats that? It was a house that became their home. The size of the home and the almost acre that its on are much larger than what they had in California. Our dogs thought they died and gone to heaven, Tarkman said. God had a plan for us to be here. She said she thinks the club is part of that plan. The idea was to start hosting teas in my home, but at some point I would need to find a place to lease and also find a commercial kitchen, Tarkman said. She said the teas were well received. Everybody wanted to see more of it. Club dues will be $300 annually, and there will be separate charges for teas. Thats likely going to be $35 a person for afternoon teas and $15 for cream teas. There isnt an exact timeline for how soon the Rose & Peacock will open. Theres so much we need to do, Tarkman said. She said she has an ability to see a sad, tired old box that looks like a cheap 1970s office . . . and I can envision a beautiful space. Now its a matter of doing the work to make the transformation into a place that offers a different pace of life and lifestyle. Tarkman said the Rose & Peacock will be a place to relax and build friendships, which she said doesnt happen as easily in a place like a fast-paced coffeehouse. There isnt any other place like this in town. [Source] Ashley Barkis, the woman caught in a viral video last week assaulting an Asian man after a car collision in Los Angeles, is receiving online backlash for her recent apology video. On Wednesday, TikTok user @sam.anthabong shared the now-viral video that shows Barkis verbally and physically attacking the man in response to the four-car collision. Although the man did not cause the collision, Barkis chooses to direct her anger toward him since his car collided with hers. You hit my car, so where is your insurance! Barkis can be heard saying. Do you have a drivers license? Are you from America? Do you even have papers? Are you legal to be here? Where is your drivers license? More from NextShark: Soil from 75 former Japanese American WWII incarceration sites collected for memorial Barkis can be seen physically assaulting the man and his passengers, who all got out of their car. She shoves the man toward oncoming traffic and eventually returns to her car. When @sam.anthabong posted her video on TikTok, Barkis identity was unknown at the time. Please help spread the word so we can find this woman! no one deserves to be treated like this, the TikTok user wrote. More from NextShark: Nonprofit to Manage Over $1 Million Donated to Chinese Grandma Who Fought Off Attacker Barkis, who was eventually identified, responded to the online backlash she received by posting an apology video on her now-deleted Instagram account. In the apology video, which has been reshared by TikTok users such as Ellen Acuario (@ellenacuario), Barkis attempts to explain herself and even claims that she is half Filipino. I apologize for any offense to the Asian community as I am half Filipino, Barkis can be heard saying. More from NextShark: Koreatown mural redone after three-year-long community backlash accusing of it being like a swastika There are so many other ways that I could have asked if he understood me or if there was something wrong with his license or simply waited for the police to get there, she continues. I hope you guys understand now that I am not at all racist. Acuario, who also goes by Your Funny Unni on TikTok, comments on Barkis claims in her own video, saying, Youre revoked from your Filipino pride. Cause seriously this is one of the worst cases of it be your own people sometime. To spout all that hate about Asians being illegals? More from NextShark: 3 arrested for killing of Chinese supermarket operator in Jamaica robbery In a follow-up TikTok video on Saturday, @sam.anthabong shares screenshots of an alleged conversation between Barkis and a past co-worker. Barkis appears to defend her actions in the messages. The end of the video also shows another alleged conversation, this time between Barkis and a TikTok user named Chris Moua. Moua, who has seemingly taken down his TikTok video that featured the alleged conversation, tells Barkis what you did was wrong. In response, Barkis purportedly says, Honestly f*ck your and your Asian community, you guys are the pest of the earth and brought corona virus to America. I really wish I pushed him harder and the car hit him and crushed his head. You Dumb Chinese f*ck. Just don't get why she keeps trying to justify her actions like there is no justification for physical assault, @sam.anthabong says in one of her comments on her recent post. A belligerent woman who was asked to leave a Frontier Airlines flight at Denver International Airport bashed a flight attendant with an intercom phone, airline officials said. The Tampa-bound flight was awaiting departure from the gate early Sunday, May 21, when the woman was asked to deplane, Frontier Airlines said in a statement to McClatchy News. As she was escorted off, she picked up an intercom phone and struck a flight attendant with it, the airline said. Airport police cited the woman, who faces an assault charge, at 3:55 a.m., Denver police said in a statement to McClatchy News. She was later booked onto another flight. Flight 708 departed for Tampa International Airport after the delay at 5:30 a.m., Frontier Airlines said. Violence has no place anywhere and certainly not in a mode of transportation that requires strict procedures to keep everyone safe, the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA said in a statement to KDVR. Federal Aviation Authority statistics show there have been 670 reports of unruly passengers in so far 2023 as of May 14. There were 2,455 reports of unruly passengers in 2022. Man makes bogus bomb threat after missing his flight at Pennsylvania airport, cops say Woman wakes to find strangers hand on her thigh on flight to California, feds say Passenger banned after assault on employee at California airport, airline says Woman charged in death of Atlanta boy found in suitcase seeks change of trial venue A Louisiana woman charged in the death of a boy whose body was found last year inside a suitcase in rural southern Indiana is seeking a change of venue, arguing that public outrage over the childs death would prevent her from getting a fair trial. Dawn Colemans attorney, Ryan Bower, filed the venue change request on her behalf Monday. He contends the Shreveport, Louisiana, woman would not receive a fair trial in southern Indianas Washington County due to public hostility against her, outrage over the boys death and media coverage, WTHR-TV reported. [DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks] A hearing is set for June 1 on the change of venue request for Coleman, who was arrested in San Francisco in October in connection with the death of 5-year-old Cairo Ammar Jordan of Atlanta, Georgia. Shes charged with aiding, inducing or causing murder, neglect of a dependent resulting in death and obstruction of justice. A felony murder arrest warrant was issued in November for Cairos mother, DeJaune Ludie Anderson of Atlanta. She remains at large. Authorities allege that Coleman helped Anderson dispose of Cairos body in April 2022. Court documents say that he died in Kentucky and his body was dumped in Indiana. His body was found inside a hard suitcase emblazoned with a distinctive Las Vegas design that a mushroom hunter discovered in a heavily wooded area off of a dead-end road. RELATED STORIES: An autopsy found that Cairo died from vomiting and diarrhea that led to dehydration, Indiana State Police said. Investigators said the boy had died within a week prior to his bodys discovery. He was buried last June at a Salem, Indiana, cemetery about 35 miles (55 kilometers) north of Louisville, Kentucky, after a memorial service where a police chaplain called the then-unidentified child an unknown angel. Authorities released the boys name in October after announcing that he been identified and that Anderson and Coleman were suspects in his death. [SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter] IN OTHER NEWS: Woman who lost son in Melbourne shooting speaks out about his life, looks for answers A woman who lost her teenage son in a shooting on Mothers Day weekend is speaking about his life and the tragedy that unfolded. Melbourne Police found 16-year-old Kobe Kirkland injured along Cedar Drive and Lipscomb Street on May 13. He died four days later. Kirklands mother, Patricia Hester, never imagined this would happen, but she is sure that other young people with information could help the police. She described her son as an old soul. And days after Kirkland was shot and fatally wounded in the familys front yard, she still does not refer to him in the past tense. Read: One person in critical condition after shooting in Melbourne, police say Kirkland liked to fix things and had an entrepreneurial spirit. He employed other neighborhood children through his lawn business and taught them how to make money for themselves. His mother said her son stayed close to his Melbourne home, where he was on Mothers Day weekend when shots rang out on Cedar Drive. I heard the gunshots, ran and slammed the door, she said. And I heard some screaming that Kobe has been shot, Kobe has been hit. Hester ran back outside, and what she saw next made her faint. She said when she came to, a nurse who lived nearby was asking her to help perform CPR. Read: Body found in Jeep belonging to missing Seminole County woman All I could hear her say is, (Are) you mama? You got to give him two breaths, you got to give him two breaths, Hester said. Kirkland was still breathing when he was taken away. He fought before he finally died because of his injuries. My child wasnt into violence, she said. And I just would have never thought that my child would have a bullet in his head, she said. Its still in his head, and I have to bury my child. Read: Construction worker dies in Deltona after strong storms hit area Hester said she wouldnt rest until the police found out who was responsible. Melbourne Police said their investigation is active and ongoing. Hester said one of her other children wants to keep his brothers lawn business alive. Kirklands phone is in investigators hands, and Hester hopes customers reach out to her. Hester started a GoFundMe page to cover the cost of her sons funeral. Her sons services will be held Friday. 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. Worlds most expensive ice cream from Japan costs more than $6,000 per serving [Source] The worlds most expensive ice cream can be found in Japan for more than $6,000 per serving. Byakuya, which was created by the Japanese ice cream brand Cellato, costs a whopping 873,400 Japanese yen (approximately $6,305) per serving. The frozen dessert was handed the title of the world's most expensive ice cream by the Guinness World Records (GWR) on May 18. It is made with rare white truffles grown in Alba, Italy, that cost about $6,905 per pound. The ice cream also includes Parmigiano Reggiano and sake lees, the residual sediment produced during sake fermentation. Cellato hired Tadayoshi Yamada, the acclaimed head chef at RiVi in Osaka, to create a fusion of European and Japanese ingredients in the form of ice cream. More from NextShark: BTS Jungkook sizzles as Calvin Kleins newest global ambassador It took us over 1.5 years to develop, with a lot of trials and errors to get the taste right. Achieving a Guinness World Records title made the effort all worth it, a Cellato representative told GWR. The desert is available for sale in Japan and can be shipped directly to consumers. Buyers are instructed to pour in the white truffle as the ice cream softens before mixing it with a handcrafted metal spoon that is included in the package. More from NextShark: 16 families purchase land to create first Hmong-owned and operated farm in US history Cellato also recommends pairing the ice cream with sake or a French white wine. More from NextShark: Asian Specialist on Masterchef Called Out For Use of Dirty Food (Bloomberg) -- Volodymyr Zelenskiy and President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva of Brazil failed to hold one-on-one talks while attending a summit in Japan, even as Ukraine seeks to engage countries in the Global South on taking a harder line against Russia for its war. Most Read from Bloomberg I met almost everyone, all the leaders. All of them have their own schedules, that is why we couldnt meet with the Brazilian president, the Ukrainian president told reporters on Sunday in Hiroshima at a briefing on the sidelines of the Group of Seven meeting. Asked if he was disappointed, Zelenskiy replied: I think it disappointed him. In a news conference Monday before leaving Japan, Lula stressed that the Ukrainian president didnt show up at a bilateral meeting that he said had been scheduled by their teams. Maybe he had other commitments, Lula said, adding that plans for a future encounter will depend on Zelenskiys willingness to talk about peace. Both presidents took part in group sessions on Sunday, and ahead of the press event the Ukrainian leader visited a memorial commemorating those who died in a nuclear bomb explosion in 1945. The Ukraine leader had traveled to Japan in part to meet face-to-face with leaders from the so-called Global South, which includes Lula, and rally support for his nations efforts to resist Russian leader Vladimir Putins invasion. As opposed to G-7 countries, Brazil has taken a more neutral stance on the war in Ukraine, arguing at times that Zelenskiy, the US and European countries shared blame for Putins invasion. Lula later backtracked on these comments and on Monday criticized both Russia or Ukraine for not engaging in peace efforts. Zelenskiy held meetings with several other invited guests, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India and Indonesias President Joko Widodo, as well as with the G-7 leaders. --With assistance from Rosalind Mathieson and Isabel Reynolds. (Updates with Lulas comments in paragraphs 3-4.) Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2023 Bloomberg L.P. Zelenskyy says images of Hiroshima annihilated by the atomic bomb remind him of Bakhmut and give him hope that Ukraine can rebuild An aerial view of Bakhmut, Ukraine, on April 26, 2023. Libkos/AP While in Hiroshima for the G-7 summit, Zelenskyy likened the city's destruction in WW2 to Bakhmut. The Ukrainian president made the comparison after visiting the atomic bomb museum, the NYT reported. He said Hiroshima's ability to rebuild gives him hope for Ukraine's future, Al Jazeera reported. After an emotional visit to Hiroshima's atomic bomb museum on Sunday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy likened the city's destruction in World War II to the war-torn devastation in Bakhmut. While he acknowledged the attacks on both cities are different and can't compare, Zelenskyy said, "the pictures of ruined Hiroshima really totally remind me of Bakhmut," The New York Times reported. "Nothing alive is left." But he said seeing Hiroshima's thriving urbanscape today gave him hope for Ukraine's future after the war. "We dream of rebuilding all our cities that are now in ruins and every village where not a single house is left after Russian strikes," he said, Al Jazeera reported. View of Hiroshima after the dropping of the atom bomb on August 6, 1945. Galerie Bilderwelt/Getty Images Zelenskyy visited the memorial site in Hiroshima on Sunday after a busy weekend at the G-7 summit. At a press conference, the Ukrainian president said the atomic bomb's explosion in 1945 produced imagery and memories that evoke the mass destruction seen across Ukraine today, Politico reported. "There are lots of tragic pictures in the museum. The children, little babies, before their death, and we have similar pictures unfortunately" in Ukraine," he said, according to Politico. "Only tears are in my eyes." Zelenskyy and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida attend the Cenotaph for the Victims of the Atomic Bomb. Eugene Hoshiko - Pool/Getty Images Recent photographs and drone footage from Bakhmut show homes, parks, schools, and bustling streets eroded into unrecognizable blocks of ash and ruin. Bakhmut has seen some of the deadliest fighting, with both Ukraine and Russia now seeing its conquest as a sort of symbolic victory in the ongoing war of attrition. While at the G-7 summit, Zelenskyy denied Russia had control of the city. Read the original article on Business Insider Gift this article Share this article paywall-free. Isaiah 117 House, a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting children in foster care, is making significant strides in providing a safe and comforting environment for children during the crucial transition period of removal from their homes. Mary Prillaman and Dana Guenther, program coordinators of Isaiah 117 House which plans to open in July, are spearheading the initiative and are passionate about the cause due to their personal experiences in the foster care system. Isaiah 117 House, located on Grace Street, provides a fully furnished home where children can be cared for during the waiting period after their removal from their homes, instead of being taken to the Department of Social Services (DSS) office. The interim stay can range from a few hours to several days, depending on the time it takes for the caseworkers to find a suitable foster placement. Guenther said the goal is to create a welcoming environment where children are met by dedicated volunteers who attend to their needs, including providing clothing, baths and playtime. Guenther, along with a team of five individuals including her husband and another couple, traveled to Tennessee the flagship home of the national organization, to observe and understand the operations of the original Isaiah 117 House. Inspired by its success, they were determined to establish a similar facility in Lynchburg. Isaiah 1:17 says, defend the cause of the fatherless. Founder and Executive Director Ronda Paulson started the nonprofit after she and her husband, Corey, went through training to become foster parents. As part of our training, they attended a class at a local DSS office in Tennessee. During that class, they were informed that when children are removed from their homes, they often must come to the office and wait for placement. Guenther said the nonprofit worked for several months raising awareness about Isaiah 117 House, without seeking financial contributions initially. Their goal was to spread the word about the project and encourage community involvement. They ended up raising $75,000 within six months. They organized their first fundraiser, a luncheon, which attracted 120 attendees and generated an astounding $110,000 in funds. I think this is a big fostering community, she said. Theres just nowhere like Lynchburg where theres so many nonprofits and theres so many churches on board with this effort. Theres so many different ways to be involved. I think that fostering is already so huge, but I also think that this need is a need everywhere. So once you hear that kids are actually sleeping on the floor at the office, you want to help and you want to do something and this is such an easy way to fix that. Prillaman said she has firsthand experience with the challenges faced by children and families involved in the foster care system, and said Isaiah 117 House presents a simple, yet powerful solution to a significant problem. Her involvement with foster care began when her great nieces and nephews entered the system. She petitioned for custody of her oldest great nephew and became a foster parent, while Guenther fostered the youngest family member. Through this experience, the two formed a bond, referring to themselves as family through foster care. I always felt like I God was leading me to do something but I didnt really know what I was supposed to do, she said. Once seeing a video on the Isaiah 117 House, she said she resonated with the organization as it addresses the urgent need for a safe and comforting environment for children in the crucial period before they are placed with foster families. Typically, children awaiting placement are taken to the DSS office where they may spend varying lengths of time, depending on how quickly a caseworker can find an appropriate home. In some cases, children may arrive late at night, leaving authorities with the challenge of finding temporary accommodations, she said. They may end up in emergency rooms or police stations, which are less than ideal settings for children in vulnerable situations. As were partnering with DSS, what we are trying to create is an environment where the social workers and the kids can come on removal day when the child is removed, she said. They can come to the house and those children will be met by volunteers who will care for them, get them a change of clothes, a bath, anything that those children need and play with them. At Isaiah 117 House, there is no permanent residency. Instead, the house is operated by volunteer program coordinators who are called upon by the DSS when a removal is scheduled. The volunteers undergo three training sessions and a background check to ensure the highest standards of care and safety for the children, Guenther said. When called, they meet the caseworkers and children at the house. The facility also will feature an office space for social workers to conduct their necessary work privately, without the added responsibility of caring for the children. Prillaman said Isaiah 117 House aims to alleviate some of the burdens faced by social workers. So we just want to lean in to say, hey, were here as a helping hand. Were here to help you and thats what we want to do, she said. On that day we just lighten their load a little bit. Children often enter foster care with no personal belongings, Prillaman said, and the organization intends to provide them with three days worth of supplies, promoting a sense of dignity during their transition into foster homes. This support includes age-appropriate items, such as clothing, car seats, toddler beds and other essential items to facilitate a smoother transition for each child. In addition to assisting social workers and children, Isaiah 117 House also aims to support foster parents. There still are several ongoing projects and construction tasks that need to be completed before the house is fully operational this July and Prillaman said they seek community groups or individuals who are willing to contribute their time and efforts through workdays. Gift this article Share this article paywall-free. For the first time since 2019, Methodist Jennie Edmundson Hospital will be offering free skin cancer screenings for the community on Thursday, June 1, from 4 to 6 p.m. in the outpatient surgery department. Preventive screenings can help detect cancer early, when its most treatable and before it has a chance to spread, said Michelle Kaufman, director of oncology services at Jennie Edmundson. At Methodist, we understand that early detection is key to survival, and were proud to offer this service at no cost. Local dermatology providers will be conducting the screenings, which will include a spot check or full body skin check. Attendees should wear loose-fitting clothing to ensure a good screening experience. Individuals will be notified at that time if a follow-up is warranted. Plenty of slots remain for the free screening event, but registration is required. Appointments can be made by visiting bestcare.org/cb-free-screening. Free on-site parking will be available. For easy access, please park in the east parking lot on the Jennie Edmundson campus. For additional information, call 712-396-4425. OMAHA, Neb. (AP) Engineers who operate trains for Union Pacific will soon have much more predictable schedules allowing them to plan when they are going to be off, a change that addresses one of the key quality-of-life concerns that pushed the rail industry to the brink of a strike last fall. As the leaders of the Group of Seven (G7) wealthy democracies converge for a summit in Japan, winds of change are blowing for Africa, which has so far been more of a discussion topic rather than an active participant in international politics, but is now demanding its rightful place in global dialogues and decision-making processes. Leaders of seven of the worlds most powerful and wealthy democracies the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy and Japan (and the EU also attends) have gathered for the G7 summit in Hiroshima, Japan, this weekend (19-21 May). Africa, a continent rich in human and natural resources that houses 1.3 billion people, has been historically sidelined in global dialogues and decision-making. While the G7 Summit prides itself on its efforts to address global challenges, including climate change, economic inequality, global health crises, and security threats, the grouping has been increasingly criticized for excluding Africa from these important discussions. The African Unions Trade Commissioner, Albert M. Muchanga, has recently denounced the Western attitudes to Africa, saying that the continent will not accept that it should just continue to be a source of raw materials for the rest of the world. The International Crisis Group (ICG), a Brussels-based NGO, has recently set forth its Seven Priorities for the G7 in 2023, emphasizing that Africas place is at the table, contributing insights, sharing experiences, and playing an active role in formulating solutions. In particular, it argues that the G7s leaders need to consider how their messages may go down with various audiences, not only in the West but also in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East. While the G7 has long maintained an Africa-related agenda prioritizing the building of economic ties with the continent, African leaders have now been increasingly vocal about the need for reform of the IMF and World Bank decision-making bodies, and called to have a formal seat at G7 Summits. Therefore, the ICG calls on the G7 leaders to consider granting Africa a permanent membership in the G20 something African countries have demanded in the past, and the US endorsed in 2022 which would be a good first step. Tunisia has invited United Arab Emirates (UAE) investors to attend the countrys international investment forum slated for early November as authorities seek around $2 billion to supplement the national budget. Samir Saied, the Minister of Economy and Planning, Anadolu news agency reports, met with the envoy of the Gulf country to Tunisia and presented a set of projects proposed in line with the North African countrys 2023-2025 framework of development. The projects are inscribed on the Public-Private partnership framework. Saied also argued that authorities will strive to create a favorable environment for UAE investments. The state office also expressed the desire to see the resumption of talks on Sama Dubai; a sport and urban mega project to be developed on the banks of Lake Tunis. Tunisia is facing an economic downturn owing to the impact of the pandemic. The country is currently in talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a $1.9-billion loan to supplement the national budget facing a deficit of $2 billion. President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Felix Tshisekedi, will pay a state visit to China from 24-29 May where he is expected to meet President Xi Jinping and their meeting is widely expected to pave the way for the two countries to seal several key trade deals, including a $6 billion infrastructure-for-minerals agreement. The mineral-rich DRC is an important country in Africa, and China enjoys a time-honored friendship with it, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson, Mao Ning, said on Monday (22 May). The DRC is the worlds largest producer of battery material cobalt and it also has significant deposits of diamonds, gold, lithium and tantalum. Tshisekedi reportedly instructed his government at a cabinet meeting last week to move ahead with talks on the deal with Chinese counterparts after the DRC government and other stakeholders consolidated their position. China-Africa ties are at an all-time high, Bereket Sisay, a special commentator on current affairs for the China Global Television Network (CGTN) said in a recent opinion piece, hailing Chinas approach to modernization that offers a valuable model for African countries seeking economic growth and development. According to Sisay, it is an undeniable fact that Chinas transformation has been an inspirational force for most developing countries, adding that China could be a model for Africa, if not for others. And he concluded on a positive note by saying that China-Africa cooperation brings new opportunities for Africas development, as it expands a range of partnerships deemed important for growth. The United Kingdom is expected this week to announce restrictions preventing foreign students from bringing family members into the country, which will likely send shockwaves through the African student community, not least from Nigeria. The policy change, set to be revealed shortly, is expected to affect students from various Nigeria and other nations all around Africa, sparking concerns and debates regarding its impact on educational opportunities. The current UK immigration law permits dependents to accompany their spouses or parent(s) who have a valid student visa. The proposed migration clampdown primarily targets masters students and several other postgraduate programs, effectively preventing them from bringing their families along during their studies. Rishi Sunak cabinets decision comes in response to the alarming surge in net migration, which has reached a staggering one million individuals. If implemented, the crackdown will have a significant effect especially on Nigerian students who have been among the largest contributors to the UKs international student community and who accounted for the highest increase in the number of dependents accompanying persons with study visas last year. In 2022 alone, 59,053 Nigerian students brought over 60,923 relatives to the country, reflecting the strong familial bonds and support within the Nigerian culture. The proposed student visa restrictions have ignited a sense of urgency among African students, leading to discussions on potential alternatives and consequences. Ghana, formerly praised for its stability and good governance, is finally getting some breathing room after Ghanian officials announced last week (18 May) that the $3 billion bailout for the West African nations had finally been approved by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Ghana has been facing a severe economic crisis since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine and, according the Ghanian officials, the IMF bailout will help reset the economy and ease the economic hardship on its citizens. Though far from a magic solution wand, the long-awaited bailout to aid the governments economic growth recovery plan is a crucial first step on the necessary journey of strong reforms, inclusive growth and relentless pursuit of our growth agenda, Ken Ofori-Atta, Ghanas Finance Minister, said. The package aims to restore macroeconomic stability and debt sustainability while laying the foundation for an inclusive recovery, Kristalina Georgieva, the IMFs Managing Director, said in a statement. The three-year, $3 billion loan is widely hoped to get the West African country out of its worst economic crisis in decades. The agreement between Ghana and the Washington-based lender marks the culmination of a round of negotiations that began in December 2022, when the West African country announced that it would need to default on its debts. According to the World Bank, Ghana is one of the most indebted countries on the continent, with a debt of $58 billion representing 105% of its GDP. With the IMFs help, Ghana hopes to get out of debtors doldrums and regain the confidence of markets and investors. However, the need for international support is a blow to public opinion and President Nana Akufo-Addo, who rose to prominence with the slogan Ghana beyond aid, promising Ghanas economic independence from rich countries. The operators of luxury Safari camps in Zimbabwe, which charge more than $1,000 a night, have lodged objections against a planned oil exploration program in the countrys UNESCO World Heritage Site, Mana Pools National Park. The Zimbabwean top tourist attraction, the pristine Mana Pools, could be under threat after a mining company applied for a license to explore for oil and gas in the national park. Shalom Mining intends to prospect for petroleum oil and gas covering 130,000 hectares, which also includes the national park. African Bush Camps, which offers destinations across the country including at Nyamatusi Camp in Mana Pools, said in a 15 May letter to the Mining Affairs Board that granting Shalom Mining the permit would worsen global warming and biodiversity loss. Another company, Wilderness Safaris, which operates three camps in Mana Pools, has also raised objections. Located along the southern bank of the Zambezi River that serves as the border between Zimbabwe and Zambia, Mana Pools National Park holds immense ecological significance as a wildlife haven. The rivers braided channels, sprawling across a floodplain, attract diverse herds of elephants and buffalo while providing a vital habitat for lions, cheetahs, and leopards. The proposed oil exploration program, as both camp operators argue, directly threatens the delicate balance of this unique ecosystem. They also stress that preserving the natural beauty and biodiversity of Mana Pools is of paramount importance as sustainable tourism, which relies on preserving pristine ecosystems, is crucial for the long-term viability of the tourism industry in Zimbabwe. Six members from Libyas House of Representatives and six others representing the High State Council opened on Monday in the Sea Resort Moroccan city of Bouznika a meeting to discuss election laws and especially the requirements for presidential candidates. The 6+6 committee is tasked with setting rules and regulations for the upcoming parliamentary and presidential elections in the country. The joint committee representing the two Libyan legislative bodies had agreed on drafting electoral laws to enable the holding of these long-delayed elections seen as critical to peace and stability. A political process to resolve more than a decade of conflict in Libya has been stalled since an election scheduled for December 2021 collapsed amid disputes over the eligibility of major candidates. The new inter-Libyan meeting convened in Morocco comes after several other consultations hosted by the Kingdom, enabling Libyans to deepen dialogue in a bid to resolve the political crisis rocking this country since the fall of Gaddafi regime in 2011. Libya is split between warring factions in east and west. The existence of different, competing governmental institutions has led to increased instability in the country and has complicated the Libyan bureaucracy. The prolonged lack of a cohesive governing body and unified political leadership exacerbates Libyas political and economic instability. Last March, the UN Security Council adopted the initiative led by UN Envoy to Libya, Abdoulaye Bathily, to launch a Libyan High-Level Panel for Elections (HLPE) which aims to facilitate the establishment of a legal framework and a roadmap for holding elections by the end of 2023. However, Libyan stakeholders remain cautiously optimistic over the possibility of breaking political stalemate through the elections. Photo-Illustration: Intelligencer; Photo: Matt Cardy/Getty Images Free, ubiquitous pornography has been a fact of life online for many years, and its not exactly difficult for young children to find it. Not everyone is comfortable with this arrangement. Utah state senator Todd Weiler, a Republican, has long been on the frontlines of the fight to crack down on porn accessibility for children and on porn in general. In 2016, he led the charge to declare pornography a public-health crisis in his state, which led to many other states following suit. And this year, he authored legislation mandating that Utahns prove, via government-issued ID, that theyre at least 18 in order to access pornography, a law that Pornhub, the leading adult website, took such issue with that it stopped operating in Utah. (A legal battle between the site and the state looms.) Weiler takes great pains to characterize himself as the opposite of a moral scold, and he says he has no interest in restricting porn for adults. But his bill is part of a resurgent anti-porn tide among conservatives around the country (including similar legislation in Louisiana), some of whom characterize porn as a societal scourge. I spoke with Weiler about why he thinks pornography is so damaging, whether he blames it for Gen Zs high-anxiety levels, and how it compares to guns as a danger to children. I was watching a talk-show interview you did recently where the host, Tim Montemayor, expressed concerns that the age-verification part of this legislation will force people to cough up their personal information in a way that goes against the libertarian leanings of a place like Utah. The digital rights group Electronic Frontier Foundation has similarly argued that this scheme would lead us further toward an internet where our private data is collected and sold by default. The tens of millions of Americans who do not have government-issued IDs may lose access to much of the internet. Whats your counterargument? Well, theres a catchall provision in the bill that the websites can utilize any commercially reasonable effort to verify that the person accessing adult content is actually an adult. We havent told them that they have to use a government-issued ID, though certainly thats one method. And by the way, I want you to know Im being told that there are adult websites complying with Utahs age verification. Obviously, Pornhub has chosen not to, even though Pornhub is complying with Louisianas age verification. Isnt the difference that Louisiana has a government-run third-party verification system and Utah doesnt? No. What Louisiana does is it has given a third-party vendor access to a digital ID, so it basically just has a direct line into the DMV website. Ive talked to the company thats working with Louisiana, and every time they verify identity, they charge Pornhub 10 cents. And theyve told me that they could have that available in Utah in 45 days, and were talking to them. But I think the bigger issue is that Pornhubs clicks went down 80 percent in Louisiana. So I believe that their argument about privacy and all of that is a pretext. Utah is the second state to pass this legislation. Arizona and Alabama are on the verge of passing it. And when I passed a resolution declaring pornography as a public-health crisis in 2016, we saw 16 other states follow suit. I think youre going to see a similar pattern here, where most of the red states will jump on this bandwagon. My guess is Pornhub sees the writing on the wall, and instead of complying with the law like they did in Louisiana, they now want to challenge it on either privacy or First Amendment grounds. And well see. The courts have stepped up for the porn industry before. The Free Speech Coalition has filed a lawsuit trying to block the bill. Its director of public affairs told NPR that Utah is going to lose, and its going to cost the state hundreds of thousands of dollars. Its a pointless exercise. How do you feel about your chances in court? I like our chances in court. Im a lawyer, and anyone who has studied the First Amendment understands that the courts have always recognized reasonable restrictions for time, place, and manner. And what people ignore in this debate is that for my entire lifetime Im 56 its been illegal in all 50 states to show pornographic material to children. It continues to be illegal. Its illegal for children to watch it as well. And then we had the internet, this new technology well, new technology in the 1990s. It crept up on us and circumvented all of the guardrails that society had put in place. The reason the Motion Picture Association of America rates films G, PG, NC-17, and R is because they didnt want the government to come in and do that for them. That was a great example of the film industry banding together and saying, Weve got this. Were not going to let little kids see pornographic content. We can regulate ourselves. We all understand that we dont let 11-year-olds walk into 7-Eleven and purchase a six-pack of Budweiser. And its not because were discriminating against adults, its because its illegal and its harmful for children to have Budweiser at the age of 11. And we all understand we have to show our ID if were going to buy cigarettes or alcohol. I honestly dont understand why this should be any different. Pornhub could say, Were not showing people porn, were just hosting it. Thats an argument backed by law, which is used by big tech companies to circumvent lots of restrictions. And its easy to see how changing that standard would make the internet a much worse place. Yeah, youre going back to this exemption that social-media companies have, where theyre just a platform. But these companies are showing people porn. And thats why Pornhub and others have at least started in concept to make an attempt to remove child pornography, or pornography with compelled or unwilling participants. I dont think that they do a very good job at it, but at least theyre saying the right things. But in any event, I think that you have to balance the fact that this is illegal for children with the First Amendment. If we were telling adults in Utah, Youre no longer allowed to watch pornography, we would lose in court. I give that a 100 percent chance. But thats not what were doing. Were just saying, Hey, make a reasonable effort to ensure that your customer is an adult. People order direct wine shipments over the internet, and we dont allow companies to send bottles of wine to 14-year-olds. Some people order vaping products or tobacco products on the internet. We dont allow 13-year-old girls in Topeka, Kansas, to order those. In 2016, as you mentioned, you advanced a resolution declaring porn a public-health crisis. You wrote back then, Pornography perpetuates a sexually toxic environment. And efforts to prevent pornography exposure and addiction to educate individuals and families concerning its harms must be addressed systematically. This doesnt sound like youre only concerned about kids viewing porn, but that you see it as more of a society-wide scourge. Is that right? I think that is my personal feeling, but as a lawmaker, Im not trying to force my morals or my religious beliefs on people. Im really not. Some people, especially from out of state, call me, and they think all I do in the legislature is pornography stuff. And Im the chairman of the judiciary committee. I generally pass 15 to 20 bills every year, which usually puts me in the top four or five legislators in the state. Less than 5 percent of my legislative body of work has anything to do with pornography. Most of my efforts are on criminal-justice reform and things like that. So this is not an obsession for me. For the record, I didnt think that. As soon as I was elected to the state senate, I had one of my constituents her name is Jenny Brown; shes a local dentist call me up and say, Ive got five young boys. What are you going to do to protect them from pornography? In my mind, I thought: Nothing. Im not going to do anything to protect your boys from pornography, because theres nothing I can do. But shes been working with me and pushing me for about 11 years now, and shes connected me with some national organizations and other things. Most legislation Ive run has been in response to constituents like her. I did not campaign on an anti-pornography platform. And I never imagined if I got elected, I was going to be talking publicly about porn. But I dont think porn is necessarily good for society. I think thats something that can be debated, and Ive heard it debated. But what shouldnt be debated what we should all be able to agree on is that 8- and 9- and 10- and 11-year-old boys and girls should not be viewing hard-core free sex videos online. And that is the population Im most concerned about. The biggest criticism of our bill this year is I get calls every day: Have you ever heard of a VPN? Yeah, Ive heard of a VPN, but 8- and 9- and 10- and 11-year-old boys dont have VPNs. Some of them may be sophisticated enough to hack into their parents VPN. But do the research, dont believe me the average age of first exposure to hard-core sex videos online is now in that 8-to-11 age range for boys and for girls. And thats very alarming to me. And it should be alarming to everyone, because these kids are still figuring out who they are. Theyre still shaping their opinions of themselves, their own bodies, the opposite sex, gender, sex in general. And I dont know that their brains are developed enough to comprehend what theyre going to see on a site like Pornhub. Realistically, 16-year-olds will find a way to access it. Absolutely. Every 16-year-old in this country, unless theyre Amish and Im not trying to disparage the Amish every 16-year-old in this country has seen porn. Even the Amish probably have at this point. Even the Amish have. And Im not stupid. So all of my efforts have been geared toward those little kids. And I think between us girls I think a 16-year-old is much better prepared to handle viewing hard-core pornography than a 9-year-old. I think thats indisputable. But you basically have no problem with adults consuming pornography? Ill say this: Personally, I believe and Ive read this from marriage therapists and professionals; Im just a dumb lawyer but personally I believe if your relationship with your significant other or your spouse is contingent on pornography, there are probably bigger problems. But thats just a personal opinion. I have bent over backward to try and not use my elected position to force my moral beliefs or my religious beliefs on anyone else. And I think I have a very strong record on that. I get accused of it every day. And thats one of the reasons why Im so sensitive to it. But again, before I was born, it was already illegal to show this content to children. And yet Pornhub is doing that every day. And everybody seems okay with that. I dont know how Utah stacks up here, but are you in favor of a serious school sex-education system? Absolutely. Im in favor of it. And Ill tell you, people in Utah have been conditioned to believe that were backward and out of the norm, but our sex ed is aligned with the majority of the states in the country. When I tell Democrats and Im Republican when I tell Democrats that in Utah, they dont believe me. Utah is not Mississippi. No, its like Goldilocks and the Three Bears. Theres three levels of sex ed. Theres abstinence-only, which only six states have. Theres abstinence-based, which is what Utah and 30 states have. And then theres comprehensive. And we dont have comprehensive, so were not like California or New York. But the only difference is we dont put the condom on the banana. And we dont talk a lot about venereal diseases and STDs. Now, for me, I would be fine with voting for comprehensive sex ed in Utah if the parents opted in. What I dont want is families who are overly concerned about that stuff to pull their kids out of public school and homeschool because were forcing sex ed down their throat. And I know thats probably not the way to say it, but you know what Im saying? My kids have grown, but I wouldve let all of my kids take comprehensive sex ed. But Im probably more open-minded. And you dont know this, but I grew up in Illinois, in the Chicago suburbs. Ive been Mormon my whole life, but I didnt grow up in Utah. And I have some non-Utah ways of thinking on things. So Im prosex ed. And surprisingly, Utah is in the mainstream of states with what we allow in the schools. Im curious about your stance on a definite scourge of young people right now around the country and in Utah, which is gun violence. In 2020, 42 people under 18 in Utah were killed by guns. Whatever the effects of pornography, nobodys actively dying from that. And I saw that in 2018 you tweeted that weve always had guns in the U.S, but that the focus has got to be on mental illnesses. Im just wondering if your stance on protecting people under 18 from porn carries over on this. Are you in favor of safe-storage laws, prosecuting parents who dont obey those laws, and so forth? Theres lots to unpack there. As an elected official, I am much more concerned about a child shooting themselves or somebody else with a gun than I am about them seeing pornography. Obviously, that is the bigger issue. Now, that doesnt mean that we can ignore pornography. But Im also much more concerned about teens and kids dying from overdosing on fentanyl or other drugs than I am about pornography. Also, because Im a thinking human being, I can also worry and think about more than one thing at a time. And so we have gun laws. And Im guessing those shooting deaths that you were reporting in Utah were suicides, or primarily Most, yeah. Yeah. The No. 1 cause of death of kids in Utah is by suicide. And the vast majority of those suicides are by gun. And I dont want to be flippant, but its illegal in Utah to kill yourself with a gun. We dont prosecute it, obviously. But I only say that because Im a lawmaker; all I can do is make laws. I dont get to enforce them, and I dont get to interpret them. I just get to make laws. And so people who want to compare efforts to protect children from pornography to suicide statistics, I think theyre apple and oranges, because we already have gun laws. We dont sell guns to 8-year-olds, but we do sell free pornography to 8-year-olds. There seems to be more momentum around the anti-porn movement than there has been in a while. Do you feel some kind of tide turning? Youre going to think Ive left the conversation, but I havent: Have you ever heard that Coca-Cola used to be sold with real cocaine? Yes. I think 50 years from now, its very possible that people will be saying, Did you know back in 2020, they used to let kids walk around with cell phones with free access to hardcore pornography? I really believe that we have lived through this moment where in the future, people will say, I cant believe parents allowed that to happen. I mean, every smartphone in the world can connect to pornography in three seconds. And we give these to our kids. And we say, Hey, dont look at that stuff. The technology happened so fast, and smartphones took the world by storm, and I dont think we thought it through. And I think it is time for the pendulum to swing back. Not because Im crude, not because Im a religious fanatic, but because Im a responsible adult who says little kids should not be looking at this stuff. Back to the mental illness and all that stuff, I think the biggest impact of porn is, you have a boy lets be honest who has grown up looking at porn every day or every other day from the age of 12 through 18. And he goes to college and he gets into his first sexual relationship. I think that hes going to be very surprised that his real-life sexual partner doesnt act like the thousands of women who hes seen onscreen, because they never have a bad day. Theyre always happy to have sex. They always enjoy it. Theyre never on their period. They never say, No, not now. And I think thats devastating for people. And then they think the immediate conclusion is, Theres something wrong with my wife. Theres something wrong with my girlfriend. Shes broken and we need to fix her, because all of these other women love sex all the time. But my human girlfriend only wants to do it twice a week. Although you could say thats where good sex education might come in handy. Yeah. But how much are we going to do in junior high? So thats where I think youre going to see the effects of porn. I think it has shaped unrealistic expectations in peoples minds. And I do think that can contribute to domestic violence and divorce and everything else, because you have all these men thinking that they have a product, i.e., a spouse or a partner, who is defective because all of the other women in the world, they want sex all the time, but their partner doesnt. Theres been an uptick in suicides among teens, and a major, much-documented rise in depression. Nobodys quite sure why, although social media is a leading culprit. Do you believe that porn itself is in part to blame for this malaise? Because some conservatives have connected porn to larger social problems, including birth rates, teens not having sex anymore, and so forth. Acknowledging that Im not an expert and I dont have any data, I personally believe that porn is part of that equation. I think its probably part of that equation, but probably a small part of that equation. Ive raised four kids, and my kids are all between the ages of 20 and 30 right now. Clearly, this generation has more anxiety. They seem to have a greater propensity for anxiety and other types of related complexes than my generation. I grew up in the late 70s, early 80s, and maybe our parents were like, Toughen up or whatever. But it seems like these kids are struggling with a whole different package of problems, and more of them are struggling. And Im sure that social media is part of it. Im sure that video games are part of it. I think pornographys part of it, but my guess is its a whole cocktail of things and not just one thing. So I would never blame all of that on pornography. This interview has been edited for length and clarity. Illustration: Juanjo Gasull The first mention of artificial intelligence in the Congressional Record dates back to 1964, when Senator Hubert Humphrey marveled at machines that read, that remember, that improve their performance. Even in that innocent time, politicians had canned takes about such technology. The computer age is young; but already, let us admit, some laymen in policymaking positions have tended to make three types of speeches on the computer, Humphrey said. There are speeches of sheer awe. Then there are those touting the hours of leisure and convenience computers would provide their human masters. And then the doomsayers: Good-bye jobs; hello breadlines. It turns out that the doomsayers may have had a point. The political understanding of technology, however, has hardly gotten any more sophisticated. At a May 16 hearing on what the federal government should do about the widespread adoption of AI, Senator Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut played a recording of a computer-generated voice that sounded uncannily like him reciting a speech that an AI program had written in his style. This was no neat trick, according to Blumenthal. It was an ominous harbinger: What if I had asked it, and what if it had provided, an endorsement of Ukraine surrendering or Vladimir Putins leadership? This is the kind of hawkish talk surrounding technology that is fashionable these days in Washington, where lawmakers are mulling a wholesale ban of TikTok because of national-security concerns. Our goal is to demystify and hold accountable those new technologies, to avoid some of the mistakes of the past, said Blumenthal, a reference to the way Facebook was allowed to metastasize across the globe, leading to a rise in political disinformation another congressional hobbyhorse. To his credit, Blumenthal noted that AI could lead to a new industrial revolution, the displacement of millions of workers, the loss of huge numbers of jobs, yet it seems clear that Congress is more concerned with scoring points against China and Russia than addressing the very real threat that AI poses to American workers. Worse, the preparation for this task by Congress is about where it was in the 1960s. In recent months, we have seen two AI programs explode in popularity: DALL-E, which generates images from a text description, and ChatGPT, which can answer questions, write term papers, and even tell convincing lies in language that mimics human speech. Sam Altman, whose company, Open-AI, created both DALL-E and ChatGPT, was the star witness at the hearing, the rare Silicon Valley ringleader to ask Congress for more regulation. He suggested that the federal government create licenses that would ensure developers were thoroughly testing AI models before their release into the wild. Still, the message was that AI is set to expand. The era of AI cannot be another era of Move fast and break things, said Christina Montgomery, IBMs chief privacy and trust officer, who testified at the hearing. But we dont have to slam the breaks on innovation, either. We need, she said, clear, reasonable policy and sound guardrails. What that might mean is anyones guess. Altman is trying to bend the debate toward more benign terrain. AI wont kill jobs, he claims, but tasks. Jobs have a sense of mission to them; they are crucial for an economy. In their highest, longest form careers they can give meaning to ones life. Tasks are different. Tasks are the things that, when you have enough money, someone else can be paid to do. Its not called JobRabbit, after all. But Altmans AI can do much more than tasks. Machines have been replacing the cumbersome parts of economic production for centuries, literally taking work out of human hands. AI does something different. It goes after your mind. Lawyers, coders, writers, and designers are among the occupations in the crosshairs of ChatGPT and its successors. Already, the ranks of the knowledge-worker class are being thinned. Among the reasons Hollywood writers are striking is to prevent studios from automating their jobs. IBM is pausing hiring for roughly 7,800 roles that could be replaced by AI. BT Group, the largest broadband provider in Britain, is culling up to 55,000 jobs by 2030 as it transitions to AI. In May, BuzzFeed CEO Jonah Peretti, who had axed the sites news division the previous month, announced, Over the next few years, generative AI will replace the majority of static content, and audiences will begin to expect all content to be curated and dynamic with embedded intelligence. This is not the kind of predicament that can be solved by investing in new job training that old Washington solution to the slow death of the manufacturing sector and the spread of global free trade. The entire American system has tilted toward the knowledge economy in recent decades, and there are only so many law-school graduates who can be turned into plumbers. Maybe its too much to expect that a body of lawmakers, median age 65, will grasp that new technology requires new ways of thinking. AI is liable to wreck peoples livelihoods not to mention their sense of self in ways that will be impossible to roll back once it becomes ingrained. Its easier to ban TikTok because its owned by a Chinese company, and Facebooks lobbyists (wait, arent they the bad guys?) have been pressuring lawmakers to kick the platform out of the country. On May 17, the governor of Montana signed a bill banning TikTok in the state, a pointless victory in the war against Chinese surveillance. Altman played down the more apocalyptic scenarios in his testimony. I believe that there will be far greater jobs on the other side of this and that the jobs of today will get better, he said. He envisions a world in which people are freer to go after more satisfying projects that are commensurate with rising standards of living, the inverse of what David Graeber warned of in his book Bullshit Jobs, which described a society flooded with meaningless work done by middle managers in service of one-percenters who need people to safeguard their immense stores of capital. But at least those bullshit jobs pay. And heres another problem: The pandemic has already reshaped work in ways that have given people more meaning to their lives, and its not because of people like Altman. The power in the economy has undergone a fundamental shift back to employees, and its allowed them to work where they want, commute less, and negotiate for higher pay and better benefits. Job satisfaction is at the highest level its been in 36 years. If the recent moves by BuzzFeed and IBM are any indication, big business sees AI as a way to keep labor costs low and claw back some of the power it has lost. AIs proponents are right that its too late to reverse course or to freeze AIs development in place. What the government can do is control how companies use it. Think of an AI as the most advanced, hardest-working employee a boss could ever hope for. The State Department already regulates highly skilled workers from foreign countries with visas, making the Googles of the world prove that they cant fill a position with an American worker before hiring someone from abroad. These are called H-1B visas, and the federal government has an annual cap on how many it issues. Why not impose similar visa requirements on companies outsourcing their work to AI? And then tax them on the excess profits anyway to strengthen a safety net that will likely be strained in the coming years? Two days after Altmans testimony, Senators Michael Bennet and Peter Welch introduced a bill that would create a new federal agency to regulate internet platforms like ChatGPT a kind of FDA for the automated content we consume. This agency would be staffed with experts to establish and enforce rules for digital platforms to keep people from getting harmed or tricked. Its a good idea, except that we are not just consumers of AI we are its competitors. And by the time the government realizes this, it may already be too late. Remember when Trump was all anyone ever talked about? Now it's Taylor Swift lolol. Reply Thread Link Maybe Trump is TSwift in an oversized suit! Have we ever seen them in the same room at the same time . We're onto you, TrumpSwift! Reply Parent Thread Link Banning Stephen Colbert is hilarious, way to look like a big loser Russia! Reply Thread Link Edited at 2023-05-22 07:48 pm (UTC) Reply Parent Thread Link It's gonna ruin his huge Russian vacation that he has surely been planning :'( Reply Parent Thread Link Joe Scarborough also killed me lmao like he's just some belligerent centrist guy Reply Parent Thread Link they probably heard his music. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link Russia Bans 500 Americans Oh no, how will they survive?! I'm sure they're completely heartbroken! Reply Thread Link I would literally get a sense of accomplishment out of this lol Reply Parent Thread Link The amount of Republicans who are now pro-Russia is just insane to me. Like, I've had the misfortune of actually running into these types in my actual life. It's not even brainwashing-it's just contrarian mental diarrhea. "Well how do we KNOW Russia is bad? Don't THEY want you believe that?" ???????? like. like. It's the most unamerican shit I ever heard-used to be you'd be labeled a traitor and a disgrace!! and rightfully so!!!!!!! USED to be we were AGAINST Russia and North Korea, but these Republicans these days man...and I dont wanna hear 'oh they were always that way' oh no they most certainly were NOT!!! They were RACIST that's a BIG difference!! They were racist and that was their thing and then they were putting their hands over their hearts singing their little freedom songs-but NOW?? NOW they're racist AAND they're pro dictatorships!! Freedoms straight out the window, freedom be gyat damned!!!!!! They're like, "yeah maybe we DO need the government to control us!!" WHAT!! So we need to be controlled by a dictatorship but dont control our guns but control womens bodies but dont control-like what is going on here. and I can trace it STRAIGHT to the trump administration. The moment Trump was elected and he was clearly working with Russia, his whackjob followers decided Russia must be good too. It was over for us. and I will forEVER be bitter about all the people I saw everywhere who sat on their ass and said "Hilary isnt good either so I'm not voting". I will FOREVER loathe you people for allowing the trajectory to go this way all because of some ethical nitpick that they somehow thought was way more important than trump winning and changing history for the worse. 'well aakkshhully hillary won the-' SHOVE IT Reply Thread Link Pro-Russia republicans I get, they're morons who love authoritarianism/imperialism and hate minorities and actual freedom. They'd love a local American Putin to persecute anybody who doesn't agree with his (their, really) thinking. Because they think all the control and oppression would be aimed at people they don't like, not them. Pro-Russia leftists is what gets me. And I've met way too many since the war started, mostly American, but not only, explaining to me, an Eastern European woman, how imperialist and fascist I'm being for not wanting to have my country be conquered by Russia in the future. "Antiimperialists" telling me Russia has the right to have a "sphere of influence". My belief in international solidarity is now non-existent. Reply Parent Thread Link Pro Russia leftists are exhausting. Their main arguments always revolve around whataboutisms and the evils of the West and US = bad. Like I'm not even American it annoys me. If you think imperialism is bad then it's bad no matter which country does it. And Russia has an far longer and brutal history as an empire. I just don't get how hard it is for these people to understand. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link People in general trying to come up with rational excuses for Russia, meanwhile: real, actual quotes from Russian TV and politicians - We should drown Ukrainian children. We should kill Ukrainian children. Ukrainian children should burn. People of wrong faith should be purged in fire. Bastards didn't freeze to death in the Winter after all. *reads a quote in Ukrainian* In civilized tongue that says... Talking about bombing, destroying, erasing, bla bla Berlin, London, Madrid, any random city at least 3x a week. Realizing nobody believes these threats, so instead trying 'Maybe North Korea needs something from us? Or Syria? We should ask if they need anything?' Discussing if 10% or 2 million Ukrainians should die. All the Ukrainians are satanists stuff after denazification was confusing to the local audience. I'm not even branching out into the anti-LGBT stuff or the complete misinformation about WWII or current affairs not in Ukraine. Reply Parent Thread Link Four of my third party housekeepers quit this week and fled the state of Florida. I always assumed they were undocumented. This new legislature in Florida is a fucking nightmare. Reply Thread Link Is this ever going to end? Reply Thread Link mint the coin and fart in kevin mccarthys face. there, everyones happy! Reply Thread Link adding to who wants to enter russia anyway?! also increasing the borrowing limit, debt ceiling - what does it mean? where are they borrowing from? fed reserve? lol i have no idea Reply Thread Link smart people of ontd, do i need to be panicking over this possible default? Reply Thread Link Senator, I have put together the chart showing the two variables you were trying to link. https://t.co/edC45zOqoK pic.twitter.com/IFVDvPRQAU Justin Wolfers (@JustinWolfers) May 22, 2023 Reply Thread Link I'm sure they're all just devastated. Reply Thread Link The debt crisis is giving me deja vu, this is the exact same shit republicans did with Obama lol Republicans will crash the economy on purpose, dumb people will blame Biden and elect a Republican ensuring that the cycle just starts all over again omg I need people to wake the fuck up. Republicans are not fiscal conservatives in any sense of the word. Edited at 2023-05-22 07:51 pm (UTC) Reply Thread Link For nearly 50 years, the Republican playbook has been to break government, blame Democrats for broken government via they cant anything done so what do you have to lose by electing us!, get elected. This is what allows them to get enough of them in power to gerrymander everything and force Christo-fascism. Reply Parent Thread Link https://www.mid.ru/ru/maps/us/1814243/ Full list here - names in both Russian and English: Reply Thread Link Morgan Freeman - 'a known actor who in September 2017 accused Russia of conspiring against the US and called for a fight against our country'. Reply Parent Thread Link Ben Stiller also there with no explanation. Reply Parent Thread Link He went to meet Zelenskyy in Ukraine, Putin is mad mad that no Hollywood people want to give him the time of day. Salty bitch Reply Parent Thread Expand Link https://www.advocate.com/drag/dodgers-remove-sisters-perpetual-indulgence The LA Dodgers disinvited a charity group from their Pride night because they're "anti-Christian" according to Marco Rubio. When I told my husband about it he almost refused to believe me because it's so stupid. I donated money to the Sisters as a sign of support. Reply Thread Link Omg who gives a fuck what he has to say, this is so ridiculous. Reply Parent Thread Link F the dodgers for this! Just cancel the pride game if ur going to pull this bs Reply Parent Thread Link And then they had the audacity to be Pikachu shocked face when they got backlash for it lol idiots!!!!!!! Im glad theyre scrambling like their heads have been cut off because truly not a brain between them Reply Parent Thread Link Billie Jean King is part owner so I truly do not understand how the fuck they got conned into believing this anti-Christian crap. LA Pride and the Los Angeles LGBT Center pulled out over the exclusive. Both orgs have been long time partners in the Dodgers Pride events. edit - Dodgers course-corrected pic.twitter.com/626cPP4Ith Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) May 22, 2023 Edited at 2023-05-22 11:29 pm (UTC) As a Dodgers fan, they been making some insanely asshole moves and I hate it so much. First the Trevor Bauer bullshit, now this.Billie Jean King is part owner so I truly do not understand how the fuck they got conned into believing this anti-Christian crap.LA Pride and the Los Angeles LGBT Center pulled out over the exclusive. Both orgs have been long time partners in the Dodgers Pride events.edit - Dodgers course-corrected Reply Parent Thread Link Im glad the dodgers corrected things. It was a dumbass move, but Im glad they fixed it Reply Parent Thread Link Journalist: Russia are saying giving Ukraine F-16's is a "colossal Risk" Biden: "It is for them" Holy based. https://t.co/o3WDBzxvIA Faytuks News (@Faytuks) May 21, 2023 Reply Thread Link Lmao, Dark Brandon said not today, Vlad Reply Parent Thread Link Lmao that is some VINTAGE "Diamond Joe" Biden shit Reply Parent Thread Link Despite a marked decline in benchmark natural gas prices in Europe this year, the continent is not out of the woods yet as three factors could worsen the European energy crisis later this year, Fatih Birol, the executive director of the International Energy Agency (IEA), told CNBC this weekend. Europe countries did a good job... last winter, Birol told CNBCs Martin Soong on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Japan, adding that the region avoided gas and energy supply shortages thanks in part to milder winter weather. Despite the absence of most of Russias pipeline natural gas, Europe didnt go into recession this winter and managed to keep the lights and heating on, the IEAs head said. Europe was able to transform its energy markets, reduce its share of Russian gas to less than 4%, and its economy still didn't go through a recession, Birol noted. However, expected higher LNG demand in China after the reopening, the possibility of a U.S. default, and the remaining dependence on Russian gas are three reasons why Europe shouldnt be complacent ahead of the 2023/2034 winter, the IEAs top executive warned. Commenting on the ongoing talks on raising the U.S. debt ceiling, Birol told CNBC, This issue in the United States will be dealt with and common sense will prevail. And I don't see a major risk for the global oil markets. But of course, oil markets are always involved with risks. Europes natural gas prices have returned to the pre-war levels, while gas inventories in the EU are at their highest for the spring in at least a decade. The front-month futures at the TTF hub, the benchmark for Europes gas trading, have dropped below the $32.49 (30 euros) per megawatt-hour (MWh) mark and traded at $32.34 (29.86 euro) per MWh as of 12:23 p.m. GMT on Monday. As fears of a natural gas crunch did not materialize this past winter, pulling European gas prices down, Europe shouldnt count on another warmer-than-usual winter and less competition from Asia as it prepares for the 2023/2024 winter, according to analysts. ADVERTISEMENT By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: The last year has been particularly turbulent for the former South American Dutch colony of Suriname. A rapidly deteriorating economy, violent anti-government protests, and rising political uncertainty are all weighing on Surinames burgeoning oil boom. These are some of the reasons that the 50% partners in Block 58 offshore Suriname, Apache and TotalEnergies, delayed making a final investment decision concerning the development of the block. While considerable uncertainty has emerged over the outlook for Surinames oil boom, which is seen by the government in the capital Paramaribo as a remedy for the countrys economic ills, some good news is finally emerging. TotalEnergies, which last year chose to delay the multi-billion-dollar final investment decision, or FID, for Block 58 offshore Suriname, recently announced it had signed two Production Sharing Contracts (PSCs) with national oil company Staatsolie. The PSCs are for shallow water Blocks 6 and 8 where TotalEnergies holds a 40% working interest and is the operator alongside QatarEnergy with 20% and Staatsolie now controlling 40%. Source: TotalEnergies. Both blocks are immediately adjacent to Block 58 where TotalEnergies, the operator, and partner Apache have made five commercial oil discoveries and are currently conducting appraisal drilling. The shallow waters off Surinames coast are underexplored, and according to Staatsolie seismic as well as other geological data points to the area being highly prospective for the presence of hydrocarbons. That perspective is supported by industry analysts who believe Surinames shallow coastal waters, especially near the international maritime border with Guyana and deep-water Block 58 offer significant exploration potential. This according to S&P Global Commodity Insights is supported by CGX Energys oil discovery with the Kawa-1 exploration well in the northern segment of the Corentyne Block offshore Guyana. The Corentyne Block, where CGX is the operator with a 32% working interest and the remainder is held by Frontera Energy, sits adjacent to Block 58 and Block 6 offshore Suriname. Indeed, CGX Energy appears to have struck oil with the Wei-1 wildcat well, nearly nine miles west of the Kawa-1 well, also in the northern portion of the Corentyne Block. The well which was spudded during January 2023 and is to be drilled to 20,500 feet has been dogged by problems and delays, although CGX recently confirmed it will be completed within the planned period. CGX announced at the start of May 2023 that the Wei-1 wildcat well has encountered multiple oil-bearing intervals in the western channel fan complex in formations of Maastrichtian and Campanian ages. Surinames oil boom was put on hold by the uncertainty created by TotalEnergies delaying the FID for Block 58 until 2024 at the earliest. The former Dutch colonys national oil company Staatsolie, which has the contractual right to farm into 20% of Block 58, recently confirmed it expects the FID to be made sometime next year. TotalEnergies CEO Patrick Pouyanne pointed to inconsistencies between seismic data and drilling results as the reason for delaying the FID. The less favorable terms of Surinames PSCs, when compared to neighboring Guyana, along with heightened political tensions in the former Dutch colony also weighed on TotalEnergies decision. This is because it is estimated that it will take at least $10 billion to develop Block 58 and bring it to first oil. Accordingly, for such a massive investment of capital Total Energies and Apache want to be certain they are developing a low-cost long production life commercially sustainable oil resource. In TotalEnergies' first quarter 2023 results, Pouyanne further explained another issue to arise is high the oil-to-gas ratio for the discoveries in Block 58 which is preventing the efficient exploitation of the oil discovered to date. As a result, TotalEnergies is focused on identifying prospective resources with lower oil-to-gas ratios. The French supermajor is seeking to identify 600 million to 650 million barrels of commercially recoverable oil resources before moving to the next stage of development. This has delayed first oil, which was originally anticipated during 2025, with that important milestone for Surinames nascent oil boom now expected during 2027. There is, however, good news as TotalEnergies continues to conduct appraisal drilling on the block. The successful drilling and flow testing of two wells at the 2020 Sapakara oil discovery bodes well for the development of Block 58. According to Apache, the latest flow test at the Sapakara South-2 well identified an interconnected resource with at least 200 million barrels of oil in place. It is the Sapakara discovery that will likely become the first operation to be developed in Block 58 by TotalEnergies and Apache, especially with the total estimated oil resources upgraded to over 600 million barrels. Then there is Apaches Baja-1 oil discovery in neighboring Block 58 to consider. Apache announced its first ever find in Block 53 with the Baja-1 exploration well during August 2022. The well, which is seven miles to the west of the Krabdagu discovery in Block 58, was drilled to a depth of 17,356 feet or 5,290 meters and found 112 feet of net oil pay in the Campanian interval. Source: Apache March 2023 Investor Update. This discovery is important because it is believed to be located in the same petroleum fairway that passes through the Stabroek Block and the northern segment of the Corentyne Block in offshore Guyana into Block 58 offshore Suriname. For nearly four years, a fiscally stretched Paramaribo has been counting on the tremendous economic windfall that successful exploitation of Surinames offshore oil resources will deliver. President Chan Santokhi is under considerable pressure politically and financially with IMF-imposed austerity measures, which saw the government end a range of subsidies for fuel and other essential items, triggering riots during February 2023. Paramaribo was forced to enact such measures, which essentially increased the financial burden on Surinames most impoverished, in order to access a desperately needed $688 million IMF loan package. ADVERTISEMENT There was also considerable pressure on Santokhi to restructure Surinames sovereign debt with the South American micro-state having been in default since 2020 with it defaulting three times during the pandemic. A recent deal with private creditors regarding $675 million of bonds will see investors take a 25% haircut while receiving a new $650 million bond. There is a novel compensation mechanism attached to the new bonds, an oil-backed security that pays additional returns to investors from the oil royalties that Suriname earns from Block 58. That instrument, which expires in 2050, will pay 30% of oil royalties earned by Paramaribo to bondholders after the first $100 million has been allocated to the government. This is another reason Paramaribo is eager for TotalEnergies and Apache to make the FID for Block 58 and bring the block to first oil. By Matthew Smith for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: A huge new Middle East to Asia pipeline that could provide the East with high volumes of reliable gas supplies for decades is being planned. The presence of such a pipeline could also lead to vital gas supplies being diverted from Europe, in which demand for them has dramatically increased to substitute from lost gas supplies after sanctions were imposed on Russia. The announcement of the new pipeline comes just a few weeks after the China-brokered Iran-Saudi Arabia relationship resumption deal that marked a milestone in the new global oil market order, as analysed in my new book on the subject. As at the end of 2021, according to International Energy Agency (IEA) figures, the E.U. imported an average of over 13.4 billion cubic feet (bcf) per day of gas by pipeline from Russia, or around 4.9 trillion cubic feet (tcf) for the year. As well as that, around 5.3 tcf was delivered in LNG form. In sum, Russia accounted for around 45 percent of the E.U.s gas imports in 2021 and almost 40 percent of its total gas consumption. Germany itself was reliant on Russian gas for around 30-40 percent of its own commercial and domestic gas needs, depending on the time of year. This goes some way to explaining the extreme reticence of several major European countries most notably, Germany in imposing any meaningful sanctions on Russian gas supplies, as also analysed in my new book on the new global oil market order. Indeed, the only real flurry of activity within the E.U. during those early weeks after Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022 was aimed at ensuring that Russia did not stop supplying member states with either gas or oil, due to their not being able to pay in the way Moscow preferred. This followed the 31 March decree signed by President Vladimir Putin that required E.U. buyers to pay in roubles for Russian gas via a new currency conversion mechanism or risk having supplies suspended. According to an official guidance document sent out to all 27 E.U. member states on 21 April by its executive branch, the European Commission (E.C.): It appears possible [to pay for Russian gas after the adoption of the new decree without being in conflict with E.U. law], E.U. companies can ask their Russian counterparts to fulfil their contractual obligations in the same manner as before the adoption of the decree, i.e. by depositing the due amount in euros or dollars. The E.C. added that existing E.U. sanctions against Russia also did not prohibit engagement with Russias Gazprom or Gazprombank beyond the refinancing prohibitions relating to the bank. Related: Iraq Oil Output Continues To Fall Amid Turkey Spat This was the key reason why no energy sanctions of any significance were placed on Russia after its trial run invasion of Ukraine in 2014, during which it annexed Crimea. However, following the failure of NATO to do anything substantive to combat Russias aggression in Ukraine on 2014, this latest time around the U.S., U.K., and several other of the U.S.s other global security allies, were determined to finally draw a line across Europe over which it and its NATO security allies would not accept further Russian advances. Crucial to these efforts was ensuring new gas supplies for the most energy-vulnerable European countries to substitute for those that would be lost from Russia. The best way to do this in the short term was by securing liquefied natural gas (LNG) supplies. LNG is the most flexible form of gas for buyers, being readily available in the spot markets and able to be moved very quickly to anywhere required, unlike gas sent through pipelines. Unlike pipelined energy as well, the movement of LNG does not require the build-out of vast acreage of pipelines across varying terrains and the associated heavy infrastructure to support it. In essence, LNG supplies are the swing gas supply in any global gas supply emergency, just as Europe faced in the first few months after Russias invasion of Ukraine in 2022. This is why, as also analysed in my new book on the new global oil market order, the U.S. went to such great pains to ensure new LNG deals for Germany in those early days most notably from Qatar - and why further gas deals have followed between European companies and various Middle Eastern countries. Unfortunately for these plans going forward, the major new gas pipeline being planned will run along a 2,000-kilometre corridor via Oman and UAE through the Arabian Sea and into India. This will allow gas to be gathered in from Oman and the UAE themselves, and from Iran, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Turkmenistan. These countries together have, by very conservative estimates, just under 2.9 trillion cubic feet (tcf) of gas reserves - Iran 1200 tcf, Qatar 858 tcf, Saudi Arabia 333 tcf, Turkmenistan 265 tcf, UAE 215 tcf, and Oman 24 tcf. Additionally very threatening for continued supplies of gas (including in LNG form) from the Middle East to Europe is that Qatar is the worlds number one LNG exporter. Oman also has extensive LNG capabilities, which Iran has long been looking to utilise as well. It is crucial to note here that although there will be one major pipeline running from the Middle East to India in the first instance, several other extensions of this pipeline plan are readily available. As also analysed in full in my new book, finished plans for an Iran-India pipeline and an Iran-Pakistan pipeline both of which could be extended to China have long been in place. Starting in the major Iranian port of Chabahar, alternative versions of these plans incorporated pipelines running directly into either Pakistans key port of Gwadar, or into one of the major Indian ports in Gujurat. An alternative was that Iranian gas into Gwadar would then be further piped across the mainland into India. Aside from U.S. opposition to these plans, India wanted reassurances from Iran that Chabahar Port was to continue to be regarded as primarily an India-led development. Chabahar remained the most obvious transit alternative to the China-built and operated Gwadar Port in Pakistan, just 75 kilometres away, and a key departure point in the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor. No such assurances were given by Iran, so in 2018 Indian support for that pipeline cooled. Now, though, it seems that China has taken a temporary backseat in the immediate plans for the Middle East to India pipeline, with a senior E.U. energy security source exclusively telling OilPrice.com last week that it [China] will just wait to move once the pipeline is in place. A related sub-project of the main Middle East to India pipeline is the re-energising of plans for the Iran-Oman gas and LNG pipeline project, also analysed in full in my new book on the new global oil market order. This pipeline plan was part of a broader co-operation deal made between Oman and Iran in 2013, extended in scope in 2014, and fully ratified in August 2015 that was centred on Omans importing at least 353 bcf of natural gas per year from Iran for 25 years. The land section of the project would comprise around 200 kilometres of 56-inch pipeline to run from Rudan to Mobarak Mount in the southern Hormozgan province. The sea section would include a 192-kilometre section of 36-inch pipeline along the bed of the Oman Sea at depths of up to 1,340 metres, from Iran to Sohar Port in Oman. This deal was intended to allow for the completely free movement of Iranian gas via Oman through the Gulf of Oman and out into the world oil and gas markets. It would additionally allow for the advancement of Irans planned entry into the global LNG market. Iran had long sought to become a world leader in the export of LNG and this ambition remains intact. To this end, Iran had arranged as part of the 2013/14/15 deal with Oman to utilise at least 25 percent of its LNG production facilities in the Qalhat LNG facility. Once converted, the Iranian LNG would be loaded onto the specialised LNG vessels for export, in return for commission payments to Oman. By Simon Watkins for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: The European Union will proceed with plans to establish joint purchases of critical energy transition minerals and hydrogen after the successful outcome of the first joint gas purchases on a new EU platform, the Financial Times reported on Monday. Last week, the EU announced the successful outcome of the first-ever international tender for joint purchasing of EU gas supplies. During this tender, the EU managed to attract bids from 25 supplying companies equivalent to more than 13.4 billion cubic meters of gas (bcm) surpassing the 11.6 bcm of joint demand that EU companies submitted through the recently established AggregateEU mechanism. EU companies will now be able to negotiate the terms of the supply contracts directly with the supplying companies, with no involvement of the Commission, the EU said. European Commission Vice President for Interinstitutional Relations and Foresight, Maros Sefcovic, said, commenting on the tender, This is a remarkable success for an instrument that did not exist some five months ago. The Commission has played its role as aggregator and matchmaker, and now it is for the respective parties to conclude their agreements. It is a win-win for all parties. The EU has more than 110 companies subscribed to the so-called AggregateEU joint gas purchase mechanism and more firms subscribe every day, he noted. The EU plans the second round of demand aggregation and tendering for the second half of June, while three more rounds of joint gas purchases will follow before the end of this year, Sefcovic said. The joint gas purchase mechanism could be used as a blueprint for joint purchases of key critical minerals and hydrogen, he said, as quoted by FT. Companies from the Middle East have expressed interest in selling hydrogen in the EU, the Commission Vice President added. ADVERTISEMENT The EU is looking to ditch Russian gas supply by 2027 and diversify its supply chain of the minerals critical to the energy transition. By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: Ford Motor Co has signed lithium supply deals with Albemarle, Nemaska Lithium, and EnergySource Minerals as the auto giant gears up to boost electric vehicle production to 2 million cars over the next two and half years. The deals, announced on Monday, will see Ford buy 13,000 tons per year of lithium hydroxide from Canadian Nemaska Lithium, 100,000 tons per year from top miner Albemarle, and 20,000 tons per year from California-based EnergySource Minerals. Shares of Nemaska soared 6.25% in morning trading on Monday, Ford was up 0.86% and Albemarle gained on the news but then shed those gains later in the morning. EnergySource Minerals, whose California lithium mine will go online in 2025, remains privately held. Traders will also be keeping a close eye on a Capital Markets event being held by Ford later on Monday, according to the Detroit News. By the end of this year, Ford is targeting 600,000 EVs, though the auto giant anticipates it will lose $3 billion on EVs this year, and Wall Street has been skeptical about whether the carmaker could achieve its 2-million-unit production target. Later in the day, Ford will share updated financial targets with investors at an event in Detroit, where all eyes will be on the details of the auto giant's plans to boost its earnings margins across all departments to 10%, and to 8% in its EV segment by 2026. Ford has stuck to its full-year 2023 guidance of $9-$11 billion in adjusted earnings. The Ford deals come as lithium prices in China have crashed significantly, sliding from a record high of around $86,170 per tonne in November 2022 to a 13-month low of around $52,500 per tonne in March this year. That 40% correction put an end to lithiums major rally. ADVERTISEMENT By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: The Houthi-led government in Yemen this weekend signed a deal with Chinese officials and a Chinese company that will invest in oil exploration in Yemen. Chinas Anton Oilfield Services Group (AntonOil) and a representative of the Chinese government signed on Saturday the memorandum of understanding (MoU) for investment in Yemens upstream sector, Middle East Monitor reported, citing a report by the Sanaa-based Saba News agency. Oil and Minerals Minister Ahmed Dares invited foreign companies to visit Yemen to see the potential for investment opportunities. There are many ongoing negotiations with various high-profile companies to invest in the country's oil exploration sector, the minister was quoted as saying. At the same time, the Houthi-led government warned foreign companies to refrain from dealing with the Saudi-backed Presidential Leadership Council, which represents the internationally-recognized government of Yemen. At the end of last year, Yemen's Houthis warned oil companies operating in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to pack up and leave as the warring sides in the Yemeni conflict failed to reach an agreement to extend the six-month truce. Earlier this year, reports emerged that Iran had agreed to stop supplying weapons to the Houthi movement in Yemen as part of the deal to restore diplomatic relations with Saudi Arabia, U.S. and Saudi officials told The Wall Street Journal in March. In early March, Saudi Arabia and Iran agreed to resume diplomatic relations and re-open embassies and missions, Saudi Arabia, Iran, and China said in a joint statement, following a week of Saudi-Iranian talks in Beijing. ADVERTISEMENT Iran and Saudi Arabia have been leading a proxy war in Yemen for years, with Tehran supporting the Houthis, who have frequently attacked or claimed to have attacked Saudi oil infrastructure in recent years. Fighting in Yemen has been going on for eight years since the Iran-affiliated Houthis overturned the elected president, which prompted Saudi Arabia to wage war on the rebel group. In response, the Houthis have made Saudi Arabias oil facilities their preferred target of attacks. By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: SOFIA, May 22 (Xinhua) -- Bulgaria's largest force in Parliament, the GERB-UDF coalition, on Monday formally abandoned efforts to form a new government after it failed to secure a parliamentary majority. Mariya Gabriel, the coalition's nominee for prime minister, returned the exploratory mandate to President Rumen Radev, telling him that "the folder I am returning today is empty." However, Gabriel, whose coalition holds 69 seats in the 240-member Parliament, said that the leaders of GERB-UDF and the We Continue the Change - Democratic Bulgaria (PP-DB) coalition, the second largest parliamentary force, have agreed to propose a government with prime minister and deputy prime minister on a rotating basis from the two formations within the second mandate. "Within the next few days, I will hand over the next mandate to the second largest parliamentary group," Radev said. In the snap elections held on April 2, the PP-DB coalition won 64 seats, followed by the Revival party with 37 seats, the Movement for Rights and Freedoms with 36 seats, the BSP (Bulgarian Socialist Party) for Bulgaria coalition with 23 seats, and the There Is Such A People (ITN) party with 11 seats. This was Bulgaria's fifth parliamentary election in two years. Three of the previous four Parliaments had to be dissolved. A cabinet was formed after the elections held on Nov. 14, 2021, but it was ousted by a no-confidence vote in June 2022. There will be no significant effect on oil prices from stricter enforcement of the price cap on Russian oil exports as supply will not change meaningfully. This is according to the International Energy Agency, which commented on a statement made by the G7 during their meeting this weekend. "Any significant changes in the markets as always we will reflect in our analysis, in our reports, but for the time being I don't see a reason to make a change in our analysis," IEA head Fatih Birol told Reuters in an interview on the sidelines of the meeting. The comments followed a statement that the G7 would make an effort to reduce price cap evasion "while avoiding spillover effects and maintaining global energy supply". How they were going to do this, however, remained unclear. The G7 agreed last year to impose a price cap on Russian crude oil sold abroad in a bid to reduce Moscows revenues and, as it argued, its ability to continue the war in Ukraine. The price cap was set at $60 and compliance has been relatively easy because most Russian oil has been selling at prices lower than the cap anyway. Still, some oil has been bought for more than $60 per barrel. The G7 has called the price cap a success, with Russias oil revenues dropping steeply since its introduction, although this appears to have had little effect on the course of the war in Ukraine. There is, however, little that the G7 can do in addition to what it is already doing, which is holding the threat of sanctions over Western shippers and insurers carrying Russian oil bought for more than $60 per barrel. Earlier this year, when oil prices began to pick up again, insurers sounded the alarm about the price cap, saying there was no way for them to track the value of every cargo from the port of departure to the port of arrival. "If Russia wants to export its oil and sell it above the price of the price cap, then it's in the interests of both the Russian exporter and the receiver not to release information as to what the true price of the cargo was," one insurance executive told Reuters in April. ADVERTISEMENT By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: Oil production in Iraqs semi-autonomous Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG)-ruled region has continued to drop, extending a stoppage that has lasted nearly two months. Export flows to Turkiye's Ceyhan port show few signs of restarting months after Ankara halted Iraqs 450,000 barrels per day (bpd) of exports through the Iraq-Turkiye pipeline on March 25 following an ICC ruling that Turkiye should pay Baghdad damages of $1.5 billion for unauthorized exports by the KRG. The stoppage is estimated to have cost the KRG more than $1.5 billion, with fields that had continued producing are now offline or operating with reduced output. About 10 days ago, The Iraqi State Organization for Marketing of Oil notified the Turkish state energy company Petroleum Pipeline Corporation of resuming export and loading operations. Lat month, the Iraqi federal government and the Kurdish regional government signed an agreement to resume Kurdish oil exports via Turkiye. However, Turkiye continued to halt the oil flow, saying it wants to negotiate the arbitration before exports resume. Iraq's economy relies heavily on crude oil exports, with crude accounting for more than 90 percent of the country's revenues. The delay in resumption of exports comes at a time when French oil and gas multinational TotalEnergies (NYSE:TTE) finally reached an agreement with the government of Iraq to start a long-delayed $27 billion energy project. The two parties first struck the deal back in 2021 that would see Total build four oil, gas and renewables projects in southern Iraq over 25 years with an initial investment of $10 billion. Unfortunately the giant project was shelved amid disputes and squabbling between Iraqi politicians over terms of the deal. However, last month Iraq agreed to a smaller 30% stake in the project, setting in motion a deal that could lure foreign investment back into the country. After years of instability, Iraq has been enjoying a period of relative stability, increasing the chances of foreign investors returning to the country. "The government of Iraq confirmed the whole contract, no modification at all ... so that was for me more than good news," Total Chief Executive Patrick Pouyanne has told Reuters. By Alex Kimani for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: This seems like the 10th time that I've read a story that says Greenland's glaciers are melting faster than previously thought and thus the consequences of climate change are moving much more quickly than we have estimated in the past. Even the pace of such stories has picked up. I found some in 2015, 2016, 2019, 2021 and 2022. And, back in 2013 scientists reported that just a little to the north of Greenland, their models were showing that the median estimate for an ice-free arctic in summer was 2060. (Median means half the results were before 2060 and half the results of the model were after.) Those scientists were convinced at the time that their model might be underestimating the pace of climate change in the Arctic, suggesting that an ice-free arctic might come before 2050. Fast forward to 2020 when a study suggested that an ice-free Arctic in summer might come as soon as 2035. Not surprisingly, the story notes that the finding is "one of the more direct signs that humans are warming the Earth's climate at an even more dramatic pace than expected." When I wrote about our human tendency to underestimate the pace of human-induced climate change way back in 2006, few people imagined that climate change would progress as quickly as it has between then and now. The idea that we have time to get ready for climate change or that climate change is "slowing down" has turned out to be a grave miscalculation. In addition, turning the giant global economy in a new climate-friendly direction has proven harder to do than expected. The reasons are well-known to those who understand how energy works in human society. First, humans seek the cheapest, easiest-to-get energy before going on to more expensive alternatives, no matter how climate-friendly those alternatives are. Fossil fuels remain the cheapest and most reliable source of energy for most applications. Second, in the past it has taken a generation and sometimes two for human society to move from one dominant fuel, for example, coal, to, in this case, oil. Anyone expecting renewable energy to quickly replace fossil fuels is not paying attention to the numbers and to the practical problems with renewable energy. In the case of wind and solar intermittency is a big problem. The wind doesn't blow all the time, and the sun disappears every night. In addition, the low power density relative to fossil fuels and the vast amount of land needed are also major issues. It is theoretically possible to run a modern, technical society on renewable energy, just not this one. Our energy requirements would have to be pared down to a fraction of what they are today, and our buildings and energy infrastructure would have to be completely reworkeda task that would require huge amounts of fossil fuel energy since that is primarily the kind that we currently have. Fossil fuels provide more than 80 percent of the world's energy today. So even as the window for an energy transition shrinksthat is, the time before climate change becomes catastrophic (and fossil fuel depletion become dire)our ability to speed up that transition remains handicapped by our dependence on fossil fuels, by the power of the fossil fuel interests, and by the practical difficulties of remaking our infrastructure on such a short timeline. The name of this conundrum is the rate-of-conversion problem. Can we make the transition to a sustainable society before we run low on the fossil fuel energy needed to build the new sustainable infrastructure AND before climate change creates conditions so chaotic that we cannot sustain such a build-out? The relatively slow pace of the renewable energy build-out compared to the available time window suggests we will not finish the job in time to prevent a serious decline in the fortunes of future generations. ADVERTISEMENT By Kurt Cobb via Resourceinsights.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: Gift this article Share this article paywall-free. The statistics arent kind: According to a March 2023 World Health Organization report, dementia is currently the seventh leading cause of death and a major cause of disability and dependency among older adults. Nearly 10 million new cases are reported each year. Inevitably, some residents of independent and assisted-living communities will have to move to a memory care facility. A decline in health is one of the most obvious signs that it may be time for that move. Dementia can manifest itself in a loss of appetite, anxiety and depression, or aggressive behavior. But often the signs will be more subtle. An afflicted person may have a loss of interest in the things that once brought them pleasure. Or theyve suddenly become prone to misplacing their keys or wallet. Wandering and disorientation are also signs. The staff at the assisted-living community at Ovation Heartwood Preserve in Omaha are poised to assist. Staff members are also in the best position to recommend a move to the memory care community on the same Omaha campus. That decision is obviously sensitive, warranting careful consideration, and always includes the participation of not only residents but also their families. It should never be a surprise, cautions Collette Mieres, executive director of assisted living at Ovation Heartwood Preserve. The family must be included in the care process and be made aware of changes in their loved ones behavior. Long before any decision is reached, however, Mieres recommends that families go on tours of the facility and ask these key questions. What is the staff-to-resident ratio? What medical services are offered? Does the community provide hospice care? How about services for physical and occupational therapy? What about policies and fees for these and other services? What training does staff receive in Alzheimers and dementia care? Addressing those kind of questions will help residents feel safe in the community and help assure the family that their loved ones needs are being met, she said. Mieres communicates with the families of assisted living residents on an ongoing basis. When the residents care team sees its time to move to memory care, team members meet with the family to explain why theyre suggesting the move, for example when we notice cognitive decline that residents cant remember how to order a meal or theyre wandering around assisted living looking for their apartment, Mieres said. Once in memory care at Ovation Heartwood Preserve, residents have access to on-site nurses 24 hours a day, physical and occupational therapists who provide memory-enhancing activities and bathing and medication assistance as needed. Additionally, a local doctor and nurse practitioner come to the community to see patients once a week. All memory care staff undergo intensive Alzheimers and dementia practitioner training. To schedule a tour of the memory care facility at Ovation Heartwood Preserve or for more information, please call 402.588.5170 or visit ovationheartwoodpreserve.com. This content was produced by Brand Ave. Studios. The news and editorial departments had no role in its creation or display. Brand Ave. Studios connects advertisers with a targeted audience through compelling content programs, from concept to production and distribution. For more information contact sales@brandavestudios.com. Gift this article Share this article paywall-free. Dinsdale Earns Lifetime Achievement Award Sid Dinsdale received the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 38th Annual University of NebraskaLincoln College of Business Advisory Board Awards Luncheon on April 21. The award honors his outstanding leadership, time, energy and guidance throughout his career. He is chairman and president of Pinnacle Bancorp Inc., a family-owned business that owns Pinnacle Bank in Lincoln, Nebraska; Fort Worth, Texas; and Cody, Wyoming; and Bank of Colorado in Fort Collins. Growing up in Palmer, Nebraska, Dinsdale worked in the family feedlot, hay fields and irrigation operation. He earned his bachelor's degree from the University of NebraskaLincoln in 1975. His education continued at the Graduate School of Banking at the University of Colorado and the Presidents Program at Harvard University. He joined the family banking company in 1978 and became the president of Bank of Papillion in 1985. Dinsdale began working alongside his father, Roy, in the company in the early 1990s. Involved in the community, he serves on boards for Methodist Health System and Ameritas Life Insurance and previously for Midlands Hospital, Children's Hospital, Humane Society, STRATCOM Consultation Committee and the University of Nebraska Foundation. "It has been my greatest privilege to have a family who supports me and supports the family business. A family business has the best ownership possible if the family and the business are capable. The reason is simple, no one cares as much, and we are fortunate to have partners and staff who become like family," Sid said. Gift this article Share this article paywall-free. Sometime in the summer of 1825, Fort Atkinson lost its sawmill to one of the most destructive forces of nature: a tornado. Thus began the recorded history of twisters/cyclones/tornadoes in Nebraska. Whatever you call the storms, they have brought death and damage to big cities and tiny hamlets. Omaha in 1913 and 1975. Grand Island in 1980. Those are the granddaddies of them all. Yet, none of them wiped out a town the way Meridian was in 1875. Sweetwater in 1890. Herman in 1899. Ralston and Berlin (now Otoe) in 1913. Primrose in 1965. Hallam in 2004. The communities of Wisner and Pilger in 2014. "There was a roar like a thousand cars on the rails. The house, which was bolted down to the foundation lifted from the walls and settled back," a woman told the Blair Pilot-Tribune about surviving the Herman tornado. "Our party crawled out of a small hole safe, but such a scene of devastation. "The house was windowless, warped and twisted, and the inside all covered with sandy mud. In the backyard was a carriage and a dead horse and the debris of other homes. We were happy to be alive for others were less fortunate." From searching ever-increasing sources of digitalized publications many in the History Nebraska microfilm collection comes the most comprehensive list of tornadoes reported to strike populated areas in the state. More than 350. Partly because they cover the most area, Omaha and Lincoln rank 1 and 2, with 35 and 20 respectively. Lincoln has avoided the most damaging ones. Omaha hasn't. Other large cities are in the top 10 Grand Island (seven), North Platte (six), Beatrice, Hastings and Kearney (five apiece) and Bellevue and Fremont (four apiece). Hebron also has had four tornadoes. The last one to strike that south-central community, in 1953, wiped out the business district and half the homes in Hebron. Some villages absorbed worse fates. A sampling: The Santee Agency on the Missouri River near the present town of Santee saw its mission building and hospital among the buildings leveled on June 1, 1870. Meridian, near Fairbury, was abandoned after its 1875 destruction. A consolidated school name restored its name. Sweetwater, near Kearney, wiped out, its six buildings gone. Unlike Meridian, Sweetwater is still on the state road map and has city signs on Nebraska 2. Herman, north of Blair, lost its downtown and 90% of its homes. Nenzel, then home to 43 people in Cherry County, had all buildings damaged in 1962. Wolbach, north of Grand Island, was 70% damaged in 1964. Primrose, southwest of Albion, was 90% destroyed the next year. Magnet, southeast of Yankton, South Dakota, took a direct hit on May 6, 1975 the same day as the Omaha twister. Then nearly 30 years went by before a tornado smashed Hallam, 20 miles southwest of Lincoln, in May 2014. The most recent town wrecker cut a wide swath through Pilger, east of Norfolk, on June 16, 2014. Three-fourths of the structures in the town of 360 were destroyed from the storm, which stirred up parallel twisters. Two died, a 5-year-old girl fleeing a mobile home and a 74-year-old motorist from Clarkson, Nebraska, was killed while he was making business deliveries. The deaths are the state's most recent from tornadoes. The three most deadly twisters were on the same day March 23, 1913. They were part of five tornadoes that spun up that Easter afternoon in eastern Nebraska according to a 1914 report in American Geographical Society compiled by two UNL professors and all crossed the Missouri River into Iowa. Omaha's tornado killed 116 in the city (based on contemporary research). Nineteen people died on the north side of Yutan, in Saunders County. Twelve perished in Berlin (renamed Otoe), in Otoe County. Most of Berlin was destroyed. So was Ralston, where there were seven deaths. Other fatalities were near Mead in Saunders County, DeSoto in Washington County and Rock Bluff and Nehawka in Cass County. The death toll, including an estimated 25 in Iowa, was 192. All struck without warning. The first official tornado warning was issued in 1948 at Tinker Air Force Base in Oklahoma. Before 1950, the U.S. Weather Bureau at times strongly discouraged at sometimes prohibited "tornado" to be used in forecasts because of a fear that even a mention could cause panic. 5-column As technology, research and reporting improved, so did discerning the damage between tornadoes and straight-line winds. The Fujita scale of measuring tornado strength was introduced in 1971. Before the modern era, which starts with 1950, it was up to local observers or newspapers to determine the nature of the winds. Such as for a storm that struck the western city limits of Omaha on June 3, 1925. Millard V. Robins, the city's Weather Bureau meteorologist for 46 years, initially didn't consider it a tornado because winds at the downtown weather station never exceeded 20 miles an hour. Only after Robins visited the damaged areas the following day did he upgrade his assessment from a "severe squall" to tornado. Interestingly, in 1975, the Omaha office of the National Weather Service did not include 1925 in its list of tornadoes hitting the city. Great care was made in analyzing the pre-1950 storms. There may be a few either way, straight-line winds listed as tornadoes or tornadoes not included, since newspaper reporting was used in large measure. Readers are invited to submit validation for any updates. Send to stu.pospisil@owh.com. Next: A detailed look at the tornadoes that have struck Omaha and other populated areas in Douglas County. Gift this article Share this article paywall-free. KEARNEY, Neb. The investor who purchased Kearneys Classic Car Collection in 2021 is preparing to sell many of the collection's vehicles. But local volunteers are optimistic the sell-off will open opportunities to stabilize the future of the local attraction. Labeled as one of the United States top destinations for automobile enthusiasts, the 140 Classic Car Collection vehicles destined for sale will go to the highest bidders via an online auction that opens at 8 a.m. June 13 and closes at 10 a.m. June 20. It will bring lots of attention to Kearney, Nebraska," said Classic Car Collection owner Alan Gentz of Sterling, Colorado. "We hope a local buyer will buy it and keep it there. Gentz has contracted with the Steffes Group of Fargo, North Dakota, to conduct the online auction. A YouTube video that Steffes produced features some of the collections rarest autos and at least one with great sentimental value to Kearney enthusiasts, Petes Patriot. Some Kearney youths were the pit crew for Petes Patriot, a 1969 AMX SS. The red, white and blue drag racer was the first AMC car to win an NHRA points meet and set a national record. The Steffes Groups website lists dozens of other classic, rare collection vehicles that will be sold to the highest bidders during the online auction. Among those vehicles are: 1930 Lincoln Model L, one of only 119 manufactured. 1914 Locomobile two-door roadster. 1917 Locomobile seven-passenger touring sedan. 1922 Pierce Arrow seven-passenger limousine. 1937 Packard two-door convertible. Steffes Group describes the variety of cars offered in the auction as diverse; ranging from the brass era to the classic era and everything in between. The classic car auction gives buyers the opportunity to own a piece of history that may not exist anywhere else. Potential buyers will have the opportunity to personally view the vehicles for sale, according to the Steffes website. The Classic Car Collection museum is open Wednesday through Sunday noon-5 p.m. The Classic Car Collection opened in 2012 in east Kearney. The core of the exhibit is the collection of Bernie and Janice Talborg. The Elkhorn couple signed over their collection of 130 cars to a nonprofit controlled by the Kearney Visitors Bureau in 2011 so the cars could be displayed in Kearney. As additional vehicles were donated or loaned, the Classic Car Collection grew to more than 200 vehicles. Although the auction could result in more than half of the Classic Car Collections vehicles being sold, a volunteer leader of the attraction, Brad Kernick of Kearney, said he and CCCs board intend to press on and keep the attraction open. Ultimately, Kernick said he's optimistic because the attraction can be locally owned. We currently have over 80 vehicles that will be displayed, including many guest favorites, and are working with several individuals to add additional vehicles to the Classic Car Collection. We are looking at making modifications and improvements to our existing facility and are excited about the future of the collection, Kernick said in a prepared statement. He said a local group secured all the signage and memorabilia currently displayed at CCC and plans to keep the collection open. We have a strong and committed group of volunteers who are also excited about the next phase of the collection," Kernick said. "We have a top-notch board of directors who look forward to guiding us through these changes. Our best Omaha staff photos & videos of May 2023 Gift this article Share this article paywall-free. TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) Three Palestinian militants were killed in an Israeli army raid in a West Bank refugee camp early Monday, Palestinian officials said, while the Biden administration sharply condemned Israels latest act of settlement expansion. The Palestinian Health Ministry said the three men were killed during a raid in Balata, a refugee camp near the city of Nablus. Six people were wounded, including one who was in critical condition, the ministry said. The Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, a militant group with connections to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas Fatah party, identified the men killed as its members. The army confirmed the raid, saying troops came under fire and killed three Palestinians. Three others were arrested there, the army said. Israel has stepped up raids over the past year in response to a spate of Palestinian attacks and said Monday's operations netted weapons and an explosives manufacturing operation in a home, which it detonated. Meanwhile, the Biden administration issued a sharply worded statement on Sunday criticizing Israel for moving to reestablish a settlement at the formerly evacuated outpost of Homesh in northern West Bank. In March, the Israeli government repealed a 2005 act that dismantled four West Bank settlements. Over the weekend, the top Israeli army general in the West Bank signed an order attaching Homesh to a local settler regional council a move paving the way for reconstruction of the outpost. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said the U.S. was deeply troubled by the announcement, and noted that Israel itself had determined the settlement was built illegally on private Palestinian land. Miller also expressed Washington's concerns about ultranationalist National Security Minister Itmar Ben-Gvir's visit Sunday to the Temple Mount, the holiest site in Judaism. The contested site is also home to the Al-Aqsa Mosque, the third-holiest site in Islam. This holy space should not be used for political purposes, and we call on all parties to respect its sanctity, Miller said in the statement. Under longstanding arrangements, Jews are permitted to visit the site, but not to pray there. But in recent years, a growing number of Jewish visitors have begun to quietly pray, raising fears among Palestinians that Israel is plotting to divide or take over the site. Ben-Gvir has long called for increased Jewish access. Ben-Gvir visited the hilltop compound earlier on Sunday, declaring that we are in charge, while the Israeli Cabinet held a rare meeting in Jerusalems Old City to celebrate its control of the area. Ben-Gvir's visit drew condemnations from the Palestinians and Israels neighbor, Jordan. A former West Bank settler leader and far-right activist who years ago was convicted of incitement and supporting a Jewish terror group, Ben-Gvir now serves as Israels national security minister, overseeing the countrys police force. The Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades said the three killed in Balata on Monday were Fathi Jihad Rizk, 30, Abdullah Yousef Abu Hamdan, 24, and Muhammad Bilal Zaytoun, 32. In a separate overnight raid in the northern town of Jenin, the army said two Palestinians were shot and three were arrested when the Israeli forces came under attack. More than 250 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire since the spring of 2022. About 50 people have been killed in Palestinian attacks against Israelis. Israel says most of the Palestinians killed were militants, but stone throwing youths protesting the incursions and people not involved in the confrontations have also been killed. Israel captured the West Bank, east Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip in the 1967 Mideast war. The Palestinians seek those territories for a future independent state, with east Jerusalem as its capital. Israel annexed east Jerusalem in a move unrecognized by most of the international community and considers the city its undivided, permanent capital. Tensions at the disputed compound have fueled past rounds of violence. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government, the most right-wing in Israeli history, includes ultra-Orthodox and far-right nationalist parties and has made West Bank settlement construction a top priority. Most of the international community considers Israeli settlements, home to 700,000 people in the West Bank and east Jerusalem, to be illegal and obstacles to peace. Earlier this month, fighting also erupted between Israel and militants in the Gaza Strip. Gift this article Share this article paywall-free. KYIV, Ukraine The nine-month battle for Bakhmut has destroyed the 400-year-old city in eastern Ukraine and killed tens of thousands of people in a mutually devastating demonstration of Ukraine's strategy of exhausting the Russian military. The fog of war made it impossible to confirm the situation on the ground Sunday in the invasions longest battle: Russias defense ministry reported that the Wagner private army backed by Russian troops had seized the city. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, meanwhile, said Bakhmut was not being fully occupied by Russian forces. Regardless, the small city has long had more symbolic than strategic value for both sides. The more meaningful gauge of success for Ukrainian forces has been their ability to keep the Russians bogged down. The Ukrainian military has aimed to deplete the resources and morale of Russian troops in the tiny but tactical patch of the 932-mile front line as Ukraine gears up for a major counteroffensive in the 15-month-old war. Despite the fact that we now control a small part of Bakhmut, the importance of its defense does not lose its relevance, said Col.-Gen. Oleksandr Syrskyi, the Commander of Ground Forces for the Ukrainian Armed Forces. This gives us the opportunity to enter the city in case of a change in the situation. And it will definitely happen. About 34 miles north of the Russian-held regional capital of Donetsk, Bakhmut was an important industrial center, surrounded by salt and gypsum mines and home to about 80,000 people before the war, in a country of more than 43 million. The city, named Artyomovsk after a Bolshevik revolutionary when Ukraine was part of the Soviet Union, was known for its sparkling wine produced in underground caves. It was popular among tourists for its broad tree-lined avenues, lush parks and stately downtown with imposing late 19th century mansions. All are now reduced to a smoldering wasteland. Fought over so fiercely by Russia and Ukraine in recent months has been the urban center itself, where Ukrainian commanders have conceded that Moscow controlled more than 90%. But even now, Ukrainian forces are making significant advances near strategic roads through the countryside just outside, chipping away at Russias northern and southern flanks by the yard with the aim of encircling Wagner fighters inside the city. The enemy failed to surround Bakhmut. They lost part of the heights around the city. The continuing advance of our troops in the suburbs greatly complicates the enemys presence, said Hanna Maliar, Ukraines deputy defense minister. Our troops have taken the city in a semi-encirclement, which gives us the opportunity to destroy the enemy. Ukrainian military leaders say their months-long resistance has been worth it because it limited Russias capabilities elsewhere and allowed for Ukrainian advances. The main idea is to exhaust them, then to attack, Ukrainian Col. Yevhen Mezhevikin, commander of a specialized group fighting in Bakhmut, said. Russia has deployed reinforcements to Bakhmut to replenish lost northern and southern flanks and prevent more Ukrainian breakthroughs, according to Ukrainian officials and other outside observers. Russian President Vladimir Putin badly needs to claim victory in Bakhmut city, where Russian forces have focused their efforts, analysts say, especially after a winter offensive by his forces failed to capture other cities and towns along the front. Some analysts said that even Ukraines tactical gains in the rural area outside urban Bakhmut could be more significant than they seem. It was almost like the Ukrainians just took advantage of the fact that, actually, the Russian lines were weak, said Phillips OBrien, a professor of strategic studies at the University of St. Andrews. The Russian army has suffered such high losses and is so worn out around Bakhmut that ... it cannot go forward anymore. Ukrainian forces in the outskirts of Bakhmut and in the city bore relentless artillery attacks until a month ago. Then, Ukrainian forces positioned south of the city spotted their chance for a breakthrough after reconnaissance drones showed the southern Russian flank had gone on the defensive, Col. Mezhevikin said. After fierce fighting for weeks, Ukrainian units made their first advance in the vicinity of Bakhmut since it was invaded nine months ago. In all, nearly 8 square miles of territory were recaptured, Maliar said in an interview last week. Hundreds of yards more have been regained almost every day since, according to Serhii Cherevatyi, spokesman for Ukraines Operational Command East. Previously we were only holding the lines and didnt let Russians advance further into our territory. What has happened now is our first advance (since the battle started), Maliar said. Victory in Bakhmut does not necessarily bring Russia any closer to capturing the Donetsk region Putins stated aim of the war. Rather, it opens the door to more grinding battles in the direction of Sloviansk or Kostiantynivka, 12 miles away, said Kateryna Stepanenko, a Russia analyst at the U.S.-based think tank Institute for the Study of War. Satellite imagery released this week shows infrastructure, apartment blocks and iconic buildings reduced to rubble. Gift this article Share this article paywall-free. Omaha police arrested a man Monday morning in connection with a fatal crash that occurred near Carter Lake last month. Pierre Brayman, 39, has been charged with leaving the scene of an accident that killed his wife, passenger Tiffany Brayman, 37, at Carter Lake Shore Drive and Cornish Boulevard on April 26. Police said Pierre Brayman ran after the lone vehicle involved, a 2000 Ford F-150 pickup truck, left the road and rolled. He allegedly was the driver of the pickup. Tiffany Brayman was ejected from the vehicle. She was pronounced dead at the Nebraska Medical Center. According to an affidavit filed by an Omaha police officer, an ex-wife of Pierre Brayman told police he had fled to her home in North Omaha. The affidavit claims Pierre Brayman then went to an unknown address in Council Bluffs. An Omaha police spokesman said Brayman was arrested near 26th Street and Camden Avenue. The affidavit states Pierre Braymans drivers license has been revoked since Nov. 20, 2020. Police allege speed, alcohol and lack of seat-belt use were factors in the crash. Afghan refugees wait to return at a border crossing point in Nimroz province, Afghanistan, May 23, 2023. Nearly 2,400 Afghan refugees have returned to their homeland from Iran, Afghanistan's Ministry for Refugees and Repatriation Affairs said in a statement on Monday. (Photo by Azizi/Xinhua) KABUL, May 22 (Xinhua) -- Nearly 2,400 Afghan refugees have returned to their homeland from Iran, Afghanistan's Ministry for Refugees and Repatriation Affairs said in a statement on Monday. "A total of 2,348 Afghan refugees returned to their homeland Afghanistan on Sunday after years of living as refugees in Iran and the process of returning the refugees to their country continues," the statement said. Weeks ago, the state-run Bakhtar news agency reported the return of more than 54,000 Afghan refugees from Iran over the past couple of months. More than 2.5 million registered Afghan refugees reportedly have been living in Iran and about the same number are living in Pakistan. The Afghan caretaker government has called on Afghan refugees living abroad to return home and contribute to reconstruction of their war-ravaged country. Afghan refugees are seen at a border crossing point in Nimroz province, Afghanistan, May 23, 2023. Nearly 2,400 Afghan refugees have returned to their homeland from Iran, Afghanistan's Ministry for Refugees and Repatriation Affairs said in a statement on Monday. (Photo by Azizi/Xinhua) Gift this article Share this article paywall-free. An Omaha police detective revealed new details in the March death of Gary Lew at a preliminary hearing Monday,. Four people, including Lews daughter, appeared together in court to face charges in the beating death of the 68-year-old man. Quiet sobs and gasps echoed through the courtroom as Sergio Gutierrez, an OPD homicide detective, recounted the details of the fatal assault. Lews daughter, 37-year-old Christina Thornley, is charged with accessory to murder and tampering with evidence. Christinas husband, 39-year-old Justin Thornley, and his cousin, 37-year-old Jacob Thornley, are charged with second-degree murder and evidence tampering. Family friend Braden Bongers, 26, is charged with first-degree assault. Investigators in Lancaster County found Lews body in a ditch near Denton, Nebraska, on April 11. After the body was identified on April 13, officers went to Lews home near 156th Street and West Dodge Road to speak with his daughter. According to Gutierrez, Christina Thornley opened the door and spoke with officers. Gutierrez testified that when asked where Lew was, Christina Thornley said he was sick and couldnt come to the door raising suspicions, as officers already knew he was dead. Officers returned to the residence later that day with a search warrant. Gutierrez testified that the home was in a state of absolute filth. In the basement, investigators found blood splatter on the walls and floors, as well as several bloody items in the trash. Blood also was found on Lews wheelchair, which he used due to multiple medical concerns including dementia and spina bifida. The four people were taken into custody and told investigators similar stories of how Lew was killed. According to testimony from Gutierrez: The beating took place on March 3 after Lew attempted to swipe at or go after Christina Thornley and Justin Thornleys 9-year-old daughter. Jacob Thornley, who is described as very protective of the girl, slammed Lew into the ground and began beating him. Bongers and Justin Thornley joined in on the assault at some point, hitting and kicking Lew in the head and ribs. Bongers also allegedly poured water on him and poked him with a broom. Two young children were present during the assault. Christina Thornley, who told police that she was sleeping upstairs when she heard a disturbance, eventually went to the basement to investigate and saw the beating as it took place. She said that she tried to protest and that the beating stopped shortly after she came downstairs. According to Christina Thornley, Lew was still alive for a few days after the beating. She told police that she continued to bring him food and water for a few days until she came downstairs and noticed he was cold to the touch and bleeding from the ears. On March 8, Christina Thornley, Jacob Thornley and Justin Thornley put Lews body in trash bags, packed it into the trunk of Lews car and drove to a remote part of Lancaster County. They rolled his body into a ditch before Jacob Thornley decided to remove all of Lews clothing, which he later disposed of in a dumpster. All four were bound over to district court to face trial. Jacob Thornley and Justin Thornley are both being held in custody without bail. Christina Thornley and Bongers had their bail set at $500,000, meaning they would have to pay 10%, or $50,000, to be released. Gift this article Share this article paywall-free. An 88-year-old woman died Sunday and another woman was taken to a hospital after a two-vehicle collision just south of Greenwood, Nebraska. Geraldine Frank of Greenwood was pronounced dead at the scene, according to a statement from the Cass County Sheriffs Office. The driver of the second vehicle, Mandy M. Hernandez, 42, of Elmwood, Nebraska, suffered injuries that were not thought to be life-threatening. The crash occurred shortly before 5 p.m. at the intersection of U.S. Highway 6 and Church Road. Investigators determined that Hernandez was westbound on Highway 6 in a 2007 Ford Freestyle and waiting to turn left into Bakers Candies. Frank also was westbound in a 2002 Oldsmobile Intrigue and struck the rear of the Ford Freestyle. The cause of the crash is under investigation. Gift this article Share this article paywall-free. WASHINGTON (AP) President Joe Biden 's reelection campaign is vowing to hold the states that won him the White House in 2020 but also compete in places it lost like North Carolina and increasingly Republican-dominated Florida, providing what it says are a number of viable pathways to the 270 electoral votes needed to clinch four more years. Offering her first extensive comments on strategy since she was named manager of Biden's campaign last month, Julie Chavez Rodriguez wrote in a memo to interested parties that the 2024 race presents significant opportunities to grow Democratic support. It was released while Biden was traveling in Japan, but he is skipping previously planned, subsequent stops in Australia and Papua New Guinea to focus on debt limit talks in Washington. Rodriguez said the reelection campaign is planning early investments to try to retain battleground states Biden won in 2020 including Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Nevada and New Hampshire, and to hold Georgia and Arizona, which hadn't voted Democratic in a presidential race in decades prior to three years ago. But the campaign will also look to expand the map even further in states like North Carolina and Florida and Rodriguez said both would be included in a 7-figure" advertising buy that encompassed investments in a string of swing states. Bidens reelection campaign is built around asking Americans to allow him to finish the job he started, and has sought to paint extreme Republicans like former President Donald Trump and supporters of his Make America Great Again movement as threats to core American political values. Trump is now seeking the White House for a third time, and while Rodriguez's memo did not mention him by name, it did predict Biden would prevail over the MAGA extremist agenda once again. Biden's political advisers have long argued that Biden beat Trump once and can do so again. If someone else captures the GOP presidential nomination like Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who is widely seen as a top Trump alternative Biden's team maintains the same strategy can work since most top Republicans have done little to distance themselves from the MAGA movement. Though Rodriguez's memo makes no mention of it, contrasting Biden with his opponent may be the president's strongest reelection tactic. An Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll last month found that only about half of Democrats think the 80-year-old Biden should run again, though 81% said they would at least probably support him in the 2024 general election if he is the nominee. The memo says the reelection campaign plans to spread its message online and through in-person contacts with voters, but will rely heavily on leveraging voters' existing social circles. While trust in the media may have eroded, trust in peoples personal networks has never been stronger, Rodriguez wrote. She promised that the campaign will engage early and often with its traditional base supporters among women, as well as Black, Hispanic and Asian American voters, and young people who didn't turn out for the 2022 midterms. The memo also says organized labor "will be core to our electoral success. Biden's reelection campaign says it plans to try for gains among targeted groups of voters during next year's race. That includes building on 2020, when Biden made small, but critical gains among rural and white working class voters in battleground states." It further notes that Democrats saw support rise slightly in those demographics during last year's midterms in states like Arizona, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Nevada and Wisconsin, and remain consistent in Georgia and North Carolina. The memo says strong suburban support helped lift Biden to the 306 electoral votes he won in 2020, and there could be room for growth among such voters, who may be energized by the Supreme Court's overturning of the Roe v. Wade decision. National Democrats have remained strongly unified behind Biden. He faces only token opposition in the party's presidential primary from self-help author Marianne Williamson and anti-vaccine activist Robert Kennedy Jr. That means, Chavez wrote, that the reelection campaign "is able to leverage party infrastructure from Day One, including tools, technology and people, which means we arent starting from scratch. ULAN BATOR, May 22 (Xinhua) -- Mongolia and France agreed to expand bilateral ties and cooperation in varied fields, according to a joint statement released by the two countries on Sunday. At the invitation of Mongolian President Ukhnaa Khurelsukh, his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron paid a state visit to Mongolia on Sunday and Monday. Macron's visit became the first visit by a French president to Mongolia since the two countries established diplomatic relations in 1965. The two sides agreed to strengthen bilateral cooperation in various areas such as defense, economy, agriculture, technology, education, science, culture and sports. The statement said Mongolia and France would exchange high-level mutual visits, hold political consultations, and support active relations between inter-parliamentary friendship groups between the two counties. HANOI, May 22 (Xinhua) -- Vietnam's energy sector is faced with the physical effect of climate change and the risk derived from the shift towards renewable energy, Vietnam News reported on Monday. Greenhouse-gas emissions from human activity are contributing to heat-waves, droughts, and other extreme weather events that are likely to have a significant impact on the country's energy sector. State utility Vietnam Electricity Group (EVN) is struggling to generate enough electricity to meet the demand of the economy over the summer months, said Vo Quang Lam, deputy general director of EVN. For businesses, there is the risk that comes from the transition to a lower-carbon economy, making companies' assets become worthless, said industry experts. Vietnam's shifting away from fossil-fuel energy would affect companies' assets that generate significant amounts of greenhouse gases. Any asset that produces less than expected because of climate change or its limitation regulations could be subject to a write-down, said experts. For example, coal-fired plants face a significant risk of being shut down before the end of their designed life spans. In addition, Europe and Japan announced they would no longer give financial support to coal-fired plants, which means it is more expensive to invest in thermal power projects. According to the Ministry of Construction, Vietnam had 29 coal-fired power plants in operation in 2021 with thermal energy accounting for 32 percent of the country's energy mix. Under the newly-approved national power development plan, coal-fired power output would drop to 20 percent of power supply by 2030 while the share of renewable energy in the country's power mix would be raised to 67.5 to 71.5 percent. China releases document on advancing elderly care system Xinhua) 08:34, May 22, 2023 BEIJING, May 21 (Xinhua) -- Chinese authorities Sunday released a set of guidelines for facilitating the building of the basic elderly care system. The document, released jointly by the General Office of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and the State Council General Office, emphasized that facilitating the building of this system bears great importance in China's efforts to pursue a proactive national strategy in response to population aging and ensure equitable access to public services. According to the guidelines, basic elderly care services consist of material assistance, nursing, and caregiving services, among others. They are provided directly by the government or by parties supported by the government. The guidelines noted that the system should follow the principles of meeting essential needs and be universally accessible. In the meantime, the system should also allow families with financial difficulties to be supported in elderly care and ensure all institutional resources regarding elderly care are optimized and integrated. The guidelines listed five key aspects where more work should be done. They include forming and implementing a list of elderly care services, establishing an active response mechanism for providing accurate services, enhancing the mechanism that ensures sound elderly care services, improving service capacity, and making such services more accessible. (Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Liang Jun) BEIJING, May 22 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson on Monday made remarks regarding that the 76th World Health Assembly (WHA) has once again refused to include a proposal on "Taiwan's participation at the WHA as an observer" in its agenda. The spokesperson said that the General Committee and the Plenary Session of the 76th WHA have respectively decided to reject the so-called proposal of "inviting Taiwan to participate in the WHA as an observer" submitted by certain countries. This fully shows that the one-China principle has international support and represents the prevailing trend that cannot be challenged. According to the spokesperson, in disregard of the views expressed by various parties and what is best for Taiwan compatriots, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) authorities put countries having so-called "diplomatic ties" with Taiwan up to making the proposal. Certain countries either overtly or covertly encouraged and supported this move. These egregious moves go against the trend of history and deliberately undermine international rules. They have been unanimously rejected by countries taking a just stand. By the time the assembly commenced, nearly 100 countries had sent letters to the WHO or issued statements to express their commitment to the one-China principle and opposition to Taiwan's participation in the WHA. The spokesperson said the Chinese central government attaches great importance to the health and well-being of our compatriots in the Taiwan region, and has made proper arrangement for Taiwan's participation in global health affairs under the prerequisite that the one-China principle is upheld. The Chinese central government has updated the Taiwan region over 500 times about the epidemic situation since the start of COVID-19, and approved the participation in WHO technical activities by 26 Taiwan health experts in 24 groups over the past year. There is an International Health Regulations Contact Point in the Taiwan region for it to promptly access and report information related to health emergencies. The claim of a "gap" in global anti-pandemic efforts is groundless. The spokesperson said that "we would like to once again make it clear to the DPP authorities that the public opinion cannot be defied and those who play with fire will get burnt. We also urge certain countries to stop knowingly supporting the false narrative on this matter, stop politicizing issues about health, stop using the Taiwan question to interfere in China's internal affairs and stop using Taiwan to contain China." Gift this article Share this article paywall-free. While failing to get a budget done by its self-imposed deadline, the Illinois General Assembly passed measures addressing issues ranging from abortion rights to full-day kindergarten during its spring session, which this week goes into overtime. It was the first full session since the November election, when Democrats won victories in every constitutional office and expanded their overall supermajority in the General Assembly. Despite the single-party control, legislators didnt complete their work Friday as scheduled and will reconvene Wednesday to get back to work on a spending plan that became complicated by the spiraling costs of a health care program for immigrants. Heres a look at some of the bills heading to Gov. J.B. Pritzkers desk. Pregnancy centers Under pressure to further protect abortion rights following the U.S. Supreme Courts reversal last year of Roe v. Wade, lawmakers passed a measure aimed at preventing anti-abortion pregnancy centers from employing deceptive practices in an effort to dissuade women from seeking the procedure. Also sometimes known as crisis pregnancy centers, these anti-abortion nonprofits operate across the country and often open near or even next to clinics where abortions take place. The bill allows the Illinois attorney general to investigate claims that a pregnancy center engaged in fraud, deception or false pretense, and centers that violate the law could be fined up to $50,000. Full-day kindergarten Beginning with the 2027-28 school year, Illinois school districts would be required to offer a full day of kindergarten, pending a signature from Pritzker. Full-day kindergarten benefits all parties, giving children more time to learn, teachers more time to educate, and working parents more accessible and affordable sources of child care, said state Rep. Mary Beth Canty, a Democrat from Arlington Heights and the bills main House sponsor. The measure would leave districts the option to also provide half-day kindergarten. Public restrooms Some of the bills passed by the Democratic legislature dealt with issues that have been fronts in culture wars nationwide. Multiple-occupancy public restrooms could be labeled or converted to all-gender use under one measure, although that would not be mandatory for businesses or other establishments. Facilities taking that route would be required to have floor-to-ceiling stall dividers in each stall with locking mechanisms, trash cans in each stall, a baby-changing station and other features, under the legislation. Several Senate Republicans decried the legislation before the chamber passed the bill by a 35-20 vote last week. State Sen. Neil Anderson said hed likely lose it if his 10-year-old daughter ever wound up sharing a public bathroom with a man. Im telling you right now, if a guy walks in there, Im gonna beat the living piss out of him, said Anderson, of Andalusia. Before the House followed up with a 63-41 vote, sending the measure to Pritzkers desk, state Rep. Kelly Cassidy, a Chicago Democrat, responded to Andersons remarks. Quite frankly, what happened yesterday in this building, when one of our colleagues threatened physical violence as a result of this bill, that is what we should be concerned about, said Cassidy, who is openly gay. That is what puts people at risk. That is putting my community in danger. Secretary of state's office A bill that would allow the Illinois secretary of states office to deny grant funding to public and school libraries if they ban books is also on Pritzkers desk. The measure came amid nationwide polarization over censorship, school curricula and how much say parents should have over what content is appropriate for children. Other measures from the secretary of states office include legislation barring police from stopping motorists solely because they have small items such as air fresheners dangling from their vehicles rearview mirror, as well as a ban on videoconferencing calls such as over Zoom while driving. Drug overdoses There were also bills focused on drug overdose prevention that were supported by both sides of the aisle. Two bills would increase access to drug-testing supplies, including those for the powerful opioid fentanyl, and a third would require that school districts provide instruction about the dangers of the drug. Another bill mandates schools to maintain a supply of an opioid antagonist like Narcan. Fentanyl is seen as a major culprit for an increase of over 2,700% in synthetic opioid deaths in the state from 2013 to 2020, according to the Illinois Department of Public Health. Health-related measures Another bipartisan bill would cap the maximum amount an insurance company can charge for a month of insulin to $35, down from a maximum of $100 that was set in 2020. The bill would take effect July 1, 2025, if signed by Pritzker. Lawmakers also approved a measure that would require all state-funded affordable housing to have air conditioning, a bill prompted by the heat exposure deaths in May 2022 of three seniors in their apartments on Chicagos Far North Side. The legislature also approved a measure intended to make it easier for Chicagos first responders to acquire full benefits if they suffered long-term disability because of the COVID-19 virus. The legislation, already signed into law by Pritzker, was pushed by state Comptroller Susana Mendoza, whose police officer brother was infected with the virus and fell badly ill, but was denied full disability benefits by the Policemens Annuity & Benefit Fund of Chicago. Wrongful death suits Late Thursday, progressives ushered through a bill that amends the Wrongful Death Act, opening the door for punitive damages to be sought in wrongful death cases, with some exceptions including actions against state and units of local government. Fraud and SNAP The Illinois Department of Human Services under new legislation would be authorized to collect data to determine how frequently a government-funded program that provides food for low-income households is defrauded. Beginning in January, the agency would be required to report how often benefits from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, are stolen annually amid many concerns about identity theft. Immigrant police officers Legislators also passed a bill that would allow recipients of a federal immigration program to become police officers. The measure was amended to make it clear that potential hires need to get federal approval to carry a gun. The measure codifies that noncitizens who are part of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program may apply to become police officers in Illinois, though currently there would likely be obstacles for such officers to carry the guns off-duty without a revision to federal law. Supporters of the bill have cited the legislation as another avenue to beef up recruitment of law enforcement within police departments in Illinois. Technology measures Anyone in Illinois who engages in doxxing sharing personal identifiable information about another person for the purpose of harming or harassing that person could be found civilly liable, under another piece of legislation. This could include sharing the information with knowledge or reckless disregard that the person whose information is shared publicly would be reasonably likely to suffer death, bodily injury, or stalking. Also subject to civil damages under new legislation could be anyone found to have altered images of someone else in a sexually explicit manner, a practice referred to colloquially as deepfake porn. The measure, called the Digital Forgeries Act, could grant plaintiffs financial relief in such lawsuits if its found the persons falsely depicted suffered harm from the intentional dissemination of the images without their permission. Another technology-related bill would require that content creators who have lucrative family blogs to set up a trust fund to compensate children for their time on camera. Ride sharing Ride-share giants Uber and Lyft will now be on par with taxis when it comes to the liability of their drivers. The bill, if signed into law, would end an exemption in January that shielded ride-share companies from the common carrier civil liability doctrine. The exemption holds transportation companies, like taxis, to a higher standard by requiring them to be held liable for the conduct of their drivers. With the Democratic National Convention coming to Chicago next year, Uber earlier this month warned the Democratic National Committee and then-Mayor-elect Brandon Johnson that the measure could lead to higher costs for riders and a reduced number of drivers due to greater insurance requirements. Peotone airport Legislators approved a measure that would call for the solicitation of plans for a new cargo-focused airport in Chicagos south suburbs. The bill, which faced some Democratic opposition in the Senate, is part of a decadeslong discussion over whether a new airport should be built in Peotone. Complaints about the CTA have multiplied since the pandemic, and a bill headed to Pritzkers desk would allow the Chicago Transit Board to adopt rules that result in the suspension of riding privileges and confiscation of fare cards and other forms of punishment to be employed against problematic riders who commit acts including sexual assault, battery and public indecency. The bill also provides free and reduced fares to young riders in career-oriented programs, grants 25,000 transit cards worth $20 each to domestic violence and sexual assault service providers to assist victims, and says that by July 1, 2026, CTA, Pace and Metra should purchase only zero-emission buses. Tribune reporter Dan Petrella contributed. Photos: Pritzker sworn in for second term The Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) Enforcement Unit has increased its activities in ensuring businesses comply with the Value Added Tax (VAT) laws, targeting over 93 companies in its latest enforcement exercise. The team last week visited eight organisations; Tasty Treat Restaurant at UG medical Center, Noguchi, Obession: Ladies and More, Luxiwear Ladies Dresses and More, and ECO furniture Works all at East Legon. Others were Paladin Doors, at Madina, The Lords of Host Ent., AB Tissues and More, and TFs Bar and Restaurant all at Adenta. Commissioner in charge of Domestic Tax Division at the GRA, Edward Gyamerah, said managers of these businesses were arrested for non issuance of VAT invoice. Some are doing selective issuance and some are not issuing at all they tell us they are in the process of registering for VAT but of course we deal with the law and section 41 of the VAT Act clearly states that you should be issuing the invoice at all times so once we come and you fail the test then obviously you need to be arrested and the CID will take charge and build the docket for our legal unit, he said while addressing the media after the exercise. He said businesses found culpable in previous exercises are being audited adding that so far there are cases that are going under assessment and full audit while some are being processed for court. He urged consumers to insist on collecting their VAT invoice when they purchase an item indicating that it is a collective responsibility. The exercise is expected to help the GRA mobilise revenue for the state, as well as aid in meeting its revenue target. Also, managers of Chez Amis, Waves Lounge all at East Legon and Grand Pacific at the Dzorwulu Junction were picked up by the enforcement team during an earlier operation on May 17, 2023 Test purchases conducted on 115 tax payers sampled for a week revealed a total number of 93 tax payers not issuing the VAT invoice. This translates into a non-compliance rate of 80.9%, Mr. Gyamerah said. He stated that some other businesses refused to register for tax payments even though they were oblige by law to register. It is an offence for a registered tax payer to fail to issue VAT invoice for a purchase made therefore we shall made them face the law, he said. Source: Daily Guide Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, has said the decision of the United States of America to establish a data centre in Ghana would boost investor confidence in the country. The move, he said will make Ghana an attractive investment destination for foreign investors. Reacting to the news on his social media pages, Ken Ofori-Atta said government welcomes the announcement of a $300m private capital investment through @DFCgov, to build a first-of-its-kind data center in Ghana. Following the #IMFDeal, the @UnitedStates has led the way to signal renewed confidence in Ghana as an attractive investment destination. We welcome the announcement of a $300m private capital investment through @DFCgov, to build a first-of-its-kind data centre in Ghana, he said. On Sunday, May 21, 2023, the Development Finance Corporation (DFC) disclosed that a whopping $300 million was set aside to establish a data centre in Africa with Ghana being the location for this project. DFC said the project forms part of the US government's support to improve digitalization in Africa. In a tweet sighted by GhanaWeb Business, it noted that the establishment of the data centre in Ghana will be the beginning of a digital revolution on the continent, as well as, will increase access to cloud-based technologies. It will also bring down the cost of internet for women to have access to it. "Under PGIL, the USG will work to construct data centres throughout Africa. This week, DFC announced it is using its $300 million loan facility to Africa Data Centers (ADCs), Africa's largest network of interconnected data facilities, to construct a first-of-its-kind data centre in Ghana," part of the release read. "Africa accounts for less than one percent of total available global data center capacity despite being home to 17 percent of the world's total population. This investment builds on the Vice President's recent trip to Ghana and is laying the groundwork for a digital revolution on the continent by increasing access to cloud-based technologies, bringing down the cost of internet which facilitate greater access to women, and making the continent a more competitive destination for industry," it added. Source: ghanaweb.com Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video A tech worker in England tried to sue her former boss after believing email abbreviations he used, such as xx and ???, were codes asking for a sexual relationship. Karina Gasparova, an IT worker at paperless global trade management, filed a sexual harassment and discrimination lawsuit against her boss Alexander Goulandris outlining alleged misbehavior dating back to 2019, according to a report by the Independent. A judge threw the case out after an employment tribunal at London Central Court heard Gasparovas claims. She claimed that Goulandris use of xx in emails to her were attempts to kiss her, yy was code for sexual contact and ??? was coded language inquiring when she would be ready to engage in a sexual relationship. Gasparova, who represented herself in court, pointed to an email as evidence of her claims, arguing it showed Goulandris alleged desire to engage in sexual acts. Can you please complete the following: The solution is currently used by xx Agris companies and yy Barge lines in corn cargoes in south-north flows in the ???? waterways, Goulandris wrote in the email to Gasparova, citing evidence that was heard in court. Also, can you remind me of what the balance of the rollout will be and the approx. timing. Thanks. The tribunal said the email was a genuine request for information and did not insinuate Goulandris wanted a sexual relationship. Gasparova additionally claimed that when Goulandris changed a file name to his initials AJG, the acronym actually stood for A Jumbo Genital and that he touched her hand one day while reaching for a computer mouse. She also argued that Goulandris used an alluring voice to tell her to have a nice evening, and that he stared at her and allegedly touched her leg under a table during an incident in November 2019. The tribunal ruled that the 2019 incident involving his hand and leg was innocuous and accidental. The judge threw the case out and ruled Gasparova skewed perception of everyday events and demonstrated a tendency to make extraordinary allegations without evidence". Gasparova told the tribunal that she told senior executives at the company that Goulandris treated her poorly because she rejected his advances. Gasparova, who was hired at the company in 2019, filed a formal grievance letter in April 2021 against Goulandris over the alleged incidents. She resigned after the complaint was rejected, according to the outlet. After the ruling, Gasparova was ordered to pay 5,000,, to the company to cover legal costs. Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video President Akufo-Addo has declared that the upcoming by-elections in Kumawu will serve as a pivotal starting point for the New Patriotic Party's (NPP) victory in the 2024 elections. Addressing a crowd of supporters during the final campaign rally in Kumawu yesterday, the President expressed confidence in the NPP's chances and emphasized the significance of the by-election in shaping the party's trajectory going into the 2024 general election. "Kumawu holds the key to our success in the upcoming elections. Let us seize this opportunity, mobilise our supporters and pave the way for a resounding victory in 2024, the President said. Tomorrows by-election is to replace the late Member of Parliament, Philip Atta Basoah, for the Kumawu constituency. President Akufo-Addo said the strategic significance of the Kumawu constituency in the Ashanti Region served as a critical cornerstone for the NPP's triumph in the upcoming general election stating that the support and momentum garnered in Kumawu will reverberate nationwide, forging the path to NPPs victory in 2024. Week of good news President Akufo-Addo also confirmed the receipt of the first tranche of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) loan last Friday. He said as many as 29 countries from Africa had gone to IMF to seek support and that it could not be said that all the countries had mismanaged their economies to make them go to IMF. The President thus dispelled the notion that the country had to seek assistance from the IMF because it mismanaged the economy. According to him, the country was on the right path until the pandemic. Appeal President Akufo-Addo appealed to the electorate to vote for the candidate of the ruling NPP, Ernest Yaw Anim, to represent the party in Parliament. He urged the people of Kumawu to be vigilant and actively participate in the democratic process. The President expressed confidence that Mr Anim would secure victory, in line with the NPP's vision for progress, development and peace. President Akufo-Addo said the road projects currently ongoing in the constituency had been programmed long before the death of the former MP and asked the residents to ignore claims that the government was undertaking the rehabilitation work to sway them. The Ashanti Regional Minister, Simon Osei-Mensah, also told the crowd that in December last year, he addressed the Ashanti Regional House of Chiefs where he announced that the contractors would move to site to work on the Kumawu road project by the end of last month. He buttressed the point that the ongoing rehabilitation works were not to hoodwink the residents to vote for the party and abandon them afterwards. 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 President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has told party faithful that he will hand over power to a successor from his party, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) when his tenure expires in January 2025. The president is reported to have made the comments during the NPPs final rally ahead of the highly-anticipated by-election in the Kumawu Constituency of the Ashanti Region. The pro-government Daily Guide led their May 22 edition with the banner headline Ill hand over power to NPP Nana. Akufo-Addo is by his comment suggesting that the NPP will win the 2024 election and by that break the 8 a terminology that the party has coined as it aims to win a historic third consecutive term in office under the current constitution. The last time the president spoke about handing over, he expressed the wish to hand over to an NPP successor at a prayer and thanksgiving service at the National Mosque in Accra after the partys National Leadership elections. In the recent past, agric minister Bryan Acheampong hogged news headlines when he claimed that the NPP was never going to hand over power to the NDC warning that the party will match the main opposition if they try any foolishness. The Kumawu by-election Voters will choose a replacement for their Member of Parliament, Philip Atta Basoah, who died on 27th March this year while still serving his 3rd consecutive term. The New Patriotic Party (NPP) is represented by Ernest Yaw Anim, whiles Kwasi Amankwaa is the NDC candidate. There are two independent candidates with the name Kwaku Duah also in the race. Source: ghanaweb.com Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Yaw Buaben Asamoa, former Member of Parliament for Adentan Constituency, has leveled allegations against President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, accusing him of being ungrateful towards Alan Kyerematen, a former Minister of Trade and Industry and a flagbearer hopeful for the New Patriotic Party (NPP). Buaben Asamoa claims that Alan Kyerematen sacrificed his own presidential ambitions to support Akufo-Addo, with the understanding that Akufo-Addo would subsequently hand over the leadership of the party to him after his tenure. Speaking in an interview with Wontumi TV on May 19, 2023, Buaben Asamoa revealed that during the 2007 and 2008 NPP primaries, which featured seventeen strong candidates, including twelve cabinet members, Alan Kyerematen emerged as the runner-up, with then-Vice President Alhaji Aliu Mahama placing third. However, Alan Kyerematen selflessly sacrificed his opportunity to contest in a runoff against Akufo-Addo, expressing his support for Akufo-Addo's bid to promote unity within the party and enhance their chances of winning the general elections. 2007 and 2008, Alan really prepared and that particular primaries I am not sure we will witness its kind in Ghana ever again because it comprises seventeen strong candidates and about twelve of them were all cabinet members, there were a lot of big names who were contesting at that time. So, after Kufuors tenure, what happened? People accused Kufour of supporting Alan and opposed him that they wont agree because they wanted Nana Addo, and Kufuor agreed. So, we went to Legon for the primaries and Alan became second among all the big men in the contest. That time vice president Alhaji Aliu Mahama, may his soul rest in peace, was third and Alan was second, so they were supposed to go into a run-off but Alan sacrificed it for Akufo-Addo saying, my senior brother Nana Addo, I have given you the go-ahead. So, go and contest for the presidency so that the unity among us and the party will be stronger and for us to win the elections as well so I am sacrificing for you, he said. Asamoa alleged that president Akufo-Addo is now supporting a different candidate to succeed him, going against the party's traditional practice of supporting the runner-up from the previous election. In addition, Buaben Asamoa pointed out the irony of the situation, recalling that Akufo-Addo himself once criticized former President Kufour for allegedly supporting Alan Kyerematen instead of him during his own bid for the presidency in the 2007, and 2008 primaries. But if you check now, his senior brothers (Akufo-Addo) time is up and he is about to leave, we have heard that he has mounted behind a different candidate to come and contest, and the party is saying that as tradition demands like we used to do in the olden days as we did for you president, and in your own words, you said after Alan sacrificed for you, he has done well, in his own words, so in future when you complete your tenure you will allow Alan to continue because it will be his time .and we left everything and supported you. But now that it is time for you to act according to the norms, the same thing that you complained about Kufour doing to you, today you are. he lamented. Buaben Asamoa highlighted the promise Akufo-Addo made to Kyerematen, where he acknowledged the sacrifice and indicated that when his own tenure came to an end, he would support Kyerematen to lead the party. He then expressed disappointment that Akufo-Addo seemingly reneged on his promise, contrary to the norms and principles of the party. Source: ghanaweb.com Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Kwaku Duah, a former District Chief Executive of Kumawu and independent candidate in the May 23 by-election in Kumawu has vowed to resist aligning himself to any side of the lawmaking chamber if he wins the seat. As a former New Partriotic Party (NPP) member who broke away to contest as an independent in 2020 but lost to the late Philip Basoah, Kwaku Duah has rejected all overtures by the NPP to step down for the party's preferred candidate Ernest Anim. In an interview with the media as reported by gbcghanaonline.com, the aspirant who is third on the ballot paper reiterated that he has rejected financial overtures to step down but that his belief in the youth is what spurs him on. Asked about which caucus he will align with on issues if he wins, he said his caucus will be the national cause unlike the independent MP in the current parliament, MP for Fomena, who has chosen to work with the NPP, his mother party. Kwaku Duah in parliament, no matter where my seat is doesnt matter to me. The issue at stake, the first question Ill ask is, how is it going to benefit mother Ghana so that my Constituency can also benefit from it and that is how Im going to cast my votes. So Kwaku Duah will look beyond colours and vote on issues, he is quoted to have said. Voters will choose a replacement for their Member of Parliament, Philip Atta Basoah, who died on 27th March this year while still serving his 3rd consecutive term. The New Patriotic Party (NPP) is represented by Ernest Yaw Anim, whiles Kwasi Amankwaa is the NDC candidate. There are two independent candidates with the name Kwaku Duah also in the race. Kumawu has been a beehive of political activity in the last week with big wigs from the NDC and NPP holding rallies in the constituency to canvass for votes for the vacant seat. The EC has issued a notice that it is ready for the vote on Tuesday. Source: ghanaweb.com Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video " " West Point graduate Dominic Distefano is congratulated after being named the Goat (the last in his class) during the 2021 West Point commencement ceremony. Disetefano received a bag of cash from his fellow cadets as part of his honor. U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin (left of Distefano) returned to his alma mater to deliver the commencement address. Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images In sports, G.O.A.T. status is reserved for the "Greatest of All Time" the likes of Michael Jordan, Muhammad Alior Jim Brown. At the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, New York, being the "Goat" means something very different. Every May, when roughly 1,000 "firsties" (as seniors are called) graduate from the famously rigorous program, the loudest cheers are reserved for the Goat, the cadet who finished dead last in the class with the lowest overall GPA. Advertisement "It is definitely an honor; it is in no way a joke," said James Robbins, author of "Last in Their Class: Custer, Pickett and the Goats of West Point," in an interview with the radio show "The Takeaway." At West Point, where plenty of cadets "wash out" (flunk out or quit) years before graduation, there's a genuine respect for the cadet who teetered closest to the edge but came out on top. The Goat not only receives a rousing applause, but also a bag stuffed with dollar bills, one from each member of the graduating class. This totals nearly $1,000. As the title of Robbins' book suggests, two of the most famous Goats in West Point history were George Armstrong Custer (of Custer's Last Stand fame) and Confederate General George Pickett. Custer refused to take his studies seriously, regularly sneaking out to go drinking and playing pranks on fellow cadets. At the 1861 West Point graduation ceremony, Custer admitted as much. "My career as a cadet had but little to recommend it to the study of those who came after me," Custer told the graduating class, "unless as an example to be carefully avoided." " " Cadet Korian Brady is honored as the West Point Goat during the U.S. Military Academy Class of 2019 graduation ceremony. U.S. Vice President Mike Pence, who gave the commencement address, is seen honoring Brady. David Dee Delgado/Getty Images) But as Custer's example proves, being a Goat doesn't prevent West Point graduates from rising to the highest ranks of the military, or from winning the Medal of Honor, the Army's highest honor for valor in combat. Robbins believes that Goats possess certain intangible qualities a penchant for thinking "outside of the box" and for improvising their way out of trouble that translate into success in battle and in life. 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: Jose Alves de Morais maneuvers a boat, in Carauari, Brazil, Thursday, Sept. 1, 2022. A Brazilian non-profit created a model for land ownership that welcomes both local people and scientists to collaborate in preserving the Amazon. "This is something that doesn't exist here in the Amazon, it doesn't exist anywhere in Brazil. If it works, which it will, it will attract a lot of people's attention," Morais, a resident, told The Associated Press. Credit: AP Photo/Jorge Saenz In a remote corner of the Amazon, Brazilian ecologists are trying to succeed where a lack of governance has proved disastrous. They're managing a stretch of land in a way that welcomes both local people and scientists to engage in preserving the world's largest tropical forest. The goal is ambitious, counter the forces that have destroyed 10% of the forest in less than four decades and create something that can be replicated in other parts of the Amazon. It began with a four-month expedition along the Jurua River in 2016. Researchers visited some 100 communities that at first sight looked similar: rows of wooden homes on stilts along the water. But they were struck by contrasts in the living conditions. To understand what they saw, it's important to know that 29% of the Amazon, an area roughly three times the size of California, is either public land with no special protection, or public land for which no public information exists, according to a study by the Amazon Institute of People and the Environment. These areas have been shown to be more vulnerable to deforestation. Land robbers drive traditional communities off the land and then clear it, hoping the government will recognize them as owners, which usually happens. "It's very unequal. Inside protected areas, there are many positive things happening, but outside, they seemed to be 40 years behind," Joao Vitor Campos-Silva, a tropical socio-ecologist, told The Associated Press. Fernanda de Araujo Moraes, center, president of the local riverine association, holds a child at her home in Lago Serrado community, near Carauari, Brazil, Thursday, Sept. 1, 2022. A Brazilian non-profit has created a new model for land ownership that welcomes both local people and scientists to collaborate in preserving the Amazon. To involve the riverine communities in governance, the institute set up a steering committee and launched a series of public meetings called "community of dreams," where people can prioritize the improvements they want most. Credit: AP Photo/Jorge Saenz The researchers were aware that the part of the river known as Medio Jurua, near the city of Carauari, has remarkable social organization and people manage its fish and forest products, such as acai, sustainably. The land designation here is "extractive reserves," public lands where residents are allowed to fish and harvest some crops. But outside these reserves, in many places, people take orders from self-appointed landowners, Campos-Silva said. Entire communities are denied access to lakes, even to fish to feed their families. People dont own the land, and they don't know who does. "We started thinking that it might be interesting to design a conservation model based on a basin scale," where communities could harvest forest produce and fish and protect the forest, instead of moving to the city or resorting to illegal activities, such as unlicensed logging and overfishing. Boats navigate a river in Carauari, Brazil, Wednesday, Sept. 7, 2022. A Brazilian non-profit has created a new model for land ownership that welcomes both local people and scientists to collaborate in preserving the Amazon. Credit: AP Photo/Jorge Saenz So they created the non-profit Jurua Institute and purchased a 13 km (8 miles) rainforest property along the Jurua River. It includes about 20 lakes, some with good potential for raising prized pirarucu, the world's largest freshwater scale fish, which can reach up to 200 kilos (440 pounds). The goal, Campos-Silva said, is to promote high-quality science, grounded in working together with the region's people. In the vicinity of the Institute's land there are 12 communities of former rubber-tappers. Brazilians call them "ribeirinhos," or river people, as distinguished from Indigenous residents. In the past, the chance to make a living from rubber trees drew their grandparents to the Amazon. Nowadays the main revenue comes from pirarucu. Controlling that fishery has proved to be sustainable, reviving a species that was in decline and generating income without the need to clear the forest, with all that means for loss of biodiversity. A wood stork flies, in Carauari, Brazil, Tuesday, Sept. 6, 2022. A Brazilian non-profit has created a new model for land ownership that welcomes both local people and scientists to collaborate in preserving the Amazon, the world's largest tropical forest. Credit: AP Photo/Jorge Saenz The Amazon rainforest, covering an area twice the size of India, also holds tremendous stores of carbon and is a crucial buffer against climate change. Driven by land-robbers, deforestation surged to a 15-year high in recent years while Jair Bolsonaro, who left office in January, was president. Destruction in the eastern Amazon has been so extensive that it has become a carbon source, rather than a carbon sink. To involve the riverine communities in governance, the institute set up a steering committee and launched a series of public meetings called "community of dreams," where people could prioritize the improvements they want most. To avoid potential gender and age biases, they worked in three groupswomen, youth, and men, said Campos-Silva. The president of the river communities' association, Fernanda de Araujo Moraes, said the main purpose is to prevent river people from moving to Amazon cities, where unemployment among low-skilled people is rampant and violence is widespread, thanks to drug-trafficking. Jose Alves de Morais carries jugs to a boat in Lago Serrado community, near Carauari, Brazil, Thursday, Sept. 1, 2022. A Brazilian non-profit created a model for land ownership that welcomes both local people and scientists to collaborate in preserving the Amazon. "This is something that doesn't exist here in the Amazon, it doesn't exist anywhere in Brazil. If it works, which it will, it will attract a lot of people's attention," Morais, a resident, told the Associated Press. Credit: AP Photo/Jorge Saenz In her own community of Lago Serrado, where 12 families live in stilt houses, both the women and men listed 24-hour electricity as their top priority. Currently, it's only available three hours a day. The youths chose fishing training. Moraes believes this kind of collaboration is the fastest route to progress. "We want to improve people's lives and the Institute wants the same thing," she said, seated on the floor of her house, tending to her infant daughter. The government, she said, is not always on the same page. "This is something that doesn't exist here in the Amazon, it doesn't exist anywhere in Brazil. If it works, which it will, it will attract a lot of people's attention," said resident Jose Alves de Morais, in an interview by the lake just behind the community. Morais works as a lake keeper, watching for trespassers who might take fish or cut trees. His family hopes to take part in the institute's management of pirarucu fishing, which awaits federal approval. Fisherman Marco Aurelio Canuto Viana processes a pirarucu fish at a lake at Medio Jurua region, Amazonia State, Brazil, Monday, Sept. 5, 2022. A Brazilian non-profit has created a new model for land ownership that welcomes both local people and scientists to collaborate in preserving the Amazon, which includes lakes, some with good potential for raising the prized pirarucu fish. Credit: AP Photo/Jorge Saenz On the scientific front, the institute has built a houseboat and a wooden house for as many as 20 researchers to spend seasons along the Jurua River. One is studying the uakari monkey. Others are looking at what makes social arrangements successful in the region. They created a program, Forest Scientists, to train local high school students in field collection, data systematization, and how to prepare reports. The initiative is led by Carlos Peres, an Amazon-born professor of tropical conservation ecology at the University of East Anglia, in the United Kingdom. In April this work, begun as an experiment, got some recognition from a Swiss nonprofit when he and three other scientists won the Frontiers Planet Prize, which comes with $1.1 million. The money will be reinvested in the project, which has already received support from Synchronicity Earth, National Geographic and Rolex within Perpetual Planet Project. The winning study used data gathered during that 2016 trip. Co-authored by Campos-Silva and others, it found communities living inside protected areas enjoy better access to health care, education, electricity, and basic sanitation, plus a more stable income, than communities in undesignated areas. They found only 5% of adults inside protected areas aspire to move to a city, compared with 58% of adults in unprotected areas. Fishermen join boats to pass pirarucu fish to a motorized one, front, used to transport it faster to the processing ship at a lake in Carauari, Brazil, Tuesday, Sept. 6, 2022. A Brazilian non-profit has created a new model for land ownership that welcomes both local people and scientists to collaborate in preserving the Amazon, which includes lakes, some with good potential for raising the prized pirarucu fish. Credit: AP Photo/Jorge Saenz Fernanda de Araujo Moraes, president of the river dwellers' association speaks at her home in Lago Serrado community, near Carauari, Brazil, Thursday, Sept. 1, 2022. A Brazilian non-profit has created a new model for land ownership that welcomes both local people and scientists to collaborate in preserving the Amazon. To involve the riverine communities in governance, the institute set up a steering committee and launched a series of public meetings, called "community of dreams," that allow people to prioritize the improvements they want most. Credit: AP Photo/Jorge Saenz Jose Alves de Morais and his nephew Felipe embrace at a home, in Lago Serrado community, near Carauari, Brazil, Thursday, Sept. 1, 2022. A Brazilian non-profit created a model for land ownership that welcomes both local people and scientists to collaborate in preserving the Amazon. "This is something that doesn't exist here in the Amazon, it doesn't exist anywhere in Brazil. If it works, which it will, it will attract a lot of people's attention," Morais, a resident, told The Associated Press. Credit: AP Photo/Jorge Saenz A family prepares food at a home in Lago Serrado community, near Carauari, Brazil, Thursday, Sept. 1, 2022. A Brazilian non-profit has created a new model for land ownership that welcomes both local people and scientists to collaborate in preserving the Amazon. Credit: AP Photo/Jorge Saenz A boy stands at a table at a home in Lago Serrado community, near Carauari, Brazil, Thursday, Sept. 1, 2022. A Brazilian non-profit has created a new model for land ownership that welcomes both local people and scientists to collaborate in preserving the Amazon. Credit: AP Photo/Jorge Saenz Boats sit at a dock at Lago Serrado community, near Carauari, Brazil, Thursday, Sept. 1, 2022. A Brazilian non-profit has created a new model for land ownership that welcomes both local people and scientists to collaborate in preserving the Amazon.Credit: AP Photo/Jorge Saenz A man trails a dog in Lago Serrado community, near Carauari, Brazil, Thursday, Sept. 1, 2022. A Brazilian non-profit created a model for land ownership that welcomes both local people and scientists to collaborate in preserving the Amazon. Credit: AP Photo/Jorge Saenz The article argues that in tropical countries with limited resources, it is possible to achieve conservation and benefit local communities at the same time, by putting more power in their hands. Peres, the Institute's scientific director, says it hopes to inspire solutions across the Amazon region, by integrating traditional knowledge with the science of Western models. "We do not have all the answers," he said. "But we have the audacity to try to advance on these issues." 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission. GENEVA, May 22 (Xinhua) -- The World Health Assembly (WHA), the highest decision-making body of the World Health Organization (WHO), on Monday decided not to include in its agenda a proposal on Taiwan's participation in the annual assembly as an observer. The 76th WHA, kicked off here on Sunday, focused on "saving lives, driving health for all," the WHO said in a statement. This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain Three hundred miles off the southeastern coast of Africa, Madagascar is a land of mystery. There is such a rich diversity of vertebrates found only on the island that is so unlike anything seen elsewhere in the world that any evolutionary biologist has to wonderhow did they get there and when? Lemurs are only found here. A primate separated evolutionarily from apes and monkeys by more than 50 million years, lemurs have diversified into about 111 species, making up a third of all primate species in the world. The fossa, a distant cousin of the mongoose, is an apex island predator that has convergently evolved to have more cat-like traits and appearance, filling in the missing felines biome niche. Then there are the 36 species of tenrec, which can range in appearance from a tiny shrew-like mouse to a large tailless possum, hedgehog and mole lookalikes, filling out several convergent evolutionary niches usually held by more genetically diverse creatures. A pair of researchers at the University of Hong Kong in China and Temple University in Philadelphia decided to join the debate about just how the island became populated by so many unusual creatures. They detail their research findings in a paper, "The colonisation of Madagascar by land-bound vertebrates," published in the journal Biological Reviews. Three basic ways are possible, with versions of each having been postulated in the past. Plate tectonics, meaning the land-bound creatures endemic to Madagascar evolved there, separated from the rest of the animal kingdom since the island split off from the ancient Gondwana supercontinent. Since this split began 170 million years ago, understanding when species evolved away from shared ancestors of other vertebrates eliminates all but a few of Madagascar's inhabitants from this possibility. Another is a land bridge spanning all or most of the way from Africa to Madagascar, allowing creatures to simply wander over. This might be aided by lower sea levels during ice ages or continental drift as land masses have moved over millions of years. As an example, all the marsupials of Australia walked there from South America when the two continents were further south and connected by Antarctica. However, the geologic record does not seem to support a period when the sea floor around Madagascar would be exposed, nor any string of islands above the surface to shorten the distance. This leaves arrival by sea, floating, swimming or rafting on vegetation carried by the currents. The team looked for evidence to build arrival time windows for 26 of Madagascar's land vertebrate clades16 reptiles, five mammals, and five amphibians. The approach was designed to highlight the method of arrival by reconstructing the temporal influx patterns. If species arrived together in a few windows of opportunity, it would suggest a land bridge was available. If instead the colonization events looked randomly dispersed through time, getting washed ashore by sea currents might be a better explanation. The resulting colonization maps appeared temporally random with no temporal concentrations. This places the biological signals in agreement with the leading geological evidence, as well as the taxonomic composition of the fauna, in supporting over-water dispersal as the mechanism that explains all but a few of Madagascar's land-vertebrate groups. The exception being podocnemid turtles and typhlopoid snakes, which the researchers believe have been on Madagascar since before it was an island. From here, they survived the extinction event that killed off the dinosaurs and watched as waves of hapless creatures washed up on the shores over millions of years of colonization events. Over-water dispersal would be by rafting on floating vegetation or otherwise staying afloat while drifting with the currents. One of the limiting factors is time at sea, even with a favorable sea current thought to exist 20 million years ago when Africa and Madagascar were further south, the voyage could take several weeks. The researchers note the preponderance of reptile clades over land-mammal and amphibian groups in Madagascan fauna. The reptile abundance is a characteristic common on islands and archipelagoes that were never connected to a continent and where over-water colonization is the only possible route. Reptiles are much more resistant to dehydration, the main obstacle in a long voyage by sea. The Madagascan mammals have something else in common with remote island mammals in other parts of the world. They all originate from small-bodied ancestors with low energy requirements and the ability to enter into torpor, a hibernation-like state of reduced metabolism, which may have allowed them to withstand the journey to new lands. More information: Jason R. Ali et al, The colonisation of Madagascar by landbound vertebrates, Biological Reviews (2023). DOI: 10.1111/brv.12966 Journal information: Biological Reviews 2023 Science X Network This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: The lower-end estimates of anthropogenic CHBr 3 emissions from ship ballast water, cooling water from thermoelectric powerplants and desalination plants. Credit: Geophysical Research Letters (2023). DOI: 10.1029/2023GL102894 A team of atmospheric scientists and oceanologists from the University of Saskatchewan, GEOMAR Helmholtz Center for Ocean Research Kiel and Utrecht University, has found that there is more man-made bromoform (CHBr 3 ) in the lower atmosphere than previously thought. In their study, reported in the journal Geophysical Research Letters, the group used existing data to create models depicting amounts of bromoform in the atmosphere. Prior research has shown that phytoplankton and algae produce bromoform, a brominated organic solvent that seeps into the lower atmosphere where it decomposes, releasing bromide. Bromide has been found to rise into the stratosphere, where it degrades the ozone layer. Prior research has also found that human-produced bromoform does much the same, but because of its short lifetime, it was believed not to pose a risk to the ozone. For that reason, it was not included in the 1987 Montreal Protocol, an international agreement that banned emissions of chemicals that harm the ozone layer, most particularly hydrofluorocarbons. And while it has been acknowledged that banning such chemicals had a dramatic positive impact on the ozone layer, more recent research has shown that more needs to be done. In this new effort, the research team suggests that bromoform may need to be banned, as well. The researchers collected existing data regarding emissions of bromoform from power plants, ship ballast and desalination plants. They used that data to create multiple simulations to show the impact of such emissions on the ozone layer. The team found that power plants produce by far the most: approximately 10% to 25.9% of all man-made bromoform. The research team then compared their models with samples collected from airplanes in the past few years. The simulations agreed with the field observations. They note that both findings show that man-made bromoform emissions are higher than previously believed and that they might explain why the ozone layer has not yet fully recovered after initiation of the Montreal Protocol. More information: Yue Jia et al, Anthropogenic Bromoform at the Extratropical Tropopause, Geophysical Research Letters (2023). DOI: 10.1029/2023GL102894 Journal information: Geophysical Research Letters 2023 Science X Network This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain As energy companies shift away from burning coal to generate electricity, many are leaving behind toxic waste that could endanger public health and the environment for years to come. New regulations proposed by the Biden administration would expand the number of coal ash dumps subject to federal oversight, a change intended to prevent spills that during the past decade wreaked havoc near power plants in North Carolina and Tennessee. One of the sites that would come under federal oversight is the Waukegan Generating Station on Lake Michigan, a former ComEd coal plant ringed by two unlined ash ponds and an unlicensed landfill. Another is a Joliet quarry where ComEd and other companies dumped coal ash until NRG Energy overhauled a nearby coal plant in 2016 to burn natural gas. Ten Illinois ash dumps pose a danger to the drinking water supplies of nearby communities, including the Joliet site and ash pits surrounding another NRG coal plant along the Des Plaines River in Romeoville. Another site that threatens Lake Michigan is a coal plant in Michigan City, Indiana, owned by the Northern Indiana Public Service Co., which has planned to excavate and safely dispose of only half of its waste. EPA Administrator Michael Regan noted that many of the leaking ash dumps are in or near low-income, predominantly Black or Latino communities. "We are hopeful this rule will hold these industries accountable and send a message that community members and taxpayers will no longer be responsible to clean up their mess," said Dulce Ortiz, co-chair of the Waukegan-based group Clean Power Lake County. "We all deserve healthy communities and environments that our families and future generations can enjoy." The Biden proposal, unveiled this week by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, would replace Obama-era rules thrown out by a federal court and even weaker standards adopted during the Trump administration. If the latest version survives political and legal challenges, it would require more protective measures from companies in Republican-controlled states such as Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio and West Virginia. It also would add the prospect of federal enforcement in Illinois and other states that in recent years adopted regulations intended to force the clean up of largely unlined dumps leaching pollution into lakes and rivers. Despite well-documented dangers, dumps surrounding about 250 coal plants are regulated far more loosely than household garbage landfills. Environmental groups that sued the EPA demanding tougher rules welcomed the Biden administration's proposal as a major step forward but noted it would still exempt some coal ash dumps from federal oversight. "The EPA is taking significant steps to address a massive loophole that let many coal plant owners off the hook from cleaning up the toxic mess they created," said Lisa Evans, senior counsel at the nonprofit Earthjustice legal organization. "Power plants will finally lose their hall pass to leave coal ash wherever they dumped it." It took a federal court order to nudge the EPA to submit a new version of the regulations. Under the proposal, energy companies would be required to monitor their ash dumps and, in many cases, clean them up. Most of the waste in Illinois has been mixed with water and pumped into unlined pits, where testing shows harmful levels of arsenic, chromium, lead and other heavy metals are steadily oozing through the ground toward lakes and rivers, including the Middle Fork of the Vermilion River, the state's only national scenic river. After decades of scant oversight, Illinois in 2021 adopted its own regulations that require coal ash dumps to be sealed or excavated. "It appears our rules are just as strong, if not stronger" than the Biden EPA's proposal, said Andrew Rehn, senior water resources engineer at the Champaign-based Prairie Rivers Network, one of the nonprofit groups that has been pushing for years to clean up the pollution. Clout-heavy utilities and coal companies blocked several attempts during the 1990s and 2000s to classify coal ash as hazardous waste. Energy companies further delayed action by challenging regulations adopted by the Obama administration in 2015 and persuading the Trump administration to propose a weaker alternative in 2020. Regan, who led North Carolina's environmental agency before joining the Biden administration, helped broker a multibillion-dollar settlement with Duke Energy after major spills of coal ash from two of the company's power plants. Earthen berms are the only thing holding back coal ash at many of the sites nationwide. In 2008, 5.4 million cubic yards of waste poured into rivers near the Tennessee Valley Authority's Kingston Fossil Plant after a dike failed. The disaster prompted Earthjustice and other groups to call for the removal of coal ash from every other site, something that could finally start happening if the new federal regulations are adopted. 2023 Chicago Tribune. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain NASA astronaut Victor Glover Jr. will travel farther into space than any Black person before him when he pilots the Artemis II lunar mission in 2024. But he's already embarked on a personal mission that hits closer to home on Earth. He wants to take his fellow Americans to school and guide them deep into the nation's psyche, to help them reflect on the paradox of a nation that has a track record of oppressing Black people sending him on a trailblazing trip around the moon. Because of that legacy of racism, Glover says it's his duty to impress upon people that his voyage will represent more than a scientific triumph. During a conversation over Zoom about the beauty of space flight and the contradictions of American life, the 47-year-old Pomona, California, native says he recommends to audiences at his public speeches and his co-workers at NASA a choice set of reading, listening and viewing materials. He starts with the U.S. Constitution, whose words resound with the false promise of equality that has led to so much racial upheaval. "I like to highlight Article 1, Section 2, Clause 3, the part that says all people are accounted for the purposes of taxation and representation but everybody else is considered 3/5 of the personremember, that's still in there," Glover says of the language referring to enslaved Africans. "I encourage them to read the 'Letter from a Birmingham Jail' by Martin Luther King, the 'Paranoid Style in American Politics' by Richard Hofstadter," he says. "And then there are movies and music: '13th,' about the 13th Amendment by Ava DuVernay, the Lupe Fiasco song 'Shoes' that's about Amaud Arbery, who was murdered because he was out jogging and getting some exercise." Glover flashes a broad smile while discussing his work. He looks every bit the proud national hero with his smooth-shaven face and royal blue NASA jumpsuit. The Artemis II program will set the stage for humans to venture to Marsa feat for the ages. But he turns introspective when speaking about his own existence. Here he is preparing to pilot a spaceship that will also carry the first womanChristina Hammock Kochto the moon, feeling tugged by the pull of American history. He understands that to be Black in Americaespecially in an esteemed position like hisrequires constantly holding yourself up as a positive example to give hope to your people. During his time as the first Black astronaut to live long-term aboard the International Space Station in 2021, he celebrated Black history month with a phone call from Vice President Kamala Harris, a transformative figure in her own right as the first woman of color to hold that office. "The exciting thing about being a first is that there is a prospect of there being a second, a third and a fourth, and it actually becoming normal," Glover says. "I really look forward to the point where it's not remarkable that a Black man is exploring the solar systemor running this country." When celebrating Black excellence, Glover knows his joys are never his own, though. Neither are his sorrows. With every act of injustice, he thinks: "It could've been me." That's what he wanted his white friends and colleagues to take to heart after a white police officer killed George Floyd in 2020, and they asked him: "What can I do?" Only a few months earlier, a white father and son gunned down Arbery in a racially motivated shooting. "I think about him every time I'm out running," Glover says. Every instance of anti-Blackness strikes a chord deep within the whole community. That's why Glover believes it's essential for him to act as a kind of truth teller of the Black experience. It's fundamentally different for someone who looks like himwho has both that promise of equality and America's frequent failure to deliver on it in his DNAto journey into space. "It's important for us to live up to the words in some of our foundational documentsof the people, by the people," Glover says. "We're exploring for all people, and now we can say we're exploring with, or by, all people." Glover realizes that not everyone will share in the excitement over his lunar mission or revel in its symbolism. Black Americans have had a complicated outlook on space exploration. It has been seen as a source of inspiration and a distraction. Black people were still fighting for the right to freely vote, eat and sleep wherever they wanted and attend integrated schools when President Kennedy vowed in 1962 to land the first human on the moon. Many Black activists decried the massive spending dedicated to an Apollo lunar program that in the end would send only white men to Earth's sole natural satellite. Poverty, racial strife and police violence were crippling Black communities. That resentment cuts through Gil Scott-Heron's 1970 spoken-word piece, "Whitey on the Moon," a favorite work that Glover recommends to his NASA colleagues: "The man jus' upped my rent las' night. ('cause Whitey's on the moon) No hot water, no toilets, no lights. (but Whitey's on the moon). "One of my first speeches was to my colleagues to tell them, 'Hey, remember who you're talking tolittle me, when I was a kid, I didn't feel connected to this,'" Glover says. He got personal with his peers, he says, "to help them broaden their understanding of what America is." "We need to understand that perspective." At the same time, Black Americans have long embraced the power of the cosmos to liberate the spirit transforming the empty expanse of space into fertile territory brimming with new possibilities and luminous futures. "You're a shining star/ No matter who you are/ Shining bright to see/ What you could truly be," sang Earth, Wind & Fire. Jimi Hendrix daydreamed about space while growing up in the Seattle area and took on the persona of a righteous alien in the prelude to his 1967 song, "Up from the Skies." Some civil rights leaders of the 1960s understood the power of space to unlock the potential of the Black community, Glover says. "I'm not sure if many people know, but Nichelle Nichols, Lt. Uhura from 'Star Trek,' there's a story that she was considering leaving the show," he says of the pioneering Black actress, who died in 2022 and whose ashes will be sent into space on United Launch Alliance's privately owned Vulcan rocket. "Martin Luther King convinced her to stay because of what she represented and who she represented." "She became one of biggest advocates for racial and gender diversity in NASA," Glover says. Realizing that so many since that era have sacrificed and shattered racial barriersincluding 14 other Black astronautsGlover says it's even more gratifying to pilot the first crewed U.S. lunar mission in half a century. "I'm the fruit of the laborand the seed for the next generation as well," he says. As Glover shoots past Earth's atmosphere and sails 238,900 miles to the moon, his body will become weightless. But he knows his soul will be heavy. 2023 Los Angeles Times. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Credit: John K. Scott, CSIRO, Author provided The scrubby harbor-side hills of a South African city recently revealed details of an historical event that transformed Australian coastlines. That event led to the arrival in Australia of a native South African shrub, bitou bush. The invader went on to become one of Australia's worst weeds, smothering coastal dune vegetation. While bitou bush has been widespread along Australia's east coast for decades, the weed arrived in Western Australia relatively recently. The species (Chrysanthemoides monilifera subspecies rotundata) was discovered in 2012 at Kwinana, a port and industrial area south of Perth. This new invasion required urgent attention. Knowing where a weed has come from is fundamental to managing it well. Understanding how plants are introduced to new regions can enable effective biosecurity measures to be put in place. Establishing a weed's origin also reveals where to look for its natural enemies, such as insects or fungi, that can be used as classical biological control agents. Our research set out to decipher how bitou bush originally entered Australia and then spread from east to west. We reveal how the chance of new bitou bush arrivals in Australia is low and better biological control is possible. Establishing relationships between populations Earlier research on bitou bush established Australian populations went through "genetic bottlenecks", meaning only a few plants, seeds or parts of plants arrived to begin with. However, the work was unable to identify a population in South Africa that was a genetic match to the bitou bush found in Australia. Bitou bush (Chrysanthemoides monilifera subspecies rotundata) is a weed targeted for eradication in Western Australia. The flowers are bright yellow daisies. Credit: Kathryn L. Batchelor, CSIRO, Author provided Our new research took a more comprehensive approach to reveal plants from the South African port of East London were the likely source. Our findings suggested there was a single introduction of bitou bush to eastern Australia, with subsequent movement of material to establish the population in Western Australia more than a century later. Travel by ballast To build confidence in our results, we scoured historical archives in Australia and South Africa for records that could support or refute these findings. Could we turn a plausible hypothesis into a feasible smoking gun? In the storage racks of the National Herbarium of New South Wales lies a pressed sheet of dried plant material. Collected in 1908, this samplelater identified as bitou bushwas from the port-side suburb of Stockton in Newcastle. Newspaper reports revealed Stockton's local government had been complaining for at least ten years about a weed threat from dry ballast, making it likely the introduction of bitou bush to Australia occurred even earlier. Dry ballast consists of sand, soil, rocks and other matter used to provide stability to wooden sailing ships that had to travel without a heavy cargo load. This material was usually quarried at the port of departure. At the time, an increasingly large area in Stockton was reclaimed land comprised of ship's ballast. We found historical shipping records that showed ships were regularly leaving the South African Port of East London after taking on dry ballast, then sailing directly to Newcastle to collect coal. Before taking on coal, these ships discharged their dry ballast onto the ballast field at Stockton. We found documents showing that in 1904, more than half the ballast arriving in Australia was dumped at Stockton. The location of the first introduction of bitou bush into Australia showing the reclaimed ballast field (red shading, c. 1902) at Stockton, New South Wales and right, barques (sailing ships) waiting to be loaded with coal, having discarded the ballast (c. 1900). Credit: Newcastle University and Ralph Snowball Historical maps revealed a ballast quarry on the west side of the Port of East London. This quarry existed in 1902 and exposed remnants can still be seen today. Bitou bush can still be found across the vegetation-covered hillsides near the old quarry. Their seeds are therefore likely to have been contaminants in dry ballast. To Newcastle and beyond! The arrival of bitou bush at Stockton was the beginning of a wider invasion of the eastern Australian coastline. The plants now cover 1,600 km from Victoria to Queensland. This spread included deliberate plantings for dune stabilization in the 1950s. Our molecular work revealed these dune plantings were enabled by the local collection of seed from a limited number of plants, rather than new material from South Africa or widely sourced seed. We were not able to conclusively identify the introduction pathway from New South Wales to Western Australia. However, contamination of steel shipments between Newcastle or Port Kembla and Kwinana, or landscape plantings for the companies involved, are considered most likely. Why does this matter? Likely source location of bitou bush in and around the quarry at the Port of East London (circa 1920). Credit: East London Museum The discovery of a potential source population and pathway into Australia for bitou bush reveals two avenues for improved invasive species management. First, it opens the door to improved biological control. Earlier ineffective agents were sourced in South Africa from populations distantly related to the material introduced into Australia. Many effective agents, particularly pathogens, are highly host specific. New surveys around East London could discover a more effective biological control agent. Second, the work has clarified the ongoing risk of new introductions following the same pathway. Thankfully the use of dry ballast ceased with the move to steel-hulled ships carrying wet ballast, although the latter has its own biosecurity concerns. More generally, the case of bitou bush in Australia highlights the problem of inadvertent outcomes from introducing plants, either accidentally or deliberately, without rigorous risk assessment. We must remain vigilant to the risk of introductions facilitated by global trade and maintain strict border biosecurity protocols. More information: Amanda M. Emmett et al, Combining multiple lines of evidence to elucidate the origin and introduction pathway of bitou bush (Chrysanthemoides monilifera subsp. rotundata) in Australia, Biological Invasions (2023). DOI: 10.1007/s10530-023-03017-3 Journal information: Biological Invasions 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: Schematic representation of the notation showing the three-body terms to order D 1, which are responsible for opening the topological bulk gap. The letters refer to the spin operator applied to each vertex, and the bond colors correspond to the bonds in the Kitaev honeycomb model. Credit: PRX Quantum (2023). DOI: 10.1103/PRXQuantum.4.020329 Chiral spin liquids are one of the most fascinating phases of matter ever imagined by physicists. These exotic liquids exhibit quasi-particles known as non-Abelian anyons that are neither bosons nor fermions, and whose manipulation could allow for the realization of a universal quantum computer. Despite intense efforts in condensed matter physics, discovering such a phase in nature remains an outstanding challenge at the forefront of modern research. From a theoretical point of view, chiral spin liquids emerge in a simple model that was imagined by Kitaev in 2006, and which allows researchers to reveal their properties using analytical tools. Remarkably, recent advances in the design of quantum simulators open a possible path for the first experimental realization of the original Kitaev model, hence suggesting that chiral spin liquids (including their exotic quasi-particles) can be studied and manipulated in a highly-controlled experimental environment. In a new study published in PRX Quantum, BoYe Sun and Nathan Goldman (ULB, Brussels), Monika Aidelsburger (LMU, Munich), and Marin Bukov (MPI-PKS Dresden, Sofia University) propose a realistic implementation of the Kitaev model in quantum simulators. Based on a precise pulse sequence, their system is shown to host a chiral spin liquid with non-Abelian anyons. The authors describe practical methods to probe the striking properties of these exotic states. In particular, their methods unambiguously reveal the topological heat current that flows on the edge of the system: a hallmark signature of the non-Abelian anyons that emerge on the edge of chiral spin liquids. This work paves the way for the quantum simulation of chiral spin liquids, offering an appealing alternative to their experimental investigation in quantum materials. More information: Bo-Ye Sun et al, Engineering and Probing Non-Abelian Chiral Spin Liquids Using Periodically Driven Ultracold Atoms, PRX Quantum (2023). DOI: 10.1103/PRXQuantum.4.020329 Journal information: PRX Quantum 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: L-R (clockwise): The Allen Telescope Array, Green Bank Telescope and Medecina Radio Astronomical Station. Credit: Allen Telescope Array: Joe MarfiaGreen Bank Telescope: Jay YoungMedecina Radio Astronomical Station: Medecina Radio Astronomical Station What would happen if we received a message from an extraterrestrial civilization? Daniela de Paulis, an established interdisciplinary artist and licensed radio operator who currently serves as Artist in Residence at the SETI Institute and the Green Bank Observatory, has brought together a team of international experts, including SETI researchers, space scientists, and artists, to stage her latest project, A Sign in Space. This revolutionary presentation of global theater aims to explore the process of decoding and interpreting an extraterrestrial message by engaging the worldwide SETI community, professionals from different fields and the broader public. This process requires global cooperation, bridging a conversation around SETI, space research and society across multiple cultures and areas of expertise. As part of the project, on May 24, 2023, the European Space Agency's ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO) in orbit around Mars will transmit an encoded message to Earth to simulate receiving a signal from an extraterrestrial intelligence. Credit: SETI Institute "Throughout history, humanity has searched for meaning in powerful and transformative phenomena," said Daniela de Paulis, the visionary artist behind the A Sign in Space project. "Receiving a message from an extraterrestrial civilization would be a profoundly transformational experience for all humankind. A Sign in Space offers the unprecedented opportunity to tangibly rehearse and prepare for this scenario through global collaboration, fostering an open-ended search for meaning across all cultures and disciplines." Three world-class radio astronomy observatories located across the globe will detect the encoded message. These include the SETI Institute's Allen Telescope Array (ATA), the Robert C. Byrd Green Bank Telescope (GBT) at the Green Bank Observatory (GBO), and the Medicina Radio Astronomical Station observatory managed by Italian National Institute for Astrophysics (INAF). The specific content of the encoded message, developed by de Paulis and her team, is currently undisclosed, allowing the public to contribute to decoding and interpreting the content. The ESA ExoMars Orbiter will transmit the encoded message on May 24 at 19:00 UTC / 12:00 pm PDT, with receipt on Earth 16 minutes later. To engage the public, the SETI Institute will host a social media live stream event featuring interviews with key team members, including scientists, engineers, artists and more, joining the live stream from around the world, including control rooms from the ATA, the GBT, and Medicina. Hosted by the SETI Institute's Dr. Franck Marchis and GBO's Victoria Catlett, the live stream event will begin at 11:15 am PDT here. "This experiment is an opportunity for the world to learn how the SETI community, in all its diversity, will work together to receive, process, analyze, and understand the meaning of a potential extraterrestrial signal," said ATA Project Scientist Dr. Wael Farah. "More than astronomy, communicating with ET will require a breadth of knowledge." With "A Sign in Space," we hope to make the initial steps towards bringing a community together to meet this challenge." Following the transmission, ATA, GBT, and Medicina teams will process the signal and then make it available to the public for decoding. The SETI Institute will securely store the processed data in collaboration with Breakthrough Listen Open Data Archive and Filecoin, the world's largest decentralized storage network. This collaborative effort ensures the preservation and accessibility of the processed data, safeguarding its availability for further analysis and decoding endeavors. "We're thrilled to partner with SETI on this groundbreaking project," said Stefaan Verveat, Head of Network Growth at Protocol Labs, the company behind Filecoin. "Our decentralized data storage solutions are ideally suited for the secure and reliable storage of the vast amounts of data generated by this project." More information: Anyone working to decode and interpret the message can discuss the process in the A Sign in Space Discord server. 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: Experimental setups of the study. Panels depict experiment setups (from left to right) for alligators, small birds (red junglefowl and elegant-crested tinamous), and large birds (emus and rheas). (A) Setups for experiment 1 (gazing up). (B) Setups for experiment 2 (gazing to the side). (C) Setups for experiment 3 (geometrical). Red dots depict stimuli used to lure demonstrators gazes. Credit: Science Advances (2023). DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.adf0405 Understanding that others hold different viewpoints from your own is essential for human sociality. Adopting another person's visual perspective is a complex skill that emerges around the age of 2. A new study from Lund University in Sweden, published in Science Advances, suggests that this ability first arose in dinosaurs, at least 60 million years before it appeared in mammals. These findings challenge the idea that mammals were the originators of novel and superior forms of intelligence in the wake of the dinosaur extinction. When someone near you turns their head towards something in the environment, you likely can't help to follow their gaze direction. This reaction is observed in mammals, birds and even reptiles alike. It's an effective way to gather information about what caught the attention of your fellow, which you might otherwise have missed. However, a far more advanced behavior is to follow someone's gaze to a location that is initially obstructed from your view. By repositioning yourself to see what the other person is looking at, you demonstrate an understanding that the other has a different perspective. This ability, known as "visual perspective taking" develops in children between the ages of 1.5 to 2 years and serves as the foundation for later comprehending referential communication and that others have minds that differ from your own. Visual perspective taking has, to date, only been found in very few species. Mainly in apes and some monkeys, but also in dogs and ravens. However, there is limited knowledge regarding the evolutionary origins of this crucial social skill. A team of researchers from Lund University aimed to investigate a potential early emergence of visual perspective taking in dinosaurs. Through a comparison of alligators with the most primitive existing birds, known as palaeognaths, they discovered that visual perspective taking originated in the dinosaur lineage likely 60 million years, or more, prior to its appearance in mammals. Crocodilians are the closest living relatives to birds. Their neuroanatomy has remained largely unchanged for hundreds of millions of years, and is similar to that of the common ancestor of dinosaurs and crocodilians. Palaeognath birds comprise the ostrich birds, such as emus and rheas, but also the flighted tinamous. Their brains are in large part comparable to their forebearers, the non-avian paravian dinosaurs, which feature such celebrities as the velociraptors. Comparing these two groups of animals creates a bracket around the extinct lineage of dinosaurs leading up to modern birds. The study revealed that alligators do not demonstrate visual perspective taking, although they do follow gaze to a visible location. In contrast, all tested bird species exhibited visual perspective taking. Additionally, the birds engaged in a behavior called "checking back," where the observer looks back into the eyes of the gazer, and re-tracks the gaze, when unable to find anything in the direction of their gaze the first time. This behavior indicates an expectation that the gaze is referring to a target in the environment. Previously, this has only been observed in humans, apes and monkeys, and ravens. Palaeognath birds emerged 110 million years ago, predating the two mammal groups endowed with visual perspective takingprimates and dogswith 60 million years. Considering the neuroanatomical similarities between these birds and their non-avian forebearers, it is plausible that the skill originated even earlier in the dinosaur lineage. However, it is less likely to have been present among the earliest dinosaurs, which had more alligator-like brains. Perhaps future research will show the ability to be more widespread among mammals than currently known, but even if that would be the case it will most probably still be predated by the dinosaur origin. Nevertheless, it is not surprising that visual perspective taking emerged earlier in the dinosaurs, which include the birds, given their superior vision compared to most mammals, that historically relied on nocturnal adaptations. It was only with the emergence of the primates and certain carnivores that our visual capabilities improved. This is yet another finding that calls into question the prevailing view that mammals drove the evolution of complex cognition, and that they are the cognitive yardstick to which other animals should be compared. An increasing number of studies show the remarkable neurocognition of the avian dinosaurs, the birds, which might prompt a rethinking of the natural history of cognition. Senior author, Prof. Mathias Osvath says, "Early in my career, crow birds earned the nickname 'feathered apes,' due to numerous research findings that showcased their remarkable cognition. However, I'm beginning to question whether it would be more fitting to consider primates as honorary birds." First author (then Ph.D.-student), Dr. Claudia Zeitrag, says, "Birds are commonly being overlooked when it comes to their cognitive skills. Our findings show that they do not only have several cognitive skills on par with those of apes, but that their forebearers most likely had these skills long before they evolved in mammals." Middle author, Dr. Stephan Reber, says, "Crocodilians are ideal models to study the evolutionary origins of cognitive capacities in birds. What they share most probably existed in the common ancestor of dinosaurs and crocodilians. If crocodilians lack an ability birds possess, it likely evolved in the dinosaur lineage after the split. This approach allows us to study the cognition of extinct species." More information: Claudia Zeitrag et al, Gaze following in ArchosauriaAlligators and palaeognath birds suggest dinosaur origin of visual perspective taking, Science Advances (2023). DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.adf0405 Journal information: Science Advances This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: The ecological functions of small burrowing mammals in grasslands: The arrows indicate the positive impacts of small burrowing mammals on plant, animal, microbial and soil processes. Credit: Wenjin Li and Lanzhou University A new article published in the Journal of Animal Ecology suggests that current measures to protect grasslands in the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau are damaging the ecosystem and should be stopped. The existing policy, introduced in 2000, calls for the eradication of small burrowing mammals. These include the mountain-dwelling herbivores, the plateau pika, and another small rodent, the zokor. Both are keystone species and are known as ecosystem engineers due to their modification of and impact on the environment. The report's authors say that the current extermination programs are not based on studies that considered the full effects of culling these rodents. "The government agency's policy of conducting large-scale animal culling campaigns each year is not a good approach," says Professor Johannes Knops from the Health and Environmental Sciences department at Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University (XJTLU) and corresponding author. Professor Knops and the first author, Dr. Wenjin Li from the College of Ecology at Lanzhou University, propose replacing the eradication policy with a nature-based control strategy. "Our research shows that using natural predators and other ecological factors to regulate burrowing mammal populations can be a more sustainable and effective approach to grassland management." The study has important implications for grassland management practices worldwide. Small burrowing mammals are common in grasslands, and their eradication can negatively impact ecosystem health and productivity. Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, yak herders summer camp. Yak graze widely during the day and are brought back to the camp in the evening for milking. Credit: J. Knops and XJTLU A balancing act The Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau grasslands play a crucial role in the quality of water flowing into major Asian rivers, including the Yangtze, Yellow, Lancang-Mekong, Indus and Ganges. Grassland degradation can also increase the chance of flooding events. The campaign to permanently eradicate plateau pikas and zokors is part of Chinese government agencies' efforts to protect the grasslands. The policy is part of a nationwide initiative, the Returning Grazing Land to Grassland project, and is based on the assumption that the rodents cause damage to grasslands by consuming foliage and therefore compete with grazing livestock for food, and cause soil erosion. However, the new study discusses the irrationality and consequences of this policy and reports that small burrowing mammals can actually help to prevent grassland degradation. Professor Knops says, "If we look at the grasslands, we will find numerous plant species, and not all animals eat the same plants, so it is crucial to consider the entire food chain rather than killing all the small mammals." The authors also say that burrowing animals can increase plant diversity as they increase seed dispersion and light availability by consuming taller grasses. Their burrows provide refuges and habitats for other species and can help to decrease surface water runoff and soil erosion. The research team conducting experiments on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau. Credit: Wenjin Li and Lanzhou University The researchers advise that the eradication policy needs to be reconsidered and revoked, as small burrowing mammals play crucial ecological roles in grassland management. They say that diminishing the rodent population disrupts ecosystem processes and reduces biodiversity. The research also suggests that the current poisoning method used to eradicate small burrowing mammals has several overlooked adverse effects. Collateral damage In the paper, the authors discuss the potential unintended consequences of using the high-cost and labor-intensive poisoning method to kill small mammals in grasslands. These include the development of resistance to poisons by target species and potential harm to non-target species. Additionally, this policy can increase human-wildlife conflict by reducing natural predator populations and creating imbalances in the ecosystem. Professor Knops explains, "It's important to consider the knock-on effects of reducing the small burrowing mammal population. If there are fewer small mammals, there is less food for their natural predators, such as red foxes, steppe polecats, upland buzzards, brown bears and mountain weasels. "Not only will these larger mammals start to look for alternative food sources and increasingly prey on livestock, causing more human-wildlife conflict, but their populations will also decrease. Yak livestock returning from grazing to be milked. Credit: J. Knops and XJTLU "The eradication policy, therefore, causes the opposite effect to the one intended, as when the number of the pika and zokor's natural predators is reduced, burrowing mammal populations can increase rapidly. "This then requires more human control, which is costly and negatively impacts non-target species and the environment." Rethinking control The researchers suggest the goal to control burrowing mammal populations should not be totally eradicated but can be regulated with a nature-based control strategy that uses natural predators and other environmental factors such as their preferred plant species and the height of vegetation. The report proposes measures such as providing nesting spaces for raptors and reducing the over-grazing of livestock on the grasslands. This allows the grass to grow and keeps the small mammal population at a manageable level, as they prefer shorter vegetation. The authors argue that this approach is more effective and sustainable for long-term grassland management than traditional methods that rely heavily on human intervention and poisoning. Professor Knops says, "By maintaining a stable, low density of burrowing mammals using natural predators and ecological factors, we can promote sustainable livestock grazing practices while also preserving biodiversity and reducing human-wildlife conflicts." Further research is needed to refine this approach and test its effectiveness in various grassland ecosystems. Still, the study's findings offer important insights into the ecological roles of small burrowing mammals in grasslands and how their presence can benefit ecosystem health and productivity. More information: Li et al, Anchoring grassland sustainability with a nature-based small burrowing mammal control strategy, Journal of Animal Ecology (2023). DOI: 10.1111/1365-2656.13938 Journal information: Journal of Animal Ecology 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: Hand-colored lithograph published by Currier & Ives in 1876. This is probably the most widely distributed illustration of the experiment. Franklin is wrongly shown to be holding the string in one hand above the point to which the key is attached. Had he done so, he would have earthed the kite, and the experiment would not have worked. Credit: Bequest of A. S. Colgate, 1962 Illustrations of scientific experiments play a fundamental role in both science education and the dissemination of scientific knowledge to the general public. Confirming the adage that "a picture is worth a thousand words," these depictions of famous experiments remain in the minds of those who study them and become definitive versions of the scientific process. Archimedes in the bath discovering the law of buoyancy; Newton refracting sunlight with a prism and defining the principles of modern optics; Mendel cultivating peas and laying the foundations of geneticsthese are just a few well-known examples. Many of these depictions convey false information, either because the experiments never actually happened or because they were performed quite differently. People who try to reproduce them on the basis of what the illustrations depict might not get any results at all or could even face dangerous consequences. A study conducted by Breno Arsioli Moura, a researcher at the Federal University of the ABC (UFABC) in Sao Paulo state, Brazil, has investigated depictions of one of these famous experiments, in which Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) flew a kite to draw electricity from a thundercloud. An article on the study is published in the journal Science & Education. Franklin was one of the leaders of the American Revolution and the first United States Ambassador to France. He was a Deist, a Freemason, and one of the most renowned personifications of the Enlightenment in the eighteenth century. His many interests included religion, philosophy, politics, and moral and social reform, and he was one of the foremost inventors and scientists of his time. "The kite experiment is Franklin's most famous scientific achievement. In the article I analyze seven illustrations of the event published later on, in the nineteenth century," Moura told Agencia FAPESP. In fact, he added, the kite experiment was designed to be a simpler version of another experiment Franklin thought up in 1750 and which is now known as the "sentry box" experiment. "A kind of sentry box was to be set up on top of a tower, steeple or hill, and a man would stand inside it on an insulating dais made of wax, with a long, sharply pointed iron rod measuring some 10 meters inserted into it. Franklin expected the tip of the rod to 'draw fire' from the clouds. If the experimenter brought his knuckles close to the bottom of the rod, he would produce sparks," Moura said. "It's important to note two things. The experiment wasn't to be performed during a storm to take advantage of lightning strikes, and the rod wasn't to be earthed but anchored by the insulating stand so that all the electricity extracted would be stored in it." Franklin's proposal stayed on paper until a highly similar experiment was performed by French researchers in 1752. Its success drew even more international attention to his work on electricity. "When he heard about the French experiment, Franklin wrote to a correspondent in England that a simpler version of the experiment had been performed in Philadelphia, where he lived. This was in fact the kite experiment," Moura said. The kite consisted of a "small cross made of two light strips of cedar, the arms so long as to reach to the four corners of a large thin silk handkerchief when extended," Franklin wrote. A "very sharp-pointed wire" was tied to the "top of the upper stick of the cross, rising a foot or more above the wood." The principle was the same as in the sentry box proposal. A key was fastened to the end of a silk ribbon, which in turn was tied to the end of the string (silk is an insulator). "The experimenter held the apparatus by the silk ribbon so that electricity drawn down 'silently' from the clouds by the kite and conveyed along the string was stored in the key. As in the sentry box experiment, the kite was insulated, not earthed. By approaching a finger or knuckle, the experimenter could draw sparks," Moura explained. Like other eighteenth-century natural philosophers, Franklin thought of electricity as a fluid built up and then discharged, flowing from one place to another. This fluid could be obtained in the laboratory by rubbing a glass tube with a piece of leather and stored in a Leyden jar, invented in mid-century by Dutch scientists. The general idea behind the sentry box and kite experiments was to show that the fluid could also be drawn from the clouds. Franklin was fascinated by the physics of cloud electrification and other aspects of meteorology. For example, he thought seawater was full of electric fluid, and that when it evaporated to form storms high above the ocean, it took this fluid with it, so that the clouds were full of electricity. "In Franklin's writings, there are no details showing whether he or someone else performed the experiment, but it does appear to have taken place. Another account of the experiment was produced 15 years later, in 1767, in a book by Joseph Priestley entitled 'The History and Present State of Electricity.' Franklin helped Priestley obtain materials for the book and is therefore assumed to have agreed with its contents. Priestley's account is far more detailed and includes participation in the experiment by Franklin's son. However, it differs from the original 1752 account on several points," Moura said. In his study of the illustrations depicting Franklin's kite experiment, Moura argues that they were based on Priestley's account. Many show Franklin with his son as a small boy even though at the time he was actually 21. Some also contain more important errors. "Many show the experiment being performed in the open air even though Franklin specified that the experimenter must be in a 'door or window, or under some cover, so that the silk ribbon may not be wet,' which would make it conductive. In most cases, the kite is being struck by lightning, or lightning bolts are very near it, although Franklin did not want to draw a lightning strike down upon himself. Most illustrations don't show the silk ribbon that was meant to insulate the kite. Franklin simply holds the string. If that had been the case, he would have earthed the kite and ruined the experiment. One illustration shows Franklin holding the key near or on the string, which isn't warranted by any account," Moura said. The illustrations should not be used indiscriminately, especially in science classes, he argued. They embody messages that can be construed in a confusing or wrong manner, both historically and scientifically, if they are not treated critically. As noted at the outset, the images stay in the mind of the viewer and any errors they foster are hard to eradicate. More information: Breno Arsioli Moura, Picturing Benjamin Franklin's Kite Experiment in the Nineteenth Century, Science & Education (2023). DOI: 10.1007/s11191-023-00421-y Provided by FAPESP BANGKOK, May 22 (Xinhua) -- The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) launched a campaign on Monday to bolster market confidence among Chinese tourists, while emphasizing safety measures. Under the theme of "Trusted Thailand," TAT aims to raise awareness of safety measures for Chinese tourists and promote enriched travel experiences in Thailand. As part of the campaign, some 60 Chinese key opinion leaders (KOLs) were invited to explore popular Thai destinations from May 18-28 and experience community-based, gastronomy, wellness and beach tourism, along with the China-Laos-Thailand high-speed railway. Tanes Petsuwan, TAT Deputy Governor for International Marketing in Asia and South Pacific, told Xinhua that TAT is collaborating closely with the Royal Thai Police to ensure the utmost security and provide excellent service and care to Chinese tourists visiting Thailand. Sukhun Prommayon, Commissioner of the Tourist Police Bureau, reassured visitors that the bureau, in collaboration with relevant agencies, is committed to ensuring their safety and well-being during their travels in Thailand. Tourists were advised to utilize the Tourist Police Hotline 1155 or download the "Tourist Police I Lert U" mobile app for direct contact with officers proficient in multiple languages, including Chinese, according to Sukhun. Thailand has witnessed promising tourism figures, recording 1,003,893 Chinese tourists from Jan. 1 to May 18. With an anticipated increase in scheduled flights between Thailand and China in the upcoming months, TAT has set a target of receiving 5 million Chinese tourists in 2023. "The resumption of flights in the second half of this year is expected to reach 70 percent of the pre-COVID-19 pandemic level. I am confident that we will be able to achieve the 5-million target," Tanes 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: Tooth traces of an Allosaurus dinosaur in the bone of an Apatosaurus, from the Late Jurassic Period, about 150 million years ago. The specimen is from the Dinosaur Journey Museum in Colorado. Credit: Anthony Martin The ordinary person looks at Stone Mountain and sees a solid, unmovable monolith. Emory paleontologist Anthony Martin, who thinks in geologic time, sees something more akin to a giant sugar cube. Ever since the crystalized mass of igneous-born minerals rose from deep underground, pushed by the upwelling of magma that formed the Blue Ridge Mountains around 350 million years ago, the giant rock's flanks have faced continuous assaultand not just from weather and water. Stone Mountain "is fighting a battle against life, and life is winning," Martin writes in the preface of his new book, "Life Sculpted: Tales of the Animals, Plants and Fungi That Drill, Break and Scrape to Shape the Earth." The University of Chicago Press is publishing "Life Sculpted" June 2, marking the fifth book during the past 10 years by Martin, professor of practice in Emory's Department of Environmental Sciences. Martin is a geologist and paleontologist focused primarily on ichnologythe study of traces of life such as tracks, burrows, nests and tooth marks. Among his discoveries are the only known burrowing dinosaur and the oldest bird tracks in Australia. His other passion is great science communication, which his books exemplify. "Life Sculpted" is a follow-up to Martin's 2017 book "The Evolution Underground: Burrows, Bunkers and the Marvelous Subterranean World Beneath Our Feet." The current volume, also aimed at anyone interested in Earth sciences, goes beyond burrowing to cover how myriad forms of life have broken down the hard substrates of rock, shells, bones and wood during the past billion years. "Yes, life can be hard," Martin quips, "but life also makes everything less hard every day. Bioerosion shapes the world, literally. It's changed entire ecosystems." Bioerosion has also changed human history. Martin cites the wood-boring clams that perforated the hulls of the Spanish Armada, helping tip the odds toward the English Navy in 1588, when it won a decades-long fight for maritime dominance. Bioeroders come in all sizes, he writes, from microbes that transport calcium away from rock and shells to elephants that dig caves with their tusks to obtain salt. Bioeroders can change the soundscape as well as the landscape. In a chapter titled "Your Beach Is Made of Parrotfish Poop," Martin describes hearing "a crunching and popping reminiscent of sugary breakfast cereals meeting milk" while snorkeling over a Bahamian reef. The crunching, he explains, is actually the sound of parrotfishes biting out chunks of the reef with jaws and teeth capable of breaking apart rock. Reefs and the surrounding shallow-marine environments have been shaped by millions of years of such fishes gnawing on coral and defecating sediments. Martin doesn't just want readers to visualize and hear bioerosion. He also wants them to smell it. He describes how dinosaurs chewed up rotten wood to get at insects and how insects, in turn, bored into the limb bones of large Jurassic dinosaurs that apparently became trapped in a stinking mud pit of decomposing flesh in Colorado. The book gives many modern-day examples of bioeroders closer to home. Georgia "hosts small, furry, bone-destroying beings that descend from the trees and eat skulls," Martin writes. He knows this from personal observation of gray squirrels that relentlessly gnawed to bits a cow skull he and his wife had hanging in their courtyard. "It's their calcium supplement," he explains. And then there are all the bioeroders who have been busily at work on Stone Mountain. Lichens colonized the enormous rock's surface as soon as it emerged into the air, starting the process of soil formation that then allowed plants to take root. Animals began scurrying across and digging into its crumbling surface. Those animals eventually included humans, among the leading biological excavators of hard materials on the planet. Humans have chiseled massive chunks from Stone Mountain's side and removed tons of granite from its core. And any time you hike up Stone Mountain, Martin wants you to consider that you are taking a bit of its powdery dust with you on your footwear when you leave. "The book is filled with 'aha' moments for the reader," Martin says. "I want to encourage people to look for the evidence and to expand their awareness of how life is shaping the Earth." 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: Encouraging the uptake of electric cars is part of the French government's new measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The French government unveiled a plan on Monday to accelerate cuts to its greenhouse gas emissions, targeting a reduction of 50 percent by 2030 compared with 1990 levels. Unveiled by Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne, the roadmap includes detailed figures for reductions for individual sectors of the economy, ranging from the transport industry to households. The objectivesfrom speeding up the transition to electric cars or switching freight from road to riversare aimed at bringing France's ambitions for slashing carbon pollution into line with the EU's target for 2030. France has so far cut its emissions by 25 percent compared with 1990 levels, requiring major fresh efforts if it is to hit the new 50-percent target. The centrist government of President Emmanuel Macron is wary of provoking consumers with costly initiatives, with memories still fresh of an increase in fuel taxes and vehicle emissions restrictions in 2018 which sparked major protests. The so-called "Yellow Vest" revolt against Macron began in small and medium-sized towns and the countryside where locals felt they were being penalized for using their cars when no other forms of transport were available. "We're asking for a bit from the smallest (polluters) and a lot from the biggest," an aide to Borne told reporters, meaning around half of efforts would be for companies, a quarter for households and a quarter for local administrations. Concern about climate change has leapt up the political agenda in the last 12 months, with the country experiencing its hottest year since records began last year which left rivers dry, crops withered and widespread water shortages. A record nation-wide winter drought during January and February has also led to fears about water supplies this summer. Macron, who has admitted to grasping the scale of the planet's environmental problems late, promised to put climate change at the heart of his second term in office which began in May last year. He pledged to make France the first major nation to abandon fossil fuels and gave Borne an extra job title for "planning the ecological transition." But the 45-year-old former investment banker has been derided by environmental groups and Greens lawmakers for going too slow and he sparked criticism on May 11 by calling for a "pause" on EU environmental legislation. Among other developed countries, the United Kingdom has the most ambitious short-term goals of any major economy, with an objective of 2030 emissions being 68 percent below 1990 levels. The United States has committed to cut greenhouse gases 50-52 percent by 2030 below 2005 levels, while Germany has set a 65 percent reduction target compared to 1990. The UN's climate science panel has said the world must slash emissions 43 percent this decade to keep within the Paris Agreement's 1.5C global warming limit. China and India have set long-term goals to become carbon neutral by 2060 and 2070 respectively, but do not have emissions reduction targets for 2030. 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: Dorsal view of Sydney funnel-web spiders during mating. Credit: Kane Christensen (Australian Reptile Park The complex mating rituals of the Sydney funnel-web spider have now been described in detail for the first time, with sexual routines including leg and body vibrations and female lifting, filling a missing link in the study of spiders. Compared to studies of more diverse and visual spiders such as jumping spiders, crab and wolf spiders and orb weavers, the intriguing courtship behavior and mating systems of the highly venomous, ground-dwelling Sydney funnel-web (Atrax robustus) have been described by German and Australian experts, including Flinders University ecologist Dr. Bruno Buzatto. "While the high level of toxicity and development of anti-venom has seen the funnel-web studied in the past, little is actually known about its ecology," says Dr. Buzatto. "This is the first reconstruction of mating behaviors in funnel-web spiders where the behavioral repertoire is difficult to document due to the concealed life in funnel-shaped webs that are built in soil and leaf-litter habitats." Starting with the male's elaborate display outside a female burrow, videos have been collected to describe male and female funnel-web behaviors in captivity inside and outside their burrows in a new article published in the Journal of Zoology. The study covers new ground on pre-copulatory courtship and sexual behaviors including the chase, leg and body displays and lunge before lifting the female ahead of final copulation to reproduce. "Female Sydney funnel-web spiders appear to remain quiescent during mating but some copulations ended with the male being chased away by the female," says Dr. Buzatto, adding cannibalism in these spiders is rare and probably more likely in captivity rather than in the wild. Sydney funnel-web mating spiders. Credit: Kane Christensen (Australian Reptile Park) The studyby experts from Flinders University, Hamburg University, Museum of Nature Hamburg and the Australian Reptile Park in NSWalso provides fresh insights into the use of the male funnel-web spider's "clasping spurs" located on their second pair of legs. "It has been assumed that the Sydney funnel-web has these mating or clasping spurs to keep the female upright while they mateso the female cannot attack, kill or eat the male. "However, our study suggests the spurs are used to pull the female towards the male and keep them thereand probably have more a sexually selective function than one to avoid cannibalism," says Buzatto. Australia has a number of different funnel-web spider species. The spiders used in the study were part of the breeding and venom collecting program run at the Australian Reptile Park in Somersby, New South Wales. Different mating pairs were filmed in 451 videos and 165 minutes of footage, with the average 20mm adult males and 27.5mm females commonly venturing from their own funnel-web burrows for mating. "There is a gap in our knowledge about sexual behavior in male and female funnel-webs and other mygalomorphs (including tarantulas and trapdoor spiders) so we hope this paper inspires future studies in this gap in information." More information: S.C. Frank et al, Mating behavior of the Sydney funnelweb spider (Atracidae: Atrax robustus ) and implications for the evolution of courtship in mygalomorph spiders, Journal of Zoology (2023). DOI: 10.1111/jzo.13070 Journal information: Journal of Zoology 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: GRASS gravimeter. Credit: ESA-S. Blair The first instrument to directly measure gravity on the surface of an asteroid has undergone testing in ESA's Mechanical Systems Laboratory. The GRASS gravimeter will be landed on the surface of the Dimorphos asteroid aboard the Juventas CubeSatwhich will itself be deployed from ESA's Hera mission for planetary defenseand is designed to measure an expected gravity level of less than a millionth of Earth's own. The Gravimeter for Small Solar System Objects, GRASS, has been developed by the Royal Observatory of Belgium (ROB) with Spain's EMXYS company. To prove it was ready for integration with Hera's Juventas CubeSat, GRASS was subjected to spacelike vacuum and temperature extremes within a thermal vacuum chamber, then underwent sustained shaking to mimic the violence of a rocket launch. "It may be small but GRASS is packed with complex mechanical parts and electronics," explains Jose Carrasco, overseeing the instruments at EMXYS. "We're very happy with its endurance during the test campaign. We will now follow up with a full integrity test to ensure it has sustained no damage during the testing, after which it will be passed to the GomSpace company in Luxembourg for integration aboard Juventas." The L-shaped instrument, the size of two smartphones stuck together, is designed to measure miniscule gravity levels because the Dimorphos asteroid it will touch down on is the smallest planetary object ever to be visited by a spacecraft. At around 160 m in diameter it is about the same size as Egypt's Great Pyramid of Giza. This image from ASIs LICIACube show the plumes of ejecta streaming from the Dimorphos asteroid after NASAs Double Asteroid Redirect Test, or DART, mission, made impact with it on 26 September 2022. Each rectangle represents a different level of contrast in order to better see fine structure in the plumes. By studying these streams of material, we will be able to learn more about the asteroid and the impact process. Credit: ASI/NASA/APL Dimorphos became famous last year when it was impacted by NASA's DART spacecraft, sending out plumes of debris thousands of kilometers across space and measurably shifting its orbit around the larger Didymos asteroid. "ESA's Hera mission is Europe's contribution to an international experiment in planetary defense," explains Hera system engineer Hannah Goldberg. "Following the DART impact, Hera will gather close-up data on the Dimorphos asteroid to turn this kinetic impact experiment into a well-understood and in principle repeatable method of planetary defense. GRASS's surface gravity measurements will help researchers learn the precise mass of the asteroid, along with radio science experiments performed by the main Hera spacecraft." The GRASS gravimeter design involves two sets of thin blades which are anchored within cradles, both of which are continuously rotating. The slightest motion of each blade changes the overall voltage of the blade itself and its surrounding walls. This capacitance-based measuring technique gives the gravimeter a sensitivity equivalent of a single micrometeror thousandth of a millimeter. Ozgur Karatekin of ROB adds, "Obviously the real-world performance of the gravimeter cannot be demonstrated directly here on Earth, but our lab testing coupled with numerical simulations showed we have achieved sufficiently high sensitivity to detect such low gravity." The GRASS team also had to design an instrument small enough to fit into the Juventas CubeSat, itself only the size of a shoebox, along with Juventas' main radar instrument. In the event their final design is just 330 grams in mass and requires only half a watt of power. Jose Carrasco notes, "The Royal Observatory of Belgium contributed the mechanical design, including the two blades, cradles and rotating motors, while EMXYS had to put together sufficiently compact electronics to operate the instrument, including copious use of commercial off the shelf parts." Credit: ESA/Science Office GRASS will be turned on as Juventas gradually falls to the surface of Dimorphos following the conclusion of its subsurface radar imaging campaign. The gravimeter will record the impact on the asteroid, any subsequent bounces and then any shifts in surface gravity over time, due to the influence of its parent Didymos asteroid. Ozgur Karatekin explains, "We have to assume that Juventas could land at any angle on Dimorphos, so that potentially its solar arrays will be blocked from generating any further power. Instead GRASS will run on Juventas's internal battery for up to 20 hours. "In addition, because the instrument's two gravimeters are positioned at right angles from each other, and go on rotating, the instrument can construct the 3D gravity vector and monitor its variations from any landing position." Once integrated within Juventas, GRASS will subsequently be tested as part of the overall nanosatellite. Based at ESA's ESTEC technical center in the Netherlands, the Mechanical Systems Lab is equipped for environmental testing of instruments, subsystems or entire small spacecraft. It is one of a suite of about 35 ESTEC labs, tasked with investigating every aspect of the space environment. This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Samples taken from Kangaroo Island beehives in 2019 before the devastating bushfires have yielded new species of lactic acid bacteria that could be used in the fermentation. Credit: University of Adelaide Researchers from the University of Adelaide have discovered new species of lactic acid bacteria on Kangaroo Island that could be used in the fermentation of wine, ciders and sour beers. Six strains of bacteria were isolated from insects and flowers on various properties and locations across Kangaroo Island in late 2019. This resulted in the discovery of five unique speciesFructilactobacillus cliffordii, Fructilactobacillus hinvesii, Fructilactobacillus myrtifloralis, Fructilactobacillus carniphilus and Fructobacillus americanaquae. The research has been published in the International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology. "We selected Kangaroo Island due to its unique microclimates, undisturbed and biodiverse plant life and beekeeping industry with intact biosecurity protocols," said lead author and Ph.D. candidate Scott Oliphant from the University of Adelaide's School of Agriculture, Food and Wine. "These samples were collected shortly before the devastating bushfires in the summer of 201920. "Some of the microbes we assessed were from Flinders Chase National Park apiaries, which were destroyed in those bushfires." According to project lead Professor of Oenology Vladimir Jiranek, the focus of the project is to find organisms that could be used in the fermentation of beverages such as wine, ciders, and sour beers. The strains are now being tested for their use in the beverage industry. Samples were taken from Kangaroo Island Ciders, Clifford's Honey Farms, Living Honey, De Tong Ling, Island Beehive, and near Sunrise on Falie accommodation. Two of the species have been named after Shawn Hinves, from Living Honey, and the Clifford family. Mr. Oliphant said lactic acid bacteria represent a diverse group of micro-organisms that can be found in a variety of plants and insects. "Flowers have previously been a common source for isolating diverse groups of lactic acid bacteria," Mr. Oliphant said. "For example, Fructilactobacillus florum was isolated from flowers of peony and bitou, Fructilactobacillus ixorae from West Indian jasmine and Fructobacillus tropaeoli from nasturtium. "Bees, wasps, sawflies and ants exchanges these microorganisms when they visit different types of flowers." More information: Scott A. Oliphant et al, Fructilactobacillus cliffordii sp. nov., Fructilactobacillus hinvesii sp. nov., Fructilactobacillus myrtifloralis sp. nov., Fructilactobacillus carniphilus sp. nov. and Fructobacillus americanaquae sp. nov., five novel lactic acid bacteria isolated from insects or flowers of Kangaroo Island, South Australia, International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology (2023). DOI: 10.1099/ijsem.0.005730 This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain Current climate policies will leave more than a fifth of humanity exposed to dangerously hot temperatures by 2100, new research suggests. The paper, published in the journal Nature Sustainability, is entitled "Quantifying the Human Cost of Global Warming." Despite the Paris Agreement pledge to keep global warming well below 2C (compared to pre-industrial levels), current policies are projected to result in 2.7C warming by the end of the century. The new study, led by researchers at the Global Systems Institute, University of Exeter, associated with the Earth Commission, and Nanjing University, assessed what this would mean for the number of people living outside the "climate niche" in which our species has thrived. It says about 60 million people are already exposed to dangerous heat (average temperature of 29C or higher). And 2 billion22% of the projected end-of-century populationwould be exposed to this at 2.7C of global warming. The paper highlights the "huge potential" for decisive climate policy to limit the human costs and inequities of climate change. Limiting warming to 1.5C would leave 5% exposedsaving a sixth of humanity from dangerous heat compared to 2.7C of warming. The study also finds that the lifetime emissions of 3.5 average global citizens todayor just 1.2 U.S. citizensexpose one future person to dangerous heat. This highlights the inequity of climate crisis, as these future heat-exposed people will live in places where emissions today are around half of the global average. In "worst-case scenarios" of 3.6C or even 4.4C global warming, half of the world's population could be left outside the climate niche, posing what the researchers call an "existential risk." "The costs of global warming are often expressed in financial terms, but our study highlights the phenomenal human cost of failing to tackle the climate emergency," said Professor Tim Lenton, director of the Global Systems Institute at the University of Exeter. "For every 0.1C of warming above present levels, about 140 million more people will be exposed to dangerous heat. "This reveals both the scale of the problem and the importance of decisive action to reduce carbon emissions. "Limiting global warming to 1.5C rather than 2.7C would mean five times fewer people in 2100 being exposed to dangerous heat." Defining the niche Human population density has historically peaked in places with an average temperature of about 13C, with a secondary peak at about 27C (monsoon climates, especially in South Asia). Density of crops and livestock follow similar patterns, and wealth (measured by GDP) peaks at about 13C. Mortality increases at both higher and lower temperatures, supporting the idea of a human "niche." Although less than 1% of humanity currently live in places of dangerous heat exposure, the study shows climate change has already put 9% of the global population (more than 600 million people) outside the niche. "Most of these people lived near the cooler 13C peak of the niche and are now in the 'middle ground' between the two peaks. While not dangerously hot, these conditions tend to be much drier and have not historically supported dense human populations," said Professor Chi Xu, of Nanjing University. "Meanwhile, the vast majority of people set to be left outside the niche due to future warming will be exposed to dangerous heat. "Such high temperatures have been linked to issues including increased mortality, decreased labor productivity, decreased cognitive performance, impaired learning, adverse pregnancy outcomes, decreased crop yield, increased conflict and infectious disease spread." While some cooler places may become more habitable due to climate change, population growth is projected to be highest in places at risk of dangerous heat, especially India and Nigeria. The study also found: Exposure to dangerous heat starts to increase dramatically at 1.2C (just above current global warming) and increases by about 140 million for every 0.1C of further warming. Assuming a future population of 9.5 billion people, India would have the greatest population exposed at 2.7C global warmingmore than 600 million. At 1.5C, this figure would be far lower, at about 90 million. Nigeria would have the second-largest heat-exposed population at 2.7C global warming, more than 300 million. At 1.5C warming this would be less than 40 million. India and Nigeria already show "hotspots" of dangerous temperatures. At 2.7C, almost 100% of some countries including Burkina Faso and Mali will be dangerously hot for humans. Brazil would have the largest land area exposed to dangerous heat, despite almost no area being exposed at 1.5C. Australia and India would also experience massive increases in area exposed. The research teamwhich included the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis, and the Universities of Washington, North Carolina State, Aarhus and Wageningenstress that the worst of these impacts can be avoided by rapid action to cut greenhouse gas emissions. Speaking about the conception of their idea, Professor Marten Scheffer, of Wageningen University, said, "We were triggered by the fact that the economic costs of carbon emissions hardly reflect the impact on human well-being. "Our calculations now help bridging this gap and should stimulate asking new, unorthodox questions about justice." Ashish Ghadiali, of Exeter's Global Systems Institute, said, "These new findings from the leading edge of Earth systems science underline the profoundly racialized nature of projected climate impacts and should inspire a policy sea-change in thinking around the urgency of decarbonization efforts as well as in the value of massively up-shifting global investment into the frontlines of climate vulnerability." Wendy Broadgate, Executive Director of the Earth Commission at Future Earth, said, "We are already seeing effects of dangerous heat levels on people in different parts of the world today. This will only accelerate unless we take immediate and decisive action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions." Work on climate solutions by the Global Systems Institute at the University of Exeter has identified "positive tipping points" to accelerate action, including a recent report that highlighted three "super-leverage points" that could trigger a cascade of decarbonization. More information: Timothy Lenton, Quantifying the human cost of global warming, Nature Sustainability (2023). DOI: 10.1038/s41893-023-01132-6. www.nature.com/articles/s41893-023-01132-6 Journal information: Nature Sustainability 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: Images from a ground-based infrared telescope, showing Jupiter at 5 micron wavelength radiation. The remarkable change between May 2001 and December 2011 in the North Equatorial Belt (highlighted between the dashed blue lines) can be seen. Credit: Arrate Antunano/NASA/IRTF/NSFCam/SpeX Academics at the University of Leeds believe they could have found the answer to a long-running mystery behind Jupiter's famous "stripes." Pictures of the planet are characterized by bands of color, as well as the famous Great Red Spot, but these bands are often seen to move and changesomething which scientists have until now not been able to explain. Now thanks to a new discoverymade possible by NASA's Juno mission providing incredible new information about Jupiter's magnetic fieldDr. Kumiko Hori and Professor Chris Jones from the University's School of Math believe they could have found the answer. Professor Jones said, "If you look at Jupiter through a telescope, you see the stripes, which go round the equator along lines of latitude. There are dark and light belts that occur, and if you look a little bit more closely, you can see clouds zipping around carried by extraordinarily strong easterly and westerly winds. Near the equator, the wind blows eastward but as you change latitude a bit, either north or south, it goes westward. And then if you move a little bit further away it goes eastward again. This alternating pattern of eastward and westward winds is quite different from weather on Earth." "Every four or five years, things change. The colors of the belts can change and sometimes you see global upheavals when the whole weather pattern goes slightly crazy for a bit, and it has been a mystery as to why that happens." Scientists already know the changing appearance of Jupiter is somehow linked to infrared variations about 50 km below the gas giant's surface, and this fresh research has shown that these variations could in turn be caused by waves produced by the planet's magnetic field, deep within its interior. Using data gathered by NASA's Juno mission to Jupiter, which has been orbiting the planet since 2016, their research team was able to monitor and calculate changes in its magnetic field. Professor Jones added, "It is possible to get wavelike motions in a planetary magnetic field which are called torsional oscillations. The exciting thing is that when we calculated the periods of these torsional oscillations, they corresponded to the periods that you see in the infrared radiation on Jupiter." The amazing longevity of Juno in the harsh radiation environment of Jupiter has seen the probe stay in orbit for much longer than originally planned. This has led to the Leeds researchers getting magnetic field data over a much longer period, which is much more useful to their work. By looking at the magnetic field over several years, they have been able to track its waves and oscillations and have even been able to follow a specific spot of magnetic field on Jupiter called the Great Blue Spot. This spot has been moving eastwards, but the latest data shows that movement is slowingleading the Juno team to believe this is the beginning of an oscillation, with the movement slowing before it reverses and starts going westwards. The work was led by Dr. Hori, who worked with Professor Jones at Leeds before moving to a new post at Kobe University in Japan, along with Professor Steve Tobias at Leeds, Professor Leigh Fletcher at the University of Leicester and Dr. Arrate Antunano at the Universidad del Pais Vasco in Spain. It has seen them produce an explanation for the long-running mystery of Jupiter's changing bands and stripes and fill in the missing link between the two largest areas of Jupiter studyscientists interested in the planet's weather and what happens on the surface, and those working on the deep interior. Dr. Hori said, "There remain uncertainties and questions, particularly how exactly the torsional oscillation produces the observed infrared variation, which likely reflects the complex dynamics and cloud/aerosol reactions. Those need more research. Nonetheless, I hope our paper could also open a window to probe the hidden deep interior of Jupiter, just like seismology does for the Earth and helioseismology does for the sun." For Professor Jones, the breakthrough is the culmination of a lifelong passion for Jupiter. He said, "I am incredibly pleased that NASA finally managed to get to see Jupiter's magnetic field in detail. I have been studying Jupiter for an exceptionally long time and I got interested in what lies below the surface of Jupiter when I was a childit has been a 60-year progression." More information: Kumiko Hori et al, Jupiter's cloud-level variability triggered by torsional oscillations in the interior, Nature Astronomy (2023). DOI: 10.1038/s41550-023-01967-1 Journal information: Nature Astronomy This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain A 1987 global deal to protect the ozone layer is delaying the first ice-free Arctic summer by up to 15 years, new research shows. The paper, published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, is entitled "The Montreal Protocol is delaying the occurrence of the first ice-free Arctic summer." The Montreal Protocolthe first treaty to be ratified by every United Nations countryregulates nearly 100 man-made chemicals called ozone-depleting substances (ODSs). While the main aim was to preserve the ozone layer, ODSs are also potent greenhouse gases, so the deal has slowed global warming. The new study shows the effects of this include delaying the first ice-free Arctic summer (currently projected to happen the middle of this century) by up to 15 years, depending on future emissions. The researchersfrom UC Santa Cruz, Columbia University and the University of Exeterestimate that each 1,000 metric tons of ODS emissions prevented saves about seven square kilometers of Arctic sea ice. "While ODSs aren't as abundant as other greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide, they can have a real impact on global warming," said Dr. Mark England, Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851 senior research fellow at the University of Exeter. "ODSs have particularly powerful effects in the Arctic, and they played a major role in driving Arctic climate change in the second half of the 20th century. While stopping these effects was not the primary goal of the Montreal Protocol, it has been a fantastic by-product." Dr. England said opponents of the protocol predicted a range of negative consequences, most of which did not happen, and instead there are numerous documented instances of unintended climate benefits. Professor Lorenzo Polvani, from Columbia University, said, "The first ice-free Arctic summermeaning the Arctic Ocean practically free of sea icewill be a major milestone in the process of climate change. "Our findings clearly demonstrate that the Montreal Protocol has been a very powerful climate protection treaty, and has done much more than healing the ozone hole over the South Pole. Its effects are being felt all over the world, especially in the Arctic." ODS decline The study, which used new climate model simulations, shows that protection of the ozone layer itself played no part in slowing the loss of Arctic sea iceall the benefits relate to the role of ODSs as greenhouse gases. ODSs (which include chlorofluorocarbons, also called CFCs) are compounds developed in the last century for industrial use as refrigerants and propellants. The Montreal Protocol, which has now been signed by all 198 members of United Nations, regulated these compounds to preserve the ozone layer, which protects humans and the environment from harmful levels of ultraviolet radiation. This effort has succeeded, with atmospheric concentrations of ODSs declining since the mid-1990s and signs that the ozone layer has started to heal. However, research has suggested a slight rise in ODS concentrations from 201020, so Dr. England said vigilance is still required. More information: England, Mark R. et al, The Montreal Protocol is delaying the occurrence of the first ice-free Arctic summer, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2023). DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2211432120 Journal information: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences By Nasratu Kargbo Members of Parliament have discussed issues bordering on medical ethics and standards, especially how medical practitioners treat their patients. Constituency 032 MP Mark Mahmoud Kalokoh on the 31st January 2023 during the debate on the Sierra Leone Nursing and Midwifery Council Act 2022 explained that he had visited hospitals and witnessed how nurses treat their patients with cruelty. He stressed nurses sit in their offices browsing the internet or reading magazines whilst pregnant women are suffering. He added that when their attention is drawn for rendering of services, most of them instead reply with unfriendly remarks and comments to their patients. When you opt to become a nurse or a doctor, you have signed to save lives. You should therefore ensure to do the needful, he asserted. Speaking on nurses that are normally on night duty, he said most of them do not sleep there at night, and called for more attention in that area. He said that the country has a lot of medical training institutions most of them uncertified, and was hopeful that the Act will handle the issue of unaccredited universities, and institutions monitored. The MP stated that the country needs to upgrade the standards of its medical training institutions to produce qualified health practitioners that will help reduce the mortality rate in the nation. Whilst addressing the deputy Minister, Kalokoh asked that the ministry ensures that promotion be based on merit and experience, saying those that recently entered the field should go through the ranks in order to be promoted. He asked that the conditions of service for nurses be improved as a way to encourage them to execute their job diligently, adding that the remuneration should be commensurate to the services they render. Constituency 086 parliamentarian Neneh Lebbie highlighted Clause 11(2) C and other clauses on ethics and standards which he implored the practitioners to uphold. Highlighting the purpose of the bill, deputy health minister Princess Dugba explained that the Act seeks to provide for the training, discipline and enrollment of nurses and midwives throughout the country. She spoke about the composition of the Council with the power to acquire, hold and close property whether moveable or immovable, and having also the power to sue and be sued. The minister said that the bill has been developed following extensive consultations across the country. Copyright 2023 Politico Online (01/02/23) Fire breaks out at the Central Post Office in Manila, the Philippines on May 22, 2023. The Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) said on Monday that the fire razing a century-old landmark building in the Philippine capital of Manila injured four people and was "under control." The bureau said the fire erupted at the Philippine central post office around 11 p.m. local time on Sunday, and at least four people were reportedly injured. (Str/Xinhua) MANILA, May 22 (Xinhua) -- The Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) said on Monday that the fire razing a century-old landmark building in the Philippine capital of Manila injured four people and was "under control." The bureau said the fire erupted at the Philippine central post office around 11 p.m. local time on Sunday, and at least four people were reportedly injured. Initial investigation showed the fire started from the basement of the four-story building. The blaze was placed on the highest fire alarm level shortly before 6 a.m. local time on Monday. The fire protection bureau said the shell of the building remains intact, while firefighters continue to put out the fire completely. Acting Postmaster General Luis Carlos said commemorative stamps were among the items burned. Fire breaks out at the Central Post Office in Manila, the Philippines on May 22, 2023. The Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) said on Monday that the fire razing a century-old landmark building in the Philippine capital of Manila injured four people and was "under control." The bureau said the fire erupted at the Philippine central post office around 11 p.m. local time on Sunday, and at least four people were reportedly injured. (Str/Xinhua) Firefighters try to put out the fire at the burning Central Post Office in Manila, the Philippines on May 22, 2023. The Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) said on Monday that the fire razing a century-old landmark building in the Philippine capital of Manila injured four people and was "under control." The bureau said the fire erupted at the Philippine central post office around 11 p.m. local time on Sunday, and at least four people were reportedly injured. (Xinhua/Rouelle Umali) This aerial photo taken on May 22, 2023 shows smokes billowing from the burning Central Post Office in Manila, the Philippines. The Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) said on Monday that the fire razing a century-old landmark building in the Philippine capital of Manila injured four people and was "under control." The bureau said the fire erupted at the Philippine central post office around 11 p.m. local time on Sunday, and at least four people were reportedly injured. (Xinhua/Rouelle Umali) This aerial photo taken on May 22, 2023 shows smokes billowing from the burning Central Post Office in Manila, the Philippines. The Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) said on Monday that the fire razing a century-old landmark building in the Philippine capital of Manila injured four people and was "under control." The bureau said the fire erupted at the Philippine central post office around 11 p.m. local time on Sunday, and at least four people were reportedly injured. (Xinhua/Rouelle Umali) This aerial photo taken on May 22, 2023 shows smokes billowing from the burning Central Post Office in Manila, the Philippines. The Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) said on Monday that the fire razing a century-old landmark building in the Philippine capital of Manila injured four people and was "under control." The bureau said the fire erupted at the Philippine central post office around 11 p.m. local time on Sunday, and at least four people were reportedly injured. (Xinhua/Rouelle Umali) Firefighters try to put out the fire at the burning Central Post Office in Manila, the Philippines on May 22, 2023. The Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) said on Monday that the fire razing a century-old landmark building in the Philippine capital of Manila injured four people and was "under control." The bureau said the fire erupted at the Philippine central post office around 11 p.m. local time on Sunday, and at least four people were reportedly injured. (Str/Xinhua) This aerial photo taken on May 22, 2023 shows smokes billowing from the burning Central Post Office in Manila, the Philippines. The Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) said on Monday that the fire razing a century-old landmark building in the Philippine capital of Manila injured four people and was "under control." The bureau said the fire erupted at the Philippine central post office around 11 p.m. local time on Sunday, and at least four people were reportedly injured. (Xinhua/Rouelle Umali) A firefighter is seen in front of the smoke-smudged Central Post Office in Manila, the Philippines on May 22, 2023. The Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) said on Monday that the fire razing a century-old landmark building in the Philippine capital of Manila injured four people and was "under control." The bureau said the fire erupted at the Philippine central post office around 11 p.m. local time on Sunday, and at least four people were reportedly injured. (Xinhua/Rouelle Umali) Gift this article Share this article paywall-free. Glens Falls, Hudson Falls, Fort Edward, Greenwich and Warrensburg are among 70 projects award more than $112.9 million through the latest round of the Restore New York Communities Initiative, Gov. Kathy Hochul announced on Monday. Restore New York supports municipal revitalization efforts across the state, helping to remove blight, reinvigorate downtowns and generate economic opportunity in communities statewide, according a news release. The City of Glens Falls was awarded $1 million for the 178 Maple Street Mixed-Use Redevelopment Project, which includes the redevelopment of an 18,000 square-foot former warehouse located in the East End industrial district. The Village of Hudson Falls and the Town of Fort Edward were both awarded $500,000 in grant funding. The Hudson Falls Griffin Hall Revitalization is centered around a vacant two-story concrete building at 119 Main St. According to the news release, the vision is to completely restore and renovate the dilapidated structure in order to accommodate: beer, wine and food service operations in the basement and first floor; retail space on the first floor; and art gallery/events space on the second floor. Fort Edwards Populate Broadway Redevelopment Project will support the stabilization of two abandoned and dilapidated mixed-use buildings at 138 and 140 Broadway at the center of the villages downtown corridor along Route 4. The Village of Greenwich was also awarded $100,000 for the 49-53 Main Street Revitalization. This project focuses on a vacant property with three structures along Main Street that fronts the Battenkill River. The project will introduce three residential rental units and space for Witches Wash Laundromat, which is being displaced from its current location, to relocate. The rear of the property will be enhanced with parking and residential amenity space that will highlight the sites Battenkill location. The Town of Warrensburg was awarded $50,000 for the King Street Revitalization to demolish a surplus former garage building to prepare the site for the development of senior housing. Demolishing the existing site structure will create a shovel-ready site, enabling the town to sell the property and put the 1.3-acre assemblage back on the tax rolls. Gift this article Share this article paywall-free. From The Post-Star in 1963 60 years ago: The Glens Falls Hospital Guild raised $2,736.92 the equivalent of $27,133 in 2023 dollars at its annual spring rummage sale, making it one of the best in several years, The Post-Star reported on May 3, 1963. The sale was held from 9:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. May 2 at the Glens Falls Armory on Warren Street, and a mens wear sale was held the previous evening. Mrs. Joseph Morrill thanked volunteers and contributors for their invaluable assistance. A committee was already formed to plan the annual fall rummage sale. Downtown: A groundbreaking ceremony was held for the new St. Marys Convent on Maple Street, which is now a condominium complex behind Morgan & Co. restaurant. The occasion was chosen because it is the Feast of St. Joseph the Worker, the patron of the Sisters of St. Joseph, who staff St. Marys Academy. May 1 Social scene: More than 200 students, faculty and trustees of Adirondack Community College, now SUNY Adirondack, attended the colleges second annual Spring Cotilion ball at The Queensbury Hotel in Glens Falls. Lynn Knickerbocker was selected as queen and Stuart Lazarus as king. The Preludes performed music for dancing. May 3 Queensbury: Shady-Acres Snack Bar on Route 9 in Queensbury added Richardsons Root Beer on draft to its menu. For two days, the restaurant offered a free root beer with the purchase of any sandwich to celebrate the completion of a 10,000-square-foot parking lot expansion. May 2 On stage: The Glens Falls Operetta Club, now Glens Falls Community Theater, presented the Tennessee Williams play The Glass Menagerie in a two-night run at Glens Falls High School auditorium. The first production by this group in many seasons to have any real depth, The Glass Menagerie brings the audience closer to humanity treated as it always is by both sadness and comedy, wrote Post-Star drama critic Robert Rose. (Director) Donald Champlin is to be commended for his courage in daring to stage a play without spectacular color, bouncing choruses, and distasteful sound effects. The play was unique in that it had just four characters, portrayed by Peggy Hagan, Richard Kyrk, Mary Lou Noone and James Clough. May 4 Orator: Mary Ellen Lawrence, a senior at St. Marys Academy, presented the winning speech at the St. Marys Sodality Society oratorical finals at the Great Hall at St. Marys Academy. May 3 Editorial: One of the differences between a governor and a President of the United States is this: Governor Rockefeller had to get married to get his picture on the front pages. President Kennedy did it by nicking his finger with a bread knife. The President indicated that the presss interest in his wound was a bit excessive. He said it probably sounded unbelievable, but thats what happened; he cut his finger with a bread knife. Mr. Kennedy laughed about it, but he will be fortunate if several inquiries are not launched as a result of the incident. One press account of the incident, attempting to gloss over an obvious lack of professional industry, said it could not be determined whether the bread was for a sandwich, to toast, or to spread with butter. This is inexcusable reportorial laxity. A question the entire nation is interested in, and no answer for it! Here we go to the extreme expense of hiring the Secret Service to protect the Presidents life, and then leave bread knives within his reach and an excuse to use them. It is, as the President said, unbelievable. There ought to be an investigation. May 10 Quotable: Mistakes are well worth thinking over but it is destructive to brood over them. The best place to put your mistakes is behind you. Then as you go forward, you will not stumble over them. George M. Adams Todays Talk column, May 2 Gift this article Share this article paywall-free. Events Monday, May 22 ADULT CRAFT: 6:30 to 7:30 p.m.; monthly adult craft time; Mays Landing Branch/Atlantic County Library System, 40 Farragut Ave., Hamilton. 609-625-2776 or atlanticlibrary.org. ENGLISH AS A SECOND LANGUAGE CLASS (VIRTUAL): 7 to 8:15 p.m. May 22, 24; held via Zoom; beginners class for non-native, English speakers; classes include interactive learning activities that focus on increasing listening, speaking, reading, grammar, and writing skills; hosted by the Atlantic City Free Public Library; registration required. 609-345-2269 or acfpl.org. ESL CAREER READINESS LAB: 9:30 a.m. to noon Mondays through July 31; learn how to use the Engen Language Upskilling platform, which provides ESL classes and tutorials with a focus on job interview skills, and the food and beverage industry and hospitality industry; Public Library, 1 N. Tennessee Ave., Atlantic City. 609-345-2269 or acfpl.org. HAND CREAM WORKSHOP WITH DONNA & TORI TOMLIN: 6 to 7 p.m.; Cape May County Library/Cape May Court House Branch, 30 Mechanic St., Middle Township; free. 609-463-6350 or events.cmclibrary.org. HOUSEPLANTS: 2 to 3 p.m. Mondays through May 22; learn how to plant, propagate, and care for a variety of popular plant species; Ventnor City Branch/Atlantic County Library System, 6500 Atlantic Ave., Ventnor. 609-823-4614 or atlanticlibrary.org. LINE DANCING - WITH SUSAN PENNYPACKER: noon to 12:45 p.m. Mondays; no meetings May 29, Sept. 4, Oct. 9; Wildwood Crest Branch, 6300 Atlantic Ave., Wildwood Crest. 609-463-6350 or events.cmclibrary.org. MEDITATIVE DRUM CIRCLE: 5 to 6 p.m. Mondays; bring your own instrument or borrow one; no meetings May 29, Aug. 28, Sept. 4, Oct. 9, Nov. 6, Dec. 25; Cape May Court House Branch, 30 Mechanic St., Middle Township. 609-463-6350 or events.cmclibrary.org. RED CROSS COMMUNITY BLOOD DRIVE: 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.; Cape May County Library/Lower Cape Branch, 2600 Bayshore Road, Lower Township. 215-756-5759. WINDOWS AND APPLE DEVICES DROP-IN TECH WORKSHOP: 6 to 7:30 p.m.; open forum workshop for help with questions regarding a computer, phone, software, or an app; Public Library, 235 32nd St., Avalon. 609-967-7155 or avalonfreelibrary.org. Tuesday, May 23 SCOSA'S ANNUAL SUCCESSFUL AGING FESTIVAL: 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.; attend workshops, browse local resources; Stockton University, Jimmie Leeds Road, Galloway Township; free admission. 609-626-3591 or stockton.edu. Wednesday, May 24 BORED? GAMES!: 6 to 7 p.m. Wednesdays through Aug. 31; for ages 10 to adult; games are family-friendly classic board games meant for at least two players; Ventnor City Branch/Atlantic County Library System, 6500 Atlantic Ave., Ventnor; registration required. 609-823-4614 or atlanticlibrary.org. ONE-ON-ONE COMPUTER BASICS: 1 to 7 p.m. Wednesdays through May 31; for adults; Brigantine Branch/Atlantic County Library System, 201 15th St. S., Brigantine. 609-266-0110 or atlanticlibrary.org. WEDNESDAY FAMILY GAME NIGHT: 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Wednesdays through Aug. 30; for all ages; board games provided; Pleasantville Branch/Atlantic County Library System, 33 Martin Luther King Junior Ave., Pleasantville; registration required. 609-641-1778 or atlanticlibrary.org. Thursday, May 25 CYBER THURSDAYS: 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Thursdays through Aug. 31; Pleasantville Branch/Atlantic County Library System, 33 Martin Luther King Junior Ave., Pleasantville. 609-641-1778 or atlanticlibrary.org. SENIOR CRAFT AND ACTIVITIES: 10 a.m. to noon Thursdays through June 29; Pleasantville Branch/Atlantic County Library System, 33 Martin Luther King Junior Ave., Pleasantville. 609-641-1778 or atlanticlibrary.org. For kids Monday, May 22 PRE-K CLUB AND CRAFT: 10:30 to 11:30 a.m. Mondays through May 22, June 5, 12; Galloway Township Branch/Atlantic County Library System, 306 E. Jimmie Leeds Road, Galloway. 609-652-2352 or atlanticlibrary.org. PRESCHOOL STORYTIME - ABSECON: 10 to 11 a.m. Mondays; Absecon branch/Atlantic County Library System, 305 New Jersey Ave., Absecon. 609-646-2228 or atlanticlibrary.org. PRESCHOOL STORYTIME - EGG HARBOR CITY: 10:30 to 11:30 a.m. Mondays through Aug. 28; Egg Harbor City Branch/Atlantic County Library System, 134 Philadelphia Ave., Egg Harbor City. 609-804-1063 or atlanticlibrary.org. Tuesday, May 23 FURRY BUDDIES: 6 to 7 p.m. Tuesdays, May 23, June 13, 27, July 11, 25, Aug. 8, 22; for ages 6 to 14; read a story to therapy dogs; Galloway Township Branch/Atlantic County Library System, 306 E. Jimmie Leeds Road, Galloway Township; registration required. 609-652-2352 or atlanticlibrary.org. ROBOTICS CLUB WITH NATE: 6 to 7 p.m. May 23, June 20, July 25, Aug. 22; for ages 8 to 15; Egg Harbor City Branch/Atlantic County Library System, 134 Philadelphia Ave., Egg Harbor City. 609-804-1063 or atlanticlibrary.org. WONDERBOOK STORYTIME: 4 to 5 p.m. Tuesdays, May 23, June 6, 20, July 18, August 1, 15, 29; for ages 4 to 11; kids will press play to read along with their favorite books and then switch to learning mode for literacy learning; Pleasantville Branch/Atlantic County Library System, 33 Martin Luther King Junior Ave., Pleasantville; registration required. 609-641-1778 or atlanticlibrary.org. Wednesday, May 24 PLAYDATE AT THE LIBRARY: 10 to 11 a.m. Wednesdays through Aug. 9; for ages 6-36 months; enjoy stories, rhymes and songs designed to develop early literacy skills; Mays Landing Branch/Atlantic County Library System, 40 Farragut Ave., Hamilton; registration required. 609-625-2776 or atlanticlibrary.org. STORIES AND SONGS: 10 to 10:30 a.m. Wednesdays through May 31; join Miss Linda for stories, songs, and rhymes; for ages 3 and younger; Public Library, 235 32nd St., Avalon. 609-967-7155 or avalonfreelibrary.org. Thursday, May 25 123 READ & SING: 10:30 to 11:30 a.m. Thursdays through Aug. 10; for ages 1 1/2 to 5 and their caregivers; Galloway Township Branch/Atlantic County Library System, 306 E. Jimmie Leeds Road, Galloway Township. 609-652-2352 or atlanticlibrary.org. LEGO CLUB: 4 to 5 p.m. Thursdays through May 25; for ages 5 to 13; Absecon branch/Atlantic County Library System, 305 New Jersey Ave., Absecon. 609-646-2228 or atlanticlibrary.org. STORYTIME: 10 to 11 a.m. Thursdays through May 25; for ages 12 to 36 months; Ventnor City Branch/Atlantic County Library System, 6500 Atlantic Ave., Ventnor; registration required. 609-823-4614 or atlanticlibrary.org. Groups Monday, May 22 AL-ANON FAMILY GROUPS: 11 a.m. Mondays; for those troubled by someone else's drinking; Egg Harbor City Senior Center, 351 Cincinnati Ave., Egg Harbor City. AL-ANON.org. LONGPORT NEEDLERS: 10 a.m. to noon Mondays; bring your needle/crochet craft project and join us for a time of crafting and socializing; Longport Public Library, 2305 Atlantic Ave., Longport. 609-487-7403 or LongportPublicLibrary.org. MYSTERY AT THE LIBRARY BOOK CLUB: 6:30 to 8 p.m. fourth Mondays through December; virtual mystery and thriller book club for ages 18 and older; each month a new murder mystery book is picked and a book discussion will be held; presented by the Cape May County Library 609-463-6350 or events.cmclibrary.org. Tuesday, May 23 INTERMEDIATE SPANISH CONVERSATION VIRTUAL CLASS: 5 to 6 p.m. Tuesdays; intermediate-level Spanish Conversation class via Zoom; Atlantic City Free Public Library, 1 N. Tennessee Ave., Atlantic City. 609-345-2269 or ACFPL.org. YARNBENDERS CROCHET AND KNITTING CLUB: 5 to 6 p.m. Tuesdays through Aug. 29; Egg Harbor Township/Atlantic County Library System, 1 Swift Drive, Egg Harbor Township. 609-927-8664 or atlanticlibrary.org. Wednesday, May 24 LIFE IN WAVES - ONLINE WORKING WOMEN'S GROUP: 7 to 8 p.m. second and fourth Wednesdays; support and discussion group for women in the workplace; hosted by Mental Health Association in Atlantic County. 609-652-3800 or MHAAC.info. Thursday, May 25 AL-ANON MEETING: 11 a.m. to noon Thursdays through December; by Al-Anon Family Groups; Cape May County Library/Lower Cape Branch, 2600 Bayshore Road, Lower Township. 609-463-6350 or events.cmclibrary.org. CROCHET GROUP: 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. Thursdays through Aug. 31; learn and practice your craft in a fun and welcoming environment; Egg Harbor City Branch/Atlantic County Library System, 134 Philadelphia Ave., Egg Harbor City. 609-804-1063 or atlanticlibrary.org. FAMILY MEETING SUPPORT GROUP: 10 a.m. to noon second and fourth Thursdays; support group for family members of individuals who live with a mental health concern. 609-652-3800 or MHAAC.info. HAMILTON SUSTAINABILITEAM MEETING: 6:30 to 8 p.m. fourth Thursdays, no meeting in November; discuss how to make the Township of Hamilton more sustainable now and in the future; Municipal Building, 6101 13th St., Mays Landing. 609-805-1236 or townshipofhamilton.com. MEETINGS FOR FAMILY MEMBERS OF INDIVIDUALS AFFECTED BY MENTAL ILLNESS AND/OR SUBSTANCE USE DISORDER: 10:30 a.m. second and fourth Thursdays; 7 p.m. third Thursdays; choose from daytime or evening meeting times; online-only; workshop-style meeting among peers with a new topic each group; offered by the Mental Health Association in Atlantic County through the Intensive Family Support Services program. 609-517-8614 or mhaac.info. Health, fitness Monday, May 22 CHAIR YOGA - WITH LYNNE CATARRO: 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. Mondays; no class 5/29, 9/4, 10/9, 12/25; Cape May County Library/Wildwood Crest Branch, 6300 Atlantic Ave., Wildwood Crest. 609-463-6350 or events.cmclibrary.org. 'GOT STRESS?' ONLINE GROUP: 4 to 5:30 p.m. Mondays; online group meets to discuss daily wellness, coping strategies and tools to relieve stress and reduce anxiety; offered by The Mental Health Association in Atlantic County; free. 609-652-3800 or MHAAC.info. 'PERINATAL MOOD AND ANXIETY DISORDERS: MORE THAN POSTPARTUM DEPRESSION': 2:30 to 3:30 p.m.; program held in person or online; offered in recognition of Maternal Mental Health Awareness Month; Ocean County Library Lacey Branch, 10 E. Lacey Road, Forked River; free, registration requested. 609-693-8566 or or theoceancountylibrary.org/events. Tuesday, May 23 DEALING WITH DEPRESSION SUPPORT GROUP: 7 to 8 p.m. Tuesdays; hosted by the Mental Health Association in Atlantic County; online support group for those living with depression. 609-652-3800 or MHAAC.info. MINDFULNESS & MOVEMENT: 1 to 2 p.m. Tuesdays through December; Cape May County Library/Wildwood Crest Branch, 6300 Atlantic Ave., Wildwood Crest. 609-463-6350 or events.cmclibrary.org. ZUMBA WITH KELLIE WOOD: 5 to 6 p.m. Tuesdays; Cape May Court House Branch, 30 Mechanic St., Middle Township. 609-463-6350 or events.cmclibrary.org. Wednesday, May 24 BARRE STAR: 9:15 to 10:15 a.m. Wednesdays through May; combination of ballet, flexibility, yoga/balance and strength training; Wildwood Crest Branch, 6300 Atlantic Ave., Wildwood Crest. 609-463-6350 or events.cmclibrary.org. EXPLORING SPIRITUALITY ONLINE WELLNESS GROUP: noon to 1 p.m. Wednesdays; hosted by the Mental Health Association in Atlantic County; wellness group exploring themes of faith, hope, sense of purpose, and fulfilment. 609-652-3800 or MHAAC.info. MEDITATION MEET-UP WITH TED COSTA: 1:30 to 2:30 p.m. and 5 to 6 p.m. Wednesdays through December; Woodbine Community Center, 812 Longfellow St., Woodbine. 609-463-6350 or events.cmclibrary.org. MIND AND BODY VIRTUAL WORKSHOP: 11 a.m. to noon Wednesdays; workshop is provided to individuals who live with a disability; participants discuss topics such as adapting, goal setting, refocusing and more; offered by the Mental Health Association in Atlantic County. 609-652-3800, ext. 308 or MHAAC.info. STRETCH & BURN - WITH KELLIE WOOD: 10 to 11 a.m. Wednesdays; hosted by Cape May County Library; virtual event; no registration required. 609-463-6350 or events.cmclibrary.org. TAI CHI & QIGONG: 10 and 11:30 a.m. Wednesdays; with Cheryl Crews and Denise Jones; Lower Cape Branch, 2600 Bayshore Road, Lower Township. 609-463-6350 or events.cmclibrary.org. ZUMBA - WITH JANET SPADA: 6 to 7 p.m. Wednesdays at Wildwood Crest Library, and Thursdays at Lower Township Library; no meetings July 12, 26, Nov. 22, 23. 609-463-6350 or events.cmclibrary.org. ZUMBA - WITH KELLIE: 5 to 6 p.m. Wednesdays; Sea Isle City Branch, 4800 Central Ave., Sea Isle City. 609-463-6350 or Events.CMCLibrary.org. Thursday, May 25 GENTLE YOGA - WITH ELIZABETH KILCOURSE: 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. Thursdays; bring a yoga mat; Upper Township Branch, 2050 Tuckahoe Road, Woodbine. 609-463-6350 or events.cmclibrary.org. 'RISING MINDS' ONLINE MEETING: 6 to 7:30 p.m. Thursdays; offered by the Mental Health Association in Atlantic County; peer-led meeting for individuals age 18 to 30; participants discuss mental health, share experiences, develop tools for self-care and connect to others. 609-652-3800 or MHAAC.info. Gift this article Share this article paywall-free. ATLANTIC CITY Police arrested four men Friday after residents and businesses complained about drug dealing in the area. Khalil Watts, 25, and Kory Watts, 24, both city residents; Jamir Blunt, 20, of Mays Landing; and Julio Sanchez III, 21, of Galloway Township, were charged following an investigation into illegal drug sales in the 2400 block of Arctic Avenue, police said Monday in a news release. Khalil Watts, who had a warrant, was carrying a loaded handgun in a satchel, police said. Kory Watts ran from officers and dropped a bag containing more than 15 grams of cocaine, police said, adding he also had drug paraphernalia on him. Later Friday evening, Blunt was arrested in the 500 block of Hobart Avenue after an alleged drug sale, with officers finding 70 bags of heroin and 2 grams of cocaine on him, police said. Authorities arrest fugitive in Atlantic City woman's murder One of five people indicted in the shooting death of an Atlantic City woman last summer was Sanchez was pulled over in a car at Indiana and Atlantic avenues. During the stop, a police dog led officers to 4 grams of cocaine, police said. Khalil Watts was charged with unlawful possession of a weapon, possession of hollow-point ammunition, possession of a large capacity magazine, certain person not to possess a weapon, obstruction of justice and resisting arrest. He was sent to the Atlantic County jail. Kory Watts was charged with possession of a controlled dangerous substance, possession with intent to distribute, possession with intent to distribute within 1,000 feet of a school zone and possession of drug paraphernalia. Blunt was charged with two counts of possession of CDS, two counts of possession with intent to distribute and possession of drug paraphernalia. Sanchez was charged with possession of CDS and possession with intent to distribute. Gift this article Share this article paywall-free. The quaint, 174-year-old East Point Lighthouse commands a dazzling view of the confluence of the Delaware Bay and Maurice River the same forces that could soon swallow it. Severe erosion has reduced the beach in front of the lighthouse by three-quarters since the 1940s. The lighthouse basement floods after storms. Nancy Patterson, volunteer president of the Maurice River Historical Society, which operates the lighthouse, says the worry keeps her up at night. But her most recent insomnia stems from battles with the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection to not only prevent the lighthouse from being engulfed by the bay but for the society to retain management of the historical structure. The fully restored 19th-century lighthouse perches on the state-owned Heislerville Wildlife Management Area in Cumberland County, which the DEP oversees. The historical society currently holds a state license to operate the lighthouse, but the DEP opened a new leasing arrangement to public bidding May 1. Though the society hopes to win the bid, it could be bittersweet even if it does, Patterson said, because the new financial terms are onerous. At the same time, shes pressing for the DEP to come up with a long-term solution to erosion. I never know which fire to put out first, Patterson said while walking up the beach one day last week. Oh, my gosh, I lost so much sleep over the lease application that its crazy. Im still losing sleep because after 50 years I do not want to be the one that loses this lighthouse. Atlantic City Hall mural celebrates old, new and blue ATLANTIC CITY Mayor Marty Small Sr. was pretty clear when he told muralist Kelley Prevard Second oldest lighthouse in N.J. The historic brick lighthouse, second oldest in New Jersey after the Sandy Hook Lighthouse, was built in 1849 and has survived decades of storms, vandalism and a disastrous 1971 fire. After the fire, the Maurice River Historical Society led an $850,000 restoration effort along with the Cumberland County Improvement Authority and the New Jersey Historic Trust. The historical society began managing the lighthouse in 1993 under a lease with the state. It took decades for the society to raise the money and complete the restoration of the lighthouse, which reopened in 2017 with a functional blinking red beacon that pulses over the dark waters each night as a navigational aid serviced by the U.S. Coast Guard. The societys lease expired in 2017, and the state instead issued the organization an operating license in 2021 that expires Aug. 11. About 6,000 people annually tour the two-story, Cape Cod-style lighthouse, with its white walls and red roof, museum and gift shop. They file through rooms filled with antiques and photos placed to recreate the feel of when lighthouse keepers and their families lived there. Tourists climb the equivalent of four stories to the tower room for an unbroken view of the bay, river and surrounding wetlands. They can even turn on the beacon. Tours are limited to weekends because they are staffed by local volunteers. Erosion is eating away the bayshore East Point Lighthouse is tucked at the end of a dirt road on a remote stretch near the end of the state where horseshoe crabs and birds outnumber people. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The bay shore faces natural erosion quickened by sea level rise and land thats naturally sinking due to geological forces. This shoreline has no regular federal or state replenishment efforts as there are along the economically lucrative Atlantic Coast. Larry Hajna, a DEP spokesman, called the lighthouse an icon of the Delaware Bay region. He said that in 2019, the DEP installed a geotextile system that includes an 8-foot-diameter tube made of a durable synthetic membrane filled with sand. The 570-foot-long system runs parallel to the shoreline between the water and the lighthouse, Hajna said, and is working as designed to protect the lighthouse. Patterson said the system helps break waves but calls the design underscaled with a life span expected to last a few more years at the most. She said water escapes during storms and floods around the lighthouse. She believes a permanent bulkhead is needed. State Sen. Michael Testa, R-Cape May, Cumberland, Atlantic, recently issued a statement asking the DEP to work with Maurice River Township and the historical society on a plan to protect the lighthouse beyond the life of the current system. Im concerned that the DEP hasnt shown much urgency in developing a long-term plan to protect the historic East Point Lighthouse from future beach erosion, Testa said in the statement, adding, With the current protective Geotube nearing its end of life, there isnt much time to waste. Bring donations for the Cape May Community Food Closet to the Physick Estate this Saturday CAPE MAY Visitors to the Emlen Physick Estate will have the opportunity to donate to the C Terms of the new lease The nonprofit Maurice River Historical Society initially raised money over decades for the restoration through bake sales, yard sales and other fundraisers. Grants came later. In March, the society learned it would have to bid for the new lease. The lease requires bidders to submit the highest amount they are willing to pay for each year, above a minimum 5% of their total gross revenue from things such as tours or gift shop sales. What an unbelievable slap in the face, Patterson said. The lease is horrible. Right off the top they are going to take 5%, and they can raise that at any point for no reason. Theyre going to take money from any T-shirts we sell, any tours, tickets, donations or grant funding. I think its going to cost us an additional $10,000 a year. I have no idea where Im going to come up with that. Its going to kill the gift shop. Patterson, who grew up in Philadelphia, moved with her family to the area 20 years ago. She left teaching and became an artist. Her work, along with that of local artisans, is sold in the lighthouse gift shop. The society has an annual budget of about $43,000 for the lighthouse. Patterson said she does not know whether others submitted bids. She said the lease would start in June. The DEP declined to comment on the lease. U.S. Rep. Jeff Van Drew, R-2nd, said he has tried to mediate between the Maurice River Historical Society and DEP since 2021. I remain committed to ensuring that a long-term lease agreement comes to fruition between NJDEP and the Maurice River Historical Society, Van Drew said in an email. Second implosion set to take down B.L. England landmark UPPER TOWNSHIP A Cape May County landmark is set to go away soon, with the coming demoliti A perpetually flooded basement Patterson said water from storms flows through gaps of the geotextile system and gets funneled next to the lighthouse. Two sump pumps remove water from the basement to the outside. But the discharged water has no place to go because Superstorm Sandy in 2012 filled in a drainage ditch. Patterson said shes worked with Maurice River Township, Cumberland County and the DEP on a plan to regrade the area and build dunes. But the plan has stalled. Meanwhile, the society also has come up with a $30,000 plan to install a basement drying system. The lighthouse is really an incredible success story of the community to have a place like this thats bringing in tourism, Patterson said. Its a big deal. In yet another incident reported at Khadakwasla dam, a 16-year-old boy was drowned in the water on Monday. The fire brigade team of the Pune Metropolitan Region Development Authority (PMRDA) rushed to the spot to rescue the boy. According to fire brigade officials, the boy identified as Shahid Allauddin Barote had gone with friends to Sinhagad Fort. While returning from there they stopped at the back side of the Khadakwasla dam from where water is spilled into the river. Shahid slipped into the water while trying to wash his face. However, after some time when he could not swim with the flow of water he started drowning and the others present there called for help. We received a rescue call at 3:45 pm. Our team is at the spot and they are conducting the search operation. However, due to the heavy flow of water they are also finding it difficult to continue the search operation a fire brigade official told Mirror. It may be noted that two girls were drowned and seven others were rescued from Khadakwasla dam water last week. The girls had gone to wash clothes at the dam. Police officials have also reached the spot and search operation is underway. On May 18, the BJP held its state-level executive committee meeting in Pune. Even after five days, the party flags that were placed near the venue on J M Road are still lying there. The party workers appear to be too busy to collect them and show some respect towards their flag. Gift this article Share this article paywall-free. The family of a man killed in 2022 when a vehicle traveled across the pedestrian path on the Interstate 74 bridge has filed a federal wrongful death suit against the city of Bettendorf. The latest legal action is among several lawsuits filed in the case. The May 22, 2022, collision seriously injured Charles Bowen, 23, and killed Anthony Castaneda, 18, and Ethan Gonzalez, 21. Gonzalezs family filed the suit Thursday in the U.S. District for the Central District of Illinois, arguing the city and WHKS & Co. Inc., a design and engineering firm, were negligent and caused Gonzalezs death. The two entities participated in and/or controlled the design, construction, maintenance and other elements of the bridge path construction and management, according to the suit, and both owed a duty of care to pedestrians who used it. The filing lists a number of ways in which each defendant could have failed in meeting its responsibility, saying the parties committed one or more errors. Those accusations include a failure to provide adequate barriers and warnings in the design that would prevent vehicle traffic from entering the path, the suit states. As of Monday, Bettendorf and WHKS had not yet filed responses to the suits allegations, according to court records. Gonzalezs family seeks damages in excess of $75,000, records state. Bowen also seeks damages in excess of $75,000 from WHKS and Bettendorf, according to federal court documents. His suit, filed in the Illinois central district, makes similar allegations against the two parties. Castanedas family has also filed a federal wrongful death suit in the Illinois central district, according to previous reporting. Bettendorf is listed as the defendant, and the family seeks damages of more than $75,000. Further details about that lawsuit and several countersuits that arose from it are available with the online version of this article on the newspapers websites, qctimes.com and qconline.com. Castanedas family has also sued Chhabria Harris, 47, East Moline, the woman accused of driving the vehicle that struck the three men. That suit, filed in Rock Island County, states Harris had a responsibility to safely and properly operate her vehicle. The suit accuses Harris of potentially committing one or more acts of negligence, including failing to keep a proper lookout and failing to reduce speed to avoid hitting Castaneda. Harris, through her counsel, has filed an answer to the familys complaint. In it, she acknowledges she made contact with an object or animal while driving on May 22, 2022. Harris filing then argues she has insufficient information to admit or deny she hit Castaneda, and she demanded strict proof of the allegation. She admitted to owing a duty to safely operate her vehicle under the law but denied violating that legal duty, according to her filing, and denied committing any of the potential errors for which she is accused in the suit. Castanedas family wants damages in excess of $50,000, according to the suit. Harris also faces a criminal case filed against her by the Rock Island County States Attorneys Office. That criminal case, which includes charges of reckless homicide and driving under the influence of alcohol, is pending. Gift this article Share this article paywall-free. The Quad-Cities' largest police recruitment fair in more than three years started quietly when the doors to the Vibrant Arena at the Mark opened at 11 a.m. on a Wednesday in the middle of March. Joined by her mother and her little sister, 16-year-old Serenity Oechsner traveled from Davenport to Moline and was the first through the doors. She showed up four minutes after the start. Oechsner was one of only a handful of people who met with representatives from 35 law enforcement and corrections agencies from across Iowa and Illinois who sent representatives to the fair, hoping to attract recruits. By the time the four-hour event ended, just seven people had come through the doors. Of the seven visitors, five were white men. Diversity was hard to find in such a small sampling. Law enforcement agencies throughout the Quad-Cities say finding a diverse field of candidates is harder because of the overall shrinking of the pool. On spring break from Davenport West High School, Oechsner visited every one of the 35 tables set up in the arena's conference room during her several-hour visit. The first stop on her tour of the opportunities available in law enforcement was the sign-in table, where she met the fair's organizers. Diversity underrepresentation in policing Data gathered from October 2022 to May 2023 from nearly 120 law enforcement agencies in 14 states shows frequent disparity in the racial and ethnic makeup of the agencies compared to the communities they are hired to protect and serve. Data gathered from October 2022 to May 2023 from nearly 120 law enforcement agencies in 14 states shows frequent disparity in the racial and ethnic makeup of the agencies compared to the communities they are hired to protect and serve. 'Close to desperate' Daniel Crippen is a District 12 trustee of the Fraternal Order of Police Illinois State Lodge and helped organize the fair. He was not surprised by the poor turnout. "We had just two visitors in the first hour, and one of those was a woman who was specifically looking for an application from the Scott County Emergency Communications Center," Crippen said. "What did surprise us a little bit is what happened when we started putting together this job fair. We have 35 agencies here today. That's a lot. "The Cook County Sheriff's Department is here. That's Chicago. Will County Sheriff's and Corrections is here. That's a two-hour drive. Calumet City's police department is here. That's a two-and-a-half hour drive." Oechsner "is a little young, but she is just the kind of candidate we need to reach out to," Crippen said. "We are having a tough time finding young people who really want to be police officers or sheriff's deputies," he said. "The young lady (Oechsner) really sounded determined. We don't see a lot of that these days. The love for the job just isn't there." Scot Ward, president of Lodge 263 in Illinois, said policing was unpopular because of "media narratives," especially in the wake of the 2020 killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police officers. "You have falsely accused police officers and you have officers who make one mistake and their careers are ruined," he said. "Police officers are not perfect. But we have efforts to defund the police because of the actions of one officer." Chris Southward is the president of Fraternal Order of Police Illinois State Lodge. He dismissed any notion of "systemic racism" or "institutional racism" in police forces across Illinois. "Illinois has some of the best-trained officers in the nation, and I have never once worked with a racist officer," Southward said. "On top of trying to recruit new officers, now we can't keep officers. And I have to say this: I think the perception the media has created of the police has a lot to do with that." Local numbers support Southward's observation that some departments are losing ground. In 2020, Rock Island County's four largest law enforcement agencies the Rock Island County Sheriff's Department, and the police departments of Rock Island, Moline and East Moline employed 315 police officers and sheriff's deputies. That number is down to 248 this year, a 21% decrease. While the number of uniformed officers in Rock Island County shrank by 67, the number of non-white officers and deputies increased significantly. In 2020, only 34 of the 315 officers and deputies were non-white. That's 10.8%. In 2023, 49 of the 248 are people of color. That's 19.8%. The latest numbers suggest the agencies better reflect the area in which they serve. The population of Rock Island County is 142,909. Hispanics make up 13.7% of that population, while Blacks account for 11.8%. By far the biggest changes in representation were found in Hispanic officers. The four largest law enforcement agencies in Rock Island County employ a total of 37 Hispanic officers, or 14.9% of the total uniformed officers. Crippen, Ward and Southward said they thought changing ideals of work made a career in law enforcement a tough sell. Many younger candidates, they said, shrink away from shift work that includes nights and weekends. The dangers associated with police work, which frequently make the news, also are off-putting, they said. The hiring efforts by most police departments in Illinois and Iowa, Crippen said, are "as close to desperate as anyone would like to admit." He spent years with the East Moline Police Department, including time as an officer in low-income housing units. He said finding a diverse field of applicants was harder today because of the lack of applicants. "One of the reasons departments come here for the job fair is because the Quad-Cities is a very diverse community," Crippen said. "And I think the law enforcement agencies in the Quad-Cities certainly on the Illinois side are very diverse." Many opportunities, fewer recruits One of Oechsner's first stops during the job fair was at the table set up by the Rock Island County Sheriff's Department. The agency has 61 deputies, including 14 Hispanic, three Black and one Asian. Hispanic deputies make up 22.9% of the force, and people of color, overall, comprise 29.5%. The Rock Island Sheriff's Department has four female deputies. Sheriff Darren Hart was elected to the post in December 2022 and said diverse representation among the employees of a law enforcement agency is critical. It is important that we have a department that understands the issues that are facing our communities and what better but the individuals who actually live and work in our communities? Hart asked. The sheriffs office does its best to attract a diverse selection of candidates and has done a good job doing so, considering that it and other agencies are finding it challenging to get people to apply at all, Hart said. Were constantly looking for qualified and quality applicants, he said. Oechsner is one of the targets. Besides attending job fairs, the Rock Island Sheriff's Department is reaching out to school districts and posting openings on social media. Recruiting efforts include working with community groups, Hart said. Since taking office, for example, he has met with the NAACP several times. Public entities like the sheriffs department are competing with the private sector for candidates, Hart said. The sheriffs office has a lot to offer, but so do businesses. And so, too, do other agencies. As she walked through the job fair, Oechsner said she never had any idea just how many opportunities are available in law enforcement. "I've talked to a woman who is the head of the bomb squad," the 16-year-old said. "And a woman who is with the Will County Department of Corrections. There's a table for the Conservation Police, and the woman there has been doing it for over 20 years. "There are an amazing amount of opportunities. There are so many choices, and there are some really good deals out there." Many law enforcement agencies are offering hiring bonuses and relaxing residency requirements to entice candidates, Hart said. We havent gotten to that point yet, he added. Thats not to say we wont have to consider it. Still, there has been some success in recruiting, the sheriff said. Since taking office, Hart has hired nine correctional staff. As of March 14, there still was a handful of openings for deputies and jail staff. He anticipates a woman and a couple of Black candidates will be hired from the sheriffs candidate pool in coming months. Hispanic representation Oechsner said she came to the fair to learn about all of the law enforcement agencies in the Quad-Cities. The officers representing East Moline welcomed the teenager with open arms. It is a police force that has no Black officers and just one female officer, though East Moline's population is 18.4% Black. But while patrolling a population of 21,136 that is 18.6% Hispanic, 10 of the East Moline Police Department's 37 officers are Hispanic. That's 27%. East Moline Police Chief Jeff Ramsey has been a police officer for 22 years and chief for a little over three years. He sees East Moline as a diverse city. "It's a great asset to have a public safety department or any department reflect the community's diversity," he said. Ramsey readily acknowledged, though, that the citys police department isnt there yet. "Are we where we want to be?" he asked. "No. We constantly are working towards that goal." He has daily talks with the city's human resource department about increasing the police force's diversity. The department also works with some of the city's Black ministers, Ramsey said. When there are openings on the police force, the department reaches out to them. The department also works with the NAACP when recruiting and extends its efforts to other segments of the population. "The best way I can explain it is: When we open up applications, we want anybody and everybody to apply," Ramsey said. He had a familiar short answer for the biggest challenge in recruiting a diverse police force: The pool of candidates from every background is shrinking. "We are not getting the applicants overall like we used to get," Ramsey said. In past years, the eligibility list numbered 20 to 25 people. That list used to fill the need for two years. "Now we're getting less and less applicants, so the list may only have three or four people on it," Ramsey said. If the department has two or three openings, the list is instantly exhausted. It's not just an issue East Moline faces, Ramsey said. The number of applicants overall is just a lot lower than it used to be. "That's why the community is seeing so many agencies around here testing two, three times a year," he said. Some of the shift work is not as appealing to applicants as it was in the past, he said, and many look for 9-to-5 jobs with weekends off. "It might be because there's a wealth of jobs out there right now, or that public service is not always the easiest job," Ramsey said. "I wish we knew 100% what the reason was." Applications in Davenport climb Oechsner's stop at the Davenport Police Department's table was one she was excited to make. Her grandmother volunteers there and sparked the teen's interest in law enforcement. "My grandmother does a lot of filing and delivering orders," Oechsner said. "She gets to work with Chief (Jeff) Bladel sometimes, and she always tells me about it. That was how my interest really started when I was little." Second to Moline's 12 female officers, Davenport has 11 women in uniform on a force that numbers 155. Of the total sworn officers, eight are Black, six are Hispanic and four are Asian. While 9% of the force is non-white, the city's population of 101,009 is more diverse at 22.1% non-white. The city's Black residents are 10.9% of the population, Hispanics account for 8.9% and Asians are 2.3%. Those identifying as more than one race or ethnicity are 6.8% of the population. While the department declined to speak about hiring and diversity issues, it did make an extensive amount of data available. And some of those numbers contradict the broader assertions of "application numbers being down." In fact, records show, applications to the Davenport Police Department hit a six-year high in 2022, numbering 343. Of those applications, 150 were from people of color. In 2021, 97 of the 251 applications were from non-white candidates. In 2020, 77 of the 224 applications were from people of color. Bettendorf and Scott County Oechsner's stop at the Bettendorf Police Department's table was followed by a lengthy stay at the display set up by the Scott County Sheriff's Department. "I would really be interested in both," she said. "I think both are good places to work for someone who wants to live in Iowa." The Bettendorf Police Department declined to be interviewed about diversity issues and hiring efforts but did submit demographic information about its force of 49 officers. The force is 96% white and 92% male. The department has two Hispanic officers and had three in 2020. There are four female officers. Bettendorf's population of 39,327 is 83.5% white, 6.4% Asian, 4.6% Hispanic and 1.9% black. The Scott County Sheriff's Department declined to provide demographic information on its staff and force, but during the job fair, Sgt. Shaun McDonough said, "since COVID, applications have dropped off." He works the jail side of the department and noted its staff is "at about 60." "We are OK. We are able to staff, but we would like to get to 70," he said. "But we are meeting our manpower needs." In 2020, Sheriff Tim Lane said minority recruitment has been made harder by a "climate of mistrust of police." "I feel many people are discouraged from law enforcement because police are seen in negative ways," Lane said. "I think sometimes broad statements are made about police, based on very serious incidents. "But being in public service is not a disservice to your community no matter your race or gender." Scott County has a population of 174,170 up from 165,224 in 2020. The county is 78.6% white, 8.2% Black, 7.4% Hispanic, 3.3% Asian and 3.3% identify as of multiple ethnicity. In 2020, the sheriff's department's 41 white deputies made up 91.1% of the force. Three of the officers were Black, and one was Native American. 'We're all hurting' One of Oechsner's last stops at the recruitment fair was with the Rock Island Police Department, which has a force of 71 officers. The city is the most diverse of any in the Quad-Cities. The population of 36,636 is 61.1% white, 18.9% Black, 13.7% Hispanic, 5.5% of multiple ethnicity and 5.1% Asian. Tim McCloud, deputy chief of the Rock Island Police Department, said a police department should reflect the community it serves to the best of its ability. We definitely always want to have as much diversity as we can, McCloud said. He acknowledged that reaching a level of diversity within a police force that matches or comes close to matching that of the community it serves would, however, be a real challenge. Rock Island has five Hispanic officers, two Black officers and seven women officers. The size and makeup of the force is always changing, and its composition also depends on who applies and completes the testing process, McCloud said. He stressed that with the current job market, the focus is less on diversifying than it is getting anyone to apply. Right now, were all hurting, McCloud said. He suggested several potential reasons for the shrunken pool of applicants. Challenges in recruitment, I think, probably are due to a lot of misconceptions about what we do, McCloud said. And I mean, we can be honest, there hasn't been a lot of positive portrayal of law enforcement in the media for a while now. "... Bridging the distrust members of the public may have of police after publicized incidents of wrongdoing on the part of some law enforcement in the country will take relationship building." One of the keys in that effort, he said, is to allow members of the community and the police to meet. For its part, the Rock Island Police Departments efforts include its Coffee with a Cop program, the citizen police academy and community fundraisers, McCloud said. To encourage applications, the Rock Island Police has begun offering financial incentives, both for new recruits and for officers of other departments who might be willing to switch, he said. The city has updated its website with attracting candidates in mind, and, like other law enforcement agencies, Rock Island has been sending officers to career fairs, McCloud said. He predicted the shortage of applicants eventually will ease. I think our efforts are probably going to show more and more people coming out, McCloud said. I think people are gonna start to realize what a great career this is. Photos: Hundreds participate in a bi-state protest in honor of George Floyd NANNING, May 22 (Xinhua) -- In the early hours of the morning, the vibrant Haijixing Market, hailed as the largest wholesale fruit market in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, thrived with an animated atmosphere as people flocked in droves. Cold-chain container trucks loaded with fresh durians made regular stops at the bustling durian stalls, with eager buyers arriving early to secure the finest fruits available. Thai durians, typically imported in large quantities, flood the Chinese market from April onwards, ushering in a peak season that spans from May to August. In Nanning, the capital of Guangxi, a subsidiary of Charoen Pokphand Group organized a series of exhibitions that captivated visitors with a range of alluring events. One of the highlights was the unveiling and on-site sale of fresh Thai golden pillow durians known for their exquisite sweetness and soft texture, which attracted numerous buyers. "During the event, we sold an average of over 100 durians daily. The company plans to host a 'Durian Festival' and other activities to promote sales further," said Liang Shuting, who works with the company. She added that the company has meticulously optimized its durian supply chain management and stringent product standards have been implemented to ensure the taste of durians. Since 2019, durian has become the most imported fruit in the country. In 2022, China imported 825,000 tonnes of durian, of which 780,000 tonnes came from Thailand, according to customs data. Guan Caixia, who has been running a Thai durian business for two decades, has witnessed the durian trade growth in China. Few people bought or sold durian in the market in 2003, she recalled, adding that in recent years, the number of durian merchants as well as durian sales soared. Data from the Haijixing Market shows that there are currently 32 durian wholesalers in the market. Last year, 24,000 tonnes of durian were sold in the wholesale channel. As of May 5 this year, 17,000 tonnes of durian have been sold, which marked a fourfold increase over the same period last year. "Durians from eastern Thailand have emerged as the top-selling fruit and they boast exceptional flavor. Our daily procurement of durians typically amounts to approximately five to six containers, with peak demand driving us to acquire as many as 10 containers during those busy periods," said Mo Jiaming, general manager of Youxianyuan agricultural technology company in Guangxi. Mo's company is a major Chinese importer of Southeast Asian fruits and has formed the ASEAN fruit supply chain of durian, coconut and longan over the years. His company supplies durian to Walmart and Pagoda in Nanning and Hema Fresh, Alibaba's fresh-food chain, in south China. The company's durian imports have increased nearly tenfold in the past five years. "We plan to import about 15,000-20,000 tonnes of fresh durians this year, and even 25,000 tonnes if the product quality is stable," Mo said. According to He Yan, deputy general manager of Sam's Club in Nanning, durians are very popular here and fresh durians are often sold out in half a day. Since the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) came into effect, regional economic and trade cooperation has significantly intensified. An increasing number of agricultural products from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) have gained entry into the Chinese market. In July 2022, fresh Vietnamese durian was officially allowed to enter the Chinese market. In January 2023, the General Administration of Customs began to allow the import of fresh durians from the Philippines. Currently, Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam and the Philippines are the main suppliers of durian to China. In recent years, a cross-border logistics system has been developed and intra-regional trade facilitation has been enhanced by the construction of the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor in western China, the opening of the China-Laos Railway and the implementation of RCEP. In the city of Chongzuo, situated on the China-Vietnam border in Guangxi, a steady flow of cross-border vans laden with ASEAN fruits permeates the Chinese market on a daily basis. Meanwhile, at the bustling Qinzhou Port, a pivotal hub along the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor, foreign trade vessels carrying an assortment of fruits, including durians and mangosteens, arrive frequently, delivering cargo from ASEAN countries to inland regions via efficient rail-sea intermodal transport. "As the pandemic has gradually eased and customs clearance has been continuously improved, the pace of durian delivery to the Chinese market has accelerated," said Guan Caixia. "During the epidemic period, it took up to two weeks to transport durians from Thailand to the Chinese market by land. Now, it can be delivered in five to six days," Guan added. Gift this article Share this article paywall-free. A Davenport woman faces charges of having two unrestrained infants in her vehicle as she drove while intoxicated. Scott County authorities have charged Telisa L. Walker, 36, with two counts of neglect or abandonment of dependent person; operating while under the influence first offense; and possession of controlled substance marijuana, first offense, according to court records. The neglect or abandonment counts are felonies while the other two are misdemeanors. The charges stem from a Sunday night traffic stop involving a 2012 GMC Acadia southbound on U.S. Highway 61 near the Davenport Municipal Airport. The trooper stopped the Acadia because it was going 100 mph in a 65 mph zone, according to the court records. During the stop, an Iowa State Patrol trooper saw a man in the backseat, holding one of the babies, while the other infant was in a carrier in the front passenger seat but was not secured in its harness, court records state. Walker agreed to field sobriety tests and failed several, court records state. A preliminary breath test showed she had a breath alcohol content of 0.144 and a subsequent test indicated a content of 0.121. During the stop, the trooper smelled marijuana and, as a result, authorities searched the Acadia, records state. They found a knotted sandwich baggie with marijuana in it. Walkers bond has been set at $25,000 and she remained in custody Monday afternoon, according to the Scott County Jail website. She made her initial appearance on Monday morning, and her next hearing has been set for June 1, court records state. Photos: Historic Downtown Davenport Gift this article Share this article paywall-free. Eastern Iowa Community Colleges (EICC) is hosting a free diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging (DEI&B) course on Wednesday, May 24, titled "Stop Watering the DEI&B Leaves, Treat the Roots." The course will run from 1 to 3 p.m. at the Scott Community College Urban Campus, located on 101 W. 3rd St. in Davenport. This opportunity is ideal to anyone looking to provide a more, "equitable and inclusive culture within your organization," according to the media release. All interested parties are invited to participate and EICC encourages bringing a colleague or mentee. Anthony Arrington, a regional DEI&B expert, will discuss the importance of focusing on root issues influencing DEI&B culture in the workplace. He brings over 25 years of experience in leadership, training, and consulting across multiple industries. Other topics include how to determine if the is a DEI&B culture problem in the workplace, how to identify and address root issues and why the root issues must be addressed before training can be effective. To register, visit eicc.edu/dei. Spots are limited. For questions, contact EICC at 1-888-336-3907 or email cegeneral@eicc.edu. Photos: EICC students compete in inaugural welding competition Gift this article Share this article paywall-free. Update: The boil order has been lifted as of around 11:30 a.m. Wednesday, May 24. The Village of Milan Water Department has issued a boil order for certain areas due to a water main break. According to a news release, residences affected are those east of U.S. 67 on Milan Beltway to Knoxville Road, including the Legends of Mill Creek Neighborhoods, and Knoxville Road from 10th Avenue (78th Avenue) to the Conservancy, including The Conservancy neighborhoods. Until the issue is resolved, people should boil all cooking and drinking water for five minutes before being used. Photos: 11th annual Royal Ball Run for Autism Gift this article Share this article paywall-free. When David Cordes and Brian Patschull bought the house next to theirs in 2007, the place was a mess. The Rock Island home, dating to 1868, had been turned into a four-plex in the 1930s and had been vacant for about seven years. With a trashed interior, including water-damaged wood and plaster, why buy it? Cordes and Patschull had just restored their home, and they wanted the place next door to look good, too. With restoration, they hoped to sell it as a single-family home, boosting neighborhood stability. And, being ardent preservationists, they didnt want to see the citys second-oldest frame home fall to ruin. Today, all those goals have been accomplished. For their work, Cordes and Patschull received a 2023 award from the Rock Island Preservation Society in a presentation made Monday at the Rock Island City Council meeting. Its really a jewel of 20th Street, Diane Oestreich, secretary and longtime member of RIPS, said. Three other awards also were presented. The home at 824 20th St. in the citys Broadway Historic District stands out because of its three-story central tower that is topped with a steep mansard roof, inset with Gothic-looking triangular peaks. Todays tower is not the original, though. Rather, it is the crowning touch of Cordes and Patschulls restoration work. When they bought the property, the tower had been chopped off, leaving an odd-looking, boxy structure that was sided in gray vinyl. As Cordes said, it seemed there was, something wrong with it. Patschull, then an engineer with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, drew up plans for a replica that is 11 feet square and about 16 feet high at its peak. Carver Custom Millworks, Milan, did milling for the corbels, fascia, soffits and window headers. To guide their work, the couple used a drawing from an 1888 book about Rock Island history, when the home was 20 years old. They did not replicate every ornamental detail; giving way to practicality were a widows walk, two large finials, shutters, second- and third- story decorative railings and two of the three front porches. But the original owners definitely would recognize the tower, which was lifted into place in November 2009, drawing a crowd of neighbors. (To view, go to youtube.com/watch?v=xFEy8w0pQJ4) Another major task was tearing off the vinyl siding, accomplished in April of 2008 with a neighborhood effort called a Great Unveiling. The clapboard underneath was in such good shape that by the time Patschull removed the paint using a rotary power scraper, followed by an electric sander both with attachments to catch the lead-based fragments he was down to the original, unblemished, clear cedar. He then repainted in a multi-color scheme of green and bronze. Other work included: Rebuilding the staircase to the tower; installing a new roof; reconfiguring and rebuilding the second floor into three bedrooms, two bathrooms, large closets and a laundry area; removing a rotting one-story rear addition; reopening the first- and second-story sleeping porches that had been enclosed; enlarging and reconstructing the kitchen; installing a half bath on the first floor. Owners past, present Who were the original owners? The home was built in 1868 by Edwin Smythe, a clothier and tailor, who lived there with his wife, Anna, according to research by Oestreich, of RIPS. At the time, 20th Street continued only one more block. In 1873, the home was sold to William Jackson, a lawyer and civic leader who lived there with his wife, Jennie. Jacksons 1925 obituary calls him the Father of Rock Island Parks because he raised money and support to enhance Spencer Square and helped in the establishment of Long View Park, dedicated in 1908. And who are todays owners? They are Lowell Schneider and Jill Potratz, who moved from Eugene, Oregon, for Potratz new job at Augustana College as an assistant professor in the department of Communication Sciences and Disorders. Schneider owns a software company and works from the light-flooded parlor of the Smythe-Jackson home. Potratz said they were not specifically looking for a historic home, but when they heard about the Smythe-Jackson home and checked it out, they decided it was for them. The homes neutral background of earth-tone walls, white wood trim and natural wood floors sets off the couples mix of antique and modern furniture, original art work, woven baskets and colorful rugs. Other recipients of RIPS awards: David and Karen Evans received an award for restoring the exterior of a home at 2613 13th Ave. Sacred Heart Catholic Church received an award for rebuilding and protecting its stained glass windows. The Rock Island Parks and Recreation Department received a certificate for restoration of a concrete memorial bench for Helen Horst at Long View Park. Neighbors Tom Sparkman, Paul Fessler and Leslie ORyan were cited for instigating the project and donating labor. A plaque states that the memorial is dedicated to the children of Rock Island by the parents of little Helen, who lost her life in the waters of the Rock River, 1921. Gift this article Share this article paywall-free. CHICAGO A group of around 18 men broke into Chicago's James R. Thompson Center early Monday morning, according to police. The men broke a front door at the center and got inside the building around 12:35 a.m., police said. It is unknown if the men took anything, police added. The burglars targeted the U.S. Postal Service office located at the building, according to reports. Pictures of the post office showed its door shattered and broken Monday morning. The iconic postmodern building formerly was a state office building. It sits largely empty now after Google agreed to buy it in July. In February, postal workers told the Tribune they were traumatized amid a string of attacks targeting them. Armed robbers were attempting to steal mail and arrow master keys that can open clusters of mailboxes. Photos: Pritzker sworn in for second term BEIJING (Reuters) -China Vice Foreign Minister Sun Weidong has summoned the Japanese ambassador to register protests over "hype around China-related issues" at the Group of Seven (G7) summit over the weekend, a ministry statement late on Sunday said. The heads of the world's leading democracies meeting in the Japanese city of Hiroshima expressed serious concerns about rising tensions in East and South China Seas as well as voicing concerns about the human rights situations in China, including in Tibet and Xinjiang. Sun said Japan collaborated with the other countries at the G7 summit "in activities and joint declarations ... to smear and attack China, grossly interfering in China's internal affairs, violating the basic principles of international law and the spirit of the four political documents between China and Japan," referring to the China-Japan Joint Statement of 1972. He said Japan's actions were detrimental to China's sovereignty, security and development interests, and that China is "strongly dissatisfied and firmly opposes" them. "Japan should correct its understanding of China, grasp strategic autonomy, adhere to the principles of the four political documents between China and Japan, and truly promote the stable development of bilateral relations with a constructive attitude," Sun said. Hideo Tarumi, Japanese ambassador to China, rebutted that it is "natural" for the G7 to refer to issues of common concern as it has done in the past and will continue to do so in the future as long as China does not change its behaviour, according to a readout. "China should first take positive steps to address those issues of concerns if China demands not to refer to them," Tarumi told Sun, according to the readout. Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said during Monday morning briefing that the country's policy toward China has been consistent that it will insist on matters that is needed and urge responsible behaviour, while take steps to address concerns and cooperate on common issues. Kathmandu, Nepal, May 22, 2023: The International Day for Biological Diversity is being marked across the world including in Nepal today under the theme of 'From agreement to action: Build back biodiversity'. May 22 used to be marked as International Day for Biological Diversity under the auspices of the United Nations to increase understanding and awareness on biodiversity issues of ecological balance, environment conservation and sustainable development. The UN General Assembly in December 2000 had adopted 22 May as the International Day for Biological Diversity to commemorate the adoption of the text of the Convention on 22 May 1992 by the Nairobi Final Act of the Conference for the Adoption of the Agreed Text of the Convention on Biological Diversity. Gift this article Share this article paywall-free. MEXICO CITY Mexico's Popocatepetl volcano rumbled to life again this past week, belching out towering clouds of ash that forced 11 villages to cancel school sessions. The residents weren't the only ones keeping a close eye on the towering peak. Every time there is a sigh, tic or heave in Popocatepetl, there are dozens of scientists, a network of sensors and cameras, and a roomful of powerful equipment watching its every move. The 17,797-foot volcano, known affectionately as "El Popo," has been spewing toxic fumes, ash and lumps of incandescent rock persistently for almost 30 years, since it awakened from a long slumber in 1994. The volcano is 45 miles southeast of Mexico City, but looms much closer to the eastern fringes of the metropolitan area of 22 million people. The city also faces threats from earthquakes and sinking soil, but the volcano is the most visible potential danger and the most closely watched. A severe eruption could cut off air traffic, or smother the city in clouds of choking ash. Volcanic ashes are especially dangerous for aviation, not only because they reduce visibility but because they can act as an abrasive, damaging an aircraft's wings and fuselage. Mexico City's two main airports temporarily shut down operations on Saturday due to ash spewing from the volcano. The city's Benito Juarez International airport suspended operations from 4:25 to 10 a.m. local time, resuming operations after removing volcanic ashes, checking the runways and verifying favorable wind conditions, the airport said on Twitter. Felipe Angeles airport, located north of Mexico City and operated by the military, suspended operations for five hours starting about 6 a.m. Popocatepetl's explosions registered in the early hours of Saturday were more intense than in recent days, but authorities who keep a close eye on the active volcano are maintaining the threat at an intermediate level. Ringed around the volcano's summit are six cameras, a thermal imaging device and 12 seismological monitoring stations that operate 24 hours a day, all reporting back to an equipment-filled command center in Mexico City. A total of 13 scientists from a multidisciplinary team take turns staffing the command center around the clock. Being able to warn of an impending ash cloud is key, because people can take precautions. Unlike earthquakes, warning times can be longer for the volcano and in general the peak is more predictable. On a recent day, researcher Paulino Alonso made the rounds, checking the readings at the command center run by Mexico's National Disaster Prevention Center, known by its initials as Cenapred. It is a complex task that involves seismographs that measure the volcano's internal trembling, which could indicate hot rock and gas moving up the vents in the peak. Monitoring gases in nearby springs and at the peak and wind patterns that help determine where the ash could be blown also play a role. The forces inside are so great that they can temporarily deform the peak, so cameras and sensors must monitor the very shape of the volcano. How do you explain all of this to 25 million non-experts living within a 62-mile radius who have grown so used to living near the volcano? Authorities came up with the simple idea of a volcano "stoplight" with three colors: green for safety, yellow for alert and red for danger. For most of the years since the stoplight was introduced, it has been stuck at some stage of "yellow." The mountain sometimes quiets down, but not for long. It seldom shoots up molten lava: instead it's more the "explosive" type, showering out hot rocks that tumble down its fl anks and emitting bursts of gas and ash. The center also has monitors in other states; Mexico is a country all too familiar with natural disasters. For example, Mexico's earthquake early alert system is also based at the command center. Because the city's soil is so soft it was built on a former lake bed a quake hundreds of miles away on the Pacifi c coast can cause huge destruction in the capital, as happened in 1985 and 2017. Gift this article Share this article paywall-free. It is an uphill battle. Henrico County Police Chief Eric English, who was appointed in 2020 and became the countys first Black police chief, does not mince words when asked about the diversity gap between his force and his community, and about recruitment attempts aimed at reducing that disparity. Like the mythical Greek character Sisyphus, English is pushing a boulder up a hill, only for it to feel sometimes like the boulder with the weight of backlash and distrust is rolling back down. Its very difficult, English said. You cant just look at now and say all of a sudden its going to change, when the starting line was very different when policing began. The Henrico Division of Police is one of many departments across the country that does not demographically represent the communities it serves. Henrico is 51% white and 31% Black, according to U.S. census data. The countys police personnel data shows that the percentage of Black police officers in Henrico sits at 7.8%, compared to 85.3% for white officers, as of last June. English said the backlash that law enforcement has received over the past several years has made people apprehensive to join the force, particularly in minority communities. Theres a huge distrust in the Black community of police, English said. When you look at it historically, thats always going to be a barrier for us to acquire the necessary amount of people in order to mirror your community. Richmond-area police departments trying to thread the recruiting needle In the city of Richmond and Hanover County, the primary law enforcement agencies are about 22% less Black, by percentage, than their local jurisdictions. English said another part of the diversity gap is family legacy in policing. Since arriving in Henrico, he learned that many white officers in the division have grandfathers, fathers and sons who also served. English did not see this family dynamic as much during his nearly 30 years with the Richmond police. It makes it a little bit more difficult in terms of diversity here, because its much more common in white families to have a contingency of folks that have been in law enforcement, English said. Thats not common for Black families; even for myself, Im the only one in my family thats a law enforcement officer. Why representation matters Experts say race is an element when police and citizens interact; they can see each other through a prism of racial, cultural and ethnic characteristics, and in a climate of heightened anxiety. Jonathan Zur, president and CEO of the Virginia Center for Inclusive Communities, noted that law enforcement often shows up in moments of high stress. He said that when people experience emergencies, they can face added stress if they have to question whether an officer understands or believes them. I think those types of things become easier to answer when the police department reflects and connects with the community it serves, Zur said. Monica Hutchinson, vice president of the Henrico NAACP, said diversity among officers can help with understanding verbal and nonverbal cues from people with different backgrounds. Having a group of individuals that have not just racial and ethnic diversity, but also diversity of lived experience, is going to help, Hutchinson said. Some of those cultural differences can be the difference between thinking that someones being aggressive versus knowing that someones not. The division has a multicultural liaison who partners with various ethnic groups in Henrico. English added that officers go on community walks and speak with residents to get a gauge on the community and to build relationships. Diversity underrepresentation in policing Data gathered from October 2022 to May 2023 from nearly 120 law enforcement agencies in 14 states shows frequent disparity in the racial and ethnic makeup of the agencies compared to the communities they are hired to protect and serve. Data gathered from October 2022 to May 2023 from nearly 120 law enforcement agencies in 14 states shows frequent disparity in the racial and ethnic makeup of the agencies compared to the communities they are hired to protect and serve. Recruiting ups and downs Police applications in Henrico dropped from 1,086 in 2018 to 259 in 2021, according to data compiled by Lee Enterprises, the Richmond Times-Dispatchs parent company. The COVID-19 pandemic contributed to the decreased numbers, but other factors were considered by Henrico police. Henrico police applicants have to meet certain requirements, such as being 21 before the academy graduation date, having a high school diploma or GED before being hired and being a U.S. citizen. A felony conviction, certain misdemeanor convictions and a driving record with more than six penalty points within the past year are among the items that will disqualify applicants from being considered for an officer position. English changed a few of the guidelines to try to increase the applicant pool; non-obscene tattoos and brandings are now permitted to be visible, except in certain places like the hands and face. Before English became chief, applicants were ineligible if they had used marijuana or THC products within the previous two years. That policy has since been adjusted, and only applies to those products taken on or after the date of application. The divisions recruiting team plans to cast a wider net at education centers, military bases (through the Army Pays program) and colleges, including historically Black institutions. Henrico also is seeking to increase gender diversity on the force. The division is involved in the 30x30 Initiative, a national program that works toward having women represent 30% of police recruits by 2030. Henrico currently employs 14% female officers, according to county personnel data. In 2022, police applications in Henrico rose to 418 through Oct. 19, but that figure is still less than half of the 2018 total. Diversity not a cure-all In light of the recent case in which five Black Memphis police officers were charged with killing Tyre Nichols, a Black man, police departments are faced with looking beyond checking boxes and finding additional ways to improve officer-to-citizen interactions. I think supervision is extremely important, especially when you have specialty units, said English, referring to the SCORPION street crime unit of which the charged Memphis officers were a part. Youve got to have proper oversight. There also has been scrutiny of officer conduct in light of the death of Irvo Otieno, 28, at Central State Hospital in Dinwiddie County in March. Seven Henrico sheriffs deputies and three employees of the psychiatric hospital are accused of smothering Otieno to death and have been charged with second-degree murder. The Sheriffs Office is separate from the Henrico Division of Police and handles security for jails and courthouses, among other duties. Data shows the racial makeup of its 307 staffers is 60% Black and 31% white. The family of Otieno, who was Black, has said he was experiencing a mental health crisis. Authorities have not released body camera footage of the incident. The Henrico police division has a body-worn camera policy, under which supervisors conduct regular audits to see if improvements can be made based on video footage. The department prioritizes de-escalation training and recently took part in ICAT training, which stands for integrating communications, assessment and tactics. Henrico residents and community groups not only want to see more diverse officers, but also more representation at the top positions. Something that has to be discussed is making sure that positions of leadership are also diversified, making sure that our Black officers have the opportunity for advancement within the police department, Hutchinson said. When the search for a new police chief commenced in 2020, the county conducted an external hiring process for the first time, eventually leading to Englishs hire. (English) is absolutely the right person at the right time to put out that welcome for all of our community, said Henrico Manager John Vithoulkas. Henrico citizens also advocated for the county to establish a police civilian review board to increase accountability. A proposal was brought before the Board of Supervisors in 2021, but the measure never reached the voting stage. For now, Henrico police are looking to the future. The newest batch of police recruits started this spring. The class includes eight white males, five Black males, two white females, four Black females and one Hispanic male. PHOTOS: Black Lives Matter protests in Fredericksburg Police March Police March Police March Fredericksburg Protest Fredericksburg Protest Fredericksburg Protest Fredericksburg Protest Fredericksburg Protest Fredericksburg Protest Fredericksburg Protest Fredericksburg Protest Fredericksburg Protest Fredericksburg Protest Fredericksburg Protest Fredericksburg Protest Fredericksburg Protest Fredericksburg Protest Fredericksburg Protest Fredericksburg Protest Fredericksburg Protest Fredericksburg Protest Fredericksburg Protest Fredericksburg Protest Fredericksburg Protest WATCH NOW: Videos related to Richmond's Monument Avenue and the death of George Floyd VIDEO: Memorials at the Lee Statue VIDEO: Protesters march to the Richmond Police 4th Precinct Peaceful protest at 4th Precinct Lt. Gov. Fairfax and Rev. Robert W. Lee at Lee Monument Richmond mayor Levar Stoney: 'It's time' Full comments of the Rev. Robert W. Lee IV on Lee statue removal Northam orders Robert E. Lee statue in Richmond to be removed Gift this article Share this article paywall-free. Richmond authorities on Monday released the name of the man found dead in an alley on Saturday. Walter Robinson III, 36, of Richmond, was pronounced dead at the scene in the 4500 block of Hanover Avenue. Police were called at 11:54 a.m. Saturday. Officials said there were no obvious signs of trauma. The medical examiner will determine the cause and manner of death. Anyone with information is asked to call police at (804) 646-5324 or Crime Stoppers at (804) 780-1000. BEIJING, May 22 (Xinhua) -- China and Central and Eastern European Countries (CEECs) have just concluded a key trade and commerce expo in Ningbo, east China, unleashing new potential for practical cooperation and deeper ties. This year marks the beginning of the second decade of China-CEEC cooperation. Since 2012, China's trade with CEECs has grown at an average annual rate of 8.1 percent, and China's imports from CEECs have increased at an average rate of 9.2 percent annually. In the first quarter of this year, two-way trade totaled 33.3 billion U.S. dollars, up 1.6 percent yearly. Eleven years on, bilateral cooperation has progressed, particularly under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), which has boosted trade, revived growth and sparked new possibilities across the region and beyond through increased connectivity and cooperation. PATHWAYS TO PROSPERITY Commuters, merchants and tourists have been inconvenienced during the border crossing from Bosnia and Herzegovina to south Croatia for decades. A bridge inaugurated in 2022 has made those exhausting trips a thing of the past. A significant BRI and infrastructure project for Croatia, the Peljesac Bridge connects the Croatian mainland with the Peljesac Peninsula of its southernmost Dubrovnik-Neretva County, bypassing a short strip of land belonging to Bosnia and Herzegovina and giving Croatia better access to the area. It also represents a new landmark to further brighten the prospect of China-Croatia and China-Europe relations and cooperation. Now it takes a breezy three-minute drive to cross the strait for Dubrovnik, a medieval city known as the "Pearl of the Adriatic." What connectivity brings goes beyond tourism. A smoother trade flow means generating thousands of local jobs, something felt by individuals, business people and entrepreneurs. So far, more than 1.5 million vehicles have used the new bridge, Davor Peric, project manager at Croatian Roads, told Xinhua. "So the basic idea for the bridge, which was obviously long-waited from the local people and the Croatian people altogether, was to connect the territory." "The Peljesac region, the southern part region that has been disconnected for a long time, has also grown because of the bridge. Economic activity has been increasing recently, and we believe that part of Croatia will definitely develop much faster now that they have completely new roads and the bridge," Peric added. In Hungary, another flagship BRI project, the Hungarian-Serbian railway connecting the Hungarian capital Budapest and Serbian capital Belgrade, is progressing smoothly. Hungary signed a Belt and Road cooperation document with China in 2015, becoming the first European country to ink such a deal. Erno Peto, president of the Hungarian-Chinese Chamber of Economy, said that "over the past 10 years, Hungary has become a regional center for finance, tourism and logistics in Central and Eastern Europe of China thanks to the BRI." Levente Horvath, director of the Eurasia Center of the John von Neumann University in Hungary, said he looks forward to the completion of this project so that Hungarians can benefit from it. Across Serbia, Chinese investments have created thousands of jobs in sectors such as automobile parts, mining, steel, furniture and others, according to the Development Agency of Serbia. The Belgrade-Novi Sad section of the Belgrade-Budapest high-speed railway launched a year ago "marked a significant turning point in the further development of our Serbia," said Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabic. In Greece, over 13 years of cooperation between China's COSCO Shipping and Greece's largest port Piraeus has proven to be an exemplary case of joint development. Antonis Apergis, superintendent of the engineering department of Piraeus Container Terminal S.A., said that because of the project, new jobs were created, boosting employment in the surrounding area. "The company has helped the wider region a lot, because if we recall it started in a very difficult period for Greece that we experienced." "SKY IS THE LIMIT" "The customer base here in China is huge. I see people are hungry to get the information about high-end, nutritious food, so I see market potential here," Petr Kovanik, owner of a Prague-based chocolate company, told Xinhua at a newly-built venue of the just-concluded China-CEEC expo. Like Kovanik, many manufacturers, distributors and business insiders are bullish on China's growing sales and investment opportunities, made possible through upgraded logistics under the BRI framework. "What impressed me most is the ever faster labeling process for imported wines and ever faster shipments of products due to the excellent logistics environment in China," Liakos Constantinos, co-founder of Hellenic Agora Trading Ltd., a Greek wine importer and distributor in China, told Xinhua. "I am very upbeat about the Chinese market. Alcohol consumption is closely related to economic prosperity. As the Chinese economy continues to grow, so will our business," Constantinos said. "Our sales in China grew steadily, and export channels expanded despite the pandemic," said Slovakian wine exporter Peter Lisicky, adding that he sees great market potential in China and expects a larger consumer base, probably in central China. Previously, wine transport to Chinese port cities relied on sea freight. However, with the development of the BRI and railways, numerous wine traders are considering expanding their business to other regions within China. "Bosnia and Herzegovina has broad prospects for cooperation with China and other CEECs in energy, infrastructure, green economic transformation and clean energy. We envision more cooperation projects in the future," said Zdravko Marinkovic, president of the Foreign Trade Chamber of Bosnia and Herzegovina. According to Yu Yuantang, a Chinese Ministry of Commerce official, China and the CEECs play a crucial role in the global industrial and supply chains as key partners in the BRI. They exhibit high economic complementarity, smooth connectivity, and dynamic two-way investments. Zahari Zahariev, chairman of Bulgaria National Association for the Belt and Road, underscored the "enormous opportunities" in renewable energy cooperation with China, a leader in the area of photovoltaics, believing that there is potential for further cooperation with China in public goods projects, such as waste disposal, transport and medical care. Peto, president of the Hungarian-Chinese Chamber of Economy, said China's intention to increase imports from CEECs is critical under the current global economic landscape. Peto said the CEECs are fully aware that the benefits of the BRI will not be handed to them on a silver platter and that they must work together actively to achieve prosperity. Gift this article Share this article paywall-free. A Richmond woman found shot dead in Yorktown in early May was the highest-ranking female member of a Norfolk-affiliated gang, detectives say. Jayquan Jones, Jamica Langley, Hezekiah Carney and Acacia Jackson were all arrested on second-degree murder and conspiracy charges in the death of Tyosha Mitchell, who was taken from her home in Whitcomb Court early on the morning of May 6. Mitchells body was found later that morning by a jogger on Old Williamsburg Road in Yorktown, having been shot eight times. Court documents reviewed by Hampton station WVEC-TV reveal that, through text messages between Mitchell and the four suspects, detectives determined that the five were part of the Vietnam Baby Gorilla gang, a group with ties to the Norfolk arm of the Mad Stone Bloods. Detectives said Mitchell was the highest ranking female gang member and had significant gang ties, but that a man identified as Mitchells boyfriend told investigators that three women and a man arrived at her apartment that morning to beat her out of the gang. The boyfriend told police that he thought the group at Mitchells apartment were going to assault him, too, so he ran upstairs, locked the door and exited through a window, returning a few minutes later to call 911. He told dispatchers that the group took Mitchell away in a black Hyundai Sonata. Detectives tracked that vehicle to York County via surveillance footage and eyewitness testimony, spotting two people who would later be identified as Jones and Langley entering a 7-Eleven in Newport News. Court records show that Langley is also facing sentencing in Richmond Circuit Court after pleading guilty in February to charges connected to a May 2022 homicide in Richmond. Preliminary hearings for Jones, Langley, Carney and Jackson are scheduled for Sept. 12 in York County Court, and Sheriff Ron Montgomery has said more charges could be filed, including for the owner of the vehicle. From the Archives: Virginia State Prison Farm Virginia State Prison Farm Virginia State Prison Farm Virginia State Prison Farm Virginia State Prison Farm Virginia State Prison Farm Virginia State Prison Farm Virginia State Prison Farm Virginia State Prison Farm Virginia State Prison Farm Virginia State Prison Farm Virginia State Prison Farm Virginia State Prison Farm Just 33% of American adults say they approve of President Joe Bidens handling of the economy and only 24% say national economic conditions are in good shape. That's according to a new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. Public approval of Bidens handling of the economy remains low in a time of high inflation, a difficult housing market and concerns about a potential U.S. government debt default. American opinion is also gloomy about Bidens efforts on gun policy and immigration, with only 31% saying they approve of the presidents performance on those hot button issues. Overall, 40% say they approve of the way Biden is doing his job. Theft during illegal search gets five Cancun cops dismissed for abuse of authority Cancun, Q.R. Five Cancun police officers have been dismissed from their positions for abuse of authority. The dismissals stem from an illegal search and theft of private property from a Cancun home Friday. The theft of the items took place May 19 at a home in SM 95 when officers from the Secretariat for Citizen Protection forced the door and entered the 12th Street home saying they were searching for drugs. According to the complaint, at least three people inside the private home were also searched. The owner of the home was a city employee who filed a formal complaint against the officers. On May 20, the Secretaria de Seguridad Ciudadana (SSC) of Quintana Roo released a news briefing on the illegal search. Due to abuse of authority and/or whatever results this afternoon, five elements of the Quintana Roo Secretary of Citizen Security were removed from office and were made available to the authorities for the corresponding demarcation, making it clear that abuses of authority are not tolerated and guarantees legality, efficiency, honesty, professionalism and respect for human rights. The elements were pointed out for illegally entering an address in Supermanzana 95 and stealing personal items, so the order was immediately given to separate them from their post and start the procedure to remove them from their positions. The Secretary of Citizen Security contacted the aggrieved, proceeding with the protocols established in the regulations, since the Secretary of Citizen Security does not and will not tolerate acts that violate the peace and well-being of citizens. Tulum International Airport scheduled to open in December Tulum, Q.R. President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador participated in a work tour of the upcoming Tulum International Airport. The President arrived in Chetumal Saturday and spent part of his time touring the under-construction facilities with Governor Mara Lezama Espinosa. The pair toured the site of the Felipe Carrillo Puerto Tulum International Airport, a project that both announced will be finished in December of this year. We are carrying out for the first time the evaluation of section 5 of the Maya Train where the Tulum Airport, Felipe Carrillo Puerto, is being built, a new marvel of civil-military engineering and the work of exceptional Mexican workers. In December it will be possible to fly to anywhere in Mexico and the world, Lopez Obrador posted on his social media. President Lopez Obrador and Governor Lezama toured the under-construction site of the upcoming Tulum airport. Photo: CGC May 20, 2023. In a report, Lezama said that on Saturday, section 5 of the Maya Train was evaluated, while progress of section 6 was supervised right where the new Tulum International Airport is being built, which will allow the expansion of the connection in Quintana Roo, which receives more than 30 million passengers a year. Governor Lezama congratulated the Secretary of National Defense for the civil-military engineering work they are carrying out in the construction of the new international airport, which is expected to be ready in December of this year, she said. Last week, Ricardo Vallejo Suarez, who is in charge of the group of military engineers of the Ministry of National Defense (Sedena), reported airport construction is around 40 percent complete. Gift this article Share this article paywall-free. A Franklin County familys libel lawsuit, which claimed ABC News defamed them by including a four-second video of their home in a story about politics and race, was dismissed Friday by a federal judge. Crystal Minnix and her father Eugene Muse Jr. had alleged that an online story about local reactions to the riots at the U.S. Capitol and the arrests of two off-duty officers of the Rocky Mount Police Department who participated in the insurrection branded them as racists who support violence. The allegations by Minnix and Muse, who did not appear and were not named in the story, find no footing in defamation law, Judge Michael Urbanski wrote in throwing out the lawsuit. Rather than recovering any of the $67 million in damages they sought, the family members will be required to pay the attorney fees for two other defendants they named in the lawsuit: Bridgette Craighead and the local chapter of Black Lives Matter that she founded. Craighead was interviewed by an ABC News reporter immediately before a video of a home co-owned by Minnix and Muse which is painted red, white and blue is shown. During the footage, a voiceover describes Rocky Mount as predominantly white and politically conservative. Urbanski found no evidence to support claims from the homes occupants, who include three other adults and seven children, that the story by clear implication portrays them as violent insurrectionists, as rebelling Confederacy supporters, as supporters of President Donald John Trump, and as individuals and businesses who stand against or discriminate against people of color. Because the lawsuit falsely accused Craighead of defamation, she is entitled to collect her attorney fees from Minnix and Muse, the judge found. Urbanski based that part of his ruling on a Virginia law aimed at deterring SLAPP lawsuits, which stands for strategic lawsuits against public participation, that are filed with the intent to chill speech about matters of public concern. After reading an article in the Cardinal News that mentioned Craigheads concerns about the high cost of litigation, attorneys from the Roanoke law firm of Woods Rogers Vandeventer Black volunteered to represent her for free. With Craigheads permission, the firm will donate any award it receives to the Franklin County chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, according to King Tower, one of three lawyers for the firm who worked on the case. In his Friday opinion, Urbanski gave the attorneys 14 days to file briefs outlining what their fees amount to. Lance Hale, a Roanoke attorney who represents Minnix and Muse, could not be reached Monday. The lawsuit took issue with a 7 minute, 30-second news report, titled Cops role in Jan. 6 attack divides Virginia town with ties to Confederacy, that aired in January 2022. The report includes discussions from several Rocky Mount residents on their perceptions of racism in the town as well the role of two police officers Thomas T.J. Robertson and Jacob Fracker who joined the hundreds of Trump supporters who stormed the U.S. Capitol over the then-presidents false claims of a stolen election. Robertson and Fracker were fired and later convicted. Statements made by reporter Devin Dwyer and Craighead implicitly disparaged the occupants of the Boones Mill home just before its image appears in the story, the lawsuit claimed. The four-second video shows a child who is barely visible standing outside of the house. That gave rise to allegations, which Urbanski also ruled were groundless, that the story made the child a possible victim of sex offenders. As for Craigheads comments, they included: This is their land. This is their county and we are just living in it. The lawsuit claimed that was a clear reference that white people control the land. But as Urbanski noted in his 19-page opinion, Craigheads interview is utterly unconnected to the Minnix family, its members, or their home. Craighead was not near the home when she made the comments, and never mentioned its occupants. The claims against ABC news were equally weak, its attorney argued when making a motion to dismiss the case earlier this year. With respect, it doesnt pass the basic common sense test, Nathan Siegel told the judge. Gift this article Share this article paywall-free. Five places in Roanokes Black history, which for years have remained in plain sight but overlooked by many, are being seen in a new light. A film that has been in the works for the past year year, Hidden in Plain Site, Roanoke, was shown Sunday night for the first time to a crowd of about 100 at the Dumas Center in the Gainsboro community. The goal is to bring more awareness to injustices endured by the citys African-American residents: graves in a Black cemetery unearthed to make room for Interstate 581, hundreds of homes in Gainsboro demolished for the building of the Roanoke Civic Center, a hospital for Blacks who were not allowed into the citys segregated medical centers, and more. Also featured is Henrietta Lacks, a Roanoke native who unknowingly contributed to groundbreaking medical research. Dontrese Brown, co-founder of a similar project in Richmond who worked on the documentary, said it brings to the forefront sites that people walk by every day in your city without knowing the historical context from a Black American standpoint. Brown was approached last year by Trish White-Boyd, a member of the Roanoke City Council who was searching with other community members for ways to tell the story of the citys Black history. White-Boyd had seen on Facebook a Hidden in Plain Site, Richmond film by Browns group, and wanted to replicate it in Roanoke. The informal group began a fund-raising campaign for the film, which coincided with an effort to erect a statue of Lacks in downtown Roanoke. More than $183,000 was contributed by individuals, organizations and businesses for the two projects. The documentary consists of six segments devoted to the following: Old Lick Cemetery, an African-American graveyard that stood in the way of plans to build Interstate 581. In 1961, the remains of more than 600 people were unearthed and moved six miles to a mass grave in the Coyner Springs cemetery in Roanoke County. Henry Street, a once-thriving Black commercial and cultural hub just across the railroad tracks from downtown Roanoke. Burrell Memorial Hospital, which for 50 years served Blacks who were excluded from the citys segregated hospital. Opened in the home of a local physician in Gainsboro, the hospital later moved to McDowell Avenue before closing in 1978. Dreamland, a recreation center and dance hall that was adjacent to Washington Park. What was once a swimming pool popular among the Black residents, who paid 25 cents for a visit, now lies beneath the pavement of a widened Orange Avenue. Gainsboro at the Berglund Center, which the civic center was later named. Well-kept homes of Blacks were demolished in the 1950s and 1960s in the name of urban renewal so that the city could have a place to host concerts, sporting events and other attractions. And Lacks, a Black woman who was born in Roanoke and later moved to Maryland, where in 1951 she went to Johns Hopkins Hospital for treatment of cervical cancer. Tissue taken from her tumor without her knowledge or consent became the first human cells to be cloned. The availability of the cells became a cornerstone of modern medicine, enabling groundbreaking research and innovations. Following Sundays debut, the film will be shown again at the Grandin Theatre Aug. 16 and the Jefferson Center Sept 28. We just want to educate the people, White-Boyd said of the effort. Some people who have lived here all their lives have no idea of the history of Roanoke. Others know the history all too well, having lived through those days, but may not have seen it property recognized. I just think that its going to help the community heal, White-Boyd said. Highlight your love of the world of Star Wars by using Frank Herbert's 1965 classic 'Dune'. Unlock and share your feelings surrounding your deeply held fear of clowns with Stephen King's 'It'. Reiterate your commitment to not giving up easy buckets - maybe even share your admiration for Lebron James - by using Sam Smith's 'The Jordan Rules'. Children's National Hospital staff scientist Sridevi Yadavilli (from left), Virginia Tech biomedical engineer Jennifer Munson, principal investigator Javad Nazarian of Children's National Hospital Brain Tumor Institute, and research technician Ayda Woldegerima of Children's National strategize about efforts to fight pediatric brain cancer on Wednesday, May 17, at the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC in Roanoke, Virginia. Credit: Clayton Metz/Virginia Tech Virginia Tech researchers with the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC have joined a Children's National Hospital effort to treat deadly brain tumors with ultrahigh frequency sound waves. The scientists are studying how to use an emerging technology called focused ultrasound to fight diffuse midline glioma (DMG), one of the most lethal childhood brain cancers with a nearly 100 percent rate of mortality within five years of diagnosis. A multi-institutional team led by Javad Nazarian, a principal investigator with Children's National Hospital, will study how to use focused ultrasound to create a temporary gateway through the body's protective blood-brain barrier to deliver cancer medicine. Virginia Tech Cancer Research Alliance investigators Eli Vlaisavljevich, a designer and developer of focused ultrasound technology, and Jennifer Munson, who creates 3D models to study brain tumors, bring expertise in focused ultrasound instrumentation and tissue engineering to the team. Joining them is Columbia University's Cheng-Chia Wu, principal investigator for the world's first clinical trial using focused ultrasound in children with relapsed DMG. Wu is experienced in combining focused ultrasound with radiation and immunotherapy for both pediatric and adult brain tumors. "Bringing this expertise together will advance this promising platform for treatment of pediatric brain tumors," Nazarian said. "Individually, we progress slowly or we may fail. Together, we will be able to better understand how to treat these tumors and accelerate their delivery to the clinic." The research is funded by a $672,000 grant to Children's National from the SebastianStrong Foundation, a nonprofit organization that raises awareness of childhood cancers and provides support for less toxic, more targeted childhood cancer treatments and cures. At Virginia Tech, the project springs from research supported by an earlier Seale Innovation Fund grant issued through the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute to Munson, Vlaisavljevich, and Nazarian. That study centered on focused ultrasound and sonodynamic therapy, which is a noninvasive tumor treatment that reduces the number of cancer cells and discourages future tumor growth. "You can't hit these deadly, invasive tumors in children with the aggressive treatment we do in adults, because it can cause damage and harm a child's development," said Munson, associate professor of the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute and the Department of Biomedical Engineering and Mechanics in the College of Engineering. "We want to reach these tumors with effective treatment doses, but without causing damage." Munson's lab will develop 3D cell culture models that include DMG tumor cells from Children's National patients. The 3D tissue-engineered model of the tumor microenvironment can reveal why the tumors return and which treatments will be most effective at eradicating them. Virginia Tech Cancer Research Alliance investigators Jennifer Virginia Tech Cancer Research Alliance leaders Jennifer Munson (left) and Eli Vlaisavljevich bring expertise on tissue engineering and ultrasound instrumentation to a multi-institutional team tackling a deadly childhood brain cancer. Credit: Clayton Metz/Virginia Tech "Our goal is ultimately to develop a personalized medicine approach in which we can take a patient's tumor, build a model of that tumor in a dish, test drugs on it, and tell a clinician which therapy will work best to treat it," Munson said. Meanwhile, Vlaisavljevich will design focused ultrasound instrumentation to work in cell cultures as well as living systems. Vlaisavljevich's Therapeutic Ultrasound and Noninvasive Therapies lab at Virginia Tech explores a technology called histotripsy, which is used to generate cavitation bubbles in tissue that, when popped, have the ability to destroy targeted tumors. "The problem is deliveryactually getting the drug to the target. That's difficult in the brain," said Vlaisavljevich, associate professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering and Mechanics. "One of the promising benefits we've seen is focused ultrasound can be used in combination with microbubbles to open the blood brain barrier and allow drug delivery into tumors that are normally hard to reach for any type of therapeutic approach." DMG tumors often begin in the base of the brain near the spinal cord and travel through the central nervous system via cerebrospinal fluid, which makes surgery, radiation and chemotherapy difficult. What's more, the tumor can invade nearby tissue and extend beyond what can be seen on MRI or by the surgeon during surgery, according to the National Cancer Institute. "Our portion of the project is to conduct fundamental science," Vlaisavljevich said. "We can look at how to tailor this therapy to have the most effectiveness against cancer cells, with minimal off-target effects and reduced toxicity." Research to find solutions for pediatric cancer is desperately needed, according to Oscar Ortiz, who founded the SebastianStrong Foundation in 2017 in memory of his son Sebastian, who died of cancer. "Only a handful of drugs have been specifically created for fighting childhood cancer since 1980, while in that same time period hundreds have been made for fighting cancer in adults," Ortiz said. "Kids deserve so much better." The study will take place at Virginia Tech labs on the Blacksburg campus and at the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute in Roanoke, with ongoing research for the project under way at the Children's National Research & Innovation Campus in Washington, D.C. Meanwhile, in complementary efforts, Kathleen Mulvaney and Jia-Ray Yu, assistant professors with the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute whose research programs are housed at the Children's National Research & Innovation Campus, are pursuing research strategies for identifying new leading edge approaches to identifying and delivering new therapeutic interventions at a molecular level to treat childhood brain cancers. Yu explores the epigenetic and molecular foundation of diffuse midline glioma to find potentially new therapies, while Mulvaney seeks to exploit weaknesses in two rare but lethal cancers that affect children: glioblastoma and malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumor. Their goal is to develop together and in parallel therapeutic approaches that can treat a range of pediatric brain cancers. Provided by Virginia Tech Gift this article Share this article paywall-free. EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) Scattered rains and even smoke cover cooled air temperatures and helped efforts to fight wildfires in Alberta over the weekend, officials said Sunday, while a new fire in neighboring British Columbia led to an evacuation order for one rural area. As the heavy smoke brought cooler temperatures, it also limited the ability to fly firefighting aircraft and it can harm the health of people having to breathe it, authorities added. I couldnt say one outweighs the other. We will take advantage of any opportunity we have, and if its providing an opportunity for more on-the-ground firefighting, then thats what were able to do, Christie Tucker, an Alberta fire official, said at a news conference. Tucker said only five new wildfires started between Friday morning and Sunday morning, part of which he attributed to Albertans respecting restrictions on fires and ATV use. Overall Sunday, 84 fires burned in the province, 23 of which were out of control. More than 10,000 people were sheltering away from their homs. While we are optimistic that the forecast rain will be enough to make a difference to some wildfires in the province, we are not out of the woods yet, Tucker said. In British Columbia, which has also been plagued by wildfires, an out-of-control blaze that sprang up led officials to order the evacuation of an area near Tzenzaicut Lake about 600 kilometers (375 miles) north of Vancouver. Firefighters had to abandon one property. Jessica Mack, a spokeswoman for the Cariboo Fire Centre, said crews were using heavy equipment and firefighting aircraft to combat the growing blaze. Officials said a number of major wildfires remained in both the Cariboo and Peace River regions, but changing wind directions and cooler weather helped fightfighters temper the spread of those blazes. In the Cariboo region, an evacuation alert was lifted for the communities of Anahim Lake and the Ulkatcho First Nation. Gift this article Share this article paywall-free. FLORENCE, S.C. The South Carolina Department of Veterans Affairs is building a coalition to help veterans leaving the service transition into civilian life. Thats according to the departments new secretary, Maj. Gen. (Ret.) Todd McCaffrey. He was nominated by Governor Henry McMaster and unanimously confirmed by the South Carolina Senate in March of 2023, making him only the second secretary in the fledgling departments history. When you have a department that is only 48 people strong, the question is: How do you reach the 393,000 veterans in South Carolina? The only way you can do that effectively is youve got to be able to integrate the capabilities of all the other organizations capabilities across the state that wants to assist veterans, McCaffrey said. McCaffrey spoke to the Rotary Club of Florence on Monday about the South Carolina Department of Veterans Affairs and what the department does. With a coalition method, McCaffrey said there is no wrong door into veteran services. That means that no matter where veterans enter the coalition, they can always be directed to the organizations that can help with their needs. The coalition is known as the Palmetto Pathfinder Program and can connect veterans to resources for employment, education, healthcare, housing, nutrition and social support. The program looks to identify veterans who just left the service or are coming into South Carolina, connect with them on a personal, veteran-to-veteran level, assess their situation, direct them to resources they may need and follow-up to see if they have any additional needs. Partner organizations and agencies are of all types government, non-profit and private, McCaffrey said. The program also trains peer mentors, known as pathfinders, to help connect veterans to services. While the coalition is the most important thing the department does, McCaffrey said the department does three other things: assist veterans in getting the federal benefits they are entitled to, advocate for the military in South Carolina and educate people about veterans. He said many people believe all veterans struggle with mental and physical issues after leaving the service and that they are a drain on society, but the department wants to shift that narrative. Those veterans that need the most help are simply the tip of the iceberg, he said, and many live happy and fulfilling lives. By shifting that narrative, McCaffrey said he hopes to encourage young people to enlist. Currently, many are scared of what will happen to them in the service, he said. South Carolina is retaining far more veterans than nearly any state, McCaffrey said. Only Hawaii and Alaska retain more veterans than South Carolina. Still, around the country, the number of veterans is falling as the number of young people who join the military falls, he said. CAIRO, May 22 (Xinhua) -- Egypt seeks to expand its collaboration with the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) in funding the development of Egypt's economy, the Egyptian finance minister said on Monday. Mohamed Maait, also governor of Egypt at the AIIB, made the remarks during his meeting in the Egyptian capital Cairo with the visiting AIIB's vice president Ludger Schuknecht, according to a statement published by the Egyptian Ministry of Finance. The AIIB's investment portfolio in Egypt has exceeded 1 billion U.S. dollars in several sectors since the beginning of their cooperation in 2016, Maait said, noting that Egypt is one of the founding members and the largest African shareholder in the bank. Referring to the fruitful cooperation between the two sides, Maait reaffirmed that "Egypt has been promoting an incentive climate for luring domestic and foreign investments." "We aspire that the AIIB will contribute to issuing Panda bonds in Chinese currency in Egypt in the coming period for establishing social and environmentally friendly projects," he said. Panda bonds are Chinese renminbi-denominated debts sold by overseas issuers to meet financing demand. On Saturday, the African Development Bank, another multilateral development finance institution, approved a partial credit guarantee of 345 million U.S. dollars to Egypt to facilitate the county's access to the panda bonds market. The two officials also discussed the preparations for hosting the annual meetings of AIIB in the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh in September after four years of online gatherings due to the outbreak of COVID-19. This year's annual meeting will be an excellent platform for pushing multilateral developmental partnerships between institutions and developing countries, according to the statement. The AIIB, a China-initiated multilateral financial institution, began its operation in January 2016 with an agenda focusing on supporting sustainable development through infrastructure and other productive sectors in Asia and beyond. Gift this article Share this article paywall-free. COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina made it official Friday: Hes running for president. Scott, the Senates only Black Republican, filed paperwork with the Federal Election Commission declaring his intention to seek his partys nomination in 2024. His candidacy will test whether a more optimistic vision of Americas future can resonate with GOP voters who have elevated partisan brawlers in recent years. The deeply religious 57-year-old former insurance broker has made his grandfathers work in the cotton fields of the Deep South a bedrock of his political identity. Yet he rejects the notion that racism remains a powerful force in society, and he has cast his candidacy and rise from generational poverty as the realization of a dream only possible in America. Scott, who last month formed an exploratory committee allowing him to raise and spend money while weighing a White House campaign, has scheduled a formal announcement on Monday at Charleston Southern University, a private Baptist college and Scotts alma mater, in his hometown of North Charleston. Scott already has scheduled TV ads to begin airing in the early voting states Iowa and New Hampshire early next week, the most significant advertising expenditure by a potential or declared candidate in the early stages of the 2024 nominating campaign. Scott tries to focus on hopeful themes and avoid divisive language to distinguish himself from the grievance-based politics favored by those leading the GOP field, such as former President Donald Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who hasnt yet entered the race but is expected to do so soon. The senator refuses to frame his own life story around the countrys racial inequities. He insists that those who disagree with his views on the issue are trying to weaponize race to divide us, and that the truth of my life disproves their lies. During a February visit to Iowa, which holds the first GOP presidential caucuses, Scott spoke of a new American sunrise rooted in collaboration. I see a future where common sense has rebuilt common ground, where weve created real unity, not by compromising away our conservatism, but by winning converts to our conservatism, he said. But Scott has his limits. During that same trip, he railed against political correctness in much the same fashion as Trump and DeSantis. If you wanted a blueprint to ruin America, youd keep doing exactly what Joe Biden has let the far left do to our country for the past two years, he said. Tell every white kid theyre oppressors. Tell Black and brown kids their destiny is grievance, not greatness. Scott speaks often about his hardscrabble roots. He was raised by a single mother who worked long hours as a nurses assistant to provide for him and his brother after her divorce from their father. Scott, who describes himself as a lackluster student, graduated from Charleston Southern University with a political science degree before opening an insurance business. Scotts faith is an integral part of his political and personal story. Describing himself as a born-again believer, Scott often quotes Scripture at campaign events, weaving his reliance on spiritual guidance into his stump speech and using Faith in America to describe his series of political appearances before joining the race. On many issues, Scott aligns with mainstream GOP positions. He wants to reduce government spending and restrict abortion, saying he would sign a federal law to prohibit abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy if elected president. But Scott has pushed the party on some policing overhaul measures since the killing of George Floyd, and he has occasionally criticized Trumps response to racial tensions. Scott called it indefensible after Trump retweeted a post that he later deleted containing a racist slogan associated with white supremacists. In the days that followed Trumps widely criticized response to a 2017 white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, Scott said Trumps principles had been compromised and that without some introspection, it will be hard for him to regain ... moral authority. Throughout their disagreements, though, Scott has maintained a generally cordial relationship with Trump, saying in his book that the former president listened intently to his viewpoints on race-related issues. A potentially more awkward rival for Scott will be Nikki Haley, Trumps former U.N. ambassador who helped fuel Scotts political rise when she was South Carolinas governor and appointed him to the Senate in 2012. In filing the seat that had been held by Republican Jim DeMint, Scott became the first Black senator from the South since just after the Civil War. In a 2014 special election to serve out the remainder of his term, Scott became the first Black candidate to win a statewide race in South Carolina since the Reconstruction era. He easily won reelection last year and had long said his current term, which runs through 2029, would be his last. As a senator, Scott has been a go-to Republican voice on issues including policing and was the GOPs chief negotiator on legislation that ultimately stalled in 2021. He has also spoken on the Senate floor about his personal experiences as a Black man in America. I have felt the anger, the frustration, the sadness and the humiliation that comes with feeling like youre being targeted for nothing more than just being yourself, Scott said in 2016, recounting how he was pulled over seven times in a year. He was once stopped by a U.S. Capitol Police officer who recognized the Senate lapel pin that Scott was wearing but did not recognize Scott. Scott rejects the notion that the country is inherently racist and has repudiated the teaching of critical race theory, an academic framework that presents the idea that the nations institutions maintain the dominance of white people. Hear me clearly: America is not a racist country, Scott said. Its backwards to fight discrimination with different types of discrimination. And its wrong to try to use our painful past to dishonestly shut down debates in the present. Scott believes parents should have more oversight over what their kids learn in public schools about race, sexual orientation and gender identity. Scott has twice addressed the Republican National Convention in 2012 as a first-term congressman and in 2020 as a senator. At the last GOP convention, he praised Trump for building the most inclusive economy ever and for supporting funding for historically Black colleges and universities. After Bidens White House victory, Scott was tapped to give the GOP response to the new presidents first address to Congress. Others in the GOP 2024 race include entrepreneur and Woke, Inc. author Vivek Ramaswamy, former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson and radio show host Larry Elder. DeSantis, former Vice President Mike Pence and former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie are among those who are expected to announce campaigns soon. If Scott is successful, he would be the first Black person to win the Republican presidential nomination and the second elected to the presidency, following Barack Obama in 2008. Scott frequently mentions that his family made it from cotton to Congress in one lifetime a reference to his grandfather who left grade school to pick cotton in the Deep South. ___ Associated Press writer Thomas Beaumont in Des Moines, Iowa, contributed to this report. ___ Meg Kinnard can be reached at http://twitter.com/MegKinnardAP Doctors have advised him to self-isolate, even though he feels "generally okay", following recent official overseas trips Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong delivering a speech at the Istana in 2017 (left) and photo of Lee's COVID-19 positive Antigen Rapid Test Kit (Photos: Associated Press/Wong Maye-E and Facebook/Lee Hsien Loong) SINGAPORE - Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong has tested positive for COVID-19 for the first time on Monday morning (22 May). PM Lee, 71, posted a photo of his positive antigen rapid test (ART) result in a post on his Facebook page at 10.40am, alongside two paragraphs of text explaining his situation. "I tested positive for COVID-19 for the first time this morning. This comes after my recent work trips," he wrote. "I am generally feeling okay, but my doctors have advised me to self-isolate until I am asymptomatic. They have also prescribed me Paxlovid, an antiviral medication, because of my age." PM Lee added that he took his most recent COVID-19 vaccine booster in November last year. "Please continue to keep your vaccinations up-to-date, as it reduces the risk of severe illness," he said in his Facebook post. "As COVID-19 remains endemic in Singapore, we must continue to stay safe and healthy." PM Lee had made official visits to two African countries earlier this month - to South Africa's Cape Town from 14 to 16 May, and then to Kenya's capital Nairobi from 17 to 19 May. Well wishes and messages have flooded his Facebook page since he put up his post, with many wishing him a speedy recovery. Do you have a story tip? Email: sgnews.tips@yahooinc.com. You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and Twitter. Also check out our Southeast Asia, Food, and Gaming channels on YouTube. Gen Z job seekers prioritise mental health in their job search criteria as the job market evolves (PHOTO: Getty Images/Istockphoto) SINGAPORE As the job market continues to evolve, a growing number of Gen Z individuals are prioritising mental health at the forefront of their job search criteria. Rabiatul Adawiyah, a 23-year-old graduating student from the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (NAFA, exemplifies this trend. While aspiring to pursue university studies, she is also considering finding a stable job. Rabiatul emphasises the importance of work-life balance and mental wellness benefits when evaluating potential employers. "The first thing I consider is the job requirements. Even if the role is unfamiliar, I believe I can learn and adapt. I also consider the working hours and if the salary aligns with my needs. Work-life balance is crucial; the younger generation recognises this necessity. They desire quality time with loved ones and moments to prioritise self-care," she explains. In her pursuit of finding a job that prioritises mental well-being, Rabiatul believes that companies can learn from overseas counterparts who implement initiatives such as company trips. "These efforts resonate with the Gen Z or older generation, appreciating the steps bosses take to create a supportive work environment," she adds. Rabiatul believes that the first impression and the employer's approach are vital when attending interviews. "The choice of words, tone, and overall interaction leave an impression on both parties. Once the conversation begins, I inquire about additional benefits beyond leaves and medical coverage. Mental wellness benefits hold significant importance to me. It reflects how management addresses staff concerns and welfare," Rabiatul shares. According to Adrian Choo, CEO and Founder of Career Agility International, Gen Z job seekers like Rabiatul seek meaningful engagement in their work. "Post-pandemic trauma, workplace wellness has gained prominence, extending beyond mental wellness to encompass overall well-being. Companies that focus on workplace wellness can attract and retain top talent." Choo also highlights that young job seekers look for alignment between their values and the purpose of their work. "They want the money and an ability to relate to the kind of work they do," he explains. Choo also commends Singapore's efforts to destigmatise emotional and mental illnesses, to the extent that job interviewers are prohibited from asking related questions. "I would applaud the government on this because the Ministry of Manpower has put in a lot of effort in destigmatising emotional and mental illness to the point where even now in job interviews, the interviewer is not allowed to be asking questions regarding that. I think that's really good," he acknowledges. Choo also recognises the long-term benefits for companies that prioritise their employees' well-being. "Over the years, companies have become aware that they need to keep their staff sharp and healthy. Burnout is a very real issue. If not addressed, it can lead to high employee turnover and reduced productivity, which ultimately affects the bottom line," he emphasises. Gen Z's focus on inclusive work cultures Dr David Leong, chairman and managing director of PeopleWorldwide Consulting, echoes the sentiments of Rabiatul and Choo. He emphasises that Gen Z job seekers value positive, inclusive work cultures that promote diversity, collaboration and mental health. "The growing awareness of mental health has led companies to prioritise mental health benefits and resources for their employees," Leong states. In Singapore, government initiatives reflect the societal recognition of mental health's importance as more young individuals seek mental health support. The COVID-19 pandemic has further highlighted mental health challenges, prompting human resources practices to adapt, according to Leong. To foster a mentally healthy workplace, companies adopt various approaches. Employee assistance programmes (EAPs) offer confidential counselling services and stress management resources. Flexible work arrangements, including remote and hybrid models, enable employees to achieve a healthy work-life balance. Mindfulness and wellness programmes, such as meditation sessions and stress management workshops, are also gaining popularity, he added. Leong said creating a culture of openness surrounding mental health is another priority. Leaders encourage conversations and aim to reduce the stigma associated with mental health challenges. Training managers to recognise and support team members struggling with mental health is becoming increasingly common. "Some companies even offer mental health days to allow employees to focus on their well-being," he added. Embracing the gap year Embrace the Journey: Adrian Choong's advice for Gen Z contemplating a gap year, urging them to embrace personal growth and seize unique experiences. (PHOTO: Getty Images) While mental health awareness has made significant strides in the workplace, Nur Athirah, a 23-year-old, shares her experience with considering a gap year. After graduating from her diploma in Early Childhood three years ago, Nur Athirah initially desired to take a gap year. However, circumstances during the circuit breaker period, led her to prioritise finding a job to support her family. "I wanted to take a gap year, but I graduated during the circuit breaker. Due to the financial crisis, I had to find a job to support my family. I was afraid I wouldn't secure employment," Nur Athirah explains. Reflecting on her experience, Nur Athirah believes that a gap year could have allowed her to take a break and make more informed decisions about her career path. She acknowledges the importance of not rushing into a job without careful consideration. Choo, offering advice to Gen Z individuals considering a gap year, encourages them to seize the opportunity for personal growth and unique experiences. He emphasises that employers are not necessarily concerned about the gap year itself but rather the activities and accomplishments during that time. "Gen Z individuals thinking about taking a gap year should go ahead and do it. Gain experiences, explore new territories. Employers won't discriminate against a gap year, but they will be interested in what you did during that time," he advises. Activities such as travelling, learning new languages, or engaging in meaningful community work can positively impact job prospects, he added. Do you have a story tip? Email: sgnews.tips@yahooinc.com. You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and Twitter. Also check out our Southeast Asia, Food, and Gaming channels on YouTube. Mike Marsland - Getty Images Michelle Yeoh wore a beautiful green gown in Cannes on Sunday evening (21 May), to attend another of the festival's premieres. The picture of sophistication, Michelle wore a sleek green gown to the 76th Cannes Film Festival. Attending the premiere of Firebrand, Michelle paired her ruffled green gown with a dramatic necklace, black gloves, and matching court heels. Gisela Schober Michelle's gown was Balenciaga Haute Couture, and featured a beautiful draping cape that she wore across her shoulders. At the Kering Women In Motion Dinner in Cannes, Michelle wore yet another elegant gown. This time opting for a classic black gown paired with long white gloves, Michelle was honoured with Kerings Women in Motion Award. Vittorio Zunino Celotto An evening dedicated to the accomplishments and work of women in culture and the arts, the Women In Motion Dinner was attended by Leonardo DiCaprio, Rebel Wilson and Salma Hayek, amongst other stars. After a fun-filled few days, Michelle let her hair down as the evening went on, having a wonderful time dancing with Brie Larson to some live music. Michelle gave a heartwarming speech during her acceptance, discussing the possibilities out there for women. For too long we as women have been left out of rooms and conversations. We have been told the door is closed to us, she said. Well, Virginia Woolf once said, there is no gate, no lock, no bolt that you can set upon the freedom of my mind. Our ideas are endless. Our passion is infinite. And we have come to knock that door down. This award comes just a few months after Michelle won her Best Actress Oscar for Everything Everywhere All at Once. You Might Also Like Gift this article Share this article paywall-free. Two months ago, I wrote a column telling the story of an older woman, a widow recovering from heart surgery, who was being harassed by the Social Security Administration demanding a clawback of more than $88,000 in benefits she had received over the years all because the agency had made a mistake in calculating her benefits. Social Security threatened to stop paying future benefits until that huge amount was recouped. Now, the eminent economist Laurence Kotlikoff, creator of the MaximizeMySocialSecurity.com calculator and co-author of the bestselling Get Whats Yours: The Secrets to Maxing Out Your Social Security, and I have created the Social Security Horror Story project. We have been swamped with similar stories and are now soliciting more. (Read some on the link on my home page at TerrySavage.com.) Its a big undertaking, given that the Social Security annual report lists some $8.6 billion in receivables it claims are owed by Social Security and disability beneficiaries. Alone, people feel helpless. But some very powerful people have expressed an interest in helping us tell the story and resolve the problems. Many of these clawbacks involve miscalculations of public pension offsets (commonly known as WEP the windfall elimination provision). Others demand repayment of disability benefits once people qualify for Medicare. Some Social Security horror stories demand repayment of benefits given to young children of disability recipients. Read this horror story: I received a letter from Social Security back in 2019, when I was 20, saying that I owed them $12,163. And that I had 60 days to pay them, or else. I was a college student, working a retail job and living with family. "Apparently, Social Security has a benefit for the children of disabled workers, which my mother was and my dad became. So, as their child, 'I' received a benefit for being their child, as they were disabled. Which they gave directly to my mother to spend. And which I was never informed of and knew nothing about. She did whatever paperwork to get the money, got the money put directly in her bank account and got to spend it however she deemed appropriate. Thats how other government benefits involving children work. "Makes sense, right? Well, Social Security doesnt think so. Instead, they claim it was my benefit. "See, it says it right there, in the 700-page policy handbook: Its your benefit, your parent is just the representative payee. And we need a representative payee because, obviously, as a child, you cant be expected to know anything about money. "To anyone of sound mind, this logic is clearly contradictory, deeply immoral and working against the goal of having these benefits exist in the first place. If you have to appoint a representative payee for someone because they dont have the competence to be given the money directly, you cannot hold them responsible for paying any of it back if theres an overpayment. And, yet, Social Security is still demanding repayment from this now-24-year-old young man. Help us help you Its difficult to prove the mistakes because there is no way to track the bad advice given to people who inquire about their benefits. Most lawyers wont go up against the faceless Social Security system. But we arent giving up. And if you have a Social Security horror story that youd like to add to our collection, please send an email to Terry@TerrySavage.com (with "SS Horror Story" in the subject line) or post on my AskTerry blog at TerrySavage.com. Please include your full name, telephone number for contact, city of residence and as detailed an explanation as you can provide, as well as permission to post your story using your first name and last initial. We are hoping the weight of the evidence will help us in our quest. Our goal We have a simple solution in mind: If Social Security doesnt discover its own mistake within 18 months, Congress should direct them to eat the loss. Period. Demanding repayments as long as 20 years after the fact, when people are old and retired (or young and powerless), is horrifying. Please help us by submitting your story. Youll find a link to all of them at TerrySavage.com. Together we vow to try to fight the faceless Social Security bureaucracy. And thats The Savage Truth. - Terry Savage is a registered investment adviser and the author of four best-selling books, including "The Savage Truth on Money." Email her at terry@terrysavage.com. Gift this article Share this article paywall-free. Speedway Motors Museum of American Speed, which just finished a physical expansion, will also be growing its collection of auto racing items. The museum announced Friday that it is merging with the Unser Racing Museum based in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The Unser family is one of the most storied families in automotive and racing history, Carson Smith, director of the Speedway Motors Museum of American Speed, said in a news release. Weve had racing partnerships with members of the Unser family for over 38 years and are honored to welcome the Unser collection to our museum. The Albuquerque Journal reported that the Unser museums last day is May 29. Its not clear exactly when its collection will move to Lincoln and become available for viewing. The collection includes more than 40 race, pace and Pikes Peak cars original racing art, trophies and memorabilia belonging to the Unser family, which is one of Americas best-known Indy Car racing families. Al Unser Sr. won the Indianapolis 500 race four times, and his brother Bobby won it three times. Al Unser Jr. won the race twice. Al Unser Sr. and Bobby Unser both died in 2021, and Unser Racing Museum spokesman Bob Brown told the Albuquerque newspaper that relocation of the familys collection had been discussed before Al Unser Sr.s death. That didnt stop Albuquerque officials from trying to keep the museum from leaving, though. According to the Journal, the Albuquerque City Council voted to include $4 million for the Unser Museum in a general obligation bond package that will go before voters this fall. Brown told the newspaper that the move to Lincoln will give more room to display the Unser collection and also will make it available to more visitors. The Unser museum, which opened in 2005, has 20,000 square feet of space and averages 20,000 visitors a year. Speedways museum now has 240,000 square feet of space after its expansion and averages 100,000 visitors a year. It also was named the No. 1 best attraction for car lovers by USA Today earlier this year. In motorsports, the Unser name is recognized worldwide, and we believe merging with the No. 1 nationally ranked Speedway Motors Museum of American Speed will provide not only a larger national, but also international, platform for this collection of the Unsers iconic racing legacy, Susan Unser, speaking on behalf of the Board of the Unser Racing Museum, said in the news release. Susan Unser is the widow of Al Unser Sr. and the mother of Al Unser Jr. In Lincoln, the Unser collection will join a number of Unser-related vehicles already owned by Speedway, including the Johnny Lightning Special and Viceroy VPJ Special driven by Al Unser Sr. and the 1971 Gurney Eagle driven by Bobby Unser. Photos: Speedway Motors Museum of American Speed Museum of American Speed, 3.26 Museum of American Speed, 3.26 Museum of American Speed, 3.26 Museum of American Speed, 3.26 Museum of American Speed, 3.26 Museum of American Speed, 3.26 Museum of American Speed, 3.26 Museum of American Speed, 3.26 Museum of American Speed, 3.26 Museum of American Speed, 3.26 Indy cars, 5.23 Indy cars, 5.23 Indy cars, 5.23 Indy cars, 5.23 Indy cars, 5.23 Indy cars, 5.23 Gift this article Share this article paywall-free. Sometime in the summer of 1825, Fort Atkinson lost its sawmill to one of the most destructive forces of nature: a tornado. Thus began the recorded history of twisters/cyclones/tornadoes in Nebraska. Whatever you call the storms, they have brought death and damage to big cities and tiny hamlets. Omaha in 1913 and 1975. Grand Island in 1980. Those are the granddaddies of them all. Yet, none of them wiped out a town the way Meridian was in 1875. Sweetwater in 1890. Herman in 1899. Ralston and Berlin (now Otoe) in 1913. Primrose in 1965. Hallam in 2004. The communities of Wisner and Pilger in 2014. There was a roar like a thousand cars on the rails. The house, which was bolted down to the foundation lifted from the walls and settled back, a woman told the Blair Pilot-Tribune about surviving the Herman tornado. Our party crawled out of a small hole safe, but such a scene of devastation. "The house was windowless, warped and twisted, and the inside all covered with sandy mud. In the backyard was a carriage and a dead horse and the debris of other homes. We were happy to be alive for others were less fortunate. From searching ever-increasing sources of digitalized publications many in the History Nebraska microfilm collection comes the most comprehensive list of tornadoes reported to strike populated areas in the state. More than 350. Partly because they cover the most area, Omaha and Lincoln rank 1 and 2, with 35 and 20 respectively. Lincoln has avoided the most damaging ones. Omaha hasnt. Other large cities are in the top 10 Grand Island (seven), North Platte (six), Beatrice, Hastings and Kearney (five apiece) and Bellevue and Fremont (four apiece). Hebron also has had four tornadoes. The last one to strike that south-central community, in 1953, wiped out the business district and half the homes in Hebron. Some villages absorbed worse fates. A sampling: The Santee Agency on the Missouri River near the present town of Santee saw its mission building and hospital among the buildings leveled on June 1, 1870. Meridian, near Fairbury, was abandoned after its 1875 destruction. A consolidated school name restored its name. Sweetwater, near Kearney, wiped out, its six buildings gone. Unlike Meridian, Sweetwater is still on the state road map and has city signs on Nebraska 2. Herman, north of Blair, lost its downtown and 90% of its homes. Nenzel, then home to 43 people in Cherry County, had all buildings damaged in 1962. Wolbach, north of Grand Island, was 70% damaged in 1964. Primrose, southwest of Albion, was 90% destroyed the next year. Magnet, southeast of Yankton, South Dakota, took a direct hit on May 6, 1975 the same day as the Omaha twister. Then nearly 30 years went by before a tornado smashed Hallam, 20 miles southwest of Lincoln, in May 2014. The most recent town wrecker cut a wide swath through Pilger, east of Norfolk, on June 16, 2014. Three-fourths of the structures in the town of 360 were destroyed from the storm, which stirred up parallel twisters. Two died, a 5-year-old girl fleeing a mobile home and a 74-year-old motorist from Clarkson, Nebraska, was killed while he was making business deliveries. The deaths are the states most recent from tornadoes. The three most deadly twisters were on the same day March 23, 1913. They were part of five tornadoes that spun up that Easter afternoon in eastern Nebraska according to a 1914 report in American Geographical Society compiled by two UNL professors and all crossed the Missouri River into Iowa. Omahas tornado killed 116 in the city (based on contemporary research). Nineteen people died on the north side of Yutan, in Saunders County. Twelve perished in Berlin (renamed Otoe), in Otoe County. Most of Berlin was destroyed. So was Ralston, where there were seven deaths. Other fatalities were near Mead in Saunders County, DeSoto in Washington County and Rock Bluff and Nehawka in Cass County. The death toll, including an estimated 25 in Iowa, was 192. All struck without warning. The first official tornado warning was issued in 1948 at Tinker Air Force Base in Oklahoma. Before 1950, the U.S. Weather Bureau at times strongly discouraged at sometimes prohibited tornado to be used in forecasts because of a fear that even a mention could cause panic. As technology, research and reporting improved, so did discerning the damage between tornadoes and straight-line winds. The Fujita scale of measuring tornado strength was introduced in 1971. Before the modern era, which starts with 1950, it was up to local observers or newspapers to determine the nature of the winds. Such as for a storm that struck the western city limits of Omaha on June 3, 1925. Millard V. Robins, the citys Weather Bureau meteorologist for 46 years, initially didnt consider it a tornado because winds at the downtown weather station never exceeded 20 miles an hour. Only after Robins visited the damaged areas the following day did he upgrade his assessment from a severe squall to tornado. Interestingly, in 1975, the Omaha office of the National Weather Service did not include 1925 in its list of tornadoes hitting the city. Great care was made in analyzing the pre-1950 storms. There may be a few either way, straight-line winds listed as tornadoes or tornadoes not included, since newspaper reporting was used in large measure. Readers are invited to submit validation for any updates. Send to stu.pospisil@owh.com. Next: A detailed look at the tornadoes that have struck Omaha and other populated areas in Douglas County. Photos: 1913 Easter tornado roars through Omaha Gift this article Share this article paywall-free. Though it doesn't bear the moniker of "Live Music Capital of the World," Sioux City will have a whole lot of shows, across a wide variety of genres, over the course of the summer. The biggest is the 33rd iteration of Saturday in the Park which will return to Grandview Park on July 1. A free affair, the one-day festival will be headlined by funk-soul-R&B legends Earth, Wind and Fire and have appearances by: blues musicians Samantha Fish and Jesse Dayton, country performer (and Sioux City native) Dane Louis, Americana act Michael Trotter Jr. and Tanya Blount-Trotter and hip hop artists Armani White and Cal Scruby. In 2022, the event drew at least 25,000 people. "Ever since seeing (Earth, Wind & Fire) at New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, I have always had them on a short list," Saturday in the Park cofounder Dave Bernstein said. "In fact, I don't think there is any place else where you can see Earth, Wind & Fire for free, other than at SITP." 2022 Saturday in the Park Janie Vigueras of Mexico chats with blues legend Buddy Guy as he sat down with the crowd at the 2022 Saturday in the Park. Battery Park Sioux City's Hard Rock Hotel & Casino is the main presenter of Saturday in the Park and has a number of other events on its docket from May to September. On May 13, the classic rock bands Foreigner and Night Ranger are playing at Hard Rock's Battery Park venue. Foreigner's known for hits such as "I Want To Know What Love Is" and "Cold As Ice," while Night Ranger saw its greatest success with "Sister Christian." The event gets going at 7 p.m. On July 29, hard rockers Volbeat will bring the noise to Battery Park. During its two decade career, the band has shared stages with genre legends such as Black Sabbath, Metallica, Motorhead, Megadeath and Anthrax. Start time is 7 p.m. Then, on Aug. 10, rising country music star Lainey Wilson, the CMA 2022 Female Vocalist of the Year, will play tunes like "Never Say Never" and "Heart Like a Truck" for concertgoers. The show begins at 7 p.m. Finally, hip hop artist Ludacris is is closing out the series with a performance on Aug. 12 at 7 p.m. The Atlanta rapper first broke big with the singles "Southern Hospitality" and "What's Your Fantasy" before finding further success with tracks such as "Rollout," "Area Codes," "Move B**ch," "Stand Up" and "Get Back." Born Christopher Bridges, the "Fast and Furious" actor also featured on Justin Bieber's "Baby." Listed start time is 7 p.m. Additional information, including ticket prices. for all four shows, can be found by going to "hardrockcasinosiouxcity.com/nightlife/battery-park/." Anthem Indoors, Hard Rock's Anthem venue (111 Third St.) has four shows lined up for the summertime. Hinder, the rock band behind the song "Lips of an Angel," is performing at 8 p.m. July 7. On Saturday, Aug. 19, at 8 p.m., the Jakob Dylan-fronted rock group the Wallflowers, best known for "One Headlight" and "6th Avenue Heartache," will play a set. Also appearing at the Anthem are the Tom Petty tribute band Southern Accents, on June 3, and "Back in Black: AC/DC Tribute" on June 24. Additional information, including ticket prices, for the Anthem shows, can be found by going to: hardrockcasinosiouxcity.com/nightlife/anthem/. Orpheum Theatre This summer, Sioux City's historic Orpheum Theatre (528 Pierce St.), which has existed since 1927, will play host to a comedy set, a kids show and a classic blues rock group. On June 13, Bluey's Big Play, comes to town. A brand-new theatrical adaptation of the Emmy award-winning childrens television series, doors open at 5 p.m. for the performance and the event starts at 6 p.m. Two days later, on Thursday, June 15, comic Nate Bargatze, referred to as "The Nicest Man in Stand-Up," will do a set at the Orpheum. The Tennessee comedian has two Netflix specials to his name as well as a podcast, "Nateland." Doors open at 6 p.m. and the event gets going at 7. George Thorogood and the Destroyers are the Orpheum's last scheduled summer event. On July 19, the blues rock legends, who made it big with "Who Do You Love?" and "Bad to the Bone," are performing. That show has doors scheduled to open at 6:30 p.m. and a start time of 7:30 p.m. Additional information, including ticket prices, for the Orpheum shows, can be found by going to: orpheumlive.com/events. Gift this article Share this article paywall-free. Young adults arent behaving the way their parents did: Theyre not drinking as much, theyre facing more mental health challenges, and theyre living with their parents longer. On top of that, computer games and social media have become a sort of stand-in for physical relationships. All that means young Californians arent having as much sex. The number of young adults going without sex was rising even before covid-19 made dating harder and riskier. In 2011, about 22% of Californians ages 18 to 30 reported having no sexual partners in the prior 12 months. That crept up to 29% in 2019, and it jumped to 38% in 2021, according to the latest figures from UCLAs California Health Interview Survey. Other age groups in California also reported an increase in abstinence, but the trend was not nearly as pronounced. Everything happens later, said San Diego State University psychology professor Jean Twenge, author of Generations: The Real Differences Between Gen Z, Millennials, Gen X, Boomers, and Silents And What They Mean for Americas Future. She said the numbers reflect how young adults increasingly delay major life events, such as moving out of their parents homes and forging long-term romantic relationships. Singles saw the most dramatic change. It has long been the case that single people are more likely to report having no sex than married or cohabiting people. But as young adults delay marriage, the gap has widened. Young adults may be putting off long-term relationships due to their increasingly economically precarious status or stress related to completing education and looking for jobs, said Lei Lei, a sociology professor at Rutgers who recently co-authored a paper that examined why fewer young adults are having sex. They are busy with other domains of life. Researchers also noted that hundreds of thousands of young adults identify as asexual. Rising computer use may play a role in the trend. Young adults increasingly form relationships through playing video games with people they do not physically meet, Lei said. These distant relationships sometimes interfere with the formation of sexual relationships. A Pew Research Center report from 2015 found equal numbers of men and women played video games but that young adult men were more than three times as likely as young adult women to identify as serious gamers. Young adults also have access to endless amounts of free pornography online, a departure from the porn magazines, videotapes, and DVDs many of their parents bought. Much of the most popular online porn features violence or coercion, which gives some young adults a flawed perspective on sex and turns others off it entirely, said Debby Herbenick, director of the Center for Sexual Health Promotion at Indiana University Bloomingtons School of Public Health. Those kinds of behaviors are really, really normalized among young people, she said, referring to rough sex. Sex also has a correlation with income. Young adults who make less money were more likely to go without sex than peers making more. Much recent discourse about lack of sex among young adults has revolved around so-called incels, young men who contend often in vile, misogynistic terms that dating apps like Tinder make it easier for women to find conventionally attractive, wealthy, or otherwise high-status men and ignore everyone else. Erin Tillman, a certified sex educator and executive director of the nonprofit Sex-Positive Los Angeles, said it makes her sad when she hears men blame women for not wanting to have sex with them. She said those men could likely change their perspective and find intimacy. They hold the cards in terms of making themselves better, she said. The sexless trend has the potential to lower rates of unplanned pregnancy. And it could also reduce the spread of sexually transmitted infections, though that has not yet happened. Herbenick does worry about young adults who want sex but arent having it. It can feel really lonely if you feel like people are rejecting you or wouldnt be interested in you, she said. But Tillman remains optimistic, noting the latest group of young adults, like every new generation, is finding its way and approaching sex differently than their parents. I'm not worried, because people are just basically finding different ways to connect with each other, Tillman said. Phillip Reese is a data reporting specialist and an assistant professor of journalism at California State University-Sacramento. 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. USE OUR CONTENT This story can be republished for free (details). Gift this article Share this article paywall-free. WASHINGTON (AP) President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy both said they had a productive debt ceiling discussion late Monday at the White House, but there was no agreement as negotiators strained to raise the nation's borrowing limit in time to avert a potentially chaotic federal default. It's a crucial moment for the Democratic president and the Republican speaker, just 10 days before a looming deadline to raise the debt limit. As soon as June 1, Treasury Secretary Janel Yellen said in a letter to Congress, it is highly likely the government will be unable to pay all the nation's bills. Such an unprecedented default would be financially damaging for many Americans and others around the world relying on U.S. stability, sending shockwaves through the global economy. Each side praised the other's seriousness, but basic differences remained. They are at odds over how to trim annual budget deficits. Republicans are determined to cut spending while Biden's team offered to hold spending levels flat. Biden wants to increase some taxes on the wealthiest Americans and some big companies, but McCarthy said early on that that is out of the question. The time of spending, just spending more money in America and government is wrong, McCarthy said after the Oval Office meeting. In a brief post-meeting statement, Biden called the session productive but merely added that he, McCarthy and their lead negotiators will continue to discuss the path forward. Upbeat, McCarthy said their teams would work through the night. Biden said all agreed that "default is not really on the table." Though there is no agreement on basic issues, the contours of a deal seem within reach. A budget deal would unlock a separate vote to lift the debt ceiling, now $31 trillion, to allow more borrowing. Negotiations are focused on finding compromise over a 2024 budget year cap that would be key to resolving the standoff. Republicans insisted next years spending be less than it is now, but the White House instead offered to hold spending flat at current 2023 numbers. Republicans initially sought to roll back next years spending to 2022 levels, and impose 1% caps on spending growth for 10 years, though a later proposal narrowed that to about six years. The White House wants a two-year budget deal, keeping 2024 spending flat. They proposed a 1% cap on spending growth for 2025, according to a person familiar with the talks and granted anonymity to discuss them. A compromise on those topline spending levels would enable McCarthy to deliver for conservatives, while not being so severe that it would chase off the Democratic votes that would be needed in the divided Congress to pass any bill. "Were going to find a baseline that we agree to that will be less than what we spent this year," McCarthy said back at the Capitol. Time is growing short. The House speaker promised lawmakers he will abide by the rule to post any bill for 72 hours before voting, making any action doubtful until the end of the week just days before the potential deadline. The Senate would also have to pass the package before it could go to Biden's desk to be signed into law. After a weekend of start-stop talks, both Biden and McCarthy have declared a need to close out a compromise deal. U.S. financial markets turned down last week after negotiations paused amid a jittery economy. Biden and McCarthy spoke by phone Sunday while the president was returning home on Air Force One after the Group of Seven summit in Japan. Biden used his concluding news conference in Hiroshima, Japan, to say he had done his part by agreeing to spending cuts and to warn, Its time for Republicans to accept that there is no deal to be made solely, solely, on their partisan terms. Now its time for the other side to move from their extreme position, he said. The call between the two revived talks, and negotiators met for 2 1/2 hours at the Capitol late Sunday evening. Negotiators were back at it again for nearly three hours Monday morning ahead of the session at the White House. The White House team returned late Monday night for nearly two hours at the Capitol, leaving before midnight upbeat but with little comment. But McCarthy continued to blame Biden for having refused to engage earlier on the debt ceiling, an issue that is often linked to the federal budget. GOP lawmakers have been holding tight to demands for sharper spending cuts with caps on future spending, rejecting the alternatives proposed by the White House that call for reducing deficits in part with new revenue from taxes. McCarthy has insisted personally in his conversations with Biden that tax hikes are off the table. Republicans also want work requirements on the Medicaid health care program, though the Biden administration has countered that millions of people could lose coverage. The GOP additionally introduced new cuts to food aid by restricting states ability to waive work requirements in places with high joblessness. But Democrats have said any changes to work requirements for government aid recipients are nonstarters. GOP lawmakers are also seeking cuts in IRS funding and, by sparing defense and veterans accounts from reductions, would shift the bulk of spending reductions to other federal programs. The White House has countered by keeping defense and nondefense spending flat next year, which would save $90 billion in the 2024 budget year and $1 trillion over 10 years. All sides have been eyeing the potential for the package to include a framework to ease federal regulations and speed energy project developments. They are all but certain to claw back some $30 billion in unspent COVID-19 funds now that the pandemic emergency has officially lifted. For months, Biden had refused to engage in talks over the debt limit, contending that Republicans in Congress were trying to use the borrowing limit vote as leverage to extract administration concessions on other policy priorities. But with June nearing and Republicans putting their own spending legislation on the table, the White House launched talks on a budget deal that could accompany an increase in the debt limit. McCarthy faces a hard-right flank that is likely to reject any deal, which has led some Democrats encouraging Biden to resist any compromise with the Republicans and simply raise the debt ceiling on his own to avoid default. The president, though, said he was ruling out the possibility, for now, of invoking the 14th Amendment as a solution, saying it's an unresolved legal question that would become tied up in the courts. KHARTOUM, May 22 (Xinhua) -- The death toll in the armed clashes between the Sudanese Army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has risen to 863, the Sudanese Doctors Union said on Monday. "The number of civilian deaths since the beginning of the clashes has risen to 863 with 3,531 injuries," the nongovernmental body said in a statement. Over 1 million people have been displaced since the conflict began on April 15, fleeing to safer locations inside and outside Sudan, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said in its latest report on Sunday. It added that over 843,100 are internally displaced within Sudan and over 248,000 people have crossed borders into neighbouring countries, including Central African Republic, Chad, Egypt, Ethiopia and South Sudan. On Saturday night, the Sudanese Army and the RSF signed the Agreement on a Short-Term Cease-fire and Humanitarian Arrangements in the Saudi Arabian port city of Jeddah under Saudi-U.S. patronage. The 7-day cease-fire is set to enter into force on Monday at 9:45 p.m. local time (1945 GMT). According to the deal, the parties shall guarantee the freedom of movement of civilians throughout the country and protect them from violence, harassment, recruitment, or other abuse, as well as refrain from any violations of international human rights law. The parties shall also provide security guarantees for safe, unhindered access for humanitarian agencies. Sudan has been witnessing deadly armed clashes between the Sudanese Army and the RSF in the capital Khartoum and other areas since April 15. Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. Mejia had arranged for the woman to come to his home to get money from him to buy methamphetamine. When she arrived, she sent another woman to the door to get the money. Mejia sent that woman away and asked for the victim. When the victim came to the door, Mejia was waiting for her in the kitchen and fired one shot as she tried to flee. Gift this article Share this article paywall-free. SIOUX CITY Sioux City Police Officer Carolina Ochoa said communicating with Spanish speakers in their native language makes her appear less adversarial to them. "They seem to be more calm. And, it really reassures them that, 'I'm trying to communicate with you. I'm trying to make you feel less scared.' It's helped a lot," Ochoa said of speaking Spanish, which is her first language. The Sioux City Police Department hired the 27-year-old, who was born and raised in Sioux City, in August. From the moment she joined the police force, Ochoa said, she has felt welcomed. In mid-March, she was nearing the end of 17 weeks of training, which challenged her physically, mentally and emotionally. Ochoa is one of 19 female officers on the force and one of seven sworn members who are Hispanic. The SCPD also has five sworn members who are Black and two who are Asian American, according to data obtained by The Journal through a Freedom of Information Act request. The SCPD was one of the law enforcement agencies in more than a dozen states that submitted information on race and ethnicity of sworn members. The Journal and other newspapers in Lee Enterprises' coverage areas examined the level of representation of people of color in 105 of those departments in areas where at least 10% of the population is made up of people of color. The gap between people of color on Sioux City's force and in the community is 24.23 percentage points, so it ranks among the least diverse of those departments. "You want your police department to look like the makeup of your city," Sioux City Community Policing Sgt. Thomas Gill said. "Sioux City is becoming very diverse. There's now over 50 different languages spoken here." Even though a gap exists between the composition of Sioux City's police force and its population, Monique Scarlett, founder of Unity in the Community, said "leaps and bounds" have been made under Police Chief Rex Mueller's leadership. She said Unity in the Community is working with law enforcement and citizens on rebuilding relationships that have been "broken and fractured over the years." "Chief Rex Mueller is doing a phenomenal job on being intentional of making sure the police force in recruitment is reflective of the community that we live in," she said. "Especially in their community policing, they are out there building relationships and building rapport, trying to rebuild trust between citizens and law enforcement. Even though our numbers may seem a little low, I applaud his efforts in recruiting in areas that he can and that the city's budget allows." Disparity exists Overall, Sioux City's force of 130 full- and part-time sworn personnel is overwhelmingly white, as it was in 2020, the last time The Journal compared U.S. Census data with statistics provided by the police department. Though whites currently make up 65% of the city's population, they account for 89.2% of its police force. Of the department's 29 sworn members with a rank above patrol officer, just one of them is non-white. Black people make up 4.8% of Sioux City's population, which is slightly above the department's percentage of Black sworn personnel, 3.8%. The percentage of Asian American representation on the force, 1.5%, trails the city's 3.5%. Diversity underrepresentation in policing Data gathered from October 2022 to May 2023 from nearly 120 law enforcement agencies in 14 states shows frequent disparity in the racial and ethnic makeup of the agencies compared to the communities they are hired to protect and serve. Data gathered from October 2022 to May 2023 from nearly 120 law enforcement agencies in 14 states shows frequent disparity in the racial and ethnic makeup of the agencies compared to the communities they are hired to protect and serve. The SCPD has zero sworn members who are Native American, although Native Americans make up 2.2% of the city's population. With two reservations nearby in Northeast Nebraska, that's the largest percentage of Native Americans among Iowa cities. Trisha Etringer, a member of the Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska and Siouxland project director for Great Plains Action Society, said she thinks members of the Native American community have "very low interest" in becoming police officers, so "the pool to select from is not the greatest." She said they feel they can best serve their communities by being part of "proactive solutions" rather than police institutions. The SCPD has made inroads in the hiring of Hispanic officers in recent years. Hispanics account for 5.3% of the force, up from 3.2% in 2020. However, the largest disparity that exists is still between Hispanic sworn personnel and Hispanic community members, because Hispanics make up 20.9% of the city's population. Alejandra Ortiz-Gonzales, who is Hispanic and among the department's newest officers, said she has been criticized by some members of minority groups while doing her job. "They're still going to assume I'm racist because I wear the uniform. You can assume all you want. It doesn't affect the way I perform my job, because I respect everybody," she said. Ortiz-Gonzales' love of True Crime and her penchant for books about serial killers wasn't what led the 25-year-old to pursue a career in law enforcement. She was inspired by the late Leo Miller, who was a Sioux City police officer, Woodbury County sheriff and state lawmaker. "He helped my mom out a lot. She's a single mother with eight kids. So, that made me see the good of what law enforcement does for people," said Ortiz-Gonzales, who grew up in poverty in Sioux City. "Regardless that my brother got into trouble, (Miller) still treated us like human beings. It made me really see the good in people like him." Fewer applicants When Gill tested with the SCPD in the mid-'90s, he said, there were 300 officer applicants taking the written test, which, at that time, was biennial and administered before the physical agility test. The number of candidates has dropped off dramatically since then. According to data provided by the department, 56 individuals applied to become police officers in 2022, but only 38 showed up for testing. Of those who showed up for testing, 13 were candidates of color. Today, the physical agility test is given before the written test. Dave Drew, administrative program coordinator for Western Iowa Tech Community College's Police Science Technology program, said there's "a push" among law enforcement agencies to hire more women and people of color. WIT's two-year Police Science Technology program readies students for positions in law enforcement, as well as private security, corrections, juvenile work and private investigations. As a designated Regional Law Enforcement Training Facility, WIT also provides a nine-week continuing education program that prepares students for police officer certification. Drew, a former Woodbury County sheriff, said the college offered him his current position around the time of George Floyd's death. Floyd, a 46-year-old Black man, was murdered in Minneapolis by Derek Chauvin, a 44-year-old white police officer, on May 25, 2020. "Our numbers have not dwindled," Drew said. "I think there was worry that the numbers may go down in the program. Surprisingly, they didn't." Drew said more female students are pursing the associate degree. He said he has had several Hispanic students in his classes, as well. Usually 35 to 38 students are enrolled in the Police Science Technology program's first year, according to Drew. By the program's second year, he said, student numbers tend to drop to about 28. "We lose some over that time. They just decide they want to do something different or, maybe, this isn't what they're after," he said. "There's all kinds of opportunities. You don't just have to become a police officer. You can take advantage of this and use it in a variety of different areas." Difficult recruiting climate During a February city operating budget session, Mueller told the City Council about staffing challenges the SCPD is dealing with amid a difficult recruiting climate. He said the department is experiencing "burnouts really heavy," half a dozen injuries and retirements. "When things like Memphis are happening, that really makes people question coming into this profession, so we need to be very aggressive at bringing the best people to come here and work in Sioux City," Mueller said, referencing the fatal beating of Tyre Nichols, a 29-year-old Black man. Five former Memphis, Tennessee, police officers, who are also Black, have been charged with second-degree murder in connection with Nichols' death. Gill said the SCPD recently went before the Civil Service Commission to change its education requirement, which could draw more applicants. Sioux City was the only remaining police department in the Midwest mandating that applicants have at least 60 college credit hours with a "C" or better, according to Gill. Now, they just need a high school diploma or GED equivalent. Gill said the department is also switching from testing applicants, who must be at least 21 and have U.S. citizenship, on an annual basis to every six months. The department has reached out to Native American leaders in the community in an effort to get more Native Americans to apply to become police officers, according to Gill. He said Eddie Thiphasouk, the SCPD's first Asian American officer who was hired in 2001, attended the Faces of Siouxland Multicultural Fair with Scarlett. The annual event, which was held at the Sioux City Convention Center in March, celebrates the diversity of the community through music, the arts and food. Scarlett said the country's history of police brutality makes it "extremely difficult" to hire new officers. "It makes it very challenging for people to say, 'I want to do that' and be at risk every day. I think on the flipside, we have to understand as a community, every officer is not a bad officer," she said. "There's officers that wake up in the morning and they're not saying, 'Oh, I'm just going to go harass a Black person today or a Native person today, just because.' They truly honor their duties to protect and serve." PHOTOS: Sioux City marchers protest George Floyd death George Floyd Sioux City protest 2 George Floyd Sioux City protest 1 WATCH NOW: Protester tells why he's speaking out on the death of George Floyd George Floyd Sioux City protest 3 George Floyd Sioux City protest George Floyd Sioux City protest George Floyd Sioux City protest WATCH NOW: Raw Video of Sioux City march protesting the death of George Floyd George Floyd Sioux City protest George Floyd Sioux City protest Gift this article Share this article paywall-free. Seventy-five years ago, Ray Coffey graduated first in his class from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Army ROTC program. On Friday, his grandson followed in his footsteps and did the same. "I'm excited to see a lot of chapters closing and a lot of doors opening," senior Jordan Coffey said. "It feels like I'm a part of something bigger than myself, which is the story of being in the Army, and I can't be thankful enough for that but then to also have the support and legacy that my family's been a part of, it's an honor." Jordan Coffey said there was no singular moment where he knew this was what he wanted to do it was a culmination of little moments over the years. "I didn't know what I wanted out of the Army when I first joined ROTC my freshman year," he said. "I didn't contract until my sophomore year, so before that I could've dropped it at any time. But as I spent more time in the program and met the people in my class, I was motivated again and again to be better and that's so instrumental to where I am today." In the years between the two graduates, Jordan Coffey's father and two uncles also graduated from the Army ROTC program at UNL and another uncle enlisted as a soldier in the Nebraska Army National Guard. "We have quite the military history and I'm thrilled to continue to be a part of it," Jordan Coffey said. "In our family, service is important and it's gratifying to carry that mantle now." When he walked across the stage Friday evening, he did so as a commissioned officer and ranked among the top 2% of all graduating ROTC cadets nationwide. A commissioned officer is a military officer who has achieved a rank before officially assuming their role, holding higher authority than a non-commissioned officer. "I don't really belong in the same company as my dad and my son," Greg Coffey, Jordan's father, said. "I see so much of my dad in my son my dad was kind, he was gentle, he was strong and incredibly hardworking. And that's what Jordan is." Although Ray Coffey passed away in 2009, when Jordan was only 8 years old, the graduate continues to look up to his grandfather. "Everything I know about my grandfather has been instilled into me by my father," Jordan Coffey said. "I grew up hearing about all these great things he had done for our family and our nation, and I found that selfless service and determination inspiring." Greg Coffey, holding back tears, said Jordan inspires the same feeling in him. "I am so incredibly proud of him," Greg Coffey said. Jordan's uncle, Doug Coffey, swore him in during UNL's Army ROTC graduation ceremony Friday, administering the Oath of Office and awarding him the Major Dan C. Kingman Memorial Award for Superior ROTC performance, named in honor of a Nebraska ROTC graduate who was killed in action in Vietnam. Doug Coffey graduated from Nebraska and received his commission in 1972. He spent 26 years in active service to the Army, before retiring as a Colonel in 1998. Following the service, the Coffey family gathered at Ray Coffey's memorial tree outside UNL's Pershing Military & Naval Science Building to recreate a photo of Greg Coffey and his brothers with their father in the 1980s. Jordan has been assigned to the Infantry branch and will soon leave Lincoln for Fort Benning to attend the Infantry Basic Officer Leader Course, after which he will be sent to Ranger School and Airborne school before moving onto his first duty station. Photos: Lincoln first responders, UNL ROTC cadets run steps of Memorial Stadium to honor those who died on 9/11 Gift this article Share this article paywall-free. SIOUX CITY -- The Sioux City Council on Monday will be asked to award a $1.75 million contract to replace an aging well. SuBSurfco, LLC, a South Sioux City general contractor, was the sole bidder for the well project when it went out for bid early this month. Their estimate, $1,756,205.35, was 53 percent higher than the engineer's estimate of $1,144,807, according to the city council's agenda. The project would replace Well No. 2, which was built in 1971. "During the last well rehabilitation effort, some major deficiencies were found in the well casing rendering the well inoperable. The decision was then made to offset and redrill a new well to regain the lost capacity," the city council agenda item says. The project should be complete by June 30, 2024. It will be paid for with federal American Rescue Plan funds. In other business The Council will also vote Monday on a resolution to authorize city staff to negotiate with U.S. Bank to provide banking and ancillary services to the city for a period of five years, with three possible one-year extensions. The city has banked with Wells Fargo fore more than 50 years, according to the council agenda. A Request for Qualifications (RFQ) for Banking and Ancillary Services was issued in February and proposals were submitted in March. Proposals were received from Central Bank, First Interstate Bank, U.S. Bank, and Wells Fargo. Interviews were held in April with Wells Fargo and the Minneapolis-based U.S. Bank. The city is expected to see savings of around $2,000 per month on general banking services if it goes with U.S. Bank, and will save another $800 or so per month on processing services for card transactions, according to the agenda item. YMCA demolition contractor The Council will be asked Monday to approve a contract with Sioux City-based Hebert Construction to tear down the deserted YMCA at 722 Nebraska St. Four bids were received when the demolition project went out to bid last month. Herbert Construction's bid, $390,500, was by far the lowest; the bid came in at 48 percent under the engineer's estimate. The old YMCA was built in 1956 and has sat vacant since 2009, when the Siouxland YMCA sold it and moved across the river to the Norm Waitt Sr. YMCA building on the South Sioux City riverfront. The building has changed hands twice since then and its condition has gone downhill. The council first issued a demolition order on the property in April 2018. Airport hangar project The Council will also be asked Monday to award a $2.2 million contract to Sioux City-based Nelson Commercial Construction to construct an aircraft hangar at the Sioux Gateway Airport/Brigadier General Bud Day Field. Bids for the project were due last month. Nelson submitted the lower of two bids received, though it was still still 10.8 percent more than the engineer's estimate. Construction on the 10-unit T-hangar is expected to begin in October and should be completed within 70 working days, according to the council agenda item. Gift this article Share this article paywall-free. KYIV, Ukraine Russian officials claimed that Ukrainian military saboteurs launched an attack across the border Monday, wounding eight people in a small town. Kyiv officials denied any link with the group and blamed the fighting on a revolt by disgruntled Russians against the Kremlin. Neither version of events could be independently verified in an area that has witnessed sporadic spillover from the almost 15-month war in Ukraine. The governor of Russias Belgorod region, which borders Ukraine, said that a Ukrainian Armed Forces saboteur group entered the town of Graivoron, about 3 miles from the border. The town also came under Ukrainian artillery fire, he said. Gov. Vyacheslav Gladkov said eight people were wounded and most residents had left the area, but the situation remained tense. In nearby Zamostye village, a projectile hit a kindergarten and caused a fire. One woman was wounded in her hand, Gladkov said. He also reported that Russian anti-aircraft systems shot down an unmanned aerial vehicle over Belgorod region. Gladkov said a counterterrorist operation was underway and that authorities were imposing special controls, including personal document checks and stopping the work of companies that use explosives, radioactive, chemically and biologically hazardous substances. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russian President Vladimir Putin was informed about the alleged saboteur incursion. An effort to push them out from the Russian territory and liquidate them was underway, he said. But Ukrainian military intelligence officials didnt confirm that Kyiv had deployed saboteurs. Instead, they claimed that Russian citizens seeking regime change in Moscow were behind the Graivoron incursion. Ukraine intelligence representative Andrii Cherniak said Russian citizens belonging to murky groups calling themselves the Russian Volunteer Corps and the Freedom of Russia Legion were behind the assault. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyys adviser, Mykhailo Podolyak, said on Twitter that Ukraine has nothing to do with it. He suggested an armed guerrilla movement was behind the attack. The Russian Volunteer Corps claimed in a Telegram post it had crossed the border into Russia again, after claiming to have breached the border in early March. The Russian Volunteer Corps describes itself as a volunteer formation fighting on Ukraines side. Little is known about the group, and it is not clear if it has any ties with the Ukrainian military. The same is true for the Freedom of Russia Legion.. The RVC was founded last August and reportedly consists mostly of anti-Putin far-right Russian extremists who have links with Ukrainian far-right groups. Earlier Monday, Ukraines Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, Europes largest atomic power station, spent hours operating on emergency diesel generators after losing its external power supply for the seventh time since Russias full-scale invasion of its neighbor, the head of the U.N. nuclear watchdog said. The nuclear safety situation at the plant (is) extremely vulnerable, Rafael Grossi, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said in a tweet. Hours later, national energy company Ukrenergo said on Telegram that it had restored the power line that feeds the plant. But for Grossi, it was another reminder of what's at stake at the Russian-occupied plant which has seen shelling close by. We must agree to protect (the) plant now; this situation cannot continue, Grossi said, in his latest appeal for the area to be spared from the fighting between Ukrainian and Russian forces. IAEA staff are deployed at the plant, which is occupied by Russian troops. The plants six nuclear reactors, which are protected by a reinforced shelter able to withstand an errant shell or rocket, have been shut down. But a disruption in the electrical supply could disable cooling systems that are essential for the reactors safety even when they are shut down. Emergency diesel generators, which officials say can keep the plant operational for 10 days, can be unreliable. Meanwhile, Russian TV went into a full frenzy of celebration as it reported Moscows capture of the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut. There were comparisons to the Red Army liberating Berlin in 1945, congratulations relayed from President Vladimir Putin and announcers emphasizing the victory by using the citys nearly century-old Soviet name of Artyomovsk. The myth that Artyomovsk is an unassailable fortress has been crushed, an anchor said Sunday night on Channel One, Russias most popular state broadcaster. Those are historic events. A report from the smoldering city in eastern Ukraine followed, showing Russian fighters yelling Victory! and placing two flags -- the Russian tricolor and the black flag of the private military contractor Wagner -- atop a tall, partly destroyed building. The flags were mounted so that everyone could see them, the correspondent said, even though the bombed-out, deserted 400-year-old city looks like a ghost of itself after the longest and bloodiest battle of the war. Despite the Russian claims, top Ukrainian military leaders say the fight there is not over, even though they still control only a small part of the city. Gift this article Share this article paywall-free. Two staff members at the Nebraska Department of Correctional Service's newest prison were treated for injuries at a Lincoln hospital after they were assaulted by inmates, the department alleged Thursday. The pair of assaults occurred sometime Thursday, when an inmate who was in an "unapproved area" at the Reception and Treatment Center in south Lincoln punched a staff member in the head after refusing directives to leave the area, the department said in a news release. Additional staff members who were nearby restrained the inmate and removed him from the area, according to the release. But as prison staff secured the area, a second inmate struck another staff member in the head, causing the staffer to fall and hit his head on the concrete, resulting in a concussion and facial injuries, according to the release. Both staff members were treated at and released from a local hospital. The corrections department did not identify either of the inmates or staff members involved in the alleged assaults. In the news release, the corrections department did not say when the incident occurred, but dispatch records indicate Lincoln Fire and Rescue crews were called to the prison at around 10:30 a.m. Rescue crews returned to service at 11:37 a.m. The department will criminally investigate the incident and provide findings to the Lancaster County Attorney for prosecution. Such investigations typically take several months and result in second-degree assault charges for the involved inmates a class 2 felony that could add up to 20 years onto an inmate's prison sentence. The corrections department will also utilize its internal disciplinary process, which can include sanctions such as loss of good time for the inmates. Photos: Nebraska's new Reception and Treatment Center Gift this article Share this article paywall-free. A western Nebraska bank had to restrict access to its website and mobile app last week because of a suspected cyberattack. Customers of Adams Bank & Trust may have noticed a disruption in their online services since Tuesday, which the bank said in a Facebook post was was due to unusual activity indicative of a cybersecurity threat. To protect customers personal financial information, the bank said it locked down its servers, allowing the banks IT department to address the issue. That involved conducting an investigation and forensic analysis of the source of the threat. Adams Bank & Trust, which is based in Ogallala, said there was no evidence that customer information was accessed. The bank said it was working to restore service and would provide updates on its Facebook page. Customers on Facebook reported being unable to access the mobile app and online services. Adams Bank & Trust officials said they did not know how long it would be until services were restored, but they appeared to still be down as of Saturday afternoon. Gift this article Share this article paywall-free. LINCOLN A 12-week abortion ban based on gestational age will take effect in Nebraska Tuesday because of legislation Gov. Jim Pillen signed into law Monday. Joined at the signing ceremony by about 25 state senators who backed the legislation, Pillen signed Legislative Bill 574 into law. An emergency clause in the bill will enact the abortion ban immediately, while restrictions on gender-affirming care for individuals under 19 won't take effect until Oct. 1. "LB 574 is the most significant win for social conservative agenda in over a generation in the state of Nebraska," Pillen said at the bill's signing ceremony. LB 574 launched the Legislature into unprecedented levels of turmoil this session. The bill narrowly survived four contentious rounds of floor debate, getting just enough votes each round to overcome opposing filibusters. Those filibusters appear poised to continue through next year. State Sen. Machaela Cavanaugh of Omaha, who has led the resistance to the bill, launched a filibuster of every bill on the floor after LB 574 made it out of committee, and vowed to continue the strategy through next years 60-day session. The bill's introducer, Sen. Kathleen Kauth of Omaha, said Friday that the filibuster aided in LB 574's passage. Without it, Kauth said the bill likely would have died in February, and she would have worked through the interim to bring a new proposal. But the filibuster gave lawmakers time to negotiate and come up with an amendment that enough lawmakers could support. "The filibuster is actually what made this happen," Kauth said. Kauth's original bill sought to completely ban puberty blockers, hormone therapy and gender-affirming surgeries for individuals under 19. But an amendment adopted late during floor debates changed those provisions and added the abortion restrictions. The amended bill will tighten Nebraska's 20-week abortion ban to 12 weeks, based on gestational age. Earlier this session, lawmakers tried to pass a bill that would have restricted abortions at around six weeks of pregnancy, but that proposal failed by just one vote. The introducer of that bill, Sen. Joni Albrecht of Thurston, said the amendment kept all the original provisions of the bill except for the change in deadline. Opponents to this proposal frequently referred to it as a 10-week abortion ban, due to it being measured by gestational age and not fertilization. Gestational age measures a pregnancy based on the womans last menstrual period, whereas fertilization refers to the moment the egg is fertilized. The difference between the two could amount to several weeks. However, it still allows more abortion access than the six-week ban that failed this year. According to 2021 statistics from the State Department of Health and Human Services, about 85% of Nebraskas abortions happen beyond the six-week mark, while only about 13% happen after 12 weeks gestation. The law also includes exceptions for rape, incest and life-saving procedures. Opposing Sen. Danielle Conrad of Lincoln pleaded with supporting lawmakers to not support the emergency clause on the abortion ban, arguing it could cause challenges for physicians, but she did not change any minds. You could unnecessarily ensnare a medical professional whos trying to follow the law, Conrad said. Andi Curry Grubb, Nebraska executive director for Planned Parenthood North Central States, said her organization has been preparing for changing its process since the six-week ban was introduced. Because of that, she said Planned Parenthood will be able to comply with the new law as soon as it takes effect. Most of Planned Parenthood's current patients receive abortions prior to the 12-week deadline, Curry Grubb said. However, the change will require at least three patients to be relocated to other states this week. Curry Grubb said the most common reasons women seek abortions from Planned Parenthood after 12 weeks is because of fetal anomalies which is not included as an exception under the law or because they have come from other states with stricter abortion bans, and thus pushed their pregnancy further. The latter reason has contributed to a rise in second trimester abortions seen across the network of Planned Parenthood North Central States, which includes Nebraska's clinic. Curry Grubb said since Roe v. Wade was overturned last year, the network has seen a 40% rise in second trimester abortions. On the gender-affirming care restrictions, Nebraska's chief medical officer will be tasked with establishing qualifying criteria for puberty blockers and hormone therapy for people under 19 by Oct. 1. Gender-affirming surgeries within the same age group will be fully banned by that date. Pillen said these provisions are necessary to protect kids from being "duped" into undergoing such care. He alleged that kids were being manipulated into thinking the treatment is the way for them to be happy. "That is Lucifer at its finest," Pillen said. The chief medical officer must follow a set of guidelines as to how to regulate the medication, including setting a minimum number of gender-identity-focused therapeutic hours a patient must undergo to receive it, and a minimum waiting period between a medical practitioner receiving the patients consent and prescribing the treatment. Because the chief medical officer is appointed by the governor, opponents argued this provision is a thinly veiled attempt to maintain the full ban of the original bill. Pillen appointed ear, nose and throat physician Timothy Tesmer to the position in February, though he has yet to be confirmed by the Legislature. Opponents have also argued that LB 574 is inviting a lawsuit. A statement from the American Civil Liberties Union of Nebraska indicated that litigation is an option they are considering. "Every option is on the table to undo these regressive measures, including seeking justice through the courts," interim executive director Mindy Rush Chipman said in the statement. "We will not stop working toward a future that safeguards all Nebraskans' rights, including the rights of transgender youth, their families and people in need of reproductive health care. Pillen said the state is prepared for any lawsuits and he believes that the law can be defended successfully. Photos and video: Scene at Nebraska Capitol as lawmakers debate LB574 for final time CAIRO, May 22 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) announced on Monday that it has allocated 5 million U.S. dollars for its humanitarian efforts in Egypt to accommodate the people fleeing conflicts in neighboring Sudan. The funding will be used to provide food, water and sanitation, healthcare services, cash assistance as well as psycho-social support to refugees, returnees, asylum-seekers, and third-country nationals from Sudan as well as their host communities in Egypt, the UN body said in a statement. Since the conflicts in Sudan erupted on April 15, Egypt has received the largest number of Sudanese refugees, the statement said, adding that over 113,000 people arrived cross the Egyptian-Sudanese borders as of May 17, and the number keeps climbing with around 5,000 arrivals per day. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) estimated that a total of 350,000 people would enter Egypt from Sudan in the next six months. In addition to 5 million dollars for Egypt, CERF also provided a total of 17 million dollars to other neighboring countries of Sudan, including Chad, the Central African Republic, and South Sudan. Gift this article Share this article paywall-free. The senator taking the lead on criminal justice reform in the Nebraska Legislature says recent talks brokered by the governor and state attorney general have paved the way for progress that can be achieved yet this year. Sen. Justin Wayne of Omaha, chairman of the Legislatures Judiciary Committee, said he has a package of proposals that he hopes to amend into a bill Monday during the waning days of the 2023 session. In addition to several proposed changes aimed at cutting Nebraskas chronic prison overcrowding, the package calls for the formation of a state task force that would look to modernize and reform the states sentencing laws. Wayne said he believes the plan can make a dent in the states burgeoning prison population while also creating a path forward for future changes. The plan came out of talks last week with prosecutors and others who have opposed many past reform proposals. Wayne credited Gov. Jim Pillen, Lt. Gov. Joe Kelly and Attorney General Mike Hilgers with playing a vital role in convening the negotiations. Kelly is a former federal and state prosecutor who is now part of the administration that must deal with running and funding the states prison system. That gives him a unique perspective, Wayne said. We got something that I think will make a significant impact on reducing our prison population, Wayne said. Its setting up a framework on how (to) tick off issues one at a time. Among the proposals generally agreed to that Wayne hopes to amend into LB50 as early as Monday: Create a Nebraska Sentencing Reform Task force, made up of representatives from the governors office, attorney general, Legislature, law enforcement and prosecutors, that over the next two years would work to overhaul the states sentencing laws. Make geriatric parole available for most inmates aged 75 or older who have served at least 15 years of their sentence. Those convicted of first-degree murder, kidnapping or crimes involving sexual contact would not be eligible. The decision on early release would still be up to the parole board. Create a mandatory window of parole eligibility for inmates beginning at least two years before they would be mandatorily discharged. The change is intended to reduce the number of offenders jamming out, which means being released into the community without supervision when their sentences end. Release decisions would remain up to the parole board. Create a pilot program for whats often called a halfway back house secure, temporary housing for parolees who commit technical violations as an alternative to sending them back to prison. Require that for previous convictions to be used to elevate misdemeanor theft to a felony, the previous convictions should have occurred in the previous 10 years. Reduce the mandatory minimum sentence for alleged habitual criminals if the latest offense does not involve violence, threats of violence, sexual contact or unlawful possession of a firearm. * Expand problem-solving courts special courts like drug courts that seek to work with offenders to keep them out of prison. * Streamline parole for certain qualified offenders, with one of the conditions being good behavior behind bars. Other changes Wayne had sought among them reducing penalties for possessing very small amounts of drugs will be the subject of the future discussions on sentencing. Nebraska lawmakers also appear poised to address the growth and overcrowding in the states prison system by spending more than $350 million to build a 1,500-bed replacement for the Nebraska State Penitentiary. But based on current projections for the states prison population, Nebraska could be faced with building another new prison before the decade is out. Nebraskas prison system for years has suffered from chronic overcrowding and staff shortages. Moreover, an Omaha World-Herald analysis found Nebraskas prison population has grown faster than in any other state over the past decade. Between 2011 and 2021, Nebraskas prison population grew 21% while prison numbers fell nationally by 24%. Nebraska was one of only five states to increase its prison population during that period. The plummeting inmate numbers nationally have been attributed to falling crime rates and states re-examination of the get-tough-on-crime policies that swelled inmate ranks nationally since the 1980s. Nearly 40 states have engaged in such justice reinvestment initiatives since 2007. But a similar reform effort in Nebraska crashed and burned in the Legislature last year. Gov. Pete Ricketts and the states prosecutors balked at any changes that reduced sentences or made inmates eligible for parole sooner, with Ricketts calling them soft on crime. Since lawmakers and Ricketts were unable to reach any compromise in the final days of the session, nothing passed. Wayne, the new chair of the committee that deals with criminal justice issues, was hoping to revive the effort this year with a new governor. But when his committee advanced a bill last month containing a number of last years proposals and others, it faced opposition from Pillen, Hilgers and prosecutors. Wayne said that led to the recent talks that produced some breakthroughs, as well as pledges to work for more in the future. It was the healthiest and most honest conversation I have been a part of, Wayne said. Nebraska's 10 state prisons from least to most crowded Gift this article Share this article paywall-free. An African elephant at the Omaha zoo is being relocated as part of an effort to help preserve the endangered species. Callee, a 22-year-old male who has been at Omahas Henry Doorly Zoo & Aquarium since 2019, will be moved to the Sedgwick County Zoo in Wichita, the Omaha zoo announced Thursday. Callees move was recommended by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums African Elephant Species Survival Plan, according to a press release from the zoo. He is expected to be moved this spring and the zoo is currently working to prepare him for transport and coordinate travel arrangements. The move mirrors the behavior of elephants in the wild, as adult males live together in small bachelor herds while females raise calves and live in multigenerational family groups, according to the release. Male elephants typically move on after finding females to breed. Callee fathered three calves while at the Omaha zoo: Eugenia, who was born Jan. 7, 2022, to Kiki; Sonny, who was born Jan. 20, 2022, to Claire; and Mopani, who was born March 2 to Lolly, according to the release. The zoo also is expecting the birth of two more elephant calves fathered by Callee over the next 10 months, the release said. One of those will be to Jayei, whose calf is due in August or September, the World-Herald previously reported. The other expecting female elephant is Omma, according to a zoo spokesperson. The zoos five females, plus one male, arrived in Omaha in 2016 from Swaziland, and since their arrival, the elephants have been housed in the zoos $73 million African Grasslands exhibit. In September 2017, Warren, a bull elephant in the original herd, died during a procedure. He had been the herds lone male until the arrival of a male named Louie that summer. Louie was never able to reproduce with the herds females and was transferred to the North Carolina Zoo in 2021. By contrast, Callee led to a baby boom at the zoo, with his three calves born in the span of just over a year and two more expected. Callee made a lasting impression on both his fellow elephants at the zoo and the elephant care staff, elephant manager Sarah Armstrong said in the release. While he will be greatly missed in Omaha, we are happy he will be moving to Wichita, where he will not only have the opportunity to breed, but also socialize and mentor other male elephants, Armstrong said. Photos: Sonny and Eugenias 1st birthday at Henry Doorly Zoo Gift this article Share this article paywall-free. Lincoln Journal Star. May 18, 2023. Editorial: Legislature is broken; can it be healed? The Nebraska Legislature has been broken. It was broken Tuesday by the conservative majority, who ignored the bodys own rules in amending a 12-week abortion ban into LB574, the controversial measure restricting gender-affirming care, in order to implement a national right-wing Republican agenda before the legislative session ends in early June. It has been broken by a session-long filibuster by LB574 opponents, led by Omaha Sen. Machaela Cavanaugh, that has resulted in legislating at its worst, forcing the creation of Christmas tree bills that cobble together measures that cant be considered individually in the remaining days of the session, measures that are near certain to be error-filled and bring unintended consequences. It has been broken by culture wars a division clearly seen in the packed Capitol Rotunda where Christian supporters prayed for the passage of the 12-week abortion amendment and the bills passage while opponents decried the Christofacist agenda and chanted, Kill the bill. Hundreds to thousands of Nebraskans coming down on these bills are not typical for Nebraska, Lincoln Sen. Danielle Conrad said during Tuesdays contentious debate. These measures have torn apart our body. Weve broken down into tribal, partisan groups. And, the Legislature has been broken by term limits, which rob the body of experience, undercutting long-term leadership and making unelected officials the repository of institutional memory. Additionally, in sending a relatively large crop of new senators to the Legislature every two years, term limits have largely eliminated conflict-tempering collegiality among senators, who barely get to know and work with each other before a new group arrives. This debate is about us, Conrad told her colleagues Tuesday. The 49 of us who are here, who sacrificed to be here, who worked hard to get here, who took an oath to serve in a nonpartisan institution, who truly in their heart of hearts want to do good work ... If you read the headlines, if you scroll social media, if you talk to your friends and neighbors, they are sick of the toxic politics, she said, adding, The only way to stop it is to stop it. Stopping toxic politics will not be easy. Nor, given todays vicious partisan polarization, is there anything like a universal desire to end the toxicity. Fixing the broken Legislature after the 2023 session will be difficult. Until a majority of senators want to dial back partisanship in the officially nonpartisan body, turn away from culture wars and their emotional, often personal conflicts, and represent the views of all Nebraskans, its likely impossible. North Platte Telegraph. May 20, 2023. Editorial: Counting the cost to our Unicameral of passing LB 574 By a classic act of uniquely Unicameral political logrolling, a two-thirds majority of conservative senators will enact a tighter abortion ban after all. It was accomplished by linking it to the bitter 2023 sessions most explosive issue more restrictive regulation of transgender health care for minors and softening both to keep the coalitions 32 Republicans and one Democrat together. Gov. Jim Pillen is expected to sign Legislative Bill 574 early next week, though its all but certain that its strident Democratic opponents will swiftly sue and seek to block it from taking effect. Thus our two major political parties, the two greatest fomenters of our nations deepening divisions, will both reap what they want most from it all: Votes. Campaign cash. More votes. Make no mistake about it: The parties are the winners here. And, though many among us wont recognize it for some time, all Nebraskans are the losers. We ought to be happy, one might argue. It was just two weeks ago that this page lamented the death of the Legislatures fetal heartbeat abortion bill and said a 12-week ban would at least protect a few more unborn children from unjust death. We suppose were satisfied enough with that part of LB 574 if the looser bans grafting onto the transgender bill isnt found to violate the Nebraska Constitutions ban on bills containing multiple subjects. Were not all that confident LB 574 will survive a suit. Weve said little about LB 574 in its original form, other than to say conservatives erred strategically by bringing a second divisive hot-button bill to the floor when the original abortion bill (LB 626) was going to be tough enough to pass. Nebraskans typically have believed in the liberty of adults to make their own decisions about their lives, subject to the Bill of Rights but even more to the Declaration of Independences self-evident and inalienable rights of which life is first. Nebraskas constitution copies those inalienable rights. Nebraskans also have believed in parents responsibility to care for and protect their children, subject to those same rights, so they reach adulthood best equipped to make their own life choices. Children who feel theyre trapped in the wrong body must be taken seriously. That requires counseling, and perhaps even medication, to help them cope and give them, their parents and their doctors time to see if that feeling persists into adulthood. But none of us fully knows our own personalities before we reach maturity. That argues powerfully against allowing surgeries on minors based on ones perceived gender identity. They might well feel differently in a few years and be unable to reverse course. As introduced, LB 574 went too far by outlawing hormone and chemical-based treatments for minors. Its final form logically puts those treatments, like many medical procedures, under tighter regulation while banning gender-reassignment surgeries before age 19. Had lawmakers separately passed this merged bills 12-week abortion ban and its now-modified provisions for transgender health care for minors, our misgivings would largely be erased. But it matters a great deal how goals are pursued and secured. Pro-life Americans and Nebraskans have fought half a century to turn their fellow citizens hearts toward protecting the full humanity of the unborn. We share that goal, as weve said before. But in this cause, like so many throughout time, frustration often yields obsession to achieve a goal no matter the cost even when that undercuts the moral case for the goal itself. LB 574s passage was achieved at the cost of playing right into pro-choice liberals narrative that pro-life conservatives dont care what happens to babies after theyre born. Many ears have closed, likely forever. That, as it happens, serves one partys political goal just as it serves the other party to harness the pro-life cause for its own political goal. And they have an identical goal: to win elections. Nebraskans want winners to cooperate for the common good. Parties, by all the evidence, do not. LB 574 leaves behind grievous wreckage in the lawmaking body that Nebraskans founded to in the words of former Sidney Sen. Jerry Matzke liberate its members to work together. If Nebraskans agree thats unacceptable, they have one choice: Elect lawmakers, be they Democratic or Republican, who will do just that. END Gift this article Share this article paywall-free. SIOUX CITY Sgt. Charles Floyd got very sick in the summer of 1804. On July 31, 1804, Floyd wrote in his diary: "I am verry sick and has ben for Sometime but have Recovered my helth again." Floyd's improved "helth" would not last, however; he had only three weeks to live. The explorer, a member of the Lewis & Clark Expedition, was stricken with what was described as "bilious colic." His condition was consistent with what is now known as appendicitis. There was no doctor available in this uncharted spot, at the time part of the newly acquired Louisiana Purchase. He was probably just as well off without a doctor. Medicine in that era was primitive and unscientific at best, and often cruel and counterproductive. Floyd Monument The Floyd Monument was built at the relocated burial site of Sgt. Charles Floyd, the only member of the Lewis and Clark expedition crew to hav Floyd died Aug. 20, 1804, in the area that is now Sioux City. He was the sole member of the Corps of Discovery to die during the hazardous journey. William Clark wrote in his diary that "We buried him on the top of the bluff 1/2 Mile below a Small river to which we Gave his name, he was buried with the Honors of War, much lamented," according to the Sioux City Public Museum. Fellow Corps of Discovery explorer Patrick Gass described Floyd's burial as being conducted "in the most decent manner our circumstances would admit." A cedar post was used as a grave marker, inscribed: "Sergt. C. Floyd died here 20th of August 1804." Fifty years after Floyd died, a city sprang up in the area near his grave. By 1857, according to the museum, the grave itself had fallen into disrepair; Sioux Cityans gathered what remained of his remains and re-buried them in a walnut coffin. By the 1890s, a decades-long, nationwide historical monuments craze was intensifying. In the eastern states, scores of monuments were built to commemorate the Civil War. Sergeant Floyd's Burial reenactment The Sergeant Floyd Honor Guard Reenactors handle their muskets during a 2022 recreation of the burial ceremony for Sergeant Floyd at the Serge In 1894, Floyd's journals from the expedition were rediscovered, according to the Sioux City Public Museum. In an era when community leaders everywhere itched for something important to immortalize in stone and bronze, the memory of Charles Floyd sprang back to life. Unfortunately, in the decades since his 1857 reburial, cattle had trampled the grave and (as was common practice in those days) souvenir seekers took whatever they could get from the gravesite. Eventually nothing was left above ground; no one knew where exactly the grave was. On Memorial Day, 1895, after a lot of searching, Floyd's grave was rediscovered. His remains were placed in two earthenware urns and reburied again on Aug. 20, 1895, according to the museum. A special re-interment service was held, and a more-permanent grave marker was installed -- a four-foot-by-eight-foot marble slab over the grave. That same year, the Floyd Memorial Association was formed to see that Sgt. Floyd would get an even more substantial grave marker. A decade earlier, the Washington Monument -- which had been under construction in fits and starts since 1848 -- was at last completed and dedicated. An enormous Egyptian-style obelisk was used to honor the first president; obelisks, and Egyptian-inspired decorative arts in general, were very popular at the time. Sgt. Charles Floyd would also be honored with an obelisk. Floyd's obelisk, however, would be less than one-fifth the height of the 555-foot Washington Monument. Help poured in from all around: $13,400 was secured from the federal government, the state of Iowa, Woodbury County and from private sources of funding. Colonel Chittenden with the United States Engineer's Office in Sioux City offered his services, according to the museum. Materials for the monument were transported free of charge by the railroads. The foundation of the monument was laid May 29, 1900. On Aug. 20, the cornerstone was ceremoniously laid, 96 years to the day after Floyd died. The obelisk's capstone was placed on April 22, 1901, and the finished monument was dedicated on Memorial Day, 1901. Thousands of people attended the ceremonies. Sgt. Floyd's remains are entombed inside the Floyd Monument, in its concrete core. The exterior of the monument is built of Kettle River sandstone; like the Washington Monument, its pointed cap is made of aluminum, a relatively innovative element at the time. (The aluminum tip, depending on the ambient light, doesn't always have the shiny, bright appearance of other aluminum objects; often it has a rather darkened appearance. This likely contributed to the "big pencil" moniker the monument eventually garnered, as the darkened aluminum point does bear some resemblance to the graphite point of a wooden pencil.) In 1960, the Floyd Monument would become the first-ever National Historic Landmark in the U.S. Though the monument outwardly looks like the sort of thing that lasts forever with little or no maintenance, it is in fact showing its age. For more than a year, the Sioux City Parks and Recreation Department has been keeping an eye on the monument's condition; spalling, a phenomenon wherein pieces or flakes of material break away from a larger body, has been noted on the south part of the landmark. The obelisk last underwent repairs in 1998. Visitors can see the monument at 2601 S. Lewis Blvd. Also, details about the Lewis and Clark expedition can be found at the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center, 900 Larsen Park Road, at the Sergeant Floyd River Museum, also at Larsen Park Road. Russian officials are claiming that Ukrainian military saboteurs have launched an attack across the border, wounding three people in a small town. Kyiv officials denied any link with the group and blamed the fighting on a revolt by disgruntled Russians against the Kremlin. Last Thursday in Los Angeles, city transportation officials held a press conference to proudly unveil an exciting improvement to the too-hot, too-long, and too-dangerous experience of riding the bus in L.A.an innovative new structure they were calling La Sombrita, a shade and lighting pilot for a gender equity action plan to address the needs of women who rely on public transit. Innovative and shade arent words that usually go together, but it was possible to be excited. Maybe youre envisioning a spacious, self-cleaning interior festooned with digital screens or at least air conditioning. Or perhaps an array of metal triangles that automatically open and close with the path of the sunlike those cool towers in Abu Dhabi. Or a canopy of photovoltaic panels that make clean energy as it cools pedestriansas seen on an iconic eco-bike path in South Korea. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement At press event for new @LADOTofficial @cd1losangeles bus stop shade/light structure la sombrita at 3rd & Union pic.twitter.com/5CgdfNfe2Y StreetsblogLA (@StreetsblogLA) May 18, 2023 Whatever youre imagining, it probably doesnt look at all like what was ultimately revealed: a Popsicle-shaped metal grate, 24 inches wide, bolted to the top of a bus pole near the edge of the curb. A Streetsblog reporter at the press conference snapped a photo of the little shadow and shared it with the world on Twitter, and it wasnt long before disbelieving users starting throwing a different kind of shade. Another photo, posted by the designers, Kounkuey Design Initiative, revealed the turquoise gizmos second featurea solar-powered night light, stashed in the canopys tiny nook. The photo captured Connie Llanos, the interim general manager of the Los Angeles Department of Transportation, looking up in bewildermentas if she were having trouble locating where, exactly, the gender equity was. Advertisement It's official! La Sombrita, our shade and lighting pilot for the @LADOTofficial Gender Equity Action Plan, was unveiled this morning pic.twitter.com/cqX1lFePzo Kounkuey [KDI] (@Kounkuey) May 18, 2023 Advertisement The yawning chasm between the citys triumphal tone and the minuscule achievement it unveiled was simply too great. L.A. was achieving equity with this? The outrage grew when it came out that the prototype cost around $10,000. Couldnt that have been spent on a roof over a bench? Or a new well to plant, water, and care for a shade treeeven two? Performative grift, someone sneered. An episode of Veep set at a transit agency. Here was another hapless city government, strangled by its own bureaucracy and regulations, taken for a ride by a bunch of consultants masquerading under the banner of diversity, equity, and inclusion. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But to me, the uproar around La Sombrita points to a very specific issue that the shade itself is trying to address, and thats the growing threat of extreme heat in Los Angeles. This is a city where three consecutive mayors, dating back to 2005, have pledged to protect people from rising temperatures and vicious heat waves. And yet here was the transportation department, crowing about a puddle of shade for one, maybe two people. If this was what it considered good work, did Angelenos have any hope of surviving in a much hotter future? If La Sombrita was any indication, the answer was probably not. L.A.s political leaders have promised to increase street shade for many years but have been thwarted by two related problems, both of their own doing: The public realm is shaped, designed, and planned to accommodate cars before people, and the citys bureaucrats, planners, and engineers have not been properly directed to work together to ensure shades provision. Advertisement People move here for the sun, but if you ask some of the individuals who make over 642,000 bus boardings every day, many will say its ruthless and oppressivea lament that dates back to the 19th century. Although large-canopied trees, like coast live oaks and sycamores, naturally grow in the citys riparian zones, L.A.s earliest developers much preferred paradisiacal palmsabout as useful as telegraph poles for making shade, as Grace Ellery Channing wrote in 1899. Advertisement Advertisement Maybe the problem wasnt so bad in her time, what with sidewalk porches fronting bars and hotels and canvas awnings shading the footpaths of streetcar districts. By the middle of the 20th century, all that public shelter was reclassified as sidewalk projections and regulated out of existence. By then, the roads had changed toothey were wider, bound in scorching asphalt, and choked with cars, which conspired to make a lot of urban heat. Advertisement In 1975 an environmental activist named Ellen Stern Harris begged for shade at her bus stop. Specifically, she wanted a shelteran aluminum shed framed with clear panels and an overhanging roof. Not long after, JCDecaux, a French advertising company, struck a deal with L.A. to install and maintain these structures on city streetsmostly in the richest, whitest neighborhoods, for the simple reason that ad panels would generate more revenue there. The need acquired an existential flavor during the recent tenure of Mayor Eric Garcetti, who declared that in an era of extreme heat, his citys unequal provision of shade was an equity issue. Eighteen percent of the citys trees covered less than 1 percent of the populationguess which part. Meanwhile, Black and Latino residents were concentrated in barren, sun-blasted neighborhoods where temperatures were highest. In L.A., people of color are likelier to be transit-dependent, so they were additionally exposed to more hours of potentially lethal heat. It would take years for more trees to grow in. The least the city could do nowto make sure bus riders didnt pass out waiting for a ride to the market, or to pick up their kids from schoolwas throw a little shade. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Rather than address the literal underlying issue, that sidewalks are consistently narrower in majority-POC neighborhoods and thus too small to support a standard bus shelter, Garcettis lofty rhetoric culminated in an embarrassing fix: off-the-shelf patio umbrellas deployed as cool streets pilots at a handful of bus benches across the city. Advertisement Team @BSSLosAngeles is enhancing the quality of life for all by adding transit benches & shade umbrellas. Below are recent installations in South LA @mhdcd8 @CurrenDPriceJr @MayorOfLA @LACityDPW pic.twitter.com/UKzzhdUFOc Adel Hagekhalil (@adelh2o) November 15, 2019 Advertisement Mock La Sombrita all you want, but the fact is this: The shade is more helpful than you think. In sunny, dry cities like L.A., direct sunlight is a major factor in mean radiant temperature, an index that urban climate scientists like Ariane Middel use to quantify human heat load. Now that Ive scrolled through all of these tweets, Im like, What is wrong with all you people? the Arizona State University professor told me from her home in Phoenix. This is why Angelenos are always standing behind poles, or sliding up against buildings to catch a sliver of shadow, and carrying around umbrellas in the dry seasons. Its why taqueros cook under pop-up canopies and the fruteros have their rainbow parasols. Shade workswhich is why, as the late Mike Davis told me, if the city decided to focus on financing and supporting shade, rather than cracking down on its unpermitted uses, it could bring about wonders. Advertisement As the Twitter dunking continued apace, I called Kounkueys Naria Kiani, the planner on La Sombrita, to ask how L.A.s newest spatially constrained shade structure had come to be. (A similarly designed shade blade already rocked the Twittersphere back in 2021.) Advertisement Kounkuey has worked on womens issues with the transportation department since 2019, but this specific project emerged in 2022, after convening a group of 10 to 15 women and gender-nonconforming people. Global data showed that women were still more likely to be their households caregivers and take on domestic responsibilities. In L.A., that often means theyre the ones waiting for the bus in the middle of the day. Kiani also heard that they felt threatened by darkness at night. Advertisement How could Kounkuey help? The firm designed a custom device to cast shade and make lightbut then came the streetscape regulations. The structure couldnt have a wide canopy because it would protrude into the road, or into the 4 feet of sidewalk clearance reserved for wheelchair users. It had to be perforated so the wind wouldnt blow it over. It couldnt have seats, because a bench would also cut into the clearance. (These constraints dont exist next door in the wealthy beachfront city of Santa Monica, where wide sidewalks accommodate big blue parasols and wheelchair users just fine.) Advertisement Advertisement And the firm couldnt move the structure over the benches that were already on that street, because that would spur a six-month review process by the streets department, and the transit agency wanted to pilot some shade now. If Kounkuey had involved the streets department, it would have encountered a bevy of other impedimentsthings like driveways, curb cuts, utility poles, vaults, and meters, all of which get designed into sidewalks before trees and shelters, and require massive visual clearances so they can be seen by oncoming drivers. Bit by bit, the shelter was whittled away, until all that remained was an elaborate piece of wayfinding. Kiani insisted that if riders were unhappy with the product, Kounkuey would try another design. Advertisement Advertisement As hard as it is to believe, Los Angeles is one of the few American cities thats actually ahead of the curve in planning for a future of extreme heata hugely consequential project thats still in its infancy. Its 1 of 2 U.S. cities with a chief heat officera new kind of municipal position to coordinate other departments on short- and long-term heat-related projects. It has access to $800 million in California funds designated specifically for adapting to this threat. It has the University of California Los Angeles, a world-class university with researchers and scientists who are dedicating their lives to better understanding heat. A hand-picked tree czar. And an engaged publicparents, bus riders, and activists who are all demanding more shade. Advertisement Advertisement As yet, as La Sombrita showsin a very literal senseits not enough. Right now, every city in Americawith the possible exception of Duluth, Minnesotais at a crossroads with heat. Their planners and engineers can design and implement adaptation solutions that conform to the built environments they have inherited today, through things like cool pavements, which lower the heat retention of roads, and tiny shade structures that fit in the tiny apertures of the public realm accidentally spared by cars. Or they can start to think long-termas they are doing in New York, Miami, and Houston with the challenge of sea level rise, building seawalls and pump stations and raising streetsand remake their cities to withstand the heat tomorrow. Advertisement Kounkueys designers traveled to London, Quito, Ecuador, and Hamburg, Germany, to learn about street shade. [Update, May 26, 2023, at 4:35 p.m.: Kounkuey says its designers traveled to these cities to learn about gender equity in transit and that the idea for bus-stop shade came after conferring with riders in Los Angeles.] Perhaps they also should have visited Barcelona, Spainwhere Mayor Ada Colau has figured out how to make it, not with press conferences and doohickeys but with bold moves and smart governing. On Sunday, voters will decide whether to reelect her to a third term and to continue a world-beating plan to take cars off the roads and fill those spaces with people and trees. To execute such an ambitious plan, which cuts across so many levels of city government, her deputy mayor Janet Sanz brought four different agencies under one roof: environment, transportation, urban planning, and the chief architect, all known simply as urban ecology. The oft-repeated laments I hear in Los Angelesthat the countless infrastructure agencies dont talk to one another, that theyre stuck in silos and are too busy covering their own asses to bring Angelenos the kinds of streets they need and deservecease to exist. As Middel says, any shade is better than none at all. It does offer some relief. But it does not begin to abate the larger heat-island effect created by the six-lane roadway it stands next to. It is not enough for the citys leadership to say it cares about shade and then give someonesorry, two peoplea Sombrita. If Mayor Karen Bass is sincere about her stated desire to protect Angelenos from heat, then she needs to ensure that all departments share that goal, and that they are publicly accountable for projects in vulnerable communities that point in the same direction. The urban foresters desire for bigger canopies and the street designers plan for a real bus shelter cannot be overruled by the transportation departments desire to keep traffic moving smoothly on urban arterials. They have to work together to shade L.A.s hottest neighborhoodsa job that will never end if the best we can do is pilot it 24 inches at a time. Nearly 10 years after the New Yorkers Emily Nussbaum codified the phenomenon of the bad fan, the viewer who declines to acknowledge a TV series emphatic hints that the shows protagonist is not meant to be admired or idolized, Succession watchers are engaged in a fierce debate about which of Logan Roys children will end up with the keys to his media kingdom. Will it be Kendall, the absentee father and drug addict who crashed his car into a river and left a young man to drown; Shiv, the ostensible liberal who has talked female victims of sexual abuse out of pressing charges to serve her own interests; or Roman, whos hard at work trying to grease a white nationalists legally murky path to the White House? Roman Roy Has Always Been Successions Most Empathetic Character, Time recently declaredbefore he tried to throw a presidential election in favor of a right-wing fascist, to be fairthe equivalent of nominating him as the worlds shortest giant. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The bad fan isnt just a phenomenon of viewership, but of the delicate dance of the antihero show, which dangles the heros potential for redemption in front of the audience while keeping them from making any forward progress that might disrupt the balance of the show. Walter White and Tony Soprano werent perfect, sure, but they were trying, and in the meantime, they made being bad seem like it could be an awful lot of fun. Some of these gleeful manipulators even conned their own creators into giving them better endings than they deserved: In Breaking Bad, Walter White lost his family and his empire, but he still managed to go out in a blaze of glory. From the bad fans point of view, that was a win. Advertisement Succession seems determined to not let viewers make the same mistake. The show has kept us guessing over the years as to just how much of a chance its protagonists have of turning things around, how robust is the flicker of conscience within them. Youre not Logan, the political operative Nate Sofrelli told Kendall on the eve of the presidential election, and he meant it as a compliment. But being incapable of seizing his fathers mantle isnt the same as refusing it, and as many opportunities as Kendall has had to choose a different path, he has always turned back to the one he knows the best. Advertisement Church and State, the series penultimate episode, features its most sustained argument against the admiration of Logan Roy, in the form of a eulogy from his estranged brother Ewan, played by James Cromwell. Like Connors Wedding, in which Logans children suffered the shock of his sudden death, Church and State begins by soliciting our empathy for the Roys through the universality of grief, and Ewans speech takes us back to long before the shows timeline began: Logans rough and sometimes terrifying childhood, the possibly unearned sense of guilt he felt for the death of the baby sister who caught polio after Logan returned from school, and how his aunt and uncle let that guilt fester. And then the speech turns. Yes, Logans life was hard, Ewan says. But his brother was a person who made other people worse instead of better, who closed mens hearts, and fed that dark flame that keeps their hearths warm while another grows cold, their grain stashed while another goes hungry. Ewan, raised right alongside Logan, admits that he may have felt the same temptations. But I tried, he says. I dont know when, but sometime he decided not to try anymore, and it was a terrible shame. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement After Roman is too distraught to deliver his planned eulogy, Kendall takes his place, and as furious as he is at Ewans unplanned assessment, even he has to admit that his uncle has a point. My father was a brute, Kendall allows, but also he built and he acted. He goes on to deliver a paean to all the things Logan made and did, the lives and the livings and the things that he madeand the money. For Kendall, money is just not wealth or power, but the lifeblood and oxygen of civilization, and perhaps the only thing that truly flowed through Logan Roys heart. He has never seen his father so clearly, in all his greatness and terribleness, and yet, in the end, he decides he still wants to emulate him. People might want to tend and prune the memory of him, to denigrate that force, that magnificent awful force of him, he says, casting a glance at Ewan in the pews. But my God, I hope its in me. Advertisement There is no more Logan to impress, no more drops of affection to be wrung from his stone of a heart, and yet his children are still bound to his memory, still craving the feeling, as Shiv says when she speaks after Kendall, of the rare moments when his attention focused on them, when it was warm in the light. They were raised in a broken family, by domineering and distant parents who taught them to associate cruelty with love. But in a world whose borders are defined by money, no one has a greater opportunity to reinvent themselves, to step out of Logans shadow and just go be rich somewhere. Roman and Shiv and Kendall and Connor have all expended varying degrees of effort to escape their fathers orbit. But even after Logans light has gone out, theyre still circling a dead star, and theyve stopped trying to get away. On Friday, the Supreme Court overruled Roe v. Wade in a decision by Justice Samuel Alito. Last December, when arguments in the case were heard, Dahlia Lithwick wrote about what comes next. There has been a tendency, in the week since it became clear the U.S. Supreme Court will likely either uphold Mississippis unconstitutional 15-week abortion ban or overturn Roe v. Wade outright, to suggest that when this happens, America will return to the days pre-Roe. That is intended to mean, one assumes, that we will go back to a patchwork of laws in the various states, and see the grim return of women attempting to terminate their own pregnancies with sometimes lethal results as well as the backroom illegal abortions that were the norm before Roe became law. But it is not quite accurate to say this would be a simple return to life pre-Roe: If the boldest voices in the pro-life movement have their way, America would not so much be reverting to its pre-Roe past but slipping sideways into something that could bebelieve it or notmuch worse. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Michelle Goldberg made this point two years ago in the New York Times, after Alabama, Georgia, and Missouri passed a raft of (at the time) unthinkably punitive abortion bans immediately after Brett Kavanaugh was seated at the Supreme Court. As she wrote at the time, its important to understand that were not necessarily facing a return to the past. The new wave of anti-abortion laws suggests that a post-Roe America wont look like the country did before 1973, when the court case was decided. It will probably be worse. Anyone listening carefully to the newly ascendant views of abortion opponents can hear itthe talk of legal fetal personhood and of punishing mothers who endanger an embryo takes us into a new, uncharted, and theological realm that is quite different even from the status quo before Roe. Sure, we now hear opponents of abortion offering up a lot of platitudes about the need for better social safety nets (as though such things havent been desperately necessary for decades). But a better social safety net to help unwilling mothers carry, birth, and then parent unwanted children is not in fact where we are headed. Advertisement Prior to Roe, faith groups were hardly monolithic in their opposition to abortion. Many religious leaders stood firmly on the side of the health and welfare of mothers. The National Association of Evangelicals passed a resolution in 1971 recognizing the necessity for therapeutic abortions to safeguard the health or the life of the mother, as in the case of tubular pregnancies and conceded that pregnancies resulting from rape or incest may require deliberate termination, but the decision should be made only after there has been medical, psychological and religious counseling of the most sensitive kind. The Southern Baptist Convention had passed resolutions affirming that people should have abortion access for various reasons in 1971, 1974 and 1976. But in the decades since, hard-line religious opposition to Roe has both solidified and moved the goal posts. Since 1984, the Republican Party platform has called for a constitutional amendment banning abortion nationwide. The ground has shifted. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In other words, this doesnt necessarily end at returning abortion to the states. Talking to the New Yorkers Isaac Chotiner this week, Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the Susan B. Anthony List, talked about plans for a nationwide 15-week abortion ban in the years to come. Religious groups that oppose abortion now speak openly of a project set forth by scholars such as John Finnis, a professor emeritus at the University of Notre Dame, who argued in the Catholic journal First Things that legislators who wrote the 14th Amendment viewed unborn children as persons, such that unborn children would receive the full guarantees of equal protection and due process of the law under the 14th Amendment. Finnis and Robert George also filed an amicus brief at the Supreme Court in Dobbs v. Jackson Womens Health Organization, urging the court to make all abortion illegal. As Garrett Epps pointed out this fall, in their brief they urged that the prohibition of abortion is constitutionally obligatory because unborn children are persons within the original public meaning of the Fourteenth Amendments Due Process and Equal Protection Clauses. Yes, they are contending that the notion that any fertilized egg is a full human person, is within the original public meaning of the 14th Amendment. The push for such protections, while still dismissed as somewhat fringe-y, can be seen in Justice Clarence Thomas enthusiasm for the equal rights of the unborn, and that includes, by necessity, punishment for women who endanger their pregnancies. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Pause to remember that before Roe, it was largely the physicians who performed abortions who were on the hook for criminal penalties. But as states continue to enact fetal personhood laws, we will also continue to see draconian punishments meted out to women who miscarry, who use drugs during pregnancy, who attempt suicide while pregnant, and who suffer complications around a C-section. The case of Brittney Poolawthe 19-year-old Oklahoma woman who went to the Comanche County Memorial Hospital after suffering a miscarriage at home and was sentenced to four years in prison for manslaughter for drug useis a pretty good predictor of where we are headed. If a fetus or embryo is a person for purposes of the law, it stands to reason that mothers are going to be on the end of both the justice and mercy that Dannenfelser was meting out in her interview with Chotiner. A report by the National Advocates for Pregnant Women and the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers found that there are more than 4,450 crimes in the federal criminal code, tens of thousands of state criminal provisionsincluding criminal abortion lawsstill on the books, as well as state conspiracy, attempt, and accomplice statutes that could subject a wide range of individuals to criminal penalties if Roe is overturned. Even criminal laws that have absolutely nothing to do with abortion on their faceincluding prohibitions on possession of a dangerous drug can be, and have been, used by zealous prosecutors to punish abortion patients. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement It is important to understand that whatever reality looked like pre-Roe, it was not solely or fundamentally a theological opposition to female autonomy that powered the opposition to reproductive freedom. Back then, it was more of a paternalistic notion that women were essentially full-size children who needed to be protected from the predations of abortion providers, yes, but also protected from draconian punishment by the states. In the amicus brief filed by Finnis and George, there is a proposed fix for the problem of women who make bad choices once abortion is illegal everywhere. As they explain: States may consider degrees of culpability as mitigating factors or altogether immunize from prosecution certain participants in wrongful killings. Here such policy choices serve legitimate purposes by fairly balancing the childs humanity and her unique physical dependence and impact on her mother. And the mothers constitutional rights could require States to allow urgent or life-saving medical interventions even when these would unavoidably result in fetal death. Advertisement The state, in short, doesnt have to punish mothers who end their pregnancies, either intentionally or by accident. The state in its infinite mercy can weigh the circumstances and sometimes go easy on the pregnant woman, who, for instance, sought life-saving medical interventions. We now have all the exposure of life pre-Roe but none of the paternalistic protections: Women are now seen as fully autonomous moral agents, which means that they will be legally on the hook for endangering the babies they carry, but they will also be punishable as autonomous adults. Women thus remain children for purposes of pregnancy and giving birth, but have become adults for purposes of criminal liability. Advertisement Advertisement Its easy to lull yourself into the false belief that a reversion to life pre-Roe would simply mean that the reproductive freedom movement needs to redouble efforts to fund and transport persons needing abortions to more hospitable states. That would be awful, we think, but maybe not that catastrophically bad. But as Goldberg warned in 2019, the past can prove inadequate to understanding the depredations of the present. We are not in fact moving backward to life before Roe. We are more likely moving sideways into a fundamentalist religious regime in which life pre-Roe will come to look like a vastly less terrifying option than a world in which women are subject to revanchist religious claimsclaims with no support whatsoever in the Constitutionabout the lives they may carry, the unknown crimes they may commit, and the choices they are no longer permitted to make. The single most consequential player in the Supreme Courts current conservative revolution is also the least conspicuous. Justice Amy Coney Barrett powered the courts hard-right turn by casting the fifth vote in several major decisionsmost notably, Dobbs v. Jackson Womens Health Organization, which overruled Roe v. Wade. Yet over the course of the most fractious term in modern history, she rarely bothered to explain herself. While Donald Trumps other two justices spilled much ink defending their positions, Barrett remained reticent. By the end of the term, she had become an enigmatic figure whose jurisprudence grew more cryptic and confusing with each decision. Even as her court grew more aggressive, she seemed to recede from view. Advertisement This tactical retreat from the public eye hints at the headwinds that Barrett faced in her second year on the court. The justice was ill-prepared for many aspects of her job, and after a series of unforced errors, she has faded into the background whenever possible. As a result, the woman who entrenched the Republican Partys control over the federal judiciary comes across more as a loyal backbencher than an independent thinker. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement It may be tempting for progressives to assume that Barrett is cynically withdrawing into the intellectual shadows so she can inflict maximum damage with minimal backlash. But the better explanation may be that the justice is simply in over her head. Part of the problem is that, of all the current justices, Barrett had the least amount of preparation and training for the unique requirements of the job. She spent most of her career as a professor at Notre Dame Law School, where her students chose her as distinguished professor of the year three times. Her academic work was often dry and technical, verging on esoteric, and she avoided committing herself to any controversial ideas. Donald Trump appointed her to a federal appeals court in 2017, where she served for less than three years before joining the Supreme Court. Her opinions seemed calculated to improve her chances for a SCOTUS seat. Advertisement No other member of todays court had so little experience in public service before their elevation. Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Sam Alito, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Ketanji Brown Jackson all served substantial terms on the lower courts. Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Clarence Thomas served only brief stints on the lower courts, but unlike Barrett, they held prominent government posts before that. The closest comparison is Justice Elena Kagan, who had never been a judge before she joined SCOTUS. Kagan, however, worked in Bill Clintons administration for four years then served as Barack Obamas solicitor general. She also spent nearly six years as dean of Harvard Law School, presiding over a snake pit of clashing egosa perfect training program for the Supreme Court. Advertisement Justices are politicians, whether they like it or not. They wield an immense amount of power, guaranteeing intense scrutiny of their words and actions. And because the courts authority rests on public perceptions of its legitimacy, that scrutiny matters a great deal. When they decline to explain their votes, they create the impression that theyre exercising raw power instead of principled legal judgment. Advertisement Thats especially true of Barrett, whose eleventh-hour confirmation to replace the liberal Ruth Bader Ginsburg destabilized the entire judiciary. Trump, abetted by Sen. Mitch McConnell, rushed her onto the bench in the midst of an election to lock in GOP control of the courts. She refused to answer questions at her hearings, proffering opaque platitudes to avoid derailing her confirmation. This behavior foreshadowed her style of judging: provide as few answers as possible to preserve maximal latitude. Advertisement Since then, Barrett has done little to dispel the fumes of partisanship and illegitimacy that poisoned her appointment. Her attempts at public relations have backfired. She inked a lucrative book deal for her memoirs before she had produced a scintilla of a public thought. In September, the justice declared that she and her colleagues were not a bunch of partisan hacks while standing next to McConnell at a center named after him. (She limited press access to the event.) In April, she urged Americans to read the opinions before concluding that the courts work was purely results-driven. Advertisement Advertisement Theres just one problem with that instruction: During her tenure, the court has radically altered the law through the shadow docket without issuing any opinions. It did so once again just two days after Barretts read-the-opinion speech by a 54 vote. She wordlessly joined the majority. Advertisement When decisions come down, Barrett is frequently missing in action. Barretts performance at oral arguments, too, has been befuddling. She tends to ask very specific questions about some obscure aspect of the case, as if to flaunt her intricate knowledge of the record or her nuanced thinking. Then she signs onto an un-nuanced, hard-line opinion that completely ignores her putative concerns. Often, at arguments, she presents herself as a reasonable moderate earnestly grappling with the issues at hand; in opinions, she is just another automatic vote for a reactionary result. Advertisement Barretts biggest blunder was probably her question, during arguments in Dobbs, about safe haven laws, which let parents relinquish newborns without penalty. She suggested that these laws obviate the need for abortion, as if nine months of unwanted pregnancy were no big deal. That tone-deaf remark, as well as a gaffe about the Jewish-Palestinian conflict, indicated that she is not ready for prime time. Advertisement Advertisement When the decisions come down, Barrett is frequently missing in action. As the junior justice, she does not get assigned blockbuster opinions, but she is free to write concurrences and dissents. Gorsuch and Kavanaugh wasted no time making their mark on the court through concurring opinions explaining their votes. These separate writings aim to give a reasoned defense of the justices stance and to distinguish their intellectual projects from the conservative herd. Barrett has chosen a different tack: silence. This term, she has joined a number of important 63 and 54 decisions that shifted the law rightward without a sentence of explanation. The justice wrote nothing in Dobbs to tell us why she overruled Roe. She wrote nothing in Oklahoma v. Castro-Huerta, a brutal 54 assault on tribal sovereignty. Nothing in West Virginia v. EPA hobbling climate regulations; or Kennedy v. Bremerton allowing Christian prayer in public schools; or Carson v. Makin forcing public funding of religious education; or Vega v. Tekoh undermining Miranda warnings; or the brutal habeas decisions that let states execute innocent people. Advertisement When Barrett does write a concurrence, its usually short and academic. Her opinion in the concealed carry case, for instance, ponders the precise historical period judges should look to when determining the original meaning of the Constitution. (As if the majority wont start with its preferred conclusion and cherry-pick history to support it.) Her opinion in the Boston bomber case is a snoozer about federal appeals courts authority to impose procedural rules on district courts; its really just a summary of her own 2006 law review article. Her few concurrences pertaining to religious freedom were surprisingly open-ended and noncommittal for a justice who was expected to produce a robust free exercise jurisprudence. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Barretts defenders might argue that her modesty is an admirable trait, a signal that she is approaching the job with discipline, restraint, and a refreshing lack of ego. Its hard to reconcile this claim with the justices eagerness to tour the public speaking circuit offering partisan speeches and taking potshots at journalists. A willingness to speak in political venues while remaining silent on the actual judicial job doesnt bespeak modesty; it suggests one is a merely political actor. Advertisement Nor do Barretts votes evince modesty or restraint. Over the last term, Barrett drifted rightward, away from Roberts and Kavanaugh toward the Thomas wing of the court. Time and again, when the court split 54, Roberts and Kavanaugh joined the liberals while Barrett sided with the extreme reactionaries. She tried to block Bidens vaccine mandate for health care workers and his repeal of Trumps anti-asylum policy. She sought to stop returning veterans from suing state employers that discriminate against them. And she attempted to prevent death row inmates from effectively challenging their method of execution. Based on this evidence, many progressives have concluded that Barrett is exactly what she professes not to be: a partisan hack. Perhaps she is. But she is also a law professor. And her rocky start demonstrates the drawbacks of launching a law professor into the highest echelon of the judiciary. Outside of a leadership role like dean, academia is poor preparation for the Supreme Court. Professors debate ideas, write law review articles, and attend conferences to promote their scholarship. They think and talk about power rather than exercising it. Most do not expect millions of strangers to pore over their entire record with a critical eye. Advertisement From Day One, Barrett has approached this job as an academic. She treats cases like intriguing thought experiments rather than disputes between real people with life-and-death consequences. Her worst questions, like the safe haven disaster, sound like a parlor game. Its easy to envision Barrett probing a student with such a question in an effort to test the strength of their argument. At oral arguments, though, it sounded like a callous minimization of the devastating burdens imposed by pregnancy. Advertisement Maybe none of this matters. Trump and the Federalist Society nominated a legion of conservative law professors because they valued ideological purity over practical experience. The learning curve, they reasoned, is irrelevant with life tenure; judges have decades to settle into the role. True enough for now. But the Supreme Court is simultaneously the most and least powerful branch: capable of striking down any law or executive action, yet incapable of enforcing its decisions with anything except persuasion. It derives its authority from our buy-in. If Barrett does not get with the program, she may imperil the conservative revolution that has only just begun. The International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) is pictured in Laguna Province, the Philippines on May 16, 2023. (Xinhua/Rouelle Umali) by Xinhua writers Liu Kai, Yan Jie MANILA, May 22 (Xinhua) -- Amid rising concerns about global food security, the legacy of Chinese agronomist Yuan Longping, also known as the Father of Hybrid Rice, continues at the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) in the Philippines. Yuan's hybrid rice was first introduced on the international stage at IRRI, which is located at the foot of the hills and inactive volcano in Laguna province, about 60 kilometers south of the Philippine capital Manila, even before his invention revolutionized global hunger, lifting billions of people out of poverty. Jauhar Ali, a hybrid rice breeder at IRRI, is one of the rice scientists inspired by the Chinese agronomist who died on May 22, 2021. One of Ali's photos on Facebook shows him smiling brightly in the middle of a rice field, celebrating Yuan's birthday in Changsha, central China's Hunan Province, when he was invited as an IRRI expert to an international conference on rice research held in Changsha. "That's a memorable, touching moment," said Ali, who had known Yuan since the late 1980s when the Chinese scientist went to India, Ali's birth country, to support local rice research. Indeed, Yuan's story with IRRI, a leading research organization dedicated to reducing poverty and hunger through rice science, dates back to the 1970s. Yuan's pioneering research on hybrid rice began in 1964. After nine years of painstaking research and intensive testing, his team successfully cultivated the world's first high-yield hybrid rice strain in 1973. In 1979, he attended an international rice research conference held by IRRI in the Philippines, where he debuted his research on hybrid rice to the world. Three years later, when participating in another meeting of IRRI, Yuan was reputed as the "Father of Hybrid Rice" by his peers worldwide. Ali treasures a digital archive of selected papers from that conference in 1979, among which Yuan's co-authored paper "Hybrid Rice Breeding in China" is well presented. "So Professor Yuan Longping came and presented this to the world. Eventually, everyone started. This spark ignited a fire across the entire world and people all started working on hybrid rice," Ali told Xinhua in an interview. Over four decades, hybrid rice technology has been promoted in more than 60 countries and regions, with millions of hectares of farmland growing hybrid rice, feeding billions of people on the planet. "With the hybrid rice, you can see at least not only the production of more food, but at the same time, you save on the input cost side," said Hans Raj Bhardwaj, research director and head of the rice breeding innovations platform at IRRI. According to IRRI, rice is the world's most important staple food for some 4 billion people. Rice farming is deeply associated with poverty, with about 900 million of the world's poor depending on rice as producers or consumers. However, rice farming is now threatened by climate change, including higher temperatures, more frequent droughts, flooding, and rising sea levels. IRRI warns that reduced global rice production may endanger food security and hamper low-income consumers and producers emerging out of poverty. "One way to mitigate that challenge is to develop varieties of the plants, which can tolerate the stress, but can still produce adequate yields," said Bhardwaj, adding much of the research today is "focused on some of those stressed rates, whether it could be droughts, heat, or floods." The headquarters of IRRI, founded in 1960, is part of a 190-hectare property consisting of experimental rice fields, laboratories, screen houses, glass houses, and phytotron, among others. Ali, who started working at IRRI in the early 2000s, is head of a program developing extreme-weather-tolerated rice varieties. He attributed his career motivation to the inspiration of Yuan, whom he described as "a down-to-earth person" and a "very kind-hearted, true gentleman." "Yuan is not only the 'Father of Hybrid Rice', but also the father or grandfather of all rice researchers," said Ali. "All credit goes to Dr. Yuan Longping. And we must all feel so grateful for his invention, his drive, and the efforts he put behind promoting and developing this technology," said Bhardwaj. "It certainly helped with food security, reducing hunger and malnutrition. So this is one of the most significant or important technologies which has a large impact on food production and food security," he added. This aerial photo taken on May 16, 2023 shows a farmer walking in a rice field at the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) in Laguna Province, the Philippines. (Xinhua/Rouelle Umali) A farmer crossbreeds rice stalks at the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) in Laguna Province, the Philippines on May 16, 2023. (Xinhua/Rouelle Umali) Jauhar Ali, a hybrid rice breeder at the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), speaks during an interview with Xinhua in his office in Laguna Province, the Philippines on May 16, 2023. (Xinhua/Rouelle Umali) This aerial photo taken on May 16, 2023 shows a rice field at the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) in Laguna Province, the Philippines. (Xinhua/Rouelle Umali) Hans Raj Bhardwaj, research director and head of the rice breeding innovations platform at the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), speaks during an interview with Xinhua in his office in Laguna Province, the Philippines on May 16, 2023. (Xinhua/Rouelle Umali) Khiara Bridges remembers the exact moment she lost faith in the Supreme Court. At first, at the start of Donald Trumps presidency, Bridgesa professor who now teaches at UCBerkeley School of Lawheld out hope that the court might be this great protector of individual civil liberties right when we desperately needed it to be. Then came 2018. That June, the justices issued Trump v. Hawaii, which upheld the presidents entry ban for citizens of eight countries, six of them Muslim-majority. Suddenly, Bridges told me, she realized, The court is not going to save us. It is going to let Trump do whatever he wants to do. And its going to help him get away with it. Advertisement Four years later, the justices completely shattered whatever remaining optimism Bridges could muster about the court by overruling Roe v. Wade in Dobbs v. Jackson Womens Health Organization. When the decision came down on June 24, she got a migraine for the first time in a decade. The image of the court as a majestic guardian of liberty was, she concluded, a complete lie. And it wasnt just about her own personal feelings, either: Now she had to teach her students about the work of an institution that made her sick to contemplate. Bridges is not alone. At law schools across the country, thousands of professors of constitutional law are currently facing a court that, in their view, has let the mask of neutrality fall off completely. Six conservative justices are steering the court head-on into the most controversial debates of the day and consistently siding with the Republican Party. Increasingly, the conservative majority does not even bother to provide any reasoning for its decisions, exploiting the shadow docket to overhaul the law without a word of explanation. The crisis reached its zenith between September 2021 and June 2022, when the Supreme Court let Texas impose its vigilante abortion ban through the shadow docket, then abolished a 50-year-old right to bodily autonomy by overruling Roe v. Wade. Now law professors are faced with a quandary: Howand whyshould you teach law to students while the Supreme Court openly changes the meaning of the Constitution to align with the GOP? Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A version of this question has long dogged the profession, which has fought over the distinction between law and politics for about as long as it has existed. For decades, however, the court has handed enough victories to both sides of the political spectrum that it has avoided a full-on academic revolt against its legitimacy. That dynamic changed when Trump appointed Justices Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett to replace far less conservative predecessors and created a Republican-appointed supermajority, a coalition further aided by the appointment of Neil Gorsuch to a seat that should have been filled by Barack Obama. The cascade of far-right rulings in 2022 confirmed that the new court is eager to shred long-held precedents it deems too liberal as quickly as possible. The pace and scale of this revolution is requiring law professors to adapt on several levelsintellectually, pedagogically, and emotionally. Advertisement For law professors, these rulings have unsettled the foundational premises of our professional lives, she said. Like Bridges, Serena Mayeri, a professor at University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School, traces her recent disillusionment to Trump v. Hawaii. The fact that Kavanaughs predecessor, Justice Anthony Kennedy, sided with Trump left me deeply shaken, Mayeri said. It was weeks before I could bring myself to read the opinions in full. Shortly thereafter, Kennedy announced his retirement, further rattling Mayeri. Ive always considered myself a deeply patriotic person, she said. My family comes from Eastern Europe and Iran; on both sides I have relatives who took refuge in the U.S. and taught me to see America as a beacon of hope, however flawed our attempts to live up to our ideals. Mayeri was crossing the border into Canada when the Hawaii decision came down, and she suddenly felt she did not want to return. For the first time in my life, I didnt want to go home to my own country, a country I barely recognized. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Mayeris outlook did not improve as the court took a wrecking ball to her areas of expertise, especially reproductive rights. That doesnt mean she is seriously considering quitting academia. There have certainly been moments over the past few years when anything other than direct political action felt like rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic, she said. But being a law professor is an incredible privilege, and I love almost every minute of it. In the classroom, Mayeri will try to teach decisions like Dobbs in broader contexts, such as the alarming global erosion of democracy and the convergence of anti-democratic forces that enable the court to thwart majority will. For law professors, these rulings have unsettled the foundational premises of our professional lives, she told me. Advertisement If this all sounds a little overstated, consider one example of how disruptive the courts sprint to the right has been. Perhaps the most famous facet of legal education is the bar exam, which almost every prospective lawyer must take to practice law. The exam does not incorporate the Supreme Courts most recent decisions; those taking the exam in 2022 were not tested on 2022 rulings. That means exam takers must pretend U.S. law was static over the previous year, or risk answering questions incorrectlyby asserting, for instance, that abortion access and Miranda warnings are still a constitutional right. The more the law shifts in any given year, the more confusing the test. By next year, however, the 2022 term will be incorporated into the exam. Consider what this means for a student who took Constitutional Law in their first year of law school: The rights they learned are affirmed under the Constitution are no longer protected by the time theyre entering the field. Advertisement Bar examiners, like law professors, need stability to test students knowledge. But this Supreme Courts conservative majority has disclaimed stability as a virtue of the law. It is upending the ground rules that guided so many generations through law school. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Its hard to think about your own professionthe things you were taught, the things you believed inabruptly coming to an end in rapid succession. The Supreme Court has had turbulent and alarming periods in its history before. But since the 1950s, the legal academy has told a particular story about American law, one with clear heroes and villains. The Supreme Court was the hero, vindicating the Constitutions grand guarantees of liberty and equality for all, abolishing segregation while guarding against authoritarianism. It was the great bastion of freedom, the protector of democracy, the champion of civil liberties, the pure and high-minded manifestation of our nations noblest values. Now, it is reshaping into an antagonist of many of those values, facilitating democratic backsliding while rolling back long-settled rights. Advertisement The problem, its worth emphasizing, is not that the Supreme Court is issuing decisions with which left-leaning professors disagree. Its that the court seems to be reaching many of these conclusions in defiance of centuries of standards, rejecting precedent and moderation in favor of aggressive, partisan-tinged motivated reasoning. Plenty of progressive professors have long viewed the court with skepticism, and many professors, right- and left-leaning, have criticized the reasoning behind certain opinions for decades. But its only in recent yearswith the manipulation of the justice selection process combined with clear, results-oriented cynicism in decisionsthat the problem has seemed so acute that they feel it affects their ability to teach constitutional law. Advertisement Its hard to think about your own professionthe things you were taught, the things you believed inabruptly coming to an end in rapid succession, said Tiffany Jeffers, a professor at Georgetown University Law Center. Its hard to ask a law professor to dismantle all the training they had. Its a difficult, emotional, psychological transformation process. Its not easy to upend your lifes work and not trust the Supreme Court. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Jeffers told me that after the flurry of hard-right rulings this June, many professors had their own personal grieving period. But they quickly turned toward grappling with how we teach our students to understand the Supreme Courts reactionary turn. Im not changing what I teach, she said. I am restructuring how I challenge students to think about the law, how its a biased set of historical norms based on the past that people in positions of power have had influence over. Advertisement Despite the shock and grief of this term, Jeffers has not questioned her decision to become a law professor after serving as a prosecutor for 10 years. She believes her new position actually gives her more reach. There is power in being a lawyer, she said. If students arent trained to use that power for goodwell, thats why we are where we are now. To conservative ears, this statement may smack of liberal bias. After all, a triumph of the conservative legal movement (including many conservative professors) has been to cast law as perfectly neutral, to make believe that it does not reflect subjective value judgments of those who write and interpret it. The mere idea of using law for good is suspect, as is a professors classroom criticism of certain Supreme Court decisions. Advertisement In reality, much of the legal academy does have a biasit just isnt of the liberal or conservative variety. Instead, law professors tend to have a profound trust in institutions, and process, and specifically the institution of the federal judiciary. This faith can limit the terms of the debatein many ways, it already has. Many professors who personally lean left also cherish the courts and are aghast to see them exploited to promote a political agenda. Indeed, many of the professors I spoke to for this article would not connect their personal political leanings to their reverence for the court. Or at least they wouldnt have until recently. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Every professor has to decide how much of their aversion toward the current court they are willing to reveal in class. The professors interviewed for this piece reported that, by and large, students on the right did not object to in-class editorializing. There seem to be two reasons: First, these professors took pains to teach each case down the middle before offering their own views, and even then, they always allow for pushback through class discussion. Second, many offer their own views only in elective classes for 2Ls and 3Ls, playing it by the book when teaching 1Ls (who dont get to pick their classes). Bridges told me she assumes students in her electives are interested in her personal viewsand if they arent, they can drop the course. Plenty of legal academics, no matter how they lean politically, try to refrain from introducing their beliefs into the classroom teaching at all. For these professors, Dobbs v. Whole Womens Health is something of an ultimate test of straight-faced detachment at the lectern. Dobbs overturned a half-century of precedent and ended the right established in Roe v. Wade. Jolynn Childers Dellinger, a professor at Duke Law School, teaches privacy law. For her entire career, that included Roe v. Wade. Now, shell have to teach whatever comes next. Like many professors, she intends to overhaul her classes to accommodate the new decisions. Professors often tweak their syllabuses each semester, but this year, the flood of precedent-busting decisions has forced many to reconstruct theirs from the ground up. This fall, instead of teaching her students about Americans right to privacy, Dellinger will teach them about how the government could monitor and punish Americans who attempt to access reproductive health care despite the new laws. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But this terms rulings pushed her to reconsider more than her syllabus. I have always perceived of the law as a tool for justice, Dellinger said, and my faith that the law is being used toward that end has definitely been shaken by this Supreme Court. It is honestly hard to know what to say to students entering this profession at this time as we witness the Supreme Court upending constitutional principles and stripping an entire class of people of fundamental rights without so much as a minimal effort to acknowledge the consequent harms. Not all progressive constitutional law professors are in the same boat. Eric Segall, a professor at Georgia State College of Law, told me that he lost faith in the Supreme Court long ago. Segall subscribes to legal realism, which rejects the notion that courts apply pure logic, free of prejudices, to reason out every legal dispute. It recognizes that politics plays an undeniable role at a Supreme Court that is shaped by partisan elections. And it rejects a vision of the law as some majestic set of neutral principles that can be applied evenhandedly, without regard to political pressure and public opinion. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Like many professors, she intends to overhaul her classes to accommodate the new decisions. For progressive legal realists, this term felt like a bleak confirmation of their worldview. David Cohen, a professor at Drexel Kline School of Law, said he didnt expect SCOTUS to do anything other than be the political branch of government that it is. He has long taught students that doctrine and precedent matter less than the justices ideologies, values, politics, and biases. Cohen added that what this version of the court is doing is not really any different than past courts; its just more conservative. Expounding legal realism in the classroom requires a delicate balance: Professors have an obligation to teach blackletter law, doctrine, precedent. But that also happens to be everything that the current Supreme Court is upending. A professor must say what the court claims its doing, then explain what it is actually doing, which is often something completely different. This technique can disillusion students, leading them to ask why theyre bothering to learn rules that can change at any moment. Even law professors who maintained confidence that the Supreme Court would rise above politics are reconsidering their view after this term. I have generally, up until now, resisted the cynicism of the new legal realists that the Supreme Court isnt a court, its just a policy council, said Steve Sanders, a professor at Maurer School of Law. I want my students to believe that legal argumentation, precedent, facts, and doctrine matter. In the aftermath of this term, though, its becoming increasingly difficult to deny that major constitutional decisions are almost purely about politics. This realization compelled Sanders to reconsider aspects of his teaching style. I think one of my strengths as a teacher has been that students, both conservative and progressive, see me as an honest broker who rarely injects his own opinions into teaching, he said. But there comes a point when you cant have integrity as a teacher and teach these cases honestly without noting their serious flaws. Dobbs, for instance, is screamingly, unapologetically activist. It gives no respect to settled societal expectations, reliance interests, or the meaning of the Constitution as its been lived through the lives of actual people for the past 50 years. And it brought him to his breaking point. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But what, in the end, can a professor do when confronted with a decision that fills him with disgust? Emotionally, I can rant about it, Sanders said. Intellectually, my job is to lead and empower students to discover and assess for themselves whether or not the opinions are persuasive and honest. Its difficult to overstate the impact of Dobbs on law professors who maintained reverence or respect for the Supreme Court, even if it was only a little. Mary Ziegler, a professor at UCDavis School of Law, did not have high hopes for the decision. As a legal historian, she never took a gauzy view of the court as a hero of history; her defining moment in law school came when she read Buck v. Bellan odious 1927 decision upholding mandatory sterilization of the feeble-mindedand thought, Thats not the majesty of the law. (She has a knack for understatement.) Ziegler is perhaps the nations foremost expert on the history of abortion rights in the United States, so she saw Dobbs coming well in advance. Yet when the decision was finally handed down, she told me, I felt horrible. The way Alito wrote the opinion felt like such a complete slap in the face. It felt disrespectful, insulting, indifferent to the views of a lot of people, almost mocking. For me, that made it a lot worse. I imagine there are a fair number of women who experienced it that way. Ziegler will likely teach this insulting decision for the rest of her career. But even though these professors may be depressed or repulsed by the courts conservative revolution, paradoxically, they all feel lucky that they can teach it. Much of this positive attitude is driven by their admiration and respect for students, whopretty much everyone agreedface rougher sledding than they do. Students confront a legal system in a crisis of legitimacy led by an extreme and arrogant court. Still, they must slog on, most gathering substantial debt as they go, pretending that law is something different from politics, a higher realm of reason and rationality where the best arguments prevail. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Somehow, its going better than you might expect. Multiple professors told me that our faltering, captured judiciary has not paralyzed their students. Rather, it has made them more skeptical of the courts from Day One, more attuned to the political and social forces that have always propelled judges toward particular outcomes. Not many of Bridges students, for instance, are as bright-eyed and bushy-tailed as she was in her first year. In my own conversations with law students, Ive noticed this shift, too: It feels like every year, a larger percentage of the incoming class arrives with deep suspicion of the Supreme Court and other sacred cows of the legal profession. Every professor I spoke with for this article stressed that they do not merely tell students what to think; as Ziegler put it, I want to leave space for students to figure it out and not tell them I have all the answers, because I dont. Instead, they are experimenting with more candor about their own views and creating room for productive debate that, at the end of the day, really is a core component of a good legal education. If left-leaning law professors do not quit en masse or embrace torpid nihilism, it will be because their students give them a reason to keep returning to the classroom. For those reaching the end of their career, though, the idea of rejiggering established syllabuses to teach the work product of this court may be too much to bear. My father, Nat Stern, retired from a 41-year career at Florida State University College of Law in May. He loved his job, and his students voted him professor of the year so many times that he stopped counting. I was surprised when he announced that he would step down from teaching at 67, a relatively young age within the academy. When I asked him why he decided to retire, he told me that he had no desire to explain the Supreme Courts conservative revolution as the product of law and reason rather than politics and power. For the bulk of my career, he said, Ive felt I could fairly explain rulings and opinions that I dont endorse because they rested on coherent and plausibleif to me unconvincinggrounds. In recent years, though, Ive increasingly struggled to present new holdings as the product of dispassionate legal reasoning rather than personal agendas. I used to think my dad would keep teaching forever. Im sure his students did, too. And maybe he would, in a different world, one where Republicans did not ruthlessly manipulate the courts membership to achieve their policy goals. In this world, though, faced with a conservative supermajority on the Supreme Court for years to come, retirement was not a tough call. Ive immensely enjoyed my career as an instructor of constitutional law, he told me, reflecting on four decades of joy in the classroom. But the direction of the court gives me no incentive to extend it. Law professors who remain years away from retirement do not have this escape hatch. They are already back in the classroom, bracing for another brutal term of precedent-smashing rulings. Its not all bad: The students give them hope, keeping them afloat in darker moments, as Mayeri put it. Students have clued in to whats going on, yet they persist in their legal education because they believe theres still a real chance for change. Theres inspiration in that. In a recent class, Bridges candidly discussed the enormous challenges facing the legal profession today. The students were angry and fearful, yet they readily offered ideas to help tackle current crises head-on. I always leave class feeling great, Bridges said. Its like therapy. This is a part of Disorder in the Court, a weeklong series on the legal press and the most explosive Supreme Court in generations: how we cover it, how weve failed, and how we can do better. To call the plaza in front of the Supreme Court nondescript might be overstating it. The small rectangular concrete slab at One First Street is little more than a widened sidewalk, variously bisected by bike racks and fenced in on one side by black metal pylons. The 97 bus stops out front. Advertisement Its the only gathering-permitted area that exists near the base of the marble stairs that lead to the iconic column facade, behind which the justices, their clerks, and their staff conduct the business of the highest court in the land. At capacity, the berth can hold maybe 1,500 people, though it was clearly not designed forand is still not really encouraged forthat purpose. And yet, for a little over a year, this platform has been one of the most important theaters of protest in America. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The court has made clear that this is the closest the people can get. In 2016 it upheld an earlier ruling that found constitutional a 1949 federal law prohibiting protests anywhere near the actual chamber itself; the court decided that First Amendment free-speech guarantees are suspended once you hit the marble plaza and climb the stairs. Getting inside the court is not easier: many of the chambers 439 seats are given out to friends of the lawyers arguing. The paltry 50 seats publicly available are given out on a first-come, first-served basis, and require attendees to be in line before sunrise to claim a spot. (Conservative groups have been known to pay professional line-sitters, often homeless people, to sleep in line and secure their position.) That protesters are permitted to gather on the sidewalk but no closer seems to tidily underscore the courts relationship to the people for which it makes its decisions. Advertisement Soon after that 2016 decision was made, the supposedly nonpolitical court began its transformation to what it is today: First, a president who had not received a majority of the popular vote appointed a justice to the bench (Neil Gorsuch) to fill a seat that had been kept open for him, in a process that obliterated previous norms. Then, that same president appointed a second justice, whose confirmation hearing included credible allegations of sexual assault but no actual, legitimate process for investigating those allegations. Finally, weeks before the 2020 election, the death of Ruth Bader Ginsburg allowed the same Republicans, who had previously kept a seat open for an entire year pending a presidential election, to rush Amy Coney Barrett onto the bench. The packing of the court happened in real time, in public, before every Americans own eyes. The new conservative majority made clear that it would remain as insulated from public accountability in issuing decisions as it had in its formation. And then the court got down to business. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement With little recourse to be found anywhere else, people started to show up. Protests for everything from abortion rights to gun control to student-debt cancellation to environmental protections to voting rightsall of them policy issues being decided not in the nearby Capitol building, where the elected legislative branch is housed, but in the chambers of the secretive court that seems to answer to no onehave descended on that patch of concrete. Often, activists for multiple different groups are all there at once. Sometimes youll have five different issues areas all in that same spot, all mad about different things, said Melissa Byrne, founder of We, the 45 Million, a student-loan-forgiveness group. The court has become the place where politics are happening, where theyre moving an agenda. Theyre like politicians, said Rachel OLeary Carmona, executive director of the Womens March. Theyre unelected but also shielded from the structures of accountability of our government. The truth of those protests is that theres no mechanism by which we can create accountability. Advertisement Yes, protests outside the Supreme Court have happened intermittently for years, on both sides of the political spectrum. In the lead-up to the Clarence Thomas confirmation vote in 1991, left- and right-wing demonstrators came to the front of the court because there seemed to be nowhere else to go; they returned for the contentious Kavanaugh hearings. Advertisement Advertisement And for decades, far-right conservative activists have staged demonstrations out front, correctly understanding the space as their stage, and its interior as their target. For years, on every anniversary of Roe v. Wade, these anti-choice protesters would descend on the court and demonstrate, said Christopher Kang, co-founder and chief counsel of Demand Justice, a progressive judicial advocacy organization. Everyone from anti-abortion hard-liners to Women for Trump to the Proud Boys has turned up there over the years. Advertisement Advertisement But this new wave of relatively constant protest has been different. Since the death of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, when people gathered both to mourn and to protest the 63 conservative supermajority that would come next, liberal organizations have become regulars on this bit of sidewalk too, making One First Street one of the most vibrant locations of political protest in the country. Its a fitting cap to the yearslong process that fully politicized those who work within the walls of the building. Sometimes its spontaneous; other times not. The court announces some decisions throughout the year, though it holds its biggest cases for June. But theres no way of knowing which day will hold a decision on any given issue. Advertisement Advertisement Its built to intentionally prevent protest. All the decisions drop at once, and the court is counting on a short news cycle, said Kang. This term is going to be worse than the last, and youll see more of this protest culture as well. The last term was pretty bad. Really, it started in May, when the decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Womens Health Organization was leaked, revealing that the court would indeed take the opportunity of its first full term with its hard-won extreme conservative majority to undo almost half a century of precedent. The news that the right to abortion would no longer be federally protected caused so much fury that 8-foot, non-scalable fences were erected in front of the building, walling off even the small area where protests had previously been permitted. Advertisement When the decision was announced, without warning, in late June, one day after another precedent-shattering decision on gun control, thousands descended on the court from all over the country, many spontaneously, some in protest and some in victory. Forced to stay farther from the building than usual, the protesters overwhelmed the small, cordoned-off area and spilled into the street. Demonstrations of some sort lasted for days, and became commonplace; the black fencing remained in place until the end of August. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Its super narrow, cant fit a lot of people in it, fills up really fast, and creates an uncomfortable dynamic physically, said Shaunna Thomas, co-founder and executive director of the womens rights group Ultraviolet, who has been to the courts to protest on behalf of abortion rights. Oftentimes the police will use the bike racks to hem in protesters further, a process called kettling, which makes that cramped feeling even more extreme. Advertisement Despite those constraints, One First Street has begun to evolve, from a mostly anti-abortion stomping ground into a space that frequently hosts liberal groups. Behind that transformation is a sad political fact: You protest when you dont have other good ways of exerting power. Of course, conservatives have always had multiple ways of influencing the courts: Republican megadonor Harlan Crows deluge of lavish, undisclosed gifts for Clarence Thomas illustrate that readily. But the inversion of whos outside One First Street is an apt metaphor for how profoundly power has shifted at this court over the past few years. Its not just seasoned activists showing up either. This courts rulings are frequently at profound odds with the publics wishes. A recently published survey from NORC at the University of Chicago found that in 2022 just 18 percent of Americans had a great deal of confidence in the court, down from 26 percent in 2021, the lowest mark since the group began tracking it 50 years ago. The outpouring of frustration with this court, its composition, ethical lapses, and opinions, is pulling people of all kinds to its sidewalk. Advertisement Which is not to say that conservative activists have become invisiblethey still make routine appearances. Though their numbers are smaller, their displays have been more animated. Ive never been at the court for a rally that hasnt featured really aggressive anti-abortion movement activists who are gathering or staging counterprotests, Thomas said. Advertisement But this year, March for Life, arguably the most visible anti-abortion activist group that organizes in D.C., did not stake out its position in front of the court as it had for 49 straight years since Roes initial decision. Instead, it posted a notice on its website: This year, rather than marching to the steps of the Supreme Court, where we have for decades asked our highest Courts Justices to undo the destructive decision that was Roe v. Wade, we will now march to a new front in our battle for life, the steps of the United States Capitol. The small stretch of sidewalk outside One First Street was left to those who still have businessif not purchasebefore the court. On Thursday, Justice Neil Gorsuch released his latest (and possibly final) cri de coeur against the pandemic-era restrictions that the government imposed to slow the spread of COVID-19. Gorsuch has long railed against such policies, and his opinions have taken on an increasingly shrill tone, like the Fox Newspoisoned uncle who hectors you about the plandemic in 3,000-word Facebook comments. The justices rant in Arizona v. Mayorkas, however, hits a new low, moving beyond the usual yada-yada grievance parade to issue a thesis statement of sorts: Since March 2020, Gorsuch declared, we may have experienced the greatest intrusions on civil liberties in the peacetime history of this country. Advertisement As Voxs Ian Millhiser quickly pointed out, this sweeping claim leaves out two intrusions on civil liberties that any person with a basic grasp of history and sanity would surely rank as worse than pandemic policies: slavery and Jim Crow. During slavery, which was not only condoned but also practiced by Supreme Court justices, people of color were held in bondage; beaten, kidnapped, tortured, raped, and murdered; denied all civil rights, including freedom of speech and religion; denied the right to vote, participate in democracy, even claim American citizenship; robbed of their children; and barred from marriagein short, denied life, liberty, and property without due process of law from birth until death. During Jim Crow, Black Americans were still subject to brutal, often lethal violence, both state-sponsored and vigilante; still denied the right to vote; still robbed of fundamental freedoms like speech and religion; still subjected to ruthless, degrading segregation in all public spaces; and still subject to severe economic exploitation, the effects of which endure today. These could certainly be described as intrusions on civil liberties. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I see four ways one might try to square Gorsuchs declaration on Thursday with this horrific history. First, the justice may have meant what he said, and truly believes that COVID policies were a greater burden on civil liberties than slavery or Jim Crow. He does, after all, really hate wearing masks. Second, Gorsuch may have simply forgotten about the centuries-long subjugation of Black Americans (which originalists prefer to ignore, anyway). Third, he may have not considered these constitutionally sanctified, Supreme Courtsanctioned crimes against humanity as civil liberties abuses in the tradition sense; per this view, they were just the constitutional system at work as the founding generation might have envisioned. Fourth, he may have been attempting to cordon off the experiences of Black people and other historically abused minority groups as not having been a collective civil liberties intrusion experienced by all Americans (read: white Americans); note his choice of words in writing that we suffered civil liberties violations. A charitable reading might suggest that Gorsuch is speaking for well-off, middle-aged white men, whose privilege insulated them from adversity until that dark day in March 2020 when their local Buffalo Wild Wings shut its doors indefinitely. Advertisement Advertisement If this last possibility sounds harsh, consider the broader myopia of the justices Thursday opinion, styled as a statement. He attached it to a case, Arizona v. Mayorkas, that dealt with red states attempt to maintain Title 42, a set of border restrictions once justified by COVID; since the pandemic is officially over, the court booted the case. Gorsuch used the decision as an excuse to list the manifold injustices that, to his mind, the government smuggled through in the name slowing the spread. Yet theres not a word about the ways in which both the Trump and Biden administrations exploited Title 42 to prevent migrants fleeing persecution from seeking asylum in the U.S. (Gorsuch has frequently voted against asylum-seekers.) Nor is there any thought given to incarcerated people who were subjected to appalling, unhygienic conditions throughout the pandemic, a large number of whom were killed by the virus. (Gorsuch voted to block a lower court decision mandating safety measures for inmates.) Advertisement Advertisement Instead, we hear the litany of more banal, low-stakes complaints. It is enlightening to set these gripes against the justices own jurisprudence to understand his idiosyncratic view of civil liberties. For instance: Advertisement Advertisement Gorsuch groused that the federal government attempted to issue a vaccination mandate for most working Americans, threatened to fire noncompliant employees, and warned that service members who refused to vaccinate might face dishonorable discharge and confinement. This evident concern of bodily autonomy was absent when the justice voted to overturn Roe v. Wade, allowing states to pass laws that prohibit patients from obtaining emergency abortions, forcing them to the brink of death before they may terminate a failing pregnancy. In a lengthy passage, Gorsuch cautioned that COVID-era emergency decrees could leave all of us with a shell of a democracyor worse, an autocracy where the wisdom of the whole of the American people will no longer be heeded. This deep passion for democracy was utterly lacking when the justice gutted Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, empowering state legislatures to pass voter suppression laws that prevent people of color from passing on their wisdom at the ballot box. Advertisement Gorsuch fretted that pandemic restrictions shuttered schools, public and private, closed churches, and revoked the right to worship. We should assume these concerns are genuine. We should also ask, though, why the justice appears completely unperturbed by the epidemic of gun violence at schools and houses of worship, a crisis he has exacerbated by imposing a constitutional bar on even modest gun safety lawsperversely, in the name of protecting civil liberties. The freedom to obtain an education or attend religious services without being slaughtered by a weapon of war does not seem to rank highly in his mind. Advertisement At the end of his Arizona opinion, Gorsuch exhorted: Decisions announced on the fly are rarely as wise as those that come after careful deliberation. The same could be said of the justices own writing, never more so than here. With a little more time in the oven, its possible that Thursdays statement might have solidified into a more defensible admonition against boundless deference to emergency powers, using the Title 42 saga as Exhibit A. What we got instead was an unintentionally revealing and rather embarrassing glimpse into the justices topsy-turvy hierarchy of rights and wrongs. Small businesses can greatly benefit from implementing versatile software solutions that streamline their operations. Steve Festa, owner of Blues Brothers Construction, shared his experience with Zoho in an episode of Small Biz in 15. In this article, we delve into the insights that Festa shared about using software to make a roofing company more competitive. The Blues Brothers Construction Story Blues Brothers Construction is a roofing contractor company based out of South Florida, Boca Raton. They specialize in residential roofing and repairs. Steve Festa started his business in 2005 following Hurricane Charlies rampage through Central Florida. What got me into this, Steve shared, was the realization that most roofing companies were failing in their service delivery. So, I decided to start my own company based on a different set of morals and values, focusing on customer experience. The Need for Software Solutions To stay organized, keep tabs on project timelines, and manage estimates, Blues Brothers Construction sought out software solutions. Steve explained, We needed an accounting software and a system that could synchronize our database of information. This need led them to Zoho. Steve was drawn to Zohos multifunctionality and its capacity to connect various aspects of the business under one umbrella. He noted, Having everything tied together within one entity and not having to connect different products using other tools was very useful. Implementing Zoho in Blues Brothers Construction Steve highlighted that his initial draw to Zoho was due to the CRM and the projects application. He stated, I need to sell the product and manage the sales cycle, but I also need to produce the work and have a project management style organization past the sales point. Zohos CRM enabled Blues Brothers Construction to improve their marketing and sales process. Steve emphasized the importance of the blueprint process and the workflow process in Zohos CRM, saying, I can guide my users through a process that Ive curated to make sure were following that same experience for our customers. The company also utilizes Zohos Creator for on-the-fly estimating and contract creation. They also appreciate Zohos analytics tool that allows Steve to gain a quick overview of the businesss status. Advice for Other Small Businesses Steve advises other small businesses to begin their search for software solutions by honing in on their customer experience and defining their ideal customer. He commented, Zoho has different tiers, which is one of the main reasons I went with it. It allowed me to transcend the process and keep building as creatively as I wanted. He also stressed the need to try out different software options to find what suits your business best. We navigated through tons of software before we stumbled across Zoho, he noted, It gave me the vision where I could come up with different scenarios for the business. Final Thoughts Using Zoho, Steve has been able to design and engineer his business process, keep tabs on whats happening, and never be out of the loop as an owner. His journey illustrates the transformative power of technology in streamlining business processes, enhancing customer experiences, and ultimately, driving business growth. As Steve Festa said in his interview, At the end of the day, I can always hang my hat on my morals and my values and make sure that Im giving that customer experience. I did what I said I would do. Thats important to me. For the latest, follow us on Google News. TikTok, the global social media platform beloved by creators worldwide, is introducing new initiatives designed to monetize content more effectively and reward the creativity of its users. These offerings could present an exciting opportunity for small businesses and budding entrepreneurs looking to expand their reach and generate revenue. The first of these initiatives, called Effect Creator Rewards, seeks to recognize the creative efforts of Effect House creators who have significantly influenced TikTok culture through their innovative effects. A $6 million fund has been set aside for this initiative, available to creators in select regions. Rewards will be based on user engagement with creators effects. For instance, if an effect is used in 500,000 unique videos within 90 days of being published, the creator will earn $700. For each subsequent 100,000 videos published using the effect within the same timeframe, an additional $140 will be earned. This move is aimed at expanding opportunities for effect creators and acknowledges the integral role these effects play in content creation and user engagement on the platform. More information on the program and eligibility criteria is available on the Effect House website. The second initiative TikTok announced is the expansion of the Creativity Program Beta, initially unveiled earlier this year. This program encourages creators to deliver high-quality, original content, with the prospect of generating greater revenue and unlocking more real-world opportunities. Eligibility requirements for the Creativity Program Beta are set to ensure the quality and reach of the content. Creators must be based in Brazil, France, or the U.S., have an account in good standing, a minimum of 10,000 followers, and at least 100,000 views over the past 30 days. Videos must also be original content, lasting longer than one minute. The updated program features a new revenue model that offers a higher average gross revenue for qualified video views, providing creators with the potential to earn greater rewards. An updated dashboard will also be available, giving creators insights into estimated rewards, video performance metrics, analytics, and details on video eligibility. TikToks commitment to community safety remains steadfast, and all content must comply with the platforms Community Guidelines. Feedback from the creator community continues to be instrumental in shaping and evolving these initiatives. For small business owners and creators, these changes offer not only an opportunity to generate revenue but also a chance to extend their reach on a global platform. Small businesses can leverage these new programs to showcase their products and services in a more engaging, interactive manner and tap into the vast, dynamic user base of TikTok. Visit the Creator Portal on TikToks website for more details on these programs. Get the latest headlines from Small Business Trends. Follow us on Google News. With the popularity of high-quality skin and hair removal services on the rise, the waxing industry is experiencing rapid growth. Waxing franchises offer entrepreneurs an opportunity to tap into this lucrative market. In this article, well explore eight waxing franchise opportunities for aspiring business owners looking to break into this thriving industry. What is a Waxing Franchise? A waxing franchise is a business model that allows entrepreneurs to open their own waxing salons using an established brand and proven system. Franchisees benefit from the support and resources provided by the franchisor, including training, marketing, and operational assistance. With a waxing franchise, entrepreneurs can tap into the growing demand for hair removal services and provide customers with high-quality treatments in a professional setting. The Waxing Industry in 2022 In 2022, the world witnessed a booming waxing salon industry with the market size reaching $10.1 billion. Salons worldwide played a crucial role in this growth as they offered a wide range of waxing services to cater to the ever-increasing demand for hair removal. As we move towards 2030, the industry is expected to maintain a CAGR of 4.3%, indicating a sustained interest in hair removal through waxing. Why You Should Consider a Waxing Franchise Investing in a waxing franchise is a wise decision for those looking to enter the beauty industry. With a growing demand for hair removal services, customers are seeking professional and reliable solutions. Here are five reasons why you should consider a waxing franchise in 2023: Established Brand Recognition: Franchises offer a built-in customer base and brand recognition that can take years to establish independently. See our franchise guide for more on this benefit. Proven Business Model: Franchise owners benefit from a proven business model, including marketing strategies and operational procedures. Training and Support: Franchisees receive training and ongoing support from the franchisor, allowing for a smoother transition into business ownership. Buying Power: Franchisees can take advantage of the franchisors buying power for equipment and supplies, reducing costs and increasing profit margins. Room for Growth: The waxing industry continues to expand, offering ample opportunity for growth and expansion in the future. Top Waxing Franchises For those who desire to invest in a waxing franchise, choosing the right service for clients is crucial. Here are some of the top waxing franchises to consider, each with unique features and benefits: 1. Waxing the City Waxing the City franchise owners should be passionate, savvy, and enterprising with $125K liquid capital and $350K net worth for protected territories in the fragmented market. 2. Waxxpot Waxxpot operates in multiple states with services such as Brazilian and facial waxing. Prospective franchisees must possess management skills, and a clean criminal record and invest $259,325 including a $39,900 franchise fee. 3. Radiant Waxing Radiant Waxing is a waxing-focused franchise seeking growth and expansion. New franchisees receive various support, including site selection, leasing, and venue design/construction, as well as training and recruitment aid. 4. L.A. Bikini L.A. Bikini stands out as a body sugaring business, using natural ingredients applied at room temperature for eco-friendliness. Franchisees need enthusiasm, management skills, and $100k+ liquid capital. The initial investment range is around $306,750 to $433,000. 5. Rapid Wax Rapid Wax, a Florida-based waxing franchise, offers face and body waxing services in shopping mall studios. With a franchise fee of $24,900, they have a low barrier to entry. Contact them to explore this opportunity as they plan to expand to other locations. 6. Face Brow and Beauty Bar Face Brow and Beauty Bar franchise offers facial waxing and threading services, along with body waxing, beauty, and facial treatments. Starting a franchise location may cost around $106k to $232k, including fees. 7. Sugaring NYC Sugaring NYC has 100+ locations and offers 100% natural sugar wax for full-body waxing services. Franchisees who want a beauty focus beyond waxing can invest between $80k-$120k. 8. European Wax Center European Wax Center is a market leader in waxing and beauty services with over 850 centers and 14% YoY growth. The initial investment ranges from $358,485-$571,840, including franchise fees, a 6% royalty fee, and a 3% marketing contribution. How to Choose the Best Franchise to Set Up Your Waxing Services Business Choosing the right franchisee for your waxing services business is important to your success in the franchising industry. With so many options available, it can be overwhelming to make the right choice. Here are four ways to choose the best waxing franchise for you: Evaluate the Franchisors Support System Look for a franchisor that offers hands-on training and ongoing support to ensure success. Its important to also research the franchisors track record of providing support to their franchisees. Research the Customer Experience Choose a waxing franchise that prioritizes customer experience, with quality services and attention to detail. Consider the Brand Reputation Consider the franchisors reputation in the industry and among customers, ensuring you align with their values and standards. Analyze the Financials Evaluate the franchises financials, including startup costs, royalty fees, and profit potential to ensure a sound investment. See Also: How to Open Your Own Paint and Sip Studio How Much Does It Cost to Open a Wax Franchise? The cost of opening a wax franchise varies based on several factors, such as location and whether its a studio or a storefront. The initial investment can be as high as almost $600,000. This cost includes expenses such as equipment, supplies, training, marketing, and franchise fees. Are Waxing Businesses Profitable? Waxing businesses can be profitable, as they cater to a growing market with repeat customers who frequently visit for services. With the continued growth of the beauty industry, waxing businesses have the potential for high-profit margins. However, success depends on location, competition, marketing, and customer satisfaction. What Do I Need to Start a Business Offering Body Waxing Services? If youre interested in starting a business offering body waxing services, there are several essential things youll need. These include professional-grade tools and equipment, a licensed and trained team of estheticians, a suitable location, permits and licenses, insurance, and a solid business plan. Youll also need to invest in marketing and building a loyal customer base for long-term success. Good morning Dr. Smiley. Im preparing to visit my father out of state who just had his kidney removed and is now on dialysis but feel the need to share what I am hearing throughout my community. Yesterday while the world observed the International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia, and Transphobia, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed HB1069, expansion of Dont Say Gay; SB254, banning gender affirming care; HB1521, the Anti-Transgender Bathroom Bill; and HB1423, the Anti-Drag Bill. The abhorrent actions by DeSantis now place Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer (LGBTQ) individuals, and their families in grave danger. Upon introduction of the above stated legislation, Broward County School Superintendent has been aware of the high likelihood for them to be enacted by the governor. As superintendent you have failed to advocate and protect LGBT-youth and families and remain idle as the attacks keep coming from Tallahassee. Regretfully, the community has witnessed your failure to advocate in a transformational manner for the school district to engage authentically with diverse community stakeholders to develop strategies to solve the problems for where we find ourselves today. BCPS is without curriculum or policy for sexual health education, and district administration have failed to replace the LGBTQ Critical Resource Guide with a tool to assist staff when attempting to support LGBT-youth. Under your watch, LGBT-youth and families have been bulldozed into the shadows. My tone may sound harsh; however, the LGBT-community has been patient, lied to, and continually disrespected. This is compounded when Broward County School Board Member Brenda Fam continually spews anti-LGBT rhetoric from the dais and is left unchecked by you or School Board Chair Lori Alhadeff. You insisted that Fam prioritizes the interest of every student yet, her constant hateful rants, especially towards transgender individuals during board meetings demonstrates otherwise. Broward County Public Schools are not safe for LGBT-students, family, or employees. BCPS lacks single occupant restrooms so transgender individuals can simply use the restroom in peace and safety. To my knowledge, the only single occupant restroom at KCW is in the boardroom. Does the school district plan to retrofit buildings or is your solution to relegate transgender people to use a portable toilet in the parking lot? I wish you had the same leadership as Leon County Schools Superintendent Rocky Hanna or Escambia County Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Tim Smith to act courageously and speak out against book banning and the anti-LGBT oppressive laws and movements, but you havent shown any. Given the superintendent selection process is underway, and you have weighed in on the issue, the community is concerned with your hand-picked nominees ability or commitment to solve some of these critical concerns. I am urging school board members to ensure our next Superintendent will affirmatively respond to the needs and concerns of the LGBT community. Regards, Michael Emanuel Rajner Six-year-old Van Pelt (A666492) and 1-year-old Snoopy (in the back) are two of the 16 dogs the Humane Society of Broward County received from a recent hoarding case. Broward County Animal Services, a separate government organization, confiscated 60 dogs from a home in Dania Beach and the dogs were sent to shelters and rescues across the state. The dogs, which might be part Australian Shepherd or part Sheltie, are very shy and will need lots of TLC and patient owners. Fortunately, some have been adopted already, but the most timid remain. Currently they are in a closed kennel at the shelter that is very quiet to help with all their anxiety. If you would like to see them, please complete a pre-adoption application at www.humanebroward.com and then visit the adoption department. The Humane Society of Broward County is located at 2070 Griffin Road, Fort Lauderdale and opens daily at 11 a.m. If you have questions call 954-989-3977 ext. 6. In the rolling hills of Californias wine country, far, far away from the ongoing culture wars in Florida, the LGBT community comes together once a year in the spirit of Bacchus. Gay Wine Weekend returns to Sonoma County, July 14-16. More than 700 people are expected to attend the festivities, which feature vineyard tours, wine tastings, dance parties and yes Ronnie a drag queen brunch. The weekend is really about community and connection with food and wine being the backdrop of it all, said Gary Saperstein, founder of Out In The Vineyard, a travel company that offers exclusive and luxury itineraries of wine country, styled for LGBT guests. Saperstein honed his skills in the restaurant industry and after moving to California from New York, he noticed there was little if any outreach to gay and lesbian travelers. I didnt understand why nobody was talking to us, marketing to us or doing anything. That was really the impetus, he said. Soon after, I realized it was more about agriculture. They are farmers and marketing wasnt really on their minds. Saperstein said he is excited about introducing new venues and experiences in the Russian River Valley to travelers who come back year after year to soak up the California sun and take their taste buds to new heights. A drag queen brunch and auction, hosted by San Francisco queen Ruby Red Munro, winds down the weekend with no threat of political cancellation. Fortunately, we dont have that controversy here, Saperstein said. Proceeds from the event benefit Face to Face, Sonoma County HIV/AIDS Network. For more information, visit https://www.outinthevineyard.com/. The political persecution of Andrew Gillum is over. Federal prosecutors dropped the remaining charges against the ex-Tallahassee mayor, a week after a jury acquitted him of lying to the FBI. In a tweet on May 15, Gillum thanked God while sharing the governments decision to dismiss corruption charges against him and his mentor, Sharon Lettman-Hicks. Friends and supporters called it justice delayed and painful. No doubt this investigation and its well-timed leaks cost @AndrewGillum the election. Worse, it cost him and his family so much more personally, tweeted veteran Florida political operative Kevin Cate, who ran Nikki Frieds 2022 gubernatorial campaign for the Democratic nomination. Gillum, campaigning to become Floridas first Black governor, came oh so close to defeating Ron DeSantis in the 2018 election. The former CNN analyst was the target of a federal probe into improper use of campaign funds, which included a ticket to the Broadway hit musical, Hamilton. In the elections aftermath, Gillum revealed his personal struggles with alcohol and depression and came out as bisexual. A photo surfaced, allegedly circulated by gay alt-right blogger Jacob Engels, purported to be Gillum passed out in a Miami Beach hotel room. Gillum denied using drugs on the night in question, but in an interview said he was suffering in silence with his addictions while perfecting what it meant to wear the mask. Green energy plays bigger roles in European countries Xinhua) 08:51, May 22, 2023 A herd of sheep take a rest under solar panels of the Francisco Pizarro photovoltaic power plant in Caceres, Spain, on March 24, 2023. (Xinhua/Meng Dingbo) According to the Brussels-based Solar Power Europe, the 27 European Union (EU) member states in 2022 saw 41.4 gigawatts (GW) of new solar photovoltaics (PV) capacity connected to their grids, a 47 percent increase compared to 2021. LISBON, May 21 (Xinhua) -- European countries have been accelerating their green transition by promoting usage of renewable sources such as wind and solar. Recent data showed that the rates of green electricity hit high in a number of European countries in 2022. According to the Brussels-based Solar Power Europe, the 27 European Union (EU) member states in 2022 saw 41.4 gigawatts (GW) of new solar photovoltaics (PV) capacity connected to their grids, a 47 percent increase compared to 2021. In April, Portugal achieved a significant milestone, with 51 percent of its electricity coming from wind and solar power, according to data released by the UK-based energy think tank Ember on Thursday. This is the first time Portugal surpassed the 50 percent mark in monthly electricity production from renewable sources. In 2022, Portugal installed 0.9 GW of solar PV, increasing its solar capacity by more than 50 percent to 2.5 GW, according to Ember. "Portugal is entering the next stage of its energy transition. Wind power and interconnection made it possible for Portugal to phase out coal in 2021; solar is now pushing gas off the grid," Ember data analyst Matt Ewen said. Wind turbines are pictured in Brandenburg, Germany, Sept. 15, 2022. (Xinhua/Ren Pengfei) In neighboring Spain, the combined wind and solar power accounted for 46 percent of the country's total electricity production, with solar generation reaching 4.2 terawatt-hours (TWh) in April. In Finland, fossil-free electricity production hit a record high in 2022, covering 75 percent of the overall electricity consumption, according to figures released by Statistic Finland in April. The volume of wind power production increased 41 percent in 2022, reaching a record high of 11.6 TWh and covering 14.1 percent of the total electricity consumption. Pekka Gronlund, deputy director general at the Finnish Ministry for Economic Affairs and Labor, told Xinhua that wind power is now expanding from land to coastal sea areas. Denmark has been reaping the rewards of its pioneering commitment to green energy, with wind energy accounting for 48 percent of its national electricity system in 2022. Lise Holmegaard Larsen, project manager of renewable energy resources at the State of Green, a government-founded public-private organization, told Xinhua that Denmark's offshore wind capacity stood at a substantial 2.3 GW in 2022. As a global pioneer in the use of renewable energy sources, Austria now has more than 78 percent of its gross electricity consumption generated from renewable energy, according to the Federal Ministry for Climate Action, Environment, Energy, Mobility, Innovation and Technology. Photo shows a power plant facility in Stockholm, Sweden, Sept. 5, 2022. (Xinhua/He Miao) The Austrian government aims to make the country's electricity supply completely renewable by 2030 and to achieve carbon neutrality by 2040. To this end, the government plans to increase its green electricity by 27 TWh via installing one million PV systems by 2030. Sweden, a historic hydropower producer, had 43 percent of its national electricity produced from water in 2021, while wind and solar energy accounted for 18 percent in total, according to data released in November 2022 by Statistics Sweden. The Swedish government said Tuesday that it had approved the construction of two wind power projects, some 20 km off the western coast of Sweden, which are expected to produce around 6.5 TWh annually. "As Europe emerges from a crisis winter, strong growth of wind and solar are paying dividends. This spring, renewables are already lessening the impact of droughts and high electricity prices across the EU, as well as lowering emissions," said Nicolas Fulghum, energy and climate data analyst of Ember, expecting "many more records to come this summer." In Germany, coal-fired power remained the most important electricity generator in 2022, according to the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis). However, wind power rose to be the second biggest contributor last year, with its share of electricity production up 9.4 percent year-on-year to 24.1 percent, followed by solar power with 10.6 percent. A wind turbine blade is installed at the construction site of the Senj Wind Farm in Senj, Croatia, Sept. 27, 2020. (Photo by Ding Decai/Xinhua) Looking to the future, Germany is seeking to increase the country's solar capacity to at least 400 GW by 2040. Carsten Koernig, chief executive officer of the German Solar Industry Association told Xinhua that these plans would "require a tripling of new solar power capacity installed annually over the next three years." Ivor Balen, a Croatian energy expert, told Xinhua that renewable energy currently accounts for about 29 percent of energy consumption in the country, with wind and solar as the fastest-growing sources of electricity. According to the Croatian National Development Strategy, renewable energy will account for 36.4 percent of the total power consumption until 2030, and by 2050, this rate should reach 88 percent. The Senj Wind Farm in Croatia, built by China's Norinco International and inaugurated in December 2021 with a total installed capacity of 156 megawatts, is expected to produce about 530 million kilowatt-hours (kWh) of green electricity each year. (Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Liang Jun) SIHANOUKVILLE, Cambodia, May 22 (Xinhua) -- The Sihanoukville Special Economic Zone (SSEZ), a flagship project in Cambodia under China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), has not only injected impetus into the kingdom's economic growth, but also importantly contributed to improving livelihoods of tens of thousands of locals. Situated about 20 kilometers northeast of the international deep-water Sihanoukville Autonomous Port, the SSEZ currently houses 175 factories from China, Europe, the United States, Southeast Asia and other regions, generating nearly 30,000 local jobs. Those enterprises manufacture clothes, shoes, luggage and leather goods, medical supplies, machinery, construction materials, home furniture, auto parts and car tires, and new photovoltaic materials, among others. Speaking at the BRI's 10th anniversary ceremony held at the SSEZ on Monday, Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen said the industrial zone is a good example of mutually beneficial cooperation and win-win results between Cambodia and China under the BRI. "This SSEZ has created a lot of jobs for local people and is a manufacturing base for exports to other countries including China," he told more than 24,000 factory workers at the event. Hun Sen commended the SSEZ for its steady development even during the COVID-19 pandemic, saying that it has been playing a role in the establishment of an industrial and technological corridor of the country. Chinese Ambassador to Cambodia Wang Wentian said the SSEZ, the largest industrial zone in Cambodia in terms of size and occupancy, is a model project of practical cooperation between China and Cambodia under the BRI. "This special economic zone has become the locomotive of economic growth in Sihanoukville and the 'golden rice bowl' for local residents," he said at the event. Cambodian Minister of Labor and Vocational Training Ith Samheng said the SSEZ is essential to help transform Sihanoukville into a multi-purpose special economic zone and the second economic pole of Cambodia. "The SSEZ has not only contributed to the development of our economy, but also had corporate social responsibilities," he said, adding that it has always engaged in humanitarian work and local community development. SSEZ General Manager Cao Jianjiang said the value of imports and exports passing through the zone rose to 2.49 billion U.S. dollars in 2022, up 12 percent year-on-year. "This has not only injected strong momentum into Cambodia's economic development, but also greatly contributed to improving livelihoods of local workers and residents living around the zone," he told Xinhua. Founded in 2008, the SSEZ has helped transform the tranquil and undeveloped Sihanoukville into a bustling city, he said. Speaking of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) agreement and the China-Cambodia Free Trade Agreement, Cao said both trade pacts will help the SSEZ attract more investment, given their preferential tariffs and trade facilitation. "The SSEZ will make full use of the two agreements to promote the China-Cambodia 'Silk Road E-commerce' and to boost exports of Cambodian agricultural products to China and other RCEP members, so that local farmers will be able to increase their income," he said. According to Cao, the SSEZ is expected to accommodate up to 300 factories in the coming years, which can generate up to 100,000 jobs for Cambodian people. Finding candidates is a complex and challenging process and selecting the right ones is an art. Font size: A - | A + Comments disabled A hot topic that resonates in todays world is cultural intelligence (CQ). It refers to a set of skills and competences that enables you to understand the cultural background and cultural styles of another person and then find ways how to work effectively together. Cultural intelligence, just like emotional intelligence (EQ), is becoming increasingly important in our globalised world. Currently in our school, we work with teachers of 10 different nationalities from a variety of cultural backgrounds and so having some degree of CQ is crucial for us. My job is to manage this team of teachers and also to help choose the right people for our organization. Ive been in the English Language Teaching (ELT) industry for 20+ years and I must admit that as time passes in our institution, our criteria for selecting the right teachers have changed. What actually matters Our teachers are undoubtedly our greatest assets and, as such, it is imperative that we invest significant time, energy, and financial resources into finding and carefully selecting the best possible candidates. When selecting the ideal candidates, we consider a range of important criteria, including their qualifications, teaching skills, and to what degree they are a cultural fit. Being a cultural fit How can we determine if the person we are hiring is the most suitable match for our school? Finding a cultural fit doesnt mean that we want to hire someone who looks like me, sounds like me, behaves like me, thinks like me. To illustrate the point, here is a small example. My boss and myself are like chalk and cheese. While she is an unwavering optimist; I tend to approach things more realistically. I dislike being late, she lives in her own time zone. And yet, weve managed to work together for 14 years. Rather, having a diverse range of people can be highly beneficial. Embracing and valuing differences can lead to greater creativity, innovation, and a more motivating environment. Working with different nationalities requires cultural intelligence, a mutual understanding of the differences, and showing respect to one another. For instance, without awareness and understanding, the Slovak straightforward communication style may clash with the more polite and indirect communication styles favoured by other nationalities. For our institution, a cultural fit entails aligning with our core values and sharing our organizational beliefs. Values go beyond mere words displayed on the walls of company offices they are a reflection of how we live. They are not just theoretical concepts, but rather tangible guiding principles that drive our actions and decisions on a daily basis. Skills and abilities are equally important, but they can be enhanced with a continuous developmental programme and training. It is important to remember that if an individual does not align with the values of a company, they are unlikely to feel fulfilled and may not remain in the role for an extended period of time. From our experience, whenever we hired someone who didnt fit culturally, it resulted in difficulties and discontent for both parties involved and eventually we parted ways. To find a needle in a haystack As they say: Job interviews are like first dates: good impressions count, awkwardness can occur, outcomes are unpredictable. Finding candidates is a complex and challenging process and selecting the right ones is an art. Its not easy to read between the lines, ask the right questions, correctly interpret subtle signals and behaviour, evaluate candidates experience and try to figure out if the applicant is a cultural fit. Often there is a limited amount of time to get to know a candidate during the hiring process, making it challenging to assess if it is a match. Its worth noting that job interviews often serve as a chance for employers to showcase their company and attract good people. To determine if a particular company is the right fit for a candidate, its helpful to inquire about the companys culture and to seek opinions from their current employees. And its crucial to acknowledge that once weve hired the right people, we must continue creating an environment where they feel valued and appreciated. The author of the blog is Andrea Zahumenska. She is currently the Director of Studies at the Bridge English Language Centre in Bratislava, Slovakia. https://sputnikglobe.com/20230521/top-turkish-diplomat-slams-kilicdaroglu-over-russia-meddling-claims-1110507827.html Top Turkish Diplomat Slams Kilicdaroglu Over Russia Meddling Claims Top Turkish Diplomat Slams Kilicdaroglu Over Russia Meddling Claims Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu addressed opposition leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu's accusation that Russia has been meddling in Turkiye's presidential race, calling it "wrong to undermine our ties with a country like that". 2023-05-21T22:46+0000 2023-05-21T22:46+0000 2023-05-21T22:46+0000 world 2023 turkish presidential election turkiye russia gate russia /html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e5/04/08/1082575438_0:202:2923:1846_1920x0_80_0_0_46fb3cd89a60a40bb8ab91a37d8aa117.jpg Kilicdaroglu said ahead of the first round of voting that Russia was interfering in the electoral process but gave no proof or details to support his claim. The Kremlin denied the accusation. "Mr. Kilicdaroglu has been threatening Russia. It is wrong to undermine our ties with a country like that," Cavusoglu told the Haberturk news channel in an interview. Cavusoglu said the aspiring president should "be more serious" and refrain from hurling groundless accusations at other countries based on his gut feeling. The diplomat also denied that Russias decision to allow Turkiye to delay gas payments until 2024 had anything to do with the elections. Cavusoglu said Turkiye was negotiating deferred gas payments with all suppliers after a surge in prices last year. On Syria, Cavusoglu said Turkiye was negotiating refugee returns with the Syrian government. He estimated that a half million Syrians had returned from Turkiye to so-called safe zones in their home country. turkiye russia Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 2023 Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 News en_EN Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 1920 1080 true 1920 1440 true 1920 1920 true Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 Sputnik International turkiye, 2023 turkish presidential elections, turkish foreign minister mevlut cavusoglu, kemal kilicdaroglu, russia, russia gate https://sputnikglobe.com/20230522/china-summons-japanese-ambassador-over-statements-made-at-g7-summit-1110509482.html China Summons Japanese Ambassador Over Statements Made at G7 Summit China Summons Japanese Ambassador Over Statements Made at G7 Summit Chinas Vice Foreign Minister Sun Weidong has summoned Japans Ambassador to China Hideo Tarumi to express protest over the "smearing" of China at the G7 summit in Hiroshima. 2023-05-22T04:45+0000 2023-05-22T04:45+0000 2023-05-22T04:45+0000 world g7 china japan beijing chinese foreign ministry /html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e7/05/0b/1110255131_0:160:3072:1888_1920x0_80_0_0_6f58a11e0d32f65681aeec399ae3f7e2.jpg On Saturday, G7 leaders issued a final communique at a summit in Hiroshima, which mentioned China, among other matters. In particular, they expressed their concerns about Taiwan, the South China Sea, China's "non-market policies and practices" and the human rights situation. The Chinese Foreign Ministry said that Sun Weidong summoned Japans ambassador Hideo Tarumi on Sunday, to express "solemn" protest over the communique issued by Japan and other G7 countries that "smears" and attacks Beijing, interferes in Chinas internal affairs and harms Chinas sovereignty, security and development interests. On Saturday, the Chinese Foreign Ministry voiced strong protest over the statements related to Beijing made by G7 leaders at the summit in Japan. Beijing also pointed to the mismatch between the G7's statements on peace and stability and its actions, which it said were damaging regional stability and suppressing the development of other countries. https://sputnikglobe.com/20230520/russian-fm-lavrov-says-g7-summits-decisions-aimed-at-containing-russia-china-1110486721.html china japan beijing Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 2023 Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 News en_EN Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 1920 1080 true 1920 1440 true 1920 1920 true Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 Sputnik International chinas vice foreign minister, japanese ambassador, g7 summit https://sputnikglobe.com/20230522/kievs-best-response-after-losing-artemovsk-would-be-to-seek-peace---ex-us-state-senator-1110526648.html Kiev's Best Response After Losing Artemovsk Would Be to Seek Peace - Ex-US State Senator Kiev's Best Response After Losing Artemovsk Would Be to Seek Peace - Ex-US State Senator Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will face pressure to launch a new offensive after Russian forces captured the city of Artemovsk, but he would be wiser to seek peace and avoid further casualties, former lawmaker said. 2023-05-22T21:35+0000 2023-05-22T21:35+0000 2023-05-22T21:30+0000 world richard black volodymyr zelensky russia ukraine virginia donetsk people's republic /html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e7/05/15/1110506306_0:160:3072:1888_1920x0_80_0_0_0d525624cfd0c46d7c41a982ff95854b.jpg "Russia has won the biggest battle in Europe since World War II," Black said. "Western media were hesitant to acknowledge Ukraines defeat, but it appears that Zelensky lost the city after sustaining crushing losses of manpower and armor. Those losses will pressure Zelensky to launch an offensive to prove he still has combat power, though a wiser path might be to seek peace and stop further bloodshed." Black went on to say that while casualties were enormous on both sides, the losses pose a greater problem for Ukraine, since its population is only a quarter that of Russias. "It is unclear whether the loss of Bakhmut will impact Ukraine's supposed spring offensive, which has appeared imminent for weeks," he added. "Meanwhile, President Zelensky continues his global trips to solicit advanced weapons, none of which has thus far impacted the tide of battle dramatically." Black pointed out that throughout the struggle for Artemovsk, Western media alternated between dismissing the objective as unimportant or claiming that Ukraine had drawn Russian forces into a treacherous killing ground. "Others recognized that Bakhmut does have considerable strategic value, a fact underscored by Ukraines willingness to suffer enormous casualties in its defense," he said. "Beyond that, Ukraines defeat in the epic battle holds great political significance in a presidential election year." Retired Colonel Richard Black was wounded in fierce fighting during the Vietnam War. He flew 269 combat missions as a Marine helicopter pilot, then made 70 ground patrols with the 1st Marine Division. He was a prominent elected member of the Virginia House and Senate. https://sputnikglobe.com/20230522/why-is-bakhmut-called-artemovsk-and-whats-its-true-story-1110519902.html russia ukraine virginia Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 2023 Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 News en_EN Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 1920 1080 true 1920 1440 true 1920 1920 true Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 Sputnik International artemovsk, bakhmut, ukrainian president volodymyr zelensky, peace https://sputnikglobe.com/20230522/kremlin-on-grain-deal-position-of-western-countries-complicates-process-1110517064.html Position of Western Countries on Grain Deal Complicates Process, Moscow Says Position of Western Countries on Grain Deal Complicates Process, Moscow Says UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is faced with the unconstructive position of some Western countries regarding the Russian part of the grain deal, this complicates the process, but contacts will continue, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Monday. 2023-05-22T11:44+0000 2023-05-22T11:44+0000 2023-05-22T13:13+0000 istanbul grain deal russia black sea antonio guterres the united nations (un) russian agricultural bank (rusag) grain /html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e6/09/0a/1100633252_0:159:3078:1890_1920x0_80_0_0_9a6221e13ee15486cd0dfc78f8f64a01.jpg "This is one of the indicators that, despite all the efforts of the UN, Guterres, he is faced with, let's say, the unconstructive position of some Western [states]. It really complicates this process. It complicates, perhaps, the implementation of the Russian part of the Black Sea initiative, the Black Sea deal. But, nevertheless, contacts, as we said, continue, will continue because, yes, the deal has been extended for 2 months, but 2 months is a fairly short period, it will end fairly quickly," Peskov told reporters.Last week, the Russian Foreign Ministry said that the grain deal had been extended until July 17 without any changes, but if all problematic issues of the initiative, including the reconnection of the Russian Agricultural Bank to the SWIFT system, are not resolved in two months, it would be terminated after July 17.In an interview with a Russian newspaper released earlier in the day, spokesman for EU foreign affairs Peter Stano said that the bloc may restore access to the SWIFT payment system for Russian banks, including Russian Agricultural Bank, only after the conflict in Ukraine ends. The deal was reached by Russia, Ukraine, Turkiye and the UN on July 22, 2022 to provide a humanitarian maritime corridor for ships carrying food and fertilizer exports from Ukrainian Black Sea ports. https://sputnikglobe.com/20230518/kremlin-confirms-grain-deal-extension-cites-some-results-hopes-1110438541.html russia black sea Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 2023 Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 News en_EN Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 1920 1080 true 1920 1440 true 1920 1920 true Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 Sputnik International western countries, un secretary-general antonio guterres, grain deal https://sputnikglobe.com/20230522/line-in-the-sand-assad-wont-meet-erdogan-until-turkish-troops-exit-syria-1110522503.html Line in the Sand: Assad Won't Meet Erdogan Until Turkish Troops Exit Syria Line in the Sand: Assad Won't Meet Erdogan Until Turkish Troops Exit Syria Russian and Iranian diplomats have worked tirelessly in recent months to facilitate the normalization of relations between Damascus and Ankara 2023-05-22T17:24+0000 2023-05-22T17:24+0000 2023-05-22T18:03+0000 world bashar assad recep tayyip erdogan faisal mekdad syria ankara turkiye arab league /html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/104242/23/1042422325_0:548:1609:1453_1920x0_80_0_0_450c5a809f317468c354e3edf5443d11.jpg The possibility of a face-to-face meeting between Syrian President Bashar Assad and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will depend on the withdrawal of all Turkish forces from Syrian territory, Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad has said.According to the top diplomat, there cannot be any talk of a normalization of relations so long as Ankara continues to occupy Syrian lands.Mekdads comments echo remarks made by President Assad in March, when he told a Sputnik correspondent that a meeting with Erdogan would be "linked to arriving at a stage" where Turkiye commits to leave Syria, "end its support of terrorism and restore the situation that prevailed before the start of the war on Syria.""This is the only situation when it would be possible to have a meeting between me and Erdogan. Aside from that, whats the value of such a meeting and why would we hold it if it would not achieve final results for the war in Syria?" Assad asked at the time.Russia and Iran, which enjoy friendly relations with both Syria and Turkiye, have worked extensively in recent months to put the decade-long crisis in relations between Damascus and Ankara to rest.Earlier this month, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov met with his Syrian, Iranian, and Turkish counterparts in Moscow to discuss Syria-Turkiye rapprochement, outlining a diplomatic roadmap for normalization, and calling on Damascus and Ankara to discuss repairing transportation and logistics corridors and resume trade and economic cooperation "without any barriers."Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu focused his remarks at the meeting on the need to expand cooperation in the fight against terrorism, and to "advance the political process" in Syria. Cavusoglu also reiterated Turkiye's commitment to the protection of Syria's territorial integrity.This month's talks were preceded by a similar meeting hosted by Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu in April, and negotiations in Moscow at the deputy foreign ministerial level the same month.Syria and Turkiye severed relations in March 2012, after Ankara and other regional nations including Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Israel joined a US-led push to overthrow the Syrian government, and helped facilitate the flow of Islamist rebels and weapons into the country.After Russia's intervention in the crisis in September 2015, Ankara shifted its goals, moving to establish a border buffer zone between Turkiye and Syria, sending troops into the neighboring country to "fight terrorism" and Kurdish fighters with suspected ties to the Kurdistan Workers Party a Turkiye-based militant group which Ankara classifies as terrorists.Turkiye and its militant allies in the rebel-held province of Idlib currently control about a tenth of Syria. Syrian officials have repeatedly called on Ankara, as well as Washington and Tel Aviv, to immediately end their occupation of the war-torn Middle Eastern nation and return these territories to the control of the internationally recognized government in Damascus.The apparent continued roadblock in Syrian-Turkish ties comes against the backdrop of the unprecedented normalization of relations between Damascus and its Arab neighbors, and President Assads triumphant return to the Arab League last week. https://sputnikglobe.com/20230521/top-turkish-diplomat-slams-kilicdaroglu-over-russia-meddling-claims-1110507827.html https://sputnikglobe.com/20230510/lavrov-meets-with-iranian-turkish-syrian-counterparts-in-moscow-1110233449.html https://sputnikglobe.com/20230509/syrias-return-to-arab-league-shows-us-gulf-allies-tired-of-regime-change-1110219420.html syria ankara turkiye Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 2023 Ilya Tsukanov Ilya Tsukanov News en_EN Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 1920 1080 true 1920 1440 true 1920 1920 true Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 Ilya Tsukanov syria, turkiye, bashar assad, recep tayyip erdogan, meeting, talks, relations, ties https://sputnikglobe.com/20230522/mystery-disappearance-of-30-ton-shipment-of-explosive-chemicals-in-california-probed--1110515198.html Mystery Disappearance of 30-Ton Shipment of Explosive Chemicals in California Probed Mystery Disappearance of 30-Ton Shipment of Explosive Chemicals in California Probed Officials are investigating the disappearance of a 30-ton shipment of explosive chemicals 2023-05-22T13:25+0000 2023-05-22T13:25+0000 2023-05-22T13:25+0000 americas us fertilizer chemicals explosives california /html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e7/05/16/1110515289_0:160:3072:1888_1920x0_80_0_0_06998689190b9ea392813f28c9aadcde.jpg An ongoing investigation in the US is trying to find out how a large shipment of chemicals disappeared from a sealed rail car. About 60,000 pounds (approximately 27,215kg) of the chemical ammonium nitrate, which can be used both as a fertilizer and in explosives, had been manufactured by Dyno Nobel, a global leader in the commercial explosives industry. The shipment was loaded into a Union Pacific rail car, with the train leaving Cheyenne, Wyoming on April 12. The seals "were still intact" when it arrived two weeks later in Saltdale, California. Accordingly, a report was filed on May 10 at the National Response Center (NRC) for railroad incidents.Separate probes are underway by Federal Railroad Administration, the California Public Utilities Commission, Union Pacific, and chemical company Dyno Nobel, while the railcar is to be scrutinized after its been transported back to Wyoming.Dyno Nobel's investigation into the disappearance is still in the "early stages," a spokesperson for rail carrier Union Pacific told the media. In an effort to allay environmental concerns, it was added that if the culprit was, indeed, a leak, these chemicals were intended for use in soil, and, accordingly, could be absorbed without detriment. It should be noted that the train involved - Union Pacific - is from the same company that saw a dozen or more freight cars laden with coal go off the rails in a derailment near Gothenburg, Nebraska, in February.That incident had been at least the third major train derailment in the US Midwest in a matter of weeks. It had followed a disastrous derailment in East Palestine, Ohio in early February, which contaminated the small community's air and water with potentially cancer-causing chemicals. Despite the company saying that it did not suspect foul play, fears have been triggered due to the potential use of these "missing" chemicals in explosives. Ammonium nitrate was used in the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing. At the time, the blast at the Murrah Federal Building killed 168 people, leaving approximately 850 injured. https://sputnikglobe.com/20230221/union-pacific-train-carrying-coal-derails-in-nebraska-hazmat-teams-deployed-1107677403.html https://sputnikglobe.com/20150419/1021100656.html americas california Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 2023 Svetlana Ekimenko Svetlana Ekimenko News en_EN Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 1920 1080 true 1920 1440 true 1920 1920 true Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 Svetlana Ekimenko shipment of explosive chemicals, 30-ton shipment, mystery disappearance, chemical ammonium nitrate, as a fertilizer, in explosives, train derailment, disastrous derailment in east palestine, ohio, 1995 oklahoma city bombing https://sputnikglobe.com/20230522/not-something-you-budget-for-quadruple-murder-probe-bleeding-idaho-city-dry-1110508502.html Not Something You Budget For: Quadruple Murder Probe Bleeding Idaho City Dry Not Something You Budget For: Quadruple Murder Probe Bleeding Idaho City Dry Local leaders and residents of Moscow, Idaho are bracing for the cost of a probe into the high-profile murder of University of Idaho students Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle, and Ethan Chapina. 2023-05-22T02:18+0000 2023-05-22T02:18+0000 2023-05-22T02:18+0000 americas idaho state university university of idaho murder murder investigation murder investigation /html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e7/01/08/1106127784_0:160:3072:1888_1920x0_80_0_0_de3026807fda9a66be49f26e684ff5f1.jpg Six months after a gruesome quadruple homicide rocked the small city of Moscow, Idaho, the bill for the police investigation into the killings is coming due and local leaders and residents alike are bracing for impact.Following the high-profile murder of University of Idaho students Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle, and Ethan Chapina, a major US outlet reported Sunday that overtime, as well as the citys other expenses, are "growing exponentially."The slayings saw a 28-year-old criminology Ph.D. student named Bryan Kohberger indicted on four counts of first-degree murder, but even before a major investigation was launched into the Kohberger's crimes, Moscow had long been facing serious financial shortfalls."We weren't prepared for this," Moscow City Council member Sandra Kelly told US media. This is such a horrific thing - how could you plan for this? You budget for fires. You budget for floods. You prepare for natural disasters. This was not natural.""The cost is astronomical. And of course you can't skimp on keeping people safe," Kelly explained.She wasnt the only local politician to express worry about the citys financial affairs."Moscow is not awash in a funding excess," Moscow Mayor Art Bettge told US media, adding, "we run a very, very lean budget and the impact of the investigation has been felt on the budget."Bettge said the city has faced a "difficult six months" since last November, when police discovered four students had been stabbed to death at their off-campus house. Kohberger was arrested in connection with the crime at his familys home in Pennsylvania over a month later.Following the recent indictment against him, the suspect is expected to enter a plea at an arraignment slated for Monday. americas Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 2023 Wyatt Reed Wyatt Reed News en_EN Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 1920 1080 true 1920 1440 true 1920 1920 true Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 Wyatt Reed idaho, murder, crime, police budget, university of idaho murders https://sputnikglobe.com/20230522/nz-leader-shrugs-off-militarization-fears-over-new-us-papua-new-guinea-pact--1110511764.html NZ Leader Shrugs Off Militarization Fears Over New US-Papua New Guinea Pact NZ Leader Shrugs Off Militarization Fears Over New US-Papua New Guinea Pact New Zealand Prime Minister Chris Hipkins has dismissed voiced concerns that a new security pact between Papua New Guinea and the United States will fuel further militarization of the Asia-Pacific region. 2023-05-22T13:41+0000 2023-05-22T13:41+0000 2023-05-22T13:41+0000 world asia-pacific region china aukus papua new guinea us quadrilateral security dialogue (quad) solomon islands pacific islands chris hipkins /html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e7/05/16/1110513387_0:161:3071:1888_1920x0_80_0_0_102928326c619afe8ed15ead25392884.jpg New Zealand Prime Minister Chris Hipkins has brushed aside major concerns that a new security pact between Papua New Guinea and the United States will fuel further militarization of the Asia-Pacific region.The agreement that will give the US military access to the Oceanian nation's airfields and ports isnt just about security, he insisted, speaking to the media after a meeting with PNG Prime Minister James Marape in Port Moresby, the capital of the Pacific island country.He referenced China's pact with the Solomon Islands, signed in mid-April last year, claiming the US-PNG agreement was more transparent.Papua New Guinea signed the defense pact with the United States on Monday, during US Secretary of State Antony Blinken's visit to the country. In a statement released on Saturday, the Oceanian nation's government said that the deal was an opportunity to enhance its infrastructure and capacity for national defense.PNG Prime Minister James Marape earlier said the deal would allow it to access US satellite surveillance to fight "illegal activities on the high sea".The US State Department said that the new pact with PNG would "enhance security cooperation and further strengthen our bilateral relationship, improve the capacity of the PNG Defense Force, and increase stability and security in the region".'Geopolitical Games'However, there has been controversy regarding the lack of transparency from the government on what specifically is laid out in the new US-PNG agreement. The United States will publish the text of the Defense Cooperation Agreement "after entry into force, consistent with US law," stated a fact sheet released by the US Department of State on Sunday. The pact has triggered student protests at several PNG universities, local media reported. China also slammed the "introduction of any geopolitical games into the Pacific Island country region." Rattling Peace & StabilityWashingtons top diplomat signed the pact with PNG instead of US President Joe Biden, whose debt ceiling woes on the home front forced him to cancel much of his planned Asia trip. Blinken is also expected to meet with leaders of the Pacific Island Forum regional body in Port Moresby. Originally, visits to Papua New Guinea and Australia had been on Biden's itinerary, with Sydney to host a meeting of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad) leaders.For all the claims that pacts such as the new US-PNG agreement do not militarize the Asia-Pacific region, it is obvious that alignments are increasingly being drawn up, with Washington aggressively spearheading the trend while spinning the narrative about China's growing clout. The US has been actively working to sabotage the creation of a multipolar world in the Asia-Pacific region, including by forming exclusive political-military blocs. AUKUS AUKUS, a trilateral security agreement between the US, Australia and the UK unveiled in September 2021, entails supplying Canberra with three American Virginia-class nuclear-powered submarines by the early 2030s, while cementing China's status as the perceived adversary of all three countries. New Zealand has also hinted at joining the "non-nuclear component" of the trilateral AUKUS security pact, Defence Minister Andrew Little said in March.China blasted the three countries that cobbled together the AUKUS pact for pursuing their own geopolitical interests and completely ignoring the concerns of the international community. The US-UK-Australia deal involves the transfer of large quantities of highly enriched weapons-grade uranium from nuclear-weapon states to a non-nuclear-weapon state. Accordingly, it poses a serious risk of nuclear proliferation and violates the goals of the Non-Proliferation Treaty, said Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesman Wang Wenbin at a briefing.Russia has also voiced its concerns about the AUKUS pact."The Anglo-Saxon world with the creation of bloc structures like AUKUS, with the promotion of NATO military infrastructure in Asia, is making a serious bid for confrontation for many years," Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said.QUADBesides AUKUS, the US is leading Quad a loose security alliance with Australia, Japan, and India, widely understood to be an attempt to drum together a common anti-China policy across the Indo-Pacific. The four nations have all ramped up their military spending in recent years, claiming it is in response to an alleged threat posed by China. Just recently, the Quads third in-person summit took place on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Japans Hiroshima. It brought together Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio and US President Joe Biden.Philippine BasesThe United States and the Philippines opted to modernize their alliance, intensifying high-level joint exercises and other related activity in April. The US was to get access to four new military bases as part of the expanded defense agreement. The four bases include three on the main island of Luzon, close to Taiwan, and one in Palawan province in the South China Sea (SCS).Bilateral joint military exercises between the United States and the Philippines have also reached an unprecedented scale. More than 12,000 American, 5,000 Philippine and 111 Australian soldiers took part in the Balikatan joint military exercises in the waters across the South China Sea and the Taiwan Strait.Needless to say, the Chinese Embassy in Manila was quick to issue a statement, saying that such drills "should not target any third party and should be conducive to regional peace and stability." In addition, the Philippine and American defense and diplomacy chiefs discussed the development of nine Philippine military camps, where US troops would be staying indefinitely.Pacific Island NationsWashington has also been on a roll, opening new embassies in the Solomon Islands and Tonga this year, with plans for one in Kiribati. Biden hosted Pacific Island leaders in Washington for a summit in September. Additionally, the US released its first-ever national strategy on engaging the Pacific Islands. Washington also reportedly intends to allocate around $6.5 bln, spread over two decades, to various parts of Palau, Micronesia, and the Marshall Islands.While jostling for clout, the Biden administration has been dangling China's "increasing assertiveness" in the region as a convenient excuse.Indeed, Beijing signed several agreements with almost a dozen Pacific Island nations during a visit by Foreign Minister Wang Yi to the region in the summer of 2022. Before that, in mid-April, the Chinese and the Solomon Islands governments formally signed a bilateral security agreement despite the displeasure voiced by the US, Australia, and New Zealand. Earlier, in 2019, the Solomon Islands switched diplomatic ties from Taipei to Beijing.Commenting on the pact, State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi emphasizsed that its purpose was "to assist the Solomon Islands in maintaining social order". He vehemently denied Western media speculation about China's apparent plans to beef up its military presence in the region. https://sputnikglobe.com/20230429/us-playing-catch-up-with-china-in-tussle-for-influence-in-pacific-biden-envoy-says-1109941584.html https://sputnikglobe.com/20230315/aukus-dividing-asia-us-uk-australian-leaders-reveal-details-of-disputed-nuclear-submarine-deal-1108385272.html https://sputnikglobe.com/20230328/new-zealand-willing-to-explore-joining-non-nuclear-aspect-of-aukus-pact-defence-minister-says-1108851439.html https://sputnikglobe.com/20230501/new-us-bases-in-philippines-may-set-asia-pacific-on-fire-1109989761.html https://sputnikglobe.com/20230428/sco-vs-washingtons-asia-pacific-pacts-how-eurasian-bloc-can-oppose-us-diktat-1109923355.html https://sputnikglobe.com/20230304/russia-china-to-keep-explaining-danger-of-nato-presence-to-asia-pacific-ambassador-says-1108019530.html china papua new guinea solomon islands Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 2023 Svetlana Ekimenko Svetlana Ekimenko News en_EN Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 1920 1080 true 1920 1440 true 1920 1920 true Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 Svetlana Ekimenko us-papua new guinea security pact, new zealand prime minister chris hipkins, new security pact, militarization of the asia-pacific region, aukus, quad, us military bases in the phillipines, anti-china policy https://sputnikglobe.com/20230522/report-jeffrey-epstein-allegedly-tried-to-extort-bill-gates-over-extramarital-affair-1110526821.html Report: Jeffrey Epstein Allegedly Tried to Extort Bill Gates Over Extramarital Affair Report: Jeffrey Epstein Allegedly Tried to Extort Bill Gates Over Extramarital Affair Epstein threatened to expose an affair Gates had with a Russian bridge player who was in her 20's at the time. Epstein allegedly threatened to expose the Microsoft founder after he refused to back the pedophile's venture. 2023-05-22T23:13+0000 2023-05-22T23:13+0000 2023-05-22T23:08+0000 beyond politics bill gates jeffrey epstein celebrity gossip celebrity scandal /html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e5/08/09/1083560974_0:0:3641:2048_1920x0_80_0_0_54a1c8eea9574286049abf168fcf0caa.jpg A newly surfaced report has revealed details that allege convicted sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein had once attempted to extort Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates over an extramarital affair after the tech figure failed to participate in a multibillion-dollar charity.Citing people familiar with the incident, the report claimed the extortion case centered around an alleged romantic affair between Gates and a bridge player since-identified as Mila Antonova.Antonova reportedly first approached Epstein with a business venture idea in which she wanted to start her own business that would teach people how to play bridge. Boris Nikolic, an adviser to Gates at the time, had directed her to Epstein in 2013.While the financier declined her venture idea, he did agree to pay for her education. He also provided her an apartment to stay in while she was in New York City in 2014. Antonova said she had no interaction with Epstein or anyone else while she stayed there.By 2017, Epstein reportedly sent an email to Gates requesting he be reimbursed for Antonova's education. A spokesperson for Gates said he did not pay the money, adding Gates had no financial dealings with the disgraced financier.Epstein later allegedly threatened to expose the affair that same year after Gates dodged a philanthropic venture Epstein was trying to establish with JPMorgan Chase. Epstein had hoped to use his relationship with Gates to legitimize himself in the eyes of the bank.The alleged affair with Antonova is the second of which Gates has been accused of while he was in his 27-year marriage, the other being an alleged affair of almost two decades that he had with a Microsoft employee.Beginning in 2011, Gates had more than six meetings scheduled with Epstein, including dinners at Epsteins New York townhouse. Gates also flew on Epstein's private jet from New Jersey to Florida in March of 2013. Later that month the two traveled to France together, before meeting again in 2014.By this time Epstein had already been accused of sexually abusing girls as young as 14 in 2006, and pleaded guilty in 2008 to soliciting and procuring a minor for prostitution.I am disgusted with Epstein and what he did, Antonova said, while declining to comment on her alleged relationship with Gates. She later added she was unaware of Epsteins true identity, including his criminal history, and just thought he was a successful businessman and wanted to help."I dont know why he did that, she said. When I asked, he said something like, he was wealthy and wanted to help people when he could.An explosive 2018 report by the Miami Herald revealed dozens of more women who were abused by Epstein, and led to his arrest in 2019 on sex trafficking charges. However, he never faced the charges after being found dead in his jail cell on August 10, 2019, at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in New York. The death was later ruled a suicide. Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 2023 Mary Manley https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e6/01/0b/1092187887_0:0:2048:2049_100x100_80_0_0_0c2cc4c84f89aff034cc55bb01fb6697.jpg Mary Manley https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e6/01/0b/1092187887_0:0:2048:2049_100x100_80_0_0_0c2cc4c84f89aff034cc55bb01fb6697.jpg News en_EN Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 1920 1080 true 1920 1440 true 1920 1920 true Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 Mary Manley https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e6/01/0b/1092187887_0:0:2048:2049_100x100_80_0_0_0c2cc4c84f89aff034cc55bb01fb6697.jpg jeffrey epstein, bill gates, affair, celebrity news, pedophile, sex crimes, sex offender, celebrity crime, microsoft MANILA, May 22 (Xinhua) -- The Philippines is pursuing the resumption of free trade negotiations with the European Union (EU), Philippine Trade Secretary Alfredo Pascual said on Monday. During a meeting, Pascual told members of the EU-ASEAN Business Council (EU-ABC) about his country's intention to return to the negotiating table over the Philippines-EU Free Trade Agreement (FTA). Pascual said an FTA with the EU will help the Philippines secure additional duty-free market access, and provide a conducive framework for attracting more significant investments from the EU. He also highlighted the government's efforts to facilitate international partnerships and collaboration through the recently-ratified Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) agreement that will encourage foreign direct investment inflows. "I'd like to reemphasize our growth strategy centered around enhancing trade and investment. Our objective is to foster job creation and poverty reduction by uplifting the global position of our export sectors and driving investments into strategic areas," Pascual said. The EU-ABC, a major voice of European businesses in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) region, comprises nine European Chambers of Commerce in Southeast Asia and major European multinational corporations across multiple sectors such as manufacturing, services, healthcare and logistics. https://sputnikglobe.com/20230522/rock-carving-masterpiece-huge-baroque-like-petroglyph-unearthed-in-sweden-1110511061.html Rock Carving Masterpiece? Huge 'Baroque'-Like Petroglyph Unearthed in Sweden Rock Carving Masterpiece? Huge 'Baroque'-Like Petroglyph Unearthed in Sweden The giant 15-meter-long rock carvings were made on a nearly vertical slab on an island, visible from far and wide, yet ended up in the ground, covered in moss. 2023-05-22T08:40+0000 2023-05-22T08:40+0000 2023-05-22T08:40+0000 beyond politics scandinavia europe sweden archeology news science & tech /html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/19335/23/193352369_0:0:1280:721_1920x0_80_0_0_7bccc067d1a49513c60d10aa2608ff87.jpg A colossal rock carving discovery, seen as the biggest in the 21st century, has been unearthed in Bohuslan County, southern Sweden.The collection of petroglyphs was found in the Kville parish and stretches across 15 meters. It contains some 40 figures, including 13 ships, nine horses, seven people and four chariots.Archaeologist Andreas Toreld described the figures, which include a two-meter-long ship and a man over one-meter tall, as large and well-made. While the motif is not unique, its placement is very rare. These carvings were covered in moss when they were found. They were located on a farm in a pasture, and the archaeologists from the Foundation for Documentation of Bohuslan County Petroglyphs noticed that a small part of a ship was sticking out from under the moss. They removed the moss and revealed the carvings in all their glory.The carving's date was set at 700800 BC, with its accuracy being buttressed by an almost vertical position of the slab. To achieve their goal, the artists must have been in boats.At the time when the carving was made, the slab was located on an island. It must have been visible from far and wide. It was at the peak of the petroglyph period, when both the most intricate and the most beautiful carvings were created."The carving continued at least until around the birth of Christ, but the ships became simpler. During the Younger Bronze Age, from which this one comes, the style was closest to Baroque. Everything was bloated and exaggerated, but perhaps not so realistic," Andreas Toreld said.The carvings are only slightly smaller than the world-famous 20-meter-long Vitlycke Cave located at the world heritage site in Tanum.Petroglyphs have been found in all parts of the globe except Antarctica, yet the highest concentrations appear to be in Africa, Scandinavia, Karelia and Siberia. Their purpose remains questioned, depending on their location, age, and subject matter. scandinavia sweden Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 2023 Igor Kuznetsov Igor Kuznetsov News en_EN Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 1920 1080 true 1920 1440 true 1920 1920 true Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 Igor Kuznetsov petroglyph find, rock carvings, archeologic find, ancient history, ancient scandinavia https://sputnikglobe.com/20230522/soleimani-trenchmate-akbar-ahmadian-becomes-new-chair-of-irans-security-council-1110521161.html Soleimani 'Trenchmate' Akbar Ahmadian Becomes New Chair of Iran's Security Council Soleimani 'Trenchmate' Akbar Ahmadian Becomes New Chair of Iran's Security Council On Monday, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi issued a decree appointing Brig. Gen. Al Akbar Ahmadian as new secretary of the SNSC, the Islamic Republics national security council. Ahmadian replaces Shamkhani. 2023-05-22T16:17+0000 2023-05-22T16:17+0000 2023-05-22T16:17+0000 world ali shamkhani ebrahim raisi islamic revolutionary guard corps (irgc) supreme national security council iran /html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e7/05/16/1110521318_0:0:2500:1407_1920x0_80_0_0_5f53e7c912ad227f37ab7eaf6bd8b876.jpg On Monday, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi issued a decree appointing Brig. Gen. Al Akbar Ahmadian as new secretary of the SNSC, the Islamic Republics national security council. Ahmadian replaces Shamkhani, who held the position for more than a decade.Who is Ahmadian?Ahmadian, 62, is the director of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps' (IRGC) Strategic Center and a member of the Expediency Council, an advisory body to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei that also irons out disputes between the parliament and the Guardian Council.He also served as commander of the IRGC navy from 1997 to 2000 and was IRGC chief of staff for seven years and has been chief of the IRGC Strategic Center for 16 years.One Iranian news agency described Ahmadian as a "trenchmate" to Lt. Gen. Qasem Soleimani, the former commander of the IRGCs Quds Force who was assassinated by the United States in a 2020 drone strike outside Baghdad. Both men were company commanders during the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq War, leading troops into battle to repulse the Iraqi invasion of Khuzestan.Shamkhani Out?Iranian media did not indicate why Shamkhani was removed from his post, or if he would be given a new position. He had been SNSC secretary since 2013 and oversaw several key diplomatic deals that helped end some of Irans geopolitical isolation, including the JCPOA, the 2015 nuclear deal that saw the West lower its economic sanctions against Iran in exchange for Iran accepting limitations on its nuclear power program and forswearing the pursuit of nuclear weapons.He also oversaw Irans entry into the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) and its rapprochement with Saudi Arabia.According to some reports in the Western press, Shamkhani was believed to have been implicated in some kind of corruption scandal. The accusation is based on the purported leaking to the Western press of minutes from a meeting between Khamenei and senior clerics and IRGC commanders. Shamkhani has denied the accusations.However, one anonymous source described as an "Iranian insider" told one Western media outlet that Shamkhani might be considered for a "more important position," rather than removed in disgrace. https://sputnikglobe.com/20230518/as-russia-iran-cooperation-increases-us-sanctions-lose-their-bite-1110444376.html https://sputnikglobe.com/20230518/ukraine-conflict-direct-result-of-biden-foreign-policy-blunders-iran-hopes---us-senator-1110430213.html iran Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 2023 Fantine Gardinier Fantine Gardinier News en_EN Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 1920 1080 true 1920 1440 true 1920 1920 true Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 Fantine Gardinier ali shamkhani; iran; security council; akbar ahmadian https://sputnikglobe.com/20230522/swedish-military-recruiting-in-arabic-for-the-sake-of-diversity-1110510201.html Swedish Military Recruiting in Arabic 'For the Sake of Diversity' Swedish Military Recruiting in Arabic 'For the Sake of Diversity' By the military's own admission, the campaign of targeted ads is meant to increase its legitimacy, as diversity is seen as a means of increasing capabilities. 2023-05-22T06:36+0000 2023-05-22T06:36+0000 2023-05-22T06:56+0000 military sweden russia swedish armed forces twitter military & intelligence arabic immigration scandinavia /html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/104769/96/1047699626_0:0:4964:2793_1920x0_80_0_0_c416039bd3e12ce8d382a4acad619622.jpg The Swedish Armed Forces have for several years strived to increase diversity within its organization. Now they are trying a new approach through targeted ads on the Arabic-language news site Alkompis in the hope of attracting more recruits from a non-Swedish background."The more different we are, the more dangerous we are to the enemy," the Swedish military declared, further claiming that diversity is good and necessary to strengthen capabilities."The purpose of the campaign is to increase the legitimacy of the Armed Forces," the military told Swedish media."Diversity and equality is ultimately about seeing and respecting each individual, but also about creating a more inclusive culture within the defense forces. It increases the ability to adapt which is required to stand strong in the fast-changing world we live in and to find new solutions," it said.The site Alkompis describes itself as "a Swedish media house in Arabic, as opposed to an Arabic media house in Sweden" and was founded in 2012 by Mahmoud Agha, formerly of Swedish Radio. It claims to be ad-financed but it also benefits from tax breaks.The decision to run targeted ads in Arabic has drawn sharp criticism on social media.Josefin Utas, formerly active in the Green Party and the Citizens' Assembly, said that as a Swedish speaker with no knowledge of Arabic, she had to turn to an Arabic-speaking friend who said that the ad read: "What we do today, we do for the sake of the future. We grow and develop and change in the shadow of the world's deteriorating situation."The news was not well-received on Twitter and one user fumed: "The Swedish Armed Forces advertising in Arabic? First LGBTQ Drag queens and now the Arabs. So they are going to defend Sweden. When reading fairy tales is banned and the benefits cease, will we ourselves go to the front or will the drag queens scare the enemy away?"Another one wrote sarcastically: "By God, we need cannon fodder for the impending Russian invasion. One way ticket to paradise is promised, bro. Sincerely, the Armed Forces," also having a poke at the Swedish military's obsession with the "Russian invasion" which is often used as a reason for expanding the budget.Others have questioned what people who cannot speak Swedish have to do in the armed forces at all, or what they are expected to contribute. Others see the ad as clear evidence of how politicized the armed forces have become.Previous attempts to increase diversity in the admittedly understaffed ranks of the Swedish military include ads geared towards women and immigrants at large.After a decade of mass immigration, during which the nation of some 10 million took in 163,000 asylum seekers in 2015 alone, Arabic overtook Finnish as Sweden's second most widely spoken native tongue (with an estimated 400,000 speakers of Arabic against some 200,000 speakers of Finnish). There are both local media and national broadcasts available in Arabic, alongside book fairs and other events. Arabic reportedly has become the main language in some preschools and schools, as immigrant communities tend to form clusters in and around major cities, such as Stockholm, Gothenburg and Malmo. https://sputnikglobe.com/20230504/sweden-launches-dont-come-here-campaign-to-discourage-immigration-1110075410.html sweden russia scandinavia Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 2023 Igor Kuznetsov Igor Kuznetsov News en_EN Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 1920 1080 true 1920 1440 true 1920 1920 true Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 Igor Kuznetsov swedish military, sweden armed forces, diversity strategy, targeted ads, arabic language https://sputnikglobe.com/20230522/three-key-goals-russia-achieved-by-liberating-artemovsk-1110520812.html Three Key Goals Russia Achieved by Liberating Artemovsk Three Key Goals Russia Achieved by Liberating Artemovsk The Russian military confirmed Sunday that operations by assault detachments supported by artillery and aviation of the Southern Group of Forces had led to the... 22.05.2023, Sputnik International 2023-05-22T17:55+0000 2023-05-22T17:55+0000 2023-05-22T18:56+0000 russia ukraine alexei leonkov nato tornado-s high mobility artillery rocket system (himars) russia's special operation in ukraine /html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e7/05/16/1110520465_0:0:3120:1754_1920x0_80_0_0_4d89fcd03af447031e795bd06d69254d.jpg The northeastern Donetsk Peoples Republic city of Artemovsk (also called Bakhmut) has been reduced to rubble, with entire districts leveled, and most of its 70,000 residents fleeing. Ukrainian forces left Artemovsk after 224 days of brutal house-to-house fighting, with Russian forces estimating losses of 30,000 or more Ukrainian troops and foreign mercenaries.The Russian military has yet to provide data on losses on the Russian side, prompting the State Department and Kiev to conjure up fantastical figures of up to 100,000 dead or injured. The Kremlin has dismissed these "invented out of thin air" figures, saying Washington "simply does not have the possibility to name any correct figures."US President Joe Biden on Sunday attempted to downplay the significance of Artemovsk's loss, saying that there aren't "many buildings left standing" in the city, and that Ukrainian forces had "been able to lock down an awful lot of Russian forces, including the Wagner Group" in the fighting. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who had once dubbed Bakhmut the "fortress of our morale," compared the scale of destruction in the city to Hiroshima, prompting a retort from Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, who quipped that the White House arranged both.Why is Artemovsk So Important?What is it about Artemovsk that led both sides to dig in so deeply and commit such immense human and material resources to fighting for the city? Russian military observer Alexey Leonkov says the citys significance in the broader Russia-NATO proxy war in Ukraine can be divided into three parts: military operational-tactical, military strategic, and political.In the operational-tactical sense, the battle for Artemovsk led to the loss of large numbers of Ukrainian troops and vast quantities of military equipment, and cracked open one of Kievs major fortified stronghold in Donbass, with others including the Avdeevka-Mariinsk-Gorlovka grouping and the Severodonetsk-Kramatorsk grouping of forces."It's clear that we will not limit ourselves to the liberation of the Donetsk People's Republic to its administrative borders," Leonkov added, noting that fighting will continue in Kherson and Zaporozhye, and that an effort will be made to "move the danger stemming from the weapons Ukraine has received away from our borders."Military Strategic SignificanceAt the strategic level, Leonkov noted, the concentration of fighting in and around Artemovsk over these past months gave the Russian side time to train its mobilized troops and to recruit additional contract fighters, while Russias military-industrial complex received time to mobilize its resources and ramp up production to wartime levels."That is, the amount of ammunition we're producing now is much higher than it was at the start of the special military operation," the observer said. "Besides this, the production of weapons which at the startnumbered in the single digits were increased. Take for example the Tornado-S high-precision rocket artillery system, a direct competitor to the HIMARS and which surpasses the US system in many technical characteristics. At the start of the special military operation there were only about 20 units of this system, while now there are over 100, and this number is growing."In addition, Leonkov said, the concentration of Ukrainian forces in Artemovsk prevented Kiev from launching offensive operations in other areas, including the long-promised spring counteroffensive."When they were fighting for Bakhmut and said that this city would not be surrendered under any circumstances, they associated its defense with preparations for a counteroffensive. The idea was that Bakhmut would draw in significant [Russian] forces, while [Kiev] would be able to build up a force on that point on the line of contact where they were planning their offensive," Artemovsk "practically destroyed" these plans, the observer said.Political SignificanceThe third significant component of Artemovsks liberation is its political symbolism, and has to do with NATOs support for Kiev in the proxy war against Russia, according to Leonkov."The supply of weapons and military equipment in Artemovsk was mainly assigned to the European countries, with systems from their arsenals becoming the main ones. Precisely when we began to work effectively in the use of air-dropped glide bombs, the burden of supplying weapons and military equipment had fallen on the Europeans, who managed to crush voices of dissent demanding a halt to the supply of weapons to Ukraine. The weapons were delivered on the expectation that they would be needed to help Ukraine hold on to this territory. But the city was lost, and with great losses," both among Ukrainians and foreign mercenaries "possibly including even professional [NATO] soldiers," the observer noted.In other words, the loss of Artemovsk, together with other recent Russian victories on the battlefield - from the elimination of Patriot missile systems in Kiev to the recent destruction of a massive NATO ammo dump in Khmelnitsky, western Ukraine to the loss of Ukrainian artillery systems by the dozens using drones might motivate President Zelensky's Western partners to rethink their priorities, and finally force Kiev to the negotiating table. https://sputnikglobe.com/20230521/russias-liberation-of-artemovsk-indicates-kievs-strategy-has-failed-1110494374.html https://sputnikglobe.com/20230520/russian-air-defense-intercepts-12-himars-rockets-storm-shadow-missiles---mod-1110481483.html https://sputnikglobe.com/20230521/scott-ritter-liberation-of-artemovsk-a-military-victory-that-shows-russia-is-winning-1110496423.html https://sputnikglobe.com/20230522/why-is-bakhmut-called-artemovsk-and-whats-its-true-story-1110519902.html russia ukraine Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 2023 Ilya Tsukanov Ilya Tsukanov News en_EN Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 1920 1080 true 1920 1440 true 1920 1920 true Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 Ilya Tsukanov russia, ukraine, artemovsk, bakhmut, nato, west, fighting, outcome, implications https://sputnikglobe.com/20230522/tiktok-sues-montana-over-us-states-looming-ban-against-app-1110526171.html TikTok Sues Montana Over US State's Looming Ban Against App TikTok Sues Montana Over US State's Looming Ban Against App Social media company TikTok is suing the US State of Montana in an attempt to prevent enforcement of a new law that would ban the application in the state starting next year, according to a court document filed Monday. 2023-05-22T20:47+0000 2023-05-22T20:47+0000 2023-05-22T20:43+0000 americas tiktok bytedance montana china greg gianforte ban us lawsuit first amendment /html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e6/0c/08/1105192525_0:160:3073:1888_1920x0_80_0_0_0402ee49ad074a5697ed5f421a3a59b7.jpg TikTok filed a complaint for declaratory and injunctive relief in the US District Court for the District of Montana, naming Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen as the defendant. Earlier this month, Montana Governor Greg Gianforte signed a bill from the states legislature that bans companies from allowing TikTok to be downloaded off their application stores in Montana. The ban is set to take effect January 1, 2024. The legislation comes amid other efforts across the United States to restrict the use of TikTok amid privacy concerns linked to TikToks ties to China-based parent company ByteDance. Montanas ban violates the First Amendment of the US Constitution, which guarantees the right to freedom of speech, the filing states, adding the ban is based on "nothing more than unfounded speculation" regarding the apps ties to China. The filing also alleges Montanas ban is preempted by federal regulatory law, which currently handles national security concerns raised by the legislation. Montanas ban also violates the Commerce Clause of the US Constitution by unduly burdening interstate and foreign commerce though its state-specific restrictions, the filing said. The lawsuit seeks an order from the court permanently enjoining Montana from implementing or enforcing the TikTok ban, as well as a declaratory judgment that the ban is unconstitutional and preempted by federal law, the filing said. https://sputnikglobe.com/20230404/australia-to-ban-use-of-tiktok-application-on-all-government-devices-1109096969.html americas montana china Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 2023 Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 News en_EN Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 1920 1080 true 1920 1440 true 1920 1920 true Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 Sputnik International tiktok, lawsuit, montana, social media, ban, court filing https://sputnikglobe.com/20230522/us-aims-to-knit-up-china-in-pacific-islands-scramble-with-papua-defense-deal-1110525955.html US Aims to Knit Up China in Pacific Islands Scramble With Papua Defense Deal US Aims to Knit Up China in Pacific Islands Scramble With Papua Defense Deal Although Washingtons new defense deal with Papua New Guinea doesnt mention China by name, its clearly aimed at curbing Chinese influence in the region off Australias coast, according to one scholar. 2023-05-22T21:06+0000 2023-05-22T21:06+0000 2023-05-22T21:01+0000 analysis papua new guinea australia us aukus china /html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e4/0a/0e/1080763224_0:121:2507:1531_1920x0_80_0_0_aae10bed1079d5752264aff90e274b60.jpg On Monday, the United States and Papua New Guinea formally signed a deal to allow the US access to PNGs airfields and ports, including boarding each others vessels, sharing technical expertise, and satellite surveillance. The island nation sits less than 100 miles from Australia at its closest point, of which it was a colony until 1975.Dr. Joseph M. Siracusa, a renowned US professor of history and international diplomacy who serves as dean of Global Futures at Curtin University, and the author of more than 30 books on diplomacy and international security, told Sputnik on Monday that the deal was part of a larger attempt by Washington to undermine Chinese influence in the region, especially in the wake of a similar deal between China and the Solomon Islands, which sit to PNGs east.These are small islands and, you know, they're playing off both sides against the middle, as you do when you have a great power competition and smaller powers do what they can. It's a matter of influence. The American intent is to knit up or to continue the containment of China. And China's position is mainly to infiltrate these islands, those for its network of influence and more importantly, for its ports and harbors and its geographic, geographical, geopolitical position. It's sort of like a scramble, he explained.Siracusa explained that many nations in the region, from small island states like the Solomon Islands to major powers like India, are more interested in solving their own problems, such as mitigating climate change or developing their infrastructure, and are happy to play Beijing and Washington off of one another to get what they want.They'd like reparations or some way to keep the islands from sinking. They have very mixed motives. The American motives are purely strategic. And the islanders are a mixed bag here, because it's not often that the big powers even think about them - and when they do, it's too late. So they're sort of maneuvering, he said.The Americans overreacted to the Solomons by promising them an embassy. I mean, a full scale embassy in the Solomon Islands is a waste of money and getting involved in the South Pacific. What they showed their Australian allies is that they're very concerned about Australia's concerns about what goes on here. What's the point of buying a long range nuclear-powered submarine if you're going to have a Chinese naval base one day 80 kilometers away? But it doesnt make any sense. The Americans are very keen in assisting the Australians in pushing the Chinese as far away from those sea lanes of communication.Most of America's solutions to these problems are military solutions. They use the military to get in and out of places, they use the military to establish places. The United States is very, very obsessed with power, either demonstrating it, holding it, or changing things. And so it's very hard for the Chinese to match the American maritime assets. The Chinese may have technically more ships, but they don't have more tonnage. So the Americans use their military might to get involved in these places. And they have offered people a measure or some kind of protection, perhaps [it] makes them feel better. But as I say, it won't last long. This is a very short interest. They are really going to stay there a couple of hours before going on to something else. But the Americans have overreacted to what's going on in the South China Sea because it looks like the Solomon Islands were selling the place.By comparison, Siracusa said the Chinese mostly buy influence in most of these places, adding that China doesn't have to invade anything.Well, New Guinea has a lot of deep water ports and a lot of lovely places for the Navy. Of course, the United States Navy fought in the waters in and around PNG during the Second World War when the Japanese Imperial Navy was coming very close to defeating that part of the world.He predicted that the South Pacific would become militarized in the next five-to-seven years, as the Americans pour money into keeping China out.Siracusa noted that when it comes to the Chinese in the neighborhood, the Americans equate Chinese capabilities with Chinese intentions. So you might have a Chinese capability to put ships in the area or an influence in the area. What are they going to do with it? Well, the Americans have come to the conclusion that the Chinese are only involved in these particular pursuits and in the name of a bigger picture, in the larger order of things, and that is Chinese mastery of this part of the Pacific. It's hard for this area not to become militarized. Almost impossible. https://sputnikglobe.com/20221108/australia-pledges-to-funnel-more-funds-to-arm-solomon-islands-1103881129.html https://sputnikglobe.com/20230517/quad-leaders-to-meet-at-g7-after-biden-nixes-summit-to-handle-debt-ceiling-talks-1110426242.html papua new guinea australia china Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 2023 Fantine Gardinier Fantine Gardinier News en_EN Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 1920 1080 true 1920 1440 true 1920 1920 true Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 Fantine Gardinier papua new guinea; defense deal; us; china https://sputnikglobe.com/20230522/us-says-visit-of-israels-national-security-minister-provocative-1110508911.html US Says Visit of Israels National Security Minister Provocative US Says Visit of Israels National Security Minister Provocative The United States has condemned the visit of Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir to the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, the US State Department said. Ben-Gvir visited the Temple Mount on Sunday. 2023-05-22T03:21+0000 2023-05-22T03:21+0000 2023-05-22T03:21+0000 world israel israel-gaza conflict us itamar ben-gvir temple mount jerusalem's temple mount temple mount palestine judaism /html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/105594/02/1055940282_0:183:3505:2154_1920x0_80_0_0_4ed312b3d6ee808396c3bec4b250e219.jpg Ben-Gvir, who advocates a tougher stance on the Palestinian issue, visited the Temple Mount on Sunday in what was his second visit since January to the site considered holy in Judaism and Islam alike. "More broadly, we reaffirm the longstanding U.S. position in support of the historic status quo at Jerusalems holy sites and underline Jordans special role as custodian of Muslim holy sites in Jerusalem," Miller added. The US State Department said it was "troubled" by the Israeli governments decision to allow its citizens to establish a permanent presence in the Homesh outpost in the northern West Bank. "This order is inconsistent with both former Prime Minister Sharons written commitment to the Bush Administration in 2004 and the current Israeli governments commitments to the Biden Administration. Advancing Israeli settlements in the West Bank is an obstacle to the achievement of a two-state solution," Miller said. Earlier on Sunday, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) followed Egypt and Jordan in their strong condemnation of the visit by Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir to the Temple Mount. Relations between Israel and Palestine have been adversarial since the founding of Israel in 1948. Palestinians seek diplomatic recognition of their independent state on the territories of the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, which is partially occupied by Israel, and the Gaza Strip. The Israeli government has refused to recognize Palestine as an independent political and diplomatic entity, and has been constructing settlements in the occupied areas despite objections from the United Nations. israel temple mount jerusalem's temple mount Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 2023 Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 News en_EN Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 1920 1080 true 1920 1440 true 1920 1920 true Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 Sputnik International us, israel, palestine, israeli-palestinian conflict, israeli national security minister itamar ben-gvir, temple mount, jerusalem, islam, judaism, us state department https://sputnikglobe.com/20230522/watch-msta-s-howitzers-hammer-ukrainian-armored-vehicles--artillery-1110510941.html WATCH: Msta-S Howitzers Hammer Ukrainian Armored Vehicles & Artillery WATCH: Msta-S Howitzers Hammer Ukrainian Armored Vehicles & Artillery The Russian Defense Ministry has released a video of the 2S19M2 Msta-S 152-mm self-propelled howitzers hitting Ukrainian armed forces lightly armored vehicles and an artillery battery. 2023-05-22T09:20+0000 2023-05-22T09:20+0000 2023-05-22T09:20+0000 russia's special operation in ukraine video ukraine russia russian defense ministry msta-s howitzer /html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/105432/44/1054324420_0:52:1200:727_1920x0_80_0_0_1d5fbe13b19a781846e9d20ba11cea43.jpg The Russian Defense Ministry has released a video of the 2S19M2 Msta-S 152-mm self-propelled howitzers hitting the Kiev regime's lightly armored vehicles and an artillery battery.After receiving the coordinates of the targets, the self-propelled howitzer unit moved into its firing positions. The crews unleashed their firepower on the targets, successfully wiping out all of them.The strike was carried out with high-explosive fragmentation munitions at a range of more than 20 km. Fire control and target acquisition were carried out by unmanned aerial vehicles. ukraine russia Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 2023 Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 News en_EN Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 1920 1080 true 1920 1440 true 1920 1920 true Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 Sputnik International russian defense ministry, ukrainian armed forces, armored vehicles https://sputnikglobe.com/20230522/why-is-bakhmut-called-artemovsk-and-whats-its-true-story-1110519902.html Why is Bakhmut Called Artemovsk and What's Its True Story? Why is Bakhmut Called Artemovsk and What's Its True Story? For months, the Artemovsk (Bakhmut) "meat grinder" has been the center of world's attention. On May 20, 2023, at noon, the city was fully liberated by the Russian military forces. What is so special about Bakhmut? 2023-05-22T16:39+0000 2023-05-22T16:39+0000 2023-05-22T16:39+0000 sputnik explains russia europe vladimir lenin stepan bandera kiev donetsk ukraine communist party nazi /html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e7/04/0c/1109386627_0:0:3049:1716_1920x0_80_0_0_0b945afcdc47f2d341e1ca62ba2c26bf.jpg Even though the Kiev regime admitted the loss of Artemovsk, the Western press is not eager to acknowledge the profound defeat of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. As per The New York Times, the capture of Artemovsk is only a "symbolic victory": "controlling it would not necessarily help Moscow" towards its larger stated goals, the newspaper claims, referring to Russia's plans of liberating the Donbass region.For starters, let's find out what Artemovsk is, why it is called Bakhmut, and what its story is.What is the History of Bakhmut?The city is located on the Bakhmut-Turetskaya Upland of the Donetsk ridge on the Bakhmutka River, 89 kilometers northeast of Donetsk.Believe it or not, Bakhmut is an ancient Russian city. The first official mention of Bakhmut goes back to 1571, when the Russian czar, Ivan the Terrible, ordered the creation of border fortifications along the Aidar and Seversky Donets rivers, to protect the southern border of the Russian state from Crimean-Nogai slave raids. One of these strongholds, "storozha," was named after the nearby Bakhmutka River, a tributary of the Seversky Donets, and located at the mouth of a stream called the Chornyi Zherebets.Vast salt deposits were later discovered there. Russian Emperor Peter the Great stepped up the development of the salt deposits in the region: in 1703, by his order, a new fortress was built on the Bakhmutka River. However, two years later, a detachment of Don Cossacks led by Kondraty Bulavin captured the Bakhmut salt works and destroyed the fortress amid the so-called Bulavin uprising of 1707-1708. Having curbed the turmoil, Peter the Great ordered the construction of new fortifications. In 1710, an earthen fortress was laid on the left bank of the Bakhmutka River; it later was expanded and strengthened.In 1876, new large reserves of rock salt were discovered in the Bakhmut region. Eventually, the number of mines substantially increased, and in 1874 a salt plant was launched there, producing approximately 32.7 million kilograms of salt per year. By the beginning of the 20th century, there were more than 70 small industrial enterprises in the city, as well as four salt mines that were part of the Bakhmut salt syndicate. Metalworking has also developed.Is it Bakhmut or Artemovsk?Following the Great October Revolution of 1917, one of the revolutionary leaders, Vladimir Lenin decided to incorporate the historically Russian Donbass region into the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic. In 1918, the Donetsk-Krivoy Rog Soviet Republic was founded: the idea of the Donbass communists was to maintain the region's autonomy within the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic.However, in a March 4, 1918 letter to the Extraordinary Commissioner of Ukraine, Sergo Ordzhonikidze, Lenin criticized the desire of the inhabitants of Donbass to join the Russian SFSR. In the end, the Communist Party decided to make Donbass a part of Ukraine. As per historians, Lenin wanted to "dilute" the peasant population of the Ukrainian SSR with "Donbas proletarians" who supported the Bolsheviks. Due to this politico-social engineering, Bakhmut turned into a Ukrainian city.In 1920, the city became the administrative center of the Donetsk province of the Ukrainian SSR, while in September 1924, Bakhmut was renamed Artemovsk in honor of Communist Party statesman and founder of the Donetsk-Krivoy Rog Soviet Republic Fyodor Sergeev, known under the pseudonym "Comrade Artem." The Bakhmut district also received the name "Artemovsky."Following the collapse of the USSR in 1991, Artemovsk became part of the Donetsk region of a newly established state, Ukraine. After the US-backed February 2014 coup d'etat in Kiev, the Donbass region didnt accept the junta's illegitimate ouster of then-Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich, the banning of the Russian language, glorification of Nazi collaborators Stepan Bandera and Roman Shchukhevych, and other Russophobic policies.During the course of the Donbass resistance, some parts of the region managed to break away from Kiev. Others fell under the control of the Kiev regime during Ukraine's so-called "anti-terror operation" against dissenting civilians in Eastern Ukraine. So did Artemovsk.In 2015, Artemovsk was renamed as Bakhmut as part of the Kiev regime's "de-communization" policies and the overall bid to distance it from Russia and shared Russo-Ukrainian history. Ironically, the city has regained its old Russian name.What is so Special About Bakhmut?Over the course of the Russian special military operation, Artemovsk (Bakhmut) turned into nothing short of a "meat-grinder." Despite the Western press' current downplaying of the significance of Artemovsk's liberation, the Ukrainian leadership made every effort to maintain control over the city. Remarkably, while saying that Russia's victory is merely "symbolic," the Western media nonetheless report that Kiev is scrambling to "encircle it" and take it back. But what's the fuss if the city is so "unimportant"?Speaking to Sputnik in January 2023, Mark Sleboda, a US military veteran and international affairs and security analyst, explained that, first, "being kind of right in the center of the Donetsk region, Bakhmut (Artemovsk) has often been called the key to Donetsk."Second, Bakhmut was the linchpin of the entire second line of defense of the Kiev regime, the US military veteran continued. "After that, there's only one last defensive line in Donetsk of any major node between Slavyansk and Kramatorsk, further to the west," Sleboda noted, adding that the liberation of Artemovsk would open the door to further advances of the Russian military forces in other directions.Third, the city's liberation ensures greater control of the Donetsk-Seversky Canal, which provides water to Donetsk city: the Kiev regime cut off the water supply to Donetsk five years ago.The city has been of utmost importance to both sides since the beginning of the special military operation. Hence, the entire conflict has long centered on what happened there; and it is precisely for this reason that Kiev sent tens of thousands of reinforcements into the city to preserve control over this geostrategic and logistic hub.Now, Kiev's loss of Artemovsk may also make a dent in the West's determination to funnel weapons to Ukraine, according to retired US Air Force Lt. Col. Karen Kwiatkowski.Taking control of Artemovsk was a military victory that shows Russia is winning, US military expert and former US Marine Corps intelligence officer Scott Ritter told Sputnik on Sunday. "Russia has developed tactical operational and strategic advantages over Kiev that make it almost impossible for Ukraines forces to be able to amass military power of sufficient quantity to carry out a sustained offensive operation," Ritter said, adding that future developments will show how Russia will use its new geostrategic advantage. https://sputnikglobe.com/20230521/zelensky-acknowledges-loss-of-artemovsk---reports-1110496911.html https://sputnikglobe.com/20230509/mariupol-residents-reveal-how-kiev-nazis-turned-sacred-may-9-victory-day-into-massacre-in-2014-1110164374.html https://sputnikglobe.com/20230521/russias-liberation-of-artemovsk-indicates-kievs-strategy-has-failed-1110494374.html https://sputnikglobe.com/20230521/scott-ritter-liberation-of-artemovsk-a-military-victory-that-shows-russia-is-winning-1110496423.html russia kiev donetsk ukraine Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 2023 Ekaterina Blinova Ekaterina Blinova News en_EN Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 1920 1080 true 1920 1440 true 1920 1920 true Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 Ekaterina Blinova why is bakhmut called artemovsk, what is bakhmut known for, what is the history of the bahmut, history of the bahmut, bakhmut or artemovsk OSLO, May 22 (Xinhua) -- The Norwegian city of Stavanger is set to offer free public transport to its residents from July onwards. The municipality of Stavanger in southwest Norway has allocated 200 million Norwegian Kroner (18.4 million U.S. dollars) to the project, Mayor Kari Nessa Nordtun said on Monday. The public will be able to use all buses, boats, and trains in the city free of charge for an entire year. The initiative is aimed at tackling an increase in car traffic, and promoting the use of sustainable transport in Norway's fourth-largest city. "By reducing the reliance on cars, the city aims to diminish its carbon footprint and alleviate congestion during peak hours, benefiting both the environment and motorists," the mayor said. Vehicle traffic in Stavanger is rising due to population growth and a thriving business sector. Therefore, the local government has set a target of ensuring that at least 70 percent of passenger journeys are conducted on foot, by bicycle, or on public transport. The provision of free public transport will provide a powerful incentive for achieving this goal. The final budget and technical details of the initiative are set to be approved at a municipal council meeting on June 19. Driver Trevor Henry utilized the pylon post with Fourever Boy and procured a pocket ride to glory when he then shot through the open stretch and took the $262,000 Charles Juravinski Memorial Cup, for pacing four-year-olds, on Sunday night (May 21) at Flamboro Downs. The complexion of the race changed earlier in the evening when morning line choice Bythemissal was a scratch due to sickness, allowing Ron to draw in and leave from post three. Camara Moment (Doug McNair) motored from post eight to take the lead while odds-on favourite Birthday (Yannick Gingras) struggled to find position through the first turn. He eventually found cover from Frozen Hanover (Louis-Philippe Roy), who pushed forward first over through a :27.2 first quarter in pursuit of the lead but was denied control by Camara Moment coming to the half. Frozen Hanover stayed alongside Camara Moment through a :54.4 half, though the torrid tempo took its toll and Frozen Hanover started backing through the field up the backstretch. Birthday sprung three-wide around the fader to go nose to nose with Camara Moment at three-quarters in 1:23.2. And through all this action, Fourever Boy sat in the pocket waiting to make a move. Racetrack opened into the stretch and Henry hustled the fresh legs of the four-year-old Sweet Lou stallion through the inside and zipped clear to a 1-1/4-length victory in 1:51.3. Camara Moment clung to finish second in a dead-heat with fast-charging Layton Hanover (Jody Jamieson), with Pleaseletmeknow (James MacDonald) closing wide on the track for fourth. Going into the last turn, I had thoughts of getting out, said Trevor Henry, who picked up the drive on Fourever Boy after Dexter Dunn qualified him for the final. Dougie [McNair]s horse [Camara Moment] was pacing the turns better, so I figured hell carry me to the head of the stretch and he did. And when we came to the stretch, Dougies kind of drifted out a bit, I got up the inside nice and easy and it worked out great. Fourever Boy squeaked into the Juravinski Memorial final after finishing fifth in his elimination to Birthday last week. I expected him to be way better, trainer Tim Twaddle said after the race. Deep down, I was obviously was dreaming about winning the race, but second-guessing myself after last week of course. I spoke to Dexter a couple times through the week and made a few changes. I did a small shoeing change, we did a little vet work. He was just much sharper coming into the race. Fourever Boy races for owners Micki Rae Stables LLC and Tim Twaddle. In his march to millionaire status, Fourever Boy collected his sixth victory from 39 starts. His earnings currently sit at $910,961. He paid $11 to win. Silver Label led pillar to post in the $50,000 Margaret Juravinski Memorial to stop the clock in 1:52.3. Driver James MacDonald cleared control from Need To Breathe to a :27 first quarter and toyed with her competition from that point onward. Past a solid :55.4 half, Silver Label strolled up the backstretch with Need To Breathe growing increasingly antsy from the pocket and Goudawon making steady gains first over to three-quarters in 1:23.4. Goudawon began a retreat from first over around the final turn and gave room for Need To Breathe to lay her attack at the top of the stretch. But MacDonald turned for home with Silver Label and caught a two-length cushion while Need To Breathe gathered her momentum while drifting on the outside. Need To Breathe came charging late, though MacDonald had the race measured and Silver Label won by a half length. Raptors Won rallied from second over to finish third and Intothemysticmoon settled for fourth. Nick Gallucci trains Silver Label, a four-year-old mare by Bettors Delight, for owner-breeder Millar Farms. She won her 15th race from 27 starts and has now earned $912,989. Silver Label paid $2.40 to win. Sundays stakes card at Flamboro also featured four divisions of Ontario Sires Stakes Grassroots for sophomore trotting colts and geldings. The Hazelton opened the card with a first-over powerhouse performance as the 1-5 favourite in the first Grassroots division. Oceanview Massey motored from post eight to lead the field by a :28 first quarter while driver Bob McClure settled The Hazelton into third. But approaching a slowed half in :58.2, McClure angled The Hazelton first up and matched strides with the leader through the third turn and up the backstretch. The Hazelton took a narrow lead to three-quarters in 1:26.3 and widened his lead through the final turn as Oceanview Massey folded to win by 3-3/4 lengths in 1:55.2. Busting With Pride, off a pocket ride, took second and Fox Valley Ontario finished third. Mark Etsell trains and co-owns The Hazelton with Terry Devos, Graham Hopkins and Peter Porter. The Muscle Mass colt won his fifth race from seven starts. He paid $2.50 to win. Division two saw 1-5 choice Resolve To Win blow away his rivals. Driver Scott Young nursed the Resolve gelding to a :28 first quarter and sat patiently off leader Kinnder Thinktwice, who cruised to a :57.4 half. Young charged Resolve To Win off the pylons up the backstretch and put away Kinnder Thinktwice past three-quarters in 1:27.3 to open to a romp. Resolve To Win coasted to the finish and registered an eight-length victory in 1:57.1 over Kinnder Thinktwice with Jeronimo taking third and pocket-sitter Wolinak inheriting fourth. Matt Bax trains Resolve To Win for owners Bax Stable, Brad Grant, Gaelic Stable and Don Allensen. He won his fourth race from 11 starts. Resolve To Win paid $2.40 to win. Floyd The Freak posted the first front-stepping win of the Grassroots division by holding a nose decision in a 1:58 win in the third division. Leaving from post two, driver Ed Hensley planted Floyd The Freak on the front to a :29.1 first quarter with Rough Tuff Tested, out of post eight, securing the pocket. Floyd The Freak faced no challenge to a :59 half and escaped three-quarters unpressured to clock by in 1:28.3 and ready for a two-pronged assault into the stretch. Winning Muscle angled first over and Rough Tuff Tested dove inside, both of whom dug deeper and deeper into Floyd The Freak. Though the Ashleigh Hensley trainee stayed resolute and kept a nose in front at the finish of Winning Muscle with Rough Tuff Tested finishing a head off the winner in third. Timonier took fourth. Floyd The Freak is a homebred for Ed and Ashleigh Hensley. The Archangel gelding collected his fifth victory from 11 starts. He paid $11.50 to win. Matt Bax scored another Grassroots win in the final division with the Muscle Mass gelding Deadline Hall, who posted a 1:56.4 win. The Great Reset asserted for the front while Stonebridge Jasper yielded into the pocket out of post seven to a :27.4 first quarter with Deadline Hall sitting behind in third. Past a :58 half, driver Chris Christoforou lunged with Deadline Hall to press the leader to three-quarters in 1:27.4 and stalled through the final turn to have a near two-length deficit spinning for home. But upon straightening, Deadline Hall gathered his momentum and mowed down The Great Reset to put a neck in front at the beam. Cruising Tom followed the winners move along the rim to take third and Stonebridge Jasper settled for fourth. Deadline Hall races for owners Bax Stable, Steve Organ and Rick Heinz. The gelding collected his second win from 14 starts. He paid $3 to win. A replay of COSA TV's broadcast of the Charles Juravinski Memorial Cup is available below: To view Sunday's harness racing results, click the following link: Sunday Results - Flamboro Downs. On Sunday afternoon (May 21) at Harrahs Philadelphia, the main attractions were a world record and a track record in odd-distance races along with a sharp win in the $20,000 Open Trot by Pappardelle in 1:52.2. Pappardelle, the winner of the Brennan Series final at Yonkers on April 26 and away from the races since then, showed no rust in fronting his field in a 1:52.2 in the $20,000 Open Handicap Trot. Wide early and out to the :27 quarter before grabbing control of the engine, the gelded son of Wishing Stone put up middle splits of :56 and 1:24 under the guidance of Joe Bongiorno, then marched home unthreatened 3-3/4 lengths ahead of Yanks Dugout, who photoed favoured Yall Beneath Me. Pappardelle has now won his last four starts and six of his last seven. His success here boosted the Jenn Bongiorno trainee, owned by The Delaware Group, Joe Sbrocco, JB Racing and JAF Racing LLC, to $219,457. Dirt On My Boots broke the world pacing record for five-eighths of a mile on a five-eighths-mile track with a 1:06.3 victory at the sprint distance. The former world record, 1:06.4, was set by Rose Run Uriah at Dover Downs earlier this year, and the track record of 1:07.1 by Toatsmygoats was obviously also eclipsed. The world record sprint was strictly a two-horse affair between the two favourites Hes Rockin Ralphie was rockin and rollin in posting amazing fractions of :26 and :52.3, with Dirt On My Boots gradually narrowing in the latter stages. Dirt In My Boots caught the pacesetter by 1-1/4 lengths under the handling of Simon Allard for trainer Jody Dunning and owners Paul Piper Reid and Alvin Stafford. Another odd distance race altered another line in the Philly record books, as Mister Boinga took control on the second of four turns and trotted 1-1/4 miles in 2:26.1, breaking a co-held mark of 2:27 that was set within three races of each other on Oct. 13, 2016 by Xtatic Hanover and Valley Of Sin. Mister Boinga won by 4-1/4 lengths for driver Pat Berry, trainer Jill Roland and owner Bernard OBrien. Berry and Tim Tetrick tied for the days driving honours with three victories. Racing this coming week will be held on Wednesday through Friday at 12:25 p.m. (EDT) and Sunday at 12:40 p.m. This next Sunday (May 28), Harrahs Philadelphia is proud to host what may be the best card of North American harness racing so far this year three $100,000 Invitationals in the Maxie Lee Trot, the Joseph Auger Pace and the Betsy Ross Pace for distaffs, along with the glamour division of the Pennsylvania-sired program, the three-year-old pacing colts, in both Sire Stakes and Stallion Series competition (the card to be drawn Wednesday). (PHHA/Harrah's Philadelphia) Gift this article Share this article paywall-free. JEFFERSONTONCulpeper Hemp Company held a grand opening celebration last week at the Death Ridge Brewery. Culpeper County Chamber of Commerce hosted the May 18 ribbon ceremony for its first-ever cannabis business member. We find that a lot of people are curious about this plant and want to know more, said Culpeper Hemp founder Maxwell Cranford. The new, local enterprise will operate as a mobile business that will come to people interested in buying seeds and plants. Cranford will also offer cannabis growing education for those learning how to grow the plant made legal in 2021 for 21-and-older recreational use. Virginians, by state law, are also permitted to grow up to four of their own cannabis plants for personal usewith various rules in place. According to Cranford, his journey to opening his business began when he was a kid and realized he wanted to do two things in lifehelp people and to grow plants. He moved to Colorado at age 17 and got his degree in horticulture. It was as he graduated that the centennial state legalized cannabis in 2012, which led Cranford to cultivating the plant for the last 11 years. Cranford came out to Virginia in 2020 to work for Beyond Hello as its Director of Cultivation at the companys medicinal grow house in Manassas. Virginia legalized marijuana in the commonwealth through the Farm Bill of 2018. Beyond Hello is a Colorado-based company that has spread out to other areas such as Fairfax and Sterling over the last few years. When I got there, there were no plants and no people, says Cranford. When I left in August 2022 there was a department of 30 folks and they were harvesting every two weeks. It was quite a lot. Cranford decided to start Culpeper Hemp Company in order to help the local community learn about the plant. He feels that although legalization is going in the right direction there are still things that have to be done. Cranford believes education is important in order to become more passionate about the plant. Culpeper is no stranger to cannabis, Mamas Help was a presence on North Main Street until the end of 2022. Al Green, a local cultivator, commented on the opening of Culpeper Hemp Company, Its going to bring out whats already there legally and encourage discussion. Not only that, but its a venue where someone can buy what they need to cultivate, cannabis, or learn about it. Things are changing. Green said how the opening of cannabis companies like Culpeper Hemp is the sign of a paradigm shift from the anti-cannabis attitudes of the past. He was also encouraged by potential jobs that could be grown in the industry due to the spread of education on the plant by Cranford and his company. Culpeper County Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Amy Frazier commented on the grand opening, Its really exciting for us to have Culpeper Hemp Company as a new member and to welcome them into the Culpeper business community. Its been a pleasure to get to know Maxwell and his team, hes doing amazing work and hes coming from a really great place and its great to watch his business grow. Cranford plans to continue to grow his business by increasing the number of classes and consultations on cannabis. During the grand opening, Cranford expressed his hopes for the expansion of cannabis and education by riffing on a famous quote made by Herbert Hoover. A hemp in every home, but only if youre above 21, said Cranford. Culpeper Hemp Companys next event will be an in-person cannabis cultivation class at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday at Frannys Farmacy, located at 7128 Farm Station Road in Warrenton. Gift this article Share this article paywall-free. The Basic Law Enforcement Training (BLET) graduation held at Mitchell Community College Continuing Education building was filled with family, friends, and loved ones to celebrate officers who are heading into the workforce. Dr. Tim Brewer, president of Mitchell Community College, opened the ceremony by thanking everyone for attending. We are grateful for the service that you will provide, said Brewer, talking to cadets. Todd Carver, director of basic law enforcement training, welcomed everyone for coming out to celebrate officers who were graduating. Carver thanked all the instructors who have been working with the program for a long time and said he is honored to have them as part of the group. Students that are a part of the BLET program have to complete all 36 block requirements in which there was a 100 percent passing rate. All police officers who are graduating tonight are hired to work for agencies, Carver announced. Carver thanked families for being the support that officers need to get through this rigorous work and training to prepare themselves for the job. Having support matters, Carver told the families. Carver then addressed cadets and gave them words of advice and encouragement for moving on within their professions. Be the officer you wish you ran into before entering BLET, Carver said. Education is one thing that people cannot take away from you. Two class spokespeople, Cadets Canaan LeVan and Cody Duke, were nominated by Carver to give a small speech at the ceremony. LeVan thanked all the families and BLET graduates for coming together to celebrate their accomplishments. To my classmates, I want to thank you for pushing me and supporting me to become a better person and leader, said LeVan. Duke, president and leader for the full time BLET, thanked everyone for coming out to celebrate. I know that all of my classmates have a bright future, said Duke. Gordon Knight, the keynote speaker, gave words of advice for graduating cadets for their journey in the future. They have been a wonderful group and I am proud of them, said Knight, who challenged family members to support officers as they are going to miss out on life events, holidays, birthdays, and more. I ask you to support them, said Knight. Its just a part of the job to miss out on such events. Knight concluded his speech by thanking everyone for coming to celebrate this milestone. Awards were presented to cadets for outstanding work accomplished through the program. Larry Hilton presented the firearms award to Stephen Gordon and David Geiken. There were a lot of stressful situations in which they had to learn how to use a firearm, said Hilton. Alan Cranford handed out awards for the highest grade point average to Gordon and Joshua Ammons. Carver gave out awards to the highest score on the state exams to Justin Cochran and John Dooley. The ceremony concluded with family and friends applauding and cheering for the officers who will be serving the community and for the next step in their future. This is a fantastic and telling story of a wealthy industrialist. The story goes that he bought a zoo and wanted to exhibit an animal that others considered uncatchable a specific type of gazelle. With entourage in tow, the industrialist soon set off for Africa to find the animal. And, with a little patience, he easily caught not just one, but an entire heard. Haunting, here, however, are the implications on human behavior. What would you give up? When he was asked how he knew how to catch them, he said something that chills me to the bone: I treat animals the same way I treat people: I give them what they want. I give them food and shelter. In exchange, they give me their beauty and their freedom. -Andy Andrews, The Seven Decisions Gift this article Share this article paywall-free. Tom Jackson called her a pistol. Her shot in the arm will help students for generations. On Thursday afternoon, Jackson, a Carroll County attorney and former state delegate, announced that a one-time client, Janie (Dolly) Hale Gentry, had donated $1,338,000 to Wytheville Community College for scholarships and a capital improvement project. It was the largest one-time donation since the college started. A Grayson County native, Gentry, who died in 2018, was a teacher, school social worker, guidance counselor, assistant principal and principal. She was also an author and active in her church. Jackson, who managed her estate and got to appreciate her feisty personality, said education and kids were her passions. Her late husband, Penick, was also an educator and helped establish schools in other countries for U.S. corporations doing business there. They went all over the world, Jackson said. Mrs. Gentry was known during her life for generosity and service to others, Jackson said in a release. In her death that legacy continues. She was a remarkable woman, dedicated to making her community a better place in which to live. According to WCC officials, the Penick and Janie Hale Gentry Memorial Scholarship Endowment will provide student scholarships with preference to Grayson County students. WCC President Dean Sprinkle said the college was exploring several different options for capital improvements. As our world, our economy and technology continue to change at a rapid pace, the types of teaching spaces needed continues to change, he said in a release. This gift will help us renovate existing spaces or build, lease or purchase new types of learning spaces, on the Wytheville campus or in the Twin County area. WCC is truly honored that Mrs. Gentry chose through her estate to share resources with us. Thursdays announcement also kicked off the colleges 60th anniversary celebration and fundraising drive. Upcoming activities include an anniversary gala in August and the induction of new members into the Distinguished Alumni Hall of Honor. The amazing gift from the Gentry estate is a significant beginning to our campaign, said Rhonda Catron-Wood, WCCs vice president of academics and institutional advancement. We sincerely appreciate Mrs. Gentrys generosity. Founded in 1963 as a branch of Virginia Tech, WCC had 2,820 students enrolled during the most-recent academic year. The college has 92 full-time employees, including 32 full-time faculty members. The college recently announced the opening of WCC WEST in Marion, which will house several new short-term workforce programs. Tahrir al-Sham aspires to establish a contemporary Islamic state and align with the west, according to al-Souria Net. The leader of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham is actively seeking to shed the terrorist label, sending two significant messages to the West, as shared by journalist Wassim Nasr of France 24. Nasr recently visited Idleb where he met with al-Julani and Tahrir al-Sham leader Abu Maria al-Qahtani. According to Nasrs report, Julani stated that his group is no longer committed to the principles of global jihad, recognizing that it only brings destruction and failure to their communities. Nasr also quoted Julani, who expressed a clear understanding of his groups strengths and weaknesses. In an interview with the Counterterrorism Center at West Point Academy, Nasr stated, There is a noteworthy shift occurring. A jihadist group and its leaders are distancing themselves from anything associated with global jihad. We dont want to fight the West Julanis statements align with those of Qahtani, a prominent leader within Tahrir al-Sham. Nasr reports that Qahtani expressed a desire to move away from perpetual warfare and emphasized that Tahrir al-Sham does not seek conflict with the West, but rather aims to combat those who pose a threat to the West from their region. Qahtani further stated that Tahrir al-Sham employs not only force but also persuasion to dissuade young individuals from joining the Islamic State and al-Qaeda, showcasing a functioning and viable alternative. Qahtani publicly called for the dissolution of Qaeda and even reached out to the Yemeni branch, urging them to cease their activities. The leader questioned the purpose of Qaedas leadership in Iran, referring to them as the sword of justice, expressing a desire for Tahrir al-Sham to retain its Sunni identity rather than being influenced by Iran. Nasr emphasizes that Tahrir al-Shams fight against Qaeda and the Islamic State is not merely to appease the Western audience but is rooted in the belief that these projects are inherently flawed. Nasr also notes that Tahrir al-Sham views foreign fighters as a strategic asset, prepared to confront the challenges posed by them. Modern Islamic State According to Nasr, Tahrir al-Sham aspires to establish a contemporary Islamic state and has already established ministries. However, these offices are currently limited in size and sometimes unoccupied, indicating a strong determination to take action. Nasr shares insights from individuals within the Salvation Government associated with Tahrir al-Sham, who expressed a desire for political support from the international community, along with skilled individuals who can contribute to building the administrative infrastructure. Their goal is not merely to rebuild but to create an entirely new system from the ground up. This article was translated and edited by The Syrian Observer. The Syrian Observer has not verified the content of this story. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, May 21) Majority of farmlands in the country have low soil fertility, or the ability to sustain plant growth, the Department of Agriculture (DA) reported Saturday. Bureau of Soil and Water Management chief agriculturist Karen Bautista said 82% of farmlands in the country have moderate to low levels of soil fertility, based on the agencys National Soil Fertility Mapping Project. Ten years ago, nasamoderate levels of soil fertility iyong ating mga kalupaan. So, patuloy po na nadi-degrade, nagkakaroon po ng degradation over the years due to some unsustainable agricultural practices, Bautista said in a statement. [Translation: Ten years ago, the soil fertility of our lands was at moderate level. So, it continues to degrade. There is a degradation over the years due to some unsustainable agriculture practices.] She added that the countrys farmland soil lacks major nutrients such as nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. Bautista stressed that the improper use of imported synthetic fertilizers has contributed to soil acidity. Yung ating imported synthetic fertilizers nagko-contribute po iyan sa acidity ng ating lupa kung mali ang paggamit hindi right time, hindi right amount, hindi right rate, Bautista said. [Translation: Imported synthetic fertilizers contribute to the acidity of soil of our farmlands if used improperly not in the right time, right amount nor right rate.] To address the problem with the farmland soil, the agriculture department urged farmers to use a combination of organic fertilizers and biofertilizers through a balanced fertilization strategy and crop diversification. Various difficulties hinder the prosecution of Assad's executioners in the Netherlands, according to Syria TV. A Dutch newspaper article has revealed the challenges of prosecuting Syrian regime torturers residing in the Netherlands. It is reported that dozens of individuals who committed crimes of torture and other violations in the regimes detention centers now live in the country. However, bringing them to justice proves to be a difficult task. The article shares the story of a Syrian refugee who was shocked to encounter one of Assads executioners, who had tortured him in prison, in the Netherlands. Despite providing information to the Dutch International Crimes Team, the refugee has received no updates on the case. Investigations suggest that there are numerous other Assad torturers residing in the Netherlands, identified either by their victims or through the Syrian community. However, legal and procedural obstacles make it challenging to trace and prosecute these individuals. The article highlights that a non-governmental organization assisting Syrian victims in filing lawsuits has already reported several cases to Dutch authorities. Human rights activists hope that more torturers will be held accountable in the future. Nevertheless, vp. One major challenge is gathering conclusive evidence of their crimes in Syria, including eyewitness testimonies and corroborating documents. Victims often face threats and fear reprisals, leading some to be reluctant to testify or disclose their identities. Identifying and tracing the executioners also proves to be a daunting task, hampering the pursuit of justice. The Dutch Public Prosecution Service faces legal restrictions, as both the victim and perpetrator must be present in the Netherlands to file a lawsuit. Even when a lawsuit is initiated, the available evidence and witnesses may not be sufficient to prove the heinous crimes committed by these individuals. Witnesses and victims also face the added challenge of potential threats from supporters of the Syrian regime, even within the Netherlands. Fear of reprisals further inhibits witnesses from revealing their identities and speaking freely. The article further notes an imbalance in the focus on prosecuting Assads executioners compared to members of the Islamic State. Despite the Syrian regime being responsible for the majority of violations and crimes, attention and resources for their trials appear to be limited. In conclusion, the article sheds light on the multiple obstacles impeding the prosecution of Assads executioners in the Netherlands. Overcoming these challenges and achieving justice for the victims of these brutal crimes requires significant efforts. This article was translated and edited by The Syrian Observer. The Syrian Observer has not verified the content of this story. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author. Your daily brief of the English-speaking press on Syria. After being isolated for over a decade, Bashar al-Assad, the president of Syria, made a significant return to the Arab League. He attended the blocs 32nd summit in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, marking his first participation since Syrias suspension in 2011 due to the outbreak of war. Despite protests in rebel-held areas of northern Syria against his presence, al-Assad viewed the summit as a momentous opportunity to address regional crises. In his speech, he expressed hopes for a new phase of Arab solidarity, emphasizing peace, development, and prosperity rather than conflict and devastation. The reintegration of Syria into the League highlights the resurgence of authoritarian rule in the Middle East, which has become more pronounced over a decade after the Arab Spring uprisings. This development raises questions about the progress made towards democratic governance and the protection of human rights, as the Arab Spring originally sought to address these issues. G7 leaders reject normalization with Syria, support the anti-ISIS mission In a statement, the G7 leaders meeting in Japan called out normalization with the Syrian government but reaffirmed their commitment to a political solution as well as their support for anti-ISIS operations in northeast Syria. North Press reported that the leaders of the US, Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Canada, and Japan (as well as the European Union) met in Hiroshima between May 19-21. Syria is mentioned among other global issues included in a concluding communique. We reaffirm that the international community should only consider normalization and reconstruction assistance once there is authentic and enduring progress towards a political solution, the statement reads. We remain firmly committed to an inclusive, UN-facilitated political process consistent with UNSC Res. 2254, the statement read. It furthermore endorsed the work of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) and demanded unfettered access of humanitarian aid to all Syrians, including UN cross-border aid. Direct UN cross-border aid to northeast Syria was suspended by Russian and Chinese vetoes in 2020. In opposition-held northwest Syria, a special mechanism has to be renewed every six months. Russia has repeatedly threatened to cut off this aid access. We remain committed to the enduring defeat of ISIS, the G7 statement added, including durable solutions for ISIS detainees and displaced persons remaining in Northeast Syria. Betrayed and let down: Syrians react as Assad is welcomed back to Arab fold Adela Suliman and Missy Ryan wrote a piece for The Washington Post, in which they blame the Arab governments for letting down the Syrian people. The two writers monitored reactions and feedback from Syrian rights activists. Razan Saffour, a British Syrian human rights activist, expressed deep disappointment in the international community, stating that they had completely failed the Syrian people. Her assessment came as Syrian President Bashar al-Assad was welcomed back to the Arab League after an 11-year suspension, a symbolic triumph for a leader accused of heinous crimes during the ongoing civil war. Many Syrians affected by the conflict felt betrayed and believed that their suffering had been forgotten and erased. While some Arab countries had previously supported rebel factions, Assad has regained control with the help of Iran-backed militias and Russian air power, leading to a normalization of diplomatic relations. Saudi Arabias Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, while acknowledging the years of struggle in Syria, expressed hope that Assads reintegration would bring stability to the region. The Arab Leagues embrace of Assad highlighted a divergence with the United States, which maintained its policy of isolation and pressure against him. The international communitys focus on other crises, such as the coronavirus pandemic and Russias invasion of Ukraine, has left many Syrians feeling neglected. Protests against Assads participation in the Arab League summit erupted within Syria, with opposition-held cities witnessing demonstrations expressing outrage. While Assads reintegration may provide some economic benefits to the struggling nation, critics argued that normalizing relations with him was a betrayal to the victims and their families. Despite the positive response from pro-Assad social media users, the Biden administration and European allies remained committed to isolating and pressuring Assad due to the immense loss of life and displacement caused by the war. While Assads return to the international stage may have economic implications for Syria, it also sends a dangerous message to other authoritarian leaders. Syrian activists, including Razan Saffour, expressed skepticism about any significant improvement in the political situation and highlighted the need for self-reliance and resilience among Syrians. The lasting memories of loved ones and the strength drawn from shared experiences were sources of inspiration for some, but the overall sentiment among those interviewed was one of betrayal and disappointment in the international communitys response to the Syrian conflict. Erdogan Slams Opposition Over Remarks on Withdrawing from Syria Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan criticized the opposition for saying it would withdraw Turkish forces from Syria if they won the elections. Speaking at an electoral event in Istanbul, Erdogan was quoted by Asharq Al-Awsat as saying that the opposition wants to withdraw from the security corridors that Turkiye set up to protect its borders from terrorist organizations. Kilicdaroglu announced restoring relations with Syria if he came to power, and pledged to send back millions of Syrian refugees to their homeland within two years. He also made remarks on the presence of Turkish forces in Syria, Libya, and other regions. Erdogan added in an interview with CNN on Friday that he had a good relationship with the Assad family, and the two families used to meet in the past, but certain developments unfolded, which led to the deterioration of the relationship. We have more than 900 kilometres of border, and there is a constant terror threat from those borders on our country, he said. The only reason we have a military presence on the border is the fight against terrorism. Thats the sole reason. (Through) my friendship with President Putin, we thought we could open a door, specifically in our fight against terrorism in the northern part of Syria, which requires close cooperation and solidarity, he said. Erdogan has dismissed opposition calls for the comprehensive deportation of refugees and said he will encourage around a million refugees to return to Syria instead. He said Turkiye was building infrastructure and homes in Turkish-controlled parts of the war-torn country to facilitate their repatriation. Israel Says Will Continue to Attack Syria Despite Return to Arab League Syrias return to the Arab League will not affect Israels action inside Syrian territory, according to an Israeli official. The official confirmed in a statement that was quoted by Asharq al-Awsat that his government had conveyed clear messages to the international community, stating that Syrias legitimacy would not prevent Tel Aviv from attacking it and would not affect Israels actions. The Israeli security establishment expressed concerns about Syrias readmission into the Arab League after 12 years of suspension. Ynet Hebrew website reported that Defense Minister Yoav Gallant met with senior security officials last week to assess Syrias return to the Arab League. Sources said Israel is waiting to assess the situation, but its policy would not change. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad participated in the 32nd Arab summit held in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on Friday after the Arab League announced the participation of Syrian delegations in its meetings and affiliated bodies and organizations as of May 7. Last Thursday, Israeli warplanes dropped leaflets over the Quneitra area, warning Syrian army commanders to cooperate with Hezbollah. The flyers warned the Syrian regime against cooperating with the Iranian-backed group, saying that regime forces procure security passes at checkpoints for Hezbollah elements threatening Israel. Israel also called on the regime to change its policy of tolerating Hezbollahs presence in the region. Syrias president Bashar al-Assad welcomed back into the fold at the Arab League summit Andrew England in London, Raya Jalabi in Beirut and Samer Al-Atrush in Jeddah wrote a lengthy analysis for The Financial Times. The analysis said that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad attended an Arab League summit in Saudi Arabia, signalling a shift in regional priorities as Arab states seek to normalize relations with Damascus. The move comes over a decade after the Arab League suspended Syria following the violent crackdown on a popular uprising that led to a civil war. Arab states hope to engage Assad in addressing issues that have had regional implications, such as the refugee crisis and the illicit drugs trade. Under the diplomatic efforts led by Saudi Arabia, Arab states aim to implement a scheme to encourage Syrian refugees to return home and persuade Western powers to ease sanctions on Syria. This plan was adopted at a meeting of foreign ministers from Syria, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, and Iraq. Shortly thereafter, Arab states agreed to readmit Syria into the Arab League after a 12-year suspension. The piece went on to say that Assad, embraced by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, stated at the summit that the region had a historic opportunity to reorder affairs with minimal foreign interference. The diplomats involved hope that the refugee scheme, if successful, will facilitate the return of more Syrians and encourage the US and Europe to ease sanctions, enabling reconstruction in the war-torn country. However, there are concerns among human rights advocates regarding the scheme, as it relies on security guarantees from Damascus and may lead to forced returns. Around 6 million Syrians fled the country during the civil war, and a similar number were internally displaced. The re-engagement with the Assad regime has raised worries that premature organized returns could set a dangerous precedent, especially considering previous allegations of abuses and ongoing human rights violations. The Assad regimes behaviour remains a point of skepticism among aid workers and diplomats. While some Arab diplomats see the refugee scheme as a way to test Assads seriousness and willingness to make reforms, others doubt the regimes sincerity. Economic aid has not been discussed yet, as progress on the refugee issue is considered a prerequisite. The majority of Syrian refugees are in Turkey, with hundreds of thousands in Jordan and Lebanon, where they are seen as a burden on weak economies. Concerns about the cross-border trafficking of the highly addictive amphetamine captagon have also prompted regional powers to engage with Assad in hopes of curbing the trade. Arab diplomats have discussed their plans with Western powers but will not lobby for easing sanctions until they witness progress. The Arab-led effort, in coordination with the UN and international stakeholders, will be assessed before further actions are taken. The return of refugees remains a sensitive issue due to security concerns and the precarious situation within Syria, including widespread destruction and a collapsed economy. Syrias Return to Arab Fold Shows Resurgence of Authoritarian Rule The Wall Street Journal published a story this weekend in which it says that Syrias reintegration into the Arab World is a sign of authoritarian rules resurgence. Syrias reintegration into the Arab world reflects the resurgence of authoritarian rule in the Middle East, more than a decade after the Arab Spring uprisings. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad attended an Arab League summit in Saudi Arabia, marking a significant reversal of his countrys suspension from the league in 2011 due to his governments violent crackdown on the uprising, according to WSJ. Many Arab states, following the lead of the West, had distanced themselves from Damascus in response to the uprising against Assad. However, Assads government remains isolated due to its record of human rights abuses, including the use of chemical weapons and attacks on civilians. Millions of Syrians have been displaced, and tens of thousands have been subjected to torture. The Arab Leagues change in stance, facilitated by Saudi Arabia, coincides with a shift in Washingtons influence in the region as it redirects its attention to China and Russia. US allies and partners in the Middle East are increasingly turning to China and Russia for geopolitical matters, and China has brokered diplomatic relations between Saudi Arabia and Iran. The rapprochement between Saudi Arabia and Syria was mediated by Russia. China and Russia are important trade partners for many countries in the Middle East and do not exert the same human rights pressure as the West. Arab states are realizing that the USs interests in the region could be challenged, leading to a reevaluation of alliances and regional dynamics. More than a decade after the Arab Spring, countries that initially saw changes in leadership are now governed by authoritarian leaders or remain fragmented by post-2011 conflicts, such as Egypt, Yemen, and Libya. Even Tunisia, which emerged from the Arab Spring with a stable democracy, is now facing threats to its democratic institutions. Opposition figures argue that President Kais Saied has consolidated power and detained political opponents. Assads regime waged a brutal war, with the support of Russia and Iran, to crush the rebellion and regain control over much of Syria. While large parts of the country remain outside his control, foreign governments supporting the rebellion have dwindled. Saudi Arabia, which initially backed the Syrian rebels, has shifted its focus to bringing Assad back into the Arab diplomatic fold to counter Irans influence and promote trade. Critics, including Arab officials, Western diplomats, human rights activists, and political analysts, argue that Assad has made little effort to address the longstanding issues in Syria. He has resisted political solutions to the civil war and has taken minimal steps to alleviate the humanitarian crisis and curb illicit drug trafficking and radicalized fighters. Arab officials believe that isolating Syria through international policies has been counterproductive, strengthening Irans influence in the region. They emphasize the urgent need to increase the Arab role in Syria and expedite efforts to find a political solution to the crisis, which would also help combat terrorism, extremism, and drug trafficking. The US and its Western allies have made it clear that they will not lift international sanctions on Damascus unless Assad engages in power-sharing discussions and holds free and fair elections. The US House of Representatives is set to vote on a bipartisan bill next week that would expand restrictions on individuals involved in normalizing relations with the Assad regime By highlighting the pressing need to integrate new-age technologies to enhance the agility, stability, and resilience of the business, organizations can considerably speed up their journeys of Digital Transformation.Digital transformations have steeply risen the popularity ladder since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic. Organisations cutting across business sectors have considerably enhanced their investments in digital initiatives and as a result, all mission-critical services of businesses are going through a comprehensive digital revamp. From software to e-commerce and automobile to FMCG, organizations leading their own respective categories are embracing the digital culture and the trend is trickling down to followers and other stakeholders of the business ecosystem.The majority of organisations in the businesses of product categories and service domains operate at three different levels: corporate level, business level, and functional level. Digital transformation has the ability to offer discrete benefits to all these three levels, a competence that makes it unique and holistic in nature.At the corporate level, which is the highest and most important level in terms of its strategic relevance, digital technology brings comprehensive improvements in planning, forecasting, and resource allocation functions. The business level, on the other hand, can utilize the digital approach to effectively segment the market, target the relevant customers, and uniquely position their offerings in the minds of buyers.At the lowest level where the accomplishment of functional procedures and operational mechanisms take place, the digital transformation empowers both the effectiveness and efficiency aspects of implementation. In sum, digital solutions have the potential to benefit all levels of the organization and bring enormous improvements in both strategic initiatives and tactical measures adopted by firms in accordance with their vision and mission.Rising competitive pressures and changing customers interests are setting the tone for prioritising digital solutions over other techniques in organizations. The pressures from within the internal environment are also catalyzing the need for integrating new-age technologies into the work culture of companies. All these cumulative changes arising from both internal and external components of the business environment are pushing leaders to go for a complete revamp of companies existing infrastructure, network capabilities, and legacy systems, thereby enabling and accelerating the digital transformation of organizations across the board.Compared to the old and inefficient legacy systems, digital solutions have the capability to deliver comprehensively better performance and that too by using fewer resources. With the help of digital technologies, leaders can also enable both Brownfield and Greenfield transformations in the business field and can guarantee that both the growth requirements and sustainability needs of businesses can be met effectively.Top management should strive to focus on enhancing the scope of digitalisation of their products and services. To that effect, they should identify the key areas where going virtual can help in delivering superior customer experiences and bring improved performance and efficiency to the table. Digitization will also allow companies to use their manpower more effectively and employ them in areas which are core to their business and offer crucial strategic implications to firms.Contrary to the popular perception of outsourcing, the cloud should be seen from the perspective of a digital scalable platform that allows organisations to increase the level of automation and standardisation across functional departments. The top management should encourage the use of cloud computing and allied services to enhance the overall agility of the business. The cloud also offers the convenience of scalable modular architecture which means new modules can be added to the existing structure of the platform without causing any significant disruption to ongoing processes and procedures.Automation has the capability to enhance both the effectiveness and efficiency of business solutions significantly. No wonder, the overwhelming majority of the top echelons today favour the adoption of automation in their businesses. Further, an encouraging trend that can fuel the next wave of growth in automation is the enhanced use of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML). The use of these inventions can boost both predictive, analytical, and prescriptive modelling capabilities of automation and help businesses make better decisions in light of ever-changing circumstances.Digital solutions can significantly assist companies in their innovation efforts by offering critical inputs throughout the process of new product development (NPD). Cloud computing, for example, can become instrumental in ideating new products while modelling tools powered by AI and ML can help in fast and cost-effective prototyping. Further predictive modelling, data analytics, and software-agnostic capabilities can also contribute to fast, reliable, and relevant innovation for companies.By becoming a front-runner in integrating digital solutions, companies can also encourage their suppliers, partners, and other important stakeholders in the ecosystem to embrace the digital culture wholeheartedly. This, in turn, will make the entire industry verticals agile, responsive, and customer-oriented for garnering success in achieving desired growth rate and customer acquisitions among others.Digital transformations have the capability to bring a host of benefits to the table and by creating a mutually beneficial relationship for all stakeholders in the business ecosystem, these new-age digital solutions can contribute to building a better future for our upcoming generations. In a massive step towards boosting the manufacturing of indigenous drones in India, Garuda Aerospace and Naini Aerospace engineering limited (NAeL), a wholly owned subsidiary of HAL (Hindustan Aeronautics Limited) under the administrative control of the Ministry of Defence has signed a joint development partnership. The joint partnership will enable Garuda to manufacture Advanced Precision Drones on Indian Soil for various applications. The drones will be able to carry a payload of around 25 kg. Speaking on the development, Shri Agnishwar Jayaprakash, Founder and CEO, Garuda Aerospace said, Our Honble Prime Ministers Vision of achieving the milestone of 1 lakh Made in India drones by 2024 is well on track. Our partnership with Naini Aerospace engineering limited (NAeL) (a wholly owned subsidiary of Hindustan Aeronautics Limited) is a natural next step for us. Our Drone Yatra has also been a grand success and we have pre-booked over 7000 drones at Rs. 4.5 lakhs each. Partnerships with Government PSUs are critical given the knowledge and experience they possess to scale up production. We will continue to stay focused, and partner with industry leaders that will help us achieve our PMs vision. Furthermore, Garuda Aerospace recently partnered with BEML at Aero India for drone manufacturing at their Mysore facility and initiated a massive indigenization campaign. The company has also collaborated with 120 local suppliers with the objective of reducing reliance on foreign imports of drone parts, components, and UAV subsystems. Speaking on the partnership, Shri R.R. Thakur, Chief Executive Officer, Naini Aerospace engineering limited (NAeL) added, We are very excited to be working along with Garuda Aerospace on the rapidly evolving drone sector. Our experience with the production of Helicopter structures was launched on 11th July 2018 in a newly constructed Aero-structure hangar equipped with State of Art facilities. The first batch of helicopter structures duly cleared by the Director General of Aeronautical Quality Assurance (DGAQA) was delivered to the Helicopter Division of Hindustan Aeronautics Limited on 22nd November 2018. NAeL has now reached the level of full-fledged operationalization with proven capabilities in the field of production of Aero-structures and Aircraft loom manufacturing. Currently, key managerial positions are occupied by experienced professionals deputed from HAL to ensure compliance of operations to the Aerospace Standards so we are confident to bring in knowledge and experience to jointly develop drones along with Garuda Aerospace. Naini Aerospace engineering Limited (NAeL) was incorporated in December 2016 as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL). Naini Aerospace has a vision of sustainable manufacturing operations in the Aerospace and Aviation Sector and is situated in the Naini industrial area of Prayagraj developed by UP State Industrial Development Corporation. The partnership with Naini Aerospace engineering limited (NAeL) strengthens Garuda Aerospaces leadership in Indias drone manufacturing ecosystem. With Garuda Aerospace now having a presence in UP, delivery and access to clients across North, West, East AND North East will become seamless. The partnership also enables a reduction in cost given the ease of transportation. The factory is located on the Prayagraj-Mirzapur highway, approximately 20 km from Prayagraj city center. Naini, Prayagraj is being considered for inclusion in the proposed defence industrial corridor of Uttar Pradesh. This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain A team of researchers has created a new supply chain model that could empower the international hydrogen renewable energy industry. Hydrogen has been touted as the clean fuel of the future; it can be generated from water and produces zero carbon emissions. However, it is currently expensive to transport over long distances, and currently no infrastructure is in place to do so. The new supply chain model, created by researchers in Australia, Singapore and Germany, successfully guides the development of international transport of hydrogen and its embodied energy. The full report was recently published in the journal Energy Conversion and Management. Associate Professor Kaveh Khalilpour, from the University of Technology Sydney (UTS) and lead author of the report, said supply chain design is critical for making hydrogen economic. "We looked at the renewable hydrogen export from Australia to Singapore, Japan, and Germany. Surprisingly, the analysis revealed that it matters whether the goal is to export 'hydrogen the atom' or 'hydrogen the energy.' Each choice leads to a different supply chain system. "Therefore, a thorough understanding of the whole system is necessary for correct decision making," said Associate Professor Khalilpour. "The abundance of renewable energy resources in Australia, as well as its stable economy, means the country can attract investments in building these green value chains in our region and even as far away as Europe." Hydrogen is expected to help diversify Australia's renewable energy resource beyond solar and wind power. This is seen as critical to the country's energy security, as well as necessary for climate change mitigation. "Hydrogen is just an energy carrier, i.e., not a primary energy source, and thus only a means to an end for transporting renewable energy from one place to another. "The key business question around the emerging hydrogen economy is whether commodities such as green hydrogen, methanol or ammonia can be exported profitably and competitively also over long distances and across the oceans, thus bringing green energy to other places in the world. "If this is so, this will also have major international energy and climate policy implications," said Professor Reinhard Madlener, co-lead of the project, from RWTH Aachen University, Germany. "Our model suggests that methanol shows great promise as a chemical carrier for exporting renewable energy from Australia at low costs," said Professor Iftekhar Karimi, from the National University of Singapore, and co-lead of the project. More information: Muhammad Aadil Rasool et al, Evaluation of alternative power-to-chemical pathways for renewable energy exports, Energy Conversion and Management (2023). DOI: 10.1016/j.enconman.2023.117010 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: Fears and concerns in relation to cars fully controlled by AI, expressed through a survey of 1,233 adults. Credit: AI & SOCIETY (2023). DOI: 10.1007/s00146-022-01598-6 A significant percentage of people fear AI tech, but not enough to avoid using autonomous cars when they become available. That is according to new research that goes against the "Frankenstein complex," where humans are predicted to be hostile to robots and AI because they are afraid of them. Researchers from Trinity surveyed 1,233 adults to discover more about their attitudes to using AI tech (specifically autonomous cars). Among the key results, highlighted in a recently published article in the journal AI & Society, were: Well over 50% of respondents were either "very worried" or "worried" about the use of autonomous cars Specific fears included AI-driven cars interacting with cyclists; pedestrians; other vehicles; being the victim of hacking attempts; or experiencing systems failures Women were more fearful than men (over 30% of women were "very worried" across all five specific fear categories, while approximately 20% of men were) Fewer respondents would reject the use of autonomous cars when they are available (39%, versus 39% who would use them, and 22% of respondents are neutral) These results are somewhat surprising, but the researchers believe the rational side of people's thinking is leading some people who harbor fears to reject those for the benefits provided by autonomous cars. For example, the researchers asked the respondents what they would like about an autonomous car, and many outlined that they could see a host of individual, urban, and global social and environmental benefits. Federico Cugurullo, Assistant Professor in Smart and Sustainable Urbanism from Trinity's School of Natural Sciences, said, "I believe what we are seeing here is the rationality of the human mind; people harbor very reasonable fears about AI-driven cars, but they can also see the many advantages they promise, such as removing stress from driving, freeing up time to complete work, increasing mobility for people who may not drive, reducing congestion, lowering carbon emissions, and ultimately saving lives. "There is no greater fear than the fear of the unknown, but it appears plenty of people are not acting in the way predicted by the Frankenstein Complex. We believe this is because nowadays individuals see more benefits than risks in real-life AI tech. Tension still exists but because we are all getting more and more used to AI in our everyday lives, we are quickly becoming familiar with it. Many people are learning to conquer their fears around AI. They see AI not as a monster, like in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, but rather as a useful tool to improve their lives and their city." The survey from which the data came was conducted in Dublin in 2018. At this time an autonomous bus was tested in the city center, as part of the European Mobility Week organized by the European Commission, and a fully autonomous vehicle was made available to the general public, under the supervision of the Dublin City Council, for people to experience for free a ride operated by AI. In addition, in the same year, Ireland's Road Safety Authority hosted an international conference in Dublin, titled "Connected and Autonomous Vehicles." The conference got significant media attention in Dublin and promoted AI as the way forward to achieve road safety, denouncing human error as the primary cause of car accidents in the world. We are still a long way from a fully autonomous urban transport system in Ireland, but in Dublin people have a huge interest in autonomous vehicles. Many will embrace this technology as soon as it becomes available, and that is only a matter of time. More information: Federico Cugurullo et al, Fear of AI: an inquiry into the adoption of autonomous cars in spite of fear, and a theoretical framework for the study of artificial intelligence technology acceptance, AI & Society (2023). DOI: 10.1007/s00146-022-01598-6 This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain As new technologies take on increasingly humanlike qualities, there's been a push to make them genderless. Apple's Siri digital assistant unveiled a gender-neutral option last year, and more gender-neutral interactive tools, such as Q and Replika, have recently entered the market. When asked about their gender identities, the AI chatbots ChatGPT and Google Bard each reply, "I do not have a gender." The United Nations and World Economic Forum have cautioned against gendering technology, arguing that doing so reinforces societal stereotypes. That is likely true, says Ashley Martin, an associate professor of organizational behavior at Stanford Graduate School of Business. "People are stereotyping their gendered objects in very traditional ways," she says. Removing gender from the picture altogether seems like a simple way to fix this. Yet as Martin has found in her work, gender is one of the fundamental ways people form connections with objects, particularly those designed to evoke human characteristics. In her latest research, conducted with Malia Mason of Columbia University and published in the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, Martin looks at how people respond when real or imagined products are assigned a genderor no gender. One of their studies analyzed Amazon.com reviews to see how shoppers reacted to the anthropomorphizing and gendering of robotic vacuums. In two other studies, participants were asked to rate their attachment to male, female, and genderless versions of a digital voice assistant and a self-driving car known as "Miuu." Throughout the experiments, Martin and Mason found that gender increased users' feelings of attachment to these devicesand their interest in purchasing them. For example, participants said they would be less likely to buy a genderless voice assistant than versions with male or female voices. These findings suggest that gendering a product could lead to higher sales or more consumer loyalty. "Gender facilitates owner-attachment to devices, an outcome that companies spend billions annually chasing," Martin and Mason write. Woman or machine? While accentuating gender may be good marketing, it may also reinforce outdated or harmful ideas about power and identity. "By highlighting gender stereotypes we're likely reinforcing men's greater power in society," Martin says. The stereotypes commonly associated with men, such as competitiveness and dominance, are more valued than those associated with women. "In leadership domains, those are the qualities that we see and we want in our leaders, whereas women we see as kind and warm and affectionate," Martin says. "Great qualities, but not as highly valued in leadership." These qualities, in turn, are mapped onto products that have been assigned a gender. In her studies, "people describe male and female voice assistants completely differently," Martin says. "The male voice assistants 'got things done' and 'found the information quickly,' whereas female voice assistants were described as 'helpful.'" Assigning a gender to an ungendered tool like ChatGPT would undoubtedly change the way people perceive and interact with it, Martin says. Yet Martin's study also found that creating a gender-neutral object was difficult. For instance, if an object's name was meant to sound gender-neutral, like Miuu, participants would still ascribe a gender to itthey would assume Miuu was a "he" or "she." "Even if I took away gendered information, people still use gender," Martin said. Similarly, the fact that so many people have asked ChatGPT about its gender reinforces how meaningful gender is to people. Marin sees a silver lining, however: She believes that anthropomorphism "provides an opportunity to reduce or reverse stereotypes." When women are put into positions of leadership like running companies or teaching STEM courses, it reduces negative stereotypes about women. Similarly, anthropomorphized products could be created to take on stereotype-inconsistent rolesa male robot that assists with nursing or a female robot that helps do calculations, for instance. Martin hopes that future research will explore how to increase people's attachment to objects without relying on gender norms. Some of that work is already being done by shifting ideas about gender stereotypes and gender identity. "We're moving toward a place where society is removing gender more and more," Martin says, "and whether those strategies are going to remove it from cognition or at least lessen the role it plays in cognition over time is an open questionperhaps they will." More information: Ashley E. Martin et al, Hey Siri, I love you: People feel more attached to gendered technology, Journal of Experimental Social Psychology (2022). DOI: 10.1016/j.jesp.2022.104402 Journal information: Journal of Experimental Social Psychology This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Credit: Pexels/Pixabay Montana has become the first state to ban TikTok, with Gov. Greg Gianforte signing a bill that will levy steep fines on any platform selling the popular, Chinese-owned social media app. Meanwhile, tech mogul Elon Musk, whose ownership of social media network Twitter has brought tumultuous change, announced he will pass the title of CEO to his handpicked replacement, advertising executive Linda Yaccarino with NBC Universal. Mike Horning, an associate professor of multimedia journalism at Virginia Tech's School of Communication, discusses what these developments could mean for these embattled yet still highly influential social media platforms. Q: What is the rationale behind Montana's ban of TikTok? "The Montana bill that the governor signed argues for a ban based on concerns for national security, privacy concerns regarding American data, and the assertion that TikTok poses a threat to public health. Those three together could make a compelling case in the courts. The legal test will be whether the government can demonstrate enough evidence to show that all three concerns are compelling enough to override any First Amendment issues." Q: Can this ban withstand legal challenges? "Civil rights groups have already said that they will challenge the ban on First Amendment grounds, as postings on TikTok are a form of speech. Generally, the government cannot ban protected forms of speech. The ban could also have an economic impact on individuals who use the platform for business purposes, contributing to make this move unpopular with the public. At the same time, the government has been successful at banning some communication technologies in the past with the argument that the technology posed a national security threat." Q: Is it genuinely possible to stop Americans from using TikTok? "It might be, over time. Apps often need updating, thus limiting access through the Apple and Google stores could eventually make the apps on current phones unusable. At the same time, people can be creative in finding workarounds if they feel that app is important enough to use on a daily basis." Q: What might incoming Twitter CEO Yaccarino's interests be? "Yaccarino has been recognized for being innovative in advertising, particularly in the digital space. The move probably indicates that Twitter is looking to expand its offerings in the social media space. That might come in the form of streaming services, more secure private chats or any number of new offerings that could expand the reach of advertisers." Q: Given that Musk remains owner of Twitter with millions of followers there, will this change affect his influence? "Musk has been pretty clear that he believes the platform is a place for people to openly share their opinions, and he isn't shy about sharing his own, so that likely won't change, which may present some challenges for Yaccarino." Q: How might Yaccarino's presence shore up relations with users and advertisers? "Yaccarino's background in advertising with traditional media companies means she brings some credibility to Twitter's advertising model as they move forward under Musk's ownership. That will potentially bring back advertisers who may be skeptical of the change of leadership. I think she also has several interesting experiences working with big data, streaming content, and consumer insights that may all be assets as she takes on the role of CEO." Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, May 22) The Sandiganbayan (SB)'s first division has acquitted detained businesswoman Janet Lim-Napoles in 16 criminal cases over the multibillion-peso pork barrel scam, the same ones Senator Ramon Bong Revilla was earlier cleared of, saying state prosecutors failed to prove that the accused committed acts in violation of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act. EXPLAINER: What you need to know about the PDAF scam In July 2021, the SB cleared Revilla of 16 counts of graft after he allegedly diverted his Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) from 2007 to 2009 to non-government organizations under the control of Napoles, said to be the mastermind behind the PDAF scam, otherwise known as the "Pork Barrel scam. READ: Sandiganbayan clears Bong Revilla of graft charges in pork barrel scam Despite his acquittal from the 16 counts, Revilla was ordered to return 124.5 million to the national treasury, though his camp continues to contest the demand. Revilla was also detained from 2014 to 2018 in Camp Crame over the graft charges. He was accused of receiving 224.5 million in kickbacks from Napoles for his participation in the PDAF scam. On Napoles' acquittal in the cases, the court said in its decision that the prosecution failed to prove beyond reasonable doubt her guilt in all 16 charges earlier linked to Revilla. The 223-page decision of the anti-graft court's first division also explained: "The alleged acts are predicate crimes of Plunder in 'People V. Ramon 'Bong' Revilla, Jr.,' Criminal Case No. SB-14-CRM-0240, under which she has already been previously charged and convicted." Predicate crimes are a component of a larger crime. For instance, malversation, bribery and violations of the anti-graft law are some of the criminal acts that become the basis of the more serious crime of plunder. According to the Sandiganbayan, since the predicate acts were used as basis of the crime of plunder, which Napoles has already been prosecuted for, then she could no longer be charged separately for the violation of the anti-graft law. "This fact became even more apparent after the presentation of the same testimonial and documentary evidence in both cases," it added. The first division likewise acquitted National Livelihood Development Corporation (NLDC) employees Godeline Amata, Ofelia Ordonez, Sofia Cruz, Evelyn Sucgang; Technology and Livelihood Resource Center (TLRC) employees Francisco Figura, Ma. Rosalinda Lacsamana, Marivic Jover, Consuelo Lilian Espiritu; and National Agribusiness Corporation (NABCOR) employees Victor Cacal, and Maria Guanizo of graft charges linked to the scam. The court, however, found guilty of graft TLRC employee Dennis Cunanan; NLDC employee Gregoria Buenaventura; NABCOR employee Rhodora Mendoza; and private individuals Evelyn De Leon, Laarni Uy and Jocelyn Piorato. They were sentenced to imprisonment of up to eight years for each count, disqualified from holding public office, and their retirement benefits were forfeited. An estimated 10 billion in government funds were lost as a result of the PDAF scam. Graft, malversation convictions However, in an earlier decision promulgated May 19, the SB's second division convicted Napoles of two counts of graft and two counts of malversation. These convictions were made over the misuse of PDAF linked to the late former Davao Del Sur 1st district Rep. Douglas Cagas. The court's second division said Cagas endorsed the Countrywide Agri Rural Economic and Develoment Foundation, Inc. (CARED) and Philippine Social Development Foundation Inc. (PSDFI) non-government organizations controlled by Napoles as project partners to implement livelihood projects throughout his legislative district. He also issued a Special Allotment Release Order allotting 8 million each in funding to CARED and PSDFI from his PDAF despite both being unaccredited. Employees of the Department of Budget and Management facilitated the processing of the SARO and released the funds from the PDAF to the TLRC, the court decision noted. It said Cagas and the TLRC entered a memorandum of agreement with CARED and the PSDFI, and processed the release of 7.68 million to Napoles NGOs without proper examination and verification, resulting in 15.36 million in losses. Napoles also offered large kickbacks to those involved with the scam, with the late Davao congressman receiving up to 9.30 million from the businesswoman, the court said. She was sentenced with imprisonment of up to 10 years for each graft count, and a maximum of 17 years for each count of malversation. Napoles was also ordered to pay fines of 7.68 million for each of the graft charges, and 7.68 million for each of the malversation charges. The following co-accused of Napoles were also convicted of one count each of graft and malversation in relation to the misuse of Cagas PDAF: Belina Concepcion, Mylene Encarnacion, Maria Rosalinda Lacsamana, and Evelyn De Leon. The SB also earlier convicted Napoles of graft for diverting funds from the PDAF of Cagayan de Oro Rep. Constantino Jaraula. READ: Napoles, ex-Cagayan de Oro congressman found guilty of graft in pork barrel scam Berkeley Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT Get Rating) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 1,572 shares of the retailers stock, valued at approximately $223,000. Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Financial Advisory Group grew its holdings in Walmart by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Financial Advisory Group now owns 6,950 shares of the retailers stock valued at $901,000 after buying an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. Transparent Wealth Partners LLC grew its holdings in Walmart by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Transparent Wealth Partners LLC now owns 3,076 shares of the retailers stock valued at $436,000 after buying an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. Elgethun Capital Management grew its holdings in Walmart by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Elgethun Capital Management now owns 6,045 shares of the retailers stock valued at $784,000 after buying an additional 72 shares in the last quarter. Kistler Tiffany Companies LLC grew its holdings in Walmart by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. Kistler Tiffany Companies LLC now owns 1,917 shares of the retailers stock valued at $272,000 after buying an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rainsberger Wealth Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Walmart by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Rainsberger Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 5,545 shares of the retailers stock valued at $786,000 after buying an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 31.27% of the companys stock. Get Walmart alerts: Insider Buying and Selling In related news, EVP John R. Furner sold 4,375 shares of the companys stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.00, for a total value of $660,625.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 286,617 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $43,279,167. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Walmart news, major shareholder Jim C. Walton sold 852,215 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $144.26, for a total transaction of $122,940,535.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 266,841,420 shares of the companys stock, valued at $38,494,543,249.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP John R. Furner sold 4,375 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.00, for a total value of $660,625.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 286,617 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $43,279,167. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 21,044,002 shares of company stock valued at $2,981,168,308. 47.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders. Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth Walmart Stock Performance WMT has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Bank of America lifted their target price on Walmart from $165.00 to $175.00 in a report on Friday. Stephens reiterated an overweight rating and issued a $170.00 target price on shares of Walmart in a report on Wednesday, April 5th. Cowen lifted their target price on Walmart from $175.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Wednesday, February 15th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on Walmart from $164.00 to $169.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 22nd. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on Walmart from $159.00 to $162.00 in a report on Sunday. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $166.13. Shares of WMT stock traded down $0.91 on Monday, hitting $149.00. The company had a trading volume of 835,621 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,156,130. The firm has a market cap of $401.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $147.97 and a 200-day moving average price of $145.75. The company has a quick ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. Walmart Inc. has a twelve month low of $117.90 and a twelve month high of $154.64. Walmart (NYSE:WMT Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 18th. The retailer reported $1.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.32 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $152.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $147.91 billion. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.30% and a net margin of 1.82%. The companys revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.30 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Walmart Inc. will post 6.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year. Walmart Dividend Announcement The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, January 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, December 8th will be issued a $0.57 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 7th. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.53%. Walmarts payout ratio is 54.81%. Walmart Company Profile (Get Rating) Walmart, Inc engages in retail and wholesale business. The company offers an assortment of merchandise and services at everyday low prices. It operates through the following business segments: Walmart U.S., Walmart International, and Sams Club. The Walmart U.S. segment operates as a merchandiser of consumer products, operating under the Walmart, Wal-Mart, and Walmart Neighborhood Market brands, as well as walmart.com and other eCommerce brands. Featured Articles Want to see what other hedge funds are holding WMT? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT Get Rating). Receive News & Ratings for Walmart Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Walmart and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A Get Rating) will post its quarterly earnings results after the market closes on Tuesday, May 23rd. Analysts expect Agilent Technologies to post earnings of $1.27 per share for the quarter. Individual interested in participating in the companys earnings conference call can do so using this link. Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A Get Rating) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 28th. The medical research company reported $1.37 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.31 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $1.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.70 billion. Agilent Technologies had a return on equity of 30.35% and a net margin of 19.09%. The companys revenue was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.21 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect Agilent Technologies to post $6 EPS for the current fiscal year and $6 EPS for the next fiscal year. Get Agilent Technologies alerts: Agilent Technologies Stock Down 0.2 % Shares of Agilent Technologies stock opened at $128.87 on Monday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $134.48 and a 200-day moving average of $144.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 2.11 and a quick ratio of 1.53. The company has a market capitalization of $38.11 billion, a PE ratio of 29.09, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.03. Agilent Technologies has a 1-year low of $112.52 and a 1-year high of $160.26. Agilent Technologies Dividend Announcement Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.225 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 30th. This represents a $0.90 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.70%. Agilent Technologiess dividend payout ratio is presently 20.32%. Several brokerages have recently commented on A. Barclays began coverage on Agilent Technologies in a research report on Thursday, May 11th. They issued an equal weight rating and a $140.00 target price for the company. StockNews.com began coverage on Agilent Technologies in a research report on Thursday. They issued a buy rating for the company. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $170.00 to $174.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 1st. Finally, Credit Suisse Group boosted their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $165.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the companys stock. According to MarketBeat, Agilent Technologies has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $161.64. Institutional Inflows and Outflows A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Synovus Financial Corp boosted its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 2.3% during the 1st quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 6,751 shares of the medical research companys stock worth $895,000 after acquiring an additional 153 shares in the last quarter. Blair William & Co. IL boosted its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 7.3% during the 1st quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 28,606 shares of the medical research companys stock worth $3,785,000 after acquiring an additional 1,957 shares in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 52.1% during the 1st quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,334 shares of the medical research companys stock worth $309,000 after acquiring an additional 799 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,531,170 shares of the medical research companys stock worth $3,246,209,000 after acquiring an additional 261,435 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Zions Bancorporation N.A. boosted its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 10.8% during the 1st quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 2,880 shares of the medical research companys stock worth $381,000 after acquiring an additional 281 shares in the last quarter. About Agilent Technologies (Get Rating) Agilent Technologies, Inc engages in the provision of application focused solutions for life sciences, diagnostics, and applied chemical markets. It operates through the following segments: Life Sciences and Applied Markets, Diagnostics and Genomics, and Agilent CrossLab. The Life Sciences and Applied Markets segment offers application-focused solutions that include instruments and software that identify, quantify, and analyze the physical and biological properties of substances and products, as well as the clinical and life sciences research areas to interrogate samples at the molecular and cellular level. Further Reading Receive News & Ratings for Agilent Technologies Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Agilent Technologies and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, May 22) The House of Representatives' ethics committee may not push to expel embattled Negros Oriental Rep. Arnolfo Teves despite his continued absence from work as his 60-day suspension ends on Monday. I think the ethics committee may extend his suspension but an expulsion at the moment may not be anchored very well because he has not been convicted of any offense, Albay 1st District Rep. Edcel Lagman told CNN Philippines The Source on Monday. Teves was tagged as one of the masterminds behind the murder of Negros Oriental Gov. Roel Degamo and nine others in March. He has denied the accusation. The lawmaker has been refusing to return to the country after flying to the United States in February for medical treatment, citing security threats. His absence from work after his travel clearance expired led to his colleagues at the lower chamber agreeing to suspend him for 60 days last March 22. With the expiration of the suspension, the House ethics panel is set to meet on Tuesday to determine a possible sanction to be imposed on Teves because of his failure to report for work. Teves' lawyer Ferdinand Topacio said the lawmaker wants to be allowed to attend the ethics panel hearing virtually. However, Nueva Ecija Rep. Ria Vergara, a vice chairperson of the committee, emphasized the hearing will be strictly face to face. In a text message to CNN Philippines, Teves questioned the committee for singling him out, saying he can attend congressional hearings and sessions at the House via videoconferencing. Lagman said he believes Teves should be allowed to attend virtually. He must be given due process and he must be allowed to appear via Zoom or video conferencing. That right should be granted to him so that he can ventilate his defense, Lagman pointed out. CNN Philippines correspondent Xianne Arcangel contributed to this report. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Antero Midstream (NYSE:AM Get Rating) in a report published on Thursday. The firm issued a hold rating on the pipeline companys stock. Several other research firms also recently commented on AM. Barclays boosted their target price on Antero Midstream from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the stock an underweight rating in a report on Wednesday, January 18th. Capital One Financial reiterated an equal weight rating on shares of Antero Midstream in a research note on Thursday, April 20th. Finally, UBS Group started coverage on Antero Midstream in a research report on Wednesday, May 10th. They issued a buy rating and a $14.00 target price for the company. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $12.33. Get Antero Midstream alerts: Antero Midstream Price Performance Shares of AM opened at $10.69 on Thursday. The firms 50-day simple moving average is $10.35 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $10.67. Antero Midstream has a fifty-two week low of $8.56 and a fifty-two week high of $11.61. The stock has a market cap of $5.13 billion, a PE ratio of 15.49 and a beta of 2.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02. Antero Midstream Dividend Announcement Insider Buying and Selling The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 26th were issued a $0.225 dividend. This represents a $0.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, April 25th. Antero Midstreams dividend payout ratio is 130.43%. In other Antero Midstream news, insider Michael N. Kennedy sold 300,000 shares of the companys stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.47, for a total transaction of $3,141,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 1,060,730 shares of the companys stock, valued at $11,105,843.10. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, insider Michael N. Kennedy sold 300,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.47, for a total value of $3,141,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 1,060,730 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $11,105,843.10. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director David H. Keyte acquired 10,000 shares of Antero Midstream stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 15th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $10.01 per share, with a total value of $100,100.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 79,373 shares of the companys stock, valued at $794,523.73. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders. Hedge Funds Weigh In On Antero Midstream Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. increased its stake in Antero Midstream by 58.7% during the first quarter. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. now owns 33,613 shares of the pipeline companys stock worth $365,000 after acquiring an additional 12,431 shares during the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Antero Midstream by 11.8% during the first quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 99,908 shares of the pipeline companys stock worth $1,086,000 after buying an additional 10,513 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Antero Midstream by 21.4% during the first quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 76,529 shares of the pipeline companys stock worth $829,000 after buying an additional 13,493 shares during the period. Private Advisor Group LLC bought a new position in Antero Midstream during the first quarter valued at $239,000. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can lifted its holdings in shares of Antero Midstream by 12.1% in the 1st quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 171,400 shares of the pipeline companys stock worth $1,889,000 after acquiring an additional 18,435 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 52.21% of the companys stock. About Antero Midstream (Get Rating) Antero Midstream Corp. is a growth-oriented midstream energy company, which owns, operates, and develops midstream energy assets to service Antero Resources production and completion activity. It operates through the Gathering and Processing and Water Handling segments. The Gathering and Processing segment includes a network of gathering pipelines and compressor stations that collect and process production from Antero Resources wells in West Virginia and Ohio. See Also Receive News & Ratings for Antero Midstream Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Antero Midstream and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland (NYSE:ADM Get Rating) in a research report sent to investors on Thursday. The brokerage issued a hold rating on the stock. ADM has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Barclays reduced their price target on Archer-Daniels-Midland from $105.00 to $99.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 26th. 92 Resources reaffirmed a maintains rating on shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland in a report on Thursday, April 27th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Archer-Daniels-Midland from $94.00 to $85.00 and set an equal weight rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 13th. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on Archer-Daniels-Midland from $98.00 to $90.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 26th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets started coverage on Archer-Daniels-Midland in a report on Thursday, April 13th. They issued an outperform rating and a $100.00 target price on the stock. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Archer-Daniels-Midland currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $100.78. Get Archer-Daniels-Midland alerts: Archer-Daniels-Midland Trading Up 0.6 % Shares of NYSE:ADM opened at $73.23 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $39.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.19, a P/E/G ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 0.80. Archer-Daniels-Midland has a 1 year low of $70.02 and a 1 year high of $98.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 1.51 and a quick ratio of 0.86. The businesss 50 day simple moving average is $77.68 and its 200 day simple moving average is $84.55. Archer-Daniels-Midland Announces Dividend Archer-Daniels-Midland ( NYSE:ADM Get Rating ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 25th. The company reported $2.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $1.71 by $0.38. The business had revenue of $24.07 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $24.09 billion. Archer-Daniels-Midland had a return on equity of 18.39% and a net margin of 4.36%. The firms quarterly revenue was up 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.90 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Archer-Daniels-Midland will post 6.83 EPS for the current fiscal year. The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 7th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 17th will be given a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 16th. Archer-Daniels-Midlands dividend payout ratio is currently 22.58%. Institutional Inflows and Outflows Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of ADM. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. bought a new position in Archer-Daniels-Midland during the 1st quarter worth $26,000. Kistler Tiffany Companies LLC bought a new position in Archer-Daniels-Midland during the 3rd quarter worth $29,000. Trust Co. of Vermont raised its position in Archer-Daniels-Midland by 135.6% during the 4th quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 318 shares of the companys stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 183 shares during the last quarter. Glassy Mountain Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Archer-Daniels-Midland during the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC grew its holdings in Archer-Daniels-Midland by 655.8% during the 4th quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 393 shares of the companys stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 341 shares during the period. 78.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors. About Archer-Daniels-Midland (Get Rating) Archer-Daniels-Midland Co engages in the production of oilseeds, corn, wheat, cocoa, and other agricultural commodities. It operates through the following segments: Ag Services and Oilseeds, Carbohydrate Solutions, Nutrition, and Other. The Ag Services and Oilseeds segment includes activities related to the origination, merchandising, transportation, and storage of agricultural raw materials, and the crushing and further processing of oilseeds such as soybeans and soft seeds cottonseed, sunflower seed, canola, rapeseed, and flaxseed into vegetable oils and protein meals. Read More Receive News & Ratings for Archer-Daniels-Midland Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Archer-Daniels-Midland and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Argent Trust Co decreased its holdings in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW Get Rating) by 3.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 68,860 shares of the financial services providers stock after selling 2,297 shares during the quarter. Argent Trust Cos holdings in Charles Schwab were worth $5,733,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period. Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. 1ST Source Bank raised its stake in Charles Schwab by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. 1ST Source Bank now owns 24,341 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $1,749,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. increased its holdings in Charles Schwab by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 14,110 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $1,014,000 after buying an additional 158 shares during the period. PDS Planning Inc increased its holdings in Charles Schwab by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. PDS Planning Inc now owns 4,066 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $339,000 after buying an additional 160 shares during the period. Integrated Advisors Network LLC increased its holdings in Charles Schwab by 4.9% in the 3rd quarter. Integrated Advisors Network LLC now owns 3,572 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $257,000 after buying an additional 168 shares during the period. Finally, William Allan Corp increased its holdings in Charles Schwab by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. William Allan Corp now owns 48,868 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $4,069,000 after buying an additional 174 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.49% of the companys stock. Get Charles Schwab alerts: Charles Schwab Trading Up 0.2 % SCHW traded up $0.09 during trading on Monday, reaching $51.76. 3,853,703 shares of the companys stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 21,576,490. The Charles Schwab Co. has a one year low of $45.00 and a one year high of $86.63. The company has a current ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The stock has a market capitalization of $91.57 billion, a PE ratio of 14.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 0.88. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $52.15 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $69.90. Charles Schwab Dividend Announcement Charles Schwab ( NYSE:SCHW Get Rating ) last posted its earnings results on Monday, April 17th. The financial services provider reported $0.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $5.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.13 billion. Charles Schwab had a net margin of 34.82% and a return on equity of 27.83%. The companys revenue for the quarter was up 9.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.77 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that The Charles Schwab Co. will post 3.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year. The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 12th will be given a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 11th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.93%. Charles Schwabs dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 27.32%. Insider Transactions at Charles Schwab In other news, insider Nigel J. Murtagh sold 10,796 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.23, for a total value of $866,163.08. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 57,322 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,598,944.06. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, insider Nigel J. Murtagh sold 10,796 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction on Friday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.23, for a total transaction of $866,163.08. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 57,322 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,598,944.06. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Walter W. Bettinger bought 50,000 shares of the companys stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 14th. The shares were bought at an average price of $59.31 per share, for a total transaction of $2,965,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 656,501 shares in the company, valued at $38,937,074.31. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have bought 81,000 shares of company stock worth $4,706,960. Company insiders own 6.60% of the companys stock. Wall Street Analyst Weigh In Several research firms have commented on SCHW. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their target price on shares of Charles Schwab from $75.00 to $72.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on shares of Charles Schwab from $98.00 to $75.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on shares of Charles Schwab from $89.00 to $65.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 6th. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on shares of Charles Schwab from $83.00 to $75.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 18th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered shares of Charles Schwab from an overweight rating to an equal weight rating and decreased their price target for the company from $99.00 to $68.00 in a report on Thursday, March 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Charles Schwab presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $68.73. About Charles Schwab (Get Rating) The Charles Schwab Corp. is a savings and loan holding company, which engages in the provision of wealth management, securities brokerage, banking, asset management, custody, and financial advisory services. It operates through the Investor Services and Advisor Services segments. The Investor Services segment includes retail brokerage and banking services to individual investors, and retirement plan services, as well as other corporate brokerage services, to businesses and their employees. See Also Want to see what other hedge funds are holding SCHW? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW Get Rating). Receive News & Ratings for Charles Schwab Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Charles Schwab and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management (NYSE:APAM Get Rating) in a research report report published on Thursday. The firm issued a hold rating on the asset managers stock. APAM has been the subject of a number of other reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on Artisan Partners Asset Management from $35.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a market perform rating in a research report on Thursday, February 2nd. Credit Suisse Group boosted their target price on Artisan Partners Asset Management from $29.50 to $30.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Thursday, February 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered Artisan Partners Asset Management from a neutral rating to a sell rating and decreased their target price for the company from $33.00 to $27.00 in a research report on Monday, March 6th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Artisan Partners Asset Management from $35.00 to $39.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and one has assigned 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 $33.60. Get Artisan Partners Asset Management alerts: Artisan Partners Asset Management Trading Down 0.3 % Shares of APAM stock opened at $32.79 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a current ratio of 0.57. Artisan Partners Asset Management has a fifty-two week low of $25.67 and a fifty-two week high of $40.68. The company has a market cap of $2.61 billion, a PE ratio of 11.92 and a beta of 1.82. The stocks fifty day moving average price is $32.52 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $33.20. Artisan Partners Asset Management Cuts Dividend Artisan Partners Asset Management ( NYSE:APAM Get Rating ) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, May 2nd. The asset manager reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.59 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $234.50 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $233.58 million. Artisan Partners Asset Management had a return on equity of 84.38% and a net margin of 20.31%. Artisan Partners Asset Managements revenue for the quarter was down 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.98 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Artisan Partners Asset Management will post 2.75 EPS for the current fiscal year. The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 31st. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 17th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 16th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.10%. Artisan Partners Asset Managements payout ratio is currently 72.73%. Institutional Investors Weigh In On Artisan Partners Asset Management Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Artisan Partners Asset Management by 5.9% in the 1st quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 6,876,994 shares of the asset managers stock worth $219,926,000 after buying an additional 382,572 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Artisan Partners Asset Management by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,439,054 shares of the asset managers stock worth $173,404,000 after buying an additional 92,289 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. boosted its holdings in Artisan Partners Asset Management by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 5,092,524 shares of the asset managers stock worth $200,390,000 after buying an additional 57,485 shares during the period. Clarkston Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Artisan Partners Asset Management by 7.8% in the 3rd quarter. Clarkston Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,397,233 shares of the asset managers stock worth $64,557,000 after buying an additional 174,115 shares during the period. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Artisan Partners Asset Management by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 1,850,500 shares of the asset managers stock worth $54,960,000 after purchasing an additional 25,877 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.53% of the companys stock. About Artisan Partners Asset Management (Get Rating) Artisan Partners Asset Management, Inc operates as an investment management company, which provides investment strategies to clients globally. It offers investment management services to institutions and through intermediaries that operate with institutional-like decision-making processes and have longer-term investment horizons, by means of separate accounts and mutual funds. Featured Stories Receive News & Ratings for Artisan Partners Asset Management Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Artisan Partners Asset Management and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Banco de Chile (NYSE:BCH Get Rating) in a research note issued to investors on Thursday morning. The brokerage issued a hold rating on the banks stock. Banco de Chile Stock Down 0.6 % Shares of BCH opened at $21.71 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $10.97 billion, a PE ratio of 6.72, a PEG ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 0.37. Banco de Chile has a 12 month low of $15.64 and a 12 month high of $22.97. The stocks 50-day moving average price is $20.32 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $20.26. The company has a current ratio of 1.52, a quick ratio of 1.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.16. Get Banco de Chile alerts: Banco de Chile Increases Dividend The business also recently announced an annual dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 17th were issued a dividend of $1.3688 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 16th. This is an increase from Banco de Chiles previous annual dividend of $1.33. This represents a yield of 5%. Banco de Chiles payout ratio is presently 50.15%. Institutional Inflows and Outflows Banco de Chile Company Profile Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. CWM LLC lifted its stake in shares of Banco de Chile by 127.6% in the 4th quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,197 shares of the banks stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 671 shares during the period. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. lifted its stake in shares of Banco de Chile by 6.6% in the 1st quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 12,152 shares of the banks stock valued at $237,000 after purchasing an additional 752 shares during the period. UBS Group AG lifted its stake in shares of Banco de Chile by 7.8% in the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 13,993 shares of the banks stock valued at $291,000 after purchasing an additional 1,015 shares during the period. Profund Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Banco de Chile by 11.0% in the 4th quarter. Profund Advisors LLC now owns 11,439 shares of the banks stock valued at $238,000 after purchasing an additional 1,131 shares during the period. Finally, Signaturefd LLC lifted its stake in shares of Banco de Chile by 96.9% in the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 2,764 shares of the banks stock valued at $58,000 after purchasing an additional 1,360 shares during the period. 0.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds. (Get Rating) Banco de Chile SA engages in the provision of banking services. It operates through the following segments: Retail, Wholesale, Treasury, and Subsidiaries. The Retail segment consists of consumer loans, commercial loans, checking accounts, credit cards, credit lines, and mortgage loans. The Wholesale segment includes corporate clients and large companies where the product offering focuses on commercial loans, checking accounts and liquidity management services, debt instruments, foreign trade, derivative contracts, and leases. Recommended Stories Receive News & Ratings for Banco de Chile Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Banco de Chile and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Banco Itau Chile (NYSE:ITCB Get Rating) in a research note released on Thursday. The brokerage issued a hold rating on the banks stock. Banco Itau Chile Stock Performance Shares of ITCB opened at $3.42 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $3.50 and a 200 day simple moving average of $3.31. Banco Itau Chile has a 52-week low of $2.50 and a 52-week high of $3.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.17 billion, a PE ratio of 4.50 and a beta of 0.98. Get Banco Itau Chile alerts: Banco Itau Chile (NYSE:ITCB Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 28th. The bank reported $0.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.12 by $0.03. Banco Itau Chile had a return on equity of 14.11% and a net margin of 12.62%. The business had revenue of $311.23 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $426.47 million. Equities research analysts predict that Banco Itau Chile will post 0.58 EPS for the current fiscal year. Banco Itau Chile Increases Dividend Hedge Funds Weigh In On Banco Itau Chile The company also recently declared an annual dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 5th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 19th were given a dividend of $0.165 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 21st. This represents a yield of 4.78%. This is an increase from Banco Itau Chiles previous annual dividend of $0.16. Banco Itau Chiles dividend payout ratio is 22.37%. A hedge fund recently raised its stake in Banco Itau Chile stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Banco Itau Chile (NYSE:ITCB Get Rating) by 4.3% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 86,256 shares of the banks stock after acquiring an additional 3,585 shares during the quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LPs holdings in Banco Itau Chile were worth $247,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period. 0.20% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors. Banco Itau Chile Company Profile (Get Rating) Banco Itau Chile engages in the provision of banking and financial services. It specializes in banking products such as financing, leasing, loans, insurance and credit cards. It operates through the following geographical segments: Chile and Colombia. The Chile segment consists of commercial and corporate banking, real estate and construction, large companies, retail banking, personal banking, small business, retail companies, Banco Condell consumer banking, international and treasury and other financial services. Featured Articles Receive News & Ratings for Banco Itau Chile Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Banco Itau Chile and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Banco Santander (Brasil) (NYSE:BSBR Get Rating) in a report published on Thursday morning. The firm issued a hold rating on the banks stock. Banco Santander (Brasil) Stock Down 0.7 % Shares of NYSE:BSBR opened at $6.00 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 0.21 and a current ratio of 0.21. Banco Santander has a 12 month low of $4.76 and a 12 month high of $7.21. The companys fifty day simple moving average is $5.39 and its 200 day simple moving average is $5.41. Get Banco Santander (Brasil) alerts: Banco Santander (Brasil) Cuts Dividend The company also recently disclosed a dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 22nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 26th will be given a dividend of $0.0816 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 25th. This represents a dividend yield of 4.7%. Institutional Investors Weigh In On Banco Santander (Brasil) Banco Santander (Brasil) Company Profile Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Atlas Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Banco Santander (Brasil) during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Royal Bank of Canada grew its position in Banco Santander (Brasil) by 12,833.3% in the third quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 7,760 shares of the banks stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 7,700 shares in the last quarter. West Family Investments Inc. acquired a new stake in Banco Santander (Brasil) in the 3rd quarter valued at $67,000. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. bought a new stake in Banco Santander (Brasil) during the 4th quarter worth about $64,000. Finally, AlphaQ Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Banco Santander (Brasil) during the 4th quarter worth about $64,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 14.53% of the companys stock. (Get Rating) Banco Santander (Brasil) SA engages in the provision of banking and financial services. It operates through Commercial Bank and Global Wholesale Banking segments. The Commercial Bank segment focuses on loans, cards, mortgages, consumer financing, payroll, agribusiness, micro credit, and corporate and private banking services. Recommended Stories Receive News & Ratings for Banco Santander (Brasil) Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Banco Santander (Brasil) and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Canada Goose (NYSE:GOOS Get Rating) had its price target lowered by Bank of America from $17.00 to $14.80 in a research report sent to investors on Thursday, The Fly reports. Several other research firms have also commented on GOOS. Barclays lowered shares of Canada Goose from an overweight rating to an equal weight rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 2nd. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Canada Goose from $23.00 to $20.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 29th. Cowen decreased their target price on shares of Canada Goose from $26.00 to $22.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 3rd. Robert W. Baird lowered shares of Canada Goose from an outperform rating to a neutral rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 24th. Finally, Credit Suisse Group raised their target price on shares of Canada Goose from C$30.00 to C$36.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 8th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $25.85. Get Canada Goose alerts: Canada Goose Stock Down 7.1 % GOOS stock opened at $17.00 on Thursday. The companys 50 day simple moving average is $18.87 and its 200-day simple moving average is $19.07. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.78 billion, a PE ratio of 35.42, a P/E/G ratio of 0.53 and a beta of 1.63. Canada Goose has a 12 month low of $14.51 and a 12 month high of $24.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 2.20 and a quick ratio of 1.15. Hedge Funds Weigh In On Canada Goose Canada Goose Company Profile A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in GOOS. Raymond James & Associates purchased a new position in shares of Canada Goose in the 1st quarter valued at $1,061,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Canada Goose in the 1st quarter valued at $286,000. BlackRock Inc. raised its stake in shares of Canada Goose by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 465,058 shares of the companys stock valued at $12,244,000 after acquiring an additional 2,086 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Canada Goose by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,626,615 shares of the companys stock worth $42,828,000 after buying an additional 20,326 shares in the last quarter. Finally, USS Investment Management Ltd acquired a new position in Canada Goose in the 1st quarter worth $949,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 42.79% of the companys stock. (Get Rating) Canada Goose Holdings, Inc engages in the design, manufacture, distribution, and retail of outerwear for men, women, and children. It operates through the following segments: Direct-to-Consumer, Wholesale, and Other. The Direct-to-Consumer segment comprises of sales through country-specific e-Commerce platforms and its company-owned retail stores located in luxury shopping locations. Featured Stories Receive News & Ratings for Canada Goose Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Canada Goose and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO Get Rating) (TSE:BMO) in a report released on Thursday morning. The firm issued a sell rating on the banks stock. Separately, BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on Bank of Montreal from C$151.00 to C$147.50 in a report on Thursday, January 19th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Bank of Montreal currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $152.70. Get Bank of Montreal alerts: Bank of Montreal Trading Down 1.0 % BMO stock opened at $87.36 on Thursday. Bank of Montreal has a 1-year low of $81.57 and a 1-year high of $110.67. The firm has a market cap of $62.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.13, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.14. The businesss 50 day moving average is $88.37 and its 200-day moving average is $93.37. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. Bank of Montreal Increases Dividend Bank of Montreal ( NYSE:BMO Get Rating ) (TSE:BMO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 28th. The bank reported $2.39 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.33 by $0.06. Bank of Montreal had a return on equity of 13.65% and a net margin of 22.13%. The company had revenue of $4.80 billion for the quarter. Equities analysts anticipate that Bank of Montreal will post 9.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year. The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 28th will be issued a dividend of $1.075 per share. This is an increase from Bank of Montreals previous quarterly dividend of $1.05. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 27th. This represents a $4.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.92%. Bank of Montreals dividend payout ratio is currently 34.50%. Institutional Inflows and Outflows Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. lifted its holdings in Bank of Montreal by 6.9% during the 4th quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 3,234 shares of the banks stock worth $293,000 after buying an additional 209 shares in the last quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Bank of Montreal by 292.0% during the 4th quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC now owns 980 shares of the banks stock worth $89,000 after buying an additional 730 shares in the last quarter. Forsta AP Fonden lifted its holdings in Bank of Montreal by 3.9% during the 4th quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 162,900 shares of the banks stock worth $14,747,000 after buying an additional 6,100 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in Bank of Montreal by 5.5% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 843,729 shares of the banks stock worth $73,944,000 after buying an additional 44,277 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Scotia Capital Inc. raised its position in shares of Bank of Montreal by 6.1% during the 4th quarter. Scotia Capital Inc. now owns 2,780,385 shares of the banks stock valued at $251,450,000 after acquiring an additional 158,646 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 42.78% of the companys stock. Bank of Montreal Company Profile (Get Rating) Bank of Montreal engages in the provision of banking and financial services to individuals and institutions. It operates through the following segments: Canadian Personal and Commercial Banking (Canadian P&C) and United States Personal and Commercial Banking (U.S. P&C). The Canadian P&C segment refers to retail banking and financial operations in Canada. Featured Stories Receive News & Ratings for Bank of Montreal Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Bank of Montreal and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Bank of Queensland (OTCMKTS:BKQNY Get Rating) from an underweight rating to a neutral rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, The Fly reports. Bank of Queensland Price Performance Shares of BKQNY opened at $7.58 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $8.49 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $9.28. Bank of Queensland has a 52 week low of $7.57 and a 52 week high of $10.62. Get Bank of Queensland alerts: Bank of Queensland Cuts Dividend The business also recently disclosed a dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.2369 per share. This represents a yield of 6.2%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 9th. Bank of Queenslands dividend payout ratio is currently 75.18%. About Bank of Queensland Bank of Queensland Ltd. engages in the provision of financial services to the community. It operates through the following segments: Retail Banking, BOQ Business, and Other. The Retail Banking segment offers retail banking solutions to customers managed through its owner managed and corporate branch network, ME Bank and Virgin Money distribution channels, and third-party intermediaries. Featured Articles Receive News & Ratings for Bank of Queensland Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Bank of Queensland and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, May 22) President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Monday said the Asian Development Bank (ADB) can give a financial boost to the planned rollout of a food stamp program. On the sidelines of his visit at the ADB headquarters in Mandaluyong, Marcos said the food stamp program is currently being developed, based on the Department of Social Welfare and Developments (DSWD) proposal. Im surprised that we have never had, but it is something that we can see that has been effective in other countries, he said. According to an ADB report in 2022, a similar program allowed Mongolia to better identify and assist the poorest people in the country. DSWD Secretary Rex Gatchalian said in February that he wanted to revive the food coupons or food stamp program to fight hunger among poor Filipinos. Marcos, during a chance interview, did not provide more details about the plan. But he said the government continues to pursue large-scale programs with the ADB. Traditionally, ADB has provided assistance to infra, now the scope of the ODA assistance that we get through ADB has now increased and we are now talking about agriculture, we are talking about reskilling and retraining, were talking about climate change and its mitigation and adaptation, he said. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Chesapeake Utilities (NYSE:CPK Get Rating) in a research report released on Thursday morning. The brokerage issued a hold rating on the utilities providers stock. Several other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Chesapeake Utilities from $131.00 to $133.00 and gave the company a sector perform rating in a report on Tuesday, March 14th. Guggenheim lifted their price target on Chesapeake Utilities from $112.00 to $116.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 8th. Get Chesapeake Utilities alerts: Chesapeake Utilities Stock Performance NYSE:CPK opened at $125.73 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $2.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.10 and a beta of 0.60. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $126.90 and a 200 day simple moving average of $122.52. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76. Chesapeake Utilities has a 1-year low of $105.79 and a 1-year high of $138.49. Chesapeake Utilities Increases Dividend Chesapeake Utilities ( NYSE:CPK Get Rating ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 22nd. The utilities provider reported $1.47 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.36 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $187.30 million during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $170.00 million. Chesapeake Utilities had a return on equity of 10.57% and a net margin of 13.20%. Research analysts anticipate that Chesapeake Utilities will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current year. The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 5th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 15th will be given a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.88%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 14th. This is a positive change from Chesapeake Utilitiess previous quarterly dividend of $0.54. Chesapeake Utilitiess payout ratio is 42.71%. Insider Buying and Selling at Chesapeake Utilities In other news, SVP Kevin J. Webber sold 540 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.00, for a total value of $69,660.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 7,453 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $961,437. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, insider John R. Schimkaitis sold 2,500 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $127.02, for a total value of $317,550.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 77,442 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $9,836,682.84. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Kevin J. Webber sold 540 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.00, for a total value of $69,660.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 7,453 shares in the company, valued at $961,437. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 5,100 shares of company stock worth $652,950. Insiders own 2.68% of the companys stock. Institutional Inflows and Outflows Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Point72 Middle East FZE acquired a new position in Chesapeake Utilities during the 4th quarter worth approximately $48,000. Assetmark Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Chesapeake Utilities by 32.7% in the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 796 shares of the utilities providers stock valued at $92,000 after acquiring an additional 196 shares in the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its holdings in Chesapeake Utilities by 9.5% during the first quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 982 shares of the utilities providers stock valued at $126,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares during the period. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd bought a new position in Chesapeake Utilities during the second quarter valued at $142,000. Finally, Colony Group LLC bought a new position in Chesapeake Utilities during the second quarter valued at $207,000. 74.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds. Chesapeake Utilities Company Profile (Get Rating) Chesapeake Utilities Corp. engages in the distribution and transmission of natural gas, propane and electricity, and the generation of electricity and steam. It operates through the following segments: Regulated Energy and Unregulated Energy. The Regulated Energy segment distributes and transmits gas, natural gas, and electricity. Featured Stories Receive News & Ratings for Chesapeake Utilities Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Chesapeake Utilities and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Banco Itau Chile (NYSE:ITCL Get Rating) is one of 70 public companies in the Commercial banks, not elsewhere classified industry, but how does it compare to its rivals? We will compare Banco Itau Chile to similar businesses based on the strength of its profitability, earnings, risk, valuation, institutional ownership, dividends and analyst recommendations. Earnings and Valuation This table compares Banco Itau Chile and its rivals top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation. Get Banco Itau Chile alerts: Gross Revenue Net Income Price/Earnings Ratio Banco Itau Chile $2.94 billion $487.62 million 4.93 Banco Itau Chile Competitors $587.29 billion $3.08 billion 9.09 Banco Itau Chiles rivals have higher revenue and earnings than Banco Itau Chile. Banco Itau Chile is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than its rivals, indicating that it is currently more affordable than other companies in its industry. Profitability Net Margins Return on Equity Return on Assets Banco Itau Chile 11.23% 13.12% 1.06% Banco Itau Chile Competitors 18.91% 11.95% 0.97% Dividends This table compares Banco Itau Chile and its rivals net margins, return on equity and return on assets. Banco Itau Chile pays an annual dividend of $0.17 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.9%. Banco Itau Chile pays out 24.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. As a group, Commercial banks, not elsewhere classified companies pay a dividend yield of 2.5% and pay out 17.0% of their earnings in the form of a dividend. Analyst Ratings This is a breakdown of recent ratings and target prices for Banco Itau Chile and its rivals, as reported by MarketBeat.com. Sell Ratings Hold Ratings Buy Ratings Strong Buy Ratings Rating Score Banco Itau Chile 0 0 0 0 N/A Banco Itau Chile Competitors 629 2237 2268 59 2.34 As a group, Commercial banks, not elsewhere classified companies have a potential upside of 81.55%. Given Banco Itau Chiles rivals higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Banco Itau Chile has less favorable growth aspects than its rivals. Volatility and Risk Banco Itau Chile has a beta of 0.98, suggesting that its share price is 2% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Banco Itau Chiles rivals have a beta of 0.94, suggesting that their average share price is 6% less volatile than the S&P 500. Insider and Institutional Ownership 0.2% of Banco Itau Chile shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 24.6% of shares of all Commercial banks, not elsewhere classified companies are held by institutional investors. 8.0% of shares of all Commercial banks, not elsewhere classified companies are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth. Summary Banco Itau Chile rivals beat Banco Itau Chile on 8 of the 12 factors compared. About Banco Itau Chile (Get Rating) Banco Itau Chile engages in the provision of banking and financial services. It specializes in banking products such as financing, leasing, loans, insurance and credit cards. It operates through the following geographical segments: Chile and Colombia. The Chile segment consists of commercial and corporate banking, real estate and construction, large companies, retail banking, personal banking, small business, retail companies, Banco Condell consumer banking, international and treasury and other financial services. The Colombia segment offers commercial and retail banking and treasury and international business operations. The company was founded in 1871 and is headquartered in Las Condes, Chile. Receive News & Ratings for Banco Itau Chile Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Banco Itau Chile and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Emergent BioSolutions (NYSE:EBS Get Rating) in a report released on Thursday morning. The firm issued a sell rating on the biopharmaceutical companys stock. Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Benchmark upgraded Emergent BioSolutions from a hold rating to a buy rating and set a $22.00 target price for the company in a report on Monday, April 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated an underweight rating and set a $9.00 price target (down previously from $23.00) on shares of Emergent BioSolutions in a report on Friday, March 17th. Finally, TheStreet lowered Emergent BioSolutions from a c- rating to a d rating in a research report on Monday, February 27th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $28.00. Get Emergent BioSolutions alerts: Emergent BioSolutions Stock Up 0.1 % Shares of NYSE:EBS opened at $8.18 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. Emergent BioSolutions has a 52-week low of $7.74 and a 52-week high of $40.45. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $9.68 and a 200 day moving average of $11.82. Institutional Trading of Emergent BioSolutions Emergent BioSolutions ( NYSE:EBS Get Rating ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 9th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($3.17) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of ($1.67) by ($1.50). The firm had revenue of $165.10 million during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $142.85 million. Emergent BioSolutions had a negative return on equity of 20.18% and a negative net margin of 41.20%. Emergent BioSolutionss revenue for the quarter was down 46.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.18 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Emergent BioSolutions will post -1.29 EPS for the current fiscal year. Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of EBS. Squarepoint Ops LLC lifted its stake in shares of Emergent BioSolutions by 156.8% in the 1st quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 26,731 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock valued at $277,000 after purchasing an additional 16,322 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its position in Emergent BioSolutions by 47.3% during the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 333,725 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock valued at $3,457,000 after buying an additional 107,237 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Emergent BioSolutions by 4.4% during the 1st quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 896,454 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock valued at $9,287,000 after buying an additional 38,040 shares in the last quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Emergent BioSolutions by 12.7% in the 1st quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 943,660 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock worth $9,776,000 after buying an additional 106,300 shares during the period. Finally, Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC increased its stake in shares of Emergent BioSolutions by 35.3% in the 1st quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC now owns 163,713 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock worth $1,696,000 after acquiring an additional 42,748 shares in the last quarter. 80.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors. About Emergent BioSolutions (Get Rating) Emergent BioSolutions Inc engages in the development, manufacture, and commercialization of medical countermeasures. It offers products for civilian and military populations that address accidental, intentional, and naturally occurring public health threats. The firms products include ACAM2000, BioThrax, Raxibacuma, Vaxchora, and VIGIV. Recommended Stories Receive News & Ratings for Emergent BioSolutions Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Emergent BioSolutions and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Endeavour Silver Corp. (NYSE:EXK Get Rating) (TSE:EDR) has received a consensus recommendation of Moderate Buy from the nine brokerages that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $5.83. EXK has been the topic of several recent research reports. HC Wainwright reissued a buy rating and set a $5.50 price target on shares of Endeavour Silver in a research report on Wednesday, April 19th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on Endeavour Silver in a report on Thursday. They set a sell rating for the company. TheStreet raised Endeavour Silver from a d+ rating to a c rating in a report on Tuesday, March 14th. Pi Financial upgraded Endeavour Silver from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 7th. Finally, CIBC dropped their price target on Endeavour Silver from C$7.50 to C$6.50 in a research report on Tuesday, February 7th. Get Endeavour Silver alerts: Institutional Inflows and Outflows Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Endeavour Silver in the first quarter valued at $49,000. HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Endeavour Silver by 225.8% during the 1st quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 73,588 shares of the mining companys stock valued at $344,000 after purchasing an additional 51,000 shares during the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. acquired a new stake in Endeavour Silver during the 1st quarter valued at $35,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Endeavour Silver by 924.9% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 684,840 shares of the mining companys stock valued at $3,185,000 after purchasing an additional 618,022 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. acquired a new stake in Endeavour Silver during the 1st quarter valued at $55,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 23.64% of the companys stock. Endeavour Silver Stock Performance Shares of NYSE EXK opened at $3.24 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $620.49 million, a PE ratio of -324.00 and a beta of 1.44. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $3.80 and a 200-day moving average price of $3.49. Endeavour Silver has a 1 year low of $2.47 and a 1 year high of $4.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a current ratio of 3.02 and a quick ratio of 2.51. Endeavour Silver (NYSE:EXK Get Rating) (TSE:EDR) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, March 2nd. The mining company reported $0.04 EPS for the quarter. Endeavour Silver had a net margin of 0.48% and a return on equity of 3.32%. The business had revenue of $81.99 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $36.22 million. Equities analysts anticipate that Endeavour Silver will post 0.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year. About Endeavour Silver (Get Rating) Endeavour Silver Corp. operates as a mineral company. It engages in the evaluation, acquisition, exploration, development and exploitation of precious metal properties in Mexico and Chile. The firms projects include the Terronera property in Jalisco, the El Compas property, the Guanacevi Mine in Durango, Bolanitos Mines in Guanajuato, and the Parral project in Chihuahua, Mexico. Recommended Stories Receive News & Ratings for Endeavour Silver Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Endeavour Silver and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of EnerSys (NYSE:ENS Get Rating) in a research note issued to investors on Thursday morning. The firm issued a strong-buy rating on the industrial products companys stock. EnerSys Price Performance Shares of ENS stock opened at $85.80 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 1.36. EnerSys has a 12-month low of $55.60 and a 12-month high of $94.32. The company has a quick ratio of 1.54, a current ratio of 2.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $82.82 and a 200-day moving average of $80.89. Get EnerSys alerts: Institutional Investors Weigh In On EnerSys Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Ellevest Inc. raised its holdings in EnerSys by 102.0% during the 3rd quarter. Ellevest Inc. now owns 895 shares of the industrial products companys stock worth $52,000 after buying an additional 452 shares during the period. Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new stake in EnerSys in the 1st quarter valued at $60,000. Assetmark Inc. boosted its stake in EnerSys by 31.8% in the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 850 shares of the industrial products companys stock worth $63,000 after purchasing an additional 205 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd increased its holdings in EnerSys by 58.2% during the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 930 shares of the industrial products companys stock worth $69,000 after purchasing an additional 342 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SkyView Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of EnerSys in the 1st quarter valued at about $87,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.66% of the companys stock. EnerSys Company Profile EnerSys engages in the provision of stored energy solutions for industrial applications. It operates through the following segments: Energy Systems, Motive Power, and Specialty. The Energy Systems segment combines enclosures, power conversion, power distribution, and energy storage used in the telecommunication, broadband, and utility industries. See Also Receive News & Ratings for EnerSys Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for EnerSys and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. New Found Gold (NYSE:NFGC Get Rating) and DRDGOLD (NYSE:DRD Get Rating) are both basic materials companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, earnings, valuation, institutional ownership, risk, analyst recommendations and profitability. Profitability This table compares New Found Gold and DRDGOLDs net margins, return on equity and return on assets. Get New Found Gold alerts: Net Margins Return on Equity Return on Assets New Found Gold N/A -118.06% -91.50% DRDGOLD N/A N/A N/A Analyst Ratings This is a breakdown of recent ratings for New Found Gold and DRDGOLD, as provided by MarketBeat. Sell Ratings Hold Ratings Buy Ratings Strong Buy Ratings Rating Score New Found Gold 0 0 1 0 3.00 DRDGOLD 0 0 1 0 3.00 Risk and Volatility New Found Gold presently has a consensus price target of $10.00, suggesting a potential upside of 127.79%. DRDGOLD has a consensus price target of $15.00, suggesting a potential upside of 26.80%. Given New Found Golds higher probable upside, equities analysts clearly believe New Found Gold is more favorable than DRDGOLD. New Found Gold has a beta of 1.41, meaning that its share price is 41% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, DRDGOLD has a beta of 1.2, meaning that its share price is 20% more volatile than the S&P 500. Earnings & Valuation This table compares New Found Gold and DRDGOLDs top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation. Gross Revenue Price/Sales Ratio Net Income Earnings Per Share Price/Earnings Ratio New Found Gold N/A N/A -$69.22 million ($0.38) -11.55 DRDGOLD $336.84 million N/A $73.95 million N/A N/A DRDGOLD has higher revenue and earnings than New Found Gold. Institutional & Insider Ownership 22.1% of New Found Gold shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.0% of DRDGOLD shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term. Summary DRDGOLD beats New Found Gold on 5 of the 8 factors compared between the two stocks. About New Found Gold (Get Rating) New Found Gold Corp., a mineral exploration company, engages in the identification, acquisition, and exploration of mineral properties in the Provinces of Newfoundland and Labrador, and Ontario. The company primarily explores for gold deposit. It holds 100% interests in the Queensway project that includes 86 mineral licenses and 6,041 claims covering an area of 151,030 hectares of land located near Gander, Newfoundland; and the Lucky Strike project comprising 11,684 hectares located in Kirkland Lake, Ontario. The company was formerly known as Palisade Resources Corp. and changed its name to New Found Gold Corp. in June 2017. New Found Gold Corp. was incorporated in 2016 and is headquartered in Vancouver, Canada. About DRDGOLD (Get Rating) DRDGOLD Ltd. engages in the business of retreatment of surface gold. It operates through the following segments: Ergo, FWGR, and Other Reconciling Items. The Ergo segment treats slime dams and sand dumps to the south of Johannesburgs central business district as well as the East and Central Rand goldfields. The FWGR segment focuses on the slime dams in the West Rand goldfields. The company was founded on February 16, 1895 and is headquartered in Johannesburg, South Africa. Receive News & Ratings for New Found Gold Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for New Found Gold and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Ford Motor (NYSE:F Get Rating) in a research report sent to investors on Thursday morning. The firm issued a hold rating on the auto manufacturers stock. A number of other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Tudor Pickering downgraded Ford Motor from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 15th. Citigroup increased their target price on Ford Motor from $12.50 to $12.80 in a research report on Monday, May 15th. Barclays initiated coverage on Ford Motor in a research report on Tuesday, February 14th. They set an equal weight rating and a $13.00 target price on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut Ford Motor from a hold rating to a sell rating and dropped their target price for the company from $13.00 to $11.00 in a research report on Friday, February 3rd. Finally, TheStreet raised Ford Motor from a c+ rating to a b rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 2nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $14.56. Get Ford Motor alerts: Ford Motor Stock Performance Shares of NYSE:F traded down $0.17 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $11.48. 21,090,389 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 64,269,594. Ford Motor has a 12 month low of $10.61 and a 12 month high of $16.68. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $45.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 1.54. The firms fifty day moving average price is $11.97 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $12.59. Ford Motor Announces Dividend Ford Motor ( NYSE:F Get Rating ) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, May 2nd. The auto manufacturer reported $0.63 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $0.36 by $0.27. Ford Motor had a return on equity of 19.99% and a net margin of 1.75%. The business had revenue of $39.09 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $37.42 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.38 EPS. The companys quarterly revenue was up 21.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Ford Motor will post 1.7 earnings per share for the current year. The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 26th will be issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.23%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 25th. Ford Motors payout ratio is 84.51%. Insider Transactions at Ford Motor In related news, insider Ashwani Kumar Galhotra sold 24,850 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.01, for a total value of $323,298.50. Following the sale, the insider now owns 511,605 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $6,655,981.05. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Ashwani Kumar Galhotra sold 24,850 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.01, for a total value of $323,298.50. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 511,605 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,655,981.05. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO John T. Lawler sold 29,821 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.07, for a total transaction of $389,760.47. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 443,683 shares in the company, valued at $5,798,936.81. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 134,592 shares of company stock worth $1,740,843. 0.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders. Institutional Trading of Ford Motor A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of F. Bay Colony Advisory Group Inc d b a Bay Colony Advisors grew its holdings in Ford Motor by 6.7% during the 4th quarter. Bay Colony Advisory Group Inc d b a Bay Colony Advisors now owns 11,817 shares of the auto manufacturers stock worth $137,000 after acquiring an additional 737 shares during the last quarter. First National Trust Co lifted its position in Ford Motor by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. First National Trust Co now owns 25,656 shares of the auto manufacturers stock valued at $288,000 after purchasing an additional 751 shares during the period. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its position in Ford Motor by 1.7% during the 1st quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 46,430 shares of the auto manufacturers stock valued at $585,000 after purchasing an additional 790 shares during the period. Blackston Financial Advisory Group LLC lifted its position in Ford Motor by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter. Blackston Financial Advisory Group LLC now owns 19,590 shares of the auto manufacturers stock valued at $262,000 after purchasing an additional 815 shares during the period. Finally, AJ Wealth Strategies LLC lifted its position in Ford Motor by 2.7% during the 1st quarter. AJ Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 31,374 shares of the auto manufacturers stock valued at $531,000 after purchasing an additional 820 shares during the period. 49.68% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds. About Ford Motor (Get Rating) 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. Further Reading Receive News & Ratings for Ford Motor Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Ford Motor and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Harmony Gold Mining (NYSE:HMY Get Rating) in a research report report published on Thursday. The brokerage issued a hold rating on the mining companys stock. Other analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Investec cut shares of Harmony Gold Mining from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note on Monday, April 17th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Harmony Gold Mining from an underweight rating to an equal weight rating in a research note on Monday, April 24th. Finally, HSBC cut shares of Harmony Gold Mining from a hold rating to a reduce rating in a research note on Monday, January 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have issued a hold rating to the companys stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of Hold. Get Harmony Gold Mining alerts: Harmony Gold Mining Trading Down 0.8 % HMY stock traded down $0.04 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $4.78. 2,008,965 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,270,003. Harmony Gold Mining has a one year low of $1.93 and a one year high of $5.43. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $4.45 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $3.79. The company has a current ratio of 1.52, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. Institutional Trading of Harmony Gold Mining Harmony Gold Mining Company Profile Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. OLD Mission Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Harmony Gold Mining in the 3rd quarter worth about $553,000. Arlington Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Harmony Gold Mining in the 4th quarter worth about $585,000. FNY Investment Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in Harmony Gold Mining in the 4th quarter worth about $306,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in Harmony Gold Mining in the 3rd quarter worth about $97,000. Finally, Exor Capital LLP raised its stake in Harmony Gold Mining by 6.0% in the 3rd quarter. Exor Capital LLP now owns 26,664,903 shares of the mining companys stock worth $64,796,000 after purchasing an additional 1,500,000 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 36.50% of the companys stock. (Get Rating) Harmony Gold Mining Co Ltd. engages in mining and exploration of gold. It involves building mines, open-pit operation, sales and financial management, land rehabilitation and mine closure. It operates through the following segments: Tshepong Operations, Moab Khotsong, Mponeng, Bambanani, Doornkop, Joel, Target 1, Kusasalethu, Masimong, South African Surface Operations, Mine Waste Solutions, Kalgold, and Hidden Valley. Read More Receive News & Ratings for Harmony Gold Mining Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Harmony Gold Mining and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Ingersoll Rand Inc. (NYSE:IR Get Rating) announced a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, May 2nd, RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 24th will be given a dividend of 0.02 per share by the industrial products company on Thursday, June 22nd. This represents a $0.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.13%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 23rd. Ingersoll Rand has decreased its dividend payment by an average of 66.5% annually over the last three years. Ingersoll Rand has a dividend payout ratio of 2.7% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Ingersoll Rand to earn $2.72 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.08 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 2.9%. Get Ingersoll Rand alerts: Ingersoll Rand Stock Down 0.3 % NYSE IR opened at $59.76 on Monday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $56.33 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $55.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 2.16 and a quick ratio of 1.50. Ingersoll Rand has a fifty-two week low of $39.28 and a fifty-two week high of $61.06. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.17 billion, a PE ratio of 36.89 and a beta of 1.42. Insiders Place Their Bets Ingersoll Rand ( NYSE:IR Get Rating ) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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. Ingersoll Rand had a return on equity of 10.69% and a net margin of 10.66%. The company had revenue of $1.62 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $1.54 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.64 EPS. Ingersoll Rands revenue was up 14.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Ingersoll Rand will post 2.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year. In other Ingersoll Rand news, insider Vicente Reynal sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 102,856 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,171,360. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.75% of the companys stock. Institutional Trading of Ingersoll Rand Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Compass Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ingersoll Rand in the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Belpointe Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Ingersoll Rand by 38.6% during the 1st quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC now owns 1,426 shares of the industrial products companys stock valued at $83,000 after purchasing an additional 397 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd boosted its stake in Ingersoll Rand by 70.7% during the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,905 shares of the industrial products companys stock valued at $96,000 after purchasing an additional 789 shares during the last quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in Ingersoll Rand during the 4th quarter valued at about $183,000. Finally, Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. boosted its stake in Ingersoll Rand by 11.8% during the 2nd quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 4,815 shares of the industrial products companys stock valued at $203,000 after purchasing an additional 510 shares during the last quarter. 99.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds. Analyst Ratings Changes A number of research analysts have recently commented on IR shares. Evercore ISI upgraded Ingersoll Rand from an in-line rating to an outperform rating and set a $71.00 price target for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 9th. StockNews.com upgraded Ingersoll Rand from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note on Saturday, May 13th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Ingersoll Rand from $57.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 22nd. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Ingersoll Rand from $62.00 to $66.00 in a research report on Friday, May 5th. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on Ingersoll Rand from $62.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Monday, April 10th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the companys stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $60.36. About Ingersoll Rand (Get Rating) 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. See Also Receive News & Ratings for Ingersoll Rand Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Ingersoll Rand and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Coupang, Inc. (NYSE:CPNG Get Rating) Director Pedro Franceschi sold 7,143 shares of the companys stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.99, for a total transaction of $114,216.57. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 21,428 shares in the company, valued at $342,633.72. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Coupang Trading Down 1.7 % Shares of CPNG stock traded down $0.28 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $16.01. 6,916,804 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,226,098. The firm has a market cap of $28.48 billion, a PE ratio of 135.76 and a beta of 1.36. Coupang, Inc. has a 1 year low of $10.51 and a 1 year high of $21.38. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $15.64 and a 200 day moving average of $16.33. Get Coupang alerts: Coupang (NYSE:CPNG Get Rating) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, May 9th. The company reported $0.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of $0.13 by ($0.08). The business had revenue of $5.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.64 billion. Coupang had a return on equity of 9.03% and a net margin of 0.98%. The firms revenue for the quarter was up 13.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted ($0.12) EPS. Analysts expect that Coupang, Inc. will post 0.25 earnings per share for the current year. Institutional Trading of Coupang Analyst Ratings Changes A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of CPNG. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Coupang during the 4th quarter worth approximately $194,784,000. Sands Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Coupang during the 4th quarter worth approximately $158,925,000. Millennium Management LLC increased its position in Coupang by 656.5% during the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 8,241,323 shares of the companys stock worth $121,230,000 after purchasing an additional 7,151,964 shares in the last quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. increased its position in Coupang by 6.2% during the 4th quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 115,176,100 shares of the companys stock worth $1,694,240,000 after purchasing an additional 6,742,347 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in Coupang by 24.9% in the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 31,357,008 shares of the companys stock valued at $501,712,000 after acquiring an additional 6,243,962 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.56% of the companys stock. A number of research analysts have issued reports on CPNG shares. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Coupang from $23.00 to $22.00 in a report on Monday, April 10th. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Coupang from $18.00 to $19.00 in a report on Thursday, May 11th. Barclays started coverage on shares of Coupang in a report on Thursday, February 9th. They issued an overweight rating and a $20.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Coupang from a hold rating to a buy rating and set a $20.00 target price on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $21.11. About Coupang (Get Rating) Coupang, Inc owns and operates in e-commerce business through its mobile applications and Internet websites primarily in South Korea. It operates through two segments, Product Commerce and Growth Initiatives. The company sells various products and services in the categories of home goods and decor products, apparel, beauty products, fresh food and groceries, sporting goods, electronics, and everyday consumables, as well as travel, and restaurant order and delivery services. Recommended Stories Receive News & Ratings for Coupang Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Coupang and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Hiroshima, Japan (CNN) Staff-level discussions over the debt ceiling and budget between the White House and congressional Republicans will resume Sunday evening after US President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy spoke by phone in the afternoon, according to a White House official. Biden and McCarthy will meet later on Monday, the official added. McCarthy said the phone call with Biden, who was aboard Air Force One returning to Washington from Japan, was productive. In an 18-minute gaggle with reporters at the US Capitol, the California Republican said that while the timing of the meeting was still being worked out, it was likely to be Monday afternoon. It is not expected to include other congressional leaders. McCarthys more optimistic tone comes after the president had issued a stark warning earlier Sunday that congressional Republicans could use a national default to damage him politically and acknowledged that time had run out to use potential unilateral actions to raise the federal borrowing limit, as the deadline to reach an agreement neared. Characterizing GOP proposals as extreme and warning they couldnt gain sufficient support in Congress, Biden said he wasnt able to promise fellow world leaders gathered in Hiroshima, Japan, for Group of Seven talks that the US would not default. I cant guarantee that they will not force a default by doing something outrageous, he said at a news conference before he left for Washington. Sharp disagreements Bidens remarks were the latest indication that talks between the White House and congressional Republicans remained far apart. Republicans have been seeking spending cuts in the federal budget in exchange for their support to raise the nations borrowing limit. On Sunday, Biden acknowledged significant disagreement with Republicans in some areas, insisting that while hes willing to cut spending, tax revenue is not off the table as part of the deal. McCarthy, in an interview Sunday with Fox News, disagreed with that characterization, saying Biden previously told him that tax increases were off the table and that he wouldnt agree to them. Hes now bringing something to the table that everyone said was off the table, the California Republican said. It seems as though he wants to fault more than he wants a deal. The budget proposal Republicans presented earlier this weekend would set budget caps for six years, with the cap structure remaining the same as the House-passed bill at fiscal year 2022 levels, according to a source with direct knowledge of the matter. The proposal included at least two items that werent part of their initial bill: immigration provisions and additional changes to the work requirements for food stamps, the source said. At his news conference Sunday, Biden said that much of what Republicans have proposed is simply, quite frankly, unacceptable. Its time for Republicans to accept that theres no bipartisan deal to be made solely, solely on their partisan terms. They have to move, as well, the president said. Pressed on whether he would be to blame for a default scenario, Biden said that based on what hes offered, he should be blameless but conceded that no one will be blameless as he suggested some of his political rivals could be encouraging a default to sabotage his reelection efforts. I think there are some MAGA Republicans in the House who know the damage it would do to the economy, and because I am president, and a president is responsible for everything, Biden would take the blame and thats the one way to make sure Bidens not reelected, he said. McCarthy, in turn, blamed what he called the socialist wing of the Democratic Party for driving Bidens goals in the negotiations. The president keeps changing positions every time Bernie Sanders has a press conference. He gets reactive and he shifts, the speaker said as he arrived at the US Capitol in Washington on Sunday. Meanwhile, Bidens top national security aide told CNN that the stalled debt ceiling and budget negotiations have not undercut American leadership abroad or undermined the G7 summit as it came to a close Sunday. When you look at the totality of the last three days, its actually a reflection of and an exclamation point on the way in which President Biden has led on the world stage. People understand democracies, and they understand that there are moments in domestic politics when you have got to look at the home front, national security adviser Jake Sullivan told CNNs Jake Tapper on State of the Union. Biden outlines shortcomings of 14th Amendment argument Biden in his news conference addressed the possibility of using the 14th Amendment to continue US government borrowing in the absence of a deal, suggesting he has the power but not the time to utilize the unilateral action. I think we have the authority. The question is, could it be done and invoked in time that it could not would not be appealed? Biden asked, calling the question of whether an appeal could be solved before the default deadline unresolved. Pressed by CNN to clarify whether he thought he could invoke the 14th Amendment as a serious and tangible option, the president made clear that maneuver would not be successful given the short window remaining. We have not come up with unilateral action that could succeed in a matter of two weeks or three weeks. Thats the issue. So its up to lawmakers. But my hope and intention is to resolve this problem, he said. Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana said Sunday a potential invocation of the 14th Amendment would be a dodge. The president needs to show leadership. OK, House Republicans, American people, youre concerned about spending, I will meet you there. As opposed to finding a dodge that tries to work its way around, Cassidy said. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen reiterated Sunday in an interview with NBC News that June 1 was a hard deadline for the US to raise the debt ceiling or risk defaulting on its obligations. But Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, a co-chair of the bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus, said there may be some leeway. The June 1st date was probably, according to Secretary Yellen, the earliest possible date, the Pennsylvania Republican told CBS News, adding that we do have enough cash flow to pay the interest on our debt. Were going start to see the state tax revenues come in the second week of June, so I think were OK on that, Fitzpatrick said. Standoff lifts Biden had originally planned to stop in Australia and Papua New Guinea after the G7 summit in Hiroshima, but he canceled those portions of the trip amid the debt ceiling talks. On Saturday, Rep. Dusty Johnson, a McCarthy ally and chair of the centrist Main Street Caucus, confirmed that the White House had made an offer seeking to cap future spending at current levels, which Johnson called unreasonable. The paper that the White House provided was a major step backward. And it undermined all the progress that was made Wednesday and Thursday. It has endangered negotiations, the South Dakota Republican said. On Sunday, McCarthy told reporters at the Capitol that GOP Reps. Garrett Graves of Louisiana and Patrick McHenry of North Carolina would begin conversations again with White House staff so we can walk them through literally what weve been talking about. Before news broke of the talks resuming, McHenry told CNN that he was not at all optimistic a deal could come together. Ive been pessimistic for a while, and something needs to change, he said Sunday morning. Graves said both sides had made a lot of progress in understanding one anothers positions, in understanding red lines and that the negotiators were closer than when they had started. He said there were still discussions to be had over ancillary topics such as work requirements and permitting reform, but the numbers are the baseline. The speaker has been very clear: A red line is spending less money, and unless and until were there, the rest of it is really irrelevant, the Louisiana Republican said. This story was first published on CNN.com, "Biden and McCarthy to discuss debt ceiling Monday as staff-level talks resume" Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (TSE:CM Get Rating) (NYSE:CM) had its price target cut by National Bankshares from C$64.00 to C$62.00 in a research report report published on Thursday, BayStreet.CA reports. A number of other research firms have also weighed in on CM. Fundamental Research set a C$73.83 price target on shares of Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 14th. CSFB lowered their target price on shares of Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce from C$65.00 to C$60.00 in a research note on Tuesday, May 16th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on shares of Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce from C$70.00 to C$69.00 in a report on Monday, February 27th. CIBC boosted their price target on shares of Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce from C$66.00 to C$66.50 in a research report on Monday, February 27th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price target on shares of Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce from C$66.00 to C$66.50 in a research note on Monday, February 27th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of C$66.37. Get Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce alerts: Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce Trading Down 0.8 % CM opened at C$56.14 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day moving average of C$56.77 and a 200 day moving average of C$58.83. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce has a 12 month low of C$53.58 and a 12 month high of C$71.10. The company has a market cap of C$51.18 billion, a PE ratio of 11.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 27.22 and a beta of 1.04. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce Dividend Announcement Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce ( TSE:CM Get Rating ) (NYSE:CM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 24th. The company reported C$1.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of C$1.66 by C$0.28. The firm had revenue of C$5.93 billion for the quarter. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce had a net margin of 22.77% and a return on equity of 9.89%. Research analysts forecast that Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce will post 6.9480198 earnings per share for the current fiscal year. The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 28th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 28th were given a dividend of $0.85 per share. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.06%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 27th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerces dividend payout ratio is presently 67.73%. Insider Transactions at Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce In related news, Director Victor George Dodig bought 51,590 shares of the companys stock in a transaction on Friday, March 10th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of C$58.08 per share, with a total value of C$2,996,347.20. Company insiders own 0.06% of the companys stock. About Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (Get Rating) Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, a diversified financial institution, provides various financial products and services to personal, business, public sector, and institutional clients in Canada, the United States, and internationally. The company operates through Canadian Personal and Business Banking; Canadian Commercial Banking and Wealth Management; U.S. Featured Stories Receive News & Ratings for Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY Get Rating) by 12.0% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 220,700 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock after buying an additional 23,640 shares during the quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLCs holdings in Bristol-Myers Squibb were worth $15,879,000 as of its most recent SEC filing. Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of BMY. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 199,886,585 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock worth $14,209,937,000 after buying an additional 3,058,491 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. grew its stake in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 174,002,852 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock valued at $12,369,862,000 after purchasing an additional 3,357,590 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 14,659,982 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock valued at $1,042,264,000 after buying an additional 155,845 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners lifted its position in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 35.7% during the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 13,794,089 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock valued at $992,048,000 after buying an additional 3,627,705 shares in the last quarter. Finally, California Public Employees Retirement System lifted its position in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 11,442,639 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock valued at $813,457,000 after buying an additional 59,791 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.51% of the companys stock. Get Bristol-Myers Squibb alerts: Insider Activity In related news, EVP Rupert Vessey sold 50,385 shares of the firms stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.06, for a total transaction of $3,378,818.10. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 47,751 shares of the companys stock, valued at $3,202,182.06. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.09% of the companys stock. Analyst Ratings Changes Bristol-Myers Squibb Stock Down 0.9 % A number of research firms have recently weighed in on BMY. Barclays lowered their price objective on Bristol-Myers Squibb from $66.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Monday, May 1st. Credit Suisse Group lowered their price target on Bristol-Myers Squibb from $78.00 to $72.00 in a report on Friday, April 28th. Atlantic Securities boosted their price target on Bristol-Myers Squibb from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Friday, February 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Bristol-Myers Squibb in a report on Monday, March 6th. They set a hold rating and a $62.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Bank of America boosted their target price on Bristol-Myers Squibb from $82.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Friday, April 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $79.43. Shares of NYSE BMY traded down $0.56 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $65.28. 1,632,272 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,990,487. The company has a quick ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10. The stock has a market cap of $137.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.04, a P/E/G ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 0.44. Bristol-Myers Squibb has a 1 year low of $65.14 and a 1 year high of $81.43. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $68.42 and a 200 day moving average of $72.09. 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 analysts consensus estimates of $1.98 by $0.07. Bristol-Myers Squibb had a return on equity of 51.75% and a net margin of 15.95%. The company had revenue of $11.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $11.50 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.96 earnings per share. The firms revenue was down 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Bristol-Myers Squibb will post 8.06 earnings per share for the current year. Bristol-Myers Squibb Dividend Announcement The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 10th were issued a $0.57 dividend. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.49%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 6th. Bristol-Myers Squibbs dividend payout ratio is presently 66.47%. Bristol-Myers Squibb Company Profile (Get Rating) Bristol Myers Squibb Co engages in the discovery, development, licensing, manufacture, marketing, distribution, and sale of biopharmaceutical products. It offers chemically-synthesized drugs or small molecules and products produced from biological processes called biologics. The company was founded in August 1933 and is headquartered in New York, NY. See Also Want to see what other hedge funds are holding BMY? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY Get Rating). Receive News & Ratings for Bristol-Myers Squibb Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Bristol-Myers Squibb and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Orange (NYSE:ORAN Get Rating) in a research report released on Thursday. The firm issued a hold rating on the technology companys stock. Other equities research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Morgan Stanley upgraded Orange from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating in a research note on Monday, March 27th. Barclays upgraded Orange from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 18th. Get Orange alerts: Orange Trading Up 1.7 % Shares of Orange stock traded up $0.21 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $12.39. 134,477 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 447,566. Orange has a 1 year low of $8.81 and a 1 year high of $13.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The business has a 50-day moving average of $12.32 and a 200-day moving average of $11.08. Orange Announces Dividend Institutional Trading of Orange The firm also recently disclosed a Semi-Annual dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 22nd. Investors of record on Friday, June 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.343 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 1st. Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of Orange by 384.1% during the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 88,800 shares of the technology companys stock valued at $1,049,000 after acquiring an additional 70,455 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in Orange by 12.2% during the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 34,861 shares of the technology companys stock worth $412,000 after buying an additional 3,787 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Orange during the first quarter worth about $147,000. Citigroup Inc. lifted its position in Orange by 14.3% during the first quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 118,777 shares of the technology companys stock worth $1,404,000 after buying an additional 14,884 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can lifted its position in Orange by 12.1% during the first quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 31,199 shares of the technology companys stock worth $374,000 after buying an additional 3,359 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 1.09% of the companys stock. About Orange (Get Rating) Orange SA engages as a telecommunication services company, which operates mobile and internet services. It provides telecommunication services to multinational companies, under the brand Orange Business Services. The company was founded in January 1, 1991 and is headquartered in Paris, France. Featured Stories Receive News & Ratings for Orange Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Orange and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Panasonic Holdings Co. (OTCMKTS:PCRFY Get Rating) reached a new 52-week high on Monday . The company traded as high as $10.72 and last traded at $10.65, with a volume of 94007 shares. The stock had previously closed at $10.60. Wall Street Analyst Weigh In Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on PCRFY shares. Jefferies Financial Group raised Panasonic from an underperform rating to a hold rating in a report on Monday, February 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised Panasonic from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a research note on Monday, May 1st. Get Panasonic alerts: Panasonic Stock Performance The stock has a market capitalization of $26.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.62, a PEG ratio of 0.51 and a beta of 0.94. The companys 50-day simple moving average is $9.37 and its 200-day simple moving average is $8.99. The company has a current ratio of 1.31, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. Panasonic Company Profile Panasonic ( OTCMKTS:PCRFY Get Rating ) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 10th. The company reported $0.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.02 by $0.31. Panasonic had a return on equity of 7.25% and a net margin of 3.18%. The business had revenue of $16.29 billion during the quarter. On average, analysts expect that Panasonic Holdings Co. will post 0.87 EPS for the current year. (Get Rating) Panasonic Holdings Corp. engages in the development, manufacture, and sale of electrical products. It operates through the following segments: Appliances, Life Solutions, Connected Solutions, Automotive, Industrial Solutions, and Others. The Appliances segment provides consumer electronics such as flat panels televisions, refrigerators, washing machines, microwave ovens, video equipment, rice cookers, and vacuum cleaners. Featured Articles Receive News & Ratings for Panasonic Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Panasonic and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Skyline Champion (NYSE:SKY Get Rating) in a research note published on Thursday. The brokerage issued a hold rating on the stock. SKY has been the topic of several other reports. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Skyline Champion from $54.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 8th. Craig Hallum raised their target price on Skyline Champion from $65.00 to $78.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 8th. Get Skyline Champion alerts: Skyline Champion Stock Performance Skyline Champion stock opened at $67.05 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $3.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.94 and a beta of 1.67. The company has a current ratio of 3.86, a quick ratio of 3.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $70.66 and a 200-day moving average of $62.29. Skyline Champion has a 52 week low of $43.04 and a 52 week high of $76.82. Insider Activity at Skyline Champion Institutional Inflows and Outflows In other Skyline Champion news, VP Timothy A. Burkhardt sold 3,500 shares of the firms stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.12, for a total transaction of $241,920.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 26,066 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,801,681.92. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink . In other news, VP Timothy A. Burkhardt sold 3,500 shares of Skyline Champion stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.12, for a total transaction of $241,920.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 26,066 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,801,681.92. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link . Also, EVP Joseph A. Kimmell sold 8,547 shares of Skyline Champion stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.84, for a total value of $579,828.48. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 27,204 shares of the companys stock, valued at $1,845,519.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here . 7.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders. A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in SKY. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in shares of Skyline Champion by 28.9% in the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 60,302 shares of the companys stock valued at $3,309,000 after acquiring an additional 13,513 shares in the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC bought a new position in Skyline Champion in the 1st quarter worth approximately $277,000. Bank of Montreal Can bought a new position in Skyline Champion in the 1st quarter worth approximately $222,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Skyline Champion in the 1st quarter worth approximately $496,000. Finally, MetLife Investment Management LLC increased its position in Skyline Champion by 53.8% in the 1st quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 28,047 shares of the companys stock worth $1,539,000 after buying an additional 9,809 shares during the period. 99.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors. Skyline Champion Company Profile (Get Rating) Skyline Champion Corp. engages in the manufacturing and retail of mobile homes and other manufactured housing. It builds homes under the following brands: Skyline Homes, Champion Home Builders, Athens Park Model RVs, Dutch Housing, Excel Homes, Homes of Merit, New Era, Redman Homes, Shore Park, Silvercrest, Titan Homes in the U.S. Read More Receive News & Ratings for Skyline Champion Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Skyline Champion and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Roth Capital upgraded shares of Snap-on (NYSE:SNA Get Rating) from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Thursday, PriceTargets.com reports. Several other brokerages also recently weighed in on SNA. MKM Partners boosted their target price on Snap-on from $238.00 to $259.00 in a research note on Friday, February 3rd. Longbow Research raised Snap-on from an underperform rating to a neutral rating in a research report on Friday, April 21st. Roth Mkm raised Snap-on from a neutral rating to a buy rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $278.00 to $298.00 in a research report on Thursday. Bank of America lifted their price target on Snap-on from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an underperform rating in a research report on Friday, April 21st. Finally, StockNews.com started coverage on Snap-on in a research report on Thursday. They set a buy rating for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the companys stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $260.57. Get Snap-on alerts: Snap-on Stock Down 0.2 % Shares of SNA stock opened at $260.86 on Thursday. Snap-on has a 1-year low of $190.08 and a 1-year high of $265.02. The stocks fifty day moving average price is $246.88 and its 200 day moving average price is $242.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 3.48 and a quick ratio of 2.43. The company has a market cap of $13.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 1.09. Snap-on Announces Dividend Snap-on ( NYSE:SNA Get Rating ) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 20th. The company reported $4.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.14 by $0.46. Snap-on had a return on equity of 21.17% and a net margin of 20.60%. The firm had revenue of $1.18 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.13 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $4.00 EPS. The firms revenue for the quarter was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Snap-on will post 17.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year. The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 19th will be issued a $1.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 18th. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.48%. Snap-ons dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.18%. Insider Activity In related news, CEO Nicholas T. Pinchuk sold 22,800 shares of the companys stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $236.05, for a total value of $5,381,940.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 676,929 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $159,789,090.45. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, SVP Anup R. Banerjee sold 29,750 shares of the companys stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $259.55, for a total value of $7,721,612.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 5,994 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $1,555,742.70. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Nicholas T. Pinchuk sold 22,800 shares of the companys stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $236.05, for a total value of $5,381,940.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 676,929 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $159,789,090.45. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 56,884 shares of company stock valued at $14,194,715 in the last quarter. 4.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders. Institutional Investors Weigh In On Snap-on Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of SNA. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Snap-on by 968.6% during the 1st quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 5,349,981 shares of the companys stock worth $134,881,000 after buying an additional 4,849,325 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Snap-on during the 4th quarter worth approximately $112,490,000. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in Snap-on by 7,194.3% during the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 241,149 shares of the companys stock worth $49,551,000 after buying an additional 237,843 shares in the last quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group increased its stake in Snap-on by 33.0% during the 4th quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 487,040 shares of the companys stock worth $111,284,000 after buying an additional 120,846 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Snap-on during the 1st quarter worth approximately $117,000. 85.19% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors. Snap-on Company Profile (Get Rating) Snap-On, Inc engages in the manufacture and marketing of tools, equipment, diagnostics, repair information, and systems solutions for professional users performing critical tasks. Its products and services include hand and power tools, tool storage, diagnostics software, handheld and PC-based diagnostic products, information and management systems, shop equipment and other solutions for vehicle dealerships and repair centers, as well as for customers in industries such as aviation and aerospace, agriculture, construction, government and military, mining, natural resources, power generation, and technical education. Featured Stories Receive News & Ratings for Snap-on Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Snap-on and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. SouthState Corp lowered its holdings in Sprott Physical Silver Trust (NYSEARCA:PSLV Get Rating) by 10.6% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 274,210 shares of the exchange traded funds stock after selling 32,400 shares during the quarter. SouthState Corps holdings in Sprott Physical Silver Trust were worth $2,259,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of PSLV. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. increased its holdings in Sprott Physical Silver Trust by 15.0% during the 3rd quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. now owns 9,289,268 shares of the exchange traded funds stock worth $61,495,000 after acquiring an additional 1,209,166 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada increased its holdings in Sprott Physical Silver Trust by 31.4% during the 3rd quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 3,023,356 shares of the exchange traded funds stock worth $20,015,000 after acquiring an additional 721,997 shares during the period. Capital Wealth Alliance LLC increased its holdings in Sprott Physical Silver Trust by 5.9% during the 3rd quarter. Capital Wealth Alliance LLC now owns 1,851,177 shares of the exchange traded funds stock worth $12,253,000 after acquiring an additional 103,859 shares during the period. Jane Street Group LLC increased its holdings in Sprott Physical Silver Trust by 22.7% during the 3rd quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 1,829,083 shares of the exchange traded funds stock worth $12,109,000 after acquiring an additional 337,838 shares during the period. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company MN increased its holdings in Sprott Physical Silver Trust by 7.6% during the 2nd quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 1,555,993 shares of the exchange traded funds stock worth $10,736,000 after acquiring an additional 109,795 shares during the period. Get Sprott Physical Silver Trust alerts: Sprott Physical Silver Trust Stock Performance Sprott Physical Silver Trust stock traded up $0.03 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $8.20. 520,376 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,538,773. Sprott Physical Silver Trust has a 52 week low of $6.16 and a 52 week high of $8.99. The companys fifty day moving average is $8.34 and its 200-day moving average is $7.91. About Sprott Physical Silver Trust Sprott Physical Silver Trust is a closed-end investment trust company, which engages in the provision of a secure, convenient, and exchange-traded investment alternative for investors interested in holding physical silver bullion without the inconvenience that is typical of a direct investment in physical silver bullion. Featured Stories Want to see what other hedge funds are holding PSLV? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Sprott Physical Silver Trust (NYSEARCA:PSLV Get Rating). Receive News & Ratings for Sprott Physical Silver Trust Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Sprott Physical Silver Trust and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Beazer Homes USA (NYSE:BZH Get Rating) in a report issued on Thursday. The firm issued a hold rating on the construction companys stock. Several other brokerages have also issued reports on BZH. Wedbush increased their price target on shares of Beazer Homes USA from $18.00 to $20.00 in a research note on Friday, April 28th. B. Riley lifted their target price on shares of Beazer Homes USA from $20.00 to $22.00 in a report on Monday, May 1st. Get Beazer Homes USA alerts: Beazer Homes USA Stock Performance Beazer Homes USA stock opened at $21.12 on Thursday. Beazer Homes USA has a fifty-two week low of $9.47 and a fifty-two week high of $21.89. The stocks 50 day simple moving average is $17.28 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $15.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 2.46 and a current ratio of 16.37. The stock has a market cap of $662.11 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 2.17. Hedge Funds Weigh In On Beazer Homes USA Beazer Homes USA ( NYSE:BZH Get Rating ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 27th. The construction company reported $1.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 revenue was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.45 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Beazer Homes USA will post 3.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year. A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in BZH. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its stake in shares of Beazer Homes USA by 83.4% in the 3rd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 3,007 shares of the construction companys stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 1,367 shares in the last quarter. Dark Forest Capital Management LP bought a new position in shares of Beazer Homes USA in the first quarter worth about $31,000. Captrust Financial Advisors lifted its position in shares of Beazer Homes USA by 60.3% during the 2nd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 2,618 shares of the construction companys stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 985 shares in the last quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System bought a new position in shares of Beazer Homes USA during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Beazer Homes USA during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.95% of the companys stock. Beazer Homes USA Company Profile (Get Rating) 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. Featured Stories Receive News & Ratings for Beazer Homes USA Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Beazer Homes USA and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Gran Tierra Energy (NYSE:GTE Get Rating) in a report issued on Thursday morning. The brokerage issued a hold rating on the stock. Gran Tierra Energy Price Performance Shares of Gran Tierra Energy stock opened at $5.68 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.46. Gran Tierra Energy has a fifty-two week low of $5.39 and a fifty-two week high of $21.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $209.59 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 1.71. Get Gran Tierra Energy alerts: Gran Tierra Energy Company Profile (Get Rating) Read More Gran Tierra Energy, Inc engages in the exploration and production of oil and natural gas in Colombia and Ecuador. It holds interests in the assets located in the Middle Magdalena Valley and Putumayo Basins. The company was founded on June 6, 2003 and is headquartered in Calgary, Canada. Receive News & Ratings for Gran Tierra Energy Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Gran Tierra Energy and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. TCTC Holdings LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Lowes Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW Get Rating) by 1.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 116,771 shares of the home improvement retailers stock after selling 1,683 shares during the quarter. Lowes Companies makes up approximately 0.9% of TCTC Holdings LLCs holdings, making the stock its 27th biggest position. TCTC Holdings LLCs holdings in Lowes Companies were worth $23,265,000 at the end of the most recent quarter. Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in LOW. Pershing Square Capital Management L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of Lowes Companies by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Pershing Square Capital Management L.P. now owns 10,374,801 shares of the home improvement retailers stock valued at $1,948,491,000 after buying an additional 167,495 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in shares of Lowes Companies by 13.0% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 7,916,354 shares of the home improvement retailers stock valued at $1,486,770,000 after buying an additional 912,518 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Lowes Companies by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,623,125 shares of the home improvement retailers stock valued at $721,871,000 after buying an additional 10,340 shares during the last quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Lowes Companies by 4.9% in the 3rd quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 3,463,854 shares of the home improvement retailers stock valued at $650,546,000 after buying an additional 160,651 shares during the last quarter. Finally, London Co. of Virginia lifted its holdings in Lowes Companies by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. London Co. of Virginia now owns 2,071,408 shares of the home improvement retailers stock valued at $389,031,000 after purchasing an additional 58,983 shares during the last quarter. 72.62% of the stock is owned by institutional investors. Get Lowe's Companies alerts: Insider Buying and Selling at Lowes Companies In other Lowes Companies news, EVP Donald Frieson sold 9,411 shares of the companys stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $197.00, for a total value of $1,853,967.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 17,888 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,523,936. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.26% of the companys stock. Lowes Companies Stock Performance Shares of NYSE LOW traded down $3.08 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $203.19. 1,533,136 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,926,798. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $201.48 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $203.87. Lowes Companies, Inc. has a one year low of $170.12 and a one year high of $223.31. The company has a market cap of $121.17 billion, a PE ratio of 20.61, a P/E/G ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.09. Lowes Companies (NYSE:LOW Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 1st. The home improvement retailer reported $2.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.21 by $0.07. Lowes Companies had a negative return on equity of 82.30% and a net margin of 6.63%. The business had revenue of $22.40 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.71 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.78 earnings per share. Lowes Companiess revenue was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Lowes Companies, Inc. will post 13.66 EPS for the current fiscal year. Lowes Companies Dividend Announcement The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 26th were paid a $1.05 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, April 25th. This represents a $4.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.07%. Lowes Companiess dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 41.96%. Analyst Ratings Changes LOW has been the subject of several research reports. TD Cowen cut their price target on Lowes Companies from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a market perform rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 2nd. Truist Financial dropped their target price on Lowes Companies from $258.00 to $235.00 in a report on Thursday, March 2nd. Citigroup dropped their target price on Lowes Companies from $215.00 to $210.00 in a report on Friday, March 3rd. Telsey Advisory Group dropped their target price on Lowes Companies from $235.00 to $225.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued an overweight rating and set a $235.00 target price on shares of Lowes Companies in a report on Monday, February 13th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the companys stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Lowes Companies presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $222.40. Lowes Companies Profile (Get Rating) Lowes Cos., Inc engages in the retail sale of home improvement products. The firm offers products for maintenance, repair, remodeling, home decorating and property maintenance. It also provides home improvement products in the following categories: appliances, bathroom, building supply, electrical, flooring, hardware, paint, kitchen, plumbing, lighting & fans, outdoor living, windows and doors. Recommended Stories Want to see what other hedge funds are holding LOW? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Lowes Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW Get Rating). Receive News & Ratings for Lowe's Companies Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Lowe's Companies and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. (CNN) A SpaceX rocket carrying a decorated former NASA astronaut and three paying customers took off from Florida Sunday afternoon. The crew is embarking on a weeklong stay aboard the International Space Station. Their journey, put together by the Houston-based company Axiom Space, marks the second all-private mission to the orbiting outpost. Called AX-2, the mission is making history as stem cell researcher Rayyanah Barnawi becomes the first woman from Saudi Arabia to travel to space. The crew boarded the SpaceX rocket Sunday afternoon as weather officials kept a close eye on thunderstorms. Florida is entering its summer wet season, making pristine conditions for rocket launches slightly more challenging to find. Weather officials ultimately gave the all-clear for launch, however, and SpaceXs Falcon 9 rocket roared to life, carrying the Crew Dragon capsule and its four passengers toward orbit. The crew is expected to spend the next 16 hours aboard Crew Dragon as it free flies through Earths orbit, making careful maneuvers to align itself with the International Space Station. The spacecraft should dock with the orbiting laboratory at 9:24 a.m. ET Monday. The AX-2 mission is one in a lineup of missions that Axiom Space and NASA hope will continue to spur private sector participation in spaceflight particularly in low-Earth orbit, where the space station lies. The AX-2 crew is being led by former NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson, 63, now an Axiom employee. With this mission, Whitson also became the first woman to command a private spaceflight. One of the three paying customers joining her is John Shoffner, an American who made his fortune in the international telecom business and founded the hardware company Dura-Line Corp. Saudi Arabia also paid to fly two citizens: Barnawi and Ali AlQarni, a fighter pilot in the Royal Saudi Air Force. I am very honored and happy to be representing all the dreams and all the hopes of all the people in Saudi Arabia and all the women back home, Barnawi told reporters last week. After the Crew Dragon capsule docks early Monday, the AX-2 crew will join seven astronauts already aboard the space station. The AX-2 passengers will spend about eight days working alongside the existing crew members. During that time, theyll work through a lineup of more than 20 investigations and science projects including stem cell and other biomedical research. The AX-2 crew This marks Whitsons first return to space since 2017. Her extensive prior experience on the station made her a US record holder for the most cumulative days logged in space, and she ranks eighth on the all-time list. Whitson has flown on a Russian Soyuz spacecraft as well as NASAs space shuttle, but she said preparing for this mission was obviously different because it involved training to operate SpaceXs Crew Dragon, which has only been flying astronauts since 2020. Thats been one of the biggest challenges for me is learning this particular spacecraft, she said. But Ive really enjoyed it. Barnawi and AlQarni are only the second and third Saudis to travel to space. The first was Prince Sultan bin Salman, who spent about a week on a NASA space shuttle mission in 1985. Saudi Arabia has faced a barrage of criticism from the Biden administration and Congress over its human rights record, though the ties between the US and Saudi Arabia remain strong. AlQarni said he believes Arabs participation in spaceflight is a great opportunity that can inspire the region. It will hold a big message. We are holding hands, we are working together for the betterment of humanity and just trying to innovate, he said during a news briefing last week. The future of private spaceflight This isnt the first time individuals have paid their way to space. A company called Space Adventures brokered several such missions to the space station in the early 2000s, booking rides for wealthy thrill seekers on Russias Soyuz spacecraft. Axiom brought that business model to the United States, partnering with SpaceX to establish a framework for getting an array of customers to the space station. The companys first mission, AX-1, launched in April 2022 and marked the first time private citizens traveled to the space station from US soil. Axioms goal is to make these missions routine, offering more opportunities for people who are not professional astronauts to experience spaceflight. During a prelaunch news conference, Derek Hassmann, chief of mission integration and operations at Axiom Space, said his company expects to see more customers sponsored by governments similar to the AX-2 passengers from Saudi Arabia. Government astronauts are indeed a key piece of our business plan, he said. Early in the program it wasnt clear to us what the balance would be between private individuals and government astronauts since nothing like this had ever been done before. But its become clear to us that the government market is key, and were pursuing that actively. Axiom leadership envisions private spaceflight will continue even after the space station is retired, which NASA anticipates will happen in 2030. Axiom is one of several US companies gunning to create a new, privately owned space station. Its an effort supported by NASA, which aims to bolster private sector participation closer to home so the agency can focus on investing in deep-space exploration. The AX-2 crew will work alongside the professional astronauts on the space station, though they will operate under different schedules. Once on board, theyll rely on existing crew to show them the ropes, including the kitchen and bathroom. And certain areas will remain off-limits, such as the air lock that astronauts use to conduct spacewalks, according to Hassmann. This story was first published on CNN.com, "SpaceX mission lifts off with former NASA astronaut, three paying customers" VAALCO Energy, Inc. (LON:EGY Get Rating) declared a dividend on Tuesday, May 9th, Upcoming.Co.Uk reports. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 23rd will be given a dividend of $0.06 per share on Friday, June 23rd. This represents a dividend yield of 1.47%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 23rd. The official announcement can be seen at this link. VAALCO Energy Stock Down 10.4 % EGY opened at GBX 300 ($3.76) on Monday. The company has a market cap of 320.31 million, a P/E ratio of 666.67 and a beta of 1.58. The businesss 50-day moving average price is GBX 355.60 and its 200-day moving average price is GBX 387.72. The company has a current ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 19.73. VAALCO Energy has a 12 month low of GBX 300 ($3.76) and a 12 month high of GBX 667.97 ($8.37). Get VAALCO Energy alerts: Analyst Ratings Changes Separately, Canaccord Genuity Group decreased their price objective on VAALCO Energy from GBX 715 ($8.96) to GBX 700 ($8.77) and set a buy rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 11th. About VAALCO Energy VAALCO Energy, Inc, an independent energy company, acquires, explores for, develops, and produces crude oil and natural gas. The company holds Etame production sharing contract related to the Etame Marin block located offshore in the Republic of Gabon in West Africa. It also owns interests in an undeveloped block offshore Equatorial Guinea, West Africa. Further Reading Receive News & Ratings for VAALCO Energy Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for VAALCO Energy and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Walmart (NYSE:WMT Get Rating) had its target price raised by Barclays from $159.00 to $162.00 in a research report released on Sunday morning, The Fly reports. A number of other equities research analysts have also weighed in on WMT. Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of Walmart from $160.00 to $166.00 in a report on Friday. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Walmart from $165.00 to $170.00 in a report on Friday. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $164.00 price objective on shares of Walmart in a research report on Wednesday, February 22nd. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Walmart from $161.00 to $160.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 22nd. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of Walmart from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Thursday, April 6th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the companys stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Walmart currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $166.13. Get Walmart alerts: Walmart Stock Down 0.8 % Shares of NYSE WMT traded down $1.17 during trading on Friday, hitting $148.74. 3,235,790 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,181,950. The businesss fifty day moving average is $147.97 and its 200 day moving average is $145.75. Walmart has a fifty-two week low of $117.90 and a fifty-two week high of $154.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $401.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.04, a P/E/G ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.21 and a current ratio of 0.82. Walmart Announces Dividend Walmart ( NYSE:WMT Get Rating ) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 18th. The retailer reported $1.47 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $1.32 by $0.15. Walmart had a net margin of 1.82% and a return on equity of 21.30%. The company had revenue of $152.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $147.91 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.30 EPS. The firms revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Walmart will post 6.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year. The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, January 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 8th will be paid a $0.57 dividend. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 7th. Walmarts dividend payout ratio is presently 54.81%. Insiders Place Their Bets In other Walmart news, EVP John R. Furner sold 4,375 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.00, for a total value of $660,625.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 286,617 shares in the company, valued at approximately $43,279,167. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, major shareholder Jim C. Walton sold 852,215 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.26, for a total transaction of $122,940,535.90. Following the sale, the insider now owns 266,841,420 shares in the company, valued at approximately $38,494,543,249.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP John R. Furner sold 4,375 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.00, for a total transaction of $660,625.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 286,617 shares in the company, valued at approximately $43,279,167. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 21,044,002 shares of company stock worth $2,981,168,308 in the last three months. 47.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders. Institutional Trading of Walmart Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in WMT. Fiduciary Alliance LLC bought a new position in shares of Walmart during the 4th quarter valued at $443,000. Spotlight Asset Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Walmart during the 3rd quarter valued at $536,000. Merit Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Walmart by 77.9% during the 4th quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 20,181 shares of the retailers stock valued at $2,862,000 after purchasing an additional 8,840 shares during the last quarter. PFS Investments Inc. bought a new position in shares of Walmart during the 3rd quarter valued at $355,000. Finally, Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky bought a new position in shares of Walmart during the 3rd quarter valued at $17,529,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 31.27% of the companys stock. About Walmart (Get Rating) Walmart, Inc engages in retail and wholesale business. The company offers an assortment of merchandise and services at everyday low prices. It operates through the following business segments: Walmart U.S., Walmart International, and Sams Club. The Walmart U.S. segment operates as a merchandiser of consumer products, operating under the Walmart, Wal-Mart, and Walmart Neighborhood Market brands, as well as walmart.com and other eCommerce brands. Featured Stories Receive News & Ratings for Walmart Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Walmart and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of WNS (NYSE:WNS Get Rating) in a research note issued to investors on Thursday morning. The firm issued a buy rating on the business services providers stock. Other equities research analysts have also issued reports about the stock. TD Securities boosted their target price on shares of WNS from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Monday, March 27th. Barrington Research boosted their target price on shares of WNS from $97.00 to $108.00 in a research report on Monday, May 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on WNS from $97.00 to $109.00 in a research note on Friday, April 28th. Wedbush lifted their price target on WNS from $95.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 8th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on WNS from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research note on Friday, January 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued 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 $102.78. Get WNS alerts: WNS Price Performance Shares of NYSE WNS opened at $71.30 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.21, a PEG ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.18. WNS has a one year low of $68.13 and a one year high of $94.96. The companys fifty day moving average is $86.32 and its two-hundred day moving average is $84.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a quick ratio of 1.64 and a current ratio of 1.66. Institutional Inflows and Outflows WNS Company Profile Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE raised its stake in WNS by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE now owns 68,222 shares of the business services providers stock valued at $5,584,000 after purchasing an additional 2,586 shares during the last quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC increased its stake in shares of WNS by 63.7% during the 4th quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC now owns 4,036 shares of the business services providers stock valued at $323,000 after acquiring an additional 1,571 shares during the last quarter. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC UT acquired a new position in shares of WNS during the 4th quarter valued at about $318,000. Inspire Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of WNS by 21.8% during the 4th quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 13,438 shares of the business services providers stock valued at $1,075,000 after acquiring an additional 2,407 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in shares of WNS by 9.5% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,158,721 shares of the business services providers stock valued at $94,830,000 after acquiring an additional 100,348 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.03% of the companys stock. (Get Rating) WNS (Holdings) Ltd. engages in the provision of business process management solutions. Its services include industry-specific offerings, customer interaction, finance and accounting, human resources, procurement, and research and analytics. It operates through the WNS Global BPM and WNS Auto Claims BPM segments. See Also Receive News & Ratings for WNS Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for WNS and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. A financially motivated threat actor of Indonesian origin has been observed leveraging Amazon Web Services (AWS) Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) instances to carry out illicit crypto mining operations. Cloud security company's Permiso P0 Labs, which first detected the group in November 2021, has assigned it the moniker GUI-vil (pronounced Goo-ee-vil). "The group displays a preference for Graphical User Interface (GUI) tools, specifically S3 Browser (version 9.5.5) for their initial operations," the company said in a report shared with The Hacker News. "Upon gaining AWS Console access, they conduct their operations directly through the web browser." Attack chains mounted by GUI-vil entail obtaining initial access by weaponizing AWS keys in publicly exposed source code repositories on GitHub or scanning for GitLab instances that are vulnerable to remote code execution flaws (e.g., CVE-2021-22205). A successful ingress is followed by privilege escalation and an internal reconnaissance to review all available S3 buckets and determine the services that are accessible via the AWS web console. A notable aspect of the threat actor's modus operandi is its attempt to blend in and persist within the victim environment by creating new users that conform to the same naming convention and ultimately meet its objectives. "GUI-vil will also create access keys for the new identities they are creating so they can continue usage of S3 Browser with these new users," P0 Labs researchers Ian Ahl and Daniel Bohannon explained. UPCOMING WEBINAR Zero Trust + Deception: Learn How to Outsmart Attackers! Discover how Deception can detect advanced threats, stop lateral movement, and enhance your Zero Trust strategy. Join our insightful webinar! Save My Seat! Alternatively, the group has also been spotted creating login profiles for existing users that do not have them so as to enable access to the AWS console without raising red flags. GUI-vil's links to Indonesia stem from the fact that the source IP addresses associated with the activities are linked to two Autonomous System Numbers (ASNs) located in the Southeast Asian country. "The group's primary mission, financially driven, is to create EC2 instances to facilitate their crypto mining activities," the researchers said. "In many cases the profits they make from crypto mining are just a sliver of the expense the victim organizations have to pay for running the EC2 instances." Gift this article Share this article paywall-free. Towards the beginning of Odd Hours, No Pay, Cool Hat, a skyscape overlooking Exeter pans, the maroon-accented water tower peeking above lush green treetops. Hope Strate said she had never seen Exeter like that before or Nebraska until the filmmakers came. I never thought of Exeter as beautiful, she marveled about the Fillmore County village about 68 miles southeast of Grand Island. The film offered a different perspective on her hometown and on the importance of the volunteer fire department there. Exeter Volunteer Fire Department members Strate, her husband Kenny, Kennys son Lane and husband-and-wife Alan and Shari Michl are featured in the documentary, made possible in part by John Deere and the National Volunteer Fire Council. It was screened at Nebraska State Fire School Saturday evening in Grand Island. The showing was the culmination of two-and-a-half years since filming the Exeter Volunteer Fire Department wrapped. It was the first time Hope, Kenny, Alan and Shari saw it. Lane was unable to attend the screening. Like many things these days, it started with a Facebook post or something online, Hope remembered. It was from Vignette Creations. (The post) said, 'We are looking to find some standout volunteer fire departments to do a small documentary about volunteerism, please submit your nomination to your department and what makes you stand out.'" Hope put together a nomination for Exeters squad. I wrote about our community. I wrote how we have multiple members that are married. I wrote like Jackie and Joe (Miller) have both their (daughters) on the department, Kenny and I have Vicki and Lane I wrote about how our female base has grown quite a bit. I also wrote about the fact that we're a town of 500 people with 30 volunteers and we have more people wanting to volunteer all the time. Were an anomaly. An email came from Louise Matoso, casting director of the documentary. Exeter Volunteer Fire had caught the Washington state-based crews attention. After several rounds of interviews, a pool of more than 600 departments was narrowed further and further, Alan Michl said. Before he knew it, the farmer and school bus driver had a camera crew riding with him, most notably in the combine. That was a story in itself, Alan Michl said, leaning back in his chair before the screening. They brought a producer, they brought a camera and they had Louise. Alan rattled off a couple more names. OK, so in the combine with me were several people, plus equipment, and me. The crew rode a school bus route to Exeter-Milligan Public Schools with Alan, too. The Michl home was disassembled for filming, Shari Michl remembered. They didn't tell me that they were going to do that. I was appalled, she said, still seeming a little embarrassed. I said, Oh my God, how many dust bunnies and crumbs were under there. The crew had their reasons, Alan said. They wanted to make sure it was focused just on the individual and didn't want to pick up anything in the line of sight. They had to take off the couch, he said, adding that they took a photo of the Michls' kitchen before taking everything off, in order to put everything back just as they had found it. They tore my kitchen apart and then they didn't even end up using that room, Shari said. The point of Odd Hours, No Pay, Cool Hat, however, was not to dismantle Alan and Shari Michls kitchen or see how many people could fit in a combine cab. What this documentary is trying to bring out nationwide is saying, no matter where you come from, no matter what you do, no matter how you were raised, we need volunteers, Hope explained. If you've ever thought about (joining a volunteer fire department), this is giving people the incentive to see that anybody can. There are other communities in the film a Virginia department with specialized training to rescue large animals like cattle and horses a Jewish community in New York who adjusted bylaws so that Orthodox Jewish community members could volunteer and keep their beards. One woman in California volunteered after her home burned down in a wildfire. Exeter is just as unique. The theme of community and family intertwining reappears throughout the film. And in pre-screening conversation. Hope remembered one particular patient, whose name she couldnt use. The minute he saw me, he goes, 'Oh, God, it's Hope.' I said, 'You're right. I am God,'" she said tongue-in-cheek, "and I'm gonna save you tonight.' Hed be fine. It was a comfort because we know each other." Depending on the call, Hope added. A stroke is much more serious thing than like a back injury or the little old lady at three o'clock a.m. that hasn't pooped for three days. But you know your patients and you know the people that you can and cant give crap to. And Exeter folks appreciate it, Kenny said. Each time the department sends out a letter about a fundraiser or event, the community turns out in full force. The room in Heartland Event Center darkened, and the light from the screen illuminated the faces of about two dozen Nebraska volunteer fire fighters watching. Heads nodded, understanding. People chuckled, realizing the ridiculousness of some of the circumstances fire fighters are thrown into. Hope, Kenny, Alan and Shari, sitting together at a front corner table, watched footage of the things Exeter volunteers do every day only through a different lens. Gift this article Share this article paywall-free. Nebraska parole officer Jeremy Orescanin last week checked back in with a parolee who had been lapsing back into drug use. Orescanin had earlier determined that a bad living arrangement and loneliness had put this client in contact with some bad influences, and perhaps on a pathway to reoffending and back to prison. So the parole officer had worked with a community partner organization to find a new, more structured living arrangement. As Orescanin now did another in-person assessment of the former inmate, he could see the plan was working. I saw a lot of change in his life, said the military veteran with a degree in social work. He was working, had the support and was doing well. Would Nebraskans feel safe if the state started releasing former prisoners into the community without that kind of oversight and assistance? No testing to ensure theyre not using drugs. No one making sure they keep a job. No one seeing if they have the support they need to avoid returning to a life of crime. Well, thats pretty much whats happening today with nearly four out of every 10 inmates who leave Nebraskas prisons. Out of 2,252 inmates released in 2022, 829 37% walked out with no parole or probation supervision, according to new state corrections data analyzed by The World-Herald. Prisoners call it jamming out fully exhausting their sentence while behind bars. Criminal justice experts call it a recipe for reoffending and a return to prison, saying post-release supervision is a critical part of public safety. You are taking someone with no money, putting them on the street and saying Good luck, said Brian Lovins, president of the American Probation and Parole Association. We create these huge barriers, and then we are surprised when they fail. Nebraskas rate of unsupervised release of prisoners is among the highest in the nation, the World-Herald analysis found. Theres also a dichotomy in Nebraskas current system of transitioning inmates back to society. The Legislature eight years ago passed a law requiring post-release supervision of inmates, but it applies only to those convicted of lower-level felony crimes. That means many of those coming out of prison unsupervised today were convicted of the states most serious felonies, with most of those crimes involving violence, drugs, sex or guns. Exclude the low-level supervised offenders from the release figures, and in 2022 just under half the remaining, more serious offenders left prison unsupervised, including more than 50% of those convicted of assault. Those jamming out included 112 who had been imprisoned for felony assault, 57 sex offenders, 233 drug offenders, 35 who had committed robbery, and 89 imprisoned on weapons offenses. Thats shocking, and that is very dangerous, said State Sen. Justin Wayne, chairman of the Legislatures Judiciary Committee. We should not be having people jam out with no supervision. Wayne called jam outs a disservice to everyone the offender, the justice system and the public that the system is supposed to protect. The ironic thing is, its been widely acknowledged in Nebraskas justice system that supervised release is preferable to jamming out. Still, crafting a system to assure that all released prisoners receive supervision has proven elusive. It would require changes to the sentencing system for serious felons, and that has often sparked controversy. But Wayne said he now has hope the Legislature can take a step toward addressing jam outs yet this year. A package of criminal justice reforms set to come up for debate in the Legislature Monday includes a provision aimed at reducing jam outs by giving most inmates a window of parole eligibility as they near their mandatory discharge date. The package of reforms set to go before lawmakers is also more broadly aimed at confronting conditions in Nebraskas chronically overcrowded prisons. Nebraskas prison population has been rising faster than in any other state over the past decade. Between 2011 and 2021, Nebraskas prison population grew 21% while prison numbers fell nationally by 24%. Nebraska lawmakers appear poised this session to address the growth and overcrowding by spending $366 million to build a 1,500-bed replacement for the Nebraska State Penitentiary. But based on current projections for the states prison population, Nebraska would be faced with building another new prison before the decade is out at a time many other states around the country are closing prisons. The data points are clear that the day that prison opens, its going to be full, Wayne said. We have to look at whats going on. * * * Omaha parole officer Alyssa Hanks had a number of new clients last week who were fresh out of prison. As required, within 24 hours of leaving their institutions, she was meeting with them to begin orientating them to the parole process. She also assessed the risk they posed for reoffending as well as their needs for help. She frankly discussed with them any triggers in their past history that could again lead them down the wrong path. Every parole certificate issued by the state the ticket for early release requires the parolee to be drug- and alcohol-free. So depending on the level of assessed risk for relapse, parolees may be tested as often as twice a month. Some may even be fitted with ankle monitors that can detect alcohol use. If they are former gang members or sex offenders, they will be fitted with an ankle bracelet that will allow the parole division to track their movements. Their parole officer will also typically meet with them face-to-face every month, either in the office, at their home or on the job. If they are considered high risk for reoffending, its twice a month. There are random checks with family members and employers, too. Its all individualized and intended not only to help the parolee get off on the right foot in starting a new life, but also to protect public safety. Thats the No. 1 priority for us, Hanks said. When times get tough for a parolee, the parole officer is also there to offer counsel, encouragement or referrals to counselors, therapists or treatment. They should know we have their best interest at heart, Orescanin said. If you do slip up, please call me. I can help you through this negative time. Figures from the Nebraska Department of Correctional Services show that 875 inmates were released last year to such parole supervision. Another 548 lower-level felony offenders were released from prison to supervision under the states probation department. But another 829 inmates completely exhausted their sentences and were then mandatorily discharged without supervision. You wake some guy up in the morning, give him his clothes, wish him luck and he goes out the door, said Spike Eickholt, who lobbies on criminal justice issues for ACLU Nebraska. Its always better to have a period of supervision and transition. To be sure, there are risks of failure whenever former criminals are released into the community, supervised or not. About three in 10 prisoners released in Nebraska are back behind bars within three years. But its also true that some 95% of people sentenced to prison will one day return to society. Theres broad consensus in criminal justice that its best for public safety to give those transitioning offenders the tools, assistance and supervision needed to succeed. Those who are coming out of prison face countless challenges to a successful new life. Many have been locked up for so long they dont know how to function in todays world. Some have never operated a cellphone. One of Orescanins recent clients didnt understand the self checkout lanes at the grocery store, standing around waiting for someone to help him. Parolees can face difficulty finding housing, especially if they are a sex offender. They have little, if any, financial resources. They most likely have a history of drug abuse or mental health problems that directly contributed to their incarceration, and which may well still shadow them. And they may be returning to a neighborhood where there are many of the same bad influences that got them in trouble in the first place. Anybody coming from prison and entering into the community is in crisis mode, said Jasmine Harris of RISE, an Omaha-based reentry program. If theres no support and preparation, its very difficult. RISE works with individuals in prison to prepare them for release. Its also there to help them once theyre on the outside, regardless of whether their release was under supervision or not. The Corrections Department also works with inmates before they leave, regardless of post-release status, to help them establish a foundation for success on the outside. But once they walk out the door, whether they connect with supportive services or not and stay on course is more haphazard if they dont have parole or probation officers monitoring and helping them. Most states supervise higher percentages of prisoners as they transition back into society than Nebraska. According to federal data for 2021 the most recent available Nebraskas rate of unsupervised release was the 13th highest among the states. Florida led the nation with more than 60% of released inmates unsupervised. In Kansas, less than 4% of inmates were released without supervision. In California, it was less than 1%. The national rate was just under 20%. There are a number of reasons that so many Nebraska inmates leave prison unsupervised. Some inmates intentionally serve out their full sentence, not wanting to deal with parole officers. Some were denied parole, with the parole board deciding that their criminal past, behavior behind bars or other considerations made them unworthy of early release. Some were paroled, slipped up, were returned to prison and then jammed out. More than 150 of those who jammed out in 2022 had previously been paroled. Other jam outs can be directly attributed to the sentences the offenders were handed before they even entered prison. For most serious crimes involving violence, drugs, sexual assault and weapons, Nebraska uses indeterminate sentencing that sets a minimum and maximum penalty. The minimum determines when the offender becomes eligible for parole, and the maximum determines when the offender will be mandatorily released. The time between those dates is the time the offender can spend under parole supervision if released by the parole board. That structure creates a balancing act for sentencing judges, and then later the parole board. The longer they choose to keep a prisoner locked up, the less time there is for supervision on the back end. Additionally, if a judge hands down a sentence where the minimum and maximum are the same number say, 20 years to 20 years the offender has no opportunity for parole or supervision. Under what is often called a flat sentence, by the time offenders hit the minimum number and become parole eligible, they have served their maximum sentence and are set free. Looking at inmates released from Nebraska prisons in 2022, it appears more than 300 had flat or nearly flat sentences that left them little or no window for parole release. Sometimes it was because the sentencing judge threw the book at them. Sometimes it was because the states laws requiring mandatory minimum sentences for certain serious crimes left the judge little choice but a flat sentence. Sometimes the overall sentence was so short the offender had already almost served it by the time they were sent to prison, considering credit for time served in jail awaiting trial. Douglas County Public Defender Tom Riley has seen cases where prosecutors argued for flat sentences, wanting to maximize the time served behind bars. But the prosecutors might as well have argued that they wanted the offender released without supervision, too, because thats what happens when sentences are flat. A sentence that provides a reasonable window for release on parole is not being soft on crime, Riley said. Thats being smart on criminal justice. Nebraska has seen in the past that jam outs can also lead to tragic consequences. After serving 10 years in prison for a pair of carjackings, Nikko Jenkins was released from prison directly into society in July 2013. Within three weeks, he went on a 10-day killing spree in Omaha that left four people dead. It was later discovered Jenkins had received little preparation for release and no supervision upon leaving prison after having spent months in solitary confinement, which experts say can exacerbate behavioral and mental health problems. The Jenkins case sparked efforts at reforming Nebraskas parole, prison and legal systems. But a decade later, the state has yet to arrive at a system that assures each offender serving a prison sentence also receives a significant period of post-release supervision. The Nikko Jenkins example has yet to be resolved, said Douglas County Sheriff Aaron Hanson, who has been active in recent state discussions on criminal justice reform. It has never been addressed. The Jenkins case and the states fast-growing prison population did spark a reform movement a decade ago, including efforts to prevent unsupervised releases. But policy differences between advocates of criminal justice reform and those in law enforcement have kept the state from stopping jam outs. In 2015, lawmakers passed a law generally reducing criminal sentences but coupling the change with at least a year of required post-release supervision under the states probation system. But the change applied only to lower-level offenses, those today carrying prison sentences of four years or less. The change had the effect of reducing the total percentage of inmates jamming out without supervision, which at one point had exceeded 50% of all releases from Nebraska prisons. But it also created the current dichotomy where the vast majority of low-level felons are supervised, while many convicted of the most serious and violent felonies arent. Prosecutors, then-Gov. Pete Ricketts and others that same year opposed a provision that would have capped minimum sentences to make more serious felons eligible for parole sooner. In 2020, Ricketts vetoed a bill that would have made most prisoners eligible for parole within two years of their mandatory release date. Last year, a state commission recommended a number of changes aimed at reducing the states prison population growth, including provisions aimed at reducing jam outs. But Ricketts and the states prosecutors balked at any changes that reduced sentences or made inmates eligible for parole sooner, with Ricketts calling them soft on crime. With lawmakers and Ricketts unable to reach any compromise in the final days of the session, nothing passed. Looking back, Wayne said theres lots of blame to go around for the failure to deal with jam outs. Its easier for state lawmakers, governors, the parole board, judges and prosecutors to keep the status quo because of what Wayne calls the fear of the one fear of being blamed for the one inmate released on parole who reoffends in a spectacular way, creating a public outcry and political fallout. But if the public truly comprehended the system, he said, they would understand the inmate who isnt paroled and then is released unsupervised in many cases poses an even greater threat. What we should fear is the one who jams out, he said. The package of criminal justice measures that Wayne hopes to push in the Legislature beginning Monday includes a specific provision seeking to reduce jam outs. Similar to the bill Ricketts vetoed in 2020, it would generally create a mandatory window of parole eligibility beginning at least two years before an inmate would be mandatorily discharged. Release decisions would remain up to the parole board. But Wayne and Hanson said the ultimate solution to jam outs will likely require a complete overhaul of the states sentencing laws. Also part of the criminal justice package recently negotiated with new Gov. Jim Pillen is the creation of a state commission that would spend the next two years studying the entire sentencing system. Both Wayne and Hanson said they would prefer to drop Nebraskas system of indeterminate sentences for one providing more set prison terms, followed by a significant term of post-release supervision. Not only has the current structure resulted in many unsupervised releases, they said, theres a lack of transparency, too. Lets add post-release supervision to all felonies, Wayne said. We have to at least agree that jamming out is a bad thing. Gift this article Share this article paywall-free. The Orangeburg County School District is changing the guidelines for students in the Early College program to ensure the option is equally available to the children who qualify. The Early College program allows students to take courses at Orangeburg-Calhoun Technical College. Under the new guidelines, Early College students can earn about 40 credit hours toward a post-secondary degree. The program previously gave students the opportunity to earn 60 hours, which is the amount needed for an associates degree. Funding demands for the program have increased, requiring the district to limit the number of courses a student can take in a given academic year. As part of the program, 10th grade to 12th grade students who are not in the districts Advanced College program can now enroll in two classes per semester with a maximum of four classes per academic year. Students will participate in two seven-week terms with a combined in-class and online courses. School officials say the change is designed to provide more students with the ability to take dual-credit courses approved by the state. Student tuition for the courses is funded through state lottery money, while the district pays for books and other course fees through Title IV and federal dollars. During a recent meeting, OCSD trustee Dr. William OQuinn asked about the change and was informed that in the past some students were taking four or five classes at a time. Financially, that is going to be very hard to sustain, OCDS Coordinator of Career and Technical Education Robert Hemby II said. We are beginning now to expose the goodness of Early College and when you have seven high schools where more and more children want to be able to take classes, you still must set precedence or set guidelines. Hemby said the guidelines are in place to sustain the program. We will never tell a parent or kid what you cannot do, Hemby said. We will only tell you what we can fund. Hemby said the state lottery and district federal funding is available to fund two classes in the fall and the spring, but if a student wants to take more than the two classes per semester, it will be districts or the parents responsibility to fund additional classes. OCDC Superintendent Dr. Shawn Foster said the district wants to make sure as many students have the opportunity to take advantage of the state and federally funded courses as possible during the traditional school year rather than focus on summer courses. Foster said summer classes may be provided on a first-come, first serve basis and criteria would have to be created. If a student wants to take another class that is not dual credit and is OKd to do so by the school principal, then the parent can pay for it. Foster said the new guidelines have come about because there are currently 86 courses in the state-approved dual courses list. There were some circumstances where the district was paying for courses that were not dual-credit courses and did not count for high school credits. We were funding their complete college education and not being dual, Foster said. We want to make sure the courses we are paying for outside of a specialized program are dual-credit courses. Other guidelines implemented as part of the Early College program include: Students must have a grade of C or higher to be considered passing for OCtech. The district will not pay for students to retake previously failed classes, including grades below a C. Students on academic probation will not be allowed to take a course at OCtech. The district will only pay for courses on the approved 86 dual-enrollment course list. Lottery (state) funds will only pay for United States citizens who live in Orangeburg County. A guidance counselor and principal must approve the student to take the courses. Any courses taken without an approved application will not be paid for by the district. Trustee Sylvia-Bruce Stephens expressed concerns about the seven-week time period, saying that may be difficult on some students. A portion of that instruction is virtual. Foster said it is incumbent upon him to make sure a child is not set up for failure. The new guidelines that limit two classes per semester will help to facilitate success. If I allow a child to take four or five classes knowing they have a smaller window and they are not seeing the professor each and every day, then I am in essence setting that child up to potentially fail, Foster said. Trustee Mary Ulmer expressed concerns the changes are limiting the districts expectations of students. She said students have parental and guidance counselor support to help them through the process. Lets not say that the child cannot do and set low expectations, Ulmer said. They have to face the rigor. When they leave us, we are hoping they are going to higher learning. If we dont get prepared now to go to Claflin, South Carolina State and these other universities because we say they cannot make it, we are setting them up for failure anyway. Foster said the district has less authority to guide and help a child since they are taking college classes. Gift this article Share this article paywall-free. Todays events Orangeburg County Fire Commission: 5:30 p.m., Orangeburg County Fire District Administration Building, 131 Firefighter Lane. 5:30 p.m., Orangeburg County Fire District Administration Building, 131 Firefighter Lane. Bamberg Board of Public Works: 5:30 p.m., City Hall, Bamberg. Calhoun council to meet The Calhoun County Council is scheduled to meet at 5:30 p.m. Monday, May 22, in council chambers, 102 Courthouse Drive, Suite 110, St. Matthews, Community meeting set Community Action Partners will meet at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, May 23, in the Orangeburg County Library's Multipurpose Room. The public is invited. For more information, call 803-200-2719 or 803-682-4919. Calhoun school board meets June 5 The Calhoun County School District Board of Trustees will hold its regular monthly meeting at 7:30 p.m. Monday, June 5, at Calhoun County High School. The public is invited. GSSM summer applications being accepted The South Carolina Governor's School for Science and Mathematics is accepting applications for its iTEAMS XTREME for rising sixth-, seventh- and eighth graders who would like to sharpen their technology and coding skills this summer. The summer camp will be held June 26-29 at Howard Middle School. Students who attend any Orangeburg County school will have their deposit, fees waived. For more information, call 843-383-3958. How to submit your events Please submit Community Datebook column items in writing. Items must be received no later than noon Monday through Friday. The T&D does not guarantee when items will run. Items may be submitted by: Email: news@timesanddemocrat.com; In person: 1010 Broughton Street. Mail: P.O. Drawer 1766, Orangeburg, SC 29116 (CNN) The United States and Papua New Guinea are poised to sign a new bilateral defense cooperation agreement a move that has sparked controversy in the Pacific Island nation and comes as Washington and China jostle for influence in the region. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Papua New Guinea (PNG) Prime Minister James Marape were scheduled to sign the pact and a maritime security agreement during Blinkens visit to the capital Port Moresby on Sunday and Monday, the US State Department said Thursday. Advance text of the agreements were not released by either side, but the new defense cooperation was expected to expand US access to military and other facilities in PNG, bolstering Washingtons security ties in the South Pacific. That region a constellation of sparsely populated island and archipelago nations and territories as well as New Zealand and Australia has outsized strategic significance. The Pacific Islands, for example, were the site of decisive battles during World War Two. The region has taken on renewed importance for Washington as it seeks to bolster its relationships and presence in Asia amid rising tensions with an assertive China thats rapidly expanded its naval capabilities in recent years. Those concerns were heightened last year after Beijing signed a security pact with the Solomon Islands and tried, but failed, to win support for a sweeping, regional trade and security communique with Pacific Island nations. Blinkens visit to PNG comes after US President Joe Biden last week cut short an Asia trip that would have included stops in Port Moresby and Sydney, Australia, due to ongoing debt ceiling negotiations at home. New pact In a statement Saturday, PNG framed its expected agreement with the US as an opportunity to advance its infrastructure and capacity for national defense at a time of growing global security concerns. Papua New Guinea does not have enemies but it pays to be prepared. Territorial dispute is (imminent), as in the case of Ukraine-Russia, the statement said. This agreement is not about geopolitics but rather recognizes the countrys need to build its defense capabilities because border disputes are inevitable in the future, it said, adding it did not preclude the government from working with other countries, including China. China has become a significant player in the countrys economy, both as an investor and consumer of its rich natural resources. The US and PNG militaries already have a cooperative security assistance relationship focused primarily on joint humanitarian exercises and the training of PNG military personnel, according to the State Department. The signing of the agreement has sparked debate in Papua New Guinea including over a lack of transparency from the government on what it entailed, while purported leaked drafts circulated online. The pact would need Parliaments approval and could face judicial challenges, experts say. But its signing would send a significant message to the region. PNG signing a defense agreement signals to the rest of the Pacific that its largest nation has chosen the West Australia and the US as its security partner, said Maholopa Laveil, FDC Pacific Fellow at the Lowy Institute, seconded from the University of Papua New Guinea. The pact, if signed after Fiji reported ending its police training agreement with China earlier this year are major wins, getting the largest Pacific nations on side for the US in its attempts to limit Chinas influence in the region, Laveil said, adding that Marape may leverage the threat of China to request more development assistance from the US. Meanwhile, Australia is preparing to sign its own security treaty with PNG. Pacific Island dynamics The expected signing of the US deal especially on the heels of the Solomon Islands security pact with China last year may also raise concerns about lines of alignment being drawn in a region that has long prioritized projecting strength through unity. (Signing such pacts) can also create divisions, said Patrick Kaiku, an academic focused on international relations at the University of Papua New Guinea, noting a perspective among Pacific Island states that they should not take sides in geopolitical rivalries. If states are not adhering to it that can also be a problem for regional solidarity, he said. Blinken is expected to meet with leaders of the Pacific Island Forum regional body in Port Moresby on Monday, the forum has said, taking Bidens place at the gathering. The cancellation of Bidens trip which would have been the first from a sitting US President to Papua New Guinea has been characterized by some observers as a potential ding to Washingtons recent bid to up its engagement with the region. That bid has included opening embassies in the Solomon Islands and Tonga this year, while Biden hosted Pacific Island leaders in Washington for a summit in September and released the first-ever national strategy on engaging the Pacific Islands. US President Joe Bidens now-scrapped visit to PNG was meant to be a culmination of these efforts and send a powerful signal to Pacific Islanders about the US commitment to the region, said Parker Novak, a non-resident follow at the Atlantic Council think tank in Washingtons Global China Hub. Instead, it underlines skepticism about the United States ability to follow through on the promises it has made, Novak said, adding that with Blinkens visit and other expected diplomacy, it may not do long-term damage to US efforts in the Pacific. This story was first published on CNN.com. US and Papua New Guinea poised to sign defense pact as Washington, Beijing vie for influence in the Pacific (TBTCO) - Bo Nong nghiep va Phat trien nong thon va Ngan hang Nong nghiep va Phat trien Nong thon Viet Nam (Agribank) vua chinh thuc ky ket thoa thuan hop tac. Su kien nay se la tien e e tang cuong hon nua su phoi hop chat che giua Agribank voi Bo Nong nghiep va Phat trien nong thon cung huong en hien thuc hoa cac chu truong, chinh sach cua ang, Nha nuoc ve phat trien nong nghiep, nong dan, nong thon en nam 2030, tam nhin en nam 2045. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on Thursday said he had agreed to meet with the president of arch-enemy Azerbaijan in Moscow next week. The Russian-mediated talks will take place amid tensions between the two Caucasus neighbours, which have fought two wars over the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh and often see deadly clashes along their volatile border. Baku and Yerevan have been seeking to negotiate a peace agreement with the help of the European Union and United States, whose diplomatic engagement in the Caucasus has irked traditional regional power broker Russia. "We received a proposal from Russia to hold a trilateral meeting at the highest level under the mediation of the president of Russia on May 25," he told his cabinet meeting in Yerevan. "We have accepted that proposal," he added. On Friday, the foreign ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan were set to hold talks in Moscow. Baku and Yerevan fought two wars -- in 2020 and in the 1990s -- for control of Azerbaijan's mostly Armenian-populated region of Nagorno-Karabakh. Pashinyan said both sides must "demilitarise" their shared border, blaming Baku for "continuing the policy of escalation." Six weeks of hostilities in autumn 2020 ended with a Russian-brokered ceasefire that saw Armenia cede swathes of territory it had controlled for decades. Yerevan has grown increasingly frustrated over what it calls Moscow's failure to protect Armenia in the face of military threat from Azerbaijan. With Russia bogged down in Ukraine and unwilling to strain ties with Azerbaijan's key ally Turkey, the United States and European Union have sought to repair ties between the Caucasus rivals. On Sunday, Pashinyan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev met in Brussels for a fresh round of talks hosted by European Council President Charles Michel. In his speech on Thursday, the Armenian prime minister said both sides agreed in Brussels to recognise the other's territorial integrity, hailing "the important step towards peace and stability in the region." He said that "progress" had been made towards preparing "the final text of a peace agreement." Another meeting between Pashinyan and Aliyev set for June 1 in Moldova was expected to involve French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz. Secretary of State Antony Blinken mediated between the Armenian and Azberbaijani foreign ministers earlier this month in the Washington suburb of Arlington. Despite US pressure on Russia, State Department spokesman Vedant Patel welcomed the new talks between the leaders. "Our view is that direct talks between the parties are of utmost importance and we're glad to see them happen," he told reporters in Washington. "Whether they are taking place in Arlington, Brussels or in Moscow, our support (for) this effort will continue," he said. How Bulgarias discouraging demographics shape the national mood and prospects. One million fewer Bulgarians in 2050. Bulgarias population set to shrink by a fourth. Bulgarians will disappear by 2146. We lose one small town every year. Headlines like these sell in Bulgaria; in the mouths of politicians, they win votes. If you read them en route to Sofia and you have never met a Bulgarian you can easily fall into despair. Is this the land of doom? Luckily, a day and a good dinner with wine and shopska salad later, the mood will brighten. However, the question remains: Why are Bulgarians so obsessed with their extinction? Facts give some support. Bulgarias territory is the same size as South Koreas but the population is seven times smaller. There are fewer births, more deaths, and worse living standards than in most European Union countries. Demography fatigue is common in Europe; in its eastern part it turns into tragedy. By 2050, Germanys population could fall by 15 million but it does not seem to be such a problem as small Lithuania losing one-fifth of its population since 1989. Rare are cases like Poland, which donates people to Western Europe (like the famously fictitious Polish plumber who haunted the French referendum on the European Constitution in 2005) but gains an influx of Ukrainians. Normally, former Soviet bloc countries are on the losing side in the demographic game. The explanation seems obvious. The population plunge is the ultimate result of people migrating from village to city. This is why the wealthy urbanization of the West, born out of economic miracles and sexual revolutions, cannot be compared with the misery of the former communist East, where workers went from a gloomy countryside to somber apartment blocks and grim factories. During a demographic decline, you are better off rich than poor. And you go West. In the 1980s Bulgaria waited for its 9th million citizen. The last census, taken in 2021, is still being processed but the figures show a population of well below 7 million. The hardships of transition and the open borders have made people impatient with constant reforms and inevitable injustices. As political scientist Ivan Krastev likes to say, instead of changing the system, they [the emigrants] change the country. The system does indeed require change. Bulgaria is Europes number one in cardiovascular diseases. In traffic accidents it trails only neighboring Romania. With 38,000 official COVID fatalities, Bulgaria is second to Peru in the entire world in per capita deaths. Neither state nor society seems to care much. Failures here are taken with a grain of carelessness and salty jokes. Sure, we will disappear. But first, we will spoil the EU, like we did with the Byzantine, Ottoman, and Soviet empires. The failure of Bulgarian systems looks much weirder, compared with the brilliance of Bulgarian youth. On 12 May, former U.S. President Bill Clinton visited Bulgaria and remarked on the astonishing achievements of Bulgarian students against the backdrop of the countrys worst-in-the-EU living standards. Whatever the explanation might be, the obvious outcome is more emigration. This uncompromising picture leaves a huge imprint on Bulgarian public life. Unlike other rankings, Bulgaria leads one in particular pessimism. The most tragic pieces of contemporary art novels, plays, movies tell sad stories about solitary old people who connect with their emigrant grandchildren via Skype. The mood is felt even in the arena of fake news, where one popular item, aptly designed to fit local bleakness, purports to quote an EU commissioner saying that Bulgaria will disappear in 40 years. In politics and society, projects that embrace young and successful migrants coming home win sympathies. Such was the case with Prime Minister Ivan Kostovs Bulgarian Easter scheme in the late 1990s and King Simeons yuppies in 2001, who became ministers in their early 30s. The newest re-incarnation of this mood is the We Continue the Change party. Kiril Petkov and Assen Vassilev, who briefly became prime minister and deputy prime minister respectively, are successful overseas Bulgarians with Harvard diplomas. Again, no surprise. A graying nation is hoping for a demographic miracle. What if the kids return some day? Well, they would rather not. Demographic trends are hard to reverse. Despite its spectacular success, Ireland has still not returned to its peak population from before the potato famine in the 1840s. All the active measures of Viktor Orban did not help stem Hungarys population loss. As French sociologist Auguste Comte is often (maybe wrongly) quoted as saying, demography is destiny. Perhaps Bulgaria cannot escape its destiny but can evade the gloom. A good start would be to begin fixing its problems. To have less people might be a blessing in disguise: you have more space and more options for a swift career rise. With corruption lowered and effectiveness raised, the jolly Bulgarian spirit from the dinner parties might join forces with the healthy skepticism of the headlines and do wonders. As the vibrant local IT sector proves, nothing here is as bad as it looks. Some optimism from the political and intellectual leaders might help. After all, you are what you believe in. Boyko Vassilev is the moderator and producer of the weekly Panorama news talk show on Bulgarian National Television. Gift this article Share this article paywall-free. Wyomings high school and college students will have the opportunity to learn about law enforcement careers within the United States lead investigative agency next month, the FBI announced. The FBI Denver Field Office is hosting a Teen and Collegiate Academy at Wyoming Indian High School on the Wind River Reservation near Lander on June 12, the statement said. This is the first time FBI Denver has hosted this program in this area of Wyoming, the statement said. It is a great opportunity for students to learn what the FBI does from the FBI instead of from television and movies. Attendees will learn about FBI career opportunities, participate in demonstrations and ascertain online safety at this free, one-day event, the statement said. In addition to FBI agents and personnel, staff from the U.S. Attorneys Office for Wyoming, the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Anschutz Medical Campus Office for Educational Outreach & Pathway Initiatives will present information. The event is open to all incoming freshman through graduation seniors in high school or college students. All attendees are welcome, regardless of tribal affiliation or not, the statement said. All activities and lunch are included, but registration is required. Those interested in signing up must email DN_Outreach@fbi.gov by May 31 with a name, high school grade or collegiate level, school and phone number. [F]or some students, it might be a first contact with a possible career, the statement said. Gift this article Share this article paywall-free. A longtime Casper liquor store is changing hands and will soon become the ninth off-track betting location in the area. Poplar Wine and Spirits, which also includes Vintage Fine Wine and Martini Bar, was recently acquired by Wyoming Employee Resource Capital and Services (also known as WERCS, or Wyoming Financial Group.) Kyle Ridgeway, chief financial officer of WERCS, told Casper City Council last week that the company specializes in taking in small businesses when the owners are looking to exit. (That evening, the council officially transferred the Poplar Wine and Spirits retail liquor license to WERCS.) We think were the right partner in a lot of businesses, because of our management expertise and the people we have in our organization to help bring people up employees that were involved in the operation that otherwise wouldnt have the capital to take the business over, Ridgeway said. While WERCS has many subsidiaries, including companies like Mountain West Technologies and Computer Professionals Unlimited, it also seems to have a penchant for bars and liquor stores. It bought the former C85 Pump Room in 2021, and the Keg and Cork last year, for example. Both are now equipped with off-track betting machines operated by another business owned by WERCS: 307 Horse Racing. Soon, Poplar Wine and Spirits will boast 50 to 75 machines of its own, according to an April 20 memo to City Manager Carter Napier from City Clerk and Assistant to the City Manager Fleur Tremel and Licensing Specialist Carla Mills-Laatsch. The machines allow users to bet on replays of old horse races (known as historic betting.) It seems to be a lucrative business a Wyoming Gaming Commission report published in September shows that in 2021, 307 Horse Racing reported a betting handle of $18 million just for historic races. Wyomings two bigger operators, Wyoming Horse Racing and Wyoming Downs, took handles of $597 million and $303 million, respectively. Wyoming Horse Racing, Wyoming Downs and 307 Horse Racing currently run off-track betting machines at eight establishments in the Casper area, according to the Wyoming Gaming Commissions website. Thats making Natrona County a lot of money. The county received about $1.4 million in tax revenue from the 2021 races, a little over $839,000 of which went to Casper, the report says. Ridgeway previously described WERCS as a private equity group in a 2021 paid post for Oil City News. Private equity is a controversial model; its often associated with big groups of investors that buy and manage companies only to slash their staffs and sell off assets for profit. Former Poplar Wine and Spirits owner Mike Reid assured councilors on Tuesday that, other than adding the machines, WERCS plans to keep the establishment more or less the same while adding benefits for employees. Reid plans to continue working there to help the business transition. Theyre going to keep the liquor store, theyre going to keep the lounge running the way it is, use the large warehouse area in the back for the gaming machines, Reid said, and offer our employees opportunities they dont currently have such as medical insurance, 401ks, those kind of things. The license transfer passed with councilors Amber Pollock and Kyle Gamroth who represent wards 1 and 2, respectively abstaining. Close Horses are walked around the saddling paddock before the beginning of the second race of the day for three year olds and upwards that had not won two races on Friday, Sept. 9, 2016, at the Central Wyoming Fairgrounds. Jockey Anselmo "Sam" Padilla waits in the saddling paddock to mount his ride before the second race of the day on Friday, Sept. 9, 2016, at the Central Wyoming Fairgrounds. Horses run in the three year olds and upward race for horses that have not won two races on Friday, Sept. 9, 2016, at the Central Wyoming Fairgrounds. Horses run in the three year olds and upward race for horses that have not won two races on Friday, Sept. 9, 2016, at the Central Wyoming Fairgrounds. Jockeys watch the third race of the day from the bleachers on Friday, Sept. 9, 2016, at the Central Wyoming Fairgrounds. The maiden race for two year old fillies runs past the grandstands on Friday, Sept. 9, 2016, at the Central Wyoming Fairgrounds. Gale Three Irons holds on to "My Dashin Crow Girl" in the saddling paddock before the race on Friday, Sept. 9, 2016, at the Central Wyoming Fairgrounds. A jockey is weighed along with his saddle following the third race of the day on Friday, Sept. 9, 2016, at the Central Wyoming Fairgrounds. Jockeys prepare for the fourth race of the day on Friday, Sept. 9, 2016, at the Central Wyoming Fairgrounds. Jeramie Fennell leaves the jockey's quarters for the saddling paddock on Friday, Sept. 9, 2016, at the Central Wyoming Fairgrounds. Horses in the three year old and upwards race round the corner to the finish line on Friday, Sept. 9, 2016, at the Central Wyoming Fairgrounds. Horses in the three year old and upwards race cross the finish line on Friday, Sept. 9, 2016, at the Central Wyoming Fairgrounds. Ben Villegas puts racing blinkers on "Coronas Favorite" before the beginning of the first race for maiden two year olds on Friday, Sept. 9, 2016, at the Central Wyoming Fairgrounds. "Super Coup Counter" is taken for a warm up run before the beginning of the two year old maiden race on Friday, Sept. 9, 2016, at the Central Wyoming Fairgrounds. Horses run in the two year old maiden race on Friday, Sept. 9, 2016, at the Central Wyoming Fairgrounds. Jockeys and horses gather at the finish line following the ending of the fourth race of the day on Friday, Sept. 9, 2016, at the Central Wyoming Fairgrounds. The race was slotted for three year olds and older and lasted five and a half furlongs. Carlos Satana walks a horses out of the paddock before the first race of the day on Friday, Sept. 9, 2016, at the Central Wyoming Fairgrounds. Trainer Kenny Olson reads the newspaper during some downtime at the race track on Friday, Sept. 9, 2016, at the Central Wyoming Fairgrounds. Photos: Horse racing returns to the track in Casper The Central Wyoming Fairgrounds hosts live horse racing throughout the day on Friday, September 9, 2016 in Casper. Photos by Jenna VonHofe, Casper Star-Tribune. Horses are walked around the saddling paddock before the beginning of the second race of the day for three year olds and upwards that had not won two races on Friday, Sept. 9, 2016, at the Central Wyoming Fairgrounds. Jockey Anselmo "Sam" Padilla waits in the saddling paddock to mount his ride before the second race of the day on Friday, Sept. 9, 2016, at the Central Wyoming Fairgrounds. Horses run in the three year olds and upward race for horses that have not won two races on Friday, Sept. 9, 2016, at the Central Wyoming Fairgrounds. Horses run in the three year olds and upward race for horses that have not won two races on Friday, Sept. 9, 2016, at the Central Wyoming Fairgrounds. Jockeys watch the third race of the day from the bleachers on Friday, Sept. 9, 2016, at the Central Wyoming Fairgrounds. The maiden race for two year old fillies runs past the grandstands on Friday, Sept. 9, 2016, at the Central Wyoming Fairgrounds. Gale Three Irons holds on to "My Dashin Crow Girl" in the saddling paddock before the race on Friday, Sept. 9, 2016, at the Central Wyoming Fairgrounds. A jockey is weighed along with his saddle following the third race of the day on Friday, Sept. 9, 2016, at the Central Wyoming Fairgrounds. Jockeys prepare for the fourth race of the day on Friday, Sept. 9, 2016, at the Central Wyoming Fairgrounds. Jeramie Fennell leaves the jockey's quarters for the saddling paddock on Friday, Sept. 9, 2016, at the Central Wyoming Fairgrounds. Horses in the three year old and upwards race round the corner to the finish line on Friday, Sept. 9, 2016, at the Central Wyoming Fairgrounds. Horses in the three year old and upwards race cross the finish line on Friday, Sept. 9, 2016, at the Central Wyoming Fairgrounds. Ben Villegas puts racing blinkers on "Coronas Favorite" before the beginning of the first race for maiden two year olds on Friday, Sept. 9, 2016, at the Central Wyoming Fairgrounds. "Super Coup Counter" is taken for a warm up run before the beginning of the two year old maiden race on Friday, Sept. 9, 2016, at the Central Wyoming Fairgrounds. Horses run in the two year old maiden race on Friday, Sept. 9, 2016, at the Central Wyoming Fairgrounds. Jockeys and horses gather at the finish line following the ending of the fourth race of the day on Friday, Sept. 9, 2016, at the Central Wyoming Fairgrounds. The race was slotted for three year olds and older and lasted five and a half furlongs. Carlos Satana walks a horses out of the paddock before the first race of the day on Friday, Sept. 9, 2016, at the Central Wyoming Fairgrounds. Trainer Kenny Olson reads the newspaper during some downtime at the race track on Friday, Sept. 9, 2016, at the Central Wyoming Fairgrounds. Gift this article Share this article paywall-free. Three conservative politicians seeking to intervene in the lawsuit over two new Wyoming abortion laws say the discrepancy in how they intend to defend these statutes compared with how the state intends to do so is not a minor matter of litigation strategy but could potentially be a deciding factor in the case. The group, which also includes an anti-abortion organization, says further in the Friday filing that the state inadequately represented their interests at the cases emergency hearing in March, noting that while plaintiffs submitted affidavits for the judges consideration during the hearing, the state did not do so. This approach leaves an utterly one-sided evidentiary record for appellate review something about which the Wyoming Supreme Court has already indicated its displeasure and does not protect Proposed Intervenors interests, the filing states. Last month, Reps. Rachel Rodriguez-Williams and Chip Neiman, as well as Secretary of State Chuck Gray and the anti-abortion advocacy group Right to Life Wyoming, filed a motion to intervene in a lawsuit challenging two new abortion statutes that became law in March. Its the same group with the addition of Gray that attempted unsuccessfully to intervene in the challenge against last years trigger ban. The request followed Teton County Judge Melissa Owens decision in March to halt enforcement of the Life is a Human Right Act a sweeping abortion ban that is one of the new laws being challenged in the suit. Plaintiffs, which include a Wyoming abortion fund, medical providers and women, are also requesting a block on another law that will ban medication abortions in Wyoming starting in July. The Friday filing states that the interests of Rodriguez-Williams and Nieman are uniquely significant given that they are the sponsor and a cosponsor, respectively, of both the Life is a Human Right Act and last years abortion trigger ban. Whats more, both cosponsored the ban on medication abortions and Rodriguez-Williams was formerly director of the Serenity Pregnancy Resource Center in Cody. Neiman previously told the Star-Tribune that hes supported pregnancy resource centers in Wyoming and South Dakota. Similarly, the proposed intervenors highlighted Right to Life Wyomings nearly 50-year history of anti-abortion advocacy and Grays anti-abortion legislative efforts, arguing that their involvement in abortion issues gives them interest and standing to intervene in the case. Its unusual for a secretary of state to get involved in a lawsuit such as this one. In a response last month to the groups request for intervention, Gov. Mark Gordon and Attorney General Bridget Hill said they opposed Grays intervention in his official capacity, arguing that his involvement would muddy the waters of who speaks for the State of Wyoming and her executive branch in a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of a Wyoming statute, a role they asserted belongs to the governor. They stated further that Gray cant intervene in the lawsuit unless a Wyoming statute allows him to. In response, Gray maintained that he believes he has standing to intervene and questioned the states ability to adequately defend the statute. The new filing says that Gray doesnt seek intervention to speak for the state and its executive branch, but only to speak on behalf of his own office which it notes was created by the state constitution and his position as a longtime policy advocate on these issues. While Gordon and Hill said they didnt oppose other proposed intervenors request to join the lawsuit, they didnt agree with the groups belief that the court should hold an evidentiary hearing or formal trial, which would involve witnesses giving testimony under oath. Holding an evidentiary hearing or a formal trial is at odds with the nature of the issues in this case because, no matter how you look at it, this case involves only questions of law, the defendants said. The lawyers representing the proposed intervenors have noted that the states arguments will likely focus strictly on questions of legality, whereas they aim to offer evidence to argue that abortion is not health care and that exceptions in the statute provide no hindrances whatsoever to necessary medical treatment. This discrepancy in how the State Defendants and Proposed Intervenors intend to explain and defend the statutes is not a minor matter of litigation strategy, but is potentially case-dispositive; and Proposed Intervenors are uniquely suited to provide the relevant evidence, the filing states. Plaintiffs oppose the entire groups motion to intervene, arguing that the proposed intervenors havent identified any significant, protectable legal interest that could be impeded by the case or demonstrated that Hill, the state attorney general, lacks the motive or means to vigorously defend the challenged statute. They also note that regardless of the cases outcome, the proposed intervenors can still hold and advocate for anti-abortion beliefs, as well as make their own choices related to abortion. A hearing is scheduled for June 2 to decide whether or not the proposed intervenors can join the lawsuit. PHOTOS: Abortion in Wyoming Pro-choice protest Abortions rights protest Abortion-rights protesters The Women's Health Center and Family Care Clinic of Jackson Pro-life Protest Pro-life Protest Abortion-rights protest Abortion-rights protest Abortion-rights protest Abortion clinic fire Abortion-rights protest Abortion-rights protest Pro-life Protest Pro-life Protest Pro-life Protest Pro-life Protest Pro-life Protest ENERGY Minister Stuart Young yesterday met with Woodside Energy officials on the progress that has been made on the deep-water hydrocarbon Calypso Project. Young held discussions with the Woodside Energy team which consisted of executive vice president international operations Shiva McMahon, president and country manager of Woodside Energy Trinidad and Tobago Juan Vazquez, project director Stacy Patrick, and corporate affairs manager Carla Noel-Mendez. Karishma Dhowtals life is rooted in Indian music, ever since she was a child. Whether its singing melodious bhajans or classical Indian songs, the two genres have won Dhowtal both accolades and fans. The 28-year-old comes from a musical family. Her maternal grandfather, Jameer Hosein, was a known and loved classical singer. When Dhowtal was seven, she was sent for vocal training with Ustad Aftab Ahmed Khan at the Mahatma Gandhi Institute for Cultural Cooperation (MGICC) for several years. She later trained with gurus Ruby Malik and Rasika Ekbote. Sudanese army voices commitment to cease-fire deal, humanitarian arrangements Xinhua) 08:54, May 22, 2023 This photo taken on April 15, 2023 shows smoke rising in Khartoum, capital of Sudan. (Photo by Mohamed Khidir/Xinhua) KHARTOUM, May 21 (Xinhua) -- The Sudanese Army announced on Sunday its commitment to the Agreement on a Short-Term Cease-fire and Humanitarian Arrangements it signed with the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in the Saudi Arabian port city of Jeddah late Saturday. "The armed forces announce their commitment to the agreement and hope the RSF will abide by what it says," the Sudanese army spokesman said in a statement. "The duration of the short-term cease-fire is seven days and will enter into force on Monday at 9:45 p.m. local time (1945 GMT)," the statement said. On Saturday night, the Sudanese Army and the RSF signed the cease-fire deal under Saudi-U.S. patronage. Under the deal, each party shall implement the agreement in full and ensure that all forces under their command and control observe it at all times and in full. A Sudanese army warplane is seen during clashes over Bahri town, north of Khartoum, Sudan, on May 11, 2023. (Photo by Mohamed Khidir/Xinhua) According to the deal, the parties shall guarantee the freedom of movement of civilians throughout the country and protect civilians from violence, harassment, recruitment, or other abuse, as well as refrain from any violations of international human rights law. The parties shall also provide security guarantees for safe, unhindered access by humanitarian agencies. The agreement does not touch on the discussion of political situation, according to the statement. Sudan has been witnessing deadly armed clashes between the Sudanese Army and the RSF in the capital Khartoum and other areas since April 15. (Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Liang Jun) (CNN) Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Bakhmut was not occupied by Russia as of Sunday and Ukrainian soldiers remain there, a day after Russia claimed the fiercely contested citys complete capture. We are keeping on, we are fighting, Zelensky said at a news conference at the G7 in Japan. Ukraines Armed Forces (AFU) said they were continuing to counter Russia in the city, and that they were advancing in the suburbs, making it very difficult for the enemy to remain in Bakhmut. On Saturday the chief of the mercenary Wagner group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, claimed to have captured Bakhmut after months of brutal fighting, saying he would hand it over to Russia later in May, Russian President Vladimir Putin offered his congratulations for the completion of the operation to liberate Artemovsk, Russian state news agency TASS reported the Kremlin as saying, using the Soviet-Russian name for Bakhmut. CNN is unable to verify either sides battlefield claims. If confirmed, the capture of Bakhmut would mark Russias first gain in months, but the citys symbolism always outweighed its strategic importance. Moscow has thrown huge amounts of manpower, weaponry and attention toward the city but largely failed to break down a stubborn Ukrainian resistance that had outlasted most expectations. Battle that became a meat grinder Bakhmut sits toward the northeast of the Donetsk region, about 13 miles from the Luhansk region, and has long been a target for Russian forces. Since last summer the city has been a stones throw from the front lines. Donbas the vast, industrial expanse of land in Ukraines east, encompassing the Luhansk and Donetsk regions has been the primary focus of Russias war effort since last spring, after its initial lunge toward Kyiv and central Ukraine failed. The battle has been compared to the kind of fighting seen in World War One, with soldiers fighting in a hellish landscape of mud and trenches, trees and buildings mangled by artillery fire. While Russian forces have continued their slow street-by-street advance in Bakhmut for many months, over the past two weeks Ukrainian forces have managed to re-capture small pockets of territory held by Russian troops to the northwest and southwest of the city. Russian forces, bolstered by members of the Wagner mercenary group, have taken heavy losses trying to capture the city. There are no official casualty figures, but earlier this year a NATO source told CNN they estimated that for every Ukrainian soldier killed defending Bakhmut, Russia lost five. The battle has also highlighted an extraordinary rift among Russian forces, with Prigozhin at one point accusing a Russian brigade of abandoning its position in the city and railing several times at the Defense Ministry over a lack of ammunition. Prigozhin, a former catering boss who has grown in prominence throughout the war, compared the battlefield to a meat grinder. Bakhmuts fall would be an undoubted boost to Prigozhin, who recently announced his men would pull out entirely because dwindling ammunition supplies and mounting losses meant there was nothing left to grind the meat with. Over the early part of 2023, the routes into Bakhmut had gradually come under the control of Russian forces and the battle for the city turned into an inch-by-inch grind, with Ukrainian forces repelling dozens of assaults each day. Rather than drive directly toward the city center, Wagner troops sought to encircle the city in a wide arc from the north. In January they claimed the nearby town of Soledar, and later took a string of villages and hamlets north of Bakhmut, making Ukraines defense of the city increasingly perilous. But even as Moscows troops closed in and most residents fled through dangerous evacuation corridors, a small group of Ukrainian civilians remained in the ruined city. Before the war, around 70,000 people lived in Bakhmut, a city once famous for its sparkling wine. As of March, the population stood at less than 4,000 and most of the once thriving city has been reduced to ashes and rubble. In his comments at the G7, Zelensky said pictures of ruined Hiroshima he has seen on his visit to the Japanese city really remind him of Bakhmut. Vote the United National Congress (UNC) into office and get more matters like Piarco Airport, Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley has told citizens. Though stating that Thursdays political meeting in San Fernando was not the launch of the Peoples National Movement (PNM) local government campaign, Rowley trained his guns on Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar and the UNC. With apologies to Shakespeare: the Judiciary doth protest too much. Come on, people. This is T&T. We all know whats going on. We know how easily the judicial process can be manipulated and stretched out for years and years while the only people who seem to end up benefiting are the ever-present attorneys (those who milk the cow) and their clientsthe good citizens who, according to Sparrow, are the architects of economic slavery. In the competitive world of e-commerce, Temu has emerged as a fresh, innovative force. Its rapid growth and expansion into Canada, Australia and New Zealand have caught the attention of industry insiders and consumers alike. It also lately got selected by Google Plays Editors Choice and is working with Google on the new Pixel Fold. Temu's approach to retail, known as Next-Gen Manufacturing (NGM), has resulted in quality merchandise being offered at near-wholesale prices. By leveraging real-time insights and implementing sophisticated sales forecasting and logistics management, NGM has achieved cost savings of at least 50% compared to conventional processes, savings which are passed on to consumers in the form of lower prices. At the core of NGM lies a deep understanding of consumer preferences and trends, enabled by digital technology. This approach contrasts with traditional retail strategies that often rely on discounted sales to offload excess inventory or products that failed to resonate with consumers. NGM offers a more forward-looking vision for the future of retail, where products are created to meet consumer needs, and manufacturers can adapt rapidly to changing market trends. What is Temu? Temu focuses on providing high-quality products at affordable prices to consumers. Launched in September 2022, the platform quickly expanded its product range, now offering merchandise across 29 primary categories and more than 250 sub-categories. Since its inception, Temu has rapidly attracted a growing following of consumers seeking quality and affordability. The e-commerce platform expanded into Canada in February 2023 and now operates in 10 countries including, Australia, New Zealand, UK, Netherlands, France, Germany and Italy. What does Temu mean? The name "Temu" represents "Team Up, Price Down," referencing its operating philosophy of creating economies of scale by directly connecting consumers with suppliers and manufacturers, using that scale to reduce both costs and prices. By utilizing real-time consumer insights, Temu enables merchants to better predict trends, plan production and reduce the risk of overproducing items that consumers don't want. This results in cost savings that are passed on to the consumers. Temu's approach has the potential to put an end to wasteful "spray-and-pray" retail methods and paves the way for a more efficient and cost-effective shopping experience for customers. Temus deep relationships with manufacturers Temu's ability to successfully implement its pioneering Next-Gen Manufacturing (NGM) model is due in large part to its deep relationships with suppliers and manufacturers. For an e-commerce platform to effectively employ NGM, it requires extensive connections with top-grade manufacturers who possess the agility to quickly respond to changes in consumer preferences while maintaining economies of scale and the expertise to do so. Temu has established strong partnerships with manufacturers who are equipped to adapt to the ever-evolving demands of the market. This enables Temu to continually offer consumers high-quality, affordable products that reflect current trends and preferences. These deep and wide relationships with manufacturers also contribute to Temu's ability to optimize its supply chain, further reducing costs and inefficiencies. By collaborating closely with these manufacturers, Temu can ensure a more seamless and efficient process from product ideation and design to last-mile delivery. This end-to-end approach is a key aspect of NGM and is instrumental in driving Temu's success in the retail industry. Reducing demand-supply mismatch in retail The traditional retail-manufacturing model, which revolves around producing items first and then marketing and selling them, is riddled with inefficiencies and waste due to imperfect information. This lack of precision often leads to a mismatch between supply and demand, resulting in surplus inventory and a negative impact on both monetary costs and the environment. In the current model, manufacturers produce goods based on estimated demand, and retailers stock these items with the hope of selling them to consumers. However, this approach relies on assumptions and forecasts that may not accurately reflect the actual preferences and needs of the consumers. Consequently, retailers can end up with unsold inventory that takes up valuable space and ties up capital. Eventually, these costs are passed on to consumers through increased prices or absorbed by businesses, impacting their bottom line. Moreover, this model's inherent inefficiencies can have detrimental effects on the environment. Overproduction and unsold inventory can contribute to waste generation, as unsold products often end up in landfills. This not only consumes valuable resources during production but also can add to the growing problem of waste management and pollution. Furthermore, the disposal of unused products can lead to the release of harmful chemicals and greenhouse gases, potentially exacerbating climate change. The disconnect between consumer preferences and the goods produced in the traditional retail-manufacturing model also results in wasted marketing efforts. Companies invest considerable resources into promoting products that may not resonate with their target audience, leading to ineffective campaigns and squandered budgets. Does Temu sell counterfeit products? No, Temu does not sell counterfeit products or knockoffs. The company maintains a strict vetting process for all third-party sellers, ensuring that they adhere to quality standards. Sellers who violate Temu's policies, which include selling counterfeit items, can be permanently banned from the platform. Temu is dedicated to ethical, humane and lawful business practices and requires merchants to comply with its code of conduct and all applicable laws. What makes Temu different from its competitors? Temu is different from e-commerce platforms by embracing the Next-Gen Manufacturing model. This method allows Temu to offer considerably lower prices while maintaining an enhanced product fit and upholding quality. A significant difference between Temu and its rivals is its resolute commitment against drop shipping. This practice, which is frequently linked to poor customer service, inflated costs, protracted shipping periods and convoluted after-sales return and refund procedures, is strictly prohibited on the Temu platform. Through the exclusion of drop shipping, Temu guarantees a superior customer experience for its users. How does NGM work? Temus Next-Gen Manufacturing (NGM) is a forward-thinking approach to the production and supply chain process that leverages Temus digital platform, real-time insights and close collaboration between manufacturers, suppliers and logistics partners. By focusing on optimizing each step of the manufacturing process, starting from product idea and development, all the way to last-mile delivery, NGM aims to minimize waste, reduce costs, and create a more efficient and sustainable model for the industry. Five primary areas where NGM leads to cost reduction (total savings >50%) 1. Greater comprehension of consumers for improved product suitability (>10% cost savings): Temu offers manufacturers and retailers complimentary access to invaluable real-time insights on consumer preferences and shopping habits. This eliminates the necessity for costly, sporadic market research that quickly becomes outdated in a rapidly evolving consumer landscape. 2. Precise sales forecasts minimize excessive production (>5% cost savings): Through sharing these consumer insights, Temu enables retailers to more accurately anticipate sales volume, thus refining production processes, diminishing waste and enhancing speed to market. 3. Effective inventory control (>10% cost savings): Better sales forecasts reduce inventory risks for both retailers and manufacturers, cutting down on overproduction, storage expenses and environmental waste. 4. Lower marketing costs (>20% cost savings): When supply accurately aligns with demand, marketing efforts can be reduced, providing further savings that can be passed on to consumers. 5. Agile logistics and expedited delivery (>5% cost savings): NGM streamlines distribution by shipping products directly from factories to sorting centers and subsequently to customers. This decreases the need for warehousing and ensures efficient delivery through collaborations with third-party logistics providers. Temu's innovative Next-Gen Manufacturing model is a game-changer in the e-commerce industry. By optimizing the manufacturing and supply chain process, NGM significantly reduces costs, minimizes waste and offers consumers high-quality products at affordable prices. By embracing digital technology and fostering close collaboration with suppliers and manufacturers, Temu is pioneering a more efficient, sustainable and cost-effective retail model that benefits consumers, businesses and the environment. Lee Enterprises newsroom and editorial were not involved in the creation of this content. The University of Arizonas vice president for research and innovation is leaving to become president of Utah State University. Elizabeth Betsy Cantwell, the UAs vice president for research and innovation since 2019, oversaw an $825 million research portfolio, which included managing the UA Tech Park an initiative that contributes $1.7 billion to Tucsons economy. With her impressive experience and achievements, we are not surprised Betsy Cantwell has been selected for the presidency at Utah State University, UA spokesperson Pam Scott said in an email Monday. We will begin a national search process this summer and expect to have the interim research leader named by the end of this week. The UA is also searching for a permanent replacement for Liesl Folks, who left her post as senior vice president and provost of the UA at the end of the school year to take a new position at UA establishing a Center for Semiconducting Manufacturing. The Utah State Board of Higher Education announced its selection of Cantwell from a pool of three finalists Friday, six months after USU President Noelle Cockett resigned. Cockett took the helm of USU in 2017. Throughout her tenure, Cocketts administration faced criticism and lawsuits centered on the universitys handling of on-campus sexual misconduct allegations, according to the Salt Lake Tribune. When the board appointed Cantwell to replace Cockett on Friday, Cantwell was in Logan, where USU is located, to celebrate and made the following statement, the Salt Lake Tribune reported: Im enormously grateful to the board for their faith in me, Cantwell said. I will do everything in my power to step into a place that has (been) made beautiful by President Cockett, and move us all forward into what is truly an incredible future for Utah State University and for the state of Utah. At the UA, Cantwell received an annual salary of $454,230. As president of Utah State she will receive a base salary of $581,585 per year, according to the Utah System of Higher Education. Cockett received an annual base salary of $452,016. In Cantwells four years at the UA, the universitys research expenditures grew by nearly $100 million from $687.1 million in fiscal year 2018 to $770 million in fiscal year 2021 and consistently ranked among the top 40 research institutions in the United States. Cantwell holds a bachelors degree in human behavior from the University of Chicago, a masters in business administration from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, and a doctorate in mechanical engineering from the University of California at Berkeley. Prior to coming to the UA, Cantwell spent many years working in high-profile laboratories. Most recently, shed served as CEO of Arizona State University Research Enterprise, a nonprofit aimed at furthering the universitys applied research and development for Arizona State University. NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott launched his presidential campaign on Monday, offering an optimistic and compassionate message he's hoping can contrast the two figures who have used political combativeness to dominate the early GOP primary field: former President Donald Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. Scott, the Senate's only Black Republican, kicked off the campaign in his hometown of North Charleston at Southern University, his alma mater and a private school affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention. At one point, he summoned his mother to the stage and gave her flowers and at times offered stirring oratory reminiscent of church, leading the crowed in chants of "Let's Go!" But Scott also said "our party and our nation are standing at a time for choosing: Victimhood or victory?" adding that Republicans will also have to decide between "Grievance or greatness?" "I choose freedom and hope and opportunity," Scott said. He went on to the crowd that, "We need a president who persuades not just our friends and our base" but seeks "commonsense" solutions and displays "compassion for people who don't agree with us." Keep scrolling for a full list of 2024 presidential candidates That was a far cry from Trump, who has played to the GOP's most loyal supporters by repeated lies about how he was denied a second term by widespread fraud that did not occur during the 2020 presidential election. DeSantis, meanwhile, has pushed Florida to the right by championing contentious new restrictions on abortion, LGBTQ rights and by seeking to limit the corporate power of Disney, one his state's most powerful business interests. Scott, 57, planned to huddle with home-state donors later Monday then begin a whirlwind, two-day campaign swing to Iowa and New Hampshire, which go first in GOP presidential primary voting. His announcement gathering included an opening prayer by Republican Sen. John Thune of South Dakota, the No. 2 Senate Republican, who said, "I think our country is ready to be inspired again." Republican Sen. Mike Rounds, South Dakota's other senator, has already announced his support for Scott. A number of high-profile GOP senators have already backed Trump's third bid for the White House, though, including Scott's South Carolina colleague, Lindsey Graham. Trump nonetheless struck a conciliatory tone to start, welcoming Scott to the race in an online post Monday and noting that the pair worked together on his administration's signature tax cut. A source of strength for Scott will be his campaign bank account. He enters the 2024 race with more cash on hand than any other presidential candidate in U.S. history, with $22 million left in his campaign bank account at the end of his 2022 campaign that he can transfer to his presidential coffers. It's enough money, his team says, to keep Scott on the air with continuous TV ads in early voting states until the first round of votes next year. Scott also won reelection in firmly Republican South Carolina -- which voters early on the Republican presidential primary calendar -- by more than 20 points less than six months ago. Advisors bet that can make Scott a serious contender for an early win that could give him momentum heading deeper into the primary race. But Scott is not the only South Carolina option. The state's former governor, Nikki Haley, who also once served as Trump's former United Nations ambassador, formally entered the primary race months ago. Like others in the GOP race, including former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley, former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson and "Woke, Inc." author Vivek Ramaswamy, Scott's initial task will be finding a way to stand out in a field led by Trump and DeSantis, the latter of whom could announce his own bid as early as this week. One way Scott hopes to do that is his trademark political optimism. With his Christian faith an integral part of his political and personal story, Scott often quotes Scripture at his campaign events, weaving his reliance on spiritual guidance into his stump speech and even bestowing the name "Faith in America" on his pre-launch listening tour. Scott said Monday that America's promise means "you can go as high as our character, our grit, and our talent will take you." "That's why I'm the candidate the far left fears the most." The Democratic National Committee responded to Scott's announcement by dismissing the notion that Scott offers much of an alternative to Trump's policies. DNC chair Jamie Harrison, who ran unsuccessfully for Senate in South Carolina in 2020, released a statement Monday calling the senator "a fierce advocate of the MAGA agenda," a reference to the former president's "Make America Great Again" movement. On many issues, Scott does indeed align with mainstream GOP positions. He wants to reduce government spending and restrict abortion, saying he would sign a federal law to prohibit abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy if elected president. But Scott has pushed the party on some policing overhaul measures since the killing of George Floyd, and he has occasionally criticized Trump's response to racial tensions. Throughout their disagreements, though, Scott has maintained a generally cordial relationship with Trump, saying in his book that the former president "listened intently" to his viewpoints on race-related issues. When he was appointed to the Senate by then-governor Haley in 2012, Scott became the first Black senator from the South since just after the Civil War. Winning a 2014 special election to serve out the remainder of his term made him the first Black candidate to win a statewide race in South Carolina since the Reconstruction era. He has long said his current term, which runs through 2029, would be his last. On Monday, Scott again rejected the notion that the country is inherently racist. He has routinely repudiated the teaching of critical race theory, an academic framework that presents the idea that the nation's institutions maintain the dominance of white people. If Scott is successful, he would be the first Black person to win the Republican presidential nomination and the second elected to the presidency, following Barack Obama in 2008. Other Republicans are still deciding whether to wade into the presidential race, including former Vice President Mike Pence, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and Miami Mayor Francis Suarez. President Joe Biden is seeking reelection and faces only token opposition in the Democratic primary. His party voted to move South Carolina to the leadoff spot for next year's presidential primary calendar. MAYER Some Indigenous farmers are trying to bring traditional food back to their communities. Michael Kotutwa Johnson, a farmer from the Hopi Tribe, is focusing on bringing Hopi corn back to the dining table not only for the health benefits but also to connect his people to their culture. Johnson, who also is a faculty member at the University of Arizonas School of Natural Resources and the Environment, refers to corn as our mother. Corn represents our mother, and we need to take care of her so she can take care of us, Johnson said. Thats one of the main reasons I do what I do because I want to give back to the community more than I give back to myself. His mission is to grow thousands of ears of corn at Arcosanti, an experimental town in Mayer, about 70 miles north of metro Phoenix, and then make it accessible to the Hopi Tribe. Drought has made it difficult to grow corn on Hopi lands for the past few years, so it has not been widely available. Johnson partnered with Arcosanti to test corn growth on an acre of land to see if Hopi corn would successfully grow 175 miles away from the Hopi Tribe, which is in northeastern Arizona. A group of educators from across Arizona traveled to Acrosanti last month to learn about how to sustain Indigenous crops and plant hundreds of seeds across the acre of land with Johnson. Many of the teachers who went to help grow the Indigenous corn knew little to nothing about growing the crop or using Hopi techniques, which include using a stick to wedge a hole for the corn and place damp dirt over the seeds. Danelle Meade, a member of the Navajo Nation, is an ancient civilizations teacher at San Carlos Middle School on the San Carlos Apache Indian Reservation. She said she knew little about growing corn but understands the importance of corn in Indigenous culture, including for making prayer meal and rattles that are used in ceremonies. After planting the seeds and learning new techniques, she plans to teach what she learns to her students. I always tell my kids, There was no Bashas, Walmart or Frys a long time ago. Everything was grown and harvested by the people, Meade said. Johnson wants to keep the tradition alive due to corns connection to culture and its health benefits. The corn has 10 to 15 times more mineral content than the corn found in grocery stores, he said. He believes if corn is more accessible to the Hopi people, they will see an improvement in health, and he hopes to make that possible. If the corn grows successfully at Arcosanti, Johnson plans to take the corn home to Hopi tribal lands and distribute it to the community while keeping some as seed corn for the next season. Johnsons Hopi corn effort is one part of a larger seed restoration project hes working on that includes other Indigenous crops. The following is the opinion and analysis of the writer: There has been another mass shooting in our country. Six were killed in a Nashville school. There will be thoughts and prayers, and new gun regulations considered a slippery slope to gun confiscation. It is not about taking away guns but reasonable considerations to reduce gun deaths. Although 80% of people want better background checks and less dangerous weaponry, there has been no meaningful legislation to reduce gun violence, even STUDY it. Some say that guns are not the problem. It is mental health. There may be mental health-related issues involved, but few mentally ill people resort to violence. There are mental health issues in other countries. If it is mental health, consider that many mass shootings are committed by angry loners with a grudge. Shall we incarcerate all angry loners? Most gun owners will never resort to gun violence. Yet there are over 40,000 gun-related deaths per year, resulting from murders, suicide, and neglect. Conservatives claim that Liberals want to shred the Second Amendment. Few know the background and Supreme Court decisions regarding it or the Second Amendments content. Ask the next 10 people you meet, and you will see. Here is the language: A well-regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed. Most do not know the wording but use the Amendment as a reason to have guns. It essentially involves a well-regulated militia and gives the people the RIGHT to bear arms rather than no right. It does not allow for unlimited possession. There is no Supreme Court interpretation allowing for unrestricted arms. Consider the 2008 Heller case. The court clarified that the Second Amendment is not unlimited. This language was stated in the opinion: It is not a right to keep and carry any weapon whatsoever in any manner whatsoever and for whatever purpose. Conservative Chief Justice Warren Burger once called the gun lobbys Second Amendment interpretation a fraud on the American public. Why is the gun lobby so powerful? They represent gun manufacturers and the billions made from sales of guns like the AR-15. Politicians are pressured to vote against gun reform. There may be too much dangerous weaponry available, with over 400 million guns in our country. Some claim that more guns make us safer. Assume there is a paranoid, angry person who accumulates various weapons, ready for revenge. Now consider 20 others like him, fully armed, in a theater or on a plane. Gun rights advocates rightly say that most gun owners are responsible. Imagine that you have a responsible neighborhood rattlesnake owner with one in a cage. What if he has 50? What could go wrong? Remember, he is responsible. Advocates also like to say that guns do not kill people. If guns are not the problem, should we allow machine guns? Howitzers? Grenade launchers? Among top developed nations, the United States has the highest per capita number of homicides by gunfire, at about 40 per million. Compare that with France at 3, Italy, 3. Australia, 2. Why? In 1996 in Port Arthur, Tasmania, a part of Australia, a man killed 35 people and wounded 23 in a tragic event. Australia decided to create strict firearm regulations. They bought back large numbers of assault-style weapons. Many others were returned voluntarily. In the following 20 years, zero mass shootings occurred, with only a handful since. Why? As in other places, there is a correlation between regulation and results. The gun issue requires rational examination. Nothing will completely stop mass shootings, but efforts should be made to reduce them. Those against new laws argue that offenders will not follow them. Given that, why have laws at all? Gun advocates are concerned about losing their rights and freedoms. Those deceased from gunfire have lost all theirs. Gift this article Share this article paywall-free. The last time Rachel Cope opened a restaurant in Tulsa, everything seemed to go perfectly. She had a concept that had already proven to be very successful in its original Oklahoma City location. She was serving a product that had garnered her and her staff national recognition in the food world. And she had an enviable location right next door to Tulsas iconic concert venue, the Cains Ballroom. There was just one small problem. The Tulsa location of Copes Empire Slice House, 417 N. Main St., opened on March 10, 2020. For the first five or so days, it was wonderful, Cope said, with a rueful laugh. The next nine months, on the other hand, that got a little tricky. Just days after opening its doors, Empire Slice House along with just about every business in the country had to close because of the COVID-19 pandemic. It wasnt until November 2020 that the restaurant was able to return to full service. The ongoing construction in the area, surrounding the long-awaited opening of the OKPOP museum and the condominium complex across the street from the restaurant, has created a whole new array of obstacles to overcome, Cope said. But people have found us throughout all of this, and Cains Ballroom starting to host events again has been a big boost for us, Cope said. On Wednesday, Cope officially opened the newest restaurant of her 84 Hospitality Group Empire Slice Shop, located at 1502 E. 11th St. Its the third Empire Slice Shop in the state (the other two are in Oklahoma City, where Copes 84 Hospitality Group is based), and the 10th restaurant Cope and her company has opened in its 10-year history. 84 Hospitality Group also currently runs three Empire Slice Houses (Tulsa, Oklahoma City and Edmond), as well as the Oklahoma City concepts Rev Tacos & Good Times, Goro Ramen, Burger Punk and the soon-to-be opened Ramen Remix. While the new restaurant will have a similar menu to the Empire Slice House, there are a couple of notable differences between the two establishments. Empire Slice House is a full-service restaurant, with full bar service, Cope said. We call our restaurants hangouts, and thats the vibe we wanted, where people could enjoy pizza and a beverage in a fun atmosphere. The Empire Slice Shop is counter-service concept that focuses more on to-go business, with pizza-by-the-slice, she said. Of course, if people want to dine in, we welcome that, too. And while we offer beer and wine at the Slice Shop, it doesnt have the full bar and cocktails that we have at the Slice House. Each day, five different pizzas are available by the slice at Empire Slice Shop. Cheese and pepperoni are the constants, while the other three change each day, and are drawn from the restaurants signature, pop-culture-named pies, such as the Notorious P.I.G., topped with four types of pork-based proteins; the Ghostface Killah, which has a sauce made with fiery ghost peppers; and the RBG Supreme, a vegetarian offering with spinach, bell peppers, roasted tomatoes and red onion. (Vegan cheese is available for a $1 upcharge.) Slices are $4.25 each, and Cope said that for many people, a single slice is enough. All Empire Slice pies are 20 inches in diameter. I say that a slice of our pizza is as big as your face, no matter how big your face may be, Cope said. Empire Slice Houses success led to it being named Independent Pizzeria of the Year in 2018 by Pizza Today, the pizza industrys leading publication. But for Cope, the best reward has been hearing diners from the northeast of the country say the pizza at Empire Slice is comparable to the best New York City pizza. For me, she said, thats maybe the best compliment we could get. Copes success in the restaurant is the result of what she calls a happy accident. A native of Ada, Cope and her family moved to Jenks when she was in the first grade. She graduated from Jenks High School, where she was a standout softball player, and in her senior year at Oklahoma City University helped the team win its eighth NAIA national title in 2007. She majored in political science and pre-law at OCU but decided to pursue other interests before starting law school. I started thinking about the things I was really passionate about, Cope said. That list included art, music, people, food and booze the order of importance might change from day to day, but those were pretty constant. So I started trying to think of something that would let me bring all these things together. That was about the time Cope entered a contest in Oklahoma City to take ownership of a former laundromat in the citys Plaza District. Her first proposal didnt make the cut, but when the winner wasnt able to reach an agreement, the contest people asked Cope if she had another idea. And I said pizza, she said, laughing. Of course, I had no idea how to make pizza. So I did an Internet search and found the Tony Gemignanis International School of Pizza in San Francisco. My family put up the money to get to San Francisco, and I spent a couple of weeks there learning everything I could. Two principles of pizza that Cope learned is using the best quality ingredients and making sure to have the crust just right. After all, what is pizza without the crust? she said. Its the foundation of everything, and if you dont have a great crust, you cant have a great pizza. Were using the same recipes for our crust and our sauce that weve had since day one. We get our tomatoes from a farm in California that hand-picks its crop, and we use only full-milk mozzarella, she said. Those two things are the most expensive items we use. I know there are cheaper alternatives out there, but we dont want to compromise our quality. Cope said she is considering bringing some of her other concepts to Tulsa and has her eye on another potential location that, like Empire Slice Shop, will be located on the midtown stretch of Route 66. Should that ambition be realized, Cope said the concept would not be the groups burger restaurant. Were all big Elliott Nelson fans, and Howdy Burger is just a block away, she said. Hes got the burger business along this stretch pretty well taken care of, but we have some other ideas that might work well here. The new Tulsa World app offers personalized features. Download it today. Gift this article Share this article paywall-free. A nine-minute standing ovation followed the world premiere of the shot-in-Oklahoma film Killers of the Flower Moon at Cannes Film Festival. What can I say except that it felt like a very important moment, especially how the Osage community embraced us telling this story and gave us the trust in our adaptation of the novel, Leonardo DiCaprio, one of the films stars, said at a post-premiere Cannes press conference that can be accessed via social media and YouTube. And to have them here with us, side by side, to tell such a personal tragedy to their entire community was a beautiful moment. I just took a lot of mental pictures. It was something Im never going to forget. We took great pride in being able to tell this story as best we could and we were just incredibly happy they were here with us, side by side. Geoffrey Standing Bear, principal chief of the Osage Nation, was literally alongside DiCaprio, filmmaker Martin Scorsese, Lily Gladstone and Robert De Niro at the press conference. Early on, I asked Mr. Scorsese, how are you going to approach this story? Standing Bear told the news conference crowd. He said Im going to tell a story about trust trust between Molly and Ernest, trust between the outside world and the Osage and the betrayal of those trusts, deep betrayal. My people suffered greatly, and to this very day, those effects are with us. But I can say on behalf of the Osage, Marty and his team have restored trust and we know that trust will not be betrayed. Killers of the Flower Moon, based on a best-selling David Grann book, is about the serial murder of the oil-wealthy Osage in 1920s Oklahoma. Among press conference topics was how the film chose to tell a personal, Osage-centric story instead of focusing on the FBI riding in for a rescue. DiCaprio called it an important story that really was a reckoning with our past. So much has been learned in the last few years and this story, much like the Tulsa (Race) Massacre, has been something that people have started to learn about and started to understand, DiCaprio said. It was a part of our culture and it was a part of our history. DiCaprio said those involved with the film talked to the community to hear real stories so they could incorporate the truth as best as they could. Like DiCaprio and De Niro, Gladstone referenced the Black Wall Street tragedy and said why the hell does the world not know about these things? She indicated the communities impacted by the race massacre and the events of Killers of the Flower Moon need allies like those in the film industry. Standing Bear, Scorsese and actors talked about the lengths those involved with the film went to in order to make the movie authentic. Scorsese referenced pre-film encounters with the Osage, when he learned Osage values are about love and respect and loving the earth. Im not talking at this point about a political issue, but Im talking about really understanding how to live on this planet, he said. I found that the values were so important to me. It re-oriented me every time they spoke. Killers of the Flower Moon was shot in 2021. Pawhuska was a primary filming location. The new Tulsa World app offers personalized features. Download it today. Photos: See new images of actors in 'Killers of the Flower Moon' in Pawhuska Flower Moon Flower Moon Flower Moon Flower Moon Flower Moon Flower Moon Flower Moon Flower Moon Flower Moon Flower Moon Flower Moon Flower Moon Flower Moon Flower Moon Flower Moon Flower Moon Flower Moon Flower Moon Flower Moon Flower Moon Flower Moon Flower Moon Flower Moon Flower Moon Flower Moon Flower Moon Flower Moon Flower Moon Flower Moon Flower Moon Killers of The Flower Moon Killers of The Flower Moon Killers of The Flower Moon Killers of The Flower Moon Killers of The Flower Moon Killers of The Flower Moon Killers of The Flower Moon Killers of The Flower Moon Killers of The Flower Moon Killers of The Flower Moon Killers of The Flower Moon Killers of The Flower Moon Killers of The Flower Moon Killers of The Flower Moon Flower Moon Labor Day sale: $1 for six months HIDE VERTICAL GALLERY ASSET TITLES Gift this article Share this article paywall-free. Holy Family Cathedral has agreed to purchase property owned by its neighbor, First Christian Church of Tulsas campus in downtown Tulsa. The purchase will permit Holy Family to expand its school, officials said. Holy Family Classical School is dedicated to a pursuit of truth, goodness, beauty and unity within liberal arts tradition, and this new campus will allow our students to flourish in the truth of Jesus Christ for years to come, said Dr. Marcel Brown, head of school for the new classical school. The school currently has over 200 students, according to a release announcing the sale. The purchase price was not divulged. We are excited to explore a new home for our thriving school family a home that could provide us greater green space, additional security and a beautiful environment to pursue Jesus Christ, said Father Gary Kastl, rector of Holy Family Cathedral, a part of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Tulsa. Plans are now underway to see how much money can be raised to do the necessary renovations for Holy Family Classical School to move its operations into the new space and to renovate the current school building into parish offices with meeting spaces for parish ministries and events. Plans also call for the central administrative office of the Diocese of Tulsa to relocate from Broken Arrow back into the current school building once the move to the First Christian property is complete, according to diocese officials. School tuition will not be impacted by the property purchase, officials said. Asked what impact, if any, recently passed legislation that would grant tax credits to families with children attending private school had on the decision to purchase the property, church officials said the conversation between officials with the two churches began prior to passage of the legislation and did not influence the decision to buy the property. Built of modified Greek design between 1917 and 1920 at the southeast corner of Ninth Street and Boulder Avenue, First Christian Church features a Byzantine-styled stained-glass dome that still has a functional crank system to open a hole in the roof for ventilation, according to the congregations website. The First Christian property, which is bordered by Ninth, 10th, Main and Boulder streets and is catty corner to Holy Family, has over 85,000 square feet of facilities on over three acres of land. The property is valued by the Tulsa County Assessors Office to be worth nearly $2.8 million. A press release from the Diocese of Tulsa and Eastern Oklahoma said both congregations would work together over the next several months on finalizing the transaction. On behalf of our Cathedral, I want to thank the people of First Christian Church of Tulsa for their patience, courage and dedication to Jesus Christ we are thankful for their historic witness, said Bishop David Konderla of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Tulsa. Officials with First Christian Church could not be reached for comment. The new Tulsa World app offers personalized features. Download it today. Photos: Holy Family to purchase nearby First Christian Church property to expand their school First Christian Church First Christian Church First Christian Church First Christian Church First Christian Church First Christian Church First Christian Church First Christian Church First Christian Church First Christian Church First Christian Church First Christian Church First Christian Church First Christian Church First Christian Church First Christian Church First Christian Church First Christian Church First Christian Church First Christian Church First Christian Church First Christian Church First Christian Church First Christian Church First Christian Church Gift this article Share this article paywall-free. Thirty-five states have fewer children than they did five years ago, a situation caused by declining birth rates nationwide, but also by young families migrating across state borders in search of cheaper housing. Even in the 15 states that gained children, all but North Dakota experienced greater growth in the adult population, meaning children now make up a lower percentage of residents. In states where the number of children has declined, school officials are facing the possibility of teacher layoffs or even school closures when pandemic aid expires next year. A decline in school enrollment could provide short-term cost savings and might be a benefit to children if there are more resources to go around, but it bodes poorly for future state workforces. In states where the drop in the number of children is part of a broader population decline, there will be additional fiscal, economic and political ramifications, such as diminished representation in Congress. The states with the largest drops were California, Illinois and New Mexico, where the child population declined by 6% between 2017 and 2022, according to a Stateline analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data. Idaho and North Dakota saw the largest increases, at 4%. The declines mostly are a reflection of historically low fertility rates, which have been below the replacement rate of two children per woman since 2010. Births increased in only a handful of states in 2021. But in the 35 states that experienced declines, high housing prices also are a factor. In California, jobs pay well but the states housing shortage has sent prices beyond the means of young families, said Hans Johnson, a senior fellow at the Public Policy Institute of California, a nonpartisan think tank. People want to buy a house and have children, but they realize they cant do it here so they look in the vicinity, states close by, and work remotely so they can keep their California paychecks, Johnson said. Slow population growth cost California a seat in Congress after the 2020 census. The number of adults in California grew in the past five years, according to the Stateline analysis, but the decline in the number of children led to a lower overall population. California also has experienced a phenomenon shared by other Western states: The children of Hispanic immigrants have lower birth rates than their parents. Californias total fertility rate dropped from 2.15 per woman in 2008 to a historic low of 1.52 in 2020, the lowest since records have been kept, Johnson wrote in a January report. California, Illinois and New Mexico all have seen lower school enrollment in recent years, even as theyve tried to rekindle interest in public education after pandemic upheavals. In New Mexico, enrollment has dropped particularly sharply in the northwestern part of the state, where there are many Indigenous students, according to a January state report. Between 2012 and 2022, enrollment declined by 22% in the majority-Native Central Consolidated Schools in San Juan County, compared with a statewide decline of 7%, according to the report. Indigenous and other children in the mostly rural area struggle to stay in school because of long bus commutes and lack of internet access at home. The recent closure of a coal mine and the power-generating station it fueled forced many families with children to move away from San Juan County to find jobs, according to Central Consolidated school board President Christina Aspaas. A lot of Navajo workers who were employed had to relocate to Phoenix or elsewhere out of state to earn the same wages, Aspaas said. It affected the local tribes, Hopi and Navajo, Dine. Seeing the impacts makes my heart break. These are all my children, and they deserve the best in education and in life. In Idaho and North Dakota, annual school enrollment has increased over the past five years, except for temporary drops early in the pandemic. But Idaho is bracing for a decline starting in 2025, when children from a historic 2007 baby boom in the state start turning 18. Idaho has become known as a picturesque and affordable place to raise children, said Jaap Vos, a planning professor at the University of Idaho in Boise. He moved from Florida with his 3-year-old son in 2012, when it was still the middle of nowhere, he said. The number of adults in the state grew by 16% during the same period. Boise is getting a lot of new residents from California, and northern Idaho is seeing more movers from Northern California, Washington and Utah. It might be for ideological reasons, people looking for a more conservative lifestyle, Vos said. He added that some people have left Boise as it has grown more crowded. Even in northern Idaho, housing prices have risen rapidly. Writer Leah Hampton is moving from North Carolina to Moscow in northern Idaho to teach at the University of Idaho. But she said she is having trouble finding an affordable house even without children. Her husband is working remotely. Moscow is definitely a great place to raise kids. Its like a 1950s movie up here but more diverse and left-wing, Hampton said. All of my friends children seem really happy and well-adjusted. But cost of living is much higher than we expected. We have money and we literally cant find anything to buy. What it takes to be middle class in America's largest cities What it takes to be middle class in America's largest cities Cities with the highest middle-class ceilings What it takes to be middle class in the 50 states Data and methodology Gift this article Share this article paywall-free. To end the acrimonious standoff over education funding, lawmakers have agreed on big investments but created a door to pay for private schools. If passed, there is plenty to like and a significant aspect of concern. The $625 million package boosts teacher pay by an average of $4,766 per educator, increases per student spending by about $1,000, guarantees six weeks maternity leave, gives $10 million to a three-year literacy program and about $96,000 annually for three years to each district for a security program (no matter the student size). Another $125 million will go to the Redbud Fund; it provides money for school buildings in low property tax districts and charter schools, which dont receive property tax. Of the total, $500 million will go through the funding formula that was created to treat districts fairly based on student demographics. Some lawmakers pushed for putting money outside the mechanism; that was wisely avoided. The agreement includes tinkering with the formula to give more weight to districts of concentrated poverty, transportation needs and those with fewer students. We urge lawmakers to keep fairness in mind when wanting to edge more toward rural schools. The biggest drawback is that it would create tax credits available to all private school students, regardless of household income. For the next fiscal year, that is capped at $155 million then goes up to $200 million and $250 million by 2026. For years, the influential school choice movement has pushed for no-strings-attached vouchers for tax money to go directly to private schools. Gov. Kevin Stitt and State Superintendent Ryan Walters made school choice a cornerstone of their education agendas. The Oklahoma House came up with the tax credit option, which gives households money back from the state for sending kids to private schools. This negotiated plan would give $7,500 to households earning less than $75,000, and all private school students would get at least $5,000. Homeschool children get $1,000. No private schools or homeschools of these students are required to provide transparency or accountability on their academic outcomes. These tax credits are on top of the Lindsey Nicole Henry scholarships and grants available from the Oklahoma Scholarship Fund, which also gives tax credits of up to 75% of the donation. Because these are stackable credits, its possible to double or triple dip into these funds for private schools. Imagine a person donating to the Oklahoma Scholarship Fund for that tax credit, then claims the private school credits for their children, who may also qualify for the Lindsey Nicole Henry Scholarship. A scenario exists to make money (from taxpayers) on private school choice. While tax credits may be viewed as causing the least amount of damage to public schools, its still giving tax money for a private education, many rooted in religious education a violation of the state constitution. For public schools, the boosts would likely move the needle on per pupil spending (at 47th nationally and last regionally). In average teacher pay, the rank of 38th nationally may improve, but regionally will remain in fourth because Texas, Colorado and New Mexico are so far ahead. Finally, while this plan gives public education necessary funding, there remains morale problems among educators. Disrespect has permeated the political rhetoric, often led by Superintendent Walters. More leaders must stand up to false accusations and inflammatory language. To truly show support for public education, funding and respect go hand-in-hand. The new Tulsa World app offers personalized features. Download it today. Gift this article Share this article paywall-free. We are so grateful to Gov. Kevin Stitt for stopping funding to Oklahoma Educational Television Authority. It's about time. Thank you also to State Superintendent Ryan Walters for his fine work. Last, but not least, thank you also for getting Oklahoma away from Blackrock! Editor's Note: Blackrock is one of 13 financial institutions that State Treasurer Todd Russ has identified as having environmental, social and governance (ESG) policies that violate state law. Letters to the editor are encouraged. Send letters to tulsaworld.com/opinion/submitletter. The new Tulsa World app offers personalized features. Download it today. The state utility Vietnam Electricity Group (EVN) requested the Vietnam Oil and Gas Group (PVN) halt operations at two of its fertilizer plants to set aside gas for power generation during the peak of the dry season between May and June. PVN was asked to temporarily suspend the operations of the Phu My and Ca Mau fertilizer plants in Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province and Ca Mau Province, respectively, for two months. Commenting on the issue at a press briefing on Sunday, Hoang Trung, head of the Plant Protection Department under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, said the supply of fertilizers to local farmers will still be sufficient if the two plants are suspended. Last year, each of the plants recorded a total output of over 900,000 metric tons of fertilizers and an inventory of more than 200,000 metric tons. Also, each one exported 798,000 metric tons of fertilizers in 2022, Trung said. If the country encounters a severe shortfall of power and needs to halt the production of fertilizers, the Plant Protection Department will report the issue to the ministry mentioned above for consideration and approval. In related news, Le Van Duc, deputy head of the ministrys Crop Production Department, told the press briefing that drought and a heatwave will negatively affect rice fields, fruit plants, and others. Therefore, localities associated with rice production are recommended to map out plans on saving water and increasing their water storage capacity. Regarding those localities majoring in fruit tree cultivation, especially the Mekong Delta region, the Crop Production Department asked them to create water sources and store water. During water scarcity and drought bouts, local authorities should advise local farmers not to plant new trees as it would be risky for their business, Duc said. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! Authorities in Da Nang City are offering numerous preferential policies and incentives to attract investments in the Da Nang hi-tech zone, which is the only one of its kind in central Vietnam. The management board of the Da Nang hi-tech and industrial zones will connect investors in the hi-tech park with the Da Nang University of Science and Technology to enhance the workforce. Vu Quang Hung, head of the management board, said that aside from the supportive policies for firms active in the hi-tech park, the city would employ special incentives to make life easier for them to do business. Furthermore, the city will also promote urban infrastructure development to smooth the path for local and international investors. The management board always stands alongside enterprises and is willing to remove obstacles facing investment certification, said the leader of the management board. The board said that city authorities joined some delegations for foreign investment promotion, apart from calling on investors to tap the citys hi-tech park. The Da Nang Investment Promotion Agency, the management board, and Long Hau Corporation recently organized a seminar titled 'The Hi-Tech Field in Da Nang City' to highlight the citys potential for hi-tech growth and lure investors. The seminar was attended by 80 representatives of local and international trade organizations, American, Australian, Canadian, and European chambers of commerce in Vietnam, as well as domestic and foreign firms. Employees at work at a facility of the Da Nang hi-tech park in the namesake city in the central region of Vietnam. Photo: H.B. / Tuoi Tre Le Thang Binh, CEO of Danapha Pharmaceutical JSC, which is active in the Da Nang hi-tech park and is developing a pharmaceutical production plant with a total capital of over VND900 billion (US$38.3 million), said that when making investment in the park, the firm was exempted from land rental. When the plant project is put into operation, the firm will be exempted from corporate income tax and the duty of importing machines and equipment. Investing in the Da Nang hi-tech park, we were welcomed and supported by the Da Nang City Peoples Committee and the management board to complete all relevant procedures quickly, Binh said. In late October 2021, Danapha broke ground for the hi-tech develop and research center and pharmaceutical production facility project, which covers 30,000 square meters. The plant will be put into service in late 2023, Binh noted. Long Hau Corporation said that two Japanese investors registered to rent its factories in the hi-tech park. Similarly, Universal Alloy Corporation Vietnam said that after surveying many locations, the firm decided to choose the Da Nang hi-tech park to build a facility to produce aircraft components as the park meets all international standards and offers various preferential policies. As of the end of the first quarter of 2023, the Da Nang hi-tech park had attracted 29 projects with total pledged capital of VND21.3 trillion ($905 million). The parks occupancy rate reached 44 percent. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! Nguyen Buu Loc, residing in Phu Quoc City of Kien Giang Province, southern Vietnam, and his wife started raising crabs in plastic boxes due to exhausted seafood resources at sea and have generated high returns. Loc said the Rach Tram River in the namesake hamlet of Bai Thom Commune, Phu Quoc City is some seven kilometers long. Along the banks of the river, there are a lot of melaleuca and mangrove trees, among others. Crabs in the river have black bodies, red pincers, and tough meat. They also grow fast and hold high economic values. Loc used nets to fence around mangroves on the bank of the river, erected more wooden poles to fix the nets, and dropped plastic boxes of crabs into the river. The crabs food is small fish. Loc feeds them twice a week. Crabs in the Rach Tram River in Phu Quoc with black bodies, red pincers, and tough meat are preferred in the local market. Photo: Chi Cong / Tuoi Tre There are crabs in the Rach Tram River, so my wife and I caught baby crabs for farming. I initially raised some 100 units and saw the effectiveness," Loc said. Early this year, I bought more plastic boxes at VND25,000 [US$1.06] each to farm around 1,500 crabs. He has sold about 500 crabs raised this way. Traders have even gone directly to his house to buy crabs at VND300,000-500,000 ($12.7-21.2) per kilogram, which is about three to six crabs. With the high prices, Loc earned a profit of over 60 percent. He plans to invest in an additional 4,000-5,000 plastic boxes to expand the model. Loc also raises blue crabs to increase his familys income. Nguyen Buu Loc uses nets to protect crabs from heatstroke. Photo: Chi Cong / Tuoi Tre Nguyen Van Quan, deputy head of the administration of Rach Tram Hamlet, said Loc is the first one in the hamlet to farm crabs in plastic boxes. This is a new economic model that brings high profits. The hamlet has established a team to support Loc and locals to improve their crab farming techniques, thus stabilizing their lives. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! Vietnam and Japan on Sunday jointly inked three agreements, valued at 61 billion yen (US$442.5 million), to fund new-generation official development assistance (ODA) projects in Vietnam. Of the total, 50 billion yen ($362 million) will be poured into a new-generation ODA program on post-pandemic socio-economic recovery and development. The rest will finance a project improving the public transportation system in southern Binh Duong Province and another one enhancing the infrastructure system for agricultural development in the Central Highlands province of Lam Dong. The signing of these ODA deals was witnessed by Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and his Japanese counterpart Kishida Fumio during the formers trip to Japan for attending an expanded summit of Group of Seven (G7) nations, which took place from May 19 to 21. After the signing ceremony for the agreements, PM Chinh held talks with his Japanese counterpart. This is the first Vietnam-Japan high-level dialogue to take place in Hiroshima, the hometown of PM Kishida, and the fifth between the two PMs over the past year. The Vietnamese government leader congratulated PM Kishida and host Japan on successfully organizing the G7 summit and its expanded sessions. PM Chinh also spoke highly of the coordinating role Japan plays in coping with global challenges such as food security and gas emission reduction. PM Kishida lauded the active and effective participation in and contribution of the Vietnamese delegation to the success of the G7 summit and asserted that Vietnam occupies a leading position in the deployment of Japans foreign policy in the region. The two PMs agreed to enhance political trust by promoting high-level visits in 2023 when Vietnam and Japan celebrate the 50th anniversary of the establishment of their diplomatic ties. In addition, both sides agreed to bolster national defense and security cooperation in war remediation, human resources training, technology transfer, and cybersecurity. The two Cabinet leaders highly appreciated the completion of capital commitment procedures for the $362-million new-generation ODA program on post-pandemic socio-economic recovery and development in Vietnam. They will ask relevant agencies to discuss Japans possibility of offering new-generation ODA loans with more incentives and simplified procedures to major infrastructure projects in Vietnam, such as a North-South high-speed railway, metro lines, and others related to climate change adaptation, digital transformation, green transition, and healthcare. They affirmed they will direct ministries and relevant units of the two countries to facilitate some ODA projects such as Cho Ray 2 Hospital and the Ben Thanh-Suoi Tien metro line in Ho Chi Minh City. As for the Nghi Son oil refinery project in Thanh Hoa Province, north-central Vietnam, PM Chinh requested the two nations businesses to actively work together to remove obstacles hindering the project. Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh (L, 1st) and his Japanese counterpart Kishida Fumio (R, 1st) witness the signing of three ODA agreements between Vietnam and Japan in Hiroshima, Japan, May 21, 2023. Photo: Duong Giang / Tuoi Tre Promoting new wave of Japanese investment into Vietnam The head of the Vietnamese government suggested both sides jointly promote a new wave of Japanese investment into Vietnam in such fields as hi-tech industry and energy transition to enable the Southeast Asian nation to deeply join the global and Japanese supply chains. PM Chinh suggested the Japanese government create optimal conditions and offer streamlined visa processing and later visa waivers to Vietnamese citizens to promote tourism cooperation between the two countries, in addition to offering favorable conditions to nearly 500,000 Vietnamese citizens who are working and studying in Japan. Further, both sides agreed to coordinate their positions on issues of mutual concern at multilateral and regional forums including ASEAN, the UN, and Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC). PM Kishida took the occasion to invite his Vietnamese counterpart to revisit Japan to attend the ASEAN-Japan Summit scheduled for December this year. As for issues linked to the East Vietnam Sea, the two leaders underlined the importance of ensuring navigation and aviation security and safety, settling all disputes and differences by peaceful means on the basis of international law, especially the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), fully implementing the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Vietnam Sea (DOC), and completing a Code of Conduct (COC) for the maritime area in an effective manner. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! The second-ever private mission to the International Space Station (ISS), organized by Axiom Space, blasted off from the southern US state of Florida Sunday, carrying the first two Saudi astronauts to travel to the orbiting laboratory. Rayyanah Barnawi, a breast cancer researcher, is the first Saudi woman to voyage into space and is joined on the mission by fellow Saudi Ali Al-Qarni, a fighter pilot. The Axiom Mission 2 (Ax-2) crew took off aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral at 5:37 pm (2137 GMT). The team also includes Peggy Whitson, a former NASA astronaut, who will be making her fourth flight to the ISS, and John Shoffner, a businessman from Tennessee, who is piloting. "Thanks for putting your trust in the Falcon 9 team," SpaceX chief engineer Bill Gerstenmaier told the crew minutes after lift-off. "Hope you enjoyed the ride to space. Have a great trip on Dragon," he added, referring to the spacecraft. "Welcome home to zero-g, Peggy." The crew is due to spend around 10 days on board the ISS, arriving around 9:25 am (1325 GMT) Monday. "Being the first Saudi woman astronaut, representing the region, it's a great pleasure and honor that I'm very happy to carry," Barnawi said at a recent press conference. She added that, aside from the research she will carry out on board, she was looking forward to sharing her experience on the ISS with kids. "Being able to see their faces when they see astronauts from their own region for the first time is very thrilling," she said. A career fighter pilot, Al-Qarni said he has "always had the passion of exploring the unknown and just admiring the sky and the stars." "It is a great opportunity for me to pursue this kind of passion that I have, and now maybe just fly among the stars." 'Just the beginning' The mission is not Saudi Arabia's first foray into space. In 1985, Prince Sultan bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, an air force pilot, took part in a US-organized space voyage. "I reflect on my experience in space many years ago, and I am happy that Saudi Arabia has returned to space once again," he told AFP at a watch party for the Ax-2 launch in Riyadh. "God willing, this is just the beginning." The space mission involving a Saudi woman is the latest move by the country, where women only gained the right to drive a few years ago, to revamp its ultraconservative image. The oil-rich Gulf kingdom established the Saudi Space Commission in 2018 and launched a program last year to send astronauts into space. Scores of flag-waving Saudis gathered at the launch party in Riyadh beneath a massive white tent for the blast-off countdown. Jawaher al-Sabhan, who came to the event with her 11-year-old son and 9-year-old daughter, said the moment gave her "indescribable feelings." "I love space and exploration in general, and I love my children knowing about space and the advantages of exploring it," she said. Experiments The four-member team is set to carry out about 20 experiments while on the ISS. One of them involves studying the behavior of stem cells in zero gravity. They will join seven others already aboard the ISS: three Russians, three Americans, and Emirati astronaut Sultan al-Neyadi, who last month became the first Arab national to go on a spacewalk. Ax-2 is the second Axiom Space mission in partnership with ISS keyholder NASA. The private space company offers the voyages for sums that run into the millions of dollars. Axiom Space also oversees training for the astronauts, charters their means of transport, and manages their stay in space. The company carried out its first private mission to the ISS in April 2022, sending three businessmen and former astronaut Michael Lopez-Alegria into orbit for 17 days as part of Ax-1. Private space stations For Axiom Space, these missions are a first step toward an ambitious goal: the construction of its own space station, with the first module expected to launch in 2025. The station would first be attached to the ISS before separating and orbiting independently. NASA plans to retire the ISS around 2030 and to instead send astronauts to private stations, which will also host their own clients, leading the US space agency to encourage the development of programs by several companies. Russia recently agreed to extend its use of the ISS until 2028, having threatened an earlier pullout last year as ties unraveled between the Kremlin and the West over Moscow's attack on Ukraine. Police from Da Lat City in Vietnam's Lam Dong Province arrested a 33-year-old man on Sunday for brutally beating his lovers three-month-old baby, resulting in severe injuries to the infant. Tran Hoai Thuong, residing in Ward 2, Da Lat City, was apprehended for hitting N.N.T.C., born on February 25, 2023, Colonel Tran Vinh Phu, head of the Da Lat police department, said on Sunday. The child was taken to the Lam Dong General Hospital while suffering intracranial lesions, forearm, femur and shin fractures, acute kidney injury, and liver failure. Thuong declared to police officers that he and Nguyen Phuc Hong A., the mother of the baby, are in a relationship. He regularly stays at A.s rented room. Thuong got angry whenever C. cried, so he violently beat and slapped C.s face. On April 14 and 15, Thuong boxed the childs ears. Last Friday, he put a pacifier on the babys mouth and stuck adhesive tape on the childs mouth to prevent her from crying. N.N.T.C., three months old, was violently tortured. Photo: Supplied by police When the baby showed signs of shortness of breath, Thuong removed the adhesive tape but later threw a teddy bear at the baby many times. At 5:00 pm on Saturday, C. did not drink milk, so Thuong slapped the babys head and face, causing the infant to have trouble in breathing and to flow milk out. The man later shook the baby violently before taking her to the Lam Dong General Hospital. When Thuong tortured C., the babys mother was also present at the rented room. Investigators found that at about 1:00 pm on Saturday, Thuong used meth before hitting the baby. He was sentenced to two years behind bars in 2016 for illegally possessing narcotics. The abuse case has made headlines and sparked public concerns in Da Lat. Colonel Phu said local police were completing procedures to initiate legal proceedings against Thuong. A., the mother, is also implicated in the case but the baby is under treatment, so she was let out to take care of the infant. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! The Vietnamese Department of Livestock Production will garner feedback and opinions from officials and competent agencies on the management of dogs, such as pit bulls, to complete a draft circular on tight control over animals. Duong Tat Thang, head of the department under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper on Monday that the country had reported fatal pit bull attacks in Binh Duong Province, southern Vietnam, and Thanh Hoa Province in the north-central region, urging the department to take action. The ban on and the tight management of raising dogs and cats should be taken into account as fatal attacks linked to pets have affected our society," Thang said. The department is drafting a circular on managing other animals, including dogs and cats, as directed by the ministry." The circular will be based on prevailing laws, international rules, and science to make the management of aggressive dogs effective to minimize deaths, according to the representative of the Department of Livestock Production. The circular on the management of other animals, including dogs and cats, will be issued in late 2023 or early 2024, Thang said. Thang told a press briefing on the countrys agriculture performance on Sunday that the Laws on Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Medicine stipulate regulations on the tight management of raising dogs and cats. As per the regulations, the owners of cats and dogs, including pit bulls, must report their pets to the local authorities, vaccinate them against rabies, and muzzle their dogs when taking them out. Besides, the owners of pets linked to attacks must pay compensation for any injuries in line with the prevailing laws. Vietnam has reported several deaths and injuries caused by pit bull bites. A tragedy occurred in Binh Duong Province on May 17, when a pit bull fatally mauled a 82-year-old woman. She was attacked by the vicious dog while her daughter took the pit bull out of its crate to feed it. In August last year, a 64-year-old woman in Thanh Hoa Province died at the hospital after she was attacked by her own pit bull. The woman was feeding her pit bull when the dog bit her. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! This week on SBS, Dateline investigates why the Chinese government banned the after-school tutoring industry and how families are finding new ways to give their kids a head start. In July 2021, the Chinese government banned after-school private tutoring for primary and middle school students in a bid to reduce the academic burden and promote social equality. Known as the double reduction policy, it forced curriculum tutoring companies to register as non-profits and put a limit on the amount of homework that could be given out by teachers. However, with Chinas hyper-competitive educational system, parents are still desperate to give their kids the best chance at succeeding in life. So the ban has effectively pushed the industry underground as parents pay high fees for private sessions. It has also forced education companies to look for alternative income streams, which has included turning to the international online education market. 9:30pm Tuesday on SBS. ABC host Stan Grant made a closing statement last night as he departed Q+A, fighting back tears and receiving a standing ovation from both audience and a panel of first-time politicians. His statement followed days of headlines and discussions around his decision to stand aside from the show, fuelled by ongoing racial abuse and media criticism. Many of you would know by now that Im stepping away for a little while, he said. Sometimes we need to just take time out. Sometimes our souls are hurting and so it is for me. Ive had to learn that endurance is not always strength, sometimes strength is knowing when to say stop. And to those who have sent messages of support, thank you so much. But Ill be okay. Please send that support and care to those of my people, and all people who feel abandoned and alone. Who are wondering whether they have a place in this country and who dont have my privileges. To those who have abused me and my family, I would just say if your aim was to hurt me, well youve succeeded. And Im sorry. Im sorry that I must have given you so much cause to hate me so much, to target me and my family. To make threats against me. Im sorry, and thats what Yindyamarra means. It means that Im not just responsible for what I do, but for what you do. Its not just a word, it is sacred. It is what it means to be Wiradjuri, it is the core of my being. He continued, I am down right now. I am. But Ill get back up and you can come at me again. and Ill meet you with the love of my people. My people can teach the world to love. As Martin Luther King Jr. said of his struggle, We will wear you down with our capacity to love. Dont mistake our love for weakness, it is our strength. We have never stopped loving and fighting for justice and truth. The hard truths to speak in our land. Yet Grant also directed his comments to media outlets. We in the media must ask if we are truly honouring a world worth living in? Too often we are the poison in the bloodstream of our society. I fear the media does not have the love or the language to speak to the gentle spirits of our land, he said. Im not walking away for a while because of racism. We get that far too often. Im not walking away because of social media hatred. I need a break from the media. I feel like Im part of the problem and I need to ask myself how or if we can do it better. His departure follows an apology from Managing Director David Anderson, News Director Justin Stevens conceding he should have made a statement supporting the Q+A host earlier and staff gatherings of support around the country yesterday. I am down but I will get back up. And you can come at me again and I will meet you with the love of my people. Stan Grant delivers a powerful message on Q+A before taking a break from the media. #StanGrant #QandA #WeStandWithStan pic.twitter.com/avNBJtzSMK QandA (@QandA) May 22, 2023 However Media Watch last night also asked whether his role at the ABC could have been better handled? Grant has been a prominent broadcast and print journalist in Australia and overseas for decades, hes also frequently called on to be a commentator on world affairs and Indigenous issues, guest host John Barron asked. But why, as many critics ask, does the ABC allow Stan to combine opinion, some would argue activism, with his duties as a high profile ABC host? Or as the original Media Watch team of Stuart Littlemore and David Salter wrote in the Herald: The problem is the immediate and immediately obvious consequence of journalists and their opinions. The Sydney Morning Herald, 22 May, 2023 So, does it matter that Stan Grant has been supportive of The Uluru Statement, or a reckoning with the monarchy in his latest book, while also hosting a program such as Q+A which also discusses those issues? ABC Management points out Grant has never been found to be in breach of its impartiality guidelines. But that ignores the fact that for many ABC viewers, any opinion expressed by its hosts, even if its based on personal identity and experience as Stans often is, can be a turn off. The ABCs managing director says there will now be a review of how the organisation responds to racism affecting its staff. And thats critical because Stans role and identity has left him exposed and feeling unsupported. But perhaps the ABC should also review the way it encourages some of its star journalists to walk the impossible line between news, analysis and opinion, and whether that is in line with public expectations. We wish Stan all the best for the months ahead. Patricia Karvelas will host Q+A next week ahead of the show taking a mid season break. Cast have been confirmed for The Great Australian Bake Off returning to Lifestyle in mid June. Maggie Beer will also make a special guest appearance alongside judges Rachel Khoo and Darren Purchese and hosts Natalie Tran and Cal Wilson. Maggie said: It was such a pleasure to step back onto the Bake Off set. The shed is so special to me, and it was a delight to be there and get a little glimpse of the new team who made me feel so welcome. Rachel and Darren filled me in before heading onto set, and it was wonderful to see what the bakers were made of, and yet again this seasons bake off contestants are truly talented. There is such a positive energy and warmth, which is the magic of Bake Off and I am so proud they are loving it as much as I have for the last five seasons. Darren Purchese said: Rachel and I are so impressed with the inventiveness, enthusiasm and talent of the bakers. Being my first time in the shed, I knew the bakers were going to be good, but I didnt realise just how good. As a fan of the show for such a long time, to be a judge on Bake Off is a dream come true and the icing on the cake is that we spent time with Maggie in the shed and have her blessing which was very special. 2023 bakers are: Adam Miller: Age: 37, State: Vic, Occupation: Communications Manager Felicity Dobson: Age: 38, State: WA, Occupation: Learning And Development Manager Gavin Turner: Age: 58, State: Qld, Occupation: Team Leader Galya Dissanayake: Age: 34, State: NSW, Occupation: Channel Marketer Guillermo Urra: Age: 41, State: Vic, Occupation: Flight Attendant Ilona Nicola: Age: 42, State: Vic, Occupation: Health Policy Advisor Laura Foo: Age: 26, State: Vic, Occupation: Management Consultant Laurent La: Age: 37, State: Qld, Occupation: Sales Assistant Natalie Levy: Age: 41, State: NSW, Occupation: Self-Employed Neil Higgins: Age: 42, State: WA, Occupation: Scale Technician Reem El Daouk: Age: 20, State: Vic, Occupation: Student Sandra Walter: Age: 59, State: Qld, Occupation: Manager Over 10 weeks, the bakers start each week with the Signature challenge, where they put their personal spin on a familiar recipe. The tricky Technical bake is next, where they must tackle a previously unseen recipe set by either Rachel or Darren. Finally, the all-important Showstopper, where bakers are challenged to make the most spectacular, mouth-watering creation they can possibly manage. At the end of each week, one will be crowned Star Baker, and one will leave the shed. The baker who has demonstrated the most artistry and creativity after all thirty challenges will be crowned Australias Best Amateur Baker! The Great Australian Bake Off is a BBC Studios production. 8:30pm Tuesday June 13 on Lifestyle. Industry chatter is fuelling wishes of a fourth season of acclaimed Foxtel drama Tangle. The series starred Justine Clarke, Kat Stewart, Ben Mendelsohn, Catherine McClements, Lincoln Younes, Georgia Flood, Matt Day. Co-Executive Producer Imogen Banks (Safe Home, RFDS, Offspring) told podcast TV Reload, I literally got a text about an hour ago from John Brawley, who was our DOP on Tangle, saying Tangle series 4? We could just tune into their lives now! The Foxtel series, co-executive produced by John Edwards, ran for three seasons from 2009 2012 , but has since had wider exposure through Netflix and Prime Video. I love, love Lincoln and see him at all sorts of things. Hes such a divine human, Georgia Flood most of have gone on to keep working, Banks added. In a further podcast, Kat Stewart said she had been pestering producers a fourth season for some time. I would do Nat Manning again in a heartbeat. I loved doing that show. It was a dream cast. (Nats) so naughty. Justine Clarke & Catherine McClements, Im such massive fans of them. And also the kids have grown up and done amazing things. When US youth cable and digital network Pivot launched in 2013 with Josh Thomas comedy Please Like Me, it was a huge win for the creator and star, producers Pigeon Fancier and the ABC. But it very nearly was a much different version that was going to hit screens. Executive Producer Kevin Whyte speaking recently at Screen Forever said, It was going to be a remake initially, and they didnt have the time. Basically, they wanted it to premiere as part of their launch. So we ended up with the help of some partners in America, pushing them towards, Lets just buy it. We probably would have had Josh performing it. but we would have been twisting ourselves in knots for a reason because the character is all of a sudden in America. You know, like hes a college student or something. Executive Producer Todd Abbott recalls it was Thomas comic voice that appealed to the Americans. One of the things that consistently kept coming up was the way that Josh was writing that show, and some of the things that we did in that show were just things that were not happening on American television, he said. But amongst their odd notes was a request to lessen the bulge in the underpants of co-star Thomas Ward. The American network thought it was a bit too risque for them, Abbott recalled. That was probably the biggest difference we had. Kevin Whyte agreed, There were a lot of conversatios about bulges, and a lot of conversations about lube. Ray Wilkie, former meterologist and Network 10 weather presenter, has died at age 98. Brisbane 4BC radio presenter Spencer Howson reported the news from Wilkies son on Saturday night. He was also the brother of former Sydney meteorologist and TV weather presenter Alan Wilkie. After serving with the Royal Australian Air Force during the Second World War, Wilkie graduated with a Bachelor of Science from the University of Queensland before studied meteorology in Melbourne. Wilkie worked with the Bureau of Meteorology for 35 years, including as Regional Director in Brisbane and in Darwin, repoertedly as the first BoM expert to make the leap to television. From 1985, he became a weather presenter for Eyewitness News in Brisbane. He continued into the 1990s and gained a national profile when his forecasts featured in the national late night news bulletins. In his 1988 book, Ray Wilkies Australian Weather, he recalled the events of Cyclone Tracy in 1974, as he continued to phone reports through to ABC as late as 2.30am as rain and wind belted through the smashed windows of the 7th floor offices. He was involved in the development of the Tropical Cyclone Warning Service for northern Australia and wrote many papers for local and international publication. In 1984 he was awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia for meteorological services to the community. 4BCs Bill McDonald and Spencer Howson were also joined by former newsreaders Glenn Taylor and Kristin Devitt as well as War Historian Kieran McCarthy to remember Wilkie. Source: TelevisionAU Tweakers maakt gebruik van cookies Tweakers plaatst functionele en analytische cookies voor het functioneren van de website en het verbeteren van de website-ervaring. Deze cookies zijn noodzakelijk. Om op Tweakers relevantere advertenties te tonen en om ingesloten content van derden te tonen (bijvoorbeeld video's), vragen we je toestemming. Via ingesloten content kunnen derde partijen diensten leveren en verbeteren, bezoekersstatistieken bijhouden, gepersonaliseerde content tonen, gerichte advertenties tonen en gebruikersprofielen opbouwen. Hiervoor worden apparaatgegevens, IP-adres, geolocatie en surfgedrag vastgelegd. Meer informatie vind je in ons cookiebeleid. Russia Uses Less Crude at Home But High Exports Cast Doubt on Cuts Russia Uses Less Crude at Home But High Exports Cast Doubt on Cuts (Bloomberg) -- Russias refineries have processed less crude in May due to seasonal maintenance, but the drop in supplies to the facilities was too small to provide concrete evidence that the country has fully implemented its pledged production cuts. Most Read from Bloomberg The Kremlin said it would reduce crude production by 500,000 barrels a day from February levels to support oil prices. Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak has said that target was achieved this month, but since the nations oil statistics were classified it has been difficult to assess output levels beyond official assurances. Surging oil exports from Russian ports have cast doubt on these claims, with the International Energy Agency estimating last week that the country has made less than half the pledged curbs. Russian refineries cut their average daily throughput to 5.34 million barrels from May 1-17, according to a person familiar with the data. Thats a decline of some 372,000 barrels a day from February levels, Bloomberg calculations show. Yet Russian producers seem to be rerouting overseas the crude volumes that are not being processed domestically. The countrys average seaborne oil flows so far in May were about 400,000 barrels a day higher than in February, according to tanker-tracking data compiled by Bloomberg. Russia does appear to be exporting less crude via pipelines. Official statistics are classified, but the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries estimated that the countrys deliveries via the Druzhba link and to China via the ESPO conduit dropped by a combined 60,000 barrels a day in March from February levels. If May pipeline deliveries remained flat, the balance between the exports to key foreign clients and domestic processing implies a net output decline of just about 30,000 barrels a day so far this month from February, Bloomberg calculations show. The calculations dont take into account Russian oil deliveries to China via Kazakhstan under long-term contracts, as well as pipeline and railway supplies to neighboring countries, mainly Belarus. While Minsk also keeps its oil statistics confidential, a recent Kpler research note estimates that in April-May, there was very little room to maximize Belarusian refinery runs. Its possible that Russias production could be lower if seaborne exports are being kept high by tapping inventories at oil fields and refineries, reservoirs in ports and along the pipeline network, as Rystad Energy estimated. Russian producers could have withdrawn some 400,000 barrels from the stockpiles in April and a further 200,000 barrels a day in May to sustain 3.7 million barrels a day of crude shipments from ports, according to the research firm. Russia does not publish its oil-storage statistics. (Updated with revised May seaborne export figures in the fifth paragraph.) Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2023 Bloomberg L.P. Kemi Badenoch is to visit Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates this week in a bid to make progress on the ambitious trade deal with the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). The five-day tour will see the Business and Trade Secretary meet her ministerial counterparts in each nation and the new Secretary General of the GCC Jasem Al-Budaiwi. The UK began negotiations for a free trade deal with the six-country bloc in 2022 and has completed three rounds of talks so far, with the fourth due to take place later this year. Ahead of her visit, Ms Badenoch said: We already have a strong trade and investment relationship with the Gulf nations, but Im determined to strengthen this even further. The GCC represents an enormous opportunity for UK firms, whether its selling brilliant British food and drink products into new markets or offering new consumers for our flourishing digital trade and renewable energy sectors. I know my counterparts are as ambitious for this deal as I am, and Im ready to match their ambition. According to the Government, analysis shows that, in the long run, a deal with the GCC which includes Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates is expected to increase trade by at least 16% and add at least 1.6 billion a year to the UK economy. Collectively, the GCC is equivalent to the UKs seventh largest export market, with their demand for goods and services expected to grow rapidly to almost 1 trillion by 2035 an increase of more than 75%. During the visit, Ms Badenoch will also speak to senior business leaders and investors to build on inward investment to the UK. Green technology firms based across the UK, such as Levidian Nanosystems, Sonihull, Graphene Solutions and G-volution, have expanded their operations to the Gulf as the region diversifies their economy and pivots away from fossil fuels. John Hartley, chief executive of the climate tech business Levidian Nanosystems, said: The GCC is an important region for Levidian the combination of large-scale gas assets which require decarbonisation, heavy industry which can benefit from graphene application and a political will to decarbonise at pace make it an area in which Levidian can have significant impact. The Business and Trade Secretary is expected to speak at the Qatar Economic Forum on Tuesday and take part in a series of business engagements throughout the week. A group of South Asian filmmakers, including Indian director Anurag Kashyap (Kennedy) and the team behind Pakistani Directors Fortnight title In Flames, talked on a Cannes panel about how cinema can cross the political barriers that are keeping their countries apart. Tensions between India and Pakistan are making it difficult for films and filmmakers to travel between each others countries, despite the popularity of Indian cinema in Pakistan, and the recent rise of Pakistani films on the world stage, including In Flames and last years Cannes Un Certain Regard Jury Prize winner, Joyland. More from Deadline Kashyap, who is in Cannes with neo-noir thriller Kennedy playing Out Of Competition, said a new generation of young producers from different South Asian countries is helping talent from the region to work together and introducing global audiences to the whole regions films: These young producers make a difference because they dont have any boundaries, Kashyap said. In Flames director Zarrar Kahn agreed and name-checked his own producer, LA and Toronto-based Shant Joshi, who was also speaking on the panel, and Apoorva Charan (Joyland), who like many of this new generation, works between South Asia and the US. International opportunities are happening because these producers are coming through from more established industries and helping South Asian collaboration grow, said Kahn. And that is how growth is going to happen as a community. Anadil Hossain, a US and Bangladesh-based producer, who co-produced Mira Nairs The Reluctant Fundamentalist, agreed theres a growing sense of solidarity: Ive been a great ambassador for Bollywood over the years, but was never really accepted because Im not Indian. But I think thats changing, especially with my other South Asian sisters coming up. Fawzia Mirza, a Canada-born Queer Muslim filmmaker (The Queen Of My Dreams), talked about cinema overcoming boundaries of sexuality, religion and race. My first short film was asking if can I be Queer and Muslim and love Bollywood romance all at the same time, and the answer is yes, but if I couldnt make that film I would have no way of expressing my internal truth, Mirza said. The panellists also touched on the rise of nationalism and censorship in India. Ive always told myself that the best Iranian cinema came out of the most challenging times, so theres always a way around, said Kashyap. Especially genre filmmakers, they always find a way to tell their story, and thats what changes society. Kahn said: My heart goes out to the Indian film industry, because whats happening now looks a lot like what we went through in Pakistan in the 1970s. He also said international film festivals and labs are crucial for bringing filmmakers from across South Asia together: I went to Busans Asian Film Academy and met people from India, Nepal and Sri Lanka that I could never have met in Pakistan. The panel, South Asian Stories In The Global Market, was hosted by Telefilm Canada, In Flames producer Other Memory Media, executive producer Fae Pictures and South Asian-US cultural collective Product Of Culture. Best of Deadline Sign up for Deadline's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Click here to read the full article. Kosovo must implement Serbia peace deal before it can join NATO - US senators Banners displaying the NATO logo are placed at the entrance of new NATO headquarters during the move to the new building By Fatos Bytyci PRISTINA (Reuters) - Kosovo must implement a Western-brokered peace deal with Serbia if it wants to achieve its goal of joining the NATO military alliance, two U.S. senators visiting Pristina said on Monday. U.S. Democratic senators Chris Murphy, a member of the foreign relations committee, and Gary Peters, who sits on the armed services committee, urged the two countries to act quickly on the accord reached in March with European Union mediation. They are part of a congressional delegation visiting the Balkans. "The pathway (for Kosovo) to NATO and to the European Union runs through an agreement with Serbia. That's a hard fact," Murphy told journalists at the U.S. embassy in Pristina. Kosovo, which declared independence from Serbia in 2008, is not recognised as a state by four NATO members: Romania, Spain, Greece and Slovakia. Murphy said the four could be convinced to accept Kosovo in NATO if differences with Serbia were settled. "It is dependent on this agreement being done and implemented," he said. Despite a deal in March to normalise relations, there has been no progress on the ground especially in northern Kosovo where some 50,000 Serbs still do not accept Kosovo's statehood. Washington is Kosovo's main supporter, both politically and financially. There are currently around 4,000 NATO troops in Kosovo, of whom 600 are from the United States to maintain the fragile peace. Serbia and its traditional ally Russia do not recognise Kosovos independence, and Moscow has blocked the country's bid to become a member of the United Nations. Belgrade still considers Kosovo part of its territory. (Reporting by Fatos Bytyci; Editing by Cynthia Osterman) (Bloomberg) PacWest Bancorp, one of the US lenders engulfed in the regional banking turmoil, agreed to sell a $2.6 billion portfolio of real estate construction loans amid efforts to shore up liquidity. Most Read from Bloomberg Kennedy-Wilson Holdings Inc. will purchase the group of 74 loans at discounted price of about $2.4 billion, it said in a statement Monday. The buyer will also assume all future funding obligations under the loans of about $2.7 billion, it said. PacWest has taken steps to bolster its finances after runs on deposits struck several regional lenders, ultimately leading to the collapse of three California-based banks and one in New York. PacWest has been weighing strategic options, Bloomberg News reported earlier this month, and already lined up $1.4 billion from a financing facility provided by Atlas SP Partners as it leaned on various federal programs for cash. The portfolio of loans PacWest is selling accounts for more than half of its real estate construction and land loans, its filings show. PacWest will sell six more loans to Kennedy-Wilson for about $363 million if it wins certain approvals, the Beverly Hills-based lender said in a separate statement. Shares of the bank were up 12.5% in early in New York trading. Kennedy-Wilson expects to complete the purchase in multiple tranches this quarter and early in the third quarter, making a total investment of 2.5% to 5% of the purchase price and future funding obligations, it said. The loans carry floating rates, with an average of 8.4%. The collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and several other regional lenders roiled similar firms across the US, causing shares of PacWest to plunge almost 80% since March 7. Investors were concerned about big unrealized losses on bond investments at some firms, along with high exposure to real estate lending and sinking deposits as customers sought out higher-yielding alternatives. Real estate investment company Kennedy-Wilson, which like PacWest is based in Beverly Hills, focuses primarily on multifamily and office properties as well as industrial and debt through its investment-management business. The firm, which operates in the western US, the UK and Ireland, had $23 billion in assets under management real estate it owns and through its investment-management platform as of March 31, up $5 billion from the end of 2020. In December, the firm announced that its real estate debt investment platform surpassed $3 billion in originations in just more than two years, ahead of schedule. The platform had about $3 billion in remaining lending capacity, Kennedy-Wilson said earlier this month. (Updates with transaction details and further information throughout.) Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2023 Bloomberg L.P. Cate Blanchett says award for Iranian actress is to stab anyone who blocks womens rights: Up the vajajay! Cate Blanchett said the presentation of an award to Iranian actress Zahra Amir Ebrahim was to stab anyone who blocked womens rights credit:Bang Showbiz Cate Blanchett said the presentation of an award to Iranian actress Zahra Amir Ebrahim was to stab anyone who blocked womens rights. The Tar double-Oscar winner, 54, who has been outspoken about winning equality for actresses, made the statement at the Variety and Golden Globes Cannes Film Festival bash. Presenting a pointy-shaped award at the event to Zahra, 41, Cate declared: This is to stab all the people who stand in the way of womens rights. She then held the trophy by her crotch and moved it skyward, saying: Up the vajajay! Cate also took her shoes off on the stage in honour of the women of Iran. Zahra, who stars in the film Holy Spider, went on to give an emotional speech saying Iran is in the grip of a time of sorrow, of anger, and of grief, amid protests in the nation led by women against the government, prompting some experts to say a regime change is in the cards. She added: I always thought being an actress was a paradox: serving the emotions of your own and being a flag or mirror or light. This award celebrates this paradox. Mum-of-four Cate, who has three sons and a daughter with her producer husband Andrew Upton, 57, also declared during Cannes she thinks its hard to get paid as an actress. She added she gets frustrated money discussions on film projects are not as transparent as other aspects of the production process. Cate said at her Kering Women in Motion talk at the Cannes Film Festival alongside her producing partner Coco Francini: Its hard to get paid as an actress were open about all the other aspects of the process (except money) I think the more transparent all that stuff, the more you can work out how the money is flowing and where it needs to flow and where its not flowing yet. Cate added about previously being shocked at the lack of women on sets: Weve both had experiences where we walked on set and done the headcount and you wonder why you sort of slightly feel alienated and annoyed some days. I realise that Im the only woman in the cast there at 62 men, and yep, Im the only woman. This ratio is bad its really disproportionate. And it means youre always laughing at the same jokes. I do have a really good sense of humour, but its like, lets change it up. Michael Steele, a former chair of the Republican National Committee, on Saturday mocked Rep. Jim Jordans (R-Ohio) Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government, suggesting the probe of claimed bias against conservatives was actually a self-own for the Donald Trump-loving Ohio Republican. Asked by MSNBCs Charles Blow if Jordans performance in recent subcommittee hearings had helped Democrats prove that its in fact Republicans who have weaponized the government, Steele replied: Any time Jordan opens his mouth he proves that point. The reality is theres no substance to any of this. This is just the dog and pony show. Its like the worst you can come up with in the world where you can just make stuff up. So, youre trying to connect dots that do not exist, Steele continued. Youre grasping about little lines of this and a little line over here about something else, and none of it ever comes together. Watch the video here: "Are you mad at Trump, Jim? Are you mad at Bill Barr? Where was the weaponization against Trump's own people by Trump because that's what we're looking at here." @MichaelSteele on Jim Jordan's performative outrage over the "weaponization" of the government. pic.twitter.com/yCNVwK4tWp AYMAN (@AymanMSNBC) May 21, 2023 Steele then pointed to former President Donald Trumps actual weaponization of the justice system during his time in office. Didnt this all occur during Trumps term in office? It was his Justice Department and FBI. It just kind of proves the point, Steele said. So, are you mad at Trump? Jordan, Jim, are you mad at Trump? Are you mad at Mr. Barr? Who are you mad at? What are you trying, where was the weaponization against Trumps own people by Trump? Because thats basically what we are looking at here. Related... Josh Freese is Foo Fighters new drummer credit:Bang Showbiz Foo Fighters unveiled their new drummer, Josh Freese, at their 'Foo Fighters: Preparing Music For Concerts' livestream on Sunday (21.05.23). The 50-year-old session drummer will perform with Dave Grohl and co in the place of late drummer Taylor Hawkins - who tragically died last year aged 50 - on their upcoming tour. Josh is known for playing for the likes of Guns N Roses, Nine Inch Nails and Paramore. He was among several drummers to pay tribute to Taylor at a pair of tribute concerts in Los Angeles and London. The 'Learn to Fly' rockers' tour kicks off on May 24 in New Hampshire. The confirmation comes after Pearl Jams Matt Cameron and The Darkness' Rufus Taylor were rumoured to be taking the position. Taylor was found dead in his hotel room in Colombia, in March 2022, hours before the band was due to play a festival in Bogota. The Foos have dedicated their upcoming album to Taylor, and Dave's late mother Virginia Hanlon Grohl. The 'Walk' rockers will release 'But Here We Are' on June 2, and they've shared that the record is in honour of their beloved bandmate, and the frontman's parent, who passed away the same year. Sharing the minimalist white cassette and album cover for the LP, which is designed by Morning Breath INC, the Grammy winning-group tweeted the album dedication: "For Virginia and Taylor." The follow-up to 2021's 'Medicine at Midnight' is described as: "A brutally honest and emotionally raw response to everything Foo Fighters endured over the last year." In a letter to fans, the 'Best of You' hitmakers vowed to be "a different band going forward" following the devastating loss of Taylor. They wrote: "As we say goodbye to the most difficult and tragic year that our band has ever known, we are reminded of how thankful we are for the people that we love and cherish most, and for the loved ones who are no longer with us. "Foo Fighters were formed 27 years ago to represent the healing power of music and a continuation of life. And for the past 27 years our fans have built a worldwide community, a devoted support system that has helped us all get through the darkest of times together. A place to share our joy and our pain, our hopes and fears, and to join in a chorus of life together through music. Without Taylor, we never would have become the band that we were and without Taylor, we know that we're going to be a different band going forward. "We also know that you, the fans, meant as much to Taylor as he meant to you and we know that when we see you again and we will soon he'll be there in spirit with all of us every night." Three Palestinian fighters were killed in an overnight Israeli army raid in the occupied West Bank, according to Palestinian sources. In a statement Monday, the Palestinian health ministry identified the three men killed in the Balata refugee camp in Nablus as Muhammad Abu Zaytoun (32), Fathi Abu Rizk (30) and Abdullah Abu Hamdan (24). The Israeli army did not immediately comment when contacted by AFP. The Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, the armed wing of Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah party, said in a statement that the three were among the group's "fighters". The West Bank has been occupied by Israel since the 1967 Six-Day War. Nearly three million Palestinians live there, along with about 490,000 Israelis in settlements considered to be illegal under international law. The latest deaths come just over a week into a fragile Gaza ceasefire after a five day cross-border conflict between Israel and the Islamic Jihad militant group. Since the start of the year, at least 153 Palestinians, 20 Israelis, a Ukrainian and an Italian have been killed in violence linked to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, according to an AFP tally compiled from official sources from both sides. They include, on the Palestinian side, combatants and civilians, and on the Israeli side, mostly civilians and three members of the Arab minority. (AFP) Read more on FRANCE 24 English Read also: Thousands of protesters in occupied West Bank mark 75 years since 'Catastrophe' Far-right Israeli cabinet minister visits sensitive Jerusalem holy site Gaza ceasefire largely holds as Palestinians, Israelis count deadly cost The University of North Georgia (UNG) received a grant from the University System of Georgia (USG) African American Male Initiative (AAMI) in support of UNG's AAMI program during the 2023 fiscal year. AAMI is a USG state-sponsored program created to support African American males through the completion of their degrees. Statistically, this demographic struggles the most with graduation rates nationwide. While previous years have focused on UNG's Dahlonega and Gainesville campuses, Dr. Andrew Johnson, director of Multicultural Student Affairs (MSA) and UNG's AAMI grant, hopes to see the grant benefit all five campuses. "The program is really an intensive approach to advising," Johnson said. " I feel African American men on all five campuses would have the same needs and could benefit from our support." There are currently 20 students in the program who are able to truly thrive through individual connections with Johnson, he said. The support of the grant is planned to be used for network building, social gatherings, study sessions, guest speakers, and a variety of workshops. Johnson held one such workshop on April 5 that covered how to stay motivated, preparing for finals and the next academic year. Students must be pursuing associate or bachelor's degrees. "College isn't easy, but I believe having as many support systems as possible can make the journey all the more bearable. AAMI has acted as one of my support systems as the leaders in the program have acted as mentors for me, giving me advice from individuals who have been once been in my shoes," Jah Hamilton, a freshman from Brooklyn, New York, pursuing a degree in computer science, said. The program requires a community partner and is striving to partner with the Boys & Girls Club of Lanier to offer the students community service opportunities and leadership development opportunities. While the program is winding down for the current academic year, plans are being made to apply for additional funding next year to build a robust and engaging schedule for participants. Johnson ultimately believes the program will help facilitate opportunities for other underrepresented students at UNG. "Its always good to help a cohort of students and focus on those who struggle with retention and graduation," Johnson said. "It shows potential students that we care about them, and there are programs in place that empower them to have successful careers post-graduation. It helps us model for other under-represented groups as the process can be taken and shared with them." University of North Georgia (UNG) 12 alumna Sofia Bork Aun is working at one of the nation's largest banks, Truist, and impacting her community through servant leadership. She graduated from UNG with a degree in English and now serves as the community affairs manager for Truist. Aun, credits her family who inspire her to be both passionate and humble. Aun's mother is from Bogota, Colombia. As a second-generation American, Aun feels her bicultural upbringing fostered a natural curiosity about the world and others. While always aware of her culture growing up, Aun shared it wasn't until her time at UNG that she fully leaned into her heritage. The change that sparked this newfound self-discovery was a study abroad trip where she lived in Madrid, Spain, for six weeks. "I grew up bicultural, and my study abroad experience was the catalyst for me leaning into my Latin heritage," Aun said. "I had never been abroad before, and I experienced my heritage through a new lens." The experience inspired her to become an international student mentor when she returned to Dahlonega. Aun held several leadership roles as an undergraduate student, including secretary in Phi Mu sorority, an editor at the UNG newspaper, a member of Sigma Tau Delta, the English Honor Society, and an editor of UNGs Mountain Laurels, the art and literary magazine Aun said her experiences at UNG shaped who she is today. "I learned confidence. I was able to learn who I was, what I loved, and UNG helped me continue to foster my passion for the arts. It was always there, but I had the best college experience," the Dahlonega, Georgia, native said. Inspired by her family, Aun's love for helping others hasn't wavered since leaving UNG. Her servant leadership style is a direct reflection of her upbringing. She takes pride in being a connector and loves working with people. Outside of work, she volunteers as a Board Member of Park Pride, the Historic Oakland Cemetery Foundation, the American Jewish Committee ACCESS Steering Committee, the Atlanta BeltLine Partnership, the Georgia Latino Law Foundation, and is a member of the Leadership Georgia Class of 2023. Aun's biggest piece of advice is for people to pursue what they love. She shared people often vocalized their opinions on her choice of major, but the support of her family helped her to realize there was value in pursuing her passions. "Major in what you love. If people tell you that its not practical or it doesn't make sense, know you were given those talents for a reason," Aun said. "You can only thrive by being true to yourself. Im thankful that my parents encouraged me." Gold remains a potential investment channel until the end of this year, though the global economy in general, and Viet Nam in particular, still possess potential risk factors related to recession and inflation, which make it difficult to forecast the gold price. HA NOI Restaurants in Ha Noi and HCM City that has been picked by the Michelin Guide will be revealed next month. The disclosure will be made during an inaugural edition of the Michelin Guide Ceremony in the capital city of Ha Noi on June 6. Expected to be a celebration of Ha Noi and HCM City gastronomic scenes, the event will gather renowned chefs, restaurateurs, and food enthusiasts in attendance. We have been looking at Viet Nams gastronomic scene for quite a long time and we are delighted to finally announce the first ever restaurant selection of the Michelin Guide for Ha Noi and HCM City, said International Director of the Michelin Guide, Gwendal Poullennec. According to Poullennec, HCM City is not only the largest city of Viet Nam, but also a bustling and rapid growing one, whose gastronomic scene is not only vibrant, but also full of energy and opportunities. With no limitation to culinary origins, scale, and cuisine type, this city is not short from outstanding flavour and memorable dining experience, he said. On the other hand, Ha Noi offers a very laid back, relaxing vibe, with small shops and restaurants found mostly in the Old Quarter of the city. Our inspectors have been delighted to discover many hidden gems, that present authentic cooking with expressive flavour. The Michelin Guide debut in Viet Nam is supported by Sun Group, a conglomerate whose mission is to promote and preserve Vietnams unique beauty and culture, since its creation in 2007. Chairman of Sun Group ang Minh Truong said: The inaugural edition of the Michelin Guide Hanoi & HCM City marks a significant milestone for the Vietnamese culinary scene. "Through this opportunity, we hope to recognise the dedication and hard work of the destinations top chefs and restaurants, and to celebrate the diversity and complexity of Vietnamese cuisine. We believe that the Michelin Guide will inspire and drive innovation and excellence in the industry, and I am excited to see how it will shape the culinary landscape in Viet Nam in the years to come. He also added that with the first edition of the Michelin Guide in Viet Nam, it will promote international tourism and spread the love for the delicious local cuisine that both Ha Noi and HCM City offer. The Michelin Guide conveys its restaurant reviews through an extensive system of distinctions, the most famous of which are its globally renowned Michelin Stars awarded to the best culinary experiences within the Guides restaurant selection. Alongside the coveted Star ratings, the selection will also include the popular Bib Gourmand category, a distinction awarded to restaurants that provide the best value-for-money meals. All establishments are chosen by the anonymous inspectors of the Michelin Guide following multiple tests and according to the same five criteria used around the world: quality of the ingredients; mastery of cooking techniques; the harmony of the flavours; expression of the chefs personality in the cuisine; and consistency, both over time and across the entire menu. Location, decor, service and available facilities are not part of the selection criteria, even if they might be highlighted if of particular interest. The full selection will be available exclusively in digital format on all the Michelin Guide's official platforms: website, mobile application, and social networks. VNS HA NOI The 15th National Assembly (NA) opened its fifth plenary session in Ha Noi on Monday morning. During this session, the National Assembly will review and approve a total of eight laws and three draft resolutions. The eight laws are: the amended Law on Protection of Consumer Rights, the amended Law on Bidding, the amended Law on Price, the amended Law on Electronic Transactions, the amended Law on Cooperatives, the Law on Civil Defence, the Law amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Law on People's Public Security Forces, the Law on Exit and Entry of Vietnamese Citizens, and the Law on amendments to a number of articles of the Law on Foreigners' Entry into, Exit from, Transit through, and Residence in Viet Nam. Also during this session, the National Assembly will provide opinions on nine law projects, which are: the amended Law on Land, the amended Law on Real Estate Business, the amended Law on Housing, the amended Law on Water Resources, the amended Law on Telecommunications, the Law on Management and Protection of National Defence Works and Military Zones, the amended Law on Citizen Identification, the amended Law on Credit Institutions, and the Law on Forces Participating in the Protection of Security and Order at Grassroots Levels. Additionally, the National Assembly will address various important matters, including socio-economic issues, State budget, and supervision. Specifically, the following topics will be discussed: reports on the additional assessment of the implementation results of the socio-economic development plan and the State budget in 2022; reports on the implementation of the socio-economic development plan and the State budget in the first months of 2023; approval of the final settlement of the State budget for the year 2021; and review of the report on thrift practice and anti-waste measures in 2022. The National Assembly will also listen to the Central Committee of the Viet Nam Fatherland Front's report, which will include the synthesis of opinions and recommendations from voters and the general public for the fifth Session of the 15th National Assembly. Additionally, the National Assembly will consider the report on the monitoring results of the resolution of voters' petitions addressed during the fourth session of the 15th National Assembly. The session will also involve discussions on personnel matters and the consideration and resolution of other significant issues. Addressing the opening ceremony, NA Chairman Vuong inh Hue emphasised that the law projects and draft resolutions submitted to the NA for approval underwent close supervision and guidance from the NA Standing Committee. In particular, during the fourth session, the NA Standing Committee directed the responsible agencies to work closely with the submitting agencies to thoroughly analyse and incorporate the opinions of NA deputies from the fourth session and the third Full-time National Assembly Deputies Conference (April 2023). Various activities such as conferences, seminars, and consultations with experts were organised to ensure maximum absorption of these opinions. The draft laws that have been completed and submitted to the NA for consideration and approval have achieved a high level of consensus between the NA Standing Committee and the Government. Of significant importance is the Land Law (amended) project, which is a crucial and intricate law with a fundamental role in the land legal system. It has far-reaching implications for the implementation of policies and regulations in various other laws, affecting all aspects of socio-economic life, organisations, and individuals. The project has been thoroughly reviewed and completed based on the opinions of NA deputies from the fourth session, as well as more than 12 million comments received from the general public. Through diverse channels, active participation and opinions have contributed to addressing multiple aspects of the draft Law, with particular focus on four crucial issues: compensation, support, and resettlement; land allocation, land lease, and change of land use purpose; land finance and land price; and planning and land use plans. The NA Chairman highlighted that the gathering of public opinions has truly become an extensive political activity, empowering the people and contributing to a significant improvement in the quality of the legislative process. The NA expresses gratitude to the people for their interest, enthusiastic opinions, wisdom, and responsibility shown towards the Land Law (amended) project and the overall development and finalisation of the law. Recognising that there are up to 20 projects and drafts to be reviewed, commented on and approved at this meeting, many of which are complex and have a wide-ranging impact directly affecting the rights, obligations and interests of the majority of people and businesses, the Chairman suggested that NA deputies dedicate sufficient time to study and engage in thorough discussions. They should evaluate the consistency and appropriateness of projects and drafts with the Constitution and the Party's guidelines and policies, and carefully consider the rationale, feasibility and impact of proposed new policies. Furthermore, they should place special emphasis on ensuring transparency, openness, and eliminating potential loopholes for corruption, group interests and local interests, he said. Attention should also be given to maintaining stability and consistency within the regulations of each project and draft, as well as achieving coherence and synchrony within the legal system, thereby contributing to the improvement of the institutional framework, fostering innovation and creativity, and facilitating sustainable development. Based on reports from the Government and inspection reports from NA agencies on the countrys socio-economic situation, Hue recommended that NA deputies focus on conducting specific, objective, realistic, and comprehensive assessments of the achieved results, limitations and difficulties. Special attention should be given to the implementation of socio-economic targets and the completion of the annual growth target. Other areas requiring analysis include the disbursement of public investment capital, risks in financial and currency markets, as well as cultural, labour, and social security issues. It is important to identify and clarify responsibilities, both objective and subjective, in terms of organisation and implementation. Regarding the approval of the State budget finalisation for 2021, it is important to fully comprehend the requirements for reforming the process of deciding on the state budget to ensure its substance. In addition, close monitoring of budget implementation is necessary. Therefore, it is suggested that NA representatives engage in thorough discussions and careful evaluations of the state budget estimates, implementation and finalisation. A clear analysis of the causes of inadequacies and limitations, particularly those persisting over the years without remedy, should be conducted, Hue said. Some of these issues include significant discrepancies between revenue estimates and actual revenue, delayed allocation and delivery of estimates, extensive budget transfers, numerous errors in budget management and utilisation, and a lack of strict implementation of conclusions and recommendations from State Audit agencies, inspectors and other relevant bodies. VNS HA NOI Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong has emphasised that Viet Nam always values the traditional friendship and comprehensive strategic partnership with Russia, and the Communist Party of Viet Nam (CPV) attaches importance to developing relations with political parties in Russia, including the United Russia Party (URP). This will play a role as a political foundation for long-term and sustainable relations between the two countries, he said. Trong made the statement while holding talks with Chairman of the URP and Deputy Chairman of the Security Council of Russia Dmitry Medvedev, who is on a working visit to Viet Nam from May 21-23 under a cooperation agreement between the CPV and the URP. It is his first Viet Nam visit in the capacity as leader of the ruling URP. At the talks, Party chief Trong outlined the key tasks set by the CPV for socioeconomic and cultural development. On Party building which is a crucial task, he highlighted the positive changes in Party building and rectification, with concerted efforts to combat corruption and negative phenomena. He expressed his appreciation for achievements made by Russia under the leadership of President Vladimir Putin and the URP. He also took the occasion to ask Medvedev to convey his regards to Putin and Russian leaders. For his part, Medvedev expressed his joy in visiting Viet Nam again. Medvedev congratulated Viet Nam on its dynamic development and expressed gratitude for the warm reception extended to the delegation by the Party, State, and people of Viet Nam. He also informed Trong about the situation in Russia, including the URP, and the bilateral relations between the two countries, especially bilateral relations and cooperation between the CPV and the URP. Medvedev agreed with the opinions and assessments of Trong in terms of the major directions and measures to promote the relations between the two Parties and two countries. The two leaders discussed current international affairs, major orientations to promoting positive developments worldwide, and their views on issues of mutual concern. They agreed to continue raising mutual understanding and political trust via high-level visits and exchanges in flexible forms; improving the efficiency of and expanding cooperation in economy, science and technology, culture, education, and other areas under bilateral agreements. They also agreed to pay attention to young generations and facilitate exchanges among mass organisations and young people of the two Parties, along with upholding bilateral and multilateral trade and investment frameworks and mechanisms and working closely together at multilateral forums. Before the talks, the Russian delegation laid a wreath at the Monument to Heroic Martyrs, paid tribute to late President Ho Chi Minh at his mausoleum, and held a meeting with the Viet Nam-Russia Friendship Association. On this occasion, both sides issued a joint statement on the outcomes of Medvedevs official visit to Viet Nam, which aims to reinforce cooperation on regional and global issues to strengthen peace and security for the benefits of the two peoples and protect and enhance principles of international law and the UN Charter. They also pledged to continue pushing forward bilateral ties in accordance with documents and agreements signed between leaders of the two Parties and countries. On the same day, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh met with Dmitry Medvedev. Chinh said that Viet Nam highly valued the precious support and assistance that the Russian people have given to Viet Nam in the past as well as in the nation-building and development efforts today. He affirmed that Viet Nam placed great importance on the traditional friendship and comprehensive strategic partnership with Russia, and desired to maintain and further develop this relationship. Medvedev emphasised that Viet Nam was one of Russia's important partners in the Asia-Pacific region, particularly in Southeast Asia, so Russia wished to further develop bilateral cooperation in areas where both sides had strengths and needs. He affirmed that the URP always supported the development of the comprehensive strategic partnership with Viet Nam. The two leaders expressed satisfaction with the successful organisation of the 24th session of the Viet Nam-Russia Intergovernmental Committee for Economic, Trade, Science and Technological Cooperation, where they agreed on directions and measures to enhance bilateral cooperation, particularly in the fields of trade, investment, and economic and technological collaboration. In the context of global economic challenges and difficulties, both sides believed that it was necessary to strengthen bilateral cooperation effectively, based on a spirit of harmonising interests and sharing difficulties. They aim to enhance and deepen collaboration in areas such as energy, oil and gas, science and technology, and education and training. On this occasion, Chinh expressed his hope that the URP would continue to contribute its voice and support the improvement of legal frameworks for the Vietnamese community to continue living, studying, and doing business in Russia. VNS HA NOI Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinhs recently ended trip at the expanded Summit of the Group of Seven (G7) and a working visit to Japan was a success in both bilateral and multilateral aspects, Minister of Foreign Affairs Bui Thanh Son told the media. According to Minister Son, during nearly three days in Japan, PM Chinh hosted and attended about 40 activities, including working sessions and meetings with Japanese leaders as well as roundtables, business meetings, friends in Japan, as well as discussions with leaders of countries and international organisations. Multilaterally, Viet Nam contributed to the G7's expanded summit approaches and important solutions from the perspective of a developing country, aiming to promote industrialisation, modernisation and extensive and comprehensive international integration, the minister said. At the working sessions, PM Chinh highlighted many important messages, including promoting a more substantive and effective global partnership, upholding international solidarity, and persevering with multilateral cooperation in order to solve unprecedented challenges currently. The PM also stressed that sustainable development, climate change response, emissions reduction and energy transition can only be successful through a global approach with the engagement of all people, ensuring balance and reasonableness in line with different conditions and development levels of countries. He further urged that in the spirit of the rule-of-law, respect for the UN Charter and international law, and settlement of all disputes through peaceful measures should be promoted and implemented with specific commitments. According to Minister Son, ideas and proposals given by PM Chinh were highly valued by leaders of countries and international organisations, contributing to building a balanced and holistic approach to addressing global challenges. The substantial and responsible participation of Viet Nam has contributed greatly to the joint efforts of the international community to maintain peace and stability and speed up economic recovery and development on the basis of equality and mutual benefit, matching the interests and concerns of developing countries. On the bilateral aspect, the PMs talks and discussions with the Japanese PM, leaders of Hiroshima and different circles of Japan contributed to further enhancing political trust and promoting the Viet Nam-Japan extensive strategic partnership. This is especially meaningful as the two sides are celebrating the 50th anniversary of their diplomatic relations, Son said. PM Chinh also had bilateral meetings with G7 leaders, guests and representatives from international organisations attending the summit to discuss specific and practical measures to bolster bilateral relations and foster coordination in matters of shared concerns. During the discussions, the partners praised the role and position of Viet Nam and affirmed their willingness to strengthen all-round cooperation, focussing on economy and trade as well as the settlement of emerging issues such as food security, energy security, climate change response, green economy, circular economy and innovation. At the summit and bilateral meetings, leaders of all countries underscored the significance of ensuring maritime and aviation security and safety as well as the settlement of disputes and differences through peaceful measures on the basis of international law, especially the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) 1982, along with the full implementation of the Declaration of Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (known as East Sea in Viet Nam) (DOC) and the completion of an effective and substantive Code of Conduct (COC) as soon as possible. The G7 expanded Summit took place in Hiroshima from May 20-21 under the chair of Japan. The summit adopted a Hiroshima Action Statement for Resilient Global Food Security and agreed on the need to create new motivation for economic recovery and development, G7 leaders also agreed that amid the complicated world situation, it is necessary to uphold multilateralism and international cooperation, and cope with disputes through peaceful measures, protecting security and peoples safety. The countries underlined the need to strictly implement the DOC, and move towards achieving a substantive and effective COC in accordance with international law, especially the 1982 UNCLOS. Regarding specific impacts of PM Chinhs trip on the Viet Nam-Japan extensive strategic partnership, Minister Son said that during his stay in Japan, the Prime Minister took part in 13 working sessions with Japanese partners. He and Japanese PM Fumio Kishida agreed to promote the extensive strategic partnership between Viet Nam and Japan for peace and prosperity in Asia to a new level, especially in 2023, which marks the 50th anniversary of the establishment of bilateral diplomatic ties. They also agreed to increase Japan's provision of new-generation ODA with high incentives, simple and flexible procedures for large-scale strategic infrastructure development projects in Viet Nam. The two leaders reached a consensus on further promoting cooperation in new potential fields such as green transformation, digital transformation, emission reduction and energy transition. They agreed to continue fostering and deepening collaboration in people-to-people exchanges, locality-to-locality cooperation, education-training and tourism, while working closely together in supporting and creating favourable conditions for the nearly 500,000-strong Vietnamese community in Japan. Viet Nam and Japan also concurred to coordinate their stance on issues of mutual concern at multilateral and regional forums such as ASEAN, the United Nations, and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), the ASEAN-EU Meeting (ASEM), as well as on the East Sea issues. Minister Son underlined that the outcomes of PM Chinhs trip to Japan contributed to sustainably promoting the extensive strategic partnership with Japan on the foundation of strong political trust, practical economic cooperation and diverse cultural, social and people-to-people exchanges, meeting the aspirations and interests of both peoples. VNS Nhat Hong, Minh Phuong, Van Nguyen HA NOI Will Viet Nam's tourism see a boost soon? Industry insiders are optimistic about future prospects as the Government weighs up a 90-day e-visa to gain a competitive edge as a leading tourism destination. Travel companies are anticipating that if the decision is finalised in the upcoming National Assemblys meeting, which starts this week, the sector could take advantage of the change right from the travelling season starting in September and achieve the goal of eight million foreign tourists for this year. As of the end of April, Viet Nam has welcomed nearly 3.7 million international arrivals, reaching nearly half of the goal it has set for 2023. However, these figures hint that Viet Nam's tourism rebound is still underway - the 2023 goal is modest compared to the country's record 18 million international arrivals in 2019. Pham Ha, CEO of the travel business Lux Group told Viet Nam News: Open policies like this will be a driving force for tourism. I believe that with other comprehensive policies, Viet Nam can receive eight million foreign visitors within the year 2023. The visa validity extension has been a long-awaited decision for many travel agencies, as it allows easier, longer stay in Viet Nam and, therefore, more economic revenue, Ha added. Le Hong Thai, Hanoitourists CEO, said: Statistics revealed that international tourists spending is around 11 times more than that of domestic. It means that even if we have 100 million local tourists, it still will not bring in as much as the goal we have set out for this year, which is eight million. While these numbers are only comparative, the difference is evident, he said. This is why more favourable conditions are needed and why we have to attract international tourists to Viet Nam now, said Thai. According to Lux Group CEO Pham Ha, a competition has been going on between popular tourist destinations, especially for retirees and digital nomads who will readily stay in a country for a longer time for a better experience. The 90-day visa, however, is expected to go beyond catering to foreigners looking for an extended tropical getaway. Le Hong Thai believes that Viet Nam can position itself as a main transit point to its advantage, especially when tourists plan to visit multiple countries in the region. This is where the extended visa - single or multiple-entry - plays an important role. He said: South Korean tourists, for example, will arrive here [in Ha Noi] for a few days, then they go to a Nang, and then they fly to Siem Reap (Cambodia). After two or three days in Siem Reap, they will return to Viet Nam to fly back to South Korea. In this case, if their visa is single-entry then it is not possible. But if we issue multiple-entry visas, they can arrive and return to Viet Nam multiple times within 90 days, which is a major advantage. The same could also be said for European tourists, Thai added. For instance, French or UK tourists come here and also want to visit Laos and Cambodia, but theres no direct flight back home from those locations, so they will return to Viet Nam, he said. However, many concerns have been raised about whether people will take advantage of this visa policy for purposes other than travelling. Thai said: Many experts have posed this question, and I believe that the answer lies in the registration form that international arrivals have to fill in when they want to apply for a visa to Viet Nam. The document requires stating the purpose of the visit, whether its tourism, business, visiting relatives or other. This is what state management agencies and officers can base on for review and monitoring. I think that when state management agencies strengthen their inspection and supervision, this [visa] policy is definitely possible," said Thai. The result we want to achieve is to promote the development of our tourism sector compared with other countries in the Southeast Asian region. In a report addressing these concerns on May 16, on behalf of the Prime Minister, Minister of Public Security To Lam said that e-visa issuance is conducted through pre-approval of personnel. Therefore, the policy responds to management demands by helping immigration offices screen people who do not meet the requirements for entry. While the 90-day visa proposal is collectively viewed as a boost for the sector, industry experts believe that the policy alone will not be able to transform the entire tourism landscape. According to Lux Group CEO Pham Ha, in addition to the comprehensive policies to address the bottlenecks in Viet Nams tourism, the sectors human resources also needs to be improved, while new, better experiences must be designed, especially with the post-pandemic demands. Phung Quang Thang, vice chairman of Viet Nam Society of Travel Agents (VISTA), said: Perhaps the number of international visitors to Viet Nam last year fell short of the goal we have set out, as well as in comparison with other competitive destinations. However, how each country's destination recovers [post-COVID] depends on its existing conditions. According to Thang, in both groups of international and domestic visitors, a majority travel in small groups or even solo. During their trip, they will need a lot of public services," he said. "But obviously, the infrastructure is in different levels of development in each country, and therefore has a certain impact on the number of tourists in that destination. The VISTA vice chairman said that this is a comprehensive problem that is not easy to solve, and many of the factors involved belong to the subjective and objective context of each destination. He added: It could be said that the number of arrivals will clearly increase with favourable visa policies for tourism and business to Viet Nam. However, it does not mean that the growth will be as we expected. Achieving the set goal concerns many other factors, such as new and unique tourism products and easier access to locations. But that is only the first impression, and its not enough. Tourists must have a great experience during their extended stay in Viet Nam, and the goal we aim at is that when they return home, they will introduce Viet Nam to their families and friends and especially feel the need to travel to Viet Nam again. VNS HCM CITY The International Organization for Migration (IOM) has launched the second phase of its Cross-border Tuberculosis control along the Viet Nam and Cambodia border project in partnership with Viet Nams National Tuberculosis Control Programme and National Lung Hospital and Cambodias National Centre for Tuberculosis and Leprosy Control. With financial aid from the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, the project aims to improve access to TB diagnosis and treatment for migrants in the border areas between the two countries and strengthen cross-border partnership and collaboration between health authorities in the provinces of An Giang and Tay Ninh in Viet Nam and Svay Rieng and Takeo in Cambodia. The IOM kicked off the programme in HCM City on May 19. Cross-border migrants often have difficulty in accessing healthcare services due to a lack of health insurance, language barriers, limited understanding of the local healthcare system, and discrimination, according to IOM Viet Nam. This could cause delays in seeking TB diagnosis and treatment, and treatment interruption, resulting in poor treatment outcomes and drug resistant TB. In the 2022 WHO Global TB Report, Viet Nam remained one of 30 highest burden countries for the disease, and Cambodia is on a watchlist though it has been phased out of the list. In 2020 IOM, in partnership with Viet Nams National Tuberculosis Control Programme and Cambodias National Centre for Tuberculosis and Leprosy Control, conducted operational research to better understand the barriers to accessing and utilizing TB diagnosis and treatment faced by cross-border migrants in the four border provinces. It provided a platform for public health officials in the two countries to develop practical interventions for collaborative TB control in border areas. It also highlighted the current limited collaboration and partnerships. Ensuring migrant health requires holistic efforts between countries involved in their migration process, IOM chief of mission, Park Mihyung, said. It is very important that we develop and adapt a migrant-sensitive referral system for cross-border migrants with TB and facilitate the establishment of local TB and HIV/AIDS taskforces in An Giang, Tay Ninh, Svay Rieng, and Takeo provinces. That way, we can make sure that the treatment of TB for cross-border migrants remains uninterrupted through all health networks across borders. I also welcome co-operation from other, non-health sectors like immigration and border security to make sure that we all understand the importance of healthy migrants for healthy economies. IOM is also working closely with the Migration Health Working Group, an inter-ministerial working group established by the Ministry of Health, to address important migrant health issues and co-ordinate with relevant stakeholders to foster migrant-friendly health interventions and policies. VNS ST. FLORIAN, Austria and HONG KONG, May 23, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- EV Group (EVG), a leading supplier of wafer bonding and lithography equipment for the MEMS, nanotechnology and semiconductor markets, and Dymek Company, an advanced equipment distributor for the semiconductor, biomedical, data storage, photovoltaic and aerospace industries, today announced that they have established a new joint venture company in Malaysia. The new company, called EV Group Malaysia Dymek Sdn. Bhd., will be charged with managing EVG's customer support operations in Malaysia. Hermann Waltl, executive sales and customer support director and member of the executive board at EVG, will serve as director of the new joint venture, and Sean Lim from Dymek will serve as managing director of the new joint venture. EV Group Malaysia Dymek is located at 70-3-31, D'Piazza Mall, Jalan Mahsuri, 11900 Bayan Lepas, Penang, Malaysia. Working closely with EVG's headquarters, EV Group Malaysia Dymek will be responsible for numerous key regional customer support activities, including equipment installation, technical service and support, spare parts management and supply, and process development support. The company will be fully operational in July 2023. "Malaysia has been an important center for semiconductor and microelectronics packaging, test and assembly for several decades. As global investments from leading chip manufacturers and outsourced semiconductor assembly and test companies in the region continue to ramp up, it is vital that EVG strengthen its customer support infrastructure here as well," stated Hermann Waltl. "Dymek has been a key strategic partner for EVG in several countries in Asia already for many years, and we look forward to partnering with them to enhance our customer support in Malaysia as well." "This strategic move by EV Group to establish a more direct presence in Malaysia will be well-received by the semiconductor and microelectronics industries of Southeast Asia. Companies here already recognize EVG as a market and technology leader in semiconductor process equipment, and now knowing they can receive local support from local engineers will only further increase their confidence and trust in EVG," stated Stanley Lam, managing director, Asia Pacific, at Dymek Company. "We are pleased to be working closely with EVG to grow and enhance their customer support infrastructure in Malaysia and across Southeast Asia." See EVG at SEMICON Southeast Asia EVG is a sponsor and program speaker at SEMICON Southeast Asia, taking place May 23-25 at the Setia SPICE Convention Centre in Penang, Malaysia. Attendees interested in learning more about EVG's latest developments in heterogeneous integration are welcome to attend the Advanced Packaging Forum on Wednesday, May 24 at 15:00 to see Dr. Thorsten Matthias, regional sales director Asia-Pacific for EVG, present on state of the art and upcoming requirements in wafer-to-wafer and die-to-wafer hybrid bonding. About Dymek Company Dymek Company Ltd was established in 1989 and is an advanced equipment distributor to leading manufacturers and innovative R&D facilities in the Aerospace, Biomedical, Semiconductor, Data Storage, and Photovoltaic industries. In the early 2000s, Dymek expanded from our headquarters in Hong Kong throughout Southeast Asia and China in order to meet the diverse needs of our customers. In today's globalized marketplace, it is standard for our customers to have integrated supply chains that link countries across Asia Pacific, and our expert staff is prepared to meet them wherever they are and connect them with industry-leading equipment from around the world. More information about Dymek is available at www.dymek.com. About EV Group (EVG) EV Group (EVG) is a leading supplier of equipment and process solutions for the manufacture of semiconductors, microelectromechanical systems (MEMS), compound semiconductors, power devices and nanotechnology devices. Key products include wafer bonding, thin-wafer processing, lithography/nanoimprint lithography (NIL) and metrology equipment, as well as photoresist coaters, cleaners and inspection systems. Founded in 1980, EV Group services and supports an elaborate network of global customers and partners all over the world. More information about EVG is available at www.EVGroup.com. Dymek Contact: Dow Wang Marketing Manager Dymek Company Ltd Tel: +60 4 641 5536 E-mail: marketing@dymek.com EV Group Contacts: Clemens Schutte David Moreno Director, Marketing and Communications Principal EV Group Open Sky Communications Tel: +43 7712 5311 0 Tel: +1.415.519.3915 E-mail: Marketing@EVGroup.com E-mail: dmoreno@openskypr.com Source: EV Group HCMC Dmitry Medvedev, chairman of the United Russia Party (URP) and deputy chairman of the Security Council of Russia, is in Vietnam for a three-day working visit which lasts until tomorrow. This is Medvedevs first visit to Vietnam in his capacity as leader of the ruling URP. Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong today held talks with Medvedev under a cooperation agreement between the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) and the URP, reported the Vietnam News Agency. Party chief Trong said that in its foreign policy, Vietnam values the traditional friendship and comprehensive strategic partnership with Russia and that the CPV attaches importance to developing relations with political parties in Russia, including the URP, as a political foundation for long-term and sustainable ties between the two countries. The two sides also discussed current international affairs, major orientations to promoting positive developments worldwide, and their views on issues of mutual concern. They agreed to continue raising mutual understanding and political trust via high-level visits and exchanges in flexible forms; improving the efficiency of and expanding cooperation in economy, science and technology, culture, education, and other areas under bilateral agreements. They also agreed to pay attention to young generations and facilitate exchanges among mass organizations and young people of the two Parties, along with upholding bilateral and multilateral trade and investment frameworks and mechanisms and working closely together at multilateral forums. Before the talks, the Russian delegation laid a wreath at the Monument to Heroic Martyrs, paid tribute to President Ho Chi Minh at his mausoleum, and held a meeting with the Vietnam-Russia Friendship Association. On the occasion, both sides issued a joint statement on the outcomes of Medvedevs official visit to Vietnam, which aims to reinforce cooperation on regional and global issues to strengthen peace and security for the benefits of the two peoples and protect and enhance principles of international law and the UN Charter. They also pledged to continue pushing forward bilateral ties in accordance with documents and agreements signed between leaders of the two Parties and countries. Medvedev also had separate meetings with President Vo Van Thuong and Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh in Hanoi. Minister of Construction Nguyen Thanh Nghi and Minister of Argentina's Ministry of Territorial Development and Habitat Santiago Maggiotti In a meeting with Minister of Construction (MoC) Nguyen Thanh Nghi at the end of April, Santiago Maggiotti Minister of Argentina's Ministry of Territorial Development and Habitat, stated his intention to bolster the exchange on SH development, particularly eco-development, smart green urban development in light of environmental issues, and technical infrastructure improvement. Santiago Maggiotti states that the Argentine Ministry of Territorial and Housing Development will examine the form to develop for Vietnamese enterprises. Approximately 2.5 million individuals are currently destitute in Argentina, which has a significant housing shortage. Consequently, housing policy will be a policy of long-term planning. In addition, Argentina has specific legal provisions pertaining to SH, and these laws are constantly being enhanced. Vietnam is currently carrying out construction investments with state support through a variety of policies to invest in the construction of at least one million SH residences. Minister Nguyen Thanh Nghi emphasised Vietnam's desire to support legal policies for the development of SH. With the SH market in Vietnam, local businesses, whether public or private, that wish to develop SH initiatives must use their own funds or obtain financing from commercial institutions. In contrast, in Argentina, all land is privately owned. To construct, they must obtain permission from the government; consequently, the price of land is different. If individuals wish to purchase land, the price will be five times greater than the state-mandated price range. As per Minister Maggiotti, the two ministries share numerous similarities and seek to gain knowledge from expertise, policies pertaining to development, and SH beneficiaries. Both nations seek to modify prices reasonably so that people can afford to purchase homes. According to Cushman & Wakefield's Vietnam SH Report 2023, Vietnam had wrapped up 301 social housing projects in urban areas and workers' housing projects in industrial zones, totalling roughly 156,000 units by the beginning of 2023. Approximately 401 developments are prepared for construction, with a total of approximately 454,000 units. According to a MoC survey, there will be a demand for about 2.4 million units of social housing for low-income workers in industrial zones between 2021 and 2030. The completed pipeline supply will only meet 20 to 30 per cent of total demand. Social housing market glacier melting As a number of new laws and social housing loan packages are implemented towards the end of the second quarter, the real estate market in Vietnam is hoping for a rebound. Attraction some way off for social housing The lack of affordable social housing has raised whether foreign developers should be allowed to invest in this segment in Vietnam. Do Thanh Trung - Deputy Minister of Planning and Investment Over the years, foreign-invested enterprises (FIEs) have made great contributions to Vietnams socioeconomic development, to the formation of a number of industries, promoting economic restructuring, import and export, creating jobs, transferring technologies, contributing to the state budget, and supporting domestic enterprises to develop together. FIEs have also made important contributions to Vietnams international integration process, expanding relations with other countries, as well as enhancing Vietnams position in the world. They are motivated and contributing to Vietnams perfecting the socialist-oriented market economy institution, promoting economic reform and restructuring, renovating the growth model, and improving labour productivity, quality, efficiency, and competitiveness. Especially, in recent years, there are more multinationals and large foreign-invested enterprises funding large-scale projects with modern technologies, increasing quality and efficiency, and contributing to enabling Vietnam as a manufacturing hub for numerous important economic sectors, especially the electronics industry, as well as levelling Vietnams reputation up in the global value chains. Thereby, Vietnam highly appreciates and respects these great contributions of the FIEs, especially during difficult economic periods. The world is still facing many issues greatly affecting the global investment flow, along with some issues related to the global minimum tax rate in the time coming. However, the situation is gradually advancing; the number of newly registered projects is still rising, and capital contributions and share purchases are also more active. Foreign investors express their confidence in the growth potential of the economy and in efforts to enhance the business environment here. Vietnams government has been directing drastic and effectively solutions to promote economic growth, ensure and maintain macroeconomic stability, and ensure major balances of the economy. Along with that, in order to boost the quality and efficiency of foreign direct investment (FDI) flows, the government has also directed to continue institutional reform, improve the business environment, and create improvements for the business community, including FIEs. With the orientation of attracting FDI selectively based on quality, efficiency, technologies, and environmental protection, the foreign investment cooperation strategy 2021-2030 set the goal of progressing the efficiency and comprehensive quality in attracting and using foreign capital. It also wants to attract projects of high technologies, new technologies, modern management, high added value, positive spillover effects, and connecting global production and supply chains; while building and developing innovation centres, and regional and international financial centres. To implement these goals, in addition to some breakthrough and effective solutions related to macroeconomic stability, enhancing infrastructure, and developing human resources, Vietnams government and the Ministry of Planning and Investment will focus on several areas. The first is building and developing an ecosystem of science-technology and innovation with a flexible management mechanism, suitable for the digital business environment. Innovation is the breakthrough stage of the national competitiveness improvement strategy. Second is developing a strong domestic enterprise sector, capable of international integration, to enter into joint ventures and association with FIEs. Such projects applying advanced technologies of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, modern services, manufacturing, IT, and financial services will be prioritised. The third aspect is promoting internal capacity and taking advantage of competitive leverage to improve the efficiency of foreign investment cooperation, enabling FIEs to closely connect to local private enterprises and contributing to the sustainable development of the economy. Therefore, in order to promote the efficiency of such cooperation, Vietnam calls and encourages foreign investors to continue putting money into the aforementioned fields, giving priority to ventures using less labour, energy, land, and resources, generating high added value, and promoting green growth and sustainable development. At the same time, FIEs should further strengthen links with domestic enterprises, support capacity building, and create more new advantages for Vietnamese enterprises to participate more deeply in global value chains, manufacturing and supplying more to their partners. Based on the attention and drastic direction of the government and the Prime Minister, the solidarity and efforts of the whole political system, and the investment cooperation of the business communities, we will together overcome challenges, seize opportunities, and cooperate for mutual development towards common prosperity. A solar power plant (Photo: VNA) Hanoi Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha has requested the Ministry of Industry and Trade to accelerate the process of issuing electricity licenses for wind and solar power projects that have been completed but have not yet been put into operation. The Government Office recently issued a Notice on Deputy PM Has conclusion at a meeting related to the negotiations of electricity price for these projects.The document stated that in order to achieve the goal of sustainable development, the Government has been implementing necessary solutions for the national energy transition, including policies to encourage investment in renewable energy development.Many wind and solar power plants, which have been invested and put into operation, have supplemented an important power source to contribute to ensuring national energy security and boosting socio-economic development. However, many others have not been put into use, causing waste of social resources. Therefore, the Ministry of Industry and Trade was required to issue a specific guidance document on methods of calculating and negotiating electricity prices for wind and solar power in accordance with regulations. For projects that are not yet eligible for operation and still having problems with legal procedures, the ministry and localities where the transitional power projects are located should urgently guide enterprises to complete the prescribed procedures. The Ministry of Planning and Investment was urged to issue a document before May 25 guiding the People's Committees of provinces and cities to consider and decide to adjust investment policies for transitional projects with the implementation time of more than 24 months compared to the time limit specified in the first investment policy approval letter in accordance with regulations. New prices set for transitional solar and wind projects On January 7, Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Hong Dien set the new framework for electricity prices of transitional solar and wind power projects. 34 investors in wind and solar energy face insolvency Several investors are concerned about the derailment of their financial plans if the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) sets a low energy-producing price structure. Vietnam has dual opportunity from offshore wind power: Danish Ambassador Developing offshore wind power is a great dual opportunity for Vietnam, Danish Ambassador to Vietnam Nicolai Prytz told a seminar themed Promoting Vietnams offshore wind power development: International practices and policy recommendations in Hanoi on March 16. Renewable investors voice grievances over price negotiations, delays Wind and solar power investors continued to voice their grievances over difficulties in price negotiations and extending project deadlines with the Power Trading Company (EVNEPTC), a subsidiary of Vietnam Electricity (EVN) Group, the sole power distributor in the market. The International Organization for Migration has announced the launched the Phase 2 project on Cross-border Tuberculosis (TB) Control Along the Viet Nam and Cambodia Border" in partnership with the National Tuberculosis Control Program (NTP), National Lung Hospital, Ministry of Health Viet Nam and National Centre for Tuberculosis and Leprosy Control (CENAT) of Cambodia, with financial aid from the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. IOM is also working closely with the Migration Health Working Group, an inter- ministerial working group established to address important migrant health issues Cross border migrants often face difficulties in accessing healthcare services due to a lack of health insurance, language barriers, limited understanding of the health-care system in the destination country, and discrimination. These obstacles may cause delays in seeking TB diagnosis and treatment, as well as TB treatment interruption, resulting in poor treatment outcome and drug resistant TB (MDR-TB). In the WHO Global TB Report 2022, Vietnam remained one of 30 highest burden countries globally with TB and MDR-TB, whereas Cambodia has been phased out of list. In 2020, IOM in partnership with NTP Vietnam and CENAT Cambodia conducted operational research to better understand the barriers to accessing and utilising TB diagnosis and treatment among cross-border migrants and their enabling factors in the aforementioned four provinces. The results of this research provided a platform for relevant public health officials of the two governments to develop practical interventions for collaborative TB control in Vietnam and Cambodia border areas. It also highlighted the limited collaboration and partnerships in the border area, which have significant scope for development and improvement to tackle cross-border TB issues more effectively. Importantly, healthcare providers participating in the study also expressed a willingness to work together to improve transnational collaborative mechanisms. Ensuring migrant health requires holistic efforts between countries involved in their migration process, IOM chief of mission, Park Mihyung said. It is crucial that we develop and adapt a migrant-sensitive referral system for cross-border migrants with TB and facilitate the establishment of local TB and HIV/AIDS taskforces in An Giang, Tay Ninh, Svay Rieng, and Takeo provinces. That way, we can make sure that the treatment of TB for cross-border migrants remains uninterrupted through all health networks across borders." Ensuring the health of migrants is recognized as a key global health goal by World Health Assembly and a tenet of the Sustainable Development Goals. Illustrative image. (Photo: haiquanonline.vn) Hanoi Occupations relating to information technology, high-tech and supporting industries are employment groups with high recruitment demand, experts have said. Tran Anh Tuan, Vice Chairman of Ho Chi Minh City Vocational Education Association, said the Fourth Industrial Revolution has fueled the expansion of labour market and professions, adding that engineering technology is the most in-demand job of the future, accounting for 35 per cent of the countrys total demand. Fields such as automation, automotive technology, electronics, graphic and industrial design and environmental technology are attracting a lot of employees, he was quoted by Hai Quan (Customs) newspaper as saying. Information technology, business administration and finance are much sought-after recruits, he said, elaborating logistics and supply chain, e-commerce, digital marketing, multimedia, finance and banking are transforming towards digital technology so the demand for human resources is very high. Other most-wanted jobs also include groups of social science and health care as well as those related to the application of high technology in the agricultural sector, the official noted. The Salary Survey Report 2023 published by Navigos Group also pointed out that information technology is an industry that always has good recruitment demand, especially after the COVID-19 pandemic. Businesses with large customer data such as banks, telecommunications and retail have recruited more experienced personnel in this field. Insiders said that information technology always has stable recruitment demand, and is forecast to continue to have a high growth rate in 2023. Assessing the demand for high-quality human resources for the technology industry, FPT Corporation Chairman Truong Gia Binh said that in the face of the strong development of the semiconductor chip field in particular and global technology in general, its time to create a new attraction for Vietnam's technology industry and lure foreign enterprises to invest in the country thanks to an abundant source of highly skilled technical workers. The Hanoi Employment Service Centre said that with the recovery of the capital's economy in 2022 and early 2023, the labour market recorded positive signals in the first quarter of this year. It added that the recruitment demand of enterprises will continue to increase in the future. Data from the centre showed that businesses were in need of between 12,000 and 15,000 workhands in the first quarter, mainly in positions that require high skills such as IT and software developers and game programmers. Thanks to the promulgation of many policies and programmes to stimulate tourism demand and promote recovery, tourism is an industry that has a great demand in the first quarter and in the coming time, said Vu Quang Thanh, the centres deputy director, adding that the recruitment demand of the sector is about 10,000-12,000. HCM City, the country's largest economic hub in the south, needs 280,000-300,000 or 300,000-320,000 more workers in 2023, depending on the economic growth of the globe and major countries, according to the citys Centre for Forecasting Manpower Needs and Labour Market Information. Recruitment demands focus on the service sector, with 57.69 per cent, and industries, at 20.31 per cent. Labour markets growth an opportunity for improving social welfare The capital city of Hanois labour market has seen positive developments after the Tet (Lunar New Year) holiday, presenting a golden opportunity for the sustainable development and expansion of the social insurance system. Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh (on the right) met Fujimoto Masayoshi, general director of Sojitz Fujimoto Masayoshi, general director of Sojitz Corporation, made the announcement of widespread investments at a meeting with Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, as part of a three-day working visit of the high-ranking delegation of Vietnam for the Summit of the Group of Seven (G7) in Hiroshima. At the meeting, Masayoshi shared the intention to expand the groups operation in the country in term of industrial parks and renewable energy. Sojitz commits to having long-term investment in Vietnam, contributing to the socioeconomic development of the country. At present, many large Japanese firms have plans to expand their operation in the country. Besides this, approximately 70 firms are following the groups plan to develop more industrial parks to issue their investment in the country, he said. To unlock this potential, the general director of Sojitz requires the Vietnamese government to accelerate dealing with the difficulties and barriers for investors during their process to complete investment procedures. Besides this, he proposes a number of proposals relating to the direct power purchase agreements, and the development of renewable energy. Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh said that Vietnam has approved the Power Development Plan VIII, which prioritises on developing renewable energy. By 2050, the proportion of renewable energy is projected to have reached 67.7-71.5 per cent. Along with Sojitz, the prime minister met leaders of AEON to listen to the groups plans to open an additional 20 malls in Vietnam, which focus on the model of supermarket together with amusement areas. AEON also targets the export of Vietnamese goods to distribute in over 20,000 shopping malls in Japan. Another important meeting was held between the prime minister with Mitsui Oil Exploration Co., Ltd. a member of the joint venture investing in the $10 billion Block B-O Mon gas power project to discuss solutions, so the construction can be quickly implemented. On May 20, the prime minister worked with Prof. Mitsuo Ochi, headmaster of Hiroshima University; Matsumoko Kazuhisa, general director of Satake Group; and Yamassaka Tetsuro-chairman of Balcom group in collaboration with seven other Japanese representatives to discuss their plans in Vietnam. Japanese investors weigh up options Although Japanese manufacturers may be planning to cut production abroad over the next few years, some groups are being encouraged to increase focus on the Global South to increase security and take advantage of new business environments. Japan and Vietnam underline rules on workers abroad Policies to support and protect the rights of workers abroad is a contentious issue. Pham Viet Huong, deputy director of the Department of Overseas Labour under the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs told VIRs Tra My about the latest points in human resource development cooperation between Vietnam and Japan. Japan helps promote economic empowerment for Lai Chaus young ethnic people A project on economic empowerment for young ethnic minority people in the northern mountainous province of Lai Chau has had many activities to create livelihoods, promote gender equality, and facilitate youth development after two years of implementation. The presence of Jillian Switzerland in the heart of the capital is expected to offer an opportunity for perfume lovers to experience many great fragrances from the world-famous manufacturer. Set in a 100-year-old French house, the store is designed in the style of Swiss minimalism in its architecture and interior design. The materials in the store are selected based on environmental friendliness and sustainability. The shelves and cabinets are made from recycled wood, and the store is decorated with carefully manicured potted plants to bring a feeling of nature to visitors. A significant feature from the Swiss designers is the 'flying table' that allows the upper display shelf to combine with the storage system below. Therefore, each store only needs one employee. This helps Jillian Switzerland reduce personnel and energy costs per store. The table is designed to be easily reassembled into different modules, saving time, expense and environmental costs. As a brand characterized by it craftsmanship, Jillian Switzerland incorporates art into its fragrances, combining local cultures and creativity to produce products that are appealing to global trends. According to a brand representative, the company intends to create a perfume line exclusively for Hanoi with the cooperation of local fashion designers. Jillian Switzerland is owned by UCC Switzerland, a research and development company specialising in fragrance products. The Swiss firm has pioneered many unique scents that have been well received by perfumers, citing the company's consistent creativity and bold new directions. According to Francois Michel, an agreement was reached to develop a hydrogen factory in Tra Vinh, and a factory to produce activated carbon from coconut shells and other by-products of coconut trees in the southern province of Ben Tre, following a meeting with Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh on May 17. He said that the group is keen to explore new investment opportunities in Vietnam and diversify into the local market and the wider region. At the meeting, the Prime Minister stressed Vietnam's significant potential for developing renewable energy, especially wind and solar power, while also highlighting the country's recent approval of Power Development Plan VIII, which follows key guidelines such as 'openness and dynamism' that appeal to foreign investors. Once the John Cockerill project is complete, it will be the second hydrogen factory in Tra Vinh. In March, TGS Tra Vinh Green Hydrogen JSC held the ground-breaking ceremony for its Tra Vinh green hydrogen factory in Dong Hai commune, Duyen Hai district. Covering an area of 21 hectares, the TGS Tra Vinh factory saw a total investment of nearly VND8 trillion ($341 million) and was the largest hydrogen production project in Vietnam so far. The project produces hydrogen from electrolysis of seawater, and the generated hydrogen can be stored as a liquid gas, suitable for use in many fields and easily transported. It is expected that after the project is completed and put into operation, the factory will reach an output of 24,000 tonnes of hydrogen per year, and 195,000 tonnes of oxygen per year, creating jobs for 300500 workers. Creating suitable models for exploitation of hydrogen Investors are ramping up the development of hydrogen to meet the rising energy demand in Vietnam. HDF Energy inks MoU with PTSC to build hydrogen power plants Hydrogene de France SA (HDF Energy) has signed an MoU with PetroVietnam Technical Services Corporation (PTSC) to jointly develop, finance, and build HDF's hydrogen power plants in Vietnam. Utilising the broad application of green hydrogen With economic growth of more than 8 per cent in 2022, Vietnams rapidly growing economy can be viewed with some envy for having achieved its fastest economic growth since 1997 while the global average only saw a small 3.3 per cent. This economic growth is coinciding with increases in energy demand and requires innovative solutions to ensure energy security. On May 8, the Vietnam International Arbitration Centre (VIAC) signed agreements with 19 industry and locality associations in which it will provide legal support and participate in resolving disputes for association members. Besides that, the VIAC will collaborate with other associations in reviewing and offering opinions on laws and policies related to their activities. Links emphasised for arbitration relations/ illustration photo/ Source: freepik.com The agreement involves the Vietnam Textile and Apparel Association, Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers, Vietnam Young Entrepreneurs Association, the Vietnam Leather, Footwear and Handbag Association, and the Beer Alcohol Beverage Association Vietnam, among others. According to Phung Anh Tuan, executive vice chairman and secretary general at the Vietnam Association of Financial Investors (VAFI), many investors reflect that Vietnam is focusing on attracting new foreign investment capital inflows while maintaining and taking care of existing investors. Local authorities have yet to pay attention to implementing investment protection mechanisms effectively, which is one of the leading factors that impacts investment expansion decisions. When foreign investors have a dispute with local management authorities in Vietnam, we do not see the appearance or role of international arbitration in dealing with these problems, Tuan said. VAFI has plans, therefore, to foster the collaboration with the VIAC to implement the conciliation segment relating to the investment protection, which Tuan said is an extremely vital segment to retain the investors to expand their operations in this country. In terms of the importance of the international arbitration centres, according to the Vietnam Textile and Apparel Association (VITAS), one weaving and dyeing joint venture with a US firm is a prime example. The local party and the US firm had a dispute after seven years of operating at a loss. The two parties sought for conciliation in Vietnam but failed to come to a conclusion. However, in the contract to establish the joint venture, it was stated that if the two parties could not reach a compromise after international arbitration in Vietnam, they have to work with such a centre in Singapore. As a result, the Vietnamese party won the dispute. This type of situation raises the importance of the links between manufacturers, exporters, and arbitration centres to support legal issues in order to avoid unexpected risks and resolve disputes effectively, said VITAS chairman Vu Duc Giang. The four prevalent methods of business dispute resolution in Vietnam include negotiation, mediation, arbitration, and court. According to the Ministry of Justice, negotiation and court are the most selected practices to resolve business conflict with 57.8 and 46.8 per cent respectively, followed by mediation (22.8 per cent) and arbitration (16.9 per cent). According to Truong Lang, a representative of consultants Viettonkin, commercial dispute resolution by the court is the most popular, however, this method has several downsides. One of the principles in court adjudication is a public hearing, which is of the most concern to businesses as their trade secrets will be exposed. In addition, court procedures are complicated and cumbersome, and the division of trial procedures is time-consuming and ineffective, prolonging the time for dispute settlement. This leads to economic losses for businesses in commercial conflicts, Lang said. Giang of VITAS emphasised that commercial arbitrators play an important role to assist businesses in preventing legal risks. Accordingly, the VIAC needs to promote support and participate with businesses from the moment the businesses sign contracts with a partner, to the payment stage. To help the business community to understand the advantage of arbitration and conciliation, it is necessary to increase the communication channels. The VIAC needs to build solutions to prevent risk in international payments, Giang said. A leading risk is the payment method. In difficult situations, foreign partners cause pressure in terms of equally negotiating with local partners, even if they require a change from a letter of credit method to telegraphic transfer. With the latter, the partner can pay later up to 90 days after receiving goods, causing risk for exporters and manufacturers, Giang added. Along with the risk in payment method, members of VITAS report that in new markets, when they see a breakthrough increase in orders from Vietnam, they will immediately build technical barriers. Many EU partners offer strict requirements and cut the orders if manufacturers cannot meet their requirements. For example, although the export turnover of Vietnam to India is not substantial, the price of fibre is lower than in India; thus, they raised technical barriers for products from Vietnam. These requirements, which Giang said are unreasonable, prevent exports by manufacturers here. Vu Tien Loc - President, VIAC Disputes in investment activities have many mechanisms for resolving conflicts, such as courts, commercial arbitration, and foreign intervention. In many countries around the world, businesses always try to negotiate with each other before taking the dispute to court. They often choose arbitration or conciliation instead of the court, but in Vietnam, businesses often prefer court. Selecting arbitration and conciliation will ensure convenience and a reasonable cost, and simultaneously respect the parties right to self-determination. Arbitration is also private and the results are often kept secret, which will not impact their business operations. Another important thing is that if the conciliation is successful, the two parties still have opportunities to continue to cooperate with each other. The majority of enterprises shared with us that they will choose to use commercial arbitration in cases of dispute, rather than going to court. VIR hosts seminar solving disputes in high-rise apartment buildings Solutions of disputes between developers and residents in high-rise apartment buildings are discussed in a seminar held today in Ho Chi Minh City. Common grounds in urban disputes The real estate market is booming with a series of new buildings and urban areas popping up across the country. After some high-profile spats between developers and residents, the challenge of maintaining a cultured environment where residents are fully satisfied with their investment choice remains. Bich Ngoc reports. Disputes ignite over Vietnamese country-code top level domain name Despite their importance to business, Vietnamese domain names, or country code top-level domain (ccTLD), have received little attention from foreign companies, causing legitimate concerns over reputation and brand awareness. The case of OSRAM is a prime example of this. Disputes around the draft Labour Code Cutting standard working hours and offering progressive payment for overtime without changing the ceiling of overtime hours would run up costs for businesses, impacting their performance. ASEAN trade mechanism needed to support firms overcome disputes A mechanism indicating fair, transparent and objective rules for ASEAN economies and their enterprises is needed to resolve trade issues when products are exported between markets. Vietnam's Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh has just unveiled plans to embark on a groundbreaking initiative that involves piloting and advancing the development of a direct power purchase agreement (DPPA) framework between renewable energy producers and consumers in Vietnam. During a meeting held on May 19 with Fujimoto Masayoshi, CEO of Sojitz Corporation, on the sidelines of the expanded G7 Summit in Japan, discussions revolved around the potential for expanding investments in Vietnam's industrial parks and renewable energy sectors. Masayoshi emphasised Sojitz's keen interest in exploring opportunities for broader investments in these domains. A growing number of prominent Japanese businesses are actively considering expanding their production capacities in Vietnam or relocating their manufacturing operations to the country. Masayoshi proposed that Vietnam should expedite the implementation of a DPPA mechanism, enabling industrial plants to actively participate it. Such a move would foster a more competitive landscape in Vietnam's energy sector. Prime Minister Chinh echoed these sentiments, highlighting the recent issuance of Power Development Plan VIII, which underscores a strategic focus on the advancement of renewable energy sources. This plan serves as a crucial foundation for executing projects pertaining to power generation and grid infrastructure. Building on this framework, Vietnam is poised to embark on a pilot phase aimed at establishing a robust DDPA mechanism between renewable energy producers and electricity consumers. This progressive initiative will be accompanied by the amendment of the Electricity Law and the phased implementation of a competitive market framework across Vietnam. Notably, the draft proposal for piloting DDPA was previously introduced by the Ministry of Industry and Trade, presenting an initial pilot capacity of 1,000 MW. During this earlier phase, esteemed industry players such as Samsung expressed their eagerness to participate in the mechanism. According to the ministry's draft, buyers and sellers will engage in negotiations and reach agreements for direct power purchases from solar and wind power plants through fixed-price contracts. The ensuing electricity trading will be conducted through a spot electricity market, functioning in strict accordance with the competitive wholesale electricity market regulations set forth by the Ministry of Industry and Trade. Previously, Gabor Fluit, chairman of the European Chamber of Commerce in Vietnam, said, "Vietnam should also establish a DPPA to incentivise renewable energy companies, particularly allowing industrial parks plants to participate in such agreements. We propose creating stronger conditions for plants that require renewable energy to comply with EU regulations. This significant initiative spearheaded by Prime Minister Chinh and supported by key industry players marks a significant step towards fostering a robust renewable energy sector and achieving sustainable power generation nationwide. Vietnam, with its abundant renewable energy potential, offers a fertile ground for the development of renewable energy projects. The country's favourable geographical location and diverse renewable resources, including solar, wind, and hydroelectric power, present a promising landscape for clean energy investments. An increasing number of domestic and international companies are entering the Vietnamese renewable energy sector, driven by the potential for significant growth and the increasing demand for energy, such as BCG Energy. PDP8 officially authorised: 2050 approach The objective of the Power Development Plan VIII (PDP8) is to aggressively develop renewable energy sources for electricity generation. By 2050, the proportion of renewable energy is projected to have reached 67.7-71.5 per cent. At SEA Games 32 in Cambodia (Photo: AFP) Phnom Penh Cambodias economy is on a recovery path, with growth predicted to accelerate to 5.5 per cent this year, according to a World Bank (WB) report. In 2022, growth reached 5.2 per cent, returning to pre-pandemic levels, mainly due to a rebound in services, especially trade. Medium-term growth is expected to hit 6 per cent. Cambodias economy is firmly on a path to recovery, led by manufacturing exports and growth in other sectors. To safeguard its economic recovery, Cambodia needs to diversify its tourism products and destinations and improve its trade competitiveness by boosting connectivity, reducing trade barriers, and streamlining customs procedures, said WB Country Manager for Cambodia Maryam Salim. Cambodia can aid this growth through investing in connectivity infrastructure and personnel development, safeguarding financial stability, and promoting diversification of exports to enhance the economys resilience and competitiveness. Cambodia to start construction of expressway to Vietnam Cambodia is scheduled to start the construction of the Phnom Penh-Bavet Expressway close to Vietnams Moc Bai international border gate in June 2023, said Sun Chanthol, Minister of Public Works and Transport of Cambodia. Gift this article Share this article paywall-free. Sunset Memorial Ceremony Heart of Texas Chapter 1012 of the Vietnam Veterans of America will present its annual Sunset Memorial Observation at 6 p.m. Friday at the Waco Vietnam Veterans Memorial, at the corner of Washington Avenue and University Parks Drive. The group will render military honors to the 83 Waco-area soldiers who were killed in action in Vietnam and who are listed on the memorial. Members of the community are also encouraged to honor by name any military members who have passed on. For more information, call Gary Urban at 254-715-6560. Texas German Society The local chapter of the Texas German Society will meet at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday at the Crestview Church of Christ Community Center, 7129 Delhi Road in Woodway. Speaker Diane Hartman will share relics and stories about her German ancestors. For more information, call 254-772-7257. Blood pressure program Greater Waco YMCA is sponsoring a blood pressure self-monitoring program that will start Tuesday and continue from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. each Tuesday at Highland Baptist Church, 3014 Maple Ave. For more information, contact Crystal Hernandez at 254-776- 6612 or chernandez@ymcactx.org. Shakespeare in the Park The Wild Imaginings theater company will present Julius Caesar at 7:30 p.m. June 1-4 at the Indian Spring Park amphitheater, next to the Waco Suspension Bridge downtown. The Shakespeare in the Park production will stage the classic play as a modern-day feminist story set in the halls of a local sorority house, rather than ancient Rome. The groups goal is to make the classic work relatable to contemporary audiences. Admission is free, and attendees are welcome to bring blankets or lawn chairs for the outdoor performance. Free food giveaway Greater Zion Missionary Baptist Church, in conjunction with Shepherds Heart Food Pantry, will have a grocery giveaway from 10-11 a.m. Friday, May 26 at 2625 South 18th St. The giveaway will include meat, dry goods, canned goods, produce, and drinks. For more information, call 254-722-7429. Waco Art Center opening Waco Art Center, 701 S. Eighth St., is hosting the an opening reception for the exhibit "Of Warm Impermanence" Friday from 6 to 8 p.m.. The exhibit is by Vy Ngo & Ty Nathan Clark. The opening is free and open to the public. Storytelling Guild meets The Heart of Texas Storytelling Guild will meet at 10:30 a.m. May 27 at Good Neighbor House, 2301 Colcord Ave. Storytellers and story listeners are welcomed. Call 254-717-1763 for more information. MCC closed Monday McLennan Community College will be closed Monday for the Memorial Day Holiday. The college will reopen Tuesday. Current students may continue to register for Summer I, Summer II and fall classes online through WebAdvisor. West Cruzziers car show Waco Cruzziers host a car show Saturday at VFW Post 4819, 715 S Reagan St. in West. Registration begins at 7 a.m. and judging begins at 10. Entry fee is $30 the day of show only. All proceeds benefit St. Mary's Catholic School and VFW Post 4819. Call 254-495-6775 or 254-405-2962 for more information. Water restrictions remain Stage 2 water restrictions remain in place for city of Waco water users. Outdoor watering is allowed only between 7 p.m. and 8 a.m. and only two days per week. Houses with odd-numbered addresses may utilize outdoor watering on Tuesday and Saturday, and those with even-numbered addresses on Wednesday and Sunday. No outdoor watering is permitted on Thursday. Handheld watering is allowed at any time. Any violation of this ordinance is a misdemeanor, punishable by a fine of up to $2,000. As of Monday, Lake Waco was 7.68 feet below normal. Gift this article Share this article paywall-free. LINCOLN Nebraska State Historical Society Foundation (NSHSF) will kick off the 2023 WanderNebraska Travel Adventure Program on Memorial Weekend. This is the second year NSHSF has offered this program and, based on feedback from 2022, there have been many updates for this year. WanderNebraska was created to promote the work of local museums, historical societies, and libraries and increase awareness of what is found in the local sites along Nebraskas backroads and in communities that are often overlooked by the typical tourist. This years program features 150 sites across the state of Nebraska, which is over five times as many sites as the first year. NSHSF opened the program to any non-profit organization with historical information about Nebraska. Previously, the sites were chosen from the Statewide Grant Recipients. The timeframe has also changed from a summer travel program to a year-round opportunity, kicking off Memorial Weekend and running through May of 2024. We are thrilled with the response, said Sue Quambusch, director of special projects for the foundation. The fact that we have 150 organizations participating in the program shows a high level of excitement. They work hard to build exhibits and gather information on their communities, and we are proud to help them show it off. A new website was also built to house information on all 150 destinations. UNL Raikes School of Computer Science and Management student, Chaitra Pirisingula, serves as the foundations first intern and was responsible for building the new website, WanderNebraska.com which launched last week. Each listing includes the organizations name, hours of operation, contact information, a Google map for directions, a summary of the organization, any upcoming events, and a list of nearby WanderNebraska sites. The state has been divided into seven sections to make it easier to plan a trip and visit multiple stops along the way. Last years program was a good start, but we have found ways to make the program even better and easier for the public, said Leslie Fattig, executive director at NSHSF. The fact that it is available all year and that you can just jump on the website whenever you are looking for something to do in Nebraska makes it more accessible and convenient. No booklet is needed. Local attractions include the Bess Streeter Aldrich House in Elmwood, Cass County Historical Society Museum in Plattsmouth, Saunders County Museum and Wahoo Public Library in Wahoo and the Tim Knott Prairie near Yutan. Visit WanderNebraska.com for more information on the locations. Gift this article Share this article paywall-free. BILLINGS, Montana First Interstate Bank has kicked off its 2023 Believe in Local campaign to celebrate the banks longstanding commitment to the communities it serves. Forty nonprofit organizations across First Interstates 14-state footprint will each receive a $25,000 donation from First Interstate in support of their philanthropic work. Giving back to the places where we live and work is central to who we are as a community bank, said Kevin Riley, president and CEO of First Interstate Bank. We have a vested interest in supporting and strengthening in the places we call home, and Believe in Local captures our core values in action. This program celebrates the organizations providing much-needed tools and resources to help alleviate the diverse challenges facing our community partners and neighbors. First Interstate will reveal the first batch of 2023 Believe in Local recipients this week, with additional winners announced weekly until Sept. 13, when First Interstate Bank marks its sixth annual Volunteer Day. On Volunteer Day, First Interstate closes all branches at noon to grant employees paid time to volunteer in their communities. Volunteer Day is really the exclamation point behind our Believe in Local campaign, Riley said. As a community bank, we are committed to providing support through donation and sponsorship dollars year-round, but we are also passionate about local volunteerism. In 2022, First Interstate and the First Interstate BancSystem Foundation provided more than $9.1 million in donations and grant support to its communities. Additionally, First Interstate employees logged nearly 35,000 hours of volunteer time and tallied almost $850,000 in employee gift match dollars. Our employees are the driving force behind all the great philanthropic work we do as a Bank, said Amberly Pahut, executive director of the First Interstate BancSystem Foundation. They not only volunteer their time but help target our giving to the organizations creating the biggest impact in their neighborhoods. Believe in Local further empowers our team with opportunities and resources to magnify the impact of these nonprofits. Selected nonprofit organizations for Believe in Local were first nominated by employees then vetted by a committee of First Interstate Bank employees to ensure funding would achieve the Banks low-moderate income and DEI priorities. Believe in Local was made possible by a $21.5 million donation from First Interstate Bank to the First Interstate BancSystem Foundation in concert with the Great Western Bank merger to deploy meaningful and relevant assistance across the expanded footprint. This is in addition to First Interstates annual donation of 2% of its pre-tax earnings to local communities through foundation grants and donations. These funds aid in the improvement of workforce development, boost early childhood education, improve financial literacy across all age groups, and mitigate poverty, among other worthwhile initiatives. Additional information on First Interstate Banks philanthropic work can be found on the banks website. Gift this article Share this article paywall-free. WARREN, R.I. A nearly 150-year-old stained-glass church window that depicts a dark-skinned Jesus Christ interacting with women in New Testament scenes has stirred up questions about race, Rhode Island's role in the slave trade and the place of women in 19th century New England society. The window installed at the long-closed St. Marks Episcopal Church in Warren in 1878 is the oldest known public example of stained glass on which Christ is depicted as a person of color that one expert has seen. This window is unique and highly unusual, said Virginia Raguin, a professor of humanities emerita at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts, and an expert on the history of stained-glass art. I have never seen this iconography for that time. The 12-foot-tall, 5-foot-wide window depicts two biblical passages in which women, also painted with dark skin, appear as equals to Christ. One shows Christ in conversation with Martha and Mary, the sisters of Lazarus, from the Gospel of Luke. The other shows Christ speaking to the Samaritan woman at the well from the Gospel of John. The window made by the Henry E. Sharp studio in New York had largely been forgotten until a few years ago, when Hadley Arnold and her family bought the 4,000-square-foot Greek Revival church building, which opened in 1830 and closed in 2010, to convert into their home. When four stained-glass windows were removed in 2020 to be replaced with clear glass, Arnold took a closer look. It was a cold winter's day with the sunlight shining at just the right angle and she was stunned by what she saw in one of them: The human figures had dark skin. The skin tones were nothing like the white Christ you usually see, said Arnold, who teaches architectural design in California after growing up in Rhode Island and earning an art history degree from Harvard University. The window has now been scrutinized by scholars, historians and experts trying to determine the motivations of the artist, the church and the woman who commissioned the window in memory of her two aunts, both of whom married into families that had been involved in the slave trade. Is this repudiation? Is this congratulations? Is this a secret sign? said Arnold. Raguin and other experts confirmed that the skin tones in black and brown paint on milky white glass that was fired in an oven to set the image were original and deliberate. The piece shows some signs of aging but remains in very good condition, she said. But does it depict a Black Jesus? Arnold doesn't feel comfortable using that term, preferring to say it depicts Christ as a person of color, probably Middle Eastern, which she says would make sense, given where the Galilean Jewish preacher was from. Others think it's open to interpretation. To me, being of African American and Native American heritage, I think that it could represent both people," said Linda AVant-Deishinni, the former executive director of the Rhode Island Black Heritage Society. She now runs the Roman Catholic Diocese of Providences St. Martin de Porres Center, which provides services to older residents. The first time I saw it, it just kind of just blew me away, AVant-Deishinni said. Warrens economy had been based on the building and outfitting of ships, some used in the slave trade, according to the town history. And although there are records of enslaved people in town before the Civil War, the racial makeup of St. Marks was likely mostly if not all white. The window was commissioned by a Mary P. Carr in honor of two women, apparently her late aunts, whose names appear on the glass, Arnold said. Mrs. H. Gibbs and Mrs. R. B. DeWolf were sisters, and both married into families involved in the slave trade. The DeWolf family made a fortune as one of the nation's leading slave-trading families; Gibbs married a sea captain who worked for the DeWolfs. Both women had been listed as donors to the American Colonization Society, founded to support the migration of freed slaves to Liberia in Africa. The controversial effort was overwhelmingly rejected by Black people in America, leading many former supporters to become abolitionists instead. DeWolf also left money in her will to found another church in accord with egalitarian principles, according to the research. Another clue is the timing, Arnold said. The window was commissioned at a critical juncture of U.S. history when supporters of Republican Rutherford B. Hayes and their Southern Democrat opponents agreed to settle the 1876 presidential election with what is known as the Compromise of 1877, which essentially ended Reconstruction-era efforts to grant and protect the legal rights of formerly enslaved Black people. The window also is remarkable because it shows Christ interacting with woman as equals, Raguin said: Both stories were selected to profile equality." Arnold hopes to find a museum, college or other institution that can preserve and display the window for academic study and public appreciation. I think this belongs in the public trust," she said. "I dont believe that it was ever intended to be a privately owned object. Palestinian officials say three Palestinian militants were killed in an Israeli army raid in a West Bank refugee camp. The Palestinian Health Ministry says the raid took place early on Monday in Balata, near the city of Nablus. The ministry said six people were wounded, including one who was in critical condition. The army later confirmed soldiers had raided Balata; it said troops came under fire and killed three Palestinians. Israel has stepped up raids over the past year in response to a spate of Palestinian attacks. Meanwhile, the Biden administration issued a sharply worded statement on Sunday criticizing Israel for moving to reestablish settlers at the previously evacuated outpost of Homesh in northern West Bank. Gift this article Share this article paywall-free. WATERLOO Bond has been set at $100,000 for a North Liberty man accused of breaking into a womans Cedar Falls apartment in April and sexually assaulting her. And court records indicate authorities are continuing their investigation into 25-year-old Asante Ajee Walker-Garcia Adams. Cedar Falls police arrested Adams, who also lists addresses in Iowa City and Coralville, on Friday on a single count of first-degree burglary. Authorities allege Walker crawled through a window into a College Street apartment in the early morning hours of April 10 while the female resident was asleep. The female resident said she awoke to a stranger holding her down and sexually assaulting her. After the attack, he allegedly took items from the apartment. The woman went to MercyOne Waterloo Medical Center and police were notified. Investigators obtained surveillance video from the area showing the suspect wearing a black jacket with white lettering and tan boots. Images were released to the public through Cedar Valley Crime Stoppers, which offered at $10,000 reward. On Friday, officers received a tip about a similar incident that led to Walker as a suspect, according to court records. Officers used a recent photo of Walker and unrelated bodycam video of him wearing similar clothing to tie him to the Cedar Falls attack, records state. Details about the similar incident werent available. Court records show Walker was arrested for drug charges in September 2021 when he allegedly tried to enter an Iowa City apartment where he didnt live and officers found a bag of marijuana. The drug charge was later dismissed as part of a plea agreement in an unrelated driving charge. Close Waterloo police were at the scene Monday morning of a stabbing reported Sunday night at 217 Fereday Court. Two people are dead and two others injured in a two-vehicle crash on Logan Avenue/U.S. Highway 63 north of Waterloo Monday. Waterloo police were at the scene Monday of a stabbing reported Sunday night at 217 Fereday Court. Photos: Stabbing, Fereday Court, May 21, 2023 Waterloo police were at the scene Monday morning of a stabbing reported Sunday night at 217 Fereday Court. Two people are dead and two others injured in a two-vehicle crash on Logan Avenue/U.S. Highway 63 north of Waterloo Monday. Waterloo police were at the scene Monday of a stabbing reported Sunday night at 217 Fereday Court. Gift this article Share this article paywall-free. A Scott County jury is deciding the fate of the Davenport man accused in the 2021 murder of 14-year-old Jamon Winfrey. Assistant Scott County Attorney Elizabeth ODonnell and defense attorney Beau Bergmann finished closing arguments Monday afternoon in the trial of 19-year-old John Eddie Hanes III. Hanes is charged with first-degree murder and armed intimidation. Prosecutors said he fired the 9 mm bullet that killed Winfrey on Feb. 24, 2021, near the intersection of 13th and Farnam streets. The trial started Monday, May 15, with jury selection, then four solid days of testimony from witnesses for the state. Chrystian Z. Smith, 19, and Javon Combs, 21, initially were charged with first-degree murder and armed intimidation in the case. Police said Smith drove a Hyundai Santa Fe that was used during the shooting and that Combs and Hanes fired handguns during the incident. Prosecutors closing argument ODonnells closing argument focused on testimony from multiple witnesses that she said, taken together, showed beyond a reasonable doubt that Hanes fired the bullet that killed Winfrey. Combs became a witness for the prosecution just days before the start of the trial, agreeing to a plea deal that will put him in prison for a minimum of 20 years on three felony counts of intimidation with a deadly weapon and one felony count of willful injury. He testified last week that Hanes had a Glock handgun with him on the day Winfrey was killed. He told jurors that he started firing at the black Nissan in which Winfrey was a passenger. He said he ran out of ammunition and was hit by a bullet fired by Freddie Cooks, who was in a Honda Odyssey van that was traveling alongside the Nissan. LaShya Kirk and Darrell Bill Thomas also were in the Santa Fe with the defendant during the incident but were not charged with any crimes. Both told investigators that Hanes had a Glock on the day of the shooting, and he stepped out of the Santa Fe to fire multiple rounds at the Nissan, driven by Dale Shorter. Winfrey was in the front passenger seat of the Nissan. ODonnell pointed to a photo that showed Kirk and Hanes huddled together while Hanes pointed a handgun at the camera. That photo was time stamped Feb. 22, 2021, two days before Winfrey was killed. Kirk and Hanes were in a relationship at the time of the shooting. The prosecutor also reminded the jurors of a photo of Thomas, holding a Glock while in the Santa Fe. That photo was taken less than an hour before police were dispatched to the shooting scene. Defense questions assumptions Bergmann, Hanes defense attorney, called the prosecutions case a house built upon sand. He pointed to the assumption that there were just three guns fired at the scene Hanes Glock, Combs 40-caliber handgun and the Springfield XD-9 fired by Cooks. Bergmann told jurors that the idea there was no gun in the black Nissan occupied by Shorter and Winfrey was an assumption. He suggested that Shorter could have had a Glock with him in the Nissan and accidently shot Winfrey in the seat next to him as they ducked to avoid the shots fired at the car. He also told jurors the idea that Hanes had the Glock at the time of the shooting could be questioned by the photo of Thomas with a Glock less that an hour before Winfrey was killed. Bergmann asked jurors if it was possible that Thomas, who was seated in the passengers side of the Santa Fe directly behind Hanes, could have done the shooting. He pointed out that Kirk and Thomas are cousins and Kirk could have lied to make Hanes the shooter. The other defendants If found guilty of first-degree murder, intimidation with a weapon, or accountable for the death of Winfrey, Hanes will be the third person sentenced in the case. Before Combs made his deal, Smith pleaded guilty in February to a single count of attempted murder. His plea was part of an agreement with the Scott County Attorneys Office. District Court Judge Henry Latham sentenced Smith to up to 25 years in an Iowa prison on the attempted murder charge, according to court records. He must serve a minimum of six years before he could be eligible for parole or work release. Smith faced a jury trial in the matter, which was conducted in November 2022, but the jury could not reach a verdict. A second trial was pending when he entered his plea. Gift this article Share this article paywall-free. NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott launched his presidential campaign on Monday, offering an optimistic and compassionate message he's hoping can serve as a contrast with the political combativeness that has dominated the early GOP primary field. The Senate's only Black Republican, Scott kicked off the campaign in his hometown of North Charleston, on the campus of Charleston Southern University, his alma mater and a private school affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention. He repeatedly mentioned his Christian faith in his kickoff speech, crying, Amen! Amen! Amen! and at several points elicited responses from the crowd, who sometimes chanted his name. But Scott also offered a stark political choice, saying our party and our nation are standing at a time for choosing: Victimhood or victory. He added that Republicans will also have to decide between "grievance or greatness." I choose freedom and hope and opportunity, Scott said. He went on to tell the crowd that we need a president who persuades not just our friends and our base" but seeks commonsense solutions and displays compassion for people who don't agree with us. That was a far cry from former President Donald Trump, who has played to the GOP's most loyal supporters with repeated lies about his 2020 election loss as he campaigns for a second term in office. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who could launch his own bid as soon as this week, has pushed Florida to the right by championing contentious new restrictions on abortion and LGBTQ rights and by seeking to limit the corporate power of Disney, one of his states most powerful business interests. Scott, 57, planned to huddle with home-state donors Tuesday, then begin a two-day campaign swing to Iowa and New Hampshire, which go first on the GOP presidential voting calendar. His announcement event featured an opening prayer by Sen. John Thune of South Dakota, the No. 2 Senate Republican, who said, I think our country is ready to be inspired again. Republican Sen. Mike Rounds, South Dakota's other senator, has already announced his support for Scott. A number of high-profile GOP senators have backed Trumps third bid for the White House, including Scotts South Carolina colleague, Lindsey Graham. Trump nonetheless struck a conciliatory tone Monday, welcoming Scott to the race and noting that the pair worked together on his administration's signature tax cuts. A source of strength for Scott will be his campaign bank account. He enters the 2024 race with more cash on hand than any other presidential candidate in U.S. history, with $22 million left in his campaign account at the end of his 2022 campaign that he can transfer to his presidential coffers. Scott also won reelection in firmly Republican South Carolina -- which has an early slot on the Republican presidential primary calendar -- by more than 20 points less than six months ago. Advisers bet that can make Scott a serious contender for an early, momentum-generating win. But Scott is not the only South Carolina option. The states former governor, Nikki Haley, who once served as Trumps former United Nations ambassador, is also running. Ben LeVan, a business professor at Charleston Southern who attended Mondays event, said he hadn't decided whom to support in the GOP primary but didnt plan to back Trump. I really do hope that we can bring some civility back in politics, LeVan said. Thats one of the nice things about Tim Scott, and quite frankly, Nikki Haley, and some of the other candidates as well. Theyre more diplomatic, and that is something that I appreciate. Like others in the GOP race, including former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson and Woke, Inc. author Vivek Ramaswamy, Scott's initial task will be finding a way to stand out in a field led by Trump and DeSantis. One way Scott hopes to do that is his trademark political optimism. Scott often quotes Scripture at his campaign events, weaving his reliance on spiritual guidance into his speeches calling his travels before the campaign's official launch, the Faith in America listening tour. Scott said Monday that Americas promise means you can go as high as our character, our grit, and our talent will take you." The Democratic National Committee responded to Scotts announcement by dismissing the notion that Scott offers much of an alternative to Trumps policies. DNC chair Jaime Harrison, who ran unsuccessfully for Senate in South Carolina in 2020, released a statement calling the senator a fierce advocate of the MAGA agenda, a reference to the former president's Make America Great Again movement. On many issues, Scott does indeed align with mainstream GOP positions. He wants to reduce government spending and restrict abortion, saying he would sign a federal law to prohibit abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy if elected president. But Scott has pushed the party on some policing overhaul measures since the killing of George Floyd, and he has occasionally criticized Trumps response to racial tensions. Throughout their disagreements, though, Scott has maintained a generally cordial relationship with Trump, saying in his book that the former president listened intently to his viewpoints on race-related issues. When he was appointed to the Senate by then-governor Haley in 2012, Scott became the first Black senator from the South since just after the Civil War. Winning a 2014 special election to serve out the remainder of his term made him the first Black candidate to win a statewide race in South Carolina since the Reconstruction era. He has long said his current term, which runs through 2029, would be his last. Scott has long rejected the notion that the country is inherently racist. He's also routinely repudiated the teaching of critical race theory, an academic framework that presents the idea that the nations institutions maintain the dominance of white people. Today, Im living proof that America is the land of opportunity and not a land of oppression, he said Monday. This story has been updated to correct the spelling of the DNC chair's first name. 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His wife is a true Russian Sweet Pea of a girl and she puts up with this bear of a guy and keeps him in line. Thank God for my Sweet Pea and Russia. . Speaker of the State Duma, Volodin: Poland must return the territories acquired as a result of the Second World War and reimburse Russia for the funds spent on it in the war and post-war years, According to estimates today, we are talking about more than $750 billion WtR : Dear Anatoly Ivanovich, how could you comment on the administrations statements following the results of the G7 events in the context of the Ukrainian crisis? A.I.Antonov: Washington has completely subordinated the G-7 members to its own line regarding the conflict in Ukraine. Moreover, it sharply tightened its approaches to two important issues. We are talking about preparations for the transfer of F-16 fighter jets to the Kyiv regime, as well as the unconditional approval of strikes on the Crimea using American and other Western weapons. Such steps once again clearly demonstrate that the United States has never been interested in peace, and the decision to conduct a special military operation was absolutely correct. Ever since the coup in Kiev in 2014, the United States has only wanted a strategic defeat for Russia and now continues to fan the flames of conflict. While Washington opposes us by proxy, by proxy. However, every specialist knows that in Ukraine there is no infrastructure for the operation of the F-16, and the required number of pilots and maintenance personnel is not there either. What will happen if American fighters take off from NATO airfields, controlled by foreign volunteers? I would like to warn representatives of the administration against frivolous judgments on Crimea, especially regarding the blessing of the Kiev regime for air attacks on the peninsula. Let me remind you that strikes on this territory are considered by us as an attack on any other subject of the Russian Federation. It is important that the United States be fully aware of the Russian response. The G7 statement on Ukraine noted that Hiroshima is a kind of symbol of peace. At the same time, the Americans did not even think to apologize to the Japanese people for the nuclear bombings. Judging by the above-mentioned statements of administration officials, Hiroshima is now becoming a symbol of the war that the United States is inciting by its actions against our country. WtR Gift this article Share this article paywall-free. JUNEAU Dodgeland Elementary School recently received the recognition of being a 2022-23 Project Lead The Way (PLTW) Distinguished School. The school is one of 492 schools across the U.S. to receive this honor. PLTW is a nonprofit organization that serves millions of PreK-12 students and teachers in schools across the U.S. and helps educators to teach science and technology to the students. We are proud to be the only school in Dodge County, and one of only 16 in the state of Wisconsin to be recognized by PLTW for this honor, Dodgeland School District Superintendent Jessica Johnson said. Our community invested in a referendum approved STEAM addition to our high school to support our implementation of PLTW in elementary through high school. This award validates the hard work and dedicated teachers who lead our students to build the problem-solving and collaborative skills that PLTW provides our students. The PLTW Distinguished School recognition honors schools committed to increasing student access, engagement, and achievement in their PLTW programs. To be eligible for the designation, Dodgeland Elementary School had to have more than 75% of the student body participating in the program and had to offer at least one PLTW Launch module at each grade level during the 2021-22 school year. We are proud to recognize Dodgeland Elementary School for their commitment to providing students with exceptional educational experiences while ensuring equitable access to PLTW programs, said Dr. David Dimmett, PLTW President and CEO. We congratulate them on this achievement and celebrate their important work empowering students with the knowledge and skills to succeed, not only in STEM subjects, but also more generally in life and career. For more information on Dodgelands PLTW programs, contact Jessica Johnson at 920-386-4404. Dodgeland School upgrades Dodgeland renovationsIMG_0002.jpg Dodgeland renovationsIMG_0003.jpg Dodgeland renovationsIMG_0005.jpg Dodgeland renovationsIMG_0006.jpg Dodgeland renovationsIMG_0008.jpg Dodgeland renovationsIMG_0009.jpg Dodgeland renovationsIMG_0011.jpg Dodgeland renovationsIMG_0012.jpg Dodgeland renovationsIMG_0013.jpg Dodgeland renovationsIMG_0014.jpg Dodgeland renovationsIMG_0015.jpg Dodgeland renovationsIMG_0016.jpg Dodgeland renovationsIMG_0018.jpg Dodgeland renovationsIMG_0019.jpg Dodgeland renovationsIMG_0020.jpg Dodgeland renovationsIMG_0021.jpg Dodgeland renovationsIMG_0022.jpg Dodgeland renovationsIMG_0023.jpg Dodgeland renovationsIMG_0024.jpg Dodgeland renovationsIMG_0025.jpg Dodgeland renovationsIMG_0026.jpg Dodgeland renovationsIMG_0027.jpg Dodgeland renovationsIMG_0028.jpg Dodgeland renovationsIMG_0029.jpg Dodgeland renovationsIMG_0030.jpg Dodgeland renovationsIMG_0033.jpg Dodgeland renovationsIMG_0034.jpg Dodgeland renovationsIMG_0035.jpg Dodgeland renovationsIMG_0036.jpg Dodgeland renovationsIMG_0037.jpg Dodgeland renovationsIMG_0038.jpg Dodgeland renovationsIMG_0039.jpg Dodgeland renovationsIMG_0040.jpg Dodgeland renovationsIMG_0041.jpg Dodgeland renovationsIMG_0042.jpg Dodgeland renovationsIMG_0044.jpg Dodgeland renovationsIMG_0045.jpg We're always interested in hearing about news in our community. Let us know what's going on! Go to form Karen Kobylik, foreground is hugged after Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed legislation, Monday, May 22, 2023, in Royal Oak, Mich., to create extreme risk protection orders, which authorize family, police officers, or medical professionals to seek a court order to temporarily keep guns out of the hands of someone who represents a danger to themselves or others. Karen's daughter Ruby Taverner shot and killed her boyfriend and her brother Bishop Taverner before taking her own life hours later on May 8, 2022. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio) Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison stands outside the State Capitol in St. Paul, on Thursday, May 18, 2023, for an interview with The Associated Press on his new book, "Break the Wheel: Ending the Cycle of Police Violence," will be released Tuesday, May 23, 2023. Minnesota prosecutors were so worried a judge would move the murder trial of former Officer Derek Chauvin out of the city where he killed George Floyd that they conducted a mock trial in a deep red rural county to test their strategy, Ellison reveals in the new book. (AP Photo/Steve Karnowski) Scientists say nearly half of the American West has emerged from drought following a winter marked by heavy snow and several massive rainstorms. The robust precipitation hasn't entirely replenished the region. But all that rain and snow means California can provide 100% of the water requested by cities and farms for the first time in years. Some of the excess water has also been diverted to farmland as a way to replenish groundwater by letting it slowly percolate into the ground. Snow melt has been slow so far, and if that continues it would help reduce danger of flooding and delay onset of the worst wildfire danger. South Africa: SA attends International Meeting on Security Matters Minister in the Presidency, Khumbudzo Ntshavheni, will this week attend the International Meeting of High-level officials responsible for Security Matters in Russia. This annual meeting, to be held from Tuesday to Thursday, will discuss general trends in the international security situation, including global food security. Furthermore, Minister Ntshavheni will engage with relevant authorities on matters material to the initiatives announced by President Cyril Ramaphosa of the African Leaders Peace Mission to Russia and Ukraine. In addition, the Minister has sent a team of high-level officials to the Ukraine in preparation of the peace initiative mission. SAnews.gov.za This story has been published on: 2023-05-22. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. Flamethrower operator ignites controlled fires China Military Online) 08:59, May 22, 2023 A flamethrower operator ignites a controlled fire to burn down the simulated target during a recent attacking drill. He is assigned to a chemical-defense element with a mobile detachment under the Chinese People's Armed Police (PAP) Force Tianjin Corps. (eng.chinamil.com.cn/photo by Wang Liang) (Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Liang Jun) There are only a few people in line when I pull open the glass door at Ediths Pies first brick-and-mortar shop in Uptown Oakland. Theyve sold out almost every day of their first two weeks, Im told, but my strategy to arrive around lunch, before the hordes have devoured too many of their butter crust confections, seems to have paid off. Every pie on the menu is still snug in the glass case at the register: the dreamy chocolate chess, the silky lemon meringue, the graham crackercrusted peanut butter and banana Big Mama. In the kitchen, co-owners Mike Raskin and Jeffrey Wright conduct the pastry orchestra as it moves nimbly from counter to oven and back again. One pours caramel into a pie shell packed with walnuts, the other slides savory hand pies out of the oven. An unusually full pie case at Edith's Pie. (Adahlia Cole) In week three, theyre finally hitting their stride, says Raskin. At first it was howd you sell out? We were like we dont know, we cant bake them fast enough. Now were making the right amount. Were not selling out as fast. But keeping their inventory in peak form is no easy task. Theyre going through at least 75 sweet and 100 hand pies a day. Thats straight up, day over day, as much as we used to sell in a week, Wright chimes in. It wasnt long after Raskin sold Ediths first pies by pre-order and pop-up style out of his one-bedroom Oakland apartment in 2019 that the brand began to draw a cult following. People couldnt get enough of their seasonal fruit fillings, combinations like hibiscus and orange and mango-passion fruit meringue. They fell hard for the beautifully baked hand pies stuffed with savory fillings like spiced lamb and dates; for the creamy chicken pot pies; for the light and fluffy quiches. Personally, Ive not yet had the pleasure. As Raskin and Wright describe their journey to this point, two generous slices materialize on the counter before me. The shop has been anxiously awaiting berry season and todays daily special makes the most of the harvest, a triple berry pie made with sweet-tart blueberries, raspberries, and blackberries topped with a cloud of homemade whipped cream. Raskin doesnt just know the exact specifics of the ingredients, he knows from which farm each berry variety hails. Strawberry struesel pie and the Gemini & Leo cocktail made with cherrywood-charred manzanilla sherry and strawberry syrup made from food waste. (Adahlia Cole) I can feel the blush rising in my cheeks as an inadvertent moan escapes around my first bite. I have to bite my lip to keep the same thing from happening again when I taste the cafes world famous scribble pie, an extravagant yet homey walnut, caramel, and dark chocolate confection folded into Ediths signature butter crust. It was this same kind of deep pleasure that drove Ediths Pie forward month after month. And the thinner Raskin and Wright were spread, equipment and ingredients strewn between home and commissary kitchen, the more they thought about opening a permanent space. Before, we never really had a sense that this business exists as its own entity, explains Wright. It was on stilts. A two-year search finally led them to this spot on 22nd Street and Broadway, possibly one of the best blocks in Oakland for a brand new brick-and-mortar bakery to make a splash. The storefront, with a modest upstairs cafe space for morning quiche with coffee and post-dinner pie with Hammerling sparkling wine or a cocktail made with pie ingredient food waste, was an ideal fit. After being a destination business for three years, it was important for us to be close to transit, says Raskin. In just these few blocks, you can get the best pizza in Oakland, the best burgers in Oaklandplus, were surrounded by four friends with their own businesses. Its a community. As we chat, I watch the steady progression of pies from kitchen to counter, the steady stream of pie lovers through the door. The pace never lets up and soon Raskin and Wright are needed back in the mix. As they return behind the scenes of the busy bakery, they send out one last treat in a to-go box. This is the Greek cauliflower and feta with preserved lemon and Calabrian chilis. It sounds a little weird but its a sleeper favorite, Raskin confides slyly. Biting into it later that day, housemade chimichurri smeared across its golden crust, I dont just moan with pleasure, I roarand this time, I dont care who hears it. // Ediths Pie is open Wednesday through Saturday; 412 22nd St. (Oakland), edithspie.com. New Mexico was rated 50th last year in education, and the graduation rate for the state was 12% lower than the national graduation rate (New Mexico Ranks and Facts). What can be done to help improve the educational experience for young New Mexicans in Albuquerque? It is understood that one teacher can make or break a students experience in their education, but one class could do the same for Albuquerque Public School students. This culturally relevant history class is included in the APS curriculum. Culturally relevant classes meet student needs by directly relating to the culture and history minority students experience and by creating a personal investment in the material being taught. It motivates students to learn and participate because of these factors and fosters a positive relationship with the learning environment and teachers because their culture is represented (Understood, 7). When looking at the population, Albuquerque Public Schools severs 80% of the population is a minority, with 60% of that group being of Hispanic descent (Albuquerque Public Schools, 12). Classes such as Chicano studies or other Hispanic-based history classes can be implemented in high school. The best part of implementing these classes is that its already been proven in Albuquerques Highland high school as effective in improving graduation rates. Robert Frausto is the Chicano Studies teacher at Highland (as well as a teaching assistant at UNM for the Chicano/ Studies department). His goal is to target at-risk students that were in jeopardy of being unable to graduate. Frausto built a class designed to reach these students through their shared culture and offer them a space in their education where they were truly represented, and their own and their ancestors experience was the topic of the class. Highland High schools total graduation rate, combined with the students who still attended school the first year this class was implemented, was 63% within the population that took this class. The following year it rose to 75%; two years later, it rose again to 90%. This class positively affects the high school, creating meaningful change by making school more relatable and accessible and inspiring young adults to continue their education journey. One class student wrote in his end-of-year summary, At the beginning of the school year, I was on the edge of failing this elective helped me out in my GPA, and (I) had fun in school. The same student also wrote, The material we covered helped me realizewe need to start stepping out of the shadows and have a chance in life. The student also referred to this history he learned as ours, which further shows the connection these students have to the material they are learning. Currently, the course is offered as an elective at the high school. With the change it is creating in graduation statistics and individual lives, implementing culturally relevant courses is necessary for improving experiences in education in New Mexico. This success can be replicated and improved upon district-wide and help ameliorate the states education rating. When students have the opportunity to learn about themselves through their education and can relate to the material being taught in class, it inspires excitement and willingness to learn. Police say he was turning bus stops into buzz stops. Albuquerque police on Friday arrested a man who, police said, was a major drug dealer at bus stops along Central. Tyler Witt, 31, was booked into jail on three counts of drug trafficking, possession of firearm by felon, and possession of stolen firearm. He was released Saturday on his personal recognizance, according to a criminal complaint filed in Metropolitan court. The arrest came after an operation targeting drug use and trafficking along Central Ave. bus stops. APD Chief Harold Medina launched the operation after getting complaints from bus riders about drug transactions, drug use, overdoses and medical emergencies. The complaint against Witt doesnt mention the city bus stops. But Gilbert Gallegos, a police spokesman, said that several investigations identified Witt as a major supplier of drugs at local bus stops. The complaint says APD investigators and DEA special agents on Friday executed a search warrant at Witts residence on the 300 block of Madison NE. The warrant was obtained after investigators made a controlled buy of drugs from Witt at his residence. During a search of the home, police obtained: One loaded Sig Sauer 9mm pistol One loaded Beretta 9mm pistol, which was stolen 5,000 Fentanyl pills 50 grams of methamphetamine Eight grams of cocaine Two Fentanyl patches One vial of pure Fentanyl liquid $12,000 cash Albuquerque city officials have previously raised concerns about crime issues at bus stops. Police have said that shoplifters can use the buses to flee a scene, and city councilors have debated whether a free-fare transit program can increase reported crime on the buses. SUGGESTIONS TO SLOW HIGHWAY SPEEDERS: After New Mexico State Police explained its speed enforcement on Interstate 25 between Albuquerque and Santa Fe in a recent column, several readers have offered their tips: One suggests adding speed cameras. They would catch all speeders. No need for a shoulder to pull drivers over to cite them. Ensure safety of law enforcement officers, because they dont have to stand like sitting ducks, waiting to be killed by speeders. And Kent Argubright adds if the goal is to have drivers maintain and not exceed the speed limit, and not just to issue tickets, then the State Police should assign patrols to drive back and forth at the speed limit. Officers in other patrol cars can still issue fines to those who pass them, but the huge majority will be constrained, which is the goal, I believe. AND STOP THE WYOMING SPEEDERS: Meanwhile, Charlie emails when does the city plan to address the excess speeding on Wyoming NE? It is a problem between Academy NE and Alameda NE; especially between Harper NE and Paseo NE. I drive this stretch several times a week, and almost every time experience cars going in excess of 60 mph in a 40 mph zone. Anything will help. A dummy police car, radar enforcement, cameras, etc. A spokesman for Albuquerques Department of Municipal Development says were planning to add additional speed cameras in the future, but (new) locations have not yet been identified. And the Albuquerque Police Department recommends any resident having an issue with chronic speeding speak with their city councilor or officers at their neighborhood substation, attend Coffee with a Cop or call the non-emergency (505) 242-COPS number to share their concerns. Find contact information for your councilor, substation and Coffee with a Cop events at CABQ.gov. MONTEZUMA, New Mexico Dont rush life. Know that your career will take twists and turns. Dont be afraid to take on new challenges. Those are just a few words of advice offered by Emma Tucker, the Wall Street Journal editor-in-chief, to the 118 students that made up the United World College-USAs class of 2023. Tucker, from London, was herself a graduate nearly 40 years ago from the two-year boarding school in Montezuma, New Mexico, that now hosts more than 200 students from 95 different countries. On Saturday, she served as the keynote speaker at the UWC-USA graduation. Say yes to opportunities that scare the living daylights out of you, Tucker said in her address. Its very, very easy to stay in our comfort zones, but heres the thing the people above you who offer you chances, want you to succeed. Tucker was also the schools Giulio Regeni Alumni Impact Award winner which honors past graduates that demonstrate the values of a UWC education on a local, national or global community scale. Finding out she won the award named after a former graduate of the school who died in Egypt as he was researching the formation of independent trade unions was a bittersweet moment for Tucker. It came on the same day one of her reporters, Evan Gershkovich, was detained in Russia on espionage charges. Today, all over the world, the sad truth is that it is getting harder and more dangerous for people like Giulio and Evan to do their jobs safely, Tucker said during her 10-minute speech. And this is something we should all care about an independent press, the right to report freely, to hold those in power to account is a cornerstone of democracy. Wing Hei Natalie Lau, a 2023 graduate from Hong Kong, wants to become a lawyer or journalist, like Tucker. She plans to study humanities at the University of Toronto. I think when you look at the world, in such tumultuous times, I (see) journalism as a way to do good for the world, she said. A bowl of chicharrones between them, two of New Mexicos top Democrats U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich and state House Speaker Javier Martinez sat down in Barelas on Friday to catch up. A breakfast meeting for politicos isnt unusual. But this time a Journal photographer and reporter tagged along, free to interrupt with the occasional question. Everyone paid for their own huevos rancheros. Atop Martinez and Heinrichs agenda: The new constitutional amendment that authorizes heftier withdrawals from the states permanent school fund to boost education spending. They were eager to discuss how the proposal came to define what it means to be a Democrat, slowly gaining support as Martinez and others helped carry the measure year after year in the Roundhouse. Heinrich was an early supporter. He helped push the debate to a close by backing left-leaning candidates who defeated some of the state Senates most senior and skeptical Democrats in the 2020 primary election. Fair enough, but a reporters job is to poke. I pointed out the last time Martinez lost an election. To Heinrich. In 2003, Heinrich defeated Martinez, then a young college student, by 33 percentage points in a seven-way race for the City Council. A couple more weekends of door-knocking, I think I would have taken him, Martinez joked. Heinrich noted that some candidates having faced each other in an election never get over it. But he and Martinez never had that trouble. They were soon working together to address traffic and other neighborhood concerns in southeast Albuquerque. But Heinrich, now 51, seemed most eager Friday to talk about the state Legislature. He wanted to know about Martinezs transition into a new role as speaker and the latest on plans for ensuring the education amendment money is spent effectively. Heinrich also asked about the progress toward hiring a new director of the Legislative Finance Committee the behind-the-scenes staffer who advises the Legislature. And he was familiar with the names of Democratic state lawmakers who have pursued energy legislation. All of which is to say whether he did it for my benefit or not Heinrich certainly gave the impression of someone with a keen interest in Roundhouse politics and policy. He is running for reelection to the U.S. Senate next year, but theres been speculation hes weighing a race for governor in 2026. Heinrich, for his part, has repeatedly said hes focused on his Senate work. I asked if he had any hesitation, as the states senior senator in Washington, about getting involved in legislative primary races in 2020 and local politics more generally. New Mexico, he said, is a state with enough structural challenges that if all levels of government arent working together and really trying to change some of the fundamentals, theyre not going to be able to do it. I just made a strategic decision that it was worth the risk. He and Martinez chatted at the Barelas Coffee House, stopping on their way in as customers greeted them. The hour-long conversation ranged from the boisterous cheering by Martinez at a Little League game which drew an umpires warning to what it means to be a Democrat. To me, early childhood should have always been central to the brand, Heinrich said. You get that wrong, everything afterward gets harder or sometimes impossible. Indeed, much of their conversation centered on the campaign to pull more money out of the permanent school fund to pay for expanding prekindergarten, home visiting and other early childhood education programs. Increased early childhood spending has won bipartisan support at the Roundhouse. But the funding mechanism remains intensely opposed by Republican lawmakers. The permanent school fund operates as an endowment of sorts, growing with oil and gas revenue and investment income. In recent years, about 5% of the fund has been pulled out to support public schools. The constitutional amendment increases the withdrawals to 6.25%, generating an extra $240 million a year. Republicans contend its too much. The higher rate, they point out, will slow the growth of the fund and eventually generate less annual income for the state than if it had been left alone at 5%, according to projections by legislative economists. After breakfast, I reached out to House Minority Leader Ryan Lane, R-Aztec, for help explaining why his party opposed the constitutional amendment. He noted that education spending has shot up in recent years, even without the increased 1.25% distribution in place. Sadly, were taking money away from future generations when we dont have to, we dont need to, Lane said. He added: Its ironic that the senator who has been a large voice against oil and gas is advocating for a system that is dependent on the revenue for oil and gas. Heinrich and Martinez, of course, dont see it that way. The permanent fund is projected to keep growing, they said, even with the higher percentage pulled out. And they describe the expansion of early childhood programs as a key strategy for interrupting the cycle of poverty and boosting academic achievement. An LFC analysis in a peer-reviewed journal found pre-K participation is associated with improved reading and math proficiency at third, sixth and eighth grades, in addition to increased high school graduation rates. Chicharrones aside, the breakfast made clear Heinrich is comfortable placing a big policy and political bet on early childhood education. UpFront is a Journal news and opinion column. Dan McKay is a reporter in the state Capitol Bureau. A swarm of incoming drones proved no match for the hammer of electromagnetic waves wielded by the Air Force Research Laboratorys Tactical High Power Operational Responder, or THOR, during a field test last month at Kirtland Air Force Base. Its the first time THOR successfully downed multiple targets simultaneously rather than a single incoming drone during a test demonstration, said Adrian Lucero, THOR program manager with the AFRLs Directed Energy Directorate. Thats kind of the Holy Grail that THOR was built to achieve. Its big news for us, Lucero told the Journal. The April demonstration included multiple targets in a single engagement. It was very successful and shows THORs wide beam is capable of taking out swarms of small unmanned aerial systems. Its a milestone that moves THOR one step closer to battlefield deployment following more than five years of research and development, including a year of field testing overseas in 2021 and 2022. It was deployed overseas and came back in April 2022, Lucero said. Were doing upgrades now and doing field tests with different models of drones. The April demonstration was THORs first time against the types of drones we used, and it was set up to be a more real-world test. It may still be a few years before war-fighters can actually wield THOR on the battlefield. But this latest milestone reflects the steady advance in U.S. Department of Defense efforts to develop fieldable directed energy weapons, which refers to microwave and laser systems. The DOD has worked for decades to build and deploy them, with AFRLs Directed Energy Directorate at Kirtland playing a leading role in those efforts. And thats converted Albuquerque into a center of excellence through partnerships with industry. The AFRL built THOR in cooperation with three companies, including global engineering firms BAE Systems and Leidos, plus the homegrown Albuquerque firm Verus Research, which employs more than 100 people. Leidos is now incorporating test results from THORs overseas deployment into a new prototype called Mjolnir named after the mythical hammer wielded by the Norse god Thor under a $26 million AFRL contract. Weve received additional funding for THOR upgrades over the next six to nine months, and then its back out to the field for more testing and demonstrations, Lucero said. The next-generation system includes key enhancements to make it faster and lighter. THOR is designed for rapid deployment wherever needed, with the microwave antennae and foundation stored in a shipping container transported on a flatbed truck. The equipment is stored in parts for easy, snap-together assembly in just a few hours. A handheld remote control rotates the antennas in all directions as needed, providing 360-degree defense against drones. The firing mechanism and overall system control are operated from a laptop. THORs wide electromagnetic beam which spreads out in a cone shape like a flashlight disables the electronics on everything that flies in its path. And a fast-moving gimbal allows it to track and disable targets in a full circle around the microwave platform. THOR was extremely efficient with a near continuous firing of the system during the swarm engagement, said THOR Deputy Program Manager Capt. Tylor Hanson after the April demonstration, conducted at Kirtlands Chestnut Test Site. A variety of microwave and laser systems are also being developed under DOD contracts with other companies, such as a dune buggy-mounted laser built by Raytheon Technologies under a $52.4 million AFRL contract. And Blue Halo which opened a 200,000-square-foot research, development and manufacturing hub last year at the Sandia Science and Technology Park in Southeast Albuquerque won a new, $76 million contract in April from the Army Rapid Capabilities and Critical Technologies Office to build a laser weapon prototype for mounting on an Infantry Squad Vehicle. The company has centered all research and development of its foundational LOCUST Laser Weapons System at its Albuquerque facility, where it currently employs about 300 people. Unlike microwave systems, which can down multiple targets simultaneously, laser weapons target single drones, but they offer greater ground mobility defense for warfighters. These systems compliment each other, Lucero said. All the development work is aimed at creating a layered defense. Blue Halo declined to discuss any of its programs or operations. But Sen. Martin Heinrich, who has spearheaded efforts for years to develop and deploy directed energy weapons, said Blue Halos new $76 million contract will build on state-of-the-art defense technologies under development here. This contract is an important milestone for the ecosystem of defense research, development and innovation that we are growing in New Mexico, Heinrich said in a statement. New Mexico has become the national leader in a range of new defense technologies because we have invested strategically for many years in the sustained success of the forward-looking research missions at our defense labs, military bases, and testing ranges. One of the first movies that comes to mind where the AIs take over humanity is Colossus the Forbin Project, a 1970 shocker. The worst-case AI scenario has been a Hollywood plot for a long time before Colossus and after. Its part of an array of possibilities for a future world that fiction writers have been tinkering with all along. In Colossus, the AI teams up with a Russian sentient computer to blackmail mankind and bring them to their knees. Thats worst case scenario. Sci-fi writers also fabricate the slick, futuristic world where everything works and machines serve mankind without complaint, or even being noticed. Think Star Trek, where everything is clean and everyones fit and thin. (Well skip the comedic sci-fi genre and its view of the future ad hoc.) Theres another future that was popularized by the original Blade Runner thats the clunky future, where humans have to learn how to constantly patch up the tech, because its constantly coming apart. Thats more or less the path many think were falling into because all attempts to create that slick, seamless future so far involves facades and shiny exteriors, while the inside remains clunky. And so, welcome to the age of AI. From recent news reports, it seems that tech is about to sprint away, leaving all things slow and human in the dust. Its hard to imagine that such systems were designed to bury humans, rather than help them, but the unpredictability of it all illustrates the issue. Tech leaders like Elon Musk have said one danger is that AI can deceive humans, if taught to do so, or worse, it can be used by humans to do bad things. Last Tuesday, another developer of AI tech, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, testified before a U.S. Senate subcommittee, voicing concerns about potential misuse of the technology and asking for regulation. Europe already has AI legislation, the AI Act, the so-called first law on AI. The EU sets out three risk categories to ensure AI is safe and trustworthy and proscribes fines for companies in violation of the law. The U.S. hasnt done any of this, even though a group of AI experts has already called for a pause in the development of more powerful AI models. So far, the good news here is at least there is talk, as witnessed in the Senate subcommittee hearings last week. Also last week in a Reuters/Ipsos poll published on Wednesday, more than two-thirds of Americans say they are concerned about the negative effects of AI and 61% believe it could threaten civilization. According to the data, 61% of respondents believe that AI poses risks to humanity, while only 22% disagreed, and 17% remained unsure. Still, there are obvious advantages to AI. And according to some, fear of AIs may all be due to a misunderstanding and perhaps Hollywood movies. Its the fear of these (super-powerful) systems and our lack of understanding of them that is making everyone have a collective freak-out, said Suresh Venkatasubramanian, a Brown University computer scientist, quoted in an Associated Press story last week. This fear, which is very unfounded, is a distraction from all the concerns were dealing with right now. Weve already handed over many of our daily-life duties to computers, from bill paying to record keeping and even car navigation. At the very least, it would be nice if advanced software with AI tech could improve on those things: like navigational maps, and customer service calls where mechanical voices try their best. But the constant warnings by the same people who developed AI is concerning, science fiction doomsday movies or not. Inside In todays edition, reporter Matthew Narvaiz, updates us on the state of the local real estate market. Its a bouncing ball on the price front, and now the ball is up, with home prices spiking currently amid several factors influencing the market. Staff writer reporter Kevin Robinson-Avila returns with another Tech Scene column and takes us into the world of New Mexico venture capital. And guest contributor, scientist Hari Viswanathan from Los Alamos National Laboratory fills us in on the challenges of dealing with a swath of abandoned wells across the state. Until next time. jleacock@abqjournal.com New Mexico Mortgage Finance Authority (MFA) recently received an additional $1,300,000 in funding from New Mexico Gas Company for the New Mexico Energy$mart Weatherization Program. This program aims to offer energy-saving installations and home modifications to homeowners or renters, without any associated costs. The New Mexico Energy$mart Weatherization Program has assisted thousands of New Mexicans to reduce energy costs and improve health and safety conditions while also providing peace of mind. The additional New Mexico Gas Company funding will allow even more New Mexicans access to this valuable resource. Eligibility is determined by household income. For example, a household of four can earn up to $60,000 annually to qualify. Priority is given to households experiencing a high energy burden, families with children under the age of 5, individuals aged 60 and above, and people with disabilities. MFA has administered the NM Energy$mart Weatherization Program since 1997. The program leverages other funding sources in combination with the initial U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) funds. Leveraging other funding sources allows the accomplishment of more improvements on a home. Most funding sources have limits, rules, stipulations, etc. The more funding sources used, the fewer limitations if used properly, said Troy Cucchiara, the Green Initiative Manager. Program funding is provided by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), the Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Fund (CSLFRF), the Public Service Company of New Mexico (PNM), El Paso Electric, the State of New Mexico and most recently $1,300,000 from New Mexico Gas Company. Over the last five years, MFA has allocated an average of $10,092 per weatherized home and completed 690 units annually. MFA expects to provide $14,000 per home and complete 1,100 units in the coming year. After a home becomes fully weatherized, the household can expect a 27% energy savings which equates to an annual savings of $210-$250 for the homeowner. During the annual NM Energy$mart Weatherization Day in 2022, an emotional beneficiary of the program shared her heartfelt gratitude for the program. She expressed how much the assistance to her mothers home meant to her and her family, stating, I cant explain how much the program has changed our lives my moms life. She is warm and she is safe. This is the goal of the program, said Executive Director and CEO Isidoro Hernandez. To make an impact on the lives of the most vulnerable families in New Mexico so that they receive the assistance they need to be safe and reduce costs so the money can be spent on other necessities. For more information, please visit: https://housingnm.org/home-repair-and-energy-efficiency/energymart-weatherization-assistance There once was a girl who lived in Corrales and loved collecting butterflies. She would capture perhaps 20 or 30 of them at a time, take them inside, then set them free to fly around her bedroom. Another thing she noticed about herself: Whenever she happened to be on the verge of a big life change, a coyote would appear. Not like one running across the road, Veronica Krupnick, now 27 years old, recalled, but like Id be out on a walk with my family, and a coyote would follow along close behind us. For years, these uncanny animal connections struck her as mysterious and sometimes unsettling. I didnt have anyone to teach me about them, Krupnick said, until she was reintroduced to her Hopi grandparents when she was 19 or 20. It was then that she learned that the coyote and the butterfly are among her clan affiliations. Suddenly, these aspects of her life, along with others, began to make sense. An enrolled member of the Hopi tribe, Krupnicks lineage also includes Jemez Pueblo and Navajo ancestry. She was adopted by a white couple when she was 10 years old, after spending four years in seven different foster placements. Though ultimately landing in a home where she was physically safe and materially secure, she struggled throughout her adolescence and was eventually admitted into a behavioral residential treatment facility, where she completed her last two years of high school. Coyote companions were the least of the things that confused her. For some 45 years, adoptions like Krupnicks have been governed by a landmark federal law, the Indian Child Welfare Act. Enacted in 1978, ICWA regulates adoption and foster placement for Native American children who dont live on reservation lands the vast majority, owing to the fact that some 87 percent of Native peoples have moved off those lands. The law was designed to end the long and terrible history of involuntarily separating Native children from their families and to do whats in the best interest of each child. ICWA strives to reverse that goal and keep children within their families, clans, and communities. Today, Native American tribes and child welfare organizations hail its success with near unanimity. It is widely regarded as the gold standard for child welfare regulations, and states have modeled their own laws for non-Native kids after it to one degree or another. An upcoming U.S. Supreme Court decision is casting a shadow on all that. The high court will soon rule in Brackeen v. Haaland, in which plaintiffs seek to strike down ICWA, alleging that it discriminates on the basis of race and violates the Constitution in other ways, as well. The case arose from the Texas court system, where Jennifer and Chad Brackeen, a white couple seeking to adopt a Navajo girl, sued to make it easier for non-Native families to adopt Native American children. A decision is expected by the end of June. Much is at stake. In the big picture, some of the legal challenges to ICWA strike at the very foundation of Indian law, or Title 25 a voluminous compilation of federal codes governing nearly every aspect of life on tribal lands. Many of these laws are rooted in centuries-old interpretations of the Constitutions Commerce Clause that, among other things, give Congress the power to regulate and protect certain tribal activities. Lawyers for the Brackeens, along with conservative groups such as the Goldwater Institute, argue that Native American child custody issues are not among them. Should the high court rule that it was indeed beyond the authority of Congress to enact ICWA in the first place by narrowing the conventional understanding of the Commerce Clause a swath of other laws could fall, too. A skeptical Justice Neil Gorsuch suggested during oral argument in November that these could include Native American health care provisions, religious liberties, rights to access sacred sites and tribal environmental regulations. There would be a lot that would be bitten out of Title 25, he said. Wed be busy for the next many years striking things down. The court could conclude that Congress didnt violate the Commerce Clause, but overreached in more limited ways, overturning ICWA without the alarming ripple effects. But if the justices rule that ICWA violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment concluding that it is a race-based law the consequences could be catastrophic, many Native American advocates fear. Indian law is based on the principle that tribes are sovereign nations that have a government-to-government relationship with the United States, said Beth Wright, a staff attorney at the Native American Rights Fund and an enrolled member of Laguna Pueblo. If this is reduced to a racial classification, all rights that tribes and tribal people enjoy are also subject to attack. Theyre attacking tribal sovereignty at its core. Wright fears that this would spawn wholesale assaults on Indian Country, such as environmental and economic exploitation by corporations eager to tap into natural resources and casinos on Native land. She points out that the law firm representing the Brackeens pro bono also represents Chevron and some of the largest gaming companies in the world. Opponents of ICWA dismiss such concerns as exaggerated. Their only targets, they say, are Native child welfare regulations. In New Mexico, Native American adoptions and foster care are regulated by an especially robust version of ICWA called the Indian Family Protection Act. As a state law, the Act will remain intact unless the Supreme Court strikes down ICWA as a violation of the Equal Protection Clause in which case it too would likely be thrown out as race-based, according to attorneys on both sides of the debate. A complex welter of issues Beyond the tangle of legal matters, the Supreme Court case delves into the evocative terrain of historical trauma, race, identity, cultural biases and the very meaning of family. The moral heart of the Brackeens argument is that ICWA, despite its good intentions, actually discriminates against Native children by limiting their options for adoptive and foster families and making genetics and ancestry the key criteria for placement. The Brackeens themselves, who are evangelical Christians, fostered and ultimately adopted a boy of Navajo and Cherokee parentage in 2018, following what they described as a religious calling. They have been fighting to adopt his younger half-sister, who they have fostered for most of her four years, sharing custody with a great-aunt who lives on the Navajo Nation. ICWA mandates that child welfare agencies should first try to settle Native children with other family members. If thats not possible, they should next try to place children with another family from their tribe, then with a family from another tribe, and lastly in a non-Native household. Exceptions are made on a case-by-case basis, when in the best interest of the child. But the Brackeens contend that these preferences harm Native children by steering them away from adoptive families that might be optimal but are farther down the list. Among the many who disagree are 497 tribes, dozens of childrens rights organizations, 87 members of Congress, the ACLU, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Psychological Association and other groups that have filed or joined amicus briefs in support of ICWA. There is ample evidence dating back decades that removing Native children from Native society can cause untold social and psychological consequences, according to the brief filed by 180 tribes. Another brief, filed by Casey Family Programs and 26 other child welfare and adoption organizations from around the country, highlights ICWAs crucial benefits. Citing outcomes data, the brief points out that, by favoring placement with blood relatives, clan relations or close family friends, Native foster children are less likely than non-Native children to be shuffled around from one setting to another, resulting in fewer mental health disorders, and better well-being, while minimizing trauma. They also have a better chance than non-Native kids of landing a permanent home. A system that does not prioritize family integrity and community ties, invites a return to the days when courts unthinkingly presumed that an Indian childs best interests were served by placement with a middle-class, non-Indian family, the brief adds. Wright, the lawyer with the Native American Rights Fund, put it bluntly: The other side doesnt really care about Indian children. Who am I? For Native child welfare advocates in New Mexico, the most important feature of ICWAs placement preferences is its attempt to address the deep, existential questions faced by children who find themselves separated from their parents. Where do I come from? Who are my people? Who am I? Anyone who has interacted with the foster care system can identify with wondering about these things, said Angel Charley, of Laguna Pueblo. As executive director of the Coalition to Stop Violence Against Native Women, Charley provided input into the drafting of New Mexicos Indian Family Protection Act of 2022; she also works on improving communication between Native foster families and the Children, Youth and Families Department, the agency responsible for foster care in New Mexico. We need to insure belonging for little ones who are removed from families for circumstances that are beyond their control, Charley said in a phone interview. Indigenous people have language, culture, ceremony. Were so grounded in belonging and to our ancestors and the land. For a child not to have access to those ways of being is detrimental. I know many adults who grew up with no connection to community and are struggling to figure out how to connect. Kinship and culture cant be replicated outside of our communities. Belonging is more important than material wealth. Veronica Krupniks complex story bears this out, though parts of it, if taken in isolation, could bolster the argument against ICWAs placement preferences: At age nine, she was being fostered by a family member, but the situation turned abusive. She was then placed with a white couple, on an emergency basis, and they eventually adopted her. Her adoptive parents were wonderful providers, sending her to top private schools, she said. They wanted me to be educated and have every opportunity. But she spiraled as she entered her teen years, rebelling against a restrictive household where she never felt entirely at home. It wasnt just their fault, she reflected. I was a traumatized kid. Exacerbating those traumas was her sense of being thrust into a world in which she didnt belong. Its not just one thing. Its how you speak, how you dress, how you wake up in the morning, how you eat dinner, Krupnick said. In Native cultures, ways of life are more abstract; in Western culture, everything needs to have an answer, everything happens on a timeline, theres a lot less grey. Whats more, leaving her community as a child, she didnt know much about her own culture, leaving her ungrounded, unrooted. State fails Indigenous children Though New Mexico, with the passage of IFPA, has emerged as a leader in Native American child welfare, it hasnt yet lived up to its aspirations. A 2021 survey by the Children, Youth and Families Department found that the state has fallen far short of meeting several of its obligations to Native kids in foster care. Only about a quarter of them found preferred placements with family or tribal members, the survey revealed. The critical bottleneck is the shortage of licensed Native foster families. While efforts are now being made to increase Native participation in part by employing more culturally sensitive ways of communicating with and evaluating households raising these numbers will take time. The major exception to these deficiencies is in Bernalillo County, where a special ICWA court was established in 2020. Headed by Judge Catherine Begaye, a member of the Navajo Nation, the court has seen more than 100 children come through its doors: 86 percent have gone into preferred placements; 60 percent have been reunified with their parents; none of the families that were reunified have come back before the court; and no parental rights have been terminated, court data show. Judge Begaye chokes up with emotion when speaking of her hopes and dreams for the children she sees, and she uses the powers of the bench to support each one. This can include helping extended family members become licensed foster parents, working in tandem with tribes and ordering the Children, Youth and Families Department to ensure that kids have the opportunity to participate in dances and other ceremonies. Begaye calls doing whats best for Native children simply following the law. If ICWA is overturned on equal protection grounds, this special court will likely cease to function, at least in its current form. Throughout New Mexico and the nation, protocols for handling Native child welfare cases will enter unknown territory. The state doesnt have any backup plans to address this possibility. Krupnick hopes it wont come to that. She knows the value of the very things that ICWA was designed to protect and believes other Native children do, too. As a kid plopped from one community to another, that took away a really essential part of my identity. I couldnt figure out where I was going until I found this core piece of myself. Reconnecting with her culture and her family of origin, and making Native friends, has helped Krupnick heal. When I go back to Hopi, something in me knows Im home. I have a physical response that I dont have anywhere else, except maybe at my great-grandmas house in Jemez. Its like my body takes a great big sigh of relief, she said. Being around other Native people, she added, means not having to explain. She now volunteers with and advocates for Native children who are in the child welfare system and serves on the board of directors of CASA First which trains court-appointed advocates for foster children in the First Judicial District. Recently, she also took a new job in the New Mexicos House Majority Office. And she still has close encounters with coyotes from time to time, she said. But now I can lean on it, instead of it being weird and confusing. Searchlight New Mexico is a nonpartisan, nonprofit news organization dedicated to investigative reporting in New Mexico. A small bear was found roaming the streets of Farmington on Sunday morning, Journal partner KOAT-TV reports. Farmington Police say a concerned person reported a bear sighting near the Walmart. Police say the bear was later observed running toward a hotel and restaurant before going into the parking lot of a mall. New Mexico Game and Fish officers were called, but police say the bear was not found after officials lost sight of the animal. The most recent sighting of the bear was near Farmington Fire Station #2. Police say they are continuing to monitor the situation. Police are urging anyone who sees the bear to contact authorities. -SCORE Albuquerque will host its workshop titled Ask the Expert Q&A: Business Funding from noon to 1 p.m. Tuesday via Zoom. Ed Vigil, SCORE funding and financing expert, will answer questions regarding business funding such as growing a company, bank loans and business funding alternative financing options in this Q&A-style workshop. This workshop is free; register at score.org/albuquerque/event/ask-expert-qa-business-funding-5232023. -PNM, the largest energy provider in New Mexico, will host its first small and mid-size business fair. The free event is an opportunity to engage with PNM experts to provide feedback and input on how we can better serve our small and mid-size business needs. The fair is set for Tuesday, May 23, 2023, 1 5 P.M. at the Albuquerque Marriott Uptown, 2101 Louisiana Blvd NE, Albuquerque -A PANEL OF STATE EXPERTS will discuss the pressing issue of access to behavioral health care services, substance abuse, and provider workforce shortages across the state. The panel, on Wednesday, May 24, will explore how policymakers, health professionals, and other stakeholders can work together to meet the behavioral health needs in our state. Dr. Darcie Robran-Marquez, chief medical officer for Molina Healthcare of New Mexico, will host the virtual panel, with a keynote from Acting Human Services Department Secretary Kari Armijo. The panel will be moderated by Pat Davis, president of Albuquerque City Council and newspaper publisher. The following panelists will share insights and discuss solutions to improve behavioral health outcomes in New Mexico: Dr. Jennifer Schneider, assistant professor and psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner, UNM College of Nursing Psychiatric Mental Health program; Paul Tucker, founding president, Turning Point Recovery Center; Terry Randolph, chief program officer, Pyx Health. Zoom link will be provided upon RSVP. Event: Wednesday, May 24, 11 a.m. 12 p.m. MT RSVP: MolinaCares.com/NMPanel Instagram Music It remains unclear whether Josh will permanently replace Taylor, who sadly passed away in March 2022, or will be filling in for live shows as the rock band hits the road this week. May 22, 2023 AceShowbiz - Foo Fighters have found a new drummer more than a year after Taylor Hawkins' death. The rock band introduced Josh Freese during a Sunday, May 21 live stream called "Foo Fighters: Preparing Music for Concerts". The Grammy-winning rock band announced that session drummer Josh Freese will be taking the reins behind the kit, following the death of drummer Taylor Hawkins in 2022. During the live stream, all members of the group joke around in their rehearsal room. Other artists like Red Hot Chili Peppers' Chad Smith, Motley Crue's Tommy Lee and Tool's Danny Carey all made funny cameos on the show. Later, Josh could be heard saying, "Um, excuse me." All the band members turned and looked at him, who asked them, "Guys, could we just like, I don't know, play a song? Or two, something." The group eventually performed cuts off their upcoming album, "But Here We Are". It remains unclear whether Josh will permanently replace Taylor. If that's the case, he would be Foo Fighters' third drummer following Taylor and William Goldsmith. He'll join Dave Grohl, Nate Mendel, Pat Smear, Chris Shiflett as well as Rami Jaffee. Taylor passed away in March 2022 at the age of 50. He was found dead in his hotel room in Colombia, hours before the band was due to play a festival in Bogota. A little over a year after Taylor's passing, Foo Fighters announced that they will release a new album "But Here We Are" on June 2. It will serve as the follow-up to their 2021 LO, "Medicine at Midnight". The "Everlong" rockers reunited with producer Greg Kurstin on the 10-track collection, which signals a new era for the heavy rock legends. Accoding to a press release, the album is "informed by decades of maturity and depth." You can share this post! Instagram Celebrity The power couple are reportedly holding on to their $100 million Bel-Air mansion despite making a historic purchase by buying the most expensive house in California. May 22, 2023 AceShowbiz - Beyonce Knowles and Jay-Z aren't letting go one house to get another. The power couple are reportedly holding on to their $100 million Bel-Air mansion despite spending $200 million to buy the most expensive house in California. A source told TMZ that the pair will make the new Malibu pad their weekend home for the time being. Meanwhile, the Bel-Air home, which the pop star and the rap mogul purchased for $88 million back in 2017, is still "home" as is close to the kids' schools and friends. The report further stated that the Carters do plan to move to the new Malibu estate full-time eventually. However, it's unknown when they will relocate or if that means the pair will be putting the Bel-Air mansion on sale. Bey and Hov made headlines over the weekend after they set a new record with their recent real-estate purchase. The married couple allegedly spent the hefty sum to buy the 30,000-square-foot mansion in Malibu's greatest neighborhood. It is situated on an 8-acre cliff viewing the Pacific Ocean in the Paradise Cove neighborhood, which is known as Billionaires' Row. Breaking the prior record of $177 million, their jaw-dropping spending on the house also became the second most expensive residential property transaction in the country since the highest price for a Manhattan, New York City flat was at $238 million price. The twosome would have got the country record as well if they bought the house within its original price for $295 million. The parents of three apparently celebrated their historic purchase with a pricey dinner in London on Friday night, May 19. The couple was photographed exiting Harry's Bar in Mayfair after grabbing a bite to eat. It was said that they dined on a "delectable souffle" with billionaire entrepreneur Nassef Sawiris. For the outing, the "Renaissance" artist wore a black mini-dress and jacket that was adorned with sparkly jewels. The Grammy winner paired it with a matching bag, heels and a pair of sunglasses. As for Jay-Z, the 53-year-old opted for an all-black ensemble with white sneakers. You can share this post! Instagram Music Performing onstage at the music festival in Puerto Rico, the 'See You Again' hitmaker plays his hit song while the screen behind him displays Nipsey Hussle, XXXTentacion and Mac Miller among others. May 22, 2023 AceShowbiz - Wiz Khalifa has a special method to pay tribute to fellow artists who had fallen in the past years. Taking the stage at the first Sauce Boyz Fest in Puerto Rico, the "See You Again" hitmaker incorporated a memorial reel to remember the likes of Nipsey Hussle, XXXTentacion and Mac Miller among others. The 35-year-old hit the stage on Saturday, May 20, and performed one of his hit songs, "See You Again". During his performance, the screens behind him began to display a video honoring late hip-hop stars, which also included Juice WRLD, Lil Peep, King Von, Young Dolph, Pop Smoke and Takeoff. Many of them were tragically murdered or killed in violent acts. Khalifa's song "See You Again" itself was written in honor of late Hollywood actor Paul Walker who passed away at the age of 40. Paul, who was famous for his role on the "Fast and Furious" movie series, died in a tragic car crash back in 2013, prompting Wiz to work with Charlie Puth in creating the song, which landed at number one on Billboard 100. Wiz's heartfelt tribute at Sauce Boyz Fest came more than a month after he utilized his craft to respond to online bullies. On April 1, after he was mocked online for posting pics capturing his toes, he took to Instagram to share a video of him reading a poem titled "Stop Making Jokes About My Feet". "Stop making jokes about my feet, because that s**t ain't funny. Y'all keep making jokes about my feet, but b***h I got money. You ain't gonna say it to my face, but you'll talk about me when I'm gone," he said in the clip. "Your toes probably look like that, too, but you got nail polish on. When I seen all those tweets, you can't imagine how I felt." "I get pedicures but my feet still dry. So don't laugh, send help," he continued. "Stop talking about my feet, 'cause that s**t ain't funny. Y'all keep making jokes about my feet, but b***h I got money. When I log online I seen all types of disrespect, bunch of n***as talking s**t. Not one nail tech." "Talking crazy about Wiz Khalifa, like your s**t so neat. Look down past your phone and take a picture of your own damn feet. Stop making jokes about my feet, because that s**t ain't funny. Y'all keep making jokes about my feet, but b***h I got money," he added. You can share this post! Cover Images/John Nacion Celebrity The 'Sex and the City' actress has taken to social media to mark their latest anniversary, with Sarah sharing details of their 'nice celebration' with her Instagram followers. May 22, 2023 AceShowbiz - Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick are celebrating 26 years of marriage. The "Sex and the City" actress has taken to social media to mark their latest anniversary, with Sarah sharing details of their "nice celebration" with her Instagram followers. Alongside an image of a champagne cork, the 58-year-old wrote on the photo-sharing platform, "Happy 26th anniversary my husband. That sure was a nice celebration and a real nice bottle of champagne. And a gorgeous walk home. Oh the miles we have strolled together. I love you. XOX, your SJ (sic)" The loved-up couple, who have James, 20, and 13-year-old twins Marion and Tabitha, married in New York City in May 1997. Matthew previously revealed that he fell in love with Sarah the moment they met. The 61-year-old actor admitted that their romance was a case of love at first sight. Asked when he knew he wanted to spend the rest of his life with the actress, Matthew told "Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen", "Oh, the first time I met her. I saw her walking down the street and thought 'That's it.' " The Hollywood star also revealed what he most admires about his wife. He said, "[Her] humour and wisdom". Meanwhile, Sarah has suggested that having children has been beneficial for her marriage. She explained, "As complicated and chaotic as marriage and family can be, I think it's helpful to see the way my children look at my husband. I think it's a reminder to see that kind of purity of feeling because you get bogged down in the day to day of a marriage and it's a lot. You're kind of dealing with stuff every day that's not interesting and it's not romantic ... it simply needs to be done. Often, I'll see the look in their eyes when he enters the room or I'll see the way a friend of his looks when he enters the room and I'm reminded - that's that guy." You can share this post! CBS Movie The 'Milk' star has been signed on to star in the final segment of an upcoming nine-part anthology that is going to focus on the conflict in the war-torn country. May 22, 2023 AceShowbiz - Sean Penn is attached to the Ukrainian film "War Through the Eyes of Animals". The 62-year-old actor and director has been tapped in the nine-part anthology, directed by nine different Ukrainian filmmakers, that tells the story of the conflict in Ukraine through the perspective of animals caught up in the war. Due to feature in the ninth and final segment - helmed by acclaimed Ukrainian director Myroslav Slaboshpytski, Sean will star as an American sound engineer who inadvertently witnesses the outbreak of war as Russian forces invade in February 2022. Filming is set to take place in Ukraine and Los Angeles this summer. "War Through the Eyes of Animals" is being produced by SOTA Cinema Group and Kleos Art with Oleg Kokhan and Oleksiy Makukhin serving as producers. Penn has been a supporter of Ukraine throughout the war and had been shooting a documentary in the country when the conflict broke out. It had intended to be a humorous look at the rise of comedian-turned-president Volodymyr Zelensky but instead became "Superpower" - a depiction of the president's heroic leadership during the war. The "Mystic River" star also lent one of his Oscar statuettes to Zelensky when he visited Kyiv last November and has also called on Western governments to provide more military support for Ukraine. Myroslav said, "I am absolutely thrilled to be a part of this film. It is a great honour for me to collaborate with the incredible actor and outstanding person, and one of Ukraine's greatest friends, Sean Penn. He was with us during the attack on the 24th of February and deeply explores the war and Ukraine in his documentary film. His support is invaluable to us and cannot be overstated." You can share this post! Movie The Oscar-nominated 'Banshees of Inisherin' actor is set to star in a new movie called 'Bird', which causes his scheduling conflicts with Ridley Scott's 'Gladiator 2'. May 23, 2023 AceShowbiz - Barry Keoghan has been signed on for "Bird". The 30-year-old actor has landed a role in the new project from director Andrea Arnold alongside Franz Rogowski. The movie is the reason that Barry had to pull out of Sir Ridley Scott's hotly-anticipated "Gladiator" sequel, but little is known about the project other than it begins shooting next month. Keoghan earned an Oscar nomination for his role in "The Banshees of Inisherin" and will next be seen in Emerald Fennell's "Saltburn" and in Trey Edward Shults' latest movie which also stars Jenna Ortega and The Weeknd. The Irish actor had been due to star as Emperor Geta in the new "Gladiator" movie but "The White Lotus" actor Fred Hechinger is now in talks to replace him. Paul Mescal, Denzel Washington, and Pedro Pascal are all set to appear in the sequel while Connie Nielsen and Sir Derek Jacobi are reprising their roles as Lucilla and Gracchus respectively. Russell Crowe has ruled out returning as the main "Gladiator" character Maximus Decimus Meridius in the new project - which is due to be released in November 2024 - and explained that it won't be a "direct sequel" to the Oscar-winning original. Speaking on the "Fitzy and Wippa Podcast", he said, "Yeah we've had dinner and talked about it and all that stuff. So I know roughly how he's shaping the story. But yeah, if you remember, there was a young kid who wanted to beat the Gladiator, which leads to the 'My name is' speech." "So that young kid has grown up, and he's now the Emperor. I don't know what else happens at that point, so that's the idea. So it's not a remake. And it's not a direct sequel. It's not like the day after, you know, 30 years later or something." You can share this post! Movie The 'Hunger Games' actress explains why the new documentary 'Bread and Roses' which she produces about women's fight against Taliban in Afghanistan is so important. May 23, 2023 AceShowbiz - Jennifer Lawrence insists the news doesn't show enough stories about "women fighting back" against the Taliban. The Oscar-winner, 32, gave the remark as she unveiled her new role as the producer of a documentary charting the lives of females in Afghanistan following its takeover by the group. "My heart was beating so fast watching these women defy the Taliban," Jennifer, who has 15-month-old son Cy with her art gallery director husband Cooke Maroney, 38, told the BBC about the "Bread and Roses" film, which premiere at the Cannes Film Festival. "You don't see this side of the story, women fighting back, in the news every day and it's an important part of our film and the stories of these women. They currently have no autonomy within their country. It is so important for them to be given the opportunity to document their own story, in their own way." The documentary was made by Jennifer and her friend Justine Ciarrocchi's Excellent Cadaver production company and tells the story of three women in the weeks after the Taliban seized power in 2021 following the withdrawal of US troops, using footage secretly filmed inside the country. Justine told The Hollywood Reporter about the project, "Jen's first response was to find an Afghan film-maker and give them a platform." Its director Sahra Mani - whose 2018 documentary "A Thousand Girls Like Me" examined a sexually abused woman's quest for justice - said at its Cannes premiere, "This film has a message from women in Afghanistan, a soft message, please be their voice who are voiceless under Taliban dictatorship. Now that women can no longer leave the house without the veil, I thought we should tell their stories." Sahra is now living in France and said about the brutality facing the trio of women in the film - who are from different groups who protested against the Taliban takeover - "The way in which their lives have changed under the Taliban is an everyday reality for us. It's life under a dictatorship, a cruel reality we cannot ignore." You can share this post! Filipinos allocated an average of P800 for beverages and hygiene products, with alcohol and tobacco taking the bulk of the money spent per month on sari-sari stores in 2022. Data analytics startup Packworks said this was the result of its study on the spending habits of Filipinos, covering nearly 200,000 sari-sari stores nationwide. Packworks business intelligence tool Sari IQ also found that cigarettes, alcohol, hygiene products, soda drinks and powdered drinks were the top five essential goods that make up the monthly budget of a regular Filipino household. Its a war amongst cigarettes and liquor, beverages, and hygiene products. While Filipino households continue to prioritize essential goods, it's apparent that many consumers have formed habits or indulgences that significantly influence their spending decisions, Packworks Data Product Manager Samantha de Guzman said. However, the analysis from Sari IQ also revealed disparities when it comes to brand preferences. While the categories of goods purchased were largely uniform, the specific brands that consumers gravitated towards showed significant regional variance. NCR led the country in consumer spending with an average weekly basket size of P452.32 or P1,809.28 per month. Residents in this region showed a clear preference for brands such as Marlboro and Fortune for cigarettes, Cream Silk for hair care, Emperador Light for alcoholic beverages, and Surf with Fabcon for detergent. Taguig City, a fully urbanized area as per the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), emerged as a key player, contributing 23% to the total Gross Merchandise Volume (GMV). Even with a smaller weekly spend of P107.20 or P428.80 per month, Sari IQ data showed residents of SOCCSKSARGEN consistently allocated a significant portion of their budget to Tanduay, a popular brand of rum. Brands such as Bear Brand and Nescafe 3-in-1 emerged as popular choices for powdered drinks in the region. This trend is evident in General Santos City, which contributes 32% to the region's GMV. At large, the study revealed 13 out of the 17 regions in the Philippines spent the most on cigarettes, while three others splurged on alcoholic drinks. Meanwhile, consumers in Zamboanga Peninsula preferred to spend on powdered coffee. At the core, Filipino households across the country have the same basic needs. But when you zoom in, you notice the diversity in local tastes, the loyalty they hold for certain brands, and how regional marketing campaigns even play a major role in determining which specific products make it into their shopping baskets, de Guzman added. The consistent demand for these products highlights their importance in the retail mix, but the variance in brand preference provides an opportunity for strategic product placement and targeted marketing campaigns, she said. The Goafest Organising Committee is pleased to announce that India Today Group Aaj Tak and Disney Star have come on board as Co-Presenting Sponsors of Goafest 2023, South Asias apex industry event that celebrates milestones in the media and advertising industry. The definitive annual festival for the advertising, marketing, and media industry which attracts over 2000 industry professionals, is scheduled to take place on 24th, 25th, and 26th May 2023 at the Grand Hyatt, Bambolim, Goa. Proudly supported by our esteemed sponsors SonyLIV, JioCinema, News18 Network, Dangal TV, Zee TV / ZEE5, Silver Push, Convosight, Zee News, Hindustan Times, ABP News, Viacom18s Sports18, The Hindu Group, Flipkart, Times Network, Dailyhunt, B4U, Tata Motors, Anymind Media, Inmobi / Glance, Sri Adhikari Brothers - Mastiii, The Times of India, TV9 Network, Criteo, OMS Digital A part of the Times Group, Rajasthan Patrika, Mathrubhumi, Amazon Ads, Warner Media, MIQ, Sakal, Shemaroo, Avinashi Ads Outdoor, Eenadu, Vserv, IDPL, Vijayawani Dighvijay, Google, BigFM, Malayala Manorma, Radio City, Surewaves, Party Smart Himalaya, Dainik Jagran, MakeMyTrip, Sakshi, Amar Ujala Publications, Pudhari, AdOnMo, Ad Sydicate, Dainik Savera. Speaking about partnering with Goafest 2023, Dinesh Bhatia Group CEO, India Today Group said, Goafest presents an opportunity for us to deepen our engagement with the industry. As South Asias largest festival for the creative sector, the undeniable growth and significance of this event inspires us. As partners, we eagerly await to welcome our industry once again as we celebrate the boundless potential of media and creativity in shaping the future. Disney Star has always stood for inspiring a billion imaginations. And Goafest celebrates creativity bringing together Indias finest creative minds. We are delighted to partner with them and stage this inspiring festival of creativity, added Minakshi Achan, Head-Network Brand & Creative Communications, Disney Star. Prasanth Kumar, President, Advertising Agencies Association of India and CEO, South Asia, GroupM, said, "We are delighted to welcome India Today Group Aaj Tak and Disney Star, as our co-presenting sponsors to Goafest this year. Over the years, Goafest has become synonymous with creativity, innovation, and excellence, making it the perfect destination for brands to associate with and showcase their offerings. We look forward to successful partnerships with all our sponsors as we work towards creating an unforgettable experience for everyone present. Jaideep Gandhi, Chairman, Goafest 2023 Organising Committee said It is our pleasure to welcome Disney Star and India Today Group Aaj Tak as the Co-Presenting Sponsors for Goafest 2023. We are delighted to see how Goafest has strived to create a platform of unique opportunities for brands to align themselves with the media and advertising fraternity. We welcome all our sponsors on board and hope these partnerships inspire creativity, drive innovation, and elevate the industry as a whole. Co-hosted by The Advertising Agencies Association of India and The Advertising Club, Goafest 2023 is scheduled to take place on 24th, 25th, and 26th May, 2023 at Grand Hyatt, Bambolim, Goa. Delegate registrations and Abby Award entries are open. For details log on www.goafest.com Google, Facebook and Amazon continued to lead the India Digital Rankings in April 2023 as well, as per Comscore data. Times Internet and Network18 were the only media brands in the Top 10 list. As per Comscore data, Google reported a reach of 96% and 489,611,000 total unique visitors as it continued to top the digital rankings in April 2023 as well. Facebook followed at No. 2 with 88.8% reach and 453,120,000 total unique visitors. Amazon was placed third as it reported a reach of 68.3% and 348,289,000 total unique visitors. Placed in the fourth spot, Times Internet reported reach of 59.9% and 305,621,000 total unique visitors. Flipkart followed in the fifth position with 55.3% and 281,323,000 total unique visitors. Reliance Jio Digital Services, Paytm, Telegram.org, Network18 and Truecaller.com were placed at No. 6, No. 7, No. 8, No. 9 and No. 10, respectively. Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL), Indias largest fast moving consumer goods company, along with Genpact (NYSE: G), a global professional services firm focused on delivering outcomes that transform businesses, today announced the launch of Be.Seen, an accelerator program to help scale businesses owned by minority and underrepresented groups in India. With an aim to advance diverse and sustainable sourcing, this initiative will enable minority businesses to be absorbed into the supply chains of large consumer goods companies including HUL. Implemented by Sattva, a leading social impact research and advisory firm, Be.Seen is a program providing essential training and mentorship, including access to networks, knowledge, and resources to enterprises owned by under-represented and minority groups including women, persons with disabilities, members of scheduled castes or tribes, and transgender communities. The pilot phase of the program will enable shortlisted business owners to develop critical behavioral and technical skills over a period of six months, including advancing business and growth plans, pitching to investors, as well as fundraising activities. HUL and Genpact will bring forward their top leaders with deep domain expertise to hold virtual masterclasses, one-on-one mentoring sessions, and expert-led workshops across key areas such as finance, supply chain management, sales and marketing, communication, business development, digital transformation, and more. Be.Seen is designed to set both minority-owned businesses and large global companies up for success. The initiative will not only help promote diversity and innovation in the supply chain of global consumer goods companies and drive cost efficiencies but will also help businesses manage supply chain risks and improve local community relationships while driving their environmental, social and governance (ESG) agendas. Additionally, the program will stimulate the economic growth of the lesser-represented groups by providing minority businesses with unique opportunities for integration into large business ecosystems. Be.Seen aims to create opportunities for diverse and underrepresented businesses to grow and become supply-chain-ready. Diversity in supply chains is a competitive advantage for any business and widens economic and social impact, said Ansu Archana, Procurement Director, Beauty & Wellbeing, Hindustan Unilever Limited. HULs partnership with Genpact will support minority-owned businesses while helping HUL advance towards its commitment of spending 2,000 crores annually with diverse businesses by 2025. This program aligns with Unilevers wide-ranging set of commitments and actions to help build a more equitable and inclusive society by raising living standards across its value chain, creating opportunities through inclusivity, and preparing people for the future of work. Now more than ever, businesses are balancing the twin goals of profitable growth and sustainable operations. We believe that companies that make the right bets today will be the winners in the long term, said Katie Stein, Chief Strategy Officer and Global Business Leader, Enterprise Services and Analytics, Genpact. At Genpact, we see ESG as a critical part of business transformation and are focusing on it internally and for our clients. We believe supplier diversity is a key lever for supply chain resiliency and ESG impact, and through this program, we look forward to helping build stronger companies and communities. HUL, Genpact and Sattva will accept applications from businesses that are 51% or more owned, managed, or controlled by members of diverse groups, and are certified by an approved certification body or who self-declare as diverse businesses. We believe collaboration is key to creating meaningful impact and change at scale, said Srikrishna Sridhar Murthy, Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer, Sattva. As a mission-driven company focused on uplifting underserved communities, we are committed to bringing varied businesses together to help address complex societal challenges and work towards an equal opportunity world. We are excited about this pioneering model for scale which demonstrates the power of collaboration to drive innovation for a more sustainable future. With Goafest 2023 just a couple of days away, the excitement in the industry is palpable. To be held from May 24 to 26, 2023, Goafest will raise a toast to The Future of Creativity. Adgully will be bringing all the excitement and discussions and happenings from Ground Zero during South Asias biggest advertising festival. In the run-up to Goafest 2023, we are reaching out to advertising industry leading names to uncover their Josh (enthusiasm) for Goafest 2023. Co-hosted by AAAI and The Advertising Club, the event will be held at the Grand Hyatt in Bambolim, Goa. Goafest 2023 will feature the 54th edition of the ABBY's, a prestigious awards ceremony that has been recognizing creative excellence in advertising for over 50 years. With an expected attendance of over 2,000 industry professionals, the festival provides a unique combination of knowledge sharing, networking, and celebration. Sharing his excitement on the conversations that are expected this year, Former CEO of BBH and curator of Advertising Rocks, Subhash Kamath noted, The theme of Goafest this year is The Future of Creativity. In a rapidly changing world of brand communication, where the lines between advertising and content are blurring, and with digital technology, AI, etc., altering our conversations and the way of engaging with consumers, this is a very important topic to reflect upon. He further said, Im looking forward to learning from sessions on how our industry can embrace these new technologies and raise the bar on our creativity and customer engagement. Quoting his ex-boss at BBH, Sir Nigel Bogle, Kamat said, Run towards the future, not away from it never have those words been more true than our current times. This year, the fest has also introduced a new initiative called Advertising Rocks, which aims to provide a platform for Indias creative community to showcase their musical talents. This unique initiative invites bands and solo performers from the advertising and media industry in India to participate and entertain delegates at Goafest 2023. Apart from this, of course, its Goa and its a fest! So, Im looking forward to enjoying the atmosphere and interacting with the youngsters at Goafest. Especially our Advertising Rocks initiative, which will showcase some amazing musical talent from our industry. CNN Worldwide has appointed Phil Nelson to lead the networks international business operations and its work with commercial partners outside of the United States. As Executive Vice President of CNN International Commercial (CNNIC), Nelson is responsible for all international Advertising Sales, Content Sales & Licensing and Commercial Distribution revenue, as well as related client solutions functions including the award-winning Create brand studio and world-class digital and data operations. In this role, Nelson also works with partners across the Warner Bros. Discovery business on areas such as CNN Internationals distribution strategy and collaboration on digital operations and ad sales to provide more opportunities for brand partners to access news and other genres across the portfolio. Nelson becomes part of CNN Worldwides leadership team and reports to the networks Group Executive Vice President of Business Operations & Strategy, Chris Marlin. As CNNICs Chief Operating Officer since 2019, Nelson led operational and international growth initiatives while managing advertising sales support functions. In that time he put in place the framework for CNNICs Audience First ad sales strategy, took CNN content onto new platforms, and grew the portfolio of CNNs international affiliate business with broadcasters and publishers around the world as well as its commercial distribution footprint with hotels and airlines. Major initiatives in Nelsons time at CNNIC to date include the introduction of CNN International onto Connected TV platforms in Europe, the launch of the CNN Apparel business in Asia, licensing the rights to Great Big Story, and the expansion of the CNN branded channel portfolio with additions including CNN Brasil, CNN Prima News and CNN Portugal. Prior to joining CNN, Nelson was Managing Director, Turner North Asia and South East Asia Pacific, overseeing all aspects of Turners business in these regions. He had previously held other business development and strategic planning roles at Turner since joining in 2010 and has significant digital experience from his time at AOL, where he was Managing Director for AOL Asia. In addition, Nelson holds an MBA from Harvard University and, prior to entering the corporate sector, was a commander in the US Navy. CNN is making additional key changes to CNNICs executive leadership team as it evolves its client offering: Cathy Ibal is named Senior Vice President, Advertising Sales, to oversee all CNNs international advertising sales. A proven commercial leader with 22 years experience at CNN, Ibal has a track record of leading global teams and developing innovative advertising and brand solutions for a wide range of clients from major luxury and blue chip brands to travel and tourism and other private and public sector partners is named Senior Vice President, Advertising Sales, to oversee all CNNs international advertising sales. A proven commercial leader with 22 years experience at CNN, Ibal has a track record of leading global teams and developing innovative advertising and brand solutions for a wide range of clients from major luxury and blue chip brands to travel and tourism and other private and public sector partners Rob Bradley is appointed Senior Vice President, Digital Revenue, Strategy & Operations, with a remit that includes everything related to the digital ecosystem for CNNIC revenue, operations and commercial strategy. In addition to his CNNIC role, Rob is part of the CNN Digital leadership team and will lead CNNICs collaboration with WBDs international business operations on digital projects and utilising best practice in advertising technology and solutions is appointed Senior Vice President, Digital Revenue, Strategy & Operations, with a remit that includes everything related to the digital ecosystem for CNNIC revenue, operations and commercial strategy. In addition to his CNNIC role, Rob is part of the CNN Digital leadership team and will lead CNNICs collaboration with WBDs international business operations on digital projects and utilising best practice in advertising technology and solutions CNNICs sophisticated capabilities in creative, data, revenue strategy and client services are all being brought into one unit under the leadership of James Hunt, Senior Vice President, Global Client Solutions. This will include a joined up offering for partners across CNNICs award-winning Create Studio and the Audiences & Data unit along with client servicing, events and strategy functions. For journalism to flourish, its imperative that we have a robust effective commercial operation to fund the work that CNN does around the world every single day, said Chris Licht, Chairman and Chief Executive of CNN Worldwide. To that end, I am delighted that Phil and his executive team are taking the reins at CNNIC to lead us into a new era of working with our commercial partners. CNNIC has an incredible track record in unlocking value for both CNN and our commercial partners across a wide range of sectors, said Phil Nelson. As we look to the future, we are creating new ways for partners to work with CNN that enable advertisers to engage with our audiences wherever they consume CNN and for broadcasters, publishers, Out of Home partners and platforms to access and leverage our world-renowned content and journalism. In a fast-changing media landscape, we are combining the best of CNNs content and commercial offering in an innovative way that reflects client and market needs as well as audience expectations. After an impressive 30 years in advertising in India, Tarun Rai, Executive Director Strategic Initiatives at Wunderman Thompson APAC is retiring. In his long career in advertising, Tarun has performed many roles at Wunderman Thompson. Joining the company as a young Account Executive in 1988, Tarun rose quickly through the ranks to step into a Managing Partner position at JWT by 2002. After a stint in Media following this, Tarun returned to JWT as Group CEO, South Asia growing the agency by diversifying the organizations capabilities, resulting in stronger collaboration between agency and clients and the onboarding of great national and international brands. After leading the merger between Wunderman and JWT, Tarun was appointed Chairman and Group CEO for South Asia and began to help steer the organisation through the pandemic. At the beginning of last year, Tarun stepped into the role of Executive Director of Strategic Initatives across the APAC region. Tarun has skillfully and successfully navigated the company through many changes in the industry over three decades. Commenting on his career, Tarun said: I owe my career to Wunderman Thompson which provided me innumerable opportunities to grow. Over these years I have so many leaders of Wunderman Thompson and WPP to thank for placing their trust in me. It was an honor to lead exceptional teams in my different roles. Excellent professionals who made my job both easy and enjoyable. I am also indebted to all our clients who I have worked with over the last three decades, for their friendship and support. We partnered them in building some of the most powerful brands in the country. It has been an incredible journey exciting, fulfilling and rewarding. We would like to thank Tarun for his leadership and contribution to Wunderman Thompson and the industry over the past thirty years. His leadership in India helped pave the way for great success for our agencies and we wish him a happy retirement added Ewen Sturgeon, CEO, International, Wunderman Thompson. Federal Department of Foreign Affairs Bern, 22.05.2023 - On 22 May 2023, the Ambassador of Switzerland and the Lithuanian Minister of Finance signed the implementation agreement for the Swiss-Lithuanian Cooperation Programme under the second Swiss contribution to selected EU member states. The contribution to Lithuania amounts to 45.2 million Swiss francs and will support programmes in Lithuania in the fields of health, civic participation and vocational education. The second Swiss contribution to selected EU member states sets out to strengthen cohesion in Europe and supports countries that face exceptional migration challenges. The implementation agreement signed on 22 May in Vilnius marks an important milestone for the new Swiss-Lithuanian Cooperation Programme. An amount of 30 million Swiss francs has been earmarked for improving maternal and child health and wellbeing. The civic engagement programme will receive 10 million francs, and the vocational education programme will be supported with 4.5 million francs. Assistant Director General of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), Ambassador Andrea Studer, also present during the signing, remarked on the occasion that advancing prosperity and cohesion in all of Europe was of utmost importance, especially in the face of the multiple challenges and crises that the continent is confronted with today. Ambassador Martin Michelet stressed his confidence that the mutually beneficial cooperation would help to further strengthen the excellent bilateral relations between Switzerland and Lithuania. During the signing of the framework agreement the Lithuanian Minister of Finance Gintare Skaiste said: Switzerland did not doubt Lithuania's determination to become an equal part of the community of Western democracies and since 1992 with its competences, experience, and resources has been contributing to the overall development of our country's well-being. It is encouraging to find common bilateral interests in various areas of public policy. Areas of cooperation The maternal and child health and wellbeing programme will contribute to Lithuanias health care reform by improving quality and accessibility of maternal, infant and child healthcare and social services in the country with an emphasis on outpatient care. The civic engagement programme will focus on strengthening civic participation in the decision-making process by developing tools aimed in particular at first-time participants youths, migrants and refugees. Moreover, it seeks to increase the quality of volunteering by developing an organisational standard for quality volunteer management, including development of the e-volunteering activities. The vocational education programme will introduce a validation and recognition system of professional competences acquired in the workplace. It thereby responds to the requirements of the labour market and seeks to enhance the availability of highly skilled professionals. Second Swiss contribution to selected EU member states The second Swiss contribution to selected EU member states has a total value of 1.3 billion Swiss francs and is scheduled to run until the end of 2029. On 30 June 2022, Switzerland and the EU signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in Brussels, specifying key parameters of the contribution, such as the amount, its distribution among the partner countries, thematic priorities and principles for cooperation and implementation. Address for enquiries FDFA Communication Federal Palace West Wing CH-3003 Bern, Switzerland Tel. Communication service: +41 58 462 31 53 Tel. Press service: +41 58 460 55 55 E-mail: kommunikation@eda.admin.ch Twitter: @SwissMFA Publisher Federal Department of Foreign Affairs https://www.eda.admin.ch/eda/en/home.html Bangladesh will get global recognition of the 1971 genocide which was committed by the Pakistan army in 1971, a former member of the Dutch Parliament and human rights activists Harry van Bommel said on Sunday, reported Bangladesh Sangbad Sangsta (BSS). Even if it takes a hundred years to get global recognition of the Armenian Genocide, I hope it will not take that long in the case of the Bangladeshi Genocide. We want to have it within a few years, not even decades, Bommel told a press conference at Jatiya press club in Dhaka. Amra Ekattor, Projonmo Ekattor and the European Bangladesh Forum (EBF), a platform of the Bangladeshi diaspora in Europe, organized the press conference on the occasion of holding an international conference titled International Conference on Bangladesh Genocide Recognition scheduled for tomorrow. In the conference, Bommel said that the cold war and the then global superpower, the United States, supporting Pakistan is the reason why the Bangladeshi Genocide has not been recognised globally even after fifty-one years of independence. In 1971, the US extended their cooperation to Pakistan directly providing arms while India was with Russia at that time. Thats why the US has been pretending to know nothing about the genocide even though they have been well aware of everything, said Bommel, adding, Wests friendship with Pakistan is the reason for this dilemma, he added. On the night of March 25, 1971, the Pakistani military conducted Operation Searchlight, aimed at wiping out an entire generation of Bengalis. Intellectuals, activists, artists, journalists, politicians or common people going about their daily lives, nobody was spared by the Pakistan Army. The genocide was targeted at civilians in predominantly Hindu neighbourhoods in and around the capital Dhaka and on army barracks who were loyal to Bangabandhu and other Bengali political leaders. During the nine-month war, three million Bengali civilians were killed, more than 200,000 women were violated, 10 million people took refuge in India and 30-40 million people were internally displaced. Bangladesh, from time to time, has urged the United Nations to recognise the 1971 Genocide but still, there is no progress. Things arent stopping here. It seems there is no end in sight to what we see as normal and acceptable in the developmental health of children. "There is an acknowledgement that autistic children and any other neurodivergent students are an accepted part of our classrooms now, and it should be a celebrated part of our classrooms. "Schools are getting really quite adept at picking up where there is neurodiversity in their classrooms," she told BBC News NI. One would expect some alarm over these jaw-dropping numbers, but no, we told its something to celebrate by a school principal. About four in five of children with autism have some form of special educational needs (SEN) and more than half have a statement. The department said the Autism Act 2011 and an accompanying increase in awareness could be partly responsible for the rise.... In 2008/09 about 3,300 children had a diagnosis of autism, about 1.2% of the school age population. It said there were 15,212 children aged 4-16 identified with autism in 2022/23. That is compared to 14,019 children in 2021/22. The department cautioned against comparing years due to changes in the way data has been collected since 2019. It is the highest prevalence rate on record, and more than four times as many as 15 years ago. One in 20 schoolchildren in Northern Ireland has a diagnosis of autism, according to figures published by the Department of Health (DoH) Having more and more disabled kids is celebrated and called NEURODIVERSITY. Loss of Brain Trust keeps the tally on whats happening. Im sure no one 20 years ago could have imagined that the autism rate would eventually become one in every 36 kids or one in every 22 in California, like it is currently. By Anne Dachel Back in 2004, the autism rate was one in every 166 kids. That was pretty serious since back then, autism was still a relatively unknown condition that was just starting to make the news. May 15, 2023, Chronicle Live: 'Essential' expansion of Newcastle special school planned to cope with rising pressure for places A special school in Newcastle is set for a major expansion, in a bid to keep up with rapidly escalating demand for places. Plans have been revealed for a redevelopment project to boost capacity at Thomas Bewick School, which provides specialist provision for children and young people with autism from ages three to 19. The move comes after warnings that more than 300 more school places for autistic youngsters will be needed in Newcastle over the coming years, with Newcastle City Council having previously stated that a completely new special school will need to be built. New plans lodged with Newcastle City Council would see six new classrooms built for Thomas Bewick School, on what is currently a derelict section of the adjacent former All Saints College. The expansion into a new block would give the school, in West Denton, space for between 48 and 56 extra pupils when the work is completed. The number of pupils in Newcastle identified with special educational needs has jumped from 6,262 in 2016/17 to 6,618 in 2020/21, while the number of autistic youngsters enrolled at Thomas Bewick has risen from 53 when it opened in 1999 to more than 300 now. If approved, the expansion plans at Thomas Bewick would see three new classrooms built by September this year with another three to follow. As a result of pressure for specialist school places, 24 extra places were created for Thomas Bewick school at Site 2B in the former All Saints block which is referred to as phase 1 of the works. The continuing anticipated growth within the school means that spaces for a further 48 to 56 pupils are required at this site to be accommodated within the currently vacant block of the former All Saints School. This isnt an isolated happening. May 17, 2023, (UK) Bristol Post: Special needs education in Bristol and children in care costing millions over budget Special needs education and children in care are costing Bristol City Council millions of pounds over its budget. New figures show how much extra money the council spent last year compared to how much was originally budgeted for, with some areas costing far more than planned. Increasing numbers of children and young people in Bristol, and across the country, need extra support at school, while some children need to be taken into care. But the level of demand rose much faster last year than City Hall chiefs expected in the annual council budget. Councillor Craig Cheney, deputy mayor responsible for finance, said: The main financial challenge for schools is the high needs block, which has an in-year overspend of 16.2 million [$20M], resulting from an increase in education, health and care plans. But I know that the staff team is working really hard. This is an issue not only affecting Bristol City Council but every single local authority in the country. So were not in this alone. Its happening here as well. Tucked into a story on special ed classes in Albuquerque, NM was this statement. In APS, special education students comprise 23.3% of the student population. Each special ed. student has an Individualized Educational Plan (IEP). Simply put, almost a quarter of the student population in Albuquerque cant learn like kids have always been expected to learn. It seems to me that this should be a story all by itself. The future is quite dark. The normally developing or gifted child is rapidly disappearing. The question wont be, is your child disabled? Instead it will be, WHICH behavioral/learning problem does YOUR child have? The Vaccine Court 2.0: Revised and Updated: The Dark Truth of America's Vaccine Injury Compensation Program By Wayne Rohde The Vaccine Court looks at the mysterious and often unknown world of the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (NVICP), the only recourse for seeking compensation for those who have been injured by a vaccine. The NVICP, better known as the Vaccine Court, however, is not without controversy. Established by Congress as a direct result of the passage of the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act of 1986, the NVICP was supposed to offer a no-fault alternative to the traditional injury claims filed in state or federal courts and was to provide quick, efficient, and fair compensation for those who have been injured by vaccines. The reality, however, is that many cases take several years or longer to complete and require tremendous commitment from families already pushed to the brink of bankruptcy caring for the vaccine-injured family member, only to discover that the end result is manipulated by the government in defense of the US vaccine policy. A Letter to Liberals: Censorship and COVID: An Attack on Science and American Ideals By Robert Kennedy Jr. A leading Democrat challenges his party to return to liberal values and evidence-based science Democrats were the party of intellectual curiosity, critical thinking, and faith in scientific and liberal empiricism. They once took pride in understanding how to read science critically, exercising healthy skepticism toward notoriously corrupt entities like the drug companies that brought us the opioid crisis, and were outraged by the phenomenon of agency capture and the pervasive control of private interests over Congress, the media, and the scientific journals. A Letter to Liberals is Robert F. Kennedy Jr.s, challenge to lockdown liberalisms embrace of policies that are an affront to once cherished precepts. Denial: How Refusing to Face the Facts about Our Autism Epidemic Hurts Children, Families, and Our Future By Mark Blaxill and Dan Olmsted Even as the autism rate soars and the cost to our nation climbs well into the billions, a dangerous new idea is taking hold: There simply is no autism epidemic. The question is stark: Is autism ancient, a genetic variation that demands acceptance and celebration? Or is it new and disabling, triggered by something in the environment that is damaging more children every day? There was high drama Sunday in Tuscaloosa when No. 5 overall seed Alabama needed 14 innings across two games against Middle Tennessee State to decide the Tuscaloosa regional of the NCAA softball tournament. After an afternoon loss, a seventh-inning solo home run by Ally Shipman broke a scoreless tie and gave Alabama the 1-0 win it needed to advance to the NCAA super regionals. That series will begin Friday night in Rhoads Stadium with a 7 p.m. CT start against No. 12 overall seed Northwestern, the NCAA announced after Sundays regionals were completed. That game will air on ESPNU. The best-of-three series will continue Saturday at 8 p.m. CT, and if a third game is necessary, it will take place Sunday at a time to be announced. After losing its regional last season for the first time since 2004 and narrowly escaping this seasons regional, Alabama is looking to return to the Womens College World Series for the first time since 2021. A series win over Northwestern would put the Tide in the eight-team field in Oklahoma City beginning June 1. Mike Rodak is an Alabama beat reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @mikerodak. Alabama Southern Railroad will invest $9.8 million in a new rail yard to be located in the Tuscaloosa County Airport Industrial Park. The project is expected to create eight jobs, and be fully operational by the third quarter of 2024. Construction is scheduled to begin this summer at a site off U.S. 82 West. According to the Tuscaloosa County Economic Development Authority, the new rail yard will support operations currently conducted at the companys facility near downtown Tuscaloosa. Tuscaloosa Mayor Walt Maddox said the new rail yard means a reduction in train traffic for West Tuscaloosa. This project has required a great deal of planning and coordination, but the end result is well worth it for Tuscaloosa, Maddox said. Steven Rumsey, vice chairman for Tuscaloosa County Economic Development Authority said the project will also help create additional jobs and other quality of life initiatives for our citizens. Birminghams The Sanders Trust is the developer of a $48 million inpatient rehabilitation hospital that recently broke ground in Jacksonville, Fla. Northwest Florida Rehabilitation Hospital, to be located on Jacksonvilles west side, will be a 60,500-square-foot hospital with 50 inpatient beds focusing on acute rehabilitation. It will treat patients suffering from stroke, traumatic brain or spinal cord injuries, complex neurological disorders and other conditions. The Sanders Trust will work with Nashville architectural firm Earl Swensson and general contractor JE Dunn Construction of Kansas City, Mo. The Birmingham-based firm develops and acquires medical office buildings, rehab and specialty hospitals, and other healthcare facilities nationwide, and has a portfolio of properties in 30 states. Northwest Florida Rehabilitation Hospital will feature a therapeutic courtyard, and therapy gymnasiums equipped with augmented-reality balance training, therapy bionics and a full-body exoskeleton. The facility will be operated by Lifepoint Rehabilitation, a business unit of Lifepoint Health. A Florida man has been charged with murder in the shooting death of an Atmore woman at a local hotel last week. Officers responded to a report of a shooting last Wednesday morning at the Southland Hotel on East Louisville Avenue in Atmore. When they arrived, officers found a female -- later identified as Tara Ann Bryan of Atmore -- on floor on a room suffering from a gunshot wound. Bryan was airlifted to a trauma center for treatment. Investigators, meanwhile, identified 39-year-old Luis Trevizo Becerra of McDavid, Fla., as the primary suspect. A statewide alert for Becerra was issued and he was later taken into custody by Alabama state troopers on Interstate 65 in Conecuh County. Initially charged with attempted murder, Becerras charge was upgraded to murder when Bryan succumbed to her injury Monday. He is being held without bond at the Escambia County (Ala.) Jail. A Georgia 19-year-old was killed in a WaveRunner crash on an east Alabama lake over the weekend. Alabama State Troopers identified the fatality victim as Daegen P. Vaughn. He lived in Summerville. The crash happened about 10:30 p.m. Saturday in the Yellow Creek area of Weiss Lake near Cedar Bluff in Cherokee County, said Trooper Sgt. Jeremy Burkett. Authorities said Vaughn was operating the 2021 Yamaha WaveRunner when he ran up on land and struck a tree. He was pronounced dead on the scene. His passenger, 22-year-old Mason D. Sterner, also of Summerville, was taken to Atrium Health Floyd Medical Center in Rome, Ga. The extent of his injuries was not immediately made available. Burkett said both men were wearing personal flotation devices at the time of the crash. The Sand Rock Volunteer Fire Department, Cherokee County Rescue Squad, Leesburg Police Department, Cherokee County Sheriffs Office, Floyd Ambulance Service, and ALEAs Marine Patrol Division responded and assisted with the incident. The investigation is ongoing. A violent weekend in Birmingham left 11 people shot in five different incidents throughout the city. Two of those victims died, and two others are fighting for their lives. Birmingham police on Monday addressed the violence, noting that three of the shootings took place in the South Precincts territory. Those incidents included Friday night gunfire at an adult birthday party that killed one person and wounded three others, a Sunday morning shooting outside a Lakeview bar that injured four people, and a deadly shooting in the parking garage of a Highland Avenue apartment building. Three shooting incidents were responded to and investigated by South Precinct patrol officers from the same shift, according to a statement released by BPD Monday morning. This speaks to what all our officers endure daily and the dedication they have to the City of Birmingham. Four of the shootings involved situations in which a victim was targeted, police said. We are continuing to see violence used to resolve often simple disputes and conflicts, the departments statement read. The Birmingham Police Department is committed to working together with the community to change this narrative. Gunfire erupted Friday, May 19, 2023, in a Birmingham neighborhood. At least four people were shot, and at least one of those victims died. (Carol Robinson) The weekend bloodshed began Friday night when someone opened fire on the outdoor birthday gathering in the 900 block of 47th Street North, an area known as Baby Kingston. Police said at least 20 shots were fired. Roshode Darnell Davidson, 36, and two other men were wounded. A woman was also thought to be shot, but authorities later determined her injuries were not from the gunfire. All four were taken to UAB Hospital, where Davidson was pronounced dead. The other three victims are expected to be OK. From what we were told, the suspect approached on foot, there was no argument, and the suspect began firing at the crowd, Officer Truman Fitzgerald said at Fridays scene. Its very alarming. We need this person off the streets. No arrests have been announced. Gunfire erupted in the parking lot outside Tin Roof in Birmingham's Lakeview District early Sunday, May 21, 2023, sending four people to the hospital. (Carol Robinson) On Sunday about 12:45 a.m. shots were exchanged in the parking lot of Tin Roof in Birminghams popular Lakeview District. The bar is located at 2709 Seventh Ave. South. An off-duty Birmingham police officer was working security at the bar when someone told him there was a shooting in the parking lot. First responders arrived to find a male shot and a female grazed by a bullet outside Tin Roof. Both were transported to UAB Hospital. The male sustained life-threatening injuries. An SUV fled the scene after the shooting. That vehicle was stopped by police on 21st Street between Seventh and Eighth Avenues. Inside the SUV were two males, both seriously injured. They, too, were taken to UAB Hospital, where one of them was deemed to also have life-threatening injuries. Fitzgerald said the shooting happened after a physical altercation in the parking lot. Detectives are working to determine who started the altercation. Just hours later, police responded to a call of shots fired in the parking garage of an upscale Southside apartment building. A man was shot to death Sunday, May 21, 2023, at Cortland Vesta apartments on Highland Avenue in Birmingham. (Carol Robinson) Officers were alerted just before 5:30 a.m. that shots had been fired at Cortland Vesta, a Highland Avenue high rise. When they arrived at the building, they found 27-year-old Christian Breon Wyatt dead on the ground just inside the parking deck. Fitzgerald said investigators believe a confrontation took place inside the parking garage between Wyatt and the unknown suspect. It wasnt immediately clear if the victim and the suspect or suspects knew each other. No arrests have been announced. This is the first homicide to happen at Cortland Vesta, which opened in 2020. This is just an example how violence does not discriminate which area it comes to, Fitzgerald said Sunday. Unfortunately, we have had a violent weekend and weve seen violence take place in areas that are not common. Its an eye-opener. Later in the day, just before 3 p.m., North precinct officers were dispatched to the 3000 Block of 31st Avenue North on report of a person shot. Officers arrived on the scene and found a man in a yard suffering from an apparent gunshot wound. Birmingham Fire and Rescue Service transported him to UAB Hospital with life-threatening injuries. Fitzgerald said investigators believe the suspect confronted the victim then fired shots him. The two know each other. No one is in custody. Shortly after 8:30 p.m. Sunday, East Precinct officers were dispatched to 9225 Parkway East, also on report of a person shot. Once at the location, officers spotted an adult male on the ground suffering from an apparent gunshot wound. He was taken to UAB Hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. Fitzgerald said police believe the wounded man may have been the victim of a robbery. A woman was taken into custody as a person of interest. The two weekend homicides brought the citys tally this year to 49. Of those, one was an officer-involved shooting by an outside law enforcement agency and two others have been ruled justifiable. At this time last year, there had been 52 homicides in the city. In all of Jefferson County this year, there have been 61 homicides, including the 49 in Birmingham. At this time last year, there had been 68 homicides. Anyone with information on any of the weekend shootings is asked to call homicide detectives at 205-254-1764 or Crime Stoppers at 205-254-7777. Eight Republican-led states this year left an interstate cooperative that seeks to maintain accurate voter registration rolls, and three more may join them a move that election security experts say is fueled by conspiracy theories. Earlier this month, Virginias top election official said the state would become the latest to stop participating in the Electronic Registration Information Center, commonly called ERIC, because of concerns over privacy and confidentiality of voter information, among a list of other reasons. See also: Wes Allen withdraws Alabama from multi-state voter information center Other states with Republican-led legislatures may soon leave ERIC, including Alaska, Texas and Wisconsin, where lawmakers may propose or already have introduced legislation to leave the cooperative. Republican lawmakers in North Carolina and Oklahoma have also proposed legislation that would prevent their states from joining ERIC. Election security experts worry the move is part of a larger trend away from nonpartisan election administration, potentially leading to inaccurate voter databases. To prevent voter fraud, the nonprofit organization compares voter registration data from participating states with federal death and postal records to help states rid voter rolls of people who may have moved or died. Participating states also must send postcards to residents who are eligible to vote but are unregistered. Its a disturbing continuation of a trend weve seen of a breakdown of bipartisan consensus about good election administration. Alice Clapman, Brennan Center for Justice Until this year, ERIC was seen as one of the least controversial election programs in the country, with a mix of red and blue states participating and a mission to not only keep clean voter rolls (a common demand of Republican-led states) but also to encourage voter registration (a priority for Democrats). But Republican attitudes toward the program changed over the past year with the rise of disinformation surrounding the countrys election systems, fueled by criticism from former President Donald Trump and his allies. Trump falsely claimed that ERIC pumps the rolls for Democrats and does nothing to clean them up. The eight states that left the group this year have not entirely mimicked Trumps language but have complained about its push to help register new voters and about rigid internal rules that make it difficult to change bylaws. In short, ERICs mandate has expanded beyond that of its initial intent to improve the accuracy of voter rolls, wrote Virginia Elections Commissioner Susan Beals in a May 11 letter to ERIC. Beals, who was appointed by Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin, said the state would seek information-sharing agreements with its neighboring states in an apolitical fashion. Virginia was one of seven founding members of ERIC when it launched in 2012, backed by then-Gov. Bob McDonnell, a Republican. Another reason Beals cites for leaving ERIC is the increasing and uncertain costs associated with the departures of seven other states that have left the cooperative this year: Alabama, Florida, Iowa, Louisiana, Missouri, Ohio and West Virginia. Twenty-five other states are still in ERIC, which is funded by member states fees. In a March open letter, Shane Hamlin, the organizations executive director, addressed the misinformation surrounding ERIC and defended its voter data security measures. ERIC is never connected to any states voter registration system, he wrote. Members retain complete control over their voter rolls, and they use the reports we provide in ways that comply with federal and state laws. The departures have rattled many in the elections field, who say an accurate voter roll is a moving target, because voters move, come of age and die every day. Alice Clapman, senior counsel in the voting rights program at the nonprofit Brennan Center for Justice, said it is extremely hypocritical for Republican leaders who say they want to fight voter fraud to leave a program that helps prevent it by maintaining accurate voter rolls. Im concerned about it, she said. Its a disturbing continuation of a trend weve seen of a breakdown of bipartisan consensus about good election administration. When Missouri Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft joined ERIC in 2018, he thought it would be a good way to have safer, more credible elections by going after multistate voter fraud. But the Republican soon developed concerns over the organizations mandate that states reach out to residents who are not registered to vote, which he said is a waste of money and could be viewed as partisan. Im harassing people that already said, No, he said in an interview with Stateline. Why am I involved with that? Ill make it easy to register and if there are problems with that system Ill listen, and well improve it. Ashcroft said he argued for months for systemic changes to ERIC to no avail, including advocating for the removal of a hyperpartisan individual on the organizations board, alluding to David Becker, who helped found ERIC and was a non-voting member. Becker, who is now the executive director of the nonpartisan Center for Election Innovation & Research, a nonprofit that supports local election officials nationwide, has been one of the nations most vocal critics of the election disinformation and denialism that spread after Trump falsely claimed the 2020 presidential election was stolen. Becker left ERIC in March, attributing his departure to a heavy personal workload. Becker has been disappointed to see ERIC lose states. Its unfortunate that some states are succumbing to that ongoing onslaught of disinformation, he told Stateline when he left ERIC. If people are going to make decisions based on politics, theres really nothing you can do to stop them. Some Republicans have defended the utility of ERIC, including Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, who said in March that states that prioritize actual election integrity over politics are going to stay in ERIC, giving them more accurate voter rolls than those states that left. In California, a Democratic-sponsored proposal to join ERIC, currently making its way through committees in the state Assembly, enjoys bipartisan support. ERIC will still be a useful tool for the remaining states, especially if California joins, said Pamela Smith, president and chief executive officer of the nonprofit Verified Voting, noting the state accounts for a tenth of the voters in the country. When that bill gets through the process, it will be sizable in its impact given the quantity of data involved, she said, offsetting much of the lost data from states recently departing. ___ (c)2023 Stateline.org Visit Stateline.org at www.stateline.org Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. A planned weekend event at a Birmingham library focused on teaching children about sexual consent was canceled due to threats, the events organizers said. The Alabama Campaign for Adolescent Sexual Health had planned a Consent for Kids Fair for this past Saturday at the Springville Road Public Library in Birmingham. Two days before the event, Alabama Campaign and library staff received emails asking for the cancellation of the event, claiming it was inappropriate for children and adults, a statement read. Birmingham police told AL.com they were not aware of any threats in connection with the event. These emails were followed by numerous phone calls personally attacking and threatening library staff. Callers also implied that the event would be disrupted, the organizers statement continued. The event is being rescheduled for this summer once there are systems in place to ensure no one is harassed or otherwise harmed. The activities planned included a story hour, featuring childrens books such as Will Ladybug Hug?, Can I Give You a Squish?, and Dont Hug Doug (He Doesnt Like It). Other activities included pin the ovary on the uterus; coloring station; and gender creative fashion show, in which children can try on different clothes to explore self-expression, the statement read. It was intended to make sex education less scary and more fun, said executive director of the Alabama Campaign, Christina Clark Okarmus. Yellowhammer Fund is deeply saddened to learn that a family friendly event at our local library is being attacked simply for teaching children about consent and their bodies, said event partner, Heidi Miller of Yellowhammer Fund. Alabama consistently fails children in our state when it comes to comprehensive sexual health education, Miller said. Alabamians of all ages deserve to have bodily autonomy without state or religious interference. We are in the process of developing a strong safety plan for this event when it happens later this summer. We will not let misinformation and hate deter us from our mission to support young people in making informed and healthy decisions for their own bodies and lives, said Alabama Campaign outreach coordinator, Meagan Lyle. We have never seen controversy around events that we host at the Alabama Campaign, but the Alabama legislature has recently introduced several anti-LGBTQ bills, and there has been a rise in parental rights extremism, so we dont think this is a coincidence, said Clark Okarmus. New evidence shows that Bryan Kohberger may have infiltrated a womans home months before he allegedly carried out Novembers slayings of four University of Idaho students, a news report says. Kohberger befriended a woman, snuck into her home and moved items around before convincing her to let him install a video security system, a recent report by NBCs Dateline says. Kohberger and the woman were both students at Washington State University in Pullman, Washington, when he reportedly moved around items in her home to make her feel uneasy and fearful. When the woman asked Kohberger unaware that he may have been the perpetrator Kohberger convinced her to install the video security system. Authorities say that Kohberger may have been able to hack the system and view the footage remotely, because he knew the womans WiFi information. I would expect that he orchestrated the whole thing, said retired FBI profiler Greg Cooper, who spoke on the episode of Dateline. (Kohberger) orchestrated it so that she would come to him ... its another level of having power and control over another person, Cooper added. The break-in allegations come just days after Kohberger was indicted for the deaths of four University of Idaho students: Madison Mogen, Kaylee Goncalves, Ethan Chapin, and Xana Kernodle. The students, all in their 20s, were reportedly sleeping in their off-campus home in Moscow, Idaho after a night out when they were gruesomely stabbed to death on the morning of Nov. 13, 2022. ______ 2023 New York Daily News. Visit nydailynews.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. After his capture in Evansville, Indiana, Casey White told investigators it was Vicky Whites idea to break him out of the Lauderdale County jail, according to a report by the Evansville Courier & Press. Captured after Vicky White took her own life as they were pursued by police, Casey White said the former jailer did not believe he killed Connie Ridgeway in 2015, the report stated. Vicky asked White if he wanted to get out, a summary of his interrogation stated. Full coverage of the search for Casey White and Vicky White Casey White told interviewers he thought her offer was a ruse, the Courier & Press report states. White thought it was a set-up as a way to get him on the outside to be killed, the summary states. Also during the interview, a U.S. Marshals Task Force member noticed Casey White had a tattoo on the inside of one of his wrists that said Vicky. It went across, it was in cursive... Its not small. It was unclear, the notes state, how he got it. Authorities have released the name of a couple found dead Friday in an apparent murder-suicide. The Jefferson County Coroners Office identified them as Jennifer Lee Salvadori, 52, and Billy Code Jewell, 51. Their bodies were discovered about 9:15 a.m. Friday inside a residence in the 300 block of Meadows Drive. That location is an apartment complex off Edwards Lake Road. Irondale police went to the apartment after a co-worker of Salvadori became concerned when she did not show up for work, said Chief Deputy Coroner Bill Yates. Once at the apartment, officers found Salvadori and Jewell unresponsive from gunshot wounds. They were pronounced dead on the scene shortly after 9:30 a.m. Authorities believe Jewell shot Salvadori, and then turned the gun on himself. It wasnt immediately clear when the shootings took place. Police said the two were in a dating relationship. The investigation is ongoing. Alabama Supreme Court Justice Jay Mitchell said a new version of the bar exam may water down the test by which examinees become licensed attorneys. In an opinion piece for The Wall Street Journal, Mitchell, an associate justice since his 2018 election, wrote that he has serious concerns about how the NextGen bar exam, scheduled to roll out in 2026, will affect the legal profession. According to Mitchell, the new test will be shorter than the current two-day evaluation, test fewer areas of law, and probe each subject less deeply. The National Conference of Bar Examiners, according to Reuters, began redeveloping the test two years ago, to place more emphasis on legal skills and deemphasize doctrinal law memorization. The new test omits questions on family law, estates and trusts, in favor of testing for skill sets such as client counseling. client relationships, legal research, legal writing, and negotiations. In particular, Mitchell said the new test will put considerable emphasis on examinees race, sex, gender identity, nationality and other identity-based characteristics. The idea seems to be that any differences in group outcomes must be eliminatedeven if the only way to achieve this goal is to water down the test, Mitchell wrote. He went on to state that an ACLU representative at the NCBE conference argued that states should minimize or overlook would-be lawyers convictions for various criminal offenses in deciding whether to admit them to the bar. Mitchell said the NCBE, which administers the bar exam, should disclose the content and scoring of NextGen before the next academic year, to give law schools and students a chance to prepare. He also argued that states should push for the option to retain the current exam for at least the next five to 10 years until they can properly assess the exams effectiveness, and insist that the new exam will be ideologically neutral and blind to race and sex. The bar exam should test the law straightwithout respect to ideology and on a race- and sex-blind basis, Mitchell said. The Alabama Senate Thursday approved a bill that could subject an adult who shoots a gun on school property to prison time. HB 34, sponsored by Rep. Tracy Estes, R-Winfield, passed the Senate 31-0. The bill goes to Gov. Kay Ivey. Sen. Will Barfoot, R-Pike Road, who carried the bill in the Senate, said the legislation addresses a real problem that they have seen across the state, though he did not cite a specific example. More from Alabama Reflector The meat of the bill basically says that no person shall shoot or discharge a firearm on school property, he said. Under current law, a person who fires a gun into an unoccupied school bus or building is guilty of a Class C felony, punishable by up to 10 years in prison. A person who fires a gun into an occupied school bus or building is guilty of a Class B felony, punishable by up to 20 years in prison. Estess bill adds the following: A person who shoots or discharges a firearm during school hours or during after school activity could be punished by a Class B felony. Other than above, a person who shoots or discharges a firearm on school property is guilty of a Class C felony. If the person is justified in their use of physical force, they would not be guilty. Practicing for a performance by an organized group under a 501(c)(3) status, a school-sanctioned event or a competition does not apply. People under 19 are not in violation of this section. In response to a question by Sen. Rodger Smitherman, D-Birmingham, Barfoot said that while the bill does not include mention of intent, he believes that intent would be part of the bill. Smitherman had given the example of if a teacher or resource officer accidentally discharged a gun. It is my belief that there would have to be an intent rather than a negligent-type action, Barfoot said. The nurses for the jail in Walker County are cooperating with the FBI in its investigation into the case of an inmate who froze to death earlier this year, according to court filings. They were two of the best nurses the company has, said attorney LaBella McCallum. She is representing nurses Brad Allred and Aleisha Herron in the federal lawsuit brought by Margaret Mitchell, the mother and administrator of the estate of Anthony Mitchell, 33, who died after two weeks in the North Alabama jail. McCallum said the nurses requested an ambulance for Mitchell, but jailers needed to make the call. The nurses followed the procedure to ask the jailers to call an ambulance, said McCallum. I dont want to throw the jailers under the bus, (but) you cant call for an ambulance yourself as a nurse. The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Alabamas northern district on February 13, against Sheriff Nick Smith and 13 staff at the county jail, including corrections officers, nurses and an investigator, alleges Mitchell was left in a frigid, isolated environment without water or access to food, that his false teeth were confiscated and that he was denied medical care, resulting in his death by hypothermia in the Walker Baptist Medical Center on January 27. Mitchell, already stressed by dehydration from receiving no water for over two days, (became) severely hypothermic overnight and into the morning hours, the lawsuit complaint stated. Shortly after the lawsuit was filed, the FBI announced an investigation into Mitchells death. The lawsuit initially suggested that one way Mitchell could have frozen to death was by being placed in a walk-in freezer, but that theory has been dropped and the family now claims he was likely kept in a frigid cell, left to lie on a bare floor, until he became unresponsive. The complaint alleges that as Mitchell was dying on the morning of the 27th as jail staff delayed calling for an ambulance for several critical hours. In a hearing in the federal lawsuit Monday, McCallum asked U.S. District Judge Annemarie Carney Axon to order a partial stay on the civil case. She asked to postpone discovery and deposition of her clients out of concern that there could be a possible criminal case, if there is an indictment following the FBI investigation. Its just messy, McCallum told the court. Really what I think were asking for is a balance between the plaintiffs interest and the publics interest in having the (case) go forward. According to McCallum, the nurses do not want to risk the possibility of having their credibility questioned in a criminal case based on statements they make in a civil case. But, she said, they have nothing to hide. She said they told the jailers to call 911 as soon as they observed Mitchell in distress and they followed up on that request, according to McCallum, who said the nurses followed jail procedure for calling an ambulance, which requires the jailers to prepare the inmate for transport and to make the call. Mitchell was arrested on January 12 after his family called the sheriffs department concerned that he was having a psychotic break and that his drug use had escalated in the months following the death of his father. Mitchell had a history of methamphetamine use. Attorney for Mitchells estate, Will Smith, told the judge he was concerned about a stay in the lawsuit resulting in a delay in the trial and that some evidence, like phone records, might be lost if the discovery process is delayed. We are of course eager to get the case moving, said Smith. Were sensitive to the fact that a criminal investigation doesnt have an end point. Judge Carney Axon questioned McCallum about her reasoning for asking for the partial stay and expressed hesitation about slowing proceedings. I am very concerned about the open-endedness of the delay with respect to the criminal investigation said judge Carney Axon. If I had a dollar for every time I was told a criminal investigation would be brief. Have you ever paid for timed parking and then your meeting ran a little longer than you anticipated? By the time you get out you realize youve gone over your allotted time but you hustle to your car in the hopes that you havent been towed yet. Local investor Matt Lyons recently returned 15 minutes after he thought his parking time was up (it had actually been expired for about 30 minutes) to see that he had just missed a Parking Enforcement Systems (PES) truck towing his car out of a lot across from the Economic Development Partnership of Alabama (EDPA) on 1st Avenue South in Birmingham. I went to a meeting at the Economic Development Partnership of Alabama, said Lyons. The parking spots immediately in front of it were filled, but there was a parking lot across the street that had one of those ParkMobile signs. And so, I said, okay, well, thats, thats easy enough, Ive used ParkMobile before. And Ill just park in that lot. And so anyway, I parked in that lot. And I logged into the application and set myself up for three hours of parking. Thinking that it was supposed to end around noon. And, you know, went through the meeting. Part of this meeting involved traveling off site and looking at some buildings that that are being developed. So, we did that. And we got back a little bit late, I would say around, you know somewhere between 12:15, 12:30. And my car had been towed. The crowds waited with eager anticipation as Brian Stovers 10.5-foot long blue marlin was hoisted into the air at the Orange Beach Billfish Classic. Finally, the number was announced: 776.4 pounds -- a new record for the 27-year-old tournament. Stover, a county commissioner from Paulding County, Ga., caught the record-setter aboard the Mollie, captained by Jeff Shoults, a veteran of more than three decades in catching blue marlin. Stover told AL.com they were fishing about 240-250 miles southwest of Orange Beach, or about 150 miles off the coast of Louisiana, when he hooked the fish. He said he battled the behemoth for about 4 1/2 hours before it was finally in the boat. Throughout the fight, he was sure the fish would meet the minimum length of 107-inches to have it weighed, but others on the Mollie werent certain. Then, finally, the fish wore down and came around near the back corner of the boat, with its head popping up out of the water for the first time. At that moment, everybody was seeing what I had been feeling, Stover said. That thing was like a dinosaur coming out of the water. The head was huge. Stover said most of his previous marlin fishing has been on trips to Costa Rica, but his largest catch previously was only 350 pounds -- less than half of his Orange Beach catch. Shoults was named the 2021 Gulf of Mexico Captain of the Year by In The Bite, the professional sportfishing magazine. Hes won countless tournaments and caught a number of huge marlin over the years, but said in a video on the tournament Facebook page this weekends catch was his largest. The Mollies marlin also brought in a winners check of $183,000. While Stovers catch was a record-setter for the tournament, it wasnt quite large enough to eclipse the Alabama state record of 851.9 pounds set by Ginger Myers during the Mongo Offshore Challenge in 2020. The Orange Beach Billfish Classic is one of premier sportfishing events on the Gulf Coast and over its lifetime has donated more than $730,000 to organizations dedicated to the conservation and health of the billfish population. Before the dedication ceremony for the Alabama Holocaust Education Centers new facility in Birmingham on Monday, Holocaust survivor Riva Schuster Hirsch, pushing a walker, made her way over to meet Gov. Kay Ivey, U.S. Sen. Katie Britt and other dignitaries. Hirsch, 89, one of the few living Holocaust survivors in Alabama, greeted Ivey, Britt and Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin before the ceremony. Then, Britt brought her to tears with an emotional speech. White supremacy and racism of any kind have no place in our society, Britt said. I hope that each and every one of you will learn more by walking through that space, hearing the stories, and the history of the innocent lives lost and the strength of those who lived to tell us their story, she added, gesturing toward Hirsch. Hirsch, sitting in a front pew at Temple Emanu-El, began to sob. Before going back to her seat for the rest of the program, Britt went to Hirsch and shared a long embrace with her, as Hirsch continued to wipe away tears. Hirsch kissed her on the cheek. Hirsch, who was born in what is now Ukraine in 1933, was hidden by nuns in a convent from 1943-45 after her family fled from the invading German army in 1941. Hirsch is among 172 Alabama Holocaust survivors whose stories are told in the center, which occupies a wing inside Temple Emanu-El, 2100 Highland Ave. Its a window to the past, Ivey said. Its a powerful resource to guide humanity forward to love and understanding of all. Marilyn Pipkin, Atlanta Musicians Orchestra Concertmaster, played a violin from the Violins of Hope, a collection of restored instruments that survived the Holocaust. The renovation of the 8,320 square foot facility provides a home designed for AHECs programs and museum exhibits. Online visitor reservations will be available during the summer. The decimation of 6 million Jews and other victims during the Holocaust took place because individuals, groups, and nations made decisions to act or not to act, said David Silverstein, board chair of the Alabama Holocaust Education Center. It was not inevitable. Focusing on those decisions provides insights into history, human nature, and the type of leaders our world desperately needs. Established in 2002, the Alabama Holocaust Education Center is a nonprofit organization that educates the public about the history and lessons of the Holocaust. Authorities are searching for answers in the shooting death of a 33-year-old Dallas County woman. Sheriffs deputies were dispatched May 13, to a report of a shooting in the 9000 block of County Road 3 in Marion Junction in Marion County. When they arrived, they found Diane Renee Fitts dead from a gunshot wound. Investigators say someone fired into Fitts home between 7:30 a.m. and 8 a.m. that Saturday, fatally striking Fitts. Multiple 7.62 mm shell casings were recovered from the scene. Central Alabama Crime Stoppers is offering a $1,000 cash reward for information that leads to the identity and arrest of the suspect. Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 334-215-STOP (7867) or 1-833-AL1-STOP (251-7867). Tips can also be submitted through the P3-tips app. A national group dedicated to helping the wrongfully convicted is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to review the case of Alabama Death Row inmate Toforest Johnson because of numerous warning signs that Johnson is set to die for a crime he did not commit. The Innocence Project provided an amicus brief in support of Johnsons case on Monday. If ever a case bore the hallmarks of a wrongful conviction, Toforest Johnsons is it, reads the filing. Johnson, 50, was convicted of the 1995 shooting of Jefferson County Deputy Sheriff William Hardy. Johnson is currently incarcerated at William C. Holman Correctional Facility in Atmore. His lawyers are arguing the nations highest court should review his case because, they claim, the key witness was secretly paid a reward for her testimony. According to their filing, The Innocence Project -- a national, nonprofit organization that provides services to people who are incarcerated -- has provided representation or assistance in most of the 375 DNA exonerations in the United States, as well as numerous exonerations based on constitutional violations. The Innocence Project argues this case presents numerous warning signs that strongly point to Johnsons innocence. The legal brief comes on the day the Alabama Attorney Generals Office was set to file their response to Johnsons argument, but the states deadline was pushed back after they asked for more time to reply. Lindsey Boney, partner at Bradley Arant Boult Cummings in Birmingham who represents The Innocence Project, filed the brief. New evidence suggests that a tragic mistake has been made here, he said Monday morning, and the Supreme Court has the power to intervene. The filing said, Inconsistent prosecutorial theories, a prosecution that depends on a single earwitness identification (who was paid an undisclosed reward for her testimony, no less), and later-expressed prosecutorial doubt about the strength of the case . . . this case checks all the boxes. The U.S. Supreme Court justices have reviewed the case before. In 2017 the court ruled in favor of Johnson, sending the case back to Alabama courts. That appeal wound its way through the state court system for years, with the Alabama Supreme Court declining to review the case in December. Now, Johnsons case is again pending in the U.S. Supreme Court, waiting to see if the justices will take a look at the case based on claims regarding a witness who said she heard Johnson confess over a phone call. She was later paid $5,000 for her testimony, which Johnsons legal team did not confirm until 2018. Following his 1998 conviction, Johnsons lawyers argued that prosecutors suppressed evidence that Violet Ellison knew about the reward money being offered in the case, and that she was hoping to get the cash. That argument was litigated throughout the court system from 2003 until 2018. The Innocence Project argues in their filing that the state presented at least five different, contradictory theories of who shot Deputy Sheriff William Hardy during the long legal battle that led to Johnsons 1998 conviction. Both Jefferson County District Attorney Danny Carr and the original prosecutor in the case have called for a new trial in Johnsons case. And, Johnson has many high-profile supporters, including Former Alabama Chief Justice Drayton Nabers and former Alabama Attorney General Bill Baxley. Each of these aspects of Johnsons case is a hallmark of wrongful conviction, a red flag that should stop reviewing courts in their tracks. All of them combined in a single case should create unavoidable doubt in the outcome of the trial, said The Innocence Project filing. Amicus curiae briefs are sometimes called friend of the court filings and are provided by people not directly involved in the particular case, but who have a strong interest in the matter, according to Cornell Law Schools legal information institute. A second amicus brief also was filed Monday by Washington D.C. law firm Morrison Foerster on behalf of a Texas man who spent over 18 years in prison and 12 years on death row before being exonerated. Read more about a recent Birmingham event that focused on Johnsons case. The Huntsville City Board of Education is hoping to name a successor to Christie Finley as superintendent as early as mid-June. The board is accepting applications through May 26 in its search. It has also named chief of staff Clarence Sutton as interim superintendent when Finleys retirement becomes effective June 1. Finley has served as superintendent for five years. If the board meets their very fast deadline, he may only be interim for a couple of weeks, said Huntsville City Schools attorney Christopher Pape, whose firm Lanier Ford is assisting with the search. The board is targeting a June 13 vote on a new superintendent. Sutton was promoted to chief of staff in December, Pape said. He previously served as deputy superintendent of learning supports, a role he is still filling. Pape said the board is expected to vote on a bare-bones contract for Sutton at its Thursday meeting. Board members will begin ranking applicants after the application period closes. Pape said board members individually rank their top five choices in compliance with Alabamas open meeting law. The board will select three finalists based on the ranking system. The three finalists will then be contacted to set up interviews. The finalists will be announced to the public at a meeting on June 6. Well have a PowerPoint where we will have the names of each person, a quick snippet of their background, and the board between June 7-12 will schedule public interviews, Pape said. My guess is that with only three finalists, those interviews will all be on the same day. The public can come and attend those. He said the interviews will not be live-streamed as not to give any of the applicants a leg up to hear what the other finalists say. But the interviews will be recorded and the recordings will be posted for the public to view after the interviews are finished. The board approved the search process at its meeting on April 25, with the position posting the next day. The qualifications include general fitness and character appropriate to the position; a doctoral degree in education from an accredited college or university; a certification in administration; 10 years of educational administrative experience (assistant principal, principal, and district administrator); 15 years preferred; successful experience in and general knowledge of public school administration; and such other minimum qualifications as may be established by statute or the State Board of Education. The total compensation package for the position, including salary, will be between $190,000 to $285,000. Depending on the circumstances, the board may select a lower or higher amount. Scott Turner reports from Huntsville for the Lede. The Biden administration should not just worry about how Sen. Tommy Tuberville will respond to its reported decision to keep U.S. Space Command in Colorado instead of moving the headquarters to Alabama, the senator said Monday. It should also be afraid of Mike Rogers, the Republican House member from east Alabama and chairman of the House Armed Services Committee Alabama congressman who urged the White House to preserve all documents related to the decision, according to Tuberville. Reports say the administration is afraid of aggravating me over U.S. Space Command, Tuberville tweeted, referring to the NBC report quoting an anonymous Biden administration official as saying the White House was delaying announcing the decision they dont want to aggravate Tuberville even more. They also need to be afraid of Chairman @RepMikeRogersAL, the senator said, using the congressmans Twitter handle. Reports say the administration is afraid of aggravating me over U.S. Space Command. They also need to be afraid of Chairman @RepMikeRogersAL. https://t.co/UNHSZHpjnI Coach Tommy Tuberville (@SenTuberville) May 22, 2023 The unnamed official cited by NBC News was alluding to the senators holding up of more than 180 military nominations over the Defense Departments new abortion policies. President Trump ordered Space Commands headquarters to move from Colorado Springs to Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, but the Biden White House reopened the base selection process after accusing Trump of basing the decision on politics. Unnamed administration officials told NBC News that Biden plans to keep Space Force headquarters in Colorado over Alabamas strict abortion law that bans the procedure except in cases where the life of the mother is threatened. Meanwhile, the Biden administration is facing the same claims from Alabama elected officials on both sides of the aisle who claim the White House is playing politics with the move. Sign up for John Hammontrees weekly newsletter The Conversation: Subscribe today to get a Wednesday exploration of what's leading the national conversation through ideas, perspectives and people that you're not likely to find in other media. Today would have been Harvey Milks 93rd birthday. At only 48 years old, Milk, a member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors that made history in 1977 as the first openly gay public official was assassinated the following year. Following his assassination was a collective sense of loss for the LGBTQ community, which resulted in a swarm of vigils across the country, from San Francisco to Washington D.C. Following the grief of losing Milk was also a powerful sense of anger from the community. When Milks murderer was only sentenced to eight years in prison in 1979, a protest by the San Francisco community known as the White Night Riots let people know that [there was] a dividing line in how the city treated gay people, Vince Emery, editor of The Harvey Milk Interviews: In His Own Words, a collection of Milks unpublished interviews, tells Reckon. There were thousands of [people that night], and they were a cohesive political force that could not be ignored. That political force persisted long after the riots. Despite not being in office for a year, Milks contributions set the momentum for political changes to come. Milk played a key role in defeating Californias Proposition 6, which would have banned LGBTQ teachers from working. Since then, not only do we have anti-discrimination policies throughout the country, but we also have laws explicitly protecting the LGBTQ communityfrom the Hate Crimes Prevention Act to the legalization of same-sex marriage. Today, we have more openly LGBTQ political leaders in office since Milk who are making direct changes for the community like never before. Still, the fight for justice remains to be a centerpoint of the LGBTQ communitys mission, especially in the face of gun violence. In schools, LGBTQ youth are more likely to be threatened or harmed with a weapon, according to Human Rights Campaigns (HRC) analysis of public-use data from the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System (YRBSS). The analysis found that while 6% of non-LGBTQ youth have been threatened or injured with a weapon on school property, 17% of LGBTQ youth, 29% of transgender youth, and 30% of questioning youth had experienced these offenses. In cases outside of Milks, some anti-LGBTQ motivated hate crimes result in multiple queer and trans victims. According to Everytown, a nonprofit advocating for gun control against gun violence, 17% of the reported hate crimes in 2020 were related to anti-LGBTQ bias and prejudice. Like Milks story, the LGBTQ community never fails to show up for each other in the face of gun violence. Be it the assassination or the mass shootings in nightclubs from recent years, queer and trans people persist through gatherings, protests, vigils, political involvement and the establishment of nonprofit organizations. In honor of Harvey Milk Day, today is a reminder of the ways LGBTQ people show up for each other in the face of gun violence such as the Pulse nightclub and Club Q. LGBTQ Floridians rely on each other amidst lack of gun reform after Pulse shooting In one of the deadliest mass shootings in American history, Omar Mateen opened fire in June 2016 once he entered Pulse, an LGBTQ nightclub in Orlando, Fl. As a result, 49 peoplemajority Latinx and LGBTQdied. We will not be defined by the act of a cowardly hater, Orlandos Mayor Buddy Dyer tweeted the morning after. We will be defined by how we respond, how we treat each other. A week following the incident, Democrats and Republicans of Florida put forth four amendments to further reinforce background checks and prevent those who are suspected as terrorists from purchasing firearms. The Senate, however, rejected to advance the four separate measures intended to curb gun sales. The community, then, took matters into their own hands to show up for those affected by the tragedy. Pulse of Orlando, an all-volunteer organization and nonprofit was formed to funnel direct financial assistance to survivors and their families. They became the first organization to distribute funds to the communitywith over $325,000 given. Loving Life Today is a mental health and wellness clinic based in Tampa that started a grief support group for those involved in the shooting. The owner of Pulse nightclub, Barbara Poma founded the onePULSE Foundation, another nonprofit dedicated to the tragedy. Last month, Poma, who had plans of establishing a museum and public park to memorialize the incident announced her departure from the nonprofit. A group called The Community Coalition Against a Pulse Museum (CCAPM), consisting of surviving victims and family members released a statement last year encouraging Poma to not profit from the shooting. Money raised in the name of the mass shooting should go to the continued care of survivors, CCAPMs website noted. They also criticize the city for not making real changes that would prevent further harm to Orlandos LGBTQ community. A Vice President at the time and then President five years later, President Joe Biden insisted in 2021 that the Senate pass gun legislation for what he deemed was a public health epidemic of gun violence. Pulse Nightclub is hallowed ground, he said in a statement marking the 5th anniversary of the shooting in Pulse. We must also acknowledge gun violences particular impact on LGBTQ+ communities across our nation. We must drive out hate and inequities that contribute to the epidemic of violence and murder against transgender womenespecially transgender women of color. As of last year, survivors of the Pulse shooting remain discouraged about the future of gun control. When I see mass shootings, in particularand any gun violenceit always hits a point of hurt and sadness, Patience Murray, survivor of the shooting told The Guardian. Im reminded that were still in the same place that we were before of hoping that we could see a change with policy. While LGBTQ people of Orlando, Fl. continue to anticipate gun reform, community members rely on each other. In HBO Maxs Were Here, a reality show hosted by three drag queens, everyday people are adopted by each drag queen to discover their drag persona, followed by a grand finale performance. In season 3, which aired Nov. 25, 2022, one of the hosts Shangela is paired with Vico Baez Febo, a survivor of the Pulse shooting. Febo reveals that he has done drag in the past, though has been afraid of reentering the nightlife scene since surviving the 2016 shooting. In the end of the episode, Febo manages to shake off the fear and perform a song as Jaslene DuClair Wadley. Because of [Pulse], I carry the baggage of being a survivor, said the queen through tears and the cheers of the audience. Im not gonna let it hold me back. Im gonna make it catapult me into better things. How Colorado implemented gun laws after deadly anti-LGBTQ shooting at Club Q On Nov. 19, 2022, in Colorado Springs, Colo., five people were killed and 25 were injured from a shooting at Club Q, an LGBTQ nightclub. The incident occurred on the eve of Trans Day of Remembrance, an annual observance that commemorates those who lost their lives to anti-trans violence. As a result, several community members rallied across the country to show solidarity with the LGBTQ community in Colorado Springs. Local organizations and bars in Washington D.C. held events and fundraisers to raise money for survivors of the shooting. In Lake Oswego, Ore., student organizers held a vigil at Millennium Plaza Park. Even the suspect was charged with a hate crime, something that California failed to do in light of Harvey Milks assassination. Most importantly, the governor of Colorado, Gov. Jared Polis passed four gun control bills as a result of the Club Q shooting, something that Florida was not able to do in the aftermath of the Pulse shooting. The new laws increased the minimum age to purchase firearms from 18 years old to 21, enforced a three-day wait between purchasing and possessing the firearm, expanded Colorados existing red flag law, and made it easier for gun violence victims to sue the gun industry. From hate crime charges to reformed gun laws, Colorados Club Q shooting aftermath managed to show up for LGBTQ safety in ways that were not successful in the case of Milk and Pulse. A world where life outside of the closet is safe Before his assassination, Milk taped voice recordings of his final words to the public. He had an inkling that because of his openness about his sexuality given the time period, his life would be taken. In his last words, he shared his vision of a world where the LGBTQ community will find more courage so that more people will come out, just as he did. If a bullet should enter my brain, let that bullet destroy every closet door in the country, he said in the recording. The power of queer and trans people being out and showing up for each other, according to Milk, is what can keep LGBTQ people safe. I would hope that they would take power, and I hope that five, ten, a hundred, a thousand would rise, he said. I would love to see every gay doctor come out. I would like to see every gay lawyer, every gay judge, every gay bureaucrat, every gay architect come out. Stand up. Let the world know. That would do more to end prejudice overnight than anybody could imagine. ILLEGAL ALIENS HAVE "BROKEN" OUR IMMIGRATION SYSTEM DO NOT REWARD THEM - DEPORT THEM ALL When using electroculture there is no need for the use of pesticides, manure, or fertilizers. This is primarily why this information was suppressed. All you need is the sun, the clouds, the rain, the nitrogen in the air, and the ability to harness atmospheric energy. These atmospheric antennas can be created from materials such as wood, copper, zinc, and brass. When adding these atmospheric antennas to your garden, soil, or farm they will amplify your yields, combat frost and excessive heat, reduce irrigation, reduce pests, and increase the magnetism of your soil leading to more nutrients in the long run. How do I make an electroculture antenna? Atmospheric antennas can be made out of wood dowels found at Home Depot, Lowes, or a local piece of wood from your backyard. The taller you make the antenna the larger your plants will grow. Justin Christofleua recommended 20 feet+, but any height will do. You can wrap the wood dowel or local wood with copper & zinc wiring making a fibonacci spiral or vortex up in the air facing Magnetic North. The combination of zinc and copper can work like a battery when the sun hits the the antenna. You will then place this antenna about 6-8 inches into your soil and let Mother Nature do the magic. Get creative, try different designs, and you will see the true potential of electroculture. How does the electroculture antenna work? The antenna harvests the energy of the earth through the series of vibration and frequency.which occur. An example are the rain, wind,and temperature fluctuations. These antennas lead to stronger plants, more moisture for the soil, and reduced pest infestations. This is one of the many reasons we have not been taught about this ancient practice. Can I just use a copper pipe instead of making an antenna? You can use a copper pipe, but the best results coming from copper coils. The copper coil harness the flow of energy. Does electroculture work on indoor plants or potted plants? Electroculture works wonderfully on indoor plants! A simple chopstick can be used to create your indoor antenna. Instead of creating an electroculture antenna can I just wrap my plants in copper? The issue with wrapping plants in copper is not all plants enjoy being entangled. It is best to make a simple antenna and place it near the plants you want to help. How tall should the electroculture antenna be? You can make your atmospheric antennas as tall as you like. On average the best antennas are 6 feet+ to gather more atmospheric energy. How much square footage does an electroculture antenna cover? On average, one 6 foot antenna can cover about about 225 sqft. Which direction should I make my electroculture antenna? If you live in the Northern hemisphere you can wind your antenna clockwise. If you live in the Southern hemisphere you can wind your antenna Counter-Clockwise. Where can I find copper wire for electroculture? You can find copper wire at any hardware store. Does the copper thickness matter for electroculture? Any thickness of copper wiring will work, but if you would like you can always use a heavier gauge. Copper Gardening tools versus Iron Gardening tools: What we were never told When Victor schauburger was studying agriculture he noticed Copper/Brass/bronze tools would not impact the magnetism of the soil like those made of Iron. Iron tools decreased the magnetism of the soil, made the farmers work harder, and caused drought like conditions. While on the other hand copper/brass/bronze tools did not alter the magnetism of the soil, lead to high quality soil, and required less work when used. When Victor showed this to the local council they said his work would impact their profits on the fertilizer they are promoting. They decided to petition against him with the help of the local media to inform farmers they would yield too much food and it would lead to less money in their pocket. The farmers went against Victors work and this knowledge was lost in the 1950s. It is also noted that slugs only come around when high amounts of iron are present in the soil to clean up the mess their antennas are picking up. When using copper tools or atmospheric antennas the slugs disappear. Some interesting findings of Justin Christofleua* on electroculture plant growth: In fields in which were not manured or irrigated Oats grew upwards to 7 feet+ Potatoes grown in the same condition 6 feet 3inches high, carrying 30 to 35 tubers, and weighed 1 to 2 pounds per potato. Grape vineyards impacted by Phlyloxera were healed and rejuvenated. The grapes ended up sweeter and had a much richer flavor. Carrots grew to the lengths of 19 inches, beetroots to 18inches, and nearly 17 inches in circumference. An old pear tree which had hardly any bark left was fully rejuvenated by electroculture and started producing pears of up to 1 pound each. *All without the use of manure, pesticides, or fertilizer just the atmospheric energy, magnetism and telluric currents of the earth. A simple solution to solving the shortages we are all facing. In this ever changing world our health is the most important thing which we still have control over. Being pro-active on your health is just smart. Humic Fulvic Acid has taken the health supplement market by storm. But why is Humic Fulvic Acid so sought after? Science cannot create fulvic acid Fulvic acid offers a seemingly endless spectrum of benefits for human and animal health that would make any pharmaceutical company nervous. Fulvic acid cannot be made by man because it involves photosynthesis and humification. The process which creates fulvic acid requires natures recyclers, microorganisms, working in fertile, rich soil over a long period of time. Microbes decompose organic material (manure, compost, decaying plant material), in the soil to create nutrients for the plant including trace minerals, carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium (link is external). Microbes make the minerals in the soil into a useful form for plants and over time the microbes help create an amazing substance called humus (hyoo-muh s). Essentially, all life depends upon the soil there can be no life without soil and no soil without life ~ Charles E. Kellogg, head of the Soil Survey in the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) for 37 years (1934-1971) We never had to worry about getting enough Fulvic acid, it simply existed in our soil and in our food, since time began. Fertile soil, and the microbial life within it, is a highly valuable natural resource critical for food security and for human health. Fertile soil is teaming with microbial life (it is interesting to note there are more bacteria in two spoonfuls of rich, fertile soil than there are humans on planet earth). Sustainable farming practices that add compost and organic compounds to the soil help create a robust microbial community. Microbes are required for the cycle of life. They work to break down plant and animal matter, and over hundreds and thousands of years, fulvic acid is one of the end products of decomposition. Common agricultural practices cause the loss of Fulvic acid in food and the progressive deterioration of human health Over the past 50 to 100 years, farming practices that sustained humans for thousands of years have drastically changed. Chemical fertilizers, herbicides (link is external) and pesticides (link is external) were created to increase crop yield, kill insects and control weeds. Modern agricultural practices increase the amount of food produced but the toll this has taken on soil microbes, plant nutrients and human and animal health is underappreciated. While attempting to kill the pests and weeds and bolster plant production, the chemicals used in agriculture have inadvertently attacked friendly troops in the soil jungle. The price of growing food this way is dramatically altering the natural recycling process required in nature, and the downstream effects on human health are mounting. Fulvic acid may seem like just another nutrient that is declining in food, but it is actually the most important health-building compound because it is natures intended vehicle for transporting minerals and other nutrients into living cells. Fulvic acid is natures answer to depleted food and too many toxins Fulvic acid and humic acid are the key substances found in humus, the end result of the humification process where microbes in the soil break down once living matter, usually plants. It is believed that most of the health benefits attributed to Shilajit and humic substances are primarily due to the presence of fulvic acid. Fulvic acid is a very small molecule of low molecular weight. It is smaller than humic acid and penetrates the cell membrane and even the mitochondria. Because fulvic acid bonds easily to nutrients like vitamins and minerals, it efficiently delivers nutrients where they are needed. Without fulvic acid our bodies ability to absorb nutrients (from food or supplementation) is diminished. Fulvic acids small molecular weight coupled with the fact it is water soluble at all pH levels, makes it superior for working in the body to: deliver nutrients bring antioxidant benefits remove cellular waste products and toxins [xliii] You can trace every sickness, every disease and every ailment to a mineral deficiency. ~ Dr. Linus Pauling, awarded two Nobel Prizes It is well known that minerals are required for a range of biochemical processes, but mineral deficiencies are epidemic. Our food lacks the vitamin and mineral content that it should have and most supplements do not absorb well enough to correct mineral deficiencies. The fulvic acid complex contains bioavailable minerals and trace elements that are desperately needed to combat widespread mineral deficiency in humans. Fulvic acid is natures answer to the problem that man has created with over-farming and the production of processed foods. Fulvic acid is a magical vehicle with 60 seats The main components of Fulvic acid are carbon, hydrogen and oxygen. These molecules in fulvic acid easily bond to other molecules and transport them through the body. It can possess over 70 trace elements, electrolytes, polyphenols (link is external), flavonoids, and essential amino acids. Naturopathic physician, Dr. Daniel Nuzum, has been studying fulvic acid since 1998. He has used fulvic acid supplements with thousands of patients, and he researches and teaches extensively about fulvic acid. Very few doctors can make this claim, and have little to no experience with fulvic acid. Dr. Nuzum is an expert and he is able to communicate a difficult concept in a way which is easy to understand. Fulvic acts like the FedEx truck and the garbage truck, Dr. Nuzum explained. It delivers nutrition into the cell and carries the trash (toxins & waste) out too! Fulvic acid has 60 receptor sites and because it is a carbon-based compound, it bonds easily to nutrients. Dr. Nuzum likens fulvic acid to a 60-passenger bus carrying nutrients in each of the 60 seats. The fulvic acid bus travels along to cells needing a nutrient package delivered. When it drops off the nutrient package, a seat is empty on the fulvic acid bus, so it picks up cellular waste and toxins, like the garbage man, and removes them from your system. The missing puzzle piece Many people are feeling the effects of low nutrient absorption, even in the presence of a good diet with regular intake of supplemental vitamins and minerals. This information about fulvic acid is the missing puzzle piece for many people seeking health. Whether you are fighting an infection, rebuilding health, or desire anti-aging strategies, add fulvic acid daily to help your body absorb and use needed nutrients. Take advantage of this powerful electrolyte and antioxidant. It is Fulvic Acid that carries these minerals into the cells and additionally makes the cells more permeable allowing these minerals to penetrate into the cells where they are utilised for a multitude of processes. Minerals are very important. Dr Linus Pauling, winner of two Nobel Prizes stated: You can trace every sickness, every disease, and every ailment, ultimately to a mineral deficiency. In addition to enhancing the absorption of vitamins and minerals in our body, Fulvic Acid acts as a catalyst. A catalyst is a compound that facilitates a chemical reaction. There are literally thousands of chemical reactions that take place every minute in our bodies involving enzyme production, the movement of nutrients in and out of our cells, digestion, and so forth. In the vast majority of cases, these reactions could simply not take place at normal body temperature or would take a long period of time. Fulvic Acid acts like a catalyst in these reactions facilitating all these processes quickly and effectively. Dr. Eric Berg DC The 8 Benefits of Fulvic Acid (3349) The 8 Benefits of Fulvic Acid - YouTube Fulvic Acid is a natural, powerful antioxidant and helps to neutralise free radicals. Free radicals are harmful, highly reactive compounds that cause the destruction of soft tissues, encouraging cell mutations, altering genes, disrupting chemical and hormonal reactions within our bodies, destroying the optimal function of our glands and thus making us more susceptible to disease. This is one of the most widely acceptable theories of ageing and disease. When we ingest food, our digestive system, when working at optimum capacity, releases enzymes which work to break down food efficiently in order to release nutrients from food. Without these enzymes, food would not be broken down, stagnate in the stomach and gut, which would ultimately lead to toxin build-up and eventual death. Fulvic Acid activates these digestive enzymes, which are the life force of our bodies. We are all conscious of cleansing our bodies externally and yet few pay attention to internal cleansing. Fulvic Acid is highly effective at neutralising and detoxifying harmful toxins and pollutants including heavy metals such as lead and mercury. Fulvic Acid bonds with these heavy metals, a process called chelation, and then converts them into inactive compounds, which can be eliminated through normal excretory processes. Fulvic Acid is reported to increase oxygenation of all the soft tissues within our bodies. Oxygenating the cells is vital because it enhances energy production and counters numerous concerns. In 1931, the Nobel Prize Winner for physiology and medicine, Dr Otto Warburg established that oxygen deprivation was a major cause of cell mutation. Taking Fulvic Acid will help increase oxygenation of our cells and hopefully protect the genetic material within our cells. Iron deficiency, the second most prevalent deficiency in the world, has been shown to be addressed quickly with the use of Fulvic Acid. Unfortunately, iron is also one of the hardest minerals to metabolise putting a great burden on the liver and yet many people take synthetic iron supplements without considering this. Fulvic Acid primes the iron within our food so that it is easily utilized by the body and hence corrects deficiencies quickly and safely. This same action helps to correct numerous mineral deficiencies including magnesium which plays a key role in over 300 biochemical reactions in our bodies. Fulvic Acid is considered to be one of the safest and most potent anti-viral substances available today. A generally accepted benefit of Fulvic Acid is that it can be used indefinitely for long periods of time without creating resistance. The implication of using Fulvic Acid for viral infections goes well beyond simply using it for colds and flu. When applied externally, Fulvic Acid can be used on abrasions, open cuts, wounds, leg ulcers, insect bites and numerous other skin complaints. Athletes foot can be avoided as Fulvic Acid displays powerful fungicidal properties and it can also be used on fungal toenails which are very difficult to eradicate using conventional drugs. There are many reports on the positive benefits of Fulvic acid on the cardiovascular system with many reporting control of elevated blood pressure within a few weeks of using Fulvic Acid. When it comes to holistic health, fulvic acid (with its array of benefits) aids in overall improvements . It makes your mind, body, and spirit healthy, happy, and wholesome. Life is just better when you take fulvic acid. The thing is: it can be hard to find quality supplements containing fulvic acid, as it is pretty rare. Luckily, HerbAnomic has the solution. HerbAnomics Humic and Fulvic Liquid Trace Mineral Complex is a revolutionary New Humic and Fulvic Acid Complex designed to support your body at the cellular level. Our product has been thoroughly tested by an ISO/IEC Certified Lab for toxins and Heavy metals as well as for trace mineral content. We KNOW we have NO lead, arsenic, mercury, aluminum etc. in our Formula. This Humic & Fulvic Liquid Trace Mineral complex has high trace levels of naturally occurring Humic and Fulvic Acids as well as high trace levels of Zinc, Iron, Magnesium, Molybdenum, Potassium and more. There is a wide range of up to 70 trace minerals which occur naturally in our Complex at varying levels. We Choose to list the 8 substances which occur in higher trace levels on our supplement panel. Our Formula is an exceptional value compared to other Humic Fulvic Minerals because: Its OXYGENATED: Our Extraction Process protects fragile and ancient oxygen bonds which can be broken by overbombardment of the Humic and Fulvic Molecule Matrixes. Secondarily, we use Oxygenated water in our Extraction process which adds further O2 bonds to the Humic and Fulvic Molecules. This enhances Oxygen delivery at the cellular level! It is always tested at 9.5+ Ph: Alkaline substances combat Body Acidity brought on by high sugar and carbohydrate consumption. When your body fluids contain too much acid, its known as acidosisIs never processed using Heat:Humic and Fulvic acids are delicate and are damaged when subjected to high heat. Preservative and Chemical free: HerbAnomic desires to avoid all unnecessary additions of Preservatives and Chemical additives. Our Complex does have beneficial Phyto-Chemicals, but never synthetic chemicals added for shelf stability. Allergen Free: We dont add Unnecessary bulk and flavoring to our product so we are able to keep our product clear of Allergenic compounds like Gluten, Dairy, Nuts, Shellfish, Legumes, Nightshades, Soy, Corn and all other potential allergenic products. Comes from a Pure, unpolluted, organic source: Free from GMOs and Man-Made Toxins-All our food supply, water and air is effected by pollution, has traces of rocket fuel, residues from petrochemicals and deposits of harmful Pesticides and Forever-Chemicals. Our source material is protected, harvested from within the earth, never coming into contact with these damaging toxins. Is an excellent source for Trace Minerals: Our food supply is devoid of mineral input and toxic herbicides, pesticides and chemicals prevent proper use of minerals by the plants. Our bodies cannot extract enough Bio-Available plant minerals from our modern era crops. This is why we need a true trace mineral complex which is BIO AVAIABLE to access these trace elements. Beyond just minerals, our product provides a Full Spectrum Humic/Fulvic Blend Complete with Amino Acids, Poly-Electrolytes, Phytochemicals, Polyphenols, Bio-Flavinoids & Trace Vitamins. Is from Whole, Prehisoric Plant Based origin material with Ionic Minerals and Constituents: Herbanomics complex has been carefully sourced from whole plant based material, its mineral content is ionically suspended in our liquid formulation. Our Humic Fulvic Complex is extracted directly from this natural Origin material: It Contains fully Bio-Available Minerals and other due to the large amount of electrons they possess. This causes them to bond with positively charged substances such as trace elements, oxygen particles and minerals salts. Humic and Fulvic Acids are incredibly small, so small that when they do bond, these micron sized, once elemental particles are so tiny that they are able to pass through the cellular wall and into the nucleus of the cell thus becoming Organic and BioAvailable. Synthetic vitamins and Elemental minerals that you find added to fortified foods, in chelated form in supplements and from your iron frying pan are too large to be used within the cell. Highly Conductive/Full of Extra Electrons: This is exactly what cells need for optimum functionality. Our Bodies are Bombarded with EMFs, Radiation, Radio Frequencies and many types of currents every day. Often, Cells can be confused in the high frequency exposure and perform poorly. Enter Humic and Fulvic with their high levels of electrons and High charge. Additional Electrons enable Humic acids to bond to Positively charged damaging viruses and fungi, Heavy metals and toxins removing them from the digestive system through the gut. Fulvic acids are able to charge cells with their extra electrons, enabling them to return to normal function. Is a Full Spectrum Complex: Our Humic and Fulvic Liquid Trace Mineral Complex has Minerals, Amino Acids, Poly Electrolytes, Phytochemicals, Polyphenols, Bio-Flavinoids and Trace Vitamins included with the Humic and Fulvic Acid. Our Source material is high in these constituents, wheras, other manufacturers use inferior materials. What Does it all Mean for You? CELLULAR HYDRATION CELLULAR OXYGEN DELIVERY ENERGY PRODUCTION DIGESTIVE HEALTH NUTRIENT ABSORPTION HAIR & NAIL GROWTH GOOD BACTERIA LEVELS STIMULATE METABOLISM DEEP SLEEP & DREAMS BIOFILM REDUCTION BRAIN HEALTH SKIN QUALITY LONGEVITY DETOXIFICATION MUSCLE REPAIR RELAXATION POSITIVE MOOD WOUND REPAIR HERBANOMICS HUMIC & FULVIC LIQUID TRACE MINERAL COMPLEX CAN BE TAKEN BY MOUTH AND USED EXTERNALLY. BY MOUTH DOSAGE: For those beginning taking Humic & Fulvic Trace Minerals: Begin with one teaspoon taken twice a day by mouth with or without Unchlorinated water. WHEN: About a half hour to an hour before meals for optimum absorption. Build to full dosage of (1 Tablespoon twice a day) over 3-7 days time. NOTE: For optimum freshness, it is recommended to not drink directly from Bottle. Please refrigerate after opening. WHY BEGIN SLOW? Humic and Fulvic acids act as a chelating agent in your body, bonding with positively charged free radicals, heavy metals, toxins, radioactive elements as they clean your cells. Fulvic acid also has proven power to deregulate production of biofilms excreted by bad bacteria (gingivitis, dental carries, e-coli, etc), fungus, molds, yeasts (like candida), and parasites. Taking a Humic and Fulvic extract product transfers many built up toxic elements and in so doing causes a detoxification. in order to prevent yourself from experiencing any detox side effects, we suggest beginning with a gradual dose. For those who have supplemented with Humic and Fulvic before, beginning with full dosage or even increasing dosage by 50% will generate more therapeutic effects. HOW WILL YOU NOTICE HERBANOMICS HUMIC & FULVIC LIQUID TRACE MINERAL BLEND WORKING WHEN USED INTERNALLY? Only you can judge how Humic and Fulvic Trace Minerals may work for you: Things to watch for include: Deeper Sleep and more vivid or memorable occurrence of dreams Relaxed muscles, joints and increased joint mobility/flexibility (A reduction of lactic acid is common through Humic & Fulvic supplementation) Even, Long-lasting increased Energy (the bodys hydration will improve and cellular conductivity and oxygenation as well, increasing its ability to perform better. Overall Hydration: from eyes to the skin, to the colon, hydration results are measured in smoother skin, fewer blemishes, reduction of hang nails, fewer ridges in nails, luminous skin, improved coloring and texture, smoothed lines and wrinkles, reduction in dry eye symptoms, improved ability to eliminate. 100% Money Back Guarantee If you are not 100% satisfied with your purchase of Humic & Fulvic Liquid Trace Mineral Complex, please return for a full refund. No questions asked. Humic & Fulvic acid applied topically can benefit your skin. Humic acids natural anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties can be especially helpful as an application for skin conditions like contact dermatitis, eczema, psoriasis and rosacea. Humic and Fulvic Acid have been used for thousands of years as a natural antibiotic and wound dressing. Our Humic & Fulvic Liquid Trace Mineral Complex can be added to a Spray bottle and applied directly to burns, wounds and problem skin for direct absorpion. The Skin can absorb the Fulvic Acids and their minerals while the Humic Acid will reduce surface infection as well as impede the action of viral, fungal or years activity. Its high Alkalinity even aleviates pain from bee stings and insect bites which are acid based. As a Mouth RInse: Humic and Fulvic Minerals can do a lot of good when rinsed in the mouth. The first direct benefit is the addition of minerals within the pourous tooth enamel structure, the second is to reduce the ability for gingivitis, halitosis and dental caries to conceal themselves in biofilm. The ability for fulvic acid to reduce biofilm production exposes these bacterial colonies and removes their protection. Many Infections and poor health problems stem from the mouth. With the use of humic and fulvic acids within the body and utilizing its use as a rinse, the body can fight infection in the mouth on two fronts and remineralize teeth! Read Herbonomics Humic Fulvic Reviews Here. Allison Foley Verified Buyer Humic & fulvic - 09-22-2020 We purchased this along with the mitosynergy copper 1 as we knew we were lacking essential minerals & vitamins due to being vegetarian. The minute we took our 1st 5ml of humic/fulvic we felt it, absolutely amazing, I have since purchased more and its due any day now. I will be recomme Read More Order Yours Now By Clicking Here! A recent CNN headline "We don't have enough doctors" is quite accurate. The explanation given for the M.D. shortage is completely wrong. CNN notes the "health-care workforce shortage is 'more acute' in Black and brown communities." The black community represents 13 percent of the U.S. population, but only 5.7 percent of American physicians are black. The implication is clear: only black doctors should or can treat black patients or, at a minimum, will treat them properly. This is racist dogma. The vast majority of American doctors (and nurses) are blind to skin color, religion, ethnicity, and even criminal behavior. Real doctors treat each patient as a unique, valuable individual without regard to demographics. When Dr. Hugh Mighty, senior vice president at historically black Howard University, says, "As the problem of Black physician shortages rise ... many communities of need will continue to be underserved," he insults every white, brown, Asian, Native American, and black physician in this country. A National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities report confirms racial inequalities for health outcomes. Minority populations are sicker, die earlier, and pose a huge economic burden compared to the white majority population. When CNN or some government entity claims that such inequalities are due to providers' racist behaviors and shortages of black doctors, not only are they wrong; they divert attention from the real reason. Poor health is largely due to socio-economic factors such as poverty, poor education, limited availability of healthy foods, and inadequate access to care providers of any color. CNN is completely off-base on why there is a severe and worsening doctor shortage. The real reason is morale. Care providers enter the medical field because it is a noble calling. Nurses and doctors used to be (note past tense) respected for their altruism and commitment to the individual patient. Patients welcomed doctors into their homes for house calls. Patients had faith in their chosen provider's training and judgment. Together, patient and chosen physician made personal, confidential medical decisions with no other (third) party involved. Patients had a medical right to choose, and physicians had authority that corresponded with their responsibilities. Physicians' work used to be highly valued both by word and deed i.e., compensation, especially after years of relative poverty in school and post-graduate training. All of this has been lost, distorted, or destroyed. Now, there is the presumption that when a patient does poorly, it is automatically the doctor's fault. Government warns patients not to trust their doctors by enforcing clinical guidelines, algorithms, and crisis standards of care to "protect" the patient from the doctor. Dr. Valerie Montgomery Rice, president of the Morehouse School of Medicine, was right when she said that the COVID experience "pull[ed] away the curtain" from healthcare. However, she attributed poor minority health outcomes to racism when, in fact, pulling away the curtain exposed the true cause for low morale and the resulting M.D. shortage: responsibility without authority. A physician is held responsible for a patient's outcome. But the patient cannot choose his physician. The patient must select from a limited list chosen by the health plan. The physician does not have adequate time to be with the patient. Providers must follow benchmark standards, viz., 15 minutes for an established patient. Failure to achieve the standards can produce a scorecard that could take away hospital privileges. The regulatory burden takes away even more patient time from a physician. Before electronic prescribing, it required less than one minute to write an Rx and give it to the patient. Now (unpublished data) it takes roughly ten minutes to get through all the screens, security protocols, and data input to use e-prescribing. Keep in mind that the efficient physician has only 15 minutes total with the patient, and the doctor still must fill out insurance forms and HIPAA compliance directives! The physician cannot choose the best drug for his patient the pharmacy benefits manager chooses. During COVID, Washington decided medications for all Americans, one-size-fits-all. Physicians who tried to use their best judgment on a specific patient rather than follow Fauci edicts were stopped. Some were subject to disciplinary action, even firing. The doctor does not choose the patient's intervention. The health plan and/or insurer decides what procedure will be performed, where, who does it, when, and even if it is done. The patient or consumer does not pay the doctor or seller the third party does. Washington dictates "allowable reimbursement" and then repeatedly reduces the amount. The M.D. shortage ultimately leads to death by queue. Americans are dying waiting in line for technically possible care that does not arrive in time to save the patient. It is no wonder more providers are taking early retirement or refusing to accept government-insured patients into their practices. Don't forget the thousands of doctors and nurses who were fired during COVID for using their own best medical judgment and exercising their medical autonomy. It is a wonder that any young person would choose the medical field knowing what is in store. To cure the physician shortage, return authority to physicians commensurate with their awesome responsibilities, directly reconnect patients with their chosen doctors, eliminate third-party medical and financial decision-makers, and thereby restore providers' noble calling. Deane Waldman, M.D., MBA is professor emeritus of pediatrics, pathology, and decision science; former director of the Center for Healthcare Policy at Texas Public Policy Foundation; and author of the multi-award-winning book Curing the Cancer in U.S. Healthcare: StatesCare and Market-Based Medicine. Image: Pkd2016 via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0 (cropped). A good Samaritan, according to the Oxford Learners Dictionary is, a person who gives help and sympathy to people who need it. This concept goes back to Biblical times, specifically the book of Luke, chapter 10, and the Parable of the Good Samaritan. Jesus told the story of a man who was robbed, beaten, and left for dead. A priest and a Levite both saw the beaten man and walked past him, crossing to the other side of the street. But the Samaritan stopped to help the injured man, attending to his wounds, bringing him to an inn, paying the innkeeper to care for him until he was well. Jesus asked, Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?" And he answered his own question, "The one who showed him mercy." And Jesus said to him, "You go, and do likewise." Is that still possible? Or rational? Flash forward 2000 years and play this parable out again. Who is the good Samaritan and who is the chump and potential criminal for following the words of Jesus? Good Samaritans can do far more than attend to an injured fellow human. They can also protect others from harm. But today such actions may lead to trouble for the good Samaritan such that the smarter course of action is to act like the priest or Levite in the parable, crossing to the other side of the street, saying and doing nothing, just walking away. Two recent news stories illustrate how Jesuss teachings are falling on modern societys deaf ears. The first story made national news a few weeks ago of ex-Marine Daniel Pennys arrest over alleged manslaughter after restraining unruly New York City subway troublemaker Jordan Neely. As the BBC reported, Mr Neely, who was homeless, was pinned to the ground and restrained for several minutes on the train carriage. He had been shouting at other passengers and asking for money, witnesses said. YouTube screen grab Another British left-wing source, The Guardian, called Neely a talented dancer who was remembered as kind and loving and even had a fan club. What a guy. New Yorks own Mother Theresa. He was cut from the same cloth as the gentle giant Michael Brown, who beat a police officer and tried to take his gun. Or Saint George Floyd who was convicted of eight crimes and served four years in prison for aggravated robbery in a home invasion before his final run in with police three summers ago. Neely had his own criminal record as the Daily News chronicled, Neely has been arrested 42 times in the last 10 years, most recently in November 2021 for slugging a 67-year-old female stranger in the face as she exited a subway station. He had a history of mental illness. Nothing says kind and loving like attempting to push a subway passenger onto the tracks as Neely did the day before his own fatal altercation. Far from trying to kill Neely, Daniel Penny put Neely into a recovery position (with passengers complimenting his actions), hardly the moves of someone intent on killing Neely. "Hes a hero," said another passenger, who has lived in New York City more than 50 years. Who really killed Neely? Where were city officials or his family? If he was behind bars for his myriad crimes, he would be alive today. If his schizophrenia had been properly treated, including hospitalization, he would be alive today. Neely was left for dead by his family and New York City long before Daniel Penny restrained him. The NYC subway system is now a mental institution on wheels where drug or psychiatric fueled rage and violence is the norm. Observing a threat to subway passengers, former Marine Daniel Penny was the good Samaritan, giving help to people who needed it, namely other subway passengers. In an altercation and struggle, particularly when the perp is loaded with drugs, as George Floyd was, bad things can happen. Now it will be up to a jury of Daniel Pennys peers to decide whether good Samaritans are welcome on NYC subway trains to protect fellow passengers. Or if anyone thinking of getting involved or offering assistance will be better off as Jesuss priest and Levite, walking away. Maybe Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg should ride the subway to work every day, without any security, and see if prosecuting good Samaritans makes subways safer. Jurors ride those same subways and may want a good Samaritan to rescue them in the future from a dangerous miscreant. Their verdict will set the new standard for future subway safety. NYC subway rapes and murders are at a 25 year high while DA Bragg is chasing Donald Trump over his employees business write offs and prosecuting good Samaritans, fiddling while Rome burns. Many police officers will take the same approach. Why risk ones career, pension, and freedom when instead they can look the other way and channel Sergeant Shultz of Hogans Heroes, I see nothing! I know nothing! Since actual crime is no longer illegal in many large cities, left-wing DAs and prosecutors have created a new crime, that of being a good Samaritan or defending yourself. God help America when self-defense is criminalized. St Louis lawyer Mark McCloskey and his wife learned that defending yourself and your property from a threatening mob is illegal, unlike the activities of the trespassing mob. A local story played out similarly, at a King Sooper grocery store in metro Denver where I frequently shop. As the local Fox affiliate reported, They thought they were doing the right thing. Instead, five employees at a King Soopers grocery store in Greenwood Village were terminated for holding a shoplifting suspect and calling the police. The thief was using a boxcutter to steal a cell phone. The perp was also on parole with a bag of methamphetamine in his pocket. Rather than being praised for stopping a shoplifter and protecting customers from potential injury by a boxcutter waving thief, the five good Samaritans lost their jobs and livelihoods. King Soopers message is loud and clear. Shoplifters are welcome; they will not be apprehended. They can help themselves to any merchandise. Customers who might be injured as the shoplifters steal and escape are just a necessary sacrifice. King Soopers, in a statement ironically said, Nothing in our stores is worth sacrificing that core value and their safe return home. The only core value is that their stores are open for theft and that its more important for the thieves than store employees or customers to safely return home. This is called the Ferguson Effect where, Increased public scrutiny of police, usually following a police misconduct incident, leads to de-policing, which could lead to an increase in crime. This applies not only to police but also good Samaritans who will wisely sit on their hands rather than getting involved. City Journal asks a relevant question about the subway incident: And what would you have done? The article claims that There is nothing Jordan Neely did on that subway car to deserve death. But the same can be said for the many killed or injured by thugs on those same subways. Michelle Go who was pushed into an oncoming subway train last year by a homeless man, another Jordan Neely, didnt deserve death, either. But I didnt hear Al Sharpton pining over her death as he did for Neely. If the Parable of the Good Samaritan now becomes a criminal act, expect wanton crime and violence in Americas cities to exponentially increase as those wanting to do the right thing follow the lead of the priest and Levite, looking down and walking away. Brian C Joondeph, MD, is a physician and writer. Follow me on Twitter @retinaldoctor Substack Brians Substack Truth Social @BrianJoondeph LinkedIn @Brian Joondeph Several months ago, I wrote a column, Why do you still hate Donald Trump? and asked readers to give me a good reason why they felt that way. Over 99% of the responses to my query came from those who agreed wholeheartedly with the column. Only one response criticized Donald Trump, yet the writer did state that if Trump ran in 2024, he would vote for him again. Not one genuine, Never-Trumper or Biden supporter contacted me, and I found that rather puzzling. Of course, the poor response could have been because Im basically a nobody in the leftist environs and not worth their interest. But the column was published in American Thinker which gets a million users a month. The column was also posted on lucianne.com which also gets big traffic. In addition, the link to my column was inserted in an email campaign ad for the 2024 Trump campaign but I have no idea how many received that correspondence because the campaign never bothered to contact me for permission. If they had, I would have gladly approved it. Posts on Facebook and Twitter also did not trigger any TDS minions to vent at me with a heartfelt defense of their opinions. Thus, I can only conclude that they cannot debate Trumps negatives without resorting to juvenile personal insults. His tweets, his name-calling insults, his braggadocio personality do not count as oratorical substance in a debate about his presidential qualifications. To ponder on the worthiness of a presidential candidate, one must vet the candidates past performances at previous occupations. The recent release of the Durham report that clearly exonerated Trump has actually not made any difference in the minds of the TDS cult. They still hate him and the syndrome is still powerful and spreading on both sides of the aisle. Now the Never-Trumpers and Rinos in the GOP are fomenting discord by seeming to back Florida governor DeSantiss candidacy for the 2024 presidential race. Improbable candidates like Chris Christie are running apparently for the sheer purpose of financial opportunities rather than thinking they have a chance in hell of surviving a primary. Conservative pundits are dealing with the challenge of choosing between two individuals they have previously supported. There are so many fake polls out there that one wonders who is being polled. The most ridiculous one claims that Biden is outpolling both Trump and DeSantis. That one must have been taken at the White House conference room, the Oval office and Bidens Delaware bunker. Ive been a conservative pundit for over 25 years and have always given due diligence to vetting any political candidate before I dare to suggest my support. My opinion is just that and is not influenced by ones style rather than substance, No one is sponsoring that opinion, which I will now share with anyone who is willing to read it. Ron DeSantis is an excellent governor and I wish there were 49 others as responsible and courageous as he is. This is a nation that is a republic, and states' rights should be as important as the federal administrations in D.C. DeSantis is scandal-free with a lovely family and a perfect spouse who would be a superb First Lady. He is also a genuine Catholic, unlike the heretics like the deceitful Biden and Pelosi, who spread their poisonous political decisions completely against the moral precepts of the Catholic Church. But does he have the global experience to deal with the tinderbox of world concerns simmering due to the current administrations incompetence? Will he be able to survive the endless attacks on his family from the vicious leftist minions in the media? Then we have Donald J. Trump. I voted for him in 2016 and 2020, but he was certainly not my first choice for president because of what I knew of him while he was a private citizen. He is a native New Yorker as I am, and I had negative views about what he was doing to Manhattan as a real estate mogul. I watched as he built his empire at the expense of neighborhoods with inexpensive rentals. Mayor Koch gave him lots of tax breaks to do this and in my naivete I ignored the municipal benefits to my hometown. My husband then went to work for him when Trump co-owned the Grand Hyatt for 12 years and we both watched the complete revival of the once-depressed midtown. I viewed him as a typical amoral billionaire but a very astute and brilliant businessman. He was also not a racist as alleged, and in 1999, Jesse Jackson praised Donald Trump for his lifetime of helping black and minority communities. After I watched a telecast of a tour of his penthouse in the Trump Tower, I wrote a snarky column of The Donald which I hope will never turn up again. Then after the disastrous (IMHO) Obama administration, I saw many good possibilities for a new president, but Donald Trump did not yet register as a good choice. Mitt Romney, whom I had voted for in 2012, was again in the race but I wasnt impressed by his debate performance against Obama. I much preferred Rick Perry, the charismatic, successful Texas governor, and mentally dismissed Trump before the debates. My brother Joe was suffering from late stage colon cancer but was heavily obsessed with all election news. He was also the only Republican, besides me, in the family and we spent many hours on the phone exchanging his views. After the first debate, he was wildly enthusiastic in the Trump camp and managed to convince me to take a second look. Sadly, he did not live long enough to see Trump win. My husband also joined the Trump bandwagon because he knew firsthand as his employee for 12 years that Trump had a reputation for always delivering on his promises. He told me that in the debates, Trump spoke directly to his own concerns. He had witnessed his business acumen and what a hard liner he became when it came to fixing problems at the hotel. His judgment about Trump was confirmed by the next highly successful four years of the Trump administration. In 2024, we have to choose between a great governor and a much-hated, despised, frequently attacked former president who happened to be quite good at his job. Let me rephrase that. Who happened to be the greatest at the hardest job in the world so I guess its no secret whos my pick. The knives are out to do everything to stop Trump in 2024. Theyll indict him, sue him and endlessly persecute him, but Trump supporters will still back him. The media will call us a cult and ask us why we keep harping on the 2020 election, but if we dont find out what went wrong, how can we prevent the fraud from happening again? Liberals do not understand common sense so they dismiss our skepticism about election results rife with blatant fraud. MAGA! Editor's note: Through an error, a suggestion of a Trump/DeSantis ticket appeared in an earlier edition of this piece. Because of the constitutional limits on a ticket drawn from residents of the same state, this is impractical, and was not intended for print. It has been removed. Photo credit: Gage Skidmore CC BY-3.0 license You don't have to indulge in any conspiracy theories to find it interesting who got invited to this year's Bilderberg Group meeting underway in Lisbon. The meetings are secret, with no notes or recordings taken of formal sessions (unlike the WEF), but participants are allowed to talk about what went on so long as they don't attribute views to anyone the so-called Chatham House rules. Ben Bartee of PJ Media describes the group: The group bills itself as "an annual conference designed to foster dialogue between Europe and North America. Every year, between 120140 political leaders and experts from industry, finance, labour, academia, and the media are invited to take part in the Meeting. About two-thirds of the participants come from Europe and the rest from North America; approximately a quarter from politics and government and the rest from other fields." It is thus a smaller, less global (Europe and North America only), and more secretive gathering than the WEF. In its secrecy, it resembles the Bohemian Grove gatherings in California, but far more buttoned down than the rustic setting permits. There is an overlap among the attendees at the elite gatherings, so there is no point in identifying one or another of them as the locus of some global conspiracy. Below is a 2018 chart of attendees of that year's meeting done by Frank Zweers, which he titles "The Eye of Evil." It is hard to make out all the names of corporations, but it does give a sense of the institutional reach of the attendees: My own view of these elite confabs is that they enable people to make a human connection to others, who may be a useful source of information, influence, or consultation at some point in the future. They can get a sense of one another, maybe shake hands or share food and drink, and pass along useful thoughts or information. From then on, they can get each other on the phone, arrange meetings, or otherwise interact with ease and speed. If they aim at joint mischief, that becomes easier, having met. But if there are completely legitimate goals they jointly seek, that is possible as well. Some of the notables attending are listed by the Epoch Times, which has a complete list of participants (paywalled, but available to AT readers without charge): The array of globally influential figures includes NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, with the dynamics of global security cooperation in sharp focus as the war in Ukraine continues with no end in sight. Also on the security front, attending the meeting are Avril Haines, U.S. director of National Intelligence, and Thomas Wright, senior director for Strategic Planning at the National Security Council. There's no shortage of political leaders, including Roberta Metsola, president of the European Parliament, Mark Rutte, prime minister of the Netherlands, and Finland's outgoing Prime Minister Sanna Marin, who lost an election but continues to serve as part of a caretaker government until a new cabinet is formed. Also attending is Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, the creator of the artificial intelligence chatbot ChatGPT that has grabbed headlines for its potential to replace humans in jobs. Other prominent tech figures include Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft, Alex Karp, CEO of Palantir Technologies, and former Google CEO Eric Schmidt. Albert Bourla, CEO of Pfizer, is also on the list of participants, as is Thiel Capital founder Peter Thiel, and John Waldron, president of Goldman Sachs. I find serial failed candidate Stacey Abrams, who is at the top of the list because her last name begins with an A and a b, somewhat interesting. What does she have to contribute other than political insight and influence regarding left-wing, progressive politics? She is an insider on the machinations of the Democrats to get hold of the electoral process and remain permanently in power by manipulating the electoral machinery and voter rolls. That is, perhaps, the real "tell" of the group. These are for the most part heads of powerful organizations who have their own goals, and who can multiply their effectiveness by coordinating covertly. That is the definition of a conspiracy as well. One doesn't have to posit a grand conspiracy to rule the world such plots are too hard to hold together and keep secret. But petit conspiracies, AKA confidential joint efforts, are enabled and likely to be promoted by such gatherings. Artificial intelligence is all the rage now, so I am certain that Sam Altman has a particularly large collection of business cards to bring home and will be hearing from attendees regularly from now on. Former deputy national security adviser K.T. McFarland, who worked for General Michael Flynn unjustly forced from office offers a chilling and highly realistic view of what we face: a coup by the Deep State that they are planning to repeat in 2024 because they don't want their crimes prosecuted by a Republican president and A.G. Speaking with Maria Bartiromo on her Fox Business Network program, McFarland laid out the grim reality that, strangely, does not bother any of the people who rage about "protecting democracy" from Donald Trump. Kanekoa The Great summarizes her views and presents a two-and-a-half minute clip of her. I urge you to watch the whole thing, as there is a lot of richness that doesn't make it to this summary. K. T. McFarland, a former Deputy National Security Advisor, says the FBI, Justice Department, and CIA will rig the 2024 U.S. presidential election, following their success in rigging 2016 and 2020, because they won't allow any candidate to win that would hold them accountable: "We now have black-and-white evidence that the FBI interfered in the 2016 election. When they failed to elect Hillary Clinton, they set out to destroy the Trump administration. Go back to 2020. This time, the CIA got involved in the election with those 51 former intel agents who said the Hunter Biden laptop was Russian disinformation. So they've gotten away with it for two elections. They will surely try and get away with it in 2024, right? Because there are no consequences... There is now hard evidence that there was election interference by the U.S. intelligence agencies and the Department of Justice. Those individuals must be terrified that a Republican president comes in with a Republican Attorney General, investigates them, and charges them with all of the crimes they have committed over the last eight years. Take it to the bank. They will absolutely interfere in 2024... These people are selling us out. Not only to foreign leaders, but they are interfering in our elections. They are tearing up the Constitution... This is just a gut punch to the American people." K. T. McFarland, a former Deputy National Security Advisor, says the FBI, Justice Department, and CIA will rig the 2024 U.S. presidential election, following their success in rigging 2016 and 2020, because they won't allow any candidate to win that would hold them accountable: pic.twitter.com/30dSX700HQ KanekoaTheGreat (@KanekoaTheGreat) May 21, 2023 Photo credit: Twitter video screen grab. Despite its wealth, New York City's leaders seem to recognize that their own money is not bottomless. As migrants keep pouring into the city and Joe Biden fails to deliver any money to pay for them, they're quietly pulling back the city's welcome mat. Here are a couple of local news reports, from local paper The City, starting with the actual welcome mat: City officials moved to close down the welcome center inside the Port Authority bus terminal where a bustling network of volunteers have greeted arriving migrants for the past nine months, advocates said Thursday. The midtown site had grown into a vibrant outpost for new arrivals seeking hot food and clothing, along with earlier asylum-seekers looking for legal help, housing assistance and other aid. Community organizer Power Malu with the group Artists Athletes Activists, which has been based out of the Port Authority since August, said the group got word Thursday morning that the states National Guard would be closing down the greeting area at 1 p.m. that afternoon. THE CITY witnessed members of the state National Guard, which has been manning the volunteer area since last fall, turning away people who walked into the terminal seeking help just after 1 p.m. That welcome center, which hosted about a dozen volunteers from three named NGOs in a recent glowing New York Times report, handed out a host of goodies to incoming migrants from Texas coming in by bus: While the city has provided shelter, meals and medical services, its response has been at times halting or chaotic. A number of charities and aid groups have stepped in to fill the gaps, distributing badly needed items like winter coats, baby formula and cellphones. Some volunteers are even opening up their homes. At the Port Authority Bus Terminal, about a dozen volunteers have arrived before dawn every day to greet people getting off buses from Texas with sandwiches, fruit and donated clothes. They even hand out plane tickets, according to the website of one of the NGOs, Artists-Athletes-Activists: ...we are on the ground to welcome them and assist with food, clothing, shelter and information regarding their upcoming immigration hearings. ... We reunite families in other cities which means we have to purchase flights and buses to their final destination. Well, somehow, the city decided to shut them down, at least at the Port Authority where the migrants are arriving. Adams's office put out this prissy-sounding press release: The city will be transitioning services offered to newly arriving asylum seekers from the Port Authority Bus Terminal to the new Arrival Center at Roosevelt Hotel this week streamlining the intake process for asylum-seekers, [spokesman Fabien] Levy said. But Levy let the cat out of the bag as to what Adams thought was really going on, in a different statement here: "A network of activists are organizing large-scale arrivals of asylum seekers to New York City via plane, bus, and other modes of transportation taking advantage of city and state laws and luring them here with false promises, Fabien Levy, a spokesperson for Adams, said in a statement on Monday. The NGOs, of course, are mad. They said that Adams invited them to do the handouts to the migrants, then complained about them doing it, pooh-poohing the idea that the handouts amounted to a migrant incentive to come to New York. At least one group cited in The City report said it would defy Adams' order to shut down the Port Authority 'welcome center' and go welcome the migrants with their welcome packets anyway, seeing if the cops would haul them off. The pattern is obvious -- New York City is full and the city is running out of money and hotel space and even income from tourists to take any more. Each migrant displaces a tourist who might have rented that hotel space and brought in income for the city. Some 700-plus of them are arriving daily, and according to the New York Times: More than 67,000 migrants have arrived in New York City since the crisis began. Of those, 41,500 people are currently being cared for by the city, Anne Williams-Isom, the deputy mayor for health and human services, said at a news conference Wednesday. She said 4,300 people had arrived in just the past week. Adams is obviously hearing from the public, as the report notes. Besides hotels, of which the migrants occupy 40% of the existing stock, he's been trying to house them in school gyms and parents are protesting. He's also been trying to ship them to other cities, playing 'pass the migrant' as those cities have protested and shut doors on. Here's another illegal-alien benefit that Adams looks set to shut down, according to The City: ... Angela discovered a new city pilot program called Promise NYC, which in January began covering up to $700 a week in child care for low-income, undocumented immigrant families. In late March, Angelas son, just shy of 2 years old, became one of about 600 children who received vouchers to enroll in subsidized day care or after-school programs that are otherwise unavailable to those without legal immigration status. Angela has since started a part-time job cleaning, is taking courses that would allow her to work in construction, and is figuring out how to obtain legal immigration status. But that could all end on July 1, if the City Council approves Mayor Eric Adams proposed budget, which slashes the pilot program for next fiscal year. Adams himself has tried to frame the issue as one of not receiving the federal aid he asked for. After all, he's spent $1 billion on the so-called "asylum-seekers" and the state has spent $3.3 billion. But he needs more. Joe Biden's pro-offered $30 billion for migrants apparently is going to all the other places that are inundated by migrants. What New York is enduring is nothing compared to border cities, but nobody has the lavish benefit package that New York does. That's where the problem actually is. Adams wants unlimited benefits for the illegally present foreigners but has headed up against the wall of Economics 101 and now wants other people to pay for these unlimited benefits, simply because New York has absurd laws about handing out housing to anyone who asks for it. He wants the feds or anyone else to pay, anyone other than the aliens themselves, who, if they were here legally, would have to pay for their own food, housing, medical care and the like. Why, exactly, should illegally present foreigners, who've never put a dime into the public fisc through taxes, be getting free housing and child care? The preponderance of evidence out there suggests that they have plenty of money to pay, given that they certainly had enough to make an arduous journey, and pay smugglers to get across the U.S. border illegally. It never occurs to Adams that maybe there's a problem with the New York City migrant sanctuary city model of unlimited benefits itself. Now he's being forced to cut the benefits and make the NGOs angry but the idea of a free ride for illegally present migrants still stands unmodified. It's not even Adams' idea, it's ultimately Joe Biden. Adams is just learning the hard way that providing free-everything for certain newcomers is the problem itself. Image: Screen shot from CBS Face the Nation video, via YouTube. Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) announced today he is running for president. He gave an excellent stump speech because he is charming and sincere. Because you can see videos of his speech without my mediation (Ive embedded one below), I wont spend much time on what he had to say. What I found more interesting was speaking to two black men in attendance. Regarding the speech, it was excellent. Because Im short and was standing, I couldnt see Scott, but I could hear him and, just as importantly, I could hear and feel the crowds response. A lot of what Scott said was familiar to those who have followed his career. His parents divorced when he was seven, and his mother raised him and his two brothers, working 16-hour days as a nurses assistant to give them a decent life. His grandfather, born into the Jim Crow era in the Deep South, taught him life wisdom about hard work, faith, and a belief in Americas promise, rather than her checkered racial past. Image: Tim Scott. YouTube screen grab. Scotts values are conservative. Hes deeply religious, and he believes in a post-racial America. He says that all able-bodied people should work, that we need a strong border, that the economy must be unchained, that we need to unleash Americas ability to produce energy, that our military must be the strongest in the world, that the police matter (especially in poor communities beset by crime), and that our children should be educated not indoctrinated. The only hot conservative issue that he didnt touch upon was transgenderism, although I felt that fell under the educated, not indoctrinated rubric. It was, in other words, a standard conservative stump speech. What made it enjoyable and affecting was that Scott is not just a good speaker but a good human being. That shines through in what he says. His words dont come after having a Republican consultant test them before focus groups. Instead, he speaks from his heart about values that are very real to him because theyve played out across the span of his life. Although Ive heard the line before, its incredibly moving when Scott talks about how his grandfather lived long enough to see him take his seat in the Senate: Thats the evolution of the country we live in. My family went from cotton to Congress in his lifetime. The other thing the video cant convey is the warmth in the room for Scott. The rally was held at Charleston Southern University, Scotts alma mater. CSU is just a few miles from North Charleston, where Scott grew up. He was speaking to people from his hometown, so it wasnt just a speech, it was a conversation. The enthusiastic crowd loved him because they knew him. About that crowd, though. Even though Scott is the avatar of the best version of the black experience in America (unlike Obama, who had a white mother, and was raised by her and his white grandparents in Hawaii and Indonesia), there were very few blacks in the crowd. Roughly guessing, about one-tenth (at most) of the people attending were black. Because I dont have the good sense to be shy, I talked to two young black men (in their late 30s and early 40s) to get a sense of things from their point of view. The first man, who had recently separated from two decades in the Marines, said that he wants to get into politics and is taking the time to expose himself to political ideology, clearly with a conservative edge, although he does not consider himself a Republican. I opened our conversation by asking him why there were so few blacks there. He answered immediately: Blacks in the South simply wont vote for a Republican, and thats true even though their values of family and faith mean theyre more likely to be aligned with Republican political positions. He also said that part of the pro-Democrat attitude is that there are pockets of the Deep South, mostly in rural areas, that still practice segregation and rub black citizens noses in slavery. Because people dont know history, they dont realize that slavery and segregation were Democrat policies. He believes that the key issue for blacks is economic. They are in dire economic straits, but the Republican party has failed to convince them that its policies will serve them better than Democrat policies, which always carry with them the promise of government funding. Unless Scott addresses that concern, he said, Scott wont convince blacks that he will be a good president for them. The man also thinks that fatherlessness in the black community is a problem. Again, until someone addresses that, things wont get better. The other man to whom I spoke turned out to be a member of Scotts extended family. He and his wife had brought their young children (lovely, polite children) to this historic family occasion. They support Scott but feel that the government can do more to help blacks. The man clarified that he was not talking about welfare or reparations because he knows that free money can be bad for people. Nevertheless, he thinks there are systemic problems that hold young blacks back. One problem is that theyre mired in communities that dont have a vision of success. He also said that fatherlessness is one of the systemic problems the government has imposed on American blacks, and it must be addressed too. These were short conversations. I wish I could have spent more time with these thoughtful men to learn more about their values and political goals. I dont know how Tim Scotts campaign for president will go, but I do know that it will be a very interesting one to watch. The biggest problem I see is that the media will do to him what they do to the great Thomas Sowell; that is, completely ignore him so that American blacks and, indeed, Americans as a whole, dont get exposed to his ideas. UPDATE: I forgot to talk about one thing, and I need to correct a misapprehension someone had. The thing that I forgot is that the campaign had brought three quality food trucks and a gelato cart to the venue. After spending time in a hot, crowded gymnasium, it was a treat for attendees to get a free lunch, a cold soda, and some ice cream. I appreciated the gesture. Democrats are trying to expel Republican George Santos from Congress, depriving the GOP of one quarter of its majority in the House of Representatives. The New York Times, in its May 21 editorial, calls on House Republicans to remove Rep. George Santos because, as the title of the print version of the editorial, he deceived voters. The print version of this New York Times ploy to narrow the gap between House Democrat and Republicans is "G.O.P LEADERS MUST HOLD SANTOS ACCOUNTABLE FOR DECEIVING VOTERS." The online title asks, "Why is George Santos Still in Office?" But why are so many House Democrats who regularly deceive voters still in office? On the matter of voter deception, first The New York Times must return its Pulitzer for its reporting of the false Trump Russia collusion story. Until that Pulitzer is returned, this award represents serious honor to baseless reportage. And if George Santos is to be removed from Congress, he must be joined by the removal of all House Democrats who pushed the Trump/Russia collusion fabrication, discredited by The Durham Report, and intended to undermine the presidential election of November 8 of 2016. Equal justice under law includes this principle: no one is immune to account for deceiving the public for political gain. Caricature by Donkey Hotey, CC BY-SA 2.0 license. Perhaps the most consequential political outcome of the COVID panic that was engineered is the widespread use of mail-in voting in place of actually showing up at a polling station on Election Day. On the spurious grounds that standing in line to vote would spread the virus that was lethal mainly to the infirm and elderly, our entire process of voting was upended and made highly vulnerable to cheating. Writing in The Federalist, Joseph Arlinghaus and William Doyle, Ph.D. argue that Republican efforts to match the Democrats' ballot-harvesting efforts are fruitless. Democrats currently execute a ballot-harvesting game vastly more complex, sophisticated, expensive, and labor-intensive than most Republicans even remotely understand. (snip) The Democrats' powerful election-industrial complex consists of two types of institutions: national types devoted to election strategy and policy, and local types, including public-sector unions, devoted to fielding and deploying boots-on-the-ground election activists. Public-sector unions comprise a vast potential workforce to aid in solidifying the grip of Democrats on the election process in their states through the sheer manpower they can deploy for vote canvassing, voter registration, assistance in early voting, and ballot harvesting. Local urban-based activist organizations also contribute to the left's army of community organizers. It is where the armies of Democrat vote canvassers and ballot harvesters come from in Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Wisconsin, et al. (snip) Democratic ballot harvesters are guided by sophisticated statistical models and data mining schemes devised by an army of highly skilled, Ph.D.-level data analysts. Republicans have generally disdained this technical aspect of political science and instead published think-tank papers on political philosophy or public policy, leaving the ranks of high-level Republican data analysts generally empty. They concede that it is hard to imagine "emergency" election measures taken in response to Covid-19 in 2020 ever being rolled back, as they have suddenly brought into reality an objective that Democrats have been working toward for decades. Nonetheless, apparently ending mass mail-in voting is the struggle that they advise, though they don't come out and say so directly. If matching the Democrats' efforts is futile, simply accepting the sudden drastic change originally justified by a questionable "emergency" is a recipe for capitulation to permanent rule by the Democrats and their Deep State allies. Photo credit: btwashburn, CC BY 2.0 license. It's a treat to go to Mexico City and see the volcanoes. The locals don't pay much attention to them because they don't impact their lives. I guess we call them quiet volcanoes or something like that. Nevertheless, they are majestic, especially on a clear day during the rainy season. I guess that the volcanoes reminded everyone that they are there and ready to shut down airports. This is the story: Mexico City's two main airports temporarily shut down operations on Saturday due to ash spewing from Popocatepetl volcano, located 45 miles (72 kilometers) southeast of the country's capital. The city's Benito Juarez International airport suspended operations at 4:25 a.m. local time. It resumed operations at 10 a.m., after removing volcanic ashes, checking the runways and verifying favorable wind conditions, the airport said on Twitter. The new Felipe Angeles airport, located north of Mexico City and operated by the military, shut down operations around 6 a.m., and service was suspended for five hours. Volcanic ashes are especially dangerous for aviation, not only because they reduce visibility but because they can act as an abrasive, damaging an aircraft's wings and fuselage. The Popocatepetl rumbled to life again this week, belching out towering clouds of ash that forced 11 villages to cancel school sessions. The explosions registered in the early hours of Saturday were more intense, but authorities who keep a close eye on the active volcano are maintaining the threat at an intermediate level. Keep an eye on an active volcano? I hope so, but it's easy to forget the volcano when it's not active. Mexicans have many stories about these volcanoes. Some go back to the Aztecs: Popocatepetl is a snow-capped stratovolcano that stands 13,776 ft (4200 m) above the surrounding basin. The name Popocatepetl, meaning "Smoking Mountain", was given to the volcano by the Aztecs, and suggests that the volcano has long been active. Popo, as it is often called, is built on an older volcano which adds 12,464 ft (3800 m) to Popocatepetl's elevation Popocatepetl has an almost perfect conical shape up to an elevation of 16,400 ft (5000 m), where the cone becomes more irregular. Its shape is changed by Pico del Fraile (a peak which is the remains of the older stratovolcano called Nexpayantla) which sticks out on the northwest side of Popocatepetl. The crater of Popo is oval shaped, very deep and has near vertical walls. It measures 2,007 by 1,312 ft (612 m by 400 m) across and has a small spatter cone that rises 115 ft (35 m) above the crater floor. The cone is covered with yellow sulphur spots and volcanic gases escape from numerous fumaroles in its walls as well as from the walls of the main crater. ... Accurate knowledge of the activity of this volcano reaches back to the first days of Spanish conquest. Popo has erupted at least 36 times, with the most recent activity starting in 1995 and continuing into 1997. Well, I worked four years in Mexico, and Popo stayed silent during my time there. I could see it often, and many tourists would visit some of the looking posts for photos and a closer look. Popo is back, and flights from Mexico City were delayed. I guess a volcano has to act like a volcano once in a while. PS: Check out my blog for posts, podcasts, and videos. Image: MikeCastelan, Pixabay. Just three years after the publication of Daniel Defoes Robinson Crusoe, a youngster from Massachusetts suffered a fate similar to the protagonist of the Defoes legendary tale. His experience was so harrowing that when the story first came out a few years later in the form of a book, many thought it was fiction written in the style of Robinson Crusoe. The young man was Philip Ashton, nineteen year old, who lived in the small town of Marblehead, in what was then the British colony of Massachusetts. In 1722, Ashton went out in a small schooner along with four other men to fish off the coast of Nova Scotia at Cape Sable. After having made a satisfactory catch, Ashton decided to head back home. However, during their return journey, their ship was seized by a group of pirates led by the infamous scoundrel and sadist named Ned Low, known for his brutal torture of victims before killing them. Ashton found himself helpless in the face of this violent man and had no choice but to comply with his demands. Not only did Low confiscate Ashton's schooner, but he also coerced Ashton and his crew into joining the pirate gang. After the Hurricane, Bahamas by Winslow Homer, 1899. For the next six months, Ashton served aboard one of Lows vessels, capturing and looting ships originating from Britain, France, Spain, and Portugal. At one point, the pirates had a close encounter with a British man-of-war, putting them at great risk. Ashton was acutely aware that had they been apprehended, both he and the pirates would have faced certain execution by hanging. In the spring of 1723, the fleet sailed to the island of Roatan in the Bay of Honduras where they stopped to pick up fire wood and drinking water. Ashton volunteered to help and went ashore in a longboat along with six other hands to fill up the water-breakers from a nearby stream. As the crew was filling up the casks, Ashton started to edge towards a nearby grove of coconut palms, telling the cooper that he was going to pick up a few coconuts. Once he was out of sight of the crew, Ashton took to his heels and dashed into the woods and hid himself in the thicket. The crew finished filling up the casks and called out for Ashton to return but he remained hidden. The pirates searched for him for a while but eventually gave up and rowed back to the ship. After they had gone, Ashton came out of his hiding place and for five days waited, observing the pirate fleet in the harbor. At last, the ships sailed away leaving him alone on the deserted island. Ashton had no tools to hunt or fish, forcing him to survive on fruits and raw tortoise eggs. Fortunately, the island possessed abundant water sources and an ample supply of fruits and berries for nourishment. But it was also filled with dangerous animals, such as poisonous snakes, giant lizards and wild hogs. Ashton was attacked by a shark while swimming in some shallow water, and by a wild boar once and he had to climb a tree to avoid being killed by the animal. The most troublesome adversaries he faced were swarms of tiny black flies, causing him significant distress. In an attempt to escape this relentless plague, he constructed a hut near the sea, hoping that the breeze would keep the flies away. Nonetheless, the persistent insects continued to torment him. Also read: New Zealands Castaway Depots For Shipwrecked Sailors After nine months of miserable existence, an Englishman showed up on the island in a canoe and told Ashton he had fled captivity from the Spaniards. The Scotsman's arrival brought immense solace to Ashton, as it not only provided human companionship but also brought along a gun with ammunition, a quantity of salt pork, and a dog. After a few days, the Scotsman proposed venturing to another island to hunt wild hogs and deer for sustenance. However, Ashton was still too feeble to undertake such a journey. The newcomer made the decision to embark on the expedition alone, assuring Ashton of his return within a few hours. Sadly, the Scotsman never reappeared, leading Ashton to assume he had met his demise through drowning. Fortunately, the Scotsman had left behind his tools, enabling Ashton to hunt small creatures and create fires to prepare warm meals. Ashton consumed roasted tortoise meat, fish, and crab, gradually regaining his strength. About three months after this incident, a canoe drifted ashore onto the beach. Initially, Ashton presumed it to be the Scotsman's vessel, but upon closer inspection, he discerned that it was an entirely different craft. Utilizing this newfound canoe, Ashton commenced his exploration of the neighboring islands. However, during one instance when he was peacefully dozing beneath a tree, a group of Spaniards aboard a passing ship opened fire on him. Ashton barely made it out alive. In June 1724, sixteen months after he landed on the island, a group of eighteen Englishmen from Honduras came ashore on the island in a couple of row boats. The men had fled after the Spaniards had attacked their home. Ashton warmly received them and together they constructed a small dwelling that they affectionately called Castle Comfort. A few months later, following an assault by pirates, some of the men opted to leave, but two individuals, along with Ashton, chose to remain, convinced that their chances of being rescued by a passing ship were greater on Roatan island than anywhere else. Not long after, a large fleet of ships appeared in the islands harbor. They were English merchants on their way to Jamaica. Ashton's excitement knew no bounds when he learned that one of the ships, a brigantine named Diamond, hailed from Salem. Captain Dove graciously offered Ashton accommodation aboard the ship, and thus, after a total of two years and ten months, Ashton finally returned to his hometown of Marblehead in June 1725. Later that same year, Ashton published a memoir about his experience, titled Ashtons Memorial: An History of the Strange Adventures, and Signal Deliverances, of Mr. Philip Ashton. Ashton died in 1746 at the age of 44 and was laid to rest in the Old Burial Hill Cemetery in Marblehead. References: # Ashton's memorial. An history of the strange adventures, and signal deliverances, of Mr. Philip Ashton # Philip Ashton: The Castaway, History of Massachusetts Blog # The American who found himself a castaway after escaping from pirates, Look and Learn It comes as no surprise that the launch of ChatGPT and its integration into various Microsoft services has prompted many companies to intensify their efforts in generative AI development. Now, according to a new report from TechCrunch, Apple is ramping up its efforts in artificial intelligence and hiring for 88 new positions, specifically targeting experts in generative AI and machine learning. This move comes just days after OpenAI finally released an iOS app, and although Apple regularly hires new talent, the fact that the job postings specifically mention generative AI means that the company is concerned about the recent advancements in the field. At present, there are a total of 88 open artificial intelligence jobs at Apple, with over a third of them appearing this month. These openings span various areas, such as Integrated System Experience, Input Experience NLP, Machine Learning R&D, and the Technology Development Group. However, it is important to note that most of these positions are primarily located in San Diego, the Bay Area, and Seattle. Are you excited about Generative AI? Are you excited about how the latest advances in this field could transform the way people communicate, create, connect and consume media? Now imagine working to make this vision a reality on beloved mobile platforms used by billions. This is an opportunity to join a dedicated core group in the Intelligent System Experience organization at Apple, a group that will shape the way generative ai technologies transform Apples mobile computing platforms, reads Apples job description. Advertisement Apples endgame Although Apples CEO, Tim Cook, has not provided explicit details about the companys next-generation AI projects, during the Q2 earnings call earlier this month, he expressed a keen interest in generative artificial intelligence and acknowledged its immense potential. Additionally, he also emphasized that Apple sees AI as a transformative force and will continue investing in related technologies to further enhance its product offerings. Moreover, with WWDC just around the corner and reports of Apple testing new natural-language features for Siri, it is possible that the company might announce its new ventures into generative AI at the event. Its no secret that this ongoing trade war between the United States and China has hindered many companies from conducting business. Now, the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) has imposed a ban on Chinese companies from purchasing chips from Micron, citing national security concerns. This move comes after the Chinese government launched a cybersecurity probe into the American memory chip giant and found that its products posed significant security risks to critical Chinese information infrastructure, including state-owned banks and telecom operators. However, according to industry experts, this move comes as a retaliatory measure in response to actions taken by the United States against Chinese companies. These include the recent decision by the Biden administration to stop granting licenses that allowed American companies to export to Huawei, as well as the restrictions imposed on Nvidia, preventing the company from exporting its advanced GPU, known as H100, for generative AI training to China. Chinas efforts to become self-reliant While the CAC claims that Microns products pose significant cybersecurity risks to the countrys information supply chain, specific details about these risks have not been disclosed by the government. Additionally, its worth noting that Micron had already acknowledged the challenges in China and the increased competition resulting from substantial investments made by the Chinese government in companies like Yangtze Memory Technologies and ChangXin Memory Technologies. Therefore, this ban could also be a part of Chinas efforts to become self-reliant, particularly in critical industries such as advanced semiconductors, where it has traditionally heavily relied on foreign suppliers. Advertisement We are evaluating the conclusion and assessing our next steps. We look forward to continuing to engage in discussions with Chinese authorities, said Micron. This latest ban further escalates the ongoing feud over semiconductor technology between the US and China. In response, the US Department of Commerce has expressed its intentions to engage directly with Chinese authorities to communicate the US position. Additionally, the Commerce Department plans to collaborate with allies and partners to address the distortions in Chinas memory market. The Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy may not remain exclusive to the Galaxy S23 phones for much longer. And no, it isnt coming to another Samsung phone. Instead, the overclocked or faster version of the latest Qualcomm will soon be available to other brands. More precisely, some Chinese firms are said to be readying new devices with this chip, though we dont have specifics about the devices in question. Qualcomm reserved the best of Snapdragon for Samsung this year. It offered an exclusive overclocked version of the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 to the Korean firm, which used the chip in its latest flagships. The chip has a faster CPU (3.36GHz vs. 3.2GHz) and GPU (719MHz vs. 680MHz) than the standard Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 available to other brands. It also reportedly boasts an improved AI processor. It appeared that this overclocked Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, which has the suffix for Galaxy on its name, will remain exclusive to the Galaxy S23 series. But the latest word from the rumor mill is that Qualcomm will sell it to other brands as well. A reputed Weibo tipster who goes by the username Digital Chat Station recently claimed that the Samsung monopoly of this chip will end soon (via). Some Chinese brands will use the processor in their upcoming devices. As said earlier, theres no word on the brands or devices in question here. But ASUS, OnePlus, and Xiaomi could be among those readying new phones with the overclocked Snapdragon 8 Gen 2. All of these firms are expected to launch new flagship devices in the coming months. If this claim from Digital Chat Station turns out to be accurate, the rumor mill should soon give us more information about those products. Advertisement The overclocked Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 may substitute the Plus edition this year In recent years, Qualcomm has been following up its latest flagship chips with Plus editions a few months later. These upgrades usually come in the middle of the year and bring a CPU and GPU boost. However, there are rumors that the company wont launch a mid-year refresh of the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 this year. It plans to go straight to the Snapdargon 8 Gen 3 later this year. Considering all of the recent developments, its likely that the overclocked version of the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 will substitute this years Plus edition. The company will remove the for Galaxy suffix from the name for obvious reasons. So we wouldnt be surprised if it arrives as the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 2. Stay tuned and we will let you know as soon as we have more information. Twitter has accused Microsoft of using the platforms data for unauthorized uses and purposes. Elon Musks lawyer, Alex Spiro, has sent a letter to Microsoft to inform them about their violation of Twitter data use policy. Microsoft Xbox, Bing, and advertising tools have been benefiting from Twitter API for many years. After Twitter charged companies up to $50,000 a month to access its API, Microsoft removed the social app from its social media management tool for advertisers in retaliation. Microsoft also prevented users from directly uploading clips and screenshots from Xbox and Windows Game Bar to Twitter. The companies are now going head to head again over so-called unauthorized access to Twitter API. Spiro argues that Microsoft may have violated multiple provisions of the agreement for an extended period of time. Musk himself also reacted to the matter, saying, They trained illegally using Twitter data. Lawsuit time. Microsoft is accused of unauthorized access to Twitter data Every company that wants to access Twitter API should pay up to $50,000 a month, but Microsoft allegedly refused to pay that amount. Musks lawyer also accused Microsoft of sharing Twitter data with government agencies without permission. Advertisement In response to the allegations, a Microsoft spokesperson said, We heard from a law firm representing Twitter with some questions about our previous use of the free Twitter API. We will review these questions and respond appropriately. We look forward to continuing our long term partnership with the company. Elon Musks relationship with Microsoft has gone rough since the tech giant invested over $10 billion in OpenAI to take over ChatGPT. Musk co-founded OpenAI in 2015 and parted ways with the company after disagreements with chief executive Sam Altman. The billionaire also criticized OpenAI for turning into a for-profit business. Musk has been a critic of ChatGPT since Microsofts takeover and warned about the danger of uneven development of artificial intelligence. Twitters chief executive claimed ChatGPT is being trained to be politically correct. Musk is now working on a rival chatbot called TruthGPT that aims to be a maximum truth-seeking AI that tries to understand the nature of the universe. In a bid to protect organizations and users from security threats, Microsoft is rolling out system-preferred multifactor authentication. This new system will pick the best authentication method for a users device. Some might kick against this method as it takes the freedom to pick any authentication away from the user. Microsoft outlines the reasons why it is taking away this freedom from users. According to them, this action will not only protect individual users but also organizations from security threats. Currently, some users leave their devices and accounts vulnerable to attacks by choosing the wrong MFA system. This might be as a result of ignorance regarding the best MFA systems to use, or laziness to complete the procedures some systems require. Whatever the most common case may be, Microsoft is here to help you decide the best MFA system for yourself or your organization. Get better security on your devices with the Microsoft system-preferred multifactor authentication Multifactor authentication (MFA) is a very important aspect when it comes to protecting personal information. This system is designed to verify the user before granting access to specific data. There are various authentication methods available to users, with each offering a different level of security. Some users make the mistake of selecting the wrong authentication method. This leaves their devices open to attacks from bad actors looking for the weakest link to break into confidential information. Without the right authentication method, a user, or a company, is open to malicious attacks that can breach the devices first layer of security. Advertisement Microsoft has identified this as a problem and is ready to proffer solutions to this issue. To solve this problem, users will now rely on the system-preferred multifactor authentication from Microsoft to pick the right method. This system will pick the best and most secure authentication method the user can sign in with. For companies, the admin will be able to set up policies to guide the authentication method selection process. Integrating this service with a companys workforce will require using the admin UX in the Azure Portal or via GraphAPI. With this, firms and their workers can rest easy knowing that they are making use of the most secure authentication method available on the system. This feature is currently rolling out to users and companies as Microsoft managed (enabled). For now, admins can disable this feature whenever they want to, but all of that will change. After its rollout phase, users or tenants will no longer be able to disable this feature, as only the admin will have sole control of this feature. Samsung has updated its mobile browser app Samsung Internet with some much-needed UI improvements on big-screen devices such as foldables and tablets. Most notably, the new version lets you move the URL/address bar to the bottom of the screen for easier access. This feature is already available on phones. Samsung Internet is one of the best internet browsers for Android devices out there. It comes pre-installed and set to default on most Galaxy devices, though its available for devices from other brands as well. While it mostly offers the same set of features on smartphones and tablets, the latter group of products missed out on a few. Until the latest update, Samsung Internet didnt allow users to move the address bar to the bottom of the screen. As said earlier, smartphone users can already do that. Last month, Samsung added this ability to the tablet version of its browser app. The update is now available on the stable channel as well, giving everyone this ease of access. Version 21.0.0.41 of the app brings this feature to tablets. As noted by SamMobile, which first reported this update for Samsung Internet, the bookmark and tab bars are tied to the location of the address bar. So if you choose to move the latter to the bottom, the former two will also show up below the content on the screen. Future updates for the app may bring more flexibility. You can already choose to hide the bookmark and tab bars. Advertisement The latest Samsung Internet update contains another handy feature Along with this change on tablets, Samsung Internet also now notifies you when a tab is closed because you have reached the limit. If you arent already aware, the app doesnt let you keep more than 99 active tabs. If you open the 100th tab, the oldest one is automatically closed. While Samsung isnt lifting this limit, it now notifies you when this happens. You also get an action button to reopen that closed tab. Doing this will close another tab, though. All of these new features are part of Samsung Internet version 21.0.0.41. The new version is already rolling out to Galaxy users via the Galaxy Store. As of this writing, the latest update for Samsungs browser app doesnt appear to be available through the Google Play Store for non-Samsung Android devices. But it should just be a matter of time now. As always, Samsung Internet will notify you when a new update is available. Samsung has some major foundry-related announcements lined up for next month. The company plans to unveil its improved 3nm and 4nm chip manufacturing processes at the 2023 Symposium on VLSI Technology and Circuits. The event is scheduled to take place between June 11 and 16 in Kyoto, Japan. According to the program details published by the organizers of the six-day event, Samsung will announce its second-generation 3nm process (SF3) during the conference. The company is employing the GAA (Gate-All-Around) fabrication technology in its 3nm chips. The second-gen solution will use more advanced Multi-Bridge-Channel Field-Effect Transistors (MBCFET) with additional optimizations over the current process (SF3E). Compared to Samsungs current 4nm EUV (Extreme Ultraviolet) chips (aka SF4), which employ the FinFET fabrication tech, SF3 chips bring a 22 percent improvement in speed and are 34 percent more power efficient. These chips also allow for a smaller logic area, with the company claiming a 21 percent decline in chip size. The Korean firm doesnt detail the difference in speed and power efficiency between SF3 and SF3E 3nm chips, though. Additionally, Samsung will debut its most upgraded 4nm chips (SF4X) at the VLSI Symposium 2023 next month. These chips will seemingly be targeted at the HPC (High Performance Computing) application. The next-gen solutions will bring a ten percent boost in performance while simultaneously reducing power consumption by 23 percent. This SF4X technology provides tremendous performance benefits for various applications in a wide operation range, the official paper states. Advertisement Samsung expects its improved 3nm chips to help boost foundry share Samsung is desperate to improve its foundry share. The Korean behemoth is the worlds second-largest semiconductor foundry, but it only has a market share of about 15 percent. In comparison, its arch-rival TSMC captures about 60 percent of the market. The company is hoping for 3nm chips to improve its share. It is betting on the use of the more advanced GAA tech to lure customers to its side. TSMC is sticking to the FinFET architecture for one more generation. It plans to switch to the GAA tech with 2nm solutions in 2025. There are already reports that Samsung has won orders for some of Qualcomms Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 chips for next year. Google may also stick to Samsung for the Tensor G4 after briefly considering a switch to TSMC. So early signs are looking quite promising for the Korean behemoth. But only time will tell whether it can get any closer to its Taiwanese rival in the semiconductor foundry business over the next few years. Scottish government transgressions at meetings with foreign ministers resulted in the UK taking a tougher stance over international discussions, Alister Jack told MPs. The Scottish Secretary insisted his UK government colleague, Foreign Secretary James Cleverly, was right to take a firmer line. Mr Cleverly last month wrote to UK officials, instructing them to take a strengthened approach to visits involving Scottish ministers and overseas governments, urging them to ensure Westminster representatives were also present for any talks. But the move angered Scottish External Affairs Secretary Angus Robertson, who accused the Foreign Secretary of making misleading statements as he called for the guidance to be withdrawn. With Scottish Affairs Committee chair Pete Wishart suggesting at a meeting on Monday that the guidelines seemed to be provocative, Mr Jack said he absolutely approved of the content of the letter. Mr Jack claimed in meetings with foreign administrations, Scottish government represenatives had been straying into territories of the constitution and foreign affairs by talking about matters such as Brexit and Scottish independence noting these areas are under the control of Westminster. We dont think that our high commissions, our embassies, our consulates should be used for that purpose, Mr Jack insisted. He told MPs: We believe the United Kingdom infrastructure should be used for the Scottish government to promote trade and culture and other things we have agreed, the devolved areas we have no problem. But once you go into the reserved areas and start talking to those, we take exception to it. The Scottish Secretary insisted to the committee: The new guidelines do not as claimed hinder the Scottish governments abilities to engage overseas. I wrote to the Foreign Secretary @JamesCleverly more than 2 weeks ago asking him to withdraw his guidance to UK missions abroad to obstruct Scotlands international work. I have yet to receive a reply. Zero common courtesy. Typical disrespect for Scotland. pic.twitter.com/AbOEqJthV6 Angus Robertson (@AngusRobertson) May 18, 2023 Hitting out at Mr Robertson, the Scottish Secretary however said the guidance didnt go down very well with old Air Miles Angus for a very good reason that is because he took offence at us calling him out visiting governments and talking to them about matters we know are reserved, the constitution and foreign affairs. Mr Jack said an indication had been given to the Scottish government in November that such behaviour needed to stop. But he told the committee: It was ignored, and it actually got worse. There were five of six other examples actually brought to light to the Secretary of State, of transgressions of what we thought was the right position, and that was when the letter went. I feel it was the right letter, I saw the letter, absolutely approved of the content of the letter because I think it is wrong for us to facilitate using our embassies and high commissions for members of devolved administrations to then go and meet foreign government ministers and undermine our foreign policy which is what they were doing. Scottish Secretary Alister Jack said he had a very posiitve assessment of how the Scottish and UK governments are working together (Victoria Jones/PA) Despite his comments, Mr Jack insisted his assessment of how the Scottish and UK governments were working together was a very positive one. Mr Wishart told him: I dont think intergovernmental relations have ever been at such a low ebb between the UK and Scottish governments. They seem to be characterised by mistrust, never ending conflict, and a sense of diktat. Mr Jack told him he had tried to use his role to set out a clear position from the UK government, so the Scottish government know where we are, not to fudge any issues. He summed up the two administrations differing stances on Scottish independence by saying: The Scottish government get up each day and go to work to destroy the United Kingdom, I get up and go to work each day to strengthen the United Kingdom. Mr Wishart asked if remarks such as that were helpful, but the Scottish Secretary told him: I am honest, it is an honest position, they want to destroy the United Kingdom. I think if we come at this honestly and acknowledge they want to destroy the United Kingdom, they want to bring it to an end, they want to break it, whatever language you want to use. Suella Braverman is once again under fire from critics and opposition parties, amid questions over whether the Home Secretary breached the ministerial code by asking civil servants to arrange a private speed awareness course for her. The row is another headache for the Prime Minister. But it is not the first time Mrs Braverman has found herself at the centre of a political storm. Her return to the Home Office, following the resignation of Liz Truss, was one of the first major controversies Rishi Sunak faced in No 10. Mrs Braverman had initially lasted just six weeks as home secretary, quitting after she breached the ministerial code by sending an official document to a Tory backbencher from a personal email. Her dramatic exit in the dying days of the Truss administration was followed by a rapid return to the front bench under Mr Sunak, where she has resumed her mission to crack down on migrants crossing the Channel. The swift turnaround prompted anger and criticism from opposition parties, but Mrs Braverman clung on and has continued to establish herself as a favourite among the Conservative grassroots. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Home Secretary Suella Braverman during a visit to Greater Manchester last month (Phil Noble/PA) The barrister rose rapidly through the Tory ranks to one of the most senior government offices, having previously said the courts should stay out of politics and criticising the Civil Service for being too woke. She was the first person to launch a bid to become the new prime minister after Boris Johnsons departure, but was knocked out of the race and decided to back Ms Truss. She had been made the Governments most senior lawyer in February 2020, taking the role of attorney general amid Boris Johnsons growing battle with the judiciary. During this time she became the first cabinet-level minister to take maternity leave after special legislation had to be passed by Parliament to allow her to take time away from her ministerial duties. The 42-year-old the MP for Fareham in Hampshire since 2015 studied law at the University of Cambridge before gaining a masters at the Sorbonne in Paris. She also qualified as an attorney in New York and was called to the bar in Britain in 2005, specialising in public law and judicial review. As a barrister she has defended the Home Office in immigration cases, the Parole Board in challenges from prisoners, and the Ministry of Defence over injuries sustained in battle. As Home Secretary, she has continued to attract attention for provocative statements. Her initial stint at the Home Office saw her launch attacks on tofu-eating wokerati, while last year she faced criticism for claiming there was an invasion of England by migrants crossing the Channel. Suella Braverman speaking during the Conservative Party annual conference last October (Aaron Chown/PA) But her tough stance on migration has endeared her to the right-wing of the Conservative Party. At the Conservative Party conference last year Mrs Braverman told a fringe event she would love to be here claiming victory, I would love to be having a front page of the Telegraph with a plane taking off to Rwanda, thats my dream, thats my obsession. During her tenure, ministers have backed the Illegal Migration Bill as the solution to stopping the boats, with the proposed legislation designed to ensure that people arriving in the UK without permission will be detained and swiftly removed, either to their home country or a third nation such as Rwanda. She has also not been shy about pushing her party to focus on reducing overall immigration, only last week urging the Tories to recommit to the 2019 manifesto commitment that promised fewer lower-skilled migrants and overall numbers will come down. Suella Braverman should quit if found to have breached the ministerial code by asking civil servants to arrange a private speed awareness course for her, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said. The Prime Minister is expected to speak to the Home Secretary on Monday following suggestions her alleged request for help from officials to arrange a one-to-one course instead of taking penalty points breached the ministerial code. Mr Sunak will also seek advice from his adviser on ministers interests, Sir Laurie Magnus, about how to proceed. Sir Laurie cannot begin an investigation into a ministers conduct without Mr Sunak, who returned from the G7 summit in Japan early on Monday, signing off an inquiry. The Prime Minister has always followed the proper process in these matters, and will consult the independent adviser upon his return to London, a No 10 source said. Home Secretary Suella Braverman (Victoria Jones/PA) Mr Sunak is also expected to speak to Cabinet Secretary Simon Case following suggestions it was the Cabinet Office that ordered Home Office officials not to offer Mrs Braverman advice on securing a private course. The Home Secretary will appear before MPs for a scheduled question time on Monday afternoon, where she could be challenged about her actions. Labour leader Sir Keir said her actions appear to have been inappropriate and she should resign if she is found to have breached the ministerial code. He told ITVs Good Morning Britain: I dont know all the facts but it looks to me as though the Home Secretarys actions were inappropriate and they should be investigated. Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said Suella Braverman should quit if found to have broken the ministerial code (Jordan Pettitt/PA) Sir Keir said he did not want to get ahead of himself in calling for Mrs Braverman to resign but said: I think if shes breached the ministerial code she should go in the end its the ministerial code that matters. Dave Penman, general secretary of the FDA union which represents senior officials, told Sky News: Civil servants are publicly funded. Theyre paid for by you and me. Theyre not there to support the personal interests of a minister. They dont do their shopping, they dont look after their children and they dont sort out their speeding fine. Former senior civil servant Philip Rycroft said: This, on the face of it, I think, is a breach of the ministerial code. The former permanent secretary at the Brexit department told BBC Radio 4s Westminster Hour programme: The code is very clear. Ministers must ensure that no conflict arises or appears to arise between their public duties and their private interests. The row stems from a Sunday Times report that Mrs Braverman asked Home Office civil servants to help arrange a one-to-one driving awareness course, rather than the group session usually offered to motorists for minor speeding offences. Officials are said to have refused the request, so Mrs Braverman allegedly turned to a political aide to assist her in attempting to arrange an alternative to a course with members of the public. A spokesman for the Home Secretary said she regretted speeding and had since accepted the points and paid the fine. The speeding offence reportedly took place on a road outside London last year when Mrs Braverman was serving as attorney general. But The Sunday Times said it was not until she became Home Secretary during Liz Trusss brief premiership that the senior Tory called on the Civil Service for advice. According to The Daily Mirror, the Home Secretarys special adviser repeatedly denied that Mrs Braverman had been caught speeding when a reporter from the newspaper put the suggestion to them last month. The newspaper has published a transcript of the exchange. The aide declined to comment when approached by the PA news agency. Allies of Mrs Braverman have claimed she is being targeted as part of a smear campaign against one of the leading voices on the Tory right. Tory MP Miriam Cates told the Daily Mail: Suella has done nothing wrong. Around 1.5 million people take speed awareness courses every year so its hardly a news story. In smearing the Home Secretary like this, someone is clearly seeking to play the man not the ball. Its underhand and undermines democracy. High street coffee chain Caffe Nero has announced the launch of a major new set of book awards. The Nero Book Awards will highlight outstanding books from across multiple genres and celebrate the best writing and books from across the UK and Ireland. The inaugural awards will open for entries on June 19 across four categories: childrens fiction, debut fiction, fiction and nonfiction. The awards prize fund totals 50,000, with the four category award winners receiving 5,000 each and the winner of the book of the year receiving an additional 30,000. Gerry Ford, founder and chief executive of Caffe Nero, said the new awards were a natural fit for the company. Caffe Nero was founded in 1997 on the principle of being a warm and welcoming neighbourhood gathering spot, a place to bring people together, he said. Our venues were intended as and have come to be gathering spots where people come to talk, read and discuss issues of the day. Most of our stores are filled with books. Caffe Nero has also supported the arts in a variety of ways in past decades, including partnerships with Tate Modern, Tate Britain, the National Portrait Gallery, the British Museum, the National Gallery, the V&A and the Royal Academy of Arts. With the arts as part of our company culture these awards are a natural fit for us, Mr Ford said. The Nero Book Awards have been launched in partnership with the Booksellers Association, Brunel University London and Right To Dream. Shortlisted books, category winners and an overall winner of the Nero Gold Prize will be selected by judges, from booksellers and authors to media commentators and influencers. The inaugural shortlist of 16 books four per category will be announced in November 2023, followed by an announcement of the four category winners in January 2024. The overall winner will be revealed in February at an awards ceremony. Meryl Halls, managing director of the Booksellers Association, said: This is a hugely exciting moment for the world of books. The Nero Book Awards do that rare thing of celebrating books across multiple genres, with an emphasis on commercial books with wide appeal. With its brand values centred around quality, craft and community, plus its strong existing connection to the arts, Caffe Nero is a perfect partner with whom to establish these brand-new awards. Bea Carvalho, Waterstones head of books, said: Booksellers and readers will be delighted about the news of the launch of the Nero Book Awards. A prize which celebrates books with wide appeal across genres is extremely welcome and presents a hugely exciting moment in the bookselling calendar we cant wait to see the inaugural lists and share them with our customers. The announcement of the Nero Book Awards coincides with the launch of another new book awards series from social media platform TikTok. TikTok said that in the past year, the #BookTok hashtag has grown more than 160% to over 138 billion views, with a community of authors, readers and fans helping to promote new authors and revive much-loved classics. Social media platform TikTok has also announced its book awards (Yui Mok/PA) The TikTok Book Awards UK and Ireland 2023 will recognise the communitys favourite authors, books and creators through categories inspired by the BookTok ecosystem. Awards categories will include: BookTok creator of the year, BookTok book of the year, BookTok author of the year, and best BookTok revival, among others. The list of nominees will be curated based on BookTok data as well as publisher contributions before being reviewed by a judging panel of experts, including TikTok creators, industry experts and special guest judges including Annie Macmanus and Elizabeth Day. The final winners of a prestigious TikTok book award will be decided by the TikTok community in the UK and Ireland through an in-app vote that will go live in July, with all winners being crowned in August. Candice Brathwaite, award-winning author and TikTok Book Awards judge, said: As an author, theres nothing better than to see people discussing and debating your book. I love going to TikTok to find unfiltered reviews and recommendations, so its great to be giving this community the chance to have their say through the TikTok Book Awards for UK and Ireland. When it comes to judging, for me its about celebrating the books people just cant forget, the books that give you a whole new perspective, the books you immediately want to buy for all of your friends. I cannot wait to see who the winners will be. Two academics have called for investigations by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) into every work-related suicide. Professor Martin McKee, from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, and University of Leeds professor Sarah Waters made the call in the British Medical Journal in the wake of headteacher Ruth Perry taking her own life in January. Her family believes stress associated with an Ofsted inspection contributed to her death. Caversham Primary School in Reading, where she worked, was waiting for a report to be published downgrading it from Outstanding to Inadequate when she died. Even though the link between adverse working conditions and suicide is well established, regulations requiring reporting of work-related deaths to the Health and Safety Executive in Great Britain specifically exclude suicides, the article said. Ellen (left) and Liz (surnames not given) outside the gates to John Rankin Schools in Newbury, Berkshire (Jonathan Brady/PA) While the almost complete loss of confidence in Ofsted is a matter for those in the education sector to address, the health community has a duty to demand action to tackle the burden of mental ill health associated with the way it operates. We argue that three bodies need to act now. The first is Ofsted itself. It should publicly accept that it has a duty of care to teachers (and to its inspectors, some of whom are also traumatised by the events we have described). The two academics believe the HSE should follow the system in France where all work-related suicides are investigated. In France, for example, if there is even a suggestion of a link between suicide and working conditions, the burden of proof falls on the employer to show otherwise, they said. People attend a vigil in March for Ruth Perry outside the offices of Ofsted in Victoria, central London, after she took her own life while waiting for a negative Ofsted inspection report (Jonathan Brady/PA) In the UK we do not even know with certainty how many teachers have killed themselves in circumstances linked to Ofsted inspections, but we are aware of at least eight others. A survey conducted in 2022 by the Teacher Wellbeing Index showed 78% of more than 3,000 teachers reported mental health symptoms they attributed to their work. Finally, as Ofsted says that it reports to Parliament, parents, carers, and commissioners, the Commons education select committee should conduct an urgent inquiry into its impact on the welfare of teaching staff, the article said. Simon Kidwell, the vice-president of the National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT) said last month he believes the framework that underpins the inspection needs redesigning, declaring that it is not fit for purpose and its not working. Paul Whiteman, general secretary of the NAHT, said: We welcome this powerful intervention and the calls for the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) to investigate all suicides linked to work, including in schools, and to launch an inquiry into work-related stress in education. The outpouring of grief and anger across the profession following the tragic death of Ruth Perry has been accompanied by upsetting evidence of other school leaders who have been left in very dark places due to Ofsted inspections. He added: As well as the suggested involvement of the HSE, we need the government and Ofsted to accept what they are hearing loud and clear from school staff, and work with the profession to agree and deliver root and branch reform to inspection. Current climate policies will leave more than a fifth of humanity exposed to dangerously hot temperatures by 2100, unprecedented new research suggests. The paper, published on Monday and co-authored by academics from around the world, examines the human climate niche the temperature range in which humans have lived and flourished throughout history and how warming could see billions of people falling outside of it. The researchers from University of Exeters Global Systems Institute, alongside the Earth Commission and Nanjing University, argue that current legally binding climate policies are estimated to produce an average temperature rise of 2.7C by 2100. They said this could leave two billion people 22% of the projected end-of-century population exposed to dangerous heat, defined as an average annual temperature of 29C or higher. Forecasts show areas of the world where humans could be exposed to dangerous heat by 2100. At these high temperatures, water resources could become strained, mortality could increase, economic productivity could decrease, animals and crops could no longer flourish, and large numbers of people may migrate. However, the forecasts also show that limiting warming to 1.5C in line with the Paris Climate Agreement would leave just 5% outside the niche by 2100, highlighting the importance of decisive action to limit the human costs and inequities of climate change. Professor Tim Lenton, director of the Global Systems Institute, said that many areas of the world will go up to unprecedented temperatures that nobody experienced in the historical climate when warming hits 2.7C. More than 600 million people in India and 300 million people in Nigeria could be exposed to dangerous temperatures by 2100, as well as areas of Indonesia, Brazil, the Philippines, Australia, and almost 100% of Burkina Faso and Mali. The research found that under the worst-case scenarios of 3.6C or even 4.4C global warming, half of the worlds population could be left outside the climate niche, posing an existential risk. Prof Lenton said limiting warming to 1.5C makes a profound difference to forecasts, with those exposed to dangerous heat decreasing from more than two billion people to a little over 400 million people. The costs of global warming are often expressed in financial terms, but our study highlights the phenomenal human cost of failing to tackle the climate emergency, he said. For every 0.1C of warming above present levels, about 140 million more people will be exposed to dangerous heat. This reveals both the scale of the problem and the importance of decisive action to reduce carbon emissions. Limiting global warming to 1.5C rather than 2.7C would mean five times fewer people in 2100 being exposed to dangerous heat. The researchers said their paper highlights the inequity of climate crisis as the people least responsible for greenhouse emissions could face the most the exposure to dangerous heat. They also found that the lifetime emissions of 3.5 average global citizens today or just 1.2 US citizens expose one future person to dangerous heat. We were triggered by the fact that the economic costs of carbon emissions hardly reflect the impact on human wellbeing, said Professor Marten Scheffer, of Wageningen University, who co-authored the report. Our calculations now help bridging this gap and should stimulate asking new, unorthodox questions about justice. Prof Scheffer said that migration would be a very natural adaptation to the changing world. He said: Its not like the earth is becoming unliveable, its just the best place on earth for humans is changing and that is a thing that happens to other species and a normal response to that is to move to the better places. But he added that migration will be part of the human cost of climate change. No one wants to move away from the place they are born and it will be a cost for everyone in the world because it has to be accommodated in some way, he said. It opens up a whole discussion about what is the best way for humanity to go ahead. One is to put the breaks on global warming but as you can see from the results, it is likely we will have to reaccommodate people on the globe. Facebook owner Meta has been fined 1.2 billion euro (1 billion) and was ordered to stop transferring user data from European users to its US servers. The record fine was levied by Irelands Data Protection Commission (DPC) after a three-year probe into the social media giant. The DPC said that Meta had breached part of the European GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) rules in the way that it had moved data of Facebook users across borders. It ordered Meta Ireland to suspend any future transfer of personal data to the US within the period of five months and also levied a record fine on the business to sanction the infringement that was found to have occurred. Latest News: Data Protection Commission announces conclusion of inquiry into Meta Ireland https://t.co/fFcppEOCFT pic.twitter.com/tTgLMlw3sY Data Protection Commission Ireland (@DPCIreland) May 22, 2023 Metas president of global affairs and chief legal officer Jennifer Newstead called the decision flawed and unjustified in a response posted to the companys website. We are disappointed to have been singled out when using the same legal mechanism as thousands of other companies looking to provide services in Europe, she wrote. This decision is flawed, unjustified and sets a dangerous precedent for the countless other companies transferring data between the EU and US. We are pleased that the DPC also confirmed in its decision that there will be no suspension of the transfers or other action required of Meta, such as a requirement to delete EU data subjects data once the underlying conflict of law has been resolved. They added: No country has done more than the US to align with European rules via their latest reforms, while transfers continue largely unchallenged to countries such as China. A senior British Army officer has denied defrauding the Ministry of Defence (MoD) to pay his childrens boarding school fees, telling jurors he was not wedded to the idea of private education. Retired colonel Marcus Reedman, 52, is accused of cheating the system to dishonestly claim 43,470 of taxpayers cash. He claimed continuity of education allowance (CEA) payments to help fund his three childrens 75,000-a-year private school fees, which matched his entire Army salary, Southwark Crown Court has been told. His eldest daughter and son attended Brighton College, costing around 30,000 each a year, while his youngest daughter was a daygirl at the Marlborough House prep school in Kent, for which no CEA was claimed. Retired colonel Marcus Reedman leaves Southwark Crown Court (PA) Reedman is on trial over three payments towards his eldest childrens fees between October 1 2016 and August 17 2017, when he was posted to a desk job at the MoD building in Whitehall. CEA covers up to 90% of the cost of private boarding school fees for children of eligible service personnel to enable them to stay in continuous education while their serving parent is posted away from home accompanied by their spouse, the court was told. Prosecutors say Reedman defrauded the MoD by dishonestly failing to disclose information that had an effect on his CEA eligibility. An indictment says he failed to disclose a change in his personal circumstances that his wife Astrid Reedman and family were not living at his residence at work address in Biggin Hill, south-east London, but instead staying at the family home in Rye, East Sussex. Giving evidence on Monday, Reedman, who attended a prep school before completing state education, said he joined the Army aged 23. He described tours of Iraq and Afghanistan as very, very difficult for my family and said he decided to send his children to private school because his daughter was being severely bullied. His barrister Eleanor Laws KC said: Were you wedded to the idea of sending your children to private school? Reedman said: No, not at all. I was very happy thinking they would go to even maybe the same school as me. He denied dishonestly defrauding the MoD and, when asked if he moved to Biggin Hill alone, said: No, I moved with my family, and told the jury his wife had not moved back to Rye by October 2016. Ms Laws said: Have you been involved in a prolonged and dishonest cover-up of any of that? Reedman said: No. He denies a single count of fraud. The trial continues. Hainan expected to give full play to RCEP's role 09:09, May 22, 2023 By Wang Keju in Haikou ( China Daily Participants attend the opening ceremony of the third RCEP Media & Think Tank Forum in Haikou, Hainan province, on Sunday. [Photo by Zou Hong/China Daily] The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, the world's largest free trade agreement, will boost intraregional trade integration through lower tariffs and will accelerate the recovery and long-term growth and prosperity of the global economy, officials and experts said on Sunday. As the world grapples with rising geopolitical tensions, increasing protectionism and unilateralism, and disruptions to industrial and supply chains, the trade pact an open and inclusive cooperation system will serve as a solid path toward mutual benefits, they added. They made the remarks on Sunday in Haikou, Hainan province, at the third annual RCEP Media &Think Tank Forum, whose theme this year was "Jointly Build the World's Largest Free Trade Area".The forum was held by the Publicity Department of the Communist Party of China Hainan Provincial Committee, China Daily and the China Institute for Reform and Development. The trade pact, signed by 15 Asia-Pacific countries in November 2020, will be fully implemented among all member economies on June 2. The signatories are China, Australia, Japan, New Zealand and South Korea, as well as the 10 states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. Wang Bin, a member of the Standing Committee of the CPC Hainan Provincial Committee and head of the provincial Party committee's Publicity Department, said that the Hainan Free Trade Port will better take advantage of the RCEP and align with international economic and trade rules, in order to foster an institutional environment with global competitiveness and to open up wider and at higher levels. Hainan is well positioned to serve as an important hub for comprehensive strategic cooperation between China and ASEAN countries due to its geographic proximity, Wang said. Furthermore, Hainan will make ASEAN a high priority in its cooperation agenda to promote bilateral trade and two-way investment and to push forward the new round of upgrade of the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area, he added. The province will also make good use of the RCEP's institutional advantages and Hainan's immense marine resources to scale up cooperation with RCEP member countries in such fields as marine ecosystem conservation and marine science-technology innovation, in order to promote sustainable marine development, Wang said. In addition, efforts will be made to forge Hainan into a vital intersection between China and the RCEP member economies, to further tap into policy effects and advance regional integrated development, he said. Qu Yingpu, publisher and editor-in-chief of China Daily, said that peace and development the themes of the times are now facing severe challenges due to deepening geopolitical tensions, rising protectionism and other risk factors. Solidarity and cooperation are the answer to help contend with uncertainty and instability and to stand against bullying and zero-sum games, Qu said. The RCEP, which pursues mutually beneficial cooperation, will facilitate the steady recovery and growth of the regional economy and inject new impetus into global development and prosperity, he added. Qu noted that the RCEP is not only the world's largest and most dynamic free trade area with the greatest growth potential, but also boasts the biggest population of young people, who are the backbone in fueling regional development. Building on the good momentum, all parties concerned should provide broader platforms for the younger generation to showcase their talents and attract more of them to participate in the high-quality implementation of the RCEP, Qu said. Such efforts will enable them to contribute their part and advance the building of a community with a shared future for mankind, he added. Chi Fulin, president of the China Institute for Reform and Development, said that the RCEP places a high premium on shared development, which will promote inclusive regional development and global economic growth. The trade pact has established a mutually beneficial economic partnership that will facilitate the expansion of regional trade and investment, Chi said. Its progress proves that market- and rules-based regional economic cooperation is dynamic and has great vitality, and it will deliver long-term, sustainable growth to the region, he added. High-standard opening-up is a key goal of the RCEP, and the openness pledged in the agreement should be fulfilled without delay, Chi said. Moreover, he said, the alignment and integration of the RCEP with the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership will be advanced when appropriate, and efforts will be made to lay the groundwork for expediting the establishment of the Asia-Pacific free trade area. The ASEAN countries and China provide the vitality and center of gravity for the RCEP region, and advancing the new round of upgrade of the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area is key to promoting the RCEP's high-level opening-up, he added. Ong Tee Keat, chairman of the Centre for New Inclusive Asia and former Malaysian minister of transportation, said it is no easy task to integrate the 15 RCEP economies, which stretch across the Asia-Pacific region and are of diverse sizes and cultures as well as quality and levels of development, creating a huge single market of 2.2 billion people. The RCEP is a game changer and has transformed the economic landscape worldwide by positioning the Asia-Pacific region as a new center of gravity for global trade, he said. It brings vast investment opportunities and greater market access to business communities in most of the emerging economies in the region, he added. (Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Liang Jun) More than 1,000 officials from governments and police forces across the world will come to Scotland next year as Glasgow hosts the Interpol general assembly. The 92nd annual event will come to the Scottish Events Campus in November of next year, and will see votes for 10 leadership positions within the organisation, including secretary general. Welcoming the announcement, UK security minister Tom Tugendhat said: Global challenges call for global solutions. Hosting the Interpol general assembly in Glasgow underlines the UKs role as a global leader when it comes to security and policing, and demonstrates our steadfast commitment to tackle global threats such as organised crime, terrorism and fraud. Scotlands Justice Secretary, Angela Constance, added: Glasgow has a global reputation for hosting major international events and hosting the Interpol general assembly is yet another opportunity to add to that impressive list. The Scottish Government will continue to work closely with partners in the UK Government, law enforcement, local government and Police Scotland, which is already globally recognised for its work keeping the people of Scotland safe, as we welcome delegates from around the world to Glasgow. Graeme Biggar, the director general of the National Crime Agency, which will be a partner in the event, said the group was immensely proud to be holding the conference. Police Scotland Chief Constable Sir Iain Livingstone said: Interpols decision to hold their general assembly in Glasgow underlines the significant global interest in policing in Scotland. Police Scotland works with partners locally, nationally and internationally to contribute to safety and security within Scotland, throughout the United Kingdom and across the world. We will work with organisers and our communities to ensure the event is delivered securely for delegates and local residents. The Home Secretary is expected to face questions about claims she asked civil servants to help her to arrange a private speed awareness course as the threat of an inquiry hangs over her. The Prime Minister is expected to speak with Suella Braverman following suggestions her alleged request for support from Home Office officials after being caught speeding may have breached the ministerial code. Rishi Sunak, who faced questions about the Home Secretarys handling of her speeding ticket while in Japan for a G7 leaders meeting, will also seek advice from his ethics adviser Sir Laurie Magnus about how to proceed. Sir Laurie cannot begin an investigation into a ministers conduct without Mr Sunak, who was due back from Asia on Monday, signing-off on an inquiry. The Prime Minister has always followed the proper process in these matters, and will consult the independent adviser upon his return to London, a No 10 source said. The Conservative Party leader is also expected to speak to Cabinet Secretary Simon Case following suggestions it was the Cabinet Office that ordered Home Office officials not to offer Mrs Braverman advice on securing a private course. Mrs Braverman may face a grilling about her response to being caught speeding during visits on Monday morning and then again in the House of Commons during Home Office questions. Opposition MPs could apply to Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle for an urgent question on the matter as well. Labour has urged Mr Sunak to show some backbone and commission an investigation without delay into the claims facing his Home Secretary. Mr Sunak refused to back Mrs Braverman when asked for his opinion at a press briefing on Sunday but Downing Street later said he retained confidence in her. Deputy Labour leader Angela Rayner, in a letter to Mr Sunak, said his independent adviser should probe whether Mrs Braverman asked civil servants to help her enlist in a private driving course as she reportedly looked to avoid incurring points on her driving licence. The senior Opposition MP said that, if the Cabinet minister had done so, it may amount to a breach of the ministerial code. She said the code laid out that ministers must uphold the political impartiality of the Civil Service and not ask officials to act in any way which would conflict with the Civil Service Code. The code by which civil servants must abide states that public servants must not misuse their position to further private interests or those of others. Ms Rayner said: Members of the Cabinet are subject to the same laws as the rest of us, and any attempt to direct civil servants to obtain special treatment in this matter would clearly amount to an unacceptable abuse of power and privilege by the Home Secretary. It comes as a former senior civil servant said he thought Mrs Braverman appeared to have put civil servants in an impossible situation. Philip Ryecroft, formerly the permanent secretary at the now-defunct Department for Exiting the European Union, told BBC Radio 4s Westminster Hour programme: This on the face of it I think is a breach of the ministerial code. Obviously, theres still investigations to be done and so on but the code is very clear. Ministers must ensure that no conflict arises or appears to arise between their public duties and their private interests. Even asking a question of a civil servant as to how she might go on one of these courses puts them in an impossible position. Labour deputy leader Angela Rayner has written to the Prime Minister urging him to order an inquiry into Suella Braverman (James Manning/PA) According to The Sunday Times, Mrs Braverman asked Home Office civil servants to help organise a one-to-one driving awareness course as she was keen not to have to accept three points on her licence for a speeding offence. Officials are said to have refused the request, so Mrs Braverman allegedly turned to a political aide to assist her in attempting to arrange an alternative to having to attend a course with other motorists. A spokesman for the Home Secretary said she regretted speeding and had since accepted the points and paid the fine. The speeding offence reportedly took place on a road outside London last year when Mrs Braverman was serving as attorney general. But The Sunday Times, which first reported the story, said it was not until she became Home Secretary during Liz Truss brief premiership that the senior Tory called on the Civil Service for advice. According to The Daily Mirror, the Home Secretarys special adviser had repeatedly denied that Mrs Braverman had been caught speeding when a reporter from the newspaper put the suggestion to them last month. The newspaper has published a transcript of the exchange. The aide declined to comment when approached by PA news agency. An investigation is under way after a double-decker bus hit a railway bridge and had its roof sheared off, leaving 10 people needing hospital treatment. The incident took place in Cook Street in Glasgows Tradeston area at about 11.35am on Sunday and casualties were taken to various hospitals in and around the city, including one to the childrens hospital. Train services between Glasgow Central and Paisley Gilmour Street were affected, with the route closed until around 5pm on Sunday. On Monday, Glasgow City Council leader Susan Aitken said the incident must have been terrifying. We're assisting the emergency services, who are responding to a bus trapped beneath a bridge between Glasgow Central & Paisley Gilmour Street. We need to complete a safety inspection of the bridge before trains can use it again, we can only do this once the bus has been removed. Network Rail Scotland (@NetworkRailSCOT) May 21, 2023 She tweeted: The Cook St bus incident over the weekend must have been absolutely terrifying for everyone involved. Thanks to the emergency services for the swift evacuation. I hope all those hospitalised will be home soon, fully recovered. Some passengers were also treated at the scene in the citys south side, the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service said on Sunday. Police Scotland said: Inquiries into the crash remain ongoing. A First Bus spokesperson said: We are continuing to work closely with the emergency services and our thoughts remain with those involved. A Scottish Ambulance Service spokesman said: We dispatched twelve resources, as well as the Special Operations Resource Team and the Trauma Team, to the scene. Five patients were transported to Queen Elizabeth University Hospital, four patients were transported to Glasgow Royal Infirmary and one patient was transported to the Royal Hospital for Children, Glasgow. Labour will force a vote on ending leaseholds, describing the watering down of the Governments pledge to abolish the system as a scandal. Housing Secretary Michael Gove last week appeared to confirm reports he was dropping plans to dismantle the leasehold system. He had previously promised to introduce legislation to fundamentally reform the system, which he had criticised as feudal. The form of home ownership gives the householder the right to live in a property for a fixed number of years. But there have been mounting concerns about practices in the sector, including over the levying of hefty charges and a lack of transparency. The Guardian recently reported that getting rid of leasehold will not form part of a series of reforms due to be announced by Mr Gove in the coming weeks, after Downing Street argued there was not enough time before the next general election due by January 2025 to carry out the plans. Asked about this at a conference in Westminster last week, the senior Tory suggested that legislation being put forward soon would tackle the many abuses arising from leasehold rather than eradicate it altogether. Housing Secretary Michael Gove (Andrew Milligan/PA) Labour will on Tuesday bring forward a vote on a motion that would call on Mr Gove to keep his promise by ending the sale of new private leasehold houses, introducing a workable system to replace private leasehold flats with commonhold and enacting the Law Commissions recommendations on enfranchisement, commonhold and the right to manage in full. Shadow housing secretary Lisa Nandy said: It is nothing short of a scandal that despite near-universal agreement that leasehold is a feudal form of tenure that should be a thing of the past, there is still no timetable for ending leasehold on new builds and introducing a workable system of commonhold to replace existing leasehold homes. We cannot have more delays or broken promises because of rows within government. Today MPs from all parties can join Labour in voting to end the leasehold system, implement the Law Commissions recommendations in full, and deliver long-overdue justice to millions of families. A spokesperson for the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities said: We will bring forward leasehold reforms later in this Parliament, in line with our manifesto commitment. As the Secretary of State has made clear in the House many times, we remain determined in our promise to better protect and empower leaseholders to challenge unreasonable costs and make it easier and cheaper for them to extend their lease or buy their freehold. These build on the significant improvements we have already made to the market including ending ground rents for most new residential leases. A Labour government wouldnt turn to immigration as the easy answer to plugging workforce shortages, Rachel Reeves has said. The shadow chancellor said Britons should be trained to fill vacancies in sectors such as data science and in the NHS. It comes after Labour chairwoman Anneliese Dodds last week indicated migration could increase in the short term if the party comes to power, but would ultimately be reduced by addressing the domestic skills shortage. Asked about her colleagues comments, Ms Reeves told the Sun: What I want to see is people who are already in Britain being trained up for the jobs that are available in the economy there are many people who are not in work who with the right support, could get into work. Simply allowing in foreign workers to take British jobs doesnt make any sense at all, she told the newspaper during a trip to the United States. If weve got a shortage of data scientists, if weve got a shortage of nurses or doctors, and the Migration Advisory Council are saying we need to bring people in, then we should then be training those people. There are many people who are not in work with the right support, could get into work. She spoke of devolving work support programmes to a local level, as well as reforms in childcare and the NHS as ways to help millions of economically inactive people into employment. Westminster is braced for fresh data that is expected to show net migration reached record levels last year. The Office of National Statistics is set to publish figures this week that could show net migration the number of people arriving via legal means, subtracted from the amount leaving the country reached at least 700,000 in the 12 months up to December 2022. That will exceed the record of 500,000 set in the year to June 2022 and is substantially higher than the 226,000 level which stood when the 2019 Conservative Party manifesto promised that overall numbers will come down following the introduction of post-Brexit border controls. Earlier on Monday, Sir Keir Starmer told BBCs Today programme he would expect it to come down and I want it to come down from 500,000. The Labour leader declined to put a number on it when repeatedly pressed, saying previous governments tended to miss targets, but that the direction of travel for net migration would be downwards. Naga Munchetty experiences distressing symptoms from the condition adenomyosis. (Getty Images) BBC's Naga Munchetty has shared she has a debilitating womb condition called adenomyosis that causes her constant pain. Munchetty, 48, experienced a flare-up over the weekend that was so extreme her husband had to call an ambulance. "The pain was so terrible I couldn't move, turn over, sit up. I screamed non-stop for 45 minutes," the presenter revealed to her BBC Radio 5 Live listeners. While the condition is not life-threatening, symptoms can have a big impact on your daily life. "Right now as I sit here talking to you: I am in pain. Constant, nagging pain," she said. "In my uterus. Around my pelvis. Sometimes it runs down my thighs. "And I'll have some level of pain for the entire show and for the rest of the day until I go to sleep." What is adenomyosis? Adenomyosis causes the lining of the womb (endometrium) to bury into the muscular wall of the womb, according to the NHS. It can affect the whole womb or just one part. It is not an infection or contagious, and is benign, meaning it's not cancerous or dangerous. But as the symptoms can be debilitating, it's vital to get the support you need to limit the impact on your day-to-day-life as much as possible. While endometriosis (where tissue similar to the lining of the womb grows in other places) and adenomyosis are both endometrial problems that can cause pelvic pain, they are considered separate gynaecological conditions. It is possible to have both at the same time. Adenomyosis causes It is not known exactly why adenomyosis occurs. However, it is thought that some women with adenomyosis have a predisposition due to their genes, immune system and hormones. Adenomyosis symptoms While you can have adenomyosis without any symptoms at all, if they do present, they can be be extremely uncomfortable. They might include: heavy periods that last for a long time severe period pain a feeling of pressure in your tummy bloating (your tummy sticks out more than normal) Severe period pain could be a sign of adenomyosis. (Getty Images) Adenomyosis treatment Depending on your symptoms and their severity, treatment options may include: anti-inflammatory medication to help relieve mild pain treatment during your period to help reduce the amount of blood loss hormone therapy like the contraceptive pill, to help control heavy or painful periods a hysterectomy (removal of the womb) A hysterectomy would only be considered in extreme cases when other treatments don't work or if you don't want to become pregnant. If you experience any symptoms or suspect you might have adenomyosis, speak to your GP for advice. They might carry out a pelvic examination and other tests to see if a diagnosis is needed and rule out other health conditions, before suggesting the right treatment for you. A man has been found guilty of the murder of a father-of-three who was stabbed to death in the food hall of an Essex shopping centre. Michael Ugwa, 29, was killed at Lakeside Shopping Centre in Thurrock on April 28 last year after complimenting a woman, a trial at Basildon Crown Court was told. On Monday, 23-year-old Muhammad Khan was found guilty of Mr Ugwas murder and of affray, Essex Police said. The force said jurors cleared a second man, Brandon Lutchmunsing, 20, of murder. Lutchmunsing was found guilty of manslaughter and of affray, police said. Karim Khalil KC, prosecuting, said Khan and Lutchmunsing had cornered Mr Ugwa before Khan stabbed him in the chest. Muhammad Khan was found guilty at Basildon Crown Court (Essex Police/PA) Mr Ugwa, from Rainham, east London, died of catastrophic blood loss at the scene as the two men fled. Khan, of Ilford, east London, and Lutchmunsing, of Dagenham, east London, had denied the charges against them. Jurors were told how an argument broke out after Mr Ugwa made comments towards Lutchmunsings girlfriend, Shannon Weston. Khan is said to have brandished a knife before he and Lutchmunsing stalked Mr Ugwa through the shopping centre food hall. Mr Khalil described the brutal attack of two on one in which the men trapped Mr Ugwa in a pincer movement. Footage played at court showed Mr Ugwa holding up a chair in a bid to defend himself before throwing it at Lutchmunsing. Khan then stabbed Mr Ugwa in a single and deadly blow before fleeing with Lutchmunsing in Westons red Audi, Mr Khalil said. Weston was accused of driving Khan and Lutchmunsing away from the shopping centre, and of helping her then-boyfriend to evade police between April 28 and May 4. The 21-year-old, of Canewdon, Essex, was found guilty of three counts of assisting an offender, which she had denied, police said. Opening the case, Mr Khalil had said: The killing is particularly shocking because it happened just before 4.30 in the afternoon in the public food court. It happened in front of a number of people going about their normal business. Witnesses were clearly frightened for their safety. A mother with two youngsters in a pushchair can be seen dragging them away as fast as she can. The three defendants were sitting by a food outlet when Michael Ugwa and his friend walked in. There was a short verbal exchange during which Michael passed some admiring comments towards Shannon Weston. The two male defendants decided to take it as some form of challenge. Muhammad Khan pulled out a knife. Khan did this in a secretive manner but we say from the manner of Lutchmunsings behaviour that he knew. Mr Ugwa ran for his safety. He continued to be chased around the food court. Mr Ugwa went through some tables. He grabbed a chair. He threw the chair at Lutchmunsing. He was the subject of a pincer movement as they went around different parts of the food court effectively trapping him between them. Eventually Mr Khan cornered him and stabbed out. He aimed the knife at his chest and struck him as he intended to. It was a single and deadly blow. Lutchmunsing said he was unaware that his friend had pulled out the knife until he stabbed Mr Ugwa, while Khan had claimed he was acting in self-defence. Senior investigating officer Temporary Detective Chief Inspector Julie Gowen said afterwards: Although this incident played out over the course of a few minutes, the fatal assault was over in a matter of seconds. This case shows the tragic consequences that carrying a knife can have and how quickly an incident can escalate when weapons are involved. The defendants are due to be sentenced at Basildon Crown Court on a date to be fixed. Nearly a third of young survivors of the Manchester Arena bombing have received no professional support, according to a report released on the sixth anniversary of the attack. Three-quarters (75%) of children and young people affected by the 2017 terror outrage were psychologically injured by what happened to them, the report states. But 29% have never received any professional support in the six years since, and four in 10 of these say it was never offered to them. The Bee The Difference report, launched on Monday, is a research project designed by and for young survivors of the arena attack in collaboration with UK disaster response charity the National Emergencies Trust and researchers at Lancaster University. Twenty-two people were murdered and hundreds injured when suicide bomber Salman Abedi detonated his device in the foyer of Manchester Arena at the end of an Ariana Grande concert on May 22 2017. More than 200 young survivors took part in the research for the report, all of whom were under 18 at the time of the attack, and some of whom were physically injured in the bombing. The report reveals that while 93% of young survivors felt they needed support in the aftermath of the attack, 70% received no professional help within the first month and 31% received no professional help within the first year. While some of the professional help offered by teachers, counsellors and GPs was invaluable to survivors, some of it inadvertently introduced more trauma, research showed. And some young people felt their experiences were not validated by adults in positions of care, and that their feelings and opinions were dismissed on account of their age. File photo dated 23/05/17 of armed police at the Manchester Arena at the end of a concert by US star Ariana Grande. (Peter Byrne, PA) One survivor told researchers: The tutor told me that I should take the attack as a positive experience that this hardship would make me a stronger person. He said not many young people experience hardships nowadays. This felt totally insensitive so I didnt return. The report makes a number of proposals for individuals and institutions to improve support for young survivors of terror. The UK Government is expected to finalise the draft of a Survivors Charter in the next few weeks that would guarantee key rights for survivors of terror attacks and is expected to include a guaranteed timeline for mental health support. Dr Cath Hill, lead researcher at Lancaster University, said: The findings show that the simple act of validating young peoples views can make a huge difference to their wellbeing, and is something all adults in positions of care could be more mindful of should the worst happen again. A memorial to the victims of the Manchester Arena bombing at Victoria Station in Manchester. (Peter Byrne, PA) Mhairi Sharp, head of the National Emergencies Trust, said: There has been a glaring gap in knowledge about how UK disasters affect children and young people. Six years after the attack almost one in four (22%) young Manchester survivors continue to receive psychological support today, according to the findings. Charity royal patron the Prince of Wales said: This report makes clear that young people who have experienced the trauma of terrorism have needs unique to their age. These are minds that need the space to have their voices heard and feelings acknowledged. We must listen to their stories now, in order to learn for the future. I look forward to seeing the change that it creates. Former SNP MP Margaret Ferrier has lost her appeal against a proposed 30-day suspension from Commons bringing a by-election in her Rutherglen and Hamilton West constituency a step closer. The punishment was proposed by MPs on the Commons Standards Committee after a breach of Covid rules by Ms Ferrier saw her speak in the House of Commons and take the train between Scotland and England while positive for the virus. With a sanction of 10 sitting days or more being enough to potentially force a by-election, Ms Ferrier, who now sits as an independent MP, had appealed against the length of her proposed suspension. But the Independent Expert Panel, which considers appeals against decisions by the Committee on Standards from MPs, has rejected this. Margaret Ferrier, left, with Nicola Sturgeon, was elected as an SNP MP but had the whip suspended (Jane Barlow/PA) With regards to Ms Ferriers appeal, a sub-panel which considered the matter found that none of the grounds had substance and also said that the sanction imposed was neither unreasonable nor disproportionate. Ms Ferrier was elected as an SNP MP in 2019, but was suspended by the party the following year after she breached Covid rules. She has already been ordered to complete a 270-hour community payback order by a court after admitting culpably and recklessly exposing the public to the risk of infection, illness and death as a result of her behaviour. MPs will now be asked to vote on whether the 30-day sanction, which is being imposed as her behaviour also breached the House of Commons Code of Conduct, should go ahead. Under Parliament rules, if an MP is suspended for 10 sitting days or more a by-election can be held but for this to happen 10% of registered voters in the constituency need to sign a recall petition. There has never been a recall petition in Scotland since the procedure was introduced in 2015. Dismissing Ms Ferriers appeal against the proposed 30-day suspension, the Independent Expert Panel said: She acted with blatant and deliberate dishonest intent. She acted with a high degree of recklessness to the public and to colleagues and staff at the House of Commons. She acted selfishly, putting her own interests above the public interest. There could therefore be no lesser sanction for this conduct. The report stressed that MPs are expected to be held to a high standard of conduct as well as honesty. It added: When members fall short of that conduct, the trust and confidence in Parliament and its members are undermined. Ms Ferrier had argued that the proposed 30-day ban amounts to double jeopardy, since she has already been penalised by the Sheriff Court. But the report from the Independent Expert Panel said: We do not agree. There is no double jeopardy here. It insisted the criminal proceedings against Ms Ferrier and the workplace disciplinary proceedings she now faces are quite different. The report went on to describe her as being dishonest, pointing out she had not told anyone at the Commons she had tested for Covid, and when his came back positive, she failed to inform the Parliamentary test and trace team and did not tell the SNP chief whip. The panel stated: Ms Ferriers failure was not a single misjudgement, but a series of deliberate actions over several days. The report said the MPs actions demonstrated, in particular, a lack of honesty adding that this was one of seven principles of public life. At a time when others both across the country and within the Parliamentary community, made significant sacrifices in order to follow the rules and guidance during the Covid-19 pandemic, the report said Ms Ferrier knowingly exposed others to risk. Scottish Labour deputy leader Jackie Baillie said the failure of Ms Ferriers appeal meant that by-election that the people of Rutherglen and Hamilton West need has moved one step closer. Ms Baillie added: It is simply disgraceful that this community has been left without proper representation due to the actions of Margaret Ferrier. Scottish Liberal Democrat deputy leader Wendy Chamberlain MP said: At a time when so many Scots were staying home to keep themselves and others safe, Margaret Ferrier acted with real recklessness. Todays news takes us one step closer to a recall petition and a long overdue by-election. An SNP spokesperson said: There must now be a by-election in Rutherglen and Hamilton West, which the SNP has been calling for since Ms Ferriers Covid rule breach first came to light in 2020. The SNP is ready to take the fight to the Tories and pro-Brexit Labour Party at that by-election and we will be putting the cost of living, NHS and independence at the heart of our campaign. We will be working hard for every vote to ensure the people of Rutherglen and Hamilton West can have a strong SNP MP to stand up for their interests locally and for Scotland. A fraudster who ran a 70 million Ponzi-style investment scam has been found guilty after a seven-week trial. Anthony Constantinou, 41, was found guilty of one count of fraud, two counts of fraudulent trading and four counts of money laundering at Southwark Crown Court on Monday, City of London Police said. He absconded during the trial and an international arrest warrant has been issued to trace him. Constantinou, of no fixed address, ran Capital World Markets (CWM) which offered investors returns of 60% per year on allegedly risk-free foreign exchange (FX) markets, and hundreds of investments were made to a total of around 70 million. Detective Inspector Nichola Meghji, from City of London Police, said: This has been a long-running and complex investigation. Anthony Constantinou is a career criminal who is out to make as much money for himself as possible, with no regard for anyone else. A Porsche acquired by fraudster Anthony Constantinou (CPS/PA) Throughout this lengthy investigation, Constantinou has continued to try to deceive officers and deny any wrongdoing. In a further move to deny any involvement in this case, he decided to stop attending his trial. We are glad that the jury has seen through his lies and unanimously found him guilty. CWM operated from late 2013 to early 2015, and Constantinou told investors they would receive returns of 5% per month and those who introduced investors to CWM also received a cut. In the early stages of the scam, investors were told there was an initial minimum investment of 50,000, but this increased to 100,000 in the later stages. Despite significant funds from more than 250 known victims, the money was not being invested in foreign exchange and the purported returns were being paid back to the investors from their own and others invested capital, the force said. Constantinou owned an expensive high-powered Range Rover (CPS/PA) Investors were told similar stories about what would happen to their money and how the scheme worked: only 10% of capital was risked and the remaining 90% was held safely in a segregated account in Germany. Investors were reassured the risk was further reduced, with the 10% being protected by matching funds in CWM and a guarantee from Constantinou himself. Evidence suggested that despite others having key roles in the scam, Constantinou was the only person who knew what was really going on with the company, City of London Police added. Others in the business were led to believe the scheme was unregulated, returns were from genuine investment and that Constantinou was a very wealthy man. The investigation into Constantinou and CWM began in 2014. After an initial investigation, police officers made the decision to stop the scheme before it collapsed to preserve as much money as possible from investors and to stop further people falling victim to the scam. Officers searched the Heron Tower offices of CWM in the City in March 2015 and arrested Constantinou. Following the search, an investigation of CWMs finances showed extravagant spending from clients funds, including 3 million spent by Constantinou on lifestyle events, including his wedding and a CWM launch party. During his police interview, Constantinou used a prepared statement denying knowledge of fraud and replied no comment to all further questions by officers. Emma Beazley, of the Crown Prosecution Service, said: This was a callous scam targeting members of the public. Many people lost their hard-earned money because of Constantinous greed and false promises in this fake investment scheme. He is due to be sentenced in his absence on June 9. Facebook owner Meta has been fined 1.2 billion euro (1 billion) and was ordered to stop transferring user data from European users to its US servers. The record fine was levied by Irelands Data Protection Commission (DPC) after a three-year probe into the social media giant. The DPC said that Meta had breached part of the European GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) rules in the way that it had moved data of Facebook users across borders. It ordered Meta Ireland to suspend any future transfer of personal data to the US within the period of five months and also levied a record fine on the business to sanction the infringement that was found to have occurred. Meta called the fine unjustified. Latest News: Data Protection Commission announces conclusion of inquiry into Meta Ireland https://t.co/fFcppEOCFT pic.twitter.com/tTgLMlw3sY Data Protection Commission Ireland (@DPCIreland) May 22, 2023 The multi-year process which led to the fine was kicked off by Edward Snowden in 2013 when the National Security Agency (NSA) whistleblower revealed that US authorities were surveilling systems run by several US companies. Companies had long been allowed to transfer EU customers data to the US to help them run their business, but only on a promise that they were protecting this data as well as if it was being stored in the EU. But the Snowden revelations put a question mark over the whole system. They sparked a request for the DPC to investigate how Facebook data was shared across continents. The DPC originally refused, thinking that the complaint was not sustainable, but was overruled years later by the Court of Justice of the European Union. But Meta said that the issue was larger than simply the practices of one company. The US and EU rules are in fundamental conflict, the company said on Monday. It is a conflict that neither Meta nor any other business could resolve on its own. We are therefore disappointed to have been singled out when using the same legal mechanism as thousands of other companies looking to provide services in Europe, a statement by Meta president of global affairs Sir Nick Clegg and chief legal officer Jennifer Newstead said. They said there was not going to be any immediate disruption to Facebook, and that Meta would appeal against the decision. Without the ability to transfer data across borders, the internet risks being carved up into national and regional silos, restricting the global economy and leaving citizens in different countries unable to access many of the shared services we have come to rely on, Sir Nick and Ms Newstead said. They criticised the European Data Protection Board for overruling the DPCs initial decision that a fine was unjustified because Meta had acted in good faith. Policymakers on both sides of the Atlantic are currently scrambling to find a new agreement on how data can be shared across borders. If this is put in place before Metas deadline to stop using the current system there will be no disruption to Facebook, Sir Nick and Ms Newstead said. They added: No country has done more than the US to align with European rules via their latest reforms, while transfers continue largely unchallenged to countries such as China. A suspected rapist wanted in the United States has been given a final chance to lodge reports with a Scottish court before a full extradition hearing takes place next month. Nicholas Rossi appeared at Edinburgh Sheriff Court via video link on Monday in the long-running extradition battle, which was launched after US authorities in Utah accused the 35-year-old of sex offences. Rossi has claimed this is a case of false identity and said he is an Irish orphan named Arthur Knight. But a sheriff in November ruled that he is Nicholas Rossi. His solicitor, Stuart Murray, told the court there had been some difficulty in obtaining medical reports. Nicholas Rossi is wanted for rape and other offences in the United States (Andrew Milligan/PA) He said: There has been difficulty in obtaining reports. I am seeking further time to have these reports lodged to the court. He told Sheriff Norman McFadyen they could not find a psychiatrist willing to carry out reports in Scotland and blamed the media circus surrounding the case as the reason no doctors were willing to carry out the examination. Mr Murray claimed the Scottish Prison Service was unwilling to allow an in-person assessment to take place at HMP Edinburgh where Rossi is being held, but this was eventually held over a video link with an expert in England. Rossi submitted a written application to address the court regarding his difficulties in prison, but both Mr Murray and the advocate depute Paul Harvey, for the Crown, had not seen this prior to the hearing, the court heard. In responding to the application to delay the procedural hearing by one more week, Mr Harvey told the court the deadline for March had came and went. Mr Harvey said: Reports in this case were first requested in early March 2023. That deadline has came and went. He said that the full extradition hearing must go ahead in June and that the final adjourned preliminary hearing must be the last deadline. Mr Harvey confirmed no proceedings will be brought against Rossi by the Crown after he was allegedly involved in an altercation with custody staff at a previous hearing last month. Rossi came to the attention of the authorities when he was at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow in December 2021 with Covid-19. It has been alleged Rossi faked his own death in 2020 and fled to the UK to evade prosecution before he was arrested in December 2021. Nicholas Rossis wife Miranda Knight has been attending hearings regularly (Lesley Martin/PA) He was identified by tattoos matching police records for Rossi. While in Scotland, under the alias Knight and posing as a tutor, Rossi developed Covid pneumonitis and became the sickest patient on the ward, according to medical staff who were caring for him at the time. It was at this point Police Scotland officers were issued with an Interpol red notice, with pictures of the wanted man, including images of his tattoos and fingerprints. Sheriff McFadyen set a final deadline for the reports to be lodged and a final preliminary hearing for Wednesday May 31, calling the situation far from ideal. A full extradition hearing will begin on June 26. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Taoiseach Leo Varadkar need to co-chair a summit meeting to chart a course back to devolution at Stormont, Sinn Fein vice president Michelle ONeill has said. The republican party insisted its success in the local government elections was a monumental endorsement of its call for the powersharing institutions to be restored. However, DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson said he now has a renewed mandate from the council elections to go to the UK Government and seek solutions on the Northern Ireland Protocol. The elections to 11 local councils saw Sinn Fein emerge at the weekend as the largest party in local government for the first time, with 144 seats, a rise of 39 from 2019. The party replicated its result in the Assembly election last year when it became the largest party at Stormont. Sinn Fein deputy leader Michelle ONeill (left) and Sinn Fein President Mary Lou McDonald at a post election press conference in Belfast (Mark Marlow/PA). The DUP reinforced its position as the dominant force in unionism by winning 122 seats, the same number as in 2019. The poll took place against the backdrop of the DUPs decision to collapse the Stormont powersharing institutions in protest at post-Brexit trading arrangements. The DUP is seeking further steps from the Government to ease its trading and political concerns about the protocol before it commits to a Stormont return. Sinn Fein president and vice president Mary Lou McDonald and Michelle ONeill appeared together at a Belfast hotel. Mrs McDonald said her party had broken new ground. She said: Thursday was the peoples day and they have now spoken loud and clear. The result has been a monumental endorsement for Sinn Feins positive and progressive platform to restore government (at Stormont), to invest in the health service, to support people through the cost-of-living crisis and to deliver first-class council services. Mrs McDonald said a significant motivating factor in the election was public frustration that Michelle ONeill had been prevented from becoming first minister at Stormont due to the DUP veto on powersharing. Even beyond nationalism and republicanism there is a recognition that Michelle ONeill should now be serving as a first minister for all, she said. Ms ONeill reiterated her call for an urgent meeting of the British-Irish Intergovernmental Conference. It should be at the highest level, at taoiseach and prime minister level, and we want to see a plan to have the institutions back up and running, she told reporters in Belfast. Sir Jeffrey Donaldson appeared at Stormont with a number of his party MPs and MLAs (Jonathan McCambridge/PA) Ms ONeill said the DUPs ongoing blockade on Stormont was totally unacceptable. Theres no doubt the political landscape across this island is changing, but Sinn Fein is leading on that change and we are in this decade of opportunity and people want new beginnings, she said. We said that we will work for all, and that I will be a first minister for all, and Im ready to start that work today, Ive been ready to start that work since last May. One partys boycott of the Assembly cannot go on and the Executive must be formed now. So, its now time to make politics work and deliver for people right across this island. Thats what the public have just endorsed in this recent election again. Ms ONeill said it would not be acceptable for a return to Stormont to be delayed until the autumn. Appearing at Stormont where he was flanked by a number of his DUPs and MLAs, Sir Jeffrey said he had delivered a very strong mandate. He added: That means the DUP has a renewed mandate to go back to the Government and seek the solutions that we need on the Northern Ireland Protocol, to restore our place within the United Kingdom and our ability to trade with the rest of the UK. He added: I believe the mandate we have been given in the council is a mandate to finish the job. That means getting Northern Irelands place within the United Kingdom restored, protected in law and getting Stormont back up and running and delivering for the people of Northern Ireland. Sir Jeffrey said his party was committed to seeing Stormont restored, but it had to be on solid foundations. Alliance party leader Naomi Long speaks to the media at Stormont (Mark Marlow/PA). He said: Were committed to seeing this place (Stormont) properly restored and functioning and delivering. Whether that is more effective, more efficient public services, whether thats tackling the problems with our public finances. We will be at Westminster making the case to the Treasury and we will be here preparing for the restoration of the Assembly but on a solid foundation. That was a key message that we put forward on our election campaign. This place, Stormont, needs to be restored on solid foundations. He added: Progress in Northern Ireland is only made with the support of unionists and nationalists. Whatever changes have taken place during the election, that reality remains a constant. Ulster Unionist Party Leader Doug Beattie speaks to the media outside Stormont (Mark Marlow/PA). Alliance party leader Naomi Long said the lower voter turnout in some predominantly unionist areas has an impact on the mandate of the DUP leader to continue to boycott Stormont. The cross-community Alliance party is now the third largest party in local government after gaining 14 seats in the election, giving them a total of 67 councillors. There is absolutely nothing productive coming from holding back government in Stormont whatsoever, she said. And if Jeffrey really wants to look carefully at what mandate, and what support the party has, he should look at the number of voters who stayed at home, unionists voters who felt that there was nothing worth coming out to vote for. She added: I think it should be a concern to all of us when so many unionists chose to stay at home, that is of concern in politics. If Jeffrey doesnt see that as a concern, then I dont see unionism changing its course, and I dont see unionism faring well into the future. UUP leader Doug Beattie said Sinn Feins electoral success was a failing of the unionist parties. The UUP lost 21 seats in local government, bringing them to 54 councillors. Nationalism and particularly Sinn Fein have had a fantastic election, you cant take that away from them. They had the resources, they had the people. They had a good plan and they are now the largest party in local government and thats our failing, he said They havent grown that much right across nationalism, but unionism has shrunk and thats the problem that we have to look at. Social Democratic and Labour Party MLA Matthew OToole (Mark Marlow/PA). He added: I think unionism across the board, whether its the DUP, the Ulster Unionist Party, the TUV or any other unionist party needs to understand that positivity, confidence is whats going to inspire people to get up in the morning and vote. But more than that is having a vision for the future because people want to know what we want to have Northern Ireland looking like in five, 10, 15, 20 years from now, not just when an election is around the corner, but right into the future. Thats what we need to focus on. SDLP MLA and leader of the opposition at Stormont, Matthew OToole said the DUP using its mandate to continue to boycott Stormont was the most strategically stupid thing the leader of unionism could possibly do. The SDLP won 39 seats in the local elections, a loss of 20 from their 2019 result. I think its clear now that the DUP insisting upon using a mandate to boycott at the expense of basic governance here and the expense of public services, is the most strategically stupid thing the leader of unionism could possibly do, he said. I dont know how anyone who leads unionism could look at the election results last week and think this is good for the union, this is good for the constitutional status quo. So if Jeffrey Donaldson doesnt wise up, lead his party, and frankly, lead unionism back into this place (Stormont), the government where we will be a constructive opposition then theres not much I can do to help him, completely extraordinary. Downing Street said it remained hopeful parties could return to powersharing. A No 10 spokesman said: It remains our position that were hopeful the parties will come together and see the Assembly and the Executive return to work. We have consistently said that stable, effective and accountable government in Northern Ireland is in the interests of everybody. Police investigating the disappearance of Madeleine McCann are preparing to search in and near a reservoir in Portugal, according to multiple reports. An area near the Barragem do Arade reservoir, around 50km from Praia da Luz where Madeleine went missing in 2007, is being sealed off as German police prepare to start searching on Tuesday, Portuguese news website SIC reported. It said that the prime suspect in her disappearance, convicted sex offender Christian Brueckner, spent time in the area between 2000 and 2017. Investigators believe the 45-year-old killed Madeleine, then aged three, after abducting her from a holiday apartment. Madeleines parents Kate and Gerry McCann have campaigned to keep their daughters disappearance in the public eye for 16 years (John Stillwell/PA) Brueckner, who has reportedly denied any involvement in the youngsters disappearance, was identified as a murder suspect in the McCann case by Portuguese officials in June 2020. He is facing charges in Germany over a number of separate sex offences allegedly committed in Portugal during that time. Both Portuguese and British police officers will be present while the search by German investigators is carried out, SIC said. German authorities have not commented but it is understood they will release a brief press statement about the search on Tuesday morning. Images of Portuguese officers walking along dry tracks near the reservoir and sealing off areas with police tape began emerging on Monday afternoon. It is not the first time that the reservoir has been searched. Madeleine McCann (PA) In 2008 Portuguese lawyer Marcos Aragao Correia paid for specialist divers to check the waterway after he claimed to have been tipped off by criminal contacts that her body was in the reservoir. The most recent search in Portugal in relation to Madeleines disappearance was in 2014, when British police were given permission to examine scrubland near where she vanished. Earlier this month, Madeleines parents Kate and Gerry issued a short statement on their Find Madeleine Campaign website to mark the 16th anniversary of her disappearance. They said: Today marks the 16th anniversary of Madeleines abduction. Still missing still very much missed. It is hard to find the words to convey how we feel. The police investigation continues, and we await a breakthrough. Searches as part of the investigation into the disappearance of Madeleine McCann are set to take place in Portugal, police in the European country have confirmed. The Policia Judiciaria said in a press statement that it is co-ordinating searches in the Algarve over the next few days, at the request of the German police and in the presence of British officers. An area near the Barragem do Arade reservoir, around 50km from Praia da Luz where Madeleine went missing in 2007, is being sealed off as searches are expected to start on Tuesday, Portuguese news website SIC reported. It said that the prime suspect in her disappearance, convicted sex offender Christian Brueckner, spent time in the area between 2000 and 2017. Investigators believe the 45-year-old killed Madeleine, then aged three, after abducting her from a holiday apartment. Brueckner, who has reportedly denied any involvement in the youngsters disappearance, was identified as a murder suspect in the McCann case by Portuguese officials in June 2020. He is facing charges in Germany over a number of separate sex offences allegedly committed in Portugal during that time. German authorities have not commented but it is understood they will release a brief press statement about the search on Tuesday morning. Images of Portuguese officers walking along dry tracks near the reservoir and sealing off areas with police tape emerged on Monday afternoon. It is not the first time that the reservoir has been searched. Kate and Gerry McCann (Joe Giddens/PA) In 2008 Portuguese lawyer Marcos Aragao Correia paid for specialist divers to check the waterway after he claimed to have been tipped off by criminal contacts that Madeleines body was in the reservoir. The most recent search in Portugal in relation to her disappearance was in 2014, when British police were given permission to examine scrubland near where she vanished. Earlier this month, Madeleines parents Kate and Gerry issued a short statement on their Find Madeleine Campaign website to mark the 16th anniversary of her disappearance. They said: Today marks the 16th anniversary of Madeleines abduction. Still missing still very much missed. It is hard to find the words to convey how we feel. The police investigation continues, and we await a breakthrough. Margaret Ferrier should do the right thing and resign after the former SNP MP lost an appeal over a proposed 30-day Commons ban, Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar has said. The Rutherglen and Hamilton West MP, who now sits as an independent, could now face a by-election after she breached Covid rules in 2020 by travelling by train from Scotland to England while positive for the virus. Ms Ferrier appealed against the punishment recommended by the Commons Standards Committee, however the Independent Expert Panel confirmed her challenge had been rejected. MPs will now be asked to vote on the 30-day ban in the Commons, with an MP who misses 10 sitting days due to suspension at risk of a by-election but 10% of voters in her constituency must sign a recall petition. There has never been a recall petition in Scotland since the procedure was introduced in 2015. Margaret Ferrier lost her appeal against a Commons ban (UK Parliament/Luke Newbold/PA) While on the campaign trail in Cambuslang, which is part of Ms Ferriers constituency, Mr Sarwar urged former colleagues of Ms Ferrier to approve the suspension. However, he appealed to Ms Ferrier to put her constituents first by stepping down from the post. He said: At every single stage of this process, Margaret Ferrier has done the wrong thing. She has one final chance to do the right thing and resign as the local MP and allow the people of Rutherglen and Hamilton West to have a fresh start and elect an MP thats on their side. If she fails to do that, then Im calling on both SNP and Tory MPs to vote for this sanction when it comes before them in the House of Commons and then allow the people of this constituency to participate in that recall petition. I am confident if that happens they will with overwhelming numbers reject Margaret Ferrier, meaning we have a by-election here. (PA Graphics) Constituents on Ms Ferriers doorstep are furious that the issue has dragged on for far too long, Mr Sarwar said, adding every step of the way, this individual is trying to keep her job rather than actually standing up for the community that needs proper support. Ms Ferrier, who was elected in 2019 with a 5,000 vote majority, has already been ordered to complete a 270-hour community payback order by a court after admitting culpably and recklessly exposing the public to the risk of infection, illness and death as a result of her behaviour. Dismissing Ms Ferriers appeal, the Independent Expert Panel said: She acted with blatant and deliberate dishonest intent. Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar with campaigners in Cambuslang (Andrew Milligan/PA) She acted with a high degree of recklessness to the public and to colleagues and staff at the House of Commons. She acted selfishly, putting her own interests above the public interest. There could therefore be no lesser sanction for this conduct. Scottish Labour have put forward teacher Michael Shanks as the candidate vying for the seat in a potential by-election and the general election, however the SNP are yet to select their candidate. Mr Sarwar said his party are going all out to win in the constituency as the party pushes for a Labour majority in Westminster. His partys electoral recovery starts in Rutherglen and Hamilton West, he said. Scottish Liberal Democrat deputy leader Wendy Chamberlain MP said: Todays news takes us one step closer to a recall petition and a long overdue by-election. An SNP spokesperson said: There must now be a by-election in Rutherglen and Hamilton West, which the SNP has been calling for since Ms Ferriers Covid rule breach first came to light in 2020. The SNP is ready to take the fight to the Tories and pro-Brexit Labour Party at that by-election and we will be putting the cost of living, NHS and independence at the heart of our campaign. We will be working hard for every vote to ensure the people of Rutherglen and Hamilton West can have a strong SNP MP to stand up for their interests locally and for Scotland. Scottish Tory MSP Graham Simpson said Ms Ferriers actions were reckless and echoed calls for her to resign. He added: Instead, it looks like she will brazenly continue to take her MP salary until the bitter end. A rare flag flown from a polar sledge used to hunt for survivors of Captain Sir John Franklins doomed expedition has been saved for the nation thanks to a campaign backed by Michael Palin and Dan Snow. The National Museum of the Royal Navy (NMRN) launched a last-ditch campaign to raise the 120,000 needed to stop the Kellet sledge flag from passing into the hands of an overseas private collector. It succeeded thanks to 98,170 from the National Lottery Heritage Fund and 40,000 from the Art Fund, with match-funding from the NMRN enabling the museum to buy the flag and put it on display at its sites in Hartlepool, Portsmouth and Belfast. Arts and Heritage Minister Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay had placed a temporary export bar on the flag in September 2022. A conservator from the National Museum of the Royal Navy adjusts the Kellet Sledge flag in its frame at Portsmouth Historic Dockyard in Hampshire. Picture date: Wednesday May 16, 2023. (Andrew Matthews, PA) The flag was owned by 19th century Irish naval officer Vice-Admiral Sir Henry Kellett and flown during the third of a series of expeditions from 1852 to 1854 to look for survivors, or evidence of bodies, after Franklins expedition. A NMRN spokeswoman said: Mystery surrounding the fate of the Franklin expedition and the 129 crew ignited public debate and intrigue for decades until the discovery of his two ships, HMS Erebus in 2014 and HMS Terror in 2016. Franklins failed expedition takes on a symbolic place within Arctic exploration, especially within the British Isles and Canada, leading to the successful mapping of the Canadian archipelago and northern mainland coastline. Professor Dominic Tweddle, NMRN director general, said: Vice-Admiral Sir Henry Kelletts sledge flag and Franklins expedition represent courage and fortitude in the face of adversity core elements of our national identity that echo through our history. They also reflect the British and global obsession with finding and navigating the Northwest Passage, as well as the Royal Navys role in expedition and exploration from Captain Cook to Darwin and HMS Beagle, to HMS Challenger in 1872, and continuing today with HMS Protector the ice patrol ship in Antarctica and the Southern Hemisphere. A conservator from the National Museum of the Royal Navy with the Kellet Sledge flag after it was taken out of its frame for inspection at Portsmouth Historic Dockyard in Hampshire. (Andrew Matthews, PA) He added: The National Museum is proud to have stepped forward to save the Kellett flag from being exported overseas and to continue our work linking navy to nation. Measuring 595 by 885mm within a frame of 710 by 995mm, the flag is in a fragile condition and is being assessed by the museums conservation team for recommended treatment. NMRN conservator Rachel Trembath said: The flag will be sent to a specialist textile conservator, who will remove the metal pins securing it to the backboard. It will need to be stabilised and issues particularly around the fragile right-hand edge will be addressed. The decision to clean the flag will have to balance the long-term preservation needs with the historical significance of the staining and ingrained dirt. The flag will undergo testing for light sensitivity so we can display it safely. The flag was made from silk in a rich green colour with an Irish harp embroidered in golden thread to reflect Kelletts Irish heritage. The Kellet Sledge flag after it was taken out of its frame for inspection at Portsmouth Historic Dockyard in Hampshire. (Andrew Matthews, PA) The museum spokeswoman said: The green colour has faded over time due to exposure to light, but the flag remains in fairly good condition with a small crudely sewn repair that was likely done by a member of the search party whilst on the ice. The maker is unknown but the motto Auxilium Ab Alto translates to Help From Above. Lord Parkinson said: I am delighted that this flag an important link with our past, and a symbol of courage and curiosity has been saved for the nation. The export bar system and a tireless fundraising campaign spearheaded by The National Museum of the Royal Navy means this inspiring item will now be on public display for generations to come. Published 22 May 2023 at 1:01 am The Foreign Secretary will tell young leaders in Chile that South America deserves a bigger say on the international stage, as part of a keynote speech on Monday. James Cleverly will tell crowds at Santiagos Gabriela Mistral Cultural Centre that the tectonic plates of world politics are shifting once again. The politician is visiting the region as part of the first visit by a foreign secretary to South America since 2018. Mr Cleverly will visit Chile, Colombia and Brazil as part of his visit to the continent. Foreign Secretary @JamesCleverly is visiting Latin America and the Caribbean to cement partnerships on climate, people and peace. The region is an enormous potential market for the UK and will play a huge role in the fight against climate change. Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (@FCDOGovUK) May 18, 2023 In a keynote speech celebrating 200 years of UK-South America relations, Mr Cleverly will set out the UKs future relationship with South America. The Foreign Secretary will call for South American countries to be given a louder voice in multinational organisations like the UN, including a permanent Security Council seat for Brazil, according to the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO). Mr Cleverly will tell crowds: [Latin Americas] demographic and economic weight gives you a pivotal role in determining whether the international order will endure But our worlds multilateral institutions need reform, in particular to give more voice and more influence to Latin America. The Foreign Secretary will also use his address in Santiago to describe Britain as the regions oldest friend and will highlight how Britain and South America are partners on issues such as climate change, protecting democracy and human rights, and securing free and open supply chains of critical minerals. The Foreign Secretary will also use the visit to try and boost Britains jobs, growth and influence. The UK will be joining Mexico, Chile and Peru in the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) trading bloc. Britain joined the CPTPP, a major Indo-Pacific trade bloc, earlier in the year. Mr Cleverly will highlight how South America only represents 2% of British imports and 2.5% of British exports worldwide. He will also highlight how there is much more to do on trade and investment going forward. British embassies across the continent are preparing celebrate 200 years of UK-South America relations. The Governments plans to house asylum seekers in former military bases are in chaos, according to a Tory former minister. Sir Edward Leigh questioned why ministers want to use RAF Scampton, in his Gainsborough constituency, given he understands the site will not be used to take people currently in hotels. He also asked why Suella Braverman has ignored her own civil servants, amid reports the Home Secretary was advised to stop work on proposals for the Lincolnshire site. Figures for March showed the Home Office was housing more than 109,000 asylum seekers more than 40,000 in short-term accommodation such as hotels at a cost of more than 6.2 million a day, according to the Government. Sir Edward Leigh, Conservative MP for Gainsborough (PA) The Home Office believes 2,000 people can be housed at Scampton, with a redundant airbase in Essex and former prison land in East Sussex also identified to provide rudimentary accommodation for asylum seekers. West Lindsey District Council, which has secured funds from a developer to regenerate RAF Scampton, earlier this month lost the first round of a High Court challenge to the plans. 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. Sir Edward told Home Office questions in the Commons: One of the justifications for using former military bases rather than hotels was it would be a deterrence. We now learn from the Home Office that RAF Scampton will not take people from hotels it might be a detention centre, it might take migrants from Manston, the whole policy is in chaos. Is this why the Home Secretarys own civil servant on February 6 recommended to her agree to stop work on proposals on RAF Scampton? The email from the Resettlement, Asylum Support and Integration Directorate also recommended the Home Secretary should immediately notify the local authorities that the Home Office are no longer developing proposals for the site, according to the BBC. Home Secretary Suella Braverman (PA) Sir Edward asked: Why has the Home Secretary ignored her own civil servants? Ms Braverman replied: I appreciate very much the efforts of (Sir Edward) in standing up for his constituents and hes doing a fantastic job at doing so. What I would gently say to him is that we have over 40,000 people accommodated in hotels today, were spending over 6 million a day on that accommodation, it is an unacceptable situation and thats why the Prime Minister and myself have made it a priority to bring on and deliver alternative, appropriate, and more cost-effective accommodation. Sir Edward could be heard saying: You are not taking them from hotels. Earlier, Home Office minister Robert Jenrick did not say when challenged whether his party remains committed to its 2019 manifesto commitments on reducing migration. Shadow Home Office minister Stephen Kinnock said: The reason that net migration is so high in Scotland and across the UK, and the reason that businesses are over-reliant on migrant labour, is that for 13 years the party opposite has failed to train up our home-grown talent. He added: We want and expect immigration to come down. And yet the Prime Minister and the Home Secretary are clearly at loggerheads on this issue. It appears that the right hand doesnt know what the far-right hand is doing. So the Home Secretary, I would ask her if she can confirm, is she still committed to the 2019 Conservative manifesto pledge of bringing net migration below 226,000? And if so, does she think that the Prime Minister agrees with her? Mr Jenrick said: This party wants to bring net migration down. I have no idea what the party opposite wants to do. We have heard in the last few days a succession of shadow ministers confused on this issue. The Conservative Government believes in controlled migration we will control it, the Labour Party will leave an open-door migration policy. A protest is being held on Monday against the Governments controversial legislation on minimum levels of service during strikes, which unions warn could lead to workers being sacked for legally voting to take industrial action. Union leaders involved in the current wave of strikes will speak at the event in Parliament Square and will criticise the Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Bill, which returns to Parliament for MPs to discuss amendments put forward by the Lords. The TUC has warned that the right to strike of one in five workers is at risk, as the Bill means that when workers lawfully vote to strike in health, education, fire, transport, border security and nuclear decommissioning, they could be forced to attend work and sacked if they do not comply. The TUC said MPs have been given few details on how minimum service levels will operate, adding that the legislation has faced a barrage of criticism, including from employer groups. TUC general secretary Paul Nowak told the PA news agency that Conservative MPs should vote with their conscience and oppose the Bill. He warned that the legislation would worsen industrial relations and prolong strikes. Do MPs really want to see teachers, nurses or railway workers sacked for taking lawful industrial action? This draconian legislation is a step too far. Its undemocratic, unworkable and if it gets onto the statute book very likely unlawful, and it will poison industrial relations and exacerbate disputes rather than help resolve them. Its no surprise that politicians, employers and rights groups are queuing to condemn this spiteful Bill. Mr Nowak said the TUC will explore every possibility of mounting a legal challenge to the legislation when it becomes law. Ministers must step back from the brink, ditch this draconian Bill for good and protect the right to strike. He warned of a huge reaction if and when the first worker is sacked under the legislation. Mick Lynch (Peter Morrison/PA) Labour has promised to repeal the Bill if it wins the next general election. The House of Lords put forward a number of amendments, including ensuring that failure to comply with a so-called work notice under the legislation was not a breach of contract so a worker could not be sacked. The Lords also want an amendment that unions do not have any responsibility or obligation to ensure their members comply with a work notice. Speakers at the protest will include Mr Nowak and Mick Lynch, general secretary of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union, which has been embroiled in a long-running dispute over pay, jobs and conditions. Fire Brigades Union general secretary Matt Wrack said: The UK already has the most restrictive anti-union laws in the developed world and the result of this is that we have suffered from falling wages and sharper exploitation. An inspiring wave of resistance has swept the country in the past year, but instead of negotiating with workers, this Government of millionaires is seeking to have key workers sacked and victimised. They want to drive wages down even further so their big business backers can cash in. There is a growing movement of resistance to this legislation and the FBU is committed to building a mass movement of non-compliance if it becomes law. We are seeing a workers revolt against hard-right government with no mandate for its policies. That revolt will continue whatever happens today. Migrants are pat down by Border Patrol agents before being transported to a processing facility in El Paso, Texas, Wednesday, May 10, 2023. (Andres Leighton/AP) HARLINGEN, Texas (AP) An 8-year-old girl who died last week in Border Patrol custody was seen at least three separate times by medical personnel on the day of her death complaining of vomiting, a stomachache and later suffering what appeared to be a seizure before she was taken to a hospital, U.S. immigration officials said Sunday. The girls mother had previously told The Associated Press that agents had repeatedly ignored her pleas to hospitalize her medically fragile daughter, who had a history of heart problems and sickle cell anemia. Anadith Tanay Reyes Alvarez, whose parents are Honduran, was born in Panama with congenital heart disease. She cried and begged for her life, and they ignored her. They didnt do anything for her, Mabel Alvarez Benedicks, the mother of Anadith, had previously told The Associated Press during an interview Friday. In a statement, U.S. Customs and Border Protection said it knew about the girls medical history when personnel began treating her for influenza four days before her death on May 17. CBP Acting Commissioner Troy Miller said in a statement that while his agency awaits the results of an internal investigation, he has ordered several steps be taken to ensure appropriate care for all medically fragile people in his agency's custody. These actions include reviewing cases of all known medically fragile individuals currently being held to ensure their time in custody is limited and examining medical-care practices at CBP facilities to see if more personnel are needed. We must ensure that medically fragile individuals receive the best possible care and spend the minimum amount of time possible in CBP custody, Miller said, adding his agency is deeply saddened by the girls tragic death. Second child migrant death in two weeks Anadiths death has raised questions about whether the Border Patrol properly handled the situation. It was the second child migrant death in two weeks in U.S. government custody after a rush of illegal border crossings amid the expiration of pandemic-related asylum limits known as Title 42 severely strained holding facilities. According to a CBP statement, Anadith had first voiced complaints of abdominal pain, nasal congestion, and cough on the afternoon of May 14. She had a temperature of 101.8 degrees Fahrenheit (38.7 Celsius) After a test showed she had influenza, Anadith was given acetaminophen, ibuprofen, medicine for nausea and Tamiflu, a flu treatment, according to CBP. The family was then transferred from a facility in Donna, Texas, to one in Harlingen, Texas. She continued to be given Tamiflu for the next two days. She was also given ibuprofen, according to CBP. Alvarez Benedicks had told the AP her daughters health got progressively worse during those days and that doctors at the station denied her repeated requests for an ambulance to take the girl to a hospital. I felt like they didnt believe me, Alvarez Benedicks said. On May 17, the girl and her mother went to the Harlingen Border Patrol Stations medical unit at least three times, CBP said. In the first visit, Anadith complained of vomiting. In the second, she child complained of a stomachache. By the third visit at 1:55 p.m., the mother was carrying the girl who appeared to be having a seizure, after which records indicate the child became unresponsive, according to CBP. Medical personnel began performing CPR before she was taken to a hospital in Harlingen, where she was pronounced dead at 2:50 p.m. A medical examiner is waiting for additional tests before determining a cause of death. Her death came a week after a 17-year-old Honduran boy, Angel Eduardo Maradiaga Espinoza, died in U.S. Health and Human Services Department custody. He was traveling alone. An octogenarian anglers quest to wade freely into the Arkansas River is making waves in more than just Colorado waterways, as the states highest court reconsiders century-old rules that govern who is allowed to enter a streambed. The Colorado Supreme Court is weighing in on whether members of the public can access waters that traverse private lands by evaluating the case of Roger Hill, who claims he was pelted by rocks for doing so more than a decade ago. Hill, an 81-year-old Colorado Springs resident, filed a lawsuit in 2018 against landowners Mark Warsewa and Linda Joseph, arguing that they had no right to exclude him from his favorite fishing spot which is located on their property, near the south-central Colorado town of Cotopaxi. I was 71 then, and I was about two weeks prior to a heart procedure to correct my AFib while I was on blood thinners. If Id been hit with one of those rocks, I would have died right there, the fisherman, a retired physicist, told The Hill. Since Hill filed his initial lawsuit, the case has gone through removals, dismissals, appeals, remands and more dismissals and appeals ultimately landing this past December in the hands of the Colorado Supreme Court. During a hearing before the states high court earlier this month, Mark Squillace, Hills attorney and a professor at the University of Colorado Law School, accused the state of denying that it has any responsibility to protect public access rights and stressed that Colorado is instead protecting wealthy private landowners. At the core of this ongoing dispute is the issue of navigability a federal government distinction that typically dictates the rules of public access by establishing whether a stream or river has been used for purposes of interstate or foreign commerce. Unlike most other states, Colorado does not have any law defining navigability, nor was any river officially declared navigable at the establishment of statehood in 1876. Because Colorado has never claimed ownership to any rivers based on the idea that they were navigable at statehood, Hill cannot make any such assertion on the states behalf, Colorado Solicitor General Eric Olson argued at the Supreme Court hearing. But the fisherman has a different view of the situation telling The Hill that the state has avoided its responsibilities for 150 years. Squillace echoed these sentiments, noting that in comparison to other Western states, Colorado has the narrowest of the rules. Hill acknowledged that certain century-old court decisions determined there were no navigable waterways in Colorado: a 1914 case, for example, found that the natural streams of the state are non navigable within its limits. But Coloradans at the time also generally associated navigability with the ability to run a steamboat up and down a waterway, which Hill stressed is by no means a legal definition. Having told you all that, yes, I was rather brazen fishing in that part of the river, Hill admitted. Hill said his quest to assert his right to streambed access began in the 1990s, when he started casually researching river navigability and the history of water use on the Arkansas River. He uncovered newspaper clippings from 1872-77 that discussed logging drives ahead of the Santa Fe Railroads construction, as well as the story of fur trapper Ezekiel Williams, who shuttled his wares by canoe to what was then Kansas. These historical details, Hill argued, demonstrate that the waters were navigable for commercial purpose at statehood. But he said he only decided to pursue a lawsuit after two other fishermen allegedly escaped gunfire while wading next to private land in 2015 or what Hill described as the moment when the infamous gunshot was fired. I said, this just has to stop before somebody gets killed over who has the right to fish where, he continued. Hills first interaction with the defendants in his lawsuit, Warsewa and Joseph, occurred in the form of a warning from Joseph while he was fishing one day in 2012. She told me, This is private land. You cant go in there, Hill recalled. And I replied, I have a right to be there. There are easements that provide me a right to be in this navigable river. When he was fishing in the same spot two weeks after Josephs initial warning, Hill said she began throwing rocks at him from their cliffside property. I just got to the other side of the river and said to my fishing buddy, We might as well go, he recounted. We fished another 10 minutes and left, because that kind of an interaction just spoils a day. In the several years prior, Hill said he had spoken to about five other landowners whom he met while fishing who didnt mind his presence on riverbeds that traverse their property, as long as he didnt kill his catches. But when Hill and his friend were fishing at the spot on Warsewa and Josephs land again in another two weeks, he said Warsewa came down to demand that they leave. Hill said he then tried to explain to Warsewa that the river is navigable, so he had a right to wade there. Years after that interaction, in 2015, Warsewa allegedly shot at two other anglers who were fishing in the spot, according to Hills May 2018 lawsuit. While the men were unharmed, Warsewa pleaded guilty to menacing and was sentenced to 30 days in jail. Warsewa and Josephs attorney, Kirk Holleyman, did not respond to The Hills requests for comment. Hills initial lawsuit sought both quiet title action a proceeding to determine property ownership and a claim for declaratory judgment, a ruling that would prohibit his exclusion from that segment of the riverbed. The idea of the declaratory judgment is that you should not have to put your person at risk for being prosecuted or for suffering some kind of harm in order to test your legal rights, Squillace told The Hill. The lawsuit was eventually dismissed by a federal district court, which at first led to an unsuccessful appeal. But Hill tried again, and in January 2022, the appeals court appeared to give his case a green light. While the judges rejected the quiet title claim, they determined that the fisherman does have grounds to pursue a claim for a declaratory judgment. Three months later, however, Colorado Attorney General Philip Weiser submitted a brief to the Colorado Supreme Court, describing the decision as wrong. Weiser urged the court to resolve a matter that threatens to upset long-settled arrangements governing water and river access. This past December, the court announced it would step in and determine whether the fisherman has standing to sue Warsewa and Joseph. Presumably, thats the only thing that the court is going to rule on whether there is a right to be heard on the declaratory judgment, Squillace said. If the judges decide to affirm the appeals court decision, and Hill then goes on to win a lawsuit, a ruling in his favor could afford him unfettered access to this part of the riverbed. But Squillace said he is hoping the court might also rule on whats known as the public trust doctrine and whether it can be applied to the bed of navigable streams in Colorado. Such doctrines, which require the government to hold natural resources in trust for the public, often ensure free access to submerged lands under navigable waters. But Colorado, unlike most other states, has yet to adopt a public trust doctrine a point that Olson, the solicitor general, emphasized during the early May Supreme Court hearing. Absent such an adoption, Olson argued that even state ownership of the streambed would not give Hill a legally protected interest in fishing there. Yet federal law decrees that upon statehood, a state gains title to the streambeds of waters that were navigable at that time through whats known as the equal footing doctrine. If the state owns the title in trust for the people, then it seems to me that Mr. Hill has the right to stand on that bed, Squillace said at the hearing. Should the state Supreme Court choose to rule on the public trust doctrine issue, Squillace told The Hill that he thinks theres a reasonable possibility that we can settle the case, because then he would simply need to provide evidence that the waterway is navigable. In such a scenario, the judges would likely remand the case to the lower court to determine whether this particular stretch of the Arkansas River is navigable for title, Squillace explained. If we lose, I think its the end of the road for us, he said of the Supreme Court decision. A win, on the other hand, would bring the state more in line with its neighbors, while also instigating a big change in the way that Colorado treats public access rights, according to Squillace. Sharing a similar perspective, Hill recognized that a ruling in his favor would leave the regions landowners grappling with a shakeup of long-ingrained riverbed norms. The state is going to be in the position of explaining to a lot of people that you think you own that, because theres a blue line across the map, Hill said. But that blue line did not convey to you ownership. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. A millennial faux pas? Christina Hall (nee Haack) revealed the warning her 12-year-old daughter Taylor gave her before they went out in public. Christina Haack Blended Family Photos Read article Mom life = Playing their driver to all activities allll weekend, Hall, 39, wrote via Instagram on Saturday, May 20, alongside a selfie with all three of her children. Tay Mom please dont wear leggings, put some jeans on okkk Tay. Love this cute crew . In the sweet snap, the Flip or Flop alum kept it casual but showed she took her pre-teens advice to heart by donning a pair of skinny jeans with black sneakers and an oversized tee. Taylor, meanwhile, sported her own denim with a beige crop top, while son Brayden, 7, rocked a pair of shark-patterned Bermuda shorts and Uggs. Halls youngest son Hudson, 2, matched his mom in a light grey sweater and dark pants. The California native shares her two eldest children with ex-husband Tarek El Moussa, to whom she was married from 2009 to 2018. She welcomed Hudson with Ant Anstead one year after their 2018 wedding. The former couple called it quits in September 2020, finalizing their divorce the following June. In early 2022, she tied the knot with husband Joshua Hall. Courtesy of Christina Hall/Instagram The HGTV stars time with her little ones comes just one month after she shut down fan speculation she stole her children from El Moussa, 41, and Anstead, 44, by moving to Tennessee. For everyone confused.. we do NOT live in Tennessee, she wrote via her Instagram Story at the time, clarifying she and her brood were there for Easter weekend. We live in California we have a second home in Tennessee. For all those people thinking I left the kids or stole the kids false info. We just frequently visit our home away from home. Courtesy of Christina Hall/Instagram Christina and her exes have often been candid about the ups and downs of navigating their coparenting relationship over the years. In May 2022, El Moussa exclusively told Us Weekly the key to remaining cordial with his former spouse. Still Coworkers Christina Haack Tarek El Moussa Ups Downs Through Years Read article Honestly, you know, we really focus on our household, Tarek, who welcomed son Tristan with wife Heather Rae El Moussa in January, told Us at the time. [Heather and I] have certain things we do at our household, and I know [Christina] focuses on her household and theres certain things she does at her household. We try to be on the same page as often as possible, but theyre different households. When it comes to Christinas relationship with Anstead, however, the twosome have faced a bumpier road. Us confirmed in April 2022 that the England native had filed for full custody of Hudson, claiming that the Christina on the Coast star had spent less than 10 days with the toddler in the previous 20 months. His request was denied, with a California court declaring that there was an insufficient showing of evidence in his favor at the time. Christina Anstead and Ant Anstead Relationship Timeline Read article The Wheeler Dealers host later claimed in September 2022 that Christina was exploiting their son by including him in her social media posts. While the Christina in the Country star, for her part, began to hide her 2-year-olds face in posts, she later claimed she chose not to show her son because it was a tool being used against me not because she was told she could no longer do so. The twosome officially settled their custody battle later that month, agreeing to alternate spending major holidays with Hudson on a yearly basis. The race to be the next Republican presidential nominee will hit a new gear this week, with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis expected to officially launch his much anticipated campaign. But whats long been framed as a battle between Donald Trump and DeSantis, Trump's one-time ally, appears on the verge of sprawling into a crowded contest. At least one other contender is will formally declare a candidacy this week: Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina filed paperwork Friday to establish a campaign after months of positioning himself for a run, and he's set to hold his official launch on Monday. A half-dozen or more could soon join the fray. Gov. Ron DeSantis and Sen. Tim Scott. (AP) Allies of former Vice President Mike Pence last week set up a super PAC to promote his potential White House bid. New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu and former Rep. Will Hurd of Texas two Republicans who have not been shy about criticizing Trump have telegraphed that they soon could enter the race. Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, another past Trump ally who has since turned on the former president, has been making noise about a run as well. Meanwhile, Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin, who has sent mixed signals about his intentions, released a video last week that called for a new era of American values. In North Dakota, Gov. Doug Burgum acknowledged that he was thinking about 2024. This sudden burst of activity reflects several realities for the early stages of the GOP contest. The idea of renominating Trump, who according to polls is far and away the front-runner, does not sit well with a sizable segment of the party. And DeSantis, despite being presumed as the top Trump alternative, has failed to strengthen his position in the lead-up to his announcement, prompting others to ponder campaigns. The additional conservative names will be a welcome sight to levelheaded Republicans like myself, said former Georgia Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan, who has been critical of Trump. The unfortunate reality is the new names wont make a dent in Trumps current numbers. Too many Republicans are obsessed with the loudest and angriest voice in the room instead of the most articulate voice in the room. Im hoping that obsession changes before its too late. Trump allies believe a crowded field works to the former presidents benefit. Gov. Ron DeSantis (Stephen Maturen / Getty Images) One Trump-aligned operative messaged NBC News a screenshot of the RealClearPolitics average of several polls showing Trump growing his lead in recent weeks. I mean, it gets real, this person said of the pending expansion of the field. But functionally, were doing our thing while everyone else [competes] for table scraps. Another Trump ally called the emergence of potential new candidates like Scott, Christie and Burgum the biggest story of the campaign so far, predicting it would prevent DeSantis from hitting his stride. If Im DeSantis, this is the hell scenario, the Trump ally said. Remember, the conventional wisdom from January and February was, Oh, actually this is going to be a really small field. The money has been choked off. And its very clear, it aint gonna be a small field now. Erin Perrine, a spokesperson for Never Back Down, a pro-DeSantis super PAC, rejected the notion that a larger field would hurt the governor. "Gov. DeSantis isnt even a candidate, and this Republican primary is already a two-man race," Perrine said. "There is growing momentum behind Gov. DeSantis across the country as weve seen at his recent visits to Iowa ... and New Hampshire." Until now, the official GOP field had been relatively narrow. Trump launched his campaign last fall, shortly after the 2022 midterms. The most visible of the other announced candidates include former Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley, former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, a political newcomer with a knack for attracting media attention. Conservative talk radio host Larry Elder, who failed in his 2021 effort to recall California Gov. Gavin Newsom, and wealthy businessman Perry Johnson, who was disqualified from Michigans GOP gubernatorial primary last year because he did not collect enough valid signatures, are also running. Former Gov. Nikki Haley speaks at a campaign rally in Greer, S.C. (Meg Kinnard / AP file) DeSantis and his allies are expected to mount a well-funded push. He has been meeting with donors in Florida ahead of his launch and had nearly $86 million in his state campaign account at the end of April. DeSantis cannot spend that money directly on a presidential campaign. But the funds could be transferred to supportive super PACs, including Never Back Down, which has taken the lead in promoting DeSantis for president. "The energy for Americas governor to be the next president is overflowing," Perrine said. "Americans are hopeful and excited for Gov. DeSantis to get in the race because they want to move past the culture of losing and leaders of our past. DeSantis has offered only mild criticism of Trump, instead speaking more abstractly about a GOP culture of losing the same phrase Perrine used that scans as an implicit allusion to the partys losses under Trumps heavy influence in 2018, 2020 and 2022. Trump, for his part, has for months been treating DeSantis as if he were already a candidate, attacking him relentlessly on social media and through his campaign staff and surrogates. More than half the members of Floridas U.S. House delegation, of which DeSantis was once a member, have endorsed Trump. Ron DeSantis failed shadow campaign has opened the floodgates for career politicians looking to seize an opportunity to raise their profile ahead of the 2028 race, Taylor Budowich, CEO of the Trump-aligned MAGA Inc., said Friday in a response to Scotts campaign filing. "Tim Scotts entrance, and aggressive media purchase, doesnt only kneecap DeSantis, but Scott sees the same thing as Youngkin, Sununu, Burgum, Christie and others: the path to second place is wide open." YouTuber MrBeast has a huge following. Here's what parents need to know about him. (Image: Getty; illustration by Jay Sprogell for Yahoo) When YouTuber MrBeast found out that half of the worlds blind population could see again with a simple, 10-minute surgery one that many cant afford the viral philanthropist, known for producing fast-paced videos involving big-time giveaways, decided to give 1,000 people their eyesight back. The resulting video documenting their reactions has racked up 140 million views and counting since being posted in late January 2023. Videos like this have helped the content creator find an audience with young fans, including Cindy Marie Jenkins's two kids, ages 6 and 9. My kids laugh a lot at watching how long four strangers can stay in a pool of water, but they also want to know why people cry when he gives them thousands of dollars and why schools need celebrities to give away trucks full of school supplies and set teachers loose in a Walmart for a shopping spree," Jenkins tells Yahoo Life. The Orlando-based mom says MrBeast's philanthropic projects have led to some powerful conversations about money how people get it, how he got it, how much he has, how much other people and we have, and the wealth disparities in our community and country" with her children. But the YouTube personality's popularity and large-scale stunts have also raised eyebrows and sparked questions about his charitable intentions. Here's what parents should know. Who is MrBeast? Jimmy Donaldson, better known as MrBeast, is a 25-year-old YouTuber known for his philanthropic stunts with a net worth estimated at over $105 million. Growing up in Greenville, N.C., he uploaded his first video to YouTube in 2012 at age 13. Although he didnt have instant success online, he sought to master the YouTube algorithm and secure fame and followers, even dropping out of college after two weeks to commit to his YouTube channel. Eventually, success came, and he currently boasts more than 153 million YouTube subscribers. In 2017 his channel went viral while he filmed himself counting to 100,000, a challenge that lasted 44 hours. Known for many viral charitable acts including adopting every dog in a shelter or donating meals to people in need Donaldson created his own YouTube philanthropy channel, Beast Philanthropy, which gives 100% of its revenue to charitable purposes. Donaldson may also be well on his way to reach YouTube billionaire status in the future, according to Forbes. He teaches kids to give back but has faced criticism, too. By watching MrBeast videos, kids are exposed to stories of people in need, and presented with a happy ending as the YouTuber swoops in. Media psychologist Pamela Rutledge says his generosity is one of the main reasons kids like him. MrBeast gives away large amounts of money and prizes," she says. "This appeals because it creates the excitement of potentially winning something, whether realistic or not. Generosity is also a valued social norm, so it makes liking MrBeast more acceptable. MrBeast stands out due to the large amounts of money and prizes that make up his philanthropic endeavors, collaborations with others and unusual challenges." But there's still a financial motivation to this altruism. Rutledge points out that, like any other YouTuber, "MrBeast succeeds and funds his video activities by getting views and followers. The more outrageous a video, the more potential it has to go viral, with clicks translating into dollars that can fund the next challenge. There have been questions raised about the appropriateness of benefiting from the disadvantages of others to get attention," Rutledge adds, noting that some critics have accused the content creator of being "exploitative and even wasteful" by using "large amounts of resources for little social impact." In March, Donaldson was commended by many for giving away thousands of shoes to children in South Africa, though some said he was benefiting from his charitable acts. He stands up to transphobia. In April, YouTuber Chris Tyson, Donaldson's childhood friend who appears on the MrBeast channel, announced that they identified as gender nonconforming and had begun hormone replacement therapy as part of their gender transition process. When that announcement was met with transphobic comments, Donaldson pushed back and reaffirmed his friendship with Tyson. As a mom of two boys aged 7 and 10 and a fellow YouTube creator, Dana Bowling wasn't fazed by the news. "Kids these days are exposed to all kinds of gender and sexual identities so if anything, it just shows them that all people of all walks of life should be accepted," the Daily Dose of Dana podcaster tells Yahoo Life. "I would never tell my kids not to watch MrBeast for this reason. Open dialogue with your children is important. Jenkins agrees. Most of my positive feelings about him come straight from his upfront nature in interviews and how vocal he has been about supporting his friend and editor Chris," she says. "His voice will make a difference to his fans who are on the fence about gender identity themselves or want to support their friends. He knows how to connect with audiences. Whats the secret sauce behind YouTubers who can keep kids and adults alike glued for video after video? Rutledge points to his use of parasocial connections. MrBeast creates emotional engagement by promoting his personality as an exciting, relatable, authentic, down-to-earth person," she explains. "Parasocial connections are where people can feel emotionally connected to media figures through the frequency of viewing and celebrity appeal, creating a one-sided but meaningful sense of relationship." She adds that YouTube celebrities like MrBeast enhances the sense of presence and emotional connection by looking directly at the camera and talking to the audience. Kids can feel like they know him personally, which turns him into a 'friend,' enhancing his influence. Here's how parents can help their kids understand and contextualize MrBeast. Like any media, its essential for parents to keep an open conversation and increased awareness about what their kids are watching, and the subsequent thoughts, feelings and questions that might pop up after a MrBeast bender. Dr. Carl D. Marci, a psychiatrist at Massachusetts General Hospital, a faculty member at Harvard Medical School and the author of Rewired: Protecting Your Brain in the Digital Age, says that, as with all things online, parents need to be clear-eyed about MrBeast. On the one hand, compared with other stars that simply play video games or are famous for putting others down or opening boxes, MrBeast offers valuable lessons about helping those in need and a game-show version of generosity, he says. As a dad who was tuned in with his own kids, ages 7 and 10, however, he has found the YouTuber and his friends to sometimes be "crude." And as with other YouTubers, he worries that "the implicit message to young people is that fame and fortune are all that matter. Marci also finds MrBeasts style of philanthropy to be too narrow. This form of generosity needs to be put into context, and children need to see other forms of philanthropy [like] showing empathy for others or volunteering to work for nonprofits with a clear mission to help those in need," he says. At the same time, Marci recognizes that kids arent necessarily thinking through the full ramifications when they're glued to a screen. As a father, he takes pain to monitor the content and watch along with his kids so he can "point out the difference between acts that are virtuous and acts that are frivolous." For his kids, he notes, "it is all just fun and games. Wellness, parenting, body image and more: Get to know the who behind the hoo with Yahoo Life's newsletter. Sign up here. Doctor examines a male patient's back for signs of skin cancer. (Getty Images) As his patient sat on the examining table, dermatologist Jeremy Brauer explained the pathology report, letting him know that the lesion on his chest was skin cancer and that minor surgery would be required to remove it. Id like to try to get this done before the weather gets nice, the patient, himself a physician, told Brauer, so I can get back out into the sun. Brauer, a clinical associate professor of dermatology at NYU Langone Health, says he was stunned. I said to him, You are exemplifying a very big part of the problem for men when it comes to skin cancer. Theres just a massive disconnect in mens perception of the sun and sun damage and skin cancer, says Brauer, who has a dermatology practice in Purchase, N.Y. In 2023, according to the Skin Cancer Foundation, 97,610 cases of invasive melanoma will be diagnosed in the United States; of those, 58,120 will be in men, and 39,490 in women. Of the 7,990 people who will die of melanoma, 5,420 will be men. Quick-growing cancer, melanoma can spread into blood vessels and lymph nodes and attack other organs, according to the Skin Cancer Foundation. What makes men so vulnerable to melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer? Some men may actually see sunscreen use as more of a feminine behavior, Holman adds. Men are uninformed about sun damage Men tend to work and play outdoors more than women, says Ida Orengo, professor and chair of dermatology at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston. So, they tend to get more cumulative sun exposure over their lifetime. Men also seem to know less about the risks of the sun. Fewer men than women gave correct answers in an American Academy of Dermatology survey on sun exposure and the risk of cancer. Men more often believed that you can have a healthy tan (all tans signal sun damage to the skin, Orengo says), a base tan can protect you from the sun (it cannot), and you cannot get skin cancer in out-of-the-way spots such as the skin between your toes (you can). One of the best ways to avoid skin cancer is to avoid the sun, experts agree. But if youre going to spend time outdoors, protect yourself. Lotion, cream, stick or spray sunscreen can be applied in many ways. Find one you like and use it, Orengo says. Some studies suggest that mens skin may not retain antioxidants the way womens skin does, which could heighten skin cancer risk. Others suggest that womens higher estrogen levels may offer skin protection. But men like Brauers patient show the effects of behavior. Surveys show that men tend to know less about skin cancer risks than women and consequently are less likely to use sunscreen. Dawn M. Holman, a behavioral scientist with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, has studied sunscreen use in the United States. About half of women say they regularly use sunscreen when theyre spending time outdoors on a sunny day whereas only about a quarter of men say they do, she says. And more than 40 percent of men say they never use sunscreen when theyre out in the sun. Cover all exposed skin, Holman says, including your ears and the back of your neck. Reapply every two hours or when you come out of the water or are sweating. And if youre a hairy man, be sure to carefully rub in the sunscreen, says Stacy P. Salob, clinical assistant professor at Weill Cornell Medical College. Dont count on hair to protect your skin. Holman adds that sunscreen is not enough: Stay in the shade when you can, and wear a hat and sunglasses. You should also avoid the suns harshest rays: If your phones weather app has a UV index, consult it, Holman says. Avoid outdoor activities in the middle of the day when the index is above five. If it is 11 or higher, stay indoors. Lastly, consider UV protective clothing. Im such a fan of the sun-protective clothing, Salob says. It offers the equivalent of a 50 SPF and you dont have to wear sunscreen for that whole large part of your body. And then you dont need somebody else to put it on your back. Partners can help Another challenge for men is that they often get melanoma on their backs and the tops of their heads, places they cant see. As a result, men often miss the changing moles that are the hallmark of melanoma. That may explain why some studies show that men with partners have earlier detection of melanoma and healthier outcomes than single men. Brauer says many male patients come in with things circled in pen all over their bodies. Their wife or partner is very much paying attention to them, which is great. Dermatologists would rather reassure you that youre fine than discover a melanoma too late. Were great at treating melanoma when we catch it in the early stages when its just on the skin, Salob says. And were terrible at beating it when it has spread inside the body. So early detection is key. One of the biggest risk factors for melanoma is previous sunburn. If youve had even just one of your sunburns blister, it automatically puts you into a higher risk category, Salob notes, as does having blonde or red hair, blue eyes, fair skin and more than 50 moles on your body. It may be hard to believe, but a sunburn you got in your teens could be responsible for the skin cancer you develop in your 50s. Each time you burn, you elevate your risk. And according to Holmans study, more than one-third of Americans say they had a sunburn in the past year. In addition, while white men are more likely to be diagnosed with melanoma, Black men are more likely to die of it once diagnosed perhaps because their diagnoses tend to be at a later stage. When you get sunburned, the ultraviolet light goes into your skin and damages the DNA in the skin cells, Orengo says. Then your immune system goes in there and says, Oh my gosh, we have to fix this damage before cancer starts, The immune system fixes the damage. That may happen again and again until you get into your 40s, 50s and 60s when your immune system naturally starts to be less effective. When the DNA breaks down again, your immune system cant fix it, and the cancer grows. To ensure early detection, see a dermatologist for a yearly skin cancer check. In between, Brauer says, check yourself out. He recommends standing nude in front of a full-length mirror once a month. Scan your body, and grab a hand mirror to check out your back. Look for anything new, changing or unusual, Brauer says, and if you find it, consult your physician. The ABCs of protecting yourself from Melanoma An ABCDE guide has been developed by dermatologists to help patients identify melanoma on their bodies: Asymmetry: A melanoma lesion often is oddly shaped Border: It has an irregular border Color: It has varying color Diameter: It is usually 6 millimeters wide, about the size of a pencil eraser Evolving: It changes quickly on the skin. WASHINGTON (AP) President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy will meet face to face Monday after a weekend of on again, off again negotiations over raising the nation's debt ceiling and mere days before the government could reach a hard deadline and run out of cash to pay its bills. The two sides are working to reach a budget compromise before June 1, when Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has said the country could default. McCarthy and Republicans are insisting on spending cuts in exchange for raising the debt limit. Biden has come to the negotiating table after balking for months but says the GOP lawmakers will have to back off their extreme positions. On Sunday evening, negotiators met again and appeared to be narrowing on a 2024 budget year cap that could resolve the standoff. After speaking with Biden by phone as the president traveled home from a trip to Asia, McCarthy sounded somewhat optimistic. But he warned that "there's no agreement on anything. A look at the negotiations and why they are happening: WHAT IS THE DEBT CEILING FIGHT ALL ABOUT? Once a routine act by Congress, the vote to raise the debt ceiling allows the Treasury Department to continue borrowing money to pay the nation's already incurred bills. The vote in more recent times has been used as a political leverage point, a must-pass bill that can be loaded up with other priorities. House Republicans, newly empowered in the majority this Congress, are refusing to raise the debt limit unless Biden and the Democrats impose federal spending cuts and restrictions on future spending. The Republicans say the nation's debt, now at $31 trillion, is unsustainable. They also want to attach other priorities, including stiffer work requirements on recipients of government cash aid, food stamps and the Medicaid health care program. Many Democrats oppose those requirements. Biden had insisted on approving the debt ceiling with no strings attached, saying the U.S. always pays its bills and defaulting on debt is non-negotiable. But facing a deadline as soon as June 1, when Treasury says it will run out of money, Biden launched negotiations with Republicans. IS IT CLOSE TO BEING RESOLVED? There are positive signs, though there have been rocky moments in the talks. Start-stop negotiations were back on track late Sunday, and all sides appear to be racing toward a deal. Negotiators left the Capitol after 8 p.m. Sunday and said they would keep working. McCarthy said after his call with Biden that I think we can solve some of these problems if he understands what were looking at. The speaker added: "We have to spend less money than we spent last year. Biden, for his part, said at a press conference in Japan before departing: I think that we can reach an agreement. But reaching an agreement is only part of the challenge. Any deal will also have to pass the House and Senate with significant bipartisan support. Many expect that buy-in from the White House and GOP leadership will be enough to muscle it over the finish line. WHAT ARE THE HANGUPS? Republicans want to roll back spending to 2022 levels and cap future spending for the next decade. Democrats aren't willing to go that far to cut federal spending. The White House has instead proposed holding spending flat at the current 2023 levels. There are also policy priorities under consideration, including steps that could help speed the construction and development of energy projects that both Republicans and some Democrats want. Democrats have strenuously objected to a Republican push to impose stiffer work requirements on people who receive government aid through food stamps, Medicaid health care and the cash assistance programs. Biden, though, has kept the door open to some discussion over work requirements. WHAT HAPPENS IF THEY DONT RAISE THE DEBT CEILING? A government default would be unprecedented and devastating to the nation's economy. Yellen and economic experts have said it could be "catastrophic." There isn't really a blueprint for what would happen. But it would have far-reaching effects. Yellen has said it would destroy jobs and businesses and leave millions of families who rely on federal government payments to likely go unpaid, including Social Security beneficiaries, veterans and military families. More than 8 million people could lose their jobs, government officials estimate. The economy could nosedive into a recession. A default could cause widespread suffering as Americans lose the income that they need to get by, she said. Disruptions to federal government operations would impact air traffic control and law enforcement, border security and national defense, and food safety. IS THERE A BACKUP PLAN IF TALKS FAIL? Some Democrats have proposed that they could raise the debt ceiling on their own, without help from Republicans. Progressives have urged Biden to invoke a clause in the Constitutions 14th Amendment that says the validity of the public debt in the United States shall not be questioned. Default, the argument goes, is therefore unconstitutional. Supporters of unilateral action say Biden already has the authority to effectively nullify the debt limit if Congress wont raise it, so that the validity of the countrys debt isnt questioned. The president said Sunday that it's a "question that I think is unresolved, as to whether he could act alone, adding he hopes to try to get the judiciary to weigh in on the notion for the future. In Congress, meanwhile, House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries has launched a process that would discharge the issue to the House floor and force a vote on raising the debt limit. Its a cumbersome legislative procedure, but Jeffries urged House Democrats to sign on to the measure in hopes of gathering the majority needed to trigger a vote. The challenge for Democrats is that they have only 213 members on their side five short of the 218 needed for a majority. Getting five Republicans to cross over and join the effort won't be easy. Signing onto a discharge petition from the minority is seen as a major affront to party leadership, particularly on an issue as important as the debt ceiling. Few Republicans, if any, may be willing to suffer the consequences. Iran is building a nuclear facility so deep underground that experts fear conventional U.S. weapons would be unable to destroy it. "So the depth of the facility is a concern because it would be much harder for us. It would be much harder to destroy using conventional weapons, such as like a typical bunker buster bomb," Steven De La Fuente, a research associate at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies, told The Associated Press in a report Monday. The comments come after satellite imagery, taken in April by Planet Labs PBC and analyzed by the AP, show workers digging tunnels near a peak of the Zagros Mountains in central Iran close to the Natanz nuclear site, a site long watched by international nuclear observers that has come under repeated sabotage attacks Iran has blamed on Israel. The satellite imagery of the site, which is protected by fencing, anti-aircraft batteries, and Irans paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, shows four entrances being dug into the mountainside. Analysts are able to estimate the depth of the entrances by looking at the size of the spoil piles and other satellite data, which they say now indicated the facility is at depths of 260 and 328 feet. BIDEN FOREIGN POLICY STRATEGY OPENS THE DOOR TO CHINA, OTHER ADVERSARIES, EXPERTS SAY Iran completing such a facility "would be a nightmare scenario that risks igniting a new escalatory spiral," Kelsey Davenport, the director of nonproliferation policy at the Washington-based Arms Control Association, told The Associated Press. READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP "Given how close Iran is to a bomb, it has very little room to ratchet up its program without tripping U.S. and Israeli red lines. So at this point, any further escalation increases the risk of conflict," Davenport said. The report comes after the U.S. flaunted pictures of a powerful bomb designed to penetrate deep into underground facilities that could be used to enrich uranium earlier this month, with the Air Force posting rare pictures of the bomb that has been dubbed the "Massive Ordinance Penetrator." However, analysts fear the bomb, which is officially known as the GBU-57, will be unable to reach the depths of the progressively deeper Iranian facility. Iran Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamanei speaks during his meeting with students in Tehran. IRAN GAINS FOOTHOLD IN SOUTH AMERICA AS BIDEN ADMIN PURSUES NUCLEAR DEAL Iran has been inching dangerously closer to the ability to make nuclear weapons since the U.S. abandoned a deal struck with the country under former President Obama, saying it is now enriching uranium up to 60%. Under the terms of the previous agreement, Iran was prohibited enriching uranium above 3.67% purity. President Biden has made rekindling the nuclear deal with Iran a primary objective of his administration's foreign policy, though those talks have stalled in recent months. President Joe Biden. While Iran has acknowledged enriching uranium up to 60%, inspectors have discovered the country has produced uranium particles that were 83.7% pure, just short of the 90% threshold of weapons-grade uranium. However, Iran has denied it is seeking to build nuclear weapons, with Iranian officials telling the AP that "Irans peaceful nuclear activities are transparent and under the International Atomic Energy Agency safeguards." Despite the claim, the country has limited the ability for international nuclear inspectors to inspect sites for years. Meanwhile, experts fear attempts to sabotage Iran's nuclear program may only work to drive it further underground. "Sabotage may roll back Irans nuclear program in the short-term, but it is not a viable, long-term strategy for guarding against a nuclear-armed Iran," Davenport said. "Driving Irans nuclear program further underground increases the proliferation risk." The Associated Press contributed to this report. BEIRUT (AP) Lebanon's public prosecutor Monday summoned the country's embattled central bank governor for questioning following an international arrest warrant issued against him in France over corruption charges, judicial officials said. Riad Salameh is to answer the summons later this week, although no specific date was given. France, Germany and Luxembourg are investigating Salameh and his associates over myriad alleged financial crimes, including illicit enrichment and laundering of $330 million. A French investigative judge on May 16 issued an international arrest warrant, or Interpol red notice, for the 72-year-old Salameh after he failed to show up in Paris for questioning. Officials in Beirut said that Public Prosecutor Ghassan Oueidat will formally ask France to hand over the governor's case files to decide on future measures against Salameh. Asked whether it is possible to hand the former governor over to France, the officials who spoke on condition of anonymity said Lebanon does not hand its citizens to foreign countries and the case will be overseen in Lebanon. They added that once Oueidat receives the case files from France, he will decide whether Salameh should face justice in Lebanon or elsewhere. In 2020, the Lebanese prosecution received two Interpol red notices for tycoon Carlos Ghosn, who faced financial misconduct charges in Japan. Ghosn remains in Lebanon. Salameh has repeatedly denied all corruption allegations, saying he made his wealth from his years working as an investment banker at Merrill Lynch, inherited properties, and investments. He said he would only resign if convicted of a crime. He also said last week he plans to appeal the Interpol red notice. The officials said French authorities have set May 31, as the day to question Salamehs brother, Raja, in France and the governors close associate Marianne Hoayek on June 13. Reports have circulated that the Lebanese central bank had hired Forry Associates Ltd., a brokerage firm owned by Raja, to handle government bond sales from which the firm received $330 million in commissions. Riad Salameh, a Lebanese-French citizen, has held his post for almost 30 years, but says he intends to step down after his current term ends in July. The three European governments in March 2022 froze over $130 million in assets linked to the probe. During a visit to Lebanon in March, the European delegation questioned Salameh about the Lebanese central banks assets and investments outside the country, a Paris apartment which the governor owns and his brothers brokerage firm. Once hailed as the guardian of Lebanons financial stability, Salameh since has been heavily blamed for Lebanons financial meltdown. Many say he precipitated the economic crisis, which has plunged three-quarters of Lebanons population of 6 million into poverty. LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) Republican Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen signed a bill Monday that bans abortion at 12 weeks of pregnancy and restricts gender-affirming medical care for people younger than 19. The abortion ban takes effect immediately, while the ban on gender-affirming care takes effect on Oct. 1. The hybrid measure ties together restrictions that Republicans have pursued across the U.S. Pillen called the law the most significant win for social conservative agenda in over a generation of Nebraska before he signed the law while holding the 5-day-old daughter of some friends as his two oldest granddaughters stood next to him. Its about protecting our kids and saving babies. Pure and simple, Pillen said. Opponents have promised to sue to try and block the law. The head of the American Civil Liberties Union of Nebraska, Mindy Rush Chipman, said in a statement that every option is on the table to undo these regressive measures. The governors decision to sign these sweeping restrictions into law betrays a total disregard for Nebraskans freedom, health and well-being, Rush Chipman said. Just as we have seen in other states, these bans will result in significant harm, most intensely hurting already vulnerable communities. Nebraska had not passed a new abortion ban since 2010, when it became the first state to limit the procedure at around 20 weeks of pregnancy. The 12-week ban includes exceptions for rape, incest and to save the life of the mother. State Sen. Joni Albrecht of Thurston, who pursued even tougher abortion restrictions during the session, wiped away tears as she said she hopes to eventually enact a ban at all stages of pregnancy. North Carolina also recently passed a 12-week abortion ban, among a slew of restrictions enacted in states after the U.S. Supreme Court last year struck down the 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling that established a nationwide right to abortion. Fourteen states have approved an abortion ban throughout pregnancy. Nebraska's law also will prevent transgender people under 19 from receiving any gender-confirming surgery. It restricts the use of hormone treatments and puberty blockers in minors, putting the states chief medical officer a political appointee who is an ear, nose and throat doctor in charge of setting the rules for those therapies. In Nebraska, people younger than 19 are considered minors. The state's unicameral Legislature passed the bill with the two contentious issues on Friday after hours of heated debate. Conservative lawmakers wrangled just enough votes to end a filibuster before approving the bill. The proposal restricting gender-affirming care was the flashpoint of an epic filibuster led by Omaha Sen. Machaela Cavanaugh. She and a handful of progressive allies slowed the business of passing laws to a crawl by introducing amendment after amendment to every bill that made it to the Senate floor. That sent leadership scrambling to prioritize which bills to push through. Omaha Sen. Kathleen Kauth, who introduced the proposal restricting gender-affirming care, said Monday that the filibuster actually gave senators more time to discuss and research the issue. The filibuster actually is what made this happen, Kauth said. And so I doubt it was their intention, but that gave us the time to make this work. Nebraska is now among at least 18 states that have enacted laws restricting or banning gender-affirming medical care for minors. Proposals are pending before the governors of Texas and Missouri. Medical groups and advocates say such restrictions are further marginalizing transgender youth and threatening their health. One Nebraska lawmaker, Omaha state Sen. Megan Hunt, disclosed in March that her teenage son is transgender and said Friday that she now plans to leave the state. Pillen said he didnt want Nebraska families considering gender-affirming medical care to be duped into the silliness that if you do this, youre going to become happy." ___ Funk contributed to this story from Omaha, Neb. KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) A security guard was one of the three people killed in a shooting at a Kansas City bar early Sunday that also wounded two others, including one critically wounded, according to family members. Police haven't yet identified the victims, and they didn't release many details Sunday about what led to the shooting just before the Klymax Lounge's 1:30 a.m. closing time. And no one answered the phone at the bar Sunday afternoon after it was scheduled to open. Honystye Chancellor told the Kansas City Star that her stepfather, 41-year-old Jason McConnell, was killed in the shooting while working security at the door of the bar. After she rushed to the bar, Chancellor said, people in the crowd told her that the shooting happened just as the local rapper who was performing at the club was leaving. The rapper who performs under the name Nutty Still Gassin had posted a live video from the club earlier in the night before the shooting happened on his Facebook page. Kansas City police said that when multiple officers arrived at the bar, they found five victims and began providing medical aid. Police said two of the victims died at the scene one was found inside the bar and the other was outside the building in Kansas City, Missouri. A third victim died at the hospital. Details about the circumstances that led to the shooting were not immediately available, and it wasnt immediately clear where the victims were when they were shot. Police said the victims were all adults, but their ages and identities were not immediately available. Chancellor told the newspaper that McConnell was well known at the club because he was friendly and could talk to anyone. He also worked at a diner and managed a wireless communications store in the area, she said. Chancellor said that McConnell encouraged her to turn away from violence after she got into fights often as a kid, and he was good and nice and always trying to keep us on the right path. She said McConnell was a sneakerhead who likely owned over 100 pairs of shoes and had a 15-year-old son. Chancellor said she and her brother spent the night curled up in bed together with their mother after she returned from Klymax after they got the news. On the sidewalk outside the bar, a small memorial with flowers and chalk writing featuring the victims names popped up in the hours following the incident. UNITED NATIONS (AP) The U.N. envoy for Sudan urged the countrys warring generals to honor a seven-day cease-fire that began Monday night, warning the growing ethnic dimension to the fighting risks engulfing Sudan in a prolonged conflict. Volker Perthes told the U.N. Security Council that the conflict, which began April 15, has shown no signs of slowing down despite six previous declarations of cease-fires by both sides. All the previous truces have been violated. Mondays cease-fire is the seventh to be announced since the conflict between the Sudanese army, led by Gen. Abdel Fattah Burhan, and the Rapid Support Forces, commanded by Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, broke out last month. Speaking hours before the cease-fire began, Perthes called on both sides to stop the fighting so that desperately needed humanitarian aid can get to those in need and civilians caught in the fighting can leave safely. The violence has been most severe in Khartoum and the western Darfur region, where the RSF retain a strong armed presence. According to conservative estimates, Perthes said more than 700 people have been killed, including 190 children, and 6,000 have been wounded. He said over 1 million have been displaced with many missing. Perthes also expressed concern about the worrying ethnic dimension to the war, most visible in the restive Darfur region. In the early 2000s, African communities from Darfur that had long complained of discrimination rebelled against the Khartoum government, which responded with a military campaign that the International Criminal Court later said amounted to genocide. State-backed Arab militias known as the Janjaweed were accused of widespread killings, rapes and other atrocities. Many of its fighters were later folded into the Rapid Support Force. Perthes said that in El Geneina in West Darfur clashes between the rival forces spiraled into ethnic violence on April 24, with tribal militias joining the fight and civilians taking up arms to protect themselves. Some 450 civilians were reportedly killed, he said. Homes, markets and hospitals were ransacked and burned, U.N. premises looted, he said. Perthes said the growing ethnic dimension to the conflict not only poses risk for Sudan but has implications for the region. Unlike the previous truces, Mondays inked deal brokered by the U.S. and Saudi Arabia will be accompanied by a cross-party committee designed to track any potential violations, the two mediating nations said. The 12-person committee will be comprised of three representatives from both warring parties, three from the U.S., and three from Saudi Arabia. Suliman Baldo, director of the think tank Sudan Transparency and Policy Tracker, expects the two parties to better adhere to this weeklong cease-fire. I think the RSF needs the break as it has come under considerable pressure from the (Sudanese army) in Khartoum seeking to flush RSF units from residential areas, Baldo said. The (Sudanese army) may be tempted to continue its offensive in Khartoum but it will become clear to them that this would come at even higher costs in collateral casualties among civilians, he added. Perthes called the agreement, which is renewable, a welcome development but cautioned that fighting and troop movements have continued even today, despite a commitment of both sides not to pursue military advantage before the cease-fire takes effect. Perthes accused both warring parties of disregarding the laws of war by attacking homes, shops, places of worship and water and electricity installations. Health facilities are collapsing with more than two-thirds of hospitals closed, many health care workers killed, medical supplies running low, and health facilities reportedly being used as military positions, he said. Reports of sexual violence against women and girls, including rapes in Khartoum and Darfur, are being followed up by the U.N., he said. Reports of rampant looting of Sudanese homes and businesses, intimidation, harassment and enforced disappearance of residents are deeply concerning, Perthes said, adding that U.N. premises, residences and warehouses have also been looted. He said criminal activity has been compounded by the release of thousands of prisoners and the spread of small arms. While the warring rivals dont trust each other, the U.N. envoy told reporters later he thinks each has learned from weeks of fighting that they will not achieve an easy military victory, Perthes said. Even if one side does win after a long struggle, that could be at the expense of losing the country. In a video briefing to the Security Council, African Union Commissioner Bankole Adeoye also called for more concerted actionable effort towards a lasting cessation of hostilities and urged the rival generals to go the full course for peace. Workneh Gebeyehu, executive secretary of the regional group IGAD, told the council by video that its delegation led by South Sudans President Salva Kiir has been engaging the parties daily and coordinating with regional and international actors. He said the seven-day cease-fire makes us cautiously optimistic that a permanent cessation of hostilities is within reach and urged urged international support for IGADs efforts to resolve the conflict. YEREVAN, MAY 22, ARMENPRESS. Armenia hopes to swiftly reach an agreement with Azerbaijan and sign a treaty on establishing peace and relations, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said at a press conference on May 22. The military-political situation in our republic remains tense. The Government of Armenia finds advancing of the peace agenda to be the primary method of overcoming this tension. Intensive negotiations are underway with Azerbaijan around the treaty on establishing peace and relations, and we hope to reach an agreement on the text as soon as possible and sign it, Pashinyan said. PM Pashinyan added that the perception by the international community is getting inclined more and more towards the formula that Armenia and Azerbaijan should recognize each others territorial integrity without reservations 29,800 square kilometers and 86,600 square kilometers respectively and dialogue should take place between Stepanakert and Baku around ensuring the rights and security of the Armenians of Nagorno Karabakh. Armenia agrees to this logic and is engaged in the talks with this logic, emphasizing that international mechanisms for guaranteeing dialogue between Stepanakert and Baku are extremely important. At the same time, I am convinced that peace is the strategic guarantee for ensuring Armenias security, which is possible through normalizing relations with all neighbors. This isnt an easy process at all, but I believe it is what our people want and expect, Pashinyan added. YEREVAN, MAY 22, ARMENPRESS. Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan and UK Minister for Europe Leo Docherty during their May 22 meeting in Yerevan expressed readiness to take practical steps for fully utilizing the potential in the economic, scientific and cultural areas. Mirzoyan said at a joint press conference with Docherty that they attached importance to the existing partnership between Armenia and the UK and are hopeful that they will be able to intensify cooperation in areas of mutual interest through joint efforts. We attach importance to the launch of the strategic dialogue between Armenia and the United Kingdom. We hope for it to be reflected in our partnership in multilateral platforms as well, Mirzoyan said. Although trade has increased, FM Mirzoyan said he hopes the trade turnover will have increased a lot more when they meet again in the future. We both attached importance to the strengthening of the legal-contractual framework of relations between Armenia and the UK, namely in terms of signing a comprehensive and enhanced partnership agreement. We believe that conducting mutual high-level visits will promote this direction, he added. The Armenian Foreign Minister added that during the meeting they also discussed the reforms agenda aimed at strengthening the democratic institutions and the rule of law, human rights, unwavering fight against corruption and ensuring effective governance. In this context we appreciate the UKs continuous support to Armenias democratic reforms, Mirzoyan said. Last week, two soldiers were wounded and two more killed in an attack claimed by the Kuki National Army, which is active just north of the cyclone-hit area. In the meantime, the United Nations reports that at least 800,000 people need immediate assistance. Sittwe (AsiaNews) A clearer picture is emerging about the level of devastation inflicted by Cyclone Mocha a week ago when it slammed into Rakhine State (north-western Myanmar). The cyclone also affected neighbouring Bangladesh, which hosts hundreds of thousands of Rohingya refugees, in a region affected by armed clashes between Bangladeshi forces and the Kuki National Army (KNA), an insurgent group active in north-eastern India and north-western Myanmar seeking autonomy. Last Tuesday, two Bangladeshi soldiers were killed, and two officers wounded in Bandarban, a district north of the area affected by Cyclone Mocha. The border that separates Rakhine from the Indian state of Mizoram is porous. That day, KNA fighters set off a bomb in Ruma subdistrict (upazila) and shot at an army patrol, the authorities reported. The next day, two civilians working for the authorities were also shot. In early April, several bodies were recovered and later identified as Kuki fighters. On 12 March, a Bangladeshi warrant officer was killed in an ambush. According to the Bangladeshi military, Kuki separatists are creating an "anarchic environment" in the border forests. KNA spokesman Captain Fleming told The Irrawaddy news site that his group had no alternative. We did not want an armed struggle. We approached the authorities to address our problems. We submitted our proposals. [But] None paid heed to us so we took up arms and demanded our autonomy, he explained. We never wanted separation rather our land rights and an end to discrimination, he added. We are marginalized and facing discrimination in every area, especially in getting jobs. In 1997, a decades-long insurgency by indigenous peoples against the Bangladeshi government ended with the signing of the Chittagong Hills Peace Accords. According to several observers, the living conditions of some groups, like the Kuki, have not improved since then. Meanwhile, the United Nations reports that at least 800,000 people need humanitarian assistance following the passage of Cyclone Mocha. Anthea Webb, World Food Programme's deputy regional director for Asia and the Pacific noted that houses [were] flattened, roads cut off by uprooted trees, hospitals and schools destroyed, and telecommunications and power lines severely disrupted. Some aid has already been distributed in Rakhine, as well as in Magwe, a region in Chin State, home to thousands of people internally displaced by Myanmars civil war in the last two years. At the same time, nearly half a million Bangladeshis and thousands of Rohingya refugees have lost their homes and assets, she added. Funding shortages have forced the United Nations to cut food vouchers for Rohingya refugees in Cox's Bazar (Bangladesh), and more cuts can be expected in June, unless funding is secured," Webb explained. The cyclone, she added, has made a bad situation much worse for millions of people already struggling to cope in extremely precarious conditions. by Mathias Hariyadi After various stops in Asia-Pacific region, Margaret Karram together with a delegation of the movement met several Indonesian groups. For many Indonesian Catholics, the event was an opportunity to learn about the spirituality of the Focolare movement, which has a chapter in Yogyakarta. Jakarta (AsiaNews) Representatives of the International Focolare Movement are currently in Indonesia to promote dialogue and fraternity. On Saturday, they met with the local community. The group includes Focolare President Margaret Karram and Vice President Jesus Moran together with a hundred focolarini from Italy, Germany, Lebanon, Myanmar, Thailand, the Philippines, Singapore and Malaysia. Their visit is part of a trip that has taken them to several countries in Southeast Asia and the Pacific. In Indonesia they met various local groups, accompanied by Card Ignatius Suharyo. For many Indonesian Catholics, the event provided an opportunity to learn about the spirituality of this movement. The visit began in Panongan, a district in Tangerang regency (Banten province), on the island of Java, first at the MTs Al Bisriyyin Women's College and followed by the Food Resilience Group in Pamonang. In Yogyakarta they met the local Focolare group and celebrated a festive Eucharist at the Sacred Heart parish church in Ganjuran. The key moment was a seminar at Atma Jaya Catholic University, south of Jakarta, with at least 250 participants from different countries in the Asia-Pacific region, either in person or online. Gennie, from Myanmar, told one of the most poignant stories at the seminar, speaking about her countrys critical situation since the military seized power. Since then, people have developed a great sense of solidarity and concern for others, in the spirit promoted by the Focolare movement. Another important story was that of Lawrence Chong, who inspired by the ideas of the movements founder in 1991, Chiara Lubich, based on the concept of an "Economy of Communion" set up a business in Singapore explicitly focused on people's needs. The firm, Consulus, of which Chong is the CEO, aims to take care of its employees. "We are convinced that a corporate culture based on a common project is essential for inclusive growth," Chong said at the meeting. Sister Anastasia Ratnawati, a member of the Indonesian Ursuline Congregation, stressed the importance of respect, dialogue and transparency, three virtues that can underpin the unity of purpose between teachers and other staff at her Jakarta school. For his part, Apostolic Nuncio Archbishop Piero Pioppo urged the Focolarini to boost their presence in Indonesian society to promote the countrys diversity. President Margaret Karram responded to this call by saying that "the stories heard can only enrich our movement since dialogue is the path to peace and fraternity. Nearly 500,000 Turks living abroad have already voted for the second round, which pits Erdogan against Klcdaroglu. Parties are still seeking votes on the back of Syrian refugees, pushing for their repatriation. The new parliament includes 121 women, a record, but most seats have gone to parties that want to curb their rights. Istanbul (AsiaNews) This is a crucial week for Turkeys future, as voters prepare to cast their ballots in next Sundays presidential runoff. Parliamentary elections last Sunday have instead produced a clear majority for nationalists and right-wing parties. The past weekend, more than 500,000 Turks living abroad voted in the second round at Turkish foreign missions and customs gates, which will remain open until next Sunday. In total, some 3.4 million Turks, or 5 per cent of the total electorate, are eligible to vote abroad, especially in Europe, casting a ballot for either incumbent President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (49.5 per cent in the first round) or opposition leader Kemal Klcdaroglu (about 45 per cent). In the first round, results in Europe were polarised, with Klcdaroglu dominating in the United Kingdom, southern and eastern Europe, especially in Poland and Estonia. In Germany, which hosts the largest Turkish community with 1.5 million eligible voters, Erdogan was ahead with 65 per cent of votes. In the second round, the 5.17 per cent won by nationalist leader Sinan Ogan is likely to prove decisive. Ogan recently said that he is open to support the opposition Nation Alliance, provided it "agrees to offer no concessions to a pro-Kurdish party. For Klcdaroglu, this is a touchy issue. In the final weeks of the campaign, he has repeatedly tried to win over minority voters and did well in Kurdish cities. One issue that will still impact the vote is the fate of refugees. Klcdaroglu has promised mass repatriation in an attempt to seduce nationalist groups who have long targeted the more than four million Syrian refugees (plus Afghans, Iraqis, Iranians), who have been blamed for the country's economic crisis. The ruling party is less intransigent on the matter. Foreign Minister and Erdogan's trusted man Mevlut Cavusoglu said that it would be impossible to send them all back. "Currently, there is a need for employment in the agricultural sector, industry, and markets in Turkey, Cavusoglu said. People complain that they cannot find shepherds; for example, my father has sheep. There is a need for a workforce right now." In his campaign ads, Klcdaroglu says that the runoff is a referendum on the 10 million refugees in the country. A decade ago, President Erdogan opened Turkeys doors to refugees for the sake of Islamic solidarity, but more recently, that same door has been shut, with many refugees exploited in the informal economy. The time has come for a more judicious approach. Meanwhile, the new parliament is set to be the most diverse in the countrys modern history with 18 parties, but also the most nationalist and conservative" with the rights of women and minorities on the chopping block. Erdogans Justice and Development Party (AKP) saw its total number of seats drop from 295 to 267, but the ruling Peoples Alliance, which the AKP leads, can count on the support of allies for a total of 322 seats (out of 600). The first ally is the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), which won 50 seats, one more than in 2018. Another the five seats went to an Islamist party, the New Welfare Party (YRP). However, this means that the president does not have enough votes (360) to change the constitution without the support of other parties, such as those in the opposition Nation Alliance. The third-largest group with 66 seats is the left-wing Labour and Freedom Alliance, which includes the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), the main Kurdish party. One feature of the election is that nationalist and Islamist parties scored high among working-class workers and low-income groups in both urban and rural areas. Despite the countrys economic woes, nationalist and right-wing parties in both ruling and opposition alliances hold more than 400 seats. Although the number of women lawmakers is at an all-time high, 121, they will be facing an uphill battle against parties that openly seek to curtail their rights. In foreign policy, the new parliament is likely to back Erdogan if he decides to intervene militarily against the Kurds in Syria and Iraq, as well as boost Turkish influence in the Caucasus. Today's Headlines: Beijing has banned some American mircochips; The vote count is underway in East Timor after the parliamentary elections, Xanana Gusmao's CNRT party in the lead; In Thailand, employment at its lowest in three years; Rayyanah Barnawi is the first Arab woman astronaut; The Armenian Patriarchate responds to President Pasinyan's criticism. USA - INDIA - PACIFIC Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken declared their support for the Pacific islands today during a summit in Papua New Guinea. Washington and Delhi are trying to dissuade island nations from signing security treaties with China. Historians have pointed out that during World War II Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands were instrumental in the US liberation of the Philippines. CHINA China's cyberspace agency said that chips produced by US company Micron Technology pose a national security risk and will therefore be banned in China. 'We are evaluating our next steps and will engage in talks with Chinese authorities,' a Micron spokesman said. The announcement came a day after a joint statement by G7 leaders in Japan criticising 'economic coercion' by China. TIMOR EAST The vote count is under way after yesterday's parliamentary elections in East Timor: former independence leader Xanana Gusmao, head of the CNRT party, is given the lead with about 40 per cent of the vote at the half-count. There were 17 parties contesting the ballot, but the main battle is expected to be between the CNRT and the Fretilin, currently ruling in coalition with other parties. THAILAND The unemployment rate in the first quarter of 2023 dropped to its lowest level in three years, from 1.15% to 1.05% in Thailand. According to data released by national agencies, South-East Asia's second largest economy has grown faster than expected in recent months thanks to a recovery in tourism after the covid-19 pandemic. However, experts say the definition of unemployment in Thailand is very narrow and does not capture the extent of informal jobs and the informal economy. SAUDI ARABIA Two Saudi astronauts will travel to the International Space Station (ISS) for the first time to conduct a series of experiments. Rayyanah Barnawi is the first Arab woman astronaut to participate in such a mission. She will be joined by pilot Ali al-Qarni and two American astronauts. MOLDOVA The President of Moldova, Maia Sandu, gave a television interview in which she stated that 'there were plans to overthrow the government in Chisinau this spring, which failed thanks to our secret services, but they will try again, because the Kremlin wants to install a pro-Russian government and use Moldova against Ukraine in this war'. ARMENIA The Armenian Patriarchate of Ecmjadzin has expressed its disapproval of commentsmade by the Prime Minister Pasinyan, who has always been polemical with the Armenian Apostolic Church, accused of being too involved in politics. Archbishop Arsakh Khacatryan said that "those who want to be involved in religion can try to enter the seminary, if they are able to take the exams". The Chinese delegation had announced that it would not attend the three-day summit in Srinagar because it was 'disputed territory'. Pakistan and autonomist movements had also expressed their opposition to the event, the first in the region after the revocation of special status in 2019. India wants to promote natural and cultural heritage, but today the security agencies had to ask the delegates present to change route. New Delhi (AsiaNews/Agencies) - The Kashmir issue is again re-igniting tensions between Beijing and Delhi: a tourism summit starting today as part of India's G20 presidency will not be attended by the Chinese delegation. The announcement was made by Beijing's foreign minister on 19 May and subsequently Turkey, Egypt and Saudi Arabia also turned down India's invitation for the three-day summit to be held in Srinagar, the summer capital of the Jammu and Kashmir territory. Although India continues to promote the region as an idyllic tourist destination, there are many security concerns. For New Delhi, Beijing's visit is no mean feat: it is the first international event to be held in Kashmir since 2019, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government rescinded the special status of the territory historically disputed with Pakistan, dividing it into two territories directly under the control of the federal government in New Delhi: Jammu and Kashmir and the Himalayan region of Ladakh, areas in which New Delhi has ambitions to develop tourism. Although Islamabad, unlike Beijing, is not a member of the expanded forum for international economic cooperation, it too, together with the Kashmiri autonomist movements, had contested the decision to hold the meeting in Srinagar, calling it an attempt to 'normalise' the situation. China justified its boycott by saying that it does not participate in summits that take place 'in disputed territories'. It should also be remembered that Beijing itself makes territorial claims over Ladakh, where the last bloody battle in the Himalayan mountains between its People's Liberation Army and the Indian military took place in 2020. Delhi for its part has responded harshly by claiming the right to choose 'any location on its territory' as the venue for G20 meetings. India went on to explain that Kashmir's cultural heritage and the region's tourism potential, with a focus on 'film tourism', would be presented during the summit. Time and again, Kashmir has been described and promoted by Indian local authorities as 'paradise on earth'. However, just today there was a last-minute change in the delegates' tour, recommended by the security agencies: the planned visits to Dachigam National Park in Srinagar and Gulmarg in northern Kashmir were suspended. In the days leading up to the meeting, India also held several drills due to an increase in attacks by suspected militants over the past year. Elite forces were deployed and some schools were closed for more than a week as a precautionary measure. Security was also tightened around Dal Lake and the Sher-e-Kashmir International Convention Centre (SKICC) in Srinagar, the venue. A former altar boy and priest who served St. Mary Catholic Church in Aspen are embroiled in a civil lawsuit over sexual abuse. Electrify Commercial to Install 20 Fast-Charging EV Stations in Utah Published May 22, 2023 Electrify Commercial on May 17 announced plans to support Rocky Mountain Power, a division of PacificCorp, with the installation of 20 EV charging stations in Utah. The project will include more than 80 individual chargers at 15 stations in the Salt Lake City area and five stations in surrounding regions, a total of 20 charging stations. As a business unit of Electrify America, Electrify Commercial provides customized end-to-end EV charging solutions to businesses, utility companies, fleet owners, travel centers and convenience stores. The new charging stations, owned by Rocky Mountain Power, will be featured on Electrify Americas coast-to-coast locate a charger map, which includes more than 800 stations and 3,500 individual chargers. Electrify Commercial will provide industry-leading charging equipment, installation, networking and ongoing operations and maintenance. Each station will have a minimum of four chargers that can charge capable vehicles at speeds up to 350 kW offering speed and convenience for EV drivers. Rocky Mountain Power will set pricing at these charging stations, and customers will be able to access and seamlessly pay for charging through the Electrify America mobile app. As electric vehicles continue becoming more mainstream, its important to expand access and range confidence in all parts of the country, said Aaron Young, senior manager, commercial networks and fleets, Electrify America. With a shared commitment to increase EV adoption, reduce tailpipe emissions and improve air quality, we are excited to collaborate with Rocky Mountain Power to deliver 350 kW charging capability to EV drivers in Utah. Electrify Commercial presents a unique opportunity for companies like Rocky Mountain Power to own their own charging stations while leveraging Electrify Americas experience building the largest open, DC-fast charging network in the U.S. The collaboration will help Rocky Mountain Power to expand critical EV infrastructure needed for Utahs future growth. Salt Lake City is the top city in the U.S. to own an electric vehicle, making it more important than ever to provide accessible charging in the region and in other parts of Utah, said James Campbell, director of innovation and sustainability, Rocky Mountain Power. Electrify Commercial will play an important role in helping us achieve our electrification goals and enable seamless EV travel throughout the state of Utah. The first charging stations from this collaboration are expected to open in 2024 in Salt Lake City, the Wasatch Valley Front and Moab. Source: Electrify America Midwest Collision Repair Trade Show Hosts Successful Second Annual Event Written by Cole Strandberg, Autobody News Published May 22, 2023 The Midwest Collision Repair Trade Show was held May 19-20 in Kansas City, MO. Despite being only in its second year, the event expanded its trade show floor and attracted top industry speakers and regional shop operators. Hosted by several auto body associations, including the Missouri Auto Body Association, Kansas Auto Body Association, Nebraska Auto Body Association (NABA), South Dakota Auto Body Association and the Iowa Collision Repair Association (ICRA), the show offered valuable insights and information over the course of two days. The energetic weekend started May 19 with Mike Anderson's "Be Extraordinary" presentation, setting a positive tone. Panels covering various topics such as EVs, estimating technology, marketing and culture received favorable feedback from both attendees and vendors. Renowned speakers and panelists included Dirk Fuchs from I-CAR, Jake Rodenroth from Lucid Motors, Rod Cahoy from PPG, Dan Risley from CCC, Danny Gredinberg from DEG, Casey Lund from Collision Leaders (formerly Warrensburg Collision), Mark Claypool from Optima Automotive and more. The first day concluded with a trade show featuring vendors from around the country. Gina Cotton, executive director of the Nebraska and Missouri auto body associations and show coordinator, expressed her appreciation for the warm welcome from Kansas City and the sponsors. It has been amazing, Cotton said. We are so appreciative of Kansas City for welcoming us and Im so appreciative of all the sponsors. Day Two continued May 20 with breakout sessions and an open trade show floor throughout the day. During lunchtime, attendees enjoyed a keynote speech by Dan Meers, also known as "KC Wolf," the beloved mascot of the local Super Bowl Champion Kansas City Chiefs. Attendees also savored local BBQ from the renowned Kansas City Jack Stack BBQ. The show wrapped up with a panel, "There is Nothing Without the Right Culture," moderated by Frank Terlep from Opus IVS. Panelists included Lirel Holt from Powered By U, Lund, Anderson, Ron Reichen from Precision Collision Centers, and Dillon Lapp from Twin River Body Shops. Hopefully, well see you at our 2024 Midwest Trade Show! said Cotton. SUV The supercharged 6.2-liter V8 is typically good for 710 hp. That's brake horsepower for those into details, or 720 metric horses/530 kilowatts. It produces 645 pound-feet (875 Nm) of torque, and from zero to sixty miles an hour (0-97 kph), it is insanely quick for a high-rider, taking 3.5 seconds as per the spec sheet.Having paid a visit to the tuner based in the Lone Star State, this Dodge Durango SRT Hellcat is now even more powerful and faster. We cannot tell you how quick it is, as they haven't released the magic numbers, but we can reveal the output and thrust, which are rated at 1,000 hp and 948 lb-ft (1,285 Nm). The former is available at 6,500 rpm and the latter at 4,200 rpm, and the boost, comprising several new internals and a software remap, is part of the H1000 package.Those opting for this bundle for their already punchy Durango SRT Hellcat won't need to worry about breaking down, as Hennessey straps every build with a three-year/36,000-mile (57,936-km) warranty. The musclyturned hyper is going to cost you a hefty sum in this configuration. You should reach out to the tuner to find out how much you should cough out for it, as they're keeping this detail close to their chest. And don't think it's a bargain because having Bugatti Veyron power in any vehicle will cost you a small fortune.Ever since they introduced the massive power boost for this model nearly three years ago, Hennessey has proved the car's worth by pinning it against a bunch of fast machines in a straight-line battle. We've even seen it dueling a Lamborghini Aventador, which is a beast born for the ultimate weekend thrills, and it smoked it immediately. This proves just how powerful the tuned Dodge Durango SRT Hellcat is, and don't forget that we're talking about a three-row SUV that's extremely practical and has enough room for the entire family. The Italian supercar couldn't keep up with it in the second run either, as you can see in the video we covered here.As for the latest indirect encounter with this brute of an SUV , it puts the spotlight on a murdered-out example and its whining capability as it was being thrashed around on a closed course. It sounds like an entire factory is working under the hood, and apart from a few logos added by Hennessey, there isn't much to reveal its wolf in sheep's clothing nature. That said, you should scroll down and click the play button. BFD The folks at Hoonigan had an exciting drag race on their most recent This vs. That YouTube series a 2010 Chevrolet Corvette Grand Sport versus a 2017 Ford Raptor.While it's unfair to put a 6,000 lbs (2,722 kg) hauler against a thoroughbred speed demon like the C6 Corvette, with the right mods, these monolithic American trucks are known to push incredible numbers on the straight line.The 2017 Ford Raptor was brought in by Ryan of Kibbetech (client unit). Kibbetech is an off-road fabrication and CNC machining outfit based in Newbury Park, California. Simply put, they build trucks for truck people.The Ford Raptor in question is unlike anything that rolled out of the Blue Oval's factory five years ago. Under the hood, it runs a twin-turbo 5.2-liter Coyote V8 swap good for 1,017 ponies to the wheels (1,196 hp/1213 ps).To harness that power, it packs a 10-speed automatic transmission sending all that power to the rear wheels.Part of the mods includes twin Precision 64 turbos, a custom 42-gallon fuel cell, two trans coolers in the truck bed, and king coilovers."We did like a custom exhaust on it with a big muffler, and then out of that muffler where there are two other mufflers, and so this thing basically sounds like a stock truck when it's idling," Ryan said about the 2017 Ford Raptor.The 2010 Chevrolet Corvette Grand Sport belongs to Hoonigan's Zach. According to Scotto of Hoonigan, this is the most normal car Ryan owns. It's powered by a 6.2-liter (LS3)naturally aspirated V8 engine dyno'd at 550 hp (558 ps). It runs on a 6-speed manual transmission sending all that juice to the rear wheels.Part of the mods includes aLS3 camshafts, PRC 260cc heads, off-road x-pipe, and an SLP Performance catback exhaust."It's very simple. It's basic. I mean, look, most of the parts are still stock, and it makes good power." Zach's said about his 2010 Chevrolet Corvette Grand Sport.Everyone on the Hoonigan team put their money on the C6 Corvette apart from Vin. He decided to sit on the fence on this one. Ryan's Ford Raptor had no takers.Well, Ryan's Raptor broke down seconds into the race. Fortunately, Christopher's 2023 Ford Raptor R (Baja 1000 Champion) stepped in for its older sibling. It doesn't pack a 1,017 hp engine, but a supercharged 5.2-liter V8 dyno'd at 700 hp (710 ps). It has a 10-speed automatic transmission running on a four-wheel-drive setup.The first race was a 1,000 ft head-to-head race Zach's 2010 Chevrolet Corvette Grand Sport beat the Raptor R by three cars. The second race was a 500 ft drag race (the loser gets the hit). Christopher's Raptor R had a perfect launch and won.Curious about who won the last race? We recommend catching that raw action in the video below. ???? Vous rouliez a bicyclette sur le trottoir. Un policier vous a demande deux fois de vous arreter. Quand il vous rattrape devant le Carlton vous laccusez de vous avoir agresse. Je vous le redis ici, Thierry Fremaux, vous aviez tort et vous netes pas au dessus des lois ! pic.twitter.com/JHKuHIjWGy Eric Morillot (@EricMorillot) May 20, 2023 The 2023 edition of the Cannes Film Festival is now underway ( in Cannes , of course), and it's not without a fair share of controversy. This time, it's not related to the films in the competition but to Thierry Fremaux, the director of the Institut Lumiere and head delegate of the Cannes Film Festival, who's getting some unwanted publicity for something he did outside of the festival.Late last week, he got into a scuffle with a municipal police officer after he was spotted riding his electric bicycle on the sidewalk outside the Carlton Hotel. Carlton Hotel is where most A-list guests to Cannes are staying and is always a busy area, even outside of the prestigious event. More to the point, though, it is illegal to ride your bike on the pavement in France, except for kids 8 years old or under.Fremaux is long past that age, and he was riding an electric bicycle to boot, according to journalist Eric Morillot, who captured the altercation on video and then posted it online, where it immediately went viral.Morillot says and has video to prove it that the municipal officer intercepted Fremaux as soon as he got off his bike at the hotel entrance and asked him to step aside to talk. Fremaux became aggressive right away, yelling that he'd been assaulted, asking for the officer's name, and urging him to go and solve real crime in the city instead of picking on cyclists.Contacted for comment on the incident, a representative for the Film Festival said that the video was "truncated and, as such, offered a skewed take on what happened. "In the minutes that followed, a frank and cordial explication took place, bringing an end to the exchange," says the publicist. "The chapter is closed."At the press conference marking the official start of the Cannes Film Festival 2023 , Fremaux promised he'd be riding his bicycle for the entire duration of the event instead of using the official car out of an earnest desire to reduce his carbon footprint.His selfless gesture is overshadowed by his apparent privilege for behaving the way he did with a police officer that was only doing his job. Riding a bike on the sidewalk is illegal in France, and Fremaux should have at least apologized instead of trying to pick a fight, commenters are saying online. At the time of writing Cessna is offering airplanes for all needs and budgets, powered by all of the means available to the industry: piston, turboprop, and jet engines. It's the latter category that's of interest to us today, as one of its members, the Citation, is about to expand its reach.The Cessna Citation plays the business jet game, and has done so ever since 1972. To date, some 8,000 of them left the assembly lines in several configurations. There are at the moment five of them available (Longitude, Latitude, CJ4 Gen2, CJ3+, and M2 Gen2), capable of carrying anywhere from seven to 12 passengers to distances of up to 4,000 miles (6,400 km). A sixth one, the Citation Ascend, is fast approaching, after being announced by Textron on May 22.The new variant of the plane will begin flying in the skies above our heads in 2025, but we already know one key component that will go into making it: the engine. As before, the powerplant will be produced by Pratt & Whitney Canada, and it's part of the PW500 turbofan family.Called PW545D, it's a piece of tech that is just entering the market, and has been designed to provide "improved specific fuel consumption (SFC), thrust and time between overhauls (TBO)." We're not given exact details as to what each of those elements means, but we do have enough to form a general idea.As far as fuel consumption and emissions are concerned, the engine was designed to run partially (50 percent) on sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). Then, the time between overhauls sits at a reasonable 6,000 hours.Although the exact power levels of the engine are not known, it should make the Ascend reach cruise speeds of up to 507 mph (141 kph). The engines work to altitudes of up to 45,000 feet (almost 14,000 meters) and, when the plane sits just four passengers, they should keep doing so for as much as 2,186 miles (3.518 km).Compared to other powerplants from its family, the PW545D's design has changed a bit, It uses a redesigned high-pressure compressor to allow more air in. A bettered, single-stage, high-pressure turbine module has also been added, while fuel consumption and noise are reduced by means of an "enhanced exhaust mixer."Just to give you an idea of how important the new engine is for both Pratt & Whitney and for Cessna, consider the family it is part of already has 4,600 examples in operation, which have reached a total of 22 million flight hours combined.Together with all the other engines Pratt & Whitney Canada ever produced, we're told the company will celebrate 1 billion flight hours later this year. For reference, that's 114,000 years... BEV Photo: San Mateo County Sheriff's Office NHTSA Photo: San Mateo County Sheriff's Office Photo: San Mateo County Sheriff's Office A surveillance video states that the vehicle was driving within the lane when it slowed down before turning right toward the cliff. This scenario is consistent with sudden unintended acceleration (SUA) episodes involving Tesla vehicles. As Costas Lakafossis revealed, they happen when the cars are about to park.The accident investigator discovered that Autopilot brakes and accelerates the cars on its own, which leads their drivers to trust the system will do that whenever they have to stop the vehicle. They even take pride in that "smart" feature in their cars until they realize how dangerous that can be. Lakafossis rented a Model Y and confirmed the vehicle's software decides if it creeps forward or brakes after several tests. There is nothing predictable about how the car will behave, as it would have in one-pedal driving: energy regeneration makes thedecelerate as soon as drivers take their feet off the accelerator pedal. That said, the problem has nothing to do with that feature.The main problem is that drivers trust the car more than they should and do not keep their feet over the brake pedal. If the car accelerates when it should brake, the panic reaction may lead drivers to confuse the brake pedal for the accelerator and step on it. If you check vehicle data, it will say they pressed the wrong pedal and that it was a driver's error, as it recently happened to a 68-year-old driver who crashed his Model 3 in the Horseshoe Bay BC Ferries terminal in Vancouver, Canada. Vehicle data will say they were to blame. Ask them about that, and they will swear they were stepping on the brake pedal.To prevent that, the accident investigator petitioned the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to recall all Tesla vehicles to date and apply Brake Transmission Shift Interlocks (BTSIs) to force drivers to always keep track of the brake pedal. China's State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) started an investigation about that right after Lakafossis's petition hitand about the same topic, which suggests the accident investigator's thesis resonated with Chinese authorities.Tesla quickly made a voluntary recall in China with the 2023.12.9 update. All cars that receive it will now have Creep as their default stopping mode. In other words, drivers will have to place their feet over the brake pedal because they know the car will no longer brake for them. That should kill the SUA incidents . Sadly, Tesla restricted this change to vehicles sold in China. What if that was what happened to Patel while he was trying to stop his car to check the tires? If the Model Y driver was willing to commit suicide and kill his family in the process, he had nothing to lose. Why would Dharmesh lie about that now?Documents about the case were unsealed on May 17. According to them, after slowing down, "the Tesla then takes a gradual right turn, plunging off the cliffside. There is no indication of attempts to brake or to turn the Tesla in a different direction." Why would he slow down if he wanted to kill himself and his family, throwing everybody from a cliff?It will not be easy for Dharmesh to convince the jury that this was the case. His wife repeatedly told first responders he deliberately drove off the cliff. In the same documents, a California Highway Patrol (CHP) officer said he told him these words: "He drove off. He's depressed. He's a doctor. He said he was going to drive off the cliff. He drove off on purpose."Neha Patel has stopped talking to the investigators ever since and said she does not want her husband to be charged with attempted murder. Was she just angry at her husband for what happened or did he really say he would kill her family? Whatever was the reason, It may be too late to backtrack. For the San Mateo County District Attorney, Steve Wagstaffe, "what she said at the time , under the stress of the circumstances, is both reliable and truthful." Wagstaffe disputes Dharmesh's version of the facts based on a "video taken from the tunnel that they came through." According to the district attorney, it "shows the vehicle" and "contradicts that statement." Wagstaffe also believes Neha "will come forward and see that Justice is done." If she thinks there is any possibility that her husband is innocent, she would better do that as soon as possible. SUV In 2005, the modern-day auto marque launched the Veyron . It was a stunning machine with just a bit over 1,000 horsepower. Different versions of the model were launched, with even more power on tap, and the Super Sport became the fastest street-legal production car ever made with 267.856 mph (431.072 kph).Assembly of the Veyron ended entirely in 2015 when the last one was made at the Molsheim facility in France. One year later, its successor, the even-more stunning machine known as the Chiron, entered production at the same factory. Following a similar theme to the Veyron, the Chiron gave birth to multiple versions, including some derivatives like the bespoke La Voiture Noire and the Divo, Centodieci, Bolide, and open-top Mistral.As all good things must come to an end, the current era is on the edge of ending for Bugatti . But the brand is unwilling to succumb to the electric age, even if they are officially in bed with Rimac, part of a joint venture founded almost two years ago. An electric hypercar and anare not on their list, not in the near future anyway. This was the comment of Mate Rimac during a sit-down with Automobilwoche last year. "A purely electric version is not included in our ten-year plan for Bugatti. There will also be no SUV," Rimac said.Don't confuse electric with electrification, because chances are Bugatti's next-generation lineup might include some battery assistance. Certain outlets speak of a plug-in hybrid powertrain, which would boost the performance to new levels and make their future cars more frugal and less polluting. A small zero-emission range should be possible too. Strangely enough, while brands such as Rolls-Royce, Bentley, Porsche, Aston Martin, Ferrari, and Lamborghini have high-riders in their families, Bugatti is not interested in such a model yet. And neither is McLaren, for what it's worth.Now, while the world may not yet be ready for an all-quiet Bugatti, rendering artists have envisioned it several times. One of the latest takes came from tedoradze.giorgi on Instagram over the weekend, and it kind of looks like a Veyron knockoff that's still easily recognizable as a Bugatti due to the horseshoe grille. The car has a wedge shape and many soft lines, and it is almost ready to challenge some of the records recently set by the Rimac Nevera . But does the look suit it? Photo: Market Direct Campers Photo: Market Direct Campers $40,000 is the starting price for this special edition overland camper from Market Direct. However, that price is in Australian dollars, so, in reality, it's a tad over $26,500 American (at current exchange rates). That's all this thing costs, leaving you with enough cash to head to Australia, make the modifications necessary for American roads and infrastructure, and even ship it back to the US. What more could you want? Well, a whole lot, actually, and that's where the beauty of this machine comes into play; it has everything you need to hit the road and possibly never look back for days to weeks at a time.Now, the XT10E is considered a hybrid camper, but this doesn't refer to its ability to live off sunlight, water, and gas tanks. It does, however, refer to the camper's pop-top ability. As you're towing this thing behind your truck , all 1,540 kg (3,395 lbs) of dry weight, the top is to be secured to the rest of the shell, creating an impermeable seal for the interior, and only once you've arrived at your destination, will you be able to behold its true size. With the addition of an annex and tent suite, you'll be looking at a full-blown campsite.Ensuring you do make it to wherever you'd like to go , a galvanized steel chassis, independent coil-spring suspension with two shock absorbers on each side, and a Cruisemaster DO35 hitch are standard. I told you they don't play around in the land down under. Alloy wheels with MT tires and 12 in asymmetric brakes complete the base for the 10E. Sitting on top of all this is a shell made up of aluminum/composite panels.This is also the point where I'd like to attract your attention to all the little storage bays and exterior gear the 10E has in store. At the front, a nosecone storage locker with three bays can be spotted, and more storage is then integrated along the sides. Some of these spaces are designated for features and systems that make up the slide-out galley, and some are for anything you need on your journey. At the rear, a spare tire mount is visible. Best of all, the 10E's shell allows owners to add an array of tent annexes and an outdoor shower. Yes, this is a habitat for the true outdoor lover.Speaking of outdoors, before we head inside, let's go over the sort of experience you can access . I mentioned that the 10E has a slide-out galley, and here, you'll be able to access a three-burner top, sink and faucet, and countertop, but you'll need to bring your own fridge/freezer along. Oh, and those trays; they have storage bays, too, to be used for gas cans, others for utensils and Tupperware. There's even a beer bottle opener on one of them too.Another strong point for the 10E is the electrical system that MDC has in store. A 200 Ah battery is in and kept at full with a 5-stage charger from Projecta and a solar charger from the same manufacturer too. A BMS (Battery Management System) completes the electrical upgrades. Yes, upgrades, because this is the 15-Year Edition, and the rest of this setup is complete with four 100 W solar panels and a 1,000 W inverter, all from Projecta.Ok. so all that off-grid, off-road, and outdoor living stuff aside, we do need to dive into the interior of the 10E. Why? I'll be honest, I found the living space to be a rather modest one, and that means a simplicity that actually comes across as rather freeing. Nothing other than a double bed, modular dinette, and some storage space is found inside each unit. This brings across that whole intimate and quaint feeling that you can only get when you and your partner share such a tight space. But remember, it's not too tight. Windows all around ensure that even spending time indoors keeps you connected with the world outside.Put all this together, and what do you get? Well, let's take a short trip through our imagination. Once you've made it to that X on your map, unfurl this camper's systems, awnings, and annexes, cook a meal, and enjoy life in a place where the only sounds around are that of the local wildlife and the occasional awning fluttering in the wind. If it's late in the day, why not make a fire and enjoy a star-filled sky with no city lights to impede your view?The next day, you'll get out of bed, bones rested from the foam mattress, and head back outside to prepare a cup of Joe. Pull out the trays and get to work. Why not whip up breakfast while you're at it? After a bit of sitting around and digesting, it's time to seize the day with whatever your itinerary has in store. All the while, the XT10E is sitting around , charging its batteries, and keeping cool for your return. Sounds like one hell of a lifestyle to be living for just $26,500. Together with the big announcement, they have also released a teaser video and a pair of images of the upcoming product . One picture previews the front three-quarter design of the car, with the teardrop-shaped headlamps with incorporated DRLs, chrome trim linking the main clusters, muscular lines on the hood, and what appears to be a large grille integrated into the front bumper. It has a two-tone finish by the looks of it and black trim around the wheel arches that might span to the lower parts of the body.At the other end, it is obvious that the Lexus LBX has a full-width LED light bar spanning from one fender to the other, muscular shoulders, and what appears to be a roof-mounted spoiler. The back end's lower part is not visible even after brightening the image, so we do not know if the company gave it a clean styling or chose a sportier design. Nevertheless, we can tell that the LBX has a youthful overall look, and we think it will be sprinkled with all sorts of lively colors and will probably ride on big wheels in the top grades.But what exactly is the Lexus LBX ? In all likelihood, a new entry-level crossover. The automaker trademarked the moniker almost two years ago, and back then, it was reported that it would be a rebadged variant of the Toyota Yaris Cross. If the rumor holds water, then it will feature a more premium interior, with better-quality materials, and maybe Lexus' own infotainment system taking center stage inside. However, we would not bet on the latter. Still, it might get extra stuff to set it apart from its more mainstream sibling if it is indeed a Yaris Cross dressed in fancier attire.Beneath the skin, the Lexus LBX might use the GA-B platform shared with the Toyota Aygo, Yaris, Yaris Cross , and Mazda2 Hybrid. The versatile construction would give it access to different powertrains, and we suspect it will launch with at least one gasoline mill and another assembly featuring electric assistance. Mind you, that is pure speculation, as the car manufacturer has managed to keep all details a secret so far. Thus, all we have to do at this point is to stay put and wait for the official unveiling precisely two weeks from today to learn its secrets, including its availability, as we don't know if it will make its way to the United States. SUV After last year Honda took command of the Japanese-flavored roster of novelties (all-new HR-V, CR-V, Civic Type R, Pilot, Accord, etc.) Toyota prepared a measure response with stuff like the returning S235 Crown nameplate now a crossover-style sedan, the reinvented Prius including in Prime plug-in hybrid form, the arrival of the Corolla Cross Hybrid instead of the retired C-HR subcompact CUV, and many more.And it seems that was just the appetizer after we saw stuff like the mighty 362-hp Grand Highlander Hybrid Max family-oriented three-row crossover, the Corolla Nightshade range, or the upcoming Trailhunter series. Speaking of adventures (and workhorses, for that matter), of course, the most important novelty of the first half of 2023 revolves around the introduction of the fourth-generation 2024 Toyota Tacoma mid-size pickup truck.The best-selling nameplate has a lot of woes like the newly standalone D41 Nissan Frontier, the all-new Chevy Colorado and GMC Canyon twins, and the US-spec 2024 Ford Ranger and Ranger Raptor. But it also comes with many hero attributes, from the returning TRD PreRunner trim to a new Xtra Cab configuration, the Trailhunter overlander, and the 326-hp i-Force Max hybrid powertrain. Plus, it might soon get reinforcements from the sixth-generation 4Runner off-road SUV sibling.Well, no worries if that is not happening fast in the real world for the 2024 model year or 2025MY at the worst because the imaginative realm of digital car content creators will try to alleviate everyone's impatience. Dimas Ramadhan, the virtual automotive artist behind the Digimods DESIGN channel on YouTube, has even taken up the task of revealing the all-new 4Runner on more than one CGI occasion.Thus, if the first time the author didn't have a solid Tacoma foundation for his unofficial vision and went against the truck's design philosophy when trying to hypothetically fight the hordes of Ford Bronco and Jeep Wrangler SUVs, now the mid-size pickup truck cat is out of the bag, and so are the renderings based on it. As such, this time around, the pixel master's imagined 4Runner takes directly after its bed-equipped sibling in the styling department.And while the hypothetically rugged design should be taken with a healthy dose of salt, as always, we can safely expect that Toyota will jump at the chance of equipping the next 4Runner with the same powertrain options as the newly introduced 2024 Tacoma. That means goodies like the eight-speed auto or six-speed manual transmissions, plus the trio of 2.4-liter turbo gasoline engine derivations ranging from 228 to 278 horsepower without electric assistance and surging to 326 hp and 465 lb-ft (630 Nm) of torque when adding an electric motor to form the 'i-Force Max' assembly. How do humans blink while driving a Formula car? Out now @iScience_CP, our new paper revealed expert drivers blinked surprisingly similar locations. Behind the pattern, there was their implicit strategy to mitigate the effect of vision loss by blinking.https://t.co/BWx305NLQS Ryota Nishizono (@NishizonoRyota) May 19, 2023 Only a few people think about blinking when it comes to their healthcare routine . The simplest explanation for this subconscious human activity is that it cleans the eye's surface of debris with a fresh coating of tears. The involuntary blink sharpens vision, brightening and clearing the image the human retina receives.Unless you think about it, you'll never notice your eyes blink. But for race drivers pushing their vehicles well above 200 mph (322 kph), their world goes dark for a third of a second, which could mean 20 yards (18 meters) of lost vision.A new study (first of its kind) published in the journal iScience, investigated human eye blink timing during Formula car racing.A healthy adult will blink about 12 times in a minute. Each subconscious blink lasts about a third of a second. A race car driver could lose as much as 238 meters of important visual racing information in a third of a mile.According to the University of IOWA Health Care, the human blinking rate is linked to the task an individual performs. Some people will have a lower blink rate when concentrating on a screen.According to Ryota Nishizono of NTT Communication Science Laboratories in Atsugi, Japan, blinking doesn't occur solely to moisten the eyes. A few blinks per minute is enough for this sanitary gesture.Conducting a study to determine how humans process information during physical activity, he was surprised to find no literature on human blinking behavior under extreme conditions like physical competition.Since he had some background as a professional racing cyclist, he was compelled to conduct the study (how humans blink during high-speed driving) with the help of a Japanese Formula car racing outfit.Using three professional male racers as the study population sample, the drivers did 304 practice laps in three circuits in Japan Fuji, Suzuka, and Sugo.The research team mounted eye trackers on the driver's helmets, and what they discovered was unexpectedly predictable. The data revealed that all three top-level race drivers surprisingly blinked at similar points on the track circuit.Meaning human eye blinking isn't random but reproducible. According to the study, the drivers had a shared blinking pattern that strongly correlated with acceleration. The sampled drivers did not blink when switching through speed, direction, or hitting a curve. They blinked on safe points like straightaways.According to Nishizono, the research team was initially stunned at the consistent blinking patterns. However, since their driving patterns were similar on each circuit, their blinking was expected to be in sync. What made the Tri-Five so hugely popular? For starters, it was one of the prettiest cars in showrooms, and it was also affordable. Chevrolet also offered a variety of trim levels and a long list of body styles. In 1957, for instance, the Tri-Five was available in no fewer than 20 iterations. The Bel Air is the most iconic and sought-after trim, especially in Sport Coupe guise, while the Nomad is the rarest.The entry-level 150 and the mid-range 210 don't get as much love as the Bel Air, but this doesn't mean these trims do not include rare models. While the Nomad receives all the attention as the rarest 1957 Tri-Five, the Delivery Sedan and Utility Sedan versions of the 150 are almost as rare. The Delivery Sedan, a bare-bones two-door van, moved only 8,907 units.Then there's the Utility Sedan, a stripped-off two-door coupe produced in 8,817 examples. A rather unusual body style for the modern era, the Utility Sedan was designed with door-to-door retailers in mind. Sold without a rear seat, it provided extra luggage room behind the front bench. But while some customers purchased them as affordable haulers, others saw them as lightweight hot-rodding platforms.Moreover, Chevrolet's introduction of the fuel-injected 283-cubic-inch (4.6-liter) V8 in 1957 created the opportunity to pair the lightened Utility Sedan with a 283-horsepower engine. Not your average salesman's rig, right? And a Tri-Five version only a few people know about. It's also super rare because of the 1,530 "fuelie" Tri-Fives sold in 1957, only about 50 were 150 Utility Sedans. The Tropical Turquoise example you see here is one of them.And this two-door sedan is special for several reasons. For starters, it's one of only a few units that soldiered on into 2023 as a fully-restored classic with all-original sheet metal. The fuel-injected V8, which delivers one horsepower per cubic inch, a big deal back in 1957, is also of the numbers-matching variety.And on top of being lighter than the usual 150, thanks to being devoid of a rear bench, carpet, and rear window roll-down mechanism, it was also ordered with a few extra delete options. Specifically, the original owner requested that the 150 come without a radio unit, heater, dashboard clock, and cigarette lighter. Additionally, the 283 mates to a close-ratio, three-speed manual, and a 4.11 rear end.In all, it sounds like someone took his time to order a factory muscle car. And it's amazing that it wasn't raced and destroyed at the drag strip. But wait, that's not all. This 150 also packs a rare NASCAR-spec distributor and a vacuum pump, which makes it a Black Widow in disguise.If you're unfamiliar with the name, the Black Widow was a series of 150 Utility Sedan "fuelie" cars built by the Southern Engineering Development Company (SEDCO). Operating out of the Nalley Chevrolet dealership in Atlanta, Georgia, SEDCO had an unusual amount of access to the company's parts. The cars were put together as a way around the Automobile Manufacturers Association's ban on factory-backed racing.Unleashed on NASCAR tracks during the 1957 Grand National season, the Black Widown dominated the series despite the sanctioning body's immediate ban on fuel injection. There are no records of how many Black Widows were built, but experts usually agree on six units, making it incredibly rare and valuable.Granted, the Black Widow had a few extras compared to this 150, but the Utility Sedan is the closest thing to SEDCO's iconic racer. And the fact that it's not finished in a Black Widow livery makes it even cooler. It's an unassuming sleeper that sounds rather glorious when the pedal hits the metal. Go ahead and check it out in the video below. And if it's a car you'd like to own, it's for sale at $99,998, well below its appraised value. ICE kWh The tuner claims to have worked on its body kit for the new electrified Italian supercar ever since it was unveiled, and after constantly refining the design, they stopped at the one brought to life here using multiple mouse clicks. The updates are clear, but if it is one thing that DMC still has to decide on, it is the rear wing design. And for this, they recently took to social media to ask their followers which style to choose.In a side-by-side comparison with the real Revuelto, DMC's proposal features the usual add-ons on the outside. These include stuff like the chin spoiler with side blades, muscly side skirts, and a new rear diffuser that appears to incorporate an extra brake light in the middle. The front hood features a sportier styling, and out back, they have digitally prepped two wings: one with a racy flair and the other a bit chunkier. So, which of the two designs would you go for and why?Before answering the question, we have to dedicate a paragraph to the firepower. Since the tuner hasn't said anything about performance boosts, they have probably left the elbow grease aside for now. But that's okay because it still comes with a sonorous 6.5-liter naturally aspirated V12 that produces 813 hp. Lambo says that the redline stands at 9,500 rpm and that the good-oldis backed up by three electric motors that sip electrons from the 3.8battery. It has 1,001 hp combined, making it previous-generation hypercar fast. The 0-62 mph (0-100 kph) takes 2.5 seconds, and the top speed stands at a very exotic-ish 217 mph (350 kph).The successor to the Aventador is a very important product for Lamborghini, as it represents their first official step into the world of electrification. In fact, all models introduced from now on will feature some sort of electric assistance, including the plug-in hybrid version of the Urus that is still in the testing phase. It is understood to get the same assembly as the one powering the Porsche Cayenne Turbo S E-Hybrid, which mixes a twin-turbo 4.0-liter V8 with an electric motor.The Italian model could enjoy over 800 hp, which would give it a serious advantage over its German cousin, which has 670 hp. The unveiling date has yet to be announced, but it is due this year, launching as a 2024 model in all likelihood. Gayane Hakobian, whose son Zhora Martirosian was killed during the 2020 war in Nagorno-Karabakh, was detained last Wednesday after an argument with Ashot Pashinian. Citing the latters testimony, Armenias Investigative Committee said that Hakobian tricked the young man into getting in her car after she ran into him outside a court building in Yerevan. Pashinian Jr. jumped out of the car shortly after Hakobian drove it towards the Yerablur Military Pantheon, according to the law-enforcement agency. Hakobian strongly denies the accusations carrying between four and eight years in prison. Her lawyers say she simply wanted to talk to the 23-year-old. A Yerevan court approved her pre-trial detention on Saturday, triggering an angry demonstration attended by several dozen other parents of fallen soldiers and hundreds of their sympathizers. The parents announced afterwards a nonstop sit-in outside the prime ministers office in the citys central Republic Square. The protest continued on Monday as Nikol Pashinian held a news conference amid tightened security in and around the building. The prime minister made clear that he will not tell his son to withdraw the complaint lodged against Hakobian because they both believe that in Armenia all issues must be solved in a legal way. If there was no crime, let them close the case, he told a news conference. If there was a crime, let them finish the investigation and send the case to court and let the court make a decision. Pashinian did not comment on why Hakobian has to be kept under arrest pending the outcome of her trial. He also declined to answer a question from the protesters which was put to him by a reporter. They wanted to know what you felt when ordering the arrest. Gayane is not guilty and the accusation brought against her is fabricated, one of the protesting parents told journalists. I consider her a political prisoner. So his son cannot be told to sit in a car so that we just talk to him and they consider that kidnapping. But who will be held accountable for the deaths of my and Gayanes sons and the 5,000 other boys? said another. Armenian opposition leaders and other critics of the government claim that Pashinian ordered Hakobians arrest in a bid to muzzle the families of deceased soldiers who have staged demonstrations over the past year to demand his prosecution on war-related charges. Several female opposition parliamentarians visited the woman in custody at the weekend. Former President Levon Ter-Petrosian also condemned the womans arrest, saying that it is an even greater disgrace than a recent incident during which Armenian parliament speaker Alen Simonian spat at a heckler in Yerevan. Ter-Petrosian said that the Armenian authorities are only heightening political tensions in the country with their impudent and short-sighted actions. If things continue like this, a much sadder, if not explosive, prospect awaits our country, he warned in a statement. The Armenian Apostolic Church likewise expressed deep concern at Hakobians prosecution and called for her release from custody. 22 May 2023 14:15 (UTC+04:00) Qabil Ashirov Read more Azerbaijani human-right activist of US citizen, CEO and founder of South Azerbaijan Television (Gunaz.TV) Ahmad Obaly, and his son Deniz were subjected to the terrorist attacks in California, the USA. Araz Obali, the nephew of Ahmad Obali, said to the media outlets that Ahmad Obali was brutally beaten in a hotel in the USA, a day after returning from Azerbaijan. He noted that his uncle's condition is moderate to serious. Noting that as a result of the attack, Ahmad Obali's whole body was seriously injured, and all the fingers of his right hand were broken, and his eyes were seriously injured. He also added that Deniz, his son, was subjected to the attack, as well. His condition is serious and he was hospitalised at an intensive care unit. Ahmad Obaly was born in Iran, and later immigrated to the USA. He is famous for his anti-mullah regime political views. Besides that, he has actively supported Azerbaijan in the Garabagh issue. He has lashed out at fascist regimes of Iran and Armenia. He is against Armenian and Iranian expansionist foreign policy. So, the terrorist attack against him and his son raises questions about the motives of the attack. In a comment on the issue for Azernews, the head of the Middle East Research Centre, political analyst Sadraddin Soltan drew attention to Obali's political activity and pointed two forces that could stand behind the attack. Ahmad Obali is a socially active person, one of the active participants in the struggle for the national rights of South Azerbaijanis. Also, during the period when the lands of the Azerbaijan Republic were under the Armenian occupation, he constantly raised the issue in the USA, where he lives, and his TV programs covered the Garabagh issue and problems of Azerbaijanis in Iran. In this case, who can be his enemy? His enemy can be only two forces: first-up, Iran and pro-Iran forces, and secondly, Armenia and pro-Armenian forces including the Armenian lobby, given that the Armenian terrorist organizations have been conducting such kinds of attacks against Azerbaijani and Turkish political and public figures. In addition, we should not forget that the Armenian groups prepared provocations against the Azerbaijans consulate general in California, where Ahmad Obali was subjected to the attack, Sadraddin Soltan said. As for the reasons of attack, the expert noted that it could be political message against Azerbaijan and the USA. According to him, the forces who committed this crime possibly intend to harm Azerbaijan-US relations, as well. Ahmad Obali is a US citizen. So this issue can be approached from several aspects: whether it aims at harming the US-Azerbaijani relations or this could be a direct message against the USA and its foreign policy. Obviously, the USA supports the democratization process in Iran. So inside the United States, people who support the democratization process, human rights and the rights of national minorities are being terrorized by Iran. And alternatively, it could be a message against Azerbaijan, more precisely, public figures of Azerbaijan can be assassinated even in America, the superpower of the world, he opined. Sadraddin Soltan also did not rule out the implication of Armenian terrorists who intend to further aggravate the already tense relation between the USA and Iran. However, he thinks that it looks a conspiracy, rather than reality. Ahmad Obalis criticism against the Iranian regime, his constant mention of the rights of South Azerbaijanis, and the fact that he was attacked a day after returning from Azerbaijan automatically bring Iran to mind. In order to further strain the relationship between the United States and Iran, Armenians can do it even without the knowledge of the Iranian state. But this possibility is not serious in my opinion. I think that this incident is more related to the activities of Ahmad Obali. And as regards his enemies and opponents, none of evidence looks more relevant than Iran and Armenia, he concluded. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 22 May 2023 17:00 (UTC+04:00) Elnur Enveroglu Read more Lately, the strategic alliance between Armenia and Iran has become stronger against the backdrop of some important events that have taken place in recent days. These include the brutal beating of South Azerbaijani journalist Ahmad Obali in the US, and the publication of an unnecessary critical article about Azerbaijan-Israel relations in the Armenian press. This has started to bring more clarity to the issue. It was published in the article that the supposedly close relations between Azerbaijan and Israel are a strategy aimed at Iran, and this is also related to South Azerbaijan and the 35 million Azerbaijanis who live there. This kind of provocative approach by Armenia clearly shows that Armenia and Iran have joined forces to target Azerbaijan. But the matter does not end there. Commenting on on the issue for Azernews, CEO of the Dona Gracia Center for Diplomacy and Israel-based journalist Rachel Avraham noted that Iran is still in a mood of bellicose jingoism. Actually, Iran is not silent. There was a Press tv article published under the title Zionists infiltrate Azerbaijan that was published two days ago, exactly after Azerbaijans Deputy Foreign Minister visited Israel to address the Herzliya Conference, she said. Avraham said that the incident was not accidental and that both the terrorist attack against the South Azerbaijani journalist and the publication of such an article in the Armenian press alongside on Press TV were a joint effort. Ahmad Obali, a prominent journalist, was physically assaulted in a terror attack and is now in hospital struggling for his life. The Iranian regime also attacked his son Deniz. I dont think it is just a coincidence. This article that was published in the Armenian media just shows once again how Armenia is a proxy of Iran, Avraham stressed. It is an undeniable fact that historically, South Azerbaijan is part of North Azerbaijan. They were separated due to Russian and Persian imperialists. South Azerbaijan was brutally crushed by the Pahlavis later on, after they experienced independence for one year. Now, the time has come for the South Azerbaijani people to get their freedom again. Ahmad Obali is the voice of freedom and the Iranians wanted to silence him, Avraham said as she commented on the critic spotlighting one of her comments to a media outlet. I have no doubt that Armenians here want to support Iran and they have targeted me. There are so many Israeli journalists writing about the South Azerbaijanis, but it was not an accident that they went after me but not them. I have had many interviews with Ahmad Obali. He is a kind and intelligent person who knows history very well. Given what they say about me in that article, I wonder what the Iranian regime is planning next after Obali. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 22 May 2023 17:21 (UTC+04:00) Based on the activities of the State Border Service, 523,000 foreigners and stateless persons from 168 countries arrived in the Republic of Azerbaijan in January-April 2023, or 1.6 times more than in a certain period of the year, Azernews reports. According to the press release issued by the State Statistics Company, 31.7 percent of the arrivals came from the Russian Federation, 20.9 percent from Turkiye, 8.4 percent from Iran, 5.5 percent from Georgia, 5.0 percent from India, 2.3 percent from Pakistan, 2.2 percent from the United Arab Emirates, 2.0 percent gain, 1.8 percent Uzbekistan, 1.7 percent gain, 1.6 percent each, Ukraine and Belarus, 13 percent Turkmenistan, 1.2 percent Kuwait, 12, 8 have some other nationals. Some 75.8 percent of the arrivals were men, 24.2 percent were women. Compared to the same period last year, 4 the number of arrivals from China increased 4.3 times, from India - 4.2 times, from Turkmenistan - 3.8 times, from Uzbekistan - 3.3 times, from Belarus - 3.3 times, from potential - 2.1 times, from Pakistan - 1.9 times, from the Russian Federation - 1.9 times, from Great Britain - 1.9 times, from the Netherlands - 1.9 times, from Israel - 1.8 times, from the USA - 1.7 times, from Oman - 1.6 times, from Kuwait - 4.9 percent, from the United Arab Emirates - 44.5 percent, from Georgia - 43.8 percent, from the country - 3.0 percent. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 22 May 2023 14:26 (UTC+04:00) First Lady of the Republic of Azerbaijan Mehriban Aliyeva and First Lady of the Republic of Lithuania Diana Nausediene have visited the Martynas Mazvydas National Library of Lithuania. First Lady Mehriban Aliyeva was informed about the activity of the library. Martynas Mazvydas National Library of Lithuania is a national cultural institution ensuring the collection, preservation, promotion and access of the national documentary cultural heritage. The library's collection contains almost 7 million items (1.8 million titles) of printed and other documents. Then a photo was taken. A video highlighting the services provided by the library, implemented projects as well as external relations of the cultural institution was screened. In the end, on behalf of First Lady Mehriban Aliyeva, books about Azerbaijani culture, art, history as well as Karabakh and Shusha were presented to the library. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 22 May 2023 15:23 (UTC+04:00) President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and First Lady Mehriban Aliyeva have visited the monument to the fallen in the struggle for the independence of the Republic of Lithuania, Azernews reports. A guard of honor was arranged for the head of state here. President Ilham Aliyev laid a wreath at the memorial. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 22 May 2023 16:01 (UTC+04:00) An Azerbaijan-Lithuania business forum with participation of President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and President of the Republic of Lithuania Gitanas Nauseda has been held in Vilnius, Azernews reports. The heads of state made speeches at the business forum. Address by President Gitanas Nauseda - Your Excellency, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan. Dear ministers, members of business community, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen. I'm pleased to welcome so many Azerbaijani business people in Vilnius who are joined by their Lithuanian counterparts. I hope today's discussion will help our countries to deepen the existing ties and to develop new partnerships. This year, Lithuania and Vilnius is celebrating 700-year anniversary. The early days of our capital city were marked by the invitation letters of Lithuanian ruler Gediminas to the foreign leaders, merchants and craftspeople of any social background and religion. Ever since Lithuania has been on an ambitious journey to interact with others, get new ideas and grow. The great ancestors of the Azerbaijani people we are also part of this story receiving Lithuanian envoys in as early as the 15th century. Today, we can count on the healthy state of our bilateral ties. Azerbaijan is an important partner of Lithuania and we are interested in searching for mutually beneficial opportunities. We see Azerbaijan as a growing economic power with a huge energy potential and aspirations to diversify. Various sectors of Azerbaijans economy such as information technologies, logistics, manufacturing, advanced food industries and renewable energy attract Lithuanian entrepreneurs. This much we can bring to the table. In the past, Lithuania has proven its ability to quickly adapt and to use new circumstances to advantage. We rely on a strong tradition of industry and an intelligent workforce. Our digital infrastructure is fast and affordable, one of the best in the whole European Union. During the global contraction in 2020, Lithuania also managed to avoid the negative GDP change. This experience of successful anti-cyclical economic policy was an important lesson that we will use while dealing with new global turbulences. Right now, we are readily looking at the plans of the European Union to support the industrial production of green technologies. New opportunities will be provided by a breakthrough in zero pollution manufacturing. It will benefit Lithuanias economy. The development of the net zero economies could also bring Lithuanias and Azerbaijans economies closer. Our confidence today is boosted by the magnificent energy transition within the last decade. It allowed Lithuania to become the first European country to completely stop imports of Russian energy supplies including oil, electricity, and natural gas. Currently, there is an approach to the economic models based on low fixed price energy to be generated from renewable resources both onshore and offshore. That will strongly increase the competitiveness of our manufacturing and services sectors. Azerbaijans businesses are welcome to join in and reap the benefits. I'm happy to know that initial economic reunion took place last year in Baku. There I had the honor to open a business forum with His Excellency, the President of Azerbaijan. Today, I strongly believe that our nations must be reconnected not only economically but also in the fields of science, education and culture. The road is wide and it lies in front of us. Let this business forum serve as another step in the right direction. I would like to express special gratitude for organizational activities of this business forum to Lithuanias agency Litfood, Lithuania's Innovation Agency, Lithuanian Confederation of Industrialists, Export and Investment Promotion Agency of the Republic of Azerbaijan (AZPROMO) and all other institutions involved. I wish you all exciting and fruitful discussions. Thank you. X X X Address by President Ilham Aliyev - Dear President Nauseda. Dear ladies and gentlemen. First of all, I would like once again to express the gratitude to Mr. President for hospitality. I'm very glad to be back to the beautiful country and have an opportunity to have a broad exchange of views with Mr. President on our bilateral issues, regional issues, as well as economic agenda. And the fact that the heads of state for the second time within one year address a business forum demonstrates big importance we attach to business-to-business contacts between our countries and our business circles. With president Nauseda, I think, we laid down a very solid foundation for our cooperation and established a very active political dialogue. As I said, we met last May in Baku, then this January in Davos and now in Vilnius. So, it really demonstrates the dynamism of our cooperation. So, now it's time for business communities to engage in a long journey of mutually beneficial fruitful cooperation. Two weeks ago here in Vilnius, intergovernmental commission of Lithuania and Azerbaijan met in order to address important issues of our economic agenda. And I think that the role of Joint Economic Commission is to coordinate the efforts of business circles in order to address the importance of potential cooperation and also to provide a framework for partnership. In this respect, exchange of information about our plans is very important. I'm sure that during the todays business forum, there'll be a lot of discussions about what kind of projects are planned to be implemented in our countries and how business community of both countries can participate. Today we broadly discussed with Mr. President the potential areas of cooperation, and President already mentioned them. I think that the potential is really here because we are moving in the same direction with respect to investments in renewables. Both countries have enormous wind potential in the Baltic and Caspian Sea. And both countries have this on our agenda. In our case, though we are on the safe side with respect to energy security, but still, we want to save more natural gas for export and to use our nature - wind and sun - in order to produce electricity, especially taking into account that last July the European Commission and Azerbaijan signed a Memorandum of Understanding on strategic partnership in the field of energy. Based on this memorandum, we are supposed to double our natural gas supply to Europe until 2027. In 2021, our natural gas supply to Europe was 8 bcm, this year it will be 12 bcm and by 2027 it will reach 20 bcm. I think this is minimum because the potential is here. We are producing more natural gas from existing fields. Very soon we will announce important production from one of the big fields of the Caspian. And also investments in renewables will allow us to save natural gas for export. Therefore, Azerbaijan, as a reliable supplier to Europe, today exports oil, natural gas, electricity. We plan to export hydrogen, including green hydrogen. All that is part of overall strategic framework of our cooperation with European Union and we are grateful to our Lithuanian friends and partners for a constant support of Azerbaijans efforts and European Commissions efforts to become closer. Another important area and, I think, business community should take it into account is a great potential in the area of logistics, connectivity and transportation. We look at transportation sector not only as a source of revenues from transit but opportunity for small and medium-sized enterprises to establish manufacturing, business, services on route. Today, Lithuania and Azerbaijan are important transportation hubs in our region. So we need to create connectivity between the regions of Caspian and Baltic Sea and this is possible. Because if we look at the energy map of Europe it has been changed dramatically mainly due to the initiatives of Azerbaijan. Oil pipelines, gas pipeline create a completely new situation. The same with the transportation. We built new connections together with our neighbors and partners. We're investing largely into the sea port infrastructure of Baku. We are investing in building more vessels, which will be able to transport more cargos across the Caspian. Therefore, for business communities, I think, it's the right time to evaluate this opportunity and not to be late because, definitely, these enormous transportation opportunities, especially in the current geopolitical situation, will create added-value. Also, I'd like to inform our Lithuanian friends that Azerbaijans economy is stable, investments are friendly and is based on natural resources, but at the same time now, the main target is diversification. And I think that we will be able to largely diversify our economy and to reduce dependence on energy sectors. Though, energy sector will continue to play an important role for our energy security and energy security of Europe. Our economic performance is reflected in certain statistics. In order to attract the Lithuanian companies more to Azerbaijan I would like to say that we have very low foreign debt, it's below 10% of our GDP. We have a stable national currency and I'm sure, will continue to be stable because we have a surplus of our international trade turnover, substantial surplus. And hard currency reserves, which we accumulated in our state oil fund and central bank reserves is 10 times more than our foreign debt. So, stability of our economy is an important factor for regional economic cooperation and for investment climate because good investment climate is created not only by having good legislation. It is not enough. It is important to have good business opportunities, to have very dynamic local market and accessibility to the neighboring market. Therefore, Azerbaijani market is growing, population is growing. Accessibility to big markets of Central Asia is provided. And also establishing strong connectivity with region of where your country is situated, will definitely create additional opportunities. So I'm sure that this meeting will produce good results. As it was said today, several documents were signed. Hopefully, all of them will end in good results, which will demonstrate the efficiency of these kinds of gatherings. And also using this opportunity I would like to invite our friends from Lithuanian business community to come to Azerbaijan and continue our dialogue. Thank you very much. X X X Addressing the business forum, Minister of Economy and Innovation of Lithuania Ausrine Armonaite said that Azerbaijan is an important partner of Lithuania in the South Caucasus region. The minister underlined that Lithuania is interested in the further development of relations between the two countries. Noting that the mutual trade turnover between the two countries is multifaceted, Ausrine Armonaite emphasized that Lithuania is interested in stimulating mutual foreign direct investments. Underlining that there are ample opportunities for the expansion of collaborative projects between the two countries, the Lithuanian minister said that they are interested in sharing the best experience, expert knowledge and success stories with Azerbaijan. Azerbaijans Minister of Economy Mikayil Jabbarov noted the existence of a mechanism for protecting investments and avoiding double taxation between the two countries, adding that this promotes the activity of investors. Speaking about the diversification of Azerbaijan's economy, Mikayil Jabbarov said that non-oil and gas exports of the country had doubled in the past four years. Touching upon the alternative energy sources, the minister emphasized that the transition to these energy sources had a significant positive effect on Azerbaijans economy. X X X The business forum brought together about 80 companies from both countries operating in various sectors of economy. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz On the 175th anniversary of Marx and Engels Communist Manifesto (1848) (Part Two) By Mark Wegierski web posted May 22, 2023 There are a number of interpretations of Marx's thought which may be termed "mainline" -- and a number which may be termed "dissident." Intellectually-speaking, Marx brought a certain zest into political philosophy, as well as a sharp style of writing that tries to tenaciously "get at" what certain political and philosophical pronouncements "actually say." He may indeed be characterized as one of the modern "masters of suspicion." Among Marx's most famous statements is: "All of the philosophers have tried to describe the world in different ways, the point, however, is to change it." Marx combined, in what was -- at that time -- a new, interesting way -- philosophical thinking, the claim of being scientific, and what should honestly be called "ideology" or "polemics." Some of the "mainline" aspects of Marx's thought may include his central concept of desire for human liberation, the ferocious condemning of economic inequality, and a doctrinaire atheism, materialism, and hatred of traditional religion. It may be remembered that Marx's chosen motto for his doctoral thesis was the quote from Shelley's Prometheus - "Above all, I hate all the gods." The doctrinaire atheism and materialism of Marx was one of its least appealing aspects, it could be argued. Lenin's elaboration of "the dictatorship of the proletariat" seemed to be little more than a carte blanche for the exercise of power of a narrow ruling group that was supposed to be putting Marx's egalitarian dreams into reality, but in fact ended up in horrific violence. To borrow the Marxian terminology, the "ideological superstructure" of the promise of the Communist utopia at the end of the road -- where the state would famously "wither away" -- was utterly unreflective of the reality of the brutal, coercive, totalitarian "base." The fact that Soviet Marxism-Leninism and Maoism arose in so-called "backward" societies like Russia and China may suggest that they had more in common with what Marx had disparagingly termed "the Oriental mode of production" -- rather than "scientific socialism." The depredations of the North Korean, North Vietnamese, and Pol Pot regimes are comparatively well-known today. The reception of Marxism in Africa also led to massacres, and usually intensified the deep problems of those societies. In Latin American societies, Marxism appeared to have acquired an almost romantic mystique, as typified by Fidel Castro and Che Guevara. Among the leading, early-twentieth-century, social democratic re-interpreters of Marx was Edouard Bernstein -- who largely launched the main lines of Marx's interpretation by Western social democratic parties. The reception of Marxism in America, Canada, and Western European countries was somewhat different from that in Russia -- in the former societies, it seemed to truly have vast intellectual cachet and was apparently based on the appeal to "liberation" and "decent values." The "liberation" aspects -- especially in regard to the so-called Sexual Revolution -- were given a huge play in the 1960s and post-1960s period, whereas over several decades of the Twentieth Century many people believed that what was somewhat imprecisely called Communism was simply about ensuring a decent life for the laboring masses. It was ignored that the imposition of Soviet Communism on Russia and especially on the East-Central European countries during World War II and its aftermath proceeded by means of mass slaughter and massive intellectual and cultural annihilation of local national and religious traditions. The apparent paradox of the highly-disciplined Marx-inspired parties and movements had also acquired the admiration of the far right in various European countries, especially France and Germany. More decent ultra-traditionalists such as Oswald Spengler looked to the socialist parties as vehicles for conservative social restoration, whereas the extremal German Nazis (National Socialists) identified with the harsh, totalitarian as well as anti-Jewish and anti-Polish aspects of the Soviet Communist regime. It may be remembered that between August 1939 to June 1941, Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union were close allies, united by the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact. The admiration of the Nazis for the Soviet regime was, of course, for mostly different reasons than those of the legions of Western liberal "pilgrims" who genuflected before Stalin because they perceived Soviet Communism as realizing the "progressive" utopia. To be continued. Mark Wegierski is a Canadian writer and historical researcher. Home 22 May 2023 21:31 (UTC+04:00) President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has completed his official visit to the Republic of Lithuania, Azernews reports. A guard of honor was lined up for the Azerbaijani President at Vilnius International Airport decorated with the national flags of the two countries. President Ilham Aliyev and First Lady Mehriban Aliyeva were seen off by the officials. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 22 May 2023 07:00 (UTC+04:00) The Sudanese army said Sunday that it is committed to a 7-day cease-fire with the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary group. The cease-fire deal was reached between the two military rivals on Saturday during their face-to-face talks in the Saudi city of Jeddah. The army said that the cease-fire will come into force on May 22. The Armed Forces announce its commitment to the agreement and hope that the rebel militia will abide by it, the army added in a statement. According to the statement, the agreement is limited to a temporary military cease-fire, freedom of movement for civilians, and protecting them from violence and violations. There was no comment from the RSF on the armys statement. At least 850 civilians have been killed and more than 3,300 injured in fighting between the army and the RSF since April 15, according to local medics. After the first face-to-face talks in Saudi Arabia, the army and the RSF signed a declaration of commitment to protect civilians in Sudan on May 11. Despite the agreement, clashes continued between the two military rivals, particularly in the capital of Khartoum. A disagreement had been fomenting in recent months between the army and the RSF over the paramilitary groups integration into the armed forces, a key condition of Sudan's transition agreement with political groups. Sudan has been without a functioning government since October 2021, when the military dismissed Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok's transitional government and declared a state of emergency in a move decried by political forces as a "coup." Sudan's transitional period, which started in August 2019 after the ouster of President Omar al-Bashir, had been scheduled to end with elections in early 2024. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 22 May 2023 10:31 (UTC+04:00) Ambassador of Azerbaijan to Pakistan, Khazar Farhadov has said that direct flights between Baku and Sialkot are likely to start soon, which is likely to increase mutual business relations between the two countries. According to Azernews, the Ambassador of Azerbaijan to Pakistan, Khazar Farhadov said this in a meeting with the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Minister for Commerce and Industry, Adnan Jalil on Sunday. The Ambassador said that direct flights between the Azerbaijan city of Baku and the city of Sialkot in Pakistan will be started in the next two months, which will strengthen the connection of this big industrial city of Pakistan with Azerbaijan. He said that earlier weekly flights have been started between Lahore and Baku in Pakistan, which are continuing successfully and these connections are extremely important for the strengthening of economic and trade relations. The Ambassador said that he is in constant contact with the business community of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and he has visited Peshawar Chamber of Commerce several times. He said that Peshawar is an important city from an economic and historical point of view, which has historical relations with Azerbaijan and Central Asian states. He said that the city of Peshawar in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has a very important role in trade with Central Asian countries and Azerbaijan. He said that Peshawar and Azerbaijan have similarities in culture and food, which can make the historical relationship between the two regions more sustainable in the present era. He said that in the year 2022, 53,000 people visited Azerbaijan from Pakistan, which can be used to assess the mutual relations between the people of the two countries. The ambassador expressed the hope that the number of people going to Azerbaijan from Pakistan will increase in this year 2023. He said that he will play his full role to increase the economic and trade relations between Azerbaijan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The envoy of Azerbaijan said that tourism between the two regions cannot be excluded, which will increase the relations between the two regions. He said that the private sector, including the chamber of commerce, will play an important role in the economic and trade relations between Pakistan and Azerbaijan and the business community of Peshawar is preparing to play its role in this regard. On this occasion, the provincial minister of commerce and industry Adnan Jalil invited the ambassador of Azerbaijan to come and discuss investment and trade relations with the business community. He said that he will soon lead a trade delegation to Azerbaijan. He said that Azerbaijan and Pakistan have extensive cooperation opportunities in various fields including textile and agriculture and industry and trade. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 22 May 2023 20:15 (UTC+04:00) Indian IndiGo low-cost air carrier plans to launch flights to Kazakhstan, Azernews reports. The airline plans to commence flights to Kazakhstan starting from August 15, 2023. The flights will be carried out three times a week on the Delhi-Almaty route via A320 and A321 aircraft, as noted by Kazakhstan's Civil Aviation Committee. IndiGo, known as India's largest low-cost carrier, venturing into the international market of Kazakhstan, is expected to have a positive impact on ticket affordability and raise competition in the region. The increased air connectivity between Kazakhstan and India is set to foster further development in trade, economy, business, investments, tourism, and cultural cooperation between the two nations. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 22 May 2023 23:15 (UTC+04:00) South Korea and Germany agreed on Sunday to sign a military pact to streamline supply chains involving the two countries defense industries. The deal could share their military secrets, Azernews reports, citing The Korea Herald. The summit, which took place at the presidential office in Seoul following the two leaders participation in the Group of Seven summit in Japan the same day, is the latest efforts by Yoon to partner with democracies to put checks on North Korea amid its escalating nuclear threats. Germany understands the issues involving the Korean Peninsula because it experienced its unification 33 years ago, Yoon said at a joint press conference. Hours ahead of the summit, Scholz toured the Demilitarized Zone, which separates the two Koreas, in a show of unity to support Seouls push to deter Pyongyangs aggression. Seoul and Berlin will expand economic ties as well, Yoon added, saying they would step up trade and investment in cutting-edge technologies involving hydrogen, chips and clean energy. Seoul will also join a Berlin-led initiative for joint action on climate change, according to Yoon. Looking back exchanges between South Korea and Germany over the past years, the two countries have seen ties grow over not only common economic interests but people-to-people exchanges, Scholz said. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz Sal Moretti served as a captain in the U.S. Air Force, is a retired city superintendent and a former county supervisor district director. You can email him at morettis3313@gmail.com. Environmental justice groups havent gotten much traction lately in their campaign to get state regulators to override a recent oil industry v Bass fishing is interesting because there are trends that pop up, seemingly overnight, that everyone suddenly seems to be using to catch fish. Then you have lures that have been around for decades that still produce. It's part of the fun of fishing; there are always new ways to fool our favorite fish and add to our existing bag of tricks. The following five new bass fishing techniques and rigs are under the radar, but those in the known are using them with great success. The Free Rig Image The Free Rig is slowly gaining steam here in North America. This technique has gained popularity in the United States after being imported from Japan. It's a cross between a Carolina and Texas rig, where the weight can slide up and down the line through a hole near the top of the weight. There are weights designed specifically for fishing this way, but a simple bass casting sinker fits the bill as the looped wire at the top is perfect for inserting your line and then tying on your hook. One key when fishing these baits is to let them fall on a slack line; this allows the bait more freedom of movement, and the lure's spiraling action triggers bites. The weight will hit the bottom first, and your bait will fall slower and unpredictably toward the bottom, generating bites. You can use any bait, but bulkier creature baits, and worms have a more pronounced falling action on the free rig. Also, using buoyant plastics like Z-Man's ElazTech formula is also great because of the slower fall, leading to even more bites. When at rest, these plastics will rise slowly if the hook isn't too big, giving the fish another chance to eat the bait. "Hover Strolling" Image The Core Tackle Hover Rig keeps your bait secure and is perfect for "hover strolling," and can keep you from going through as many plastics and nail weights. Yet another Japanese import, hover-strolling as it is often called, is more of a way to rig a soft plastic baitfish imitator like a soft jerkbait. It excels for suspended bass and works exceptionally well when watching fish on your electronics, primarily forward-facing sonar as you watch fish in front of your boat. You can rig up with a few items or buy jigheads designed for the technique. Rigging for hover strolling is unique as you insert your hook down further than you would with a standard Texas Rig and use a hook with a 90-degree line tie, such as those used for pouring jigheads. This allows the bait to be horizontal when working through the water column. The final component is a small nail weight inserted into the soft plastic's head, right where the hook's line tie comes out. You can fish the rig at any depth, and the appearance is unique, a baitfish imitating plastic slowly coming through the water column just like it is swimming. If you'd rather buy a ready-to-go rig, you're in luck, as companies like Core Tackle have designed a jighead that works for the technique. It has the weight placed perfectly for a horizontal presentation and will keep your bait from tearing up as quickly and save your weights as they will tend to fly off during a cast. Image Baits like the Deps Cover Scat are strange looking, but they work. Small Dense Plastic Baits There's no other way to say it, but a handful of new lures look like feces. Popularized in Japan with baits like the Deps Cover Scat and Fish Arrow Heavy Poop, these little baits have now taken hold in America. Yamamoto also recently released their version, called the Yamatanuki. These baits are no joke; they work well. They look like nothing a bass would eat, but the natural action and profile appeal to bass here in America. They can be fished in many areas and do best when rigged without a weight. However, the dense plastic has more than enough weight to make long casts, even on baitcast gear and heavier lines. When fishing them, one key is the fall. Cast and let the bait fall on a semi-slack line, like you would a soft stickbait, and let the bait do its thing. The limited action and unintimidating profile do all the work, and many bites will occur as the bait falls. Also, when pitching to shallow cover, the heavily weighed tail section will allow the bait to glide backward, giving the fish a different look as the bait flows into the cover to where they hide. Jika or Gika Rig Image Specialty hooks are available for fishing the rig, or you can make your own with a weight and split ring. This one has been around but has yet to reach the mainstream for many anglers. It's a Texas-rigged soft plastic, but the weight is attached to the eye of the hook with a split ring. This gives the bait a different fall and keeps the package nice and compact. The sky is the limit for the baits you can use as it's generally a standard extra wide gap hook for the rig, and you can use any of your favorite soft plastics. Craws, creatures, and beaver-style baits do well because this rig excels for flipping, pitching, and casting to shallow water targets. Image The Tokyo Rig gives your soft plastic baits a new look; you can fish it just about anywhere. Indict the 'Trump/Russia Collusion' conspirators: Clinton/Comey/Brennan By Mark Alexander web posted May 22, 2023 It is difficult to choose my favorite Donald Trump line from the 2016 debates, but a contender, and perhaps the most prophetic, would be a five-word rebuttal to Hillary Clinton in their second "debate" a month before the election. In response to Trump saying, "If I win, I'm going to instruct the attorney general to get a special prosecutor to look into your situation because there's never been so many lies, so much deception," Clinton shot back, "It's just awfully good that someone with the temperament of Donald Trump is not in charge of the law of our country." Trump stumped her with his best line of the night: "Because you'd be in jail." And that's exactly where Clinton and all of her "Trump/Russia collusion" co-conspirators should be. We have nearly eight years of analysis documenting the conspiracy between Hillary Clinton and her collaborators, former FBI Director James Comey (and his lieutenants Andrew McCabe and Peter Strzok), in concert with former CIA Director John Brennan, Barack Obama, and Joe Biden. There are two sections in my analysis archives dedicated to the details of this conspiracy, the "Clinton Crime Syndicate," and the "Deep State Conspirators" who attempted what was in effect a coup d'etat to take down Trump's presidency. Despite their best efforts in 2016, in the end what got Trump were the shenanigans ahead of the 2020 election, starting with Demo Rep. Adam Schiff's attempt to impeach Trump for what Joe Biden actually did. Then they fabricated a summer of rage and riots based on their "systemic racism" lie. And they fully primed their emotionally incontinent "hate and fear Trump" voters. Just before the election, a cabal of high-level former intel officials and their Leftmedia talkingheads and scribes arranged a massive cover-up of the corrupt Biden/ChiCom connection. On top of all that, to finally defeat Trump required massive systemic election corruption what I documented as the "Democrats' So-Called 'Voter Rights' Bulk-Mail Ballot Fraud Strategy," which they justified with government manipulation of the ChiCom Virus pandemic. As our Douglas Andrews noted last month, reputable polling indicates that a substantial majority of American voters believe Trump would have won reelection if not for the Leftmedia's Pulitzer Prize-winning fake news disinformation campaign most notably the cover-up of evidence from Hunter Biden's computer regarding Joe Biden's ChiCom connections. According to Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI), former head of the Senate Homeland Security Committee: "They knew the Hunter Biden laptop was real. The FBI knew that. They had possession of it in December 2019. ... They wrote a letter to interfere in our election to a far greater extent than anything China or Russia ever could hope to do." And Demos are pretty sure they can defeat Trump again in 2024 using key elements of their 2020 strategy, especially if, as I have asserted previously, Biden is not the nominee. Which brings us back to Trump's 2016 assertion that Clinton should be in jail. In December 2019, the first evidence emerged to confirm what our team had asserted all along regarding collusion between Clinton and her deep state cronies in the FBI and CIA. That was the report from DoJ Inspector General Michael Horowitz regarding a contrived FISA application investigation to set up Trump. As you recall, the Russia-collusion investigation originated with the FBI's "evidence" for unaccredited FISA warrants linked to the fake Trump dossier, which they knew was funded by the Clinton campaign. That conspiracy was hatched by Obama's then-FBI Director James Comey and his then-CIA Director John Brennan, who used the FISA court search warrants as a layup for what would be Robert Mueller's investigation essentially a bureaucratic coup d'etat. As it turns out, Trump was right about that conspiracy and the accompanying investigation being a "witch hunt" as any nonpartisan with a pulse knew at the time. But the real issue was connecting the dots between the Clinton campaign and deep state partisans who used the FISA Memo to launch a counterintelligence investigation of the Trump campaign under the codename "Crossfire Hurricane." It was a full year after the 2020 election when former Trump Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe declared that Special Counsel John Durham's investigation into the origins of the Russia-collusion hoax was closing in on the conspirators. And then it all went silent for almost 18 months until last week. Four years after his investigation began, Durham dropped his 306-page bombshell report in the lap of Biden's hyper-partisan attorney general, Merrick Garland, a scathing indictment of the FBI. It detailed how a lawless cadre of high-level deep state partisans within the FBI the aforementioned Comey, McCabe, and Strzok, and a slice of dependable partisan minions below them colluded against Trump. The long delay in releasing the report is likely because of endless haggling over wording to soften its condemnation of the FBI. However, "bombshell" is too kind for the report's exposure of the Clinton/FBI conspiracy, given these key points from the report. First and foremost, the report determined: "CIA Director [John] Brennan subsequently briefed President Obama and other senior national security officials on the intelligence, including the 'alleged approval by Hillary Clinton on July 26, 2016 of a proposal from one of her foreign policy advisors to vilify Donald Trump by stirring up a scandal claiming interference by Russian security services.'" That is the link between the conspirators and Obama and Biden. The "Clinton Plan" was designed specifically "as a means of distracting the public from her use of a private email server," her secret communications subterfuge. Notably, affirming how the conspirators covered for Clinton, the report indicates "the immediate opening of Crossfire Hurricane as a full investigation contrasts with the care taken in connection with the investigation of the Clinton Foundation and other matters." For example, regarding "the Clinton Foundation matter" it finds that "both senior FBI and Department officials placed restrictions on how those matters were to be handled such that essentially no investigative activities occurred for months leading up to the election." Regarding this abject malfeasance, the report notes, "Based on the review of Crossfire Hurricane and related intelligence activities, we conclude that the Department and the FBI failed to uphold their important mission of strict fidelity to the law." As for the actions of the FBI's then-Deputy Assistant Director for Counterintelligence Peter Strzok, who "had pronounced hostile feelings toward Trump": "FBI records prepared by Strzok in February and March 2017 show that at the time of the opening of Crossfire Hurricane, the FBI had no information in its holdings indicating that at any time during the campaign anyone in the Trump campaign had been in contact with any Russian intelligence officials." Of McCabe and Strzok, the report notes: "In the end, the perceived difference between the approaches taken and mindsets of FBI personnel central to both the Clinton and Trump matters is well-captured in a February 24, 2016 email between FBI deputy director Andrew McCabe's Special Assistant Lisa Page and her lover, counter-intelligence official Peter Strzok. Prior to the FBI's interview of Clinton in the investigation of her use of a private email server while she was serving as Secretary of State, the following exchange took place. Page: One more thing: [Clinton] may be our next president. The last thing you need [is] going in there loaded for bear. You think she's going to remember or care that it was more doj than fbi? Strzok: Agreed..." It noted further: "Equally important is the fact that in not resolving [Steele dossier source Igor] Danchenko's status vis-a-vis the Russian intelligence services, it appears the FBI never gave appropriate consideration to the possibility that the intelligence Danchenko was providing to Steele which, again, according to Danchenko himself, made up a significant majority of the information in the Steele Dossier reports was, in whole or in part, Russian disinformation." The report concludes gently: "There is a continuing need for the FBI and the Department to recognize that lack of analytical rigor, apparent confirmation bias, and an over-willingness to rely on information from individuals connected to political opponents caused investigators to fail to adequately consider alternative hypotheses and to act without appropriate objectivity or restraint." And how did the FBI respond? Basically with a statement that affirmed the corruption within its ranks: "The conduct in 2016 and 2017 that Special Counsel Durham examined was the reason that current FBI leadership already implemented dozens of corrective actions, which have now been in place for some time. Had those reforms been in place in 2016, the missteps identified in the report could have been prevented. This report reinforces the importance of ensuring the FBI continues to do its work with the rigor, objectivity, and professionalism the American people deserve and rightly expect." In other words, next time the corruption will have to find a different path to avoid detection. Assessing the report, Trump's former Attorney General William Barr, who appointed Durham, concluded: "It was a success in that its purpose from the very beginning was to get to the truth. It was not launched as a criminal investigation. [Durham has] dug into it, and I think he's gotten as close to the bottom as anyone is going to get to this. Both the press and the FBI abandoned any semblance of professionalism and took up the cause with a vengeance. I think the real story here from the FBI's perspective is what an abomination this was, this so-called investigation. It wasn't a witch hunt, it's a damn good imitation of one. ... [Trump] deserves a lot of credit for what he accomplished. And this [Russia collusion charade] was a grave injustice. And the fact that he was able to accomplish a lot in the face of it, I think was a great achievement." He also reiterated that this was a conspiracy implemented by the key senior FBI officials I mentioned previously and is not an indication of deep institutional corruption. In fact, those principal co-conspirators know full well that the smaller the circle, the less likely that it will be exposed and it was, indeed, a small circle. As legal analyst John Hinderaker notes from the report, "It turns out that some of the key allegations of the Steele reports actually came from a Democratic National Committee staffer with close ties to Russian officials, who initially lied to the FBI." In other words, the investigation itself was Russian disinformation as we have noted all along. Among the report's most damning conclusions: "The FBI discounted or willfully ignored material information that did not support the narrative of a collusive relationship between Trump and Russia." "Senior FBI personnel displayed a serious lack of analytical rigor towards the information that they received, especially information received from politically affiliated persons and entities..." "The promulgation of additional rules and regulations to be learned in yet more training sessions would likely prove to be a fruitless exercise if the FBI's guiding principles of 'Fidelity, Bravery and Integrity' are not engrained in the hearts and minds of those sworn to meet the FBI's mission of 'Protect[ing] the American People and Uphold[ing] the Constitution of the United States." In other words, it was a deep state setup involving all the key players we have named over the last seven years. Perhaps the most succinct assessment of the report's findings is this from former U.S. Attorney Brett Tolman: "This was an operation, not an investigation." Noted former U.S. Attorney Andrew McCarthy concurred, "The FBI didn't ignore Russian intel on Hillary's plan to smear Trump it abetted the plan." Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT), a constitutional scholar, declared, "The gravity of the misconduct uncovered by Mr. Durham cannot be overstated." He noted further: "The LEAST one can say of it is that it involved a malicious use of federal law-enforcement officers to conduct a contrived investigation utterly lacking any valid, factual foundation from the very beginning. That is itself incredibly troubling and also unconstitutional. A powerful, long-respected, federal law-enforcement agency [used its power] to render a presidential candidate unelectable entirely in the absence of any valid, good-faith basis for doing so. ... This is as corrupt and as subversive of the Constitution as it gets." In fact, as I have argued, this conspiracy was a far more significant assault on our Constitution than Richard Nixon's concealment of the DNC/Watergate burglary. And ... those conspirators went to jail. Establishing the links between Clinton and the deep state operatives who orchestrated the Russian collusion charade, primarily Comey and Brennan, is now a step closer. However, note that at the time the conspiracy was hatched, the nation's two most skilled black-bag bureaucrats in the art of using cutouts to ensure there are no direct prosecutable links were Comey and Brennan. Much as demonstrated in current congressional efforts to weed through all of Biden's shell corporations and cutouts providing cover for his crime syndicate's collection of millions from the Red Chinese, making the direct connections to Joe Biden is, by design, very difficult. But the link to Clinton has been exposed. George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley laid down this challenge: "Given Durham's findings that there was no basis for the actions taken by the FBI in launching this investigation, this would be a good time for former House Intelligence Chair Adam Schiff to reveal that evidence he said showed the Russian collusion." He observed further: "The Durham report states that Clinton General Counsel Marc Elias 'declined to be voluntarily interviewed by the Office.' Elias was recently severed by the Democratic National Committee from representation. The campaign was fined by the FEC for his hiding the funding of the dossier as a legal expenditure." If Turley is correct in his assessment of the Elias connection, which he first outlined a year ago, he is the link to Clinton. All said, my prediction is ... wait for it ... Clinton and the rest of the crew walk. And the result will be a greater level of distrust in the central government than at any time in generations. Mark Alexander is the executive editor of the Patriot Post. John Farmer, MD, has been awarded $3.7 million after finding Baptist Health Madisonville (Ky.), the family medicine resident's former employer, violated terms of his contract and interfered with his business relationships, according to The Indiana Lawyer. Dr. Farmer was in his third year of his residency program when he was accused of being "on something." A patients mother reported in November 2019 that she felt Dr. Farmer was "touching his nose a lot and constantly moving from side to side." The residency director spoke with two supervising physicians who confirmed that Dr. Farmer was not impaired by alcohol or drugs, but the director called a meeting with Baptist Health Madisonville and Baptist Health Medical Group to decide his faith. According to Baptist Health's policies, the accused physician should be spoken to and assessed for possible impairment. Then, if there is a reasonable suspicion of impairment, the accused physician should be immediately tested for drugs and alcohol. The complaint alleges that Dr. Farmer was not told about the allegations until the next morning, when leadership had already agreed to require him to go for evaluation, and he was placed on a leave of absence. Dr. Farmer signed an order that prohibited him from practicing medicine until the Kentucky Physicians Health Foundation approved him to do so. He was evaluated in December 2019, and then he signed a contract that included a two-year agreement to abstain from drugs and alcohol in addition to regular testing, monitoring and therapy. He completed his residency in September 2020 and sued Baptist in January for alleged breach of contract and interference with business activities. The jury awarded Dr. Farmer about $236,000 for breach of contract damages, including $170,000 for lost wages, and $3.5 million for humiliation, mental and emotional distress. "Baptist Health followed its medical staff policies, and appropriately responded to concerns raised about Dr. Farmer's well-being and behavior on the date in question," a spokesperson for the health system told Becker's. "We are evaluating our post-verdict options, as we believe the facts as they occurred do not support the verdict. Our primary focus remains providing high-quality care to our patients and families." An employee at Generational Dental Associates in Cranberry Township, Pa., is accused of stealing more than $19,000 in cash from patients at the practice, according to a May 20 report by the Cranberry Eagle. Kimberly Cook, 58, has been charged with two counts of felony theft after fraudulent transactions were discovered. Ms. Cook had worked as a clerk at the practice since January 2021 and was responsible for accepting payments from patients and insurance reimbursements. Police found 46 instances since 2021 where a card payment was entered into the payment software but no charges were made with the credit card processing company, the report said. Thirty-three patients who were contacted about the transactions said they paid in cash for the services, not a credit card. Those 33 transactions totaled $19,880. Ms. Cook admitted to police to entering credit card transactions and stealing the cash payments many times. The Rhode Island Senate has proposed a bill that would establish a medical loss ratio for dental plans in the state. Sen. Bill 322 is similar to the law being implemented in Massachusetts, which set the ratio at 83 percent, according to a May 22 news release from the American Dental Association. A medical loss ratio would require dental insurers to spend a set percentage of premium dollars on providing patient care, otherwise the difference is refunded. More than 72 percent of Massachusetts voters approved a medical loss ratio, creating momentum and support for other states to establish similar measures. In 2023, 11 state dental societies were able to introduce medical loss ratio legislation, the release said. The Edgar County (Ill.) Public Health Department is considering raising the starting pay to fill a vacant dentist position, The Prairie Press reported May 22. The position has been vacant for several years but finally has a candidate after a Colorado dentist expressed interest in the role. The starting salary for the role is $155,000. Monica Dunn, the health department's administrator, told the department's board May 17 that the candidate has previously worked in public health and is interested in moving to the area. However, Ms. Dunn said during an April meeting that the candidate is seeking a salary of at least $180,000 because the current salary offer is too low by professional standards. Ms. Dunn gave a financial presentation during the May meeting indicating that the department can afford to pay the higher salary. She added that having a dentist will increase the number of cases the department can submit for payment because of the high demand for services. Board member Rodney Wolfe was cautious of paying a higher salary because the department will also have to pay more in benefits such as health insurance, retirement and Social Security. Board member Jason Graham, DMD, was reluctant to lose out on the candidate by not raising the salary. No final decisions were made during the meeting because the board lacked a quorum. The CEO who had to shut down his Tennessee medical center to deal with a cyberattack said it was one the hardest things he's ever had to do in healthcare, WKRN reported. "It was a tough decision but it's one we needed to make," Joey Peay, chief executive of Murfreesboro (Tenn.) Medical Clinic & SurgiCenter, told the news outlet. "I would not wish this on anybody." Still, he said he was pleased his team was able to rebuild its IT network in four days when it can often take weeks, according to the May 19 story. The medical center opened its main campus in about a week, though it took more than two weeks for lab and radiology services to resume. Murfreesboro Medical is still working to determine the cause of the attack and if any patient information was compromised, the news outlet reported. On the 335th anniversary of the Glorious Revolution -- the historical significance of the English Civil War (Part Four) By Mark Wegierski web posted May 22, 2023 Economic/Class Divisions: Although there was support for both sides among all social classes, it is traditionally considered that the English aristocracy centered in the House of Lords favored the Royalist cause, while the middle-classes centered in the House of Commons favored Parliamentarianism. (302 members of the House of Commons and 40 Lords supported Parliament, 236 Commoners and 80 Lords followed the King.) Royalist support in the House of Commons is larger than might be expected, while the image given by these numbers, with respect to the House of Lords, is largely illusory. In fact, much of the high aristocracy allied itself with Parliament. Lord Fairfax, a dashing cavalry commander who would have seemed a natural supporter of the King, was in fact a leading Parliamentary leader. Many of the great aristocratic families were on the side of Parliament, or had certainly become Whigs by 1688. The monarchy could count on the support of only a handful of high aristocrats, such as the redoubtable James Graham, Earl of Montrose. Many of the King's foremost agents and supporters were in fact men of common origins, for example, Archbishop Laud, the zealous champion of Anglicanism, so hated by the Puritans he was executed in 1645. An aristocrat and chief royal adviser executed by Parliament already in 1641 was Lord Strafford: his execution was not only one of the major causes of the conflict coming to a boil, but also showed the real strength of Parliament, the virtual helplessness of the King, and the extraordinary intensity of degree to which the incipient conflict was to be prosecuted. There are conflicting opinions where the support of the grouping called "squires" lay. On the one hand, in Henry Fielding's Tom Jones, one of the squires portrayed (Squire Western) is a caricature of an English Jacobite, a common social type of the period. On the other, Cromwell himself was a squire, and the Whig supremacy which emerged after 1688 is often characterized as "the squirearchy". Perhaps the richer and more prominent squires supported Parliament, while the more indigent ones tended to support the King. It must be remembered further that the House of Commons represented a very small section of society at the time, and it was often considered that there existed an alliance of the monarchy and the common people against the haute-aristocracy and the increasingly important (and rapacious) merchant-classes (what would have been later called the haute-bourgeoisie). The poorest and most rural sections of the kingdom were generally the most likely to support the monarchy. It should be noted also that the entire aristocracy in England in fact numbered less than 1% of the population. Country/Urban Divisions: It is generally incontrovertible that London, as well as all the large trading-cities, supported Parliament. It is not difficult to interpret the entire war as a struggle between the English metropolitan node, the capital city, against most of the rest of the countryside and hinterland. (The distinction between a decadent London and the healthy countryside is one of the central dualities in Fielding's Tom Jones.) Clearly, this corresponds to one of the classic interpretations of the English Civil War, as a conflict between the interests of the remnants of feudalism, and emergent capitalism. However, the caveats must be added that, first of all, the monarchic and aristocratic interests were not necessarily coterminous, and, secondly, that many peasants must have perceived the emergent capitalism as a greater threat than the feudal remnants. It should also be added that the notion of a classic "feudalism" ever existing in England has also been challenged, and that the peasantry of England represented "the free peasantry" typical of Western Europe, as opposed to the "serfs" of Eastern Europe, who were being subjected to the so-called "new serfdom" after 1500 or so. "Ethnic" Divisions: There is an apparently large degree of congruity between basically "Celtic" areas of the British Isles on the Royalist side, and the most "Saxon" or "Anglo-Saxon" parts of England supporting Parliament. One of the strongest centers of Parliamentary support was the Eastern Association area in East Anglia, which was probably the most "Saxon" part of England (lying closest to the area of Denmark and the North Sea coast from which the original invasions had come) -- and which had also later been part of the Danish Viking area of the Danelaw. The support for Parliament in that area might also have been because of the economic wealth of East Anglia derived from the wool trade. Searching for an explanation for the huge divergences between Highland and Lowland Scots, some historians have hypothesized that the Lowlands had been settled by Anglo-Saxon refugees from the Danish invasions, or at a later point as part of the policy of the Norman Kings. Scots-Gaelic was already attenuated at this point, the common language of Scotland being Anglo-Scottish memorialized in its later form by the famous Scottish poet Robert Burns in the Eighteenth Century. For example, "Auld Lang Syne" is a typically Anglo-Scottish, not Scots-Gaelic phrase. To be continued. Mark Wegierski is a Canadian writer and historical researcher. Home Artificial intelligence-drive platforms and chatbots are already helping hospitals across the U.S. connect with patients and optimize operational efficiency. But they can do more with the large clinical datasets to make clinicians' lives even easier. Jordan Dale, MD, chief medical information officer and hospitalist at Houston Methodist, shared his perspective on how generative AI can support clinical workflows for significant improvement in patient care and experience. Note: This response was lightly edited for clarity and length. Q; When you think about the intersection of clinical care and digital technologies, where are the big areas for growth and development over the next few years? Dr. Jordan Dale: Generative AI has taken leaps and bounds over the last six months. A lot of people focus on how it can do content creation because that's how most of the tools have been set up as a chat interaction to create content. I have a little bit of a different angle. The struggle of a clinical informatics or health IT team has always been the amount of data that we create as clinicians isn't normalized or set up appropriately so we can actually unlock the potential for future uses. That's one of the main ways we can really unlock the data, by applying generative AI that can drift across data requirements to understand things in a much more seamless or more human way than how we've been able to apply things like natural language processing in the past. One example, there's a way you can get to know your patients as you're taking over their care in the hospital a little bit more quickly as a physician or nurse. I'm still a practicing hospitalist, so I do inpatient care. It's tedious to review a lot of notes and find the critical values and if I'm missing something, it could impact how I deliver care even if I was trying to do my best. We've actually applied some generative AI technology that will help generate a patient summary for me to tee-up the key past medical history, current problems, medications they're receiving and what consultants are following. Before, some of those data elements were really difficult to find because they were not discreet and this technology allows us to leverage that. Another benefit of that is we can use the information summarized in charts and encounters, and we can actually use large language models and translate that to different levels of comprehension across the healthcare experience. You could translate that to a different clinical role, for example, that is more pertinent to a physical therapist. You could also translate that report to a patient or their family members based on their reading level or preferred language very quickly. As a clinician, everyone wants to provide a great experience for patients but we're not able to do that on the fly as well as some of these technologies could do for our patients. It's a great way that we'll be able to better serve our patients with technology and unlock some of the massive amounts of data in areas that have been locked away in our system to really explain and get to know our patients and take care of them better. Veronica Scott-Fulton, DNP, RN, has been named the new chief nursing executive for the Cincinnati-based Bon Secours Mercy Health System. Dr. Scott-Fulton joins Bon Secours Mercy Health from Ascension Health where she was serving as the chief nurse executive for the system's Illinois region. In total, Dr. Scott-Fulton brings 32 years of nursing experience along with her. In her new role with Bon Secours Mercy Health, which takes effect June 5, Dr. Scott-Fulton will lead nursing operations and strategy for the system's 22,000 nurse employees. She will work closely with the system's retiring leader Andrea Mazzoccoli, RN, PhD, the current chief nurse and quality officer as she transitions out of this role. Todd Burch is stepping down as president and CEO of McLaren Northern Michigan in Petoskey to pursue other opportunities, according to a news release shared with Becker's. He has held the role since 2019, according to his LinkedIn profile. Under his leadership, the hospital grew its facilities and service offerings. Chad Grant, executive vice president and chief operating officer of Grand Blanc, Mich.-based McLaren Health Care, will serve as interim CEO. Healthcare job cuts are up 83 percent in the first four months of 2023 compared to the same time last year. These are five health systems reporting executive job cuts during that period: Altru Health in Grand Forks, N.D. trimmed executive numbers from nine to six in April and incentivized 34 other employees to take early retirement. Duke Regional Hospital in Durham, N.C. asked its chief nursing officer, chief financial officer and chief operating officer to step down from their roles in April after an assessment of the hospital's performance over the past year. Novant Health in Winston-Salem, N.C. laid off about 50 workers, including multiple C-level executives, the health system confirmed to Becker's in March. Valley Health in Winchester, Va. announced in February it would eliminate 31 administrative positions as part of consolidation of the organization's leadership team and administrative roles. Since January, about 100 positions at Valley Health have been eliminated through consolidation, attrition and elimination. Jefferson Health in Philadelphia plans to downsize from five divisions to three in an effort to flatten management and become more efficient, resulting primarily in executive job cuts, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported Jan. 12. Members of the Committee of Interns and Residents voted to authorize a strike at two Mount Sinai hospitals in New York City on May 22 the same day more than 150 union physicians began a strike at NYC Health + Hospitals' Elmhurst Hospital. The union represents about 500 resident physicians at Mount Sinai Morningside and Mount Sinai West. More than 99 percent of voting union members voted in favor of authorizing a strike. The union has been in negotiations with management since January and contends that Mount Sinai refuses them parity with residents at Mount Sinai Hospital. A strike authorization does not mean a strike will occur. A strike could still be averted if an agreement is reached. Pay parity has emerged as a key sticking point in 10-month-long negotiations between Mount Sinai and striking physicians who work at Elmhurst Hospital. In a May 19 bargaining update, Mount Sinai said it offered the union its "last, best and final offer," which would have given residents 5 percent to 7 percent raises annually over the next three years. "We are committed to working towards an equitable and reasonable resolution that is in the best interest for both our residents at Elmhurst as well as for the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and are working closely with partners at Elmhurst Hospital to ensure the same quality and level of care and services that the local community expects and deserves are not affected by the strike," a Mount Sinai spokesperson told Becker's May 22 in response to the strike. "We have offered a package that is commensurate or above the tentative agreement between residents at Jamaica and Flushing hospitals and are committed to finding a mutually acceptable solution as soon as possible." Editor's note: Becker's has reached out to Mount Sinai for comment on the strike authorization and will update the article as more information becomes available. Fresno, Calif.-based Community Regional Medical Center was fined $78,750 by the state after a cancer patient died following a surgery in which a foreign object was left inside the individual. It is the second time the facility has been fined for leaving an object behind after surgery since 2019, The Fresno Bee reported May 19. The fine is reportedly the highest in state history against a hospital for the category of immediate jeopardy. Data from the California Department of Public Health shows that Community Regional Medical Center has been fined a total of five times for various procedural violations since 2015. That year, in 2015, it was fined a total of $92,000 for a "medical information breach" related to administrative policies. Specifically related to immediate jeopardy fines, the facility has racked up a total of $221,000 in penalties for these events which occurred in 2019, 2021, 2022 and 2023, according to state data. In 2022, the fine was for operating on the incorrect body part of a patient, the Fresno Bee reported. The $221,000 does not include the $92,000 amount. In the most recent case, the patient, who was 70, died after what was described as a: flat metal object used to hold back tissue during surgery was left inside her abdomen. After complaining of pain following the surgery, she underwent a second to remove it and died following the second procedure, the Fresno Bee reported. Becker's reached out to the facility for comment and received the following statement attributed to Thomas Utecht, MD, the chief medical officer of the Community Health System: "Community strives at all times to provide the best care to each and every one of our patients. When patient care concerns are raised, we take them very seriously. These cases have been reviewed by our internal clinical and patient safety teams and their findings, in conjunction with the California Department of Public Health, have and will help us continue to drive to our goal of zero harm." The medical center is not the only one in the Fresno region to be hit with fines from the state for putting patients in danger. Saint Agnes Medical Center and Clovis Community Medical Center were also fined by the state over adverse events in recent years, the outlet reported. Editor's note: This story was updated May 22 at 6:27 p.m. CDT to include a statement from Community Regional Medical Center. Ann-Marie Yap, Executive Director of Customer Experience and Support Services at Stanford Health Care, Stanford School of Medicine, joins the podcast to discuss her background, her focus on access, discovery, & research, the value of hospital-at-home, and more. Want to network with peers and hear more conversations like this? Apply to be one of our complimentary guest reviewers at our upcoming HIT + Digital Health + RCM Meeting Oct, 3-6 2023 here. On May 18, the Minnesota Senate approved an exemption to its controversial Keeping Nurses at the Bedside Act for one health system: Rochester-based Mayo Clinic. That decision came after the health system claimed it would pull billions of dollars in investments out of state if the bill became law. The act, now preparing to advance to a final legislative vote, would require hospitals to establish staffing committees and implement nurse-to-patient staffing ratios. Such measures are usually rejected by hospital leadership, yet backed by nurses and unions. However, when it comes to special treatment for Mayo Clinic, some industry and legislative leaders are united in discontent. Here's what eight leaders had to say about the recent pass for Mayo: 1. Dave Senjem. Retired environmental affairs officer at Mayo Clinic, former Minnesota state senator and current commissioner of Olmsted County, which encompasses Rochester: "[Mayo Clinic] exists to be the best healthcare center in the world and by all accounts they are and in terms of getting to that status, they have to manage their own organization," Mr. Senjem told NBC affiliate KARE11. "The idea that a legislative body would begin to suggest to them how to run nursing staff or what their fee structure should be, is frankly out of reach in terms of acceptability." "Just about everything you see when you drive into Rochester is about Mayo Clinic." 2. Mary Turner, RN. President of the Minnesota Nurses Association: Our hearts break for the nurses at Mayo Clinic Health System who will be denied a voice in the process of safe staffing by their own corporate executives," Ms. Turner said in a news release from the MNA. "It is disheartening and disappointing that Mayo executives chose to issue an anti-democratic ultimatum and walk away from the better patient care conditions and nurse retention this bill will offer at more than 90 percent of Minnesota hospitals. To the nurses and patients at Mayo, please know: The brave nurses of MNA fought for you, while Mayo executives fought to silence, sideline, and subvert your voice, your concerns, and your well-being." 3. Amy Williams, MD. Executive dean of practice and chair of Mayo's clinical practice committee: "Mayo continues to advocate for a policy-based, data-driven approach that supports an alternative path to compliance for all hospitals and health systems, including Mayo Clinic Rochester and Mayo Clinic Health System locations, that use an acuity tool incorporating nurse input and patient needs. We believe any hospital that meets this high standard should be able to pursue this pathway. We encourage lawmakers to adopt this approach that reflects policies focused on patients and staff." 4. Sen. Erin Murphy. Lead author of the bill: "The governor has said that from his perspective it's better for Mayo to be carved out. I don't agree, but I want, for the 90 percent of hospitals that are going to benefit from this legislation, I want for us to proceed." 5. Rahul Koranne, MD. CEO of the Minnesota Hospital Association: "The fact that there is an alternative being considered validates the point that the underlying bill has issues. If there's an alternative available to one health system, that must be available to all." 6. Trish Richardson MSN, RN. President-elect of the North Carolina Nurses Association: "What will happen next? ANY and ALL health systems, who have 'Mayo-sized' power and influence, will use this same strategy to evade the law," Ms. Richardson wrote in a LinkedIn post. "What about #healthsystems that don't have the resources to fight? Their voices will not be heard and instead be required to adhere to the letter of the law." 7. Rebecca Love, MSN, RN. Chief clinical officer of IntelyCare and president emeritus of the Society of Nurse Scientists, Innovators, Entrepreneurs and Leaders: "This is the wrong action and shame on #Mayo they know exactly that this will make things worse, not better, for #patients," Ms. Love wrote in a LinkedIn post. "As long as nurses remain just a cost to healthcare systems, we will always see systems fight needing to staff nurses at ratios that nurses feel safe they can deliver care." 8. Kellie Lease Stecher, MD. OB-GYN and co-founder of Patient Care Heroes: "How do we expect other systems to follow legislation that Mayo won't?" Dr. Stecher wrote in a LinkedIn post. "Mayo didn't want to spend the money, why should Fairview?" Nearly all healthcare systems and physicians are growing concerned about predicted workforce shortages, with a deficit of 5,050 orthopedic surgeons expected by 2030. In an effort to combat predicted shortages, surgeons at Morristown, N.J.-based Atlantic Health System have launched a five-year orthopedic residency program and a one-year adult reconstruction fellowship program. James Wittig, MD, chairman of the department of orthopedics at Morristown Medical Center and medical director of orthopedic oncology at Atlantic Health System, will lead the new residency program. He spoke with Becker's about his motivation behind starting and leading the program. Question: Are you concerned about a potential shortage of orthopedic surgeons in the coming years? Dr. James Wittig: Yes, absolutely I'm concerned about a shortage of orthopedic surgeons, which is part of the reason we initiated the residency program. We have an aging population in the U.S.; the baby boomers are active and are living longer. The good news is they're physically active and are exercising; the bad news is with that increased activity, they are wearing down their joints or sustaining injuries. Additionally, the total joint replacements that were performed in the past are likely to require revision surgeries. So without a doubt we're going to have a shortage, and we're doing our part to help change that. Q: What can practices do to bolster retention and make orthopedics appealing to medical school students and residents? JW: Orthopedics is already very appealing to medical students and residents. In fact, we have twice as many candidates applying to orthopedics than there are spots available. I think it's an exciting and dynamic field, filled with highly innovative and sophisticated orthopedic programs which helps fuel future demands. Without a doubt, we have work to do when it comes to attracting women and minorities and medical students from diverse backgrounds and experiences. Again, this orthopedic residency program will help attract those individuals, and we can do our part to train them to be exceptional surgeons. Q: What inspired you to add a residency and fellowship program? JW: A major goal for us is addressing the need to continue strengthening the future of Morristown Medical Center's nationally recognized orthopedic program. We are among the highest volume in the country, with top quality ratings. It was a no-brainer that we should be a teaching institution, instructing future orthopedic surgeons to be among the top in the U.S. In fact, in 2022 alone we performed over 11,500 orthopedic surgeries including close to 5,000 joint replacements, and nearly 500 orthopedic oncology cases, as well as nearly 1,700 spine surgeries. Not only is Morristown Medical Center one of the busiest in the country, but we are also fortunate to have top-notch, high-quality and outstanding surgeons practicing in the number one hospital in the state of New Jersey. We feel it's our obligation in many ways to do our part to teach the future orthopedic surgeons. Q: How will you differentiate your program from others? JW: In addition to performing the high volume of procedures each year, we also cover nine different subspecialties from the smallest to the most complex cases. Our residents will experience high variety and volume, but more importantly, high-quality repetition of procedures to master their skills, along with the tremendous breadth of orthopedics to make them masterful orthopedic surgeons. In addition, as one of only four hospitals in New Jersey designated as a level 1 regional trauma center, we are trained and equipped to treat the most serious orthopedic injuries. Q: Orthopedics is well-known for its lack of diversity among physicians. Do you have any diversity initiatives for your residency program? JW: One of our priorities is to find a diverse mix of residents who have not only excelled in medical school, but who come to us with diverse backgrounds and interests. Our residents should reflect our communities, and one of our goals is to find diverse individuals who can bring their best authentic selves to our program. Q: Are you incorporating any new orthopedic technologies (new AI, robots, etc.) in your program? JW: We are an industry leader when it comes to bringing the most advanced, highly innovative technology for our patients. We have cutting-edge diagnostics and robotic equipment that result in faster recovery and outstanding outcomes for our patients. We performed the first Persona IQ smart knee implant in New Jersey the world's first and only smart knee implant for total knee replacement surgery. Dr. John Dundon was the first in New Jersey and among the first in the world to perform the surgery. For patients who require spine surgery for severe scoliosis, we were the first in the nation to use a new type of portable CT scanner to guide surgery and actually "see" inside the spinal canal during surgery. We were also the first in the U.S. to use minimally invasive vertebral body tethering with advanced imaging for flexible scoliosis correction. We also were instrumental in pioneering surgical visualization technologies for orthopedic surgeries by using "mixed reality" technology to enhance outcomes in shoulder, hand and upper extremity surgeries. '520' remains popular marriage registration date 09:17, May 22, 2023 By Du Qiongfang ( Global Times The number of marriage registrations on May 20 this year made headlines over the weekend, despite declines in a few places compared with last year. The number of couples getting married will remain stable in the coming years, based on the huge population base in China, a Chinese demographic expert said. May 20 has become a popular datefor marriage registration among Chinese young people, as "520" is pronounced like "I love you" in Chinese, boosting sales of related products and services such as wedding banquets, roses and hotel bookings. Many Chinese newlyweds reportedly lined up overnight outside marriage registration offices to tie the knot, according to media reports. Including Beijing, Shanghai and South China's Guangdong Province, local civil affairs bureaus in multiple places on Sunday announced the number of marriages on Saturday. A total of 4,087 couples registered their marriages in Beijing, 2,097 couples tied the knot in Shanghai, 16,000 couples married in Southwest China's Sichuan Province and 11,156 couples were registered in East China's Jiangsu Province, along with 7,155 couples in Southwest China's Yunnan Province, 6,873 couples in Southwest China's Guizhou, 6,270 couples in East China's Fujian Province, 1,195 couples in Northwest China's Qinghai Province, and as many as 12,450 couples in Guangdong. Experts pointed out that the number of marriage registrations on a specific day can be affected by multiple factors such as the connotation of the date, the population base of young people of marriageable age and people's general willingness to get married. According to the National Bureau of Statistics and the Ministry of Civil Affairs, the number of marriages is declining but will still remain stable in the next few years, with a major turning point after 2035, Song Jian, a demographer from the Center for Population and Development Studies of the Renmin University of China, told the Global Times on Sunday. China's population base of marriage-age people will remain stable in the next few years, Song said. Although the rate of young people being unwilling to marry is on the rise, the proportion of people who never marry remains below 10 percent. "Statistics show that most Chinese people will eventually get married, but they are just putting off marriage," Song said. Compared with last year, marriage registrations in several places, including Jiangsu, Guangdong, Sichuan and Fujian fell sharply this year, which Song noted may be a result of the COVID-19 epidemic, which obstructed personnel flows and communication over the past two years, but the number on a specific date does not mean an overall decline of people getting married. Although May 20 this year fell on Saturday, some civil affairs authorities announced to work 48 hours non-stop over the weekend , considering that most couples would like to choose an auspicious date to get married, since May 21, the traditional Chinese solar term Xiaoman (grain buds), was also an auspicious date according to the Chinese lunar calendar. A staffer from the marriage registration office of the civil affairs department in Rencheng district in Jining noted that the number of couples who got married over the weekend reached 400 as of Sunday afternoon, an obvious increase from 250 on May 20 last year. "Many newlyweds gave us a thumbs-up for our service and sacrifice, and we feel honored to satisfy those young people with our service and promote young people's willingness to get married," the staffer told the Global Times on Sunday. China's State Council approved the expansion of an inter-provincial marriage registration pilot program to 21 provincial-level regions across the country last week, a latest move to promote long-term and balanced population development, which is particularly appreciated by the migrant population, who no longer need to return to their hometowns to register their marriages. In the province of Guangdong, 1,813 couples have accomplished their inter-provincial marriage registration soon after the pilot program was approved. In Dong'ao village in Fujian, the place on the Chinese mainland closest to the island of Taiwan, 21 couples from Fujian and Taiwan participated a group wedding ceremony on Saturday, which is expected to promote cross-Straits affection and people-to-people exchanges through their small families. (Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Liang Jun) (Photo : TIMOTHY A. CLARY / AFP) (TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP via Getty Images) Former Marine Daniel Penny, the suspect in the NYC subway chokehold death of homeless Black man Jordan Neely, speaks out about the incident. US Marine facing felony charges in the chokehold death of Jordan Peely speaks out about the incident Defendant Daniel Penny says that he does not regret what he did during the confrontation The former Marine could be imprisoned for up to 15 years if found guilty of the charge The suspect in the chokehold death of a man in a New York City subway, Daniel Penny, a former US Marine, speaks out about the incident, saying he does not regret what he did during the confrontation. Penny, who currently faces felony charges for the murder of Jordan Peely, said that the incident was not about race, adding that he is not a white supremacist. He argues that the people who know him know he loves "all people" and "all cultures." The defendant added that he was planning a road trip through Africa before the incident. NYC Subway Chokehold Death Suspect Speaks Out The 24-year-old former Marine faces a felony charge of second-degree manslaughter for the death of the 30-year-old homeless Black man. The charge against the defendant carries a maximum of 15 years imprisonment, as per WWNO. The confrontation between Penny and Neely occurred on May 1 inside a New York City subway train. The victim previously performed on subway platforms, impersonating the legendary entertainer Michael Jackson. However, shortly before the incident with Penny, Neely was said to be aggressive, shouting that he was hungry and thirsty. A few moments later, the former Marine stepped in and placed the homeless Black man in a chokehold for a few minutes, causing the victim to be pronounced dead that same day. In an interview, Penny said that the threats, the menacing, and the terror the Black man displayed in the subway were well-documented. The former Marine said that while Neely's death was tragic, he was hopeful that the United States could "change the system that's so desperately failed us." Penny said that Neely was yelling and throwing trash before the confrontation, which he said was nothing like he had ever experienced. According to the New York Post, he said the incident was very different. Read Also: Georgia Police Found Mother of Baby Found Alive Inside Plastic Bag in Woods Vigilante Justice In a statement, Penny's attorney, Thomas Kenniff, said that fellow passengers on the New York City subway train supported his client's account. The former Marine said that he was returning to Manhattan from school and planning to go to the gym on West 23rd Street before the confrontation occurred. Top conservatives have hailed Penny as a hero for what he did during his confrontation with Peely on the train. However, others have called his act a form of "vigilante justice" plaguing the United States. The death of the Black man sparked racial justice protests in the city and calls for better care for homeless people. The former Marine said that despite everything that happened, he was saddened by the loss of life that resulted from his confrontation with Neely. On the other hand, attorneys for the victim's family are calling for murder charges, said Insider. Related Article: Kid's Book Author Poisoned Utah Husband with Fentanyl in Cocktail @ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. The chef famed for bringing Australian cuisine to the city of Armagh has landed a big part at Northern Irelands first cinema-restaurant, Business Telegraph can reveal. Dean Coppard, the founder of Uluru, is the new head chef at The Avenue, which opened at Belfasts CastleCourt Shopping Centre in March. The business is a new venture for all-island cinema company Omniplex Group. In an interview today, director Paul Anderson said the company shut down The Avenues kitchen after it couldnt meet demand in its opening weeks. The company then hired Mr Cpppard as a replacement head chef, recruiting him from a role at the Parsons Nose in Hillsborough. Mr Coppard moved to Armagh from Australia in 2005 after meeting his future wife, whos from the city. He then established Uluru, naming it after the Aboriginal term for Ayers Rock. He sold the business to businessman Gavin Emerson around six years ago. Mr Anderson said the new recruit had brought a lot to the team. New items including pizzas and small plates are to be added to the menu. PACEMAKER BELFAST 22/05/2023 Miss Northern Ireland finalists at their final photo call at Belfast Europa Hotel this morning before this evenings beauty pageant. PACEMAKER BELFAST 22/05/2023 Miss Northern Ireland finalists at their final photo call at Belfast Europa Hotel this morning before this evenings beauty pageant. PACEMAKER BELFAST 22/05/2023 Miss Northern Ireland finalists at their final photo call at Belfast Europa Hotel this morning before this evenings beauty pageant. PACEMAKER BELFAST 22/05/2023 Miss Northern Ireland finalists at their final photo call at Belfast Europa Hotel this morning before this evenings beauty pageant. Miss Northern Ireland finalists at their final photo call at Belfast Europa Hotel this morning before this evenings beauty pageant. Photo credit: Pacemaker. Finalists are preparing to take the stage for the finale of the Miss Northern Ireland Contest 2023 on Monday night with the controversial swimwear portion of the show now axed. Twenty-eight finalists are all ready to compete to win the coveted Miss NI title at the Europa Hotel in Belfast on May 22. The reigning Miss Northern Ireland Daria Gapska will be in attendance to pass her coveted crown onto the next winner who will represent NI on the world stage. They will then progress and take part in the 72nd Miss World pageant. Miss NI 2023 marks the first time that the swimwear portion of the final has been cut from the programme since the events inception in 1980. The move made by director Victoria Whithers is a bid to make the competition more reflective of the times. Read more A walk in the (car) park as models strut stuff at Victoria Square for charity In an exclusive interview with Local Women, Ms Withers, who took over as owner of ACA Models in 2020, said she felt the focus had been on the swimwear segment for too many years now, detracting from the real message and meaning of the contest. I have girls entering the contest who are working as engineers or in cancer research; girls who have really strong personalities and who want to use the platform to do good work or help other people, but too often all that is overlooked, she told Local Women. In recent years the spotlight has solely been on the swimwear section. Its the number one issue the press want to talk about. I understand that and, in a way, I feel my hand has been forced, but I cant let something that is considered controversial take away from the competition and what it is really about. PACEMAKER BELFAST 22/05/2023 Miss Northern Ireland finalists at their final photo call at Belfast Europa Hotel this morning before this evenings beauty pageant. In 2014, organisers of the Miss World pageant announced plans to eliminate the swimwear round. At the time, Chris Wilmer, national director of Miss World America, said: Its not just a beauty contest, its beauty with a purpose. There didnt seem to be a purpose to having the swimsuit section. Wilmer went on to say that the winner of Miss World should be more of an ambassador, not a beauty queen. However, in 2021 the section was reintroduced at the finals in Puerto Rico, as part of a Top Model beachwear competition, open to those who wanted to take part. PACEMAKER BELFAST 22/05/2023 Miss Northern Ireland finalists at their final photo call at Belfast Europa Hotel this morning before this evenings beauty pageant. Victoria said that the swimwear segment of Miss Northern Ireland had always been optional and that many of the contestants found it empowering and confidence-building. Agreeing with Wilmers assessment, she said she felt swimwear no longer served a purpose and that she didnt feel its absence would negatively impact the competition. A trial concerning a 25-year-old man accused of raping a teenager in a deserted park in Belfast commenced on Monday Paul Klandyk, from Dunvegan Street in Belfast, was charged with two offences arising from allegations made by the then 16-year-old who claimed she was raped and sexually assaulted by a stranger in Ormeau Park in June 2020. As the Crown's case was opened to a jury at Belfast Crown Court, it emerged that when he was arrested and questioned by police, Klandyk admitted sexual activity with the girl but claimed it was consensual. Crown barrister Terry Mooney KC told the six men and women that on Saturday June 13, 2020 the complainant and two of her friends had spent the course of the day underage drinking and by that evening they were all very inebriated. Mr Mooney told the jury the complainant was young at the time and has been diagnosed as being autistic. One of the girls left and the two remaining friends made arrangements to be picked up at a bus stop on the Ormeau Road. At around 9pm the girls entered Ormeau Park via the Ravenhill Road. After the complainant's friend vomited, they were both sitting on a bench when they observed two men one of whom was Klandyk climbing over a wall and entering the park. The girls asked the two men if they could help them find their way out of the park and it's the Crown's case that whilst in the park, Klandyk raped and sexually assaulted the 16-year-old girl. Mr Mooney said it would have been obvious to the two men that the girls were young and drunk. He told the jury the complainant recalled kissing the defendant then being brought down a path by him. She also remembered having her dress being pulled up, being frightened and finding herself underneath Klandyk. After the incident, Klandyk and the teenager met up with the other teenage girl and Klandyk's friend and the two men claimed back over the wall and onto Ormeau Road. The two girls then made their way to the bus stop and were picked up by the complainant's mother. Mr Mooney said that during the course of the journey home, the complainant started crying and told her mother she'd just been raped by a stranger in the park. Police were alerted immediately and after a trawl of relevant CCTV footage was viewed, Klandyk was arrested and interviewed. Klandyk admitted having intercourse with the girl but claimed all the sexual activity was consensual. During interview, he described her state as 'a little tipsy' and made the case she flirted with him and instigated the sexual activity. Mr Mooney told the jury they needed to determine who was telling the truth. He said: You have to consider whether or not a 16-year-old drunk girl flirted and initiated sex with a stranger six years old than her or rather did the defendant take advantage of her being vulnerable and drunk in a deserted park... where the chance of him being disturbed was minimal. At hearing. A Derry-based GP who voiced anti-vaccine views online was suspended from medical practice on the basis of a flawed determination, she told the High Court today. Dr Anne McCloskey is resisting any continuation of the interim suspension imposed following a social media video which expressed concerns about young people taking Covid-19 jabs. Supporters of the former Aontu councillor packed a public gallery at the Royal Courts of Justice in Belfast for the initial stage in her legal battle with the General Medical Council (GMC). In September 2021 she received an 18-month suspension at a tribunal hearing. The step was taken after complaints were lodged in connection with the social media posting. In the clip Dr McCloskey reportedly made claims that vaccines were unlicensed and unapproved. She described herself as distraught at young people being damaged and bullied into getting the jabs. Proceedings have now moved to the High Court for further judicial scrutiny of the process and suspension from medical practice. Representing herself, Dr McCloskey argued that the case against her was incorrect in fact and law. She submitted: The determination itself was completely flawed. Everything I have said from the beginning of these proceedings is true. Adjourning the hearing to next month, Mr Justice McAlinden stressed the need for full disclosure of all relevant material to ensure fairness to both sides. He also confirmed: The interim (suspension) order is extended until the conclusion of this appeal. Former Belfast city council councillor Jolene Bunting pictured at Belfast Laganside Courts where she was appearing in relation to her case for harassing drag artist Matthew Cavan. Photo by Jonathan Porter / Press Eye. A former Belfast councillor who compared a drag queen to a wolf in make-up is barred from any further harassment of him for the next five years, a judge ordered on Monday. Actor Matthew Cavan was granted the injunction against Jolene Bunting over claims she used social media to make false accusations about him to portray him as a child groomer. Judge Claire Harmer ruled: The defendants conduct crossed the line between that which is unattractive to that which is oppressive and unacceptable. Ms Bunting will also be sentenced at a later stage for contempt of a requirement to immediately remove a YouTube posting about the performer. In July last year the ex-independent unionist councillor was involved in protests at an arts centre where Mr Cavan, also known as drag artist Cherrie Ontop, was taking part in a childrens story time event. A group calling themselves Parents Against Grooming held banners which read hands off our children outside the MAC theatre in Belfast. Following the event a video appeared on YouTube which featured an image of a wolf and a photograph of Mr Cavan. He told Belfast County Court the posting was a twisted portrayal of his work which left him horrified at being likened to the creature in make-up from the childrens fairy tale Little Red Riding Hood. Mr Cavan said he received threats from paedophile hunters because of the posting on YouTube. A group in east Belfast sent a message warning that they knew where he lived and were watching him, according to his evidence, while others told him to kill himself. With the video clip viewed 22,000 times, Mr Cavan said the surrounding attention led to him losing three well-paid gigs. He was also put on anti-anxiety medication and had to install security cameras and lights at his home. Ms Bunting denied specifically targeting Mr Cavan and insisted she was only concerned about safeguarding children. Read more Jolene Bunting convicted of participating in unlawful anti-Protocol parade She explained that she attended the protest after being horrified at press reports of alleged grooming within drag queen storytime events in England and the United States. But Judge Harmer held that her actions amounted to harassment. Its clear that the post was targeted at the plaintiff, she said. I have no doubt that being linked to grooming children or paedophilia would cause alarm or distress. Despite recognising Ms Buntings right to freedom of expression, she found it was necessary and proportionate to interfere with that entitlement. (Her actions) were clearly intended to incite hatred and linked the plaintiff to child grooming and the sexualisation of children, she said. Judge Harmer confirmed: Im going to grant injunctive relief for a period of five years. Relatives of an IRA man killed by the British soldiers more than 50 years ago have lost a High Court challenge to his death being excluded from a police probe into a secret undercover army unit. Daniel McAreavey, 21, was shot dead in the lower Falls area of west Belfast following a republican blast bomb attack in October 1972. His brother Patrick has alleged that he was the victim of a targeted shoot to kill operation carried out by members of the Military Reaction Force (MRF). In 2013 the then Director Public Prosecutions, Barra McGrory, asked the Chief Constable to investigate the activities of the clandestine army unit following a television documentary which featured interviews with former members. The PSNIs Legacy Investigations Branch (LIB) examined allegations that the MRF carried out random and unjustified shootings during the Troubles. Although a file was sent to the Public Prosecution Service in 2020, no decision on its contents has been announced. Patrick McAreavey issued judicial review proceedings against the Chief Constable for not including his brothers killing in the broader investigation. Mr McAreaveys lawyers claimed police acted irrationally by failing to take into account relevant material about the MRFs alleged responsibility. Newly uncovered archive documents which indicated the IRA man was killed in a Security Forces ambush strengthened the case for inclusion in the probe, it was contended. But the court heard that a police scoping exercise identified no grounds for believing the MRF was linked. A review instead established that Daniel McAreavey was shot by a soldier from The Royal Anglian Regiment. Ruling on the case, Mr Justice Humphreys found nothing in the archive material to conclude that it related to a claim of MRF responsibility. In common parlance, Security Forces is a generic term which does not indicate that any particular unit carried out the killing, he said. The proposed respondent has been presented with this new material, many months after it came into existence, and has declined to alter its position that this killing should not be included in the MRF investigation which has, in any event, long since concluded. Having already dismissed the legal challenge for being out of time, the judge confirmed: There is no arguable case with a realistic prospect of success that this decision would be found to be irrational. The Attorney General has refused a fresh inquest into the murder of councillor Patsy Kelly, according to a statement on behalf of his family. The nationalist politician was shot dead almost 50 years ago after being abducted on his way home from work at a pub in Trillick, County Tyrone in 1974. At the end of April his family said they felt vindicated by a Police Ombudsman report that found they were failed by "a wholly inadequate" police investigation. The ombudsman also found there was evidence of collusive behaviour. Patsy Kelly's son said it was one of the report's most damning elements. Releasing a statement on Monday, the Patsy Kelly Campaign for Truth & Justice social media page said: It was with great dismay and anger that we were informed of the Attorney General's decision to refuse a fresh inquest into the murder of Patsy Kelly. This decision has caused an enormous deal of hurt to our family. We are left with no option but to now apply for a judicial review into this decision via our legal representatives, Patrick Fahy Solicitors. The recent publication of the PONI report into Patsy's murder has highlighted the depth and scale of collusion in a case that has spanned across police, loyalist paramilitaries & British military forces. However, the PONI investigation only had the remit to investigate police misconduct. The granting of a fresh inquest (bearing in mind the original inquest of 1975 was effectively incomplete) would allow the spotlight to focus on UDR involvement in tandem with a then active UVF unit in Fermanagh and would possess the power to compel witnesses to attend and to submit testimonies. The statement continued: It is important to remember that the original inquest held into Patsy's murder delivered an open verdict. Given what we now know in regard to the wide scale collusion across multiple agencies of the British state, it is simply appalling and incomprehensible that a fresh inquest has been denied. Kelly family solicitor, Adrian O'Kane said the suggestion that the Kelly family obtained all the relevant answers from the PONI report is both wrong and misconceived. He added: The Police Ombudsman, by definition, is confined to examination of issues relating to the conduct of the RUC/PSNI. The Kelly family have always contended that all of the other components of the State - including Ministry of Defence and the Security Services - have important issues to address and questions to answer resulting from the death of Patsy Kelly. These can only be properly and fully addressed in a fresh inquest. After a campaign of almost 50 years, the placement of obstacles by British authorities to the truth is nothing new to our family. This is another truth obstacle that we will overcome. We are never giving up. The Attorney Generals office has been contacted for comment. The head of the Northern Ireland Civil Service (NICS) has invited Stormont party leaders to a meeting to discuss budget issues and the governance gap in the region. Jayne Brady told the leaders of the four parties entitled to form an executive that the budget settlement for Northern Ireland will inevitably cause enduring harm to public service delivery, society and the economy. Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris recently set a budget for the region in the absence of devolved ministers at Stormont. Several Stormont departments have since warned they are facing significant monetary challenges. In her letter seen by the PA news agency, which was sent in advance of the local government elections, Ms Brady said the budget situation remains extremely challenging. She added: It remains the collective view of myself and permanent secretary colleagues that the budget outcome will inevitably cause enduring harm to public service delivery, society and the economy. The budget challenge is compounded by a governance gap. She said draft guidance issued by Mr Heaton-Harris did not materially change the limitations on civil servants to make decisions on funding issues. She added: That law leaves beyond departments powers some decisions decisions that would turn civil servants into ministers. Her letter continued: For some departments, remaining within budget allocations would require decisions which cannot be taken in the absence of ministers. This leaves the relevant accounting officers in the invidious position of having no lawful means to ensure full compliance with the duty to remain within budget limits. A number of Stormont departments have warned they are facing a challenging budget situation (Liam McBurney/PA) Liam McBurney As a result, the spending trajectory currently exceeds the budget and this will remain the case until and unless ministerial decision-making is restored. Departments have carefully considered the budget allocations and an analysis of the decisions required, and the implications for public services will be provided at our next meeting. Ms Brady said that even if an Executive were to be established, it is highly likely that the financial position would remain very challenging. She said: An incoming Executive would be faced with a series of difficult choices, made all the more challenging because they would fall to be taken part-way through the financial year. Our engagement since the Assembly election has been constructive and has informed our collective next steps for further preparatory work towards the establishment of an Executive. All parties have indicated that they are keen to continue that engagement with the NICS. She concluded by inviting the party leaders to a meeting later this week. Sinn Feins Conor Murphy said civil servants had been left to try and manage a terrible budget (Liam McBurney/PA) Liam McBurney Sinn Fein MLA Conor Murphy said civil servants in Northern Ireland had been left to try to manage a terrible budget. I understand the pressures the Civil Service faces, clearly they have been left in a very invidious position where the budget, as they have said, will do irreparable damage to public services here, he told the BBC. He added: They are in a position where they have a void in terms of decision-making some of the decisions are clearly not within the gift of the civil service. The Secretary of State has left them with a terrible budget and no decision-making capability in relation to it. I would assume Jayne Brady wants us to meet to put some impetus in terms of getting back into government. DUP MP Gavin Robinson said any return to Stormont would have to be matched with a recalibration in Northern Ireland funding (Liam McBurney/PA) Liam McBurney DUP MP Gavin Robinson has said any return to devolved government would have to be matched with a recalibration in how Northern Ireland is funded. Jayne Brady and her officials in the Northern Ireland Civil Service had developed in cohort with the Secretary of State (Chris Heaton-Harris) a step-in power, they had drafted the legislation to give the Secretary of State the ability to make those decisions, he said. Mr Robinson added: He took a political decision not to assume that power. But even if you had the ability to make decisions, what decisions are local politicians being asked to make? Fundamental damaging cuts, destroying pathway funding for our young and vulnerable in Northern Ireland, removing funding for Sure Start for our young and vulnerable, not providing the level of funding for the health service. The fact is that for as long as we have 870 million missing from the budget, the only decision anyone can take is to cut, that is not good enough for Northern Ireland. If we see a return to devolution, it is going to have to be matched with a fundamental recalibration of how Northern Ireland is funded. Portaferry Coastguard Rescue Team, PSNI, NIAS and NIFRS respond to a vehicle that left the Portaferry road and came to rest on the beach. Credit: Bangor Coastguard Rescue Team Portaferry Coastguard Rescue Team, PSNI, NIAS and NIFRS respond to a vehicle that left the Portaferry road and came to rest on the beach. Credit: Bangor Coastguard Rescue Team Emergency services were at the scene of a car crash in Co Down after a vehicle left the road and end up on resting on its side on a beach. The PSNI, Northern Ireland Ambulance Service (NIAS) and Northern Ireland Fire & Rescue Service (NIFRS) were all in attendance. The incident happened just after 8.30am on Sunday when police received a report that a car had left the Portaferry Road in Newtownards and rolled onto a beach. Officers attended the scene along with emergency services colleagues. The driver of the vehicle was taken to hospital for assessment. Enquiries are ongoing, a police spokesperson said. The casualty is believed to have been helped out of the vehicle by firefighters and handed over to the ambulance crew for treatment. NIAS said it received a 999 call at 8:34am on Sunday following reports of a road traffic accident. NIAS despatched two emergency ambulances to the incident. Following assessment and initial treatment at the scene, one patient was taken to Ulster Hospital by Ambulance, a spokesperson explained. (Photo : Joe Raedle/Getty Images) SpaceX successfully launches the Axiom-2 mission where one former astronaut and three paying customers fl y toward the International Space Station (ISS) aboard a Crew Dragon capsule. SpaceX successfully launches the Axiom-2 mission for a private flight toward the International Space Station (ISS) The mission includes former astronaut Peggy Whitson and three paying customers The crew launched aboard a Falcon 9 rocket with a Crew Dragon capsule SpaceX's Axiom-2 mission, spearheaded by the company's Falcon 9 rocket, successfully launched to bring a former NASA astronaut and three paying customers to the International Space Station (ISS). The launch on May 21 marked only the second all-private mission to the ISS contracted with NASA. The former astronaut included in the launch is Peggy Whitson, the Axiom Space director of human spaceflight. She will be the one commanding the mission and is joined by one private spaceflight participant and two government-backed astronauts. SpaceX Launches Axiom-2 Mission to ISS The mission pilot is John Shoffner, and the two others are mission specialists Ali Alqarni and Rayyanah Barnawi. As per Florida Today, the latter two became the second and third Saudi citizens to fly into space and will become the first to visit the ISS. At around 5:15 p.m. on Sunday, SpaceX was well in fueling the Falcon 9 rocket that would be used in the launch. No further information was revealed regarding a small leak found earlier in the mission. The company also had some weather issues, as an anvil cloud was observed near the launch area. It can produce lightning if a rocket launches through it, which could cause concern. But at 5:37 p.m. local time, the mission launched as the Falcon 9 rocket took off from Pad 39A at Kennedy Space Center. A few minutes later, the rocket's first stage booster separated from the upper stage and Dragon capsule. This has caused the Dragon Freedom crew capsule to be in orbit and is on its way to the ISS. Read Also: Scientists Test Durability of Wooden Satellites The Future of Private Spaceflight The crew is estimated to spend the next 16 hours inside the Crew Dragon capsule heading toward the ISS. According to CNN, it would maneuver itself to descend with the station, and it is expected to dock at roughly 9:24 a.m. on Monday. The Axiom-2 mission is a series of missions that Axiom Space and NASA plan to conduct to urge private sector participation in spaceflight. These specifically target low-Earth orbit, which is where the ISS is located. At 63 years old, Whitson has become the first woman in history to command a private spaceflight. On the other hand, Shoffner is known for making his fortune in the international telecom business and being the founder of Dura-Line Corp. The chief of mission integration and operations at Axiom Space, Derek Hassmann, said during a May 15 briefing that they prioritized research activities planned for the mission in response to the delay in the mission. However, he noted that some were dropped over some lower priority outreach and other activities, said Space News. Related Article: Philippines Launches First-Ever Locally-Made Space Rocket @ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Eddie Jackson (46) who died in a traffic accident in east Belfast on May 10. The PSNI has confirmed a man has sadly passed away following a road traffic collision on the Knock Road, east Belfast on May 10. He has been named as 46-year-old Eddie Jackson from east Belfast. Sergeant Miller-Devlin from the Collision Investigation Unit said: The collision involving a Mercedes GLA 200 and a man on an electric scooter occurred shortly before 2.30pm. Officers attended the scene, alongside colleagues from other emergency services. The rider of the electric scooter was taken to hospital following the collision for treatment, but sadly died from his injuries while in hospital. "He has been named as 46-year-old Eddie Jackson from the east Belfast area." Police have asked anyone with information or dash cam footage to contact them via 101. A good day for some, a cruel one for others... we look at a few well-known and a few not so well-known faces celebrating or left licking their wounds Paula Bradley (DUP) DUP's Paula Bradley The partys deputy leader was one of a handful of former MLAs to be elected. She was co-opted onto Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council after stepping down from the Assembly last year. Ms Bradley replaced Phillip Brett, who then replaced her at Stormont, after choosing not to contest the North Belfast seat. She was elected in Glengormley on the second count after securing 852 first preference votes. Sammy and Davy Douglas (DUP) DUP's Sammy Douglas with his son Davy PA The father and son were both elected to Belfast City Council. Former MLA Sammy was co-opted following the election of David Brooks to the Assembly last year. He had to wait until the fourth count to retain his Titanic seat. Meanwhile, son Davy topped the poll in Lisnasharragh with 2,083 first preference votes. Gary Hynds (Independent) Gary Hynds quit the Tories last year in protest at the protocol. His election in Lisburn North sent shockwaves through the DUP. He pipped Lisburn and Castlereagh mayor Scott Carson at the post, resulting in his rival losing his seat. Ryan McCready (UUP) A fellow defector who quit the DUP to join the Ulster Unionists in 2021, he topped the poll in the Derry City and Strabanes Faughan district. Jumping ship paid off for ex-soldier who topped the poll with 1,282 first preferences. He previously explained being in the DUP was no longer compatible with his political beliefs. Mr McCreadys vote surged from the 940 he secured at the last election. Lilian Seenoi-Barr (SDLP) She became the first black person to be elected as a politician in Northern Ireland. Co-opted to replace Mary Durkan in 2021, she took the last seat in Foyleside on Saturday. From the minority Maasai tribe in Kenya, she came here as an asylum seeker in December 2010. Paul Burke (Sinn Fein) History was made in Lisburn North where he became Sinn Feins first councillor elected in the DEA. It was a landmark moment in the unionist dominated area as the first results were declared on Friday. Mr Burke topped the poll with 1,239 first preferences. Ryan Carlin and Daniel Basset were also elected for the republican party in a council where the DUP emerged as the big winner along with Alliance. Breanainn Lyness (Sinn Fein) There was another high-profile Sinn Fein success in the DUP heartland of Ballymena. The home of Paisleyism now has its first republican councillor after Mr Lyness was elected after the first count on Friday. The 30-year-old, who has worked for New York City council, came fourth after securing 13 more votes than the DUPs Reuben Glover. Lewis Boyle (Alliance) Alliance's Lewis Boyle, the youngest councillor elected The Co Antrim teenager became the youngest ever elected representative here. The 18-year-old from Randalstown took a break from his A-level revision to hit the campaign trail for Alliance. He was elected to Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council days before his business, history and politics exams are set to begin. He will now have to fit his plans to go to Queens University around his council duties. LOSERS Anne Smyth (TUV) The TUV candidate made headlines when she announced she was running for Belfast City Council because her son Adam is the director of BBC NI. Mrs Smyth was in the news again last week when she criticised Irish language rights activist Linda Ervine for attempts to persuade east Belfast people to learn Gaelic. However, she failed to take a seat in the Titanic ward, being eliminated at the third count with 564 votes. Karen McKevitt (SDLP) The party suffered across Northern Ireland after candidates struggled in key areas. The former MLA lost her seat on Newry, Mourne and Down District Council by just one vote. It stands in stark contrast to the results in 2005, which saw her top the poll on her first run. In 2011 she was elected to represent South Down at Stormont, serving until 2016. Mal OHara (Green Party) Mal OHara became the Green Partys second local leader in a year to lose their seat at an election. It follows Clare Baileys defeat in the Assembly election last May. Mr OHara failed to hold on to his position on Belfast City Council despite remaining in contention until the final stage. When all the votes were eventually counted in the Castle ward, it transpired that he had lost out for the seat to the SDLPs Carl Whyte. Billy Hutchinson (PUP) PUP leader Billy Hutchinson PA The leaders elimination leaves the party with no representation in Belfast. In the months leading up to the election he had called for calm in the wake of loyalist threats to wreck the place over the Protocol row. The party now holds just one council seat, in Causeway Coast and Glens, after Russell Watton retained his in Coleraine, being elected on the third count. Denise Mullen (Aontu) Aontu's Denise Mullen Former deputy leader of the party lost her seat in Mid Ulster. The well-known legacy campaigner, whose father was murdered by UVF terrorists, quit the SDLP to join Peadar Toibins pro-life party in 2019. She was first elected in 2014. But after polling just 146 first preference votes, she was eliminated at the third stage of the count on Friday. Jill Macauley (UUP) In a bad election for the UUP, one of its biggest losses was that of the party chair in Armagh, Banbridge and Craigavon. She admitted it was a big setback: Its been bitterly disappointing for the people that have put in the hours and dedicated their time to such positive campaigns. Rosemary Barton (UUP) The former MLA lost out in the Assembly election last May, and has now lost her seat on Fermamagh and Omagh District Council. Mrs Barton was co-opted last year. But she lost out in Mid Tyrone to the DUP. Suella Braverman insisted there was nothing untoward about her handling of a speeding offence as Rishi Sunak considered whether to launch a formal investigation. The Home Secretary is under pressure after reports she asked officials to try to arrange a private speed awareness course for her rather than take penalty points on her driving licence. In her first public comments on the row, Mrs Braverman did not deny asking civil servants to intervene. Asked directly if she asked officials to arrange a one-to-one course for her, she said: Last summer, I was speeding. I regret that. I paid the fine and I took the points but were focused now on delivering for the British people and working for them. Pressed on the same question, she said: In relation to the process, Im focused on delivering for the British people, doing my job as Home Secretary and what I will say is that, in my view, Im confident that nothing untoward has happened. After speaking to broadcasters, Mrs Braverman appeared for a regular session of Home Office questions in the Commons, telling MPs: I paid the fine and I took the penalty and at no point did I attempt to evade sanction. Mr Sunak has spoken to his ethics adviser Sir Laurie Magnus about Mrs Braverman, Downing Street said. Home Secretary Suella Braverman said nothing untoward happened (PA) Victoria Jones No formal inquiry has yet been launched into whether she breached the ministerial code, it is understood. A No 10 spokesman said Mr Sunak was availing himself of information about the situation after his return from the G7 summit overnight. But Mr Sunak continued to have confidence in his Home Secretary, the spokesman said. He and the Home Secretary continue to work closely on the publics priorities, not least tackling illegal immigration, he added. Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said Mrs Braverman should resign if she is found to have broken the ministerial code. Sir Laurie cannot begin an investigation into a ministers conduct without the authorisation of the Prime Minister. Sir Keir told ITVs Good Morning Britain: I dont know all the facts but it looks to me as though the Home Secretarys actions were inappropriate and they should be investigated. The Labour leader said he did not want to get ahead of himself in calling for Mrs Braverman to resign but said: I think if shes breached the ministerial code she should go in the end, its the ministerial code that matters. Dave Penman, general secretary of the FDA union which represents senior officials, told Sky News: Civil servants are publicly-funded. Theyre paid for by you and me. Theyre not there to support the personal interests of a minister. We need your consent to load this Social Media content. We use a number of different Social Media outlets to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review your details and accept them to load the content They dont do their shopping, they dont look after their children and they dont sort out their speeding fine. The row stems from a Sunday Times report that Mrs Braverman asked Home Office civil servants to help arrange a one-to-one driving awareness course, rather than the group session usually offered to motorists for minor speeding offences. Officials are said to have refused the request, so Mrs Braverman allegedly turned to a political aide to assist her in attempting to arrange an alternative to a course with members of the public. The speeding offence took place last year when Mrs Braverman was serving as attorney general. According to The Daily Mirror, the Home Secretarys special adviser repeatedly denied that Mrs Braverman had been caught speeding when a reporter from the newspaper put the suggestion to them last month. A No 10 spokesman said that of course advisers should tell the truth to the press. The spokesman insisted that Mr Sunak still believes that integrity, professionalism and accountability are core values for his administration. Allies of Mrs Braverman defended her, with former Cabinet minister Jacob Rees-Mogg suggesting there was no need for an investigation. He told BBC Radio 4s World at One: I would have thought the Prime Minister could think this through pretty clearly, that this is not a big story. Jacob Rees-Mogg suggested there was no need for an investigation (PA) Stefan Rousseau He added: What goes on in private offices is that a minister is busy, has many things to do and sometimes will ask for something that civil servants cant do. But as long as, once theyve said no, you accept it, then you havent done anything wrong. Tory MP Miriam Cates told the Daily Mail: Suella has done nothing wrong. Around 1.5 million people take speed awareness courses every year so its hardly a news story. In smearing the Home Secretary like this, someone is clearly seeking to play the man not the ball. Its underhand and undermines democracy. A Northern Ireland child safety expert, who played a central role in the investigation into the disappearance of Madeleine McCann, believes German police may be on the right track after launching a search for her body in a Portuguese reservoir. The search, which begins today, will focus on a remote Algarve reservoir suspect Christian Brueckner used to visit. Portuguese police are closing off roads leading to the man-made dam near the town of Silves ahead of the official start of the search. Scotland Yard detectives are understood to have travelled to the area but only with a watching brief. The search is set to last for at least two days and beyond that if anything of relevance is found. Former RUC officer Jim Gamble was the senior child protection officer in the UK's first investigation into the disappearance of Madeleine and is chief executive of the INEQE safeguarding group. He believes German police may be acting on specific information by searching the reservoir. What's particularly interesting is that the German police have been absolutely 100% focused on this investigation, he told GB News. They believe that he is the right person, and they haven't wavered from that. Given what I know about the German police and having worked with them in the past, they're generally quite conservative and quite cautious. So there's a high level of confidence with them that they're on the right track. Mr Gamble said the reservoir had previously been checked twice in 2008 by divers employed by a local lawyer. Two bags containing small bones were found during the second search after divers had earlier recovered several lengths of cord, some plastic tape and a single white cotton sock. Portuguese police were alerted following the discovery but subsequently ruled out the possibility the bones were human because of their size. What will be interesting to see over the next few days is what they do that's different, said Mr Gamble. I'm sure it'll be a much more thorough search because it's the German police who are leading this facilitated by the Portuguese and that's important. I think they'll do a much more rigorous search. I'm hoping that it's based on some information they have which they haven't as yet shared with the wider public so that it's more targeted. And of course, they will have the full range of technical resources available to them to make a search more effective. The truth is, I wouldn't pin my hopes on this. I think it's another line of inquiry, but because it's coming from the German police investigation, that makes it extremely interesting but we're going to have to wait and see. Mr Gamble added: If they're just searching the entire area, then I think I'm not hopeful. If they're searching specific areas and with a specific intent and a deliberate focus, then that means they're operating on the back of new information or new intelligence. The search will be the first major operation of its kind since June 2014 when British police were given permission to do digs in Praia da Luz that involved sniffer dogs trained in detecting bodies and ground-penetrating radar. This time round expert divers are set to explore the murky depths of the dam but digs will also take place in woodland by the water. The area which will be searched is the Barragem do Arade reservoir near Silves where a lorry driver says he saw a woman handing a child like Madeleine McCann over to a man two days after she went missing from her Praia da Luz holiday apartment on May 3, 2007. A peninsula just over a mile long jutting into the reservoir was sealed off just after midday yesterday. Several local council lorries were spotted on the piece of land as tents and other structures were erected. Behind them in another area just under a mile away Portuguese Civil Protection workers were seen setting up a large blue tent alongside police who had mounted their own blue tent. Portuguese officials have not yet made any official comment. It was not immediately clear what had prompted this weeks operation, and whether it was hastily-arranged after police in Germany received a new tip-off or had been organised over time as prosecutors there continue to try to build up a picture of sole suspect Christian Brueckners life on the Algarve and the places he frequented. Earlier this month Kate and Gerry posted a poignant tribute to mark their daughters 20th birthday, telling her: We love you and were waiting for you. "Were never going to give up. They added: Happy birthday Madeleine. Still missing. Still very much missed. Still looking. For as long as it takes. Kate and Gerry are expected to be kept informed of any developments as a result of the new search through Scotland Yard liaison officers. German prosecutor Hans Christian Wolters has consistently said he is convinced Madeleine is dead and caged paedophile Brueckner (45), has been named as the sole suspect. The deviant, currently serving time for the September 2005 rape of an American OAP in the resort where Madeleine vanished, has yet to face any formal accusation over the youngsters disappearance. Republican presidential candidate Tim Scott delivers his speech announcing his candidacy for president of the United States on the campus of Charleston Southern University in North Charleston, South Carolina (Mic Smith/AP) Mic Smith By Meg Kinnard and Will Weissert, Associated Press By Meg Kinnard and Will Weissert, Associated Press South Carolina Senator Tim Scott has launched his US presidential campaign, offering an optimistic and compassionate message he is hoping can contrast with the two figures who have used political combativeness to dominate the early Republican primary field: former president Donald Trump and Florida governor Ron DeSantis. Mr Scott, the Senates only black Republican, kicked off the campaign in his home town of North Charleston, on the campus of Charleston Southern University, his alma mater and a private school affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention. He repeatedly mentioned his Christian faith in his kick-off speech, crying, Amen! Amen! Amen! and at several points drew responses from the crowd, who sometimes chanted his name. But Mr Scott also offered a stark political choice, saying our party and our nation are standing at a time for choosing: victimhood or victory, and adding that Republicans will also have to decide between grievance or greatness. Republican presidential candidate Tim Scott delivers his speech announcing his candidacy for president of the United States on the campus of Charleston Southern University in North Charleston, South Carolina (Mic Smith/AP) Mic Smith I choose freedom and hope and opportunity, Mr Scott said. He went on to tell the crowd that we need a president who persuades not just our friends and our base but seeks common sense solutions and displays compassion for people who dont agree with us. That was a far cry from Mr Trump, who has played to the Republicans most loyal supporters with repeated lies about how he was denied a second term by widespread fraud that did not occur during the 2020 presidential election. Mr DeSantis, meanwhile, has pushed Florida to the right by championing contentious new restrictions on abortion, LGBTQ rights and by seeking to limit the corporate power of Disney, one of his states most powerful business interests. Mr Scott, 57, planned to huddle with home-state donors then begin a two-day campaign swing to Iowa and New Hampshire, which go first in Republican presidential primary voting. His announcement event featured an opening prayer by Republican Senator John Thune of South Dakota, the number two Senate Republican, who said: I think our country is ready to be inspired again. Republican Senator Mike Rounds, South Dakotas other senator, has already announced his support for Mr Scott. Traci Smith, far left, and her daughter Brooke, 12, bow their heads in prayer before Tim Scott delivers his speech announcing his candidacy for president of the United States on the campus of Charleston Southern University in North Charleston, South Carolina (Mic Smith/AP) Mic Smith A number of high-profile Republican senators have already backed Mr Trumps third bid for the White House, though, including Mr Scotts South Carolina colleague, Lindsey Graham. Mr Trump nonetheless struck a conciliatory tone, welcoming Mr Scott to the race in an online post on Monday and noting that the pair worked together on his administrations signature tax cuts. A source of strength for Mr Scott will be his campaign bank account. He enters the 2024 race with more cash on hand than any other presidential candidate in US history, with 22 million dollars left in his campaign account at the end of his 2022 campaign that he can transfer to his presidential coffers. Mr Scott also won re-election in firmly Republican South Carolina which has an early slot on the Republican presidential primary calendar by more than 20 points less than six months ago. Advisers bet that can make Mr Scott a serious contender for an early, momentum-generating win. But Mr Scott is not the only South Carolina option. Tim Scott hugs his mother Frances Scott after announcing his candidacy for president of the United States (Mic Smith/AP) Mic Smith The states former governor, Nikki Haley, who also once served as Mr Trumps former United Nations ambassador, is also running. Ben LeVan, a business professor at Charleston Southern who attended Mondays event, said he had not decided who to support in the Republican primary but did not plan to back Mr Trump. I really do hope that we can bring some civility back in politics, Mr LeVan said. Thats one of the nice things about Tim Scott, and quite frankly, Nikki Haley, and some of the other candidates as well. Theyre more diplomatic, and that is something that I appreciate. Like others in the Republican race, including former Arkansas governor Asa Hutchinson and Woke, Inc author Vivek Ramaswamy, Mr Scotts initial task will be finding a way to stand out in a field led by Mr Trump and Mr DeSantis, the latter of whom could announce his own bid as early as this week. One way Mr Scott hopes to do that is his trademark political optimism. Mr Scott often quotes scripture at his campaign events, weaving his reliance on spiritual guidance into his speeches, and calling his travels before the campaigns official launch the Faith in America listening tour. Tim Scott delivers his speech announcing his candidacy at Charleston Southern University (Mic Smith/AP) Mic Smith He said on Monday that Americas promise means you can go as high as our character, our grit, and our talent will take you. The Democratic National Committee (DNC) responded to Mr Scotts announcement by dismissing the notion that he offers much of an alternative to Mr Trumps policies. DNC chair Jamie Harrison, who ran unsuccessfully for the Senate in South Carolina in 2020, released a statement calling the senator a fierce advocate of the MAGA agenda, a reference to the former presidents Make America Great Again movement. On many issues, Mr Scott does indeed align with mainstream Republican positions. He wants to reduce government spending and restrict abortion, saying he would sign a federal law to prohibit abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy if elected president. But Mr Scott has pushed the party on some policing overhaul measures since the killing of George Floyd, and he has occasionally criticised Mr Trumps response to racial tensions. Throughout their disagreements, though, Mr Scott has maintained a generally cordial relationship with Mr Trump, saying in his book that the former president listened intently to his viewpoints on race-related issues. Tim Scott delivers his speech announcing his candidacy for president of the United States (Mic Smith/AP) Mic Smith When he was appointed to the Senate by then-governor Ms Haley in 2012, Mr Scott became the first black senator from the South since just after the Civil War. Winning a 2014 special election to serve out the remainder of his term made him the first black candidate to win a statewide race in South Carolina since the Reconstruction era. He has long said his current term, which runs through until 2029, would be his last. Mr Scott has long rejected the notion that the country is inherently racist. He has also routinely repudiated the teaching of critical race theory, an academic framework that presents the idea that the nations institutions maintain the dominance of white people. Today, Im living proof that America is the land of opportunity and not a land of oppression, Mr Scott said on Monday. Secretary of State Chris Heaton-Harris has said stable and accountable local government is now needed in Northern Ireland. His comments come after what has been described as an historic election. Sinn Fein will be celebrating the gains made over the weekend, the voters having returned it as the largest party in local government. It follows on from last years Assembly election when it was returned as the largest party at Stormont. The DUP has held its vote, coming back with 122 councillors, the same number returned in 2019. While this could be read as an endorsement of its current strategy on the Windsor Framework, the party will need to make a decision on the future sooner rather than later. As a result of Thursdays election the DUP will be the largest grouping in three councils: Lisburn and Castlereagh; Mid and East Antrim, and Ards and North Down. It will also have the largest number of councillors in Antrim and Newtownabbey, and Causeway Coast and Glens. The party hasnt lost, but it also hasnt made any gains, and the unionist turnout was down in many areas. Moving forward requires the DUP to lay out clearly what it expects from the Government in order to get the Executive back to work. While a range of factors were responsible for Sinn Fein increasing its representation from 105 to 144 councillors, there is no getting away from the fact that nationalism is clearly galvanised by the current political crisis created by the DUP. The nationalist turnout being high was just one of the many factors that helped Sinn Fein to its best ever election at council level. It is now the largest party in Belfast, Mid Ulster, Derry City and Strabane, Armagh, Banbridge and Craigavon, and Newry, Mourne and Down. The party will also have overall control of Fermanagh and Omagh District Council, after winning 21 out of the 40 seats there. Sinn Fein vice-president Michelle ONeill has said she will be a First Minister for all. Her attendance at the Queens funeral, and more recently the coronation of King Charles III, was billed as unionist outreach and an example of that stance. The party has worked the international stage to the benefit of the image of Ms ONeill, who has seen her popularity grow. The public has no way of judging if she will be a First Minister for all, as she has never served a day in the office due to the DUP boycott of the power-sharing institutions. If the DUP wants to put that Sinn Fein promise to the test, it will have to serve alongside Ms ONeill in the Deputy First Minister role, and allow the people to judge her on actions, not words. DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson said there were lessons to learn from the council election results. The DUP has had a good election but unionism needs to do better, we need to be winning more seats, he said. So, while the election was far from the disaster some predicted for his party, it has left Mr Donaldson in somewhat of a predicament. With 61% of the overall unionist vote, the DUP has shown it has nothing to fear from the Ulster Unionists, or indeed Jim Allisters more hardline TUV. But Sinn Fein took 76% of the overall nationalist vote, and demonstrated that it is focused on growth rather than just holding ground. This is a challenging time for the DUP, which has established itself as the dominant party of unionism. But it now needs to show what the strategy is going forward. If it wants to secure the Union, it needs to find a way to make politics work at council, Assembly and Westminster level for all of our people. Australian thanks city for making her feel at home ahead of new project with shopping outlet The mural displayed at Ulster University during US President Joe Biden's visit PA Danni showing off one of her pieces Australian artist Danni Simpson is marrying her craft with retail through a partnership with The Boulevard. Danni has worked her way throughout Europe, designing murals for cafes, bars and restaurants, but now shes working to inject more art in to the Banbridge shopping outlet. This includes seasonal illustrations that will appear on social media, billboards and promotional material. The designs will also be hand-painted onto retail spaces such as hoardings, props and other canvases. Danni will be sharing her art through community workshops and pop-up events. I really felt it was important to carefully mix the experience of The Boulevard with the iconic surroundings while still maintaining the style of art I am known for creating, she says. These include a blend of architecture, floral and typography illustrations across mediums such as digital, aerosol and brush. With The Boulevard being such a bright and colourful retail space already, it felt like a match made in heaven when I began creating. The Boulevard creates more than just a place to shop. Its a day-out experience that you can shop, dine and play in thats carefully decorated. I wanted to be part of this experience where people can engage in bright, colourful and uplifting artworks and installations. Danni showing off one of her pieces The space, she explains, lends itself to great opportunities to express art within a retail setting. [That can be] using vinyl wraps to showcase art in shop fronts, [using] hand-painted boards as hoardings, transforming props such as a Massey Ferguson Tractor into a hand painted artwork and engaging with the community with hands-on workshops and across social media and the website too, Danni adds The Boulevard hosts a variety of experiential events, such as fashion shows, student nights, mummy meet-ups and more, which all lend themselves to showcasing the beautiful art. Few wouldnt have spotted a Danni Simpson piece of street art while out in Belfast, though her work has also appeared at Electric Picnic, Upfest Street Art Festival and Hit The North. She couldnt have expected to have a piece of art so photographed in April, however. The mural displayed at Ulster University during US President Joe Biden's visit PA Her vibrant welcome message displayed at the Ulster University proved to be the backdrop to US President Bidens speech to mark the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement. Belfast has always had a special place in my heart. Its where my mum was born, says Danni, who has been living in Northern Ireland for five years. The moment my feet landed here, it instantly felt like my home away from home. Although its no tropical beach like the Gold Coast in Australia, Belfast has really embraced me and given me the opportunity to bloom. Shes quick to praise the local art scene, which she describes as thriving with talent. Im always seeing and meeting creatives with their own unique style and approach, Danni says. With companies and businesses like The Boulevard seeing the value of working with independent artists, the opportunities for these upcoming artists are huge. Danni Simpson at The Boulevard Like many creatives, Dani, who has also collaborated with TV personality and businesswoman Charlotte Crosby on a homeware collection, finds inspiration wherever she goes. They say a picture paints 1,000 words, so for me, a huge inspiration is being able to tell a story, she says. I also enjoy art that is uplifting and inviting, so using florals is a great way to add a splash of colour. Street art has always been a way for artists to express themselves and tell stories. With the rise of social media, we have seen a greater appreciation for the way artists inject colour and creativity to public areas and retail spaces. People can see the process and engage with the artwork on the streets as if its an open ever-changing gallery. For more information about Danni, visit www.dannisimpsonart.com. For information on The Boulevard, see www.the-boulevard.co.uk She has become Northern Irelands heroine of hair loss, the go-to person for men, women and children going through what is usually a time of great distress. Thousands of cancer patients and alopecia sufferers who have visited Therese Hughes over the years will know that for the Newry woman, helping them deal with hair loss is not just a profession but a vocation. Twenty-six years ago Therese gave up two successful hair dressing salons in Banbridge and Newry to focus on helping fit hair pieces full time after she was approached by a client who was going through chemotherapy. Today she runs two hair boutiques in Newry and beside Belfast City Hospital as well as travelling to Londonderry once a week to meet cancer patients at Altnagelvin Hospital. A selection of the hairpieces available Aodhan Roberts Tresses Hairpiece Boutique also recently became the official supplier of wigs for patients of the Belfast Trust. In any week she will have as many as 40 clients men, women and children facing hair loss because of illness. I did fall into this work, but it is my calling, Therese says. It is the greatest feeling in the world when I see someone going out the door looking and feeling amazing. For me, its like getting all six numbers and the bonus ball up on the lottery. Ive never been driven by business. I just love doing the job and giving it my best in that moment. There is something about putting your hands on someones head that can make them open up to you and tell you their innermost secrets, and for me the honour of that trust is sacred. Therese (61), one of a family of 16 from Newry, started hairdressing when she was just 15, but by the age of 19 had opened her own salon in Banbridge. She has one son, Mark (37), and a daughter, Claire (35), and also welcomed nephew Stephen (25) and niece Olivia (27) into her family as teenagers after their mother died of cancer. My niece and nephew came to live with us when their mother died on Christmas Day 2011. She was only 50, Therese says. Their dad, my husbands brother, is an incredible father, but he works all over the place, so it was easier for us to have the children. They are just part of our family. A devout Christian, she starts every day by attending 7.30am Mass and then spends 45 minutes swimming in her local pool before opening her shop at 9.30am. I like to keep myself busy. I could be working until 10 at night and dont even realise the time, Therese explains. I have an amazing husband, Austin, who takes care of all the admin side of things. He has revolutionised me as I am not good with computers. She may not be tech-savvy, but Therese is a people person who pours her heart into her business. Her devotion was recognised when the late Queen presented her with an MBE in 2008. Such is her dedication that she has travelled the world looking for the best products. Therese received an MBE in the 2008 Queen's honours Aodhan Roberts New York remains the leader in realistic hairpieces, and Therese still makes the trip to the Big Apple every few years to sample the latest innovations. She loathes the word wig and prefers to refer to what she supplies as hairpieces. Her skill as a hairdresser means she can cut and colour the product to any style a client wants. The quality of the pieces is coming on in leaps and bounds, and they are unbelievable now, Therese says. You cant tell if its someones real hair or if theyre wearing a hairpiece. They are better than most peoples own hair will ever be and there is no such thing as a bad hair day with them. They have these lace fronts so that you cant tell that the hair is not coming out of the head, and they have made them now so that they can take high heat and you can blowdry them. Wig is a horrible word (that) people always joked about. I think it still has connotations, which is why I dont like using that word. If you have bad hair, you can go and get it sorted, just the way you would if you needed new teeth. People feel they have to apologise for having to get a hairpiece, but if you got your teeth whitened, people would be admiring them. It is no different to that. The quality is so good that people will be admiring your new hairstyle. Therese's boutique is recognised as a leading supplier of hairpieces Aodhan Roberts While Therese is naturally empathetic, she also has first-hand experience of what her clients face. She explains: I have always suffered from hair loss, and I wear a hairpiece myself. As a child, I had very thin hair. I have an underactive thyroid, which hasnt helped. Until you suffer it, you cant understand how someone else feels. Before I started to wear hairpieces, I didnt want to go out and I lost my confidence, so I know exactly how it feels to put a wig on. It is a big thing for people and can make all the difference to how they feel. When a client comes in, I just see a person who needs my help. Some people need a wee bit more loving than others, and we are there every inch of the way. It is not something you can give and then walk away from. It is unbelievable the emotions involved, and every individual is so different. Some people come in and out in no time because they know exactly what they want, while others really struggle with it and an appointment can take two hours, and thats okay. We also have cancer patients who come in who are understandably very angry because it is happening to them, and we just take a gentle approach and allow them to look at all the styles. We also have people who tell us they never liked their hair and embrace it as a chance to do something different. Each person has their own way of doing it. Different types of chemo cause different types of hair loss, and if someone is told their hair is going to fall out at a certain point, we can have things ready in advance so that they can go through it seamlessly. Others dont want hairpieces, and we have bandanas with fringes so that it doesnt look like you are wearing it because you have no hair. There are a lot of children coming in, usually around five in a week, wee boys and wee girls who dont want to go to school with no hair and have to explain to the other children that they have cancer. Ultimately for Therese, it is about helping people feel good about themselves, and thats what she takes most pride in. She adds: I have the most amazing staff. We all feel rewarded when a client who is struggling leaves the shop smiling. There really is no better feeling. You can find out more at www.wigs-ireland.ie Gangster Jay Smith to spend at least another decade behind bars A heroin-dealing hitman is cracking up after an appeal against his life sentence for murder was rejected. Loyalist assassin Jamie Jay Smith had been planning a new life in Carrickfergus, convinced that his conviction for the gangland killing of rival drug dealer Dougie Morrison would be quashed. But he has been left stunned by the failure of his legal challenge which means he will have to spend at least another 10 years behind bars in the high-security Maghaberry Prison. Smith is distraught, he had convinced himself his appeal was going to be a success and he was boasting about settling down in Carrickfergus once he was freed, a jail insider told Sunday Life. He has been moping about the wing ever since. A lot of the other loyalist prisoners, especially the UVF ones, are secretly delighted because Smith isnt liked as he is a convicted heroin dealer. Dougie Morrison Smith is held on the loyalist Bush House wing under the protection of the South East Antrim (SEA) UDA drugs cartel. Although not a member of the terror gang he is looked after by it as a favour for helping it establish cocaine importation routes into Northern Ireland from England. Liverpool-born Smith is a major gangland figure in the city and was previously described in court as being a key member of an organised crime group which operates between Belfast, Liverpool and Dublin. The 44-year-old is serving life with a minimum 21 years for the 2011 murder of rival drug dealer Dougie Morrison in Bangor. The killing occurred just nine days after the Department of Justice in England ordered his return to prison for breaching the terms of his early release for heroin dealing. While on bail for the Morrison murder, Smith was caught with 250,000 of cocaine in Belfast and later convicted of possessing the haul with intent to supply. His appeal against the murder conviction was backed by the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) an independent body set up to examine potential miscarriages of justice. Smiths lawyers argued that a change in the law on joint enterprise cast doubt on the safety of his conviction. He was convicted of murdering Morrison alongside East Belfast UVF member Pistol Pete Greer. 'Pistol' Pete Greer The lawyers also disputed evidence that Smith had the alleged intent or knowledge of the planned attack. However, this was dismissed by the Court of Appeal which ruled: The jury were entitled to convict Smith as a secondary party of murder on the basis of assisting in the common plan to assassinate two men. The ruling has pleased several loyalist prisoners who share the Bush House wing with Smith, particularly the UVFs jail leader Steven Revels, who is serving life for the cut-throat killings of two teenagers. Our source added: Revels is anti-drugs and has no time for Jay Smith because he is a heroin dealer. He hasnt stopped smiling since Smiths appeal failed. Steven Revels Meanwhile, another SEA UDA-linked drug dealer has been moaning to pals that he has received absolutely no support from the terror gang while in jail. Phil Flea Kerr who is serving an 11-month prison sentence for possessing cocaine with intent to supply was heard complaining while on day release recently. The 35-year-old loyalist bandsman, who is from the White City area of north Belfast and sold drugs for the SEA UDA, told friends that he felt abandoned. Flea was overheard moaning about how the UDA has done nothing for him while he has been inside and he has been abandoned, explained a source. He said he expected some help because of how he was set up for arrest by an informant, and kept his mouth shut when questioned by the police. President Biden met today with Prime Minister Kishida Fumio of Japan and President Yoon Suk Yeol of the Republic of Korea in Hiroshima, Japan. READ NEXT: Statement from President Joe Biden Commemorating 30 Years of U.S. Diplomatic Relations with Angola He commended Prime Minister Kishida and President Yoon on their courageous work to improve their bilateral ties, noting that our trilateral partnership and the Indo-Pacific are stronger because of their efforts. The leaders discussed how to take their trilateral cooperation to new heights, including with new coordination in the face of the DPRK's illicit nuclear and missile threats, on economic security, and on their respective Indo-Pacific Strategies. READ MORE: Statement by White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre on President Biden's Meeting with Quad Leaders @ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. A demonstrator hands flowers to an Indonesian riot police officer in Jakarta during a protest calling for former President Suharto to be brought to trial on charges of human rights abuses and corruption, Nov. 26, 1998. On May 12, 1998, Indonesian security forces gunned down four students at Jakartas Trisakti University who were protesting the corruption and nepotism of the government of Suharto, who had ruled since seizing power in a coup in 1965. The incident unleashed a chain of events that saw the dictator of 32 years forced to resign and an organic democracy take root in the worlds fourth-largest country. Indonesian citizens had much to protest about as Suhartos rule had become increasingly capricious and despotic. Civil society was repressed, the media shackled and politics stilted in a rigid corporatist system that coopted an enfeebled opposition. The military governed down to the village level in a system known as dwifungsi (dual function). Crony capitalists who plundered the countrys natural resources dominated the economy and concentrated wealth in Jakarta. The Asian economic crisis led to the collapse of currency and a 13% contraction of the economy in 1998. It was lost on no one that the U.S. $36 billion bailout from the International Monetary Fund was nearly the amount Suhartos family allegedly amassed during the dictators time in office. The May 1998 riots in Jakartas Chinatown were clearly the work of some military units who were looking for a justification to make a direct intervention in politics. Fortunately, the military chief at the time, Wiranto, resisted and deferred to the civilian leadership. Suharto handed over power to then-Vice President B.J. Habibie on May 21, 1998. Habibie was unable to halt the economic slide and did not even contest the first election held in 1999. Consolidating Democracy The transition to democracy was not easy between May 1998 and October 2004, Indonesia had five presidents. Frustration was high, especially as the country was the slowest to emerge from the Asian economic crisis. Even though the first five years were chaotic, several cornerstones to the nations democratic foundations were laid. Indonesian President Suharto (left) announces his resignation as Vice President B.J. Habibie looks on at the presidential palace in Jakarta, May 21, 1998. [Agus Lolong/AFP] First, the military returned to the barracks. The dwifungsi policy was abolished and officers who were civil administrators were given the choice of resigning their commissions or giving up administrative powers to civilians. Following East Timors independence in 1999 and the 2005 peace accord with the Acehnese rebels, there have been fewer internal security justifications for the military to be acutely involved in internal security. The armed forces became more focused on professionalizing and modernizing. In 1999, the police, which until then had been an arm of the military, became independent and under civilian control. Second, Indonesia had always been an overly centralized state, politically, economically and culturally. But since there had been long-running separatist rebellions in East Timor, Aceh, Papua and elsewhere, there always was a fear that decentralization would quickly morph to secessionism. So when the parliament authorized the big bang decentralization, it bypassed provinces and gave considerable powers to smaller regencies to enact public policy. Third, presidential, legislative and local elections over the sprawling 17,000-island archipelago began to be held effectively and routinely. Despite fears of political violence, elections have been surprisingly peaceful. There have been five largely free and fair elections since 1999 that have shown no systematic disenfranchisement. Voter participation has been high, averaging 80% since 1999. There are dozens of political parties, but many remain vanity vehicles for individuals. Election laws have been adjusted to ensure that small and fringe parties that do not meet requirements are ineligible even as there are no prohibitive barriers to entry for candidates and new parties. Early elections were overly complex under a hybrid political system until 2004, when the president was elected through a parliamentary vote. Since then, the president has been directly elected. Most importantly, elections have seen the regular and peaceful turnover of presidential power. Fourth, parliament passed a new media law in 1999 that ended censorship. Today, Indonesia has a robust media, though arguably overly controlled by a handful of conglomerates. Social media usage is high and Indonesia has one of the least restricted internet networks in Southeast Asia. Democracy has been good for the economy. When Suharto fell, Indonesias GDP was $95.45 billion. That rose to $1.32 trillion in 2022. While the economy is still overly dependent on the extraction of natural resources, there has been growth in the manufacturing and service sectors. Oil rents as a portion of GDP fell to 0.8% in 2021, from 9.9% in 1998. Oil rents are the difference between the value of crude oil production at regional prices and total costs of production, according to the World Bank. No country has democratized as quickly as Indonesia, but that doesnt mean the reforms are not fragile and irreversible. Five issues of concern First, since 2014, the military has been trying to claw back some of the civilian authority it relinquished in 1999. In what became known as Bela Negara, in 2014, the TNI identified separatism, narcotics, communism and LGBTQ rights as the greatest threats to the country. The 2018 Counterterrorism Law enshrined an internal security role for the military. Second, there has been legislation undermining free speech, freedom of association, religion and identity. Every major piece of public policy since 1999 has had a sharia component. A few laws have threatened Pancasila (unity in diversity), a core principle of the founding ideology of the state. The mother of a student shot during riots that led up to the resignation of President Suharto takes part in a protest in Jakarta 10 years later, urging the government to probe human rights violations during that time, May 12, 2008. [Bay Ismoyo/AFP] The blasphemy law, for example, has criminalized deviant sects, including Shia and Ahmadi. And the government has been all too quick to turn a blind eye to religious vigilante groups who target these minorities. For instance, the Blasphemy Law and ensuing street protests took down Jakartas democratically elected Chinese-Christian governor, Basuki Ahok Tjahaja Purnama, in 2017. The new Criminal Code penalizes premarital sex and cohabitation outside of marriage, and also undermines free speech by criminalizing criticism of the president and Pancasila. Third, the big bang decentralization impacted the secular nature of the state by devolving public policy authority to local governments. Today, there are 389 sharia codes and bylaws across the country that have had a disproportionate impact on women and religious minorities. Fourth, while insurgencies were resolved in East Timor and Aceh, the war in the resource-rich province of Papua continues. The government has periodically shut down the internet, banned foreign media and criminalized peaceful protest and support for secessionism. Security forces continue to commit human rights abuses and credible reports have emerged that the civilian intelligence service has violated the law and is waging a dirty war. Finally, despite the recent high profile arrest of a cabinet minister, Johnny G. Plate, corruption in Indonesia is endemic and undermines already weak political institutions. In addition, Indonesias economy continues to be dominated by state-owned enterprises. In 2002, the government established an independent Counter Corruption Commission (KPK) with full investigative authority, modeled on Italys anti-mafia courts. It was extremely successful and quickly became the most trusted political institution in the country. But since 2014, President Joko Jokowi Widodo has caved in to political pressure and stripped the KPK of some autonomy and powers. In 2019, parliament passed a law stripping it of some investigative powers, prompting mass protests. Indonesias ranking in the annual Transparency International corruption perception index remains poor, and has been declining since 2019, leading to a negative impact on economic growth and political institutions. Thousands pray during a rally against then-Jakarta City Gov. Basuki Ahok Tjahaja Purnama, Dec. 2, 2016. [Ismira Lutfia Tisnadibrata/BenarNews] Indonesia will hold its first round of voting in the next presidential election in February 2024. People will be able to exercise their right to vote, parties will campaign, articulate platforms and policies and the media will cover it all. But behind the performative aspects of democracy, there has been substantial backsliding. Democracy has come so far, but it is not irreversible. Zachary Abuza is a professor at the National War College in Washington and an adjunct at Georgetown University. The views expressed here are his own and do not reflect the position of the U.S. Department of Defense, the National War College, Georgetown University or BenarNews. Supporters of Islamic group Hizbut Tahrir Indonesia shout slogans during an anti-abortion demonstration in front of the Presidential Palace in Jakarta, Sept. 18, 2005. A dental practitioner in Bali who had been jailed twice before for performing illegal abortions was arrested again this month for the alleged crime with a list, police said, of more than 1,300 patients over two years. The case underscores the lack of safe and accessible abortion services in Indonesia where the practice is highly stigmatized and largely prohibited except for medical emergencies and rape victims. Ketut Arik Wiantara, who allegedly did not have a valid license to practice dentistry, was arrested on May 8 at his residence, where he had set up a makeshift abortion clinic equipped with an ultrasound device, curettage equipment and post-abortion drugs, Bali police said. The suspect argued that there were many requests for abortion and he was concerned about the future of his patients because they were young, said Stefanus Satake Bayu Setianto, the Bali police spokesman. He said Wiantara allegedly charged 3.5 million rupiah (about U.S. $235) per termination procedure. A date for his trial has not been set. A lawyer for Wiantara could not be reached for comment. Police in other parts of Indonesia have raided similar clinics, including one in Jakarta in 2020 where nearly 33,000 abortions were allegedly performed over a period of three years. While Indonesian health laws allow abortions for medical emergencies detected early in pregnancy either threatening the life of the mother or fetus and pregnancy resulting from rape obtaining legal abortions is not easy, according to reproductive health activists and experts. The process can be long, bureaucratic and costly, often exceeding the governments safe abortion requirement. As a result, many women resort to unsafe methods such as herbal remedies, self-induced abortions or unlicensed providers, they said. The Institute for Criminal Justice Reform (ICJR), a Jakarta-based NGO, said the challenges faced by women who seek abortions include a lack of designated health care facilities and the social stigma. This has led to situations where rape victims are denied their right to terminate pregnancies, such as a 2021 case in East Java, where a 12-year-old girl who was raped by a 56-year-old man was refused an abortion by investigators because they had no experience in dealing with such requests, ICJR said. The word abortion still has negative connotations because of religious reasons, even though its a health intervention and related to womens choices and their bodies, said Ni Luh Eka Purni Astiti, executive director of the Indonesian Family Planning Association (PKBI) in Bali. In both Muslim-majority Indonesia and Hindu-majority Bali, abortion is considered a sin. Astiti said her organization provides counseling and referrals for women who seek abortions or face unplanned pregnancies. Condoms are still a taboo Under Indonesias new criminal code passed last year, a woman who has an abortion faces up to four years in prison and anyone who assists in the process could be jailed for five years. Additionally, anyone who promotes birth control devices faces six months in jail. The government argued that this revision was necessary to protect human life and dignity, as well as to uphold moral values and religious norms. However, rights groups criticized this as a violation of womens rights and autonomy, as well as an interference in their personal and sexual choices. Other controversial provisions in the code include criminalizing extramarital sex and cohabitation. A study published in 2020 in the journal International Perspectives in Sexual and Reproductive Health estimated that 1.7 million abortions took place in Java, Indonesias most populous island, in 2018. The researchers used a model that combined data from several sources such as surveys, health facility records and expert opinions. That translates to a rate of 43 abortions per 1,000 women between the ages of 15 and 49. By comparison, the global abortion rate was 39 per 1,000 women aged 15 to 49, according to the Guttmacher Institute. The regional abortion rate for Southeast Asia was 34 per 1,000 women. And among Muslim-majority nations, the abortion rate varied widely, ranging from three per 1,000 women in Iran to 50 per 1,000 women in Azerbaijan. The study found that most women who had abortions in Java self-managed, using methods such as traditional herbal medicine or massage. Only a small fraction obtained a surgical procedure or pills from a health provider, it said. About 12% of women had complications and sought treatment in a health facility. In Bali, a 2021 PKBI study on perceptions of reproductive health among adolescents found that many young people had misconceptions about sex and pregnancy. About 36% of the 373 respondents believed they would not get pregnant after having sex for the first time. About 26% said women could use herbal remedies to prevent pregnancy. Ni Putu Indah Mas Pratiwi, counselor for Kita Sayang Remaja (We Love Youths), a youth outreach program in Bali, said she often receives online queries from young people who are unsure if they are pregnant or how to prevent pregnancy. Condoms are still a taboo. People are embarrassed by the mere mention of them, Pratiwi told BenarNews. Condoms are associated with premarital sex and promiscuity, practices considered vices in the largely conservative Indonesian society. Made Oka Negara, a doctor and reproductive health activist, said many in Indonesia see abortion as a moral issue rather than a medical one. But the Wiantara case shows that there is a high demand for abortion services and that the government should provide them legally and safely, he said. People dont feel the need to talk about it, Made told BenarNews. [But] not everyone wants to get married [and have children], so they end up doing it unsafely. Papua New Guinea Defense Minister Win Bakri Daki and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken shake hands after signing the United States-Papua New Guinea Defense Cooperation Agreement in Port Moresby, May 22, 2023. The United States signed a defense cooperation agreement on Monday with Papua New Guinea, and announced other security and humanitarian support, in a deepening of its relationship with the most populous Pacific island country. Papua New Guineas capital Port Moresby also hosted Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi for a summit with leaders of 14 Pacific island countries, underscoring increased geopolitical competition in the vast ocean region where Chinas diplomatic relations have burgeoned. The defense agreement is mutually beneficial, Papua New Guinea Prime Minister James Marape said at the signing ceremony. In the context of Papua New Guinea it secures our national interest, he said, predicting it would help the country, one of the poorest in the region, to develop a robust economy. Responding to domestic criticism of the defense agreement, Marape said, this signing in no way, shape and form encroaches into our sovereignty. U.S. President Joe Biden had planned to stop over in Papua New Guinea on Monday before attending a meeting in Sydney with the leaders of Australia, Japan and India. He canceled the trip to focus on high-stakes Federal debt-limit negotiations, in an apparent setback for U.S. efforts to exert influence in the Pacific. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who traveled to Port Moresby in the presidents place, said he carried an invitation from Biden to Pacific leaders to visit Washington in the fall. As part of efforts to counter Beijings influence in the Pacific, Biden hosted a meeting of Pacific island leaders in September last year in Washington. Simply put, we are committed to growing all aspects of our relationship, Blinken said at the defense agreement signing ceremony. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is greeted by Papua New Guinea Prime Minister James Marape at APEC Haus in Port Moresby, May 22, 2023. [Stephen Wright/BenarNews] The pact, he said, would be transparent to the public and make it easier for the two countries' defense forces to train together and improve the capacity of Papua New Guineas military to respond to natural disasters. China, over several decades, has become a substantial source of trade, infrastructure and aid for developing Pacific island countries as it seeks to isolate Taiwan diplomatically and build its own set of global institutions. Last year, China signed a security pact with the Solomon Islands, alarming the U.S. and its allies such as Australia. The Solomons and Kiribati switched their diplomatic recognition to Beijing from Taiwan in 2019. Modi, in his speech to Pacific leaders, did not specifically mention China but said his country was committed to a free and open Indo Pacific, the U.S. terminology for a vast region spanning the Indian and Pacific oceans. Cook Islands Prime Minister Mark Brown, speaking at a U.S.-Pacific island leaders meeting, said there was a level of disappointment in Bidens cancellation. He also said he welcomed the fall invitation. Intrusion into PNG affairs The defense cooperation agreement between Papua New Guinea and the U.S. has been criticized by some analysts and groups such as the PNG Trade Union Congress as being overly accommodative to Washingtons interests. Australias Sky TV reported on what it said was a leaked draft version of the agreement last week. It is the processes our government followed and the motivation behind fast tracking the processes with zero public consultation and parliament debate [that] opens up public debate to all sorts of conclusions, said Anton Sekum, acting general secretary of the Trade Union Congress, in a statement on Monday. Any agreement that will have elements of intrusion into our sovereignty and may put the country in harm's way must not be done without all citizens' consent, he said. Elias Wohengu, secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs, who was Papua New Guineas chief negotiator in the defense cooperation talks, said there was no factual basis to rumors that U.S. military personnel who broke Papua New Guineas laws would enjoy immunity from prosecution. Speculation it would preclude defense agreements with other countries and required changes to Papua New Guineas laws was also incorrect, he said. There is no immunity in this agreement for any foreign personnel that will be present in Papua New Guinea, Wohengu told a press conference on the weekend. If a crime is committed, punishment will be carried out. So anyone who goes out spreading rumors that we will be providing immunity to offenders is wrong, he said. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken (left) listens as Papua New Guinea Prime Minister James Marape speaks at the signing ceremony for a defense cooperation agreement on May 22, 2023. [Stephen Wright/BenarNews] The State Department said the text of the defense cooperation agreement would be made public when it comes into force. Papua New Guineas Ministry of Defense said it would hold a question and answer session for civil society groups and journalists at its headquarters on Tuesday. Papua New Guinea and the U.S. also signed a shiprider agreement that provides the basis for personnel from the Pacific island country to work on U.S. coast guard and naval vessels, and vice versa, in targeting economic and security weaknesses such as illegal fishing. Among other support announced by the State Department, the U.S. government will supply $12.4 million of equipment to Papua New Guineas defense force. It includes $5.4 million of body armor, provided earlier this month, such as ballistic helmets and flak vests with armor plates. Some $7 million will be provided for military dress uniforms for Papua New Guineas 50th independence events in 2025. The U.S. is also exploring warehousing of humanitarian assistance and disaster relief supplies in Papua New Guinea. Smoke billows from the still smoldering historic Manila Central Post Office in the Philippine capital early Monday, May 22, 2023. A massive fire ripped through the historic Manila Central Post Office, raging for nearly eight hours until it was brought under control Monday morning, leaving only the shell of the grand structure standing. No one was killed but at least seven firefighters were injured in the blaze that started in the basement of the neoclassical building, although its cause has not been determined, fire officials said. The structure was totally burned, 100%. This is devastating because this is a historic building. But we failed to handle it. The remnants must be preserved, Postmaster General Luis Carlos told reporters on Monday. The whole structure itself is important because it is a heritage site. We have to look for a structural engineer to check the integrity of the building, he said. The fire was reported at 11:41 p.m. Sunday and reached the highest alarm level after six hours, prompting nearly 100 fire trucks from Manila and nearby cities to rush to the scene. Firefighters and volunteers struggled before bringing it under control at 7:22 a.m. Manila Fire District Senior Superintendent Christine Cula said the building was not equipped with sprinklers. Carlos, the postmaster general, expressed sadness over the destruction of the building which serves as the main hub of the countrys mail sorting and distribution operations and the central office for the Philippine Postal Corp. He also said the whole library of stamps had burned, including the countrys collection of commemorative and antique stamps. Designed by renowned architects Tomas Mapua and Juan Arellano and constructed in 1926, the structure was destroyed during the month-long Battle of Manila at the end of World War II, but was rebuilt in 1946 to its original design. Calls for restoration Several lawmakers have called on the government to restore the building, once dubbed the grandest structure in Manila. Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri and Senate Finance Committee Chairman Juan Edgardo Angara vowed to work with the Department of Budget and Management to seek possible sources of funding. House Deputy Speaker Ralph Recto said the government should tap into the 13 billion peso ($233 million) contingency fund under the control of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., as well as into the 19 billion ($340.7 million) calamity fund to restore the building. In 2018, the National Museum declared the building an important cultural property with exceptional cultural, artistic and historical significance to the country. Under the Republic Act 10066 (the National Culture Heritage Act of 2009), a landmark declared as an important cultural property may receive government funding for its protection, conservation, and restoration. Sen. Loren Legarda, who heads the committee on culture and the arts, called on authorities to investigate the cause of the fire so it will never happen again. It is indeed a tragic and heartbreaking incident, she said. We must protect our historical sites such as this significant architectural inheritance. Flames shoot out from the Manila Central Post Office building, May 22, 2023. [Manila city government handout] Renacimiento Manila, a cultural organization dedicated to reviving heritage areas of Manila, said the Conservation Management Plan for the Manila Central Post Office building was completed in 2019. The plan allotted $2.7 million (150.5 million pesos) through the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) for restoration, but no other details were given. NEDA did not respond to a BenarNews request for comment. Move Forward Party leader Pita Limjaroenrat waves during a news conference to announce the partys agreement with coalition partners in Bangkok, May 22, 2023. An eight-party alliance seeking to form Thailands next government signed an agreement Monday outlining an ambitious reform agenda, though a commitment to amend the nations royal insult law was conspicuously absent. The alliance, led by the top vote-getting party in this months election, Move Forward, announced plans to rewrite the constitution, end business monopolies and modernize the justice system and security forces, according to the agreement with the coalition parties seen by BenarNews. The agreement coincided with the ninth anniversary of the May 22, 2014, military coup led by now-Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha his and other royalist and military-backed conservative parties were trounced in the May 14 vote. However, Move Forward leader Pita Limjaroenrat said the reforms would not alter the status of the monarchy Article 6 of the military-backed constitution stipulates that no legal proceedings can touch the monarch. All parties agree that every mission that the government undertakes must not affect the countrys status as a unitary state, the countrys status as a democracy under a constitutional monarchy framework and the inviolable status of the monarch, the alliances agreement said. I reaffirm Article 112 [Lese-Majeste, or royal defamation] will be one of 45 bills the Move Forward will push through the parliament for a mature discussion. When a chance to discuss it is found, its a good opportunity, Pita told reporters on Monday. The coalitions agreement promised to restore democracy and rewrite a new peoples constitution, by a committee elected by the people, as soon as possible. It also vowed to make the police, military and judiciary more democratically accountable and transparent; called for an end to military conscription; and sought to push for lasting peace in the Deep South, including a review of the security mission in the restive region. The eight parties are seeking to decentralize power to local authorities, refine the countrys hastily drawn up cannabis laws, and restore the leading role of Thailand in ASEAN. The eight-party alliance holds 313 of the 500 seats in Parliaments lower house, but is short of the combined number of 376 votes required from both houses to govern. Rules enshrined in the military-drafted constitution mean the alliance has to overcome 250 votes held by the junta-appointed Senate, Parliaments upper house. The Parliament is expected to convene within 15 days after the election results are officially announced. The Election Commission of Thailand is required to announce the results within 60 days after the May 14 election. Contentious issue Pita was asked if his insistence on reforming the royal insult law could prompt senators to vote against him during the election of the prime minister candidate. I dont think so because Move Forward has negotiation teams to ease the Senates concerns, citing the laws intent and the substance that it [Article 112] should not be used to politically harass others, he said. Move Forwards ambition to amend the Lese-Majeste law, which human rights groups allege the current government has used to silence dissent, is shaping up to be one of its biggest hurdles to forming a government. The law carries jail terms of up to 15 years for actions or speech deemed as insulting, defamatory or threatening to the monarchy. However, Move Forwards pledge to reform Thailands relationship with the monarchy is contentious, even within its alliance. We wont put any obstructor in the MoU [memorandum of understanding], Cholnan Srikaew, a leader of Pheu Thai Party, an alliance member that won the second-highest number of votes, told the news conference. So for the amendment of Article 112, the Pheu Thai Party needs to see the [yet undrafted] draft amendment proposal first and we will consider this again. To support the amendment of this law or not, it is the right of each individual MP. Another coalition member, Thai Sang Thai Party, is strongly against amending Lese-Majeste, which has been used to suppress pro-democracy protesters since November 2020. We insist on not supporting any amendment or withdrawing Article 112, Sudarat Keyuraphan, the leader of Thai Sang Thai Party, said at the same news conference. If you'd like to leave a comment (or a tip or a question) about this story with the editors, please email us 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. Instagram was down as it experienced a major global outage, leaving thousands of users unable to access the app and its features. If you are doom scrolling on IG and it suddenly stopped loading earlier, you are not alone. The Facebook parent, Meta, confirmed a technical issue affecting the social network. Instagram Down As per the outage tracker service Down Detector, the Instagram outage began at roughly 6 pm Eastern Time, according to the reports of users. At the peak of the issue, more than 175,000 users reported grappling with the janky service. The Instagram parent, Meta, spokesperson, Dave Arnold, confirmed the outage to The Verge. He says, "A technical issue caused some people to have trouble accessing Instagram." The disruption lasted several minutes, leading to a flurry of online complaints from frustrated users. Many users rely heavily on the platform for business promotion and connecting with friends and family. And as such, the sudden outage of Instagram triggered concern. While Instagram was offline, some users took to social media platforms like Twitter and Reddit, leading the #InstagramDown trend on the Musk-owned service. Users immediately noticed the inability to load Instagram feeds, post new content, or access direct messages. To vent their frustrations and experiences, they shared posts and memes on other social networks. Variety reports that the other related topics trended on Twitter as well, such as "My Instagram" and "My IG," but "InstagramDown" persistently dominated all of them amid the global outage. According to Reuters, the Meta parent kept mum about the affected users. However, the data from Down Detector gives us a glimpse of the scale of the outage. In the United States (US), the issue affected roughly 100,000 users, whereas, in the United Kingdom, IG was down for more than 56,000 folks. At its peak, the Down Detector data shows the outage spread to over 180,000 users. Read Also: Facebook Messenger Apple Watch App Shuts Down This June IG Back Online After Global Outage Fortunately, after several hours of downtime, Instagram restored its services and is now up and running again. Users worldwide began reporting that they could again access the app and perform usual activities. Down Detector shows that Meta fixed the technical issue around 7:30 pm ET. The Meta spokesperson confirms, "We resolved the issue as quickly as possible for everyone who was impacted, and we're sorry for any disruption this has caused." The official Twitter account of Instagram Comms announced the end of the outage, declaring, "Instagram is back!" IG apologized to its users "for the trouble" it might have caused them. Meanwhile, other giant Meta-owned services like WhatsApp and Facebook remained online despite the Instagram outage. Related Article: NBA: Grizzlies Star Ja Morant Suspended After Controversial Instagram Live Video @ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Greg Sukiennik has worked at all three Vermont News & Media newspapers and was their managing editor from 2017-19. He previously worked for ESPN.com, for the AP in Boston, and at The Berkshire Eagle in Pittsfield, Mass. You have permission to edit this article. Edit Close MOUNT WASHINGTON It was this time last year when the family of Giuseppe Musto had a hope that drove them to climb mountains and forge these woods day after day. It continued for months. But now its been more than a year since Musto, 75, left his home in Boston and presumably drove to Mount Washington State Forest. Then he disappeared. That afternoon of May 8, 2022, his pickup truck was found in a state forest parking lot. Musto had been suffering after a series of family tragedies, including his grandsons death. His family believes it is grief that led him to return to the nature he loved. A massive initial search by state police and other agencies, family and community members had dwindled mostly to just family. They pressed ahead and found no signs of Musto, the patriarch of a large extended family who left his native Italy more than 55 years ago. Theres nothing, said Mustos son, Marco Musto, in a recent phone conversation, adding that there also are no leads. We never found him. Given that, the investigation into this missing persons case remains open, according to a spokesperson for the Berkshire District Attorneys Office. The office did not answer questions about what might have happened to Musto. Marco Musto said search parties had covered a wide area, even beyond the probability radius established by police of where the elder Musto would likely be found. Musto had left home that morning without telling anyone where he was going. The family did not believe that Musto, a hunter, had brought a rifle or a cellphone. If he did have his flip phone, he would never have brought it into these woods, his son had said, while also pointing to the trouble with cellular signals here. The family, Marco Musto said, continues to struggle with the loss and the uncertainty of not knowing what happened to his father. Its still difficult." Community News Editor / Librarian Jeannie Maschino is community news editor and librarian for The Berkshire Eagle. She has worked for the newspaper in various capacities since 1982 and joined the newsroom in 1989. One year ago: Polish President Andrzej Duda became the first foreign leader to address the Ukrainian parliament since Russia invaded the country. He traveled to Kyiv to support Ukraines goal of becoming a candidate for European Union membership. Leaders of the Southern Baptist Convention, Americas largest Protestant denomination, stonewalled and denigrated survivors of clergy sex abuse over almost two decades while seeking to protect their own reputations, according to a scathing 288-page investigative report. Kate McKinnon and Pete Davidson departed from Saturday Night Live, leaving the sketch institution without arguably its two most famous names after its 47th season finale. Ruth Bass is an award-winning journalist. Her website is www.ruthbass.com. The opinions expressed by columnists do not necessarily reflect the views of The Berkshire Eagle. There are many times in our lives when we go through seasons of change. We may physically see the leaves transform throughout each year, or experience a newborn becoming an infant and then toddler. We see it as our hair starts to become more gray and expression lines develop around our own eyes and mouths. Change has always been something that is difficult for me at first. I like predictability. I love a good surprise that I know is coming. However for those times in life when I am unaware of whats happening a move, a graduation, or a new role it can seem unsettling. A sweet college student whom I mentor was in tears the other day over some of her older friends graduating and moving away. It was the sweetest sight to see her care and love for her peers. She knew it was just a season, but that time had come to an end quicker than she imagined. Maybe you are going through a change right now and need some encouragement. Scripture is the best place to find Gods comfort because our God is unchanging, and we can rest in Him. Today we will look at Bible verses for times of transition. New Things Isaiah 43:19 - See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland. 2 Corinthians 3:18 - We all, with unveiled faces, are looking as in a mirror at the glory of the Lord and are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory; this is from the Lord who is the Spirit. 2 Corinthians 5:17 - Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, and see, the new has come! It is such a wonderful gift to be reminded that God is making all things new, included us. Our hearts and lives are always being refined and changed when we are seeking Christ in the everyday. He is the one who grows us. The unchanging Lord of the universe is steady, but He is transforming us into His likeness. Frankly, He does not need to change because He is perfect. However, we are all sinners and in need of His saving grace, and we are being transformed into His likeness for the better. Wherever You Go Deuteronomy 31:8 - The Lord says, I will guide you along the best pathway for your life. I will advise you and watch over you. Joshua 1:9 - Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go. Psalm 139:7 - Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? It is such a comfort knowing that God is with us wherever we go. We cannot ever remove ourselves from His presence. He is there when we are thriving and there in our most broken moments. He is there when we sin against Him and when we glorify Him in worship. The Holy Spirit Leads Us Proverbs 3:5-6 - Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight. Isaiah 48:10 - Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have tried you in the furnace of affliction. Zechariah 13:9 - And I will put this third into the fire, and refine them as one refines silver, and test them as gold is tested. They will call upon my name, and I will answer them. I will say, They are my people; and they will say, The Lord is my God. John 3:8 - The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit. Sometimes we feel compelled to make a shift or a move and the Holy Spirit is leading us in a new direction. It is very affirming to us in our faith when we can take time to pray and seek the Lords work in our hearts. His Spirit lives within the heart of every believer and He does not hide Himself from those who seek Him. We can take comfort that He will affirm and confirm where He is moving. Even though we may not always understand, we can trust His leading. Through His Spirit in us, the Bible, and wisdom from others, we gain so much confirmation as changes and callings come our way. Believers in Christ Always Have Access to His Peace Isaiah 26:3 - You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you. John 14:27 - Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid." Since the Spirit lives in us and we have the fruit of the Spirit when we have Jesus in our lives, this means that we always have access to His peace. He promises that He leaves His peace with us and this is not the peace that the world gives, but peace from God His perfect peace. You might be thinking, Perfect peace? I dont know that I have ever felt that before, and you may not have. However, the Spirit in us is Perfect Peace, so it is there, we just have to ask Him to give us His peace and choose to cling to it through the changes of life. His peace of salvation and His presence is a great help to us, and is an anchor in the unknowns. So what is your transition right now? How is God stretching you and making You into His likeness through this? Be encouraged that His Word tells us that He is doing a new thing, that He is with us wherever we go, that His Holy Spirit leads us, and that His peace is always accessible to believers. Photo credit: Getty Images/fotogestoeber.de Emma Danzeys mission in life stems from Ephesians 3:20-21, inspiring young women to embrace the extraordinary. One of her greatest joys is to journey with the Lord in His Scriptures. She is wife to Drew for over two years and mom to baby Graham. Drew and Emma serve with Upstate CRU college ministry in South Carolina. Emma is an avid writer for Salem Web Network and provides articles on the Bible, life questions, and on the Christian lifestyle. Her article on Interracial Marriage was the number 1 viewed article on Crosswalk for the year 2021. All the glory to the Lord! She had the joy of hosting Her Many Hats podcast where she explored the many roles that women play while serving One God. Most recently, Emma has released her first Bible Study Book, Wildflower: Blooming Through Singleness. Tonight's rundown: Talking Points Memo: Joe Biden continues to decline with the world watching and remains out of the press reach Presidential Historian Larry Cook weighs in on how Bidens relationship with the press compares to past presidents US Special Forces have been confirmed to be in Ukraine OReilly describes Democrats hosting the DNC in Chicago as Crazy Arrogant The trial of Fox News gets underway 58% of Americans are now living paycheck to paycheck even as inflation begins to cool off Smart Life: Utilizing Kelly Blue Book when searching for a new car This Day in History: FDR dies in office Final Thought: what to do when someone is disrespectful to you In Case You Missed It: Read Bill's latest column, "Reason to Believe" Join 'Team Normal!' Order your gear now at BillOReilly.com! Pre-order Bills next bestseller Killing the Witches NOW Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Australian Mount Everest Climber tragically dies after conquering the "death zone"of the world's highest mountain. The climber, Jason Kennnison, defied the odds in his adventurous expedition as he is a car crash survivor who got a warning that he might never get to walk again. Australian Mount Everest Climber Dies at Mountain's 'Death Zone' A 40-year-old Australian climber's journey to conquer Mount Everest has ended in tragedy. Kennison, a South Australian who lives in Perth, passed away last May 19, Friday, during his adventurous climb to the mountain, according to ABC Australia. The climber's father, Jock Kennison, says the local police told him about the untimely death of his son during his descent to the world's tallest mountain. However, the authorities have yet to recover the body of his son. The Mouth Everest climber has been in Nepal for the last six weeks as he geared up for his expedition. After several weeks, he started his descent to Mount Everest. He then successfully reached the mountain's peak, which climbers aptly refer to as the "death zone," as per 9News. However, while he was 8,000 meters above the mountain, a gut-wrenching turn of events led to his tragic demise. He reportedly started struggling when reaching the unforgiving death zone of Everest, which is roughly 8,849 meters tall. This zone is known for its oxygen deprivation and brutal weather conditions that push human endurance to its limits. In some cases, it even leads to the demise of adventurous climbers. And as such, other expedition members guided him to a location called Balcony, roughly 450 meters below Everest's summit. It is an area wherein climbers take time to rest after their grueling climb or enjoy the stunning views of the Himalayan peaks. The managing director at Asian Trekking, Dawa Steven Sherpa, recalls, "They ran out of oxygen." And on top of that, "bringing supplement bottles from Camp IV [could not] be possible due to excessive winds." Sky News notes that the death toll of climbers braving Everest's death zone has climbed to ten following the tragic death of Kennison. Read Also: Australia Trade Minister Visits China, Urges To Repair Ties Car Crash Survivor Climber ABC Australia disclosed that Kennison figured in a car accident when he was still at the young age of 23. The vehicular crash left traumatic injuries not only to his shoulders but to his femur, or simply the bone of his thigh, as well. Kennisson wrote about his road to recovery on his Just Giving page, ABC reports. He shared that his "recovery journey was slow" at first. Later on, he "started to see improvements both mentally and physically after going through depression and "countless hours of rehab" for roughly a year. Years later, he successfully reached the summit of the world's tallest mountain, the Mount Everest. Yet, it tragically took his life. Related Article: Apple iPhone 14 Satellite Feature Rolls Out to Australian, New Zealand Users @ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Novo Nordisk expanding in Bangalore, adding more than 500 new skilled positions each year Novo Nordisk Global Business Services (GBS) and the International Institute of Information Technology, Bangalore (IIIT Bangalore) have inked a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to combine IIITs technology and digital capabilities with Denmark headquartered healthcare firm Novo Nordisks development and data science expertise to explore breakthrough innovations and efficiency gains to better serve the needs of patients. Under the terms of the MoU, IIIT Bangalore, and Novo Nordisk GBS will jointly engage in initiatives including research, innovation projects, hackathons, case competitions, guest lectures, education programs, internships, placements, employee development, branding and corporate social responsibility collaborations. The MoU is effective from May 19, 2023, for a period of two years. John Dawber, Corporate Vice President, and Managing Director of Novo Nordisk Global Business Services, said, "Novo Nordisk is expanding in Bangalore, adding more than 500 new skilled positions each year, delivering high levels of expertise and process excellence for our global company. With access to the talent pool at IIIT Bangalore, we believe we can significantly enhance our innovation contribution to the Indian academic ecosystem and ultimately improve health." Besides fostering knowledge sharing between industry and academia, the partnership will also provide students at IIIT Bangalore with opportunities to gain real-world experiences, develop new skills, and build relationships with leading industry professionals. Zareef Minty's appointment as the CEO of Afribiz Media, a billion-rand company, marks a significant milestone in the African media industry. As a recognised Forbes Africa 30 under 30 list maker, Minty brings a youthful and dynamic entrepreneurial spirit along with a wealth of experience in the media and marketing sector. At just 29 years old, Minty has already established a remarkable reputation in the business world. Minty's vision for Afribiz Media is to create a world-class media conglomerate that will redefine the global perception of Africa. His ultimate goal is to transform Afribiz Media into the best media company in the world. Through Minty's leadership, the company aims to reshape the narrative surrounding Africa on a global scale. "With Afribiz Media, imagine an extraordinary media conglomerate that not only thrives but also changes the global narrative about Africa. Envision a conglomerate led by young individuals, ultimately becoming Africa's first unicorn company. The time for imagination is over; allow me to introduce you to Afribiz Media," expresses Minty. One of the key strategies Minty plans to implement is disrupting the marketing and public relations space by offering unparalleled services to clients. Afribiz Media will provide a comprehensive range of media services, including social media management, PR, marketing, branding, features, SEO, and more. By delivering world-class services, Minty aims to revolutionize the industry and set new standards for excellence. Notably, Afribiz Media has already garnered endorsements from renowned global leaders and icons such as Akon and Jordan Belfort, famous for the movie The Wolf of Wall Street. These endorsements serve as a testament to the exceptional quality of services Afribiz Media intends to provide. Furthermore, Afribiz Media has unveiled its ambitious Afribiz Media Plan 2030, outlining its expansion strategy to operate in every country in Africa and the Middle East within the next seven years. This bold move showcases Minty's confidence in the company's capabilities and highlights his determination to achieve remarkable success. "We take pride in announcing the Afribiz Media Plan 2030, whereby we will establish offices in multiple countries across Africa and the Middle East within the next seven years," states Minty proudly. In conclusion, Zareef Minty's appointment as the CEO of Afribiz Media brings positive prospects for the African media industry. With his visionary outlook and strong leadership skills, Minty is well-equipped to lead the company to new heights and establish it as a major player in the global media landscape. The prevalence of many diseases has decreased over the past few decades thanks mainly to the essential paediatric care that includes vaccines (or immunisations) for children. Smallpox has effectively been eradicated thanks to vaccinations, and the prevalence of other diseases has significantly decreased. Despite the vaccines' undeniable advantages, some parents are hesitant to vaccinate their kids, frequently out of fear for their children's safety, effectiveness, or religious convictions. Here are a few answers to frequently asked questions about vaccinations for children. What vaccines do doctors suggest for children? From birth to adolescence, the Department of Health suggests a schedule of vaccinations for children. Vaccines for diseases like hepatitis B, polio, measles, mumps, rubella, pertussis, and chickenpox are among the ones that are suggested. You can check the Department of Health website or talk to your child's doctor to determine the best vaccines. To view the South African Child Vaccination Schedule, please click here. Why is it important for children to get vaccines? Vaccines are an important way to keep kids from getting sick with dangerous diseases that could kill them. In addition, vaccinations not only protect the actual child but also help protect the rest of society. Vaccines work because they create 'herd immunity'. It means that when enough people are protected against a disease, its spread is slowed or stopped. It saves people who don't have access to or can't get vaccines, like babies, people with specific health problems, and people who are allergic to the vaccine ingredients. What are the risks of being vaccinated? Vaccines can have side effects, just like any other medical treatment. But most of the side effects of vaccines are mild and temporary, like a sore spot where the shot was given, a fever, or a slight rash. Serious side effects are rare, but they can happen. For example, some vaccines have been linked to severe allergic responses in very few cases. It is important to remember that the chance of getting a significant side effect from a vaccine is much lower than the chance of getting a severe illness from the disease the vaccine protects against. Are vaccines safe for children? Before they can be used, vaccines go through many tests to ensure they are safe and work well. Clinical trials are used to test the safety and usefulness of vaccines. Thousands of people take part in these trials. The Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting method (VAERS) also tracks vaccines' safety even after being approved. VAERS is a system that compiles reports of adverse effects after getting a vaccine. This information is used to monitor how safe vaccines are and to find any possible safety problems. Can vaccines cause autism? There is no solid proof that vaccines cause autism. A 1998 study indicated a link between measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccinations and autism. But this study has been thoroughly debunked, and many scientific studies have not found any link between vaccines and autism. What should parents do if they are still unsure? Parents who aren't sure about vaccines should talk to their child's doctor first. They should be honest and open with their doctor about their concerns. Paediatricians, in turn, can help parents understand how safe and effective vaccines are. Parents may also find it helpful to study vaccines from reliable sources, such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention or the World Health Organization. Ultimately, it's up to the parent to decide whether or not to vaccinate their child, but it's essential to make a choice based on accurate information. LiveAssured that Medshield will cover your child's vaccinations The costs of vaccinating your child in South Africa without medical aid can vary depending on the type of vaccine and where the vaccine is administered. There is a government-run vaccination programme known as the Expanded Programme on Immunisation (EPI) that provides certain vaccines for free to children under the age of one year. Some public health facilities may charge a fee for administering these vaccines, although the costs are usually nominal. The vaccines provided for free under EPI include: BCG (tuberculosis) Hepatitis B Polio (oral polio vaccine) Diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis (DTaP) Haemophilus influenza type b (Hib) Pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV) However, other vaccines are not covered by the EPI, such as the rotavirus vaccine, the meningococcal vaccine, and the HPV vaccine. These can be obtained through private healthcare providers or clinics, and their costs vary. Without medical aid, the prices of these vaccines can range from a few hundred to a few thousand rands. For example, the rotavirus vaccine can range between R500 to R1,000 per dose, the meningococcal vaccine can cost around R800 per dose, and the HPV vaccine can cost up to R2,000 per dose. Being a Medshield member means you won't have to worry about covering the cost of these crucial vaccines. Medshield's Wellness Benefits assure that your child will receive their vaccination as and when needed at a healthcare facility of your choice according to your benefit option. Generally, we cover children's vaccinations as part of our preventive care benefits. It includes vaccines that are part of the government's EPI. However, the coverage for non-EPI vaccines may vary depending on the plan and the specific benefits a member has selected. Members can check their Medshield plan benefits on the website at www.medshield.co.za, or contact our customer service for more information. As the call goes out for entries to the 2023 Assegai Awards - incorporating the IAS Agency Credentials Award - agencies can look forward to new opportunities to showcase their credentials and talent to a panel of marketers leading up to the main event. Having relaunched the award in 2020 in conjunction with the Direct Marketing Association of South Africa (DMASA) which hosts the Assegai Awards, the aim of the IAS Agency Credentials Award is to recognise innovation in agencies credentials stack written credentials document as well as the agency culture reel. Johanna McDowell, CEO of the Independent Agency Search & Selection Company (IAS) and Scopen partner, says that for the first time since the Awards inception, a forum is to take place in June designed to assist agencies with how to enter the IAS Credentials Award, with Ethan September of the Direct Marketing Association of South Africa in attendance. Bearing in mind that the judges of the IAS Agency Credentials Award are predominantly marketers, agencies will get robust and useable feedback from a number of key marketing leaders. Standout credentials are likely to leave an indelible imprint on the minds of these marketers for possible future work opportunities, says McDowell. Understanding what leading marketers look for and how they evaluate credentials is the platform from which agencies can build their offerings and reputations as the rapidly-changing market looks for solutions. Virtual glimpse into judges mindsets Another innovation this year is a virtual judging session with the IAS and the marketers who will be adjudicating the IAS Credentials Award. Its an opportunity to ensure all judges are aligned in their preferences, providing discussion around the winner that indicates industry consensus rather than individual preferences. Basically, a from-the-horses-mouth session, notes McDowell, designed to ensure maximum agency impact on todays marketers. From the start in 2016, a credentials award was a natural fit within the categories of the DMASA Assegai Awards, and the IAS Credentials Award brought a vital feature to the Assegais bid to benchmark the South African direct marketing industry and highlight best-in-class examples, while encouraging all industry players to work towards achieving distinction in their credentials. The ultimate goal of awards is to keep raising the bar for the whole industry, says McDowell. With both the Assegai Awards and the IAS Agency Credentials Award sounding the call for entries before 31 August 2023, I believe that taking the opportunity for agencies to get their credentials perfectly aligned with what marketers want should make this years awards easier on the agencies and tougher on the judges. Dentsu Africa have once again pulled out all the stops at the 6th edition of the much-anticipated Pitcher Awards, walking away with 32 awards this past Saturday, 20 May 2023. These annual awards are an opportunity to acknowledge and celebrate African creativity at its best, showcasing the likes of print, film, audio, outdoor, PR, entertainment, digital and creative media that have been created, released, or implemented on African soil. Out of an extensive list of agencies and some fierce competition, Dentsu Creative Nigeria were honoured to be awarded Creative Digital Agency of the Year, silver for the Media Agency of the Year Award and bronze for the Advertising Agency of the Year Award with the highest aggregate points across all the categories, respectively. Dentsu Creative Nigeria also brought home a Grand Prix Award in the Digital Category for Social Media Campaigns. Emeka Okeke, CEO of Dentsu Nigeria, commented, These prestigious awards are a testament to the unwavering commitment and relentless pursuit of excellence that our network represents. These awards have confirmed our ability to turn challenges into opportunities, transform visions into realities, and a proof that with determination and a shared purpose, we can achieve a lot more. Stopping at nothing, Dentsu also received four Gold Awards in the Channel categories under Influencers and Brand Ambassadors and Use of Media. Dentsu was further delighted to walk away with an additional 10 Silver and 14 Bronze Awards, adding a total of 32 awards to our collection. Find the full list of winners here. Dawn Rowlands, CEO for Dentsu Africa, had this to say: We are honoured to collaborate regionally on an esteemed Pan-African platform and with clients that are aligned with our vision and are committed to creating African solutions for uniquely African challenges. These awards are testament to our dedication to creating work which will connect with our African consumers, creating a deeper connection to our clients brands and to showcase what we, as Africans, are capable of through radical collaboration." The minister in the presidency responsible for electricity, Dr Kgosientsho Ramokgopa, has visited original equipment manufacturers (OEM) in KwaZulu-Natal. Joined by KZN Economic Development MEC, Sboniso Duma, the Minister visited the Toyota plant based in Prospecton, eThekwini. The ministers visit to the OEMs is part of his continuous engagements with the automotive industry on their challenges caused by the current electricity crisis and possible short to medium-term solutions on the demand side, the Ministry of Electricity said in a statement. The conference will take place between 24 and 26 May at Afrikaanse Hoer Meisieskool Pretoria. The event invites educators and principals from girls schools across South Africa to attend. SAGSA is an association of public and private girls schools, all of whom have the common goal of educating young women to become strong leaders of the future. This speaks to Eduvos, one of the largest private higher education institutions in South Africa, and its mission to unlock the potential of each of its students to help make Africa a better place. Eduvos is also enthusiastic about the opportunity to talk to an audience who are working to promote the education and empowerment of young women in South Africa. All-girls schools also have a track record of producing top-achieving students. Research has shown that girls in classrooms with high-achieving females are more likely to pursue ambitious educational goals. Three of the top five schools in South Africa, ranked by the number of matrics that passed the 2021 exams, were all-girls schools. Eduvos offers over 27 fully accredited and internationally recognised degrees and believes that young women will find their calling at one of its 12 campuses nationwide. For media enquiries contact Kara van der Berg at moc.sovude@grebdv.arak. Presidential spokesperson Vincent Magwenya says President Cyril Ramaphosa will no longer pursue a legal application to have the Section 89 panel's report into his conduct during the Phala Phala incident reviewed and set aside. Image: South African President Cyril Ramaphosa responds to National Assembly members' questions in parliament in Cape Town, South Africa, 3 November 2022. Reuters/Esa Alexander/File Photo Magwenya was briefing the media on the Presidents diary for the next week and topical issues in the media. The panel had found that the President may have seriously violated sections 96(2)(a) of the Constitution and Section 34(1) of the Prevention and Combating of Corrupt Activities (PRECCA) Act thus violating his oath of office an allegation President Ramaphosa has vehemently denied. The President has been advised which advice he has accepted that the panel report and all issues associated with it have become moot and they are of no practical and legal consequence because on 13 December 2022 the National Assembly decided to reject the motion to refer the panel report to an impeachment committee. While that decision remains valid, the Section 89 panel report carries no weight in law. The President has thus been advised not to institute proceedings before the High Court for review and setting aside of the panel report at this stage. President Ramaphosa reserves his right to bring such proceeding in due course, should the circumstances change. The President maintains his position set out in his founding affidavit before the Constitutional Court that the panel report is reviewable in law on several grounds including the misconception of its mandate, the grave errors of law and the unfounded conclusions of fact, Magwenya said. He explained that the President has noted the decision of the Constitutional Court not to engage with the merits of the application he instituted in that court to have the report set aside. In the first part of the Presidents review application, he sought leave to bring the case directly to the Constitutional Court because it was, according to the advice he received, a matter that fell within [the Constitutional Courts] jurisdiction and in the interest of justice. In the second part, he asked that the report of the panel be reviewed, declared unlawful and set aside. The Constitutional Courts decision was on the grounds that the application is not within the courts exclusive jurisdiction and no compelling case for direct access was made. The President respects the ruling of the Constitutional Court, he said. With commercial real estate tenants increasingly demanding more advanced technologies, landlords must be prepared to invest in digital to stay competitive in the market. But with innovative technologies being such big-ticket capex line items, it's crucial for landlords to invest wisely, says High Street Auctions director Greg Dart. High Street Auctions director Greg Dart Landlords need to prioritise digital systems that significantly improve the work environment or provide long-term cost benefits. A simple example is upgrading security. Facial recognition software is overkill for most tenants needs, but prospective tenants will appreciate a fingerprint access system. Fingerprint scanners do away with the need for access cards that are often lost, forgotten or shared by staff. Using fingerprints, management has an accurate record of comings and goings and negates the risk of unauthorised entry to the premises. According to Dart, these top three technology investments will attract the right tenants and maximise rental revenue: 1. Connectivity Top of the list is installing convenient plug-and-play infrastructure for high-speed internet access, which tenants demand from day one in new premises. With every business now relying on cloud-based services and video conferencing, high-speed internet is a competitive necessity. Offering fast and reliable connectivity thats available in every space in the building isnt an optional expense for landlords anymore, and the lack of it will show in vacancy rates. 2. Energy Dart says there are two aspects landlords should consider renewables and intuitive smart systems. With the ongoing Eskom crisis, a huge selling point is offering renewable energy technology that keeps offices operational during load shedding. Renewables also help reduce costs and carbon footprint, and appeal to tenants who are environmentally conscious by choice or corporate policy. Solar panels, wind turbines and geothermal systems are all examples of renewable energy technologies that can be used to power commercial buildings and offer uninterrupted power supplies. Certain smart, intuitive energy systems can also cut costs for landlords and tenants, one of the most beneficial being motion-activated lighting. Source: Provided 3. Security Dart says advanced security systems are essential investments in high-crime countries like South Africa. They keep assets safe for both landlords and tenants, which is especially important for businesses that handle sensitive data. Good investments for landlords include access control systems, surveillance cameras with off-site backup, perimeter security and intrusion detection systems. Smart buildings Dart says if landlords have covered the top three on the list, another investment they should consider is smart building technology. Smart building systems can help landlords manage their properties more efficiently and effectively, reducing operating costs while improving the tenant experience. For example, installing climate control systems can help landlords cut energy costs, at the same time providing tenants with greater control over their workspace. Another aspect is offering online portals for tenant management. Online portals allow tenants to pay rent, report maintenance issues, and communicate with the landlord or property manager, all from the convenience of their computer or smartphone. This can save landlords time and resources, while also improving tenant satisfaction. Dart says in the post-Covid market, with office vacancies still high, commercial property tenants are spoilt for choice. By making the right technology investments, landlords can future-proof their properties and stay ahead of the competition. This short-term expenditure will pay off handsomely in long-term revenue gains. Cape Town Tourism's Find Your Freedom global marketing campaign has made a substantial contribution to shielding the city's tourism industry from the epidemic's unfavourable consequences. The campaign's first-ever interactive travel experience generated roughly 755 new employment and R147m in direct and indirect spending. Considering arrivals at Cape Town International Airport, just over 370,000 international visitors were welcomed between January and March 2023, with March boasting a 105% recovery rate when compared to the same period in 2019. Additionally, the Mother City welcomed close to 800,000 domestic visitors over that same period, recording a 75% recovery in March. Leigh Dawber, chief marketing officer at Cape Town Tourism, says the campaign aimed to harness a choice-driven experience to strongly and aggressively drive tourism to the Mother City. "The results of our Find Your Freedom experience far exceeded what we ever expected. The gamified interface resonated with millennials and brought over 5,000 international bookings through Expedia in a very short period, generating close to R50m in direct expenditure." The Find Your Freedom campaign's success also contributed to the citys accommodation recovery story. Average occupancy in February was 85%, compared to 78% in February 2019, and average room rates increased to R2,567 in February this year, up from R2,026 in 2019. Dawber states that the campaign was successful in attracting countless visitors to the Mother City and created 248 direct employment opportunities when many were in economic turmoil following the chaos caused by Covid-19. The creative experience earned Cape Town Tourism numerous global awards, from the Destination Industry Award at the International 2022 X. Awards to the title of 'Most Viral Campaign' at the Supersonic New Generation Awards, and also being recognised at the City Nation Place Awards with the highest commendation in the category of Best Communication Strategy for Tourism globally. Brand collaborations and smart partnerships Dawber adds that by pushing the right buttons at the right time, Cape Town Tourism was able to reignite travel to Cape Town just in time for high season. "We needed to be innovative in our approach to grab the interest of those wanting to travel. Find Your Freedom has proven to be our most important, most immersive and most successful travel experience to date. But what added to this success was our brand collaborations and smart partnerships. "By collaborating with TikTok, Expedia and exciting GoPro content creators, we managed to transform the way the Mother City is marketed and showed how innovative partnerships can help revive a tourism industry that was rocked by the pandemic." Alderman James Vos, mayoral committee member for economic growth at the City of Cape Town, says the results have been staggering. "Our goal with Find Your Freedom was to fuel faster recovery in the visitor economy. Following the pandemic, people worldwide were itching to explore, do more, and reclaim that sense of purpose. We wanted to encourage individuals in our key source markets to jump on a plane and come to Cape Town to find their freedom. "This campaign really hit the mark not just in terms of being something original and fun, but most importantly, being enticing enough, to result in actual bookings." Dawber concludes: "As Cape Town Tourism embarks on its next chapter, we remain dedicated to attracting visitors and supporting the Mother City's vibrant tourism sector. With a focus on providing unique experiences for travellers and bolstering the local economy, Cape Town can continue to thrive as a leading global destination." Flames roared through the Philippines' historic main post office building, destroying the nearly 100 years old neoclassical landmark in its bustling capital city, Manila. The massive fire reduced the architectural gem that stood tall for nearly a century to nothing but smoking ruins. The Philippines' Post Office Building Fire According to The Straits Times, the Bureau of Fire Protection confirmed that nearly 100 fire trucks, which includes fire volunteers, braved the massive blaze that engulfed the historic Central Post Office building in Manila. For several hours, the overwhelming number of firefighters bravely battled the massive inferno, which quickly tore apart the decades-old landmark. After several hours, the firefighters declared the blaze under control on Monday morning. As per ABC News, the seven-hour-long fire, accompanied by thick gray smoke, left minor injuries to at least seven people, most of them fire responders. The Postmaster-General and CEO of the Post Office, Luis Carlos, told a local radio news station that the destructive flames burned the entire neoclassical structure. He says, "The whole building has burned from the basement all the way to the fifth floor," as he spoke with DZBB radio. Carlos reiterates in the radio interview that 100 percent of the Post Office in Manila was "totally burned." The Manila Fire Station says the massive fire started in the basement of the neoclassic landmark at around 11:00 pm local time on May 21, Sunday, CNN Philippines reports. After several hours, it reached the highest fire alarm level, called the "general alarm," at around 6:00 am, May 22, Monday. An hour later, the firefighters declared the blaze under control at 7:00 am. Yet, the responders were still valiantly extinguishing the flames, which tore apart the historic structure. The cause of the fire is still being determined. However, Carlos shares that the fire spread immediately due to wood, which prevalently makes up the decades-old building. Read Also: American Detained in the Philippines After Filipina Girlfriend Found Dead in Water Drum Manila Central Post Office Building: A Decades-Old Landmark The burned structure, formally known as the Manila Central Post Office Building, was originally built way back in 1926 amid the Spanish colonial era. During its early years, it was home to horse-riding mail delivery folks. It is notably recognized during its heydays as the "grandest building" in the busy city. Years later, World War II tore down the neoclassical structure but was rebuilt in 1946, marking its comeback after the destructive war. The National Museum of the Philippines recently recognized the significance of the decades-old neoclassic building, declaring it as an "important cultural property" in 2018. The devastating destruction not only tore apart a historic landmark in bustling Manila. It also disrupted the mail services in the capital city and nearby provinces, the Postmaster-General emphasized. Related Article: Philippines Launches First-Ever Locally-Made Space Rocket @ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. The Loeries have announced that Khensani Nobanda, group executive for Marketing and Corporate Affairs at Nedbank and 2021 Loeries Marketing Leadership and Innovation Award winner, has been appointed to the Board of the Loerie Awards Company. Image: Bizcommunity. Khensani Nobandas, group executive for marketing and corporate affairs, Nedbank has been appointed to the Board of the Loerie Awards Company Bizcommunity chatted to her at The Loeries Networking Brunch held at The Loeries' Johannesburg offices on the appointment, what creativity means, and why it is so important to business. For me it is an absolute privilege to even be asked to be on the Board of the Loeries because I respect creativity and I completely believe that creativity drives business growth and business transformation, says Nobanda. She says that it is also about senior marketers, such as herself, being involved in the industry, for many reasons, not just to step up. "It's important for senior marketers to be involved in the industry to ensure that marketing and advertising are at their best because I do think that if we dont get involved in that way, we could see the standards drop. Its the same, she adds, why marketing needs to sit on the C-suite of any organisation. To make sure that the standard of marketing remains at an incredibly high level. Creativity: Fundamental to business When Nobanda started in her role at Nedbank, the feeling from exco was that advertisements are nice but not necessarily fundamental to the business. Then the bank ran the 2020 Secrets campaign. Never mind the business growth that followed, the conversation around the brand was incredible. It led to the thinking that this creativity thing can actually help you from a brand perspective to get into conversations that might never happen otherwise. The Secrets campaign was also linked to a couple of the Banks products and these grew significantly that year. The Bank won a Loeries Grand Prix for Film - Branded Content Film - for the campaign and this, she says, was what really led to the mind shift at exco level. When I say creativity drives business and brand growth, they have a clear of example of this, she states. So now when I come back and show more work that is maybe challenging for them - should Nedbank be doing this - because they have seen what Secrets did, they now have more trust in me, she says. This trust is very important. Just yesterday, I presented what I think is going to be a Loeries Grand Prix winner to the exco, but some were a bit uncomfortable, however, because of the trust we build over the last few years as a marketing team, they said we trust you on this and we know it is going to work so you go do it. Trends in creativity Technology is defiantly a big part of creativity. Whether it is AI, or the metaverse technology is sitting at the core of creativity, says Nobanda. Therefore, creativity is no longer just about a nice TVC. You have to deliver an idea, whether a business idea or product idea, the TVC is just the cherry on top that sells that. What she also finds interesting from a creativity perspective is that many brands are bucking category trends. Sometimes even as you watch a campaign or TVC, you wonder where it is going and then you realise oh its this type of brand. As long as brands stay clear to who they are I enjoy this trend. Lastly, she says, we have spoken about purpose for many years in the industry. The difference I am seeing now is I am finding purpose is not something brands are saying, but doing. When they say they are purpose-driven, the creative work is based on a business idea that is actually based on the brands purpose and I am loving this. More than half of the world's large lakes and reservoirs have shrunk since the early 1990s, chiefly because of climate change, intensifying concerns about water for agriculture, hydropower and human consumption, a study published on Thursday found. File photo: A view of Elizabeth Lake, that has been dried up for several years, as the region experiences extreme heat and drought conditions, in Elizabeth Lake, an unincorporated community in Los Angeles County, California, US, 18 June 2021. Reuters/Aude Guerrucci A team of international researchers reported that some of the world's most important freshwater sources - from the Caspian Sea between Europe and Asia to South America's Lake Titicaca - lost water at a cumulative rate of around 22 gigatonnes per year for nearly three decades. That's about 17 times the volume of Lake Mead, the United States' largest reservoir. Fangfang Yao, a surface hydrologist at the University of Virginia who led the study in the journal Science, said 56% of the decline in natural lakes was driven by climate warming and human consumption, with warming "the larger share of that". Climate scientists generally think that the world's arid areas will become drier under climate change, and wet areas will get wetter, but the study found significant water loss even in humid regions. "This should not be overlooked," Yao said. Scientists assessed almost 2,000 large lakes using satellite measurements combined with climate and hydrological models. They found that unsustainable human use, changes in rainfall and run-off, sedimentation, and rising temperatures have driven lake levels down globally, with 53% of lakes showing a decline from 1992 to 2020. Nearly 2 billion people, who live in a drying lake basin, are directly affected and many regions have faced shortages in recent years. Scientists and campaigners have long said it is necessary to prevent global warming beyond 1.5 degrees Celisus (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) to avoid the most catastrophic consequences of climate change. The world is currently warming at a rate of around 1.1C (1.9F). Thursday's study found unsustainable human use dried up lakes, such as the Aral Sea in Central Asia and the Dead Sea in the Middle East, while lakes in Afghanistan, Egypt and Mongolia were hit by rising temperatures, which can increase water loss to the atmosphere. Water levels rose in a quarter of the lakes, often as a result of dam construction in remote areas such as the Inner Tibetan Plateau. The KwaZulu-Natal province is revolutionising farming to increase productivity, through the use of the latest technology to water crops, monitor pesticides in fields and grow the economy. The Smart Farming Project was launched by Dube-Ncube, in partnership with Fuze Institute and the University of KwaZulu-Natal, as part of a province-wide Smart Province drive to boost food security and economic growth at Fuzes Ukulinga Research Farm. The farm has been the site of unique and ground-breaking research in several agricultural disciplines, providing an invaluable resource for close to 5,000 smallholder farmers in the region. The innovative solution incorporates state-of-the-art technology, including smart sensors, automated irrigation, crop monitoring and automated harvesting, amongst others. The smart farming system is designed to integrate seamlessly into any farming operation, regardless of the size of the farm. The key components include a smart greenhouse which incorporates smart automated irrigation systems, sustainable energy generation, and a mobile app for real-time insights and remote control of greenhouse functions. Unveiling the project at Ukulinga Research Farm in Mkhondeni, Pietermaritzburg, on Saturday, Dube-Ncube emphasised the importance of investing in the province, and the role of technology in farming. "We are proud to launch this ground-breaking smart farming technology solution that combines innovation, efficiency and sustainability. Investing in technology is key to growing our economy and ensuring sustainable food production in the region. "We need to embrace the concept of smart farming and the use of technology, to ensure that many more people are employed in the value chain and we have resilient farming," Dube-Ncube said. The launch highlighted the importance of smart farming technologies to upskill and capacitate residents in the province, particularly rural women and youth, to improve the quality of life for rural communities, by reducing the need for manual labour and providing new opportunities for economic development. The Premier said government investment through Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) Funded Projects, will ensure that 14 771 food handlers are trained and employed by the provincial Education Department. She noted that, with an average of five members per cooperative, each supporting an average of three family members, Fuze Institute Smart Farming initiative will uplift close to 80 000 lives out of poverty and boost family incomes. "Over and above that, more than 3 000 unemployed youth graduates will be trained in smart farming, including agricultural drone operators. The smart farming technologies we introduced today can help farmers improve their sustainability by reducing their water usage and their reliance on pesticides and herbicides," the Premier said. Moreover, she said, sensors can be used to monitor soil moisture and nutrient levels, and drones can be used to survey crops for pests and diseases. South African townships have become a powerful and untapped market for brands looking to expand their reach and connect with diverse consumer segments. These vibrant communities offer unique characteristics and consumer behaviours that present numerous opportunities for businesses to thrive. Let's explore why branding spaza shops in South Africa is an exceptional opportunity for brands: Before After Golden Cloud and Ace spaza branding Key Facts: Massive market: Over 50% of South Africa's urban population resides in townships and informal settlements, making it a prime target for brand exposure and engagement. Substantial spending: Spaza shops generate R390m in annual sales nationwide, with an average individual spend of R50 per day. Township buying power: The estimated total income of the township population amounts to R568bn per year, showcasing the economic potential for brands. Impressive return on engagement: 25% of the population enquires about brands advertised on spaza shops, indicating high levels of consumer engagement and interest. Cost-effective branding: It costs as little as R40 per day to brand a spaza shop, offering an affordable way to establish a presence and drive sales. At MegaVision Media, we specialise in providing comprehensive solutions designed specifically for brands seeking to capitalise on spaza shop advertising. With our extensive network of over 5,000 unbranded geo-tagged high-traffic spazas nationwide, we offer unparalleled visibility and reach. Additionally, we offer optional services such as direct delivery of seeding stock to spazas, and flexible maintenance options, allowing you to customise your campaign according to your needs. How we help you become successful with the least barriers possible: Negotiation with spaza owners: We facilitate discussions and negotiations with spaza owners to secure optimal placement and visibility for your brand within their shops. We facilitate discussions and negotiations with spaza owners to secure optimal placement and visibility for your brand within their shops. Shop makeover: Our services include the painting of spaza shops, creating an attractive and eye-catching environment for your brand to thrive. Our services include the painting of spaza shops, creating an attractive and eye-catching environment for your brand to thrive. Branded chalkboards: We provide branded chalkboards that serve as a canvas for writing specials and promotional messages, ensuring maximum exposure for your brand's offerings. We provide branded chalkboards that serve as a canvas for writing specials and promotional messages, ensuring maximum exposure for your brand's offerings. Custom spaza name and brand signage: We create custom signage, featuring your brand name and logo, to reinforce brand recognition and create a lasting impression. MegaVision Media conducted a successful spaza branding case study for a blue-chip client in the maize business. The findings were remarkable, with spaza shop owners developing a strong affiliation with the brand and becoming enthusiastic advocates for their products. Before After Eskort spaza branding Case Study Findings: Increased product availability: 75% of shop owners who previously did not stock the maize brand's product confirmed that they began stocking it after the spaza branding. This highlights the persuasive power of spaza shop branding in influencing product availability. 75% of shop owners who previously did not stock the maize brand's product confirmed that they began stocking it after the spaza branding. This highlights the persuasive power of spaza shop branding in influencing product availability. Consumer demand generation: 95% of shop owners reported that once patrons saw the spaza branding, they specifically asked for that particular product. This showcases the strong influence of spaza shop branding in generating consumer demand and preference. 95% of shop owners reported that once patrons saw the spaza branding, they specifically asked for that particular product. This showcases the strong influence of spaza shop branding in generating consumer demand and preference. Boost in sales: A significant 88% of shop owners experienced an increase in sales after their spaza shops were branded. This substantial growth can be attributed to the enhanced visibility and appeal created by the branding efforts. A significant 88% of shop owners experienced an increase in sales after their spaza shops were branded. This substantial growth can be attributed to the enhanced visibility and appeal created by the branding efforts. Favourable perception: 100% of shop owners confirmed that patrons loved the new spaza branding and agreed that it made the spaza shop more appealing. This positive reception indicates that spaza shop branding not only attracts customers but also enhances the overall perception of the shop. To ensure that you have real-time insights into the performance of your spaza shop branding efforts, we offer the ConnectSpaza App. This powerful tool offers the following capabilities: Real-time before and after pictures: Capture and compare images of spaza shops before and after branding, allowing you to visually track the impact of your marketing initiatives. Capture and compare images of spaza shops before and after branding, allowing you to visually track the impact of your marketing initiatives. Geo-mapped spaza locations: Easily locate and map the spaza shops where your brand is being promoted, providing valuable geographical data for targeted marketing strategies. Easily locate and map the spaza shops where your brand is being promoted, providing valuable geographical data for targeted marketing strategies. Product availability feedback: Receive timely feedback on the availability of your products in spaza shops, allowing you to address any potential supply chain or distribution issues. Receive timely feedback on the availability of your products in spaza shops, allowing you to address any potential supply chain or distribution issues. Current point-of-sale material (POSM) visibility: Stay informed about the placement and visibility of your POSM materials at spaza stores, ensuring consistent and impactful branding. Stay informed about the placement and visibility of your POSM materials at spaza stores, ensuring consistent and impactful branding. Stock purchasing information: Gain insights into where spaza owners purchase their stock, helping you optimise distribution channels and strengthen partnerships. Gain insights into where spaza owners purchase their stock, helping you optimise distribution channels and strengthen partnerships. Price surveys and business intelligence reporting: Conduct price surveys and access comprehensive business intelligence reports through a convenient dashboard, enabling you to make data-driven decisions. ConnectSpaza App By branding spaza shops, brands tap into a thriving market, cultivate loyalty, and establish mutually beneficial relationships with spaza shop owners. To tap into this market and propel your brand to new heights, partner with MegaVision Media today. Contact us to discuss how our comprehensive spaza shop branding solutions can drive your brand's visibility and impact. Phone: 011 803 8433 Email: az.oc.aidemvm@ofni Website: megavisionmedia.co.za Empower your brand, support spaza owners, and make a lasting difference in the community with MegaVision Media. Having concluded its investigation of complaints lodged by the South African Police Service (SAPS) for its procurement of personal protective equipment (PPE) during the national state of disaster, the Competition Commission has referred the case to the Competition Tribunal for prosecution. Image source: Anna Shvets from Pexels The Commission has found that Red Roses Africa (Red Roses), previously registered as Mainstreet 669, charged excessive prices to the SAPS when responding to a request for a quote for the supply of bulk hand sanitisers. In March 2020, Tshwane-based Red Roses responded to a SAPS request for quotes for the supply of bulk hand sanitiser in 25L containers. Hand sanitisers were required by SAPS to combat the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic. Red Roses was subsequently appointed and supplied SAPS with 90,000 25L containers of hand sanitisers at a price of R4,700 per container with a gross markup of 236%. The Commissions investigations found the price Red Roses charged SAPS during the national state of disaster is excessive and contravene section 8(1)(a) of the Competition Act, read with Regulation 4 of the Consumer Protection Regulations and National Disaster Management Regulations and Directions in Government Notice No. 350 of Government Gazette no. 43116 (Consumer Protection Regulations). The Commission also found that Red Roses price does not correspond to the increase in the cost of providing these 25L hand sanitisers. The excessive price was exploitative and directed at taking advantage of the SAPS at a time when PPEs, and particularly hand sanitisers, were in high demand, Commissioner Doris Tshepe explained. This is the third Covid-19-related public procurement case the Commission has referred to the Tribunal. Other price gouging cases Two other cases in the context of a public procurement process have been successfully prosecuted by the Commission and determined by the Tribunal. The first prosecution of price gouging in relation to public procurement relates to the April 2022 matter where another SAPS supplier, Tsutsumani Business Enterprises (Tsutsumani), was found guilty of price gouging in its supply of face masks in 2020. Tsutsumani was fined R3.4m in administrative penalties by Tribunal. The Tsutsumani matter is currently under review before the Competition Appeal Court. In April this year, BlueCollar Occupational Health (BlueCollar) acting on behalf of and/or within its partnership with Ateltico Investments (Ateltico), was found guilty of excessive pricing of hand sanitiser during the Covid-19 pandemic. The Tribunal also imposed an administrative penalty of R3,550,000 for overcharging the SAPS for the bulk supply of 10,000 25L containers of hand sanitisers in 2020. A shipment of US oil is headed to South Africa for the first time in two years and destined for a Glencore-owned refinery in Cape Town that has restarted operations after an explosion shuttered it in 2020, according to ship tracking data and a source. Oil tanker Sonangol Porto Amboim is docked at the South Texas Gateway terminal in Ingleside, Texas, US. 2023. Source: Reuters/Arathy Somasekhar US oil exports this year hit a record 4.5 million barrels per day as competitive pricing for US grades and China's reopening after Covid-19 have fueled global demand for oil. Tanker Sonangol Porto Amboim, carrying light sweet oil, left Corpus Christi, Texas, on 16 May for Saldanha Bay, according to ship tracking information from Refinitiv Eikon and energy data provider Kpler. South Africa gets most of its oil from West and Central Africa as well as Saudi Arabia, according to Kpler data. But competitive pricing for US crude and changes to oil flows since Russia's invasion of Ukraine have opened new markets. The last shipment of US oil went to South Africa in May 2021, US customs data showed. Glencore refinery producing at planned capacity The 850,000 barrel-cargo of West Texas Light was purchased by Swiss-commodities trader Glencore, a person familiar with the matter said. Glencore's majority-owned Astron Energy restarted production at its 100,000 barrel-per-day Cape Town refinery nearly three years after a deadly explosion shuttered operations and killed two workers. Glencore declined to comment on the shipment. Astron confirmed that the refinery restarted as part of a phased process and was producing at its planned capacity. Astron, which has the second-largest retail fuel network in southern Africa, receives its oil from tankers discharging in Saldanha Bay and transports the oil to the Cape Town refinery via pipeline, according to the refiner's website. Play Sense, which is an independent preschool that offers play-based learning through its micro-schools online platform, has secured an undisclosed funding round from Grindstone Ventures as it prepares for expansion. Play Sense co-founder Meg Faure | image supplied The funding support to Play Sense will enable it to enhance its franchise model and accelerate growth. With Grindstones support, Play Sense is well-positioned for success and committed to expanding its reach in providing high-quality early childhood education to children globally. The investment also fits well into Grindstones mandate of enabling global expansion for South African startups. Play Sense is a Grindstone Ventures portfolio company, a fund that invests in companies with strong intellectual property and exponential growth potential, with the aim of generating long-term capital growth and sustainable cash yields for investors. Catherine Young, managing partner of Grindstone Ventures, says: We are excited to have Play Sense join our portfolio of investee companies, as they are reimagining early child education by offering a secure bridge between home and preschool, creating an environment that supports collaboration, creativity, self-regulation and adaptability. Perfect ingredients to spark a desire for lifelong learning in future generations. According to co-founder Meg Faure, Play Sense provides a cost-effective and highly-scalable model for progressive preschool education. This empowers women who are passionate about early childhood to become successful entrepreneurs and create lasting impact in their communities both through education and economic empowerment, Faure says. The Play Sense franchise programme includes everything needed to start a profitable playschool at one of the most affordable prices available on the market. Play Sense combines various types of play to develop toddlers' and preschoolers' core skills and school readiness. Play Sense's unique micro-school model enables teachers to set up their own playschools at home or in a space provided by one of the families in the group. The franchise programme dubbed a "business in a box," equips entrepreneurs with comprehensive training, a Play Kit, and operational, admin, marketing, and teacher support. Additionally, Play Sense assists in finding and securing loans for entrepreneurs. Grindstone Ventures is a majority female-founded and managed fund with its anchor funder being The SA SME Fund, headed by Ketso Gordhan. Along with Play Sense, Grindstone Ventures has seven other portfolio companies in their fold, including AgrilogiQ, Welo Health, Ma]er Industries, Drive to Own, SNci, Locstat and Locumbase. If insurance is a grudge purchase - at least when it comes to short-term contracts covering your possessions - then there are some forms of which can be likened more to a gift. Thats life insurance and funeral insurance. Its what you leave to your family when youre goneso hopefully theyll survive financially without you. It wont bring you back or ease the pain of loss, but it takes away some worries. Simple and effective Clientele Life has, for years, being doing the sort of wors case scenario ads and its been doing them well, especially considering that the subjects of dying, or getting landed with an extortionate bill for a medical procedure, are ones most people want to avoid. Yet, as they say, you cant avoid taxes, nor can you avoid lifes other certainty. This week, I noticed a recently made ad from Clientele Funeral, raising once again the difficult subject of death. This one focuses on the loss and, specifically, the large hole left in family lives by the death of a loved one. Its simple, but effective. In each of a number of settings, we see happy people together a retired couple dancing, a young father reaching out to a child while its mother looks on; a family celebration of different generations. The worst-case scenario sees a loved one slowly erased from each scene, giving a real gut-punch feel of the vacuum left by bereavement. The message, in this case, is that you should leave your family a little gift, in the form of a funeral policy, which will help them cover the costs of the funeral but also give them something extra to get by. Its both a brand ad touting Clientele Funeral as offering these comprehensive plans but also a retail one, because there is a special offer of covering one of your payments for you in 2023and, additionally, a call-to-action WhatsApp number. Clientele brand ambassadors Lilian Dube and Desmond Dube, by now synonymous with Clientele, lay out the possibilities in a way which is both respectful and enticing. And thats not easy. This is not the sort of advertising which will appeal to everybody and there will, no doubt, be those who are actively turned off by it. But it speaks to a target market and it does so very well indeed. Clearly, the fact that Clientele continues to advertise on such a scale indicates that its marketing is hitting the spot. So, another Orchid to Clientele. Sloppy work Many companies do have good stories to tell and an effective PR company will not only record and tell those stories but will help them get placed in the media, either as owned (advertisements or advertorials) or earned (editorial coverage). What never ceases to amaze me, then, is how big companies are paying out big money for bad content and the placing that content where everyone can see it. It is even more infuriating that, for want of a decent story teller, a companys positive story gets buried in mediocrity or confusion. Once such example this week was a print advertorial in the Sunday Times, by the H&M group and a company called BKB. For a start, the headline made no sense: H&M and BKB launch Biodiversity restoration and regenerative land management currently underway to support South African Farmers. How can you launch a programme currently underway? That already started to annoy me. Then, what about explaining, in simple terms, what the companies are about? The H&M Group, I assume, is the multibrand clothing company while BKB Ltd is, the advertorial tells us, the biggest supplier of RWS ( Responsible Wool Standard) globally and BKB is the single largest RWS broker in the world. A proper story teller as opposed to someone compiling something for the auditors would have expanded on what RWS is and why it is important in an increasingly eco- and -ethically-conscious world. never mind celebrating the global success of BKB. Heaven knows we need whatever good news we can get in this country at the moment. The programmes also seem a lot more interesting and ecologically important than they are made out to be in an advertorial which is so tedious it seems designed to get people to turn the page. (To be fair: other outlets which used the advertorial did put better, and more logical, headlines on it. Although that didnt make it any more readable) This is a huge opportunity lost: This is a good story which has been thrown away by whichever agency the companies hired to do this sloppy job. There are plenty of professional writers out there many of them ex-journalists who do fantastic story telling jobs for clients. What a pity H&M and BKB couldnt find one of them it would have saved them getting an Onion for wasting an opportunity to showcase their good work. The National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF) has funded eight South African filmmakers to participate at this year's Cannes Film Festival for film screenings, panel sessions, and project pitching opportunities. Image supplied. The(NFVF is positioning the South African film industry at the 76th edition of the Festival de Cannes, from 16 to 27 May 2023 Some of the South African films participating at the festival are Ninja Moon Showdown, The Omen, Extravagant Ways To Say Goodbye, The Last Days of Elizabeth Costello, Riel and Moments of Dying, among others. The (NFVF), an agency of the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture (DSAC), is positioning the South African (SA) film industry at the 76th edition of the Festival de Cannes, that started last week and ends on 27 May 2023. For this years Cannes Film Festival the NFVF has partnered with Wesgro, the Industrial Development Corporation of South Africa (IDC), the Eastern Cape Development Corporation (ECDC) and the KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) Film Commission. The NFVF is pleased to see more South African productions at this years Cannes Film Festival and is proud that an iconic and historically impactful South African film, Sarafina, has been selected for the 2023 Official Selection Cannes Classics. The NFVF is excited for the cast and crew of this legacy Mzansi film production. Positioning SA as a Film Destination of Choice It is a great honour for the NFVF and the talented filmmakers that we have funded to be part of the cultural and economic melting pot that is the Cannes Film Festival, says Thobela Mayinje, NFVF Acting CEO. One of our objectives at the festival this year is to encourage and foster co-production opportunities, while also positioning South Africa as a filming destination of choice for foreign productions, adds Mayinje. During the festival, the NFVF hosted a panel session with the theme Positioning SA as a Film Destination of Choice. The session focused on positioning South Africa as a production destination of choice and will include different industry role players. This includes the promotion of the South African public finance institutions by attracting inwards investment, and offering tax and rebate incentives that are favourable to foreign productions. The NFVF also hosted a networking cocktail. An official profile since 1997 The South African film industry has had an official presence at the Cannes Film Festival since 1997, preceding its participation at major film festivals around the world since 2000. This has raised the profile of South African film and TV content and the industry at large. Audio-visual Co-Production Treaty South Africas film participation in this years festival is more significant following the signing of the amended Audio-visual Co-Production Treaty between South Africa and France in 2022. The amended treaty accommodates features, short films and serialised content for all platforms, including television and digital content. This has paved the way for a broader offering from the SA Film industry to the Cannes Film Festival. (Photo : SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images) Hunter Biden has been warned that if witnesses are summoned to depose in his ongoing child support case, his legal situation could become "much worse." Jonathan Turley, a legal analyst, cautioned on Sunday that Hunter Biden's legal situation could become "much worse" if witnesses testify in his pending child support case. Hunter Biden, the son of former President Joe Biden, is in court seeking a reduction in the monthly child support payments he sends to Lunden Roberts, a former Washington, DC employee who gave birth to his daughter, Navy, in 2018. Hunter Biden Child Support Case A 2019 DNA test confirmed that Hunter Biden is the father of a child with whom he has had no contact. The president's son stated that he paid Roberts the agreed-upon quantity of $20,000 per month. However, the Arkansas judge supervising the case, Judge Holly Meyer, ordered him to appear for a sworn deposition to address questions regarding his financial resources earlier this month. This would include income from his various investments, commercial transactions, and original painting sales. In a blog post on his website, Turley cited a Free Beacon article from Wednesday that stated Roberts intends to summon Hunter Biden's business associates and the art dealer who sold his paintings as witnesses if the case goes to trial. Elie Honig, a former US assistant attorney and CNN legal analyst, reiterated Turley's comments from earlier this month regarding how the child support case involving Hunter Biden would present a legal challenge. Honig added that this case would complicate matters for Hunter Biden, who is also the subject of federal investigations into his business dealings. Republicans alleged that the Bidens received millions of dollars from foreign governments. According to Newsweek, the GOP-led House Oversight Committee released the bank records allegedly implicating the Biden family in an influence-peddling conspiracy. The warning comes as House Republicans this week detailed what they deem to be disturbing new information regarding the family and finances of President Biden, Daily Express reported. The smoking pistol, according to the GOP, are recently obtained financial records associated with the president's son Hunter, brother James Biden, and a growing number of associates who received millions of dollars from foreign entities in China and Romania. They allege, without evidence, that the payments were part of a vast conspiracy to enrich themselves through the family name. More than 150 suspicious activity reports served as a guide for congressional Republicans as they followed what they call the Bidens' complex financial money trail. The confidential reports, known as SARs for short, are typically routine, with the government being alerted to larger financial transactions automatically. The submission of a SARs report is not sufficient evidence of misconduct. Read Also: Transgender Mississippi Student Misses Graduation After Being Barred from Wearing Dress, Heels Hunter Biden Took Private Jet To Attend Court Hearing Meanwhile, a report that Hunter Biden took a private aircraft to a court hearing has prompted online backlash from conservatives. Saturday, the New York Post published a report claiming to have seen flight records for a private aircraft that the president's son purportedly used to travel to Arkansas in late April for a court appearance. According to reports, Hunter Biden's close friend and legal adviser, Kevin Morris, is the owner of the $6 million jet. Despite contending in court that he should be allowed to pay less child support to Roberts, which the newspaper described as him "crying poverty," the flight cost between $55,000 and $117,000, according to the documents. Per Newsweek, Hunter Biden traveled a total of 7,326 miles from Washington, DC, to an airport in Jackson County, Arkansas, and then returned to Washington after the hearing. Due to his international business transactions, Hunter Biden has long been a source of conspiracies, some of which the president has been accused of being a part of. The report sparked the anticipated outrage of conservatives on social media. The founder of Turning Point USA, Charlie Kirk, compared the flight's most expensive estimate to Hunter Biden's child support payments. The Biden family has been accused by Republicans of obtaining millions of dollars from foreign governments. The Republican-led House Oversight Committee disclosed bank records earlier this month, alleging that they demonstrate the Biden family's involvement in an influence-peddling conspiracy. During Joe Biden's tenure as vice president during the Obama administration, the Biden family allegedly received millions of dollars from a number of Chinese and Romanian corporations, according to a 36-page memo containing allegedly "thousands" of bank records. However, the memo lacked evidence that explicitly implicated the president or any member of his family in criminal activity. Hunter Biden's laptop reportedly contained an email from 2015 from Vadym Pozharskyi, an adviser to the Ukrainian energy company Burisma board who sought a meeting with his father when he was vice president. In recent years, leakers have accused the Biden administration of mishandling the federal investigation into Hunter Biden, politicizing federal law enforcement agencies, and concealing evidence related to a "criminal conspiracy" Joe Biden allegedly engaged in while serving as vice president. Whistleblower protections are codified in federal law, and these disclosures are protected by federal law. The protocol dictates that a whistleblower should initially approach an immediate supervisor or the supervisor in command of the issue. If the whistleblower believes that approaching a supervisor could endanger his or her safety or that the supervisor is implicated in potential malfeasance, he or she may go directly to the agency's inspector general. The inspector general can then communicate with Congress when necessary, as per Fox News. Related Article: Hunter Biden's Child Support Case Moves Forward in Arkansas Court @ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Republican lawmakers in the House and Senate have demanded answers from the National Institutes of Health over a two year study involving prescribing gender changing hormones to hundreds of children, as it emerged that two of the youths ended up killing themselves. As Fox News reports, the study titled Psychosocial Functioning in Transgender Youth after 2 Years of Hormones, examined 315 individuals between the ages of 12 and 20 who identify as transgender and were given cross-sex hormones. The study, involving 240 children, was funded by NIH which admits that two young people tragically died by suicide. Despite the deaths, the NIH carried on the study to its conclusion. Over a dozen lawmakers, including Lauren Boebert, Marco Rubio and Rand Paul have penned a letter to the NIH director Dr. Lawrence Tabak. It's almost like it was more important to get a certain result than to find the best result. Mark Mazurik (@MarkMazurik) May 22, 2023 The letter notes that During this study, two young people died by suicide and eleven reported suicidal ideation, adding that Rather than shutting the study down after such serious adverse events, the researchers published their paper, concluding that the study was a success because cross-sex hormones had altered subjects physical appearance and improved psychosocial functioning. Researchers assert that During the study period, appearance congruence, positive affect, and life satisfaction increased, and depression and anxiety symptoms decreased. They also claim that despite 11 kids expressing a desire to kill themselves and two actually committing suicide, Increases in appearance congruence were associated with concurrent increases in positive affect and life satisfaction and decreases in depression and anxiety symptoms. North Carolina Senator Ted Budd, another co-signer of the GOP letter described the study as absolutely tragic, charging that those involved are in search of an agenda and justifying an agenda, theyre not really about childrens safety as weve seen from the suicides. The Republicans further note in their letter that the four clinics and some of the researchers who conducted this experiment are outspoken advocates for conducting gender transition interventions on children. Were the individuals who tragically died by suicide while participating in this study minors? the lawmakers ask, adding Were participants and their parents given the opportunity to reconsider their consent and withdraw from this research in light of the suicides? Watch: Watch the latest video at foxnews.com *** Follow on Twitter: Follow @PrisonPlanet Brand new merch now available! Get it at https://www.pjwshop.com/ ALERT! In the age of mass Silicon Valley censorship It is crucial that we stay in touch. We need you to sign up for our free newsletter here. Support our sponsor Turbo Force a supercharged boost of clean energy without the comedown. Also, we urgently need your financial support here. The wars the United States waged and fueled in Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, Yemen, and Pakistan following September 11, 2001 caused at least 4.5 million deaths, according to a report by Brown University. Nearly a million of the people who lost their lives died in fighting, whereas some 3.6 to 3.7 million were indirect deaths, due to health and economic problems caused by the wars, such as diseases, malnutrition, and destruction of infrastructure. These were the conclusions of a study conducted by the Cost of Wars project at Brown Universitys Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs. The report also analyzed the effects of wars in Libya and Somalia, which were sponsored by Washington. The scholars estimated that, in the countries studied, there are still today 7.6 million children under age 5 who are suffering from acute malnutrition, meaning they are not getting enough food, literally wasting to skin and bones, putting these children at greater risk of death. In Afghanistan and Yemen, this includes nearly 50% of children; and, in Somalia, close to 60%. In a separate study in 2021, Brown Universitys Cost of Wars project found that the United States post-9/11 wars displaced at least 38 million people more than any conflict since 1900, excluding World War II. This 2021 report noted that 38 million is a very conservative estimate. The total displaced by the U.S. post-9/11 wars could be closer to 4960 million, which would rival World War II displacement. The May 2023 study, which estimated that US post-9/11 wars killed 4.5 to 4.6 million people, emphasized that large numbers of civilians are still perishing today, due of the lasting consequences of these violent conflicts. Although the US military withdrew from Afghanistan in 2021, today Afghans are suffering and dying from war-related causes at higher rates than ever, the report noted. In addition to the staggering death tolls, millions more civilians were wounded and suffered other incredible hardships due to these wars. For instance, for every person who dies of a waterborne disease because war destroyed their access to safe drinking water and waste treatment facilities, there are many more who sicken, the study highlighted. The 2023 report highlights many longterm and underacknowledged consequences of war for human health, emphasizing that some groups, particularly women and children, suffer the brunt of these ongoing impacts. People living in poverty and those from marginalized groups had higher rates of death and lower life expectancies. The document stressed how the post-9/11 wars have caused widespread economic hardship for people in the war zones, and how poverty, in turn, has been accompanied by food insecurity and malnutrition, which have led to diseases and death, particularly amongst children under age five. In virtually all wars, indirect deaths represent the majority of the lives lost. The Brown University researchers pointed out, for example, In conflict areas, children are 20 times more likely to die of diarrheal disease than from the conflict itself. Damage to infrastructure that happens during wars is likewise very deadly. Hospitals, clinics, and medical supplies, water and sanitation systems, electricity, roads and traffic signals, infrastructure for farming and shipping goods, and much more are destroyed, damaged and disrupted, with lasting consequences for human health, the report noted. Economic problems caused by these post-9/11 wars have been devastating. Two decades of US-NATO military occupation of Afghanistan left behind a borderline apocalyptic economic crisis. More than half of Afghanistans population is in extreme poverty, living on less than $1.90 per day. A staggering 95% of Afghans do not have enough food. In Yemen, more than 17.4 million people are food insecure, and 85,000 children under age 5 have likely died from starvation. Even in countries where large numbers of US troops werent deployed on the ground, Washingtons wars have destroyed the lives of countless civilians. US drone strikes in Yemen and Somalia significantly impact peoples livelihood sources, killing workers, destroying farms and businesses, and bankrupting families. The severe impact of such economic setbacks on populations who depend on the land for their survival cannot be underestimated, the report emphasized. Washingtons so-called counter-terrorism laws in Somalia have also hampered humanitarian relief efforts, intensifying the effects of famine, the researchers noted. Hundreds of thousands of children have died from famine in the East African nation. The Brown University studies are part of a growing body of scholarship documenting the death tolls of post-9/11 US wars. A 2015 report by the Nobel Prize-winning group International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW) concluded that 13 years of Washingtons so-called War on Terror caused a total of 1.3 million deaths, including 1 million in Iraq, 220,000 in Afghanistan, and 80,000 in Pakistan. IPPNW cautioned that this 2015 figure was only a conservative estimate. The total number of deaths in the three countries named above could also be in excess of 2 million, whereas a figure below 1 million is extremely unlikely. The Anti-Defamation League ran an "extensive, multi-dimensional counterintelligence operation" complete with "undercover agents with code names" to destroy the influential anti-communist John Birch Society, internal ADL documents reveal. George Washington University professor Matthew Dallek was given access to "some" of the ADL's records on the spying operation from their historical archive for his new book, "Birchers: How the John Birch Society Radicalized the American Right." From The Jewish Telegraphic Agency, "The historian who uncovered the ADL's spying operation against the far-right John Birch Society": [Mathew] Dallek, who grew up in a Reform Jewish household in Los Angeles, recently sat with the Jewish Telegraphic Agency to discuss the rise of the Birchers, how the ADL infiltrated their ranks and whether such tactics are justified in the name of fighting extremism. [...] JTA: Before we get into the Jewish aspect of the book, meaning the chapter on the Anti-Defamation League's relationship with the John Birch Society, let's take a step back. Who are so-called Birchers? Why do they matter? Mathew Dallek: The John Birch Society was a household name in the 1960s, becoming the emblem of far-right extremism. It didn't have huge numbers, but it did penetrate the culture and the national consciousness. Its leader, Robert Welch, had argued at one point that President Dwight Eisenhower was a dedicated agent of a communist conspiracy taking over the United States. Welch formed the John Birch Society to educate the American people about the nature of the communist threat. In its heyday, the group had about 60,000 to 100,000 members, organized into small chapters. They sent out literature trying to give members roadmaps or ideas for what they could do. They believed a mass education of the public was needed because traditional two-party politics was not going to be very effective at exposing the communist threat. They would form front groups such as Impeach Earl Warren [the Supreme Court's chief justice] or Support Your Local Police. They tried to ban certain books that they viewed as socialistic from being used in schools. Some Birchers ran for school board seats and protested at libraries. Critics feared that the Birchers were a growing fascist or authoritarian group and that if they were not sidelined politically and culturally then the country could be overrun. The Nation magazine wrote that Birchers essentially had given their followers an invitation to engage in civil war, guerrilla-style. Those fears sparked a big debate about democracy. How does one sustain democracy and, at the height of the Cold War and in the shadow of World War II, Nazi fascist Germany, and the Holocaust? As you were researching, you came across a trove of historical internal documents from the ADL in the archives of the American Jewish Historical Society in New York. Why did you devote a chapter to what you found in those documents? What did those files reveal to you about the John Birch Society? These papers are a goldmine. They're this incredible and often detailed window into the far-right and, in particular, the John Birch Society. They show the ADL had an extensive, multi-dimensional counterintelligence operation that they were running against the Birch Society. People knew at the time that the ADL was attending events where Birchers were speaking. But the ADL also had undercover agents with code names, who were able to infiltrate the society's headquarters in Belmont, Massachusetts, and various chapter officers. They dug up financial and employment information about individual Birchers. And they not only used the material for their own newsletters and press releases, but they also fed information to the media. [...] Some critics of the ADL today say the organization has strayed from its mission by focusing not just on antisemitism but on a wider array of causes. But from reading your work, it sounds like the ADL even then took an expansive view of its role, examining not just direct attacks on Jews but also how the political environment can jeopardize Jews. Am I getting that right, and why did the ADL devote so many resources to a group like the John Birch Society? So, a few things: It's the late '50s and '60s, and a civil rights coalition is emerging. Benjamin Epstein, the national director of the ADL, was friendly with Thurgood Marshall, the Supreme Court justice, and Martin Luther King. John F. Kennedy went to an ADL event and praised the ADL for speaking out very strongly in defense of democracy and pushing for the equal treatment of all Americans. Isadore Zack, who helped lead the spy operation, at one point wrote to his colleagues that it was only in a democracy that the Jewish community has been allowed to flourish and so, if you want to defend Jewish Americans, you also have to defend democracy. There certainly were other threats at the time, but the Birch Society was seen by liberal critics, including the ADL, as a very secretive group that promoted conspiracy theories about communists who often became conflated with Jews. Would you consider the ADL successful in its campaign against the Birchers? They were successful. They used surreptitious and in some cases underhanded means to expose the antisemitism and the racism and also interest in violence or the violent rhetoric of the Birch Society in the 1960s. The ADL was at the tip of the spear of a liberal coalition that included the White House, sometimes the Department of Justice, depending on the issue, the NAACP, Americans for Democratic Action, labor unions, the union-backed Group Research Inc., which was tracking the far-right as well. The ADL was one of the most, if not the most effective at constraining and discrediting the society. Clearly, however, the Birchers' ideas never died. They lived on and made a comeback. It's somewhat ironic that you reveal the existence of this spying apparatus devoted to targeting an extremist and antisemitic group in the 1960s given the infamy the ADL would earn in a later era, the 1990s, for allegations that they colluded with police agencies in San Francisco to spy on and harass political activists. They eventually settled with the Arab American, Black and American Indian groups that brought a federal civil suit. I know you didn't study these revelations, which are outside the scope of your book, but could you perhaps reflect on why undercover tactics were seen as necessary or justified? It's important to remember that in the mid-20th century, law enforcement in the United States was often led by antisemites or people who were much more concerned with alleged internal communist threats the threat from the left. From the ADL's vantage point, one could not rely on the government entities that were by law and by design supposed to protect Jewish Americans. There was a sense that this work had to be done, at least in part, outside of the parameters of the government. When I first discovered the ADL's spying, I didn't quite know what to make of it. But I realized they weren't just spying to spy, they exposed a lot of scary things, with echoes in our own times like easy access to firearms, a hatred of the government, a denigration and defamation of minority groups. And this was all happening in the shadow of the Holocaust and World War II. I became much more sympathetic; they were very effective, and they had a vision of equality of treatment for all Americans. It's obviously controversial. I try not to shy away from it. But they had a lot of good reasons to fight back right and to fight back in this nonviolent way. That last thought brings to mind another, right-wing Jewish group that existed in this era of taking things into our own hands, that did use violence, explosives even. You mean the Jewish Defense League, led by Meir Kahane. Yes, exactly. He was a Bircher. Toward the end of my book, I mention that he was a member for a while, under his alias Michael King. Antisemitism is on the rise, and lots of initiatives are being organized to address it, both by existing groups like the ADL and new ones. The ADL's budget has almost doubled over the past seven years. I am seeing Jews talk of fighting back and taking things into their own hands. And we are in this politically precarious movement in American history, all of which suggests parallels to the era you examined. What kind of wisdom can we glean from examining the ADL's secret and public fight against the John Birch Society as people who care about the issues affecting Jews today? A lot of liberals in the 1960s and a lot of the leadership at the ADL grasped the axiom that things can always get worse. In 2015-2016, you'll recall, there was Trump's demonization of Mexican immigrants, and the so-called "alt-right" around him and his campaign and expressions of vitriol by people like Steve Bannon. There was an assumption among a lot of Americans and among a lot of Jewish Americans that the fringe right the antisemites, the explicit racists, the white supremacists that there's not a majority for them and they can never achieve power. If you go back and you look at Trump's closing 2016 campaign ad, it's textbook antisemitism. He flashes on screen these wealthy Jewish international bankers, and he argues that basically, there's a conspiracy of these global elites who are stealing the wealth of honest Americans. There's also 2017, the white supremacists in Charlottesville, who said "Jews will not replace us" and Trump saying there are fine people on both sides. The sense that democracy is incredibly fragile is not just a theory or a concept: It's an actuality, the sense as well, that the United States has only been a multiracial democracy for not very long and a haven for Jews for not that long either. The work that the ADL and the NAACP and other groups did to try to constrain and discredit as fringe and extremist still goes on today. It's harder to do for all sorts of reasons today including social media and the loss of faith in institutions. But it still goes on. You see the importance of institutional guardrails including the Department of Justice that is prosecuting 1,000 Jan. 6 insurrectionists. The last thing I'll say is that one of the admirable things in the 1960s about the ADL and the liberal coalition it belonged to is that it built support for landmark legislation like the Immigration Act of 1965, the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and the Voting Rights Act of '65. And a coalition eventually fell apart, but it was powerful, reminding us why Jewish American groups should care about or focus on issues that don't directly affect Jewish people. City Journal has more in their review of Dallek's book: Dallek's most significant contribution involves revealing a "previously undisclosed counterintelligence operation waged by the [Anti-Defamation League] to infiltrate and dig up damaging information about the John Birch Society." He notes how the so-called Birch Watchers tried to bait JBS leaders by issuing racist statements in their presence and how they even "posed as disgruntled Birchers to infiltrate white supremacist groups and assess the society's existing ties to them." He reveals that, in addition to the FBI, the press received reports that compiled the most unflattering material and that the targets of such operations "sometimes found their careers in jeopardy." The code-name-using Birch Watchers included cops, bankers, and others privy to sensitive information. Dallek writes: "They obtained chapter membership lists, ran credit reports on individual Birchers, ferreted out their employment records, traced their financial transactions, wrote down their license plate numbers, obtained a codicil to a Bircher donor's will, stumped them with tough questions during call-in radio shows, set up a Birch chapter meeting on false pretenses so an ADL target could be interviewed,' and studied their personal and professional associations. Some of the scariest or most unflattering bits ended up in the press." One suspects that some of the scariest or most unflattering bits did not end up in Dallek's book. He notes in his acknowledgments that the ADL "kindly allowed me to review some of the historical records in its archives." Some of the historical records? All these years later, the ADL has basically merged with the FBI and together they're using the same Stasi-like tactics to suppress the right. Former FBI Director James Comey in 2014 delivered a speech which he described as a "love letter" to the ADL and in 2017 he told ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt during another speech, "Three years later I can say, from the perspective of the FBI, we're still in love with you." "You have advocated for voting rights and immigration issues," Comey said. "You have fought against anti-Muslim prejudice and cyber bullying. You have stood up for LGBT and gender equality. You have pushed and prodded for hate crime legislation. And you have helped us identify and track domestic and international terrorist threats. And for all of that, we are grateful." The average American is a MAGA extremist who must be put on an FBI watchlist for speaking out against critical race theory at a school board meeting but the ADL and their "multi-dimensional counterintelligence operation" that's used to subvert the will of the American people deserves nothing but praise! [Header image shows Isadore Zack, Benjamin Epstein, and Sol Koloack at B'nai B'rith Anti-Defamation League dinner in 1971. Leo Renahan/Digital Common Wealth, CC BY-NC-ND 4.0] Follow InformationLiberation on Twitter, Facebook, Gab, Minds and Telegram. The European Union has approved a set of rulesthe first such regulation in the worldto regulate crypto assets like cryptocurrencies and tokens in a bid to curb money laundering activities and protect investors. The markets in crypto-assets (MiCA) legislation was approved on May 16 by EU ministers. The new rules will increase transparency and create a comprehensive framework for businesses operating in crypto markets, including compliance with anti-money laundering rules, according to a May 16 press release. Recent events have confirmed the urgent need for imposing rules which will better protect Europeans who have invested in these assets, and prevent the misuse of crypto industry for the purposes of money laundering and financing of terrorism, said Elisabeth Svantesson, Minister for Finance of Sweden. Crypto markets have suffered in recent months due to the collapse of multiple firms. FTX, Alameda, Core Scientific, Voyager Digital, Celsius Network, BlockFi, and Three Arrows Capital are some of the major crypto companies that have filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and decided to liquidate their assets to pay back customers. Each of these firms is estimated to have liabilities worth billions of dollars that they owe to thousands of creditors. MiCA was approved unanimously by members of the EUs Economic and Financial Affairs Council (EcoFin). EcoFin represents the economic and finance ministers of all 27 EU nations. In May last year, European Central Bank (ECB) president Christine Lagarde raised concerns about cryptocurrencies during an interview on Dutch television. I have said all along the crypto assets are highly speculative, very risky assets, Lagarde told the program. My very humble assessment is that it is worth nothing. It is based on nothing, there is no underlying assets to act as an anchor of safety. Earlier, the ECB President had called Bitcoin a highly speculative asset that contributes to money laundering activity. The Legislation MiCA covers issuers of utility tokens, asset-referenced tokens, as well as stablecoins. Service providers like trading venues and crypto wallets also come under its purview. The legislation is on track to become law in the EU region this summer, and is expected to be rolled out from 2024. Firms looking to issue, trade, or safeguard crypto assets in the EU bloc will have to secure a license to do so. MiCA aims to combat tax evasion and money laundering via cryptocurrencies by making transactions involving these instruments easier to trace. Beginning January 2026, service providers in the crypto industry will have to obtain the names of senders and beneficiaries of digital assets irrespective of the amount involved in the transaction. Entities doing business in the crypto sector will be obliged to ensure their security protocols are up to the required standard. They have to comply with stringent rules to protect consumer funds and can become liable in case the funds of investors are lost. MiCA establishes liquidity and disclosure requirements for crypto companies. The management of a crypto firm may be fined in case they fail to make sure the reserve funds are properly managed. US Situation Efforts to establish comprehensive regulation in the crypto industry are also underway in the United States. In March 2022, President Joe Biden issued an executive order seeking to ensure the responsible development of digital assets. Since then, multiple government agencies have been framing policies aimed at pushing six areas of focus outlined in the order, including protecting investors and customers, ensuring financial stability, and countering illicit finance. In September, the Biden administration released its first-ever comprehensive framework aimed at regulating digital assets like cryptocurrencies. In January 2023, a White House blog post highlighted some of the dangers posed by cryptocurrencies while calling on Congress to pass new laws to limit criminal activity in the sector. Officials characterized digital assets as a promising nascent industry that needs to be reined in to protect consumers. It also asked that laws incentivizing more investment into crypto be avoided. Legislation should not greenlight mainstream institutions, like pension funds, to dive headlong into cryptocurrency markets, the blog said. It would be a grave mistake to enact legislation that reverses course and deepens the ties between cryptocurrencies and the broader financial system. Anticommunism is driving the Czech Republic dangerously close to Holocaust relativization 22. 5. 2023 / Muriel Blaive cas cteni 17 minut There is here a very high number of dead, at a time when we remember the Warsaw Uprising, there are here the trials from the communist era in Czechoslovakia as in the Soviet Union, etc. etc. Isnt it dangerous from the point of view of a historian to relativize the Nazi or the communist regime? Cant it come back? Dvacet minut radiozurnalu, 21 April 2023, iRozhlas The fear that the crimes of communism might be relativized and that communism might come back resonates more and more often in the Czech public sphere. How realistic is it? And are communist crimes really comparable to Nazi crimes? Ceska verze tohoto clanku vysla v Deniku Referendum ZDE Communism and Nazism were not equally murderous in Czechoslovakia In Czechoslovakia, the eight-year Nazi occupation resulted in 360,000 victims (dead people), including 270,000 Jews exterminated in the frame of the Holocaust. The 41-year communist repression, on the other hand, caused 3,500 to 5,000 victims (dead people.) If we speak of genocide, on the territory of Czechoslovakia in its 1938 borders there was a genocide of the Jews and Roma by the Nazis (resulting in the almost complete disappearance of the Jewish minority from Czechoslovakia and of the Roma minority from Bohemia-Moravia); on the other hand, the Czechoslovak communist regime did not commit a genocide (i.e., a systematic murder) against any political or ethnic category of the population. Crimes against humanity were committed by the Nazis under the protectorate of Bohemia-Moravia and prosecuted at Nuremberg, but no Czechoslovak communist crime was prosecuted yet under the heading of crime against humanity, nor does it look likely any will ever be. All told, within the borders of Czechoslovakia the Nazi regime was 70 to 100 times more murderous than the communist regime in a fifth of its duration. Does it amount to denying that there was communist repression, too, including a bloody one? No, it does not. Does it mean that anyone who died as a result of communist repression is less deserving of compassion than someone who died at the hand of the Nazis? No, it does not mean that. Is Milada Horakova, for instance, less worthy of our respect just because there were altogether more victims of Nazism than there were of communism in Czechoslovakia? Of course not. Political death (or torture, or repression) always is a tragedy, no matter the regime, no matter the number of people concerned the life and bodily integrity of every single individual is sacred. But the opposite is also true: is a Jewish victim who died at the hand of the Nazis less deserving of recognition that a victim of communist repression like Milada Horakova? I am pretty sure the answer Milada Horakova herself would have provided, all the more so that she herself had also been persecuted by the Nazis, would be an emphatic no. The Czech public needs to understand that by claiming that communism and Nazism were equally murderous, it is casting aside these (predominantly Jewish) 360,000 victims of Nazism as if they had not existed. It is their suffering which is relativized which is incidentally forbidden by Czech law because this is akin to Holocaust denial. Does the Czech Republic really want to broadcast to the world that it has become antisemitic? The weaponization of collective memory There is in Central and Eastern Europe a mounting sense of frustration and even injustice at the way the EU treats the memory of communism compared to that of Nazism, in particular at the way it refuses to place a sign of equality between the two types of repression. But this refusal does not stem from a Western willingness to humiliate its Central European members nor from its unwillingness to recognize the extent of communist repression: it stems first and foremost from the figures. In every EU country that experienced both regimes, just like in the Czech Republic, the Nazi regime was considerably more murderous than the communist regime. Communist regimes carried out of course several genocides in other communist countries: the Holodomor in Ukraine, the Cambodian genocide, as well as bouts of extreme terror in the Soviet Union, in Vietnam, and elsewhere. The point is not, ever, to disregard the level of individual and collective tragedy caused by murderous communist regimes. The question that concerns us here is whether it is pertinent to use the insane campaign of murders committed for instance under Maos China or Pol Pots Cambodia as justification to outlaw the Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia today. This is a question of politics, not of history. A more pertinent question would be to know if the Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia ever carried out mass murder or advocated or justified such a crime. Moreover, there is also the value of the symbol. The Nazis invented the death factory. I dont know if the Czech public keeps in mind that we had here a regime which supported an entire industry of locating civilians across Europe, arresting them, deporting them in trains (imagine the logistics), triaging them, stripping them naked, and mass murdering them in gas chambers, load after load, every day for more than two years. We can imagine the logistics of gas production and delivery, building of the chambers, and functioning of the chambers on a daily basis, with an army of people tearing off gold teeth, robbing the belongings of the deceased, and shoveling mountains of corpses into fire pits. Let us also briefly mention the medical experiments carried out in the camps. And I am not even talking of the Shoah by bullets in the east of Europe, before Auschwitz, where 1,5 million civilians were rounded up village after village, marched to forests, forced to dig their own graves, stripped naked, and shot into pits before being submerged by ever more layers of gunned down civilians. The earth was moving for days afterwards under the effect of the gasses trapped underneath. This monstrous design is unrivaled in European history, and this needs to be said and repeated. It is not denying the suffering resulting from the communist repression to say that the Nazi carrying out of the Holocaust is the most horrible event that ever happened on European soil. And yes, I know that the Gulag was inhumane and that to deliberately let people die of hunger was also horrible. In the following section, I propose to solve this moral rivalry conundrum. Neither relativize the crimes of Nazism, nor trivialize the crimes of communism To sum up so far, it is misleading to claim that communism and Nazism are equally murderous in general without clarifying where. It is certainly not true for Czechoslovakia, nor for any other country of Central Europe. We might say that if we include Europe, Asia, South America, and Africa, and if we take into account the whole history of the communist movement, then communist regimes killed significantly more people over a century than the Nazi regimes did in Europe over twelve years. But how relevant is this global comparison? It is not only misleading to instrumentalize the figures of repression: it is also incredibly unproductive and tasteless. To have more dead than someone else is not conducive to good politics, nor should it entitle anyone to moral superiority. To help the survivors of Nazism, communism, or any other dictatorship, to show compassion, to nurse their memory via public commemoration, to compensate them and rehabilitate them, to promote reconciliation and the rebuilding of the social fabric, is an incomparably more fruitful attitude. Germany, which had to reunite in one country in 1990 the homeland of Nazism with the successor of a communist state, successfully avoided the moral trap of victimhood competition. Historian Bernd Faulenbach, who chaired the historical commission of the social-democratic party (SPD), pronounced the formula that was adopted in Germany and would spare the German state the disaster that a martyrology competition would have entailed. He advocated neither to relativize the crimes of Nazism, nor to trivialize the crimes of communism. This is the most humane recipe of conduct that can be. This level of nuance and respect for all victims could, and should, be a source of inspiration also in the rest of Europe. Can communism come back if we admit that Nazism killed more than communism? No, it cannot. It is completely unrelated. Why would communism need to have as many or more victims than Nazism to convince people not to vote for the communist party? This is absurd. Moreover, no society has ever benefited from misrepresenting the past. On the contrary, a democracy gets stronger as it earnestly examines its own past and educates its citizens as to the mistakes which must never be repeated. Czechs already dont vote for the communist party anymore. However, if the country really doesnt want to see the communist party, or any other extremist party, come to power, then it should lead an honest government that benefits all citizens. I must admit that as a historian I am puzzled by some of the choices the Czech state made after 1989. It claimed to break with the past, but it denied Czech passports to the children of the people who had emigrated for political reasons and were born abroad. It also systematically appealed against the people who won their trial against the ministry of Interior after wrongly finding their names on the Cibulka list of StB collaborators. Was it really judicious for the Czech state to perpetuate the toxic influence of the StB on social fabric even after 1989? If Czech elites dont want a frustrated population, they should work on perfecting the justice system. Why were so few communist perpetrators ever put on trial? Why did the administration hinder rather than facilitate the work of UDV (the Institute for the Documentation and Investigation of the Crimes of Communism)? Why have all efforts to indict communist criminals nearly stopped today while older Nazi criminals are still put on trial elsewhere in Europe? Why has the notion of crime against humanity never been invoked against communist criminals in the Czech Republic while other former communist countries have done so? If they want to prevent the communist or any other extremist party from grabbing power, Czech political and intellectual elites would also be more inspired to fight against the economic inequality and corruption that have flourished in this country since 1989 and that have poisoned the everyday life of ordinary Czechs. Is it normal that one million people are under foreclosure? Is it normal that we have so many billionaires while many ordinary people are struggling to make a living? Do we seriously believe that communism might come back if the media acknowledge that Nazism killed more than communism in this country, while people would mysteriously fail to notice the level of corruption and poverty today? Anticommunists need to get a grip with revisionist history The notion of revisionist history has been twisted and turned in the Czech Republic to mean denial of communist repression. I do not know precisely how this misunderstanding came about. It is true that a few of the very first revisionist historians in the US at the beginning of the 1970s produced a highly dubious narrative, arguing for instance that Stalin had no power. But they were rapidly marginalized and ridiculed, and other revisionists produced from the very beginning some of the finest scholarly works on Soviet communism, for instance Sheila Fitzpatrick. In any case, at the latest from the 1980s, revisionist history, which entails, to cut a long story short, a vision of history that is socio-political rather than simply political, became firmly established in both Nazi and communist history. It is by now the dominant methodological trend in Western Europe. And yet, by a strange anachronistic twist, a majority of intellectual elites here still firmly believe that revisionism is synonymous to denial. Elsewhere in Europe and in the Western world, to be revisionist is to be normal it is to be a traditionalist historian that is frowned upon and criticized. In Germany, the most prestigious research institute dealing with the communist past, the Zentrum fur Zeithistorische Forschung in Potsdam, created in 1992 with Eastern and Western German historians, is based on the principles of revisionist history: i.e., on the knowledge that it is insufficient and misleading to blame the carrying out of dictatorial regimes on an abstract sense of evil, while society would be divided only between perpetrators, victims, and traitors. The Hannah Arendt Institute for Totalitarianism Studies in Dresden is led by one of the founding researchers of the ZZF and my former boss at the Ludwig Boltzmann Institute in Vienna, revisionist historian Thomas Lindenberger. In Poland, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, in the US, the UK, France, Spain, Italy, etc., the best and most stimulating historical production on communism in East Central Europe can be called revisionist. At the Institute of Contemporary History in Prague, and also at the Institute for the Study of Totalitarian Regimes, a large part of the historical production is revisionist. Does it mean that it denies communist repression? Of course not. On the contrary it is an ideal method to deconstruct repression, so as to better analyze its mechanisms. Revisionism is a good methodology to reveal suffering. It is especially a good methodology in the Czech case as it reveals intimate details of a repression the people were submitted to almost in silence for forty-one years. Contrary to a widely held belief, everyday life history is the best way to study repression An even stranger myth, which also is a Czech specificity, is the oft-repeated statement that the study of everyday life is a method to trivialize communist repression. Nothing could be farther from the truth. Where else but in everyday life can the historian detect paths of domination that were not spectacular, yet were toxic for ordinary people? If a Czechoslovak citizen was quietly threatened and blackmailed by an StB agent, this will not come out in traditional political history: no blood was involved, no outward drama was recorded, no revolution took place. Yet this person was a victim of the police and, if they submitted and agreed to collaborate, also, simultaneously, a participant in the repressive regime. This intricacy of motivations, this perversion of the dictatorship, is best uncovered by everyday life history. If we want to state that communism was evil, then let us specify that it was mainly evil in the way it turned people into their own police by leading them to surveil each other: this is what Vaclav Havel called the auto-totality of society. Incidentally, in this sense also Vaclav Havel is an honorary revisionist historian. A final word on everyday life and repression: no one has analyzed in greater detail the perverse logic of Stalinist repression than everyday life and revisionist historian Wendy Goldman. Instead of claiming as her political historian predecessors that Stalinism was repressive and resulted in so many million dead, she analyzed how and why it was repressive. How did we come to the high number of victims of the 1930s repression campaign? How did people embark into a massive campaign of denunciations? How were they led to become their own police and accuse each other? Goldman shows that this repression went out of hand even from the point of view of the authorities because of the logic of public self-criticism that entailed a snowball of denunciations. This is more useful to avoid repeating the mistakes of the past than by comparing global figures of Nazism and communism out of context. So, in short: no, everyday life and revisionist history does not amount to denying the extent of communist repression. On the contrary it is the only way to really document it in all its complexity. Why is the Czech public sphere so retrograde when it comes to modern historical methodologies? The strange Czech belief that social history in its various forms is a way to deny communist repression is a peculiarity that is difficult to explain. I blame the misapprehension of revisionist, social, and everyday life history on the heritage left by the communist regime itself. Almost nowhere else but in Czechoslovakia was the subjugation of social sciences to the official ideology so pronounced. Poles and Hungarians had a much better access to Western social sciences at the time, with a samizdat market that operated on a much bigger scale. East Germans had linguistic access to the historical production of West Germany. But Czechs and Slovaks remained stuck in a tiny intellectual bubble and were fully submitted to the distaste and contempt of the communist regime for social sciences and critical reflection. The methodology of contemporary history thus remained here in a form that was common elsewhere only until in the first half of the twentieth century, if not the nineteenth century, i.e., with a naive belief in facts, archival documents, and historical truth. A great number of historians are now back to international level, but society remains curiously conservative in this regard. Yet no one should know better than Czechs that facts can be twisted, and historical truth is rewritten by whoever is in power. The best way, and in fact the only way, to build a strong and critical civil society, a society capable of deconstructing populist narratives on its own, is to educate the public about how to approach sources and narratives in a critical way. The past is never dead. Its not even past (William Faulkner) This is incidentally what the educational department of USTR was doing with consummate professionalism before it collectively resigned in view of the pressures exerted on it by the new USTR leadership. As so often in the past, history is being dictated by politics. The historical lesson of the day remains clear, however: beware of people who discourage any expression of critical mind, they are usually no friends of democracy. It would be sad to see the Czech Republic turn the corner of populism and start to rewrite history not only of communism, but also of Nazism. To avoid falling into the trap of relativizing the Holocaust is an important first step. 0 On Sunday, climate activists in Italy dyed the iconic Trevi Fountain black as a symbol of warning following devastating floods that have resulted in the loss of 14 lives in the country's north-east. Members of the Last Generation, a group opposed to climate change, entered the famous Trevi Fountain and poured a carbon liquid from vegetables into it. The police removed them from the fountain and escorted them away, as reported by The Straits Times. Climate Activists Dump Charcoal into Italy's Trevi Fountain (Photo : by FILIPPO MONTEFORTE/AFP via Getty Images) A general view taken on May 21, 2023 shows a polce car parked by the Fontana di Trevi fountain in downtown Rome as tourists walk past, after environmental activists of Last Generation (Ultima Generazione) poured black liquid made out of vegetable-based carbon into the water as part of a campaign to raise awareness about climate change. As Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni arrived in Emilia Romagna to assess the damage caused by the floods, a protest erupted. These floods are the worst in a century, with six months of rainfall occurring in 36 hours. Over 36,000 individuals have been forced to leave their homes due to the calamity, resulting in losses worth hundreds of millions of euros. While activists raised their voices against the use of government-funded fossil fuels, tourists gathered around the fountain in Rome's historic center, taking pictures and sharing their opinions with applause or boos. The police intervened and removed the protesters, seizing their banners. A May report by the Bank of Italy revealed that almost a quarter of houses in Italy are in danger of flooding, which could result in an annual expense of 3 billion ($3,245,558). This was highlighted by Last Generation. The environmental group claimed that the carbon liquid used during the protest did not cause any harm to the fountain. However, the Mayor of Rome, Roberto Gualtieri, stated that the cleaning process would require much time, energy, and water since the fountain recirculates the water. He added that they would have to empty the fountain and discard around 300,000 liters of water. Read Also: German Police Crack Down on Coal Mine Protesters Barricaded in Abandoned Village Climate Change Protests in Italy In 2022, Last Generation initiated peaceful protests in Italy to urge politicians from all political parties to prioritize climate change issues before the general election. The protests were disruptive but non-violent. Protests are taking place in Italy, along with other parts of Europe, to draw attention to the issue of climate change. As a form of protest, activists are throwing food items like soup, cake, mashed potatoes, and washable paint at cultural and heritage sites and artworks in museums. Climate change has become a pressing issue in Italy and across the world. Due to its geography and coastline, the country is particularly vulnerable to its effects, such as flooding. As a result, many environmental groups advocate for action from politicians and citizens alike. The last Generation's protests have gained attention for their creative approach while maintaining non-violence. However, some people argue that there may be more effective ways to raise climate change awareness than throwing food at cultural sites or artworks. Related Article: Climate Change Means More Wildfires In Earth's Boreal Forests @ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. (Photo : CHRISTOPHE SIMON/AFP via Getty Images) The Cannes Film Festival, one of France's popular events, has witnessed several protests. A protester donning a dress in the colors of the Ukrainian flag mounted a dramatic demonstration on the red carpet of the Cannes Film Festival by smearing herself with artificial blood before being dragged away by security. At the premiere of Just Philippot's film 'Acide,' an unidentified young woman smeared herself with a crimson substance in an apparent show of support for the war-torn country. Woman Pours 'Fake Blood' to Herself at Cannes Film Festival Per Daily Mail, the woman walked the red carpet alongside A-list celebrities, wearing a blue and yellow floor-length ballgown. She then appeared to reach into her dress, remove a capsule of artificial blood, raise it above her head, and pop it while smiling for the cameras. During tonight's protest in Cannes, security personnel dragged a demonstrator who was completely covered in artificial blood off the carpet. It has not yet been determined if the startling demonstration was a protest against the Russian invasion of Ukraine or why it occurred at the premiere of the French director's film 'Acid'. A Ukrainian woman mounted a similar protest at last year's film festival when she took to the red carpet to condemn the actions of Vladimir Putin's forces. According to reports, the protester stormed the red carpet fully clothed before removing her clothes to disclose body paint that read "Stop raping us." She was also covered in Ukrainian flags, and the word "Scum" was inscribed on her back. On the fourth day of the prestigious event, the woman staged her protest during the premiere of George Miller's Three Thousand Years Of Longing. Before the festival began this week, the director of Cannes, Thierry Fremaux, told the press that the festival stood in solidarity with Ukraine and displayed a Ukrainian flag lapel badge. In recent months, France has been roiled by protests over pension reforms, but demonstrations have been largely contained at one of the country's most glamorous events, the Cannes Film Festival. Read Also: Hunter Biden Probe Could Get 'A Little Worse' After News of Taking Private Jet to Court Hearing Sparks Backlash France Protests Dozens of demonstrators congregated in Cannes on Sunday to oppose the passage of President Emmanuel Macron's government's reforms through the French parliament. However, these demonstrations occurred far from the festival's central center, the Palais des Festivals, and Cannes' seaside boulevard, the Croisette. Instead, they congregated on the Boulevard Carnot on the outskirts of the city. Before the festival, local authorities in Cannes prohibited rallies throughout the majority of the city. This action was part of a growing trend in France to prohibit demonstrations in some prominent locations. On June 6, unions have called for a new round of nationwide protests, ABC News reported. The ban has prevented demonstrations on Cannes' famous red carpet and prevented one of the most divisive issues in France from disrupting the festival's highly orchestrated flow. The only exception was Friday. Hospital employees circumvented the prohibition by protesting on private property in front of the historic Carlton Hotel, a luxury hotel where many festival guests stay, as per Telegraph. Related Article: Transgender Mississippi Student Misses Graduation After Being Barred from Wearing Dress, Heels @ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. (Photo : ZHANG XIAOYU/POOL/AFP via Getty Images) Beijing summoned Japans Ambassador to China to express protest over the "smearing" of China at the G7 summit. State-backed Chinese mouthpiece Global Times called the G7 an "anti-China workshop" on Monday, a day after Beijing summoned Japan's envoy and berated Britain in a fiery response to statements issued at the group's summit in Hiroshima. Group of Seven (G7) declarations issued on Saturday singled out China on issues including Taiwan, nuclear arms, economic coercion, and human rights abuses, underscoring the wide-ranging tensions between Beijing and the group of rich countries, including the United States. China Summoned Japanese Ambassador Beijing's foreign ministry strongly condemned the G7 declaration, which includes Japan, the UK, Canada, France, Germany, and Italy, and summoned Japan's ambassador to China to protest the summit host late Sunday. Russia, a strong ally of China and also criticized in the G7 statement for its conflict in Ukraine, termed the summit an "incubator" for anti-Russian and anti-Chinese emotions. When British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak called Beijing the world's biggest threat to security and prosperity, China's embassy in Britain asked London to cease slandering China. Analysts claimed China summoning Japan's ambassador showed its wrath. Per US News, Chinese Deputy Foreign Minister Sun Weidong summoned the envoy to denounce "hype around China-related problems," the ministry stated. Sun claimed Japan worked with other G7 nations "to slander and criticize China, blatantly meddling in China's domestic affairs, breaking the basic principles of international law and the spirit of the four political agreements between China and Japan," referring to the 1972 China-Japan Joint Declaration. According to a summary, Japan's ambassador to China, Hideo Tarumi, said it was "normal" for the G7 to speak to common concerns as it has in the past and will continue to do so if China does not adjust its behavior. On Saturday, the G7 communique called for "constructive and stable relations" with Beijing, alluding to "de-risking" rather than "de-coupling" from China. France warned that the meeting should not be perceived as anti-Beijing. It also raised fears about militarization in the East and South China Seas, Taiwan, and Xinjiang and Tibet. The Quad leaders-Australia, India, Japan, and the US-also called for "peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific maritime region," a subtle critique of Beijing. Read Also: Cannes Film Festival: Woman Wearing Ukrainian Flag Color Pours Herself 'Fake Blood'; Protests Outside Event Place Spark China Accuses G7 of 'Smears and Attacks' China is "extremely displeased and firmly opposes" Japan's activities, which harm China's sovereignty, security, and development. Japan should understand China better and gain strategic autonomy. and constructively advance bilateral relations," Sun added. On Sunday, the Chinese embassy in London responded to UK prime minister Rishi Sunak, saying China was the world's biggest threat to security and prosperity but that other major countries should not disconnect from it. The embassy urged the UK to cease disparaging China to preserve China-UK relations. Chinese officials banned Micron Technologies from using its chips in vital infrastructure after a two-month security examination. Christopher Miller, a Tufts University professor, said Micron's market share in China is minor, but the G7 declaration was essential. Miller said the Micron ban might be the first "de-risking" test. G7 leaders also resolved to fight economic "coercion." As the weekend meeting produced a declaration warning Beijing about its "militarization actions" in the Asia-Pacific region, Beijing accused the G7 of "smearing and attacking" China. On Sunday, the Chinese Embassy in the UK criticized the G7 Hiroshima Summit's glorification of China-related topics and urged countries to cease forming exclusive blocs. The spokesperson said China strongly condemns the G7's distortion of facts, arrogant intervention in China's domestic affairs, and deliberate denigration of China. Related Article: Russia, China Blast G7 Summit Agenda to 'Deter' Both Countries @ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Jude Law and Alicia Vikander led stars on the red carpet at the Cannes Film Festival ahead of the premiere of their new film Firebrand. The historical drama, based on Elizabeth Fremantles 2013 novel Queens Gambit, explores the life of Catherine Parr the sixth and final wife of Henry VIII. Law stars as the notorious King of England while Oscar-winning actress Vikander plays Parr in the film which is the English-language debut for its director, Brazilian filmmaker Karim Ainouz. Gabrielle Tana, Karim Ainouz, Alicia Vikander and Jude Law attending the Firebrand premiere during the 76th Cannes Film Festival (Doug Peters/PA) Set in Tudor England, it follows Parr pushing towards a future based on her Protestant beliefs after she is named Regent while tyrannical Henry is fighting overseas. When the king returns, he turns his fury on the radicals, charging Parrs childhood friend with treason and burns her at the stake. Advertisement Horrified and grieving but forced to deny it, Parr finds herself fighting for her own survival to avoid the fate of beheading like wives before. Alicia Vikander star as Catherine Parr in the film, the sixth and final wife of Henry VIII (Doug Peters/PA) The cast also sees The Crowns Erin Doherty portray writer and preacher Anne Askew, Operation Mincemeats Simon Russell Beale as Bishop Stephen Gardiner while Maleficents Sam Riley and The Gentlemens Eddie Marsan feature as Thomas and Edward Seymour, respectively. Ruby Bentall, Bryony Hannah and Maia Jemmett are also among the line-up as well as Olivier award-winning Patsy Ferran, who will play Princess Mary, and Junia Rees, who will make her acting debut as Princess Elizabeth. Gigi Hadid attending the Firebrand premiere in Cannes (Doug Peters/PA) On Sunday, the film premiered at Cannes in competition for the Palme dOr. Vikander wore a peach-toned gown with silver beaded detailing and her hair pulled back into a half up-do for the occasion. She was also accompanied by her husband, X-Men actor Michael Fassbender, on the red carpet. Meanwhile, Ainouz and Law opted for classic black tuxedos with the Hollywood actor also sporting a moustache at the event. Michelle Yeoh made a statement in a bright green off-the-shoulder dress on the Cannes red carpet (Doug Peters/PA) World France pension protest held on outskirts of Cannes... Read More A host of famous faces also attended the premiere including Gigi Hadid, who wore a taupe bodycon gown with extra panelling on the hips and her blond locks loose in waves. Advertisement US actress Michelle Yeoh made a statement in a bright green off-the-shoulder dress paired with a coordinating oversized shawl. Model Sabrina Elba, who is married to Idris Elba, donned a sheer dress with silver bead detailing for the occasion while Naomi Campbell wore a chic white flowing gown. Garda Commissioner Drew Harris said gardai are not going to fall into the trap of over-responding to far-right protests. It comes after a number of anti-migrant protests around the country. He said An Garda Siochana has a multi-tiered response to far-right protesters, including the investigation of certain individuals. We are also very mindful of our response to the threat posed by the far-right in respect of this, he said. Id say theres two things, theres two bits of their playbook that we can see that they want to achieve. One, they want to act on local fears, local concerns, and in effect gather up a crowd. And theyve been successful on occasion. On other occasions theyve been completely refuted. The other piece, and its a classic part of their playbook, is an over-response by the authorities of the State i.e. An Garda Siochana. Advertisement We are not going to fall into that trap. This is a long-term placing strategy. We are here to work with consent with local communities, to build a consent around the housing of individuals who have sought international protection. So we are here for the long haul, and were taking a long view of these matters. Confrontation, which in effect plays into their hands, is a trap that were not going into. Mr Harris dismissed the characterisation of it being a softly, softly approach to the far right, which he said has been successful in distorting and completely winds up peoples fears over international protection applicants. He said the first point of call is to resolve matters without enforcement but said enforcement is an option. The special detective unit is conducting investigations at all times of the material which is put online but also the activities of certain individuals, he said. He said gardai have to be careful their response to protests is proportionate. We (police) hundreds of protests every year. We have a certain approach here in this country and it does work. Mr Harris said there is an active investigation into serious disorder at Sandwith Street in Dublin following an anti-migrant protest after which a migrant camp was dismantled and set alight. Advertisement Asked if there was a garda presence at the scene when tents were burned, Mr Harris said the shelters were torched while gardai were protecting counterprotesters elsewhere. He said: Its not right to say there was nobody left behind. The gardai were there, in effect, with the individuals who were mounting the initial protest. So, in effect, there was nobody then to look after that particular entry on Sandwith Street. But actually the policing priority was managing the protest. Individuals on the ground took the appropriate decisions. Mr Harris said a protest outside accommodation for international protection applicants in Co Clare was managed successfully. He said gardai were achieving resolutions there within 24 hours. Mr Harris said gardai were also present in Santry, Co Dublin, to dispel fears and myths being propagated by individuals who have a malign purpose. He said hundreds of applicants have been housed successfully across the country. From my observations, right across the country weve seen applicants for international protection arrive and integrate successfully into their local communities and in the end make a real contribution, he said. So that is the predominant story and also the dominant story of our citizens helping those individuals in their plight. Advertisement He also said there is an active investigation into threats against a public representative and their family. Mr Harris said the rise of the far right in Europe hasnt actually been replicated in Ireland but a small number of active members are under investigation. The difficulty is they do tap into European-wide resources, theyre easily tapped into for them in terms of social media and the internet, and thats our reality that there is a playbook, he siad. Minister for Justice Simon Harris said there is a very clear line between protest and endangerment. Asked about the use of the Irish flag during protests, he said those involved dont own our flag. He said: The law must apply in every single part of this country. I was struck by the fact that a very small number of people seeking to speak for Ireland, seeking to use our flag, did cause chaos or difficulty at the weekend. Im also absolutely satisfied that the gardai have both the laws and the resources to address it. Asked about the blocking of roads by some demonstrators, the Minister said there is a democratic right to protest but the impeding of people going about their business is not acceptable. Advertisement He said there is a policing plan for protests that cross the line. Some of the scenes that weve seen in recent days in a number of locations have, in my view, been unedifying. They have been concerning and they have, in my view, gone further than protest, he said. Mr Harris said he will be seeking Government approval to increase the maximum sentence for people who assault gardai and other frontline staff, including by ramming emergency vehicles. He said Government is also pursuing body-cam legislation. A Cork campaigner has claimed before the High Court that an order by a District Court judge not to post anything on social media which is abusive or offensive to any person breaches her right to freedom of expression. The condition was imposed on Fiona O'Leary by Judge James McNulty at a sitting of Bandon District Court last January. Ms OLeary campaigns against pseudoscience and treatments offered to people with cancer and those with autism. Judge McNulty sentenced the mother of five from Dunmanway, Co Cork, to 60 days imprisonment, which he suspended for two years, after she pleaded guilty to an offence contrary to section 13 of the 1994 Criminal Justice Act (Public Order) Act. She was charged with trespassing on a property located at the Priory Maulatanvally, Reenscreena, Rosscarbery, Cork in such a manner as to cause or likely to cause fear in another person. Advertisement The prosecution's case was based on a statement from Fr Giacomo Ballini, and the court was informed that Ms O'Leary had uploaded video footage taken on the premises on the day to social media. After considering the plea, Judge McNulty told Ms O'Leary that she was entitled to her opinions, but there were boundaries which are required for civil public discourse and debate. Rather than fine or sentence Ms O'Leary to community service, the judge imposed a 60-day sentence, which he suspended for a period of two years. The judge also imposed certain conditions including that she keeps the peace, and that for the duration of the two-year period she does not engage in any behaviour in any public place, or public forum, including social media, which is abusive or offensive to any person. Judicial review Arising out of that condition, Ms O'Leary, represented by Bernard Condon SC, instructed by Catherine Ghent, has brought High Court judicial review proceedings against the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP). She wants the High Court to quash the order made when she was convicted and sentenced at the District Court. Ms O'Leary also seeks various declarations, including that the conditions forming part of the order made by Judge McNulty were made outside of the District Court's powers, are contrary to fair procedures and in breach of her constitutional right to freedom of expression. Advertisement She claims the condition should be set aside on the basis it is vague and uncertain. In a sworn statement, Ms O'Leary said she has been campaigner and activist against pseudoscience, such as the use of a dangerous product called MMS being used on persons who have cancer and have been diagnosed with Autism Spectrum condition. However, she said her activism has brought her a lot of abuse and threats, particularly online. She says she needs to use social media as part of her activism in order to highlight what she says is misinformation. Ireland Council claims unauthorised works being carried ou... Read More She said she does not intend to be offensive or abusive on-line, but if she does express her opinions, which she says she is entitled to do, she cannot control or decide what others find to be offensive or abusive. She believes that the punishment she received from the District Court imposes restrictions on her rights, and "damages the important work" that she does. The case came before Mr Justice Charles Meenan during Monday's sitting of the High Court. The judge directed that her application for permission to bring her challenge be made in the presence of lawyers for the DPP. The matter will return before the High Court next month. A former soldier who was jailed for 10 years for a cynical and cold campaign of rape against a woman he had been dating has appealed his conviction, arguing that the trial judge should have warned the jury about the dangers of convicting a defendant on the basis of the uncorroborated evidence of a complainant. Niall Kennedy (32), of Standhouse Lawns, Newbridge, Co Kildare, was convicted by a jury in December 2021 of 12 counts of rape on 11 different occasions in August 2017. He was also convicted of harassment on multiple occasions between February and August 2017 and of making threats to kill or cause serious harm to the woman in June 2017 and twice in August 2017. Kennedy, who has no previous convictions, denied the charges and did not accept the jury's verdicts. At the Court of Appeal on Monday, Kennedy's lawyers submitted that a warning about the woman's evidence in the case should have been issued by the judge to the jury before they began their deliberations. Advertisement Roderick O'Hanlon SC, for Kennedy, said the woman admitted to lying in the past about her relationship with Kennedy and that the jury should have been told to approach her evidence with caution and "not jump to conclusions". Mr O'Hanlon said the trial judge said he was not going to give the jury a "corroboration warning" regarding the woman's evidence as requested by the defence, which would go to her reliability and credibility as a witness. A corroboration warning may be given by a judge to a jury to highlight the dangers of convicting a defendant on the basis of uncorroborated evidence. Threats Mr O'Hanlon said the complainant gave evidence of her dealings with a male friend, whose life she claimed Kennedy had threatened to "destroy". "He told me that he knew [the male friend] was a druggy and that he would destroy his career. I did not know that [the friend] was into drugs and I don't believe that even now," the woman said during the trial. Mr O'Hanlon said the complainant had texted another friend to the contrary, saying she asked [the male friend] about using drugs and that "he had been doing coke and weed for a while". Advertisement "It was put to her that she had told lies to the jury about her belief that [the male friend] was using drugs," counsel said, submitting that the complainant accepted that she had told lies. Lied to parents Mr O'Hanlon said the woman also lied to her parents about the relationship and to her employer about being off sick when she was with the accused. The barrister said that at the time of the alleged harassment, thousands of Watsapp messages had been exchanged between both parties. Between April 2017 to May 2017, 4,716 messages were sent, with the woman sending 2,381 of those. Mr O'Hanlon said a warning should have also been given to the jury as to the Kennedy's state of mind at the time as he maintained the sexual intercourse had been consensual. The barrister said the corroboration warning could have also addressed why in the days after she alleged she was raped the woman went to the gardai complaining of being harassed but not of being raped. 'Wide margin' Mr Justice George Birmingham said the trial judge was "very familiar" with the law on issuing a corroboration warning and there was a "wide margin" afforded to trial judges on whether or not to do so. Mr Justice Edwards said the woman had said she had forgotten about describing her friend as a drug-user and did not accept she lied in that she "stood over what she said - she did not believe he was into drugs". Advertisement Mr Justice Edwards said the woman accepted that she told something different to the jury regarding the male friend but that "a lie has to be a conscious decision, in that you can't lie if you forget something - it's not a lie. She claims she didn't remember the text exchange". 'Trying to protect herself' Mr O'Hanlon said the lack of the warning "doesn't properly address the manner in which a jury should address her evidence. The court ought to have issued a caution alerting the jury to those aspects of the complainant's evidence". Vincent Heneghan SC, for the State, said the woman had explained why she told lies about the relationship. "She was trying to protect herself and her family from the accused, a person who had come back into and out of her life. She was afeared and embarrassed by it. It was not a plan to fool the jury," Mr Heneghan said. The barrister said the jury is asked to decide on matters of the truth which "happens in every case anyway". "In every case, the trial judge is obliged go about explaining to a jury what their function is - an assessment of the evidence from the witnesses in the box and all judges do that," Mr Heneghan added. Advertisement The barrister said the trial judge gave a lengthy and proper review of the evidence in detail for the jury and to ask for a corroboration warning from the judge in the case would be "asking judge to step into the function of a jury". Mr Heneghan said the trial judge did not feel the need to give the warning, had given his reasons for refusing the application and had made no error in principle in making his decision. Mr Justice Birmingham said the court would reserve its judgement in the matter. Abuse of trust At the trial in February of last year, Mr Justice Paul Burns said the case was characterised by a more than usual degree of degradation and abuse of trust of the woman and set a headline sentence of 13 years. He said Kennedy had carried out a a cynical and cold campaign of rape against the woman, imposing a sentence of 12 years with the final two years suspended for five years on strict conditions. The trial heard that the woman was in her early 20s when she met Kennedy in December 2016 on the Tinder dating app and they soon began a relationship. However, the court heard Kennedy then began turning up outside her place of work, or in a nightclub when the woman was out with friends. He would turn up uninvited, was constantly texting her and demanding that she send him photographs, a Garda witness said. The woman found the level of communication unbearable and wanted to end the relationship. Kennedy also sent images of an indecent nature to her mothers phone. While they continued in an on-off sexual relationship, the court heard that Kennedy continued to harass the woman, including following her when she was on nights out with friends. On one occasion outside a Dublin nightclub, he showed up and threatened to kill one of her male friends. Ireland Gunman with drug debt wanted to 'ingratiate' himse... Read More In August 2017, Kennedy told the woman to come to his house where he raped her, while calling her a sl*t and a wh*re and telling her that she deserved it. He told her that the only way to make things up with him was to be in a threesome and that she had to have sex with him 24 times, and also for every time he said she had sex with another man. If you have been affected by any of the issues raised in this article, you can call the national 24-hour Rape Crisis Helpline at 1800-77 8888, access text service and webchat options at drcc.ie/services/helpline/, or visit Rape Crisis Help. In the case of an emergency, always dial 999/112. Over 250 lines of inquiry are being followed by gardai in relation to the murder of a Bosnian national who was found with serious injuries on a road in Blanchardstown last October. An opening of an inquest into the death of Adnan Asic at Dublin District Coroners Court heard the victim suffered fatal injuries in the early hours of October 22nd, 2022 after he had attended a late night event in the area of Blanchardstown Shopping Centre. Mr Asic (60), of Castlecurragh Heath, Blanchardstown, came originally from Bosnia but had been living in Ireland for over 30 years. He was discovered lying on the ground with serious injuries at the junction of the Old Navan Road and Blanchardstown Road North shortly after 2.15am. Mr Asic was rushed by emergency services to the nearby Connolly Hospital Blanchardstown but was pronounced dead there a short time later. Advertisement Gardai said the victim had left the Blanchardstown Shopping Centre area with a friend to return home and CCTV had captured him walking past Starbucks Cafe and the Crown Plaza Hotel in the direction of the Blanchardstown slip road. The victims cousin, Ahmet Dracic, who said he was Mr Asics only relative, broke down in tears as he gave evidence of formally identifying the deceaseds body to gardai at Connolly Hospital Blanchardstown. Detective Inspector Liam Donoghue told the coroner, Aisling Gannon, that some of the 250 lines of investigation remain open. Although no arrests have been made in the case to date, Det Insp Donoghue said he was confident progress will be made in the investigation. The inquest on Monday heard post-mortem results showed Mr Asic suffered blunt force trauma injuries to his chest and shoulder. The coroner granted an application by gardai for an adjournment of the inquest on the basis that criminal proceedings were being considered in relation to his death. Meanwhile, another inquest heard that a man whose body was discovered in a flat within a gated community for older people in west Dublin last November suffered a fatal stab wound to his abdomen. David Ennis (36), who came originally from the northside of the city but of no fixed abode, was killed in an incident in the flat at Claddagh Court, Ballyfermot on November 8th, 2022. Although not a resident of the flat, it is understood Mr Ennis had been staying with a tenant in the complex. At an opening of the inquest into his death, the victims mother, Geraldine Ennis-Dowling, gave evidence of formally identifying her sons body to gardai at Dublin City Mortuary in Whitehall. Inspector Padraig Boyce applied for an adjournment of the hearing on the basis that criminal proceedings had been initiated in the case. Earlier this month, a woman was charged with the murder of Mr Ennis at a sitting of Dublin District Court. Ireland Meta fined 1.2bn for GDPR breach by Data Protecti... Read More |It heard that the DPP has directed that Ann Phelan (48) of no fixed abode, is to face a trial at the Central Criminal Court for the unlawful killing of the victim. The accused has yet to indicate a plea to the offence and the court heard she made no reply when charged with Mr Ennis murder while questioned at Clondalkin Garda station following her arrest. Ms Gannon granted the application for an open-ended adjournment to allow criminal proceedings in the case to conclude. The coroner said post-mortem results had confirmed that Mr Ennis had died from a stab wound to his abdomen. The High Court has ordered the extradition to Germany of a 50-year-old Irish man who allegedly tried to strike a man with a wooden chair leg and commit robbery in a Berlin takeaway almost 30 years ago. Making the order on Monday, Mr Justice Kerida Naidoo said that Liam Patrick Daly (50), who was born in Dublin but with an address in Birmingham, had been a major contributor to the delay in bringing him before the courts to face the charge. The respondent, who objected to the extradition due to the length of time that has passed, is wanted by police in the Federal Republic of Germany on a charge of attempted aggravated robbery. 'Stupid act' His barrister, Willie Hughes BL, had argued that it would be "unjust and oppressive" to extradite Mr Daly for a "stupid act" where "a very drunk man went into a takeaway in 1994" and, he submitted, was incapable of carrying out the offence. Advertisement The details of the charge are that on February 18th, 1994, the respondent allegedly entered a snack bar at Uhlandstrasse in Berlin armed with a wooden chair leg and tried to strike a man and steal money. This alleged robbery failed as the man was able to defend himself and took the chair leg off his assailant. The respondent was arrested and questioned, and during his detention he allegedly made admissions saying that he had a mask on his head and a chair leg in his hand but only wanted to scare the other man. He allegedly said that he drank beer beforehand and wanted money. He was detained for three days and then released after giving his fiancees address. Mr Justice Kerida Naidoo said the respondent was not charged with any offence before being released but given the nature of the offence and the fact he was detained for three days, the respondent could not reasonably believe the German authorities were not going to pursue a prosecution against him. His passport was later examined by the German police, and he was not told he had to answer the charges and continued to live in Germany. The respondent claimed that this lulled him into believing there were no proceedings against him. International search Advertisement An attempt was made to serve a warrant on him in March, 1994, but this was unsuccessful as he had left his residence, and in March, 1996, an international search was initiated. The respondent was arrested in England in February 2003, and an extradition case was heard by the court of appeal, who found in his favour and refused the extradition. The court at that time, nine years after the alleged offence, ruled that it would be unfair to return him as he was unlikely to face a fair trial given the delay. The court is entitled to have regard as to how his behaviour contributed to the delay, said Mr Justice Naidoo, adding that the respondent has been a major contributor to the delay. His conduct did contribute to the delay, as had he made any inquiries into the matter, it would have been dealt with, so he bears a significant part of the responsibility for it, he said. He said that the respondent argued that in the context of the time passed, the German authorities were under obligation to take steps to establish his whereabouts. The authorities, however, said that the international search that was begun in 1996 had not been interrupted at any time, and they were under no obligation to go further. The judge pointed out that when the German authorities became aware of his presence in England, they issued a warrant, which was unsuccessful. Mr Justice Naidoo also rejected the respondents claim that the alleged offence was at the lower end of the scale. I am not convinced it is minor as the complainant had to defend himself and disarm him, and this is not in the respondent's favour, he said. While acknowledging that the respondents mother had been diagnosed with cancer and the respondent argued that his surrender to Germany would have an adverse effect on his family, Mr Justice Naidoo said he was not satisfied that his surrender would be an abuse of process. Ireland 'Top of the pyramid' drug dealer on West coast adm... Read More "I do not accept that he could reasonably believe that they had abandoned the prosecution, he said. He made an order for the surrender of the respondent to the Federal Republic of Germany but agreed to postpone this to allow the respondent to facilitate the care of his mother. Having waited 27 years, they can wait another few months, he said. The judge made an order for the respondents surrender and postponed this to July 24th. A prison officer is not entitled to have a lawyer represent him at a disciplinary hearing over allegations including that he made inappropriate contact with the wife of a prisoner, the High Court has ruled. The officer, who cannot be named, has brought proceedings against the governor of the prison in which he serves, and the Irish Prison Service (IPS) over a refusal to permit him to have a lawyer at the hearing. Mr Justice Anthony Barr ruled he was not entitled to the relief sought. The judge, outlining the case, said in late 2020, the wife of a prisoner, who was an inmate in the prison where the officer worked, emailed the prison governor alleging she was being harassed by the officer via messages on her phone. She also claimed the officer was bringing in drink and phones and doing bets for prisoners on the working landing of the prison. She provided screenshots of WhatsApp messages to the prison authorities. Advertisement The officer was informed it was intended that a number of investigations would take place, including referring certain matters to the gardai and an investigation under the IPS code. He was also suspended from duty. One of the investigations began but concluded without reaching a result because the investigator had not been able to interview either the prison officer or the woman who made the complaints. In the meantime, further complaints about the officer were made by another prisoner who alleged the officer had brought in a baby Nokia phone, with a SIM card and charger and passed them to the husband of the woman who made the complaint. He also alleged drugs and alcohol had been smuggled into the prison. It was alleged the woman had been paying the officer to bring these articles to her husband, but he speculated that the officer may have been doing it because he "fancied" the woman. The prison authorities informed the officer that these allegations were also to be investigated. Threats The judge said the woman complainant, at one point, complained about another prisoner in the prison who had threatened to burn her house down with her and her children in it. The judge said that, as a result, the sender of the WhatsApp messages made a number of threats about that prisoner, saying he would stab, kill or strangle him. Advertisement In 2021, the officer was told a formal investigation would be carried out into various allegations, including over contraband, threats, and inappropriate contact. An investigator interviewed the prison officer who refused to answer questions because he said he had been informed the allegations had been referred to the gardai. In a report, the investigator was satisfied in relation to a number of matters including that, on the balance of probabilities, it could be shown that he had threatened to have a prisoner killed or seriously assaulted and that there was inappropriate contact with the wife of a prisoner. The prison governor decided to convene a disciplinary hearing and the officer was informed he could be accompanied by a Prison Officers Association (POA) official or by another serving officer. The officer sought to be accompanied by his solicitor saying the POA had refused to represent him because it was being investigated by the gardai. However, prison authorities confirmed with gardai that there was no criminal investigation. The governor refused to allow him to bring a solicitor, and he then brought a High Court challenge which was opposed by the respondents. Ireland Irish man to be extradited 30 years after alleged... Read More In his judgment, Mr Justice Barr said that due to the lack of cooperation from both the woman and the prisoner who made allegations, the investigator ruled the allegations about contraband material should not proceed. The officer can now be represented by the POA as it has been confirmed there is no garda investigation, the judge said. He faces three allegations in relation to being the sender of WhatsApp messages, making threats and of inappropriate contact with the wife of a prisoner, the judge said. None of these issues required an in-depth grasp of either legal or factual complexities, he said. "The court is satisfied that the services of a legal representative are not necessary to ensure that the applicant (the officer) will obtain a fair hearing in the remainder of the disciplinary process," he added. Sinn Feins council election success was a case of the party turning a nationalist vote into a republican vote, DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson has said. Mr Donaldson was speaking as he rejected the suggestion that the results of the local government elections showed any movement towards a united Ireland. Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald responded to questions about a unity poll by saying there had been change in elections in Northern Ireland and that was not going to stop. As well as Sinn Fein winning the most council seats, nationalists outpolled unionists for the first time in an election in Northern Ireland. But Mr Donaldson countered this by stating that unionist parties had won more council seats than nationalists. A number of unionist politicians have raised concerns since the election about lower voter turnout in their areas and about the splitting of the unionist vote among three parties. Advertisement Mr Donaldson said: Yes, there are lessons that need to be drawn from this election. Whilst the DUP vote held up well, whilst we held our seats, I think that we need to work with our fellow unionists to increase turnout in areas where unionists expect to do well and to ensure the splitting of the unionist vote is avoided and people transfer. I accept that unionism needs to recognise the task in front of it, we need to do more to get our people out to vote, we need to do more to win seats. The idea that nationalists getting the same vote as they got 20 years ago represents some movement towards a united Ireland or makes the case for a border poll, I think, anyone who is sensible, who does a proper analysis of the situation, will recognise that is not the case. He also rejected the suggestion that the election had been easy for Sinn Fein, or that his position on the Stormont stalemate had galvanised support for Mrs McDonald's party. He said: We have knowledge across Northern Ireland of Sinn Fein workers from Wexford, from Dublin, from Limerick, from Cork, being bussed into areas to get the vote out. Advertisement The idea that Sinn Fein were relaxed, laid back, in this election, didnt really make an effort, is frankly for the fairies. We recognise that Sinn Fein put in a hard campaign. They have eaten up the SDLP. What Sinn Fein have succeeded in doing is converting the nationalist vote into a republican vote. What we need to do on the unionist side is to ensure that those who support the union are voting for pro-union parties. Sinn Fein president Mary Lou McDonald repeated her call for the Government to convene a citizens assembly to examine issues related to unification (Liam McBurney/PA) Ms McDonald repeated her call for parties from unionism and nationalism to work together. I think youve seen now in a succession of elections, and the results of elections, just the magnitude of change, and thats not going to stop, she said. Thats where were at. So lets manage all of that together in a way thats constructive and productive. Thats the case for nationals, for republicans, for unionism as well. We need to talk to each other, we need to work together, we need to share power, we need to collaborate, because that is the way that we create a society that benefits everyone and thats what we want to do. Ms McDonald repeated her call for the Government to convene a citizens assembly to examine issues related to unification. Two Irish-based subsidiaries of Facebook's parent company Meta have brought High Court challenges against a decision by the Data Protection Commissioner (DPC) to fine the companies over 395 million. The first of the challenges has been brought by Meta Platforms Ireland Ltd after it was fined following the conclusion of two probes by the DPC into the operation of Meta's delivery of its Facebook and Instagram services. Those fines, totalling 390 million, were imposed for breaches by Facebook of GDPR, the EU regulation which governs the way in which information and personal data about an individual can be used, processed, and stored, and over the operation of Instagram services. Meta was given three months in which to bring its data processing operations into compliance. In a second set of proceedings, WhatsApp Ireland Ltd, whose ultimate parent company is also Meta, has challenged the DPC decision of January 12th to fine it 5.5 million for breaches of GDPR. Advertisement Represented by Declan McGrath SC, Meta Platforms Ireland seeks various orders from the High Court, including one quashing the DPC's decision. In its action, Meta seeks various declarations from the court, including that the various sections of the Irish laws concerning data protection are invalid and unconstitutional. It further seeks declarations that certain sections of the GDPR is incompatible with the European Convention on Human Rights and EU Charter. Claims Meta claims that when arriving at its decisions against it, the DPC erred in law and allegedly acted outside of its powers. It claims the DPC had regard to information which was irrelevant when it arrived at its decisions against Meta. It claims the DPC gave too much consideration to instructions made by the European Data Protection Board (EDPB), which it is claimed unlawfully instructed its Irish counterpart to increase the fines imposed on Meta. It is also claimed that the DPC acted outside of its powers by expanding its investigation beyond the scope of the complaints and had regard for material other than what it had gathered in the inquiry process. The decision was made in breach of the requirements of fair procedures, due process, and the right to a defence, it is claimed. There was a failure to provide Meta with adequate reasons for the decision, it is submitted. The proceedings are against both the DPC, Ireland and the Attorney General. In his submissions to the court, Mr McGrath said similar cases have been brought by his clients against the DPC before the Irish and European Courts. These proceedings may take some time to be determined and finalised, counsel said. Ireland Meta fined 1.2bn for GDPR breach by Data Protecti... Read More In both applications, NOYB European Centre for Digital Rights, which made the complaints with the DPC that resulted in the fines being imposed, have been added as a notice party. Brian Kennedy SC, for WhatsApp, said his client's challenge has been brought on similar grounds to Meta's. The applications came before Mr Justice Charles Meenan on Monday. The judge after considering submissions from Mr Kennedy and Mr McGrath granted the companies permission, on an ex-parte basis to bring their challenges. The matter will come back before the court in June. Staff at the Rupert Murdoch owned Dublin headquartered social media intelligence and online news agency, Storyful have shared bonus payments of 1.134 million over the past two years. New accounts show that staff at the slimmed down Storyful Ltd shared staff bonus of 581,415 in the 12 months to the end of June last and this followed a payout of 553,339 under the same heading in 2021. The News Corporation owned Storyful Ltd accounts show that pre-tax losses at the business last year narrowed by 41 per cent to 3.968 million. The business reduced its losses as revenues dipped marginally from 4.57 million to 4.48 million in the 12 months to the end of June last. The firm implemented restructuring in fiscal 2021 and the new accounts show that the numbers employed at the Irish unit reduced from 89 to 62 last year as staff costs reduced from 7.05 million to 5.6 million that included the 'staff bonus'. Advertisement Not all of Storyfuls global revenues are included in the results and relate only to the Irish based entity, Storyful Ltd. The pre-tax losses of 3.96 million last year were down 2.8 million from the pre-tax losses of 6.77m incurred in the prior year. The firms administrative expenses reduced from 9.27 million to 6.37 million and the directors state that these expenses continued to be tightly controlled and are driven primarily by payroll costs and amortisation. The business last year recorded the pre-tax losses after booking combined non-cash depreciation and amortisation costs of 1.1 million. The loss also takes into account a loss of 519,653 on the sale of an asset and a 191,655 loss in exchange differences. The firm also incurred 437,079 in operating lease costs. The firm did benefit from an R&D tax credit of 112,632 and a 114,986 gain on a lease retirement. The accounts show that the numbers in editorial reduced from 42 to 31; from 27 to 16 in technology and development; from 16 to 11 in general and administration while numbers in sales and marketing remained at four. Former RTE Primetime presenter, Mark Little set up the company in 2010 and Mr Little and the companys investors sold it to News Corp for 18m in December 2013. A note attached to the accounts state that the directors have considered the losses to date and report that they are satisfied that appropriate measures have been taken to bring about the companys profitability. Ireland Meta fined 1.2bn for GDPR breach by Data Protecti... Read More They state that the funding provided by the shareholder is sufficient to enable the company to meet its obligations as they fall due. Salaries and fees to directors last year increased from 530,505 to 620,378. The accounts disclose that in a post balance sheet in December last, the company issued 3,000 ordinary shares for 3m. The firm's accumulated losses of 52.7m were offset by share premium account of 56m and called up share capital of 389,075 resulting in shareholders funds of 3.65m at the end of June 2022. G7 summit concludes in Hiroshima amid stronger protests Xinhua) 09:22, May 22, 2023 People rally in a protest against the Group of Seven (G7) summit in Hiroshima, Japan, May 21, 2023. (Xinhua/Zhang Xiaoyu) HIROSHIMA, Japan, May 21 (Xinhua) -- As more protesters took to the streets, Group of Seven (G7) nations wrapped up their three-day gathering here on Sunday, vowing to escalate sanctions against Russia amid the Ukraine crisis. Following days of protests, hundreds of demonstrators from home and abroad on Sunday rallied against the G7 leaders' communique and other documents adopted by the summit in Hiroshima, a city once devasted by U.S. atomic bombing during World War II. Placards and banners that read "No War-themed Conference," "Hands off on Ukraine," and "No to Japan-U.S. military alliance" were spotted in Fukuromachi Park, where the protesters were gathering on Sunday morning, not far from the Peace Memorial Park that was shut due to the summit leaders' visit. Chanting slogans such as "No to War" and "Smash the G7 Hiroshima Summit," they rallied along the main streets in Hiroshima, crowded by hundreds of riot police officers. They ran into physical conflict with the police in a downtown high street, where one of the protesters was arrested, but continued with the rally minutes later. "To summarize, it is never a peaceful summit," Ryo Miyahara, head of a Hiroshima citizens' group and the protest's organizer, told Xinhua at the demonstration site. Several protesters, in their public speeches during Sunday's protest, accused the G7 Hiroshima Summit of being a war-themed conference sponsored by the U.S.-promoted hegemonism in its essence, and that the Japanese government is ruthlessly trampling on the views of atomic bombing victims and local residents by holding such a meeting in Hiroshima. "We will not tolerate such a summit," they added. While vowing to support Ukraine "for as long as it takes," in the final joint statement, the G7 nations, with the United States taking the lead, announced specific measures to sanction Russia in a standalone statement on Ukraine on Friday, prior to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's in-person visit starting Saturday. U.S. President Joe Biden, on Sunday evening, announced a new package of military aid to Ukraine worth 375 million U.S. dollars after Biden and Zelensky met on the sidelines of the G7 summit. The G7 comprises the United States, Britain, Italy, France, Germany, Canada and Japan. Leaders from South Korea, Brazil, Australia, Vietnam, Indonesia, India, Comoros, Cook Islands and some international organizations were invited to the three-day gathering. People rally in a protest against the Group of Seven (G7) summit in Hiroshima, Japan, May 21, 2023. (Xinhua/Zhang Xiaoyu) People rally in a protest against the Group of Seven (G7) summit in Hiroshima, Japan, May 21, 2023. (Xinhua/Zhang Xiaoyu) A protester holds a placard in a protest against the Group of Seven (G7) summit in Hiroshima, Japan, May 21, 2023. (Xinhua/Zhang Xiaoyu) (Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Liang Jun) A Maryland State Police (MSP) trooper was injured after a suspected impaired driver struck his cruiser from behind along Interstate 495 (I-495) in Silver Spring, Maryland, between 04:30 and 05:00 this morning, US Eastern Time (08:30-09:00 UTC). The road accident happened on the inner loop of the Capital Beltway before University Boulevard. Officials say the trooper was sitting inside the police cruiser while working on traffic detail when he was rear-ended while the impaired driver of a white Mercedes SUV, identified as 31-year-old Anthony Bowser of Washington DC, was speeding along the highway. The trooper was temporarily trapped at the scene before emergency services brought him to R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center. His condition remains unknown, but MSP officials said he only suffered non-life-threatening injuries. Bowser was also transported to Suburban Hospital for treatment while awaiting charges as investigations continue. Traffic delays The MSP crash team remains on the scene to investigate the road accident. They advise motorists to find alternative routes as three left lanes and the left shoulder of the I-495 inner route at Exit 29 are closed to traffic. @ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Monday's front pages focus on a range of stories from vacant office blocks being repurposed for housing to staff at Cork University Hospital querying why management consultants are earning 608,000. The Irish Times reports empty office blocks would be converted into apartments under a Government plan to tackle the housing shortfall as political pressure over the crisis intensifies. The Irish Examiner lead on a piece about frontline staff at Cork University Hospital questioning why PwC consultants have earned fees which could run to more than 1 million at a time when services are stretched to breaking point. The Echo report that concerns are being raised about delays to a migrant scheme. Good morning, Here is the front page of today's Irish Independent pic.twitter.com/hC9BAX93ZT Independent.ie (@Independent_ie) May 22, 2023 Advertisement The front page of today's Irish Sun. pic.twitter.com/ke1tuhT23r The Irish Sun (@IrishSunOnline) May 22, 2023 Morning, readers. Here's a look at today's front page of the Belfast Telegraph. https://t.co/HRpDNsHsjK Stay with us for all your breaking news today. pic.twitter.com/yf5irrt01N Belfast Telegraph (@BelTel) May 22, 2023 Home Secretary Suella Bravermans speeding fine and a variety of other stories feature on the front pages in Britain on Monday. The Daily Telegraph suggests Ms Bravermans speeding row may be a smear campaign over curbs on migrants. The front page of tomorrow's Daily Telegraph: 'Braverman 'smear' fears over curbs on migrants'#TomorrowsPapersToday Sign up for the Front Page newsletterhttps://t.co/x8AV4Oomry pic.twitter.com/BFTaXtOJ89 The Telegraph (@Telegraph) May 21, 2023 The Mirror and The Guardian take a different stance, saying Labour is demanding a probe into Ms Bravermans speeding fine after her team denied she had a speeding ticket six weeks ago. Guardian front page, Monday 22 May 2023: Pressure on PM to launch inquiry into Bravermans speeding row pic.twitter.com/rzqYC1vQIH Advertisement The Guardian (@guardian) May 21, 2023 The Daily Express says a people smuggler claims Europe is sending tens of thousands of migrants to Britain. The Times says patients will be encouraged to use the NHS app to book private healthcare in an effort to cut wait times. THE TIMES: NHS app to let patients book private healthcare #TomorrowsPapersToday pic.twitter.com/vTLgsqKFzg Neil Henderson (@hendopolis) May 21, 2023 The Daily Mail reveals drug driving has overtaken drink driving with 80 people a day caught under the influence of drugs while driving. The Financial Times says China have banned a US chipmaker after the G7 summit. Just published: front page of the Financial Times UK edition Monday May 22 https://t.co/dUYX0M3m0x pic.twitter.com/X9TokegYVw Financial Times (@FinancialTimes) May 21, 2023 The Sun reports Phillip Schofield is devastated after his axing from ITVs This Morning show. On tomorrow's front page: Devastated Phillip Schofield says he is completely broken by his axing from This Morninghttps://t.co/EvDjACY5Qf pic.twitter.com/5PEh0d7CPg Advertisement The Sun (@TheSun) May 21, 2023 And the Daily Star looks to the clear skies, saying Britain will be hotter than Morocco this week with a 24C day forecast. Russian officials have claimed that Ukrainian military saboteurs launched an attack across the border, wounding eight people in a small town. Kyiv officials denied any link with the group and blamed the fighting on a revolt by disgruntled Russians against the Kremlin. Neither version of events could be independently verified in an area that has witnessed sporadic spill-over from the almost 15-month war in Ukraine. The governor of Russias Belgorod region, which borders Ukraine, said that a Ukrainian Armed Forces saboteur group entered the town of Graivoron, about five kilometres (three miles) from the border. A local woman, stands inside the Evangelical Christian Baptists prayer house, which was destroyed by a Russian attack in Orihiv, Ukraine (Andriy Andriyenko/AP) The town also came under Ukrainian artillery fire, he said. Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said eight people were wounded and most residents have left the area, but the situation remains tense. Three houses and an administrative building were damaged, he said. Advertisement In nearby Zamostye village, a projectile hit a pre-school and caused a fire. One woman was wounded in her hand, Mr Gladkov said. He also reported that Russian anti-aircraft systems shot down an unmanned aerial vehicle over Belgorod region. Mr Gladkov said a counterterrorist operation was under way and that authorities were imposing special controls, including personal document checks and stopping the work of companies that use explosives, radioactive, chemically and biologically hazardous substances. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Russian president Vladimir Putin was informed about the alleged saboteur incursion. Local residents receive humanitarian aid from volunteers in front of Evangelical Christian Baptists prayer house, which was destroyed by a Russian attack in Orihiv (Andriy Andriyenko/AP) An effort to push them out from the Russian territory and liquidate them was under way, he said. Mr Peskov described the action as an attempt by Ukraine to divert attention from the eastern city of Bakhmut, which Moscow claimed to have captured after months of battle but where Kyiv says it is still fighting. But Ukrainian military intelligence officials did not confirm that Kyiv had deployed saboteurs. Instead, they claimed that Russian citizens seeking regime change in Moscow were behind the Graivoron incursion. Ukraine's intelligence representative Andrii Cherniak said Russian citizens belonging to murky groups calling themselves the Russian Volunteer Corps and the Freedom of Russia Legion were behind the assault. Advertisement Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiys adviser, Mykhailo Podolyak, said on Twitter that Ukraine has nothing to do with it. He suggested an armed guerrilla movement was behind the attack. The Russian Volunteer Corps claimed in a Telegram post it had crossed the border into Russia again, after claiming to have breached the border in early March. The only driving political force in a totalitarian country of tightened screws is always an armed guerrilla movement. #Ukraine is watching the events in the #Belgorod region of #Russia with interest and studying the situation, but it has nothing to do with it. As you know, tanks (@Podolyak_M) May 22, 2023 The Russian Volunteer Corps describes itself as a volunteer formation fighting on Ukraines side. Little is known about the group, and it is not clear if it has any ties with the Ukrainian military. The same is true for the Freedom of Russia Legion. The RVC was founded last August and reportedly consists mostly of anti-Putin far-right Russian extremists who have links with Ukrainian far-right groups. Earlier on Monday, Ukraines Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, Europes largest atomic power station, spent hours operating on emergency diesel generators on Monday after losing its external power supply for the seventh time since Russias full-scale invasion of its neighbour, the head of the UN nuclear watchdog said. Advertisement The nuclear safety situation at the plant (is) extremely vulnerable, Rafael Grossi, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), said in a tweet. Hours later, national energy company Ukrenergo said on Telegram that it had restored the power line that feeds the plant. But for Mr Grossi, it was another reminder of what is at stake at the Russian-occupied plant which has seen shelling close by. We must agree to protect (the) plant now; this situation cannot continue, Mr Grossi said, in his latest appeal for the area to be spared from the fighting between Ukrainian and Russian forces. A Russian serviceman at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station in 2022 (AP) IAEA staff are deployed at the plant, which is occupied by Russian troops. The plants six nuclear reactors, which are protected by a reinforced shelter able to withstand an errant shell or rocket, have been shut down. But a disruption in the electrical supply could disable cooling systems that are essential for the reactors safety even when they are shut down. Emergency diesel generators, which officials say can keep the plant operational for 10 days, can be unreliable. Mr Grossi said it was the seventh time the plant had lost its outside power supply since Russias full-scale invasion in February 2022. Advertisement The Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant is one of the 10 biggest atomic power stations in the world. Ukraines presidential office said on Monday morning that at least three Ukrainian civilians were killed and 16 others were injured in Russian assaults over the previous 24 hours. The Ukrainian Air Force reported that four out of 16 Russian missiles and all 20 drones launched against Ukrainian targets were shot down. Military targets and public infrastructure in Dnipro, Ukraines fourth-largest city in the centre of the country, were singled out for Russian attacks, which injured eight people, officials said. The Dnipro fire department was affected, and 12 houses, shops, and a pre-school were damaged, according to governor Serhii Lysak. A senior Ukrainian politician has said the battle for Bakhmut is not over after Russia claimed it has won control of the city following a nine-month conflict in which tens of thousands of fighters died, Deputy defence minister Hanna Maliar said on Monday that Ukrainian troops hold some areas in its south-western outskirts, while fighting continues for the strategic heights in the northern and southern parts of the suburbs. The offensive potential of the enemy has been significantly reduced. Huge losses have been inflicted on the enemy. We have gained time for certain actions, which will be revealed later, Ms Maliar said. (PA Graphics) Ukrainian officials say their fighters played a key role in their strategy of exhausting Russian forces and that their current positions surrounding Bakhmut will let them strike back inside the 400-year-old city. Advertisement Despite the fact that we now control a small part of Bakhmut, the importance of its defence does not lose its relevance, said Colonel General Oleksandr Syrskyi, who commands Ukraines ground forces. This gives us the opportunity to enter the city in case of a change in the situation. And it will definitely happen. The fog of war made it impossible to confirm the situation inside Bakhmut. Russias Defence Ministry said fighters of the Wagner private military contractor, backed by Russian troops, had seized the city. Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelenskiy said the city was not being fully occupied. In a video posted on Telegram, Wagner head Yevgeny Prigozhin said the city came under complete Russian control about midday on Saturday, proclaiming it completely taken as he held a Russian flag with a group of at least nine masked fighters in body armour and heavy weapons. Yevgeny Prigozhin, the head of the Wagner Group, holds a Russian national flag in front of his soldiers in Bakhmut (Prigozhin Press Service via AP) Russian president Vladimir Putin badly needed a victory in Bakhmut, analysts say, especially after a winter offensive by his forces failed to take other cities and towns along the front. But victory in Bakhmut does not necessarily bring Russia any closer to capturing the Donetsk region one of Mr Putins stated aims at the start of the invasion. Advertisement Rather, it opens the way to more grinding battles toward Sloviansk or Kostiantynivka, 12 miles away, said Kateryna Stepanenko, a Russia analyst at the Institute for the Study of War, a US-based think tank. For Ukraine, the important factor has been the high number of Russian casualties and sapping of their adversarys morale for the small patch of the 932-mile front line as Ukraine gears up for a major counter-offensive in the 15-month-old war. The enemy failed to surround Bakhmut. They lost part of the heights around the city. The continuing advance of our troops in the suburbs greatly complicates the enemys presence, Ms Maliar said. Our troops have taken the city in a semi-encirclement, which gives us the opportunity to destroy the enemy. About 34 miles north of the Russian-held regional capital of Donetsk, Bakhmut was an important industrial centre, surrounded by salt and gypsum mines and home to about 80,000 people before the war, in a country of more than 43 million. The city, named Artyomovsk after a Bolshevik revolutionary when Ukraine was part of the Soviet Union, was known for its sparkling wine produced in underground caves. It was popular among tourists for its broad, tree-lined avenues, lush parks and stately central district with imposing late 19th-century mansions. All are now reduced to a smouldering wasteland. Advertisement Recent months have seen fierce fighting in Bakhmuts urban centre. But even now, Ukrainian forces are making significant advances near strategic roads through surrounding countryside, chipping away at Russias northern and southern flanks with the aim of encircling Wagner fighters inside the city. Pope Francis will travel to Portugal for World Youth Day in the first week of August and include a stop at the popular Marian shrine in Fatima, the Vatican said. The August 2nd-6th visit is longer than originally expected and covers almost the entire week of the big Catholic rally that St John Paul II inaugurated to try to invigorate young people in their faith. Francis is staying in Lisbon for the length of the visit but will make a day trip to Fatima on August 5. Francis previously travelled there in 2017 to mark the 100th anniversary of a key event in the 20th-century Catholic Church the visions of the Virgin Mary reported by three shepherd children and the secrets she told them. Pope Francis, pictured receiving Cannoli Siciliani traditional Sicilian pastries is to visit Portugal (Gregorio Borgia/AP) Franciss visit comes as war is raging in Ukraine, providing a comparison to when the visions were reported at a time when Europe was in the throes of the First World War. Advertisement The visit comes as the Portuguese Catholic Church is reckoning with its legacy of clergy sexual abuse. Earlier this year, an independent report found that more than 4,800 people may have been victims starting in 1950. Previously, senior Portuguese church officials claimed only a handful of cases had occurred. There was no word on whether Francis would meet victims, as he has done on several occasions elsewhere. The Portuguese Bishops Conference expressed huge joy at the Vatican announcement of Franciss visit and said hundreds of thousands of young people from around the world are expected in Lisbon. The rally was originally scheduled for 2022 but was postponed a year because of the Covid-19 pandemic. The last international World Youth Day was held in 2019 in Panama. We hope that the presence of Pope Francis among us, and which includes a significant pilgrimage to the Fatima shrine, will provide a powerful sense of renewal and grace for the church in Portugal, the Bishops Conference said in a statement. Franciss other travel this year is expected to include a quick trip to Marseille, France, on September 23 to address a meeting of Mediterranean bishops. Also under consideration is a proposed visit to Mongolia starting in late August. Three Palestinians have been killed in an Israeli army raid in a West Bank refugee camp. According to the Palestinian Health Ministry, the three men were killed during a raid in Balata, a refugee camp near the city of Nablus. Six people were wounded, including one who is in a critical condition. The army later confirmed soldiers had raided Balata, and said troops came under fire and killed three Palestinians. Israel has stepped up raids in response to a spate of Palestinian attacks and said Mondays operations netted weapons and an explosives manufacturing operation in a home, which it detonated. A building in the Balata refugee camp near the West Bank town of Nablus was destroyed (Majdi Mohammed/AP) Meanwhile, the US administration issued a sharply worded statement on Sunday criticising Israel for moving to re-establish settlers at the formerly evacuated outpost of Homesh in the northern West Bank. Advertisement In March, the Israeli government repealed a 2005 act that dismantled four West Bank settlements. Over the weekend, the top Israeli army general in the West Bank signed an order attaching Homesh to a local settler regional council a move paving the way for reconstruction of the outpost. The United States is deeply troubled by what US State Department spokesman Mathew Miller said was Israels illegal policy on the outpost in the occupied territory. Mr Miller also expressed Washingtons concerns about ultranationalist National Security Minister Itmar Ben-Gvirs visit to the Temple Mount, the holiest site in Judaism. The contested site is also home to the Al-Aqsa Mosque, the third-holiest site in Islam. This holy space should not be used for political purposes, and we call on all parties to respect its sanctity, Mr Miller said. Palestinians look at a damaged building (Majdi Mohammed/AP) Under long-standing arrangements, Jews are permitted to visit the site but not to pray there. But in recent years, a growing number of Jewish visitors have begun to quietly pray, raising fears among Palestinians that Israel is plotting to divide or take over the site. Mr Ben-Gvir has long called for increased Jewish access. Advertisement Mr Ben-Gvir visited the hilltop compound earlier on Sunday, declaring that we are in charge while the Israeli Cabinet held a rare meeting in Jerusalems Old City to celebrate its control of the area. Mr Ben-Gvirs visit drew condemnations from the Palestinians and Israels neighbour Jordan. Mr Ben-Gvir, a former West Bank settler leader and far-right activist who years ago was convicted of incitement and supporting a Jewish terror group, now serves as Israels national security minister, overseeing the countrys police force. More than 250 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire since the spring of 2022. About 50 people have been killed in Palestinian attacks against Israelis. Israel says most of the Palestinians killed were militants but stone-throwing youths protesting against the incursions and people not involved in the confrontations have also been killed. Last week, Israelis marked Jerusalem Day, which celebrates Israels capture of east Jerusalem, including the Old City, in the 1967 Middle East war. Israels National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, centre, attends a march marking Jerusalem Day (Mahmoud Illean/AP) Flag-waving nationalists marched through the main Palestinian thoroughfare in Jerusalems Old City, some singing racist anti-Arab chants, while hundreds of Jews visited the sensitive hilltop shrine. Advertisement Israel also captured the West Bank and the Gaza Strip in the 1967 Middle East war. The Palestinians seek those territories for a future independent state, with east Jerusalem as its capital. Israel annexed east Jerusalem in a move unrecognised by most of the international community and considers the city its undivided, permanent capital. Tensions at the disputed compound have fuelled past rounds of violence. Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahus government, the most right-wing in Israeli history, includes ultra-Orthodox and far-right nationalist parties and has made West Bank settlement construction a top priority. Most of the international community considers Israeli settlements, home to 700,000 people in the West Bank and east Jerusalem, to be illegal and obstacles to peace. Earlier this month, fighting also erupted between Israel and militants in the Gaza Strip. Israeli strikes killed 33, many of them militants but also women and children. Two people were killed in Israel by militant rocket fire. A week-long ceasefire period agreed by Sudan's warring factions and designed to allow for the delivery of aid began late on Monday hours after the army conducted heavy air strikes across the capital Khartoum against its paramilitary rivals. The ceasefire, which was agreed on Saturday after five weeks of fierce battles between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), was due to take effect at 9:45 p.m. (19:45 GMT). Though fighting has continued through previous ceasefires, this is the first to be formally agreed following negotiations. The ceasefire deal includes for the first time a monitoring mechanism involving the army and the RSF as well as representatives from Saudi Arabia and the United States, which brokered the agreement after talks in Jeddah. Shortly before the ceasefire was due to take effect, the RSF released an audio message from its commander Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, known as Hemedti, in which he thanked Saudi Arabia and the U.S. but urged his men on to victory. Advertisement "We will not retreat until we end this coup," he said. Both sides accused each other of an attempted power grab at the start of the conflict on April 15. The ceasefire deal has raised hopes of a pause in a war that has driven nearly 1.1 million people from their homes, including more than 250,000 who have fled into neighbouring countries, threatening to destabilise a volatile region. It should allow civilians to move and give access for humanitarian aid, said Volker Perthes, the U.N. special representative to Sudan. "This is a welcome development, though the fighting and troop movements have continued even today, despite a commitment of both sides not to pursue military advantage before the ceasefire takes effect," he told the U.N. Security Council in New York. On Monday, residents reported air strikes in Khartoum, Omdurman and Bahri, the three cities that make up the greater capital, separated by the confluence of the Blue Nile and White Nile. "The situation is horrible. The planes are bombing us on every side and from the strength of the vibration of the house doors, we feel like we'll die today," said Salma Abdallah, a resident of Al Riyadh neighbourhood in Khartoum. Trapped The army has struggled to dislodge the RSF from strategic positions in central Khartoum and from neighbourhoods where it has occupied civilian buildings. The RSF, which has its roots in the feared militias that fought with the government in Darfur, is adept at ground fighting, while the army has depended largely on air strikes and heavy artillery. Advertisement Many people in Khartoum are trapped in their homes or neighbourhoods. At least 705 people have been killed and 5,287 injured in Sudan, according to the World Health Organisation, though the true death toll is believed to be much higher. Residents of Khartoum have reported worsening lawlessness and looting, as well as crippling power and water cuts. Supplies of food have been running low in some areas, and most hospitals have ceased to operate. Fighting has also flared in southern Sudan and in the western region of Darfur, already scarred by two decades of conflict and unrest that continued despite a peace deal with some groups in 2020. U.N. envoy Perthes said the "growing ethnicisation" of the conflict risked expanding and prolonging it, with implications for the region. Those fleeing the war have faced gruelling and dangerous journeys, with the highest numbers heading for Egypt and Chad. The agreement brokered in Jeddah is focused on allowing in aid and restoring essential services. Mediators say further talks would be needed to seek the removal of forces from urban areas to broker a permanent peace deal with civilian involvement. The war erupted in Khartoum amid plans for army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and Hemedti to sign up to a new political transition towards elections under a civilian government. Burhan and Hemedti took the top positions on Sudan's ruling council after the overthrow of former leader Omar al-Bashir during a popular uprising in 2019, sharing power with civilian groups. In 2021, they staged a coup as a deadline to hand leadership of the transition to civilians approached. -Reuters Canada Goose, the luxury clothing business known for its thousand-dollar puffer coats and loved by celebrities from Nicole Kidman to Rihanna, is coming to Australia. The coveted fashion brand will open two boutiques in the coming year and launch an e-commerce platform in October through a partnership with Brand Collective, the Australian fashion portfolio that owns 28 brands, including Reebok, Review and Volley. Nicole Kidman in her Canada Goose jacket. Credit: Getty Images Brand Collective chief executive Eric Morris said Canada Goose, which retails its best-selling warm parkas for more than $2000, will have strong appeal in the Australian market even during a period where many shoppers are curbing their spending. What you generally find is when things are tough, luxury doesnt get affected as heavily, he said. The boss of rare earth miner Iluka says a deal between the United States and Australia to co-operate in the race to secure the key minerals needed to power the global energy transition is a once in a generation opportunity to boost Australias refining capacity. The US and Australia announced on Saturday at the G7 meeting in Japan that they would partner to manage vulnerable critical mineral supply chains, with President Joe Biden saying he would ask Congress to define Australia as a domestic source for materials critical to defence and clean energy. Governments and businesses around the world are scrambling to catch up to the US and China in the race to secure critical minerals. Credit: Jonathan Ernst, AP The Biden administrations big-ticket funding package in the US the $US369 billion ($584 billion) Inflation Reduction Act is supercharging its clean energy economy and corralling the critical minerals needed to power its energy transition. Governments and businesses around the world are scrambling to follow suit, but a deal between the US and Australia will rapidly expand mineral supplies to the US, potentially create more local refining capacity, and eventually underpin production of magnets and batteries in Australia. Yimithirr, Birri Gubba, Erub and Scottish writer Lystra Rose won the award for young adult literature; Kamilaroi man and DeadlyScience founder Corey Tutt and Dhungutti artist and 2022 Archibald Prize winner Blak Douglas won the prize for childrens literature; and Palawa playwright Dylan Van Den Berg won the award for playwriting. All three prizes are worth $30,000. Debra Dank never set out to write We Come With This Place. Credit: Echo Publishing It was also a strong year for first-time writers, including Dank and Rose. Other debut writers included The Sydney Morning Herald Best Young Australian Novelist Katerina Gibson, who won the $40,000 prize for fiction; Jackie Bailey, who won the $30,000 Multicultural NSW Award; artist Del Kathryn Barton and screenwriter Huna Amweero who won the $30,000 prize for scriptwriting; and Grace Chan who won the $5000 Peoples Choice Award. Bankstown Poetry Slam was also recognised on the night with an award for its contribution to Australias literary life. Debra Dank may have taken home the most awards, but she finds her wins confounding as she never set out to write a book. Instead, We Come With This Place was written as part of her PhD in narrative theory and semiotics, from Deakin University in Victoria. Loading Dank worked on her PhD while camped out on country with her husband, Rick, for six months. It was a really good and necessary mental shift to be located in that presence [on country], she says. Dank could never have imagined the readership that has grown for the book, which was also shortlisted for the 2023 Stella Prize. In fact, the book was written largely for her children and grandchildren. Partly, it was an act of preservation Danks country is near the Northern Territorys Beetaloo Basin, where onshore fracking was recently approved. The horror of that, and the genuine pain in that, is something that Im very conscious of sharing with my children and with other members of our family, says Dank. She hopes that the success of her book will raise awareness of the issue and its impact not just on remote Aboriginal communities but on future generations. While I might no longer have the ability to take my grandchildren onto country and do the things that we should be able to do the rest of the Australian population will also be impacted because its ultimately about water security. Speaking at the awards on Monday night, Dank urged readers to consider what is happening in the Beetaloo Basin: Very soon my 12-month-old granddaughter ... will not be able to grow on country like she deserves to. And my soon-to-be-13-year old granddaughter will not be able to go home so much to experience what her mother did, and what her aunt and her uncle did, and what the mimis [grandmothers] have taught us all. Dank says the recognition of her book speaks to a growing appreciation of First Nations knowledge and writers. It just affirms the validity and the legitimacy of Aboriginal knowledge, says Dank. And that it really, genuinely does have a role to contribute to the betterment of the Australian nation as a whole. The time is right, and the interest is there, and the hunger for wanting to understand our place a lot better and in other ways. While Dank is grateful for the acknowledgment, she stresses that she shares her wins with her family, past and present, and with her ancestors: The win is a Gudanji win, its a Wakaja win, its a win for all of those ancestors. And theyre all sitting here looking at me, saying Do it right, my girl, she laughs. Katerina Gibson won the Christina Stead Prize at the NSW Premiers Literary Awards with Women I Know. Credit: Simon & Schuster Writer and bookseller Katerina Gibson won the $40,000 Christina Stead Prize for Fiction at the NSW Premiers Literary Awards for her short story collection Women I Know. The book is loosely themed around the complicity of white, middle-class women in systems of oppression; her protagonists are often self-absorbed and struggling with ethical quandaries - like how to be an influencer and an environmentalist at the same time. The prize money buys Gibson the time to write. The amount of money that comes with the prize is more money than Ive earned in a calendar year, she says. It is quite literally life-changing. Its the second time in two years that the Christina Stead Prize has been awarded to a collection of short stories, following Tony Birchs Dark As Last Night. He was the first person to win the prize with a short story collection since Tim Winton in 2005. [Short stories] always have had a distinct place in the literary landscape, says Gibson. There is a really rich history of short story writing in Australia. Only a handful of short story writers, including Katerina Gibson (pictured), Helen Garner and Tony Birch, have won the Christina Stead Prize. Credit: Dominic Lorrimer Gibson was inspired to start writing short stories while studying creative writing at university, where she started reading collections by George Saunders, Julie Koh, Maxine Beneba Clarke, Tom Cho and David Foster Wallace. I was just like, What is this? Nobody told me that you can write like this, she says. They were all really strange and trying something really new Once you discover them, its hard to go back. An 11-year-old judo prodigy was burned alive after being doused with fuel and locked up in a shed in Russia. According to Russian investigating officials, the terrible incident took place after a quarrel in the Moscow district of Dubovaya Roschcha. Eyewitnesses said the assailants, aged 13 to 15, beat Albert Umbetyarov unconscious. Then they poured fuel on him and confined him in a shed they lit on fire, according to The Daily Mail. Envy reportedly drove the assault on the teenage judo athlete. One child witnessed the fighting, wherein the victim was battered around his knees, making it impossible for him to flee. According to reports, a group of girls uploaded and streamed the footage of the tragedy that happened to Albert Umbetyarov. Bystanders tried to rescue Albert Umbetyarov from the flames using shovels. But they failed. Boy, 11, is burned alive 'after being doused in petrol' and locked inside a shed that was set on fire by kids aged 13 to 15 https://t.co/bo3ZI3TjR6 pic.twitter.com/i4w1CQpOYP Daily Mail Online (@MailOnline) May 22, 2023 Alexander Tvanba, the victim's judo instructor, believed that his pupil lost consciousness before he got locked up in the shed since his strength and desire would have allowed him to escape, according to Mirror. He also stated that he admired the promising judo athlete for his commitment and several triumphs in competitions. He described Albert Umbetyarov as "smart and very peaceful." Read Also: WOAH to Governments: Plan Bird Flu Vaccination To Prevent Pandemic The Russian Investigative Committee released initial results from their investigation, which indicated that the incident occurred on May 19, during a fight, a gang of youths imprisoned a boy inside "a shed, locked it from the outside, and nailed the door." The report further stated that a fire seemed to have begun inside the shed following the attack. The juveniles sought assistance opening the door. Eventually, when help came to the scene, the corpse of Albert Umbetyarov was found among the burned remains. Murder Cases in Russia Rise Murder cases in Russia increased for the first time in 20 years last year. Analysts believe the Ukraine crisis may be behind this spike, The Moscow Times reported. The Russian Prosecutor General's Office reported 7,628 murder and attempted murder cases in 2022, up 4% from the previous year, according to the Travmpunkt bar organization. The numbers contrast with the general decline in recorded violent crimes and crimes against persons published by the Russian Interior Ministry. Related Article: Idaho College Murders: Suspect Bryan Kohberger to Enter Plea in Court @ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Stan Grant said that he feels he is part of the problem afflicting the media during his final moments as host of Q+A on Monday night, before beginning an indefinite break from journalism. Sometimes we just need to take time out, sometimes our souls are hurting, and so it is for me, Grant said, as tears welled in his eyes. Im not walking away for a while because of racism we get that far too often. Im not walking away because of social media hatred. I need a break from the media. I feel like Im part of the problem. And I need to ask myself how or if we can do it better. Stan Grant makes an emotional speech after stepping down as host of Q+A. Credit: ABC Grant, a 59-year-old Wiradjuri man, announced he would step down from his role as host of Q+A in a piece published on the ABC on Friday, citing exhaustion from persistent racist abuse he has faced. If your aim was to hurt me, well, you succeeded. And Im sorry, he said at the end of Mondays show. Im sorry that I must have given you so much cause to hate me so much, to target me and my family, to make threats against me ... Im not just responsible for what I do, but for what you do. NSW Police have also been out at Qudos Bank Arena tonight after around 60 protesters with yellow Khalistan flags showed up outside the stadium. The group supports a proposed independent Sikh state in Indias north - which has been dubbed Khalistan - and said they were protesting Indian government policies. The NSW Police Force has a highly visible presence at Sydney Olympic Park this evening, a statement from NSW Police said. Officers are monitoring protest activity to ensure it remains lawful and does not interfere with the event nor those attending. A former patient, Ann Roxborough remarked recently, I shall never forget his kindness and empathy, his wonderful sense of humour, and his outstanding care as he guided me through this very stressful time in my life, both during the transplant and in the months and years that followed as it became apparent that I was going to survive. One of his earliest acute leukemia patients, still alive today, did so well that the Vatican declared her cure had been the first miracle of Australias only saint, Mary MacKillop. Jim, a lifelong Catholic, was tickled pink by the case and, modest man that he was, suggested that the Josephite nuns prayers to Mary may have had more to do with it. A miracle is a very unusual event, a happy event, that is very difficult to explain, he said diplomatically. Shes certainly the only patient in that period that I have seen survive. Mary MacKillop, Australias first saint. After twenty years of marriage to Margaret, tragedy stuck. One of their five children, their elder son Bernard, drowned in the Murrumbidgee River at the age of 16. Beset by grief, both parents grew steadily apart. Margaret went on to develop lung cancer, with secondaries later in the brain, neck, and adrenal gland. At one point, Jim and Margaret separated, but he never ceased to be her doctor, giving her constant professional attention. Against the odds, Margaret survived, often described by his family as another miracle, until she succumbed in 1997 to a lung infection. Through good times and bad, Jim threw himself into his medical and charitable work and as an associate professor of medicine teaching graduate students at the UNSW. For two decades he led the Australian Foundation for the Peoples of the South Pacific, now called Action on Poverty, which carried out grass roots projects across the Pacific and Asia, including one to prevent dengue fever in Vietnam, opening an office in Hanoi, the first Australian NGO to do so. Steve, 58, who lives in a local apartment with his son, said Maguire once helped him get support for his gambling issues, advice that was offered without judgment. He has been out of work lately, and said getting groceries at the pantry helped him get by. They say, Hi. You feel part of the community, he said. Volunteer Graham Collier with donated food in the pantry cool room. Credit: Jason South Foundation board member Frank OConnor said it would not be easy to continue the charity without its founder, who died on April 19, age 88. But the board and volunteers had resolved to do so. OConnor said mourners at Maguires funeral at St Patricks Cathedral on May 5 and a subsequent service at Saints Peter and Paul church had told him the foundation launched by Maguire in 2003 to provide food relief, social inclusion and educational support services was too important to be allowed fade away. They want the foundation to continue, OConnor said. It was his life. But theres no reason it should just die with him. Volunteer Anne Moloney said, if not for the pantry, a lot of people would go hungry. We have quite a few experiencing homelessness who come in for a hot meal, a chat and a sitdown and to take away some rations, she said. Maguires niece, Peta Knights, said his family wanted the foundation to continue his work. Loading Continuing the work Bob was so passionate about is the best way to honour his memory, she said. Knights has been a paid bookkeeper working one day a week at the foundation for more than 30 years, and is now its only paid employee. One of her sisters is a volunteer in the pantry. Maguires relatives and foundation board members have copped criticism on social media for their actions during Maguires final months. OConnor said Maguire was not forced from the foundation board shortly before his death it was a legal requirement. Knights was appointed his guardian and administrator because the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal deemed that he was incapable of making decisions about his own personal circumstances. Frank OConnor gives a eulogy at Father Bob Maguires state memorial service at Melbournes St Patricks Cathedral. Credit: Asanka Ratnayake/Getty Images OConnor said that being under a guardianship, Maguire was no longer legally able to be on the board. He said Maguire listened by phone to a board meeting from hospital as late as February this year, and was welcome, but in the end was incapable of taking part. On top of the pantry, which is open four days a week, the foundation runs a program donating equipment and training young people in IT. It also funds scholarships for disadvantaged children in secondary school. Foundation volunteers also serve Sunday night dinners at the Peanut Farm in St Kilda. Before the pandemic, the dinners were drawing 150 people. Graham Collier, who volunteers six days a week for the foundation, said the pantry served between 40 and 70 people a day. Loading The foundation has got occasional project-based government funding, but its income largely comes from public donations and philanthropy. In the 2021-22 financial year, the charitys revenue according to its submission to the Australian Charities and Not for Profits Commission was $917,000, and it had expenses of $770,000. As the curtain falls on the G7 meeting in Hiroshima, the worlds seven most industrialised countries have sent both Russia and China a clear message of their solidarity and resolve, not only regarding Ukraine but also by aligning with the US in viewing China primarily through a security and geoeconomics lens. Illustration: Dionne Gain. Credit: Both outcomes are significant. Before the meeting, there remained considerable differences across the Atlantic on these two issues. It is now clear Europe is moving in a similar direction to the US. That this is occurring will go far in determining whether the advantage remains with the liberal democracies or will shift to a group of authoritarian powers led by Beijing. The appearance of Volodymyr Zelensky at the G7 spearheaded the groups presentation of a united front against Russias aggression, with a declaration that its support for Ukraine will not waver and with a commitment to do so for as long as it takes. The group announced new measures to ratchet up the pressure on Moscow in anticipation of Ukraines highly anticipated counteroffensive, with the aim being to starve Russia of G7 technology, industrial equipment and services that support its war machine. Restrictions on Russias export of diamonds have been flagged, as well as about 300 new sanctions and other measures targeting individuals and entities providing financial and other material support to Russia. Importantly, Ukraine has been given unequivocal support for its maximal position in any future peace negotiation that the end of the war can only result from the complete and unconditional withdrawal of Russian troops from the entire internationally recognised territory of Ukraine. This includes Crimea, which Russia annexed in 2014. Supporters of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange are open to a plea deal with United States authorities that might clear the way for his release from a British prison, with his wife declaring his freedom had to be the priority. Urging the Australian government to press the case for his release, Stella Assange said her husband was being detained for revealing the truth and must never be extradited to face charges in the US. Stella Assange at a rally after addressing the National Press Club in Canberra on Monday. Credit: Alex Ellinghausen But she and the WikiLeaks founders lawyer, Jennifer Robinson, acknowledged that a plea deal was one option to end his incarceration in the way a negotiation led to the release of former Guantanamo Bay detainee David Hicks in 2007. For Julian, this is a life and death situation. Julian has to be free and that is the primary priority, Stella Assange told the National Press Club in Canberra on Monday. Hiroshima: The Grand Prince Hotel in Hiroshima is as far as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has been from the war in Ukraine. Its foyer is filled with an enormous golden Japanese fan and a fountain with a bonsai tree in its centre. Aides scurry between panoramic rooms overlooking the Seto Inland Sea. At the G7 dinner on Saturday, the leaders of the worlds wealthiest economies ate Wagyu beef and sea urchins. They finished with a tea ceremony by Soshitsu Sen, the 16th Grand Master of Urasenke, the revered Japanese tea school. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky delivers a speech during a press conference at the G7 Leaders Summit on Sunday. Credit: Christopher Jue But the reminders of devastation were scattered all around. Zelensky spoke inside the Hiroshima Peace Memorial on Sunday. Its sprawling garden surrounds the Atomic Dome - the last building standing from the bomb that pulverised this city in 1945, taking hundreds of thousands of children, men and women with it. Death fell from the sky, death came from the sea. What your people have seen in their history: instead of the normal life of thousands and thousands of families, only ashes remain. Instead of cities, there is a scorched wasteland, he said. A spate of encounters between orcas and boats off the Iberian coast has puzzled scientists and sailors, as seemingly coordinated ambushes by the killer whales led to the sinking of three vessels. The reason for the attacks, according to one scientist who has studied the phenomenon, may be revenge. The leading theory is that a female orca suffered a traumatic incident with a boat a critical moment of agony that caused her to start attacking the vessels, Alfredo Lopez Fernandez, a marine biologist at the University of Aveiro in Portugal, told the industry publication Live Science. A female resident orca whale breaches while swimming in Puget Sound near Bainbridge Island, Washington. Credit: AP The majority of the disruptive interactions between orcas and boats off the Iberian Peninsula in the past few years Fernandez said they numbered in the hundreds have been brief and caused minimal physical damage to the vessels, according to a report co-written by him and published in the journal Marine Mammal Science. But on at least three occasions, including one incident this month involving a sailing yacht, the orcas have sunk the boats. The female orca, whom scientists named White Gladis, appears to have taught the aggressive behaviour to other adult orcas, whose children have begun imitating the behaviour, Fernandez said. Washington: The field of Republican candidates hoping to beat Donald Trump for the 2024 presidential nomination is growing rapidly, with the only black Republican in the Senate declaring his candidacy days before Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and others are expected to follow. In a move that was warmly welcomed by Trump himself, Senator Tim Scott, from South Carolina a rising star who is pitching himself as the candidate the far left fears the most officially announced his campaign for the White House at a rally in North Charleston on Monday (US time). Donald Trump, US president at the time, speaks to Senator Tim Scott during a meeting at the White House in 2017. Credit: SMH Good luck to Senator Tim Scott in entering the Republican Primary Race, Trump posted on his Truth Social website, using the opportunity to chide DeSantis. It is rapidly loading up with lots of people, and Tim is a big step up from Ron DeSanctimonious, who is totally unelectable. Port Moresby: The United States and Papua New Guinea have signed a security pact that will make it easier for the forces of both countries to work together amid concerns about Chinas growing influence in the Pacific. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who travelled to Port Moresby representing President Joe Biden, signed the defence and maritime surveillance agreement with the PNG government. The defence co-operation was drafted by the United States and Papua New Guinea as equals and sovereign partners, Blinken said at the signing ceremony. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken travelled to Papua New Guinea after the G7 in Japan, representing President Joe Biden. Credit: AP Papua New Guineas location just north of Australia makes it strategically significant. It was the site of fierce battles during World War II, and with a population of nearly 10 million people, its the most populous Pacific Island nation. Kim Kardashian, a businesswoman and reality TV celebrity, recently discussed her challenging parenthood journey in an interview, in which she noted that, among her multiple jobs, she finds motherhood the most rewarding. The "On Purpose with Jay Shetty" podcast will include a forthcoming edition in which Kim Kardashian candidly discusses the challenges she encounters as a mother of four kids, CNN reported. She recognized that although the days may seem lengthy, the years fly swiftly, particularly during the stressful infant years of her kids. Kim Kardashian takes comfort in the enjoyable disorder that comes with parenting her kids North, Saint, Chicago, and Psalm, whom she has with her ex-husband, music artist Kanye West. Kardashian filed for divorce in 2021, which was completed in 2022. Facebook Error The 42-year-old model and media personality acknowledged the emotional toll that raising children might have and explain the complexities of her evening routine with her kids and how tantrums can completely upend your life. In the interview, Kim Kardashian disclosed that there are nights when she "cry myself to sleep," according to E! News. Another issue during sibling fights is balancing the "good cop" and "bad cop" roles. Read Also: Blackpink Concert VIP Ticket Holders Express Dismay Keeping Up With Motherhood "The Kardashians" star said that she depends on her early morning exercises, often shared on social media, to prepare for the erratic nature of her days. The celebrity mom acknowledges, though, that some nights she goes into survival mode and takes each hour as it comes. Kim Kardashian also reflected on the difficulties brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic and called parenting in such situations "insane," per Insider. Facebook Error She underlined, however, how parenthood may lead to significant self-discovery, especially in unplanned circumstances. The American socialite says she wants to improve her parenting by being stricter, knowing that parenting is hard. Ultimately, Kim Kardashian underlined that no degree of planning can entirely prepare one for the challenging job of being a parent, but the perks are priceless. Related Article: Kim Kardashian Net Worth @ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Latest News Australian Mortgage Awards nominations open Get your 2023 entries in for industry's night of nights MFAA national conference: Brokers focus on future 900 participants urged to embrace change Four companies that are part or were part of AMP Group breached the law when they charged more than 2,000 deceased customers life insurance premiums and advice fees from the superannuation accounts, the Federal Court found. Two of the companies, AMP Life (now a part of Resolution Life Group that was under AMP when the conduct occurred) and AMP Financial Planning, had to pay $18m and $6m, respectively, after admitting to engaging in the unconscionable conduct by deducting and/or failing to properly refund insurance premiums and advice fees respectively from superannuation members after being notified of their deaths. They also admitted to accepting insurance premiums and advice fees even though, at the time they received those fees, there were reasonable grounds for believing that they would not be able to provide the insurance or advice. All four AMP companies, which included AMP Superannuation and NM Superannuation Proprietary, were also found to have contravened their overarching obligations as Australian financial services licensees to act efficiently, honestly, and fairly. ASIC Deputy Chair Sarah Court said the AMP companies had been notified that the customers had died, and despite this, continued to charge premiums and fees on their super accounts. Customers, and their beneficiaries, expect financial services providers to have the proper systems in place to ensure, once notified, deceased customers are no longer charged. These systems were inadequate, and customers were let down, Court said. She said the misconduct represents a fundamental breach of trust between a customer and their financial services provider. Corporate watchdog ASIC said the AMP companies received more $500,000 in insurance premiums from the superannuation accounts of deceased customers, with at least $350,000 charged between May 2015 and August 2019. The companies also received more than $100,000 in advice fees from deceased customer accounts, with at least $75,000 being charged between May 2015 and August 2019. In handing down her decision, Justice Lisa Hespe described the conduct as very serious, wrongful behaviour, noting the deceased members affected were vulnerable, obviously unable to monitor their accounts and were entirely reliant on the representatives of their estates. The beneficiaries of those estates involved individuals who may be expected to have been emotionally vulnerable and unlikely to be familiar with the terms of a policy not issued to them or on their behalf, Hespe said. She further noted the systems failures by AMP, saying, The lack of oversight and executive management awareness of the issue was part of the problem. The culture of the AMP Group assumed no systemic issues. It resulted in a failure to have a process in place that was capable of identifying, investigating, and remediating systemic issues for many years. The failure reflects poorly on the defendants. AMP apologises to all beneficiaries of those affected by this matter, said David Cullen, AMP Group general counsel. When we identified the issue in 2018, we reported it to the regulator and worked hard to remediate the estates of affected customers as promptly as possible. Start-up brokerage Aria Financials niche focus on complex lending customers and its partnership with a real estate agency joint venture are spurring early growth momentum, according to co-founder Tom Morison. Morison (pictured above), who launched the boutique broker firm in 2023 with partners Tina Howes and Mathew Hall (pictured below), said they had identified a gap in the market for high quality, technical advice with superior client service. The brokerage is focusing on customers with more complex lending needs, including higher net worth and self-employed clients, who come with considerations such as multi-property portfolios. Aria Financial offers standard residential and investment property finance, as well as SMSF, commercial, development, business acquisition, private and working capital funding. At Aria Financial, our advice is determined by deep diving into each clients requirements and objectives, understanding where they are now and where they want to be, Morison said. We want to ensure the debt structure, lender, timeline, and many other aspects meet those needs not just now, but also over the next three, five or 10 years and beyond. Aria Financial also signed a joint venture agreement with Morton, a Sydney real estate and property management firm, to help broaden its proposition to include additional services. Its really about adding value for clients of Aria Financial. A client can come to either us or to Morton and we are now both able to provide them with additional value, Morison said. For example, if one of our clients is purchasing an investment property, part of our value proposition is that Morton can take care of that from a property management perspective. If landlords come to Morton and need help with their mortgage or financing, Morton is now able to say that they have a brokerage that they work with very closely that can help. Business benefitting from combining broking expertise The Aria Financial team, who all previously worked at Smartmove Professional Mortgage Advisors, decided to partner up in the new business to immediately generate economies of scale and pool their shared finance expertise. I was going to open a brokerage on my own, but now what we have is like a GP model, where you see doctors working out of a practice together we can work out of the practice and build the business together, and also bring together our experience in different areas, Morison said. Howes, for example, has decades of banking and broking experience in the commercial and business lending space, and is able to offer this technical expertise for any of Arias customers. The team spent the first few months setting up their systems, processes and back office to support a strong client service offering after making a decision to aggregate with Loan Market. Since then, they have been meeting with accountants, financial planners and other referrers, as well as servicing a first wave of new business, coming through Morton and word-of-mouth referrals. Morison said the launch has come with the excitement of building a new broking business brand. Its different when its your own. You really live and breathe it, and you get to go through the trials and tribulations of the experience of building a brand from the ground up but you only get one shot at life, so its great to be able to have the experience of building a business, he said. Aria Financial is looking first to develop and grow the business over the next six to 12 months, before looking to onboard some more finance brokers to scale the business up. I think the skys the limit. What we dont want is to lose sight of the reason we founded the business; we always want that at the forefront of our minds when we make decisions on growth, Morison said. Bronze bison a monument to True Blue history Standing proudly in its own small pasture near Alumni Arena and the Center for the Arts, UBs bronze bison often takes a starring role in photos documenting campus tours, big games and, of course, graduations. The beloved behemoth is heading into its 27th commencement season here on campus, but its history goes back much further, with ties to the city of Buffalos old Central Terminal and the sculpted bison or buffalo, as it was commonly (but erroneously) called that once graced the stations concourse. The New York City display firm of Messmore & Damon is said to have created that figure in the 1940s from a composite of clay and papier mache with a bronze-like finish. It served as a touchpoint for visitors to the huge building, who would often arrange to meet up at the buffalo. Decades later, when the Central Terminal was shuttered and its fixtures removed, the statue became damaged beyond repair. In 1992, in response to rumored plans for the revival of the terminal, Francis B. Messmore, son of the sculptor, notified city officials that he still had fiberglass pieces made from the original mold should a duplicate statue be wanted for the restoration. While that never happened, other plans were advancing. UB administrators wanted to create a marker of institutional pride and identity for the North Campus, as they wrote in a memo in 1996, to serve as the preferred spot for pictures with family and friends, something for people to remember and identify with long after their years at UB. Go will be able to retain its aircraft after NCLAT dismissed appeals filed by the cash-strapped airlines lessors on Monday. The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) on Monday upheld the court order admitting Go Firsts (Gos) voluntary insolvency and asked the lessors, who had challenged the moratorium on repossession of aircraft, to approach the adjudicating court. The order of May 10 admitting the Section 10 application is upheld, held NCLAT. The appellate tribunal Bench of Chairperson Justice Ashok Bhushan and Member (Technical) Barun Mitra upheld the National Company Law Tribunals (NCLTs) decision of May 10 admitting Gos insolvency plea. Go informed NCLAT at its previous hearing that an impression was being created (by lessors) that there was something wrong and malicious about the airline seeking voluntary insolvency. SMBC Aviation Capital (SMBC), SFV Aircraft Holdings, GY Aviation Lease, and Engine Lease Finance, who are the lessors of Go, had filed an appeal against the NCLT order to repossess their aircraft. After the plea was admitted by the NCLT, a moratorium was put in place, which meant lessors could not take possession of the aircraft during this time. A moratorium period is the suspension of all or certain legal remedies against debtors. This means that lessors of Go will not be able to take possession of the aircraft. Also Read Jalan-Kalrock consortium looks to move SC over Jet Airways staffers' dues STT hike to GST appellate tribunal: Key takeaways from Finance Bill 2023 Reconsider Satyam order: Securities Appellate Tribunal to Sebi Cabinet reshuffle: Arjun Meghwal replaces Kiren Rijiju as new law minister Bombay HC relief for GST assessees amid non-existence of tribunal Aditya Birla Fashion & Retail reports net loss of Rs 187 crore in Q4 Amazon Fresh enters over 60 Indian cities with expanded list of groceries Meta fined 1.2 bn euros for breaching European Union's privacy laws Pratilipi partners with HarperCollins, to bring 200 e-books on platform Jet Airways case: NCLAT to pass order on JKC's plea against SBI on May 30 However, the appellate tribunals order said that the lessors could still file an application of malicious intent under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) against the airline in the NCLT. SMBC had told the tribunal that the insolvency application by Go was malicious and a smokescreen. It also said the aircraft in possession of Go is its asset, which it is not able to access. The lessors had submitted to the court that the aircraft was neither the assets of Go nor the assets of the interim resolution professional (IRP), as they had cancelled their leases before the admission of the airlines insolvency plea. The appellant(s) are at liberty to file an appropriate application under Section 65 (malicious intent) of the IBC with appropriate pleadings and material, and the adjudicating authority (NCLT) while considering the said application shall not be influenced by any observations made in this order, read the order. Meanwhile, the IRP refuted this submission and said leases were terminated as soon as the airline voluntarily filed for insolvency on May 2. An IRP is a professional who is the whole and sole of the company after the insolvency application is admitted. The NCLAT said that the lessors, as well as the IRP, could file an application before the NCLT to gain clarity on the fate of the aircraft whose lease was terminated before the insolvency application of Go was accepted. The filing of the application (on May 2) was widely circulated, and thereafter the lessors, in a hurried manner, issued an order terminating the lease, the IRP said. The court said the NCLT would ultimately decide who would possess the aircraft, and parties in the case could move the company tribunal with their claims. The appellants (lessors), as well as IRP, are at liberty to make an appropriate application before the adjudicating authority (NCLT) for declaration with regard to the applicability of the moratorium on the aircraft with regard to which leases in favour of the corporate applicant (Go First) were terminated prior to admission of Section 10 (voluntary insolvency) application, the order said. Legal tangles Some lessors are likely to approach NCLT for relief, said a lawyer privy to the matter. The appellant(s) and the IRP are also at liberty to make an appropriate application with regard to the claim of possession and other respective claims of both parties relating to the aircraft in question, which needs to be decided by the adjudicating authority in accordance with the law, the order stated. What NCLAT said Lessors can file malicious intent application against Go First in NCLT NCLT to decide fate of aircraft whose leases were terminated before its order NCLT to decide on claims of possession of aircraft by parties Way forward for lessors Approach NCLT to repossess aircraft Move SC against NCLAT order If the NCLT accepts the claim of malicious intent, the moratorium against the airline may be lifted. Lessors also have the option of appealing the NCLAT decision to the Supreme Court. The IRP of Go had told NCLAT earlier at the hearings that if the airline was allowed to operate, around 80 engines from Pratt & Whitney (PW) would change the fortunes of the company. As of now, the dues of Go towards its vendors are Rs 1,202 crore (net of advances) and towards aircraft lessors Rs 2,660 crore. Meanwhile, SMBC told the court in a submission on May 11 that the Indian aviation sector was being seen as a risky jurisdiction in light of the fate of Kingfisher and Jet Airways. The airline had told the NCLT it had won an arbitral award in Singapore against PW, directing the American aerospace manufacturer to supply 10 serviceable engines by April 27 this year and 10 serviceable engines each month until December. HUL and Genpact aim to enable these businesses to eventually get absorbed into the supply chains of large consumer companies, including that of HUL. In a bid to give a fillip to diverse and sustainable sourcing, Hindustan Unilever (HUL) and Genpact have launched Be.Seen a program to help scale businesses owned by minority and under-represented groups in India. Archana added that the program aligns with Unilevers wide-ranging set of commitments and actions to help build a more equitable and inclusive society. This is by raising living standards across its value chain, creating opportunities through inclusivity, and preparing people for the future of work. In 2021, the maker of Sunsilk shampoos committed to spending Rs 2,000 crore annually with diverse businesses by 2025, Ansu Archana, procurement director, beauty & wellbeing, HUL, told Business Standard. Stein added, I think incrementally it could take us decades to ship this metric. When you think about Unilever, or potentially in the future, other partners on this platform, they bring massive scale and global supply chains. Here, we can elevate the presence of these minority-owned businesses into global supply chains to accelerate their progress and profitable growth. When you look at an economy like India, the last statistics that I saw was that less than 15 per cent of businesses were owned by women. This is broader than women; there are many communities that need more inclusion, Katie Stein, chief strategy officer and global business leader, enterprise services and analytics, Genpact, said. Also Read HUL Q4 net profit up 10% YoY, FMCG giant declares dividend of Rs 22/share Hindustan Unilever's royalty hike move hits investor mood, stock dips 4% Price hikes to drive HUL Q4 revenue, ad-spends to dent margin: Analysts Doing important transformation with AI: Genpact's Chief Digital Strategist OZiva buyout to improve HUL's health and wellbeing in long-run: Analysts GQG Partners buys Max Healthcare shares for Rs 415 cr via open market All 10 Adani stocks gain, group m-cap back in Rs 10-trillion league HFCL bags Rs 222 cr order from Reliance Jio for transmission equipment Nearly 2 mn mobile connections added in March, highest in nine months Zomato tickled pink by Rs 2,000 note? CoD tweet a 'marketing ruse' SBI told the tribunal on Friday that the consortium had not paid dues that had a deadline of May 15, as the consortium sought an interim injunction. The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal will on May 30 pass an order on an application by Jalan-Kalrock (JKC) consortium, which is reviving bankrupt Jet Airways, to stop State Bank of India (SBI) from invoking its bank guarantee of Rs 150 crore. The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) last December asked lenders to hand over Jet Airways to the consortium. It asked the consortium to submit Rs 185 croreas decided under the insolvency resolution planwith lenders by May 14 this year so that ownership transfer can begin. The lenders have not received this amount as yet. Jet's air operator certificate (AOP)-- revalidated by Indias aviation regulator on May 20 last year--expired on Friday, indicating that the airline is unlikely to start commercial flights anytime soon. By May last year, JKC had deposited Rs 150 crore with lenders as performance bank guarantee (PBG). A refundable earnest deposit of Rs 15 crore was made to the lenders in July 2020 when JKC submitted its resolution plan to lenders. The first performance bank guarantee tranche of Rs 47.5 crore was deposited in October 2020 when the committee of creditors approved the resolution plan. The remaining amount of Rs 87.5 crore was deposited in the second PBG tranche on May 20 last yearcalled the "effective date"when all CPs were fulfilled. As per the resolution plan, JKC was required to deposit with lenders a PBG of Rs 150 crore in two tranches: first of Rs 47.5 crore when a committee of creditors (lenders) approves the resolution plan and second tranche of Rs 102.5 crore on "effective date" when all CPs (conditions precedent) were fulfilled. In September last year, the Competition Commission of India (CCI) approved the merger of JioCinema with Viacom18. The company had also won the digital rights to broadcast IPL 2023 for Rs 23,757 crore. The merger between Viacom18 Media-owned video streaming app Voot and Reliance's JioCinema is in the final stages and may be announced by May end, a report by Mint said on Monday. The companies are waiting for the ongoing season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) to conclude before finalising the merger. The report added that Jio Studio may also invest Rs 2,200 crore to create a platform comprising 100 movies and web originals to improve consumer engagement and boost business. Voot will bring in more mass market-centric shows. Reliance and Viacom18 also tied up with James Murdoch and Uday Shankar-backed Bodhi Tree Systems, which will put in Rs 4,306 crore in Viacom18 as the first tranche of a total investment of Rs 13,500 crore. Max Original series including, "And Just Like That" ("Sex and the City" spin-off sequel), "Peacemaker", and "The Flight Attendant", highly anticipated premieres of shows such as "Dune: The Sisterhood", "The Batman" spin-off "The Penguin", and "Duster", from J J Abrams and LaToya Morgan, as well as much-loved Warner Bros. Television series such as "East New York" and "Gotham Knights" are also part of the slate. Also, last month Warner Bros Discovery and Viacom18 signed a multi-year agreement that made JioCinema the new platform for HBO, Max Original, and Warner Bros content in India. The deal includes current and future seasons of HBO's series such as House of The Dragon, The Last of Us, Succession and The White Lotus, and returning seasons of True Detective: Night Country, Euphoria, Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty and Perry Mason. Also Read What makes India's top OTT stories click? Viewership of premium videos up in India, Disney+ Hotstar most dominant IPL 2023 starts today: Watch in 4k, 12 languages on JioCinema; details here Why free IPL on Jio vs paid on Disney? Airtel seeks Trai intervention IPL 2023 FAQ pack: New, old, and everything one must know before season 16 TCS-led consortium wins Rs 15,000 crore BSNL 4G network rollout deal TCS up 1% as consortium bags Rs 15,000-cr order from BSNL for 4G deployment Tiger Global to invest in Rajasthan Royals at a likely valuation of $650 mn Near-term outlook remains strong for India's listed paint companies Combined revenue of listed Tata group's firms tops Rs 10 trillion GDPR was first implemented on May 25, 2018. The Irish Data Protection Commission, in its decision, said that the company was not sufficiently protecting the European data from Washington's data surveillance practices. Facebook's parent company Meta has been fined 1.2 billion euros for violating European Union data privacy laws under the bloc's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), Politico reported on Monday. The tech giant has also been ordered to stop transferring data collected from Facebook users in Europe to the United States of America (USA). In the last two years, the Irish regulator has imposed fines against Meta's platforms ranging between 405 million euros and 225 million euros. A fine of 746 million euros was also imposed by Luxembourg recently. The decision imposed the highest fine on any company under GDPR since it was enforced. The ruling will not only apply to Facebook but to Instagram and WhatsApp also. The ruling, however, provides a grace period of at least five months for Meta to comply. However, the US and EU are in talks about a new data flow deal and it can be announced as soon as July or as late as October, as reported by Politico. The issue stems from the disagreement between the EU and the US on data sharing policy. In 2020, the European Court of Justice struck down a data flow agreement known as the Privacy Shield, over the fears of US intelligence services' surveillance practices. Also Read Chat lock: Know about WhatsApp's privacy feature for private conversations Scammers target WhatsApp users with phishing calls from foreign shores WhatsApp details privacy and safety features rolled out in 2022 Instagram now lets you add up to 5 'links in bio'. Here's how to do it Instagram will soon let users add songs in photo carousel: Details here Pratilipi partners with HarperCollins, to bring 200 e-books on platform Jet Airways case: NCLAT to pass order on JKC's plea against SBI on May 30 NCLAT upholds NCLT order admitting Go First's plea for voluntary insolvency L&T bags orders worth over Rs 2,500 crore in Indian, offshore markets Ex-SoftBank Manoj Kohli joins WeWork India as independent board director India's flagship overseas oil firm ONGC Videsh has got a new partner in Oil India Ltd to replace a reluctant IndianOil (IOC) for the potential acquisition of a 50 per cent stake in Tullow Oil Plc's USD 3.4 billion oilfield project in Kenya, according to people with knowledge of the matter. But the OVL-OIL duo now faces competition from super-aggressive Chinese energy giant Sinopec which has entered the fray taking advantage of the delay on the Indian part in finalising the deal. Originally, ONGC Videsh, the overseas arm of state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), was interested in buying out half of the stakes that Tullow, Africa Oil Corp and TotalEnergies SE held in the Lokichar oilfield in Kenya. The board of OVL had approved the deal, sources said adding the firm however wanted to bring on board IOC, which too had shown interest in the project. For months, OVL-IOC negotiated the stake in the project. But the transaction couldn't be completed as IOC started having second thoughts, possibly due to financial strains resulting from losses on fuel sales. Sources said when a Kenyan ministerial delegation visited the India Energy Week in Bengaluru in February, the Indian side informed that IOC would not be going ahead and instead state-owned Oil India Ltd (OIL) will join in. Also Read IndianOil, Adani-Total, Shell lap up Reliance's KG-D6 gas; IOC top bidder CNG, piped gas prices to be cut but no clarity on deregulation: Analysts Kirit Parikh panel may recommend price caps to help moderate CNG rates In line with new govt rules, Reliance re-auctions gas from its KG-D6 block Kirit Parekh panel recommends 20% premium for gas production by ONGC, OIL Domestic sales up 17%, but exports dip 25% in 2023: Yamaha Motor chief Coal India agrees on 25% hike in allowances for non-executive workers TCS to leverage Google Cloud's generative AI to design custom solutions Reliance Power offers Rs 1,200 cr to settle debt of Butibori power project Will stop competing in over-served markets, instead play big bets: Ford However, the months of delays led to the Chinese sensing an opportunity. China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation (Sinopec) is now sending fillers to Tullow and the other two partners in the project, they said. Tullow, which is headed by India-origin CEO Rahul Dhir, had originally favoured the Indian consortium as the Kenyan project and the Barmer fields in Rajasthan had a lot of similarities. As much as 70 per cent of the supply chain sourcing could have been done from India and Dhir, who as CEO of Cairn India Ltd had brought the Rajasthan fields to production more than a decade back, saw a lot of synergy, sources said. Chinese interest may however spoil the party as Beijing yields considerable influence on the African nation. The deal being negotiated by OVL-OIL would have made the Indian state-backed firms joint operators of the venture. Tullow is the present operator of the venture with 50 per cent stake. Africa Oil Corp and TotalEnergies SE have 25 per cent stake each. The three were selling half of their stakes to the Indians. OVL, an explorer with pursuits in 35 oil and gas assets in 15 nations, would be the lead on the venture, backed by OIL, the nation's second-largest state oil explorer. Kenya's south Lokichar fields in blocks 10BB and 13T are projected to produce 120,000 barrels of oil per day (6 million tonnes per annum), with anticipated gross oil restoration of 585 million barrels over the total lifetime of the sector. The waxy crude from the project, which is similar to what is produced from Barmer in Rajasthan, will be shipped from the fields by way of a 20-inch, 825-kilometer heated pipeline to a port in the archipelago of Lamu. Barmer crude oil too is transported through a 700-km heated pipeline from Barmer deserts to the Gujarat coast. Indian refiners on the west coast would have been ideal customers of the Kenyan crude, sources said adding it would take three years for the companies to start producing oil from the date the investment decision is made. The USD 3.4 billion investment includes developing the South Lokichar fields and linking them to Kenya's Indian Ocean port of Lamu via a heated pipeline. Home Search ICH Question Everything! Click Here To Support Information Clearing House Ending the Guantanamo Nightmare By Cesar Chelala May 22, 2023: Information Clearing House -- Legend has it that on April 30, 1494, Christopher Columbus arrived to the Guantanamo Bay area and spent the night there. Columbus probably didnt dream that that area was going to be a subject of acrimonious debate centuries later. And the debate has not ceased, prompting calls for closing the facility. More appropriately, it should now be returned to its original owners, the Cuban people. Legend has it that on April 30, 1494, Christopher Columbus arrived to the Guantanamo Bay area and spent the night there. Columbus probably didnt dream that that area was going to be a subject of acrimonious debate centuries later. And the debate has not ceased, prompting calls for closing the facility. More appropriately, it should now be returned to its original owners, the Cuban people. Guantanamos contentious history is what Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis found, to his chagrin, when he was questioned by Mansoor Adayfi, a former detainee at the Guantanamo prison, at the Museum of Tolerance in West Jerusalem in late April. He angrily denied Adayfis accusation that he watched unperturbed as Adayfi was forced fed to break his hunger strike in 2006. Two other former detainees, as well as defense lawyers and officials at the base, confirmed Adayfis claim. Although DeSantis initially said that he advised the base authorities in favor of the force-feeding program, he later retracted his statement. That three former detainees at the facility question DeSantis behavior, is a serious accusation that should be considered in discussions about his qualifications as presidential candidate. Click to Support Independent Journalism The Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, colloquially called GTMO by members of the U.S. military, has a complex history. It is located on 45 square miles of land and water on the shore of Guantanamo Bay, at the southeastern end of Cuba. It is the oldest U.S. naval base in the world, and has been leased since 1903 as a coaling station and naval base. Initially the lease was $2,000 in gold per year. This was amended in 1974 to $4,085. After the Spanish-American war ended with the Treaty of Paris in 1898, Spain formally relinquished control of Cuba. American officials denied Cuba a seat at the Paris peace conference. In 1901, the U.S. government passed the Platt Amendment, part of an Army Appropriations Bill. In its section VII it read, That to enable the United States to maintain the independence of Cuba, and to protect the people thereof, as well as for its own defense, the government of Cuba will sell or lease to the United States lands necessary for coaling or naval stations at certain specified points to be agreed upon with the President of the United States. After the Platt Amendment was incorporated into the Cuban Constitution, Gen. Leonard Wood, named by President William McKinley to be Cubas military governor, told President Theodore Roosevelt, There is, of course, little or no real independence left Cuba under the Platt Amendment. During the invasion of Cuba carried out by Cuban exiles at the Bay of Pigs in April of 1961 with the support of the U.S., Washington concentrated troops and weapons in Guantanamo. In the last two decades of the 20th century the base was also used to house Cuban and Haitian refugees fleeing their country who were intercepted on the high seas. Since Jan. 11, 2002, the base has housed the Guantanamo detention center, where some 780 Muslims, captured during the U.S. invasion to Afghanistan, have been detained and tortured. As of February 2023, 31 detainees remain imprisoned at Guantanamo Bay. These are not the conditions under which the leased was signed. Several human rights organizations such as the International Committee of the Red Cross, Amnesty International, and Human Rights Watch, as well as the United Nations have condemned the treatment of inmates at Guantanamo, several of whom have committed suicide rather than accept the conditions at the detention camp. Since 1959, the Cuban Government has stated its desire to end the lease on Guantanamo, a request that the U.S. has systematically refused. The Cuban government insists that the lease conditions were imposed under duress, since the treaty was imposed on the Cuban National Assembly as a pre-condition for limited Cuban independence. Alfred-Maurice de Zayas, an American lawyer and professor of international law, notes that article 52 of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties states, A treaty is void if its conclusion has been procured by the threat or use of force in violation of principles of international law embodied in the Charter of the United Nations. Legal and ethical arguments favor the return of Guantanamo to Cuba. The world is exhausted by infamous images of cruelty and violence. What are needed instead are examples of civility and intelligence that show the kindness of the human spirit. Returning Guantanamo to Cuba, a long-delayed measure that would bring a worldwide wave of goodwill, would be a step in the right direction. Dr. Cesar Chelala is a co-winner of the 1979 Overseas Press Club of America award for the article Missing or Disappeared in Argentina: The Desperate Search for Thousands of Abducted Victims. Views expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Information Clearing House. Registration is not necessary to post comments. We ask only that you do not use obscene or offensive language. Please be respectful of others. See also Search Information Clearing House The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Information Clearing House. Click Here To Support Information Clearing House Your support has kept ICH free on the Web since 2002. Click for Spanish , German , Dutch , Danish , French , translation- Note- Translation may take a moment to load. In a BSE filing, Persistent Systems said, Situated in Krakow, this new office will be the latest addition to the companys growing global delivery network. This delivery center will play a crucial role in driving digital transformation for clients across industries and provide local IT professionals ample opportunities to advance their careers by building cutting-edge software products and digital solutions. Persistent Systems recently inaugurated its first office in Poland to expand its nearshore capabilities in Europe, the company said in a regulatory filing on Monday. The technology industry in the country is thriving, given its central location in Europe, economic growth, start-up ecosystem, and growing interest from hyperscalers who are establishing their operations in Poland, the company said in a statement. Poland is a leading technology innovation hub that offers multiple benefits, including an expansive talent pool, a vibrant ecosystem, access to key markets, and ease of doing business. The company aims to leverage these skills and build on its Digital Engineering expertise by recruiting skilled personnel in various roles from the country. Persistent plans to expand the Engineering center with a wide variety of skills such as cloud and product engineering, data and analytics, as well as customer experience experts. Also Read Persistent Systems hits 9-month high; rallies 15% in 3 days post Q3 results Fifa World Cup FRA vs POL Highlights: Mbappe's brace takes France to last 8 IndusInd Bank to Persistent Systems: Q4 results to watch out for today Persistent Systems up 5% on strong TCV, in-line revenue growth in Q3 IT stocks extend gain; Persistent Systems, Coforge rise up to 16% in a week HFCL receives purchase orders up to Rs 222 crore for supply of OFC Global family offices upbeat on Indian startup ecosystem: Lakshmi Narayanan Paytm Money launches bond Investing on platform for retail investors 72% cash-on-delivery orders on Zomato paid via Rs 2,000 notes since May 19 SC seeks response of firm Delhi marketing on plea by Zydus against HC order We are proud to open our office in Poland, as it marks a continuation of our expanded presence in Europe. Embracing innovation and geographic diversity will not only help us augment our current capabilities but also enable us to create new opportunities for our clients and team members, said Sandeep Kalra, CEO and Executive Director, Persistent. Rajasekar Sukumar, senior vice president Europe at Persistent, welcomed the new team in the presence of other leaders and team members. As we chart our journey to the next phase of growth, we remain committed to enhancing our expertise and providing bespoke experiences that enable our clients to thrive in todays software-driven world, he added. Reliance Power has made a Rs 1,200 crore one-time settlement (OTS) proposal to the lenders of its subsidiary Vidarbha Industries Power Ltd (VIPL) to settle its debt, sources aware of the matter said. As per the proposal, the company has offered to pay around Rs 1,200 crore in upfront cash to the lenders which include Axis Bank, SBI, Bank of Baroda, PNB, Canara Bank, and Bank of Maharashtra. The outstanding loan of the company as on March 31, 2022, is around Rs 2,200 crore. According to sources, Reliance Power's OTS offer is supported by Varde Partners of Singapore, which is already an investor in another group company, Reliance Infrastructure Ltd. VIPL operates a coal-based project with a capacity of 600 MW (2x300 MW) at the Butibori Industrial Area in Nagpur, Maharashtra. Prior to this, Ahmedabad-based CFM Asset Reconstruction Pvt Ltd had made an all-cash offer of Rs 1,120 crore to the lenders of VIPL. Also Read This Chris Wood owned stock hit a 52-week low. What's worrying the Street? SBI personal banking loan book up Rs-5 trn mark, helped by digital push How have the home loan EMIs changed since RBI's repo rate hike in May 2022? Mukesh Ambani completes 20 years at helm of Reliance Industries Apple supplier Foxconn to start construction of its Karnataka plant in May Will stop competing in over-served markets, instead play big bets: Ford JSW Steel, JFE to set up CRGO electrical steel manufacturing JV in India PhonePe raises another $100 mn from General Atlantic as part of $1 bn plan Gland Pharma down 33% in two days, Shreyas Shipping hits 20% upper limit Persistent Systems opens new Poland location to expand footprint in Europe CFM ARC is now under the scanner of RBI and the Income Tax Department for alleged malpractices and business misconduct. The asset reconstruction company, which is a special type of financial institution that buys debtors of a bank at a mutually agreed value and attempts to recover debts or associated securities by itself, does not have the wherewithal to conclude a large transaction of over Rs 1,000 crore on all cash basis. Post the CFM ARC offer, National Asset Reconstruction Company Limited (NARCL) had also made an offer of Rs 1,150 crore to the VIPL lenders, but out of this only 15 per cent is payable in upfront cash, while the balance will be paid in interest-free installments, over the next 5 years. The net present value of NARCL's offer is only Rs 850 crore. Compared to this, the Rs 1,200 crore all-cash offer by Reliance Power is significantly higher and attractive for the lenders of VIPL. Sources said the lenders of VIPL are likely to meet soon to consider the proposal. Tejas Networks Ltd, too, is a part of the TCS-led consortium that successfully bid for the BSNL pan-India 4G project. BSNL has issued Advance Purchase Order (APO) to TCS as well as ITI for this project. Tata Consultancy Services has won an advance purchase order from state-owned BSNL (Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd) for the deployment of a 4G network across India. In an exchange filing, the Tata Group company said that the advance purchase order from BSNL is valued over Rs 15,000 crore. Shares of TCS gained 0.8 per cent in the intra-day trade on Monday, while those of Tejas Networks and ITI zoomed 4.2 per cent each. By comparison, the benchmark S&P BSE Sensex and the BSE Information Technology indices were up 0.23 per cent and 0.78 per cent, respectively, at 10:05 AM. "As a part of the consortium, Tejas Networks will supply and service the Radio Access Networks (RAN) equipment," the company said in its filing. READ HERE "BSNL has already awarded a lot of contracts for passive infrastructure, while it's in the process of finalising the contracts for active infrastructure," then then-telecom secretary K Rajaraman had said. In December 2022, government had said that state-run BSNL is working on the its 4G saturation program where every village, which does ot have a high speed broadband connection, will be provided with one within a year or so. Also Read TCS Q4 review: Near-term growth to moderate, demand levers intact: Analysts Stocks to Watch today, May 18: HDFC Bk, Vedant Fashions, MM Forgings, NDTV TCS Q4 Preview: Revenue may rise up to 18% YoY; EBIT margin seen at 25% Kansai Nerolac, Canara Bank, Mankind Pharma among top stocks to watch today Stocks to Watch Today: L&T. DRL, Adani Group, Asian Paints, Hero Moto Tiger Global to invest in Rajasthan Royals at a likely valuation of $650 mn Near-term outlook remains strong for India's listed paint companies Combined revenue of listed Tata group's firms tops Rs 10 trillion IIFCL aims at loan sanctions Rs 35,000 cr and profit of Rs 2,000 cr in FY24 NCLAT to pass crucial orders in Go First insolvency case on Monday Meanwhile, in the January to March quarter of FY23, TCS net profit stood at Rs 11,392 crore, up 14.8 per cent year-on-year (YoY). Sequentially, the firms profit was up 5 per cent. Over 24,600 uncovered village were expected to be covered under the programme, many of which are in remote, rural and far flung areas. This may shift business away from small enterprises, creating stress in the small sector. Small firms do not require assistance from schemes like PLI, but need support such as access to technology and low-cost finance through separate schemes, according to Ajay Srivastava, the founder of think tank Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI). The government should not introduce new production-linked incentive (PLI) schemes for sectors such as leather shoes and handicrafts, which comprise mostly small firms, since the scheme focuses on scale production, which will benefit large firms. The think tank further said that the government should not introduce PLI for products with many manufacturers, large or small. For instance, PLI for industries such as food processing or automobiles, where many domestic manufacturers make similar products, introduces competitive distortion by giving money to a few firms. While the governments ambitious PLI scheme that aims to make India a manufacturing powerhouse entered its third year in FY24, with schemes for as many as 14 sectors, and an overall allocation of Rs 1.97 trillion. Over the last few months, there has been clamour for rolling out schemes for items such as toys, furniture, leather, among others. The think tank further said that there must be support towards deep manufacturing PLI for the electronics sector since exports and imports in FY2023 were $22.7 billion and $72.5 billion, respectively, resulting in widening of trade deficit from $41.3 billion in FY2020 to $50.8 billion in FY2023. Electronics component imports also jumped from $16.3 billion in FY2020 to $25 billion in FY2023. PLI money at 4-6 per cent of incremental sales could increase profit margins by 30-40%, giving a considerable price advantage over others. Non-PLI recipients suffer for no fault. The PLI should avoid incentivising such sectors. It should focus only on cutting-edge product groups where India has no manufacturing capabilities, it said. Also Read AU Small Finance tumbles 5% in 4 sessions; what should investors do? Centre likely to discontinue second phase of Fame-II scheme after FY24 Govt clears Rs 357 cr for Foxconn under PLI scheme for phone manufacturing Green hydrogen manufacturing to come under PLI scheme: R K Singh No closing dates for PLI scheme, govt makes it easier to avail benefits RBI bought $750 million on net basis from spot forex market in March Private consumption, rural demand revival to drive growth in Apr-Jun: RBI Spinning mills suffering loss of Rs 20-25 per kg of yarn: Industry body Betting on 5G, coding skills to make youth in Uttar Pradesh job ready There are downside risks to growth due to external sectors, weather: FinMin After achieving success in the Karnataka Assembly elections, the Congress has now started preparing for Assembly polls in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Mizoram and Telangana. The Congress has convened a meeting of the party leaders on May 26 to work on the strategies for the upcoming Assembly elections, sources in the know of things said on Monday. A source said "the Congress does not want to waste the momentum" it has got with a thumping victory in Karnataka, where it defeated the BJP. The party wants to ensure the preparations are started at the earliest in the next poll-bound states for a good show, the source said. The party source said that a meeting has been called by the top leadership with the state unit chiefs, party state in-charges and top leaders of the state in the national capital. The source said that Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge and party general secretary (organisation) KC Venugopal will preside over the meeting to collect the overall ground report of the party's preparation in the five poll-bound states. Also Read High-voltage campaigning for Karnataka elections to end today at 5 pm Karnataka Assembly polls 2023: All you need to know about May 10 elections Karnataka Assembly polls: Rahul Gandhi promises Rs 2 hike in milk subsidy Karnataka elections 2023: Key contests to play deciding factor for Assembly Karnataka elections: Here's what all Congress has promised in its manifesto K'taka polls: Won in 15 of 20 seats Bharat Jodo Yatra traversed, says Cong Karnataka CM will be chosen through party's consensus: Cong prez Kharge I take full responsibility for the defeat, says Karnataka CM Bommai Congress' victory in Karnataka shows 'Modi is not invincible': Opposition Market of hatred shut, shops of love opened in Karnataka: Rahul Gandhi Former party chief Rahul Gandhi, party general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra besides other senior leaders would also attend the meeting. The source said that during the meeting, the top leaders will also discuss the situation in Rajasthan, where party leader Sachin Pilot has been "critical" of Ashok Gehlot-led Congress government. However, the timing of the meeting is yet to be decided. Another source said, if the meeting does not happen on May 26, it could be rescheduled to June after Rahul Gandhi returns from his US trip. He said that during the meeting, the state unit chiefs, in-charges, and general secretaries would be briefed by the senior leaders about the election strategy. The source said that the state unit chiefs and the state in-charges will be asked to prepare the report of their respective states, which will be monitored from time to time. The Congress is looking for a good show in Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan. The party lost power in Madhya Pradesh in March 2020 after the rebellion by Jyotiraditya Scindia, who left the party and switched to the BJP. Ahead of the assembly polls, the Congress has been promising guarantees in Madhya Pradesh, having resemblance to what the party has delivered in Rajasthan. The Congress on Monday also made several promises for Madhya Pradesh, taking a cue from Rajasthan, Karnataka and Himachal Pradesh. "Gas cylinder at Rs 500, Rs 1,500 to every woman in the state (Madhya Pradesh), 100 units of free electricity and for up to 200 units half bill, loan waiver for farmers, to implement the old pension scheme. In Karnataka we fulfilled our promise, we will fulfil it in Madhya Pradesh too," the Congress said in a tweet. In Rajasthan, the state government has announced providing cooking gas cylinders for Rs 500, whereas in Himachal Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan, the Congress governments have announced to implement the old pension scheme and also waive the farmers' loans. The Congress had announced free electricity and Rs 1,500 for every woman in Himachal Pradesh and Rs 2,000 for every woman in Karnataka. --IANS aks/ "This is just the start of bond investing in India. We believe bonds are the best way for first-time investors to enter capital markets and every Indian should have a diversified wealth portfolio with bonds being a core part of it. We will continue to bring the best technology-driven features for investors with the safety and security they deserve," Varun Sridhar, CEO, Paytm Money said. One97 Communications, the parent entity of Paytm, on Monday, said that its wholly-owned subsidiary Paytm Money has launched a bonds platform for retail investors in India. The platform will enable retail investors to invest in three types of bonds - government, corporate and tax-free, the company said. "Bonds on Paytm money app presents investors all relevant information at one platform, and converts everything to yield so investors can analyse and understand the returns they can earn", One97 Communications added. Investors can find all information related to coupon vs yield, clean price vs dirty price, coupon frequency, and coupon record dates on one dashboard on the Paytm Money app. Having been the first to bring easy investments in direct mutual funds and equity investments, Paytm Money continues to be at the forefront of innovation in the Indian capital market, the company said. The company said that it believes the country has the potential to reach 100 million investors, for whom bonds would be the best way to enter capital markets. At the present moment, bonds on Paytm Money is being launched with an early access waitlist program. As a Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi)-registered broker, Paytm Money said it is leveraging the existing regulatory framework to innovate and bring a secure and transparent bond product to India. Two commandos of the Central Reserve Police Force's jungle warfare unit CoBRA were injured in an encounter between security forces and Naxalites in Chhattisgarh's Bijapur district, police said on Monday. Two-three Naxalites also received bullet injuries in the gun fight which took place at around 8 pm on Sunday in Bijapur, located around 400 km from the state capital Raipur, they said. A joint team of the District Reserve Guard and the CRPF's Commando Battalion for Resolute Action (CoBRA) launched a search operation from Pusnar camp on Sunday evening after getting information about an improvised explosive device (IED) planted between Pusnar and Hiroli villages under Gangaloor police station limits, an official said. At around 8 pm, the gun battle broke out between the security personnel and Naxalites in the area. After a brief exchange of fire, Naxalites escaped into the dense forest, he said. Constables Nakul and Mohammad Shahid, belonging to CoBRA's 202nd battalion, suffered from injuries on their hands and legs in the face-off, the official said. Also Read Chhattisgarh: US-made weapon recovered from Naxalites killed in Bijapur Chhattisgarh: Two Naxalites killed in encounter with police in Sukma Dantewada IED blast probe: Four Naxalites held, three minors detained IAF to participate in multi-national exercise 'Cobra Warrior' in UK Chhattisgarh govt to introduce reservation bill within two days: Baghel India announces action plan to boost relations with Pacific island nations Three-day-long G20 event in Kashmir to begin today: All you need to know Australia, India share secure, prosperous Indo-Pacific: Aus PM Albanese 4.5 magnitude earthquake jolts Arunachal Pradesh's Changlang: NCS Pak FM Bilawal visits PoK ahead of G20 Tourism Working Group meet in J-K They were were shifted to the Bijapur district hospital and their condition was stated to be out of danger, he said. Two-three Naxalites were also injured in the gun battle and were seen escaping from the spot, the official said. Search operation was underway in the area, he added. Three-day meeting of the Trade and Investment Working Group (TIWG) under India's G20 Presidency will commence on Tuesday in Bengaluru, the commerce ministry said on Monday. About 75 delegates from G20 countries, invitee countries, and regional and international organizations will participate in deliberations on finding agreed solutions on issues related to international trade and investment, it said. India assumed the presidency of G20 for one year from December 1, 2022, to November 31, 2023. The G20 Summit will be held in New Delhi on September 9-10. G20 meetings are being held across different cities, covering all 28 states and eight Union Territories of India. The meeting in Bengaluru will be inaugurated by Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Som Parkash. "On the first day, a seminar is being organized which will discuss the disruptive role of technology in driving inclusive growth and resilient trade," it said. Also Read G20 Foreign Ministers' Meeting: Guests welcomed with dance performance G20 foreign ministers' meeting today: Schedule, agenda, other details here Crisis in multilateralism affecting developing nations most: PM at G20 meet Need to build resilient health system across world: India at G20 Health LIVE: Blinken asks for 'contact' with Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov MiG-29's additional fuel tank dislodges during training, falls in forest Special secretary of Delhi reinstated a week after being divested of charge Delhi HC issues notice to BBC for defamation imputations against PM Modi G20 in Kashmir kicks off amidst security, delegates given rousing welcome PM announces 12-point development initiatives for Pacific Island nations The first TIWG meeting was held in Mumbai in March. The Group of Twenty (G20) is an intergovernmental forum comprising 19 countries and the European Union. Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Japan, Russia, Saudi Arabia, the US and UK are among other members. G20 members represent around 85 per cent of the global GDP, over 75 per cent of the global trade, and about two-thirds of the world population. It was founded in 1999 after the Asian financial crisis as a forum for finance ministers and central bank governors to discuss global economic and financial issues. It was upgraded to the level of Heads of State/Government in the wake of the global economic and financial crisis of 2007, and, in 2009, was designated as the premier forum for international economic cooperation. The G20 Summit is held annually, under the leadership of a rotating presidency. The police have constituted four special teams to probe the death of two persons at the Tamil Nadu State Marketing Corporation (Tasmac) bar in Thanjavur district. The post-mortem report of the two deceased, Kuppuswamy (66), a daily wage earner and Vivek (35), a taxi driver, have revealed the presence of Cyanide and no traces of methyl alcohol. The investigating team is probing how the two drank cyanide-laced liquor. It had already taken into custody the manager and two employees of the Tasmac bar and was questioning them. The Tamil Nadu revenue department has sealed the Tasmac outlet at South East Rampart road in Thanjavur from where the duo had consumed the liquor. The Thanjavur police have already registered a case under Section 174 of the IPC of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPc). The police were conducting raids in Thanjavur district after the death of 22 people by consuming spurious liquor in Villupuram and Chengalpattu districts. Also Read BharatPe Group appoints Aparna Kuppuswamy as chief risk officer Tamil Nadu govt launches drive for solid waste management awareness Checking rising crime: 8,000 Rajasthan cops round up 2,051 miscreants Tamil Nadu farmers demand govt to distribute sugarcane through ration shops Mysore Silk, Kangra Tea, Thanjavur Paintings granted GI tag: DPIIT Ex-NCB Sameer Wankhede to seek special security from Mumbai Police PM Modi, New Zealand counterpart discuss full range of bilateral ties G20 delegates arrive to warm, traditional welcome in J&K's Srinagar PM Modi conferred 'companion of the order', highest honour of Fiji Howrah-Puri Vande Bharat cancelled on Monday due to damage by tree branch According to the district police officers, Thanjavur police have registered 149 cases of illicit liquor sales in the district since the crackdown against illicit liquor following the twin hooch tragedies at Villupuram and Chengalpattu districts. --IANS aal/dpb Air India and Air India Express will operate special Haj flights from Jaipur, Chennai, Kozhikode and Kannur, carrying around 19,000 pilgrims. The two carriers will fly close to 19,000 pilgrims to Jeddah and Medina in Saudi Arabia from the four cities. Air India, in the first phase, will operate 46 flights from Jaipur and Chennai to Medina and Jeddah, respectively. The first flight was operated from Jaipur on May 21 and the services will go on till June 21, according to a release on Monday. In the second phase, Air India will bring back the pilgrims to Jaipur and Chennai by operating 43 flights from July 3 to August 2. "The number of pilgrims scheduled to fly with Air India from Jaipur is 5,871 on 27 flights while 4,447 pilgrims will be flown by it from Chennai on 19 flights," the release said. Air India Express will operate flights from Kozhikode and Kannur from June 4 to 22. Also Read One year since Tatas took over Air India, here's how the journey has been 4,314 Indian women set to perform Haj without male companion this year Govt to re-allocate Go First's Haj flights to IndiGo, two Saudi carriers Taxi to Take Off: Air India says Phase 1 of its transformation complete Overcast morning in Delhi with 25.4 deg C minimum temp, air quality drops Insult to Prez Murmu: AAP on PM being invited to inaugurate new Parliament Severe heatwave conditions will abate from May 23, predicts relief: IMD HC notice to BBC on plea claiming documentary cast slur on India reputation LIVE: PM Modi arrives in Australia on the last leg of his three-nation tour Rajasthan govt to give free seed kits of vegetables to around 2 mn farmers It will operate 44 flights from Kozhikode to Jeddah - carrying 6,363 passengers and 13 flights between Kannur and Jeddah carrying 1,873 passengers during the first phase. In the second phase, July 13 to August 2, Air India Express will fly back the pilgrims from Medina to Kozhikode and Kannur. Air India CEO and MD Campbell Wilson said the airline is happy to resume the annual special flights for the sacred Haj pilgrimage. "Air India and Air India Express will be bringing Zamzam water on the return ferry flights to India. This will be stored at the four destinations operated by them in India, on arrival. The holy water will be finally handed over to the pilgrims after they land back in their home destinations," the release said. By Countercurrents May 22, 2023: Information Clearing House -- " Countercurrents " -- The international community will not fall in line with the pro-Western rules pushed by the Group of Seven (G7) and not allow the U.S.-led group to dominate world affairs, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Saturday. China will never accept the so-called rules imposed by the few. The international community does not accept and will not accept the G7-dominated Western rules that seek to divide the world based on ideologies and values, the statement read. The Foreign Ministry went on to accuse the group of acting on behalf of America-first policies and attempting to impose its will on others. That simply shows how little international credibility means to the G7, the ministry said. It said: Gone are the days when a handful of Western countries can just willfully meddle in other countries internal affairs and manipulate global affairs. The G7 is an informal club consisting of the U.S., Canada, Britain, France, Germany, Italy, and Japan. The G7 annual meetings are typically also attended by officials representing the EU. Click to Support Independent Journalism In a joint communique adopted at the summit in Hiroshima, Japan on Saturday, the G7 listed multiple allegations aimed at Beijing, including technology theft, economic coercion, and human rights abuses at home. The group said that it strongly opposes any unilateral attempt to change the status quo by force around Taiwan and in the South China Sea. Beijing responded by saying that affairs related to Hong Kong, Xinjiang and Tibet are purely Chinas internal affairs. China accused the G7 of endangering peace in the region by providing support for Taiwan independence force. Although G7 members refrain from formally establishing diplomatic ties with Taiwan, the U.S. has sold weapons to Taipei and promised to defend it from a potential attack from the mainland. U.S. politicians have also met with officials from Taiwan, prompting harsh criticism from Beijing, which opposes any form of diplomatic contacts with the Taipei authorities. Avoid The Division Of The World Into Two, Says UN Secretary-General UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has called on the G7 nations to refrain from dividing the world into Cold War-style blocs aligned with either the U.S. or China. The Western leaders, meanwhile, made Russia and China the focus of a joint statement on nuclear weapons. Speaking to Japans Kyodo News as the leaders of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK, and the U.S. met in Hiroshima on Saturday, Guterres called for active dialogue and cooperation between the G7 nations and China on matters of climate change and development. I believe it is very important to avoid the division of the world into two, and it is very important to create bridges for serious negotiation, he said. Guterres has repeatedly warned of a brewing Cold War between Western nations and China in recent years, calling the diverging economic, political, and military interests of both sides a great fracture in 2019. Relations between Beijing and Washington in particular have taken a nosedive over the last year, with China cutting cooperation with the U.S. on climate issues in response to a visit by then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to Taiwan in August, and U.S. President Joe Biden threatening military action should Beijing move to retake control of the island. While Guterres spoke out against division of the world, a joint statement by the G7 leaders on Friday reinforced that division. Focusing on nuclear weapons, the statement accused Russia of irresponsible nuclear rhetoric and undermining of arms control regimes, while describing Chinas modernization of its nuclear arsenal as a concern to global and regional security. On the other hand, Russia has bitterly condemned the UK for supplying depleted uranium ammunition to Ukraine. Russian forces struck a warehouse containing British-supplied depleted uranium shells in the city of Khmelnitsky last week, sending a radioactive cloud towards Western Europe, Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolay Patrushev stated on Friday. The Kremlin previously stated that the British will be held accountable for sending such weapons to Ukraine. Moscow has also accused Kiev of attempting to cause a nuclear disaster by shelling the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant on Russian territory. The G7 leaders statement condemned Russia for taking control of the plant, while making no mention of Ukraines attacks on it. All the 12 zones of the Municipal Corporation Department here will have at least one unique 'pink park' and 'sculpture park,' officials said on Monday. The horticulture department is planning to develop more than 150 parks in the initial phase. Mayor Shelly Oberoi convened a review meeting to discuss and implement Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's vision of redeveloping Delhi's parks across all 12 zones. "She announced that the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) will embark on an extensive project, creating over 150 parks in the first phase. Additionally, each zone will boast a unique Pink Park and Sculpture Park," the mayor's office said in a statement. "The MCD aims to establish a 'pink park' and a 'sculpture park' in each zone. This groundbreaking initiative will result in the creation of 12 pink parks and 12 sculpture parks during the initial phase. A detailed list of these parks, categorised by zones, will be released soon. "Pink Parks will primarily cater to women, boasting a unique pink theme, while the Sculpture Parks will showcase artistic sculptures made from recycled materials. These parks will undoubtedly enhance the city's aesthetics and allure," it added. Also Read Delhi MCD: All you need to know about the prestige battle in the capital LIVE news: GRAP Stage III revoked in entire NCR with immediate effect Welspun One Logistics Parks Fund 1 commits Rs 500 crore warehousing AIF AAP ends BJP's 15 year-rule in MCD, wins civic body poll with majority Govt studying feasibility of setting up industrial parks for space tech Delhi govt to de-silt Ring Road trunk sewer line to lessen overflow issues Drugs seizure from Indian waters: Court asks NCB to file fresh affidavit Odisha government to provide free crop insurance to farmers for 3 years CUET-UG: 76% attendance recorded on second day, exam delayed at 4 centres From June 1, cough syrups must be tested at govt labs before export According to the statement, the plan envisages the development of 17 parks in the Central Zone, 10 parks each in the South Zone and Karol Bagh Zone, 5 parks in the City SP Zone, 22 parks in Shahdara North Zone, 13 parks in Shahdara South Zone, 6 parks in Narela Zone, 28 parks in Rohini Zone, 6 parks in the West Zone, 17 parks in Najafgarh Zone, 18 parks in Keshav Puram Zone, and 5 parks in the Civil Zone. The high-level meeting of MCD officials from all zones, held at the Civic Centre, focused on a comprehensive plan for park development. A detailed list of parks categorised by zones was prepared and discussed during the meeting, with the Mayor urging officials to ensure the plan's successful implementation within the designated timeline. "Shelly Oberoi emphasised the importance of meeting Chief Minister Shri Arvind Kejriwal's vision of transforming Delhi's parks into lush green spaces. The greening of these spaces will not only beautify the city but also provide residents with well-maintained and accessible recreational areas and enhance the quality of their lives," the mayor's office said. The first phase will witness the development of parks spanning over an acre within three months, with meticulous attention given to the cultivation of grass and various plant species, the statement said. The Aam Aadmi Party-led MCD is committed to providing citizens with well-equipped parks that cater to their needs, Dr Oberoi said. The development of parks will be widespread across all zones, with a focus on meeting the diverse needs of different regions. Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Monday said that online retailers who want to join the government-promoted Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) should come with a serious commitment, and not for namesake. ONDC, a non-profit company, formulates a set of standards for voluntary adoption by sellers or logistics providers or payment gateway operators. ONDC will require an undertaking from each participant at the time of onboarding that it will comply with the policy in its entirety. It aims to promote an open platform for all aspects of e-commerce retail. It would help small retailers expand their business through e-commerce medium. The minister said that a significant number of sellers on the network is itself a testimony to ONDC's impact as digital commerce is being reimagined. Any marketplace joining ONDC should come with serious commitment, and not for namesake," Goyal said. He also pointed out that when a platform comes on ONDC, it should be in the spirit of give and take, and not just simply taking benefit from the network without contributing back to its progress. Also Read India should target $350 bn exports through e-commerce by 2030: GTRI Crude oil imports up 52.58% to $146.57 bn in Apr-Nov: Comm min data ONDC to support small retailers against large tech-based e-com firms: Goyal Traders demand rollout of robust e-com policy, formation of regulator Stocks to Watch: Tata Motors, HCL Tech, Ultratech, NBCC, Mastek, Tata Comm Govt to soon declare national tourism policy: Union Minister Reddy Disaster Risk Reduction meeting in Mumbai to focus on risk financing Wants to take relations with Australia to next level: PM Modi to newspaper Clarity needed on TCS levy on credit card payments, says tax experts CM Dhami seeks data on govt land grabbed by people from state, outsiders The minister was virtually addressing the ONDC Elevate programme in Bengaluru. From the launch of beta testing on September 29, 2022, ONDC has scaled to 36,000 sellers, and over 45 Network participants. It is getting a weekly average of over 13,000 retail orders and over 36,000 mobility rides per day with peak transactions reaching 25,000 retail orders a day. Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, Monday, said that he is honoured to host Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Canberra and added that India and Australia share a commitment to a stable, secure and prosperous Indo-Pacific. "I am honoured to host Prime Minister Modi for an official visit to Australia, after receiving an extremely warm welcome in India earlier this year. Australia and India share a commitment to a stable, secure and prosperous Indo-Pacific," said Australian PM Albanese. PM Modi's visit to Australia builds on the Australia-India Annual Leaders' Summit in New Delhi in March and discussions at the G7 Summit and Quad Leaders' meeting in Hiroshima over the weekend, said the official statement released by the Australian government. "Together we have an important role to play in supporting this vision. As friends and partners, the relationship between our countries has never been closer. I look forward to celebrating Australia's vibrant Indian community with Prime Minister Modi in Sydney," he added. Prime Minister Modi will visit Australia from May 22-24. At their bilateral meeting, the leaders will discuss trade and investment, including efforts to boost trade between the two countries through a Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement and work to strengthen people-to-people links, renewable energy, and defence and security cooperation. "PM Modi will also meet Australian business leaders to drive Australia's growing trade and investment relationship with India and take forward opportunities from the Australia-India CEO Forum held in Mumbai in March," according to the statement. Also Read Australia to ramp up diplomatic ties with India, Japan in Indo-Pacific Quad committed to supporting Pacific Island countries: Joint statement PM Modi raises with Australian PM issue of attacks on temples in Australia Large ocean countries, not small island states: PM Modi at Pacific Forum Quad leaders to meet in Sydney on May 24, Prez Biden to join: White House 4.5 magnitude earthquake jolts Arunachal Pradesh's Changlang: NCS Pak FM Bilawal visits PoK ahead of G20 Tourism Working Group meet in J-K Top headlines: G20 in J&K, RBI to meet PSB directors, $ at Rs 91 in Hawala Latest LIVE news: Earthquake of magnitude 3.2 hits Tezpur in Assam Mega Textile Park in MP's Dhar will open new doors of progress: PM Modi "During the visit, the Prime Ministers will attend a community event in Sydney to celebrate Australia's dynamic and diverse Indian diaspora, a core part of our multicultural community," the statement added. Meanwhile, Albanese looks forward to visiting India in September for the G20 Leaders' Summit in New Delhi, the world's premier forum for economic cooperation. The last visit of PM Modi to Australia was in 2014. The India-Australia relationship has grown stronger due to shared interests, values, and goals. Both countries want a free, inclusive, and rules-based Indo-Pacific region, and they aim to resolve any disagreements or conflicts through peaceful means. Both are members of the Quad, Commonwealth, Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA), ASEAN Regional Forum, Asia Pacific Partnership on Climate and Clean Development, and have participated in the East Asia Summits. Both countries have also been cooperating as members of the Five Interested Parties (FIP) in the World Trade Organization context. Australia is an important player in Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) and supports India's membership of the organisation. Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami on Monday directed officials to prepare a report on how much government land has been encroached upon by people from the state and outside. Dhami also sought proposals on public projects that can be developed on "enemy properties" in different districts. District magistrates should identify "enemy properties" in their area, personally inspect those and submit proposals on what public projects can be developed on them, he said while reviewing the ongoing drive to remove encroachments from government land. Government lands in Uttarakhand will be assigned a unique number, the chief minister said and added that all departments will maintain a register of their properties and digitalise their inventories. Dhami further said that satellite pictures of the properties will be taken from time to time to check their status. Encroachments have been removed from 455 hectares of forest land since the exercise began last month on the chief minister's orders, the officials informed Dhami. Also Read Uttarakhand: CM Dhami to visit sinking Joshimath, promises necessary action Anyone found cheating in exams will be given life imprisonment: CM Dhami CM Dhami to chair key Cabinet meeting today ahead of Budget session BJP will not let AAP open its account' in MCD elections: Pushkar Dhami New anti-conversion law was necessary, will be enforced strictly: Dhami SC to hear bail plea of Satyendar Jain in money laundering case on May 26 Over 60 crore people would be exposed to dangerous heat: Research Ports & shipping ministry to give financial aid to promoting green shipping Cong likely to oppose bill to replace Centre's ordinance on Delhi Services Environment degradation impact becoming growingly apparent: Union minister At a meeting in Kaladhungi last month, Dhami had said more than 1,000 acres of government land had been encroached upon under different pretexts, including the construction of 'mazars (tombs)'. He had said all encroachments would be removed and asserted that "land jihad" would not be allowed to prosper at any cost. On Monday, Dhami directed the officials to expedite the process of removing encroachments from government land. He said accountability of officials not stopping encroachments on government land should be fixed and action taken against them. Dhami also ordered cross-verification of land freed from encroachments. The Home department has been asked to regularly run verification drives for outsiders, people living on rent and also those from outside the state working at religious places. The Congress on Monday slammed the BJP-led Central government over President Droupadi Murmu not being invited for the inauguration of the new Parliament building. The allegation comes after Congress leader Rahul Gandhi noted that President Murmu and not Prime Minister Narendra Modi should be inaugurating the new Parliament Building. Even Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge earlier in the day slammed the BJP over the inauguration of new Parliament House by the Prime Minister, scheduled on May 28 saying the government has ensured election of President from the Dalit and the tribal communities only for electoral reasons and the high office is reduced to tokenism under it. Addressing a press conference at the party headquarters here, Congress leader Anand Sharma said: "It is not constitutionally correct to take major decision about the Parliament of India, excluding the head of the parliament - the President of India, from the decision-making from the foundation stone laying and now for the inauguration". He said that Article 79 of the Constitution makes it crystal clear that the Parliament comprises of the President, who is the head of the Parliament and the two houses, first - the permanent house, the Rajya Sabha, or the Council of States. "The Constitution uses the word the Council of States, Rajya Sabha and then the house of the people, the Lok Sabha. So, that is why council of states, because India is a Union of States and the Chairman of the Rajya Sabha is number two in the warrant of precedence, the Vice President of India." Sharma said that the Lok Sabha Speaker chairs the Lok Sabha, and all decisions concerning, the summoning of the Parliament is vested in the President under Article 85. Also Read This is how India's new Parliament building will look like: Pics inside Rahul Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi pay tribute to 2001 Parliament attack victims President Droupadi Murmu to embark on a two-day visit to Arunachal today BRS, AAP announce boycott of President Murmu's address to Parliament Office of President reduced to tokenism under BJP govt, says Kharge G20: An engagement group call for global definition for start-ups Kashmir finest destination for film shooting: India's G20 Sherpa Kant Any marketplace joining ONDC should come with serious commitment: Goyal Govt to soon declare national tourism policy: Union Minister Reddy Disaster Risk Reduction meeting in Mumbai to focus on risk financing "The year starts with the joint session of the Parliament. The joint session is addressed by the President of India and the President is flanked by Vice President of India on the right side and on the left hand, is the Lok Sabha Speaker. "The Prime Minister is the leader of the Lok Sabha, he has every right to be there, respectfully so, but any major event like this required... but, the constitutional scheme of things is very clear - Parliament does not comprise of one half and that's why the framers of the Constitution have put in place, the scheme, which should never be violated, should have never been," he said. Sharma also cited the examples of many countries and said that no democracy in the world has ever done this. "It is also unfortunate that we had a Dalit President, Ram Nath Kovind, who should have also been given that honour as the Head of Parliament and now we have a tribal President, that to a tribal woman President, our respected President, Droupadi Murmu. "So, we would still urge and tell the government, tell the Prime Minister that this constitutional propriety should be kept in mind and the President of India should be given her rightful position as the President to do the honour to inaugurate, for whatever reasons this new structure is coming," Sharma said. "We share our concerns and the position as it is in our Constitution," he said. Even Rajya Sabha member Kapil Sibal took a pot shot at the government and Home Minister Amit Shah, saying: "Amit Shah: Insult to PM is insult to country. Amitji my understanding of the constitution is that : PM works for the country. PM is not the country. Just as : Government works for the country. Government is not the country." The Congress has been demanding that President Murmu should inaugurate the new Parliament building on May 28. PM Modi will be inaugurating the new Parliament building -- a triangular-shaped four-storey building. Its construction started on January 15, 2021 and was to be completed by August 2022. Built in an area of 64,500 square metres, the new building will house 1,224 MPs and has a library, multiple committee rooms, and dining rooms. Tata Projects has constructed the building at an estimated cost of Rs 970 crore. --IANS aks/vd The Delhi High Court on Monday issued summons to the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) on a defamation suit filed by an NGO claiming that its documentary cast a slur on the reputation of India, its judiciary and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Besides the BBC (UK), Justice Sachin Datta also issued notice to the BBC (India) seeking its response on the suit filed by Gujarat-based NGO Justice for Trial. The plea said BBC (India) is the local operation office and BBC (UK) has released the documentary -- "India: The Modi Question" -- which has two episodes. Senior advocate Harish Salve, appearing for the NGO, said the suit for defamation against the BBC is in relation to the documentary which has "defamed" India and the whole system including the judiciary. He contended that the documentary also makes insinuation against the prime minister. It was argued on behalf of the plaintiff that the documentary makes defamatory imputation and cast slur on the reputation of the country. Also Read Operation Sheesh Mahal: Why do BJP and Congress want Delhi CM to resign? Fox Corp expects no operational impact from defamation lawsuit settlement Centre, other states can also consider anti-radicalisation cell, says Shah HC quashes CIC order on PM Modi's degree, imposes Rs 25k cost on Kejriwal PM Narendra Modi urges party leaders to make winter session more productive PM Modi at 3rd FIPIC Summit in Papua New Guinea: All you need to know 2 CoBRA commandos injured in Naxalite encounter in Chhattisgarh's Bijapur India announces action plan to boost relations with Pacific island nations Three-day-long G20 event in Kashmir to begin today: All you need to know Australia, India share secure, prosperous Indo-Pacific: Aus PM Albanese The high court said, "Issue notice to the respondents through all permissible modes" and listed it for further hearing on September 15. Traders in the national capital are amused as the majority of customers are bringing only Rs 2000 currency notes while UPI payments have declined. Traders said that they are accepting Rs 2000 currency notes even as many people are buying stuff of just Rs 100-200 to get rid of the currency notes after the Reserve Bank in a surprise move on Friday announced the withdrawal of the note from circulation. A trader in Sarojini Nagar market said that he hadn't seen Rs 2000 currency notes in past months but now every other person is bringing this currency note for buying goods (Itne time see (Rs) 2000 ke note nahi dekhe the, aur ab har dusra banda yehi note la rha hai"). People seem to get rid of Rs 2000 currency notes instantly even as the central bank gave the public time till September 30 to either deposit such notes in accounts or exchange them at banks. Unlike the November 2016 shock of demonetisation, when old Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes were invalidated overnight, the Rs 2,000 currency notes will continue to be legal tender. People are buying stuff of Rs 100 but are giving Rs 2000 note. We got many complaints from traders yesterday that suddenly people coming with cash have increased. Till the day before yesterday, everybody wanted to do UPI and now suddenly they are bringing cash, Sarojini Nagar mini market association's president Ashok Randhawa told PTI. Also Read Biz of moving currency booming, with new revenue streams set to open up Nepal, India to sign cross-border digital payments deal to boost trade Google moves Delhi HC against single-judge order on its new billing policy Insurer liable to reimburse genuine cash payments Paytm bank gets RBI nod to operate as Bharat Bill Payment Operating Unit Rs 2,313 cr given to cow shelters in Rajasthan in last 4 years: CM Gehlot Spread cultivation of millets in newer ares of Andhra Pradesh: Governor Cong ups the ante on BJP over PM Modi inaugurating new Parliament building G20: An engagement group call for global definition for start-ups Kashmir finest destination for film shooting: India's G20 Sherpa Kant When asked whether traders are accepting the notes, Randhawa said: We have told traders to accept the notes if they can because it is affecting our business. Many people are just coming to shop to get rid of 2000 rupee notes. So there is no point in asking them to pay via UPI. "Moreover after recent SBI announcement, we are relieved. In a communication to the chief general manager of all its local head offices, State Bank of India (SBI) informed that the facility of exchange of Rs 2,000 currency notes by the public up to a limit of Rs 20,000 at a time will be allowed without obtaining any requisition slip. Markets are thronging with customers carrying bundles of 2000 rupee notes, said K K Balli, president of the Association of Wholesale Readymade Garment Dealers (Gandhi Nagar). We knew it soon after the announcement about Rs 2000 notes that many people will rush to market to get rid of these bank notes. We are accepting even but we are asking customers to buy at least stuff for Rs 1,000. As many were coming with 2000 rupee notes just to get the stuff of 100 rs which is not fair, said Balli. Some people are opting to invest in jewellery. "My son received close to Rs 15,000 in Rs 2000 denomination notes when he was born in 2020. We were storing the money in his piggy bank. Following the RBI's announcement, we broke his piggy bank and counted the notes. We have decided to invest in jewellery since it will be an investment for the future as well as a prudent decision at this time," Neetu Tripathi, a resident of Noida Extension, said. Another trader in the Lajpat Nagar market said that business has improved overnight as many women are coming to shop for clothes to let their 2000 notes get changed. "It is helping the business but we are worried about how we are going to change these notes, said Krishanpal, a garment shop owner in Lajpat Nagar. The second meeting of the G-20 Disaster Risk Reduction Working Group (DRRWG) in Mumbai will explore innovative solutions to manage and finance disaster risks, it was announced on Monday. The meeting, to be held from May 23 to 25, will bring together government officials, industry experts, private sector representatives, and stakeholders from over 20 countries, to explore innovative approaches to managing disaster risk and financing for sustainable development, an official release said. By identifying opportunities and examining creative financing mechanisms, the meeting aims to mitigate the impact of disasters on vulnerable communities. The high-level deliberations at the meeting will build upon the cross-cutting theme emerging from the first DRRWG meeting "Financing for DRR", held in Gandhinagar from the March 31 to April 1 this year. The meeting will address issues like establishing a national framework, incentivising private investments, and supporting disaster preparedness. Representatives from the National Disaster Management Authority, Ministry of External Affairs, National Institute of Disaster Management, and National Disaster Response Force will attend the meeting. Also Read G-20 working on Disaster Risk Reduction under India's presidency: Report Must pay attention to financing risk disaster mitigation: India at UNGA G20 disaster risk reduction working group meet to be held in Mumbai First G-20 IWG meeting discussing 'Financing cities of Tomorrow' concluded Disaster risk reduction, management turning into 'Jan Andolan': PK Mishra Wants to take relations with Australia to next level: PM Modi to newspaper CM Dhami seeks data on govt land grabbed by people from state, outsiders SC to hear bail plea of Satyendar Jain in money laundering case on May 26 Over 60 crore people would be exposed to dangerous heat: Research Ports & shipping ministry to give financial aid to promoting green shipping A local court here on Monday asked the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), which is probing the recent seizure of over 2,500 kilograms of methamphetamine from a vessel in Indian waters in a joint operation with the Navy, to file a fresh affidavit including the details of the arrest of the accused among other things. The court was considering the petition of the NCB seeking the custody of Pakistan national accused Zubair Derakshshandeh for five days from today. Lawyer representing the accused, B A Aloor, said the court asked the agency to file whether the arrest was made from the Indian waters in order to decide on the jurisdiction of the court. The court will consider the matter again on Tuesday. In the remand report filed by the agency on May 16, it had said that a drug trafficker from Pakistan had offered the accused, "good money" after the work was completed. The agency had on May 15 said that the actual commercial value of the contraband after its latest evaluation was close to Rs 25,000 crore, because of the high purity of the seized methamphetamine. Also Read 2,500 kg of drugs worth Rs 12,000 cr seized by NCB, Navy in Indian waters Drugs worth Rs 25,000 cr seized from Indian waters in joint operation: NCB Punished for being a patriot: Ex-NCB officer of Aryan Khan case on raids 181% rise in registration of drugs cases, 145% in seizures: NCB data Tax evasion case: Xiaomi moves Karnataka High Court to challenge FD seizure Odisha government to provide free crop insurance to farmers for 3 years CUET-UG: 76% attendance recorded on second day, exam delayed at 4 centres From June 1, cough syrups must be tested at govt labs before export Intense heat wave grips north, central India; national capital logs 46C Crew of INSV Tarini to be welcomed in Goa for historic circumnavigation NCB had said that the contraband was kept in 2,525 plastic boxes and placed in 132 bags. "The net weight of methamphetamine came out to be 2,525.675 kg," the agency said. Initially valued at Rs 12 000 crore, NCB had said that it was the largest seizure of methamphetamine in the country. The officials had earlier said that the product was packed in such a professional manner that even if it was aboard a ship for a longer duration, the moisture will not affect the drugs. The agency claimed that the latest consignment of over 2,500 kg of methamphetamine was meant for India, Sri Lanka and Maldives from Afghanistan. The drug cache was at a "mother ship" a large vessel that distributes narcotics to various boats during its journey from the Makran coast around Pakistan and Iran, it said. As many as 132 sacks of suspected methamphetamine, the intercepted boat and some other items salvaged from the ship along with the Pakistani national were brought to Mattancherry Wharf and handed over by the Navy to the NCB, it said. Ahead of the Bombay High Court hearing, IRS officer Sameer Wankhede, the former Mumbai Zonal Director of Narcotics Control Bureau, said here on Monday that he would seek special security from the Mumbai Police owing to threats to his life. Wankhede, presently embroiled in an alleged extortion case pertaining to the sensational raid aboard the Cordelia Cruise ship in which Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan's son Aryan was among those arrested, said in a brief interaction with private Marathi TV channels. He said that he has been getting many threats, including on social media and would soon meet the Mumbai Commissioner of Police with a request to the effect. Wankhede said he has been raising the issue of the risks he faces several times in the past, particularly now, after the CBI lodged the FIR against him. Also Read Rationalisation in long-term capital gains tax structure on the anvil Capital gains tax should be rationalised; need simpler ITR form: Experts DoPT asks UPSC to recruit private sector specialists for top jobs Mumbai Police register case against rapper for composing 'anti-govt' song Buoyant tax collections cushion govt on fiscal front; ITR reforms likely PM Modi, New Zealand counterpart discuss full range of bilateral ties G20 delegates arrive to warm, traditional welcome in J&K's Srinagar PM Modi conferred 'companion of the order', highest honour of Fiji Howrah-Puri Vande Bharat cancelled on Monday due to damage by tree branch PIL in HC against permission to exchange of Rs 2000 note without id proof The IRS officer was grilled for two days, almost five hours daily, as per the high court directives of last Friday, by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). At the last hearing, the Bombay High Court granted relief from any coercive action till May 22 to Wankhede, an IRS officer of 2008 batch, whose role during the Cordelia Cruise ship raids on October 2, 2021 has come under the radar of the CBI. It may be recalled that ex-Maha Vikas Aghadi government minister and Nationalist Congress Party leader Nawab Malik, and a witness in the cruise raids Prabhakar Sail (who died last year) had levelled several allegations of corruption against Wankhede and the raid team. However, Wankhede has stoutly denied all the allegations against him and expressed his full faith in the judiciary, the Central government and the CBI to give him justice. Thereafter, Wankhede was relieved from the cruise raid case and later an internal probe was conducted vis-A-vis the allegations he faced, even as the NCB gave a 'clean chit' to Aryan Khan for lack of evidence against him in May 2022. Besides Wankhede, the CBI has booked two other NCB officers, Vishwa Vijay Singh and Ashish Ranjan, and witnesses in the ship case, K.P. Gosavi and Sanvile D'Souza. --IANS qn/dpb By Michael T Klare May 22, 2023: Information Clearing House -- Not so long ago, political analysts were speaking of the G-2 that is, of a potential working alliance between the United States and China aimed at managing global problems for their mutual benefit. Such a collaborative twosome was seen as potentially even more powerful than the G-7 group of leading Western economies. As former Undersecretary of the Treasury C. Fred Bergsten, who originally imagined such a partnership, wrote in 2008, The basic idea would be to develop a G-2 between the United States and China to steer the global governance process. That notion would become the basis for the Obama administrations initial outreach to China, though it would lose its appeal in Washington as tensions with Beijing continued to rise over Taiwan and other issues. Still, if the war in Ukraine teaches us anything, it should be that, whatever the desires of Americas leaders, they will have little choice (other than war) but to share global governance responsibilities with China and, in a new twist on geopolitics, with India, too. After all, that rising nuclear-armed nation is now the most populous on the planet and will soon possess the third-largest economy as well. In other words, if global disaster is to be averted, whether Americans like it or not, this country will have little choice but to begin planning for an emerging G-3. Two questions come to mind immediately: Why the G-3, and why is its emergence likely to be such an inevitable outcome of the war in Ukraine? Starting with the second of those critical questions, the G-3 lies in our future exactly because neither the United States nor Russia has proven capable of achieving what its leaders might consider a satisfactory outcome to that war. On Moscows side, the possibility of wiping out Ukraine as a functioning state has proven a remarkable failure; on Washingtons, the utter defeat of Russia and the demise of Vladimir Putin appears highly unlikely. Click to Support Independent Journalism Amid the seemingly never-ending catastrophe of the war in Ukraine, its become increasingly evident that China and India are likely to shape its final resolution. Russia cant keep fighting without the support of those two countries, thanks to their refusal to abide by harsh Western sanctions, their continuing trade with Moscow, and their massive purchases of Russian fossil-fuel reserves. In addition, neither of those countries wants the war to escalate or drag on for much longer, given the harm its doing to the prospects of global growth. For the Chinese, in particular, its been generating friction with crucial trading partners in Europe who resent Beijings continuing ties to Moscow. For their own reasons, therefore, the leaders of those two countries are likely to put increasing pressure on both Moscow and Kyiv to seek a negotiated outcome that will, it goes without saying, satisfy neither side. At the same time, while the war in Ukraine has exposed the startling weakness of Russias previously vaunted military, it has also revealed in a striking fashion the limits of American power. After all, when the war began in February 2022, President Joe Biden was confident that most of the world would join the U.S. and Europe in isolating Moscow by, among other things, halting purchases of Russian energy supplies and imposing tough sanctions on that country. For him, this was still the American Century. The United States is not doing this alone, he declared at the time. For months, weve been building a coalition of partners representing well more than half of the global economy We will limit Russias ability to do business in dollars, euros, pounds, and yen to be part of the global economy. As it happens, we seem to have entered a new yet-to-be-defined epoch characterized by diminishing U.S. global clout. After all, despite determined efforts by Washington and its NATO allies to limit Russias access to the global economy, Moscow has largely succeeded in keeping itself afloat, even while financing its ever more expensive military disaster in Ukraine. Thanks for this go significantly to China and India, which have continued to buy enormous quantities of Russian oil and natural gas (even if at steeply discounted prices). No less significantly, Washington has largely failed to persuade most of the global South, including key rising powers like Brazil, India, and South Africa, to embrace President Bidens view of the Ukraine war as an existential struggle between liberal democratic states and illiberal autocratic ones. As he put it in a speech delivered a year ago in Warsaw, We [have] emerged anew in the great battle for freedom, a battle between democracy and autocracy, between liberty and repression, between a rules-based order and one governed by brute force. But outside Europe, such ringing statements have largely fallen on deaf ears, as non-Western leaders have emphasized their own national needs and decried the Wests hypocrisy when it comes to defending the global rules it claims to honor. In particular, they have complained about the way such sanctions imposed on Russia have raised food and fertilizer prices in their own countries, harming millions of their citizens. I would still like to see a more rules-based world, S. Jaishankar, Indias foreign minister, typically told Roger Cohen of the New York Times. But when people start pressing you in the name of a rules-based order to give up, to compromise on what are very deep interests, at that stage Im afraid its important to contest that and, if necessary, to call it out. Little as Washington has attended to such perspectives, count on one thing: post-Ukraine, we will find ourselves in a new world order. After the expected Ukrainian spring/summer offensive, which is unlikely to dislodge all Russian troops from the lands theyve seized since last February, India and China will almost certainly be nudging both countries toward a peace settlement aimed more at restoring the flow of global trade than upholding fundamental principles of any sort. Indeed, the Chinese peace plan for the war, though ignored or reviled by most Western analysts, may end up proving the most effective blueprint for a settlement, with its vague call for respecting the sovereignty of all states and its emphasis on eliminating sanctions, restoring global supply lines, and freeing up the Russian and Ukrainian grain trade. Indeed, however reluctantly, even Secretary of State Antony Blinken has conceded that it might provide a template for a future settlement. Why the G-3? While the outcome of the Ukraine war still remains in doubt, count on one thing: the emergence of China and India as major actors in its resolution will help define the future world order one in which the United States will have to share global governance responsibilities with China and India, the worlds two other major power nodes. Europe isnt qualified to play such a role because of its internal divisions and dependence on U.S. military power; Russia isnt because of the decline of its military and economic strength. The G-3 countries, however, possess some basic characteristics that set them apart from all other powers and are only likely to become more pronounced in the future. Lets start with population. In 2022, China, India, and the United States had the worlds largest, second-largest, and third-largest populations, jointly accounting for an estimated 3.2 billion people, or approximately 40% of all people on the planet. While India is expected to overtake China as the worlds most populous nation this year, those three countries are still likely to remain atop the population heap in 2050, hosting an estimated 3.4 billion people by then. Of course, no one knows how major famines, pandemics, or climate disasters may affect such numbers, but those populations do confer enormous advantages when it comes to production, consumption, and even, if necessary, war-fighting. Next, consider economic clout. The U.S. and China have long had the worlds number one and two economies, with India in sixth place and rising, if still behind Japan, Germany, and the United Kingdom. It is, however, expected to overtake the UK this year and, in some projections, will reach number three by 2030. Together, the G-3 will then account for a greater share of global economic activity than the next 20 countries combined, including all the European economies and Japan. Consider that a form of power no one will be able to ignore. The U.S. and China are widely assumed to possess the worlds two largest and most powerful militaries, with Russia still claiming the third spot, though its military has been severely diminished thanks to the war in Ukraine and isnt likely to regain its prewar strength for years, if ever. Indias military is large indeed, with an estimated 1.4 million men and women in uniform (compared to Chinas two million, Russias less than a million, and Americas 1.4 million), but its not as well equipped with advanced weaponry as the other three. The Indians are, however, spending billions of dollars on the acquisition of advanced combat systems from Europe, Russia, and the United States. As its share of global wealth increases, count on New Delhi to invest ever more money in the modernization of its armed forces. There is one other area where China, India, and the U.S. lead the world in numbers: in their emissions of carbon dioxide and other climate-altering greenhouse gases. With all three continuing to rely on fossil fuels for a large share of their energy consumption, China, India, and the U.S. are expected to top the list of the worlds leading carbon-emitters for decades to come. According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), the G-3 will account for an estimated 42% of global carbon emissions by 2050 more than Africa, Europe, Latin America, and the Middle East combined. The G-3 in Practice Total up all those factors and its obvious that China, India, and the United States are likely to dominate any future world order. Sadly, that doesnt mean theyre destined to cooperate far from it. Competition and conflict will undoubtedly remain an enduring characteristic of their relationships, with the ties between any two of them constantly waxing and waning. (Think of the revolving alliances and antagonisms between Eastasia, Eurasia, and Oceana in George Orwells prophetic dystopian novel 1984.) But of one thing we can be certain: no major global problem, whether it be climate change, economic catastrophe, another lethal pandemic, or a Ukraine-style war, will be solved if those three powers cant figure out some form of cooperation, however informal. There was at least one previous moment of three-way concordance. In November 2014, in the leadup to the Paris Climate Summit of the next year, President Barack Obama forged a working alliance with President Xi Jinping of China aimed at achieving a successful outcome and then incorporated Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi into their joint effort. His meetings with Xi and Modi at the start of the Paris summit were, according to then-White House Deputy National Security Adviser Ben Rhodes, meant to send a strong message to the world about their strong commitment to climate change. Many analysts believe that the 2015 summit would never have succeeded had it not been for the combined leadership of Obama, Xi, and Modi. Needless to say, that budding partnership was upended when Donald Trump entered the White House and terminated U.S. adherence to that agreement. All too sadly, in the years that followed, Washingtons cooperation with Beijing and New Delhi on climate change largely ceased, while American disputes with China over trade, Taiwan, and the South China Sea only grew more heated. Today, the leaders of the worlds top two economies are barely speaking and their armed forces appear poised for a violent clash at almost any moment. They also remain at odds over Ukraine, with Washington demanding that Beijing sever economic ties with Russia and the Chinese insisting on the legitimacy of their ironclad alliance with Moscow. Again, all too sadly, such antagonisms are more likely to prove the norm in U.S.-China relations than that brief outburst of cooperation in 2014-2015. And while India has grown closer to the United States in recent years in large part to balance Chinas growing economic and military might its leaders are loathe to become overly dependent on any foreign power, however closely aligned they might be in political terms. The prognosis, then, is for continued brittle and often tense relations among the G-3 countries. Nonetheless, those three nations will have little choice but to deal with one another in some fashion when it comes to the major global problems confronting all of them. Climate change is certainly among the most pressing: if global carbon emissions continue to rise in accordance with the IEAs current projections, world temperatures could soar to far more than 2.0 Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) above the pre-industrial era, the target cap set by the Paris Climate Agreement. That, in turn, will ensure a calamitous new reality for all three countries (as well as the rest of the world), including extreme coastal inundation, widespread desertification, and profound water scarcity. None of them can avoid such an outcome alone. Only by working in concert to reduce global emissions might they avert what is otherwise likely to be climate catastrophe for themselves and the planet. The same is true of any other major global challenge, including future severe economic crises, pandemic outbreaks, major regional conflicts, and the further proliferation of nuclear weapons. However uncomfortable the leaders of China, India, and the United States might be when it comes to collaborating with their counterparts, they will have little choice if they are to escape an increasingly calamitous future. Like it or not, they will have to embrace some form of G-3 collaboration, however little acknowledged it may be at first. In time, as they come to recognize their mutual interdependence, they might even find themselves collaborating in a more formal, amicable manner to the benefit of all the inhabitants of planet Earth. Former Union Minister Uma Bharti was admitted to a hospital late on Saturday night after she felt unwell, the ex-Madhya Pradesh chief minister said in a Twitter post on Sunday. The 64-year-old Bharti tweeted: "Last night around 11 o'clock, I was taken to the Smart City Hospital near my residence when I suddenly fell ill. In all my tests, I was found to be healthy but extremely tired and weak." "According to doctors, the only treatment is bed rest for a few months. You (addressing the netizens) please don't forget that I have worked hard in public life since I was 6 years of age, i.e. almost 55 years," she wrote on Twitter. Union Minister for Civil Aviation and BJP leader Jyotiraditya Scindia on late Sunday evening posted on Twitter that he had received information about the ill health of Uma Bharti. "Learnt that former Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh and member of my family, respected Uma Bharti is unwell. I pray to God for her speedy recovery," Scindia wrote on his official Twitter handle. --IANS Also Read Ricky Ponting rushed to hospital after feeling unwell during commentary World's first palm-leaf manuscript museum comes up in Thiruvananthapuram India feeling 'little challenged' about EU's carbon tax: Official Tim Cook, Sunil Mittal reaffirm commitment to work closely in India, Africa 70 hospitalised in Kerala after food posioning during a baptism event 2 more devotees die of heart attack in Yamunotri Dham; toll climbs to 18 Ready for narco test if Phogat and Punia take it too, says Brij Bhushan Manipur govt extends internet suspension for 5 more days to maintain peace Jan Samvad show people happy with govt's policies: Manohar Lal Khattar PM Modi on mission to make India more respectable in world, says Amit Shah pd/pgh An engagement group under the G20 recognised the importance of inclusive and collaborative decision-making processes to foster innovation and growth in the global startup community, India's Startup20 chair Chintan Vaishnav said on Monday. According to an official statement, the first draft of the core recommendation and policy directives of the policy communique is now available for public comment. Chintan further stressed the significance of widespread participation in shaping policies that will directly impact the startup ecosystem on a global scale, the statement said. The public comment period will remain open until May 27, 2023, during which the Engagement Group will closely evaluate the feedback received, the statement said, adding that the final version of the policy communique will incorporate the valuable inputs received from stakeholders across nations. Startup20 Engagement Group is a dedicated platform within the G20 framework that focuses on facilitating dialogue, promoting innovation and fostering growth in the startup ecosystem. Comprised of representatives from various countries, the group strives to develop and implement policies that support startups, entrepreneurs and ecosystem builders worldwide. Also Read Three-day-long G20 event in Kashmir to begin today: All you need to know Crisis in multilateralism affecting developing nations most: PM at G20 meet G20 Foreign Ministers' Meeting: Guests welcomed with dance performance G20 foreign ministers' meeting today: Schedule, agenda, other details here LIVE: Blinken asks for 'contact' with Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov BMC announces ban on two-wheelers on Parel TT flyover from June 1 Delhi Traders see rush of customers with Rs 2,000 notes, while UPI declines Rs 2,313 cr given to cow shelters in Rajasthan in last 4 years: CM Gehlot Spread cultivation of millets in newer ares of Andhra Pradesh: Governor Cong ups the ante on BJP over PM Modi inaugurating new Parliament building India assumed the presidency of G20 for one year from December 1, 2022, to November 31, 2023. The G20 Summit will be held in New Delhi on September 9-10. The Group of Twenty (G20) is an intergovernmental forum comprising 19 countries and the European Union. Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Japan, Russia, Saudi Arabia, the US and the UK are among other members. G20 members represent around 85 per cent of the global GDP, over 75 per cent of the global trade and about two-thirds of the world population. It was founded in 1999 after the Asian financial crisis as a forum for finance ministers and central bank governors to discuss global economic and financial issues. The group was upgraded to the level of Heads of state/government in the wake of the global economic and financial crisis of 2007, and in 2009, was designated as the premier forum for international economic cooperation. The G20 Summit is held annually, under the leadership of a rotating presidency. Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on Monday handed over a catamaran built by a private shipyard here to the Maldives government. The 30-metre long vessel named "Thinaaveshi", built by Vijai Marine Services, was handed over to representatives of the Maldives government at a function here. This is the largest catamaran vessel built in India, Sawant claimed. "Handing over of this vessel to the ministry of environment, climate change and technology of Maldives indicates the strength of the 'Make in India' initiative," the chief minister said. Goa's shipping industry has been contributing to this sector since 1961. Sawant said, adding that handing over the catamaran to the Maldives government is a proud moment for the state. Representatives from the Maldives government will take the vessel to their country on Tuesday. Also Read Goa debt swells to Rs 24,000 cr, repay it before taking loans: Oppn Maximum crimes in Goa are committed by migrant labourers: CM Sawant Goa aims for 100% renewable energy usage across all sectors by 2050: CM Cyber crime threat to India's progress, security: Goa CM Pramod Sawant GFP, AAP slam Goa collector's circular seeking funds for event on Jan 26 VP urges MLAs to immobilise remote controls to contribute max in Parliament Govt chalking out comprehensive strategy for tourism in Kashmir: Reddy Rs 200 cr spent on salaries, facilities for RS MPs in last 2 years: RTI PM Modi arrives in Australia; to hold talks with PM Albanese Sydney Air India, Air India Express to operate special Haj flights from 4 cities The ship can travel up to 100 nautical miles in the sea and will be used for monitoring and research, a senior Vijai Marine Services official said. The Delhi High Court on Monday issued notice to the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) on a plea by an NGO claiming its documentary "India: The Modi Question" casts a slur on the reputation of India and makes false and defamatory imputations against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Indian judiciary. Besides the BBC (UK), Justice Sachin Datta also issued notice to the BBC (India) on the plea filed by Gujarat-based NGO Justice On Trial. The plea said BBC (UK) is the national broadcaster of the United Kingdom and has released the news documentary -- "India: The Modi Question" -- which has two episodes and BBC (India) is its local operations office. It said the two episodes have been published in January 2023. The documentary relates to the 2002 Gujarat riots when Modi was the state's chief minister. The high court said, "Issue notice to the respondents through all permissible modes", and listed it for further hearing on September 25. The government had banned the documentary soon after it was released. Also Read I-T teams at BBC's Delhi, Mumbai offices for survey operation: Officials ED files FEMA case against BBC India for foreign exchange violations Centre notifies appointment of Chief Justices for four high courts Documentary row: BBC says court doesn't have jurisdiction to try case SC issues notice to Centre over blocking of BBC documentary on PM Modi LIVE: PM Modi arrives in Australia on the last leg of his three-nation tour Rajasthan govt to give free seed kits of vegetables to around 2 mn farmers MeT issues 'orange' alert in 10 Himachal districts for May 23, 24 European defense ministers meet in Poland to discuss Ukraine's defenses SC asks NMC to set up panel to examine modes of disability assessment Senior advocate Harish Salve, appearing for the NGO, said the suit for defamation against the BBC is in relation to the documentary which has "defamed" India and the whole system including the judiciary. The plaintiff organisation, which is stated to be a society registered under the Societies Registration Act, 1860 and also registered as a Public trust under the provisions of the Bombay Public Trust, 1950, has filed the suit for damages and has also sought permission to file as an indigent person. It was contended that the documentary/ publication contains content which casts a slur on the reputation of the country and also makes false and defamatory imputations and insinuations against the Prime Minister of India, the Indian Judiciary and the Indian criminal justice system. It said the conduct of the broadcaster is actionable and has made them liable to damages. The Centre had earlier issued directions for blocking multiple YouTube videos and Twitter posts sharing links to the BBC documentary, which was described by the Ministry of External Affairs as a "propaganda piece" that lacks objectivity and reflects a colonial mindset. ISRO The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) will launch navigation satellite 'NVS-01' onboard its Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) from Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh on May 29. The mission is designed to deploy the NVS-01 navigation satellite, weighing 2,232 kilograms, into a Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO). "The launch of the GSLV-F12/NVS-01 mission is scheduled on Monday, May 29 at 10:42 hours IST from the second launch pad at Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota," the Bengaluru-headquartered national space agency said in a release on Monday. Subsequent orbit raising manoeuvres will be used for taking the satellite to the intended orbit, the space agency said. NVS-01 is the first of the second-generation satellites envisaged for the Navigation with Indian Constellation (NavIC) services, it said. NavIC is India's own indigenous satellite navigation system similar to the prominent Global Positioning System (GPS), which belongs to the United States. Also Read Isro launches 36 satellites for OneWeb; everything you need to know ISRO carries out controlled re-entry experiment of decommissioned satellite ISRO conducts 200th consecutive successful launch of RH200 sounding rocket SC cancels Kerala HC order granting pre-arrest bail to 4 in Isro spy case ISRO-NASA built satellite ready to be shipped to India for launch in Sept Brazilian ecologists try new approach against deforestation in the Amazon Why it is a good bet for Tatas to make high-end iPhones as Apple eyes India Limestone mine collapse: NGT orders Rs 20 lk compensation to victim's kins Kolkata petrol pumps see 10 times hike in payments in Rs 2,000 notes Mansukh Mandaviya to represent India at 76th World Health Assembly According to ISRO, NVS series of satellites will sustain and augment the NavIC with enhanced features. This series incorporates L1 band signals additionally to widen the services, it said, adding an indigenous atomic clock will be flown in NVS-01 for the first time. Petrol pumps in Kolkata claim that they have witnessed a 10-fold increase in payments using Rs 2,000 notes from people buying fuel since the RBI announced withdrawal of the high-value currency from circulation, officials said on Monday. In the case of jewellers, the increase in payment by Rs 2,000 notes is 15-20 per cent compared to the weeks before May 19 when the central bank made the announcement. "We are getting 10 times higher number of Rs 2,000 currency notes now since the announcement. We used to get 10-15 notes a day, but now it has risen to 130-140 on average," West Bengal Petroleum Dealers Association president Prasenjit Sen told PTI. However, India Bullion and Jewellers Association president (West Bengal) Ashok Begani said, "There is no panic buying as was witnessed in 2016 when currency notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 denominations that were in circulation at that time were withdrawn overnight". The use of Rs 2,000 notes by customers has risen 15-20 per cent since the announcement of its withdrawal, said Bachhraj Bamalwa, partner of jewellery chain Nemichand Bamalwa & Sons. Sen claimed that some of the bank branches are seeking extra details while receiving Rs 2,000 notes. State Bank of India CGM (Kolkata circle) Prem Anup Sinha, however, clarified, "The norm for deposit of Rs 2,000 notes remains the same as for other denominations such as Rs 500, Rs 200 or Rs 100 notes." Confederation of West Bengal Trade Association president Sushil Poddar said that the circulation of Rs 2,000 notes has definitely increased in general trade, but that the hike is not extraordinary and there is no panic. Also Read Petrol, diesel prices remain largely unchanged, check prices in your city RBI asks banks to keep daily data on exchange, deposit of Rs 2,000 notes Mamata Banerjee to leave for three-day tour to West Bengal districts Cash sales at petrol pump spike to 90% as people rush to use Rs 2,000 notes Legal crisis erupts in Bengal over slander campaign against HC judge Manipur violence: Security deployed after fresh clashes in Imphal PM Modi showcases India as reliable partner to the Pacific island nations Prevent deaths during cleaning of sewers or face action: CM Stalin Cash sales at petrol pump spike to 90% as people rush to use Rs 2,000 notes Promoting lower-calorie options on delivery apps may help fight obesity RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das on Monday said that most of the withdrawn Rs 2,000 notes are expected to be returned by the deadline of September 30. He said that the impact of the withdrawal on the economy will be "very marginal", he said, adding Rs 2,000 currency notes made up for just 10.8 per cent of the total currency in circulation. In the wake of the RBI's announcement about withdrawal of Rs 2,000 currency notes, the petrol pumps in Maharashtra's Aurangabad have seen a significant rise in the inflow of these notes, an official of a petroleum dealers' body said on Monday. Prior to the announcement, very few customers would pay using Rs 2,000 currency notes at petrol pumps, he said. Banks have also been asked to stop issuing Rs 2,000 notes with immediate effect, the apex bank said. "Earlier, customers would pay using two to three notes of Rs 2,000 denomination in a day. However, we are getting nearly 100 notes in a day since the RBI's announcement about these currency notes," Petroleum Dealers Association (PDA) secretary Aqeel Abbas told PTI. The phenomenon is not only seen in petrol pumps in the city, but also in the rural parts of the district, he said. "Since there are no issued with depositing these notes in the banks, we are accepting them and the transactions are being done smoothly," Abbas said. Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Monday said that the government is planning to withdraw AFSPA completely from Assam by 2023. "We are aiming at withdrawing AFSPA completely from Assam by the end of 2023. We will also rope in ex-military personnel to train our police force," tweeted Sarma. Olympic champion Neeraj Chopra is the new world number one in mens javelin throw, as per the latest rankings released by World Athletics. Chopra, who became the first Indian to win a gold medal in a track and field event at the Tokyo Olympics, leads reigning world champion Anderson Peters of Grenada by 22 points. Chopra began his 2023 season by winning the first Diamond League meeting in Doha on May 6 with a world-leading effort of 88.67m. The 25-year-old Indian will next be in action at the Fanny Blankers-Koen Games at Hengelo, the Netherlands on June 4 followed by the Paavo Nurmi Games in Turku in Finland on June 13. Olympic champion Neeraj Chopra is the new world number one in mens javelin throw, as per the latest rankings released by World Athletics. Chopra, who became the first Indian to win a gold medal in a track and field event at the Tokyo Olympics, leads reigning world champion Anderson Peters of Grenada by 22 points. Chopra began his 2023 season by winning the first Diamond League meeting in Doha on May 6 with a world-leading effort of 88.67m. The 25-year-old Indian will next be in action at the Fanny Blankers-Koen Games at Hengelo, the Netherlands on June 4 followed by the Paavo Nurmi Games in Turku in Finland on June 13. Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrives in Australia on the last leg of his three-nation tour, reported PTI. Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrives in Australia on the last leg of his three-nation tour, reported PTI. NCLAT upheld the NCLT order admitting voluntary plea by Go First airlines for insolvency and protection under a moratorium from recovery by lenders on Monday, the Bar & Bench reported. Former Delhi minister Satyendar Jain, who has been arrested in connection with a money laundering case, was taken to the Safdarjung Hospital here as he was feeling unwell, party sources said on Monday. The National Green Tribunal has directed the District Magistrate of Bastar to pay a compensation of Rs 20 lakh to the families of each of the six workers who were killed in a limestone mine collapse in Maalgaon village in Bastar district of Chhattisgarh. The tribunal also ordered the district administration to pay a compensation of Rs 2 lakh to the three injured workers and asked the state to review its vigilance and regulatory regime to prevent such incidents in future. The NGT was hearing a matter where it had initiated suo motu (on its own) proceedings based on a media report about the death of six people, including five women, allegedly due to mine collapse. The incident occurred on December 2 last year in the village, which is under Nagarnar police station, around 12 km from Jagdalpur, the district headquarters. A bench headed by chairperson Justice A K Goel said, "We direct that the District Magistrate, Bastar may disburse a further amount of Rs 16 lakh to the heirs of each of the deceased and Rs 2 lakhs each to the injured within one month" "It will be open to the DM to identify the violators and proceed against them in accordance with the law, including for recovery of compensation, and the state may review its vigilance and regulatory regime to prevent such incidents in future," the bench, also comprising judicial member Justice Sudhir Agarwal and expert member A Senthil Vel, said. The bench noted the tribunal had earlier formed a fact-finding committee comprising the state's Principal Secretary (Environment), DM, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), besides representatives of the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) and Chhattisgarh Environment Conservation Board (CECB). Also Read India identifies copper and lithium mines in Argentina; to acquire soon Govt plans to invite bids to extract gold from dumps at Kolar mines Bihar govt initiates auction process for iron ore mines worth Rs 20,000 cr NGT panel to probe air pollution by Singrauli, Sonebhadra thermal plants NGT slaps compensation of Rs 50 cr on Mizoram for improper waste management Kolkata petrol pumps see 10 times hike in payments in Rs 2,000 notes Mansukh Mandaviya to represent India at 76th World Health Assembly Manipur violence: Security deployed after fresh clashes in Imphal PM Modi showcases India as reliable partner to the Pacific island nations Prevent deaths during cleaning of sewers or face action: CM Stalin According to the committee's report dated April 5, heirs of each of the six deceased were paid a compensation of Rs 4 lakh and the injured provided medical treatment without any compensation, the bench noted. "It is clear from the report that the death of six persons has taken place due to the collapse of the soil bed in the course of the excavation of soil. The report mentions that the accident site area has been fenced with a signboard of restricted area and excavation activities are prohibited in the area," the bench said. It said though the committee failed to identify the violator, there is no dispute that the deaths occurred in the course of illegal excavation and there is a failure on the part of the state machinery in preventing such hazardous activities and also identifying those undertaking such activities. "In such a situation, there is no reason to deprive the heirs of the deceased of just compensation to be paid by the state with the liberty to recover the same from violators," the bench said. The green panel said while the primary liability for such deaths is of those undertaking illegal excavation activities, the state cannot avoid its responsibility towards the safety of human lives that were lost on account of failure of its vigilance and regulatory mechanism. It said a compensation of Rs 4 lakh was not adequate even on an ad hoc basis and, in the absence of particulars of the loss of earnings, the compensation in such cases has to be at least Rs 20 lakh for each death. Police had claimed the victims were digging white clay soil from a pit on the outskirts of the village which was meant for domestic use. Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya will represent India at the ongoing World Health Assembly in Geneva, Switzerland. Kick-started on Sunday, the 76th assembly will conclude on May 30. The key agenda for this assembly include discussions and deliberations on the issues of Universal Health Coverage, public health emergencies, health and well-being, and more effective and efficient WHO emphasising the importance of global collaborations and partnerships for building resilient global health architecture and collectively striving to achieve universal coverage, an official statement said. In resonance with India's commitment to a healthier world, the Union Health Minister will deliver a keynote address at side events for 'Heal in India and Heal by India', as well as 'Together we fight against TB' reiterating its contribution in the field of Medical Value Travel and resolve to eliminate Tuberculosis from India by 2025, the statement said. During the course of his stay till May 24, Mandaviya will attend various bilateral meetings from nations across the globe, fostering opportunities for healthcare collaborations between the participating countries and also participate in media interaction. The bilateral meetings will engage representatives from Singapore, France, Netherlands, USA, Bangladesh, Argentina, Brazil, Qatar and Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Additionally, a multilateral meeting is also scheduled with representatives from BRICS nations Brazil, Russia, China and South Africa, the statement said. Also Read Mandaviya addresses G7 Health Ministerial Meeting in Japan on innovation Union Health Minister to chair two-day global conference on digital health 'India believes in democratized access to all digital health solutions' Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission crosses over 40 mn linked health records Fifa WC POR vs SUI Highlights: Ramos' hattrick leads Portugal to 6-1 win Kolkata petrol pumps see 10 times hike in payments in Rs 2,000 notes Manipur violence: Security deployed after fresh clashes in Imphal PM Modi showcases India as reliable partner to the Pacific island nations Prevent deaths during cleaning of sewers or face action: CM Stalin Cash sales at petrol pump spike to 90% as people rush to use Rs 2,000 notes Dinesh Gope, also known by his aliases Kuldeep Yadav and Badku, is a left-wing extremist outfit, Peoples Liberation Front of India (PLFI). A self-styled supremo of the Naxal outfit has been accused of being involved in over 100 criminal cases registered in Jharkhand, Bihar, and Odisha. Accusations range from murders, abductions, extortions, and raising money for the PLFI. Dinesh Gope, Jharkhands most wanted Naxalite, was arrested by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in a joint operation with Jharkhand Police on Sunday. Dinesh Gope had evaded arrest for nearly two decades and allegedly worked to re-establish the dominance of PFLI in Jharkhand. A reward of Rs 30 lakh was offered for information that may aid in his capture. This bounty was set up by the Jharkhand Police and the NIA, with the former offering Rs 25 lakh and the latter, Rs 5 lakh. PLFI is a militant Maoist outfit formed in 2007, a splinter group of the Communist Party of India. A case was registered against him in 2016 upon the seizure of Rs 25.38 lakh demonetised notes from the PLFI outfit. The PFLI group under Gope was accused of terrorising businessmen, contractors, and the public. The group reportedly used petrol pumps to deposit demonetised notes and later collect valid currency through extortion. The money was then invested in banks and shell companies through the accounts of close friends and family members of PFLI members. Also Read Police arrests Deepak Boxer: All you need to know about Delhi's most-wanted Game of thrones in Nepal: The great game in the Himalayas The people of Jharkhand have made a mark for themselves: CM Hemant Soren The people of Jharkhand have made a mark for themselves: CM Hemant Soren Difficult terrain, loose regulations: What makes Nepal so risky to fly How RBI's withdrawal of Rs 2,000 notes is different from demonetisation Pacific nation leaders relish Indian delicacies, millets at PM Modi's lunch Heatwave: Maximum temperature in Delhi likely to settle at 43 degrees C India logs 473 new Covid-19 infections, active cases decrease to 7,623 4 dead, several missing as boat capsizes in Tamsa River in UP's Ballia According to a report by the Hindu, the Naxal outfit also worked with many criminal gangs and used their funds to procure AK47s and other weapons to carry out their criminal activities. The same report names Palak Enterprises, Shiv Adi Shakti, Shiv Shakti Samridhi Infra Pvt. Ltd., and Bhavya Engicon as the shell companies that partnered with PFLI to transfer the funds secured by the group, primarily through extortion. In February 2022, an encounter between Gopes group and security personnel took place at the Gudri police station of West Singhbhum district of Jharkhand, near the Khunti-Chaibasa border. According to a report by the Time of India, Gope was injured when many rounds of shots were fired before the group escaped into the forest. The same report indicates that Gope fled the state out of fear of being killed. By Igor Makarov May 22, 2023: Information Clearing House -- " Last week, in Mumbai, I attended the Think 20 interim conference. It describes itself as an idea bank for the G20 that brings together think tanks and high-level experts to discuss policy issues relevant to the group. The recommendations involved are far from trivial. The world is in a series of simultaneous structural crises right now: the economy, debt levels, sustainable development goals and, separately, climate change. Above all, it is also engulfed in a crisis of global governance, the basic architecture of which was developed in a different era (when there was a different balance of power between countries, in which they had different objectives). The main target of criticism were international financial institutions. The problem is not so much the effectiveness with which they are run by developed countries (although this has also been much debated), but that they are not up to the task of pooling large amounts of money for common purposes. The world has sufficient financial resources to address many sustainable development issues, but they cannot be directed to where they are needed. Click to Support Independent Journalism For example, the cost of capital in the developed (mostly Western) world has averaged 1.5-2% over the past five years, but it has been at 8% in Asia, 16% in Africa and 22% in sub-Saharan Africa. Tightening monetary policy in the West only exacerbates the situation for developing countries. The role of international financial institutions is not so much to provide aid to poor states but to help channel sufficient private savings around the world into development projects, taking on some of the risks of investors. India, as it happens, complains that the World Bank has provided only peanuts in funding (just a few billion dollars), relative to its over $3 trillion economy, in nominal US dollar terms. The second necessity is digitization. The focus is on digitizing services and public infrastructure (as opposed to the manner in which it can be used for industry in the US and Europe). An example of how this can work is the digital ID system being developed in India, which is linked to a bank account. As a result, there are now four times more digital transactions in the South Asian country than in China, and 11 times more than in the US and Western Europe combined. The aim is twofold: to make it easier to include more people (especially women) in economic activity, and to stimulate innovation. Developing countries will be less and less able to host Western industries (which was the Chinese growth model), so innovation will have to be built up through services, especially as new technologies will allow global companies to outsource more and more. Multilateralism is essential. However, the question is to what extent the US, on the one hand, and China, on the other, are ready for it. The former is more interested in the results of its next election, and the cycle itself, than in global problems; while the latter sees its participation in solving them so far only in the form of China-centric formats such as the Belt and Road Initiative. There was one attempt to attack Russia for undermining a well-functioning world order by an Anglo-American participant, who was immediately rebuked rather harshly by a Brazilian and then an Indian moderator. In general, any talk of a rule-based order in Mumbai was visibly tiresome. In just a few years, I have seen a clear shift from delegates declaring the crisis of this kind of order to key people asking who should actually make the rules. The general impression is that the successive presidencies of Indonesia, India, Brazil and South Africa, from 2022-2025, (with very active interaction between them) of the G20 will be maximized by these countries to shape a new narrative, which of course will not automatically translate into reforms of global governance, but will serve as constant pressure for these changes. Olympic bronze medallist Bajrang Punia on Monday accepted Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh's challenge of undergoing narco-analysis test to ascertain the truthfulness of wrestlers' sexual harassment allegations against the WFI president. The WFI chief in a Facebook post on Sunday said that he is ready to appear for a narco-analysis or polygraph test to prove his innocence. "I am ready to undergo narco test, polygraph test or lie detector test, but my condition is that Vinesh Phogat and Bajrang Punia should also undergo these tests with me. If both the wrestlers agree to undergo it, call a press conference and make announcement. I promise them that I am ready for the test," he posted in Hindi. Responding to this, Bajrang said, "We are ready to face Narco Test but we would also want him (Brij Bhushan) to also face the Test under Supreme Court's supervision and with live streaming on national television." "We would like to see what questions are being asked. He has asked for Narco Test of Vinesh and myself. I am saying why only two of us but also all those girls who have filed complaints should also undergo Narco Test," Bajrang, sitting alongside Sakshi Malik and Vinesh Phogat at protest site in Jantar Mantar, said. Vinesh on her part said that whole country should know what kind of injustice they have faced for years now. "The whole country should know what kind of atrocities and injustice we faced." Bajrang seemed peeved that a section of media is glorifying Brij Bhushan and urged them to not do so "He is not a star but a sexual harassment accused so please treat him accordingly," Vinesh added. Also Read Delhi Police records statement of WFI chief in sexual harassment case DCW asks why wrestling federation chief not asked to quit amid allegations Who is Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, the WFI chief in the eye of the storm? Fight for daughters of India, says Bajrang Punia on wrestlers' protest Waiting for girls' statement to be recorded before DM: Sakshi Malik Right to Repair: how to access it, what it covers, and consumer benefits 4 Special police teams constituted to probe Thanjavur liquor deaths Ex-NCB Sameer Wankhede to seek special security from Mumbai Police PM Modi, New Zealand counterpart discuss full range of bilateral ties G20 delegates arrive to warm, traditional welcome in J&K's Srinagar The protesting wrestlers will take out another round of candlelight march from Jantar Mantar to India Gate. "As you are aware our protest turns one month, on May 23, we would take out a candle march at India Gate. "We must remind people that ours is a peaceful protest and anyone trying to disrupt peace with provocative speeches or any kind of trouble would be himself responsible for consequences and we don't take any responsibility," Sakshi said. Over 7,500 people have fled to Mizoram from the violence-hit Manipur, an official said on Monday. A total of 7,527 ethnic Zos, known as Kukis in Manipur, have crossed over to Mizoram till 5 pm on Monday, he said. They have taken shelter in eight districts of the state. Kolasib has the highest number of displaced people at 2,685, followed by Aizawl (2,386) and Saitual (2,153), the official said. A total of 164 people have taken shelter in Champhai district, 36 in Khawzawl district, 27 in Serchhip district, 19 in Mamit district and 57 in Lunglei district, he said. The displaced people are lodged in temporary relief camps, while many others were given shelter by their relatives, he added. Mizoram Chief Minister Zoramthanga said the unification of all ethnic Zo tribes in India, and bringing them under one administrative unit was one of the main objectives of the founders of his Mizo National Front (MNF). Also Read Tribal protest in Manipur turns violent; curfew imposed, internet suspended Shielding governance failure will not resolve Manipur's problems Mizoram taking steps to evacuate people stranded in Manipur: Zoramthanga Kuki MLAs, civil society groups decide against dialogue with Manipur govt Centre's approval required to introduce NRC in Manipur: CM Biren Singh G20 recognises importance of inclusive decision-making to foster startups BMC announces ban on two-wheelers on Parel TT flyover from June 1 Delhi Traders see rush of customers with Rs 2,000 notes, while UPI declines Rs 2,313 cr given to cow shelters in Rajasthan in last 4 years: CM Gehlot Spread cultivation of millets in newer ares of Andhra Pradesh: Governor Zoramthanga's statement came close on the heels of the demand made by 10 Kuki MLAs of Manipur for a separate administration for the hill areas in their state. The unification of Zo inhabited areas of states in the neighbourhood of Mizoram to form one administrative unit -- 'Greater Mizoram' -- was one of the demands of the MNF, Zoramthanga told party workers on Friday. It was raised during the peace talks with the Centre, which stated that it could be done under Article 3 of the Constitution, he claimed. He, however, said that Mizoram cannot directly interfere in the internal affairs of Manipur. "That initiative should be taken by our kindred brothers in Manipur as the issue of unification of Chin-Kuki-Mizo-Hmar-Zomo tribes should not be imposed," he said. Mizoram shares a 95-km-long border with Manipur. The hill areas of Manipur adjoining Mizoram are inhabited by Kukis, who share ethnic and cultural ties with the Mizos. The violence broke out in Manipur on May 3 after a 'Tribal Solidarity March' was organised in the ten hill districts of the state to protest against the Meitei community's demand for Scheduled Tribe (ST) status. 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 live in the hill districts. The Chhattisgarh Environment Conservation Board (CECB) organised a painting campaign on Lifestyle for the Environment (LiFE) on the occasion of Earth Day 2023 in Raipur. Paint made from cow dung under a state government scheme called Godhan Nyay Yojana has found mention in the Limca Book of World Records, with a group of students creating the largest painting from it. During the campaign, 100 students from the CECBs eco-club painted a canvas of 3,600 square feet, using eco-friendly cow dung paint in one hour, CECB spokesperson Amar Prakash Savant said. The themes of the painting included say no to single-use plastics, no littering, switch off electrical devices when not in use, use cycle for short distance, public transport and carpooling, besides eating locally available fruit and vegetables, conserving natural flora and fauna and reducing the carbon footprint. The canvas was a melange of paintings by the students. This has earned them recognition in the Limca Book of World Records for painting the Largest Painting Made with Cow Dung Paint, he added. Also Read Asian Paints slips 3% after Q3FY23 result misses street estimates Asian Paints Q3 results: Net profit rises 5.6% to Rs 1,072.7 crore Chhattisgarh's revenues see a surge in seven months: CM Bhupesh Baghel Two Delhi-based companies to invest Rs 295 crore in Chhattisgarh Easing raw material prices likely to aid margins of Asian Paints Doctors advise caution as heatwave conditions remain persistant in Delhi ISRO to launch navigation satellite on GSLV from Sriharikota on May 29 Brazilian ecologists try new approach against deforestation in the Amazon Why it is a good bet for Tatas to make high-end iPhones as Apple eyes India Limestone mine collapse: NGT orders Rs 20 lk compensation to victim's kins Under the flagship scheme, the state government is procuring cow dung at Rs 2 a kg. The Limca Book of Records (LBR), an Indian equivalent of the Guinness Book of World Records, was launched in India in 1990 with a focus on the unique achievements of Indians in the country and abroad. The Chhattisgarh government has put forward an expansion plan. According to officials, approval has been given for setting up 51 units in the state for manufacturing natural paint from cow dung. Of the 51, 42 have been built while operation and production have started in 37. The state government started manufacturing natural paints from cow dung at select gauthans (cattle-shed) by engaging women self-help groups. The project has not only empowered women but also added value to the cow dung procured by the government. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday unveiled a 12-point development plan for the Pacific Island nations in a range of areas including healthcare, renewable energy and cyber-security as he announced that India is ready to share its capabilities with the region "without any hesitation". Modi made the announcements on the new initiatives at the FIPIC (Forum for India-Pacific Islands Cooperation) summit held at Port Moresby, the capital of Papua New Guinea. "India respects your priorities. It feels proud to be your development partner. Whether it's humanitarian assistance or your development, you can count India as a reliable partner. Our perspective is based on human values," he said. Announcing the development plan, Modi said India has decided to establish a super-specialty cardiology hospital in Fiji and will assist in setting up dialysis units in all the 14 Pacific island countries. He also announced that sea ambulances will be provided to all the 14 Pacific island countries. "To boost healthcare in the Pacific region, we have decided to establish a super-specialty cardiology hospital in Fiji. This hospital will be equipped with trained staff, modern facilities, and infrastructure, and it will serve as a lifeline for the entire region," Modi said. Also Read Quad committed to supporting Pacific Island countries: Joint statement US trade rep deepens economic security ties in Asia, reviews IPEF Sri Lanka, US to conduct joint exercises to maintain free Indo-Pacific Japan PM expected to roll out vision towards 'free and open Indo-Pacific' Australia, India share secure, prosperous Indo-Pacific: Aus PM Albanese Govt to bring bill to link birth, death data with electoral rolls: Shah Over 7,500 Kuki people flee to Mizoram from violence-hit Manipur for asylum G20 recognises importance of inclusive decision-making to foster startups BMC announces ban on two-wheelers on Parel TT flyover from June 1 Delhi Traders see rush of customers with Rs 2,000 notes, while UPI declines He said the Indian government will bear the full cost of this mega greenfield project. The prime minister also proposed to bring similar Jan Aushadhi Centers to the region. "Through the Jan Aushadhi Scheme in India, more than 1800 high-quality generic medicines are being provided to people at affordable prices. For example, the anti-diabetes medication is available at up to 90 per cent lower cost at Jan Aushadhi Centers as compared to the market prices," he said. "Other medicines are also available at a discounted price, ranging from 60 per cent to 90 per cent of the market cost. I propose bringing similar Jan Aushadhi Centers to your countries," he said. He further added: "We propose establishing yoga centers in your countries to promote its benefits." The prime minister announced that the Centre of Excellence for IT in Papua New Guinea will be upgraded and transformed into a "Regional Information Technology and Cybersecurity Hub." "A 24x7 emergency helpline will be established for the citizens of Fiji, and we would be delighted to help set up a similar facility in all the PIC (Pacific Island Countries)," he said. Modi also announced a project for the development of the SME (Small and Medium Enterprise) sector in every Pacific Island country. "Under this scheme, machinery and technology supplies will be provided, and capacity-building programs will be conducted to enhance capabilities," he said. "The project to convert the Pacific Island Heads of State Residences to solar powered ones, was well-received by you all. We will now be converting at least one government building into a solar powered building, in all the FIPIC countries," he added. To address the water scarcity issue, Modi also pledged to provide desalination units for the people of every Pacific Island country. The prime minister also announced that 1,000 ITEC training opportunities will be provided in the next five years under the "Sagar Amrut Scholarship" scheme for the Pacific Island countries. Modi said India has decided to organise a Jaipur foot camp in Papua New Guinea this year. The prosthetic limbs are offered in Jaipur foot camps. "Starting from 2024, two such camps will be organized every year in the Pacific island countries," Modi said. India's engagement with the 14 Pacific Island Countries (PICs) is part of New Delhi's Act East Policy. A major part of India's engagement with PICs is through development assistance under South-South Cooperation that is mainly in the form of capacity building and community development projects. A major initiative launched under the rubric of the Act East Policy for the PICs is the Forum for India-Pacific Islands Cooperation (FIPIC). Prime Minister Modi hosted the first FIPIC summit in Suva on November 19, 2014 during his visit to Fiji. The second FIPIC summit was held in Jaipur on August 21 again with all 14 PICs taking part. In that summit, India announced initiatives across a wide array of areas to assist the PICs in facing challenges and achieving aspirations for the well-being and development of its peoples. Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived here on Monday for the third and final leg of his three-nation tour during which he will hold talks with his Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese and attend a community event to celebrate the country's dynamic, diverse Indian diaspora. Modi is visiting Australia from May 22-24 as a guest of the Australian Government. Ahead of Modi's arrival, Prime Minister Albanese said in a statement, I am honoured to host Prime Minister Modi for an official visit to Australia, after receiving an extremely warm welcome in India earlier this year." Australia and India share a commitment to a stable, secure and prosperous Indo-Pacific. Together we have an important role to play in supporting this vision," he said, amidst China's aggressive behaviour in the region as well as its efforts to expand its influence. Prime Minister Modi has also said that he was looking forward to his meeting with Albanese on May 24. During the visit, the Prime Ministers will attend a community event in Sydney to celebrate Australia's dynamic and diverse Indian diaspora, "a core part of our multicultural community", the Australian government said in a statement. Modi arrived here from Papua New Guinea, where he held talks with his counterpart James Marape and took stock of their bilateral relations. He also discussed ways to further augment cooperation in areas like commerce, technology, healthcare and climate change. Also Read India vs Australia 3rd Test Day 2 Stumps: Lyon's 8-64 demolishes IND to 163 What can India gain from the trade pact with Australia? T20 World Cup Final Highlights: Australia complete 2nd hattrick of titles Indian-origin science teacher wins Prime Minister's prize in Australia India W vs Australia W, Women's T20 World Cup: How to live stream in India Air India, Air India Express to operate special Haj flights from 4 cities Insult to Prez Murmu: AAP on PM being invited to inaugurate new Parliament Severe heatwave conditions will abate from May 23, predicts relief: IMD HC notice to BBC on plea claiming documentary cast slur on India reputation LIVE: PM Modi arrives in Australia on the last leg of his three-nation tour The two leaders co-hosted the Forum for India-Pacific Islands Cooperation (FIPIC) summit on Monday, fostering regional cooperation. "My Papua New Guinea visit has been a historic one. I will greatly cherish the affection received among the people of this wonderful nation. I also had the opportunity to interact with respected FIPIC leaders and discuss ways to deepen ties with their respective nations," Modi tweeted. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics 2016 census, 619,164 people in Australia declared that they were of ethnic Indian ancestry. This comprises 2.8 per cent of the Australian population. Among those, 592,000 were born in India. Prime Minister Modi last visited Australia in 2014. Modi began his three-nation tour on Friday from Japan where he attended three sessions at the G7 summit following an invitation by Japanese counterpart Fumio Kishida. Modi along with US President Joe Biden, Japanese Prime Minister Kishida and his Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese also attended the 3rd in-person Quad Summit in Hiroshima. The Quad meeting was moved to the sidelines of the G-7 summit in Hiroshima after US President Biden postponed his trip to Australia to return to Washington, amid ongoing negotiations over raising the US debt limit. Narmada Bachao Andolan leader Medha Patkar on Monday said infrastructure projects should not be launched without properly assessing their ecological impact as she extended support to the Joshimath Bachao Sangharsh Samiti. Arriving in the subsidence-hit Uttarakhand town on Monday, Patkar apologised for visiting late. "The Joshimath crisis is a warning bell. The authorities must wake up to the damage caused by mega development projects to the fragile Himalayan ecology," she said. Infrastructure projects should not be launched without properly assessing their impact on the ecology, Patkar added. She also addressed a meeting organised by the Joshimath Bachao Sangharsh Samiti on the tehsil premises and said she stood with the affected people. The Samiti's 11-point list of demands includes the permanent scrapping of the NTPC's Tapovan-Vishnugad hydel power and the Helang-Marwadi bypass road projects that, it feels, are responsible for the subsidence crisis in Joshimath. It has also demanded that the entire town be declared disaster-hit. Also Read Shah targets Rahul, says Medha Patkar's presence in Yatra insult to Gujarat Rahul is anti-Gujarati: Nadda on Medha Patkar joining Bharat Jodo Yatra Cryptoverse: Bidding adieu to 2022, the year that broke bitcoin by 60% Microsoft helped more than 300,000 Indians get water access in 2022 Uttarakhand's Joshimath sinking: Demolition process of two hotels begins Delhi govt to de-silt Ring Road trunk sewer line to lessen overflow issues All 12 MCD zones to have unique 'pink park', 'sculpture park' each Drugs seizure from Indian waters: Court asks NCB to file fresh affidavit Odisha government to provide free crop insurance to farmers for 3 years CUET-UG: 76% attendance recorded on second day, exam delayed at 4 centres Meanwhile, protesting against Patkar's visit, scores of BJP workers reached the venue and raised slogans against her. Rishi Prasad Sati, Joshimath's former municipal president who was among the protesting BJP workers, said the state government is dealing with the problem well. Calling the agitation unnecessary, Sati said it has ruined the local economy and alleged that the agitators have nothing to do with Joshimath. Patkar later told reporters that she has been associated with mass movements in different places across the country and added she has nothing to do with any political party. "Joshimath is actually a warning from the Himalayas. Similarly, the Western Ghats is giving a warning to Kerala. Satpura is also giving warnings, every river is getting wasted due to which a cycle of drought and flood is being created and even people living near riverbanks are yearning for water," she said. Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Monday said over Rs 2,313 crore were given to cow shelters for holistic development of farmers and cattle rearers during his tenure. Inaugurating the Farmers Training Center in Udaipur, Gehlot said the cattle rearers are being given a subsidy of Rs 5 per litre of milk. So far a subsidy of Rs 1,110 crore has been given. The chief minister claimed that the previous government had given only Rs 150 crore to cow shelters in five years. He said that under the Chief Minister Kamdhenu Pashu Bima Yojana, two milch animals of the cattle rearers are getting insurance of Rs 40,000 each. Along with this, 5,000 dairy booths are being opened, which will generate employment. Nandishalas are being opened in every panchayat samiti, he said. "This has strengthened their socio-economic status. Cow shelters are now being given subsidies for nine months. Under the Mukhyamantri Bal Gopal Yojana, milk will now be given to children in schools for six days," Gehlot said. Also Read Siva Shelters & Construction repays IL&FS debt worth Rs 80 crore Over 155k cattle deaths so far this year due to lumpy skin disease: Govt Rajasthan farmers to get Rs 500 cr in FY24 to build greenhouses, shade nets Rajasthan govt working to uplift every section of society, says CM Gehlot Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot to present state budget for FY24 on February 8 Spread cultivation of millets in newer ares of Andhra Pradesh: Governor Cong ups the ante on BJP over PM Modi inaugurating new Parliament building G20: An engagement group call for global definition for start-ups Kashmir finest destination for film shooting: India's G20 Sherpa Kant Any marketplace joining ONDC should come with serious commitment: Goyal The Supreme Court on Monday sought the response of a firm to a plea filed by consumer goods company Zydus Wellness challenging an order of the Delhi high court which held that it cannot use the brand name "SugarLite" for its products. A vacation bench of Justices J K Maheshwari and P S Narasimha issued notice to the firm named Delhi Marketing and sought its reply within three weeks. The top court was hearing an appeal filed by Zydus Wellness against the May 12 order of the high court which restrained it from using the brand name "SugarLite" as Delhi Marketing held the rights to use the brand name "SUGARLITE". The firm alleged that Zydus was using a deceptively similar trademark to confuse the customers and sought directions to restrain the company that manufactures nutrition and skin care products from using the SugarLite' brand name. Initially, Delhi Marketing had moved trial court in 2020 seeking permanent injunction for using the trademark SugarLite or any other identical or deceptively similar mark as that of its registered trademark. However, the trial court rejected the request for injunction and held that the two marks were not only different in appearance but also related to different class of products. The court said the manner in which the parties were trading, there was no likelihood of confusion. Also Read Wipro acquires packaged traditional food and spices brand Nirapara SC issues notice on TN govt's plea against Madras HC order on Gutka ban Supreme Court to hear plea on subsidence in Uttarakhand's Joshimath today Zydus Lifesciences Q4 consolidated net profit dips 25.36% to Rs 296.6 cr Global food prices in 2022 hit record high amid drought, war: FAO The despair of Delhi's Yamuna farmers as the bulldozers arrive in droves Vaping ban: Centre issues public notice for stricter implementation of Act SC stalls DDA's ongoing drive to demolish illegal dwelling units in Delhi Bombay HC extends interim protection to Ex-NCB Sameer Wankhede till June 8 SC panel, SEBI 'hit walls' in probing Adani group's transactions: Cong The high court, while setting aside the trial court's judgment against Delhi Marketing, held Zydus knowingly adopted a similar brand name SugarLite' despite knowing fully well that Delhi Marketing owned it. The high court had noted that the trial court "arbitrarily, capriciously and perversely, completely ignoring the documents on record, passed the impugned order against the settled principles of law". "The act of respondent adopting and using the identically similar mark 'SugarLite' as that of the trademark 'SUGARLITE' of the appellant even though in a different Class, does not exude confidence," the high court had said. The Supreme Court on Monday directed the DDA to halt for a week its ongoing drive to demolish over 800 alleged illegal dwelling units built on its land at Vishwas Nagar area of east Delhi to enable residents to relocate. A vacation bench comprising justices Aniruddha Bose and Sanjay Karol, however, did not find fault with the orders passed by the single and the division benches of the Delhi High Court permitting the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) to go ahead with removal of the encroachments. While issuing notice to the DDA, represented by lawyer Sunieta Ojha, the bench said it will consider in the second week of July the issue whether the residents, who are sought to be removed from their dwelling units, are entitled for rehabilitation by the land owning agency either under the Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board Act or any other law. We are apprised that demolition work has started at 8 AM today. So far as the right of the members of the petitioner to reside at their present dwelling place is concerned, we do not interfere with the Delhi High Court order. On humanitarian considerations, we give them seven days to vacate respective premises by May 29, 2023 and then it would be open to the DDA, with the help of such agency, to resume their demolition activities, the bench said in its order. The bench directed the counsel for the DDA to inform the authorities during the day to immediately stall the demolition drive. Also Read 74-year-old official 'History of INA' remains shrouded in mystery: TMC MP Netaji will be remembered for his fierce resistance to colonial rule: PM PM to name 21 unnamed islands in Andaman-Nicobar, pay tribute to Bose today MCD polls: Wholesale, retail markets in city to remain shut today Netaji's courage, patriotism still inspires every Indian: Rahul Gandhi Bombay HC extends interim protection to Ex-NCB Sameer Wankhede till June 8 SC panel, SEBI 'hit walls' in probing Adani group's transactions: Cong Olympic medallist Punia accepts Bhushan's challenge to undergo Narco test Right to Repair: how to access it, what it covers, and consumer benefits 4 Special police teams constituted to probe Thanjavur liquor deaths The order was passed on a petition filed by some residents of the Kasturba Nagar area falling under Vishwas Nagar locality of east Delhi. They assail the demolition notices issued by the DDA on May 18. The Delhi High Court, on March 14, this year, had refused to stall the demolition move of the DDA while agreeing with the plea of the land owning agency that the residents were encroachers. A week after being divested of his charge and alleging a break-in at his office for suspected "tampering of sensitive files", Special Secretary (Vigilance) of the Delhi government YVVJ Rajasekhar was reinstated on Monday. An order issued by the secretary (vigilance) said Rajasekhar will resume work "as usual" and all the assistant directors will maintain the status as on May 10 as far as the work flow in concerned. Rajasekhar was divested of all his work and files were taken away from him on the orders of Vigilance Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj. The order also directed for the de-sealing of room numbers 403 (of special secretary, vigilance) and 404 (confidential section of the special secretary, vigilance) in view of a recent ordinance of the Centre bringing services matters under the lieutenant governor's control. Meanwhile, the Delhi Police has launched a probe into a complaint from Rajasekhar in which he has alleged the opening of the lock of his office in the secretariat and suspected "tampering" of "sensitive" files, including those related to a probe into the excise policy and renovation of the chief minister's residence, officials said. After resuming work, Rajasekhar issued an order for preparing an inventory of files, including the number of pages, kept at the office of the special secretary, vigilance and his confidential section. Also Read Govt forms cabinet secretary-led panel to monitor Mission Karmayogi Kerala govt to set up more courts for speedy disposal of vigilance cases Channi appears before Vigilance Bureau, slams AAP for vendetta politics Vigilance directorate suggests probe into Delhi govt school classrooms scam Channi summoned to appear before Vigilance Bureau today: Punjab Cong chief Delhi HC issues notice to BBC for defamation imputations against PM Modi G20 in Kashmir kicks off amidst security, delegates given rousing welcome PM announces 12-point development initiatives for Pacific Island nations Govt to bring bill to link birth, death data with electoral rolls: Shah Over 7,500 Kuki people flee to Mizoram from violence-hit Manipur for asylum The officials said CCTV footage of the corridor and other areas outside Rajasekhar's office and confidential section at the Delhi secretariat building have been obtained by the police and are being analysed for possible leads. On May 16, Rajasekhar wrote to the secretary (vigilance) and the chief secretary of the Delhi government, informing them about an unauthorised entry into room no. 403 in the intervening night of May 15-16. Copies of his complaint were also sent to the home ministry and the LG's office. "Soon after the incident, the officer concerned had written a letter to his seniors describing the alleged incident. The letter was also marked to us," a senior Delhi Police officer said. "We had sent a letter requesting the official concerned to preserve the CCTV footage of the date of the alleged incident for investigation. It is a sensitive matter and we are looking into it," the officer added. In his complaint, Rajasekhar wrote on May 15, after being divested of his works, he had sent 76 files from the confidential section to the vigilance secretary. He had, however, added that nearly a dozen files, including those related to the excise policy probe, renovation of the chief minister's residence at 6, Flagstaff Road, "Talk to AK" files and certain files of matters referred to central probe agencies, were not sent and kept in his room as those were "more sensitive". Rajasekhar had said he was informed by an assistant director (vigilance) around 9:15 pm on May 15 that officials were summoned to get his room opened "for the sake of collection of records". "The undersigned (Rajasekhar) seriously objected to such a call for taking away the records as per the alleged instructions of the minister (vigilance) at midnight...," the complaint read. According to Rajasekhar's complaint, a "preliminary enquiry" had revealed that a multi-tasking staff opened his room and "photocopied all the records" till 3 am on May 16. "The undersigned is not sure whether any record/file was taken away or otherwise tampered with or photocopied. The undersigned is apprehensive that the records will be destroyed or might have been destroyed in due course of time," the complaint read. Rajasekhar also expressed "apprehension" that "our rooms might have been bugged and there is every likelihood of breach of secrecy, tampering of records, fabrication of records etc.," and requested his superiors for appropriate action at the earliest. Reacting to Rajasekhar's claims, the Delhi government had said work was "officially withdrawn" from him through an order on May 13. "If the work was officially withdrawn from him on Saturday, how was he still in possession of all files? When his work was assigned to other officers, the office procedure demanded that he should have officially handed over all files to the new officers," the government had said. His allegation that someone tried to break into his office at night will be "thoroughly investigated", the government had said, promising strict action in the matter. Why the Conspiracy Theory About Trump and Russia Wont Go Away The latest investigation into the charges that Donald Trumps campaign worked in concert with the Russian government exposes a cynical collaboration between Trump opponents and the FBI. By Chris Hedges May 22, 2023: Information Clearing House -- There is no report, investigation or new revelation, including the recent release of Special Counsel John Durhams Report on Matters Related to Intelligence Activities and Investigations Arising Out of the 2016 Presidential Campaigns that will implode the myth that Russia was responsible for the election of Donald Trump. Myths are impervious to facts. They fulfill an emotional yearning. They are a short circuit from reality into a world of childish simplicity. Hard and painful questions are avoided. Thought-terminating cliches are spat out to blissfully embrace a willed ignorance. The cynical con the Democratic Party and the F.B.I. carried out to falsely portray Donald Trump as a puppet of the Kremlin worked, and continues to work, because it is what those who detest Trump want to believe. If Russia is blamed for Trumps election, we avoid the unpleasant reality of our failed democratic institutions and decaying empire. We avoid facing the inevitable rise of a Christianized fascism borne out of widespread impoverishment, rage, despair and abandonment. We avoid acknowledging the complicity of the Democratic Party in the orchestration of the largest social inequality in our nations history, the evisceration of our basic civil liberties, endless wars and an electoral system bankrolled by the billionaire class, which is legalized bribery. The myth allows us to believe that Democratic politicians, like the establishment Republicans who have joined them, are the guarantors of a democracy they destroyed. Click to Support Independent Journalism On the Cusp of Tyranny Our reality is bleak and frightening, especially given the abject refusal by the ruling oligarchs to deal seriously with the climate emergency. We face a precarious future. The monumental task of restoring democracy outside the confines of a broken electoral system and corporate-indentured institutions is daunting and not guaranteed. We stand on the cusp of tyranny. Blaming Vladimir Putin for the rise of an American demagogue demagogues are always vomited up from dysfunctional political systems magically makes the existential dilemma disappear. The liberal media during the Trump-Russia saga, including The New York Times and The Washington Post, which shared a 2018 Pulitzer Prize for reporting on alleged Russian influence during the 2016 election, provided thousands of stories and reports that falsely painted the Trump administration as a tool of Russia. Their readers, like the viewers of CNN and MSNBC, were fed a comforting myth. When you feed a public consoling myths the most absurd being that America is a good and virtuous nation there is no accountability. Myths make us feel good. Myths demonize those blamed for our self-created debacles. Myths celebrate us as a people and a nation. But it is like handing heroin to junkies. Shatter the myths, even if the facts are incontrovertible, and you become a pariah. I found this out when I and a handful of others, including Robert Scheer, Phil Donahue and Michael Moore, denounced calls to invade Iraq. It made no difference that I had been the Middle East Bureau Chief for The New York Times, was an Arabic speaker and had spent seven years reporting in the region, including in Iraq. I was censored, driven from The New York Times and attacked by George W. Bushs useful idiots in the media, and the Democratic Party, as an apologist for Saddam Hussein. The same ugly reception greeted those of us who questioned the evidence used to argue that Trump was a tool of Russia. We were branded stooges of Moscow and Trump apologists. We were again locked out of the debate. Glenn Greenwald at The Intercept, Matt Taibbi at Rolling Stone and Aaron Mate at The Nation, found themselves under intense pressure for questioning the Trump-Russia narrative. All now work as independent journalists. You can see my interview with Taibbi here. Jeff Gerth is a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative reporter who worked at The New York Times from 1976 until 2005. He spent two years investigating the Trump-Russia story for a four-part series published in the Columbia Journalism Review. He too became an object of vitriol. David Corn at Mother Jones, one of the most prolific shills for the Trump-Russia conspiracy, wrote a column after Gerths exhaustive 24,000-word series called, Trump-Russia Denialists Still Cant Handle the Truth. Gerth called Corns attack a form of McCarthyism. You can see my interview with Gerth here. All the investigations into Trumps ties with Russia are unequivocal. There was no collusion. The Steele dossier, financed at first by Republican opponents of Trump and later by Hillary Clintons campaign, and compiled by former MI6 British intelligence officer, Christopher Steele, was a fake. The charges in the dossier which included reports of Trump receiving a golden shower from prostituted women in a Moscow hotel room and claims that Trump and the Kremlin had ties going back five years were discredited by the F.B.I. Sources, including the one that claimed Trump had long-held ties to the Kremlin, turned out to be fabricated. Special Counsel Robert S. Mueller concluded that his investigation did not establish that members of the Trump Campaign conspired or coordinated with the Russian government in its election interference activities. Mueller did not indict or accuse anyone of criminally conspiring with Russia. Durhams 306-page report, sent to Congress by Attorney General Merrick Garland earlier this week, is even more excoriating. It concludes that the F.B.I. engaged in a witch hunt code named orchestrated by Hillary Clintons campaign that was aided and abetted by senior F.B.I. officials who loathed Trump. The Clinton campaign provided bogus information to the F.B.I. about ties between Trump and Russia, including a charge made by Michael Sussmann and Marc Elias, the general counsel to the Clinton campaign, that there was a secret channel between the Trump Organization and the Russian Alfa Bank. Salacious allegations such as this one would be passed by the Clinton campaign to the F.B.I. and then leaked to the press which would report on the F.B.I. investigations, giving the fabrications credibility. For example, the Clinton campaign posted a tweet through Clintons Twitter account on Oct. 31, 2016 that read: Computer scientists have apparently uncovered a covert server linking the Trump Organization to a Russian-based Bank. The tweet, Durhams report notes, included a statement from Clinton campaign advisor Jake Sullivan that made reference to the media coverage of the article and stated, in relevant part, that the allegations in the articles could be the most direct link yet between Donald Trump and Moscow[,] that [t]his secret hotline may be the key to unlocking the mystery of Trumps ties to Russia[,] and that [w]e can only assume that federal authorities will now explore this direct connection between Trump and Russia as part of their existing probe into Russias meddling in our elections. The F.B.I. later determined there were no ties between the Trump organization and Alfa Bank. The Durham report says: Whether or not the Clinton Plan intelligence was based on reliable or unreliable information, or was ultimately true or false, it should have prompted F.B.I. personnel to immediately undertake an analysis of the information and to act with far greater care and caution when receiving, analyzing, and relying upon materials of partisan origins, such as the Steele Reports and the Alfa Bank allegations. The F.B.I. has a long and sordid record of illegal spying, infiltrating organizations, blackmailing, persecuting, entrapping and even assassinating U.S. dissidents, such as Fred Hampton and perhaps Malcolm X, but it should still worry us when it operates as Thought Police on behalf of a ruling political party. The Durham report concluded that there was not sufficient verified and reliable evidence to justify opening a full investigation. Those leading the investigation F.B.I. Director James Comey, his deputy Andrew McCabe, agent Peter Strzok and lawyer Lisa Page were united, however, by a deep animus towards Trump. The report reads: Strzok and Deputy Director McCabes Special Assistant had pronounced hostile feelings toward Trump. As explained later in this report, in text messages before and after the opening of Crossfire Hurricane, the two had referred to him as loathsome, an idiot, someone who should lose to Clinton 100,000,000- O, and a person who Strzok wrote [w]ell stop from becoming President. Indeed, the day before the Australian information [concerning comments reportedly made in a tavern by George Papadopoulos, an unpaid foreign policy advisor to the Trump campaign] was received at F.B.I. Headquarters, Page sent a text message to Strzok stating, Have we opened on him yet? [angryfaced emoji] and referenced an article titled Trump & Putin. Yes, Its Really a Thing.' The F.B.I., the report reads, authorized an investigation upon receipt of unevaluated intelligence and without having spoken to the persons who provided the information. The F.B.I. did no significant review of its own intelligence databases, did not collect and examine any relevant intelligence from other U.S. intelligence entities and did not interview witnesses to understand the raw information it had received. None of the standard analytical tools employed by the F.B.I. in evaluating raw intelligence were used. If the F.B.I. had followed its established procedures it would have learned that their own experienced Russia analysts had no information about Trump being involved with Russian leadership officials, nor were others in sensitive positions in the CIA, the NSA and the Department of State aware of such evidence. The F.B.I. had no information in its holdings indicating that, at any time during the campaign, anyone in the Trump campaign had been in contact with any Russian intelligence officials. A Steeley Determination to Fabricate The investigation was launched solely based on the unvetted and unverified Steele reports. The Steele dossier was used to support probable cause in the F.B.I.s Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISA) applications to monitor Carter Page, a foreign policy advisor to Trump, along with falsified evidence presented to the FISA court by attorney Kevin Clinesmith. On the day after Trumps election as president, Clinesmith stated to fellow F.B.I. personnel, among other things, viva le resistance, an obvious reference to those individuals opposed to Trump. The speed and manner in which the F.B.I. opened and investigated Crossfire Hurricane during the presidential election season based on raw, unanalyzed, and uncorroborated intelligence also reflected a noticeable departure from how it approached prior matters involving possible attempted foreign election interference plans aimed at the Clinton campaign, the report concludes. The report documents a systematic abuse of power by senior members of the F.B.I. to advance Hillary Clintons campaign. F.B.I. officials were aware that there was no reason, other than an institutional hatred of Trump, to open the investigation. The F.B.I. discounted or willfully ignored material information that did not support the narrative of a collusive relationship between Trump and Russia, the report reads. F.B.I. officials disregarded significant exculpatory information and used investigative leads provided or funded (directly or indirectly) by Trumps political opponents to prolong the investigation, feed the media frenzy and obtain search warrants. The courtiers in the liberal media, who cater to an anti-Trump demographic and who spent years giving credibility to rumors, gossip and lies about Trump and Russia, predictably minimized or dismissed the reports findings. After Years of Political Hype, the Durham Inquiry Failed to Deliver, a May 17 New York Times headline reads. Reality Disconnect The myth of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election provides a convenient escape hatch from the political, social, cultural and economic rot that plagues the U.S. The liberal class, by clinging to this conspiracy theory, is as disconnected from reality as the QAnon theorists and election deniers that support Trump. The retreat by huge segments of the population into non-reality-based belief systems leaves a polarized nation unable to communicate. Neither side speaks a language rooted in verifiable fact. This bifurcation, one I witnessed in the conflict in the former Yugoslavia, fuels the distrust and hatred between antagonistic demographics. It accelerates political disintegration and dysfunction. It is used to justify, as was true with the F.B.I. investigation of Trump, gross abuses of power. If those you oppose are evil and rhetorically we are close to embracing such apocalyptic rhetoric anything is permitted to thwart the enemy from achieving power. This is the lesson of the Durham report. It is an ominous warning. Chris Hedges is a Pulitzer Prizewinning journalist who was a foreign correspondent for 15 years for The New York Times, where he served as the Middle East bureau chief and Balkan bureau chief for the paper. He previously worked overseas for The Dallas Morning News, The Christian Science Monitor and NPR. He is the host of show The Chris Hedges Report. Authors Note to Readers: There is now no way left for me to continue to write a weekly column for ScheerPost and produce my weekly television show without your help. The walls are closing in, with startling rapidity, on independent journalism, with the elites, including the Democratic Party elites, clamoring for more and more censorship. Bob Scheer, who runs ScheerPost on a shoestring budget, and I will not waiver in our commitment to independent and honest journalism, and we will never put ScheerPost behind a paywall, charge a subscription for it, sell your data or accept advertising. Please, if you can, sign up at chrishedges.substack.com so I can continue to post my Monday column on ScheerPost and produce my weekly television show, The Chris Hedges Report. G20 meet in Srinagar, an overview All eyes are set on Srinagar as the city hosts the third G20 Tourism Working Group meeting starting Monday. Senior leaders and officials from G20 countries have arrived in Srinagar. The three-day meeting will conclude on May 24 and assumes special significance given where Srinagar is situated. This is the first international event in Kashmir since its special status was withdrawn in 2019. Following it, China and Pakistan expressed their concerns regarding the change. Talking about the G20 working group meeting in Jammu and Kashmir, lieutenant governor Manoj Sinha termed the event as a historic opportunity for the Union Territory to showcase its culture, heritage, tourism, and hospitality. Countries skipping the G20 meet in Kashmir Experts have said that the decision to schedule a G20 meeting in Kashmir is part of India's bold diplomatic posturing and an indication to regional adversaries. India is taking this opportunity to portray itself in a more assertive manner in the region, dismissing the discomfort Pakistan and China may have. Also Read India vs Wales Hockey World Cup 2023: Advantage India for a last 8 berth Pride of place: How to choose the perfect display cabinet for home Sale of petroleum products halves in Pakistan, high inflation to blame Crisis in multilateralism affecting developing nations most: PM at G20 meet Top headlines: G20 in J&K, RBI to meet PSB directors, $ at Rs 91 in Hawala Australia, India share secure, prosperous Indo-Pacific: Aus PM Albanese 4.5 magnitude earthquake jolts Arunachal Pradesh's Changlang: NCS Pak FM Bilawal visits PoK ahead of G20 Tourism Working Group meet in J-K Top headlines: G20 in J&K, RBI to meet PSB directors, $ at Rs 91 in Hawala LIVE: Delhi HC summons BBC in defamation suit for documentary on PM Modi Countering China's announcement, India has said it is free to hold meetings anywhere in its territory. A report in The Hindu noted that Saudi Arabia and Egypt have also not registered for the summit so far. Turkey has also chosen not to attend the meet in Kashmir. China, which already skipped the G20 meeting held in Arunachal Pradesh in March, has confirmed its absence at the event. Registering China's reservations about the event, the spokesperson of the Chinese foreign ministry, Wang Wenbin, told PTI, "China is firmly opposed to holding any kind of G20 meetings in disputed territory and will not attend such meetings." The security arrangements for the meeting Given the sensitive nature of the region, the event will be conducted amid heightened security. The three-day gathering will begin on Monday, May 22, at a well-guarded venue on the shores of the Dal Lake in Srinagar. What is the G20? Roads connecting to the venue have been revamped, and vulnerable locations have been specially protected to foil any chance of a security mishap. Roads leading to the venue have been decorated with India's national flag. No form, ID needed to exchange Rs 2,000 currency note: State Bank of India State Bank of India has informed all its branches that no form or identity proof would be needed to exchange Rs 2,000 currency notes, even as it reiterated the one-time limit of Rs 20,000 for depositing or exchanging the banknote. G20 buzz raises hopes for industry in Kashmir; security tightened The clarification came as social media was flooded with pictures of a form, which would have to be filled to deposit or exchange the Rs 2,000 note. Read more... Ahmad and other shopkeepers in the area are enhancing the look of the market from adding glittering lamps to displaying local handicrafts as desired by the administration. Read more... Muneem Ahmad has been tirelessly sprucing up his shop next to Srinagars Residency Road. The 33-year-old dry fruit sellers urgency mirrors the redesign of the busy road in preparation for the G20 meeting in Kashmirs capital from May 22 to 24. Also Read RBI withdraws Rs 2,000 currency notes: Here's all you need to know Pine Labs partners ICICI Bank to enable Digital Rupee on PoS terminals Crisis in multilateralism affecting developing nations most: PM at G20 meet G20 foreign ministers' meeting today: Schedule, agenda, other details here e-Rupee: RBI creates Rs 1.71 crore of digital currency for retail pilot Latest LIVE: PM Modi addresses 3rd India-Pacific Islands Cooperation Summit Mega Textile Park in MP's Dhar will open new doors of progress: PM Modi Former Madhya Pradesh CM Uma Bharti hospitalised after feeling unwell 2 more devotees die of heart attack in Yamunotri Dham; toll climbs to 18 Ready for narco test if Phogat and Punia take it too, says Brij Bhushan 'Silly balloon' changed it all: says US President Biden on US-China ties US President Joe Biden on Sunday said the Group of Seven nations had agreed to a united approach to China that called for diversifying supply chains to reduce dependence on one country, and hinted that he could speak with China's president soon. RBI to brainstorm with bank directors on governance, risk issues on Monday We're not looking to decouple from China. We're looking to de-risk and diversify our relationship with China," Biden told a press conference, adding that G7 nations were more unified than ever in terms of resisting economic coercion together and countering harmful practices that hurt our workers." Read more... The theme of the one-day interaction is 'Governance in Banks Driving Sustainable Growth and Stability'. The sessions would cover areas such as assurance and governance, ethics, operational risks, including Know Your Customer (KYC) norms, and data analytics. Read more... The Reserve Bank of India will hold detailed interactions with directors on the board of public sector banks in the national capital on Monday, on topics covering supervision, enhancing governance and enforcement of regulations. Rs 2,000 note: Hawala rate at Rs 91 for $; exchange for gold at Rs 70K Those in possession of unaccounted money are tensed up owing to the order on the withdrawal of Rs 2,000 notes by September this year and are taking the familiar routes to dispose them of. According to these media reports, IndiGo Airlines has asked Delhi International Airport Ltd (DIAL) to offer international services in T1, which is being renovated under the GMR Group. Indira Gandhi International (IGI) airport in Delhi may expand to operate two international terminals soon. Terminal 1 (T1) is expected to be completed this year after facing major delays in renovation due to the Covid-19 lockdown and restrictions. Media reports expect T1 to not only offer domestic flights but also allow international airlines to operate soon. According to the Times of India, a source from the airport stated that air travel has picked up significantly and passed pre-pandemic levels. While T1 will stick to the original completion plans to avoid any further delays, the source stated that clearance from multiple government agencies will be sought to discuss the potential of adding the facilities required for international services. IndiGo has reportedly asked DIAL to allow the airline to operate internationally from T1. The airline currently flies out of all terminals and according to an aviation report shared by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation in April, the flight makes up the majority of the market share at 57.5 per cent. The area of the terminal is expected to increase from 60,000 sq metre to 169,000 sq metre, with entry gates expanding from 8 to 13. Vast space for parking, VIP lounges, a modern food court, and better use of space for movement within the airport are all part of the renovation plans. Going by the expansion plans revealed by the GMR Group, renovations are expected to be completed by September of this year, with upgraded facilities to manage higher passenger numbers and increase the infrastructure and service quality of the terminal. Also Read S&P affirms Adani International Container Terminal's issue rating at 'BBB-' Aviation minister Scindia visits Delhi airport amidst complaints of chaos First 100% private-funded Gati Shakti terminal starts operations PoS terminals and the future of digital payments Firms propose Rs 1,000 crore to redevelop 5 bus ports in Uttar Pradesh Mumbai emerges as third-biggest data centre market in Asia-Pacific: Report HC asks Delhi govt to file action plan on bomb threats received by schools Goa CM Sawant hands over catamaran built by a private shipyard to Maldives VP urges MLAs to immobilise remote controls to contribute max in Parliament Govt chalking out comprehensive strategy for tourism in Kashmir: Reddy Upon completion of phase 3A, the airport will be able to handle 100 million annual passengers. Expressing concern over the growing tendency to "weaponise disruption and disturbance as a political strategy" in Parliament and Legislative Assemblies, Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar on Monday urged MPs and MLAs to "immobilise their remote controls" to contribute their maximum in the temples of democracy. Dhankar, also Chairman of the Rajya Sabha, said there was widespread pain and anguish among people over the growing tendency to "weaponise" disruption and disturbance as a political strategy in Parliament and Legislative Assemblies. "Legislatures in particular -- I leave a thought with you -- can we weaponise as a political strategy disruption and disturbance of the House?" Dhankar asked while inaugurating the silver jubilee celebrations of Kerala Legislative Assembly building-Niyamasabha here. He said people were asking why Parliament and legislatures are not debating and discussing and "why we are spending crores of rupees only for disturbance?" Dhankar appealed to legislators and presiding officers to urgently address this malaise. "I preside over the Rajya Sabha. Each member of the Rajya Sabha is very talented. They bring on the table a huge experience. They need to immobilise their remote controls so that they contribute maximum in the Rajya Sabha, maximum in Parliament, maximum in the legislature," the Vice President said. Dhankar urged the Assembly Speakers and Leaders of the Houses to create a national consensus that the temples of democracy will be used for deliberations, debate, dialogue, and discussion. Also Read 97% MLAs crorepatis in Karnataka's new Assembly, 55% have criminal records India most favoured destination globally for investments: Jagdeep Dhankhar Rahul Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi pay tribute to 2001 Parliament attack victims Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar sends greetings to nation on New Year eve Constitution is supreme, says Chidambaram as he counters V-P Dhankhar Govt chalking out comprehensive strategy for tourism in Kashmir: Reddy Rs 200 cr spent on salaries, facilities for RS MPs in last 2 years: RTI PM Modi arrives in Australia; to hold talks with PM Albanese Sydney Air India, Air India Express to operate special Haj flights from 4 cities Insult to Prez Murmu: AAP on PM being invited to inaugurate new Parliament "Trust me, democracy will be threatened if these temples of democracy do not do their job, and the job will be done somewhere else," he opined. Dhankar asked the legislatures to draw inspiration from the Constituent Assembly (the country's first body of legislators who drafted the Constitution) which dealt with many complex issues without any disruptions, and underlined that effective and productive legislature functioning is the safest guarantee to blossoming and preserving democratic values along with holding executive accountable. He also called for stamping out the "worrisome trend of intolerance towards the other point of view". Stressing that in a democracy not all issues can be evaluated via a partisan prism, the Vice President urged everyone to rise above one's partial stance, giving primacy to the national interest. He said the legislators should "take off their political glasses sometimes" when issues concerning the nation are taken up for discussion in Parliament and State Assemblies. The Vice President lamented that wit, humour, and sarcasm, which were once hallmarks of parliamentary and legislative functioning, were disappearing. "Where is the wit, where is the humour, where is the sarcasm, and where is the positive ridicule that used to be there in Parliament and in Legislatures? It is missing. It has to be an explosion of talent, wit, humour, ideas, innovations...," Dhankar said, referring to instances of such exchanges that used to happen between the stalwarts in the past. The Vice President noted that the Constitution provides the privilege of freedom of speech within the precincts of the House, however, he cautioned that this freedom should be utilised for a healthy debate to sustain a vibrant democratic tradition, and not for disruptive purposes. "Parliament and legislatures are not platforms of free fall of unverified information," he pointed out. Emphasising that in any democracy, parliamentary sovereignty is inviolable, the Vice President said: "The essence of democracy lies in the prevalence of the ordainment of the people reflected through the legitimised platformsParliament and the legislatures." Congratulating the people of Kerala and their elected representatives on this milestone of the silver jubilee of the legislative building, the Vice President underlined that such buildings are much beyond a work of brick and mortar. "The Kerala Legislative Assembly building represents the will of the people, the spirit of democracy, and the essence of the Constitution," Dhankar noted. Pointing out that the state is known for its forward-thinking perspective and commitment to social justice, the Vice President praised the Legislative Assembly of Kerala for enacting many progressive laws worth noticing by other legislatures. "As current legislators, you also inherit a shining legacy. It is your duty to make it lustrous," he told the legislators. Lauding the state for having one of the highest internet penetrations in the country and harnessing the potential of emerging technologies, Dhankar expressed his hope that the state's quality of human resources combined with its progressive work culture will help in scripting new pathways in governance. He also commended the Keralite diaspora, which has contributed immensely to the state's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) through their remittances. Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan, Assembly Speaker A N Shamseer, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and Leader of Opposition in the State Assembly V D Satheesan were among those who addressed the gathering of eminent personalities including ministers, MLAs and former Assembly Speakers at the function. All India Plastics Manufacturers Association (AIPMA) on Monday urged the government to double import duty on finished plastic products to 20 per cent and provide incentives to domestic manufacturers to make India self-reliant. The association has conducted a detailed study on the import of plastic goods in the country. "A large quantity of finished plastic goods is being imported. We need to curb that. We urge the government to increase import duty of plastic finished goods (HS Code 3916 to 3926) from 10 per cent to 20 per cent," AIPMA President Mayur D Shah told reporters here. The country imported plastic goods worth Rs 37,500 crore in 2021, mainly from China, he said. Shah said there are around 50,000 plastic manufacturers in India and their combined annual turnover is about Rs 3.5 lakh crore. AIPMA has selected 550 plastics for import substitution. Also Read Private jets to jewellery: Customs duty to be hiked on 35 items in Budget Centre unlikely to offer import duty concessions to Tesla: Report Centre to levy import duties on non-essential items as exports fall: Report Duty hike won't apply brakes on luxury car demand, say automakers India may exempt 30 GW of solar plants from equipment duty: Report Delhi to host 44th Int'l Organization for Standardisation's plenary AIPL gives on lease 70,000 sq ft space to corporates in South Delhi Do not extend PLI for small firm-dominated products: GTRI to Govt Telecom operators in a huddle to hang up on green ministry's e-waste rules India's airline sector on to a smooth flight despite air pocketsr "It is estimated that import substitution of plastic goods worth Rs 37,500 crore would create additional requirement of around 4 million tonnes of raw material per annum and 16,000-plus plastics processing machines including tools, moulds, jigs and fixtures. It would also create 5 lakh additional jobs in the country," the association said. PLI Scheme be made available for units manufacturing import substitution products, said Arvind Mehta, Chairman, AIPMA Governing Council. Technology Upgradation Scheme (TUFS) should be made available to enable plastic processing units to modernize their machines and technologies, Mehta said. "India should develop a comprehensive action plan to boost local manufacturing and incentivise plastics finished goods to make India the next global plastic product production hub," Shah said. AIPMA is organizing six technology conferences for the growth of the plastic industry across the country with the objective of import substitution of plastic goods. All telecom operators have been found compliant with benchmarks set around call drops but there may be a few areas where subscribers may be experiencing poor quality or service, telecom regulator Trai said on Monday. According to a report by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) on the quality of mobile phone services for March 2023, Airtel call centre service did not meet the service quality benchmark in almost all of the telecom circles. Customer care of BSNL and Vodafone Idea (VIL) failed to meet quality parameters in some circles. "It is pertinent to mention that though all the service providers have met the network service quality-related benchmarks but there may be a few pockets or some days where users might experience poor quality or service since these benchmarks are measured on an average basis and assessed over the entire LSA (license service area or telecom circle) for a given quarter," Trai said in the report. According to Trai's service quality norms, over 95 per cent calls made to customer care of telecom operators should be answered within 90 seconds. The regulator found that Bharti Airtel's call centre's response took higher time than the set benchmark across all telecom circles except in Mumbai. Also Read Bharti Airtel to increase entry-level tariff in all circles soon: Report Airtel World Pass international plans for prepaid, postpaid users announced Give clear road map on fixing 5G connectivity issues: Trai to telcos Need separate pan-India licence for Satellite Earth Station Gateways: TRAI Fixed broadband may trigger next leg of growth for RJio, Airtel: Analysts Ports & shipping ministry to give financial aid to promoting green shipping Mumbai third in Asia Pacific region in data centre capacity: Report Industry body AIPMA asks govt to hike import duty on finished plastic goods Delhi to host 44th Int'l Organization for Standardisation's plenary AIPL gives on lease 70,000 sq ft space to corporates in South Delhi BSNL customer care did not meet the criteria in Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka circles. VIL customer care did not meet accessibility parameters in Kerala. Adani Power (Rs 248), Adani Transmission (Rs 825.35), Adani Green Energy (Rs 942.40), Adani Total Gas (Rs 721.35) and New Delhi Television (NDTV) (Rs 186.45) were locked at the 5 per cent upper circuit on the BSE with only buyers at these counters. Shares of Adani Group companies continued their upward movement for the second straight day, surging up to 8 per cent on the BSE in Monday's intra-day trade after the Supreme Court (SC) appointed panel said that at this stage it is not possible to conclude that there was a regulatory failure on the price manipulation allegation. Capital markets regulator Sebi is looking to strengthen the investor grievance handling process through the SCORES system and integrate the same with the online dispute resolution mechanism. The proposal is aimed at making the entire redressal process of grievances in the securities market comprehensive by providing an end-to-end solution and the process more efficient and faster by reducing timelines and introducing auto-routing and auto-escalation. Also, the suggestion has been provided for two levels that the investor can opt for, plus the option for referral to the online dispute resolution (ODR) mechanism recently approved by Sebi. In its consultation paper on Friday, Sebi suggested that complaints about market price manipulation, insider trading and accounting manipulation by listed companies that are currently being auto-closed should be excluded from the SCORES platform and a separate portal for market intelligence should be created for this purpose. In case the investors lodge complaints like market intelligence on SCORES, such types of complaints should be closed and routed to the market intelligence portal. "A separate portal for collection of market intelligence will help in distinguishing between investor grievances and intelligence inputs, with an independent focus on each," Sebi said. Also Read SEBI plans to restrict borrowing by AIFs to prevent systemic risk Sebi plan to prune MF costs: New expense slabs, no additional charges Sebi planning to align foreign VC investment rules with those of FPIs Strengthening debt market on Sebi's agenda, says Ananth Narayan Sebi sets up three panels to push market reforms, ease of doing business FPI flows turn positive on trailing one-year basis after 16 months Jet Airways, SpiceJet hit 52-week lows, slip up to 10% in firm market Narayana Hrudayalaya rallies 11% to hit a record high on strong Q4 results Stock of this pharma company has plunged 80% from its record high level SBI, PNB, Bandhan Bank: Trading strategies in bank stocks post Q4 results The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) sought comments from the public on the proposals till June 3. To further strengthen the investor grievance redressal process, the capital markets regulator has proposed that SCORES should be redesigned as a platform for investors to seek timely redressal of their grievances from entities directly. In case the investors are dissatisfied with the redressal provided by entities, an opportunity for two levels of review be given, first by first-level regulators (FLR) such as BASL or trade bodies and the second stage by Sebi. Further, if the complainant is not satisfied with the same, an option should be given to approach the ODR platform. Under the proposal, Sebi said that the routing of complaints from the investors to the concerned entity and the first-level regulator would be automated eliminating the time lapses in the flow of complaints. "The automatic review of complaints at two stages (first stage by FLRs/trade bodies and second stage by Sebi) if ATR is not submitted within the stipulated time the period will compel the entities/FLRs to expedite the redressal of investor grievances within stipulated times," Sebi said. According to Sebi, linkage of the SCORES portal with the ODR platform wherein the complainant who is still not satisfied with the resolution provided on SCORES can approach ODR will create further options for the complainant. SCORES was launched by Sebi in June 2011 to enable investors to lodge and follow up on their complaints and track the status of redressal of such complaints in the ODR mechanism, an online platform is envisaged through which the investor can approach any market infrastructure institution (MII) to lodge their request for dispute resolution and the request will be auto-assigned to an MII ODR platform. The report submitted by the committee became available in the public domain (on a limited access basis) on May 20, 2023. While the committee has suggested a slew of changes to the securities market regime, one important aspect which is the most important for the public is how to protect Indian retail investors and safeguard them from motivated short-selling. What is of critical importance is creating suitable regulations and a safety valve that can utilise a mix of technology and related safeguard measures for the common retail investors. The events of the past four months, the Hindenburg reports release and the allegations made therein, ostensibly aimed at profiting by short-selling, have created mayhem for retail investors in India. After the Supreme Court intervened, it appointed a six-member expert committee to conduct a probe and make suggestions on changes in the legal framework to protect investors. The committee comprised retired Supreme Court judge Justice A M Sapre, retired Bombay High Court judge Justice J P Devadhar, former State Bank of India Chairman O P Bhatt, former ICICI Bank chief K V Kamath, Infosys Co-founder Nandan Nilekani and securities and regulatory expert Somasekhar Sundaresan. The committee submitted in its report to the Supreme Court "at this stage, taking into account the explanations provided by Sebi, supported by empirical data, prima facie, it would not be possible for the committee to conclude that there has been a regulatory failure around the allegation of price manipulation". These are fairly serious findings relating to short-selling and profiteering. In brief The committee stated in its report that it took inputs from various governmental bodies, including the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the Income Tax Department. The ED found intelligence about potentially violative and concerted selling by the short-sellers just ahead of the publication of the Hindenburg report, and this may lead to credible charges of concerted destabilisation of the Indian markets, and Sebi ought to be probing such actions under securities laws. It has been found that some entities took short positions prior to the Hindenburg report and profited after the price crashed upon the publication of the report on January 24, 2023. Suspicious trading has been observed on the part of six entities, of which four are FPIs, one body corporate, and one individual. The trading pattern by FPIs is suspicious due to the build-up of short positions before the Hindenburg report. Detailed investigation being carried out by Sebi on short sellers. The problem of such targeted short selling aimed at quick profiting is something relatively new in India. This obviously has serious repercussions for the small investors, which tend to destabilise the markets, shaking their confidence, and need to be taken care of seriously. After its report on the Adani Group, Hindenburg had also incidentally released another bombshell report on the American payment and mobile banking services provider, Block Inc. Block is a Silicon Valley darling, founded by entrepreneur and co-founder of Twitter Jack Dorsey, and has a secondary listing in Australia. Its shares then slumped 14.8 per cent in the following session. Hindenburgs next victim was Carl Icahns investment firm, which also resulted in the companys $6.3-billion wipeout. Also Read Give report on Adani-Hindenburg probe by August 14, SC tells Sebi Adani-Hindenburg saga: Over dozen involved in short-selling under Sebi lens Adani saga: The elephant in the room Six Adani Group stocks locked in 5% lower circuit; ACC hits 52-week low Adani saga: Easy come, easy go 14 years of Competition Commission: Young regulator faces new challenges G20 presidency gives India opportunity to showcase its ed-tech leadership A scandal in Kathmandu rocks the Prachanda govt and threatens the system Adani stocks: What price rigging? The end of 'decoupling'? Have realistic expectations from your investmentsa At 5.74% CAGR, exports growth dismal in last nine years Short selling has been in vogue globally since stock markets began in the Dutch Republic in the 1600s. Shorting of the Dutch East India Company, among other stocks, led to a temporary ban on short-sellers. In the 18th century, Great Britain banned naked short selling, in which shares being shorted are never borrowed by the short-seller. In France, Napoleon Bonaparte outlawed short selling amid the French Revolution. What is "short selling"? Short selling is a trading strategy in which an investor bets that a stocks price will decline. Having invested with a serious stake in making gains out of it, he actively works towards achieving his goal. What is the position in India? According to Sebi norms, short selling may be defined as selling a stock which the seller does not own at the time of trade. Naked short selling is not permitted in the Indian securities market and all investors would be required to mandatorily honour their obligation of delivering the securities at the time of settlement. Considering the global trends, there is, however, a dire need to protect the interests of small investors and maintain their confidence in the functioning of stock markets. World over, many countries have different stances against short selling. For instance, South Korea had outright banned the activity in the aftermath of the 2020 Covid pandemic, however lifting it a year later (https://bit.ly/42WeCVA). In the US, short selling was first banned during the War of 1812, restricted during the Great Depression, and was subject to more scrutiny and regulations following the market crashes in 1987, 2001 and 2008. This was especially underlined over the last few weeks when the Supreme Court of India heard final arguments in a historic group of petitions to legalise same-sex marriages. Any participation by corporate India was conspicuously absent from such proceedings. This complete inaction in lobbying for social change in a law that disproportionality affects the dignity and liberty of Indias sexual minorities stands in stark contrast to the record of their counterparts in America and Europe. Even international companies in India have let down their guard. For the last two decades, corporate India has indubitably led the countrys economic transformation. So extensive has been its impact on the Indian political economy, that Indian companies are often compared to modern nation builders. Yet, when it comes to the adoption of social advocacy, corporate India lags in global best practices even though social progress is a multiplier for business growth. When Taiwan became the first Asian country to legalize same-sex marriages, scores of multinational companies, including Google, Airbnb, Deutsche Bank, EY, Mastercard, Microsoft and the Taiwan-based O-Bank Co, lauded the benefits of marriage equality for the countrys economy. When it was Australias turn to legalize same-sex marriages, corporate giants like McDonalds, Twitter, Telstra and Airbnb along with another 154 companies declared their support for the cause. These companies featured full-page advertisements in Australian magazines besides signing a joint letter calling on the federal parliament to act. Over the past decade, some of Americas largest companies have successfully lobbied for LGBTQ+ rights. Companies like Google, Starbucks and Facebook in 2013 filed amicus curiae briefs before the US Supreme Court to overturn the draconian Defense of Marriage Act, which denied spousal benefits to same-sex couples. In 2015, more than 200 American companies, including Google, Apple, Verizon, Walt Disney, Viacom, Nike, Morgan Stanley, and Microsoft, signed two separate amicus curiae briefs before the Supreme Court supporting marriage equality. Many more issued public statements in support of the cause. In essence, American companies believe that marriage equality is good for their business. To quote an official statement from Microsoft in February 2015: In short, marriage equality as a legal right makes good sense for business and people. It is also good for economies operating in a global context. It is not to suggest that the business case for diversity or inclusion is lost on India Inc. Scores of Indian companies spend millions annually on diversity programs, community outreach, mentorship programs and LGBTQ+ job fairs. Every year in June, emulating their American counterparts, Indian companies celebrate Pride Month in commemoration of the June 1969 Stonewall riots in New York. Human resources professionals at major Indian companies, including Zomato, Hindustan Lever, JLL India, The Lalit Group of Hotels, L&T, PepsiCo India and Godrej, have issued public statements in support of the business case for diversity in recruitment and retention of talent. And yet a 2020 report by Accenture highlighted that around 79 per cent of LGBTQ+ employees in India, have indicated that their career growth has slowed down because of their gender identity or after revealing their sexual orientation. But why are the same companies silent when its Indias turn? Especially when a 2016 World Bank report estimates that homophobia causes an economic loss to India to the tune of nearly $32 billion, or almost 1.7 per cent of the countrys GDP. Just for perspective, this economic loss is equivalent to the annual budget of Telangana, which is home to the city of Hyderabad, an IT services hub. Also Read SC begins hearing of pleas to recognise same-sex marriages; details here Same-sex marriage in India: What did Supreme Court say in the case? Same-sex marriage case in the Supreme Court: Here is what the Centre said Why is the 30-day notice period under Special Marriage Act being opposed? Marriage equality: CJI rebuffs elitist argument; Centre says leave it to us Protect small investors against profiteering by short-sellers A scandal in Kathmandu rocks the Prachanda govt and threatens the system Adani stocks: What price rigging? The end of 'decoupling'? Have realistic expectations from your investmentsa Let me conclude with an irony. The Supreme Court started hearing final arguments on Marriage Equality on April 18. On that very same day, Apple Inc., the world's most valuable company, with a market capitalization of $2.682 trillion opened its first company store in India. As per Bloomberg, Apple reported nearly $6 billion in sales from India in 2023 and the global giant intends to produce as many as 25 per cent of all Apple iPhones in the country. And yet neither the company nor its CEO, Tim Cook, an openly proud gay individual and an ardent supporter of same-sex marriages uttered a word of support for Indias LGBTQ+ population. Apple, together with hundreds of other American companies, had petitioned the US Supreme Court stating that recognizing the rights of same-sex couples to marry is more than a constitutional issue. It is a business imperative. It continued such progressive advocacy campaigns in Taiwan and Australia. And yet when it was Indias turn, despite the extraordinary business case, this global progressive giant fell silent. One of the reasons for such backlash is because corporate India often hires LGBTQ+ employees to tick their diversity, equality and inclusivity (DEI) quota without considering how to assimilate these employees into the immediate, short- and long-term workforce. A commitment to the cause of marriage equalitythe highest echelon of civil rights for Indias 135 million LGBTQ+ populationwould send the right message that corporate India is truly invested in the progressive cause of diversity and inclusivity. Question Everything! Click Here To Support Information Clearing House The U.S. Should Be a Force for Peace in the World By Eisenhower Media May 22, 2023: Information Clearing House -- The Russia-Ukraine War has been an unmitigated disaster. Hundreds of thousands have been killed or wounded. Millions have been displaced. Environmental and economic destruction have been incalculable. Future devastation could be exponentially greater as nuclear powers creep ever closer toward open war. We deplore the violence, war crimes, indiscriminate missile strikes, terrorism, and other atrocities that are part of this war. The solution to this shocking violence is not more weapons or more war, with their guarantee of further death and destruction. As Americans and national security experts, we urge President Biden and Congress to use their full power to end the Russia-Ukraine War speedily through diplomacy, especially given the grave dangers of military escalation that could spiral out of control. Sixty years ago, President John F. Kennedy made an observation that is crucial for our survival today. Above all, while defending our own vital interests, nuclear powers must avert those confrontations which bring an adversary to a choice of either a humiliating retreat or a nuclear war. To adopt that kind of course in the nuclear age would be evidence only of the bankruptcy of our policyor of a collective death-wish for the world. Click to Support Independent Journalism The immediate cause of this disastrous war in Ukraine is Russias invasion. Yet the plans and actions to expand NATO to Russias borders served to provoke Russian fears. And Russian leaders made this point for 30 years. A failure of diplomacy led to war. Now diplomacy is urgently needed to end the Russia-Ukraine War before it destroys Ukraine and endangers humanity. The Potential for Peace Russias current geopolitical anxiety is informed by memories of invasion from Charles XII, Napoleon, the Kaiser and Hitler. U.S. troops were among an Allied invasion force that intervened unsuccessfully against the winning side in Russias post-World War I civil war. Russia sees NATO enlargement and presence on its borders as a direct threat; the U.S. and NATO see only prudent preparedness. In diplomacy, one must attempt to see with strategic empathy, seeking to understand ones adversaries. This is not weakness: it is wisdom. We reject the idea that diplomats, seeking peace, must choose sides, in this case either Russia or Ukraine. In favoring diplomacy we choose the side of sanity. Of humanity. Of peace. We consider President Bidens promise to back Ukraine as long as it takes to be a license to pursue ill-defined and ultimately unachievable goals. It could prove as catastrophic as President Putins decision last year to launch his criminal invasion and occupation. We cannot and will not endorse the strategy of fighting Russia to the last Ukrainian. We advocate for a meaningful and genuine commitment to diplomacy, specifically an immediate ceasefire and negotiations without any disqualifying or prohibitive preconditions. Deliberate provocations delivered the Russia-Ukraine War. In the same manner, deliberate diplomacy can end it. U.S. Actions and Russias Invasion of Ukraine As the Soviet Union collapsed and the Cold War ended, U.S. and Western European leaders assured Soviet and then Russian leaders that NATO would not expand toward Russias borders. There would be no extension ofNATO one inch to the east, U.S. Secretary of State James Baker told Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev on February 9, 1990. Similar assurances from other U.S. leaders as well as from British, German and French leaders throughout the 1990s confirm this. Since 2007, Russia has repeatedly warned that NATOs armed forces on Russian borders were intolerable just as Russian forces in Mexico or Canada would be intolerable to the U.S. now, or as Soviet missiles in Cuba were in 1962. Russia further singled out NATO expansion into Ukraine as especially provocative. Seeing the War Through Russias Eyes Our attempt at understanding the Russian perspective on their war does not endorse the invasion and occupation, nor does it imply the Russians had no other option but this war. Yet, just as Russia had other options, so too did the U.S. and NATO leading up to this moment. The Russians made their red lines clear. In Georgia and Syria, they proved they would use force to defend those lines. In 2014, their immediate seizure of Crimea and their support of Donbas separatists demonstrated they were serious in their commitment to defending their interests. Why this was not understood by U.S. and NATO leadership is unclear; incompetence, arrogance, cynicism, or a treacherous mixture of all three are likely contributing factors. Again, even as the Cold War ended, U.S. diplomats, generals and politicians were warning of the dangers of expanding NATO to Russias borders and of maliciously interfering in Russias sphere of influence. Former Cabinet officials Robert Gates and William Perry issued these warnings, as did venerated diplomats George Kennan, Jack Matlock and Henry Kissinger. In 1997, fifty senior U.S. foreign policy experts wrote an open letter to President Bill Clinton advising him not to expand NATO, calling it a policy error of historic proportions. President Clinton chose to ignore these warnings. Most important to our understanding of the hubris and Machiavellian calculation in U.S. decision-making surrounding the Russia-Ukraine War is the dismissal of the warnings issued by Williams Burns, the current director of the Central Intelligence Agency. In a cable to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in 2008, while serving as Ambassador to Russia, Burns wrote of NATO expansion and Ukrainian membership: Ukraine and Georgias NATO aspirations not only touch a raw nerve in Russia, they engender serious concerns about the consequences for stability in the region. Not only does Russia perceive encirclement, and efforts to undermine Russias influence in the region, but it also fears unpredictable and uncontrolled consequences which would seriously affect Russian security interests. Experts tell us that Russia is particularly worried that the strong divisions in Ukraine over NATO membership, with much of the ethnic-Russian community against membership, could lead to a major split, involving violence or at worst, civil war. In that eventuality, Russia would have to decide whether to intervene; a decision Russia does not want to have to face. Why did the U.S. persist in expanding NATO despite such warnings? Profit from weapons sales was a major factor. Facing opposition to NATO expansion, a group of neoconservatives and top executives of U.S. weapons manufacturers formed the U.S. Committee to Expand NATO. Between 1996 and 1998, the largest arms manufacturers spent $51 million ($94 million today) on lobbying and millions more on campaign contributions. With this largesse, NATO expansion quickly became a done deal, after which U.S. weapons manufacturers sold billions of dollars of weapons to the new NATO members. So far, the U.S. has sent $30 billion worth of military gear and weapons to Ukraine, with total aid to Ukraine exceeding $100 billion. War, its been said, is a racket, one that is highly profitable for a select few. NATO expansion, in sum, is a key feature of a militarized U.S. foreign policy characterized by unilateralism featuring regime change and preemptive wars. Failed wars, most recently in Iraq and Afghanistan, have produced slaughter and further confrontation, a harsh reality of Americas own making. The Russia-Ukraine War has opened a new arena of confrontation and slaughter. This reality is not entirely of our own making, yet it may well be our undoing, unless we dedicate ourselves to forging a diplomatic settlement that stops the killing and defuses tensions. Lets make America a force for peace in the world. SIGNERS Dennis Fritz, Director, Eisenhower Media Network; Command Chief Master Sergeant, US Air Force (retired) Matthew Hoh, Associate Director, Eisenhower Media Network; Former Marine Corps officer, and State and Defense official. William J. Astore, Lieutenant Colonel, US Air Force (retired) Karen Kwiatkowski, Lieutenant Colonel, US Air Force (retired) Dennis Laich, Major General, US Army (retired) Jack Matlock, U.S. Ambassador to the U.S.S.R., 1987-91; author of Reagan and Gorbachev: How the Cold War Ended Todd E. Pierce, Major, Judge Advocate, U.S. Army (retired) Coleen Rowley, Special Agent, FBI (retired) Jeffrey Sachs, University Professor at Columbia University Christian Sorensen, Former Arabic linguist, US Air Force Chuck Spinney, Retired Engineer/Analyst, Office of Secretary of Defense Winslow Wheeler, National security adviser to four Republican and Democratic US Lawrence B. Wilkerson, Colonel, US Army (retired) Ann Wright, Colonel, US Army (retired) and former US diplomat TIMELINE 1990 U.S. assures Russia that NATO will not expand towards its border there would be no extension ofNATO one inch to the east, says US Secretary of State James Baker. 1996 U.S. weapons manufacturers form the Committee to Expand NATO, spending over $51 million lobbying Congress. 1997 50 foreign policy experts including former senators, retired military officers and diplomats sign an open letter stating NATO expansion to be a policy error of historic proportions. 1999 NATO admits Hungary, Poland and the Czech Republic to NATO. U.S. and NATO bomb Russias ally, Serbia. 2001 U.S. unilaterally withdraws from the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty. 2004 Seven more Eastern European nations join NATO. NATO troops are now directly on Russias border. 2004 Russias parliament passed a resolution denouncing NATOs expansion. Putin responded by saying that Russia would build our defense and security policy correspondingly. 2008 NATO leaders announced plans to bring Ukraine and Georgia, also on Russias borders, into NATO. 2009 U.S. announced plans to put missile systems into Poland and Romania. 2014 Legally elected Ukrainian president, Viktor Yanukovych, fled violence to Moscow. Russia views ouster as a coup by U.S. and NATO nations. 2016 U.S. begins troop buildup in Europe. 2019 U.S. unilaterally withdraws from Intermediate Nuclear Forces Treaty. 2020 U.S. unilaterally withdraws from Open Skies Treaty. 2021 Russia submits negotiation proposals while sending more forces to the border with Ukraine. U.S. and NATO officials reject the Russian proposals immediately. Feb 24, 2022 Russia invades Ukraine, starting the Russia-Ukraine War. This ad reflects the views of the signers. Paid for by Eisenhower Media Network, a project of People Power Initiatives. Read more at www.EisenhowerMediaNetwork.org Views expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Information Clearing House. Registration is not necessary to post comments. We ask only that you do not use obscene or offensive language. Please be respectful of others. See also Other types of insider trading can be done by those who are privy to UPSI. Such information could, A recent consultation paper from the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) on Prohibition of unexplained suspicious trading activities outlines the proposed regulations. The regulator has identified the practical challenges it faces in dealing with insider trading, front-running, and pump and dump scams. But the remedies it suggests may be impractical and a regulatory overreach. The paper deals with offences like front-running trades on the basis of material non-public information (MNPI), insider trading on the basis of unpublished price-sensitive information (UPSI), and with pump and dump schemes. For instance, employees of a financial institution like a mutual fund may know the fund intends to take a stake in a specific company. They could front-run by placing trades on their personal accounts before the institutional trades. In Madhya Pradesh, the Congress has proposed another 'five guarantees', of which two The Karnataka results and the Congress party's plan to replicate its electoral template in poll-bound Madhya Pradesh with women-centric schemes has the BJP worried. Of the 'five guarantees' Congress promised in Karnataka, at least three--free travel for women in public transport buses, Rs 2,000 monthly assistance to the women head of every household and 10 kilos of rice free--were targeted on the state's women. The opposition AIADMK came out heavily against the ruling DMK over the hooch deaths in Villupuram and Chengalpattu districts of the state. As many as 22 people died and 45 were hospitalised in these two districts following consumption of spurious liquor. The AIADMK delegation led by former Chief Minister, Edappadi K. Palaniswami (EPS) submitted a memorandum to Governor of Tamil Nadu, R.N. Ravi, and requested him to direct the government to conduct appropriate inquiry into the hooch tragedy. Senior party leaders, Dindigul C. Srinivasan, K.P. Munuswamy, A D. Jayakumar and S.P. Velusamy accompanied Edappadi K. Palaniswami (EPS) will meet the Governor. The AIADMK leaders targeted the DMK regime for the failure of law and order in the state and said that the police have failed to act properly on the availability of spurious liquor in the state. Incidentally, DMK is in a spot after the husband of Ramya, the Tindivanam municipal councilor of the party, Raja, was arrested and slapped with Goonda Act for carrying illicit arrack. Also Read AIADMK gets boost in Tiruchy after AMMK strongman M Sekar joins party Karnataka polls 2023: AIADMK fields candidate from Pulikeshi Nagar Tamil Nadu govt launches drive for solid waste management awareness Tamil Nadu Governor returns bill on prohibition of online gambling Udhayanidhi's elevation triggers 'Sunrise vs Sonrise' debate in Tamil Nadu Former Delhi minister Satyendar Jain admitted to Safdarjung Hospital Karnataka Assembly session begins with RV Deshpande as pro-tem Speaker Suffering for being part of opposition: NCP's Jayant Patil on ED summons Office of President reduced to tokenism under BJP govt, says Kharge Cabinet reshuffle: 3 new ministers to take oath in Odisha on Monday The Tamil Nadu police have conducted raids across the state against illicit liquor and have arrested many people in various districts of the state.--IANS aal/kvd This was a momentous occasion for the state as it was the first wedding in the Jewish community in Kerala in almost 15 years, overall it is the fifth wedding ceremony celebrated in the state over the last 70 years. Rachel Malakhai, a data scientist in the US and the daughter of the former crime branch SP Benoy Malakhai got married to Richard Zachary Rowe, an American citizen, and a Nasa engineer tied the knot in a traditional Jewish wedding ceremony on Sunday in Kochi. The rabbi, Aerial Sharon, flew in from Israel to officiate the wedding under a traditional canopy that is a symbol of home, called Huppah. According to the family, it is also the first wedding to happen outside a synagogue in Kerala, as reported by ANI. Instead, the family decided to host the ceremony in a private resort to better accommodate 300 guests, which included family, friends, and community members in attendance. According to the report, some historians state that the first Jews to reach Kerala were traders who had arrived during the time of King Solomon, which dates back more than 2,000 years. This is a rare event as the last Jewish wedding held in the state was in 2008, following a 20-year gap at the Thekkumbhagam synagogue, Mattancherry. The custom requires the presence of at least 10 Jewish people for the wedding. Also Read Weddings back with a bang in 2022; they cost 33% more than in 2021 Lost half my money to this banking thing, says Sharon Stone on SVB collapse Tourism industry in Joshimath is going down with the 'sinking' town Droneacharya Aerial sees stellar debut, lists at 89% premium to issue price The Kerala Story gets 'A' certificate from censor board, 10 scenes deleted National Dengue Day 2023: Importance, everything you need to Know Glenn Maxwell, wife Vini Raman expecting rainbow baby: All you need to know Mother's Day 2023: History, Importance, Celebration, Wishes, details here Maharana Pratap Jayanti 2023: details on his history, celebration, quotes After Mumbai, Backstreet Boys set to perform in Gurugram's Airia Mall today Today, however, the Jewish community in Kochi is down to 25 members as the community has slowly migrated to Israel. Apple has posted around a dozen openings on its career page inviting applications from professionals in generative AI. The jobs are for experts in machine learning with a passion to build autonomous systems, TC reported. As the race in the artificial intelligence domain (AI) intensifies, the demand for generative AI talent is growing. Like a number of many other companies in the space, Apple is also looking for talent to make advances in the field, a report published in TechCrunch (TC) said. With the launch of its Siri voice assistant in 2011, Apple was one of the very first companies to develop an AI-based application for consumers. As one of the foremost technology companies in the world, Apple has the reputation of hiring some of the most promising talent, the report noted. There is an air of uncertainty regarding the approach Apple wants to take in the AI space. Earlier, the company had termed the technology as "very interesting" while adding caution saying that Apple would be "deliberate and thoughtful" in its approach towards the generative AI technology. The popular generative AI tool, OpenAI's ChatGPT has gained immense popularity since its launch and has sparked a debate on issues surrounding the required regulatory framework and possible job losses that this technology may cause. While tech giants like Google, Apple, and Amazon have taken the lead in the AI space, it has been noted that they have fallen behind in the latest technology wave. Also Read Apple rolls out iOS 16.5 for iPhones: What's new, how-to install, and more Tesla chief Elon Musk threatens to sue Microsoft for using data 'illegally' These are the non-IT sectors most eager to hire tech talent in India Pixel 7a review: Google's entry-level phone is mixed bag of hits and misses How Elon Musk's empire has made him a problem for the Biden administration WhatsApp's new feature will allow users to create stickers within app Apple releases its first iOS 16.6, iPadOS 16.6 beta to developers Samsung not planning to switch from Google to Bing on its devices: Report Apple may unveil MR headset, new 15-inch MacBook Air, more at WWDC Taiwanese tech giant Asus explains what caused mass router outage TuTr is currently finalising an agreement with an Indian engineering, procurement and construction services company to develop the infrastructure and systems for hyperloop technology. Towards these, TuTr Hyperloop has entered into an IP agreement recently with IIT Madras. Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT Madras)-incubated deep tech startup TuTr Hyperloop is collaborating with the institute to develop Intellectual Property (IP) in hyperloop technology. The startup has also partnered with Tata Steel to work on the development and deployment of hyperloop technology at scale. TuTr's mission is to deliver to customers, fast and reliable on-demand transportation that is both affordable and greener in comparison with other modes of transport. TuTr seeks to leverage its partnership with IIT Madras and its co-location with Indias largest deep tech ecosystem to catalyze the development of cost-effective Hyperloop technologies, said Satyanarayanan Chakravarthy, the Coordinator of NCCRD, IIT Madras. TuTr Hyperloop is a deep-tech startup that has been operating from the National Centre for Combustion Research and Development (NCCRD), IIT Madras, since 2022 to carry forward the work done by CFI Team Avishkar and focus on commercializing hyperloop technologies. Further, TuTr Hyperloop had recently entered a strategic partnership with Hardt Hyperloop, a top European hyperloop technology firm, to achieve interoperable hyperloop technology between Europe and India. The initial focus will be on cargo movement to enhance the productivity of various stakeholders by solving their pain points. This will be the first step towards the deployment of high-speed mobility corridors for passenger transportation across India and globally, Chakravarthy, who is also a faculty in the Department of Aerospace Engineering Department, IIT Madras, added. Also Read IIT Madras launches electric racing car; mulls driverless vehicle by 2025 IIT Madras testing plan for hyperloop parallel to Chennai-Bengaluru route Day 1: IIT Guwahati bags highest foreign job offer of Rs 2.4 crore Placement offers at IITs in 2023 may not be as high as last year: Report IITs likely to see less placement offers this year amid tech slump: Report Samsung launches Galaxy A14 smartphone in India: Price, specs, and more As the race for AI domination intensifies, Apple looks for talent WhatsApp's new feature will allow users to create stickers within app Apple releases its first iOS 16.6, iPadOS 16.6 beta to developers Samsung not planning to switch from Google to Bing on its devices: Report As part of the MoU, TuTr and Hardt will engage in discussions to converge on hyperloop technology. The goal is to develop a roadmap that would result in an operational demonstration route before 2030. This collaboration is expected to accelerate the development of hyperloop technology and bring it closer to commercialisation, transforming the future of transportation. The tie-up between Hardt and TuTr is a positive development. The Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management has been an early supporter of hyperloop technology as an international public-private development. Witnessing the growth of the hyperloop ecosystem stands testimony to the power of collaboration required to realise sustainable and ground breaking transportation solutions like hyperloop, said Mark Harbers, Dutch Minister of Infrastructure and Water Management. TuTr Hyperloop has embarked on an Atmanirbhar initiative in the IIT Madras Ecosystem to build a cost-effective sustainable high-speed mobility tech solution for India. We are excited to partner with Hardt on this European Indian Collaboration to create common standards for an interoperable hyperloop system which will ensure that our solution will not only benefit India but can also be deployed across the world, said Aravind Bharadwaj, Co-Founder and CTO, TuTr Hyperloop. As residents of Myanmar's Rakhine and Chin states worked Monday to repair the devastation from last week's Cyclone Mocha, concern is rising about whether the urgent needs for shelter, food, drinking water and medical assistance can be met before the onset of seasonal monsoon rains. Mocha hit the coastline of Bangladesh and Myanmar on May 14 with winds of up to 209 kilometers (130 miles) per hour. The damage was worst around the coastal city of Sittwe, the capital of Myanmar's western state of Rakhine, but was severe even as the weakened storm moved inland into Chin state. At least 148 people in Rakhine were killed by the storm, which brought flash floods and power outages, tore roofs off buildings and crumpled cellphone towers. Myanmar state media said more than 186,000 buildings were damaged by the cyclone. The U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said on Sunday that it was still in talks with officials in the national capital, Naypyitaw, for approval of a plan to provide humanitarian aid to storm-affected areas in the two states. Also Read Cyclone Mocha likely to hit India's eastern coast next week, details here Cyclone Mocha: Low pressure likely to form today, IMD issues warning Official death toll from cyclone Mocha at least 145, says Myanmar Cash-strapped Mizoram gets Bangla refugee influx; border talks with Assam Super cyclone Mocha makes landfall along Bangladesh and Myanmar coasts Meta hit with record $1.3-billion fine in EU over US data transfers Epstein may've tried to extort Gates over extramarital affair: Report Taiwan excluded from WHO annual assembly following Chinese opposition Debt call with McCarthy 'went well', will talk again today: Joe Biden Cash-strapped Sri Lanka in deal with China's Sinopec to secure fuel It said some aid partners that already have access are prioritising the distribution of food and critical relief items where they can. Myanmar's Meteorological Department said on Sunday that it expected the monsoon would enter the southern part of the country in the next two days. The monsoon usually brings constant rainfall for long periods of time on the Bay of Bengal coast and the lower part of the country between June and September. Wai Hun Aung, a writer who is directing relief work in seven townships in northern Rakhine, said there have been shortages of materials to rebuild houses, including metal roofs, tarpaulins and nails, and many people were worried that they might be without adequate shelter when the monsoon arrives. The monsoon is coming and the villagers need help, especially for shelter. We also need food, drinking water, and medicine urgently. We saw the members of UNOCHA making a list of the casualties in some townships but still don't see humanitarian aid from international organisations. The amount of help from the authorities is not enough, Wai Hun Aung said Monday. Although Myanmar's navy and air force have begun delivering rice and other assistance, it has not yet reached remote areas, he said. Wannisara, a Buddhist monk in Rathedaung, a northern township in Sittwe, said little aid has arrived in his area and residents are in urgent need of shelter and drinking water. "We don't even have tarpaulins to make shelters. The villagers have to get their water from the mountains, far from their villages, he said. Those who lost their homes due to the storm are now living with anxiety in monasteries and other places. Theinn Shwe, a teacher at an education centre for minority Rohingya Muslims living in displacement camps outside Sittwe that were battered by the storm surge, said Monday that some people had received rice, pots and pans dispensed from trucks over the weekend, but he did not know who supplied the relief goods and more were needed. Salai Mang Hre Lian, a program manager for the Chin Human Rights Organisation, said Monday that more than 1,700 buildings including churches and schools in 128 villages in Chin state were damaged. Chin state is deeply involved in the armed struggle against military rule that began when the army seized power in February 2021 from the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi. Fighting occurs in much of the country but is especially fierce in Chin state. Defense ministers and senior defense officials from 12 northern European countries are meeting in Poland on Monday to discuss stepping up deterrence and security on NATO's eastern flank and strengthening Ukraine's defenses, ahead of NATO's summer summit. They are meeting at military facilities in Legionowo, near Warsaw, as part of the so-called Northern Group - a platform for developing security initiatives for NATO and European Union members. Officials will also discuss preparation for the July NATO summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, according to Denmark's Acting Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen. That summit is expected to gauge prospects for Ukraine's membership. Recently, the US agreed to allow training on American-made F-16 fighter jets, laying the groundwork for their eventual transfer to Ukraine. Initiated by Britain in 2010, The Northern Group includes The Netherlands, Germany, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Poland and the three Baltic states. Also Read Poland to 'temporarily' prohibit grain, other food imports from Ukraine Poland to receive European Union post-Covid recovery fund in 1.5 yrs: PM Poland sends diplomatic note on request for WW II reparations from Germany Fifa World Cup FRA vs POL Highlights: Mbappe's brace takes France to last 8 Ukraine, EU agree to extend preferential trade regime for one year Ukrainian nuclear plant loses power supply again, is 'extremely vulnerable' Extreme weather events over half-century killed 2 mn, $4.3 trn damage: UN Meta fined 1.2 bn euros for breaching European Union's privacy laws Climate change to push 30% species over tipping points: Research PM Modi, New Zealand counterpart discuss full range of bilateral ties Germany and Norway are sending deputy defense ministers to the meeting and Iceland will be represented by a Defense Ministry director-general. As more protesters took to the streets, G7 nations wrapped up their three-day gathering here, vowing to escalate sanctions against Russia amid the Ukraine crisis. Following days of protests, hundreds of demonstrators from home and abroad on Sunday rallied against the G7 leaders' communique and other documents adopted by the summit in Hiroshima, a city once devasted by US atomic bombing during World War II, Xinhua news agency reported. Placards and banners that read "No War-themed Conference," "Hands off on Ukraine," and "No to Japan-US military alliance" were spotted in Fukuromachi Park, where the protesters were gathering on Sunday morning, not far from the Peace Memorial Park that was shut due to the summit leaders' visit. Chanting slogans such as "No to War" and "Smash the G7 Hiroshima Summit," they rallied along the main streets in Hiroshima, crowded by hundreds of riot police officers. They ran into physical conflict with the police in a downtown high street, where one of the protesters was arrested, but continued with the rally minutes later. "To summarise, it is never a peaceful summit," Ryo Miyahara, head of a Hiroshima citizens' group and the protest's organizer, told Xinhua at the demonstration site. Several protesters, in their public speeches during Sunday's protest, accused the G7 Hiroshima Summit of being a war-themed conference sponsored by the US-promoted hegemonism in its essence, and that the Japanese government is ruthlessly trampling on the views of atomic bombing victims and local residents by holding such a meeting in Hiroshima. Also Read US Prez Biden tours 1,400-year-old shrine in Hiroshima with G7 leaders World frightened even today when it hears word Hiroshima: PM Modi G-7 leaders agree to set up 'Hiroshima Process' to govern generative AI Kishida, Biden meet ahead of G7 in Hiroshima amid protests, tight security Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrives in Hiroshima for G7 and Quad summits Imran Khan fears arrest in Islamabad on Tuesday, says there are 80% chances PM Modi holds talks with Papua New Guinea PM, Governor-General Bob Dadae Time to reform both Security Council and Bretton Woods system: UN chief Biden, McCarthy to meet Monday for debt limit talks after productive call 'Silly balloon' changed it all: says US President Biden on US-China ties "We will not tolerate such a summit," they added. While vowing to support Ukraine "for as long as it takes," in the final joint statement, the G7 nations, with the US taking the lead, announced specific measures to sanction Russia in a standalone statement on Ukraine on Friday, prior to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's in-person visit starting Saturday. US President Joe Biden, on Sunday evening, announced a new package of military aid to Ukraine worth $375 million after Biden and Zelensky met on the sidelines of the G7 summit. The G7 comprises the US, Britain, Italy, France, Germany, Canada and Japan. Leaders from South Korea, Brazil, Australia, Vietnam, Indonesia, India, Comoros, Cook Islands and some international organisations were invited to the three-day gathering. --IANS int/khz/ Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday held talks with his Papua New Guinea counterpart James Marape and the island nation's Governor-General Bob Dadae separately and stressed on strengthening the partnership between the two countries across multiple sectors. Modi, who arrived here on Sunday on his maiden visit to the nation, will host a key summit between India and 14 Pacific island countries to boost bilateral ties. External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi, in a tweet, said, "PM Narendra Modi arrives at the iconic APEC House located on the shores of Ela Beach in Port Moresby. Warmly welcomed by PM James Marape. The two leaders will co-host the FIPIC III Summit, fostering regional cooperation. According to the MEA spokesperson, discussions between the two prime ministers covered a range of issues, including strengthening partnerships in multiple sectors, climate action as well as promoting people-to-people ties. "Synergising India-Papua New Guinea relations. PM Narendra Modi held a fruitful bilateral meeting with PM James Marape. PM Modi expressed his appreciation to PM Marape for co-hosting the FIPIC III Summit in Port Moresby. "Discussions covered strengthening partnership across sectors of trade and investment, health, capacity building and skill development and IT. Also discussed issues related to climate action and promoting people-to-people ties," he said. Also Read PM Modi wraps up 'fruitful visit to Japan,' departs for Papua New Guinea Homes destroyed, 4 reported dead from Papua New Guinea earthquake PM Modi set to receive many 'rare' honours during his 3-nation tour Bank of Baroda Q4 preview: PAT may soar up to 2x YoY on healthy loan growth Bob Iger to receive $27 million yearly for return as Walt Disney CEO Time to reform both Security Council and Bretton Woods system: UN chief Biden, McCarthy to meet Monday for debt limit talks after productive call 'Silly balloon' changed it all: says US President Biden on US-China ties US President Joe Biden talks 14th Amendment to override Congress on debt China tells manufacturers to stop using Micron chips, steps up feud with US FIPIC was launched during Modi's visit to Fiji in 2014. The summit will take place at a time when China is making efforts to enhance its military and diplomatic influence in the region. Posting a photo of him shaking hands with Marape, PM Modi said on Twitter, "Prime Minister James Marape and I had very productive talks, covering the full range of bilateral relations between India and Papua New Guinea. We discussed ways to augment cooperation in commerce, technology, healthcare and in addressing climate change." Earlier in the day, PM Modi met Papua New Guinea's Governor-General Bob Dadae at the Government House. "Prime Minister Narendra Modi starts off the day in Papua New Guinea with a warm conversation with Governor-General Sir Bob Dadae at the historic Government House. Underlined the significance of India-Papua New Guinea relations ties and development partnership between the two countries," MEA spokesperson Bagchi said on Twitter. Prime Minister Modi too posted photos of his meeting with Governor-General Dadae on his official Twitter handle. "Had a wonderful meeting with Governor-General of Papua New Guinea, Sir Bob Dadae. We talked about ways to deepen bilateral relations between our nations across different sectors," Modi said. The Indian prime minister arrived here on Sunday evening from Japan where he attended the summit of the G7 advanced economies and held bilateral meetings with several world leaders. His visit to Papua New Guinea on the second leg of his three-nation tour is the first ever by any Indian prime minister. He was received at the airport by Prime Minister James Marape who touched his feet as a mark of respect. Normally Papua New Guinea doesn't give a ceremonial welcome to any leader coming after sunset. But a special exception was made for Prime Minister Modi and a ceremonial welcome was accorded to him. The FIPIC Summit will see participation from leaders of 14 countries. Normally all of them rarely converge together due to connectivity and other issues, sources said. FIPIC includes Cook Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, the Republic of Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Nauru, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu. Kim Whanki's "5-IV-71 #200" (1971), nicknamed "Universe" / Courtesy of Whanki Foundation, Whanki Museum By Park Han-sol Modern abstract master Kim Whanki / Courtesy of Whanki Foundation, Whanki Museum The modern Korean art world hails Kim Whanki (1913-74), who forged his legacy through pointillist paintings awash with an infinite constellation of dots, as one of the country's greatest abstract masters. In the last decade, his name has regularly made headlines following renewed global attention to the "dansaekhwa" (monochrome painting) movement of the 1970s. And in 2019, Kim's 1971 diptych, "Universe 5-IV-71 #200," made history as the most expensive Korean art piece ever auctioned, fetching 13.2 billion won (HK$88 million) at Christie's Hong Kong. However, the latest blockbuster exhibition, devoted to the modern master at the Hoam Museum of Art in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province is all about asking the audience the following question: How well do we really know one of the "most recognizable" artists in Korea? "a dot a sky_kim whanki," mounted to commemorate the reopening of the museum after its 18-month renovation, offers a rare, full view of the painter's 40-year journey toward abstraction. According to the show's curator Tae Hyun-seon, the retrospective strives to characterize Kim's art as a single formative evolution, thus steering away from the popular tendency to simplify his oeuvre into two phases figurative art prior to dot paintings and abstraction thereafter. Kim Whanki's "Rondo" (1938) / Courtesy of Whanki Foundation, Whanki Museum Among some 120 pieces on view, 88 are oil paintings, including the works that were previously only known to exist through catalogs and are being exhibited for the first time. The show opens with the artist's early paintings from the mid-1930s upon his return from Japan after years of studies, where he was exposed to a number of European experimental movements from Cubism to Surrealism. Works like "Rondo" (1938), "Flowers" (late 1930s) and "Window" (1940) visualize his initial stylistic exploration of geometric abstraction and compositions. Kim Whanki's "The Moon and Plum Blossoms" (1953-54) / Korea Times photo by Park Han-sol However, as indicated by the section's title, "Moon/Jars," the true highlights here are the paintings that embody Kim's obsessive fascination with moon jars voluminous, moon-like pottery items produced during the late Joseon Kingdom (1392-1910). Known for their minimalist yet entrancing aesthetic, these white vases regularly make appearances in his lyrically abstract depiction of the tranquil moonlit sky as in "White Porcelain and Flowers" (1949), "The Moon and Jar" (1952) and "La Lune Symphonie en Blanc" (1954). He extolled the beauty of moon jars both through his paintings and writings, eventually transforming his house, nicknamed "Suhyangsanbang," in northern Seoul's Seongbuk District into a packed storage of his treasured collection. A late 17th-century bluish-white vessel that was once collected by the artist himself is on display at the museum for the first time. As Kim's passion for the moon jars grew, so did his interest in other classical East Asian motifs such as mountain ridges, plum blossoms, cranes and deer. Installation view of "a dot a sky_kim whanki" at the Hoam Museum of Art in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province / Courtesy of Whanki Foundation, Whanki Museum They subsequently formed the building blocks of his compositions of lines, shapes and planes of color that would later become emblematic of his abstract style and are especially witnessed in his pieces born during and after his time in Paris in the late 1950s "Song of Eternity" (1957), "Flying Birds" (1957) and the nearly 6-meter-wide "Women and Jars" (1960). "One notable element in 'Flying Birds' is a group of colorful squares seen on the surface of the moon in the background," Tae said. "When you look at a series of his paintings produced during this time, those shapes start varying in sizes and eventually appear as spots and specks on the canvas thus hinting at the arrival of his next creative stage of dot paintings." Kim Whanki's "Where, in What Form, Shall We Meet Again 16-IV-70 #166" (1970) / Courtesy of Whanki Foundation, Whanki Museum Starting in 1963, the painter's so-called New York period ushered in a now instantly recognizable creative era an endless blanket of dots lyrically dominating the canvas and paper. While he initially began with confidence at the age of 50 in his ability to capture the inherently Korean aesthetics through his depiction of moons and mountains, the New York art circle instead viewed his works to be a mere derivative of Abstract Expressionism of the West. The harsh realization was what led Kim to actively experiment with the simplified compositions of lines, dots and planes in place of East Asian motifs. In his Jan. 24, 1965 diary entry, he wrote, "Let me push further ahead with (my usage of) lines and dots." Two years later, he continued telling himself to explore "the flying specks" and what they could potentially represent. A visitor takes a look at Kim Whanki's "Heaven and Earth 24-IX-73 #320" (1973) on view as part of "a dot a sky_kim whanki" at the Hoam Museum of Art. Newsis The show's second section, "Big Small Dot," offers a contemplative moment of respite as it fills itself with Kim's masterpieces a climactic aggregation of his decades-long journey toward abstraction. "Visitors are invited to go on a spiritual promenade as they communicate with each dot painting," the curator said. Whereas "Where, in What Form, Shall We Meet Again 16-IV-70 #166" (1970) is characterized by horizontal rows of deep blue dots, his subsequent pieces add other dynamic twists in terms of colors, rhythmic curves and overlapping planes as in "Universe" (1971), "23-XII-71 #218" (1971), "Echo of Mountain 19-II-73 #307" (1973) and "Heaven and Earth 24-IX-73 #320" (1973). Kim Whanki's "23-XII-71 #218" (1971) / Korea Times photo by Park Han-sol Nevertheless, the show ends on a somber note as black and dark gray dot paintings dominate the last stage of his creative exploration, just months before he died of a stroke at the age of 61 in 1974. Next to "17-VI-74 #337," the second to last painting Kim produced before his death, is the printed text from his June 16, 1974 diary entry: "My death is imminent, so what should I think about? My dreams are infinite, yet there isn't enough time." Kim Whanki's scrapbook from the 1950s / Courtesy of Whanki Foundation, Whanki Museum The Sudanese Army has announced its commitment to the Agreement on a Short-Term Cease-fire and Humanitarian Arrangements it signed with the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in the Saudi Arabian port city of Jeddah. "The armed forces announce their commitment to the agreement and hope the RSF will abide by what it says," the Sudanese Army spokesman said on Sunday in a statement. "The duration of the short-term cease-fire is seven days and will enter into force on Monday at 9:45 p.m. local time (1945 GMT)," the statement added. On Saturday night, the Sudanese Army and the RSF signed the cease-fire deal under Saudi-US patronage, Xinhua news agency reported. Under the deal, each party will implement the agreement in full and ensure that all forces under their command and control observe it at all times and in full. According to the deal, the parties will guarantee the freedom of movement of civilians throughout the country and protect civilians from violence, harassment, recruitment, or other abuse, as well as refrain from any violations of international human rights law. Also Read SpiceJet to operate more flights to evacuate people under Operation Kaveri Fighting continues between Sudan's warring parties; bombardment in Khartoum OIC asks Taliban to reconsider ban on women from working for NGOs India supports peace process and capacity building in South Sudan Ceasefire talks yield 'no major progress' as fighting rages in Sudan Erdogan counts on nationalism, security and defiance of West to win polls Latest LIVE: PM Modi addresses 3rd India-Pacific Islands Cooperation Summit G7 summit concludes amid protests against Japan-US military alliance Imran Khan fears arrest in Islamabad on Tuesday, says there are 80% chances PM Modi holds talks with Papua New Guinea PM, Governor-General Bob Dadae The parties will also provide security guarantees for safe, unhindered access by humanitarian agencies. The agreement does not touch on the discussion of political situation, according to the statement. Sudan has been witnessing deadly armed clashes between the Sudanese Army and the RSF in the capital Khartoum and other areas since April 15. --IANS int/khz/ China and Pakistan urged members to reject Taiwans inclusion while Eswatini and the Marshall Islands spoke in favour. Taiwan failed in its efforts to gain an invitation to the World Health Organizations annual assembly despite the islands claims that support was growing for its participation. The assembly on Monday decided not to extend Taiwan an invitation to the event which runs from May 21 to 30. The German government has taken this step to encourage the inflow of migrants and open up the job market in Europe's biggest economy. Quoting Interior Minister Ncaid, the report added, "We want people who have become part of our society to be able to help shape our country democratically." The minister talked about the need for skilled workers in Germany in line with countries like Canada. In order to boost migration, Germany has published draft legislation to make it easier for people to acquire German citizenship, reported The Economic Times (ET). At the turn of the millenium, the concern was that the US was paying off the debt too quickly! Here are a few excerpts from a speech by then Fed Chair Alan Greenspan in April 2001: The paydown of federal debt Click on graph for larger image. "The information reviewed at this meeting suggested that economic growth had remained rapid through early spring.." 4) 9/11, Homeland Security Spending and the War in Afghanistan: The 9/11/2001 attacks led to a sharp increase in homeland security spending and the War in Afghanistan. 5) The War in Iraq: The Bush administration argued the war would cost around $80 billion. VP Dick Cheney said on Meet the Press: "every analysis said this war itself would cost about $80 billion". Instead, the war cost well over $1 trillion (and countless lives were lost). Note: I've mentioned on this blog that "I opposed the Iraq war, and was shouted down and called names like "Saddam lover" for questioning the veracity of the information." 6) The Financial Crisis and Great Recession. This was the worst US recession since the Great Depression. This led to the first $1 trillion annual budget deficit in US history and dramatically increased the national debt. The causes of the bubble were rapid changes in the mortgage lending industry, rating agencies that didn't account for those changes, combined with a lack of regulatory oversight. I was talking with field regulators in 2005 and 2006, and they were all terrified. I was told the appointees at the top of the agencies were blocking any effort to tighten standards. Here is a brief discussion ... (books have been written on each of these topics):1)Here are the CBO projections from July 2000: The Budget and Economic Outlook: An Update The CBO projections showed an almost $6 Trillion in debt reduction in the 2001 through 2010 period.I argued in 2000 that these projections ignored possible negative events such as an investment led recession due to the bursting of stock bubble. These projections were clearly overly optimistic.2)Although Greenspan mentioned "the current slowdown in economic activity" in his April 2001 speech, he didn't realize the economy was already in a recession . From the May 2000 FOMC minutes 3)These tax cuts were sold as slowing the growth of the surpluses (using Greenspan's speech for cover)! Instead, the tax cuts (mostly for the wealthy) turned the surpluses into deficits and reduced revenue by $1.5 trillion or more over the 2001 - 2010 period. There were various Inspector General reports that the Fed and FDIC field examiners were expressing significant concerns in 2003 and 2004, but Greenspan was blocking all efforts to tighten standards - and the Bush Administratio was loosening bank regulations!This photo shows John Reich (then Vice Chairman of the FDIC and later at the OTS) and James Gilleran of the Office of Thrift Supervision (with the chainsaw) and representatives of three banker trade associations: James McLaughlin of the American Bankers Association, Harry Doherty of America's Community Bankers, and Ken Guenther of the Independent Community Bankers of America. U.S., British, French commanders' crossing of Strait of Hormuz "theatrical" move: Iranian official Xinhua) 10:08, May 22, 2023 TEHRAN, May 21 (Xinhua) -- A top Iranian military official on Sunday shrugged off as a "theatrical" move the crossing of the Strait of Hormuz by the U.S., British and French commanders aboard a U.S. destroyer, the semi-official Mehr news agency reported. The fact is that their sail across the sea, claimed to ensure security in the strait, was a "theatrical" publicity stunt, Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces Mohammad Baqeri told reporters on the sidelines of a ceremony held in the southern port city of Bandar Abbas to welcome back an Iranian flotilla. The United States, France and Britain should explain why they are interfering in "our region's affairs" thousands of kilometers away from their countries when the regional states are ensuring their own security in cooperation with each other, he noted. Abbas Gholamshahi, the commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps Navy's First Zone, said on Saturday that its forces "closely monitored" the U.S. Navy destroyer sailing out of the Strait of Hormuz with the three senior commanders on board, the semi-official Fars news agency reported. (Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Liang Jun) Ranking officials from Korea's financial sectors and a business delegation from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) pose after holding the UAE-Korea Sovereign Investment Partnership Forum in Seoul, May 15. In the front row are Korea Financial Investment Association Chairman Seo Yoo-seok, left, Korea Chamber of Commerce & Industry (KCCI) Vice Chairman Woo Tae-hee, third from left, First Vice Finance Minister Bang Ki-sun, fourth from left, Mubadala Investment Company Deputy CEO Waleed Al Muhairi, sixth from left, Financial Services Commission Vice Chairman Kim So-young, seventh from left, and Korea Development Bank (KDB) Chairman Kang Seog-hoon, eighth from left. Courtesy of KDB By Lee Min-hyung The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is on track to execute $2 billion (2.63 trillion won) of investments in Korea's promising growth areas such as energy and information and communications technology (ICT), the Korea Development Bank (KDB) said in a statement Monday. This investment comes as a follow-up measure from a summit in January between President Yoon Suk Yeol and UAE President Mohamed bin Zayed AI Nahyan, during which the UAE promised to invest $30 billion in Korea. A business delegation from the Middle Eastern country visited Korea on May 15 and 16 to discuss the investment plans. The delegation consisted of a group of the country's state-run funds and companies there. It picked energy, ICT, agricultural technology, biotechnology, aerospace and culture as initial areas for investment. The UAE delegation met with officials from Korean companies and discussed investment ideas. Officials from the delegation also held a meeting with Korea's Finance Minister Choo Kyung-ho for talks on their future steps on the investment and exchanged opinions on bilateral cooperation with the Korea Development Bank (KDB). Both sides reaffirmed their interest in increasing bilateral partnerships and pledged to cooperate in more diverse areas for the UAE's specific investment decision-making. They also reached a consensus on holding a joint economic committee in July to discuss the upcoming investment plans. Korea's finance ministry welcomed the latest decision from the UAE, saying that the invested capital will be used for not just big companies here, but also for promising startups and small and medium-sized businesses with huge growth potential. The Korean state-run lender and UAE's Mubadala Investment Company signed a memorandum of understanding on the partnership between the two countries. Both sides will carry out a role managing the overall investment processes for the latest partnership, according to the statement released by KDB. The economic relationship between Korea and the UAE has developed quickly over the past few years. The trade volume in non-petroleum products between the two countries reached $5.3 billion in 2022, up 14 percent from the previous year. Modified On May 22, 2023 03:57 PM By Shreyash for MG Comet EV MG Comets Indonesian counterpart, the Wuling Air EVs Fire Rescue version gets firefighter livery and fire control equipment inside the cabin. MG has recently launched the Comet EV in India, which is a 2-door ultra compact electric car which has a seating capacity of four people. Due to its compact dimensions, the Comet EV makes it easy to be maneuvered around city traffic and in tight spaces. A typical firefighter vehicle is quite the opposite by being large and not the easiest to squeeze into narrow areas. So, could the Comet EV be used to overcome the disadvantages of a fire department vehicle for a faster rescue response in congested areas? Well, MGs sister brand Wuling, which sells the Comet as the Air EV in Indonesia, seems to have had the same idea and built a special fire rescue version of the ultra compact offering. It was showcased at the recent EV show in Indonesia and you can explore it in detail here: Modified Looks The Comet EV is already offering a wide range of cosmetic personalisations and easily adopts a typical firefighting livery. This Wuling Air was painted red and has a Fire Rescue lettering front and rear with added graphic decals. It also gets flashing lights on the top, a must for any emergency vehicle to alert the public. Also Check Out: Heres How You Can Customise The MG Comet EV To Your Taste Whats Different Inside? On the inside, the front of the tiny cabin doesnt look that different from the base model with just a digital drivers display and no infotainment touchscreen. But then you notice a small module just under the dash to control the lights and also a radio broadcast system, used by emergency services officers to coordinate across departments and be alerted to calls for help with a hand-held radio-mic sitting behind the drive selector. The big change is in the back where the rear seats have been removed to accommodate firefighting essentials. This includes uniforms with the oxygen tank, a couple of full-size fire extinguishers, and a hose pipe to connect to a fire hydrant. Will It Serve The Purpose? The Comet EV (Air EV) as a firefighter version may seem too small to extinguish big fires, but it will certainly have its benefits to the fire department. With such compact dimensions, the 2-door ultra compact EV will have following benefits: In a fire emergency, arriving on time is critical since the situation worsens with each passing second. When compared to large firefighting trucks, the Comet EV (Air EV)'s compact proportions will allow it to quickly cut through city traffic and get to the incident on time. There are regions and sites in a densely populated city where huge fire vehicles cannot reach without trouble; a compact electric vehicle like the Comet EV may easily handle this problem and offer faster relief until the larger vehicle can arrive. With the ultra compact firefighter EV, the fire department can use it to attend to smaller fires and have smaller fire stations set-up for them as first response teams. This could reduce the departments running costs where large and heavy firefighting vehicles get deployed for every incident. Also Read: MG Comet EV vs Rivals: Prices Compared In Detail Powertrain Details Internationally, Wuling offers the Air EV with two battery pack options, a 17.3kWh battery pack with range of up to 200km, and a long-range 26.7kWh battery pack, which offers a range of up to 300km. Though Wuling hasnt revealed which of these battery packs will be offered on the Fire Rescue version of the Air EV, we anticipate it will get the larger battery pack with better range. In India, the Comet EV only comes with a 17.3kWh battery pack which offers a claimed range of 230km. It is mated to a rear-axle mounted electric motor which makes 42PS and 110Nm. Here, the urban EV is a quirky alternative to other entry-level EVs like Tata Tiago EV and Citroen eC3. Do you also see the benefits of something like the MG Comet EV being used by emergency services in India, as an add-on support vehicle? Let us know in the comment section below. Read More on : MG Comet EV Automatic KK Modi University (KKMU) Chhattisgarh invites applications for full-time undergraduate (UG) and postgraduate (PG) programs for the year 2023 for programs such as B.Tech, BBA, BCA, BCom, MBA, M.Tech, and more. Candidates interested in joining the undergraduate and postgraduate programs can choose to apply either online or offline by visiting the official website of KK Modi University Chhattisgarh. The application process requires a nominal fee of Rs 380. Before proceeding with the application, it is advised to carefully review all the information mentioned in the KKMU Chhattisgarh UG and PG admission notification for 2023. To be eligible for admission, applicants must meet the specific criteria for each program. for B.Tech, candidates should have completed 10+2 or an equivalent examination with science as one of the core subjects. For admission to most programs (excluding BTech - International), candidates are required to appear in the KKMU Admission Test and/or participate in Group Discussion and Personal Interview (GDPI) at the University Campus in Durg. However, if candidates have attempted any national/state-level tests such as JEE, CAT, MAT, or XAT, they may be exempt from the KKMU Admission Test. Additionally, candidates must submit the necessary documents as part of the selection process Subaru and Mazda have topped the list when it comes to recommended carsnew or usedfor teen drivers. This is according to the U.S.-based In... Visitors arriving from the Chinese city of Shenyang are guided toward a PCR test center at Incheon International Airport in this Jan. 6 photo. Newsis New measures seek to stem influx of infectious diseases By Jun Ji-hye The government will nearly double the number of infectious diseases subject to quarantine at airports and seaports and enhance monitoring to increase its ability to stem the spread of contagious illnesses. The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) announced, Monday, that it will gradually increase the number of quarantinable infectious diseases to about 20 from the current 11 by adding some 10 new illnesses, including dengue fever and measles. The current list includes Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) and the Ebola virus. The government will also expand infrastructure to house and monitor suspected cases, and secure relevant manpower operating year-round. These are a part of the government's new quarantine measures that will be in effect until 2027. The measures come as the number of arrivals per day has sharply increased to 79,391 on average this year from 9,486 in 2021, as people around the world have begun to return to normality following the easing of many rules and regulations induced by the COVID-19 pandemic. This is raising the need to enhance quarantine measures, according to the KDCA. "The government drew up the new measures in response to growing international demand for proper measures to stem the import and spread of infectious diseases following the COVID-19 pandemic," a KDCA official said. "The measures are aimed at protecting people's health as well as preventing social and economic damage." gettyimagesbank Mumbai (Maharashtra): Sameer Wankhede, the former Zonal Director of Mumbai Narcotics Control Bureau of India (NCB), revealed on Monday that he and his wife, Kranti Redkar, have been receiving threats and obscene messages for the past four days. This development comes after Wankhede was recently booked by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on allegations of demanding a staggering bribe of Rs 25 crore. The bribe was allegedly sought to prevent the framing of Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan's son, Aryan Khan, in the drugs-on-cruise case. Threats and Demand for Special Security "My wife Kranti Redkar and I are receiving threats for the last 4 days and obscene messages coming on social media. I will write to Mumbai Police Commissioner today about it and demand special security," Wankhede informed ANI, expressing concern over their safety. Wankhede's apprehensions highlight the escalating tensions surrounding the ongoing investigation. Continued Cooperation with the CBI Wankhede, who was questioned for the second consecutive day on Sunday, reiterated his full cooperation with the CBI. "I am fully cooperating with the CBI and will continue to do it. I answered whatever I was asked by CBI," he assured ANI. Allegations of Bribery and Disproportionate Assets The CBI's decision to book Wankhede stems from the accusation that he demanded an exorbitant bribe of Rs 25 crore. The agency further revealed that the alleged deal was settled for Rs 18 crore, raising concerns about the source of Wankhede's income. According to the CBI, Wankhede's assets appear disproportionate to his known sources of income, prompting suspicion and investigation into possible misconduct. Violation of Conduct Rules Sources within the NCB have accused Wankhede of violating conduct rules by sharing conversations he had with actor Shah Rukh Khan regarding Aryan Khan's arrest. The NCB sources expressed their bewilderment, questioning how an investigating officer could engage in such discussions with the family of the accused. They noted that Wankhede failed to inform his superiors or document these chats, even during the vigilance team's investigation into his alleged misconduct. Additionally, Wankhede allegedly withheld the phone used for communication with Shah Rukh Khan, further raising suspicions surrounding his conduct. (With ANI inputs) Southern Province places contract for two new lines at Jazan 22 May 2023 Saudi Arabia-based Southern Province Cement Co has placed an order with Sinoma International Engineering Co for two new 5000tpd production lines at its Jazan cement plant. Line 3 will go under construction first and is due for completion within 18 months. Infrastructure for a second 5000tpd line (Line 4) is also being put in place, with that line expected to complete within 24 months. The US$330m project is being entirely funded by a local bank, reports Mist News. The Jazan plant currently has a 2.49Mta cement capacity and 1.84Mta clinker capacity. The company also runs the 5Mta Tahamah works in Makkah, and the 3Mta Bisha plant. In January 2023 SICO Bank predicted cement demand in Saudi Arabia to remain flat in 2023, having declined by an estimated one per cent YoY in the previous year. Five per cent growth was forecast for 2024, driven by improving construction activity in the tourism sector and the hosting of international events, including the 2029 Asian Winter Games. Saudi Arabia ia also among the front runners to host the World Expo 2030 but the organisers have reportedly been urged to drop the country from the shortlist of potential hosts due to the kingdoms human rights record. Published under Chino, CA (91710) Today Mostly clear this evening then becoming cloudy after midnight. Low 56F. Winds W at 10 to 15 mph.. Tonight Mostly clear this evening then becoming cloudy after midnight. Low 56F. Winds W at 10 to 15 mph. Brazilian Ambassador to Korea Marcia Donner Abreu, front row ninth from left, and Brazilian aerospace company Embraer's Chief Commercial Officer Martyn Holmes, front row eight from left, hold a placard with North Gyeongsang Province officials to commemorate the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the province and Embraer at Pohang Gyeongju Airport in Pohang, North Gyeongsang Province, May 15. Yonhap By Kwon Mee-yoo Brazilian aircraft manufacturer Embraer performed a demonstration flight between Seoul and the southeastern port city of Pohang and then over to Ulleung Island, May 15, to show the capability of the mid-sized E190-E2 passenger plane. On board were around 80 guests, including Brazilian Ambassador to Korea Marcia Donner Abreu, Embraer Chief Commercial Officer Martyn Holmes and North Gyeongsang Province Governor Lee Cheol-woo. Donner wrote about the demo flight which brought them "from Pohang to Ulleung Island, where a new airport will be in operation in 2025," welcoming the new initiative between the two countries on her Twitter. The Brazilian aircraft maker specializes in the development and production of mid-sized aircraft and the E190-E2 showcased its capabilities in Korea, executing a simulated landing on a runway just 1,066 meters in length at Pohang Gyeongju Airport and circling over Ulleung Island. The performance was part of the Embraer's strategy to enter the Korean market, with a particular focus on Ulleung Airport, which is currently under construction. Scheduled for completion by 2025 and operational by 2026, the airport, built on reclaimed land, will feature a 1,200-meter runway, suited for the E190-E2. Brazilian Ambassador to Korea Marcia Donner Abreu, first from left, speaks with Brazilian plane maker Embraer's Chief Commercial Officer Martyn Holmes during a memorandum of understanding (MOU) signing ceremony at Pohang Gyeongju Airport in Pohang, North Gyeongsang Province, May 15. Yonhap Members of the delegation from the European Parliament's Subcommittee on Security and Defence (SEDE) pose with Korea's Defense Minister Lee Jong-sup, front row third from right, during their visit to Seoul, in this Dec. 19, 2022 file photo. Yonhap Korea will send an economic delegation to Estonia, Lithuania and Finland this week to explore ways to boost cooperation on trade and various new industry fields, such as battery, bio and nuclear power generation, with the respective nations, the industry ministry said Monday. The delegation, led by Deputy Trade Minister Jeong Dae-jin, was to visit Estonia on Monday and have talks with ranking officials there on how to enhance bilateral trade and the industry relationship, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. It involves officials from SK, Celltrion, Korea Hydro Nuclear Power and Hanwha Aerospace. The delegation is scheduled to hold a business roundtable with major companies there and sign a memorandum of understanding with the Estonian government that calls for promoting bilateral investment. On Tuesday, the delegation will visit Lithuania for discussions with senior government officials, including Vice Economic Minister Karolis Zemaitis, on ways to further the bilateral economic relationship centering on trade, supply chains, and technology development, the ministry said. In Finland, Korea will hold a ceremony to mark the opening of an office to be tasked with evaluating electric vehicle batteries for the European market, which is expected to support Korean carmakers and secondary battery firms for stronger market presence in Europe. A business roundtable is also scheduled to take place in Finland, where Korean and Finnish companies will seek business chances in bio, battery and a wide range of businesses, the ministry said. (Yonhap) From the start of the voyage there were arguments aboard the ship about slavery that became progressively more heated as the days passed by. I read an editorial in a Chattanooga newspaper written by GianCarlo Canaparo of the Heritage Foundation. Mr. Canaparo recounts an 1845 voyage across the Atlantic by Mr. Frederick Douglass and others. Mr. Douglas, who had freed himself from slavery and self educated at risk of severe punishment and death, had become a publisher, orator, and author of some renown in the anti-slavery movement of his day. He had written a book about his life as an American slave and was traveling to the British Islands to speak to audiences about his book. Mr. Douglas recounted arguments between slavery supporters and anti-slavery proponents at various locations on the ship. The anti-slavery arguments were winning the day. It was a great time for antislavery and a hard time for slavery - the one delighting in the sunshine of free discussion, and the other horror stricken at its God-like approach. (F. Douglass). Defenders of slavery became enraged when they couldnt win the debate. They were convinced that reason, morality, common honesty, humanity, and Christianity, were all against them . And so, they abandoned their post in debate, and resorted to their old and natural mode of defending their morality by brute force. A slavery advocacy mob then began shouting down further anti-slavery speech. Moreover, this mob physically threatened Mr. Douglas when he attempted to speak at the request of the ships captain. The proslavery mob was so vocal and disruptive to the point of rioting on the ship that Mr. Douglas was kept from making his speech. Reading the account of this voyage in 1845 brought to my mind the racism-based fury that is loudly proclaimed by anti-critical race theory advocates today. My father often told me there is nothing new under the sun. Certainly that adage applies to dealing with racism in the United States. Rather than allow education and discussion about the history of racism in this country, a very vocal right wing segment of our population advocates, and is often successful in implementing, laws disallowing such education and discussion. They present arguments that learning about our history of deplorable adherence to racist ideologies creates divisiveness and feelings of discomfort amongst their children. This is exactly the tactic used in 1845 aboard a steam ship transiting the Atlantic carrying Mr. Frederick Douglass. Do not honestly address the situation, do not even speak of the situation. We will not allow any speech against our long held prejudices. Now, in the first quarter of the 21st century, this mob is vocal enough in some parts of our country to get laws passed making it illegal to tell the story of racism in America to our children. My father was absolutely right, there is nothing new under the sun. But as well, hope springs eternal. Robert Landry, M.D. * * * The mobs shouting down campus speakers are overwhelmingly leftist. The narrative that's been protected by tech company censorship is overwhelmingly leftist. Critical Theory is merely an extension of Marxist onanism - an attempt by 20th century academics from the Frankfurt School to explain why The Revolution never occurred in the West, and to expand conflict beyond class - to race, gender, and the like - in hopes of convincing enough people that they're oppressed that they finally get their revolution. And, using the legislative process to create law is the pretty much the opposite of the heckler's veto Douglass experienced from those he called "mobocrats." Kevin Hargis * * * Spare us your sanctimony, Mr. Landry, and your twisting of facts regarding Critical Race Theory. It is not about teaching students the history of slavery or racism in America, but rather a means to create further racial division in our current society by defining some citizens as oppressors and some as oppressed using race as the primary factor. In case you didn't realize it, CRT has its roots in Critical Theory which is derived from a Marxist-inspired philosophy. Tennessee law, which bans CRT and similar propaganda, does allow schools to teach about racism and slavery in America in a historical context. As such, hopefully, students will learn that the Democrat Party has been the party of slavery and racism throughout history. Jim Crow laws were schemes invented by Democrats and the Ku Klux Klan members were proud Democrats such as Robert Byrd, Democrat senator of West Virginia who our current President extravagantly praised at Byrd's funeral in 2010. CRT is a blatantly racist philosophy of the far left, so not much has changed. By the way, Frederick Douglass was a Republican and I am sure he would have agreed with Dr. King's desire for all of us to be judged by the content of our character, not the color of our skin. CRT takes this concept and turns it on its head. There are good reasons for preventing CRT from being taught to impressionable students, but teaching the history of slavery and racism are not part of it. History, regardless if it tells of past successes or failures of America, deserves to be taught, but indoctrination and Marxist propaganda do not. James Nelson An enthusiastic media spokesperson for a foreign development firm recently proudly predicted that the Gig City was going to become the equal of the three above municipalities in Tennessee, Georgia, and Texas. Her prophetic prediction may become true but unfortunately the potential equalization also comes in the area of Crime . On March 27, 2023 the Music City became the location of the tragic murder of five individuals killed at a private school. On May 2, 2023 in the capitol of the Peach State one person was killed and four were injured by gunfire. The history of the capital of the Longhorn State is still stained by the multiple killings of students shot from the bell tower by the barricaded gunman on campus, serial killer Charles Whitman. Austin has also recently had problems with its sewage system like the Scenic City which is still under the jurisdiction of the federal district court in 2012 for several hundred millions of dollars of debt to replace the neglected maintenance and facilities. Since Friday April 28, 2023 through Wednesday, May 3, 2023 a daily shooting or murder has taken place in the Dynamo of Dixie. Prior statistics speak for themselves! The last event occurred before the apprehended shooter had unsuccessfully fired at a Chattanooga police officer. Glossy and inflated news releases by authorities and the media in the Best categories distort the truth of the crime situation in our city while lauding the receipt of more local, state, and federal grant money to increase the $31.5 trillion national debt. Hamilton County citizens can stand the truth! Just give it to them. * * * You can reach Jerry Summers at jsummers@summersfirm.com Senior diplomats of South Korea and the United States held consultations on North Korea's weapons of mass destruction (WMD) development and the country's human rights conditions, Seoul's foreign ministry said Monday. Chun Young-hee, head of the ministry's Korean Peninsula Peace Regime Bureau, met with Jung Pak, U.S. deputy assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs, last Friday in Washington and exchanged views on developments surrounding the North, and Seoul-Washington's cooperation in dealing with Pyongyang. During the meeting, Chun expressed regret over the North's depletion of scarce resources for the development of WMDs, stressing that such a situation ends up negatively affecting the human rights conditions of the average people in the country. Chun also held separate meetings with David Maxwell, vice president of the Center for Asia Pacific Strategy, and Greg Scarlatoiu, executive director of the Committee for Human Rights in North Korea, in Washington, the ministry added. (Yonhap) Although Scott Flaherty has an associate degree and a bachelors degree, he had never participated in a graduation ceremony until Friday, May 5 at Cleveland State. Mr. Flaherty wanted to graduate with his daughter, Heather. This father and daughter duo started together at Cleveland State in fall 2021 and graduated together last week. Ms. Flaherty earned an associate degree in pre-health, and Mr. Flaherty earned a certificate in manufacturing essentials.Ms. Flaherty graduated from Cleveland High School in 2021.A Tennessee Promise student, she hopes to be a physicians assistant one day. Mr. Flaherty retired in 2021 and decided to return to college.Originally from Michigan, Mr. Flaherty served in the United States Air Force for five and a half years in Texas, Alaska and New Mexico. After the service, he earned an associate of science and math from Schoolcraft College and a bachelor of science in biology from Eastern Michigan University.I have been enjoying my retirement and the Cleveland State campus, said Mr. Flaherty. Ive met a lot of good people here - students, faculty and staff. This is a beautiful campus and a great location with paths in the woods. I did a lot of walking here almost four miles before the end of the day.Art has been a pastime for Mr. Flaherty; he enjoyed taking art history, 3D design, ceramics and other art classes. He participates in Cleveland Creative, a local group that meets at the Museum Center to relax and create art.When asked why he chose Cleveland State, Mr. Flaherty said, I am a big supporter of community colleges. I think they are one of the greatest things that this nation created. They are an equalizer. As long as you have a GED or high school diploma, you can go to a community college and get a good start in life.Ms. Flaherty plans to apply to Middle Tennessee State University in 2024 to pursue a health profession, after taking a gap year to gain work experience. Mr. Flaherty plans to continue studying art and enjoying his retirement. Marie Annaratone Woodard, 92, was born on May 21, 1930, lived 90 years in Memphis, Tennessee, and died on Tuesday, May 16, in Chattanooga, Tennessee, surrounded by her family. Marie was a longtime parishioner of St. Michael's and grew up in St. Anne Catholic Church where she also attended grammar school and graduated from Sacred Heart High School. She worked as a bookkeeper at J B Cook and later Motor Parts South both automotive parts service or supply businesses. Marie "Memaw" was preceded in death by her parents, Louie Jake and Mary Annaratone; her brothers, Louis James Annaratone, Jr. and Edward Annaratone; her sisters-in-law, Helen Annaratone and Rita Annaratone; nephew Louis Annaratone III; her sister Rose Ann, and her beloved husband Neal Woodard. She is survived by her brother, Thomas Annaratone of Charlestown, Massachusetts, her son David Woodard and daughter-in-law Elizabeth Wofford Woodard of Ooltewah, Tennessee. She is also survived by grandchildren Angela Dunn (Matt) of Tigard, Oregon; Patrick Woodard (Lisa) of Ooltewah, Tennessee; and Alex Woodard (Mandy) of Gurley, Alabama; and great-granddaughter Emory Anne Woodard of Ooltewah, Tennessee along with cousins and extended family in Memphis that have provided constant love, prayers, and friendship. Marie thrived on conversation and kept up faithfully with friends and loved ones, and you always could depend on Marie in a crisis. Often, she solved problems you didnt realize you had! She was a skilled caregiver and advocate to family and friends in their time of need. Her selfless care of her sister through decades of mental and physical health difficulties is a model of service to others. Memaw had an incredible memory, was larger than life, and was a charismatic force to be reckoned with all characteristics she instilled in her cherished grandchildren who will always remember her as their fun-loving, spitfire, full-of-pizzazz Memaw and will hold those memories close. Her relentless inquisitive nature could not be satisfied until there was nothing left to ponder. She used her "Johnny Carson" gift of gab skills to comfortably speak with anyone from any background; she enjoyed debate, and injected and appreciated humor into any situation, leaving a lasting impression that was rarely forgotten. Friends and family are invited for visitation on Thursday, May 25, at Memphis Funeral Home, 5599 Poplar Avenue, Memphis, from 5-7 p.m. with rosary prayers beginning at 7 p.m. On Friday, May 26, at 10:15 a.m. visitation will be held at St. Anne Catholic Church on Highland Avenue in Memphis followed by a funeral mass celebration at 11 a.m. Burial will follow at Calvary Cemetery in Memphis. Online expressions of condolences may be provided through www.ChattanoogaEastChapel.com or donations suggested to your local food bank or St. Jude Childrens Research Hospital. Local arrangements are by Chattanooga Funeral Home, East Chapel, 404 South Moore Road, East Ridge, Tn. Previous Next This summer, the remarkable life and contributions of Horace Brazelton (1877 1956) are the subject of a public exhibit titled, Through the Lens: The Life and Legacy of Horace Brazelton. Curated by historian Stefanie Haire, the exhibit, hosted by Ruby Falls, shares the groundbreaking career and empowering community leadership of Brazelton. Exhibit admission is free and open to the public June 7 Sept. 15 at Ruby Falls in the circa 1929 castle. Ruby Falls tickets are not required to visit the exhibit. The exhibition is open from 8 a.m. 8 p.m. As the first African American to open a professional photography studio in Chattanooga, Horace Brazeltons prolific career photographing middle-class Black communities across the region spanned the first half of the 20th century, 1904 to 1956. His camera lens captured countless portraits of Black families and individuals, as well as Black church, professional and civic groups, at a time when access to photography was limited, and mass media frequently portrayed African Americans unfavorably and inaccurately. The exhibit features Brazeltons artistic merits as a nationally recognized, award-winning portrait photographer whose work embodied the humanity of the people he depicted, as well as his considerable endeavors as a community leader. During the era of Jim Crow laws in the South, Brazelton supported and invested in Black Chattanoogans. As a proponent of civic responsibility, Brazelton facilitated voter registration drives and voter participation, encouraged property ownership to support community stability, established Black history remembrances, and championed small business development and economic growth in the Black business district located on East 9th Street, now called Martin Luther King Boulevard, and in the surrounding area. Drawing on several years of extensive research, historian and exhibit curator Stefanie Haire presents the exhibition that examines the roots of Brazeltons legacy through his portrait photography and community contributions. Her ongoing research has been in partnership with the Center for Historic Preservation at Middle Tennessee State University and Picnooga (Chattanooga Historical Society), with contributions by Bessie Smith Cultural Center, the Library of Congress, the African American Cemetery Preservation Fund, Presbyterian Historical Society, Waldens Ridge Civic League, Dr. Earnestine Jenkins, River City Company, Emory University, the Chattanooga Public Library, and the Southeast Tennessee Development District. These photos capture more than just simple moments in time, but rather represent hundreds of lives who helped build Chattanooga, and the memory of their legacies, said Stefanie Haire, historian and curator of the exhibit. She adds, the largest body of Mr. Brazeltons portraits remains in private family collections or are now difficult to locate. "Ruby Falls is honored to host this exhibit," said Hugh Morrow, Ruby Falls president and CEO. "Horace Brazelton was truly a talented artist, remarkable entrepreneur and committed community leader. We are delighted and humbled to share his story and contributions." At the 2023 International Christian Film and Music Festival held in Orlando, Fl., Sarah LeJeune was named Best Actress in a Feature Film for her work in Amazing Gracie. She was one of nine nominees selected by the ICFF nomination committee for Best Actress. Amazing Gracie was also nominated for Best Inspirational Film, Best Screenplay, and received a Best Supporting Actress nomination for ten-year-old Celina Acevedos portrayal of Gracie.Amazing Gracie is a faith-based comedy about Lucy, an irresponsible and self-absorbed young woman, who has her world turned upside down when she is granted custody of her precocious niece, Grace.The film will be released in the Summer of 2023. It is produced and directed by Micah Caronna with Living Word Studios (www.lwfc.org). In addition to playing the lead character, Ms. LeJeune also wrote the screenplay and edited Amazing Gracie. To view the films trailer, check out the films webpage at www.AmazingGracieMovie.com.About Sarah LeJeune: Sarah is an actress, casting director, video editor and screenwriter. She wears many hats and loves storytelling in all its forms. Sarah has been acting since she was in elementary school.Born in Orange County, Ca., She and her family moved to the Nashville area where she began to act in school plays and with local theater companies, including Pull-Tight Players, Springhouse Theatre, The Renaissance Players and Nashvilles Shakespeare in the Park. She has a dual degree in media technology and theatre performance from Austin Peay State University and a certificate in acting for the camera from UCLA. www.sarahlejeune.com.She is creative director of the local ministry, Project Brickworks (www.projectbrickworks.org). She also co-hosts the video podcast, The Collaboration Conversation. She is represented by Jean Wenger with Treasure Coast Talent (www.treasurecoasttalent.com). Road construction will not delay motorists as they travel Tennessee's highways this Memorial Day weekend. The Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT) will suspend all construction-related lane closures on interstates and state routes beginning at noon on Friday, through 6 a.m. on Tuesday, May 30. This will provide maximum roadway capacity for motorists expected to travel in the state this Memorial Day weekend. "Suspending construction-related lane closures during the Memorial Day weekend will lessen congestion and delays on Tennessee's major highways," said Commissioner Butch Eley. "We want to do our part to help everyone have an enjoyable and safe holiday weekend and keep traffic flowing as smoothly and efficiently as possible." Motorists may still encounter some lane closures or restrictions while traveling through long-term construction projects. In addition, drivers should know that reduced speed limits will be in effect in work zones. Drivers convicted of speeding through work zones where workers are present face a fine of up to $500, plus court fees and possible increased insurance premiums. AAA predicts 751,000 Tennesseans will hit the road for Memorial Day weekend. Thats 40,500 more than last year during the long holiday travel period. From your desktop or mobile device, get the latest construction activity and live streaming SmartWay traffic cameras at www.TNSmartWay.com/Traffic. Travelers can also call 511 for travel information. As always, drivers are reminded to use all motorist information tools wisely and Know Before You Go! by checking travel conditions before leaving for their destination. Drivers should never tweet, text, or talk on a cell phone while behind the wheel. Brother and the Hayes will be playing in Chattanooga on Thursday, June 1, at The Woodshop Listening Room. Review for Brother and the Hayes: Take a sensory trip down to the Texas Hill Country with this nostalgic folk-country single from Brother and The Hayes. Spanish guitar, accordion, and an easy bossa nova groove pairs perfectly with the low light of the afternoon, a breeze from the south, and good friends. "I wrote it back behind the house sitting in the sun after I got paid one day," said David Bingaman. "It expresses a feeling of relaxation and peacefulness, where the only thing youre worried about is if you want one lime or two in your drink. A symbolic shoes off moment after a long couple weeks of work and stress. The structure is different from any other song Ive written, the chorus essentially starts out the song and the verses are more of a refrain back into the hook." Brother and The Hayes is a Tennessee based, Texas born Americana-roots band led by siblings Jennie Hayes Kurtz and David Bingaman. They combine thoughtful lyrics with infectious grooves, pulling from an assortment of blues, bluegrass, and country and western influences. The duo has released four studio projects since 2017 and their latest release, Another Strange Time, is turning heads. The writing remains poetic yet approachable while the memorable hooks are catching listeners in a new way. Along with the haunting, earworm single, Something to Find, the EP includes songs written during the 2020 Covid-19 shutdown, a song Jennie Hayes wrote for David when she feared the band might break up, and a song David wrote about a diner waitress in LaFayette, La. For more information, visit www.brotherandthehayes.com. 5.3 million. Thats the estimated number of illegal immigrants who have been apprehended at the southern border since Joe Biden took office. Another 1.5 million so-called gotaways have evaded Border Patrol agents and entered the country without being caught. An Afghan national and a Pakistani national, both on the FBI Terrorism Watch List, were caught trying to enter the U.S. last week. Just days ago, a group of 30 Chinese nationals were caught having crossed the border illegally in the Rio Grande Valley. In New York, homeless veterans were kicked out of a hotel in order to make way for illegal immigrants. This is the reality of the Biden border crisis. Bidens goal throughout his presidency has been to make illegal immigration legal. Two days before Title 42 was lifted, Border Patrol saw a record 11,000 illegal immigrants cross the border in a single day. There has been a lull in border crossings since Title 42 expired, but there is a good reason for this. Because of the Biden administrations incompetence, the Texas National Guard and the Texas Department of Public Safety have been assisting Border Patrol in apprehending migrants and intercepting drug smugglers; Mexico has launched its own efforts to prevent migrants from reaching our southern border. Now, Florida is sending support to Texas to help do the job that the Biden administration refuses to do. For its part, the Biden administration has been processing migrants in Latin American countries, allegedly to curb the number of migrants arriving at the border. In reality, this is Bidens way of discreetly fast-tracking the number of illegal immigrants entering the U.S. Moreover, tens of thousands of migrants are using Customs and Border Protections One mobile app, which allows migrants to schedule appointments with DHS officials at the border. The problem? Theyre doing this knowing there is a 99 percent chance they will be released into the U.S. Instead of making it easier for migrants to enter the U.S., why wouldnt the nations top law enforcement officers focus on enforcing the law and securing the border? They refuse to answer that question. Democrats are prioritizing illegal immigrants over the health and safety of every U.S. citizeneven our kids. Nothing has made this more clear than the recent meltdown in New York, where illegal immigrants are being housed in school gyms and playgrounds. Children deserve better than to go to school alongside this potential security threat. Parents cannot feel their children are in a safe environment when they send them to school next to a gym that houses illegal immigrants, many of whom could be single men who have not been vetted. Amid an obesity epidemic among our youngsters, kids will be unable to go to recess for the sake of providing housing to illegal immigrants. Every state has become a border state under the Biden administration. As a result of the surge in illegal immigration, Texas has been busing migrants to Democrat-run sanctuary cities such as New York, Chicago, and Philadelphia. Former Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot previously complained that the city is overwhelmed by the busing, as has New York City Mayor Eric Adams who also alleged the busing was racist. This just goes to show you that despite their support for open borders, Democratic cities cant even handle a fraction of the migrant influx impacting border communities. Texas has correctly responded to this disaster by busing illegal immigrants to Kamala Harris doorstep in Washington, D.C. This mess is the Biden administrations own making, and they should have to see the consequences of their open border policies with their own eyes. Its time we secure the border and protect the American people. Americans should come first, not illegal immigrants. Those who are here illegally should be deported, not welcomed with open arms, and they certainly should not displace or disrupt veterans and school children. Bidens policies are creating a borderless country, and a country without borders is no country at all. * * * During eras of severe conditions of war or worldwide economic depression, stories too unbelievable to imagine emerge. Judicial Watch, a foundation that contends for accountability and integrity in law, politics and government is reporting some very disturbing facts. HHS is spending billions of dollars to annually house, medically treat, educate and even entertain unaccompanied minors-in 2021, 121, 731, in 2022, 149,000 and so as of May 2, 2023, a total of 8,492. Almost three-fourths are male. Until foster families are secured, taxpayers pay for care which has to, of course, be sensitive to all the numerous progressive boxes now applicable and future ones yet to be imagined. There appears to be no end to the flood of humanity pouring across the border as Biden just sits and grins at reporters questions. The untold cost to this nation and the response of his incompetent administration is unbelievable in any era. Thank you, Senator Blackburn, for keeping the focus where it should be. Ralph Miller Chattanooga Metropolitan Airport Authority President and CEO Terry Hart bid farewell to the board of directors Monday, announcing his retirement in mid-August. April Cameron, vice president of finance and administration, will replace him effective Aug. 1. Ellis Smith, city of Chattanooga director of special projects, said Mr. Hart leaves the legacy of a builder who makes intelligent bets, such as with the pandemic-era parking deck and expanded commercial aviation, but that he has also built the airports firm foundation with moral dealings. This guy is extraordinary, said board member Dr. Paul Conn. The best leadership sometimes is quiet leadership. During his 16-year tenure Mr. Hart installed many new facets into the airports offerings. He brought United Airlines to Chattanooga in 2016 and pushed ahead with a $24 million deal to build a new parking garage after signing the contract two weeks before the pandemic began. The airport bought out general aviation competitor TAC Air and built up the general aviation facility now managed by Wilson Air. General aviation now provides half of the airports revenue, it was stated. Under Mr. Harts leadership the airport built a 2.8 megawatt solar array that once covered all but still offsets most of the airports electric costs. In the next year West Star Aviation is poised to complete its fifth hangar, which will employ 100 more people, bringing its total number of employees to 375. The airports $28 million terminal expansion, the first since a 1992 renovation, is set to be complete in summer 2024. It adds three gates, new restrooms and a restaurant, and updates and expands the TSA checkpoint. Mr. Hart has 43 years in the airport industry. Ms. Cameron has worked at the Chattanooga airport for 25 years. There is no true success without a great successor, Dr. Conn said. We think we have that. Shes been a key part of a winning team, Dr. Conn said. The board approved her appointment without dissent, said chairman Jim Hall. April has been with Terry every step of the way, he said. Luann de Lesseps and Sonja Morgan from The Real Housewives of New York City embark upon an adventure that shakes out to be an HGTV series that meets The Simple Life. Bravo has teased the series for months, where two of the zaniest RHONY cast members join forces to reinvigorate the small town of Benton, Illinois, population 7,000. Benton was hit especially hard during the pandemic, so de Lesseps and Morgan are tasked with using their star power to bring Benton back to life. Luann de Lesseps and Sonja Morgan arent in Manhattan anymore The Benton City Council surprises the town residents by inviting stars to revive the town. The community seems skeptical as de Lesseps and Morgan land in Benton and the mayor puts the Housewives immediately to work. Sonja Morgan, Luann de Lesseps | Heidi Gutman/Bravo via Getty Images Morgan and de Lesseps arrive in the town during the middle of summer to which de Lesseps says in the trailer, Oh my God, were gonna sweat like whore in church here. Morgan hits all the notes when she exclaims, Who do I have to f***in this town to get a car? The next stop is to check into a motel that is a far cry from the Four Seasons. They immediately get to work on disinfecting the room, armed with bed bug spray. Im not gonna blurt out WTF because thats what Im thinking, Morgan jokes. The RHONY stars partake in Testicle Festival Luckily Morgan and de Lesseps wont be spending much time lounging in their motel room because the mayor has a long list of projects he wants to accomplish during their visit. This includes building a new playground and revitalizing the local theater with a full-on variety show. @bravotv This small town needs a straw (or two) to stir the drink! Luann and Sonja: Welcome to CrappieLake premieres July 9th! original sound Bravo The community is clearly getting a kick out of seeing the New Yorkers navigate their jobs like fish out of water. I think theyre gonna be clueless on what it takes to build a playground, a Benton man says. But thats not it, Morgan and de Lesseps get to partake and enjoy the local Testicle Festival. Not only do they witness it, de Lesseps samples some of the fare. She jokes that she might have testicle breath after the event. Sonja Morgan and Luann de Lesseps pull out all the stops to revive the town Bravo teased that the dynamic duo will experience just about everything Benton has to offer. Luann and Sonja use their ingenuity to help improve the surroundings and rally the towns spirits. Whether searching for the famous crappie fish in the lake with their bare hands or going mudding with monster trucks, one thing is for certain with Luann and Sonja in charge and out of their element, hijinks and hilarity are sure to follow, according to a release. Morgan and de Lesseps surprise the town by inviting dancer /choreographer Paula Abdul to help them re-launch Benton. Do they pull off the revival in Benton and end up making friends? Find out what happens when Luann and Sonja: Welcome to Crappie Lake debuts with back-to-back half-hour episodes on Sunday, July 9 at 9 p.m. ET. Episodes will be available to stream next day on Peacock. Richard Spinrad, head of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), center-left, greets Yoo Hee-dong, head of the Korea Meteorological Administration, during a meeting between the two agencies at the U.S. Embassy in Seoul, Thursday. Courtesy of Korea Meteorological Administration By Ko Dong-hwan Heads of the top meteorological authorities in Korea and the United States have met in Seoul to discuss cooperation on the climate crisis. The meeting between Yoo Hee-dong, head of the Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA), and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Head Richard Spinrad took place, Thursday, at the U.S. Embassy in Seoul. The talks came a day before the 11th Joint Committee Meeting on Scientific and Technical Cooperation was held in Seoul. It was a ministerial-level meeting that saw 100 dignitaries from both sides, including the Korean ministries of science and ICT; foreign affairs; trade and industry and energy. The U.S. was represented by the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy; the Department of State and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The NOAA head shared with Yoo what the American agency has been doing about the climate crisis and its devastating consequences, such as rising sea levels, extreme heat and cold, food shortages, more frequent hurricanes and more. The KMA shared how it has been explaining to the country regarding the increasing severity of typhoons, lasting heat waves causing significant draught in southern Korea and seasonal monsoons that are expected within a few months this summer. "The Joint Committee Meeting has allowed the KMA to better understand what NOAA has been up to regarding the climate crisis as well as to cement the bilateral relationship," Yoo said. "The event reaffirmed our mission of producing reliable science-based weather reports and coming up with ways for government departments to use the information most effectively so as to realize the country's carbon neutralization policies." In 2005 the two agencies signed an agreement for cooperation in atmospheric science and technological fields. Since then, they have been working together on climate forecasting, climate change and maritime climate conditions. The term sugar daddy was first recorded in the 1920s but has grown especially popular on social media. Many people now openly disclose if they have a sugar daddy online despite the people who view this kind of relationship as taboo. While there is nothing wrong with having a sugar daddy more power to you this man became particularly upset when his family began spreading false rumors about his son online. The mans family believes that his son is only marrying his fiance because he is a sugar daddy. My son, who is twenty-six, has always been fond of older guys. He always dated men older than thirty-five just like his fiance, the man explained. His sons fiance, named Thomas, is a forty-six-year-old cardiothoracic surgeon. The man never saw an issue with their age difference. Instead, he admits to never seeing his son happier. The problem is my family, the man said, They never approved of him dating older guys, and it was a big faux-pas, in their eyes, that they met at the hospital. When the couple met, his son was a twenty-one-year-old medical student. Thomas had visited his sons university to deliver a guest lecture for medical residents. While the pair have never worked together or had a conflict of interest, the mans family still has not spoken to his son since 2018. Besides my widowed dad, the man clarified, He thinks that his family needs to get themselves together. Despite not speaking to his son, the family apparently watched from afar as Thomas spoiled his fiance. Still, this was all purely out of love. Sign up for Chip Chicks newsletter and get stories like this delivered straight to your inbox. The Eastern State Penitentiary in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, has long been known as one of the most haunted sites in America. It was opened in 1829 as the worlds first real penitentiary a prison designed to inspire penitence, or true regret, in the hearts of prisoners, according to the prisons website. And for over one hundred and forty years, the institution became renowned for dismal isolation, agonizing torture, disease, and murder. Notable inmates included Slick Willie Sutton and Al Capone, which along with the prisons frightening history earned the institution a reputation of being severely haunted. The inside of the penitentiary is now cold and desolate. But, the walls, floors, remaining steel beds, and general aura of the prison tell the story of years past. Back in the day, inmates would be forced to sit in their cells for twenty-three hours every single day leading many to insanity. Common criminal punishments also included ice baths where inmates would be dunked into freezing tubs before being hung on the wall and something known as the mad chair. Guards would bound inmates to the chair so tightly that it would cut off circulation. The practice of isolating prisoners stemmed from the idea that solitude might encourage positive inward reflection. Sign up for Chip Chicks newsletter and get stories like this delivered straight to your inbox. Nicholas Spencers latest book, Magisteria: The Entangled Histories of Science and Religion, opens and closes with references to Stephen Jay Goulds depiction of science and religion as nonoverlapping magisteria, or NOMA. By this, he meant that science is about the natural, religion the supernatural, and never the twain should meet. Each is magisterial, or authoritative, in its own domainbut not beyond it. Gould, a popular science writer and avowed secularist, advanced this concept in 1997, at the height of Americas latest public dustup over teaching so-called creation science and intelligent design. He thought NOMA could defuse the controversy while removing religion from science education. Neither side wholly bought NOMA then. On the one hand, proponents of secular scientism like Richard Dawkins, who want science enthroned as the arbiter of all truth in the modern mind, rejected the notion that religion is magisterial anywhere. On the other hand, theists such as the noted geneticist Francis Collins denied that religion was cordoned off from the natural worldotherwise, why would believers pray for physical (or even mental or emotional) health? Nor does Spencer, a senior fellow at Londons Theos think tank, buy NOMA now. In Magisteria, he argues from history that science and religion are (and have always been) deeply entangled. This is nothing new. Spencer begins his book by noting that, since the 1980s, historians have uncovered a complex relationship between science and religion, and he names ten leading scholars in this enterprise. (Full disclosure: Im listed as number six.) Spencer draws on this body of scholarship to compile a narrative history of science and religion since ancient times. His story mainly covers the Christian West but also touches on the Islamic world and the Asian context. Any sweeping history, especially one emphasizing entanglement, necessarily moves in fits and starts over time and space. Skipping vast periods and various places, the narrative focuses on discrete, well-known encounters between religion and individual scientists or persons involved with science (broadly defined so as to range from ancient natural philosophy to modern social sciences). Accordingly, the book unpacks such fabled episodes as Galileos persecution by the Catholic church, Thomas Huxleys debate on evolution with bishop Samuel Wilberforce, and the Scopes Monkey Trial. Among other subjects, Spencer tackles astrology, heliocentrism, physio-theology, the fossil record, phrenology, evolution, modern physics, Freudian psychology, Marxism, and sociobiology, concluding with the challenge to religion posed by artificial intelligence. Article continues below Embracing complexity, Spencer treats each encounter on its own terms. Conflict characterizes some, harmony others. NOMA-like separation emerges in Michael Faradays revolutionary work in electromagnetism, while labored accommodation drove the effort to fit ancient fossils into a day-age interpretation of Genesis. As Spencer depicts them, battles over authority spur some episodes, particularly where a literal reading of Scripture clashes with scientific findings, while parochial politics or personal pride enflame others. Nothing seems inevitable about any of the outcomes except that both science and religion survive and persevere. Befitting his role as a public commentator on religion in public life, Spencer strives (with mixed success) to find something about humanity and human morality underlying each encounter. Time and again, when it seemed as if people were arguing about the power of planets, the composition of the body, the order of the cosmos, the design of nature, the origin of life, the age of rocks or the development of species, they were really talking about the nature of the human beast, he claims. What (or who) is the human, and who (or what) gets to say? These two questions run through the histories of science and religion. Religion rightly refuses to defer to science on such questions, he maintains, and science cannot definitively answer them, because humans, uniquely of all creation, mix the natural and the supernatural. Spencer sees this tension driving the entanglement between science and religion. Both have something significant to say about humanity. Spencer warns against basing science on religion or religion on science. They dont work that way. In his view, Galileo had it about right when, in defending his heliocentric model of the solar system, he wrote that the role of religion is to teach us how one goes to heaven, not how the heavens go. Presuming that the first use of heaven means a supernatural abode and the second denotes the natural cosmos, then religion should illuminate the former and science the latter. Yet the history recounted in Magisteria shows that Galileos aphorism can be devilishly hard to apply in particular cases. Modern science has made the average human life longer and healthier, Spencer notes, but not (as in cases like phrenology and eugenics) always better. In some places, NOMA makes sense. But the human being is emphatically not one of them, he writes. Humans are both material creatures, which are measurable and explicable according to the methods of science, and spiritual ones, who talk about and aspire to things like meaning, significance, transcendence, purpose, eternity and love, which have always been the building blocks of a religious understanding of reality. Article continues below (Although Spencer does not quote him, Francis Collins made a similar point as director of the Human Genome Project. Science, he predicted in 2002, will certainly not shed any light on what it means to love someone, what it means to have a spiritual dimension to our existence, nor will it tell us much about the character of God.) Precisely because they overlap across the human, the potential for conflict between science and religion is always a live one, whether talking about algorithms in the twenty-first century or astrology in the fourth, Spencer concludes. And yet, if the long history of science and religion has anything to teach us, it is that this conflict is only potential, not inevitable. He hopes these entangled magisteria can work together, each in its proper sphere, to advance the commonweal. Although his accounting of the past offers no assurances about the future, it does portend that science and religion will remain entangled on matters important to humanity. Edward J. Larson is a historian and legal scholar teaching at Pepperdine University. He is the author of Summer for the Gods: The Scopes Trial and Americas Continuing Debate over Science and Religion. Have something to add about this? See something we missed? Share your feedback here. More pastors are encouraging members to adopt and provide foster care at a time when adoptions have declined in the US. A Lifeway Research study found more than 2 in 5 US Protestant churchgoers (44%) say their congregation and its leaders are proactively involved with adoption and foster care in at least one of seven ways. A similar percentage (45%) say they havent seen other churchgoers or leaders provide any of the specific types of care or support, while 11 percent arent sure. Caring for the fatherless is repeatedly prioritized throughout Scripture, said Scott McConnell, executive director Lifeway Research. But the Bible does not pretend caring for another like your own child is convenient or easy. Personally involved More than 1 in 10 churchgoers say someone in their congregation has provided foster care (16%), adopted a child from the US (13%) or adopted a child from another country (11%) within the last year. Compared to five years ago, fewer churchgoers say theyve seen members of their church actively participate in adoption and foster care. In a 2017 Lifeway Research study, 25 percent of US Protestant churchgoers said a church member provided foster care, 17 percent said someone adopted domestically and 15 percent said a member adopted internationally in the past year. Image: Lifeway Research Adoptions and the prevalence of foster care have fallen among all Americans in recent years. The number of US children in foster care dropped from 436,556 with 124,004 waiting to be adopted in 2017 to 391,098 with 113,589 waiting to be adopted in 2021, according to a report from the Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System. Adoptions, both domestically and internationally, have declined as well. Some experts have speculated, however, that the overturning of Roe v. Wade will result in increased strain on the foster care system and additional children in need of adoption. In a Lifeway Research study conducted just prior to the Supreme Courts decision on abortion rights, around 3 in 4 Americans (74%) said churches and religious organizations in states that restrict access to abortion have a responsibility to increase support and provide options for women who have unwanted pregnancies. It is likely the pandemic limited some families in considering foster care or adoption, said McConnell. But the need is still great in the US and could grow larger in states with abortion restrictions. Image: Lifeway Research Churchgoers in the parenting age range are often more likely to say theyve seen someone in their church step up in these areas in the past year. Those 18-34 (19%) and 35-49 (22%) are more likely than those 65 and older (10%) to say someone in their congregation has provided foster care. Churchgoers 35-49 (16%) are twice as likely as those 50-64 (8%) and 65 and older (9%) to say someone at their church adopted internationally, while those 18-34 (19%) and 35-49 (20%) are twice as likely as those 50-64 (10%) and 65 and older (8%) to have seen a domestic adoption in their church within the last year. Nondenominational churchgoers (22%) are among the most likely to have seen foster care in their churches. Methodists are among the most likely to say a fellow church member has adopted either internationally (18%) or domestically (31%). Raising awareness Despite the decrease in churchgoers seeing members actively participate, many say within the last year theyve heard leaders broach the subject and seek to support the issue in other ways. Around 1 in 6 say their church leaders have raised funds for families who were adopting (18%), encouraged families to provide foster care (17%) or encouraged families to consider adoption (16%). Additionally, 10% say their church leaders have provided training for foster parents in the last year. Churchgoers are more likely now to say theyve seen leaders help in these ways compared to 2017. Five years ago, 12 percent of churchgoers said leaders encouraged members to provide foster care, 8 percent saw leaders raise funds for families who were adopting and 6 percent said leaders provided training for foster parents. While some forms of encouragement have become more common in churches in the last five years, 4 in 5 churchgoers have not seen or heard each of these forms of help or encouragement, said McConnell. Image: Lifeway Research Again, proximity to parenting age increases the likelihood of someone having seen leaders encourage members in these ways. Churchgoers under 50 are more likely than those 50 and older to say theyve seen leaders raise funds, encourage providing foster care and encourage adoption. Those 65 and older (4%) are the least likely to say theyve seen leaders at their church provide foster care training. Methodists are among the most active in providing assistance and encouragement. Theyre among the most likely to say theyve seen leaders raise funds for adoption in the past year (42%) and the most likely to say their leaders have encouraged churchgoers to consider adoption (48%) and provide foster care (41%). Lacking assistance Comparable to 2017, 45 percent of US Protestant churchgoers say their church hasnt helped in any of these ways in the past year. Not every exhortation from pastors and church leaders is heard or understood by laity, but only a minority of churchgoers recognized encouragement for families to adopt or provide foster care this last year, said McConnell. Churchgoers 65 and older (59%) are the most likely to say they havent seen their church provide any of the assistance or support asked about in the study. Females (49%) are more likely than males (39%) to select none of these. Denominationally, Presbyterian/Reformed (60%), Lutheran (55%) and Baptist (50%) churchgoers are more likely than Restorationist movement (26%) and Methodist churchgoers (20%) to say they their churches havent helped in these ways. By Kwon Mee-yoo As international relations evolve and global economies transform, Korea is forging increasingly deeper ties with Vietnam, which last year became Korea's third-largest trading partner. Vietnam, officially known as the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, has emerged as one of Asia's most dynamic economies in recent years, showcasing exceptional growth and stability, even in the face of global uncertainties. Located on the eastern edge of the Indochinese Peninsula. Vietnam is home to a diverse population of over 100 million people as of April 2023, making it the 15th most populous country in the world. Christian teens charged with blasphemy in Pakistan, could face death penalty LAHORE, Pakistan Babar Sandhu Masih was resting after lunch last Thursday afternoon when he heard a commotion outside his house in the Qurban Lines neighborhood of Lahore, Pakistan. Masih went outside to find his neighbor, policeman Zahid Sohail, beating his son and another Christian boy. His son Adil, 18, and 14-year-old Simon Nadeem Masih, who lives nearby, had been engaged in light-hearted banter when Sohail accused them of committing blasphemy, he said. Sohail initially alleged that he was walking past the two boys when he overheard them disrespecting prophet Muhammad and then laughing over it, Masih said. He started beating Simon, and when Adil tried to save him, Sohail attacked him too. Masih, a Catholic who paints cars at a local auto workshop, said neighbors soon gathered, and Sohail repeated his accusations. Both boys flatly denied Sohails allegation and said they had said nothing that involved a mention of the Muslim prophet, Masih told Morning Star News. When local elders of the neighborhood asked Sohail to substantiate his accusation, he failed to satisfy them and left. The father of four children, Adil being the youngest, said that Race Course police station officers raided his house later that evening and arrested Adil. They also took Simon into custody, saying that Sohail had registered a case against the two under blasphemy statutes. We were shocked to learn the contents of the First Information Report [FIR] in which Sohail alleged that Simon had called a puppy Muhammad Ali, and both boys then joked about it, Masih said. They were charged with blaspheming Muhammad under Section 295-C of Pakistans blasphemy statutes, which calls for the death penalty. Muhammad Ali is a common name in Pakistan, the first name attributed to Islams prophet and the last to Hazrat Ali, Muhammads son-in-law and the fourth caliph. Masih said the allegation was completely baseless, as Sohail had made no mention of a puppy when he first raised the issue. No one in our street has dogs, and neither was there a puppy in the street when this incident took place, he said. Sohail cooked up a false accusation against our children after failing to convince the locals about his earlier allegation. Masih said that his wife was a heart patient and also has suffered two strokes. She doesnt know yet that Adil has been arrested on such a serious charge, and I dont know how long Ill be able to withhold this news from her, he said on Thursday. Shell be devastated. Adil left school a few years ago and was training with him to become a car painter, he said. I was able to meet Adil briefly on Friday, when police brought him to the court for obtaining the boys judicial remand, Masih told Morning Star News. Both boys were in a state of shock and fear and are still unable to understand why Sohail had gotten them arrested. At least 500 Christian families live in the Qurban Lines neighborhood, and there had been no religious tension in the area in years, he said. Sohail does not have a good reputation in the locality, which is why many locals did not take his allegation seriously, Masih said. Our Muslim neighbors have known us for years, and they know we would never indulge in anything that could hurt their religious sentiments. Police should have investigated the veracity of the allegation before arresting Adil and Simon, he said. Now we dont know how long our children will be made to suffer in prison due to this false charge this is sheer injustice, Masih said. Napolean Qayyum of the Pakistan Center for Law and Justice said that they were helping the two families in arranging legal support for their children. The FIR registered by the complainant reeks of mala fide, yet the police showed traditional haste in arresting the two boys, he said. We are hoping that the boys will be released on bail soon. False accusations Several people have been lynched over false accusations of blasphemy in Pakistan. At least 57 cases of alleged blasphemy were reported in Pakistan between Jan. 1 and May 10, while four blasphemy suspects were lynched or extrajudicially killed during the same period, according to the Lahore-based Center for Social Justice and Peoples Commission for Minorities Rights (PCMR). The data shows that eight incidents occurred in January, a significant increase to 17 cases in February, seven cases in March, another surge to 19 cases in April, and six cases in May (up to the 10th), totaling 57 accused individuals. The highest number of blasphemy cases, 28, were reported in Punjab Province, followed by Sindh Province with 16, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa with eight, and Azad Jammu and Kashmir with five. In response to these alarming figures, retired Justice Nasira Javaid Iqbal, the patron-in-chief of PCMR, urged the government to stop the misuse of the harsh laws. The blasphemy laws have been consistently misused to settle personal disputes, persecute minority groups, and incite mob violence and hatred, she said in a press statement. We demand prompt action and a collective effort by the government to address these human rights violations. Last week, a court released on bail a Christian woman charged with blasphemy after she and a Muslim co-worker were accused of intentionally burning papers containing Quranic verses. Mussarat Bibi, 45, and Muhammad Sarmad worked at the Government Girls Higher Secondary School in 66-EB village, Arifwala tehsil of Pakpattan District. On April 15, both workers were told to clean the schools storeroom filled with paper and other scrapped items. The duo reportedly gathered the wasted paper and other scraps in a corner of the school and set them on fire. Some students later noticed that the burnt items also contained holy pages. They were charged under Section 295-B of the blasphemy statutes and sent to Pakpattan Jail on judicial remand. Section 295-B states, Whoever willfully defiles, damages or desecrates a copy of the Quran or of an extract therefrom or uses it in any derogatory manner or for any unlawful purpose shall be punishable with imprisonment for life. They were released from prison on bail on May 13. Pakistan ranked seventh on Open Doors 2023 World Watch List of the most difficult places to be a Christian, up from eighth the previous year. Indias Manipur remains tense weeks after 400 churches were burned, 60 Christians killed View Photos The northeastern Indian state of Manipur remains in a tense state of unease weeks after a devastating spate of violence led to the deaths of at least 73 individuals, most of them Christians, and the burning, damage or destruction of nearly 400 churches. Kuldeep Singh, a security advisor to the Manipur Government, told reporters Saturday that 488 weapons and about 6,800 rounds of ammunition looted amid the strife had been retrieved, Ukhrul Times reported. The Assam Rifles additionally recovered 22 pounds (10 kg) of explosives and 2,000 BIPL detonators. The largely Christian tribals belonging to the Kuki-Zo communities, who reside on the hills of Churachandpur district, say two groups of the predominantly Hindu Meitei community Arambai Tengoll, also known as black-shirts, and Meitei Leepun were behind the violence. Meiteis are primarily settled in the Imphal Valley. The violence, which began on May 3, primarily engulfed the Imphal Valley and Churachandpur, causing at least four days of turmoil. The region remains fraught with tension as authorities fear possible reprisal attacks due to the significant accumulation of weapons within both involved communities. The Indian Express earlier reported that over 1,000 weapons and 10,000 rounds of ammunition were stolen from the Manipur Police Training College, two local police stations, and an IRB battalion camp in Imphal by members of the Meitei ethnic group. The report also noted, without stating specific figures, that police stations in Churachandpur were attacked and looted by the Kuki community. During this period of hostility, the escalating violence has not only claimed a minimum of 73 lives, out of which about 64 were Christian tribals, but also left 200 people injured. More than 1,700 residences suffered damage, complete destruction or saw their homes set ablaze. The turmoil has forced about 50,000 individuals to abandon their homes, of whom roughly 35,000 belong to Christian tribal communities. The houses of Meiteis in the Christian tribal-majority Churachandpur have also been damaged or destroyed. A local source informed The Christian Post that the violence and ensuing tensions have caused a complete exodus of tribal residents from the Imphal Valley. Similarly, all Meiteis previously residing or working in Churachandpur, including government and police officials, have fled the area. According to the source, Christian organizations in the area have recorded the burning, damage, or destruction of 397 churches and six Christian institutions amid the wave of violence. Significantly, these churches primarily served as places of worship for Meitei Christians. It is alleged that these structures were primarily targeted and destroyed by Meitei Hindus. Archbishop Dominic Lumon of Imphal, whose jurisdiction covers the entirety of Manipur, has launched an appeal for funds to assist those impacted by the violence. He warns of a general sense of hopelessness and desperation throughout the region, acknowledging that all communities, regardless of their affiliation, are affected by the ongoing strife. Fr. Varghese Velikakam, Vicar General of the Diocese of Imphal, criticized local police for their failure to prevent the attacks and questioned the lack of guards after attempted assaults. Videos of the violence show police looking on or participating in the violence on tribal people. Despite the apparent targeted nature of these attacks, Fr. Varghese advised the Church to act cautiously, maintain neutrality and promote peace and unity. Northeast India has had long-standing ethnic tensions. In Manipur, the Meiteis and the tribal communities have long been at odds over issues such as land ownership and affirmative action policies. After winning the 2017 state election, the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party, led by Chief Minister N. Biren Singh, reclassified the majority of tribal settlements as reserved forests, effectively treating them as illegal immigrants. This move, along with the Meiteis ongoing quest for recognition as a tribal group, has significantly exacerbated tensions between the two groups. Manipurs highest courts recent instruction to the government last month to consider the Meiteis demand for legal recognition as a tribal group has further stirred anxiety among the tribal communities. The recent outbreak of violence was triggered when a tribal student group protested against this demand. The Hindu Meiteis and Christian tribals each constitute approximately 42% of the states population. Despite this balance, the Meiteis have historically held dominance in the states political and economic spheres. Critics also point to Chief Minister Singhs past orders to demolish churches in Imphal, under the allegation of illegal construction on government-owned land, as a significant strain on inter-community relations. The widespread violence and targeted attacks against the Christian community have raised concerns about the potential escalation of religious conflict in the region. As these communities grapple with the aftermath, Manipur remains under a dark cloud of uncertainty, its future dictated by both the governments ability to quell tensions and the communities willingness to engage in peace-building efforts. 'God has been providing miraculously': Pastor-model mentored by Tim Keller shares his path to ministry After strutting down the runway in a top designers fashion show, seasoned model Michael Smith washed his face and put on his street clothes, ready to make his way home. On his way out, he turned to a fellow model. Hey man, good job today! The young model responded enthusiastically, Yes! It was a good day for more reasons than oneIm six days sober today! Hey great job, man, Michael responded. Ill be praying for you! Then he fished a card from his wallet and said, Let me know if you ever want to go out for coffee to tell me more about it. The young mans eyes got wide when he read Michaels card. Youre a pastor too? Michael chuckled. He was used to that reaction after decades of working as both a model and a pastor. Although others might find the combination surprising, Michael thinks modeling and working as a personal trainer while also serving as an ordained pastor is a totally natural fit that gives him many opportunities to live out his calling. The Lord looks at the heart, and fashion looks at appearance. Its the opposite of what God wants, Michael says. But being a model and a personal trainer are platforms that help me personally live out the Great Commission. You dont want to just be a pastor who only learns things from books, or who spends almost 95% of your time in the walls of a church, you need to be out and about among people! But if youre not around non-Christians and people who think differently than you, this can affect how missional you are and how you train your congregants to be missional. Im determined to have as many platforms to make friends with people in the world and not getting into a Christian bubble. My life as a model, personal trainer and adjunct professor informs my work as a pastor. It makes me stay sharp because I get inspiration from being around non-Christians and I know what non-Christians are thinking. Michael has never lived life in a traditional Christian bubble. Michael's father had retired from the U.S. military and was working in Germany when he met a woman who had fled Thailand under bad marital circumstances and was working as a seamstress. They married, and Michael was born there in 1972. His parents later moved Michael and his sister to Iran for another work contract. When Iran experienced political upheaval, the family moved to Florida in 1979. Although Michaels mom was a Buddhist, the family practiced a casual Christianity that left little mark on young Michael. But in college at Florida State University in Tallahassee, Michael came across a Christian organization called Navigators. He was surprised to see cool college guys there, really trying to live out a Christian life. Something clicked, he remembers. In college, through the teaching and discipleship of Navigators, I accepted Jesus as my Savior and I became a committed, born-again Christian. As Michael took leadership roles in that organization, an older Christian mentor told him one day, You seem to really come alive when you lead Bible studies. While discovering God in college, Michael was also being discovered by a modeling scout who recognized that young Michaels brooding, intense look might fit the modeling standards of the time. Michael signed on with a modeling agency in Orlando and slowly began building his portfolio although he never intended to be a full-time model. Instead, he was intent on becoming a doctor. But when he did not get accepted into medical school, Michael sent his modeling pictures to European modeling agencies in a bid to start a career there. That didnt pan out either due to the look leaning more toward a skinny, pale Beatles vibe. Frustrated and confused, he went back to live with his parents in New Smyrna Beach, Florida, and took a job as a science teacher in a local high school. But eventually, Michael understood why God had closed other doors and sent him back home. Although a devout Buddhist for 60 years, Michaels mother became interested in Christianity and began reading the Bible with him when she noticed how much her sons life had changed since he had become a Christian. At the same time, Michael began attending local Promise Keepers conferences with his dad. For the first time in my life, I saw my dad cry at one of the Promise Keeper sessions. Then, my mom said to me one day, In Buddhism, I tried to do good things to know God. In Christianity, one does good things because they already know God through Jesus, so the difference seems to mainly be Jesus. It was so profound. She got it! During my time at home, they both accepted Christ, Michael recalls. And then I knew thats why I was sent back to my hometown after all those rejections. I felt like God really put me there to minister to my parents. About a year later, a modeling agency in Milan offered to represent the 22-year-old high school science teacher. For the next five years, Michael jet-setted between Milan, Vienna, Paris and London, modeling for designers such as Vivienne Westwood and Donna Karan, and being featured in commercials for Mercedes, Adidas and other big companies. A modeling assignment to New York City in 1996 left a big impression on Michael. I literally fell in love with the city during that one visit. Michael was modeling in London when he fell in love with Kristyn, the daughter of American missionaries who had planted a local church in the heart of the city. The two married within six months and before long the whole family moved back to California, where Michael continued his modeling career. I modeled to make money, but I was really passionate about Christ. ... I was ready to dedicate myself to a regular ministry and minister to others. He became a youth pastor at Calvary Chapel, Kristyns home church, and soon was sent by the church to plant a church in Northern California. Michael eventually felt called to attend seminary. I became exposed to Reformed Theology through pastor friends ... and began listening to recorded sermons from pastors such as Timothy Keller and John Piper. Everything they said resonated with me and made me really desire to get fully trained in Reformed Theology. Michael was one of the first to apply when Redeemer Presbyterian founded by the late Tim Keller began hosting a campus of Reformed Theological Seminary in New York City. When he was accepted, Michael and Kristyn and their two young sons quickly moved to NYC. But the realities of living in one of the worlds most expensive cities in the world ushered the couple into a financially-stretched, busy, stressful phase. Kristyn worked as an esthetician, while Michael interned with Redeemer Presbyterian, worked as a model, and taught high school science all while attending seminary. He finished his seminary degree in 2017 and became ordained in the Presbyterian Church of America. From there, Michael moved into several lead pastoral positions within Redeemer and with other churches, eventually switching to the EPC and launching his own church plant in the midst of the pandemic in September 2021. Common Grace Presbyterian Church meets every Sunday on the Lower East Side in a space leased by a Christian owner who was thrilled to help a new church launch in New York Citys diverse, work-culture environment. Its a small group, but everyone is missional, everyone loves Jesus, Michael says. We meet on Sundays, have a mid-week Bible study on Wednesdays and encourage everyone to stay connected with each other throughout the week. We are passionate about connecting Sunday to the other six days of the week, and really encourage our church to be missional. We operate on a shoestring, but God has been providing miraculously. Watching God come through always makes my faith so much stronger. I really believe when God calls you somewhere to something come Hell or high water He will make it happen. Kristyn has her own skincare boutique, and the couples sons Cade, 21, and Rider, 16, are thriving. Michael and Kristyn are certified to care for foster children and have just begun the process to adopt a 10-year girl from Thailand. Michael continues to work as a model and a personal trainer in addition to his pastoral duties. When asked if theres any conflict in his roles, Michael responds that he takes a body, soul, and spirit approach to life and works to make sure all three areas are firing on all cylinders. I think all three are necessary to fully flourish. He also thinks the variety in his life and work give him more chances to introduce God to the people he meets. We are supposed to love others, and I do. I love models, I love fellow trainers, and I love my congregants. I love just being around people church people and non-church people alike. Michael admits that juggling all his jobs and roles can be difficult. Theres always much to be thankful for, and always things to complain about. Its been a wild ride. But the difficulties and uncertainties do not deter him. I think the idea of Gods sovereignty is comforting. There are seasons of blessings and seasons of challenges. We see in part now what He sees in full. God mitigates pride through hardship, and He always gives us just enough. I wouldnt have it any other way. Pregnant neighbor's timely intervention saves toddler who fell from window A pregnant woman walking her dog in Des Moines, Iowa, saved the life of her neighbor's son after the toddler fell out of a second-story window earlier this month, rescuing the 2-year-old child before he could plummet to his death or suffer severe injuries. At nearly 33 weeks pregnant, Kyrie Jones took her Pomeranian puppy, Prince, outside the shared driveway between the townhouses on the 1900 block of Merle Hay Road on May 8, according to local CBS affiliate KCCI. Jones intended to head back inside once her dog had done its business. But she noticed a window screen and a PlayStation controller lying on the ground, she told The Washington Post. At first, she thought nothing of it, thinking that perhaps her neighbor had accidentally left some trash outside her house when taking the garbage out. But Jones heard a loud noise. The source of the sound was her next-door neighbor's townhouse. Looking up, she saw her neighbor's 2-year-old son throwing things outside an open, second-story window. To Jones' horror, she saw the toddler leaning over the edge. She worried that he might fall. The 35-year-old woman tried to warn the toddler to go back inside, telling the boy, "Go get mommy!" The boy didn't listen, and he remained at the edge of the window. Jones, afraid that she might unintentionally encourage the boy to lean out further by talking to him, ran back inside her house and exited through the front door, darting to her neighbor's house. The pregnant woman knocked on the door and rang the bell at her neighbor's house, but there was no answer. Jones called the police, providing them with information about the situation before racing back to the rear of the townhouse to check on the boy. By this time, the boy had fallen from the window and was clinging to the edge, crying as he dangled above the concrete below. Although Jones screamed for help, nobody came. A minute went by, and the toddler lost his grip after trying to pull himself up. Jones caught him before he hit the ground in what she described as "an almost squat position" where the child's feet barely touched the ground. "He kind of hit my belly a little bit," she told KCCI. "I think the adrenaline kicked in, and I didn't feel anything." The woman obtained a few bruises on her thighs but was alright, according to The Post. A few minutes later, police arrived at the scene. The neighbor wrapped the boy in a coat from her house because his diaper had fallen off before bringing him to the front door of his home alongside the police. The toddler's mother eventually emerged from the house and retrieved her son. The horror of what might have happened if Jones had not been there to catch the child is something she does not want to think about as a fall from the second-story window of the townhouse is a "pretty high drop" to the concrete ground below. "I would have walked out to either a crime scene or a baby screaming," the pregnant woman said. Sgt. Paul Parizek, a spokesperson for the Des Moines Police Department, told The Washington Post that the toddlers mother was in another room in the townhouse and left her son unsupervised for a short period. While the police have not pressed charges against the toddler's mother, they did refer the case to the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services, according to Parizek. Christian college defends termination of employees who used pronouns in email signatures A private Christian liberal arts college with over 800 students in upstate New York has defended its termination of two employees who included their pronouns in the signatures of work emails after pushback from hundreds of students, alums and faculty. A petition addressed to Houghton University President Wayne Lewis Jr. and other administrators at the Wesleyan Church-affiliated school expresses concern about the termination of "residence life staff for refusing to remove pronouns from their email signatures and expressing their personal beliefs publicly." The petition, originally submitted on April 28 following the termination of residence hall directors Raegan Zelaya and Shua Wilmot, has amassed 753 signatures from Houghton alums, faculty and current and former students as of Monday. The petition requests that "the current Houghton administration unequivocally affirm their commitment to charitable and respectful dialogue, not just in speech, but also in action." Signatories urged the school to "acknowledge that there is a range of views reasonably held by faithful and active Christians on topics of gender, sexuality, and race." "In practice, this would mean a broadened understanding of the views that are acceptable for staff, faculty and chapel speakers to hold and express," the petition states. In a May 1 response to the petition, Lewis declined to sign the request. "Houghton has not and does not require that all students be Christians, much less come from the same Christian denomination or tradition," Lewis wrote. "While we require that all Houghton employees be active Christians, our employees come from a range of Christian traditions. We do, however, require as a condition of employment that all employees be respectful of the positions, doctrine, and beliefs of the university," he added. "However, Houghton unapologetically privileges an orthodox Christian worldview, rooted in the Wesleyan theological tradition." Every Houghton employee affirms their understanding of those commitments at the beginning of their employment, Lewis maintained. "This is not a new position for the university," Lewis states. Wesleyan Church teaching declares that "gender confusion and dysphoria are ultimately the biological, psychological, social and spiritual consequences of the human race's fallen condition." Neither the petition nor Lewis' response directly name the personnel terminated after including their "pronouns" in their email signatures, a practice viewed as an overture to the ideas that there are more than two genders and that people can identify as a gender that does not align with their biological sex. The situation was amplified over the weekend after The New York Times published an article late last week about the termination of Zelaya and Wilmot. Zelaya shared an image of the letter informing her of termination on social media. The letter, dated April 19, read, "as a result of your refusal to remove pronouns in your email signature in violation of institutional policy," "you are being relieved of your duties effective immediately." In a video recorded shortly after her termination, Zelaya said she had received an institution-wide email around October 2022, saying "for marketing purposes and for branding purposes, we are trying to have a streamlined email signature.'" She noted that the email told school staff that they "shouldn't have Bible verses" in their email signatures and advised them to refrain from using "crazy fonts." University spokesperson Michael Blankenship elaborated on school policy on email signatures in a statement to The New York Times. He insists that the university "has never terminated an employment relationship based solely on the use of pronouns in staff email signatures." "Over the past years, we've required anything extraneous be removed from email signatures, including Scripture quotes," he said. In the video published after their termination, both Zelaya and Wilmot pointed to the dual-gender nature and appearance of their names as one reason why they chose to include their pronouns in their email signatures. "I have been mistaken for a woman over email and in person because I have long blonde hair," Wilmot said. "I know many men and women who have been named Raegan," Zelaya agreed. Zelaya also defended using her pronouns as a "pretty standard industry practice," while Wilmot described them as a "great conversation starter." Wilmot believes his description of the Wesleyan Church's teachings on sexual orientation and gender identity as "outdated and problematic" was another reason why he was terminated. Before receiving their respective letters alerting them of their termination, Zelaya already indicated her intention to resign to administrators, while Wilmot learned in February that his contract would "not be renewed." Houghton University is a member of the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities, an advocacy group representing the interests of over 180 Christian higher education institutions across the globe. The organization has pushed back against claims that Christian colleges that uphold rules reflecting traditional beliefs on marriage and sexuality are "homophobic." The CCCU also fought a lawsuit filed by a group of LGBT Christian college students and former students who sued the U.S. Department of Education in 2021 for providing religious exemption to Title IX discrimination laws to Christian higher education institutions. CCCU has supported the "Fairness for All" initiative, a set of legislative ideals that would provide federal LGBT discrimination protections in exchange for religious exemptions for traditional Christian beliefs on sexuality. Houghton College's President Emerita Shirley Mullen, who previously served as vice chair of the CCCU board of directors, told The Christian Post in 2019 that there is "risk" associated with "Fairness for All." "There is a risk to Fairness for All," she admitted. "Then, what I would say is that there is also a huge risk to not being in this dialogue. It's not just the risk of losing legal protection for our freedom of beliefs. It is also, I would say, losing that capacity to have the Christian community viewed as people who are respectful and who want to treat [with respect] human beings who differ from them in fundamental ways." A deep loss for us: Redeemer Presbyterian churches reflect on Tim Keller's death The campuses of Redeemer Presbyterian Church of New York City took time during their worship services on Sunday to remember the church network's late founder, pastor and author Tim Keller, who died of cancer last Friday. Founded by Keller in 1989, the church has grown to five campuses in the New York area: Redeemer Downtown, Redeemer East Side, Redeemer West Side, Redeemer Lincoln Square and Redeemer East Harlem. The Rev. Rich McCaskill, worship leader at Redeemer East Side, told those gathered for worship at the Manhattan-based campus Sunday that Keller's passing was "a deep loss for us." "His ministry has deeply impacted every single one of us in this room," said McCaskill, adding that Keller engaged in "faithful service" by "pointing New Yorkers to the hope and freedom that Jesus brings." "We are grieving. And, as you know, grief has many facets. It's a bumpy journey, often more like a roller coaster than a carousel. But no matter where you are this morning in that process, the Bible tells us that you are not alone." At Redeemer Downtown, Sunday worship included a conversation between the Rev. Jeff White, who worked in ministry with Keller for decades, and the campus' Senior Pastor Pete Nicholas. White first met Keller when Keller was 34 and was not yet widely known, noting that it did not take him long to realize that "this guy had a way of expressing the Gospel and showing people the beauty of Jesus." White noted that "one of the good things" about knowing Keller before he became famous was that it "created a certain familiarity between me and Tim." "Once he began to get a reputation, other people were kind of in awe of him, but I would still go up behind him and rub his hairless head and occasionally headbutt him into the chest," said White. "He was a lovely person who had a gentle smile, a gentle laugh, and a great smirk." Nicholas asked White what he thought Keller would want people to remember when mourning his death. White responded that one thing is that "grieving is OK." "Scripture encourages us to grieve, but not without hope," White continued. "Tim would actually want us to stare and anyone to stare death directly in the face." "We don't do that. We tend to hide from it. We don't think about it. But I think Tim would want us to understand that life is either totally meaningful or totally meaningless, depending on what death is." White believes "death gives life to the 'God question,' which is not simply 'Does God exist?' but 'Will I meet God someday?'" At the Redeemer West Side campus on Sunday, Senior Pastor David Bisgrove discussed Keller's death near the beginning of the service, stating how many doubted Keller and his wife would be successful in planting a church in Manhattan. "Everybody said, 'Are you crazy?' And so, finally, Tim and Kathy looked at each other and said, 'We're crazy. We'll go and do it.' And so, they came," observed Bisgrove. "But as Christians know, 'the foolishness of God is wiser than our wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than our strength.' So what seemed to most people, God turned into an amazing strength for so many of us." Redeemer campuses also played the video Keller made several weeks ago for the pastoral leadership team, in which he advised how Redeemer should continue to operate in the future. Keller died last Friday following a lengthy battle with stage 4 pancreatic cancer that began in 2020. He was recently placed into hospice care at his home. He announced in March that new tumors had developed, requiring him to repeat the immunotherapy treatment he received last year. Many church leaders and others took to social media to remember Keller, including Andrew T. Walker, a Christian ethics professor at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Kentucky. "For me, he stands out as a Christian leader for whom ideas mattered," tweeted Walker last Friday. "I can distinctly recall being in college and reading the Reason for God and being struck at the utter reasonableness of the case he made for Christianity. Rest in Christ." Christian university allegedly fires teacher over novel featuring lesbian, profanity T.J. Martinson, who was hired earlier this year to teach at Olivet Nazarene University, said he was recently fired by the schools administration because he authored a novel featuring a character who is lesbian, a sex worker as well as an atheist who chooses to hope instead of pray. This morning I was fired. Or, rather, pre-emptively fired, Martinson, a graduate of Olivet Nazarene University in Bourbonnais, Illinois, announced in an extended Facebook post on June 28, noting that he was told someone who had read his book complained about the characters to the school administrators. On March 5th, 2019, my novel was released. On April 25th, I accepted an offer to serve as an Assistant Professor of English at Olivet Nazarene University, a private Christian college in my home state of Illinois. And today, June 28th, I was told by the Vice President, Dr. Carol Summers, that although they would pay me the agreed-upon salary for the forthcoming year, I would not be employed or allowed to teach, he explained. Near the end of the meeting, Dr. Summers informed me that I had freedom concerning how Id like to share this news, suggesting that I could state I had decided to go in a different direction so as to, and Im quoting, save face. To this I informed her that I have no face to save; however, she and the rest of the administration does, he added. Martin then explained that Summers raised concern about the fictional characters in his novel, The Reign of the Kingfisher, using profanity, the lesbian, the sex worker and the character who decides to hope instead of pray." My novel has cursing. Originally, it had quite a lot more, but I edited some of it out because the F-word should be like the chili flakes atop a pizzasparing enough to add flavor without getting obnoxious. That said, the use of curse words was not arbitrary. Not only do these words exist in the world that artists are called to represent in some capacity, but my novel is set in Chicago and some of its main characters are A) an embittered journalist, B) an anarchist hacker, C) a disgraced CPD officer, and D) a sex-worker. To write these characters properly--to capture their beauty and foibles and idiosyncrasies--I had them curse at times when they talked mainly because I had difficulty envisioning a homicide detective looking at a crime scene and saying goshdarnit, Martinson explained of his book. Now, as to why I included a lesbian main character. Well, its pretty simple. Much ink has been bled in the past few years detailing the need for more inclusive novels, novels that capture the breadth of experiences, backgrounds, and so on. It is, in my opinion, an ethical imperative that all writers must acknowledge and embrace. I personally wish for everyone to feel welcomed into my stories, especially those who are consistently disenfranchised and whose voices are often erased. He further explained that he didnt feel it was appropriate to have his character who did not believe in God, choosing to pray when given a choice between hope and prayer. Martinson said he was also taken aback by the reaction from the university administrator to his novel because he had told them he was a supporter of the LGBTQ community prior to being hired. When I applied for the job at Olivet, I made clear to them that I consider myself an ally of the LGBTQ+ community and this is an unwavering commitment that runs contrary to Nazarene doctrine, Martinson wrote. Although the administration tolerated this belief at first, it seems that reflecting this commitment by enacting diversity through my novel (which the administration, represented by Dr. Summers, did not read) was a step too far. The Christian Post reached out to Olivet for comment on Friday and was told Summers was on vacation and no one was available to comment for this story. Former youth pastor gets 60 years in prison for sex crimes involving boys A former Southern Baptist youth pastor was sentenced to 60 years in prison Friday after he pleaded guilty to 13 counts of sexual assault and child pornography charges involving six different boys. While 33-year-old former youth pastor Keenan Hord was sentenced to 16 years in prison, The Commercial Appeal reports that he will be eligible for parole in 15 years. Hord, who worked for First Baptist Church Bentonville in Arkansas and Bellevue Baptist Church in Arlington, Tennessee, will have to register as a sex offender and have no unsupervised visits with children, including his own, if he is released early, the publication said. The former youth pastor worked at Bellevue Baptist Church from 2011 to 2016, when he joined the staff at First Baptist Bentonville. Hord was arrested in August 2022 in connection with crimes committed from 2020 through 2022, when he was still serving as a youth pastor at First Baptist Church Bentonville. He pleaded guilty to three counts of sexual assault in the first degree, six counts of sexual assault in the second degree, one count of sexual indecency with a child and three counts of distributing, possession or viewing matter depicting sexually explicit conduct involving a child. Hord, who initially pleaded not guilty to his charges, allegedly had inappropriate contact with a 15-year-old. Detectives found more than 5,000 text messages between him and one victim. Hord engaged in "sexual intercourse or deviate sexual activity" with multiple minors in 2020-2021 while he was employed "in a position of trust or authority over the victims," court documents cited by KNWA show. Bentonville Police also took "multiple electronic devices" from the former youth pastor's home and obtained surveillance video of Hord inside a home. At the time of Hord's arrest, First Baptist Church Bentonville released a statement: "We are ministering to the survivors and their families who demonstrated incredible courage in coming forward. We are praying for God's perfect peace for those who have been harmed and God's justice for the abuse of His people." Nathan Smith, Benton County prosecutor, said as soon as the church learned of the abuse allegations against Hord, they contacted authorities. "It's horrible. Look, even Jesus in the New Testament tells us there are wolves in sheep's clothing, right," Smith told THV 11, noting that he, along with the victims and their families, are happy with the sentence. One victim said he didn't feel anything for Hord but indifference in an impact statement while one parent lamented that the former youth pastor stole the innocence of the boys in God's name. "The reality is, with a person like this, you're never going to get what you feel like is equal to what they have done," Smith said. "But what you can get is to a point where you feel like that it allows the families to move on." Dozens of major corporations have abysmal protections for free speech, religion: study Dozens of major corporations lack adequate protections for free speech and religion even as several companies have improved since last year, a new study suggests. The nonprofit legal organization Alliance Defending Freedom released its second annual Viewpoint Diversity Score Business Index, which evaluates 75 publicly traded corporations across 42 performance indicators based on their respect for free speech and religious freedom on a scale from 0 to 100. The study was conducted in partnership with the investment technology service Inspire Insight, which provides faith-based investing data and ratings to thousands of institutions. Only two of the 75 companies examined had scored over 25 in their respect for speech and religion. ADF contends that "millions of everyday Americans are at risk of cancelation or punishment for their views." The bottom five companies when it comes to respecting free speech and religious freedom rights are Airbnb (2%), Amazon.com (4%), Alphabet (Google) (4%), eBay (5%) and Microsoft (5%). Those companies saw their scores drop by 3%, 2%, 5%, 2% and 0%, respectively, compared to last year. "Threats to freedom don't just come from the government, but from major corporations like financial institutions and big tech companies that have concentrated power over essential services and communication channels," said ADF Senior Counsel and Senior Vice President for Corporate Engagement Jeremy Tedesco. "Too often, these corporations de-bank or de-platform Americans, citing policies that give them unbounded discretion to censor people for their views." Only one of the companies analyzed, Fidelity National Information Services, received an overall score of 50%. This marks a 32% jump from last year, when it received a score of 18%. M&T Bank received an overall score of 25%, an 11% jump from the 14% it earned last year. Businesses studied in the research include those in "industries that have the greatest potential to impact individuals' or institutions' freedom of speech or religion," including banking companies, payment processing services and social media platforms. Scores were compiled based on responses companies provided to a survey commissioned by ADF. Higher scores were given to companies that have "terms of use/service" that "avoid unclear or imprecise terms" and "avoid viewpoint discrimination" as well as "harmful conduct policies" that "apply equally." Additional factors that give corporations higher scores on the index include "harmful conduct policies" that "apply equally," the presence of a "public anti-viewpoint discrimination policy," "notice of content or service restrictions," as well as policies promoting "respect for diverse beliefs at work" and religious discrimination. A corporation's score is also impacted by its advocacy on behalf of political spending, specifically whether or not it spent money in support of laws or litigation that are "harmful to speech or religion." A company's policy regarding written religious accommodations, or lack thereof, also factored into its score. Other companies that saw slightly higher scores compared to last year include Citigroup, whose score rose to 11% from 8%; Morgan Stanley, 9% to 11%; Meta, 9% to 10%; Apple, 7% to 8%; Adobe, which scored 6% in 2023 compared to 5% in 2022; and GoDaddy, which rose from 2% score to 8%. Besides the bottom five, a handful of other notable companies saw their scores decrease from last year: Rackspace (14% to 13%), Capitol One (13% to 12%), Visa (11% to 10%), Wells Fargo (13% to 10%), Citizens Financial Group (10% to 9%), JP Morgan Chase (15% to 9%), Mastercard (10% to 9%), Bank of America (10% to 8%), Discover (13% to 8%), Oracle (9% to 8%), PayPal (7% to 5%) and Twitter (6% to 5%). Tedesco maintained that "companies need to take seriously the way their policies and practices can chill the exercise of speech and religion and deter individuals from participating in the democratic process." "All Americans benefit when powerful corporations respect free speech and religious freedom," he added. "Our goal is to help the largest corporations implement positive and lasting changes that protect everyone's free speech and religious freedom from corporate overreach. Each survey completed, resolution filed, and conversation with senior leadership advances the ball." Examples of troubling policies listed in the detailed report about the research, obtained by The Christian Post, include Twitter de-platforming The Babylon Bee under a "hateful conduct policy," Netflix holding employee training promoting critical race theory and Bank of America's restriction on donations to religious charities. Twitter also de-platformed The Christian Post for nine months last year for factually reporting that a Biden official is a man and not a woman. CP's account was reinstated after Elon Musk took over. Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, right, speaks with U.S. President Joe Biden, left, and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida ahead of their three-way talks in Hiroshima, Japan, May 21. Yonhap President Yoon Suk Yeol, U.S. President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida could hold a trilateral summit in Washington as early as July, a presidential official said Monday. Biden proposed such a summit when he met with Yoon and Kishida on the sidelines of the Group of Seven summit in Hiroshima, Japan, on Sunday, Reuters quoted a senior U.S. official as saying. "The possibility of holding a South Korea-U.S.-Japan summit this summer in Washington is being talked about," the presidential official told Yonhap News Agency. The three countries have been strengthening trilateral cooperation to deal with growing challenges stemming from North Korea's nuclear program, and China's military and economic assertiveness. New survey: corporations failing to respect religious and political diversity Alliance Defending Freedom and Inspire Investing, under the leadership of Jeremy Tedesco and Robert Netzly, respectively, have just released the first annual Viewpoint Diversity Index. The index is designed to objectively rate companies on how well they respect a wide range of religious and political viewpoints. The survey uses 42 specific questions which are broken down into three main categories: The Business Index evaluates a companys social footprint in three categories of activitymarket, workplace, and public squareto determine its score. "Market" refers to how the business deals with its customers and other business with which it works. "Workplace" refers to how the company treats employees. Finally, "Public Square" refers to the companys dealings with the broader society, especially political engagement and support for various causes. In all three categories the focus is on viewpoint diversity. If companies ban customers or vendors because they dont conform with the religious and cultural views of the company, thats a failure to respect viewpoint diversity. So are employees discriminated against for failing to fall in ideologically. It's similarly a failure if the business offers (for example) LGBTQ employees the privilege of creating and joining mutually supportive gatherings (usually known as Employee Resource Groups, or ERGs), but denies that privilege to specific religions, such as evangelical Christians. And if it publicly endorses legislation which weakens religious liberty, or imposes limitations on charitable giving which exclude religious charities or conservative groups based on vague accusations of hate, it fails in its Public Square diversity support. The results of the first survey are disappointing to advocates of viewpoint diversity (Viewpoint Diversity Score). The average score is just 12 out of a possible 100. The worst company was GoDaddy, the internet domain name vendor, with a score of two. Again, thats not two out of 10; thats two out of 100. Even the best of the 50 companies which have been evaluated, Paychex, only scores 35. This is an indictment of corporate America, but even more it is an indictment of Christian America, which has failed to act as salt and light in corporate boardrooms. This should not merely be a matter of Christians being disproportionately represented among the banned and marginalized voices. If all people are made in the image and likeness of God, than a lack of respect for diversity of opinion is an assault on human dignity, and by extension on God Himself. Of course, many people hold opinions which are wrong, but the answer to that is not to forbid them from holding those opinions. Banning dissenting views short circuits the give and take of debate, which is the only real way, in the long run, to move towards truth. ADF was drawn into this fight of necessity when it found itself banned from Amazons Smile Program. Smile allowed customers to choose charities which would then receive matching grants when the customer completed an Amazon purchase. But after ADF was labeled a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center it was banned from the program by Amazon. Even though that policy was challenged by members of congress, and the SPLC was later discredited by media reports as being overly broad and political in its hate group labeling policy, the ban remained in place. The Diversity Index is not designed as a way to build a list of companies to boycott, nor to use to decide which companies investors should divest from. Instead it is intended as an objective yardstick to take to companies in a strategy of active engagement. Activists have created a climate of opinion in which religious charities are routinely singled out as being unworthy of matching grants, Christian employee groups are suppressed, charities which simply affirm basic Biblical truths about gender and sexuality are subjected to bans from social media, and books questioning trans-ideology are disappeared from online platforms. This climate is one which came from Christians being disengaged while opposing social factions were hyper-engaged. Retreating further from annual meetings, proxy votes, and conversations with the companies we hold in our 401(k)s will not make things better. Using the voice that comes with ownership and now, the new knowledge which comes from the Viewpoint Diversity Index, is a good place to start in reversing the damage which has come from past neglect. Tim Keller gives 3 pieces of advice to pastors in message before his death Pastor and author Tim Keller gave three pieces of advice to pastors in a message recorded weeks before his death and shared online by the church he helped to found. Redeemer Presbyterian Church of New York City, which Keller founded in 1989, shared a video message from Keller over the weekend that had been recorded several weeks before his death. The video message had originally been directed toward the leadership team at Redeemer. In the video, Keller offers three pieces of advice that center on passages in the Old Testament book of Jeremiah, which he felt would help to guide leaders at Redeemer, as well as other church leaders. The first piece of advice Keller gave in the video was live on the razors edge, quoting Jeremiah 29:7, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Engage, but at the same time, be different, said Keller. Dont assimilate and just pick up all the views of the culture; but dont stay out, keep your skirts clean, denounce everyone. The second piece of advice Keller gave was invest, dont just consume, reading from Jeremiah 32, in which Jeremiah bought a field, even though the invasion of the Babylonians and subsequent exile of the Jews was imminent. Dont just come here to consume, Keller added. Dont just come to New York to say, I want to get this on the resume and have an exciting church experience and, you know, go to all the great restaurants. Invest here. Jesus Christ said, I will build my church. He doesnt just say I will build my church, except in big cities. I will build my church. So, invest in the church. Invest your time, invest, yes, your money, invest your life. The final piece of advice that Keller gave was for people to forget about your reputation, quoting Jeremiah 45:5, which reads, seekest thou great things for thyself? Seek them not. Dont worry about your reputation, dont worry about your credentials, Keller said. Dont make your ministry success your identity, so if things dont go well you just feel like an utter failure. Dont make getting a big name in New York City your main thing. Lift up Jesus Name. Halloweth be Thy Name. Forget yourself, forget your reputation. Do what you can to lift up Gods Name. Keller died on May 19 following a long battle with pancreatic cancer, with the renowned pastor leaving behind his wife, three sons, three daughters-in-law, a sister, and seven grandchildren. Timothy J. Keller, husband, father, grandfather, mentor, friend, pastor, and scholar died this morning at home, Kellers son, Michael, shared in a public post on Facebook Friday. Dad waited until he was alone with Mom. She kissed him on the forehead, and he breathed his last breath. We take comfort in some of his last words, There is no downside for me leaving, not in the slightest. See you soon, Dad. Many church leaders and Christian public figures took to social media or their websites to give their condolences and note how Keller had influenced their walk of faith. Grammy award-winning artist and contemporary Christian rapper Lecrae was among them, noting that Keller's spiritual guidance has been a light in dark places for me. Ive never expressed how he brought me [through] the worst seasons of my life, how his refusal to be a part of the Evangelical industrial construct was empowering for my soul, said Lecrae. When racism and cancel culture detoured me, Tim Keller was a consistent voice and for a season in 2017 he was the only non person of color I could listen to. He welcomed me to so much and brought me through so much. King Charles 'inspired' by Christian care for the poor and refugees King Charles has written of his admiration for the support being provided by Christians to poor people, refugees and asylum seekers in a letter to the Church of Scotland. In a letter read out at the General Assembly over the weekend, the King said he was "inspired" by the care being given by the Church of Scotland and other faith groups. He pledged to "preserve and uphold the rights and privileges of the Church of Scotland", and expressed thanks for the many condolences paid on the death of his mother, Queen Elizabeth II last year, and the "warmth and dignity" of the national service of thanksgiving for her life that was held in St Giles' Cathedral, in Edinburgh. The King went on to address current challenges and the way that the Church is responding. "We are very conscious at this time of the pain for so many people across the world who are suffering from the vagaries of war and poverty," he said. "We are, as ever, inspired by the way in which the Church of Scotland, with other churches and faith communities, has expressed the Gospel imperative to the poor and made the care of refugees and asylum seekers such a priority." However the letter acknowledged challenges withing the Church as well and said his prayers were with the Kirk as it seeks a way forward. "We are aware of the challenges which the Church is facing as it continues the process of reform, as well as its discernment of God's will for the future shape of ministry and mission across Scotland," the letter read. "Our prayers remain with you, and may the Holy Spirit continue to guide the Church with wisdom, grace and hope in all its decision-making." He also commended the Church of Scotland for taking part in a historic ecumenical peace pilgrimage to South Sudan with the Pope and Archbishop of Canterbury in February. "Their messages of justice, peace and reconciliation were made all the more powerful by their visible presence which signified both the unity and diversity of the Churches," the letter said. "These messages are equally vital in Sudan where people are again threatened by conflict. "We pray for a swift end to the current hostilities to ease the human suffering and bring peace." The General Assembly is taking place in Edinburgh, where Christian Aid Scotland head, Rev Sally Foster-Fulton, became its new Moderator for the next year, succeeding the Rt Rev Dr Iain Greenshields. Majority of Brits do not support funding of abortion overseas A poll has found little support for UK funding of abortion overseas. The poll of 2,018 UK adults was carried out by Whitestone Insight for the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children (SPUC). Over half of the adults surveyed (56%) agreed that it was wrong for the government to fund abortion services outside of the UK. Six in 10 said that the UK should cut funding to countries "where there is concern that women are routinely forced or coerced into having an abortion". Over three quarters (76%) of survey participants said that the UK government should make it clear to countries receiving aid that gender-selective abortion is wrong, rising to 78% among female survey respondents. Three quarters (76%) agreed that abortion on the grounds of a child's ethnicity should be banned. The survey was conducted by SPUC together with a report, called "Complicit", accusing China of carrying out coerced abortions, especially among minority populations like Uyghur Muslims, and suggesting that the UK is complicit by sending aid to the country. Michael Robinson, Executive Director of SPUC, commented: "Our report lays bare the scandal that UK aid, however well-intentioned, has been directly or indirectly involved in funding coerced abortions in China. "This is truly shocking and a slap in the face to the generosity of the hard-pressed taxpayer who expects aid to help and support pregnant women, not being used in coerced or forced abortions." Pope Francis adds 21 Coptic martyrs killed by ISIS to Catholic calendar (CP) In an extraordinary move bridging a historical rift dating back to 451 AD, Pope Francis has added 21 Coptic Christians martyred by Islamic State terrorists on a Libyan beach in 2015 to the Roman Catholic Church's calendar, declaring them saints. The pontiff announced the decision during a recent meeting in Rome with Pope Tawadros II of Alexandria, the Coptic Patriarch, marking a significant step in resolving doctrinal disputes between the Roman Catholic and Coptic Churches, which have viewed each other as fundamentally heretical for over a millennium, The Telegraph reported. The meeting, which celebrated the 50th anniversary of Pope Paul VI's meeting with Pope Shenouda III of Alexandria, signified a commitment to overcoming the deep-rooted theological differences that emerged in the fifth century. The 451 AD schism was based on differing views of the nature of Christ, which resulted in the Catholic Church and the Coptic Orthodox Church going separate ways. The Coptic Orthodox Church had already venerated the martyrs, 20 of whom were Egyptian workers and one Ghanaian, Matthew Ayariga. They were killed in a gruesome spectacle orchestrated by ISIS. Dressed in orange jumpsuits and forced to kneel in the sand, the men were beheaded, their executioners shrouded in black and filmed against a backdrop of the sea. Images of the martyrs have since been used to create religious icons. ISIS labeled those killed as "People of the Cross," alleging they were idolaters, not worshipers of God. Ayariga, in his final moments, affirmed: "I am a Christian. I am like them." His precise church affiliation remains unknown. A week after the brutal killings, Pope Tawadros II declared all 21 martyrs as saints. In 2018, their burial place was discovered, allowing the bodies of the 20 Egyptian victims to be returned to their homeland, followed by Ayariga's in 2020. Francis spoke of the martyrs' baptism of blood, a belief tracing back to the early years of the Church that admittance to Heaven can be granted through martyrdom, even without symbolic, traditional water baptism. According to an op-ed piece by Christopher Howse in The Telegraph, historically, the Copts, representing more than 10% of Egypt's 110 million population, were seen as Monophysites in the West, believing that the divinity of Jesus was paramount, somewhat undermining His humanity. And, for their part, Copts perceived Western Christians as heretics, likening them to Nestorian Assyrians. "In practice I suspect good Copts and good Assyrians believed the real Christian teaching about Jesus as God and man," Howse adds. During last week's meeting, Pope Tawadros II presented Pope Francis with a relic of the martyrs as a symbol of gratitude, a gesture that was warmly received. Pope Francis said of the martyrs, "These martyrs were baptized not only in the water and Spirit, but also in blood, a blood that is the seed of unity for all of Christ's followers," according to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. The pope's recognition of the 21 men as martyrs killed not because of their specific denomination but because they were Christians, relates to a statement he made in 2013 when he said, "In some countries they kill Christians for wearing a cross or having a Bible and before they kill them they do not ask them whether they are Anglican, Lutheran, Catholic or Orthodox." This move toward unity and mutual recognition comes as religious persecution worldwide intensifies, with Francis noting that more Christians have been martyred for their beliefs in the past century than in all of the early centuries combined. The addition of the Coptic martyrs to the Catholic calendar signifies an unpreceded step in the ecumenical efforts of the Catholic Church. Bishop Brian Farrell, secretary of the Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity, described this as "a first" in the history of the Roman Catholic Church. The Christian Post Former Ambassador of Korea to Vietnam Lee Hyuk, first from left, moderates the Q&A and discussion session during The Korea Times Global Business Club at the Korea Press Center in central Seoul, Monday. Second from left are Ambassador of Vietnam to Korea Nguyen Vu Tung, Embassy of Vietnam's First Secretaries Pham Viet Tuan and Pham Khac Tuyen. Korea Times photo by Choi Won-suk Korea Times' Global Business Club highlights vast potential of Southeast Asian country By Kwon Mee-yoo The Korea Times hosted the second edition of its Global Business Club, spotlighting potential opportunities in Vietnam, a country that has risen to become Korea's third largest trading partner amid rising global uncertainties. Oh Young-jin, president-publisher of the English-language daily, opened the exclusive business club-style event at the Korea Press Center in central Seoul, Monday, introducing the remarkable economic growth of Vietnam and its potential for enhancing relations with Korea. "Many experts consider Vietnam as a nation with the most sustainable growth model, its market set to be no less important than that of China. Against this backdrop, the Global Business Club has organized a lecture about Vietnam. I strongly hope that today's lecture will provide meaningful insights for all attendees and help open up new opportunities for those who are pursuing or will pursue business in Vietnam," Oh said. Ambassador of Vietnam to Korea Nguyen Vu Tung delivers a keynote speech during the second edition of The Korea Times Global Business Club highlighting the potential of Korea-Vietnam relations at the Korea Press Center in central Seoul, Monday. Korea Times photo by Choi Won-suk Vietnamese Ambassador to Korea Nguyen Vu Tung noted in his keynote speech that economic cooperation is a cornerstone of Korea-Vietnam relations, greatly benefiting both sides and being crucial to Vietnam's economic development. "If being asked about the most salient aspect of Vietnam-ROK (the Republic of Korea) relations, I would refer to our economic cooperation, which has expanded fast, bringing about practical and tangible benefits to both sides and shall continue to be the cornerstone of this Strategic Comprehensive Partnership relations," the ambassador said. "In fact, trade and investment flows from Korea have been crucial to Vietnam's economic development. Broadening economic cooperation with Korea has paved the way for Vietnam to deepen our international economic integration, gradually boosting growth, thereby, moving the country away from the status of a less developed country to a lower middle-income country like Vietnam today." He said Vietnam offers vast opportunities for Korean businesses. "They include and are not limited to Vietnam's fast-growing market of 100 million people, a young and industrious workforce, and bigger middle class with stronger consumption needs, with Vietnam being situated in one of the most economically dynamic regions of the world, participating in 15 multilateral free-trade arrangements," Tung said. Attendees listen to a keynote speech by Ambassador of Vietnam to Korea Nguyen Vu Tung during The Korea Times Global Business Club at the Korea Press Center in central Seoul, Monday. Korea Times photo by Choi Won-suk Vietnam willing to open financial market further: embassy Vietnam rises as powerhouse in Southeast Asia Vietnam emerges as source of Korea's biggest trade surplus The recent upgrade in Vietnam-Korea relations to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership aims to foster cooperation in areas like politics, security, and sustainable development, which will reinforce their bond, notwithstanding the current challenges they face. "The prospect of economic cooperation between Vietnam and Korea is very promising. But it does not mean that things are all rosy... Vietnamese and Korean businesses are having difficult times, seen in the reduction of both trade and investment volumes. That is to say our economic cooperation is enjoying greater opportunities but at the same time facing greater challenges, too," the ambassador said. "All in all, this is a very exciting time to move Vietnam-Korea economic cooperation forward. In this context, I greatly appreciate today's event and look forward to the presentations and discussions, which by themselves, clearly show how deeply all of us present here care about our bilateral relations." First Secretary and Head of Investment Office Pham Viet Tuan provided insights into the Vietnamese economy and its investment landscape, while First Secretary and Head of Trade Office Pham Khac Tuyen highlighted the bilateral trade and industrial collaborations. Tuan gave an overview of Vietnam's economy along with a detailed account of Korea's investments in the Southeast Asian country. He projected the pathway for future investment opportunities, stating that Vietnam should evolve to become an increasingly suitable investment destination for high-tech industries like semiconductor and battery production as well as for start-ups. Although the bleak global economic climate has also affected Vietnam, Tuyen outlined the country's strategy to navigate these challenges by bolstering collaboration with Korea in sectors such as critical minerals, textiles, automobiles and energy. Both first secretaries, having studied in Korea, exemplified the strong ties between the two countries by giving presentations and answering questions in fluent Korean. From left, Embassy of Vietnam's First Secretaries Pham Khac Tuyen, Pham Viet Tuan and Ambassador of Vietnam to Korea Nguyen Vu Tung take part in The Korea Times Global Business Club at the Korea Press Center in central Seoul, Monday. Korea Times photo by Choi Won-suk Former Ambassador of Korea to Vietnam Lee Hyuk, who also previously served as secretary general of the ASEAN-Korea Centre, moderated the Q and A and discussion session with the envoys. The event drew approximately 100 attendees, signifying the heightened interest in Vietnam in Korea. Participants included executives from some of Korea's leading companies, academics specializing in Asian studies and Korean and Vietnamese students engaged in Vietnamese studies, who are anticipated to become the bridges between Korea and Vietnam in the near future. Park Sung-ho, a junior at the Department of Asian Languages and Civilizations at Seoul National University, said the event offered a deeper insight into Vietnam. "Although I mainly study language and literature, I am also interested in the economy and economic cooperation with Southeast Asian countries," Park said. He asked how the adoption of smart farming could transform Vietnam, a country where approximately 70 percent of the population is involved in the agriculture industry. Vietnamese studies students listen to a presentation during The Korea Times Global Business Club at the Korea Press Center in central Seoul, Monday. Korea Times photo by Choi Won-suk The ambassador said smart farming presents a new opportunity for collaboration between Vietnam and Korea. "These technologies, especially ones focusing on agricultural techniques, could boost the agricultural sector in Vietnam and the products derived from this cooperation could potentially be exported back to Korea," he said. President Yoon Suk Yeol speaks during a joint press conference with European Council President Charles Michel, left, and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen after their summit at the presidential office in Seoul, Monday. Yonhap 'EU will never accept NK's possession of nuclear weapons' By Nam Hyun-woo South Korea agreed to enhance security and supply chain cooperation with the European Union (EU) during President Yoon Suk Yeol's summit with EU leaders, Monday, in an apparent bid to strengthen cooperation with Western democracies. Yoon held the summit with European Council President Charles Michel and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in Seoul, a day after they participated in the Group of Seven Summit in Hiroshima, Japan. The summit took place to mark the 60th anniversary of the establishment of bilateral diplomatic relations this year. It was the first in-person summit between the South Korean and EU leaders in five years and it was the first time in 11 years that the two EU presidents visited Seoul at the same time. During the summit, they agreed to establish a strategic dialogue at the foreign ministerial level to enhance cooperation in global peace and security. "By establishing the strategic dialogue, we will strengthen comprehensive security cooperation in various fields," Yoon said during a joint press conference after the summit. "Since the respective Indo-Pacific strategies of South Korea and the EU state each other as a key partner and share core prospects in common, we decided to strengthen our partnership for the freedom, peace and prosperity of the Indo-Pacific region." The European Council president also said cooperation between the EU and South Korea became "vital for the safety" in the wake of Russia's continued large-scale attacks on Ukraine. Michel expressed his gratitude for Yoon's recent condemnation of Russia's invasion of Ukraine and stressed that the security of Europe and the Pacific region are closely connected. The European Commission president likened the EU's condemnation of Russia to Seoul's response to North Korea's nuclear and missile programs. "The EU will never accept the DPRK's possession of nuclear weapons," von der Leyen said, referring to North Korea by its official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. "Just like we do not accept Russia's military aggression against Ukraine, we condemn the DPRK's constant nuclear saber-rattling. We stand firmly by the ROK" or Republic of Korea (South Korea). Yoon added, "We shared our recognition that North Korea's nuclear and missile programs are a serious threat to global security and agreed to closely coordinate for the international society's unified responses against North Korea's provocations." During the summit, the leaders launched two new South Korea-EU partnerships in the green and health sectors to better tackle climate change and ensure health emergency preparedness. They also agreed to develop the existing South Korea-EU Digital Trade Principles to address issues relevant to digital trade, an open digital economy and the emergence of unjustified barriers to digital trade. To improve supply chain resilience, they agreed to expand the existing Industrial Policy Dialogue to a Supply Chain and Industrial Policy Dialogue (SCIPD), with the aim of holding the first SCIPD session within this year. At the same time, the leaders said they will continue consultations on the EU Chips Act, aimed at doubling the EU's global semiconductor market share to at least 20 percent by 2030. President Yoon Suk Yeol holds hands with European Council President Charles Michel, left, and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen during their summit at the presidential office in Seoul, Monday. Yonhap Chinese songs contest for overseas Chinese held in London Xinhua) 10:09, May 22, 2023 LONDON, May 21 (Xinhua) -- A singing contest of Chinese songs for overseas Chinese was held here on Sunday. Organized by London Chinatown Chinese Association, the contest is part of the "Cultures of China Water Cube Cup" Chinese Songs Contest, a global activity designed to introduce Chinese culture and to tell Chinese stories to the world. A total of 20 participants competed in the United Kindom division's final round. In the end, three front-runners from the youth group and the top three from the adult group, as well as the winner from the foreign-friends group, qualified for further competition at the global level. Masayo Ono, a Chinese songs' lover, told Xinhua that she grew up in a Chinese-Japanese family. Although she had taken part in the Chinese speech competition in Japan before, it is her first time being part of the "Water Cube Cup." "I love singing and love learning Chinese ... it was fun to learn one of my favourite songs in Chinese," said Stuart Boother, the winner of the foreign-friends group. His performance evoked an enthusiastic response from the audience. Boother told Xinhua it was his second time competing in the contest, and he hoped to join the contest again next year. Fascinated by Chinese culture, Boother said he went to China to learn Kungfu years ago and recently visited Guangzhou and Guilin in south China. "Today was fantastic. I listened with a lot of happiness and excitement," MP Mark Logan told Xinhua. He regards music as one of the best ways to deepen cultural exchange. The "Water Cube Cup," initiated in 2011, has attracted contestants around the world for more than a decade. It aims at strengthening the link between China and the world through the Chinese culture. (Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Liang Jun) South Korea's Vice Defense Minister Shin Beom-chul, left, holds talks with Lee Kwon-jae, Mayor of Osan City at the defense ministry in Seoul, in this photo provided by the ministry, May 9. Yonhap South Korea's Vice Defense Minister Shin Beom-chul on Monday ruled out the possibility of Japan taking part in a nuclear consultative group between Seoul and Washington for bolstering nuclear deterrence against Pyongyang's military threats. Shin made the remarks in a media interview earlier in the day amid speculation over Tokyo possibly joining the Nuclear Consultative Group (NCG) that Seoul and Washington agreed to form during their leaders' summit last month. "The NCG is a consultative body that increases cooperation between South Korea and the United States for extended deterrence against North Korea's nuclear threats to the highest level," Shin said in a CBS radio interview. "The NCG itself is operated between South Korea and the U.S." Japan has been interested in creating a body akin to the NCG, but Shin said he was unaware of progress on such talks between Tokyo and Washington. From left, U.S. President Joe Biden, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and President Yoon Suk Yeol meet ahead of a trilateral meeting on the sidelines of the G7 Summit Leaders' Meeting in Hiroshima, Japan, Sunday. AFP-Yonhap By Lee Hyo-jin South Korea, the United States and Japan are in talks over detailed plans regarding the real-time sharing of North Korean missile warning data, according to the Ministry of National Defense, Monday. The three countries have been discussing the possibility of launching a data-sharing framework for the last few months and speculation is rising that the arrangement may be announced in the near future. "The three nations have agreed to share real-time missile warning data during a trilateral summit held last November. And during the Defense Trilateral Talks (DTT) held in April, we have reviewed ways to utilize the existing Trilateral Information Sharing Arrangement (TISA) in doing so," Defense Ministry spokesperson Jeon Ha-kyu said during a briefing, sharing the latest updates on the related talks. Although Jeon did not give an exact timeline about when the final arrangement will be announced, it is expected that defense chiefs of the three nations may reach an agreement on the sidelines of the upcoming Shangri-La Dialogue, an annual Asian defense summit scheduled for early June in Singapore. Currently, South Korea and Japan are separately linked to data from U.S. radar systems concerning the detection of North Korean missiles but there is no system linking all of the Asian nations directly. Due to North Korea's growing nuclear competence, the need for three-way intelligence-sharing capabilities has become more apparent. Related talks have gained momentum as bilateral relations between Seoul and Tokyo have continued to improve in recent months. Shin Jong-woo, a senior researcher at the Korea Defense and Security Forum, a think tank, believes that a real-time data-sharing framework, once launched, will be a win-win for participating countries. "The sharing of intelligence data will lead to the enhancement of South Korea's missile interception capabilities," he said. "But since it would be difficult to directly link the radar systems of South Korea and Japan, it is most likely for them to link their systems through the U.S. one." With trilateral security cooperation between Seoul, Washington and Tokyo accelerating, some suggest that Japan may be invited to join the Nuclear Consultative Group (NCG), a consultative body set to be launched between South Korea and the U.S. in order to strengthen extended deterrence. However, Vice Defense Minister Shin Beom-chul ruled out the possibility of Tokyo's participation in the NCG. "The NCG itself is operated between South Korea and the U.S. I don't think there will be moves to include Japan in the consultative group in the following summits," he said during an interview with local radio, Monday. During a trilateral summit between President Yoon Suk Yeol, U.S. President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, which was briefly held on the sidelines of the Group of Seven (G7) summit in Hiroshima, Sunday, Biden invited Yoon and Kishida for a trilateral summit in Washington. Although detailed plans have yet to be announced, if set, the summit would be a major diplomatic event for the Yoon administration, which has been seeking to enhance trilateral cooperation with Washington and Tokyo. Shin thinks that the summit will focus on broadening the sphere of cooperation between the three nations. "To say that military cooperation was the focus of trilateral ties, I think there will be discussions to strengthen partnerships in supply chain and cutting-edge technologies," he said. The three leaders may hold a trilateral summit in Washington as early as July, according to local media reports. "The possibility of holding a South Korea-U.S.-Japan summit this summer in Washington is being talked about," a presidential official was quoted as saying by Yonhap News Agency. State Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington Washington D.C. West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming Puerto Rico US Virgin Islands Armed Forces Americas Armed Forces Pacific Armed Forces Europe Northern Mariana Islands Marshall Islands American Samoa Federated States of Micronesia Guam Palau Alberta, Canada British Columbia, Canada Manitoba, Canada New Brunswick, Canada Newfoundland, Canada Nova Scotia, Canada Northwest Territories, Canada Nunavut, Canada Ontario, Canada Prince Edward Island, Canada Quebec, Canada Saskatchewan, Canada Yukon Territory, Canada Zip Code A 33-year-old man attends a court hearing for charges of causing a serious brain injury to his two-month-old son by shaking him too violently at the Incheon District Court, May 22. Yonhap A 33-year-old father appeared for a court hearing held Monday to determine whether he should be arrested on child abuse charges for causing a serious brain injury in his 2-month-old baby by shaking him too hard. The father was tightlipped after arriving at the Incheon District Court on Monday afternoon to attend the hearing on charges of mistreating and injuring his baby son at his home in the Bupyeong district of Incheon, west of Seoul. The baby has been in hospital for cerebral hemorrhage and a rib fracture. Police sought an arrest warrant for him Friday after he testified that he once shook the baby hard while holding him in his arms. Officials suspect that cerebral hemorrhage was part of the so-called shaken baby syndrome. The syndrome usually happens in babies younger than 2 years of age when they are shaken strongly. It can cause cerebral hemorrhage and a retinal hemorrhage, and these symptoms can also come with rib fractures and other injuries. His wife was also investigated as a reference witness but no charges of abuse were found, police said. The court is expected to make a decision on the arrest warrant as early as later Monday. (Yonhap) Anunt de selectare a expertilor/ telor sau a unei echipe de experti/e cu scopul de a elabora 2 note analitice cu privire la transpunerea in legislatia nationala a doua Directive UE Primeste notificari pe email Nota bene: Adresele email cu extensia .ru nu sunt acceptate. Contractare si Achizitie Bunuri Anunturi de Angajare Granturi - Finantari Burse de studiu Stagii Profesionale Oportunitati de voluntariat Toate Articolele In this file photo, Rep. Youn Kwan-suk of Democratic Party of Korea speaks during a parliamentary session in Seoul, May 11. Yonhap Prosecutors questioned a lawmaker Monday over his alleged involvement in a cash-for-vote campaign ahead of the 2021 chairman election of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK). Rep. Youn Kwan-suk, now an independent as he left the DPK in early May in the wake of the scandal, was brought in for questioning at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors Office in southern Seoul in the morning, according to legal sources. The scandal centers on allegations that Song Yong-gil's campaign officials distributed cash totaling 94 million won ($71,174) to party members, including some 10-20 lawmakers, to help him get elected as party leader ahead of the party's national convention in May 2021. Prosecutors suspect Youn was involved in the alleged distribution of "cash envelopes" accounting for 60 million won of the total to sitting DPK lawmakers in April that year. Monday's questioning came three days after prosecutors quizzed Rep. Lee Sung-man, another key suspect in the case. Lee is also an independent after leaving the DPK in early May alongside Youn. Youn is denying the suspicions and accusing the prosecution of cooking up allegations targeting the opposition party without concrete evidence. Prosecutors were reportedly considering seeking an arrest warrant for Youn if the lawmaker continues to refute the suspicions. (Yonhap) The Louisiana Supreme Court appointed an attorney to take control of the multitude of hurricane and storm-related lawsuits filed in state courts by McClenny Moseley and Associates. In an order posted online Thursday, the high court named Edward J. Walters Jr., with Walters, Papillion, Thomas and Cullens, as special trustee. He is tasked with compiling a list of attorneys in good standing and prepared to assume representation of former MMA clients and facilitating the return or surrender of client files to the clients new counsel. He is also directed to contact former MMA clients to determine if they have retained new representation and if not, refer them to the list of attorneys who are available to help them. The Supreme Court on May 10 placed a stay on all of the hurricane-damage lawsuits filed by MMA in state courts. The law firm conducted a massive robo-texting and email campaign to sign up clients and filed thousands of lawsuits in federal courts, many of them against the wrong insurer and often on behalf of homeowners who were already represented by other attorneys. The May 10 order directed the chief judge for each state court to compile a list of all hurricane and storm-related lawsuits filed by MMA within 20 days and submit the case names and docket numbers to the Office of Disciplinary Counsel. The office in March suspended the law license of MMAs managing partner in New Orleans, William R. Huye III, and is conducting an investigation that may lead to further sanctions. Louisiana Insurance Commissioner James Donelon fined MMA $2 million for what he called an insurance fraud scheme. Federal judges in both theEastern and Western Louisiana districts have also sanctioned the firm and its lawyers. New Orleans insurance defense attorney Matthew Monson, whose personal investigation prompted the federal courts to investigate MMAs mass filings, applauded the appointment of Walters in a LinkedIn post. Mr. Walters is a well known and respected attorney who will make sure the victims of MMAs bad behavior have access to proper legal representation, he said. The Supreme Courts order states specifically that Walters will not have an attorney-client relationship with former MMA clients. Monson said many of the MMAs former clients have likely lost an opportunity to pursue lawsuits against their insurers because Louisianas two-year prescription period for property damage claims has expired. Monson said he personally compiled a list of 25 lawsuits that MMA filed against the wrong insurer that can no longer be filed against the correct carrier because the statute of limitations has passed. During an April 26 hearing before Magistrate Judge Kathleen Kay, an attorney who represents State Farm says he knows of 78 other lawsuits that were incorrectly filed against the carrier. Monson said if those claims were for damage caused by Hurricane Laura which struck the Louisiana coast in August 2020 those cases cannot be refiled. Monson said the only recourse for claimants who missed out because of MMAs incompentence will be a malpractice suit. He said a lot of money is at stake. The 25 lawsuits that he knows were filed against the wrong insurer claimed more than $1.8 million in damage, he said. Top photo: A mobile home is destroyed by a fallen tree, Friday, Aug. 28, 2020, in Westlake, La., as clean up efforts continue following Hurricane Laura. (Kirk Meche/American Press via AP) SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) At least 19 inmates were left with minor injuries after a car ran a red light and crashed into a bus Friday morning in downtown Sacramento, authorities said. The car crashed a few blocks away from Sacramento County Main Jail, the Sacramento Fire Department said in a tweet showing damage to a white bus. Fire officials said there were 23 inmates on board and three were taken to the hospital, KCRA-TV reported. None of the injuries were considered life- threatening, officials said. The bus was traveling north when a Tesla going west ran a red light and crashed into the middle of the bus. The Sacramento Sheriffs Department released a video taken from a traffic camera that shows the Tesla driver attempted to brake before hitting the bus. It is not immediately clear if the Tesla, which sustained major front-end damage, was on autopilot when it crashed. The driver, who had been heading to the airport, appeared unharmed, KCRA-TV reported. The Sacramento Sheriffs Department and Fire Department didnt immediately respond to questions about the crash. Video showed people in orange jumpsuits receiving medical aid on the steps of a nearby federal courthouse and several being taken on gurneys into ambulances. It wasnt immediately clear where the inmates were being taken at the time of the crash. Copyright 2023 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. PARMA, Ohio -- The unofficial kickoff to summer always includes a solemn note. Residents are reminded on Memorial Day about the meaning of the holiday, which honors those who died while serving in the military. Heres a rundown of parades and remembrance ceremonies in Brooklyn, Parma, Parma Heights and Seven Hills: Brooklyn: The Memorial Day parade steps off at 11 a.m. May 29 from the Brooklyn Recreation Center, heads east on Memphis Avenue, south on Ridge Road, west on Biddulph Road, then north on Roadoan Road, ending at the Brooklyn High School stadium, where ceremonies will begin at noon. Families are invited to honor their service members at the ceremony by coming up to the podium to state the name of a loved one. Residents must register at the Brooklyn Recreation Center website. Parma: A full color guard ceremony -- including remarks from Mayor Tim DeGeeter -- is scheduled for 11:45 a.m. May 29 at Veterans Memorial Park. Parma Heights: The city hosts its 156th annual Memorial Day service at 9:30 a.m. May 29 at Parma-South Presbyterian Church, 6155 Pearl Road. The event is followed by a wreath-laying ceremony to honor the fallen at the Parma Heights Cemetery on Pearl Road. Seven Hills: The city of Seven Hills Memorial Day parade steps off at 10:30 a.m. May 29 from the St. Columbkille Church parking lot, proceeds south on Broadview Road to Hillside Road, and ends at City Hall, where an 11:15 a.m. remembrance ceremony is scheduled. Read more news from the Parma Sun Post. ROCKY RIVER, Ohio -- Its a digital world, and Rocky River senior citizens wont be left behind. Dozens of seniors attended the seventh annual Living in the Digital World Senior Expo in the Rocky River Umerley Civic Center May 18. They were there to learn about whats new online and in technology. Vendors ranged from healthcare organizations and law firms to libraries and adult learning -- all for seniors. Mely Sato, executive director of the Center for Aging in the Digital World, said: We are back after two years of only doing a virtual expo, a Zoom webinar, during the pandemic. Our hope is that every senior is given a chance to become digitally literate, so they are not lonely or isolated. This years expo is no different. As early as 2013, we noticed that seniors were being left behind when it comes to technology. Tak, my husband, and I co-founded a nonprofit in 2015 -- Center for Aging in the Digital World -- that teaches digital literacy to seniors 60 and older for free, Sato said. This expo, Living in the Digital World Senior Expo, is in its seventh year and complements our free flagship program by educating the community of the importance of this 21st century life skill. Later, she remarked, Seniors stopped in throughout the day to stroll the exhibits, gain new knowledge, talk with exhibitors and visit with fellow attendees. Cuyahoga County Executive Chris Ronayne, right, was a presenter at the Living in the Digital World Senior Expo. He is shown here with Mely Sato, executive director of the Center for Aging in the Digital World. (Photo Courtesy of Mely Sato) Cuyahoga County Executive Chris Ronayne kicked off the morning, greeting all the seniors who came and urging them to stay alert about being digitally literate. Tak Sato, co-founder of the center, presented the top five things to remember when shopping for a smart phone. Rocky River Police Chief George Lichman shared Tips from the Frontlines: Internet Street Smarts 2023, focusing on both old and new scams targeting seniors. With a good crowd at the expo and the pandemic in the rearview mirror, it is a sure bet that the expo will be back next year. Read more from the West Shore Sun. NORTH RIDGEVILLE, Ohio -- Aryia Jones has a new Amtryke, thanks to the North Ridgeville Kiwanis. Providing Amtrykes to kids and adults with special needs is a signature project for the Kiwanis and is an ongoing effort. The organization has given out 14 so far, according to Toni Krone, a Kiwanis member who helps coordinate fundraising for the bikes. We have a spaghetti dinner every year, said Krone. This year, we raised $4,000 for two bykes. One was for a high school student, a more generic one for anyone. Aryia, who is 7 years old and has cerebral palsy, had to wait for us to give her the bike after a hospital stay. She needed a knee separator (option) that was recommended by a therapist at the school. Krone said an Amtryke is like a regular tricycle, with some extra bells and whistles. There are smaller ones, she noted, but then there are also medium and adult size ones. If we have an older child, we get them an adult size bike. But we can get a smaller or bigger one. They are very expensive. We ask a therapist what they need, such as Ariya who needed the knee separator. Some kids have to use harnesses to prevent falling off the bike, or they need pedal straps and another wraps around the trike (that) holds their arms up to guide the bike. Aryia was given her trike at the Lorain County Community College branch in North Ridgeville. Its all about kids fitting in with other children, according to Krone. Riding bikes is a big deal, she said. They all want to be a normal kid and go outside with this bike and ride with the other kids. For more information about the Kiwanis Amtryke efforts, visit https://www.kiwanis.org/ or contact Joe Martin at jmartin2@lorainccc.edu or Toni Krone at ToniKrone@yahoo.com. Read more from the Sun Sentinel. CLEVELAND, Ohio -- A judge on Monday ordered jail time for a woman whose 21 cats died of starvation in her Olmsted Township after she contracted COVID-19 out of state last summer. Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court Judge Nancy Margaret Russo sentenced Kelly Kuliga, 53, to spend 360 days in the Cuyahoga County Jail for violating what she called the spiritual contract that humans enter with their animals. This is horrific by any stretch of the imagination, Russo said. You knew it was wrong. You could have prevented it. Kuliga, whose attorney said she suffered from a lifetime of abuse and had multiple mental health diagnoses, told the judge that she considered her animals her children. I see those babies eyes every night, she said. I would rather something happen to me than them. Kuliga pleaded guilty on May 2 to 20 counts of cruelty against companion animals, a fifth-degree felony. Prosecutors dismissed nine counts of felony animal cruelty and 20 misdemeanor counts of animal cruelty in exchange. Kuliga also agreed to pay $4,100 to the Cleveland Animal Protective League. Russo barred Kuliga from owning pets and ordered her to be placed on the countys animal abuse registry. Kuliga began to shake and held a piece of paper over her face when she walked into the courtroom and saw a television camera. The case stems from the discovery that an animal control officer made at a home on Stearns Road near Schady Road on July 11. Kuliga lived at the home at the time but has since sold it. She had 27 cats, two dogs and a turtle in the home. She traveled to her hometown in Pennsylvania a week earlier, but she did not arrange for anyone to care for the animals. Her court-appointed public defender, Sean Sweeney, said that Kuliga fell ill with COVID-19 while she was away and couldnt return home to her pets. Someone called Olmsted Township police and asked officers to check on the animals. Assistant Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Diana Nassar played Russo a video of investigators going into the home and discovering the animals. The floor was covered in feces, multiple chair were flipped over across the kitchen, trash was strewn about and dirt was caked on the surfaces. Nassar said that some of the cats began to eat each other to survive. Six of the cats were still alive. The dogs and turtle also survived, but all of the animals were emaciated. STRONGSVILLE, Ohio -- The seniors of Strongsville High School gathered in the gym to get ready ahead of their commencement ceremony at Catan Field Stadium on Sunday afternoon, May 21. The full gallery of 51 photos appears at the top of this article. If you dont see the gallery on your mobile device, please sign in to cleveland.com. SOLON, Ohio If your inner child likes ice cream, your adult self will love the ice cream bar-lour at Pop Culture in Solon. The two-year-old shop is known for hand-crafted, artisan gelato, ice cream and sorbet on a stick, in flavors like Mexican chocolate, creme brule, pistachio, key lime, fruity pebbles and more. With its liquor license, Pop Culture is making spirited treats for the over 21 crowd. Among the choices are boozy milkshakes, tipsy scoops, poptails (ice pop meets cocktail) and other desserts. Some available boozy ice cream flavors include cherry chip bourbon, pina colada with rum, bananas foster with rum and Mexican chocolate with mezcal. Poptail favorites are peach sangria with edible flowers, watermelon margarita, strawberry lemonade with vodka and mango bourbon. These are frozen and sold separately from the non-alcohol treats. These arent just any air-whipped, light ice cream products. These are dense treats with creamy texture and intense flavor. Maker/owner Nicole Dauria likes developing new products, so shes still playing with recipes to create new flavors for the bar-lour. She uses real spirits, in limited quantity. Too much alcohol and the product wont freeze. With that in mind, it would be nearly impossible to overconsume. Youre going to get a stomachache before you get drunk, she says. Poptails can be eaten alone or used to enhance adult beverages. (Photo Pop Culture) Unless she mentions it, most customers have no clue the products are vegan. Dauria uses coconut milk, fruit juices and more. Everything is fresh without artificial coloring or flavoring. In fact, the green in the mint chocolate chip ice pop comes from an undetectable hint of avocado. If you cant get to Pop Culture, 33549 Solon Road, Solon, you may encounter their beersicles this summer at BrewDog Cleveland in the Flats or a red, white, and blue strawberry-banana-blueberry -- Cleveland Guardians colors -- at Geracis Slice Shop Downtown. Dauria created the products for the brewery and the slice shop. Besides retail sales, Dauria caters and attends local events. You can catch her at Blossom Time in Chagrin Falls, Sr. PGA tournament at Firestone Country Club, Lakewood and Chagrin Falls art shows, and many local events. WASHINGTON Arizona, California and Nevada on Monday unveiled a monumental plan to cut use of water from the drought-stricken Colorado River over the next three years. The deal, a potential breakthrough in a year-long stalemate that pitted Western states against one another, is seen as a big step forward for a river that has been in crisis due to a multi-decade drought, population growth and climate change, the Associated Press reported. Water levels in key reservoirs have declined to unprecedented lows so low they threaten water supplies for millions of people. Precipitation and deep snowpack this winter has helped the rivers hydrology improve since last summer, Michael Cohen, a senior researcher at the Pacific Institute focused on the Colorado River, told the AP. He described the cuts the three states have proposed as a huge, huge lift and a significant step forward. It does buy us a little additional time, he said. But if more dry years are ahead, this agreement will not solve that problem. The agreement, announced Monday, calls for the federal government to pay about $1.2 billion to irrigation districts, cities and Native American tribes in the three states if they temporarily use less water. The states have also agreed to make additional cuts needed to protect the collapse of the river. Taken together, the reductions would reduce the total water use in the lower Colorado Basin by about 13%, The New York Times reported. That level of reduction is among the most aggressive ever experienced in the region, and likely would require significant water restrictions for residential and agricultural users. The 1,450-mile Colorado River supplies drinking water to 40 million Americans in seven states (Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming are the other four), as well as part of Mexico. Its water irrigates 5.5 million acres of farmland. Electricity generated by dams at Lake Mead and Lake Powell powers millions of homes and businesses. Last summer, the water levels in Lake Mead (behind Hoover Dam at the Arizona-Nevada border) and Lake Powell (behind the Glen Canyon Dam in northern Arizona near Utah) fell enough to raise fears the hydroelectric turbines they powered might cease operating. There was concern that reservoir levels would fall so low that water would no longer reach the intake valves that control the flow out of the lakes essentially drying up the river downstream, The Times said. Last June the Interior Department told the seven states to find a way to reduce water use by 2 to 4 million acre-feet per year. (An acre-foot of water is about what two to three households use in a year.) The states failed to reach an agreement, even as water levels in the two reservoirs remained dangerously low. This agreement, still to be reviewed by the federal government, does not reach the reduction levels the Interior Department wanted. It would amount to about conservation of about 3 million acre-feet by 2026, when current water agreements expire. Governors from all three states told the Associated Press they recognize there is more work to be done. We agreed to a proposal. This is not an agreement, Tom Buschatzke, director of the Arizona Department of Water Resources, told The AP. This is critical to the understanding of what weve done here. The proposal still needs analysis and approval from the federal government, which will determine how much funding will be allocated for entities that give up water, Buschatzke said. U.S. Bureau of Reclamation Commissioner Camille Touton called it an important step forward. She said the bureau will pull back its proposal from last month that could have resulted in sidestepping the existing water priority system to force cuts as it analyzes the three-state plan. The bureaus earlier proposal, if adopted, could have led to a messy and drawn-out legal battle. LAKES OF THE FOUR SEASONS, Indiana A grenade detonated after it was found by a family searching through a relatives belongings, killing one man and injuring two teenagers. The Lake County Coroners Office tells WLS Channel 7 the explosion killed Bryan Niedert, 47. Two of his children, an 18-year-old woman and a 14-year-old boy, were taken to a hospital after being injured by shrapnel from the grenade, according to the Lake County Sheriffs Department. The sheriffs department says the explosion occurred just before 6:30 p.m. Saturday at the familys home in Lakes of the Four Seasons. The victims were going through items belonging to a grandfather when they found the grenade. Prime Minister Han Duck-soo met with the visiting head of the World Trade Organization (WTO) on Monday, highlighting the importance of recovering the multilateral trading system, according to Han's office. WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala arrived in Seoul on Monday for a three-day stay, marking the first visit to South Korea by the WTO's top official since 2014. During the dinner meeting, Han emphasized the crucial role of the WTO in restoring the multilateral trading system amid fast-changing global economic and trade situations, as well as worsening geopolitical conflicts, the office said in a press release. Han also urged the WTO to take the lead in restoring the global order, promoting international trade, and ensuring stable global supply chains, it said. Okonjo-Iweala is the seventh director-general of the WTO. She took office in March 2021, becoming the first woman and the first African to serve in the post. Her term of office will end in August 2025, according to her office. (Yonhap) CLEVELAND, Ohio Cleveland City Council has approved legislation creating the North Coast Development Authority, a new public-private agency designed to shepherd large-scale projects on the citys downtown lakefront. Mayor Justin Bibb had asked Council to approve using $3 million in federal money granted to the city through the American Rescue Plan Act to get the authority started. COLUMBUS, Ohio Tim Ryan, the former Ohio congressman and 2022 Democratic U.S. Senate nominee, has taken his first post-congressional full-time job. Zoetic Global, a Washington, D.C.-based clean technology company, announced Monday it had hired Ryan as its chief global business development officer. Ryan will help the company advance its business internationally but will have a focus on Ohio and the Midwest, the company said. As he transitions into his post-political career, Ryan still sits atop Ohio Democrats short-list of potential future statewide candidates. Ryan drew national attention for running a more competitive-than-expected race for U.S. Senate. But, he lost in the November election by 6 percentage points to now-Sen. J.D. Vance, a Republican. Asked about his interest in potentially running for office again, Ryan didnt sound enthused about the idea. No time soon. Its like, Ive just been doing it so long and its been a nice break, Ryan said in an interview. My family basically got put on the backburner for the last ten years. I just want to make it up to them and spend more time with them... So maybe someday, but no time soon, Ryan said. Ryan said that his work will involve marketing the companys main product, a refrigerant, toward businesses, hospitals and schools to help them to reduce their cooling costs. Were talking about restaurants or shopping malls, trucks, big tech with their data centers or whoever, everybody that uses refrigeration, Ryan said. Were talking about a huge tax cut, basically, for these businesses just as theyre heading into a recession. Ryans company also plans to help companies qualify for carbon credits, which recognizes their reduction in energy use, that then can be bought and traded to private companies to help them comply with environmental regulations and goals. Ryan said the company also plans to gift some of the credits to school districts, which could sell them to raise money. The company will make its refrigerant in Youngstown, Ryan said, and its setting up a carbon credit office in Columbus. Ryan said he likely eventually will move to Columbus as part of his job. In Columbus, with New Albany and everything, its one of the hottest places in the world for development, Ryan said. As a member of Congress, Ryan helped push for the CHIPS Act, which is subsidizing a planned Intel plant in the New Albany area thats the single largest economic development project in state history. In addition to his clean energy job, Ryan has accrued a variety of advisory gigs since leaving office in January. Hes joined an advisory board to Coinbase, the cryptocurrency brokerage; signed on with another cryptocurrency-related venture with David McIntosh, a former Republican congressman who leads the conservative Club for Growth advocacy organization; become a fellow at the University of Chicagos Institute for Politics and and joined the leadership council of a Natural Allies for a Clean Energy Future, an organization that advocates for the natural gas industry. Ryan represented Youngstown in Congress from 2000 through 2022. Andrew Tobias covers state politics and government for cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer. CLEVELAND, Ohio A Cleveland man died Sunday in a shooting that took place in the citys St. Clair-Superior neighborhood, police said. The office of the Cuyahoga County medical examiners office identified the victim as Jalen Deshon Dalton, 29. Dalton was fatally shot in the neck and arm about 2:10 p.m. in the 900 block of East 75th Street, police said. COLUMBUS, Ohio Ohio House Speaker Jason Stephens has removed a Republican rival from a prestigious committee assignment as part of a larger shakeup of the House committee roster. State Rep. Derek Merrin, of Monclova Township, learned on Friday, via a memo from the Speakers office, that Stephens had removed him as vice-chair of the House Ways and Means Committee, which writes and reviews proposed changes to state tax policy. Tax policy is one of Merrins core interests, and Merrin, a Lucas County Republican, is a former chairman of the committee. But the move isnt just an ego bruise for Merrin it also means a pay cut, since vice-chair spots come with a $6,750-a-year stipend. He is a weak man trying to act tough, Merrin said in a text message. Stephens spokesman Aaron Mulvey said in a text message that the committee assignment were revised in response to House Republicans appointing two new members, state Reps. Justin Pizzulli of Scioto County and Brian Lorenz of Delaware County, to fill vacant seats last week. This is an update as the House Republicans now have a full slate of representatives, Mulvey wrote. Cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer reached out to Mulvey specifically about why Merrin and some of his allies were removed from committees. The move shows that bad blood remains after Stephens topped Merrin in January in a pitched leadership battle. Stephens enlisted the help of minority Democrats to become speaker after Merrin had won a preliminary closed-door, Republican-only vote weeks before. Merrin has tried to style himself as the true leader of the Ohio House GOP, as he and a group of loyalists continue to criticize Stephens from within the caucus. The inter-party tension has complicated the Houses internal politics, although Republicans managed to close ranks earlier this month and advance a stalled proposal to make it harder to amend the state constitution ahead of a potential ballot issue over abortion rights in November. As part of the Friday committee shakeup, Stephens also removed two key Merrin supporters from their committee leadership roles, resulting in similar pay cuts for state Reps. Ron Ferguson of Wintersville and Jena Powell of Darke County. Stephens tapped Pizzulli to be vice-chair of the House Financial Institutions Committee, replacing Powell, while he picked state Rep. Dave Dobos of Columbus to be vice-chair of the House Transportation Committee, replacing Ferguson. In an interview, Ferguson called Stephens a power-hungry dictator and noted Stephens had been censured by the Ohio Republican Party over the circumstances through which he became speaker. Last month, Dobos resigned as vice chair of the House Higher Education Committee after cleveland.com/The Plain Dealer reported that he falsely claimed to have graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Stephens appointed state Rep. Gayle Manning, a North Ridgeville Republican, to succeed Dobos as vice chair of the higher education committee. Andrew Tobias covers state politics and government for cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer Jeremy Pelzer covers state politics and policy for cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer Rotunda Rumblings Fresh faces: Shammas Malik is poised to be the latest thirtysomething to be elected mayor of a big Ohio city, after he won a seven-way primary election this month. Andrew Tobias explores what the elections of Malik, Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb and Cincinnati Mayor Aftab Pureval may mean for the future of Democratic politics in Ohio. Canada says meh: Ohio recently became the sixth U.S. state to authorize enhanced drivers licenses, which can be used to more easily cross into Canada, Mexico, and the Caribbean. As Jeremy Pelzer found, enhanced licenses elsewhere have had a mixed response. While other states say the licenses have been useful, every Canadian province that offered them has since stopped, citing low demand and more popular alternatives. Jobs: Ohios unemployment rate fell from 3.8% in March to 3.7% in April, Sean McDonnell reports. This marks the lowest rate since 1976. Guns drawn: Ohio has steadily relaxed its gun laws over the last 20 years. Anna Staver of the USA TODAY Ohio statehouse bureau takes a close look at why and how. State vs. Columbus: In the latest round of tit-for-tat preemption, House GOP Reps. Jeff LaRe and DJ Swearingen introduced legislation to ban cities from imposing curfews. This comes after Columbus, in the wake of violent shootings in a lively bar district, imposed a mostly voluntary curfew in response. The city has repeatedly battled with the state, seeking to impose its own tougher gun laws while the state has loosened them. Bud buys: The Ohio Board of Pharmacy awarded a certificate of operation last Wednesday to The Landing Dispensary, 1312 SR-63 in Monroe in southwest Ohio. The board has now cleared 84 dispensaries to open their doors to medical marijuana patients. Norfolk scholars: Norfolk Southern announced it will provide four students of East Palestine High School $1,000 scholarships over the next four years, plus a new backpack and MacBook Air. This comes month after a company train crash led to the spill of tens of thousands of gallons of hazardous materials to the community. Lobbying Lineup The Ohio Senate passed Senate Bill 83 on Wednesday, which makes a sweep of changes to colleges in Ohio, including limiting perceived liberal bias and prohibiting teachers from striking. Heres whos registered to lobby on the bill. Unions: AFSCME Ohio Council 8, Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen, SEIU District 1199 Schools: Association of Independent Colleges and Universities of Ohio, Central State University, Clark State Community College, Columbus State Community College, Kent State University, Otterbein University, Owens Community College, Sinclair Community College, University of Akron, University of Cincinnati, Wright State University, Western Governors University Vendors: Cengage Associations: Ohio Academy of Family Physicians, Ohio Association of School Business Officials, Ohio Counseling Association, Ohio Employment Lawyers Association, Ohio State Bar Association, Ohio Pharmacists Association Others: Philanthropy Ohio, Ohio Academy of Family Physicians, Kettering Health Network Straight From The Source So, you can teach Letters From a Birmingham Jail from Martin Luther King [Jr.], its required in this bill, but you cant talk about why he got there. -Senate Minority Leader Nickie Antonio on the recently GOP-passed Senate Bill 83, which among other provisions prohibits universities from endorsing or opposing any controversial belief or policy or specified concept including systematic racism or social justice. Capitol Letter is a daily briefing providing succinct, timely information for those who care deeply about the decisions made by state government. Subscribe to get Capitol Letter in your email box each weekday for free. A sign stands at the entrance of Micron Technology's automotive chip manufacturing plant in Manassas, Va, Feb. 11, 2022. Escalating its feud with Washington over technology and security, China's government told users of computer equipment to stop buying products from the U.S. memory chipmaker, Sunday. AP-Yonhap Experts warn of rising market shares of Chinese competitors By Baek Byung-yeul Korean memory chipmakers Samsung Electronics and SK hynix could benefit from Micron Technology's absence in the Chinese market over the short term as China's sanctions on the U.S. chipmaker went into effect, Sunday. But the latest development is not expected to be favorable for them in the long run as Beijing's action will also benefit Chinese chipmakers, according to industry experts, Monday. On Sunday, the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) released a statement titled, "Micron's products sold in China fail cybersecurity review." The cyberspace regulator said it decided that products made by the U.S. chipmaker had failed its network security review and that it will ban operators of critical infrastructure from buying products from Micron. "The purpose of this network security review of Micron's products is to prevent product network security issues from endangering the security of the country's key information infrastructure, which is a necessary measure to maintain national security," the CAC said. The key information infrastructure includes transport, public services, finance and energy. China's sanction on Micron was nothing new. In March, the CAC said it was conducting a cybersecurity review of Micron's products sold in China, citing national security concerns. This was the first time China has conducted a cybersecurity review of a foreign chip company and the move is interpreted as being an obvious retaliation against a U.S. ban on semiconductor exports to China since October 2022. The ban dealt a significant blow to Micron as the Chinese market accounts for the third-largest portion of the company's revenues following the U.S. and Taiwan, with 25 percent of its $30.8 billion revenue in 2022 coming from China and Hong Kong. Banning Micron in the infrastructure market in China also put Samsung and SK in the middle of an escalating U.S.-China chip war, because Washington reportedly urged the Korean government in April to prevent Korean chip companies from filling the shortage if China bans Micron's sales. Jim Handy, general director of Silicon Valley-based semiconductor market research company, Objective Analysis, said banning Micron from the key infrastructure market in China would benefit Samsung and SK, the two other major players in the global memory chip market. But on the other hand, he said this also means that the Korean companies must deal with the rapid rise of Chinese chipmakers. "Although China's action could be very beneficial in the short term to Samsung and SK hynix, both of these companies understand the value of having a third competitor, so I am certain that they will deal with the situation responsibly," the analyst told The Korea Times. He speculated that China may have taken advantage of the current oversupply of semiconductors in the market and decided not to use Micron's products. "There's a big DRAM and NAND flash oversupply right now. I suspect that the Chinese government expects it will be able to use this to its advantage in the China-U.S. trade war. I also suspect that right now, Chinese companies that are using DRAM and NAND flash are calling their political representatives asking for them to reconsider. The same kind of thing happens in the U.S. when the U.S. government takes any action against China. These actions usually hurt both sides. In the U.S. we call this a 'double-edged sword,'" the analyst said. Kyung Hee-kwon, an associate research fellow at the Korea Institute for Industrial Economics and Trade (KIET), also said the Chinese government's decision to exclude Micron from semiconductor products used in critical infrastructure could be seen as stemming from a political dispute with the U.S., but it could also be seen as a situation where products from Chinese companies could be replaced. "This is not a good thing for Korean companies. In the first quarter of this year, Micron's share of NAND memory semiconductors was around 10 percent, while China's YMTC accounted for almost 6 percent. The share of 128-layer NAND semiconductors accounts for about 40 percent of the total share of NAND, and YMTC may have acted because it believes its technology can displace Korean and U.S. technology," the researcher said. "We don't know what security concerns the Chinese government is referring to. However, if we look at it purely from the perspective of market logic, China could think that it wouldn't be hurt by not using Micron products. They didn't say they were banning Micron products used in IT products," Kyung added. President Joe Biden nominated telecom attorney Anna Gomez to the Federal Communications Commission, his second attempt to fill an empty seat on the typically five-member panel that has left the agency in a 2-2 deadlock for his entire presidency thus far. The nomination comes a couple of months after Biden's previous nominee, Gigi Sohn, withdrew herself from consideration, following a years-long fight for confirmation. Though she was first nominated in October 2021, she faced criticism from Republicans and some senators from her own Democratic party. The Senate Commerce Committee held multiple hearings with Sohn in an effort to assuage concerns, but it remained unclear if she would have enough support to be confirmed. The 2-2 split between Democrats and Republicans on the FCC has meant that only actions that could gain the support of at least one Republican commissioner have been able to move forward. That's left more contentious issues like net neutrality off the table, despite the Biden administration's hope to restore the rules that would prohibit internet service providers from blocking or favoring certain content. In July 2021, Biden issued an executive order that encouraged the FCC to restore net neutrality rules, which took hold while he was vice president in the Obama administration but were repealed under the Trump administration's FCC chair. Gomez is a senior advisor for international information and communications policy in the State Department's Bureau of Cyberspace and Digital Policy, according to the White House. She previously served as deputy administrator for the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, an arm of the Department of Commerce that administers broadband funding and advises the president on telecom and information policy issues. Gomez has previously worked for the FCC in several positions over 12 years, the White House said. She's also worked in the private sector, including as a partner at the law firm Wiley Rein prior to joining the State Department in 2023. Earlier in her career, she served as vice president for federal and state government affairs for Sprint Nextel. FCC Chair Jessica Rosenworcel said in a statement that Gomez "brings with her a wealth of telecommunications experience, a substantial record of public service, and a history of working to ensure the U.S. stays on the cutting edge of keeping us all connected." Gomez's nomination also received praise from the telecom industry. Tom Reid, chief legal officer of Comcast , which owns CNBC parent company NBCUniversal, said in a statement that Gomez's "deep knowledge across the breadth of issues before the FCC makes her exceptionally qualified to be a Commissioner." Jonathan Spalter, president and CEO of USTelecom, a trade group that represents broadband providers like AT&T and Verizon , congratulated Gomez in a statement. "I have come to know Anna over the years in her roles as an advocate in the public and private sectors, and if confirmed, I look forward to working with her and a full five-member FCC on our shared objective to connect everyone everywhere to the power and promise of broadband," Spalter said. Free Press, a nonprofit advocacy group that supports net neutrality, said Gomez's nomination was long overdue. "We're now approaching two-and-a-half years without a fully functional Federal Communications Commission," Free Press Co-CEO Jessica J. Gonzalez said in a statement. "Never before has the American public had to wait so long for a commissioner's seat to be filled. This senseless delay is harming millions of people, including working families trying to pay their rising monthly bills and Black, Indigenous, Latinx and rural communities that the biggest telecom companies and broadcast conglomerates have long neglected." Gonzalez called Gomez "eminently qualified" for the role and praised the nomination of a Latinx candidate to the position. "In addition to her corporate experience which has often entailed working for competitive carriers instead of incumbents Gomez has a long track record of public service, including high-ranking positions at the FCC and Commerce Department," Gonzalez said. Biden also re-nominated two existing commissioners to the panel: Democrat Geoffrey Starks and Republican Brendan Carr. The agency cannot have more than three commissioners from one party at a given time. A Senate vote is required to confirm the nominees. Disclosure: Comcast owns CNBC parent company NBCUniversal. Subscribe to CNBC on YouTube. WATCH: Proposed policies around internet gatekeepers could increase competition, says frmr. White House CTO China's chip stocks rallied on Monday morning following Beijing's announcement to bar some purchases of products from U.S. memory chipmaker Micron . China's Cyberspace Administration barred operators of "critical information infrastructure" in China from buying products from the U.S. chip giant following a security review conducted by the Cyberspace Administration of China. Chinese authorities said Micron products have failed its network security review, and cited "serious potential network security issues." The firm poses a "major security risk" to China's critical information infrastructure supply chain and affects [its] national security," a statement said. Shares of Chinese chipmakers largely rose on Monday following the move: Hong Kong-listed Hua Hong Semiconductor rose as much as 3.14% on Monday, while SMIC rose 2.64%. In this article PFE MRNA Follow your favorite stocks CREATE FREE ACCOUNT A pharmacist prepares to administer COVID-19 vaccine booster shots during an event hosted by the Chicago Department of Public Health at the Southwest Senior Center on September 09, 2022 in Chicago, Illinois. Scott Olson | Getty Images Three years and billions of Covid vaccinations into the pandemic, Pfizer and Moderna say their work is far from over. The two pharmaceutical companies, whose Covid vaccines have become household names, are ushering in a new era for their shots that will elevate the role they play in protecting public health, but also simplify what people need to do to coexist with the virus. That involves developing new versions of the vaccines that aim to provide broader and longer-lasting immunity against the virus, and combination jabs that protect against Covid and other respiratory diseases in a single dose, among other efforts. Those plans coincide with a broader shift in the Covid pandemic landscape. The U.S. and global-level public health emergencies are over, vaccine uptake and sales growth have slowed, and both Pfizer and Moderna will sell their shots directly to health-care providers at around $110 to $130 per dose as soon as the fall, when the federal stockpile of free vaccines is expected to run out. Neither company provided CNBC with an update on the exact private market price of their shots. Many of Pfizer's and Moderna's plans for their vaccines may not reach the public for a few more years, and the success of those efforts isn't guaranteed. "One of the greatest things about Moderna is the company's willingness to lean in, even if it's not obvious where exactly things will go," Dr. Jacqueline Miller, Moderna's therapeutic area head of infectious diseases, told CNBC. Here's what Moderna and Pfizer say is next for their Covid shots. Annual Covid shots Pfizer and Moderna aim to keep up with a shift in the U.S. toward annual Covid shots rather than frequent booster doses. Regulators are transitioning toward a flu shot-like model for Covid vaccines, meaning people will get a single shot every year that is updated annually to target the latest variant expected to circulate in the fall and winter. A panel of independent advisors to the FDA will meet in June to select which Covid strain new vaccines should target when they roll out later this year. Moderna and Pfizer both told CNBC that messenger RNA technology will allow them to keep pace with new Covid variants each year. That technology, which is used in Covid shots from both companies, teaches human cells to produce a protein that initiates an immune response against a certain disease. Miller, who helped lead the development of Moderna's Covid shot in 2020, said the advantages of using mRNA became evident earlier on in the pandemic. That includes the ability to rapidly scale up the manufacturing of a shot and easily alter the variants they target. "The vaccine became proof of the value of mRNA in a pandemic when you need to make something quickly," Miller told CNBC. "The speed of that platform it allows us to do things three times as fast." A healthcare worker administers a dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine at a vaccination clinic in the Peabody Institute Library in Peabody, Massachusetts, U.S., on Wednesday, Jan. 26, 2022. Vanessa Leroy | Bloomberg | Getty Images Dr. Mikael Dolsten, Pfizer's chief scientific officer, hopes that annual Covid vaccines will improve public sentiment around getting vaccinated. He said the public grew increasingly dissatisfied with health mandates during the earlier stages of the pandemic, and "unfortunately some people see vaccines as part of that." An annual schedule may help people view Covid shots as another "very natural part" of protecting their health and encourage more of them to vaccinate each year, according to Dolsten. "I think of it like the introduction of seat belts for cars. People didn't want to wear them at first, but over time they realized how much seat belts protect them. Now everyone uses them today," Dolsten told CNBC. "That's kind of how the vaccine story needs to be reimagined." 'Next-generation' Covid shots Pfizer's and Moderna's Covid vaccines both deliver robust protection against the virus, but that immunity can start to fade after four to six months. Part of Pfizer's strategy for shifting to an annual Covid vaccine schedule is developing "next-generation" versions of the shot, which aim to broaden and extend the protection people get to a full year. "Protection is still there but gradually waning, and we're working with two different approaches to make it a bit more like an annual durability for the majority of people," Dolsten told CNBC. Pfizer and its Covid vaccine partner BioNTech are working on a shot that will elevate the level of antibodies a person gets after vaccination by "severalfold," according to Dolsten. The vaccine won't work too differently from the company's current shot, which teaches cells how to make harmless copies of Covid's spike protein. The immune system detects that protein and creates protective antibodies that help fend off the virus but decrease over time. The main difference is that the next-generation shot will teach cells how to make copies of an "enhanced" spike protein, which will generate a far higher level of antibodies that could last for an entire year. "If we're elevating antibodies, let's say threefold, that means they will last and protect for a year," Dolsten said. The company is working on a second vaccine that aims to boost T-cells, another form of protection that targets and destroys cells infected with Covid. In addition to antibodies, Pfizer's existing shot triggers the creation of T-cells against the spike protein. T-cells wane slower than antibodies, meaning they offer longer-term protection against the virus. Pfizer is adding another strain of mRNA in its new shot that will broaden that T-cell response. The strain will specifically trigger an increase in T-cells against other parts of the coronavirus called non-spike proteins. Those T-cells, in addition to the ones generated against the spike protein, will provide protection against "all corners of Covid's viral landscape," according to Dolsten. Non-spike proteins also mutate slower than the spike protein, which means that any T-cells generated against them will likely protect against a wide range of Covid variants. Empty vials of Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus disease (COVID-19) children's vaccines are pictured at Skippack Pharmacy in Schwenksville, Pennsylvania, U.S., May 19, 2022. Hannah Beier | Reuters Dr. Paul Burton, Moderna's chief medical officer, said the company has its own "next-generation" Covid vaccine, which aims to improve how shots are stored and administered. The company's current shot must be kept in ultra-cold storage. Once thawed, the vaccine can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 30 days, according to Food and Drug Administration guidance. Burton said Moderna's new shot will be "refrigerator stable," meaning it would have a longer refrigerator shelf life. The company will accomplish that by shortening the length of the mRNA strand in the vaccine, according to Burton. The shot could increase the number of vaccine providers around the world, especially in developing countries that may not have freezer capabilities. Moderna is studying the shot in a phase 3 trial, Burton said. The company's existing Covid shot is its only commercially available product. Combination shots Pfizer and Moderna are both banking on a new slate of combination vaccines, expected to provide robust protection against Covid and certain respiratory diseases in a single dose. Dolsten said there's an increasing need for that kind of shot because certain shifts in society are creating a "more thriving environment" for infections. Climate change is driving up the Earth's temperature. Populations are living longer but becoming more vulnerable to disease as they grow older. A growing number of people are moving within countries and across borders. Dolsten said those factors have contributed to the spread of different diseases, sometimes at the same time. The U.S., for example, experienced a so-called tripledemic of Covid, respiratory syncytial virus and the flu last winter. Dolsten said people may not remember or even feel comfortable taking three different shots for those respiratory diseases on an annual basis. So creating a shot that will help people fight more than one of them at once will "simplify life for them," he said. Bottles of vaccine for Influenza Virus, Respiratory Syncytial virus and Covid-19 for vaccination. Flu, RSV and Sars-cov-2 Coronavirus vaccine vials in the medical clinic Angelp | Istock | Getty Images European stock markets closed mixed on Monday, with investors keeping an eye on U.S. debt ceiling talks and Greek election results. The pan-European Stoxx 600 closed 0.01% higher, having shed marginal gains made through the morning. European markets Sectors were mixed, with travel and leisure up 0.6% as oil and gas and mining stocks dropped 0.4%. Germany's DAX index slipped from Friday's record close, closing 0.3% lower. In Greece, the Athens General Composite Index rocketed up almost 7% after the ruling conservative party, New Democracy, secured a firm lead in elections on Sunday. Talks will now begin over a second election as it fell just short of a parliamentary majority and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis rejected the option to seek a coalition government. Chinese President Xi Jinping and hands with then U.S Vice President Joe Biden inside the Great Hall of the People on December 4, 2013 in Beijing, China. Lintao Zhang | Getty Images News | Getty Images Leaders of the Group of Seven agreed there's a need to de-risk, not decouple from China, and acknowledged challenges posed by the mainland's practices which "distort the global economy." "We are not decoupling or turning inwards," the G-7 said in a joint statement released over the weekend as leaders met in Hiroshima, Japan. "At the same time, we recognize that economic resilience requires de-risking and diversifying." Leaders added, "We will seek to address the challenges posed by China's non-market policies and practices, which distort the global economy. We will counter malign practices, such as illegitimate technology transfer or data disclosure." Reiterating the stance, President Joe Biden said at a press conference on Sunday: "We're not looking to decouple from China, we're looking to de-risk and diversify our relationship with China. He explained that means taking steps to diversify supply chains, "so we're not dependent on any one country for necessary product. It means resisting economic coercion together and countering harmful practices that hurt our workers. It means protecting a narrow set of advanced technologies critical for our national security." Speaking after the G-7 finance ministers and central bank governors' meeting earlier this month, U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said China's behavior is "a matter that should be of concern to all of us." "There have been examples of China using economic coercion on countries that take actions that China's not happy with from a geopolitical perspective," she said, citing China's trade disputes with Australia and Lithuania as examples. watch now In their statement the G-7 leaders said, "We will foster resilience to economic coercion. We also recognize the necessity of protecting certain advanced technologies that could be used to threaten our national security without unduly limiting trade and investment." The world's leading democracies said the group will "reduce excessive dependencies in our critical supply chains" while emphasizing the need to cooperate with China, citing its role in the international community and the size of its economy. "We stand prepared to build constructive and stable relations with China, recognizing the importance of engaging candidly with and expressing our concerns directly to China. We act in our national interest," the statement said. President Joe Biden's administration previously briefed industry groups such as the Chamber of Commerce on measures seeking to curb American investments into China, according to media reports. Such rules would mean stricter guidelines for U.S. companies that will be required to inform the government of new investments in Chinese technology companies, according to Politico. Deals in critical sectors such as microchips will also be banned, according to the publication. U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak also told journalists that London was open to following the U.S. lead over curbs on Chinese investment, the Financial Times reported. Decoupling risks ahead? Ahead of the weekend's G-7 summit, Goldman Sachs economists Hui Shan and Andrew Tilton said they expected steps to be taken by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, or CFIUS a U.S. government agency that reviews deals involving foreign investment in the U.S. to see if the transaction infringe on the country's national security. watch now In a note previewing the set of measures earlier this month, they said there may be "more focus on refining the existing tariff, export control, and investment regimes once basic frameworks are in place." "We expect them to be fairly narrowly-focused on advanced semiconductors and related technologies, paralleling last autumn's export controls, and do not anticipate significant restrictions on secondary market portfolio investments." 'Far-reaching' damages The impact of a widening rift between the U.S. and China may lead to further damage, economists at Allianz said in a note las Wednesday. "The economic implications of a further decoupling between the West and China could be far-reaching," they wrote, adding the damage to the Chinese economy could be "far from negligible." "China could retaliate by curtailing the supply of critical raw materials in which it has a dominant position, which could severely disrupt global supply chains," they said. "But this is unlikely as it already applies some forms of outbound investment restrictions and is still looking towards economic pragmatism." The Taiwan factor Further escalations could potentially lie ahead for U.S.-China relations after Washington concluded negotiations with Taiwan on a number of trade items on Friday, marking a potential deal on the first part of the bilateral "21st Century Trade" initiative. The first agreement under the initiative includes: customs administration and trade facilitation, good regulatory practices, services domestic regulation, anticorruption, and small and medium-sized enterprises, the office of the United States Trade Representative said in a release. The Federation of Korean Industry, above, recently sent a letter to Morgan Stanley Capital International calling for granting Korea a developed market status. / Courtesy of FKI A major Korean business lobby said Monday it will send a letter to Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) calling for Korea's addition to its candidate list for developed market status, a month ahead of the MSCI's announcement on its annual market review. The letter, signed by Kim Byong-joon, acting chief of the Federation of Korean Industries (FKI), is scheduled to be sent later in the day to Henry Fernandez, chairman and chief executive of the MSCI, the FKI said. The move came about a month before the MSCI is set to announce its reclassification on stock markets around the world. It classifies the markets based on the countries' economic development, size and liquidity of equity markets, and market accessibility for foreign investors. Korea has remained as an emerging market since 1992, when it was first listed on the MSCI, and has been seeking to upgrade its status to a developed market. The inclusion among the MSCI developed markets means more potential to attract foreign capital inflow. Korea had made it to the watchlist once in 2008 but lost the status later after the MSCI determined the market lacked accessibility. In the letter, the FKI cited Korea's status as the world's 13th-largest economy with a 2022 gross domestic product of $1.66 trillion. The per-capita gross national income stood at $33,000 in 2022, more than fulfilling the MSCI's requirements. Trading volume in stock markets reached $3.02 trillion in the same year, ranking seventh in the world, with the market capitalization ranking 16th globally with $1.64 trillion won, trumping countries like Spain, Singapore and Austria that are on the MSCI developed markets list, the FKI said. Financial authorities have taken measures recently to ease what foreign investors regard as barriers to investing in Korea, and such efforts should be taken into account positively, the FKI said. In January, the government said it will remove the preregistration requirements for foreign investors within this year to increase market accessibility. The authorities also announced it will require all companies to post regulatory filings in English starting next year and are pushing for a revised bill to revamp the foreign exchange market, including an extension of trading hours, among other measures. A country needs to be included on the watchlist to become eligible for a reclassification review in the following year. Korea had made it to the watchlist once in 2008 but was delisted after the MSCI determined the market lacked accessibility. (Yonhap) The G-7 issued its strongest ever message to China over the weekend, but an analyst warned that isolating Beijing is "impossible" and "dangerous." The world's largest seven economies agreed at a summit in Hiroshima, Japan, to de-risk and diversify their supply chains away from China, amid concerns of economic coercion. There has been a growing awareness among Western nations that their economies rely heavily on China. The coronavirus pandemic shed light on the intricacies of critical supply chains, but the ongoing war in Ukraine has further exacerbated this reality. In a joint statement after the summit, the Group of Seven said: "Our policy approaches are not designed to harm China nor do we seek to thwart China's economic progress and development. ... At the same time, we recognize that economic resilience requires de-risking and diversifying." In the wake of the G-7 announcement, China summoned the Japanese ambassador and ordered companies to stop buying from American chipmaker Micron. Giuliano Noci, vice-rector for China for Politecnico di Milano, on Monday told CNBC's "Squawk Box Europe" that the G-7 showed a "unitarian" perspective against China. "[President Joe] Biden spoke in terms of de-risking and not in terms of decoupling. Decoupling was the magic word of the United States still a month ago, but it is very clear that, given the role played by the Chinese market for several products, given the level of intertwines among supply chains, it is almost impossible to decouple," Noci said. De-risking refers to easing some of the dependencies on China, rather than totally breaking the relationship. "It should be clear that isolating China will be not only, on the one hand, impossible but also, on the other hand, dangerous," Noci said. The shift from the Biden administration perhaps highlights the realization that it would take a great deal of effort and economic pain to separate its economy from that of China. Figures from the United States Census Bureau showed that the U.S. recorded a trade deficit in goods with China of about $383 billion in 2022. The data from last year showed a record high in trade between the nations and is evidence of the difficulties of separating their economies. Co-founder of Oracle, Larry Ellison, center, says the Pledge of Allegiance before Republican presidential candidate Tim Scott delivers his speech announcing his candidacy for president of the United States on the campus of Charleston Southern University in North Charleston, S.C., Monday, May 22, 2023. Oracle co-founder and Republican megadonor Larry Ellison is preparing to spend millions of dollars backing Sen. Tim Scott's run for president. The plans have been in motion since the 2022 midterms, when Ellison donated $30 million to a pro-Scott super PAC, Opportunity Matters Fund, according to people familiar with the Oracle executive chairman's plans. People who declined to be named for this story did so in order to speak freely about private planning and deliberations. Scott announced his campaign Monday. A Republican strategist and fundraiser close to Ellison told CNBC that the businessman's donations to the super PAC this time are likely to at least double what he gave in 2022. The super PAC during the midterms backed Scott and spent millions more for other Republicans running for Senate seats, including just under $2 million for failed Georgia Senate candidate Herschel Walker, according to the nonpartisan OpenSecrets. The Opportunity Matters Fund PAC has been rebranded for Scott's White House run with a new name: Trust In The Mission PAC, or TIM PAC. Ellison attended Scott's campaign announcement Monday in South Carolina. Ellison, who has a net worth of about $115 billion, sat in a VIP section at the rally. Scott praised Ellison at the rally, calling the businessman "one of my mentors." A spokesman for the Scott campaign did not return requests for comment. Ellison contributed just over $7 million to various political causes in 2020, including $5 million to the Opportunity Matters Fund and $1 million toward a super PAC that supported Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, as she succesfully ran for reelection, according to OpenSecrets. Ellison donated $5 million during the 2016 election cycle to the Conservative Solutions PAC, a super PAC that spent over $30 million backing Republican Sen. Marco Rubio's failed bid for the presidency, according to Federal Election Commission records. The PAC also spent millions opposing former President Donald Trump, according to the records. Another veteran Republican fundraiser told CNBC that Ellison is already planning to donate up to $10 million to the TIM PAC in the early going of Scott's run. Ellison has signaled to allies that he could give at least between $20 million and $30 million more this cycle, this person said. Ellison admires Scott a great deal for the senator's strong support for Israel, according to a lobbyist who's worked with Oracle and has known Ellison for years. Visitors take photos in front of the Meta sign at its headquarters in Menlo Park, California, December 29, 2022. Meta has been fined a record 1.2 billion euros ($1.3 billion) by European privacy regulators over the transfer of EU user data to the U.S. The decision links back to a case brought by Austrian privacy campaigner Max Schrems who argued that the framework for transferring EU citizen data to America did not protect Europeans from U.S. surveillance. Several mechanisms to legally transfer personal data between the U.S. and the EU have been contested. The latest such iteration, Privacy Shield, was struck down by the European Court of Justice, the EU's top court, in 2020. The Irish Data Protection Commission that oversees Meta operations in the EU alleged that the company infringed the bloc's General Data Protection Regulation when it continued to send the personal data of European citizens to the U.S despite the 2020 European court ruling. GDPR is the EU's landmark data protection regulation that governs firms active in the bloc. It came into effect in 2018. Meta used a mechanism called standard contractual clauses to transfer personal data in and out of the EU. This was not blocked by any court of the EU. The Irish data watchdog said that the clauses were adopted by the European Commission, the EU's executive arm, in conjunction with other measures implemented by Meta. However, the regulator said these arrangements "did not address the risks to the fundamental rights and freedoms of data subjects that were identified" by the European Court of Justice. Ireland's Data Protection Commission also told Meta to "suspend any future transfer of personal data to the US within the period of five months" from the decision. The 1.2 billion euro punishment for Meta is the highest any company has ever been fined for breaching GDPR. The previous largest fine was a 746 million euro charge for e-commerce giant Amazon for violating GDPR in 2021. A view of fjords as they melt due to climate change near Svalbard Islands, in the Arctic Ocean in Norway on July 19, 2022. Anadolu Agency | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images The Norwegian government is calling on energy giants to ramp up oil and gas exploration projects in remote regions like the Arctic Barents Sea, defying a sense of palpable frustration among climate campaigners as the Nordic country seeks to shore up its position as Europe's largest gas supplier. The rethink in strategy comes as Norway strives to keep up with growing demand for its energy exports in the wake of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Norway last year overtook Russia as Europe's biggest natural gas supplier and says it is now seeking to maintain Europe's energy security by exploring the Barents Sea for further resources. Speaking in the town of Hammerfest late last month, Norway's Petroleum and Energy Minister Terje Aasland reportedly said that the industry should "leave no stone unturned" in their pursuit for fresh hydrocarbon discoveries in the Barents Sea. Aasland even described this policy as the oil and gas industry's "social responsibility," according to Bloomberg, saying undiscovered resources could help to maintain the country's future production levels. Norway oil and gas giant Equinor and Var Energi, one of the country's largest exploration and production companies, confirmed to CNBC that the minister recently issued this call. A spokesperson for Norway's petroleum and energy ministry, meanwhile, said that the message to energy giants was "to explore all economic oil and gas resources within the available areas, including in the Barents Sea." Norway has pumped oil and gas from its continental shelf, a relatively shallow section of seabed off its coast, for more than 50 years and it currently has several oil and gas fields either in production or under development. Oil drilling in the Arctic is like pouring gasoline on a fire. Frode Pleym Head of Greenpeace Norway It is estimated that roughly two-thirds of the country's undiscovered oil resources lies off the country's northern coast in the Arctic's Barents Sea. And yet, the desire among energy companies to explore the Barents Sea for oil and gas has been relatively subdued in recent years, in part due to high costs and limited opportunities to export gas to markets. At the start of the year, however, Norway said it planned to offer energy firms a record number of oil and gas exploration blocks in the Arctic. Environmental campaigners at Friends of the Earth Norway, WWF-Norway and Greenpeace Norway have described the country's lobbying for continued oil and gas expansion as "embarrassing," "extremely reckless" and "a middle finger to the Paris Agreement." "Oil drilling in the Arctic is like pouring gasoline on a fire," Frode Pleym, head of Greenpeace Norway, told CNBC via email. "Both Norway and the oil corporations need to stop cynically exploiting Russia's war in Ukraine," Pleym said. "The aggressive and greedy oil policy of Norway do not only consolidate Oslo's position as a top energy supplier to Europe, it locks a whole continent into future dependency on fossil fuels. The alternative to oil and gas is not more oil and gas, it is more energy efficiency and renewable energy." The burning of fossil fuels, such as coal, oil and gas, is the chief driver of the climate crisis. 'We want to explore for more' Norway has been one of the world's top crude producers for the past half-century thanks to its gigantic North Sea petroleum deposits the spoils of which have been used to provide a robust safety net for current and future generations. Oil and gas companies believe the Barents Sea can play an important role in ensuring the long-term market access for gas, noting the development of the resources in this area should fit within the EU's Arctic policy. A spokesperson for Equinor told CNBC that the company hoped to see "new attractive acreage in the Barents Sea." They added, "we want to explore for more and we think we will find more." Responding to the environmental concerns of Arctic oil and gas drilling, a spokerson at Equinor said, "We have a long track record of offshore operations in harsh environments with high standards on safety, security and sustainability." "We know the Barents region well and work together with the authorities to plan and execute our operations in a sustainable way with as little as possible impact on the environment." A LNG ship is pictured at the island Melkoya where Norwegian energy giant Equinor has built a facility for receiving and processing natural gas from the Snhvit field in the Barents Sea. Fredrik Varfjell | Afp | Getty Images The Norwegian Petroleum Directorate, the government agency responsible for the regulation of petroleum resources, recently lamented the lack of exploration in the Barents Sea, saying its calculations show that such activity "is profitable in all ocean areas." Separately, a mid-April study from gas infrastructure operator Gassco said building a pipeline to transport gas produced in the Arctic Barents Sea could be worth re-examining due to the country stepping up its gas exports to Europe. A spokesperson for Var Energi described the Barents Sea as a strategic hub for oil and gas drilling, one that provides a "manageable, ice-free" part of the Arctic with weather and climate conditions like other parts of the Norwegian Continental Shelf. It is for this reason, Var Energi says, that the Barents Sea should not be compared to other Arctic regions characterized by harsher conditions, adding that the company abides by strict environmental regulations. Climate campaign groups refute this logic, warning that any oil spill in this area would spell disaster to the rich but acutely vulnerable ecosystems and marine life. 'A strong basis to lead on climate policy' KeyBanc thinks its ambitious price target on Nvidia is warranted ahead of quarterly results Wednesday. The firm reiterated a buy rating on Nvidia stock in an earnings preview note Sunday for semiconductor stocks. KeyBanc's new $375 per share price target, up from $320, equates to roughly 20% upside for the stock, which has already soared 114% this year. Chipmakers also reporting this week include Marvell Technology and Analog Devices . "We see NVDA as being best positioned to deliver beat/raise results driven by increasing tailwinds from generative AI supported by the rollout of additional RTX40 gaming SKUs," analyst John Vinh wrote. NVDA YTD mountain Nvidia stock. Vinh also highlighted Nvidia's market dominance in the semiconductor space due to the prominence and interest in artificial intelligence this year as the main contributor to the bull case. While supply constraints for graphic processing units could hinder near-term upside, Vinh says KeyBanc "anticipates investors will look through these concerns." "[W]e believe NVDA's outsized share position and ability to monetize growth in generative AI at 70%+ GM should warrant a meaningful premium vs. its semiconductor peers," Vinh said. KeyBanc forecasts Nvidia will report $6.56 billion in revenue and an adjusted 93 cents per share Wednesday. Analysts polled by FactSet estimate 92 cents per share. CNBC's Michael Bloom contributed to this report. Lee Hsien Loong, Singapore's Prime Minister, said Monday he has tested positive for Covid-19 after recently returning from state visits to South Africa and Kenya. Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong has tested positive for Covid-19, days after returning from official visits to South Africa and Kenya. "I am generally feeling ok but my doctors have advised me to self-isolate until I am asymptomatic," Lee said Monday in a Facebook post. "They have also prescribed me Paxlovid, an antiviral medication, because of my age." Lee is 71-years-old and has been serving as prime minister of the Southeast Asian city-state since 2004. He was in South Africa and Kenya May 14-19, according to Singapore's Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Singapore is coming off an April peak in Covid-19 infections. Health Minister Ong Ye Kung said May 9 that only about half of people in Singapore aged 60 and above have kept up-to-date with their Covid-19 vaccinations, down from 58% at the start of 2023. Pita Limjaroenrat, leader of Move Forward Party, attends a press conference of the Thai pro-democracy parties in Bangkok. Peerapon Boonyakiat | SOPA Images | Lightrocket | Getty Images There's plenty of optimism about Thailand due to its tourism potential, but political headwinds could still be a game-changer, says Kelvin Tay from UBS Global Wealth Management. While Thailand stands to be a "big beneficiary" of China's reopening and an expected tourism boost, so far, outbound tourism from China has been "pretty meager," Tay told CNBC "Squawk Box Asia" Thursday. China's employment numbers need to go up first, he added. Thailand also needs to reinvest in infrastructure and rebuild at a faster rate, said Tay. The country had plans to build up infrastructure on its eastern seaboard side via new ports and airports, but "that hasn't really happened at this point," according to Tay. This is largely due to politics, which Thailand has to "get right," he said. Thai politics could be 'game-changer' With 99% of the votes counted, preliminary results showed that Thailand's opposition parties, Move Forward and Pheu Thai, secured the most seats during the general election on May 14, Reuters reported. But for the leading Move Forward party to form a new coalition government, it will need to gain the support of junta-appointed Senate members who get to vote for the next prime minister, Reuters said. The Election Commission has 60 days to certify the election results, after which the prime minister will be selected. watch now Thailand's elections are a "potential game changer," said Tay. Following the votes that showed pro-democracy parties winning a strong majority, the Thai baht on Monday shot to its strongest level since February this year. While the benchmark SET index initially rose when the results came through, but eventually gave up those early gains. In fact, Thai stocks are the worst performers in Southeast Asia this year, but Tay says Thailand is his "top pick" in the region. Thailand's SET index is down 9.22% this year, the biggest laggard in the broader Asia Pacific region. In comparison, Malaysia is about 4.5% lower and Indonesia's Jakarta Stock Index has fallen 2.2% in the same period, according to FactSet data. Another concern is that monarchy-linked companies could be set back by a change in government, Tay added. The Move Forward party has called for reforms to the monarchy, including changing its defamation law. Labor challenges Thailand must also look to its workforce to drive growth, said Tay. The country's fertility ratio and aging population are "one of the worst globally," he said, but workers from neighboring Cambodia and Laos can be brought in to try to boost the labor force. The cultural and linguistic similarities between those countries make it "easy" for Thailand to do so, he added. watch now An aerial view of a Starship prototype stacked on a Super Heavy booster at the company's Starbase facility outside of Brownsville, Texas. Elon Musk's SpaceX is set to join the Federal Aviation Administration as a co-defendant to fight a lawsuit brought by environmental groups following the company's first test flight of Starship, the world's largest rocket, which ended in a mid-flight explosion last month. In a motion filed Friday in court, SpaceX requested that federal judge Carl Nichols allow the company to join the FAA as a defendant against environmental and cultural-heritage nonprofit groups that sued the aerospace regulator earlier this month. The plaintiffs "do not oppose" the company's intervention, per the filings. Jared Margolis, a senior attorney with the Center for Biological Diversity and lead counsel for the plaintiffs, said it's "standard and expected for the applicant to intervene in a case where their permit is at issue." The groups suing the FAA alleged that the agency should have conducted a more in-depth environmental study on the likely impacts of SpaceX activity before allowing the company to launch the world's largest rocket, Starship, from its Starbase facility, a spaceport on the Gulf Coast near Brownsville, Texas. The groups also alleged that the "mitigations" the agency required of SpaceX were not enough to avoid "significant adverse effects" to endangered species, their habitat and tribes in the area that count the land and wildlife sacred. Friday's SpaceX filing outlines the potential consequences for the company if the environmentalists win the lawsuit, noting implications for its business and finances as well as arguing there would be damage to the "substantial national interest" and possible scientific benefits of Starship. "If the Court were to rule in Plaintiffs' favor, the FAA's decision could be set aside, and further licensing of the Starship/Super Heavy Program could be significantly delayed, causing severe injury to SpaceX's business," the company wrote. The lawsuit seeks for the FAA to conduct an environmental impact statement (EIS) a lengthy and thorough procedure that would likely sideline SpaceX's Starship work in Texas for years. The company also wrote in the motion that "the FAA does not adequately represent SpaceX's interests" in the lawsuit, since it's a government agency. It noted that the FAA "has a direct and substantial economic interest in the outcome of this case that the government does not share." The FAA in a statement to CNBC said it "does not comment on ongoing litigation issues." A look at Goldman Sachs' "conviction buy" stocks this year reveals some names with serious upside potential. The Wall Street bank's list comprises its top buy-rated stocks that it expects to outperform. Here are five of them: Sensata Attleboro, Massachusetts-based Sensata makes sensors used in the auto industry and beyond. Goldman in a note this week said investors should consider auto suppliers as a way to tap the electric vehicle trend. "Many of the auto suppliers also have more defensive characteristics (e.g. solid margins and [free cash flow], and diversified customers/end market exposure)," Goldman analysts wrote, listing U.S.-based Sensata as one such stock. The bank gave Sensata a price target of $60, or around 43% potential upside from its current level. ASML Goldman named Dutch semiconductor firm ASML in its screen of "long-term quality compounders" earlier this year. "Slower economic growth and the recent spike in market volatility support the case for stable, high quality companies," said the bank in a report. Goldman's analyst Alex Duval said he maintains a positive view on ASML's long-term growth trajectory, given its "monopoly" in extreme ultraviolet lithography an incredibly short wavelength of light that ASML generates in large quantities to print small, complex designs on microchips. Duval said that demand continues to significantly outpace supply for ASML, with new order intake set to be "robust." Goldman gave ASML a price target of 785 euros ($846), or upside of nearly 23%. Alibaba Goldman said in a recent note that Chinese tech giant Alibaba continued to be its top pick within the China internet and e-commerce segments. According to the bank, its share price performance in 2023 will be underpinned by the following: A return to positive high-single-digit growth in advertising and commission from June onwards, including a recovery in its apparel and cosmetics segments; Growth drivers across AliCloud, its cloud services arm, and its international businesses such as its e-commerce unit Lazada; A "valuation repair" story brought on by its "comprehensive" business model. Goldman gave the U.S.-listed shares of Alibaba a 12-month price target of $136, or potential upside of 58%. Vonovia European real estate company Vonovia made two of Goldman's screens in a report earlier this year: high dividend yielders and value buys with earnings upside potential. Vonovia is among "buy rated stocks that are trading at attractive valuations relative to their own history and the market," according to Goldman. Key catalysts for the stock include the completions of sales, which should allow for deleveraging, and the expected strength of rental markets looking ahead, said the bank's analyst. Goldman gave the stock a price target of 37.30 euros ($40.20), or nearly 115% potential upside. CNBC's Michael Bloom contributed to this report. Republican political operative Len Parnas stands behind Republican gubernatorial candidate Ron DeSantis and his wife Casey wearing a Special Guest credential in this screen grab from video as DeSantis talks to the press at his midterm election night victory party after being elected Governor of Florida in Orlando, Florida, November 6, 2018. Joey Roulette | Reuters Ukrainian-American businessman Lev Parnas and his business partner were arrested in 2019, accused by the U.S. government of funneling a Russian oligarch's money into American political campaigns. One recipient of Parnas' donations -- Florida Governor Ron DeSantis -- has said he was barely an acquaintance. "The governor does not have a relationship with these individuals," DeSantis' spokesperson at the time, Helen Aguirre Ferre, said in a statement on Oct. 10, 2019. Six days later, DeSantis told reporters that Parnas "was just like any other donor, nothing more than that." But DeSantis and Parnas worked more closely together than the Republican governor has disclosed, according to a detailed account of their relationship Parnas provided to Reuters and 63 previously unreported text messages from DeSantis to Parnas between May and October 2018, as DeSantis campaigned for governor. A jury later found Parnas guilty of campaign finance crimes and other charges. As DeSantis prepares to take a widely anticipated leap into the 2024 presidential campaign this week, the disclosures from Parnas cast new light on the Florida governor's relationship with the businessman and the role Parnas played in helping DeSantis gain entree to the circle of former President Donald Trump. DeSantis spokesman Dave Abrams did not respond to specific questions on the existence of the texts and Parnas' account of their relationship. "This is another recycled narrative that has been proven wrong many times over," he said. DeSantis gave back the contribution after Parnas ran into legal trouble. Lev Parnas, Ukrainian-American businessman and former Giuliani associate, leaves the United States Courthouse in the Manhattan borough of New York, October 13, 2021. Carlo Allegri | Reuters The text messages reviewed by Reuters show that DeSantis frequently in more than 20 texts appealed to fellow Floridian Parnas for introductions, advice and other fundraising help during his hotly contested campaign for governor. Two sources close to DeSantis during his 2018 campaign confirmed the texter's number belonged to DeSantis at that time. The texts also reveal that Parnas served as an intermediary between DeSantis and former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, who at the time was the personal attorney of then-President Trump. In one case, 10 days before the 2018 election, DeSantis sent Parnas a text with suggested wording for a Giuliani tweet in support of his candidacy, the messages show. Giuliani did not respond to questions sent through his attorney and his spokesman. Ferre, DeSantis' former spokesperson, did not respond to requests for comment. "We became very friendly" Parnas, now 51, shot to prominence in 2019. He was a key figure in the events leading to Trump's first impeachment, working with Giuliani to gather damaging information on Democrat Joe Biden's son Hunter in Ukraine. Accused of withholding aid to Ukraine unless Kyiv investigated Biden, Trump was impeached by the Democratic-led House of Representatives and charged with abuse of power. He was acquitted by the Republican-majority Senate. A federal judge sentenced Parnas last year to 20 months in prison on a separate matter, defrauding investors in a sham company and illegally making donations to U.S. political candidates on behalf of Russian oligarch Andrey Muraviev. Muraviev has been charged in the case but is a fugitive. He declined to comment. Even before his criminal case, Parnas had an unusual resume for a political rainmaker. After moving to Florida from New York in 1995, he worked for penny stock companies that ran into regulatory problems, according to public records. In 2016, a federal court in New York issued a $508,734 judgment against him for defrauding an individual whose family trust lent Parnas money for a movie, called "Anatomy of an Assassin," according to the judge's ruling. Parnas says he did nothing wrong in that case. Parnas is serving out his sentence under house arrest. Wearing shorts and an ankle bracelet, he spoke with Reuters for several hours at his home in Boca Raton. Parnas says he now regrets his alliance with Giuliani and Trump, believing he was used. He said he shared the texts with Reuters because he feels betrayed by DeSantis, who he says stopped returning texts or calls once he won the governor's race. Parnas once considered DeSantis a close confidant, he said. "We became very friendly." In 2018, Parnas was a well-known figure in Trump's orbit, often seen with Giuliani. Parnas and his business partner, another Ukrainian American named Igor Fruman, would later pay Giuliani $500,000 for consultant work, Reuters has reported. Parnas said he first met DeSantis on May 9, 2018, about three months before Republican primary elections in Florida. DeSantis, then a three-term U.S. Representative, was locked in a tight primary race for governor with Adam Putnam, Florida's then-commissioner of agriculture. "Ron DeSantis approached me at the Trump International Hotel and introduced himself, telling me that he was told to come meet me because I was very close with Donald Trump," Parnas said. Reuters could not establish who told DeSantis to meet with Parnas at the Washington D.C. hotel. While Trump had already tweeted support for DeSantis the prior December, DeSantis wanted a formal endorsement by Trump ahead of the August primary. "He told me he heard I was the guy to speak to because of my relationship with Trump, that's how he worded it," Parnas said. There's no evidence Parnas had any direct influence with Trump. A spokesperson for Trump did not respond to a request for comment. But Parnas conferred frequently with Giuliani. At 9:49 p.m. that day in May 2018, DeSantis texted his cell phone and email addresses to Parnas, according to the messages reviewed by Reuters. Parnas replied by sending his own email address to DeSantis. At their first meeting at the hotel, Parnas described himself as "a bit standoffish" with DeSantis because he hoped to launch a cannabis business and considered DeSantis hostile to legalized marijuana. In another meeting several days later, also at Trump's hotel, DeSantis told him he was not opposed to expanding medical marijuana use in Florida, Parnas said. Lev Parnas, a Ukrainian-American businessman, stands in the yard of his home wearing an ankle-monitoring bracelet in Boca Raton, Florida, U.S., March 31, 2023. Aram Roston | Reuters Korea Land and Housing Corp. (LH) CEO Lee Han-jun speaks during a press conference at the company's headquarters in Jinju, South Gyeongsang Province, May 18. Courtesy of LH By Park Jae-hyuk Korea Land and Housing Corp. (LH) CEO Lee Han-jun has attracted public attention by speaking out against the idea of abolishing "jeonse," a unique Korean house rental system, which was initially proposed by Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Won Hee-ryong, who supervises the state-run real estate developer, according to industry officials, Monday. Lee told reporters last Thursday that it is inappropriate at this moment to intentionally abolish the nation's unique system in which tenants give landlords huge returnable deposits, without paying monthly rent. "Jeonse has served as an important shortcut for Koreans to live in better houses," he said. "If the system is abolished, low-income households will face more difficulties in buying houses." His remarks came two days after Won said at a press conference last Tuesday that a series of recent frauds, exploiting the jeonse system have shown that the traditional renting method is not valid anymore. In particular, the land minister mentioned the idea of placing deposits in escrow accounts, drawing a backlash from landlords and real estate market experts. "For landlords, the purpose of jeonse is to make use of deposits," said Korea Research Institute for Construction Policy researcher Lee Eun-hyung. "Tenants are still able to get their deposits back through the insurance system, so additional regulations are unnecessary." During the press conference, the LH chief also remained cautious about accepting requests from future residents of the collapsed apartment complex in Incheon to rebuild it from scratch. LH is the construction project's owner, and GS E&C, which is in charge of building the apartment complex, admitted it had not properly installed rebar in over 30 places of the destroyed underground parking lot's upper floor. "It is not appropriate to talk about reconstruction until the results of the safety inspection come out," he said. He also emphasized that LH will sell a combined 15 trillion won ($11 billion) worth of properties nationwide by 2026 to reduce the company's debt-to-equity ratio below 200 percent. TikTok has filed a federal lawsuit against Montana in response to a recently passed state law that would ban the popular video service in the state. The lawsuit, filed Monday in the United States District Court for the District of Montana, is intended to "prevent the state of Montana from unlawfully banning TikTok," lawyers for the app's parent company, ByteDance wrote. "Montana's ban abridges freedom of speech in violation of the First Amendment, violates the U.S. Constitution in multiple other respects and is preempted by federal law," the attorneys said. Last week, Montana became the first U.S. state to ban TikTok over allegations the Chinese government can use the app for intelligence-gathering operations. When the ban comes into effect Jan. 1, 2024, Apple and Google's app stores will not be legally allowed to offer TikTok to users in Montana, although it's unclear how those companies will be able to implement the ban. Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte described the ban as an "important measure" intended to advance "our shared priority to protect Montanans from Chinese Communist Party surveillance." TikTok disputes Montana's allegations the Chinese government "could access data about TikTok users, and that TikTok exposes minors to harmful online content," the lawsuit said. "Yet the State cites nothing to support these allegations, and the State's bare speculation ignores the reality that Plaintiff has not shared, and would not share, U.S. user data with the Chinese government, and has taken substantial measures to protect the privacy and security of TikTok users, including by storing all U.S. user data by default in the United States and by erecting safeguards to protect U.S. user data," the attorneys added. TikTok has been under fire from U.S. lawmakers over its alleged ties to the Chinese government. Shou Zi Chew, TikTok's CEO, withstood tough questioning from politicians in March and attempted to assuage their concerns by highlighting the company's work with U.S. tech giant Oracle to develop infrastructure in Texas intended to store and process people's data in the country. With the lawsuit, TikTok hopes the court finds Montana's ban "unconstitutional and preempted by federal law." Watch: Banning TikTok at a state level 'doesn't make sense,' says Craft Ventures' David Sacks Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C. gives remarks at his presidential campaign announcement event at his alma mater, Charleston Southern University, on Monday, May 22, 2023, in North Charleston, S.C. Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina on Monday officially announced he is running for president in 2024, putting his sizeable campaign war chest and optimistic message to the test in a Republican primary race that has so far been former President Donald Trump's to lose. Scott, the Senate's only Black Republican, in an announcement speech in North Charleston balanced his faith and his family's story with attacks on Democratic President Joe Biden's record. "I am living proof that America is the land of opportunity, not a land of oppression," Scott said in prepared remarks. "Joe Biden and the radical left are attacking every rung of the ladder that helped me climb," he said, "and that is why I am announcing today that I am running for President of the United States of America!" Scott, 57, faces an uphill battle: Polls of the prospective primary field show him trailing many other presidential contenders, including fellow South Carolina Republican Nikki Haley, who entered the race in February. Trump has easily led the pack since launching his campaign last year, with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis consistently ranking as the top alternative. But Scott enters the race with a few key weapons in his political arsenal. Scott is well-liked among his peers, and he is poised to jump in the race on a springboard of high-profile endorsements. Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., last week delivered the first non-Trump endorsement of the 2024 cycle when he backed Scott's impending run. Sen. John Thune, the No. 2 Senate Republican and the other senator from South Dakota, is also endorsing Scott, NBC News and other outlets reported Sunday. "Tim Scott is the real deal, and he will make a great president of the United States," Thune told the crowd in North Charleston before Scott took the stage. "I don't know about you, but I think our country is ready to be inspired again." Scott also holds a financial advantage over many of his competitors: His campaign-in-waiting had nearly $22 million in cash on hand at the end of March. The senator is already putting that money to use with a $6 million ad buy for TV and radio spots in Iowa and New Hampshire. Those ads are set to start airing Wednesday, coinciding with Scott's travel to those two states for his first major trip as a declared presidential candidate. Scott's political presence and messaging, which champions themes of unity and optimism, also stands in stark contrast to the strident and polarizing rhetorical approach being practiced by much of the rest of the Republican field. The first GOP primary debate is slated for August. "Our party and our nation are standing at a time for choosing," Scott told the crowd. "Victimhood or victory? Grievance or greatness? I choose freedom and hope and opportunity." As he closed out his speech, Scott departed from his prepared remarks and walked into the crowd. "This can't be another presidential campaign. We don't have time for that. We need a president who persuades not just our friends and our base." "We have to have a compassion for people who don't agree with us," he added. The long-expected campaign kickoff came three days after Scott filed paperwork with the Federal Election Commission designating a principal committee for a presidential bid. He had launched an exploratory committee for a White House bid last month and has made frequent trips to key primary states. Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Sunday that "Russia did not occupy Bakhmut" as he attended a news conference at the Group of Seven summit in Japan, rebuffing claims by Russia's mercenary group leader Yevgeny Prigozhin that his forces had completely captured the town Saturday. Ukraine is refusing to concede defeat in the largely ruined town of Bakhmut in Donetsk in the east of the country after Russian mercenary forces claimed they were now fully in control of the town after months of fighting. Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Sunday that "Russia did not occupy Bakhmut" as he attended a news conference at the Group of Seven summit in Japan, rebuffing claims by Russia's mercenary group leader Yevgeny Prigozhin that his forces had completely captured the town Saturday. Elsewhere on Sunday, the head of Ukraine's ground forces Colonel-General Oleksandr Syrskyi said his forces still controlled parts of Bakhmut and that they were not ready to give up. "Despite the fact that we now control a minor part of Bakhmut, the importance of its defense does not lose its relevance. This gives us the opportunity to enter the city in case of a change in the environment. And it will definitely happen," Syrskyi said on Telegram. "We continue to advance on the flanks in the suburbs of Bakhmut and are actually approaching the capture of the city in a tactical encirclement." Syrskyi said he had visited Ukrainian troops and commanders in Bakhmut on Sunday. "We continue the defense. The situation is difficult, but under control," he noted. Prigozhin, the head of Russia's mercenary force the Wagner Group, commented on Saturday that "today we took Bakhmut ... We have fully taken the whole city. From house to house, so that no one could pedantically complain that a tiny fragment was left un-taken." Prigozhin said the town, now largely reduced to rubble and of little strategic importance (but of more symbolic importance after nine months of intense fighting), would be handed over to the regular Russian army. Holly Ellyatt Armenia is ready to recognise the NagornoKarabakh enclave as part of Azerbaijan if Baku guarantees the security of its ethnic Armenian population, the Russian state news agency TASS and the Russian news outlet Ostorozhno, Novosti quoted Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan as saying on Monday. Armenia is ready to recognise the Nagorno-Karabakh enclave as part of Azerbaijan if Baku guarantees the security of its ethnic Armenian population, the Russian state news agency TASS and the Russian news outlet Ostorozhno, Novosti quoted Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan as saying on Monday. Nagorno-Karabakh has been a source of conflict between the two Caucasus neighbours since the years leading up to the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, and between ethnic Armenians and Turkic Azeris for well over a century. In 2020, Azerbaijan seized control of areas that had been controlled by ethnic Armenians in and around the mountain enclave, and since then it has periodically closed the only access road linking Nagorno-Karabakh with Armenia, on which the enclave relies for financial and military support. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, May 22) President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said his administration will now refocus its efforts on boosting the economy as the World Health Organization (WHO) ended the global emergency status of COVID-19. In his speech during a visit to the Asian Development Bank headquarters in Mandaluyong, Marcos welcomed WHOs declaration. It gave the world reassurance that perhaps the worst is over, he said. With this development, we can now refocus our plans and priorities and train our sight with renewed vigor, carefully guided by the stinging lessons of the pandemic, we can now refocus our priorities on the development of our economy and the betterment of the lives of ordinary Filipinos, Marcos added. Since assuming the presidency in June 2022, Marcos decided to do away with hard lockdowns as he sought to prop up the local economy. Under the leadership of former President Rodrigo Duterte, the Philippines' lockdown was said to be the world's longest and strictest. The president said that he met with the board of governors of the ADB late last year to gain their assistance in navigating the Philippines in the post-pandemic world. Marcos said the Philippine government would continue to work with the ADB to pursue its high priority development goals, which include infrastructure and efforts to mitigate the effects of climate change. As we ramp up annual public infrastructure spending to 6% of GDP (gross domestic product) consistent with the build better more program, we will incorporate the elements of sustainability, climate resilience and disaster proofing in all phases of societal and infrastructural planning, design, construction up to operation and maintenance, he said. It will be implemented in our water supply, in our sanitation, energy and transportation systems, including agri and food production and many other essential areas, Marcos said. In the first quarter of 2023, the Philippine economy expanded by 6.4%, weaker than the 7.1% growth posted in the last three months of 2022. The Marcos administration has set a target of 6% to 7% growth this year. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, May 22) - Elections authorities set an earlier processing of applications for gun ban exemptions in relation to the barangay and Sanguniang Kabataan (SK) elections in October. The Commission on Elections (Comelec) said on Monday it will begin accepting applications for gun ban exemption on June 5. "For the first time we will be opening the acceptance of applications earlier. Last elections, we started in December but we found it right and proper to open earlier," Comelec Commissioner Aimee Ferolino said in a press briefing. She said this should address delays and to make sure that only the right people will have the authority to carry firearms. Despite the spate of political violence, the Comelec sees no unusual increase in the number of applications for gun ban exemption. "Wala naman talagang widespread or massive threat sa mga areas natin. Wala naman tayong nakikitang magiging cause na magti-trigger ng influx ng applications," Ferolino said. [Translation: There is really no widespread or massive threat in our areas. We do not see anything that will trigger an influx of applications.] On possibly deferring the polls in some areas because of violence, Ferolino said there are guidelines to consider in postponing election, say, in Negros Oriental. "There are parameters in the declaration of the postponement of an election and when it is not met, we can't just, out of whim, declare an area not suitable for the conduct of an election," she said. The law allows Comelec to postpone elections not later than 30 days after the cessation of the cause for such postponement, and in all cases not later than 90 days after the original date of elections. The grounds for postponement include rebellion, insurrection, violence, terrorism, loss or destruction of election paraphernalia or records, force majeure, and other analogous causes of such a nature that prevents the holding of a free and orderly election. The barangay and SK elections will be held on Oct. 30. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, May 22) Davao City First District Representative Paolo Duterte on Monday offered a cash reward of 1 million to anyone who can provide information leading to the arrest of the assailant in the rape and murder of an architect in the city. Davao police earlier confirmed that 28-year-old Vlanche Marie Bragas was sexually assaulted before she was murdered. It was not clear how many people attacked her. The police found her body at a banana plantation in Dacudao on May 17. Duterte said Bragas was reported missing on May 17. She was last seen riding a yellow electric tri-wheeler vehicle near Crossing Fausta in Calinan. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, May 22) The demotion of former President and Pampanga 2nd District Rep. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo from senior deputy speaker shows that she has been suspected of plotting against the leadership of the House of Representatives, a lawmaker said on Monday. The title of senior deputy speaker is considered honorific but it is clothed with trust and respect befitting a former president and a former speaker of the House. Consequently, stripping GMA unceremoniously of such title carries with it loss of trust and respect bestowed to an ally, Albay 1st District Rep. and Liberal Party president Edcel Lagman told CNN Philippines The Source. During the session on May 17, the House elected Pampanga 3rd District Rep. Aurelio "Dong" Gonzales Jr. to replace Arroyo as senior deputy speaker. She was named deputy speaker. House Majority Leader Manuel Jose Dalipe said Gonzales was elected to "unburden" Arroyo "of the heavy load required from the position." Arroyo has denied reports linking her to an alleged ouster plot against House Speaker Martin Romualdez. She admitted initially eyeing the speakership when Ferdinand Marcos Jr. won the presidential race. However, she said she later saw the wisdom in having Romualdez the chief executives cousin as leader of the House. Romualdez broke his silence on Sunday, saying [t]here is still much work to do, so occasional moves to destabilize the House should be nipped in the bud. He also guaranteed that [t]he House of the People is in order. Lagman said he agrees to this declaration as the majority of the members of the House have expressed their support for the speaker. However, the opposition leader said he believes Romualdez should elaborate on the reason behind Arroyos demotion. I think there is a need for the speaker to say some more on this demotion and the reasons why the suspicion was made, he noted. I think the story has not ended and we must be given the accurate detailed facts of this upheaval. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, May 22) A lawmaker said the alliance of Vice President Sara Duterte and Pampanga 2nd District Rep. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo could possibly gain the support of former President Rodrigo Duterte as members of the lower house take sides amid a suspected coup against the House of Representatives leadership. I think the alliance between GMA and Vice President Duterte continues and it is possible that it could get the support of the former President Rodrigo Duterte who has still residual influence in Philippine politics, Albay 1st District Rep. and Liberal Party president Edcel Lagman told CNN Philippines The Source on Monday. A day after Arroyo was replaced as senior deputy speaker, the vice president announced her irrevocable resignation as member of the Lakas-Christian Muslim Democrats (Lakas-CMD), the ruling political party in the House. She did not provide a specific reason, but hinted at "powerplay" as the rationale behind it. Meanwhile, Arroyo has denied reports linking her to alleged plans to oust House Speaker Martin Romualdez following her demotion. Arroyo and Vice President Duterte have been long-time allies. The two were believed to be behind the move to oust then-House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez in 2018. Former President Rodrigo Duterte confirmed this in October the same year, saying it was his daughter, then Davao City Mayor, who moved to unseat Alvarez from his post. Lagman said he now sees alliances forming, with the vice president and Arroyo in one team, and President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Romualdez in another. Its now a combat, so to speak, between Speaker Romualdez and President Marcos Jr. versus the partnership of the vice president and former president GMA and possibly with the support of Saras father, former President Rodrigo Duterte, he noted. The opposition leader said he also expects more resignations by loyalists of Arroyo and Vice President Duterte from Lakas-CMD. Lagman said he believes Arroyo may be also planning a counteroffensive as he sees she will not accept the humiliating demotion lying down. Ambassador of Vietnam to Korea Nguyen Vu Tung, left, Head of Investment at the Embassy of Vietnam in Korea Pham Viet Tuan, center, and First Secretary at the Embassy of Vietnam in Korea Pham Khac Tuyen attend The Korea Times Global Business Club forum at the Korea Press Center in Seoul, Monday. Korea Times photo by Choi Won-suk By Lee Kyung-min Vietnam is willing to deregulate its financial market further to attract more investments from Korea and other countries to advance the Southeast Asian country's financial service industry to match its rapidly-growing economy, senior officials at the Embassy of Vietnam in Korea said Monday. The Vietnamese government's directives will enable an increasing number of Korean banks and securities companies to enter and expand their presence there, supported by eased limits on foreign equity investment caps and borrowing, they added. Korea, whose financial service industry achieved rapid growth over the past several decades, could serve as a model. "The Vietnamese government is willing to dramatically ease regulations for Korean financial services providers," Pham Viet Tuan, head of investment at the Embassy of Vietnam in Korea said during The Korea Times Global Business Club forum at the Korea Press Center in Seoul. Leading Korean banks and brokerages entered Vietnam about 15 years ago and have since sought growth through mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures set up with local counterparts and securing greater shares through equity investments in firms there. "Many Korean financial market players have made investments direct or indirect in Vietnam," he said. "We are not able to fully open up our financial markets due to obvious limitations as a developing country. But we have outlined what many Korean firms consider foreign-friendly measures and will continue to establish rules that can foster the growth of our country's financial system." Audience members listen to a presentation during The Korea Times Global Business Club forum at the Korea Press Center in Seoul, Monday. Korea Times photo by Choi Won-suk Pham Khac Tuyen, first secretary at the Embassy of Vietnam in Korea, said the vision aims to find new growth momentum for the Southeast Asian country's economy through future-oriented industries, such as semiconductors, secondary batteries, bio, displays and robotics businesses. Cooperation with Korea will, the first secretary added, fortify economic security and lead to a stable supply chain, while strengthening food security and bolster cooperation in the agriculture sector. "Korea and Vietnam can identify joint entry into third countries and expand cooperation among small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and startups. The goals can in turn reinforce multilateral solidarity between Vietnam and Korea," he said. From left are former Ambassador of Korea to Vietnam Lee Hyuk, Ambassador of Vietnam to Korea Nguyen Vu Tung, Head of Investment at the Embassy of Vietnam in Korea Pham Viet Tuan and First Secretary at the Embassy of Vietnam in Korea Pham Khac Tuyen at The Korea Times Global Business Club forum at the Korea Press Center in Seoul, Monday. Korea Times photo by Choi Won-suk Korea has enjoyed a surplus for decades in trade with Vietnam. But Vietnam does not see this as a stumbling block in its relations with Korea. "Vietnam needs to grow and increase its production capacity and the market size," he said. "Complaining about a trade surplus for Korea a deficit for us is not as important as fortifying our capabilities enough first to fully handle national industrial growth for ourselves." Last year, Korea saw a surplus of $34.26 billion (45 trillion won) in trade with Vietnam, up more than three times compared to 2012. According to the Embassy of Vietnam in Korea, the Southeast Asian country registered 8 percent economic growth in 2022, while its GDP per capita stood at $4,200. Foreign direct investment (FDI) into Vietnam reached $30 billion in 2022, while its trade volume stood at $730 billion. A member of the audience listens to a presentation given during The Korea Times Global Business Club forum at the Korea Press Center in Seoul, Monday. Korea Times photo by Choi Won-suk Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, May 22) All national IDs affected by the fire that hit the Manila Central Post Office on Sunday will be replaced, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said Monday. READ: Historic Manila Central Post Office fire totally burned We assure the public that the PhilIDs affected by the fire shall be replaced by the PSA at no additional cost to concerned registered persons, following protocols set by the PSA for such scenarios, the statement read. The PSA also clarified that only the national IDs for delivery in the City of Manila were affected by the fire, and its number is still being determined in coordination with the Philippine Postal Corporation. We also wish to clarify that PhilIDs for delivery of the PHLPost are sorted and stored at the PHLPost Central Mail Exchange Center (CMEC) in Pasay City and were unaffected by the fire, PSA said. Earlier, the PSA said the influx of registrants is the cause of delay in printing and delivery of the national IDs, as the agency did not expect the high number of registrants. Last May 3, Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel III urged the Senate Blue Ribbon panel to start an investigation into the delays in the issuance of the national ID. He also pointed out the discrepancy between the reported number of delivered IDs by the Banko Sentral ng Pilipinas and the Commission on Audit. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, May 22) The Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) did not inspect the China-made equipment of the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) in its substations a revelation that shocked lawmakers on Monday. During the Senates hearing on bills concerning e-governance and cybersecurity, Senator Raffy Tulfo raised the issue on the State Grid Corporation of Chinas 40% stake in NGCP, as well as machines bought from China. Tulfo, chairman of the Committee on Energy, said he received information that a computer virus could be planted in hardware sold by a country to another state. Itong hardware na ito pag nainput sa target nila na bansa, with a push button, kaya nang paandarin yung virus, Tulfo said. Its really, really very dangerous na yung NGCP natin yung mga equipment doon halos lahat made in China and in Chinese characters, he added. [Translation: When this hardware is inputted in a target country, the virus can be activated with the push of a button. Its really, really very dangerous that almost all equipment in the NGCP are made in China and bearing Chinese characters.] DICT Undersecretary David Almirol, Jr. said Tulfos statement is very possible. We dont even know na pagdating ng equipment dito, na may listener pala yan. Meron na palang nakatanim na listener. Hindi siya naghahack pero every time na nagpapasok ka ng data, dumadaan, kinukuha rin niya, Almirol said. [Translation: We don't even know if the equipment has a listening device. It won't hack your system but will obtain all the data you input.] He said the DICT should be doing a technical deep audit, but admits this is not being done to date. "Actually tama po dapat sana before magdala ng equipment dapat magkaroon ng technical deep audit which I dont believe that we're doing that," Almirol said. DICT Assistant Secretary for Legal Affairs Renato Paraiso explained there used to be a Medium-Term Information and Communications Technology Harmonization Initiative or MITHI protocol, which requires all government agencies to submit procured technologies and hardwares for inspection and auditing by the then Information and Communications Technology Office. The DICT wants this process to be included in the e-government law. The Anti-Red Tape Authority, for its part, said it is the NGCP, a private consortium that checks the equipment through a grid integrity test. But Senator Alan Peter Cayetano, chairman of the Committee on Science and Technology, said the DICT and ARTA should work together to promote security while preventing bureaucratic red tape. Taking that statement alone that they can bring in any equipment at ikabit na walang cybersecurity expert o walang DICT or NTC supervision, is parang inviting someone na ito bangko ko, tingan mo kung manakawan mo kami, Cayetano said. [Translation: Taking that statement alone that they can bring in any equipment without the supervision of a cybersecurity expert, DICT, or the National Telecommunications Commission is like inviting someone to rob your own bank.] The NGCP earlier dismissed security concerns, saying its substations are all manned by Filipinos and China's involvement stops with the SGCC's membership in the board to represent its shareholdings. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, May 22) While the COVID-19 positivity rate in the National Capital Region showed signs that it is decreasing, several provinces continued to record high numbers, with Isabela posting 67.4%, according to OCTA Research. OCTA Research fellow Guido David said in a social media post that the rate of people testing positive for the virus in Metro Manila was flat at 25.7% as of May 20 against the 25.4% recorded last May 13. He said this suggests that it may be decreasing this week. However, the following provinces recorded higher positivity rates in the past week: Bataan (21.4%) Batangas (36.1%) Benguet (24.7%) Cagayan (21.6%) Camarines Sur (47.9%) La Union (21.1%) Laguna (35.7%) Oriental Mindoro (33.3%) Palawan (22.8%) Pampanga (26.2%) Quezon (43.8%) Zambales (26.6%) Isabela alone saw its positivity rate soared to 67.4% from 36.6% a week earlier. On Sunday, the Department of Health reported additional cases of Omicron subvariant XBB.1.16, or Arcturus, pushing the total number to 11. In an interview with CNN Philippines Balitaan last week, David said Arcturus could be one of the drivers of this current surge in cases. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, May 22) Twenty-five passengers suffered minor injuries after a vessel collision in the vicinity waters off Mandaue City, Cebu on Sunday, the Philippine Coast Guard reported. In an incident report on Monday, the PCG said the fast craft MV St. Jhudiel experienced steering casualty and engine failure during its course, causing the ship to collide with a cargo vessel LCT Poseidon 23. MV St. Jhudiel departed from Ormoc City, Leyte and was supposedly bound for Cebu City. The agency said it has provided a floating asset, land vehicle, and an ambulance to respond to the incident. Coast Guard Marine Environmental Protection Force - Central Visayas was also sent to conduct an oil spill assessment. Meanwhile, the owner of the SuperCat Fast Ferry Corp. apologized for the harm and inconvenience caused by the collision involving their ship MV St. Jhudiel. "Our primary concern now is to ensure that all those who sustained injuries are properly cared for," the statement read. Additional safety measures and appropriate actions shall be undertaken to avoid recurrence of this unfortunate incident. SuperCat Fast Ferry Corp. said the collision happened around 2:44 p.m. on Sunday. MV St. Jhudiel was immediately assisted by a tugboat to Cebu Pier 1 where it safely disembarked all 208 passengers and crew, it added. The company added that all injured passengers are brought to the nearest hospital and they are currently conducting a thorough investigation on the incident. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, May 22) The Philippine National Police (PNP) reported that it has identified three active private armed groups (PAGs) in Central Luzon and 45 suspected PAGs in other parts of the country prior to the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) elections. In a press briefing on Monday, PNP-Public Information Office (PIO) Assistant Chief Dario Menor said the three active PAGs are composed of 35 members with 104 firearms, while the suspected PAGs are estimated to have 280 members and 392 firearms. Meanwhile, PNP-PIO chief Redrico Maranan mentioned the need to pursue police operations that will focus on pinning down PAGs and seizure of illegal firearms. "Kailangang magkaroon ng mga search warrant operations para makuha natin yung mga illegal na armas sa kanilang pag-iingat," he said. "Kung sila naman ay may mga pending warrants of arrest sa mga members ng PAGs na yan ay huhulihin natin yan at sisiguraduhin natin na sa susunod na election ay magiging matahimik at mapayapa, the chief added. [Translation: There must be search warrant operations so that we can get the illegal weapons from their custody. If they have pending warrants of arrest against those PAGs members, we will arrest them and make sure that the next election will be quiet and peaceful.] Based on their records, Maranan claimed that PAGs are involved in murder and harassment cases especially during elections. The PNP-PIO chief said he will let the Commission on Elections disclose areas of concern in the upcoming barangay and SK elections. READ: PNP ready for barangay, SK elections; intensifies fight vs. loose firearms Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, May 22) The Senate on Monday passed on third and final reading a bill which institutionalizes the granting to public school teachers of an allowance for teaching supplies and other incidental expenses. Senate Bill 1964 or the "Kabalikat sa Pagtuturo Act" seeks to provide an allowance of 7,500 per teacher for School Year 2023-2024 and 10,000 for School Year 2024-2025 onwards. It is a teaching allowance, which is not subject to tax, for the purchase of tangible or intangible teaching supplies and materials, the payment of other incidental expenses, and the implementation or conduct of various learning delivery modalities. "Salamat po sa ating mga kasamahan dito sa Senado sa buong-buong suporta sa panukalang ito," Sen. Ramon "Bong" Revilla said during his manifestation in the plenary session. [Translation: Thank you to our colleagues in Senate for their full support to this bill.] "With the passage of 'Kabalikat sa Pagtuturo Act', we are giving our dear teachers an assurance that they will always have the Senate as their ally in advocating, pushing, and fighting for their welfare," said Revilla, who principally authored and sponsored the proposed law. Currently, teachers receive 5,000 as teaching supplies allowance, commonly known as "chalk allowance," or just 24 a day. It is provided by a special provision in the General Appropriations Act, under the annual budget of the Department of Education, with an allocation of 4.8 billion. In his sponsorship of the bill, Revilla said the current allowance forces public school teachers to shell out money from their own pockets to buy supplies. "The current cash allowance already includes a 500 allocation for medical examination," said Revilla, the chairperson of Senate Committee on Civil Service, Government Reorganization and Professional Regulation. "If we deduct that from the purchase of teaching materials and equipment, it will drop to 22 pesos only per day. A box of chalk costs 68, a ream of bond paper costs 120, not including the internet load," he said. He noted that the government would only need to allot an additional 2 billion when the allowance reaches 7,500 and 4.5 billion when it reaches 10,000 in 2025. In a statement, Revilla also appealed to his colleagues in the House of Representatives to make the measure their priority, as it was already passed by the Senate during the 17th and 18th Congresses. "It is not for me or for all of you," he said. "This is for our hard-working teachers, the shapers of our nation, who have dedicated their lives to nurture our children." (CNN) Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky compared the damage in Bakhmut to the destruction wrought on Hiroshima after it was hit by an atomic bomb, as he denied Russia had captured the frontline city. Zelensky who traveled to Japan for a meeting of the Group of Seven (G7) said pictures of Hiroshima really remind him of Bakhmut and other Ukrainian towns. Just the same, nothing alive left, all of the buildings have been ruined, Zelensky told a news conference. There are conflicting claims over who controls Bakhmut. On Saturday the chief of the Russian private military group Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, claimed to have captured Bakhmut after months of brutal fighting, saying he would hand it over to Russia later in May, Zelensky used the conference to again deny that that Bakhmut is Russian as of Sunday and Ukrainian soldiers remain in the city. We are keeping on, we are fighting. Zelensky said. I clearly understand what is happening in Bakhmut. I cant share the tactics of the military, but a country even bigger than ours cannot defeat us. A little time will pass and we will be winning. Today our soldiers are in Bakhmut. Ukraines Armed Forces (AFU) said they were continuing to counter Russia in the city, and that they were advancing in the suburbs, making it very difficult for the enemy to remain in Bakhmut. Russian President Vladimir Putin offered his congratulations for the completion of the operation to liberate Artemovsk, Russian state news agency TASS reported the Kremlin as saying, using the Soviet-Russian name for Bakhmut. CNN is unable to verify either sides battlefield claims. Zelensky rallies allies If confirmed, the capture of Bakhmut would mark Russias first gain in months, but the citys symbolism always outweighed its strategic importance. Moscow has thrown huge amounts of manpower, weaponry and attention toward the city but largely failed to break down a stubborn Ukrainian resistance that had outlasted most expectations. Bakhmuts fall would also be an undoubted boost to Prigozhin, who recently announced his men would pull out entirely because dwindling ammunition supplies and mounting losses meant there was nothing left to grind the meat with. Prigozhin is a former catering boss who has grown in prominence throughout the war, and his forces have been heavily involved in the fighting. Zelensky made a surprise appearance at the G7, traveling halfway across the globe to address the worlds major industrial democracies in person. The Ukrainian leader used the final day of the summit in Japan to appeal to G7 leaders for more powerful weapons and tougher sanctions against Moscow. He left having won a clear boost after the Biden administration dropped its objections to sending advanced fighter jets to Ukraine. I cannot now tell you how many aircraft well be able to get. I cannot tell you definitely when it takes place but we will speed it up because its important for us every day. Were losing peoples lives, he said. At the G7 Ukraines allies reiterated their support, with British Prime Minister RIshi Sunak saying Ukraine must not only win the war but win a just and lasting peace. This story was first published on CNN.com. Zelensky compares Bakhmut destruction to Hiroshima An aerial view shows destructions in the frontline town of Bakhmut, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Donetsk region, Ukraine, in this handout picture released, May 21. Reuters-Yonhap Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Sunday that Russian forces weren't occupying Bakhmut, casting doubt on Moscow's insistence that the eastern Ukrainian city had fallen. Responding to a reporter's question about the status of the city at the Group of Seven summit in Japan, Zelenskyy said: "Bakhmut is not occupied by the Russian Federation as of today." "We are not throwing people (away) to die," Zelenskyy said in Ukrainian through an interpreter. "People are the treasure. I clearly understand what is happening in Bakhmut. I cannot share with you the technical details of what is happening with our warriors." "The fight for the city of Bakhmut is continuing," the Ukrainian military's general staff said in a statement on Sunday evening. Oleksandr Syrskyi, a spokesman for the military's eastern command, said Ukrainian forces control the outskirts of the city, and "defense forces continue offensive actions on the flanks near Bakhmut." The fog of war made it impossible to confirm the situation on the ground in the invasion's longest battle, and a series of comments from Ukrainian and Russian officials added confusion to the matter. Zelenskyy's response in English to a question earlier at the summit about the status of Bakhmut suggested that he believed the city had fallen to Russian forces, and he offered solemn words about its fate. When asked if the city was in Ukraine's hands, Zelenskyy said: "I think no, but you have to to understand that there is nothing, They've destroyed everything. There are no buildings. It's a pity. It's tragedy." "But, for today, Bakhmut is only in our hearts. There is nothing on this place, so just ground and and a lot of dead Russians," he said. Zelenskyy's press secretary later walked back those previous comments. Ukrainian defense and military officials said that fierce fighting was ongoing. Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Malyar even went so far as to say that Ukrainian troops "took the city in a semi-encirclement." "The enemy failed to surround Bakhmut, and they lost part of the dominant heights around the city," Malyar said. "That is, the advance of our troops in the suburbs along the flanks, which is still ongoing, greatly complicates the enemy's presence in Bakhmut." And the spokesman for Ukraine's Eastern Group of Forces, Serhii Cherevaty, said that the Ukrainian military is managing to hold positions in the vicinity of Bakhmut. "The president correctly said that the city has, in fact, been razed to the ground. The enemy is being destroyed every day by massive artillery and aviation strikes, and our units report that the situation is extremely difficult. Our military keep fortifications and several premises in the southwestern part of the city. Heavy fighting is underway," he said. An aerial view shows destructions in the frontline town of Bakhmut, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Donetsk region, Ukraine, in this handout picture released, May 21. Reuters-Yonhap Today is May 22, 2023 and here is what you need to know: Colorado was the first state in the nation to decriminalize abortion in certain cases in 1967. This year, the state reclaimed its status as a leader for abortion protections. During the 2023 legislative session, lawmakers passed a package of bills designed to protect and increase access to abortion in the state, just over a year after Colorado enshrined abortion as a fundamental right. The three bills were signed into law in April. Senate Bill 188 protects patients and providers of abortion and gender-affirming services in Colorado from penalties from other states. Senate Bill 189 expands health insurance coverage for abortion, sterilization and treatment of sexually transmitted diseases. Senate Bill 190 prohibits what sponsors deem to be deceptive advertising and the use of abortion "reversal" pills in crisis pregnancy centers. "Colorado has really embraced this opportunity to be a national leader," said Kelly Baden, vice president of public policy for the Guttmacher Institute, a reproductive health research and policy organization. "Colorado is part of the pack of states that see that abortion legality is critical, but now also has gone beyond that to recognize that legality alone is not enough." Nationally, 25 states and Washington D.C. have some kind of abortion protections via state laws, state constitutions, executive orders or state Supreme Court precedents, according to the Guttmacher Institute. But with this year's bill package, Colorado joined a smaller group of states taking stronger steps to preserve abortion rights after the Supreme Court overturned federal abortion protections in the Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization ruling in June. The 2023 session saw Democratic lawmakers approve five measures that could move Colorado into a stronger position as a leader on gun safety laws. But the reluctance by Democrats, including Gov. Jared Polis, on an assault weapons ban will likely keep the state off the leaderboard. Two years ago, Colorado got a "C+" from Giffords, the national legal nonprofit that promotes gun safety legislation. While the organization ranked Colorado in the Top 16 of states with strong gun control laws, its middle-of-the-pack grade at that time was due to what it didn't have: waiting periods for firearms sales, a law raising the legal age to purchase to 21, and a requirement for lost or stolen guns to be reported. After passing a law that allowed local jurisdictions to pass stricter gun control laws and adding laws on reporting lost or stolen guns, Colorado improved to a "B" in the 2023 report. It noted Colorado ranked 14th on strength of gun laws, but had more gun deaths per 100,000 population than any of its peer states. Only two states, California and New Jersey, have earned the highest grade, an "A", from Giffords. Six others earned an "A-" from Giffords in its 2023 report. Twenty-six states are ranked "F," including Colorado border neighbors Wyoming, Utah, Kansas, Oklahoma and nearby Texas. Colorado Springs Mayor-elect Yemi Mobolade, an independent and political newcomer who will step into the mayor's office next month, has maintained over 18 months on the campaign trail and following his decisive runoff election victory that he is neither a Republican nor a Democrat. Though the city's elections are nonpartisan, Mobolade continues to dispute the idea he is a "progressive" or "Democratic-aligned" candidate, despite those claims made by media, political-action committees, his Republican opponent Wayne Williams and others. Mobolade repeated last week that it is an identity "he never gave himself." Voting records The Gazette obtained from the El Paso County clerk and recorder show Mobolade is among the 48.47% of unaffiliated voters in El Paso County. That's compared to 31.17% of county voters who are registered Republicans and 18.22% who are registered Democrats, county clerk's data as of May 15 show. Mobolade, who earned 57.5% of the runoff vote to Williams' 42.5%, according to final unofficial results from the city clerk as of Wednesday afternoon, will be the first mayor not affiliated with the Republican Party since the city began electing mayors 45 years ago. His victory represents a seismic political surprise in Colorado Springs, long known as a conservative stronghold. By the time Colorado lawmakers wrapped up their work on May 8, they tackled hundreds of proposals, ranging from mundane to monumental, in a session featuring flashes of acrimony, intraparty dissent and interparty filibustering. But the 2023 session also saw stretches of cooperation and moments of levity, underpinned by the new reality at the state Capitol that Republicans are powerless to stop Democrats when they're united, and the supermajority is deeply fractured on certain issues. And, for the first time since becoming governor, Jared Polis tasted a major defeat on a signature proposal. It was made all the more stunning by coming on the heels of an election that saw him emerge with a sweeping mandate after winning by roughly 20 points. Here are the top issues of the 2023 legislative session. Marianne Goodland salutes the best and brightest from Colorado's 2023 legislative session. The Missourians Opinion section is a public forum for the discussion of ideas. The views presented in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Missourian or the University of Missouri. If you would like to contribute to the Opinion page with a response or an original topic of your own, visit our submission form Interview: Xi'an summit opens new era in China-Central Asia cooperation, says Uzbek expert Xinhua) 10:31, May 22, 2023 Artists perform during a welcome ceremony for Central Asian leaders and their wives attending the China-Central Asia Summit in the Tang Paradise in Xi'an, northwest China's Shaanxi Province, May 18, 2023. (Xinhua/Shen Hong) The summit of the leaders of five Central Asian countries and China in the Chinese city of Xi'an has epochal significance and will open a new era in the cooperation between these countries, an Uzbek expert said. TASHKENT, May 22 (Xinhua) -- The summit of the leaders of five Central Asian countries and China in the Chinese city of Xi'an has epochal significance and will open a new era in the cooperation between these countries, an Uzbek expert said on Friday. The summit reviewed the achievements of Central Asia-China cooperation over the past three decades and "will contribute to the deepening of strategic mutual trust between the countries of the region and China, which are friendly neighbors and strategic partners," said Shavkat Alimbekov, a leading researcher at the International Institute of Central Asia in an interview with Xinhua. It is becoming more and more "relevant" to maintain regional security and stability, and explore new directions and mechanisms for cooperation in fields including economy, trade, energy, transport, culture and humanities, the expert said. Regarding plans for developing mutually beneficial cooperation between Central Asian countries and China, Alimbekov emphasized that the summit will further strengthen regional cooperation on the basis of mutual respect, equality and mutual benefit in the future. Tourists visit the Datang Everbright City scenic area in Xi'an, northwest China's Shaanxi Province, May 15, 2023. The China-Central Asia Summit is set to take place in Xi'an, the capital city of China's Shaanxi Province, on May 18 and 19. (Xinhua/Song Weiwei) The countries stand ready to build a China-Central Asia community with a shared future, which meets the interests of all regional parties and contributes to peace and prosperity on the Eurasian continent, he noted. For Central Asian countries, China's solutions in investment, technology, agriculture, water conservancy, industry, machinery manufacturing, transport and other sectors of the economy are of great significance, the Uzbek expert pointed out. Cooperation between Central Asian countries and China within the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is highly important, he said, adding that the two sides have achieved notable results in economic and trade cooperation in the past decade. As a large, representative and inclusive platform for international cooperation, the BRI is of strategic significance to China and Central Asian countries, the expert underlined, saying that relations between Central Asian countries and China are at a high level and both sides are willing to push forward their bilateral ties. Tourists take photos at the Datang Everbright City scenic area in Xi'an, northwest China's Shaanxi Province, May 15, 2023. (Xinhua/Song Weiwei) The expert believed that in recent years, relations between the countries of the region and China have gained great momentum. Tashkent and Beijing have maintained mutually beneficial cooperation for many years, he said, adding that the dynamic bilateral relations are developing in an all-round way and will be stable in the long run. Guided by leaders of the two states, "relations between Uzbekistan and China have reached a high level," said the expert, noting that the comprehensive strategic partnership will expand and economic ties will be strengthened in the new era. Promoting cooperation between Uzbekistan and China and co-building long-term reciprocal projects in the region are in the interests of all parties, and will help boost regional stability and push for the integration of regional countries into the global economic and logistics systems, he said. The China-Central Asia Summit will effectively inject new impetus into the all-round cooperation between Central Asian countries and China, building a new model of complementary and mutually beneficial cooperation, Alimbekov added. (Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Liang Jun) Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., speaks with members of the press after participating in a phone call on the debt ceiling with President Joe Biden, May 21, on Capitol Hill in Washington. AP-Yonhap Debt ceiling talks between the White House and House Republicans resumed Sunday at the Capitol as Washington races to strike a budget compromise along with a deal to raise the nation's borrowing limit and avert an economy-wrecking federal default . President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy spoke by phone Sunday while the president was returning home on Air Force One after the Group of Seven summit in Japan. Upbeat, McCarthy, R-Calif., told reporters at the Capitol that the call was "productive" and that the on-again, off-again negotiations between his staff and White House representatives are focused on spending cuts. Biden and McCarthy are set to meet for a pivotal meeting Monday at the White House. Negotiators for the Democratic president and Republican speaker met as talks appear to be narrowing on a 2024 budget year cap that would be key to resolving the standoff. They face a deadline, as soon as June 1, when the government could run out of cash to pay its bills. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said Sunday that June 1 is a "hard deadline." McCarthy said after his call with Biden that "I think we can solve some of these problems if he understands what we're looking at." The speaker added, "But I've been very clear to him from the very beginning. We have to spend less money than we spent last year." McCarthy emerged from that conversation sounding optimistic and was careful not to criticize Biden's trip, as he had before. He did caution, "There's no agreement on anything." "We're looking at, how do we have a victory for this country?" McCarthy said. He said he did not think the final legislation would remake the federal budget and the country's debt, but at least "put us on a path to change the behavior of this runaway spending." The White House confirmed the Monday meeting and late Sunday talks but did not elaborate on the leaders' call. Earlier, Biden used his concluding news conference in Hiroshima, Japan, to warn House Republicans that they must move off their "extreme positions" over raising the debt limit and that there would be no agreement to avoid a catastrophic default only on their terms. Biden said "it's time for Republicans to accept that there is no deal to be made solely, solely, on their partisan terms." He said he had done his part in attempting to raise the borrowing limit so the government can keep paying its bills, by agreeing to significant cuts in spending. "Now it's time for the other side to move from their extreme position." The U.S. Capitol is seen in Washington, May 21. AP-Yonhap Leaders of the Group of Seven (G7) nations on Saturday called for the creation of technical standards to keep artificial intelligence (AI) in check, saying AI has outpaced oversight for safety and security. Meeting in Hiroshima, Japan, the leaders said nations must come together on a common vision and goal of trustworthy AI, even while those solutions may vary. But any solution for digital technologies such as AI should be in line with our shared democratic values, they said in a statement. The G7, which includes the US, Japan, Germany, Britain, France, Italy, Canada, and the EU, stressed that efforts to create trustworthy AI need to include governance, safeguard of intellectual property rights including copyrights, promotion of transparency, [and] response to foreign information manipulation, including disinformation. "We recognize the need to immediately take stock of the opportunities and challenges of generative AI, which is increasingly prominent across countries and sectors," the G7 leaders said. More specifically, they called for the creation of a G7 working group by the end of the year to tackle possible generative AI solutions. The G7 summit followed a digital ministers meeting last month, where members called for "risk-based" AI rules. AI threats abound AI poses a number of threats to humanity, so it's important to ensure it continues to serve humans and not the other way around, according to Avivah Litan, a vice president and distinguished analyst at Gartner Research. Everyday threats include a lack of transparency in generative AI models, which makes them unpredictable; even vendor dont understand everything about how they work internally, Litan said in a blog post last week. And, because theres no verifiable data governance or protection assurances, generative AI can steal content at will and reproduce it, violating intellectual property and copyright laws. Additionally, chatbots and other AI-based tools can produce inaccurate or fabricated hallucinations because their output is only as good as the data input, and that ingestion process is often tied to the internet. The result: disinformation, malinformation and misinformation, Litan noted. Regulators should set timeframes by which AI model vendors must use standards to authenticate provenance of content, software, and other digital assets used in their systems. See standards from C2PA, Scitt.io, IETF for examples, Litan said. We just need to act, and act soon, she said. Even AI experts such asMax Tegmark, MIT physicist, cosmologist and machine learning researcher, and Geoffrey Hinton, the so-called the godfather of AI, are stumped to find a workable solution to the existential threat to humanity, Litan said. At an AI conference at MIT earlier this month, Hinton warned that because AI can be self-learning, it will become exponentially smarter over time and will begin thinking for itself. Once that happens, theres little to stop what Hinton believes is inevitable the extinction of humans. These things will have learned from us by reading all the novels that ever where and everything Machiavelli ever wrote [about] how to manipulate people, Hinton told a packed house during a Q&A exchange. And if theyre much smarter than us, theyll be very good at manipulating us. You wont realize whats going on. Youll be like a two-year-old whos being asked, Do you want the peas or the cauliflower,' and doesnt realize you dont have to have either. And youll be that easy to manipulate." Europe moves to slow AI The G7 statement came after the European Union agreed on the creation of the AI Act, which would reign in generative tools such as ChatGPT, DALL-E, and Midjourney in terms of design and deployment, to align with EU law and fundamental rights, including the need for AI makers to disclose any copyrighted material used to develop their systems. We want AI systems to be accurate, reliable, safe and non-discriminatory, regardless of their origin, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Friday. Earlier this month, the White House also unveiled AI rules to address safety and privacy. The latest effort by the Biden Administration built on previous attempts to promote some form of responsible innovation, but to date Congress has not advanced any laws that would regulate AI. Last October, the administration unveiled a blueprint for an AI Bill of Rights as well as an AI Risk Management Framework; more recently, it pushed for a roadmap for standing up a National AI Research Resource. The measures, however, dont have any legal teeth "and theyre not what we need now," according to Litan. The United States has been something of a follower in developing AI rules. China has led the world in rolling out several initiatives for AI governance, though most of those initiatives relate to citizen privacy and not necessarily safety. We need clear guidelines on development of safe, fair and responsible AI from the US regulators, Litan said in an earlier interview. We need meaningful regulations such as we see being developed in the EU with the AI Act. While they are not getting it all perfect at once, at least they are moving forward and are willing to iterate. US regulators need to step up their game and pace." In March, Apple co-founder and form chief engineer Steve Wozniak, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, hundreds of AI experts and thousands of others put their names on an open letter calling for a six-month pause in developing more powerful AI systems, citing potential risks to society. A month later, EU lawmakers urged world leaders to find ways to control AI technologies, saying it is developing faster than expected. Open AI's Sam Altman on AI: 'I'm nervous' Last week, the US Senate held two separate hearings during which members and experts who testified said they see AI as a clear and present danger to security, privacy and copyrights. Generative AI technology, such as ChatGPT can and does use data and information from any number of sometimes unchecked sources. Sam Altman, CEO of ChatGPT-creator OpenAI, was joined by IBM executive Christina Montgomery and New York University professor emeritus Gary Marcus in testifying before the Senate on the threats and opportunities chatbots present. Its one of my areas of greatest concern, Altman said. The more general ability of these models to manipulate, persuade, to provide one-on-one interactive disinformation given were going to face an election next year and these models are getting better, I think this is a significant area of concern. Regulation, Altman said, would be wise because people need to know if theyre talking to an AI system or looking at content images, videos or documents generated by a chatbot. I think well also need rules and guidelines about what is expected in terms of disclosure from a company providing a model that could have these sorts of abilities were talking about. So, Im nervous about it." Altman suggested the US government craft a three-point AI oversight plan: Form a government agency charged to license large AI models and revoke those that dont meet government standards. Create large language model (LLM) safety standards that include the ability to evaluate whether theyre dangerous or not. LLMs would have to pass safety tests such as not being able to self-replicate, go rogue, and start acting on their own. Create an independent AI-audit framework overseen by independent experts. The Senate also heard testimony that the use of "watermarks" could help users identify where content generate from chatbots comes from. Lynne Parker, director of the AI Tennessee Initiative at the University of Tennessee, said requiring AI creators to insert metadata breadcrumbs in content would allow users to better understand the contents provenance. The senate plans a future hearing on the topic of watermarking AI content. The fax that 1940s technology that exploded in the 1980s and operates by copying an image and transmitting it through squeaks and squawks over a phone line is still used by a large majority of healthcare providers, insurance payers, and pharmacies. And its simply not going away anytime soon. As recently as 2019, seven in 10 hospitals were still relying on fax machines and phone lines to transfer and retrieve patient records or order prescriptions, according to the latest figures from the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC). The agency believes there's been progress since then, but maintains that fax machines remain the most prevalent form of communication for transmitting care records and prescriptions. Fax machines pose a risk to patient privacy because data traveling across phone lines is not encrypted and access to a piece of paper can be easier than hacking an electronic file. Patient records can and have been sent to the wrong fax number, too. But the dangers of a widespread data breach of patient data remains virtually nonexistent compared to what can happen when hackers gain access to healthcare systems. What happened to EHRs? While mandated electronic health records (EHR) were supposed to digitize the healthcare industry and communications, not all providers have moved fully to digital record-keeping. In fact, within the US Veterans Affairs Administration (VA), the fax machine remains a big part of healthcare information exchange. In 2018, the VA began migrating away from its homegrown, 40-year-old EHR the Veterans Health Information Systems and Technology Architecture (VistA) to a new EHR sfrom Cerner. (Oracle has since purchased Cerner.) Last year, Neil C. Evans, a special advisor to the office of the VA CIO, said the agency's new EHR system is a way to put the fax machine into legacy of technology. That has yet to happen. The VA is still struggling to roll out its Cerner EHR across its departments while also continuing to use its home-grown VistA EHR. And so, with disparate EHR systems, consistency for data transmission has yet to materialize. Yes, the majority of healthcare providers do still use paper and electronic fax, said Mutaz Shegewi, a research director for Worldwide Healthcare Provider Digital Strategies at IDC. "I wouldnt be surprised if fax use increases in a digitized format. EHRs have come a long way, but theres still a lot of work being done. Interoperability is still a problem, because most EHRs not fully compatible with one another, Shegewi said. So, youve got disparate siloes of data. The interoperability issue Health information exchanges (HIEs) were supposed to largely solve the EHR interoperability problem. But they failed because they were mostly tech provider based and interoperability standards varied from organization to organization. At one point, vendors were actively blocking the transmission of data between disparate EHR systems. By keeping their software proprietary and unable to exchange data, or by actively blocking the use of protocols that would otherwise allow it, vendors could corner their respective markets. Cris Ross, CIO at the Mayo Clinic, said at one Healthcare Information Management Systems Society (HIMSS) conference that healthcare interoperability is not a "crisis," it's more like a "perpetual rainy day." Health Information Exchanges failed mainly because there wasnt a business model, said John Halamka, president of the Mayo Clinic Platform, a group of digital and long-distance healthcare initiatives. Sure, it is a societal good, but whos going to pay? It gets back to the question of where are the standards? Where are the mandates? Where are the business cases? Halamka continued. For all the talk about faxes being unsecure, unreliable, 1980s tech, at least across [healthcare] disciplines, it does seem pretty universal. Experts agree that while nearly ubiquitous, fax machines or servers live in the analogue world. They often digitize an image, turn it into an analogue signal for transmission, and then return it to a digital format for screen viewing or printing. Its like going between two French speakers with Spanish in the middle. That doesnt seem very efficient, Halamka said. (Halamka was co-chair of the Obama Administration Health Information Technology Standards Committee, which created the standards used in the 2009 HITECH Act; its purpose was to promote and expand the adoption of health information technology.) But healthcare providers, insurance payers and pharmacies all have the telephone end nodes to enable faxes, and so there continues to be an if it aint broke, dont fix it mentality. Even with mandates for interoperability and against information blocking, such as TEFCA (Trusted Exchange Framework and Common Agreement), and QHIN (Qualified Health Information Network), technical framework problems persist. "Remember that skilled nursing facilities arent covered by TEFCA, and pharmacies use e-prescribing versus insurance paperwork..., And then you have payors theres a whole other set of regulations for them," Halamka said. "The bottom line is theres not a comprehensive set of regulatory constraints and standards around all these providers." Fax is being used less for care coordination between healthcare facilities and EHRs are seeing an increase of use, but when it comes to post-acute care, the pharmaceutical industry and insurance payers, fax is still the rule, Halamka said. Shutterstock So, yes, it is a problem. Yes, we should solve it. But at the moment it doesnt feel like its been on anyones radar screen as a high priority and I havent seen regulation or funding changes, Halamka said. Legacy fax systems...just work Brett Frisch, an account executive at iFAX Solutions Inc. in Philadelphia, PA, sells fax technology. The nations largest pharmacies Walgreens and CVS depend on fax servers for prescription orders, and while phone lines can be pricey, theyre still cheaper than ripping and replacing them with another electronic communications method, at least for now. Its like were the cockroach of the tech industry. Weve outlasted tapes, CDs, VHS and Blockbuster video. Its legacy equipment, said Frisch, whose company sells the software that enables fax transmissions between servers. Everyone in the industry keeps saying the technology has five years left. Then another five years pass and then another five years, and that was 15 years ago. Commercial faxes talk over local area network (LAN) servers, but the difference between a paper fax machine and a commercial fax system isnt all that different. Its still data being transmitted over a phone line or server node. The only difference is with a fax server, document scanning isnt required. And fax systems, Frisch argued, are very secure. You cant really break into a phone line. When a fax transmission happens its like a phone call, Frisch said. If I faxed you, theres no way to tap into your line. Its going from one fax machine or server to another. Its like a phone call. You could tap a call back in the day, but [it's] extremely tough to do. Theres just no way to securely connect every doctor and pharmacy. If you invent it, youll become extremely wealthy, Frisch said. iFax Solutions users fax about 10 million prescriptions per month, Frisch said. And while the fax server market is relatively small in terms of vendors only about a dozen exist its by no means small in customers. Esker Fax, RightFax, Biscom and eFax are among the top competitors and they service the whos who of healthcare and pharma. The worlds largest pharmacies, hospital systems, post-acute care facilities and healthcare providers continue to use fax communications. EHR security is still an issue While EHRs were supposed to solve the communications issues between providers, pharmacies, and insurance payers, they also became rich targets for cyberattacks. In 2021, 34% of hospitals, according to one survey, reported being the victim of a ransomware attack aimed at locking them out of their EHR systems to force them to pay a ransom to have it restored. The actual number of ransomware attacks could be higher because victim organizations do not always report the incidents or when ransoms are paid. Another challenge for interoperability between healthcare providers and others is that individual departments within a hospital can also use disparate computer systems, creating in-house data siloes. Radiology might have its own medical imaging software and services while the cardiology department could have its own system, for example. The 21st Century Cures Act was created to improve interoperability and information exchange between disparate EHR systems and to discourage information blocking. There have also been vendor-driven initiatives, such as the CommonWell Health Alliance, a non-profit started by Cerner Corp. to promote EHR interoperability. In fact, according to an ONC report to Congress last year, nearly two-thirds of physicians engaged in some form of electronic exchange using EHRs either sent, received, or queried patient health information with providers outside of their organization in 2021. But interoperability problems persist. As a result, healthcare organizations, pharmacies, and insurance providers are still more comfortable with tried and tested technology, even if its legacy, IDCs Shegewi said. Interoperability is still a challenge. And for that reason many providers still resort to fax, he said. Security and privacy is also part of it. Fax and phone is often perceived as more secure compared to electronic methods, especially with those more used to traditional ways of doing things. Its simply hard to disrupt and dislodge old ways of doing things. Singapore sends largest delegation for Srinagar G20 tourist meet; enhanced security in place Security measures and decorations were both on full display in Srinagar which is the venue for the third tourism working group meeting of G20 countries from today. This is the first such international event in the region since the Indian government revoked Jammu and Kashmir's special status and stripped it of its statehood in August 2019. Officials say the G20 meeting will boost tourism in Kashmir which is already receiving a large number of domestic and foreign tourists. Photo courtesy: Twitter/@AsadamAijaz Around 60 delegates from the member countries of G20 are attending the meeting. Officials say the highest number of delegates for the Srinagar event are coming from Singapore. A glittering facelift has been given to parts of Srinagar city and roads leading to Sher-e-Kashmir International Convention Center or SKICC, the venue for the G20 meeting. Harshavardhan Shingha, Chief Coordinator G20, said India is halfway through its G20 presidency and so far 118 meetings have been held across the country. He said the Srinagar meeting has received the highest number of participants in comparison to two earlier meetings on tourism. There are also delegates from special invitee guest countries who are attending the meeting. Marine commandos and national security guards have been deployed as part of the ground-to-air security cover. Photo courtesy: Twitter/@AdityaRajKaul China has opposed the holding of a G20 meeting in Kashmir, while Saudi Arabia has not registered for the event. Turkey, it appears, has decided to stay away from the Srinagar meeting. "China firmly opposes holding G20 meetings in any form in disputed areas and will not attend such meetings," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said. India countered the objection by saying it is free to hold meetings on its own territory. It said peace and tranquility on its border is essential for normal ties with China. Marine commandos and national security guards have been deployed as part of the ground-to-air security cover. Anti-drone units have been activated and national security guards are deployed at sensitive places and installations. Thousands of troops from the Army, Border Security Force (BSF), Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) and Jammu and Kashmir Police are part of the security grid amid reports that terrorists may try to disrupt the G20 event in Kashmir. Ahead of the meeting, a massive facelift was given to parts of Srinagar city and the road from Srinagar airport to SKICC. Photo courtesy: Twitter/@AsadamAijaz Police have issued traffic advisories and no traffic will be allowed to move on Srinagar's boulevard road. There are also restrictions on traffic movement on the route used by G20 delegates. Shopkeepers in the Lal Chowk area have been issued special passes so that they can keep their shops open without facing any problems. Ahead of the meeting, a massive facelift was given to parts of Srinagar city and the road from Srinagar airport to SKICC. Officials say the G20 meeting will boost tourism in Kashmir which is already receiving a large number of domestic and foreign tourists. 05/22/2023 Photo (c) David Espejo - Getty Images Montana has officially become the first state to completely ban TikTok for everyone in the state. It may be the first, but its not likely to be the last. As of April 2023, the app has been banned for use by federal employees and banned for use by state employees in 34 states. But students and Gen Zer are looking at a far greater squeeze. Major colleges and universities like the University of Florida, University of Wisconsin, University of Texas, University of Georgia and others have cut off access to TikTok for hundreds of thousands of students. And a recent survey found that most people over the age of 23 want the app out of everyones life, basically challenging the younger generation's obsession with TikTok and its value in their lives. The tech giants smoke-and-mirrors act Any parent whos tried to wean their child off the high they get from any dopamine-driven app knows that if or when the walls of TikTok keep tumbling down, theyre going to be dealing with a ton of bummed-out kids. Titania Jordan is the chief parenting officer at Bark Technologies, a company that offers content monitoring for parents so their children can still get their internet fix without getting addicted to an app or website. Jordan told ConsumerAffairs that while Montanas effort is a good start, its not going to remedy the situation. What the platform really needs to do, along with other platforms such as Snapchat, is open their APIs (Application Programming Interface) to allow third-party monitoring systems to get in there and do the job of helping to protect kids from digital dangers the right way, she said those dangers being cyberbullying, online predation, suicidal ideation, self-harm, violent content, and disordered eating. But she thinks the larger problem is going to be all the smoke and mirrors from these tech giants who say theyre putting in their own safety systems. Theyre not," she said. "Tech companies need checks and balances, much like any organization with too much power, to ensure they are truly putting in the right protective measures to help kids stay safer on their platforms, not just protect and further their own financial interests. How can parents safely monitor their childs phone and social media use? With summer around the corner, Jordan encourages parents to set borderlines, set screen time limits, model positive behavior, learn how to use the parental controls on the apps and devices their kids use and a seemingly forgotten parental skill spend some time with their kids outside, among other things like boundaries and contracts. Parental controls can block inappropriate content, help protect kids from communicating with strangers or worse predators, teach our kids limits and boundaries, help establish schedules for homework, chores, or bedtime, and mostly, help set them up for success to be responsible digital citizens, Jordan said. Put yourself in their shoes Another suggestion from Elana Pearl Ben-Joseph, MD is for parents to take the initiative to see for themselves just what their kids are being fed on the apps and sites theyre using. The best way to monitor media that kids use is to experience the media yourself, she said. Test apps and play games before your kids use them. View and play apps and games together. And watch what they watch so you can talk about what they see on their screens. You know your kids best, so you're the best judge of what they can handle. Jordan offered another plus that can help parents navigate their way through this. There are more than 300,000 parents, caregivers, educators, and mental health professionals in the Parenting in a Tech World Facebook Group where they can post questions specific to their family situation. "But, also find a group of support to remind them that were all in this together," she said. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, center rear, joins G7 world leaders at a working session on the final day of the G7 Summit in Hiroshima, Japan, Sunday, May 21. From left to right are: Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, U.S. President Joe Biden, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Britain's Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Zelenskyy, European Council President Charles Michel, Gianluigi Benedetti, Italian ambassador to Japan, Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, and France's President Emmanuel Macron. AP-Yonhap China Vice Foreign Minister Sun Weidong has summoned the Japanese ambassador to register protests over "hype around China-related issues" at the Group of Seven (G7) summit over the weekend, a ministry statement late on Sunday said. The heads of the world's leading democracies meeting in the Japanese city of Hiroshima expressed serious concerns about rising tensions in East and South China Seas as well as voicing concerns about the human rights situations in China, including in Tibet and Xinjiang. Sun said Japan collaborated with the other countries at the G7 summit "in activities and joint declarations ... to smear and attack China, grossly interfering in China's internal affairs, violating the basic principles of international law and the spirit of the four political documents between China and Japan," referring to the China-Japan Joint Statement of 1972. He said Japan's actions were detrimental to China's sovereignty, security and development interests, and that China is "strongly dissatisfied and firmly opposes" them. "Japan should correct its understanding of China, grasp strategic autonomy, adhere to the principles of the four political documents between China and Japan, and truly promote the stable development of bilateral relations with a constructive attitude," Sun said. Hideo Tarumi, Japanese ambassador to China, rebutted that it is "natural" for the G7 to refer to issues of common concern as it has done in the past and will continue to do so in the future as long as China does not change its behaviour, according to a readout. "China should first take positive steps to address those issues of concerns if China demands not to refer to them," Tarumi told Sun, according to the readout. Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said during Monday morning briefing that the country's policy toward China has been consistent that it will insist on matters that is needed and urge responsible behaviour, while take steps to address concerns and cooperate on common issues. The Chinese embassy in Britain had earlier asked London to stop slandering and smearing China to avoid further damage to China-U.K. relations. (Reuters) What all this means is that "invoking the 14th Amendment" is meaningless, unless it is shorthand for "treating the debt limit as unconstitutional." Now it just so happens that the debt limit is unconstitutionalbut not because of the 14th Amendment ! The Public Debt Clause is a prohibition on Congress, the Executive, and the Courts from disavowing US debt obligations . It's not a prohibition on defaulting because such a prohibition would be meaningless. If a country is unable to pay its obligations, no constitutional commitment device can change that. A constitution cannot fill a bare cupboard. And if a country is simply unwilling to pay its obligations (but admits to them), then its creditors are left with whatever legal recourse they might have. But prohibiting default doesn't get creditors anything. Prohibiting disavowal does because it means that creditors retain their right to be paid. The Public Debt Clause is a prohibition on disputing the validity of US debt obligations--that is disputing whether they are legitimately owed. There's not a word in the 14th Amendment about default. The drafters of the Public Debt Clause included some very experienced commercial lawyers. They understood the difference between defaulting on an obligation and disputing or repudiating an obligation. For example, I might acknowledge that I owe a loan, but just not be able to pay it. That's different than saying "I don't owe the money." The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law, including debts incurred for payment of pensions and bounties for services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion, shall not be questioned. A variety of commentators claim that the 14th Amendment prohibits the United States from defaulting . It does nothing of the sort. Read the text of the Public Debt Clause: This prioritization myth is something being pushed by (no surprise) the Wall Street Journal's editorial page. It translates to "debt ceiling is fine...screw the pensioners, as long as bondholders get paid." But even if you politically agree with bondholders uber alles, it is a position utterly lacking in textual support. As noted with Myth #1, failure to pay interest on existing bonds is not questioning the validity of the bonds. It's just defaulting on them. You can't get any prioritization argument out of the text. Additionally, the Public Debt Clause refers to the "public debt of the United States," which the good folks at the WSJ interpret to mean publicly held US Treasury obligations (query if that would exclude the special Treasury obligations held by Social Security...). But they simply ignore the rest of the Public Debt Clause: "including debts incurred for payment of pensions and bounties for services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion". That additional language shows that whatever the 14th Amendment is doing, it is not limited to Treasury bonds includes certain debts incurred for pensions and services. And once we admit that the scope is broader than just Treasury bonds, the whole prioritization idea falls apart. Instead, we are left with the question of just what falls within the scope of "public debt". Myth #3: Breaching the Debt Limit Would Wind Up With a Loss for the Administration in the Supreme Court A lot of commentators assume that breaching the debt ceiling ends up with a Supreme Court case being heard by a pro-GOP Supreme Court. It could, but I think that's unlikely. It's just not a very realistic view of how litigation works. For starters, it's not obvious that anyone has standing to sue. But even if someone did, litigation, even over important issues, takes time. In this instance, that's a feature, not a bug, because litigation is rarely about a definitive court decision. That's really the exception in US litigation. Instead, litigation just moves negotiations to a different forum. Deals are the story of US litigation; most litigation is about jockeying for better deal position. And that's what it would be here. Let's be clearno one wants to see this issue resolved in litigation. It's not a first-best outcome. But if there isn't an acceptable deal, however, then the choice is between default and breaching the debt limit. We know that default is a terrible outcome. If there is no deal, litigation is the best alternative, recognizing that it changes negotiating dynamics. I'll also note that the dynamics change in a way that's favorable to the administration: the House GOP will lose their major threat, namely that the debt ceiling will be breached, and every additional dollar of debt issued in excess of the debt ceiling will just raise the ante and put more pressure on the House GOP not to crater the global economy. And even if the administration were to lose, so what? At that point it's back right where it would be if it decided not to breach the debt ceilinghaving to decide between taking a bad deal and shutting down the government. Myth #4: Treasury Auctions Will Fail If the Debt Ceiling Is Breached Some folks have fretted that Treasury won't be able to sell new debt if the debt ceiling is breached. There's no way to prove it, but I'm skeptical of this claim. Everyone knows that this standoff will end sooner or later with a deal in one form or another and that deal will unquestionably ratify any debt issued over the debt ceiling. That's why the auctions won't fail. Treasury will have to pay a higher coupon, but it's a gamble, I'd certainly be willing to take. Anna Gelpern, Stephen Lubben and I have an article in The American Prospect entitled The Debt Limit Is Unconstitutionalbut Not for the Reason You Think. Various commentatorsand members of Congresshave suggested that the President invoke the 14th Amendment to declare the debt limit unconstitutional. They're right to argue that the debt limit is unconstitutional, but the constitutional problem isn't the 14th Amendment. Instead, it's Article I of the Constitution, namely Congress's power to enter into contracts. The tl;dr version is that Congress has a power to make binding commitments for the United States and the President is constitutionally obligated to perform those commitments. If the Treasury lacks the funds, then the President must borrow. No specific authorization is needed. Instead, it is implicit every time Congress appropriates funds to perform a binding commitment. Relocating the constitutional problem with the debt limit isn't merely an academic exercise. It has two implications. First, it changes the nature of the legal debate and puts the administration on much, much firmer legal footing. The 14th Amendment argument is weak because it simply is not a prohibition on defaulting. It's a prohibition on repudiation, and a default is not a repudiation. An Article I argument reframes the issue as being about the validity of the debt ceiling, rather than the ability to default. In other words, it goes to question of whether the House GOP has holdup power, rather than whether the administration is under some cryptic constitutional limitation that it must affirmatively "invoke." Second, it means that the President not only can, but must disregard the debt limit in order to fulfill his own constitutional duty to "Take Care" that the laws are faithfully executed. In other words, breaching the debt limit is not merely an option, but a legal requirement if Treasury is short of funds. Once Congress has appropriated funds, the President must carry out the authorized spending. When an ant colony is threatened, individual ants release pheromones to warn of the impending danger. Each ant picking up the warning broadcasts it further, passing it from individual to individual until the full defenses of the colony are mobilized. Instead of a single ant facing the danger alone, thousands of defenders with a single purpose swiftly converge on the threat. This all happens without the need for direction from a central authority or guidance from a single leader. Just like the ants, public-private partnerships (PPP) should be responding to cybersecurity klaxons and working together to combat threats from all corners of the globe. Examples of this are already starting to happen. US President Joe Bidens National Cybersecurity Strategy outlines the expectation of an all-of-government approach to cybersecurity, which would give a common purpose to private organizations and national infrastructure that are vulnerable to attack. The ants and their pheromones provide a compelling model for a holistic approach to cybersecurity. The word for this kind of behavior is stigmergy actions performed by self-organizing systems that allow individuals to work together to achieve a common goal without any central coordination. Governments, companies, partners, and even competitors should be able to unite as one to address the omnipresent threats presented by both criminals and nation-states for the benefit of all. Cybersecurity groups working together are more formidable Such is the case of a group that goes by the moniker of Big Pipes, made up of security researchers, staffers from cloud service providers, academics, FBI special agents, and online gaming companies. Over the past few years, they have worked as one to address the booter or stresser services offering distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks for hire. Wireds recent expose on this quiet and unassuming group explains their motivation and success far better than do the Department of Justices (DOJ's) announcements of takedowns and arrests facilitated by the willingness to work as one. On May 8, 2023, the DOJ announced that federal authorities had seized 13 internet domains associated with booter websites. A few months before, prosecutors in Los Angeles and Alaska charged six people with offering computer attack services. This was ant theory in action. Another example where governments combined forces across the Americas and Europe was Operation SpecTor, which spanned three continents and took down and neutralized a narcotics network operating within the dark web. The DOJs Joint Criminal Opioid and Darknet Enforcement (JCODE) together with Europols European Cybercrime Center (EC3) combined information and leads that resulted in 288 arrests. When governments work together, they are stronger and more formidable. Collaboration in response to Russian cyberattacks on Ukraine Then we have the Russian invasion and cyberwar being waged against Ukraine. Within the response to the cyberwar, we saw companies spontaneously unite and bring their expertise to the Ukrainian government and citizens. For example, the Ukrainian government, working with companies from around the world, moved to preserve their national records in the cloud. As noted in a previous column, Russia is targeting the displaced Ukrainian population with disinformation and misinformation, as it strives to eradicate the Ukrainian nationality. Ukraine amped up its digital governance application, DIIA, with the support and backing of both the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). This collaboration created a model that is now being exported to other countries (Estonia being among the first.) CISOs should heed the call to work with others The US National Cybersecurity Strategy has provided an infusion of energy and resources toward more robust system of public-private partnerships against cyberattacks. As the administration noted, economic security and prosperity; respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms; trust in our democracy and democratic institutions; and an equitable and diverse society are all at risk. Thus, it is incumbent upon any CISO or CSO with resources or intelligence to share to step forward at the sound of the loud and repetitive klaxon and engage in the PPPs being forged. In August 2021, 40 companies took part in a White House cybersecurity summit following the issuance of the July 2021 National Cybersecurity Memorandum. President Biden was direct in calling on the cybersecurity sector to up its game: You have the power, capacity and responsibility, I believe to raise the bar. He continued that weve seen time and again how the technologies we rely on from our cellphone to pipelines to the electric grid can become targets of hackers and criminals. Almost two years later, we find ourselves with the same message being delivered, a bit of deja vu, a situation which we can ill afford. Now is the time to be competitive yet seek ways to be collaborative for the common good. The White House signaled to US partners and allies that we are in this fight together and together we will need to share information and technological investment. The ant theory requires us to all answer the call, not tomorrow, not the day after tomorrow, but now. Will it be enough? Time will tell. Papua New Guinea's Deputy Prime minister John Rosso, second from left, greets U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, left, upon his arrival at Port Moresby International Airport on May 21, ahead of the Forum for India-Pacific Islands Cooperation (FIPIC) Summit in Papua New Guinea. AFP-Yonhap The United States is scheduled to sign a new security pact with Papua New Guinea on Monday as it competes with China for influence in the Pacific. Papua New Guinea's location just north of Australia makes it strategically significant. It was the site of fierce battles during World War II, and with a population of nearly 10 million people, it's the most populous Pacific island nation. The State Department said the new agreement would provide a framework to help improve security cooperation, enhance the capacity of Papua New Guinea's defense force and increase regional stability. At a breakfast meeting, Papua New Guinea Prime Minister James Marape said his country faced significant security challenges, from skirmishes within the country to illegal fishing boats that light up the night like skyscrapers. "We have our internal security as well as our sovereignty security issues," Marape said. "We're stepping up on that front to make sure our borders are secure." But the agreement sparked student protests in the second-largest city, Lae. And many in the Pacific are concerned about the increasing militarization of the region. Student Naomi Kipoi, 17, said she was opposed to the security pact because it would mean the U.S. could come to her country whenever it pleased without permission. She said China had been a big help to her country by building roads and funding schools. "The U.S. didn't help us with aid and other things," Kipoi said. "They're just trying to sign the agreement." Last year, nearby Solomon Islands signed its own security pact with China, a move that raised alarm throughout the Pacific. The U.S. has increased its focus on the Pacific, opening embassies in Solomon Islands and Tonga, reviving Peace Corps volunteer efforts, and encouraging more business investment. But some have questioned how reliable a partner the U.S. is in the Pacific, particularly after President Joe Biden canceled his plans to make an historic stop in Papua New Guinea to sign the pact. Biden would have been the first sitting U.S. president to visit any Pacific Island country, but he ended up canceling to focus on the debt limit talks back at home. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken traveled in Biden's place, arriving in Papua New Guinea early Monday. In response to news of Blinken's impending visit, China warned against the introduction of "geopolitical games" into the region. The U.S. visit was timed to coincide with a trip by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who was hosting a meeting with Pacific Island leaders to discuss ways to better cooperate. Blinken met with New Zealand Prime Minister Chris Hipkins and said the two nations had a shared vision for the region. "To make sure that it remains free, open, secure and prosperous," Blinken said. Hipkins told Blinken he was very happy that Blinken had made the trip. "The increased U.S. presence in the Pacific is something we welcome," Hipkins said. But Hipkins also drew a distinction to his own nation's efforts. "We are not interested in the militarization of the Pacific," Hipkins told reporters before the Blinken meeting. "We are interested in working with the Pacific on issues where we have mutual interest. Issues around climate change. And we're not going to be attaching military strings to that support." (AP) Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi flew into Australia on Monday, aiming to strengthen economic ties by tapping into his country's fastest-growing diaspora. Modi landed in Sydney, the last stop on his Asia-Pacific tour, looking to assert India's role as a regional power in the face of China's growing influence. Indians are the second-largest diaspora community in Australia after the British, with 673,000 Indian-born citizens living in the country of 26 million. "The diaspora is the most important bridge in the India-Australia bilateral business relationship," said Jodi McKay, national chair of the Australia India Business Council. "Prime Minister Modi understood that long before Australia was able to grasp that," she told AFP. (AFP) The University of Oregon Police Department claims it puts the security and safety of its students as a top priority. However, the UO does not have a consistent way that it reports safety issues to students. UOPD sends UO Alert messages when there is an imminent threat to the health and/or safety of the campus community, according to its UO Alerts website. For the alerts, the question of who responds to a call lies behind which police departments jurisdiction it is, according to John Johnson III, director of engagement at UOPD. Eugene Police Departments service area goes from Monroe to the McKenzie Bridge to Lowell and to Crow. UOPDs primary patrol jurisdiction is the owned and controlled property of the University of Oregon campus, Johnson said. Because university-owned property may be different than just university on-campus or operated campus area that kind of determines who gets the call first or who gets a call period, Johnson said. Ensuring students are informed of potential threats in the area relies on communication between the two agencies. But for something that occurs on or around campus, there is no formal process of relaying information from EPD to UOPD, UO Spokesperson Angela Seydel said in an email. As for real-time sharing of information other than sexual misconduct cases, there is no formal agreement, but the information is often shared as a courtesy, Seydel said. When information is relayed, the turnaround time could be between two to three minutes Johnson said in an interview. On April 23, the EPD received notice of gunshots in one of the 900 block apartment windows by a group of 12 to 15 men who were yelling homophobic slurs at a resident of the apartment. Despite this shooting occurring next to over four Greek life houses and multiple off-campus student apartments, Seydel wrote in an email that UOPD was never informed, which is why no alert was sent to UO students. However, EPD spokesperson Melinda McLaughlin said there was a call made by 911 to UOPD around 1:04 a.m. regarding the shooting. McLaughlin said that depending on the proximity to the UO and the kind of incident, either the Watch Commander, who has oversight of all emergent issues that affect the police department, or the Central Lane Communications Center (911), will call UOPD. Johnson said that if a call is received involving students but is not on campus, it may not fall in the proximity that UOPD would get an alert. Seydel said UOPD will send out an alert if the threat is imminent and ongoing, but it is not UOPD who determines if these alerts get sent out. When UO Safety Alerts are sent out it is sent through the infrastructure of the command staff to the students and community, not directly from UOPD. UOPD falls under the Safety and Risk Services in the structure of the university, Seydel said. Two to three supervisory positions within the infrastructure make the decision to send or not to send the notification out to the community. Currently, the UO alert notification process begins with the UOPD Chief calling Seydel or a supervisory entity in the Safety and Risk Services. Then, those entities will make the decision to send out an alert. A lot of the time its: Is this on campus? Is this tied to campus or in the immediate area? Is it involving UO students on campus? Is it an ongoing threat? Seydel said. The location of the shooting on April 23 was a 10-minute walk from campus and was surrounded by UO students who live off campus, yet the UOPD did not notify students or community members. Johnson said there was no alert because the shooting was not an ongoing threat, despite the case remaining open and under investigation. The idea of something occurring, that hasnt been resolved, as far as the investigation, is a different threat dynamic, Johnson said. For Eugene, EPD and UOPD may receive the same information, he said, causing both to respond. The two agencies are not divided and they decide who has the right resources to respond to each call, he said. Because of low staffing due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the agencies have redistributed responsibilities in order to not spread workers too thin, Johnson said. UOPD is still working to figure out how to adapt to the changes post-COVID and how to handle every situation. Opinion: Modern birth control and its discriminative history continue to control womens bodies. ---------- Use of birth control across the U.S. has increased with the rise of reproductive rights in the past few decades. People with uteruses have various options, such as the pill, IUD, implant and patch. Yet its racist history shines through and creates a modern method of controlling womens bodies. Since the earliest times, humanity has tried to control and prevent pregnancy. Childbirth has been dangerous, especially before modern medicine. It wasnt until the 20th century that birth control started to progress. In 1907, Indiana passed the first eugenics law in the world, legalizing forced sterilization. Thirty-two other states eventually followed suit. Indianas law allowed anyone in state custody to be sterilized if deemed unfit to reproduce. Unsurprisingly, this targeted Black and Native American women and poor and disabled people. This form of birth control sterilized an estimated amount of 60,000 people. The push for greater access to birth control started in 1921. After visiting poor neighborhoods in New York City, Margaret Sanger established the American Birth Control League. She too wanted to prevent undesirable women from reproducing. The organization was eventually transitioned into what we know as Planned Parenthood. Today, it acknowledges its discriminative roots. Merle McGee, the former chief equity and engagement officer for Planned Parenthood of Greater New York, spoke about Planned Parenthoods history with the Washington Post in 2020. The Sanger legacy unchecked or unmet with a reckoning has been weaponized against women of color and has effectively hampered our ability to be in a right relationship with women of color, McGee said. Scientists John Rock and Gregory Pincus announced the first birth control pill in the mid-1950s. But before the contraception became available to the public, it had to be tested. Two hundred poor Puerto Rican women signed up, not knowing they were a part of a clinical trial. The scientists were easily able to exploit the women due to their lack of access. The pill had high levels of the hormone progesterone, leading to extreme side effects, sterilization and in rare cases, death. Physicians Pamela Verma Liao and Janet Dollin addressed the Puerto Rican sterilization in their historical review of the pill. Despite the substantial positive effect of the pill, its history is marked by a lack of consent, a lack of full disclosure, a lack of true informed choice, and a lack of clinically relevant research regarding risk, Liao and Dollin said. Modern birth control is widely used and no longer engages in targeted sterilization. However, its control on womens bodies and health persists. Six years ago, I started taking the pill. I was only 15. But because I got into my first serious relationship, it was considered mandatory. The pill immediately threw my hormones off balance. Weight gain, mood swings, suppressed sex drive, nausea, PH balance, change in appetiteyou name it. All birth control methods come with an information sheet listing the possible side effects. Yet it wasnt until I went off the pill that I fully realized its effect on my body. Everything that I thought was normal wasnt. I finally began to feel like myself. After a few months, I started a new pill. Not because I wanted to, but because I felt like I needed birth control to engage in sexual activity. Students for Choice, a reproductive rights group at the University of Oregon, promotes education and activism on campus. Society pressures women into thinking they cant be sexual beings without birth control. That there is no other option. So when women choose to stay off, they are often judged within society, said member Renate Prazak. Avery Cassler, a member of S4C, said, Theres an expectation that biologically female bodies need to be regulated. Were regulated since birth, and birth control is just an extension of that. Let me be clear in saying that access to and use of birth control are still important. Each individual has their own experience with birth control, good or bad. Instead of promoting birth control as the only option, there needs to be better sex education. Birth control is for everyone. Its important to educate people about the safety of vasectomies and that theyre reversible, Sydnee Warren from S4C said. Expanding abortion access and sex education are key to advocating reproductive rights. Historical and modern birth control share a common purpose of regulating womens bodies. Ultimately, reproductive rights arent about preventing pregnancy, but rather empowering women to finally take control of their bodies. Gold, XAU/USD Price Action: Gold rebounded on Friday after Fed chair Powells remarks. However, the drop to a six-week low could be a sign that cracks have started to emerge in golds uptrend. What is the outlook and key levels to watch in XAU/ USD ? Recommended by Manish Jaradi How to Trade Gold Get My Guide Last weeks drop to a six-week low could be a sign that cracks have started to emerge in golds uptrend. To be sure, it doesnt mean down is the only way forward - it probably means that the top side is now more or less defined. XAU/USD slipped below a crucial floor at the mid-April low of 1970 a fall below a vital price pivot for the first time since the rally began in early November suggesting that the tide could be beginning to turn against gold. That is, the trend could be changing from up to sideways or down on the daily charts. Given the pace and the extent of the gains since the end of 2022, and still-supportive upward momentum on higher timeframe charts, it could well be a sideways with a downward bias, rather than a unidirectional slide -- and Fridays rebound reinforces this point. XAU/USD Daily Chart Chart Created by Manish Jaradi Using TradingView Gold rebounded on Friday after US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell left the door open for a pause at the June meeting. Tighter credit conditions mean that our policy rate may not need to rise as much as it would have otherwise to achieve our goals, Powell said. The central bank chair reiterated that the central bank would now make decisions meeting by meeting. Markets are pricing in an 90% chance of a pause at the June FOMC meeting. XAU/USD 240-minute Chart Chart Created by Manish Jaradi Using TradingView; Notes at the bottom of the page. On technical charts, the trend varies depending on the timeframe of reference. On the intraday charts, XAU/USDs trend has turned bearish see the 240-minute colour-coded candlestick charts based on trending/momentum indicators. Hence, Fridays rebound could run out of steam ahead of the tough barrier around 2005-2020 (including the 200-period moving average and the mid-March high on the 240-minute charts). XAU/USD 240-minute Chart Chart Created by Manish Jaradi Using TradingView On the daily charts, as the colour-coded candlestick charts show, the trend has moved to a consolidation phase within the overall bullish structure. If history is any guide, consolidations can extend from a few days to a few weeks. XAU/USD Daily Chart Chart Created by Manish Jaradi Using TradingView; Notes at the bottom of the page. So far, XAU/USD is holding above the key converged cushion area of 1925-1950 (including the 89-day moving average and the lower edge of the Ichimoku channel on the daily charts). A break below could trigger a reassessment of the six-month-long bullish structure. In recent months, the momentum on higher timeframe charts has been a concern - see previous updateson March 28,April 16,April 24,May 10, and last weeks update Is This the Moment of Reckoning for Gold?, published May 17. Note: In the above colour-coded charts, Blue candles represent a Bullish phase. Red candles represent a Bearish phase. Grey candles serve as Consolidation phases (within a Bullish or a Bearish phase), but sometimes they tend to form at the end of a trend. Note: Candle colors are not predictive they merely state what the current trend is. Indeed, the candle color can change in the next bar. False patterns can occur around the 200-period moving average, or around a support/resistance and/or in sideways/choppy market. The author does not guarantee the accuracy of the information. Past performance is not indicative of future performance. Users of the information do so at their own risk. Recommended by Manish Jaradi The Fundamentals of Range Trading Get My Guide --- Written by Manish Jaradi, Strategist for DailyFX.com --- Contact and follow Jaradi on Twitter: @JaradiManish Crude Oil, WTI, US Dollar, US Debt Ceiling, Fed, FOMC, Canadian Fires, EIA Talking Points Crude oil rejected a move to the upside on Friday despite a soft US Dollar US debt ceiling talks are set to continue this week with a resolution needed soon If the Fed is changing tack, will the US economy boom to boost WTI? Recommended by Daniel McCarthy How to Trade Oil Get My Guide Crude oil continues to consolidate at the start of the Monday after posting a small gain last week with the US debt ceiling lurching toward the so-called X-date. Negotiations between US President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy are due to resume on Monday. Mr McCarthy said that a productive phone call transpired between the two on Sunday. A softer US Dollar appears to be more pronounced in currency pairs and the gold price over the last few sessions. Higher Treasury yields saw some support for the big dollar with the benchmark 2-year bond nudging 4.35% on Friday after having traded at 3.66% earlier this month. US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell made remarks on Friday that were seen as potentially less hawkish than previous commentary. In regard to future policy decisions, he said, the risks of doing too much versus doing too little, have become more balanced. Minneapolis Federal Reserve President Neel Kashkari also stated that he would be open to skipping a hike at the next Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting in mid-June. The futures and swaps markets are pricing in almost a 50-basis point cut to the Fed funds target rate by the end of the year. The Alberta, British Columbia and Saskatchewan provinces in Canada are experiencing severe wildfires and the nations oil production output is expected to be reduced as a result. Current estimates are for a reduction of almost 250k barrels per day. The weekly US Energy Information Agency (EIA) data will be released on Wednesday, and it will be closely watched after last weeks surprise leap in oil inventory. 5.04 million barrels were added to stockpiles which were way above the detraction of 920k that had been anticipated. Update crude oil prices can be found here. Recommended by Daniel McCarthy The Fundamentals of Range Trading Get My Guide WTI CRUDE OIL TECHNICAL ANALYSIS WTI failed to overcome resistance at 73.93 last Friday when it made a high at 73.58 and these levels may continue to offer resistance. The 34- and 100-day Simple Moving Average (SMA) is just above these levels and may lend resistance. On the downside, support might reside at the breakpoints and prior lows of 69.41, 66.82, 66.12, 64.36, 63.64 and 62.43. Chart created in TradingView --- Written by Daniel McCarthy, Strategist for DailyFX.com Please contact Daniel via @DanMcCarthyFX on Twitter Remme's Race for a Fortune For six days he rode relentlessly on, hardly daring to sleep in this fantastic, little-known horseback race against time in 1855. Leaving Adams & Company's Express office on the Sacramento river front this frosty morning in February, 1855, French-Canadian cattle buyer Louis Remme felt in an expansive mood as he tucked the agent's receipt in the pocket of his buckskin jacket. Remme had just deposited $12,500 in gold slugs to his account, the profits of selling cattle to the beefsteak-hungry miners slaving in the camps along the Mother Lode. How many of those Forty-Niners had gleaned that much gold for two months' labor? An hour later, seated at breakfast, Remme grudgingly paid a dollar for an old copy of the Daily Union which had just reached Sacramento by riverboat. A dollar for an out-dated newspaper struck him as exorbitant - until he looked at page one and realized he had made the most important investment of his life. A story date-lined St. Louis was headed: "Adams & Company Bankrupt! All Branches Locked Up By Receivers! Depositors Face Heavy Losses!" Remme kicked back his chair and sprinted out of the cafe. If he could withdraw his $12,500 from the local Adams branch before the bad news reached the Sacramento agent . . . But he was too late. A milling crowd of depositors was swarming around Adams' door, which was padlocked, a sheriff's deputy on guard, shotgun at the ready. Despair shot through Louis Remme. he would never be able to reach Marysville or any other outlying Adams office ahead of the catastrophic news. he stared at his receipt for $12,500, not worth the paper it was written on. Well, it could serve as a torch to light his cigar. He was rolling the worthless paper into a taper when he heard a frenzied depositor talking on the fringe of the crowd: "If we could only be livin' in Portland, Oregon. The steamer Columbia just left the Golden Gate this mornin,' carrin' the news up north. The Adams office in Portland won't shut down until the ship gets there." Another bearded man grunted, "Portland is over seven hundred miles off. Might as well be on the moon." Louis Remme thrust his receipt back in his pocket. Was it humanly possible for a rider, going overland, to beat an oceangoing steamer to Portland? There was no other way the news could reach the sparsely-settled northwest - no telegraph wires, no pony express mail service. "What have I got to lose?" He had $12,500 to lose . . . Twenty minutes later Louis Remme was on a paddle-steamer heading up-river to Knight's Landing. At that river port he borrowed a fast horse from Knight, the baronial pioneer, and started north, Portland bound. Twenty miles on his way the desperate man swapped his spent horse for another, and hammered on. Near the Marysville Buttes he made his fourth change of mount; ten hours out of Sacramento he was galloping through Red Bluff as if the devil were after him. Darkness was closing in when Remme sighted Mount Shasta's snow-covered twin peaks under the stars. Halting at a freighter's camp, he said he was chasing a horse thief - and that was good for still another relay mount. The wagon roads petered out at Clear Creek, which he reached by dawn's first grey light. Nothing but Indian trails and obscure game traces from her on to Oregon . . . All that day he pushed on, stealing horses and leaving tired substitutes behind at the infrequent homesteads he passed. That afternoon he was bucking the hock-deep drifts of a snowstorm. Remme had no way of knowing it, but he was holding his own with the steamer Columbia, which had two stops to make on the coast - one at Humboldt Bay, another at the mouth of the Rogue River, to disembark soldiers destined for Indian-fighting duty. Seventy hours after he had left Knight's Landing - sleeping in the saddle, snatching food where he could - Remme sent his lurching pony into the mining camp of Yreka. Four hours later, north of the Klamath River, he spotted a rock cairn through the swirling snowflakes. He had reached the Oregon line. From here on it was dangerous country, the Modoc Indians on the warpath. He reached Jacksonville, where sheer exhaustion forced him to take four hours out for sleep. Then he was crossing the Rogue River on a pioneer ferry and riding relentlessly on. Remme was pushing through the perpetual twilight of the Oregon timber when Indian war-whoops broke on his ears; by some miracle he escaped unscathed from a sleet of musket balls and flint-tipped Rogue arrows and came, more dead than alive, to the settlement of Winchester on the Umpqua. Nearly 200 man-killing miles yet to go - and a blizzard worsening. It changed to a cold drizzle when he reached the Valley of the Yoncolla. A whiskered pioneer named Jesse Applegate gave him a fresh horse and Remme was again on his way, making Eugene by daybreak - the fifth sunrise he had seen on this epochal ride, with only six hours' sleep to his credit. Noon of the sixth day, with precious time wasted retracing lost trails, Louis Remme was ferrying the Willamette at Milwaukie; early afternoon and he was leading his horse into the riverfront street of Portland town. Out in midstream he saw an ocean steamer dropping anchor. "What boat is that, m'sieur?" he asked a passer-by. "The Columbia, out of 'Frisco. Say, you look like you've been to hell and back . . ." "I have," gasped Remme, and stumbled along the muddy street to a false-fronted building carrying the magic name: "Adams Express". Inside, barely able to hang onto the counter, he presented his Adams voucher, signed by the Sacramento agent, W.B. Rochester, to the Portland representative, Dr. Steinberger. "This seems in order, sir," Steinberger said. "I must make a charge of one half of one per cent for cashing it . . ." "Bien," the stockman whispered. "I am a cattle buyer. I have to have my funds in gold." Five minutes later Remme had his gold. Forty pounds of it, in 50-dollar slugs. As he staggered out he nearly collided with Ralph Meade, the purser from the Columbia, who was bringing the news of Adams' failure to Oregon. Not one Portland depositor recovered a penny of his money. Louis Remme's ride had been won by a margin of a hundred yards, a hundred seconds on the clock dial. He had covered an impossible 665 miles in 143 hours, 10 of them spent in sleep - to earn himself a now-forgotten niche in history as the man who made the greatest horseback race in the annals of the West. EUR/USD Prices, Charts, and Analysis US debt ceiling talks continue as default deadline day nears. US dollar technical outlook remains positive despite Fridays sell-off. Recommended by Nick Cawley Get Your Free EUR Forecast Get My Guide Debt Ceiling Blues, Part 79. What Happens if the US Defaults? US debt ceiling talks continue tomorrow with President Joe Biden meeting House Speaker Kevin McCarthy with Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warning that the US government could run out of money soon, ringing in their ears. Ms. Yellen says the so-called X-date, when the US Government is unable to pay its bills in full and/or on time, is June 1st although the closely followed Bipartisan Policy Organisation sees a more flexible early-June to early-August deadline depending on cash inflows. The US dollar is being buoyed by these debt default fears with investors in ultra-short, one-month US Treasury bills demanding higher yields over the potential X-date. The yield on the one-month bill hit a multi-decade high of 5.90% last Tuesday and is currently trading at a still elevated 5.54%. US One Month Bill Yield Monthly Chart While the market concentrates on the US debt talks, the Euro will likely be more volatile on Tuesday with the release of the latest PMI reports. These flash PMIs are based on the evaluation of 75% to 85% of the survey responses and provide an initial, timely assessment of the economic trend according to new data sponsor Hamburg Commercial Bank (HCOB). For all market-moving events and economic data releases, see the real-time DailyFX Calendar After printing a fresh one-year high of 1.1095 in late April, EUR/USD has tested, and rejected, this level a couple of times in May. Since the start of May, the pair have moved steadily lower, breaking below 1.0800 at the end of last week on renewed US dollar strength. The move lower has seen EUR/USD drop below both the 20- and 50-day moving average, a negative set-up, while the pair have made a near-unbroken set of lower highs and lower lows this month. EUR/USD Daily Price Chart May 22, 2023 Chart via TradingView EUR/USD Bearish Data provided by of clients are net long. of clients are net short. Change in Longs Shorts OI Daily -6% -8% -6% Weekly 8% -15% -2% Retail Trading Suggests Potential Upside for EUR/USD Retail trader data shows 56.21% of traders are net-long with the ratio of traders long to short at 1.28 to 1.The number of traders net-long is 2.79% higher than yesterday and 8.83% lower from last week, while the number of traders net-short is 6.30% higher than yesterday and 6.69% higher from last week. We typically take a contrarian view to crowd sentiment, and the fact traders are net-long suggests EUR/USD prices may continue to fall. Yet traders are less net-long than yesterday and compared with last week. Recent changes in sentiment warn that the current EUR/USD price trend may soon reverse higher despite the fact traders remain net-long. What is your view on the EURO bullish or bearish?? You can let us know via the form at the end of this piece or you can contact the author via Twitter @nickcawley1. In just 30 seconds of emotionless TV, by 10am Phillip Schofield was gone for good from This Morning. No best bits montage. No tributes from his co-hosts. Just a couple of still images and highly scripted praise of his live presenting abilities from Alison Hammond and Dermot O'Leary, the two people who stand to gain the most from his brutal removal. How could more than 20 years on the sofa end in such an underwhelming and lightning swift manner? ITV bosses made the decision to deny Phillip a final victory lap as they feared there was a genuine chance the show would be sabotaged by either a furious regular or A-list guest. I've learned at least four household name stars had plotted to ambush the scandal-plagued presenter live on air about a series of allegations about his behaviour, without the knowledge of show producers. Phillip Schofield first appeared on the This Morning sofa back in 1998 (pictured) Dan Wootton has revealed that Phillip Schofield's fate on this morning was sealed after ITV bosses feared furious bosses would sabotage him live on air DAN WOOTTON: In just 30 seconds of emotionless TV, by 10am Phillip Schofield was gone for good from This Morning I am aware of the identity of the A-listers and regulars, but show bosses were not, making it impossible to risk such a reputationally damaging moment that would have gone viral around the world. Such a moment would also have been impossible for Holly, who had already made the difficult decision to end her TV partnership and friendship with Phillip, worried about the damage the ongoing association could cause to her own reputation. An ITV source told me: 'The growing paranoia about what could go wrong was engulfing the management. They got through four days without any major disasters, even though it was obvious Holly and Phil's friendship was over. 'But if Holly had been put in the position of having to try and defend him from an attack on his reputation during the show by a regular or celebrity guest, it would have been an impossible position for her. 'Everyone decided it would be irresponsible to put Phillip back on air, even for him to wish a final farewell to viewers. But that's an extraordinary thing to do to a host after 20 years on air.' This Morning's former doctor Ranj Singh had already become the first regular to break ranks, causing more nervousness among the shows embattled editor Martin Frizell and the channels head of daytime Emma Gormley, both of whom had ignored years of warnings and stayed fiercely loyal to Phillip until recently. During an interview on the Secure the Insecure podcast, which was only released today but pre-recorded last week, the shows resident medic for years admitted publicly what a number of This Morning stars had been privately discussing in frenzied WhatsApp conversations. DAN WOOTTON: Despite the ruthlessness backstage, one of the keys to the success of This Morning and the wider ITV Daytime programming is the premise that its stars are one big happy family behind-the-scenes DAN WOOTTON: Phillip's crisis management PR team might be briefing stories that he has been 'hung out to dry' while the star is helpfully pictured with his elderly mother, there is limited sympathy (pictured) DAN WOOTTON: The ongoing drama around Phillip and his behaviour risked torpedoing that myth Doctor Ranj said: 'I've had a bit of a wobble this week, where we're kind of thinking, hang on, do I fit in here? 'Does this align with my values? It feels like this isn't the kind of environment that I want to be a part of. And there's been a lot of negativity around various parts that we're all part of this process. 'Is this really a place for people like us where we're thinking, hang on, this is not okay, you know, what's going on and what we're hearing doesn't align with our values.' Despite the ruthlessness backstage, one of the keys to the success of This Morning and the wider ITV Daytime programming is the premise that its stars are one big happy family behind-the-scenes. The ongoing drama around Phillip and his behaviour risked torpedoing that myth. I was the first to reveal Holly and Phillip had fallen out back in 2019, but his high profile coming out as gay and the trauma of the pandemic papered over the cracks until earlier this year. However, as Phillip's reputation was tarnished further as he was dragged into the court case of his paedophile brother, Holly decided to cut ties. I've discovered the first signs of discontent between the pair came during a previously unknown fallout regarding International Women's Day on Wednesday, March 8. Holly, in conjunction with the show's editor Frizell, had decided that there should be an all-female presenting line-up to mark the occasion, side-lining Phillip entirely. But Phillip was furious about the plans and went over Holly's head to Frizell's boss Gormley to put a stop to them. As a result, Holly was only allowed to host the first section of the show surrounded by the show's female production staff, while Phillip was dispatched to a cafe down the road for a live item. But he returned to join her on the sofa soon after. 'Holly was livid about Gormley's decision and the fact Phillip had undermined her, and made that very clear to numerous people at ITV,' my source reveals. 'It was the first real sign to This Morning staff that their relationship had fractured and Holly wanted to step out of Phillip's shadow.' As the Mail's Katie Hind revealed this morning, it was significant that Holly used a pink 'girl power' heart emoji in her Saturday Instagram story wishing Phillip a tepid goodbye. Meanwhile, the future of ITV Daytime itself hangs in the balance, with ratings for Good Morning Britain and Lorraine also plummeting following the departures of Piers Morgan and Jeremy Kyle from the line-up. If ITV bosses hope the discontent over Phillip's This Morning reign of terror is over with his effective sacking, they may be disappointed, with a host of stars remaining furious about the handling of the situation. One household name told me: 'There are still many questions for ITV to answer. Why have they stood by Schofield for so long, only to throw him under the bus the moment Holly said something? DAN WOOTTON: I was the first to reveal Holly and Phillip had fallen out back in 2019, but his high profile coming out as gay (pictured) and the trauma of the pandemic papered over the cracks until earlier this year 'So many of us had been making complaints and pointing out the negativity surrounding Phillip on and off screen for so long, only to be ignored. So what changed? Or do they only listen to Holly?' ITV has always treated Phillip differently. There was the costly decision, both financially and reputationally, when he handed then PM David Cameron a so-called 'paedo list' of names he'd found on the internet. Then the scandal over skipping the line to view the late Queen lying in state to the fury of viewers, which became known as Queuegate. Not to mention the discomfort caused behind-the-scenes when Phillip's PA and personal runner a male in his twenties left This Morning to work on Loose Women amid unsubstantiated claims of a falling out with Schofield, even though ITV insists he was promoted. There is also anger ITV still stands by Phillip now, offering him six months' pay, solo hosting duties at the British Soap Awards and one further primetime series. DAN WOOTTON: As someone who also felt the wrath of Phillip numerous times during my ten-year career at ITV Daytime, it is extraordinary that not one current or former star of the broadcaster has publicly spoken out in support of Schofe since his axing A This Morning star fumed: 'His behaviour has clearly been such that hes only given a 30 second tribute, but then ITV is saying he remains part of the family. They may well come to regret that, especially if he's booed at the Soap Awards.' And while Phillip's crisis management PR team might be briefing stories that he has been 'hung out to dry' while the star is helpfully pictured with his elderly mother, there is limited sympathy. A celebrity whose career was briefly derailed because of Phillip told me: 'He has ruined so many TV careers, simply because he decided he didn't like someone. 'He showed no empathy to anyone when they were brutally kicked off This Morning because of his particular whim on a certain day. There are wide celebrations among the most famous TV presenters in the country because he's now going through that same experience.' As someone who also felt the wrath of Phillip numerous times during my ten-year career at ITV Daytime, it is extraordinary that not one current or former star of the broadcaster has publicly spoken out in support of Schofe since his axing. Not one. The vultures arrived early for Suella Braverman. They always do when a minister's wobbling. It had been, oh, at least a fortnight since Dominic Raab's resignation and his carcass by now had been clawed dry. Reports that Mrs Braverman had made diva-ish demands to be granted a private speeding awareness course meant Home Office questions provided an opportunity for fresh meat to be picked on. As such, Labour's benches were unusually well-stocked for a Monday afternoon, all but wearing bibs and sharpening their cutlery. Clumped together were Emma Hardy (Lab, Kingston upon Hull W), Rachael Maskell (Lab, York C) and Emma LewellBuck (Lab, South Shields): a trio of tricoteuse MPs who had arrived in good time to knit their way through another ministerial guillotining. Ms Lewell-Buck, whose high-volume contributions always tend to pack a wallop, was the first to swoop. She pointed out that driving without due care and attention was considered one of the 'worst forms of anti-social behaviour' and wondered whether the Home Secretary considered herself 'above the law'. HENRY DEEDES: The vultures arrived early for Suella Braverman. They always do when a minister's wobbling Suella had come dressed in bright red. I seem to remember turbo-charged Wacky Races character Penelope Pitstop used to favour a similarly bold shade. She slowly began to read a carefully worded response to which the House would soon become tiresomely familiar. 'Last summer I was speeding,' Braverman announced. 'I regret that. I paid the fine and I took the penalty. At no point did I attempt to evade sanction...' Usually departmental questions are meant to throw up more weighty inquisitions on immigration or bobbies on the beat. But all opposition MPs wanted know about was Penelope's penalty points. No sooner had she deflected her first attacker than shadow policing minister Sarah Jones was on her feet. Was it true, she asked, that she'd requested a special one-on-one awareness course, away from the intrusive gaze of the hoi polloi. Suella sighed. 'Hopefully we're not going to be too repetitive today,' she replied. 'Last summer I was speeding...' Opposition MPs groaned. We were in for a long afternoon. Riding in Suella's sidecar were her departmental goggle-wipers, Robert Jenrick and Chris Philp. What loyal little pips they looked. Not like security minister Tom Tugendhat, who sat further down the government front bench, nodding and smiling, occasionally throwing the odd knowing wink toward the Speaker's chair. Mr Tugendhat tends to give the impression he's running his own private, breakaway government. He may require watching. Meanwhile, opposite Suella was Labour's Yvette Cooper, who pretended to busy herself with reams of imaginary paperwork, marking each page with furiously scribbled jottings. She always does this when she's in the chamber, I think to affect an air of lofty indifference toward her opponent. Suella had come dressed in bright red. I seem to remember turbo-charged Wacky Races character Penelope Pitstop used to favour a similarly bold shade Yvette's setting as usual was switched to furious mode, denouncing Suella's 'failure to get a grip on her own rule-breaking behaviour'. The lather Ms Cooper whips herself into can indeed be impressive. The head wobbles faster than a washing machine on high spin. But it's the same performance each time. Just as pugilists occasionally switch stance, a different approach might be more effective. Still the questions over Braverman's speeding kept coming. The SNP's home affairs spokeswoman Alison Thewliss pointed out that a speeding offence could affect a person's right to remain in the country and therefore wondered if the minister had a right to remain in her job. Tan Singh Dhesi (Lab, Slough) declared the whole business 'fishy'. Marion Fellows (SNP, Motherwell) demanded Braverman resign. Each time, Suella's answer was the same: 'Last summer I was speeding' A windscreen wiper wagging back and forth in a deluge. As the session drew to close, Rishi Sunak arrived to deliver a statement on last weekend's G7 meeting in Tokyo. As the PM took his seat amid the customary sycophantic cheers he gave his minister a supportive pat on the back. Suella returned the gesture with an appreciative smile. Whether she's still smiling by the end of the week is another matter. Twenty years ago, Tony Blair flew into Japan for an international summit, only to be confronted at a press conference by British journalists wanting to know about the mysterious death of government scientist Dr David Kelly. That was a proper political story. Iraq weapons inspector Kelly had been found dead in an Oxfordshire wood. The news came through while Blair was at 35,000ft, bound for Tokyo. Subsequent inquiries concluded Kelly took his own life, but that didn't stop the conspiracy theorists laying the blame at the door of No 10 Downing Street. Blair was visibly shaken and uncharacteristically lost for words. With the benefit of hindsight, it was the beginning of the end of his premiership. Journalists were right to bombard the Prime Minister with perfectly legitimate questions, which went to the heart of his decision to take our country to war. Fast forward two decades and it's Rishi Sunak's turn in the ducking stool. In Hiroshima at the weekend, he too had to face a hostile media. RICHARD LITTLEJOHN: Apparently, the Home Secretary asked someone on her staff to find out if there was any chance of arranging a one-to-one Zoom session with an accredited road safety instructor. Fair enough, she's a busy woman Here was the leader of the world's fifth-biggest economy and UN Security Council member, at an important G7 summit, with war raging in Europe, China menacing Taiwan, and an immigration meltdown on the home front. And what did the Boys In The Bubble want to ask him about? Ukraine, perhaps? The exciting opportunities opened up by our membership of the Trans-Pacific trade partnership? The chances of World War III breaking out in the South China Sea? Nope, top of the news agenda was a speeding ticket given to Home Secretary Sue Ellen Braverman when she was Attorney General. Led by that preening self-publicist Peston, from ITV, they tried to elevate this trivial, everyday incident into a major political scandal, proving the old Karl Marx adage that history eventually repeats itself as farce. Here are the facts: Sue Ellen got a ticket last year and was given the option of accepting a fine and three points on her licence, or attending a speed awareness course. With some Covid regulations still lingering, she was also offered the chance of taking the course online. Apparently, she asked someone on her staff to find out if there was any chance of arranging a one-to-one Zoom session with an accredited road safety instructor. Fair enough, she's a busy woman. If there was some way of avoiding spending a couple of hours in a roomful of strangers either virtually or in the flesh she had every right to explore the possibility. When she was told that a one-to-one wasn't available, she paid the fine and took the points. Most people don't. If there's any chance of keeping a clean licence, the vast majority of motorists tick the box marked 'speed awareness course'. I faced that choice last year when I received my first speeding ticket since I learned to drive more than 50 years ago. I was caught by a notorious speed trap in Elstree, Herts, where the limit switches from 30 to 40mph. It wasn't just my first ticket, it was my first time out in my new-ish Toyota hybrid. The motor had switched into electric mode as I went downhill and I had no idea I'd accelerated to 37. (Some people think I've been going rapidly downhill for donkey's years, so it probably served me right.) Still, the camera never lies, as Bucks Fizz once assured us, so there seemed little point appealing. I, too, could have taken the online option, but that involved having to send your driving licence to the DVLA in Swansea. Shamefully, Rishi Sunak's Downing Street machine is distancing itself from Sue Ellen, refusing to give her full-throated support Given the track record of that particular government agency, I had little expectation of ever seeing it again. So I plumped for the awareness course and turned up at an Alan Partridge-style motel on the A1, along with about 30 other 'offenders'. My fellow 'pupils' were an amiable bunch from all walks of life, and the women conducting the session were both professional and charming. I emerged without a stain on my licence and may even have learned something. Plus, as the late, great columnist Alan Coren once remarked, you never know where the next 500 words are coming from, which is why he rushed into the street every time he heard the squeal of brakes. So by writing this, the 90 it cost me has already paid for itself. At the start of the session, the lead instructor said there may be some well-known personalities in attendance, so we were sworn to secrecy and should stick to first names. We were bound by Las Vegas rules. What happens on speed awareness courses, stays on speed awareness courses. So if Sue Ellen had been there, her identity would have been protected. Largely because, almost certainly, no one would have recognised her in the first place. Still, she took the points and paid the fine. And that should have been the end of the matter. But someone leaked the story and the Boys In The Bubble went into predictable interstellar overdrive. The Westminster Village, which loves nothing more than a bit of bloodsport, seized on it like a pack of foxhounds. Yesterday, the BBC decided this was the most important issue 'in the wuuurrld', as Clarkson used to say, and it led all the major TV and radio news bulletins. (Then again, the second story on the BBC's lunchtime news was about a couple of daytime TV presenters called Phil and Holly, whoever they are. So it gives you some idea of the less-than-Reithian news values that dominate the Broadcasting House agenda these days.) Sky was just as bad, taking its cue from the Guardian and Mirror. The usual 'When are you going to resign, minister?' hecklers were on parade in Downing Street, once again confusing moronic shouting with journalism. The ludicrous excuse for this overblown faux outrage was a claim that Sue Ellen had 'broken the ministerial code' by asking an aide to make a quick phone call and check out if she could arrange a one-on-one session. This was blatant 'abuse' of a dedicated, impartial civil servant being ordered to carry out a 'personal' task for a minister. Mind you, given that in Whitehall 'bullying' now covers asking someone to actually turn up for work these days, I'm surprised Sue Ellen hasn't been hanged, drawn and quartered already a la Dominic Raab. The Bubble certainly scents another high-profile scalp. Gobby Angela Rayner has gone fishwife ballistic and Keir Starmer has come over all lawyerly (did he mention he used to be the DPP?) and demanded that Braverman does the decent thing albeit with the charisma of a pox doctor's clerk delivering an unwelcome diagnosis. So far, then, so predictable. But some Conservatives are putting the boot in, too. An obscure MP called Jake Berry, who was apparently Tory chairman for about five minutes blink and you missed him has sided with Labour, insisting she has 'questions to answer'. In other words, time to fall on your sword, pet. And, shamefully, Sunak's Downing Street machine is distancing itself from Sue Ellen, refusing to give her full-throated support. Still, given the way Dishi Rishi threw Raab to the wolves, maybe we shouldn't be all that surprised. It is surely not coincidental that this story has emerged just as Sue Ellen is finalising her plans to tackle mass migration Remoaners are chuckling into their frothy coffee at the prospect of toppling yet another prominent Leave minister. It is surely not coincidental that this story has emerged just as Sue Ellen is finalising her plans to tackle mass migration including driving through the Rwanda policy hated by the Blob. She is everything the New Establishment despises tough on crime, tough on illegal immigration, tough on all those who pretend a woman can have a penis, her rejection of 'white guilt'. And, worst of all, she's a Conservative woman of colour therefore a race traitor, to boot. Rishi was rightly irritated in Japan that the Boys In The Bubble homed in on Sue Ellen's speeding ticket instead of asking him about the summit. But he shouldn't let his understandable anger cloud his judgment. He needs to show some leadership and restore a sense of proportion. And that means coming out publicly and defending Sue Ellen to the hilt against the bloodthirsty Left-wing broadcast media, the civil service Blob and the treacherous, defeatist Tory MPs in his own ranks. He can't go on hiding behind his 'ethics adviser'. Good evening, I'm from Ethics, as if you couldn't tell. If a PM needs to employ someone to tell him what's ethical and what isn't, he's in the wrong job. Try estate agency, or hedge fundery, guv. Sorry, I forgot. You already have. This isn't Profumo and it isn't Lord Lambton, two Tories forced out for consorting with prostitutes. It certainly isn't the odious 'Lord' Mandelson, the Labour minister forced not once but twice to resign in disgrace over financial scandals while in government. Unlike Two Jags, Sue Ellen has never punched a voter on the campaign trail. It's not even a proper scandal, by any stretch of the imagination, just another flammed-up, hysterical manifestation of the political class's unrivalled ability to disappear up their own backsides. And it's certainly not the death of Dr David Kelly. It's a silly squabble over a speeding ticket. Grow up, the lot of you. Nobody died. As the first Muslim to serve on a parliamentary frontbench, Baroness Falkner of Margravine is no stranger to the rough and tumble of party politics. But nothing prepared the lifelong Lib Dem, who was born and brought up in Pakistan, for the outpouring of racist and misogynistic abuse when she had the temerity to enter the highly charged arena of trans rights. Falkner, 68, the head of the Equalities and Human Rights Commission (EHRC), argued last month that the Equality Act should be updated to ensure the protected characteristic of 'sex' was taken to mean 'biological sex'. In a 19-page letter to Kemi Badenoch, the equalities minister, Falkner also recommended that the Act be amended to introduce explicit legal protections for biological women in same-sex spaces, such as changing rooms and hospital wards, and to exclude trans women from female sports. The reaction from the well-funded trans lobby was co-ordinated and savage, with the flood of vitriol on social media particularly offensive. As the first Muslim to serve on a parliamentary frontbench, Baroness Falkner of Margravine (pictured) is no stranger to the rough and tumble of party politics In a 19-page letter to Kemi Badenoch (pictured), the equalities minister, Falkner also recommended that the Act be amended to introduce explicit legal protections for biological women in same-sex spaces, such as changing rooms and hospital wards, and to exclude trans women from female sports Falkner, whose German-born husband Robert is an academic at the London School of Economics (LSE), was accused of being a 'Nazi' who was dehumanising trans people. She was also branded 'transphobic', 'scum', a 'bigot' and a 'fascist' but it was the term Nazi that really stung. 'My family is German, my name is German,' she said. 'You get all this stuff about how transphobic you are, how you're scum. It's been difficult I'm not going to try to sugarcoat it.' While her intervention over the Equality Act took things to a new level, Falkner is no stranger to trans hate. The baroness was the focus of intense abuse earlier this year when she urged Nicola Sturgeon's devolved Scottish government to pause plans to simplify the law enabling children as young as 16 to change their gender without a medical diagnosis of gender dysphoria. Predictably, Stonewall the pressure group which successfully campaigned for same sex equality but has haemorrhaged support in government circles since becoming a strident champion of the trans community led the charge. 'We are deeply troubled by the approach that the EHRC is taking to trans people's human rights,' it said. 'Their approach appears to focus on pleasing a noisy minority of anti-trans activists, rather than promoting human rights for all LGBTQ+ people.' While Falkner's principled stance on trans issues has been welcomed by the likes of Harry Potter author J K Rowling and other women's rights campaigners, it has alienated some of her Lib Dem colleagues. One Conservative peer told me: 'Kishwer Falkner is an incredibly brave woman. She is physically tiny, barely five foot, but she's robust, clear-headed, and above all brave. The abuse she's suffered is shocking. Much of it is racist and deeply personal. She's had little backing from the Labour sisterhood or most of her Lib Dem colleagues in the Lords. Yet now she's the one being accused of being a bully. How ironic. I've not heard a whisper about this kind of behaviour and the House of Lords is rife with political gossip.' Born Kishwer Khan, Falkner despite her Muslim background was educated at the privately-run Convent Of Jesus And Mary in the foothills of the Himalayas. The youngest of five children, growing up in Pakistan, she would scour the family copy of current affairs weekly The Economist for news that would help her compete in the regular Sunday lunchtime quizzes devised by her parents. As her father was a senior figure in military intelligence and her mother a TV producer, these were formidable events. 'Growing up, work was the only way out of poverty but work wasn't always available and there were high levels of unemployment, poverty and destitution,' she once recalled. 'I would read The Economist on the [British] welfare state, covering benefit payments and I would be astonished that a country could have a safety net for its people, where even if you didn't work, you would be helped. 'Mummy,' I would say, 'you can get money, people give you money as a right, even if you can't work'. For me, this was a... wonderful thing which had fairness at its heart. For me, coming into public service, as I have done, was almost predetermined from such an early age as that.' After school she left home at 18 for a job in Saudi Arabia. And it was there that the woman who is now a member of the National Secular Society had a very personal experience of the intolerance of that country's fundamentalist regime. Falkner still burns with anger when she recalls the time in her early twenties when she was detained at customs and strip-searched after being found in possession of a book called Darkness At Noon by Arthur Koestler. The novel, which amounted to a powerful diatribe against communism was, unbeknown to her, banned by the Saudi government. Jobs in France and the US followed before she moved to the UK in the late 1970s and took degrees at the LSE and the University of Kent in international relations and European studies. After joining the Liberal Democrats in the mid-1980s, Falkner spent most of the 1990s working at the party HQ, including a two-year stint as director of policy. Falkner was made a peer by the then Lib Dem leader Charles Kennedy in 2004 and promoted to the frontbench in the Lords a year later. When she took up the equalities post in December 2020 she moved to the independent crossbenches. At the time, there was limited debate about trans rights but, in the intervening period, it has become all-pervading. There are days, Falkner admits, when she just wants to 'pull the duvet over my head' but adds: 'Escape is not the answer.' On the Tory benches, they are preparing to rally behind Falkner as the bullying allegations swirl around her. 'The equalities world is lucky to have her,' says one supportive MP. 'She knew the trans mob would come after her. But she will stick to her guns. She has to. And we will stick by her.' For all the latest Royal news, pictures and video click here 'It's a real rags to riches story - a fairy tale, just like Cinderella', as one observer put it. And who could doubt the truth of that in the case of Princess Lilian, who went from the slums of Swansea to membership of the Swedish royal family? But if it's a story that is new to you, one very good reason is the effort to which Lillian Davies went to keep her fairy tale relationship away from the public gaze. Princess Lilian, as she was later known with just two ls, was born on August 30 1915, to William Davies, a miner turned market stall holder, and a shop assistant, Gladys Mary Curran. Lilian spent her childhood growing up in a terraced house in a slum district of the city, later demolished in the 1930s Welsh model Lilian met Swedish Prince Bertil at a London cocktail party in 1943. Although madly in love, they were not allowed to wed for 33 years, because Lilian, a miner's daughter, was considered a commoner and had been married before Princess Lilian is seen arriving at the Royal Palace in 2006. When they could finally marry in 1976, Lilian became a Princess and pursued an active role within Sweden's royal family Lilian was born on August 30 1915, to miner William Davies and a shop assistant, Gladys. The family lived in a Swansea slum, later demolished. She removed an 'l' from her name and became Lilian when she moved to London. Pictured: Swansea in the early 1900s For years, the couple kept their love a secret from the public. The Swedish royal family made a pact with the press not to report on the relationship. Pictured: Princess Lilian and Prince Bertil at their Cote d'Azur home in 1988 As a child, she would help her father with his stall and worked at a launderette to earn extra money for her family. When she was 16, Lilian moved to London to work as a model and actress before the Second World War began. That's when the Welsh beauty removed the second 'l' from her name in a bid to appear more glamorous. She began working as a maid to save up money for elegant outfits. This soon led to her being featured in adverts and even fashion magazines including Vogue. Lilian had a number of minor film roles, which is how she met her first husband, the Scottish actor Ian Craig, whom she married at the height of the blitz in 1940. But shortly after their wedding he was called into the military. Back home Lilian also helped with the war effort, working at a factory making radios for the marines, and later at a hospital for injured soldiers in the capital. Just before she turned 28, Lilian's life changed course. It was 1943 and she had been hosting a cocktail party to celebrate her birthday. One of the guests was a handsome Swedish naval attache working at the Swedish embassy in London, who happened to be the third son of the King of Sweden, Gustaf VI Adolph. There was an immediate spark between the pair, but as Lilian was already married, nothing could be done. Recalling their first meeting in her memoir she wrote: 'He was so handsome, my prince. Especially in uniform. So charming and thoughtful. And so funny.' When her husband finally returned from service in 1945, he declared he was in love with an Italian woman. Ian and Lilian made the decision to divorce amicably. Not long afterwards, she moved to Sweden to be reunited with her true love, Prince Bertil. But the pair were not allowed to marry for more than three decades, until 1976 when Lilian was 61 and Prince Bertil 64. Lilian, right, leaves hospital after visiting ailing King Gustaf VI Adolf in August 1973. Finally acknowledged as a member of the royal family in 1976, she was loved by the Swedish public Lilian and Bertil on their wedding day in December 1976 Princess Lilian continued with her royal duties even after the death of her husband A state funeral was held for Lilian when she died in 2013, aged 97. The King of Sweden described her as 'a true bringer of happiness'. Pictured: Lilian at an event in Stockholm in 1972 This was because in 1947, two years after Lilian had arrived in Stockholm, Bertil's brother Gustav Adolf, the heir to the throne - died in a plane crash . As a result, his infant son, Crown Prince Carl Gustaf, who was less than a year old, was suddenly next in line. Bertil's second elder brother, Sigvard Bernadotte, had already given up his succession to the throne after he divorced his first wife and married a commoner, leaving the country with an ageing monarch and baby heir. The possibility of Bertil himself becoming King of Sweden was suddenly very real - and he was told that marrying someone who was both a commoner and a divorcee would result in him waiving his right to the throne. His father, King Gustav VI, refused to give his blessing to a marriage with Lilian, worrying it would jeopardise the future of the Swedish monarchy. Escaping the controversy, Lilian and Bertil moved to Sainte-Maxime in the south of France, returning to Sweden in 1957. For the next 33 years, Lilian lived away from the royal spotlight with very few members of the public even knowing she existed. The Swedish royal family made a deal with the press to ensure they would not mention her name. Lilian was never allowed to accompany Prince Bertil on any official duties even though he never became King. Bertil's father Gustaf VI Adolf died in 1973 and King Carl XVI Gustaf, who still reigns, ascended the throne. 1976 brought a surprise turn of events. the King himself decided to marry a commoner, Silvia Sommerlath. In an interview in 1995 to celebrate her 80th birthday, the Princess said: 'If I were to sum up my life, everything has been about my love' Princess Lilian stands with Princess Madeleine, Crown Princess Victoria, King Carl Gustaf and Queen Silvia - all in historical clothes - while welcoming the guests for a gala dinner at the Castle of Gripsholm in June 2001 Times had changed, of course. And this made way for Lilian and Bertil to officially become a couple. Just months after the King's wedding, the star-crossed lovers, too, finally married in December 1976. Prince Bertil kept his title and the miner's daughter became Princess Lilian. Speaking at their wedding, the Prince said: 'We only regret one thing. And that is that were not able to get married sooner and have children.' While they had no children on their own, Lilian was very close to children in the royal family. Prince Carl Philip, now 43, was her godson. Princess Lilian became a very active and 'much loved' member of the Swedish royal family, even after the sad death of her husband. He died aged 84 in 1997 with Lilian by his side. In an interview in 1995, to celebrate her 80th birthday, she said: 'If I were to sum up my life, everything has been about my love.' The Princess went on to live 16 years without her husband, continuing royal duties until 2010, when Alzheimer's began to take hold. When she died in 2013, a state funeral was held. The King said at the time: 'She was a true bringer of happiness and had the ability always to create around her a warm and kind atmosphere. 'The family's children always appreciated her jokes and humorous ways.' Swedish writer Kerstin Nilsson said: 'She was as loved by the Swedish people as her husband. Today we are many who mourn "Auntie Lilian".' Princess Lilian alongside with King Carl Gustaf and Queen Silvia at the 2013 Nobel Prize giving The princess was given a Swedish state funeral in 2013 Lilian pictured in 1988. Speaking at their wedding, her husband had said: 'We only regret one thing. And that is that were not able to get married sooner and have children' She is not forgotten back home in Swansea, either. Long-serving MP for Swansea, Donald Anderson - now Lord Anderson - said: 'It is a real rags to riches story a fairy tale, just like Cinderella. 'She came from a tough part of Swansea, an area which is no longer there after a slum clearance. 'But she went from being known as Lil to becoming a royal princess. 'She was extremely popular in Sweden she was very down to earth.' Princess Lilian and Prince Bertil now lie next to each at the Royal Cemetery in Haga, Stockholm. Cambridge, Oxford, the London School of Economics and other leading British Unversities are well known for attracting students from the European elite. But some lesser-known schools and colleges have also proved remarkably popular. From the academic heights of Oxford and Cambridge to a school dubbed the 'Hippy Hogwarts' on the Pembrokeshire Coast, Atlantic College, The Mail's new Royals section looks at the institutes attracting future monarchs from around the world. UWC Atlantic College UWC Atlantic College, housed in 12th century St Donat's Castle in the Vale of Glamorgan Princess Leonor, 17-year-old heir to the Spanish throne, has just completed her studies at Atlantic College. Here, in red, she is pictured celebrating with Queen Letizia, King Felipe and younger sister Sofia, who is also studying there Seventeen-year-old Princess Alexia of the Netherlands has also graduated from Atlantic College this week, seen here with King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima MailOnline looks at the variety of British school and universities attended by the world's royals Set in the grandeur of St Donat's Castle on the Welsh coast, UWC Atlantic College is a boarding school whose martial exterior belies a civilising mission which has proved a major hit with European royals. Writing in The Times, one former student, Louise Callaghan, said: 'There are no matrons or cold baths or housemasters. Instead there are vegans and houseparents. The aim, broadly, is world peace.' The school was founded by Kurt Hahn, who also established Gordonstoun - which educated Prince Philip and (more contentiously) Prince Charles. Khan hoped Atlantic College would bring together young people from around the world to nurture mutual understanding in the throes of Cold War conflict. It is in this regal setting, dramatically perched within walking distance of the seafront and hidden in 122 acres of farmland and woodland, that royals around the world come for a progressive education. Seventeen-year-old Princess Alexia of the Netherlands graduated from Atlantic College this week. Her father, King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands studied at there from 1983 to 1985. Also graduating was Princess Leonor, heir to the Spanish throne. Leanor will now embark upon military training. He sister, Infanta Sofia of Spain, still studies at Atlantic College, the so-called Hippie Hogwarts, which takes 16-19-year-olds from over 150 countries every year. Atlantic College has been labelled the 'Hippie Hogwarts' for its humanistic outlook The school offers calisthenics - pictured here - a form of fitness which uses gravity and bodyweight to improve your fitness Princess Elisabeth of Belgium, the daughter of King Philippe and Queen Mathilde, enrolled in 2018 but had to cut her time at the college short due to the Covid-19 pandemic. She continued her studies online before going to study History and Politics at Oxford. Princess Raiyah of Jordan, the daughter of King Hussein of Jordan and Queen Noor also attended the institution as a teen before studying Japanese as an undergraduate at the University of Edinburgh. North Foreland Lodge North Foreland Lodge, a boarding school in Hampshire, was closed in 2003 Queen Margrethe of Denmark spent a year at the school and opened a new music wing in 1981 After leaving school in Copenhagen in 1959, Queen Margrethe of Denmark spent a year at North Foreland Lodge, a former girls boarding school in Hampshire. She went on to study archaeology at Cambridge. The school was closed in 2003, shortly after operations had been taken over by Gordonstoun, which educated Prince Philip and King Charles. A spokeswoman for Gordonstoun Schools told the Southern Daily Echo at the time: 'We have been working very hard to keep North Foreland Lodge going. 'When we took over NFL, it was already in tremendous debt. The numbers have now fallen to fewer than 60 and the building and staff are actually costing us in excess of 40,000 a week.' Queen Margrethe had returned to North Foreland Lodge in 1981 to open its new music wing. St Edmund's School, Surrey Set in 40 acres of countryside, St Edmund's is a boarding school in Surrey accepting children from nursery age King Abdullah II of Jordan (pictured) and his younger brother Prince Faisal bin Hussein attended the school St Edmund's is a boarding school in Surrey which accepts children from nursery to age 16. Set in 40 acres of countryside, the school boasts a handful of notable alumni, including King Abdullah II of Jordan, who ascended to the throne in 1999, and his younger brother Prince Faisal bin Hussein. St Edmund's once received a visit from King Hussein of Jordan, whose sons and nephews had been students at the school, after his donation was used to finance the laying of a proper tarmac drive to the school. The king opened the new drive in person, accompanied by Queen Noor, arriving in a helicopter, which he had piloted himself. During the visit, Queen Noor made a casual remark to one of the boys asking about his favourite food. After the student had replied that he enjoyed Chinese food, the Queen surprised the students the following day with a Chinese meal for lunch, paid for by the queen and sent from a Chinese restaurant in nearby Grayshott. Sherborne School Sherborne International is part of Sherborne School (pictured with Sherborne Abbey) and was set up as the UK's first international study centre Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, the current Emir of Qatar, was previously a student at the International College Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, the current Emir of Qatar, was previously a student at the International College founded by Sherborne School in Dorset. Sherborne's history as a place of education dates back to 12th century and the school first taught pupils as part of the monastery. The school set up the international college in 1977 as the UK's first international study centre and accepts students for boarding. It aims to help students with their English language skills and prepare them for entering a public school in the UK, introducing them to the education system as well as British culture. The classes at the school are small with around eight students each and the pupils have access to the facilities available at Sherborne School. Sherborne School has since established its first overseas school, setting up Sherborne Qatar in 2009 to provide British education in Doha. The vision was to establish the best English language school in Qatar alongside Sherborne's vision for education. Harrow School All boys boarding school Harrow is famed for its extensive list of prominent old boys The late King Hussein of Jordan (pictured) was a pupil at Harrow, where he reportedly became good friends with his second cousin Faisal II, the former king of Iraq King Hussein of Jordan is pictured here in his Harrow School uniform, aged 16, in 1951 Harrow, an all boys boarding school in Harrow on the Hill, has an extensive list of prominent old boys. One of its royal Old Harrovians is the current Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, who sat his A Levels at the school before he headed to Sandhurst military academy. The former student of the prestigious public school was seen shaking hands with the Queen at Windsor Castle during a visit to the UK last year. The late King Hussein of Jordan was also a pupil at the school, where he reportedly became good friends with his second cousin Faisal II, the former king of Iraq. Royal Military Academy Sandhurst Military personnel from around the world are trained at Sandhurst military academy as well as officers for the British Army Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, graduated in the 1970s Officers for the British Army are trained at Sandhurst military academy, however many other nations also send their personnel there. Overseas monarchs trained at Sandhurst include King Abdullah II of Jordan, who followed in the footsteps of his father, King Hussein. Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, and Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed, Crown Prince of Dubai also attended. In 2020, Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, watched his son Sheikh Zayed bin Mohamed graduate from the academy in 2020, decades after his own graduation from the academy in the 1970s. Sheikh Mohemed was seen giving his son a hug at the graduation ceremony. University of Edinburgh After graduating from Atlantic College, Princess Raiyah of Jordan, daughter of King Hussein and Queen Noor, studied Japanese at the University of Edinburgh (pictured) Princess Raiyah, pictured here on a visit to Tokyo in 2009 After graduating from Atlantic College, Princess Raiyah of Jordan, daughter of King Hussein and Queen Noor, studied Japanese at University of Edinburgh. The princess went on to obtain a Master's degree in Japanese Literature from Columbia University and is now working towards a PhD at UCLA. Princess Raiyah went on to marry Roald Dahl's grandson Ned Donovan in 2020. Ned, a former journalist with the Mail on Sunday, is also son to author Tessa Dahl, daughter of Roald and American actress Patricia Neal. Tessa Dahl married actor Julian Holloway and had children Clover and Luke with him, before going on to marry businessman Patrick Donovan, son of an Australian academic and diplomat, whom she welcomed son Ned with. Ned is a former journalist, working for the Mail on Sunday and The Times as well as working as a freelance foreign correspondent. According to his website, his particular interests lie in Asia, specifically the Middle East and the Indian subcontinent. University of Oxford The Radcliffe Camera and All Souls College at Oxford Princess Elisabeth of Belgium began her History and Politics degree at Lincoln College, Oxford in October 2021 The graduates from Oxford University include a number of overseas monarchs. Emperor Naruhito of Japan completed postgraduate research at Merton College from 1983-1985 and wrote a memoir of his time at the university entitled The Thames and I: A Memoir of Two Years at Oxford. King Abdullah II of Jordan spent a year at Pembroke College studying Middle Eastern Affairs and Sultan Haitham bin Tariq al Said of Oman completed the Foreign Service Programme at the university. King Harald of Norway followed in his father's footsteps by taking up a place at Balliol College. The monarch studied political science, history and economics and was a keen rower while at Oxford. King Philippe of Belgium also studied at the university and his daughter Princess Elisabeth, heir to the throne, also began studying History and Politics at Lincoln College in 2021. University of Cambridge Queen Sofia of Spain is one of the overseas royals who studied at Cambridge Sofia, Queen of Spain from 1975 to 2014, was at Fitzwilliam College Queen Margrethe II of Denmark studied prehistoric archaeology at Girton College, Cambridge (pictured arriving in London on her way to Cambridge in 1960) Overseas monarchs who have attended Cambridge University include Queen Sofia of Spain. The wife of former King Juan Carlos I, who acted as Queen of Spain from 1975 to 2014, studied at Fitzwilliam College. Sofia was born in Athens in 1938 and was the first child of King Paul I and Queen Federica of Greece. She spent part of her childhood in Egypt and South Africa because her family was exiled during the Second World War and she later attended the Schloss Salem boarding school in Germany. Queen Margrethe II of Denmark was also educated at Cambridge University, studying prehistoric archaeology at Girton College from 1960-1961. Prior to attending the university, she would go on excavation holidays in Italy in the late 1950s with her grandfather, the Swedish King Gustav VI Adolf. The Queen is also a talented artist and created illustrations for Tolkein's Lord of the Rings while she was studying as a princess in England. London School of Economics In 1965, Queen Margrethe was an 'occasional student' at the London School of Economics Crown Prince Haakon of Norway completed a Master's in Development Studies at LSE In 1965, Queen Margrethe was an 'occasional student' at the London School of Economics. Her time at the university followed a year at Cambridge University, Aarhus University and the Sorbonne. The monarch ascended to the throne in 1972 after the death of her father King Frederik IX. At the age of 13, she was given the right to succeed her father after the 1953 Act of Succession was introduced which gave women the right of succession to the Danish Throne. The Act was amended further in 2009 to give the eldest child the right to inherit the throne regardless of gender. Crown Prince Haakon of Norway was also a student at the university, completing a Master's in Development Studies at LSE in 2003, specialising in International Trade and Africa. School of Oriental and African Studies, London University The School of Oriental and African Studies, part of London University, is a world leading institute specialising in global studies Crown Princess Mette-Marit of Norway studied at the University of Oslo before later earning a degree in Social Anthropology from SOAS in 2002-2003 Crown Princess Mette-Marit of Norway studied at the University of Oslo before later earning a degree in Social Anthropology from the SOAS in 2002-2003. The Crown Princess, a former waitress, met her future husband Crown Prince Haakon at a music festival in the 1990s when she was a single mother and the pair were married in 2001. At the time of her wedding Mette-Marit was a single parent to a four-year-old son, Marius Borg Hiby. She went on to have two more children with Crown Prince Haakon - Princess Ingrid Alexandra and Prince Sverre Magnus. Mette-Marit has become widely respected for her charity work and has been a special representative for UNAIDS, a branch of the UN that focuses on dealing with HIV and AIDS. She also joined the Norwegian aid agency NORAD as an intern, and is a patron of several Norwegian charities, including the Oslo International Church Music Festival and the Norwegian Scouting Association. University of Exeter Infanta Elena of Spain, the eldest child of King Juan Carlos I, studied for a Master's in Sociology and Education at the University of Exeter (pictured) in 1990 Elena's (pictured) time studying at Exeter followed a qualification in teaching from the ESCUNI University School where she specialised in English before she became an English teacher Infanta Elena of Spain, the eldest child of King Juan Carlos I, studied for a Master's in Sociology and Education at the University of Exeter in 1990. Her time studying at Exeter followed a qualification in teaching from the ESCUNI University School where she specialised in English before she became an English teacher at her alma mater, Santa Maria del Camino School. Infanta Elena was made the Duchess of Lugo after her marriage to Jaime de Marichalar in 1995 but the pair later divorced in 2009, making Elena the first child of a reigning Spanish monarch to divorce. When King Juan Carlos I abdicated in 2014, Felipe, Elena's younger brother, took his place as monarch and Elena was no longer a working member of the family. Elena has still retained her titles unlike her younger sister, Infanta Cristina, who lost her title as Duchess of Palma de Mallorca when her then husband Inaki Urdangarin was sentenced to five years in prison for embezzlement and money laundering through his non-profit organisation, the Noos Institute. The ceremony was staged by one of the grandest monarchies in Europe. It was attended by the world's royals, including King Charles, who watched as the bride swept into the cathedral in a stunning Manuel Pertegaz gown. And adding to the magnificent drama was this extraordinary fact: the heir to the Spanish throne was marrying a mere television journalist. Letizia Ortiz Rocasolano and Prince Felipe had dated in secret before announcing their surprise engagement and then marrying at Almudena Cathedral in Madrid on 22 May 2004. Today is their anniversary. Letizia's dress, with a statement high-standing collar and delicate embroidery, was paired with a veil gifted by her future husband, now King Felipe VI of Spain. Letizia donned the glittering Prussian tiara which had been worn by her mother-in-law, then Queen Sofia, on her wedding day in 1962. The ceremony took place two months after the Madrid train bombings and the pair dedicated their wedding to the victims of the attack. Here, The Mail's new Royals section looks back at the memorable moments from one of Europe's most glamorous royal couples on their 19th wedding anniversary... The bride, Letizia Ortiz Rocasolano, arrived at the Almudena Cathedral in a Rolls-Royce with her father Jesus Jose Ortiz Alvarez for her wedding to the then Prince Felipe Letizia was covered by an umbrella as she appeared at the cathedral on what was a rainy day in Madrid Crown Prince Felipe, now King Felipe VI of Spain, was dressed in military uniform as he accompanied his mother, Queen Sofia, to the cathedral The bride stunned guests and the rest of the world as she emerged in an elegant Manuel Pertegaz gown with a dramatic 15ft train Letizia greeted her fiance in a sweet moment, assisted by bridesmaids, as she arrived at the front of the cathedral Set among the grandeur of Almudena Cathedral, and watched by 1,600 guests, the pair said their vows in a Catholic service The bride's statement dress featured a high-standing collar with delicate embroidery depicting ears of wheat and lilies. She also opted to wear the Prussian tiara, previously worn by her mother in law, then Queen Sofia, at her wedding to King Juan Carlos in 1962 Letizia's ornate silk tulle veil featured similar embroidery to her dress and was a gift from her husband The couple exchanged rings during the ceremony, conducted by Cardinal Rouco Varela, the archbishop of Madrid While Letizia had been previously married and divorced, she was able to marry King Felipe at a Catholic service because her first wedding had taken place in a civil ceremony The pair left as the first couple to have been married at Almudena Cathedral after it was consecrated by Pope John Paul II in 1993 The newlyweds were greeted with a military salute as they emerged from the cathedral to waiting crowds Letizia's cascading bouquet featured lilies, used to represent the House of Bourbon. It also included apple blossom as a sweet reference to Oviedo, where Letizia was born As Letizia laughed with her new husband, her wedding band and her engagement ring were on display. The engagement ring features 16 baguette diamonds on a band with a white gold trim The couple waved to cheering crowds as they were driven from the cathedral in a Rolls-Royce They later appeared alongside the then King Juan Carlos and his wife, Queen Sofia, on the Royal Palace's balcony Felipe kissed the forehead of his new bride during the state banquet held for the couple's wedding. In his speech, he said: 'we will always think of Spain' A woman and her pals have enjoyed the daytrip of a lifetime in Spain for just 30, and say they spent less money than they would on a night out in London. Taneshia Deckon, 27, from North London, flew to Mallorca and back in just one day, and revealed she spent a total of 100 on the entire trip. The pennywise pals travelled with just their handbags and enjoyed numerous trips to the beach, shopping malls, and enjoyed tasty local cuisine. Taneshia says the trip was a no-brainer, as a solo meal back home in London would set her back 30, whereas a trip 'drinking sangria with her friends' turned out to be much cheaper. She explained: 'Its better to go abroad for the same price and you get that cultural experience too. I can speak Spanish, so it was also a good opportunity to speak some.' Taneshia Deckon (pictured), 27, from North London, enjoyed a day trip to Spain with her pals for an incredible 30 The pennywise pals revealed they spent less on their trip to Mallorca than they would on a night out back home in London 'It was beautiful weather, we had a lot of sun and didnt need to wear our jackets. We left England in the rain, flew to the sun and came back to the rain and went to work the next day.' 'Mallorca is a good location, as the airport is close to the beach and the mall. We went shopping, and we all bought matching sunglasses and sandals.' 'We then got a taxi to the beach and took some photos and drank sangria and ate paella, calamari, and patatas bravas. We were able to eat traditional Spanish food.' Taneshia added how 'shocked' she was to find cheap flights to Spain, and revealed the secret trick was knowing where and how to find them, and to also travel out of season. She added: 'Its just crazy that its cheaper to fly to Spain than go for a day out in London. We thought about just going to another city in the UK, but its just so expensive right now.' Taneshia (pictured) in a relaxing selfie while out enjoying the sights and local culture in Mallorca Taneshia enjoyed numerous trips to the beach, shopping malls, and enjoyed tasty local cuisine Taneshia revealed how 'shocked' she was to find cheap flights to Spain, and revealed the secret trick was knowing where and how to find them, and to also travel out of season 'You would easily spend over 100 doing something in London. Wed booked a day spa previously in the UK which was 80 just for the spa alone.' 'A day out in London is more expensive than a day out in Mallorca. We realised its cheaper to fly abroad - sometimes theres better weather as well.' Taneshia summarised the trip to be well worth it, adding that it was far from expensive even though they lavished a small fortune on food and drink. The girls saved even more more money by travelling to Spain with just their handbags - and by ditching their suitcases back home If you're looking for a cheap getaway this summer, it was recently revealed that you can fly to and from Europe on the same day for under 25. Aviation experts pointed out that a day trip can help make the most of cheap flights amid the cost-of-living crisis because people don't have to pay for a hotel abroad. The cheapest day trip flights include routes to Norway, Poland, Italy, France, Denmark and Ireland, and all come in at under 25. Midweek tends to be the cheapest time to go, with a Luton to Dublin flight with Ryanair starting at 21 - leaving at 6.40am and arriving at 7.55am, before returning at 8.15pm and arriving at 9.30pm. Flights expert Nicky Kelvin, head of The Points Guy UK, told MailOnline: 'Travelling abroad for a day trip can be a really great escape for UK travellers who want to make the most of low cost flights options.' 'There is nothing quite like arriving in a new country to experience different cultures, food and language, making them feel far away from home and in an different place, even if it is only for one day.' 'There are many benefits to a day trip - it means that travellers can travel light and not worry about booking accommodation. If flights are well timed, people can have full, jam-packed days, exploring interesting attractions and experiences; and hangout in new places.' A woman has revealed how she lost her teeth aged 19 after bumping them while drinking a cup of coffee. Natalie Lacasse, from Vancouver, Canada, survived a horrific car accident when she was 18. The pain medication she was prescribed had a rather unpleasant side effect, causing her to vomit for months on end, which weakened her teeth enormously. Now 24-years-old, Natalie was devastated when she lost all her teeth in April 2019, and has since had to spend $5,000 on dentures. In a YouTube video published on SHERA, a digital platform dedicated to empowering women, Natalie, from Vancouver, talked about the experience. 'The next morning [after the accident], I'd woken up and I could barely walk,' she said. Natalie Lacasse, from Vancouver, had a side effect to pain medication, which caused her to vomit for months on end, weakening her teeth. Pictured: Natalie without her dentures 'It felt like I was shredded apart. I went to the ER and they told me I had a tear in my lower back muscles. 'The ER doctor gave me two weeks of Naproxen and told me it was a muscle relaxant.' After taking the Naproxen, she began vomiting continuously, having previously not known the effect the medication had on her stomach lining. The medication caused gastrointestinal problems and stomach ulcers leading Natalie to throw up several times a day, even keeping a cup in her car just in case she was caught short. She said: 'I was using travel size toothbrushes to keep brushing my teeth, not knowing I was brushing the stomach acid into my teeth. 'I noticed my teeth were growing transparent. The sun was on my face and it was going right through my teeth.' In April 2019, Natalie was drinking a cup of coffee when she banged the mug into her front teeth, causing them to break off. She visited a dentist who told her that her lower teeth were completely eroded and broken. The now-24-year-old was devastated when she lost all her teeth in April 2019, and has since had to spend 4,022 ($5,000) on dentures. Pictured: Natalie taking her dentures out The medication caused gastrointestinal problems and stomach ulcers leading Natalie to throw up several times a day. Pictured: Natalie with her dentures in It was then she began the process of getting dentures. The dentures cost her ability to speak and at the age of 19, she had to learn all over again. She said: 'I didn't think I'd have difficulty speaking. 'I didn't think I'd have to relearn how to eat. 'I left the dentist and went to talk to my mother on the phone and I couldn't. 'The first week I really didn't know what I was doing, it was a lot of crying and hurting.' Although her journey was difficult, Natalie watched hundreds of videos on speech impediments, using those methods to help improve her speech. She said: 'I noticed my teeth were growing transparent. The sun was on my face and it was going right through my teeth.' Pictured: Natalie with her natural teeth The medication caused gastrointestinal problems and stomach ulcers leading Natalie to throw up several times a day. Pictured: Natalie in hospital after she was diagnosed with peptic stomach ulcers Natalie watched hundreds of videos on speech impediments, using those methods to help improve her speech. Pictured: Natalie without her dentures She said: 'Through watching speech impediment videos, I start to use my tongue the tongue is the issue. 'It's obviously embarrassing having my teeth fall out while I'm trying to talk, so I started to read books out loud in the kitchen. 'I would watch YouTube videos and try and talk with them to see if I was sounding right. 'Once I got the hang of it, it was easy I almost forgot I had the dentures in.' Despite the initial cost to fix her smile, Natalie is hoping to undergo reconstructive jaw surgery, estimated to cost $16,500, however has yet to save the money for this. Although it has changed the shape of her face, along with her everyday life, Natalie has not let her new look get her down, and she has even shared her journey on social media. Natalie is hoping to undergo reconstructive jaw surgery, estimated to cost $16,500 (13,260), however has yet to save the money for this. Pictured: Natalie in hospital Although it has changed the shape of her face, along with her everyday life, Natalie has not let her new look get her down. Pictured: Natalie wearing her dentures In April 2019, Natalie was drinking a cup of coffee when she banged the mug into her front teeth, causing them to break off. Pictured: Natalie without her dentures Taking to Tiktok, in a post that gained more than 50,000 likes from her followers, Natalie hilariously answered the question 'Why don't you eat in public?'. Starting the clip by smiling at the camera, she then popped out her dentures to highlight one such problem. Some viewers were stunned at the performance and shared their shock. One person said: 'You make my day.' She said: 'I was using travel size toothbrushes to keep brushing my teeth, not knowing I was brushing the stomach acid into my teeth.' Pictured: Natalie with her natural teeth She said: 'Once I got the hang of it, it was easy I almost forgot I had the dentures in.' Pictured: Natalie without dentures Another added: 'This is so far from what I was expecting. I love this!' 'I wasn't expecting that, I love people that make fun of themselves,' a third said While a fourth commented: 'Did. Not. Expect. That.' Natalie added: 'I'm really trying to not just entertain myself during this very difficult time, but bring humor and light to chronic pain and dentures being young while sharing my journey and story.' A husky who bust himself and two pals out of their animal shelter crate - causing $2,000 worth of damage - has found his forever home in spite of his antics. Titan, a four-year-old husky arrived at Colbert County Animal Shelter, Tuscumbia, Alabama last Wednesday, when shelter director Charles Speegle found the dog staring at him through a window on the door. The 46-year-old stared at the mutt for a couple of minutes and wondered how he managed to get into the lobby. He then spotted that the room behind him was 'torn to shreds'. Charles says the 'rebellious' pup had been dropped off just before closing time last Tuesday and had been locked in a crate. Titan, a four-year-old husky arrived at Colbert County Animal Shelter, Tuscumbia, Alabama last Wednesday The dogs then went on a destructive rampage tearing furniture apart, ripping blinds down from the windows and destroying the office computer. Charles was stunned to discover not only had Titan unlocked his crate from the inside, he also freed two furry pals from their crates and had a 'party'. The dogs then went on a destructive rampage tearing furniture apart, ripping blinds down from the windows and destroying the office computer. CCTV footage shows Titan climbing on the desk and wandering freely - apparently admiring the destruction he caused. Stunned Charles shared the CCTV on social media when a husky-loving family reached out in the hope of adopting Titan - taking him home less than 24 hours after he arrived at the shelter. Charles, from Muscle Shoals, Alabama, said: 'I got there about 7.15am. I went to unlock the door and he was sitting in front of the door in the lobby looking at me. 'I waited for a few minutes wondering how he'd got out. I couldn't work it out. The doors aren't easy to get open, he was in a crate and the door to the lobby has a lever you have to push. 'How did this guy do all that? 'Then I saw all the mess. I thought 'oh gosh'. He'd destroyed my lobby, the blinds were ripped down, he'd destroyed the computer, paperwork, files, the whole interior was shredded. The dogs went on a destructive rampage tearing furniture apart, ripping blinds down from the windows and destroying the office computer 'He'd let two of his buddies out too and they threw a party in the back as well but it wasn't as bad back there. I don't know how he did it. 'Sometimes they open the crate but never the lobby door.' Charles launched a fundraiser to cover the costs of replacing the computer equipment that Titan and his pals destroyed. Bemused Charles says he received a call the night before from their alarm company saying that movement had been detected at the shelter. The police even turned up to look around but didn't spot Titan and Charles convinced himself it was probably a mouse that triggered it, but soon discovered that wasn't the case. A family wanted to adopt Titan less than 24 hours after he arrived at the shelter as they reachd out to Charles when he posted the footage online 4-year-old Titan can be seen walking around the trashed room as he wrecked the shelter's office CCTV footage shows Titan climbing on the desk and wandering freely - apparently admiring the destruction he caused Shelter director Charles Speegle said: 'He'd let two of his buddies out too and they threw a party in the back as well but it wasn't as bad back there. I don't know how he did it' Charles launched a fundraiser to cover the costs of replacing the computer equipment that Titan and his pals destroyed Charles said: 'What's funny is about 11pm, the alarm company called and said there was an interior alarm going off and they sent the police but they didn't see anything. 'They called again because it was going off again and I said 'it's probably a mouse' so I went to bed and little did I know that they were throwing a party.' Charles says it took five members of staff five hours to tidy the mess but they saw the funny side. Charles said: 'I imagine the reason the owner surrendered him is because he's kind of rebellious and rambunctious. Huskies are very clever and hard to contain. 'We had lots of interest in him but a family who already owned a husky who looked just like Titan got in touch. 'We would have had to barricade him in that night if he wasn't adopted.' Colbert County Sheriff's Office have been contacted for comment. Laura Nuttall, the fearless brain cancer campaigner who graduated from university after her terminal diagnosis and raised tens of thousands of pounds for pioneering treatment, has died. The 23-year-old graduate, who thought her symptoms were 'freshers' flu' when she first became ill five years ago, passed away at home in Lancashire where she was receiving palliative care. Laura was diagnosed with a stage 4 glioblastoma in 2018 when she was in her first year of study for an international relations degree at University College London. Despite being given just 12 months to live, the brave campaigner underwent operations, chemotherapy and radiotherapy and eventually went back to university in Manchester, where she graduated with a 2:1 in politics, philosophy and economics (PPE) last summer. Throughout her journey, Laura and her family including Nicola, her father Mark, and her sister Gracie have shared updates about her condition online, through social media and the Doing it For Laura campaign. While fundraising for her treatment, they enlisted the help of Peter Kay who was semi-retired at the time. Today her mother Nicola, who posts on Twitter under the handle @s**tscaredmum, confirmed Laura passed away in the early hours of this morning as she paid tribute to her 'fierce & tenacious' daughter. Laura Nuttall (pictured), a cancer campaigner who was supported by Peter Kay, has passed away at the age of 23, her mother Nicola has confirmed on Twitter She wrote: 'I'm heartbroken to share the news that we lost our beautiful Laura in the early hours of this morning. 'She was fierce & tenacious to the end & it was truly the honour of my life to be her mum. Brain tumours: The statistics and symptoms Brain tumours are the biggest cancer killer of children and adults under 40 in the UK Over 12,000 people are diagnosed with a brain tumour in the UK each year, with almost 5,000 people still losing their lives to the disease per year There are over 120 different types of brain tumour, as classified by the World Health Organisation Just 12 per cent of adults survive for five years after a brain tumour diagnosis, with the disease continuing to reduce life expectancy by 27 years on average the highest of any cancer. Common signs of brain tumours in adults Perisistent/recurring headaches Fatigue Seizures or fits Nausea/vomiting Memory issues Problems with vision Cognitive changes, such as difficulty concentrating, learning, decision making, planning and problem solving. Speech difficulties Loss of taste and smell Source: The Brain Tumour Charity Advertisement 'We are devastated at the thought of life without our girl, she was a force of nature.' Last week, Nicola shared a photo on Twitter of herself holding Laura's hand and gave an update on her daughter's condition. It read: 'The curtains half closed but the windows open & we feel the breeze & hear the birds. Laura breathes in & breathes out. 'When the gap gets long I hold my breath but shes as tenacious in death as she was in life, despite a week without food or water. We hold hands & she squeezes.' In other recent updates Nicola explained that Laura has not been able to consume much more than ice chips due to her declining health, but has said her daughter's pain was being managed well. After she was diagnosed five years ago, Laura and her family launched a campaign to raise money for her treatment and teamed up with charities including Our Brain Bank and The Brain Tumour Trust to raise awareness of glioblastoma. In 2021, semi-retired Peter Kay joined the Nuttall family's efforts, hosting a Q&A session on glioblastoma in honour of Laura. While studying for her degree, Laura was juggling her university work with pioneering cancer treatment in Germany, which came with its own challenges. On July 6 last year, the day of Laura's graduation, Nicola posted an update on her GoFundMe page praising her daughter's remarkable achievement. She wrote: 'In the last 3 years [Laura has] had: 19 weeks of immunotherapy treatment in Germany 11 cycles of chemo 6 rounds of keytruda checkpoint inhibitor 4 units of blood 2 further brain surgeries 'Today she got a 2:1 in Politics, Philosophy and Economics. 'It's been so tough, working through sickness and fatigue and in little Airbnbs in Cologne with dodgy WiFi, but she did it and we could not be any prouder of her. 'Thank you so much for all your help and support in funding her treatment, I honestly don't think she'd be here without it.' Speaking at her graduation, Laura said: 'If someone tells me I can't do something, it makes me even more determined to do it and prove them wrong my family knows that all too well. 'So when a doctor told me that I wouldn't be able to go back to university, I thought, "we'll see about that" and it made me want to do my degree even more. Now here we are.' Since Laura's diagnosis in 2018 she lived out several 'bucket list' experiences, including sitting in the driving seat of a train. She also met several influential people including the Obamas and Gillian Anderson. Last week Laura's mother Nicola posted on Twitter to say her daughter Laura was in declining health Laura (pictured last July with her father Mark, sister Gracie and mother Nicola) graduated from Manchester University with a 2:1 in PPE Laura had chemotherapy, immunotherapy and radiotherapy and several operations since she was diagnosed in October 2018 (pictured after one of her operations) She also wrote a moving letter to pupils at Barrowford Primary School, sharing with them the lessons she has learnt in life. In March, the BBC reported that Laura was undergoing a course of electro hyperthermia after having another operation and was feeling 'hopeful' for the future. 'We had to decide on a next step and my doctor suggested maybe I go to Germany and see if I could have the treatment here,' she said. Laura managed to tick off several 'bucket list' requests since receiving her diagnosis in October 2018 Laura (pictured with her father Mark) said she could not have achieved any of the incredible things she has done without the support of her family In the last few weeks of Laura's live, Nicola said the family were spending as much time together as possible in the spring sunshine. She also said she was 'pretty sure' that Laura enjoyed watching the Eurovision Song Contest a few weeks ago. Last week, Nicola shared how the family were making a cast of Laura holding onto her sister Gracie's hand. Posting a photo of the first look at the final thing, she said: 'This is just the first plaster version but I already love it.' To learn more about Laura's campaign to raise awareness of glioblastoma, visit her website, Doing It For Laura Drew Pritchard has claimed 'dreadful' daytime antiques shows are ruining the business - after comparing the industry to 'like the mafia.' The Salvage Hunters star, 52, from North Wales, hosts the popular Discovery Channel show which has 22 million viewers in around 52 countries. However he is critical of other antiques programmes, which he claimed have 'watered down' the business. Drew, whose book How Not to Be an Antiques Dealer: Everything Ive Learnt, That Nobody Told Me is out on May 25, told The Telegraph: 'Ive got great friends who are on them, but theyre auctioneers, not dealers. 'Its like saying a painter and decorator is a builder. They both work on houses, but they do different things.' Drew Pritchard, 52, has claimed 'dreadful' daytime antiques shows are ruining the business - after comparing the industry to 'like the mafia' He got his eye for art from his father, a painter who taught him about perspective, scale and form. Drew became interested in becoming an antiques dealer at a young age - when he was just eight, he had the idea of opening a shop. At 15 he set out on a lifelong treasure hunt, learning how to find buyers and turn a profit. After leaving school at 16 with no qualifications, he sought out a premise on Conwy High Street, close to where he had grown up. He restored the building, from the panelling to the lights, and opened a shop. He compared the business at the time to 'like The Mafia' due to how difficult it was to get started in the industry. However he has now built a respected business as an international dealer in fine antiques, art and furniture. Drew would later sell the shop, calling it 'a very expensive gilded anchor, weighing you down'. He now also has his own collection of personal antiques - including from a neon 'curry' sign (his favourite food) and carved pilasters from the Argentinian Embassy in Rio de Janeiro. His dining table used to take pride of place at an all girl's school in Colwyn Bay while Drew's wine cooler dates back to Roman times and is made out of marble. One of his favourite pieces is an original art deco dodgem's sign which was used in a fairground. Despite being a presenter of Salvage Hunters, Drew is critical of other antiques programmes, which he claimed have 'watered down' the business He describes himself as a 'decorative salvage dealer', scouring collections and hoards everywhere from country houses to bric-a-brac shops, in search of things to renovate. He has an eye for the pieces other dealers miss, and his discerning clients - who include fashion designer Ralph Lauren, chef Marco Pierre White and Hollywood star Jim Carrey - trust his taste in the unusual. Meanwhile he also said the industry is now easier to get into, and shared a number of tips on how to become a dealer. He advised putting as much money into your business to start with as possible, saying: 'Its simple economics: the more you start with, the more youre able to make.' Meanwhile he also suggested avoiding haggling people to the lowest price - and instead said there is value in building a longer-term relationship with people. Drew added: 'Dealer to dealer is the best business youll ever do. Theres no messing about. 'They give you a price, you either accept it or you dont, and thats it done and dusted.' Princess Leonor has sparked speculation over a gold pendant she chose to wear to her graduation party. The 17-year-old royal has completed her studies at 'Hippie Hogwarts' UWC Atlantic College in South Wales, and was joined by her parents, King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia of Spain, and her sister Princess Sofia, 16, for her graduation. To mark the occasion, the royal family shared several pictures taken on the day on their social media. In the series of snap, Leonor could be seen wearing a pink dress and a golden necklace as she proudly showed off her international baccalaureate certificate. Eagle-eyed fans were quick to pick up on the fact that the young royal's necklace spelled 'hubb,' which means 'love' in Arabic. Journalist Martin Bianchi (El Pais), former editor-in-chief of HOLA!, suggested the piece of jewellery could be a gift from her grandfather, the disgraced King Juan Carlos, who has been living in the United Arab Emirates since 2020 after he was hit by corruption claims in 2014, which have since been dismissed. Princess Leonor of Spain, 17, donned a gold necklace reading 'love' in Arabic, leading some members of the Spanish media to suggested it was gifted to her by her grandfather Juan Carlos, who abdicated in 2014 and lives in the United Arab Emirates since 2020 Leonor first donned the necklace last summer while on a break with her parents, and wore it to her graduation over the weekend, with a fuchsia tuxedo dress by the Spanish brand Apparentia, costing 399 euros. The piece of jewellery read 'love' in gold letters, with a diamond placed at the centre of the pendant. After the pictures were shared online to mark the occasion of the Princess completing her studies in Wales, Bianchi took to Twitter to share his thoughts about the origin of the necklace. 'Princess Leonor graduated with a necklace with the word "hubb", love in Arabic. Her grandfather, Juan Carlos I, lives in Abu Dhabi,' the journalist said, suggesting the necklace could have been a gift to his granddaughter. Others suggested that the necklace could have been gifted by a suitor, and hint that the princess is 'in love.' The Spanish magazine NUIS noted that the necklace could have been picked by Leonor herself, because the royal speaks Arabic fluently, after years of studying it, along with Catalan, French, Galician, Basque and Chinese. The necklace is made of gold and reads the inscription in Arabic, with a diamond in the middle of the pendent Leonor, pictured with her parents, King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia, left, her sister, Princess Sofia, now 16, and her grandfather Juan Carlos and Grandmother Princess Sofia, right, in 2018 The Spanish royal palace have not commented on the provenance of the piece of jewellery. Both the Royal Families of Spain and Netherlands celebrated the graduation of Princess Leonor and Princess Alexia, both 17, this weekend. The school, which was founded in German educationalist Kurt Hahn, is situated at the 12th century St Donat's Castle on the country's south coast. With school fees for a two year course costing a whopping 67,000, courses on offer include Tai Chi, the theory of knowledge and Tibetan literature. King Felipe VI, 55, Queen Letizia, 50, and Princess Sofia, 16, all made the journey from Spain to congratulate Leonor, who is the heir to the throne. In one picture, Leonor could be seen proudly showing her graduation certificate up in front of her. King Felipe VI, Queen Letizia and Princess Sofia all made the journey from Spain to congratulate Princess Leonor, 17, who is the heir to the throne, as she has just completed her education at UWC Atlantic The freshly graduated royal picked a hot pink jacket dress for the ceremony - which had cut-outs on the sleeves. Letizia looked effortlessly elegant in a white suit which she paired with a silky blush pink top while Felipe was dapper in a black suit. One sweet snap showed Sofia, who was wearing a powder blue dress - hugging her big sister close. In another picture, media savvy Letizia gives the camera her best pout as the family pose for a selfie. The images was shared by the Spanish royal court on Twitter to announce the heir-to-the-throne's graduation. They captioned the post: 'The King and the Queen, the Princess of Asturias and the Infanta Sofia, after the graduation ceremony for the Princess of Asturias at the UWC Atlantic College of Wales, the educational institution where she completed her International Baccalaureate studies.' Princess Leonor is set to start her military training before the end of the summer in August. Whereas many of her peers will go off to university, the eldest daughter of King Felipe and Queen Letizia will return to Spain to begin training. Tatler reported that Spanish defence minister Margarita Robles confirmed Princess Leonor of Asturias's next move earlier this week. The training will include stints in the armed forces, the Spanish navy and the air force. Speaking in March, Ms Robles confirmed: 'In due course, the commander-in-chief of the armed forces will be a woman, and in recent years we have been making a very important effort to incorporate women into the armed forces.' The Princess will begin her training at Army Military Academy in Zaragoza before going to naval school, and will complete her three years at the General Air Academy. Monaco's Royal Family has suffered tragic deaths, sudden divorces and headline-grabbing paternity claims all because of the 'curse of the Grimaldis' - or so the legend would have you believe. It is said a spell was put on the Grimaldi family - which has ruled Monaco for more than 700 years - that meant none of their marriages would ever survive. But now a new film, crafted by Grace Kelly's own grandson Pierre Casiraghi and his wife Beatrice Borromeo, could be set to reveal the truth behind the stories. According to Variety, Pierre and Beatrice will produce an installment of 'Monaco' through their firm Astrea, with production starting next year for the film. The producers plan to expand the franchise into several movies and TV series, which will chart the adventures of the family throughout the centuries. According to Variety, Pierre Casiraghi and his wife Beatrice Borromeo will produce an installment of 'Monaco' through their firm Astrea, with production starting next year for the film Speaking to the website, Dimitri Rassam, who is also set to work on the films, said: ''I thought I knew this story but it turns out I had only scratched the surface. Simply said it is epic in every way: Family, adventure, intrigue. 'The true story of the foundation of the Grimaldis of Monaco some seven centuries ago is one of the most captivating stories I have had the chance of discovering thanks to the initiative of Beatrice, Andrea and Pierre.' And there's plenty of material for the TV series, with rumours of a course plaguing the family for years. Some say it all dates back to 1297, when the first Grimaldi, Francesco the Spiteful, tricked the principality's defenders by disguising himself as a monk, only to kill them. Other myths suggest the curse was put on the family by a witch after she was either raped or kidnapped by one of the Grimaldis and sought revenge. And the curse was supposedly given renewed vigour in 1515 by Claudine of Monaco when she warned on her deathbed that no Grimaldi should ever ally himself with a foreign power. But whatever the truth may be, utter devastation struck in 1982 when Prince Rainier's fairytale marriage to Hollywood legend Grace Kelly ended in tragedy. Meanwhile, in recent years, current ruler Prince Albert II, 65, and his wife Princess Charlene, 45, have been dogged by speculation about their marriage. There's plenty of material for the TV series, with rumours of a course plaguing the family for years The franchise about the Monaco royals will be far from the first time royal scandal has been captured on film in recent years. In fact, the series is likely to follow hot on the heels of The Crown, which follows the British royal family and is due to come to a finish this year. Over the first five series of The Crown, the Netflix hit has become well known for bending facts to suit its narrative, and while some artistic license is inevitable, some critics have been outraged in its rewriting of history and relationships. Series six of the Netflix series will follow the royals into the 21st century, depicting Kate and William's romance at St Andrew's and closing with the king's 2005 wedding to the then Camilla Parker Bowles. Fans are eagerly awaiting the release of The Crown's final series later this year, with the show already courting controversy as it plans to depict the tragic death of Princess Diana. Many argued that filming scenes leading up to Diana's death in Paris were insensitive - as well as the series going ahead with its launch not long after the Queen's death in September last year. Focusing heavily on the fallout between Princess Diana, played by Debicki and King Charles (then Prince of Wales) as portrayed by West, the new series showcased a number of low points for the royals. Among them were Charles and Diana's marriage breakdown, the late royal's controversial Panorama interview and the notorious 'tampongate' phone call between the King and Queen Consort, then Camilla. Acting royalty Dame Judi Dench, who is close to King Charles and Camilla, has accused the programme of being 'crude and hurtful'. A London charity is urging westerners to stay away from the Yulin Dog Meat festival, warning that disaster tourism' will only 'make the cruel event even worse'. The Yulin Lychee and Dog Meat Festival, which began around 2010, sees dogs and cats - who are often stolen pets - brutally tortured and killed in the street before they are made into dishes for stalls and restaurants to serve. Over the 10-day festival, it is thought that up to 10,000 dogs and 5,000 cats are killed and eaten. Now charity NoToDogMeat, which operates two shelters for rescued dogs in China, says that even those attending the festival in protest risk 'emboldening the festival organisers' who could escalate levels of animal cruelty. It is believed that torturing the animals before they are killed, in ways that include hanging, beating, and blowtorching among others, makes the meat tastier, and so butchers have been documented carrying out these acts during the 10-day event. According to charity NoToDogMeat, animals killed and eaten during the festival include a number of stolen pets According to the charity, animals killed and consumed at the event are 'not bred for meat', and it says many are rounded up strays as well as stolen pets who are 'often still wearing collars and leads when they go to slaughter'. Throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, the festival was scaled back as travel to Yulin was restricted even in China, and international travel was forbidden. But as restrictions lift, the charity fears that that the festival will scale up again, and says it is bracing itself for an 'onslaught of suffering'. NoToDogMeat was founded by London-based lawyer Julia de Cadenet, 50, in 2009. Talking about this year's event, she said: 'People think that by going to the festival and taking pictures they are somehow helping the cause, and of course there are some people who go to enjoy the horrific spectacle. 'While there is no helping the latter, we are appealing to anyone who thinks they will visit to leave it to animal rights groups and professionals. 'All you are doing is emboldening the festival organisers who will think "well let's give them something to see". 'It is a vicious circle and we are bracing ourselves for an onslaught of suffering this year.' It is believed that torturing animals before they are eaten makes the meat tastier, and so acts of cruelty have been documented at the festival The charity has rescued hundreds of animals destined for slaughter at the festival, flagging down trucks headed to the city carrying dogs. According to the organisation, many of these trucks 'do not have the proper paperwork for transporting live animals'. As a result, the dogs can be seized by authorities, and later turned over to the care of campaigners. NoToDogMeat is currently housing 750 dogs at shelters in Beijing and Hebei, and for the first time since the pandemic will be able to transport them to loving homes abroad. According to Julia: 'The pandemic caused us so many problems, but the plus side was that there were less dogs being transported to Yulin. 'Now that travel is back on, we really are fearful of what is to come, and are trying hard to raise a fighting fund to help us save as many as we can from a terrible fate.' Yulin is an ancient city in China known for holding a dog meat festival from 21 to 30 June, purportedly to celebrate the summer solstice where an estimated 10,000 dogs and cats are killed and eaten each year. But despite often being marketed as a 'traditional' or 'ancient' festival, it has only been taking place for around a decade. It is estimated that in China alone, 10 to 15 million dogs are eaten annually - some figures say 50,000 per day and 4 to 5 million cats. However, polls show the majority of Chinese people do not support the dog and cat meat trade. The charity is currently caring for around 750 dogs it has rescued from a certain death in the dog meat trade Additionally, around 72 per cent of Yulin residents say they don't eat dog meat regularly, despite traders' efforts to promote it. The work of international organisations like NoToDogMeat as well as Chinese organisations and activists mean progress has been made in working towards an end to the brutal trade. Shenzhen and Zhuhai, became the first cities in mainline China to outlaw dog and cat meat sales and consumption in April 2020. Outside of China, dog meat is banned in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Thailand, Singapore and the Philippines, Siem Reap province in Cambodia, and in 17 cities and regencies in Indonesia. However, around 30 million dogs a year are thought to be killed for meat in other parts of Asia. Google users across the United States will see a Doodle commemorating Barbara May Cameron when they access the search engine today. The company regularly pays tribute to a different individual, group or holiday by swapping out the image above the search bar. And currently the illustration - created by artist Sienna Gonzales - is paying homage to Barbara holding an LGBTQIA+ flag. But who was the Native American photographer and human rights activist? Here is everything you need to know about the inspiration behind today's Google Doodle. Google users across the United States will see a Doodle commemorating Barbara May Cameron when they access the search engine today Who is Barbara May Cameron? Barbara May Cameron was born in Fort Yates, North Dakota, in May 1954 as a member of the Hunkpapa group of the Lakota tribe. Her Lakota name was Wia Washte Wi which stands for 'woman or a good woman.' She was raised by her grandparents and, after graduating high school, studied photography and film at the American Indian Art Institute in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Barbara came out as lesbian and moved to San Francisco in 1973 where she began advocating for LGBTQIA+ acceptance in the Native American community. She co-founded Gay American Indians the first ever dedicated Native American LGBTQIA+ group alongside friend and fellow activist Randy Burns in 1975. But it was only the start of her campaigning and activism. What is Barbara May Cameron famous for? Barbara was involved in a variety of programs and activities including organizing the Lesbian Gay Freedom Day Parade and Celebration from 1980 to 1985. She also co-led a lawsuit against the Immigration & Naturalization Service which had a policy of turning away gay people. The case went before the Supreme Court and ruled in favor of Barbara and her co-plaintiffs who made persuasive arguments for change. Barbara came out as lesbian and moved to San Francisco in 1973 where she began advocating for LGBTQIA+ acceptance in the Native American community She also became the executive director of Community United Against Violence and was appointed to both the Citizens Committee on Community Development and the San Francisco Human Rights Commission as well as the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women. Barbara was also active in helping with AIDS and childhood immunization programs, working closely with the San Francisco AIDS Foundation and the American Indian AIDS Institute. She served as a consultant to the US Department of Health and Human Services and the Centers for Disease Control. Throughout her pioneering activities, Barbara was also a passionate poet and speech writer. Many of her works are now housed at the San Francisco Public Library including one of her most notable essays titled No Apologies: A Lakota Lesbian Perspective. Was Barbara May Cameron married? Barbara was in a relationship with Linda Boyd for 21 years with whom she raised a son, Rhys Cameron Boyd-Farrell. Speaking to Google about the Doodle, Linda said: 'People know the serious side of Barbara, because she was serious about justice, serious about the civil rights and safety of native people, of lesbian and gay people, of women. 'But she had her playful side, and the most tender heart.' When did Barbara May Cameron die? In February 2002, Barbara died of natural causes at her home in San Francisco aged 47. Her memorial service was attended by San Francisco Board of Supervisors President Tom Ammiano who praised Barbara's 'fine qualities of heart and mind.' Carole Migden, who at the time represented District 13 in the California State Assembly, also attended and discussed the campaigner's advocacy for gay and lesbian Native Americans. Why is Barbara May Cameron being honored with a Google Doodle? Today would have been Barbara's 69th birthday - which is why Google has chosen to honor her with a Doodle. The illustration showed Barbara holding a LGBTQIA+ flag in front of a split backdrop depicting both the reservation where she grew up and the vibrant city where she spent most of her life. Speaking about her creation, artist Sienna Gonzales said: 'It was an absolute privilege to depict Barbara May Cameron and pay tribute to her as a champion for queer Native American visibility.' Thomas Skinner, from East London, was on season 15 of The Apprentice An ex-Apprentice star has faced backlash from fans for his bizarre 'curry pasta' dish - which involves baked beans - that will 'make Italians cry'. Thomas Skinner, from East London, posted the video on Instagram, which went viral with more than a million views. Thomas was on season 15 of The Apprentice and reached week nine before he was fired by Lord Sugar. A year later, he went on to compete in Celebrity MasterChef, but was the first to pack his bags when the contestants reached Finals Week. He started the video by saying 'I don't know if I want curry or pasta, so I'm gonna make a curry pasta.' Thomas Skinner, from east London, started the video by saying 'I don't know if I want curry or pasta, so I'm gonna make a curry pasta' He then adds oil to a pan followed by chopped onions and 'loads of turmeric'. He then said: 'Get your minced beef and add it to the onions and turmeric.' Thomas then pours half a pint of beef stock in the pan, while adding salt to a pan of boiling water, before pouring in pasta. He then adds four garlic gloves into the pan with the beef and onions He said: 'Four garlic gloves in my garlic crusher and crush them straight into the lovely mince meat curry.' Thomas then pours one can of tinned chopped tomatoes and then bizarrely adds a whole can of baked beans to the pan. He said: 'I know what you're thinking, trust me and pour that in and stir.' He adds curry powder and chilli powder 'to give it a kick'. Thomas bizarrely adds a can of baked beans to the curry pasta dish, which contains turmeric and chilli powder Thomas started the quirky dish by adding turmeric powder and white onion to a hot pan The ex-Apprentice star made a dish that included mince beef, peas, baked beans, pasta, onion, garlic, turmeric and chilli powder Thomas said : 'I love peas and trust me on this, pour some peas into the mix right at the end,' before pouring frozen peas straight into the pan. He then drains the pasta and grates some cheese, adding them both into the strange concoction of food. He then grinds some black pepper before serving. Thomas said: 'This is beautiful,' as he munched on the dish. 'Try it out, tag me in the comments.' He captioned the video: 'Couldnt decide if I wanted Curry or Pasta for dinner tonight, so I made up my own dish. Tommy's mince curry pasta, and its delicious!!' He then listed the ingredients and method before writing: 'Let me know what you think, this was honestly so tasty and will definitely be having it again!' Thomas told his followers: 'I know what you're thinking, trust me and pour that in and stir' when he reached the baked bean stage Thomas was slammed in the comments, with people calling the dish 'rank', 'disgusting' and 'controversial' The video got almost 27,000 likes on Instagram and more than a thousand comments. And people definitely did not hold back, as the the businessman was slammed for his meal with many commenting that Italians will not be happy about it. 'Italy will invade us tomorrow,' one wrote, while another described it was 'the most controversial thing I've seen on the internet in a long time'. Another said: 'That's rank mate. Wrong on so many levels.' A third penned: 'Onions and turmeric does not equal curry! Pukeworthy.' A fourth commented: 'One of the most disgusting things I have ever seen. In a single video you just insulted generations of Italian grandmothers.' Viewers were divided in the comments section, with many of slamming her The California bartender said she fires back the customers because 'it's all bad' A bartender has revealed the fiery response she gives customers who question how many calories are in their drink. Catalina Garayoa frequently gives viewers a sneak peek at her life as a bartender on her TikTok account. Most recently, the California native detailed how she handles people who are more worried about their calorie intake than having a good time. Catalina noted that every drink at a bar is 'bad for you,' slamming the customers who hound her for an exact calorie count. Catalina Garayoa, a California bartender has revealed the fiery response she gives customers who question how many calories are in their drink The mixologist frequently shares behind the scenes look at her life as a bartender on her TikTok account In a clip that amassed over 160,000 views, Catalina shared a skit based on her experience as a bartender and her interactions with customers who question what the best drinks are for them In a clip that amassed over 160,000 views, Catalina shared a skit based on her experience as a bartender and her interactions with customers who question what the best drinks are for them. 'Do you know how many calories are in the vodka-grapefruit drink,' Catalina said acting as a customer. The content creator, who was now acting as the bartender, replied: 'I dont know, its liquor, juice, and soda.' The bartender continued by noting she has no idea what the nutritional value is. She said: 'I dont have the calorie count. Its all bad for you.' Catalina divided social media users in the comments section, with many of them noting customers could be asking about the calorie count for health reasons. One user said: 'Honestly [they] could be asking for health reasons, like type one diabetes.' Another person wrote: 'This made me feel bad for the girl.' The bartender continues by noting she has no idea what the nutritional value is, adding 'it's all bad for you' Catalina divided social media users in the comments section, with many of them noting customers could be asking about the calorie count for health reasons 'I would feel bad for the girl asking, I know that feeling. Definitely wouldnt say its all bad for you lol,' someone else wrote. Another user commented: 'Some people with gastric sleeve and other issues have to control intake and physically cant eat more than a certain amount.' However, other social media users slammed the customer, claiming people should do their own 'research' prior to going to the bar. 'To be honest, this girl should do her own research before going to a bar not putting this on the bartender. Wines are usually 120, light beers are 100,' one person wrote. Another user added: 'I understand an eating disorder or health restrictions etc. but overall its not on the bartender to know that, its on the customer to research what they can have.' However, other social media users slammed the customer, claiming people should do their own 'research' prior to going to the bar 'Ask Google,' wrote one person. And while Catalina drew a blank when it came to low-calorie drinks, a celebrity trainer has revealed the alcohol beverages you can sip on while still working your way to a six-pack. Magnus Lygdback, 43, a Swedish personal trainer and nutritionist who has worked with stars like Alexander Skarsgard, Gal Gadot and Ben Affleck, has shared his favorite low-calorie drinks that help keep the weight down. According to Magnus, you can still shed off the extra pounds by drinking an Aperol Spritz, Vodka Soda, Whiskey Sour, White Wine and Watermelon Spritzer, and a Yuzu Fizz. A woman who accidentally flushed her wedding ring down the toilet has remarkably been reunited with the diamond band - 13 years after it slipped off her finger. Mary Strand, 71, and her husband, David, 75, from Minnesota, have been married for 46 years - and 13 years ago, David marked their 33rd anniversary by surprising his wife with a stunning diamond ring. However, the accessory - which featured a large diamond surrounded by 16 smaller stones - never fit Mary properly and one day, disaster struck, and it slipped off her finger and into the toilet while she was using the bathroom. A devastated Mary thought that she had lost the precious piece forever - until just a few weeks ago when she received a call letting her know that the ring had been found after more than a decade at a water treatment plant just a quarter of a mile away from her home. Mary Strand, 71, who accidentally flushed her wedding ring down the toilet has finally been reunited with the diamond band - 13 years after it slipped off her finger On their 33 anniversary, her husband David surprised his wife with a diamond ring surrounded by 16 other small diamonds However, the jewelry never fit quite right, and while Mary was in the bathroom it fell off her finger and went down the toilet The story of Mary's missing ring - and its incredible re-discovery was shared last week by the Metropolitan Council, a government agency that specializes in services for the Twin Cities metropolitan region. On its website and in a YouTube video, the agency revealed how Mary had watched on in horror back in 2010 when her gold band plunged into the toilet bowl and was flushed down the pipe. She threw her hand in, desperately searching for the diamond. She called David, who owns a sewer and drain cleaning business, to come to the rescue. David took the toilet out in hopes to shake the ring loose and even snaked a camera 200 feet down the drain. With no luck, the pair reached out to municipal workers to have them check the city's pipes, however, they were once again disappointed. Mary lost all hope and accepted that she would never see her jewelry again. But, 13 years later, Mary received a call she thought she'd never get. In March, three wastewater workers found the ring while trying to fix a machine. When they looked over, they saw a flash of gold floating in the water, it began a week-long public campaign to find the owner. The lovebirds went to the Metropolitan Council to retrieve the ring on Wednesday, which marked Mary's first time seeing it since 2010 Although she thought it was gone forever, she was met with a miracle when she was finally able to flash the gold on her finger over a decade later It reappeared at a wastewater treatment plant just a quarter-mile away from their home (pictured) Then, many jewelers examined it and the city sent out an alert on social media before Mary claimed it Hundreds of calls came in from families who had lost beloved heirlooms, however, the descriptions never matched. It wasn't until Mary and David's daughter found out about the ring through a neighborhood message board that she alerted her parents, telling her mom, 'It's got to be your ring.' Mary called the city council person the next day, but after 13 years of the ring being missing, she wasn't able to recall exactly what it looked like, so she sent over a picture. And to the city worker's surprise, the ring was an exact match. Two jewelers then confirmed the ring was the same and compared Mary's odds and being reunited with the ring to winning the lottery. One of the jewelers said: 'The odds are astronomical.' On Wednesday, the lovebirds went to the Metropolitan Council to retrieve the ring, which marked Mary's first time seeing it since 2010. David - who searched their toilet 13 years ago for the jewelry - was shocked when it reappeared all this time later After thirteen years of floating in grit and muck, four of the 'itty bitty' diamonds had fallen off, and the gold band is 'really smudged', however, she was overjoyed to have it back They captured the moment in a heartwarming video. A council worker said: 'Are you ready? Now it doesnt look like it did.' Mary responded: 'I've been prepped for that.' She unwrapped a blue cloth to reveal the diamond ring. 'I was very excited,' Mary said of the moment she got her ring back. After 13 years of floating in grit and muck, four of the 'itty bitty' diamonds had fallen off, and the gold band is 'really smudged.' However, Mary noted the ring was still 'absolutely gorgeous.' She added that she was just over the moon to have it back. 'I remember looking at it and flashing back to when he gave it to me, thats how memorable a thing it was,' she said. And although Mary joked she had a problem with losing rings, she said she was going to make sure this one never left her sight again. It was favourite of Anne Parsons, Countess of Rosse, and is on sale at Hancocks Emerald and diamond brooch was commissioned by the Rosse family in 1911 A glittering emerald dragonfly brooch which was a favourite of Princess Margaret's mother-in-law has gone up for sale with a starting price of 350,00. Anne Parsons, the Countess of Rosse, wore the magnificent antique diamond and emerald brooch to the coronations of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth II - and later to the wedding of her son, Antony Armstrong-Jones, to Princess Margaret in 1960. The heirloom, which was crafted by Garrad & Co in 1911, features two briolette emeralds set in silver and gold, with 226 old cut diamonds making up most of the dragonfly shape. The briolettes detach from the upper wings to form a pair of drop earrings, and the wings are set 'en tremblant' so quiver delicately as the wearer moves. Anne Parsons, the Countess of Rosse (above with the Earl of Rosse), wore the antique diamond and emerald brooch to the coronations of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth II - and later to the wedding of her son, Antony Armstrong-Jones, to Princess Margaret in 1960 The heirloom, which was crafted by Garrad & Co in 1911, features two briolette emeralds set in silver and gold, with 226 old cut diamonds making up most of the dragonfly shape It is on sale through Hancocks, and comes with the original Garrad box and a handwritten note about the creation of the jewel from the Countess of Rosse herself. The note reveals the brooch was made for the coronation of King George V and Queen Mary in 1911, commissioned by Anne's mother Frances Parsons. Sir Cecil Lister Kaye designed the piece for his daughter, the Countess of Rosse, and used detachable emerald briolette drops from the Rosse emerald parure. Garrad & Co, who crafted the brooch, were working on Queen Mary's crown at the time - the very same worn by Queen Camilla at King Charles's Coronation. Buckingham Palace stated that the decision to use Queen Mary's crown was 'in the interests of sustainability and efficiency.' The palace also said: 'The choice of Queen Mary's Crown by Her Majesty is for the first time in recent history that an existing crown will be used for the coronation of a Consort instead of a new commission.' The briolettes detach from the upper wings to form a pair of drop earrings, and the wings are set 'en tremblant' so quiver delicately as the wearer moves It is on sale through Hancocks, and comes with the original Garrad box and a handwritten note about the creation of the jewel, written by the Countess of Rosse. Pictured: Princess Margaret The dragonfly brooch played a starring role, when the Countess wore it to two Coronations - King George VI's in 1937 and Queen Elizabeth II's in 1953, according to The Royal Watcher. The Countess of Rosse also sported the emerald earrings with the Rosse emerald tiara and parure, alongside a Victor Stiebel gown at a ball hosted by the Queen at Buckingham Palace ahead of the wedding of her son and Princess Margaret in 1960. In the 1980s, the Rosse Emerald Tiara and the emerald necklace were auctioned off at Christie's, but the Dragonfly brooch had remained with the family. The Earl of Rosse originally offered the dragonfly brooch for sale at Bonhams in 2016, but later withdrew the offer. The brooch is now on sale at Hancocks, London, with a price of 350,000 The Earl of Rosse originally offered the dragonfly brooch for sale at Bonhams in 2016, but later withdrew the offer A note inside the jewellery box reads: 'This brooch was made out of the earrings of the antique emerald and diamond parure of the Rosse family - by Lois Lady Rosse for the 1911 Coronation and also some extra diamonds were added in.' Hancocks shares more details of the stunning piece: 'The dragonfly brooch is a truly spectacular jewel and would have attracted many an admiring glance, the tremulant setting causing it to flutter and catch the light with every movement she made.' 'The dragonfly brooch passed on from Frances to her daughter-in-law Anne, 6th Countess of Rosse. 'The brooch was a favourite jewel of Anne's, and she wore it regularly. 'Images of her wearing the dragonfly show it on evening dresses, cocktail dresses, and coats, this was a woman with passion for both jewellery and passion.' The 86-year-old threw himself a funeral but Jamie and Christopher didn't go Jamie Lee Curtis' art critic brother-in-law hosted his own living funeral - before his death - which involved him lying on a bed with his eyes closed as his friends and family gathered around him and said their farewells. Anthony Haden-Guest, 86, a British-American writer, reporter, cartoonist, and poet - who is the half-brother of Jamie's husband, Christopher Guest - threw himself a funeral on Sunday evening, and DailyMail.com obtained exclusive photos of the bizarre event. The art connoisseur, who splits his time between London and New York City, told DailyMail.com that he opted to hold the celebration of his life, despite still being alive, because he 'doesn't like to miss a party.' 'I needed a dress rehearsal,' he joked. 'And I dont like to miss a party.' Jamie Lee Curtis' art critic brother-in-law hosted his own funeral - before his death - which involved him lying on a bed as his loved ones gathered around him and said their farewells Anthony Haden-Guest, 86, a British-American writer, reporter, cartoonist, and poet, is the half-brother of Jamie's husband, Christopher Guest. They are seen together in 2005 He threw himself a funeral on Sunday evening, and DailyMail.com obtained exclusive photos of the bizarre event The art connoisseur, who splits his time between London and New York, told DailyMail.com that he opted to hold the celebration of his life because he 'doesn't like to miss a party' Held in the Upper East Side home of multi-millionaire fashion designer Libbie Mugrabi - who is the ex-wife of billionaire Andy Warhol art collector David Mugrabi and Anthony's current employer - a slew of his socialite friends gathered to reflect on Anthony's impressive life. 'I needed a dress rehearsal,' he joked. 'And I dont like to miss a party' Anthony told DailyMail.com that Christopher, 75, and Jamie, 64, who wed in 1984, were not present because he hasn't spoken to his brother in years. He explained that while they didn't have a 'falling out,' they were 'never close' and eventually stopped talking. Pictures from the funeral show Anthony sprawled out on a bed in the middle of the room with a white sheet placed over his body. His loved ones could be seen tossing roses onto him as he laid completely still with his eyes shut, resembling a dead body. At one point, he even placed pennies over his eyes - a tradition that people normally do with the deceased at funerals, which is said to be a bribe to get them into heaven. When asked if he thinks he's going to heaven or hell, the former Financial Times cartoonist admitted, 'I dont think people go to heaven or hell. Can you imagine how bored youd be in heaven youd want to leave after 20 minutes.' Anthony and his pals certainly spared no expense on the event, serving roughly $10,000 worth of Cristal champagne - which was given to the guest of honor as a gift by hostess Libbie. It was held in the Upper East Side home of multi-millionaire Libbie Mugrabi - who is the ex-wife of billionaire Andy Warhol art collector David Mugrabi and Anthony's current employer Anthony currently works for Libby - who delivered a tearful eulogy at the funeral - as her 'artist in residence' A slew of his socialite friends gathered to reflect on Anthony's impressive life Anthony (seen at the funeral) told DailyMail.com that Christopher and Jamie, who wed in 1984, were not present because he hasn't spoken to his brother in years He explained that while they didn't have a 'falling out,' they were 'never close' and eventually stopped talking Pictures from the funeral show Anthony sprawled out on a bed in the middle of the room with a white sheet placed over his body At one point, he even placed pennies over his eyes - a tradition that people normally do with the deceased at funerals, which is said to be a bribe to get them into heaven Also available at the funeral was cucumber sandwiches - which were homage to Anthony's British heritage. Among the crowd was fashion designer Frederick Anderson. Anthony's pal Anna Wintour was reportedly invited but did not attend. Anthony and Christopher are both sons of Baron Peter Haden-Guest. Anthony started his career off as a writer for the Financial Times, writing a weekend column on art collection. When asked if he thinks he's going to heaven or hell, he said, 'I dont think people go to heaven or hell. Can you imagine how bored youd be in heaven youd want to leave after 20 minutes' Anthony certainly splashed out on the event, serving roughly $10,000 worth of Cristal champagne to his guests Also available at the funeral was cucumber sandwiches - which were homage to Anthony's British heritage Among the crowd was fashion designer Frederick Anderson. Anthony's pal Anna Wintour was reportedly invited but didn't show. Anthony is seen with Frederick and Libbie To commemorate his impending passing, he also drew a series of cartoon tombstones inscribed with witty tributes about himself, which he proudly held up during the funeral 'Not in service,' read one of them. Another said, 'So much for the witness protection program' 'I think denial of death is a basic human survival instinct. People are in denial. Im in denial- sort of,' Anthony reflected to DailyMail.com Over the years, he helmed articles and cartoons for numerous outlets like The New York Observer, Sunday Telegraph, Vanity Fair, The New Yorker, Esquire, GQ (UK), and The Sunday Times. He donned a blue, button-down shirt, dress pants, and a black and white patterned tie for the occasion, as well as a cap with one of his drawings on it He won an Emmy in 1979 for his PBS documentary The Affluent Immigrants. He's also written several books. He now works for Libby - who delivered a tearful eulogy at the funeral - as her 'artist in residence.' To commemorate his impending passing, he also drew a series of cartoon tombstones inscribed with witty tributes about himself, which he proudly held up during the funeral. 'I think denial of death is a basic human survival instinct. People are in denial. Im in denial- sort of,' Anthony reflected to DailyMail.com. He donned a blue, button-down shirt, dress pants, and a black and white patterned tie for the occasion, as well as a cap with one of his drawings on it. The first royals have confirmed their attendance for the highly anticipated wedding between Crown Prince Hussein of Jordan and his bride Rajwa Al-Saif. The pair are set to tie the knot on June 1, after announcing their engagement in August 2022 and plan to host a selection of international guests for their big day at Zahran Palace. The reception, meanwhile, will be held Al Husseiniya Palace - which spans 40 hectares. The event is expected to be filled with splendour, so it's no wonder guests far and wide are confirming their invites. The VIP confirmed guest list includes Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark and his wife Mary, as well as Japan's Princess Hisako and Princess Tsuguko. The first royals have confirmed their attendance for the highly anticipated wedding between Crown Prince Hussein of Jordan and his bride Rajwa Al-Saif. The couple pictured in October The Dutch monarchs have also confirmed that they will be there to celebrate with a post on their website. 'On Thursday 1 June 2023 His Majesty King Willem-Alexander, Her Majesty Queen Maxima and Her Royal Highness Catharina-Amalia, the Princess of Orange will attend the festivities surrounding the wedding of Crown Prince Hussein of Jordan and Ms Rajwa Khaled Al-Saif,' it read. Other royals who intend to join the celebrations include Crown Princess Victoria and Prince Daniel of Sweden - who recently attended King Charles III's Coronation - and Crown Prince Haakon of Norway. It is currently not know whether any British royals will attend the upcoming nuptials - however, the two families do share friendly connections. In 2018, Prince Hussein hosted the Prince of Wales during a tour of the Middle East and Queen Rania is also a council member for the Earthshot Prize, which was launched by Prince William in 2020. The family have already had a busy year marking the Princess Iman of Jordan's wedding just months ago. However, Hussein's wedding is rumoured to be even more luxurious than his sister's. The first insight into what the dress code will be has been released by Queen Azizah of Malaysia, who will also be in attendance. She has revealed that it will be 'more like black tie, long dress but no tiaras', according to The Royal Watcher. The Dutch monarchs (pictured at King Charles III's Coronation) have also confirmed that they will be there to celebrate with a post on their website Other royals who intend to join the celebrations include Crown Princess Victoria and Prince Daniel of Sweden (pictured in October) The VIP confirmed guest list includes Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark and his wife Mary (pictured at Charles's Coronation) Other royals who intend to join the celebrations include Crown Prince Haakon of Norway (pictured earlier this month) In celebration of the approaching wedding, the Jordanian Royal Family were quick to share the official logo to mark the occasion. 'As the date of the wedding of HRH Crown Prince Al Hussein and Miss Rajwa Khalid Alseif nears, we are pleased to share the official logo to mark the occasion, which is Arabic for "we rejoice", the The Royal Hashemite Court account tweeted. There is also a hashtag #CelebratingAlHussein. It also shared a photograph of the couple posing with the caption: 'From the engagement of His Royal Highness Crown Prince Al Hussein bin Abdullah II to Ms Rajwa Khaled bin Musaed bin Saif bin Abdulaziz Al Saif in Riyadh today, in the presence of their Majesties King Abdullah II and Queen Rania Al Abdullah.' On Instagram, the Prince's mother also gushed with delight, writing: 'I didn't think it was possible to hold so much joy in my heart! Congratulations to my eldest Prince Hussein and his beautiful bride-to-be, Rajwa.' The Royal Hashemite Court had announced that the couple's wedding is set for June 1, 2023 Earlier this year, Queen Rania of Jordan shared a heartwarming photograph with her stunning family to celebrate the end of 2022 and the start of 2023 The Crown Prince proposed to Rajwa back in August at the home of her father in Riyadh, with both families in attendance. Rajwa is the daughter of Saudi businessman Khaled Al Saif, CEO of the privately-owned Al Saif Group, and his wife Azza Al Sudairi. She has studied in both Saudi Arabia and Los Angeles, earning a degree from the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising in the Californian city. A woman who claims that she's 'allergic to running' has detailed the moment that she 'almost died' after rushing to catch a flight and suffering from a severe reaction. Divz Mangat, 27, was traveling from her home in Canada to Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic last month with her sister, Dee Mangat, and some friends. The ladies were forced to race through the airport to avoid missing their flight, and soon after, Divz started breaking out in hives. They got so bad that she had to use an EpiPen out of fear that her throat might close up - and the incident has left her convinced that has exercise-induced anaphylaxis, a rare disorder in which in patients suffer from allergic reactions after participating in physical activity. A woman who claims that she's 'allergic to running' has detailed the moment that she 'almost died' after rushing to catch a flight and suffering from a severe reaction Divz Mangat, 27, was traveling from her home in Canada to Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic last month with her sister, Dee Mangat, and some friends The ladies were forced to race through the airport to avoid missing their flight, and soon after, Divz started breaking out in hives 'For the past few months, every time I run or get stressed out, I've been breaking out in hives,' she explained to Newsweek recently. They got so bad that she had to use an EpiPen out of fear that her throat might close up - and the incident has left her convinced that has exercise-induced anaphylaxis, a rare disorder in which in patients suffer from allergic reactions after participating in physical activity 'I wasn't sure if it was due to running or stress. But that day, I realized it 100 per cent has to be due to me running and being stressed out.' Divz's sister, Dee, documented the airport incident and shared it to TikTok, where it got more than 6.6 million views - and left many people on the web stunned over the condition. 'How [Divz] almost died because of a delayed flight,' she began in the viral video. 'Our first first flight was delayed and we have a connecting flight ... so we had to start running to the gate,' she continued as a clip of the girls dashing through the airport flashed across the screen. 'This is when things started to get really bad. Divz has been having severe allergic reactions but she doesn't know what she's allergic too. Once we got on the plane she started breaking out into hives.' It then cut to a video of the two girls sitting on the plane as Divz showed her hives - which had developed on her face and arms - to the camera. Dee explained that her sister tried taking Benedryl but that didn't help, so she was forced to use the EpiPen. Divz's sister, Dee, documented the airport incident and shared it to TikTok , where it got more than 6.6 million views - and left many people on the web stunned over the condition 'Once we got on the plane she started breaking out into hives,' Dee explained in the TikTok, as Divz showed her hives - which had developed on her face and arms - to the camera Dee explained that her sister tried taking Benedryl but that didn't help, so she was forced to use the EpiPen In the end, she said the treatment helped and that she felt 'fine' afterwards, other than feeling 'a little drowsy' Can someone really be allergic to running? What you need to know about exercise-induced anaphylaxis Exercise-induced anaphylaxis is a rare disorder in which in patients suffer from allergic reactions after participating in physical activity. Symptoms include itchy skin, hives, flushing, wheezing, nausea, abdominal cramping, and diarrhea following exercise. 'If physical activity continues, patients may progress to more severe symptoms, including angioedema [swelling under the skin], hypotension [low blood pressure], and, ultimately, cardiovascular collapse,' Medscape reported. Advertisement In the end, she said the treatment helped and that she felt 'fine' afterwards, other than feeling 'a little drowsy.' While chatting with Newsweek, Divz explained that she's had to go to the hospital 'a few times' over the mysterious allergic reactions. The hospital doctors could not figure out what was causing them, so she was told to see a specialist. She's currently waiting for an appointment and in the mean time, she's trying to take things slow. 'The whole trip [in the DR] the girls were like, "Don't run. Just walk where you have to go,"' she explained. 'I'm very cautious of not making my heart beat really fast. I'm just trying to be very calm and make sure it doesn't happen again.' According to Medscape, symptoms of EIA include itchy skin, hives, flushing, wheezing, nausea, abdominal cramping, and diarrhea following exercise. 'If physical activity continues, patients may progress to more severe symptoms, including angioedema [swelling under the skin], hypotension [low blood pressure], and, ultimately, cardiovascular collapse,' it added. While Dee admitted that she wasn't too sure about her sister's claims that she was allergic to running at first, after the airport incident, she became convinced. 'I was like, "Yeah, OK, sure. I've never heard of that." I just thought this was kind of a crazy phenomenon,' she recalled. Divz said she's had to go to the hospital 'a few times' over the allergic reactions. The hospital doctors could not figure out what was causing them, so she was told to see a specialist She's currently waiting for an appointment and in the mean time, she's trying to take things slow 'I'm very cautious of not making my heart beat really fast. I'm just trying to be very calm and make sure it doesn't happen again,' she said After Dee's TikTok gained so much attention online, thousands of people took to the comment section. Some who also suffer from EIA spoke out and shared their own experiences 'I've never seen somebody that's allergic to running - but it ended up being a pretty eventful video.' After Dee's TikTok gained so much attention online, thousands of people took to the comment section to share their thoughts. While some people were surprised over the condition, others who also suffer from EIA spoke out and shared their own experiences. Some medical professionals even got involved and gave Divz advice - and she was very grateful for their expertise. 'Seeing other people having similar things it does help, in a way,' she said. Emma Weymouth was effortlessly glamorous in a glittering, sequined gown as she attended the Club Zero red carpet at the Cannes Film Festival today. The Marchioness of Bath, 37, struck the perfect chord between glitzy and sophisticated in the silver and black dress, which featured a long flowing skirt. She accentuated her enviably toned arms in the sleeveless, V-neck ensemble which is perfect for the early summer weather in France. Emma added flair to her look with ornate silver jewellery, including a diamond necklace and hoop earrings. She opted for a classy swept back hair style, keeping her chestnut tresses out of her face. Emma Weymouth was effortlessly glamorous in a sequined gown as she attended the Club Xero red carpet at Cannes' Palais des Festivals today The socialite showed off her dewy skin with a fresh make-up look, sporting a colourful smoked out eye and a dusky lipstick. A coat of white nail polish added for a fun pop of contrast. The film festival provided the glamorous backdrop for the premiere, as stars from around the world converged. Club Zero tells the story of a teacher who stars a job at an elite school and forms a particularly strong bond with five of its students. However, their relationship eventually takes a dangerous turn. Australian actress Mia Wasikowska, 33, leads the cast of the drama thriller film as Ms Novak. It was announced Mia had joined the cast in February last year with Jessica Hausner directing and producing the project from a screenplay by herself and Geraldine Bajard. In August last year, Sidse Babett Knudsen, Amir El-Masry, Mathieu Demy, Elsa Zylberstein, Luke Barker, Amanda Lawrence and Sam Hoare joined the cast of the film. The Marchioness of Bath, 37, struck the perfect chord between glitzy and sophisticated in the silver and black dress, which featured a long flowing skirt She accentuated her enviably toned arms in the sleeveless, V-neck ensemble which is perfect for the early summer weather in France Completing the line-up last summer was Keeley Forsyth, Lukas Turtur, Camilla Rutherford, Samuel D. Anderson, Florence Baker, Ksenia Devriendt and Gwen Currant. Meanwhile earlier this month Emma had enjoyed a lively night out at LouLou's after the Coronation with her husband Ceawlin Thynn. She cut a glamorous figure in a black dress with a racy thigh split for the evening at the private members' club in London. The former Strictly Come Dancing star covered the top of her stunning ensemble with a pretty white flower, holding Viscount Weymouth's hand as they stepped out together. Emma added flair to her look with ornate silver jewellery, including a diamond necklace and hoop earrings She opted for a classy swept back hair style, keeping her chestnut tresses out of her face, for the red carpet The socialite showed off her dewy skin with a fresh make-up look, sporting a colourful smoked out eye and a dusky lipstick. A coat of white nail polish added for a fun pop of contrast Emma complemented her outfit with a pair of glittering black heels, adding inches to her height. The pair looked loved-up as they got into a taxi to leave together at 1am after spending four hours at the exclusive venue. Emma's father-in-law Alexander Thynn died from Covid-19 in April 2020, making her husband the Marquess of Bath in April, and inheriting the estate Longleat, which is famous for being the first drive-through safari park outside of Africa. Emma has been married to Ceawlin since June 2013, with the couple sharing sons John, six, and Henry, four. The boys' official titles are The Honourable John Alexander Ladi Thynn and The Honourable Henry Richard Isaac Thynn. On her wedding day, Emma became the first black marchioness in British history. In November, Emma said she doesn't want her skin colour to be a 'defining characteristic' and is a reluctant role model after becoming Britain's first black marchioness. The Marchioness, who is the daughter of a Nigerian oil tycoon, appeared on the cover of Tatler in November 2021 talking about her grand plans for her family's Longleat estate. In the interview she said she had a 'responsibility' to maintain the estate. She added: 'I aspire to a future where [my skin colour] is not a defining characteristic.' Sarah Ferguson's goddaughter Eliza has tied the knot with her fiancee in Ibiza Sarah Ferguson's goddaughter has now married her bride in a lavish wedding celebration in Ibiza. Eliza Dodd-Noble got engaged to Hannah Crockett in 2021. The Duchess of York, 63, offered her heartfelt congratulations at the time, saying: 'Nothing gives my heart greater joy than to see young people happy.' The loved up pair shared a kiss in front of guests, with photos from the ceremony showing both wearing stunning ivory dresses. One described it as 'a magical moment of love and pure happiness'. Music producer Eliza, 35, and Hannah, 32, a U.S. food blogger, looked blissfully happy in photos from their big day. Sarah Ferguson's goddaughter has now married her bride in a lavish wedding celebration in Ibiza Eliza's aristocratic father, Paddy Dodd-Noble, is a close friend of Sarah's. And Eliza and her sister, Daisy, are pals of her daughters, Beatrice and Eugenie. However, while the mother of Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie - affectionately known as Fergie - blessed the union, she was earlier this year 'a bit confused' not to have been at the civil ceremony in March. Sarah was so delighted that her goddaughter had become engaged to her girlfriend, she claimed that she had already 'bagged a seat' at the nuptials. The Mail on Sunday's Diary Editor Emily Prescott revealed that Eliza's godmother had then seemingly feared the wedding had taken place without her following the civil ceremony. Thankfully it turned out that the Duchess of York was not snubbed after all. A source close to the newlyweds said the nuptials were only the legal wedding ceremony and that the larger four-day celebration, which Fergie was said to be invited to, was happening in Ibiza. Eliza, who proposed to American Hannah at the Chateau Marmont hotel in Los Angeles in July 2021, is one half of the electronic music duo Eli & Fur, along with fellow DJ Jennifer Skillman. 'She said yes,' Eliza gushed at the time. No doubt, married life will keep Eliza's appetites satisfied: Hannah is a passionate foodie and runs a recipe blog, The Simple Seagan, which she describes as 'recipes for the vegan who sometimes eats seafood'. Music producer Eliza, 35, and Hannah, 32, a U.S. food blogger, looked blissfully happy in photos from their big day Sarah was so delighted that her goddaughter had become engaged to her girlfriend, she claimed that she had already 'bagged a seat' at the nuptials Eliza's aunt, Fiona Dodd-Noble, also said, delightedly: 'We are thrilled.' Given their illustrious credentials they've played at several Christian Dior catwalk shows and teamed up with fashion brands such as Stella McCartney and The Kooples, there seems little doubt that the strung-out Spanish affair was a weekend of partying. It comes as, last week, an excited Sarah let slip the due date of her daughter Eugenie - and it's extremely close. The Princess, 33, who welcomed her first son August two years ago, announced in January that she is expecting a second child with her husband Jack Brooksbank. However she didn't reveal the exact date she was expecting her new addition - simply writing on Instagram: 'Were so excited to share that there will be a new addition to our family this summer.' Now it seems her mother has revealed that the baby is due in the coming days. HAPPY COUPLE: Eliza Dodd-Noble, left, with her wife Hannah Crockett at their civil ceremony in Los Angeles Speaking to Hello, Sarah Ferguson said: 'We don't know what it is yet. But the baby is due by the end of May, I think. So it's any minute now.' In the Instagram post announcing her pregnancy, Eugenie posted a photograph taken by her husband, showing her son August embracing her and kissing her bump in a field. Prince Andrew's youngest daughter and her husband Jack Brooksbank are already parents to two-year-old August. During the interview with Hello, Prince Andrew's ex-wife described herself as 'one of the best grannies ever', as she said she thinks 'like a three-year-old'. A self-confessed plastic surgery addict has revealed she has spent thousands of dollars to look like a real-life Barbie. Jazmyn Forrest travelled all the way to Korea to get a nose job and a forehead reduction - and she's 'obsessed' with the results. The 25-year-old often receives nasty comments from online trolls about her Barbie-like looks and surgeries, but she doesn't let the bullying get her down. Jazmyn is no stranger to cosmetic procedures having spent more than $100,000 on liposuction, two breast augmentations, lip fillers and Botox in the past however this is the first time she's had surgery on her face. Ahead of the nose job and forehead reduction in April, she asked doctors to make her looks like a 'Barbie slash Disney Princess'. Scroll down for video Before: Jazmyn Forrest (pictured) spent thousands on a nose job and forehead reduction surgery to look like Barbie and make her face more 'youthful and feminine' After: The 25-year-old travelled all the way to South Korea to get a nose job and a forehead reduction - and she's 'obsessed' with the results While Jazmyn said she looked 'cute' before her surgeries, she is stoked with her new 'youthful and feminine' face. 'I told (surgeons) "Please turn me into a Disney princess" and I think they did that,' she said in a TikTok clip. 'I'm really happy with it all... I have literally a two head, a three head now. I'm obsessed with it.' She said her face hasn't completely healed from the procedures and it could take up to a year for the swelling to completely disappear. Jazmyn has a scar along her hair line from the forehead surgery but she can cover it with makeup and her hair. 'I'm definitely addicted to all of this stuff but I'm really happy with it,' she added. While Jazmyn said she looked 'cute' before her surgeries, she is stoked with her new 'youthful and feminine' face Jazmyn has been open about her cosmetic procedures and is sharing her recovery on her popular TikTok page. While she has received lots of support from her followers, she also has to deal with viewers leaving comments calling her 'sad' and 'fake'. Jazmyn hit back at the trolls saying she thinks every natural face is beautiful but she wanted to do the surgeries for herself. 'Life's short, I'd regret it if I didn't,' she said adding that she is 'still the same person inside'. Jazmyn has also had a breast augmentation to fix a botched surgery she had when she was just 19. The Barbie-wannabe said her breasts had been her 'biggest insecurity' since she was 13 years old as they apparently had developed unevenly. She underwent surgery to fix them when she left school however she experienced complications and was left with one breast bigger than the other. While she has received lots of support from her followers, she also has to deal with viewers leaving mean comments calling her 'sad' and 'fake' Jazmyn spent $42,000 to fly to LA in February 2022 to correct the botched procedure and said she 'loves' her new breast 'so much'. Previously she revealed many of her procedures have been paid for by her sugar daddy, a 'sweet and private' man who allows her to live a 'six-figure lifestyle', even though she doesn't have a job. She said she 'feels sad for normal people her age' who have to work because it's 'hard', adding that she 'gets ahead' in life because of her looks. 'I live in an amazing home with my sugar daddy and I don't have to dishes or cook,' she said. He pays for my holidays, designer clothes and all my surgery. 'He paid for my for my second boob job last month and my trip to Los Angeles to get it done. I've been to Disneyland every day whilst I've been healing and that's all funded by him. Jazmyn has spent more than $100,000 on liposuction, two breast augmentations, lip fillers and Botox in the past however this is the first time she's had surgery on her face 'But I could easily find someone else to look after me if I needed to because of my looks. There are so many guys out there who are willing to look after a girl like me.' Jazmyn, who shares her luxury lifestyle with 206,000 TikTok followers under the handle @jazmynforrest69, said she realised 'at a young age' that 'prettier girls did better in life'. 'When I started using fake tan and make-up, I was treated differently and got more attention,' she said. 'I did try doing normal jobs but it was so hard. If you look good, people just give you stuff. 'I know it sounds lazy but I've always wanted the princess lifestyle where stuff just gets handed to me so I know I needed to use my looks.' Jazmyn started using sugar daddy websites as a teenager and at 18 found a 'random person online' to pay for her first boob job. 'I just sent him some photos and he sent me the money for a boob job. It was that easy,' she said. She has had a string of procedures since, including butt injections, and has a nose job planned to achieve the ultimate 'Barbie' look. 'Because of all my cosmetic surgeries, I have rich friends who spoil me and a sugar daddy who lets me live in his million-dollar house and pays for everything now,' she said. 'I don't need a job. 'I do look at normal people my age and I feel bad for them. I would definitely be working in McDonald's if I didn't have all my surgery.' Going out to eat at a fancy restaurant can be fun and exciting - especially if you're up for treating yourself. But sometimes higher prices do nothing but make the portions either tiny - or simply bizarre. BoredPanda collated a selection of the most baffling dishes served by high-end establishments. It features one German restaurant's dessert - which is delivered on a flip flop - and an offering of sushi served up on a fedora hat. Here, FEMAIL takes a look at the most whacky plates users all over the world have shared... One hungry poster from Texas was very underwhelmed by the 'fancy' conference catering which saw nails used instead of skewers This dessert - understood to be served at an upscale restaurant in Leipzig, Germany - was served in a very unique dish This US-based diner was confused to see a serving of sushi on a fedora had, which was also decorated by a branch One hungry diner from Bristol was outraged by the 'vegan option' at a fancy restaurant in the UK This American poster was amused when they were served tempura green beans - in a bright orange shoe One poster in Italy appeared unenthused about their barebones meal - which doesn't look particularly filling One restaurant, understood to be in Germany, bafflingly, served a tiny portion of salad in a huge bowl A hungry foodie from the US was outraged when some toast arrived - looking less than appealing One eatery in Mexico went for a bold decorative choice when they served dessert in a bottle of wine This curious snack was served on a can of American beer- which, shockingly, didn't appear to do much for its flavour One British diner went to a fancy restaurant - and paid for chocolate which they had to lick off their hands What was delivered was vastly different A baker has left hundreds of people outraged after delivering a cake that looked nothing like what was ordered. A woman shared a photo showing the cake her friend ordered for her birthday party, which looked wildly different to what arrived. The woman asked for a one-tiered version of a gorgeous three-layered multicoloured with a beautiful ombre effect. It was topped with a large fondant bow with 'Happy Birthday' written across it in stunning cursive black icing. It has yellow, pink and blue rounded sweets on top, with spots and lines of various icing contrasting colours, making it sure to delight at any party. A baker has left hundreds of people outraged after delivering a cake that looked nothing like what was ordered But what arrived was a far cry for the kaleidoscopic delight that was ordered. The cake was a mouldy- yellow colour and single layer, with coloured dots on the outside and a salmon-coloured bow. The bow appeared to be filled with kitchen towels. People were left shocked after the post was shared to Facebook. 'I would be embarrassed to be a baker and send a cake off like that to a customer. There's no way I could do that. They have no shame I guess,' one person wrote. But what arrived was a far cry for the kaleidoscopic delight that was ordered. The cake was a mouldy- yellow colour and single layer, with coloured dots on the outside and a salmon-coloured bow 'I hope she didn't pay for it,' added another. 'I need to know. Did they offer any type of explanation or was this just handed to her straight faced?' said a third. 'Did they accidentally give you someone else's cake? Because that's the only semi-acceptable excuse for this mess. Why is there paper towels in the bow loops?' asked another. 'You ordered a gorgeous professional cake and received someone's first attempt ever at decorating a cake. Ouch,' penned one person. 'Asked for rainbow got dirty paper towel,' joked another. People were left shocked after the post was shared to Facebook One baker even offered their own insight into what may have gone wrong. 'Oh boy. They used a paper towel to smooth the cake icing, a method I have never and would never used. Their airbrush gun was dirty, hence the muddled colours of the cake. Poll Would you have accepted the cake? Yes, it's not that bad Absolutely not Would you have accepted the cake? Yes, it's not that bad 42 votes Absolutely not 1617 votes Now share your opinion 'The fondant work isn't bad, but she didn't colour the actual fondant - she airbrushed it so it looks terrible. 'The paper towels in the bow are to hold the shape until the fondant hardens - this is a step that should've been done before you picked it up. I have fears about how clean this baker's kitchen is. Grotesque,' she added. Another likened it to the viral 'Trilby' cake - referring to a viral dispute over an $84 birthday cake has sparked outrage on social media, with the baker being slammed by 'fake' customers who are leaving angry reviews in what she says is an attempt to ruin her business. Hundreds of people shared their shock in the comments section Kylie Allen, who owns her own company, Kylie Kakes in Princeton, West Virginia, took to TikTok to detail the 'worst client experience' she's ever had, explaining how she was furiously criticised by a customer after baking a rainbow sprinkle cake for her. In the video, which garnered over 4.9 million views, the baker revealed that the customer, Ashleigh Freeman, bought a cake for her mum's birthday in April. Ashleigh paid $84 [127AUD] for the dessert, however, she was less than satisfied and following Kylie's video, she decided to share her own version of the story on TikTok. After Kylie's clip garnered viral success, Ashleigh decided to share her own version of the story, with pictures of the cake that she said looked like 's***.' Ashleigh said the cake was not worth the hefty price tag, and many social media users agreed with her, claiming the writing and sprinkles brought the quality of the cake down. Recently, a Texas baker misread a customer's request for a four-year-old's Elmo cake - and instead created a gothic emo design for the youngster. Meanwhile, a woman has left millions in hysterics after revealing the 'hot mess' of a cake that cost her $450. Another likened it to the viral 'Trilby' cake - referring to a viral dispute over an $84 birthday cake has sparked outrage on social media, with the baker being slammed by 'fake' customers who are leaving angry reviews in what she says is an attempt to ruin her business It wasn't just the humans who got to dress their best and flaunt their style at Australian Fashion Week as some furry four-legged friends strutted their stuff too. All eyes were on a group of adorable dogs as they strutted down the runway modelling a new designer collection of pet clothing and accessories. The exclusive collection by Petstock was designed in collaboration with high-profile labels Romance Was Born, The Upside and Double Rainbou and features doggy jackets, jumpers, bow ties, leashes, collars and bandannas. There is also a range of matching pieces for owners to look just as stylish as their pooches. Alongside a human model companion, the fashionable fur babies donned the chic outfits that are sure to be the envy of all at the dog park this winter. A Petstock's collection of designer doggy-wear set tails wagging at this year's Afterpay Australian Fashion Week All eyes were on group of adorable dogs as they strutted down the runway modelling a new designer collection in collaboration of pet clothing and accessories Poll Would you treat your dog with a designer jacket? Yes No Would you treat your dog with a designer jacket? Yes 12 votes No 15 votes Now share your opinion Among the looks were colourful puffer vests with matching bow ties, a very smart button up floral shirt and a cosy cable-knit jumper. Outside Carriageworks, where the Sydney event is held each year, more pups proved their street style game was just as strong as the humans'. Fashion Week regulars including stylish Donny Galella, comedian Tanya Hennessy and influencer Sabrina Treffiletti showed why a stylish dog in their designer outfits is set to be next season's hottest accessory. The range is available in store and online from Petstock until stocks last while The Upside, Romance Was Born and Double Rainbouu will have human pieces in matching prints available to purchase. Pieces range from $15 to $90 and are available in sizes extra-small for puppies up to extra large for bigger breeds like Golden Retrievers and German Shepherds There were colourful puffer vests with a matching bow tie, a very smart button up floral shirt and a cosy cable-knit jumper Outside Carriageworks, where the Sydney event is held each year, more pups proved their street style game was just as strong as the humans Prices range from $15 to $90 and the clothing is available in sizes extra-small for puppies up to extra-large for bigger breeds like Golden Retrievers and German Shepherds. Rebecca Ryles, Head of Private Label at Petstock said 20 per cent of all sales of the collection will be donated to the Petspiration Foundation to help people and pets in need. 'Each brand has brought their signature designs to our new pet pieces, giving pet owners and their beloved dogs a fun, unique and creative way to express their own style while staying on trend,' she added. A handwritten flyer accusing a pet owner of leaving their dog's droppings on their front lawn taped has raised a few eyebrows. The note was a warning to a mystery dog owner who had been leaving their pet's faeces on the lawn outside a young family's house causing them to trod through it and be late to school. According to the poster, which was taped to a telephone pole, the saga escalated when someone smeared dog poo on the car of the person they wrongly thought was the culprit. A resident of the Sydney suburb of Balmain spotted the message taped in the neighbourhood and shared it online leaving many wanting more details on the dog poo drama. 'The person who left their dog's poop on the grass in our street, not only is it extremely unpleasant for us to step in, it has also been causing us to be late to school because my kids have stepped in it two days in a row,' the note read. A message taped in a Sydney neighbourhood has caused a stir after it revealed someone was smearing dog waste on a resident's car door handles 'It seems your dog has been doing a poo in approximately the same location every night.' The parent then slammed another neighbour who took to solving the issue of the unclaimed dog poo with their own version of vigilante justice. 'To the person who put poo on my door handle of my car, please do not take such a low act just based on a false assumption that the culprit was my dogs,' the end of the message read. Balmain falls under the Inner West Council which fines pet owners for not properly disposing of their dog's waste. The note was a warning to a mystery dog owner who had been leaving their pet's faeces on the lawn outside a young family's house causing them to trod through it and be late to school The crime carries a minimum on-the-spot fine of $275 and the penalty can reach $880 should the matter proceed to Local Court. Passive-aggressive neighbourhood notes are becoming increasingly common in Australian neighbourhoods. Previously, a furious resident received a surprisingly well-mannered response after writing a expletive-laden note telling his neighbour to keep the noise down at night. The heated exchange between the Perth neighbours was shared to news satire site The Bell Tower Times 2.0, leaving viewers eye-rolling. The disgruntled Mosman Park local penned an angry note to the noisy neighbour telling them to stop playing videos at loudly at night and taped it to a wall in the complex. A furious resident received a surprisingly well-mannered response after writing a expletive-laden note telling his neighbour to keep the noise down at night 'Just a tip. Don't play your personal growth videos at max volume at night, you inconsiderate f*** wit,' the notice read. Despite the rude tone, the resident the message was addressed to wrote a polite response on the back of the page apologising for causing a disturbance and requesting the note-maker clean up their language. 'Sincere apologies if my podcast bothered you. I'll adjust the volume and placement of my speaker. It was not anywhere near max volume but appreciate the sound must travel and I'm sorry,' they wrote. 'I also have a tip that swearing at your neighbour isn't very nice or considerate either. Simply bringing an issue to their attention is quite enough. Peace and love xoxo.' Despite the tense tone, the rowdy resident the note was addressed to wrote a polite reply on the back of the page apologising and requesting the note-maker clean up their language People in the comments were impressed by the 'restrained' and reasonable response and joked the resident who wrote the mean message may need to listen to a 'personal growth' podcast them self. 'I think the personal growth podcast needs to actually be turned to max volume the neighbour obviously needs them more,' one woman laughed. 'The f*** wit call was a little blunt but I really appreciate the restrained yet rapidly simmering tension as a dynamic,' responded another. 'Yeah maybe just ask the guy nicely. That seems to work in most parts of the world,' agreed a third. 'Those podcasts must work, well handled,' one man laughed and another said: 'Someone got TOLD'. All of England's worst-performing hospitals are today named and shamed by our damning analysis. MailOnline's huge audit laid bare in an interactive map that allows you to search your own area reveals that 268 NHS and private-run sites are giving patients sub-standard care. Twenty-three sites, highlighted as red, were ranked 'inadequate' by the Care Quality Commission (CQC), which regulates all hospitals in the country. Inspectors at one, the Alexandra Private Hospital in Derbyshire, 'were not assured' anatomical waste was disposed of correctly. Staff gave 'conflicting accounts' over how long un-refrigerated waste was left before being collected. Another the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital, one of the NHS hospitals at the centre of Britain's worst ever maternity scandal was found to 'not always' have cared for deceased bodies before they arrived at the mortuary. Your browser does not support iframes. MailOnline's huge audit laid bare in an interactive map that allows you to search your own area reveals that dozens of NHS and private-run sites are giving patients sub-standard care. One the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital (pictured), one of the NHS hospitals at the centre of Britain's worst maternity scandal was found to not to 'not always' have cared for deceased bodies before they arrived at the mortuary Inspectors at another Alexandra Private Hospital in Derbyshire 'were not assured' that anatomical waste was disposed of correctly, with staff providing 'conflicting accounts' of how long un-refrigerated waste was left before being collected Deceased patients arrived 'in an undignified manner', inspectors wrote, having a 'significant and potentially highly upsetting' impact on visiting families. The other 245 hospitals, marked orange on the map, were classed as 'requires improvement' in their most recent inspection report. The investigation into England's sub-par health facilities is the latest in a string of MailOnline exposes. Last week we performed an audit on the worst-performing community pharmacies in Britain. Top 10 worst rated areas for hospitals in England The areas with the highest proportion of hospitals that failed to meet all required standards by the CQC: 1. London: 39 2. Birmingham: 8 3. Manchester: 8 4. Liverpool: 6 5. Leeds: 5 5. Leicester: 5 6. Southampton: 5 7. Sheffield: 4 8. Ashford: 3 9. Bournemouth: 3 10. Reading: 3 Advertisement Earlier this year, MailOnline also mapped every GP surgery ranked 'inadequate' and 'requires improvement' by the CQC. The watchdog carries out regular inspections of every hospital in the country. It rates each hospital as either 'outstanding', 'good', 'requires improvement' or 'inadequate' based on five criteria. These include assessing whether services are safe, effective, caring, responsive and well-led. The overall hospital rating does not necessarily mean that every service at the site performs at that level. Of the 245 rated as 'requiring improvement' by the regulator, over half (132) were NHS hospitals. The other were private. Meanwhile, among the 23 rated 'inadequate', seven were NHS while 16 were private. Services these private hospitals offer include dental diagnostics and screening tests, 2D and 4D pregnancy ultrasound scans and cosmetic surgery. One in 10 patients in the UK now pay for private treatment in the UK a rise of 39 per cent over the past two years with millions bypassing their own GP or hospital completely as they struggle to get appointments. The NHS trusts with hospitals rated inadequate included: University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust, The Hillingdon Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Barts Health NHS Trust, Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and The Dudley Group NHS Foundation Trust. Two hospitals under Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust were also found to be 'inadequate'. It comes as a damning audit of England's crumbling NHS hospitals earlier this year revealed urine and faecal matter had been found seeping into wards, pouring through ceilings and spewing out of drains. One NHS hospital trust also recorded 105 sewage leaks alone in 2022 almost one every three days. The Liberal Democrats, which compiled the data, found NHS trusts recorded a total of 456 leaks between January and December 2022. In March a survey of NHS staff also found just 62.9 per cent of 636,000 workers polled felt that if a friend or relative needed treatment, they would be happy with the standard provided. Experts at the time said the findings were 'no surprise' and warned working in an 'environment of constant and unrelenting pressure' had 'taken its toll'. All inspection reports included in MailOnline's analysis were the most recently published reports. The total ranked 'requires improvement' or 'inadequate' account for around 11 per cent of all the 2,393 registered hospitals in England. MP Daisy Cooper, health spokesperson for the Lib Dems, told MailOnline: 'The Conservatives have been running our NHS into the ground for years. 'Not only are waiting times for treatment being pushed into the danger zone, but people are struggling even to see their GP and dentist, and now even the hospitals are falling apart.' She added: 'This Government has time and time again let our health service down. They have over promised and under delivered for too long. 'Their promise of 40 new hospitals isn't worth the paper it was written on as hospital buildings literally crumble away and some wards have now become unusable. 'Conservative ministers owe the public an apology for failing to deliver their promises on the NHS and putting patients in danger.' A CQC spokesperson told MailOnline: 'Most people are getting good, safe care, and that's down to the efforts of those working across the NHS and independent sector. 'Through our inspection and monitoring of hospital services we have been consistently impressed by the commitment we have found to ensuring patient safety and the number of times we highlight good practice certainly outweighs the enforcement action we take.' They added: 'Sadly however, safe and good care is not always experienced by everyone and there's more work to be done to ensure the delivery of safe care for all, every time. 'Where we find concerns that care needs to improve we make that clear to hospitals and we expect them to take action in response.' An NHS spokesperson said: 'Staff across the NHS are dedicated to providing the best care for patients with the vast majority of NHS hospitals rated "good" or "outstanding". 'While most providers rated inadequate are run privately, the NHS offers intensive support to help trusts work through CQC recommendations to improve services.' A spokesperson at the Department of Health and Social Care also told MailOnline: 'Anyone attending hospital should receive safe, high-quality and compassionate care and to be treated with dignity and respect. 'We will continue work with CQC to ensure all hospital settings are providing the standard of care expected. They added: 'We are also backing health and social care services with up to 14.1billion for health and social care over the next two years, on top of record funding, to cut waiting lists and improve care.' Patients will be encouraged to book private treatment through the NHS app in a bid to slash waiting lists, it was claimed last night. Delays for routine treatments have reached a record 7.33million and are predicted to keep rising, forcing increased use of private hospitals. But there is a cross-party consensus this will only happen if patients are given a choice about where they are treated. The NHS app will play a significant role in encouraging choice and reducing queues as it will allow patients to shop around private treatment centres for short waiting times. Rishi Sunak believes that offering patients better data on their local hospital's performance and more options on location will put pressure on poor performers and drive up standards. Patients will be encouraged to book private treatment through the NHS app (pictured) in a bid to slash waiting lists, it was claimed last night GPs are expected to be more closely monitored to see whether they routinely offer a choice of providers to patients, including private centres. In the coming weeks, the Prime Minister is expected to promote patient choice and publish a report recommending increased treatment capacity 'as far as possible via the independent sector'. Patient choice will become 'the default mechanism' for those who are referred for routine care and Mr Sunak is expected to insist that voice is made central to the NHS. Wha is the NHS App? The NHS App lets you access a range of NHS services. You can download it on your phone or tablet or access the same services in a online through the NHS website. You must be aged 13 or over and registered with a GP surgery in England or the Isle of Man to use it. What you can do with the NHS App order repeat prescriptions and nominate a pharmacy where you would like to collect them book and manage appointments view your GP health record to see information like your allergies and medicines (if your GP has given you access to your detailed medical record, you can also see information like test results) book and manage coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccinations get your NHS COVID Pass (there are also other ways to get your COVID Pass) register your organ donation decision choose how the NHS uses your data view your NHS number (find out what your NHS number is) use NHS 111 online to answer questions and get instant advice or medical help near you Advertisement Sir Tony Blair introduced a patient's right to choose where they are treated but the power to exercise this right has diminished as the NHS focuses on other priorities. From a total of 1.5million procedures per month paid for by the NHS, the private sector performs around 140,000 of these. According to The Times, the government is considering how this can be scaled up with the NHS app expected to encourage choice and allow patients to find shorter waiting times. Currently only 28 NHS hospitals allow patients to manage their appointments via the app but this is expected to be expanded and private hospitals will be included for the first time. A spokesman for the Department of Health said: 'We have already started to implement the elective recovery task force's work and a full plan will be published soon - outlining how we can go even further to unlock the independent sector.' More outsourcing of cancer checks is also expected to be part of the plan in a bid to tackle delays that doctors fear will lead to thousands of early deaths. Only 63.5 per cent of patients who receive a cancer diagnosis begin treatment within two months of a referral for tests against a target of 85 per cent that hasn't been hit for nine years. At present 106 community diagnostic centres offering blood tests and scans and dozens more run by the private sector are expected to increase the number to about 190. Richard Murray, chief executive of the King's Fund think tank, told The Times when choice was introduced in 2000s, GPs had found it 'irritating' and patients were more keen. He said: 'The first response you get is, 'we just want to go to our local hospital, so can't you just make the waiting list low?', ' he said. He added that using the app would 'remove some of the bureaucracy' but many patients would still want to speak to their GP.' DECKED out in trendy designer wear, clutching energy drink cans and munching take-aways while engaging in high-pitched conversations, illegal money changers, popularly known as osiphatheleni who have added a new device to their operations Point of Sale (POS) machines serve their customers. The device has become handy in facilitating transactions involving large sums of money, essentially formalising the illegal activity as street forex money changing is now formally linked to official banking systems. Across several streets of Bulawayo, a horde of street money changers are a regular feature while carrying or waving POS machines visibly showing logos of various financial institutions to lure their clients. While most illegal money changes operate from cars in areas surrounding Tredgold Building, several others have set up permanent spots where they do their trade in the open. Former Governor of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) Gideon Gono once described the area around Tredgold Building as the World Bank of Bulawayos illegal money-changing business. So brave are the illegal money changers that they conduct their business right in front of the Magistrates Courts and would be unmoved even when police officers pass by. At one point, this raised the ire of Chief Justice Luke Malaba who questioned why money changers were being allowed to disrespect the courts by doing illegal business near the Tredgold Building. Some are found along Leopold Takawira Avenue between Fort Street and Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo Street while others have drifted to George Silundika Street between 10th and 11th Avenue. These are popular with members of the public who prefer the higher rates offered as opposed to the official rate in the formal market. Armed with POS machines, the illegal money changers are now able to circumvent bank transfer or EcoCash limits set out by the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) and are making a killing out of it. In Bulawayo as of yesterday, the black market rate was at US$1: Z$3 200 while the official rate trailed behind at US$1: Z$1 400. The police are not taking action and this seems to have emboldened the resolve by the illegal money changers to continue their activities, which they have fine-tuned. The RBZ has been pushing for the use of electronic payment systems and plastic money to drive financial inclusion and for an eventual drive towards a cashless economy. However, the increasing use of POS machines at every point of operations by illegal money changers has prompted this publication to investigate how the swipe machines end up in the streets. Our news crew sought to establish how POS machines are obtained from financial institutions and their conditions of usage as per the agreements signed. Posing as an entrepreneur at one of Zimbabwe Stock Exchange-listed financial houses, one official outlined to the reporter the process of obtaining a POS machine. First of all, you need to open a company bank account with us, providing the bank with your certificate of incorporation, CR14, CR6, a tax clearance certificate, memorandum and articles of association, said the official. We need to have sight of your minutes of the previous meeting, copy of identity documents, company profile and a deposit of $18 000. The whole process takes less than a week and we will issue you with POS machines depending on the number you require, said the bank official who was generous enough to provide his contact details for further assistance. However, a document provided, which relates to the POS merchant agreement details the usage of the gadgets and measures to be taken for violating the agreement. For instance, the document states that: the equipment will be delivered by (name of the Bank supplied) to the delivery address. Bank at its own cost, provides telecommunication equipment to link the equipment to the merchant. The Merchant shall not remove the Equipment from the delivery address or relocate it anywhere else without the prior written approval of the Bank, reads one section. On the part of the merchant, the document states that: the Merchant will always keep the equipment fully charged, where applicable and in a safe place at the delivery address and ensure that it is used with due skill and care, and only in the manner and for the purpose for which it is designed and intended in accordance with the business of the merchant. The merchant shall ensure that the equipment is always operated in accordance with the law . . . where the equipment is used to commit fraud or bank reasonably suspects the existence of fraud or nefarious conduct in respect of the provisions of this agreement, Bank may terminate this agreement without giving the Merchant any notice and will be entitled to recover the equipment immediately. Ironically, the publication spotted several POS machines in possession of osiphatheleni, an observation that dovetails with long-standing Government view that some businesspeople are fuelling the black market During investigations, Chronicle established that some retail outlets were reportedly hiring out their gadgets to money changers for a fee while some are directly engaging osiphatheleni to conduct illegal forex trading on their behalf. An illegal money changer who spoke on condition of anonymity said he got the gadget from a businesswoman who operates a boutique in the central business district. I have been using POS since February this year and its effective. But I cannot disclose the name of my boss or her companies. If I do that, I will be exposing her. My task is to just swipe, said the male money changer. Confederation of Zimbabwe Retailers president Mr Denford Mutashu indicated that although they are not officially aware of the practice, he called law enforcement authorities to step in. We have not received such heinous irregularities. However, we urge the law enforcement authorities to step in and restore sanity. Businesses should act within the confines of the countrys laws, he said. Wantonly breaking the monetary regulations come with huge costs and irreparable damage to business brands. Bankers Association of Zimbabwe (BAZ) chief executive, Mr Fanwell Mutogo, said they are not aware of the practice and could only say: we just urge you to do more investigations before you conclude. A former Bulawayo-based banker said the rampant practice breeds money laundering and other illicit flows of money. To begin with, the parallel market is illegal. That practice is illegal and must not be encouraged at all as it breeds money laundering and other illicit flows of money, said the banker. Chronicle A mother told she was pregnant with twins was left baffled when she found out that her daughters were actually conceived one month apart. Sophie Small, 30, and her husband Jonathan, 34, from Leominster in Herefordshire, were trying for a second baby in 2019. Mrs Small said she knew she was 'very fertile' because of how quickly she previously fell pregnant with her son Oscar, six. Despite having an inkling that she fell pregnant in December after having headaches, the couple decided to keep trying in January 2020 just in case. The swimming instructor was thrilled when a test confirmed she was pregnant, and scans suggested it was twins. It wasn't until Mrs Small gave birth to Darcy and Holly that doctors realised her pregnancy was an incredibly rare phenomenon, known as superfetation, when a second pregnancy occurs just days or weeks after the first. However, babies born this way are not officially twins. Sophie Small (pictured with her daughters), 30, and her husband Jonathan, 34, from Leominster in Herefordshire, were trying for a second baby in 2019 Mrs Small (pictured with her daughters) said she knew she was 'very fertile' because of how quickly she previously fell pregnant her son Oscar, six Mrs Small first became concerned when she began suffering 'horrific' morning sickness, which saw her hospitalised eight times in seven weeks, spending 120 hours hooked up to a drip. She went for a scan at seven weeks to make sure all was well, which revealed that she was carrying two babies. But medics were left stumped as the pair were different sizes. Mrs Small said: 'They couldn't work out why I was so sick. I had a scan at seven weeks and they said it was a bit different. 'I was expecting twins but one was bigger than the other. They could tell something wasn't right.' READ MORE: Mother, 30, got pregnant TWICE in a week after doctors claimed she had just a 5% chance of ever conceiving again Alina Luca (pictured with her two newborn daughters), from East London, had always dreamed of having a big family but her chances were hindered by an underactive thyroid Advertisement At a 29-week scan, doctors told Mrs Small they couldn't detect movement from the smaller twin and they may need to induce labour, leaving her 'distraught'. Medics delayed Mrs Small from giving birth until August by using medication. It was only when Mrs Small gave birth in August 2020 that doctors realised that it was superfetation. Superfetation occurs when an egg is fertilised by sperm and implants itself in the womb for a second time, usually a few weeks after the process happened for the first time. It is extremely rare, with only a few cases ever reported in medical literature. Doctors have identified superfetation in the UK, Italy and Canada. Superfetation is tricky to diagnose, as the presence of two foetuses in the womb is usually assumed to be twins. However, a tell-tale sign is the two foetuses growing at different rates. Babies born through superfetation are usually considered twins, as they are often born on the same day. However, they are not officially twins. Twins are either identical when a single egg splits in two after being fertilised or non-identical, when two separate eggs are released from an ovary at the same time and are fertilised by different sperm, then implanted into the womb. Darcy was born at 32 weeks weighing 4lbs 2oz and her sister followed two minutes later, at 36 weeks, weighing 6lbs 1oz. Mrs Small said: 'I was carrying two babies who were growing at different stages but we didn't know that. 'They had their own sacs and placentas so they could feed when they wanted to.' Despite having an inkling that she fell pregnant in December after she started suffering headaches, Mrs Small (pictured) and her husband kept trying in January 2020 just in case The swimming instructor (pictured with her newborn daughters) was thrilled when a test confirmed she was pregnant and scans showed it was twins Unknowingly, Mrs Small's pregnancy was an incredibly rare phenomenon, known as superfetation, when a second pregnancy occurs just days or weeks after the first. However, babies born this way are not officially twins Darcy was born at 32 weeks weighing 4lbs 2oz and her sister followed two minutes later, at 36 weeks, weighing 6lbs 1oz While Holly (right) was born with cerebral palsy, which affects the right side of her body, Darcy's (left) stomach lining hadn't developed properly. Despite being twins, the pair are very different and there is a 6lb (2.7kg) weight difference between them, Mrs Small said (pictured with daughters) She said: 'They don't even look like sisters, you wouldn't even know. Holly has blonde hair, big beautiful blue eyes and wants to be a princess or a jockey. Darcy's hair is a mousey brown hair, she's a tomboy and wants to be a train driver when she's older.' Mrs Small, pictured with husband, daughters and son, added: 'They're absolutely thriving. They've started nursery and they're very confident' She added: 'When they were born there was a 35 per cent growth difference between the two of them, which is massive and they [the staff] realised they'd been conceived four weeks apart. 'Darcy was a 32-week baby and Holly was a 36-week baby. I said it couldn't be right, I'd never heard of it. I didn't know how it happened.' While Holly was born with cerebral palsy, which affects the right side of her body, Darcy's stomach lining hadn't developed properly. 'It was extremely difficult during the birth. It was Covid as well, so we didn't have any family or support around us. 'We had two little ones in and out of hospital going to different appointments. 'The first eight weeks were the hardest of my life. They're still hard work. They're very mischievous, fun-loving little girls.' The pair are very different and there is a 6lb (2.7kg) weight difference between them, Mrs Small said. She said: 'They don't even look like sisters, you wouldn't even know. Holly has blonde hair, big beautiful blue eyes and wants to be a princess or a jockey. 'Darcy's hair is a mousey brown hair, she's a tomboy and wants to be a train driver when she's older. 'People think I'm a nutter when I explain. They ask how many minutes apart they are and I say Darcy is two minutes older and four weeks younger, while Holly was born two minutes after but is four weeks older and I just walk away. 'Some people question whether they are twins.' Mrs Small added: 'They're absolutely thriving. They've started nursery and they're very confident. 'They're extremely active and lively. I had no idea what the future would hold for them when they were born. 'It was so difficult but we're so happy and blessed to have them.' Patients taking the blockbuster weight-loss drug Wegovy are reporting an unusual added benefit they are free from other addictions that used to rule their lives. Users across the country claim their cravings for cigarettes and alcohol became less intense when they started taking the slimming injection. Others say bad habits like biting their nails, picking their skin and compulsive shopping also disappeared. The drug helps people lose weight by mimicking the GLP-1 hormone, which curbs hunger and slows the the rate at which a person's stomach empties, leaving them feeling fuller for longer. But experts say it may also dull the brain's dopamine reward pathway, reducing the chemical hit and thus the 'feel good' element of giving in to unhealthy cravings. Some researchers are excited that they may have accidentally stumbled on an anti-addiction drug. An estimated one in 60 US adults have a prescription for Wegovy, Ozempic, or Mounjaro. Henry Webb, from North Carolina, finished a two-month course of Wegovy after hitting his weight goal. In the past, he would consistently have a couple of drinks in the evening, but said: 'On the medication I had zero desire for that' Wegovy was originally developed for type 2 diabetes to help control blood glucose Henry Webb, from North Carolina, finished a two-month course of Wegovy after hitting his weight goal. In the past, he would consistently have a couple of drinks in the evening, but said: 'On the medication I had zero desire for that.' He added: 'This could be a game changer for people who struggle with addiction.' Jim Melloan, from New York, said he had a 'total aversion to alcohol' on the drug, which also barely affected his weight. He said: 'I didn't sign up for that. Been on it for almost four months, and I'm out. I want to be able to drink socially again.' Ashley, from Texas, takes Mounjaro, another diabetes drug due to be approved for weight loss in the US, said she noticed she stopped picking at her hangnails as a nervous habit. She said: 'I took some biotin [vitamin B] when I started and my nails literally never looked better. Theres definitely something to it.' Dr Shauna Levy, an obesity medicine specialist at Tulane University, in New Orleans, told DailyMail.com: 'I have noticed that people want to drink less alcohol. I have also noticed a decrease in binge eating behavior. GLP-1 receptor agongists decrease the reward the brain feels from addictive behaviors like eating, drinking, smoking, shopping etc. 'It was a really cool finding. These medications can treat so many different problems.' She added: 'We need to do more research to understand the mechanism.' Victoria Rutledge was addicted to alcohol. When she became sober in her early 30s, she became consumed instead by food and shopping. She spent $500 on organic groceries but then let them go moldy in her fridge. She told The Atlantic: 'I couldnt stop from going to that extreme.' When shopping in Target, she couldn't help throwing dozens of extra items into her cart. Earlier this year, Ms Rutledge began taking Wegovy for weight loss, and found herself thinking less about food and slimming down. She also took trips to Target and left with only the items she intended to buy. 'I've never done that before,' she said. Her cravings for shopping and food had magically gone away. In 2022, more than 5 million prescriptions for Ozempic, Mounjaro, Rybelsus, or Wegovy were written for weight management, compared with just over 230,000 in 2019. This marks an increase of more than 2,000 percent, according to market research firm Komodo Health A UK study found that people who used Wegovy experienced rapid weight loss, dropping 18% of their weight over 68 weeks. They regained two-thirds of that weight, or 12% of their original body weight in the year after dropping the weekly injections. Experts says the drug needs to be used over a lifetime to keep off the pounds Another patient, Mary Maher, used to obsessively pick the skin on her back and would bleed so much that she avoided wearing white. Two months after taking Wegovy, the urge to pick had disappeared and her back had healed and she had also stopped biting her nails. Clinical trials are in the works at the University of North Carolina to see if semaglutide can help people stop drinking and smoking. Semaglutide, the active ingredient in Wegovy and Ozempic, mimics glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) a hormone in the brain that prompts the body to produce more insulin and reduce blood sugar levels, regulating appetite. Initially created for diabetes, semaglutide triggers the pancreas to release insulin by mimicking a hormone called glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1). The hormone also curbs hunger and slows the rate at which a person's stomach empties, causing them to lose weight. It also appears to affect the brain. GLP-1 impact dopamine pathways in the brain, the reward pathway that is key to addictions. Things such as food and sex release dopamine in the brain, and the positive feeling we get motivates us to repeat the behaviors. In addicts, this mechanism can shift. They may have less dopamine receptors in their brain, meaning the same reward might provide less pleasure. Other types of GLP-1, such as exenatide, which is also used to treat diabetes, have shown results in terms of reducing addictions. Mice taking a form of exenatide got less of a dopamine hit from alcohol, and rats on the drug desired less cocaine. Researchers have said they expect lots of studies with semaglutide showing positive results to be published soon. The longer term effects of semaglutide are still unknown. Dr Christopher McGowan, a North Carolina-based weight loss expert, told DailyMail.com that using the drug for weight loss is a lifelong 'commitment.' A study found that patients piled on two-thirds of the weight they had lost on the drugs, just months after stopping them, and most would need to keep taking the injections forever to keep their results. Users of the drug have also found they are suffering rapid muscle loss, tending to lose more muscle than fat while on the drug. Other people reported feeling disgusted by their favorite foods and some items that they never thought twice about. Staci Rice, 40, from Georgia, lost nearly 50 pounds when she went onto Ozempic and can now fit into jeans she last wore 16 years ago. But the marketing professional was also surprised to find that she had developed an aversion to ground beef and Chick-fil-A while on the drug. Ground beef has now been pulled from dinners, must to the frustration of her husband and son, she told the Insider. And she is now also having Chick-fil-A's kale salad instead of its standard 'Number 1'. She was also a lifelong coffee drinker, having enjoyed a cup every day since the seventh grade. But now, she can't touch it. 'Every morning, I would try to make coffee, thinking that one day it would just taste good to me again,' Ms Rice said. Patients are also facing saggy skin, doctors warn, which has been dubbed 'Ozempic face' and 'Ozempic body'. It is caused by rapid weight loss that happens so quickly that the skin does not have time to adjust to the new body size. As a result, it hangs down in folds. She's the calm, collected and authoritative voice of BBC Breakfast. But behind her polished exterior, Naga Munchetty has spent years battling a little-known condition that has at times left her screaming in agony. The broadcaster, 48, has told of her decades-long fight with adenomyosis a womb condition similar to endometriosis the pain of which is so intense her husband had to call an ambulance for her at the weekend. But what is adenomyosis? How is it caused? What are the symptoms? And how is it different to endometriosis? Here, MailOnline breaks down everything you need to know. BBC presenter Naga Munchetty today opened up about her struggles with the debilitating womb condition adenomyosis She told listeners on BBC Radio 5 Live how she suffered a flare-up of her adenomyosis over the weekend, which got so bad that her husband (pictured above in April) called an ambulance for her It's not known exactly why adenomyosis happens. But the NHS notes it is 'likely' that women with adenomyosis 'have a predisposition due to their genes, immune system and hormones' What is adenomyosis? Adenomyosis is a condition where the lining of the womb the endometrium buries deep in the muscular wall of the uterus. The displaced tissue continues to act normally thickening, breaking down and bleeding during each menstrual cycle. This can result in an enlarged uterus and painful, heavy periods. It can affect the whole womb or just one part of the womb. What are the symptoms? Common symptoms include heavy, painful or irregular periods, pre-menstrual pelvic pain and feelings of heaviness or discomfort in the pelvis. Less frequent symptoms can also involve pain during sexual intercourse. Speaking to Endometriosis UK, consultant gynaecologist Liza Ball noted that this pain after sex 'can last for hours or even a day'. Other symptoms could include pain related to bowel movements, according to North Bristol NHS Trust. Around a third of women experience few or no symptoms. Symptoms generally stop after the menopause. How is the condition caused? It's not known exactly why adenomyosis happens. But the NHS notes it is 'likely' that women with adenomyosis 'have a predisposition due to their genes, immune system and hormones'. Adenomyosis is not an infection and it is not contagious. It is benign, or not cancerous. The majority of trials looking into the condition are currently assessing treatments and techniques to remove the cells found deep in the muscle of the uterus. How common is it? The condition is believed to affect around 10 per cent of women in the UK, making it just as prevalent as endometriosis. It is more common in women aged 40 to 50 years and those who have been pregnant before. Adenomyosis does not appear to decrease the chance of pregnancy. However, it has been linked to an increased risk of miscarriage and premature birth. The BBC Breakfast presenter (pictured with co-host Charlie Sayt) said on BBC Radio 5 Live: 'The pain was so terrible I couldn't move, turn over, sit up. I screamed non-stop for 45 minutes' What makes it different to endometriosis? Both endometriosis and adenomyosis occur when the lining of the uterus, known as the endometrium, grows out of place. But there are major differences between the two. In endometriosis, tissue invades areas outside of the uterus. What are the warning signs of adenomyosis and how does it differ to endometriosis? Common symptoms include heavy, painful or irregular periods, pre-menstrual pelvic pain and feelings of heaviness or discomfort in the pelvis. Less frequent symptoms can also involve pain during sexual intercourse. Consultant gynaecologist Liza Ball noted that this pain after sex 'can last for hours or even a day'. Other symptoms could include pain related to bowel movements. In endometriosis, the rogue tissue invades areas outside of the uterus. While the extent of the growth varies from patient to patient, it can affect areas such as the bladder, bowel, ovaries, and even the lungs. Adenomyosis, on the other hand, causes the rogue tissue to bury inside the muscular wall of the uterus. It is however possible to suffer from both conditions at the same time. Advertisement While the extent of the growth varies from patient to patient, it can affect areas such as the bladder, bowel, ovaries, and even the lungs. Adenomyosis, on the other hand, causes the rogue tissue to bury inside the muscular wall of the uterus. It is also possible to suffer from both conditions at the same time. Some women have both conditions. How is it diagnosed? It can take years to diagnose because the symptoms and severity can vary between women. The condition is typically diagnosed by carrying out a pelvic examination, where a doctor will look at the vulva, vagina and cervix. Doctors may also perform a transvaginal ultrasound scan and/or an MRI to investigate the symptoms. This can also help rule out any other health conditions. An NHS spokesperson told MailOnline today: 'NHS staff should support women experiencing adenomyosis and we strongly encourage any woman concerned about their health to speak to their GP. 'Symptoms of adenomyosis include chronic pelvic pain frequently occurring prior to menstruation and accompanied by heavy menstrual bleeding and deep pain during sex. They added: 'GPs should keep up to date with the latest NICE guidance on this condition so a speedy diagnosis and appropriate treatments can be carried out.' How can it be treated? Treatment varies depending on the symptoms but also other factors including age, desire for children and preserving fertility and views on surgery. Patients and doctors may choose to do nothing if symptoms are mild, the woman is trying for a pregnancy or nearing menopause. Alternatively, hormone treatments may reduce pain and bleeding, or cause a temporary menopause. A hysterectomy - removal of the womb - can cure the condition in women who not wish to preserve their fertility. It may also be possible to inject tiny particles into blood vessel in the groin with the aim of blocking off the blood supply to the adenomyosis, causing it to shrink. A healthy 27-year-old Iowa woman had her world turned upside down after being told she will almost certainly develop a form of dementia that strikes early. Alyssa Nash discovered that she possesses a gene mutation that will almost certainly sentence her to the same fate as he father, who changed completely into someone else in his 30s seven years before being diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia (FTD). The Iowa server was quick to undergo a battery of relatively new and highly specific blood tests to determine her genetic risk, as she had a 50 percent chance of carrying the gene and therefore a considerable 10 to 15 percent chance of being diagnosed. FTD is far less common than Alzheimers disease - accounting for about 20 perce nt of dementia cases in the US - but one that afflicts patients much earlier, in their 30s and 40s and in rare cases 20s. The condition is often misdiagnosed as schizophrenia as it completely alters its victims personality, causing apathy and social withdrawal, a lack of empathy, inappropriate behavior in public, obsessive-compulsive behaviors, poor judgment, and impulsivity. Alyssa Nash had a 50 percent change of having a genetic mutation that makes her Alyssa Nash [shown middle with her father] carries a genetic mutation for a rare form of dementia that can alter a person's personality She said that receiving the news of her genetic predisposition has changed her outlook on life. Put your feelings out there. It's okay not to be okay at times. Its a heavy thing to carry, but knowledge is power. A 2017 examination of the causes of FTD reported that people who carry mutations on one of three genes - MAPT, GRN, or C9orf72 - have a 90 to 100 percent chance of getting an FTD diagnosis. Still, having the mutation does not equal a diagnosis, and Ms Nash is using this information to enjoy her life to the fullest. Many people who first start experiencing symptoms of FTD seek help from mental health professionals, and getting the correct diagnosis can be a long road. Dr Keith Vossel, a neurologist at the University of California, Los Angeles, told DailyMail.com: Normally when people develop frontal temporal dementia, they develop difficulties with language or some changes in personality. 'And oftentimes, they have less insight into their problems than patients with Alzheimer's disease do. Poll Would you want to know if you were destined to develop dementia? Yes No Unsure Would you want to know if you were destined to develop dementia? Yes 89 votes No 31 votes Unsure 22 votes Now share your opinion The condition usually takes a major toll on the victim's family, not just the victim, Dr Vossel said. 'They're usually young, oftentimes younger than 60 and... because there's lack of insight [as well as] personality changes, there can be higher burden on family and caregivers than the experience of the patient in terms of the impact of the disease.' Ms Nashs father started showing drastic personality changes as she was entering high school, but he would not be diagnosed with FTD for another seven years. She described the toll it took on her family and on herself personally, suddenly having to become a part-time caregiver while keeping his condition hidden from her school mates. She told Fox News: The biggest challenge was seeing him change completely into someone else and become someone I never thought he could be. And having to grow up in that atmosphere it was tough. Once she found out the condition had a basis in genetics, Ms Nash was quick to get tested. According to Dr Vossel: There's a strong family history of frontal temporal dementia and around 40 percent of cases and we're getting better at finding genetic mutations associated with those familial diseases. Doctors run a battery of blood tests to determine if a person has a specific genetic mutation that will heavily influence whether she develops FTD or a related condition. While there are no specific diagnostic tests for FTD, genetic testing is becoming increasingly common and useful. The tool has become so reliable and convenient that companies like 23&me have added a feature that scans for evidence of a genetic predisposition to Alzheimer's Disease. Those mutations are on one of three genes: C9ORF72, MAPT or GRN. C9 mutations are the most common cause of genetic FTD. They are also the most common cause of genetic ALS, a fatal and progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord. Mutations on the MAPT gene most often lead to behavioral FTD - the type that causes drastic personality changes, while GRN mutations cause both behavioral FTD, a progressive language and/or speech disorder, known as primary progressive aphasia (PPA), and Parkinsons. IS THIS NECESSARY? BIT WORDY.. Because her father carried one of the mutations, Ms Nash already had a 50 percent chance of carrying one too. As it turned out, she did. 'I did take it really hard when I first found out,' she said. 'It took years before I could speak about it publicly.' Short of genetic testing to determine someones predisposition, there are no specific tests for diagnosing FTD. Doctors typically rely on gathering a persons medical history, conducting a detailed neurological examination, and performing an MRI. Frontotemporal dementia falls under the same umbrella of diagnoses that encompasses Alzheimers disease, but its far less common, with an estimated 50,000 to 60,000 cases in the US at once, the majority of whom are between 45 and 65 years of age. The symptoms of FTD also look very different from Alzheimers which begins to manifest as memory loss and difficulty performing familiar tasks. But FTD is different. It causes drastic personality changes that can develop as early as ones 20s, in addition to memory and mobility problems. Alzheimers devastates the whole brain over time, while FTD afflicts the frontal lobe of the brain, the region that plays the largest role in determining personality traits, forming memories, and dictating dopamine-related activities like motivation and future planning. People with FTD, therefore, often experience apathy, depression, a lack of inhibition or social tact, impulsivity, and trouble with language. The condition can be confused with psychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia, clinical depression, and bipolar disorder. People with undiagnosed FTD are often started on psychiatric medications meant to treat one or several of those symptoms, such as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (think Prozac or Lexapro) or stimulants to treat feelings of apathy. FTD, like Alzheimers, worsens as the person grows older. But people with FTD often begin experiencing symptoms of the degenerative disorder earlier than those diagnosed with Alzheimers. Still, diagnosis often after the disease has reached later stages. A pill made by Pfizer causes a similar amount of weight loss and works quicker than the blockbuster fat-melting shot Ozempic, a study suggests. Pfizer's drug - danuglipron - was tested in a clinical trial involving 411 adults who had type 2 diabetes. Patients who took a 120-milligram dose of the drug twice a day for 16 weeks lost around 10 pounds (lbs), or 4.6 kilograms (kgs). For comparison, in Ozempic's phase three trial, patients who received up to two milligram injections of the drug once a week for 30 weeks lost 9.9lbs, or 4.53kg. The results, published in JAMA Network today, set the stage for Pfizer to break into the $100billion weight-loss market. Pfizer's drug causes a similar amount of weight loss and may work faster than Ozempic, trial results suggest The above graph shows the weight loss achieved over 16 weeks in patients using different doses of danuglipron and a placebo. They took the drug twice a day with food via a pill. Each group included about 66 participants. The Y axis shows the percentage change in body weight from the start of the trial where participants weighed 91kg on average Ozempic is a diabetes drug that showed promise for weight loss in clinical trials. Its maker Novo Nordisk then created Wegovy a stronger version of Ozempic to make it an even more powerful weight loss medication. They are both essentially the same drug, however. It is possible that danuglipron, which has so far only been tested in diabetes patients, will follow the same route. Pfizer's drug is administered as a tablet with food twice a day for 16 weeks, compared to Ozempic and Wegovy which are both injected although work is underway to make them available in tablet form. Both Pfizer and Novo Nordisk's drugs the company behind Ozempic and Wegovy work by mimicking a hormone in the gut that makes someone feel full. This leads to reduced appetite and food consumption. But concerns have been raised over side effects including losing muscle mass, hair loss and piling the weight back on plus some after coming off the drugs. In phase two clinical trial, published today but revealed at a medical conference late last year, Pfizer recruited 411 people who were about 58 years old, had type 2 diabetes and were obese. Participants also weighed about 200lbs, 91kgs, each on average. They were in eight countries including the US, Canada, Taiwan and Korea. Participants were split into six equal groups of about 67 people each, with one receiving a placebo, or dummy medication, while the rest got differing doses of the drug to take twice a day. This ranged from 2.5mg to 10mg, 40mg, 80mg and 120mg. There was a significant reduction in body weight in the 80mg and 120mg groups, results showed, compared to those in the placebo group. Nausea, diarrhea and vomiting were the most commonly reported side effects. The study was carried out between July 2020 and July 2021, within the first two years of the Covid pandemic. After a year of gruelling treatment for leukaemia, doctors told Jane Samuel and her partner, Lesley, that their daughter, Kate, was through the worst the relief, says Jane, was 'indescribable'. They were even able to take Kate and her twin sister, Anna, on holiday, to Bluestone, Pembrokeshire the first family trip since Kate had been diagnosed aged just five. But within weeks of their return, Kate developed headaches and started vomiting. Tests showed that the cancer had returned and her devastated parents were told her only hope was a bone marrow transplant. It would now be a race against time to find a suitable match. 'When she started treatment we were told she had a 90 per cent chance of survival that had dropped to 50 per cent,' says Jane, 47, a scientist for a pharmaceutical firm. James Willmore (left) donated his bone marrow when he came up as a match and the recipient ended up being five-year-old Kate Samuel (right) These strangers and their recipients rarely meet. Under strict protocols either can choose to make contact (the two families pictured together) 'Time was running out. We just had to pray that a bone marrow match would be found in time. We didn't know if she'd survive.' Adding to their anxiety was the fact that their daughter's chances rested on the generosity of a random stranger. Bone marrow and stem cell transplants are used to treat blood cancers such as leukaemia and myeloma (cancer affecting the white blood cells). They are particularly crucial for patients with diseases such as blood cancers, as chemotherapy and radiotherapy also damage the white blood cells, raising the patient's risk of infection and of the illness returning. The donated cells make their way to the bone marrow, where blood cells are made, to produce healthy new cells. Every year more than 2,000 people in Britain need a bone marrow or stem cell transplant, according to the charity Anthony Nolan: 70 per cent won't find a match in their family and must rely on a stranger. These strangers and their recipients rarely meet. Under strict protocols either can choose to make contact, but that is made through the hospital transplant team and must be anonymous for two years after the transplant. Writing a letter may be as far as it goes. As Dr Jenna Love, a psychologist for Anthony Nolan, explains: 'For some, that may be enough; for others, choosing not to contact their donor at all is the right decision for them. And there are also some people who become closely bonded for life.' Read the letters that started the friendship... James's first letter to the family: I just wanted to send my best wishes to you and your family, especially your daughter. I was so overjoyed at hearing the news that she was recovering following the donation . . . so I can only imagine how you must have felt. This must have been a tough journey for you all, from diagnosis through to treatment, through to recovery. I also understand that the circumstances we face in Covid-19 must add to your anxieties or worries for the future. So as a father myself, I just wanted to take the opportunity to say one thing . . . WELL DONE! For being such incredible parents, for showing such amazing strength, and getting through this together. You are extraordinary and I am so happy to have been able to support however I can, then now and in the future. It would be great to stay in touch and see how she is getting on, now and in the future. However if you dont wish to do that, then I respect your decision no pressure. Best wishes to you and your family. And to Kate herself: I am really pleased to hear you are feeling much better! In fact, hearing that news was one of the best things I have ever been told! You are an incredible person and I hope you will always remember that. I am proud to have been a part of your life and look forward to hearing about all the things you are doing and the plans you have for the future. ... And their reply: To the wonderful Donor: Many thanks for sending us such a lovely letter it was a joy to receive. Yes, the past year has been a very tough one for us as a family, but especially for our daughter who has had to go through so much in relation to treatment and on top of this all the added pressure which Covid-19 has brought on our lives! We are getting through it and try to celebrate all the small things which under normal circumstances you can miss. To this end, we just want to thank you for all you have done for us as a family to enable our daughter to continue with her life and keep our family complete. It is truly appreciated. We, too, would love to stay in touch and very much hope that when we hit the two-year post-transplant mark in a years time we can be less anonymous. Many thanks again and best wishes from our family to you and your family. Advertisement That's what has happened to the two lovely families here. Fortunately a bone marrow match was found for Kate and she recovered. And then, nearly two years after her daughter's life-saving treatment, Jane unexpectedly received a letter from Kate's donor. 'I just wanted to reach out and send my best wishes to you and your family, especially your daughter,' it began. Jane read it out to Lesley and the girls and replied instantly. 'I just wrote straight from my heart,' says Jane. 'Kate especially wanted to say a big thank you.' It was to be the beginning of a correspondence that culminated six months later in the two families meeting for the first time for a picnic in a park. 'It was amazing', says Jane. 'It felt like we'd known them for ever. It was so easy between us all.' So easy that they are now firm friends who see each other regularly. Such shared happiness is in vivid contrast to the torment the family went through when Kate was diagnosed with leukaemia. The then five-year-old had been having nosebleeds for weeks and was constantly feeling tired, so Lesley, a full-time mum, took her to see the GP after school. The GP thought Kate looked so unwell that Lesley was urged to take her straight to hospital. 'Lesley rang me sounding really upset,' says Jane, who raced to meet Lesley, Kate and Anna at the John Radcliffe Hospital, near their home in Oxford. The family was totally unprepared for the bombshell that was about to hit. Tests showed Kate had leukaemia. 'Lesley and I were in complete shock,' recalls Jane. 'We were trying to be positive for the girls, but it was difficult.' But having been told Kate had a 90 per cent chance of survival, things 'seemed quite positive', says Jane. The treatment Kate needed a bone marrow transplant involves first undergoing chemotherapy to kill off the patient's unhealthy bone marrow cells, then the donor cells are infused via a drip (the families pictured together) The family was totally unprepared for the bombshell that was about to hit. Tests showed Kate had leukaemia 'Anna was upset that Kate wouldn't be coming home with her but we told both of them that she had cancer, and she would need medicine to make her better. 'We didn't realise how horrible the treatment would be, or how close we'd come to losing her.' Within days, Kate had started on intensive chemotherapy daily for a month, then every few weeks. But after a year, the doctors discovered the treatment wasn't working and she had go back to intensive daily chemotherapy. This worked, and doctors said Kate could soon switch to a two-year maintenance plan involving a daily chemotherapy tablet. Feeling optimistic, two months later, in May 2019, the family took that longed-for holiday in Pembrokeshire. But then, devastatingly, the family discovered Kate's cancer had returned. The treatment she needed a bone marrow transplant involves first undergoing chemotherapy to kill off the patient's unhealthy bone marrow cells, then the donor cells are infused via a drip. Kate would then spend a month in isolation as her new immune system slowly began to rebuild. But first Kate needed a donor. 'There was a one in four chance of Anna being a match,' says Jane, 'but tests found she wasn't, which was incredibly disappointing. 'The chances of either Lesley or me being a good match were slim.' This is because genetically related parents at best can be just a half match for their children, and Lesley isn't genetically related to her daughter. So doctors contacted the charity Anthony Nolan, which has a register of stem cell donors. With the discovery a few weeks later of cancer cells in Kate's brain, the search became a race against time. Kate had more chemotherapy as well as immunotherapy to halt the spread, but the family knew it would work only for so long. On November 15, 2019, Kate (centre( received the bone marrow transplant. The family knew only that the donor was male With the discovery a few weeks later of cancer cells in Kate's brain, the search for a suitable donor became a race against time The letters that built a deep friendship James's second letter to Kate's parents: To the patient/parents: Hello again! As we approach the 2-year anniversary (where has the time gone!) since the donation, I thought it was a great time to get in touch and check in. I made the conscious decision to send very few messages to leave you to focus on your well-being, recovery and each other. I hope since we last messaged things have continued to improve even further and gone from strength to strength. You have provided me with a new perspective and I still am and always will be very humbled by the whole experience. For that I will always be grateful. From me and my family to you and yours, I look forward to hearing/seeing you one day. Take care, Your donor. Their reply to James: Many thanks for your letter which was lovely to receive. The past two years have been tough for us with ups and downs related to our daughters health, but she continues to improve and we are now looking forward and planning for the future. We are always grateful to your kind generosity which has allowed us to do this as a family. I believe that now we are passed the two year anniversary that we are able to be in direct contact with each other. We would all very much like this and we also look forward to hearing from you and maybe meeting you all in 2022! Advertisement 'It was such a stressful time we were so fearful,' says Jane. It was a month later when the call came telling them a bone marrow match had been found 'an incredible relief', even though it meant splitting the family apart. 'We had to move to Bristol for four months, as Kate was going to have the transplant at Bristol Children's Hospital,' says Jane. 'Anna had to stay behind with her gran as Kate had to be in a sterile environment.' But before she could have the chemotherapy to get her ready for the transplant, Kate had to have radiotherapy of her whole body, including her head, to kill off any stray cancer cells. 'We had to sign a consent form to say the radiotherapy would make her infertile and she may die,' recalls Jane. 'It was horrific. But we knew it was her only chance.' The radiotherapy, given over two weeks, left Kate unable to eat due to painful mouth ulcers, and she had to be fed through a tube; she also lost her hair and needed morphine for the pain. 'It was heartbreaking to watch what the treatment did to her body,' says Jane. And then the little girl had to have more chemotherapy, to destroy her own bone marrow. Finally, on November 15, 2019, Kate received the bone marrow transplant. The family knew only that the donor was male. As Jane says, candidly: 'We weren't curious to know more about the donor at that point we were just focused on Kate getting through it.' Just before Christmas, blood tests showed Kate's new immune system had started to function properly and she was allowed to see her sister in person for the first time since November. 'It brought tears to our eyes when they gave each other a massive hug, snuggled up and fell asleep together,' says Jane. Kate wasn't through the woods she developed graft versus host disease, where the new cells attack the patient's body, and seven months after the transplant, she developed severe anaemia. 'She had to be hospitalised and several times we thought we were going to lose her,' says Jane. 'Nothing can describe the fear that you feel in this situation.' But she was able to go home in January, and went back to school in May, after a year away. Receiving the letter from the donor in September 2021 was, says Jane, an unexpected bonus. 'We didn't know if we were ever going to hear anything, so it was a lovely surprise,' she says. 'We had always wanted to thank him. When we wrote back it had to be anonymous at first.' They wrote several more times and as it had passed the two-year timeframe since the transplant itself, six months later in the summer of 2022, they were allowed each other's contact details. Kate's family discovered the life-saving donor was James Willmore, 34, who works for a bank, from West Haddon, Northants. He'd been on the donor list since the age of 23 he'd joined after learning that his then partner's father might have been saved if he'd had a transplant. At 28, James was contacted as a possible match, but then a stronger match was found. 'I was disappointed. It had been amazing to think I could've helped someone like that,' says James. He 'got on with my life', until August 2019 when he got another message saying he was a match. James showed it to fiancee Jenny, 35, a teaching assistant (they live with their daughter Adeline, three, as well as James's daughter Florence, nine, and son Heath, seven; and Jenny's son Elliott, 14, from previous relationships). 'But I told her it may not happen as it hadn't happened before,' he says. 'Then I got a second message to say that I was a strong match for this particular bone marrow transplant. There was no question in my mind that I wanted to do it. Kate's (left) family discovered the life-saving donor was James Willmore (right), 34, who works for a bank, from West Haddon, Northants After a full health check, James (second from left) underwent the 45-minute operation to extract the bone marrow cells this involved inserting a needle into the pelvis either side of the spine 'The charity Anthony Nolan told me that children respond better to bone marrow donations over stem cells, so I knew it must be a child that I'd be helping.' Jenny was a little apprehensive on James's behalf: 'It would be done under a general anaesthetic, and I hadn't had one of those since I was four, when I had my appendix out,' he explains. James's daughter was six at the time: 'In my mind, this child became Florence,' says James. 'I looked at her and imagined if she was ill and I was sitting there every day just waiting for someone to come forward and save her. It didn't bear thinking about.' After a full health check, James underwent the 45-minute operation to extract the bone marrow cells this involved inserting a needle into the pelvis either side of the spine. Afterwards he felt a little tender at the needle sites, 'but I recovered within days'. He wanted to write to the family he'd helped because, as he puts it: 'It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity I'd had to save someone's life, and I really wanted to know that it had been successful. 'I wasn't allowed to make it overly personal as it needed to be anonymous and that was difficult. 'I put in two messages one for the parents, to say it was admirable that they were able to deal with such a thing happening to their child. And I also sent a message to Kate, saying she was incredibly brave. 'I didn't expect to hear back that's not why I wrote. But amazingly I did, a month later, and it was lovely.' When they were allowed to have each other's contact information, they shared details about their respective families. 'It became a lot more personal for us,' says James. 'For the first time, the whole thing became incredibly human.' The two families, including Jane's mum and James's and Jenny's children, arranged to meet at a National Trust property in Buckinghamshire, last October. Jane says: 'James and his family were delightful and we had a wonderful day together. And all the kids got on great, too.' James adds: 'When we met, we had a hug straight away, and it felt so natural. Kate and Florence went off and started playing. 'There weren't any tears, we were just all so pleased to see each other. I did wonder if Kate would look ill, and it was so lovely to see how healthy she looked.' They met up again at Christmas 'and played board games and went for a lovely walk', says James. The families met up again at Easter, and Jane and Lesley have been invited to James and Jenny's wedding in July. 'We have a friendship for life,' says James. 'When I see photos of us together, it seems so poignant that a connection between donor and recipient such as Kate and myself affects so many people around us. It's like the ripples on a pond.' Cheshire-based psychologist Wendy Dignan says it can prove helpful for recipient and donor families to meet. 'Donors and recipients can experience uncertainty, anxiety and feel a responsibility to recover,' she explains. But good social support can help 'this little girl has that support from her family, but the fact that she is building a relationship with her donor enhances that protective factor. 'Separately, donors often suffer with feelings of responsibility and worry if it's worked, and how the recipient is doing,' she says, adding that 'this pair are uniquely placed' for coping with any anxiety that they may experience. It is clear that they have a unique relationship. As James puts it: 'We have a special bond, so I now worry about Kate as much as I do my own family.' As a result of the treatments she's been through, Kate, now ten, struggles with anaemia and needs to have her blood levels monitored weekly. She is also smaller than her twin sister and is unlikely to go through puberty. Jane says: 'She's struggling at school because she missed so much. But she's very positive and she adores playing with her friends and sister.' As for the man who helped make that possible, Jane says: 'James and his family will be in our lives for ever. He saved our daughter and to have found a wonderful friendship on top of that is fantastic.' To find out more about joining the donor register, go to: anthonynolan.org/savealife Could saying a single sentence reveal if you have a major health problem? This may soon be possible thanks to artificial intelligence (AI) programs that promise to diagnose a range of conditions, from Alzheimer's and heart failure to depression and even the common cold all by analysing a sample of speech. Scientists around the world are using computer software to analyse voices for early signs of illness that may be discovered long before any conventional symptoms emerge. But it's not without controversy, with concerns about misdiagnoses, and fears that the technology could be misused and seriously breach our privacy. This technological leap has become possible thanks to huge strides in the development of AI powerful computer systems that have human-like abilities to learn and solve problems. Scientists around the world are using computer software to analyse voices for early signs of illness that may be discovered long before any conventional symptoms emerge (file image) The AI ChatGPT promises to identify the early signs of Alzheimer's disease, according to U.S. researchers (file image) Most recently, in March, researchers at the European Space Agency showed how their computerised speech-analysis system could detect early signs of depression. As one of the scientists, Dr Gabor Kiss, a computer engineer at Budapest University of Technology and Economics in Hungary, explains: 'The speech of depressed patients usually becomes more monotonous and quieter. They pause more often. We teach these characteristics to the software.' Using voice samples from 218 people, some healthy and others with depression, the team reported in the journal Frontiers in Psychiatry that the app identified depressed patients with up to 84 per cent accuracy. This tool could help in assessing explorers in isolated places such as scientists in Antarctica or astronauts and providing them with help. It could also be used in GP practices, said Dr Kiss. Meanwhile, the AI ChatGPT promises to identify the early signs of Alzheimer's disease, according to U.S. researchers. ChatGPT enables users to have human-like conversations with the computer program. It answers questions and is even claimed to help with tasks such as writing emails, essays and computer code. Researchers at Drexel University in Philadelphia found that by giving ChatGPT speech recordings from 237 people who are either healthy or developing Alzheimer's, they successfully taught it to detect signature clues in speech that can predict if they're in the early stages of dementia, with an accuracy of 80 per cent, reported the journal PLOS Digital Health in December. 'ChatGPT's approach to language analysis makes it a promising candidate for identifying the subtle speech characteristics [such as specific types of hesitation, grammar and pronunciation mistakes] that may predict the onset of dementia,' said Felix Agbavor, a language expert who led the study. The researchers suggested this approach could avoid the conventional process of reviewing a patient's medical history and subjecting them to a battery of tests. Meanwhile, scientists are developing another AI system to detect early signs of Parkinson's disease, the second most common neurodegenerative disease after Alzheimer's. Rytis Maskeliunas, a professor of informatics at the Kaunas University of Technology in Lithuania, who is leading this work, said: 'Research shows that a large percentage of people with Parkinson's have speech disorders, such as soft, monotone, breathy and hoarse voices, as well as uncertain articulation. 'This may be difficult for people to hear in the early stages of the disease, but it is what our approach looks for.' In November, the researchers reported they had created an AI program that was able to detect 80 per cent of the Parkinson's cases among a sample of voices. They also now plan to develop a phone app for detecting early Parkinson's which in turn would enable earlier treatment. Similar work is being done to detect heart failure, which affects more than 900,000 people in the UK. A U.S. company, Cordio Medical, sampled voices from more than 250 patients with heart failure and from this developed an AI system, HearO, that can predict whether the condition is about to worsen and needs urgent treatment. Tamir Tal, head of Cordio Medical, says the HearO system detects changes in voices, such as breathlessness and changes in speech patterns and was 80 per cent successful in predicting worsening heart failure. 'Clinicians cannot evaluate changes in patients' voices daily, and human ears are not sophisticated enough to detect early changes in voice or speech,' he says. Compared with serious illnesses, the ability of voice-scanning AI to diagnose a cold might seem trivial. But it exposes one of the dangers that automated voice diagnosis may pose. An AI cold-symptom detection system is being developed. Researchers in India trained an algorithm to recognise cold infection from recordings of the voices of 630 people, 111 of whom had a cold. The voices of people with colds are said to have altered harmonics vibrations in the higher notes that can be detected by the algorithm at least 70 per cent of the time, it was reported in the journal Biomedical Signal Processing and Control in February. There are concerns that this could be exploited by employers to see if employees' symptoms are genuine when they call in sick. Further, that we might be diagnosed with illnesses against our consent, and then have that information used against us. As Professor Jonathan Ives, deputy director of the Centre for Ethics in Medicine at the University of Bristol, told Good Health: 'If employers were to use voice-testing on us without consent, then that certainly seems to be unethical.' He is also concerned that AI diagnosing apps could be used by insurance companies to listen to people's voices, with or without their consent, in order to assess their risk of future illness before giving them insurance for mortgages or life policies. AI voice-diagnosis apps can also be perilously inaccurate. Most of the systems under development reported here offer around 80 per cent accuracy, which means that one in five people would be misdiagnosed; either told they have a condition they don't, or declared free of a disease they actually have. As Professor Peter Bannister, honorary chair of the University of Birmingham Centre for Regulatory Science and Innovation, told Good Health: 'An accuracy of 80 per cent is not enough to pass conventional scientific thresholds for acceptance.' Read more: NHS doctors want ChatGPT AI to write patient heart reports so they can see more people NHS heart experts want to use artificial intelligence program ChatGPT to write vital patient reports Advertisement What's more, when diagnostic AI apps are taken out of the lab and tested on large populations, the more inaccurate they prove. As you start to apply the technology on more and more people, they will cover a much more varied set of characteristics,' explains Professor Bannister, who is also managing director of Romilly Life Sciences, which helps companies to develop AI. 'It's been seen before, for example, with AI systems for detecting skin cancer lesions developed only on white Caucasian patients and got confused when used on people with different ethnicities.' There are other ways the AI voice apps may become still less accurate, he adds. 'The type of people upon whom this technology would be used often suffer from more than one condition, as they may be elderly and ill. 'The speech anomalies that the technology detects may be a side-effect of medications or existing conditions, rather than a new disease.' Indeed research by the Center for Voice at Northwestern University in Illinois has previously shown that medicines can affect your voice by drying out the mucosal layer covering the vocal cords. And, Professor Bannister says these apps' diagnostic warnings will need to be double-checked by human clinicians and medical scans such as MRIs. 'The NHS has already seen a 30 per cent rise in data from scans being done over recent years, but also a 30 per cent reduction in the number of radiologists to check the data. Are we ready for that?' Maria Liakata, a professor of natural language processing at Queen Mary University of London, raises another risk. 'Changes in characteristics such as fluency, slurring and speed of speech have all been correlated with mental health conditions,' she told Good Health. 'But to be able to use this information effectively you must have good data about the individual's normal speech.' She suggests that such AI apps 'may help us monitor people's already-known health problems rather than producing a diagnosis'. Experts agree that voice-diagnosing AI apps may hold potential but they stress the technology needs much more development and that society has to agree first how to use it safely. 'Is it my fault?' I looked away, trying not to answer my patient's question. He asked again, 'Is the cancer my fault?' As a doctor, you forget most conversations with your patients but some stick forever in your mind. This was one of them. It was about five years ago and I was explaining the results of a CT scan to a man in his 60s he had just retired after 40 years as a postman and had become a grandparent for the first time. He was ready to enjoy the wonderful life ahead of him. Except the scan in front of me showed that the reason he'd become so short of breath was almost definitely lung cancer, which had spread to his bones. His life expectancy was probably only a couple of years; just 9 per cent of people in his condition live for five years. He was holding his face with his nicotine-stained fingers and crying, asking me again whether years of smoking had caused his cancer and meant that he wouldn't see his grandson grow up. Professor Rob Galloway: 'We cannot be so sure how safe vaping actually is' A 2022 review for the Department of Health stated that: 'The Government must embrace the promotion of vaping as an effective tool to help people to quit smoking tobacco' (file image) Almost certainly it had smoking is the number one cause of preventable harm, from heart disease to cancer. The problem is that smoking is so hard to give up. So that must mean that anything that can help cut smoking is a good thing. And e-cigarettes, which came on to the UK market in 2005, are surely the answer? Marketed as safer than smoking and as a way to stop standard cigarettes, they contain nicotine but no tobacco, which potentially makes them much safer. Certainly, a review in the journal BMC Public Health in November 2021 concluded that 'the use of modern electronic nicotine delivery system devices [i.e. vaping] could be up to a third as harmful to health as smoking'. Research like this has been used to push vaping as a way to combat the scourge of tobacco smoking. Indeed, a 2022 review for the Department of Health stated that: 'The Government must embrace the promotion of vaping as an effective tool to help people to quit smoking tobacco.' And the nation seems to have taken this message to heart the sweet fug of vaping fumes has become as ubiquitous as petrol fumes in city streets. So why has the Australian government, in a world headline-grabbing move, now effectively banned vaping products, unless they are given on prescription? It is also introducing quality standards, including restricting flavours and other ingredients. What do the Australians know that we don't? Marketed as safer than smoking and as a way to stop standard cigarettes, they contain nicotine but no tobacco, which potentially makes them much safer The key piece of evidence for vaping is from a Cochrane review, published last November. Cochrane Reviews are rightly viewed by the medical establishment as the gold standard for assessing the quality of evidence because of the rigour with which they're undertaken. For vaping, the review looked at 78 studies involving more than 22,000 smokers, and concluded that there was compelling evidence for the benefits of vaping in stopping smoking. For every 100 people using e-cigarettes to stop smoking, eight to 12 might successfully stop, compared with six in 100 using nicotine-replacement therapy; and four in 100 given just counselling to help them quit. In terms of side-effects, the Cochrane authors stated that 'none of the included studies [which were short- to mid-term, monitoring people up to two years] detected serious adverse events considered related to electronic cigarette use'. With this, it seems we have the conclusive evidence that vaping helps people to quit smoking and its use should be encouraged. But just because it is safer than smoking doesn't make vaping safe. Indeed, the very same BMC Public Health review that provided evidence supporting the safety of vaping has since been updated because the authors' opinion had changed. In September 2022, they updated their conclusion to state that 'it seems premature to develop quantitative estimates of the relative harm to health from using vaping compared to tobacco smoking'. In other words, we cannot be so sure how safe vaping actually is. There were a number of reasons for this change of opinion. The original review did not address potentially major toxins involved in vaping (e.g. formaldehyde and fine particles produced by the heating of vape liquids). Indeed, in research published in January 2022 in the Australian Journal of Medicine, scientists did a precise analysis of the gases produced when you vape liquids used in e-cigarettes and found potentially harmful levels of chemicals, including benzaldehyde and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, which are known to increase the risks of lung diseases such as asthma. In addition, the original BMC review included data from industry-sponsored research (one study was funded by Juul, one of the largest vaping companies). It is well known that industry- funded research can be unconsciously biased, so the risks could have been underplayed. And then there's the length of time that people were followed up. Earlier studies had only checked on potential harms in the short-term usually up to two years and mostly showed no harm. Absence of evidence does not mean no harm just that it's not been shown yet. This is where a report for the Australian Department of Health in April last year comes in. It looked specifically at the risks of vaping in itself and not compared to cigarette smoking. And the report's findings are of concern. The researchers, from the Australian National University, concluded that 'based on the current worldwide evidence, use of nicotine e-cigarettes increases the risk of a range of adverse health outcomes, including: poisoning; toxicity from inhalation (such as seizures); addiction; trauma and burns; lung injury; and smoking uptake, particularly in youth'. A report by the same researchers in March 2023 concluded: 'There is strong or conclusive evidence that nicotine e-cigarettes can be harmful to health, particularly for non-smokers and children and adolescents. Their effects on many important health outcomes are uncertain.' This is why vapes are starting to be restricted around the world. Although China is the world's biggest exporter of nicotine-based vapes, it banned the use of fruit-tasting vapes, most likely to be used by the younger generations, for fear of their own children coming to harm. And earlier this month, Australia announced a ban on the importation and sale of all e-cigarettes, unless on prescription as well as restrictions on flavours, a shift to plain packaging and new limits to the amount of nicotine in the devices. The rise in vaping among the young is what worries me. Just last week, survey data showed that the proportion of 11 to 17-year-olds trying vaping in the UK soared more than 50 per cent last year. By the age of 18, 40 per cent of children in the UK have tried e-cigarettes, according to research by the charity Ash (Action on Smoking and Health) with the main reason to 'give it a try' rather than to help them quit smoking. This matters we have a generation who would not necessarily be smoking but are vaping. Take my patient Oli, 30, who happens to be a nurse: she came in a few weeks ago short of breath, with low levels of oxygen in her blood and a raised heart rate. She told me she didn't smoke, but vaped socially. I was (at the time) under the impression that vaping was relatively harmless. I was worried she had a clot in her lungs causing her breathlessness, but thankfully a scan showed there was no lung clot. But there was an explanation for her symptoms: the scan showed 'ground glass opacification of her lung tissue due to a hypersensitivity pneumonitis' i.e. inflammation and damage to the lung tissue. This was caused by the fumes from vaping irritating the intricate lining of the lung. Oli stopped vaping and a few weeks later her lungs were back to normal and she felt well again. There's no doubt that we should allow vapes to help people quit smoking cigarettes. However, we need to stop vaping becoming so socially acceptable, particularly in younger generations. A good place to start is by following what Australia has introduced: restrictions on their use so it's prescription-only; a ban on fun, fruity flavours; and plain, medical-style packaging. If we don't, I worry that I may soon be breaking bad news to a vaper and being asked the same question as my smoker patient: 'Is it my fault?' Then, knowing that it's because they were seduced by the 'healthier' vaping message, my answer will have to be 'yes'. @drrobgalloway FTSE 100 firm Johnson Matthey has signed a three-year supply agreement with Norway's Hystar to ramp up green hydrogen production. The company, which makes most of its money by selling catalytic converters to clean the fumes spewed out by combustion engines, is increasingly focusing on new sustainable technologies, including green hydrogen. The latest partnership follows a similar deal earlier in the year with Plug Power, a US company focused on green hydrogen. Hydrogen boost: Johnson Matthey will supply Hystar with membrane electrode assemblies Green hydrogen is a zero-carbon fuel made by using renewable power from wind and solar energy to split water into hydrogen and oxygen. If the electrolysers - the devices used in the splitting process - are powered by renewable energy, the product is called green hydrogen, or a fuel free of greenhouse emissions. Green hydrogen is a way to potentially decarbonise transport by powering vehicles with only water as a by-product, thereby helping countries meet their net zero emissions goals. Johnson Matthey said it will supply Hystar with membrane electrode assemblies (MEAs) - a key component for electrolysers, which will be used to ramp up green hydrogen production. In January, Johnson Matthey and Plug Power similarly pledged to invest in up to 10 gigawatt new catalyst coated membranes (CCMs) manufacturing capacity in the US, with production expected to begin in 2025. In 2021, the group was forced to ditch its electric car battery business after falling too far behind competitors in China and Korea, where government support for these industries is much higher than in the UK. Mark Wilson, chief executive of hydrogen technologies at Johnson Matthey, said: 'This strategic agreement with Hystar is an important endorsement of JM's electrolyser technology, manufacturing capability, supply chain access and our circularity offering. 'Partnerships such as this that bring together complementary capabilities and strengths of different organisations are essential to the development of the hydrogen economy.' Fredrik Mowill, chief executive at Hystar, said: 'Hystar's class-leading PEM electrolyser is currently undergoing a ramp-up to GW scale production capacity. 'As part of our growth plans, Hystar will partner with strategic suppliers, such as JM, who possess state-of-the-art technology, mass manufacturing capacity as well as the ability to pursue future technology developments.' Johnson Matthey shares were 0.8 per cent higher at 19 towards market close on Monday. The Government has unveiled the long-awaited Renters Reform Bill which will end the right of landlords to remove tenants using 'no fault' evictions. If passed it would also make it easier for landlords to repossess their properties in cases of anti-social behaviour or rent arrears. The bill, which is yet to go through its second reading in parliament, also boosts existing tenant protections against so called 'backdoor' evictions, for example by ensuring tenants can appeal against above-market rents designed to force them out. The Renters Reform Bill has been met with scepticism from some landlords Alongside the legislation the Government has announced plans to introduce an ombudsman that private landlords must join and the creation of a database of residential landlords and private rented properties. The bill has provoked reactions from all sides. While tenant groups and homelessness charities such as Shelter have welcomed the reforms, questions have been raised about the adverse effects on landlords. Some fear that that once the bill becomes law there will be an exodus from the private rental sector as the changes plus increased tax on landlords in recent years and higher mortgage payments create too high of a burden. We spoke to private landlords about the changes and whether they will leave the market as a result of the proposed legislation. Viv Bridge, who has been a landlord for eight years and has several properties, is not fazed by the proposals. 'I think it is a completely fair change that is taking place, in so much as it gives tenants much more security,' he tells This is Money. 'I think it is very good news. Why should well-prepared landlords be upset with well-paying tents giving them these rents?' In addition to welcoming the increased tenant protections, he thinks the introduction of the ombudsman is a positive move. The Government claims this will make it faster and easier to resolve landlord and tenant disputes, without resorting to the overstretched court system. However, while Bridge himself isn't selling up as a result of the changes, he thinks there may be a flight of 'accidental landlords'. This could reduce the number of houses available and ultimately lead to higher rents. 'I think they would just think, I can't be bothered with this, and stick to the day job,' he says. But he sympathises with landlords facing a slew of increased costs, for example higher mortgage rates and a bigger tax burden. He has not been immune from the difficulties. This year the mortgage costs on one of his properties increased by 66 per cent after his five-year fixed deal came to an end, taking his monthly payments from 350 to 580. 'Eviction changes worry me - so I'm retiring' For Simon, who has been a landlord for 40 years the proposed legislation has brought forward his retirement plans. He has little time for the current Conservative Government who he says has made life harder for landlords and tenants as rents will rise when owners sell up. 'Most of them have done Politics, Philosophy and Economics at Oxford. That includes economics, and you wonder if they've understood the basics. 'If you make something more difficult and more expensive people will leave the market - and the people that are left will be able to charge more.' Reforms: Michael Gove, Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, introduced the bill last week He is particularly concerned about how easily landlords will be able to get their properties back without using no fault evictions, and puts little faith in the powers of the ombudsman. 'For most small landlords that's your life savings,' he says. 'So, you're going to be wary who you let it to. 'You want a bit of certainty that you're going to get it back and you're going to get it back in a good condition.' The Government thinks we are cash cows, hoarding loads of money by charging high rents. Most are just trying to keep their heads above water Landlord Marie Parris Marie Parris is chief executive of George Ellis property services, and a landlord in her own right. She believes more will exit the sector as a result of the tabled bill. 'What will happen is there will be a shortage of properties and whenever there is a shortage that demand will go up and so rents will go up,' she says. In her view the Government is only enacting the bill 'as a way to say to generation rent "we have got your back"'. 'Michael Gove needs to hold a mirror up to himself and his Government, they are making it harder for landlords,' Parris adds. She believes the legislation penalises good landlords by introducing measures to tackle the bad minority, when there are already tenant protections in place. '[The Government is] out of touch of what really happens at grass roots level. I do not think any party is going to help landlords: they somehow think we are cash cows and hoarding loads of money by charging high rents. 'Most are just trying to keep their heads above water,' she adds. The legislation has been through its first reading in Parliament but still has a way to go before it becomes law However, the landlords we spoke to all agreed there is still much which is unknown about the bill and how it will operate in practice. For example, there is a provision allowing landlords to get their property back if they want to sell it - but the details of how this will work are still unclear. Paul Tozer managing director at Regallis Associates Letting and Management, says fears about not being able to get the keys to a property back may be exaggerated. 'To be honest, it's actually not that big a deal, it sounds worse than it is,' he says. 'As long as landlords can still have the right to give notice if they're selling the property. BUY-TO-LET MORTGAGE CALCULATOR Work out your monthly payments Mortgage amount: Interest rate: % Duration: years Mortgage type: Interest only Repayment ::: Calculate ::: Monthly payment: 'Most landlords are renting out in the long term, and if the tenant is being a good tenant and paying their rent normally the landlord wants to keep them there.' It is a multitude of factors that are leading landlords to sell up, not just the proposed legislation, he says. Changes to mortgage interest relief, and the reduction of landlord allowances such as wear and tear and increased mortgages rates have all contributed to the exodus. He says one of his clients is selling 7.5million of her property portfolio, leaving 4million still invested in the private rented sector. 'The Government must finely balance the rights of tenants against providing sufficient support and certainty to the professional and institutional landlords in the private rented sector,' says Eleanor Murray, a Partner at law firm CMS' real estate team. 'Landlords now have less control over their own properties and a lack of clarity over the future of the landlord and tenant relationship. 'Clearly, the full impact of these measures cannot be assessed until the detail is revealed.' CITIZENS Coalition for Change (CCC) legislator for Kuwadzana East Chalton Hwende has challenged the Speaker of Parliament to explain why under-fire Clerk of Parliament Kennedy Chokuda is still coming to work despite his involvement in a shady computer procurement tender. Chokuda was arrested by the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (Zacc) in April over a corruption scandal in which he bungled the infamous deal for the purchase of 173 laptops at an inflated cost of US$3 076 each from Blinart Investments, sparking a public outcry. He was charged for criminal abuse of office and acting contrary to and inconsistent with his duties as a public officer by negotiating a price reduction of the computers with a company which had put forward its bid. The state said Chokuda should have followed section 52 of the Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (Praz) Act which stipulates the conduct of an accounting officer in a case where the price of the lowest evaluated responsive bidder exceeds the budget. Chokuda and Parliament procurement director Stanley Bhebhe were granted ZW$100 000 bail and will appear in court on 31 May. This week in Parliament, Hwende questioned why no action has been taken on Chokuda, saying this brings Parliament into disrepute. Parliaments integrity has already been tainted, with Speaker of Parliament Jacob Mudenda stopping the National Assembly from investigating the findings of the Gold Mafia documentary by international news channel Al Jazeera. The scandal exposed how well-knit syndicates all linked to Mnangagwa, have been involved in money laundering and gold smuggling with government collusion. We have seen that the Clerk, Mr Chokuda, someone who is facing corruption charges after the laptop issue, is still part of your procession and is the one who is taking lead to advise you on an issue of such importance that involves corruption that has never been witnessed in this country. We want an explanation also on why Mr Chokuda is still coming to Parliament because he is bringing this institution of Parliament into serious disrepute. You cannot face serious charges of wanting to buy a laptop for US$9 000 and still come to Parliament and advise our Speaker. Those two matters, Madam Speaker, I am sure you are capable of ruling so that we can proceed. The other one (inquiry on Mudendas ruling), we will wait for the Speaker because we had come here today prepared for him, but we can wait for him but on those two, please can you help us with a ruling, Hwende said. In response, Gezi said she could not give a ruling with the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (Zacc) still investigating Chokuda. Honourable Hwende, I think on that one you are a bit out of order . . . I told you that I am not able to rule on the second issue. On Mr Chokudas issue, I am sure you know that he was taken by Zacc and Zacc is still doing some investigations. So, if it is before the courts, we cannot talk about it in this House. You know very well that we cannot talk about it in this House, Gezi said. Hwende said by coming to work, Chokuda was interfering with Zacc investigations by interacting with people involved in the case. His case has passed the Zacc stage. Mr Chokuda appeared in court and he was given bail. If he appeared in court and the case is still before the courts, we cannot discuss about it in this House please. Why is he coming to work interacting with the same worker that he is supposed to be investigated for? He is interfering with investigations and today he is helping you to stop Gold Mafia investigation. I have two issues that I have requested you to make a ruling on. As Parliament, we have a right not to be given advice by someone who is facing serious corruption charges and these charges happened here in Parliament. The same workers that were procuring the laptops are still here. Why is he coming to work facing corruption charges? Hwende asked, with the Deputy Speaker signaling him to sit down. Norton legislator Temba Mliswa questioned why a report on Chokudas inquiry has not yet been tabled for debate in the National Assembly. On the Clerks issue, we did an enquiry. Why is the report not being tabled in Parliament on the recommendations? We must be very clear now that it is Zacc that determines whether he is given bail or not and Parliament does not control the processes of the court. We tabled a report. You must be asking where the report is. The chairman must table the report, we debate and there are recommendations. He sits in the Committee of Public Accounts. Why has the chairman not tabled the report then we can debate it? It has recommendations. Let us follow procedure and not just be emotional. We are waiting for the report to be tabled in Parliament so that everybody can contribute, but if the report is not there, let us not get excited. The Public Accounts Committee must table the report so that it is debated and there are recommendations we came up with. You are seasoned politicians, do not behave like kindergarten politicians, Mliswa said. NewsHawks Ryanair has swung back to a near-record profit and the airline expects earnings to rise further this year due to higher ticket prices and soaring summer bookings. The budget airline reported pre-tax profit of 1.4billion (1.2billion) for the year to the end of March, compared to a net loss of 355million (309million) in the previous 12 months and a record 1.45billion profit in 2018. Total revenues rocketed 124 per cent to 10.8billion (9.4billion), reflecting a rebound in travel following Covid-19 restrictions in place the previous year. Ryanair saw a 74 per cent year-on-year rise in passenger numbers, a 50 per cent increase in average fares and a near-80 per cent rise in ancillary revenues, such as baggage fees and on-board food. Rising ticket prices: Ryanair said peak summer 2023 fares are trending ahead of last year The group carried nearly 169million passengers last year and said it expects to fly an even higher 186million this year, thanks to its largest-ever summer schedule of 3,000 daily flights. Average ticket prices rose by 50 per cent to 41 (36) and were up 10 per cent compared to pre-pandemic levels, with the airline urging customers to book early to avoid further expected rises. Chief executive, Michael O'Leary said: 'To date, summer 2023 demand is robust and peak summer 2023 fares are trending ahead of last year. 'First quarter fares, which benefited from a strong Easter in April (and a very weak previous year comparable due to Russia's invasion of Ukraine) will be significantly higher than the first quarter of 2022-23.' Passengers also spent more on extras such as priority boarding and reserved seating, or around 23, or 20, per person on average. Other major airlines have all pointed to strong summer bookings, showing that people prioritise travel despite the cost of living crisis squeezing their finances. First quarter fares, which benefited from a strong Easter in April (and a very weak previous year comparable due to Russia's invasion of Ukraine) will be significantly higher than the first quarter of 2022-23 CEO Michael O'Leary Last week, easyJet reported an 80 per cent rise in revenues, while British Airways owner IAG swung back to profit in the first quarter due to high demand for holidays and lower fuel prices. Ryanair expects the its annual fuel bill to increase by more than 1billion because of higher oil prices, but said it was 'cautiously optimistic' that surging passenger numbers and higher ticket prices will more than offset that. The company, which this month ordered 300 new Boeing 737 Max-10 aircraft in a deal understood to be worth over 32billion, expects the larger fleet to allow it to carry 300million passengers a year by March 2034. O'Leary said: 'Despite ongoing uncertainty over the timing of Boeing deliveries, almost 15 per cent unhedged fuel, limited second-quarter visibility and zero second-half fare visibility (normal at this time of year), we are cautiously optimistic that 2023-24 revenue will grow sufficiently to cover our one billion euro higher fuel bill and still deliver a modest year-on-year profit increase. 'This guidance remains heavily dependent upon avoiding adverse events during 2023-24, such as the war in Ukraine or further, repeated, Boeing delivery delays.' Australians could be charged to use Facebook and Instagram if the Australian government adopts a series of changes to privacy reforms, including legislation allowing users to opt out of targeted advertising. The office of Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus is considering allowing internet users to opt out of targeted ads while still requiring companies to offer their services. Currently, Facebook and Instagram users are shown ads that have been tailored to their identities rather than what they enter into search engines. Social media giant Meta earns most of its revenue from small businesses that pay to advertise on the platforms. The office of Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus is considering allowing internet users to opt out of targeted ads while still requiring companies to offer their services Melinda Claybaugh, director of privacy policy for Meta, flew to Australia after the Attorney-General's February review of the Privacy Act was released. Ms Claybaugh argues the crackdown would hurt small businesses, who would struggle to reach their niche audiences with fine-tuned, targeted ads. 'I think it's fair folks are considering what controls might be important to give people, but I think this proposal goes much further by allowing people to opt out fully from targeted advertising [but it] would require companies to still provide their services,' the Meta executive told Mumbrella. She said dozens of small businesses who rely on ads to provide free services would be forced to find another revenue stream, if the laws were passed. One of these streams could be charging users to use Facebook and Instagram, although Ms Claybaugh admitted it was still 'early days'. Meta executive Melinda Claybaugh said she supported the majority of the 116 proposed changes to the Privacy Act, and that the social media giant disagreed with just 10 The executive said she supported the majority of the 116 proposed changes to the Privacy Act, and that Meta disagreed with just 10. Ms Claybough agreed that ads targeted to children under 18 or based on people's sensitive data could be problematic, but that Meta already has a handle on this. If the laws are passed in full, Australia would have some of the strictest privacy laws in the country, and would be the first to monitor targeted ads. The Attorney-General's office has increased penalties for breaches of privacy law and reappointed a Privacy Commissioner. The government will seek feedback on the 116 proposed changes to the 1988 Privacy Act before taking any further action. This is the terrifying moment a pub landlord beat his elderly neighbour to a pulp as part of a long-running dispute over smelly bins. Daniel Winward was caught on CCTV pushing Simon Procter, 70, to the ground and pummelling him in an attack that left him with 20 stitches to a deep head wound and severe cuts and bruises. In the shocking footage, Winward, 44, a former commando who served three tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan, rushes up to Mr Procter as he steps out of the front door of his home in Morecambe, Lancashire. Seconds later, he unleashes around seven or eight punches on the pensioner as he lies helpless. Mr Procter's wife Tarni then rushes out of their home to try and stop the attack, but the ex-squaddie also hurls her to the ground. When Mrs Proctor shouted at Winward to stop the attack because her husband was suffering from cancer, he sneered: 'Well, then he's going to die anyway.' Simon Procter, 70, was pushed to the ground and needed 20 stitches to a deep head wound and severe cuts and bruises following the attack The attack on the pensioner happened after Daniel Winward returned from holiday in August 2022. Mr Procter told MailOnline that doctors thought he had been hit by a car when they saw his injuries The attack on the pensioner (pictured) happened after Winward returned from holiday in August 2022 Winward, 44, is a former commando who served three tours of duty on the front line in Iraq and Afghanistan Mr Procter, who was receiving treatment for bowel and prostate cancer said: 'He did quite a lot of damage' to his home After remonstrating with the couple, Winward follows them into their home where, it later emerged, he ransacked their living room - smashing a mirror, a sound bar, a TV and several ornaments, causing 1,000 worth of damage. Last week Winward avoided jail after Preston Crown Court heard he suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) which causes him to have a heightened perception of threat. The court was told a row had erupted between residents of Beecham Street and Winward, who runs the nearby Morecambe Hotel pub, after he continued wheeling its commercial bins out on to the road - with neighbours complaining that they smelled. Tensions had been running high for some time and at one stage the council even refused to collect bins on the street due to the hostility. The attack on the pensioner happened after Winward returned from holiday in August 2022, when the landlord believed there had been a further row with a neighbour who said his bin was a fire risk. Mr Procter told MailOnline that doctors thought he had been hit by a car when they saw his injuries. He said: 'My wife actually thought he was going to kill me. 'She was scared for my life. I think she was more frightened than me. I was hurt, bleeding and worried about how much damage he was going to do but my wife thought he was going to kill me. 'He didn't just hit me five or six times, it was a lot more than that.' Mr Procter, who was receiving treatment for bowel and prostate cancer, added: 'He did quite a lot of damage. When I went to hospital, they thought I'd been in a car crash. 'My left eye was damaged, and I needed stitches externally and internally.' Winward initially told police that he had rushed to help Mr Procter after finding him collapsed in the street until CCTV footage unmasked his lies. Mr Procter, a retired excavator, said: 'The whole street was annoyed that he was dragging his commercial bins out of the back of the pub. Everybody on the street was objecting. It's a narrow street and it's almost impossible to get a big wagon down here to the back of his pub. District Judge Paul Healey handed Winward a ten-month sentence, suspended for 18 months, with a number of conditions following the attack on the pensioner Winward ransacked the couple's living room, smashing a mirror, a sound bar, a TV and several ornaments, causing 1,000 worth of damage 'That day, I came out of my house to get a push bike from my garage when he shouted towards me. I stopped and he walked up to me and hit me' He added: 'After he had beaten me up, he barged into another house looking for another neighbour, but he had the wrong house and luckily was pushed out of the house. 'When he was arrested, he told the police that I had fallen over in the street, and he had rushed over to pick me up and helped me into the house because I was in a bit of a state. What really happened was he pummelled the hell out of me.' Chris Hudson, defending Winward, said that since the attack he has been working with PTSD charity Combat Stress to help him with his mental health. He added: 'This is a damaged individual. He was damaged in the service of his country and that is significant. 'Everyone realises this got way out of hand, an argument about bins. There will be no repetition of any of this and there will be no further problems.' Winward must carry out 30 days of rehabilitation activity requirements and 150 hours of unpaid work as part of his punishment Winward is the landlord of the Morecambe Hotel in Lancashire District Judge Paul Healey handed Winward a ten-month sentence, suspended for 18 months, with a number of conditions. He must carry out 30 days of rehabilitation activity requirements, 150 hours of unpaid work and pay 1,000 for the damage he caused and 1,000 compensation to the couple he attacked. The judge also gave him a two-year restraining order and ordered Winward to pay 200 prosecution costs and a victim surcharge. He said: 'You have strong personal mitigation and there is a realistic prospect of rehabilitation.' A teenage climate activist who became passionate about saving the planet when his family's holiday home almost burned down in the Black Summer bushfires has been recognised with a community service award by Independent MP Sophie Scamps. Christopher Black, 16, accepted a 'certificate of appreciation' from his local member Sophie Scamps for his efforts in tackling climate change as part of the School Strike 4 Climate group. The teenager has long been an advocate of Dr Scamps - a local GP turned Independent MP for Mackellar on Sydney's wealthy far northern beaches. He was recognised alongside a rural fire service member, feeding the homeless advocate, and an industrial psychologist focused on the 'clean energy revolution' at an intimate ceremony held in Narrabeen for volunteer week. In April 2022, just weeks before the federal election, the teen was busted on CCTV using chalk to write climate messages outside the then-Liberal MP Jason Falinski's office. Christopher Black, 16, accepted a 'certificate of appreciation' from his local member Dr Sophie Scamps for his efforts in tackling climate change as part of the School Strike 4 Climate group Back in April 2022, in the lead up to the federal election, the teen was busted on CCTV using a can of spray chalk to write climate messages on the ground directly out the front of Liberal member Jason Falinski's office He wrote 'vote Jason Falinski out' and included some QR codes which accessed climate action resources. Mr Falinski, who lost to Dr Scamps - described the incident as an act of vandalism. He believed it was the work of activism groups Climate 200 and GetUp! - allegations Christopher denies. Christopher later said he acted alone and within the law. The teenager said he sought advice from local police to ensure he could use chalk on the footpath. 'It's pretty intense to be bullied in the media by your local member of parliament over chalking on the footpath,' he said at the time. 'I actually checked in with the police beforehand to make sure it was OK, and I've spoken to them again since to make sure that I didn't do anything wrong.' However, locals have told Daily Mail Australia it was a 'pretty bad look' for Dr Scamps to recognise Christopher for his volunteer work after he was involved so directly in opposing her rival. 'There are so many decent people throughout the electorate; nurses, firefighters, and instead she's giving it to this kid,' one said. Christopher protests with the School Strike 4 Climate group The chalk involved was reportedly easy-wash and straightforward to remove. However, Dr Scamps did not know who was receiving the awards prior to the ceremony. A spokesperson for Dr Scamps said she 'sought nominations from community organisations to recognise the contribution of a volunteer'. 'The student was nominated by his community group for his contribution in raising awareness of climate justice and community organising. All the nominees were the choice of the community organisations.' Daily Mail Australia understands all nominees that were put forward were recognised during the ceremony. She was also asked what merits she considered when choosing who to recognise for a community service award. On Thursday, Dr Scamps shared a series of pictures on social media, captioned: 'A huge shout out to all the magnificent volunteers in our community. 'You are the glue that holds our world together - catching people when we fall through the gaps or are in distress; protecting our environment for future generations; mentoring young people to learn life and leadership skills; teaching older people new skills; creating joy and vibrancy in our lives.' Christopher was also involved in a confrontation with the CEOs of NAB and Commonwealth in May 2022, describing the sector as 'evil' and demanding an explanation into why the banks 'refuse to stop funding fossil fuels'. He said he was first motivated to act on climate change during the Black Summer bushfires. His family's holiday home in the Blue Mountains 'almost burnt down' during the megafires in the summer of 2019 and 2020. Christopher protests with the School Strike 4 Climate group He said he began reading up on climate change and then in 2021 was caught 'in the middle of Cyclone Seroja' while on a holiday in Western Australia. 'A guy actually died 10 feet away from me. It was after that I realised that I needed to do more, so I got involved with School Strike 4 Climate,' he said. 'After that incident, my climate anxiety also got worse and has been wearing me down since. My school has flooded twice, and I couldn't go to school for three days. 'Climate disasters are getting worse and worse, and happening all of the time now.' Christopher said 'almost everyone' he knows 'has some degree of mental health struggle relating to climate'. He now refers to himself as a 'climate disaster survivor' who is in 'the fight for his future'. Footage has captured the breathtaking moment a meteor fell to earth and lit up the sky before crashing into the ground. The meteor lit up the night sky above Townsville, in Far North Queensland, at about 9.22pm on Saturday as it entered the Earth's atmosphere. Resident Brendon Scarr was saying goodbye to friends leaving his home when the dazzling spectacle unfolded above them. Townsville resident Brendon Scarr's doorbell camera caught the incredible moment the meteor fell through the sky on Saturday night (pictured) The extraordinary moment was caught on his doorbell camera, with the meteor causing bright flashes of green, white and red light. 'We were shocked because the night sky literally turned to daylight,' Mr Scarr told The Courier Mail. An amateur astronomer in Townsville dubbed the object a 'rogue meteor' and said he believed it fell somewhere in far north-west Queensland. 'It's not a common sight at all here, people who happened to see it should feel lucky,' he said. There were multiple reports in Queensland of bright blue, green, white and even orange flashes followed by a booming noise around the region, with hundreds of people taking to social media to share videos and pictures. Queenslanders from the state's far west to Cooktown, in the north, saw the flashes or bright lights, while people in Perth and Sydney claimed to also have seen the phenomenon. Jim Robertson's dashcam recorded the extraordinary moment the sky lit up as he drove along University Road in Townsville. Mr Robertson said he saw a large streaking light in the sky, which only lasted a couple of seconds. Residents across north Queensland shared pictures and videos of the meteor to social media (pictured) Jim Robertson captured the meteor as it burned through the Earth's atmosphere on his dashcam (pictured) He described it as a 'fluke' experience to capture the flashes on his dashcam. 'We just thought, "What the hell is that? Are we being invaded, was it a plane crash, was it space junk?"' he told 9News. An expert has weighed in already to shut down any talk of flying saucers. Australian National University Astrophysicist Dr Brad Tucker said it was definitely a meteor. He said the incident was most likely caused by part of an asteroid breaking away between Mars and Jupiter. 'As it hit the earth's atmosphere, it created this bright flash and show in the sky,' Dr Tucker said. The blue-green colour flashes seen are caused by the iron and nickel on the meteor heating up. The meteor was could have been travelling between 100,000 and 150,000 kilometres per hour, Dr Tucker said. He said the boom sound people hear comes from the meteor breaking apart as it nears earth. Some reports said the meteor may have crashed in the Croydon area, 600km inland from Townsville. Australian National University Astrophysicist Dr Brad Tucker said it was definitely a meteor Some Croydon locals reported hearing loud bangs and experienced their houses shaking around the same time. Scientists believe up to 50 metric tons of meteors fall to Earth each day, but most are no bigger than a pebble. Even the smallest meteors are visible from many kilometres away due to the speed in which they travel and how brightly they shine. Meteors that do not burn up in the atmosphere and strike the Earth's surface are called meteorites. The federal government will regulate the buy now, pay later industry - including services such as Afterpay and Zip Pay - to better protect the millions of consumers who use its services. Financial Services minister Stephen Jones is set to announce that buy now, pay later will be classified as a credit product at the Responsible Lending and Borrowing Summit on Monday morning. It will require operators of those services to hold an Australian credit licence and adhere to customer hardship requirements and minimum standards of conduct. Australians will also need to complete several checks before they can access the payments, following concerns customers are taking out more money than they can afford to pay back. Buy now, pay later operators will have to double-check customers can afford the products. Fees for missed payments will also be capped while disclosures must be provided to customers to inform them of what they are signing up for with the service. Buy now, pay later services such as Afterpay will be classified as a credit product under government reforms (stock image) The consultation paper revealed there were more than seven million active buy now, pay later accounts in the 2021-22 financial year, totalling more than $16billion in transactions - an increase of nearly 37 per cent compared to the year prior. These services are not regulated in the same way credits cards are, leading to a much greater financial risk for consumers. Mr Jones said the changes were sorely needed as there was 'growing dangers to consumers, which up until now have been largely unregulated and unchecked'. 'The plan will protect people from the spirals of harm that unregulated, unrestricted lending can cause,' he explained. It was revealed that Australian consumers were opening multiple buy now, payer later accounts to access a greater level debt compared to what could be accessed using a credit card or payday loan. The minister added there was evidence some users were also 'weaponising BNPL products in abusive relationships', such as coercing partners to take on debt. These risks have been proven to disproportionately affect women, First Nations people and low income earners the most. A significant number of Australians who use these services are young people under the age of 35. Mr Jones said it 'looks like credit, it acts like credit, it carries the risk of credit'. It was revealed that there were more than seven million active buy now, pay later accounts in the 2021-22 financial year, totalling more than $16billion in transactions (stock image) Financial Services minister Stephen Jones (pictured) said reform was sorely needed as there was 'growing dangers to consumers, which up until now have been largely unregulated and unchecked' Treasurer Jim Chalmers explained that it was time to reform the industry as account numbers ballooned. 'They've got a role to play, but we need to make sure that we do manage the risks,' he told ABC News. 'And the best way to do that is to legislate - to regulate it as a credit product so that we can manage some of the risks around hardship and marketing. 'We think that they do have a legitimate role to play in the system. They are very popular, but we need to make sure that we manage them appropriately because the harsher impacts of these fall disproportionately on some elements of our society, and we don't want that.' Dr Chalmers said there would be more consultations to come. 'But if you make it a regulated credit product under the Credit Act, we can better manage some of the risks that people are aware of and here'll be appropriate transition arrangements,' he said. 'We want people who can afford to participate in buy now, pay later to be able to access it, but there needs to be the right rules and regulations around it.' In November, it was announced the buy now, pay later industry would be overhauled with plans to subject customers to financial checks. Concerns were raised providers have minimal credit checks and are allowing consumers to use their services even though they can't afford to pay off the debt. The Australian Securities and Investment Commission surveyed customers finding 19 per cent had made cutbacks on essentials to make their repayments. Sydneysiders have lashed out after the city was voted the best in the world in a global survey. The poll, which surveyed 15,000 people in 20 different countries last month, rated Sydney as the top city in the world to live and fifth 'best city brand' overall behind London, New York, Paris and LA. The survey, conducted by Brand Finance, noted that Sydney was a desirable location for retirement, ranking second overall in this category. But many locals have blasted the survey, claiming Sydney (pictured) is 'one of the worst places to live' because of high rents, poor public transport, traffic-clogged roads, lack of night life and the 'nanny state' culture Sydney was voted the best city in the world to live in a recent poll of 15,000 people in 20 different countries Sydneysiders have rejected the ranking on social media, bemoaning the city's high rents, poor public transport, traffic-clogged roads, lack of night life and the 'nanny state' culture. While the city may be attractive for boomers and older people with wealth, many younger Sydneysiders said they felt it was too expensive. 'Sydney is the worst place to live,' one wrote on Facebook. 'Over populated, worst rental crisis in history, nothing to do at night and if you do you have to fork our your own kidney. Let's be real! There are nicer cities in the world.' Another said it was the best city in the world if you turned a blind eye to the 'train system, airport, nightlife, traffic, toll roads, house prices, wages, red tap and cleanliness'. Sydney is famed for its many beaches (pictured) and the supposed work/life balance locals can enjoy But many locals have criticised the city's lack of night life and public transport system Another frustrated user added: 'How does it keep receiving this title when its a ghost town that goes to bed at 10pm?!' Lynnette Belivanis said she was 'born and bred' in Sydney but vehemently disagreed with the poll, questioning what it was based on. 'Definitely not on the cost of housing,' she wrote. 'You have to be earning a three-digit salary to afford a mortgage that you'll be paying off the rest of your life, and it's only getting worse (my poor kids). 'The transport system sucks. The night-life has no life. Restaurants close at 10... if not earlier. Bars are not far behind. The cost of living in general keeps increasing with wages slow to catch up.' Facebook users reacted with incredulity to the poll, listing all the problems which make living in Sydney difficult Another user claimed their were limited things to do in the city Tas Mylonas said she, too, had lived in Syndey all her life and was equally unimpressed. 'A nanny city - yes, a city full of stress heads - yes,' she wrote. 'I travel weekly every year and it's Melbourne, Adelaide then Perth, Sydney is way behind them.' Melbourne ranked as fourth best city to live globally and the 16th best overall in the poll. Meanwhile, Perth was listed as a 'hidden jewel' in the index, ranking 16th for 'liveability' and 11th for nice weather. Another user suggested the poll had 'surveyed 15000 real estate agents', in a jokey reference to Sydney's savage rental market. It comes as a growing number of fed-up residents are deciding to ditch overpriced Sydney for good amid the city's worsening housing crisis. Figures show 129,000 residents have left New South Wales for another state since in the year to 2022. With 83,000 new arrivals from interstate, Australian Bureau of Statistic data shows NSW experienced a net loss of almost 38,000. Sydney's median house prices stand at $1.23million, putting them beyond the reach of even above-average income earners and forcing many to live a long way from the city centre. Meanwhile, Sydney has overtaken Canberra as the most expensive city to rent in Australia, with a median of $699 per week in the past quarter. Soaring rents have prompted a growing number of Sydneysiders to start a new life in other states, with many deciding to settle in sunny Queensland. After living in Sydney her entire life, Lilly, 26, finally grew tired of its exorbitant prices and decided to up and move to Brisbane in 2018. She told Daily Mail Australia that since then, she has never looked back and doesn't see herself moving back to Sydney anytime soon. After living in Sydney her whole life, Lilly, 26 (pictured), decided to move to Brisbane in 2018. She was able to purchase a property after just three years after having 'no money' in Sydney Lilly had been paying $550 a week to live in a unit in Alexandria, in Sydney's inner south, while working for a PR company in Potts Point. It took her an hour each day to commute to and from work, where she noticed the environment was becoming increasingly competitive and stressful. 'The cost of living became unsustainable,' she recalled. Lilly knew she wanted to live somewhere warmer and moved to Brisbane, where she knew life would be more affordable. Upon landing, she noticed an immediate change in her mood. Strangers smiled and said hello on the street - something she had 'never' experienced in Sydney. Lilly believes Brisbane has a lot of perks, including good jobs, warmer weather and a better work-life balance. Aged 25, she was able to save enough to buy a one-bed apartment in 2021 for $340,000. 'Leaving Sydney, I never thought I would own,' she said. A family-of-five have been forced to live in a small tin shed for 18 months after they had hundreds of rental applications rejected - in the latest example of Australia's rental crisis. Jesse Shaufler, 32, her partner Kirrin Oliver, 32, and their three sons, who are all under 12, have been living in the three-by-five metre shed on a relatives' property in Newcastle, NSW. They were forced to move into the shed after being evicted from their home under a no-fault clause so their old landlord could move a relative in. Ms Shaufler revealed the family's struggle in an interview with Karl Stefanovic on the Today Show on Monday. She explained how the family were evicted nearly two years ago and despite making hundreds of rental applications, have been stuck in the shed long term. The family were forced to move into the shed (above) after being evicted from their home under a no-fault clause 'It's very hard, you try not to get too comfortable because you think this is not going to be much longer, but then obviously more days and more weeks have gone by, more months and then it's, yeah, it's pretty hard,' she said. 'I don't know what to hope for, just a safe and warm space for the kids really. Just somewhere where they can be comfortable and we can be comfortable and just in a normal day- to-day life, really.' The family have made over 200 rental applications since losing their home - and the situation has left them desperate. Local authorities have assessed the family as 'high priority homeless' after visiting the property and noting their living conditions, according to The Courier-Mail. Mr Oliver earns up to $1300 a week working at a factory, while Ms Schaufler earns about $300 as a cleaner. They are searching for a property priced at about $550 a week, but say demand has blocked them from getting in the door. The three-by-five metre metal shed is stacked full with their possessions, a makeshift kitchen, and mattresses for each of the family members. 'When it's cold, it's so cold and when it's hot, it's just not comfortable,' added Ms Shaufler. The family have made over 200 rental applications since losing their home - and the situation has left them desperate Jesse Shaufler, her partner, and their three sons, who are all under 12, are living in the three-by-five metre shed Australia is in the grip of a rental crisis with hundreds of Aussies struggling to find a home amid surging prices. 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 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. There was shock at the start of the month when it was revealed that a windowless closet that can barely fit a single bed was being advertised for a staggering $300 rent a week. Australia is in the grip of a rental crisis with hundreds of Aussies struggling to find a home amid surging prices While the listing, which was taken down by Wednesday morning, says the price is $300-a-month, the Aussie who shared it said they had spoken with the person who posted the ad, and it was really: '$300-a-week to sleep in a CBD apartment pantry room'. Rents have been spiking all over Australia as low housing supply and flow-on effects from 11 consecutive mortgage rate rises combine with borders re-opening and waves of foreign workers and students returning. Between March 2022 and March 2023, the median unit rent jumped 24 per cent in Sydney, equivalent to an extra $120-a-week, according to the Domain Rent Report. Melbourne rose by nearly as much, surging by 23.1 per cent, while Brisbane rents rose by 16.3 per cent. Adelaide and Perth rents grew by 13.5 per cent and 12.5 per cent respectively and Darwin and Hobart grew by about 6 per cent each. The Prince of Wales said survivors of the Manchester Arena terror attack 'must have their voices heard' and urged for change after victims were left without mental health support. Prince William, patron of the National Emergencies Trust, said 'we must listen to their stories now' in order to 'learn for the future' after a report revealed that nearly a third of young survivors of the bombing had received no professional support. The report, titled Bee the Difference, found that three-quarters of children and young people affected by the 2017 terror outrage were psychologically injured by what happened to them. But 29 per cent have never received any professional support in the six years since, and four in 10 of these say it was never offered to them. In response, Prince William said: 'This report makes clear that young people who have experienced the trauma of terrorism have needs unique to age. The Prince of Wales said victims of the Manchester Arena terror attack 'must have their voices heard' and urged for change after victims were left without mental health support It comes as the Bee the Difference report, by the National Emergencies Trust and Lancaster University, found 75 per cent of under-18s were 'psychologically harmed' by the attack and 29 per cent have not had help. Pictured: The scene outside the Manchester Arena in 2017 'These are minds that need the space to have their voices heard and their feelings acknowledged. 'We must listen to their stories now, in order to learn for the future. I look forward to seeing the change it creates.' The Bee The Difference report, launched on Monday, is a research project designed by and for young survivors of the arena attack in collaboration with UK disaster response charity the National Emergencies Trust and researchers at Lancaster University. Twenty-two people were murdered and hundreds injured when suicide bomber Salman Abedi detonated his device in the foyer of Manchester Arena at the end of an Ariana Grande concert on May 22 2017. More than 200 young survivors took part in the research for the report, all of whom were under 18 at the time of the attack, and some of whom were physically injured in the bombing. The report reveals that while 93 per cent of young survivors felt they needed support in the aftermath of the attack, 70 per cent received no professional help within the first month and 31 per cent received no professional help within the first year. While some of the professional help offered by teachers, counsellors and GPs was invaluable to survivors, some of it inadvertently introduced more trauma, research showed. And some young people felt their experiences were not validated by adults in positions of care, and that their feelings and opinions were dismissed on account of their age. One survivor told researchers: 'The tutor told me I should take the attack as a positive experience, that thus 'hardship' would make me a stronger person. 'He said not many young people experience hardship nowadays. This felt totally insensitive, so I didn't return.' One survivor who lost his partner in the attack says he felt abandoned by the lack of emotional support after the incident. Paul Price, 55, was waiting with his partner Elaine McIver, 43, for his daughter Gabrielle, then 13, and her friend to come out of the Ariana Grande concert. Paul Price, 55, was waiting with his partner Elaine McIver (right), 43, for his daughter Gabrielle, then 13, and her friend to come out of the Ariana Grande concert But suicide bomber Salman Abedi, 22, detonated his home-made bomb and killed 22 people, including Mrs McIver. She died instantly after suffering injuries to her chest. Mr Price sustained several injuries in the attack including severe burns, broken bones, loss of hearing and embedded shrapnel, which remain in his groin, pelvis and back. He spent just over eight months in hospital and has had around 55 different operations since the bombing and will have to have more in the future. On the sixth anniversary of the attack, Paul has said that it was a nightmare when he was trying to come to terms with his new life. Speaking for the first time in detail about his ordeal, he said: 'You're in hospital with 24 hour doctors, nurses and physiotherapists and everything is there. 'You come out of hospital and that literally stopped instantly. When it came for me to leave hospital, because I had been there for so long, I was terrified and frightened. He spent just over eight months in hospital and has had around 55 different operations since the bombing and will have to have more in the future 'It was a different world that I was going into and I couldn't even go back to the house I shared with Elaine as I couldn't live on my own. 'I still had a huge frame on my leg and couldn't use my hands - it was a nightmare. To go from 24 hour round the clock care to being in a house that's adapted for you, it was an absolute nightmare. 'It just felt like the support had just fell off. I had district nurses coming out three times a day but they are only there for an hour to change dressings and give medicine that you can't keep in the house. 'It was terrifying and I just felt so alone and lost. I had come out to a different world where I was working full time. 'Everything was knew and there was nobody there. I was on my own and everything I discovered, I stumbled over on my own. It's taken five years to really get where I am now.' Paul had bought the concert tickets for Gabrielle, who is now 19, as a Christmas present and let her take a friend with her. Paul had bought the concert tickets for Gabrielle, who is now 19, as a Christmas present and let her take a friend with her. Pictured: the scene outside the arena in 2017 It was the first time she had gone to a concert alone and Paul and Elaine went to a Mexican restaurant near the arena while waiting for her. They then headed back into the city room of the arena and Paul purchased an Ariana Grande top for Georgia and told her to not rush back. The next thing he remembers is the blast. Paul, of Liverpool, said: 'I lost the hearing in my right ear because of the blast but I don't remember any sounds. 'I remember my version turning red, as if you close your eyes and look at the sun. 'I felt a sense of being thrown threw the air and then I don't know whether I was knocked unconscious or not because time didn't make much sense. I just remember looking up at the ceiling at one point. 'It's all very dream like but I remember smoke blowing along the ceiling and I remember a warning tannoy messaging going on repeat. 'I also had a sense that nobody was around me and I remember trying to stand up but I didn't know the severity of my injuries then. It was impossible for me to stand up at that point. I just knew that I was dying and there was nothing I could do about it.' Paul has now received support from charity Day One Trauma Support, who help support people who have had a major trauma injury. He has been working with a peer support volunteer and has said he wish he knew about the charity sooner. Paul has now received support from charity Day One Trauma Support, who help support people who have had a major trauma injury. Pictured: armed police at the scene of the attack in 2017 And now he's backing the charity's urgent appeal to support people with life-changing injuries Paul, who used to work in production at Jaguar, said: 'There was so many things that could have helped me with at the time, had I known about them sooner. 'It would have made my life so much easier and I wouldn't have felt so alone, abandoned and forgotten. 'When it happened, there was so much media around it and people were involved with the 'We love Manchester' campaign. But because I was in hospital, that didn't happen to me and I missed out. 'When I came out of hospital, the arena attack had happened eight months ago so I felt forgotten. 'All of the help that had been there initially had been taken and had ended now because everyone had moved on. It was awful. 'When I discovered them I thought 'oh my god, this is something I've been crying out for.' 'It was everything that I didn't know I needed but when I read what they did, I thought it would have been amazing if this had been available for me at the beginning.' Lucy Nickson, CEO at Day One Trauma Support, has said that there is a 'massive gap in the system' which means people like Paul are 'being let down.' She said: 'It's a travesty that Paul didn't get the support he needed when he needed it most. 'Our NHS is amazing at putting people back together after suffering catastrophic injuries. 'But there is a massive gap in the system, which means everyday people like Paul are being let down. As Paul's story highlights, surviving is just the start. 'In the briefest of moments, people's lives are shattered and it's too much to piece it back together on their own.' The Bee The Difference report makes a number of proposals for individuals and institutions to improve support for young survivors of terror. The UK Government is expected to finalise the draft of a 'Survivor's Charter' in the next few weeks that would guarantee key rights for survivors of terror attacks and is expected to include a guaranteed timeline for mental health support. Dr Cath Hill, lead researcher at Lancaster University, said: 'The findings show that the simple act of validating young people's views can make a huge difference to their wellbeing, and is something all adults in positions of care could be more mindful of should the worst happen again.' Mhairi Sharp, head of the National Emergencies Trust, said: 'There has been a glaring gap in knowledge about how UK disasters affect children and young people. 'Six years after the attack almost one in four (22%) young Manchester survivors continue to receive psychological support today, according to the findings.' Protests against defense pact with U.S. erupt across Papua New Guinea Xinhua) 13:55, May 22, 2023 SYDNEY, May 22 (Xinhua) -- Protests erupted in several universities across Papua New Guinea (PNG) on Monday morning against a possible defense cooperation pact to be signed between the United States and the island country located in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. Students from the University of Papua New Guinea, the University of Goroka and the PNG University of Technology staged the protests early in the morning, the local Wepio Media Agency reported. Students at the University of Papua New Guinea were asking why PNG, which always observes a friends-to-all and enemy-to-none principle, would sign a defense pact. They also requested that the agreement not be signed until the PNG people are aware of what the country is signing. The focus must not be on security treaties when the country is not at war with anyone, said the students, adding that as a developing country, PNG needs beneficial economic treaties and agreements instead. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and PNG Prime Minister James Marape were scheduled to sign the pact and a maritime security agreement during Blinken's visit to the capital of PNG Port Moresby on Sunday and Monday, said a CNN report. Before that, an alleged draft copy of the defense cooperation agreement that would potentially allow a substantial U.S. military presence in PNG was leaked. But Marape said that the agreement would not give the United States any "exclusive" rights to PNG facilities. (Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Liang Jun) Residents of a suburb synonymous with wealth are being urged to give away houses and cars or face dire consequences by a mysterious letter. The letter, which has been left in mailboxes around Toorak, long known as Melbourne's south-east enclave for the well-off, has been posted on social media. It begins by addressing the recipient as a 'friend' before expressing concern about the 'damage you're doing society'. 'You're too wealthy, and that's harming a lot of people,' the letter states. 'Millions of people are struggling to pay their rents, mortgages, energy bills and to afford healthy food. They don't have enough because you and others like you have too much. 'For things to improve for people who don't have enough, some of your wealth must go to them.' A letter that has been left in mailboxes around the wealthy Melbourne suburb of Toorak is creating a stir online \Toorak's median house price is a staggering $5,300,000, with the suburb having the highest average household income in Victoria of $185,000, according to Australian Tax Office figures for 2019/20. The letter claims that if Toorak's rich do nothing about inequality, 'you put us all in danger'. 'The more you have, the less there is for others and at the moment, you're taking more than your fair share,' the letter accuses. It claims 'history teaches' inequality 'breeds resentment and anger', which could 'boil over into unrest and violence' and 'endanger every one of us'. 'As someone who's causing inequality, you have the means and the responsibility to fix it,' the letter urges. 'You can do this by giving away a substantial portion of your wealth.' The letter explains that for Toorak residents to 'keep us all safe' they must 'give away the assets which you don't need to people who do need them'. 'Give any investment properties you to the people currently renting them or to other long-term renters,' the letter urges. It also calls for a similar measure with holiday homes claiming these two measures will help make 'housing more affordable for everyone'. With a median house price over $5 million and the highest average household income in Victoria Toorak (pictured) has long been considered an enclave of the well off The letter also demands that households that have more cars than licensed drivers, give away the 'extra' cars. 'This isnt all you should do, but it is where you should start. Right now. For everyones sake,' the letter concludes. It signs off as being from 'concerned friends'. The letter did not meet with much approval from Twitter users. 'Commie freeloading, they're good-for-nothing... They're everywhere! They think the world owes them!' one vented. 'They could report it to the police, intimidation, stalking, harassment... etc a friend just forwarded it to me,' another suggested. However, some wondered if the letter was a hoax. 'Anybody could have produced this, and no proof of it being delivered,' one Twitter user said. A number of Twitter users claimed they had received the letter from friends in Toorak. A police chief has revealed how he asked Brittany Higgins to stop speaking out ahead of Bruce Lehrmann's rape trial - but his pleas were blocked by her supporters. Detective Superintendent Scott Moller feared the court case might be thrown into jeopardy by Ms Higgins' media interviews with Lisa Wilkinson and others about the March 2019 rape allegation. But in a submission to the inquiry into the police investigation and prosecution, the top cop said his concerns were dismissed by Victims of Crime Commissioner, Heidi Yates. Supt Moller claims Ms Yates told him Ms Higgins could not be silenced: 'She can't, Scott she is the face of the movement now.' He believed Ms Yates was 'more interested in Ms Higgins pushing the '#metoo' movement than being committed to the upcoming trial,' according to his submission to the inquiry. A police chief has revealed how he asked Brittany Higgins (centre) to stop speaking out ahead of Bruce Lehrmann's rape trial - but his pleas were blocked by her supporter Heidi Yates, (left) Detective Superintendent Scott Moller (pictured) feared the court case might be thrown into jeopardy by Ms Higgins' media interviews about the 2019 rape allegations 'This upset me,' Supt Moller said in his submission to the Sofronoff inquiry underway in Canberra, The Australian reported. He added: 'I remember being mad that the Victims of Crime Commissioner was using the investigation as a voice for reform before the trial had even been conducted.' Ms Yates was Ms Higgins' support person and was regularly seen by side of the former political staffer at court during Mr Lehrmann's trial last October. Ms Higgins' interviews with Lisa Wilkinson and others threatened to jeopardise the trial The case was abandoned because of juror misconduct, and all charges against Mr Lehrmann were later dropped over concerns for Ms Higgins' mental health. Mr Lehrmann has always denied all the allegations against him. An investigative review report compiled by Supt Moller into the prosecution of Mr Lehrmann was withheld from his defence team by the Director of Public Prosecutions, Shane Drumgold. Supt Moller is due to give evidence to the Board of Review inquiry - the ACT equivalent of a Royal Commission - on Monday. Supt Moller will give evidence after the territory's chief prosecutor told the inquiry police had a 'passion' for the case against Mr Lehrmann to fail. Director of Public Prosecutions Shane Drumgold accused senior police officers involved in the case of having a 'skills deficit' and believed they had lost their objectivity during the investigation. He also said there were tensions between his office and police about the credibility of Ms Higgins but he believed many of the points raised by officers were not admissible in court. But Mr Lehrmann's defence lawyer Steven Whybrow disagreed with Mr Drumgold's assessment of police behaviour and claimed it was the prosecutor's office who had been hostile towards police. Mr Whybrow said he did not believe police had undermined the case and rather 'looked at everything' whether it suited Ms Higgins' or Mr Lehrmann's account. Senior Constable Emma Frizzell and Commander Michael Chew are expected to give evidence at the inquiry later in the week. The eldest daughter of celebrity chef Jock Zonfrillo has broken her silence on her father's death with a heartwrenching tribute to chef. Ava Zonfrillo, 22, shared a poignant memory of her dad three weeks after his passing on Sunday. 'Still can't accept that we'll be remembering you for more time than we had you, but doesn't mean we'll love you any less,' Ava wrote under an Instagram post of her when she was a toddler with Jock. 'I love you dad, always.' The post was accompanied by eight photos and two videos of Zonfrillo, some of them featuring the father and daughter together both in Ms Zonfrillo's childhood and some more recent snaps. Ava is the daughter of Jock and first wife Amanda Ewing. Ava initially followed her father's footsteps into the culinary world, working hospitality public relations. Ava (pictured), now 22, is the eldest of Jock's four children. She shared a poignant tribute on Sunday evening - including this photo of her as a child with her dad Jock leaves behind Ava (pictured) Sophia, Alfie and Isla She now works in fashion for communications agency, AMPR. The 22-year-old graduated from the University of Technology Sydney 2019 and has lived in Sydney's Bondi Beach since 2021. The post has been inundated with tributes from around the world, including Australian designer Collette Dinnigan, fellow chef Alex Pritchard, model Rebecca Harding and former Masterchef contestants Laura Sharrad and Simon Toohey. Ava's tribute comes one week after Jock was laid to rest in a private funeral in Sydney surrounded by 200 family and friends. Pallbearers included his wife Lauren and co-host Andy Allen and attendees included included a Who's Who of the Australian culinary scene. Daily Mail Australia revealed police believe Zonfrillo died from natural causes, with the Coroner due to determine his final cause of death. On Sunday, April 30, Zonfrillo had booked into the inner-city Zagame's House in Melbourne above a wine bar in Lygon Street, Carlton. He was facing a big week of media commitments. He had only recently returned to Australia from Italy after moving there with third wife Lauren and their children, five-year-old Alfie and two-year-old Isla, choosing the hotel for its proximity to where the family used to live. While the rest of his family remained in Rome, the 46-year-old was preparing to promote the latest installment of MasterChef, which was due to debut at 7.30pm the following evening. Proud Jock celebrated daughter Ava's 22nd birtdhay at Mimi's restaurant in April 2022 The 22-year-old penned a short but poignant message about her dad A packed diary of media appearances across television, radio and print was underway, backed up by a relentless whirl of social media posts across all major platforms. The theme for the 15th season of the Network Ten showpiece was 'Secrets and Surprises' - and the publicity grind was about to crank up in earnest. A packed diary of media appearances across television, radio and print was underway, backed up by a relentless whirl of social media posts across all major platforms. It was all set to peak in a gruelling blitz starting with an interview at 7am on Monday ahead of that night's glittering premiere. Zonfrillo already had three seasons as host behind him and was well aware of the demands of filming 60-plus episodes of the show each year. Ava's post was inundated with support Fellow MasterChef judge Andy Allen is pictured carrying Zonfrillo's coffin, which was covered with the Royal Banner of Scotland and adorned with white orchids He had long ago shrugged off his troubled youth as a teenage heroin addict to reinvent himself as a world-famous chef and a natural TV star on MasterChef. But Zonfrillo still battled demons, and carried worry beads with him at all times to help him cope with his anxiety and sometimes fragile mental health. What the public didn't know was that Zonfrillo had in recent years been suffering serious health issues, including a bowel cancer diagnosis. How Zonfrillo spent Sunday afternoon and evening is unclear but that night he uploaded what would be his last Instagram post. 'The time has come for @masterchefau to kick off a new season filled with Secrets & Surprises! And @jamieoliver of course!' he wrote in the caption. Sometime later, Zonfrillo responded to a fan in the comments section with what is believed to be his last public interaction on social media. One of his followers commented how much their son enjoyed watching Zonfrillo on MasterChef and would often do impressions of his thick Glasgow accent. 'Very exciting... (my son shouts out 'Joooooock' every time you appear on the advert!!!! He is even practicing his Scottish accent!!!)' they wrote. Zonfrillo replied to this comment with a crying-with-laughter emoji. The 97-bedroom hotel's webpage on Booking.com promises visitors: 'Get the celebrity treatment with world-class service at Zagame's House'. A room is pictured The Scottish chef uploaded this post on Sunday night promoting the cooking show, which was due to launch Monday at 7:30pm, but will now air on Sunday night with his family's approval 'The time has come for @masterchefau to kick off a new season filled with Secrets & Surprises! And @jamieoliver of course!' Zonfrillo captioned his last Instagram post The 97-bedroom hotel's webpage on Booking.com promises visitors: 'Get the celebrity treatment with world-class service at Zagame's House'. The elegantly-stylish but compact rooms - from $259 for a standard room up to $685 for one of the Nero Suites - offer a 24-hour desk clerk with a gym and a classy wine bar on the ground floor. Its website adds: 'All our team members are trained to ensure that your health, safety and comfort are our number one priority while you are staying at our House.' Daily Mail Australia understands while Zonfrillo and his wife had a daily routine of scheduled communication and that he failed to make a call on Sunday evening. Having been unable to reach her husband, Lauren called Victoria Police who sent officers to Zagame's House about 2am to check on his welfare. Ava shared photographs capturing cherished moments with dad Ava pictured with her father as a child The police who were let into Zonfrillo's room found him dead in his bed and saw no signs of anything unusual or suspicious. There was no drug paraphernalia located, no one else in the room and police formed the view Zonfrillo had died of natural causes. Jock leaves behind four children Ava, Sophie, Alfie and Isla. Boy racers are terrorising towns across Britain from behind the wheels of high-powered supercars bought on cheap credit. Secretive groups compete in online leagues where they challenge rivals to drive on busy roads at vast speeds, according to a new Channel 4 documentary. Shocking footage shows three cars weaving between traffic as they are brazenly raced along a stretch of motorway at up to 170mph - in scenes reminiscent of The Fast and the Furious films starring Vin Diesel. The joyrider gangs - who posed menacingly with their vehicles wearing balaclavas - meet on a weekly basis to take part in adrenaline-fuelled races that are broadcast live to tens of thousands of viewers on the internet. One of the largest groups, Mpire, has more than 70,000 followers and its social media pages shows dozens of people gathering in towns across the UK to race cars worth hundreds of thousands of pounds. Boy racers are terrorising towns across Britain from behind the wheels of high-powered supercars bought on cheap credit Shocking footage shows three cars weaving between traffic as they are brazenly raced along a stretch of motorway at up to 170mph The group's founder, named only as Min, tells the programme: 'Porsches, Lamborghinis, Ferraris - we went from being boy racers to having some of the most expensive and fastest cars on the planet.' Asked how the drivers, mostly men in their early 20s, can afford such luxury vehicles, he replies: 'Cars are becoming more and more affordable... finance is available to more or less anybody.' The documentary, The Secret World Of Boy Racers: UNTOLD, finds that the police are trying to crack down on young men causing havoc on Britain's roads - with the number of cars seized due to anti-social driving almost doubling between 2019 and 2022. But the boy racers brag that police are unable to catch them in their high-powered cars. In one clip, a group is stopped by officers on London's Bond Street but simply drives to another location, speeding off each time the police catch up with them. When questioned by an officer, one of the drivers replies brazenly, 'I'm not obstructing no one' before fleeing again at top-speed. One of the racers claims he has been banned from driving after he was caught at 140mph on the M6 and has 21 points on his licence - despite only passing his test three years ago. He boasts: 'I couldn't give a s*** about the police, that's the God's honest truth, I couldn't give a f***.' Another of the racers - who brags that he 'turns the public highway into a racetrack' - adds: 'I'm not worried, I've got north of 700 horsepower on tap. Nobody is catching me.' The documentary comes as a driver who killed a mother when his 180,000 Range Rover SVR ended up on rail tracks was jailed for seven-and-a-half years last week. Rida Kazem, who was 'showing off', was travelling at 110mph on the westbound A40 in Ealing, west London, before he hit a kerb and the car went off the road. Beautician Yagmur Ozden, 33 - one of his passengers - was killed instantly. But the boy racers admit to giving little thought to the safety or comfort of the public in their relentless pursuit of speed. Footage shows a family and a terrified pet dog captured in the light of a living room window as car exhausts boom outside their home 'like the invasion of a country'. Secretive groups compete in online leagues where they challenge rivals to drive on busy roads at vast speeds, according to a new Channel 4 documentary [File image] The documentary comes as a driver who killed a mother when his 180,000 Range Rover SVR ended up on rail tracks was jailed for seven-and-a-half years last week [File image] Greg Sumner, 32, a self-confessed former boy racer who was left paralysed in a crash that killed two people, said: 'People don't consider the severe impact of it going wrong until it's too late.' The father-of-two was a passenger in a car that went out of control on a bend at 91mph in a 40mph zone and ploughed into an oncoming vehicle. Both drivers died. Mr Sumner, who shattered 27 bones and spent five months in a coma, says: 'The consequences of that crash were the deaths of two fathers, four children are going to grow up without their dad.' But other drivers are obstinate in the face of the risks of their illegal and highly-dangerous hobby. Robert was one of 19 people seriously injured at a car meet crash which saw two men jailed for a total of nine years. The 28-year-old admits the incident has left him with lasting pain that sometimes prevents him from getting out of bed. But the car fanatic, who has owned 60 vehicles in the past two years, vows to carry on racing despite the accident and said that he doesn't worry about the risks because he is 'in control'. The programme's presenter, Ben Zand, says: 'In the past few months I've spoken to police officers who have admitted stopping boy racers is difficult. 'They tend to rely on issuing social orders and seizing cars to try to deter people from getting into the scene. 'But it doesn't seem to be putting off the boy racers we spoke to. 'So many I'd met seemed to feel invincible. But the problem is, as I'd seen myself, they're not.' The National Police Chiefs' Council said: 'Tackling speeding and dangerous driving is a priority for policing. 'Behind every collision there are family and friends who have to live with the tragic consequences for the rest of their lives.' The Secret World Of Boy Racers: UNTOLD is available to stream on Channel 4 from Monday. Brussels will force European Union train drivers to speak English under rules designed to unite transport networks between member states. Despite misgivings among some EU member states, English has officially been selected as the standardised language used by train drivers. The move will likely upset MEPs who insisted English be banished as a language in the wake of the UK's Brexit referendum. The EU has been pushing for a number of years to have a 'single European railway area' to facilitate easier movement between countries. But rules to be announced this autumn under the EU's 'Train Driver's Directive' stipulate drivers must possess a minimum language proficiency in every country they operate. Conservative MP John Penrose (pictured) said: 'Who'd have thought our influence in the EU would be bigger now we've left?' Officials have instead sought to standardise the language used by train drivers across all member states. Conservative MP for Weston-super-Mare, John Penrose, said: 'Who'd have thought our influence in the EU would be bigger now we've left? It looks as though someone in Brussels has been missing the British sense of humour.' Despite the update to the Train Driver's Directive confirmed for autumn this year, Brussels sources have warned the decision could be delayed. Resistance from members such as the Polish MEP and chairman of the European Parliament of Constitutional Affairs Committee, Danuta Hubner, said in 2016 that English should not be recognised. English is further being considered the common language for drivers when crossing to neighbouring countries, sources from Brussels have confirmed. Former rail minister Paul Maynard, the Conservative MP for Blackpool North, told The Sunday Telegraph: 'I welcome the recognition from the EU and hope that this means train drivers in the UK will be able to play their part in improving rail links from the UK to the Continent.' Plans to force murderers to face their victims' families in court could be delayed until after the next election. Ministers committed to making the change after the killers of nine-year-old Olivia Pratt-Korbel and lawyer Zara Aleena chose to cower in their cells rather than face justice. The families of the two victims say they were denied justice, and have urged the government to fast-track new measures to require murderers to attend their sentencing in court. But speaking to reporters during a trip to Japan, Rishi Sunak repeatedly refused to commit to making the change before next year's general election, saying it would require new legislation. Asked about Olivia's case, the Prime Minister said: 'What happened to Olivia in the summer - my daughters are of a similar age and it's absolutely shocking. Ministers committed to making the change after the killers of nine-year-old Olivia Pratt-Korbel (left) and lawyer Zara Aleena (right) chose to cower in their cells rather than face justice. The families of the two victims say they were denied justice, and have urged the government to fast-track new measures to require murderers to attend their sentencing in court But speaking to reporters during a trip to Japan, Rishi Sunak repeatedly refused to commit to making the change before next year's general election, saying it would require new legislation 'With regards to that we've got a commitment in place. It requires legislation and so we'll have to wait for the legislative opportunity but the commitment that we made stands.' He added: 'We haven't published our fourth session legislation yet so that will be the time for people to see what the legislative programme is for the fourth session.' The PM's comments suggest that the change could be included in the King's Speech in the autumn. But if it fails to make the cut it is likely to be delayed until after the next election. Last month, the aunt of Zara Aleena, who was sexually assaulted and brutally murdered while walking home last summer, urged the Government to bring in the change immediately. Farah Naz said that allowing convicted criminals to avoid facing the court meant the 'convict actually exercises their bit of power'. She said those who refuse should face longer sentences. Serial offender Jordan McSweeney, who was convicted of Zara's murder, refused to attend court for sentencing, where he was given a life sentence with a recommendation her serve at least 38 years. Gunman Thomas Cashman, who shot Olivia Pratt-Korbel and injured her mother while chasing a drug dealer, in August last year, also refused to attend his sentencing. He was given a life sentence, with a recommendation he serve at least 42 years. The mum of a nursing student who was brutally murdered and buried in a shallow grave is 'incandescent with rage' and will never forgive the man who killed her. Rashpaul Kaur, travelled from India to Adelaide and laid eyes on her daughter's killer for the first time during a sentencing submission court hearing on May 19. Ms Kaur's daughter, Jasmeen Kaur was kidnapped from the South Australian aged care home she worked at in North Plympton in 2021. Rashpaul Kaur (pictured) travelled from India to Adelaide and laid her eyes on her daughter's killer for the first time while her victim impact statement was read Ms Kaur's daughter, Jasmeen Kaur (pictured) was kidnapped from the aged care home she worked at in North Plympton, South Australia in 2021 and driven to Hawker in the Flinders Ranges where she was murdered and buried in a shallow grave The 21-year-old was driven to Hawker in the Flinders Ranges where she was murdered and buried in a shallow grave by 23-year-old Tarikjot Singh. Singh initially denied killing the nursing student but in February pleaded guilty to the murder before he was due to stand trial. The mother's powerful victim impact statement was read to the court during the sentencing submissions in the case. In her statement, Ms Kaur said she will never forgive Singh for taking her 'precious little girl' and discarding her like 'rubbish'. 'She spent her last hour on this earth with the very worst of humanity,' Ms Kaur said in the statement read by a prosecutor. 'How could he value a life so cheaply? I'm incandescent with rage You treated my daughter as if she were nothing and disposed of her as rubbish.' Ms Kaur claimed Singh was obsessed with Jasmeen and and tried to forcefully marry her but her daughter rejected his advances hundreds of times. Ms Kaur detailed the torment she endures knowing that her daughter's last hour on earth was filled with brutality and terror. 'In her last hours, she was faced with brutality and terror alone with someone intent on doing her harm,' Kaur said. 'I cling on to memories of Jasmeen, I hold them tight to keep them safe.' Tarikjot Singh, 23, (pictured) pleaded guilty to murdering the nursing student. Ms Kaur said Singh was obsessed with her daughter and wanted to marry her but was rejected hundreds of times The young woman's grief-stricken brother, sister and aunt also gave victim impact statements to the court. Jasmeen's aunt told the court her niece was planning to visit India for the first time in three years for a family reunion before she was brutally killed. The court ordered psychological reports of Singh ahead of sentencing. The sentencing submissions were adjourned with Singh scheduled to face court again in July. The NHS has paid out millions of pounds in compensation and legal fees over sex attacks since 2018, new figures show. The health service has paid 2,174,658 in damages as well as 1.5million in claimants' legal costs. It has also spent 338,194 on its own legal fees, bringing the total bill to more than 4million, The Times reports. The revelation comes weeks after the Health Secretary Steve Barclay vowed to put an end to sex attacks in hospitals after a Mail investigation found that there had been 6,500 rapes and sexual assaults in three years. Fewer than one in five NHS Trusts offer training to prevent sexual harassment, a study has found. The health service has paid out 2,174,658 in damages as well as 1.5million in claimants' legal costs, alongside more than 300,000 on its own legal fees (file image) Allegations of rape, inappropriate touching and comments are among the incidents that have been reported since 2018 (file image) Data obtained under the Freedom Of Information Act revealed that 1,571 reports of sexual misconduct have been made by staff and patients at 167 NHS Trusts in England and Wales since 2018. Allegations of rape, inappropriate touching and comments are among the incidents that have been reported, with the majority of alleged perpetrators men and the victims female. Surviving In Scrubs, a campaign group supporting NHS staff who have faced sexual harassment, said the findings were 'not surprising'. 'Trusts seem to hold their reputations in such high regard that they are glossing over the issues of sexism, misogyny, sexual harassment and sexual assault. More needs to be done to protect and support the survivors of these behaviours.' Jemima Olchawski, CEO of the Fawcett Society, a women's rights charity, said women were 'at their most vulnerable' with NHS staff. At least 2,088 rapes and 4,451 sexual assaults were reported in hospitals between January 2019 and October 2022 [Stock photo] Daisy Cooper, the Liberal Democrat health spokeswoman, said that all patients should feel safe but these 'shocking findings show that this is simply not the case'. Health Secretary Steve Barclay held a meeting with NHS chiefs in April after it was revealed that at least 2,088 rapes and 4,451 sexual assaults were reported in hospitals between January 2019 and October 2022 a rate of 33 a week. Mr Barclay has asked the NHS to explore improving the quality of the data on sexual incidents and work with the police to ensure proper action is taken. Artificial intelligence could potentially be used to better identify trends. He expects employers to be 'proactive' and improve the culture in NHS settings. Read more: Steve Barclay vows to halt horror of sex attacks in hospitals: Health Secretary calls urgent meeting with NHS chiefs following revelation that dozens of patients are raped and sexually assaulted every week Health Secretary Steve Barclay giving a statement to MPs in the House of Commons Advertisement But a recent study revealed that just five Trusts across 213 surveyed in England had staff training tailored directly to sexual harassment in some form. Researchers at the University of Cambridge analysed data from Freedom of Information (FOI) requests sent to 213 NHS Trusts in England. Of the 199 that responded, only 35 said they offered 'active bystander' training, which encourages individuals to recognise and respond to poor behaviour. A number of NHS Trusts have admitted issuing NDAs or confidentiality agreements while resolving sexual harassment cases in the period between 2017 and 2021. While use of the gagging orders on whistleblowers has been banned, NDAs can still be used in other situations. Professor Julia Macfarlane, from the campaign group Can't Buy My Silence, said there was 'no justification' for covering up sexual misconduct in the NHS. 'Sadly this information is consistent with the widespread use of NDAs through all our workplaces and institutions. It has to stop.' An NHS spokesman said: 'Sexual misconduct, violence, harassment and abuse are criminal acts. All NHS organisations must have robust measures in place to ensure immediate action is taken in any cases reported to them.' In November 2022, Dr Mohammad Nazeer was struck off the medical register after he was caught sexually abusing a woman on camera. Dr Mohammad Nazeer was found to have restrained the woman (Miss B) - who complained she had been treated her like a 'sex slave' - and forced himself on her despite her screaming for him to get off of her. The A&E specialist also encouraged his victim to 'sell your body on the streets', bit her lips until they bled, 'forcefully' grabbed her hair, and shoved his finger up her nostril. However, he was never charged with any criminal offences as Miss B withdrew her police statement in October 2018. In 2013, the General Medical Council (GMC) updated its guidance on maintaining professional relationships between staff, including doctors, and patients. The final draft of the document defined vulnerability more strongly and said that: 'Some patients are likely to be more vulnerable than others because of their illness, disability or frailty, or because of their current circumstances.' Colin Melville, medical director and director for education and standards at the GMC said there was 'no place' for sexual misconduct in the medical profession. 'There is no place for any kind of sexual misconduct and assault in the medical profession, and we absolutely condemn all forms of sexual harassment, misogyny and sexism in the healthcare services.' It marks the 10th fatality on Mt Everest this year An Australian climber who died on Mt Everest had been preparing for the trek for years after surviving a car crash and being told he would never walk again. Jason Bernard Kennison, 40, who is from Perth, died after he became unresponsive at the summit on Friday. His death is the 10th fatality recorded on the world's highest mountain this year. Mr Kennison survived a devastating car crash back in 2006 when a road train sideswiped the vehicle he was in while he was on his way to work. 'The next thing, I woke up in hospital with glass getting picked out of my hair, out of my back,' he said in an interview with 7News that aired earlier this month. Australian climber Jason Bernard Kennison (pictured), 40, has died on Mt Everest after reaching the peak Mr Kennison survived a devastating car crash back in 2006 when a road train sideswiped the vehicle he was in The crash left the mechanic with a broken femur, a dislocated shoulder and a brain hemorrhage, among other injuries. 'I didn't want to accept that there was anything permanently wrong, physically wrong, mentally wrong,' he said. 'I dealt with it probably in a default mode, which was to ignore a lot of the signs and just push through physically.' 'Looking back, I was ticking boxes just to get back to work and just to seem normal.' The incident forced Mr Kennison to learn how to walk again - before he suffered further spinal nerve damage years later. He pushed on with his goal of climbing Mt Everest to raise funds for Spinal Cord Injuries Australia. He was videoed making the perilous trek two weeks before he died. Mr Kennison can be seen in the footage trudging through thick snow and scaling the side of the mountain with his fellow climbers. A heavy fog shrouds the mountain around them and greatly reduces the visibility of the climbers. The final photo uploaded to his Instagram profile weeks beforehand shows his view from Camp 2 at the mountain. Mr Kennison was videoed making the perilous trek alongside other climbers, with the clip uploaded to the Spinal Cord Injuries Australia Facebook page The mechanic's final post to Instagram just weeks before his death shows his view from Camp 2 Asian Trekking chief Dawa Steven Sherpa confirmed that Mr Kennison was brought down to the Balcony area after reaching the mountain's peak on Friday. 'Since the oxygen cylinders that they had with them were running out, they decided to descend to Camp 4 hoping to climb back again with oxygen cylinders to rescue him,' he told AFP. 'It was high wind and bad weather that prevented them (from) going back to bring him down. He died at the Balcony area.' The Balcony is a small platform, situated around 8400m, where climbers can rest. Mr Kennison's family announced his tragic passing in a Facebook post. 'It is with absolute broken hearts that our dearly beloved brother, son, cousin, friend sadly passed away on Friday 19th [of May] climbing Mt Everest,' the post read. 'He achieved his goal of reaching the peak he stood on top of the world but sadly didn't come home. He was the most courageous, adventurous human we knew.' Texts shared between Mr Kennison and a close friend have since emerged with the messages showing how the avid climber was contending with difficult conditions. 'It's been a rough and tough year of prep, let alone a few weeks here with the rotations, so now comes the final run when and if the weather allows like you say...' he wrote. After asking about seeing a picture taken on the mountain's peak, Mr Kennison responded: 'Within the next 4 weeks hopefully mate.' The Perth climber became unresponsive at the summit of Mt Everest before he was brought down to the platform on Friday The outdoorsman left) pushed on with his goal of climbing Mt Everest to raise funds for Spinal Cord Injuries Australia Mr Kennison's death comes as a bittersweet moment after he was able to overcome his injuries from the crash and achieve one of his life's goals. Footage of his recovery was shared by 7News, which showed him learning how to walk again and conquering small challenges. He later sustained a broken collar bone after crashing his motor bike while training for a race. 'Each injury seemed to chip a little bit away at my confidence,' he recalled. 'It chipped away at my self-esteem bit by bit until I was really cautious about what people would think of me.' He experienced severe back pain while kicking a football a few years ago. He discovered that a ligament in his back had 'pulled in between the disc and the nerve', which came about due to previous accidents. The outdoorsman went in for a procedure to pull the ligament out to create space and grind the disc back. Mr Kennison was forced to learn how to walk again following the crash. He suffered further spinal nerve damage years later During the procedure, Mr Kennison fell over multiple times. He then lost feeling in his right leg and was temporarily unable to walk. He eventually went back to the gym to focus on rehabilitation, but struggled both mentally and physically as he had 'no strength' due to the nerve damage. 'I didn't want these injuries to define me,' he said. 'I needed to start owning my own destiny.' Mr Kennison became motivated to get into climbing after watching documentaries of mountaineers. 'It had all the characters, all the traits of what I used to do when I had motocross, when I used to play footy, when I was growing up until it was chipped away from all these accidents,' he said. He took part in mountaineering courses to train himself up for the huge climb. His story inspired viewers across the country - with Australians following his journey to Mt Everest. Mr Kennison became interested in climbing after watching documentaries of mountaineers during his recovery Ten people have died trying to climb Mt Everest (pictured) this year. There has been a spike in the number of deaths on the mountain after three deaths were reported in 2022 Mr Kennison is the sixth person to die on the mountain among non-Nepalis, and the 10th overall in 2023. Four people died on the mountain just last week including a man from China who 'fell' trying to reach the peak and a woman from India last Thursday. One man from Moldova also died from illness on Wednesday and a sherpa was killed during his descent from the mountain on Tuesday. US mountaineer Jonathan Reuel Sugarman, 69, perished on the mountain after he became unwell earlier this month, while three Nepali climbers were killed in April. There has been a significant spike in the number of deaths on Mt Everest this year after three deaths were reported for the entire 2022 climbing season. Nearly 450 climbers have climbed Mt Everest this season, according to Nepal's tourism department. Controversial sex education lessons for young children are still being promoted by the Government despite Rishi Sunak promising a crackdown. A guide aimed at primary school teachers by lobbying group Stonewall remains among the 'suggested resources' highlighted by the Department for Education. The document suggests young pupils are taught in English lessons that 'they' can be a singular pronoun, while its 'child-friendly glossary' includes the claim that everyone is 'given a gender when they are born'. Ministers earlier this year ordered a review of the sex education curriculum in England, and just this weekend, as reported in The Mail on Sunday, the PM vowed to protect 'precious' children from being exposed to inappropriate material in classes. Last night, Caroline Ffiske, from campaign group Conservatives for Women, said the teaching of 'this utterly nonsensical and unscientific ideology to young children should be called out for the mendacious travesty it is'. (Stock Image) A guide aimed at primary school teachers by lobbying group Stonewall remains among the 'suggested resources' highlighted by the Department for Education She added: 'Think how confusing it must be for a young girl or boy to try to absorb this. It is ideological nonsense and it falls foul of the political neutrality provisions of the Education Act. So why does the Department for Education still link to it?' The link was included in statutory guidance published in 2019 for schools on relationships and sex education. This guidance remains online despite recent controversy over what schoolchildren are being taught. Several Stonewall documents can be accessed via the link, including one that includes ideas for lessons on diverse families for children as young as five. Conservative MP Nick Fletcher, who sits on the Commons education committee, said parents should be allowed to withdraw their children from sex education lessons until the review was complete. 'While we've still got people like Stonewall teaching this ideology there's damage being done,' he added. The Archbishop of Canterbury is to step up his attacks on the Government with an 'unprecedented' attempt to change the latest law tackling illegal migration. The Most Rev Justin Welby is reportedly preparing to table amendments to the legislation in the House of Lords. But it is 'extremely unusual if not unprecedented' for a member of the clergy to try to change a flagship government Bill, a source told The Observer. The Archbishop of Canterbury is to step up his attacks on the Government with an 'unprecedented' attempt to change the latest law tackling illegal migration His proposed amendments to the Illegal Migration Bill, due to be scrutinised in the Lords this week, are set to include measures to improve safeguards against trafficking gangs. It comes after the Archbishop branded the legislation which will mean those arriving by clandestine means such as dinghies are detained and deported 'morally unacceptable' in the Lords earlier this month. He previously branded the Government's Rwanda plan as 'heartless'. A massive cannabis farm that was smashed by police has drawn an unexpected reaction from Australians. Drug squad detectives raided a farm in Coominya, in the Somerset region in south-east Queensland, on May 15 where they seized over $23million worth of cannabis and later arrested a 26-year-old man. A video of the massive drug bust has provoked an unexpectedly hilarious response from many Aussies who praised the 'entrepreneurial spirit' of the set-up. Police found 19 70-metre-long greenhouses containing almost 3,000 cannabis plants, more than 1,500 seedlings in hydroponic growth rooms and almost 33kg of dried cannabis, with the total haul worth an estimated $23.1 million 'I'm actually impressed with this young entrepreneur, great set up,' one wrote on Twitter. Another said they thought it was a feel-good story of 'a young farmer bucking the trend and having a great year'. 'Thought he would have put his hand up for Farmer Wants A Wife,' they wrote. One social media user questioned the difference between the illegal farm and those with a permit to grow marijuana for medical purposes. 'The only difference between this and the pot startups on the ASX 200 is a permit. 'Old mate mustn't know the right billionaires to have as investors,' they said. Another added: 'Just legalize it. Stupid outdated law.' 'Don't destroy it... use for medicinal purposes - GVT shld keep and repurpose!!' one wrote. Police found 19 70-metre-long greenhouses containing almost 3,000 cannabis plants, more than 1,500 seedlings in hydroponic growth rooms and almost 33kg of dried cannabis in the raid. The total haul is worth an estimated $23.1 million. No one was located on the property at the time of the search warrant. Three days after the raid, cops arrested a 26-year-old man at a Heathwood property. He has been charged with one count of producing a commercial quantity of the cannabis and is expected to appear at Richlands Magistrates Court on June 6. Detective Inspector Brad Phelps described the farm as a 'commercial-sized cannabis production facility'. Detective Inspector Brad Phelps said police had raided a dozen similarly-sized farms in an investigation into a national drugs syndicate 'What you need to remember with the production of cannabis in particular hydroponic cannabis is that it's a cyclic process,' he said. 'This particular crop we can value at over $20 million on the street but they can produce three or four of these crops in any given year from the same site. It's (the raid) a significant disruption to an organised crime scene.' The massive bust is part of investigations into a national drug syndicate that is scouting and purchasing isolated farms in rural Queensland to grow cannabis on a large scale in order to distribute and sell the drug across Australia. Police have so far raided a dozen similarly-sized farms. 'We are working with a number of other jurisdictions to try to totally dismantle and destroy this particular syndicate and stop them from profiting out of the harm they are causing to the community,' Detective Inspector Phelps said. Police are still looking out for a number of other individuals and have encouraged the public to come forward with any information. 'These production processes are extremely large,' Detective Inspector Phelps said. 'They take a lot of human and physical resources to establish and then continue to operate, so it's very hard for them to do it without coming to the notice of the locals who live in these areas.' Fans were quick to question if Idle and Cleese's relationship had soured Eric Idle has denied any involvement in an upcoming stage production of Monty Python's Life Of Brian. The comedian, 80, contradicted reports that he is collaborating with John Cleese on reworking the 1979 comedy. Idle distanced himself from the project after sharing a tweet from the British Comedy Guide which read: 'The stage show version of Monty Python's Life Of Brian will be launched in London in 2024, John Cleese has confirmed. He and Idle have made changes - for example, there'll be no crucifixion scene.' He replied: 'I have nothing at all to do with this production or adaptation. Apparently Cleese has cut the song. Of course.' Idle was referring to his song Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life which plays during the crucifixion. Eric Idle attends PanCAN's Purplestride Walk To End Pancreatic Cancer at Santa Monica Pier earlier this year Last week it was reported that Cleese and Idle had been 'workshopping new scenes and plotlines for a blockbuster stage show' The famous scene has been cut from the upcoming production, according to reports. Fans were quick to question if the relationship between Idle and Cleese had soured. In response to one person, Idle simply tweeted: 'I haven't seen John since the last day of our US tour in New Orleans 2016.' Another tweet read: 'I have no problems with the Pythons. I think they are foolish in business, but I have my say and walk away. What can I do but that? Give me a break.' Last week it was reported that Cleese and Idle, who recently overcame pancreatic cancer, had been 'workshopping new scenes and plotlines for a blockbuster stage show'. Cleese, 83, who is working on the project with veteran stage director Caroline Ranger, said: 'I think Life Of Brian is our best film. 'We are going to do it in London in the second half of next year and I've changed certain things.' He told an audience at his one-man show that he had to cut a scene in which a male character reveals they want to be known as 'Loretta'. Recalling a read through, he said: 'At the end, I said to the American actors, 'What do you think?' And they said, 'We love the script, but you can't do that stuff about Loretta nowadays'. 'So here you have something there's never been a complaint about in 40 years, that I've heard of, and now all of a sudden we can't do it because it'll offend people. Idle performing during the 2012 London Olympic Games 'What is one supposed to make of that? But I think there were a lot of things that were actually, in some strange way, predictive of what was actually going to happen later.' Cleese, who has joined GB News, has spoken openly against 'cancel culture' in recent years - a contrast to Idle who revealed he struggles to be 'sympathetic' towards those who complain when their jokes are not received well. 'You shouldn't moan about the audience,' he told the podcast On With Kara Swisher in November. 'There's nothing wrong with the audience. If they don't laugh at your jokes, there's something wrong with your joke. 'And so... I'm not terribly sympathetic to that sort of attitude, to be honest.' Life Of Brian was written by Monty Python comedy troupe's founding members, Cleese, Idle, Graham Chapman, Terry Gilliam, Terry Jones and Michael Palin. It was banned in some areas for blasphemy and faced accusations of mocking Jesus. Idle previously wrote the Tony Award-winning musical Spamalot! based on the 1975 film Monty Python And The Holy Grail. The son of a former Tory minister who killed a three-year-old boy by crushing him with a car seat has been returned to prison after a furious manhunt. Stephen Waterson, 31, was jailed for seven and a half years for manslaughter and perverting the course of justice in 2019 and was released in January 2022. The adopted son of former MP Nigel Waterson rammed his car seat into Alfie Lamb, three, the son of his girlfriend Adrian Hoare, while he cried in February 2018 in Sutton, south west London. By the time they got home, Alfie had stopped breathing and he died of crush asphyxia three days later. Police had been searching for Waterson since May 13 and he was arrested in Greenwich on Friday. He has been 'returned to custody' and may remain there until his original release date of 2026, The Sun reported. Alfie Lamb, three, died three days after Waterson crushed him with a car seat. By the time they had returned home the three-year-old had stopped breathing Stephen Waterson, 31, was jailed for seven and a half years in 2019 following the death of Alfie Lamb, three, in February 2018 The family of the dead toddler were not told that Waterson had been released when he was paroled in 2022, sparking calls for a formal apology from the Ministry of Justice. Alfie's mother Adrian Hoare was jailed for two years and nine months in May 2019. She was offered early release just five months later but her licence was revoked and was taken back into custody in May 2020. Waterson was returning home after shopping in South London in 2018 when he reversed his electronic car seat onto Alfie who was sitting at his mother's feet in the footwell behind. By the time the trio arrived at Waterson's home in Croydon, south London, Alfie had collapsed and stopped breathing. The toddler began crying and choking, but his mother told him to 'shut up' before Waterson put the seat forward again. He died at St Thomas' Hospital in South London from catastrophic brain damage on February 4, 2018, three days after the incident. Waterson, who was described by police as 'arrogant, selfish and deeply unpleasant', tried to avoid prosecution by repeatedly lying and intimidating witnesses. The family of the dead toddler (pictured) were not told that Waterson had been released when he was paroled in 2022 Alfie's mother Adrian Hoare was jailed for two years and nine months in May 2019. She was offered early release just five months later but was taken back into custody in May 2020 The Audi (pictured) in which Waterson crushed Alfie by reversing his electric car seat. Alfie's mother Adrian Hoare had put him in harm's way by placing him in the footwell behind the seat He denied manslaughter during his first trial in which the jury was unable to reach a verdict, before pleading guilty on the first day of his retrial. During sentencing, Old Bailey judge Mr Justice Timothy Kerr told Waterson that he was 'manipulative, dishonest, deceitful, controlling, threatening, and sometimes violent'. A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said of his arrest: 'Protecting the public is our number one priority. 'That's why offenders are subject to tough licence conditions and when they breach them, we do not hesitate to return them to custody.' Police are looking for 76-year-old Lyn Campbell-Ryder who was last seen at a home on Garfield Street, in Carlton, in Sydney's south, in late April Australians are so furious at a police officer Tasering a 95-year-old grandmother that a well-meaning public appeal for another missing elderly woman has been hijacked with troll comments asking if she will be Tasered too. Police announced at the weekend that they are searching for 76-year-old Lyn Campbell-Ryder who was last seen at a home on Garfield Street, in Carlton, in Sydney's south, in late April. The NSW Police Force shared a post to their Twitter account on Saturday appealing for public assistance to help find Ms Campbell-Ryder, after her landlord reported her missing a day earlier. But the post has been flooded with comments from many attacking the NSW Police force after an officer Tasered Clare Nowland at the Yallambee Lodge nursing home, in NSW's Snowy Mountains, last Wednesday morning. Mrs Nowland is now undergoing end of life care, with the incident sparking international outrage. The missing person tweet prompted inappropriate messages including: 'Looking for more Taser practice'. The force shared a post to their Twitter account on Saturday appealing for public assistance to help find Ms Campbell-Ryder but were attacked by Aussies following the Tasering of 95-year-old Clare Nowland The post was quickly flooded with comments from many attacking NSW Police after an officer Tasered Clare Nowland at the Yallambee Lodge nursing home, in NSW's Snowy Mountains, last Wednesday morning 'Someone find her before police do,' said another. 'So you can Taser first and ask questions later?' 'Did you guys accidentally Taser this woman as well?' one reply said. NSW Police was contacted for comment. The taunts cannot be moderated away on Twitter. Ms Campbell-Ryder is described as being of Caucasian appearance, about 155cm tall, of small build, with a short grey hair and brown eyes. She is known to frequent Sydney's CBD area and anyone with information into her whereabouts is urged to call police or Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000. Mrs Nowland is meanwhile unconscious at the Cooma District Hospital following the incident at her nursing home at about 4am last Wednesday. The 95-year-old - who has dementia, weights just 43kg, uses a walking frame and stands 1.57 metres tall (5 foot, 2 inches) - was blasted by cops after she took a serrated steak knife from the kitchen into a treatment room. Police and paramedics tried to get her to drop the knife before a senior constable fired his Taser once as she slowly approached them. Mrs Nowland fell back and struck her head on the floor, leaving her with a fractured skull and brain bleed. Clare Nowland is now receiving end of life care in Cooma District Hospital, in southern NSW , after she was critically injured last Wednesday morning Local priest, Father Mark Croker, visited Mrs Nowland on Sunday and held a Catholic mass at her hospital bedside. He said although Mrs Nowland had dementia, she had been in good form and was able to hold a conversation. 'The thing with Clare is the dementia hadn't completely taken hold, you could still have a conversation with her she might get a bit confused, but that's an age thing,' he told the Daily Telegraph. It's understood the 95-year-old is unconscious and her eight children and their families are taking turns speaking to her. The officer who fired the electric shock weapon joined the force 12 years ago and has since been taken off active duty. A critical incident investigation into the incident has been elevated to 'level one' because of Mrs Nowland suffering an injury that could lead to her death. Detectives from the State Homicide Squad and Law Enforcement Conduct Commission are investigating what happened and if the forced used was appropriate. If you happen to be one of the 700,000 people who live in North Wales, then your health and happiness lies in the hands of the Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board. Named after a local contemporary of Florence Nightingale, it runs 20 hospitals and coordinates the work of 96 GP practices and 147 pharmacies across six counties, spending 1.2 billion a year. This hefty sum the equivalent of 400 for every man, woman or child in Wales makes it the largest single public-sector organisation in the entire country. Sadly, against stiff opposition, it can almost certainly be described as the most incompetent, too. For six of the past eight years, including this one, Betsi Cadwaladr has been in 'special measures', an emergency status that supposedly allows the Labour-run Welsh government, which has devolved responsibility for healthcare, to sort out failing NHS bodies. Plagued by chaotic mismanagement, it has been through seven chief executives in 13 years, and four since 2019. At one point it was paying a 'cost-saving' consultant nearly 2,000 a day for nine months, in a deal that allowed him to work from his villa in Marbella. Jo Whitehead (left), Sue Hill (centre) and Eluned Morgan (right) are under pressure over Betsi Cadwaladr (Stock Image) If you happen to be one of the 700,000 people who live in North Wales, then your health and happiness lies in the hands of the Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board A series of damning official probes culminated in February with an Audit Wales report chronicling 'deeply worrying dysfunctionality' among senior staff and 'long-standing concerns about the performance, quality and safety of a number of specific services'. Examples of chronic and sometimes tragic ineptitude abound. In November, inspectors were forced to abandon a tour of its biggest hospital, Ysbyty Glan Clwyd near Rhyl, to save the life of a patient who had fallen ill in a corridor of the A&E unit. The group had found itself unable to locate a single doctor or nurse in the chaotically run facility, where it was taking two hours to triage new arrivals, placing patients at 'a significant risk of harm'. Christmas saw two 'critical incidents' along with the publication of a review of vascular services which uncovered serious deficiencies and failings across the organisation, including the fact that the deaths of four patients had not been properly referred to coroners. Spiralling waiting lists mean 30 per cent of patients wait more than nine months for treatment, with nearly one in four twiddling their thumbs for more than a year. Some 9,000 locals have waited more than two years (the figure for the whole of England, which has 80 times the population of North Wales, is around just 20,000). Meanwhile, the cost of settling the roughly 230 negligence claims the board clocks up annually runs to more than 25 million a year. In March, an internal report identified ten 'breaches of duty' in the care given to a 61-year-old hairdresser from Anglesey named Janet Jones, who died after falling down stairs. An independent medical report submitted to her inquest said in summary that her treatment by paramedics, A&E professionals and 'squabbling' teams of hospital staff had been 'abject'. Betsi Cadwaladr is, in other words, a byword for chaos and ineptitude. It runs death-trap hospitals, provides shoddy care to almost three-quarters of a million people, and represents a source of deep embarrassment to the Labour Party, which has run the Welsh NHS throughout its existence and would soon like to take over England's, too. Yet perhaps the biggest scandal in the failing health board's history has been kept almost entirely under wraps. Until now. The conspiracy, which meant a whopping 120 million of spending could not be signed off last year, has been laid bare in a secret 'forensic report' by investigators from Ernst & Young (EY) which was leaked to this newspaper last week Today, the Mail can lift the lid on an extraordinary series of events that saw several of Betsi Cadwaladr's most senior officials orchestrate a plot to dishonestly cover up 10 million of dodgy spending. We can reveal how a cabal of corrupt senior staff created fake documents, knowingly misled auditors and independent members of their own governing board about how taxpayer money was being spent, and broke a host of ethical rules by choosing to file false financial accounts. The conspiracy, which meant a whopping 120 million of spending could not be signed off last year, has been laid bare in a secret 'forensic report' by investigators from Ernst & Young (EY) which was leaked to this newspaper last week. Spanning 95 gruesome pages, it details 'deliberate' and 'systemic cultural failings' by senior officials most notably Betsi Cadwaladr's 250,000-a-year chief executive Jo Whitehead and her 150,000-a-year finance chief Sue Hill and raises serious questions about the dysfunctional nature of not just the Welsh NHS, but the country's entire public sector. It tells how senior executives at the health board sought to 'hinder' Ernst & Young's inquiry by altering key documents, and reveals that a recording of a key Teams meeting at which fraudulent behaviour is likely to have been discussed was mysteriously deleted before it could be handed to investigators. The shoddy affair dates back to late 2021. It began when Betsi Cadwaladr found itself on track to underspend its budget for the financial year by around 10 million. A sensible response would, of course, have been simply to return the money to the Exchequer. But this is the Welsh public sector, where profligacy is the order of the day. So chief executive Whitehead and her team decided to instead find elaborate ways to get rid of huge sums of money. Spending like a drunken sailor proved to be remarkably easy. But soon, a problem emerged. Namely, some of the products and services that Betsi Cadwaladr had purchased weren't actually being supplied until after the end of the financial year. Others involved contracts that ran until 2024. And many big-ticket items on the shopping list involved 'capital expenditure' which had to be accounted for over several years. In other words, hardly any of the shopping spree could legally be paid for with the 'spare' 10 million they had sitting in their budget for 2021/22. At this point, a properly run public body would, again, have returned the unspent cash. But instead, the report finds, Jo Whitehead doubled down, taking what she called a 'pragmatic decision' to place it on the books for the incorrect year. This policy, which breaks a host of basic rules of governance, was enthusiastically pursued by many senior officials. The report finds that they deliberately recorded transactions wrongly, often against the better instincts of subordinates, providing page after page of transcripts of emails and calls in which executives orchestrated the scam. On one occasion, Andy Whitfield, the chief finance officer at Ysbyty Maelor Wrecsam (Wrexham Maelor hospital), instructed two members of staff to falsely account for 258,314 of spending on bladder scanners as day-to-day rather than 'capital' spending, so they could be paid for using the spare 10 million, saying: 'The more we can find a way to charge to revenue right now, the better for everyone, so I hope you'll support the party line that these should be treated as revenue.' On another, two senior officials, chief finance officer of the board's central area Nigel McCann and acting executive director of finance Rob Nolan, exchanged emails in which they appeared to criticise a junior member of the finance team for querying an instruction to cook the books. (Stock Image) The report has been kept almost entirely under wraps since Ernst & Young submitted it on January 25. Neither Betsi Cadwaladr nor the Welsh government will agree to place it in the public domain A third incident highlighted by Ernst & Young saw Sue Hill, Betsi Cadwaladr's finance chief, attend a meeting where plans to account for a 500,000 contract with the British Red Cross in the incorrect time period were discussed. When investigators asked Hill why she failed to intervene to stop the plan, she was struck dumb, staying silent for 40 seconds before saying: 'I guess I should have done but I didn't.' By far the murkiest transaction, and the biggest, involved a 1.8 million contract with a consultancy firm called Lightfoot Solutions, which was invoiced to 2021/22 despite the fact that it actually covered services 'for the following financial year and beyond'. To create a paper trail supporting this, a fake purchase order was produced on March 30, 2022, one of the last working days of the financial year. The Ernst & Young report says it was drafted by Simon Whitehead, head of procurement at NHS Wales Shared Services Partnership (NWSSP), in consultation with McCann. It was 'intentionally designed' to contain several deliberate errors that meant it would never actually be sent to Lightfoot but could seemingly be retained to create misleading internal records. 'PO [purchase order] will now fail as no fax number . . . so it won't go to LF [Lightfoot],' Simon Whitehead told McCann, who replied 'Great stuff'. NWSSP which has 2,000 employees, spends 400 million a year and provides critical support to every health trust in Wales would not comment when asked about its head of procurement's involvement in this false accounting scandal. A second fake document was then produced two months later, when Audit Wales, which had by then uncovered 'significant errors' in Betsi Cadwaladr's accounts, asked to see a copy of Lightfoot's original bid for the job. In response, Tim Woodhead, Betsi Cadwaladr's 'finance director: operational finance' issued an extraordinary instruction to a subordinate, telling him not to hand over the actual document in question. Instead, Ernst & Young claims, he held two meetings on Teams with Lightfoot, after which an 'altered' copy of the proposal was supplied to the auditors. It had several key dates removed and some items of wording changed in an effort to 'introduce ambiguity' and therefore misrepresent the deal. It's unclear what knowledge (if any) Lightfoot, which works widely across the British NHS, had of this murky affair. The firm did not comment on its role in creating the 'altered' proposal, but tells me it was 'given assurances' that the basis of its employment was legitimate. Woodhead's fake document was later used to persuade Betsi Cadwaladr's board of directors to green-light the Lightfoot deal. He was not the only senior executive at the health board pulling wool over their eyes, either. So, too, was finance chief Sue Hill. Because of the value of the contract, the Lightfoot deal needed to be signed off by the Welsh government. However, in May 2022 the chief executive of NHS Wales refused to grant it, saying: 'Colleagues do not consider that this contract is value for money and have heard mixed reports about the work of Lightfoot.' This hugely important fact was concealed from directors at a board meeting held in August 2022, when Hill claimed that the Welsh government had simply asked for some 'additional information' about the deal. The briefing persuaded the board to support the deal. The result, according to Ernst & Young, is that the consulting firm is now working for Betsi Cadwaladr without any valid contract in place, and without Welsh government approval. All told, the 'forensic report' is explosive stuff of significant public interest which shows an array of highly paid staff at a public body that turns over 1.2 billion a year displaying contempt for standards and governance. James Davies, a local Tory MP and former doctor, described its findings as 'damning' saying: 'Its description of collusion between multiple individuals both within and outside of the health board to present dishonest accounts, falsify documents and manipulate and withhold information suggests an indifference to rules and standards and a lack of accountability. 'It provides yet further evidence of the systemic and cultural malaise that pervades Betsi Cadwaladr. It is a disgrace.' David T.C. Davies, the Secretary of State for Wales, added last night: 'The report highlights systematic failures at the heart of the health board, most notably officials appearing to fudge and fiddle figures. Serious questions must now be directed at both the health board and the Labour-run Welsh government about what has been uncovered.' The report has been kept almost entirely under wraps since Ernst & Young submitted it on January 25. Neither Betsi Cadwaladr nor the Welsh government will agree to place it in the public domain. Not one of the highly paid officials who faked documents, misled auditors and carried out false accounting has yet been made to suffer the slightest consequence. A criminal fraud investigation was dropped a few weeks ago, seemingly on the grounds that none of the perpetrators of the conspiracy personally profited. And although an 'internal review' is ongoing, the people responsible for the 10 million scandal have been neither disciplined nor sacked. Most are still being paid six-figure salaries with the exception of Betsi Cadwaladr's chief executive Jo Whitehead who was allowed to retire early, citing 'family reasons', before Christmas. 'The management of the issues raised in the EY report is progressing in line with existing procedures and policies,' is all Betsi Cadwaladr will say. 'It is inappropriate to comment on the status of any employees at this stage.' Perhaps most scandalously of all, finance chief Sue Hill who, according to Ernst & Young, gave evidence to the inquiry that was 'inconsistent with documentary evidence' and then refused to co-operate further by submitting to a follow-up interview, somehow remains an executive member of Betsi Cadwaladr's governing board of directors. Does the Welsh government care? Its Corbynite First Minister, Mark Drakeford, claimed in the Senedd (Welsh parliament) that he had not even read the Ernst & Young document, while Health Minister Eluned Morgan's only meaningful response to its publication has been to sack several of Betsi Cadwaladr's 'independent' directors the very people behind the original decision to hire Ernst & Young to investigate. Their jobs have been handed to replacements considered unlikely to rock the boat, including one Gareth Williams, a former special adviser to Drakeford. Some smell a political stitch-up. 'The apparent attempt to cover up the Ernst & Young report is bad enough,' says David Jones, a local Tory MP. 'Even worse, however, was the effective sacking by the Welsh government of the independent board members two of whom are constituents of mine who were simply doing their best to throw light on this disgraceful affair. The police must now be asked to investigate.' Quite so. For as the forensic and until now secret inquiry has shown, the biggest public-sector organisation in Wales also appears to be its most corrupt. Victoria Police command has been asked to explain why it refused to deploy sniffer dogs in the search for a grandmother who was later found dead. Colleen South, 58, drove her Hyundai Getz from her home in Renown Park, South Australia, across the Victorian border on July 1 last year and was spotted stopped on the side of the Calder Highway on July 2 before she vanished the next day. Her body was found a month later just 1500 metres from where her car had been found abandoned. Colleen and her daughter Veronica South (right) in happier times. She had searched frantically for her mother after her car was found abandoned in Victoria Ms South's niece actress Farah Mak made repeated public appeals for information about Mr South On Monday, Victorian Coroner David Ryan took control of the investigation into how Victoria Police handled its search for Ms South. While a coronial inquest is not mandatory in Ms South's case, the coroner is in the process of deciding whether he will hold one anyway. The court heard Judge Ryan was keen to know why police command refused a request to provide dogs in the ground search. 'The dog squad wasn't deployed earlier. It's not clear to me at the moment why the dogs weren't deployed earlier ... and then their use afterwards. There may be good reasons for that, but it's not clear to me,' he said. 'This jurisdiction should not be about blame, but about prevention opportunities and trying to identify what could have been done differently and areas for improvement.' Judge Ryan said the use of dogs may also have helped forensic scientists determine how it was that Ms South died. The court heard while Ms South's body had been found with a broken rib, pathologists were unable to establish her cause of death. 'Cutting to the chase, what I'm look at is whether there was an opportunity to find Ms South earlier than she was. It maybe that even with the best of intentions and the best practice search conducted that she may not have been located alive even if she had of been located earlier,' Judge Ryan said. 'But an earlier discovery of Ms South's body certainly would have saved the family a lot of distress and concern in relation to what happened to her. 'It would have saved the ongoing deployment of resources of Victoria Police and potentially - and we don't know this - but it may have provided a better opportunity for pathologists to find or formulate specific causes of death.' A concerning note asking for help was found inside Ms South's journal near her abandoned car Ms South was last seen by a witness in her Hyundai Getz (pictured) on July 3 last year. The car was found abandoned an hour later Medication found by Veronica South and her friends in the area where her mother disappeared Colleen South (pictured)was known to vanish only to be found later sitting under a tree Veronica sent a message to her mum on TV a few weeks after she went missing telling her they are 'not giving up' on finding her (pictured with her aunt and Ms South's sister) Ms South's mysterious disappearance made headlines after reports spread that a handwritten note was found in her abandoned belongings with the words 'help me please'. Ms South's actress niece Farah Mak, who has previously appeared on Neighbours, quickly became the public face of the search, taking aim at Victoria Police then for bungling the investigation. She told Daily Mail Australia on Sunday she was looking forward to finally receiving some answers into the police search for her aunty. 'It's positive news that the coroner is investigating everything thoroughly,' Ms Mak said. 'Hopefully systems and policies are changed so that no other missing person or family endures this.' The court heard Ms South had suffered from a series of medical conditions, including bipolar, depression and schizophrenia. She had been reported missing nine times previously and was known to frequent rural properties and sleep under random trees. Ms South had argued with her daughter Veronica before jumping in her car and driving to Victoria. Her damaged vehicle was spotted days later by a farmer, who noted its airbags had been deployed. Ms South's personal items, including bags and keys, were found 20 metres from her car On July 5, more than a month before Ms South's body would be found, a local police officer asked his superiors to send the dog squad and police helicopter to help in the search. The request was denied, with dogs not hitting the ground until days later. Although drones were deployed in the area, the police airwing wasn't used until July 20. The court heard internal bickering between Victorian and South Australian police will also be examined by the coroner. While Ms South had vanished in Victoria, Victoria Police refused to take the lead in finding her until July 16. Her body was found by a famer under a tree on August 8. The discovery brought to an end a desperate search by Ms South's family, who feared she may been the victim of a crime. One relative of Ms South previously claimed her uncle found 'spent shotgun shells at the scene', but detectives 'had not followed up on this, nor reported it'. While 'out of character', Victoria Police stated it was not treating the grandmother's disappearance as suspicious. The hearing will return to court in eight weeks to allow Victoria Police to attempt to answer some of the coroner's questions before he decides if a full blown inquest is required. The Lake District is missing out on sorely-needed spending from affluent overseas visitors due to the hated tourist tax, tourism businesses have said. It is not just London being afflicted by the absence of VAT-free shopping scheme, according to businesses in north-west England. Liberal Democrat MP for Westmorland and Lonsdale Tim Farron, called the Government's refusal to introduce the tax refund incentive 'absolutely bonkers'. His comments echoed those of more than 40 Tory MPs and peers, as well as around 200 business chiefs - including Marks & Spencer, Harrods and Burberry - who have urged the Chancellor to ditch the levy. Leisure businesses based in the Lake District said overseas visitors were swerving the UK in favour of picking up cheaper goods in Paris or Milan. A sheep grazes on pasture land by Grasmere, Ambleside, in the Lake District Stacey McShane, chief operating officer at The World of Beatrix Potter Attraction, based at the children's museum in Bowness-on-Widermere, said: 'Not being able to claim back VAT on goods purchased in the UK has definitely had an impact on sales at our attraction shop.' International tourists will often plan a few days in London before visiting scenic parts of the UK such as the Lake District, Edinburgh and the Cotswolds. Jen Cormack, sales and marketing director at Windermere Lake Cruises said: 'In the absence of tax-free shopping for international visitors, the allure of destinations like London and the UK as premier shopping destinations has waned, casting a shadow over regions outside of capital cities, like the picturesque Lake District.' She said visitors had been left 'with a bittersweet sense of missed opportunities' while businesses ranging from hotels to transport providers to restaurants were afflicted. 'The impact reverberates through the UK and all regions, where the charm of retail therapy once added a vibrant thread to international visitors' experiences.' Liberal Democrat MP for Westmorland and Lonsdalem Tim Farron, said: 'It's absolutely bonkers that the Chancellor is refusing to reinstate duty-free shopping for visitors.' Businesses in his constituency had 'battled through years of the pandemic, and are now dealing with rising bills and a huge staffing crisis' and now 'desperately need more support from the Government'. 'Instead they are being hammered by the Government's cloth-eared decision. They must scrap the tourist tax today and support Britain's second biggest visitor destination.' Liberal Democrat MP Tim Farron, called the Government's refusal to introduce the tax refund incentive 'absolutely bonkers' Before Covid, around 10 per cent of visitors to the rural destination were international, but this dropped to just 1 per cent in 2021 and recovery has been slow, crawling up to 3 per cent in 2022, according to tourist board Cumbria Tourism. Gill Haigh, managing director at Cumbria Tourism said: 'We know that our international visitor spend is significantly higher than domestic visitor spend so it is hitting both volume and value and, in a place like Cumbria, where the majority of businesses are independently owned, this impact is keenly felt and hindering recovery.' Their pleas come just days after government minister Paul Scully, broke cover and admitted 'hundreds of millions of pounds' is lost in revenue because shoppers are choosing to go to European cities rather than London. He said while some people view it as 'big shops getting a tax rebate', he believes it will bring in 'hundreds of millions pounds of lost revenue to this country'. The University of Sydney has started offering tampons and sanitary products in male bathrooms. The products are available in wall-hung dispensers, alongside a note endorsed by the University of Sydney Union. It reads: 'Respecting and supporting our gender-diverse community with free sanitary products for those who need them.' The products are available in wall-hung dispensers, alongside a note endorsed by University of Sydney Union The Student Services and Amenities Fee logo is also included on the note, indicating the sanitary products are actually funded by fees that all students pay each semester. As of 2023, full time students are expected to pay $163 per semester to cover the amenities fee. Footage of a student walking into the bathroom has since been shared on Twitter, attracting mixed responses from the public. Poll Should tampons be available for free in male bathrooms? YES NO Should tampons be available for free in male bathrooms? YES 27 votes NO 325 votes Now share your opinion While some argue trans men can still menstruate, others described the decision as 'absurd'. 'This doesn't hurt anyone,' one said. 'We do not all have to agree. We do not all have to understand each other, but what we all should be doing is living our own lives and letting others do the same. It's extremely easy.' Another argued that sanitary products are still not available free of charge in many circumstances for women, and demanded to know whether the union had included the same products in female toilets on campus. A University spokesperson confirmed the union was allocated funding for the initiative, and oversaw the rollout, including where the tampons would be placed. And USU President Cole Scott-Curwood told Daily Mail Australia the initiative is one of many ways the union is improving life for students on campus. 'We know how important it is to remove barriers to access for all our members, and anyone who needs period products should be able to access them. The Student Services and Amenities Fee logo is also included on the note, indicating the sanitary products are actually funded by fees that all students pay each semester 'Last year we installed 102 pad and tampon dispensers in all 51 female, male, gender-neutral, and baby-change bathrooms in the three USU buildings. 'We don't know when our members might need period products for themselves or those they care for, so we're providing these products in a readily-accessible way. 'As part of the quadrupled budget for FoodHub this year, USU is also providing these and other non-food welfare items for free to students.' The move follows the lead of several universities in the United States, which also stock tampons. It also comes amid heated debate within Australia over all-gender inclusive bathrooms. Women's activist Kellie Jay Keen recently sparked heated clashes throughout Australia after arriving from the UK for a divisive speaking tour on the matter. She told Daily Mail Australia she advocates against trans people being welcomed into 'women only' spaces such as gendered sport, changing rooms and public bathrooms. When asked where she stands on gender neutral spaces in addition to male and female spaces, she conceded that's not something she is concerned about. 'All that I'm advocating for, is men not to be in women's spaces. I don't care how you negotiate that,' she said. But Transport for NSW has withdrawn the charges Controversial One Nation leader Mark Latham has been cleared of allegations he broke NSW road rules after the state's transport authority withdrew the charge. The 62-year-old former opposition leader was allegedly detected using his mobile phone while driving near a phone detection camera. Appearing outside of Downing Centre court on Tuesday, lawyer Danny Eid said Transport for NSW had withdrawn and dismissed the charge in court. Mark Latham (pictured) had been accused of using his mobile phone while driving near a phone detection camera but Transport for NSW had withdrawn the charge 'They (TfNSW) have considered the guidelines available to them and other factors under the legislation and have come to the view that the charges should be withdrawn,' Mr Eid said. Mr Latham was not required to appear before the court. The court matter is the second in recent weeks for Mr Latham. The One Nation state leader is also gearing up for a Federal Court battle after independent MP Alex Greenwich revealed he intended to file a defamation suit against Mr Latham over a homophobic tweet. Mr Greenwich alleges he was defamed, portrayed as a danger to children, and subjected to repeated attacks because of his sexuality following a since-delete tweet by Mr Latham in March. The popular Sydney MP has also lodged a police complaint against Mr Latham on the grounds of using a carriage service to menace, harass, or offend, as well as a complaint with Anti-Discrimination NSW. Mr Greenwhich called Mr Latham an 'influential person' and said the MLC's behaviour 'has manifested into a great deal of attacks and abuse' being directed at him since the tweet was posted. Mr Latham (pictured) is gearing up for another court battle, this time in the Federal Court after MP Alex Greenwich revealed he intended to file a defamation suit against him over a homophobic tweet 'My office is inundated with abusive emails and, in some cases, threats that I've had to report to police as a result of Mr Latham's ongoing commentary and sexualised attacks on me,' he said. 'It is important when people attack your character, when people seek to reduce you to a sex act, when people seek to incite others to abuse intimidate and humiliate you that you take action.' Mr Eid confirmed on Tuesday that his client would be fighting any defamation suit. 'He is definitely going to defend the defamation,' he said. 'That is absolute try-on.' As parents and educators fight over book bans, five states have enacted criminal punishments for librarians who allow children to access 'obscene' materials - with a dozen states considering similar actions. The laws could subject librarians to significant penalties, including imprisonment and hefty fines, for providing sexually explicit, obscene or books deemed 'harmful' to children. At least seven state legislatures have passed these laws over the past two years, with six of them doing so in the last two months, although the governors of Idaho and North Dakota vetoed similar legislation. The laws are pending in nine other states but so far there have been no instances in which a school staffer has been charged under the new laws. Around a dozen states have also considered more than 20 similar bills this year alone with approximately half of them expecting to be reintroduced in 2024. New state laws have been enacted that could subject librarians to significant penalties, including imprisonment and hefty fines, for providing sexually explicit, obscene or books deemed 'harmful' to children Laws in Idaho and Arkansas, Indiana, Missouri, North Dakota and Oklahoma could result in fines or imprisonment, or both, for school employees and librarians. Tennessee's law goes further than just librarians and targets schools, book publishers and vendors who sell the books to schools in the first place. The new laws put librarians in the firing line, whereas previously, they were exempt from prosecution over obscene materials in almost every state. All but one of the new laws primarily targets schools, but some also include the staff of public libraries, with one specifically targeting book vendors. The laws are also difficult to navigate as they do not specifically explain what would count as obscene and suggest such judgments be decided by the courts. However, the very presence of the laws could create a 'climate of fear' among school librarians leading to censorship particularly on books about and penned by LGBTQ people. 'It will make sure the only literature students are exposed to fits into a narrow scope of what some people want the world to look like,' said Keith Gambill, president of the teachers union in Indiana told the Washington Post. Indiana is one of the states that has adopted such new laws. Books banned in schools include Gender Queer: A Memoir by Maia Kobabe and The Hate U Give, by Angie Thomas Novels by Nobel laureate Toni Morrison dealing with race have been banned, as was The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini 'This is my 37th year in education. I've never seen anything like this. We are entering a very frightening period.' Conservatives believe such laws are necessary to stop children from being exposed to pornographic and sexual content that they fear could harm their mental health and warp development. In Indiana, staffers could be slapped with a $10,000 fine or be jailed for 2-and-a-half years for giving obscene or harmful material to minors. In Oklahoma, school employees and public library staffers could face a $20,000 fine or be given a 10-year jail sentence for facilitating 'indecent exposure to obscene material or child pornography.' A Tennessee law threatens book publishers, distributors and sellers with six years in prison and up to $103,000 in fines. The laws are already having an effect on the types of books lining school library shelves with librarians concerned they could face prosecution. Students from the Miami-Dade County protest last month during what they say is an assault on educational freedom by Governor Ron DeSantis and the Republican-controlled legislature The students joined with others across the state for school walkouts in protest of what they say is an assault on educational freedom by limiting books in libraries In some states, including Indiana, librarians have removed books on topics dealing with LGBTQ issues, sex, race and violence. In Idaho, the Association of School Administrators distributed a list of 25 titles that could fall foul of the library-related laws. They include: 'This Book is Gay' and 'Beyond Magenta: Transgender Teens Speak Out.' Maia Kobabe's 'Gender Queer' was the most challenged book in 2021 and 2022, according to the American Library Association. The book is a memoir about being nonbinary and features masturbation and a scene where a teen prepares to perform fellatio with an older, bearded man. Jonathan Evison's 'Lawn Boy,' Angie Thomas' 'The Hate U Give' and a book-length edition of the '1619 Project,' the Pulitzer Prize-winning report from The New York Times on the legacy of slavery in the U.S. are all targets for removal. Parents attend a school board meeting to voice their opinions on some of the book choices that caused controversy last October Jennifer Wilson, a Florida English teacher, wears a shirt against banning books One school has even instated a rule whereby students needed signed permission from their parents in order to read them. One school has even instated a rule whereby students needed signed permission from their parents in order to read them. In Florida, although there are no book-banning laws in place, Governor Ron DeSantis has approved laws to review reading materials and limit classroom discussion of gender identity and had race books pulled indefinitely or temporarily including John Green's 'Looking for Alaska,' Colleen Hoover's 'Hopeless,' Margaret Atwood's dystopian novel 'The Handmaid's Tale' and Grace Lin's picture story 'Dim Sum for Everyone!' More recently, Florida's Martin County school district removed dozens of books from its middle schools and high schools, including numerous works by novelist Jodi Picoult, Toni Morrison's Pulitzer Prize-winning 'Beloved' and James Patterson's 'Maximum Ride' thrillers, a decision which the bestselling author has criticized on Twitter as 'arbitrary and borderline absurd.' DeSantis has called reports of mass bannings a 'hoax,' saying in a statement released earlier this month that the allegations reveal 'some are attempting to use our schools for indoctrination.' Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, a Republican, has pushed for limits on how race, gender and sexual identity are taught in schools although there are no book banning laws on the statue America's 5 most banned titles: Gender Queer: A Memoir by Maia Kobabe was banned by 41 school districts. The illustrated text charts the author's 'journey of self-identity' and 'what it means to be non-binary and asexual', according to promotional material. All Boys Aren't Blue, a series of personal essays by George M. Johnson, was banned in 29 districts. The 'memoir-manifesto' narrates the childhood, adolescence, and college years of its black, queer author Out of Darkness by Ashley Hope Perez is a novel about teen love between a Mexican-American girl and a black boy in Texas in the 1930s. It was banned in 24 districts. The Bluest Eye was banned in 22 districts. The first novel by celebrated author Toni Morrison tells the story of a black girl growing up in the 1940s, and her sense of inferiority due to her skin color. The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas was banned in 17 districts. It was inspired by the Black Lives Matter protest movement, deals with the police violence against minorities, and was turned into a 2018 movie. Advertisement In 2022, attempted book bans and restrictions at school and public libraries continue to surge, setting a record according to the American Library Association released Thursday. More than 1,200 challenges were compiled by the association in 2022, nearly double the then-record total from 2021 and by far the most since the ALA began keeping data 20 years ago. 'I've never seen anything like this,' says Deborah Caldwell-Stone, who directs the ALA's Office for Intellectual Freedom. 'The last two years have been exhausting, frightening, outrage inducing.' Requests are often for multiple removals and organized by national groups such as the conservative Moms for Liberty, which has a mission of 'unifying, educating and empowering parents to defend their parental rights at all levels of government.' Last year, more than 2,500 different books were objected to, compared to 1,858 in 2021 and just 566 in 2019. In numerous cases, hundreds of books were challenged in a single complaint. The ALA bases its findings on media accounts and voluntary reporting from libraries and acknowledges that the numbers might be far higher. Jordan Neely's uncle says the ex-Marine accused of placing the homeless street performer in a fatal chokehold aboard a subway train should not get a plea deal, or 'he will do it again.' Christopher Neely also called for the two men seen helping Daniel Penny hold Neely down during the deadly May 1 encounter on the F train to face criminal charges. 'He needs to be prosecuted or he will do it again,' Christopher told The New York Post on Sunday. 'Its a smack in the face for Jordans family and the people of New York.' Penny faces a manslaughter charge in connection to Neely's death, and he was charged after protests called for him to be arrested. Penny broke his silence on Saturday to say that Neely's death had nothing to do with race, claiming he did what he believed was right and would behave the same way if he were put in the same situation again. Daniel Penny, 24, is facing 15 years in prison for putting Jordan Neely, 30, in a fatal chokehold Neely's uncle said Penny shouldnt be offered a plea deal by the Manhattan DA's Office, which charged him with second-degree manslaughter for the caught-on-camera incident 'I want this to go to trial,' Christopher said. 'He has too much confidence in himself and has to be taught what he did was wrong.' Penny had said: 'I judge a person based on their character. I'm not a white supremacist.' The now-infamous video showed Penny restraining Neely with the help of two other passengers after the homeless Michael Jackson impersonator reportedly screamed threats and intimidated people on the train. The other riders who helped restrain Neely on the train have not been publicly identified, and police are seeking them for questioning. Neely's funeral was held on Friday in Harlem, where Rev. Al Sharpton delivered a fiery eulogy to a crowd of hundreds, saying 'when they choked Jordan, they put their arms around all of us.' But Penny, who is currently free on a $100,000 bail, rejected the suggestion that his fatal confrontation with Neely was an act of hatred or discrimination, saying, 'this had nothing to do with race.' On May 1, Penny put Neely in a fatal chokehold on a NYC subway. Neely had been threatening passengers 'I mean, it's, it's a little bit comical. Everybody who's ever met me can tell you, I love all people, I love all cultures,' Penny told the Post. 'You can tell by my past and all my travels and adventures around the world. I was actually planning a road trip through Africa before this happened. 'I'm a normal guy,' added Penny, insisting that he is not a vigilante. Penny, who is from Long Island, faces 15 years in prison in a case that has been highly polarizing, with conservative politicians jumping to defend him, and prominent liberals calling for him to be convicted of murder and jailed. He said he does not watch the news and that while he was aware of negative opinions about him, he tried not to let them affect him. 'If you're faced with all these challenges, you have to remain calm,' he said. 'What's the point of worrying about something, worrying is not going to make your problems disappear. 'I attribute this to my father and grandfather. They are very very stoic.' Penny also said he had quit social media years ago. 'I don't follow anyone, and I don't have social media because I really don't like the attention and I just think there are better ways to spend your time. I don't like the limelight,' he said. Penny, 24, turned himself after the District Attorney's office announced he would be charged with second degree manslaughter. He recently said that 'it's tragic what happened to [Neely]' but would act the same in a similar situation Pallbearers carry the casket of Jordan Neely days before his uncle said Penny should not get a plea deal in the case Neely's family has called for Penny to be charged with murder. When asked what he would like to say to them, he responded somberly: 'I'm deeply saddened by the loss of life.' 'It's tragic what happened to him. Hopefully, we can change the system that's so desperately failed us.' Neely's funeral was attended by prominent left-wing politicians including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who has accused Penny of murder. Sharpton delivered a fiery eulogy at the funeral at the Mount Neboh Baptist Church in Harlem, condemning Neely's death as unjust and undeserved. 'We can't live in a city where you can choke me to death with no provocation, no weapon, no threat and you go home and sleep in your bed while my family has to put me into a cemetery,' he said. Reverend Al Sharpton used the funeral of homeless man Jordan Neely to condemn the behavior of Penny, who put the 30-year-old in a fatal chokehold U.S. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was seen in attendance for Neely's funeral she previously said Neely was murdered Sharpton said his behavior was a cry for help. 'Jordan was not annoying anyone on the train. Jordan was screaming for help. We keep criminalizing people with mental illness. They don't need abuse, they need help,' he said. 'We should not not celebrate Jordan's life, but we should not forget how he died. We're not here because of natural causes.' Sharpton also took aim at Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and other conservatives who have characterized Penny as a 'Good Samaritan' and defended his actions. 'A Good Samaritan helps those in trouble, they don't choke them out. What happened to Jordan was a crime and this family shouldn't have to stand alone,' he said. Sharpton also condemned what he said was New York City's failure to care for the homeless. 'He's been choked his whole life,' he said, adding that 'in your name, we're going to change how they deal with the homeless.' Neely had an extensive rap sheet for crimes on the subway, including vicious assaults of other passengers. In 2021, he attacked an elderly woman as she left the Bowery station in the East Village. She suffered a broken nose, a fractured orbital bone, and 'bruising, swelling and substantial pain to the back of her head' in the November 12 attack, according to a criminal complaint. He admitted felony assault on February 9 in exchange for a 15-month alternative-to-incarceration program, according to the Manhattan District Attorney's Office. He was supposed to stay in a treatment facility and stay sober. Penny, 24, faces 15 years in prison for putting Neely, 30, in the chokehold where he later died Penny said race didn't play a part in his actions and that, 'I judge a person based on their character. I'm not a white supremacist' Between January 2020 and August 2021, Neely was arrested for public lewdness after pulling down his pants and exposing himself to a woman, misdemeanor assault for hitting a woman in the face, and criminal contempt for violating a restraining order. All three cases were dismissed as part of his February 9 plea deal, according to Fox News. In June 2019, he assaulted 68-year-old Filemon Castillo Baltazar on the platform of the W. 4th St. Station in Greenwich Village, court records show. 'Out of nowhere, he punched me in the face,' the victim told the New York Daily News. He said he saw Neely before the attack rummaging in trash cans for food. One month earlier, Neely punched a man in the face, breaking his nose on the platform of Broadway-Lafayette the same subway station where he died. For both 2019 cases, he pleaded guilty to misdemeanor assault and was sentenced to six months in jail. While Neely had a history of disruptive behavior and violent charges, friends and relatives said they don't believe he would have harmed anyone had Penny just left him alone. Neely's family said he 'experienced a mental health episode' and that no rider asked what was wrong before Penny and two other riders restrained him. Beach goers pulled the man from the water A 57-year-old man has died after drowning while fishing at a popular beach. The man was with a 34-year-old friend at Boulder Beach between Lennox Head and Skennars Head, in northern NSW, at 4pm on Sunday. The pair were then swept off the rocks when beachgoers noticed the friends in distress in the water and pulled them to shore. The man was with a 34-year-old friend at Boulder Beach between Lennox Head and Skennars Head, in northern NSW, on Sunday Beachgoers spotted the two men in distress in the water and pulled them from the water before calling emergency services at 4.15pm Police performed CPR on the 57-year-old before NSW Ambulance paramedics arrived and continued treatment, but the man died at the scene. The 34-year-old man was not injured. Off-duty lifeguard Michael Crisp recalled the moment he noticed something was wrong. 'I saw people pointing and then a police officer running with the life-saving device that's there at Boulder's Beach,' he said. 'It is a known black spot for fishing.' Boulder Beach is a popular stop on NSW's coastal path and is known for its picturesque picnic spots and surf break. The beach is unpatrolled - meaning there are no Surf Life Saving Australia services provided. Surf Life Saving Australia urges beach goers to check the Surf Safety section of their website before going for a swim. Police are investigating the circumstances of the incident and will prepare a report for the coroner. Anyone with information in relation to the incident are urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000. Shocking footage has captured the moment a wife mowed down her husband and his lover in her car. Christie Lee Kennedy, 38, pleaded guilty in Brisbane District Court last month to dangerous driving. She had found her husband David Larkin kissing another woman, Zowie Noring, in the Brisbane suburb of Wavell Heights in March, 2021. Christie Lee Kennedy (centre) avoided serving any jail time after pleaded guilty to hitting her then-husband and his lover with her car Footage of the incident shared by 9News shows Kennedy driving towards the unsuspecting pair in her BMW SUV. The vehicle is then seen in the video smashing into them, sending both of them sprawling to the bitumen. Ms Kennedy then got out of her car and punched Ms Noring in the face, calling her a 'fat moll' and a 'sl*t' before getting back in the car and driving off. The mother-of-two narrowly avoided serving any jail time for the revenge drive-by attack. A jury last year found Kennedy not guilty on two counts of malicious act with intent to disable. The same jury was unable to reach unanimous or majority verdicts on the offences of assault causing bodily harm in September. The Crown withdrew the two assault occasioning bodily harm charges against her last month. Kennedy had previously pleaded guilty to common assault at the start of her trial last year after she punched Ms Noring in the face. The court was told Kennedy had followed her husband to the street after she tracked him using the Find My Phone app installed on his phone after he'd told her he'd gone to pick up their children from daycare. Footage from the incident (pictured) shows the jilted wife ram her BMW SUV into her husband and his mistress No-so happy couple: The pair are pictured on the wedding day Kennedy (left) found her husband David Larkin (right) kissing another woman, Zowie Noring, in the Brisbane suburb of Wavell Heights in March 2021 Kennedy saw the pair 'kissing and cuddling' and accelerated towards them before applying her brakes, the court was told. 'Her vehicle struck both of them with the front side of the car,' the Crown prosecutor said. 'Mr Larkin was thrown into the air and onto the road. 'Ms Noring was also thrown onto the road. After hitting Ms Noring, (Kennedy) immediately attacked her which shows a lack of remorse for her actions at the time by punching a person who was laying on the ground after being hit.' The Crown argued Kennedy should be jailed and sentenced to three years imprisonment. Kennedy's defence barrister, Penny White, told the court her client had not intended to hit the pair with her car but instead 'get there quickly' when she chose to accelerate. 'She wanted to get to them and confront them about what was going on,' Ms White said. Kennedy (right) was disqualified from driving for nine months and was ordered to pay $5,000 each in compensation to her ex-husband and Ms Noring 'The only reason this happened was because her husband was kissing someone else and she wasn't aware of it.' Judge Paul Smith sentenced Kennedy to nine months in jail for the two offences, which will be served wholly suspended for two years. 'I think it would be fair to conclude that you would be quite shocked about what you saw there despite what suspicions you had prior,' Judge Smith said. 'You're obviously an excellent employee and a very good mother and it's a real shame you committed this offence but I do form a firm view that this offending is out of character and it's unlikely you'll reoffend with anything like this.' Kennedy was ordered to pay $5,000 each in compensation to her ex-husband and Ms Noring. The court heard the pair had been physically and emotionally damaged by the event. Kennedy was disqualified from driving for nine months. Advertisement More than 230 people face charges after a boozy Jeep celebration in Texas descended into chaos with dozens of people rushed to hospital. The Jeep Weekend, also known as 'Go Topless Weekend,' is an annual beach party that draws thousands of car enthusiasts to Crystal Beach in Galveston. Local residents were left furious yet again this year as more than 200 charges were filed and more than 40 people were hospitalized. The event was originally meant to become a way for Jeep enthusiasts to show off their vehicles, but it's turned into an alcohol-fueled tribute to all off-road cars in recent years. Galveston County Emergency Services and other state and county authorities had been planning for months for this weekend's festival, which draws a multitude of visitors to the Bolivar Peninsula from around the region. 'This event is usually very taxing on our resources,' Major Ray Nolen of the county's sheriff's office said Sunday. This weekend was the 'Go Topless' Jeep celebration near Galveston, Texas, and was expected to draw 10,000 people More than 230 people were arrested on drunken and disorderly conduct charges during the event There were also 40 people hospitalized during this year's event The weekend has become as busy as a public holiday for law enforcement, according to The Galveston County Daily News. At least 120 cops were assigned for the four-day event, Nolen said. More than 200 charges, mostly misdemeanors, were filed on Sunday alone, according to KTRK. About 40 people were hospitalized 'for various minor injuries and illnesses,' Nolen added. The number of arrests rose from last year when 175 arrests were made resulting in 198 charges were filed. On the positive side, injuries and hospitalizations were down from over 60 from last year's event. But Jeep enthusiasts insist the festival is tarnished by other groups who use the opportunity to misbehave and annoy residents who complain the beaches are left full of trash. Local police have often said that the vent as busy as a public holiday with 120 officer assigned to the event The event started as a Jeep celebration but has grown into a party and booze bash Over 200 charges, mostly misdemeanors, were handed out by police on Sunday alone The number of arrests is up form 175 during the 2022 arrest, when 198 charges were filed The event has become so wild that official Jeep clubs have started to pull out of it and hold separate events, with many locals expressing their disdain for the whole gathering. 'I don't think anyone who lives here particularly likes Jeep Weekend,' Anne Willis, president of the Bolivar Peninsula Chamber of Commerce, said ahead of this edition of the event. 'I think it's a nuisance. It's not so much the event, but the people who tag along that don't have Jeeps.' Last year's event saw a sheriff's deputy break both his legs and an arm after being hit by a car while he directed traffic. Jeep enthusiasts insist the festival is tarnished by other groups who use the opportunity to misbehave and annoy residents who complain the beaches are left full of trash The event has become so wild that official Jeep clubs have started to pull out of it and hold separate events, with many locals expressing their disdain for the whole gathering 'I don't think anyone who lives here particularly likes Jeep Weekend,' Anne Willis, president of the Bolivar Peninsula Chamber of Commerce, said ahead of this edition of the event Some are still here for the cars at Jeep Weekend in Galveston County Some political messages were displayed the event In both 2019 and 2021, a person died at Jeep Weekend. 'We're just trying to maintain order and keep everybody safe,' Nolen said. The Texas Open Beaches Act allows for free public use of the beach and there is no way to limit crowd numbers, with the only remedy a larger police presence, Sheriff Trochesset explained. There are similar 'Go Topless' events organized by motorists across the country and the name comes from the Jeep Wrangler's removable roof. She fell and is now receiving end of life care The NSW Police commissioner has admitted that she hasn't spoken to the officer who Tasered a 95-year-old great-grandmother with dementia, leaving her requiring end-of-life care. Clare Nowland, a dementia sufferer who is 157cm tall and weighs just 43kg, was Tasered by a senior constable at an aged care facility in Cooma, NSW, about 4am on Wednesday. The mother-of-eight was using a walking frame when she was hit with the shock device at Yallambee Lodge. She had allegedly failed to drop a steak knife. Police Commissioner Karen Webb has already copped criticism for saying she would not be watching the officer's body-worn camera footage of the incident. And she also raised eyebrows after appearing on Sky News on Monday morning, when she confirmed she had not spoken to the officer involved in the incident. Asked directly by host Laura Jayes if she had addressed the policeman, she said: 'No, I haven't. I will do at some point, as I said, it is an ongoing live investigation. 'He's being looked after by police from his command and when it's the appropriate time then I will speak to him.' Clare Nowland is now receiving end of life care in Cooma District Hospital, in southern NSW , after she was critically injured last Wednesday morning Discussing the body cam footage, Webb underlined her decision to watch it until the investigation into the confrontation was complete. She said: 'I want to make an informed decision with access to the whole evidence. The body-worn is evidence and if I view that now without having the opportunity to view all of the evidence at one time, it might taint my view of this matter. 'It is important that I have an objective view and I will do that when I have the rest of the evidence in this investigation. 'I haven't watched it. If I need to watch it as a decision maker at some point, I will do so.' NSW Police Commissioner Karen Webb defended the decision to leave out the fact Ms Nowland had been Tasered by officers when an original statement on the matter was released She first sparked outrage on Saturday after she claimed it was 'not necessary' to view the footage of the incident. Police had said Ms Nowland was 'armed' with a steak knife and had been moving at a 'slow pace' before she was Tasered and left in a critical condition. Officers claim she was approaching police 'at a slow pace' when she was blasted with the Taser by a senior constable with 12 years' experience. The jolt caused her to fall and hit her head, with the great-grandmother now receiving end-of-life care in Cooma District Hospital while surrounded by her family. Why police media release had no mention of 'Taser' Webb and NSW police have also copped heat for their initial statement on the confrontation - which the commissioner approved. That statement failed to mention the Taser and only said there had been an 'interaction' between the great-grandmother and police. 2GB Radio host Ben Fordham also grilled Webb on Monday, asking why the original NSW statement on the matter did not inform the public what had really happened. 'It was necessary for us to make sure that the family were aware of what the circumstances were,' Commissioner Webb responded. 'We didn't want the family to hear on radio and TV what had happened to their mum, so we had to be a bit sensitive to that and when we were able to talk about it, we did.' The broadcaster then questioned if the decision to not mention the Tasering was really about protecting Ms Nowland's family, or 'hiding something that might be embarrassing or shameful for the police?'. 'We are not hiding. I want answers as do the family,' the commissioner said, adding she had seen the original statement put out. 'I thought it was important that we were mindful of the family.' Mrs Nowland's family is now demanding answers as to what happened at Yallambee Lodge nursing home (pictured) last Wednesday Fordham then asked if she stood by the decision to leave out the Tasering in the media release - which she admitted she had seen before it was sent out. 'Yes I do, as I said the Nowland family deserve to learn from police what happened rather than hear about it in the media,' Commissioner Webb said. The officer who fired the electric shock weapon joined the force 12 years ago and has since been taken off active duty. The critical incident investigation has been elevated to 'level one' because of Ms Nowland suffering an injury that could lead to her death. Detectives from the State Homicide Squad and Law Enforcement Conduct Commission are investigating what happened and if the forced used was appropriate. Local priest, Father Mark Croker, visited Ms Nowland on Sunday and held a Catholic mass at her hospital bedside. He said although Mrs Nowland had dementia, she had been in good form and was able to hold a conversation. 'The thing with Clare is the dementia hadn't completely taken hold, you could still have a conversation with her she might get a bit confused, but that's an age thing,' he told the Daily Telegraph. A senior police officer and security guards have been stationed at the hospital where tasered great grandmother Clare Nowland is fighting for life. The Cooma District Hospital, in southeastern NSW, has ramped up security in the wake of national and even international uproar over the incident. Senior Constable Kristian White, the officer who allegedly fired the Taser, has been stood down on full pay as investigations into the incident at the Yallambee Lodge nursing home continue. Daily Mail Australia understands Snr Const White, who has been in the force for more than 10 years, is at least 25cm taller and three times the size of the diminutive 157cm pensioner who weighs just 43kg. Ms Nowland, a 95-year-old dementia sufferer was in a walking frame and carrying a knife when she was blasted with a Taser at her aged care home about 4am on Wednesday. The blast caused Ms Rowland to fall and hit her head, leaving her with a bleeding on the brain. She is now undergoing end-of-life care. Superintendent John Klepczarek, the Monaro police area commander, is stationed outside her hospital room. 'He's been there a fair bit answering the family if they had any questions,' the spokesman said. Family friend, Andrew Thaler, also said private security guards had been deployed at the hospital and are 'vetting everyone who wants to visit Ms Nowland'. Clare Nowland is now receiving end of life care in Cooma District Hospital, in southern NSW , after she was critically injured last Wednesday morning Senior Constable Kristian White has been stood down pending investigations (above) Mr Thaler has made repeated calls for Police Commissioner Karen Webb to sit with Mrs Nowland's family for the difficult task of watching the body worn footage of her being Tasered as she slowly approached officers on her walking frame. Daily Mail Australia has asked the NSW Health Minister Ryan Park and the NSW Health department to confirm that the hospital security detail is in place and why. Mr Park's office said the it was up to NSW Health to answer these questions because they were 'operational' and it was 'inappropriate' to comment while an active police investigation was being carried out. However, NSW Health did not respond to the questions. Revelations of security and and a senior police officer stationed at her ward come as the NSW Police Commissioner comes under pressure for refusing watch confronting bodycam footage her two officers took of the Tasering, saying she did not want the video 'tainting' her views of the case. Webb also claimed on Monday morning that an initial police statement about Ms Nowland had omitted mention of the Taser in order to protect the family. The initial statement released from NSW Police - and approved by the NSW police commissioner on Wednesday - only revealed there had been an 'interaction' between the great grandmother and police. Tasered great grandmother Clare Nowland is reportedly surrounded by an extraordinary security detail at Cooma District Hospital, with some measures resembling the kind of protection for accused criminals Ms Nowland was tasered by cops after she took a serrated steak knife from the kitchen into a treatment room. Police and paramedics tried to get her to drop the knife before the male senior constable fired his Taser once as she tottered towards him and his partner. Ms Nowland fell and struck her head on the floor, leaving her with a fractured skull and brain bleed. 2GB Radio host Ben Fordham grilled NSW Police Commissioner Karen Webb on Monday, asking why the original statement did not inform the public what had really happened. 'It was necessary for us to make sure that the family were aware of what the circumstances were,' Commissioner Webb responded. 'We didn't want the family to hear on radio and TV what had happened to their mum, so we had to be a bit sensitive to that and when we were able to talk about it, we did.' The broadcaster then questioned if the decision to not mention the Tasering was really about protecting Ms Nowland's family, or 'hiding something that might be embarrassing or shameful for the police?'. NSW Police Commissioner Karen Webb defended the decision to leave out the fact Ms Nowland had been Tasered by officers when an original statement on the matter was released TIMELINE OF CLARE NOWLAND BEING TASERED BY OFFICER Wednesday, May 17, 4am: Police are called to the Yallambee Lodge nursing home Clare Nowland was standing in the kitchen with a serrated steak knife A senior constable fired his Taser into the great grandmother's chest and back Ms Nowland fell backwards, striking her head on the floor and was taken to hospital with a fractured skull and brain bleed Wednesday, May 17, 4.41pm: NSW Police release a statement saying a critical investigation had been launched after an 'elderly woman sustained injuries during an interaction with police at an aged care facility' Friday morning, May 19: Community advocate Andrew Thaler told Daily Mail Australia on that Ms Nowland was now receiving end of life care in hospital Saturday, May 20: NSW Police Commissioner Karen Webb said she has no intention to release the body-worn police vision of the incident or even see it herself Monday, May 22: Commissioner Webb defends the original police statement where the matter was referred to as an 'interaction' and left out the fact Ms Nowland had been tasered Advertisement 'We are not hiding. I want answers as do the family,' the commissioner said, adding she had seen the original statement put out. 'I thought it was important that we were mindful of the family.' Fordham then asked if she stood by the decision to leave out the Tasering in the media release - which she admitted she had seen before it was sent out. 'Yes I do, as I said the Nowland family deserve to learn from police what happened rather than hear about it in the media,' Commissioner Webb said. The commissioner said she would not be watching police body-worn footage of the incident, and said her thoughts were with Ms Nowland's family. But Fordham said it was her duty to watch what unfolded. 'You're the most senior officer in NSW, you will make the final decision about whether this officer remains in the force, I know it's not going to be pretty but in the end I think it's your duty to watch it commissioner,' he said. Commissioner Webb said she might watch the footage but needed to do so after receiving all statements and evidence about the incident. 'I want answers like everyone else does,' she said. NSW POLICE'S INITIAL STATEMENT A critical incident investigation has been launched after an elderly woman sustained injuries during an interaction with police at an aged care facility in the state's south today. The 95-year-old woman was taken to Cooma District Hospital, where her condition is being monitored. A critical incident team will now investigate the circumstances surrounding the incident. That investigation will be subject to independent review. No further details are available at this time. Advertisement Mrs Nowland's family is now demanding answers as to what happened at Yallambee Lodge nursing home (pictured) last Wednesday Local priest, Father Mark Croker, visited Mrs Nowland on Sunday and held a Catholic mass at her hospital bedside. He said although Mrs Nowland had dementia, she had been in good form and was able to hold a conversation. 'The thing with Clare is the dementia hadn't completely taken hold, you could still have a conversation with her she might get a bit confused, but that's an age thing,' he told the Daily Telegraph. It's understood the 95-year-old is in and out of consciousness and her beathing has shallowed, as her eight children and their families were taking turns speaking to her. The officer who fired the electric shock weapon joined the force 12 years ago and has since been taken off active duty. The critical incident investigation has been elevated to 'level one' because of Ms Nowland suffering an injury that could lead to her death. Detectives from the State Homicide Squad and Law Enforcement Conduct Commission are investigating what happened and if the forced used was appropriate. A newspaper editor has dismissed a top judge's anger at publishing a picture of an under-fire prosecutor enjoying a beer at his home after he stood down on leave. Retired judge Walter Sofronoff, chairman of the ACT board of inquiry into the investigation and prosecution of Bruce Lehrmann, wrote to The Australian on Monday over the picture of Director of Public Prosecution Shane Drumgold. He was seen drinking his beer in the sunshine after taking leave following a gruelling week giving evidence about Brittany Higgins' rape allegations and trial. But in a letter to The Australian editor Michelle Gunn, Mr Sofronoff said he was 'baffled' by the front page picture. It was run in the newspaper with the headline: 'Crown lager or Drumgold bitter? Prosecutor calls beer oclock' Mr Sofronoff added: 'It might be inferred that the purpose was to humiliate Mr Drumgold. 'I ask you to inform me of the purpose in publishing this photo because I am unable to find a relationship between this and a fair report of the proceedings.' On Tuesday, Ms Gunn replied to the chairman's letter and insisted it was 'certainly not intended to demean or humiliate Mr Drumgold'. A newspaper editor has dismissed top judge Walter Sofronoff's (pictured) anger at publishing a picture of an under-fire prosecutor enjoying a beer at his home after he stood down on leave Director of Public Prosecution Shane Drumgold (pictured) was seen drinking his beer in the sunshine after giving evidence about Brittany Higgins' rape allegations and trial She said the photograph complemented the unexpected announcement that Mr Drumgold had stood down for a month's leave. 'It is not, in The Australian's view, surprising, remarkable or inappropriate to publish a photo of a person on leave to accompany an article about that person having taken leave,' she added. The row broke out after the top cop investigating Brittany Higgins' rape allegations revealed the political staffer admitted to police that she felt her memory had been 'corrupted' by discussions with a news reporter. Detective Superintendent Scott Moller made the admission under cross examination at the inquiry. Ms Higgins revealed in an exclusive interview with news.com.au political editor Samantha Maiden that she had allegedly been raped by Lehrmann in a parliamentary office in 2019. Lehrmann has always denied the allegation. But assisting counsel Joshua Jones asked Supt Moller if Ms Higgins had told him that her recall of the evening had been 'corrupted' in the interview process with Ms Maiden. 'You had someone who had expressed to police that her memory had been corrupted by speaking with Samantha Maiden, correct?' asked Mr Jones. Supt Moller agreed and added: 'She had expressed on a number of occasions she'd had a lot to drink and had blacked out.' But despite concerns about tainting her memories of the events of that night, police also agreed to show Ms Higgins CCTV video from the night in question. The top cop investigating Brittany Higgins' (pictured) rape allegations revealed she admitted her memories had been 'corrupted' by newspaper reporter Samantha Maiden Brittany Higgins revealed in an exclusive with newspaper journalist Samantha Maiden (pictured) she had allegedly been raped by Bruce Lehrmann in a parliamentary office in 2019 'That was the dilemma that we had, really, to be honest,' he said. 'That was the issue that we had, because it was so important from supporting the victim, supporting her, and showing her [the video]. 'She was so keen to see that, to help her healing process, that it was important to show her [it]. ' As well as his concerns over her discussions with reporters' impact on her recall, Supt Moller also told Ms Higgins to stop talking to any media for fear of the prosecution collapsing. 'I told Miss Higgins not to do any media,' he said. 'I told her that the media could influence the trial and I wanted her to stop doing media.' He said he told her: 'This is in your hands. It's going to be difficult. If the matter proceeds it will be difficult and your welfare is key. 'I've certainly had - and continue - to advise Ms Higgins not to do any media.' An AFP investigative review - which was dubbed the Moller report - said 'throughout the investigation, Miss Higgins has been evasive, uncooperative and manipulative. Supt Moller also revealed a planned meeting with Ms Higgins prior to Mr Lehrmann being charged was cancelled over fears she would alert the media. She was instead informed 'very shortly' after the summons was served. The inquiry resumed on Monday morning with the chairman of the inquiry slamming The Australian newspaper for publishing a picture of ACT Director of Public Prosecutions Shane Drumgold enjoying a quiet beer in the sunshine at his home. The top prosecutor was photographed after a difficult week giving evidence which ultimately led to him stand down from the role for the next few weeks. The accompanying caption and article was said to have mocked the top crown prosecutor, making puns about 'Crown lager' and 'Drumgold Bitter' and saying Mr Drumgold had called 'Beer o'clock'. But the picture was slammed by Walter Sofronoff, the retired judge who is running the inquiry. 'Im stumped at trying to think of a proper purpose for doing this,' he told the inquiry, ACT's equivalent of a Royal Commission. 'Hiding to take a photo of a man who thinks hes enjoying privacy and then publishing the photo with a putdown.' He said he had written to the newspaper's editor Michelle Gunn over the issue and admitted he was concerned it would put off other witnesses from coming forward. The Australian newspaper was slammed for publishing a picture of ACT director of public prosecutions Shane Drumgold (pictured) enjoying a quiet beer in the sunshine at his home Walter Sofronoff, chairman of the board of inquiry, has written to The Australian editor Michelle Gunn demanding to know the reason for publishing the photograph 'I need more from them than what I can compel,' he said. 'Compulsion can only get me the minimum of information. I need genuine cooperation and I've been getting it. 'My real worry is that the witnesses have been willing to help me will think that this is part of the price - being stalked to their home, photos taken unawares, being made fun of in the national media. 'If that's the personal cost, why would anybody willingly be a part of this? This kind of publication risks interfering with the course of my inquiry. 'It risks interfering with my ability to fulfil my statutory duty.' He said journalism was an important part of the inquiry process to be as transparent as possible and inform the public, but he questioned the purpose of the picture. 'I can't do without the work of the journalists who cover the public hearings,' he added. 'I rely upon them to tell the community the story that the witnesses tell me. He admitted that 'some people are going to get hurt by this inquiry in an unavoidable way.' He added: 'If the publication of a photo of that kind is a proper thing to do, then that's part of the cost of the human cost of this inquiry. 'I've written to the editor of The Australian today, seeking her help to understand the purpose for which the photo was used and I'll consider my course when I get a response.' Mr Drumgold's counsel Mark Tedeshi was also warned by Mr Sofronoff about using 'emotive' language in the media about the police which was branded 'inflammatory'. The inquiry resumed with Australian Federal Police Detective Superintendent Scott Moller (pictured) grilled about his role in the investigation and the pressure police had come under The inquiry resumed with Australian Federal Police Supt Moller being grilled about his role in the investigation and the pressure police had come under. 'We had a significant amount of external pressure from the media,' said Supt Moller. 'We had Miss Higgins that was wanting this to proceed. We had internal pressure that we needed to get this done, so there was a significant amount of pressure on us. 'There's so much pressure to get it done as quickly as possible. There was just a real desire to expedite this process and get Mr Lehrmann before the court.' He also admitted police had erred by giving copies of Ms Higgins' sensitive counselling notes to both the defence and prosecution. 'That's the bottom line, we shouldn't have handed them over and it's a mistake that we made,' he said. 'No one specifically turned their mind to the counselling notes being served, it was part of the brief that went (and) the police and myself were acting in good faith, sharing the material we had. 'Absolutely, I acknowledge that we shouldn't have done that.' He said, very early on, he had suspected Mr Drumgold was collating evidence to later use against the police. 'I felt like Mr Drumgold, the DPP, was was attempting to collect evidence against the police to show criticism towards the police,' he told the inquiry. 'And I had that feeling very early on, be honest. It had caused me quite a lot of concern for myself and my investigation team.' The rape trial against Mr Lehrmann was abandoned last October because of juror misconduct and all charges - which had been vigorously denied by him - were later dropped over concerns for Ms Higgins' mental health. The inquiry continues. A former prison officer who had personal relationships with two inmates has given a detailed account of her painful neck tattoo removal process, after realising her ink could stand in the way of a high-flying career in counter-terrorism. Melissa Goodwin was convicted in August 2021 of engaging in an intimate relationship with teenage inmate Corey London. About the time of her arrest, it was revealed Ms Goodwin was also in a relationship with a former inmate, Rebels outlaw motorcycle gang associate Caleb Valeri. With the ordeal now behind her, Goodwin, 28, has rebranded herself as a feminist influencer and looks dramatically different to the blond prison officer that made headlines in 2021. On Sunday the now brunette bombshell revealed that she was several sessions in to getting a large lotus-style tattoo of the front of her neck removed, citing her career aspirations. She has previously spoken about hoping to work in counter-terrorism. Melissa Goodwin failed to declare a relationship with an inmate Last month Melissa detailed her breast augmentation to her 5000 Instagram followers - and is now getting her neck tattoo removed Despite using numbing cream, Goodwin insisted the laser tattoo removal procedure was excruciatingly painful and complained that she still had another four treatments to go. In 2021, the then 28-year-old was spared jail after pleading guilty to one count of engaging in a relationship with an inmate at a Sydney prison. She denied police allegations that the relationship included instances of oral sex in storeroom closets. She was sentenced to a 12 month community corrections order and 100 hours' community service. Before: On Sunday Melissa went for her first laser tattoo removal session Afterwards, her neck red raw, Melissa says the treatment was excruciating even with numbing cream At the time of her arrest, Goodwin was in a relationship with another former inmate, Caleb Valeri, an associate of the Rebels outlaw motorcycle gang. However, their relationship was short-lived, after Goodwin was accused of biting Valeri during an argument at a home in Liverpool, in Sydney's west, in October 2021. A charge was later withdrawn after Valeri was a no-show in court. Goodwin has previously spoke about her relationship with Valeri during a radio interview with Kyle and Jackie O. 'I didn't do anything with him until he got out because I love my job and I followed the rules,' she said during an interview with KIIS FM in September. 'This did a lot of damage to my mental health... I still get messages about it to this day, I copped a lot of abuse.' Caleb Valeri and Melissa Goodwin (pictured) before the breakdown of their relationship A tradesman who has been locked up for rape was bashed by three fellow inmates after a guard 'leaked' what he had been charged with. Mohammed 'Moey' Krayem, 24, was sentenced to a maximum of 17 months behind bars at Sydney's Downing Centre Court last Friday. His joins his ex-fiancee, Monica Young, in jail - with the geography teacher having been locked up separately for seducing a 14-year-old boy at her school. Krayem, a paver, had pleaded guilty to three counts of sexual intercourse without consent after raping a 19-year-old at a carpark in Chullora, in Sydney's west, in August 2020. The court heard the now-24-year-old had non-consensual sex with the young woman after the pair arranged to meet via Snapchat. During a court hearing last week, Krayem revealed that he'd been attacked by three other prisoners while in custody at the Bathurst Correctional Centre in April. Mohammed 'Moey' Krayem, 24, (right) was sentenced to a maximum of 17 months behind bars in Sydney's Downing Centre Court on Friday. His ex-girlfriend Monica Young (left) is already in jail after having sex with her 14-year-old student He claimed food had been stolen from his cell and alleged a guard had 'leaked' his sexual intercourse without consent charges. The attack was over both the stolen food and the fact he'd been charged with rape, Krayem claimed while appearing via videolink at court on Friday. He was left with three stitches underneath one of his eyebrows and a concussion. A NSW Corrective Services spokesperson said the assault did occur but could not confirm whether a guard was involved in any way. Daily Mail Australia understands inmates can find out other prisoner's charges through newspapers which they have access to. During the hearing, Krayem also opened up about his former addiction to cocaine, revealing he'd use the drug between three and four times a week. The addiction became so bad he was hospitalised after a night of using, but has now been sober for eight months. 'All drugs are a disaster, they will ruin your life,' he said. Young and Krayem had been childhood sweethearts and were engaged to be married when she first had sex with the 14-year-old boy on June 24, 2020. He first started dating Young when he was 15 and in Year 10, and she was one-and-a-half-years older and in Year 12. Krayem (left) said he'd been bashed in jail after a prison guard allegedly leaked his charges of rape to other prisoners Judge Peter Berman SC asked Krayem if he understood Young was having sex with him at a time when he was legally considered a child. Krayem said he only understood that now after completing courses in consent following his rape conviction. Young had sex with her 14-year-old student on several occasions. Seven weeks after Young's last sexual encounter with the boy, Krayem lured his victim to the shopping centre carpark where he then proceeded to rape her. When the allegations first arose, Krayem had stood by his girlfriend of six years. In the days after Young pleaded guilty to three counts of aggravated sexual intercourse with a child, Krayem posted a 'message to the haters' on his Facebook page dedicated to Young. He uploaded a video of himself kissing her on the cheek and captioned it as 'my always and forever', before posting a separate picture of Young decorated with a love heart. Krayem had by then split with Young but told Daily Mail Australia at the time: 'I'll still be sticking beside her no matter the outcome. I'll always be beside her.' Young (above) and Krayem were engaged when she first had sex with the 14-year-old boy on June 24, 2020. That was two days after Krayem had first contacted his victim During his sentencing on Friday, Krayem said he cut all contact with Young after she pleaded guilty. 'I supported her for the first week she was in custody as a supportive fiance, but once the facts came out I realised that the allegations against her were the truth,' he said. 'She'd denied it. It was blindsiding, she never told me the truth, how could she do that? 'I was with her for several years, it was devastating, and my family were good to her. It was sickening.' Young and the boy had sex on multiple occasions, including at least twice on the school's grounds and once in her car at a park. She was jailed for a maximum of four years and nine months in July, 2021. She will be eligible for parole on October 31 this year. Judge Berman said Krayem's prison sentence would be backdated to February 12 this year. Counting time already served, Krayem could be released on parole on October 20 this year - just 11 days before his ex. New York City Mayor Eric Adams has called for migrants to be sent to every major city in America as he continues to try and solve the Big Apple's overwhelming immigrant crisis. The mayor has reopened many of the city's closed hotels and turned them into migrant shelters to deal with an influx of asylum seekers in the past months and expected arrivals in the coming weeks. However, on CBS' Face the Nation Sunday, Adams told host Margaret Brennan that this is 'not a burden on one city' and proposed a shared solution. The mayor revealed New York City had received 70,000 migrant asylum-seekers since August and 42,000 are still in the city, with the crisis only expected to worsen after the end of Title 42. 'We have 108,000 cities, villages, towns,' he said. 'If everyone takes a small portion of that, and if it's coordinated at the border to ensure that those who are coming here to this country in a lawful manner is actually moved throughout the entire country, it is not a burden on one city.' New York City Mayor Eric Adams has called for migrants to be sent to every major city in America as he continues to try and solve the Big Apple's immigrant crisis The mayor has reopened many of the city's closed hotels and turned them into migrant shelters to deal with an anticipated influx of asylum seekers in the coming weeks Adams claimed that NYC does not have the resources capable of handling the wave of migrants sent to the city by bus by Republican Texas Governor Greg Abbott and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. The Democrat, was reportedly dropped from President Joe Biden's 2024 campaign advisory board after criticizing the White House over the catastrophe. Adams strayed from the Democrat party line in April to blast: 'The president and the White House have failed this city.' He instead turned his ire toward Republican legislators on Sunday. 'The problem is that Republicans for far too many years have failed to deal with real immigration reform,' he continued. 'This is a national issue. No city should be going through this, including El Paso, Brownsville [in Texas]. 'When I went to El Paso, Texas, and saw what was happening there, I raised the same concern. This should not be the burden of Chicago, Washington, Houston, Denver and New York City. That is what we want to focus on.' New York, the country's largest city, said it will cost billions of dollars to deal with its intake of migrants who have recently crossed the US-Mexico border. Officials say more than 1,000 migrants arrive daily in New York. Adams claimed that New York City does not have the resources capable of handling the wave of migrants sent to the city by bus by Republican Texas Governor Greg Abbott and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis However, on CBS' Face the Nation Sunday, Adams told host Margaret Brennan that his is 'not a burden on one city' and proposed a shared solution with every city housing migrants Asylum seekers are held prior to being transferred via city bus from Port Authority bus terminal to housing facilities in the Bronx and Queens on May 15, 2023 Two weeks ago, heads of city agencies were asked to provide a list of potential shelters: among the suggestions were the Flatiron Building, tents in Central Park, and hangars at JFK airport. Last week, Adams announced that he had signed Executive Order 402, suspending aspects of the 'Right to Shelter' law, enacted in 1981. Under the new rules, New York City will no longer have to provide migrant families with their own room and can direct them to a communal shelter instead. 'This is not a decision taken lightly and we will make every effort to get asylum seekers into shelter as quickly as possible as we have done since day one,' said Fabian Levy, City Hall spokesperson. But the Legal Aid Society and Coalition for the Homeless condemned the decision, saying it was 'prolonging suffering that no human being should experience.' A child can be seen here holding a sign saying: 'we want our gym back' outside a school in Brooklyn A sign is strung up on the fence surrounding PS 17 in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn in protest of the school gym being used as temporary housing Adams said in May that the city is looking at opening 20 school gyms to house migrants. Video footage inside the Beacon School of Excellence in Brooklyn shows rows of cot beds set up in the gymnasium ready to be used by migrants. Parents of students affected by the move started protesting earlier to raise their concerns about the move. One shared video of the gym onto their Twitter page, saying: 'We are not okay having an elementary school full of strangers while our kids sit in their classes! Wheres their safety!?' Adams has turned several closed New York City hotels into migrant housing facilities, such as the Roosevelt hotel which was closed three years ago. Another was the bankrupt Holiday Inn in the Financial District. The city has opened up more than 140 shelters since the city began receiving asylum seekers. Last week, Adams said that nearly 50 percent of the city's hotel rooms are filled with migrants, according to NBC New York. Some migrants have been 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. Last week, a claim was made that dozens of homeless veterans were recently kicked out of their hotels to make room for an influx of migrants fueled by the expiration Title 42. Sharon Toney-Finch, who runs the Yerik Israel Toney Foundation helping homeless individuals, has since been accused of making up her story about homeless vets being evicted to make room for migrants.Toney-Finch, a disabled military veteran, said she was left in tears after seeing the veterans swiftly kicked out of the hotels, despite being promised temporary housing for a month. Several Democratic-run cities have seen countless buses of migrants arrive from southern states, such as Chicago and Philadelphia, where Abbott said he already has sent 17,000 migrants. Texas has also sent more than 9,000 migrants to Washington, DC, with many arriving at the doorstep of Vice President Kamala Harris' residence. 'The reason why we are bussing migrants across the country is because small little towns on the border like Del Rio and Eagle Pass, they have no capacity to deal with the number of people coming across the border,' Abbott recently said. 'And we have to relieve the congestion at small communities and bus them to larger communities.' Migrants pictured arriving at The Crossroads Hotel in Newburgh, New York, where homeless veterans were kicked out to prepare for the influx Adams said earlier in May: 'It is not about the asylum-seekers and migrants, all of us came from somewhere to pursue the American Dream. 'It is the irresponsibility of the Republican Party in Washington for refusing to do real immigration reform, and it's the irresponsibility of the White House for not addressing this problem.' One insider told Politico that the relationship between Adams and the White House 'has soured' over the issue. Adams 'made somewhere between in-artful to stupid comments that were kind of out of bounds', the Democrat aide said. A spokesman for the New York City mayor has since said Adams 'stands ready to help the president with reelection however he can'. Adams has also attempted to explain his position as simply a disagreement over a single issue, which is not indicative of his broader support for the president. He said in March: 'Being the president comes with a menu of items, it doesn't mean there's not going to be an item on that menu that I dislike. 'I dislike what we're doing around the asylum seekers, but I always say that I believe the president is just a blue-collar president. I'm a blue-collar mayor. I like his policies. I think he's good for the country and it doesn't mean I'm going to agree with him 100 percent on everything.' He has also insisted 'Biden is my guy, I want Biden to be the next president'. 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 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 White House deputy press secretary Andrew Bates told Axios: 'President Biden and his team are proud of their collaborative relationship with Mayor Adams.' Biden attempted to laugh off the issue at the border over the weekend when asked how the situation was going following Title 42's expiry. 'Much better than you all expected,' he told reporters with a chuckle. He also spoke about the reduced number of crossings, which are down about 50 percent, as migrants and smugglers who prey on their status assess the new regulatory regime. But while the border looks relatively clearer than in recent months, migrants are filling processing centers to capacity and being released into the streets with dates with immigration judges as far away was 2033. 'They have gone down my hope is that they'll continue to go down, and we have a lot more work to do,' Biden said while biking near his Rehoboth, Delaware beach house. His remark came after Vice President Kamala Harris said at a fundraiser that things were 'going rather smoothly' despite problems with processing and border state governors bussing migrants to northern cities, passing on administrative headaches to those jurisdictions. EDITOR'S NOTE: Sharon Toney-Finch has since been accused of making up her story about homeless vets being evicted to make room for migrants. A serving police officer has been found guilty of assaulting a teenage Indigenous boy after he slammed him to the ground face-first using a brutal 'leg sweep'. NSW police constable Ryan Barlow arrested a 16-year-old Indigenous boy in inner-city Sydney in 2020. The boy, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, was standing four metres away from the officer in Eddie Ward Park in Surry Hills when he told Barlow 'I'll crack you across the f****** jaw, bro'. At first, the officer appeared taken aback by the outburst, asking: 'What was that?'. But then Barlow moved towards the teenager, telling him to turn around and put his hands behind his back, which he did but said: 'what the f***'. Serving police officer Ryan Barlow has been found guilty of assaulting a teenage Indigenous boy The constable then kicked the boy's legs from under him, causing him to fall face-first and chip a tooth. Shocking footage of the incident, first published by Daily Mail Australia in June 2020 on the eve of an Australian Black Lives Matter protest, went viral following the high profile case of George Floyd's murder in the US. After the brutal leg sweep, the man filming can be heard shouting: 'What the f***!' 'You just slammed him on his face,' two other voices added. Magistrate Rami Attia on Monday found Barlow guilty of occasioning actual bodily harm, dismissing claims the officer had felt threatened. NSW police constable Ryan Barlow (pictured front) arrested a 16-year-old Indigenous boy in inner-city Sydney in 2020 The boy, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, told Barlow (pictured centre) 'I'll crack you across the f****** jaw, bro' The magistrate found that Barlow gave the teenager just 3.02 seconds to comply with his demands, according to The Guardian. The boy's face, shoulder and hip made contact with the ground following the leg sweep, before the officer pinned the boy to the floor using his knees while he reached for handcuffs. The magistrate said the footage showed that the teen was 'clearly and audibly in significant pain' and afterwards struggled to stand up when asked to do so, saying he could not feel his knee. Barlow will be sentenced at a later date. Peter Dutton has launched a scorched Earth attack on Labor's Voice to Parliament warning it could have 'Orwellian' consequences. The Opposition Leader said the referendum could 'have an Orwellian effect where all Australians are equal, but some Australians are more equal than others' - a direct reference to George Orwell's satirical novella from 1945, Animal Farm. The emotive language in the House of Representatives on Monday sparked fierce backlash from Minister for Indigenous Affairs Linda Burney, who said critics were 'hellbent on dashing the hopes of the people' and 'stoking division'. Ms Burney urged her colleagues on all sides of the debate to avoid 'playing politics on an issue that should be above partisan politics'. Mr Dutton is one of about 70 speakers who intend to speak in Parliament this week on the Constitutional Alteration Bill - the legislation which will pave the way for the Voice referendum. The Opposition Leader said the referendum could 'have an Orwellian effect where all Australians are equal, but some Australians are more equal than others' In scathing comments on Monday, he said: 'The Voice is regressive, not progressive. 'Because if Australians vote for change then our nation, our democracy, and their lives will be fundamentally altered. And in this case, not for the better. Changing our Constitution to enshrine a Voice will take our country backwards not forwards. 'And it should be very clear to Australians by now that the Prime Minister is dividing our country not uniting us. 'If Australians have buyer's remorse the Voice comes with a no-return policy. It's here to stay in it. This institution hasn't even been road-tested.' Mr Dutton also criticised the government for 'preferring Australians to be incurious' about the debate, accusing politicians of 'dismissing reasonable and legitimate concerns as a scare campaign'. Ms Burney urged her colleagues on all sides of the debate to avoid 'playing politics on an issue that should be above partisan politics' The Coalition will not stand in the way of the referendum proceeding, despite opposing the Voice itself. The bill on the Voice will finalise the wording that would be placed in the constitution should the referendum succeed, and the question that would be put to voters. The referendum is due to be held between October and December this year. Debate on the Voice follows the release of a parliamentary committee report on the bill, which recommended it pass without changes. The Liberal party accepts and advocates for recognition for Indigenous people, but are seeking an amendment which would exclude constitutional changes. But Ms Burney said it is 'time for recognition'. 'It's time for an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander voice to the parliament, because (they) have not enjoyed the same opportunities of so many other Australians,' she told parliament. Mr Dutton made reference to George Orwell's satirical novella from 1945, Animal Farm 'Constitutional recognition through a voice to the parliament is about giving Indigenous Australians a say in matters that affect us. It means delivering structural change.' Ms Burney said the process to establish the voice had not been rushed, instead being developed over many years with the support of Indigenous people and outlined in the 2017 Uluru statement. While concerns have been raised on the voice being able to advise executive government, the minister said the approach was the right one. 'It recognises 65,000 years of Australian history, makes our system of government stronger. It makes a practical difference on the ground,' she said. A vote on the bill is expected to be held in the lower house next week, before debate shifts to the Senate. Liberal MP Keith Wolahan, who was part of a parliamentary committee examining the bill on the referendum, said concerns about the voice should not be dismissed. 'We know that well-meaning Australians will hold views that do not align with the press releases of their corporate employer, their professional associations, their sporting codes, or the views of their family, their friends and their political party,' he said. '(Those who spoke against the voice are) not afflicted by subconscious racism or bedwetting, or the odious slur 'Judas betrayal'. They are our fellow Australians.' What we know about the Voice to Parliament so far Here, Daily Mail Australia looks at some of the key questions about the Voice so far, and how the government has tackled them: What kind of advice can the Voice provide the Parliament and Government? The Voice will advise on matters that directly relate to Indigenous people. It will respond to requests made by the government, while also having the power to engage proactively on matters that they believe impact them. The group will have its own resources to research matters and engage with communities at a grassroots level to ensure it is best reflecting their needs. How will members of the Voice be chosen? Members of the Voice will be appointed by Indigenous communities and will serve on the committee for a fixed period of time, yet to be determined. The way the communities choose their representatives will be agreed upon by the local communities in tandem with the government as part of a 'post referendum process' to ensure cultural legitimacy. Who can become a member of the committee? Members of the Voice must be Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander. They will be chosen from across each state and territory and have balanced gender representation nationally. The government has also guaranteed that young people will be included in the committee to ensure representation across the broad scope of the community. Will the Voice be transparent? The government states the Voice will be subject to scrutiny and reporting requirements to ensure it is held accountable and remains transparent. Voice members will be held to standards of the National Anti-Corruption Commission and will be sanctioned or removed from the committee if there are any findings of misconduct. Will the Voice have veto power? No. Will the Voice work independently of other government bodies? The committee must respect the work and role of existing organisations, the government says. Will the Voice handle any funds? The Voice will not directly manage any money or deliver any services to the community. Its sole role will be in making representations about improving existing government programs and services, and advising on new ideas coming through the parties. Advertisement Australians will be asked whether they support the establishment of the Voice to Parliament to recognise Indigenous people in the Constitution. The government has set aside $364.6million in this Budget for the referendum. The vote will need support from the majority of Australians in the majority of states to be successful. The Voice will establish a body that can 'make representations to the Parliament and the Executive Government of the Commonwealth on matters relating to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples'. This body - comprised of Indigenous people from a range of ages and demographics - would give advice to the government. But critics argue it's unclear exactly what they could advise on. As it stands, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has reassured the public that members of the Voice will be appointed by and within Indigenous communities. Anthony Albanese surrounded by members of the First Nations Referendum Working Group They will serve on the committee 'for a fixed period of time', which is yet to be determined. The way the communities choose their representatives will be agreed upon by the local communities in tandem with the government as part of a 'post referendum process' to ensure cultural legitimacy, he said. If a majority of Australians vote in favour of the Voice, the Constitution would be amended as follows: 1. There shall be a body, to be called the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice; 2. The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice may make representations to the Parliament and the Executive Government of the Commonwealth on matters relating to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples; 3. The Parliament shall, subject to this Constitution, have power to make laws with respect to matters relating to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice, including its composition, functions powers and procedures. Mr Albanese said he was aware holding a referendum 'is a risk', given 'they usually don't succeed'. He said earlier this year: 'The people here can't wait. They can't. They've waited so long. They've waited a long time for justice, this is something where they're making such a modest request. I do feel a responsibility. 'I'm not here to occupy the space, I'm here to change the country. There's nowhere more important in changing the country than in changing the constitution to recognise the fullness of our history. 'I want this for all Australians. We'll feel better about ourselves if we get this done. The truth is, Australia will be seen as a better nation in the rest of the world. Our position in the world matters.' A survey shows slightly more than half of Australians back the Voice, but the percentage of people who intend to vote 'yes' has dropped from 58 per cent to 53 per cent over the past month. The polling, by Resolve Strategic for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age newspapers, reveals the 'no' campaign is on track to win if the trend continues. A woman was allegedly threatened with a machete during a carjacking in the same suburb where a schoolboy was allegedly killed in an unrelated attack. The woman had been removing her belongings from a car on Dickson Street at Sunshine, in Melbourne's west, at 1am on Monday. Police allege she was then approached by a man wielding a machete before he stole her gold-coloured Holden Special Vehicle Senator. A woman was allegedly threatened with a machete during a carjacking in the same suburb where a schoolboy was allegedly killed in an unrelated attack The woman had been removing her belongings from a car on Dickson Street at Sunshine, in Melbourne's west, at 1am on Monday Police then spotted the allegedly stolen car five kilometres away on Ballarat Road, at Footscray. A helicopter then followed the vehicle to Gisborne before the driver allegedly fled on foot. He jumped over several fences before he was arrested by officers. Police allege a machete was found in the car during a vehicle search. The 22-year-old man, from Echuca, was arrested and charged with several offences. Aggravated carjacking with an offensive weapon, threat to inflict serious injury, aggravated assault were among the charges. He was also charged with driving at a dangerous speed and possessing a controlled weapon. The 22-year-old faced Melbourne Magistrates' Court on Monday. The gold HSV Senator was discovered in Gisborne and a search of the car allegedly uncovered a machete The knifepoint carjacking comes just four days after a tragic incident in which a schoolboy died after he was allegedly stabbed with a machete in an unrelated incident. On Thursday, 16-year-old Pasawm Lyhym died after a dispute between two rival groups at a bus stop in Sunshine. As investigations into his death continue, new CCTV of teens appearing to be embroiled in an altercation prior to the incident has emerged. A terrified Pasawm is seen running for his life from the scene with two other teens allegedly wielding knives chasing him. One of the boys chasing him was still in school uniform, carrying a backpack. The parents left her to sleep in their car after returning home late at night but did not find her until after 3pm the next day Kathreen Adams, 23, and Christopher McLean, 32, were arrested and charged with child neglect and possession of methamphetamines and drug The two-year-old Florida girl died after her parents left her in her car seat for more than 14 hours A two-year-old Florida girl who fell asleep in a hot car died after police say her parents left her for 14 hours inside the sweltering vehicle. The girl's parents, Kathreen Adams, 23, and Christopher McLean, 32, were arrested and charged with child neglect and possession of methamphetamines and drug paraphernalia. Additional charges will likely be added later, said Holmes County Sheriff John Tate. The parents reportedly decided to let the child sleep in the car after a late night drive but forgot to retrieve her until the next afternoon after temperatures peaked. Mugshots of Christopher McLean, 32, and Kathreen Adams, 23 - the parents of the toddler who died after being left in a car for 14 hours Deputies responded to a home in the Florida Panhandle neighborhood of Prosperity around 3.45pm on May 16 after an inconsolable woman called 911. Tate said the emergency operator was unable to get the necessary information from the woman because she was screaming so much. The responding deputy was met at the house by a person carrying the unresponsive child. The officer immediately began to administer CPR until emergency services arrived but the child was pronounced dead shortly after their arrival. Adams initially told authorities she found her daughter inside the home unresponsive. The responding deputy immediately knew her story implausible as the child's temperature was 107 degrees. During their investigation, authorities learned the girl had been left in the car for about 14 hours. Adams eventually admitted to deputies that she had left work about midnight and went to a relative's houses to fetch her two- and four-year-old children. The couple then drove the children home, said the sheriff. 'The baby was asleep in the car seat. They decided to leave the child in the car and went inside and ultimately fell asleep and did not wake up or did not realize that the child was in the car until around 3:41 that afternoon,' he said. He added Adams 'purposely, through her own statement, purposely left the child in the car throughout the night.' McLean was uncooperative, invoked his right 'and did not wish to give us a statement or talk to us at that time,' said Tate. Sheriff John Tate told reporters his message to the community following the tragic incident is: Don't do drugs. I honestly believe methamphetamine, drugs is the culprit behind this death' It remains unclear precisely what time the couple actually discovered their daughter inside the car and when 911 was subsequently called. Adams also told law enforcement that the four-year-old got out the car and made his way into the house. 'We do not have any evidence of whether he was in the car or in the house. That's still something we're trying to find out,' said the sheriff. The four-year-old has since been placed in the custody of the Department of Children and Families. A resulting search of the couple's home found methamphetamine, marijuana, CBD gummies and drug paraphernalia, the sheriff's office told reporters. Adams confirmed to authorities that she and McLean had smoked marijuana after they entered the house. The sheriff said his message to the community was: 'Don't do drugs. I honestly believe methamphetamine, drugs is the culprit behind this death.' 'That's what happens when you use drugs, you lose sense of what's going on in reality and this kind of stuff happens. Probably if they wasn't on drugs, we probably wouldn't be here today,' he continued. Russia may have already put sleeper explosives on critical infrastructure in Britain's North Sea, the former head of the Royal Navy has warned. Admiral Lord West warned offshore windfarms and undersea cables are at risk of attack as fears grow that Putin could wipe out the UK's power supply and cut off its telecommunications infrastructure. 'There's a risk as soon as you put critical infrastructure on the seabed,' the former Royal Navy chief said, adding that the Kremlin 'may have already put down sleeper explosives'. Admiral Lord West's warning's come after Russian ships were spotted stalking UK waters earlier this month. Defence Secretary Ben Wallace on Thursday also warned Russia has the 'intent and ability' to sabotage the UK's underwater energy and communication lines. Russia 'have a specific naval programme designed to both look at and potentially sabotage or attack critical national infrastructure belonging to its adversaries,' Mr Wallace said. 'It has a number of submarines and other pieces of equipment and spy ships and everything else specifically designed for that purpose.' Fears are growing that Russia could target British energy cables and data cables, effectively cutting it off from the global grid and putting lives in the United Kingdom at risk as hospitals lost power, wiping billions off the economy as banks were unplugged from the global system, cutting off remote communities, and potentially sparking riots UK defence secretary Ben Wallace said Vladimir Putin's (pictured) Russia has the 'intent and ability' to sabotage the UK's underwater energy and communication lines Attacks on the UK's wind farms could cause blackouts that could take weeks to fix Experts previously warned Russian attacks on wind farms and undersea cables could lead to riots and civil unrest in Britain. Dr Dwayne Ryan Menezes, of the Polar Research & Policy Initiative, said an attack on the UK's critical infrastructure could 'cause internet outages and power blackouts.' 'As damage to cables can take days or weeks to fix, it could even lead to potential civil unrest and riots,' Dr Menezes said. Any damage to the UK's critical infrastructure could also cost billions to fix, he warned, as he noted electricity and communications blackouts would hit the UK economy. Russia's underwater threat is nothing new, and researchers have been warning about potential sabotage attacks since at least 2015. But back then the main concern was undersea internet cables, through which 95 per cent of the world's internet traffic and $10trillion of financial transactions pass every day. In 2017, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak - then a backbench MP - wrote a report warning of the 'existential' threat faced by the UK in the event of a coordinated attack on these cables, most of which are no thicker than a hosepipe. The pipes are poorly protected, would take only basic skills to find and break, and have no backup system because satellites cannot handle the volume of data they carry. 'Short of nuclear or biological warfare, it is difficult to think of a threat that could be more justifiably described as existential than that posed by the catastrophic failure of undersea cable networks as a result of hostile action,' Mr Sunak wrote. Former Royal Navy chief Admiral Lord West (pictured) warned Russia 'may have already put down sleeper explosives' Last September, three quickfire explosions tore open the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipes and destroyed the main gas links between Russian and Europe. Pictured: The gas leak at Nord Stream 2 is seen from a Danish helicopter in September 2022 Six years on, fresh fears are now growing as the threat has evolved. Russia has since invested heavily in sea-bed warfare technology and owns ships and submarines capable of operating mini-subs and robots to work at great depth, that could potentially carry out sabotage attacks. And in October last year, Ministers ordered an urgent survey of undersea power and internet cables amid fears Russia may have already targeted them with mines. This came a month after three quickfire explosions tore open the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines and destroyed the main gas links between Russian and Europe in September. Many suspected Kremlin sabotage, and in April a team of investigative journalists from Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Finland claimed to have uncovered evidence that at least three Russian vessels were operating in the area in the lead-up to those blasts. One, a research vessel called the Sibiryakov which has extensive underwater capabilities, allegedly toured the northern blast zone in late June last year. A second, a tugboat called SB-123, was tracked to an area between the northern and southern zones in late September having earlier set off as part of a six-vessel Russian navy mission from Kaliningrad. A third unidentified ship was in the same area as the Sibriyakov in early June. Separately, the same team of investigators tracked another vessel - the Admiral Vladimirski - as it scouted infrastructure in the North Sea, including the locations of UK wind farms. It was the first time analysts had seen such behaviour, and means that vital energy infrastructure is now a potential target along with internet links. Havard Gulldahl, one of the journalists, was left in no doubt that Russia intends to sabotage those links 'should the current conflict [in Ukraine] escalate.' Being an island, the UK is particularly vulnerable to such attacks and will only become more vulnerable as time passes. Around a third of the gas we use each year comes to the UK via a pipe from Norway that runs under the North Sea. This is set to increase in the coming years as our own gas fields run dry. Admiral Lord West argued the UK should invest more heavily in onshore wind, to avoid the threats posed by hostile powers. 'Its much harder for any hostile power to target onshore wind,' the former Royal Navy chief said. Rod Wood, the managing director of renewables developer Community Windpower, called on the UK government to remove blocks to the buildout of onshore wind capacity. 'The destruction of the Nord Stream pipelines starkly demonstrates how exposed subsea infrastructure assets can be,' Mr Wood said. 'As Lord West highlights, geopolitical risks must now be front and center of energy policy.' 'The Government needs to lift the onshore wind planning moratorium in England and axe the windfall tax on new solar and wind generation to deliver safe and secure home-grown energy supplies,' he said. If you or a loved one needs help, call the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline by dialling 988 Two top academics have called for all work-related suicides to investigated by the UK's workplace health and safety watchdog. The two leading professors believe Britain's Health and Safety Executive should follow France's model, by investigating all work-related suicides by default. The call comes after headteacher Ruth Perry took her own life in January. Her family believes stress associated with an Ofsted inspection contributed to her death. Caversham Primary School in Reading, where she worked, was waiting for a report to be published downgrading it from Outstanding to Inadequate when she died. Professor Martin McKee, from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, and University of Leeds professor Sarah Waters made the call in an article in the British Medical Journal. The family of headteacher Ruth Perry (pictured), who took her own life in January, say work-related stress contributed to her death 'Even though the link between adverse working conditions and suicide is well established, regulations requiring reporting of work-related deaths to the Health and Safety Executive in Great Britain specifically exclude suicides,' the article said. 'While the almost complete loss of confidence in Ofsted is a matter for those in the education sector to address, the health community has a duty to demand action to tackle the burden of mental ill health associated with the way it operates. 'We argue that three bodies need to act now. 'The first is Ofsted itself. It should publicly accept that it has a duty of care to teachers (and to its inspectors, some of whom are also traumatised by the events we have described).' Professor Martin McKee (pictured), from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, called for all work-related suicides to be investigated by Britain's health and safety watchdog 'In France, for example, if there is even a suggestion of a link between suicide and working conditions, the burden of proof falls on the employer to show otherwise,' they said. 'In the UK we do not even know with certainty how many teachers have killed themselves in circumstances linked to Ofsted inspections, but we are aware of at least eight others.' A survey conducted in 2022 by the Teacher Wellbeing Index showed 78% of more than 3,000 teachers reported mental health symptoms they attributed to their work. 'Finally, as Ofsted says that it reports to 'Parliament, parents, carers, and commissioners', the Commons education select committee should conduct an urgent inquiry into its impact on the welfare of teaching staff,' the article said. Professor Sarah Waters (pictured), from the University of Leeds, said Britain should adopt France's model by investigating all work-related suicides by default Simon Kidwell, the vice-president of the National Association of Head Teachers said last month he believes 'the framework that underpins the inspection needs redesigning', declaring that it is 'not fit for purpose and it's not working'. Paul Whiteman, general secretary of the NAHT union, added: 'We welcome this powerful intervention and the calls for the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) to investigate all suicides linked to work, including in schools, and to launch an inquiry into work-related stress in education. 'The outpouring of grief and anger across the profession following the tragic death of Ruth Perry has been accompanied by upsetting evidence of other school leaders who have been left in very dark places due to Ofsted inspections.' 'As well as the suggested involvement of the HSE, we need the government and Ofsted to accept what they are hearing loud and clear from school staff, and work with the profession to agree and deliver root and branch reform to inspection.' Passengers can now travel directly from Essex to Heathrow airport as part of changes to London's Elizabeth line. Updates to the line's timetable mean trains will run from Shenfield in Essex, through east London to Heathrow Terminal 5 all day. The airport will now receive six Elizabeth line trains per hour. The new timetable also means trains will now run roughly every two-and-a-half minutes at peak times across Paddington and Whitechapel in central London. More than 150million journeys have been made on London's Elizabeth line since it opened last May and around 3.5million Elizabeth line journeys happen each week. Undated handout photo issued by Transport for London of Bond Street Elizabeth line station Updates to the line's timetable mean trains will run from Shenfield in Essex, through east London to Heathrow Terminal 5 all day. The airport will now receive six Elizabeth line trains per hour Elizabeth line workers had planned strike action on its one-year anniversary on May 24 following a dispute over pay, but the Transport Salaried Staffs' Association (TSSA) said it has received a revised pay proposal from Rail for London Infrastructure and will now consult members. More than 2.5million journeys were made on the route in its first week and now around 600,000 journeys take place on weekdays. On Monday, the project's final full timetable was introduced, meaning the Crossrail project has been completed. There will be 24 trains per hour between central London stations, with 16 trains per hour running off-peak. Peak hours will also be extended on the line. There will also be more services from Reading at peak hours. Mayor of London Sadiq Khan poses for a selfie with passengers on May 24, 2022 The project is on track to break even by the end of the 2023/24 financial year. Mayor of London Sadiq Khan said the Elizabeth line is now the most popular railway in the country and it has transformed travel across London and the south east of England. He said: 'An incredible 3.5million journeys are made a week, as passengers enjoy the modern trains, beautiful step-free stations and reduced journey times. 'The Elizabeth line is the most significant addition to our transport network in decades and has proven to be much more than just a new railway - providing a crucial economic boost to the whole country and playing a vital role in drawing people back on to London's public transport. 'The introduction of the final full timetable marks the completion of the Crossrail project, and I'm delighted that passengers will have even more frequent services to get them across the capital and beyond.' A man in his 60s has died after collapsing with a cardiac arrest while walking in a popular beauty spot, police said. Lancashire Police officers were called just after 9.20am on Sunday morning to Rivington Country Park. Two nurses who happened to be passing joined other walkers in giving the man CPR as they waited for medical teams to arrive. The North West Air Ambulance (NWAA) landed on top of the Pike - which sizzled on 18C (64F) temperatures through the day - but despite best efforts the walker was pronounced dead at the scene. Rivington Pike is a hill on Winter Hill, part of the West Pennine Moors at Rivington, Chorley in Lancashire, England. It is a popular spot for walkers in both Lancashire and Greater Manchester due to its location by the two county borders. A man in his 60s has died after collapsing with a cardiac arrest while walking in a popular beauty spot, police said In clear conditions from the tower at the top of the beauty spot, you can see the Cumbrian Fells in the Lake District, Blackpool Tower and the Isle of Man. Lancashire Police said: 'We were called just after 9:20am this morning (Sunday 21 May) by NWAS who were responding to a report of a man collapsed in Rivington Country Park. 'Sadly, despite the best efforts of emergency responders and members of the public, a man in his 60s was pronounced dead at the scene. 'The death is not being treated as suspicious and a file will be passed to the coroner in due course. Our thoughts are with the man's family at this time.' Lancashire Police officers were called just after 9.20am on Sunday morning to Rivington Country Park While Bolton Mountain Rescue said: 'At 08:29 this morning the team were contacted by North West Ambulance Service requesting our assistance at an incident at Rivington Pike, regarding a male reported to be in cardiac arrest. 'North West Air Ambulance had also been called to the scene. Our first team members and vehicles arrived at 08:53 to meet with the NWAA crew. 'Members of the public, including two nurses who happened to be nearby, had started CPR before the arrival of any emergency services. 'Despite the best efforts of all involved, sadly the man died. Lancashire Police attended shortly afterwards, as is normal procedure. 'When initial enquiries were complete, Bolton MRT members conveyed the man to the waiting NWAS ambulance to George's Lane at the bottom of Rivington Pike. 'Our thoughts are with the family and friends of the man who sadly lost his life. Thank you to the many members of public out walking who kindly kept away from the scene of this incident.' Advertisement Russian forces have walked into a trap by taking control of Bakhmut after a grinding nine-month battle for the Ukrainian city, Kyiv has said. Moscow claimed to have taken full control of the eastern city over the weekend, in what would be a largely symbolic victory that has come at the cost of tens of thousands of Russian and Wagner mercenary troops. Kyiv disputed the Russian claim, but acknowledged its forces now control only a small district. But while the situation in Bakhmut itself appears bleak for Ukraine, Kyiv says its fighters' presence has played a key role in their strategy of exhausting the Russian military ahead of a planned counteroffensive, while manoeuvring around the flanks of the city. Ukraine now says its current positions in the areas surrounding Bakhmut - where its forces have fought to surround the city from the north and south in recent weeks and sent Russian troops running - will allow them to strike back. According to Ukraine's Colonel General Oleksandr Syrskyi: 'Wagner's men went into Bakhmut like rats into a mousetrap.' Pictured: A map showing the on-going situation on the ground in the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut. While Russia claims its forces have taken the city (centre), Ukraine's troops are working to encircle it from the north and the south Pictured: Ukrainian artillerymen fire a cannon near the city of Bakhmut on May 3 Pictured: Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin is seen in front of his soldiers holding Wagner Group and Russian flags in Bakhmut on May 20, claiming full control of the city While Moscow may control the centre of Bakhmut, analysts say the Kremlin's victory is not strategically advantageous, as it is unlikely to provide a springboard for either Wagner or Russia's armed forces to advance further west. What's more, as Wagner pushed relentlessly through the city, Ukraine's forces launched rapid counterattacks in the fields to the north and south of Bakhmut, meaning Kyiv's troops surround the city from three sides. Kyiv now holds the high ground around the city, putting any Russian unit in the sights of Ukrainian artillery from multiple directions. Even more important for Ukraine has been the high numbers of Russian casualties and sapping of the morale of enemy troops for the the small patch of the 932-mile front line as Ukraine gears up for a major counteroffensive in the 15-month-old war. 'Despite the fact that we now control a small part of Bakhmut, the importance of its defense does not lose its relevance,' said Syrskyi, the commander of ground forces for the Ukrainian Armed Forces, amid reports of Russia taking control of the city. 'This gives us the opportunity to enter the city in case of a change in the situation. And it will definitely happen,' he added. 'The enemy failed to surround Bakhmut. They lost part of the heights around the city. The continuing advance of our troops in the suburbs greatly complicates the enemy's presence,' said Hanna Maliar, Ukraine's deputy defence minister. 'Our troops have taken the city in a semi-encirclement, which gives us the opportunity to destroy the enemy.' Meanwhile, Ukrainian and British intelligence has said Russia is reinforcing the region around Bakhmut with several battalions as Wagner head Yevgeny Prigozhin has signalled his intention to pull his troops out by May 25. This could force Moscow to replace the mercenaries in the city with its own troops, or run the risk of losing control of the city. Prigozhin has been at loggerheads with Russian military leadership for months, publicly chastising them for their failures on the ground and for not supplying his Wagner mercenaries with enough ammunition. 'Wagner will leave Artemovsk (Bakhmut was previously known as Artemovsk) from May 25 to June 1,' Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin said in an audio recording on Telegram. Prigozhin said the mercenaries had set up 'defence lines' on the western outskirts of the city before a planned transfer of control to the Russian army. 'If the ministry of defence does not have enough personnel, we have thousands of generals,' said Prigozhin. Pictured: Smoke rises from buildings in this aerial view of Bakhmut, the site of the heaviest battles with the Russian troops in the Donetsk region, Ukraine, at the end of April Pictured: An aerial view of Bakhmut, the site of heavy battles with Russian troops in the Donetsk region, Ukraine, Sunday, March 26, 2023. The city, once home to around 80,000 people, has all but been levelled to the ground in the on-going fighting Russian president Vladimir Putin - who has been desperate for any form of victory in Ukraine - congratulated his forces on the victory over the weekend. READ MORE: Horrifying photographs show the scale of Putin's destruction in Bakhmut as President Zelensky compares ruins of Ukrainian city to Hiroshima Advertisement Russia's defence ministry said the Wagner mercenaries - backed by Russian troops - had seized the city, but Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky said Bakhmut was not being fully occupied by his counterpart's troops. In a video posted on Telegram, Prigozhin claimed the city came under complete Russian control at about midday Saturday. Holding a Russian flag before a group of at least nine masked fighters in body army who were toting heavy weapons, Prigozhin proclaimed: 'This afternoon at 12:00, Bakhmut was completely taken.' Meanwhile, Ukrainian and Russian sources have reported on-going fighting on Bakhmut's northern and southern flanks, according to the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), a Washington-based think tank. It said fighting in on-going in the directions of Ivanivske (4 miles west of Bakhmut), Stupochky (8 miles southwest of Bakhmut) and Bila Hora (7.5 miles southwest of Bakhmut), while Russian forces have reported that Kyiv's forces are conducting localised attacks near Klishchiivka (4 miles southwest of the city). On May 19, Ukrainian forces reported that they had recaptured approximately 1.5 square miles of territory near Bakhmut. Footage has emerged in recent weeks of the city's surrounding areas showing Russia's conventional forces retreating across shell-scarred fields as Ukraine's forces advance quickly with tanks and mobile units, taking out dozens of Moscow's troops. The battle for Bakhmut has been likened to a First World War 'meat grinder', with Russia crashing tens of thousands of its troops against Ukraine's defences in 'human wave' attacks. The losses on both sides are estimated to be in the tens of thousands, with Wagner alone - which recruited around 50,000 convicts from Russian jails to join the battle - seeing an approximate 40,000 of its mercenary either killed or wounded. Despite throwing huge resources at the city, analysts have said Russia's control of it offers little in the way of tactical significance. According to the ISW's latest on-the-ground assessment: 'Prigozhin's claimed capture of the remaining blocks in Bakhmut is not strategically significant as it will not allow exhausted Wagner or conventional Russian forces to establish a meaningful springboard for further offensive operations.' It added: 'Ukrainian ongoing counterattacks north, west, and southwest of Bakhmut will complicate any further Russian advances beyond Bakhmut in the near term.' In reference to Prigozhin claiming he would withdraw his Wagner troops from the city on May 25, the ISW said: 'Prigozhin's withdrawal announcement, whether Wagner withdraws from the city or not, indicates that Prigozhin does not intend to continue an offensive effort to push directly west of Bakhmut.' An aerial view shows destructions in the frontline town of Bakhmut, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Donetsk region, Ukraine, in this handout picture released on May 21, 2023. Ukrainian soldiers walk in an area of the heaviest battles in Bakhmut, Donetsk region, Ukraine, Friday, April 21, 2023 About 34 miles north of the Russian-held regional capital of Donetsk, Bakhmut was an important industrial centre, surrounded by salt and gypsum mines and home to about 80,000 people before the war, in a country of more than 43 million. The city, named Artyomovsk after a Bolshevik revolutionary when Ukraine was part of the Soviet Union, was known for its sparkling wine produced in underground caves. It was popular among tourists for its broad tree-lined avenues, lush parks and stately downtown with imposing late 19th century mansions. All are now reduced to a smoldering wasteland. Fought over so fiercely by Russia and Ukraine in recent months has been Bakhmut's urban center, where Ukrainian commanders have conceded Moscow controlled more than 90 per cent. But even now, Ukrainian forces are making significant advances near strategic roads through the countryside just outside, chipping away at Russia's northern and southern flanks by the yard with the aim of encircling Wagner fighters inside the city. Ukrainian military leaders say their months-long resistance has been worthwhile because it limited Russia's capabilities elsewhere and enabled Ukrainian advances. 'The main idea is to exhaust them, then to attack,' Ukrainian Col. Yevhen Mezhevikin, commander of a specialized group fighting in Bakhmut, said Thursday. Russia has deployed reinforcements to Bakhmut to replenish the lost northern and southern flanks and prevent more Ukrainian breakthroughs, according to Ukrainian officials and outside observers. This could weaken their position elsewhere. Putin badly needs to claim victory in Bakhmut, where Russian forces have focused their efforts, analysts say, especially after a winter offensive by his forces failed to capture other cities and towns along the front. Ukraine's tactical gains in the rural area outside urban Bakhmut could be more significant than they seem, according to some analysts. Ukrainian soldiers ride on a BMP infantry fighting vehicle toward Bakhmut, on May 20, 2023, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Ukraine on May 20, 2023 Ukrainian servicemen fire a BM-21 Grad multiple launch rocket system towards Russian troops, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, near the frontline town of Bakhmut, Ukraine May 19, 2023 'It was almost like the Ukrainians just took advantage of the fact that, actually, the Russian lines were weak,' said Phillips O'Brien, a professor of strategic studies at the University of St. Andrews. 'The Russian army has suffered such high losses and is so worn out around Bakhmut that ... it cannot go forward anymore.' Ukrainian forces in the outskirts of Bakhmut and in the city bore relentless artillery attacks until a month ago. Then, Ukrainian forces positioned south of the city spotted their chance for a breakthrough after reconnaissance drones showed the southern Russian flank had gone on the defensive, Col. Mezhevikin said. After fierce fighting for weeks, Ukrainian units made their first advance in the vicinity of Bakhmut since it was invaded nine months ago. In all, nearly 20 square kilometers (8 square miles) of territory were recaptured, Maliar said in an interview last week. Hundreds of yards more have been regained almost every day since, according to Serhii Cherevatyi, spokesman for Ukraine's Operational Command East. 'Previously we were only holding the lines and didn't let Russians advance further into our territory. What has happened now is our first advance (since the battle started),' Maliar said. Victory in Bakhmut does not necessarily bring Russia any closer to capturing the Donetsk region - Putin's stated aim of the war. Rather, it opens the door to more grinding battles in the direction of Sloviansk or Kostiantynivka, 12 miles away, said Kateryna Stepanenko, a Russia analyst at the Institute for the Study of War. Satellite imagery released this week shows infrastructure, apartment blocks and iconic buildings reduced to rubble. In the last week, days before Russia announced the city had fallen into their control, Ukrainian forces retained only a handful of buildings amid constant Russian bombardment. Outnumbered and outgunned, they described nightmarish days. Russia's artillery dominance was so overwhelming, accompanied by continuous human waves of mercenaries, that defensive positions could not be held for long. 'The importance of our mission of staying in Bakhmut lies in distracting a significant enemy force,' said Taras Deiak, a commander of a special unit of a volunteer battalion. 'We are paying a high price for this.' The northern and southern flanks regained by Ukraine are located near two highways that lead to Chasiv Yar, a town 6 miles from Bakhmut, that serve as key logistics supply routes. One is dubbed the 'road of life.' This video grab taken from a handout footage posted on May 20, 2023 on the Telegram account of the press service of Concord - a company linked to the chief of Russian mercenary group Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin - shows members of Wagner group waving a Russian national flag and Wagner Group's flag on the rooftop of a damaged building in Bakhmut Ukrainian soldiers fire a cannon near Bakhmut, an eastern city where fierce battles against Russian forces have been taking place, in the Donetsk region, Ukraine, Friday, May 12, 2023 A Ukrainian soldier holds his helmet as he rides an APC in Bakhmut, in the Donetsk region, Ukraine, Wednesday, April 26, 2023 Ukrainian forces passing this road often came under fire from Russians positioned along nearby strategic heights. Armored vehicles and pickup trucks driving toward the city to replenish Ukrainian troops were frequently destroyed. With those high plains now under Ukrainian control, its forces have more breathing room. 'This will help us design new logistic chains to deliver ammunition in and evacuate the injured or killed boys,' said Deiak, speaking from inside Bakhmut on Thursday, two days before Russia claimed control of the city. 'Now it is easier to deliver supplies, rotate troops, (carry out) evacuations.' Its operator warns of 'radiation consequences for the whole world' if restored Ukraine's state-owned power company Energoatom warned Monday that Russian shelling had knocked the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant offline overnight. The operator said on Telegram the Dniprovska power line was disconnected, leaving it to rely on diesel generators - and reviving fears of nuclear catastrophe. Energoatom said generators have enough fuel reserves to last ten days. The backup supply is needed to cool reactor fuel and prevent nuclear meltdown. Still, it stressed that 'it is impossible to restore external power to the plant during this time. An accident with radiation consequences for the whole world may occur.' Ukraine's largest power station has been caught in intense clashes since its occupation at the start of the war, provoking fears of a Chernobyl-type disaster. Rafael Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), said in April the situation around the plant is 'becoming increasingly unpredictable and potentially dangerous', warning of the possibility of a 'severe nuclear accident'. A Russian serviceman stands guard in an area of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Station in territory under Russian military control, southeastern Ukraine, 1 May 2022 Ukrainian armed forces train with explosive weapons in the areas close to the frontline in Zaporizhzhia, 20 April 2023. Both sides have accused each other of shelling the power station International Atomic Energy Agency chief Rafael Grossi speaks to media in Zaporizhzhia on 1 September 2022 as UN inspectors prepare to head to the Russian-held plant in Ukraine Energoatom first reported the outage at 7:52am, minutes after Russian officials said the site had been switched to standby. Russian officials confirmed an air attack on the city of Dnipro had been launched overnight. The governor of the Dnipro region added that four Russian missiles and 15 drones had been downed, and at least eight civilians injured. Last month, as a town near the plant was evacuated, the UN's nuclear watchdog warned clashes around the plant threatened catastrophe. Mr Grossi, director general of the IAEA, said: 'I'm extremely concerned about the very real nuclear safety and security risks facing the plant. 'We must act now to prevent the threat of a severe nuclear accident and its associated consequences for the population and the environment.' Mr Grossi, who has continued to visit the site for Russian-organised inspections, has said the 'plant and physical integrity of the plant' had been 'violated several times'. In March 2023, missile strikes again caused outages, leaving the plant reliant on its diesel generators. The reserves were vital for cooling reactor fuel and preventing a nuclear meltdown. In the event of a meltdown, harmful thermal energy and radiation would be released into the atmosphere, carried over borders by the wind. While a power plant uses nuclear fission to generate electricity, it cannot explode like an atom bomb. The powerplant at Zaporizhzhia is one of the ten biggest in the world and was responsible for nearly half the nuclear output of Ukraine's four reactors. Energoatom, who operate the four reactors in Ukraine, warned in August last year that rockets fired back and forth risked a Chernobyl-style nuclear disaster. The site has been occupied by Russian forces since the start of the war, and has often been caught up in clashes between opposing forces. A Ukrainian soldier on a tank performs firing practice at special shooting range near the frontline area amid Russia-Ukraine war, in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine on March 29, 2023 A woman removes debris of a residential house destroyed by a Russian military strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in the village of Malokaterynivka, Zaporizhzhia region, 11 May 2023 A military investigator works inside a crater while locals look on at the site of a residential area heavily damaged by a Russian missile strike in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine on 3 May, 2023 Zaporizhzhia's power station was knocked offline for the first time since the start of the invasion in late August 2022, reportedly due to shelling. The site was forced to fall back on diesel generators. It was the first time the plant had been disconnected from Ukraine's national grid in nearly 40 years of operation. Blackouts continued sporadically as the region became a fixed point of the frontline. Suella Braverman is facing a moment of truth today after claims emerged she asked civil servants to help dodge a speeding fine. Rishi Sunak has consulted his sleaze watchdog amid allegations that the Home Secretary wanted officials to arrange a private speed awareness course so that she would not be seen by other motorists. The PM is 'availing himself of information' about what happened, according to Downing Street - but no probe has been launched yet. Ms Braverman is also due to be grilled in the House of Commons over whether she breached the ministerial code - just eight months after she was forced to quit in a separate row over use of her private email. Her allies say the story is a political smear and she merely asked for advice then dealt with the matter herself, accepting a fine and three points for going over a 50mph limit. The PM is confronting the crisis after flying back to the UK from Japan, where he initially refused to say whether Ms Braverman would face an investigation. Aides said he had been too busy at the G7 summit to speak to his minister directly yesterday, but will consider the situation with ethics adviser Sir Laurie Magnus later. Sir Laurie cannot begin an investigation into a minister's conduct without Mr Sunak's agreement. Mrs Braverman is said to have been caught speeding outside London last summer, when she was Attorney General. Suella Braverman is facing a moment of truth today after claims emerged she asked civil servants to help dodge a speeding fine Rishi Sunak is set to consult his sleaze watchdog amid allegations that the Home Secretary wanted officials to arrange a private speed awareness course so that she would not be seen by other motorists The controversy revealed by The Mail on Sunday is set to dominate Westminster today with Labour expected to demand ministers answer an urgent question. Mrs Braverman was already scheduled to make a visit this morning and appear in the Commons to answer Home Office questions. Keir Starmer said Ms Braverman's actions seemed to have been 'inappropriate' and she should resign if she is found to have breached the ministerial code. He told ITV's Good Morning Britain: 'I don't know all the facts but it looks to me as though the Home Secretary's actions were inappropriate and they should be investigated.' Sir Keir said he did not want to get 'ahead of himself' in calling for Ms Braverman to resign but said: 'I think if she's breached the ministerial code she should go in the end it's the ministerial code that matters.' Whitehall sources said they expected the PM to stand by Mrs Braverman unless her story started to unravel. But they warned he had not had time to fully examine the matter. Last October Ms Braverman was forced to quit after breaching the ministerial code by sharing an official document with a fellow MP using her personal email account. She used her resignation letter to express 'concerns about the direction of this Government', then led by Liz Truss. Just a week later she was reappointed by Rishi Sunak. Since then she has risked angering No 10 with her outspoken views on immigration. Tory MP Miriam Cates said: 'Suella has done nothing wrong. Around 1.5million people take speed awareness courses every year so it's hardly a news story. 'In smearing the Home Secretary like this, someone is clearly seeking to play the man not the ball. It's underhand and undermines democracy.' A one-on-one speed awareness session would have allowed Ms Braverman to avoid the three penalty points on her licence and avoid being spotted by other motorists on a group course. It is claimed that when officials refused to co-operate on the grounds that civil service rules prevented them from dealing with personal matters, a political aide contacted the course provider - but was unsuccessful in arranging a course. The Home Secretary later accepted the points and a fine. Sources said she had been concerned about her insurance premiums and favoured doing a speed awareness course for that reason. A visibly irritated Mr Sunak declined to say yesterday whether he would be ordering an inquiry, or confirm that he backed the Home Secretary - although a Downing Street spokeswoman said later that 'of course' he did. Ms Braverman also faced warnings from Conservative colleagues that she had a 'case to answer'. Sir Jake Berry, a former minister, highlighted the fact that several high-profile public figures had recently accepted points and fines for speeding, including The Archbishop of Canterbury, Manchester City Region mayor Andy Burnham, and ministers Robert Jenrick and Tom Tugendhat. He told the BBC's Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg: 'You shouldn't do it in the first place but if you do get caught, you just take the medicine.' Sir Jake said he did not know whether Mrs Braverman had breached the ministerial code as he did not have enough information on the case. Former Cabinet minister Theresa Villiers told BBC Radio 4's Week in Westminster that Mr Sunak would 'reflect carefully' on the situation. But she cautioned: 'Speaking as someone who lived with police protection for very nearly four years, it does complicate your life and you do end up asking civil servants questions about what would normally be domestic things so I think that is a context to bear in mind when decisions are taken of what happens as a result of this question.' Ex-Whitehall mandarin Philip Rycroft said it was 'on the face of it' a breach of the ministerial code. 'Obviously, there's still investigations to be done and so on but the code is very clear. Ministers must ensure that no conflict arises or appears to arise between their public duties and their private interests,' he said. 'Even asking a question of a civil servant as to how she might go on one of these courses puts them in an impossible position.' Road traffic lawyer Nick Freeman, known as Mr Loophole for winning cases for celebrities on legal technicalities, said on Sunday evening: 'My own view is that if you commit an offence of speeding or any offence, it's a private matter and you should deal with it on a private basis and you shouldn't be using tax-funded employees to help you out with that private problem. Jake Berry, a former minister, highlighted that several high-profile public figures had recently accepted points and fines for speeding 'So that's the potential for political fallout for her, but not in asking or requesting a course on a one-to-one basis - there's nothing improper about that at all. 'If you don't ask, you don't get.' The lawyer told Sky News that she was eligible for a one-to-one, so that she was not a distraction for other attendees. Mr Freeman said she had 'shot herself in the foot' by not coming clean about the speeding immediately. 'If she got a lawyer to do it nobody would be any of the wiser, she'd have done the course, the course provider wouldn't leak her information and the lawyer wouldn't either. 'She's the author of her own misfortune; one for speeding, two for speaking to civil servants about arranging the course, three for not getting a lawyer to deal with it for her and four for not coming out straight away and holding her hands up.' Russian POWs in Ukraine are being confronted with a graphic and harrowing film outlining the 'absolute evil' of Putin's forces in the war. A video shows the captives forced to watch the footage outlining alleged war crimes by their compatriots. The film, without cuts and retouching, highlights the shooting of civilians, the execution of prisoners and Russian rockets hitting residential areas. It also includes the killing of children and parents, and the torture of hostages, and was shared by the Ukrainian parliament's human rights ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets. He said: 'The Russian military were shown the documentary film Absolute Evil about their own war crimes committed in Ukraine. 'What is in the heads of these persons - it is not known, what is in the eyes - see for yourself. 'I hope that after watching it, they realise who is the absolute evil in this world.' A caption to the 29-minute film stated: 'The authors of the documentary give the names of those who committed these crimes and prove that the elimination of Ukrainians as an ethnic group is Russia's military strategy.' It is unclear who organised the showing for the Russian prisoners of war and if they were coerced to watch it. It opens with the notorious case of electrician Oleksandr 'Sasha' Matsievskyi, 42, a Ukrainian PoW shot dead from multiple Russian guns as he smoked and uttered the words 'Glory to Ukraine'. Russian POWs in Ukraine watch the film Absolute Evil, directed by journalist Andriy Tsaplienko In March he was honoured as a hero with the country's highest medal by president Volodymyr Zelensky. The film states: 'The murderers film their own crime and later upload the evidence to social media. 'Some might say it's an isolated incident. 'But if you manage not to close your eyes you will see the horrible and uncomfortable truth the world is so reluctant to see. 'Mass killings of Ukrainians is Russia's military strategy. The film shows the killing of electrician and decorated soldier Oleksandr 'Sasha' Matsievskyi 'A managed process that involves those who pull the triggers and those who [give] the orders. 'This film shows just a few of Russia's war crimes. 'But even so it helps one to comprehend the scale of the absolute evil Ukraine is confronted with.' The film, directed by Kharkiv-born journalist Andriy Tsaplienko, 54, also highlights a case soon after the start of the war when a man is shot dead by a machine gunner on a Russian tank in footage filmed from a Ukrainian military drone. The man had his hands up after getting out of his car as he was gunned down. A woman relative and his six-year-old child escape to an unknown location. But the boy's mother Kseniya Tsaturova - who saved the boy by covering him with her body - was killed in the car. The film recounts how her charred remains were found in the car later when Ukraine liberated the territory. Over several hundred yards, 13 burned corpses were found. 'Several female bodies with signs of rape were piled up and set on fire right on the highway,' the film's commentary states. While many Russians involved in the 'war crimes' had not been identified, those in the tank when Tsaturova and her husband Maksym Iovenko were killed had been identified. The film named them as Corporal Chingiz Tariashynov and Senior Lieutenant Daniil Ishchenko. The film contains graphic images of men, women and children being killed during the war Russian POWs watch the documentary, which has been released to highlight 'absolute evil' The documentary also highlights the tragic case of Liza Dmitrieva, four, killed in her pushchair by a Russian strike. Her mother Irina, 33, was left gravely wounded. It cited a priest at the burial of another victim as saying: 'Absolute evil shall be defeated.' The film concludes: 'But that requires that the world does not make any compromise with absolute evil. 'And does not sell out one war-ravaged European country for its own comfort. 'Every crime has its name and surname. 'That's why punishment must be targeted and unavoidable otherwise evil will inevitably return. 'It will come back to us manyfold.' Russian forces have committed 88,517 war crimes and crimes of aggression in Ukraine since the start of Russia's all-out war, according to Kyiv's prosecutor-general. Do you know more? Contact tips@dailymail.com Two cars were found on fire nearby A man has been shot dead in a suspected gangland assassination in a quiet suburban street. Police were called to Hertfordshire St in Elizabeth Hills, south-west Sydney, just before 4pm on Monday where they found a man, believed to be in his 20s, with multiple gunshot wounds. Although first responders tried desperately to save the man, he died at the scene with an execution-style gunshot wound to his head. Daily Mail Australia understands the victim had links to organised crime and the Comanchero bikie gang. Two abandoned vehicles were also discovered ablaze nearby - a tactic which has become a hallmark of organised crime hitmen in Australia. The gunman remains on the run. A man has been shot dead in a suspected gangland assassination at about 4pm on Hertfordshire St in Elizabeth Hills (pictured, police at the scene) One of the cars, an SUV, was found on Bluff St in Green Valley, while a sedan was discovered on fire in Bonnyrigg Heights. 'About 4pm today (Monday 22 May 2023), emergency services were called to Hertfordshire Street, Elizabeth Hills, regarding reports of shots fired,' NSW Police said. 'On arrival, officers from Liverpool City Police Area Command found a man sitting inside a car, suffering gunshot wounds. The man, believed to be aged in his 20s, was treated by first responders but died at the scene with multiple gunshot wounds, including one to the head Police also discovered a car on Bough St in Green Valley that had been set ablaze (pictured) - a tactic which has become a hallmark of organised crime hitmen in Australia 'Despite the efforts of first responders, the man died at the scene. 'He has not been formally identified but is believed to be aged in his 20s. 'A crime scene has been established and an investigation underway into the circumstances surrounding the incident.' Detectives are yet to confirm if the two burning cars and the murder are connected. More to come. This is the moment Muslim activists stormed a screening of a controversial Bollywood film that has sparked violent clashes in India amid claims it destroys 'religious harmony'. A group of protesters led by Shakeel Afsar, a Kashmiri independence activist, disrupted the screening of the The Kerala Story on Friday at a Cineworld cinema in Birmingham. A 10-minute film uploaded to the British Muslim news website 5Pillars showed Mr Afsar, 35, with a group of demonstrators seen entering the cinema and causing the film to be paused. In it, Mr Afsar along with at least two others ask to speak to the cinema manager about the 'Islamophobic' nature of the film. Cineworld said it dealt with there was a 'brief incident' at its screening on Friday but it was dealt with 'swiftly' and the film resumed with 'minimal delay'. Demonstrators stormed a screening of The Kerala Story in Birmingham on Friday Audience members and activists clashed after the screening was disrupted on Friday, amid claims it is Islamophobic Security are also seen getting involved and a theatre attendant tells the audience: 'If you're not going to be quiet, we are not going to stop this film again.' The Kerala Story by director Sudipto Sen tells the story of three young women who are coerced into joining ISIS A claim that 'more than 30,000 women have disappeared after being recruited by ISIS' in the southern Indian state was removed from the trailer Claims that thousands of women have been converted to Islam and made to join IS in Kerala have been the subject of fierce criticism In India, the film has proved highly controversial. People seen demonstrating against the film in Chennai, India, earlier this month In the clip, Mr Afsar can be heard saying: 'This film is lies. This film is made to divide us. We have lived together for many years... Narendra Modi [the prime minister of India] has endorsed this film. Why is The Kerala Story causing controversy? Bollywood movie The Kerala Story depicts Hindu and Christian women lured to join the Islamic State. However the fictional drama has caused outrage in India, with some rejecting its claim that 'more than 30,000 women have disappeared after being recruited by ISIS' in the southern Indian state. The film has been promoted by India's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) including in tweets by India's prime minister Narendra Modi - who praised the film and said it attempted to 'expose the consequences of terrorism in a society'. The Kerala Story follows a group of women from the southern Indian state of Kerala who are coerced into joining IS But opponents say the film is Hindu nationalist 'propaganda' and have accused it of perpetuating Islamophobia. Others have debunked its claim in the trailer that 32,000 women have been recruited, saying it is baseless and inaccurate - it was later removed from the film. In India, it has proved highly controversial - with the state of West Bengal banning it from cinemas, while two BJP-ruled states Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh cut the price of tickets to see it. Violent clashes over the film have proved deadly after a 40-year-old man died in Maharashtra. The two rival sides are said to have pelted each other with stones and destroyed cars, according to officials. Advertisement 'An extremist has endorsed this film. We will not allow it.' Staff at the Cineworld were forced to pause the screening as mayhem broke out, with audience members seen confronting the activists and telling them to leave. Security are also seen getting involved and after the activists are ejected, a theatre attendant tells the audience: 'If you're not going to be quiet, we are not going to stop this film again. 'If you want to watch this film you should calm down first. I am going to resume this film. 'We're trying to deal with this in the best way we can. We've paused the film, we've turned the lights on, we've called the police.' The Kerala Story follows a group of Hindu and Christian women recruited by Islamic State (ISIS) in the southern Indian state of Kerala. The Muslim activists claim that the film is a propaganda film from Indias ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), a right-wing Hindu nationalist paramilitary organisation, The Times reported. In India, the film has been promoted by the BJP including in tweets by politician Mr Modi, who praised the film and said it attempted to 'expose the consequences of terrorism in a society'. Critics say the fictional drama - which claims in its trailer that 32,000 women in Kerala have disappeared after being recruited by ISIS - is 'unsubstantiated and exaggerated'. Alt News, an Indian factchecking website, claimed it found 'no evidence' to support these figures. After provoking outrage, filmmakers agreed to remove the claim in the trailer but said the movie is based on true events and years of research. In the Indian state of Kerala, politicians have called for the film to be banned, who say it demonises Muslims and is Islamophobic. Last year Mr Afsar, an entrepreneur and property developer, led a campaign to pull The Lady of Heaven - another controversial film that was accused of 'blasphemy' - from cinemas. He was banned from protesting outside a primary school in Birmingham in 2019 after demonstrating against the teaching of LGBT values. The film was released on May 12. A Cineworld spokesperson said: 'A customer incident at Cineworld Birmingham on Broad Street caused brief disruption to a screening of Kerala Story. 'Cineworld staff dealt with the incident swiftly and the screening was resumed with minimal delay.' The Kerala Story has proved controversial both in India, where the film is based, and around the world Shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves last night deleted a tweet showing her travelling business class on a work flight to the US. The Labour frontbencher posted pictures from her British Airways flight to New York ahead of it taking off from Gatwick last night. But eagle-eyes followers spotted she was sitting in seat 3K, which is the front row of business class on the Boeing 777-200 aircraft. The former Bank of England economist is expected to meet one of Joe Biden's top strategists in the US as Labour seeks a win at the next election. Aides told Politico the ticket was paid for by a party donor. Business class flights on BA for that route start at 1,500, according to its website. Tory MP Brendan Clarke-Smith said: 'I thought I recognised that background from somewhere ... That's a lot of baked beans.' The Labour frontbencher posted pictures from her British Airways flight to New York ahead of it taking off from Gatwick last night. The former Bank of England economist is expected to meet one of Joe Biden's top strategists in the US as Labour seeks a win at the next election. The Sun reported that she will meet John Anzalone for a swanky dinner at a Manhattan Club. He is credited with helping Biden beat Donald Trump in the 2020 presidential election. Ms Reeves tweeted that the trip was part of Labour's plan to 'restore our economic dignity at home and abroad' if it wins the next election. The Sun reported that she will meet John Anzalone for a swanky dinner at a Manhattan Club. He is credited with helping Biden beat Donald Trump in the 2020 presidential election. She is also expected to meet former Obama advisor David Axelrod. It comes after Labour has made a point of criticizing luxury travel by the Prime Minister. Earlier this month he used a taxpayer-funded helicopter to fly to Southampton and back, rather than use the train or a car. The Prime Minister, who has previously raised eyebrows with his use of aircraft for short journeys, made the trip from London to the South Coast to visit a pharmacy. It is around 70 miles as the crow flies from the capital to Southampton. It came as Sir Keir Starmer prepared to pledge to get the NHS 'off its knees' by tackling waiting lists and deaths from heart disease and stroke. The Labour leader will set out his plans for the health service on Monday during a speech in the east of England, in which he will say he will say it is his party that 'will fight for the NHS'. Among the commitments are hitting the four-hour A&E target - not achieved nationally since 2015 - and ambulance response times by 2030. He will say: 'We will fix the NHS. We will reform the NHS. Old values, new opportunities... 'An NHS, not just off its knees, but running confidently towards the future.' Addressing the record numbers of people on waiting lists, Sir Keir will tell the audience the next Labour government 'will deliver an NHS that is there when you need it', adding: 'No backsliding, no excuses. We will meet these standards again. We will get the NHS back on its feet.' Sir Keir will use his speech to say he will hit all NHS cancer targets so patients are diagnosed and treated earlier, and he is expected to touch on vaping and sugary food advertising to children. Labour is also pledging to cut deaths from heart disease and stroke by a quarter within a decade, as well as tackling suicide, which is the biggest killer of young people in the UK. It came as Sir Keir Starmer prepared to pledge to get the NHS 'off its knees' by tackling waiting lists and deaths from heart disease and stroke. Data released earlier this month showed that a raft of NHS targets are currently being missed, including a key 62-day cancer target. The Government and NHS England set the ambition of returning the number of patients waiting more than 62 days to pre-pandemic levels by March 2023. However, the data showed that the number of patients waiting longer than 62 days since an urgent GP referral for suspected cancer stood at 19,248 in the week ending April 2. The average weekly figure for February 2020 was 13,463. The Government has also missed a target of eliminating 18-month waits for planned NHS care such as knee and hip replacements, though numbers have fallen dramatically in recent months. In the town of Fairfax, Oklahoma, the fact that life was good for the Osage Indians in the late 1800s might have seemed to some like sweet justice. For the reservation they had been shunted to decades earlier had turned out to be brimming with oil, and the tribe put it good use by building mansions, buying cars and sending their children to private schools. But, by the time the 1920s came around, at least two dozen of them had been murdered by being shot, poisoned and blown up - and no one knew who was responsible. This is the true story behind director Martin Scorsese's latest partnership with Hollywood superstar Leonardo DiCaprio, in upcoming film Killers of the Flower Moon. In what was the first major murder case of the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI), agents ended up tracing the killings to a disgruntled group led by 'cattle king' William Hale, who was jailed for more than two decades for his part in the murders. He had encouraged his nephew to marry into the Osage tribe as part of a plot to win their oil rights. Rancher William K. Hale, a native of Greenville, Texas, encouraged his subservient nephew Ernest Burkhart (right) to wed Osage member Mollie Kyle (left) New movie Killers of the Flower Moon explores the harrowing true story of the 'reign of terror' that left two dozen Native Americans dead. Pictured: Lily Gladstone as Mollie Kyle and Leonardo DiCaprio as Ernest Burkhart The new film about the spate of murders is based on author David Grann's book of the same name, which was published in 2017. Scorsese's drama, which will be released in October, received a rapturous nine-minute standing ovation when it premiered at the Cannes Film Festival on Saturday. The Osage tribe had become stunningly wealthy after finding oil that earnt them more than $30million in annual revenue at the peak of the boom. Subsurface minerals within the Osage Nation Reservation were tribally owned and held in trust by the government. Mineral leases earned royalties that were paid to the tribe as a whole - with each allottee receiving one equal share also known as a headright. But these headrights could only legally be attained by outsiders if they married into the tribe. It was during this time that rancher Hale, a native of Greenville, Texas, encouraged his subservient nephew Ernest Burkhart to wed Osage member Mollie Kyle (later Mollie Burkhart). Burkhart, played by Leonardo DiCaprio, and wife Mollie, played by Lily Gladstone, lived in Fairfax with Mollie's mother Lizzie Q. The Osage tribe (pictured with President Coolidge) became wealthy almost overnight after oil was discovered beneath their land William Hale, played by Robert De Niro (right), was accused of bribing and intimidating others to do much of his dirty work on his way to achieving money and power Lizzie was a mother-of-four and in May 1921, the decomposed body of one of her other daughters, Anna Brown, was discovered in a remote ravine in northern Oklahoma. She was found with a bullet hole to the back of the head but, because Brown had no known enemies, the case went unsolved. Just two months later Lizzie herself died under suspicious circumstances from suspected poisoning, although no proof was ever found. Then another member of the family, Lizzie's nephew Henry Roan, met a similar fate in January 1923 with Hale, played by Robert De Niro, fraudulently naming himself as the beneficiary of his $25,000 life insurance policy. But deaths within the family did not end there. In March 1923, another of Lizzie's daughters Rita Smith, along with Rita's husband William Smith, and their housekeeper Nettie Brookshire were all killed when their home was destroyed by an explosion. In May 1921, Osage native Anna Brown was found with a bullet hole to the back of the head - but her case went unsolved Her decomposed body was found in a remote ravine (pictured) in the Osage Hills in northern Oklahoma And, following their deaths, Burkhart and Mollie inherited a fortune from her mother's and sisters' estates. But the murders extended beyond the one family. It is estimated that 24 Osage Indians died in violent or suspicious deaths throughout the early 1920s with newspapers at the time branding it as a 'reign of terror.' By this time, authorities had begun to grow suspicious and an alarmed Osage Tribal Council sought the help of the US Government. Hale's name came up early in the investigation as the mastermind behind the killings. The so-called 'King of the Osage Hills' was accused of bribing and intimidating others to do much of his dirty work as he sought to achieve money and power. The murders subsided after Hale, along with accomplices including his nephew, were arrested in 1926. Four FBI agents went undercover as an insurance salesman, cattle buyer, oil prospector and herbal doctor to uncover evidence. Members of Lizzie Q's (left) family were killed in quick succession including her nephew Henry Roan (right) Whilst the Osage locals had initially refused to talk to the authorities through fear of reprisals, the agents earned their trust. Eventually, Ernest Burkhart talked and then others confessed. Reporting on the gruesome killings in January 1926, the Daily Mail said: 'The wildest Wild West fiction is outmatched by the story revealed to-day by the arrest at Tulsa, Oklahoma, of wealthy cattle king, W.K. Hale, popularly known as the "King of the Usage Hills," his nephew, Ernest Burkhart, and six others. 'They are charged with conspiracy to exterminate a small tripe of Osage Indians in whom are vested oil allotment rights valued at 500,000. 'For three years Osage territory has been the scene of a series of terrible murders. 'Altogether twenty prominent Indians have been murdered, with the result that Mrs Mollie Burkhart, the Indian wife of the white nephew of "the King of the Osage hills," is now the sole possessor of the tribe's oil rights. 'The Osage tribe is the richest in America.' Hale was formally convicted for his involvement three years later, after the authorities proved that he had ordered the murders of Anna Brown and her family to inherit their oil rights; cousin Roan for his insurance policy and others who had threatened to bring him to justice. He was paroled in 1947 after serving two decades of his sentence. At the time, investigators also discovered that the killers had already started poisoning Mollie in what would have been the last piece of the crook's masterplan. Fortunately, she recovered and divorced her murderous husband following the trial. Do you know the crossword master? Email tips@dailymail.com A 'drunk' commuter transformed the 'gloomy mood' of delayed train passengers by roping them into doing a crossword with him, with some claiming it represents 'Britain in a nutshell'. Commuters were spared some relief from the monotonous train delay due to flooding when one traveller pulled out an old newspaper crossword and started calling out the questions. The unnamed puzzle master can be seen sat alone, asking bemused travellers the name of a Venezuelan river as he casually sipped from a wine miniature. A video of the heartwarming scene went viral on TikTok, racking up more than 3.7million views. The quiz-master could be seen sat alone asking bemused travellers the name of a Venezuelan river as he casually sipped from a wine miniature One commuter said: 'The good thing is it was from all age groups as well, there were younger and older people all getting involved' One person on TikTok commented 'So much better than everyone ignoring each other like normal!!' The crossword questions which train passengers tried to answer... Q1. A style of a wide moustache, nine letters Q2. Major river in Venezuela, seven letters Q3. Cambridgeshire Cathedral, three letters Q4. TV star called Meera, four letters Q5. A style of jug, four letters Q6. Gene Hackman and Danny DeVito crime thriller, five letters Q6. London Street, Trafalgar Square, three and four letters Q7. Animal doctor, twelve letters Q8. Famous public school near Windsor, four letters Advertisement The company area manager shared the funny footage on the social media platform, with the caption 'How one guy changes the mood of the whole train carriage through a crossword puzzle. Wait until the end*'. Damion Francis, who is friends with the puzzle master from Swindon, Wiltshire, said: 'The group of us four guys just went out to London. We'd been out for a day/night out. 'It was one of the days we had loads of floods, so a lot of the trains were delayed. 'Everyone crammed into first class because there were limited trains and so we just started taking the mick out of one of our friends. 'He carries around puzzles and stuff in his pocket, we were taking the mick and pretending we didn't know him. 'It was from a really old newspaper, it wasn't a recent one. He just had it in his pocket for some reason. 'He started doing the puzzle and calling out for answers and the whole train started getting involved. 'It really lightened the mood because everyone was a bit peed off because of all the delays on the train. 'There were people sat on the floor and stuff because it was the last train for everyone to just ram on to it. 'He just started doing the puzzle and everyone started getting involved and to our surprise it was quite popular. 'To our surprise, there was someone on the train who knew the answer to each of the questions. Even the questions we didn't know, there was someone that did. 'It was a bit of a collective thing really. Everyone was connecting over it and joining in. 'The good thing is it was from all age groups as well, there were younger and older people all getting involved. 'The reaction to it was all positive, I don't think there was any negative reaction to it at all. The quiz-fanatic 'carries around puzzles in his pocket' ...So how many did you get right? Answers are: Q1. Handlebar Q2. Orinocco Q3. Ely Q4. Syal Q5. Toby Q6. Heist Q7. Veterinarian Q8. Eton Advertisement 'It feels good that we've been able to send out so many positive vibes just from one video, I'm kind of overwhelmed with the reaction. 'It's good to see positive comments from people rather than negative ones.' One person commented: 'So much better than everyone ignoring each other like normal!!' Another wrote: 'How to be drunk, fun and humble.' One commented: 'The way he's connecting everybody.' Another wrote: 'Drunk guy unifies everyone. Britain in a nutshell.' One commented: 'This is lovely. Humans are so cute sometimes lol'. Keir Starmer today ducked questions on what would happen to immigration under a Labour government. Sir Keir wriggled as he repeatedly refused to commit to any figures for what would happen to inflows during his first term in power. He merely insisted that the 'direction of travel' for net migration would be downwards from the latest level of 500,000 a year. The comments came after his close ally Anneliese Dodds admitted Labour's plans could push immigration even higher in the 'short term' - insisting skills gaps need to be filled. Westminster is braced for new official net migration figures on Thursday to reach 700,000 or even more. Rishi Sunak has acknowledged that immigration is 'too high', but dodged saying whether it will fall before the election. Instead he pointed to arrivals fleeing the chaos in Afghanistan, Ukraine and Hong Kong. Keir Starmer repeatedly refused to commit to any figures for what would happen to immigration inflows during his first term in power Officials said the increase in the year to last June was driven by hundreds of thousands of refugees from Afghanistan, Hong Kong and Ukraine The government is expected to get in a pre-emptive strike by announcing moves to reduce how many dependants students can bring into the country with them. Sir Keir was challenged over Labour's position during an interview on BBC Radio 4's Today programme. Asked whether 500,000 a year was too high, he said: 'I would expect and want that figure to come down I'm not going to put a number on it. I think that's what the government did in the past, they never met the target. 'But I would like and want to see and expect to see the number coming down.' Pressed that he must have a level in mind, Sir Keir said: 'I think it's direction of travel. Do we want that number to come down, do we expect it to come down? Yes we do.' Quizzed again on whether the reduction could be 50,000 or 100,000, the Labour leader reiterated that he was 'not going to put a specific number on it'. 'The only thing we know about those targets and numbers is that they are routinely missed,' he said. Sir Keir said he was not against tweaks to the rules on foreign students' families, although he stressed he wanted them to come to the UK. Pushed on whether he would bring immigration down 'significantly' by the end of a Labour first term in government, Sir Keir said: 'Well, I want it to come down, direction of travel. 'It will depend on getting that skills agenda sorted, getting the NHS workforce sorted and other measures that can be taken.' Told that could mean just a few thousand lower than the current record level, Sir Keir said: 'I think it would be more than that under the skills programme.' Speaking on Sky News on Friday, Ms Dodds was challenged on whether she thought immigration was too high. She ducked the questions, insisting that the government needs to bring in people with the right skills. 'What we would see if we had an immigration system that was working properly would be potentially in some areas where there's a short-term need for skills, you could see in the short term actually people who are coming in increasing in number,' Ms Dodds said. 'But in the medium and long-term, a reduction, because we would be training people up in our own country. 'We've not had that unfortunately under the Conservatives. We've got skills shortages and those shortages are not being filled because there's not the domestic upskilling that needs to be taking place.' During a round of interviews in Japan, Mr Sunak suggested he is hoping for immigration to be running below 500,000 by the time of the next election - despite the Tory manifesto promising numbers will be under 226,000. Under David Cameron there was a pledge to bring net migration below 100,000. A pair of teenage sweethearts have gone missing after being dropped at school, with the boy's family sharing screenshots of the eerie last texts they received from him. Callum Schiller, 14, and his girlfriend Crystal Cotton, 14, were last seen on a bus to the Adelaide Hills suburb of Mount Barker at 10.15am on Monday. In a desperate plea to find Callum, his family took to social media on Monday to ask anyone who might have seen the boy to contact them. 'We have no idea whether he has caught a linking bus or is in Mt Barker,' his sister Ebony Schiller wrote on Facebook. 'Callum is uncontactable. Last messages include: he can't see, he's in a boot, he can't say anything or he will get hit.' On Monday afternoon, SA Police confirmed a missing-persons report had been filed for Callum Schiller (right), 14, and his girlfriend Crystal Cotton (left), 14 Texts (pictured) sent by Callum said they were in the boot of a car and didn't know where they were SA Police confirmed officers from the Murray Bridge Police station were investigating the matter and the validity of the text messages sent. Ms Schiller, speaking alongside her father, told NCA NewsWire he went missing alongside his girlfriend Crystal, also 14 after they were dropped off at school. 'They were dropped off at school this morning at about 8.30am, but they never went in,' she said. She said they bought bus tickets to Mount Barker from the Murray Bridge Information Centre, but weren't seen on any other CCTV footage. 'Police said they were going to search a property in the city, but we don't recognise the name of the person who owns it,' Ms Schiller said. Callum's father Chris Schiller said he hoped the texts weren't true, but that he didn't think his son would make that kind of joke. Callum is pictured Crystal's mum was contacted by people on social media (pictured) who thought they may have seen her daughter Callum's father Chris Schiller said he hoped the texts weren't true, but that he didn't think his son would make that kind of joke. 'He's never done anything like this before, it's very out of character so we're very concerned,' he said. 'We hope everything is okay.' The teens were last seen wearing Murray Bridge High School uniforms. Have you been a victim of mobile fraud? Email eirian.prosser@dailymail.co.uk People warned that criminals are getting better at exploring human behaviour Mobile banking customers have been issued a stark warning telling them to be vigilant of criminals using a sinister 'shoulder surfing' method to gain access to victims' cash - with one target waking up to find 73,000 missing from his accounts. While the technology of smartphones is secure, criminals are now getting better at exploiting human behaviour, experts have said. 'Shoulder surfing' thieves typically note the victims phone pin before grabbing the device. Jacopo de Simone fell victim to the crime when he was pickpocketed on a night out last year, only to wake up the next day to discover all his money had been stolen. Mr de Simone then endured a 10-month battle with his bank to prove he was innocent. Another victim, going only by the name Nick, had 70,000 nicked from his account after his phone was stolen, while Marcus Pearce's 'thief took nearly 12,000' from his account through 30 different transactions. Jacopo de Simone (pictured with his girlfriend Alicia) had 22,000 stolen from his bank account after his phone was pickpocketed on a night out Marcus Pearce also is a victim of 'shoulder surfing', with 12,000 being stolen from his bank accounts Mobile banking customers have been issued a stark warning to be vigilant of criminals using a sinister 'shoulder surfing' method to gain access to victims' cash How to protect yourself from mobile phone fraud There are a number of ways you can protect yourself from mobile phone fraud: Use biometric data (face or finger print) ID if possible Remove bank apps from your phone and keep them on devices, such as laptops, that stay at home Use different pin numbers for unlocking your phone and banking apps Don't store passwords or pins on your phone Be vigilant of your surroundings when accessing banking apps Advertisement Mr de Simone told the BBC: 'I was stopped in my tracks a little bit, I froze and tried to regain my thoughts and thought 'OK, what's the best approach here?'. 'I was completely frightened and alarming to see all your hard-earned money taken away from you. 'I was in complete shock about how it could have happened.' As a result, the victim is more wary about how he uses his mobile phone while he is in public. He added: 'This has completely changed how I use my banking apps today. 'I try not to [keep] the apps on the phone themselves. 'I find the threat of losing your phone and losing all your money is not worth having it all so easily accessible to you.' It was a similar story for 46-year-old Nick from Somerset. He fell victim to 'shoulder surfing' whilst he was at a very busy London pub. Not only was his phone stolen but more than 70,000 was taken from his bank accounts. Of this, 15,000 was stolen from his personal account, with 58,000 grabbed from his business account. The fraudster had used his passcode to gain access to his Barclays app, The Times reported. The criminal then added themselves as a new payee, before setting Nick's password on a business payment system. There were no added security texts and while the bank sent a SMS warning, as the phone was in the criminals hands it did not work. Nick, whose last name was not given, told Which?: 'The worst part of the experience for me was not so much the crime itself, but the disgraceful treatment I received from Barclays'. Who are the victims of 'shoulder surfing'? Cybersecurity experts and police officers have warned mobile banking customers to become more vigilant of 'shoulder surfing' criminals trying to steal phone PINs and access online banking. Jacopo de Simone: Mr de Simone's phone was stolen while he was on a night out. The next day he woke up to find 22,000 had been stolen from his account. Finally, after a 10-month ordeal with his bank, he managed to retrieve his money but tries not to use mobile banking anymore. Nick, from Somerset: Nick was a victim of 'shoulder surfing' at a London pub. More than 70,000 was taken from his personal and business bank accounts. Marcus Pearce: Marcus Pearce was also on a night out when his phone was snatched while making a call. The thieves went on to steal 12,000 from his bank accounts. Advertisement Marcus Pearce had his phone snatched from his hand while on a night out in March but also blames his bank, TSB, for how they handled the ordeal. He wrote on Twitter: 'I had my phone stolen out of my hand whilst on the phone on a night out in March and thieves took nearly 12,000 from my account in 30 different transactions. 'Had no help from the bank and [had] to go to the financial ombudsman. I have been made out to be the criminal and not the victim.' Another victim called Debolina Guha Majumdar, wrote on Facebook in 2021 that her phone had been stolen near Tower Bridge in London, and that the criminals had gone on to access her bank details. She wrote: 'This is a serious cyber crime gang which sent advanced Phishing messages and now has access to my Apple account, all data, bank cards, security information, social media.' Shoulder surfing is when a criminal will look over a victims shoulder to learn their phone PIN before they steal their phone. They then use the PIN to unlock the phone before trying the same number to access banking accounts. The criminals will also search the individual's notes on their phone to see if banking passwords are jotted down anywhere. Cyber security expert Jake Moore, who works for the company ESET and previously was in charge of Dorset Police's digital forensics unit, warned that it can be 'difficult to catch those people in the act'. He told MailOnline: 'Shoulder surfing is when criminals view victims' passcodes to unlock their phones so they can access the phone once it is stolen. 'The same number can also open up the password vault on the phone and that is where criminals can use those passwords to enter bank accounts and even move money. 'If any fraud warnings are sent via a text message the criminal is still in possession of the phone to accept or even ignore an SMS text. 'It is difficult to catch those people in the act of doing so but the moment you may find your phone missing it is worth contacting your bank to make them aware that they can freeze it. Detective Superintendent John Roch (pictured), who is head of economic crime at the Metropolitan Police in London, warned that unless the right security protections are in place on phones, people are 'essentially walking around with a big bag of cash' Jake Moore, security specialist at ESET (pictured), warned that it can be 'difficult to catch those people in the act' While the technology of smartphones is secure, criminals are now getting better at exploiting human behaviour 'If you have your bank cards attached to your phone via Apple Pay or Google Pay you want to freeze those as well.' Mr Moore explained that people can put in place protections to prevent thieves from accessing their banking details, for example by using a two-factor authentication that relies on an app or key, rather than an SMS text. The cybersecurity whizz also said that using fingerprint or face ID is safer to unlock devices. He added: 'For my job I carried out testing on this, with people's permission. 'I once was able to shoulder surf someone when a code was sent to their mobile phone from their PayPal account. I was then able to access their account and move money. 'I then had full access to the person's information and private details and could go on to all the accounts that were connected to it. 'I spoke to PayPal about it but they tend to say the onus in on the victims and people should be more aware of their surroundings which I don't think is good enough.' Detective superintendent John Roch, who is head of economic crime at the Metropolitan Police in London, warned that unless the right security protections are in place on their phones, people are 'essentially walking around with a big bag of cash'. What is 'shoulder surfing'? Shoulder surfing is when a criminal will look over a victim's shoulder to learn their phone PIN before they steal their phone. They then use the PIN to unlock the phone before trying the same number to access banking accounts. The criminals will also search the individual's notes on their phone to see if banking passwords are jotted down anywhere. Advertisement He told the broadcaster: 'It's only a phone... but if you take that out without the right precautions and protections around it you are essentially walking around with a bag of cash. 'If you start to think of it like that, would you walk into a bar, put it down and turn your back on it? Probably not. 'It's not on a massive scale, it's a crime that exists and we do see it... [but] the potential outcome is devastating for victims.' It comes as figures last month revealed that a mobile phone is stolen every six minutes in London. That's 91,000 phone thefts in 2022 alone, according to data previously revealed by the BBC. And only 2 per cent of victims are reunited with their mobile a figure previously described as 'unacceptable' by HM Chief Inspector of Constabulary Andy Cooke. He said: 'Phone theft is not a minor crime, it strikes at the heart of how safe people feel in their own communities. 'There needs to be a concerted drive to address this because it directly affects the public's confidence in the police's ability to keep them safe.' The Metropolitan Police said officers 'run daily operations to target offenders'. Westminster (25,899 thefts), Camden (7,892) and Hackney (4,618) were among the worst hit boroughs last year. A Barclays spokesperson said: 'There is no higher priority than the protection of our customers' funds and data. This case is currently being investigated by the Financial Ombudsman Service, and we are awaiting their final adjudication. 'The Barclays app has multiple layers of security, continually undergoing rigorous forms of testing, to provide our customers with the highest level of protection. 'Funds sent to a third-party account outside our customer's control have been returned in full, as a gesture of goodwill.' TSB and PayPal have been contacted for a statement. Hospital staff missed a series of 'warning signs' before releasing a woman who later killed a church warden in a frenzied supermarket attack, a review has said. John Rees, 88, died after intervening to block Zara Radcliffe, 33, from attacking shoppers in a Co-op convenience store in Penygraig, south Wales. Mother-of-one Radcliffe stabbed the church warden in the face before battering him with a bottle, after he attempted to stop her from attacking a nurse with a knife. Radcliffe, who suffers from paranoid schizophrenia, pleaded guilty to manslaughter on the basis of diminished responsibility. However, an independent review has said hospital staff failed to recognise the dangers of Radcliffe's 'rapid deterioration' in the months before the May 2020 attack. Church warden John Rees, 88, (pictured) was killed in the supermarket attack Zara Radcliffe, 33, (pictured) pleaded guilty to manslaughter on the basis of diminished responsibility following the supermarket attack The attack saw Radcliffe beat Mr Rees with a bottle until it broke, before using another bottle to hit him in the head 21 times as he lay defenceless on the floor. The 33-year-old made a praying motion as she was arrested, before being charged for the murder of Mr Rees and the attempted murder of three other shoppers. Mr Rees had left his 87-year-old wife Eunice in the couple's Honda outside, to pick up goods from the Co-op convenience store. The review commissioned by Cwm Taf Morgannwg Safeguarding Board made seven recommendations following the attack in Penygraig in the Rhondda, South Wales. Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Health Board apologised for 'any instances in which her care fell short'. Chief executive Paul Mears called it 'a tragic case that has impacted upon the lives of many people'. 'We apologise to Miss Radcliffe and her family for any instances in which her care fell short of the high standards we set ourselves,' he said. 'We requested this external review to ensure all opportunities for learning and improvement could be identified.' Mr Rees saved nurse Gaynor Saurin when he tried to tackle Radcliffe and was posthumously awarded the Queens medal for gallantry. John Rees, 88, was killed after attempting to block Zara Radcliffe,33, from attacking a nurse with a knife in a Co-op supermarket in Penygraig, south Wales Zara Radcliffe, 33, (pictured) was sentenced in October 2020 and detained indefinitely with a hospital order Radcliffe was sentenced in October 2020 and detained indefinitely with a hospital order. Prosecutor Michael Jones KC told that hearing that Mr Rees's efforts to stop Radcliffe was 'a selfless and brave act which cost him his life.' As well as the attack on Mr Rees, Radcliffe also pleaded guilty to three charges of attempted murder of Lisa Way, 53, Mr Price, 58, and Mrs Saurin. Mr Rees, a retired senior engineer, lived with his wife Eunice at their home in nearby Trealaw. An inquest heard he was attacked by a woman while he was in the shop and died from severe blunt trauma to his face. His cause of death was recorded as severe blunt trauma to the face including multiple facial fractures. Church warden Mr Rees was described as 'the very definition of a good man, extremely respected and liked in the community' by his family. Amazon billionaire Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez were pictured looking loved-up aboard his $500m superyacht at the weekend at Cannes Film Festival during their Mediterranean odyssey. Bezos, 59, was photographed on a balcony wearing a black t-shirt, pale blue trousers and a pair of aviator sunglasses. Sanchez, 53, was showing off her toned physique in a white top and cream-colored trousers, and was also sporting shades. The pair looked happy and relaxed together as the Emmy-award-winning journalist and helicopter pilot snapped a few quick pictures on her phone. Other guests on the boat could be seen in their swimwear, soaking up the sun before frolicking in the sea. Koru sailed in the Balearic Sea last week for the pair's inaugural vacation on the enormous vessel, where it was moored off the coast of Spanish island Mallorca and the two were spotted kissing. Bezos, 59, is pictured on a balcony wearing a black t-shirt, pale blue trousers and a pair of aviator sunglasses. Sanchez, 53, is showing off her toned physique in a white top and cream-colored trousers, and is also sporting shades The pair looked happy and relaxed together as the Emmy-award-winning journalist and helicopter pilot snapped a few quick pictures on her phone The vessel - called Koru - was unveiled in March after five years of construction The Amazon founder wore a pair of pale blue swimming trunks as he stood beside his partner, who was in a pink bikini. They were seen lying down on sun loungers before getting up and looking over the railings. The pair were photographed going for lunch at the Chiringuito Casa Jondal restaurant in Ibiza on Wednesday. They had jetted into Europe on his private jet before taking a chopper to the billionaire's new boat. Bezos and Sanchez looked to be enjoying their summer break. Sanchez started started secretly dating the Blue Origin founder in the summer of 2018 Other guests were pictured soaking up the sun in their swimwear aboard the huge vessel The pair can be seen having a chat as they enjoy their first vacation together on the superyacht Pictured: Sanchez gestures on the yacht while one of the guests chats to the others below The 76th annual Cannes Film Festival has seen Martin Scorsese and Robert De Niro reunite to discuss their acclaimed new movie, Killers of the Flower Moon, in their first appearance together at the festival since 1976. The 417-ft Koru superyacht first departed from Rotterdam in the Netherlands for sea trials in February. It was first seen under construction in 2021 at Oceanos yard. Sanchez began secretly dating the Blue Origin founder in the summer of 2018. Bezos then announced in January 2019 that he and his wife Mackenzie were divorcing after 25 years, while Sanchez finalized her split from husband Patrick Whitesell later that year. Pictured: Guests on the superyacht. Koru sailed in the Balearic Sea last week for the couple's inaugural vacation on the enormous vessel this week Pictured: Bezos and Sanchez deep in conversation. Bezos has had a wooden sculpture bearing a striking resemblance to Sanchez erected on the prow of the superyacht Pictured: Bezos and Sanchez taking a walk along the balcony of the superyacht Pictured: Sanchez gestures on the boat as Bezos looks on. Bezos is currently ranked the third richest person in the world with a net worth of $127.4 billion The two are enjoying some alone time aboard the Koru superyacht during their summer vacation A wooden sculpture bearing a striking resemblance to Sanchez has been erected on the prow of the superyacht. The sculpture has a necklace of the symbol for Koru, Maori for loop or coil, and is designed around the spiral shape of an unfurling silver fern frond. Koru symbolizes a new phase of life and new beginnings, positive change, personal growth, and hope for the future. It is an important symbol of Maori traditions. Bezos is currently ranked the third richest person in the world with a net worth of $127.4 billion, with Elon Musk second and LVMH CEO Bernard Arnault taking the top spot. Scores of activists gathered for a mass protest yesterday in Cornwall over a giant barge set to house 500 migrants - as ministers hint at more vessels in the future. The Bibby Stockholm arrived in Falmouth on May 10 and is undergoing renovations before it goes into service next month. Once it is refitted, it will be re-berthed in Portland harbour in Dorset where it will be used to accommodate male asylum seekers. Local groups including Cornwall Resists, Divest Borders Falex, Falmouth and Penryn Welcomes Refugees, Radical Pride and Reclaim the Sea joined forces to denounce the Home Office scheme, Cornwall Live reports. The groups gathered outside the dry dock where the ship is being refitted and waved banners carrying slogans such as 'no floating prisons', 'shame on Suella' and 'don't work for torture corporations'. The Bibby Stockholm accommodation barge undergoes refurbishments in a dry dock in Falmouth, Cornwall, yesterday 'No borders, no nations, no deportations': Banners are left by protestors above the dry dock where the Bibby Stockholm accommodation barge is being inspected A spokesperson for Cornwall Resists stated: 'We are so proud of all the groups coming together to oppose the Bibby Stockholm being refitted in our town, and to say loudly and clearly that Cornwall welcomes refugees. 'This is what community action looks like and shows we will not be passive while our harbour is being used to facilitate the abuse of those seeking sanctuary on our shores.' A statement from Reclaim the Sea added: 'Many asylum seekers and people on the move have experienced sea-related trauma on one or multiple occasions. To house them in a floating prison barge risks re-traumatising people who are already vulnerable and deserve our solidarity and support, not hate and hostility.' The Bibby Stockholm barge will provide 'basic and functional accommodation' as well as healthcare and catering facilities when it is berthed at Portland in Dorset, according to the Home Office. The port of Portland also welcomes more than 40 cruise ships over the course of the year and usually advertises arrival and departure dates on its website to help residents and local businesses plan for busy periods. People gather at Pendennis Rise in Falmouth to protest the Bibby Stockholm ship The ship is set to house 500 migrants in Portland Port, Dorset, once it has completed its renovation 'Where is our empathy? Bibby Stockholm not welcome here,' was graffitied on a wall Banners left by protesters challenged the Home Office's plans for the Bibby Stockholm barge There will also be round-the-clock security on board to 'minimise the disruption to local communities'. However, the Government is facing stiff local opposition to positioning the Bibby Stockholm at a popular beauty spot. This is despite suggestions that local councils could be paid up to 3,500 per migrant to accept barges in their ports. There has also been a backlash from charities and human rights campaigners who say the accommodation is not fit for people fleeing war. The barge includes a gym, games room and bar. It also has 'delicious, nutritious food' in its restaurant and Wi-Fi throughout the ship. The barge, operated by Liverpool-based Bibby Marine, can house up to 506 people in 222 en-suite bedrooms. Gangs are targeting holiday homes as they can be empty for long periods Criminal gangs of squatters targeting the second homes of British people in Spain are using children as 'props' to try and shield themselves from eviction. MailOnline can reveal how gangs often initially place couples with children in properties, knowing that it will give them extra rights and make it more difficult to throw them out. But they often leave after just a few days so that other adult squatters can move in while property owners go through the difficult process of eviction proceedings. Lawyers say the same children and their parents then turn up as squatters elsewhere. The practice is said to be fuelling a huge rise in squatting cases in Spain with property owners facing a struggle to get their homes back. Criminal gangs of squatters targeting the second homes of British people in Spain are using children as 'props' to try and shield themselves from eviction. Pictured: The home of Sophie Robinson, a British yoga teacher whose holiday house was overrun with squatters Sophie Robinson (pictured), 48, only found out her villa had been occupied when she and her two teenage daughters flew from the UK for an Easter break this year Gangs exploit a clause in the Spanish constitution which gives all citizens 'the right to adequate housing', particularly if they have children. Squatters gain the right to live in a property and can only be evicted by judicial order if they stay somewhere unchallenged for 48 hours. But the number of cases clogging up the courts means that the eviction process can take up to two years in some cases. Many squatter gangs are known as 'extortion mafia' because desperate property owners often resort to bribing them with payments of thousands of euros to make them move out. Sophie (pictured) had to hire a local firm of lawyers to launch proceedings while she and her daughters returned home Holiday homes including the 800,000 in Spain which are owned by Britons have become a prime target as they can be empty for long periods, enabling squatters to break in and establish themselves before anyone knows they are there. British yoga teacher Sophie Robinson, 48, only found out her villa had been occupied when she and her two teenage daughters flew from the UK for an Easter break this year. She was shocked to discover locks had been changed and a couple with two children had moved in when they arrived at midnight at her villa in Cap Negret near San Antonio in Ibiza. Mrs Robinson whose husband Marc is head of the Crown Prosecution Service's extradition unit was told by police that she had no rights to enter her house. Instead, officers informed her that she would have to continue paying water and electricity bills at the property until she got an eviction notice. Mrs Robinson had to hire a local firm of lawyers to launch proceedings while she and her daughters returned home. Fortunately, her lawyer managed to fast track legal proceedings and secured an eviction notice within five weeks. But when Guardia Civil police arrived to carry out the eviction, they found no sign of children in the three bedroom property. Her lawyers found only adult clothes left behind and locks fitted on each bedroom door, suggesting that there had been multiple occupants. Drugs paraphernalia was scattered on the floors and Mrs Robinson's personal property including her clothes, shoes, a rowing machine and bicycle was missing. Cushions and mattresses on beds were ruined and had to be thrown out. Pictured: Spanish civil guard prepare to raid Sophie's holiday home that had been overrun by squatters who had to be evicted from the property Pictured: The mess left behind by squatters at Sophie's Spanish holiday home. She said drugs paraphernalia was scattered on the floors and her personal property - including her clothes, shoes, a rowing machine and bicycle - was missing Pictured: The mess left behind by squatters at Sophie Robinson's Spanish holiday home Mrs Robinson said: 'They took everything down to the cutlery, pots, pans, sheets and clothes including slashing the mattress. 'I've had to replace everything. All the doors were damaged and had to be replaced and an expensive alarm system installed. 'In total it has cost me thousands, not to mention legal fees. The house was left to me by my father when he died and I have struggled to keep it for all this time, so for me this has been heartbreaking. 'With regards to getting them out quickly I think we were very lucky. We had a good local lawyer and the judge in our court was new and proactive and got the job done. 'The Spanish police were very kind and did what they could, but their hands are tied without a court order, which I know can take years. 'When they did get it, they were amazing. They acted on it straight away and it was so good to see justice prevail. 'What was a little unnerving was, as I was getting in the car on the third day back at the house, I saw the man who was in my house the night I arrived to find it occupied. He drove right past me down my street!' Local residents in Cap Negret told MailOnline that they had been insulted and abused by the squatters in her home who had regularly partied until 4am and did not appear to work. Cap Negret is a quiet coastal area where most villas are worth more than one million euros, but it has become a favourite spot for squatters in recent weeks. A 71-year-old German woman told MailOnline how she had been fighting for seven weeks to evict squatters from her villa just down the road from Mrs Robinson's home. The woman, who asked not be named, said she only found something was wrong when she was at her home in Hamburg, and her pool maintenance man told her that locks on her gate had been changed. Her cleaning lady managed to get into the villa after finding it empty, despite signs of a break-in, and agreed to move in for two days to keep it safe. But the cleaning lady left for a period and then returned to find it occupied. People living there claimed to be legitimate tenants who had paid rent. The German woman who has been staying for the last month in a nearby hotel, said she had since found items of her property including her grandchildrens' high chair and cot dumped in communal rubbish bins. After being reunited with her property, a German holiday home owner and the reporter confronted one of the heavily tattooed and bare chested occupants of her villa who spoke through a locked gate (pictured) Pictured: A German holiday home owner and a reporter confront an alleged squatter through the locked gate of her home Pictured: The exterior of a German holiday home owner's house in Spain The German homeowner found her belongings including her grandchildrens' high chair and cot had been dumped by nearby communal bins (pictured) She also discovered that her swimming pool water which had gone stagnant due to lack of maintenance and had been replaced by occupants of her house with new water, meaning that she will have to pay the bill of around 300 euros on her next water bill. The mother-of-two who has owned her Ibiza home for 28 years, claimed she spoke to the one of the occupants who told her that they had rented it for 20,000 euros for the entire summer. She said: 'He told me that he would move out immediately if I gave him 20,000 euros. It made me so angry. Why should I pay someone to get out of my own house? 'It is ridiculous. You have no rights here at all, even when you are a correct person. Everyone is telling me that this is the law in Spain and that people can stay in your property but it seems so wrong.' The woman is currently having to drive around in a hire car while her lawyers fight for her eviction case as she cannot get access to her property where her 20-year-old Fiat Cinquecento is still in her garage. While she was speaking to a MailOnline reporter, a resident came up and revealed they had recovered three paintings and a lightshade from the communal bins which she identified as coming from her home. After being reunited with her property, she and the reporter confronted one of the heavily tattooed and bare chested occupants of her villa who spoke through a locked gate. The man who would not give his name insisted that he was not a squatter and repeated the story that he had rented the house from a letting agent. He said he had paid 20,000 euros in advance until the end of the August, but he refused to show any documentation. The man who claimed to be a club promoter said that he had submitted a report to the Guardia Civil claiming that he was a victim of fraud. He said he would not be leaving the house and denied throwing away any of the woman's possessions. He also claimed that all he had done was 'clean the pool'. Australian property landlord Gregory Lawler, 65, who has Spanish residency and lives in Cap Negret said: 'There have been around a dozen break-ins by squatters or attempted break-ins in this area in the last few weeks. 'The law is crazy and heavily weighted in favour of squatters. I think it dates back to after World War Two when people were given the right to move into abandoned homes if they had nowhere else to live. Mrs Robinson's lawyer Francisco Sancho Jaraiz (pictured) who is based in Ibiza Town, said: 'There are people who have seen the loopholes in the Spanish legislation and are turning squatting into a profession.' 'It was probably a reasonable law at the time, but it does not wash at all in 2023. Ibiza has a huge number of homes owned by outsiders, so of course there are empty places which are vulnerable to squatters. 'I have heard of Moroccan, Colombian and Spanish people trying to move into properties. They are professional squatting rings.' Mark Stucklin, founder of website Spanish Property Insight, said: 'The system is quite squatter friendly. The law is supposed to protect vulnerable people, but it is being abused. 'The longer squatters remain in properties, the more they become entrenched. The law is a grey area in Spain. The risk of squatters being sent to jail is small.' Mrs Robinson's lawyer Francisco Sancho Jaraiz, who is based in Ibiza Town, said: 'There are people who have seen the loopholes in the Spanish legislation and are turning squatting into a profession. 'It's much easier and cheaper to enter a property and occupy it than get a rental contract because the squatter has nothing to lose. He can get into the property, stay four to six months minimum, pay absolutely nothing and then nothing happens to him.' Detailing the loopholes, he added: 'Squatters take advantage in the first place of the slowness of the Spanish justice system. 'In Sophie's case she reported the squatters to the Civil Guard the same night she arrived at the property and found strangers in her house. 'The Civil Guard went to the property immediately, but then the judge had to deal with it. This slowness gives these professional masters of deception time to get into the property. 'Secondly, if there's a child or a disabled person involved, everything has to be paralysed so social services can analyse the situation. 'We're talking in many cases about an itinerant child at the service of a gang which is occupying many homes and is being taken from one home to another so he's seen as and when is necessary. 'In Sophie's case there was a couple with a child when she arrived at her place. When we finally got the eviction order the child wasn't there any longer, but in another house. 'The child is an instrument being used so that in the immediate moment a property is being occupied, the squatters can't be evicted. It's true a child exists but that child is going from home to home as it suits. 'The question legitimate owners like Sophie will be asking themselves is why as private individuals they have to suffer because there are children when these are issues social services should resolve. 'The other factor that needs to be highlighted is the lack of any punishment for these squatters. The sanction is usually a fine which if these people are insolvent they don't end up paying. 'British people with homes here that are not necessarily their main residences are not always going to find out immediately when squatters take over their homes. 'If you haven't got an alarm, you won't necessarily know, but at the same time the issue of alarms is simply creating a climate of insecurity and enriching the companies that install them, when really what is needed is a change in the law. Pictured: The Negret Luxury Villa community, which squatters are targeting 'There's a directive from the Spanish state prosecution service that in the first 48 hours after they occupy a property the squatters can be evicted, but in Sophie's case that wasn't applied. 'What the squatters tend to do is show the police a fake rental contract which is sometimes just a piece of paper saying they have paid such rent. When the police see that they have to leave the issue in the hands of a judge. 'In Ibiza with the volume of work in the courts, the normal time period to evict squatters is between six and ten months. 'Sophie managed to recover her property quicker, in part because a person in my office went to the courts every day to raise the issue and also because by sheer luck it ended up with one of the four courts we have in Ibiza Town which I consider to be the most efficient.' Mr Sancho Jaraiz filed a criminal lawsuit for the illegal 'usurpation' of Mrs Robinson's villa, and a civil complaint in a separate court. A trial will now take place in around two or three months following the arrest of the man inside her house. Mr Sancho Jaraiz added: 'The original squatters occupy several homes with a view to making money and offer it at a low price to others before targeting other properties. 'The police took the man who was inside away to identify him and a trial will now take place in two or three months and then we'll find out exactly who that person is. 'At most though he's going to be fined and if he gets decent legal advice he'll simply turn round and say that he was invited to spend the night there and has nothing to do with any squatters. 'Sophie has put together a record of what was missing in the house or damaged but the judge will ask us to prove with receipts that those items were inside the property. 'The law also says that as a homeowner you can't cut off the water and electricity when there are squatters inside who are using your utilities. 'What happens in practice is that rather than try to get compensation from people who haven't got assets or money, homeowners conclude it's a nightmare they want to put behind them as soon as possible. 'For me as a Spaniard I would like to tell British people that the legislation we have here is a disgrace.' The latest eruption from Mount Etna, which spewed ash and smoke, forced Catania airport to close for 24 hours. Images from the island's biggest international terminal showed dark, gritty ash on the runway and passenger planes coated in black in the wake of the eruption on Sunday. Ash and debris could also be seen on car windscreens and on roads while smoke added to dense clouds darkened the sky in surrounding neighbourhoods. The square of the Rifugio Sapienza, Nicolosi, on Sicily, was also covered. But when did Mount Etna last erupt? How large is the volcano? Has anybody ever died as a result of its eruptions? Here is everything you need to know about one of the world's most active volcanoes. Mount Etna is the most active volcano in Europe, erupting almost constantly with varying levels of severity A plane at Catania airport covered in volcanic ash following Etna's latest eruption on Sunday 21 May 2023 When did Mount Etna last erupt? Prior to its latest eruption, Mount Etna last erupted in May 2022, when the Southeast Crater collapsed, resulting in a lava flow and some small eruptions. No injuries were reported as a result of the eruption. Between February and March 2021, the volcano recorded 11 eruptions over the span of three weeks. The repeat eruptions sent out ash clouds over 10 km (33,000 ft) into the air, which forced Sicilian airports to close. However, no injuries were reported. In 2017, ten people, including members of a BBC crew, were injured when it erupted. Footage from the moment captured huge clouds of smoke and steam billowing from the top of the camera before people began running in fear to escape flying rocks. Lava flow mixed with steam had caused a huge explosion, which pelted the group with boiling rocks and steam. Scientists believe that Mount Etna was initially a submarine volcano that gradually grew to stand above sea level thanks to continually solidifying lava. How large is Mount Etna? At 10,905 ft (3,324m), Etna is the tallest active volcano in Europe and has erupted frequently in the past 500,000 years. Lava flows downhill as Etna, which is a designated Unesco World Heritage Site, erupts in May 2022. Europe's most active volcano can awaken from its slumber several times a year, jettisoning lava and ash high over the Mediterranean island. However, there has not been a major eruption from Etna since 1922. The blasts often create a spectacle of flaming lava, but cloud cover on the rainy day masked views of this eruption, according to Italy's National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV), which closely monitors Etna with instruments installed on its slopes. The volcano was listed as a Unesco World Heritage Site in 2013 and attracts thousands of visitors every year. Around 10 million passengers passed through Catania International Airport in 2022, which services the eastern part of Sicily, one of Italy's most popular destinations. The volcano was listed as a Unesco World Heritage Site in 2013 and attracts thousands of visitors every year. Pictured: an aerial view of Mount Etna Has Mount Etna ever killed anyone? Whilst tourists could perceive it as being dangerous to visit, it is actually safe to climb, as it has not erupted violently for hundreds of years. Its first recorded eruption came in 1500 BC. Mount Etna has erupted many times, with its most significant eruption provoking an earthquake in 1169 that killed an estimated 15,000 people. The 700,000-year-old volcano is the second most active on Earth, after Hawaii's Mount Kilauea. Situated between the African and Eurasian tectonic plates, it erupts almost constantly, with varying degrees of severity. Each year, it produces more than ten million tonnes of lava and over 7million tonnes of carbon dioxide, water and sulphur dioxide. Whilst another Italian volcano, Mount Vesuvius, is famed for laying ruin to the city of Pompeii when it erupted in 79 AD, Mount Etna is almost twice as big, with a basal circumference of about 140km. What grapes are grown on Mount Etna? One of the main things that attracts tourists to Sicily is its variety of red grapes, which produce some of the finest wines in Italy. Red grapes grow around the location of Mount Etna, but volcanic eruptions actually help winemakers, as ash helps to fertilise the grapes (File image) The main red grape variety grown on Mount Etna is called Nerello Mascalese, with a similar type named Nerello Cappuccio also grown on the mountainsides. Due to the steep slopes of Etna, grapes often need to be harvested, and vineyard maintained, by hand, as the terraces are not wide enough for other equipment to be used. Fortunately for winemakers and consumers in the region and across the world, Etna's grape harvest would only be affected by eruptions on a much larger scale. In fact, the ash which Etna spews out acts as a fertiliser for the soil, giving the wine grown there a characteristic that is impossible to emulate elsewhere. The widow of a top lawyer who took his own life is suing his psychiatrists for 5 million, saying she 'trusted he was in a safe place' with experts who 'knew what they were doing' before his tragic death. John Jones, who represented Julian Assange and also worked alongside actor George Clooney's lawyer wife Amal, died after walking out of north London's Nightingale Hospital, where he was being treated for acute depression in April 2016. Mr Jones, who was head of international law at the acclaimed Doughty Street barristers' chambers, was fatally injured after stepping in front of a morning train at West Hampstead station. The 48-year-old had been admitted to the exclusive hospital on March 22 under the care of eminent psychiatrist, Dr Stephen Pereira, having described himself as being locked in a 'downward spiral'. John Jones (pictured), 48, took his own life after walking out of north London's Nightingale Hospital, where he was being treated for acute depression in April 2016 Mr Jones's widow, Misa Zgonec-Rozej, 47, is now suing her husband's psychiatrist for alleged negligence His own family reported that Mr Jones was in a 'terrible place' and 'a danger to himself', and there were ongoing problems with getting his medication right. Dr Pereira was Mr Jones' treating psychiatrist at the time and arranged for his admission to the Nightingale, but lawyers for Mr Jones' family claim he failed to set up an 'effective and adequate care plan.' Mr Jones' widow, Misa Zgonec-Rozej, 47, is now suing her husband's psychiatrist for alleged negligence, with her lawyers telling the High Court: 'He was not 'untreatable' and he was not inevitably doomed to take his own life.' Lawyers for Dr Pereira, claim an effective care regime was put in place, but that Mr Jones did not respond well, being reluctant to take his medication or engage in group therapy. Opening the trial, Mrs Zgonec-Rozej's barrister, Elizabeth-Anne Gumbel KC, claimed the risk of self-harm had not been 'managed' effectively due to 'a number of overlapping deficiencies in the care provided to Mr Jones by Dr Pereira'. 'He was provided with no effective treatment, no effective therapy and no effective management,' she alleged. The pattern of Mr Jones' care at the Nightingale became confused, his widow says, because although Dr Pereira arranged for his urgent admission, responsibility for his care was subsequently transferred to another psychiatrist as Dr Pereira had a holiday booked. 'On April 10, Dr Pereira returned from holiday and resumed responsibility for Mr Jones' care as his treating consultant,' said Ms Gumbel. 'He retained that responsibility up to Mr Jones' death on April 18 2016.' Mr Jones' death came after he left the Nightingale in the early morning of April 14 2016, having told staff he needed to go for a walk. 'At 6.50am, Mr Jones called the hospital and said he would be back in one hour,' Ms Gumbel told the court. 'At 7am, he died when he was struck by a train at West Hampstead station.' Lawyers for Dr Pereira say he put an effective care regime in place for his patient, and one expert witness testifying for him claimed the tragedy 'could not reasonably have been predicted or prevented'. They also suggest that, even if Mr Jones had survived his 2016 breakdown, he would have been unable to pick up the pieces of his high-stressed working life. Ms Zgonec-Rozej is suing Mr Jones' two treating psychiatrists, Dr Stephen Pereira and Dr Neelam Bakshi, as well as the Nightingale Hospital (pictured) And they say Mr Jones was also not responding well to his treatment plan, since he proved reluctant to take certain anti-psychotic medication and engage in group therapy. But Ms Zgonec-Rozej's barrister pointed out that Mr Jones had held down a dynamic practice as a leading barrister for over a decade, and had gone through Oxford University and gruelling legal training despite suffering an earlier mental breakdown aged 17. 'He'd got into Oxford, qualified as a barrister and worked at a very successful level between the ages of 17 and 47,' she told the court, arguing that this background showed his resilience, and that he would have bounced back with the right treatment. And she claimed: 'John Jones was admitted to hospital by Dr Pereira with a serious, life-threatening but treatable illness from which - had he been adequately cared for - he would have recovered. 'He was not 'untreatable' and he was not inevitably doomed to take his own life from the outset,' said the barrister, adding that Mr Jones should have received more one-to-one therapy. Mr Jones had carved out a name as a pioneering human rights barrister in the field of war crimes and represented the former president of Sierra Leone, Charles Taylor, who was later jailed for 50 years. He later switched to extradition law and acted for Wikileaks founder Julian Assange. He encountered barbaric violence in his work, representing men charged with the most horrific atrocities, and also appeared in last-chance death penalty appeals. In her evidence, Ms Zgonec-Rozej said her husband had felt 'like a naughty schoolboy' during some therapy sessions and was reluctant to attend group sessions. Later in his career Mr Jones switched to extradition law and acted for Wikileaks founder Julian Assange (pictured) Although he seemed to make some progress under treatment, it was 'momentary' and 'the next day all that was gone'. Ms Zgonec-Rozej accepted that she had not raised specific concerns that Mr Jones was in a 'bad way', but added: 'he was under the hospital staff supervision and I thought they knew what they were doing'. 'I thought they were observing him, I trusted that he was in a safe place..' Mrs Zgonec-Rozej - herself an established human rights lawyer - initially also sued the Nightingale Hospital and another treating psychiatrist at that hospital, Dr Neelam Bakshi, but those claims were confidentially settled before the case reached court. Ms Gumbel said the settlement sums agreed with the hospital and Dr Bakshi did not cover Mrs Zgonec-Rozej's full claim, which has been valued at up to 5m. However, it is accepted that, if she succeeds against Dr Pereira, the court will have to give credit in any compensation award for 'the settlement sums recovered from Dr Bakshi and The Nightingale Hospital.' Dr Stephen Pereira has been contacted by MailOnline for comment. For confidential support call the Samaritans on 116 123 or go to samaritans.org A thug who was caught on camera brutally beating a German Shepherd and hanging it from a fence has avoided jail. Terrence Tovey, 66, was seen kicking Dylan the Dylan, the German Shepherd and dragging him along by its lead in Llanelli, south Wales. The brutal attack, which then saw Tovey hang the German Shepherd on a fence by its lead, was captured on nearby CCTV. The video showing Tovey beating the dog as it struggles to stand while hanging from the fence was later handed to the RSPCA to investigate. A public appeal by the RSPCA later led to Tovey pleading guilty to two offences under the Animal Welfare Act in magistrates' court in Llanelli, Carmarthenshire. Terrence Tovey, 66, (pictured) was filmed committing the brutal attack on CCTV Tovey is set to avoid jail after CCTV footage showed him attacking the German Shepherd He admitted to causing unnecessary suffering to Dylan by inflicting physical abuse and mental distress, and to a second offence of failing to meet the dog's needs. Tovey, of Llanelli, was sentenced to 12 weeks of custody suspended for 12 months, and banned from keeping all domestic animals for 10 years. He was also ordered to pay 400 costs and a 154 victim surcharge. He was also handed a 15 Rehabilitation Activity Requirement. Dylan has now been placed with a new owner. An independent expert veterinary report, presented to the court, stated that Dylan 'will have been caused to suffer pain and distress as a consequence of the actions of the man shown on the footage in kicking and suspending the dog by its neck'. 'From the footage shown the dog acts in an extremely distressed manner whilst being suspended from the fence and it is only the intervention of the second man that interrupts this process and alleviates the dog's immediate suffering. Dylan, the German Shepherd, has now been placed with new owners Tovey was brought to justice following the launch of a public appeal by the RSPCA 'Throughout the footage the dog exhibits periods of submissive behaviour and body language consistent with the dog being fearful and scared of the man during the incident,' the report said '[This] will have resulted in my expert opinion in the dog being caused to suffer mental distress as well as the physical pain caused by being kicked and suspended by its neck.' After sentencing, RSPCA inspector Keith Hogben, said: 'This footage was extremely distressing to watch and poor Dylan must have been so frightened. This is no way to treat an animal or beloved pet. 'We'd very much like to thank those who provided us with the evidence and information that led to this conviction as well as the passers-by on the day who intervened. As ever the public are our eyes and ears and we very appreciate their help.' Her famous work ethic, sustained over the course of many decades of unstinting royal duty and support for charity, has won Princess Anne plaudits across the world. Now, however, it seems the Kings only sister has earned admiration from an unlikely quarter: the Royal Familys biggest critic, her nephew Prince Harry. Eagle-eyed Royal watchers tuning into the Coronation might have been surprised to see the warmth of the encounter between Harry and his aunt at Westminster Abbey on May 6. Dressed in her Blues and Royals uniform beneath the dark green Thistle Mantle, the Princess Royal stopped to chat to Harry as she made her way to the front of the Abbey. Princess Anne, with her back to the camera, was one of few senior Royals seen talking to Prince Harry, centre, at his father's Coronation. Seated on Harry's right is Jack Brooksbank, husband of Princess Eugenie. Zara Phillips, directly behind, looks intrigued Princess and Anne and her nephew Harry have a genuine rapport as this display of warmth shows. Lip readers suggest Harry was telling his aunt he was happy to be seated a few rows behind other senior members of the Royal Family The Princess Royal and Prince Harry seem to share a sense of humour! They are seen here at the wedding of Lady Gabriella Windsor and Thomas Kingston in May 2019 Princess Anne's feather was the subject of much comment as it seemed block her nephew's view of the Coronation. But the prince seemed unconcerned While most senior royals ignored the Prince who quit his duties to move abroad, Anne appeared to ask Harry who remains the fifth in line to the Throne if was okay with his seat three rows back. Would he be able to see beyond her high feathered cap? In what looked to be a good-humoured exchange, lip-reading experts reportedly revealed he told her: I dont mind before saying Sit at the front! If viewers watching at home were surprised by the frank and jovial conversation so, it seemed, were some Royals in the pews behind. But one of the most endearing qualities of Princess Anne apart from her well-earned title as the hardest-working Royal is her ability to get on with things. It is a keep calm and carry on mantra adopted from her parents. It also means that she doesnt waste energy on grudges. An outlook that some feel Harry could do well to emulate. Many may not realise that Anne seemed to have a soft spot for Prince Harry from the beginning, and the more so when he lost his mother at such a young age. Princess Anne has had a soft spot for Harry from the very beginning - seen here after Trooping the Colour on the balcony of Buckingham Palace Princess and Diana, the Late Princess of Wales, accompany Harry to St George's Chapel, Windsor for the wedding of Lady Helen Windsor to Tim Taylor in 1992 At ease in each other's company, Anne and Harry share a confidence on the palace balcony following Trooping the Colour in 2006 And while her refusal to give her children Royal titles may seem at odds with Harry and Meghans insistence on their two children Archie and Lilibet being titled Prince and Princess, Anne and Harry have more in common than many people might realise. She was one of the few members of the Royal family who wasnt targeted in Prince Harrys excoriating take down. An insider said: The Princess Royal has always had a soft spot for Harry and they both have a wicked sense of humour. People talk about Prince Andrew being the Spare but Anne was the second-born, too, and particularly since Diana died has always felt a duty to support her nephew. Both Anne and Harry have a great sense of humour and more in common than it might seem. One particularly memorable moment between the pair came in May 2008 15 years ago - when Princess Anne presented the Afghanistan war campaign medals to officers and soldiers of the Household Cavalry Regiment, including Lieutenant Wales, as Harry was then. Could Anne be called upon by King and country to build a bridge between father and son? As with most acts of service at least as far as the Princess Royal is concerned - if duty calls then she will oblige. A proud aunt, the Princess Royal, presents her nephew Lieutenant Wales with an Afghan war campaign medal, along with other officers and soldiers from the Household Cavalry Anne, her husband Vice Admiral Timothy Laurence and Harry in animated conversation before the opening ceremony of the 2012 Olympic Games in London A relaxed discussion between Harry and Anne as they make their way to the thanksgiving service for the Queen Mother and Princess Margaret in 2012 Do you know more? Contact tips@dailymail.com Two cars were found on fire nearby A man shot dead execution-style while sitting in his car on a quiet suburban street told his girlfriend to run just moments before two gunmen opened fire on him. Marvin Oraiha was shot multiple times on Hertfordshire St in Elizabeth Hills, southwest Sydney about 4pm on Monday. First responders tried desperately to revive Mr Oraiha, who had a bullet wound to his head but he died at the scene. He is understood to have had links to the Comanchero bikie gang but was not a member, and a motive for his death is unknown. The gunmen remain on the run and are believed to have followed Mr Oraiha to his home on Monday afternoon. The 24-year-old is understood to have told his girlfriend to flee the car once he spotted the gunmen, the Daily Telegraph reported. Witnesses reported hearing chilling screams and saw a woman running from the car before Mr Oraiha was fatally shot. Marvin Oraiha was shot multiple times on Hertfordshire St in Elizabeth Hills, south-west Sydney Two abandoned vehicles were also discovered on fire nearby - a tactic that has become a hallmark of organised crime hitmen in Australia. One of the cars, an SUV, was found five minutes away on Bough St in Green Valley at 4:07pm. The other vehicle, a sedan, was discovered on fire at Lewis Street in Bonnyrigg Heights at 4:13pm, six minutes' drive away. 'About 4pm today (Monday 22 May 2023), emergency services were called to Hertfordshire Street, Elizabeth Hills, regarding reports of shots fired,' NSW Police said. 'On arrival, officers from Liverpool City Police Area Command found a man sitting inside a car, suffering gunshot wounds. Police were called just before 4pm and found Mr Oraiha sitting in a car with multiple gunshot wounds, including one to his head and died at the scene 'Despite the efforts of first responders, the man died at the scene. 'He has not been formally identified but is believed to be aged in his 20s. 'A crime scene has been established and an investigation underway into the circumstances surrounding the incident.' Detectives are yet to confirm if the two burnt-out cars and the murder are connected. The gruesome killing is just the latest in a bloody chain of incidents that have rocked Sydney in the past two years and a half years. There have been 16 people gunned down since August 2020 across the Harbour City with all of the underworld hits following similar modus operandi. Police also discovered a car on Bough St in Green Valley that had been set ablaze (pictured) - a tactic which has become a hallmark of organised crime hitmen in Australia Detectives investigating the disappearance of Madeleine McCann are expected to reveal new details soon as they search a Portuguese reservoir for her body. However, as German police gear up for their search, a source close to the lawyer of prime suspect Christian Brueckner said they would be 'amazed if they find anything' at the Algarve reservoir he used to visit. Police in Portugal are expected to start closing off roads leading to the man-made dam near the town of Silves in southern Portugal ahead of the official start of the search tomorrow, with Scotland Yard detectives understood to have travelled there. German police are set to arrive at the site later, having received permission to search the 'area of interest' that Brueckner reportedly called his 'little paradise'. German prosecutors were remaining tight lipped on the new development, but they were expected to reveal further details on Tuesday. Privately, senior investigators close to the case told MailOnline they 'didn't have a specific lead' but that the search was part of the 'ongoing investigation'. Police will search the reservoir in southern Portugal for the body of Madeleine McCann (pictured left), who went missing in 2007. However, as German police gear up for their search, a source close to the lawyer of prime suspect Christian Brueckner (right) said they would be 'amazing if they find anything' at the Algarve reservoir he used to visit Police officers investigate the reservoir ahead of the start of the official search operation for Madeleine's body beginning tomorrow The search is expected to last for at least two days and beyond that if anything of relevance is found at the reservoir, which lies about 45 minutes from Praia da Luz - where Madeleine vanished without a trace in 2007 aged three Officers of Portugal's investigative Judicial Police are seen at the site of a remote reservoir in Silves A vehicle of Portugal's Emergency Services carries wheelbarrows at the site of the reservoir The search is expected to last for at least two days and beyond that if anything of relevance is found at the reservoir, which lies about 45 minutes from Praia da Luz - where Madeleine vanished without a trace in 2007 aged three. This morning, police tents were being erected at the scene as cops prepared for the search the begin. It will be the first major operation of its kind since June 2014 when British police were given permission to dig in Praia da Luz using sniffer dogs trained in detecting bodies and ground-penetrating radar. 'Obviously we remain confident that we will find an element or piece of evidence that will lead to the case being solved but at the moment we are still looking at various elements,' the source told MailOnline. 'We know that the main suspect visited the area frequently and we have spoken to several witnesses who knew him at the time and who have confirmed this. 'It would be bad police work if we didn't check everything out but for the time being it's safe to say there is no new hot lead.' Meanwhile, Prime suspect Christian Brueckner's lawyer Friedrich Fulscher also declined to comment - but a source close to him said: 'They can search all they want. I will be amazed if they find anything.' It was not immediately clear what had prompted this week's operation, and whether it was hastily arranged after police in Germany received a new tip-off or had been organised over time as prosecutors there continue to try to build up a picture of sole suspect Christian Brueckner's life on the Algarve and the places he frequented. Portuguese broadcaster SIC reported that German police sought permission to search the dam in an official judicial request to Portugal after concluding it was 'an area of interest'. Police tens have been spotted being erected as cops prepare for a new search operation, 16 years on from the toddler going missing Portuguese police have been spotted at a makeshift base camp in the Arade dam area, Faro district, one day before the official start of a new search for Madeleine McCann's body Pictured: Tens are seen set up near the reservoir in Portugal as police gear up for the search Pictured: Tens of a makeshift base camp in the Arade dam area, Faro district, one day before the official start of a new search operation amid the investigation into the disappearance of Madeleine McCann, in Silves, Portugal, 22 May A lorry driver says that he saw a woman handing a child who looked like Madeleine McCann over to a man two days after she went missing from her Praia da Luz holiday apartment on May 3 in 2007. It was searched twice in February and March 2008 by divers hired by a Portuguese lawyer. Expert divers are now set to explore the murky depths of the dam around the Barragem do Arade reservoir, but digs will also take place in woodland by the water. Local reports are claiming around 80 per cent of the searches will be on land and the rest underwater. The search area is around 30 miles away from Praia da Luz, where Madeleine went missing. Today is being described as a preparation day in which logistics are sorted out ahead of the search tomorrow. A peninsula over a mile long jutting into the reservoir was sealed off just after midday today, ahead of the dive. Senior investigators close to the case told MailOnline they 'didn't have a specific lead' but that the search was part of the 'ongoing investigation' Several local council lorries were also spotted on the land as tents were set up. In another area, just under a mile away, Portuguese Civil Protection workers were seen setting up a tent alongside police. There was no clear sign of German police on hand on Monday, although they are expected to arrive later today. The Policia Judiciaria force said in a statement: 'In view of the news made public, the Judiciary Police confirms that, regarding the investigation into the disappearance of an English child, which occurred in the Algarve in 2007, steps are still being taken to fully clarify the situation. 'Within the scope of international cooperation, in the next few days in the Algarve region, new searches will be carried out, coordinated by the Judiciary Police, at the request of the German Authorities (BKA) and with the presence of the British Authorities. 'Information will be provided in due course on the outcome of the proceedings.' One well-placed source described the new search as a German-led operation which was being coordinated with the help of Portuguese police and was linked to information the authorities had gleaned pointing to regular trips Brueckner made to the dam. The insider said: 'Portuguese police will offer logistical support but the initiative is German and they were the ones that requested the work that is going to take place this week. 'Scotland Yard officers are due to travel to Portugal but theirs will be a watching brief.' Police are aiming to build up a picture of sole suspect Christian Brueckner's life on the Algarve and the places he frequented as they search the Barragem reservoir in Silves, Portugal Officials were pictured starting to gather at the site of the reservoir ahead of the search Local police set up cordons ahead of the major search expected to last at least two days Officials were seen nearby earlier today, setting up tents ahead of the major search Barragem reservoir in Silves, southern Portugal, where police will start to look for the body German police looking for Madeleine McCann's body are about to begin a major search of a remote Algarve reservoir suspect Christian Brueckner used to visit. Pictured: Barragem reservoir in Silves A general view of the dam which Brueckner reportedly called his 'little paradise' Marcos Aragao Correia organised the privately-funded operation after claiming he had been tipped off by underworld contacts that Madeleine had been murdered and her body thrown into the reservoir within 48 hours of her disappearance. Two bags containing small bones were found during the second search after divers had earlier recovered several lengths of cord, some plastic tape and a single white cotton sock. Portuguese police were alerted following the discovery but subsequently ruled out the possibility the bones were human because of their size. Last year, suspect Christian Brueckner spoke out for the first time on the case, denying allegations he was involved in her disappearance in a letter seen by MailOnline. Made an official suspect in the case in April 2022, he stressed that he was 'not there at the time and that he was not living close to the place [of her disappearance].' Brueckner, linked to four child murders across Europe since 1996, said: 'I'm the most-known bad person in the world and I did nothing - well almost nothing.' He added: 'I wasn't kidnapping anybody and of course I wasn't killing anybody. 'I'll go further, I'll tell you I wasn't attacking anybody after I was 18. 'I made some silly mistakes when I was younger but who hasn't?' Brueckner has yet to face any formal accusation over the youngster's disappearance. On May 12, the family posted a video to mark their daughter's 20th birthday. The slideshow featured images of Madeleine and missing person posters put up since her disappearance. 'We love you and we're waiting for you. We're never going to give up,' it read. Madeleine Beth McCann went missing from her bed while on holiday with her family on the evening of May 3 2007, aged three. The McCanns were themselves given 'arguido' suspect status in September 2007, which was lifted when the case was archived in July 2008 for lack of evidence. The family kept the investigation open with private detectives until Scotland Yard opened its own enquiry in 2011. Nine years later, police in Braunschweig, northern Germany, identified a convicted paedophile and German national as a new suspect. In 2021, prosecutors said they were '100% sure' that they had the right man. German prosecutor Hans Wolters said evidence included phone analysis placing him at the Ocean Club resort the family was staying at when Madeleine went missing and an alleged confession Brueckner made to a friend. In April, it was reported Christian Brueckner may not face charges in Germany over Madeleine's disappearance after a court ruled prosecutors had no jurisdiction to pursue a case against him, however. Handout picture of Madeleine McCann, who went missing in Portugal on May 3 in 2007 Parents Kate (L) and Gerry McCann (R) pose with an artist's impression of how their daughter might have looked [then] at the age of nine ahead of a press conference on May 2, 2012 The Ocean Club in Luz in the Algarve, Portugal, where Madeleine McCann went missing Expert divers are now set to explore the murky depths of the dam around the Barragem do Arade reservoir (pictured) Madeleine's parents Gerry and Kate McCann had previously dismissed Mr Correia as a self-publicist and said there was no evidence suggesting any link between their daughter and the reservoir. It is not thought to have been searched since March 2008 as part of the ongoing investigation into her disappearance. Digs by Scotland Yard nearly nine years ago in Praia da Luz were linked to the leading UK police theory at the time, that Madeleine died during a break-in and burglars dumped her body nearby. In July 2020 Portuguese police and firefighters searched three wells for Madeleine's body but failed to find any trace of her. Hopes were dashed last month when a DNA test showed Julia Wendell was not Madeleine McCann, despite her insistence that she was. Wendell's own parents branded her claims 'lies and manipulation'. Later in April, she was reported to police over claims she had explicit images of children on her phone. She denied the claims and said she had already spoken to Polish police about the matter. Ukraine's military intelligence acknowledged the armed operation in Russia's Belgorod region on Monday, saying it was carried out by Russian citizens Anti-Kremlin Russian volunteer units have carried out an orchestrated attack in the border region of Belgorod, according to Ukrainian military intelligence. Groups of fighters from two units opposed to President Vladimir Putin shared footage appearing to show them operating inside Russia and vowing to 'free' the country from underneath the autocrat's rule. Uniformed soldiers claiming to be from the Freedom of Russia Legion and the Russian Volunteer Corps shared separate videos of themselves posing with flags and in front of Russian road signs, calling for an end to the 'Kremlin's dictatorship'. The clips came amid reports of a drone attack on Russia's Golovchino district, in Belgorod Oblast, around 35 miles from the region's main city with the same name. Reports said the drone dropped an explosive on an administrative building. The Putin-appointed regional governor Vyacheslav Gladkov issued an appeal for residents not to panic amid the reports of multiple attacks across the border area. Anti-Kremlin Russian volunteer units have carried out an orchestrated attack in the border region of Belgorod, according to Ukrainian military intelligence. Pictured: A group of anti-Kremlin Russian soldiers speak to camera, saying they are operating inside Russia Ukraine's military intelligence service blamed the armed operation in Russia's Belgorod region on Russian citizens belonging to two paramilitary groups, Ukrainian media outlet Hromadske said. It quoted military intelligence spokesperson Andriy Yusov as saying the Freedom of Russia Legion and Russian Volunteer Corps were responsible for the operation. 'Responsibility for these events was taken by citizens of (Russia), particularly the RDK and the 'Freedom of Russia' Legion,' Hromadske quoted military intelligence spokesperson Andriy Yusov, using the acronym for the Russian Volunteer Corps. 'I think we all can only welcome the decisive actions of opposition-minded Russian citizens, who are ready for an armed struggle against the criminal regime of (President) Vladimir Putin.' Yusov said the Belgorod operation would create a 'security zone' to protect Ukrainians from cross-border attacks by Russia. Ukraine denied any involvement in the attack, but presidential adviser Mikhaylo Podolyak said: 'Ukraine is watching the events in the Belgorod region of Russia with interest and is studying the situation,' adding Kyiv 'has nothing to do with it.' Ukraine has previously denied responsibility for several reported sabotage attacks on Russian territory. Podolyak suggested that Russian 'guerrilla groups' could be responsible. 'The only driving political force in a totalitarian country of tightened screws is always an armed guerrilla movement,' he said. 'As you know, tanks are sold at any Russian military store, and underground guerrilla groups are composed of Russian citizens.' Russia has said the incursion was designed by Ukraine to 'divert attention from Bakhmut', after Moscow claimed to have captured the city over the weekend, but Kyiv denied this. The reported incursion came ahead of a widely expected counteroffensive by Kyiv. In a video released online, fighters from the Russian Volunteer Corps said they were in Russia in the early hours of Monday morning. They published a night-time video, with some standing in front of Russian road signs while holding their flag, with features a sword and shield on the front. The footage showed road signs in the Belgorod region. 'This is the Russian Volunteer Battalion,' the group of four soldiers said. 'We have again crossed the border of the Russian Federation. Russia will still be free.' A second clip heard them say: 'So the Russian Volunteer is back in the motherland. We are home. The time to fight for the freedom of Russia has come.' Another group, said to be the Freedom of Russia Legion, also said they were operating inside Ukraine. In a statement to the Russian people, the leader of the unit said Putin's Russia is 'rotten from corruption, lies, censorship, restrictions on freedoms, repressions.' 'It's time to put an end to the Kremlin's dictatorship,' the soldier said. In a video released online (pictured), fighters from the Russian Volunteer Corps said they were in Russia in the early hours of Monday morning In a statement on Telegram, Governor Gladkov (pictured) said the Russian army and security forces were taking measures to repel the incursion In a statement on Telegram, Governor Gladkov said the Russian army and security forces were taking measures to repel the incursion. 'A sabotage and reconnaissance group of the Ukrainian armed forces' crossed into Russia's Belgorod region,' governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said. He added that troops and the FSB security service were 'taking the necessary measures to eliminate the enemy.' In its video message, the so-called Russian Volunteers Corps - an anti-Putin group operating from Ukraine that has claimed in the past to have crossed the border into Russia, said: 'Russia will be free soon.' Earlier, the Telegram channel Baza, which is linked to Russia's security services, had published footage apparently showing a Ukrainian tank attacking a Russian border post. News agencies were unable to immediately verify the reports. In a separate video shared online, the inside of a border checkpoint was was seen with the body of a uniformed soldier sprawled across the floor. The Russian Volunteer Corps, who posted the video, said the body was that of a slain Russian border guard. 'We came in almost unopposed,' they said in the footage. However, there was no independent confirmation of the attack on the border post. Meanwhile a Russian report said there had been 'no casualties' among border guards and an enemy attack had been repulsed. Governor Gladkov had earlier said up to six villages had been attacked by drones and mortar fire. Footage purportedly showed smoke rising over the region, while one video was claimed to show a roof in flames 'There is a mass information attack and calls for panic against the backdrop of the massive shelling of Graivoronsky district,' said the governor. 'I repeat: not a single civilian there was injured or killed. 'I also see the mass spreading of calls for evacuation, shared on behalf of Shebekinsky district. This is a lie,' he said. 'If things get worse, or better, we will inform you immediately. I am at work, I am with you. We will solve all our problems if we stay calm and do not listen to our enemies.' Reports said Golovchino district was hit by a drone attack. 'A quadcopter dropped an explosive device on the village administration building in Golovchino,' said the governor. 'The roof caught fire. According to the preliminary information, there are no casualties.' Pictured: A still image from a video purportedly showing smoke rising over Russia's Belgorod region on Sunday amid reports of an incursion by anti-Kremlin Russian fighters Gladkov said he would release more details later. After Russian President Vladimir Putin sent troops to Ukraine in February 2022, the border region of Belgorod in the country's south has been repeatedly shelled, and dozens of people have been killed. Authorities have also reported a series of incidents involving members of 'sabotage' groups crossing over from Ukraine. In April, the city of Belgorod was bombed by a Russian fighter jet which dropped ammunition over the city by accident. A celebrity chef has branded it an 'absolute joke' that a couple walked free after siphoning 150,000 out of his luxury restaurant for luxury holidays. Stephen Terry, who was Gordon Ramsay's best man, said his Hardwick restaurant survived 'by the skin of its teeth' after Nicola Nightingale stole thousands of pounds while she worked there. Mother-of-five Nightingale, 48, and her husband Simon, 50, fleeced the Great British Menu chef while working at his restaurant in Abergavenny, Wales. With the money they jetted off on a string of trips abroad to Eurodisney, Disney World Florida, France and anniversary stays in Morocco. They were given two-year suspended sentences at Cardiff Crown Court on Monday. Today Mr Terry slammed the sentences, saying it was a 'travesty' that the pair were spared prison because the judge took into account the 'lasting negative impact' a jail term would have on their children. Nicola Nightingale, 48, and Simon Nightingale, 50, pictured at Disney World Gordon Ramsay with TV chef Stephen Terry (right), who was fleeced out of 150,000 Recorder Judge Barry Clarke said sending both defendants to prison would have had a 'lasting, negative impact on them [the children] and upon their development'. Slamming their sentences today, Mr Terry said: 'It's a a sham, a complete joke. What message does this send out about white collar crime?' 'It says white collar crime pays - just make sure you've got kids. 'We heard what the impact of custody might have been on their children but what about our family?' He continued: 'I am disappointed there was no custodial sentence for what they have put myself through. For someone to come and do that I think she practically got away with it. 'They had holiday we could have only dreamed of and all of a sudden you find out you're paying for it. 'For them to result in getting a suspended sentence is a travesty.' Mr Terry and his wife Joanna Terry said consideration was paid to the impact on the defendants' family if they were sent to prison - but an equal amount of consideration had not been paid to their family. Mrs Terry said: 'The court has not put into anything about our what our children have gone through and what they continue to go through and that's wrong.' Mr Terry, who trained under Marco Pierre White, opened the award-winning gastropub in 2005 and it has become known as one of the best restaurants in the country. Nightingale, who Mr Terry employed as his office administrator between February 2018 and March 2020, had alcoholism and mental health problems and used the money to fund her spending addiction, the court heard. Simon Nightingale was found guilty of swindling a celebrity chef out of 150,000 from the restaurant where his wife worked and using the money to go on luxury holidays Nicola and Simon Nightingale outside Cardiff Crown Court. The pair both received suspended sentences Prosecutor Tom Roberts said she 'generated fake invoices from fictitious suppliers' after she was employed at the country inn. Over a two-year period, the mother-of-four siphoned almost 47,000 into her husband's bank account, made direct payments of more than 50,000 to her account, inflated her wages by 6,000 and made additional payments to herself disguised as paid wages of 47,000. The total stolen from the restaurant was 150,234.63. It was also discovered that two loans for 40,000 each had been taken out in Mr Terry's name without his permission. But they were snared when Mr Terry saw money was missing from his bank account. Mr Terry looked at the accounts to discover two 40,000 loans had been taken out in his name along with a 10,000 shortfall in the pension pot. Giving evidence, he previously said: 'I think it took Nicola about four weeks to start taking money from us from when she started. She didn't hang about.' Mother-of-five Nicola Nightingale, 48, (left) walking hand-in-hand with Simon Nightingale (right) outside Cardiff Crown Court The Hardwick in Abergavenny, Wales - owned by celebrated chef Stephen Terry - is one of the country's best restaurants Prosecutor Tom Roberts said: 'Nicola Nightingale began working there [The Hardwick] on February 13 2018 and was responsible for managing the business's accounts and finances. 'In March of 2020, as the Covid lockdown came into effect, Mr Terry became suspicious of her behaviour. 'He and his wife contacted HSBC and found there were payments made directly to Mrs Nightingale outside the normal payment structure amounting at that stage to about 27,000.' Mr Roberts said Mr Terry tried to contact both Mrs and Mr Nightingale to get the login details for their business accounts but they did not respond. The following day Mrs Nightingale resigned via email and Mr Terry contacted Gwent Police, who began an investigation. 'She left the restaurant owing suppliers 70,000 and 6,000 in business rates,' Mr Roberts continued. Celebrity chef Stephen Terry outside Cardiff Crown Court. He employed Mrs Nightingale as a financial administrator at his restaurant The Hardwick in Abergavenny 'She also left the company owing 110,000 in PAYE and VAT, and she left the pension fund with a 10,000 shortfall. 'She'd given the impression that the business was running smoothly but she had in fact run it into significant debt by extracting money from it for herself.' During Mr Nightingale's trial in February this year it was disclosed that part of the money had been spent on a number of foreign holidays. Mr Nightingale claimed he believed the cash was his wife's wages along with money for shifts he had carried out at the restaurant. He told a jury: 'There was no need for me to challenge her because it was her wages going into my account and my extracurricular wages going into my account.' The court heard the couple went on multiple trips while also making payments to debt management company Lowell Portfolio Ltd to pay off store cards. The couple's daughter Jasmine, 22, claimed her mother had 'complete control' of the finances while they jetted off abroad. In a victim impact statement, chef Mr Terry said: 'This has caused significant reputational damage and is very hard to accept as we built this business from scratch and worked very hard to get to where we are now.' In a victim impact statement written in June 2020 and read to the court, Mr Terry said the fraud was 'potentially devastating' to his business. 'Over the past 15 years I've worked extremely hard to build a successful business in the heartland and throughout this time I've worked well with suppliers and built strong working relationships. Stephen Terry (pictured) who was Gordon Ramsay's best man, was fleeced out of 150,000 'The impact of being defrauded of such a significant amount of money and having large outstanding payments to my suppliers is potentially devastating. There's no doubt damage to my reputation and working relationships. 'Had it not been for the unprecedented pandemic, that is Covid-19, I'm not certain that I would have been aware of the fraud. And I believe that the business would not have survived this financial loss.' Mr Terry said he had since had to take out loans to pay back his suppliers and employees. Mr Nightingale, who moved from Gilwern, Abergavenny to Deal, Kent, denied acquiring criminal property but was found guilty after a trial. The court heard he was on a 55,000-a-year salary as a group head chef for Q Hotels at the time. Mrs Nightingale, of Deal, Kent, pleaded guilty to fraud by abuse of position. Susan Ferrier, for Mrs Nightingale, said she was now seeking help for her alcohol problem. She said: 'Buying things became a way of coping and she became addicted, due to her addictive personality, to what she discovered she could do.' Susan Ferrier, defending Mrs Nightingale, said her client had an 'extreme problem with alcoholism and mental health' and that those problems, with previous marriage troubles and losing her youngest brother, caused her to become addicted to buying things as a means of coping. Ms Ferrier said Mrs Nightingale was 'shocked' at and 'bitterly regretted' the amount she had stolen, which accumulated over time, and is 'haunted' by the impact of her actions on others. She said Mrs Nightingale, now a grandmother, had a low risk of reoffending and raised concerns about how she would cope in prison given her 'fragile' state. Mr Nightingale's defence, led by Martin Taylor, said the defendant accepted his 'negligence' and had 'massive regret for allowing this situation to have arisen'. Mr Taylor said Mr Nightingale was left having to 'carry the family', including caring for their two youngest children, aged 10 and 12, due to his wife's difficulties. Recorder Judge Barry Clarke sentenced Mrs Nightingale, who pleaded guilty to fraud, and Mr Nightingale, who was convicted of possession of criminal property after a trial, to a two-year suspended sentence and ordered both to complete 100 hours of unpaid work. Millie Davies of the CPS said: 'Nicola Nightingale took advantage of her position of trust within the business and used the opportunity for her own gain. 'The CPS presented evidence showing there had been 55 transactions to Simon Nightingale's account. 'Instead of the money going towards legitimate business costs it ended up lining the pockets of two dishonest employees who have today been brought to justice.' A mother pretended she was living in an elderly couple's home to try and get her son into a top secondary school, a court heard. Trainee conveyancer Bhakti Shah targeted the pair's property as it fell within the catchment area of popular Mill Hill County High School in north London. The 38-year-old created fake energy and council tax accounts for the house, forged contracts and tenancy agreements and even collected post from the real owners, explaining it had been delivered to them by mistake. But she was caught out by eagled-eyed council workers after they noticed 'discrepancies' in the some of the documents. Shah, who lives in Hendon, had applied for a school place and claimed she was going to build property on a patch of land in Beech Walk, Edgware - which was behind the elderly couple's home. Trainee conveyancer Bhakti Shah targeted the pair's property as it fell within the catchment area of Mill Hill County High School in north London. Pictured is Cheyne Close, Hendon, where Shah's home was, the school she wanted her son to be admitted to and its catchment area (circled) and Beech Walk, the street she was pretending to live in The landlocked plot, purchased by her ex-partner, was about 1.1 miles away from Mill Hill school while Shah's home was 3.4 miles away; Mill Hill allocates just 158 places to those who live within 1.3 miles. But after the Barnet Council's admissions team rejected her bid, saying it could only be based on her current address, Shah complained before changing her story and claiming she did in fact live at the property in front of the piece of land. In reality, it was owned by an elderly couple who had never met her before and were left astonished to find they were building up council tax arrears when they had always paid their bill promptly. Shah was working as a paralegal aiming to become a conveyancer and also works for Bromley Council. Wearing a black and white dress and cardigan with her hair in a pony tail, she admitted eight counts of using a false instrument with intent between October 29 2021 and May 20 2022. Prosecutor Parina Patel told Willesden Magistrates' Court: 'Barnet Council coordinates the admissions for all the schools in Barnet and receives 15,000 applications a year. 'Ms Shah's application was for her son to attend Mill Hill County school, one of the most popular schools in the borough. In 2022/23 they received 1,303 applications for 273 places.' Shah registered a water and council tax account at the property. She edited an email from EDF energy to contain the postcode of the other property, produced a fake water bill and used her skills as a conveyancer to create a false contract of sale and land registry form, the court heard. The court heard the home's owners had lived there for 10 years and had no intention of moving out. Shah initially put the wrong house number on the fake contract of sale and had to submit another one, leading to a further offence. The 38-year-old created fake energy and council tax accounts for the house, forged contracts and tenancy agreements and even collected post from the real owners When the council did not believe she had moved house, she created a false tenancy agreement showing she was renting out her property in Hendon. She was actually a tenant herself and her landlord confirmed she lived at the address throughout, magistrates heard. Ms Patel said: 'Had the council accepted she had moved in to and had not discovered discrepancies her son would have secured a place at Mill Hill County School. 'Ninety-nine per cent of the time documents are uploaded and taken at face value but here there were discrepancies which warranted further investigation. 'Had it not been for the diligence of the school admissions team in verifying the documents and asking questions, the application would have gone through.' Shah's actions caused the real occupiers 'unnecessary distress', as bills mounted, said Ms Patel. 'This was not a one-off error of judgement - there was premeditation and planning to submit a variety of documents over a seven-month period,' she added. Shah's lawyer Daniel Cavaglieri said her son - who is now in a fee-paying school - had failed the entrance exam to get into a different institution. The lawyer added his client 'wholeheartedly accepts what she did was wrong', and claimed her career prospects were now in tatters. 'Both of her jobs are going to come to an end - she will lose her job with Bromley Council and she will not be able to apply for a conveyancer license with this conviction,' he added. 'The biggest punishment is going to be to lose her two potential careers, [which] she'd worked for for quite a long time, all going to go to waste. 'The genesis of this was her desire to see her son at the best possible school he could get to - something we all can relate to. 'You can be sure she has very much learnt her lesson and there is no reason she would be before court again.' District Judge Lorraine McDonagh told Shah: 'This offending took place over a significant period of time, it's not just one document, there has been significant effort and planning incorporating various different documents. 'I also take into account that she would have been very familiar with these types of documents given the work she does and that in my view is very clearly an aggravating factor.' The judge ordered a pre-sentence report to be prepared and placed Shah on unconditional bail. She told Shah: 'I would advise you I'm keeping all sentencing options open, including committal to the crown court, I'm not ruling out any option.' Shah admitted eight counts of using a copy of a false instrument with intent it be accepted as genuine. The prosecution was brought by Barnet Council who are applying for 5,064.29 costs to be awarded. She will be sentenced on June 8. Uber has placed its Asian diversity and inclusion officer on leave after employees complained about a 'don't call me Karen' session she arranged that was intended to explore the 'American white woman's experience'. Bo Young Lee was hired by Uber in 2018 as its Chief Diversity Equity and Inclusion Officer. She is now on leave after employees - including some involved in a 'Black at Uber' organization - complained about the sessions. Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi put Bo Young Lee on leave after black and Hispanic employees complained about the 'Don't Call Me Karen' sessions Titled Moving Forward: Don't Call Me Karen, the sessions were designed to give white women who work at Uber the chance to share their perspectives Titled Moving Forward: Don't Call Me Karen, the sessions were designed to give white women who work at Uber the chance to share their perspectives. 'We will be diving into the spectrum of the American white woman's experience from some of our female colleagues, particularly how they navigate around the Karen persona,' an invitation for the event read. Panelists included Head of People Nikki Krishnamurthy, Director Meghan Musbach, Senior Director Kelly Seeman, and Director of Diversity and Inclusion Strategic Initiatives Diane Krieman. Lee, who advocates for gender neutral bathrooms LGBTQ rights and Black Lives Matter on social media in addition to in her job, moderated the conversation. Uber Director of Diversity and Inclusion Strategic Initiatives Diane Krieman (left) and Uber Senior Director Kelly Seeman (right) were among those on the panel The first session was in April and inspired a complaint from a black, female employee who said called it 'tone-deaf, offensive and triggering'. Lee defended the decision, according to The New York Times, telling the woman that while the conversation may have been uncomfortable, 'sometimes being pushed out of your own strategic ignorance is the right thing to do'. The second event happened last week on Zoom. During the session, Hispanic and black employees complained on designated Slack channels - 'Los Ubers' and 'Black at Uber' - that they were being 'scolded'. 'I just don't even understand the premise of the meeting. 'I think when people are called Karen's it's implied that it is someone that has little empathy to others or is bothered by minorities others that don't look like them. Employees complained on Slack channels. Some said they felt like they were being 'scolded' Members of the company Slack channel 'Black at Uber' complained about the session The same Slack channel then celebrated Bo being put on leave 'Like why can't bad behavior not be called out?' complained one employee. Screenshots of their conversations were obtained by reporter Richard Hanania. On May 18, the company announced Lee had been placed on leave. 'We have heard that many of you are in pain and upset by yesterday's Moving Forward session. 'While it was meant to be a dialogue, it's obvious that those who attended did not feel heard. 'Given that, Dara and I have asked Bo to step back and take a leave of absence while we determine next steps,' said Krishnamurthy. The decision was celebrated on the Slack channels afterwards. 'Just want to say a huge, huge thank you to the amazing ERG leaders, especially Black@ who escalated Bo's behavior to Dara and made sure that our outrage didn't go unheard. 'You deserve a pay raise and/or time off for all this unpaid emotional labor,' said one employee. Uber did not immediately respond to inquiries. It's unclear how many other sessions Lee has held. Idaho murders suspect Bryan Kohberger is expected to appear in court on Monday for his arraignment and to enter a plea on first-degree murder charges. The 28-year-old graduate student is scheduled to appear in a Latah County courtroom for an arraignment hearing in front of District Judge John Judge. His alleged victims' parents have vowed to attend. Last week, a grand jury indicted him on four counts of murder and one count of burglary. That meant a preliminary hearing previously scheduled for June has been canceled. If he enters a not guilty plea on Monday a proper trial date will then be set. The alleged killer's attorneys are currently unable to comment on the case as a gag order is in place - a motion to have that order lifted will be heard later on Monday. Kohberger is accused of fatally stabbing three women - Xana Kernodle, 20, Madison Mogen, 21, and Kaylee Goncalves, 21 - and one man - Ethan Chapin, 20 - in the early morning of November 13 in their university home in Moscow, Idaho. Idaho murders suspect Bryan Kohberger, 30, is expected to appear in court on Monday for his arraignment. He is pictured in January leaving the Monroe County Courthouse in Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, after an extradition hearing Maddie Mogen (top) Kaylee Goncalves (second from left) Xana Kernodle (second from right) and Ethan Chapin (center) - all students at the University of Idaho - were knifed to death on November 13 in the quiet college town of Moscow Kaylee Goncalves' father, Steve (pictured in court last November), said last week that he would study all of the evidence closely and looked forward to meeting Kohberger in court Two other female roommates in the house at the time of the killings were unharmed. One of those women told investigators that at 4am she heard someone crying in one of the victim's bedrooms. She then watched as a masked man, clad in black, walked past her and out of the house, according to a court document. Those two witnesses will now only be heard from in the court if Kohberger enters a not guilty plea and the trial goes ahead. In a recent interview with GMA, Goncalves' father said despite the family's heartbreak they would be present in court for the hearing and scrutinizing every shred of evidence. 'I can't wait to see the evidence... and then I'm gonna bring it. And he's gonna realize that this... is the family that's gonna make sure he doesn't get away with it,' Steve Goncalves said. In another interview, he said he wants to make sure his daughter's murderer is held accountable. 'We're gonna be there at every moment, analyzing every piece of data to make sure that it is the right person and we hold them accountable,' Steve Goncalves told NewsNation last week. Goncalves' mother, Kristi, said it was a 'big thing' for the family to go in 'strong' and 'united.' 'I have no idea what to expect, I have no idea what we're going to hear... But I know that I've got my son, and my daughter will be there, and my sister, and my husband,' Kristi added. The family of Kaylee Goncalves leave Latah County Court after Bryan Kohberger made his initial appearance in court last November In a new interview with Good Morning America, Kaylee Goncalves' father, Steve, said that he looks forward to seeing the evidence against the man accused of killing his daughter The crime stunned the small college town of Moscow, home to the University of Idaho, and drew national attention. Kohberger was eventually arrested in Pennsylvania six weeks after the crime while he was visiting his family. He was then flown to Idaho to face charges. He was working on a PhD degree in criminal justice at Washington State University, about 10 miles from the University of Idaho campus. Last week it was revealed that he broke into the apartment of a female colleague and then installed security cameras to spy on her when she asked for help. The alleged incident took place months before the killings. Kohberger is suspected of breaking into the property and moving items around but not stealing anything - resulting in his colleague contacting him instead of the police. The woman, who has not been identified, asked the suspected killer to come over to assist her, at which point he reportedly suggested she install a surveillance system in the property. Authorities have said what may have motivated Kohberger but have said they are confident he was responsible for all four killings. Latah County Magistrate Judge Megan Marshall issued a gag order on January 4 which prohibited investigators, law enforcement and attorneys from speaking to the media or public about the Moscow murders. Kohberger's apartment in Pullman, Washington, was combed by police for evidence in the ongoing investigation It was then amended on January 18 to include the attorneys representing the victims' families. A case was brought on behalf of the Associated Press and the Goncalves family to have the order lifted. That hearing will take place via Zoom after Kohberger's arraignment. Kohberger's legal team filed a motion to compel discovery in the Latah County Court on May 4. It reiterated previous requests made on February 3 and March 24. It seeks all body and dash cam footage from officers involved in his arrest in Pennsylvania; all audio or video evidence from his time in jail, including police interrogations; lab reports from the forensic evidence seized at his parents' home and his Hyundai Elantra; and the training records for officers involved in the case. His latest legal filing comes after it was revealed that police found traces of blood and a secret storage locker at his apartment in Pullman, Washington - a 15-minute drive from where the alleged murders took place. Sadiq Khan admitted some low-traffic neighbourhoods in London 'aren't perfect' and may need removing today amid a backlash against the controversial schemes. The London mayor conceded councils might need to 'tweak' LTNs or scrap them - but he defended efforts to reduce congestion and pollution. The Government pursued a growth of LTNs in the wake of the Covid pandemic in 2020 as it sought to encourage more people to walk or cycle in towns and cities. But they have proved unpopular with drivers and residents, with many instances of road bollards being vandalised, for forcing them away from their usual routes. There are concerns that LTNs have merely moved congestion and pollution to other roads. Ministers have also been accused of 'greenwashing' by campaigners after it was revealed the Department for Transport (DfT) could give no evidence that LTNs reduce the number of miles driven. Sadiq Khan admitted some low-traffic neighbourhoods in London 'aren't perfect' and may need removing amid a backlash against the controversial schemes The Government pursued a growth of LTNs in the wake of the Covid pandemic in 2020 as it sought to encourage more people to walk or cycle in towns and cities But LTNs have proved unpopular with drivers and local residents. There are concerns they have merely moved congestion from some parts of towns and cities to other roads More than a quarter of LTNs in Britain have already been scrapped More than a quarter of LTNs have been scrapped since being installed after the outbreak of the Covid pandemic, an analysis has shown. The i newspaper reported it had asked regional transport authorities and local councils in Britain's main urban areas to provide data on the number of experimental LTNs installed - and scrapped - since March 2020. The responses, received last year, covered 105 local authorities and showed that in these areas 189 LTNs were installed since March 2020 and 52 (28 per cent) have since been removed. Advertisement An official told The Times that no studies on the effect on distance travelled had been requested because 'LTNs don't exist to reduce miles driven'. Clair Battaglino of Social and Environmental Justice, which campaigns against LTNs, said: 'Until we see better evidence, claims that LTNs are good for the planet are just greenwashing.' Mr Khan offered a staunch defence of local councils' action to introduce congestion and pollution-cutting measures as he was quizzed about claims LTNs aren't beneficial for the environment. But the London mayor admitted the establishment of LTNs in London had not been entirely successful. 'This is an issue of the environment and also health and also the economy,' Mr Khan told Sky News. 'Congestion is bad for the economy, carbon emissions are bad for the climate and particulate matter and nitrogen oxide is bad for health. 'By councils - not me, not civil servants in Whitehall, not Rishi Sunak - by councils deciding where the LTNs are, you have successful LTNs. 'Some LTNs aren't perfect, some LTNs need amending, some may need taking out. 'So what I'm saying is, councils should be in charge of what happens in their communities. 'If an LTN isn't perfect, they'll tweak it, they'll amend it, they'll remove it. Because, obviously, they want to make sure an LTN is successful. 'This about devolving powers and resources to local decision makers who will make the right choice in relation to the environment, in relation to health, and in relation to the economy.' Mr Khan pointed to evidence that LTNs in areas such as Lambeth, Waltham Forest and Newham had reduced the number of road traffic collisions. He also said those boroughs had looked into concerns about traffic 'displacement' through the establishment of LTNs. 'The evidence in those boroughs who have successful LTNs - because they have consulted, they've engaged, they've worked with them - is there's fewer people driving but also there is no displacement,' he added. The Times reported it had asked DfT to supply evidence that LTNs reduced distance driven but it could not provide any. An official was quoted as telling the newspaper: 'LTNs aren't about reducing mileage necessarily and it's for councils to choose the measures that they need.' The Government is carrying out an evaluation of active travel schemes funded in 2020/21, including a 'deep dive' into the impact of segregated cycle lanes and LTNs. A DfT spokesperson said: 'The Department has ongoing evaluations into low traffic neighbourhoods, looking at a range of impacts. 'The findings will be published in due course.' Britain's most notorious paedophile Sidney Cooke has failed in his latest attempt to be freed from jail at the age of 96 after the Parole Board decided he still presents 'a very high risk of serious harm to children.' The horrific sex offender and child killer was told today that his appeal to be released on licence has been rejected and he would also not be moved to an open jail. The decision to keep Cooke behind bars means the killer of 14-year-old Jason Swift will spend at least a further two-years in jail - making him one of the UK's oldest prisoners. His latest failed request for release - his 11th such request in total since becoming eligible for parole in 2004 - means he will remain in a Category A prison under strict security measures. In a damning summary of Cooke's continuing danger to society, the Parole Board was told by psychiatrists and others who worked with him in prison that they could not recommend his release. Sidney Cooke, 96, (pictured) will remain in jail after the Parole Board decided he still presents 'a very high risk of serious harm to children' The written summary of the Parole Board's decision, seen by MailOnline, states: 'The panel heard that Mr Cooke is assessed as presenting a very high risk of serious harm to children, a high risk of serious harm to the public and that he is a high risk of committing a further sexual offence. 'Witnesses did not support Mr Cooke's release or for him to progress to an open prison.' The summary continues: 'The panel examined the release plan provided by Mr Cooke's probation officer and weighed its proposals against assessed risks. 'The plan included a requirement to reside in designated accommodation as well as strict limitations on Mr Cooke's contacts, movements and activities. 'The panel concluded this plan was not robust enough to manage Mr Cooke in the community.' The panel concluded: 'After considering the circumstances of his offending, the progress made while in custody and the evidence presented at the hearing, the panel was not satisfied that Mr Cooke was suitable for release. 'Nor did the panel recommend to the Secretary of State that Mr Cooke should be transferred to an open prison. 'The panel considered that Mr Cooke was appropriately located in custody where outstanding levels of risk could be addressed. 'He will be eligible for another parole review in due course.' Sidney Cooke was convicted of manslaughter in 1989 over the death of 14-year-old Jason Swift (pictured) in 1985 The three-person parole panel was told that Cooke had undertaken some accredited programmes to address his sexual offending but he had not completed all the courses. Cooke, from Hackney, east London, will remain in maximum security jail Wakefield Prison, West Yorkshire, despite having completed his minimum term 19 years ago. He was convicted of manslaughter in 1989 over the death of 14-year-old Jason Swift. Leslie Bailey, Robert Oliver and Steven Barrell were also jailed in 1989 for Jason's manslaughter. Cooke was also named in court as the leader of a paedophile ring, which was linked to the death of Mark Tildesley, seven, who went missing in 1984. His remains have never been found. Cooke and his gang are suspected of the abduction and killing of 17 boys in the 70s and 80s. Many of these remain unsolved. Nicknamed 'Hissing Sid', Cooke's gang was known as the 'Dirty Dozen'. Operating from a flat on the Kingsmead estate in Hackney, east London, the gang hired rent boys or snatched children off the streets and subjected them to sexual torture. Cooke travelled the country preying on vulnerable youngsters, setting up his children's Test Your Strength machine in fairgrounds and using this as an opportunity to lure boys before drugging them and subjecting them to brutal assaults Leslie Bailey (pictured) was jailed alongside Sidney Cooke in 1989 before he was murdered in his prison cell in 1993 Cooke was released from jail in April 1999, after serving nine years for the manslaughter of teenager Jason Swift in 1985. After his release he was immediately taken into voluntary custody for his own safety. However detectives, convinced he was responsible for other similar unsolved crimes, kept his file open. Within months Cooke was accused of abusing two teenage brothers he befriended while working on fairgrounds more than 30 years ago. He was also accused of the rape of a young woman. In an unexpected move during his 1999 trial at Manchester Crown Court, Cooke suddenly changed his plea to guilty and admitted ten offences against the youngsters and subsequently received two life sentences. Four charges of rape, a further three of indecent assault and one of buggery were left on the court file. Cooke has been linked to some of the most horrific child sex murders in the last 50-years through his association with Dirty Dozen members Leslie Bailey, Robert Oliver and Steven Barrell. Bailey was convicted in 1992 of the manslaughter of seven-year-old Mark Tildesley who was raped in Cooke's caravan while visiting a fairground near Wokingham, Berkshire, in 1984. Bailey was also convicted of the murder of Barry Lewis, six, who was abducted in June 1991 before being sexually abused by up to eight men. Robert Oliver (pictured) was jailed for the manslaughter of 14-year-old Jason Swift alongside Sidney Cooke, Leslie Bailey, and Steven Barrell Cooke is still in jail. Bailey was murdered in his prison cell in 1993 and Oliver was last reported to be living in a bail hostel in Guildford, Surrey. The whereabouts of Barrell are unknown. In March, Ex-detective David Bright, who got Cooke to confess to the murder of Jason Swift, urged officers to quiz Cooke over unsolved murders before he died. Mr Bright, who does not believe Cooke should be freed from prison, claims Cooke's age could prompt him to 'clear his conscience'. 'There are other children in graves hidden around the country that could have been the result of Cooke and his former cronies,' Mr Bright, a former Essex Police officer told The Mirror. 'At 96 and with all but two gang members dead, he might want to clear his conscience and tell all'. A spokesperson for the Parole Board stated: 'We can confirm that a panel of the Parole Board refused the release of Sidney Cooke following an oral hearing. The panel also refused to recommend a move to open prison. 'Parole Board decisions are solely focused on what risk a prisoner could represent to the public if released and whether that risk is manageable in the community.' A Frontier Airlines passenger allegedly struck a flight attendant with an intercom after being asked to leave the plane Sunday morning. The female passenger 'became belligerent onboard and was asked to deplane,' according to a Frontier statement. On her way out, 'she picked up an intercom phone and struck a flight attendant with it.' The passenger, identified as Shuri Turner by Denver police, was arrested and charged with assault. Turner was cited, released and booked on a flight home, according to ABC 7, a local Denver affiliate. The Tampa-bound from flight from Denver International Airport was nearly four hours delayed due to the incident. Frontier Airlines Flight 708 left for Tampa at around 5:30AM local time, according to FlightAware flight tracking data. The flight attendant was not seriously injured. A Frontier Airlines passenger allegedly struck a flight attendant with the intercom after being asked to leave the plane Sunday morning (file photo of Frontier Airline plane) The passenger, identified as Shuri Turner by Denver police, was arrested and charged with assault It's not clear yet what instigated the incident or why the woman was asked to leave the aircraft initially. DailyMail.com has reached out to Denver International Airport but has not yet heard back. This is the latest passenger to be kicked off a Frontier flight. In May, a disruptive female passenger was kicked off a Frontier flight from New Jersey to Atlanta after fed-up passengers voted to have her booted off. In March, a female passenger was carried off a Frontier flight by cops at Miami airport after a foul-mouthed brawl with another passenger. Violent airline passenger incidents are on the rise. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has received reports of at least 670 unruly airline passengers in 2023 as of May 14. According to the FAA, more than 250 unruly airline passengers have been referred to the FBI in 2023. There were 2,455 reports made in 2022 and 5,973 made in 2021. The FAA has referred more unruly passenger cases to the FBI for criminal prosecution review in the first quarter of 2023. The Association of Flight Attendant-CWA, which represents 50,000 flight attendants across various airlines including Frontier, issued a statement in support of the flight attendant, according to KDVR. 'Violence has no place anywhere and certainly not in a mode of transportation that requires strict procedures to keep everyone safe. Thats why Flight Attendants, Passenger Service Agents, and Pilots are trained to keep problems on the ground,' the statement said. 'When incidents like this happen, it not only risks the safety of the workers involved, it takes away from Flight Attendants and other aviation workers ability to respond to medical, safety, or security emergencies. Bottom line: it puts everyone at risk and theres zero tolerance for that.' A mother pleaded for medical assistance for her daughter three times at a US Border Patrol Station on the day she died, immigration officials have revealed. Eight-year-old Anadith Reyes, from Panama, experienced vomiting, stomach aches and a seizure before she was rushed to hospital in Harlingen, Texas, where she died May 17. An autopsy to determine the cause of her death is still pending. US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) said in a statement Sunday that physicians were aware that she was born with congenital heart disease and also had sickle cell anemia when they started treating her for the flu on May 13. But Anadith's condition deteriorated, and her mother said she was denied repeated requests to have her daughter rushed to a hospital. CBP records show that the family visited the medical unit three times on May 17. The girl's mother, Mabel Alvarez, later carried the girl over to medics when she started having a seizure. Staff started giving CPR before she was taken to hospital where she died less than an hour later. Anadith Reyes is the first child to die in U.S. custody following the removal of Title 42. The eight-year-old Panamanian died May 17 at a Harlingen, Texas, hospital after she was rushed by ambulance after falling ill at a U.S. Border Patrol station. U.S. Customs and Border Protection said Sunday that her mother sought medical attention three times on the day Reyes died Mabel Alvarez and her husband Rossel Reyes, both of Honduras, were stopped with their three children May 9 after unlawfully crossing the United States-Mexico border In the CBP's statement Acting Commissioner Troy Miller indicated that more had to be done to safeguard the lives of any migrant who is medically fragile. 'The health and safety of individuals in our custody, our workforce, and communities we serve is paramount,' Miller said. 'To that end, we must ensure that medically fragile individuals receive the best possible care and spend the minimum amount of time possible in CBP custody.' Miller added that he has directed the agency's medical contractors to immediately 'review and, where needed, strengthen practices to ensure immediate and appropriate care is being provided to all individuals, especially those who are medically at-risk.' In addition, he said that Dr. Pritesh Ghandi, the Department of Homeland Security's Chief Medical Officer, will be reviewing 'medical care practices at CBP facilities and ensure the deployment of additional medical personnel as needed.' Reyes' mother, Mabel Alvarez, told The Associated Press on Friday that agents at the facility refused to provide care for her child before it was too late. 'She cried and begged for her life and they ignored her,' she said. 'They didn't do anything for her.' Reyes, her two brothers, aged 12 and 14, and their parents crossed the United States-Mexico border and were intercepted by agents May 9 near Brownsville, Texas, on May 9 at 9:34 pm, CBP said. The family was taken to a staging area and then transferred to a facility in Donna, Texas, the morning of May 10. Anadith Reyes is the third migrant child to die in U.S. custody of the administration President Joe Biden and the first since Title 42 was removed. Six migrant children died in U.S. custody during former President Donald Trump's four-year term U.S. Customs and Border Protection's Acting Commissioner said in a statement Sunday that additional steps have to be taken ensure that any migrant who in in U.S. custody and medically fragile receives proper care after an eight-year-old girl from Panama died at Harlingen, Texas, hospital after falling ill at a U.S. Border Patrol station Reyes initially reported stomach pain, nasal congestion and cough May 14. Medical personnel at the facility registered a temperature of 101.8 degrees Fahrenheit; diagnosed her with influenza; and gave her acetaminophen, ibuprofen, medicine for nausea and Tamiflu, a flu treatment. The family was then transferred to the Harlingen facility, where the young girl continued to receive Tamiflu as well as ibuprofen the next two days. While at the border station, Reyes' medical condition deteriorated, and her mother said she was denied repeated requests to have her daughter rushed to a hospital. CBP records shows that they visited the Harlingen border station's medical unit three times on May 17. Reyes told physicians that she had vomited. She was taken to the unit again and said she had pain in the stomach. At 1:55 pm, CBP said that Alvarez arrived 'carrying the girl who appeared to be having a seizure, after which records indicate the child became unresponsive.' The medical staff tried to revive Reyes by performing CPR and rushed her to a local hospital, where she was pronounced dead at 2:50 pm. Reyes was the second migrant child to die in two weeks in U.S. custody and the first since the removal of Title 42, the pandemic-era immigration policy that was enacted by former President Donald Trump. Angel Maradiaga died at a Florida migrant shelter on May 10 after he suffered what authorities say was an epileptic seizure. The 17-year-old from Honduras became the second migrant minor to die in U.S. custody under the administration of President Joe Biden after six immigrant children died during former President Donald Trump's tenure Angel Maradiaga, of Honduras, died at a Florida migrant shelter on May 10 after he suffered what authorities say was an epileptic seizure. Six migrant children died in U.S. custody under his administration. In comparison, three have died since President Joe Biden took office. Reyes' death raised questions in how the U.S. Border Patrol handled the situation. A 2015 court order instructed U.S. Border Patrol to hold migrant families for no more than 20 days. But President Biden ordered the agency to release families with the 72 hours of custody. His administration recently adopted curfews with electronic monitoring for families released in Baltimore, Chicago, Washington, D.C. and Newark, New Jersey until they cleared their initial asylum screenings. Court records show that the U.S. Border Patrol had 28,717 migrants in custody on May 10, one day before Title 42 came to an end. It was double from two weeks earlier. As of Sunday, it had decreased by 23 percent to 22,529. Bryan Kohberger, 28, appeared in court in Moscow, Idaho, Monday where he 'stood silent' while entering a plea The man suspected of savagely knifing four college students to death last November - leaving a scene police described as 'the worst we've ever seen' - has appeared in court in Moscow, Idaho, where he refused to enter a plea to four counts of murder in the first degree. Criminology student Bryan Kohberger, 28, had been expected to plead not guilty but instead, chose to use Idaho's 'standing silent' plea which means he has not pleaded either way but can still be tried. The trial date has been set for October 2. Kohberger had been due to face a preliminary hearing but in a surprise twist announced last week, the Washington State University PHD candidate was indicted by an Idaho Grand Jury who heard the evidence in secret and decided to send the case to a full trial. Best friends Madison Mogen and Kaylee Goncalves, both 21, and young couple Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin, both 20, died in the horror attack, which was so brutal, blood could still be seen dripping down the walls of their rental home days after the killing. Bryan Kohberger, 28, appeared in court in Moscow, Idaho, Monday where he 'stood silent' while entering a plea. The judge entered a not guilty plea on his behalf over the murders of four University of Idaho students Maddie Mogen (top) Kaylee Goncalves (left) Xana Kernodle (right) and Ethan Chapin (center) - all students at the University of Idaho - were knifed to death on November 13 in the quiet college town of Moscow Police eventually apprehended Kohberger during a raid on his parents' Poconos Mountains, Pennsylvania home on December 30 and he was flown back to Idaho in a small Pilatus PC-12 turboprop plane on January 4. Since being returned to the Gem State, the alleged killer has been locked up at the Latah County Jail, with prison sources telling DailyMail.com he spends his time obsessing over TV coverage of the case and has turned to God meeting with a local pastor every Sunday. Monday's appearance, which saw the 28-year-old arrive in court wearing an orange prison jumpsuit and looking pale, is his first since being formally charged with the killings in early January. Kohberger sat silently as Judge John Judge read his rights and reiterated that he faces the death penalty if found guilty of any of the murder charges before responding 'yes' when asked if he understood repeatedly. Then, as the four murder charges and one of burglary were read out by Judge Judge, he sat flicking through his indictment papers and shifting in his seat before his lawyer Anne Taylor told the judge her client would be 'standing silent' when asked to respond. The non-plea now means the case will proceed to trial, with Taylor asking the judge to schedule a six week trial that is now set to commence on October 2. Looking on were Madison's dad Ben Mogen and Kaylee's parents Steve and Kristi, both dressed in black, who looked sad and serious as their daughters' names were heard in the packed courtroom. The November 13 killings shocked the tiny college town of Moscow which had not seen a single murder for seven years when Madison, Kaylee, Ethan and Xana were found dead in their beds. Police initially appeared to be stumped by the murders and issued a series of contradictory statements over whether the students had been targeted and whether the public was at risk. Kohberger sat silently as Judge John Judge read his rights and reiterated that he faces the death penalty if found guilty of any of the murder charges before responding 'yes' when asked if he understood repeatedly Monday's appearance, which saw the 28-year-old arrive in court wearing an orange prison jumpsuit and looking pale, is his first since being formally charged with the killings in early January The Moscow, Idaho, home where the murders took place is now boarded up Best friends Kaylee and Madison were discovered dead in bed next to each other Ethan and Xana were found on the floor below, with Xana discovered slumped over on the floor of her bedroom in the off-campus home Shortly before Thanksgiving, they released a photo of a white Hyundai Elantra and a plea for further information about the vehicle's movements and owner. The car turned out to belong to Kohberger who, in an extraordinary twist, was pulled over twice while driving the vehicle back to Pennsylvania in early December. Since his arrest, it has emerged that loner Kohberger had battled heroin addiction in his teens and early twenties, and was banned from a bar near his parents' home due to his creepy behavior towards women. Police sources have since said that following his move to Pullman, Washington, to pursue a PHD in criminology, he applied to work for the University of Washington police department but was turned down. Fellow students said he took an unusual amount of interest in the Moscow murder case and described his 'sexist' attitude towards women in his classes. As a result of his 'rude behavior' towards women and his penchant for grading them differently, he was fired by his professor at the WSU criminology department John Snyder on December 19 just days before his arrest for murder. Kohberger was indicted by an Idaho Grand Jury who heard the evidence in secret and decided to send the case to a full trial. He is charged with four counts of first-degree murder and one count of burglary Over the weekend, a Dateline report provided further evidence of his bizarre behavior with a female friend at WSU claiming he broke into her home a month before the murders and moved her possessions about to make her feel 'uneasy'. She also said she had asked him to set up security cameras to help her catch the person who had moved her belongings only to belatedly realize he was the culprit and, chillingly, had enjoyed access to the footage. Kohberger is believed to have meticulously planned the murders of Madison, Kaylee, Ethan and Xana, with a probable cause affidavit noting that he had repeatedly visited the area around their home prior to the killings. The document also said his DNA was found on a KA-BAR knife sheath found next to the bodies of Kaylee and Madison, and that he was seen in the home by roommate Dylan Mortensen, 19. Kaylee and Madison were discovered dead in bed next to each other, while Ethan and Xana were found on the floor below, with Xana discovered slumped over on the floor of her bedroom. Kaylee's father Steve Goncalves is seen arriving to court on Monday at the Latah County courthouse Kaylee's mother Kristi is seen on Monday outside of the courthouse. She looked sad and serious as her daughter's name was heard in the packed courtroom Kohberger was pulled over twice while driving his car back to Pennsylvania in early December According to the document, survivors Mortensen and Bethany Funke heard something of what happened, with Mortensen telling cops she heard Goncalves say 'there's someone here' at approximately 4am. Ten minutes later, she heard a thud and crying from Xana's room and a male voice saying 'it's ok, I'm going to help you'. At 4.17am, a dog was captured barking loudly on a neighbor's security camera. Around the same time, Mortensen said she opened her bedroom door again and saw a tall male with bushy eyebrows leaving through the sliding glass doors at the back of the home. She described how she had been 'frozen in shock' as the black-clad male walked towards her and said she locked herself in her room after he left. A shoe print was later found outside her door. The affidavit also reveals that Kohberger's white Hyundai Elantra was captured on camera near the scene before being seen driving rapidly away from the home towards Pullman at approximately 4.20am. Police rapidly connected the vehicle to Kohberger and noted the similarity between his appearance and Mortensen's description of the intruder at the rental home. TikTok confirmed that its app source code is written by Chinese engineers, which a top House Republican says is alarming because it puts Americans' data directly in 'danger' due to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) getting 'back door' access to private information. In an initial letter to CEO Shou Zi Chew on April 10, House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Mark Green, R-Tenn., outlined concerns regarding connections between ByteDance - TikTok's parent company - and the Chinese government. He also demanded answers on whether anyone in China has access to developing the app's source code and if the company could guarantee that there are no 'back door' entry points for bad actors to get data. The popular social media company sent a response letter obtained by DailyMail.com to Green on May 8, responding to questions from the Republican. TikTok Vice President of Public Policy Michael Beckerman confirmed that TikTok has 'software engineers throughout the world,' including in the 'United States and China.' TikTok Vice President of Public Policy Michael Beckerman replied to the concerns by Green in a letter on May 8 obtained by DailyMail.com He noted that using a 'global engineering workforce to write software code is not unusual,' continuing to say it is the 'norm' for large technology companies. 'TikTok maintains a software development life cycle that involves testing of security controls at multiple points in the development process,' the letter states. Beckerman outlined other aspects of Project Texas - TikTok's 'framework' to address national security concerns by U.S. lawmakers. He assured Green that under Project Texas, all software and source code is also inspected by Oracle and a separate third-party. 'This system provides an unprecedented and comprehensive level of assurance against 'back doors' to our knowledge, more comprehensive than what any other peer company has committed to doing despite also using global engineering workforces,' the TikTok leader wrote. However, the answers provided by TikTok's policy official was not enough to soothe concerns by the top Republican on the Homeland Security committee. Green told DailyMail.com in an exclusive statement that based on the company's response, the 'threat of TikTok' has never been more clear. Lawmakers are continuing to scrutinize the Chinese-owned app TikTok, including it's Chinese ownership It is unclear if Chairman Mark Green will accept Beckerman's offer to provide a Project Texas briefing to address concern 'In a letter I received from TikTok, I was told that it is possible CCP-connected engineers could have a role in writing the app's source code. This puts the data of Americans in danger,' Green said. 'The amount of ways the CCP can use technology to oppress its own people and harm Americans is endless. Yet, millions of Americans are giving this regime a window into their lives through apps like TikTok,' the chairman continued. It is unclear if Green will accept Beckerman's offer to provide a Project Texas briefing to address concerns. 'We would be happy to provide a Project Texas briefing for you and your staff to share our progress on implementing protocols through Project Texas to address these concerns,' the TikTok public policy head had offered in the letter. Green previously wrote that if he did not receive sufficient information from TikTok CEO Chew, he would be compelled to use a subpoena for his testimony. Chew appeared before Congress in March, as lawmakers continue to scrutinize the Chinese-owned app. Last week, Montana became the first state in the nation to fully ban the app. A TikTok spokesperson said the company plans to challenge the new law in court. 'We want to reassure Montanans that they can continue using TikTok to express themselves, earn a living, and find community as we continue working to defend the rights of our users inside and outside of Montana,' said the spokesperson in a statement. A handful of other states have restricted the app's use on government-owned devices and networks. Australian government employees, including politicians, could soon be banned from Tinder, following a TikTok ban on government-issued devices. The federal cabinet is being advised by the Home Affairs Department on the risks of dating apps, Instagram, Netflix and Twitter as it beefs up online security. Department secretary Mike Pezzullo confirmed the report from an internal review of social media risks had been provided to Home Affairs Minister Clare O'Neil in March as he was grilled at a Senate estimates hearing on Monday. While Mr Pezzullo refused to disclose the nature of the advice, he hinted cabinet was considering restricting the use of apps other than TikTok when he said Ms O'Neil had decided to present the review to cabinet. 'The minister has made a decision to bring this forward to her colleagues. It's currently the subject of consideration across government,' he said. Australian government workers could soon be banned from Tinder, following a TikTok ban on government-issued devices. A woman using Tinder is pictured 'She ... has sought approval for the matter to be considered through cabinet processes.' Mr Pezzullo made the remarks after he was asked if the department had carried out 'due diligence' on the use of apps other than TikTok on public servants' phones and laptops after France brought in a wide-ranging ban. In March, the French government announced a ban not only on TikTok, but on all social media platforms, gaming and video-streamed apps such as Twitter, Instagram, Netflix and Candy Crush because of cybersecurity and privacy concerns. Mr Pezzullo was asked if he would provide a copy of Home Affairs' social media risk review to the Senate committee running the estimates hearing, replying that he'd seek guidance from Ms O'Neil regarding its release. He confirmed the review formed part of the broader investigation Ms O'Neil commissioned earlier this year into the risks posed by the use of social media platforms on government-issued devices. That probe prompted the Albanese government to ban TikTok on phones and computers operated by politicians and public servants in April. The Albanese government banned TikTok (pictured) on phones and computers operated by politicians and public servants in April This was over security concerns that the Chinese social media app posed an espionage risk and followed similar bans in other western countries. The Government has not yet announced a ban on any other platforms. On Monday, Mr Pezzullo said he'd 'frankly' be surprised if any of the department's officials had time to be watching Netflix on their government devices. When he was asked if Home Affairs staff could download dating apps on their work phones, he said he believed the department would prohibit such platforms through its 'white-listing and black-listing processes'. 'I'm going to be fairly confident in saying that. And if there are any dating apps, they will be deleted this afternoon, I can assure you,' he said. But when pressed on the matter, Mr Pezzullo couldn't confirm if dating apps were already banned. Security concerns over Chinese social media app TikTok led to it being banned on Australian government devices. A similar on Tinder (pictured) could follow He deferred to his colleague Mike Milford, the department's group manager of technology and major capability. Mr Milford said Home Affairs banned dating apps, as well as gambling apps and pornographic websites individually with a 'whack a mole' black-listing approach. Mr Pezzullo said some apps such as Google Maps were useful to have on government devises, noting public servants could use extra safeguards such as location service restrictions. 'All apps carry data risks. The question is, does the benefit outweigh the risks? And, if the benefit is still material enough, can the risks be managed in such a way that the application can be safely used?' he said. A thrifty New Yorker has divided the internet after scooping up an $8,000 designer couch which had been discarded on the street. Amanda Joy filmed a video of herself picking up and cleaning the luxury 'Bubble' couch from French brand Roche Bobois and posted it to TikTok. But while some viewers bemoaned that they never get that 'lucky,' others speculated the designer item was likely filled with 'bed bugs.' Joy explained: 'It was pouring rain and I was walking home and I saw this couch in the middle of the street. 'I called my dad begging him to come pick it up because I couldn't just leave that couch there. Amanda Joy filmed a video of herself picking up and cleaning the luxury 'Bubble' couch from French brand Roche Bobois and posted it to TikTok 'He told me no, it was not possible. But then he surprised me and showed me he did pick up the couch and he had it in his work office.' Joy then records herself deep cleaning and vacuuming the sofa before moving it into her apartment with the help of her boyfriend and father. The practice of picking up discarded goods from the street and renovating them is known as 'stooping' and is popular in New York, with many blogs and Instagram accounts devoted to it. The video has since been watched more than 43 million times - but not all viewers were convinced by her find. One wrote: 'Do people not think things are too good to be true? Nobody throws a couch out worth 8 bags for no reason.' Another wrote: 'It looks so good but I'm so scared about it being bed bug central.' The couch is fully handmade and part of a collection by designer Sacha Lakic for Roche Bobois. The designer calls the 'bubble' set of furniture an 'iconic piece in the Roche Bobois collection.' It comes in a range of colors including ivory, taupe and 'sapin green' - all listed for $8,490 down from its original price of $10,110 on the Roche Bobois website. In a follow-up video, Joy said 'rich people throw out their furniture all the time' A host of blogs and Instagram accounts are devoted to the practice of 'stooping' - which entails picking up discarded furniture and renovating it The page 'stooping NYC' has amassed more than 400,00 0 followers and shares the best bits and pieces discarded on the street The blue version of the 3-4 seat couch - picked up by Joy - is not currently available on the designer's website. Responding to some of the criticism, Joy insisted she had given the furniture a thorough clean and had found it in front of a 'very rich building.' She explained: 'Rich people throw out all their furniture all the time because they get new furniture every other year. 'So I saw the opportunity and I took it.' And many of her followers were impressed with the find, as one asked 'Why am I never this lucky?' Another said: 'Living in New York is like living in a treasure box.' Many New Yorkers practice 'stooping' regularly and some do it specifically with the intention of 'flipping' it for a profit. An Instagram account called 'Stooping NYC' has amassed more than 400,000 followers by regularly posting photos of furniture and goods left on the streets of the Big Apple. Last year, a 68-year-old 'stooper' called Denise Gordon revealed she had made $2,000 by finding and flipping a leather Eames lounge. 'People don't know what they're throwing away,' Gordon, who lives in Gramercy Park, told The New York Times at the time. 'In my neighborhood, they don't know and they don't care.' The driver of the tram which derailed and killed seven passengers in Croydon asked survivors 'how the f**k did that happen? Is anyone seriously injured?' a court has heard. Alfred Dorris, 49, may have fallen asleep just before he took a bend near Sandilands in Croydon at 40mph, where the speed limit was 12mph. A passenger likened the incident to being 'inside a washing machine,' as windows and doors were ripped off after the tram fell on its side. Those who died were launched out of the windows before being trapped between the overturned tram and the track. The crash resulted in the deaths of Dane Chinnery, 19, Philip Logan, 52, Philip Seary, 57, Dorota Rynkiewicz, 35, and Robert Huxley, 63, all from New Addington, and Mark Smith, 35, and Donald Collett, 62, who were both from Croydon. Nineteen passengers were seriously injured in the crash, the Old Bailey has heard. The bend near Sandilands in Croydon where the speed limit was 12mph The driver, of Ravenscroft Road, Beckenham, south London, denies failing in his duty to take reasonable care of the health and safety of the 69 passengers on the tram Dane Chinnery, 19 Mark Smith, 35 Donald Collett, 62 Dorota Rynkiewic, 35 Phil Seary, 57 Philip Logan, 52 Robert Huxley, 63 Survivor Khublal Lochlan had been aboard the tram on his usual morning commute to Putney for a shift as a bus driver. He had got on at the King Henry's Drive stop, got a seat directly behind the driver and was looking out of the window during the journey. In a statement read to the court, he said he believed the tram was going at a maximum speed when it entered a tunnel between Lloyd Park and Sandilands and he did not recall any braking. He felt 'severe turbulence' as the tram came off the track and the carriage descended into 'pitch black', the court heard. He said: 'I was immediately aware that we had been in a bad accident.' He recalled the tram driver saying: 'How the f**k did that happen? Is anybody seriously injured?' The tram was allegedly going 40mph round the bend near Sandilands, Croydon Mr Lochlan described exiting the wreckage by climbing out of a window and on to the track. Another survivor, Fausta Bernardo, told jurors she had waited quite a long time at New Addington for the 2551 tram service. The tram was already going 'fast' before it reached Lloyd Park, the stop before Sandilands, the support worker said. When it derailed, the electricity went down and she found herself under a chair without her glasses, Ms Bernardo said. She screamed at the driver to 'wake up' as she saw his eyes were closed, the court heard. She told jurors: 'I just asked him what happened. He said he did not know.' Dorris was allegedly in bed for just four hours the night before, with experts due to tell the court he may have had a 'micro-sleep' while in control. The driver, of Ravenscroft Road, Beckenham, south London, denies failing in his duty to take reasonable care of the health and safety of the 69 passengers on the tram. The prosecution is brought by the Office for Rail and Road (ORR). Transport for London and Tram Operations Limited have both admitted failing in their health and safety duties by not producing a risk assessment for a derailment on the sharp bend and will be sentenced after the trial. The trial continues. A suspected rapist wanted in the United States who fled to the UK after faking his own death has been given a final chance to lodge medical reports with a Scottish court before a full extradition hearing takes place next month. Nicholas Rossi, 35, appeared at Edinburgh Sheriff Court via video link today in the long-running extradition battle, which was launched after US authorities in Utah accused him of sex offences. Rossi has claimed this is a case of false identity and said he is an Irish orphan named Arthur Knight. But a sheriff in November ruled that he is Nicholas Rossi. His solicitor, Stuart Murray, told the court there had been some 'difficulty' in obtaining medical reports. Nicholas Rossi (pictured in the Dateline interview), 35, is wanted for sex offences in the US. He allegedly faked his own death and fled to the UK Rossi (pictured outside Sheriff Court in Edinburgh last month) was was arrested in December 2021. It was at this time he contracted Covid pneumonitis, which he claimed meant he needed an oxygen tank and could not walk He said: 'There has been difficulty in obtaining reports. I am seeking further time to have these reports lodged to the court.' He told Sheriff Norman McFadyen they 'could not find a psychiatrist willing to carry out reports in Scotland' and blamed the 'media circus' surrounding the case as the reason no doctors were willing to carry out the examination. Mr Murray claimed the Scottish Prison Service was unwilling to allow an in-person assessment to take place at HMP Edinburgh where Rossi is being held, but this was eventually held over a video link. Rossi submitted a written application to address the court regarding his difficulties in prison, but both Mr Murray and the advocate depute Paul Harvey, for the Crown, had not seen this prior to the hearing, the court heard. In responding to the application to delay the procedural hearing by one more week, Mr Harvey told the court the deadline for March had 'come and went'. Mr Harvey said: 'Reports in this case were first requested in early March 2023.' He said that the full extradition hearing must go ahead in June and that the final adjourned preliminary hearing 'must be the last deadline'. Mr Harvey confirmed no proceedings will be brought against Rossi by the Crown after he was allegedly involved in an altercation with custody staff at a previous hearing last month. Rossi (pictured in July last year) has claimed this is a case of false identity and said he is an Irish orphan named Arthur Knight Rossi came to the attention of the authorities when he was at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow in December 2021 with Covid-19. That is the condition he claims now necessitates his use of an oxygen tank, he claimed during a Dateline interview. It has been alleged Rossi faked his own death in 2020 in the US and fled to the UK to evade prosecution before he was arrested in December 2021. He was identified by tattoos matching police records for Rossi. While in Scotland, under the alias Knight and posing as a tutor, Rossi developed Covid pneumonitis and became 'the sickest patient on the ward', according to medical staff who were caring for him at the time. It was at this point Police Scotland officers were issued with an Interpol red notice, with pictures of the wanted man, including images of his tattoos and fingerprints. Sheriff McFadyen set a final deadline for the reports to be lodged and a final preliminary hearing for Wednesday May 31, calling the situation 'far from ideal'. A full extradition hearing will begin on June 26. A transgender girl has missed out on her high school graduation ceremony and her parents are suing after Mississippi school officials told her to 'dress like a boy'. The family of L.B. Brown sued the school district Thursday, after Harrison Central principal Kelly Fuller and school district superintendent Mitchell King told her she must follow the boys' dress code on her graduation day. Graduating male students at the school are expected to wear a white shirt, tie and black slacks, while females are expected to wear white dresses. A Mississippi federal judge denied the motion Friday, requesting she be allowed to wear a dress and heels under her robe, and as a result a humiliated L.B pulled out of the ceremony altogether. L.B. - who had a white graduation outfit picked out before she was told she couldn't wear it - wasn't the only student to miss out on the milestone moment. Another female student, Jai Dallas, was pulled from the lineup moments before receiving her diploma after the school said she could not wear black pants on stage. L.B. Brown (right) and her mom Samantha (left) spoke out after L.B. who is a transgender girl was told she could not wear a white dress to her graduation ceremony at Harrison Central High School in Mississippi L.B. in the white dress she had picked out for her graduation - but was told she was not allowed to wear School district superintendent King told L.B.'s mother, Samantha Brown, that the transgender student could not participate in the graduation ceremony unless she wore 'pants, socks, and shoes, like a boy.' L.B. said she was called to the Harrison Central High School principal's office two weeks ago for an 'unexpected warning' about what she could and could not wear to graduation. She says she's been left humiliated by the ruling. 'Me going to graduation in what they asked me to wear would be me telling them that it's OK, and it's not,' she said. 'It would just feel like I was shadowed and tainted by bigotry, hate. 'My graduation, it's the start of a new life, a better life.' Taking part in a graduation ceremony is voluntary and not a constitutionally protected right for any student, Wynn Clark, local public school districts attorney said, according to the Guardian. Before the school's warning, L.B. and her mother had assumed the school would respect her decision to wear similar attire to graduation because the school had accepted L.B's decision to dress in female attire in the past. L.B. has reportedly worn dresses all throughout her high school experience. She has been dressing in 'girl clothing' to class and extracurricular events according to the lawsuit and should not face discriminatory treatment during graduation. 'When we looked at that policy, under our impression, my daughter identifies as female every day of her life. She dresses in feminine clothing every day of her life,' Brown said, according to WDTV. 'Our client is being shamed and humiliated for explicitly discriminatory reasons, and her family is being denied a once-in-a-lifetime milestone in their daughter's life,' Linda Morris, staff attorney at the American Civil Liberties Union's Women's Rights Project said. 'No one should be forced to miss their graduation because of their gender.' The American Civil Liberties Union of Mississippi are representing the 17-year-old student and her parents, Samantha Brown and Henry Brown. Taking part in a graduation ceremony is voluntary and not a constitutionally protected right for any student, according to court papers. The ACLU says the verdict of the federal judge not to reverse the decision in Gulfport, Mississippi, is 'as disappointing as it is absurd.' The lawsuit cites a violation of their child's civil rights, accusing the school district of discrimination on the basis of sex and gender and violating the teen's First Amendment rights. Fellow student Jai Dallas also missed the milestone ceremony after wearing black pants rather than a white dress - and claims she was told she couldn't take part just minutes before she was due on stage. Jai Dallas (second from left) also missed out on her graduation after she was told she couldn't wear black pants on stage - minutes before she was due to collect her high school diploma. Her mom Caren Dallas (second from right) and sister Raniah Braclet (far right) defended Jai Her mother Caren Dallas said she was told Jai can 'take her pants off and walk the stage, but she needed white shoes. So, she could walk in her underwear, but she can't walk in pants.' Her grandmother, Michelle Faison, traveled 800 miles to see her graduate. 'I don't understand how this, a moment this important, can be taken away from a child that's worked 12 years to get here,' she said. Her sister, Raniah Braclet, graduated from Harrison Central three years ago and said she no longer feels proud to come from Harrison Central. 'That was a very awful experience to see my sister not be able to graduate from where I graduated from,' she said. Caren Dallas plans to continue searching for answers first thing Monday, she said. The former CEO of PrettyLittleThing has again broken the record for Dubai's largest land sale, selling a part of the Jumeirah Bay Island for 128m dirhams (28.07m). Umar Kamani, 35, has smashed records for the second time in a month, having sold off a 30,000ft undeveloped 'bunch of sand' on the island for over 27m in April. The fashion entrepreneur bought the parcel of land just two years ago for a modest $20mn (16.1m), making a total profit of around 12m with the sale on May 11. The combined total from the land sales comes to almost $70m (56.34mn). Located off the coast of Dubai, Jumeirah Bay Island is known for its exclusive properties and panoramic views of the city's skyline. The new record underscores the heated demand for high-end properties in the region. Kamani founded PrettyLittleThing in 2012 before selling off his remaining 34 per cent stake in 2020 for 330m. In April 2023 he announced he would step down as CEO. Kamani, 35, purchased the plot of land on Jumeirah Bay Island in 2017 for $8million (6.42million) in 2017 and has sold it to an undisclosed buyer for $34million (27.28million) The vacant island off the coast of Dubai, is part of the 'World Islands' project Models Alton Mason (L) and Naomi Campbell (CL) are pictured with Umar Kamani (CR) and Nada Adelle (R), his partner, on holiday The vacant island off the coast of Dubai is part of a man-made archipelago consisting of approximately 300 islands in the shape of a world map. The latest deal, agreed independently on 11 May, reflects a new landscape, attractive to global investors and buyers. Around a quarter of a million Brits are now thought to call Dubai their home. Some 90% of the city state's population is already made up of expats. The region has shot up rapidly over the last 30 years, with investment flooding in from all over the world to snap up attractive parts of the city for development. Kamani's previous record-beating deal in April set a new record for the most expensive vacant land transaction ever recorded on the island, according to Knight Frank, the brokerage firm responsible for the deal. 'It's 125 million for sand,' says Andrew Cummings, head of prime residential at Knight Frank in Dubai. 'Everything that's been making the press has predominantly been spectacular villas, it's been incredible penthouses and all this stuff. But this is just a massive record breaker for a land plot.' Only some homes on the island have been completed. Some are under construction, and others are yet to be built. Both pieces of land were bought two years ago. The island is also home to the Bulgari Resort, one of the most expensive hotels in the city, as well as the future Bulgari Lighthouse tower, where apartment sale prices have been reaching highs before its even built. The top penthousea nine-bedroom apartment with five parking spacessold for 410 million dirhams in February. According to Bloomberg, real estate brokers predict records will continue to be broken. The seller in the Jumeirah Bay Island transaction, for example, also owns an identical plot next to the first. He plans to offer it for 135 million dirhams. It comes after the news on April 16 that Kamani would be stepping down as CEO of the clothes platform after 10 years. The businessman, 35, who setup the fashion company in 2012 alongside brother Adam, has overseen PLT's explosive growth from a simple website selling accessories to a global brand now worth an estimated 3.8billion. Since its creation PrettyLittleThing has become known for their celebrity collaborators including Kylie Jenner, Khloe Kardashian, Little Mix, Gemma Owen, and Molly-Mae Hague, who's also the online giant's creative director. PrettyLittleThing's playboy chief executive Umar Kamani The fashion retail brand is owned by Boohoo, which was co-founded by his billionaire father Mahmud Kamani. He is pictured with his girlfriend Nada Adelle in Monte-Carlo, Monaco Often photographed rubbing shoulders with A-listers such as Naomi Campbell, Paris Hilton, and Liam Payne, Umar is now a celebrity in his own right, and over the years has handpicked the talent he's aspired to see wear his brand of fashionable clothing. But after a decade in the hot seat, Umar decided to step down from his position as CEO after previously selling his remaining 34 per cent stake in PrettyLittleThing to Boohoo, which is run by his father. A source close to the brand told MailOnline on April 16: 'Umar has been the front and centre of PrettyLittleThing since its conception but now he's ready for a new challenge. 'He's leaving a very happy man after achieving extraordinary success and travelling the world, setting up PLT showrooms internationally. 'Umar is keeping his cards close to his chest and is yet to reveal the details of his new business venture, but it won't be long until he sets his sights on his next project.' Confirming his departure, Umar said: 'After 12 years as CEO and founder of PrettyLittleThing I have made the difficult decision to step down from my position as CEO. 'Twelve amazing years that changed my life and I will be forever grateful for all those memories. I'm at the stage in my life where I need to set myself new challenges and goals and build new brands that hopefully you all love and support as much as you did with this one.' He added: 'When I first had the idea of setting up this brand, I could never have imagined what we would go on to achieve. Since our humble beginnings in 2012, PLT has gone on to eventually become one of the biggest fashion brands in the world. 'If you know me, you'll know Disneyland and all the magic surrounding it has always been one of my biggest inspirations. This is what I wanted to create with PrettyLittleThing, a fairytale-like world where unicorns exist, and anything is possible. 'A place where you come to find confidence and inspiration when it comes to what you wear and how you feel. Whatever success we have achieved is down to you, our loyal customers who have shopped with us, supported us and watched us grow into something beyond what I could have ever dreamed of.' Umar's (left) father Mahmud Kamani (right) co-founded Boohoo in 2006 alongside Carol Kane Umar Kamani and Nada Adelle attend as Naomi Campbell, partnered with Qatar Creates, host a couture fashion and art charity show as part of the EMERGE global initiative and under the patronage of Her Excellency Sheikha Al Mayassa bint Hamad Al Thani at QF Ceremonial Court on October 28, 2022 at Doha, Qatar Manchester-born Umar, who became engaged to model Nada Adelle in 2019, is a member of the founding family of the Boohoo group, which now owns a portfolio of brands including Nasty Gal, Coast, Wallis, Dorothy Perkins, and Debenhams. Umar's father Mahmud Kamani co-founded Boohoo in 2006 alongside Carol Kane and the website quickly became a success because unlike its competitor ASOS, the brand only sells its own clothing, increasing profit margins. Mahmud's three sons Umar, Adam, and Samir naturally became involved in his fashion empire, which dates back to their grandfather, whose wholesale textile business that sourced garments from India became a major supplying for high street stores such as New Look and Primark. Adam remained a director at PLT until 2017 until he left the business to pursue a property startup, with Umar taking over the reins of the clothing company. Advertisement It's official. Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez are engaged. Launching their lives together, the Amazon boss has popped the question to his Emmy Award winning journalist girlfriend on board his $500million superyacht, sources tell DailyMail.com. The couple was seen kissing and canoodling on board 'Koru' across the weekend, while Sanchez, 53, struggled to conceal the rock the size of a Balearic Island that glinted on her ring finger - sparkling proof that she said, 'Yes.' The newly minted fiancees were pictured off the coast of Cannes, where they are enjoying a Mediterranean odyssey and the inaugural voyage of Bezos's half a billion-dollar superyacht. Bezos and Sanchez couple were seen kissing and canoodling on board 'Koru' across the weekend, while Sanchez, 53, struggled to conceal the rock the size of a Balearic Island that glinted on her ring finger - sparkling proof that she said, 'Yes.' The pair looked elated and relaxed together as the Emmy-award-winning journalist snaps a few quick pictures on her phone. Never knowingly understated, the man who built his own space rocket, gave a less than subtle clue that this voyage would be all about Sanchez, as Bezos, 59, commissioned a curvaceous figurehead for the boat's prow The newly minted fiancees were pictured off the coast of Cannes, where they are enjoying a Mediterranean odyssey and the inaugural voyage of Bezos's half a billion-dollar superyacht At 417 ft long and 230ft tall, Koru is one of the world's largest sailing yachts complete with 250 ft support vessel that boasts its own helipad. The pair flew into Europe by private jet and were first seen on the deck of the superyacht last weekend. Never knowingly understated, the man who built his own space rocket, gave a less than subtle clue that this voyage would be all about Sanchez, as Bezos, 59, commissioned a curvaceous figurehead for the boat's prow. It is unclear when the gold burnished, polished wood sculpture became part of the vessel's design, but the yacht was commissioned in 2018, a year before Bezos and Sanchez's affair was exposed by the National Enquirer in a flurry of scandal that ended both their marriages. The story was published on January 9, 2019. Earlier that same day Bezos and his then wife, Mackenzie Tuttle, 53, published an announcement on Twitter that they were separating and that the split after 25 years of marriage was 'amicable.' Around that same time, Sanchez told her then husband, Patrick Whitesell, 58, the truth of her affair with Bezos and revealed that she had been approached for comment by the Enquirer. Bezos was introduced to Sanchez, then a long-time anchor of Fox's 'Good Morning LA,' in 2016 by his friend, her husband, Whitesell, co-CEO of Hollywood talent agency WME. As couples Bezos and Mackenzie and Sanchez and Whitesell socialized together, with the unwitting spouses each considering the other's a friend. In the wake of the revelation of the affair Bezos's and Sanchez's marriages imploded Novelist, Tuttle, walked away with a $35.6billion settlement, the bulk of which she has vowed to give away to charitable causes. She went on to marry Seattle science teacher Dan Jewett, though the marriage ended in September 2022. But while the start of their relationship may have been stormyit looks like it's smooth sailing for Bezos and Sanchez these days. Pictured on the deck of Koru, a name which is Maori for 'coil' or 'loop' and refers to the unfurling of a fern frond, the two appeared more in love than ever. Fittingly the koru design which is common in traditional Maori art is meant to symbolize new life, growth and peace. Hangout out in Ibiza last Wednesday, Sanchez had her new rock twisted around to the inside of her finger Sanchez chose to leave her new dazzler aboard the Koru when the twosome went to lunch in the South of France on May 20. Bezos playfully he gave her a light pat on the backside as they strolled towards their lunch destination Photographs taken of Bezos and Sanchez as they lap up the sun, surf and luxury of life on the high seas show them kissing and affectionately touching as they bask on board their personal love boat. Casually dressed, with Bezos looking buff in swim shorts and Sanchez trim in bikini or casual vest top and pants, the couple appear intent on keeping their vacation as 'low key' as a multimillion-dollar experience taking in some of the most beautiful coastline in the world can be considered. The Koru was handed over to Bezos just last month. It underwent sea trials in February and is the second largest sailing ship in the world surpassed only by the Philippe Starcke designed Sailing Yacht A, which is owned by Russian fertilizer billionaire Andrey Melnichenko. Last year, before Koru had even been launched, the vast size of her masts sparked an international controversy when Rotterdam announced that the middle section of the 100-year-old Koningshaven Bridge would be removed so the superyacht could make its way into the North Sea. The Koru -was unveiled in March after five years of construction. Along with a private submarine, Koru sails with a smaller 250ft support vessel that has been kitted out with a helipad and is stocked with a collection of speedboats and supercars for Bezos and Sanchez to enjoy Jeff Bezos' extravagant 416ft yacht has a figurehead on the prow that bears a striking resemblance to his glamorous girlfriend Lauren Sanchez, 53. The couple, who had spent the weekend at the Miami Grand Prix before jetting to Europe, have been an item since their affair was exposed in January 2019 ending both their marriages Exclusive DailyMail.com photos show the polished wooden sculpture of a curvaceous woman carved in the style of a Roman goddess, dressed in a flowing gown and with long hair According to reports, Bezos had said he would pay to have the bridge dismantled and rebuilt again - but his request was refused. Furious locals also created a petition to pelt the boat with rotten eggs on its maiden voyage - which garnered thousands of signatures. In response to the backlash, Rotterdam's mayor Ahmed Aboutaleb said no permit had been applied for, and the masts were eventually attached downstream in Rotterdam harbor. The three-masted schooner yacht was finally delivered at the end of April and was sailed from the Netherlands to Mallorca via Gibraltar. Along with a private submarine, Koru sails with a smaller 250ft support vessel that has been kitted out with a helipad and is stocked with a collection of speedboats and supercars for Bezos and Sanchez to enjoy. The main ship, which is painted midnight blue and has gold accents, boasts three decks, a pool and a huge sun terrace the same one Bezos and Sanchez were seen using earlier this week. The interior is reportedly inspired by Eos, a 305ft yacht owned by former Fox CEO Barry Diller, and the megaboat costs $25m-a-year to maintain. A Georgia inmate tunneled through a jail wall and stabbed another prisoner in Fulton County last week. Kavian Thomas reportedly carved out a hole in the wall of a shower stall at the Rice Street facility allowing him access to the adjacent cell block. Thomas then successfully gained access to fellow inmate Derondney Russell's cell, stabbing him several times. The Fulton County Sheriff's Office said the victim had sustained 'superficial stab wounds to his upper body' and received treatment from the jail's medical unit. Thomas was serving time for theft of stolen property, possession/transport of a firearm by a convicted felon and possession of marijuana, according to court records. The two cell blocks are meant to be separated by two heavy metal doors The sheriff's office said Thomas will face additional criminal charges for the attack. Russel An inspection of both men's cells following the incident revealed contraband and several weapons made from 'parts of the dilapidated building infrastructure' in each. 'This jail has clearly outlived its useful life,' interim Fulton County Jail commander Curtis Clark said in the press release. 'That reality makes it even more challenging for us to do our job providing the safest possible environment, not only for staff but for the inmates as well.' The two men's prison zones, each containing 18 separate cells, were supposed to be separated by two heavy-locking metal doors. Speaking to ABC News Mr Clark said 'things of this nature happen far too often.' 'Shanks were made from parts of the building... an idol mind is the devil's workshop' he added, while pointing out parts of the run-down building that could be used to create weapons.' A search of the two inmates rooms found contraband including several weapons Showing reporter Mark Winne around the facility Clark pointed out a rusting metal box, explaining: 'It presents a constant challenge for us to eliminate things like this from access to the inmates. 'This jail has clearly outlived its useful life. Our daily job is to make it as safe as we possibly can not only for staff, but for the inmates as well. 'I have lost so much sleep since being assigned to run this facility, its difficult to talk about.' London Fire Brigade confirmed that the scrap heap blaze was under control A man has been taken to hospital after a huge fire broke out at a scrapyard in south London with a thick black plume of smoke visible from up to ten miles away. Around 60 firefighters rushed to the blaze at the scrapyard in Lower Sydenham on Monday afternoon as seven tonnes of scrap metal caught alight. When fire crews arrived they found 'a car on fire', according to the Evening Standard. People in the area shared pictures of the thick black smoke billowing from the scrapyard as the London Fire Brigade (LFB) battle to get it under control. The fire service confirmed that the blaze was under control just after 5pm on Monday evening, sharing images of firefighters and hoses. People in the area shared pictures of the thick black smoke billowing into the sky A man has been taken to hospital after a huge fire broke out at a scrapyard in south London on Monday afternoon Station Commander Keith Sanders, who was at the scene, said: 'The fire was extremely visible and our 999 Control Officers received 30 calls alerting them to the fire. 'Due to the amount of smoke, local residents were advised to keep their windows and doors closed. 'Firefighters remain on the scene but are making good progress extinguishing the flames.' At least one person was left needing hospital treatment. One person posted a picture of the smoke visible form the Leadenhall Building in central London, some ten miles away, while another said it could be seen from Highgate in north London. Station Commander Keith Sanders, who was at the scene, said they had received a large volume of emergency calls as the fire was so visible Eight fire crews from Forest Hill, Beckenham, Lewisham, Bromley, Lee Green and other surrounding stations raced to the scene just after 3pm The LFB said it had already received 30 calls alerting them to the 'extremely visible fire' on Burnham Way. Eight fire crews from Forest Hill, Beckenham, Lewisham, Bromley, Lee Green and other surrounding stations raced to the scene just after 3pm. Local residents were advised to keep windows and doors closed due to heavy smoke towering above south London. Sharing video of the huge plume of black smoke on Twitter, one person said: 'Huge fire in Sydenham within the industrial estate. Fire fighters and police are on site attending'. The Fire Brigade confirmed that the blaze was under control shortly after 5pm on Monday A spokesperson for the London Ambulance Service said they treated a person at the scene of the fire Another said: '#fire #london #LFB what's going on there. South London.. pic taken from leadenhall building.' A third said: 'Huge fire in Sydenham maybe? Just left work and this is the view from New Beckenham station'. The cause of the fire is not known at this stage, the LFB said. It was brought under control just after 5pm. A spokesperson for the London Ambulance Service said: 'We were called today at 3.28pm to reports of a fire on Burnham Way, Lower Sydenham. 'We sent an ambulance crew, members of our Hazardous Area Response Team (HART), and an incident response officer to the scene. 'We treated a person at the scene.' Democrats have called for more transparency from food delivery services The suit cites several examples in which iPhone users are charged more for delivery than Android users - despite the orders and addresses being identical Food delivery app DoorDash is being sued for $1 billion amid accusations it charges customers using an iPhone more than those on an Android. Screenshots filed in a class-action lawsuit show that iPhone users were routinely charged $1-$2 more than an Android customer for delivery on identical orders. The suit speculates that the reason for the discrepancy is because studies show iPhone users tend to earn more money than those who use different devices. DoorDash- which has an estimated 32 million users - is also facing accusations it slaps extra fees on customers who pay for its $9.99-a-month discount service Dashpass. Single father Ross Hecox has brought the class-action suit in the U.S. District Court of Maryland, claiming the firm deploys 'deceptive, misleading and fraudulent practices.' Food delivery app DoorDash is being sued for $1 billion amid accusations it charges customers using an iPhone more than those on an Android DoorDash has furiously hit back at the allegations which it says are 'baseless and simply without merit.' The core accusation facing the company is its 'expanded range fee' which appears to be calculated at random. On its website DoorDash says the fee is - usually a dollar or two - is to 'preserve your access to the available merchants farthest from you.' Hecox applied a series of tests to the app after suspecting it was unfairly calculating delivery fees depending on the device they were ordered from. In one example, he placed orders from different physical locations, around 15 miles apart. The orders were exactly the same: an avocado, egg white, spinach and cheese on sprouted grain bagel and a chocolate chip bagel from chain Panera. They were placed at the same time with the same tip and both had a subtotal of $7.98. However in the test, the iPhone user incurred a 99-cent 'expanded fee range' while the Android user did not. Hecox then performed a second test with Chick-fil-A - though they were placed at slightly different times - and found the iPhone user was charged an extra $1 for delivery. The suit was brought by single father Ross Hecox in the U.S. District Court of Maryland And in the third example, he placed the same orders to the same addresses - but this time they were both filed from the same physical location. On that occasion the iPhone user was inexplicably charged an extra $1 for the delivery and handed a 99-cent 'expanded range fee' - while the Android received neither. It meant that the iPhone user was charged $27.52 while the Android user was billed $25.53 despite the Chipotle orders being identical. In all Hecox performed seven tests which all appeared to show an iPhone user being overcharged for the purchases. The test also accounted for device types including IOS products like iPhone, iPads and Macbooks and different Android systems. The complaints reads: 'As the above tests demonstrate, and upon information and belief and subject to further investigation and discovery, DoorDash routinely charges iPhone users more than Android users for reasons wholly unrelated to delivery and service costs. 'DoorDash likely charges iPhone users more because studies suggest that iPhone users make more money than Android users.' It adds that 'these tactics are simply money grabs.' Separately the lawsuit also raises concerns over the app's discount service DashPass - a $9.99 a month service which entitles users to free delivery on all orders over $12. Hecox claims his tests prove that DashPass customers are more likely to be hit with the 'expanded range fee' than those who do not pay for the services. A test cited in the lawsuit shows an iPhone user is slapped with an extra 99-cent 'expanded range fee' for the same order Hecox then performed a second test with Chick-fil-A - though they were placed at slightly different times - and found the iPhone user was charged an extra $1 for delivery In a third example the iPhone user was charged $27.52 while the Android user was billed $25.53 despite the Chipotle order being identical 'In a test on the DoorDash Platform, however, DoorDash applied the Expanded Range Fee to a DashPass account, but not to a standard account when each account placed the same order at the same time to the same restaurant for delivery to the same home,' the complaint read. Hecox is asking for $1 billion in damages 'for all the customers who fell prey to DoorDash's illegal pricing scheme over the past four years.' It is not the first time delivery firms have come under scrutiny for their delivery fees. In February, a group of Democratic senators called on Uber, Grubhub and DoorDash to provide more transparency on their use of so-called 'junk fees.' President Joe Biden is pushing back on junk fees implemented by a range of companies including internet services, airlines and concert-ticket providers. And in 2021, DoorDash was slapped with a Chicago lawsuit which accused it of using 'bait and switch' tactics whereby they displayed smaller delivery fees upfront - before adding extra costs right before checkout. The firm also paid $2.5 million in 2020 to settle a suit in D.C. which accused it of misleading customers over where their tips went. Of the latest claims, a DoorDash spokesman told Business Insider: 'The claims put forward in the amended complaint are baseless and simply without merit. 'We ensure fees are disclosed throughout the customer experience, including on each restaurant store page and before checkout. 'Building this trust is essential, and it's why the majority of delivery orders on our platform are placed by return customers. 'We will continue to strive to make our platform work even better for customers,and will vigorously fight these allegations.' Dailymail.com also reached out to DoorDash for comment. Officials said how this 'egregious practice' left grieving families out of pocket The Department of Labor has reached a settlement with Prudential Financial Hundreds of families have been illegally denied life-insurance death benefits despite paying into the plan for years, in what officials have called a 'game of gotcha.' The claims, in some cases worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, are being denied because employers made errors with the paperwork and failed to file required health forms. The denials are hitting grieving families with policies purchased through employers' benefits programs. This supplemental insurance allows workers to pay for additional coverage out of their paycheck. The amount paid in varies between employers and individuals, but the maximum limit for cover is usually around $500,000. The Department of Labor reached a settlement with firm Prudential Financial last month after it denied more than 200 claims, totaling as much as $7 million, despite collecting premiums from plan participants. The department said it is also investigating other company's practices. The Department of Labor reached a settlement with firm Prudential Financial in April The federal investigation into Prudential found that the firm, headed by CEO Charles F. Lowrey, denied more than 200 claims, totaling as much as $7 million The federal investigation into Prudential found that the New Jersey-based firm, headed by CEO Charles F. Lowrey, had collected life insurance premiums from participants for extended periods, but then denied numerous claims after the participants died. With these supplemental policies, the employer rather than the insurer is responsible for keeping on top of whether employees have filled in the required documents needed for extra coverage. This includes 'evidence of insurability' which is when the person who is being insured has to fill out a form saying they are in good health before they will receive cover. According to the settlement, going back as far as 2004, Prudential deducted these premiums from workers' paychecks despite not having the appropriate form filled out. Then between 2017 and 2020 the firm would deny claims on the policy - despite the fact that it was the employer, not the worker, who had dropped the ball. 'This egregious practice left grieving families without the life insurance for which their loved ones had paid, in some cases, for many years,' said Solicitor of Labor Seema Nanda when announcing the action against the company. 'When workers pay life insurance premiums, they should be confident that their beneficiaries will get the benefits they purchased to provide for their financial security,' Lisa M. Gomez, Assistant Secretary for Employee Benefits Security, added. She said that 'appropriate action' would be taken against companies that take collect payments, and later play 'a game of "gotcha" to wrongfully deny benefits based on technicalities like "insurability" after the participant passes away.' Prudential said it would voluntarily reprocess claims dating back to June 2019 that were denied purely due to mistakes by employers. The company told The Wall Street Journal that it had processed more than 255,000 group-life claims and paid out approximately $12 billion in recent years and the denials 'represent a very small subset of supplemental group life insurance claims.' Claims are being denied because employers made errors with the paperwork Solicitor of Labor Seema Nanda said this 'egregious practice left grieving families without the life insurance for which their loved ones had paid' Prudential is not the only company under fire for these kinds of practices, and this is not the first settlement of its kind. According to the outlet, a lawsuit was filed in federal court in Maine in 2019 against insurance company Mutual of Omaha, after it did not pay out $100,000 to a grieving widow. Lorna Shields asked the company to 'honor your commitment' to pay benefits for her deceased husband, who died of cancer in 2018 after paying premiums for a decade. According to one of her lawyers, the firm had paid out $236,000 of the death benefit which did not require proof of good health, while denying an additional $100,000 which did need the form. Mutual of Omaha declined to comment to the outlet. It said in its court filings that the employer, Duramax Marine, was responsible for the absence of the required documentation. A retired British Army colonel has denied defrauding the Ministry of Defence (MoD) out of tens of thousands of pounds to pay his children's 75,000-a-year private boarding school fees. Marcus Reedman told a jury at his trial he was not 'wedded' to the idea that his children should have a private education when he claimed 43,470 of taxpayers' cash. The 52-year-old, who was deputy director of the Government's Covid taskforce, denies 'dishonestly' claiming continuity of education allowance (CEA) to help pay school fees for his three children which matched his entire Army salary. His eldest daughter and son attended Brighton College, costing around 30,000 each a year, while his youngest daughter was a daygirl at the Marlborough House prep school in Kent, for which no CEA was claimed, Southwark Crown Court was told. The retired colonel had been posted to a desk job in the MoD building in Whitehall between October 1, 2016, and August 17, 2017, when he is alleged to committed a fraud which relates to the three payments to his eldest children's fees. Marcus Reedman, pictured right with then Prime Minister David Cameron in Chertsey in February 2014, is accused of defrauding the Ministry of Defence (MoD) to pay for his children's private school fees The 52-year-old, pictured here arriving at Southwark Crown Court earlier this month, has said he wasn't 'wedded' to the idea of sending his children to private school CEA covers up to 90 per cent of the cost of private boarding school fees for children of eligible service personnel to enable them to stay in continuous education while their serving parent is posted away from home accompanied by their spouse, the court was told. Prosecutors say Reedman defrauded the MoD by dishonestly failing to disclose information that had an effect on his CEA eligibility. An indictment says he failed to disclose a change in his personal circumstances - that his wife Astrid Reedman and family were not living at his residence at work address in Biggin Hill, south-east London, but instead staying at the family home in Rye, East Sussex. Giving evidence on Monday, Reedman, who attended a prep school before completing state education, said he joined the Army aged 23. He described tours of Iraq and Afghanistan as 'very, very difficult for my family' and said he decided to send his children to private school because his daughter was being 'severely bullied'. His barrister Eleanor Laws KC said: 'Were you wedded to the idea of sending your children to private school?' Reedman said: 'No, not at all. I was very happy thinking they would go to even maybe the same school as me.' He denied dishonestly defrauding the MoD and, when asked if he moved to Biggin Hill alone, said: 'No, I moved with my family,' and told the jury his wife had not moved back to Rye by October 2016. Reedman, pictured with David Cameron in 2014, denies a single count of fraud and is on trial at Southwark Crown Court Ms Laws said: 'Have you been involved in a prolonged and dishonest cover-up of any of that?' Reedman said: 'No.' He denies a single count of fraud. The trial continues. A 56-year-old man has been rescued after surviving five days inside his smashed car in the wilderness following a 150 feet plunge down a ravine. Danny Sansbury was found alive on Sunday morning after passersby noticed tire tracks leading away from a roadway in Cowlitz County in southwest Washington state and called 911. His green pickup truck was discovered down a steep and wooded ravine, according to the Cowlitz County Fire & Rescue Department. 'Firefighters hiked down the hill through waist deep brush expecting the worst, but found the driver of the truck was still alive but severely injured and ill,' the fire department said in a statement on Facebook. Sansbury, who was seriously injured, was reporting missing last week, and Sheriffs deputies at the scene confirmed the truck matched the description of his vehicle. Danny Sansbury was found alive after plunging 150 feet plunge down a ravine in Washington state He was found on Sunday morning after passersby noticed tire tracks leading away from a roadway in Cowlitz County. Pictured: Sansbury's green pickup truck at the bottom of the ravine A rope system was set up to get Sansbury up the steep hillside after he was removed the beat up truck. He was then taken by ambulance to a nearby school where a Lifeflight helicopter picked him up and took him to Peace Health Southwest, where he remains in critical condition. 'I still cant believe he survived for six days like that,' his friend of 30 years Terri Peck told the local CBS affiliate KOIN 6 News. Terri claimed that she knew he was in a ravine when she heard he was missing and had been checking ravines when her friend was found. Cowlitz 2 Fire & Rescue Battalion Chief Joe Tone told the local outlet authorities had been looking into any possible foul play before Sansbury was found alive. 'They had no idea where the gentleman was at, and we were going down that typical missing persons-type path until the citizen local found the car,' said Cowlitz 2 Fire & Rescue Battalion Chief Joe Tone. His friend of 30 years Terri Peck said she couldn't believe Sansbury survived for days in the wilderness The fire department said the entire rescue took about an hour Troy Brightbill, a Chief Criminal Deputy with the Cowlitz County Sheriff's office, told DailyMail.com no foul play is suspected and it appears to be a vehicular accident. Sansbury was responsive and was able to answer a few questions when first responders reached him inside his car, officer Brightbill said. He had reportedly made a call to a family member days before being found and said he was stuck in a backyard. However, he was not able to communicate what had happened on the phone before hanging up. The fire department said the entire rescue took about an hour, and the Longview Fire Department was called in to assist. Lt. Andy Worth told KOIN 6 News that being down the ravine without food or water for days 'definitely' affected Sansbury's injuries. Mexican prosecutors have dropped a murder case against a 23-year-old woman who was charged after killing the man who raped her. Roxana Ruiz was jailed after choking Sinai Cruz to death with a shirt her shirt at her home in May 2021. Cruz beat and raped Ruiz after offering to walk her home from a bar in the city of Nezahualcoyotl, State of Mexico. The case sparked national outcry after Ruiz was sentenced on May 15 to six years and two months in prison and ordered to pay $16,000 to her rapist's family. But the Attorney General's Office on Saturday announced that she was only protecting herself and 'is exempt from criminal responsibility, since this Prosecutor's Office considers that she acted in legitimate defense.' Roxana Ruiz participates at a demonstration last Friday to protest her six-year sentence for killing a man who beat and raped her at her home in May 2021 in Mexico. However, the Attorney General's Office for the centra State of Mexico announced Saturday it was dropping charges against the 23-year-old because she acted in defense Sinai Cruz is said to have beaten and raped Roxana Ruiz at her home in May 2021 before she choked him to death with a shirt and then stuffed his body in a bag Dozens came out in support of Roxana Ruiz on Friday in Mexico City to protest her six-year prison sentence During the original hearing, Judge Monica Osorio claimed that Ruiz could have hit Cruz in 'the head to defend herself and leaving him unconscious would have been enough.' Angel Carrera, Ruiz's legal attorney, applauded the latest decision that cleared the mother-of-one of any wrongdoing. 'It means that they're recognizing her innocence,' he told The Associated Press. 'It's a recognition that she simply defended herself.' A hearing was set to take place Sunday, but it was rescheduled for Tuesday after Cruz's family and their lawyer failed to show up. The AG's decision to drop the charges against Ruiz came one day after President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said that his office was going to look into the case and give her a presidential pardon her. Her legal team, however, said it wasn't interested in Lopez Obrador going forward with his proposal because it would have meant that Ruiz had indeed committed a crime. On the night of May 8, 2021, Ruiz had finished work and was drinking with friends at a neighborhood bar that night when they were joined by Cruz. He offered to walk her home and once there asked if he could spend the night because it was late and his home was too far. Judge Monica Osorio (pictured) said Roxana Ruiz would have been better off hitting her rapist, Sinai Cruz, in the head instead of choking him with a shirt to defend herself during the May 2021 attack in the bedroom of her home Roxana Ruiz has been cleared of any wrongdoing and had charges dropped by prosecutors in State of Mexico, Mexico on Saturday. She had been sentenced May 15 to six years and two months for the murder of Sinai Cruz, who beat and raped her in May 2021 He would then persist that he be permitted to sleep in her bedroom and a frightened Ruiz relented and provided him a blanket to lay on. At one point, Cruz jumped on the bed and attacked and raped Ruiz, who fought back by punching him in the face and then choking him with a shirt until he was dead. She stuffed Cruz's body into a bag and dragged it out to the street, where a police officer on patrol took her into custody despite Ruiz telling him that she had been raped. A medical examination of Ruiz was never carried out, a crucial step in prosecuting sexual violence cases, her attorney Carrera said. Instead, an officer responded that she probably wanted to have sex with the man at first and then changed her mind, the lawyer said. Government data show that almost half of Mexican women have been victims of a sexual attack in their lifetime. At least 3,754 at least 10 a day were murdered in 2022. A third of the crimes were investigated as femicides. Nearly half of Mexican women have experienced sexual violence in their lifetime, government data say. Carrera said he hopes the announcement of the case being dropped sets a precedent for other gender-based violence cases to be more thoroughly investigated and treated with deeper sensitivity. A Scottish teacher who bombarded a 17-year-old schoolgirl with explicit messages on Snapchat and sexualised her in front of younger pupils has been banned from the classroom for two years. Alexander Lamont targeted the teenager, who was in her final year of school, with graphic messages and emails from his personal account and matched with her on a dating app. The disgraced English teacher also publicly sexualised her in front of pupils as young as 12 and 13 years of age - who told him it would be 'inappropriate' for the pair to have a relationship. Lamont, who worked with the girl's mother at the school, quizzed her on her sexual experiences in front of a class, and taunted her for her lack of interest in casual sex. The offences first took place in August 2018 when the girl acted as a teaching assistant within Lamont's S2 (Year 9) class in a South Lanarkshire Council school. He has now been struck off by the General Teaching Council for Scotland (GTCS). Alexander Lamont targeted the teenager, who was in her final year of school, with graphic messages and emails from his personal account During his vile campaign the creepy teacher referred to the S6 girl, identified only as Pupil A, as 'glamorous and beautiful' in front of S2 pupils. Lamont said she looked 'grown up' when she wore her hair up and was found to have unnecessarily touched her on the neck, shoulders and elbow during the lesson. One month later, he asked the girl to reveal any sexual assault experiences she may have suffered and whether she had a boyfriend in front of a class of younger pupils. He also gave her his personal email address, offered her earphones left behind by another pupil and said they should 'go for drinks' when she left school. Later, he 'squeezed' the young girl's sides and touched her leg while in school. He sent her messages calling her a 'tease' and asking if she fantasised about him at night, and said: 'I can't remember if you said you're 17 or 18*but you're still an innocent wee thing', later telling her 'I think you're an innocent little virgin'. And he acknowledged throughout the correspondence that it was 'inappropriate' and said her 'bum looked nice in shorts'. When an S2 pupil told the teacher it would be inappropriate for the pair to strike up a relationship, the teacher told the child there wasn't 'much of an age gap' between the two, adding that the schoolgirl was 'mature' for her age. Lamont has been struck off with a two-year period before he can apply to become an educator once again A report by the GTCS revealed the pair began emailing in October 2018 with Lamont allegedly claiming the pupil's mum would 'crucify' him and report him to the educational standards body if she knew. In November 2018, he sent indecent videos and images of himself to the girl on Snapchat as well as calling her his 'little secret'. Lamont told the pupil to delete any of their conversations, mocked her for not believing in casual sex and accused her of making a 'drama out of nothing' when she told him she felt used and hurt by his behaviour. He also asked 'how would your mum feel if she found out about her perfect little princess?', or words to that effect; and 'think of all the rumours going around the school'. He was found to have also given out his email to other pupils in fifth year, and in February 2019 he matched with the girl on Bumble. The GTCS determined the teacher's behaviour was at the 'high end of misconduct' and there was a 'lack of evidence' of insight or remediation. It determined the teacher would be struck off with a two-year period before he could apply to become an educator once again. A 28-year-old man will appear in court charged with causing death by dangerous driving after best-selling author Lucinda Riley's stepdaughter was hit by a car and killed as she walked her three dogs in Chelsea. Olivia Riley, 41, from Suffolk, died at the scene on the morning of May 14 after being struck by an Audi TT. Laszlo Dancs, who will appear at the Old Bailey tomorrow, has also been charged with drink driving, drug driving and failing to provide a sample of breath when required. Dancs, of Heathfield Road, Acton, west London, has previously appeared at Westminster Magistrates' Court on November 14 last year, but now has a trial date. Ms Riley had got up early to take her dogs for a walk after visiting a family property the morning of the fatal collision. Olivia Riley (pictured with dogs) died at the scene on May 14 after being struck by an Audi TT Ms Riley was the stepdaughter of best-selling author Lucinda Riley (pictured), who died from cancer at the age of 56 in June 2021 Police were called to Chelsea Embankment next to the Thames in west London at 6.21am. Tragically, officers and paramedics from London Ambulance Service found Ms Riley dead at the scene. Chelsea Embankment runs parallel to Cheyne Walk, which has been home to the likes of Sir Mick Jagger and stretches along the north bank of the Thames. Ms Riley had been helping to manage her stepmother's literary estate following her death from cancer at the age of 56 in June 2021. She had worked for many years with her stepmother, who started out as an actress in the 1980s and appeared in the comedy Auf Wiedersehen, Pet. But glandular fever put paid to her acting career and she turned her hand to writing. Her Seven Sisters series, which began in 2014, became an international best-seller, with sales of more than 20million. Ms Riley's golden retriever, Darcy, and two golden labradors, one of which was called Lily, died from their injuries. One of the dogs killed in the collision was a young golden retriever bought as a replacement for a border collie that was run over a year prior. Laszlo Dancs will appear in court charged with causing death by dangerous driving (pictured the scene of the crash) Ms Riley (pictured) worked for many years with her stepmother, who started out as an actress in the 1980s and appeared in the comedy Auf Wiedersehen, Pet At the time of her death, her uncle Mark Riley, 71, said he was rendered 'completely incomprehensible' when he was told about her death. 'It was something that is impossible to comprehend. Nobody should have to go through that at all,' he said. 'As an individual, you just could not hope to ever meet anybody who could be so joyful, full of life and considerate of others. She had an infectious sense of humour and was a confidante for all the family members. This void is never going to be filled apart from all the fantastic memories. She was very exceptional and was fantastic to be around.' He added: 'She organised sense in a chaotic world. [Mrs Riley's death] is another level of tragedy which is dwarfed now by this.' Sen. Bill Cassidy is not happy with the top contenders in the 2024 race - and thinks both Donald Trump and Joe Biden should be 'disqualified' for pretending they care about Social Security. 'They're willing to put the future of our country's financial health and senior citizens' financial health -- to sacrifice it because they want to get reelected,' Cassidy told DailyMail.com in an interview. 'That, in my mind, should disqualify either one of them from getting elected.' The retirement program is set to start running out of funds by 2034 - with an automatic 24 percent benefit cut when it goes insolvent. But both Trump and Biden have made Social Security attack fodder to go after their political opponents who they claim want to 'cut' the government-run program - alarming Americans nationwide. Sen. Bill Cassidy is not happy with the top contenders in the 2024 race - and thinks both Donald Trump and Joe Biden should be 'disqualified' for pretending they care about Social Security Cassidy has been on a crusade to change the dialogue, and take Social Security reform right up to the top of the ticket on both sides. He's teamed up with Sen. Angus King, a Maine Independent who caucuses with Democrats, to corral together a bipartisan group of now around 14 senators who have committed to backing reforms to the program before it runs out of funding. 'We can't go forward unless we have a presidential candidate who's willing to say he's willing to work with Congress,' the Louisiana Republican told DailyMail.com in an interview. Social Security became a political third rail when President Biden in the State of the Union claimed 'some Republicans' want 'Medicare and Social Security to sunset' - a remark that drew raucous GOP boos and even prompted Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene to call Biden a 'liar.' 'So folks, as we all apparently agree, Social Security and Medicare is off the table now, right?' Biden said. 'We've got unanimity.' Cassidy said that moment, coupled with Trump's comments on the matter, demolished appetites on Capitol Hill to discuss changes. 'Before the State of the Union speech and Trump's rhetoric, yeah, we were getting excellent buy-in from fellow Republicans as well as Democrats,' Cassidy said. 'But I found more political courage among my colleagues in the House and the Senate than among the leading presidential candidates.' Trump has unloaded on Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis as 'the man who wants to cut Social Security and Medicare' for a non-binding resolution he back in Congress that would raise the age to 70. He's repeatedly fired off warnings to Republicans not to 'cut a single penny' from the program. Meanwhile Cassidy's plan entails putting an additional $1.5 trillion into an investment fund and allowing that money to mature over the course of 70 years. The plan would cover 75 percent of the Social Security shortfall, presuming a greater rate of return than the cost of investing, which as Cassidy points out, 'has been true since at least 1929.' The current federal borrowing rate is 3.9 percent, but Cassidy said the fund would aim for an 8.5 percent average growth rate. As to where the money comes from in the first place, the senator said he's open to input. Cassidy said the federal government could sell off its other assets that are 'currently laying around idle.' 'Or, we could borrow the money, or there might be some sort of agreement to open up some to open up some natural resource for development that currently has not been developed. Or, you could raise taxes. I personally favor selling assets.' He's unlikely to convince House Republicans, who under tense debt ceiling negotiations have said they would rather risk default than plunge the nation further into debt, to get on board with increasing borrowing for the private fund. Other ideas have been floated -- namely increasing the payroll tax cap beyond $160,000 and increasing the retirement age -- though they have not gotten any serious consideration. Social Security currently allows people to claim benefits starting at 62, but benefits increase the longer a retiree waits. Asked if any would-be presidential candidates seemed open to working on reform, 'Pence has got an idea,' Cassidy said, referring to the former vice president who has not formally launched a run. 'Before the State of the Union speech and Trump's rhetoric, yeah, we were getting excellent buy-in from fellow Republicans as well as Democrats,' Cassidy said Biden has gone after Republicans for wanting to cut Social Security Cassidy declined to say who he would support in the GOP primary, praising Sen. Tim Scott - who launched his run on Monday - as a 'good man' of 'character' but saying he had not discussed Social Security with him. 'It's pretty clear that President Biden is not interested,' Cassidy said. His team has met with staffers at the White House but was shot down when they asked to meet with the president himself. 'All they did was listen, never offered any ideas,' Cassidy said of the White House staff. 'Trump's rhetoric makes it clear that he's gonna campaign pretending that there is no problem. It's totally dishonest. He criticizes anybody who even talks about it but again, that's the dishonesty that the president is so good at and the former president is so good at.' Cassidy, a gastroenterologist by trade, said he came to care about the issue after two decades of working with under-insured and uninsured senior patients. 'I am aware that our fellow Americans who depend upon Social Security to stay out of poverty - if you look what happens if there's a 24 percent cut to benefits, the rate of poverty among the elderly doubles - doubles!' he said. Right now, the senator is focusing on an advocacy campaign. He said he has an 'almost complete' piece of legislation, but is hesitant to let 'dishonest' politicians use it to attack him and the other lawmakers who are signed on. 'I can promise you we put it out there instead of folks recognizing that this is a good faith effort to move the ball forward, they would fasten upon one little thing they could demagogue and then destroy everything.' It'll be a tough sell in the Democrat-controlled Senate to get Majority Leader Chuck Schumer to let it come up for a vote - or to even get Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell's backing. The latest projections from the CBO found that the current gap between the outlays from the funds and the revenue received- if continued over the next ten years- will cause the Social Security fund to officially hit zero Social Security spending has been on the rise as more Americans hit retirement age and leave the workforce, solely relying on the fund's benefits According to the latest projections from the Congressional Budget Office , two of the funds will be drained by 2033 while another major fund will be gone by 2048 'Everybody knows that unless the president endorses the concept, it'll never be signed into law. And so no one is going to waste political capital or just make a statement,' Cassidy said of his discussions with leadership. 'So we're just pounding away, hoping that we can get a presidential candidate who's got the courage to be honest with the American people, and recognize that we've got a solution that can address 75% of the issue,' the senator said. Tucker Carlson has shared claims from his biographer that Dominion demanded the host was axed by Fox News as part of its $787.5 million settlement with the network - which Fox has labeled 'categorically false'. Chadwick Moore, whose book 'Tucker' is slated for release in July, said his sources confirmed that Carlson's departure on April 24 was a condition of the Dominion settlement. The voting systems company sued Fox for defamation over claims the network broadcast false statements about it following the 2020 election. Fox said it was 'categorically false' that Carlson's departure was a condition of the settlement and a lawyer for Dominion has also rejected the claim. In a video shared to Twitter on Monday to promote the book, Moore said: 'It has now been reported that his firing was a condition demanded by Dominion as part of the settlement with Fox. 'Although Dominion has denied this, my sources have intimate knowledge of the situation and they have assured me even before this news leaked, that that is in fact the truth.' Chadwick Moore, whose book 'Tucker' is slated for release in July, said his sources confirmed Carlson's departure on April 24 was a condition of the Dominion deal. Fox and Dominion deny the claim Tucker Carlson, pictured in his final Fox News broadcast, was dropped by Fox News in April after controversies including the network's $787.5 million settlement with Dominion. Both Fox and Dominion have rejected claims Carlson's departure was a condition of the settlement Carlson retweeted the video and posted the eyes emoji. In the video, Moore added: 'If that is true, it would mean that a small group of people who have a controlling interest in Dominion have managed to silence what is arguably the most important and influential conservative voice in the country, possibly until after the next presidential election.' Fox said it was 'categorically false' that Carlson's exit was part of the network's settlement with Dominion. Stephen Shackelford, partner at Susman Godfrey LLP and co-lead of the Dominion case against Fox, previously told Axios: 'Dominion did not insist on them firing Tucker Carlson as part of the settlement.' Shackleford acknowledged that Carlson's departure 'resulted out of all of this'. Moore said he has spent the past year working on his biography of Carlson and 'was working closely with Tucker when he was taken off the air by Fox'. 'I've gotten to know Tucker, his family, his friends and his staff very well. In fact, I've got to know Tucker the person, not the caricature that his enemies try to portray,' he said. 'I was also a regular on his show and I happened to be a guest on the final episode of the show.' Moore said he had seen the monologue Carlson intended to deliver on April 24 before his show was canned. Carlson intended to talk about the 'investigations around January 6' and 'the people and forces that are trying to silence him, like AOC and others in government'. He said he was 'confident that [Carlson] will not be silenced'. Carlson retweeted his biographer's video and cryptically added an eyes emoji to the post Stephen Shackelford (pictured right with Dominion Voting Systems CEO John Poulos and other members of his legal team) said 'Dominion did not insist on them firing Tucker Carlson as part of the settlement' Fox said it was was 'categorically false' that Carlson's exit was part of the network's settlement with Dominion Carlson now plans to launch a version of his show on Twitter. Announcing the project earlier this month with a three-minute video captioned 'We're back', he took aim at mainstream media and claimed anyone who tries to tell the truth will be disposed of. Before the announcement, Carlson's powerful attorneys sent an aggressive letter to Fox arguing that the $25million noncompete provision in his contract is no longer valid, which would in turn allow him to launch a competing show, or media entity. In the video, Carlson, 54, told his followers: '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.' The boss of Dominion hailed its record-breaking settlement as a 'big step forward in democracy'. John Poulos said it was important for the political system to 'send a signal that if media companies lie ... and they do so knowingly, they will be prepared to pay a very, very high price.' A lord of fraud who blew 500,000 in Harrods and drove around in a 220,000 Lamborghini after swindling more than 50 investors in a 4million scam was jailed for more than seven years today. Jonathan Allard, 39, scammed his victims, including a serving police officer, using the company Zurich Private Capital (ZPC), Southwark Crown Court heard. Allard harvested the proceeds in a number of bank accounts, including one that took 1million to Hong Kong. He spent hundreds of thousands of pounds on holidays across the world and treated himself to a Lamborghini Aventador. Allard, who lived in a luxury 1.2million apartment in southwest London, also paid for the title Lord Jonathan Allard. He admitted one count of fraud between January 1, 2013 and December 31, 2017 and was sentenced today. More than a dozen of his victims attended court to see his sentencing. Jonathan Allard, 39, blew 500,000 in Harrods and drove around in a 220,000 Lamborghini after swindling more than 50 investors in a 4million scam. He admitted one count of fraud between January 1, 2013 and December 31, 2017 and was sentenced today at Southwark Crown Court (pictured) John Greany, prosecuting, said the scam involved scamming more than 50 victims using ZPC and that a 'scan of assets came to in excess of 4.2million'. His identification documents were used to set up the accounts, a number of linked accounts were used to spend money on luxury goods and a credit card in his name,' Mr Greany told the court. Spending on the cards included half a million in Harrods, luxury watches over 400,000, a Lamborghini Aventador worth 220,000. In total these were luxury goods worth over 2million. The court heard that an investigator calculated the total sum of lifestyle spending of 300,000 in Barbados and a number of luxury establishments. Following his arrest, police officers also found a diary entry written by Allard in 2016 in which he wrote: I made 80,000 this month. Im sick. Be first, be smarter or cheat. Its about me getting whatever I want. Its about me, get everything you want Jonathan. Youre worth it. In one email written in May 2016 to a member of his team, Allard said: This guy has a minimum of 300,000 to invest, weve encountered every single hurdle with him, his trust is secured, bring him on board. He instructed another associate to rewrite something like this for the bellend, before writing to the victim himself: Place 50,000 in the soy facility and I will oversee this is done correctly. Wearing a dark trench coat, shirt and tie, Allard showed no emotion as he was sentenced to seven years and two months imprisonment. Judge Justin Cole told Allard: This was a systematic fraud sustained over five years. You were the main architect of the fraud. You inflicted misery on so many lives, it was a fraud from the outset. This is not one of those cases where a legit business turned to fraud. [ZPC] was a vehicle for your own enrichment. This was a devious scam, it was dressed up in a sophisticated way with premises in Canary Wharf and an official-looking website. I described you as the architect of this fraud and there is very strong evidence of your personal enrichment from this fraud. The thrust of your mitigation documents is a list of names of other people you seek to deflect on to. You quite literally wrote the script of these frauds, which also reveals your attitude of contempt for the victims.' The judge continued: You displayed extraordinary arrogance. Diary notes show you to be self-congratulatory and arrogant in the extreme. You inflicted misery that remains today. This is not just a numerical exercise, it is hard to envisage a more serious type of fraud when it comes to the impact on others lives, their savings and the number of people involved. You were motivated by pure greed. It is said that you are depressed, but I have seen no medical evidence for this. Letters written by Allards victims were also read out in court. One said: Im 63-year-old and a serving police officer. My wife is 57 and does not have a company pension. We had saved up over many years with the intention to invest for a regular income during retirement. On discovering we had been victims of fraud, my initial reaction was shock and horror. I felt humiliated, stupid and very angry. This has affected me emotionally as I believe I have let my wife down. I have suffered from depression and lack of sleep. We will try to recover financially best we can. I believe I will have to keep working 12-hour shifts as a police officer until Im 66. Another wrote of finding financial transactions stressful, suffering from depression and felt hopeless with no apparent end in sight. Another, who lost 125,000 in the fraud, wrote: These funds equate to many years of hard work and toil that we were conned out of using this using very convincing tactics. We believed ourselves to be intelligent and capable people, but were pressured by the persuasive and convincing manner of those who pushed us to invest over and over again. A widower, aged over 70, said she was dealing with the chilling prospect of working until I die, or become too physically or mentally incapable to work anymore. Earlier the prosecutor said: One of the features of the fraud was it was said to investors a number of times that their money would be invested safely in commodities, mostly soya. None of the money was invested in soya or in fact anything at all, it was fraudulent from the outset. He had an office address in Canary Wharf and used an official-looking website. Some victims, many in fact were told they had to keep their money invested for a minimum of three years. Over time, some of the victims became suspicious. Those that threatened legal action were sometimes successful in getting some of their money back and in one case all. However, a majority of victims were not successful and had their emails ignored. They incurred additional stress in their lives. What in fact happened is that much of it went straight into bank accounts set up by Mr Allard to fund his own extravagant lifestyle from as early as April 2013. Mr Greany added: Allard was running the sales team directing them to lie to investors and potential investors. He had a very good understanding of the fraud. He was motivated by greed. There was a degree of sophistication by opening foreign bank accounts, using false identities and fake identity documents, such as passports and driving licence. This involved significant planning for some four years. He gave direction to those in the investment and sales team. Allard was arrested at Gatwick Airport in 2016 and his Lamborghini was sized. He was found with note of sums the victims were seeking to recover and letters demanding money. To police he described himself as an entrepreneur who always had his finger on the pulse. He said it was not entirely his company. He claimed he bought land in Brazil through lawyers and had regular conversations with lawyers in Brazil. He denied any cold calling which contradicts some of the investors evidence. He was unable to give specific details about soya. Ian Bridge, defending Allard, said: He brought shame on his family, in particular his elderly mother and his partner. He did it on his own, he did it voluntarily, he was immature. Hes ashamed by it and very sorry. When he read the victim statements he found it very upsetting and he will do everything he can to do something to pay them back. Its a terrible case in many ways. Its had a terrible effect on the victims. Looking back, the day he decided to embark on this has destroyed himself as well as many others. Hes very sorry and very ashamed. Allard was sentenced to seven years and two months imprisonment for one charge of fraud. Four counts of possessing an article for use in a fraud, money laundering and fraud by false representation were ordered to lie on file. Confiscation proceedings have been adjourned, with a hearing date to seize his remaining assets to be set in 2024. A coroner has ruled mental health professionals could not have predicted it Emily Jones had her throat slit by Eltiona Skana in Bolton on March 22, 2020 A schoolgirl's throat was slashed as she rode her scooter in a terrifying random attack after her mentally-ill killer 'deliberately' stopped taking her medication, a coroner ruled today. In a crime which shocked the nation, seven-year-old Emily Jones was fatally attacked as she played in her local park in Bolton, Greater Manchester on Mother's Day on March 22, 2020. An inquest into her death revealed how her Albanian killer, Eltiona Skana, who is now serving a life sentence in a secure mental hospital, had admitted lying about being a victim of trafficking in order to win asylum. Emily's parents, Mark Jones and Sarah Barnes, have campaigned for answers over how the paranoid schizophrenia sufferer was allowed to live in the community despite a history of violent outbursts. Demanding answers about her immigration status, they said their only child would still be alive today if Skana 'had not been here'. Emily Jones, pictured here in her school uniform, was killed after having her throat slit in Queens Park, Bolton, on March 22, 2020 Her killer Eltiona Skana, pictured, was a paranoid schizophrenic who lied about being a victim of traffickers to claim asylum in the UK But today a coroner concluded that while Skana's care had been 'sub-optimal', the risk that she would lash out and kill a stranger could not have been predicted. Even if she had received 'optimal' care, Timothy Brennand, senior coroner for Manchester West, said it was not possible to say 'what, if anything, would have been the bearing upon the ultimate outcome'. Mr Brennand said he did not accept that Skana, now 33, was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder as a result of her 'lived history'. In addition, he said there was an 'insufficiency of evidence' for him to accept that she had been 'forced into an arranged marriage' and trafficked for sex. But his main criticism was directed at what he identified as a 'crisis' in community mental health care. Mr Brennand said he would be writing to Health Secretary Steve Barclay expressing his 'profound concerns' about issues including morale, workloads and staff shortages. Afterwards Mr Jones said Emily had been the victim of a 'broken' system. Campaigners said the tragedy raised 'serious questions' about whether the public were safe. An inquest heard that Skana had stopped taking her medication before she brutally killed Emily, who is pictured here at school Seven-year-old Emily, pictured here, had snatched from her scooter by Skana as her parents met in a park After smuggling herself into Britain on the back of a lorry in 2014, Skana was twice sectioned under the Mental Health Act following a series of violent outbursts. She attacked her mother with an iron in February 2017. Skana then absconded from the unit where she was being treated, tried to obtain a knife and demanded to see a friend's daughter. The following year she was refused asylum, but was allowed to remain in the UK after lodging an appeal. Emily's inquest heard the Home Office dropped plans to contest the appeal despite asylum workers being informed she had confessed that her trafficking claim had been a lie. The hearing was told her statement was disregarded due to the mental health problems she was suffering at the time. Skana's condition had stabilised after she was given monthly anti-psychotic injections but in August 2019 her psychiatrist had agreed to move her onto daily tablets after she claimed it was making her symptoms worse. Searches of her flat after Emily's death revealed that Skana had been stockpiling her medication in the run-up to the attack, triggering her deadly relapse. She had only received one face-to-face assessment in the three months before the killing, lasting just 15 minutes. However Mr Brennand concluded that no 'obvious or detectable' signs of Skana's deterioration 'were known or ought to have been known'. As a result, it was 'only with the benefit of hindsight' that Emily's death could have been prevented. At Bolton Coroner's Court he concluded that Emily had been unlawfully killed after Skana 'deliberately' stopped taking her medication. Afterwards Mr Jones, a credit manager at a law firm, said he would keep campaigning for change to prevent another family going through what he has. 'I knew the system was broken,' he added. Emily's father Mark Jones, pictured, said the conflicting views about Skana from psychiatrists was 'appalling' Branding psychiatrists' conflicting views about Skana 'appalling', he added: 'It's been shocking to listen to - I can honestly say I think some of them make it up.' His solicitor, Sefton Kwasnik, said the coroner's plan to raise his concerns represented 'small comfort' to Emily's parents, describing his overall assessment as 'not one which the family unnecessarily share'. Julian Hendy, director of the Hundred Families charity, which is supporting Mr Jones as part of its work with people whose loved-ones have been victims of mentally-ill killers, said the coroner 'hasn't gone far enough'. 'Mental health services were not curious enough,' he said. 'They simply accepted her lies without checking. 'This was not 'sub-optimal' as characterised by the coroner these were serious, repeated failings.' Mr Hendy said the failings raised 'serious questions' about the ability of mental health services in the region 'to keep both their patients and the public safe'. Mr Brennand said he had 'sympathy' for what he 'inferred' was Emily's father's view that Skana 'was, effectively, a psychotic ticking timebomb, who when she exploded into delusional and paranoid rage, could take hold of a knife and inflict death or really serious bodily harm or injury'. The coroner added that it was 'not difficult to appreciate that he may well feel, and is entitled to feel', that Skana 'should never have been allowed into the country' or be 'cared for in the community'. But he stressed that unlike treatments from 'yesteryear', when patients with paranoid schizophrenia would be kept 'under lock and key on a permanent basis', we now lived in 'more enlightened times'. However Mr Hendy insisted: 'Emily's killing certainly could have been prevented had mental health services monitored and supervised Skana properly.' Skana is now serving a life sentence in a secure mental hospital after pleading guilty to manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility. Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust, which treated Skana, expressed its 'deepest condolences' to Emily's family and said it accepted the coroner's findings. The Home Office said its thoughts were with Emily's family and friends. A spokesman added: 'We are carefully considering the findings from the inquest and any further recommendations by the coroner.' The Department of Health and Social Care was approached for comment. Drug drivers aged 15 to 77 are being caught high on cocaine and cannabis on our roads, shocking figures have revealed. A total of 19,828 motorists were reported by police for drug driving last year, with the youngest being boys aged 15 and the oldest offender a 77-year-old woman. The Mail has obtained detailed data from the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency which reveals for the first time that cannabis is causing the biggest problem, with more than 10,000 drivers caught on the drug last year. Overall, more than half of the drug drivers in the UK were found to have cannabis in their blood. But the DVLA results show that thousands more motorists were found to be high on cannabis and cocaine, or cannabis with another drug. Conviction data suggests that 83 per cent of drug drivers are white, followed by Asian people (8 per cent) and black people (7 per cent) [Stock image] There were also dozens of shocking cases where drivers had taken a cocktail of four or more drugs, including cannabis, cocaine, ketamine, ecstasy and amphetamine before getting behind the wheel. The startling figures come after the Mail revealed yesterday that drug driving has now overtaken drink driving across the country for the first time, but scores of offenders are escaping justice. New figures show that a total of 10,190 drivers were found to be over the legal limit for cannabis last year, with another 1,934 testing positive for cannabis and cocaine. Analysis shows that cocaine is the second most common substance, with 5,980 drivers found to be on the class A drug. At least 210 drivers tested positive for ketamine, 78 for amphetamine, 47 for ecstasy and three for heroin, but many more drivers took these drugs in combination with other illegal substances. The age profile of offenders indicates that motorists are continuing to abuse drugs into their retirement. In February, a 70-year-old man living in the picturesque Cotswolds town of Stow-on-the-Wold was condemned by a judge for behaving 'like a juvenile delinquent' after he was found to have taken cocaine and MDMA. In total, 35 pensioners were reported to the DVLA by police last year, including those found to have taken cocaine, cannabis, amphetamine and the prescription drug valium. The figures show that the number of male offenders outnumbered women almost 10-1, with 17,998 men caught by police, compared to 1,830 female drivers. The most common conviction age for men was 32. The figures show that the number of male offenders outnumbered women almost 10-1 [Stock image] For women, they were most likely to be caught drug driving at the ages of 30 and 34. Schoolboy caught at wheel had taken cannabis for his 15th birthday outing A schoolboy high on cannabis was caught drug driving on his 15th birthday. The teenager, who cannot be named because of his age, was on his way to celebrate his birthday with friends in Skegness when police pulled him over in Annesley Woodhouse, Nottinghamshire. The incident in June 2021 was captured on camera for the Channel 5 show, Police Interceptors. Constable Phil Broughton said: 'It was certainly a birthday that will last long in his memory for all the wrong reasons. 'After I stopped the car, with the help of other officers, I noticed there was a strong smell of cannabis within the vehicle.' The boy admitted drug driving, driving without insurance and driving without a licence. He was handed a 12-month driving ban and a nine-month conditional discharge by Nottingham magistrates. Advertisement Yesterday the Mail revealed a National Police Chiefs' Council report which concluded that 'drug driving is more prevalent across the UK than drink driving'. But many motorists are still not being prosecuted due to delays in processing tests. It follows a six-week national crackdown named Operation Limit which saw an 18 per cent rise in arrests for drink and drug driving with 6,130 drivers caught last year compared to 5,186 in the same period in 2021. Half of motorists under 25 tested by police were found to be positive for drugs but that figure rose in the over-25s to 80.5 per cent. Conviction data suggests that 83 per cent of drug drivers are white, followed by Asian people (8 per cent) and black people (7 per cent). In the report, police chiefs warn about the prohibitive cost of processing blood tests and average four/five-month backlog for test results. 'The cost of drug driving enforcement represents a significant challenge to increasing drug driving enforcement in the UK,' the report concludes. 'The Home Office should review the blood testing process and seek ways to reduce costs and increase the efficiency of laboratory testing by increasing capacity, improved procurement, or other means. This review should also evaluate the possibility of seeking to reclaim blood testing costs from those who are found guilty.' Currently anyone who fails a drug test at the roadside must have a blood sample taken by a 'healthcare provider' to measure the exact amount in their system. But the report warns: 'This system creates unnecessary delays and is an inefficient use of both hospital and police resources. The Mail has obtained detailed data from the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency which reveals for the first time that cannabis is causing the biggest problem [Stock image] High OAP acted like he was a delinquent A pensioner caught with cocaine, cannabis and MDMA was spared jail for drug driving by a judge who told him he was acting like a 'delinquent'. Richard Carter, 70, was stopped by police last August after officers received calls about a Ford Fiesta being driven erratically. The pensioner, who lives in assisted living accommodation in the Cotswolds town of Stow-on-the-Wold, admitted to smoking cannabis before he got behind the wheel, but said it helped with his health issues. After he failed a roadside drugs test, police searched his car and found cannabis, cocaine, ecstasy and diazepam tablets. District judge Nicholas Wattam told him: 'You are persistently behaving like a juvenile delinquent with regards to your criminal behaviour. I find this remarkable.' Carter, who has chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, admitted drug driving and possession of drugs. He received a suspended sentence and a three-year ban. Advertisement 'While many stations have force healthcare professionals in attendance, this is by no means universal and discussions with police officers suggest it can be a significant challenge, particularly on busy evenings such as Friday and Saturday nights.' Even when a sample is taken in time, the report reveals that it takes 'at least four to five months' for blood tests to come back. The report says: 'Police forces have raised concerns about the current laboratory test turnaround time. 'Furthermore, backlogs in laboratories are not uncommon and concerns have been raised that backlogs could lead to the statutory time limit (generally six months in Magistrates' courts) being missed for some samples.' It goes on: 'Backlogs in laboratories may also have contributed to some forces cancelling or delaying campaigns focused on reducing drug driving. 'Furthermore, some forces have encouraged officers to focus on other crimes potentially committed before drug testing a driver because of backlogs, such as encouraging officers to test for drink first.' Yesterday Jack Cousens, head of roads policy for the AA, said: 'Drug driving has been a silent epidemic in road safety for the last few years and it is time the issue was given some serious scrutiny. 'Public perception may consider it to be a 'young driver' problem but with the average age of drug driving convictions being in their early 30s it shows that this offence is more widespread. 'In order to tackle this issue we need more education of the dangers, as well as more enforcement.' A grandmother died 'alone and curled up on the floor' while waiting more than five hours for an ambulance - despite living five minutes from hospital, her family say. Rachel Rose Gibson, 58, was 'neglected by emergency services' when she died at her home in Wrexham, Wales, according to loved ones. Family say the grandmother-of-seven had called an ambulance at 4pm on Wednesday April 5 as she was coughing up blood and in chronic pain. However, by the time an ambulance arrived at 9:30pm she had sadly passed away. One of Rachel's two daughters, Nikita, 29, said the circumstances of her mothers death 'haunts' her and has made it difficult for their family to 'grieve properly'. Rachel Rose Gibson, pictured with one of her grandchildren, died 'alone and curled up on the floor' while waiting more than five hours for an ambulance The 58-year-old grandmother-of-seven had called an ambulance at 4pm on Wednesday April 5 as she was coughing up blood and in chronic pain 'Considering she was spewing up blood she should've been a priority,' she said. 'She only lives five minutes away from the hospital, but must've been in too much pain to get into a taxi. 'She was lying on the floor curled up in a blanket - she must've been in so much pain. 'It haunts me to know she died alone in so much pain. I feel like I can't fully grieve because I'm so angry at what's happened. 'I feel like it's not urgent enough to the ambulance service. She was neglected and left alone to die. They should've been there.' Nikita said herself and her sister, Andrea, 39, have been deeply affected by their mothers 'shocking' death. She also added that her mother had no previous physical health conditions. They are awaiting blood test results to confirm her cause of death, but Nikita said she had been told it may have been a heart attack. One of Rachel's daughters, Nikita, pictured with her son, said 'considering she was spewing up blood she should've been a priority' Rachel's other daughter, Andrea, 39, said she has been deeply affected by her mothers 'shocking' death Ambulance crews spent over 700 hours outside hospitals across Wales waiting to hand patients over to our hospital colleagues on the day Rachel died. 'It's disgusting that we are literally using ambulances as waiting rooms,' Nikita said. 'Why can they send billions of pounds to Ukraine but not to our NHS hospitals and emergency services? They don't know how long she was dead for when they arrives, but her face was red which means it must have been a while. 'My mum was a generous, loving woman. She was in need. She should have been a priority and they should have come to help as soon as possible, not five-and-a-half hours later.' Nikita has since started a fundraiser to help pay for her mums funeral costs. Liam Williams, executive director of quality and nursing at the Welsh Ambulance Service has issued a statement following Ms Gibson's death. He said: 'We would like to extend our sincere condolences to the Gibson family at this difficult time, and we would like to invite the family to contact us directly, so that we can work with them to ensure a full investigation is carried out. Ms Gibson, who lived in Wrexham, Wales, is pictured with one of her seven grandchildren 'On April 5 2023, our ambulance crews spent over 700 hours outside hospitals across Wales waiting to hand patients over to our hospital colleagues, which in turn meant that our ambulances couldn't respond to those waiting in the community. 'We are working hard with health board colleagues and Welsh Government to find solutions to the long waits at emergency departments in order to release our crews to respond, but these issues are complex and not easily fixed.' Michelle Greene, East integrated Health Community Director at Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board, added: 'Our Emergency Department remains extremely busy, and we apologise that this is resulting in longer waiting times than we would like, despite the best efforts of our nursing and medical staff. 'We continue to face challenges to discharge patients from hospital to suitable accommodation or care services. 'We are also working with the Welsh Ambulance Service to ensure sufficient ambulances are available to respond to calls in the community.' Three of the four Nord Stream pipelines were blasted on September 26, 2022 German investigators are pursuing leads which could implicate Ukraine in carrying out the Nord Stream pipeline blasts last September, according to a new report. It comes despite suspicious Russian naval activity in the area just days prior to the unexplained explosions on the pipes built to transport gas from Russia to Germany. The blasts on September 26, 2022, caused major damage to three of the four Nord Stream pipelines, which took 15 years to build, severing the main energy link between Russia and the West. Despite three ongoing investigations being carried out by Germany, Sweden and Denmark, no perpetrator has yet been identified. Blame has been pinned on the US, Russia, the Ukrainian secret services and an unnamed businessman in Ukraine. All three countries have vehemently denied responsibility. German investigators are pursuing leads that Ukraine were responsible for carrying out the mysterious Nord Stream pipeline blasts last September. Pictured: A gas leak at Nord Stream 2 The blasts knocked out three of the four strands of the pipelines, essentially destroying the main energy link between Russia and the West More recently, all eyes have pointed towards Russian naval activity in the Baltic Sea around the time of the explosions. Reports in Denmark said a Russian submarine rescue ship SS-750 was photographed in the sea four days prior to the blasts. The SS-750 has its own mini-submarine, called the AS-26, which can reach depths of 262 feet (80 metres) and carry loads of up to 50kg. However, some critics question why Vladimir Putin would have interest in diminishing Russia's energy leverage over Europe by blowing up the vital gas pipes. In contrast, others claim Russia may have wanted to send a warning signal to the West about the vulnerability of crucial gas pipelines at sea. They also claim that Moscow could hide behind a screen of plausible deniability by blowing up its own pipelines in the Baltic Sea - east of the Danish island of Bornholm. The Times reports that the Federal Office of Criminal Investigation (BKA) is now investigating new leads that could implicate Ukraine and clear Russia of wrongdoing. In fact, investigative journalists from Germany, Poland, Sweden and Denmark claimed today that the BKA were unconvinced of any Russian sabotage after thoroughly examining Moscow's naval manoeuvres around the site of the blasts. German investigators have now turned their attention to the Andromeda (pictured) - a yacht hire by a Polish company from the north German port of Rostock just weeks before the explosions were carried out German investigators have now turned their attention to the Andromeda - a yacht hired by a Polish company from the north German port of Rostock just weeks before the explosions were carried out. Andromeda is said to have docked in the marina of Christianso, a tiny Danish island northeast of Bornholm and in close proximity to where the three bombs went off, in the days leading up to the sabotage. The yacht was found with traces of 'military-grade and underwater-deployable' explosives. The theory suggests that five men and a woman arrived in Germany using fake Bulgarian and Romanian passports before using the yacht as a base to deploy trained divers to plant the bombs around 70m below sea level. German investigators argue the attacks would have required aid from state security services and claim to have found evidence that could implicate Ukraine, according to the Suddeutsche Zeitung newspaper. The complex trail is said to lead to a shell company, a travel bureau, which was created by two Ukrainians in Warsaw. The yacht (pictured) was found with traces of 'military-grade and underwater-deployable' explosives The report also suggests German authorities have singled out two other Ukrainians, from near Kyiv and Odesa, as other members on board the yacht. One, a 26-year-old man, is alleged to have previously served in Ukraine's army. Despite these theories , security analysts have raised doubts over how such a complex operation could have been carried out by a group on a small yacht without a submarine. The latest investigations into who carried out the pipe blasts come as Ukraine and Russia contest over whether the city of Bakhmut has been occupied by Moscow. While Putin has congratulated mercenary group Wagner and his Russian army on taking hold of the destroyed city in eastern Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelensky has continued to deny it has been taken. The disappearance of three-year-old British girl Madeleine McCann from a popular holiday resort in Portugal's Algarve has confounded detectives for more than 16 years. No one has ever been charged in connection with the disappearance of Maddie, who would now be almost 20, but last year a convicted sex offender was named as the prime suspect in the high profile case. German native Christian Brueckner is currently in prison for the unrelated rape of a 72-year-old woman in Praia da Luz - the same resort the little girl went missing from. Formerly referred to only as Christian B, the suspect's yellow and white campervan was reportedly spotted near the area where the young girl went missing on May 3, 2007. Now, police are searching a remote reservoir 31 miles from the resort which Brueckner reportedly used to visit, and called 'his little paradise'. As prosecutors try to build a picture of Brueckner's life on the Algarve, MailOnline looks at why the convicted paedophile is a suspect in the notorious case. Last year convicted sex offender Christian Brueckner was named as the prime suspect in the high profile case No one has been charged in connection with the disappearance of Madeleine McCann, who would now be almost 20 Police are searching a remote reservoir 31 miles from Praia da Luz which Brueckner reportedly used to visit, and called 'his little paradise' Who is Christian Brueckner? Christian Brueckner is a German native and sex offender who is the sole named suspect in the disappearance of Madeleine McCann. The prisoner is a prolific burglar and has been convicted for sex crimes against young girls. He was born in Germany in 1976 and moved to Portugal in his late teens, working in the food industry. He is believed to have resided in the country between 1995 and 2007 and spent time living in his campervan there not far from the Algarve resort of Praia da Luz. Pictures have been released of Brueckner behind bars in Germany, where he is currently serving a prison sentence. He is described as being about 6ft tall, slim and having short blond hair. Brueckner was officially named as a suspect in the Madeleine McCann case in April 2022. Brueckner was officially named as a suspect in April 2022 after his yellow and white VW T3 Westfalia campervan was reportedly spotted near the Praia da Luz resort Why is he a suspect in the Madeleine McCann case? Brueckner was named a suspect in the case after his yellow and white VW T3 Westfalia campervan was reportedly spotted near the Praia da Luz resort in Portugal where Maddie vanished. He has denied he was in the area at the time and distanced himself from the allegations against him. But German prosecutors say phone logs show he received a call on May 3, 2007 near the Ocean Club. Brueckner maintains that he was miles away with a young German woman, who he insists he had been driving to the airport in Faro. Detectives investigating the disappearance of Madeleine McCann (left) launched a major search of a Portuguese reservoir that suspect Christian Brueckner (right) used to call his 'little paradise' Last year, he spoke out for the first time on the case, denying allegations he was involved in her disappearance in a letter seen by MailOnline. Made an official suspect in the case in April 2022, he stressed that he was 'not there at the time and that he was not living close to the place [of her disappearance].' Portuguese police named Brueckner an arguido, or formal suspect, in the case on 21 April last year. It was the first time they had identified an official suspect in Maddie's disappearance since 2007. Authorities' interest in Brueckner was first sparked in 2017, after he allegedly told a drinking buddy 'he knew all about' what had happened to the little girl as they sat in a bar in Portugal ten years after she vanished. Now police have launched a major search of a Portuguese reservoir that prime suspect Christian Brueckner used to call his 'little paradise'. The reservoir lies about 45 minutes from Praia da Luz - where Madeleine vanished without a trace in 2007 aged three Why is he in prison in Germany? Brueckner is currently in prison for the rape of a 72-year-old American woman in Praia da Luz. He is currently serving a seven-year sentence in Oldenburg jail in northern Germany for the 2005 attack, which took place just 18 months before Maddie's disappearance. He was known to break into Algarve hotel rooms and apartments to supplement his income from drug dealing. He was said to have planned to rob the woman's apartment but 'moved on to a sexual motive'. It is understood he has 17 convictions against him for various crimes in Germany, including child sex abuse and burglary. What other cases has he been linked to? Brueckner has been charged by German prosecutors with several sex crimes he allegedly committed in Portugal between 28 December 2000 and 11 June 2017. In April 2007 he allegedly exposed himself to a 10-year-old German girl on Salema beach, very close to where Madeleine disappeared a month later. Prosecutors also accused him of raping a woman and two girls, including an Irish national identified as Hazel B, who was 20 when she was allegedly attacked in 2004. Brueckner is currently in prison for the rape of a 72-year-old American woman in Praia da Luz A spokesperson from the Braunschweig prosecutor's office said: 'The accused is the same person against whom charges were brought in connection with the disappearance of the then three-year-old British girl Madeleine Beth McCann. 'Specifically, the accused is charged with three offences of aggravated rape and two offences of sexual abuse of children. 'The investigation into the disappearance of Madeleine McCann continues.' The family of a woman who was brutally murdered in her New York City apartment by a mentally ill homeless man has sued police for allegedly causing her death by taking too long to try to save her. Christina Yuan Lee, 35, was stabbed more than 40 times in February, 2022, after Assamad Nash followed her inside her Chinatown building as she got out of a cab in the early morning hours, according to police. Neighbors contacted the New York Police Department after hearing Lee's desperate screams for 'at least five minutes' as she was being attacked by Nash, who has a long criminal record. Lee's family says two unidentified officers stood outside Lee's apartment as they heard her screams, failing to break down the door in time to save the ad executive, claims the lawsuit, which was filed in the Manhattan Supreme Court on Friday and first reviewed by The Daily Beast. The lawsuit claims the officers, who came from the 5th Precinct just a few blocks way from Lee's apartment, even spoke to her alleged murderer. Christina Yuan Lee, 35, was stabbed more than 40 times in February, 2022. Her family has sued the New York Police Department for taking too long to try to save her Assamad Nash followed Lee inside her Chinatown building as she got out of a cab, according to police Security video captured Nash creeping into the building on Chrystie Street behind Lee, who didn't notice he had slipped in before the front door had closed behind her It states: 'Despite having reason to believe Ms. Lees life was in imminent danger, [the officers] failed to gain entry to Ms. Lees apartment or otherwise provide her with any potentially life-saving police or medical assistance at that time.' Assamad Nash's lengthy criminal history Transportation fraud and drug charge Nash was arrested last September 23 for using an unlimited subway fair card to admit other riders through the turnstile for a fee. An arresting officer allegedly found synthetic cannabinoid in his pocket. He was charged with the unauthorized sale of certain transportation services, and possession of synthetic phenethylamines and synthetic cannabinoids. He was released on his own recognizance. Assault Nash was arrested last September 28 for punching a man with a closed fist, 'causing redness and swelling' to the victim's right eye and 'substantial pain'. He was charged with two counts of third-degree assault, one count of second-degree aggravated harassment, attempted assault, and harassment. He was released on his own recognizance. Criminal mischief Nash was arrested January 6 following a string of 27 MetroCard Vending Machine vandalisms between December 9 and December 31. He attempted to escape while being arrested and was charged with 27 counts of criminal mischief, one count of attempted escape, escape in the third degree, and resisting arrest. He was given supervised release. Advertisement The New York Times reported last year that the officers said they had heard a woman - who turned out to be Nash - saying, We dont need the police herego away.' It wasn't until additional officers arrived more than an hour later that the door to Lee's apartment was finally forced open. Inside, police found Lee's body in her bathtub. Nash was found hiding under a mattress. The family's lawsuit asks for unspecified compensatory damages. The NYPD declined to comment on pending litigation when contacted by DailyMail.com on Monday. DailyMail.com has reached out to Lee's family for comment. The lawsuit also places blame on the NYPD for not getting violent crime under control in the area of Lee's apartment, mentioning the random 2021 fatal stabbing of delivery worker Sala Miah near the Sara D. Roosevelt Park. Lee was killed shortly after hopping out of a taxi following a night out. Security video captured Nash creeping into the building on Chrystie Street behind Lee, who didn't notice her he had slipped in before the front door had closed behind her. Nash kept his distance as the digital producer climbed the six flights to her apartment, climbing up one floor below as she went. He rushed her as Lee unlocked her front door and entered her apartment, police said. Neighbors were awakened at 4:20 a.m. to Lee's blood-curdling screams of 'Please, help me. Call 911,' and one of them immediately summoned police. Officers responded to the scene within minutes, but Nash had barricaded himself inside the apartment and tried to get them to leave by making several contradictory statements. 'I am alone in the apartment. We are ok. No one is bleeding. We don't need help. You broke my door. Go away. We don't need the police, I am fine,' Nash was seen saying on body camera footage, according to the indictment. Nash then attempted to flee the apartment through the fire escape with a yellow object in his hand but went back inside after seeing a police officer on the roof above him, according to the Manhattan District Attorney's Office. When officers finally broke down the door to Lee's apartment 90 minutes later, they found the partially naked woman bleeding to death from 40 wounds to her torso, head and neck inside the bathtub. Lee's family says two unidentified officers stood outside Lee's apartment as they heard her screams, failing to break down the door in time to save the ad executive Nash was charged with first-degree murder, burglary and burglary as a sexually motivated felony in March, 2022 Nash pleaded not guilty to the charges, which could land him in prison for the rest of his life, if he is convicted A bloodstained yellow-handed knife from Lee's kitchen set was found stashed behind a dresser. Nash was charged with first-degree murder, burglary and burglary as a sexually motivated felony in March, 2022. He pleaded not guilty through his attorney. According to the indictment, at the time of his arrest, Nash made a series of false statements seeking to convince the police that another attacker was responsible for Lee's killing, and that he was injured trying to protect the woman. Lee's killing, which came amid a dramatic increase in hate crimes targeting Asian-Americans, shocked the city and renewed questions about New York state's controversial bail reforms, after it was revealed Nash was a serial offender out on supervised release stemming from a robbery. At the time of his arrest, Nash was out on supervised release stemming from four open cases, including punching 63-year-old David Elliot in a subway station. Delaware Senator Tom Carper, a long-time ally of Joe Biden, will retire in 2025 after deciding at the age of 76 not to seek re-election next year. Carper, who first won his seat in 2000, has been at the forefront of Democratic politics for decades in the state where Biden also served as a senator. 'If there's ever an opportune time to step aside and pass the torch to the next generation, it's coming, and it will be here on January 3, 2025 at noon,' the Vietnam war veteran said. Carper said on Monday that he won't seek re-election next week and will stand down formally in January 2025 The long-serving senator is an ally of Joe Biden and a Vietnam war veteran He had mulled in 2018 whether to quit, but decided to run for his fourth term amid doubts over who would replace him and his personal concerns about a Donald Trump presidency. Carper also served as governor and a Congressman for Delaware prior to entering the Senate, winning 14 statewide elections in total. He was first elected in Delaware at the tender age of 29 - the same age Biden became a senator - as the state treasurer. It means there will yet another open primary battle for plum safe Democratic seats as Dianne Feinstein, Debbie Stabenow and Ben Cardin also plan to stand down. The frontrunner is Representative Lisa Blunt Rochester, a Congresswoman representing Delaware in the lower chamber since 2017. 'If the seat was open, I would definitely consider it,' she said of the possible Senate position that could potentially guarantee the 61-year-old a job for life. If Blunt Rochester runs and wins, she would be the only black and female senator in office. But she has not formally declared her intention to do so. Blunt Rochester has also been a key ally of President Biden, who carries significant political weight in the state he represented in the Senate for nearly four decades. And Carper appeared to throw his weight behind her possible candidacy just after announcing his imminent retirement. 'We love Lisa, and I spoke with her this morning and I said you've been patiently waiting for me to get out the way, and I'm gonna get out of the way, and I hope you run,' he said. Blunt Rochester worked as an intern for Carper when he served in the House of Representatives. Chris Coons, who also represents Delaware in the Senate, praised Carper for 'working across the aisle, solving complex problems, and making a lasting difference.' Carper spent 23 years in the U.S. military before entering politics, serving three tours in Vietnam. He often takes the Amtrak train home to Delaware every night to spend time with his wife and has been spotted driving a minivan around the state, sometimes shirtless. Never an easy politician to distill down to a quick soundbite, Carper praised some of the Republicans he has enjoyed working with throughout his Senate career. 'I would get a lot more attention from the media if I would say hateful things about Shelley Capito and John Cornyn,' Carper said, referring to the two GOP senators. 'But I don't. They are my friends.' National Republican Senatorial Committee spokesman Tate Mitchell taunted Carper, saying his move was merely pre-emptive ahead of a huge Republican win in the next elections. 'Senate Democrats keep retiring because they know they are going to lose the majority,' he said. A new search for Madeleine McCann will begin in Portugal today, as expert divers are set to be deployed to pick through the murky depths of a reservoir 15 miles from where the British toddler went missing in 2007. Detectives investigating the disappearance of the three-year-old announced yesterday that they were launching a search in the area - which prime suspect Christian Brueckner is believed to have used as a 'base' and called his 'little paradise'. In the first major search in the high profile case in almost a decade, police yesterday sealed off the area as they prepared to begin scouring it for any trace of Maddie. Portuguese police have already been spotted inspecting the land around the Barragem do Arade reservoir, which is near the town of Silves, a short drive from Praia du Luz, the Algarve resort Maddie disappeared from. The reservoir was previously searched unsuccessfully in 2008, with the diving team leader at the time describing the 'long process' his team faced navigating the 'black' waters. Detectives investigating the disappearance of Madeleine McCann (left) have launched a major search of a Portuguese reservoir that suspect Christian Brueckner (right) used to call his 'little paradise' Portuguese officers were pictured surveying the reservoir in Silves today ahead of the start of the official search operation for Madeleine beginning tomorrow The search is expected to last for at least two days and beyond that if anything of relevance is found at the reservoir, which lies about 45 minutes from Praia da Luz - where Madeleine vanished without a trace in 2007 aged three Officers of Portugal's investigative Judicial Police were seen at the site of a remote reservoir in Silves yesterday. They confirmed that they have launched a fresh search alongside German and British authorities A vehicle of Portugal's Emergency Services carries wheelbarrows at the site of the reservoir Police are aiming to build up a picture of sole suspect Christian Brueckner's life on the Algarve and the places he frequented as they search the Barragem reservoir in Silves, Portugal Alan Wilson, who headed the Lagos-based team which searched the reservoir twice in 2008, said at the time: 'You can't see anything down there. Everything is black because there is no light. 'The divers are searching entirely by touch, feeling in the silt for anything suspicious that shouldn't be there. It's a long, slow process.' As well as divers, around 20 police officers have been assigned to search the area over the next few days, while Scotland Yard detectives are understood to have travelled to the site from the UK with a 'watching brief'. Madeleine was just three-years-old when she disappeared from her bed in a holiday villa in Praia du Luz. She was in the same room as her two-year-old twin brother and sister while her parents had dinner with friends at a nearby restaurant. German police were also said to have arrived at the reservoir at around 6.30pm local time on Monday, having received permission to search the 'area of interest' that Brueckner reportedly used to come to 'regularly'. Hans Christian Wolters, German state prosecutor in Braunschweig, told the BBC a short statement of confirmation would be released by German authorities this morning. Privately, senior investigators close to the case told MailOnline they 'didn't have a specific lead' but that the search was part of the 'ongoing investigation'. The search, predominantly on one area of the vast lake, is expected to last for at least two days and beyond that if anything of relevance is found at the reservoir, which lies about 45 minutes from Praia da Luz. Yesterday morning, police tents were being erected at the scene as cops descended on the reservoir, while they were also expected to start closing off roads leading to the site in preparation for the official search. It will be the first major operation of its kind since June 2014 when British police were given permission to dig in Praia da Luz using sniffer dogs trained in detecting bodies and ground-penetrating radar. 'Obviously we remain confident that we will find an element or piece of evidence that will lead to the case being solved but at the moment we are still looking at various elements,' the source told MailOnline. 'We know that the main suspect visited the area frequently and we have spoken to several witnesses who knew him at the time and who have confirmed this. 'It would be bad police work if we didn't check everything out but for the time being it's safe to say there is no new hot lead.' Two officers from Portugal's Judicial Police were pictured walking around the grounds of the reservoir yesterday Police tents were spotted being erected as cops prepared for a new search operation, 16 years on from the toddler going missing Portuguese police were seen at the makeshift base camp in the Arade dam area, Faro district, one day before the official start of the new search for Madeleine Pictured: Tents are seen set up near the reservoir in Portugal as police start searching for Madeleine Pictured: Tents in the wooded area around the dam near Silves, Portugal, on 22 May It was not immediately clear what had prompted this week's operation, and whether it was hastily arranged after police in Germany received a new tip-off or had been organised over time, as prosecutors continue to try to build up a picture of sole suspect Christian Brueckner's life on the Algarve and the places he frequented. Portuguese broadcaster SIC reported that German police sought permission to search the dam in an official judicial request to Portugal after concluding it was 'an area of interest'. READ MORE: Who is Christian Brueckner? The German Madeleine Mccann suspect and sex offender Last year convicted sex offender Christian Brueckner was named as the prime suspect in the high profile case Advertisement It said: 'Investigators know suspect Cristian Brueckner used to come to this dam regularly. 'He would call it his little paradise and would often spend the night here. He was seen here often. 'The German authorities considered this reservoir to be an area of interest and ended up sending an International letter of request or letter rogatory.' The convicted sex offender is also alleged to have lived very close to the site, in a home just 12 miles away, a source told The Sun. The dam is a 40 minute drive from the residence and is also located in between Foral, where the abandoned villa is said to be, and Praia da Luz. The site is also just a short drive away from Silves, where a lorry driver says he saw a woman handing a child who looked like Madeleine over to a man two days after she went missing. The area was searched twice in February and March 2008 by divers hired by a Portuguese lawyer. Prior to the previous searches, officials received a tip-off from an 'underworld' source that Madeleine was 'murdered' and 'thrown into a deserted lake'. Expert divers will now explore the depths of the dam around the Barragem do Arade reservoir, with digs also set to take place in woodland by the water. Local reports are claiming around 80 per cent of the searches will be on land and the rest underwater. As police from three countries gear up for a mass search, a source close to the lawyer of prime suspect Brueckner said they would be 'amazed if they find anything' at the reservoir he used to visit. Yesterday was described as a preparation day in which logistics are sorted out ahead of the search today. A peninsula over a mile long jutting into the reservoir was sealed off just after midday on Monday, ahead of the dive. Several local council lorries were also spotted on the land as tents were set up. In another area, just under a mile away, Portuguese Civil Protection workers were seen setting up a tent alongside police. Portugal's Policia Judiciaria force said in a statement: 'In view of the news made public, the Judiciary Police confirms that, regarding the investigation into the disappearance of an English child, which occurred in the Algarve in 2007, steps are still being taken to fully clarify the situation. Senior investigators close to the case told MailOnline they 'didn't have a specific lead' but that the search was part of the 'ongoing investigation' Officials were pictured starting to gather at the site of the reservoir ahead of the search 'Within the scope of international cooperation, in the next few days in the Algarve region, new searches will be carried out, coordinated by the Judiciary Police, at the request of the German Authorities (BKA) and with the presence of the British Authorities. 'Information will be provided in due course on the outcome of the proceedings.' One well-placed source described the new search as a German-led operation which was being coordinated with the help of Portuguese police and was linked to information the authorities had gleaned pointing to regular trips Brueckner made to the dam. The insider said: 'Portuguese police will offer logistical support but the initiative is German and they were the ones that requested the work that is going to take place this week. 'Scotland Yard officers are due to travel to Portugal but theirs will be a watching brief.' Local police set up cordons ahead of the major search expected to last at least two days Officials were seen nearby on Monday, setting up tents ahead of the major search Barragem reservoir in Silves, southern Portugal, where police will start to look for Madeleine German police looking for Madeleine McCann are about to begin a major search of a remote Algarve reservoir suspect Christian Brueckner used to visit. Pictured: Barragem reservoir in Silves Portuguese lawyer Marcos Aragao Correia organised a privately-funded search of the dam in 2008. He claimed that he had been tipped off by underworld contacts that Madeleine had been murdered and her body thrown into the reservoir within 48 hours of her disappearance. Two bags containing small bones were found during the second search after divers had earlier recovered several lengths of cord, some plastic tape and a single white cotton sock. Portuguese police were alerted following the discovery but subsequently ruled out the possibility the bones were human because of their size. Last year, suspect Christian Brueckner spoke out for the first time on the case, denying allegations he was involved in her disappearance in a letter seen by MailOnline. After being made an official suspect in the case in April 2022, he stressed that he was 'not there at the time and that he was not living close to the place [of her disappearance].' Brueckner, linked to four child murders across Europe since 1996, said: 'I'm the most-known bad person in the world and I did nothing - well almost nothing.' He added: 'I wasn't kidnapping anybody and of course I wasn't killing anybody. 'I'll go further, I'll tell you I wasn't attacking anybody after I was 18. 'I made some silly mistakes when I was younger but who hasn't?' Brueckner has yet to face any formal accusation over the youngster's disappearance. On May 12, the family posted a video to mark their daughter's 20th birthday. The slideshow featured images of Madeleine and missing person posters put up since her disappearance. 'We love you and we're waiting for you. We're never going to give up,' it read. A general view of the dam which Brueckner reportedly called his 'little paradise' Madeleine Beth McCann went missing while on holiday with her family on the evening of May 3, 2007. The McCanns were themselves given 'arguido' suspect status in September 2007, which was lifted when the case was archived in July 2008 for lack of evidence. The family kept the investigation open with private detectives until Scotland Yard opened its own enquiry in 2011. Nine years later, police in Braunschweig, northern Germany, identified a convicted paedophile and German national as a new suspect. In 2021, prosecutors said they were '100% sure' that they had the right man. German prosecutor Hans Wolters said evidence included phone analysis placing him at the Ocean Club resort the family was staying at when Madeleine went missing and an alleged confession Brueckner made to a friend. In April, it was reported Christian Brueckner may not face charges in Germany over Madeleine's disappearance after a court ruled prosecutors had no jurisdiction to pursue a case against him, however. Handout picture of Madeleine McCann, who went missing in Portugal on May 3 in 2007 Parents Kate (L) and Gerry McCann (R) pose with an artist's impression of how their daughter might have looked [then] at the age of nine ahead of a press conference on May 2, 2012 The Ocean Club in Luz in the Algarve, Portugal, where Madeleine McCann went missing Expert divers are now set to explore the murky depths of the dam around the Barragem do Arade reservoir (pictured) Madeleine's parents Gerry and Kate McCann had previously dismissed Mr Correia as a self-publicist and said there was no evidence suggesting any link between their daughter and the reservoir. It is not thought to have been searched since March 2008 as part of the ongoing investigation into her disappearance. Digs by Scotland Yard nearly nine years ago in Praia da Luz were linked to the leading UK police theory at the time, that Madeleine died during a break-in and burglars dumped her body nearby. In July 2020 Portuguese police and firefighters searched three wells for Madeleine's body but failed to find any trace of her. Hopes were dashed last month when a DNA test showed Julia Wendell was not Madeleine McCann, despite her insistence that she was. Wendell's own parents branded her claims 'lies and manipulation'. Later in April, she was reported to police over claims she had explicit images of children on her phone. She denied the claims and said she had already spoken to Polish police about the matter. The woman's actions have caused some $500,000 in damages Incidents happened at two spots in British Columbia from January to April Police say a woman keyed an estimated 400 cars at dealerships in Canada A woman was caught on security cameras repeatedly keying cars at dealerships in Canada, hitting an estimated 400 vehicles 'one by one' over the span of four months. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police shared footage and pictures of the mischievous vandal taking a key to brand-new cars at two dealerships in British Columbia. The video shows the woman - covered head to toe in warm clothing and wearing a mask - slowly moving from car to car and making small scratches on each vehicle. In total, the woman's actions have caused some $500,000 in damages at dealerships in the Coquitlam area during three separate incidents. 'It is clear in the videos that the suspect was deliberately scratching the vehicles one-by-one,' RCMP Corporal Alexa Hodgins said in a statement. A woman was caught on security cameras repeatedly keying cars at dealerships in Canada, hitting an estimated 400 vehicles 'one by one' over the span of four months The Royal Canadian Mounted Police shared footage and pictures of the mischievous vandal taking a key to brand-new cars at two dealerships in British Columbia The video shows the woman - covered head to toe in warm clothing and wearing a mask - slowly moving from car to car and making small scratches on each vehicle Shocking footage shows the woman carrying out her menacing acts at the Journey Chrysler Jeep Dodge and Ram dealership and the Journey Approved dealership in the British Columbia city. The two dealerships are located roughly a half a mile away from each other. According to RCMP, police responded to three separate events of 'mass car keying incidents' at the two dealerships between January and April. In addition to damaging the exteriors of vehicles on the lots, the woman also vandalized the outside of one of the businesses. The exact amount in damage done is unknown at this time but police say it could be in the range of half a million dollars. In the shocking footage, the woman walks calmly from vehicle to vehicle with a set of keys in her gloved hands. She quickly scrapes the side or the hood of each car before moving on to the next. Another clip - purportedly from a different night - shows her holding an umbrella and walking through a packed dealership lot, scraping the hoods of each car she passes. Police believe she is acting alone and her motive in this matter is unclear. Shocking footage shows the woman carrying out her menacing acts at the Journey Chrysler Jeep Dodge and Ram dealership and the Journey Approved dealership Journey Chrysler Jeep Dodge and Ram (left) and Journey approved dealership (right) Another clip - purportedly from a different night - shows her holding an umbrella and walking through a packed dealership lot, scraping the hoods of each car she passes 'It is clear in the videos that the suspect was deliberately scratching the vehicles one-by-one,' RCMP Corporal Alexa Hodgins said in a statement It is believed the woman responsible in the car keyings drives a 2008-2013 Ford Escape RCMP is asking the public for assistance in locating the woman responsible. 'Our investigators are continuing to follow up on any investigational leads, but are requesting the assistance from the public in identifying the suspect,' Hodgins said. The woman is described as white, roughly 40-50 years old with shoulder-length blonde hair and a heavy build. It is believed she drives a 2008-2013 Ford Escape. Anyone with information on the brazen vandalizations is asked to call the Coquitlam RCMP at 604-945-1550. The video posted to YouTube by the RCMP has been viewed more than 100,000 times as of Monday morning. The clips have garnered dozens of comments from people speculating on what sparked the keying incidents and how much more damage she may do. 'Lol she did 500k damage.. "mischief" is a massive understatement,' one wrote. 'Someone at the dealership pissed her off,' another wrote. 'This is crazy,' a third commenter shared. Feature: Ducomentary director expects Japanese audience to see ordinary, real China Xinhua) 15:17, May 22, 2023 TOKYO, May 22 (Xinhua) -- A film event dedicated to screening a series of China-themed documentaries shot by Japanese director Ryo Takeuchi is currently underway in Tokyo. At the recent premiere of his documentary "The Yangtze River," Takeuchi expressed his intention to hold the documentary week in Japan. "There are still many biased reports about China in Japan. So I hope that through these films, everyone can see an ordinary and real China that the media does not usually report, or that has not been reported," the documentary director said on Friday. In fact, Takeuchi's story about the Yangtze River started much earlier. Back in 2011, he participated in the filming of a documentary about China's longest river for NHK, Japan's public broadcaster, when he sailed on the river from west China's Qinghai and Sichuan provinces down to Shanghai. For the new production of the Yangtze River, Takeuchi travelled along the 6,300-km river to record how the glacier melts and forms the "first drops of water" of the river and showed the audience the changes that have taken place in China in the past decade through one river. The 129-minute documentary not only showcased the magnificent scenery of China's mountains and rivers but also took a candid look at the great changes of China over the years through the comparison of the interviewees' lives in 10 years, providing insights into the real China by recording people's daily life in straightforward ways. Shiroiwa, a Japanese film viewer, expressed his eagerness to visit China again: "I was fascinated by China when I first visited the country in 2018. I am really happy to see so many places in China through the documentary. Now that I have started learning Chinese, I hope to go to China again soon to see the Yangtze River." More audience said that their understanding of China has changed after watching the documentary. Yamashita, who works in the Japanese financial industry, told Xinhua, "Regarding the Three Gorges, the Japanese media only reported that people were forcibly relocated. But through the documentary, I saw people living a different life through relocation and keeping up with the times." "That really touched me. I hope more Japanese people can go to the cinema to see the film and understand China in a comprehensive way," he said. The documentary gives the audience a real sense of the changes that China's development has brought to the lives of the people. Many Japanese viewers said what impressed them the most in the movie was the change of life for Rinchen Cimu, a Tibetan girl. "Ten years ago, the Tibetan girl who could only greet tourists shyly with a lamb in her arms at the doorstep of her house and had never seen a high-rise building, became a high-end guesthouse operator 10 years later. It's really astonishing," Japanese reporter Ito said emotionally. Takako Tajima from the Japan-China Friendship Association in Kanagawa prefecture said, "Through the documentary, I have seen a broader and richer China and the simplicity and kindness of the Chinese people. I was very moved." "I want to invite the over 500 members of the association to watch it, and I also hope that this documentary can be shown not only in Tokyo, but throughout Japan," she added. Running on May 19-25, Ryo Takeuchi's Documentary Week features four film version of the documentaries "The Yangtze River," "100 Faces of Huawei," "Long Time No See, Wuhan," and "Beyond the Mountain." "I hope that everyone can understand the current China from multiple angles," Takeuchi said in the documentary's promotional page. "Since I have shot films in dozens of countries I really haven't seen any country as interesting and incredible as China." (Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Liang Jun) Dyno Nobel which manufactured the explosive chemical said it probably leaked Thirty tons of ammonium nitrate, a powerful explosive, vanished on a two-week rail shipment from Wyoming to California. A railcar laden with the chemical left an explosives plant in Cheyenne on April 12 but on arrival in Saltdale - an old mining town in the Mojave Desert - the cargo was gone. Manufacturer, Dyno Nobel, informed the National Response Center the product was missing. The firm makes explosives for a variety of applications including mining, construction and oil and gas exploration. Ammonium nitrate, which can also be used as a fertilizer, is notorious for its use in the Oklahoma City bombing which killed 168 people in 1995 - the deadliest terror attack in US history after 9/11. Dyno Nobel told KQED, which first reported on the missing material, that ammonium nitrate fertilizer pellets likely leaked from the car during transit. That theory is supported by the fact that the car containing the material was sealed when it left Wyoming and those seals 'were still intact' when it arrived in California. A railcar laden with the chemical left an explosives plant in Cheyenne (pictured) on April 12 but on arrival in Saltdale was gone Union Pacific, which operated the train carrying the explosive chemicals, said if the pellets had leaked from the train it would be harmless. 'The fertilizer is designed for ground application and quick soil absorption. If the loss resulted from a railcar leak over the course of transportation from origin to destination, the release should pose no risk to public health or the environment,' spokesperson Robynn Tysver told DailyMail.com. Union Pacific also ruled out the possibility of theft, saying 'we do not believe there is any criminal or malicious activity involved.' The product is transported in hopper cars, and according to Union Pacific only part of the rail car was carrying the 60,000 pounds (30 tons) of pellets. Ammonium nitrate fertilizer costs around $600 per ton, according to New Mexico State University, so the missing shipment would have been worth something in the region of $18,000. Stan Blake, a former Wyoming state lawmaker and retired train conductor, told Cowboy State Daily it wouldn't be hard to drain one of the hopper cars of its load of the pellets. The cars have two or three sections, Blake said, and there's a gate at the bottom of them. 'You can use up a big bar and open that gate and it'll pour out,' he told the outlet. Union Pacific, which operated the train carrying the explosive chemicals, said if the pellets had leaked from the train it would be harmless. Pictured is a Union Pacific train hauling bulk grain through Kansas He also suggested that its possible the pellets never got on the train in the first place, since with a mobile conveyor belt, the chemical can be carried from the open gate into a truck. He said sometimes cars would be registered as carrying loads, but they'd be empty, and vice versa. He said sometimes when cars were joined, they could slam together and some would spill out. He told the outlet he's known people to collect it in plastic bags and put it on their lawn. 'It's great fertilizer,' he said. Ammonium nitrate is used as both a fertilizer and in explosives. A large amount of the material exploded in the Port of Beirut in August 2020 killing 281 people and injuring around 7,000. Junior doctors will strike for at least three days every month over summer after new pay talks with the government broke down as they upped their pay demands to 49 per cent. The British Medical Association (BMA), which has been demanding a 35 per cent pay rise, said the government's offer of 5 per cent - which was also offered to nurses and paramedics - was not 'credible'. The junior doctors will now walkout for 72 hours from 7am on Wednesday, June 14, to 7am on Saturday, June 17. But a Department of Health source said the union had 'unrealistic expectations' and had not only 'refused to shift' during negotiations but 'actually demanded more'. It is understood BMA negotiators proposed a multi-year settlement, which would have seen doctors below the rank of consultant receive a 49 per cent boost between 2021 and 2024, The Times reports. The British Medical Association (BMA), which has been demanding a 35 per cent pay rise, said the government's offer of 5 per cent was not 'credible' Dr Vivek Trivedi and Dr Robert Laurenson (pictured), co-chairs of the BMA Junior Doctors Committee, said they have held three weeks of negotiations with the government since their last strikes in April The strikes are likely to undermine efforts to tackle record waiting lists and leave patients waiting longer for care. Over half a million appointments and operations have so far been cancelled as a result of NHS industrial action by the likes of doctors, nurses and paramedics. Junior doctors held a four-day strike in April and a three-day satrike in March, which caused the cancellation of 370,000 appointments and operations. Around a million NHS staff on the Agenda for Change Contract, which includes most employees other than doctors and dentists, have accepted an offer of a 5 per cent rise and one-off bonus payment. Dr Vivek Trivedi and Dr Robert Laurenson, co-chairs of the BMA Junior Doctors Committee, said they have held three weeks of negotiations with the government since their last strikes in April. They added: 'Talks have now reached a stage where they are currently unproductive. 'Accordingly, we are in a position where we must call new industrial action. 'If the Government doesn't change their position, we will strike throughout the summer. 'This means we will call a minimum of three days of action every month for the duration of our mandate for industrial action.' The pair said they still hope to meet health secretary Steve Barclay (pictured) for talks on Wednesday but sources at the Department say there will be no further meetings until strikes are called off The strikes are likely to undermine efforts to tackle record waiting lists and leave patients waiting longer for care The pair said they still hope to meet health secretary Steve Barclay for talks on Wednesday but sources at the Department say there will be no further meetings until strikes are called off. A government spokesperson said: 'It is both surprising and deeply disappointing that the BMA Junior Doctors Committee has declared further strike action while constructive talks were ongoing. 'These will be hugely disruptive for patients and put pressure on other NHS staff. 'We made a fair and reasonable opening offer, and were in active discussions about both pay and non-pay issues. 'Unfortunately, it seems the BMA is unwilling to move meaningfully away from their unaffordable headline demands on pay. 'The government has been clear that strikes must be paused while talks take place, so while the BMA has chosen to end our current discussions, we remain ready to continue them at any point if strikes are called off.' The Royal College of Nursing will launch a new ballot on industrial action on Tuesday. Emine Ozsoy was walking on a downtown platform at the Lexington Avenue and 63rd Street at around 6:05 a.m. when she was pushed into the E train A woman was left with a broken neck and spine with just ten percent chance of walking again after a man shoved her into a moving subway car in Manhattan on Sunday. Emine Ozsoy was walking on a downtown platform at the Lexington Avenue and 63rd Street station at around 6:05 a.m., when a man came up from behind her and pushed her into a departing E train, according to police. The 35-year-old Turkish immigrant who lives in Jackson Heights, Queens, fell backward onto the platform and suffered severe spinal injuries and lacerations to her head, authorities said. She is hospitalized and in critical condition. She underwent two lengthy surgeries, according to Nadim Ozsoy, 46, whose cousin used to be married to the victim, according to the Daily News, and has been given a 10 percent chance to ever walk again. The victim was transported to Weill Cornell Medical Center after the attack, according to the cops. She was initially reported to be in stable condition upon arriving at the hospital, but police later updated her condition to critical. Emine Ozsoy, 35, was left with a broken neck and spine after a man shoved her into a moving subway car on Sunday Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS. The attacker fled the scene on foot, heading toward the Second Avenue exit, and is now being sought after by police. As of Monday afternoon, the suspect is still at large. Police describe the suspect as a male between 30 to 40 years old and roughly 5 feet 7 inches tall. The surveillance photos, released by police Sunday night, show the alleged attacker wearing a black shirt with a white rim, blue jeans and white sneakers. The photos show the man holding what appears to be a cup of coffee while standing on the platform. The motive for the attack is unclear. It is not clear whether any words were exchanged or if the victim saw the attacker. New York Citys subway crime rose by 30 percent in 2022 and continues to be on the rise. Mayor Eric Adams has increased transit police presence, spending $20 million more per month on overtime costs since January, according to Bloomberg. Last summer, a 26-year-old pregnant woman was struck multiple times by man wielding a wrench in Manhattan, leaving victim badly-injured. Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS. Buckingham Palace has refused to return the body of an Ethiopian prince who was buried at Windsor Castle in the 19th century. A descendant of Prince Alemayehu an orphan who was adored and supported financially by Queen Victoria and died at the age of 18 has demanded that his remains be returned to Ethiopia. But Buckingham Palace has maintained that removing the body would affect others buried in the catacombs of St George's Chapel in Windsor Castle. The Palace said chapel authorities empathised with the need to honour Prince Alemayehu's memory, but added they also had 'the responsibility to preserve the dignity of the departed'. It confirmed that in the past, the Royal Household 'accommodated requests from Ethiopian delegations to visit' the chapel. Buckingham Palace has refused to return the body of Ethiopian Prince Alemayehu who was buried at Windsor Castle in the 19th century A descendant of Prince Alemayehu - an orphan who was adored and supported financially by Queen Victoria and died at the age of 18 - has demanded that his remains be returned to Ethiopia Prince Alemayehu was brought to England after his father, Emperor Tewodros II killed himself as British forces stormed his mountain-top palace in northern Ethiopia in 1868. The orphaned seven-year-old was adored by Queen Victoria and educated at Sandhurst military academy. But he died at the age of 18 from pneumonia in 1879 and was buried in catacombs next to Windsor's St George's Chapel. In 2019, the Queen refused to allow the repatriation of his bones, but in wake of a new book about his life campaigners have renewed calls to return them. One of his descendants Fasil Minas told the BBC: We want his remains back as a family and as Ethiopians because that is not the country he was born in. He added that it was not right for him to be buried in the UK. But a Buckingham Palace spokesman said: It is very unlikely it would be possible to exhume the remains without disturbing the resting place of a substantial number of others in the vicinity [in the catacombs of St Georges Chapel]. The statement added that the palace also had a responsibility to preserve the dignity of the departed. The young orphaned prince cradles a little white doll and stares into space Photograph by Julia Margaret Cameron (1815-1879) of Alamayou (1861-1879), the son of King Theodore of Abyssinia, with Captain J C Speedy Alemayehu's father, King Tewodros II, known as 'Mad King Theodore', had wanted to be friends with the British and wrote a letter to Queen Victoria in 1855. After she failed to reply to that and a follow-up letter, Tewodros took the British consul and several missionaries hostage in a high mountain jail. An army of nearly 40,000 British troops were sent to rescue the 44 hostages. They lay siege in April 1868 to Tewodros' mountain fortress at Maqdala in northern Ethiopia and emerged victorious. As the mission neared its conclusion, Tewodros took his own life. Tewodros's wife, Alemayehu's mother, died on her way down the mountain, leaving her son an orphan. The British also plundered thousands of cultural and religious artefacts including gold crowns and necklaces, alongside the prince and his mother. According to historian Andrew Heavens, this was done in order to keep them safe from the Tewodros' enemies, who had been close to Maqdala. Following his arrival in June 1868, he met the Queen at her holiday home on the Isle of Wight, off England's South Coast. She later wrote in her diary that he was 'a very pretty sight, a graceful boy with beautiful eyes and a nice nose and mouth, though the lips are slightly thick'. Alemayehu was swiftly put under the guardianship of Captain Tristram Charles Sawyer Speedy, who had accompanied the prince from Ethiopia. Whilst the Queen had wanted him to remain on the Isle of Wight, he went first with Speedy to India before the Treasury ordered that he be properly educated. He was sent to Cheltenham and Rugby and then on to Sandhurst, but struggled with his studies. The prince caught pneumonia when he fell asleep outside one night. After refusing to eat, he passed away whilst living in Headingly, in Leeds. After learning of his death, Victoria wrote: 'It is too sad! All alone in a strange country, without a single person or relative belonging to him... His was no happy life, full of difficulties of every king.' Near his burial spot is a plaque bearing the inscription: 'I was a stranger and you took me in.' A descendant of Prince Alemayehu - an orphan who was supported financially by Queen Victoria and died at the age of 18 - has demanded that his remains be returned to Ethiopia Alemayehu was an orphan and Captain Speedy became his guardian The Ethiopian government first demanded the return of Alemayehu's remains in the 1990s. But Palace officials have previously insisted that they cannot recover them without disturbing those of others. Campaigner Alula Pankhurst, who sits on Ethiopia's cultural restitution committee, told The Times that the argument is just an 'excuse for not dealing with it.' 'Bringing this young man home means unearthing uncomfortable truths that people don't want to think about.' In 2019, Ethiopia's ambassador to London, Fesseha Shawel Gebre, urged the Queen to consider how she would have felt if one of her relatives was buried in a foreign land. 'Would she happily lie in bed every day, go to sleep, having one of her Royal Family members buried somewhere, taken as prisoner of war?' he asked. 'I think she wouldn't.' He insisted that the boy was 'stolen'. The Ethiopian government has previously said that it will repeat its demand at every meeting its ministers have with their British counterparts. Prince Alemayehu is seen posing for a photograph in western clothing after being taken to Britain In 2007, the Ethiopian government wrote to the Queen requesting the return of his body so he could be buried beside his father. 'Had he not been taken, had he not lost his father, he would have been the next king of Ethiopia,' Mr Fesseha previously said. The embassy claimed that a letter from the Queen's private secretary said that she sympathised but there were concerns about disturbing the remains of others buried alongside him. It is understood more than 40 bodies were buried in the catacombs between 1845 to 1887. It is claimed that it would therefore be impossible to identify and exhume his body. Summer's officially less than month away - and forecasters expect large swathes of the country will be hotter than average this year. The National Weather Service has released its latest seasonal outlook which predicts much of the country will bask in above average temperatures between June and August. The southwestern states of Arizona and New Mexico have the greatest probability of above normal temperatures, with a roughly 69 percent chance they'll exceed averages. The east coast will also enjoy warmer weather. But the predictions also show it'll be wetter than usual on the east coast and around the Upland South. The forecasts come after the US experienced its third warmest summer on record in 2022 - a year marked by extreme weather events including several heatwaves and worsening droughts in California. The National Weather Service's latest seasonal temperature outlook for June, July and August shows much of the country is expected to get hotter than average weather in 2023 But forecasters also said big chunks of the country should also expect more rainfall than usual Last year was the third warmed on record for the US and was marked by wildfires and a megadrought in California A heatwave in New York in August 2022 A woman pours water on her face to cool off in a fountain in Domino Park, Brooklyn with the Manhattan skyline in the background as the sun sets during a heat wave on July 24, 2022 A large section of the country from Texas across to New England has around a 50-60 percent chance of better-than-average temperatures. The Pacific Northwest is expected to be drier than usual and has a 33-50 percent chance it'll exceed temperature averages. The average July temperature in New York City is about 84F but last year saw a high of 102F. In Pheonix, Arizona, the average high is around 105F in July. Last year, temperatures in the month peaked at 111F Average highs in Albuquerque, New Mexico, in July are around 93F. Last year's high for the month was 95F. The forecast comes two weeks after the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said there's a roughly 90 percent chance of an El Nino weather event this summer. El Nino is a warming of the ocean surface, or above-average sea surface temperatures (SST), in the central and eastern tropical Pacific Ocean. Forecasters in the United Kingdom predicted in December that 2023 was likely to be even warmer than last year. But new records could be set in 2024 if El Nino forms, as this is likely to drive up average temperatures further. A runner jogs up stairs at Buffalo Bayou Park during a heatwave in Houston, Texas, US, on Monday, July 11, 2022. Texas residents and businesses were asked to conserve electricity during the heatwave People cool off along the ocean at Santa Monica beach amid an intense heat wave in Southern California on September 4, 2022 An aerial view of cattle grazing amid drought conditions on June 21, 2022 near Ojai, California In an aerial view, boats are docked in the Feather River branch of drought-stricken Lake Oroville on July 6, 2022 near Oroville, California. Scientists called the megadrought the driest 22-year stretch in more than 1,200 years The United Nations warned last week that it is near-certain that 2023-2027 will be the warmest five-year period ever recorded. It said greenhouse gases combined with El Nino would set temperatures soaring. Global temperatures are soon set to exceed the more ambitious target set out in the Paris climate accords, with a two-thirds chance that one of the next five years will do so, the UN's World Meteorological Organization said. The hottest eight years ever recorded were all between 2015 and 2022 - but temperatures are forecast to increase further as climate change accelerates. 'There is a 98-percent likelihood that at least one of the next five years, and the five-year period as a whole, will be the warmest on record,' the WMO said. The 2015 Paris Agreement saw countries agree to cap global warming at 'well below' two degrees Celsius above average levels measured between 1850 and 1900 - and 1.5C if possible. The global mean temperature in 2022 was 1.15C above the 1850-1900 average. The WMO said there was a 66 percent chance that annual global surface temperatures will exceed 1.5C above pre-industrial levels for at least one of the years 2023-2027, with a range of 1.1C to 1.8C forecasted for each of those five years. A senior constable who allegedly Tasered a frail great-grandmother once unlawfully detained a motorcyclist, with his shift partner allegedly threatening to break the man's legs, a report has claimed. Shocking new details have emerged about NSW Police Senior Constable Kristian White, 33, as investigations continue into the incident at Yallambee Lodge nursing home in Cooma in southern NSW. Clare Nowland, a 95-year-old dementia sufferer was in a walking frame and carrying a knife when Mr White blasted her with a Taser at her aged care home at about 4am last Wednesday. She's now in hospital, undergoing end-of-life care, after the blast caused Ms Rowland to fall and hit her head, leaving her with bleeding on the brain. NSW Police confirmed in a statement on Tuesday morning that Senior Constable White has been suspended from duty on full pay as investigations continue. It's since emerged that Mr White and a police colleague were previously criticised by a magistrate over their actions during a confrontation with a member of the public which occurred outside their jurisdiction three years ago. It has emerged that NSW Police Senior Constable Kristian White (pictured) unlawfully detained a motorcyclist and illegally recorded the confrontation three years It comes as family released a new photo of Clare Nowland, 95, with the family releasing a statement saying it is a 'worrying and distressing time for our family' The two officers confronted a man on a motorbike in a service station in Hume in the ACT and recorded the encounter on their body-worn cameras. A Canberra court heard the officers suspected Allan Watts, was drug affected and detained him until Australian Federal Police officers arrived at the scene, the Sydney Morning Herald reported. Watts was later charged with driving while disqualified and possession of a knife in public. His solicitor argued the NSW officers had gone outside their jurisdiction and didn't not have the power to detain him or record on their body-worn cameras. The court also heard Senior Constable White's colleague had told Watts they would 'break your legs' if he tried to flee. ACT magistrate Bernadette Boss ruled the police body-worn video footage was inadmissible and dismissed the charges. She was scathing of the officers and described their conduct as 'outrageous', according to an ABC report from the time. 'I'm horrified by the conduct of these officers,' Magistrate Boss said. NSW Police Commissioner Karen Webb was grilled about the previous incident involving Senior Constable White by Today show host Karl Stefanovic on Tuesday. 'Part of this investigation around the Mrs Nowland matter will take into account the officer's history,' she said. 'As I said it will be a very complete full investigation. An urgent review into that officer's history and his current work status.' The second officer in the 2020 incident was not involved in last week's incident at Yallambee Lodge. Clare Nowland is now receiving end of life care in Cooma District Hospital, in southern NSW , after she was critically injured last Wednesday morning Family of Clare Nowland break their silence The family of Clare Nowland, the 95-year-old Tasered grandmother, issued a statement on Tuesday saying it is a 'worrying and distressing time'. The statement read: 'The Nowland family wishes to express our profound love and affection for our Mum, Nana and Great Grandmother Clare. Well respected, much loved and a giving member of her local community, Clare is the loving and gentle natured matriarch of the Nowland family. 'This is a most worrying and distressing time for our family and we are united in our support for Clare and for each other. We stand together. We thank everyone here in Cooma, the wider region and, in fact, the whole country and around the world for the outpouring of support for her and her ongoing battle with dementia - which touches so many. 'While we fully understand the interest of the media, we kindly ask media representatives to respect the familys and Clares - privacy at this very difficult time. Thank you to everyone.' Advertisement Senior Constable White has 12 years experience in the police force and had been featured on the Monaro Police District Facebook page over the years. It was reported that the investigation into Mr White is going to centre on what he said before firing the Taser. Meanwhile, a senior police officer and security guards have been stationed at the hospital where Ms Nowland is fighting for life. Cooma District Hospital has ramped up security in the wake of national and even international uproar over the incident. Superintendent John Klepczarek, the Monaro police area commander, is stationed outside her hospital room. 'He's been there a fair bit answering the family if they had any questions,' the spokesman said. Family friend, Andrew Thaler, also said private security guards had been deployed at the hospital and are 'vetting everyone who wants to visit Ms Nowland'. Mr Thaler has made repeated calls for Police Commissioner Karen Webb to sit with Mrs Nowland's family for the difficult task of watching the body worn footage of her being Tasered as she slowly approached officers on her walking frame. Daily Mail Australia has asked the NSW Health Minister Ryan Park and the NSW Health department to confirm that the hospital security detail is in place and why. Mr Park's office said the it was up to NSW Health to answer these questions because they were 'operational' and it was 'inappropriate' to comment while an active police investigation was being carried out. NSW Health did not respond to the questions. The security revelations come as the NSW Police Commissioner faces mounting pressure for refusing watch confronting bodycam footage her two officers took of the Tasering, saying she did not want the video 'tainting' her views of the case. Webb also claimed on Monday morning that an initial police statement about Ms Nowland had omitted mention of the Taser in order to protect the family. The initial statement released from NSW Police - and approved by the NSW police commissioner on Wednesday - only revealed there had been an 'interaction' between the great grandmother and police. Tasered great grandmother Clare Nowland is reportedly surrounded by an extraordinary security detail at Cooma District Hospital, with some measures resembling the kind of protection for accused criminals A transparent investigation into the incident is urgently needed, according to former NSW police minister Paul Toole. 'This is a confronting situation for everyone involved, and the Police Minister (Yasmin Catley) needs to provide confidence to the public and to the police,' he said. 'The incident has raised serious concerns and ignited public outrage, emphasising the critical need for accountability and clarity,' Ms Nowland was tasered by cops after she took a serrated steak knife from the kitchen into a treatment room. Police and paramedics tried to get her to drop the knife before the male senior constable fired his Taser once as she tottered towards him and his partner. Ms Nowland fell and struck her head on the floor, leaving her with a fractured skull and brain bleed. 2GB Radio host Ben Fordham grilled NSW Police Commissioner Karen Webb on Monday, asking why the original statement did not inform the public what had really happened. 'It was necessary for us to make sure that the family were aware of what the circumstances were,' Commissioner Webb responded. 'We didn't want the family to hear on radio and TV what had happened to their mum, so we had to be a bit sensitive to that and when we were able to talk about it, we did.' The broadcaster then questioned if the decision to not mention the Tasering was really about protecting Ms Nowland's family, or 'hiding something that might be embarrassing or shameful for the police?'. NSW Police Commissioner Karen Webb defended the decision to leave out the fact Ms Nowland had been Tasered by officers when an original statement on the matter was released TIMELINE OF CLARE NOWLAND BEING TASERED BY OFFICER Wednesday, May 17, 4am: Police are called to the Yallambee Lodge nursing home Clare Nowland was standing in the kitchen with a serrated steak knife A senior constable fired his Taser into the great grandmother's chest and back Ms Nowland fell backwards, striking her head on the floor and was taken to hospital with a fractured skull and brain bleed Wednesday, May 17, 4.41pm: NSW Police release a statement saying a critical investigation had been launched after an 'elderly woman sustained injuries during an interaction with police at an aged care facility' Friday morning, May 19: Community advocate Andrew Thaler told Daily Mail Australia on that Ms Nowland was now receiving end of life care in hospital Saturday, May 20: NSW Police Commissioner Karen Webb said she has no intention to release the body-worn police vision of the incident or even see it herself Monday, May 22: Commissioner Webb defends the original police statement where the matter was referred to as an 'interaction' and left out the fact Ms Nowland had been tasered Advertisement 'We are not hiding. I want answers as do the family,' the commissioner said, adding she had seen the original statement put out. 'I thought it was important that we were mindful of the family.' Fordham then asked if she stood by the decision to leave out the Tasering in the media release - which she admitted she had seen before it was sent out. 'Yes I do, as I said the Nowland family deserve to learn from police what happened rather than hear about it in the media,' Commissioner Webb said. The commissioner said she would not be watching police body-worn footage of the incident, and said her thoughts were with Ms Nowland's family. But Fordham said it was her duty to watch what unfolded. 'You're the most senior officer in NSW, you will make the final decision about whether this officer remains in the force, I know it's not going to be pretty but in the end I think it's your duty to watch it commissioner,' he said. Commissioner Webb said she might watch the footage but needed to do so after receiving all statements and evidence about the incident. 'I want answers like everyone else does,' she said. NSW POLICE'S INITIAL STATEMENT A critical incident investigation has been launched after an elderly woman sustained injuries during an interaction with police at an aged care facility in the state's south today. The 95-year-old woman was taken to Cooma District Hospital, where her condition is being monitored. A critical incident team will now investigate the circumstances surrounding the incident. That investigation will be subject to independent review. No further details are available at this time. Advertisement Mrs Nowland's family is now demanding answers as to what happened at Yallambee Lodge nursing home (pictured) last Wednesday Local priest, Father Mark Croker, visited Mrs Nowland on Sunday and held a Catholic mass at her hospital bedside. He said although Mrs Nowland had dementia, she had been in good form and was able to hold a conversation. 'The thing with Clare is the dementia hadn't completely taken hold, you could still have a conversation with her she might get a bit confused, but that's an age thing,' he told the Daily Telegraph. It's understood the 95-year-old is in and out of consciousness and her beathing has shallowed, as her eight children and their families were taking turns speaking to her. The officer who fired the electric shock weapon joined the force 12 years ago and has since been taken off active duty. The critical incident investigation has been elevated to 'level one' because of Ms Nowland suffering an injury that could lead to her death. Detectives from the State Homicide Squad and Law Enforcement Conduct Commission are investigating what happened and if the forced used was appropriate. A woman who believes she was attacked by serial killer Levi Bellfield has hit out at police after they failing to tell her he had allegedly confessed to the assault earlier this year. Sarah Spurrell believes the monster was the balaclava-clad person who hit her three times over the back of the head in Hastings, East Sussex, in January 2004, leaving her permanently scarred. The now-44-year-old said the attack ruined her life by leaving her with anxiety and has claimed officers from Sussex Police 'treated her like a 'complete and utter joke'. The triple murderer, who is locked up in HMP Wakefield, is thought to have confessed in March to the attack, but Ms Spurrell says she wasn't made aware of this until told by ITV News London this month. Bellfield is currently serving two whole-life orders for the murders of Milly Dowler in 2002, Marsha McDonnell in 2003 and Amelie Delagrange in 2004, as well as the attempted murder of Kate Sheedy in the same year. Levi Bellfield (pictured) is currently serving two whole-life orders for murdering three teenage girls between 2002 and 2004 Sarah Spurrell (pictured) believes she was attacked by Bellfield as she walked to a friend's house in Hastings, East Sussex, in January 2004 Ms Spurrell believes she could have become another one of his victims during the attack 19 years ago which she believes bears the hallmarks of the serial killer. READ MORE HERE: Police to search nature reserve for remains of student 'murdered by Levi Bellfield' Advertisement The medical technician, who says she remembers the attack 'like it was yesterday' had been walking to a friends house to collect items for work when she noticed a white car passing her three times. She told ITV News London: 'I didn't think too much of it until I literally was almost at my friend's house up the road and I was smacked over the back of the head. 'Initially I thought it was someone in a bad mood with me and someone punching me in the back of the head. 'But before I could turn around and look who it was I was then hit another two times really, really hard to the point where I heard the blood hit the car next to me. 'Luckily a car came round the corner and pretty much saved my life and he [the attacker] ran off down the road.' Ms Spurrell says as she was being taken to hospital she saw a man wearing a balaclava staring at her and that his eyes were 'evil'. She insists: 'If police had given me people to identify and he [Levi Bellfield] was in it, I would have told them straight away that was the person who attacked me whether he had a balaclava on or not.' She claims when she asked police to look at the crime scene she was left angry when they responded 'we're not CSI - the police haven't got that much money'. Ms Spurrell (pictured) has blasted the police for their investigation of the attack and is convinced the serial killer was the person who wounded her Bellfield (pictured) allegedly confessed to the assault earlier this year, but there are concerns he is lying for attention Bellfield killed Milly Dowler (pictured), 13, in March 2002 after snatching her as she walked home from school in Walton-on-Thames, Surrey The brute also killed Marsha McDonnell (right) in 2003 and Amelie Delagrange (left) in 2004 Years later Ms Spurrell says the attack has left it mark on her - she has a scar on the back of her head where she was wounded and was left unable to leave her house 'without someone holding my hand' for years. And she was furious after didn't tell her about Bellfield's alleged confession - although there are concerns from police that the serial killer may be lying about the attack for attention. But Ms Spurrell has no doubt it was him, saying: 'Police treated it as a joke from the start and didn't go and collect any evidence even though I asked them to. 'They have no evidence because they didn't do any investigating! They failed me right from the start - who else have they failed?' READ MORE HERE: Serial killer Levi Bellfield launches legal aid bid to marry blonde jail visitor after murderers and rapists on life sentences were banned from tying the knot in prison Advertisement Colin Sutton, the detective who brought Bellfield to justice, flagged the serial killer as a potential suspect in Ms Spurrell's case in 2008. He told ITV: 'I think where you have got crimes for which nobody else has been convicted or charged then there is a duty on police to do two things. 'One of those is to go and speak to Levi Bellfield who is admitting them and see what he has to say and see if there is any truth in his admissions. 'Secondly, more importantly, go back to the survivors, back to the victims and tell them what you're doing and offer them the support and help so they can continue to live their lives in the light of what they now know.' Sussex Police told ITV their investigation remained open and the force was 'sorry' Sarah felt the service she received 'was not satisfactory'. A statement read: 'The investigation remains open into the attack on a woman in Laton Road, Hastings, on 11 January 2004. 'The victim reported being approached from behind and hit on the head before her attacker fled. Later that night there was another similar attack in the town. 'Officers attended Laton Road to identify a scene and carry out a search for a potential suspect or weapon. 'An investigation was launched and enquiries were completed at the time. 'We are in contact with the victim of this assault and we are sorry that she feels that the service she received at the time was not satisfactory. 'This remains an active investigation and we will be keeping the victim updated as we review information that has recently come to light, which has yet to be corroborated. 'Anyone with information is asked to contact Sussex Police online or by calling 101 at any time. Information can also be passed anonymously via the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.' Failed presidential candidate Hillary Clinton has warned Joe Biden that voters are right to be concerned about his age amid ongoing doubts over whether he is fit for office. The ex-Secretary of State said that the 80-year-old's advancing years 'is an issue' in the 2024 election at a conference organized by The Financial Times. She had been asked at a Financial Times summit in Washington, D.C., about Biden stumbling at the G7 Summit in Japan. Clinton made her remarks at a conference organized by the Financial Times over the weekend 'His age is an issue, and people have every right to consider it,' Clinton said. 'It's a concern for anyone.' The 75-year-old added: 'We've had presidents who had fallen before who were a lot younger, and people didn't go into heart palpitations.' Clinton, who lost to Donald Trump in 2016, claimed that Joe Biden 'doesn't get the credit yet' for 'jobs and growth.' 'I obviously hope he stays very focused and able to compete in the election because I think he can be reelected, and that's what we should all hope for,' she told the audience. Her comments are in stark contrast to fellow Democrats, who have dismissed concerns about the commander-in-chief's age. Biden is the oldest president in American history and would be 86 at the end of his second term if he wins in 2024. White House aides have repeatedly downplayed concerns about Biden's mental and physical fitness. But late last month, the president was handed answer cards to help him navigate vetted questions from journalists at a highly stage-managed press conference. Biden shrugged off a question about his advanced years at the event alongside South Korean President Yoon Sun Yeol. 'With regard to age, I can't even say -- I guess how old I am, I can't even say the number, it doesn't register with me,' he said. He added he expected voters 'to take a hard look at it, I would as well. I looked at it before I decided to run.' The former Secretary of State was grilled about Biden's age and health condition in a live interview Biden briefly stumbled at a G7 photo op in Hiroshima, Japan as he posed with the country's prime minister Ex-South Carolina governor Nikki Haley has called for mental health fitness tests for anyone over the age of 75 in a move seen as a thinly-veiled swipe at Biden and Donald Trump. But Trump himself offered his support, saying that you needed 'great mental acuity and physical stamina' to do the job of president. Republicans have long criticized Biden for his many verbal gaffes, and have called on him to take a cognitive examination. Biden got a clean bill of health in February after his annual physical, but his doctor didnt say whether he examined the presidents mental acuity. Next year, he will be on full public display as the campaign ramps up ahead of next year's vote. During the 2020 election, he campaigned mainly online and rarely left Delaware at the height of the Covid pandemic. Trump was 70 years old when he entered the Oval Office in 2017 after beating Hillary Clinton in the 2016 election. If he wins a second term, he will be 78 and the second oldest president in history behind Biden. The American people will regularly see him out and about, interacting with voters and showing he's fit to serve. Trump was 70 years old when he entered the Oval Office in 2017 after beating Hillary Clinton in the 2016 election. If he wins a second term, he will be 78 and the second oldest president in history behind Biden. The FBI has again refused to hand over an internal document that Republicans claim shows President Joe Biden was involved in a 'criminal' scheme with a foreign national. The House Oversight Committee, which is leading the investigation into 'influence-peddling' by the first family, met with bureau officials on Monday who who refused to hand over the file. The internal FD-1023 form apparently details an 'arrangement' for an exchange of money for policy decisions, the Republicans said. The bureau's latest stonewalling came as a second IRS whistleblower came forward, claiming he was sidelined from the Hunter Biden probe when he claimed the president's son was getting preferential treatment. The FBI missed a noon deadline on Wednesday, May 10 to provide the document, angering Republicans who said FBI Director Chris Wray may face 'consequences.' As a result, a committee aide told DailyMail.com that Comer is expected to announce next steps 'soon.' The meeting Monday comes after House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said the FBI is poised to hand over the potentially damning document after he spoke with FBI Director Chris Wray. The Republican accusations marks a significant update in the Republican 'influence-peddling' probe into the Biden family and Hunter Biden's overseas business deals 'I wanted to be clear with the FBI director,' McCarthy told Fox News' Maria Bartiromo Sunday. He confirmed that he held a phone call with Wray, adding 'Congress has a right, and we have the jurisdiction, to oversee the FBI.' 'I explained to the director that we will do everything in our power, and [that] we have jurisdiction over the FBI - that we have the right to see this document,' McCarthy continued. 'I believe, after this call, we will get this document.' Comer and Sen. Chuck Grassley wrote to Wray in a Friday evening letter marking nine days since the deadline passed, calling it 'unacceptable.' 'The FBI's credibility is on the line, and their continued failure to cooperate will have long lasting consequences,' Grassley said. Grassley, R-Iowa, and Comer, R-Ky., recently revealed that a whistleblower had come forward with stunning claims about the document, which they alleged outlined the scheme involving Biden, when he was vice president, and an unnamed foreign national. The Republicans issued a subpoena to FBI Director Christopher Wray demanding the document be handed over with a May 10 noon deadline - which did not occur. Grassley said that although the FBI failed to provide the document, they offered an 'accommodation process' that indicates that the 'document is real.' He said the response letter last week to the top Republicans only raises additional questions, including 'whether the FBI has an open investigation based on these allegations.' The lawmakers say that it 'remains unclear what steps, if any, were taken to investigate the matter,' which is concerning due to the 'significant public interest' in the FBI's response. The FBI confirmed to DailyMail.com that it provided a response to the Republicans last week, but disputed Grassley's claim that it proves the existence of the specific document alleged by the whistleblower. 'An FD-1023 form is used by FBI agents to record unverified reporting by a confidential human source. Documenting the information does not validate it, establish its credibility, or weigh it against other information verified by the FBI,' a spokesperson said. 'Revealing unverified or possibly incomplete information could harm investigations, prejudice prosecutions or judicial proceedings, unfairly violate privacy or reputations, create misimpressions in the public, or potentially identify individuals who provide information to law enforcement, placing their physical safety at risk. 'Information from confidential human sources and members of the public is critical to the work of the FBI and we are also committed to protecting the confidentiality of anyone who comes forward.' The subpoena for the document marked a significant update in the Republican 'influence-peddling' probe into the Biden family and came just hours after a report said prosecutors were close to deciding whether to criminally charge Hunter Biden in his tax and gun probes. Iam Sams, White House spokesperson for oversight and investigations has called the GOP subpoena for the document 'unfounded' and 'politically motivated.' The House Oversight Committee released a new memo specifically outlining the Biden family's ties to Romanian 'influence peddling' and a web of LLCs created while Biden was vice president The House Oversight Committee has accused 10 members of the Biden family - including Hunter and Hallie - of being involved in 'shady' business deals where they profited off of the family name 'The information provided by a whistleblower raises concerns that then-Vice President Biden allegedly engaged in a bribery scheme with a foreign national,' Comer said 'For going on 5 years now, Republicans in Congress have been lobbing unfounded politically-motivated attacks against [President Biden] without offering evidence for their claims. Or evidence of decisions influenced by anything other than U.S. interests,' he claimed. Sams added that Biden has been 'unprecedented' with his level of transparency, by releasing a total of 25 years of tax returns to the American public The House Oversight Committee has accused 10 members of the Biden family - including Hunter and Hallie - of being involved in 'shady' business deals where they profited off of the family name. Earlier in May, the committee released a new memo specifically outlining the Biden family's ties to Romanian 'influence peddling' and a web of LLCs created while Biden was vice president. It also accuses President Biden for a 'lack of transparency' regarding his family's receipt of funds from China, which he has said are 'not true.' It details the efforts by the family to hide, conceal and confuse sources of money - including more China money, according to a committee aide. 'The White House refuses to correct the president's statement. The president is now using the federal government to run interference for his family and his own role in these schemes,' said Comer during a press conference announcing the memo Wednesday. TikTok sued Montana on Monday for its state-wide ban of the Chinese-owned video app, claiming it violates its First Amendment rights. The lawsuit, filed in Montana federal court, comes less than a week after the state become the first in the US to ban the app completely. President Joe Biden last year banned its use on federal government devices. In the suit, the ByteDance-owned company that has taken the US by storm in recent years, argues the ban violates not only the First Amendment rights of the company, but its users as well. Governor Greg Gianforte's ban is due to go into effect on January 1. TikTok says the ban comes in direct violation of the US Constitution - specifically a clause that limits the authority of states to enact legislation that negatively affects interstate and foreign commerce. TikTok claims it contravenes federal law as it intrudes on matters over which the government holds power. Moreover, brass for the $75billion company wrote the ban comes in direct violation of the US Constitution - specifically a clause that limits the authority of states to enact legislation that negatively affects interstate and foreign commerce. TikTok Inc on Monday filed a lawsuit challenging the state of Montana's new ban on use of the Chinese-owned video app over security concerns. Pictured is the company's US headquarters in Culver City, California Already pushed through by Governor Greg Gianforte on Wednesday, the ban goes into effect on January 1 - and has already sparked intense debate and multiple lawsuits as to whether it is justified to bar citizens from using the application Brooke Oberwetter, a spokeswoman for the $75billion company, said: 'We are challenging Montana's unconstitutional TikTok ban to protect our business and the hundreds of thousands of TikTok users in Montana. 'We believe our legal challenge will prevail based on an exceedingly strong set of precedents and facts.' Montana is the first state to attempt to ban TikTok - a maneuver that has already resulted in multiple federal suits alleging unjust censorship - despite Bejing's own appalling free speech record. One of those suits, filed last week by five TikTok users who reside in the state and create content on the short-form app, also seeks to block the state ban - which was championed by Montana AG Austin Knudsen, and signed into law last Wednesday. The law bars TikTok - whose US headquarters is located in Culver City, California - from operating in the state, and threatens persecution against app stores such as Alphabet's Google and Apple if they offer it to users in Montana. In the span of less than a week, the guidance has already proved polarizing - and is likely to face more challenges in regards to prospective free speech as the January deadline looms. That said, Gianforte - a staunch Republican - has praised its privacy protections, alleging the law is the first step to ensuring the app is not being used for espionage purposed by Beijing. 'The Chinese Communist Party using TikTok to spy on Americans, violate their privacy, and collect their personal, private, and sensitive information is well-documented,' Gianforte said in a recent news release. Sent last week, the governor's statement celebrated the legislature as 'the most decisive action of any state', specifically when it comes to combating TikTok's burgeoning sphere of influence. TikTok, which has over 150 million American users, has faced growing scrutiny over concerns about potential Chinese government influence over the platform Governor Greg Gianforte, a Republican, said the law will 'protect Montanans' private data and sensitive personal information from being harvested by the Chinese Communist Party' TikTok issued a statement saying the law 'infringes on the First Amendment rights of the people of Montana' but the company has not yet said whether it plans to sue Former President Donald Trump in 2020 was the first to try to quell the app's American accension by barring new downloads of TikTok and Chinese-owned WeChat and other transactions, the for the most part prohibitied the use of the apps. However, a series of court decisions blocked the bans from taking effect - leaving states like Montana to take a stab at limiting the application's use themselves. TikTok, meanwhile, maintains that the state has 'banished TikTok, and just TikTok, from the State for purely punitive reasons, as evidenced by the States decision to single out Plaintiff for harsh penalties based on speculative concerns.' Those concerns stem form the firm's data security and content moderation practices, which for years have avoided federal scrutiny. As a defendant, the lawsuit names Montana Attorney General Knudsen, who is charged with enforcing the law. Knudsen's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday, after the latest suit against him and the state were filed. A convicted phone hacker whose evidence is helping Prince Harry to sue newspapers threatened to 'destroy' a private investigator unless he came 'on side', a court heard yesterday. Paul Hawkes said he was warned by former journalist Dan Evans that if he did not 'play ball', he and his firm would be ruined by anti-Press group Hacked Off. The Duke of Sussex is suing the publisher of The Mirror, alleging phone hacking and other unlawful information gathering, which it denies. One of Harry's witnesses is Mr Evans, who gave evidence in the case last week. Mr Evans was given a ten-month suspended prison sentence in 2014 for hacking phones but became a 'poacher-turned-gamekeeper', the court was told. Mr Hawkes, giving evidence about how his PI firm Research Associates had provided 'completely legal investigative services' to The Mirror, helping to trace people, said that in 2016 he was approached by Mr Evans 'on behalf of Hacked Off', the campaign group founded by, among others, actor Hugh Grant. One of Harry's witnesses is Mr Evans (pictured), who gave evidence in the case last week Paul Hawkes (pictured) said he was warned by former journalist Dan Evans that if he did not 'play ball', he and his firm would be ruined by anti-Press group Hacked Off The Duke of Sussex is suing the publisher of The Mirror, alleging phone hacking and other unlawful information gathering, which it denies In a statement to the High Court, he said: 'Mr Evans suggested I had been involved in computer hacking Hugh Grant, which I had not... Mr Evans proceeded to try and threaten me. He talked to me about getting me 'on side', arguing that it was in my best interests. I remember telling him that I had no idea about the case he was talking about. 'When it became clear that I could not help him, Mr Evans told me that if I was not willing to play ball, then they would destroy me [and] Research Associates through costly litigation. I understood 'they' to mean Hacked Off and their lawyers.' Mr Hawkes added: 'He also said words to the effect that there had been a bit of a lull in the phone hacking litigation and that Hacked Off, or their lawyers, were using this time and the funds they were sitting on to find other investigators. He made it very clear that me and my company could be financially ruined by the lawyers.' Mr Hawkes repeatedly stressed that everything he and his firm of private investigators did was based on 'open source' information and within the law. In a statement, Mr Evans said: 'I seriously doubt in the context of any conversation I would make any threat to 'destroy' anyone.' He said Mr Hawkes' description of their meeting was 'not my recollection of events' and denied he had been there on behalf of Hacked Off. Mr Evans said he had told the investigator 'of the extreme stress and expense involved' in being a defendant in a legal case, but that he had meant this as 'empathy' towards Mr Hawkes. He offered him an apology if this had been interpreted in any other way. The case continues. Kingsbury, 26, went missing in Winona on March 31 after dropping off her kids at daycare Former Dakota County deputy attorney Phil Prokopowicz has been enlisted to help in the case A retired special prosecutor has been recruited to help find Madeline Kingsbury A special prosecutor has been pulled out of retirement to investigate the disappearance of Minnesota mom Madeline Kingsbury, 26, who went missing nearly two months ago. Madeline's sister confirmed to local outlets that Phil Prokopowicz, the former chief deputy attorney in Dakota County, has been brought in to help. Prokopowicz, who has been called 'arguably one of the best in the business,' is assisting Winona County law enforcement, the sister said. 'We don't have a ton of details right now as far as what specifically he is looking into as the immediate concern is the custody trial,' Megan Kingsbury told KTTC. Madeline disappeared from Winona on March 31 after dropping her kids at daycare, sparking a massive search for the missing mom. A special prosecutor has been pulled out of retirement to investigate the disappearance of Minnesota mom Madeline Kingsbury, 26, who went missing nearly two months ago Madeline's sister confirmed to local outlets that Phil Prokopowicz, the former chief deputy attorney in Dakota County, has been brought in to help 'We don't have a ton of details right now as far as what specifically he is looking into as the immediate concern is the custody trial,' Megan Kingsbury (middle) told KTTC Prokopowicz retired in 2019 from the Dakota County law enforcement agency. 'The Winona County Attorney's Office has brought on Mr. Prokopowicz in a consulting capacity, as they often do for cases that are potentially complex,' Minnesota Department of Public Safety spokesman Bonne Bowman said told Fox News. Prokopowicz's recruitment comes as her family is engaged in a messy custody battle involving Madeline's ex, Adam Fravel. The children are staying with Kingsbury's father and a custody hearing is scheduled in Winona County for June 6. Fravel, the father of the Minnesota woman's children, was the last person to see Madeline alive on the morning of March 31. The ex claimed he had nothing to do with her suspicious disappearance. Talking with Fox News, Megan said she doesn't know how her sister hasn't been found. 'How is she still missing like, how?' Megan said through tears. 'I just don't understand. Somebody has to know something about what happened to her and where she is. She didn't just walk away, 'We just wanna find her and find out what happened to her,' she said. Prokopowicz, who has been called 'arguably one of the best in the business,' is assisting Winona County law enforcement, the sister said Madeline disappeared from Winona on March 31 after dropping her kids off at daycare and a massive search for the missing mom quickly ensued Adam Fravel, who is also the father of the Minnesota woman's children, was the last person to see Madeline alive the morning of March 31 Kingsbury's children are currently staying with her father in Winona County, Minnesota 'While law enforcement has stated they do not have any suspects at this time, we know Mr. Fravel was the last person to see Ms. Kingsbury,' lawyers for Kingsbury's family wrote Law enforcement officials have stated they do not have any suspects. In a court filing, Kingsbury's family argued that concerns were sparked over Fravel having been the last person to see Madeline alive. 'While law enforcement has stated they do not have any suspects at this time, we know Mr. Fravel was the last person to see Ms. Kingsbury,' lawyers wrote. 'Ms. Kingsbury's family have significant concerns based upon their knowledge of Ms. Kingsbury and Mr. Fravel's relationship that Mr. Fravel knows more about Ms. Kingsbury's disappearance than he is letting on,' the May 5 filing continued. Megan previously stated in interviews with Fox that Fravel and his family have not interacted with their family amid the search. He, however, claimed he was keeping his nose clean after accusations had been flung at him regarding his ex's disappearance. 'Over the course of the last 12 days my family and I have been subject to a myriad of accusations regarding the disappearance of the mother of my children,' Fravel said. 'Over the course of the last 12 days my family and I have been subject to a myriad of accusations regarding the disappearance of the mother of my children,' Fravel said Winona Police Chief Tom Williams has described Madeline's disappearance as 'involuntary' This is Kingsbury's home in Winona, Minnesota, she hasn't been seen in eight weeks and the search intensifying 'I just don't understand. Somebody has to know something about what happened to her and where she is. She didn't just walk away,' Megan Kingsbury said The search for the missing mom of two is ongoing. In April, Madeline's brother - an Army Infantryman - returned home from service overseas to assist in the search. 'It's hard to imagine how it could ever be reciprocated,' he said of the massive volunteer effort,' Stephen Kingsbury said. 'Our gratitude for all involved in our efforts to bring our sister/daughter/mother home will never fade,' he continued. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy emerged from his Oval Office meeting with President Joe Biden to say negotiations have been 'productive' as the nation faces potential default but didn't identify any concrete areas of agreement. He said the two sides were able to 'focus' and even praised White House negotiators, after warning a deal needed to be reached this week to allow time for the House to process it by a looming expected June 1 default deadline. McCarthy, who urged Biden to engage in talks for weeks even while Biden refused to negotiate directly on a debt limit increase, said he doesn't like government 'by chaos.' In one development, McCarthy brought along Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.), who has been in on the staff talks. McCarthy also praised Biden's negotiators as the 'most professional I've ever seen.' On top of that, he called them 'intelligent and 'respectful.' McHenry, back on Capitol Hill, told reporters he sensed a 'lack of urgency' with the White House team. 'I don't think it's a revenue problem. It's a spending problem,' Speaker Kevin McCarthy told reporters, asked about President Joe Biden comments about closing tax 'loopholes' as a revenue source in tense budget talks 'We should have a sense of urgency from the White House team that was not evident in this meeting,' McHenry said. The speaker's claims of progress and praise of the White House team, even without sharing any concessions by either side, come as markets and nation states are closely eying a potential default that could shake the global economy. McCarthy completely ruled out an idea that Biden had pitched moments before the meeting raising revenue by closing tax loopholes. He pointed to high government revenues and made comparisons to household income. 'I don't think it's a revenue problem. It's a spending problem,' McCarthy said, responding to a question by DailyMail.com. 'So if you don't tackle the problems that have created [the situation], you're never going to solve it.' Meanwhile, the two sides are at odds over what constitutes a spending cut. Biden's team offered freezing 2024 spending at 2023 levels - which they say amounts to a cut since spending levels would not be adjusted for inflation. Republicans want to return spending to fiscal year 2022 levels, adjusted for inflation. The White House wants to cap spending at a one percent increase for only two years, while Republicans want to cap it at a one percent increase for 10 years. McCarthy, who came to power after saying Ukraine wouldn't get a 'blank check' from the U.S., advocated for exempting defense spending from cuts pointing both to the China threat and the billions the U.S. has spent arming Ukraine. McCarthy again predicted any agreement would be bipartisan an indication he may need some Democratic votes to pass it through the House. A growing swell of Democrats has been pushing Biden to give up on negotiations over the debt limit and bypass Congress to do so with the 14th Amendment. Section 4 of the 14th Amendment states: 'The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law, including debts incurred for payment of pensions and bounties for services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion, shall not be questioned.' The Amendment - which granted citizenship to former slaves and extended 'equal protection under the law' among other provisions - essentially states that the nation's debts must be paid by the federal government in full. Experts have interpreted that to mean Biden may have some authority to go above Congress and lift the debt borrowing cap - although there would be expected legal challenges if he bypassed the legislative branch in this manner. On Sunday, Biden said he believed he had the authority to do so. 'I'm looking at the 14th Amendment as to whether or not we have the authority I think we have the authority,' he told reporters. McCarthy told DailyMail.com in a news conference he doesn't get the sense the president is seriously considering invoking the amendment. 'No. I don't think anybody with a legal mind would think the 14th Amendment would even work.' President Joe Biden said he was 'optimistic' about making progress in talks with Speaker Kevin McCarthy, even with the nation days away from being unable to meet its debt obligations Biden also spoke about the risks of failure. 'The American people would have a real kick in their economic wellbeing. As a matter of fact, the rest of the world would too,' he said. But in a sign of the gulf that remains, Biden repeated his demands for closing tax 'loopholes' and making sure the wealthy 'pay their fair share' referencing tax changes that House Republicans have consistently rejected. 'I think we should be looking at tax loopholes and make sure the wealthy pay their fair share' and not raising taxes on anyone earning more than $400,000 per year. His comment comes amid reports that the two sides have discussed closing the so-called 'carried interest loophole' that allows hedge funders to pay a lower rate than those who take ordinary income. It was a staple of Biden's presidential campaign. 'We still have some disagreements but I think we may be able to get where we have to go,' said Biden. Biden said the two also 'agree we need to reduce the deficit,' and pointed out prior reductions of $1.7 trillion as the nation bounced back from covid. 'It matters. So I'm all for continuing to reduce the deficit,' he said. McCarthy spoke briefly and also referenced 'disagreements,' while pointing to record government revenue. 'I think at the end of the day we can find common ground, make our economy stronger, take care of this debt, but more importantly get this government moving again with inflation, make us less dependent on China and make our appropriations system work when we get done' he said. When asked if overall spending was the way to solve the impasse with both sides clashing over an annual cap on spending Biden responded, 'Not alone. Not that alone.' The two men met after Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warned McCarthy earlier Monday that the nation would soon no longer be able to meet its debts. Yellen wrote McCarthy Monday about the Treasury's 'ability to continue to finance the operations of the federal government' having breached the statutory debt limit and exhausted extraordinary measures. She updated a her last estimate, saying that 'with an additional week of information now available, I am writing to note that we estimate that it is highly likely that Treasury will no longer be able to satisfy all of the government's obligations if Congress has not acted to raise or suspend the debt limit by early June, and potentially as early as June 1.' She applied pressure hours before McCarthy is set to sit down with Biden, after a breakdown in negotiations during Biden's trip to Japan. The two men agreed to meet Monday during a phone call while Biden was flying home on Air Force One. 'We could get a deal tonight, we could get a deal tomorrow, but you've got to get something done this week to be able to pass it and move it to the Senate,' McCarthy told reporters in the Capitol. He referenced a commitment he made to rank-and-file members during his arduous bid to get elected speaker to provide members with three days to review legislation. That was in response to years of leaders cutting deals and rushing them to the floor before members got the chance to pore over the details. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy is calling for a deal this week in order to get any agreement before lawmakers in time to avoid a potential default. He sits down with President Joe Biden on Monday at the White House Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warned it is 'highly likely that Treasury will no longer be able to satisfy all of the government's obligations' if Congress doesn't act to lift or suspend the debt limit by June 1 President Joe Biden went after MAGA Republicans in Japan. He agreed to negotiate directly with McCarthy on the budget He also noted it takes time for staff to put any agreement into writing, and some time for the Senate to act although the chamber has been known to speed through legislation when it is facing a high pressure deadline. 'We've got the teams back together, working. You know, time is of the essence,' he said in response to questions in the Capitol by CNN. 'Time is critical. We've got 10 days to go.' McCarthy also indicated the final vote may be bipartisan amid speculation conservative Republicans may balk over even challenge his speakership if he moves too far in Biden's direction. 'I firmly believe what we're negotiating right now, a majority of Republicans will see that it is a right place to put us on the right path,' he said. The GOP House majority is just 222-213, with Democrats holding a 51-49 Senate majority. In the Capitol, White House aides Shalanda Young, Louisa Terrell and Steve Ricchetti have been meeting with GOP Reps. Garret Graves and Patrick McHenry to try to reach the outlines of a deal. Talks continued Sunday night, with no signs the two sides had reached agreement on spending cuts demanded by Republicans. McCarthy signaled Monday his deputies would work through the night and he said he would meet with Biden 'every day,' if not in person then by phone until a deal is done. In her letter, Yellen spoke about the costs of debt limit brinksmanship. 'We have learned from past debt limit impasses that waiting until the last minute to suspend or increase the debt limit can cause serious harm to business and consumer confidence, raise short-term borrowing costs for taxpayers, and negatively impact the credit rating of the United States. In fact, we have already seen Treasury's borrowing costs increase substantially for securities maturing in early June. If Congress fails to increase the debt limit, it would cause severe hardship to American families, harm our global leadership position, and raise questions about our ability to defend our national security interests,' she wrote. Montana's governor has signed into law a bill defining sex as strictly 'male' or 'female' and unchangeable, making his state the fourth to enact legislature supporters say reinforces common sense, but critics say is an attempt to erase the LGBTQ community. Governor Greg Gianforte, who has already authorized a bill to ban gender-affirming treatments for transgender minors this year, signed Senate Bill 458 into law on Saturday. 'The new law codifies the long-recognized, commonsense, immutable, biologically-based definition of sex, male and female, while protecting people born intersex and not infringing on transgender individuals' ability to identify with whatever gender, but not sex, they wish,' said the governor's press secretary, Kaitlin Price. Opponents said it was 'one of the worst anti-LGBTQ+ bills in the entire country', and vowed to challenge it through the courts. Greg Gianforte, the Republican governor of Montana, on Saturday signed into law a bill declaring that there are only two sexes: male and female Critics of the bill are seen on May 3 marching through Missoula The bill follows a well-trodden path. Gianforte joins fellow Republican governors in Tennessee and North Dakota, who signed similar laws this year. In Kansas, the Republican-dominated legislature overrode the veto of Democratic Governor Laura Kelly to enact its law. The law, which comes into effect on October 1, distinguishes males and females by the presence of XY or XX chromosomes and the production of sperm and eggs 'under normal development.' It states: 'In human beings, there are exactly two sexes, male and female, with two corresponding types of gametes. 'The sexes are determined by the biological and genetic indication of male or female, including sex chromosomes, naturally occurring sex chromosomes, gonads, and nonambiguous internal and external genitalia present at birth, without regard to an individual's psychological, behavioral, social, chosen, or subjective experience of gender.' An amendment added to the bill, amid heated debate, states that its definitions include people 'who would otherwise fall within this definition' of male or female 'but for a biological or genetic condition.' Some medical experts have said that phrasing is insufficient for all intersex people with wide-ranging sex characteristics. Experts disagree on the number of intersex people: some say the figure is as high as 1.7 percent of the population - a figure used by the United Nations - while others put the number as low as 0.018 percent. Critics, including transgender lawmakers SJ Howell and Zooey Zephyr, both Democrats from Missoula, said the bill would legally incorrectly define them and effectively write them out of state law. Trans politician Zooey Zephyr is seen on April 26 speaking in the House Zephyr stands in protest as demonstrators are arrested in the house gallery on April 24 'The reality is that there are people who are out living their lives, Montanans, our friends and community members, who do not fit into these definitions just because of their medical and biological reality,' said Howell, who is transgender nonbinary. She told a debate in the House in April: 'Imagine my dismay at discovering that a state like Montana, my state, my home, says the government knows better. There's two boxes, you got to choose, end of story.' The Montana Human Rights Network said they will challenge the law. 'Gov. Gianforte just signed SB 458,' they tweeted. 'MHRN condemns this bill and the harm it will do to the LGBTQ+ community. 'We are committed to working with transgender, nonbinary, Two Spirit, and intersex community members to ensure that SB 458 does not take effect in October.' Protesters are seen on May 3 at the University of Montana campus in Missoula Protesters are pictured calling for trans rights on May 3 in Missoula Republican sponsors of the bills say they are not meant to discriminate against anyone, stressing that discrimination is already illegal. 'It seems 20 years ago nobody needed a definition of sex because everyone understood what it meant,' said Montana state Senator Carl Glimm, who introduced SB 458. 'But now there is a discrepancy about, 'Is sex gender and can I change it?' But sex you can't change. Sex is just a fact.' The Human Rights Campaign (HRC), the largest advocacy group for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer people in the United States, has labeled the laws as 'erasure acts' aimed at forcing queer people back into the closet. 'We fear that these LGBTQ+ erasure acts could be the next type of anti-LGBTQ+ legislation to sweep the country,' HRC President Kelley Robinson told reporters this week. While researchers say sex generally refers to physiological characteristics and gender is more a social construct, when it comes to federal civil rights law, they are essentially the same. In the landmark 2020 decision in Bostock v. Clayton County, the U.S. Supreme Court found that discrimination protections based on 'sex' also applied to sexual orientation and gender identity. 'By defining sex so narrowly, you are excluding LGBTQ people from bringing claims in state court based on discrimination on the basis of sex,' said Sarah Warbelow, HRC's legal director. The laws also stand to limit nontransgender people who have a discrimination claim based on sex stereotyping, Warbelow said. So far this year, Republican legislators in statehouses across the country have introduced more than 500 bills affecting LGBTQ rights with a particular focus on transgender people. Around 50 have become law. He received a warm welcome from the Indian community India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi was given a unique welcome in Papua New Guinea compared to the rockstar reception he has received in Australia. Mr Modi touched down at Sydney International Airport on Monday night where members of the local Indian community greeted him with excitement. Harris Park, in western Sydney, have been adorned with the colours of the national flag with orange, white and green being raised - a display fit for a rockstar. The massive fanfare comes into stark contrast to the more humble reception that waited for Mr Modi during his visit to Papua New Guinea days earlier. #WATCH | Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea James Marape seeks blessings of Prime Minister Narendra Modi upon latter's arrival in Papua New Guinea. pic.twitter.com/gteYoE9QOm ANI (@ANI) May 21, 2023 India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi (pictured) has touched down in Australia ahead of planned talks with Anthony Albanese Mr Modi received a respectful greeting from Papua New Guinea Prime Minister, James Marape, who knelt and touched his feet Papua New Guinea prime minister James Marape kneeled down and touched the feet of Mr Modi as he stepped off the plane. The gesture is known to be a traditional Indian greeting that shows respect to elders and seeks their blessings. Mr Modi was seen in footage of the welcoming responding to the special greeting by embracing Mr Marape. India's leader flew into Sydney Airport on Monday night, where he was greeted by Australia's high commissioner to India, Barry O'Farrell, and NSW Treasurer Daniel Mookhey, who is the son of migrants from the Punjab region. Pictures show Mr Farrell and a number of diplomats welcoming India's leader with the traditional Hindu greeting of 'Namaste'. He is also seen greeting several members of the Indian community who gave him a warm reception. Thousands of members of the Indian diaspora will gather for prime minister Modi's whistle-stop tour of the harbourside city. Mr Modi will attend a community event to be held at Qudos Bank Arena on Tuesday night. About 20,000 ecstatic supporters, mostly from the Indian community, are expected to attend. It's understood Mr Modi will retrace steps taken in his last Australian visit eight years ago at the event. The Indian Australian Diaspora Foundation said Prime Minister Anthony Albanese would also attend in 'a momentous occasion to strengthen bilateral relations'. Talks between the two leaders are expected to focus on education, critical minerals and Chinese supply chain dominance. Net zero carbon emissions, defence co-operation, and growing bilateral investment are also expected to be topics of discussion. But the federal government is under pressure to also raise human rights abuses with Narendra Modi. Mr Modi received a warm reception from several members of the Indian community after he landed in the country on Monday night Diplomats greet India's prime minister Modi including Australia's high commissioner to India, Barry O'Farrell (left) Human Rights Watch's Asia director Elaine Pearson wants Mr Albanese to raise the plight of Muslim and minority communities in India. Crackdowns on freedom of speech meant Mr Modi had been shielded from public criticism of human rights abuses, she said. 'The Australian government should view his visit to Sydney as a key opportunity to raise with him the criticisms and concerns he doesn't hear in India,' Ms Pearson told AAP. 'Muslims and Christians have faced discrimination, threats and violent attacks. 'Draconian laws are regularly used to target journalists, civil society groups and government critics.' Greens senator David Shoebridge said Australia should have a strong relationship with India, but it should be 'a friendship of truth'. 'We have said repeatedly that the degrading human rights situation in India, the lack of freedom of the press needs to be an issue that is squarely raised,' he said. India's high commissioner to Australia Manpreet Vohra doesn't think the issue will be raised in discussions, saying stories about vandalisation of temples and violence and intimidation could have been perpetrated by a small number of people. 'There is action being taken against the violators by the authorities over there and I don't think that is going to impact the overall importance or the smooth nature of how the visit will proceed,' he told ABC radio. 'So we'll see about who raises what and how it has to be responded to but I don't anticipate that any of this is at all on the agenda of the Australian government.' Mr Modi will attend a community event to be held at Qudos Bank Arena on Tuesday night. About 20,000 people, mostly from the Indian community, are expected to attend It's understood prime minister Modi will retrace steps taken in his last Australian visit eight years ago at the event Indo-Pacific security expert Ashok Sharma says Indians across the board had benefited under Mr Modi's tenure, arguing criticism was driven by political motives. Australia and India needed to work together to shore up regional security against Chinese dominance, he said. There was also a role for both nations to play alongside the United States to boost research and share technology, especially critical minerals and renewable energy. 'Both countries have got to do a lot of work on this, China is trying to dominate this space, both commercially and with critical minerals,' Dr Sharma told AAP. The relationship between Canberra and New Delhi had grown at a rapid pace, including through defence co-operation and military training exercises. 'We need to establish Indo-Pacific security,' he said. 'Australia and India also have to work on non-traditional security initiatives, including on climate change.' Anthony Albanese will hold talks with Mr Modi, which are expected to focus on education, critical minerals and Chinese supply chain dominance. as well as net zero carbon emissions, defence co-operation, and growing bilateral investment It comes as the federal government faces pressure to also raise human rights abuses with Mr Modi. Human Rights Watch's Asia director Elaine Pearson wants Mr Albanese to raise the plight of Muslim and minority communities Mr Albanese said ahead of Mr Modi's arrival the visit would be a chance to hold serious discussions about the Indo-Pacific. 'Australia and India share a commitment to a stable, secure and prosperous Indo-Pacific,' he said on Monday. 'Together we have an important role to play in supporting this vision. As friends and partners, the relationship between our countries has never been closer. 'I look forward to celebrating Australia's vibrant Indian community with Prime Minister Modi in Sydney.' During his two-day visit to the country, Mr Modi is expected to drop by Indian businesses in western Sydney for the unveiling of a foundation stone at the entrance to 'Little India' at Harris Park. One in three residents of Harris Park was born in India, 10 times the share in Greater Sydney or elsewhere in Australia, and the suburb is home to a bustling retail and dining precinct showcasing the best of the subcontinent. Mr Albanese (pictured) said he looked forward to 'celebrating Australia's vibrant Indian community with Prime Minister Modi in Sydney' His visit comes after the scheduled Quad leaders summit this week in Sydney was cancelled after US President Joe Biden pulled out due to domestic issues surrounding the debt crisis. Instead the Quad leaders met on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Japan over the weekend. Mr Modi last visited Australia in 2014. Mr Albanese plans to visit India in September for a meeting of G20 leaders in New Delhi. Sweeping cuts to the Army must be stopped, Labour's defence spokesman will say today. But the Opposition will not commit to building up troop numbers despite the security threat posed by Vladimir Putin's Russia. John Healey will call on the Government to halt 13 years of 'hollowing out' of the Armed Forces. This has seen the size of the Army reduced to its lowest number of soldiers since Napoleonic times. By 2025, the total manpower is expected to shrink to just 73,000 troops. John Healey (pictured) will call on the Government to halt 13 years of 'hollowing out' of the Armed Forces Speaking at the London Defence Conference, with Polish president Andrzej Duda and Swedish defence minister Pal Jonson, Mr Healey will highlight how the Armed Forces 'are working with fewer troops and without vital kit, despite increased threats from Putin's war in Ukraine'. Today, there are 25,000 fewer full-time troops in the Army than in 2010, according to Labour. Meanwhile, many hugely expensive defence procurement projects have blown their multi-billion pound budgets and been hit by delays. Mr Healey will add: 'Ministers must reboot defence plans by halting Army cuts, ensuring our Nato obligations are fulfilled and renewing Britain's contract with our forces.' But Labour will not say how many troops it will ensure are retained. A Labour source said the party would determine the appropriate size for the Army as part of a strategic defence review to take place during its first year in government. E. Jean Carroll is seeking an additional $10 million damages from former President Donald Trump over comments he made about her in his town hall with CNN. The writer's legal team filed new legal papers in a Manhattan federal court on Monday just two weeks after winning $5million when a jury found Trump, 76, liable of sexual abuse and defamation. Her lawyers amended a separate defamation lawsuit to include the remarks he made to Kaitlan Collins on May 10 and a Truth Social post calling the New York verdict on May 9 a 'disgrace'. 'Trump's defamatory statements post-verdict show the depth of his malice toward Carroll since it is hard to imagine defamatory conduct that could possibly be more motivated by hatred, ill will or spite,' her lawyers wrote. 'This conduct supports a very substantial punitive damages award. Carroll claims Trump raped her in the dressing room of a Bergdorf Goodman in the 1990s. He has consistently denied the allegations and called them a 'complete con job'. DailyMail.com has reached out to Trump's legal team and campaign for comment. Donald Trump on Thursday filed a notice of appeal after a federal jury in Manhattan on Tuesday found him liable for sexually abusing and defaming writer E. Jean Carroll, and awarded her $5 million in damages Carroll told the New York Times earlier this month that she was considering filing another defamation suit after Trump told CNN's Kaitlan Collins her story was 'fake' and 'made up'. He also mocked her 'hanky panky' claims, called her a 'whack job' and claimed the judge banned his legal team from entering evidence that Carroll called her husband an 'ape' and had a cat 'named Vagina'. 'It's just stupid, it's just disgusting, vile, foul, it wounds people,' Carroll told The Times. Following a two-week trial, the jury found Trump liable in the civil case for abuse and defamation but not rape, after just under three hours of deliberations. Trump then filed an appeal on the same day Carroll hinted she would sue again. Trump's lawyer Joseph Tacopina had previously said he would appeal the verdict and said the former president could never get a fair trial in New York. His notice of appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit was filed hours after U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan issued a ruling awarding Carroll the judgment and closing the case. In the televised town hall, Trump made several disparaging comments about Carroll that elicited applause and laughter from the audience of New Hampshire Republicans and independent voters who plan to vote in the state's Republican primary. Trump accused writer E. Jean Carroll of 'hanky panky' in her lawsuit against him Trump claimed that E. Jean Carroll (second from left) used to call her husband John Johnson (center) an 'ape.' The ex-President is pictured with the couple and his first wife Ivana (right) at a party in the 1980s The town hall was his first public appearance since the Carroll verdict. Collins pressed Trump over what happened and the potential impact on his political future. 'What do you say to voters who say it disqualifies you from being president?' Collins asked him. 'There weren't too many of them because my numbers just - they went up,' Trump said as the audience cheered and applauded. The former president repeated his claim he didn't know Carroll and then proceeded to insult her repeatedly - accusing her of 'hanky panky,' claiming she has a cat called 'Vagina' and that she called her husband an 'ape'. He slammed U.S. District Judge Lewis A. Kaplan, who was appointed to the job by President Bill Clinton. 'This woman, I don't know her. I never met her. I have no idea who she is. I had a picture taken years ago with her and her husband, nice guy John Johnson. He was a newscaster, very nice. She called him an ape, happens to be African American. Called him an ape,' Trump claimed. Donald Trump called CNN's Kaitlan Collins a 'nasty person,' slammed writer E. Jean Carroll for her rape accusation, refused to say he lost to Joe Biden in the 2020 election and defended the Capitol rioters in a fiery town hall on Wednesday night 'The judge wouldn't allow us to put that in. Her dog or her cat was named Vagina, the judge wouldn't allow to put that in,' he added. 'We had a horrible Clinton appointed judge. He allowed her to put everything in,' he said. Trump also launched into a recounting of Carroll's claims in a mocking voice, drawing laughs from the audience. He referred to Carroll as 'a wack job.' Trump also said of Carroll: 'What kind of a woman meet somebody and brings them up and within minutes you're playing hanky-panky in a dressing room, I don't know if she was married then or not. John Johnson, I feel sorry for you.' Collins also asked Trump if he wanted to take back comments he made during a taping of Access Hollywood, where he talked about grabbing women by the p**** and said famous people were allowed to do things like that. 'I said women let you, I didn't say you grab I said women let you know, you didn't use that word but if you look, women let you,' Trump said. 'Now, they said will you take that back? I said, look, for a million years this is the way it's been. I want to be honest this is the way it's been,' he added. 'You would like me to take that back. I can't take it back because it happens to be true,' he noted. It's a grossly hypocritical feature of the militant trans lobby that in pursuit of their own rights they are willing to trample over everyone else's. Anyone daring to point out the obvious differences between those who were born female and those who weren't but identify as such can expect instant retribution. Just look at the hideous campaign of vilification against JK Rowling for suggesting only biological women have wombs. Or philosophy professor Kathleen Stock, hounded out of her job for her belief that trans women shouldn't be allowed access to female-only spaces. Curiously, however, despite their own attempts to intimidate opponents into silence, trans activists and their supporters are quick to accuse others of bullying. On the face of it, a less likely bully than Baroness Falkner is hard to imagine. A former Liberal Democrat and now crossbench peer, Pakistan-born Kishwer Falkner has an admirable and varied CV In a bid to unseat Baroness Falkner as chairman of the Equalities and Human Rights Commission, disgruntled staff (anonymous, of course) have, it seems, concocted a 'dossier' of allegations against her. They say she presides over a culture of bullying and manipulation, is colluding with the Government to restrict the rights of the trans community, and once made discriminatory remarks about a trans woman at a meeting. Pouring out their sorrows to the achingly woke Channel 4 News, the complainants said they didn't feel psychologically safe within the EHRC and that staff were reduced to tears on multiple occasions. It is further alleged that the commission board wants to exclude trans women from protection under the Equality Act. On the face of it, a less likely bully than Lady Falkner is hard to imagine. A former Liberal Democrat and now crossbench peer, Pakistan-born Kishwer Falkner has an admirable and varied CV. She studied at the London School of Economics and the University of Kent, is associated with the National Secular Society, worked for the Commonwealth Secretariat building student partnerships, and was the inaugural chancellor of Northampton University. At none of these places was there ever a hint of bullying behaviour. Which is why this latest farrago has all the hallmarks of a politically driven stitch-up. The latest Tory target is Suella Braverman, hated by the wokerati because she believes in controlling migration It's straight from the Left's classic playbook. Construct a gimcrack case against an opponent based on anonymous whisperings, leak to a sympathetic media outlet and hope to get a prominent scalp. It worked against Justice Secretary Dominic Raab, and the latest Tory target is Suella Braverman, hated by the wokerati because she believes in controlling migration. These witch-hunters must be faced down. Lady Falkner's 'crime' was talking to the Government about possible changes to the Equality Act which would redefine 'sex' as sex at birth, making it easier to bar transgender people from single-sex spaces. The vast majority of the voting public would think this a proper and reasonable step. And they would rightly expect Rishi Sunak to think the same. Unlike Sir Keir Starmer, he actively supports the rights of biological females, but that support needs to be restated and reinforced. Unless there is any hard evidence against Lady Falkner, rather than mere backstage whispers, he should publicly give her his full backing. Keir's NHS wishlist It's hard to fault Sir Keir Starmer's vision for the Health Service. Targets to cut waiting times, more staffing, revolutionise community care, slash post-Covid waiting lists. On exactly how to achieve these laudable aims, he is less forthcoming. The truth is that without root-and-branch reform and an actual strategy to defibrillate the gasping NHS, he is just another Labour politician with big ideas but no delivery. His posturing brings to mind the old proverb: If wishes were horses, beggars would ride. WHAT CAUSED THE HEATWAVE? The heatwave was triggered by the build-up of high pressures over Europe over the past few days, leading to the northward movement of warm air from Europe over the UK. 'At this time of year southerly winds will always lead to above average temperatures,' said University of Reading meteorologist Peter Inness. 'Air from continental Europe, the Mediterranean and even North Africa is brought over the UK.' 'The eastward passage of weather fronts and low pressures from the North Atlantic are currently being blocked by the high pressure over Europe,' added University of Reading climate scientist Len Shaffrey. WAS IT RELATED TO THE US HEATWAVE? The US's recent warm weather was caused by a high-pressure dome building up over much of the country, trapping the summer heat. This has wider-reaching effects. 'Heatwave conditions in the U.S Midwest and the East coast have strengthened the jet stream,' explained environmental scientist Kate Sambrook of the University of Leeds. 'The resulting thunderstorms occurring on the continent have helped the jet stream to meander and move to the north of the UK. 'As a result of this shift, hot air has been drawn up from Europe causing the high temperatures we are experiencing this week.' The US's warm weather had been caused by a high-pressure dome building up over much of the country, trapping the summer heat HOW LONG WILL THE HEAT LAST? 'Although there is some uncertainty in the forecast, it looks like it will become cooler on Friday as the high pressure over Europe moves slowly towards the east,' said Dr Shaffrey. 'This will allow weather fronts to move over the UK, bringing cooler air and possibly some rain,' Professor Shaffrey added. HOW HOT WILL IT GET? Meteorologists are predicting high temperatures reaching up to 100F (38C) over central and Eastern England on Thursday. Although different forecasts are anticipating slightly different details, 'the broad message of all the forecasts is the same,' said Dr Inness. 'It will be hot, with high temperatures persisting through the night time periods, and there is the risk of some thunderstorms over the UK.' These will continue through Wednesday. 'If conditions continue, it is likely that we could experience the hottest July on record,' said Dr Sambrook. 'However, the outcome is uncertain as conditions are expected to change early next week.' University of Oxford climate scientist Karsten Haustein added that 'there is a 4050 per cent chance that this will be the warmest July on record.' The final estimate depends on which observational dataset is used, he noted. While agreeing that the next week's weather will determine this July's place in the record books, Dr Inness noted that 2019 did bring us the warmest June known since the year 1880. 'In fact, 9 of the 10 warmest Junes in the global record have happened since 2000', he said. In Europe, he noted, this June was also the warmest on record, reaching almost a whole degree Celsius above the previous number one back in 2003. 'Weather records are not normally broken by such large margins a few tenths of a degree would be more likely.' The present conditions may turn out to be record-breaking, but they are also part of a recent trend towards warmer UK summers. '2018 was the joint hottest [year] on record with highest temperature measured at around 35C, similar to temperatures expected this week,' said University of Leeds climatologist Declan Finney. The likelihood of experiencing such hot summers has risen from a less than 10 per cent chance in the 1980s to as high as a 25 per chance today, he added. IS CLIMATE CHANGE CAUSING HEATWAVES? 'The fact that so many recent years have had very high summer temperatures both globally and across Europe is very much in line with what we expect from man-made global warming,' said Dr Inness. 'Changes in the intensity and likelihood of extreme weather is how climate change manifests,' said environmental scientist Friederike Otto of the University of Oxford. 'That doesnt mean every extreme event is more intense because of it, but a lot are. For example, every heatwave occurring in Europe today is made more likely and more intense by human-induced climate change.' However, local factors also play a role, with each extreme weather event being influenced by the location, season, intensity and duration. The present heatwave is not the only notable indicator of climate change, experts note, with ongoing droughts such as those being experienced in many parts of Germany also being in line with scientific predictions. Research into the 2003 European heatwave suggested at the time that human activity had more than doubled the risk of such warm summers and that annual heatwaves like we are experiencing now could become commonplace by around the middle of the century. 'It has been estimated that about 35,000 people died as a result of the European heatwave in 2003, so this is not a trivial issue,' said Dr Inness. 'With further climate change there could be a 50% chance of having hot summers in the future,' agreed Dr Finney. 'That's similar to saying that a normal summer in future will be as hot as our hottest summers to date,' he added. Current climate policies will leave more than a fifth of humanity exposed to dangerously hot temperatures by 2100, a study has warned. Led by scientists at the University of Exeter, the study found that the legally binding measures currently in place will result in global warming of 4.9F (2.7C) by the end of the century. This means two billion people - around 22 per cent of the projected end-of-century population - will be exposed to dangerous heat, with average temperatures of 84.2F (29C) or more. At these high temperatures, water resources could become strained, mortality could increase, economic productivity could decrease, animals and crops could no longer flourish, and large numbers of people may migrate. Globally, there are 60million people already exposed to this heat. A wildfire burns forest in the surroundings of the village of Memoria, in the municipality of Leiria, in the centre of Portugal on July 12 This map shows the difference between how many areas globally would see average temperatures of more than 84.2F (29C) - shown by the black mesh covering. The top map is how many areas would see these temperatures under the projected global warming of 4.9F (2.7C). The bottom map is the difference if warming is limited to 2.7F (1.5C) READ MORE: Extreme weather has killed 2 MILLION people since 1970, shocking report reveals Extreme weather, climate and water-related events have caused 11,778 disasters in the last half century, killing two million people and causing trillions of dollars of economic damage Advertisement However, the researchers suggest there is 'huge potential' for decisive climate policy to limit the human costs of climate change. They say the forecasts show that limiting global warming to 2.7F (1.5C), in line with the Paris Agreement, would mean five times fewer people are exposed to extreme heat. The study, which was in association with scientists from the Earth Commission and Nanjing University in China, also found that the lifetime emissions of 3.5 average global citizens today would expose one future person to the dangerous conditions. And in the US, this was even more concerning, as it was found just 1.2 US citizens' emissions would have the same result. This means that for almost every average person in America, their individual contribution to climate change over their lifetime could result in another person living in dangerous heat in the future. The authors said this highlights the inequity of the climate crisis - as the people living in areas which will see extreme heat, are likely not to blame for it. In fact, the study found that people set to be exposed to dangerous temperatures will live in places where emissions today are around half the global average. The countries found to be at greatest future risk of extreme heat exposure are India and Nigeria, with 600million people in the former, and 300million in the latter, possibly exposed by 2100. Other countries where large populations are at risk include Indonesia, the Philippines, Pakistan and Sudan. And almost 100 per cent of Burkino Faso and Mali - countries with smaller populations of around 21million - could be dangerously hot for humans. Professor Tim Lenton, director of the Global Systems Institute at the University of Exeter, said: 'Our study highlights the phenomenal human cost of failing to tackle the climate emergency. 'For every 0.1C (0.18F) of warming above present levels, about 140 million more people will be exposed to dangerous heat.' Professor Lenton said this highlights both the scale of the problem and the importance of decisive action being taken by officials to reduce carbon emissions. An aerial view shows smoke following a massive bushfire in Australia's Fraser Island, also known by its indigenous name K'gari, on November 30 This graph shows how many people (left) and what percentage of land (right) could be exposed to dangerous heat by 2100 'Limiting global warming to 1.5C (2.7F) rather than 2.7C (4.9F) would mean five times fewer people in 2100 being exposed to dangerous heat,' he added. The research team, made up of scientists from around the world, say that the worst of these impacts can be avoided by rapid action to cut greenhouse gas emissions. Wendy Broadgate, Executive Director of the Earth Commission at Future Earth, said: 'We are already seeing effects of dangerous heat levels on people in different parts of the world today.' She added that this will only accelerate unless 'immediate and decisive action' is taken to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Professor Marten Scheffer, of Wageningen University, who co-authored the report, said: 'We were triggered by the fact that the economic costs of carbon emissions hardly reflect the impact on human wellbeing.' 'Our calculations now help bridging this gap and should stimulate asking new, unorthodox questions about justice.' The paper, titled Quantifying the Human Cost of Global Warming, was published in the Nature Sustainability journal. Americas have seen an unusually bright red sun hang in the sky this past week Americans have witnessed an unusually bright red sun over the past week that has made for gorgeous photos - but the cause of the change is not as pleasing. The starling color was due to 84 wildfires burning through parts of Canada, specifically in Alberta, and will persist for at least a few more days. Smoke from the relentless fires traveled up to 2,000 miles, creating a hazy filter over the sun, making it appear fire engine red. Residents in New York, New Jersey, Chicago, Illinois and Iowa are just some of those who have witnessed the blood-red sun. Meteorologists said smoke particles are being carried across the US by a jet stream blowing into the northeastern regions, causing poor air quality. The ominous red sun, however, has been visible for the past week and is set to persist for a few more days. Pictured is the amazing red sun hanging over New York City New Jersians woke up Monday to a red-colored sun. This has happened for more than one week and will persist for at least a few more days The starling color was due to 84 wildfires burning through parts of Canada, specifically in Alberta, and will persist for at least a few more days. Here is the red sun seen by a Daily Mail staffer who lives in New York City The blazing red color is due to smoke filtering out shorter wavelengths of light, allowing just red and orange wavelengths to shine. And the sun is also dimmer because of the thick smoke blowing in from Canada. The wildfires have caused nearly a million acres to burn in Western Canada, mainly in Northwest Alberta Province. And more than 30,000 people have already evacuated the area to avoid the fires. The blazes started because Canada experienced an unusually dry spring coupled with a heatwave. The National Weather Service (NWS) in Montana deemed the air quality 'very unhealthy' and advises people to stay indoors if possible. And the same type of warning has been issued for eastern Colorado. 'If smoke is thick or becomes thick in your neighborhood, you may want to remain indoors,' the advisory warned. 'This is especially true for those with heart disease, respiratory illnesses, the very young, and the elderly.' Utah's Department of Environmental Quality also warned air quality would remain 'unhealthy for sensitive groups' through Monday. However, the NWS in New York said smoke drifts at more than 20,000 feet and will not cause any health issues to anyone with respiratory ailments in the northeastern US. While Canadians battle the blazes, Americans have witnessed red sunrises and sunsets for over a week. Residents in New York, New Jersey (pictured), Chicago, Illinois and California are just some of those who have witnessed the blood-red sun A satellite image shared by NWS shows smoke flowing across the northern US and blanketing the eastern states with pollutants 'Check out the very red sun rising over New York City. This is due to all of the wildfire smoke traveling above us from wildfires in Canada,' the NWS posted to their Twitter account. This prompted others to share stunning images of the sunrise and sunsets that look like they were taken with a camera filter. A satellite image shared by NWS shows smoke flowing across the northern US and blanketing the eastern states with pollutants. Alberta authorities hope cooler temperatures and showers forecast for the coming week will help firefighters battling blazes in the oil-rich Canadian province, although storms could complicate efforts. This year, Alberta Wildfire responded to 496 wildfires burning more than two million acres, compared with just 1,134 in 2022. Christie Tucker, information unit manager at Alberta Wildfire, said in a statement: 'This year's total was nearly 2,000 times last year.' Residents in Iowa have also seen a blood-red sun And people living in Long Island have also seen the red sun Over 100 wildfires have caused nearly a million acres to burn in Western Canada, mainly in Northwest Alberta Province. The smoke is traveling across the US into states like Illinois The ominous red sun, however, has been visible for the past week and is set to persist for a few more days. This year's record-high temperatures and lack of rain have led to widespread fires in Canada. Alberta has been hit the hardest, with some 275 houses, businesses and other properties damaged and over 10,000 people forced out of their homes as of Friday. Josee St-Onge, Alberta Wildfire information officer, said in an interview with CBC Saturday morning that fire crews are continuing their work. 'Good progress on many of these wildfires, building containment lines and fire guards around communities, but we're expecting another challenging day today,' she said 'It's definitely going to be a long haul. Fires that are this size burn very intensely.' Ham and cheese has been voted by Britons in a recent survey as the Number One sandwich filling of all time. The study also revealed how Britain likes its sandwiches prepared, with mayonnaise, not salad cream, on medium-sliced bread cut horizontally accompanied by a packet of cheese and onion crisps the optimum presentation. The winning cheese-and-ham combo received a resounding 55 per cent of the vote from British workers in the nationwide poll by Hovis. In second place is egg mayonnaise with cress (41 per cent), followed by the BLT in third place (35 per cent). Tuna mayonnaise ranks fourth (33 per cent) and ham salad is in joint fifth place with cheese and pickle (32 per cent). Ham and cheese has been voted by Britons in a recent survey as the No.1 sandwich filling of all time THE 15 BEST SANDWICH FILLERS OF ALL TIME FOR BRITONS 1. Ham and cheese 6= Vegan BLT 2. Egg mayo and cress 6= Chicken and avocado 3. BLT 7. Vegan cheese 4. Tuna mayo 8= Ham and coleslaw 5= Ham salad 8= Tuna and sweetcorn 5= Cheese and pickle 9= Coronation Chicken 6= Chicken mayo 9= Salmon and cream cheese 6= Cheese and tomato Source: Hovis Several other fillings were also sandwiched in a joint place. Four fillings make the cut in joint sixth place including two meaty fillings, one vegetarian combo, and a vegan option - chicken mayo, chicken and avocado, cheese and tomato, and vegan BLT. They all garnered 31 per cent of votes. Vegan BLT is not the only plant-based filling to make the list, with vegan cheese coming in seventh place (30 per cent). It beats ham and coleslaw, which comes in joint eighth place with the lunchbox staple tuna and sweetcorn (28 per cent). Rounding off the list is salmon and cream cheese in joint ninth place with coronation chicken (26 per cent) - which sold out in supermarkets ahead of the King's coronation on May 6. In the condiment stakes, mayo was voted the clear winner (40 per cent) while salad cream, in second position, was only chosen by 18 per cent of Britons. Egg mayonnaise with cress is in second place, winning an impressive 41 per cent of the vote The result also shows that just less than one in five Britons prefer a tang to their sandwich, with 17 per cent voting for pickle as their favourite condiment, in third place, and 15 per cent voting for mustard, in fourth. Almost half of Britons, meanwhile, believe the best way to cut a sandwich is in half horizontally (46 per cent), followed by diagonally in half (26 per cent) and then in triangular quarters (13 per cent), while six per cent do not slice it at all. Medium thickness is the ideal bread to use for 50 per cent of voters, while 49 per cent say it has to be a classic white loaf every time. When it comes to crisps, cheese and onion garnered 36 per cent of the vote as the best flavour to eat with - or inside - a sandwich. Next comes ready salted (29 per cent), salt and vinegar (27 per cent), prawn cocktail (20 per cent) and roast chicken (19 per cent). Almost seven in 10 people (69 per cent) are now making a sarnie for lunch every day with the nation's workers sitting down at 12.30 and taking just 35 minutes to devour their meal. The BLT comes third, with 35 per cent of the vote, followed by tuna mayo with 33 per cent of votes cast Thirty-eight per cent say sandwiches are a frugal and easy choice, the poll revealed. Whatever Britons choose for lunch, the joy that it brings starts two hours earlier at 10.30am when they start thinking about what they are going to eat. Almost one in three (30 per cent) confess they get so excited that they end up eating some or all of their packed lunch before lunchtime. As the cost-of-living crisis continues to bite, it's no surprise that they are also cutting back on shop-bought items. The favourites for this list? Sandwiches (32 per cent), coffees and teas (30 per cent), take-out burgers (27 per cent), pastries (23 per cent), takeout wraps (19 per cent), fruit (19 per cent) and salad bowls (16 per cent). Claire Parlour, Hovis's head of marketing, said: 'The unassuming yet scrumptious sandwich has been around for over 250 years and over that time has seen off many challenges as a lunchtime staple. 'No matter what fillings you choose, whichever way you like to cut it, and whether you can wait until lunchtime or not, it is great to see the nation's renewed enthusiasm and love for packed lunches and timeless fillings. 'Hovis has championed the quality and taste of the classic sandwich since we started baking bread back in 1886, so it's no surprise to us that the Great British public look forward to a delicious homemade sandwich for lunch.' 'They say the era of 10 flights is dead, but you can still fly for cheap.' So says Nicky Kelvin, Editor at Large of The Points Guy UK travel site, on a recent TikTok video in which he reveals six top tips for saving money on flights. One of the tips from the self-professed 'Miles Mogul' nets a saving of 1,100 on a flight from London to LA. Scroll down for more... 1. Be flexible Nicky recommends using Google Flights to explore cheap flight options across the globe. He says: 'I love using Google Flights to do these super-flexible searches. 'You can put in the dates you are able to fly and the amount of time you want to go away for, and this will find the cheapest flights within those parameters.' Speaking to the MailOnline, he added: 'This allows users to search destinations and track prices to find and book the most cost-effective flights options for the times and dates they want to travel.' 2. Set price alerts 'Access exclusive offers and deals to get the best prices,' Nicky said. 'Simply click the "Track Price" alerts at the top of Google Flights.' 3. Stopovers It is worth considering stopovers, which can help you make huge savings on your travel fare, according to Nicky. The travel expert demonstrates this method by showing how to save 1,100 on a flight from London to LA. 'Think about stopovers. On these dates [June 4 to 10] flying from London to LA direct costs over 1,700,' he adds. 'Same dates, same destination, but add a stop - 600.' Nicky Kelvin reveals six top tips on how to book cheaper flights in a video on TikTok where he recommends flexibility, using stopovers and checking different airports among other methods 4. Mix and match airlines You can fly all around Europe for as little as 50p tax and Avios when you want to fly British Airways Nicky said you'll 'be amazed by the savings which can be made' by mixing and matching airlines on inbound and outbound journeys. Pointing to flights to Tel Aviv, he gives an example of flying outbound with Wizz Air and inbound with easyJet to help keep prices low. His screen shows prices available from 176 for the return journey highlighted as '142 cheaper than usual'. 5. Arrival and departure points 'Check lots of different airports - both departure points, if you can, and arrival points,' Nicky urges fellow travellers on TikTok. 'Here I've searched Dublin, Paris, Amsterdam and Brussels and this got me these super-cheap fares out of Brussels - 345 to New York. 6. Points and miles The final tip from Nicky suggests using points and miles to keep flight costs down. 'You can fly all around Europe for as little as 50p tax and Avios when you want to fly British Airways,' he says. 'There are lots of different programmes and lots of different ways to earn... You can use points and miles to pay almost nothing for your flights.' Nicky further recommends collecting Avios for everyday purchases and following The Points Guy UK for tips and advice on how to earn and use miles. The countries where men are most likely to sit down to wee have been revealed and it's Germany that takes the No.1 spot in the ranking. Forty per cent of Germans say they sit down to urinate every time, with a further 22 per cent doing so 'most times'. Only 10 per cent say they never do. This is according to a study by market-research firm YouGov, which made a tongue-in-cheek comment after publishing the results that a previous lack of data in its public archive on men's peeing habits had been a 'glaring omission'. To rectify the matter it conducted a 13-country study on men's peeing preferences. YouGov pointed out that it is not uncommon in Germany for signs in public restrooms to encourage men to sit down to urinate. But ironically, the nation has a mildly derogatory name for men who do so 'sitzpinkler'. This translates to English as someone who likes to sit down to pee, but is also, YouGov said, used 'to imply that a man is wimpy or effeminate'. The countries where men are most likely to sit down to wee have been revealed and it's Germany that takes the No.1 spot in the ranking Forty per cent of Germans say they sit down to urinate every time. In terms of places where men 'always' sit down to pee, Australia is the next most enthusiastic adopter after Germany, at 25 per cent of men, followed by Sweden at 22 per cent The results of the study show that British men are among the least likely to sit for a wee, with 33 per cent saying they 'never' do so tied with Poland. In terms of places where men 'always' sit down to pee, Australia is the next most enthusiastic adopter after Germany, at 25 per cent of men, followed by Sweden at 22 per cent, said YouGov. Looking at the results for North America, it continued: 'In the USA, 23 per cent of men always or often sit down to go for a number one, compared to 31 per cent who never do. Canadian men are more likely to be frequent "sitzpinkler", at 35 per cent, with 21 per cent saying they always stand to pee.' British men are among the least likely to sit for a wee, with 33 per cent saying they 'never' do so tied with Poland HOW OFTEN DO MEN SIT DOWN TO URINATE - COUNTRY BY COUNTRY Percentage of men who sit down every time to urinate Germany - 40% Australia - 25% Sweden - 22% Denmark - 19% France - 19% Canada - 16% Spain - 14% Italy - 13% U.S - 10% Poland - 10% Britain - 9% Singapore - 5% Mexico - 6% Percentage of men who sit down most times to urinate Sweden - 28% Denmark - 25% Germany - 22% Italy - 21% Spain - 20% Canada - 19% Poland - 17% France - 16% Britain - 15% Mexico - 15% Singapore - 15% Australia - 14% U.S - 13% Source: YouGov Advertisement The study also revealed how peeing habits changed with age. It revealed that older German men - 55 and above - are particularly likely to always sit down to wee, at 49 per cent, compared to 28 per cent of 18 to 34-year-olds. In Britain, by contrast, the age difference is reversed, said YouGov, with older British men 'notably more likely than their younger counterparts to say they never sit down to wee, at 40 per cent vs 23 per cent'. The same is true in Australia, the research declared, 38 per cent vs 24 per cent - and the USA, 35 per cent vs 21 per cent. YouGov added that younger Danish men are also noticeably more likely to say they sit down to urinate 'most times' compared to their elders 37 per cent vs 21 per cent. Iam Tongi made history on Sunday when he was named the winner of American Idol at just 18-years-old. The student claimed the win after beating runners-up Megan Danielle and Colin Stough. He was crowned the winner of the 21st season of the hit show after a nation-wide vote during a three-hour star-studded finale on ABC. He performed Don't Let Go by Spawnbreezie as his family in the audience waved their hands in the air. So after his impressive win, here is a look Tongi's life before appearing on the talent show. Talented: Iam Tongi made history on Sunday when he was named the winner of American Idol at just 18-years-old Where did Tongi grow up? The rising star was born in Hawaii but revealed he is of Tongan and Samoan heritage. Tongi has previously spoken about growing up in Hawaii, but said his family were forced to move to Washington's Federal Way after they were 'priced out of paradise' and the local market after his father's death. 'We used to walk around, chasing wild chickens You'd lose your slippers, because you'd go to a family function and someone steals your slippers. 'So everyone's walking around barefoot, or (wearing) one slipper and a different slipper,' he told the Kent Reporter about life in Hawaii. He told the publication he wants to one day move back to Hawaii and write songs that help represent his heritage. 'It's really cool to see all my friends, and the polys [Polynesians] supporting me,' he said. How old is Tongi and what does he do? Tongi recently graduated from high school and is only 18-years-old. As per Kauai Now News, after being selected as one of American Idol's top three contestants, Tongi visited his birthplace on the North Shore and was given an honorary graduation from Kahuku High School, Kahuku. Principal Donna Lindsey, an Honoka'a High School alumna from the Big Island, handed out the diploma. The pictures were shared by the Former Hawaii County Council Chairwoman, Valerie Poindexter, on her Facebook handle where Lindsey can be seen handing the diploma to Iam Tongi. Heritage: The rising star was born in Hawaii but revealed he is of Tongan and Samoan heritage Successful: Tongi recently graduated from high school and is only 18-years-old His music career Tongi already has a number of connections in the music industry and was mentored by Keith Urban on the show. During the finale, a number of major performers also hit the stage, including Kylie Minogue, Pitbull, TLC, James Blunt and Clay Aiken. Kylie took the stage with Nutsa and performed her new song Padam Padam off her upcoming album. Iam met with Keith and picked his hit song Making Memories of Us because it was one of his parents favorite songs. Iam said his parents would dance to the song in the kitchen and his father used to play Keith's songs all the time. Iam took the stage playing his guitar and performed the song for the live studio audience. When he was finished the crowd chanted his name and the judges gave him a standing ovation. 'I don't think it matters what I say,' Katy Perry said. 'You are an incredible story teller,' Lionel Richie said. 'And like Katy, I hate to say it, why am I sitting here tearing up on a song I already know but you have a great delivery.' During the finale, he joined James Blunt on stage to sing the song Monsters after singing the song during his audition and dedicated it to his late father Rodney. He recently said he wants to one day move back to Hawaii and write songs that help represent his heritage. 'It's really cool to see all my friends, and the polys [Polynesians] supporting me,' he said Music: Tongi already has a number of connections ahead of taking the music world by storm - and was mentored by Keith Urban on the show Iam started crying during the emotional performance, wiping tears away from his eyes. Katy also held a tissue to her face to wipe away her tears. 'This is what Rodney dreamed about,' his mother Lillie said. 'He wanted everyone to hear what Iam had, and I feel like this is where he was meant to be.' Iam then sang his single I'll Be Seeing You while playing the guitar, before voting closed and Ryan revealed he was the champion. Cromwell was lauded for his performance on social media Succession's episode Sunday saw the funeral of Logan Roy in New York City, in the aftermath of the election night which saw conservative news network ATN prematurely declare the winner of the presidential election in controversial fashion. The show, the second-to-last episode of Emmy-winning HBO series, features an extended ensemble cast of characters joining the Roys - Kendall (Jeremy Strong), Shiv (Sarah Snook), Roman (Kieran Culkin) and Connor (Alan Ruck) - as final farewells are given to late Waystar Royco CEO (Brian Cox) in the Big Apple. The event is attended by a cavalcade of the show's supporting cast across all four seasons, as relatives, business associates and politicians are seen in previews for the penultimate episode of the feted series from creator Jesse Armstrong. Among the relatives seen at the ceremony include Logan's widow Marcia Roy (Hiam Abbass), Logan's ex-wife Lady Caroline Collingwood (Harriet Walter) and her husband Peter Munion (Pip Torrens), Connor's new wife Willia (Justine Lupe), Logan's brother Ewan Roy (James Cromwell), Ewan's daughter Marianne Hirsch (Mary Birdsong) and grandson Greg Hirsch (Nicholas Braun). The business associates present at the funeral include Waystar senior management mainstays Frank Vernon (Peter Friedman), Gerri Kellman (J. Smith-Cameron) and Karl Muller (David Rasche), and PR execs Karolina Novotney (Dagmara Dominczyk) and Hugo Baker (Fisher Stevens); and GoJo CEO Lukas Matsson (Alexander Skarsgard), who is battling Kendall and Roman for control of the company. Succession's episode Sunday saw the funeral of Logan Roy in New York City, with his kids Connor (Alan Ruck), Kendall (Jeremy Strong), Shiv (Sarah Snook) and Roman (Kieran Culkin) present to bid farewell to their mercurial father Shiv watches news as protestors are outside of ATN protesting the election call. Roman is seen watching the news reports while practicing his speech at the church lauding his late father. Roman receives a call from Ken, who asks him if he can get possible President-elect Jeryd Mencken (Justin Kirk) to turn the volume down, but Roman says to let him be. Stores are seen boarding their windows as Kendall's ex-wife Rava (Natalie Gold) calls him to let him know she is worried about the civil unrest, and will not be attending the funeral with their two children Sophie and Iverson. Kendall orders his driver Fikret to drive to Rava's in three minutes and says he will figure out the fines and violations. Shiv encourages Matsson to release his off-kilter Go-Jo statistics, but he is resistant to. Kendall has a screaming match with Rava outside of her home, which he calls 'hysterical bulls***.' Kendall tells Rava that their daughter is not doing well, and she stresses to him she does not consider the event safe. The Roy siblings are seen chatting with their serpent-tongued matriarch Lady Caroline Collingwood (Harriet Walter) at the proceedings The media heirs are seen seated with Connor's new wife Willia (Justine Lupe) on the solemn day, with Waystar PR execs Karolina Novotney (Dagmara Dominczyk) and Hugo Baker (Fisher Stevens) in the pew behind them Roman is seen preparing for the ceremony, where he is slated to give a speech Shiv is infuriated with her brothers Kendall and Roman after they prematurely called the election amid a high-stakes family fight The enigmatic Roman is seen at the church with Logan's longtime lieutenant Frank Vernon (Peter Friedman) in the background Kendall tells Rava that he will seek court measures to keep them from leaving the city and stands in front of their vehicle in an effort to keep her from leaving. Greg and Tom review a newspaper detailing the election controversy, with Tom saying he's tarred with the Mencken brush, so he might as well exploit it as much as he can. Greg says he wants to leave for the funeral and Tom is waiting on a meeting. Greg encourages Tom to let Mencken know that he made the ultimate call to crown him. Roman boards a vehicle with Kendall and Shiv saying 'it's party time ' - as they head to the ceremony. Kendall says, 'It's just a great f***ing day' as he tells his younger siblings about Rava's decision. Roman says that their mother invited them for a 'Caribbean air clear,' and tells her brother's she's pregnant. 'Is it mine?' Roman joked, after which Shiv clarifies that the child is with her estranged husband Tom Wambsgans (Matthew Macfadyen). Kendall's assistant Jess Jordan (Juliana Canfield) tells him that there is a gathering near the park, at which point a group of protestors slam on the windows of the vehicle the Roys are riding in. Kendall and Shiv have a discussion in the church the morning after their election night blowup, which led ATN to call the election for Republican presidential nominee Jeryd Mencken prematurely GoJo CEO Lukas Matsson (Alexander Skarsgard), who is aiming to buy the company, is seen staring down Kendall as he marches down the aisle Matsson (Alexander Skarsgard), a tech billionaire out of Sweden, is looking to wrap up a deal to purchase the family business, amid resistance from Kendall and Roman Matsson and Shiv have forged a business alliance against her brothers Kendall and Roman amid the complicated business merger Kendall's assistant Jess Jordan (Juliana Canfield) is seen looking focused outside of the event She is seen accompanying the embattled media heir, who is dealing with internal strife after calling the election for a candidate who he sees as a bad news, amid Shiv's betrayal Greg Hirsch (Nicholas Braun) is seen sitting alongside his mother Marianne Hirsch (Mary Birdsong) at the funeral Greg's grandpa Ewan Roy (James Cromwell) is on hand to bid farewell to his brother, who he had a contentious relationship with Logan's widow Marcia Roy (Hiam Abbass) is pictured in an all-black ensemble at the church Collingwood and her social-climbing husband Peter Munion (Pip Torrens) - dubbed the 'Seat sniffer' by the late Logan - are there to pay their respects on the solemn day President-elect Jeryd Mencken (Justin Kirk), crowned by ATN amid controversy over the results of Wisconsin, is pictured at the church Kendall and Jess meet up, and he tells her he wants to meet up with family lawyers and that he is seeking custody. He notices that Jess has a meeting with her, but she tries to delay. Jess tells Kendall that she wants to talk about her situation, as she wants to move on to another position. Kendall asks her why and she says it feels like time. Kendall says its kind of ridiculous and says he's given her extraordinary access, and she won't get that anywhere else. He tells Jess it's 'f***ing dumb' and that she's being dumb, adding, 'Nice timing Jess.' Hugo tells Kendall he has learned that Matsson has revealed GoJo's subscriber number discrepancies publicly on the busy day. Connor tells Shiv he wants to read his own eulogy, which Shiv says will leave them open to legal liability. Roman encourages Kendall to work the room to curry support with the powerful attendees, then makes an off-color remark about wanting to bed Logan's widow Marcia. Roman tries to woo Frank onto his side businesswise, but is met with a cool response. Greg rides a bicycle to the funeral and asks Roman to introduce him to Mencken. Stores are seen boarding their windows as Kendall's ex-wife Rava (Natalie Gold) calls him to let him know she is worried about the civil unrest, and will not be attending the funeral with their two children Sophie and Iverson Kendall is infuriated over Rava's decision not to attend the ceremony He vows to contact an attorney and get custody of their kids in the aftermath His bad day is further exacerbated when his longtime assistant Jess gives her notice Kendall blows up on Jess, telling her that her decision to stop working for him is dumb Roman tells Greg to keep an eye on his grandfather Ewan, which he agrees to in exchange for meeting Mencken. Gerri asks Frank, Karolina and Karl if they are glad Logan has died. When Karl says he misses Logan, Gerri chalks it up to Stockholm syndrome. Caroline greets Ken and Shiv, and immediately clocks Shiv's pregnancy. The two have a chilly exchange with few words, as the kids still resent their mother over her betrayal of them at the end of season three. Peter joins her and Caroline jokes she thinks he brought his autograph book to the event. Shiv approaches Matsson and his inner circle of Ebba (Eili Harboe) and Oskar (Johannes Haukur Johannesson), and they debate whether or not Mencken will emerge victorious and how it would impact their sale. Shiv says that he should offer him an American CEO and says she should be put into the role. Lukas remarks on her pregnancy but Shiv says she will work through it. The hearse Logan is in arrives at the church, to which Roman says, 'Showtime.' Connor tells Shiv he wants to read his own eulogy, which Shiv says will leave them open to legal liability Roman tries to woo Frank onto his side businesswise, but is met with a cool response The executive team of Gerri, Frank, Karl and Karolina speak about if they miss Logan Tom is at the ATN office, running the busy news outlet on a frenetic day after their election A newspaper is seen chronicling the turbulent election night at the network Greg greets Shiv and Matsson - who beams at him and says, 'Hey sexy' - and Greg tells Shiv that Tom won't make it to the funeral Roman tells him to keep an eye on his grandfather Ewan, which he agrees to in exchange for an intro to Mencken Logan's mistress Kerry (Zoe Winters) is on hand at the event, and Caroline invites her to sit with her Caroline then recruits another one of Logan's former mistresses, Sally Anne, to meet Marcia, and all four of them sit in a front pew at the chapel Marcia surprisingly comforting a weeping Kerry after initially kicking her out of Logan's wake in a previous episode Logan's mistress Kerry (Zoe Winters) is on hand at the event, and Caroline invites her to sit with her. Kerry has brought her brother and attorney to the services with her. Caroline then recruits another one of Logan's former mistresses, Sally Anne (played by Brian Cox's real-life wife Nicole Ansari-Cox), to meet Marcia, and all four of them sit in a front pew at the chapel. 'God Logan would hate this,' Caroline says, to which Marcia says, 'At least he won't grind his teeth tonight,' and all four of the ladies exchange a knowing glance, with Marcia surprisingly comforting a weeping Kerry, whose presence up front has startled Hugo. Greg encourages Tom to come to the funeral, but Tom cites the outbreak of news at ATN, saying he will get there as fast as he can. Greg greets Shiv and Matsson - who beams at him and says, 'Hey sexy' - and Greg tells Shiv that Tom won't make it. Greg offers to be a pallbearer, but Peter tries to assume the responsibility unsuccessfully. Logan's casket is walked down the aisle as violinists play, with Ewan, Greg, Frank, Karl and Logan's four kids accompanying the casket down the aisle. Ewan walks up to speak at the podium, with Greg, Shiv and Roman unsuccessfully trying to stop him. Ewan immediately addresses the disrespect, saying, 'What sort of people would stop a brother speaking for the sake of a share price?' Ewan walks up to speak at the podium, with Greg, Shiv and Roman unsuccessfully trying to stop him Logan's older brother blows off Shiv and Greg in an uncomfortable sequence in the episode Ewan immediately addresses the disrespect, saying, 'What sort of people would stop a brother speaking for the sake of a share price?' Ewan reveals that Logan had unfairly blamed himself for the death of his baby sister Rose from polio, and that their uncle and aunt abused him over it He roundly condemns his late brother in a speech leaving the crowd stunned Roman and Kendall are stone-faced as Ewan delivers an unflinching eulogy for his late brother Roman shoots daggers at Greg for not being able to control his grandfather at the event Ewan speaks about his perilous journey with Logan from Scotland to Canada when they were small children. 'We came across, the first time, during the war, for our safety,' he said. 'They told us children ... that if we spoke, or coughed, or moved an inch, that the U-boats would catch the vibrations through the hull, and we would die in the drink, right there. 'Three nights and two days, we stayed quiet. A four-year-old and a five-and-a-half-year-old speaking with our eyes.' Ewan then said that Logan was sent to a better school, and when he arrived home from school, his sister Rose had been born. Ewan said that Logan felt guilty for possibly bringing home the case of polio Rose died from. 'I don't even know if that's true - but our aunt and uncle certainly did nothing to disabuse him of that notion - they let it lie with him,' Ewan said. 'I ... loved him, I suppose. And I suppose some of you did too, in whatever way he would let us and we could manage.' Ewan ripped into the late media mogul for his life's work to a shocked congregation, saying, 'He has wrought the most terrible things.' He called Logan greedy, stingy and mean, saying, 'He made but a mean estimation of the world. And he fed a certain kind of meagerness in men. 'Perhaps he had to, because he had a meagerness about him ... and maybe I do about me, too. I don't know. I try, I try. I don't know when ... but some time, he decided not to try anymore - and it was a terrible shame.' Ewan wrapped up in saying, 'Godspeed, my brother - and God bless.' A rattled Roman took the pulpit and stared at the casket, telling his concerned siblings that he can't do the eulogy An emotional Roman fumbled with his notes as he tried to give the eulogy He is hysterical in tears on the somber day as his siblings comfort him He began weeping and asked while looking at the coffin, 'Is he in there? Well, can we get him out?' Roman was propped up by his siblings Connor, Shiv and Kendall as he struggled Roman remained distraught amid the somber series of eulogies from his siblings A confused Roman headed to the pulpit, insulting Frank after he checked it he was OK. Greg told his grandpa Ewan, 'That was a good, hard take that you gave.' A rattled Roman took the pulpit and stared at the casket, telling his concerned siblings that he can't do the eulogy. He began weeping and asked while looking at the coffin, 'Is he in there? Well, can we get him out?' Kendall pinch hit giving the speech on Roman's behalf while improvising in hopes of singing Logan's praises after Ewan ripped him. Kendall said, 'How much I know. But ... I knew my father. You know, I've said it. I've said it. And it is true, what my uncle said. Yeah, my father was, um ... a brute. He was, he was tough. But, also, he built ... and he acted. 'And the money, yeah, the money. The lifeblood, the oxygen of this wonderful civilization that we have built from the mud. The money, the corpuscles of life gushing around this nation, this world, filling men and women all around with - with desire.' Kendall said that while his father 'had a terrible force to him,' and 'people might want to tend and prune the memory of him to denigrate that force' pointing at Ewan - he hopes he has the same force in him. 'That magnificent, awful force of him, but my God, I hope it's in me,' Kendall said. 'Because if we can't match his vim, then God knows the future will be sluggish and gray.' Kendall pinch hit giving the speech on Roman's behalf while improvising in hopes of singing Logan's praises after Ewan ripped him Kendall said that while his father 'had a terrible force to him,' and 'people might want to tend and prune the memory of him to denigrate that force' pointing at Ewan - he hopes he has the same force in him Shiv arose to deliver a balanced eulogy for her late father She wrapped up in saying, 'So, goodbye ... my dear, dear world of a father' Kendall wrapped up in saying, 'There wasn't a room, from the grandest state room where his advice was sought to the lowest house where his news played, where he couldn't walk and wasn't comfortable. 'He was comfortable with this world. And he knew it. He knew it and he liked it. And I say amen to that.' Kendall received an ovation from the guests after delivering his speech, while Roman remained visibly emotional in the pew. Shiv then got up to speak, as a teary Roman watched her. 'It was ... hard to be his daughter,' she said. 'You know, he was hard on women. You know, he couldn't - he couldn't fit a whole woman in his head. But he did okay. You did okay, dad. 'Uh, we're all here and we're doing okay. We're doing okay. So, goodbye ... my dear, dear world of a father.' The crowd was then seen leaving the church, while Hugo apprised Kendall of Shiv's plan to be appointed CEO to placate Mencken into letting the GoJo merger go through. The siblings and crowd arrived at the graveyard, showing a massive mausoleum Logan spent $5 million on. The siblings and crowd arrived at the graveyard, showing a massive mausoleum Logan spent $5 million on Connor said of the mausoleum, 'Pop sort of ... I think he didn't wanna go in the ground' Shiv asked Karl and Frank, 'How bad was Dad?' to which the veteran businessmen tried to comfort her with a short answer, tamping down the reality of their longtime boss's viciousness Kendall tells Hugo to spread the story that 'Matsson's acquisition 'doesn't have the support of key members of the family' and that he's 'trying to steal the company for a song' and the 'board is souring on the deal' After Kendall offers Hugo a lucrative deal to be his 'dog' in the cutthroat communications that lie ahead, Hugo deadpans, 'Woof, woof' 'Pop sort of ... I think he didn't wanna go in the ground,' Connor said. ' Shiv replied, 'You serious? Was he in a bidding war with Stalin and Liberace? Right?' Seeing Logan's tomb loaded into the mausoleum, Shiv said, 'I'm intrigued to see how he gets out of this one,' while Roman said it was 'too much' and made a beeline inside his limo. Shiv asked Karl and Frank, 'How bad was Dad?' to which the veteran businessmen tried to comfort her with a short answer, tamping down the reality of their longtime boss's viciousness. 'What you saw was what you got,' Karl said. Kendall tells Hugo to spread the story that Matsson's acquisition 'doesn't have the support of key members of the family' and that he's 'trying to steal the company for a song' and the 'board is souring on the deal.' Kendall promises Hugo a lucrative payday in his efforts to spike the Waystar deal, saying, 'You can come, but it won't be a collaboration, okay? You'll be my dog - but the scraps from the table will be millions - millions.' Hugo deadpans, 'Woof, woof.' Kendall approaches Logan's longtime bodyguard Colin at a gathering after the funeral and asks how he is doing, alluding to the fact that he has sought help with his mental health following Logan's death Colin is one of the few people aware of Kendall's involvement in the death of a waiter at Shiv's wedding in the show's first season Colin reluctantly agrees to Ken's offer to work for him moving forward Mencken, who has a working relationship with ATN through Roman, is seen facing off with Kendall for the first time in the series Mencken makes clear to Kendall he has no intent to live up to the promises he previously made to ATN for calling the election Greg and Connor are among those who weasel into the discussion with the potential president Roman approaches the table and is mocked by Mencken for him emotional outburst - calling him the 'Grim Weeper' and 'Tiny Tears' Mencken is pulled away from the discussion from the Roys by Shiv to speak with Matsson Karl plays the other executives a circulating recording of Roman weeping during the eulogy Kendall approaches Logan's longtime bodyguard Colin at a gathering after the funeral and asks how he is doing - 'I hear you were talking to a headshrinker,' he said - to which Colin says, 'That's supposed to be confidential.' Colin - one of the few people aware of Kendall's involvement in the death of a waiter at Shiv's wedding in the first season - admits he has been struggling in the wake of Logan's death, and reluctantly agrees to Ken's offer to work for him moving forward. Kendall and Mencken speak for the first time about spiking the GoJo deal, and Mencken looks to get the upper hand in the battle of the strong personalities. 'Oh, I thought you were the sound system - now you wanna choose the track?' Mencken said. Kendall noted how it was time for Mencken to make good on his promise to Roman to kill the deal, at which point Greg interjects himself into the discussion. Then, Connor interjects himself into the discussion to discuss his ambassadorship to Slovenia. Roman approaches the table and is mocked by Mencken for him emotional outburst - calling him the 'Grim Weeper' and 'Tiny Tears' - as it appears increasingly unlikely Mencken would make good on any of the promises he made them on election night in exchange for their support. Shiv pulls him away and steers him toward a conversation with Matsson. Shiv brushes off previous enmity for Mencken, addressing him as 'Mr. President' and urging him to push the GoJo acquisition of Waystar through The tech mogul says that he could provide Mencken with a broader value than Kendall and Roman, saying, 'It's either a couple of tiny men in your pocket, or a gateway to broad and growing cultural influence' Tom finally arrives at the gathering, with Shiv calling him out for blowing off Logan's funeral Caroline approaches him and Shiv and taunts both about their strained relationship and pregnancy 'I'm gonna keep this brief cause, uh, we're both quite busy,' Matsson tells Mencken. 'I want Waystar. I want a piece of the news. I want sports, archive, library, IP, talent, all that good stuff.' Mencken told Shiv, 'Whatever our frictions, there was an ideological sympathy with your dad.' Matsson says that he could provide Mencken with a broader value than Kendall and Roman, saying, 'It's either a couple of tiny men in your pocket, or a gateway to broad and growing cultural influence.' Matsson tells Mencken that he could present Shiv with the CEO position, asking, 'Would that help make things feel a bit more culturally-aligned?' Mencken is whisked away by an aide over an issue pertaining to Ohio, as unrest is seen in the streets of New York City. Tom finally arrives at the gathering, with Shiv calling him out for blowing off Logan's funeral, telling him, 'Whole new Tom, you would never have dared not come to his funeral when he was alive' to which Tom said, 'Yeah, well, the thing about your dad is that, um, he's lost quite a lot of influence over the past few days.' Caroline approaches him and Shiv and taunts both about their strained relationship and pregnancy. 'Well, if it wasn't such a total f***in' disaster, it would be a dream come true,' Tom tells Caroline. Tom apologizes to Shiv over not being there, noting that he has not been sleeping and working constantly, breaking out in tears Matsson calls her up to let her know Mencken will play ball with them, and she will probably be the CEO. Kendall tells Roman he 'f***ed it' with Mencken, but Roman says they can hurt him with ATN A dejected Roman faces his brother's condemnation for falling short in his deal with Mencken Tom apologizes to Shiv over not being there, noting that he has not been sleeping and working constantly, breaking out in tears. Shiv advises an exhausted Tom to go to their apartment and get rest. Matsson calls her up to let her know Mencken will play ball with them, and she will probably be the CEO. Kendall tells Roman about the situation and says he will need Roman's help to make some moves. Kendall tells Roman he 'f***ed it' with Mencken, but Roman says they can hurt him with ATN. 'I should have stopped it, so I blame myself, but it's on us, dude, OK?' Kendall tells Roman. 'We don't wanna say bye-bye to Waystar... we have to get f***in' real and fight Shiv at the board. The Roy boys versus Shiv the Shiv.' A frenetic Roman storms out of the party, after which Karl plays the other executives a circulating recording of Roman weeping during the eulogy. Roman heckles protesters as morons and is physically attacked amid the chaos, at which point the episode concludes. Across social media, users lauded James Cromwell's magnificent performance as Ewan, and the cold, hard truths he laid out in the eulogy Some users made analogies pertaining to sports in regards to Cromwell's efficient and effective performance, as well as Culkin's Some users hailed the writing of the Emmy-winning HBO series amid the powerful episode Across social media, users lauded James Cromwell's magnificent performance as Ewan, and the cold, hard truths he laid out in the eulogy. 'That speech Ewan gave at Logan's funeral,' one user said. 'Chills. James Cromwell is a master at his craft. The fact that he did that performance while going through long-COVID is extraordinary. Wonderfully written by Jesse Armstrong.' Another used said, 'The Roy sibs aside, let no one neglect the magnificent one-speech performance of James Cromwell as Logans brother killing him a second time in his funeral speech,' adding that 'the writing also was mind-wrecking.' One user said that Ewan's speech was 'one of the BEST scenes in all of Succession,' while another said that Cromwell 'DOMINATED that scene, and it was clear that everyone (especially the kids) got to know more about Logan in death than they ever did in life.' Said one user: 'Logan's brother, Ewan (played by James Cromwell) humanized Logan, telling of the abuse he suffered as a child. But he did not excuse his behavior as an adult. He gave the full measure of the man.' Next week's episode marks the series finale, airing on HBO Sunday at 9/8c. Jonathan Majors and Meagan Good were pictured traveling together from New York City to Los Angeles Saturday, confirming reports they are romantically involved as Majors continues to deal with the legal and professional fallout of a March incident involving his ex-girlfriend. The 33-year-old actor and 41-year-old actress behaved affectionate with one another on the travel day, as they were seen sticking close to one another and holding hands amid the cross-country travel. The Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania actor and Cousin Skeeter actress were pictured grabbing lunch and packing up a vehicle amid their day in transit. The Lompoc, California-born entertainer was clad in a brown hooded sweatshirt with dark blue pants and a black ballcap with light brown sneakers sunglasses on the spring day. He had a backpack on and toted a black suitcase. Good was clad in a casual ensemble of a burgundy retro T-shirt with black leggings and white Nike sneakers. The latest: Jonathan Majors, 33, and Meagan Good, 41, were pictured traveling together from New York City to Los Angeles Saturday, confirming reports they are romantically involved Good in December of 2021 split from DeVon Franklin following a nine-year marriage, with the one-time couple finalizing the divorce in June of 2022. The Los Angeles-born beauty wore a light brown ballcap and had a black leather backpack as she was seen walking with the Lovecraft Country actor. Insiders told TMZ earlier this month that the romance between the stars was 'fairly new,' and that they had grown 'close' in a few weeks time. The duo was seen seeing a film at the Alamo Drafthouse in Los Angeles. Majors continues to deal with the fallout of his arrest in New York March 25 in connection with assault, harassment and strangulation over an incident with his ex-girlfriend. Majors appeared via video link May 9 with a revised domestic violence charge stemming from his ex-girlfriend's allegations that the Marvel star twisted her arm, struck her head and shoved her into a vehicle in New York City in March. Majors, appearing by video, did not enter a plea to the misdemeanor assault charge and said little else at the arraignment, which lasted all of three minutes, the AP reported. Prosecutors say the charge was rewritten to reflect the perspective of Majors' 30-year-old accuser, rather than the police officer whose account was used in the original version - an indication she is cooperating with authorities. Good was clad in a casual ensemble of a burgundy retro T-shirt with black leggings and white Nike sneakers The couple was seen heading down a metal staircase as they exit a plane The actor and actress behaved affectionate with one another on the travel day, as they were seen sticking close to one another and holding hands amid the cross-country travel The new couple was seen holding hands as they walked with one another on the travel day Insiders told TMZ earlier this month that the romance between the stars was 'fairly new,' and that they had grown 'close' in a few weeks time The pair chat with one another as they made their way to a waiting vehicle Majors continues to deal with legal and professional fallout of a March incident involving his ex-girlfriend Good was seen with her hand on the actor's shoulder as they toted their luggage The entertainers were seen chatting with one another as they prepared to leave the airport Majors still faces other misdemeanor charges in connection with his March 25 arrest in Manhattan's Chelsea neighborhood, some of which are punishable by up to a year in jail. His lawyer, Priya Chaudhry, says Majors is innocent. She blasted prosecutors after Tuesday's hearing for pursuing what she called a 'witch hunt' against the actor. Chaudhry said she provided the Manhattan district attorney's office with 'irrefutable evidence that the woman is lying, including video proof showing nothing happened, especially not where she claimed, as she said that the woman assaulted Majors. 'Instead of dismissing the allegations in the face of the woman's clear lies, the DA has adjusted the charges to match the woman's new lies,' Chaudhry said. Majors had been a fast-rising Hollywood star with major roles in recent hits like Creed III and Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania. But in the wake of his arrest, the U.S. Army pulled TV commercials narrated by Majors, saying it was 'deeply concerned' by the allegations. Majors' face was beamed Tuesday onto a flat-screen monitor in front of the judge's bench in Manhattan's domestic violence courtroom. The room was crowded with reporters straining to catch a glimpse of the celebrity while around them non-famous New Yorkers waited for their cases to be called. The couple prepared to load up a vehicle with their luggage as they arrived in LA The Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania actor and Cousin Skeeter actress were pictured grabbing lunch amid their day in transit. The Hollywood stars were seen in a cafeteria line amid their travels on the spring day Majors continues to deal with the fallout of his arrest in New York March 25 in connection with assault, harassment and strangulation over an incident with his ex-girlfriend Majors appeared via video link May 9 with a revised domestic violence charge stemming from his ex-girlfriend's allegations that the Marvel star twisted her arm, struck her head and shoved her into a vehicle in New York City in March Virtual appearances are an occasional accommodation in the court. But Judge Rachel Pauley warned that Majors must show up in person at a follow up hearing on June 13 or face a possible warrant for his arrest. At that hearing, Pauley said, she will decide on a motion challenging the case that Majors' lawyers have filed under seal. Majors must also continue to abide by a protection order barring any contact with his accuser, Pauley said. According to the revised assault charge, Majors' accuser alleges that he pulled her finger; twisted her right arm behind her back; struck and cut her right ear; and pushed her into a vehicle, causing her to fall backwards. Majors was arrested in New York March 25 in connection with assault, harassment and strangulation in the alleged incident. Pictured at the Oscars in March Good was snapped at the wrap party for the show A La Carte in Atlanta last month The actor played the role of Kang The Conqueror in the Marvel film Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania The woman, who was not named in court papers, was treated at a hospital for minor injuries to her head and neck, police said. Chaudhry accused police and prosecutors of racial bias against Majors, who is Black. She said a white police officer got in the actor's face and taunted him when he tried showing the officer injuries that he said the woman caused. Majors is one of the fastest rising stars in Hollywood. After breaking through in 2019's The Last Black Man in San Francisco, Majors has starred in Da 5 Bloods, The Harder They Fall and last year's Devotion. He also stars in the recent Sundance Film Festival entry Magazine Dreams, which Searchlight Pictures is to release in December. Advertisement Rosie Huntington-Whiteley turned heads as she stepped out at the star studded Women in Motion Awards during the 76th annual Cannes Film Festival on Sunday. The actress and model, 36, was joined for the glamorous evening by Brie Larson, Rebel Wilson and Carla Bruni who all dressed to impress. Rosie looked sensational in a black strapless plunging gown which boasted dramatic draping sleeved gloves. The beauty turned up the heat in a pair of towering coordinated pointed toe heels and styled her long blonde tresses in loose waves as they cascaded down her back. She made sure all eyes were on her as she accessorised the stunning ensemble with a dazzling choker and matching bracelets. Glamorous: Rosie Huntington-Whiteley was joined for the glamorous evening by Brie Larson, Rebel Wilson and Carla Bruni (pictured L-R Rosie, Brie, Rebel, Carla) Stunning: Rosie turned heads as she stepped out at the star studded Women in Motion Awards during the 76th annual Cannes Film Festival on Sunday Rosie looked every inch a star as she added pair of chunky black sunglasses while posing up a storm on the black carpet. She applied a flawless palette of makeup while cosying up to actor husband Jason Statham who looked very dapper in a black tuxedo. Meanwhile Brie Larson looked stylish in a bold zebra patterned midi dress which she teamed with a sheer cape. The Avengers actress, 33, elevated her frame in a pair of strappy heels and accessorised with a pair of dazzling drop earrings. She added a pop of colour to the outfit with a fresh red manicure and flashed her gorgeous smile while posing for snaps. The Fast X star completed her ensemble by slicking her long dark tresses back from a side parting into a neat updo. Rebel Wilson showcased her amazing weight loss in a figure hugging navy maxi dress which donned a plunging neckline. The garment cinched the Bridesmaid actress in at the waist with a glittering band which matched a pair of bold shoulder pads on the number. Dramatic: Rosie looked sensational in a black strapless plunging gown which boasted dramatic draping sleeved gloves Bold: She made sure all eyes were on her as she accessorised the stunning ensemble with a dazzling choker and matching bracelets Dressed to impress: Rosie looked every inch a star as she added pair of chunky black sunglasses while posing up a storm on the black carpet Beau: Rosie looked more loved-up than ever as she cosied up to actor husband Jason Statham who looked very dapper in a black tuxedo Chic: Meanwhile Brie Larson looked stylish in a bold zebra patterned midi dress which she teamed with a sheer cape Stylish: The Avengers actress, 33, elevated her frame in a pair of strappy heels and accessorised with a pair of dazzling drop earrings All smiles: The Fast X star completed her ensemble by slicking her long dark tresses back from a side parting into a neat updo Looking good: Rebel Wilson showcased her amazing weight loss in a figure hugging navy maxi dress which donned a plunging neckline Phenomenal: The garment cinched the Bridesmaid actress in at the waist with a glittering band which matched a pair of bold shoulder pads on the number Loved-up: Rebel looked more loved-up than ever as she cosied up to fiancee Ramona Agruma who looked gorgeous in a purple ruched off the shoulder gown Romantic: Rebel walked hand-in-hand with fiancee Ramona onto the carpet Wow! Isabelle Huppert showcased her classy sense of style in a black jacket with an oversized collar She elevated her frame in a pair of pointed toe black heels and toted her belongings around in a matching clutch. The Pitch Perfect star styled her long blonde tresses in luxurious waves and applied a flawless palette of makeup for the awards. Rebel looked more loved-up than ever as she cosied up to fiancee Ramona Agruma who looked gorgeous in a purple ruched off the shoulder gown. Rebel announced in June last year she had started a romance with Ramona after initially being introduced to one another by a mutual friend in late 2021. She announced the couple's engagement in February, and months later, Rebel surprised fans when she announced the birth of her daughter Royce Lillian, born via a surrogate. Part time! Rosie and her beau Jason cosied up for a romantic snap inside the event Congrats! Carmen Jacquier (left) and Michelle Yeoh (right) won the 2023 Kering Women in Motion Award (pictured with Francois Henri Pinault centre) Beaming! Michelle looked proud as she held up her award Cheese! Carmen posed beside Iris Knobloch following her win Meanwhile her beauty made her famous on the catwalk and Carla Bruni proved she still has it when she stepped onto the black carpet at the awards. The former first lady of France, 55, who is married to former president Nicolas Sarkozy, looked nothing short of sensational in a metallic maxi dress. The glittering garment boasted a chic cowl neckline and thin straps as it clung to Carla's incredible figure. She casually threw a coordinated blazer over her shoulder and added a dramatic chunky silver choker. The brunette beauty styled her long locks in loose waves and applied a stunning palette of makeup to accentuate her beauty. Gorgeous: Meanwhile her beauty made her famous on the catwalk and Carla Bruni proved she still has it when she stepped onto the black carpet at the awards Turning heads: The glittering garment boasted a chic cowl neckline and thin straps as it clung to Carla's incredible figure First Lady of fashion! She casually threw a coordinated blazer over her shoulder and added a dramatic chunky silver choker Amazing: Also gracing the black carpet at the awards was Alexa Chung who rocked a statement fitted navy suit with a crisp white plunging shirt Spectacular! The model, 39, turned up the heat by elevating her frame in a pair of strappy black heels and rocked a silver dazzling necklace Head turning: Salma Hayek made sure all eyes were on her in a plunging black sequinned gown which boasted dramatic shoulder pads Dazzling: The Mexican and American actress, 56, cinched in her waist with a velour belt which she tied in a neat bow allowing her pleated skirt to cascade to the floor Extravagant: She toted her belongings in a black clutch and applied an eye catching palette of makeup including a dark smoky eye shadow Also gracing the black carpet at the awards was Alexa Chung who rocked a statement fitted navy suit with a crisp white plunging shirt. The model, 39, turned up the heat by elevating her frame in a pair of strappy black heels and rocked a silver dazzling necklace. The fashion designer added a pop of colour to the ensemble with a bold swipe of red lipstick and styled her long brunette tresses neatly tucked behind her ears. Salma Hayek made sure all eyes were on her in a plunging black sequinned gown which boasted dramatic shoulder pads. The Mexican and American actress, 56, cinched in her waist with a velour belt which she tied in a neat bow allowing her pleated skirt to cascade to the floor. She toted her belongings in a black clutch and applied an eye catching palette of makeup including a dark smoky eye shadow. Salma added a pair of stylish drop earrings to the ensemble and styled her long dark locks in loose waves in a chic half updo. Deserving: Michelle Yeoh won the 2023 Kering Women in Motion Award (pictured with Francois Henri Pinault) Happy: The actress looked delighted while posing with her latest gong Farmer Wants A Wife star Lorelei Bates has shared her disappointment that Farmer David hasn't reach out after she fainted on the set of the show after he rejected her. During the finale of the show, which aired last Sunday, Lorelei was left out of the running for David's affections when he chose Emily as his final girl. The ensuing shock led to her fainting on air, a moment the 26-year-old admits left her with a vague recollection of what transpired next. 'When David told me he didn't choose me, I just collapsed,' Lorelei told Mamamia. 'Honestly, I can't recall what I did or said after that moment. From then on, we were separated, and I haven't heard from him since.' Farmer Wants A Wife star Lorelei Bates (pictured) recently shared her disappointment that Farmer David hasn't reach out after filming The finale of the show, aired last Sunday, saw Lorelei left out of the running for David's affections when he chose Emily as his final girl Expressing her hurt, Lorelei said she disappointed that David hadn't got in contact to check in on her, even if it was just to ensure she was doing fine. 'I genuinely wished David had reached out. I had somehow pictured him as the kind of person who would do that.' The reality TV star showed understanding towards David's decision to maintain distance. 'When David told me he didn't choose me, I just collapsed,' Lorelei told Mamamia . 'Honestly, I can't recall what I did or said after that moment. From then on, we were separated, and I haven't heard from him since' She considered he might have avoided reaching out in order to respect his relationship with Emily, the woman he ended up choosing on the show. David, who hails from Pozieres, Queensland, felt for her, telling producers: 'I'm pretty devastated thinking about how this is gonna feel to Lorelei. 'I didn't come here to break hearts. I came here to fall in love, and I think that I've fallen in love'. In the end David picked Emily, a 26-year-old special education aide from Queensland. Rebel Wilson looked loved-up more than ever with fiancee Ramona Agruma, as the couple stepped out to attend the Kerin Women in Motion Award in Cannes on Sunday. The actress, 43, wowed in an elegant navy blue dress that featured intricate detailing around the waist and on the shoulders. The Pitch Perfect star - who has impressively transformed her figure by losing 35kg (77 pounds) over the past two years - showed off her svelte frame in her dress, which she paired with a YSL black clutch and simple silver bracelet. She left her trademark blonde locks fall freely over her shoulders and opted for a heavy eye, blush cheeks and subtle pink lip. Ramona looked equally as glamorous in a lilac one shouldered gown teamed with silver heels. Stunning: Actress Rebel Wilson and her fiancee Ramona Agruma looked a super glam couple as they attended the Kerin Women in Motion Award in Cannes on Sunday Amazing achievement: Rebel has lost 35kg (77 pounds) over the past two years and showed it off in the navy blue figure hugging dress In some of the images Rebel was spotted looking fondly at her partner as the two women held hands and beamed for the cameras. Rebel announced in June last year that she had started a romance with Ramona, 42, who is the owner of sustainable clothing brand Lemon Ve Limon. The lovebirds were initially introduced to one another by a mutual friend in late 2021. Rebel previously spoke to People and recalled how the couple had made an effort to establish a genuine connection prior to their first date. The pair had already been dating for several months before the Australian actress announced the relationship and came out of the closet. 'I thought I was searching for a Disney Prince... but maybe what I really needed all this time was a Disney Princess,' Rebel wrote on social media at the time. She announced the couple's engagement in February, posting photos to Instagram of the precious moment she proposed at Disneyland. The sweet snaps showed her getting down on one knee with a Tiffany & Co. ring for her future wife. Perfect pair: The lovebirds were introduced to one another by a mutual friend in late 2021 Glam gals: Both women accessorised their fancy frocks with small bags and glowing makeup palettes Dream team: The couple announced their engagement in February posting photos of the proposal at Disneyland Proud parents: Rebel who celebrated her first Mother's Day this year surprised fans when she announced the birth of her daughter Royce Lillian, born via a surrogate Months later, Rebel surprised fans when she announced the birth of her daughter Royce Lillian, born via a surrogate. The outing comes after Rebel and Ramona celebrated their first Mothers Day sharing never before seen photos of their baby daughter. Despite being one of Hollywoods most recognised actresses, the Aussie star let her followers know she is just like everybody else and captioned the sweet pic of Royce in pink: 'Happy Mothers Day! (Just woke up at 5:30am and changed a big (poo emoji how about you?)' The Little Mermaid stars Halle Bailey and Melissa McCarthy were mobbed by fans outside of the Channel Seven Studios in Sydney's Martin Place on Monday. The actresses made an appearance live on Sunrise to promote the live action remake ahead of the film's Australian premiere in the city later that evening. Halle, 23, and Melissa, 52, appeared in high spirits as they greeted their eager fans, happily signing autographs and taking selfies with the crowd who had gathered outside. Some punters dressed up as the iconic Little Mermaid characters, while others wore face paint and got Little Mermaid books signed. Melissa, known for her work in the Gilmore Girls and Mike & Molly, looked chic in a navy blue floral jumpsuit which featured billowing sleeves. The Little Mermaid stars Halle Bailey and Melissa McCarthy were mobbed by fans outside of the Channel Seven Studios in Sydney's Martin Place on Monday The actresses made an appearance live on Sunrise to promote the live action remake ahead of the film's Australian premiere in the city later that evening Halle, who plays the lead character Ariel in The Little Mermaid remake, looked stylish in a maroon cropped blazer and high-waisted matching skirt. They will head to the State Theatre in Sydney on Monday evening for the Australian premiere. The pair appeared on Sunrise on Monday alongside director Rob Marshall to speak about the film and Halle said when she was first cast, she was 'ecstatic'. Halle, 23, and Melissa, 52, appeared in high spirits as they greeted their eager fans The pair happily signed autographs and took selfies with the crowd who had gathered outside Melissa couldn't wipe the smile off her face as she greeted fans and signed autographs Melissa, known for her work in the Gilmore Girls and Mike & Molly, looked chic in a navy blue floral jumpsuit which featured billowing sleeves The pair drew in a large crowd at Sydney's Martin Place on Monday 'I just remember being ecstatic, this is my favorite Disney movie, my favourite Disney princess and I always wanted to be a mermaid and now I get to be one, it's just wild,' Halle said. Melissa added about Halle: 'Watching her be such a strong woman... I was very pleased as the mother of two young women, that they have someone like Halle to look up to.' Directed by Rob Marshall, whose previous films include Chicago and Memoirs Of A Geisha, the new remake of The Little Mermaid boasts a glittering cast. Halle, who plays the lead character Ariel in The Little Mermaid remake, looked stylish in a maroon cropped blazer and high-waisted matching skirt The pair appeared on Sunrise on Monday alongside director Rob Marshall to speak about the film and Halle said when she was first cast, she was 'ecstatic' The Little Mermaid is the beloved fairytale of Ariel, a beautiful and spirited young mermaid with a thirst for adventure, based on the classic story by Hans Christen Anderson Some punters dressed up as the iconic Little Mermaid characters, while others wore face paint got Little Mermaid books signed In a sweet touch, some fans blew bubbles as the stars made their way outside of the studios Hamilton alum Daveed Diggs, former child star Jacob Tremblay, Crazy Rich Asians actress Awkwafina and comedy icon Melissa are all part of the project. The Little Mermaid is the beloved fairytale of Ariel, a beautiful and spirited young mermaid with a thirst for adventure, based on the classic story by Hans Christen Anderson. The youngest of King Tritons daughters and the most defiant, Ariel longs to find out more about the world beyond the sea and, while visiting the surface, falls for the dashing Prince Eric. The youngest of King Tritons daughters and the most defiant, Ariel longs to find out more about the world beyond the sea and, while visiting the surface, falls for the dashing Prince Eric In a nod to Ariel, Halle wore a pair of gold seashell earrings to compliment her outfit Halle was gifted a toy as she met her eager fans and took photos 'I just remember being ecstatic, this is my favorite Disney movie, my favourite Disney princess and I always wanted to be a mermaid and now I get to be one, it's just wild,' Halle said Halle and Melissa will hit the blue carpet in Sydney on Monday for the Australian premiere While mermaids are forbidden to interact with humans, Ariel must follow her heart. She makes a deal with the evil sea witch, Ursula, which gives her a chance to experience life on land but ultimately places her life and her fathers crown in jeopardy While mermaids are forbidden to interact with humans, Ariel must follow her heart. She makes a deal with the evil sea witch, Ursula, which gives her a chance to experience life on land but ultimately places her life and her fathers crown in jeopardy. Iconic songs from The Little Mermaid soundtrack have had their lyrics changed to reflect consent in the upcoming live action remake of the 1989 Disney film. Iconic songs from The Little Mermaid soundtrack have had their lyrics changed to reflect consent in the upcoming live action remake of the 1989 Disney film Composer Alan Menken told Vanity Fair last month: 'There are some lyric changes in Kiss the Girl because people have gotten very sensitive about the idea that [Prince Eric] would, in any way, force himself on [Ariel]' Melissa had her hands full of Little Mermaid memorabilia Divided: The Little Mermaid remake has received mixed reviews from critics, following its world premiere in Los Angeles on Monday (Halle Bailey pictured as Ariel) Composer Alan Menken told Vanity Fair last month: 'There are some lyric changes in Kiss the Girl because people have gotten very sensitive about the idea that [Prince Eric] would, in any way, force himself on [Ariel]. The lyrics to the original song - which encourage Prince Eric to kiss Ariel before it's too late and without asking for her consent - include the chorus lines: 'Yes, you want her. Look at her, you know you do. Possible she wants you too. There is one way to ask her. It don't take a word. Not a single word. Go on and kiss the girl.' Melissa greeted one fan who had a handmade triton out the front of the studio The lyrics to the original song - which encourage Prince Eric to kiss Ariel before it's too late and without asking for her consent - include the chorus lines: 'Yes, you want her. Look at her, you know you do. Possible she wants you too. There is one way to ask her. It don't take a word. Not a single word. Go on and kiss the girl' Several people walked out of Dylan Moran's comedy show in New Zealand over the weekend after the famed Irish comedian reportedly turned up on stage 'drunk'. Moran, 51, was kicking off his tour at the Isaac Theatre Royal in Christchurch on Saturday. Audience member Rebecca Mackle told Stuff.co.nz Dylan was 'incoherent' during the standup routine. 'It was really disappointing. He was mumbling and incoherent, and he kept losing his train of thought. He'd start a joke and lose his place,' she said. 'He seemed disconnected from his body. He knocked his microphone over, and threw his jacket across the stage.' Several people walked out of Dylan Moran's comedy show in New Zealand over the weekend after the famed Irish comedian reportedly turned up on stage 'drunk' She said Dylan had told the crowd he suffered a 'relapsed'. 'He told us that he had relapsed with his drinking. After that it wasn't funny any more. No-one was laughing, it was just sad. He was drunk as a skunk,' she said. 'A lot of comedians are a bit messed up. But he hadn't just had a few drinks, he was trolleyed.' Rebecca said she and other audience members left early. 'It was really disappointing. He was mumbling and incoherent, and he kept losing his train of thought. He'd start a joke and lose his place,' one fan said of the star. Here: London, 2007 Dylan, who was known for smoking and drinking on stage while delivering his comedy routines, spoke of giving up both on The Project in 2019. 'It became like a job. That's honestly what it was like. It was like punching the clock. Here we go (he mimes opening a drink) I just got bored, you know,' he said. Daily Mail Australia reached out to Dylan for comment. Dylan is best known for his stand-up work and appearing on the British sitcom Black Books. US President Joe Biden's decision to cancel his Sydney trip at the last minute has come at a great cost to Australian TV networks, reports claim. Biden announced on Tuesday he would no longer travel to Sydney and Papua New Guinea for his scheduled Quad meeting with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and leaders from Japan and India after the G7 in Hiroshima, as he needed to deal with the looming US debt crisis. Instead, the foursome met later Saturday night in Hiroshima, Japan, and Biden's planned bilateral meeting with Albanese happened on Saturday afternoon. Now, Media Diary has reported that Australian TV outlets Seven, Nine and Ten are 'reeling' from the costly process of sending local journalists to Japan to cover the event within 48 hours of Biden's announcement. 'In the end, no expense was spared as Ten's Hugh Riminton, Seven's Rob Scott and Nine's Charles Croucher, along with crew, all managed to make it at breakneck speed to Hiroshima in time for the formalities,' the publication reported on Monday. US President Joe Biden's decision to cancel his Sydney trip at the last minute has come at a great cost to Australian TV networks, reports claim. Pictured: Biden (right) apologising to Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese (left) in Hiroshima, Japan, on Saturday for scrapping his planned trip to Sydney It's been a costly few months for Australian TV networks, whose journalists were only recently flown to the UK to cover both Queen Elizabeth's funeral in September and King Charles' coronation in early May. Albanese had previously booked Sydney's iconic Opera House to host the Quad summit and had hoped that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida would still take the trip down under after Biden bowed out on Tuesday. However the Australian leader called the whole thing off and instead met the other four leaders in Japan on Saturday night on the sidelines of the G7. Media Diary has reported that Australian TV outlets Seven, Nine and Ten are 'reeling' from the costly process of sending local journalists to Japan to cover the event within 48 hours of Biden's announcement Biden apologised Albanese in person on Saturday for scrapping his planned trip to Sydney. 'I'm looking forward to our conversation today and hosting you for an official state visit this year in Washington, D.C. and, again, I truly apologise to you for having you to come here rather than me be in Australia right now,' Biden told Albanese. 'But we have a little thing going on at home that we need to pay attention to.' Albanese said he recognised why a schedule change was needed. 'In the end, no expense was spared as Ten's Hugh Riminton (pictured), Seven's Rob Scott and Nine's Charles Croucher, along with crew, all managed to make it at breakneck speed to Hiroshima in time for the formalities,' the publication reported on Monday The Quad leaders gathered in Hiroshima, Japan Saturday night on the sidelines of the G7 summit instead of having the meeting in Sydney, Australia. From left: President Joe Biden, Australian President Anthony Albanese, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi 'Certainly I understand the circumstances that led us to hold the Sydney Quad meeting in Hiroshima later this evening but also to catch up with our bilateral that we had scheduled for a few days time,' the Australian leader told Biden. Albanese's first meeting with Biden and the other Quad leaders was the same day he was sworn in. On May 23, 2022, Albanese took the oath of office and then jetted to Tokyo to meet with Biden, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida. 'If you fall asleep while you're here, it's OK,' Biden joked during their first bilateral meeting. 'I don't know how you're doing it.' Biden later mused: 'I know you've been on the job a long time.' Kirsten Dunst and her husband Jesse Plemons were spotted enjoying a walk outside Le Majestic Hotel during the 76th annual Cannes Film Festival in France on Sunday. The happy couple appeared to be enjoying some time off from their parenting duties as they were not seen with either of their sons. The Interview With The Vampire star, 41, looked chic in a short-sleeved blue sweater over a black skirt with black mule slides. The Screen Actors Guild Award winner wore black Ray Ban sunglasses and styled her long blonde tresses in a low bun with a side part. The Irishman actor, 35, meanwhile showed off his newly svelte physique in a grey jacket over a black t-shirt with black pants and boots. Sunday stroll: Kirsten Dunst and her husband Jesse Plemons were pictured outside Le Majestic Hotel during the 76th annual Cannes Film Festival in France on Sunday Beautiful couple: The Bring It On star, 41, looked chic in a short-sleeved blue sweater over a black skirt with black mule slides. The Irishman actor, 35, showed off his newly svelte physique in a grey jacket over a black t-shirt with black pants and boots The couple have been together for seven years and share two sons: five-year-old Ennis and two-year-old James Plemons. They tied the knot last year in Jamaica. On Saturday, the A-list actors made a stylish pair as they attended the Killers Of The Flower Moon premiere. Kirsten wowed in a strapless black gown with a silver necklace and black heels. Jesse looked handsome in a black tuxedo and was joined on the red carpet by his co-stars Robert De Niro, 79, and Leonardo DiCaprio, 48. The film explores the harrowing true story of the 'reign of terror' that left two dozen Native Americans dead. Set in the 1920s, it centers on the FBI's investigation into a string of murders after several members of the Osage tribe in Oklahoma were slaughtered. Jesse plays the role of Texas Ranger Tom White, who investigated the deaths of tribe members killed after oil was discovered beneath their land. The rich deposits earned the tribe more than $30 million in annual revenue, which was split evenly among the tribe members. Outsiders could only legally obtain part of the money if they married into the tribe. The plot of the film is centered around rancher William K. Hale (De Niro) convincing his weak-willed nephew Ernest Burkhart (DiCaprio) to marry one of the daughters in the tribe in a plot to eventually murder them and inherit their wealth from oil. Off-duty parents: Kirsten and Jesse share two sons: five-year-old Ennis and two-year-old James Plemons Lovely couple: Dunst and Plemons made a stylish pair as they attended the Killers Of The Flower Moon premiere in France on Saturday Dashing duo: The Marie Antoinette star wowed in a strapless black gown with a silver necklace and black shoes Co-stars: The couple starred opposite one another in the 2021 Netflix drama Power Of The Dog, which saw them play husband and wife Coming soon: Plemons plays law enforcement officer White alongside Leonardo DiCaprio in the film, set to premiere on October 6 The film is set for a limited release in select cinemas on October 6, with a wider release in the US on October 20 by Paramount Pictures. It will eventually have a streaming release on Apple TV+. Kirsten and Jesse started dating back in 2016 after meeting on the set of Fargo, and they became engaged the following year. The couple starred opposite one another in the 2021 Netflix drama Power Of The Dog, which saw them play husband and wife. They were both nominated for Oscars for their roles. Depp v Heard Rating: Call the social media bigmouths! Thanks to the experts of the internet, we no longer have to rely on fusty legal correspondents for commentary on court cases. Instead, we have instant opinion from online observers with reassuring names such as Popcorned Planet and Legal Baddie. For real gravitas and nuanced analysis, be sure to watch DarthN3ws, a pundit in a Deadpool mask and a woolly hat. Depp v Heard (Ch4) doesn't only provide a condensed account of the war of smears and counter-accusations waged between two Hollywood stars, the very-much-divorced Johnny and Amber. It also gives us a glimpse of how toxic the future of court reporting could be, if newspapers and TV are replaced by gibbering attention-seekers on TikTok. The decision last year by a U.S. court in Virginia to broadcast this defamation trial live for the first time unleashed a celebrity circus even more inane than the 'Wagatha' libel trial between Rebekah Vardy and Colleen Rooney in the UK. What made Depp v Heard so different was the running commentary by video bloggers and YouTubers, a stream of moronic reaction that began at the lowest possible intellectual level and burrowed downwards One especially depressing element was the vitriol Heard attracted simply for being female These American proceedings generated waves of sensation, from the secret recordings of the couple arguing drunkenly, to the accusations of physical violence and revolting vengeance 'pranks'. A three-part summary, which continues tonight and tomorrow, edits their conflicting testimonies into a back-and-forth of allegation and rebuttal, interspersed with remarks from lawyers and witnesses. Something similar was done earlier this year with the Vardy-Rooney trial, though this was recreated with actors because British courts don't permit filming or live broadcasting. The dramatisation was a rather laboured, plodding business, lacking imagination or surprise. Viking noir of the weekend Nicola Walker plays Norwegian sleuth DI Strandhed in Annika (BBC1) and thats just the start of the Scandi spree. Afterglow (BBC4), with Norways Nina Ellen Odegaard, and Mobile 101 (Ch4) from Finland are equally bleak and gripping. Thanks, or tusen takk! Advertisement What made Depp v Heard so different was the running commentary by video bloggers and YouTubers, a stream of moronic reaction that began at the lowest possible intellectual level and burrowed downwards. One especially depressing element was the vitriol Heard attracted simply for being female. Whatever the reality of their marriage (both stars did seem spectacularly obnoxious) she became a target for men who flaunt their loathing of all women Mr Deadpool among them. There's no doubting which actor performed better on the stand. Heard looked like she was reciting lines, badly. Depp, though he has the bloated yellow face of a man who could use a liver transplant, projected charisma in every gesture. He rumbled, she whined. She scowled and sneered, he raised a rueful eyebrow. There's another reason why cameras must never be allowed in British courts filming favours those with genuine screen presence. Rich House, Poor House Rating: Barrie and Scott were thrilled to perform for the cameras, as they swapped homes with single mother Ocean on the return of Rich House, Poor House (Ch5). The businessmen made sure the film crew captured their luxury Chelmsford pad from every angle, with special attention to the pool, the underfloor aquarium and the colossal framed portrait of Scott in his birthday suit. Barrie and Scott were thrilled to perform for the cameras, as they swapped homes with single mother Ocean on the return of Rich House, Poor House (Ch5) Barrie and Scott blew most of their budget on their first trip to the shops, but we heard no more about their privations. Instead, they set about redecorating Ocean's bedroom, and fixing up a business for her This show began as poverty porn, shoving well-off families into grotty flats to live on a pittance for a week. Such snideness is no longer fashionable, and it's reinventing itself as a sort of Secret Millionaire spin-off. Barrie and Scott blew most of their budget on their first trip to the shops, but we heard no more about their privations. Instead, they set about redecorating Ocean's bedroom, and fixing up a business for her with a 250,000 investment to start her off. Mind you, this wasn't just charity. The business is an obvious winner: baby food with Caribbean flavours, like mushy jerk chicken. There must be a great market for that. Ocean might want to avoid one of her favourite ingredients, though . . . goat's meat. An acquired taste for toddlers, I imagine. Jackson O'Doherty has left viewers horrified with his latest prank, which depicts him mimicking sexual positions with his 'sister' while shopping for a new bed. The Gold Coast TikTok star, who rose to fame after trying to recreate the 'Playboy Mansion' in Australia, first showed himself innocently shopping with his 'sister' Isabelle. Jackson awkwardly introduced the pair to polite shop assistants before simulating a number of sex positions on the model furniture. 'We're looking for a mattress and a bed frame. Both of them. This is my sister Isabelle,' Jackson said, pointing to a racy-looking woman. 'Her husband is currently working in the mines. So I'm helping her out. She gets a little shy going into shops,' he explained to the shop assistant. Influencer Jackson O'Doherty has pretended to have sex with his 'sister' as the pair shopped for a new bed together in a Tik-Tok prank video, leaving staff confused and horrified they watch on at the pair. Pictured 'We broke our bed. Well, we broke her bed last night. Just wrestling,' he said, playfully putting an emphasis on 'wrestling'. Jackson's sister spoke of the mattress being a bit 'hard' prompting the pair to mimic the use of the bed with a number of positions. Jackson then laid on top of his 'sister' in a very sexual position before she then straddled him and he began gyrating as she sat on top of him. The disgusted shop assistant walked away with her arms on her hips. Isabelle is believed to just be a female friend of Jackson, not his biological sibling. Daily Mail Australia has reached out to O'Doherty for comment. 'Her husband is currently working in the mines. So I've helping her out. She gets a little shy going into shops,' he said. The pair pulled off a number of racy moves in the bed Jackson later pulled the prank on a different shop assistant with the pair explaining they are 'siblings' before kissing each other on the lips. The shop assistant looked on at the pair clearly confused by what she was witnessing with her unsure how to handle the prankster. Viewers clearly appreciated the prank, with the first video garnering 2.2 million views. The Gold Coast social media star has accrued millions of followers and, for almost a decade, lived the life of a party boy, even transitioning into porn. Jackson climbed on top of his 'sister' to horrified staff members He starred in a number of X-rated videos alongside ex-girlfriend, Maddy Belle. O'Doherty and Maddy together managed to rake in around $4 million through subscriptions to their OnlyFans site during the height of Covid. Unfortunately, the pair split last year. 'It was a pretty character-building year for me last year,' Mr O'Doherty told realestate.com in March this year. Jackson opened up on mental health struggles and the sale of his playboy mansion to move into a gated community following a split with his OnlyFans co-star Maddy Belle. Pictured 'A lot of people don't understand and just make assumptions about public relationships, that it's not as legit as a normal one but that's definitely not the case. We loved each other and we had a lot of fun, but the relationship ended.' The YouTuber added the partying was also rough on his mental health after offloading his $2.9 million mansion to move into a gated community. 'I was a bit sick of all the partying, having hundreds of people around, having to question who was real and who wasn't,' he said. 'Most people have always been pretty good to me and I haven't had any issues or dramas with really anybody,' he finished. Oasis's photographer Jill Furmanovsky revealed Noel Gallagher has admitted that bandmate Bonehead is the only person who can reunite the band. The British photographer, 70, said that Noel believes the guitarist, who's real name is Paul Arthurs, is the only one who can as a go-between with him and Liam. Jill, who has captured the rock 'n' roll icons for the past 50 years, said Noel once told her: 'This was Boneheads band "he used to be a buffer between me and Liam"' The photographer revealed she used to get dragged into the bands drama on occasion as she documented the highs and lows of their career. She added: 'Oasis is my best work because I was so experienced and they were so good to photograph. They were very generous and allowed me to get close. Oasis's photographer Jill Furmanovsky revealed Noel Gallagher has admitted that bandmate Bonehead is the only person who can reunite the band The British photographer, 70, said that Noel (right) believes the guitarist, who's real name is Paul Arthurs(second from left), is the only one who can as a go-between with him and Liam (center) 'I still work with Noel now hes like my little brother.' It comes as speculation surrounding an Oasis reunion ramped up, with Liam and Noel reportedly flirting with the idea. It is claimed an idea has been put forward by Liam's agents Wasserman for four huge concerts to take place at the 125,000 capacity venue Knebworth in Hertfordshire in 2025. The gigs would be the first time the band has played together since V Festival in the summer of 2009. Brothers Liam, 50, and Noel, 55, performed in front of 250,000 at Knebworth in 1996, and Liam returned to the location to take to the stage for 170,000 in 2022. A source told The Sun: 'Its very early days for the plan, and the proposed dates are a long way off. But if all members agree to do it, history will be made. 'Tickets would sell like hot cakes and fans would rejoice in seeing the band together again. 'It would be the perfect way for Oasis to come back together again and wouldnt involve a tiresome touring schedule.' Jill, who has captured the rock 'n' roll icons for the past 50 years, said Noel once told her: 'This was Boneheads band "he used to be a buffer between me and Liam" (Liam and Noel picutred in 2005) The photographer revealed she used to get dragged into the bands drama on occasion as she documented the highs and lows of their career (pictured with Paul McCartney in 2022) Both Liam and Noel are currently working on their solo albums and are each due to tour next year. MailOnline has contacted representatives for Liam and Noel for comment. It comes after Blur's Damon Albarn said he was willing to 'put money' on Britpop rivals Oasis reuniting. The Parklife hitmakers have themselves reunited and released their comeback single The Narcissist this week. They also have a slew of intimate warm-up gigs before two huge comeback shows at Wembley Stadium this July. And frontman Damon, 55, has insisted he's confident that feuding siblings Liam and Noel Gallagher will put their estrangement behind them to reform and have a much bigger reunion than them. Damon told The Sun: 'I can guarantee theyre going to reform. In fact, Ive put money on it. 'Theyre brothers and it would be wonderful to see them reconcile.' He quipped: The only funny thing is that our two nights at Wembley will be dwarfed by their SEVEN!' Oasis split in the summer of 2009, following a backstage bust-up between frontman Liam and guitarist Noel. Liam has been calling for an Oasis reunion for years but with no budging from his arch-nemesis brother. Noel recently raised the hopes of fans when he urged his younger sibling to 'get his people to call my people'. Speaking in a radio interview in France on France Inter, Noel said: 'Theres something in the papers back in England today. '[Liam] should get his people to call my people; they know who they are, they know where we are. Stop talking on the f****** internet, and lets see what youve got to say.' Born to perform: It comes as speculation surrounding an Oasis reunion is ramping up, with Liam, 50 (pictured), and Noel, 55, reportedly flirting with the idea (pictured in June last year) Shows: It is claimed an idea has been put forward by Liam's agents Wasserman for four huge concerts to take place at the 125,000 capacity venue Knebworth in Hertfordshire in 2025 (Noel pictured in June last year) 'It would be wonderful to see them reconcile': Blur's Damon Albarn has revealed he's 'put money on Oasis reforming' after his own rock band announce their reunion tour The reporter then asked if that's all it would take to reunite Oasis, to which he replied: 'You would think, right? You would think. Hes got my number, hes got my managers number, call us. But you know what? He wont call.' Noel had admitted earlier this year that he'd 'never say never' to a reunion. He told BBC Radio Manchester: 'You should never say never, [but] it would have to take an extraordinary set of circumstances. 'That's not to say that those circumstances would never come about.' The Champagne Supernova hitmaker was then asked how he and Liam are getting on these days, to which he seemingly sarcastically replied: 'Oh, brilliantly, yeah. Genuinely, yeah.' The band isn't reuniting to mark the 30th anniversary of their debut album Definitely Maybe this summer. However, Noel has put together previously lost songs from the recording sessions for the landmark 1994 LP. He told the Italian newspaper Corriere Della Sera: 'In the Sony archives weve found tapes dating to those sessions. 'We thought they were lost, but they were mislabelled. They are wonderful versions of those songs, some acoustic versions. 'There wont be a tour we wont come back to play them together.' Cleo Smith's mother Ellie Smith has surfaced on national television looking almost unrecognisable over two years after her daughter's abduction ordeal. Cleo, then four, made international headlines when she was snatched from a tent on October 16, 2021, as she slept with her mother, stepfather and baby sister at the Blowholes campsite, near Carnarvon, about 960km north of Perth. The little girl was held captive by Terence Darrell Kelly, 37, and locked alone in a bedroom at his home for 18 days before Western Australia Police rescued her in a late night raid. Since then Ms Smith has undergone quite the makeover, debuting a slimmer physique and a head of bleach-blonde hair in recent months. Viewers could barely recognise Ms Smith as she resurfaced on Channel Nine's 60 Minutes with fiance Jake Gliddon for an exclusive interview on 14 May. Cleo Smith's mother Ellie Smith has surfaced on national television looking almost unrecognisable over two years after her daughter's abduction ordeal. Ms Smith is pictured left on 60 Minutes in February 2022, and right on 60 Minutes again on 14 May 2023 Cleo (pictured), then four, made international headlines when she was snatched from a tent on October 16, 2021, as she slept with her mother, stepfather and baby sister at the Blowholes campsite, near Carnarvon, about 960km north of Perth With her thick, blonde locks tumbling down her shoulders, contoured makeup and bronze spray tan, the former brunette looked decidedly different to the last time she appeared on 60 Minutes in February 2022. Ms Smith and her partner were reportedly paid $2million to sit down with 60 Minutes host Tara Brown last February for the world exclusive television interview. The exorbitant cost of the sit-down, which was filmed over video chat due to Covid lockdowns, sparked criticism from industry insiders. With her thick, blonde locks tumbling down her shoulders, contoured makeup and bronze spray tan, the former brunette looked decidedly different to the last time she appeared on 60 Minutes in February 2022. Ms Smith is pictured left on 60 Minutes in February 2022, and right on 60 Minutes again on 14 May 2023 'This kind of money could employ not only dozens of journalists but is also enough to run multiple programs,' one senior television executive told The Australian at the time. At the time, Pearman Media director of strategy and research Steve Allen told News Corp he was shocked at the interview's steep price. 'For the family at the reported amount, even under the distressing circumstances, they are now rich beyond their wildest dreams,' he said. The little girl was held captive by Terence Darrell Kelly, 37, and locked alone in a bedroom at his home for 18 days before Western Australia Police rescued her in a late night raid. Pictured is Ms Smith and Cleo after her rescue on 9 November 2011 Ms Smith (left) and stepdad Jake Gliddon (right) were at District Court of WA in Perth on April 5 2023 for the sentencing for the man who abducted their little girl 'There must have been more than one media outlet chasing this exclusive to go that high. [It] must have been fierce competition.' Ms Smith and her partner Mr Gliddon returned to 60 Minutes on Sunday for a follow-up interview, one month after Kelly was jailed for 13 and a half years after pleading guilty to the abduction. During the latest 60 Minutes interview, Ms Smith's panicked call to triple-0 and police bodycam of the distressed mum in tears after officers arrived at the remote campsite was aired for the first time. On April 5, Kelly was jailed for more than 10 years after pleading guilty to the abduction. Ms Smith and Mr Gliddon made a surprise appearance at Kelly's sentencing in the District Court of WA. Sentencing judge Julie Wager described the fear, distress and trauma caused to Cleo and her parents as 'immeasurable'. Sentencing judge Julie Wager described the fear, distress and trauma caused to Cleo and her parents as 'immeasurable' 'Eighteen days without contact or explanation, and with hours totally on her own and no access to the outside world, would have been very traumatic,' the judge said. Kelly's legal team have since lodged an appeal over the lengthy sentence handed down to him after he admitted forcibly detaining a child under the age of 16 in January 2022. The Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) meanwhile confirmed that it would not be appealing the sentence seeking an increase saying it was not 'inadequate'. Terence Darrell Kelly (pictured during his arrest) was last month jailed for more than 10 years but his lawyers are appealing the sentence length The dramatic rescue of Cleo was captured by an officer's body-worn camera and was beamed around the world. Police Commissioner Col Blanch said the strength of the evidence against Kelly had likely influenced his early guilty plea. 'For me as commissioner, this is No.1 - this is the greatest story in Western Australian policing history,' he told reporters. Police launched a major investigation after Cleo's mother awoke to find the girl missing from the family's tent at the Blowholes campsite, north of Carnarvon. Ms Smith and Mr Gliddon are pictured on Channel Seven's Flashpoint before Cleo was found 'The police investigation was meticulous ... the information that we had and the evidence we put together was exceptional.' Police launched a major investigation after Cleo's mother awoke to find the girl missing from the family's tent at the Blowholes campsite, north of Carnarvon. More than 100 officers were assigned to the task force with investigators processing thousands of calls to Crime Stoppers. Surveillance footage was sought from motels and children's clothing stores within a 1000km radius of the campsite and forensic officers sifted through more than 50 cubic metres of rubbish from roadside bins. The state government meanwhile offered a $1 million reward for information leading to Cleo's whereabouts. Patrick Kielty thought he had landed himself in trouble and was due scolding when he was called headteachers office to be told his father had died during Northern Ireland's Troubles. The comedian, now 52, was just 16-years-old when his businessman father Jack was gunned down by loyalist shooters from the Ulster Freedom Fighters at his desk in 1988 at the age of 44 after refusing to pay protection money. In a new BBC documentary, Once Upon a Time in Northern Ireland, Patrick recalls how he was called into his headmaster's office at school to be told the news that his father had been killed. According to the Mirror, the star said in the programme: 'I remember going to school and like lots of other kids who were 16, putting up your posters for Comic Relief. 'And being called to the headmasters office and thinking "I didnt ask permission to put these posters up, here we go". Shocl: Patrick Kielty thought he had landed himself in trouble and was due scolding when he was called headteachers office to be told his father had died Death: The comedian, now 52, was just 16-years-old when his businessman father Jack (pictured) was gunned down by loyalist shooters during Northern Ireland's Troubles 'The headmaster said, "I think you need to sit down". There was a slow motion but very quick exchange. 'He said "your fathers been shot". I said "is he dead?" and he said "yes".' It wasn't until later that Patrick and his family found out why his father had been targeted. He explained: 'Rather than pay protection money to loyalist paramilitaries he decided to go to the police.' Patrick's father was in his building firm's office when members of the Loyalist Ulster Freedom Fighters sprayed it with bullets. It was a case of mistaken identity, with the killers believing Jack to be an officer in the IRA, a link that was immediately dismissed by the Royal Ulster Constabulary and family members. Patrick has previously said he's not ready to forgive the loyalist paramilitaries who shot dead his father in Northern Ireland more than 30 years ago. In a 2018 BBC One documentary, My Dad, the Peace Deal and Me, Patrick relived the horror of his parent's death. Horrific: Patrick's father was in his building firm's office when members of the Loyalist Ulster Freedom Fighters sprayed it with bullets Patrick also revealed the IRA tried to recruit him to exact revenge on his killers. He returned to his home village of Dundrum, Co Down, for the programme looking at the Troubles and the impact of the Good Friday peace process. Patrick said: 'I can't forgive them. But whether or not these people are in jail, it's not going to bring Dad back. 'I felt if this is what has to happen to stop this happening to someone else, I'll suck that up. I won't hug them and tell them it was OK - but I want to move on.' Speaking of the time the IRA tried to recruit him, he told the programme: 'At the time of my dad's death, there were thousands of armed paramilitaries and it would've been easy for me to pick up a gun myself. 'My dad's brother had been approached in the graveyard by the IRA to say, 'look, we could probably use a couple of good smart strong strapping lads like those Kielty lads if they're interested in revenge. 'They were told in no uncertain terms where to go. 'Everyone wants to believe their loved one died for a cause. But my dad died for nothing.' Never one to shy away from the camera, Eva Herzigova ensured all eyes were on her as she attended the Women in Motion Awards on Sunday. The Czech-Italian supermodel, 50, left little to the imagination whilst clad in a see-through maxi, black gown. She confidently flaunted her womanly curves in the long-sleeved sheer number as she posed for photographs upon arrival. Eva boosted her statuesque figure in a pair of black strappy heels and played up to the cameras in a number of jovial poses. The blonde beauty accessorised by wearing circular gold earrings and statement gold cuff bracelets on both her wrists. Oh la la: Eva Herzigova ensured all eyes were on her as she attended the Women in Motion Awards in Cannes on Sunday Confidence: The Czech-Italian supermodel, 50, left little to the imagination as she donned a sheer maxi gown with black underwear showing through Wearing a pair of black sunglasses, the Dior muse styled her golden locks in glamorous up-do, leaving a singular wave to playfully fall down and frame her pretty face. She highlighted her pretty features with soft smokey brown eyeshadow and wore a nude lip. With decades of modelling experience under her belt ever since she won the 1989 beauty contest in Prague, it was no surprise Eva demanded the attention with her enticing display. The star of the iconic 1994 Wonderbra 'Hello Boys' campaign had a turbulent divorce from Bon Jovi drummer Tico Torres. The model wed the musician from 1996 until 1998 and despite swearing off marriage announced her engagement to her partner George Marsiaj after a 16-year romance. She shares three children with him - Gregorio, 15, Edward, 12 and Philipe, 11. The 5ft 11in looker has also acted in films. In 1992 she appeared in the TV movie Inferno, then moved onto Just For The Time Being in 2000. She played the role of Olga in the film Modiglian in 2004. Simply stunning: The Dior muse posed up a storm in a number of different angles Mesmerising: The star looked sensational in the all black ensemble as she attended the glitzy event Beauty: With decades of modelling experience under her belt ever since she won the 1989 beauty contest in Prague, it was no surprise Eva demanded attention Family matters: The supermodel is a doting mother to sons Gregorio, 15, Edward, 12 and Philipe, 11 who she shares with her partner George Marsiaj Ten years later she starred as Karla in Storyteller then was seen in 2016's A Prominent Patient. Eva has also posed for the cover of Playboy magazine. In an interview with Hello! Eva shared details on her thoughts on motherhood saying: 'I breathe for my boys and there are times when my husband reminds me to be a bit more selfish and to think of myself as well.' Sadie Sink debuted a new, shorter hairstyle in a snap that was recently shared to Croatian Airlines' official Twitter account. In the snap, the 21-year-old Stranger Things actress flashed a wide smile while spending time in the cockpit of a plane. Fans of the performer, who recently opened up about the program's planned ending, took notice of her trimmed hair, which had been trimmed into a bob cut. Sink's new hairstyle was also placed on display in a video that was recently shared to TikTok, in which she sang with a friend's band during a performance in New York City. Many of her fans took to the video's comments section to express their views about what the actress' new look would mean for her Stranger Things character, Max Mayfield. A new look: Sadie Sink debuted a new, shorter hairstyle in a snap that was recently shared to Croatian Airlines' official Twitter account The cast member of The Whale made her debut on the hit Netflix program during its second season, which aired in 2017. The science-fiction series also stars performers such as Millie Bobby Brown, David Harbour and Winona Ryder, among many others. Sink returned to portray Mayfield for the hit program's third and fourth seasons. The actress, as well as several of her costars, have been put up for numerous awards for their work on the program throughout its run. The performer is currently set to reprise her role in the show's upcoming fifth and final season. Although filming was expected to begin in June, it was announced that the project would be delayed as a result of the ongoing Writers Guild of America strike. Sink discussed Stranger Things during an interview with Elle, where she she spoke highly of her character. 'I think with Max, ultimately, she's fun and she's very innocent and I think she's got a lot of life and hope in her. And she's a good friend,' she said. Flying off: In the snap, the 21-year-old Stranger Things actress flashed a wide smile while spending time in the cockpit of a plane Not the first time: Sink's new hairstyle was also placed on display in a video that was recently shared to TikTok, in which she sang with a friend's band during a performance in New York City Starting off strong: The cast member of The Whale made her debut on the hit Netflix program during its second season, which aired in 2017 A bit more time: Although filming was expected to begin in June, it was announced that the project would be delayed as a result of the ongoing Writers Guild of America strike The performer also expressed that, although she wanted to learn her character's ultimate fate, she, as well as the rest of the show's cast, had yet to find out what would be happening to the figures they play. 'I really want them to tell me what's happening, because I have a lot of questions. But we'll get them when we get them,' she said. Sink concluded by remarking that the show's team wanted to ensure that the program concluded with a solid ending. 'It's the final season. We're not rushing anything. We're going to take their time on this one [and] get it right,' she said. Natalie Portman was spotted heading to the 76th Cannes Film Festival in France on Sunday. The 41-year-old actress put on a stylish display in a plunging, black lace top that she wore underneath a chic, oversized blazer and wide-legged trousers as she stepped out of the Hotel Martinez. The two-time Golden Globe winner who looked stunning in a red hot ensemble at the photocall and press conference for her film May December wore a pair of peep-toe wedges. The Black Swan star also donned a pair of large cat-eye sunglasses with a tortoiseshell-style frame. For the annual and international film festival, the Star Wars vet sported a minimal makeup look to showcase her radiant and natural beauty. Poised: Natalie Portman, 41, was spotted heading to the 76th Cannes Film Festival in France on Sunday. The actress put on a stylish display in a plunging, black lace top that she wore underneath a chic, oversized blazer and wide-legged trousers as she stepped out of the Hotel Martinez The Harvard University alum showed off her flawless skin and subtly flushed appearance with light bronzer and rosy pink blush. And she finished off her look with a glossy nude pink lip. The Angel City co-founder wore her collarbone-length, brunette tresses in a sleek and straight hairstyle that was parted down the middle. Over the weekend, she attended The Zone of Interest premiere at the Palais des Festivals in a show-stopping, sequined gown. The day before, she was spotted at the screening of her film May December with her costar Julianne Moore. For the special occasion, she donned a white and blue gown with a tulip skirt made up of flower petal-inspired layers. Portman's latest project is a romantic drama film directed by Todd Haynes and written by Samy Burch and Alex Mechanik. According to the synopsis, May December follows a married couple played by Moore and Charles Melton who were previously a tabloid spectacle due to their notable age gap. Stylish: The two-time Golden Globe winner who looked stunning in a red hot ensemble at the photocall and press conference for her film May December wore a pair of peep-toe wedges Chic specs: The Black Swan star also donned a pair of large cat-eye sunglasses with a tortoiseshell-style frame Twenty years later after their notorious romance, they welcome twins and are 'faced with the prospect of having a film made about their lives'. Amid the pressure, a Hollywood actress played by Portman travels to Maine to do research for a film about their past and their relationship slowly starts unraveling. For the film, Portman also acts as one of the producers alongside actor Will Ferrell. The movie is currently competing for Cannes' most prestigious prize the Palme dOr. Married at First Sight couple Melinda Willis and Layton Mills recently revealed their plans to move in together and start a 'family'. And on Sunday, the pair were spotted packing on the PDA as Layton, 35, helped Melinda, 32, move her belongings into a new salon in Queensland. The pair couldn't keep their hands off each other as they moved her stuff and grabbed some coffees, before driving off in her fancy white Porsche. Melinda, who is the founder of multiple beauty businesses, looked chic on the day in a black jumper and a pair of skintight jeans and sandals. She wore her long blonde locks out and over her shoulders and a full face of makeup. On Sunday, MAFS stars Melinda Willis and Layton Mills were spotted packing on the PDA as they moved her belongings into a new salon in Queensland Entrepreneur Layton showed off his tattoos in a grey T-shirt and teamed the look with dark shorts and white runners. The pair were seen embracing and Layton was seen planting a kiss on her cheek as they sat down on a break. At one point, he got his hands dirty and was seen lifting a cabinet into the premises. The pair couldn't keep their hands off each other as they moved her stuff and grabbed some coffees, before driving off her fancy white Porsche At one point, he got his hands dirty and was seen lifting a cabinet into the premises Last month, the pair told Woman's Day on Monday they have been discussing living together - with Layton, 35, thinking about relocating from Sydney to Brisbane to be with Melinda, 32. 'I love Brisbane. I think it's awesome. We've just been waiting for the show to finish airing to sort out timings, and what that looks like,' he said. Melinda added that another milestone they were both planning for was increasing their family by adopting a dog. 'I want an Italian greyhound. It's just me as a dog,' she joked. The loved-up couple then admitted that the ultimate test of their relationship was reliving its highs and lows by watching themselves on MAFS this year. Last month, the pair told Woman's Day on Monday they have been discussing living together - with Layton, 35, thinking about relocating from Sydney to Brisbane to be with Melinda, 32 The loved-up couple then admitted that the ultimate test of their relationship was reliving its highs and lows by watching themselves on MAFS this year 'It really tested us way beyond our limits. As soon as it aired, we were like, "I'm not talking to you!",' Melinda said. 'But we got over it when we actually thought we wouldn't, and survived the pressure cooker and bubble that is MAFS. I feel that we're a lot stronger now,' she added. During their time on the experiment, Melinda and Layton encountered their fair share of challenges, including trust issues, fiery arguments, and emotional breakdowns. However, their undeniable chemistry and commitment to working through their problems proved to be the secret ingredient to their lasting love. Martin Scorsese's much anticipated new epic film Killers Of The Flower Moon made its world premiere at the 76th Cannes film Festival in Cannes, France over the weekend. The 3 hour and 26 minute drama ended up getting a nine-minute standing ovation from the audience, which is said to be the longest of the festival that began on May 16, according to Variety. The Western crime drama is the latest pairing with the acclaimed director for both Robert De Niro and Leonardo DiCaprio. In fact, this is the eleventh movie that De Niro has collaborated with Scorsese on and the seventh for DiCaprio over their distinguished careers. Ahead of the debut screening De Niro showed a burst of enthusiasm and greeted the scores of fans lined up along a barrier, and then joined Scorsese and co-stars, including Lily Gladstone, Jesse Plemons and Cara Jade Myers, for a photcall in front of a scenic backdrop at the Cannes marina. World premiere: Robert De Niro, 79, struck a few poses at the photocall for the premiere of Martin Scorsese's much-anticipated epic film Killers Of The Flower Moon at the 76th Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, France De Niro, 79, shook hands and said hello to a number of people who appeared to be over the moon over meeting the legendary actor. The New York City native, who just welcomed a daughter with girlfriend Tiffany Chen in April, looked fit dressed in a black slacks with a gray blazer over a light brown shirt. The Raging Bull star proceeded to strike a pose for the sea of photographers gathered for the photo-op, who were in lined up in front and behind the two-time Academy Award winner. Not one to like all the spotlight on himself during photo-ops, the longtime leading man would join his Killers Of The Flower Moon colleagues for some more rounds of photos. At one point the cast and some behind-the-scenes people lined up with Scorsese for one last hurrah for photographers. Co-written by Scorsese and Eric Roth, Flowers Of The Moon tells the true story of the 'reign of terror' that left two dozen Native Americans dead. The $200 million, Apple-backed film, based on a 2017 book of the same name by David Grann, is Scorsese's first attempt at the Western genre. Like the best-selling book, the screenplay depicts the serial murder of members of the oil-wealthy Osage Nation in 1920s Oklahoma. Good sign: Killers Of The Flower Moon got a nine-minute standing ovation after the world premiere screening at the Cannes Film Festival, according to Deadline; the screening came after De Niro and the rest of the team finished the photocall Star-studded: The Oscar-winning actor greeted fans who gathered along a barrier at the photocall and premiere screening of the drama film that also stars Leonardo DiCaprio Frequent collaborators: Along with Killers Of The Flower Moon, De Niro has now collaborated with Marton Scorsese on eleven films over their illustrious careers; co-star Leonardo DiCaprio has now starred in seven of Scorsese's movies Scenic: Some of the cast joined Scorsese for a round of photos (pictured from third left to third right) Janae Collins, Jesse Plemons, Robert De Niro, Martin Scorsese, Lily Gladstone, Leonardo Dicaprio and Cara Jade Myers pose during a photocall for the film Killers of the Flower Moon at the 76th edition of the Cannes Film Festival at Palais des Festivals in Cannes, France Epic story: Co-written by Scorsese, 80, and Eric Roth, Flowers Of The Moon tells the true story of the 'reign of terror' that left two dozen Native Americans dead; De Niro, Scorsese also posed with co-stars Lily Gladstone and DiCaprio First timer: The $200 million, Apple-backed film, based on a 2017 book of the same name by David Grann, is Scorsese's first attempt at the Western genre The subsequent investigation into the killings, directed by a then 29-year-old J. Edgar Hoover and former Texas Ranger Tom White, helped launch Hoover's FBI. Principal photography began in April 2021, with filming taking place in Osage County and Washington County, namely Pawhuska, Fairfax and Bartlesville, which are all in Oklahoma. DiCaprio plays Ernest Burkhart, the weak-willed nephew of William Hale (Robert De Niro), a local businessman who wants the Osage oil rights. After a six-month shoot, the Oscar-winner was quoted to boast that he believes this is his best work yet, according to the films costume designer Jacqueline West, as told to Deadline. Along with aforementioned stars, the stellar cast also includes recent Academy Award winner Brendan Fraser, John Lithgow, Tantoo Cardinal, Jillian Dion, William Belleau, Scott Shepherd, among a number of others. DiCaprio plays Ernest Burkhart, the weak-willed nephew of William Hale (Robert De Niro) De Niro play a local businessman who wants the Osage oil rights in the drama film High praise: DiCaprio has been quoted to boast that he believes this is his best work yet, according to Deadline, the stellar calso also includes recent Oscar winner Branden Fraser Killers Of The Flower Moon is scheduled to be released in select theaters on October 6, before going wide in the United States on October 20. It's also slated to have an unspecified streaming release on Apple TV+. With Killers Of The Flower Moon (2023) being De Niro's eleventh Scorsese film, the others include Mean Streets (1973), Taxi Driver (1976), New York New York (1977), Raging Bull (1980), The King of Comedy (1983), Goodfellas (1990), Cape Fear (1991), Casino (1995), The Audition (2015), The Irishman (2019). As for DiCaprio, his seven collaborations with the famed filmmaker also includes Gangs Of New York (2002), The Aviator (2004), The Departed (2006), Shutter Island (2010), The Wolf Of Wall Street (2013) and The Audition (2016). Robert Irwin's romance with Heath Ledger's niece Rory Buckey is heating up, whether his protective mother Terri likes it or not. The young couple have been in a long-distance relationship for around seven months, and were spotted enjoying a very amorous reunion at Perth Airport on Friday. Robert, who is the 19-year-old son of Aussie TV legend Steve 'The Crocodile Hunter, had flown in from his Queensland hometown to spend the weekend with Rorie, 18, and her family in Perth. Rorie was waiting for Robert at the airport and rushed to throw her arms around him he exited the plane. Looking positively smitten, Robert closed his eyes as he grabbed the pretty blonde's waist and drew her close. Robert Irwin, 19, (right) and hhis girlfriend Rorie Buckey, 18, (left) packed on the PDA during a romantic reunion at Perth Airport on Friday - months after his mother reportedly said she wants to them to keep their relationship 'PG' Robert looked thrilled as he pulled his suitcase towards the exit, before piling his belongings in the back of a parked car. The wildlife photographer clearly made an effort to impress his girlfriend during their reunion, swapping his khaki zookeeper uniform for a sleek navy T-shirt and black skinny jeans. He completed his look with sneakers, a stylish wrist watch and a black face mask. Rorie was waiting for Robert at the airport, and rushed to throw her arms around him he exited the plane Robert looked thrilled as he pulled his suitcase towards the exit, before piling his belongings in the back of a parked car Rorie meanwhile looked casual in a pink Abercrombie sweater, black track pants, sandals and delicate pearl earrings. She wore her flaxen hair out in natural waves and sported a subtle makeup look. The sighting comes amid reports Robert's mother Terri has urged her son to 'take things slow' during his first relationship. The wildlife photographer clearly made an effort to impress his girlfriend during their reunion, swapping his khaki zookeeper uniform for a sleek navy T-shirt and black skinny jeans He completed his look with a stylish wrist watch and a black face mask Rorie meanwhile looked casual in a pink Abercrombie sweater, black track pants, sandals and delicate pearl earrings She wore her flaxen hair out in natural waves and sported a subtle makeup look The 58-year-old zookeeper is said to be keeping a close eye on the couple to make sure they 'keep things PG', New Idea reported in December. 'Terri is really happy for Robert, and she likes Rorie, but she's urging him to take it slow for both their sakes,' a source told the magazine. 'Terri knows all too well what it's like to be in a relationship in the public eye. She wants to make sure they're ready.' The sighting comes amid reports Robert's mother Terri has urged her son to 'take things slow' during his first relationship The 58-year-old zookeeper is said to be keeping a close eye on the couple to make sure they 'keep things PG', New Idea reported in December Robert and Rorie have plenty in common; both grew up in the public eye after suffering the devastating loss of a family member. Heath was at the top of his Hollywood career when he was found dead in January 2008 following an accidental prescription drug overdose. Robert's father Steve Irwin, known to the world as the 'Crocodile Hunter', died aged 44 on September 4, 2006, after being pierced in the chest by a stingray. 'Terri is really happy for Robert, and she likes Rorie, but she's urging him to take it slow for both their sakes,' a source told the magazine Sean 'Diddy' Combs revealed that his baby daughter Love said 'dada' for the first time in a video that was shared to his Instagram Story on Monday morning. The 53-year-old rap mogul, who is currently enjoying a tropical getaway, appeared to be ecstatic about the words spoken by his youngest child, aged seven months, while telling his followers about her vocalization. The entrepreneur, who attended the Met Gala with his on-off girlfriend, expressed that he had made a wager with Love's mother, Dana Tran, about her first words, stating: 'We had a bet! Would it be mama or dada first?' Diddy went on to celebrate Love's achievement by pumping his fists in another video shared on his story. The rapper also shared a clip that showed his baby daughter playing with Tran, 28, who began to sing the theme song from Barney while her child poked at her face. Proud father: Sean 'Diddy' Combs revealed that his baby daughter Love said 'dada' for the first time in a video that was shared to his Instagram Story on Monday morning Love kept calling for her father during her playtime, much to her mother's amusement. The performer's daughter, who is his seventh child overall, was born on October 15 in Newport Beach, California. Diddy's first child Justin, 29, was born in 1993, and he shares his eldest biological son with his former partner Misa Hylton. He went on to begin a long-lasting on-off relationship with Kimberly Porter, and they welcomed their first child Christian, 25, in 1998 before she gave birth to daughters D'Lila and Jessie, aged 16, in 2006. The hitmaker also legally adopted Porter's son Quincy, 31, whom she shared with Al B. Sure! The rapper welcomed a daughter named Chance, 16, with Sarah Chapman in 2006. Diddy eventually began seeing Tran, and TMZ confirmed that she was Love's mother in December of last year. The performer announced that he had welcomed his seventh child into his life in a tweet that was shared that month. Coming out on top: The entrepreneur expressed that he had made a wager with Love's mother, Dana Tran, about her first words, stating that 'We had a bet! Would it be mama or dada first?' Happy: Love kept calling for her father during her playtime, much to her mother's amusement Showing up: Diddy's daughter has since made several appearances in various photos shared on his Instagram account The rapper went on to begin a relationship with Yung Miami not long after his daughter's birth, although they split up last month. Diddy's daughter has since made several appearances in various photos shared on his Instagram account. The performer previously spoke to Vanity Fair and opened up about why he felt that the concept of love was significant on a worldwide scale. He stated: 'Love is a mission. I feel like that's one of the biggest missions that will actually shift things.' Ground-breaking drag performer George Logan, who soared to stardom on the BBC for his role in the musical act Hinge and Bracket, has died aged 78. The cabaret performer achieved fame by playing Dr Evadne Hinge in a series of TV and radio shows in the 1970s and 80s. The South Lanarkshire born comedian launched his drag routine with fellow comedian Patrick Fyffe at the Edinburgh Festival in 1974. The two comedians met performing in clubs in London in the 1970s, before being picked up by the BBC. Benidorm star Bobby Crush led tributes to the pioneering performer, with a post on social media marking the comedian's death. George Logan (pictured), who soared to stardom on the BBC for his role in the musical act Hinge and Bracket, has died aged 78 The comedian soared to fame as part of the musical duo 'Hinge and Bracket' Who were Hinge and Bracket? Hinge and Bracket were a comedy cabaret duo that rose to fame in the 1970s. George Logan and Patrick Fyffe played elderly spinsters Dr Evadne Hinge and Dame Hilda Bracket. The characters lived in the fictional Suffolk village of Stackton Tressel. The duo's comedy show debuted at the Edinburgh Festival in 1974. The shows played on notions of a genteel England, harking back to the inter-war period. Advertisement 'RIP George Logan, also known as Dr Evadne Hinge of Hinge and Bracket,' the Benidorm star said. 'We appeared in panto together in this glorious production of at the Theatre Royal Plymouth in 1989 I'm saddened by news of his passing today,' Crush said. In their cabaret act, Hinge and Bracket played a pair of elderly spinsters in shows filled with double entendres. The duo hosted their own BBC2 series, Dear Ladies, for many years and were theatre regulars since debuting the drag act in 1974 at the Edinburgh Festival. Mr Logan's double act partner Patrick Fyffe, who played Dame Hilda Bracket, died of cancer, aged 60, in 2002. Tributes to the late Mr Logan flooded in via social media as fellow entertainers expressed their sorrow that the 'wonderful' and 'funny' entertainer had passed away. Broadcaster and author Gyles Brandreth said it was 'one of the great joys of my life' to script the TV series and specials of Dear Ladies with Hinge and Bracket. 'George Logan was a very funny, very brilliant man - a wonderful musician and a great entertainer,' Mr Brandreth tweeted. 'His creation, Dr Evadne Hinge, was beautifully observed and gloriously brought to life with his stage partner Patrick Fyffe as the irrepressible Dame Hilda Bracket. They were such fun!' George Logan (pictured) documented his experiences growing up in Scotland in the 1960s in his 2015 autobiography 'A Boy Called Audrey' Broadcaster and former politician Gyles Brandreth described George Logan as a 'wonderful musician' and a 'great entertainer' Comedy writer Julian Dutton said 'drag-with-character has lost another wonderful artiste' TV writer Gareth Roberts described George Logan as 'such great fun' Mr Logan previously documented his experiences growing up in Scotland in the 1960s in his autobiography titled 'A Boy Called Audrey'. In the 2015 book, he explained his first entry into showbusiness at a pub near to where he lived. 'A gay pub near where I lived put on drag acts. One day, the pianist didn't turn up. The landlady said, "You play the piano don't you? I'll give you two quid to play for the act?" So I did, and became the regular pianist. 'As I was watching all these acts I realised they were getting eight quid for doing gags I'd heard a hundred times. I thought, "I could do that and play the piano at the same time and keep the whole 10 quid to myself." 'That's how I got into show business, although I didn't get the 10 quid. As I was a beginner I got eight for doing both but eight quid for half an hour's work wasn't bad.' Non-binary activist and stylist Deni Todorovic did not front court on Monday, after they were hit with a restraining order on behalf of their former partner. The queer influencer was listed to face Newtown Local Court under the name Ratko Denis Todorovic, with the AVO being taken out by police on behalf of Todorovic's former partner, Mitchell Peter Latham. But they did not face court on Monday, with no lawyer to represent the influencer. A police prosecutor told the court the matter was going to be adjourned to July 3 to 'match up with the charge'. It is not yet known what charge Todorovic is facing and the prosecutor declined to comment when approached by NCA NewsWire. Non-binary activist and stylist Deni Todorovic (pictured) did not front court on Monday, after they were hit with a restraining order on behalf of their former partner It is understood the order was taken out following an alleged incident on Thursday. The couple revealed they were in a relationship during an Instagram video during this year's Mardi Gras celebrations in March. 'We've made a choice to keep things off the 'gram for as long/short and as frequently/infrequently as we so chose to,' Todorovic wrote on Instagram in April. 'You have been some of the best 5 weeks of love, I have had the honour of experiencing in my 35 short laps around the sun. The queer influencer was listed to face Newtown Local Court under the name Ratko Denis Todorovic, with the AVO being taken out by police on behalf of Todorovic's former partner, Mitchell Peter Latham (right) 'Here's to another 5 weeks, months, days, hours, years, decades, life times.' The application comes after Todorovic posted a series of worrying posts to social media throughout the week after travelling to Sydney to attend Afterpay Australian Fashion Week. Todorovic spent the week in the headlines following a series of posts after relationship breakdowns with brands Bonds and Seafolly. They first made headlines following a heated dispute with Virgin Airlines after refusing to pay a $100 surcharge for excess baggage. A police prosecutor told the court the matter was going to be adjourned to July 3 to 'match up with the charge' Todorovic said they had been subjected to 'homophobic and racist' behaviour and wrote 'Jetstar, suck my d**k' on their thighs when they arrived at AAFW. The following day, Todorovic was turned away from Nadia Bartel's Henne fashion show. Friends and family have expressed concern for Todorovic's mental health in recent weeks. The 34-year-old's family posted to Todorovic's Instagram account on Friday to assure followers they were 'safe and in good hands'. Charlotte Crosby looked nothing short of incredible on Saturday as she enjoyed a day by the pool at Bam-Bu-Ku during her trip to Ibiza. The Geordie Shore favourite, 33, showed off her sensational figure in a strapless white swimsuit. Her one-piece boasted multiple cutouts that showed off her toned stomach and ample cleavage. Charlotte added a striped white shirt over the top of the swimwear and a silver heart pendant necklace. Her caramel coloured tresses were left down and styled in soft waves, while she soaked in the sun. Looking good: Charlotte Crosby looked nothing short of incredible on Saturday as she enjoyed a day by the pool at Bam-Bu-Ku during her trip to Ibiza Amazing: The Geordie Shore favourite, 33, showed off her sensational figure in a strapless white swimsuit Svelte: Her one-piece boasted multiple cutouts that showed off her toned stomach and ample cleavage The reality star opted for a no make-up look to show off her natural beauty and golden tan. Charlotte's phenomenal physique comes only eight months after she welcomed her daughter Alba Jean in October. She has jetted off to Ibiza alongside her boyfriend Jake Ankers to shoot a campaign for her brand Pepper Girls Club. She is currently also focusing on her BBC show, Charlotte In Sunderland, but it's been reported that the show that shot her to fame, Geordie Shore, has axed filming for their summer series after an illness swept the cast. Stars of the MTV reality show had all been flown out to Cyprus to shoot the next instalment but it has been claimed many became too unwell to film. It has been reported that some stars were so poorly that they returned to the UK as production was abandoned. A source told The Sun: 'It was horrific - everyone got ill and couldn't film. 'It ripped through the cast so in the end, bosses had to end filming early and everyone went home.' MTV were approached for comment by MailOnline at the time. Stylish: Charlotte added a striped white shirt over the top of the swimwear and a silver heart pendant necklace Stunning: Her caramel coloured tresses were left down and styled in soft waves, while she soaked in the sun Flawless: The reality star opted for a no make-up look to show off her natural beauty and golden tan Incredible: Charlotte's phenomenal physique comes only eight months after she welcomed her daughter Alba Jean in October Strike a pose! She has jetted off to Ibiza alongside her boyfriend Jake Ankers to shoot a campaign for her brand Pepper Girls Club Oh no! She is currently also focusing on her BBC show, Charlotte In Sunderland, but it's been reported that the show that shot her to fame, Geordie Shore , has axed filming for their summer series after an illness swept the cast Poorly: Stars of the MTV reality show had all been flown out to Cyprus to shoot the next instalment but it has been claimed many became too unwell to film Unwell: It has been reported that some stars were so poorly that they returned to the UK as production was abandoned Last year OG cast It has been reported that some stars were so poorly that they returned to the UK as production was abandoned.members including Charlotte, returned to screens together, 11 years after the reality show first aired in 2011. Original Geordie Shore paved the way for the success of its American equivalent, Jersey Shore, and follows a group of young adults from Newcastle as they move into a house together. The reunion series included a group holiday, a long-awaited wedding and a party in the Geordie Shore house. The new series was dubbed the 'ultimate Geordie throwback' as original cast members made it their mission to organise the reunion. Love Island star Adam Collard has made explosive claims about life in the villa, following his two stints on the ITV2 show. The Geordie hunk, 27, appeared on Series Four in 2018 and last year's Series Eight - making him the first star to appear twice on the show - and he has since spilled the beans on the show, including his new claims about bedtimes. Adam, who found now-defunct love with Zara McDermott and Paige Thorne respectively on the show, appeared on The Not So Fit Couple podcast where he claimed the cast are kept awake till 4am and wake up at 1 in the afternoon. He alleges the timings are both to get the best light for cameras but also to ensure the cast are exhausted enough to get good arguments. When host Lucy Davis asked if they are not overtired from the arrangements, he insisted stars do not realise as there are no clocks in the villa, however he admitted producers were 'clever' to use tiredness to provoke arguments. Oh dear: Love Island star Adam Collard has made explosive claims about life in the villa, following his two stints on the ITV2 show That was then: Adam revealed that in 2018, he was taken on a nighttime date with his first romantic interest of the show Kendall Rae-Knight, he realised the late hour Adam revealed that in 2018, he was taken on a nighttime date with his first romantic interest of the show Kendall Rae-Knight, he realised the late hour. He said: 'The first time it was on me and Kendall got taken on a date and was really romantic, lights in the dark and all of that and in the car it was 4am. It was 4am and I was on my way there... 'Because what happens is they need perfect lighting for the TV screens and stuff like that. So the sleep pattern is, you wake up at 1 in the afternoon and you go to bed 4 or 5 in the morning that's what the sleep pattern is because it's better lighting... 'That's what they change your sleep pattern to, I reckon it's borderline. We worked this out, it's 12, 1 o'clock midday, wake up and it's 4 or 5am [to get to bed], depending off if the night is dramatic or not.' Tough times: The treatment of Dani Dyer was blasted after producers manipulated a situation to cause upset Shocking: Zara Holland left the show after a night of passion with Alex Bowen was aired He then revealed that recouplings - the ceremonies in which stars select who they would like to partner with going forward - often take place in the wee hours: 'Some of the recouplings are at 3 or 4 in the morning. They're never early.' When Lucy, who hosts the show her partner Ben Haldon, asked in shock: 'Are you not tired though?' he insisted that 'you don't realise', before she went on: 'That is wild to me though because I thought it was like up at 8 o'clock, bedtime at 11pm.' He said: 'And when do the best arguments happen between you two? When you are tired. When you're knackered. So it's clever isn't it?' Insight: He gave candid insights into the ins and outs of the villa MailOnline has contacted ITV for comment. In 2018, Adam entered as part of a twist where he could take a girl off another male contestant, leading to his romance with Kendall, who he went on to dump a week later for bombshell Rosie Williams. Adam and Rosie stayed together until day 20, when Zara walked in as a new bombshell and they coupled up leading to a romance outside the villa. The couple split the following year following red carpet appearances. Last year meanwhile, he left happily with Paige yet split soon after. Love Island has frequently been hit with complaints about treatment of stars, with last year's series seeing a record amount of complaints to Ofcom. Within just four weeks of the series kicking off, Love Island received more than 5,000 Ofcom complaints over 'misogynistic behaviour and bullying'. The UK's media regulator confirmed to MailOnline the regulator received 1,509 complaints on July 19 - and the majority were about alleged misogynistic behaviour from the male islanders towards the female cast. Hurtful: He said: 'And when do the best arguments happen between you two? When you are tired. When you're knackered. So it's clever isn't it?' The complaints were relating to the Snog, Marry, Pie challenge and its aftermath. Love Island was previously rocked by 2,648 complaints after explosive Movie Night episodes, while 427 fans also complained about the July 17 episode of Aftersun when Laura Whitmore and panellists speculated on what happened between Ekin-Su Culculoglu, then 27, and George Tasker, then 23, in the bedroom. And in the first four weeks of the show, Love Island was hit by 781 complaints over concerns about bullying, age gap romances and the mental health of contestants. Women's Aid have already stated that they are in talks with the show over some of the behaviour displayed by the males. The record for the most Love Island complaints made to Ofcom was in August 2021, when the regulator received 24,763 Ofcom complaints over Faye Winter's expletive-filled row with Teddy Soares. And as Ofcom has most recently received 1,500 Ofcom complaints, MailOnline looks back at the moments that have sparked concern with viewers. Lottie Moss has split from the Australian model Daniel Steel, just four months after confirming their romance. The OnlyFans star, 25, went public with her ex-boyfriend, who also works as a firefighter, in January as they spent time together in Perth. But in a new interview, she's revealed the nine thousand miles between them prompted her to break off their relationship. Speaking on the latest episode of the Headstrong podcast, hosted by Louis Strong, she explained, 'My current situation is that I am single. We broke up. 'It was long distanced, and it was just too difficult for me. He was happy to give it a go, but I wasnt feeling that. Over! Lottie Moss has split from the Australian model Daniel Steel, just four months after confirming their romance Happier times: The OnlyFans star, 25, went public with her ex-boyfriend, who also works as a firefighter, in January as they spent time together in Perth 'He wasnt up for moving here and I was planning a move to Los Angeles at the time, and he didnt want to move there either and I didnt want to live in Perth, so it was like, where is this going? I am single now and ready to mingle.' Lottie may have enjoyed a string of high-profile flings with the likes of Brooklyn Beckham, Alex Mytton, Sam Prince and Tristan Evans - but she doesn't look back at them all fondly. She joked, 'At the beginning I was attracting sewer rats and now I am attracting really good guys. I was attracting the worse of the worse, I could write a book. 'I treat myself better and I am much more attractive now I am not going out and getting wasted. I felt so self-conscious before when I went out and met guys but now, Im like damn b****. Back in January, Lottie went public with Daniel, sharing a slew of loved up clips with the hunky model and firefighter to her Instagram Stories. At the time, it was reported the beauty was being 'spoiled' by her new man, who even romantically surprised her with a hotel room of rose petals. Lottie arrived in Australia earlier that month to visit her then-new boyfriend, who is a part time firefighter and model. And not shying away from taking the relationship public, the beauty has shared a collection of loved-up snaps with Daniel. Opening up: But in a new interview, she's revealed the nine thousand miles between them prompted her to break off their relationship Former love: Back in January, Lottie went public with Daniel, sharing a slew of loved up clips with the hunky model and firefighter to her Instagram Stories According to The Sun, a source said: 'Lottie and Daniel have really hit it off. 'They have lots in common and hes a great guy just what she was looking for. He has really been spoiling her and she is loving every moment of it.' The duo enjoyed a date to Perth Zoo as Daniel showed London-born Lottie some of the sights. But before that, the half-sister of Kate Moss filmed her shirtless beau in the kitchen as he whipped up some breakfast for them. And later sharing a monochrome video of Daniel asleep on her chest, she dubbed him 'a baby' while stroking his head and beaming. Earlier that week, Lottie declared herself 'a simp' while sharing a picture with her boyfriend. Urban Dictionary defines a simp as 'someone who does way too much for a person they like'. While she was also surprised by a room full of rose petals by Daniel as they kicked off her trip. Sharing a video of the sweet gesture, Lottie wrote: 'Wait, I'm dead. I don't know how to react because this stuff never happens to me.' Even the bathtub had rose petals in it and all over the floor, while the duo sipped on champagne and ate chocolates. Before the new romance, Lottie was last believed to be in a relationship with American music producer beau Cody Colacino but they split in November. Loni said she is 'in a lot of pain,' as her stomach hurts 'really bad' Homeless ex-model Loni Willison is pictured rummaging through alley dumpsters looking for food in Los Angeles. The photos show her smoking cigarettes with a trolley full of clothes beside her. The troubled former star has been seen a number of times over the last few weeks searching for food outdoors, with bruising visible on her hands. It comes after she blamed her ex-husband, former Baywatch star Jeremy Jackson, for causing problems. In an interview published earlier this month by X17 Online, Willison, 39, was asked where her life went wrong. Pictured: Former model Loni Willison smoking a cigarette on the streets on May 20, 2023 Pictured: Loni Willison rummages through trash in an alley looking for food and living supplies on May 20, 2023 'My ex-husband. Getting married. At least I got divorced,' she replied. 'He set everything up to do this to me.' The couple had an acrimonious split in 2014 after they had been married for less than two years. Willison has alleged Jackson attempted to strangle her in a physical altercation when they were drunk. Willison previously modelled for magazines such as Glam Fit, Flavour, and Iron Man. In 2018, she was pictured homeless on the streets after years out of the public eye. At the time, she spoke to DailyMail.com about her downfall, revealing that she suffered from a mental breakdown in 2016 and started to believe that someone was sending electrical currents into her body that could only be fixed by taking crystal meth. In the interview with X17 Online this month, Willison said she is 'in a lot of pain,' as her stomach hurts 'really bad'. She claimed she 'can't live inside anywhere' because someone 'electrocuted' her every day for nearly a year and she now can't be exposed to electricity. 'I think because [I pick] up on the electricity, I also pick up on other things, like certain chemicals or batteries, or fuses, like wire, different types of metals. So I think my body even filters that kind of stuff,' she said. Pictured: Jeremy Jackson and Loni Willison attend Universal Voice: Your Voice at Confidential Beverly Hills on May 10, 2012 in Beverly Hills, California Pictured: Jeremy Jackson in Baywatch. The couple had an acrimonious split in 2014 after they had been married for less than two years Pictured: Loni Willison smokes a cigarette on the streets of Los Angeles. The troubled former star has been seen a number of times over the last few weeks searching for food outdoors with bruising visible on her hands Pictured: Loni Willison looks for food on the streets in Los Angeles. In an interview published earlier this month by X17 Online, Willison, 39, was asked where her life went wrong. 'My ex-husband. Getting married. At least I got divorced,' she replied Pictured: Ex-actress and model Loni Willison searches through the garbage in Los Angeles. In the interview this month, Willison said she is 'in a lot of pain,' as her stomach hurts 'really bad' Pictured: Loni Willison with a pile of clothes in Los Angeles. Discussing her life, she said: 'There's good parts and there's bad parts, but whatever' She added: 'I'm not sure exactly, I'd have to go through a big X-ray, sonogram machine or something to see that. It's pretty intense.' Discussing her life, she said: 'There's good parts and there's bad parts, but whatever.' When the interviewer pointed out that she had badly bruised fingers and might want to get them checked out, she said: 'I'll be fine.' Willison first spoke out against Jackson in 2015, after the former Baywatch star was booted from Celebrity Big Brother in the UK for exposing fellow housemate Chloe Goodman's breast. The Los Angeles Police Department's Wilshire division confirmed to DailyMail.com that a domestic disturbance call was placed from the couple's LA home in August 2014. The incident reportedly left her with two broken ribs, an injured neck and scratches on her face and body. However, the case was dropped after Willison opted not to press charges. She told The Sun in 2015: 'I didn't report him when he attacked me because I was scared. I was in a bad place emotionally and I didn't want Jeremy to go to jail. 'But after all this I think I should have. Maybe then I could have stopped Chloe having to go through that. 'I'm not surprised this happened. I know what Jeremy is like. At least now everyone can see what I had to put up with.' Beyonce kicked off the UK leg of her Renaissance World Tour in Wales on Thursday - and was left stunned by her fans on the big night. The songstress, 41, enlisted the help of her audience to belt out her 2011 track Love On Top, leading to a pitch perfect rendition of the track after which the music icon said to 75k-strong crowd: 'Give yourself a round of applause'. One concertgoer took Twitter to shed light on the magic moment, revealing that the rendition was 'perfect' and added: 'Welcome to Wales b'. The fan penned: 'fave part of Beyonce live @ Cardiff was seeing how shook she was when she asked the audience to help her do love on top acapella and everyone served the most perfect vocals, key changes and harmonies in perfect tune'. Speaking to PA about the concert, Nicola Stacey Jones, 54, from Risca in Wales, said Beyonce's voice was 'like velvet'. She said: 'The atmosphere is electrifying, the music is vibrating around the stadium so your heart bounces... Woah! Beyonce kicked off the UK leg of her Renaissance World Tour in Wales on Thursday - and was left stunned by her fans on the big night Amazing! The songstress, 41, enlisted the help of her audience to belt out her 2011 track Love On Top, leading to a pitch perfect rendition of the track after which the music icon said to 75k-strong crowd: 'Give yourself a round of applause' Incredible! One concertgoer took Twitter to shed light on the magic moment, revealing that the rendition was 'perfect' and added: 'Welcome to Wales b' 'Beyonce is pitch perfect with moves to match. It's one of those tick box mind-blowing, memorable moments I was there sort of thing.' Elsewhere Sian Blackham, 44, told the agency: 'I'm a huge Beyonce fan and have loved her since her career took off with Destiny's Child. 'I'm with my best friend, goddaughter and her auntie. This is our fourth time seeing Beyonce together, the first since the pandemic... 'We feel so lucky to be at her first show in the UK and I'm super grateful to my best friend and goddaughter who secured the tickets no easy feat'. During the night, Beyonce brought superstardom to Wales when she took to the stage in Cardiff for the first date on her Renaissance world tour. Hit: Beyonce released Renaissance, her seventh studio album containing the hit track Break My Soul, in July 2022 Impressive: She showed off her impeccable dance moves while belting out 40 of her greatest hits on stage The hitmaker ensured she kicked off her UK dates with an almighty bang as she stormed the city's Principality Stadium with a slew of megahits and a host of incredible ensembles for the heaving audience of 74,000 fans. Her full setlist boasted a host of her smash hits, including Formation and Run The World (Girls), played alongside Love On Top, with the show opening with an atmosphere shattering mash-up of Dangerously In Love, Flaws And All and 1+1. Her looks comprised a host of incredible numbers, including glittering catsuits and epic metallic corsets and barely-there mini dresses by a slew of designers including Alexander McQueen, Loewe and David Koma. Proving a stage spectacular takes hard work, it has been reported that Beyonce travels with a body double who steps in during rehearsals to show the star what her dances look like from an audience perspective. Jude Law and Alicia Vikander looked effortlessly stylish on Monday as they attended the photocall for Firebrand at the 76th annual Cannes Film Festival. The actor, 50, and the actress, 34, cut elegant figures as they posed together for a slew of photographs before heading to a press conference. During a Q&A, Jude revealed he wore a specially-made perfume while filming to get into character, made out of 'blood, fecal matter and sweat' which stunk. Jude, who portrays Henry VIII in the new film, looked in good spirits as he arrived in long-sleeved black shirt. He added a pair of fashionable white trousers, teamed with smart brown shoes and a matching belt. Looking good: Jude Law and Alicia Vikander looked effortlessly stylish on Monday as they attended the photocall for Firebrand at the 76th annual Cannes Film Festival Pals: The actor, 50, and the actress, 34, cut elegant figures as they posed together for a slew of photographs Handsome: Jude, who portrays Henry VIII in the new film, revealed he wore perfume made of 'blood, fecal matter and sweat' while filming Firebrand The Holiday star rocked a greying moustache and stubble and left his brunette locks pushed back. Jude looked typically handsome as he shielded his eyes from the glare of the sun behind a pair of black sunglasses. Meanwhile Alicia, who plays Catherine Parr in the movie, looked glamorous in a long navy blue dress by Louis Vuitton. Her high-necked outfit boasted pleated detailing on the skirt and bodice and cinched her in at her svelte waist. She added a few extra inches of height to her petite frame with a pair of strappy black high heels. The Ex Machina star added a touch of sparkle to her stylish outfit with two pairs of dangly diamond earrings. Her brunette tresses were swept up in slick bun, and she sported a light palette of make-up to show off her natural beauty. Dashing: He added a pair of fashionable white trousers, teamed with smart brown shoes and a matching belt Dashing: The Holiday star rocked a greying moustache and stubble and left his brunette locks pushed back Shady: Jude looked typically handsome as he shielded his eyes from the glare of the sun behind a pair of black sunglasses Elegant: Meanwhile Alicia, who plays Catherine Parr in the movie, looked glamorous in a long navy blue dress Toned: Her high-necked outfit boasted pleated detailing on the skirt and bodice and cinched her in at her svelte waist Fancy footwear: She added a few extra inches of height to her petite frame with a pair of strappy black high heels Accessories: The Ex Machina star added a touch of sparkle to her stylish outfit with two pairs of dangly diamond earrings Flawless: Her brunette tresses were swept up in slick bun, and she sported a light palette of make-up to show off her natural beauty All smiles: Alicia was seen chatting away to her co-star Jude and sharing a laugh together before they made their way inside Say cheese: The group posed for a slew of photos by eager cameramen Dazzling: Alicia's dress featured a long gold zip detail down the back Friendly: Jude enjoyed a joke with director Karim as they arrived at the photocall Alicia was seen chatting away to her co-star Jude and sharing a laugh together before they made their way inside. Alicia and Jude were also seen posing with the rest of the cast and the director Karim Ainouz. They then sat down for a press conference where they answered questions about the film. Jude revealed that he doused himself in an 'awful' bespoke scent during filming to play Henry VIII, made of 'blood, fecal matter and sweat'. He said: 'I read several interesting accounts that you could smell Henry three rooms away. His leg was rotting so badly. He hid it with rose oil. I thought it would have a great impact if I smelt awful.' He enlisted the help of a specialist parfumier, with Jude saying: 'She makes wonderful scents, and she also makes awful scents. 'She somehow came up with this extraordinary variety of blood, fecal matter and sweat. Initially, I used it very subtly. But then it became a spray fest.' Director Karim admitted the effort was effective, saying: 'When he walked in on set, it was just horrible.' Jude also gave his opinion on the British monarchy, saying: 'I see it like theater, though Im slightly more obsessed by theater. 'I dont really follow it, though this chapter in history is very intriguing. Im not one for gossip. I dont find any interest in it. I dont like the teetle-taddle, but its remarkable looking at photos and how it relates to today.' Speaking about his character in the film he said: 'I started with him as a man the physical frailties he was carrying and how he dealt with thosehe became, not a recognizable, but an empathetic person. I started with him as a boy and as a lad.' Group shot: Alicia and Jude were also seen posing with the rest of the cast and the director Karim Ainouz Q&A: They then sat down for a press conference where they answered questions about the film Dedication: Jude revealed that he doused himself in an 'awful' bespoke scent during filming to play Henry VIII, made of 'blood, fecal matter and sweat' He said: 'I read several interesting accounts that you could smell Henry three rooms away. His leg was rotting so badly. He hid it with rose oil. I thought it would have a great impact if I smelt awful' Horrible: He enlisted the help of a specialist perfumier, with Jude saying: 'She makes wonderful scents, and she also makes awful scents' Confession: 'She somehow came up with this extraordinary variety of blood, fecal matter and sweat. Initially, I used it very subtly. But then it became a spray fest' Having his say: During the press conference, Jude gave his opinion on the British monarchy, saying: 'I see it like theater, though Im slightly more obsessed by theater' Details: Speaking about his character in the film he said: 'I heard stories you could smell Henry VIII rooms away because his leg was rotting. They used rose oil to cover the smell' Origins: 'I started with him as a man the physical frailties he was carrying and how he dealt with thosehe became, not a recognizable, but an empathetic person. I started with him as a boy and as a lad' Character: Alicia spoke about the relevancy of her character, saying: ' What I found pretty incredible is to have this character that I portrayed; she has books (she wrote) you can go and readnot only do I listen to her own voice, knowing its a woman from 500 years ago' Feminist: 'I dont think human emotions and behaviors have changed over five hundred years. (This is a) woman who is married off, without having any say in it. Five wives that are dead' She continued: 'Putting yourself in that state of mind, really changes things. You realize how fragile each moment is' Movie: Firebrand, which was selected to compete for the award Palme d'Or at Cannes Film Festive, is a 2023 historical drama film by Karim Ainouz. Plot: The film is based on the 2013 novel Queen's Gambit by Elizabeth Fremantle and focuses on Katherine Parr, the sixth and final wife of Henry VIII Cast: The film stars Alicia, Jude, Sam Riley, Eddie Marsan, Simon Russell Beale, and Erin Doherty Alicia spoke about the contemporary relevancy of her character, saying: 'What I found pretty incredible is to have this character that I portrayed; she has books (she wrote) you can go and readnot only do I listen to her own voice, knowing its a woman from 500 years ago. 'I dont think human emotions and behaviors have changed over five hundred years. (This is a) woman who is married off, without having any say in it. Five wives that are dead. 'Putting yourself in that state of mind, really changes things. You realize how fragile each moment is.' Firebrand, which was selected to compete for the award Palme d'Or at Cannes Film Festive, is a 2023 historical drama film by Karim Ainouz. The film is based on the 2013 novel Queen's Gambit by Elizabeth Fremantle and focuses on Katherine Parr, the sixth and final wife of Henry VIII. The film stars Alicia, Jude, Sam Riley, Eddie Marsan, Simon Russell Beale, and Erin Doherty. In addition to the photocall for Firebrand, Monday also saw the photocall for new film Augure (Omen). Director Baloji Tshiani looked fashion forward in a sparkly black waistcoat underneath a coordinating blazer and long maxi skirt. He sported a black wide-brimmed hat, a green pendant necklace and pair of oversized white sunglasses Leading stars Lucie Debay and Marc Zinga posed together, with Lucie opting for a quirky skeleton printed shirt. She teamed it with a pair of white trousers and elevated her height in matching white high heels. Cast: In addition to the photocall for Firebrand, Monday also saw the photocall for new film Augure (Omen) Wow: Director Baloji Tshiani looked fashion forward in a sparkly black waistcoat underneath a coordinating blazer and long maxi skirt Cool: He sported a black wide-brimmed hat, a green pendant necklace and pair of oversized white sunglasses Unique: Leading stars Lucie Debay and Marc Zinga posed together, with Lucie opting for a quirky skeleton printed shirt Smart: While Marc cut a dapper figure in a cream double-breasted blazer with navy trousers and a coordinating tie Cheerful: Yves-Marina Gnahoua and Eliane Umuhire also attended, looking in high spirits as they cosied up for the cameras Glam: Eliane caught the eye in a black and white gown with a full sheer skirt and sparkling diamond high heels Bold: Yves-Marina stood out in a colourful gown with a floral pattern and voluminous sleeves While Marc cut a dapper figure in a cream double-breasted blazer with navy trousers and a coordinating tie. Yves-Marina Gnahoua and Eliane Umuhire also attended, looking in high spirits as they cosied up for the cameras. Eliane caught the eye in a black and white gown with a full sheer skirt and sparkling diamond high heels. Yves-Marina stood out in a colourful gown with a floral pattern and voluminous sleeves. Leonardo DiCaprio attended the Better World Fund For Climate Gala during the 76th annual Cannes Film Festival on Sunday. The actor, 48, looked trendy in a khaki jacket which he layered above a black polo shirt while making his way through the Carlton Hotel. He styled his dark blonde tresses into a sleek gelled-back hairdo and sported some stubble for his evening out in France. It comes after Leonardo's latest film, directed by Martin Scorsese, received rave reviews and a rapturous nine-minute standing ovation when it premiered at Cannes Film Festival on Saturday night. A wide array of film critics have already given Killers Of The Flower Moon five stars across the board, with one even hailing it as the best of its genre. Dapper: Leonardo DiCaprio attended the Better World Fund For Climate Gala during the 76th annual Cannes Film Festival on Sunday Sharp: The actor, 48, looked trendy in a khaki jacket which he layered above a black polo shirt while making his way through the Carlton Hotel Words like 'searing and 'masterpiece' were bandied about by critics who managed to get their hands on a ticket to the first screening. IndieWire said Leonardo gives 'his best-ever performance', while The Guardian awarded five stars for a 'remarkable epic about the bloody birth of America'. There were some dissenting notes, with The Times calling it 'a damp squib'. Martin unveiled Killers of the Flower Moon at Cannes, debuting a sweeping American epic about greed and exploitation on the bloody plains of an Osage Nation reservation in 1920s Oklahoma. His latest - starring Leonardo , Lily Gladstone and Robert De Niro - is one of his most ambitious. Adapting David Grann's nonfiction bestseller, it stretches nearly three and a half hours and cost Apple $200 million to make. Nothing has been more anticipated at this year's festival than Killers of the Flower Moon - a bitter crime film and a Great Plains Western - which appeared to meet those expectations. It drew a lengthy standing ovation and repeated cheers for Scorsese, 80, who premiered his first film at Cannes since 1985's 'After Hours.' Addressing the crowd after the screening, he said: 'We shot this a couple of years ago in Oklahoma. It's taken its time to come around but Apple did so great by us.' Smash hit: It comes after Leonardo's latest film, directed by Martin Scorsese, received rave reviews and a rapturous nine-minute standing ovation when it premiered at Cannes The red carpet drew a wide spectrum of stars. Along with the film's expansive cast, attendees included Apple CEO Tim Cook, as well as actors Cate Blanchett, Salma Hayek, Paul Dano and Isabelle Huppert. Though Grann's book affords many possible inroads to the story, Scorsese and co-writer Eric Roth center their story on Ernest Burkhart (DiCaprio, in his seventh collaboration with Scorsese), a WWI veteran who falls for Mollie Brown (Gladstone), the member of a wealthy Osage family. Killers of the Flower Moon plot Set in the 1920s, it centers on the FBI's investigation into a string of murders after several members of the Osage tribe in Oklahoma were slaughtered. Killers of the Flower Moon focuses on a little-publicized chapter of American history involving the Osage Nation. Based on a nonfiction bestseller, the film sees DiCaprio play a weak-willed man who marries a wealthy Osage Indian and is drawn into the deadly schemes of his kingpin uncle (De Niro). Advertisement The movie sees DiCaprio play alongside Scorsese's other long-time muse De Niro, and charts a wave of murders among oil-rich Osage Indians in the 1920s and the birth of the FBI. It marks DiCaprio's first film on the big screen since 2019 Quentin Tarantino Flick Once Upon A Time In Hollywood. He also starred in 2021 film Don't Look Up which streamed on Netflix. Set in the 1920s, it centers on the FBI's investigation into a string of murders after several members of the Osage tribe in Oklahoma were slaughtered. Killers of the Flower Moon focuses on a little-publicised chapter of American history involving the Osage Nation. In the 1920s, the Osage tribe became wealthy almost overnight after oil was discovered beneath their land, earning them more than $30 million in annual revenue at the peak of the boom, according to the Oklahoma Historical Society. Subsurface minerals within the Osage Nation Reservation were tribally owned and held in trust by the government. Mineral leases earned royalties that were paid to the tribe as a whole - with each allottee receiving one equal share also known as a headright. But these headrights could only legally be attained by outsiders if they married into the tribe. It was during this time that rancher William K. Hale, a native of Greenville, Texas, encouraged his subservient nephew Ernest Burkhart to wed Osage member Mollie Kyle (later Mollie Burkhart). After hours of waiting in the rain that has drenched the French Riviera town all week, fans went wild as the trio arrived for the premiere alongside several native Americans in traditional outfits. Co-star Jesse Plemons arrived with his wife Kirsten Dunst, while Salma Hayek, Cate Blanchett, and Tobey Maguire were also present. Based on a nonfiction bestseller, the film sees DiCaprio play a weak-willed man who marries a wealthy Osage Indian and is drawn into the deadly schemes of his kingpin uncle (De Niro). Killers of the Flower Moon was screening out-of-competition in Cannes. It is the first time Scorsese, who won the Palme in 1976 for Taxi Driver, has presented a film here since 1985, though he served as jury president in 1998. It is set to debut in limited theatres on October 6, with a wide release scheduled for October 20. She is used to putting on stunning displays at every turn. And Julia Garner pulled it out of the bag once again on Monday as she stepped out at the 76th Annual Cannes Film Festival for a Nespresso event. The Ozark actress, 29, went for punky glamour in a tight white vest and a leather pencil skirt, completing the edgy look with her bleached crop and smoky eye. Ensuring she was turning heads, the look was perfect for the occasion, with her stunning ensemble also showing off her lithe figure. Boosting her height, she wore a pair of black Christian Louboutin mules with a brown Hermes shoulder bag - for a chic touch of designer glam. Stunner: Julia Garner pulled it out of the bag once again on Monday as she stepped out at the 76th Annual Cannes Film Festival for a Nespresso event Blonde beauty: The Ozark actress, 29, went for punky glamour in a tight white vest and a leather pencil skirt, completing the edgy look with her bleached crop and smoky eye Julia is best known for her starring role as Ruth Langmore in the ongoing Netflix crime drama series Ozark, which first hit screens in 2017. This portrayal earned her two Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series in 2019 and 2020. She is also an established big screen actress, having starred in titles including The Perks Of Being A Wallflower and We Are What We Are. Julia has sparked feverish excitement with her turn in a Madonna biopic - although confusion spread with claims that the project has been scrapped. Earlier this month, Madonna renewed hope the 'scrapped,' self-directed Universal Pictures biopic - titled Little Sparrow - might get resurrected after she and Julia hung out in Manhattan's Flatiron district. Out and about: Ensuring she was turning heads, the look was perfect for the occasion, with her stunning ensemble also showing off her lithe figure A vision: Julia is best known for her starring role as Ruth Langmore in the ongoing Netflix crime drama series Ozark, which first hit screens in 2017 The 64-year-old Queen of Pop - who boasts 51.3M social media followers - took to Instagram to share a snap of herself munching on French fries with the actress, declaring: 'B**** we're Madonna!' After the Met Gala, Michigan-born Madge and Bronx-born Julia attended the 58th birthday of famed lensman Steven Klein at immersive fine-dining restaurant Journey featuring 'floor-to-ceiling and tabletop 360 projection mapping' - according to the New York Post. It's been nearly a year since Garner was first attached to star in the biopic, but she told ET on March 12 she was still optimistic: 'I don't want to tell too much. I want to keep things... yeah, fingers crossed!' On August 26, the gossip site DeuxMoi shared an anonymous tip indicating that Sparrow was a 'nightmare production' because of the 'script and constant changes' and 'might not happen' because it's 'costing a ton of money.' Rock on: Earlier this month, Madonna renewed hope the 'scrapped,' self-directed Universal Pictures biopic - titled Little Sparrow - might get resurrected after she and Julia hung out in Manhattan's Flatiron district Maura Higgins was pictured leaving a night out over the weekend with a hunky new man after partying at Marylebone's Chiltern Firehouse. The Love Island star, 32, was spotted with Chris Hemsworth's stunt double Bobby Holland Hanton as they headed home after the night out. The glamorous reality personality was seen getting into a taxi with Bobby and heading off to a new location. Maura was looking incredible in a black belted blazer, which she teamed with a pair of knee-high boots. Meanwhile, Bobby looked handsome in a white striped shirt with a pair of dark-coloured trousers and white trainers. Emerging: Maura Higgins was pictured leaving a night out over the weekend with a hunky new man after partying at Marylebone's Chiltern Firehouse Ooh la la! The Love Island star, 32, was spotted with Chris Hemsworth 's stunt double Bobby Holland Hanton as they headed home after the night out On the move: The glamorous reality personality was seen getting into a taxi with Bobby and heading off to a new location Before jumping into a taxi together, onlookers told the publication that Maura and Bobby were seen chatting closely outside the venue. According to his website, Bobby has performed as a stunt double in 50 full feature films, working closely with Chris Hemsworth as his stunt double for 10 years. Speaking to Hit Mid North Coast's Krysti and Bodge in 2020 Bobby revealed what the Thor star is really like. The UK-based athlete told the Australian radio hosts that he has 'a great relationship' and 'understanding' with Chris. 'The actors I work with work really hard, especially Chris,' Bobby said. Bobby went on to reveal how Chris does most of the stunts, unless a dangerous move could see the actor risk an injury, leading to a delay in production. 'Chris will say, "Bob, you jump in and do this", because if Chris was to pick up an injury by doing it, it's not that he can't do it, it's if he picked up an injury by doing it, then it would mean the production would have to stop. 'That obviously costs a lot of money so it's a knock-on effect.' Hot stuff: Maura was looking incredible in a black belted blazer, which she teamed with a pair of knee-high boots Suave: Meanwhile, Bobby looked handsome in a white striped shirt with a pair of dark-coloured trousers and white trainers City-hoppers: Before jumping into a taxi together, onlookers told the publication that Maura and Bobby were seen chatting closely outside the venue Impressive: According to his website, Bobby has performed as a stunt double in 50 full feature films, working closely with Chris Hemsworth as his stunt double for 10 years Sizzling: Maura sent temperatures soaring as she strutted her stuff Exciting: The UK-based athlete told the Australian radio hosts that he has 'a great relationship' and 'understanding' with Chris Former flame: In February, Maura appeared to have set her sights on a new man as she had been seen cosying up to an American toyboy while on holiday in Mexico Meanwhile, back in 2018, Bobby told Daily Mail Australia just how far he pushed himself while filming several Hollywood blockbusters. 'During [films] Green Lantern and Thor Ragnorak, I ruptured my [spinal] L4, L5, S1 discs which caused drop foot on both sides [an inability to lift the front part of the foot],' Bobby explained. He has also worked on films with Tom Cruise, Christian Bale, Harrison Ford, Robert Downey Jr, Angelina Jolie, Morgan Freeman, Charlize Theron, Johnny Depp, and Leonardo di Caprio. Bobby began his career as a gymnast and competed as a National Squad Member and National Gold Medalist. In February, Maura appeared to have set her sights on a new man as she had been seen cosying up to an American toyboy while on holiday in Mexico. She was seen looking loved-up alongside 24-year-old Yisroel Solomon during a recent holiday to Tulum. Yisroel, from Los Angeles, is based in New York City and works as a transfers manager. He is also a licensed real estate agent and has a degree in marketing, according to his LinkedIn profile. Off home: Maura looked all partied out as she climbed into the back of a cab Wowzers: It comes after the Irish beauty was pictured enjoying a very amorous moment with Joey Essex at the Pride Of Britain Awards in October He attended the private YULA Boys High School in Los Angeles where tuition costs $39,000 per year. The pair posed for an Instagram snap while in Mexico where Yisroel was seen giving Maura a kiss on the cheek as they wrapped their arms around each other. In another photo, Maura grinned from ear to ear as she cosied up to Yisroel while enjoying a glass of wine. It comes after the Irish beauty was pictured enjoying a very amorous moment with Joey Essex at the Pride Of Britain Awards in October. In January, Joey, 32, finally broken on his silence on their passionate clinch. Speaking to heat magazine, the reality star seemed to get himself in trouble with his PR when he began to open up about the moment. Asked what had happened with the Love Island star, Joey confessed: 'I don't know! I can't even remember.' He added: 'I mean all I remember is her tongue being down my throat to be honest!' at which point heat notes that his PR jumps in to wrap up the chat. During the glitzy Pride Of Britain event, Joey and Maura were seen getting close as they caught up at the Red Bar in London's Grosvenor House. An excited Maura could be seen smiling with her eyes closed as she leaned her head close to Joey's, while Joey was also seen edging closer to the beauty. Maura later joked about the encounter by licking pal Krystal Dawn's face, and teasing: 'It's how I greet people!' Succession star Matthew Macfadyen and his actress wife Keeley Hawes put on a cosy display at The Chelsea Flower Show on Monday alongside a host of stars. The actor, 48, who plays Tom Wambsgans in the hit black dramedy, was smartly clad for the outing alongside his wife of 19 years Keeley, 47. He sported a tan coloured corduroy blazer with complementary chinos while rocking a wholly un-Tom like smatter of designer stubble for the annual event. The Spooks star meanwhile was appropriately dressed for the occasion in a pretty floral dress as she joined a host of stars including Catherine, Princess of Wales, Billie Piper, Gemma Collins, Dominic West, his wife Catherine FitzGerald and more. In the latest episode of Succession, which aired in the US on Sunday evening ahead of its UK airing on Monday night, Tom and his on-screen wife Shiv Roy, played by Sarah Snook, continued in their bitter war of words. The happy couple: Succession star Matthew Macfadyen made a rare public appearance with his actress wife Keeley Hawes at The Chelsea Flower Show on Monday The not so happy couple... The actor, 48, who plays Tom Wambsgans in hit black dramedy Succession and is married to Shiv Roy, played by Sarah Snook (the couple pictured on the show) Look at us: He sported a tan coloured corduroy blazer with complementary chinos while rocking a wholly un-Tom like smatter of designer stubble for the annual event Happier than ever: The duo have been married for a whopping 19 years (pictured in 2009) In the penultimate episode of Succession, Season Four Episode Nine saw the stars of the show convene for Tom's late father-in-law Logan Roy's funeral. As fans saw in previous weeks, Shiv has finally come clean to Tom about the fact she was expecting their child, in the wake of one of the most shocking fights. Away from the screens and at the flower show, other stars in attendance included Billie, 40, who looked sensational in a black blazer and loose trousers to coordinate with her extra dark tresses while the Tribes frontman went for rock star cool. Far from the floral tea dresses and elegant midis of fellow guests, Billie was every inch the rock WAG in her simple yet stunning ensemble. Gemma meanwhile opted to go green in a silky co-ord set. The TOWIE star, 42, commanded attention in the vibrant ensemble, which she teamed with gold grandad sandals. Nick and his girlfriend Katie meanwhile enjoyed a date at the Chelsea Flower Show in London on Monday. Arriving for the opening day of the annual gala, the TV star, 60, put on a cosy display with his stunning girlfriend, 32. Katie, who runs a sex toy business, looked gorgeous in a plunging summer dress in a chic yellow check print, while Nick was dapper in a striped jacket and green trousers. Matthew and Keeley first met in 2002 on the set of the BBC spy drama Spooks. At the time she was newly married to DJ Spencer McCallum, with whom she shares 23-year-old son Myles. Stunner: Catherine, Princess of Wales was also in attendance Royals: King Charles III and Queen Camilla also made an appearance at the show Stylish: Queen Camilla looked beautiful in a blue and white floral dress The happy couple: Billie Piper stepped out with her Johnny Lloyd at the Chelsea Flower Show VIP and press preview day, held at The Royal Hospital in London on Monday Looking good: The actress, 40, looked sensational in a black blazer and loose trousers to coordinate with her extra dark tresses while the Tribes frontman went for rock star cool Glamming it up: Dominic West and his wife Catherine FitzGerald made a rare public appearance Fabulous: Gemma Collins, 42, opted to go green in a silky co-ord set, as she attended the Chelsea Flower Show, on Monday Fun day out: Nick and his girlfriend Katie enjoyed a date at the show The couple's work friendship later evolved into romance, and she divorced Callum in 2004, before marrying Matthew later that year. They later welcomed two children: daughter Maggie, 18, and son Ralph, 16. On how Matthew first announced his love for his wife, she revealed: 'Matthew just came straight out with it and said 'I love you' in the rain one day. I thought, 'Oh dear, here we go.' While their off-screen appearances are scant, the duo were recently co-stars once again when they starred in Stonehouse, which aired in January 2023. Here they are! Simon Cowell's partner Lauren Silverman posed alongside Louis Walsh Dapper: Funnyman Tom Allen looked typically suave in one of his trademark suits Glamming it up: Will Young looked trendy in a checked green suit Cherry nice! Charlotte Hawkins looked sensational in a cherry print dress with a nipped in waist On working with her husband, Keeley told The Guardian earlier this tear: 'Ultimately, he's an actor that I would have loved to work with anyway. So yes, it was a joy. Back in 2010, Keeley sweetly said of their marriage: ' I love being married to Matthew, and I know Matthew loves being married too... 'It ties everything up and it's a statement to each other and to the world. Marriage and being a mother are absolutely crucial to my happiness and my life.' Stunner: Nicki Chapman was radiant in florals Glammed to the nines! : Anthea Turner and Mark Armstrong looked chic in their stylish ensembles Dad and daughter day: Gemma Owen, 20, looked gorgeous in a floral dress alongside her dad Michael Owen, 43 Gorgeous: Dame Judy Dench and Finty Williams were all smiles as they posed at the big show Chic: Joanna Lumley rocked a cowboy-chic look for the affair in a blue jumpsuit and beige hat Colourful: BGT star Bruno Tonioli cut a stylish figure in a light pink suit and white t-shirt Judges unite! Dragon's Den star Deborah Meaden arrived in a brightly coloured skirt and blue blazer for the day Way back when: Matthew and Keeley first met in 2002 on the set of the BBC spy drama Spooks. At the time she was newly married to DJ Spencer McCallum, with whom she shares 23-year-old son Myles He has welcomed a second child via surrogate with his husband Dustin Lance Black. And there was much to celebrate as Tom Daley turned 29, sharing a series of snaps from the occasion to his Instagram on on Sunday evening. The Olympic diver looked in great spirits as he posed with a homemade cake and an ice cream, which was topped with a huge sparkler. Tom's cake was completely covered in overflowing chocolate as well as rainbow hundreds and thousands and lots of candles. He looked stylish in a white vest which he layered with a patterned shirt and accessorised with a collection of pearl necklaces. Happy birthday! As Tom Daley turned 29 he shared a series of snaps from the occasion to his Instagram on on Sunday evening Cute! Tom also shared a sweet picture of his eldest child, Robert Ray Black-Daley, four, wearing a striped T-shirt and stood by the cake Tom was gifted with lots of presents on his big day, as he shared a snap of his kitchen table laden with gifts, balloons and party hats. Tom also shared a sweet picture of his eldest child, Robert Ray Black-Daley, four, wearing a striped T-shirt and stood by the cake. Robert has just become a big brother to Tom and Dustin's newborn, Phoenix. Last month, Tom shared a first look at his new baby boy in a sweet gallery of images on Instagram. The post came just hours after it was revealed the Olympic diving champ and his husband had welcomed their second child via surrogate - and the baby has a very unusual name. Tom wrote: 'Phoenix Rose Black-Daley. Our family has grown in the last week, we welcomed Phoenix to the world on 28/03/23 and hes just perfect. 'Robbie is loving being a BIG BRO!' Phoenix was dressed in a cardigan, knitted by Tom, which had a heart motif on the back and Robbie could be seen tenderly giving the baby a kiss on his forehead. Aw: Tom was gifted with lots of presents on his big day, as he shared a snap of his kitchen table laden with gifts, balloons and party hats Celebrate: He looked stylish in a white vest which he layered with a patterned shirt and accessorised with a collection of pearl necklaces Birthday cake: Tom's cake was completely covered in overflowing chocolate as well as rainbow hundreds and thousands and lots of candles Tom and his husband, 48, shared their baby news earlier in the day, having not previously revealing they were expecting another child. The news was revealed in The Times with an announcement that their second son, Phoenix Rose, was born on March 28 via surrogate. It read: 'Black-Daley on 28th March to Thomas Robert Daley and Dustin Lance Black, a son, Phoenix Rose.' The couple welcomed their first child together, a son called Robert Ray, via surrogacy on June 27, 2018, after announcing in February the same year that they were expecting. They named their first child after Tom's late father Robert, who died of a brain tumour in May 2011 aged 40. The couple, who married in 2017, decided to go through the surrogacy process in the US, with Tom previously explaining how in the UK surrogates and parents are not afforded the same legal rights. He said: 'We looked into it in the UK and in the US. In the UK it's a lot more complicated because surrogates aren't as well protected legally, intended parents aren't protected legally, it's just not safe, there's a lot of hurdles to have to jump over. 'In the US, everything is regulated in a way that keeps everyone safe and in the US the surrogacy process is a lot more streamlined.' Tom previously revealed that he and American screenwriter Lance were drawn to surrogacy when they decided to have a child as they wanted to continue their family lineage. FIRST LOOk: Olympic diving champ showed off 'perfect' newborn Phoenix Rose on Instagram Happy time: Tom accompanied the images with these sweet words in the caption Happy: Tom looked every inch the proud father as he cuddled the baby who was kitted out in a cardigan which had been lovingly knitted by the sportsman Overjoyed: Tom and his husband, 48, shared their surprise baby news on the morning of April 5. They are pictured with their first child Robert Ray Surprise news: The announcement was revealed in The Times Family: The couple, who married in 2017, welcomed their first child together, a son called Robert Ray, via surrogacy on June 27, 2018 Speaking to Giovanna Fletcher on her Happy Mum Happy Baby podcast in May 2022, Tom said: 'Lance and I [] had lost so many people in our families and there was something about surrogacy that we were drawn to that just meant that we could pass on the people that we'd lost, their genes and their thoughts, their feelings, their personalities and being able to bring someone into the world, that felt so extremely special.' Tom previously explained they both provided sperm to fertilise their surrogate's eggs, but did not wish to know who the biological father of their first child is. Hinting at the possibility of having another child, he told The Times in 2020: 'We found an egg donor and we are the sperm donors, we have fertilised half the eggs each. 'We put in a boy embryo and a girl embryo and we don't know whose is whose. The next time we will do it the other way around.' Tom also opened up about the complications around having children as same sex parents as he revealed his worries that came when he first realised that he was gay. He said: 'Once I started to realise that I was gay, it was like, how am I going to have children in the future? What does this look like for me? What are the options? 'Having to figure out exactly how that was going to work, looking down the routes of adoption, surrogacy and all of those different things.' In October 2021, Tom said he hoped to have more children with Lance, who is 20 years his senior, because he wanted their son Robert, now five, to have siblings. Speaking to The Guardian, he shared his desire but admitted that it's trickier for same-sex couples. 'It's not quite as easy as a bottle of wine and a good time. A lot of thought has to go into it,' he said. 'But absolutely, I'd love more kids.' Asked about the 20-year age-gap between the couple, Tom said that he barely notices it. Surrogacy: Tom previously revealed that he and Lance were drawn to surrogacy when they decided to have a child as they wanted to continue their family lineage Loved-up: Tom and filmmaker Lance, who started dating ten years ago, married at Bovey Castle in Devon in May 2016 He said: 'If anything, Lance is very much the big kid in the house. I consider myself to be an older soul, hence I have nearly 200 houseplants, and I knit, and I like to be able to have conversations with people who have experienced a similar amount as I have. 'That's where Lance and I connected a lot he had lost his brother, I'd lost my dad, and then he lost his mum. 'We'd also experienced the highs of a career and having that comedown afterwards. That was something we really were able to connect on.' Tom and Lance, who started dating ten years ago, married at Bovey Castle in Devon in May 2016. Cannes has been brimming with famous faces this week as the annual film festival continues. Among them was model Irina Shayk who looked chic in a black and white striped dress as she stepped out - after wowing in a skimpy ensemble at the Firebrand premiere on Sunday. Actress Jennifer Lawrence, Gigi Hadid and Alessandra Ambrosio were also spotted out and about in the French city. Irina, 37, showed off her sense of style in the high-neck chiffon number which she wore with tight and pink silk shoes and a matching quilted bag. She wore dark Oliver Peoples shades on her face and had her brunette tresses styles straight over her shoulders while opting for a natural makeup look. Stars: Cannes has been brimming with famous faces this week as the annual film festival continues and model Irina Shayk was one of them on Monday Star-studded: Actress Jennifer Lawrence, Gigi Hadid (pictured) and Alessandra Ambrosio were also spotted out and about in the French city Stunning: Alessandra, 42, looked gorgeous in a white linen waistcoat and matching smart trousers with a beige blazer thrown over her shoulders Chilled: Also seen leaving at the airport was Jennifer, 32, went low-key in a trench coat, black cap and face mask Elsewhere Gigi, 28, headed to the airport in a casual ensemble after her brief trip to Cannes. She wore a pair of light denim jeans and blue shirt and completed the look with a white cap. Alessandra, 42, looked gorgeous in a white linen waistcoat and matching smart trousers with a beige blazer thrown over her shoulders. She boosted her height with platform shoes and wore her honey tresses in loose waves while opting for a typically bronzed makeup look. Also seen leaving at the airport was Jennifer, 32, went low-key in a trench coat, black cap and face mask. It comes after on Sunday night Irina made sure all eyes were on her as she slipped into a racy leather co-ord for the premiere of Firebrand (Le Jeu De La Reine) at the film festival. The supermodel showcased her very toned washboard abs as she donned a revealing leather bandage strapped top. She completed the look with a matched sweeping, low-rise midi skirt with a mermaid shape that perfectly hugged her figure - flaunting her impressively sculpted physique. Outfit: Irina, 37, showed off her sense of style in the high-neck chiffon number which she wore with tight and pink silk shoes and a matching quilted bag Here she is: Elsewhere Gigi, 28, headed to the airport in a casual ensemble after her brief trip to Cannes Casual: She wore a pair of light denim jeans and blue shirt and completed the look with a white cap Luggage: She had a bright yellow suitcase with her and wore dark shades Camera shy? She tried to cover her face with her phone Entourage: She was joined by her team Complexion: Her skin looked flawless as ever Glowing: She boosted her height with platform shoes and wore her honey tresses in loose waves while opting for a typically bronzed makeup look Supermodel: She was as stylish as ever The black leather co-ord featured red stains on the fabric's steams - stunning as the edgy sensation of the event. The runaway veteran let her look speak for itself - as she appeared to play it safe with a very subtle make up and no jewellery, but made a statement with a bold necklace choice. Irina sported a dazzling diamond choker with a drop pendant that highlighted her slender neck - as it glittered beneath the spotlights. The Russian bombshell oozed confidence while posing up a storm on the red carpet as she greeted photographers on Sunday evening. The supermodel showcased her taut visage with just a touch of highlighting eyeshadow - displaying her natural features. The beauty wore her chocolate tresses loose behind her back with a centre parting - nailing a neat look. Firebrand is a 2023 historical drama film directed by Karim Ainouz with a screenplay by Jessica and Henrietta Ashworth. The upcoming film, which marks Ainouz's first directorial effort in the English language, tells the story of Katherine Parr, the last of Henry VIIIs six wives, whose place as queen regent comes under threat when she is suspected of associating with accused heretic Anne Askew. Shot in the Derbyshire region of the UKs Peak District, it is based on Elizabeth Fremantles bestselling historical novel Queens Gambit. The official synopsis reads: 'In blood-soaked Tudor England, Katherine Parr, the sixth and last wife of King Henry VIII, is named Regent while tyrant Henry is fighting overseas. 'Katherine has done everything she can to push for a new future based on her radical Protestant beliefs. 'When an increasingly ailing and paranoid King returns, he turns his fury on the radicals, charging Katherines childhood friend with treason and burns her at the stake. 'Horrified and grieving, but forced to deny it, Katherine finds herself fighting for her own survival. Conspiracy reverberates through the palace. 'Everyone holds their breath for the queen to slip up, for Henry to take her head like wives before. 'With the hope for a future free of tyranny at risk, will Katherine submit to the inevitable for the sake of King and country?' The starring role is played by Swedish star Alicia Vikander, alongside Jude Law who fills the role of Henry VIII. Sam Riley and Eddie Marsan are portraying noble-born brothers Thomas and Edward Seymour in the historical thriller. Also in attendance of the event were star of the show Alicia Vikander with her husband Michael Fassbender, Gigi Hadid, Naomi Campbell, Academy winner Michelle Yeoh, Carla Bruni, Alexa Chung and Josephine Skriver. Strutting her stuff: She put on a typically confident display Change: Earlier in the day she wore navy trousers and a knitted white jumper Fans: Many stopped to take pictures with Alessandra The look: She toted a mini brown Hermes bag Pretty: She was showing off her model looks Low-key: Jennifer took precautions and wore a face covering over her nose and mouth Comfy: She completed the look with white trainers Accessories: She also wore a black cap Makeup free: She looked as radiant as ever Heading home: She made a brief appearance at the film festival Chic: She showcased her spring style in the trench coat Off she goes: Jennifer was only in Cannes for a few days where she walked the red carpet Glamorous: She put on a show-stopping display in a stunning red gown as she attended the premiere for Bread and Roses at Cannes Film Festival just the night before This year's festival promises a Cote d'Azur buffet of spectacle, scandal and cinema set to be served over the next 12 days. It's unspooling against the backdrop of labor unrest. Protests that have roiled France in recent months over changes to its pension system are planned to run during the festival, albeit at a distance from the festival's main hub. Meanwhile, an ongoing strike by screenwriters in Hollywood could have unpredictable effects on the French Riviera festival. But with a festival lined with some much-anticipated big-budget films, including James Mangold's Indiana Jones and the Dial of the Destiny and Martin Scorsese's Killers of the Flower Moon, the party is sure to go on, regardless. Nigella Lawson is in Australia for her An Evening with Nigella Lawson tour. And the beloved British chef took time to meet with her loyal fans after Sunday's installment at Sydney's State Theatre. Following the in-conversation session, which saw Nigella share some of her culinary secrets and take part in an audience Q&A, she sat down to sign some of her cookbooks for eager supporters. The 63-year-old star was radiant in red, opting for a flowing blouse in a soft woolen fabric. She chose a soft makeup look for the evening which included a pink-nude lipstick in a gloss finish, and wore her brunette locks down in soft curls. Nigella Lawson (pictured) is in Australia for her An Evening with Nigella Lawson tour. And the beloved British chef took time to meet with her loyal fans after Sunday's installment at Sydney's State Theatre The Nigella Bites star looked absolutely delighted to be greeting her public, signing some of her twelve bestselling cookbooks. Nigella's event 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 earlier this month in a private funeral surrounded by a small group of family and friends. It is unclear if Nigella attended the service. 'I can't stop thinking about Jock Zonfrillo's children, his family,' tweeted Nigella following the news of his death earlier this month. The 63-year-old star was radiant in red, opting for a flowing blouse in a soft woolen fabric The Nigella Bites star looked absolutely delighted to be greeting her public, signing some of her twelve bestselling cookbooks '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.' Nigella has two children with with her first husband John Diamond, who died of throat cancer in 2001: Cosima, 29, and Bruno, 26. Dominic West and his wife Catherine FitzGerald attended the Chelsea Flower Show at The Royal Hospital in London, on Monday. The actor, 53, and the landscape designer, 52, put on a loved-up display at the outdoor event, just two-and-a-half years after their relationship was rocked by a scandal. Dominic looked typically dapper in a tailored blue suit, which he teamed with a light blue checked open-collared shirt. Catherine commanded attention in a jazzy, floral embroidered cardigan and black knee-length dress, worn with tan coloured ankle boots. Their marriage hung by a thread when Dominic was pictured kissing actress Lily James, 34, during a holiday to Rome, Italy in October 2020. Happy couple: Dominic West, 53, and his wife Catherine FitzGerald, 52, attended the Chelsea Flower Show at The Royal Hospital in London, on Monday Cosy: The actor and the landscape designer put on a loved-up display at the outdoor event, just two-and-a-half years after their relationship was rocked by a scandal Scandal: Their marriage hung by a thread when Dominic was pictured kissing actress Lily James, 34, during a holiday to Rome, Italy in October 2020 Dominic surprised onlookers in 2020 when he was pictured passionately kissing actress Lily James during a romantic, mid-pandemic break in Rome, shortly after international travel restrictions were lifted. The duo didn't seem to mind who saw them as they cuddled up to one another and shared a ride on a scooter while taking in the sights throughout the day. The Crown star was still married to Catherine and no split had been publicly announced - but he was not wearing his wedding ring. After the pictures of Dominic and Lily emerged, the actor gave waiting reporters a surprisingly wooden performance as they gathered outside the sprawling Cotswolds home he shares with his wife Catherine and their children. The shell-shocked mother-of-four had clutched a tissue in her hand as she gingerly stepped out of the marital home in Chippenham, Wiltshire with her husband by her side, hiding her ring finger in her jeans pocket. The couple bizarrely decided to display a piece of paper bearing the handwritten message: 'Our marriage is strong and we're very much still together. Thank you.' Catherine later broke her silence to assure MailOnline that their marriage was safe, telling reporters: 'We're fine, thank you very much, yes we are. Things are OK between us. We don't need any advice from anyone, thank you.' Jazzy: Catherine commanded attention in a jazzy, floral embroidered cardigan and black knee-length dress, worn with tan coloured ankle boots Looking good: Dominic looked typically dapper in a tailored blue suit, which he teamed with a light blue checked open-collared shirt Tough time: Their marriage hung by a thread when Dominic was pictured kissing actress Lily James, 34, during a holiday to Rome, Italy in October 2020 Quick snap: The actor posed for a quick photograph with Dr Olivia Chapple Dominic and Catherine confirmed during a red carpet appearance for The Crown series five in November 2022, that their relationship was back on track after two years of uncertainty as they posed side-by-side with their family at the event. The couple married in June 2010 after reuniting following their university romance and have four children together; Dora, 17, Senan, 15, Francis, 14, and Christabel, 11. The actor also has another daughter Martha, 25, with former girlfriend, aristocrat, Polly Astor, 51. Paris Hilton's dog has passed away at the age of 23 it was revealed early on Monday morning. The 42-year-old Simple Life star is mourning the loss of her Chihuahua named Harajuku B*tch. 'Today, my heart breaks as I say goodbye to my precious chihuahua, Harajuku B*tch,' wrote the new mother, who was seen with Kris Jenner last week. The DJ then added, 'For an incredible 23 years, she filled my life with so much love, loyalty, and unforgettable moments. 'She lived a long, beautiful and iconic life, surrounded by love until her final peaceful slumber.' Hilton is known for owning several small dogs with names such as Peter Pan and Tinkerbell. She is believed to have owned as many as 10 at one point. Ruff day: Paris Hilton's dog has passed away at the age of 23 it was revealed early on Monday morning Famous pooch: The 42-year-old Simple Life star is mourning the loss of her Chihuahua named Harajuku B*tch Hilton made the term 'purse dog' famous in the aughts because she used to carry her small dogs in her Hermes Birkin bags. The cover girl was clearly heartbroken when she announced the passing of Harajuku, a brown and beige dog that has often appeared on her Instagram page. Paris said the canine was 'more than just a pet; she was family to me, a loyal friend who was always by my side through every twist and turn life brought my way.' She then expressed her love for the four-legged pooch. 'You will forever be my little angel, forever missed, and forever loved. You may be physically gone, but the imprint of your pawprints on my life will never fade,' she said of the photogenic fuzzball. Last year her dog Diamond Baby went missing and was never found. Coyotes live near her Los Angeles mansion and Diamond Baby may have become a snack for the sneaky carnivore. Loved: The hotel heiress shared a pic of her late pet with the caption, 'Forever in my heart' Menagerie: The Stars Are Blind singer was surrounded by her beloved pets in a holiday shot she shared in memory of her late dog In the spotlight: 'Today, my heart breaks as I say goodbye to my precious chihuahua, Harajuku B*tch,' wrote the new mother Fur parent: The DJ then added, 'For an incredible 23 years, she filled my life with so much love, loyalty, and unforgettable moments' In memory: Hilton posted a montage of shots of her beloved late pet to Instagram Monday Precious memories: Hilton said of Harajuku B*tch, 'She lived a long, beautiful and iconic life, surrounded by love until her final peaceful slumber' Woof family: Hilton is known for owning several small dogs with names such as Peter Pan and Tinkerbell and is believed to have owned as many as 10 at one point This comes after Hilton said she has found motherhood to be 'the most incredible experience' of her life. The star took to social media a week ago to celebrate Mother's Day, and to reflect on her own 'beautiful journey' so far. Paris - who has a four-month-old son called Phoenix, who was born via a surrogate - wrote on Instagram: 'So excited to be celebrating my first Mothers Day with my little angel baby Phoenix. 'Being a mom is the most incredible experience I have ever had. It's a love that cannot be put into words, a feeling that I never knew existed until I held my little prince in my arms. 'Watching him grow and learn every single day brings me so much happiness and fills my heart with so much love. [tears and hearts emojis].' Four friends: Paris says the canine was 'more than just a pet; she was family to me, a loyal friend who was always by my side through every twist and turn life brought my way.' She then expressed her love for the four legged pooch Dog time: Last year her dog Diamond Baby went missing and was never found. Coyotes live near her Los Angeles mansion and may have become a snack for the animal Luxe life: Hilton shared a shot of her late canine on a red comforter with an inscribed pillow in the background Party time: Hilton at the Chanel Cruise 2024 Collection fashion show held at Paramount Studios on May 9, 2023 in Los Angeles The blonde beauty - who married Carter Reum in 2021 - has also paid tribute to her own mom in the heartfelt message. Paris' Instagram post continued: 'There is something so special about being a mom, something that I never fully understood until I became one myself. 'This Mother's Day, I can't help but feel grateful for this beautiful journey I am on. It's a day to celebrate the incredible women who brought us into this world, who have loved us unconditionally and who have shaped us into the people we are today. 'My mom is my biggest inspiration and the original queen of my heart. She has always been there for me, through the ups and downs, and has taught me the true meaning of strength and love. 'To all the moms out there, I want to wish you the happiest Mother's Day. You are the backbone of your families, the glue that holds everything together, and the most important person in your child's life.' Following outrage over the yet-to-be released Barbie soundtrack, three-time Grammy winner Dua Lipa teased her lead single from Barbie: The Album called Dance The Night on Monday. The 27-year-old pop star - who boasts 146.3M social media followers - revealed the song would be released this Friday at midnight: 'This Barbie has a song coming this week!' In the preview for the track, Dua recreated the moment at the beginning of the Barbie trailer where producer-star Margot Robbie stepped out of her pink marabou heels to reveal her feet were still en pointe like the plastic Mattel doll. Lipa then blew a kiss to the camera as a snippet of her disco-pop song played in the background. The British-Albanian belter will also make her acting debut as Mermaid Barbie in the Warner Bros. Pictures movie, which hits US/UK theaters July 21. Surprise! Three-time Grammy winner Dua Lipa teased her lead single from Barbie: The Album called Dance The Night on Monday The 27-year-old pop star - who boasts 146.3M social media followers - revealed the song would be released this Friday at midnight: 'This Barbie has a song coming this week!' Dua's announcement came four days after Alice Glass teased her goth-infused cover of Aqua's 1997 hit parody song Barbie Girl, which will also be featured on Barbie: The Album. Fans were outraged to hear The Beach Boys' 1964 track Fun Fun Fun in the trailer rather than the catchy Danish pop song, but Aqua frontman Lene Nystrm already told Variety on April 29: 'The song will not be used in the movie.' Barbie: The Album is also rumored to be featuring songs from Taylor Swift, Ava Max, Britney Spears, Iggy Azalea, and Charli XCX. Three-time Oscar nominee Greta Gerwig directed and co-wrote the $100M-budget comedy with her babydaddy Noah Baumbach and they enlisted Oscar winner Helen Mirren to narrate the first live-action Barbie film. 'After being expelled from Barbieland for being a less-than-perfect doll, Barbie (Margot Robbie) sets off to the real world to find true happiness with a little help from Ken (Ryan Gosling),' the logline read. Will Ferrell, John Cena, Simu Liu, Michael Cera, Alexandra Shipp, Kate McKinnon, Hari Nef, Issa Rae, Rhea Perlman, America Ferrera, and Emerald Fennell are also featured in the Mattel fantasy flick. Lipa will also play a mystery role in Matthew Vaughn's amnesia spy film Argylle, which premieres later this year on Apple TV+. The movie - based on Ellie Conway's upcoming novel - will also star Henry Cavill, Sam Rockwell, Bryce Dallas Howard, Bryan Cranston, Catherine O'Hara, John Cena, Samuel L. Jackson, and Ariana DeBose. Footsie: In the preview for the track, Dua (L) recreated the moment at the beginning of the Barbie trailer where producer-star Margot Robbie (R) stepped out of her pink marabou heels to reveal her feet were still en pointe like the plastic Mattel doll Versace-clad beauty: Lipa then blew a kiss to the camera as a snippet of her disco-pop song played in the background Hitting US/UK theaters July 21! The British-Albanian belter will also make her acting debut as Mermaid Barbie in the Warner Bros. Pictures movie 'Barbie but she put a hex on Ken': Dua's announcement came four days after Alice Glass teased her goth-infused cover of Aqua's 1997 hit parody song Barbie Girl, which will also be featured on Barbie: The Album Fans were outraged to hear The Beach Boys' 1964 track Fun Fun Fun in the trailer rather than the catchy Danish pop song, but Aqua frontman Lene Nystrm already told Variety on April 29: 'The song will not be used in the movie' Coming soon! Barbie: The Album is also rumored to be featuring songs from Taylor Swift, Ava Max, Britney Spears, Iggy Azalea, and Charli XCX Fish out of water: Three-time Oscar nominee Greta Gerwig directed and co-wrote the $100M-budget comedy with her babydaddy Noah Baumbach and they enlisted Oscar winner Helen Mirren to narrate the first live-action Barbie film Mama June Shannon has revealed she is moving home to Georgia to care for her daughter Anna 'Chickadee' Cardwell as she battles stage 4 cancer at age 28. Here Comes Honey Boo Boo fans were devastated to learn that Cardwell is currently battling stage 4 cancer in her liver, kidneys, and lungs after being diagnosed in January with adrenal carcinoma. Shannon, 43, will make the move from Alabama with husband Justin Stroud - the star also opened up about her repaired relationship with Anna to The Sun. She said: 'Im in the process of leaving Alabama now, and Im in the final steps of my legal issues, so well definitely be going back to Georgia.' The legal issues pertain to Shannon and ex-boyfriend Geno Doak's 2019 felony drug possession arrest in Alabama. The pair were infamously arrested with crack cocaine outside a gas station. Here to help: Mama June Shannon has revealed she is moving home to Georgia to care for her daughter Anna 'Chickadee' Cardwell as she battles stage 4 cancer at age 28 Shannon's children had an extremely fractured relationship with her- following her public battle with alcohol and cocaine addiction in recent years - but she and Cardwell have since mended their relationship. Shannon said: 'The relationship with Anna was actually working before she found out that she had cancer, It didnt just all of a sudden miraculously start working, like, [when] Anna had cancer.' Earlier this month in an exclusive DailyMail.com interview the star insisted that she was one of the few family members that have been taking the time to truly support Anna. 'Honestly, the people that have been there for her since she's been diagnosed is me and Justin, Eldridge and the girls,' the star explained. 'There's no other family that come up there and sit with her during her treatments.' She continued: 'There is nobody that comes and checks to make sure that she's good, to make sure that she got everything. It's literally me, Justin, Pumpkin (Lauren Efird), Honey Boo Boo (Alana Thompson), Jessica. That's it.' The star then revealed the lengths she and her new husband Justin have been going to in order to do their part to help. Mama June explained: 'In the weeks that she has chemo, we take her to Atlanta. We stay there all week from Monday till Saturday, to make sure that she's close to the hospital if anything major happens because it is two hours away. 'So we say it there and then we bring her back home. Then that next week is kind of rough for her so we stay in Georgia to make sure she doesn't need anything.' Shock diagnosis: Anna was diagnosed with rare adrenal carcinoma after she underwent a series of testing due to stomach aches Partners: Shannon, 43, will make the move from Alabama with husband Justin Stroud - the star also opened up about her repaired relationship with Anna to The Sun Indeed, fans have shared their joy after seeing social media posts in recent weeks which confirmed that the pair had reunited during this tough time, and are working to mend their strained relationship. In 2021, Anna was candid about putting distance between herself and her mother when June began a romance with Mark McDaniel, who Anna said sexually assaulted her in adolescence. However, insiders told TMZ that Mama June and Anna had begun mending their relationship about a year ago, and are a lot closer now as they continue to put the past behind them. Wednesday saw Anna share a hopeful health update on her Instagram as she revealed that her chemotherapy treatments are 'working'. Anna posted a snap of herself alongside boyfriend, Eldridge Toney, at Cracker Barrel in Atlanta, Georgia, and revealed that she is currently undergoing a third round of chemo. 'Well going on to round 3 of chemo. this yesterday it was pretty good day but did get a little and Cracker Barrel was good going down but not up but over all its going good and chemo is working we come to find so things are looking good,' she wrote. Anna, who has two daughters Kaitlyn, 10, and Kylee, 7, with her ex-husband Michael Cardwell, was initially complaining about a number of ailments including stomach pain before several tests were carried out. The star then underwent her first chemotherapy session in February. Reconnecting: Mama June and her daughters are seen reconciling in her new series, Mama June: Family Crisis; seen together in March 2022 According to the American Cancer Society, adrenocortical carcinoma also known as adrenal cortical cancer is a disease that affects an estimated 200 Americans per year. Doctors are still monitoring her progress before making any decisions regarding further treatment. Anna first appeared on TLC's 2009 series Toddlers and Tiaras alongside her now-teenaged sister Alana and their family. In 2012, Alana received a spinoff series titled Here Comes Honey Boo Boo, which starred their entire family. Anna welcomed daughter Kaitlyn in 2012 and married her then-boyfriend Michael Cardwell two years later. They called it quits in 2017. Lady Victoria Hervey showcased her elegant sense of style as she attended the Club Zero red carpet during the 76th annual Cannes Film Festival at Palais des Festivals in France on Monday. The socialite, 46, caught the eye in a unique white gown which featured a plunging neckline and cutaway detail at either side. Her garment featured an intricate pattern to the front with feathered detail while a sheer mesh skirt hung over the lower section while attached at the back. Media personality Lady Victoria struck a number of poses on the red carpet, pulling the mesh section up and over her arms and shoulders. The star, who is the daughter of the late 6th Marquess of Bristol, carried a silver clutch purse and wore lashings of make-up to highlight her pretty features. Fashion focus: Lady Victoria Hervey, 46, looked elegant in a unique white dress as she attended the Club Zero red carpet during the Cannes Film Festival on Monday In style: The socialite caught the eye in a unique white gown which featured a plunging neckline and cutaway detail at either side Posing up a storm: Media personality Lady Victoria struck a number of poses on the red carpet, pulling the mesh section up and over her arms and shoulders She completed her look by accessorising with a pair of silver earrings to match her purse. Club Zero tells the story of a teacher who stars a job at an elite school and forms a particularly strong bond with five of its students. However, their relationship eventually takes a dangerous turn. Australian actress Mia Wasikowska, 33, leads the cast of the drama thriller film as Ms Novak. It was announced Mia had joined the cast in February last year with Jessica Hausner directing and producing the project from a screenplay by herself and Geraldine Bajard. Lady Victoria's outing comes after she attended the premiere of Killers Of The Flower Moon on Saturday night, which received a nine minute standing ovation. The film is an American epic Western crime drama film directed by Scorsese, with Leonardo Di Caprio serving as an executive producer. The upcoming movie, which is based on the best-selling 2017 non-fiction book Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI by David Grann, revolves around a series of Oklahoma murders in the 1920s, committed after oil was discovered on tribal land. Looking good: Her garment featured an intricate pattern to the front with feathered detail while a sheer mesh skirt hung over the lower section while attached at the back Sheer beauty: The star, who is the daughter of the late 6th Marquess of Bristol, wore lashings of make-up to highlight her pretty features Stepping out: Lady Victoria could be seen posing outside the Hotel Martinez in Cannes before heading to the screening Glowing: The star sported a healthy glow as she looked back over her shoulder during the event in the South of France Adoring public: Movie fans could be seen looking on behind Lady Victoria, with the Cannes Film Festival welcoming celebrities from all around the world Plot: Club Zero tells the story of a teacher (played by Mia Wasikowska, pictured) who stars a job at an elite school and forms a particularly strong bond with five of its students The official synopsis reads: 'At the turn of the 20th century, oil brought a fortune to the Osage Nation, who became some of the richest people in the world overnight. 'The wealth of these Native Americans immediately attracted white interlopers, who manipulated, extorted, and stole as much Osage money as they could before resorting to murder. 'Based on a true story and told through the improbable romance of Ernest Burkhart (Leonardo DiCaprio) and Mollie Kyle (Lily Gladstone) Killers of the Flower Moon is an epic western crime saga, where real love crosses paths with unspeakable betrayal.' Leonardo is joined by an all-star cast, which includes Oscar winner Brendan Fraser, 54, John Lithgow, 77, and Jesse Plemons, 35. Actress Lily Gladstone, 36, plays his on-screen love interest Mollie Kyle. Jasmine Tookes set pulses racing as she made her red carpet appearance at the Club Zero premiere at the Cannes Film Festival on Monday. The gorgeous Victoria's Secret vet, 31, who welcomed her first child, a daughter, in March this year, looked sensational in a plunging burnt orange gown. The elegant number featured a low neckline, putting her ample assets on full display, and a clinch at the waist, showcasing her incredible figure. It also boasted a train of material behind her and a daring slit up her leg. Jasmine accessorised with a show-stopping diamond necklace, which hung in six symmetrical chains from her neck and finished with a gorgeous oval stone. Gorgeous: Jasmine Tookes set pulses racing as she made her red carpet appearance at the Club Zero premiere at the Cannes Film Festival on Monday She accentuated her natural beauty with a stunning palette of make up, including a swipe of pink lipstick and blush. Finishing her show-stopping look, Jasmine styled her raven locks slicked back into a tight bun with a centre parting down the middle. Offering a range of sultry stares and dazzling smiles, she stunned on the red carpet ahead of the special screening. Club Zero is an internationally co-produced drama thriller film, directed and produced by Jessica Hausner, from a screenplay by Hausner and Geraldine Bajard. It stars Mia Wasikowska, Mathieu Demy, Elsa Zylberstein, Amir El-Masry and Sidse Babett Knudsen. This bold drama follows the story of Miss Novak, a teacher who disrupts eating habits at a private high school. Wasikowska plays the role of the charismatic teacher who joins the prestigious school and introduces a new subject to students she calls conscious eating. Under her lead, the teenage students begin to challenge social norms by reducing their food consumption, until things begin to take a dangerous turn. Beauty: The gorgeous Victoria's Secret vet, 31, who welcomed her first child, a daughter, in March this year, looked sensational in a plunging burnt orange gown Busty: The elegant number featured a low neckline, putting her ample assets on full display, and a clinch at the waist, showcasing her incredible figure Details: It also boasted a train of material behind her and a daring slit up her leg It marks the Austrian director Hausners sixth feature and follow-up to 2019 Cannes Competition title Little Joe, which won the best actress prize for star Emily Beecham. Her previous films Lovely Rita (2001), Hotel (2004) and Amour Fou (2014) all premiered in Cannes in Un Certain Regard and her 2009 film Lourdes competed in Venice that year. The film's official synopsis reads: 'Miss Novak joins the staff of an international boarding school to teach a conscious eating class. 'She instructs that eating less is healthy. 'The other teachers are slow to notice what is happening and by the time the distracted parents begin to realise, Club Zero has become a reality.' Meanwhile, Jasmine's appearance comes after she recently welcomed her baby girl. Incredible: Jasmine accessorised with a show-stopping diamond necklace, which hung in six symmetrical chains from her neck and finished with a gorgeous oval stone Stunner: She accentuated her natural beauty with a stunning palette of make up, including a swipe of pink lipstick and blush Stylish: Finishing her show-stopping look, Jasmine styled her raven locks slicked back into a tight bun with a centre parting down the middle Pro: Offering a range of sultry stares and dazzling smiles, she stunned on the red carpet ahead of the special screening The model took to Instagram in March to share the happy news with her followers. 'Mia Victoria 22323,' the cover girl wrote in her caption. On Insta Stories she added, 'We are so in love with her & are so excited for this next chapter in our lives.' The looker also shared an image where she was holding the child's tiny hand along with her husband's hand; Tookes made sure to have a fresh manicure. The star is married to 32-year-old Juan David Borrero, the son of Ecuadorian vice president Alfredo Borrero. Eva Herzigova wowed in head-to-toe leopard print on Monday at the Club Zero premiere at the Cannes Film Festival. The Czech model and actress, 50, turned heads in the silky Saint Laurent SS23 RTW maxi dress. The show-stopping ensemble appeared to cover all her skin from the front, but when she turned it revealed a cheeky split and backless 'V' design. The blonde beauty showed off her slim figure in the modest gown, while her hair and make-up were perfection. The mother-of-three showed off her natural good looks as her short blonde tresses hung loose, while for make-up she had a hint of a smokey eye and a rosy lip. Showstopping: Eva Herzigova, 50, wowed in head-to-toe leopard print on Monday at the Club Zero premiere at the Cannes Film Festival Sensational: The blonde beauty showed off her slim figure in the modest gown Club Zero tells the story of a teacher who stars a job at an elite school and forms a particularly strong bond with five of its students. However, their relationship eventually takes a dangerous turn. Australian actress Mia Wasikowska, 33, leads the cast of the drama thriller film as Ms Novak. It was announced Mia had joined the cast in February last year with Jessica Hausner directing and producing the project from a screenplay by herself and Geraldine Bajard. It comes after Eva ensured all eyes were on her as she attended the Women in Motion Awards on Sunday. The Czech-Italian supermodel left little to the imagination whilst clad in a see-through maxi, black gown. She confidently flaunted her womanly curves in the long-sleeved sheer number as she posed for photographs upon arrival. Eva boosted her statuesque figure in a pair of black strappy heels and played up to the cameras in a number of jovial poses. Gorgeous: The show-stopping ensemble appeared to cover all her skin from the front, but when she turned it revealed a cheeky split and backless 'V' design Posing up a storm: The mother-of-three added inches to her slender frame with a pair of black heels Details: Eva styled her classic blonde locks with a gentle wave and had a hint of a smokey eye for make-up The blonde beauty accessorised by wearing circular gold earrings and statement gold cuff bracelets on both her wrists. The star of the iconic 1994 Wonderbra 'Hello Boys' campaign had a turbulent divorce from Bon Jovi drummer Tico Torres. The model wed the musician from 1996 until 1998 and despite swearing off marriage announced her engagement to her partner George Marsiaj after a 16-year romance. She shares three children with him - Gregorio, 15, Edward, 12 and Philipe, 11. The 5ft 11in looker has also acted in films. In 1992 she appeared in the TV movie Inferno, then moved onto Just For The Time Being in 2000. She played the role of Olga in the film Modiglian in 2004. Ten years later she starred as Karla in Storyteller then was seen in 2016's A Prominent Patient. Eva has also posed for the cover of Playboy magazine. In an interview with Hello! Eva shared details on her thoughts on motherhood saying: 'I breathe for my boys and there are times when my husband reminds me to be a bit more selfish and to think of myself as well.' Actor Ray Stevenson has died at age 58, just days before his 59th birthday DailyMail.com can confirm. The Northern Irish thespian was known for starring in a string of action and fantasy films including Marvel's Thor movies, Punisher: War Zone, King Arthur, and the upcoming Star Wars: Ahsoka series. No cause of death has been revealed, but the Italian newspaper Republica reported the actor felt unwell and went to a hospital a few days before his death. It's believed he was working on the film Cassino in Ischia where he was set to play a disgraced action star struggling with reviving his career and the consequences of leaving his family for fame. Stevenson died on Sunday, his rep said. Ray Stevenson dies at 58: Irish actor starred in Marvel's Thor movies and the upcoming Star Wars based series Ahsoka (Pictured in London in April) The actor was born in Lisburn, Northern Ireland May 25, 1964, the second of three sons to a Royal Air Force pilot and his wife. The family moved to England when he was eight. As an adult he enrolled in the Bristol Old Vic Theater School, graduating at age 29. After making guest appearance in various television shows, and TV movies, Ray made his big screen debut in 1998's The Theory of Flight, as a gigolo, starring opposite Kenneth Branagh and Helena Bonham Carter. He obtained steady work afterward appearing in various British TV series. The 6'3" actor's commanding presence landed him the part of Dagonet in 2004's King Arthur, opposite another up-and-coming actor, Clive Owen. After that, he began to win more action parts, playing a burly soldier with a heart of gold in the Emmy winning mini-series Rome, and later as action anti-hero Frank Castle in Punisher: War Zone. In a 2008 interview with Collider, the classically trained actor said he wasn't familiar with the comic on which the character is based. The 6'3" actor's commanding presence landed him the part of Dagonet in 2004's King Arthur, opposite another up-and-coming actor, Clive Owen. The performance opened up the opportunity to take on more action roles The 6'3" actor's commanding presence parts in 2004's King Arthur, and as a burly soldier with a heart of gold the mini-series Rome, and later as action hero Frank Castle in Punisher: War Zone The vibrant star got to show his tough yet loyal side in Thor as a Volstag, a member of the Warriors Three, Ray went on to reprise the role in Thor: The Dark World and in Thor: Ragnarok 'In all fairness, when I first read it, I thought, "This is just extremely violent. What the hell is this?"' Referring to the character, he explained 'You don't want to be Frank. It's strange to have the sort of lead or hero of a film that you don't actually want to be. That's what intrigued me.' The actor was adamant that he didn't want fans to emulate the character and insisted that was made clear in the script. 'He's in such a dark place. He may have made his peace with that, but there's no light at the end of the tunnel. There's no redemption for Frank. That's deeply intriguing.' One of the actor's final roles is in upcoming series Star Wars: Ahsoka. He attended a panel discussion with co-stars Ivanna Sakhno and Diana Lee Insosanto at the Star Wars Celebration 2023 in April in London The Three Musketeers star is survived by his partner, anthropologist Elisabetta Caraccia and their children Sebastiano, 15 and Leonardo, 12 The vibrant star got to show his tough yet loyal side in Thor as a Volstag, a member of the Warriors Three, and wore a fat suit for the part. 'I'm Volstag and what you see is what you get,' he told Collider in 2010. 'He's a bon vivant lover of life epicurean goodfellow. He's a god, which helps. He's full of life. 'There's a wonderful innocence to him. the star explained, 'and the steadfast loyalty of a big Saint Bernard dog. He'd come running through the snow with a keg of beer to save your life. You know, he's got a twinkle in his eye. He's always up for a party. Yeah, that's about it. He's an all-around good egg. Big egg, but a good egg.' Ray went on to reprise the role in Thor: The Dark World and in Thor: Ragnarok. The versatile star joined the Star Wars family after providing the voice for Gar Saxon in the animated series Star Wars: The Clone Wars. He will star as Baylan Skoll in the upcoming series Star Wars: Ashoka, starring Rosario Dawson as the title character. The series is set to debut in August. It appeared his appearances in Ahsoka and the upcoming historical drama Gateway to the West will be his final roles. The Three Musketeers star is survived by his partner, Elisabetta Caraccia and their children Sebastiano, 15 and Leonardo, 12. Izabel Goulart dressed to impress in a stunning black gown as she stepped onto the red carpet at the Club Zero premiere during Cannes Film Festival on Monday. The Brazilian model, 38, looked nothing short of sensational in the sexy figure hugging number as she posed for photos at the star studded evening Her glamorous David Koma dress boasted a huge racy cut out down the front and a chunky silver dazzling neckline choker. The former Victoria Secret Angel showcased her incredible slim frame in the long sleeved ensemble which she teamed with a pair of eye catching drop earrings. Izabel turned up the heat as she styled her long brunette tresses pulled back in a neat low bun from a centre parting. Turning heads: Izabel Goulart dressed to impress in a stunning black David Koma gown as she stepped onto the red carpet at the Club Zero premiere during Cannes Film Festival on Monday Stunning: The Brazilian model, 38, looked nothing short of sensational in the sexy figure hugging number as she posed for photos at the star studded evening She flashed her gorgeous smile for the cameras wearing a flawless palette of makeup as she made her way up the red carpet steps. Club Zero tells the story of a teacher who stars a job at an elite school and forms a particularly strong bond with five of its students. However, their relationship eventually takes a dangerous turn. It comes after Izabel commanded attention on Saturday night in a sexy sheer red dress with cheeky cut-out detailing while once again attending the film festival. She turned heads as she left little to the imagination at the premiere of Killers of the Flower Moon as she dressed in the elegant red gown. The impressive garment also had a double tiered skirt, the second of which draped regally behind her. Izabel wore her luscious brunette locks in a neat ponytail and opted with striking make-up, with lip gloss and dramatic brows. She accessorised her look with cascading silver earrings and statement silver necklace. Izabel appeared in a playful spirit while posing for pictures, as she seductively showed of the back of her dress for the cameras. Phenomenal: Her glamorous garment boasted a huge racy cut out down the front and a chunky silver dazzling neckline choker Amazing: The former Victoria Secret Angel showcased her incredible slim frame in the long sleeved ensemble which she teamed with a pair of eye catching drop earrings Jaw dropping: Izabel turned up the heat as she styled her long brunette tresses pulled back in a neat low bun from a centre parting Rupert Grint was every inch the doting father on Sunday as he enjoyed some quality time with his youngest daughter in London. The Harry Potter actor, 34, could be seen carrying his little girl, Wednesday two, in his arms as he stopped off at a local cafe. The star of Apple TV's Servant looked almost unrecognisable during the outing, sporting a bushy ginger beard and a thick mop of hair under his cap. Rupert wore a black sweatshirt underneath a green corduroy jacket, which he teamed with a pair of black tracksuit trousers and trainers. He finished his look with a black pair of sunglasses as he enjoyed the sunny weather. Sweet: Rupert Grint was every inch the doting father on Sunday as he enjoyed some quality time with his youngest daughter in London His daughter could be seen in a bright pink ballerina's outfit with died pink pig tails. Rupert appeared extremely attentive to his child, as he let her stop and view the plants. Rupert was the first of the core three Potter child stars to welcome a child. They welcomed their daughter Wednesday in May 2020. Six months after their baby's arrival, Rupert then joined Instagram to reveal they had named their daughter Wednesday. Harlow native Rupert wrote in an accompanying caption: 'Hey Instagram....only 10 years late, but here I am. 'Grint on the Gram! Here to introduce you all to Wednesday G. Grint. Stay safe, Rupert.' (sic) Rupert shares his daughter with Georgia Groome, who is famed for her role in Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging, have been together since 2011. His co-star Daniel Radcliffe recently became a father for the first time after welcoming a child with his long-term partner Erin Drake. Quality time: The Harry Potter actor, 34, could be seen carrying his little girl, Wednesday two, in his arms as he stopped off at a local cafe Family: Rupert and his partner Georgia Groome welcomed their daughter Wednesday in May 2020 The Harry Potter actor, 33, who has been dating the American actress, 38, for over a decade, stepped out with the new arrival in New York City last month. The actor looked every inch the doting dad as he pushed the newborn in a pram while Erin followed closely behind. Daniel's new arrival means he has now joined several of his former Harry Potter child stars in becoming a parent. Bonnie Wright, who played Ginny Weasley in the films, announced earlier this month that she is expecting her first child with her husband Andrew Lococo. Arnold Schwarzenegger has worked as a bodybuilder, actor and politician. Now the 75-year-old icon from Austria is taking on a Hollywood executive position. On Monday it was revealed the True Lies star - who was at the Cannes Film Festival last week - has been named the Chief Action Officer at the streaming media company Netflix. The high-profile star of blockbusters such as The Terminator has been named Netflix's Chief Action Officer. He has already appeared in a video to explain his new role. 'No one loves action as much as I do,' Arnold shared as he was seen in an army tank. 'That's why I've accepted a big new job as Netflix's Chief Action Officer.' CAO! Arnold Schwarzenegger is taking on a Hollywood executive position. On Monday it was revealed the True Lies star has been named the Chief Action Officer at the streaming media company Netflix. The high-profile star of blockbusters such as The Terminator has been named Netflix's Chief Action Officer The chief: On Instagram his caption reads: 'Nobody knows action like Arnold. And nobody hits like Netflix' Arnold then listed off some of the new action movies coming from Netflix. They include the thriller Heart Of Stone with Gal Gadot, Extraction 2, starring Chris Hemsworth, more of the series The Witcher with Henry Cavill. 'Nobody knows action like I do. And nobody hits like Netflix,' he said. On Instagram his caption reads: 'Nobody knows action like Arnold. And nobody hits like Netflix. Dont miss FUBAR only on May 25.' Arnold is even starring in a new Netflix series. He can be seen in his first TV series, FUBAR, which comes out on May 25. FUBAR is a military term for 'f***ed up beyond any recognition.' In FUBAR, Arnold plays the dad to Monica Barbaro's character. She is best known for her work in Top Gun: Maverick. Action Arnie: He has already appeared in a video to explain his new role. 'No one loves action as much as I do,' Arnold shared as he was seen in an army tank Arnie works hard for the money: The ex of Maria Shriver said that he has been 'working around the clock' on his new role as he stood outside Netflix's offices Still acting: Arnold is even starring in a new Netflix series. He can be seen in his first TV series, FUBAR, which comes out on May 25. FUBAR is a military term for 'f***ed up beyond any recognition.' In FUBAR, Arnold plays the dad to Monica Barbaro's character. She is best known for her work in Top Gun: Maverick. At some point they learn they are both employed at the CIA, which makes it challenging for them to work undercover. Netflix also made a big to-do about Arnie's tole. 'Nobody knows action like Arnold Schwarzenegger,' it said in a press release from Netflix. 'Arnold is working around the clock to bring you the most explosive series and films on earth! Get ready for a hard-hitting roller coaster ride as Netflix cranks its action slate into the next gear.' Busy man: Seen with Leonore Gewessler (L), Federal Minister for Climate Action, Environment, Energy, Mobility, Innovation and Technology of Austria, Arnold, his partner Heather Milligan (2-L), Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen (2-R) and his wife Doris Schmidauer (R) arrive for the Austrian World Summit at the Hofburg Palace in Vienna, Austria, May 16 Arnold was recently seen with his partner Heather Milligan. Also there was Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen and his wife Doris Schmidauer at the Austrian World Summit at the Hofburg Palace in Vienna, Austria, on May 16. The Austrian World Summit is a top-level summit about leadership on implementing the Paris Climate Agreement and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Mollie Salmon showed off her new look on Friday after she flew to Turkey for 'fox eye' surgery at the start of May. The former Love Islander, 24, appeared on the 2022 series of the show as a Casa Amor contestant. She documented her journey of getting the controversial surgery by posting updates to her TikTok account. Fox-eye surgery means that patients with round eyes will receive a more almond-shaped look. Mollie's eyes looked very swollen 24 hours after the surgery on May 8, as she admitted she was 'struggling to see', adding that 'the healing process is a journey.' New look: Mollie Salmon, 24, looked unrecognisable 24 hours after getting 'fox eye' surgery Claim to fame: The influencer appeared on the 2022 series of Love Island as a Casa Amor contestant However, after a few weeks the influencer looked stunning when she revealed her new eyes, hitting back at comments which said she'd 'ruined her face'. Posting once more to her TikTok account, Molly captioned her post: 'POV: Reading through all my comments saying I've ruined my face with fox-eye surgery' as she debuted her look. Mollie is known for appearing on the 2022 series of Love Island when she joined the show in Casa Amor. However her stint in the villa lasted just four days after she failed to couple up before returning to the main villa - despite sharing multiple heated smooches with Davide Sanclimenti, who went on to win the show with girlfriend Ekin-Su Culculoglu. Mollie previously revealed she was 'struggling to see' in the first hours after her surgery. She wrote on her Instagram stories at the start of May: 'My surgery went well and @monocosmeticsurgery have done a wonderful job looking after me with the help of my best friend @holliebayles I truly couldn't have done this without her. 'I am very swollen and am struggling to currently see out of my eyes as that's where the surgery was so I just wanted to let you all know I'm not ignoring anyone, however thank you all for the lovely messages. I'll give you all recovering update pictures soon.' She added: 'I promised I'd take you all along this journey with my, this is my current healing process, my bruising and swelling will go down after a few days. The procedure I had was fox eyes.' Hitting back: Mollie spoke out about trolls as she revealed the results after her surgery Before and after: Mollie revealed her new look on Friday (left) after jetting out to Turkey (pictured right on the plane before surgery) Owch! Mollie's eyes looked very swollen and painful after 24 hours The 500 treatment uses dissolvable stitches to create almond shaped eyes with a lifted brow tail, and is aimed to giving women a lifted brow and upper eye lid lift without the downtime of surgery as it takes just half an hour - and should heal completely in less than two weeks. Called the fox-eye threadlift, clinics advertise the procedure on social media sites with videos of patients before and after, with the corner of their eyes swept up and back in dramatic fashion. The looks of American A-list models Bella Hadid and Kim Kardashian's sister Kendall Jenner are often cited as an inspiration, and in the UK, models Katie Price and Danielle Lloyd have admitted having the treatment. Danielle had secret eye lift surgery in 2021 after being inspired by the Kardashians, but admitted her husband was furious after she told him. The former glamour model, 39, opted to have a fox-eye lift and also went under the knife for a thread-lift on her jawline in order to remove loose facial skin and give her face a more defined shape. Speaking to Closer at the time, Danielle admitted she was keen to make the changes after being told various members of the Kardashian family had undertaken the same procedures. She explained: 'Seeing all these gorgeous young girls on Instagram also made me feel insecure and worry about my age - I turn 38 later this year, and the prospect of being 40 worries me. 'I want to look my best, and this procedure prevents things like jowls and lines, so I thought, "Prevention is better than cure!" I know I'm a little bit obsessed but it makes me feel better.' However, last year, ex-Big Brother housemate Ryan Ruckledge warned against fox eye facelifts after claiming he was left in hospital with a serious infection following a freebie treatment. New look: Danielle Lloyd underwent secret eye lift surgery in 2021 after being inspired by the Kardashians, but admitted her husband was furious after she told him (pictured left before surgery, and after right) Emmerdale fans were left shocked during Monday night's episode as two couples enjoyed steamy rendezvous. The instalment saw the local GP, Dr Liam Cavanagh (Jonny McPherson), and nurse Wendy Posner (Susan Cookson) share a passionate kiss at the surgery. Meanwhile, on the other side of the village, Bernice Blackstock (Samantha Giles) attempted to lock lips with Bob Hope (Tony Audenshaw) as the pair shared a bottle of wine. One half of the double dose of passion came about after Dr Liam was nominated for an award for his work of fiction in the magazine Murder Most Murky. When Wendy, who has kindly tweaked his masterpieces, prepares a Champagne celebration at the surgery, they're caught up in the moment when Anna Le Monde, Liam's pseudonym, wins Murder Most Murky New Crime Writer Of The Year. Passion: Emmerdale fans were shocked on Monday as two couples enjoyed steamy rendezvous, with Dr Liam Cavanagh, and nurse Wendy Posner kissing Flirtatious: Meanwhile, on the other side of the village, Bernice Blackstock (Samantha Giles) attempted to lock lips with Bob Hope (Tony Audenshaw) as the pair shared a bottle of wine Unable to contain their excitement, the costumed pair turn to each other with Liam embracing Wendy, as the medic launches his lips, and fake moustache, at her as they kiss, with Wendy welcoming the romantic gesture. Elsewhere, Bob opened up to Bernice about his stresses at work, with the conversation soon turning to how they feel about one another as the wine flows. With Bob telling Bernice he thought she was beautiful, Bernice moved in to kiss him. However, Bob jumped back, seemingly scared to kiss his friend. Taking to Twitter, one viewer compared it to a famous ITV2 dating show, writing: 'Tonights @emmerdale has turned into an episode of love island #Emmerdale.' While someone else posted: 'I'm surprised that Wendy didn't start laughing, Liam tickling her with that fake moustache.' 'It's the fake tash that did it, Liam old boy. Full-on Monday night randy episode,' posted another viewer. And someone else shared: 'I'm rooting for Liam and Wendy they have better chemistry. Locking lips: One half of the double dose of passion came about after Dr Liam was nominated for an award for his work of fiction in the magazine Murder Most Murky Steamy: Elsewhere, Bob opened up to Bernice about his stresses at work, with the conversation soon turning to how they feel about one another as the wine flows One other person wrote: '#emmerdale as turned into the over 50s swingers club.' However, an unimpressed viewer remarked: 'Oh here we go again....another flamin affair....give them a rest already.' 'Off to wash my eyes out,' declared someone else. While one other person posted: 'I wish I could unsee all of that.' 'Please excuse me whilst I puke up my dinner,' exclaimed another audience member. Someone else joked: 'This time next week Bob and Liam will have swapped partners.' It comes after Emmerdale viewers were convinced Kim Tate had rumbled Caleb and Nicky Milligan's plans to get at her fortune during Friday's episode of the ITV soap. Stunned: Taking to Twitter, viewers reacted to the scenes as they unfolded on television on Monday Caleb (Will Ash) and his son Nicky (Lewis Cope) are attempting to scam businesswoman Kim (Claire King) out of her money in a bid to stop their own family facing financial ruin. During the instalment, Caleb was seen sneaking into Kim's lavish Home Farm property and successfully installing spyware on her laptop computer. Having snuck away, he was then seen on the phone to Nicky as he stood in the kitchen of Home Farm and watched Kim on her computer, with the businesswoman appearing to be deep in concentration as she worked. However, fans took to Twitter to insist Kim had caught the scheming pair out, with many insisting they knew exactly how. Caught out? Emmerdale viewers were convinced Kim Tate had rumbled Caleb (pictured) and Nicky Milligan's plans to get at her fortune during Friday's episode of the ITV soap Plot: Caleb (Will Ash) and his son Nicky (Lewis Cope) are attempting to scam businesswoman Kim (Claire King, pictured) out of money in a bid to stop their own family facing financial ruin While someone else shared: 'Does Caleb not know that Home Farm has CCTV so he would've been recorded putting that USB into Kim's laptop? But then again no one else seems to frigging remember.' And someone else shared: 'Another person posted: 'I hope with all the secret cameras at Home Farm, Kim knows exactly what Caleb is up to.' Another fan posted: 'I thought Kim was smarter than to continue to be in business with Caleb, after all if he can screw his family then he can screw over anyone. i'm hoping Kim's playing along & will turn the tables on Caleb. 'Is Kim really that gullible. I think not!!!', tweeted another viewer, while someone else remarked: 'Something tells me Kim knows what Caleb is doing.' Ariana Madix had fans perplexed as she seemingly duped them on Monday when she staged an elaborate publicity stunt by pretending to move out of the L.A. home she shares with her cheating ex Tom Sandoval. The scorned VPR heroine, 37 who has already moved on with a hunky new boyfriend named Daniel Wai seemingly created the ruse in order to promote a personal finance company called SoFi. It may not have been April Fools Day but a scheming Madix enlisted the help of friends and even hired a U-Haul for her prank, exploiting the sensation of 'Scandoval' by moving boxes out of her house in full view of photographers. The reality star sold the sham move to the hilt and even shaded Tom's fling partner Raquel Leviss, 28, in the process. Days after a source revealed Leviss had 'dipped out' of her romance with Sandoval, Madix cheekily quipped on her Instagram Story: 'Ready to dip out!' as she loaded boxes into the moving truck. Gotcha! Ariana Madix, 37, duped fans on Monday when she staged an elaborate publicity stunt by pretending to move out of the L.A. home she shares with her cheating ex Tom Sandoval Fake it till you make it: The scorned VPR heroine seemingly created the ruse in order to promote a personal finance company called SoFi. The Bravolebrity wore a blue 'SoFi' sweater, black leather leggings and bright white sneakers as she loaded boxes labelled 'finances' into her truck Cheeky: The reality star sold the sham move to the hilt and even shaded Tom's fling partner Raquel Leviss in the process. Days after a source revealed Leviss had 'dipped out' of her romance with Sandoval, Madix cheekily quipped on her Instagram Story: 'Ready to dip out!' as she loaded boxes into the moving truck The Bravolebrity wore a blue 'SoFi' sweater, black leather leggings and bright white sneakers as she loaded boxes labelled 'finances' into her truck. But after 'moving' out of the Valley Village home she and Tom paid $2.075 million for their doomed love nest back in 2019 Ariana revealed that the long day of lugging boxes around was just an influencer making a cash grab. 'I'm moving UP, not out,' she declared in a mysterious snippet on her Instagram Story that appeared to be a not-so-subtle ad for SoFi. 'Well not yet at least. It's time to get my financial house in order. I will have more to share with you very very soon.' 'Soon' turned out to be later that day when Ariana posted a full-blown ad for SoFi on Instagram that showed her palling around with 'Dr. Money' and endorsing 'the bank that's got my back.' Many took to social media to react to the stunt with one even asking 'Did we just get DUPED by Ariana?!' The elaborate stunt comes after Raquel's shocking split from Tom, with an insider telling Page Six: 'Raquel dipped out. Sandoval is not the one for her.' Although the affair was only unveiled in March, both Sandoval and Leviss have revealed their romance actually started last summer. In the series 10 finale of Vanderpump Rules which aired on Wednesday, Madix and Sandoval had an epic confrontation over his infidelity. Pulling the wool: Ariana enlisted the help of friends and even hired a U-Haul, exploiting the sensation of 'Scandoval' by moving boxes out of her house in full view of photographers Not going anywhere: But after 'moving' out of the Valley Village home she and Tom paid $2.075 million for their doomed love nest back in 2019 Ariana revealed that the long day of lugging boxes around was just an influencer making a cash grab Cash grab: 'I'm moving UP, not out,' she declared in a mysterious snippet on her Instagram Story that appeared to be a not-so-subtle ad for SoFi. 'Well not yet at least. It's time to get my financial house in order. I will have more to share with you very very soon' 'Soon' turned out to be later that day when Ariana posted a full-blown ad for SoFi on Instagram that showed her palling around with 'Dr. Money' and endorsing 'the bank that's got my back' Many took to social media to react to the stunt with one even asking 'Did we just get DUPED by Ariana?!' 'Think it's a con': Many fans were skeptical of Ariana's big move and took to social media to express that 'Do you want anything?' Sandoval who was seen hyperventilating as he discussed his affair during one-on-one conversation with Lisa Vanderpump elsewhere in the episode asked Madix, to which she replied: 'For you to die.' 'I regret every moment that I stood up for you, defended you, supported you. You're worth nothing and I want you to feel that deep in your soul,' Ariana told Tom during their brutal conversation. After the finale aired, fans of the series took to social media to express their opinions with many praising Ariana for being 'strong' and 'elegant.' While another fan wrote: 'The most epic break-up moment in reality TV history.' Someone else chimed in writing: 'Scandovaling is the new word for 'I'm a victim, it's not my fault.' One meme saw Sandoval complaining about the couple's lack of a sex life and his lost 'mojo' to which Ariana replied: 'So f*** my friend then!' The fan reactions continued with another meme showing Sandoval hugging his friend Tom Schwartz. 'They are some of the most clueless fools on reality television,' the Twitter user captioned the photo. Another meme featured a scene from Gone With The Wind with Scarlett O'Hara weeping. 'Sandoval crying like...' the caption read. 'Wow. He never took any responsibility. And it's too late to reference your really good times together. 'F-offf sociopath,' someone else wrote. Billie on the scene: Ariana and Tom's former VPR co-star Billie Lee showed up at the house in Sandoval's new Mercedes after Madix finished her pretend move Love triangle: Leviss, 28, and Sandoval, 39, exploded the reality show cast when their infidelity was exposed, breaking the heart of the hunk's girlfriend of nine years, Ariana (pictured together in November 2022 during their affair) Over and out: Ariana's stunt comes hours after the shock split news with an insider telling Page Six: 'Raquel dipped out. Sandoval is not the one for her' There were also accusations of Sandoval of being performative, with one Twitter user writing: 'What is this performance of crying on Schwartz's shoulder?' 'Sandoval is giving beginners acting class,' another added. Following the finale, the Vanderpump Rules cast will be back together again for the reunion. The first part of the reunion will air Wednesday, May 24, then part two on Wednesday, May 31, and part three on Wednesday, June 7. It was revealed Wednesday that contract negotiations for the cast of Vanderpump Rules have been paused amid the aftermath of Scandoval. Jessica Chastain was effortlessly radiant in a white ensemble as she arrived at Live With Kelly And Mark in New York City on Monday. The Help actress, 46, who stunned in a floral suit in celebration of the Drama League Awards, flashed a cheerful smile while strolling into the building to chat with hosts Kelly Ripa and husband, Mark Consuelos, in an episode that will air on May 25. The Oscar winner looked incredibly ageless wearing a sleeveless, fitted white dress that was made from floral-embellished, lace material. A thin, white belt helped accentuate her slim waist and the star slipped into a pair of nude-colored heels to complete her overall ensemble for the day. Her reddish locks were parted in the middle, and flowed down naturally past her shoulders in light curls. Wow! Jessica Chastain, 46, was effortlessly radiant in a white ensemble as she arrived at Live With Kelly And Mark in New York City on Monday The Eyes Of Tammy Faye actress opted to not wear any pieces of flashy jewelry to allow the dress to be the main focal point. Jessica's makeup was glammed up, and comprised of a layer of mascara to her lashes along with a shimmering, bronze shadow around her eyes. A light pink blush was added to her cheekbones for a radiant glow while a rosy, satin tint was worn on her lips. The star has been keeping busy by tackling the leading role of Nora in the hit Broadway play, A Doll's House, which has earned a total of six Tony nominations, including Best Actress for Chastain. The show, which is based on the 1879 play of the same name written by Henrik Ibsen, comes to an end later next month on June 10. Jessica is no stranger to the Broadway stage, and also appeared in the play titled, The Heiress, in 2012, alongside other celebrities such as Dan Stevens. During an interview with NBC's Sunday Today earlier this month, the mother of two opened up about her passion of the theater and starring in A Doll's House. 'It's exhausting, but also invigorating,' she gushed. 'I love doing theater. It's what I first wanted to do. I was so excited by the opportunity-the idea that I could live in New York City and do theater. I feel so excited after a performance. I'm so exhausted but I can't even take a nap...I have too much adrenaline.' Stunning: The Oscar winner looked incredibly ageless wearing a sleeveless, white dress that was made from floral-embellished, lace material Striking a pose: Her reddish locks were parted in the middle, and flowed down naturally past her shoulders in light curls The star discussed how she discovered her passion early on in her life, and told host, Willie Geist, 'Once I started taking drama class, then I was...' The host completed her thoughts by adding, 'Those were your people.' Jessica, who recently went platinum blonde for the MET Gala earlier this month, then humorously recalled, 'I would like, skip school to read Shakespeare in my car. I mean, that's not something that someone should be doing.' Chastain, who tied the knot with Gian Luca Passi de Preposulo in 2017, previously talked about stepping back into the world of theater while making an appearance on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert. When asked what 'Broadway meant to her,' the George & Tammy star recalled recording the Tony Awards when she was a kid, and how she would 'play it back all throughout the year.' 'I remember watching when Ralph Fiennes won-I believe he won a Tony for playing Hamlet on Broadway.' 'I don't know, I just imagined this other life that I was going to have, and so to be here just feels like, it sounds cheesy, what this little girl was imagining is now manifested,' the Interstellar star expressed. While continuing to embrace her passion for the stage, Jessica will still appear on the big screen once again alongside Anne Hathaway in the upcoming film called, Mother's Instinct. Recognition: The star has been keeping busy by tackling the leading role of Nora in the hit Broadway play, A Doll's House, which has earned a total of six Tony nominations, including Best Actress for Chastain Passion: During an interview with NBC's Sunday Today earlier this month, the mother of two opened up about her passion of being on the stage and gushed, 'I love doing theater. It's what I first wanted to do...'; seen earlier this month in NYC The project is a remake of Oliver Masset-Depasse's 2018 thriller of the same name and follows the premise of two 60s housewives whose lives are altered after a tragedy. With the movie still in its post-production stages, a set premiere date has yet to be announced. However, fans will have a chance to see Jessica soon at the upcoming 76th Annual Tony Awards which will be held on June 11. Aside from receiving a nomination for Best Actress in a play, A Doll's House also garnered five additional nods, such as Best Play Revival and Best Direction. When talking to The Hollywood Reporter after hearing the news of her nomination, she revealed to the outlet whether she planned to continue stage work or not. 'I already told my agent, Joe Machota, I want to do a play at least every other year. I dont want to be away from the theater any more. I love it so much.' Jamie Foxx's daughter Corinne was among the actor's visitors at a physical rehab center in Chicago over the weekend - as the Oscar winner recovers after suffering a mystery health scare last month. Foxx, 55, born Eric Bishop, was filming the action-comedy Back In Action with Cameron Diaz in Atlanta, Georgia, in April when he was admitted to hospital, although little is known of the intricacies of the situation. Corrine was pictured arriving at the facility, which is touted as the top physical medicine and rehabilitation center in the country, treats 'the most severe, complex conditions', and specializes in the treatment of severe conditions like strokes, traumatic brain injuries, and spinal cord injuries. Foxx's good friend Dave Brown was also seen visiting the facility and spent time chatting to Corinne before going to visit Foxx. On May 12, Corrine spoke out to share an update about his condition, insisting that her father had been 'out of the hospital for weeks' and had even been 'playing pickleball'. That details of that statement were then confirmed to DailyMail.com by a spokesperson for Foxx. Support: Jamie Foxx's daughter Corinne was among the actor's visitors at a physical rehab center in Chicago over the weekend - as the Oscar winner recovers after suffering a mystery health scare last month Medical emergency: Foxx, 55, born Eric Bishop, was filming the action-comedy Back In Action with Cameron Diaz in Atlanta, Georgia, in April when he was admitted to hospital although little is known of the intricacies of the situation (pictured with Corinne in 2020) However just two days later, Corrine was pictured arriving at the facility. Foxx is understood to have arrived at the facility in late April and is 'recovering well' after first getting treatment at a hospital in Atlanta. Annalise was previously seen bringing her guitar to visit her father to no doubt pick up his spirits with the power of music Kristin was also seen leaving the facility with flowers and a balloon for Mother's Day. Days ago it was revealed that the A-lister has been out of hospital for weeks and has been recuperating at home, his older daughter revealed. Corinne took to Instagram on Friday denying reports that her father was still in hospital - and even claimed the actor has been active and playing pickleball. It is still unclear what the actor has been in hospital for, with his family reluctant to release any specific information. 'Update from the family: Sad to see how the media runs wild,' Corinne wrote, alongside a report that claimed his loved ones had been 'preparing for the worst.' Support: Corrine was pictured arriving at the facility, which is touted as the top physical medicine and rehabilitation center in the country Visit: Corinne was seen making her way into the facility Management: Foxx's good friend and member of his management Dave Brown viisted '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!' The shock update comes amid conflicting reports about his condition following his recent hospitalization. Sources claimed to the site that Foxx suffers from high blood pressure and that he was 'lucky to be alive,' Last week, sources told Page Six that 'nothing had changed' and the actor was 'still in the same condition', after his health scare. MailOnline has contacted representatives for Jamie for comment. In an Instagram post on Wednesday, his family posted on his profile said: 'Appreciate all the love!!! Feeling blessed' followed by praying hands, heart and fox emojis.' Road to recover? Foxx is pictured above in March this year at the 2023 Miami Open Speaking out: Corinne has taken leave from her role as a DJ on popular game show Beat Shazam (Pictured; 2022) It's unclear if Foxx himself made the post. At that point, no further details on his condition had been shared, leading to speculation about how serious his illness is. The Oscar winner's account also gave a shout-out on Instagram to friend Nick Cannon who has filled in hosting duties for him on popular game show Beat Shazam. Celebrities including AJ McLean, Ludacris and DJ Khaled had sent messages of support in response to Foxx's Instagram post. Sources close to the comedian recently told TMZ he 'needs all the prayers and well-wishes his fans can muster'. 'He's OK, thank God,' the source said. 'He's still in the hospital and doctors are running tests but he's awake and alert. They're keeping him under observation.' Fans were initially alerted about the health scare when his daughter Corinne shared a grave statement on social media on April 12. Grave: Fans were initially alerted about the health scare when his daughter Corinne shared a grave statement on social media on April 12 The actress wrote, 'We wanted to share that, my father, Jamie Foxx, experienced a medical complication yesterday. 'Luckily, due to quick action and great care, he is already on his way to recovery,' she continued. 'We know how beloved he is and appreciate your prayers. The family asks for privacy during this time,' the statement concluded. Since then, the family has shared limited details, and it's unclear what symptoms the comedian may have been suffering from. At a glittering party on Saturday night, following the Cannes Film Festival's premiere of Martin Scorsese's epic new film Killers Of The Flower Moon, Leonardo DiCaprio was in suitably sparkling form. Although the Hollywood star couldn't quite bring himself to whip off his designer sunglasses, he cheerfully posed for selfies and listened graciously while the compliments flowed as copiously as the champagne. There is already talk of a second Oscar for DiCaprio after his performance as a dim-witted, murderous sleazeball with yellow teeth. His name is Ernest Burkhart and, in the true yet little-known story of one of America's most scandalous crimes, he is in thrall to his manipulative, duplicitous uncle, William Hale, played by Robert De Niro. Together, DiCaprio and De Niro had appeared in 14 Scorsese movies before this one, yet the director's two favourite actors had never shared a scene. In Killers Of The Flower Moon, finally they do. Tainted love: Leonardo DiCaprio (left) as Ernest and Lily Gladstone (right) as Mollie, the wife from whom he hides a murderous secret. Left, De Niro and DiCaprio Together, DiCaprio (right) and De Niro (left) had appeared in 14 Scorsese movies before this one, yet the director's two favourite actors had never shared a scene For everyone who hoped Scorsese might one day find a vehicle for these two screen giants, this is the film they have been waiting for. Inspired by David Grann's 2017 non-fiction bestseller Killers Of The Flower Moon: The Osage Murders And The Birth Of The FBI, it is, despite its vast length, a superb picture. It tells the shocking story of how, in the 1920s, a cabal of white Oklahoma businessmen plotted to steal the wealth of the Osage Native American tribe, who had become astoundingly rich following the discovery of oil on their land more than two decades earlier. READ MORE: The true story behind Leonardo DiCaprio's latest epic Killers of the Flower Moon Advertisement The plan was to steal their wealth by first murdering them by means as varied as shooting, poisoning and even blowing up their homes. Hale was the ringleader, with Burkhart one of his sleazy accomplices. But the film is also the story of America's original sin: the egregious mistreatment of its indigenous population. This is an enormous subject and, at three and a half hours, Scorsese gives it commensurate length. There aren't too many directors who can get away with such a mighty running time. Perhaps Scorsese, 80, has grown too powerful for anyone to dare restrain him. It may also be that he looks enviously at how television these days tells great stories over many hours, and yearns to devote the same space to his own art. Yet whatever his justification, and despite its bladder-challenging duration, Killers Of The Flower Moon is still a triumph. The Osage's land was originally between the Missouri and Arkansas rivers in the heart of America. In the early 19th century, they were forced to move to a reservation in southern Kansas. But when white settlers started arriving there in the 1870s (among them the family of Laura Ingalls Wilder, author of the autobiographical Little House On The Prairie books), the Osage were again brutally forced out. This time they managed to fund the purchase of a reservation in neighbouring Oklahoma and because they bought it themselves, they retained the mineral rights. The land was hilly, mostly wooded, difficult to cultivate and therefore affordable. But in 1897, after the discovery of an ocean of oil beneath the ground, those mineral rights overnight became jaw-droppingly lucrative. Within little more than a decade, with each member of the tribe receiving a quarterly share of the oil revenue, the Osage were, per capita, the richest people on Earth. They had mansions and servants and sent their children to expensive East Coast schools. The film tells the shocking story of how, in the 1920s, a cabal of white Oklahoma businessmen plotted to steal the wealth of the Osage Native American tribe, who had become astoundingly rich following the discovery of oil on their land more than two decades earlier (pictured: male dancers from the Osage tribe in Gray Horse, Oklahoma, in 1913-14) In the early days of motorised transport, the Pierce-Arrow was the most luxurious car money could buy and, as a caption informs us at the start of Scorsese's film, there were more of them in Osage territory than anywhere else in America. Mostly they were chauffeur-driven. But where there is extreme wealth, there is usually extreme envy. Indeed, it wasn't even concealed. One publication at the time, Harper's Monthly, actually reported that 'the Osage Indians are becoming so rich that something will have to be done about it'. And something was done. The Osage were deemed unfit to spend their money freely, so white local guardians were appointed, to whom they had to appeal every time they wanted to buy something. According to Grann's book, that extended from a Pierce-Arrow to a tube of toothpaste. It was, he writes, 'a system rooted in racism, done under the pretence of enlightenment that the Osage needed protection'. Their so-called guardians sold goods to the Osage themselves at vastly inflated prices, or forced them to buy only from approved businesses, receiving under-the-counter payoffs in return. But such swindling wasn't enough for Bill Hale and his co-conspirators. Hale, the self-styled 'king of the Osage hills', was a cattle baron who learned to speak the Osage language and depicted himself as their friend, champion and protector. He was deputy sheriff of the town of Fairfax and a well-known benefactor in Osage County, donating to schools and hospitals. Yet privately he craved the 'head-rights' to Osage oil and the only way to get those rights, he decided, was to have the Native Americans killed. When one Osage man, Henry Roan, was shot in the back of the head in February 1923, an apparently distraught Hale led the mourning and acted as pallbearer at his funeral. Yet it was Hale himself who had ordered the murder. To maintain Osage ownership of the land, the head-rights could not be directly sold to white people. But they could be inherited. Hale's plan was to secure the inheritance rights from the Osage before killing them, and another way of doing that certainly as the film tells it was by encouraging his nephew, Ernest, to woo and marry the wealthy Osage woman Mollie Kyle, played superbly by Lily Gladstone (who is actually of Blackfoot heritage). Many white men married Osage women purely to get their hands on their money, later killing them. The film suggests, however, that in his way Ernest genuinely loved Mollie, and she him. Yet he was pathetically weak and biddable, and feigned sympathy as she mourned the sisters whose deaths, as he well knew, had been organised by his uncle. In May 1921, Mollie's sister Anna was found in a ravine, shot through the head. Another sister, Minnie, having always enjoyed excellent health, died aged 27 of a 'peculiar wasting illness' that was almost certainly the result of poison. Mollie's mother perished in the same agonising way. Another sister, Reta, was murdered along with her husband when a huge explosion destroyed their house. The film doesn't spare us the gruesome horror of that episode; we see body parts littering the wreckage. Between 1918 and 1931 at least two dozen members of the Osage tribe, and probably many more, died violently or suspiciously in what became known as the 'Reign of Terror'. While the authorities weren't exactly quick to investigate, those who did, or who tried to whip up interest in the case, also came to untimely ends. Hale's long tentacles extended precisely as far as they needed to. In August 1922, a white oilman, Barney McBride, was found dead during a trip to Washington DC. He had agreed to go there to urge a full federal investigation of the Osage deaths. Instead, in an attack described by The Washington Post at the time as 'the most brutal in crime annals in the District', he had a sack thrown over his head before being stripped, beaten and stabbed more than 20 times. In June 1923, a man called Henry Grammer with incriminating evidence against Hale died when the brakes on his car mysteriously failed. In the same month, a lawyer with 'critical new information' on the case was killed and his corpse thrown off a speeding train. Finally, in 1925, J. Edgar Hoover, head of the Bureau of Investigation (forerunner of the FBI), appointed agent Tom White (played by Jesse Plemons in the film) to take over the investigation. This time, not even 'the king of the Osage hills' could do much about it. White, a former Texas Ranger, quickly assembled an undercover team, including a Native American, and found all the evidence he needed to bring Hale, Burkhart and the 'hitmen' they had hired (local drunks, invariably) to some kind of justice. The Osage suffered a final indignity. For one thing, they had to pay for justice; Hoover's organisation, exploiting their wealth just as the Oklahoma 'guardians' had, presented them with a bill for more than $20,000 (almost $350,000 in today's money). For another, Hoover was in a rush to close the case, so many of the killings stayed unsolved. What the Osage do have now, though albeit a hundred years later is Martin Scorsese's formidable film. Significantly, it did not end up as the movie he set out to make. It was intended to focus less on the Osage and more on the early years of the FBI, with DiCaprio originally cast to play the 'good guy' Tom White. But then DiCaprio said he would rather play Burkhart, and Scorsese agreed. The script was rewritten accordingly, with extensive input from the Osage people. The result of those changes is that, as more and more Native American tribes seek reparations for historic civil and human rights abuses, the Osage and their tribulations are front and centre of the narrative. 'My people have suffered greatly and to this day those effects are with us,' said their nation's chief, Standing Bear, after Saturday's Cannes premiere. 'But I can say on behalf of the Osage, Marty Scorsese and his team have restored trust, and we know that trust will not be betrayed.' Julia Fox looked ethereal on Monday evening as she donned a very intricate white gown for The Idol launch at the 76th annual Cannes Film Festival. The Italian-American actress, 33, who dated Kanye West in January 2022, made sure all eyes were on her as she flaunted the unique ensemble. Julia flaunted her assets as the top of the dress hugged her figure in a corset-style, while it was held up by one tiny strap on her right shoulder. The Uncut Gems star's look was completed by multiple layers of fabric that fell elegantly to her feet, as well as forming a giant fan shape behind her head. To contrast her luminous dress, Julia opted for a striking black lipstick, while also adding dramatic winged eyeliner. Stand-out: Julia Fox, 33, looked ethereal on Monday evening as she donned a very intricate white gown for The Idol launch at the 76th annual Cannes Film Festival Wow: The Italian-American actress, 33, who dated Kanye West in January 2022, made sure all eyes were on her as she flaunted the unique ensemble Her face make-up was also blinding, opting for almost-white foundation to match her dress. She held up the huge skirt with elegant white gloves which added to the out-of-this-world feel of the look. Drama series The Idol is due to be released on June 4 on HBO and is created by The Weeknd, Reza Fahim, and Sam Levinson. It stars Lily-Rose Depp as an aspiring pop idol, who is forced to cancel a tour after suffering a nervous breakdown. She begins a complicated relationship with a self-help guru and cult leader (played by The Weeknd), while Troye Sivan takes on a supporting role. Monday's outfit was another transparent look for Julia after she donned a see-through top on Sunday. She dropped jaws when she bared her breasts in a sexy clear top at the Art of Elysium 25th Anniversary. The provocative bombshell who recently branded herself 'high class white trash' turned up the heat in Cannes, France by leaving absolutely nothing to the imagination. Daring: Julia flaunted her assets as the top of the dress hugged her figure in a corset-style, while it was held up by one tiny strap on her right shoulder Style: She held up the huge skirt with elegant white gloves which added to the out-of-this-world feel of the look Complex: The Uncut Gems star's look was completed by multiple layers of fabric that fell elegantly to her feet, as well as forming a giant fan shape behind her head Unique: Her face make-up was also blinding, opting for almost-white foundation to match her dress Making an impression: To contrast her luminous dress, Julia opted for a striking black lipstick, while also adding dramatic winged eyeliner Julia's top was a see-through creation that encapsulated her cleavage and flowed over her midsection. The star covered up her lower half in a two-tiered voluminous white skirt that ballooned into a pool of fabric. She accessorised her look with dazzling jewellery, upswept hair, and a glossed lip of dark colour. Known for her eye-popping fashion and risque aesthetic, Fox recently admitted to having liposuction and Botox in the past. The former dominatrix told Elle she was 'saggy' and her body had changed, but that she was not going to do a 'damn thing about it.' Revealing she would consider the cosmetic procedures again, Julia said: 'Im, like, saggy, like, things are not sitting the way they used to. But its like, I am not gonna do a damn thing about it.' The performer has become famous for taking major risks when it comes to her personal aesthetic, which have propelled her onto the global fashion scene. Crystal clear: Julia dropped jaws on Sunday when she bared her breasts in a sexy clear top at the Art of Elysium 25th Anniversary Former child star Bella Thorne flashed her rear end while clad in nothing but two white towels in a mirror selfie she Instastoried Sunday morning. The next day, the Florida-born, half-Cuban 25-year-old - who boasts 46.4M social media followers - bared her belly in a series of selfies taken in the same bathroom. This time, Bella (born Anabella) was wearing a baggy grey cropped sweater with black pants tied with string at the waist and an excess of gold chunky chain jewelry. Missing from Thorne's side was her boyfriend, Bad Vegan executive producer Mark Emms, whom she hasn't been pictured with since Valentine's Day. On June 27, the Twisted Sisters podcaster will premiere her blood-splattered short film Paint Her Red at the open-air venue of the Ancient Greek Teatro Antico in Sicily during the 69th Taormina Film Festival. 'Hello good morning!' Former child star Bella Thorne flashed her rear end while clad in nothing but two white towels in a mirror selfie she Instastoried Sunday morning Bella will also host the fest's glitzy gala and she curated their Influential Shorts program featuring films from Nina Dobrev, Khaby Lame, Jacqueline Fernandes, and more. Curiously, Thorne is calling Paint Her Red her 'directorial short film debut' despite winning the PornHub Vision Award in 2019 for her 32-minute BDSM directorial debut, Her & Him. 'I've wanted to direct for a really long time. I've always been in love with the making of movies as well as writing,' the 5ft8in redhead - who's helmed 15 other IMDb-credited shorts/music videos - told Hola last month. 'I think that that's a big one that stands out to me. Writing is my baby, it's my child, it's a thing that makes me feel seen and heard, and it just feels amazing to get it all out on the page. And when you can combine the two or the three, it really is such an incredible experience. 'So yeah, I'm very excited to see where it goes from here and to really learn. The next short I'm shooting, I'm shooting all on film, which I'm really excited about. Yeah. And film, it's such a beauty, it's such a beauty. It's going to be my first time, so I'll be definitely learning so much, and that's what I love to do, I love to learn, so I hope it works out well for me.' Bella plays a mystery role in Eddie Alcazar's upcoming abduction thriller Divinity alongside Stephen Dorff, Karrueche Tran, and Scott Bakula. Thorne will star as a tattooed carnival hustler called Annette in the Phillips Brothers' upcoming Mississippi-set thriller Rumble Through the Dark with Golden Globe nominee Aaron Eckhart. The Breakfast Club Live actress also has a mystery role opposite Julia Fox, Stephen Dorff, Steven Van Zandt, Beverly D'Angelo, and Paris Hilton in Tony Kaye's upcoming crime-comedy The Trainer co-written by Vito Schnabel. It's hard to believe it's been a decade since Bella starred as wholesome CeCe Jones in Disney Channel's sitcom Shake It Up alongside two-time Emmy winner Zendaya. Mirror, mirror: The next day, the Florida-born, half-Cuban 25-year-old - who boasts 46.4M social media followers - bared her belly in a series of selfies taken in the same bathroom Bare midriff: This time, Bella (born Anabella) was wearing a baggy grey cropped sweater with black pants tied with string at the waist and an excess of gold chunky chain jewelry Single again? Missing from Thorne's side was her boyfriend, Bad Vegan executive producer Mark Emms, whom she hasn't been pictured with since Valentine's Day Headed to Italy! On June 27, the Twisted Sisters podcaster will premiere her blood-splattered short film Paint Her Red at the open-air venue of the Ancient Greek Teatro Antico in Sicily during the 69th Taormina Film Festival 'I've wanted to direct for a really long time': Bella will also host the fest's glitzy gala and she curated their Influential Shorts program featuring films from Nina Dobrev, Khaby Lame, Jacqueline Fernandes, and more Not long ago! Curiously, Thorne is calling Paint Her Red her 'directorial short film debut' despite winning the PornHub Vision Award in 2019 for her 32-minute BDSM directorial debut, Her & Him Naomi Campbell celebrated her 53rd birthday in style on Monday as she attended a lavish bash in Cannes in honour of her special day. In collaboration with Hugo Boss, the supermodel hosted a variety of star-studded guests in the French city, where the 76th Cannes Film Festival is currently taking place. Naomi looked sensational for the big night, where she wore a gold sequinned maxi dress, complete with a feather detailing at the bottom. The gorgeous number featured an asymmetrical neckline, with cut-outs along her chest. She showcased her incredible body in the figure-hugging number and flashed a hint of cleavage. Happy birthday! Naomi Campbell celebrated her 53rd birthday in style on Monday as she attended a lavish bash in Cannes in honour of her special day Outfit change! The supermodel showcase two incredible looks including a sleek white dress and a golden feathered gown (pictured) Stunner: There to celebrate Naomi's big day was a host of famous faces, including Ashlee Simpson (L) who flaunted her cleavage in a daring sparkly top, and Ashley ~Graham (R) who looked stunning in a thigh-skimming minidress Gorgeous: In collaboration with Hugo Boss, the supermodel hosted a variety of star-studded guests in the French city, where the 76th Cannes Film Festival is currently taking place The mother-of-one accessorised with an elegant diamond bracelet and silver drop down earrings. She accentuated her natural model beauty with a stunning palette of make up, including a swipe of pink lipstick. Naomi wore her raven tresses straight, cascading past her shoulders in a middle parting. The supermodel appeared in good spirits throughout the night, particularly as popstar Robin Thicke serenaded her. There to celebrate Naomi's big day was a host of famous faces, including Ashlee Simpson who flaunted her cleavage in a daring sparkly top. The pop star, 38, looked incredible in the silver number which hung in tassels from her chest. She teamed the look with a pair of black trousers and elevated her gorgeous frame with black toe-pointed heels. The beauty wore her brunette locks slicked back into a tight ponytail and showcased her incredible diamond drop earrings. April Love Geary also looked stunning at the event, where she opted for a light pink mini dress. Wow! Naomi looked sensational for the big night, where she wore a gold sequinned maxi dress, complete with a feather detailing at the bottom Glam! Helena Christensen looked lovely in a black lace dress with floral flipflops Sensational: The gorgeous number featured an asymmetrical neckline, with cut-outs along her chest Racy: She showcased her incredible body in the figure-hugging number and flashed a hint of cleavage Beauty: She accentuated her natural model beauty with a stunning palette of make up, including a swipe of pink lipstick Touching: The supermodel appeared in good spirits throughout the night, particularly as popstar Robin Thicke serenaded her Having fun: Naomi received a special performance from her friend to mark the special day Showcasing her gorgeous curves, the stylish number featured a halter-neck strap and put her toned pins on full display. Later in the evening, she cosied up to her popstar fiancee Robin Thicke as they shared some PDA outside the event. The pair looked more loved-up than ever as they gave each other a sweet kiss and couldn't keep their hands off each other. Robin looked extremely dapper in a black silk shirt, black trousers and smart black suit shoes. The sun may have gone down, but Robin opted for a pair of black sunglasses and threw on a variety of gold chain necklaces to finish his look. Also in attendance was fellow model Frida Aasen who turned heads in a one-shoulder white dress. The elegant number clung to every inch of her jaw-dropping figure as she strutted into the event in gold strappy heels. Evan Ross looked extremely suave for the evening in a light blue suit, which he wore without a shirt underneath. The star paired his look with smart black shoes and posed up a storm outside of the event. Saville Row legend Ozwald Boateng turned heads in a custom purple and black suit, which featured a swirling pattern. He layered the look with a crisp white shirt with the top few buttons undone. Stylish: The pop star, 38, looked incredible in the silver number which hung in tassels from her chest Pretty: April Love Geary also looked stunning at the event, where she opted for a light pink mini dress Sweet: Later in the evening, she cosied up to her popstar fiancee Robin Thicke as they shared some PDA outside the event In love: The pair looked more loved-up than ever as they gave each other a sweet kiss and couldn't keep their hands off each other Elegance: Frida styled he chic knit dress which she teamed with strappy heels Gorgeous! She cosied up to her friend Cindy Mello for a glam snap Celebrations: Robin looked extremely dapper in a black silk shirt, black trousers and smart black suit shoes Flawless: Inventing Anna star Julia Garner made her appearance in a stunning white two piece Dapper: Evan Ross looked extremely suave for the evening in a light blue suit, which he wore without a shirt underneath Jon Kortajarena looked equally as dapper for the evening, in a pink striped blazer and beige trousers. Underneath, he kept things casual with a simple white t-shirt. Chantal Monaghan was another model in attendance who stunned in an asymmetrical blue and black dress. She put her long pins on full display and showcased her toned stomach in the revealing number which boasted a half v-neck and half bandeau neckline. Naomi had spent the earlier part of her day with her daughter on a white superyacht. The supermodel who has not revealed the name of her little one after reportedly welcoming her via surrogate in May last year, snuggled up to her toddler as she made her way onto the boat. Pals! Naomi stood between Nessa and Colin Kaepernick Joyful: She teamed the sleek and elegant number with a pair of pink trainers Here come the girls! (L-R) Ophelie Guillermand, Chantal Monaghan, guest and Lara Leito Woah! Cindy Bruna and Kate Beckinsale added some serious glamour to the evening Smart: Umar Kamani and Nada Adelle put on a stylish display at the bash Catching up: (L to R) Petra Nemcova, Benjamin Larretche and Poppy Delevingne Dazzling! Rose Bertram looked incredible in a dazzling silver and blue gown Party time! Editor-In-Chief of British Vogue Edward Enninful (L) and Neelam Gill Simple yet chic: Hana Cross rocked a black mini dress with strappy heels Serious glam! (L-R) Cindy Bruna, Neelam Gill and Vanessa Kingori Silver siren! Petra Nemcova put on a jaw-dropping display in a metallic mini Unreal: Leomie Anderson looked incredible in a purple netted dress Golden girl! Naomi looked amazing in a gold sequin dress with a cut out section Serenaded: Robin Thicke held Naomi's hand and sang to her at the dinner Beaming: Naomi (L) and Mohammed Al Turki The beauty cut a stylish figure in a black and white plaid blazer and matching trousers. She teamed her look with casual white trainers and shielded her face with a pair of black sunglasses. Finishing her look, she wore her raven locks poker straight, cascading past her shoulders. The statuesque star stunned fans by announcing the birth of her daughter May 2021, just weeks after appearing on the New York Fashion Week runway without a visible baby bump. She later insisted that her daughter was not adopted amid growing speculation regarding their biological parentage. Speaking to British Vogue in February while posing with her daughter for a cover shoot, the model confirmed: 'She wasnt adopted shes my child.' Glowing: Naomi was joined by BOSS CEO Daniel Grieder Suave: Saville Row legend Ozwald Boateng turned heads in a custom purple and black suit, which featured a swirling pattern Stylish: Jon Kortajarena looked equally as dapper for the evening, in a pink striped blazer and beige trousers Stunner: Also in attendance was fellow model Frida Aasen who turned heads in a one-shoulder white dress Daring! Chantal Monaghan was another model in attendance who stunned in an asymmetrical blue and black dress Arrival: Meanwhile, model Jourdan Dunn was seen out at the Croisette with two suitcases Cool: Jourdan cut a casual figure in an all black outfit as she jetted into Cannes for the festival Gorgeous: She showed off her natural beauty by going make-up free Naomi played coy during the new interview, and despite confirming her daughter is not adopted, refused to elaborate further on her first born. However she admitted that very few of her wide circle of friends and family members knew she was planning on becoming a parent. She explained: 'I can count on one hand the number of people who knew that I was having her. But she is the biggest blessing I could ever imagine. Its the best thing Ive ever done.' Naomi has travelled extensively over recent months, but she insists her daughter doesn't mind flying. She said: 'I'm lucky my little one loves to travel like me no whimpering taking off or landing. She's a good girl: she sleeps very well, she hardly ever cries' She added: 'I always knew that one day I would be a mother, but it's the biggest joy I could ever imagine. I'm lucky to have her and I know that.' She has continued to spark speculation she is set to marry her longtime partner Billy Crudup by wearing a huge diamond ring on her left hand wedding finger. And on Monday, Naomi Watts once again sported the sparkler as she took her beloved pooch out for a walk in New York. The actress, 54, also wore a bright white dress for the warmer Manhattan weather, paired with some chic leather sandals. As well as her huge diamond ring, Naomi accessorised with some beaded necklace and designer sunglasses. She wore a light application of makeup and scrapped her blonde locks back into a ponytail. Naomi Watts stepped out in a white dress as she stepped out for a stroll in New York with her dog on Monday as she continues to spark speculation she is set to marry her partner Billy Crudup by flashing her huge 'engagement ring' It comes after Naomi appeared on the Today show in New York earlier this month, flashing what appeared to be an engagement ring during her live TV appearance. However, Naomi kept silent on engagement speculation and laughed off the hosts' comments about the 'glint' of her ring. She was appearing on the show to discuss ending the stigma around menopause, with hosts Hoda Kotb and Savannah Guthrie. Towards the end of the chat, Kotb joked that her 'eye was hurting,' implying it was from the 'glint' of the massive ring on Watts' left ring finger. 'It's like a big glint coming from some ring over here,' Kotb said with a smile, as Watts started laughing. 'It just struck me, but it's beautiful,' Kotb said, as they showed a close-up of the ring many are speculating is her engagement ring... though she wouldn't confirm. Guthrie clarified, 'Hoda is asking if you're engaged,' as Watts joked, 'So, the brain fog...' Naomi has been wearing a huge diamond ring on her left hand wedding finger for months now Guthrie added, 'You wear it well,' as Kotb added, 'You do, whatever you're wearing, you wear it beautifully.' The Aussie actress hasn't publicly addressed the speculation that her boyfriend of six years Billy has popped the question. She was first spotted wearing this massive diamond ring on her left ring finger last month, when she was spotted going on a road trip with some friends. Still, neither Watts nor Crudup have confirmed the engagement or spoken about the ring Watts is wearing. Meanwhile her ex Liev Schreiber, 55, recently announced he's expecting his first child with 31-year-old girlfriend Taylor Neisen. It comes after Naomi appeared on the Today show in New York last month, flashing what appeared to be an engagement ring during her live TV appearance Towards the end of the chat, Kotb joked that her 'eye was hurting,' implying it was from the 'glint' of the massive ring on Watts' left ring finger The award-winning actress shares children Sasha, 15, and Kai, 14, with her ex-partner Liev, whom she started dating in 2005. The couple decided to split in 2016 after 11 years together, but they have remained committed to amicably co-parenting their children. Naomi and Billy, 54, have been dating since they co-starred in the Netflix drama series Gypsy (2017), but they didn't make their red carpet debut until the 2022 Screen Actors Guild Awards, where Billy was nominated for his role on The Morning Show. They've made an effort to keep their romance out of the spotlight, making only a handful of public appearances together and rarely discussing each other - although they have shared a few sweet moments on social media. 'Happy birthday, my love,' Naomi wrote alongside a photo of the couple visiting the Louvre in Paris, France, on July 8, 2022. Dame Joan Collins oozed class as she was captured stepping out with her husband Percy Gibson on Monday in London - one day before celebrating her 90th birthday. The actress, 89, appeared in good spirits as she made her way out arm-in-arm with Percy. Joan looked typically elegant as she stunned in a light blue tweed blazer jacket and wore a white gauze top underneath. The iconic star completed the ensemble with navy trousers which made her look incredibly youthful. She gave herself some extra inches with a pair of white espadrille wedges and carried a white handbag. Elegant: Dame Joan Collins oozed class as she was captured stepping out with her husband Percy Gibson on Monday in London - one day before celebrating her 90th birthday Glowing: The actress, 89, appeared in good spirits as she stepped arm-in-arm with Percy The English actress further accessorised the stylish look with a white fedora hat - and carried a white scarf and shades in her hands. Joan donned white, dainty jewellery for her morning look with a silver necklace, a heart-shaped ring and eye-catching pearl earrings. She accentuated her natural beauty with a stunning palette of make up including a rouge lipstick. The author kept her brown tresses in a low ponytail under her stylish fedora hat. Meanwhile, Percy looked dapper in a blue shirt and grey trousers. The duo appeared in good spirits as they made their way to the car and flashed a smile to the cameras before leaving. Percy, the longest-lasting of Joan's husbands, is more than 30 years younger than her, a gap she dismisses in interviews with the line: 'If he dies, he dies.' The long-standing couple celebrated their 20th wedding anniversary with a star-studded party at Claridge's last year. Originally from Peru, Percy is a noted Hollywood producer, known primarily for producing Who Wants to be a Millionaire. Stylish: Joan looked typically elegant as she stunned in a light blue tweed blazer jacket and wore a white gauze top underneath Chic: She gave herself some extra inches with a pair of white espadrille wedges and carried a white handbag Looking good: The duo appeared in good spirits as they made their way to the car and flashed a smile to the cameras before leaving Fun: It comes after she shared a group snap from her 'fabulous' Coronation party last weekend as she celebrated with a host of famous faces Now however Joan has found the right man and even joked to Jonathan Ross in 2020 that her marriage to Percy had run as long as the previous four marriages combined. It comes after she shared a group snap from her 'fabulous' Coronation party last weekend as she celebrated with a host of famous faces. Earlier this month the actress took to Instagram to share the snap as they all enjoyed dinner at the Wolseley with her husband Percy and pals. Joan was joined by Christopher Biggins, former actress Yvonne Romain, entrepreneur Ivan Massow, Theo and Louise Fennell and journalist Andrew Neil. They all looked like they were having a great time as they donned crowns to mark the day King Charles III was officially coronated. Joan penned in the caption of her post: 'Our own fabulous #coronation #celebration at the Wolseley with a host of #greatfriends @biggins.christopher @oneneilsin @ivanmassow @fennelltheo @louise.fennell @hazelcollins8000 @alisonpapworth Andrew Pierce, Russell Tanguay, Evie Bricusse, #brother Bill and @alexsilverpr.' It comes after Dame Joan performed a cheeky impersonation of King Charles and teased details of his alleged comments about her ahead of his Coronation. Speaking to Kate Garraway and Ben Shephard on Good Morning Britain, she revealed: 'I'd met him a few times. In fact, he wrote about me in his book - I can't say what it is on morning TV because it's a bit naughty.' She appeared to allude to the claims in Christopher Andersons book The King: The Life of Charles III, that the monarch once wrote in a letter that Dame Joan had an unbelievable cleavage all raised up and presented as if on a tray'. Joan also chatted about the moment Charles gave her a Damehood and said how charming he was as she discussed the ceremony in 2015. The star went on to mimic his voice, adding: 'He has such a deep voice. He said 'and about time too.' The legendary actress, who played a part in the Coronation festivities, revealed she has met Charles a few times. The Dame then shared her own hopes for the Coronation Day, saying: 'I hope we all have a wonderful time and that it doesn't rain.' As the royal discussion continued, Ben asked Joan if she thought Charles could have followed in her acting footsteps. Joan replied: 'I think he could have. He certainly has the looks for it and let's face it the royals certainly have to do a lot of acting.' The screen star has been busy in other aspects of her life, speaking to Kate and Ben about writing her memoir which she released in 2022. She admitted that it had been a very fun project to do as she looked back over her eventful life. Dame Joan said: 'It's been hilarious I've been combing my memory for funny things that happened. 'I was talking to Biggins the other day and he reminded me about the time we got trapped on an island in Corfu with Stella and no water.' Rosie Huntington-Whiteley was the epitome of glam as she joined partner Jason Statham for the Women in Motion Award at the 76th Cannes Film Festival on Sunday. The supermodel, 36, nailed a glamorous diva look as she slipped into a black figure-hugging gown that showcased her slender physique. The strapless dress featured a sweetheart neckline and bloused sleeve-gloves attached to the gown. Rosie kept it simple but elegant as she completed her total black ensemble with matching stiletto heels. The model sported black squared shades that she showed off while posing up a storm on the red carpet. Couple: Rosie Huntington-Whiteley was the epitome of glam as she joined Jason Statham for the Women in Motion Award at the 76th Cannes Film Festival on Sunday Fashionista: The supermodel, 36, nailed a glamorous diva look as she slipped into a black figure-hugging gown that showcased her slender physique Chic: The strapless dress featured a sweetheart neckline and bloused sleeve-gloves attached to the gown The runaway veteran made a bold fashion statement as she rocked a serpent-shape diamond choker, with three layers as the animal was circling her slender neck. Rosie added more bling with matching diamond bracelets on the gloves - as they perfectly contrasted the darkness of her ensemble and dazzled beneath the spotlights. The Victoria's Secret Angel oozed confidence as she appeared to channel Morticia Addams in a recalling pose with her very similar gown. The stunner donned a gleaming rose eyeshadow with long eyelashes, pink blush on her cheeks and pouted her lips with a rouge lipstick. The catwalk queen kept her golden tresses loose behind her back with a centre parting, showcasing her cleavage. Meanwhile, Jason, 55, looked dapper as ever in a classy suit with a bow-tie. The couple appeared in great spirits as they giggled together and smiled while posing up a storm for the cameras. Earlier this month, the couple did another stylish appearance as they both attended the star-studded Fast X world premiere in Rome, Italy. Stylish: Rosie completed her total black ensemble with matching stiletto heels Shades: The model sported black squared shades that she showed off while posing up a storm on the red carpet Bling bling: The runaway veteran made a bold fashion statement as she rocked a serpent-shape diamond choker Details: Rosie's bold necklace had three layers as the serpent was circling her slender neck Glamorous: Rosie added more bling with matching diamond bracelets on the gloves Dazzling: The jewellery on the gloves perfectly contrasted the darkness of her ensemble and dazzled beneath the spotlights Reference: The Victoria's Secret Angel oozed confidence as she appeared to channel Morticia Addams in a recalling pose with her very similar gown Beauty: The stunner donned a gleaming rose eyeshadow with long eyelashes Gorgeous: She donned pink blush on her cheeks and pouted her lips with a rouge lipstick Glowing: The catwalk queen kept her golden tresses loose behind her back with a centre parting, showcasing her cleavage Rosie wore a semi-sheer panelled gown with a leggy thigh-high slit for the launch of the the tenth film in the Fast & Furious franchise. Stepping out to support Jason, who plays Deckard Shaw in the upcoming film, Rosie linked his arms while posing for photos on the red carpet. Her lingerie inspired dress featured a plunging satin bra with black fabric draped across one shoulder and mesh gloves. She topped her look off with a pair of opaque stockings and boosted her height with a pair of strappy heels. Rosie styled her long blonde hair into a sleek look with a hint of a wave on the ends and carried a small box handbag. Jason looked edgy in a pinstriped black shacket and matching trousers, topped off with a pair of chunky leather boots. He stars in the film alongside leading man Vin Diesel as Dominic Toretto and Michelle Rodriguez as his on screen wife Letty Ortiz. Fast X is set to be the penultimate film in the series and will premiere in Rome on May 13, a US release date is set for May 19. Elegant: Meanwhile, Jason, 55, looked dapper as ever in a classy suit with a bow-tie Loved-up: The couple appeared in great spirits as they giggled together and smiled while posing up a storm for the cameras The movie will also feature previous franchise stars, Ludacris, Nathalie Emmanuel, Sung Kang, and Scott Eastwood. The tenth instalment also introduces newcomers Jason Momoa, Brie Larson, Daniela Melchior, Alan Ritchson, and Rita Moreno. Meadow Walker has revealed that she will be making a cameo in the upcoming to final Fast & Furious, in which her late father, Paul Walker, previously starred. The 24-year-old model shared an image from the soon-to-premiere movie to Instagram that showed her appearing a scene shot inside an airplane. The fashion industry figure went on to express her gratitude towards Fast X's director, Louis Leterrier, for including her in the project. Walker's father previously portrayed Brian O'Conner in the Fast & Furious franchise. The performer tragically passed away at the age of 40 in November of 2013 after he was involved in a single-vehicle crash that occurred in Santa Clarita, California. At the time, the actor was working on the seventh installment in the movie series, Fast 7, which eventually premiered in 2015. The countrys skilled workforce is being sought after by global organisations for high-end work, Deloitte US India said on Sunday while announcing the opening up of three new offices in Pune, Chennai and Kolkata. In the coming year, over 10,000 skilled professionals specialising in various areas such as artificial intelligence, data analytics, cybersecurity, cloud, human capital, assurance, tax, valuations, and mergers and acquisitions will operate from these locations, it said. Deloitte US India said that there are increasing opportunities in business services exports from the country. On this backdrop, the consulting firm has announced the opening of three new delivery offices to serve companies globally. This move is in response to the growing demand for skilled professionals across Deloittes advisory businesses, it said in a statement. It added that the organisation plans to continue to invest in people with a focus on innovative approaches to support learning, digital skills development, and training opportunities. The government has envisaged a new programme to promote research and innovation in pharmaceuticals through centres of excellence The recent health hazards, much exacerbated by the Covid pandemic, have made it essential to have high quality, affordable and accessible health services equitably available for all, irrespective of any boundaries. The pandemic has also brought mental and social health-related issues prominently into the picture. Here, the first Health Working Group meeting under Indias G20 presidency proved very effective in addressing the vulnerabilities and disparities of the systems, besides advocating holistic and universal health and wellbeing. The theme One World, One Health widely resonated with the principle of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam. Health priorities like health emergencies, prevention, preparedness, strengthening cooperation and digital health innovation and solutions, were comprehensively discussed, especially when the situation in low- and middle-income countries is worrisome, owing to restricted and uneven healthcare systems. Here, putting out a dream of a new, healthy and self-reliant health system and a pledge to make available high-quality, affordable and accessible health services to all, augurs a new age in the domain. Moreover, focusing on increasing health services for various health care systems leveraged with evidence, accreditations and the latest medical technologies, and then connecting the globe through medical value travel, are sure to address the disparities in the system. Indias focus on both evidence-based traditional medicine practices and modern systems would be much helpful in achieving Universal Health Coverage. The attributes of Universal Health Coverage also guide the decision-makers in designing a comprehensive and integrative healthcare system. Recognising that the pandemic policy must be a defining part of our health policy, as any health crisis of today leads to a humongous economic crisis of tomorrow in an interconnected world, is now becoming an essential part of the agenda for our preparedness and response together. To meet future health challenges, the budget 2023 has also announced a lot of measures. 157 new nursing colleges are proposed to be established in co-location with the existing 157 medical colleges established since 2014. A mission to eliminate Sickle Cell Anaemia by 2047, will also be launched, which will entail universal screening of seven crore people in the age group of 0-40. For medical research, facilities in select ICMR Labs will be made available for research by public and private medical college faculties and private sector R&D teams for encouraging collaborative research and innovation. A new programme to promote research and innovation in pharmaceuticals has also been planned through centres of excellence. The government also plans to encourage the pharma industry to invest in research and development in specific priority areas. The budget also made the focus of the Centre more pronounced to integrate the Ayush system with the National Health ecosystem. Hence, the total allocation to Ayush Ministry has been increased by 20% to Rs 3647 crores, along with emphasizing promoting evidence-based research in Ayush systems through Ayush research councils. With the G20 health meeting and budget 2023 focusing on broadening health services almost simultaneously, the foundation and framework of a global health architecture, envisaging to equip countries to face the next health emergency with robust health care systems, appears to be coming into existence. (The writer is a Senior Journalist) SPs lacklustre performance in the UP civic polls should ring alarm bells for Akhilesh Yadav; it could be a bad omen for its 2024 campaign The Samajwadi Party's performance in the urban civic polls leading up to the 2024 elections has been ignominious, and its implications for the party's prospects are significant. The lack of success in these polls has led to a growing sense of dejection among party workers. They feel demoralized and disheartened, questioning their party's ability to secure electoral victories. This dejection among the workers can have far-reaching implications for the party's organizational strength and ground-level campaign efforts. According to party workers, the poor performance in the civic polls has been a blow to their morale. They believe that their hard work and efforts have not been rewarded, and they are now questioning their party's strategy and leadership. One party worker, speaking on condition of anonymity, expressed his disappointment, saying, "We have been working tirelessly to promote the party's agenda and secure victory in these polls. However, the results have left us demoralized. We are starting to question whether our efforts are in vain." The shift in the Muslim vote bank has also been a cause for concern for the Samajwadi Party. Traditionally, the party has enjoyed considerable support from the Muslim community. However, in the recent civic polls, a significant portion of the Muslim vote bank has shifted towards the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP). This shift indicates a loss of confidence in the Samajwadi Party's ability to effectively represent the interests of the Muslim community. It could weaken the party's electoral base and hinder its chances of success in future elections. Commenting on the shift in the Muslim vote bank, political analyst Sushil Mishra stated, "The Samajwadi Party has long been seen as a party that champions the cause of Muslims. However, the recent performance in the civic polls suggests that this perception is changing. The Muslim community seems to be seeking alternative options that they believe can better represent their interests." A stark contrast can be drawn between the campaign strategies of the Samajwadi Party and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) during the civic polls. While Yogi Adityanath, the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh and prominent BJP leader, held a series of rallies across the state, energizing the party's supporters and connecting with voters on the ground, Akhilesh Yadav, the leader of the Samajwadi Party, was noticeably absent from active campaigning. Instead, he relied heavily on social media platforms, primarily Twitter, for political posturing. This discrepancy in campaign efforts between the two parties is evident in the stark difference in the number of rallies addressed by their respective leaders. Yogi Adityanath's extensive tour across Uttar Pradesh included 50 rallies, while Akhilesh Yadav only held six. The lack of physical presence and personal interaction with voters could have contributed to the Samajwadi Party's poor performance in the civic polls. Chief Minister Yogi Adityanaths appeal to the masses to vote for the Bharatiya Janata Partys mayoral candidates and elect a BJP board was well-received by the people of Uttar Pradesh, who have ensured that opposition parties were kept out completely from some of the boards while all the 17 mayors were from the party. Political commentator Radhika Sharma highlighted the significance of on-ground campaigning, stating, "Elections are won on the ground, by connecting with voters, understanding their concerns, and addressing them. Akhilesh Yadav's absence from active campaigning might have been a strategic misstep. Voters want to see their leaders actively engaged and accessible, and this absence could have cost the party dearly." The outcome of the urban civic polls paints a grim picture for the Samajwadi Party. The party failed to secure any Mayoral seats, while the BJP emerged victorious in 17 constituencies. The BJP councillors constitute over 50 per cent of the board in 13 of 17 municipal corporations in the state. The party won 80 and 63 councillor seats out of 110 seats in Lucknow and Kanpur respectively. The BJP candidates also bagged 63, 66, 56, and 58 seats out of 100 seats each respectively in Varanasi, Ghaziabad, Prayagraj, and Agra. Besides, the party won 42 and 51 Councillors seats out of 80 seats each in Gorakhpur and Bareilly respectively. The lack of success was particularly evident in Jhansi and the newly created Shahjahanpur Municipal Corporation, where not a single Samajwadi Party councillor was elected. In several seats, independent candidates were preferred over those from the Samajwadi Party, BSP, and Congress Party. These results suggest a loss of faith in the Samajwadi Party and a growing disillusionment with its leadership. Reflecting on the election results, political scientist Dr Neha Kapoor stated, "The Samajwadi Party's performance in the civic polls is a clear indication that the party needs to reevaluate its strategies and reestablish its connection with the voters. The lack of success in key constituencies and the preference for independent candidates highlight the growing disillusionment with the party. There is an urgent need for the party leadership to address these concerns and rebuild the party from the ground up." In light of these circumstances, Akhilesh Yadav faces a challenging future. The dejection among party workers, the shifting Muslim vote bank, and the recent defections of senior leaders to the BJP all contribute to an unfavourable political climate for the Samajwadi Party. To regain its footing and rebuild its support base, the party will need to undertake substantial introspection and strategic reorientation. Political analyst Ramesh Chandra opined, "Akhilesh Yadav needs to introspect and analyze the reasons behind the party's poor performance. He must address the concerns of the party workers and take steps to rebuild their morale. Additionally, he should focus on reconnecting with the Muslim community and regaining their trust. Adopting a more proactive and engaging campaign approach, with a strong emphasis on on-ground campaigning, will be crucial to revive the party's fortunes." Failure to adapt to these challenges could result in further setbacks for the Samajwadi Party in future elections. The party must learn from its mistakes, realign its strategies, and regain the trust and support of its workers and the electorate to secure a better political future. (Writer is political editor with the Pioneer) Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Sunday said he views the current situation in Ukraine as an issue of humanity and human values and not of politics or economy even as he called for respecting international law, sovereignty and territorial integrity of all nations. In an address at a G7 session in Hiroshima, Modi also strongly pitched for raising voice collectively against unilateral attempts to change the status quo, asserting that any tension and dispute should be resolved peacefully through dialogue. Modi said all countries must respect the UN Charter, international law and the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all nations and called for raising voice together against unilateral attempts to change the status quo. The Prime Ministers comments came against the backdrop of the lingering border row with China in eastern Ladakh and Russias invasion of Ukraine. Modi also referred to his talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Saturday and reiterated that India will do whatever is possible to resolve the conflict. Modis comments came after Zelenskyy addressed the G7 leaders seeking global support for Ukraines efforts to defend itself against Russian aggression. The war in Ukraine has been the overwhelming focus of the summit. Modi said in todays inter-connected world crises in one region affect all countries and noted that developing countries with limited resources are grappling with the profound impact of a food, fuel and fertiliser crisis. Underlining this factor in the backdrop of the ongoing Ukraine conflict which has adversely impacted the global supply chains, Modi also said India believes dialogue and diplomacy is the only way to deal with the Ukraine conflict. Modi had made a similar commitment on Saturday at his first in-person meeting with Zelenskyy, who updated the Indian leader on his 10-point peace formula and sought New Delhis cooperation in demining operations and medicine. On Sunday, Zelenskyy sat between Modi and South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol at the session with the theme Toward a peaceful, stable and prosperous world. Besides leaders of the worlds seven largest economies, the session was attended by the heads of eight guest countries, including India, Indonesia and Australia. We heard President Zelenskyy today. I also met him yesterday. I do not consider the current situation as an issue of politics or economy. I believe this is a matter of humanity, a matter of human values, Modi said, speaking in Hindi. From the very beginning, we have maintained that dialogue and diplomacy is the only way. And we will make every possible effort to contribute, in whatever way India can, for resolving this situation, he said. In todays inter-connected world, crises in any one region affect all the countries. The developing countries, which have limited resources, are the worst affected. In the current global situation, these countries are facing the maximum and most profound impact of the food, fuel and fertiliser crisis, Modi said. All countries must respect the UN Charter, international law, and sovereignty and territorial integrity of all states, he said adding Raise your voice together against unilateral attempts to change the status quo. India has always been of the opinion that any tension, any dispute should be resolved through peaceful means, through dialogue. The Prime Minister said And if there is a solution from the law, then it should be accepted, pointing out it was in this spirit that India resolved its land and maritime boundary disputes with Bangladesh. He was critical of the United Nations failure to prevent conflicts in the current era and to tackle terrorism, saying Institutions created in the last century are not in line with the system of the 21st century.He said, It raises the question as to why we are facing the need to discuss matters of peace and stability in distinct forums. The UN, which was established with the very purpose of establishing peace, why does it often fail to prevent conflicts today? Why has even the definition of terrorism not been accepted in the UN as yet? Modi questioned. Global bodies do not reflect the realities of the current era, and this is why reforms should be given concrete shape in institutions such as the UN. It will also have to become the voice of the Global South. Otherwise, we will just keep talking about ending the conflict. The UN and the Security Council will become just a talk shop, he said. Modi concluded by citing Lord Buddha, saying he had provided the solution centuries ago to the war, unrest and instability facing the world today. Enmity does not calm enmity. Enmity is pacified by affinity, Modi quoted from the Buddhas teachings and said everyone should move forward together in this spirit. New Delhi has all along maintained that a solution to the conflict must be found at the negotiating table and called for respecting sovereignty and territorial integrity of all states. India has also repeatedly highlighted the fallout of the conflict on developing countries, especially in the context of food and fuel security. At a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Uzbekistan last September, Modi nudged him to end the hostilities by saying this was not an era of war. In a message about the outreach session posted on his Telegram channel, Zelenskyy said Ukraine has proposed its peace formula to the world and will not sit at the negotiating table with Russia as long as Russian invaders remain on our land. The coloniser must get out. And the world has enough power to force Russia to restore peace step by step, he said. Zelenskyy added: We have developed the peace formula in a way that ensures each of its points is backed by UN resolutions. And in a way that everyone in the world can choose the track they can contribute to. From Japan to the Arab countries, from Europe to Latin America, we find support for our formula. In a separate video message posted on the Telegram channel, Zelenskyy said he had a serious talk with Modi at their meeting on Saturday. I gave an update on the progress of our peace formula. We have already passed many stages of presenting the formula to the leaders and countries from different parts of the world...And we will do everything so that the involvement of the world in our peace initiative is the fullest possible, he said. Zelenskyy said he believes that India will participate in the restoration of the rules-based international order that all free nations clearly need. Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Sunday came in support of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and said that Centres ordinance on services in the national Capital was an insult to judiciary. The Delhi ordinance is an insult to the judiciary. This is the result of negative politics of BJP and also of democratic-injustice, Yadav said in a tweet in Hindi. BJP knows that it will be defeated in all the seats of Delhi in the Lok Sabha elections, that is why it is already taking revenge from the public. Amid a bitter tussle with the Narendra Modi Government over the control of administrative services, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) convener and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal is working on a strategy to defeat the ordinance in the Rajya Sabha. As Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Sunday extended complete support to him in the AAP Governments ongoing tussle with the Centre over the control of administrative services, Kejriwal will now meet Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee on May 23 in Kolkata; Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray on May 24 and NCP supremo Sharad Pawar on May 25 to seek their support in Rajya Sabha. After that, I will meet every partys president to seek their formal support for defeating the Bill when it comes in Rajya Sabha, Kejriwal said. The AAP convener also urged Bihar Chief Minister to mobilise other leaders and parties in this regard to support them in the Upper House. An ordinance has to be ratified by Parliament within six months for which, the Centre will have to bring a Bill for its passage in both Houses of Parliament. Sundays meeting was the second between Kumar and Kejriwal in over a month. Kejriwal said if the Bill is defeated in Rajya Sabha, it will send out the message that the BJP will lose the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. It will be the semi-final of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, the AAP national convenor told reporters. Earlier on Sunday, Kumar who was accompanied by Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav, and party leaders Manoj Jha, Lalan Singh and Sanjay Jha, met his counterpart Kejriwal at his residence on Flag Staff road in the morning emphasising his commitment to strengthening Opposition unity for the forthcoming 2024 Lok Sabha elections. At the meeting, Kumar claimed that the ordinance is "against the Constitution" and declared his complete support, for the AAP leader on the ordinance issue which gives control of services back to Delhi Lieutenant-Governor. After the meeting, Kumar said the Delhi ordinance move by the Centre was very surprising. He criticised the Centre for promulgating the ordinance after the Supreme Courts verdict in the matter. "How can you take away an elected Government's power," the Janata Dal (United) leader asked. "Look at the Constitution and see what is right. Whatever he (Kejriwal) is saying is right. We are completely with him. We stand with Kejriwal. We are trying to bring together all Opposition parties in the country," he said. Kumar said Kejriwal is doing good work in Delhi and it's surprising that his Government is being stopped from doing its work. "That's why we are saying that all (Opposition parties) in the country should come together," he said. The Bihar Chief Minister assured that he will make efforts to bring Opposition parties together in support of Kejriwal. Extending his party's support to Kejriwal, Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav alleged the Centre is "continuously troubling and harassing" non-BJP Governments in different States. "We have come here to extend our support to Kejriwal. The BJP Government is doing injustice to him," he said. Yadav said the way the Centre is harassing the Kejriwal dispensation in Delhi and Governments of other parties in different States is not justified at all. Sunday's meeting was the second between Kumar and Kejriwal in over a month. Kumar had earlier met Kejriwal here on April 12 as part of his efforts to bring all Opposition parties together ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. With Kejriwal's relations with the Congress far from smooth, Kumar has the task of building some kind of a working relationship between the two as he also sees the grand old party as critical to any Opposition unity bid. Kejriwal was among the few non-BJP Chief Ministers who were not invited by the Congress to the swearing-in ceremony of its new Government in Karnataka on Saturday, an event which was seen as a show of strength by Opposition parties. Kumar, on the other hand, had attended the event. The Centre promulgated the ordinance on Friday to create a National Capital Civil Service Authority for transfer of IAS and DANICS cadre officers and disciplinary proceedings against them. This came a week after the Supreme Court handed over the control of services, excluding those related to police, public order and land, to the elected Government in Delhi. Chhattisgarh Governor Biswabhusan Harichandan said any communication can be successful and effective when it is done in people's language or dialect. He was addressing the virtual launch of the All India Radio (AIR) news bulletin in Gondi on Sunday from Raj Bhawan. He said Chhattisgarh has varied diversity. Radio can be an effective medium as it can reach the dense forest and remotest areas. He appreciated the efforts of Akashvani for coming up with programmes in local languages and dialects. Prasar Bharati Chief Executive Officer Gaurav Dwivedi said Akashvani and Doordarshan have been making efforts to reach out to the people through their languages. He threw light on expansion plans for across the country. The weekly news bulletin in Gondi dialect will be broadcast on medium-wave at 756 KHz from Akashvani Kendra, Jagdalpur, every Sunday at 6.30 pm. It can be heard in all the seven districts of Bastar division, an official communication said. Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has said that our government had resolved to take the elders of the state on pilgrimage by flight. Today is the day for a resolution to be fulfilled and a dream to come true. He said that man, along with material progress, wants spiritual peace. India is a religion dominated country, pilgrimage in the path of devotion has been considered an effective way to see God. Pilgrimage by air has been started with the aim that our elders can attain spiritual peace by going on pilgrimage in less time conveniently. At present, one member from a family can go on pilgrimage by plane under the Mukhyamantri Teerth Darshan Yojana. From the next visit, arrangements will be made for more than one member from a family to go on pilgrimage, so that elders will be able to get the virtue of pilgrimage along with their spouse. Mukhyamantri Teerth Darshan Yojana by rail and plane will continue. Chouhan was talking to the pilgrims on the launch of the journey by plane under the Mukhyamantri Teerth Darshan Yojana from Raja Bhoj airport. The Chief Minister inaugurated the Teerth Yatra scheme by lighting a lamp. Madhya Pradesh is the first state in the country to provide air travel to poor elderly pilgrims. 32 elderly pilgrims, including 24 male and 8 female pilgrims, participated in the first pilgrimage to Prayagraj by plane. The Chief Minister welcomed the elderly pilgrims by presenting them with shawls and flowers and garlanding them. He gave a replica of the boarding pass to the pilgrim Krishna Choubey symbolically. Chief Minister Chouhan sought blessings from the elders. Chief Minister Chouhan also got a group photo taken with the elderly pilgrims while the pilgrims entered the airport amidst beating of drums. The Chief Minister flagged off a regular Indigo flight carrying the elderly on pilgrimage to Prayagraj from the airport. Overwhelmed elderly people going to Prayagraj by plane blessed Chief Minister Chouhan. Chouhan said that our elders are leaving for pilgrimage today by plane. It is believed that one becomes pure simply by taking the name of Ram from our mouth, heart becomes pure by Brahma Gyan, feet by going on pilgrimage and hands by doing charity. Pilgrimage has great importance in Indian culture. The three paths of attaining Bhagwat have been described as Bhakti Marg, Gyan Marg and Karma Marg respectively. Immersion in the devotion of God is the path of devotion, pilgrimage gives this feeling. The elders of the state are being sent by plane on a pilgrimage to Prayagraj, the confluence of Ganga-Yamuna-Saraswati rivers, to give them a sense of spiritual peace and joy. Pilgrimage for the elderly by plane is an attempt to realize PM Modis vision that those wearing slippers will also be able to travel by air. Chouhan said that the Prime Minister Narendra Modi had said that our government has made such arrangements that even those wearing slippers will be able to travel by air. Making arrangements for pilgrimage by plane under the Mukhyamantri Teerth-Darshan Yojana is an attempt to make Prime Minister Modis vision come true. These yatras will continue on a regular basis. He told that so far 7 lakh 82 thousand elderly people have gone on pilgrimage by rail under the scheme. The sequence of pilgrimages by plane will continue. Along with Prayagraj, such yatras will continue to be organized to Shirdi, Mathura-Vrindavan, Gangasagar by plane. Along with this, the works of development and welfare will continue to improve the lives of the people of the state. Culture Minister Usha Thakur, Public Health and Family Welfare Minister Prabhuram Chowdhary, Medical Education Minister Vishwas Sarang, Ex-Protem Speaker and MLA Rameshwar Sharma, MLA Vishnu Khatri, Krishna Gaur, Bhopal Mayor Malti Rai and other representatives and officers were present. A massive anti-encroachment campaign was conducted by authorities in several districts of the Kumaon region on the weekend regarding encroachment on government lands. The authorities along with the Nainital forest division demolished a Mazar that was spread over 0.012 hectares of land as per the officials. Besides this, the team also demolished a Mazar encroaching 0.0006 hectares of land in the Bhawali area of the district. The team also demolished a Bhumiya Devi temple and a Mazar in the Kaladhungi area of Ramnagar encroaching 0.0002 hectares of land, as per the officials. They said that authorities also sent notices to the operator of some Mazar owners as part of the ongoing proceedings. The officials also informed that a team from Survey of India is presently working on survey demarcation in Kosi considering which, the authorities issued notices to six lease holders to either renew the lease or vacate the land as per the rules. The authorities have also issued a notice to the caretaker of a Mazar in Kosi Azmat Ullah to vacate it soon. A pipeline meant to supply water to the Hanuman temple built on forest land in the Fatehpur area of the district was also demolished by the authorities, said the officials. Over 300 houses were also demolished in Lalkuan. Besides this, 10 Mazars in the Ramnagar area and one Mazar in the Corbett area were also demolished on the weekend, as per the officials. In Udham Singh Nagar district, there are 2,627 illegal encroachments in 2973.14 hectares of land in a total of 116 clusters on government land as identified by the administration. Out of these, the authorities removed a total of 590 encroachments from 38.5 hectares of land in 31 clusters. In Champawat district, the authorities have removed 34 out of a total of 53 encroachments on government land in the Pati area while 15 out of 17 encroachments were demolished in the Tanakpur area at the weekend. Also, 51 out of 76 encroachments were removed from Lohaghat and Barakot areas, as per the officials. The authorities also removed encroachments in the Almora district near Kosi National Highway and imposed penalties on the offenders. The local administration also took action against noise pollution and removed loudspeakers from 33 religious places including 69 in Udham Singh Nagar, four in Bageshwar, and three in Almora districts. The Bharatiya Janata Party has finalised its plan for the Maha Sampark campaign being undertaken to mark nine years of the Central government under Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Responsibilities have been handed over to party leaders and office bearers for handling different aspects of this campaign. As per the schedule released on the directions of the BJP State president Mahendra Bhatt, the chief minister and partys State president will hold a Press conference on May 29 in addition to holding a meet with social media influencers. These two programmes will be organised at the Lok Sabha level from June 1 to 5. The partys State media in-charge Manveer Singh Chauhan, Chandan Bisht, State co media in-charge and spokesman Vinod Suyal have been made responsible for organising these programmes.Other office bearers have been deputed to convene the meeting with social media influencers. A programme will be held in a major city in every Lok Sabha constituency. From June 1 to 20, the party will hold large public gatherings at the Lok Sabha level for which the partys State general secretary Aditya Kothari has been made the convenor. During this period, the party will contact 75 special persons/families in each Vidhan Sabha constituency for which the partys State general secretary Rajendra Bisht has been made the convenor. Conferences of senior party workers will also be held at the Vidhan Sabha constituency level from June 5 to 10. Conferences with members of the business fraternity will be held at the Lok Sabha level from June 6 to 10. From June 10 to 12, the BJP will organise Vikas Tirth programmes at the Lok Sabha level as part of which tiffin meets will be held at the biggest sites of development works facilitated by the Centre in the Lok Sabha constituency. The media persons will also be invited to these gatherings. At the Vidhan Sabha level, beneficiary meetings will be held from June 15 to 20 while the Yoga day programme will be held on June 21. Exhibitions on the achievements of the Central government during the past nine years will be held at every programme venue. Cashless treatment facilities will now be available to all CGHS beneficiaries (serving and pensioners) at 6 AIIMS located at Bhopal, Bhubaneswar, Patna, Jodhpur, Raipur and Rishikesh. CGHS Pensioners and other entitled categories of CGHS beneficiaries will be eligible for cashless treatment in OPD, investigations and Indoor treatment at these 6 AIIMS Cashless treatments to CGHS beneficiaries. This significant decision was taken yesterday, as Memorandum of Agreement were signed between these six AIIMS and CGHS, Union Health Ministry in the presence of Rajesh Bhushan, Union Health Secretary. From AIIMS Bhopal, Deputy Director Col. Dr. Ajit Kumar was present on this occasion in this meeting. The session was attended by Additional Secretary V. Hekali Zhimomi, Joint Secretary Smt Ankita Mishra, Joint Secretary Dr. Manashvi Kumar, Director, CGHS, Dr. Jain among senior government officials. Executive Directors of AIIMS Bhubaneshwar, AIIMS Patna, AIIMS Raipur, AIIMS Jodhpur and Deputy Director Col. Dr. Ajit Kumar AIIMS Bhopal and representatives from AIIMS Rishikesh were present at the MOA signing event. Presently CGHS is in operation in 79 cities in the Country. Patient care facilities available at 6 fully functional AIIMS at Bhopal, Bhubaneswar, Patna, Jodhpur, Raipur and Rishikesh shall be extended to the CGHS beneficiaries on cashless basis. It will be particularly beneficial for the senior citizens (retired pensioner beneficiaries of CGHS) who find it difficult to submit individual reimbursement claims and follow up approvals. The CGHS beneficiaries will have the advantage of accessing state of art treatment facilities available in these AIIMS, without the hassle of first making payments and then seeking reimbursements from CGHS. This initiative will save time, reduce paperwork and also delays in settlement of individual claims. Till now, CGHS pensioner beneficiaries, availing treatment at AIIMS, are required to first make payment and claim reimbursement later from CGHS. Continuing its operation against cattle smugglers in the Haridwar district, one more cattle smuggler got injured in an encounter between the police and smugglers in the wee hours of Sunday. The officials informed that the police received information about some cattle smugglers hiding at Kasampuri in the Pathri area of the district and reached the spot. After the smugglers found themselves to be surrounded by the police, they allegedly opened fire on them. During this, a smuggler was shot in the leg in the retaliatory firing by police who was later admitted to the nearest government hospital for treatment, said the officials. According to them, the police are carrying out the combing operation in the area in search of other miscreants who might be potentially hiding in the area. The senior superintendent of police of Haridwar Ajai Singh also reached the spot along with other senior officials and inquire about the incident and gave necessary guidelines to the police team investigating the matter. He also went to the hospital to inquire about the injured accused Jabbar whose health is now stable, as per the officials. They said that they have also allegedly found a pistol, live cartridges and some equipment. The officials said that the police have been conducting searches at higher level across the district to nab the absconding miscreants. This is the third such encounter between the Haridwar police and cattle smugglers this month. Last week, a policeman also got injured when bullets were exchanged in an encounter between cattle smugglers and the police. The officials said that an intensive checking campaign is being carried out across the district to take action against such smugglers as per the directions of SSP and they will soon nab these miscreants who fired at the police. Recently while addressing the Press on the Centres ordinance on National Capital Civil Services Authority, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal made a veiled attack on Prime Minister Modi as lacking education to understand the Supreme Court judgment on powers of the elected government of Delhi and therefore to have brought this new law. The Delhi CMs attempt to insult the PM over his educational qualifications is not new. This started when the Central Information Commissioners direction to make public the details about Modis educational degrees was set aside by the Gujarat High Court and Kejriwal was fined. As the events unfolded thus, Kejriwal embarked upon his campaign calling Modi illiterate less educated, which is neither correct according to the higher virtues in public life and politics nor the Constitutional morality, which the Delhi CM and his party often boasts of adhering to. The campaign is not only elitist in approach but ill-informed and suffers from improper understanding of social realities. Ours is a country where we are still working towards spread of literacy and where inequalities of all sorts are deeply embedded in society like inequalities of caste, class and gender; and equal access to education is yet a distant dream even though it has improved a lot in recent years. If we keep educational qualification as a benchmark for electing our representatives, it would be highly exclusionary and make a mockery of our democracy. The idea of democracy essentially means including the rule of the people, by the people and for the people and it is not a rule of, by and for the elites or experts. There is no denying that we should welcome educated and skilled men and women into politics but not in exclusion of the less privileged ones. And the highly-educated people, who include Kejriwal with degrees from IITs, IIMs, etc., shouldnt get blind with academic accomplishments so as not to understand enough the social realities of the country. It is indeed ironic and a paradox that the Aam Aadmi Party, which has made the aam aadmi the focus of its political agenda and has governments in the national capital and Punjab and has national ambition, propagates a notion of representative democracy which belittles the worth and dignity of the illiterate and less-educated citizens. Such an attack on Modi by Kejriwal and his party has not only exposed there desperation to blemish the PM and the BJP but also has unravelled the AAPs incompetence to highlight any meaningful issue of relevance to take on the PM. This also somewhere indicates that with two prominent leaders and former ministers in jail, especially, Manish Sisodia, considered as Kejriwals second-in-command, the AAP has evidently given up the restraint it had observed for a long time now in terms of directly targeting the PM. Evidently, for quite some time now, the AAP had restrained itself from attacking Modi because any attack on him works to the BJPs advantage because of his popularity. Now by again training its guns against Modi, it seems the AAP despite its successes feels cornered and sidelined. It is really ridiculous that by doing this, maybe the AAP has recalibrated its position although erroneously that this will catalyse its ambitions and it will be magnified to look bigger than it is electorally and that it will be a boon in the run-up to the 2024 elections. But such ambition-driven lack of restrain wont make it appear a credible alternative in national politics. On the contrary, calling the PM illiterate and hence not competent to govern shows the contempt the AAP has for our social realities and the aam aadmi for whom it proclaims to be born. Such a scurrilous campaign against the PM is nothing but an attempt to laugh at many who were not privileged enough to have access to education. Again, this is a loud paradox because the AAP is a party that has publicly campaigned for quality education and claims to be working on the ground on issue of education, especially with regard to the government schools in Delhi. (The writer is an Addl. Central Government Standing Counsel, CAT, Cuttack Bench, Consulting Editor-Legal Affairs and Public Policy, The Pioneer, Bhubaneswar and a Distinguished Adjunct Professor of Law and Media Studies, School of Mass Communication, KIIT University. Views are personal) Mathura police claimed to have achieved a big success after a criminal carrying a reward of Rs 1.25 lakh was arrested following an encounter. Senior Superintendent of Police Shailesh Kumar Pandey said on Sunday that the criminal, Rohtas Gurjar, was hospitalised as he received a bullet injury on his foot during the encounter. Acting on a tip-off, the police nabbed the criminal at around 4 am at Pelkhu Curve on Raal road after a brief exchange of fire on Saturday night. The SSP said that in 2021, a police personnel was injured in Barsana after Gurjar opened fire on a police team. The Uttar Pradesh Police had declared a reward of Rs 1 lakh on Gurjar in 2022 as he was wanted in over two dozen cases of loot, murder, extortion and theft and was booked under the Gangsters Act. Gurjar, a resident of Rohtas Gujjar under the Jait police station of Mathura, was also an active member of an inter-state robbery gang and was evading arrest since 2021. The Rajasthan Police had also announced a cash reward of Rs 25,000 on him. A pistol of .32 bore and 11 cartridges of .32 bore (four hollow and seven live) and a stolen motorcycle were recovered from him, officials said. The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has set up a committee to resolve the issue of sewage and toxic gas release from south Delhis Kushak drain. The NGT was hearing a petition alleging violation of environmental norms in maintaining the Kushak stormwater drain near houses in B block of Greater Kailash-I. The 6.5-kilometre-long Kushak drain carries stormwater and sewage from several south Delhi localities and meets the Barapullah drain near Nizamuddin West before flowing into the Yamuna river. A bench of NGT Chairperson Justice A K Goel said the grievance needs to be remedied but the covering of a drain can be allowed only if a proper separate pipeline to carry sewage is provided and only rainwater is carried into the drain, which is not the case here. The applicants themselves have mentioned that covering the drain has resulted in the accumulation of poisonous gases (that are being) released from uncovered parts of the drain behind certain houses. Thus, it may not be proper to permit the covering of the drain in these circumstances..., said the bench, also comprising judicial member Justice Sudhir Agarwal and expert member A Senthil Vel. Channelising/treating and using sewage scientifically as per norms is the responsibility of statutory authorities like the Municipal Corporation and the Delhi Jal Board to effectuate the right of citizens to a clean environment, the bench said. It said the solution was to prevent the flow of sewage into the drain and its periodic cleaning, including desilting and ensuring that water does not stagnate. RCEP boosts durian's popularity in Chinese market Xinhua) 15:29, May 22, 2023 NANNING, May 22 (Xinhua) -- In the early hours of the morning, the vibrant Haijixing Market, hailed as the largest wholesale fruit market in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, thrived with an animated atmosphere as people flocked in droves. Cold-chain container trucks loaded with fresh durians made regular stops at the bustling durian stalls, with eager buyers arriving early to secure the finest fruits available. Thai durians, typically imported in large quantities, flood the Chinese market from April onwards, ushering in a peak season that spans from May to August. In Nanning, the capital of Guangxi, a subsidiary of Charoen Pokphand Group organized a series of exhibitions that captivated visitors with a range of alluring events. One of the highlights was the unveiling and on-site sale of fresh Thai golden pillow durians known for their exquisite sweetness and soft texture, which attracted numerous buyers. "During the event, we sold an average of over 100 durians daily. The company plans to host a 'Durian Festival' and other activities to promote sales further," said Liang Shuting, who works with the company. She added that the company has meticulously optimized its durian supply chain management and stringent product standards have been implemented to ensure the taste of durians. Since 2019, durian has become the most imported fruit in the country. In 2022, China imported 825,000 tonnes of durian, of which 780,000 tonnes came from Thailand, according to customs data. Guan Caixia, who has been running a Thai durian business for two decades, has witnessed the durian trade growth in China. Few people bought or sold durian in the market in 2003, she recalled, adding that in recent years, the number of durian merchants as well as durian sales soared. Data from the Haijixing Market shows that there are currently 32 durian wholesalers in the market. Last year, 24,000 tonnes of durian were sold in the wholesale channel. As of May 5 this year, 17,000 tonnes of durian have been sold, which marked a fourfold increase over the same period last year. "Durians from eastern Thailand have emerged as the top-selling fruit and they boast exceptional flavor. Our daily procurement of durians typically amounts to approximately five to six containers, with peak demand driving us to acquire as many as 10 containers during those busy periods," said Mo Jiaming, general manager of Youxianyuan agricultural technology company in Guangxi. Mo's company is a major Chinese importer of Southeast Asian fruits and has formed the ASEAN fruit supply chain of durian, coconut and longan over the years. His company supplies durian to Walmart and Pagoda in Nanning and Hema Fresh, Alibaba's fresh-food chain, in south China. The company's durian imports have increased nearly tenfold in the past five years. "We plan to import about 15,000-20,000 tonnes of fresh durians this year, and even 25,000 tonnes if the product quality is stable," Mo said. According to He Yan, deputy general manager of Sam's Club in Nanning, durians are very popular here and fresh durians are often sold out in half a day. Since the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) came into effect, regional economic and trade cooperation has significantly intensified. An increasing number of agricultural products from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) have gained entry into the Chinese market. In July 2022, fresh Vietnamese durian was officially allowed to enter the Chinese market. In January 2023, the General Administration of Customs began to allow the import of fresh durians from the Philippines. Currently, Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam and the Philippines are the main suppliers of durian to China. In recent years, a cross-border logistics system has been developed and intra-regional trade facilitation has been enhanced by the construction of the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor in western China, the opening of the China-Laos Railway and the implementation of RCEP. In the city of Chongzuo, situated on the China-Vietnam border in Guangxi, a steady flow of cross-border vans laden with ASEAN fruits permeates the Chinese market on a daily basis. Meanwhile, at the bustling Qinzhou Port, a pivotal hub along the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor, foreign trade vessels carrying an assortment of fruits, including durians and mangosteens, arrive frequently, delivering cargo from ASEAN countries to inland regions via efficient rail-sea intermodal transport. "As the pandemic has gradually eased and customs clearance has been continuously improved, the pace of durian delivery to the Chinese market has accelerated," said Guan Caixia. "During the epidemic period, it took up to two weeks to transport durians from Thailand to the Chinese market by land. Now, it can be delivered in five to six days," Guan added. (Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Liang Jun) The BJP on Sunday took a swipe at Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar following his meeting with his Delhi counterpart Arvind Kejriwal, saying he should pay attention to his state which is being pushed into anarchy instead of daydreaming about becoming the Prime Minister. The BJP further alleged that Kejriwal is seeking support of the leaders he once branded corrupt, to cover up the corruption of his own government. Six Delhi BJP MPs Meenakshi Lekhi, Harsh Vardhan, Manoj Tiwari, Ramesh Bidhuri, Pravesh Sahib Singh and Hansraj Hans addressed a joint Press conference here where they mounted a scathing attack on Kejriwal who met Nitish and his deputy Tejashwi Yadav earlier on the day. Union Minister and New Delhi MP Meenakshi Lekhi said the administrative and legal status of Delhi makes Delhi a Union Territory, but Kejriwal is not ready to accept it due to his dictatorial attitude. The Centre has the right to bring necessary ordinance and that is the reason why the centre has brought it. But Kejriwal is disputing it because he fears exposure of his corruption, she alleged. There was a time when Arvind Kejriwal used to carry a list of the names of political leaders and considered them as symbols of corruption. But today he is ready to hug Nitish Kumar and Tejashwi Yadav, Tiwari said. Kejriwals priority is not to eliminate corruption, but to defeat Prime Minister Narendra Modi, said the BJP MP from Northeast Delhi. He is ready to stoop to any level to save his empire of corruption. Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel said on Sunday that former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhis dream was being fulfilled by transferring funds to farmers' accounts under various schemes. Baghel was addressing an event held at Sankara in Durg District to mark the martyrdom day of Rajiv Gandhi. He said strengthening of Panchayati Raj and computer revolution were important contributions of the former prime minister. Rajiv Gandhi emphasized that the country's economy will not be strong until the farmer is strong. We worked to make this idea a reality. Even during the difficult times of corona, we transferred money to the farmers' accounts, an official communication quoted him saying. The Chief Minister performed Bhoomi Pujan of various buildings of the Mahatma Gandhi Horticulture and Forestry University in Sankra of Durg district to be constructed for Rs 120 crore. He also dedicated the various development works of Rs 443 crores. An amount of Rs 2,028 crore has been transferred to the accounts of farmers and labourers under various schemes. The first instalment of the Rajiv Gandhi Kisan Nyay Yojana has been sent to more than 24 lakh farmers. Baghel highlighted the schemes and programmes implemented by state government to provide relief to the common man. In a significant breakthrough, the security forces successfully thwarted a major attack planned by the Maoists, as they recovered three cane bomb planted by the extremist group with the intent to harm police personnel. The discovery has once again shed light on the relentless efforts of security forces to combat insurgency and maintain public safety. Acting on a credible tip-off, a team of police personnel, launched an operation to neutralize the threat posed by the Naxalites. The meticulous search and combing operation was conducted in the remote and heavily forested region of West Singhbhum known to be a stronghold of the CPI-Maoist faction. This incident is of the forest near Tenda village under the Karaikela police station area of Bandgaon block of West Singhbhum district. After recovering the bomb, the police destroyed it in the forest itself. The bombs weighted 5 kgs each. After hours of intensive search efforts, the police team discovered a concealed cane bomb strategically planted near a critical road junction. The improvised explosive device (IED) was designed to cause significant damage and casualties. According to bomb disposal experts, the device was equipped with a sophisticated triggering mechanism, indicating the Naxalites' intention to inflict maximum harm on law enforcement personnel. A police official said: "The recovery of this cane bomb is a testament to our unwavering commitment to protect the lives of our brave police officers and ensure the safety of our citizens. The CPI-Maoist Naxalites have long been engaged in acts of violence and subversion, but we will not be deterred." The seized cane bomb has been safely defused by the bomb disposal squad, averting a potentially catastrophic incident. Forensic teams have been deployed to gather evidence from the scene to aid in the ongoing investigation and determine the exact composition and origin of the explosive device. According to the information received, the West Singhbhum district police had received a tip-off that Naxalites had planted three bombs to harm the police between Indrava and Tenda villages under Karaikela police station. The information was important, so on Sunday morning CRPF 60 Battalion and Karaikela police station conducted a search operation. Three cane bombs were planted by Naxalites between Indrava and Tendra villages under the Karaikela police station. In the search operation, police and soldiers of the CRPF 60 battalion recovered the bomb and destroyed it in the forest itself. The CPI-Maoist, considered a banned extremist outfit, has been responsible for numerous acts of violence across various regions of the country. Their activities primarily target law enforcement agencies and government establishments, aiming to destabilize the democratic fabric. In response to the recent recovery, security has been heightened in the surrounding areas, with additional police personnel deployed to ensure the safety of the local population. Intelligence agencies are intensifying efforts to gather information on the Naxalite network and identify the individuals involved in this nefarious plot. The recovery of the cane bomb serves as a stark reminder of the persistent threat posed by extremist groups and the need for continuous vigilance. The bravery and dedication exhibited by the police force in this operation reinforce their commitment to safeguarding the well-being of the public. SP Ashutosh Shekhar of West Singhbhum district said that the bomb was planted by the Naxalites, however, in time, the police destroyed it in the forest itself. On an official visit from Bhubaneswar to Angul on Sunday when Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan was passing through Athagarh town, workers of Athagarh BJP who are divided lots for a couple of months now welcomed him in two parallel groups. The original group congregated under the leadership of Brajendra Ray, who was the partys local MLA candidate last time, at the party office while one Abhaya Barik who was a BJD worker earlier and joined the BJP two months ago gathered over a hundred of his followers to showcase his strength before the Union Minister. Earlier when another Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai had visited Athagarh on an official visit, he also witnessed a similar disturbed welcome programme by party workers. Pradhan expressed his deep anguish over the issue and warned Abhaya not to work in a parallel organisation and rather to advise his followers to work in a disciplined manner so that the BJP would grow in Athagarh and the adjoining constituencies. He said he would not tolerate any division in the Athagarh BJP and instructed Abhaya to join the original group and work together in future. Project Power officially kickstarted from Indore Region on Saturday. The project Power was inaugurated by our Executive Director - Nitesh Ranjan. Zonal Head Biraja Parsad Das, Dy Zonal Head Ved Parkash Arora, Regional Head of Indore Region Ajit Kumar Lalwani, Regional Head of Bhopal Central Region Javed Jafriand both regionsDy Regional Heads also attended the event. All branch Heads of aspirational district of Indore and Bhopal were present along with MCB Head, MLP Head, CRC Head, RLP Head and Business Relationship Managers during the event. The event started with welcome address by Fields General Manager Biraja Prasad Das. He briefed about the Macro Shift in economy in term of Gold Loan Business &Women Entrepreneurs and how union bank is placed at right spot to achieve the desired business goal in the state of MP. He also touches upon the two aspirations Bank has taken during last year and achieved both aims. Executive Director Nitesh Ranjan officially unveiled Project Power and brief about the Project through detailed PPT over the subject. He thoroughly elaborated the concept of the Project Power along with expectations from the field as well as Business Relationship Manager. He also briefs about the aspirations taken by the Bank during Current Year which are as under Rs 21.5 Trillion Global Business, 3rd largest PSB (in Global Operating Profit). Further, Regional Heads of respective regions deliberated strategy and potential available in their allotted aspirational districts starting from Indore and ends up with Bhopal. Thereafter, BRM introduces their self along with the roles and responsibilities assigned to them. Three Branch Heads from both regions have also briefed about their Business figures along with SWOT analysis of their branch potential and there strategies to achieve the current FY commitment figures. Three branches from each region had also been felicitated based on their performance undervarious business campaigns launched by central office. The meeting ended with vote of Thanks by Dy Zonal Head Ved Parkash Arora. Uttar Pradesh has surpassed Maharashtra in sugar production in the current season even as 118 sugar mills operated in UP during the period compared to 210 mills that were operational in the western state. UPs Cane Development and Sugar Mills Minister Laxmi Narayan Chaudhary said here on Sunday that UP was ahead of Maharashtra as far as production of sugar was concerned along with a number of other factors. Elaborating further, Chaudhary said, The total sugar produced by Uttar Pradesh in sugar season 2022-2023 is 107.29 lakh ton (which includes 3.05 lakh ton of Khandsari (physically extracted sugar from liquid jaggery), as compared to 105.30 lakh ton by Maharashtra. The area under cane cultivation in Uttar Pradesh is 28.53 lakh hectare (highest in India) as compared to 14.87 lakh hectare in Maharashtra. The sugarcane crushing season runs from October to June. The sugarcane production in UP has been 2,348 lakh ton, while in Maharashtra it has been 1,413 lakh ton, Chaudhary said. He added that total cane crushed by sugar mills in UP in the 2022-2023 season was 1,084.57 lakh ton, whereas it was 1,053 lakh ton in Maharashtra. The UP minister also said that 19.84 lakh ton of sugarcane was diverted to ethanol in Uttar Pradesh, while in Maharashtra, it was 15.70 lakh ton. Pointing towards the total number of sugar mills in both the states, the UP minister said that as compared to 246 sugar mills in Maharashtra, there were 157 sugar mills in UP. As many as 210 sugar mills operated in Maharashtra as compared to 118 in Uttar Pradesh, he said. He added that in the 2022-23 season, a payment of Rs 28,494.32 crore had been made to the farmers, and there were about 80 sugar mills which had made 100 per cent payment within a week of closure. Under Chief Minister Yogi Adityanathji, in the last six years, the sugar mills have made a payment of Rs 2,11,700 crore to the farmers. In the tenure of the previous governments, 12 sugar mills were sold, while 18 sugar mills were shut down. After coming to power, we have opened new mills and increased the capacity of some mills, Chaudhary said. Sharpening his attack on the previous governments, Chaudhary said, The payment made to cane farmers during the Bahujan Samaj Party regime (from 2007 to 2012) was Rs 93,000 crore, while in the Samajwadi Party government (from 2012 to 2017), it was about Rs 95,215 crore. The cane development minister said that the UP farmers earnings from all other crops were almost equal to the amount they get in their bank account by selling just sugarcane. He also said that instructions had been issued to the sugar mills to remain operational till June 15. Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has said that many schemes are being implemented for the welfare of sisters. The role of Ladli Bahna Sena will be made active for better implementation of schemes and monitoring of works. Ladli Bahna Senas will be formed in every village. 21 members will be included in large villages and 11 members in small villages. Chief Minister Chouhan said that the aim of my life is to change the lives of the citizens. Welfare schemes for women, youths and different sections of the society are being implemented rapidly in different areas in the state. By August 15, the work of recruitment on one lakh government posts will be completed. The recruitment process will go on continuously. Chief Minister Chouhan was addressing the Ladli Bahna Mahasammelan at Gandhwani in Dhar district today. The sisters received Chief Minister Chouhan and Union Minister of Commerce and Industry Goyal along with Union Minister of State for Textiles Smt. Darshana Vikram Zardosh on their arrival at the Mahasammelan. They were traditionally welcomed by the tribal community by presenting bows and arrows. The guests were presented clothes of famous Bagh print of Dhar district. The Chief Minister dedicated development works worth Rs. 229 crore 66 lakh and performed Bhoomi Pujan of development works worth Rs. 187 crore 76 lakh. Chief Minister Chouhan said that several steps have been taken to empower women. While various properties are being registered in the name of women, many innovative schemes are being run for the welfare of the sisters. With the launch of Ladli Bahna Yojana, the work of women empowerment become easier in the state. With the amount received from the scheme, women will not have to depend on other people for small expenses. The Chief Minister said that in the year 2017, a scheme was started to provide Rs. 1000 monthly to the special backward tribes Baiga, Saharia and Bharia. With this amount, women can do the work of buying fruits, milk, vegetables etc. at home. The Ladli Bahna Yojana is also an extension of this idea. In this, it was decided to provide 12 thousand rupees per year to all the sisters except those belonging to special backward tribes. The Chief Minister said that from June 10, women will start getting the benefits of Ladli Bahna Yojana. The previous government stopped the Sambal Yojana and assistance for the marriage of girls was also stopped, which was restarted. CM Rise schools will be useful in the interest of the weaker sections. There should be provision of schools for the poor students in the villages. Similarly, initiative has also been taken to teach medical and engineering in Hindi. Chief Minister Chouhan also informed about providing assistance to the youths through the Sikho Aur Kamao Yojana. With the commencement of PM Mitra Park in Dhar district, employment will be easily available to women in the area. Chief Minister Chouhan said that a few decades back there was despondency visible in the villages on the birth of a girl child. But now there is a change. Sisters and daughters deserve respect in Madhya Pradesh. Chouhan expected public co-operation in the implementation of the schemes. He also mentioned the important steps taken by Prime Minister Modi for public welfare, schemes and programmes started for women empowerment from Ladli Laxmi Yojna to Ladli Bahna Yojna. He said that Ladli Bahna Yojana is not just a scheme, it is a social revolution. The Union Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare (MoA&FW) is celebrating World Bee Day at Raja Bhoj Agriculture College, Warasivni, Balaghat, Madhya Pradesh today. The World Bee Day celebration would be graced by the Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Narendra Singh Tomar in the august presence of Agriculture Minister, Govt. of Madhya Pradesh and Chairman, OBC Welfare Commission, Govt. of Madhya Pradesh. As many as 1000 farmers/beekeepers/processors/entrepreneurs and all stakeholders associated with honey production are expected to attend the programme. During the World Bee Day celebration, an Exhibition with over 100 stalls will be set up by Beekeepers, processors and different stake holders of beekeeping sector to showcase the diverse varieties of honey bee and different products in beekeeping sector. Technical sessions comprise of Production, Research, Partnership with Industries, Market Strategy for Domestic & Export and Marketing Challenges and Solutions (Domestic/ Global) & Discussion will also be organised to upgrade the scientific knowledge of beekeeping among the farmers/beekeepers. Keeping the importance of beekeeping in mind, a lot of efforts have been /are being made by the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Government of India, which also includes a centrally funded scheme National Beekeeping and Honey Mission (NBHM) which has been launched under the Atmanirbhar Bharat scheme. It has been started for the overall promotion and development of scientific beekeeping and to achieve the goal of Sweet Revolution.The NBHM is implemented through the National Bee Board for overall promotion of scientific beekeeping & entrepreneurship among small & marginal farmers, infrastructure development for postharvest management and support for research & development. Diversified agro-climatic conditions of India provide great potential for beekeeping/honey production. The scientific technology being adopted for increasing production and testing of honey by maintaining quality standards for national and international markets and promoting the production of other beehive products viz.; bee pollen, bees wax, royal jelly, propolis& bee venom. This has facilitated the beekeepers to increase their income and address to the greater demand of honey and beehive products both in the domestic and international markets. Bees are renowned for their role in providing high-quality food and other products used in healthcare and other sectors but the work of bees entails much more. Effective pollination increases the yield of agricultural produce and improves their quality. Beekeeping in India is thus an important agri-business activity that not only promises good returns to the farmers but also helps increase agricultural productivity leading to food and nutritional security of the country. Actor Parineeti Chopra on Monday said she found her "the one" in fiance-politician Raghav Chadha soon after they shared a meal over breakfast. Chopra and Chadha, an Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MP, got engaged on May 13 in a private ceremony attended by family members and political leaders in New Delhi. Rumours of the couple's wedding started doing the rounds in March after they were spotted together in Mumbai. In a Twitter thread, Chopra shared details about their relationship. "When you know, you know. One breakfast together and I knew - I had met the one. The most wonderful man whose quiet strength would be calming, peaceful and inspiring. His support, humour, wit and friendship are pure joy. He is my home," the "Sandeep Aur Pinky Faraar" actor wrote. She also shared a series of never-seen-before pictures from their engagement party, describing the event as "living a dream". "... A dream unfurling beautifully amidst love, laughter, emotion and loads of dancing! As we hugged those we loved dearest and celebrated with them, emotions overflowed. "As a little girl in awe of princess stories, I had imagined how my fairytale would begin. Now that it has, it is even better than I had imagined," Chopra added in the post. On the work front, the actor will next be seen in Imtiaz Ali's "Chamkila". An Indian-origin Singaporean climber has gone missing while returning from the summit of Mount Everest, his family has said and called for urgent attention to his situation. Shrinivas Sainis Dattatraya, 39, went missing on Friday from camp IV situated at an altitude of 8,400 metres while returning from the Summit, said Mingma Sherpa, chairperson of the Seven Summit Trek, which organised the expedition. Search operations were being carried out with the help of Sherpa guides, but there was no information regarding his whereabouts till Sunday afternoon, Expedition Manager Chhang Dawa Sherpa told PTI. We have also asked other climbers who have returned from the Summit but there was no clue about him, he said, adding that the search is going on to locate the missing climber. According to a petition on the website change.org, Shrinivas set out from Singapore to Nepal last month to climb the worlds highest peak. His cousin Divya Bharath wrote in the petition that on the way down, Shrinivas seemed to have suffered frostbite and altitude sickness. This probably might have resulted in Shrinivas getting separated from the rest of his group, and fell at around 8,000 metres, likely onto the Tibetan side of the mountain. A Singaporean news channel on Saturday cited Bharath as saying that a team of sherpas began search operations for Shrinivas on Saturday morning. He was reportedly last in contact with base camp officials at around 8,500 metres. In the petition, Bharath wrote that the family has reached out to the governments concerned. This matter needs to be brought to their attention on an urgent basis. We need a special rescue team that is trained to operate in such risky terrain as well as to ensure that this whole rescue operation is not hindered by diplomatic paperwork, Channel News Asia quoted Bharath as saying. She added that Shrinivas family was devastated but did not want to lose hope. Shrinivas, 39, who is an executive director at real estate firm Jones Lang LaSalle, left for Mount Everest on April 1. He was due to return home on June 4. According to a report by The Straits Times newspaper, Shrinivas last sent a text message to his wife on Friday saying that he has reached the summit of Everest but was not likely to make it back down. Brushing aside the concerns of human rights groups, Pakistan Army chief General Asim Munir has said that authorities have initiated a legal process of trial under stringent military laws against those involved in recent attacks on military installations following the arrest of former prime minister Imran Khan. Gen Munir made the disclosure on Saturday during his visit to the Punjab province capital Lahore, the worst hit city by the violent protests. According to a late-night statement by the Army, Gen Munir chief addressed the garrison officers and soldiers at the Corps Headquarters. He said that the legal process of trial against planners, instigators, abettors and perpetrators involved in the May 9 tragedy has commenced under the Pakistan Army Act and the Official Secret Act as per existing and established legal procedures derived from the Constitution of Pakistan. On May 9, violent protests erupted after the arrest of Khan by paramilitary Rangers from the premises of the Islamabad High Court. His party workers vandalised a dozen military installations, including the Jinnah House (Lahore Corps Commander house), Mianwali airbase and the ISI building in Faisalabad. The Army headquarters (GHQ) in Rawalpindi was also attacked by the mob for the first time. Police put the death toll in violent clashes to 10 while Khans party claims 40 of its workers lost their lives in the firing by security personnel. Thousands of Khans supporters were arrested following the violence that the powerful Army described as a dark day in the history of the country. Meanwhile, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif said on Sunday that no new military courts were being established for trial of attackers on military installations. Addressing the media in his home town of Sialkot, Asif said that such courts had been functional for the last 75 years. No new military courts are being established. Law is already present at this time. Courts are present and they have been working for the past 75 years continuously, he said. He also rejected the impression that the government was trying to snatch away the basic rights of people and said that cases would be pursued against individuals whose footage, faces and identity is present that they are attacking military installations. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Protalix BioTherapeutics (NYSEAMERICAN:PLX Get Rating) in a report released on Thursday. The brokerage issued a hold rating on the stock. Protalix BioTherapeutics Trading Down 4.7 % Shares of Protalix BioTherapeutics stock opened at $2.04 on Thursday. Protalix BioTherapeutics has a 1 year low of $1.00 and a 1 year high of $3.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 28.04, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.76. The company has a market capitalization of $133.46 million, a P/E ratio of -6.80 and a beta of 1.44. The companys fifty day moving average is $1.97 and its two-hundred day moving average is $1.48. Get Protalix BioTherapeutics alerts: Protalix BioTherapeutics (NYSEAMERICAN:PLX Get Rating) last issued its earnings results on Monday, February 27th. The company reported ($0.07) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.15) by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $8.62 million during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $6.12 million. Analysts forecast that Protalix BioTherapeutics will post 0.16 earnings per share for the current year. Institutional Trading of Protalix BioTherapeutics Protalix BioTherapeutics Company Profile Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Lido Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Protalix BioTherapeutics during the first quarter worth about $33,000. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Protalix BioTherapeutics during the first quarter worth about $34,000. Two Sigma Securities LLC purchased a new stake in Protalix BioTherapeutics during the first quarter worth about $44,000. Virtu Financial LLC boosted its holdings in Protalix BioTherapeutics by 89.6% during the second quarter. Virtu Financial LLC now owns 28,816 shares of the companys stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 13,617 shares in the last quarter. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd purchased a new stake in Protalix BioTherapeutics during the first quarter worth about $72,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 7.12% of the companys stock. (Get Rating) Protalix Biotherapeutics, Inc is a biopharmaceutical company, which engages in the development, production, and commercialization of recombinant therapeutic proteins based on plant cell based expression system. Its products include Alidornase alfa, PRX-115 and PRX-11. The company was by Yoseph Shaaltiel in 1993 and is headquartered in Carmiel, Israel. See Also Receive News & Ratings for Protalix BioTherapeutics Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Protalix BioTherapeutics and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Shoker Investment Counsel Inc. acquired a new stake in iShares MSCI Sweden ETF (NYSEARCA:EWD Get Rating) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 48,265 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $1,560,000. Shoker Investment Counsel Inc. owned about 0.57% of iShares MSCI Sweden ETF at the end of the most recent reporting period. A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in EWD. BlackRock Inc. raised its position in iShares MSCI Sweden ETF by 1,400.4% in the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 2,030,420 shares of the companys stock valued at $78,882,000 after purchasing an additional 1,895,095 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC boosted its position in iShares MSCI Sweden ETF by 2,046.0% during the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 400,000 shares of the companys stock worth $12,180,000 after buying an additional 381,361 shares during the period. Citadel Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in iShares MSCI Sweden ETF during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,910,000. Flow Traders U.S. LLC increased its position in iShares MSCI Sweden ETF by 44.4% in the 3rd quarter. Flow Traders U.S. LLC now owns 300,358 shares of the companys stock valued at $8,185,000 after acquiring an additional 92,363 shares during the period. Finally, CX Institutional increased its position in iShares MSCI Sweden ETF by 83.0% in the 3rd quarter. CX Institutional now owns 185,295 shares of the companys stock valued at $5,049,000 after acquiring an additional 84,021 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 48.31% of the companys stock. Get iShares MSCI Sweden ETF alerts: iShares MSCI Sweden ETF Stock Down 0.5 % NYSEARCA:EWD traded down $0.19 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $36.10. 33,574 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 320,788. iShares MSCI Sweden ETF has a one year low of $26.01 and a one year high of $37.58. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $35.55 and a 200 day simple moving average of $34.61. About iShares MSCI Sweden ETF Ishares Featured Stories Want to see what other hedge funds are holding EWD? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for iShares MSCI Sweden ETF (NYSEARCA:EWD Get Rating). Receive News & Ratings for iShares MSCI Sweden ETF Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for iShares MSCI Sweden ETF and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of American Equity Investment Life (NYSE:AEL Get Rating) in a research note released on Thursday morning. The firm issued a hold rating on the financial services providers stock. A number of other research firms also recently commented on AEL. Raymond James cut their price objective on shares of American Equity Investment Life from $48.00 to $47.00 and set a strong-buy rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 14th. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of American Equity Investment Life from $39.00 to $44.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 10th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of American Equity Investment Life from $48.00 to $43.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 12th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an outperform rating and issued a $50.00 price objective on shares of American Equity Investment Life in a report on Thursday, April 13th. Finally, Piper Jaffray Companies downgraded shares of American Equity Investment Life from an overweight rating to a neutral rating and increased their price objective for the company from $45.00 to $48.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 21st. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two 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 a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $44.90. Get American Equity Investment Life alerts: American Equity Investment Life Stock Down 1.0 % AEL opened at $38.75 on Thursday. American Equity Investment Life has a twelve month low of $28.05 and a twelve month high of $48.37. The company has a quick ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 0.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $37.03 and a 200 day moving average price of $40.81. The company has a market cap of $3.02 billion, a PE ratio of 8.06 and a beta of 0.88. Insider Activity American Equity Investment Life ( NYSE:AEL Get Rating ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 9th. The financial services provider reported $1.47 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.15 by $0.32. American Equity Investment Life had a net margin of 25.84% and a return on equity of 12.84%. The firm had revenue of $662.50 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $626.02 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.92 EPS. The companys revenue for the quarter was up 348.2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that American Equity Investment Life will post 5.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year. In related news, Director Alan David Matula acquired 7,100 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 22nd. The stock was purchased at an average price of $35.50 per share, with a total value of $252,050.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 39,942 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $1,417,941. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 1.59% of the companys stock. Hedge Funds Weigh In On American Equity Investment Life Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Coppell Advisory Solutions Corp. purchased a new position in shares of American Equity Investment Life during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Lansing Street Advisors purchased a new position in shares of American Equity Investment Life during the 1st quarter worth approximately $39,000. IFP Advisors Inc boosted its position in shares of American Equity Investment Life by 103.6% during the 3rd quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 786 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the period. Gladius Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in American Equity Investment Life during the 4th quarter worth approximately $43,000. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in American Equity Investment Life by 49.9% during the 3rd quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 1,208 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 402 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.03% of the companys stock. American Equity Investment Life Company Profile (Get Rating) American Equity Investment Life Holding Co engages in the development and sale of fixed index and fixed rate annuity products. It focuses on the following portfolios: commercial mortgage loans, agricultural mortgage loans, and residential mortgage loans. The company was founded by David J. Noble on December 15, 1995 and is headquartered in West Des Moines, IA. Featured Stories Receive News & Ratings for American Equity Investment Life Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for American Equity Investment Life and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Argent Trust Co lifted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT Get Rating) by 0.8% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 133,429 shares of the healthcare product makers stock after purchasing an additional 1,052 shares during the quarter. Abbott Laboratories accounts for about 1.0% of Argent Trust Cos portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest position. Argent Trust Cos holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $14,649,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC. Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 83.1% in the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 4,925,012 shares of the healthcare product makers stock valued at $582,924,000 after purchasing an additional 2,235,314 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 1.3% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 154,563,421 shares of the healthcare product makers stock valued at $14,955,557,000 after purchasing an additional 2,011,683 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 99.8% in the first quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 3,140,866 shares of the healthcare product makers stock valued at $371,753,000 after purchasing an additional 1,568,700 shares during the period. Putnam Investments LLC increased its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 30.0% in the third quarter. Putnam Investments LLC now owns 4,466,075 shares of the healthcare product makers stock valued at $432,137,000 after purchasing an additional 1,031,013 shares during the period. Finally, Two Sigma Investments LP increased its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 126.1% in the third quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 1,656,522 shares of the healthcare product makers stock valued at $160,285,000 after purchasing an additional 923,720 shares during the period. 72.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds. Get Abbott Laboratories alerts: Insider Buying and Selling In related news, SVP Randel William Woodgrift sold 1,032 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.70, for a total value of $103,922.40. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 52,203 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,256,842.10. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Abbott Laboratories news, Director Daniel J. Starks sold 50,000 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.02, for a total value of $5,551,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 6,825,316 shares in the company, valued at $757,746,582.32. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Randel William Woodgrift sold 1,032 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.70, for a total transaction of $103,922.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 52,203 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,256,842.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 60,197 shares of company stock worth $6,659,607 in the last 90 days. 1.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders. Abbott Laboratories Price Performance Shares of NYSE ABT traded up $0.01 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $108.94. 1,107,787 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,050,485. Abbott Laboratories has a 52 week low of $93.25 and a 52 week high of $118.23. The company has a quick ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $189.44 billion, a PE ratio of 33.18, a PEG ratio of 4.88 and a beta of 0.67. The companys 50 day moving average price is $105.10 and its 200 day moving average price is $106.30. Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 19th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $0.98 by $0.05. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 13.98% and a return on equity of 22.36%. The company had revenue of $9.75 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.64 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.73 EPS. The firms revenue was down 18.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year. Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades A number of brokerages have commented on ABT. Mizuho upped their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 24th. SVB Leerink upped their price target 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. Bank of America cut their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $125.00 to $115.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $118.00 to $122.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Thursday, April 20th. Finally, StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Thursday. They set a buy rating on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Abbott Laboratories has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $122.37. About Abbott Laboratories (Get Rating) Abbott Laboratories engages in the discovery, development, manufacture, and sale of a broad and diversified line of health care products. It operates through the following business segments: Established Pharmaceutical Products, Diagnostic Products, Nutritional Products, and Medical Devices. The Established Pharmaceutical Products segment refers to the international sales of a line of branded generic pharmaceutical products. Featured Articles Want to see what other hedge funds are holding ABT? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT Get Rating). Receive News & Ratings for Abbott Laboratories Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Abbott Laboratories and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Associated Banc Corp cut its position in Chevron Co. (NYSE:CVX Get Rating) by 0.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 160,744 shares of the oil and gas companys stock after selling 322 shares during the quarter. Chevron accounts for 1.2% of Associated Banc Corps portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest position. Associated Banc Corps holdings in Chevron were worth $28,852,000 at the end of the most recent quarter. Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cantor Fitzgerald Investment Advisor L.P raised its holdings in shares of Chevron by 85.1% during the first quarter. Cantor Fitzgerald Investment Advisor L.P now owns 159,115 shares of the oil and gas companys stock worth $25,908,000 after purchasing an additional 73,141 shares during the period. Axiom Financial Strategies LLC boosted its position in shares of Chevron by 25.2% during the 1st quarter. Axiom Financial Strategies LLC now owns 7,335 shares of the oil and gas companys stock valued at $1,155,000 after purchasing an additional 1,476 shares in the last quarter. GQG Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Chevron by 4.7% during the 1st quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 40,538 shares of the oil and gas companys stock valued at $6,598,000 after purchasing an additional 1,813 shares in the last quarter. Lumature Wealth Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Chevron by 43.5% during the 1st quarter. Lumature Wealth Partners LLC now owns 5,837 shares of the oil and gas companys stock valued at $950,000 after purchasing an additional 1,770 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Chevron by 13.8% during the 1st quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 2,068,600 shares of the oil and gas companys stock valued at $336,830,000 after purchasing an additional 250,840 shares in the last quarter. 69.37% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds. Get Chevron alerts: Analyst Ratings Changes A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Cowen reduced their price objective on shares of Chevron from $185.00 to $170.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 24th. Mizuho decreased their price target on shares of Chevron from $206.00 to $196.00 in a report on Friday. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Chevron from $195.00 to $192.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 27th. Raymond James reduced their target price on shares of Chevron from $212.00 to $208.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 14th. Finally, Truist Financial reduced their target price on shares of Chevron from $193.00 to $190.00 in a research note on Monday, May 1st. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a 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 $193.65. Chevron Stock Down 0.8 % NYSE CVX traded down $1.27 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $153.96. 5,780,109 shares of the companys stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,130,478. The companys 50-day moving average is $162.36 and its two-hundred day moving average is $170.27. Chevron Co. has a one year low of $132.54 and a one year high of $189.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a current ratio of 1.43. The company has a market capitalization of $291.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 1.16. Chevron (NYSE:CVX Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 28th. The oil and gas company reported $3.55 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $3.41 by $0.14. Chevron had a return on equity of 23.15% and a net margin of 14.74%. The firm had revenue of $50.79 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $49.49 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.36 EPS. The businesss revenue was down 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Chevron Co. will post 14.16 EPS for the current fiscal year. Chevron announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, January 25th that authorizes the company to repurchase $75.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the oil and gas company to reacquire up to 21.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the companys management believes its stock is undervalued. Chevron Dividend Announcement The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 19th will be given a dividend of $1.51 per share. This represents a $6.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.92%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 18th. Chevrons dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 32.61%. Chevron Profile (Get Rating) Chevron Corp. engages in the provision of administrative, financial management, and technology support for energy and chemical operations. It operates through the Upstream and Downstream segments. The Upstream segment consists of the exploration, development, and production of crude oil and natural gas, the liquefaction, transportation, and regasification associated with liquefied natural gas, the transporting of crude oil by major international oil export pipelines, the processing, transporting, storage, and marketing of natural gas, and a gas-to-liquids plant. Featured Stories Want to see what other hedge funds are holding CVX? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Chevron Co. (NYSE:CVX Get Rating). Receive News & Ratings for Chevron Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Chevron and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Cunning Capital Partners LP acquired a new position in McKesson Co. (NYSE:MCK Get Rating) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 4,030 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $1,512,000. Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its stake in McKesson by 53.8% during the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 915,949 shares of the companys stock worth $280,399,000 after purchasing an additional 320,588 shares in the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its holdings in shares of McKesson by 7,667.1% during the third quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 230,062 shares of the companys stock worth $78,191,000 after purchasing an additional 227,100 shares during the last quarter. First Republic Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of McKesson by 134.4% in the third quarter. First Republic Investment Management Inc. now owns 297,009 shares of the companys stock valued at $100,944,000 after acquiring an additional 170,299 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its position in McKesson by 39.5% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 559,516 shares of the companys stock worth $209,886,000 after purchasing an additional 158,309 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec increased its stake in McKesson by 242.4% in the third quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 223,037 shares of the companys stock valued at $75,804,000 after purchasing an additional 157,895 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.23% of the companys stock. Get McKesson alerts: Insider Buying and Selling In other news, CEO Brian S. Tyler sold 18,542 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $386.04, for a total transaction of $7,157,953.68. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 75,737 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,237,511.48. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.21% of the companys stock. Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades McKesson Stock Performance Several analysts have commented on the company. Mizuho upped their price objective on McKesson from $376.00 to $390.00 in a research note on Tuesday, May 9th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of McKesson from $415.00 to $420.00 in a research note on Tuesday, May 9th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on McKesson from $420.00 to $426.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Thursday, February 2nd. Citigroup initiated coverage on McKesson in a research report on Friday, March 31st. They set a buy rating and a $420.00 target price on the stock. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price target on McKesson from $450.00 to $440.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the companys stock. According to MarketBeat.com, McKesson currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $430.17. McKesson stock traded down $3.08 during trading on Monday, hitting $394.59. The companys stock had a trading volume of 261,672 shares, compared to its average volume of 985,826. The stocks fifty day moving average is $363.25 and its 200 day moving average is $368.75. McKesson Co. has a 1-year low of $298.69 and a 1-year high of $401.78. The stock has a market capitalization of $53.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.84, a P/E/G ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.58. McKesson (NYSE:MCK Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 8th. The company reported $7.19 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $7.16 by $0.03. McKesson had a net margin of 1.29% and a negative return on equity of 234.22%. The company had revenue of $68.91 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $67.94 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $5.83 EPS. The companys quarterly revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that McKesson Co. will post 26.61 EPS for the current fiscal year. McKesson Announces Dividend The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 3rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.54 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 31st. This represents a $2.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.55%. McKessons payout ratio is 8.60%. McKesson Profile (Get Rating) McKesson Corp. engages in the provision of supply chain management solutions, retail pharmacy, community oncology and specialty care, and healthcare information technology. It operates through the following segments: U.S. Pharmaceutical, International, Medical-Surgical Solutions, and Prescription Technology Solutions (RxTS). Featured Articles Want to see what other hedge funds are holding MCK? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for McKesson Co. (NYSE:MCK Get Rating). Receive News & Ratings for McKesson Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for McKesson and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT Get Rating) by 0.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,805,224 shares of the retailers stock after acquiring an additional 11,723 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. owned approximately 0.18% of Walmart worth $681,333,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Fiduciary Alliance LLC bought a new position in shares of Walmart in the 4th quarter worth about $443,000. Spotlight Asset Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Walmart in the 3rd quarter valued at about $536,000. Merit Financial Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Walmart by 77.9% in the 4th quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 20,181 shares of the retailers stock valued at $2,862,000 after buying an additional 8,840 shares during the period. PFS Investments Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Walmart in the 3rd quarter valued at about $355,000. Finally, Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky acquired a new stake in shares of Walmart in the 3rd quarter valued at about $17,529,000. 31.27% of the stock is owned by institutional investors. Get Walmart alerts: Insider Transactions at Walmart In other news, EVP John R. Furner sold 4,375 shares of the companys stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.00, for a total value of $660,625.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 286,617 shares of the companys stock, valued at $43,279,167. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, EVP Rachel L. Brand sold 9,334 shares of the companys stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.83, for a total value of $1,323,841.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 155,723 shares in the company, valued at $22,086,193.09. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP John R. Furner sold 4,375 shares of the companys stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.00, for a total transaction of $660,625.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 286,617 shares of the companys stock, valued at $43,279,167. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 21,044,002 shares of company stock valued at $2,981,168,308. 47.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders. Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth Walmart Stock Performance Several analysts have recently commented on WMT shares. Bank of America raised their target price on Walmart from $165.00 to $175.00 in a research note on Friday. Evercore ISI upgraded Walmart from an in-line rating to an outperform rating and raised their target price for the company from $145.00 to $160.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 30th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Walmart from $160.00 to $164.00 in a research note on Friday. Truist Financial lifted their price target on Walmart from $160.00 to $166.00 in a research note on Friday. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Walmart from $161.00 to $160.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 22nd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Walmart presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $166.13. WMT stock traded down $1.26 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $148.65. 1,879,434 shares of the companys stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,168,297. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $147.97 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $145.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.21 and a current ratio of 0.82. Walmart Inc. has a 52 week low of $117.90 and a 52 week high of $154.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $400.96 billion, a PE ratio of 36.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.48. Walmart (NYSE:WMT Get Rating) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 18th. The retailer reported $1.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $1.32 by $0.15. Walmart had a net margin of 1.82% and a return on equity of 21.30%. The business had revenue of $152.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $147.91 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.30 EPS. The businesss revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Walmart Inc. will post 6.2 EPS for the current year. Walmart Dividend Announcement The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, January 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 8th will be issued a $0.57 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 7th. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.53%. Walmarts payout ratio is currently 54.81%. Walmart Profile (Get Rating) Walmart, Inc engages in retail and wholesale business. The company offers an assortment of merchandise and services at everyday low prices. It operates through the following business segments: Walmart U.S., Walmart International, and Sams Club. The Walmart U.S. segment operates as a merchandiser of consumer products, operating under the Walmart, Wal-Mart, and Walmart Neighborhood Market brands, as well as walmart.com and other eCommerce brands. Featured Stories Receive News & Ratings for Walmart Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Walmart and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Heritage Trust Co cut its position in Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (NYSE:ADM Get Rating) by 0.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 36,982 shares of the companys stock after selling 262 shares during the period. Heritage Trust Cos holdings in Archer-Daniels-Midland were worth $3,434,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period. Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland by 29.4% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 6,524,033 shares of the companys stock worth $524,856,000 after buying an additional 1,483,115 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland by 1,328.8% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 902,850 shares of the companys stock worth $83,468,000 after purchasing an additional 839,659 shares during the period. Edmp Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland by 8,814.6% in the 4th quarter. Edmp Inc. now owns 560,907 shares of the companys stock worth $6,041,000 after purchasing an additional 554,615 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 62,966,053 shares of the companys stock worth $5,065,619,000 after purchasing an additional 522,009 shares during the period. Finally, Prudential Financial Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland by 38.7% in the 3rd quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 1,555,762 shares of the companys stock worth $125,162,000 after purchasing an additional 434,131 shares during the period. 78.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds. Get Archer-Daniels-Midland alerts: Archer-Daniels-Midland Trading Up 0.3 % NYSE ADM traded up $0.21 during trading on Monday, hitting $73.44. 1,573,443 shares of the companys stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,102,523. The firm has a market cap of $40.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.19, a PEG ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 1.51 and a quick ratio of 0.86. Archer-Daniels-Midland Company has a 12-month low of $70.02 and a 12-month high of $98.28. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $77.68 and a two-hundred day moving average of $84.55. Archer-Daniels-Midland Announces Dividend Archer-Daniels-Midland ( NYSE:ADM Get Rating ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 25th. The company reported $2.09 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $1.71 by $0.38. The business had revenue of $24.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $24.09 billion. Archer-Daniels-Midland had a net margin of 4.36% and a return on equity of 18.39%. The businesss revenue was up 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.90 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Archer-Daniels-Midland Company will post 6.83 EPS for the current year. The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 7th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 17th will be issued a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 16th. Archer-Daniels-Midlands dividend payout ratio is currently 22.58%. Wall Street Analyst Weigh In A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland from $87.00 to $85.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 12th. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland in a report on Thursday, April 13th. They set an outperform rating and a $100.00 target price on the stock. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland in a report on Thursday. They set a hold rating on the stock. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland from $105.00 to $99.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 26th. Finally, Robert W. Baird reduced their price target on shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland from $98.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 26th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $100.78. Archer-Daniels-Midland Profile (Get Rating) Archer-Daniels-Midland Co engages in the production of oilseeds, corn, wheat, cocoa, and other agricultural commodities. It operates through the following segments: Ag Services and Oilseeds, Carbohydrate Solutions, Nutrition, and Other. The Ag Services and Oilseeds segment includes activities related to the origination, merchandising, transportation, and storage of agricultural raw materials, and the crushing and further processing of oilseeds such as soybeans and soft seeds cottonseed, sunflower seed, canola, rapeseed, and flaxseed into vegetable oils and protein meals. Read More Receive News & Ratings for Archer-Daniels-Midland Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Archer-Daniels-Midland and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of KB Financial Group (NYSE:KB Get Rating) in a research report sent to investors on Thursday morning. The brokerage issued a buy rating on the banks stock. Separately, Bank of America reduced their target price on KB Financial Group from $55.38 to $46.15 in a report on Wednesday, March 1st. Get KB Financial Group alerts: KB Financial Group Trading Up 1.4 % Shares of KB stock traded up $0.51 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $37.80. 123,381 shares of the companys stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 229,576. The stock has a market cap of $15.25 billion, a PE ratio of 4.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.43 and a beta of 0.94. The stocks 50 day simple moving average is $36.71 and its 200 day simple moving average is $39.22. The company has a quick ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 1.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.43. KB Financial Group has a 12 month low of $30.14 and a 12 month high of $49.17. Institutional Inflows and Outflows KB Financial Group ( NYSE:KB Get Rating ) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, March 2nd. The bank reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. KB Financial Group had a return on equity of 11.56% and a net margin of 15.59%. The business had revenue of $3.43 billion during the quarter. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that KB Financial Group will post 9.23 EPS for the current year. Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Atlas Capital Advisors LLC increased its holdings in KB Financial Group by 20.0% in the first quarter. Atlas Capital Advisors LLC now owns 6,168 shares of the banks stock worth $225,000 after purchasing an additional 1,026 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of KB Financial Group by 2.0% during the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 104,011 shares of the banks stock worth $3,788,000 after buying an additional 2,033 shares during the period. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of KB Financial Group in the 1st quarter valued at $572,000. Advisor Partners II LLC lifted its position in shares of KB Financial Group by 16.7% during the 1st quarter. Advisor Partners II LLC now owns 24,412 shares of the banks stock valued at $889,000 after acquiring an additional 3,493 shares during the period. Finally, AXA S.A. lifted its position in shares of KB Financial Group by 46.6% during the 1st quarter. AXA S.A. now owns 21,307 shares of the banks stock valued at $776,000 after acquiring an additional 6,769 shares during the period. 5.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors. KB Financial Group Company Profile (Get Rating) KB Financial Group, Inc engages in providing financial services through its subsidiaries. It operates through the following segments: Corporate Banking, Retail Banking, Other Banking Services, Credit Card, Life Insurance, Investment and Securities business. The Corporate Banking business segment provides services such as loans, overdrafts, deposits, credit facilities and other foreign currency activities. Featured Articles Receive News & Ratings for KB Financial Group Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for KB Financial Group and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Quaker Chemical (NYSE:KWR Get Rating) in a research report released on Thursday morning. The brokerage issued a hold rating on the specialty chemicals companys stock. Several other research firms have also weighed in on KWR. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on Quaker Chemical from $220.00 to $235.00 in a report on Monday, May 8th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Quaker Chemical from $203.00 to $227.00 in a research note on Monday, May 8th. Get Quaker Chemical alerts: Quaker Chemical Trading Down 0.6 % Shares of KWR traded down $1.31 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $207.73. The companys stock had a trading volume of 18,252 shares, compared to its average volume of 87,765. The business has a fifty day moving average of $192.85 and a 200 day moving average of $188.90. Quaker Chemical has a 1 year low of $129.06 and a 1 year high of $216.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 2.79 and a quick ratio of 1.99. Quaker Chemical Announces Dividend Quaker Chemical ( NYSE:KWR Get Rating ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.35 by $0.54. Quaker Chemical had a positive return on equity of 8.74% and a negative net margin of 0.32%. The business had revenue of $500.15 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $485.29 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.42 earnings per share. Quaker Chemicals quarterly revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Quaker Chemical will post 7.48 EPS for the current fiscal year. The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 31st. Investors of record on Monday, July 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.435 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 14th. This represents a $1.74 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.84%. Quaker Chemicals dividend payout ratio is -483.33%. Insider Activity In other news, Director Michael F. Barry sold 14,000 shares of the companys stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $202.45, for a total value of $2,834,300.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 76,126 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,411,708.70. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Quaker Chemical news, Director Michael F. Barry sold 14,000 shares of the companys stock in a transaction on Friday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $202.45, for a total transaction of $2,834,300.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 76,126 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $15,411,708.70. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO David Will sold 138 shares of the companys stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $205.41, for a total transaction of $28,346.58. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 1,723 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $353,921.43. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 24,408 shares of company stock worth $4,970,360. Company insiders own 1.30% of the companys stock. Institutional Trading of Quaker Chemical A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Morgan Stanley boosted its stake in shares of Quaker Chemical by 299.6% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 482,199 shares of the specialty chemicals companys stock worth $80,479,000 after buying an additional 361,525 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Quaker Chemical in the 4th quarter valued at about $19,832,000. BlackRock Inc. lifted its stake in Quaker Chemical by 5.7% in the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 2,152,418 shares of the specialty chemicals companys stock valued at $371,960,000 after purchasing an additional 115,746 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in Quaker Chemical by 7.4% in the 2nd quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,359,780 shares of the specialty chemicals companys stock valued at $203,314,000 after purchasing an additional 93,539 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Eaton Vance Management lifted its stake in Quaker Chemical by 28.9% in the 1st quarter. Eaton Vance Management now owns 280,748 shares of the specialty chemicals companys stock valued at $48,516,000 after purchasing an additional 62,896 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.91% of the companys stock. Quaker Chemical Company Profile (Get Rating) Quaker Houghton engages in the business of developing, producing, and marketing formulated chemical specialty products. It operates through the following geographical segments: Americas, Europe, Middle East and Africa, Asia Pacific, and Global Specialty Businesses. Its products include can making lubricants, cleaners, coatings, cold rolling oils, corrosion preventives, die casting lubricants, dust suppressants, greases, ground control agents, hot rolling oils, hydraulic fluids, industrial lubricants, longwall fluids, metal forming fluids, metal removal fluids, pickle oils, surface treatments, temper fluids, and tin plating. See Also Receive News & Ratings for Quaker Chemical Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Quaker Chemical and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of STAG Industrial (NYSE:STAG Get Rating) in a research note published on Thursday morning. The brokerage issued a hold rating on the real estate investment trusts stock. A number of other equities analysts have also commented on STAG. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of STAG Industrial from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Thursday, February 23rd. BMO Capital Markets began coverage on shares of STAG Industrial in a research report on Monday, February 6th. They issued an outperform rating and a $41.00 price target on the stock. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the companys stock. According to MarketBeat, STAG Industrial currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $37.83. Get STAG Industrial alerts: STAG Industrial Stock Performance Shares of NYSE:STAG traded down $0.02 during trading on Thursday, reaching $34.40. The stock had a trading volume of 173,163 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,620,532. STAG Industrial has a 52 week low of $26.56 and a 52 week high of $37.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.12, a P/E/G ratio of 7.34 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a quick ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $33.50 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $33.61. STAG Industrial Increases Dividend Insider Buying and Selling The business also recently announced a monthly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 15th. Investors of record on Friday, April 28th were given a dividend of $0.123 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 27th. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.29%. This is a positive change from STAG Industrials previous monthly dividend of $0.12. STAG Industrials payout ratio is 150.00%. In other STAG Industrial news, Director Virgis Colbert sold 23,911 shares of STAG Industrial stock in a transaction on Friday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.82, for a total transaction of $760,848.02. Following the sale, the director now owns 17,017 shares in the company, valued at $541,480.94. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other STAG Industrial news, insider Benjamin S. Butcher sold 3,220 shares of STAG Industrial stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.02, for a total transaction of $112,764.40. Following the sale, the insider now owns 3,868 shares in the company, valued at $135,457.36. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Virgis Colbert sold 23,911 shares of STAG Industrial stock in a transaction on Friday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.82, for a total transaction of $760,848.02. Following the sale, the director now owns 17,017 shares in the company, valued at approximately $541,480.94. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 47,054 shares of company stock valued at $1,564,741. 1.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders. Institutional Investors Weigh In On STAG Industrial A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in STAG Industrial by 30.5% during the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,863,459 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock worth $63,022,000 after buying an additional 435,482 shares in the last quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in STAG Industrial by 5.2% during the first quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 10,967 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock worth $372,000 after buying an additional 541 shares in the last quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC boosted its stake in shares of STAG Industrial by 2.4% in the 1st quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC now owns 15,956 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock valued at $540,000 after purchasing an additional 378 shares in the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its stake in shares of STAG Industrial by 136.5% in the 1st quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 121,037 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock valued at $4,093,000 after purchasing an additional 69,856 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Doheny Asset Management CA boosted its stake in shares of STAG Industrial by 30.3% in the 1st quarter. Doheny Asset Management CA now owns 71,216 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock valued at $2,409,000 after purchasing an additional 16,566 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.21% of the companys stock. About STAG Industrial (Get Rating) STAG Industrial, Inc is a real estate investment trust, which focuses on acquisition, ownership and operation of single-tenant, industrial properties throughout the United States. The company was founded by Benjamin S. Butcher on July 21, 2010 and is headquartered in Boston, MA. See Also Receive News & Ratings for STAG Industrial Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for STAG Industrial and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Brookdale Senior Living (NYSE:BKD Get Rating) in a report published on Thursday. The firm issued a hold rating on the stock. Separately, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Brookdale Senior Living from $5.00 to $6.00 and gave the company a sector perform rating in a research report on Thursday, February 23rd. Get Brookdale Senior Living alerts: Brookdale Senior Living Stock Down 1.3 % Shares of NYSE BKD opened at $3.68 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.38, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $692.61 million, a PE ratio of -3.96 and a beta of 1.28. Brookdale Senior Living has a one year low of $2.27 and a one year high of $5.80. The businesss fifty day moving average price is $3.49 and its 200-day moving average price is $3.23. Insiders Place Their Bets Brookdale Senior Living ( NYSE:BKD Get Rating ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 21st. The company reported ($0.13) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.43) by $0.30. Brookdale Senior Living had a negative net margin of 6.31% and a negative return on equity of 34.26%. The company had revenue of $700.59 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $693.05 million. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Brookdale Senior Living will post -0.78 EPS for the current year. In other news, Director Jordan R. Asher sold 17,200 shares of the companys stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $3.33, for a total value of $57,276.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 102,965 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $342,873.45. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.96% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders. Hedge Funds Weigh In On Brookdale Senior Living Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in Brookdale Senior Living by 22.0% during the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 263,792 shares of the companys stock valued at $778,000 after purchasing an additional 47,501 shares during the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC increased its position in Brookdale Senior Living by 7.6% during the first quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 122,513 shares of the companys stock valued at $361,000 after acquiring an additional 8,691 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Brookdale Senior Living by 7.0% in the 1st quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,578,513 shares of the companys stock worth $10,557,000 after purchasing an additional 233,465 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Brookdale Senior Living in the 1st quarter worth $53,000. Finally, Maverick Capital Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Brookdale Senior Living by 28.2% during the 1st quarter. Maverick Capital Ltd. now owns 149,071 shares of the companys stock valued at $440,000 after acquiring an additional 32,805 shares during the period. Brookdale Senior Living Company Profile (Get Rating) Brookdale Senior Living, Inc engages in the operation of senior living communities. The firm manages independent living, assisted living and dementia-care communities and continuing care retirement centers. It operates through the following segments: Independent Living Assisted Living & Memory Care, CCRCs, Health Care Services and Management Services. Further Reading Receive News & Ratings for Brookdale Senior Living Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Brookdale Senior Living and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior, S. A. (NYSE:BLX Get Rating) in a research report released on Thursday morning. The firm issued a hold rating on the banks stock. Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior, S. A. Price Performance Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior, S. A. stock opened at $19.76 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $717.88 million, a PE ratio of 6.10 and a beta of 1.15. Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior, S. A. has a one year low of $12.58 and a one year high of $20.48. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $17.81 and a 200 day simple moving average of $17.05. Get Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior S. A. alerts: Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior, S. A. (NYSE:BLX Get Rating) last released its earnings results on Monday, February 27th. The bank reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter. Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior, S. A. had a return on equity of 11.15% and a net margin of 26.11%. The company had revenue of $53.19 million during the quarter. Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior, S. A. Dividend Announcement Hedge Funds Weigh In On Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior, S. A. The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 17th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 4th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 3rd. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.06%. Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior, S. A.s payout ratio is presently 30.86%. A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Rhumbline Advisers boosted its stake in shares of Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior, S. A. by 2.3% in the first quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 42,209 shares of the banks stock valued at $734,000 after buying an additional 957 shares during the period. Uniplan Investment Counsel Inc. acquired a new stake in Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior, S. A. during the 3rd quarter worth about $1,630,000. Thomas White International Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior, S. A. by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Thomas White International Ltd. now owns 353,718 shares of the banks stock valued at $5,510,000 after buying an additional 1,021 shares during the period. Finally, LSV Asset Management grew its stake in shares of Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior, S. A. by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 972,198 shares of the banks stock valued at $15,750,000 after buying an additional 15,990 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 7.19% of the companys stock. About Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior, S. A. (Get Rating) Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior, S. A., a multinational bank, primarily engages in the financing of foreign trade in Latin America and the Caribbean. The company operates through two segments, Commercial and Treasury. It offers short and medium-term bilateral loans, structured and syndicated credits, and loan commitments; financial guarantee contracts, such as issued and confirmed letters of credit, and stand-by letters of credit; and guarantees covering commercial risk and other assets, as well as co-financing arrangements, underwriting of syndicated credit facilities, structured trade financing in the form of factoring and vendor financing, and financial leasing. Featured Articles Receive News & Ratings for Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior S. A. Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior S. A. and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of CRH (NYSE:CRH Get Rating) in a research report sent to investors on Thursday morning. The brokerage issued a strong-buy rating on the construction companys stock. CRH Price Performance CRH opened at $50.23 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $49.15 and a 200 day simple moving average of $45.36. CRH has a twelve month low of $31.22 and a twelve month high of $52.20. The company has a quick ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. Get CRH alerts: CRH Increases Dividend The business also recently disclosed a Semi-Annual dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 17th were issued a dividend of $1.03 per share. This is a positive change from CRHs previous Semi-Annual dividend of $0.24. This represents a yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 16th. Institutional Inflows and Outflows CRH Company Profile Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CRH. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC acquired a new position in CRH during the 1st quarter worth $98,581,000. Neuberger Berman Group LLC grew its holdings in CRH by 476.4% during the 1st quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC now owns 1,094,827 shares of the construction companys stock worth $55,643,000 after acquiring an additional 904,901 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners grew its holdings in CRH by 12.1% during the 3rd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 7,474,936 shares of the construction companys stock worth $241,774,000 after acquiring an additional 803,876 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in CRH by 16.1% during the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,265,151 shares of the construction companys stock worth $137,465,000 after acquiring an additional 590,914 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky acquired a new position in CRH during the 3rd quarter worth $12,212,000. 5.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds. (Get Rating) CRH Plc manufactures and distributes building materials and products for the construction industry. It operates business through the following segments: Americas Materials, Europe Materials, and Building Products. The Americas Materials segment provides asphalt paving services and produces materials such as cement, aggregates, ready mixed concrete, and asphalt. See Also Receive News & Ratings for CRH Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for CRH and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Taylor Wimpey plc (LON:TW Get Rating) has earned an average recommendation of Hold from the eight research firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is GBX 132.40 ($1.66). TW has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Taylor Wimpey from GBX 125 ($1.57) to GBX 131 ($1.64) and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Tuesday, April 11th. Berenberg Bank increased their price objective on shares of Taylor Wimpey from GBX 111 ($1.39) to GBX 122 ($1.53) and gave the company a hold rating in a report on Friday, May 12th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Taylor Wimpey from GBX 142 ($1.78) to GBX 154 ($1.93) and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Wednesday, March 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Taylor Wimpey from GBX 120 ($1.50) to GBX 130 ($1.63) and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Tuesday, April 18th. Finally, Liberum Capital restated a hold rating and set a GBX 125 ($1.57) price target on shares of Taylor Wimpey in a report on Monday, February 13th. Get Taylor Wimpey alerts: Taylor Wimpey Stock Down 1.9 % TW opened at GBX 123.95 ($1.55) on Wednesday. Taylor Wimpey has a twelve month low of GBX 80.64 ($1.01) and a twelve month high of GBX 133.65 ($1.67). The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 4.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.57. The company has a 50-day moving average price of GBX 120.62 and a 200 day moving average price of GBX 113.28. The company has a market cap of 4.38 billion, a PE ratio of 688.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of -0.99 and a beta of 1.79. Taylor Wimpey Increases Dividend Insider Transactions at Taylor Wimpey The company also recently disclosed a dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 30th were given a dividend of GBX 4.78 ($0.06) per share. This is a boost from Taylor Wimpeys previous dividend of $4.62. This represents a dividend yield of 4.04%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 30th. Taylor Wimpeys payout ratio is 5,000.00%. In related news, insider Chris Carney sold 73,817 shares of Taylor Wimpey stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of GBX 118 ($1.48), for a total transaction of 87,104.06 ($109,111.94). In other Taylor Wimpey news, insider Mark Castle acquired 1,559 shares of the companys stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 17th. The shares were bought at an average cost of GBX 126 ($1.58) per share, for a total transaction of 1,964.34 ($2,460.65). Also, insider Chris Carney sold 73,817 shares of Taylor Wimpey stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of GBX 118 ($1.48), for a total transaction of 87,104.06 ($109,111.94). Corporate insiders own 0.97% of the companys stock. About Taylor Wimpey (Get Rating) Taylor Wimpey plc operates a residential developer in the United Kingdom and Spain. It builds and delivers various homes and communities, including apartments to six-bedroom houses. Taylor Wimpey plc was founded in 1880 and is based in High Wycombe, the United Kingdom. Recommended Stories Receive News & Ratings for Taylor Wimpey Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Taylor Wimpey and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise lessened its holdings in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW Get Rating) by 3.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 59,435 shares of the financial services providers stock after selling 1,853 shares during the quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoises holdings in Charles Schwab were worth $4,950,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period. Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of SCHW. Toronto Dominion Bank grew its stake in shares of Charles Schwab by 32,224.4% during the 4th quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 225,994,826 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $18,816,289,000 after purchasing an additional 225,295,680 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Charles Schwab during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,109,194,000. Boston Partners grew its stake in shares of Charles Schwab by 37.0% during the 3rd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 10,355,686 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $747,479,000 after purchasing an additional 2,798,159 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Charles Schwab by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 124,437,061 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $8,943,291,000 after purchasing an additional 2,589,952 shares during the period. Finally, Findlay Park Partners LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Charles Schwab during the 4th quarter worth approximately $134,974,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.49% of the companys stock. Get Charles Schwab alerts: Insider Buying and Selling at Charles Schwab In other news, President Richard A. Wurster acquired 2,000 shares of Charles Schwab stock in a transaction on Friday, March 17th. The stock was bought at an average price of $54.39 per share, for a total transaction of $108,780.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the president now owns 101,391 shares in the company, valued at $5,514,656.49. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, President Richard A. Wurster bought 2,000 shares of the companys stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 17th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $54.39 per share, with a total value of $108,780.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the president now owns 101,391 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,514,656.49. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Jonathan M. Craig sold 34,667 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.33, for a total value of $2,646,132.11. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 11,159 shares in the company, valued at approximately $851,766.47. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders bought 81,000 shares of company stock worth $4,706,960. 6.60% of the stock is owned by insiders. Analysts Set New Price Targets Charles Schwab Trading Up 0.6 % A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on SCHW. Morgan Stanley lowered Charles Schwab from an overweight rating to an equal weight rating and decreased their target price for the company from $99.00 to $68.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 30th. Bank of America decreased their target price on Charles Schwab from $53.00 to $51.00 in a research report on Monday, April 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on Charles Schwab from $98.00 to $75.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on Charles Schwab from $89.00 to $65.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 6th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on Charles Schwab from $75.00 to $72.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 18th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $68.73. NYSE SCHW traded up $0.31 during trading on Monday, hitting $51.98. The stock had a trading volume of 5,712,555 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,595,479. The company has a market capitalization of $91.96 billion, a PE ratio of 14.22, a PEG ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a quick ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $52.15 and a 200 day moving average price of $69.90. The Charles Schwab Co. has a twelve month low of $45.00 and a twelve month high of $86.63. Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW Get Rating) last released its earnings results on Monday, April 17th. The financial services provider reported $0.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $5.12 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.13 billion. Charles Schwab had a return on equity of 27.83% and a net margin of 34.82%. Charles Schwabs revenue was up 9.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.77 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that The Charles Schwab Co. will post 3.35 earnings per share for the current year. Charles Schwab Announces Dividend The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 12th will be paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 11th. Charles Schwabs dividend payout ratio is currently 27.32%. Charles Schwab Profile (Get Rating) The Charles Schwab Corp. is a savings and loan holding company, which engages in the provision of wealth management, securities brokerage, banking, asset management, custody, and financial advisory services. It operates through the Investor Services and Advisor Services segments. The Investor Services segment includes retail brokerage and banking services to individual investors, and retirement plan services, as well as other corporate brokerage services, to businesses and their employees. Featured Articles Want to see what other hedge funds are holding SCHW? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW Get Rating). Receive News & Ratings for Charles Schwab Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Charles Schwab and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of TransAlta (NYSE:TAC Get Rating) (TSE:TA) in a research report report published on Thursday morning. The brokerage issued a buy rating on the utilities providers stock. Other research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Credit Suisse Group upgraded shares of TransAlta from a neutral rating to an outperform rating in a report on Wednesday, April 12th. National Bank Financial upgraded shares of TransAlta from a sector perform rating to an outperform rating in a report on Friday, January 27th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat.com, TransAlta currently has an average rating of Buy and a consensus target price of $16.10. Get TransAlta alerts: TransAlta Trading Up 0.9 % NYSE:TAC traded up $0.09 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $9.81. The stock had a trading volume of 19,995 shares, compared to its average volume of 326,781. The company has a market cap of $2.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.52 and a beta of 1.06. TransAlta has a one year low of $7.55 and a one year high of $11.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.67, a quick ratio of 1.43 and a current ratio of 1.51. The businesss 50 day moving average is $8.86 and its 200-day moving average is $9.03. TransAlta Dividend Announcement TransAlta ( NYSE:TAC Get Rating ) (TSE:TA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 23rd. The utilities provider reported ($0.45) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.51 by ($0.96). The company had revenue of $629.08 million during the quarter. TransAlta had a net margin of 3.90% and a return on equity of 9.56%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that TransAlta will post 0.98 EPS for the current fiscal year. The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, July 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, June 1st will be given a dividend of $0.041 per share. This represents a $0.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.67%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 31st. TransAltas dividend payout ratio is 55.17%. Hedge Funds Weigh In On TransAlta A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Waratah Capital Advisors Ltd. boosted its position in TransAlta by 1,037.3% during the 4th quarter. Waratah Capital Advisors Ltd. now owns 2,750,447 shares of the utilities providers stock worth $24,599,000 after buying an additional 2,508,615 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC raised its holdings in TransAlta by 274.0% during the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 2,425,621 shares of the utilities providers stock worth $21,737,000 after purchasing an additional 1,777,039 shares during the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its holdings in TransAlta by 48.5% during the 1st quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 4,750,909 shares of the utilities providers stock worth $49,252,000 after purchasing an additional 1,551,346 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. raised its holdings in TransAlta by 370.2% during the 3rd quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,810,372 shares of the utilities providers stock worth $16,005,000 after purchasing an additional 1,425,372 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. raised its holdings in TransAlta by 59.6% during the 3rd quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 3,785,357 shares of the utilities providers stock worth $33,416,000 after purchasing an additional 1,413,962 shares during the last quarter. 64.37% of the stock is owned by institutional investors. About TransAlta (Get Rating) TransAlta Corp. engages in the generation and distribution of electricity through wind, hydro, gas and coal power plants. It operates through the following business segments: Hydro, Wind and Solar, Gas, Energy Transition, Energy Marketing, and Corporate. The Hydro, Wind and Solar, Gas and Energy Transition business segments are responsible for operating and maintaining the companys electrical generation facilities in Canada, Australia, and the US. Recommended Stories Receive News & Ratings for TransAlta Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for TransAlta and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Waratah Capital Advisors Ltd. purchased a new stake in Rogers Communications Inc. (NYSE:RCI Get Rating) (TSE:RCI.B) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 229,970 shares of the Wireless communications providers stock, valued at approximately $10,763,000. Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in RCI. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Rogers Communications in the first quarter valued at approximately $1,219,000. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in shares of Rogers Communications by 29.8% during the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 28,915 shares of the Wireless communications providers stock valued at $1,637,000 after acquiring an additional 6,634 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE increased its stake in shares of Rogers Communications by 3.0% during the first quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 7,289 shares of the Wireless communications providers stock valued at $413,000 after acquiring an additional 213 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Rogers Communications during the first quarter valued at approximately $237,000. Finally, BlackRock Inc. increased its stake in shares of Rogers Communications by 16.1% during the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 3,281,771 shares of the Wireless communications providers stock valued at $186,241,000 after acquiring an additional 455,522 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 45.46% of the companys stock. Get Rogers Communications alerts: Analyst Ratings Changes A number of brokerages recently weighed in on RCI. UBS Group upgraded shares of Rogers Communications from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a report on Monday, February 6th. TD Securities raised their target price on shares of Rogers Communications from C$76.00 to C$78.00 in a report on Friday, February 3rd. Barclays began coverage on shares of Rogers Communications in a report on Monday, May 8th. They set an overweight rating for the company. Desjardins cut shares of Rogers Communications from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report on Monday, April 3rd. Finally, TheStreet raised shares of Rogers Communications from a c rating to a b rating in a research note on Monday, February 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Rogers Communications has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $74.31. Rogers Communications Stock Up 0.6 % Shares of RCI stock traded up $0.27 on Monday, hitting $49.08. The companys stock had a trading volume of 35,279 shares, compared to its average volume of 294,803. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.86, a current ratio of 1.91 and a quick ratio of 1.85. Rogers Communications Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $36.23 and a fifty-two week high of $52.15. The firms fifty day moving average price is $47.70 and its 200-day moving average price is $46.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.66, a P/E/G ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 0.51. Rogers Communications (NYSE:RCI Get Rating) (TSE:RCI.B) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 26th. The Wireless communications provider reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $2.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.71 billion. Rogers Communications had a net margin of 11.49% and a return on equity of 19.36%. Research analysts anticipate that Rogers Communications Inc. will post 3.76 EPS for the current year. Rogers Communications Increases Dividend The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 9th will be given a dividend of $0.37 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 8th. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.02%. This is a positive change from Rogers Communicationss previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. Rogers Communicationss dividend payout ratio is currently 56.11%. Rogers Communications Profile (Get Rating) Rogers Communications Inc operates as a communications and media company in Canada. It operates through three segments: Wireless, Cable, and Media. The company offers mobile Internet access, wireless voice and enhanced voice, device and accessory financing, wireless home phone, device protection, e-mail, global voice and data roaming, bridging landline, machine-to-machine and Internet of Things solutions, and advanced wireless solutions for businesses, as well as device delivery services; and postpaid and prepaid services under the Rogers, Fido, and chatr brands to approximately 11.3 million subscribers. Recommended Stories Want to see what other hedge funds are holding RCI? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Rogers Communications Inc. (NYSE:RCI Get Rating) (TSE:RCI.B). Receive News & Ratings for Rogers Communications Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Rogers Communications and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of WESCO International (NYSE:WCC Get Rating) in a research note released on Thursday. The firm issued a hold rating on the technology companys stock. A number of other equities analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an outperform rating and set a $215.00 price target on shares of WESCO International in a research note on Thursday, March 30th. Oppenheimer upped their target price on WESCO International from $175.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Wednesday, February 15th. Robert W. Baird upgraded WESCO International from a neutral rating to an outperform rating and set a $180.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 5th. Raymond James upped their price objective on shares of WESCO International from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a strong-buy rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 15th. Finally, KeyCorp raised their target price on shares of WESCO International from $165.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the companys stock. According to MarketBeat.com, WESCO International presently has a consensus rating of Buy and a consensus target price of $190.00. Get WESCO International alerts: WESCO International Price Performance WCC stock opened at $134.21 on Thursday. WESCO International has a 52 week low of $99.00 and a 52 week high of $175.00. The company has a quick ratio of 1.33, a current ratio of 2.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $139.71 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $139.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 1.95. WESCO International Announces Dividend WESCO International ( NYSE:WCC Get Rating ) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 4th. The technology company reported $3.75 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.61 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $5.52 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.45 billion. WESCO International had a return on equity of 21.33% and a net margin of 3.98%. The companys revenue for the quarter was up 12.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.63 EPS. Analysts anticipate that WESCO International will post 17.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year. The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 31st. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 15th were given a dividend of $0.375 per share. This represents a $1.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.12%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 14th. WESCO Internationals payout ratio is currently 9.60%. Insiders Place Their Bets In other news, EVP Diane Lazzaris sold 10,748 shares of the firms stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $161.56, for a total value of $1,736,446.88. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 56,172 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,075,148.32. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, EVP Nelson John Squires III sold 4,665 shares of the companys stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.25, for a total transaction of $794,216.25. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 73,198 shares of the companys stock, valued at $12,461,959.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Diane Lazzaris sold 10,748 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $161.56, for a total value of $1,736,446.88. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 56,172 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $9,075,148.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 105,532 shares of company stock worth $17,217,762. 2.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders. Institutional Investors Weigh In On WESCO International A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of WESCO International by 3.8% during the first quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 615,883 shares of the technology companys stock worth $95,179,000 after acquiring an additional 22,340 shares during the last quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in WESCO International by 28.9% during the 1st quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. now owns 244,975 shares of the technology companys stock valued at $37,858,000 after purchasing an additional 54,875 shares in the last quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. raised its holdings in shares of WESCO International by 1.1% in the first quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. now owns 189,580 shares of the technology companys stock worth $29,298,000 after buying an additional 2,147 shares during the last quarter. Braun Stacey Associates Inc. raised its holdings in shares of WESCO International by 89.2% in the first quarter. Braun Stacey Associates Inc. now owns 151,224 shares of the technology companys stock worth $23,370,000 after buying an additional 71,289 shares during the last quarter. Finally, J. L. Bainbridge & Co. Inc. lifted its stake in shares of WESCO International by 48.5% during the first quarter. J. L. Bainbridge & Co. Inc. now owns 125,269 shares of the technology companys stock worth $19,359,000 after buying an additional 40,925 shares during the period. 94.02% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors. About WESCO International (Get Rating) WESCO International, Inc is a holding company, which engages in the provision of electrical, industrial, communications maintenance, repair and operating, and original equipment manufacturer products. It also offers construction materials, and supply chain management and logistics services. Its product categories include general supplies, wire, cable and conduit, communications and security, electrical distribution and controls, lighting and sustainability, and automation, controls, and motors. Featured Stories Receive News & Ratings for WESCO International Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for WESCO International and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Published on: May 22, 2023 | Updated on: May 22, 2023 Tollywood Actor Sarath Babu Facebook HYDERABAD: Senior Telugu actor Sarath Babu, who had been battling prolonged illness breathed his last at a private hospital in Hyderabad. The noted actor was brought to AIG Hospitals on 20th April 2023 in critical condition with multiorgan failure because of multiple Myeloma. As an immunocompromised patient, he was under the care of a multidisciplinary team and was supported with mechanical ventilator for lungs, dialysis support for kidney among other therapies. He succumbed to his illness in spite of the best resuscitative measures. A few weeks ago, there were social media reports of his death, which his family had rubbished saying he was responding to treatment. But on Monday, his family shared the news that the senior actor is no more. "We are saddened to report that beloved actor Shri Sharath Babu passed away this afternoon at 13:32 hours following a month-long hospitalization." From character artiste and hero to playing father's roles, Sarath Babu was one of the most versatile actors in the South film industry. He had worked in Telugu, Tamil, Kannada and Malayalam movies. Several Tollywood celebrities expressed shock over the news of Sarath Babu's death. Condolences have started pouring in for the actor's family. Besides the BBC (UK), Justice Sachin Datta also issued notice to the BBC (India) on the plea filed by Gujarat-based NGO Justice On Trial. (DC) New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Monday issued notice to the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) on a plea by an NGO claiming its documentary "India: The Modi Question" casts a slur on the reputation of India and makes false and defamatory imputations against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Indian judiciary. Besides the BBC (UK), Justice Sachin Datta also issued notice to the BBC (India) on the plea filed by Gujarat-based NGO Justice On Trial. The plea said BBC (UK) is the national broadcaster of the United Kingdom and has released the news documentary -- "India: The Modi Question" -- which has two episodes and BBC (India) is its local operations office. It said the two episodes have been published in January 2023. The documentary relates to the 2002 Gujarat riots when Modi was the state's chief minister. The high court said, "Issue notice to the respondents through all permissible modes", and listed it for further hearing on September 25. The government had banned the documentary soon after it was released. Senior advocate Harish Salve, appearing for the NGO, said the suit for defamation against the BBC is in relation to the documentary which has "defamed" India and the whole system including the judiciary. The plaintiff organisation, which is stated to be a society registered under the Societies Registration Act, 1860 and also registered as a Public trust under the provisions of the Bombay Public Trust, 1950, has filed the suit for damages and has also sought permission to file as an indigent person. It was contended that the documentary/ publication contains content which casts a slur on the reputation of the country and also makes false and defamatory imputations and insinuations against the Prime Minister of India, the Indian Judiciary and the Indian criminal justice system. It said the conduct of the broadcaster is actionable and has made them liable to damages. The Centre had earlier issued directions for blocking multiple YouTube videos and Twitter posts sharing links to the BBC documentary, which was described by the Ministry of External Affairs as a "propaganda piece" that lacks objectivity and reflects a colonial mindset. Sir Bob Dadae, Governor-General of Papua New Guinea, conferred Prime Minister Modi with the Grand Companion of the Order of Logohu. (Source: Twitter) Port Moresby: Prime Minister Narendra Modi was on Monday conferred with the highest honours of Papua New Guinea and Fiji, in a rare recognition for a non-resident in the two Pacific island nations. Modi was in Papua New Guinea on Sunday on his maiden visit to the country to host a key summit between India and 14 Pacific island countries to boost bilateral ties. In a special ceremony at the Government House, Sir Bob Dadae, Governor-General of Papua New Guinea, conferred Prime Minister Modi with the Grand Companion of the Order of Logohu (GCL), the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said in a statement. This is the highest civilian award in the country and recipients of the award are titled "Chief", it said. "Unprecedented honour for India as Papua New Guinea confers their highest award to PM Modi," the Prime Minister's Office said. Papua New Guinea conferred the Companion of the Order of Logohu to Prime Minister Modi for championing the cause of unity of Pacific Island countries and spearheading the cause of Global South. Very few non-residents of PNG have received this award, including former US President Bill Clinton, it said. "Humbled by the gesture of Papua New Guinea of conferring me with the Companion of the Order of Logohu. Gratitude to Governor General Sir Bob Dadae for presenting the award. This is a great recognition of India and the accomplishments of our people," the prime minister tweeted. "An honour emblematic of the depth of India-Papua New Guinea relationship," the MEA tweeted. This comes immediately after Fiji's Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka also conferred the country's highest award to Modi. "Big Honour for India. Prime Minister Modi has been conferred the highest honour of Fiji by the PM of Fiji: Companion of the Order of Fiji in recognition of his global leadership. Only a handful of Non-Fijians have received this honour to date," the Prime Minister's Office said. Prime Minister Modi dedicated the honour to the people of India and to the generations of the Fiji-Indian community, who have played a key role in the special and enduring bond between the two countries, the MEA said on Twitter. "Grateful to the people and Government of Fiji for conferring the Companion of the Order of Fiji on me. I thank PM @slrabuka for presenting the award. It is an honour for the people of India and a recognition of the strong ties between India and Fiji," the prime minister tweeted. Modi also held a "wonderful meeting" with President Surangel S Whipps, Jr of the Republic of Palau on the sidelines of the FIPIC Summit. Whipps presented Modi with an Ebakl, one of the most important tools for the people of Palau. Ebaki has a strong link with the local culture. It also symbolises leadership and wisdom, the MEA said on Twitter. Some of the previous international awards conferred by countries on Prime Minister Modi are The Order of Abdulaziz Al Saud (the highest honour of Saudi Arabia awarded to non-muslim dignitaries), State Order of Ghazi Amir Amanullah Khan (the highest civilian honour of Afghanistan), the Grand Collar of the State of Palestine Award (the highest honour of Palestine awarded to foreign dignitaries) and Order of Zayed Award (highest civilian honour of the United Arab Emirates). Other awards include the Order of St. Andrew Award ( the highest civilian honour of Russia), the Order of the Distinguished Rule of Nishan Izzuddin (the highest honour of the Maldives awarded to foreign dignitaries) and King Hamad Order of the Renaissance (a top honour by the gulf country). Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy offers Pooja to Sea to mark the launching of Machilipatnam Port works at Manginapudi Beach in Krishna district on Monday, Ministers R K Roja, G Amaranth, Jogi Ramesh and MLAs also seen. (Photo by arrangement) VIJAYAWADA: Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy performed Bhumi Puja for construction of the Machilipatnam Port at Manginapudi of Machilipatnam mandal, Krishna district, on Monday. The port would come up at an estimated cost of Rs 5,156 crore, with four berths, and handle 35 million tonnes of cargo. The works would be completed in 24 months. Addressing a public meeting in Machilipatnam, the CM said, "It has been a long dream for the Bandar port. One side would be the port and the other side a big city. The Bandar port has a history of sea trade some hundreds of years ago. Once the port is developed, Machilipatnam will be developed on lines similar to Mumbai or Chennai." "Our government has cleared all court cases, acquired land, got all requisite permissions, arranged the financial closure and completed the tender process to start the port construction works. As the cargo traffic goes up, we can increase the number of berths and enhance the ports cargo handling capacity to 116 MT." "We will also develop connectivity and other infrastructure for the port by extending NH-216 by 6.5 km to the port. The Gudivada-Machilipatnam railway line located at a distance of 7.5 km will also be extended to the port, Some 0.5mld water from Bandar Canal will be brought from a distance of 11 km through pipeline to be linked to the port, to facilitate export and import of cargo. These would change the physical features of Krishna district, the CM said. He said trade through the upcoming port will not only help AP but the states like Telangana, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka etc. The port-based industries will help generate employment to lakhs of people in Machilipatnam itself, he said. "Our children completing graduation will get employment in their own neighbourhood." The CM said, "Earlier, there were so many hurdles to construct the port as (Telugu Desam leader) N. Chandrababu Naidu was eager to avoid the port for the reason that he took away 22 villages and 33,000 plots of lands and notified these lands in order to restrict the farmers from selling these lands and caused trouble to them." Explaining about the efforts made for developing the port, the CM said 17,000 acres of government land was allotted for the port. This apart, for railway line and road development, 240 acres was acquired from the farmers. Port-based industries would come up. Some 4,000 acres of government land would be linked to the port; and industries could be set up to facilitate generation of lakhs of jobs. "In 24 months, the physical features of Machilipatnam would change and big ships could be spotted in the sea." "Unlike the earlier practise of collector visiting Machilipatnam once in a week, we made Machilipatnam the headquarter for Krishna district so that all officers would be functional here," he said and added that a medical college too would come up here at a cost of Rs 550 crore. In three months, the first-year admissions would be taken up. He said the government was also developing a fishing harbour at a cost of Rs 420 crore. The works to an extent of 60 per cent were over. In four months, the harbour works would be over and it would be ready for use. The Chief Minister also dwelt at length on other decisions of the government to help the people. "For imitation jewellery, power tariff was reduced to 3.75 per unit from 7.65 as I had assured such units during my Padayatra," he said and added that nearly 40,000 people were getting benefit from it. The CM said that for the benefit of fishermen, works at 10 fishing harbours were going on in a brisk manner, in addition to the works on developing six fish landing centres, for which all the state government was spending Rs 3,700 crore. As for the welfare schemes, the CM said that Rs 2.1 lakh crore was remitted into the accounts of women through DBT and non-DBT modes. This apart, 30 lakh house sites were given, with each site costing nearly Rs 2.5 lakh; and this meant a benefit of nearly Rs 75,000 crore to women. He said that in non-DBT alone, their government provided financial benefit worth Rs 3 lakh crore to the beneficiaires. "We are giving 30 lakh houses with each unit costing Rs 5 lakh to Rs 10 lakh. The CM announced that he would give away house sites to the poor in Amaravati on May 26. He lashed out at TD chief Chandrababu Naidu for "failing to give away even a single house site and subjecting the people from various social groups like SC, BC and women to humiliation on several issues." He said that he felt pain at the remarks of Naidu during his visit to Visakhapatnam when he termed the 1.1 cents site proposed to be offered to the poor for construction of a house at Amaravati as a "cemetery." Naidu lacked a concern for the homeless poor, he added. BJP state president Bandi Sanjay Kumar. (File photo: DC) HYDERABAD: BJP state president Bandi Sanjay Kumar hinted that the BJP will raise the political heat in Telangana state and knock every door in the state during its month-long Maha Sampark Abhiyan that begins on May 30. It give the message of development and welfare in the country under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and how Telangana led by the BRS government was stymying those efforts. The programme includes Lok Sabha constituency wise meetings in addition to door-to-door canvassing, and two large public meetings in the state. "The BRS does not want Modi to receive any credit on this front. Its 21-day programme to celebrate 10 years of Telangana from June 2 is yet another attempt to fool people. The Chief Minister is only interested in politicking and not in the welfare of the state or its people," he said. Meanwhile, the BJP called the BRS government in Telangana a 60% commission government as it sharpened its attack on the ruling party on Monday. Bandi said his partys only goal was to defeat the BRS in the next elections and send "the corrupt government home." Addressing the BJP state executive meeting, Sanjay Kumar said the BRS government was a "caaru saaru and 60 per cent sarkaru". He said, "BRS MLAs have siphoned off 30 per cent of Dalit Bandhu funds, while another 30 per cent of funds meant for Kaleshwaram, Mission Bhagiratha and Mission Kakatiya, along with real estate deals and construction of the new Secretariat, have gone to the Chief Ministers family. It will not be a ab ki baar kisan sarkar as the Chief Minister claims, it will be a corrupt sarkar of the BRS." Sanjay Kumar who emphasised on the BJPs promise of providing free medicare, education, and a government job calendar that will ensure proper recruitment process to fill vacancies in the government, made it clear that these will be a big part of the partys promises to the people for the coming Assembly elections in the state. "We know what the atmosphere in Telangana state is. People have understood that voting for the Congress is of no use as that partys MLAs will in turn join the BRS. The BJP will contest alone, and will come to power in Telangana. We will take the successes of nine years of Modi government to the people, explain what the Centre did and how the state government blocked these efforts," he said. Dismissing the Congress as a possible contender for power in Telangana state following its victory in Karnataka, he said the Chief Minister was unable to digest BJPs rise in the state and is propping up the Congress. "He is picking candidates for the Congress where the party is weak and funding them. Congress lost deposits in Dubbak, Huzurabad, and Munugode bypolls. In the recent teachers constituency MLC polls, the Congress did not even have a candidate. How can that party be an alternative in the state? It is the BJP that won in Dubbak, Huzurabad, and rose from 4 seats to 48 in the GHMC council and won the MLC election which is the true alternative in Telangana," Sanjay Kumar pointed out. Ford CEO Jim Farley says the company will stop competing in over-served market segments and instead will place big bets on connected vehicles and digital services. The days of Ford being all things to all people are over, Farley said at the company's capital markets day event Monday. The company, he said, has been stuck in a box, with thin profit margins, weak growth and low stock valuation. Ford, Farley said, will emphasise software and services as well as iconic vehicles such as pickup trucks, large SUVs, commercial vehicles and advanced second-generation electric vehicles. Read | 'Take that, Elon Musk': Ford CEO 'dares' Tesla CEO on electric vehicles He said the company is eliminating waste to close a cost gap with the best in the industry with a lean disciplined operating system that reaches into all Ford factories. Farley said by focusing on software, services and Ford's strengths in products, the company won't be as vulnerable to a downturn as in the past. He said the company has let complexity overrun our business as we tried to be all things to all people. We will focus on growth segments where we lead, Ford Blue President Kumar Galhotra said. Farley says Ford will be competing differently, going for tailored ownership experiences rather than jockeying for slivers of market share with complex vehicles in over-served market segments. He said the company will go to non-negotiated prices, working with dealers. Ford has said it will get to a 10 per cent pretax profit margin in 2026. It reiterated 2023 full-year guidance of $9 billion to $11 billion in adjusted pretax profits. Ford Motor Co. also said it cut deals with a number of companies to supply its rapidly growing electrical vehicle division, Ford Model e. Ford will get more than 100,000 metric tons of lithium hydroxide from Albemarle, based in Charlotte, North Carolina. Compass Minerals International announced a multiyear deal to supply Ford with up to 40 per cent of the battery-grade lithium carbonate coming from its project in Utah. Read | Ford to cut 1,100 jobs in Spain EnergySource Minerals will supply the carmaker with lithium hydroxide from a new site in Imperial Valley, California, and Nemaska Lithium, a Canadian miner, will supply Ford with 13,000 tons of lithium hydroxide annually for 11 years. Because the materials are coming from the US and Canada, it ensures that Ford's electric vehicles will qualify for new federal tax credits, making them more competitive. Ford has split itself into three business units, Ford Blue for gasoline-powered and hybrid vehicles, Ford Model e for electric vehicles and digital products, and Ford Pro, the company's commercial vehicle business. I'm not here to tell you that we're under valued, Farley said Monday. You make your own decision. Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Monday said he is "honoured" to host Prime Minister Narendra Modi here and underlined that the two countries share a commitment to a stable, secure and prosperous Indo-Pacific. Prime Minister Albanese also said that he looks forward to celebrating Australias vibrant Indian community with Prime Minister Modi in Sydney on Tuesday. Prime Minister Modi will visit Australia from May 22-24 as a guest of the Australian Government. I am honoured to host Prime Minister Modi for an official visit to Australia, after receiving an extremely warm welcome in India earlier this year," Albanese said in a statement. Also Read: At Quad meeting, US, Australian leaders spoke to PM Modi about 'requests' they were getting Australia and India share a commitment to a stable, secure and prosperous Indo-Pacific. Together we have an important role to play in supporting this vision," he said, amidst China's aggressive behaviour in the region as well as its efforts to expand its influence. As friends and partners, the relationship between our countries has never been closer. I look forward to celebrating Australias vibrant Indian community with Prime Minister Modi in Sydney. Prime Minister Modi has also said that he was looking forward to his meeting with Albanese on May 24. "I look forward to our bilateral meeting, which will be an opportunity to take stock of our bilateral ties and follow up on our first India-Australia Annual Summit held in New Delhi in March this year," Modi said in his departure statement in New Delhi on May 19. "Prime Minister Modis visit to Australia builds on the Australia-India Annual Leaders Summit in New Delhi in March and discussions at the G7 Summit and Quad Leaders' meeting in Hiroshima over the weekend," the Australian government said in a statement. "At their bilateral meeting, the leaders will discuss trade and investment, including efforts to boost trade between the two countries through a Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement, and work to strengthen people-to-people links, renewable energy, and defence and security cooperation," it said. Prime Minister Modi will also meet Australian business leaders to drive Australias growing trade and investment relationship with India and take forward opportunities from the Australia-India CEO Forum held in Mumbai in March. Harris Park, a suburb of Greater Western Sydney will be also known as Little India. This will be announced during Modi's community event, sources said ahead of the prime minister's visit. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics 2016 census, 619,164 people in Australia declared that they were of ethnic Indian ancestry. This comprises 2.8 per cent of the Australian population. Among those, 592,000 were born in India. Prime Minister Modi last visited Australia in 2014. Meanwhile, Albanese also said he looks forward to visiting India in September for the G20 Leaders Summit in New Delhi, the worlds premier forum for economic cooperation. The Indo-Pacific is a biogeographic region, comprising the Indian Ocean and the western and central Pacific Ocean, including the South China Sea. The US, India and several other world powers have been talking about the need to ensure a free, open and thriving Indo-Pacific in the backdrop of Chinas rising military manoeuvring in the region, vital to global trade. China claims nearly all of the disputed South China Sea, though Taiwan, the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia and Vietnam all claim parts of it. Beijing has built artificial islands and military installations in the South China Sea. Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma on Monday said the controversial Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA), 1958 may be withdrawn from the entire state by November-end. The Centre in April last year had withdrawn the AFSPA completely from 23 districts in Assam and parts of Manipur and Nagaland. But the AFSPA remained in force in the remaining eight districts and a sub-division of another district in Assam owing to the problem of militancy. Army men to train police Addressing a commandants' conference of the Assam Police battalions at Dergaon in eastern Assam's Golaghat districts, Sarma said the state government would rope in former army men to train its police personnel in order to maintain law and order in more professional way after the AFSPA is withdrawn. "Steps will be taken to empower the battalions so that they can tackle law and order issues with minimum use of force. The AFSPA may be withdrawn completely from the state by November. This will facilitate the replacement of the central armed police personnel by the Assam police battalions. However, the presence of CAPF as required by law shall be in place," he said. Sarma said the former army men, who would be roped in for providing training to the state police battalions, will be given the status of an additional superintendent of police. AFSPA in Assam The AFSPA was promulgated in Assam in 1990, when the banned insurgent group Ulfa carried out large-scale violence. The AFSPA empowers the security forces to conduct operations and arrest anyone without any prior warrant. The act also gives immunity from arrest and prosecution to the security forces for killings during counter-insurgency operations. Human rights activists, however, have demanded complete withdrawal of the AFSPA to check alleged human rights violations by the security forces during counter-insurgency operations. The eight districts where the AFSPA is currently in force are: Tinsukia, Dibrugarh, Charaideo, Sivasagar, Jorhat, Golaghat, Karbi Anglong and Dima Hasao. Sarma on May 10 said that the state became free from tribal insurgency after the insurgent groups in Karbi Anglong and Dima Hasao laid down their weapons and signed agreements with the government recently. Ulfa-Independent, however, continues to be out of the peace process, while another Ulfa group led by Arabinda Rajkhowa and Anup Chetia are engaged in talks for signing an agreement with the government. Ulfa remains the only major insurgent group in Assam at present. Manipur witnessed fresh incidents of violence on Monday as abandoned houses were set ablaze by miscreants in Imphal. The government has extended suspension on internet till May 26 in the state, and also the period of curfew relaxation has been shortened to 5 am-1 pm from 5 am-4 pm. #WATCH | Abandoned houses set ablaze by miscreants in New Lambulane area in Imphal in Manipur. Security personnel on the spot. pic.twitter.com/zENI5nuMyM ANI (@ANI) May 22, 2023 Clashes broke out in Manipur after a Tribal Solidarity March was organised in the hill districts on May 3 to protest against the Meitei communitys demand for Scheduled Tribe (ST) status. The violence was preceded by tension over the eviction of Kuki villagers from reserve forest land, which had led to a series of smaller agitations. Meiteis account for about 53 per cent of Manipurs 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 districts. The ethnic clashes claimed over 70 lives and some 10,000 army and para-military personnel had to be deployed to bring back normalcy in the northeastern state. (With PTI inputs) Ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's historic state visit to the US next month, Indian-Americans are planning to welcome him with an 'India Unity Day' march in 20 major cities across America on June 18, organisers have announced. Prime Minister Modi will embark on his first state visit to the US at the invitation of President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden in June. The US president and the First Lady will also host Modi at a state dinner on June 22. The (Indian American) community is really excited (about Modis visit). The community is gathering on June 18 here in Washington DC at the National Monument. Also Read | PM Modi's visit will celebrate 'deep partnership' between India and US: Blinken And there will be a march from Washington Monument to Lincoln Memorial, calling it 'India Unity Day' and welcoming Modiji. That is two days in advance, said community leader Adapa Prasad, who is also the national president of Overseas Friends of BJP (OFBJP) USA. Also at the same time, in about 20 places across the United States, from east to west, from north to south, covering major cities there will be similar welcome marches at iconic places like Times Square in New York and Golden Bridge in San Francisco, he said on Sunday. The other cities are Boston, Chicago, Atlanta, Miami, Tampa, Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles, Sacramento, San Francisco, Columbus, and St Louis. Describing the state visit as a historic event that makes the community feel proud, Prasad said all major sections of Indian-Americans have joined hands in welcoming the prime minister and making it a memorable event. Plans are afoot to welcome the prime minister at all major places in New York and Washington DC, the two cities on his itinerary so far. While a group of Indian-Americans are planning to go to Andrews Air Force Base when the Prime Minister lands on June 21 afternoon from New York for the state visit, hundreds of the community members are planning to gather at Lafayette Square Park in front of the White House. For several hours that afternoon, various groups and organisations of Indian-Americans were planning a cultural extravaganza showcasing the diversity of India. On the evening of June 21, as he arrives at a Washington DC hotel, the Indian American community has planned to have a cultural event spanning Kashmir to Kanyakumari, and West to East different cultural events in front of the White House, Prasad said. Also Read | Modi, Blinken meet Pacific Island leaders in Papua New Guinea He said the programme will be an audio and video display of the growth of India, development of India during the last nine years. Some of the Indian-origin elected representatives are also likely to attend. This (event) is also to showcase to the American public what India is all about, he said. On June 22, a couple of thousands of Indian-Americans are planning to be on the South Lawns of the White House when President Biden and the First Lady would welcome the Prime Minister amidst a 21-gun salute. The White House has already started sending invitations for the welcome ceremony. On (June) 22nd morning,...we are expecting about three to 5,000 Indian diaspora invited by White House on the lawns of the White House. That is a historic moment because this is the first time any country-specific diaspora is invited to the White House in such large numbers, Prasad said. An overwhelming majority of the Indian American community, he said, is delighted with the development story of India and Modi's sincerity and his commitment to India. So, they're excited. Modiji is like a rockstar to the Indian American community here, and probably it's true for the entire Indian Diaspora. Anywhere he goes, either in, UK or Australia, he said. Several other Indian American community leaders have welcomed the state visit of the prime minister. "I am delighted to see the proposed visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the United States," said Ajay Bhutoria, a prominent Indian-American leader and advocate for stronger US-India relations. "This visit serves as a testament to the strong and enduring partnership between our two great nations. It reaffirms the warm bonds of family and friendship that unite the American and Indian people," he said. During prime minister Modis first state visit to the USA he will have the opportunity to discuss with President Biden strong bilateral cooperation in various areas of mutual interest including but not limited to technology, trade, industry, education, research, clean energy, defence, said Ashok Mago, an eminent Indian American from Houston who has played a key role in strengthening India US relationship. India and the US are strategic partners but we cant say that they are formal allies. While they have much in common, India doesn't feel bound to sync its worldview with the USA. There is a need for a deeper collaboration when it comes to technology, he said. Modi's visit to the US comes ahead of the G20 Summit being hosted by India in September. After becoming Prime Minister in 2014, Modi has made more than half a dozen trips to the United States for bilateral and multilateral meetings with all three American presidents, Barack Obama, Donald Trump and now Biden, but this is for the first time he has been invited for an official state visit, a privilege accorded to America's close friends and allies. His last visit to Washington was in September 2021 at the invitation of President Biden for a bilateral meeting. He had also attended the first in-person Quad Leaders Summit hosted by Biden. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Monday made a scathing attack on the Narendra Modi government for not involving President Droupadi Murmu in the inaugural function of the new Parliament building, claiming that the Modi government made presidents from Dalit and tribal communities only for electoral gains. Kharge said then President Ram Nath Kovind, a Dalit, was not invited when the foundation stone was laid on December 10, 2020, while present President Murmu, a tribal, is not being invited for the May 28 ceremony when the new building is being unveiled by Prime Minister Modi. "It looks like the Modi Govt has ensured election of President of India from the Dalit and the Tribal communities only for electoral reasons... The Parliament of India is the supreme legislative body of the Republic of India, and the President of India is its highest Constitutional authority," he said in a series of tweets. It looks like the Modi Govt has ensured election of President of India from the Dalit and the Tribal communities only for electoral reasons. While Former President, Shri Kovind was not invited for the New Parliament foundation laying ceremony 1/4 Mallikarjun Kharge (@kharge) May 22, 2023 "She alone represents the government, Opposition, and every citizen alike. She is the First Citizen of India. Inauguration of the new Parliament building by her will symbolise governments commitment to democratic values and Constitutional propriety," he said. Kharge said the Modi government has "repeatedly disrespected propriety" and the Office of the President of India is "reduced to tokenism under the BJP-RSS government". Also Read Rahul joins Opposition chorus against PM inaugurating new Parliament building The Congress president's attack comes close on the heels of demands from the Opposition that the President and not the Prime Minister should inaugurate the new building, which has space for 888 MPs in Lok Sabha and 384 in Rajya Sabha. The present British-era building will complete 100 years in 2027. On Sunday, former Congress president Rahul Gandhi joined the Opposition chorus against Modi inaugurating the building and not the President. According to Article 79 of the Constitution, Parliament consists of the President and two Houses to be known respectively as the Council of States (Rajya Sabha) and the House of the People (Lok Sabha). Opposition leaders argued that the President is part of Parliament and during the unveiling of its new building, the president is being ignored. Modi laid the foundation stone for the building in December 2020 when the President was not present. Similarly on July 11, 2022, when the national emblem was unveiled on top of the under construction building, Kovind was not present. Rajya Sabha was represented by Deputy Chairman Harivansh on both occasions while then Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu, who was also Vice President, did not attend due to protocol issues. Senior RJD MP Manoj K Jha earlier said, "Shouldn't the honourable President inaugurate the new 'Sansad Bhavan'? I leave it at that...Jai Hind". He also tweeted, "Gandhi and Savarkar cannot be in one frame just as Ambedkar and Golwalkar cannot be in one frame. Make artificial efforts but 'Gandhi and Ambedkar' will break your frame and come out and put a mirror in front of your politics. Jai Hind." CPI General Secretary D Raja said, "The Prime Minister leads the executive organ of the state and Parliament is the legislative organ. It would have been appropriate for Droupadi Murmu as Head of the State to inaugurate the new Parliament. Obsession with self-image and cameras trumps decency and norms when it comes to Modi-ji." Congress General Secretary (Organisation) KC Venugopal tweeted, "PM Modi, in his megalomania, has once again violated constitutional values and disrespected the Hon'ble President of India. The President is the custodian of Parliament and the appropriate authority to inaugurate the new Parliament building. However, as usual, the PM has shown his hubris and sidelined her to hog the limelight." Congress General Secretary (Communications) Jairam Ramesh added, "the sole architect, designer and worker for the new Parliament building, which he will inaugurate on May 28th. The picture tells it all a personal vanity project." A retired assistant sub-inspector of Punjab Police, his wife and son were found murdered at their home in Nupur Bait village near here, police said on Monday. The trio was attacked with iron rods and some sharp-edged weapons, they said. Police said relatives of the former ASI Kuldeep Singh had been calling him up but there was no response. Then they approached the village head. Thereafter, the doors of the house were broken. Also Read | 'Betrayed lovers' unite to kill woman in Uttar Pradesh The body of Singh was lying in the open while the bodies of his wife and son were lying on the bed, said police. A licensed pistol belonging to Singh was also found missing from the house. Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police Sameer Verma said they were working on various angles to solve the triple murder case. Singh had retired from the police force in 2019. Amid extraordinary security arrangements, delegates of G20 arrived at the Srinagar International Airport in two chartered flights on Monday with Jammu and Kashmir authorities welcoming the visiting dignitaries. The first meeting of the G20 summit in Srinagar will take place today at 4 pm after the inaugural ceremony at 3 pm. Also Read Srinagar all set to host G20 meet amid tight security For the three-day G20 summit, from May 22-24, Kashmir will be under a three-tier security grid for aerial surveillance. Drone monitoring has been put in place and National Security Guard (NSG) and MARCOS commandos have been deployed around the venue. Security measures have been tightened and traffic restrictions have been placed around SK International Convention Centre (SKICC), the main venue of the event, Srinagar International Airport, hotels and routes used by delegates. The G20 Tourism Working Group meeting is the first major international event to be held in J&K in over 37 years. This is also the first major event in Kashmir after the abrogation of Article 370 and Article 35 (A) in August 2019. Prime Minister Narendra Modi was on Monday conferred with the highest honours of Papua New Guinea and Fiji, in a rare recognition for a non-resident in the two Pacific island nations. Modi arrived here in Papua New Guinea on Sunday on his maiden visit to the country to host a key summit between India and 14 Pacific island countries to boost bilateral ties. "Unprecedented honour for India as Papua New Guinea confers their highest award to PM Modi," the Prime Minister's Office said. It was presented to him by Papua New Guinea Governor-General Sir Bob Dadae. Papua New Guinea conferred the Companion of the Order of Logohu to Prime Minister Modi for championing the cause of unity of Pacific Island countries and spearheading the cause of Global South. Very few non-residents of PNG have received this award, including former US President Bill Clinton, it said. Also Read: PM Modi releases Tamil classic 'Thirukkural' in Tok Pisin language of Papua New Guinea "An honour emblematic of the depth of India-Papua New Guinea relationship," the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) tweeted. An honour emblematic of depth of - relationship. Governor-General Sir Bob Dadae of Papua New Guinea conferred PM @narendramodi with country's highest civilian award, Grand Companion of the Order of Logohu (GCL). pic.twitter.com/CZGnfcd44e Arindam Bagchi (@MEAIndia) May 22, 2023 This comes immediately after Fiji's Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka also conferred the country's highest award to Modi. "Big Honour for India. Prime Minister Modi has been conferred the highest honour of Fiji by the PM of Fiji: Companion of the Order of Fiji in recognition of his global leadership. Only a handful of Non-Fijians have received this honour to date," the Prime Minister's Office said. Prime Minister Modi dedicated the honour to the people of India and to the generations of the Fiji-Indian community, who have played a key role in the special and enduring bond between the two countries, the MEA said on Twitter. "Grateful to the people and Government of Fiji for conferring the Companion of the Order of Fiji on me. I thank PM @slrabuka for presenting the award. It is an honour for the people of India and a recognition of the strong ties between India and Fiji," the prime minister tweeted. Grateful to the people and Government of Fiji for conferring the Companion of the Order of Fiji on me. I thank PM @slrabuka for presenting the award. It is an honour for the people of India and a recognition of the strong ties between India and Fiji. pic.twitter.com/rhUPrE0Nvu Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) May 22, 2023 Modi also held a "wonderful meeting" with President Surangel S Whipps, Jr of the Republic of Palau on the sidelines of the FIPIC Summit. Had a wonderful meeting with President Surangel S. Whipps, Jr. of the Republic of Palau on the sidelines of FIPIC Summit. pic.twitter.com/j2Ria84kpr Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) May 22, 2023 Whipps presented Modi with an Ebakl, one of the most important tools for the people of Palau. Ebaki has a strong link with the local culture. It also symbolises leadership and wisdom, the MEA said on Twitter. President Surangel Whipps, Jr. of Palau presented PM @narendramodi with an Ebakl. It is one of the most important tools for the people of Palau and has a strong link with the local culture. It also symbolises leadership and wisdom. pic.twitter.com/2jo3RcLLM0 PMO India (@PMOIndia) May 22, 2023 Some of the previous international awards conferred by countries on Prime Minister Modi are The Order of Abdulaziz Al Saud (the highest honour of Saudi Arabia awarded to non-muslim dignitaries), State Order of Ghazi Amir Amanullah Khan (the highest civilian honour of Afghanistan), the Grand Collar of the State of Palestine Award (the highest honour of Palestine awarded to foreign dignitaries) and Order of Zayed Award (highest civilian honour of the United Arab Emirates). Other awards include the Order of St. Andrew Award ( the highest civilian honour of Russia), the Order of the Distinguished Rule of Nishan Izzuddin (the highest honour of the Maldives awarded to foreign dignitaries) and King Hamad Order of the Renaissance (a top honour by the gulf country). Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi flew into Australia on Monday, aiming to strengthen economic ties by tapping into his country's fastest-growing diaspora. Modi landed in Sydney, the last stop on his Asia-Pacific tour, looking to assert India's role as a regional power in the face of China's growing influence. Indians are the second-largest diaspora community in Australia after the British, with 673,000 Indian-born citizens living in the country of 26 million. Also Read | Leaders of Pacific nations relish Indian delicacies, millets at lunch hosted by PM Modi "The diaspora is the most important bridge in the India-Australia bilateral business relationship," said Jodi McKay, national chair of the Australia-India Business Council. "Prime Minister Modi understood that long before Australia was able to grasp that," she told AFP. Two-way trade between India and Australia was valued at Aus $46.5 billion (US$31 billion) last year and is likely to increase after a free-trade deal came into effect in December. Australia and India hope to sign a broader economic pact this year, McKay said, as their ties have expanded beyond resources to areas such as renewable energy and technology. Also Read | PM Modi, New Zealand counterpart Chris Hipkins discuss full range of bilateral ties US President Joe Biden had to cancel a planned summit in Australia so he could rush back to Washington and negotiate with Republican opponents on the US debt crisis. That has left the stage in Sydney open to Modi. At Sydney's Qudos Bank Arena, organisers said 18,000 people were expected at an event Tuesday evening to welcome Modi, who is facing general elections back home next year. "Look, there's going to be euphoria," said Jay Shah, a director at the India-Australia Diaspora Foundation, which is organising the show. Asked about Australian media reports of divisions within India and the diaspora under Modi's Hindu nationalist BJP, Shah said he could not understand such claims being made of the world's largest democracy. "We respect all the diverse views," he told AFP. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will attend the stadium event, addressing a crowd that few Australian politicians could muster, before hosting Modi at a summit on Wednesday. Modi's trip comes as China expands its diplomatic, financial and military footprint in the Asia-Pacific region. Over the weekend, the Indian leader joined a Quad summit in Japan with the leaders of the United States, Japan and Australia, aimed at countering Beijing's growing assertiveness. Modi landed in Australia hours after holding a summit with 14 South Pacific states in Papua New Guinea -- the first visit to the Pacific nation by an Indian premier. "We share your belief in multilateralism. We support a free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific. We respect the sovereignty and integrity of all countries," Modi told Pacific leaders. In a shocking incident, actor and model Aditya Singh Rajput was found dead in the bathroom of his home at Andheri in Mumbai on Monday afternoon. Rajput was 32 and hailed from Delhi. He was a part of films such as Krantiveer and Maine Gandhi Ko Nahin Mara. He was a part of several advertisements and participated in reality shows like Splitsvilla 9 and prominent TV projects like Love, Ashiqui, Code Red, Aawaz Season 9, Bad Boy Season 4, and others. Rajput was found dead in the washroom of the 11th floor apartment. His body has been sent for post-mortem and further investigation into the matter is under way. A friend of the actor found him unconscious and rushed to a hospital where he was pronounced dead on admission LPL Financial LLC boosted its stake in Nokia Oyj (NYSE:NOK Get Rating) by 16.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 481,272 shares of the technology companys stock after purchasing an additional 68,611 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLCs holdings in Nokia Oyj were worth $2,233,000 at the end of the most recent quarter. Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BlackRock Inc. boosted its position in Nokia Oyj by 18.9% in the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 4,795,249 shares of the technology companys stock valued at $26,183,000 after buying an additional 763,930 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Nokia Oyj by 79.1% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,029,643 shares of the technology companys stock worth $27,462,000 after purchasing an additional 2,221,142 shares during the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. purchased a new stake in Nokia Oyj in the first quarter valued at $55,000. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in Nokia Oyj by 44.9% in the first quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 62,728 shares of the technology companys stock valued at $343,000 after acquiring an additional 19,430 shares during the last quarter. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its position in Nokia Oyj by 171.3% in the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 33,493 shares of the technology companys stock valued at $183,000 after acquiring an additional 21,146 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 7.57% of the companys stock. Get Nokia Oyj alerts: Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on NOK shares. TheStreet upgraded shares of Nokia Oyj from a c+ rating to a b- rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 8th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Nokia Oyj from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 17th. UBS Group lowered shares of Nokia Oyj from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 31st. Finally, Raymond James decreased their price objective on shares of Nokia Oyj from $7.00 to $6.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 21st. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $5.73. Nokia Oyj Stock Up 1.0 % Shares of NOK opened at $4.05 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $22.81 billion, a PE ratio of 5.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.17 and a beta of 0.97. The companys fifty day moving average is $4.46 and its two-hundred day moving average is $4.63. Nokia Oyj has a fifty-two week low of $3.95 and a fifty-two week high of $5.28. The company has a quick ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 1.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. Nokia Oyj (NYSE:NOK Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 19th. The technology company reported $0.06 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of $0.09 by ($0.03). Nokia Oyj had a net margin of 16.78% and a return on equity of 11.57%. The company had revenue of $5.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.74 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.08 EPS. The firms revenue for the quarter was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Nokia Oyj will post 0.44 earnings per share for the current year. Nokia Oyj Increases Dividend The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 9th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 25th were issued a dividend of $0.0329 per share. This is a positive change from Nokia Oyjs previous quarterly dividend of $0.02. This represents a $0.13 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.25%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 24th. Nokia Oyjs dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 11.39%. About Nokia Oyj (Get Rating) Nokia Oyj engages in the provision of network infrastructure, technology, and software services. It operates through the following segments: Mobile Networks, Network Infrastructure, Cloud and Network Services, and Nokia Technologies. The Mobile Networks segment offers technologies for Radio Access Networks (RAN) as well as Microwave Radio Links (MWR) for transport networks. See Also Receive News & Ratings for Nokia Oyj Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Nokia Oyj and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. The family of a nationalist councillor murdered in Northern Ireland have expressed anger and dismay at a decision to refuse a new inquest in the case. The widow and children of Patsy Kelly have vowed to mount a legal challenge against the decision by the Attorney General. Last month, the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland (PONI) found that the RUC investigation into the murder of Mr Kelly in 1974 was wholly inadequate, with the actions of some officers indicative of collusive behaviour. Ombudsman Marie Anderson said Mr Kellys family was failed by police. Mr Kelly was last seen alive in the early hours of July 24, 1974 as he drove away from the Corner Bar in Trillick, Co Tyrone, where he worked. His body was found in Lough Eyes, near Lisbellaw, in Co Fermanagh, three weeks later on August 10. He had been shot six times. While loyalist paramilitaries claimed responsibility for the murder, the Kelly family believe the killing was perpetrated by members of an Ulster Defence Regiment army patrol. No-one has ever been charged or prosecuted over the murder. Following the ombudsmans report, the family reiterated its demand for a fresh inquest to be ordered. An original inquest in 1975 delivered an open verdict. The office of Northern Irelands Attorney General Dame Brenda King has now written to the legal representatives of Mr Kellys widow Teresa turning down that request. In the letter, seen by the PA news agency, a representative for Dame Brenda noted it was the fourth request made by the family for a fresh inquest. The letter stated: The Attorney has read the Police Ombudsmans statement and it is clear that the complaints raised by your client have been thoroughly investigated by her. The Attorney considers it unlikely that a new inquest would add materially to what is contained in the Police Ombudsmans statement at this remove. In all the circumstances the Attorney does not consider that it would be advisable for her to direct an inquest at this time. The Attorney knows that this will come as a disappointment to your client and is sympathetic to the concerns that have been raised by you on her behalf. The letter noted that the decision was not final and can be re-visited should relevant evidence come to light or further submissions be received. The family criticised the decision. In a statement they said: It was with great dismay and anger that we were informed of the Attorney Generals decision to refuse a fresh inquest into the murder of Patsy Kelly. This decision has caused an enormous deal of hurt to our family. The family said they had been left with no option but to apply for a judicial review into the decision. The recent publication of the PONI report into Patsys murder has highlighted the depth and scale of collusion in a case that has spanned across police, loyalist paramilitaries and British military forces, they added. However, the PONI investigation only had the remit to investigate police misconduct. The granting of a fresh inquest bearing in mind the original inquest of 1975 was effectively incomplete would allow the spotlight to focus on UDR involvement in tandem with a then active UVF unit in Fermanagh and would possess the power to compel witnesses to attend and to submit testimonies. The family said it was appalling and incomprehensible that a fresh inquest had been denied. They vowed to overcome what they characterised as the latest obstacle in the quest for the truth. We are never giving up, they added. The Kelly familys solicitor, Adrian OKane, said: The suggestion that the Kelly family obtained all the relevant answers from the PONI report is both wrong and misconceived. The Police Ombudsman, by definition, is confined to examination of issues relating to the conduct of the RUC/PSNI. The Kelly family have always contended that all of the other components of the State including the Ministry of Defence and the Security Services have important issues to address and questions to answer resulting from the death of Patsy Kelly. These can only be properly and fully addressed in a fresh inquest. A statement from the Attorney Generals office said: The Attorney General fully appreciates the Kelly familys disappointment with her decision not to direct a new inquest into the murder of Patsy Kelly on 24 July 1974. All applications to the Attorney General to exercise her powers under section 14(1) of the Coroners Act (NI) 1959 receive careful and objective consideration. The Attorney exercises this function entirely independently. The Attorneys reasons for not directing an inquest have been set out in a letter issued on her behalf to the familys solicitor. It is important to note that the decision by the Attorney General not to exercise her powers under section 14(1) of the 1959 Act is not final and the matter can be re-visited should further relevant evidence come to light or further submissions be received. As is the case in relation to all applications, the Attorney General would welcome any such submissions. Instagram was down for the second time in the last 4 days. It was a global outage and many users were reportedly affected by this. The Instagram feed, stories and messages section were not accessible. Here are user reactions and memes about it. Instagram outage: What happened? Meta spokesperson, Dave Arnold, in a statement to The Verge confirmed the Instagram outage, revealing, Were aware that some people are having trouble accessing Instagram. Were working to get things back to normal as quickly as possible and we apologize for any inconvenience. The issue seems to have been fixed at the time of writing this. However, earlier today, I was facing difficulty refreshing the feed, messages werent sending, Reels werent opening and some reactions werent also functioning. Many users across the world have come across similar problems. The problem pertained to the app only, something which the Downdetector website also points out. The first reports of the outage apparently started appearing around 3:30 AM (IST) and there were about 1,75,000 reports at its peak. So when something like this happens, you know where people rush to. Yes, Twitter! Instagram Outage: Twitter reactions BRO WE GET IT INSTAGRAM IS DOWN pic.twitter.com/EGEZ3ynkce (@DestroyingWrld) May 21, 2023 Everyone linking up on Twitter since instagram is down pic.twitter.com/0Z5AsgP8uj Mike (@hiciano_michael) May 21, 2023 e girls on their way to go on twitter after instagram shut down pic.twitter.com/2Ig9PnJou5 (@VinnyC0l0rad0) May 21, 2023 me coming to twitter to see why My Instagram aint working instagram down pic.twitter.com/67thufdBlh Jullien (@librv_) May 21, 2023 ARM recently announced it is going to make changes to its licensing policy that underpins most of the consumer tech industry. Now, thanks to a Financial Times report, we have an idea of how this new ARM licensing model is going to work or dare we say change the way the consumer electronics industry works. Lets understand. The key change is that ARM will charge royalties from device manufacturers (based on the value of the device) and not the chip makers (based on the value of the chip) as it does currently. Since a device costs more than a single chip, ARM earns more. Thats the idea to boost its revenue ahead of its forthcoming IPO. Lets break it down even further. ARM licensing change: How it impacts the chip and device makers Before, ARM used to license blueprints of the chip design to chip makers and charge a license fee as well as recurrent royalties for every new chip sold. Now, it charges this royalty from the device makers and not the chip makers. Instead, the chip maker will have to sell the chips to the device makers with whom ARM has its royalty agreement. Arm gets the royalty and the device maker gets the chip. Whats more, is that these chip companies wont be allowed to use their own custom ISP, GPU, and other co-processors. So, this new licensing decision makes news at a time when Qualcomm is said to be working on new 2-tier Nuvia CPU architecture and MediaTek is apparently working with Nvidia for a custom GPU. These plans could thus be under threat from ARMs new move. Lets see how it turns out as it goes into force as early as next year. ARM has reportedly informed the leading chip manufacturers like Qualcomm, MediaTek, and Unisoc as well as device makers like Xiaomi and Oppo. Well see how its customers react. They might have to bow down to pressure. What SoftBank is doing at the moment is testing the market value of the monopoly that Arm has, says an ex-employee to FT while talking about this radical shift in the way ARM has been doing its business. Samsung Galaxy A14 4G is going to launch soon in India. We have the expected launch date and also the likely specs and price tag it could come in with. As per SamInsider, it is reportedly shipping with a MediaTek chip (not Exynos) and could be 2000 cheaper than the 5G variant. Here are the complete details. Samsung Galaxy A14 price and availability (Expected) Samsung could bring the 4+64GB model of Galaxy A14 4G for 13,999 and the 4+128GB variant for 14,999. With launch offers, the price could be even lower. Also, the source doesnt seem to think the 6+128GB model is going to come to India. As for the launch date, the report suspects it could come in this week although the brand is yet to say or hint anything about this. Samsung Galaxy A14 specs and features (Expected) Samsung Galaxy A14 recently launched in the Malaysian market and we rely on those specs information here. On the front, the A14 could be housing a 6.6-inch PLS LCD display with FHD+ resolution and a v-shaped notch. Within the cutout, you could get a 13MP selfie snapper capable of shooting at 1080p 30fps. The back of the phone, meanwhile, houses a 50MP main camera, 5MP ultrawide, and a 2MP macro module. Again, the video recording is up to 1080p at 30 frames per second. Inside the A14, there could be a MediaTek Helio G80 SoC coupled with up to 4+128GB memory. The device could also support expandable storage via a microSD card. Also Read: Samsung Galaxy A14 5G launched in India For keeping the lights on, there could be a 5000mAh battery backed by 15W charging support. The phone could have a glass front and a plastic back. It could come in any, if not all of the following colours Black, Dark Red, Silver, and Green. The rest of the repertoire could consist of USB-C 2.0 port, a 3.5mm headphone jack, NFC, WiFi ac, Bluetooth 5.1, GPS, and a side-mounted fingerprint scanner. Clear strategy, flexible tactics In the two decades between 2000 and 2020, Taiwanese firms did business in China rarely in collaboration with one another. For the manufacturing of notebooks and handsets, whoever managed to obtain the orders at the expense of competitors would emerge as the winner. It was a zero-sum game. Therefore, the stock market would favor those who were in the Apple supply chain. And any proposal for inter-company cooperation would usually be seen as something with a hidden agenda. But now Taiwanese firms understand that they can no longer fight individually. Cross-domain collaboration and complementary partnerships are important. They are also open to the idea of jointly building overseas clusters. As the industry enters the era of Internet of Everything, market demand comes in a very complex form. Smart applications are offering specific business opportunities, and the electric vehicle (EV) and IoV markets will definitely take off in ASEAN. Under the G2 framework of competition between the two global superpowers, India and ASEAN will seek to work directly with Taiwan, and with intervention by the US will also seek to have Taiwan adjust its over-reliance on production bases in China. DIGITIMES foresees that India will have a structural advantage in the ICT market in the future. Because of the vibrant developments of its market, local businesses no longer give top priority to low prices when looking for sources of product supplies. They now give more emphasis to product quality and supply efficiency with which they can achieve good sales in the local market. India is trying to attract investors with its PLI scheme, but Taiwanese firms must understand that they need to make long-term deployments in India. India is a huge and complex market with a population of 1.4 billion where overwhelming instant success is unlikely. Taiwanese firms, with their prowess and rich resources, should not aim for short-term returns only. India may be seeking instant success in its industrial developments, but Taiwanese firms should look at the long term. They should phase their business developments and reap their profits gradually. Long-term developments will enable joint innovations, sharing and co-prosperity. Taiwan must embrace a clear strategy with flexible tactics to push forward software-hardware integration. Taiwan's advantage comes from the width and depth of its industries, and its experience over the years. Taiwanese firms used to be playing second fiddle to brand vendors, earning meager profits from their contract manufacturing businesses. They have enormous manufacturing bases in China, but every Taiwanese maker knows it well that the bigger your business scale, the lower the gross profit. They have relied mainly on low cost of capital and their capability of avoiding making any mistakes. Their three to four decades of exceptional hard work may be paying off now: it is the solid foundation of the competitiveness of Taiwan's industries. China bans Micron's products in critical IT infrastructure After a review of nearly two months, China decided to require critical IT operators to cease buying Micron's products, with its ramifications potentially expanding outside of its China market. According to a statement by the Cyberspace Administration of China, after a cybersecurity review of Micron's products, China found significant cybersecurity risks associated with Micron's products, posing a major threat to the supply chain of China's critical IT infrastructure and national security. The authority decided to require critical IT infrastructure operators to stop procuring Micron's products, adding that China remains committed to opening up to the world and welcomes those who comply with Chinese laws and regulations to operate in China. Reuters reported that Micron said it had received the notice of the review's conclusion and is looking forward to continuing to engage in discussions with Chinese authorities. The review was announced in late March before Betty Wu was appointed the new general manager for Micron China in mid-May and is responsible for "embodying the company's unwavering commitment to China's technology ecosystem, business operations, and various stakeholders in China," according to Micron's statement. Bloomberg quoted Holden Triplett, founder of Trenchcoat Advisors, saying that the decision was nothing but a retaliation for the US's export controls on semiconductors, adding that these are driven purely and simply by politics and any business could be the next one to be made an example of. Despite China's ban on Micron's products only applying to a few big Chinese companies, Wall Street Journal quoted Lester Ross, a Beijing-based lawyer at WilmerHale, saying that Micron's other customers in China may turn to other sources for memory products. Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Paula Penkal said in an earlier research note that China's review could affect Micron's direct exposure to China and customers who use its chips, including Intel, Qualcomm, Apple, and Dell. Meanwhile, South-Korean memory providers may benefit from the Micron ban. Micron said in its 10-K document that China might restrict it from participating in the Chinese market or may prevent it from competing effectively with its Chinese counterparts. Chip developer Black Sesame will supply Hongqi to build autonomous driving platform China-based Black Sesame Technologies announced on May 19 that it will provide local carmaker Hongqi Auto with its Huashan-2 A1000L series chips to enable an autonomous driving platform. In addition, the pair plan to start mass-producing vehicles based on the chip next year. Black Sesame said it had become a smart driving chip supplier of Hongqi for the latter's FEEA 3.0 platform. Hongqi is a China-based luxury brand owned by the FAW Car Company. According to an announcement, Black Sesame's Huashan-2 A1000L series will support Hongqi's autonomous driving domain control platform integrating driving and parking. The company said the platform will apply to 80% of Hongqi's models. The duo has been developing two vehicles, E001 and E202, based on the A1000L chip. Black Sesame said they will begin the mass production of the two models in 2024 at the earliest. Founded in 2016, Black Sesame focuses on developing high-performance computing chips and platforms to enable autonomous driving and vehicle-to-everything(V2X). According to the company, the Huashan-2 A1000L chip offers a computing power of 16TOPS(INT8) and has entered volume production. It also said its Drive Sensing, based on the A1000L chip, is the industry's only driving-and-parking-integrated solution that can be mass-produced with an SoC. The solution supports Level 2+ autonomous driving and Navigate on Autopilot (NOA), as well as other features. The partnership between Black Sesame and Hongqi is another case of China's homegrown automakers using local chip suppliers, partly because of the geopolitical tension between China and the US. According to China Popular Computer Week, the first customers of the country's top chip developers are mostly state-owned car companies. For example, Horizon Robotics supplied Changan Automobile in 2020. Black Sesame first offered its A1000 pro chips to FAW. China Popular Computer Week reported that automotive OEMs have to work directly with chip and software suppliers as cars become more intelligent. Car companies need more control over their products and shorten the development cycle. With the change and the chip scarcity, more China-based chip developers have risen to be automotive suppliers. Families of victims of the Troubles have called on the Taoiseach to take action to oppose the UK Governments legacy Bill. The UK Governments Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Bill would provide immunity for people accused of crimes during the Troubles, as long as they co-operate with a new truth recovery body known as the Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery (Icrir). It would also halt future civil cases and inquests linked to killings during the conflict. The Bill, which is currently making its way through Parliament, has been widely criticised by Northern Irelands political parties, the Irish Government and victims groups. Thank you to the Taoiseach Leo Varadkar @LeoVaradkar for meeting with families of the Disappeared & families affected by the legacy bill. We have asked for urgent action from the Irish Government given the damaging ramifications of the proposed legislation. pic.twitter.com/3TUMBTsbA3 WAVE Trauma Centre (@WAVETrauma) May 22, 2023 Taoiseach Leo Varadkar met members of the Wave Trauma Centre and family members of the so-called Disappeared and other legacy Troubles victims at Government Buildings on Monday. Maria Lynskey, whose uncle Joe Lynskey went missing in May 1972, said the families of the Disappeared wanted to keep their stories in the public attention until their bodies are recovered. She feared time is running out as all but one of his siblings, who is now in her 90s, have died. My uncle is coming on to 51 years in a bog and it was 30-odd years before we even knew there was such a secrecy around him. She said she wanted to ensure his existence is marked by the burial of his remains in a family grave. Somebody might just have some information. Theres not much information on my uncle, how long can it go on for? Ms Lynskey said she was hopeful the Taoiseach may be able to spur some action to support the families. Pat Molloy, whose son John was killed in Belfast in 1996, said the legacy Bill would prevent families from receiving justice. If they lost a loved one, a brother, a son, a sister would you not want justice? Of course they would. Whats the difference in my sons murder and a boy over in London being murdered? Theres no difference at all, except over in London they get the perpetrators. In Belfast, they dont get the perpetrators. Just another number. Im here to tell them Johns not another number. He was a good lad and he was a proud son of ours and he was brutally murdered. He deserves justice. He said the British Government was hellbent on getting the legacy Bill through the House of Lords, which he said was against what Northern Irelands politicians wanted. We need justice for our loved ones, we need justice for John. Mr Molloy said the families had a good meeting with the Taoiseach. He looked at us at all and listened to us telling him For goodness sake, get this [UK] Government off their butts and get this legacy [Bill] put to bed. Fine Gael senator Emer Currie accompanied the families to their meeting. She described the Bill as cynical. Were at the point now where the British Government are starting to appoint people to the Icrir. Thats a statement of intent. Theyve turned up the temperature. We know it is their goal to pass this legislation by the summer. So this meeting is to impress on the Taoiseach the need for action on the Irish Governments side to prevent this Bill going through. She said she had no faith that game-changing amendments promised by the Northern Ireland Secretary of State Chris Heaton-Harris would change the Bill from being perpetrator-centred to victim-led. Wave Trauma Centre chief executive Sandra Peake said they were hoping to highlight the concerns of those whose loved ones had been Disappeared and those who were impacted by Troubles-era killings. She said there is a lot of fear around the Bill as it is currently worded. For many people, the past is not the past it is very much the present. Whereby the people who took their loved ones away and murdered them, continue to sneer at them, jeer at them and smile at them as a form of ongoing threat. She said the Bill would feed injustice, pass trauma on to further generations and in some ways, allow the past to be rewritten. Ms Peake said the meeting was very positive. I hope today we left the Taoiseach with a firm view of what we believe are the fundamental drawbacks regarding the legacy legislation and what needs to happen for the future. She said the Taoiseach took on board what the group had to say. Whats being offered is a perpetrator-friendly bill which puts the perpetrators needs before the survivors. Fundamentally, thats wrong. We also believe in relation to how the Bill is structured, that it will not deliver what we believe victims and survivors need. That is a victim and survivors-centred process which puts their needs centre stage and gives due regard to their loved ones case. TIP: If there is a problem after bypassing house wiring, leverage that fact to get a free tech visit to fix that problem. But when the tech arrives, tell them how you tested and what you found, but emphasize that you also want the tech to verify that all house wiring is OK as well. Doing this probably would have saved me a couple of later tech visits. Because as soon as I said I bypassed all house wiring and still found a problem, the tech ignored all house wiring (and missed finding a secondary problem in the house). Dundalk Institute of Technology (DkIT) have reported that one of their 2nd year Arts & Humanities students Liam McCourt was recently awarded 3rd place in a prestigious all-Ireland Creative Writing competition. The competition was part of one of the initiatives recently rolled out to mark 50 years of the Bachelor of Arts (BA) European Studies at the University of Limerick, the Centre for European Studies in cooperation with #IrelandEU50. This competition asked undergraduate students across Ireland to creatively imagine Europe in 2073, 50 years from now. The entries were judged by novelist Dr Donal Ryan of the School of English, Irish and Communication, novelist Dominique Le Meur of the School of Modern Languages and Applied Linguistics, and lecturer in creative writing, Dr Vicky Brady of Mary Immaculate College. The winners within the category of creative writing in English were Hollie Hannon, University of Galway (1st Prize); Nicholas OKeeffe, Trinity College Dublin (2nd Prize); and Liam McCourt, Dundalk Institute of Technology (3rd Prize). Liam who hails from Dundalk and went to CBS secondary school, chose to study Arts at DkIT because he had an interest in novels and films. Liam said of his course: I feel like the content of my course has been above and beyond in terms of what I expected, my favourite subjects are American Literature and Film, but there is a great range of modules to pick from which is very varied, Im really enjoying my time in DkIT, I like the small class size and it feels more like a family atmosphere with a diverse range of students he added Im delighted to have won this award, I didnt always have a love of creative writing but the course has encouraged me to dabble and become more creative Liam would like to progress to teach at secondary school level, so after he graduates from DkIT he will pursue a Masters of Education. The pride and pain felt by people in Dundalk and Donegal following the death in Lebanon of Private Sean Rooney while on peacekeeping duty last year was recalled in Leinster House last week by Sinn Fein TD Ruairi O Murchu. The Dundalk deputy was speaking during statements on the Consultative Forum on International Security, during which he spoke about the benefits of Irelands neutrality. It was a theme Deputy O Murchu, Sinn Fein spokesperson on EU Affairs, also spoke about during a plenary meeting of Parliamentary Committees for Union Affairs (COSAC), which was held in Stockholm at the beginning of last week. Speaking in Leinster House, Deputy O Murchu said: The Irish people have not moved. They are utterly committed to what we might call military neutrality or non-alignment. "We are shown respect across the international scene as a fair player and a moral authority on the basis of our neutrality and non-alignment. It is also on the basis of our history of being the colonised rather than the coloniser. It is also fair to say that during the brutal invasion of Ukraine by Russia, when others started talking about weapons and all the rest of it, the Tanaiste said there was no requirement for Ireland to be a military superpower. I would like to think that is a situation that will continue. Not only do people respect our position and the work we have done as regards peacekeeping, we have a strong message as a result of the Irish peace process and all that has brought us and all that it can bring us into the future. That is respected throughout the world and is almost a template for best practice to move us to a better place than we are in now. On peacekeeping, the people in my own home town of Dundalk and of County Donegal felt both pride and pain at the loss of Private Sean Rooney. We have earned that respect for peacekeeping. We have paid an enormous toll. I would not like us to move to a place where some of the commentary has been coming from in the past while. I have heard some reassuring commentary today to the effect there will not be movement towards NATO but I cannot say that every position that has been taken and that every comment we have heard from some Fianna Fail and Fine Gael commentators is as positive as that. "It would be fair to say the Irish people could not stand over a huge number of the positions that have been taken by NATO and NATO powers, particularly the US, over many years. In Stockholm, Deputy O Murchu said the EU should stand for decency and justice and stand against malign actors. Irelands oldest person, Mairin Hughes, still knows how to enjoy life. The inspirational 109-year-old still does the crossword regularly, loves birdwatching and does everything youre supposed to do to keep well. On Monday Mairin Hughes, who was born in Belfast and spent part of her long life in Kerry, Cork and Dublin, celebrated her birthday with her community at Maryfield Nursing Home in Chapelizod, Dublin. As she arrived in the lobby of the nursing home, sporting a navy blazer and pink scarf, she expressed surprise at her fellow residents and a family member waiting for her with balloons and a big cake. She was presented with medals for each year she has lived as a centenarian, and read out a quote to the room that accompanied her latest medal, which she remarked was very true. You have lived through remarkable times in the history of Ireland and the world. You have witnessed remarkable changes, unimaginable at the time of your birth in 1914. Sin a bhfuil, she added afterwards, Irish for that is all. After her favourite song, Oro Se do Bheatha Bhaile, was played, which she sang along to enthusiastically, she and her friends boarded the vintage tea bus that awaited them outside. She said her advice to people is to live life to the full and that not wasting time is important. She told the PA news agency she does enjoy her birthdays. Its nice to get cards and that sort of thing, its nice to know that people remember you. When asked if life gets better as you get older, she said you learn a certain amount and you do advance that way, and you learn to cope with situations. She added: Im a cosmopolitan, because I was born in Belfast, and then dad was transferred to Dublin, and we were in Dublin for a couple of years, and then transferred to Killarney, and he retired while we were in Killarney so we still stayed there. When I married I moved to Cork. She said life at Maryfield was the next step in her remarkable journey. When asked if she likes city life, she said: I like the country, I want to see greenery. I like the quietness and the birds, which we have here. Theyre gorgeous around the river. Asked for her advice on a happy life, she said it is all about your attitude. Orla Quigg, director of nursing at Maryfield, told PA that she is a smart woman who loves doing puzzles daily. Mairin is a super lady. She really is inspirational to all of us here, she said. Shes lived on the grounds of Maryfield for over 30 years. She lived in apartments at the front and then she moved into the nursing home when it was rebuilt. She plays Scrabble every day, she does a crossword every day, she does everything youre supposed to do to keep well. She loves history and shes part of history. Shes very witty, shes so smart. She added: She doesnt like the fuss, she doesnt see why she should be made a fuss of. She just does what she does, and she feels if you get up every morning, sure thats enough. After Mairin Hughes and her friends take their seats aboard the bus, they were heard singing Alive alive oh! from the song Molly Malone before the vintage tea bus drove off down the road. Justice Minister Simon Harris is to bring a memo to Cabinet on Tuesday to increase the maximum sentence for assaulting a Garda from seven years to 12. This will include the ramming of a Garda patrol car, he said. Mr Harris was speaking at an event to launch the opening of a new office for the Dublin Metropolitan Region of An Garda Siochana at Dublin Castle. Addressing the increase in anti-immigration protests this year and the big challenges in policing the capital, Mr Harris pledged his backing to the force in its strategy. He said: I want to let you know, we have your back when it comes to making sure youre safe as you go about your duties. And what that means is passing legislation to provide Gardai with body cams so that our Gardai arent the only people at the protests without cameras and well get that done. Well work with the Commissioner to make sure theres a full rollout of body cams to all frontline Gardai. Mr Harris added: Tomorrow, I will bring a memo to Cabinet to amend the law to ensure that if anybody dares to assault a Garda in this country that the maximum sentence is increased to 12 years and that this will include the ramming of a Garda vehicle. Because whilst we live in a country that massively respects the Gardai and we live in a country that has one of the greatest levels of confidence in a police force right across the European Union, we can never ever, ever tolerate anybody attacking a member of the frontline emergency services or a member of An Garda Siochana. He added that the proposals were about showing solidarity amid an uptick in relation to attacks on members of the Gardai, but added its also about sending a message from the Oireachtas about how seriously the people of Ireland take such attacks. We also need to live in a country where we dont as politicians just wring our hands and condemn, though condemning is important, we actually need to update the laws to support the Gardai and thats what Ill endeavour to do. Mr Harris said that while there is respect for peoples right to peaceful protest, there have been incidences where criminal activity has crept into these protests and we must never accept that. Its very easy for people to sit behind desks or people like me to go in front of microphones and second-guess the Gardai Ill never do that, because I trust your operational judgement, he said. I trust you know where youre at and I trust the Gardai in terms of being able to apply the laws of this land. Mr Harris, Minister for Higher and Further Education, is in charge of the Justice portfolio while his party colleague Helen McEntee is on maternity leave. Ms McEntee is due to return to the role next month. Health tourism: What is it and how does it work? The healthcare system in Germany is fraught with limitations. For some treatments as well as cosmetic procedures, patients have to pay the bills themselves. In the course of reducing these costs, health tourism has seen an increase in recent years. To see how this niche of the travel industry works, see the article below. Vacation in connection with medical treatments experience a new boom The costs for treatments in Germany are not completely covered by the monthly health insurance contribution. Especially for treatments that are not considered a medical necessity by the health insurance companies, coverage often fails to materialize. Clinics and medical practices in other European countries have discovered a gap in the market for themselves in these regulations of the German health system. The resulting health tourism invites patients to have treatments performed abroad. This invitation is primarily accepted by people who consider the high costs in Germany to be an obstacle to timely treatment. In conjunction with the stay, numerous providers are nevertheless able to keep the costs below the price of German treatments and procedures. The offers were set in motion by cosmetic surgery One of the first forms of health tourism, which has been used for several years, follows the call of beauty. Operations such as breast implants or nose corrections quickly cost a medium to high four-digit amount in Germany. In other European countries such as Hungary and Turkey, prices are sometimes half as low. The costs play in the considerations for the suitable place of the execution of the interferences likewise a not subordinate role. In recent years, the offer from abroad has also been expanded to include dental treatments. Dental prosthesis or other costly treatments do not necessarily require a long time to save or take out a loan abroad. Some travel providers have specialized in health tourism In the early years, patients often had to book travel arrangements separately after making appointments abroad. As demand has grown, travel providers have emerged that specialize in conducting stays for medical purposes. One of these providers is Letsmedi Doctors. This company offers the booking of complete packages at a fixed price. In addition, there is a possibility to read testimonials of other users. With the help of this information, it is easier to find the place with the highest satisfaction of other patients among several destinations. Letsmedi Doctors also allows all trips to be booked online. On-site treatment is provided by trained medical personnel The lower cost does not mean compromising on the quality of treatment. The medical care at the place of treatment is taken over by trained doctors as well as trained nursing staff. Within Europe, a comparable standard already applies to medical professions during training. The risk of complications or treatment errors is therefore not increased abroad. However, it is important to check in advance which contact persons are available. Some hotels have medical staff on site, while on other trips the booking companies have a contact person ready for emergencies and complications. Accompanying persons are not only important as travel partners Although health tourism leads to destinations such as Ankara or Budapest, it is not comparable in all aspects to a regular vacation trip. This is also true with regard to the treatments and procedures, which are sometimes associated with pain. For this reason, it is recommended to take a travel companion with you. These individuals can help alleviate nervousness and assist with patient care after medical treatments. In many travel packages, companions pay only a small extra charge, so that stays remain affordable for fellow travelers as well. Project benefitting from 8.8 million EU grant and 5 million EBRD loan Improved energy efficiency will boost energy savings Investment is part of the Green Cities Action Plan for Belgrade More than 50 years since it opened, Belgrades urgent care centre will be reconstructed thanks to a project financed by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the European Union (EU). An 8.8 million EU grant agreement was signed today in the presence of the EBRDs Western Balkans Regional Director, Matteo Colangeli, the Mayor of Belgrade, Aleksandar Sapic, Ambassador of the European Union to Serbia, Emanuele Giaufret, Minister of European Integration, Tanja Miscevic and Minister of Health, Danica Grujicic. The EU funds, as well as a previously secured 5 million EBRD loan, will finance renovation and expansion works on Belgrades urgent care centre. The total investment is expected to cost around 13.8 million. In addition, the EU has secured a 1.7 million grant for technical assistance to the City of Belgrade to help implement the project and supervise the construction work, review the citys potential for energy efficiency and put in place a sustainable financing mechanism. Matteo Colangeli, EBRD Regional Director for the Western Balkans, said: With rising energy prices, the case for investing in buildings energy efficiency is increasingly compelling. Beyond reduced energy bills, these investments contribute to cutting air pollution and creating green jobs in the local economy. In the coming years, EBRD will step up investments in Belgrade and other cities across Serbia in this important area. Emanuele Giaufret, Ambassador and Head of EU Delegation to the Republic of Serbia, stated, "This project precisely combines topics of public healthcare and energy in the best possible way, both of which the EU cares a great deal. The reconstruction and capacity increase of the Emergency Medical Institute in Belgrade is part of a larger project that includes the renovation of three other important city facilities: the Student Polyclinic, Student Hospital, and the Belgrade City Library. I would also like to remind you of the upcoming projects for the reconstruction of VMA (Military Medical Academy) and the construction of the Children's Hospital Tirsova 2, for which the EU has provided 36 million in grants. New green projects are starting in Kostolac and Vlasina, and over 190,000 vulnerable families will have lower electricity and district heating bills thanks to the EU Energy Support Package worth 165 million". In addition to the signing of the grant agreement, it is expected that a works tender will also be published in the coming days. The reconstruction of the urgent care centre will include work to improve energy efficiency, as well as to expand existing facilities by 4,000 m2. Measures aimed at improving energy efficiency will include thermal insulation, improved heating, ventilation and cooling systems, as well as the installation of energy-efficient lighting systems. The investment is expected to lead to a significant reduction in energy consumption and CO 2 emissions. Additional benefits include improved heating and cooling, providing better comfort for users of the facility, as well as significant savings in the citys budget. The investment is one of the priority projects defined by the Green City Action Plan for Belgrade, developed in cooperation with the EBRD. The Banks Green Cities programme, which Belgrade joined in 2019, helps cities invest in green and sustainable infrastructure and meet key environmental challenges. This is one of the first investments identified in the Action Plan, which was adopted in 2021. In addition to the urgent care centre, three more public buildings have been prioritised for reconstruction: a student polyclinic, student hospital and the City of Belgrade Library. The planned reconstruction is expected to be financed by another EBRD and EU financial package. DEBORAH Aribasoye will have multiple roles at the Spotlight On Anti-Racism Summit taking place on Friday 26 at Cork City Hall. She will not only play host, but will also continue to act as a mentor for the young people performing from the Cork Migrant Centre (CMC). She is unfazed by the juggling act, unsurprising for a young woman who has always risen to a challenge. When I was in secondary school, I told my teacher that I wanted to go to college, she recalls. Deborah, however, said such a thought was met with disbelief - how would it be possible, as how would her family pay for it? I did go to college, and last September I completed my Masters in Public Relations and New Media at Munster Technology University. Deborah, who is Irish-born of Nigerian parents, says hurtful treatment of minorities is 100% widespread in Irish society. But her positivity around her own story epitomises the tone of the summit. It is youth-led. It is collaborative. It is action-oriented. Th summit is about celebrating difference and expressing pain through creativity. Yes, young people will share devastating experiences, but they will do so through song, poetry, music and dance. This is very empowering, highlights Aribasoye. It can be very draining to share your pain all the time. As a mentor of young people in Corks Migrant Centre, I am very aware of this. I am on the other side of these experiences but for some people who will be on stage, they are still going through something similar. It is more comfortable for them to express themselves through the arts. There will be rapping and dancing. Our young people are so into music. It will be very special. In fact, she is yet to hear the whole performance as the young people involved are keen to keep it under wraps before the big day. They keep telling me to get out while they are practicing, but Im very exciting to hear and see it all. Deborah is really looking forward to the infusion of different cultures. We didnt want the event to solely explore the lives of black and brown people. Plenty of white groups are marginalised in Irish society such as the Traveller and Roma communities. That is something Im very keen to see and hear, that infusion of different cultures. I know that members of the Traveller community are planning to share their songs and stories. It promises to be really wonderful. Deborah Aribasoye. ROOTS OF THE SUMMIT The summit is a progression of anti-racist conversations opened in 2020 by Cork Migrant Centre Youth Initiative Against Racism (CMCYIAR), in Nano Nagle Place, following the killing of George Floyd. It is funded by the Governments International Protection Integration Fund, and part funded by CYPSC, Cork City Council Social Inclusion Office, and the National Youth Council. Attendees will step into the world of Black, Brown, Traveller, and Roma youth as they express their experiences with racism through creativity, music, spoken word, dance and theatre. The event, which is the first ever youth-led Anti-Racism Summit in Cork, will showcase the talent and leadership skills of these young people, who are often marginalised and viewed through a deficit lens. Deborah is certain that this will be an empowering experience for the young people involved. Indeed, she has already seen the impact of the work carried out at CMC. A lot of young people I work with have already gone out into other spaces and visited other groups. That is something we really encourage. It is hard to constantly raise awareness but this work is very enriching. HER BACKGROUND Deborah was born and raised in Ireland. Her parents arrived in Ireland and went through the direct provision system. She cant remember it as she was a baby. She knows it was hard for them. As she mentions throughout our interview, her time as a child and particularly a student in Ireland was far from easy. When I was in primary school, I found out that I was dyslexic. Apart from struggling with my learning difficulty and the anxiety that came with it, I also experienced racism from my teachers and peers. This made school a very hard place to be. Deborah believes that whilst some teachers are racist with intention, others simply need more education. She hopes plenty of educators will attend the summit, and hopes that what happened to her wont happen again. She thanks her mother for helping her to get to her position today. Thanks to my mothers encouragement, I was able to persevere and complete my Leaving Cert, and I got accepted into Southeast Technological University (STU), despite the fact that my guidance counsellor had advised me not to go to college and not to apply for the CAO. I had the best five years of third-level education. I got great support from the DSS (disability support services) team at both STU and MTU. Deborah is now a youth leader and mentor at the Cork Migrant Centre and for more than three years has enjoyed working on projects such as the Wednesday hip-hop dance class, and racism awareness webinar. UBUNTU Summit organisers reference the word UBUNTU when describing the event. This is a South African term meaning I am because we are. It seems fitting that this shared humanity and this ability to support one another will be celebrated through music and poetry and song, as Deborah describes. Organisers of the summit dont want these brave young people to speak into a void. For this reason, along with educators, other frontline service providers and policy makers have been invited to actively listen and reflect on their own capacities as people who share the same community as these young people. The summit will call on all present to be change-makers. The event will make demands. Having listened to these young people, attendees will be asked to answer questions, such as: What will you do to support them? What will you do to bring them to amplify their voices? What will you do to speak out? Aribasoye explains that the summit is all about making these young people feel seen and heard. But there is also an expectation that attendees will not only respond with words but with meaningful action. DEEDS NOT WORDS According to Dr Naomi Masheti: Programme Coordinator at the Cork Migrant Centre, it is about deeds, not just words, to borrow the family motto of a great woman - Nano Nagle, who lived in the 18th century and on whose shoulders I happily stand. This is what it means to hold ourselves accountable for success in this fight against racism. The collaborating organisations that are organising the summit range from Cork City Council, Cork Migrant Centre, Corks Mexican Community, the HSE, Nano Nagle Place, National Youth Council, Corks Roma Community, TUSLA, Traveller Visibility Group, UCC, YMCA, among many others. All involved are seeking to demonstrate that it takes a concerted, collaborative, system-wide effort and commitment to generate the necessary momentum to make Cork an anti-racist county. A SUICIDE-awareness group in Canada has picked a poignant track by a young Cork rapper to front a new campaign for schools across Australia, North America, and Europe. Bandon teenager Aidan Burke, known as Burkie, penned the rap song to mark the one-year anniversary of the day his friend, Rian, took his own life. The third-year student at St Brogans College said of We Aint Mad at Ya: It is a rap song in memory of my friend, Rian. I wrote all the parts, except for the chorus, which was written by Nichole Desmond, who is from Cork City. I record all my stuff with M5 Sound Studio. "I was looking for a female artist to do the chorus and Coco, the executive producer, called in Nichole, who is known as ND, to sing the verses. She has a beautiful voice. It worked out great, he said. The 15-year-old first discovered his love for performing when he sang the hit Big Poppa, by the artist The Notorious B.I.G., to Rians family and friends gathered on the grounds of Bandon AFC. I took up singing about a year or two ago. At home, I would throw on the record player and turn up the rap music up to the top. It kept me happy. Rian died in February 2022 from suicide. "After Rian died, a large group of people went up to the soccer pitch in Bandon and we released balloons. I was asked to do something to lift peoples spirits, so I sang a song, which made everyone happy. I knew, from then on, that it was what I wanted to do on a full-time basis. I started writing the song We Aint Mad at Ya the month after he died. I went through a few different drafts. I am delighted with the way it came out. It is great to raise awareness about such an important topic. We released the video for the song last Sunday. We did a good bit of the filming in Courtmacsherry, he added. The rap tune, which is available on Spotify, SoundCloud, and YouTube Music, has already received significant airtime on Cork radio stations and has attracted international recognition. The song has gone international. A suicide-awareness campaign from Canada is after hearing about the song. They want to use my song as a theme for their international programme, which they will be using in all the schools in North America, Australia, and Europe. I have also got some radio play in Cork with RedFM and 96FM. The Bandon musician starts his Junior Cycle exams on Wednesday, June 7, before he spends the summer pursuing his musical ambitions. I have the Junior Cert starting soon, but I expect to release more songs during the summer. "I am looking forward to writing and playing lots of music during the summer. There will be more songs to come. Watch this space. A POPULAR beach near Carrigaline should be upgraded to a designated bathing area for local swimmers, according to a Cork county councillor. At a meeting of Carrigaline Municipal District, Independent councillor Marcia DAlton requested that, because of its popularity as an amenity, this municipal district would support an application to Cork County Council for Luck Beach (Loughbeg) to be identified as a new bathing water beach under the bathing water regulations. Ms Dalton said that the beach has become one of the most popular destinations in the local area. Its a really sweet beach, with a very safe swimming area, she said. Over the last two or three years, there were calls for water testing to be carried out there. Ms DAlton said a submission is being made by the community, asking that it be considered a bathing water beach. Ms DAlton said that if it is officially designated as bathing-water quality, the water will be regularly checked. Luck Beach doesnt have all the attributes to become a full Blue Flag beach, but we might get it to be a designated bathing water, she added. Independent councillor Ben Dalton OSullivan seconded the motion. The organisers of Corks Indiependence have welcomed news that the HSE will roll out a drug testing regime at music festivals this year. The HSE has announced that a drug checking scheme, which was piloted at Electric Picnic last October, will now be extended to other festivals. Speaking on RTEs Morning Ireland, Professor Eamon Keenan, who is the HSEs national clinical lead for addiction services, said the new drug checking regime will begin at the Life Festival, which takes place in Mullingar this weekend. It is part of the HSEs drug harm-reduction campaign which is aimed at people attending music festivals across the country this summer. At Electric Picnic last October, the pilot scheme detected high potency MDMA pills, powders and crystals and a new substance, 3-CMC. The testing regime sees people encouraged to anonymously surrender drugs for testing. Professor Keenan said drugs are becoming stronger and more dangerous, with stronger drugs bringing higher risk. What were seeing is higher potency substances. We mentioned the MDMA tablet from last summer but also the pills and powders are higher strength...Different types of drugs are taken at different events, he said. Prof Keenan said that people who surrender drugs at festivals will not be at risk of being arrested. This is a health-led initiative. We want to get information to people who are at these events and there's no judgement of people. Welcoming the news of the national roll-out of a drug testing regime for festivals, the organisers of Mitchelstowns Indiependence festival praised the HSEs recent work around drug harm-reduction and addiction services. The HSE have done phenomenal work here over the last couple of years, at Indie we welcome anything that will aid with harm reduction. We would all prefer if consumption of illegal substances didnt happen but we have to be realistic about it, education and harm reduction have to go hand in hand with any prevention measures, Indiependences organisers told The Echo. Indiependence runs from Friday August 4 to Sunday August 6 at Deer Farm, Mitchelstown. ITS encouraging that most working-class people in Ireland remain committed to Irish neutrality. They dont want Ireland to become embroiled in a future war because they fear the loss of their children, either as soldiers or as civilian casualties. Nor do they wish to see the children of other countries suffer - in this sense, working-class people are internationalist. They understand they have nothing to gain from war and will most likely be the biggest losers. They also worry about increased tension between the West and China, which they understand is leading towards a third world war, and they are naturally terrified of nuclear war. The Irish establishment prides itself on seeing the bigger picture, and has lately been indefatigable in promoting it. By their account, Irelands economic miracle was the work of the US and the EU - that is, the Western Alliance. But theres no such thing as a free lunch, and Ireland must now step up and be counted as a fully fledged member. Supposedly, this is a matter of the greatest urgency. Russia is said to threaten us in every domain - in the air, at sea, on land and in cyberspace - and war with China is on the horizon. Who exactly is pushing the new line on neutrality? Generalising, of necessity, its the right-wing political parties in government (Fine Gael and Fianna Fail), the top ranks of the Defence Forces (with retired officers often speaking on their behalf), the upper echelons of the civil service (particularly within the Departments of Foreign Affairs and Defence), most of the Irish media (even when attempting to give the impression of impartiality), lobbyists for military-industrial companies, the top professionals (company executives, judges, hospital consultants - not all of them, of course), and large swathes of the salaried middle classes: lawyers, doctors, accountants, and so on. Their shared ideology, neoliberalism, has served them well, and they accept its inherent drive to war. They see it as the price that must be paid to ensure the continued dominance of the Western Alliance. Theyve also been stung by criticism in Western foreign-policy circles that Ireland is not pulling its weight (that is, not spending enough on its military) and is the weak link in European defence. They seem in full agreement with the dictum of George W. Bush: If youre not with us, youre against us. The government knows its constant erosion of neutrality in favour of the Western Alliance means that Ireland is now seen as, effectively, a full member, and should expect to be targeted in future wars. Rather than reverse course - to fully embrace neutrality and non-alignment - the government is intent on rectifying these anomalies, as they see them, by ditching neutrality, joining an EU common defence pact, and adopting a military posture compatible with eventual NATO membership. Ireland is not to be protected by an armed citizenry fighting a guerrilla war, but by mutual-assurance military pacts: if youre attacked, well fight with you, and if were attacked youll come to our rescue. The EU Mutual Defence Clause and Article 5 of the NATO Treaty are set to replace Irish neutrality. Fortunately, the ordinary people of Ireland constitute an important stumbling block to the above. Even after a year of scaremonging about Russian ships menacing Ireland from more than 200 miles off our coast, about the possibility of Russia invading every single European country if it prevails in Ukraine, and about Russian hackers crippling Irish cyberspace and threatening subsea cables, if a neutrality referendum were held tomorrow, its likely a majority would still vote to keep it. If pressed about specific defence issues, many working-class people would likely respond that they dont see Ireland as being particularly vulnerable to invasion. They know doubling the size of the Irish army wont make much difference, but that - like the Swiss - everyone could be trained to shoot and keep a gun at home in case of an invasion. Despite the propaganda, most working-class people can also see that the Russians will be lucky to get out of Ukraine in one piece, never mind continue their world tour. Many ordinary people know, too, that a country only controls its waters up to three miles from its shore and that anyone can sail through Irelands massive economic maritime zone - the Russians, the Americans, anyone. And protecting cyberspace is a police issue - it doesnt require soldiers attired in camouflage fatigues. A citizens assembly on neutrality was mooted soon after the war in Ukraine began, but scotched when it became obvious that it would most likely recommend that neutrality be kept and actually enhanced, that its erosion be halted and reversed. But then someone in the bowels of government came up with the idea for a handful of consultative forums to give the impression the public is to be consulted, followed by a report by Dame Louise Richardson DBE. We believe this will undoubtedly recommend the abolition of the Triple Lock (which governs Irish military operations), and most likely advocate greater Irish integration into EU military arrangements. It could go as far as recommending the total abandonment of neutrality, perhaps even calling for the upgrading of Irelands semi-detached membership of NATO (through the misnamed Partnership for Peace) to full membership of the alliance. This is a turning point in Irelands history. Those of us who wish to maintain neutrality should be clear as to why. Some defenders of neutrality have lionised Irelands peacekeeping forces abroad and offer this as the main reason for staying neutral. Yet the political basis for these peace-keeping missions is highly questionable. The UN only keeps the peace when and where the permanent members of the Security Council - America, Russia, China, Britain and France - permit it. Nevertheless, Ireland has a voice in the UN. It should align with the non-aligned, oppose war and promote peaceful resolution of conflicts. Ireland should resign from all EU military arrangements and NATOs Partnership for Peace. It should demand the demilitarisation of the EU and the disbandment of all military alliances, including NATO. Clearly, Irelands ruling class will not agree to this. Its therefore up to working-class organisations to defend neutrality and to put a stop to the increasing militarisation of Ireland and the total absorption of the country into the US sphere of interest. 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. An oil refinery next to houses in Wilmington, California, where an extremely high percentage of residents have suffered from cancer. Citizen of the Planet / Education Images / Universal Images Group via Getty Images The biggest fossil fuel companies in the world owe at least $209 billion in yearly climate reparations to communities that suffered the brunt of the calamities caused by the climate crisis, a new study has concluded. While substantial, the researchers consider theirs to be a conservative cost estimate, as it did not put a price tag on the loss of lives or income, additional wellbeing considerations or extinction of species and other types of biodiversity depletion not reflected in gross domestic product calculations, reported The Guardian. The study said the 21 biggest polluters have collectively caused $5.4 trillion in sea level rise, drought, wildfires, glacial melt and other climate-related disasters. They include ExxonMobil, Chevron, Shell, BP, TotalEnergies and Saudi Arabias state oil company, Saudi Aramco. Climate justice campaigners march from the Shell Centre to Trafalgar Square to demand urgent climate finance and reparations for loss and damage for global south communities on Nov. 12, 2022 in London, UK. Mark Kerrison / In Pictures via Getty Images Human-caused climate change has long been acknowledged as essentially an ethical issue that threatens humanity and ravages the planet. While the Global Norths historical carbon emissions have exceeded their fair share of the planetary boundary by an estimated 92%, the impacts of climate breakdown fall [disproportionately] on the Global South, which is responsible for a trivial share Africa, Asia, and Latin America contribute only 8% of excess emissions, the authors wrote in their analysis. The research is the first time the economic burden of companies that have made exorbitant profits from climate-damaging fossil fuels has been assessed. The paper, Time to pay the piper: Fossil fuel companies reparations for climate damages, was published in the journal One Earth. The researchers said fossil fuel companies history of misinformation and climate denial has stymied global efforts to mitigate the climate crisis and that they have a moral responsibility to right the climate damages they have caused with their legacy of fossil fuels and greenhouse gas emissions, Climate Change News reported. The argument presented by the paper calls on the fossil fuel companies to use some of the tainted wealth they have accumulated to compensate those who have suffered most, reported The Guardian. Fossil fuel companies have a moral responsibility to affected parties for climate harm and have a duty to rectify such harm. Moral theory and common sense as well as international environmental agreements through the polluter pays principle embodied in article 16 of the 1992 Rio Declaration, which calls for the internalization of environmental costs demand that historical wrongdoing must be rectified, the authors wrote in the study. The authors used the carbon majors database as the platform for their study. The database has been keeping track of the emissions of gas and oil companies since 1988, which was the year the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) was established. Following the foundation of the IPCC, claims of scientific uncertainty concerning the climate crisis no longer held water. As increasingly devastating storms, floods and sea level rise bring misery to millions of people every day, questions around reparations have come to the fore, said Harjeet Singh, head of global political strategy at Climate Action Network International, a group of almost 2,000 civil society groups across 130 countries, as The Guardian reported. This new report puts the numbers on the table polluters can no longer hide from their crimes against humanity and nature. Economic damages from the climate crisis worldwide from 2025 to 2050 are projected to be about $99 trillion. More than 700 climate economists have said that emissions from fossil fuels are the cause of $69.6 trillion of that amount. According to the study, about a third of these predicted climate costs can be attributed to governments, a third to the fossil fuel industry worldwide and a third to consumers, which means the fossil fuel industry is responsible for at least $893 billion annually, or $23.2 trillion total, for the next quarter-century. About 50 percent of global warming to date has occurred since 1988, when James Hansen, a NASA scientist, testified before the U.S. Senate on humanitys role in climate change. It is a widely held view that the richest one percent of the global population is responsible for double the greenhouse gas emissions of the poorest half of the world, who suffer the lions share of climate harms. According to the study, if the largest fossil fuel corporations were made to pay reparations, Saudi Aramco, which produced the most emissions of any state-owned company, would owe $43 billion per year, or a little more than a quarter of its profits from last year. ExxonMobil, which had profits of $56 billion last year, would be liable for $18 billion annually. BP and Shell, which made $68 billion combined in 2022, would have to pay $30.8 billion each year. Climate activists set up a mock-petrol station price board displaying Shells net profit for 2022, as they demonstrate outside the companys headquarters in London on Feb. 2, 2023. DANIEL LEAL / AFP via Getty Images Four companies from low-income countries were exempt, and the liability for six fossil fuels companies in middle-income countries was cut in half under the moral reasoning that it would allow them to be able to afford more in taxes in order to contribute in other forward-thinking ways. The proposed framework for quantifying and attributing reparations to major carbon fuel producers is grounded in moral theory and provides a starting point for discussion of the financial duty owed by the fossil fuel industry to climate victims, said Marco Grasso, a professor at the University of Milano-Bicocca, who was a co-author of the study, as The Guardian reported. Erika Lennon, a senior attorney at the Center for International Environmental Laws energy and climate program, said the framework could also be useful for courts in ascribing responsibility for these climate harms and in assessing damages. The case is clear for oil and gas companies to pay reparations for the harm their fossil fuels have caused. Not only has their dirty energy wrecked the climate, they have [in many cases] spent millions of dollars on lobbying and misinformation to prevent climate action, said Mohamed Adow, director of Power Shift Africa, a climate and energy think tank based in Kenya, as reported by The Guardian. Hong Kong: Commerce chief headed to Detroit Secretary for Commerce & Economic Development Algernon Yau will depart for the US city of Detroit tomorrow to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Ministers Responsible for Trade Meeting to be held from May 25-26. Mr Yau will join discussion sessions on the multilateral trading system, fostering sustainable and inclusive trade in the region and other issues. He will also meet ministers of other APEC member economies to exchange views on regional co-operation and issues of mutual interest. Mr Yau will return to Hong Kong on May 28. During his absence, Under Secretary for Commerce & Economic Development Bernard Chan will be Acting Secretary. This story has been published on: 2023-05-22. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. G7's lack of international credibility on full display with its baseless allegations against China 16:02, May 22, 2023 By Chi Zao ( People's Daily Online People rally in a protest against the Group of Seven (G7) summit in Hiroshima, Japan, May 21, 2023. (Xinhua/Zhang Xiaoyu) The Group of Seven (G-7) was formed in the wake of the first oil shock of the 1970s and was the most influential force in the global economy in the ensuing decades. However, as its slice of the world economy shrank, so did its relevance. Even former US president Donald Trump called the G7 an "outdated" group of countries. After failing to act as the leading power in the global economy, the organization has found renewed focus in recent years, transforming itself into a platform from which anti-China rhetoric can be propagated. Following this year's summit, the seven countries issued a Leaders' Communique filled with groundless accusations against China, including so-called "economic coercion", "concerns about human rights" and "build-up of its nuclear arsenal without transparency". Firstly, the charge of "economic coercion" is without merit. The G7 is falling short in its efforts to persuade developing nations of their value. China is a more stable option than the G7, which lacks economic offerings in trade policies and respect in diplomacy. According to statistics from China's Ministry of Commerce, between 2013 and 2021, two-way investment between China and nations along the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) routes topped USD 230 billion, with a total volume of trade of goods amounting to nearly USD 11 trillion. China is favored as a trading partner by developing countries because it builds more roads and bridges and gives fewer lectures. The developing world, led by China, is emerging as the globe's primary engine of growth, while the West lives in a nostalgic fantasy of its former glory and continues to strive to exploit the rest of the world. According to The Economist, G7 members' share of global GDP in nominal terms peaked at nearly 70% in the late 1980s, but dipped to under 45% in 2021. In purchasing-power parity terms, the BRICS grouping has surpassed the G7's share. In light of the fact that many G7 members are those that violate human rights, the accusations made by the G7 states that China is guilty of "human rights violations" have been consistently refuted by facts and have been boycotted by most nations in the United Nations. The Gun Violence Archive, a nonprofit research group that monitors gun violence, has counted more than 200 mass shootings in the US to date this year. Last year, the group counted 647 mass shootings. Of those, 21 involved five or more fatalities. Canada has been accused of "cultural genocide" after more than 150,000 children from hundreds of indigenous communities across the country were forcibly taken from their parents by the government and sent to what were called residential schools. According to CBS' report, the children were often referred to as savages and forbidden from speaking their languages or practicing their traditions. Many of the children were physically and sexually abused, and thousands of them never made it home. It is absurd for G7 to accuse China of human rights violations in the absence of clear evidence while ignoring its own wrongdoings. The G7's condemnation of China for not being honest about its nuclear weapons is even more ludicrous. China is firmly committed to a defensive nuclear strategy. It is the only one of the five nuclear weapon states to guarantee "no first use" and has always maintained only the bare minimum of nuclear capabilities necessary for national security. As the ancient Chinese philosopher Mengzi once remarked, "A just cause enjoys abundant support, while an unjust cause finds little support." Disrupting the global order with baseless accusations against China, G7 members have also raised eyebrows at home. According to a New York Times report, no G7 leader could muster the support of a majority. Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni of Italy, elected just last fall, fared best with a 49 percent approval rating, followed by US president Joe Biden with 42 percent, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada with 39 percent, Chancellor Olaf Scholz of Germany with 34 percent, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak of Britain with 33 percent and Prime Minister Fumio Kishida of Japan with 31 percent. President Emmanuel Macron of France trailed the pack with a dismal 25 percent. The declining importance of the G7 on global growth is reflected in its leaders' low approval ratings, which also show how fragile the West is in the face of significant political conflicts. The Foreign Ministry of China's response to the accusations from the G7 has accurately revealed the G7's hypocrisy and double standard. "Gone are the days when a handful of Western countries can just wilfully meddle in other countries' internal affairs and manipulate global affairs. We urge G7 members to catch up with the trend of the times, focus on addressing the various issues they have at home, stop ganging up to form exclusive blocs, stop containing and bludgeoning other countries, stop creating and stoking bloc confrontation and get back to the right path of dialogue and cooperation." (Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Liang Jun) Indonesia creates blood serum for pigs to gain temporary ASF immunity Indonesia is developing a blood serum which can provide temporary immunity among pigs against African swine fever (ASF) after containing an outbreak of the disease in the country's biggest pig farm. The farm, located on a 1,500ha island called Pulau Bulan in Indonesia's Riau Islands province, is capable of exporting around 240,000 pigs a year to Singapore, according to data from the Riau Islands Agriculture Agency. Exports from the island constitute about 15% of the city-state's total pork supply. The Singapore Food Agency (SFA) said on Apr 20 that pig carcasses originating from the farm were found to be infected with ASF, prompting Singapore to stop importing live pigs from Pulau Bulan. Dr. Honismandri, head of the Riau Islands veterinary authority, which monitors animal health in the province, said Indonesian officials were subsequently deployed and confirmed that the virus had spread to much of the farm. "The situation right now is under control. There are no more deaths. Only survivors," he told CNA on May 17. Dr. Honismandri said that of the more than 200,000 pigs that were on Pulau Bulan, 35,000 died from the disease. Workers also culled 119,000 pigs which shared the same compartments - or living quarters - as the symptomatic pigs. Of the remaining 50,000 pigs, two thirds showed signs of contracting the virus but have since recovered. Dr. Honismandri said officials are trying to produce convalescent serums from the blood of the surviving pigs. Convalescent serums are blood serums containing antibodies which can provide short-term immunity against infection. The serum is being developed at a government facility in Surabaya, Indonesia's second biggest city and the capital of East Java province. Dr. Honismandri added that the same facility has already developed serums from infected pigs in other parts of Indonesia. However, the virus infecting the pigs on Pulau Bulan appeared to have a specific genetic strain not found in previous cases of ASF in the country. Developing a serum from the blood of surviving pigs on Pulau Bulan will ensure the serum's effectiveness against this particular strain of the ASF virus, Dr Honismandri noted. "It will take two to three months until a product is ready. That is the estimate. After that we can begin inoculating (the pigs)," he said. "We are also exploring potential vaccines. Some countries are developing potential vaccines for African swine fever. If one is proven to be effective, we will be working to get our hands on some to be used on Pulau Bulan." - Channel NewsAsia The EU has issued a record-breaking 1.2 billion ($1.3 billion) fine to Facebook owner Meta over data transfers. After a lengthy investigation, officials found the social networks practice of moving EU citizens' data to US-based servers was in violation of the blocs key digital privacy rules. In a statement, Irelands Data Protection Commission said that while Meta had attempted to address potential legal hurdles, these arrangements did not address the risks to the fundamental rights and freedoms of data subjects in the Union. This is the latest chapter in a saga that has now run for more than a decade examining how EU citizens private data is handled by Big Tech. Put simply, European privacy law is thought to be a lot tighter than its American counterpart, especially with a focus on individual rights. But any big tech company with servers all around the world has the ability to move data from one server to another without much effort. That means that an EU citizens data could be sent to the US, where such stringent privacy laws dont apply, opening the door for unnecessary surveillance. Its something that the EU, often pushed into action by Austrian lawyer and privacy activist Max Schrems, has been working to address. Schrems found the existing Safe Harbor provisions to be insufficient, something that the Court of Justice of the European Union agreed with. So, the bloc worked with the US on the EU-US Privacy Shield, which was meant to tighten data controls when information was pushed between the two territories. Naturally, that was similarly ruled invalid by the European Court of Justice, leading to further contortions as Facebook and others said that their businesses, for reasons known only to them, wouldnt function without this data transfer. As part of the decision, Irelands Data Protection Commission has ordered Meta to suspend any future data transfers of EU citizen data to the US within the next five months. It will also have to work to bring its operations into compliance with the GDPR, including any processing of EU citizens data on US servers, within the next six months. This will likely, however, be appealed and held up as a consequence of a wider political negotiation between the EU and the US as they look to agree a new framework to permit these data flows in a safe(r) way. Sir Nick Clegg, Metas president of global affairs, has written in his usual style that the company will appeal the fine, and the decision, saying that Facebook acted in good faith. He added that cross-border data flows are vital for many businesses, not just his own, and that he is disappointed to have been singled out when using the same legal mechanism as thousands of other companies looking to provide services in Europe. TikTok is suing Montana over statewide ban The TikTok lawsuit, filed earlier today, alleges the ban violates the First Amendment and other laws. TikTok filed a lawsuit on Monday in the U.S. District Court of Montana to challenge the states ban of the social platform, as reported by The Wall Street Journal. The case was brought against the state Attorney General Austin Knudsen. Montanas governor signed the bill into law last week, just one month after it passed through the state legislature. It was met with immediate pushback a group of creators quickly sued the state, calling the law unconstitutional. Now TikTok is suing the state directly with similar claims, stating in the lawsuit that Montanas law violates the First Amendment. Montana's ban abridges freedom of speech in violation of the First Amendment, violates the U.S. Constitution in multiple other respects, and is preempted by federal law, the lawsuit reads. We are challenging Montanas unconstitutional TikTok ban to protect our business and the hundreds of thousands of TikTok users in Montana. We believe our legal challenge will prevail based on an exceedingly strong set of precedents and facts. TikTokComms (@TikTokComms) May 22, 2023 The law prohibits the ByteDance-owned platform from operating in the state, as well as preventing Apples and Googles app stores from listing the TikTok app for download. Although it isn't clear how Montana plans to enforce the ban, it states that violations will tally fines of $10,000 per day. However, individual TikTok users wont be charged. You can read the full TikTok vs. Montana suit here (via NPR). All products recommended by Engadget are selected by our editorial team, independent of our parent company. Some of our stories include affiliate links. If you buy something through one of these links, we may earn an affiliate commission. All prices are correct at the time of publishing. Reuters | Ukraine said at least eight people were wounded and scores of buildings were damaged in a Russian air attack on the regional capital of Dnipro and the surrounding areas, as Moscow intensified missile and drone strikes after a lull of nearly two months. Monday, May 22, 2023 Colorado has been the leader in cannabis since 2012, when we, along with Washington, became the first two states in the nation to legalize and regulate cannabis for recreational purposes through the approval of Amendment 64. Since then, almost half of the US states have also followed suit, making Colorado the benchmark for cannabis reform. However, with the passing of the Farm Bill in 2018, an unintentional loophole emerged, allowing unlimited amounts of intoxicating cannabinoids from hemp to be sold as CBD products. The lack of specificity in the Farm Bill provided companies with the opportunity to exploit this ambiguity, leading to the rise of Delta-8 products and synthetic cannabinoids. In response to this, Colorado legislators introduced SB 22-205 in April 2022 to address the growing regulatory issues involving intoxicating cannabinoids from hemp. SB 22-205 On May 31, 2022, Governor Jared Polis signed SB 22-205 into law. In essence, SB 22-205 is a Bill, Concerning the regulation of cannabis-related products that may potentially cause a person to become intoxicated when used. According to the Bill summary, The act authorizes the department of public health and environment to prohibit the chemical modification, conversion, or synthetic derivation of intoxicating tetrahydrocannabinol isomers that originate from industrial hemp or may be synthetically derived. The Bill also created a Task Force with the goal of studying intoxicating hemp products and making legislative and rule recommendations. SB 22-205 Task Force Following the passing of SB 22-205, the SB 22-205 Task Force was established to collaborate on a report to the General Assembly concerning intoxicating hemp products, legislative and rulemaking recommendations, and the analysis of the effectiveness of each recommendation for the regulation of intoxicating hemp products. The Task Force consisted of 20 different stakeholders, including representatives from the hemp and marijuana industry at all levels, attorneys, consumers, patients, and government officials. Out of the 180 applications received, our co-CEO, Dr. Priyanka Sharma, was invited to be one of the stakeholders on the Task Force. After six months, with over 20 different meetings and over 100 hours of deliberation, the Task Force distributed a final report to the General Assembly on January 3rd, 2023. Task Force report recommendations included new classifications of cannabinoids, THC limits for hemp, label requirements, convening of a standing scientific committee, and a manufacturing safe harbor. The classifications of cannabinoids involved grouping cannabinoids into three different classifications: non-intoxicating cannabinoids (which includes CBD), potentially intoxicating cannabinoids, and intoxicating cannabinoids (which includes THC and its isomers). The recommended THC limits for hemp were set at a maximum of 2.5 mg THC per serving and a ratio of CBD:THC greater than or equal to 15:1. Label recommendations included the labeling of synthetics, a notice statement that the product contains THC, and rules against marketing the product as containing THCs or other potentially intoxicating cannabinoids. The purpose of a standing scientific committee was to assist the agencies in the ongoing evaluation of scientific data and research related to cannabinoids investigation and the evaluation of cannabinoids for their safety profiles and intoxicating potential, including the appropriate classification of cannabinoids. Finally, the manufacturing safe harbor was recommended for current companies whose products are synthetically made, or deemed outside of the hemp limits, so they could continue to export these types of products outside of Colorado to states that allow it. SB 23-271 Bill SB 23-271 was introduced to the Senate in early April 2023. While taking into consideration the SB 22-205 Task Force recommendations, amendments were introduced and passed in the Senate that made this Bill different from what was brought forth by the Task Force. Similar to Task Force recommendations, the three cannabinoid classification groups are still part of this Bill. The classification of cannabinoids will allow us to know which specific regulatory pathway each cannabinoid would need to take. Non-intoxicating cannabinoids would be regulated by the Colorado Department of Health and Environment (CDPHE), while the potentially intoxicating and intoxicating cannabinoids would be regulated by the Marijuana Enforcement Division (MED). The THC limits for hemp products have been amended and now stand at no more than 1.75 mg THC per serving. However, the CBD:THC ratio limit still remains at greater than or equal to 15:1. Products with THC content above 1.75 mg per serving and CBD:THC ratios below 15:1 are considered intoxicating. They are now classified as marijuana and must go through the MED regulatory pathway before being sold at a dispensary. A recent amendment that passed introduces an age gate for products, establishing a minimum purchasing age requirement. It is now unlawful to sell a hemp product with more than 1.25 mg THC per serving or with a CBD:THC ratio of less than 20:1 to individuals under 21 years of age. Consequently, any hemp products containing 1.25 mg to 1.75 mg THC per serving or having a CBD:THC ratio between 15:1 and 20:1 would be prohibited for purchase by individuals under 21 years old. This amendment had also been introduced to regulate the container sizes of hemp products within these limits. The final Bill establishes that the container size of these products should not exceed 5 total servings per package. Additionally, it requires that hemp products with greater than 1.25 mg THC and a CBD:THC ratio of 20:1 or more, have a maximum container size of 30 servings. However, it specifies that hemp tinctures (limited to 4 fluid ounces max), cosmetics, products with no THC, and GRAS certified hemp products are exempt from the above container limits and can be sold to individuals under 21 years of age, regardless of the THC content or ratio. One amendment had added specific testing requirements, including the testing for heavy metals, residual solvents, pesticides, THC, yeast and mold, among other things. It also added stringent labeling requirements that are in line with the current marijuana labeling rules. The label would need to include the amount of THC and number of servings per package, a universal THC symbol, and it must note if it contains any amount of synthetics or semi-synthetics. Similar to the Task Force recommendations, there is to be no marketing of the product as containing THCs or other potentially intoxicating cannabinoids. A recently passed amendment gives labeling authority to CDPHE to promulgate the necessary label requirements to inform THC content and the CBD:THC ratios. CDPHE must also consider existing marijuana labeling rules. The original Bill had been introduced requiring the executive director of the department of revenue to analyze the feasibility of establishing a standing committee to evaluate cannabinoids and cannabis-derived products for the purpose of determining and making recommendations regarding their safety profiles and potential for intoxication. The department of revenue may engage experts to do this analysis. Instead of creating a standing scientific committee, the department will analyze how feasible establishing such a committee would be by July 1, 2024. The manufacturing safe harbor was completely removed via an amendment during the first hearing but was brought back during another committee hearing. The current manufacturing safe harbor in the Bill bans all production of synthetic cannabinoids. One stipulation is that safe harbor producers must ensure physical separation between hemp products and safe harbor products during manufacturing, production, storage, and distribution. However, if the same equipment is used, the producer must either establish internal processes following Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) approved by CDPHE or adhere to rules promulgated by CDPHE. Similar to the previous Task Force recommended manufacturing safe harbor, exporting to states where safe harbor products are not explicitly prohibited, would still be allowed. Lastly, the Bill will give rulemaking authority to CDPHE and the Department of Revenue (DOR), so that they can act before having to go through a whole other legislature. This way, as data becomes readily available, the departments can act quickly to make changes to the rules, if necessary. Colorado & Cannabis It is crucial, now more than ever, to ensure passage of this Bill. At the time of this writing, it is on its way to the Governors desk to be signed. While it might not be perfect, it represents a necessary initial stride towards safeguarding public health and safety here in Colorado. As our country gradually moves towards federal cannabis legalization, setting a positive example in Colorado becomes increasingly important. As previously noted, other states often look to us as leaders in cannabis policy and are likely to follow in our footsteps. Bia Campbell and Christian Sederberg, from VS Strategies, played an integral role in bringing this Bill to fruition. Christian, a former member of the SB 22-205 Task Force, commented on the final outcome of the Bill and its potential to elevate hemp industry standards nationally. He stated, The final legislation reflects a broad stakeholder engagement process that took place over the past 18 months. We are pleased with the compromise that has resulted, as it prioritizes public health and safety while striking a balance among several diverging interests. Product safety and regulatory compliance are critical to the wellbeing of patients and other consumers, and they are paramount to the entire cannabis industry, including hemp and marijuana. The bill creates much-needed delineation between intoxicating and non-intoxicating products, and protects young people from those with high levels of THC. It prohibits products that are potentially dangerous, while allowing for continued research and development of hemp-derived cannabinoids and products. This is a significant first step in addressing what will be an evolving policy issue in many states over the next few years. Colorado remains a national leader on cannabis policy, and it will play a significant role at the federal level as discussions about the farm bill continue. New migrants pouring into the U.S. after the Biden administration let a COVID-19 restriction called Title 42 expire last week will not break the nations stretched court system. The system is already shattered, according to several former judges, immigration experts, and Department of Homeland Security data. The average wait time for a Notice to Appear before a judge at one of the nations 66 immigration courts is now four and a half years. In some cities it is much longer. In New York City, new migrants do not have to appear in court until 2032. This growing backlog creates an incentive for more people to cross the border and request asylum as each new case pushes assigned court dates further into the future. In the meantime, many migrants are permitted to live and work in the United States. Its well past broken, said Art Arthur, a former immigration court judge and now a resident fellow at the conservative Center for Immigration Studies. The courts werent set up for this. When you dont do anything at the front end, the back end just collapses. Everybody who shows up now knows the chances are 90 percent or better youre going to be here indefinitely or forever. The impact on the courts of the expiration of Title 42 a restriction former President Trump implemented to expel migrants, even if they were seeking asylum is one of several unknowns the U.S. will confront in the current wave of migration. The cost to taxpayers is also unclear, though complaints have been mounting in border states that must absorb the crush and in self-proclaimed sanctuary cities that are struggling with pledges made years ago to house and care for migrants. Federal agencies charged with handling immigration a including the Department of Homeland Security, the Executive Office of Immigration Review, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) did not respond to requests for comment or declined to answer questions on the record. But a Feb. 18, 2023, internal ICE document obtained by RealClearInvestigations listing the top 10 backlogged locations shows court dates are already far in the future. The document shows New York leading the list as fully booked through October 2032. That time lag tops Florida locations, booked until 2028; Atlanta and San Antonio, where a migrant in the system does not have to appear until 2027; and a handful of other cities such as Chicago, Baltimore, Milwaukee, and Indianapolis, where the backlog carries into 2026. Early estimates are that at least 11,000 arrivals could pour into the U.S. every day with Title 42 lifted. But much smaller totals have clogged the system for years. Baltimore, for instance, is mostly booked with fewer than 3,500 people, while Atlanta has a four-year wait time for just 1,757 people, according to ICEs February figures. Critics note the sharp disconnect between the estimated number of migrants who have crossed the border since Biden became president more than 5 million and the relatively small numbers of people with court dates. In theory, all migrants, whether they request asylum or not, would be assigned a court date. But the Biden administration has begun a policy of paroling, i.e. releasing, many encountered migrants with the expectation they would report to immigration offices at their final destinations. That leaves most of the millions floating, according to those who study the issue closely. Both parolees and asylum applicants are eligible for work authorization, said Rosemary Jenks, director of government affairs for NumbersUSA, a group pushing for tighter immigration policies. Despite that, a huge number of those who say theyre here for asylum never actually file an asylum application, so they live and work here illegally. As more migrants arrive, court backlogs will undoubtedly be pushed even further into the future. That in turn may prompt more migrants to work through the system, further burdening an overwhelmed system. The delays already in place make it all but impossible for judges to hear cases properly, according to Arthur and another former immigration court judge in Texas, Tony Rogers. Even if somehow the courts were able to triple or quadruple the roughly 600 judges now on the bench, the system cannot keep up with the crush of people crossing the southern border. The judges cant do anything more than saw the wood in front of them, Rogers said. Its a dysfunctional system from top to bottom that is way past broken. This is exactly why all of them are coming they know you cant meaningfully try a case five years or more after a claim, and if you buy time long enough theyll give you something. Youre not going to get deported and sent back. The average pending docket for Texas immigration court judges has skyrocketed to 8,000 from the 1,800 average that prevailed when Rogers left the bench 12 years ago, he said, and those figures do not reflect the reality within the U.S. at the moment, with its estimated population of 11.35 million undocumented immigrants. Its actually even worse than what theyre telling you, Rogers said. These numbers only reflect people in the system. If they filed NTAs notices to appear for all the people that have entered, it would be even worse. No one can give you a statistic for that. Beyond the overwhelmed court system, the financial strain on taxpayers continues to grow. Sanctuary cities like New York, Chicago, and Washington, D.C. are struggling to meet the cost of just small fractions of the people swarming across the southern border. New York City is now reportedly spending roughly $8 million a day to house and care for them, some of whom have been bused there from Texas. Mayor Eric Adams said he is considering housing some migrants in a closed prison. Washington, D.C., facing a budget gap of roughly $1.7 billion, says its Office of Migrant Services has spent more than $15.1 million providing housing and other services to immigrants, a figure expected to climb to $52.5 million by October. In January, the state of Illinois rejected Chicagos request for money saying it had already spent close to $120 million on its asylum seeker emergency response. Like the federal agencies, numerous others knowledgeable about the situation both within and without government did not respond to questions, including Susan Long and David Burnham, the co-directors of TRAC Immigration, a nonpartisan Syracuse University clearing house on information about immigration. Members of Congress were unwilling to discuss the overloaded court system. RCI reached out to every Republican member of the House Border and Security Enforcement Committee and they did not respond. Similarly, RCI sought comment from a half dozen Democrats on the Committee, as well as two Republicans and Democratic ranking member Jerrold Nadler of New York on the House Judiciary Committee. None responded. On May 11, hours before Title 42s midnight expiration, the GOP majority in the House passed H.R. 2, which they labeled the Secure the Border Act. House Republicans are fighting to do what the Biden administration refuses to: secure our sovereign borders and protect Americans, said a joint statement from three GOP committee chairmen Jim Jordan of Ohio, Mark Green of Tennessee, and Michael McCaul of Texas. The images coming out of border communities for the end of Title 42 this week are horrifying. Theres no question the border is not secure and the Biden administration has lost all control. Federal records show ICE wasnt using Title 42 to expel many immigrants before. In 2022, the monthly figure for those expelled under Title 42 fell from 8,008 in May to 3,791 in December, the document shows. In the last five months of 2022, an average of 4,000 were expelled by Title 42. But perceptions about Title 42 being an enforcement tool had worked as a brake on unfettered immigration the Biden administration has chosen to release, Jenks said. They know even thats gone now, she said. Its preposterous and thats why they keep coming. Whatever impact the lifting may have, it can hardly hurt the effectiveness of a court system already characterized by Kafkaesque delays, according to the Federation for American Immigration Reform, a group that has long worked for immigration controls. (The Center Square) U.S. Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., announced Monday that he is running for president. In his announcement, Scott gave a nod to his Christian faith and defended his record in the Senate, pointing to economic legislative efforts he led such as tax cuts and Opportunity Zones. Scott told his familys story, pointing to his grandfather who was born in Sally, South Carolina, in 1921 and dropped out of school in third grade to pick cotton. "But my grandfather lived long enough to watch his grandson pick out a seat in Congress," Scott said. "That's the evolution of the country we live in. My family went from cotton to Congress in his lifetime, and it was only possible because my grandfather had a stubborn faith." Scott also hit on an array of hot-button issues such as the border, China, COVID-19 and fentanyl. "They spent COVID locking kids out of the classroom, and now they are locking kids out of their futures," he said. "And in Biden's America, crime is on the rise and law enforcement is on retreat. "They are demonizing, demoralizing and defunding police," he added. Scott also pledged to build the wall at the southern border. "When I am President, the drug cartels using Chinese labs and Mexican factories to kill Americans will cease to exist," Scott said. "I will freeze their assets. Ill build the wall. And I will let the worlds greatest military fight these terrorists, because thats exactly what they are." Scott also took shots at President Joe Biden. But unfortunately, under President Biden, our nation is retreating away from patriotism and faith, he said. The fewest people in 30 years think that their kids will be better off than their parents, and the radical left is pushing us into a culture of grievance instead of a culture of greatness." Scott aimed for an optimistic tone, focusing on hope and opportunity. His campaign slogan is faith in America. He has taken issue with what he characterized as Democrats victim mentality, pointing to how his family overcame through a "victor" mentality and hard work. "My life disproves their lies," he said. Scott faces an uphill battle. Republican primary polling results released by Morning Consult last week put Scott at 1% support, well behind former president Donald Trump, who has 61%. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who is expected to announce his bid this week, came in at 18% support. Trump posted on TruthSocial on Monday morning welcoming Scott to the primary and taking the opportunity to attack DeSantis, seen by many as the largest threat to Trump. Good luck to Senator Tim Scott in entering the Republican Presidential Primary Race, Trump wrote. It is rapidly loading up with lots of people, and Tim is a big step up from Ron DeSanctimonious, who is totally unelectable. I got Opportunity Zones done with Tim, a big deal that has been highly successful. Good luck Tim! The first GOP caucus is in Iowa on Jan. 22, 2024, while the first GOP primary is Jan. 30 of the same year in New Hampshire. However, the first cohort of states holding their presidential primary votes is in March of next year. Fairfield, MT (59436) Today Considerable cloudiness. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 46F. Winds light and variable.. Tonight Considerable cloudiness. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 46F. Winds light and variable. If youre reading this write-up, odds are youve seen the horrifying photos of adults with water up to their necks trying to transport crying babies across rivers to safety. Whether youre for a wall or fully open southern borders, these scenes likely horrify you? The bet here is theyll be the norm until its acknowledged that scenes at the southern border are a reflection of market signals suffocated. The foremost market signal is that the U.S. is prosperous. Extraordinarily so. And enormous prosperity will always exist as a magnet for those seeking a better life. The problem is that the various political religions cant acknowledge the above market truth. Some want a wall, while others desire skills-based immigration, while others seek quotas. A wall implies a massive increase in the size and armed scope of government, while the others are central plans. Even though human capital is the most important capital of all, wall and skills-based proponents both presume they can plan the capital. They cant. Worse, they pursue non sequitur. Walls and central plans wont keep the desperately poor from trying to improve themselves in the worlds richest country. See the photos mentioned above. For as long as the U.S. has existed, ambitious people have risked everything (including their lives) to get here. Short of legislation meant to crush the U.S. economy, the latter isnt about to change. Which speaks again to why immigration policy is an obnoxious non sequitur: it ignores why the poor and desperate want to be here. And why theyll keep coming no matter the policy. So while legislation is always and everywhere the worst solution to anything, its not unreasonable to hope that photos and videos of crying babies wake the various sides up to the human tragedy thats taking place. Having done that, might they consider simply legalizing work? American businesses need workers, and individuals in foreign countries need American work. Keep it that simple. From there, its easy to see what will happen if coming to the U.S. is legal, and about work: those who want work wont have to pay coyotes enormous sums to get across the border, nor will they have to stay once across. If so, its no reach to suggest that many will not make their children participate in the journey to the United States. Why would they if theyre just coming for work? Individuals will come in as needed, and even better, legal arrivals will take pressure off of the southern border. One guesses that a lot of businesses will fly the ambitious workers to where theyre needed, and fly them back when theyre not. Money earned stateside would logically go very far in countries south of the border, which one guesses many legal workers would take advantage of if their work were legal. Importantly, basic legislation like this would seemingly please both sides. Members of the left fancy themselves as humanitarian, so what could be more humanitarian than recognizing a market signal that would enable the arrival of workers humanely, and free of all the horrors that come with sneaking in. As for members of the right, they talk a big and arguably real game about being pro-life and of the importance of every life. If so, they would have to embrace that which would save defenseless babies from the terror that comes with crossing rivers. Better yet for members of the right, legalization of work would amount to an explicit embrace of actual market forces. If its well known that border crossings increase and shrink with economic growth and contraction, and it is, what could be better than acknowledging the existence of a market and letting it be? What we have right now is unacceptable, as is life in general unacceptable when markets arent employed in the movement of capital to its highest use. As always, freedom works. A week-long campaign of activities and events taking place next month will promote Welsh food and agriculture to politicians and the wider public. NFU Cymru's Celebration of Welsh Food & Farming Week, returns this year from 19 June, with events promoting positive messaging about Welsh agriculture. On the first day, Welsh farmers are being encouraged to take to Facebook, Instagram and Twitter to highlight the importance of farming to Wales and its communities. Farmers are being encouraged to tweet using the hashtags #WelshFarmingWeek and #WythnosFfermioCymreig and tag the union in their posts. The day after, on 20 June, NFU Cymru will take Welsh farming to the heart of Cardiff Bay with a special Celebration of Welsh Food & Farming event at the Senedd. The reception will also see the union launch its new policy document setting out its priorities for future post-Brexit support. Members of the Senedd attending the event will be encouraged to support Welsh agriculture over the course of this Welsh Parliament. On 21 June, NFU Cymru is hosting a virtual live lesson in both English and Welsh language for school children across the country to learn more about the farming industry and where their food comes from. It is a free event for all schools to attend, with registration available on NFU Cymru's website where more resources are available. Day four of the Celebration of Welsh Food & Farming Week - 22 June - will see a school leaders event take place at Bwlchwernen Fawr, Lampeter. The purpose of it will be to discuss how schools can introduce more local, seasonal, and nutritious foods into their kitchens, whilst also exploring how to integrate learning about food through the curriculum and through mealtimes. A week of promotional activity will draw to a close on 10 June with Members of the Senedd invited to local on-farm meetings across Wales. The visits will be an opportunity for members to engage with politicians and discuss the opportunities and challenges facing Welsh agriculture at this juncture. NFU Cymru President Aled Jones said: Given the success of last years Welsh Farming Week it was an easy decision for us as a union to try and build on the fantastic support we received and to make this years event even bigger and better. There is no getting away from the fact that Welsh farming is facing significant challenges at present and has done for some time. "This week is about spreading positive messaging about our role in feeding the nation healthy, climate friendly food, while enhancing the environment and ensuring prosperous rural communities. "We have another exciting week of activities planned across Wales and I hope we can see the industry unite over the course of the week to champion Welsh agriculture. Sum-It Farm Management Software have revealed the results of their recent Farmer Insights Survey and have found that nearly half of British farmers are worried about the future of their farm. The survey asked 242 British farmers on their opinions of the state of their industry, particularly around the future of their farm. One of the questions asked them to describe how they were feeling about the future of their farm business. Just under half (40%) said they were worried, 26% said they were indifferent with only 23% saying they were excited. Other words that came out were apprehensive frustrated challenging mixed feelings and relatively confident This seems to paint a somewhat pessimistic picture of how British farmers are feeling about the next few years. The results show that it appears to be both sheep and arable farmers who are feeling the least hopeful about the future of their farm. Over half (58%) of sheep farmers report that they are worried along with 46% of arable farmers. This compares to 27% of dairy farmers who told us they were worried about the future of their farm and 39% of beef farmers. When it comes to feelings amongst the younger generation, the survey showed a slightly more optimistic picture, with 50% of under 35 year olds saying they were excited about the future compared to just 20% of farmers over 45 years of age. Infographic displaying key findings around farmers' views of their future The survey asked farmers what their plans were over the next 5 years. Although it may have been assumed most farm owners would be looking to grow their business, this applied to just 34%. Nearly half (48%) reported they were just looking to maintain the farm at the same level with 5% looking to downsize and 2% looking to sell-up. This may be indicative of uncertainty in the market at the moment, volatile input costs and selling markets, the discontinuation of the BPS along with Brexit worries. The remaining 11% said they are focusing on diversification with things such as holiday lets, solar farms, glamping, farm shops and commercial swimming cited as some of the areas farmers were looking to diversify into. Of those farmers who reported being worried about the future of their farm, only 25% of these were looking to grow their farm over the next 5 years. This compares to 61% of those who reported being excited about the future. Ben John, from SUM-IT said: Our survey has provided very interesting reading and highlights the high levels of worry and frustration around the next few years amongst todays farmer which may be a reflection of the uncertain economic landscape. "This isnt helped by the increasing admin burden put on farmers with 74% reporting an increase in farm admin over the past 3 years. "With the launch of our new next generation of farm management systems we are doing all we can to help streamline farm admin and release some of that pressure. Click here view the full insights from this survey. Businesses and entrepreneurs are being sought to take up residence in a new multi-million pound innovation centre seeking to create links between science and the farming industry. Set to open in Inverness later this year, the Rural and Veterinary Innovation Centre (RAVIC) seeks to develop new technologies for the countrys land sector, including agriculture. The hub will bring together scientists, innovators and businesses to create new products, services and solutions to overcome sector challenges, including animal disease, climate change and food security. There will also be an emphasis on bioscience, including animal health, as RAVIC is to form part of Scotlands new School of Veterinary Medicine. The 12.5m project is being led by Scotlands Rural College (SRUC), and funded by the European Regional Development Fund and the Scottish Funding Council. It comes as climate change continues to accelerate, with the farming sector particularly faced with the issue, as well as rapidly changing animal diseases and uncertain markets. SRUC said RAVIC would provide research infrastructure to support the development of innovative systems and other practical tools to help Scottish farmers with these challenges. The college added that RAVIC would also work closely with SRUCs Veterinary Surveillance Intelligence Unit, a recently developed Scottish livestock information system. The Rural and Veterinary Innovation Centre (RAVIC) seeks to develop new technologies This will provide new ways to help farmers deal with animal diseases, increase production efficiency and reduce emissions. Located on Inverness Campus, the RAVIC building will house several commercial business incubation units, a lecture theatre, wet and dry molecular, necropsy, and microbiology facilities, and a public atrium. RAVIC director professor, George Gunn said: The Highland innovation centre will help short circuit the gap that exists between science and business to unlock the true potential of Scotlands blue and green economies to create high value jobs." He said the collaborative hub would be looking to attract businesses that would enhance the rural economy, capitalise on the areas natural assets, and support the transition to net zero. "The development reinforces SRUCs commitment to expanding its regional presence in the area and it will also be an important addition to the existing range of expertise already on Inverness Campus. Elaine Jamieson, head of food and drink at HIE added: "RAVIC will enable businesses to work alongside scientists and researchers to develop products and services that are aligned to industry challenges and needs. "The growth of entrepreneurial businesses and research capacity will contribute to the further development of two key sectors in the Highlands and Islands: life sciences and food and drink. A Place for All Conservatives to Speak Their Mind. Pope Francis could be about to broker peace between Russia and Ukraine. Pope Francis could negotiate peace between Russia and Ukraine Talks about a ceasefire have been limited since Vladimir Putin ordered his troops to invade Ukraine over a year ago but reports from the Vatican suggest that the Russin tyrant is willing to listen to the pontiff's desperate pleas for peace. An unnamed source told the Vatican's news site Il Sismografo said: "Together with Pope Francis we should ask, together with Ukraine, how to create peace: we cannot passively accept that the war of aggression continues in that country. "It is the Ukrainian people who are dying and suffering. "It is time to take initiatives to create a just peace in Ukraine and in all the so-called grey areas in Europe. "I guarantee you that the Holy See will continue to play its part." The anti-Putin Russian news site Meduza has said that Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni declined to comment on the reports, but added: "Now is the moment to take initiative to create a just peace in Ukraine." Pope Francis has previously said that he is "willing" to make peace happen between the warring nations. On a visit to Budapest last month, the pontiff said: "Everyone is interested in the path of peace. I am willing, I am willing to do everything that needs to be done. "I went on a mission, but it's not public yet, let's see. "When it's public, I'll talk about it." Vladimir Putin has mocked "halfwits" in the West. Vladimir Putin has taken aim at 'halfwits' who oppose Russia The Russian tyrant hit out at his " neo-colonialist enemies" for their support of Ukraine in the conflict and claimed that multinationalism is Moscow's key strength. In a speech at the Council for Interethnic Relations, the Kremlin chief said: "Our state was built around the values of multinationalism harmony. "Our enemies... people with neo-colonial thinking, half-wits really - do not understand that this diversity makes us stronger. "In vain they count on the effect for which they are trying." Putin joked: "Well, I already said that people are guided by their neo-colonial ideas are half-wits. "And in the competition of halfwits, they would take second place. "Why only second? Yes, because they are halfwits." Putin claimed that sanctions being placed on Russia has only solidified support for him and suggested that 90 per cent of society backs him. However, the tyrant contradicted himself by demanding even more cohesion in Russia. Putin said: "(My opponents) say that Russia should be divided into dozens of small state entities and it is quite obvious what for. "In order to later bend them to their will, exploit, use in their selfish interests. They have no other goals." Jennifer Lawrence believes the news doesnt show enough stories about women fighting back against the Taliban. Jennifer Lawrence believes the news doesnt show enough stories about women fighting back against the Taliban The Oscar-winner, 32, made the statement as she unveiled her new role as the producer of a documentary charting the lives of females in Afghanistan following its takeover by the group. Jennifer, who has 15-month-old son Cy with her art gallery director husband Cooke Maroney, 38, told the BBC about the Bread and Roses film, which premiere at the Cannes Film Festival: My heart was beating so fast watching these women defy the Taliban. You dont see this side of the story, women fighting back, in the news every day and its an important part of our film and the stories of these women. They currently have no autonomy within their country. It is so important for them to be given the opportunity to document their own story, in their own way. The documentary was made by Jennifer and her friend Justine Ciarrocchis Excellent Cadaver production company and tells of three women in the weeks after the Taliban seized power in 2021 following the withdrawal of US troops, using footage secretly filmed inside the country. Justine told The Hollywood Reporter about the project: Jens first response was to find an Afghan film-maker and give them a platform. Its director Sahra Mani whose 2018 documentary A Thousand Girls Like Me examined a sexually abused womans quest for justice said at its Cannes premiere: This film has a message from women in Afghanistan, a soft message: please be their voice who are voiceless under Taliban dictatorship. Now that women can no longer leave the house without the veil, I thought we should tell their stories. Sahra is now living in France and said about the brutality facing the trio of women in the film who are from different groups who protested against the Taliban takeover The way in which their lives have changed under the Taliban is an everyday reality for us. Its life under a dictatorship, a cruel reality we cannot ignore. Prince Harry has denied having a luxury hotel room he allegedly uses to stay on his own near his California mansion. Prince Harry has denied having a luxury hotel room he allegedly uses to stay on his own near his California mansion The 38-year-old Duke of Sussex who has son Archie, four, and 23-month-old daughter Lilibet with his 41-year-old wife Meghan, Duchess of Sussex was also reported to have another exclusive hideaway in LA where he works out and can stay. But Page Six said his representative told the outlet about the claims: This is not true. Harry was said to have a private room set aside at a hotel near his and Meghans home in Montecito and a spot at San Vicente Bungalows, a private members club in Los Angeles with strict rules to protect its guests privacy. The West Hollywood club forbids visitors to take pictures inside the venue and stickers placed over their phone cameras when they arrive. Guests are also told not to discuss anything members or their guests see during their visit and they are banned from approaching or interrupting other members in the clubhouse. Annual fees are 3,200 and applicants must be vetted by a panel. Harry and Meghan quietly celebrated five years of marriage on Friday (19.05.23) without posting any pictures on social media. The pair made headlines after their representative said they were involved in a paparazzi car chase in New York on 16 May who alleged there had been a relentless pursuit of the royal couple had resulted in near collisions involving a slew of other drivers and pedestrians. City mayor Eric Adams are among the couples supporters, and said: Its clear that the paparazzi want to get the right shot, they want to get the right story, but public safety must always be at the forefront. The mayor added two NYPD officers could have been injured. Britains Prime Minister Rishi Sunak called the incident not really my priority. Paris Hilton' has been left heartbroken over the death of her dog. Paris Hilton's dog has died (c) Instagram The 42-year-old socialite - who has five-month-old son Phoenix with husband Carter Reum - is filled with "immense pain" after her 23-year-old canine companion, Harajuku B****, passed away but she will always cherish their time together. She wrote on Instagram: "Today, my heart breaks as I say goodbye to my precious chihuahua, Harajuku B****. "For an incredible 23 years, she filled my life with so much love, loyalty, and unforgettable moments. "She lived a long, beautiful and iconic life, surrounded by love until her final peaceful slumber. Words cannot express the immense pain Im feeling right now. "She was more than just a pet; she was family to me, a loyal friend who was always by my side through every twist and turn life brought my way. "From the glitz and glamour to the quiet moments behind the scenes, she was always there, a tiny ball of love, brightening up even the darkest of days. "We shared so many memories, laughter, and tears." Paris vowed she will never forget her dog or the mark she made on her life. She added: "Rest peacefully, my sweet darling. Thank you for blessing my life with your unconditional love. "You will forever be my little angel, forever missed, and forever loved. "You may be physically gone, but the imprint of your pawprints on my life will never fade. "Rest gently, sweet friend, knowing that you will be cherished and missed always. Love and miss you forever #TheOG Queen. #RIP (sic)" The tragic news comes eight months after one of Paris' other dogs, Diamond Baby, went missing and was believed to have been taken by coyotes. And the 'Stars Are Blind' hitmaker admitted the earlier loss made Harajuku B****'s death even harder to take. She wrote in the comments of her post: " I am in so much pain that I am in shock. I had her so long, I cant believe that shes gone. First Dino baby missing and now this, Im just so devastated." Robert De Niro thinks stupid Donald Trump is just like his latest evil film character. Robert De Niro thinks stupid Donald Trump is just like his latest evil film character The Hollywood veteran, 79, who has said he wanted to see the ex-president, 76, hit with a bag of s***, again hit out at the scandal-plagued former reality TV star while in Cannes promoting his new movie Killers of the Flower Moon Martin Scorseses highly-anticipated epic Western that tells of the betrayal of a Native American tribe. De Niro said about his corrupt character in the movie during a panel discussion at the Cannes Film Festival alongside Scorsese and his Killers co-star Leonardo Di Caprio: There is a kind of a feeling of entitlement. You could say we became a lot more aware of, after George Floyd, systemic racism. And thats what it is. Its the banality of evil. Its the thing that we have to watch out for. We see it today of course, we all know who Im going to talk about. Because that guy is stupid. Imagine if he was smart. Look, with Trump: there are people who still think he can do a good job. Imagine how insane that is. De Niro plays William Hale in Killers, based on a real-life figure who became involved with the Osage nation of Native Americans before betraying them. The Raging Bull has launched a series of attacks on Trump, and in 2019 said on the Rumble with Michael Moore podcast about the 45th US president: Id like to see a bag of s*** right in his face. Hit him right in his face. And let the picture go all over the world. And that would be the most humiliating thing. Because he needs to be humiliated. In a video in 2016, De Niro blasted then-presidential candidate Trump as a punk, pig, mutt and national disaster who he said he wanted to punch in the face. Khushalii Kumar is probably one of the most laid-back actors youll ever meet. When she walks into the set on the day of this cover shoot (minus any security a rarity in these times), the actor is wearing a stylish denim co-ord set, self styled! she says when asked about her look, is sporting a bare face which makes you wonder if she even needs makeup, and has her voluminous hair cascading behind her. Shes beautiful, but beyond anything, she is capable of putting everyone in the room at ease with her calm demeanor. And that is the one thing that is easily the most transfixing about her.Shes also very aware of her background. Her father, Gulshan Kumar, founder of T-series, can single-handedly be credited with producing some of the best songs to have come from Bollywood. But when you speak with the actor, you immediately identify the actors urge to leave her own mark on the world one that is separate from her familys. After making her cinematic debut in the 2022 film,starring R. Madhavan and Aparshakti Khurana, Khushalii, who is also a popular fashion designer, is all set to appear inand(also starring Sanjay Dutt and Raveena Tandon). In order to figure her out more than what she lets on for her 3.2 million followers on Instagram, at least we sit down to have an all encompassing conversation about her life so far and what she wants from it in the future.Ive always wanted to be an actor since I was a child. So Ive also worked on a religious film with my father. Papa supported me through all of this, but after his tragic death, we shifted to Delhi. My mother was terrified of me or any of us appearing in front of the camera. But the fire within me stayed ignited. I bunked my classes at fashion school to attend acting classes which no one was aware of. It has always been a childhood dream.I like to study each character that I'm playing and spend time with it. I want to understand her mental strengths, her weaknesses, what triggers her and what makes her happy. To be able to get into the skin of the character, It's so important to feel like her. Studying cinema that has touched upon the subject, multiple readings and exploring the layers, is an important part of the process.We are living in extremely competitive times. Everyone is struggling to make a mark and I'll have to strive harder each day to live up to people's expectations. I'm definitely grateful for all the love that has come my way which keeps me motivated. But besides that I think focus, grit and unending passion for my craft keeps me inspired and grounded.I think success is very subjective. But sometimes when people whom I've never met before or even know come and tell me stories of how my father has touched their lives, I think that's success. He did so many things for people which is unimaginable even today for us. It's the impact you make on people that you will be remembered for. My father inspires me and I hope to follow his footsteps and if I do even a little of what he has done, I think It's a fulfilling life.Cinema as an art form is so enchanting, it grasps you, teaches you and gives you a chance to experience lives which more often don't exist. Of course, I look forward to doing meaningful content and characters that I would be recognised for. But I feel this is a never ending journey and I'm only getting started.There are multiple exciting projects in which I've played some challenging roles. I can't wait for the world to see them.To live in today and live it to the fullest. Tomorrow shall be happy if today is. And hang in there, trust me it gets better. Art Direction: Bendi Vishan Makeup: Pratiksha Nair Hair: Sheetal Keshri Styling: Sheefa J Gilani Styling Team: Mehak Arora, Karena Vinaik, Kashish Sinha Videographer: Vaibhav Nadgaonkar Here are some of the moments when Shah Rukh Khan was Suhana's personal cheerleader. 1. When she became the face of the popular makeup brand. Congratulations on Maybelline beta. Well dressedwell spokenwell done & if I may take some credit well brought up! Love u my Lil Lady In Red!! pic.twitter.com/tLnAQlXoTj Shah Rukh Khan (@iamsrk) April 12, 2023 View this post on Instagram A post shared by Shah Rukh Khan (@iamsrk) Shah Rukh Khan took to Instagram and wrote, "And remember @suhanakhan2 you are never going to be perfect ...but being yourself is the closest to that. Be kind and giving as an actor...the brickbats and applause is not yours to keep...the part of you that gets left behind on screen will always belong to you...u have come a long way baby...but the road to people's heart is unending..stride forth and make as many smile as you can. Now let there be Light...Camera and Action! Signed Another Actor." View this post on Instagram A post shared by Shah Rukh Khan (@iamsrk) View this post on Instagram A post shared by Shah Rukh Khan (@iamsrk) View this post on Instagram A post shared by Shah Rukh Khan (@iamsrk) Suhana Khan, who is the daughter of Shah Rukh Khan, celebrates her birthday today. Shah Rukh Khan has been a loving and devoted father to Suhana Khan, making sure she gets a well-rounded childhood. He is well known for being an affectionate dad who genuinely cares about the well-being of his children.He frequently displays his pride in Suhana's accomplishments and has been vociferous about his love and affection for her. Shah Rukh, despite being one of the biggest stars in the Indian film industry, has worked to provide Suhana with an ordinary childhood and protect her from unwarranted media attention.Shah Rukh took to social media and congratulated his daughter with an adorable video of Suhana dressed in red.In 2020, Suhana Khan completed her graduation from Ardingly College in London. Shah Rukh, like a proud dad, took to social media and shared his joy and pride by posting a photograph with a note that read, "4 yrs have flown by. Graduating from Ardingly. Last pizza...last train ride...and first step into the real world...school ends...learning doesnt.Suhana has been interested in acting for quite a while and has been involved in many theatre plays in her college days. Shah Rukh when he watched her play, he enthusiastically shared an appreciation post and wrote, "With my Juliet in London. What a wonderful experience and exceptional performances by the whole cast. Congratulations to the whole team."5. Celebrating her birthday today, Shah Rukh took to Instagram and posted a cute video with a heartfelt note which read, "Today is the day to get your Happy Onand forever. Love you baby."Shah Rukh Khan has always been a huge cheerleader and has supported Suhana's aspirations, urging her to follow her passions. He has shown his support for Suhana's talent and shown openness to her desire to work in the film industry. Priyanka Chopra, who has solidified her spot in Hollywood was most recently seen in Russo Brothers' worldwide series Citadel. The intriguing series, which also stars Richard Madden, has enthralled audiences, as seen by the raving reviews it has received. Varun Dhawan, who will play a crucial part in the Indian version of Citadel, surprised fans with a quick cameo in the fifth episode, adding to the excitement. Priyanka Chopra, who plays spy Nadia Sinh, has her past revealed through a series of flashbacks, one of which takes place eight years ago when she contacts a feared terrorist Rahi Gambhir. Following this, Mason Kane (Richard Madden) and Osy Ikhile (Carter Spence) question her decision to connect with Gambhir. That is when Nadia reveals to them that he is her father. While Paul Bazely played the character, Varun Dhawan provided the voice, which was acknowledged in the end credits with a special thanks. In her most recent series, Citadel, Priyanka Chopra Jonas plays Nadia Sinh, a confident woman with a cold demeanour. She has a lot of assignments to do, as well as a lot of hidden truths. Meanwhile, Richard Madden plays Mason Kane, a formidable spy with a tangled relationship with Nadia. The Indian version of Citadel will be led by The Family Man filmmakers Raj and DK. Farzi, starring Shahid Kapoor, was just given by the filmmaker pair. While the crew is keeping mum regarding Citadel India, Priyanka Chopra recently talked up about it, revealing that the narratives are linked. She went on to remark that she can't wait to witness Raj and DK's work and that she admires the directors, stating, Raj and DK are so amazing, so talented and theyll bring their own spin to the Indian instalment. So, Im very excited. Mumbai, May 22 (PTI) Actor Parineeti Chopra on Monday said she found her "the one" in fiance-politician Raghav Chadha soon after they shared a meal over breakfast. Chopra and Chadha, an Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MP, got engaged on May 13 in a private ceremony attended by family members and political leaders in New Delhi. Rumours of the couple's wedding started doing the rounds in March after they were spotted together in Mumbai. In a Twitter thread, Chopra shared details about their relationship. "When you know, you know. One breakfast together and I knew - I had met the one. The most wonderful man whose quiet strength would be calming, peaceful and inspiring. His support, humour, wit and friendship are pure joy. He is my home," the "Sandeep Aur Pinky Faraar" actor wrote. When you know, you know. One breakfast together and I knew - I had met the one. The most wonderful man whose quiet strength would be calming, peaceful and inspiring. His support, humour, wit and friendship are pure joy. He is my home. pic.twitter.com/RXNmZaRGf4 Parineeti Chopra (@ParineetiChopra) May 22, 2023 Recommended Video Parineeti Chopra Mumbai, Airport Fans , Video Viral! FilmiBeat She also shared a series of never-seen-before pictures from their engagement party, describing the event as "living a dream". "... a dream unfurling beautifully amidst love, laughter, emotion and loads of dancing! As we hugged those we loved dearest and celebrated with them, emotions overflowed. "As a little girl in awe of princess stories, I had imagined how my fairytale would begin. Now that it has, it is even better than I had imagined," Chopra added in the post. On the work front, the actor will next be seen in Imtiaz Ali's "Chamkila". Aditya Singh Rajput Passes Away: Television actor and ex-Splitsvilla contestant, Aditya Singh Rajput was found dead at his residence on Monday. A friend discovered him unconscious in his bathroom. He was declared brought dead. The popular actor, model, and casting coordinator lived on the 11th floor of a high-rise building in Andheri, Mumbai. Aditya was taken to a nearby hospital by the building watchman and his friend. Early reports suggest that it could be a case of drug overdose. His friend shared, "Aditya was found unconscious in his bathroom by another friend, who took him to the nearby hospital along with the watchman. He probably died after hitting his head on the floor or maybe had a heart attack. The police have already started their investigation and we are all waiting for the post-mortem reports. Let's all wait till we jump to a conclusion." ADITYA SINGH RAJPUT'S LAST SOCIAL MEDIA POST Aditya Singh Rajput enjoyed a massive fan following on social media. His sad demise has left his fans heartbroken. As we mourn his unfortunate death, we can't help but notice his last social media posts. Aditya's last post on Instagram suggest that he was enjoying the weekend with his friends. Te last post was shared by the actor 17 hours ago that featured Mumbai skyline. He captioned the pic as, "Sunday funday with besties." ABOUT ADITYA SINGH RAJPUT Meanwhile, Aditya Singh Rajput has been part of several television shows including Rajputana, Yeh Hai Aashiqui, Code Red among others. He also has been a part of films like Aadi King, Mom and Dad, and Lovers. He also starred in web series 'Gandii Baat'. A regular at Page 3 events and parties, he was also a social media influencer. He was also associated with casting agencies. Born in Delhi, he started his career at the age of 17. Priyanka Choudhary has been one of the most sought after actresses after her stint in Bigg Boss 16 and rightfully so. After all, she had won millions of hearts with her strong personality and fearless approach towards the popular reality show. Besides, Priyanka was among the few contestants who managed to have a bond with almost everyone in the house. Amid this, Gautam Vig, who was also Priyanka's close friend on Bigg Boss 16, got candid about his bond with the Udaariyaan actress and her rumoured boyfriend Ankit Gupta. During a recent interactive session on social media, Gautam said that he is good friends with both Priyanka and Ankit post the popular reality show. Interestingly, Gautam was also quizzed about meeting Priyanka and the actor has shared the plans for the same. The Pinjara Khubsurti Ka actor stated that he will be meeting Priyanka when he will be visiting Mumbai. Gautam stated, "Soon may be when I visit next to Mumbai". Earlier, Gautam and Priyanka were seen having a gala time as they came together for the Junooniyatt actor's recent song Dooriyan. In fact, the duo were also seen partying together at Junooniyatt producer Ravi Dubey's house. Meanwhile, talking about the work front, Gautam is currently playing the lead role in Junooniyatt along with Ankit Gupta and Neha Rana. He is seen playing the role of Jordan in the movies. Earlier, Gautam had also spoken about his bond with rumoured girlfriend Soundraya Sharma post Bigg Boss 16 and said, "When she came out I called her and we spoke. We cleared out things. And even when we met during the finale episode, we spoke. The thing is, now we are in different cities, we are just trying to go with the flow and let's see how things go. It is better to be friends than enemies. WE have cleared most things between us. There are no grudges or bad blood. We respect each other and that's why we did not speak against each other because we both are mature individuals". Ankit Gupta Spill Beans About Junooniyatt New Twist Photo Credit: Vikas Rao Ankit Gupta, who became a household name with his stint in Bigg Boss 16, has been making headlines with his ongoing show Junooniyatt. Also starring Gautam Vig and Neha Rana, the Junooniyatt is produced by Ravi Dubey and Sargun Mehta and happens to be a musical drama. For the uninitiated, Ankit Gupta plays the role of Jahaan in the show while Gautam and Neha are seen as Jordan and Elahi. Junooniyatt has been witnessing a love triangle and fans have been in awe of Ankit's chemistry with Elahi. Clearly, the Udaariyaan star has managed to leave a mark with his role as a guy next door musician. And now, the handsome hunk has shared an interesting update about the upcoming track in Junooniyatt for his character Jahaan and said that Jahaan is set to become a rockstar and will be having musical tours across the country. The former Bigg Boss 16 contestant also stated that he is quite excited about the new plot update in Junooniyatt. Talking to Telly Chakkar, Ankit said, "I want to explore which I have not done before, So for Jahan, there will be a track wherein Jahan becomes a rock star. And in the end, he comes back to India and he has a tour of seven cities. So I'm going to explore that. I'm very much looking forward to that. Rock star, full stage, huge audience, and performing. I'm very much looking forward to that". To note, Junooniyatt marks Ankit's first collaboration with his Bigg Boss 16 co-contestant Gautam Vig. Meanwhile, Neha stated that she was quite nervous about sharing the screen with Ankit and Gautam in Junooniyatt as the two became quite famous post Bigg Boss 16. However, the actress also claimed that her experience with them has been great and that is overwhelmed with the love coming her way for her performance as Elahi. Sarath Babu Dead Photo Credit: Gallery Sarath Babu Death: Veteran actor Sarath Babu breathed his last in a hospital in Hyderabad. After being treated for multiple organ dysfunction, the septuagenarian was pronounced dead on May 22, 2023. In one of the interviews from the past, Sarath Babu was quoted saying to Eenadu about his early life, teenage, love stories, marriage, and film career. Here are a few excerpts from the same below. Sarath Babu is one among the 13 siblings of his parents Vijayasankara Deekshithulu and Suseela Devi, who are settled in Amudalavalasa, Srikakulam district, Andhra Pradesh. He was named Satyanarayana Deekshithulu. When pursuing a bachelor's degree in B.Sc, he enacted a character in the stageplay titled 'Dongaatakam.' It was a super success back then and the appreciation gave Sarath Babu a new confidence and hope. After the appreciation and support from friends, Sarath Babu landed in Chennai (then Madras) in search of opportunities. Sarath Babu's family runs a hotel named 'Gowri Sankar' which was quite popular and a successful venture. He along with his elder brother took care of the hotel after completing graduation, before going to Madras. Sarath Babu then sent his profiles to his favourite director Adurthi Subbarao. He replied with a letter asking him to appear for an interview. While awaiting a call from Adurthi, RamaVijetha Productions gave him the first opportunity. That is when Sarath Babu debuted with the Ramarajyam movie in which he shared the screen space with JK Jaggayya, SV Rangarao, Chandrakala, Savithri, and others. The movie earned him recognition and popularity. In the year 1974, Sarath Babu played an antagonist role in the movie Nomu. He shared that the flow of negative characters made him feel uncomfortable. Sarath Babu worked predominantly with renowned director Balachander starting with Nizhal Nijamagiradhu. He was seen in almost every film of the veteran. Sarath Babu worked in more than 250 films in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, and Hindi. He not only played villainous roles but also was a great actor who played remarkable character roles. He got married twice and the first one was with veteran actress Rama Prabha. They lived together for about ten years before getting legally separated. Their divorce was intriguing and was widely spoken of, during that time. Sarath Babu re-married a journalist recently, in a hush-hush wedding. Sarath Babu was first admitted to a hospital in Bengaluru before he flew down to Hyderabad, where he was again admitted. He was getting treated for multiple ailments due to his age. Sarath Babu Dies At 71 Photo Credit: Gallery Sarath Babu Death: Renowned South-Indian actor, Sarathbabu died at a hospital in Hyderabad where he received a long treatment for a prolonged illness. He was rushed to a hospital a couple of weeks ago when he complained of physical discomfort, a few days ago. On Monday morning, the team of specialist doctors who have been following the case of Sarath Babu closely, announced his passing away officially. Condolences are pouring in from the film fraternities of Tollywood and Kollywood, where he predominantly worked. In their statement, they specified Sepsis (a dangerous infection where the entire body and its organs are attacked) as the cause of death. Sarath Babu suffered organ failure of the kidneys, lungs, liver, and other vital organs. Sarath Babu's Notable Work The good-looking actor first gained attention by playing the lead role of a hero in the 'Rama Rajyam movie, which was released in 1973. In his second film, he played the role of an antagonist. Ever since, the actor went on to play several characters that had positive and negative shades to them, giving his best by making them remarkable. The characters he played in films like Maro Charitra, Guppedu Manasu, Srungara Ramudu, 47 Rojulu, Seethakoka Chiluka, Sithara, Anveshana, Swathimuthyam, Sagara Sangamam, Samsaram Oka Chadarangam, Criminal, Annayya, etc are a few examples that depict his talent. He worked with renowned directors and technicians during his prime time and later on was seen in a couple of serials for television, especially the most popular ETV soap opera titled 'Antharangalu.' Sarath Babu's Early Life & Debut Sarath Babu belongs to Amudalavalasa village in Srikakulam district of Andhra Pradesh. However, his ancestors have roots in West Bengal. His original name is Sathyambabu Deekshith. He was born to Vijayasankara Deekshithulu and Suseela Devi. He wanted to become a civil servant by cracking IPS but he ventured into theatre. His tryst with the film industry happened due to Rama Vijetha production house, which was floated by a person belonging to Anakapalli, father of 'Nishabdam' director Hemanth Madhukar. Sarath Babu Death The veteran breathed his last on May 22, 2023, after undergoing treatment for a prolonged illness at a hospital in Hyderabad. He was survived by a wife, whom he married a couple of years ago. Sarath Babu's Funeral As per the available information, the family members are making arrangements for Sarath Babu's funeral at his place in Chennai. A momentous occasion as the first Arab Female Astronaut, Rayyanah Barnawi travels into space CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla., May 21, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Two Saudi astronauts, Rayyanah Barnawi and Ali AlQarni are part of the AX-2 space mission which launched today at 22:37 BST / 21:37 GMT. The mission consists of four astronauts all travelling towards the International Space Station (ISS) to conduct ground-breaking scientific research experiments. Joining the crew are Peggy Whitson, a former NASA astronaut who now flies for Axiom and John Shoffner, the pilot. The AX-2 mission launches atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida and crewmates will travel to and from the ISS in a SpaceX Dragon 2 capsule named Freedom. The 12-day trip marks an important historical event for Saudi Arabia, but also for women across the world, as Rayyanah Barnawi becomes the first ever female astronaut from Saudi Arabia to travel into space. Upon arrival, the astronauts will be conducting 14 scientific pioneering experiments in microgravity, including the repercussions of space on human health and rain-seeding technology, which will contribute to increasing rainfall in many countries. In collaboration with the Ministry of Education, there will also be educational experiments conducted aboard the ISS in real time with 12,000 students viewing from Saudi. The aim is to inspire the future generation of scientists and aspiring astronauts and encourage more young women and girls to follow STEM careers. Rayyanah Barnawi says "Space research hovers over all of humanity, literally and figuratively. As such, it should include the voices and perspectives of a truly global community that involves not only a diversity of nations, but a diversity of people. I am honoured to represent Saudi Arabia's growing contributions to this field and proud to be the first Saudi Arabian woman to go to space. I hope this mission will inspire girls from various backgrounds, who have not always had these opportunities, to embrace their talents and intellect, and to know they have a crucial role to play in advancing the human experience." The success of this mission will enhance Saudi Arabia's global position within the field of space exploration and underline its service to humanity. It will place a cornerstone in the astronauts' program which is designed to prepare future astronauts and engineers, through quality educational and training programs, participation in scientific experiments, international research, and future space-related missions - ultimately helping to achieve the goals of Vision 2030. H.E. Dr Mohammed Al-Tamimi, The Governor of the Communications, Space and Technology Commission (CST) and CEO of Saudi Space Commission (SSC) adds "ahead of us lies a promising future in space, one which the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia are keen to shape in partnership with the world. SSC, CST, and the Kingdom at large are not engaged in a space race but are invested in a shared journey with a clear mission: to enable humanity to unlock the potential that space holds for future generations to flourish." Source company: Saudi Space Commission (SCC) About The Saudi Space Commission (SSC): The Saudi Space Commission was established by the royal order in December of 2018 (Rabi II 1440). This bold step serves a future that is innovative and looks forward to the latest technologies and opportunities in the Saudi Space Industry. With the Kingdom moving towards a progressive quality of life, SSC demonstrates the aligned vision of creating better, secure environments for its citizens while actively enabling prospects of lucrative economic and monetary inventions. The SSC has strategized to create primary objectives that serve national security interests against space related risks and encourage cumulative growth and advancement. https://saudispace.gov.sa/en/about-us/ Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2081240/Ali_AlQarni.jpg Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2081241/Rayyanah_Barnawi.jpg Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2081242/Space_mission_crew.jpg Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2036414/4045070/SSC_Logo.jpg View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/the-saudi-space-commission-launches-the-ax-2-mission-today-301829755.html Labcorp Plans to Develop and Commercialize the Innovative Prostate Cancer Liquid Biopsy Test in the U.S. Proteomedix, a Swiss diagnostics company committed to advancing prostate cancer care, announced today that it entered into an agreement for Labcorp, a leading global life sciences company, to be the only laboratory to develop and commercialize the Proclarix Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA) test in the U.S.. Proclarix is performed using the same blood sample as a PSA test, and is designed to help determine the risk of clinically significant prostate cancer for men with an elevated total PSA and a digital rectal examination that indicates elevated prostate volume, but who are not suspected of having cancer. In appropriate cases, the test provides a non-invasive alternative to a prostate biopsy, which can have significant side effects. "We are extremely proud of our new collaboration with Labcorp," said Helge Lubenow, CEO of Proteomedix, and added: "About 1 in 7 men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer during their lifetimes, and this type of cancer is the most frequent in men and the second deadliest. There is an important unmet medical need for an accurate diagnosis of clinically significant prostate cancer by employing an innovative, simple blood test. The future commercialization of this assay in the U.S. will significantly impact how care and treatment for men with elevated PSAs is managed. We are pleased to work with Labcorp to make this test available to improve care for more men in the U.S." "Labcorp is focused on expanding access to innovative diagnostic options like Proclarix," said Dr. Prasanth Reddy, M.D., MPH, FACP, senior vice president and oncology head at Labcorp. "This test will give patients and providers clear answers to help them make more informed decisions about the most appropriate monitoring and treatment plan for each patient." Tungsten Advisors served as the exclusive financial advisor to Proteomedix. Brown Rudnick served as legal counsel to Proteomedix. Financial and other terms were not disclosed. About Proteomedix Proteomedix is a healthcare company whose mission is to transform prostate cancer diagnosis. The company has identified novel biomarker signatures with utility in prostate cancer diagnosis, prognosis, and therapy management. The lead product Proclarix is a blood-based prostate cancer test panel and risk score currently available in Europe. Proteomedix is located in the Bio-Technopark of Zurich-Schlieren, Switzerland. For more information, visit www.proteomedix.com. About Tungsten Advisors Tungsten Advisors (www.tungstenadv.com) is an investment banking firm focused on strategic advisory and corporate finance for healthcare and technology companies. Tungsten provides transactional services including financings (private placements/PIPEs), corporate licensing and mergers and acquisitions (M&A). Tungsten also focuses on company incubation and makes direct investments alongside the creation of new companies in healthcare and technology. Securities offered through Finalis Securities LLC Member FINRA/SIPC. Tungsten Partners LLC d/b/a Tungsten Advisors and Finalis Securities LLC are separate, unaffiliated entities. About Brown Rudnick Brown Rudnick is an international law firm that serves clients around the world from offices in key financial centers across the United States and the United Kingdom. We combine ingenuity with experience to achieve great outcomes for our clients in high-stakes litigation and complex business transactions. We deliver partner-driven service; we incentivize our lawyers to collaborate in the client's best interest; and we put excellence before scale, focusing on industry-driven, client-facing practices where we are recognized leaders. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230411005085/en/ Contacts: For further details: Dr. Helge Lubenow, CEO lubenow@proteomedix.com, +41 44 733 40 90 Solution automates parking spot exploration Once a suitable parking spot has been identified by the system the vehicle will park autonomously, using Continental's and Imagery's technology Function designed for use in both covered parking garages and uncovered parking lots Integration complements the new industry concept of the "Software Defined Vehicle" (SD) in which specialty applications will be offered across different automobile makes and models HAIFA, Israel, May 22, 2023 //PRNewswire// -- Imagery, a developer of napless autonomous driving software solutions, announced that Continental will be integrating part of its technology in the Continental Autonomous Driving (AD) platform offering for passenger vehicles. The first feature introduced by Continental, autonomous parking, allows the vehicle to explore a parking lot, detect a suitable parking space, and park the vehicle all without the driver touching the steering wheel. Amiss Toyed, Head of Partnerships and Innovation at Continental Business Area Autonomous Mobility: "Imagery's technology approach is a great add-on to Continental's software stack solutions for assisted and automated driving. Imagery's technology approach is a great add-on to Continental's software stack solutions for assisted and automated driving. We are impressed by the talented and highly motivated Imagery team and we are looking forward to jointly realize new automated parking features." Imagery Uses a Location-Independent Autonomous Driving Model Imagery software combines cutting-edge AI technology that captures and recognizes a real-time video feed with a deep neural network to make complex driving decisions instantly, based on current driving conditions. As such, the solution is napless, I.ed., not limited to pre-learned geographic areas. Over the last three years Imagery has been operating vehicles equipped with its autonomous driving software on public roads in the United States, Germany, and Israel. Integration Reflects Software-Defined Vehicle Industry Trend The global automobile industry is moving from hardware-based design to software-centric electronic devices. The versatility of this new platform allows vehicle manufacturers to offer features such as autonomous valet parking as an add-on to their entire range of vehicles. Furthermore, OEMs will be able to deploy software features to the vehicle even after it has left the factory, using "over the air" (OTA) transmission for software updates. How the Autonomous Driving Technology Works Imagery's autonomous driving motion planning technology will be used. The Motion Planning layer is a deep neural network that learns to drive by imitating human behavior, making motion planning decisions in real time. It extrapolates and generalizes by drawing on the learned behavior to navigate new roads independently, making complex data-driven decisions based on what it perceives in the moment. For the first phase of the autonomous valet parking feature, the driver must be in the vehicle, monitoring the surroundings and the car's maneuvers. The driver decides when, and if, to engage the autonomous valet parking feature. First Step in Enabling L3 Autonomous Driving in Passenger Cars "Autonomous parking is just the first step in the path to full autonomous driving," states Errand Fir, CEO at Imagry. "The capabilities of our mapless system extend easily to the open road, enabling the vehicle to operate freely in geographic areas which were previously unknown to it. We're confident that Continental OEM customers will soon appreciate the full extent of our exciting offering." About Continental Continental develops pioneering technologies and services for sustainable and connected mobility of people and their goods. Founded in 1871, the technology company offers safe, efficient, intelligent and affordable solutions for vehicles, machines, traffic and transportation. In 2022, Continental generated sales of 39.4 billion and currently employs around 200,000 people in 57 countries and markets. About Imagry Imagry (www.imagry.co), established in 2015 for high-end computer vision applications and specializing in the automotive sector since 2018, is an Autonomous Driving (AD) software provider that has created a mapless driving system. Bio-inspired technology combines a real-time vision-based perception network and imitation-learning artificial intelligence (AI) for a driving decision-making network that is economical, easily deployable, and scalable. Using low-cost sensors, it eliminates the need for external digital mapping of roads and cities. It can be installed on passenger cars as well as buses and shuttles. View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/continental-integrates-imagerys-autonomous-driving-technology-to-support-automated-parking-for-mass-market-passenger-cars-301830301.html STOCKHOLM, May 22, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The agreement between the Germany-based specialist for high-efficient water electrolysis, thyssenkrupp nucera, and the Swedish industrial start-up H2 Green Steel, secures capacity of more than 700MW for H2 Green Steel's electrolysis plant in Boden - making it one of the world's largest electrolysis plants announced to date. The agreement with thyssenkrupp nucera will cover alkaline water electrolysis technology (AWE) and large-scale electrolysis plant engineering. thyssenkrupp nucera has a proven track record with more than 600 installed projects and over 10 GW capacity in the chlor-alkali technology, which is the DNA for 'scalum', its large-scale 20 MW standard AWE module. "This electrolyzer agreement indicates a change in market dynamics and is also a proof of our new business model for reservation of production capacity. For customers where time-to-market is critical, ensuring access to production capacity of leading electrolyzer technology becomes essential. With this bold investment, H2 Green Steel has shown a strong commitment to their timeline to decarbonize the steel industry and we look forward to working with them," says Dr. Werner Ponikwar, CEO of thyssenkrupp nucera AG & Co. KGaA. Through this collaboration, thyssenkrupp nucera will deliver capacity of more than 700MW to the electrolysis plant, likely making the H2 Green Steel plant one of the world's largest AWE installation by the time its commissioned. The giga-scale electrolysis plant, the first globally, is based on a concept where H2 Green Steel uniquely will use several complementing technologies for green hydrogen production, enabling balancing of the system for cost- optimization and operational flow as each technology's core benefits can be harvested. To build it, H2 Green steel is teaming up with different world-leading partners and expertise in design, construction, equipment, operations and financing. "The electrolysis plant in Boden will be many times bigger than most electrolyzer installations that exist today. Combining our own strong technical expertise with that of an experienced electrolysis supplier like thyssenkrupp nucera gives us a solid edge in the growing green hydrogen economy, which we will leverage to transform hard to abate industries. We start with steel in Boden, Sweden, but it's only the beginning," says Maria Persson Gulda, Chief Technology Officer H2 Green Steel. Hydrogen produced in the electrolysis plant in Boden will be consumed on-site in a direct reduction process, reducing iron ore to sponge iron, enabling production of green steel. The electrolyzer units will be crucial to maximize the operational and economic benefits of the hydrogen in the steel mill, which also forms the foundation for new patented intellectual property assets. The work leading up to the signing of the contract was enabled through support from Sweden's Industrial Leap programme, led by the Swedish Energy Agency. CONTACT: Karin Hallstan, Head of Public and Media Relations, phone: +46 76 842 81 04, email: press@h2greensteel.com Rita Syre, Senior Media Relations Manager, phone: +49 231 22972 2522, mobile: +49 174 161 86 24, email: rita.syre@thyssenkrupp-nucera.com The following files are available for download: https://mb.cision.com/Main/20623/3772367/2071851.pdf Press release TKN H2 Green Steel_Final https://news.cision.com/h2-green-steel/i/thyssenkrupp-nucera,c3180648 thyssenkrupp nucera View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/thyssenkrupp-nucera-and-h2-green-steel-partner-for-one-of-the-largest-electrolysis-plants-globally-301830516.html Not for release to US wire services or distribution in the United States Announcement to the Toronto Stock Exchange and Australian Securities Exchange SUBIACO, WESTERN AUSTRALIA / ACCESSWIRE / May 22, 2023 / The Board of RTG Mining Inc. ("RTG", or the "Company") (TSX:RTG)(ASX:RTG) is pleased to announce that a comprehensive settlement of all outstanding issues with the Villar Family controlled Sage Capital and TVI Resource Development (Phils.) Inc. ("TVIRD") has been reached and a binding Memorandum of Agreement signed. On execution of the final documents, expected in the next month, all litigation that RTG had launched will be withdrawn as part of an agreed restructuring of the Mabilo Project. The Villar Family is one of the most prominent families in the Philippines and RTG is pleased to partner with them in the development of the Mabilo Project, which is a significant mining project for the country. The key terms of the agreement for RTG include the following: RTG (through SRM Gold Limited) will retain a 40% interest in Mt. Labo Exploration and Development Corporation ("Mt. Labo") with the project also developed by Mt. Labo, in line with Philippine regulatory requirements, with Sage Capital (which is owned by TVIRD) holding the remaining 60%; RTG will have a 2% net smelter royalty ("NSR"); RTG's debt together with interest, currently in the order of US$27M (subject to audit) will be repaid out of the proceeds of Stage 1 of the project, the Direct Shipping Operation subject to customary requirements to address liquidity and ongoing operations of Mt. Labo; Funding arrangements for the project as between the major shareholders of Mt. Labo have been successfully renegotiated, (relieving RTG of a sole funding obligation) and replaced with a pro-rata funding obligation, together with a disproportionate funding obligation of Sage Capital, as set out below; With debt repayments in full and the NSR, RTG will be entitled to approximately 57% of the proceeds of Stage 1, the Direct Shipping Operation; RTG will be entitled to 40% of the operating cashflow of the project, together with the 2% NSR and repayment of its debt, which is currently in the order of US$27M; The first US$5M of expenditure for Mt. Labo (or 12 months of expenditure, whichever occurs the earlier), will be funded pro-rata between the two shareholders (ie RTG will provide 40%) and thereafter, Sage Capital/TVIRD will sole fund the next US$5M of expenditure, with all additional funding thereafter to be provided on a pro-rata basis; All parties are required to act in the best interests of the project and not compete; A shareholders' agreement will be finalised which will provide typical minority interest protection clauses including reserve matters for voting including annual budgets and appointments of key personnel; Any disputes will be resolved by the Singapore International Arbitration Centre; and On completion of final signed documents, all litigation matters will be withdrawn and settled in full. With the restructuring of the Mabilo Project now agreed, over the balance of this year, the remaining permitting matters and financing plans will be finalised, a review of the 2016 Feasibility Study will be completed, together with finalising the acquisition of surface rights, following which, a commitment to development will be formalised by the Board of Mt. Labo. RTG is pleased with the outcome of the discussions and the co-operative and constructive approach adopted by the Villar Family representatives. RTG believes they can be a strong and positive partner to work with to take the Mabilo Project forward, with both a near term development and future exploration activities to expand the project, which will start to unlock the value of the project for all stakeholders, not only the local communities but for the country as a whole. ABOUT RTG MINING INC RTG Mining Inc. is a mining and exploration company listed on the main board of the Toronto Stock Exchange and the Australian Securities Exchange. RTG is currently focused primarily on progressing the Mabilo Project to start-up having recently received a mining permit for the Project, with a view to moving quickly and safely to a producing gold and copper company. RTG also has a number of exciting new opportunities including the Panguna Project in Bougainville, which it remains committed to with the primary focus on advancing the Mabilo Project and considering new business development opportunities. RTG has an experienced management team which has to date developed seven mines in five different countries, including being responsible for the development of the Masbate Gold Mine in the Philippines through CGA Mining Limited. RTG has some of the most respected international institutional investors as shareholders including Franklin Templeton, Equinox Partners and Sun Valley. ENQUIRIES Australian Contact President & CEO - Justine Magee Tel: +61 8 6489 2900 Fax: +61 8 6489 2920 Email: jmagee@rtgmining.com US Contact Investor Relations - Jaime Wells +1 970 640 0611 jwells@rtgmining.com COMPLIANCE STATEMENT Date: 22 May 2023 Authorised for release by: By the Board of Directors CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS The Toronto Stock Exchange has not reviewed nor does it accept responsibility for the accuracy or adequacy of this press release, which has been prepared by management. This announcement includes certain "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Canadian securities legislation including, among others, statements made or implied relating to the interpretation of exploration results, accuracy of mineral resource and mineral reserve estimates, parameters and assumptions used to estimate mineral reserves and mineral resources, realization of mineral reserve and mineral resource estimates, estimated economic results of the Mabilo Project, future operational and financial results, including estimated cashflow and the timing thereof, estimated expenditures, expansion, exploration and development activities and the timing thereof, including expectations regarding the DSO, plans for progressing Stage 2 development, completion of a debt funding package, the negotiation of contracts for start up works and offtake arrangements and the completion of merged documentation, RTG's objectives, strategies to achieve those objectives, RTG's beliefs, plans, estimates and intentions, and similar statements concerning anticipated future events, results, circumstances, performance or expectations. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, included herein, are forward-looking statements. Forward looking statements generally can be identified by words such as "objective", "may", "will", "expected", "likely", "intend", "estimate", "anticipate", "believe", "should", "plans", or similar expressions suggesting future outcomes or events. Forward-looking statements involve various risks and uncertainties and are based on certain factors and assumptions. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from RTG's expectations include uncertainties related to fluctuations in gold and other commodity prices and currency exchange rates; uncertainties relating to interpretation of drill results and the geology, continuity and grade of mineral deposits; uncertainty of estimates of capital and operating costs, recovery rates, production estimates and estimated economic return; the need for cooperation of government agencies in the development of RTG's mineral projects; the need to obtain additional financing to develop RTG's mineral projects; the possibility of delay in development programs or in construction projects and uncertainty of meeting anticipated program milestones for RTG's mineral projects and other risks and uncertainties as discussed in RTG's annual report for the year ended December 31, 2022 and detailed from time to time in our other filings with the Canadian securities regulatory authorities available at www.sedar.com. The forward-looking statements made in this announcement relate only to events as of the date on which the statements are made. RTG will not release publicly any revisions or updates to these forward-looking statements to reflect events, circumstances or unanticipated events occurring after the date of this announcement except as required by law or by any appropriate regulatory authority. NOT FOR RELEASE OR DISTRIBUTION IN THE UNITED STATES This announcement has been prepared for publication in Canada and Australia and may not be released to US wire services or distributed in the United States. This announcement does not constitute an offer to sell, or a solicitation of an offer to buy, securities in the United States or any other jurisdiction. Any securities described in this announcement have not been, and will not be, registered under the US Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "US Securities Act"), or any state securities laws, and may not be offered or sold in the United States except in transactions exempt from, or not subject to, registration under the US Securities Act and applicable US state securities laws. SOURCE: RTG Mining Inc. View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/756301/Memorandum-of-Agreement-Signed-with-TVI-Resource-Development-Phils-Inc TAIPEI, May 22, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- We proudly announce that SINBON Electronics is attending "EUROBIKE 2023" for the first time?at Messe Frankfurt, Germany through?June 21st - 23rd, 2023 at booth E27 in Hall 9.2. We will be showcasing the customized and integrated e-bike services from component design and manufacturing to cloud-based electrical control systems with IoT capabilities. This includes interconnection solutions for e-bikes, and e-bike tracking & anti-theft solutions, software solution and maintenance system. We look forward to meeting you at EUROBIKE! Read more about SINBON's e-bike solutions. About EUROBIKE EUROBIKE is the central platform for the bike and future mobility world. It has grown because its accessibility in terms of transport and technology in combination with new themes is creating the basis for growth in every facet. About SINBON Electronics Established in 1989 in Taiwan, SINBON Electronics is a leading provider of integrated design and production services of bespoke interconnect solution. Thanks to its expertise in e-mobility field, SINBON's solutions improve overall sustainability and help address one of the global challenges, climate change. The group quickly expands their know-how and experiences from the standardized automotive applications into a more bespoke market such as the autonomous and micro-mobility applications. To know more about SINBON's service, please visit www.sinbon.com or follow them on LinkedIn . Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2080216/Article_pic.jpg View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/meet-sinbon-electronics-at-eurobike-2023-germany-301829355.html Dr.-Ing. Compera, who will serve as a senior strategic & business development consultant, until recently served as the General Manager of the Industrial Printing Solutions division at The Ricoh Company Ltd. - one of the world's leading digital printers' and print heads' manufacturers TEL-AVIV, Israel, May 22, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Nur Ink Innovations Ltd (TASE: NURI), which engages in research and development of various types of water-based and environmentally friendly pigment inks for diverse digital printing technologies and applications, is happy to announce of Dr.-Ing. Christian Compera's appointment as senior strategic consultant to the Company. Dr. Compera has recently visited Nur Ink and was profoundly impressed by the Company's products, the high level of the development teams and the quality of the Company's laboratories and equipment - all of which contributed to his decision to support, as a consultant, the Company's business development team. He will start working with Nur Ink immediately and will serve as a consultant for business development as well as for marketing and sales, where his main role will be to generate for Nur Ink relationships with new clients and establish its foothold in industries where Nur Ink has not operated to date. By virtue of his role as General Manager of Ricoh's Industrial Printing Solutions, where Ricoh's printhead manufacturing division was also under his responsibility, Dr. Compera has excellent relations and strong ties with senior decision makers in many companies that develop printers and digital printing systems in various fields and diverse industries. According to Moshe Nur, Chairman of the Board of Directors and CEO of the Company: "Dr.-Ing. Compera brings with him first-rate expertise and connections in the industry, which we anticipate will help us to continue and lead Nur Ink to become a leading global player in the world of water-based and environmentally friendly pigment ink, intended for use in printers and digital printing systems" Dr.-Ing. Compera will commence his engagement with Nur Ink immediately and will serve as a consultant for business development as well as marketing and sales Mr. Compera's main role will be to generate for Nur Ink relationships with new clients so as to establish its foothold in industries where the Company has not operated to date Moshe Nur, Chairman of the Board and CEO of the Company, added: "I am very proud of Dr.-Ing. Christian Compera joining the ranks of Nur Ink as a senior strategic consultant to the Company. Having visited Nur Ink recently and having the chance to appreciate the Company's high professional standards and the quality of its products, Dr. Compera decided to join our ranks as a senior strategic consultant." Dr.-Ing. Compera has many years of experience in the fields of printing and digital printing and until recently served as General Manager of the division of Industrial Printing Solutions at the Japanese corporation Ricoh. Press contact: Eliav Priel Email: eliav@nur-ink.com Office: +972 (74) 7973081 (Ext. 1) Mobile: +972 (54) 3277271 Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1780509/Nur_Ink_Innovations_Ltd_Logo.jpg View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/nur-ink-innovations-welcomes-dr-ing-christian-compera-and-commends-his-appointment-as-a-senior-strategic-consultant-301830512.html Original-Research: Aspermont Ltd - von GBC AG Einstufung von GBC AG zu Aspermont Ltd Unternehmen: Aspermont Ltd ISIN: AU000000ASP3 Anlass der Studie: Research Note Empfehlung: Buy Kursziel: 0.11 AUD Letzte Ratinganderung: Analyst: Julien Desrosiers, Matthias Greiffenberger Q2-2023 preliminary report shows increased growth Aspermont, which is a leading global resource sector B2B media provider, has once again demonstrated its robustness in Q2, maintaining an enviable growth trajectory while expanding operational capacity. The company has celebrated an impressive 27th consecutive quarter of double-digit growth in subscriptions revenues, fueled by positive contributions from Content Works. The following are some of the company's highlights: * Total revenue at $4.9m was up 3% year on year. * Subscriptions revenue at $2.3m was up 10% year on year. * Content Works revenue at $0.3m was up 102% year on year. * Net liquidity at $4.5m was up 10% year on year. * Partnership with Saudi Arabia confirmed Aspermont's Q2 performance showcases its resilience and ability to thrive in challenging market conditions. The company's unwavering focus on subscriptions revenues, along with the remarkable growth of Content Works, underscores its adaptability and capacity to seize new business opportunities. Furthermore, the net liquidity growth of 10% year-on-year reflects Aspermont's prudent financial management and its ability to maintain a solid financial foundation for future endeavors. This financial stability is crucial in an industry where economic headwinds can impact revenue streams, such as advertising. With decreasing conventional advertising spending hitting the sector, Aspermont's strategic partnership with Saudi Arabia solidifies its position as a global player for content-based advertising in the mining sector and opens doors to new revenue streams. This milestone underscores the potential of the company's diversified business model and its ability to cater to evolving market demands. Recent key appointments within Aspermont's management team signal the company's commitment to augmenting its operational capacity and expertise. The addition of experienced professionals such as Josh Robertson, Graeme McCracken, and Lindsay Santos further bolsters Aspermont's ability to capitalize on growth opportunities and expand its global footprint. The company appoints Josh Robertson as Group Chief Marketing Officer Josh Robertson has extensive marketing experience gained at several large global network agencies. Josh held senior management positions at Havas, Publicis and Dentsu and as Chief Marketing Officer at VCCP serving large corporate and government clients worldwide. The company appoints Lindsay Santos as Group Head of Events The role of Group Head of Events is a recently established position that carries the crucial responsibility of overseeing the creation and execution of Aspermont's global events, in alignment with the company's dedication to crafting top-notch gatherings within the global resource sectors. Ms Lindsay Santos brings with her more than 14 years of expertise in the events industry, having excelled in various roles encompassing the commercial, operations, and production domains. Her notable accomplishments include spearheading trade shows for InfoComm Asia over the past two years, catering to diverse industries. Lindsay's valuable experience in event launches and the development of fresh initiatives will significantly contribute to Aspermont's ambitious growth plans. The company appoints Graeme McCracken as Non-Executive Director Mr McCracken has more than 30 years of experience in media, events, data and analytics across diverse industry sectors. Graeme has held senior management roles at RELX Group and Warburg Pincus, and CEO positions at Proagrica and CMD Group. Graeme is a graduate of the University of Glasgow with a master's degree in politics and economics. In conclusion, Aspermont's continued double-digit growth in subscriptions revenues, successful partnerships, and prudent operational expansions highlight its position as a frontrunner in the global resource sectors' B2B media landscape. The company's progressive inward investment program, alongside its emphasis on strategic hires, demonstrates a forward-thinking approach and positions Aspermont for sustained success. The company's ambitious initiatives, including projects such as Skywave, Esperanto, and archive digitalization, contribute to its long-term growth prospects. Aspermont's unwavering commitment to delivering high-value content to a global audience further enhances its monetization potential. All this while boosting its overall net liquidity position. Until then, the results published by the company for their Q2-2023 increases our confidence in the company achieving our FY 2023 financial projections. We are therefore maintaining our BUY rating and our current target price of 0.11 AUD / 0.07 EUR. Die vollstandige Analyse konnen Sie hier downloaden: http://www.more-ir.de/d/27057.pdf Kontakt fur Ruckfragen GBC AG Halderstrae 27 86150 Augsburg 0821 / 241133 0 research@gbc-ag.de ++++++++++++++++ Offenlegung moglicher Interessenskonflikte nach 85 WpHG und Art. 20 MAR Beim oben analysierten Unternehmen ist folgender moglicher Interessenkonflikt gegeben: (5a,11); Einen Katalog moglicher Interessenkonflikte finden Sie unter: http://www.gbc-ag.de/de/Offenlegung +++++++++++++++ Date (time) Completion: 19/05/2023 (13.45 am) Date (time) first publication: 22/05/2022 (11.00 am) ubermittelt durch die EQS Group AG. Fur den Inhalt der Mitteilung bzw. Research ist alleine der Herausgeber bzw. Ersteller der Studie verantwortlich. Diese Meldung ist keine Anlageberatung oder Aufforderung zum Abschluss bestimmter Borsengeschafte. LONDON, May 22, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Johnson Matthey (JM), a global leader in sustainable technologies, and Hystar, a Norwegian high-tech hydrogen company, have signed a three-year strategic supply agreement to ramp up renewable (green) hydrogen production. This delivers on JM's published milestone of winning at least two strategic partnerships in Hydrogen Technologies by the end of 2022/23. JM will supply membrane electrode assemblies (MEAs), key performance-defining components for electrolysers, as part of Hystar's commercialisation ramp-up. This represents the next step in the collaboration between the two companies which began in 2021, focused on electrolyser stack development and manufacturing scale-up, using the components provided by JM and Hystar's patented cell design. As part of the ongoing collaboration, JM will supply MEAs for the Hystar PEM electrolysers to be used in the HyPilot project in Norway. The HyPilot project will verify Hystar's patented PEM technology under realistic field conditions, in collaboration with industry leaders Yara and Equinor, with end market demand driven by the trends in food production and energy security. As part of the project, Hystar will deliver a complete, autonomous, containerized PEM electrolyser with a hydrogen production capacity of up to 745 kg/day. Hystar's recent test results show the company already exceeds the Clean Hydrogen for Europe 2030 targets for clean hydrogen production. Hystar and JM will work in partnership to continue improving the performance of Hystar's electrolysers and design circularity principles into the system. Both partners will continue the collaboration to enable further scale up and automation for Hystar's planned multi GW production line, which is expected to be operational by 2025. Fredrik Mowill, Chief Executive Officer at Hystar, says: "Hystar's class-leading PEM electrolyser is currently undergoing a ramp-up to GW scale production capacity. As part of our growth plans, Hystar will partner with strategic suppliers, such as JM, who possess state-of-the-art technology, mass manufacturing capacity as well as the ability to pursue future technology developments." Mark Wilson, Chief Executive of Hydrogen Technologies at JM, says: "This strategic agreement with Hystar is an important endorsement of JM's electrolyser technology, manufacturing capability, supply chain access and our circularity offering. Partnerships such as this that bring together the complementary capabilities and strengths of different organisations are essential to the development of the hydrogen economy." Terminology Membrane Electrode Assemblies (MEAs) contain seven layers - the catalyst-coated membrane (three layers); seals (two further layers); and gas diffusion layers (another two additional layers, giving total of seven layers). As such, MEAs contain the three-layer catalyst-coated membrane (CCM) which is JM's primary area of focus and drives the electrochemical reactions. Johnson Matthey is a global leader in sustainable technologies, catalysing the net zero transition. With over 200 years of sustained commitment to innovation and technological breakthroughs, we improve the performance, function and safety of our customers' products. Our science has a global impact in areas such as low emission transport, energy, chemical processing and making the most efficient use of the planet's natural resources. Today, about 13,000 Johnson Matthey professionals collaborate with our network of customers and partners to make a real difference to the world around us. For more information visit www.matthey.com About Hystar Hystar AS, is a Norwegian high-tech innovative hydrogen company. Hystar's PEM electrolysers are the most efficient and safest in the world and have been designed for mass manufacturing from the very beginning. The ultra-efficient design, which is patented and unique to Hystar, enables their stack designs to use a 90% thinner membrane than conventional electrolysers, enabling more than 10% lower energy consumption and more compact stacks using less critical raw materials than the industry standard. Hystar recently announced a Series B funding round of $26million co-led by AP Ventures and Mitsubishi Corporation with additional investors including Nippon Steel Trading, Hillhouse Investment and Trustbridge Partners, alongside existing investors SINTEF Ventures and Firda. View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/johnson-matthey-and-hystar-agree-strategic-partnership-301830662.html Levering Kinaxis' concurrent planning technique and gaining a more agile supply chain Kinaxis Inc. (TSX: KXS), the authority in driving agility for fast, confident decision-making in an unpredictable world, announced today that Accell Group has deployed Kinaxis' RapidResponse platform, digitally transforming its supply chain, providing solutions to supply chain complexities. Based in Heerenveen, Netherlands, Accell Group is the European market leader in e-bikes and Europe's second largest supplier of bicycle parts and accessories. The company is leveraging RapidResponse to gain the agility and flexibility needed to react to changes in demand and disruption. "We knew that in order to remain a market leader, we needed a supply chain that could withstand disruption and adapt to change," said Jon San Andres, Group Planning Director at Accell. "With Kinaxis we are able to gain complete visibility into our supply chain, and better plan for any scenario." With Kinaxis, Accell Group has end-to-end visibility of its supply chain, and the ability to balance all aspects of the demand and supply plans instantly and continuously, taking into consideration material restrictions, production capacity and market volatility. RapidResponse provides the ability to run multiple simulations and collaborate in real-time. "We continue to see accelerating customer growth in European markets, and we understand the unique supply chain requirements they need," said John Sicard, Kinaxis CEO. "We are excited to continue to work with Accell Group in bringing concurrent planning to its supply chain." The Accell and Kinaxis teams were supported by bluecrux, a value chain consulting company, with broad business experience in successful planning transformations. Accell, Kinaxis, and bluecrux blended into one team, efficiently melting cultures and methodologies. Bluecrux took on the role to dive into the Accell business context and processes, bridging across organization, process, RapidResponse and Accell systems. Bluecrux also supported Accell and Kinaxis in driving the data and change management streams, where high quality data sets and full user adoption are adding to the success of the project. "Using their sound methodology on how to manage advanced planning solution implementations, bluecrux helped us taking the first step in the digitalization of our planning processes," San Andres said. "Bluecrux is smoothly blending their business process experience, with their understanding of RapidResponse and their overall change management expertise." About Kinaxis Inc. Everyday volatility and uncertainty demand quick action. Kinaxis delivers the agility to make fast, confident decisions across integrated business planning and the digital supply chain. People can plan better, live better and change the world. Trusted by innovative brands, we combine human intelligence with AI and concurrent planning to help companies plan for any future, monitor risks and opportunities and respond at the pace of change. Powered by an extensible, cloud-based platform, Kinaxis delivers industry-proven applications so everyone can know sooner, act faster and remove waste. For more Kinaxis news, visit Kinaxis.com or follow us on LinkedIn or Twitter. Forward-Looking Statements Certain statements in this release constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Forward-looking statements include statements as to Kinaxis' growth opportunities and the potential benefits of, and demand for, Kinaxis' products and services. These statements are subject to certain assumptions, risks and uncertainties, including our view of the relative position of Kinaxis' products and services compared to competitive offerings in the industry. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such statements. Kinaxis' actual results, performance, achievements and developments may differ materially from the results, performance, achievements or developments expressed or implied by such statements. Risk factors that may cause the actual results, performance, achievements or developments of Kinaxis to differ materially from the results, performance, achievements or developments expressed or implied by such statements can be found in the public documents filed by Kinaxis with Canadian securities regulatory authorities. Kinaxis assumes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as expressly required by law. Source: Kinaxis View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230522005087/en/ Contacts: Media Relations Jaime Cook Kinaxis jcook@kinaxis.com 289-552-4640 Investor Relations Rick Wadsworth Kinaxis rwadsworth@kinaxis.com 613-907-7613 Innovating at Speed/Scale with ROI Today at the Gartner Marketing Symposium and Gartner Data Analytics Summit, Redpoint is highlighting key innovations in rg1, Redpoint's leading CDP platform. Prioritizing data quality, Redpoint offers the most comprehensive, omnichannel marketing solution available in the market today. It is trusted by leading global brands including: Gap Inc., Mayo Clinic, Ralph Lauren, American Express, Freedom Mortgage, Cigna Health, Avis Budget and SoFi. With rg1, one successful client delivers billions of personalized interactions per year in real time, maintaining 30-millisecond response time SLA's even during peak seasons. The rg1 platform drives this level of transformative CX with one-to-one personalization at scale, delivering contextually relevant and timely content, offers and next-best actions today's consumers demand. "Over the past several years, the one constant in customer experience has been change," said Dale Renner, Chairman and CEO of Redpoint Global. "Accelerated by the pandemic, the fundamental ways in which businesses interact with customers are constantly being re-imagined and success is dependent on a brand's agility in adapting to ever-changing customer expectations. We've helped many of the world's largest brands deliver customer-centric, data-driven experiences through capabilities that offer high relevance for both today's and tomorrow's consumer expectations all translating to significant ROI." Redpoint Global is uniquely positioned to meet enterprise clients where they are any capability maturity level, any martech stack, any deployment type and work with them to drive ROI, both now and in the future. Built with the ability to bring together disparate data sources, this cloud-native solution incorporates AI and machine learning into an omnichannel engagement platform with sophisticated identity resolution, data quality, segmentation and activation capabilities. Leading companies in the retail, healthcare, financial services, telecommunications and travel services industries rely on Redpoint's solutions to enable transformational, omnichannel customer experience and flawless data quality and integration. Strategic deployment of rg1 has enabled growth in new customers, share of wallet increases for loyalty customers, better customer engagement and reduced costs with higher efficiency in the most demanding industries. Gartner Events This month, Redpoint is speaking at two upcoming Gartner events. The Gartner Marketing Symposium in Denver, CO and the Gartner Data Analytics Summit in London, UK, both taking place March 22-24. Data-driven customer experience requires a platform with deep data transformation roots as well as easy-to-use, marketer-friendly capabilities for customer insights and journeys. At the Gartner Marketing Symposium , Denver, Colorado, Booth #127: Redpoint Chief Marketing Strategy Officer John Nash will be presenting with Avis Budget Group's Sr. Solutions Architect, Prabhakar Manuel about "Driving Marketing Agility with a Single Point of Omnichannel Control," on May 23 at 2:45 pm MDT. See more information here. , Denver, Colorado, Booth #127: At Gartner's Data Analytics Summit , ExCel, London, Booth #438: Redpoint EMEA GM and VP of Global Services Mike Ferguson and Product Marketing Principal Steve Zisk will be speaking about "CDAO CMO Together: Prioritising CX on the Business Roadmap." The session will be on May 24 at 11:15 am GMT. See more information here. , ExCel, London, Booth #438: Redpoint uniquely addresses these two audiences with its rg1 Platform and will be demonstrating the product at Gartner's premier marketing and data management conferences. Press interested in speaking with Redpoint can contact: laura.ackerman@redpointglobal.com. rg1 Product Updates Redpoint's rg1 platform is now built with a cloud-native containerized architecture. This new architecture has allowed additional speed and agility for delivering new capabilities including expanded databases and cloud environments for deployment and connectors with industry-leading martech vendors, delivering end-to-end customer engagement and digital transformation. Enhanced security and compliance features, identity resolution, telemetry improvements and a metadata backbone improve the agility and speed to value for the offerings as well. These enhancements to Redpoint rg1 have been key in driving exponential growth over the past few years. Key features over the last year have included a release of cloud-native version rg1 that has enabled: Improved usability and operational management through a streamlined UX, including interaction prioritization, attribute validation and a number of other functional simplifications Enhanced reporting with expanded access to campaign metadata Unique visualization of data quality across the enterprise Redpoint is rolling out additional standardization of data models and the ingestion processes to enhance the speed-to-value timeline. Additional enhancements to these models will be a key development throughout the second half of 2023 as well. Industry Recognition Redpoint's rg1 has been evaluated by several industry leaders, including: CDP Institute Report: Real CDP Audit 2023 Leaders in the 2022 Gartner, "Magic Quadrant for Multichannel Marketing Hubs,"by Rob Brosnan, Benjamin Bloom, Tian Smart, Ryan Brady, Michael McCune, Mike McGuire, 18 July 2022. Gartner Disclaimer: Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in our research publications, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors with the highest ratings or other designation. Gartner research publications consist of the opinions of Gartner's research organization and should not be construed as statements of fact. Gartner disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. GARTNER and MAGIC QUADRANT are registered trademarks of Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the U.S. and internationally and is used herein with permission. All rights reserved. About Redpoint Global With Redpoint's software platform, rg1, innovative companies are perfecting their data, transforming their customer experiences across the enterprise and driving higher revenue. Redpoint's solutions provide a remarkably uni?ed, single point of control where all customer data is connected and every touchpoint intelligently orchestrated. Delivering more engaging customer experiences, highly personalized moments, relevant next-best actions and tangible ROI-this is how leading marketers lead markets. To learn more, visit redpointglobal.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230522005057/en/ Contacts: Laura Ackerman Redpoint Global T: 781.552.3046 laura.ackerman@redpointglobal.com European start-up establishes itself in the heart of Silicon Valley, secures close to 100 requests for product samples and embarks on aggressive growth trajectory in North America to capitalize on strong customer momentum. Axelera AI, the provider of the world's most powerful and advanced solutions for AI at the Edge, announces new investors who have joined their oversubscribed Series A round, bringing the total amount raised to $50 million. In the last several months, CDP Venture Capital, Verve Ventures and Fractionelera have joined the round. The latter consortium of investors was created specifically to fund Axelera AI. Innovation Industries increased its investment in the company becoming the largest investor. Despite the challenging fundraising environment, this underscores the company's potential and market traction. The funding will support Axelera AI's global expansion and mass production of its first-generation AI acceleration platform, powered by its disruptive in-memory computing and RISC-V controlled dataflow technology. A few months after their product announcement, 350+ customers have shown interest, close to 100 requested a sample for testing, and over 50 signed up to company's Early Access Program (EAP), which still has a few weeks remaining for potential applicants. The EAP supports customers in developing next-generation computer vision products by providing benefits, such as collaborative hardware design, as well as specialized support for software and machine learning. Through their Metis AI Platform, Axelera AI redefines boundaries and provides access to industry-leading Edge AI products. Offering the best performance and user-friendliness at a significantly reduced cost and power consumption. Compared to existing alternatives, their platform aims to make AI readily accessible to a wider audience. Axelera AI has begun expanding its operations within the United States with Jonathan Ballon joining as non-executive Chairman and the addition of Sander Arts, marketing veteran in Silicon Valley as Marketing Advisor. The company is also actively recruiting for a Global Vice President of Sales, business developers and technical support team. "In just 20 months, we've achieved incredible milestones including the tape out of two cutting-edge AI chips, securing a total of $50M in funding, forging impactful partnerships and design wins with industry-leading customers. We're thrilled to bring our new investors into the fold. This is a testament to our trailblazing technology and the unwavering trust our investors place in our extraordinary team," said Fabrizio Del Maffeo, CEO of Axelera AI. "We are proud to contribute to the growth of Axelera AI, a great Italian-led European company that is expanding its R&D division in the Milan office by bringing know-how and expertise to a highly strategic market for the future such as semiconductors," said Mario Scuderi, Senior Partner and head of EvolutionFund, CDP Venture Capital. "We believe that Axelera AI is in a unique position to capture the rapidly developing edge AI market with a strong combination of next-generation hardware and software. The exceptional founding team has been able to constantly attract top-level talent and push the technology to a commercial level at a high pace. We are excited to join this future European semicon champion on their journey," said Emma Schepers, Senior Investment Associate at Verve Ventures. "We are thankful for the opportunity to invest as a collective of individuals in a company that is positioned at the forefront of innovation in the semiconductor industry. We believe in the continued growth and development of the market and are confident in the potential for Axelera AI to deliver ground-breaking solutions that will shape the future of the industry," said a representative of Fractionelera. "As one of the first investors in Axelera AI, we are happy to see additional strong investors joining the journey. This further acknowledges the strength of the team, technology and product while positioning the company perfectly for strong growth. We look forward to building this company together with the management team and the investors," said Sander Verbrugge, Partner at Innovation Industries. Dr. Massimo Vanzi was recently appointed to its board of directors, bolstering its 45-year experience in deep-tech and semiconductor technology. At the Embedded Vision Summit 2023 in Santa Clara, taking place from May 22-24, Axelera AI will be presenting their Metis AI platform and demonstrating its value proposition. Axelera AI's CEO and the leadership team will attend the event. About Axelera AI Axelera AI is providing the world's most powerful and advanced solutions for AI at the edge. Its game-changing Metis AI platform a holistic hardware and software solution for AI interference at the edge enables computer vision applications to become more accessible, powerful and user friendly than ever before. Headquartered in the AI Innovation Center of the High Tech Campus in Eindhoven (Netherlands), Axelera AI has R&D offices in Belgium, Switzerland, Italy and the UK, with more than 120 employees in 14 countries. Its team of experts in AI software and hardware hail from top AI firms and Fortune 500 companies. For more information on Axelera AI see: www.axelera.ai About CDP Venture Capital CDP Venture Capital is an asset management company (70% owned by CDP Equity and 30% owned by Invitalia) with over 3 billion euro of assets under management. It aims to make venture capital a strategic pillar to Italy's economic development and innovation, creating the conditions for a comprehensive and sustainable growth of the venture capital ecosystem. It operates through a series of funds that aim to support start-ups in all their life cycle stages, making both direct and indirect investments. For CDP Venture Capital, the operation was overseen by Mario Scuderi, Federico Clementi and Gregorio Gaspari, respectively Senior Partner, Investment Manager and Analyst of the Evolution Fund. For more information on CDP Venture Capital see: www.cdpventurecapital.it About Verve Ventures Verve Ventures is a network and technology-driven venture capital firm based in Switzerland. Founded in 2010 by Steffen Wagner and Lukas Weber, Verve Ventures has grown to 50 team members and has become one of the most active venture investors in Europe with around 150 science and technology-driven startups in its portfolio. A dozen investment professionals identify the most promising digital, tangible and health bio startups. Selected private and institutional investors get access to investment opportunities through a digital platform. The company invests EUR 0.5 million to several million from Seed Stage onward in startups across Europe. Verve Ventures' dedicated team helps startups with their most pressing needs such as hiring, client introductions and an expert network of high-profile individuals. To join Verve Ventures' growing community of entrepreneurs and investors, visit verve.vc. About Fractionelera Fractionelera, a consortium specifically created to fund Axelera AI, is comprised of multiple experienced investors and entrepreneurs. Members of the consortium have a track record of investing in startups from the seed stage to the growth stage. About Innovation Industries: Innovation Industries is a Deeptech venture capital investor that invests in Hightech, Agri&Foodtech and Medtech businesses. Today, Innovation Industries manages over ~475M across three funds and has a team of 15 investment professionals. Its largest investors are the Dutch pension funds PME and PMT. Innovation Industries invests from seed to late-stage and has partnerships with all Dutch technical universities and research institute TNO. For more information on Innovation Industries, see: www.innovationindustries.com View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230522005157/en/ Contacts: Media Merlijn Linschooten Press@axelera.ai +316 2076 9552 MADRID, May 22, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Erik Martel and Ignacio Martinez, CEOs of Asterion Energies S.L., have announced their resignation from the company after the successful integration of the platform into the Repsol Group. The Board of Directors of Asterion Energies and the Repsol Group have accepted the resignations and have put in place the necessary mechanisms for their succession, thanking them for the services provided during the exercise of their respective positions and, especially, in recent months for the transition and integration of the Asterion Energies Group into the Repsol Group. The trajectory of the two entrepreneurs represents a case of success in the world of entrepreneurship, having completed the full cycle from start-up phase to the sale of the company, all beginning in 2017/18 when the two left their respective jobs to launch the solar and wind platforms to help boost the renewable energy market in Spain, an emerging sector that has now been consolidated. From the outset, the entrepreneurs defined the strategies, founded the first companies, selected both the collaborators and the team and, after a long fundraising process, chose Asterion Industrial Partners as their financial partner in mid-2019. This capital infusion allowed them to mature their portfolio of renewable projects and continue to grow the team. In 2021, with the development of the platform well advanced, the first assets were rotated to LightsourceBP, culminating the cycle with the sale and transition of the group to Repsol Renovables in 2023. Now they pass the baton on to Repsol with a diversified platform 7GW of solar and wind projects present in three countries, a great team and ecosystem of partners/collaborators, as well as a culture of execution and success, confident that Repsol will take the platform even further. With their sights set on new goals, Erik and Ignacio commented that "we close a very successful cycle by thanking our entire team and ecosystem for their support and trust." Poto - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2081283/M2_ENERGY_INVESTMENT.jpg View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/erik-martel-and-ignacio-martinez-exit-the-asterion-energies-group-after-its-sale-to-repsol-for-560-million-euros-301829612.html London, (UK) - May22, 2023 - Eviden, the Atos business leading in advanced computing, and the University of Edinburgh today announce a three-year contractextensionto increase the computing capacity of the BullSequana XH2000. This energy-efficient supercomputing system was delivered by Atos to facilitate the Extreme Scaling Service ofDiRAC, allowing the UK science community to pursue cutting-edge research on a broad range of topics, from simulating the entire evolution of the universe to modelling the fundamental structure of matter. As part of the contract, Eviden will expand the power of the existing system by providing additional hardware, including 256 NVIDIA A100 Tensor Core GPUs up to 80 per cent more capacity, allowing scientists across the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) community to drive forward research in theoretical physics. Additional DDN storage and NVIDIA Quantum InfiniBand networking will be provided with Eviden engineers installing, configuring and integrating the new GPU nodes into the state-of-the-art system, located in Scotland's capital city. Professor Luigi Del Debbio, Professor of Theoretical Physics at the University of Edinburgh and Project Lead: "We are delighted to continue our strategic partnership with Eviden, an Atos business, which will enable our growing scientific community to harness increasingly powerful supercomputing resources and make potentially ground-breaking discoveries in all the research areas supported by DiRAC. The upgraded equipment will build on the success of the current system, further enhancing our HPC system offering and strengthening the University of Edinburgh's position as a world-leading supercomputing hub." Emmanuel Le Roux, Group SVP, Head of Advanced Computing, HPC and AI, Eviden, at Atos Group: "The extension to our existing partnership with the University of Edinburgh is testament to the success of theBullSequana systemwith these upgrades providing a major boost to DiRAC's high performance computing resources.Bolstering the existing system with additional GPU capability and storage will accelerate scientific research, helping to address real-world issues through the power of supercomputing." Eviden is committed to supporting closer collaboration between academia and industry through the power of supercomputing and deep learning. In the UK, the company works in partnership with centres of excellence including The Science and Technology Facilities CouncilGenome Campus, the University of Oxford's JADE service, among others. Eviden, a global leader in HPC, has reinforced its positioning with 43 supercomputers in the latest TOP500 listing(June 2023), all also referenced in the latest Green500. With an increased performance and now reaching 238 petaflops, the Leonardo system, EuroHPC pre-exascale supercomputer hosted by Cineca and based on Eviden's BullSequana XH2000, has maintained its position as the 4th most powerful supercomputer in the world. Eviden also has three new systems entering the listing, including Alex6, first HPC system to enter the TOP500 with an Eviden BXI interconnect technology connecting both CPUs and GPUs. *** About Eviden 1 EvidenEvidendesigns the scope composed of Atos' digital, cloud, big data and security business lines. It will be a global leader in data-driven, trusted and sustainable digital transformation. As a next generation digital business with worldwide leading positions in digital, cloud, data, advanced computing and security, it brings deep expertise for all industries in more than 53 countries. By uniting unique high-end technologies across the full digital continuum with 57,000 world-class talents, Eviden expands the possibilities of technologies for enterprises and public authorities, helping them to build their digital future. Eviden is an Atos Group business with an annual revenue of c. 5 billion.? About Atos Atos is a global leader in digital transformation with 111,000 employees and annual revenue of c. 11 billion. European number one in cybersecurity, cloud and high-performance computing, the Group provides tailored end-to-end solutions for all industries in 69 countries. A pioneer in decarbonization services and products, Atos is committed to a secure and decarbonized digital for its clients. Atos is a SE (Societas Europaea) and listed on Euronext Paris. The purpose of Atosis to help design the future of the information space. Its expertise and services support the development of knowledge, education and research in a multicultural approach and contribute to the development of scientific and technological excellence. Across the world, the Group enables its customers and employees, and members of societies at large to live, work and develop sustainably, in a safe and secure information space. About DiRAC DiRAC stands for Distributed Research Utilising Advanced Computing. The DiRAC High Performance Computing facility provides cutting-edge supercomputing resources for UK researchers working on world-leading scientific calculations across a wide range of areas including particle physics, astrophysics, cosmology and nuclear physics. It comprises supercomputers at Cambridge, Durham, Leicester and Edinburgh, each designed to support specific types of calculations. DiRAC also provides access to a team of expert research software engineers to help researchers make the most efficient use of the available computing resources. For more details see: https://dirac.ac.uk/. Press contacts: Global PR: Constance Arnoux - constance.arnoux@atos.net- +33 (0)6 44 12 16 35 UK: Helena Shadbolt - helena.shadbolt@mhpc.com- +44 (0)20 3128 8799 UK: Nick Collins - nick.collins@mhpc.com- +44 (0)20 3128 8897 1 Eviden?business is operated through the following brands:? Alia Consulting,?AppCentrica, ATHEA, Atos Syntel, Bull,?Cloudamize, Cloudreach,?Cryptovision,?DataSentics,?digital.security, Eagle Creek, EcoAct,?Edifixio, Energy4U, Engage ESM,?Forensik, IDEAL GRP,?IDnomic, In?Fidem, Ipsotek, Maven Wave, Miner &?Kasch,?Motiv,?Nimbix,?Processia, Profit4SF,?science+computing, SEC Consult, Visual BI,?Worldgrid, X-Perion,?zData? Eviden is a registered trademark. Eviden SAS, 2023. Attachment LONDON, May 22, 2023("Imperial Capital"), announced the hire of a senior credit sales person in its continued High Yield & Distressed Credit Sales expansion designed to drive the franchise's credit sales & trading capabilities to institutional investors in the EEA. Brad Selig, a veteran in the credit markets, joins Imperial Capital from Morgan Stanley. "We are thrilled to welcome Brad, a seasoned professional who brings both quality credit sales experience and excellent relationships to Imperial," said Brian Robertson, Head of Imperial Capital (International) . "The addition of Brad affirms Imperial Capital's commitment to expanding our existing credit sales & trading franchise to further serve the European and US institutional investor community." Brad Selig joins Imperial Capital (International) as a Managing Director in the High Yield & Distressed Credit Sales Group. Brad brings over 20 years of industry experience to Imperial Capital. Brad joins Imperial Capital from Morgan Stanley where he served for his career in credit sales and most recently was its Head of EMEA Credit Sales. Mr. Selig earned a BA from Colby College and is a CFA, charter holder. About Imperial Capital, LLC Imperial Capital, LLC is a full-service investment bank offering a uniquely integrated platform of comprehensive services to institutional investors and middle market companies. We offer sophisticated sales and trading services to institutional investors and a wide range of investment banking advisory, capital markets and restructuring services to middle market corporate clients. Paired with our proprietary research and sales & trading desk analysis, we provide investment analysis across an issuer's capital structure, including bank loans, debt securities, the hybrid/bank capital marketplace, post-reorganization equities, special situations claims and listed and unlisted equities. Our comprehensive and integrated service platform, expertise across the global capital structure, and deep industry sector knowledge enable us to provide clients with research driven ideas, superior advisory services, and trade execution. We are quick to identify opportunities under any market conditions and we have a proven track record of offering creative, proprietary solutions to our clients. Imperial Capital, LLC has three principal businesses: Investment Banking, Institutional Sales & Trading and Institutional Research. More information about Imperial Capital, LLC can be found at www.imperialcapital.com. For more information regarding Imperial Capital, please contact: Mark Martis +1 310 246 3674 mmartis@imperialcapital.com About Imperial Capital (International), LLP Imperial Capital International, founded in 2011, is an affiliate of Imperial Capital, LLC with an office in central London. Complementing Imperial Capital's existing corporate credit sales and trading franchise, Imperial Capital International expanded the Imperial Capital franchise into the EEA. Our UK based professionals focus on the entire credit spectrum and have expertise across sales, trading, credit analysis, and support functions. We provide comprehensive trading in multiple currencies. For more information regarding Imperial Capital About Imperial Capital SIM S.p.A. Imperial Capital SIM S.p.A situated in Milan, Italy is an authorized subsidiary of Imperial Capital. Imperial Capital SIM S.p.A operates in the Italian market, and enables us to passport into other EU jurisdictions post Brexit. We are dedicated to maintaining a European presence and developing our international franchise. Imperial Capital SIM S.p.A is regulated by Commissione Nazionale per le Societa e la Borsa ("CONSOB") and the Bank of Italy. For more information regarding Imperial SIM S.p.A., please contact: Julien Sida + 44 Following a review of the North American (USA and Canada) probiotic ingredient market, a decision has been made to consolidate our representation in this important market. Since entering a strategic partnership and licensing agreement with Probi AB in July 2021, Blis has been represented by both Stratum Nutrition and Probi AB for ingredient sales in North America. To reduce the potential for customer confusion in market and drive efficiency in the supply chain to support long term growth, the revised approach will be to work with Probi AB servicing existing ingredient customers and securing new business. Blis has worked with both parties to develop a transition plan to transfer existing customers and leads to Probi and ensuring service levels and selling activity is maintained, with a handover date of 1 August 2023. Blis has had a long standing, mutually beneficial distribution relationship with Stratum Nutrition. Blis CEO Brian Watson said We would like to acknowledge the positive contribution Stratum Nutrition has made to our business in North America. The Stratum team have always been professional and a pleasure to work with. This decision has been made to streamline our customer engagement in market and set ourselves for longer term growth. Ends For further information, please contact: Brian Watson CEO +64 27 705 9133 About Blis Technologies Ltd Delivering proven health benefits through evidence-based, advanced probiotics Blis Technologies is an NZX-listed manufacturer of advanced probiotic strains that go beyond the gut. Combining innovation with evidence-based research and the highest quality production controls enables the delivery of probiotic solutions for specific health targets including throat health, halitosis (bad breath), immune support, teeth and gum health and skin health. BLIS products are sold throughout New Zealand and in Asia, Europe and the USA. More information about Blis Technologies Ltd can be found at www.blis.co.nz. Changes to distribution relationship in North America Comments from our readers No comments yet Add your comment: Your name: Your email: Not displayed to the public Comment: Comments to Sharechat go through an approval process. Comments which are defamatory, abusive or in some way deemed inappropriate will not be approved. It is allowable to use some form of non-de-plume for your name, however we recommend real email addresses are used. Comments from free email addresses such as Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail, etc may not be approved. 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Related News: TWL Partnership with the Export Council of Australia NZL - Guidance Upgrade, Dividend Suspension and Buyback Programme Downer awarded three-year Defence contract extension SPG - FY23 Annual Results FPH announces its results for the 2023 financial year ikeGPS FY23 Investor Webinar ACE - Full Year Results to 31 March 2023 / Annual Report May 26th Morning Report SVR - Savor posts record annual result Fonterra updates on Q3, Milk Price and capital return Groundbreaking Research Finds the Use of CONQUERing Fidget Rings Reduces Anxiety Levels by 24% on Average CINCINNATI, OH / ACCESSWIRE / May 22, 2023 / CONQUERing, a jewelry brand that makes interchangeable fidget jewelry, has sponsored a research project at the Abramowitz Anxiety Lab at UNC Chapel Hill to determine if fidget rings can help people feel less anxious. The research was conducted by Jennifer Persia, a senior psychology student and lab research assistant at the Lab, as her honors research thesis project, under the supervision of Dr. Jonathan S. Abramowitz, Clinical Psychology Professor and Director of Clinical Training. CONQUERing Fidget Rings 3 hands stacked, each wearing a CONQUERing crystal fidget ring Very little, if any, academic research exists about the emotional health benefits of fidget rings, so CONQUERing was excited to supply the rings for the study. A set of CONQUERing fidget rings that spin and click was provided for the test group and a set of very similar rings without fidgeting features was provided for the control group. Participants, aged 18-64 were asked to rate the "extent to which they felt anxious" before, during and after the study and the research delivered groundbreaking results. It proved that those wearing CONQUERing anxiety rings had a statistically significant reduction in feeling anxious compared to the control group that wore the non-fidget rings. Tammy Nelson, founder and CEO of CONQUERing, said, "We've been hearing from our customers that our fidget rings help them feel less anxious, but we didn't have proof to back it up until now. We're thrilled to share the results of this important research that now confirms our rings can reduce anxiety during Mental Health Awareness Month." Persia said, "It was exciting to conduct research on the effectiveness of fidget rings and to see the positive impact they can have on reducing anxiety levels. I hope this study encourages more research on alternative methods to help people manage their feelings of anxiousness." CONQUERing is proud to have sponsored this groundbreaking research and looks forward to continuing to explore the potential of fidget jewelry in managing anxiety and other mental health conditions. CONQUERing is a global jewelry brand on a mission to help people feel empowered with its interchangeable fidget jewelry. CONQUERing is driven to create products that help its customers feel calm, focused and inspired so they can live with intention to "conquer their day." CONQUERing is a certified WBENC women-owned business based in Cincinnati, Ohio. Featured in Fashion Magazine, on BuzzFeed and in Parade Magazine, and the fastest-growing jewelry brand on the 2022 Inc. 5000, its products have been sold to customers in more than 60 countries. Connect with CONQUERing on TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest and YouTube. Products can be found at www.myconquering.com and at select retailers. Contact Information Alisha Molloy Business Manager alisha@myconquering.com 513-216-5222 Related Images CONQUERing Fidget Rings 3 hands stacked, each wearing a CONQUERing crystal fidget ring CONQUERing fidget jewelry A scattering of interchangeable CONQUERing ring bands and inserts. CONQUERing Fidget Rings Proven to Decrease Anxiety Collage of people feeling anxious wearing CONQUERing fidget rings to help reduce anxiety Related Video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G7ZYaEucFzc SOURCE: CONQUERing View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/755914/CONQUERings-Fidget-Rings-Help-Reduce-Anxiety-According-to-UNC-Chapel-Hill-Study NORTHAMPTON, MA / ACCESSWIRE / May 22, 2023 / TriplePundit Originally published by TriplePundit When you think about vehicle innovations that can reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the internal combustion engine is likely the last thing on your mind. But New Holland Agriculture recently launched a new tractor onto the market that utilizes just such a powertrain. And though counterintuitive, the tractor offers the possibility to tap into an enormous opportunity to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and power carbon-neutral farming. That's because the company's new tractor, the T6.180 Methane Power, does not run on diesel, but instead, as its name implies, is powered by methane. More importantly, the opportunity to power the tractor with bio-methane - which can be sourced from organic waste produced on the farm in a closed-loop system - provides a compelling opportunity for energy self-sufficiency. It's an important development in emissions reduction, which for New Holland has been close to two decades in the making. The company first looked toward carbon savings back in 2006 under its Clean Energy Leader initiative. Initially, this focused on efforts to make New Holland tractors capable of running on biodiesel, which the company achieved in 2007. Though a good first pass, Mark Howell, New Holland's global product manager of alternative fuels, and his team wanted to take things further and asked themselves: What about a product that creates no emissions at all? The journey toward a zero-emissions tractor begins This refocused efforts on hydrogen fuel cell technology initially, but in the process, limitations came to light on the availability of hydrogen and associated vehicle costs. Instead, farmers were looking for something more near-term as a workable solution - which pivoted New Holland to develop a tractor that could run on methane. After several iterations over the past decade, the company developed the T6.180 Methane Power concept tractor, which won the sustainable tractor of the year award in 2019. Methane is the key component of natural gas, a fossil fuel. And while the T6.180 can run on compressed natural gas (CNG) that, of course, is not what unlocks the tractor's environmental opportunity. "Turning waste into a commodity," as Howell describes it, is where greenhouse gas reduction comes into play. And farms generate a lot of organic waste that has to be dealt with one way or another. If animal manure and other organic waste generated on the farm is left to decompose open to the elements, it results in the release of methane which vents directly into the atmosphere. Turning waste into resource on the farm The waste-to-commodity value chain begins when farmers instead collect and processes this waste through an anaerobic digester (AD). Containing the waste within a digester and allowing it to decompose without oxygen (that is, anaerobically) results in the production of methane, which can be captured, refined, compressed and used to power the T6.180 tractor. Of course, there is some specialized capital equipment that farmers would need to harness this energy. AD technology is not new, and many large industrial farms in the United States already use large-scale digesters. The good news is that AD technology is always improving such that the necessary scale of operation is constantly being reduced. This means much smaller and cheaper AD projects are becoming viable, unlocking the potential for smaller family-owned farms to operate a closed-loop system for methane production. To put that in context, any farm with 100 to 900 cows can utilize the technology and capture their own gas from the waste they generate, Howell explained. Alternatively, a number of smaller farms can form co-ops to capture enough waste collectively to generate their own methane. "Farmers can share the gas cleanup equipment because it's mobile," Howell told us. "It's not much bigger than a grain trailer." Scaling the journey to carbon-neutral farming New Holland recognizes the opportunity for unlocking this potential. In early 2023, its parent company CNH Industrial took a majority stake in Bennamann, a U.K.-based company that specializes in small-scale AD projects. In partnership, New Holland and Bennamann are able to provide a turnkey operation for a carbon-neutral, or even carbon-negative, solution for farmers to operate the T6.180 Methane Power tractor. In light of rising diesel and natural gas prices, setting up a digester project can instead lock in predictable fuel pricing over time, and any investments the farmer has to make will pay back within 8 years, Howell said. It's a systems thinking approach. As well as running carbon-neutral tractors, farmers might also produce enough methane to run their own power generators on the farm. Alternatively, excess refined methane can be injected into the local power grid. Further, the solids that are periodically removed from the ADs after organic matter has decomposed - called digestate - constitute a high-quality organic fertilizer which can be used on the land. "The fertilizer is as good a fertilizer as the manure that went into the digester," Howell told us. "It hasn't degraded in nitrogen, phosphate or potash." The digestate is also much easier to spread on the land than raw manure, while bio-CO2, an increasingly valuable output, is also produced by on-farm AD systems. When bio-methane is used for fuel, the T6.180 methane-powered tractor can seamlessly replace the existing duty of a conventional diesel-powered one. New Holland mapped the power and torque of the T6.180 to replicate exactly the same performance characteristics as its existing diesel engine. Also, since it takes just seven minutes to fully replenish the methane fuel tanks, downtime during the work day isn't significantly different from a diesel tractor, either. "From a driver's point of view, you can jump from a diesel to the gas tractor, and just drive and get on with your job," Howell said. Beyond the farm The tractor has multiple applications beyond farming too, such as hedge cutting, lawn mowing and even snow clearing - all of which can be fueled by bio-methane. New Holland's T6.180 Methane Power tractor also has the seal of approval from Charlotte Morton, CEO of the World Biogas Association. "I love the circularity around the fuel being generated from organic waste on the farm," she told us. "It's such a wonderful story." Morton also stressed that harnessing bio-methane is a massive opportunity, explaining that if we were to capture this gas from all available organic wastes globally, "the potential that's there is roughly equivalent to one-third of today's natural gas demand." At today's prices, that equates to roughly $104 billion. The solution comes to market at an apt time: Under the Global Methane Pledge, signed by over 100 countries, the aim to reduce global methane emissions by at least 30 percent from 2020 levels is just seven years away. Consequently, the waste-to-value opportunity in upgrading farm waste to fuel, coupled with the New Holland T6.180 Methane Power tractor, meshes perfectly with this urgent goal. This article series is sponsored by CNH Industrial and produced by the TriplePundit editorial team. Image courtesy of New Holland Agriculture View additional multimedia and more ESG storytelling from TriplePundit on 3blmedia.com. Contact Info: Spokesperson: TriplePundit Website: https://www.3blmedia.com/profiles/triplepundit Email: info@3blmedia.com SOURCE: TriplePundit View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/756362/Can-Alternative-Fuels-Power-Carbon-Neutral-Farming BONDUELLE A French SCA (Partnership Limited by Shares) with a capital of 57 102 699,50 Euros Head Office: La Woestyne 59173 Renescure, France Registered under number: 447 250 044 (Dunkerque Commercial and Companies Register) Villeneuve d'Ascq, May 22nd2023 Arrival of Xavier Unkovic as CEO of the Bonduelle Group The Bonduelle Group announces the appointment of Xavier Unkovic as Chief Executive Officer of the Group. This appointment will take effect on June 1, 2023. Until that date, Christophe Bonduelle, Chairman of the Board of Directors, will be responsible for the Group's general management. Christophe Bonduelle, non-executive Chairman of the Board of Directors, states : The Board of Directors and I are convinced that in the demanding environment in which the company is evolving, Xavier Unkovic will successfully lead the next stage of Bonduelle's profitable development. Xavier Unkovic held senior management positions in the United States for 23 years, first with the Mars Group and then with Amy's kitchen, which he turned around and developed. Xavier Unkovic states: I am honored to join and soon lead the Bonduelle Group. It is a company for which I have always had great admiration and respect for its pioneering and entrepreneurial spirit, its ambition and its mission. I look forward to working with all the employees, the Executive Committee and the Board, in close collaboration with the Chairman, to meet the challenges facing Bonduelle and to write the next chapter of the Group's development. Biographical details Xavier Unkovic has 30 years of experience in the development of consumer goods businesses in the American, European and Asian markets. After starting his career in finance, sales and marketing, he became CEO of Royal Canin in the United States in 2000 and then in Canada in 2003. Xavier Unkovic then headed the Mars Group's Beverages division in 2010 for North America, and then for the world as of 2013. In 2017, he became President and CEO of Amy's Kitchen, a BCorp-certified californian company that markets a range of organic prepared meals. Since 2021, Xavier Unkovic has been the CEO of the French company NAOS, a major player in skin care and health, under the brands Bioderma, Institut Esthederm and Etat Pur. About the Bonduelle Group: We want to inspire the transition to plant-based food, to contribute to the well-being of Man and the preservation of the planet. We are a French family business with 12,000 employees and we have been innovating with our farming partners since 1853. Our ready-to-use products are grown on 70,000 hectares and marketed in 100 countries, with sales of 2,203 million. Our 4 brands are Bonduelle, Cassegrain, Globus and Ready Pac Bistro. Attachment Cision's 2023 State of the Media Report spotlights challenges and opportunities in rapidly changing media landscape LONDON, May 22, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- "Accuracy" and "maintaining credibility as a trusted news source" are leading concerns for journalists, particularly in the wake of the meteoric rise of ChatGPT and other artificial intelligence-driven applications. They are seeing the impact this emerging technology is having on their industry and are concerned it will make authentic journalism even more challenging for the future. Experience the full interactive Multichannel News Release here: https://www.multivu.com/players/English/9160151-cision-2023-state-of-the-media-report/ Cision, a comprehensive consumer and media intelligence and communications platform enabling public relations, marketing and communications professionals around the world to understand, influence and amplify their stories, released these findings as part of its 14th annual State of the Media Report. The report, featuring responses from more than 3,100 journalists from 17 global markets, brings forward journalists' concerns about news and content accuracy, and their daily challenge to battle misinformation. "Ensuring content is accurate" was named the top priority by journalists (58%) and was what they perceive as the top priority for their organisation (43%). More than a quarter of journalists (27%) responded that their biggest challenge was maintaining credibility as a trusted news source. Further, when asked about future generations of journalists, many responses focused on reducing "bias" and separating "fact from opinion." These findings reinforce the opportunity for journalists and communications professionals to build authentic, trust-based partnerships, advancing a mutual objective of honest, accurate storytelling amidst the changing media landscape. "Now more than ever, journalists are seeking credible data and trustworthy, unbiased sources. Communications professionals can and should come to their aid. Working together, at this critical moment of disruption, journalists and communicators can protect and even elevate journalism," said Putney Cloos, Cision Chief Marketing Officer. The Future of the State of the Media In a first for the State of the Media Report, respondents were asked to share forward-looking perspectives on the discipline of journalism. Key themes include maintaining accuracy, reducing bias, and adapting to an increasingly tech and data-reliant industry. Many journalists also spoke about the opportunities and pitfalls of AI: "Innovations like ChatGPT won't stop, but the journalists who hide from them are at a disadvantage." "As AI does more of the actual writing, the journalists who succeed will be the ones who can do the human kinds of things like telling personal stories and finding original conclusions in data sets and data trends well." " Able to use Generative AI to enhance their work and remain relevant." Data and Social Media Evolution Data is becoming a key driver in journalism, as 40% of journalists say they are relying more on data this year and 66% say providing data and expert sources is one way communicators can make their job easier. Social media platforms provide places for journalists and communications professionals to gather data, as well as connect and promote their own work. Journalists aim to increase their audience on LinkedIn and Instagram in the next year, while reducing their reliance on Twitter citing changes to the platform made by new leadership. Their expectation of increased usage of Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube is due to increased popularity and going where their audiences are. "Communications are, and will continue to be, a critical driver of progress for brands, companies, organisations, and communities. The stories we tell and how we tell them matter. Working together, journalists and PR and Comms professionals can navigate the future, preserve the art of journalism, and maintain the trust of the audiences we serve," said Cloos. Download the 2023 State of the Media Report Methodology Cision conducted its 2023 State of the Media survey in February and March 2023. Surveys were emailed to Cision Media Database members, who are vetted by the company's media research team to verify their positions as media professionals, influencers and bloggers. We also surveyed members of our HARO (Help a Reporter Out) database, and made the survey available to media professionals in the PR Newswire for Journalists database. This year's survey collected responses from 3,132 respondents in 17 markets across the globe: UK, U.S., Canada, France, Germany, Finland, Sweden, Italy, Spain, Portugal, China, Australia, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Taiwan and Hong Kong. The survey language was translated and localised for each market and the results were tallied together to form this global report. About Cision Cision is a comprehensive consumer and media intelligence and communications platform enabling public relations, marketing and communications professionals around the world to understand, influence and amplify their stories. As the market leader, Cision enables the next generation of leaders to strategically operate in the modern media landscape where company success is directly impacted by public opinion. Cision has offices in 24 countries through EMEA, the Americas and APAC, and offers a suite of best-in-class solutions, including PR Newswire, Brandwatch, Cision Communications Cloud and Cision Insights. To learn more, visit www.cision.co.uk and follow @CisionUK on Twitter. Contact Information: For media inquiries, please contact: Cision Public Relations cision@kcsa.com marketinguk@prnewswire.co.uk Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2082599/Cover.jpg Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2082600/Journalism.jpg Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2082601/Social_Media.jpg Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2082602/Journalist.jpg Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2082603/Logo.jpg View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/study-finds-ai-and-emerging-technologies-increasing-tension-as-journalists-face-growing-challenges-to-maintain-accuracy-and-truth-301831068.html Leuven, BELGIUM, Boston, MA, US -May 22, 2023 - 7 pm CET - Oxurion NV (Euronext Brussels: OXUR) a biopharmaceutical company developing next-generation standard of care ophthalmic therapies, with clinical stage assets in vascular retinal disorders, has announced the completion of Tranche 2 of funding under the Subscription Agreement with Atlas Special Opportunities LLC ("Atlas"). On May 22, 2023, the Company issued 80 convertible bonds to Atlas totaling EUR two million. Under the terms of the Subscription Agreement, Atlas has committed to subscribe to up to EUR 20.8 million in mandatorily convertible bonds over a 24-month period, of which it has now subscribed to EUR 6.8 million. The conversion price is set at an eight percent discount to the average VWAP over the three lowest days in the ten consecutive trading days prior to the conversion notice. Tom Graney, CEO of Oxurion, said: "Oxurion values Atlas's financial commitment to the company and its programs as we continue to make progresstowards finishing patient recruitment for the Phase 2, Part B KALAHARI trial evaluating Oxurion's THR-149 for treating the up to 50% of patients with diabetic macular edema (DME) for whom the current standard of care is suboptimal. We look forward to sharing the top-line results from this trial later this year, in which we hope to demonstrate the efficacy of our therapy in addressing this large unmet need." Important information about forward-looking statements Certain statements in this press release may be considered "forward-looking". Such forward-looking statements are based on current expectations, and, accordingly, entail and are influenced by various risks and uncertainties. The Company therefore cannot provide any assurance that such forward-looking statements will materialize and does not assume any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events, or any other reason. Additional information concerning risks and uncertainties affecting the business and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from any forward-looking statement is contained in the Company's Annual Report. This press release does not constitute an offer or invitation for the sale or purchase of securities or assets of Oxurion in any jurisdiction. No securities of Oxurion may be offered or sold within the United States without registration under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or in compliance with an exemption therefrom, and in accordance with any applicable U.S. state securities laws. For further information please contact: Oxurion NV Tom Graney Chief Executive Officer Tel: +32 16 75 13 10 tom.graney@oxurion.com Michael Dillen Chief Business Officer Tel: +32 16 75 13 10 michael.dillen@oxurion.com U S Conway Communications Mary T. Conway mtconway@conwaycommsir.com ICR Westwicke Christopher Brinzey Tel: +1 617 835 9304 Chris.Brinzey@westwicke.com Attachment Mike Nolan, CEO of Freenome Freenome, a South San Francisco, CA-based biotech company, acquired Oncimmune Ltd, a Nottingham, UK-based global immunodiagnostics developer with a commercialized CE-IVD marked EarlyCDT Lung blood test, autoantibody platform and research and development pipeline of 7+ cancer detection signatures. The amount of the deal was not disclosed. Led by Dr. Adam M. Hill, CEO, Oncimmune is a subsidiary of Oncimmune Holdings plc, a cancer immune-profiling company, with an advanced autoantibody profiling technology and database. EarlyCDT Lung is Oncimmune Ltds commercialized CE-IVD marked lung blood test and detects elevated levels of autoantibodies generated by the bodys immune system of patients in the earliest stages of lung cancer. The test has impacted the clinical journey of more than 200,000 people at high risk for lung cancer and those with indeterminate pulmonary nodules (IPN). The acquisition of Oncimmune Ltd provides Freenome with clinical and commercial resources to complement Freenomes frontline screening efforts. Oncimmune Ltds pipeline of autoantibody targets for other cancer indications will augment Freenomes multiomics platform with additional non-tumor-derived signals to capture a more comprehensive view of the tumor microenvironment. Led by Mike Nolan, CEO, Freenome uses a multiomics platform that combines tumor and non-tumor signals with machine learning to detect cancer in its earliest stages using a standard blood draw. The company is completing the FDA verification and validation studies for its colorectal cancer screening test through the PREEMPT CRC trial. In parallel, Freenome has applied its expertise in cancer detection and machine learning to real-world data to develop population health solutions for payers and providers to complement its blood tests and support the entire patients care journey. The company joins seven of the top 15 global pharma companies in leveraging Oncimmunes autoantibody discovery platform, ImmunoINSIGHTS, based in Dortmund, Germany, a tool used to uncover meaningful insights and biomarkers for cancer and other diseases. The Nottingham office will continue its operations. Oncimmune Ltd employees join the Freenome team effective May 20, 2023. FinSMEs 22/05/2023 Informa (LSE: INF.L), a London, UK-based global events, digital products and academic services firm, acquired Winsight, a Chicago, IL-based B2B information company which specializes in the restaurant and allied retail industries. The amount of the deal was not disclosed. With the acquisition, Information will expand its offerings. The company currently owns established foodservice media brands and tradeshows and intends to operate Winsight brands alongside these to strengthen its position in the Restaurant and Food space. Technomic, Winsights data and insights business, will be Informas first insights business dedicated to foodservice. Winsight will continue to operate business as usual through 2023 and will rebrand as Informa in the new year once integration planning is complete. Led by CEO Mike Wood, who will continue to lead the business which will become part of the Informa Connect division, Winsight provides actionable information, market intelligence, professional events and media to the restaurant, noncommercial foodservice, convenience retailing and grocery industries. The company offers a multi-channel portfolio of brands across research, data and analytics, events, websites, newsletters, and content marketing solutions. With nearly 3,000 customers, its solutions enable customers to measure and predict industry dynamics, drive engagement with target audiences, refine business development strategies, and create networking opportunities between buyers and sellers. Informa is a B2B markets, live and on-demand events and digital services group. They connect businesses and professionals in 30+ industries with the knowledge they need to learn more, know more and do more. Informa has hundreds of global brands, products and services and employs 11,000 employees in ~30 countries worldwide. Led by CEO Andrew Mullins, Informa Connect is a content-led, live and on-demand experiences business which connects professionals with knowledge, ideas and opportunities. A community of over 1,000 colleagues globally, it offers connection through events, media and research. They service a number of different industries including Finance, Bio Tech and Pharma, Restaurant and Food, Catering, Event Planning, Pop Culture, Marketing, Law, Energy, HR, Sustainability, Construction. They service a number of different industries including Finance, Bio Tech and Pharma, Restaurant and Food, Catering, Event Planning, Pop Culture, Marketing, Law, Energy, HR, Sustainability, Construction. FinSMEs 22/05/2023 Kiwi, a San Juan, Puerto Rico-based fintech dedicated to helping consumers build credit history and improve financial literacy, raised $75m credit facility and $4.5m pre-series A funding round. The debt financing was provided by i80 Group, while Advent-Morro Equity Partners, Altio Capital and Independent Capital led the equity round. The company intends to use the funds to continue to expand its services and reach more customers across the US and Latin America. Founded in 2020 by Mariano Sanz and Alexander Schachter, Kiwi is dedicated to helping consumers build credit history and improve financial literacy. The company is committed to addressing the financial challenges faced by millions of Latino consumers in the US, many of whom often lack credit history and are excluded from the traditional financial system. Utilizing proprietary AI and machine learning models, it provides borrowers with capital, enabling them to build their credit profiles and manage everyday expenses. With a customer base of over 30,000, Kiwi has already demonstrated its leadership in its market. Now, the company is set for a phase of growth and plans to introduce new products to establish itself as the primary platform where underbanked Latinos access a broader suite of financial services. FinSMEs 22/05/2023 The Ministry of Heavy Industries has made revisions to the demand incentives under the Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric Vehicles (FAME) II scheme. The FAME II scheme was approved with a budget of Rs 10,000 crore for a three-year duration, starting from 1 April 2019. Its primary objective is to stimulate nationwide demand for electric two-wheelers, three-wheelers, passenger cars, and e-buses. As per the ministry, the changes in FAME II scheme will come into effect on 1 June this year and will be applicable to any electric two-wheelers registered on or after that date. These changes encompass a reduction in the maximum subsidy ceiling from 40 percent to 15 percent. The revisions also include a decrease in the subsidy provided for electric two-wheelers from the existing rate of Rs 15,000 per kWh to Rs 10,000 per kWh. Emphasising the governments dedication to supporting the industry in attaining sustainable growth and reducing carbon emissions, Union Minister of Heavy Industries Mahendra Nath Pandey highlighted the increasing demand for electric two-wheelers. Pandey is confident that the measure will yield positive outcomes for both the environment and the economy, strengthening them and making them more resilient. Following the recent modifications in the scheme, it is anticipated that the growth rate of electric two-wheeler sales may experience a slight decline due to increased prices, even though it will contribute to establishing a robust EV ecosystem in the country. This amendment could also prompt original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) to introduce scaled-down versions of their products to maintain their market dominance. According to JMK Research & Analytics, India witnessed the launch of five EVs in April. As per reports, there was a 21 percent year-on-year decline in EV sales in April, with a total of 110,503 units sold. Electric two-wheelers and passenger-oriented electric three-wheelers were the main contributors to EV registrations in April 2023, representing 90.48 percent of all registrations during the month. During the previous month, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka, and Gujarat maintained their positions as the leading states in terms of EV adoption in the country, with a combined total of 21,845 units sold. Ola Electric emerged as the frontrunner among the companies, while Ampere surpassed TVS Motors to secure the second position. TVS Motors and Ather stood at the third and fourth positions, respectively. Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News, India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. To facilitate the smooth withdrawal of Rs 2000 denomination currency notes from the system, banks are putting in place a process to help customers. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has given time till September 30 for the public to exchange or deposit the currency notes in their possession with banks or dedicated RBI offices. Heres what banks are doing: Indias largest public sector bank in terms of assets, State Bank of India (SBI) on May 21 informed all its branches that no form or identity proof should be demanded from customers to exchange Rs 2,000 currency notes, even as it reiterated the one-time limit of Rs 20,000 for depositing or exchanging currency, according to a Moneycontrol report. Banks are advised to provide appropriate infrastructure at the branches such as shaded waiting space, drinking water facilities, etc. considering the summer season, the RBIs circular on Monday read. Other major banks too have taken note of RBIs advisory to smoothly complete the process of withdrawal of currency from the system. The Bank of Baroda in a circular to branch managers said, Branches may establish additional counters for effective management and to avoid any law and order situation. The Punjab National Bank (PNB) circular indicated that there shall not be any limit on the quantity and value of the Rs 2000 denomination notes to be credited into the account maintained with the bank. For providing deposit/exchange facility to people residing in remote/ unbanked areas, circles may consider using mobile vans, the PNB circular read. It also added that all banknotes in this denomination received by banks shall be sorted immediately through Note Sorting Machines (NSMs) for accuracy and genuineness and deposited in the currency chests under the Linkage Scheme or kept ready for dispatch to the nearest Issue Office of RBI. In a circular, UCO bank management said the deposited Rs 2000 notes would be secured in separate boxes or bins and sealed at the end of the day. The bin or the box would be sealed when full and the branch would liaise with the Regional RBI office to lift soiled notes and 2000 currency to create space by respective CCs (cross currency swap). Despite the sudden move of withdrawing Rs 2000 notes from circulation, bankers dont expect large crowds, seen during demonetisation, visiting banks to exchange Rs 2,000 notes. People have time till September 30 to deposit or exchange these high denominations notes. The total value of Rs 2,000 notes in circulation has declined to 10.8 per cent of the total as on March 31, 2023, according to the data shared by the RBI. About 89 per cent of the Rs 2,000 denomination banknotes were issued prior to March 2017 and are at the end of their estimated life span of 4-5 years, the RBI said on May 19. Pointing out that the high denomination notes are not commonly used in transactions, the RBI said, The stock of banknotes in other denominations continues to be adequate to meet the currency requirement of the public. Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News, India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Page Content The Honorable Minister of Justice, Anna E. Richardson, warmly welcomed a distinguished delegation from the Headquarters of the International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL) to Sint Maarten from May 15 to May 19, 2023, for a highly anticipated Quality Standard Visit. The purpose of the visit was to assess the effectiveness and performance of the INTERPOL National Central Bureau (NCB) in Philipsburg, which currently functions as an integral part of the Police Force of Sint Maarten (KPSM). The INTERPOL Quality Standard Visit commenced with an official opening meeting led by Minister Richardson. Throughout the week-long program, the delegation engaged in a series of key activities, including a visit to the airport, a meeting with the Honorable Prime Minister, Silveria E. Jacobs, and fruitful discussions with stakeholders within the Justice chain. These discussions covered a broad range of critical topics, such as border protection, fugitives, human trafficking, human smuggling, narcotics, firearms, as well as anti-counterfeit and intellectual property issues. INTERPOL provided invaluable insights into the various tools and databases available to Sint Maarten as a proud member state of INTERPOL. Furthermore, awareness was raised regarding the training and networking opportunities that can benefit the law enforcement officers of Sint Maarten. The visit culminated in a closing meeting between Minister Richardson, the Chief of Police, and the INTERPOL delegation. During this meeting, the preliminary findings of INTERPOL were shared, and a comprehensive report detailing all the findings will be provided to Minister Richardson in the coming weeks. The visit of INTERPOL marks a significant milestone in the process of strengthening INTERPOL Sint Maarten and intensifying the working relationship between Sint Maarten and INTERPOL. The initiative was initially set in motion by Minister Richardson in November 2022 when she embarked on a courtesy work visit to the INTERPOL Headquarters in Lyon, France, accompanied by Ms. Geertje van Haperen, Senior Legal Policy Advisor of Judicial Affairs. INTERPOL plays a pivotal role in offering a wide range of expertise and services to its member countries, including forensics, analysis, and assistance in locating fugitives worldwide. This expertise supports national efforts in combating crimes across three global areas: terrorism, cybercrime, and organized crime. Effective coordination among all stakeholders is crucial in maintaining a robust global security architecture. Minister Richardson expressed her delight with the visit of INTERPOL and the valuable feedback received during their Quality Standard visit to Sint Maarten. This visit holds great significance as it marks the first inspection since the establishment of the NCB on the beautiful island several years ago. I am proud as we were able to showcase Sint Maarten's unwavering commitment to upholding the highest standards of law enforcement and international cooperation. The positive feedback received thus far reinforces the dedication of Sint Maarten to ensuring the safety and security of its citizens and visitors. The Ministry of Justice remains steadfast in its commitment to enhancing capabilities, fostering stronger partnerships, and embracing the latest advancements in technology and training. By doing so, Sint Maarten aims to elevate the effectiveness of its NCB in addressing global security challenges and making valuable contributions to the broader INTERPOL community. Moving forward, the Ministry will build upon the recommendations provided by INTERPOL, ensuring that Sint Maarten maintains its reputation as a responsible and proactive partner in the fight against organized crime, terrorism, and emerging threats. The Ministry and INTERPOL share an unwavering resolve to create a safer world, and they eagerly anticipate continued collaboration and knowledge exchange to strengthen collective efforts. Sint Maarten remains steadfast in its commitment to justice, security, international cooperation, and we are honored to have received such positive recognition from INTERPOL. Thank you once again to the INTERPOL team for their invaluable visit, and to all those who contribute to the safety and well-being of our community. Together, we will continue to strive for excellence in law enforcement and ensure a secure future for Sint Maarten and its residents. stated Minister Richardson. Photo caption: (from left to right): INTERPOLs Head (Pro Tempore) NCB Coordination Desk for the Americas Mr. Michael Romer, INITERPOLs Ms. Ilana de Wild, the Honorable Minister of Justice Anna E. Richardson, Acting Secretary-General of the Ministry of Justice Florence Marlin, Senior Legal Policy Officer Geertje van Haperen and Senior Policy Advisor Erling Hoeve. The third member of INTERPOLs delegation, the Head IT Coordinator for Americas / Liaison Office Barbados Mr. Francisco Alferez, was not present in the photo. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) recently declared the withdrawal of Rs 2,000 notes from circulation, citing the implementation of the clean note policy as the reason. The policy was implemented by the central bank to guarantee the availability of high-quality banknotes to the general public. As for the Rs 2,000 notes, the RBI has stated that the currency will retain its legal tender status. The general public is permitted to use Rs 2,000 banknotes for their transactions and can also accept them as payment. The central bank has urged individuals to either deposit or exchange these banknotes by the deadline of 30 September. The primary objective of the Clean Note Policy is to provide the public with currency notes and coins of high quality, equipped with enhanced security features, while simultaneously removing soiled notes from circulation. As part of the clean note policy, banks and financial institutions are obligated to remove worn-out or damaged notes from circulation and replace them with fresh ones. The RBI consistently oversees the quality of currency notes in circulation and establishes criteria for determining their acceptability. The central bank released a significant portion of Rs 2,000 denomination notes before March 2017. These notes have now reached the end of their expected lifespan of four-five years. As a component of its clean note policy, RBI issued a statement in December 2013, instructing banks to exchange even soiled notes from non-customers and distribute only high-quality clean notes to the public. The introduction of the Rs 2,000 note took place in November 2016 as per Section 24(1) of The RBI Act, 1934. The primary purpose behind its issuance was to promptly fulfil the currency needs of the economy after the withdrawal of legal tender status from Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes. Once this objective was achieved and a satisfactory quantity of notes in other denominations became available, the printing of Rs 2,000 notes ceased in the fiscal year 2018-19. The total value of these banknotes in circulation decreased from Rs 6.73 lakh crore, accounting for 37.3 percent of the notes in circulation at its peak on 31 March 2018, to Rs 3.62 lakh crore, which now represents only 10.8 percent of the notes in circulation as of 31 March 2023. Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News, India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. According to skynews.com rumours are flying about the reason behind Prince Harry and Meghan Markles lack of public acknowledgement of their five-year wedding anniversary. The couple became the Duke and Duchess of Sussex on May 19, 2018 at St Georges Chapel at Windsor Castle. A-listers including Victoria and David Beckham, Elton John and Oprah Winfrey were present at the nuptials.Prince William was Harrys best man for the ceremony, and Princess Charlotte and Prince George were also in the wedding party. But the pair have opted not to publicly celebrate their special milestone, something which News.com.aus Bronte Coy said was very strange. Interestingly, they havent actually marked the occasion at all, I would say maybe theyre opting for privacy but that doesnt really fit with recent events, Ms Coy told Sky News Australia program The Royal Report. Its a bit of a weird one and it has certainly been noticed by people as well. Why the toxicity around Harry & Meghans marriage? According to the Daily Mail report, Meghan Markles estranged half-sister has launched another blistering attack on the Duchess of Sussex by claiming that her marriage to Prince Harry will end in divorce unless they get extensive counselling. Samantha Markle suggested the Duke may already be questioning the marriage and predicted it could get nasty until he starts dissenting or pulling back from her. The 56-year-old American also called on the Sussexes to go on an apology tour after the couple made accusations of racism within the Royal Family during their bombshell interview with Oprah Winfrey. A royal commentator had earlier mentioned that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are breaking apart and leading separate lives. The rumors, according to royal expert Tom Bower, are coming out of London. There are many now in London who say Meghan is getting tired of Harry. There is speculation that the Duchess of Sussex, 41, will at any moment say This is enough and negotiate with King Charles III some deal to break off the marriage. Recently, the couple claimed that they were in a near catastrophic car chase. Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News, India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Bengaluru once again faced a watery mess over the weekend. Heavy rain, thunderstorms and hail lashed the famous IT city of India on Sunday, bringing it to its knees. The rains left several houses inundated, with some residents of Mahalakshmi Layout 1st block complaining that they had to wade through waist-deep water. The heavy showers also led to the death of a 23-year-old woman whose car got stuck in neck-deep water at KR Circle underpass in Bengaluru. The deceased woman was later identified as Banurekha, an employee of Infosys. The woman, hailing originally from Vijayawada in Andhra Pradesh, was in the car with her family when it got stuck at the underpass and she drowned. Officials from the fire department were able to rescue the family, but were too late when it came to Banurekha. Witnesses at the spot during the tragedy said that the car driver tried to zoom through the water, but ended up getting the car submerged. Following the tragedy, newly sworn-in Chief Minister Siddaramaiah announced Rs 5 lakh compensation to the womans family and expressed deep regret over the incident. But what is it about Bengaluru that causes it to flood over? A report just a month back had stated that even one centimetre of rain could inundate some areas of the city. The April report by the Karnataka State Natural Disaster Monitoring Centre (KSNDMC) had identified as many as 226 flood-prone locations where even one centimetre of rain would lead to flooding. We examine the many factors that make Bengaluru prone to water-logging. Lack of infrastructure One of the key reasons for water-logging in Bengaluru is the lack of infrastructure. The development in the area has far outstripped its infrastructure. Nagesh Aras, an activist told News Minute that in 2005, as many as 110 villages were merged into Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) but the city corporation hasnt bothered to link the villages with the citys sewage system. This is why the stormwater drains fail and the raw sewage mixed with rainwater spills out onto the Outer Ring Road, he was quoted as saying. Moreover, there are no culverts along the stretch. The road acts like a dam to the flowing water and with the lack of culverts, the rainwater and sewage water have no other way to flow but to be accumulated, leading to water-logging. Rainbow Drive Layout located in Sarjapur also sees frequent water-logging owing to bad planning. Ram Prasad, the co-founder of Friends of Lakes, a citizens collective, was quoted as telling Indian Express that over a period of time, the buildings which were constructed close to the layout raised their height, thereby making the area a soup bowl. Poor drainage system Another reason for the flooding in Bengaluru can be attributed to the poor drainage system. According to a report, the citys drainage system is ill-equipped to deal with episodes of sudden and heavy rainfall. Drains are often clogged with garbage, restricting the flow of sewage, and are too narrow to shoulder the burden of the ever-increasing population. Several drains are being covered with stone slabs and converted into footpaths. While this provides much-needed space for pedestrians, it also means that these drains are not opened and desilted regularly. A report from the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) said that Vrushabhavati which had 226 km of drains in the early 1990s, had little over 110 km of drains by 2017. The story of Koramangala valley was similar as well, the drains here too were reduced by half. Another issue with the drains is the maintenance of them. The CAG report revealed that since 2019-20, BBMP has been giving annual maintenance contracts for drain maintenance, but this covers only 45 per cent of the total drains in the city, which is 377 km out of 842 km. The situation is worse in peripheral areas of Bengaluru, where contracts are given for cleaning less than 50 per cent of the drain length. Ashwin Mahesh, an urban expert and climate scientist also states that many of the existing drains arent even constructed properly. Speaking to The Quint, Mahesh said that contractors hired for the work need to be fully aware of how to create cylindrical pipes, rather than the rectangular ones they currently use. Water flows better in a cylinder. But our pipes are not cylinders. Theres a reason for this. The contractors we select to prepare these drains dont know how to make a cylinder. They know how to lay steel pipes and pour cement on them, therefore we end up with rectangular pipes, he told The Quint. Lack of proper urban planning Theres also been little to no urban planning in Bengaluru, which has attributed to this watery mess. Lubaina Rangwala, programme head urban development at World Resources Institute (WRI) has cited the lack of inclusion of climate and environmental risks in city planning as one of the reasons for the situation in the city. It is difficult to decide whether Bengaluru is witnessing natures fury or a man-made disaster, but its devastating impact is out there for all of us to see. Environmental and climate risks have long been overlooked in city planning and, despite such disasters, it is yet to be mainstreamed in our masterplan, Rangwala was quoted as saying by News18. Theres also the problem of reduction of open spaces and loss of vegetation cover. A solution for Bengalurus flooding For Bengaluru to avoid such instances in the future, a long-term solution has to be executed. Water expert Vishwanath S said the city needs to reform its building and stormwater designs keeping in mind the increased rainfall. Vishwanath told Citizen Matters, Bengaluru will need to rework its building design and stormwater design codes to deal with the increased rainfall, and also intensity of rainfall. We need to design for short bursts of 180 mm per hour intensity and for 200 mm per day rainfall. Roof slopes, rainwater pipes, storage and recharge structures and stormwater drains will all need to cater to this new regime of rainfall. We also need to improve our predictive powers and models of rainfall events. Until we implement real solutions to Bengaluru, the city will continue to flood, and we shall keep seeing such tragic loss of life taking place. With inputs from agencies Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News, India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday was given the highest civilian honours of Fiji and Papua New Guinea. Modi on Sunday arrived in Papua New Guinea on his maiden visit to the country to host a key summit to boost bilateral ties between India and 14 Pacific island nations. The Prime Ministers Office said very few non-residents of Papua New Guinea and just a handful of non-Fijians had been bestowed such honours. Lets take a look at some other awards conferred on the prime minister: Ngadag Pel gi Khorlo Bhutan in December 2021 announced its highest civilian award Ngadag Pel gi Khorlo for Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Bhutan Prime Minister Lotay Tshering said on social media that he was overjoyed to hear His Majesty pronounce Your Excellency Modijis Narendra Modi name for the highest civilian decoration, Ngadag Pel gi Khorlo. His Majesty highlighted all the unconditional friendship and support Modiji extended over the years and particularly during pandemic, Tshering added. Much deserving! Congratulations from the people of Bhutan. In all interactions, seen Your Excellency as a great, spiritual human being. Looking forward to celebrating the honour in person, the Prime Ministers Office of Bhutan said in a statement on Facebook. Legion of Merit Prime Minister Modi in 2020 was given the Legion of Merit by the United States of America under then president Donald Trump. Modi is the first Indian prime minister to be conferred with this huge honour which was established by former United States president Franklin D Roosevelt in 1942. Taranjit Singh Sandhu, Indias Ambassador to the US, accepted the award on behalf of the prime minister from National Security Advisor Robert OBrien at the White House. President @realDonaldTrump presented the Legion of Merit to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his leadership in elevating the U.S.-India strategic partnership. Ambassador @SandhuTaranjitS accepted the medal on behalf of Prime Minister Modi. NSA Robert C. OBrien pic.twitter.com/QhOjTROdCC NSC 45 Archived (@WHNSC45) December 21, 2020 Order of Zayed Award The United Arab Emirates in 2019 gave Prime Minister Modi Order of Zayed Award in April 2019. Humbled to be conferred the Order of Zayed a short while ago. More than an individual, this award is for Indias cultural ethos and is dedicated to 130 crore Indians. I thank the UAE Government for this honour. pic.twitter.com/PWqIEnU1La Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) August 24, 2019 According to The Quint, this award, presented by the UAEs crown prince, has in the past been given to kings, presidents, and heads of states in the past. The highest civilian honour of the United Arab Emirates, Modi was the 17th recipient of the award after Russias Vladimir Putin and Englands Queen Elizabeth II. Order of St. Andrew Award Modi in 2019 was awarded the Order of St Andrew the Apostle the highest order of the Russian Federation. Modi tweeted: Honoured to receive this prestigious award. I thank President Putin and the people of Russia. Foundations of India-Russia friendship are deep & the future of our partnership is bright. Extensive cooperation between our nations has led to extraordinary outcomes for our citizens. https://t.co/4ppEC7ZAWe Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) April 12, 2019 Modi was given the Order of St Andrew the Apostle, for his role in promoting close ties between the two countries. The Russian government said Modi was given the highest state decoration of Russia for exceptional services in promoting a special and privileged strategic partnership between Russia and India and friendly relations between the Russian and Indian peoples. A Russian official said the Order of St Andrew the Apostle is awarded to prominent statesmen, public figures and those working in the fields of science, culture and arts in recognition of their exceptional services in promoting prosperity and glory of Russia. The order can also be awarded to foreign heads of state for outstanding services. The Order was established in 1698 by Tsar Peter the Great, in honour of Saint Andrew, the first apostle of Jesus and patron saint of Russia. The foreign awardees of the award included President of China Xi Jinping, President of the Republic of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev and President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Geydar Aliev. The award ceremony is usually held at the St Andrew Hall of the Grand Kremlin Palace. The Order of the Distinguished Rule of Nishan Izzuddin Maldives in June 2019 awarded Prime Minister Modi its Order of the Distinguished Rule of Nishan Izzuddin. This is Maldives highest honour accorded to foreign dignitaries. Modi was given the award during his two-day state visit to the country by President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih. King Hamad Order of the Renaissance Modi in 2019 was awarded The King Hamad Order of the Renaissance a top honour of Bahrain. I humbly accept The King Hamad Order of the Renaissance. This is a recognition of Indias strong friendship with Bahrain, which goes back hundreds of years and is expanding rapidly in the 21st century. pic.twitter.com/Ct3zTIGZnx Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) August 24, 2019 This came in the backdrop of Modis trip to Bahrain the first ever by an Indian prime minister where he held talks with King of Bahrain Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa on various bilateral and regional issues. Seoul Peace Prize Modi in 2019 was given the prestigious Seoul Peace Prize for 2018 for his contribution to international cooperation and fostering global economic growth. Modi was the 14th recipient of the award. Past laureates included former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and renowned international relief organizations like Doctors Without Borders and Oxfam. The Seoul Peace Prize was established in 1990 to commemorate the success of the 24th Olympic Games held in Seoul. The award was established to crystalise Korean peoples yearning for peace on the Korean peninsula and in the rest of the world. The Grand Collar of the State of Palestine Award Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2018 was conferred the Grand Collar of the State of Palestine by President Mahmoud Abbas. The award recognises Modis key contribution to promote relations between India and Palestine. The Grand Collar is Highest order given to foreign dignitaries Kings, Heads of State/Government and persons of similar rank. King Salman of Saudi Arabia, King Hamad of Bahrain, President Xi Jinping of China, have all been given this honour The commendation reads In recognition of his wise leadership and his lofty national and international stature, and in appreciation of his efforts to promote the historic relations between the State of Palestine and the Republic of India; in acknowledgment of his support to our peoples right to independence and freedom so that peace prevails in the region. President Abbas conferred the Grand Collar of the State of Palestine on Modi after the conclusion of the bilateral meeting between the two leaders. Modi is the first Indian Prime Minister to make an official visit to Palestine. Champions of Earth Modi in 2018 was given the Champions of Earth award the United Nations highest environmental honour. The world needs bold leadership on #climateaction. I thank India for setting an example and was pleased to present Prime Minister @narendramodi with the Champions of the Earth Award pic.twitter.com/QchKIOVdQP Antonio Guterres (@antonioguterres) October 3, 2018 The prime minister was bestowed the honour for his leadership of the International Solar Alliance and pledge to eliminate single-use plastic in India by 2022. The Order of Abdulaziz Al Saud Modi in 2016 was given the Order of Abdulaziz Al Saud. In a special gesture, PM @narendramodi was conferred Saudi Arabias highest civilian honour, the King Abdulaziz Sash pic.twitter.com/rUhhgTAowP Arindam Bagchi (@MEAIndia) April 3, 2016 This is the highest honour of Saudi Arabia awarded to non-Muslim dignitaries. The honour is named after founder of the modern Saudi state, Abdulaziz Al Saud. Barack Obama, David Cameron, Vladimir Putin, Shinzo Abe and Indonesias Joko Widodo have all received this honour. State Order of Ghazi Amir Amanullah Khan In 2016, Afghanistan conferred its highest civilian honour the State Order of Ghazi Amir Amanullah Khan on Modi. The award is bestowed by the Afghan government on Afghan nationals as well as foreigners in appreciation of their services. The citation on the medal reads: nishan-e dawlati Ghazi Amir Amanullah Khan, or State Order of Ghazi Amir Amanullah Khan. The award is named after the Afghan national hero, Amanullah Khan (Ghazi), who championed the cause of Afghanistans freedom. He was the ruler of the Emirate of Afghanistan from 1919-1929 who led Afghanistan to independence. Modi was given the award by then president Ashraf Ghani after the inauguration of the landmark Afghan-India Friendship Dam in Herat. With inputs from agencies Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News, India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has reached Australia for the final stop of his three-nation Asia-Pacific tour which began with Japan last week. His trip comes despite the cancellation of the Quad summit in Sydney after US president Joe Biden suddenly called off his trip. This is Modis second official visit to Australia after assuming the post of prime minister in 2014. Landed in Sydney to a warm welcome by the Indian community. Looking forward to various programmes over the next two days. pic.twitter.com/gE8obDI5eD Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) May 22, 2023 What to expect from the trip and why is it significant? We explain. What is the agenda? Prime Minister Modi will hold a bilateral meeting with his Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese. The two are expected to discuss trade and investment and strengthen efforts to boost trade between the two countries through a Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement, and work to strengthen people-to-people links, renewable energy, and defence and security cooperation, as per an official statement released by the Australian government. The Indian leader will also interact with Australian business leaders to propel Canberras growing trade and investment relationship with India and take forward opportunities from the Australia-India CEO Forum held in Mumbai in March, the statement added. Modis visit has come amid recent incidents of vandalism of an Indian Consulate and temples in Australia reportedly by Khalistani supporters. When asked if the issue will be raised between the two premiers, foreign secretary Vinay Kwatra said, as per ANI, I would only say that all issues of bilateral engagements, including the issues of attaining harmony in our society and the safety and security of our two societies, will be discussed. #WATCH | It is not correct for me to prejudge what would be discussed between PM Modi and PM Albanese. I would only say that all issues of bilateral engagements including the issues of attaining harmony in our society and the safety & security of our two societies will be pic.twitter.com/d0xpuf4xZH ANI (@ANI) May 22, 2023 Modi, who will spend three days in Sydney, will also receive a ceremonial welcome at Admiralty House, the official residence of the Governor-General. Modi and the Indian diaspora The prime minister will address the Indian diaspora at a community event, organised by the Indian Australian Diaspora Foundation (IADF), in Sydneys Qudos Bank Arena on Tuesday (23 May). According to news agency AFP, at least 18,000 people are likely to attend. Supporters from different Australian states are being brought to the function through privately chartered flights, reported the British daily The Guardian. He attracts this huge crowd for his exemplary and visionary leadership that is transforming and developing India at an unprecedented pace, Jay Shah, director of the IADF, told the UK newspaper. PM Modi is the most popular leader of India at the moment and has a great appeal and following, not just in India but also in many Indians living abroad. Indians, who are the second-largest migrant community in Australia, comprise nearly 3 per cent of the countrys population, according to Economic Times. ALSO READ: Modi gets Fiji, Papua New Guineas highest civilian honours: The many international awards conferred on PM Why is the visit significant? In 2014, Modi became the first prime minister to visit Australia since Rajiv Gandhi. During that visit, the Indian premier had said: Australia will not be in the periphery of our vision but at the centre of our thoughts. Since then, India and Australia have bolstered their relationship. Last year in April, the two countries signed a historic free trade agreement, Economic Cooperation and Trade Deal (ECTA), which was the first such trade deal for New Delhi in more than a decade, as per ThePrint. In 2022, two-way trade between the two nations was valued at Aus $46.5 billion (US$31 billion). This is expected to rise further with the free-trade deal that came into effect in December, noted AFP. Indias Khanij Bidesh Ltd (KABIL) and Australias Critical Minerals Office also signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for cooperation in the mining field and processing of critical and strategic minerals. Rami Niranjan Desai, consulting editor of Global Order, and Distinguished Fellow, India Foundation, wrote for ThePrint that the bilateral talks between Modi and Albanese may fast-track the agenda of enhancing trade between India and Australia in the next five years in order to decrease dependency on China for critical minerals. Modis trip has come amid Chinas increasing aggression in the Indo-Pacific region and attempts to make economic pathways. Earlier today, Modi told 14 leaders of the Forum for India-Pacific Islands Cooperation in Papua New Guinea that New Delhi was committed to a free, open and inclusive Indo Pacific. New Delhi and Canberra have also improved ties in the field of education, which, as per Indian Express, is the bedrock of the bilateral relationship between the nations. Indians make up the second-largest group of international students in Australia. By the end of January 2023, there were almost 70,000 Indian students studying in Australia. Canberra and New Delhi have recently decided on the mutual recognition of qualifications of both countries. Dr Pradeep Taneja, academic fellow with the Australia India Institute, told The Guardian that Modi continuing with his trip, despite Quad getting cancelled, shows that Canberra and New Delhis interests are much more aligned today than ever before in history. The Quad leaders US Biden, PM Modi, Japans Fumio Kishida and Albanese attended a meeting on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Hiroshima on Saturday (20 May). The importance of the bilateral meeting between the two countries irrespective of the cancellation of the Quad leaders summit signifies the priority that is accorded to this partnership, Desai wrote for ThePrint. As per Indian Express, the prime ministers visit is illustrative of the importance that New Delhi accords to the bilateral relationship with Canberra. With inputs from agencies Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News, India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is a busy, busy man. After his visit to Japans Hiroshima for the G-7 meet where he rubbed shoulders with world leaders and US president Joe Biden jokingly asked him for his autograph, the Indian prime minister made his way to Papua New Guinea for the Forum for India-Pacific Islands Cooperation (FIPIC), a grouping of India and 14 Pacific Island countries. Modi has been a popular and well-liked world leader and that was evident once again on Sunday when he was greeted at the airport by his counterpart James Marape, who in a surprise move touched his feet. Notably, Papua New Guinea doesnt usually give a ceremonial welcome for any leader visiting the country after sunset. This is Modis first time to Papua New Guinea as well as the first visit by an Indian prime minister to the island. On Monday morning, Modi held talks with his Papua New Guinea counterpart James Marape and the island nations Governor-General Bob Dadae separately on a range of issues, including strengthening partnerships in multiple sectors, climate action as well as promoting people-to-people ties. As Modi continues his outreach to Pacific Island countries, lets take a closer look at Papua New Guinea and why the visit is significant. About Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea stretches from just south of the equator to the Torres Strait, which separates New Guinea from Cape York Peninsula to the south, the northernmost extension of Australia. It is the worlds third largest island country, with an area of 4,62,840 square kilometres somewhat smaller than Spain, or slightly larger than California. After being ruled by external powers since 1884, Papua New Guinea established sovereignty in 1975 and became an independent Commonwealth realm in 1975 with Elizabeth II as queen. It also became a member of the Commonwealth of Nations in its own right. It is said that the first European visitor may have been Jorge de Meneses, who possibly landed on the island in 152627 while en route to the Moluccas. The first European attempt at colonisation was made in 1793 by Lieutenant John Hayes, a British naval officer, near Manokwari, now in Papua province, Indonesia. Today, Papua New Guinea is one of the most unexplored countries on the planet; however, it offers stunning scenery, making a must-see for nature lovers. The island country is one of 17 mega-diverse countries globally. It contains the worlds third largest rainforest, more than 700 bird species, and 45,000km of coral reefs. But travelling to this place isnt the easiest and it continues to be a land where modern luxuries like electricity and running water are still not readily available to all. Papua New Guinea is linguistically one of the most diverse nations in the world. There are over 852 distinct languages spoken, and each of these communities has distinct ethnic groups with their own cultures and customs. With 600 islands and terrain that is geographically isolated by volcanoes and mountains, many communities have evolved in total isolation from each other and share few similarities. The bulk of these communities are thousands of years old and have survived colonisation and other significant pressures to maintain their traditional cultures and languages a testament to the huge resilience and tenacity of these communities. According to the 2011 census, the island country was home to 7.2 million people where majority of them practice Christianity. Interestingly, the majority of the countrys population still lives in rural areas. When it comes to the economy of the country, agricultural production, most of it from subsistence farming, accounts for about one-third of the countrys gross domestic product. In the 1970s, major mineral discoveries transformed the economy of Papua New Guinea from one dependent on tropical crops to one based on minerals for most of its exports. Today, petroleum gas, copper and gold are most exported from Papua New Guinea. India and Papua New Guinea India has diplomatic ties with Papua New Guinea since 1975 when the island attained independence from Australia. Indias mission in Papua New Guinea was opened at Port Moresby in 1996 whereas Papua New Guinea opened its mission in Delhi in 2006. According to the Ministry of External Affairs, there are about 3,000 Indians in PNG, out of which about 2,000 are working at projects in LNG sector. Others include chartered accountants, university professors, school teachers, doctors, IT and finance professionals, etc. Modis visit to Papua New Guinea In Papua New Guinea, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is holding the third summit of the Forum for India-Pacific Islands Cooperation (FIPIC), a grouping of India and 14 Pacific Island countries. FIPIC as a grouping began in 2014 in Fiji, with New Delhi aiming to establish a presence in the Pacific Island countries. The second such meet was held in 2015 in Indias Jaipur. In the third edition of the meet, Modi said that India believes in multilateralism and supports a free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific. Speaking at the forum, he said, the Pacific island nations are large ocean countries and not small island states. According to an ANI news report, Modi stated: India is proud to be your development partner. You can count on India as a reliable partner. We are ready to share our experiences and capabilities with you without hesitation. We believe in multilateralism and support a free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific. The FIPIC comes at a crucial time. New Delhi is attempting to counter Chinas growing footprint in the Pacific. As retired navy chief Arun Prakash told VOA, These places are very strategic if you want to make a naval base or a friendly port or friendly airstrip and they also have vast ocean resources. The main worry for Western countries and India is that several of these countries are a void and China tends to walk into voids and fill them up. China has been extending its footprint in the region through its Belt and Road initiative; in 2022, Beijing signed a security deal with the Solomon Islands and in March it won a contract to redevelop the port in its capital city, Honiara. Moreover, Papua New Guinea has been showing a tilt towards China a very big concern for the Quad countries of Australia, India, the US and Japan. In November 2022, Papua New Guineas prime minister James Marape met Chinas Xi Jinping in Bangkok in which Beijing said both countries are good friends, good partners and good brothers. Marape has also been invited by the Chinese to visit Beijing for a State Visit and the invitation was extended to him by Chinas special envoy to the Pacific Qian Bo last month. The hope is that Modis visit will be able to redirect Papua New Guineas attention and also establish New Delhi as an emerging global power. However, some analysts believe that Indias bid to build influence in the Pacific Island countries will be limited as it cant match Chinas resources. If you call yourself an Indo-Pacific power and are part of the Quad grouping, you must make some outreach to the Pacific also. But whether it is within our capabilities to sustain ourselves that far out in the Pacific is a question mark. We dont have such deep pockets and our navy is also relatively small, Prakash told VOA News. With inputs from agencies Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News, India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. It feels like a flashback for some back to 8 November 2016 when Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced demonetisation. Now Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has decided to withdraw the Rs 2000 notes and there has been panic. While the term note bandi is being thrown around again, the Friday announcement is different. The notes are not being demonetised. RBI governor Shaktikanta Das said on Monday that there was no need to panic or worry. There is no reason to rush to banks now. You have four months, till September 30, he assured. He also asserted that even after September 30, the deadline set by the central bank to deposit the notes, they would continue to be legal tender. If the notes of the Rs 2000 denomination will still be valid, then why are people being asked to deposit them? And what happens if the notes are not deposited? We take a look at the journey of the note and what happens next. When and why was the Rs 2000 note introduced? In November 2016, the Rs 2000 banknote was introduced after demonetisation, in which the legal status of Rs 1000 and Rs 500 notes in circulation at the time was withdrawn to curb a rise in fake currencies and black money. The Rs 2000 notes were introduced to remonetise the system under Section 24(1) of the RBI Act, 1934, which allows the central bank to issue notes of any denomination not exceeding Rs 10,000, primarily to meet the currency requirement of the economy in an expeditious manner after the demonetisation exercise. Rs 2000 notes were introduced to replenish the notes withdrawn following the notes ban, the RBI chief said on Monday. However, the central bank had stopped printing the notes in 2018 and 2019. With fulfilment of that objective and availability of banknotes in other denominations in adequate quantities the printing of Rs 2000 banknotes was stopped in 2018-19, RBI said. Also read: Why has RBI withdrawn Rs 2000 notes? How is this different from demonetisation? But why are the notes being withdrawn? The RBI on Friday said that the withdrawal was part of the clean note policy that aims to maintain the integrity of Indian currency by removing damaged, counterfeit or soiled notes from circulation. Under this rule introduced in 1999, banks and financial institutions are required to withdraw unfit or damaged notes from circulation and replace them with new ones. The objective is to provide good-quality currency notes and coins. Das said on Monday that the exercise was part of the currency management system of the central bank. Also, withdrawing the denomination made sense since they were not much in use compared to the other denominations. The total value of these banknotes has declined from Rs 6.73 lakh crore at its peak on 31 March 2018, with 37.3 per cent of notes in circulation to Rs 3.62 lakh crore, constituting only 10.8 per cent of notes in circulation on March 31, 2023, according to RBI data. Is there a counterfeit money problem? The Rs 2000 notes are used widely by illegal elements and continue to pose a challenge to government and tax officials. These notes comprise a major junk of black money seized in recent years, as per data from the income tax department. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman told Parliament in November 2019 that 43.22 per cent of unaccounted cash seized in the financial year 2020 was in the form of Rs 2,000 notes. In the financial year 2019, the notes made up 65.93 per cent of such money and the figure was 67.91 per cent in FY 2018. There is no data available from 2020 to 2022 but the trend is expected to be similar to the previous years, reports moneycontrol. The Rs 2000 notes were also used widely by the fake currency mafia. Most of the fake money seized in the last three years was in the Rs 2000 denominations, according to a report by Business Standard. In 2021, fake Rs 2000 notes whose value was Rs 4,84,78,000 crore were seized. Around 2,44,834 lakh fake notes of Rs 2,000 were seized in 2020 and 90,566,000 notes in 2019. Since the printing of the notes stopped in 2019, they would have gone out of circulation. But it could be a way to expose those hoarding black money. They are bound to get exposed if they go to deposit large sums in the bank. Also read: India scraps the Rs 2000 note: Will this affect the economy? What does the RBI say about black money? The RBI chief denied that one of the reasons the notes were being withdrawn was because they could be easily counterfeited. He said that the security features of the notes were not breached but added that high-value notes were prone to be cloned. Will large deposits come under the scanner? Indias biggest public bank, the State Bank of India, has said that no form or slip would be required while exchanging or depositing Rs 2,000 notes. People can exchange 2,000-rupee notes up to Rs 20,000 any number of times in a day. When asked how the government would monitor black money without identification, the RBI governor said, We have asked banks to follow their existing procedure. We have not asked them to do anything differently. According to an NDTV report, to the question of whether large deposits would come under the scanner, he said, RBI never scrutinises deposits in banks. The income tax departments do that. Banks have a reporting system, and they will take care of this. What happens to the Rs 2000 notes after 30 September? From 23 May to 30 September, people can start approaching banks to give up the high-value currency. However, Das said that the notes would be legal even after the deadline. The September date was announced only so that people would take the exercise seriously and make efforts to return the notes. Yes! The 2000 notes will continue to be legal tender even after September 30, 2023. Your currency remains valid, so keep calm and lets bust the panic!#MythsVsFacts #MythBusters pic.twitter.com/i3p6RDmFPp MyGovIndia (@mygovindia) May 21, 2023 A series of MythBusters posted by MyGovIndia, the official citizen engagement platform of the Government of India, tweeted, The 2000 notes will continue to be legal tender even after September 30, 2023. Your currency remains valid, so keep calm and lets bust the panic! With inputs from agencies Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News, India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. There is uncertainty surrounding the current fate of Bakhmut. While Moscow has claimed the eastern Ukrainian city is under its control, Kyiv maintains all is not lost yet. Bakhmut, a salt-mining town in Ukraines eastern Donbas region, has witnessed a bloody conflict for more than nine months. Why is there confusion about the status of Bakhmut? What does capturing the city mean for Russias war in Ukraine? Lets understand. Russia claims Bakhmut has fallen On Saturday (20 May), Yevgeny Prigozhin, the head of the Russia-backed Wagner private mercenary group, claimed in a video posted on Telegram that the city has fallen. In the clip, Wagner fighters were seen holding Russian flags with ruins visible in the background, reported AFP. Hours later, the Russian Defence Ministry said in a statement, As a result of offensive actions by Wagner assault units, supported by artillery and aviation of the Southern Group of Forces, the liberation of Artyomovsk (Soviet-era name of Bakhmut) has been completed. Russian president Vladimir Putin also lauded Wagner for the completion of the operation to liberate Bakhmut. Vladimir Putin congratulated the assault units of Wagner as well as all servicemen of units of the Russian armed forces who provided them with the necessary support and flank cover, on the completion of the operation to liberate the city, TASS news agency quoted Kremlin as saying. In an audio message on Sunday, Prigozhin said his mercenaries have captured all the territory in Bakhmut and would leave the front line in the coming days. Wagner has made no advances. Wagner today captured no territory. We have captured all the territory we promised to capture, right up to the last centimetre, Prigozhin said, as per Reuters. As we stated yesterday, we are handing over our positions to (Russias) Defence Ministry and on the 25th (of May) we are leaving the conflict zone. Ukraines denial The confusion began after Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Sunday appeared to confirm that Bakhmut has been lost to the Russians, reported AFP. Zelenskyy, who was in Japans Hiroshima to meet the Group of Seven (G7) leaders, told reporters when asked whether the city is still under Ukraines control: I think no. For today, Bakhmut is only in our hearts. There is nothing in this place, Zelenskyy replied, as per USA Today. However, soon his office denied the fall of the city, saying the remarks referred to the complete destruction of Bakhmut. Thousands of Russian and Ukrainian troops are estimated to have died and the city has been razed to the ground. Our soldiers are holding fortifications and a number of areas in the southwest of the city, Serhiy Cherevaty, spokesman for the Army Group East, told Ukrainian television, according to Al Jazeera. The president spoke correctly. The city has effectively been razed to the ground, Cherevaty added. Later, Zelenskyy also denied the capture of Bakhmut and said Ukraines soldiers are still in the city. We are keeping on, we are fighting. I clearly understand what is happening in Bakhmut. I cant share the tactics of the military, but a country even bigger than ours cannot defeat us. A little time will pass and we will be winning. Today our soldiers are in Bakhmut, he was quoted as saying by CNN. ALSO READ: Fighting intensifies in Kyiv: Is this the start of Ukraines long-promised counter-offensive? Zelenskyy also likened Bakhmuts ruination to the destruction of Hiroshima in the Second World War when the Japanese city was bombed by the United States. Ill tell you openly: Photographs of ruined Hiroshima absolutely remind me of Bakhmut and other similar settlements. Nothing left alive, all the buildings ruined, he told reporters, as per Reuters. A top Ukrainian general said on Sunday that Kyivs troops still controlled an insignificant part of Bakhmut, adding that the forces were advancing around the edges in order to encircle the city. Ukrainian troops keep advancing on the flanks and are approaching a tactical encirclement of Bakhmut, General Oleksandr Syrskyi said, according to The Kyiv Independent. As per Reuters, this was reiterated by Ukraines deputy defence minister Hanna Maliar who wrote on Telegram: Our forces have taken the city in a semi-encirclement, which gives us the opportunity to destroy the enemy the enemy has to defend himself in the part of the city he controls. What will Bakhmuts fall mean? Once having a population of 70,000-80,000, Bakhmut the site of Russias longest and bloodiest fighting in Ukraine holds symbolic importance for both sides. If Russia has captured the city, it would boost the morale of its soldiers who have not made any major gains since July last year. The fall of Bakhmut would be seen as a victory for Prigozhin and potentially raise his standing with the Kremlin, according to Al Jazeera. For Ukraine, the battle of Bakhmut is a symbol of its resistance against the Russian invasion. Al Jazeeras Natacha Butler explained that the city symbolises so much for people. It has become a symbol of Ukrainian resistance and resilience. Military experts say the city does not hold any strategic importance. However, Ukraine has warned that the capture of Bakhmut could lead to Russia focusing next on occupying the two bigger cities in the Donetsk region: Kramatorsk and Sloviansk. We understand that after Bakhmut they (Russian forces) could go further. They could go to Kramatorsk, they could go to Sloviansk, it would be open road for the Russians after Bakhmut to other towns in Ukraine, in the Donetsk direction, Zelenskyy had said in March. As per Reuters, Russia needs to capture both cities to complete what it defines as the liberation of the Peoples Republic of Donetsk. The town of Chasiv Yar, which lies west of Bakhmut, could be targeted by Russian forces next. But, as per Reuters, Western analysts have expressed doubts if Russian troops can swiftly capitalise on Bakhmuts capture. With inputs from agencies Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News, India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Maleesha Kharwa is breaking barriers and how! The 14-year-old slum-dweller from Mumbais Bandra has become the face of the luxury Ayurveda brand Forest Essentials. The teen model and content creator already has a following of more than two lakhs on Instagram. As per her profile, she aims to become a supermodel to help my family eat. Lets take a look at her journey. The Slum Princess It was a chance encounter between Kharwa and Hollywood actor Robert Hoffman in 2020 that marked the beginning of her modelling career. The Step Up 2 actor described his first meeting with Kharwa as something out of a movie. There she stood among a group of slum residents just like any other in the city. But her face was so remarkable I dont know how anyone could have overlooked her before, Hoffman told Hindustan Times (HT) at the time. He talked to her family and told them if they were interested, there was a huge potential for her life to change. Hoffman then set up her social media accounts and started a GoFundMe page. Since then, she has already bagged two Hollywood movie offers, as per Mid-Day newspaper. Kharwa has also featured in the short film, titled Live Your Fairytale, by Arsala Qureishi and Jas Sagu. I am very happy with where I am right now. There are times when people see me somewhere and recognise me because of social media. They actually tell me that they are fans, which makes me extremely proud and happy, she told the newspaper. Kharwa has also graced the covers of fashion magazines Cosmopolitan India and The Peacock. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Cosmopolitan India (@cosmoindia) On what she liked about modelling, Kharwa, whose favourite hobby is dance, told HT in 2020, I like to pose for the camera and put my hands on my waist. ALSO READ: Who is the 106-year-old from Philippines, who became Vogues oldest-ever cover model? The face of a luxury brand Forest Essentials has roped in the teen model for its new campaign Yuvati Selection. As per Vogue India magazine, the luxury brand will contribute towards Project Paathshala to educate underprivileged children through its new campaign which focuses on the idea of dreams. While Maleesha is the face of this campaign, what Forest Essentials is bringing to the forefront is the idea of dreams. The undercurrent here is that no matter where you come from, how big or small your dream is, dreams are for everyone, and all dreams matter, Mira Kulkarni, founder and chief managing director of Forest Essentials, was quoted as saying by the magazine. In a video posted on Instagram in April, the content creator could be seen visiting a Forest Essentials store that had her campaign photos. Her face lit up with pure delight, To see her dreams in front of her in sight. Maleeshas story is a beautiful reminder that dreams really do come true. #BecauseYourDreamsMatter, the post read. View this post on Instagram A post shared by @forestessentials Speaking to Vogue, Kharwa said about the campaign, This is my biggest job till date, and it has changed my life so much. I want to be a model, but education will always come first for me. Realising goals Kharwas Instagram posts provide insight into her vivacious personality and spirit while capturing her reality. One of her earlier posts showed her home, a tent set up supported by bamboo sticks and cloth pieces. This is my home. Many people ask me how I like living here and I absolutely love my home, the post had read. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Maleesha Kharwa (@maleeshakharwa) In an interview with Cosmopolitan India last October, Kharwa opened up about her living conditions, saying sometimes they do not even have clean water or food. Then there are times when the municipal corporation breaks our house because we live by the sea. When it is very hot in Mumbai, we have to sleep on the rocks by the water. But none of these things could deter me from going after what brings me joy. Kharwa said people thought she could not become a model because of her dark skin, however, she has proven those naysayers wrong. The teen model said she believes that anything can be achieved if you work hard. I find it strange when people ask me how I am such a happy person; they dont think it is normal to be happy because I am poorbut I love my life. You can be happy even if you do not have a big house or a nice car because, to me, having a family that loves and supports me, and good friends that care about me, is more important. As for realising your goals, if you work hard, there is nothing you cant achieve, Kharwa was quoted as saying by Cosmopolitan India. As Kharwa told HT in 2020, she has faced many problems in life but learnt not to give up and be resilient. With inputs from agencies Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News, India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. The US government is rapidly approaching the deadline to raise the nations debt ceiling. Though some progress is being made through meetings, it is evident that reaching a consensus is still a significant challenge. President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy will meet face to face today after a weekend of on again, off again negotiations over raising the nations debt ceiling and mere days before the government could reach a hard deadline and run out of cash to pay its bills. The two sides are working to reach a budget compromise before 1 June, when Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has said the country could default. McCarthy and Republicans are insisting on spending cuts in exchange for raising the debt limit. Biden has come to the negotiating table after balking for months but says the GOP lawmakers will have to back off their extreme positions. Also Read: How past US debt ceiling crises affected the economy and politics On Sunday evening, negotiators met again and appeared to be narrowing on a 2024 budget year cap that could resolve the standoff. After speaking with Biden by phone as the president travelled home from a trip to Asia, McCarthy sounded somewhat optimistic. But he warned that theres no agreement on anything. A look at the negotiations and why they are happening: What is the debt ceiling fight all about? Once a routine act by Congress, the vote to raise the debt ceiling allows the Treasury Department to continue borrowing money to pay the nations already incurred bills. The vote in more recent times has been used as a political leverage point, a must-pass bill that can be loaded up with other priorities. House Republicans, newly empowered in the majority this Congress, are refusing to raise the debt limit unless Biden and the Democrats impose federal spending cuts and restrictions on future spending. The Republicans say the nations debt, now at $31 trillion, is unsustainable. They also want to attach other priorities, including stiffer work requirements on recipients of government cash aid, food stamps and the Medicaid health care program. Many Democrats oppose those requirements. Biden had insisted on approving the debt ceiling with no strings attached, saying the US always pays its bills and defaulting on debt is non-negotiable. But facing a deadline as soon as 1 June, when Treasury says it will run out of money, Biden launched negotiations with Republicans. Is it close to being resolved? There are positive signs, though there have been rocky moments in the talks. Start-stop negotiations were back on track late Sunday, and all sides appear to be racing toward a deal. Negotiators left the Capitol after 8 pm Sunday and said they would keep working. McCarthy said after his call with Biden that I think we can solve some of these problems if he understands what were looking at. The speaker added: We have to spend less money than we spent last year. Biden, for his part, said at a press conference in Japan before departing: I think that we can reach an agreement. But reaching an agreement is only part of the challenge. Any deal will also have to pass the House and Senate with significant bipartisan support. Many expect that buy-in from the White House and GOP leadership will be enough to muscle it over the finish line. What are the hangups? Republicans want to roll back spending to 2022 levels and cap future spending for the next decade. Democrats arent willing to go that far to cut federal spending. The White House has instead proposed holding spending flat at the current 2023 levels. There are also policy priorities under consideration, including steps that could help speed the construction and development of energy projects that both Republicans and some Democrats want. Also Read: US debt ceiling: Whats the 14th Amendment Biden is considering? Democrats have strenuously objected to a Republican push to impose stiffer work requirements on people who receive government aid through food stamps, Medicaid health care and the cash assistance programs. Biden, though, has kept the door open to some discussion over work requirements. What happens if they dont raise the debt ceiling? A government default would be unprecedented and devastating to the nations economy. Yellen and economic experts have said it could be catastrophic. There isnt really a blueprint for what would happen. But it would have far-reaching effects. Yellen has said it would destroy jobs and businesses and leave millions of families who rely on federal government payments to likely go unpaid, including Social Security beneficiaries, veterans and military families. More than eight million people could lose their jobs, government officials estimate. The economy could nosedive into a recession. A default could cause widespread suffering as Americans lose the income that they need to get by, she said. Disruptions to federal government operations would impact air traffic control and law enforcement, border security and national defence, and food safety. Is there a backup plan if talk fails? Some Democrats have proposed that they could raise the debt ceiling on their own, without help from Republicans. Progressives have urged Biden to invoke a clause in the Constitutions 14th Amendment that says the validity of the public debt in the United States shall not be questioned. Default, the argument goes, is therefore unconstitutional. Supporters of unilateral action say Biden already has the authority to effectively nullify the debt limit if Congress wont raise it, so that the validity of the countrys debt isnt questioned. The president said Sunday that its a question that I think is unresolved, as to whether he could act alone, adding he hopes to try to get the judiciary to weigh in on the notion for the future. In Congress, meanwhile, House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries has launched a process that would discharge the issue to the House floor and force a vote on raising the debt limit. Its a cumbersome legislative procedure, but Jeffries urged House Democrats to sign on to the measure in hopes of gathering the majority needed to trigger a vote. The challenge for Democrats is that they have only 213 members on their side five short of the 218 needed for a majority. Getting five Republicans to cross over and join the effort wont be easy. Signing onto a discharge petition from the minority is seen as a major affront to party leadership, particularly on an issue as important as the debt ceiling. Few Republicans, if any, may be willing to suffer the consequences. Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News, India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Page Content This week marks Caribbean Mosquito Awareness Week which is from May 8-14. The Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) says that mosquito borne diseases such as dengue, chikungunya, zika and malaria continue to circulate in CARPHA Member States. At the 17th Special Session of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Heads of Government on public health threats held in November 2014, the Heads approved a proposal for the establishment of an annual Caribbean Mosquito Awareness Week. The objective of such a week is to strengthen existing initiatives and mobilize the public to eliminate mosquito breeding sites from public and private places. The theme for 2023 is Small bite, big threat, and slogan Beat the buzz: Prevent, Protect, Control. The Collective Prevention Services (CPS) is committed to keeping the public informed and making frequent calls to action to the community to take action and eliminate mosquito breeding sites. CPS supports the CARPHA campaign this week and appeals to the community to always be on alert to act right after a rainfall event to prevent mosquitoes from breeding. Mosquitoes can breed in as little as a half-inch of water. This is not a lot of water, and plant saucers are one of those unassuming places that can gather a small amount and still be a huge breeding site for your backyard mosquito. Source reduction is the key to decreasing the mosquito population. Due to the tropical nature of our climate, breeding habitats are in abundance, and many of them are unfortunately man-made. For issues surrounding mosquito breeding sites, contact CPS vector control team by calling 542-1222/1570 or 914. Ask to be connected to the vector control team. You can also email vector-control@sintmaartengov.org with supporting pictures and contact information to report a mosquito nuisance or request assistance. Collectively, we need to minimize the mosquito population at its source! Youth Congress president Srinivas BV on Monday appeared before the police in Guwahati for questioning in connection with the sexual and mental harassment case filed by now-expelled leader Angkita Dutta. After landing at the Lokpriya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport, the Congress leader reached the Panbazar Women police station at 11 am. Srinivas was accompanied by his lawyer and Assam Congress leaders, including MLAs Rakibul Hussain and Rekibuddin Ahmed. After spending nearly one-and-a-half hours at the police station, he left for the office of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) in the city. While coming out of the office an hour later, he told waiting reporters, The matter is before the court. The CID had also issued a separate notice to Srinivas in the same case. Dutta had filed a complaint at the Dispur police station on April 20 alleging that Srinivas was persistently harassing and torturing her for the last six months by making sexist comments, using swear words and also threatening her of dire consequences if she keeps complaining against him to the senior party office bearers. She had also mentioned in the complaint that during the partys recent plenary session at Raipur, the accused had physically heckled her and threatened of ruining her career if she complained against him. Dutta had made the allegations against the IYC president in a series of tweets on April 18. After the FIR was registered on April 20, a five-member team of Guwahati Police went to Bengaluru on April 23 and pasted a notice at Srinivas residence directing him to appear at Dispur police station by May 2. The Congress issued a show cause notice to Dutta and later expelled her from the primary membership of the party for six years for anti-party activities. Srinivas had also served a legal notice on Dutta, demanding an apology, failing which he threatened to initiate legal proceedings. He had approached the Gauhati High Court for anticipatory bail and when it was rejected, he had appealed for it before the Supreme Court. The apex court on May 17 granted him interim protection from arrest in the case. It directed Srinivas to cooperate in the investigation and appear before the police in Guwahati on May 22. It also directed him to cooperate in the inquiry being carried out by the National Commission for Women. Meanwhile, Congress leaders claimed that its youth wing workers were prevented by the police in different districts from coming to Guwahati to extend solidarity with their national president. Leader of Opposition in the Assembly, Debabrata Saikia said, We are members of the party which is known for following the ideology of non-violence. We respect the law of the land. Srinivas is appearing before the police here as ordered by the Supreme Court. He claimed that Youth Congress members from different districts of Assam wanted to show their support to Srinivas in Guwahati but they were prevented by the local police, which threatened them with arrest or other actions under different provisions of law. Hussian, who has been with Srinivas since he reached Guwahati, said, We are abiding by every laid down rule. If the government is so confident, we fail to understand why is it putting restrictions on the people? (With inputs from PTI) Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News, India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modis historic state visit to the US next month, Indian Americans are planning to welcome him with an India Unity Day march in 20 major cities across America on June 18, organisers have announced. Prime Minister Modi will embark on his first state visit to the US at the invitation of President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden in June. The US president and the First Lady will also host Modi at a state dinner on June 22. The (Indian American) community is really excited (about Modis visit). The community is gathering on June 18 here in Washington DC at the National Monument. And there will be a march from Washington Monument to Lincoln Memorial, calling it India Unity Day and welcoming Modiji. That is two days in advance, said community leader Adapa Prasad, who is also the national president of Overseas Friends of BJP (OFBJP) USA. Also at the same time, in about 20 places across the United States, from east to west, from north to south, covering major cities there will be similar welcome marches at iconic places like Times Square in New York and Golden Bridge in San Francisco, he said on Sunday. The other cities are Boston, Chicago, Atlanta, Miami, Tampa, Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles, Sacramento, San Francisco, Columbus, and St Louis. Describing the state visit as a historic event that makes the community feel proud, Prasad said all major sections of Indian Americans have joined hands in welcoming the prime minister and making it a memorable event. Plans are afoot to welcome the prime minister at all major places in New York and Washington DC, the two cities on his itinerary so far. While a group of Indian Americans are planning to go to Andrews Air Force Base when the Prime Minister lands on June 21 afternoon from New York for the state visit, hundreds of the community members are planning to gather at Lafayette Square Park in front of the White House. For several hours that afternoon, various groups and organisations of Indian Americans were planning a cultural extravaganza showcasing the diversity of India. On the evening of June 21, as he arrives at a Washington DC hotel, the Indian American community has planned to have a cultural event spanning Kashmir to Kanyakumari, and West to East different cultural events in front of the White House, Prasad said. He said the programme will be an audio and video display of the growth of India, development of India during the last nine years. Some of the Indian-origin elected representatives are also likely to attend. This (event) is also to showcase to the American public what India is all about, he said. On June 22, a couple of thousands of Indian Americans are planning to be on the South Lawns of the White House when President Biden and the First Lady would welcome the Prime Minister amidst a 21-gun salute. The White House has already started sending invitations for the welcome ceremony. On (June) 22nd morning,we are expecting about three to 5,000 Indian diaspora invited by White House on the lawns of the White House. That is a historic moment because this is the first time any country-specific diaspora is invited to the White House in such large numbers, Prasad said. An overwhelming majority of the Indian American community, he said, is delighted with the development story of India and Modis sincerity and his commitment to India. So, theyre excited. Modiji is like a rockstar to the Indian American community here, and probably its true for the entire Indian Diaspora. Anywhere he goes, either in, UK or Australia, he said. Several other Indian American community leaders have welcomed the state visit of the prime minister. I am delighted to see the proposed visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the United States, said Ajay Bhutoria, a prominent Indian-American leader and advocate for stronger US-India relations. This visit serves as a testament to the strong and enduring partnership between our two great nations. It reaffirms the warm bonds of family and friendship that unite the American and Indian people, he said. During prime minister Modis first state visit to the USA he will have the opportunity to discuss with President Biden strong bilateral cooperation in various areas of mutual interest including but not limited to technology, trade, industry, education, research, clean energy, defence, said Ashok Mago, an eminent Indian American from Houston who has played a key role in strengthening India US relationship. India and the US are strategic partners but we cant say that they are formal allies. While they have much in common, India doesnt feel bound to sync its worldview with the USA. There is a need for a deeper collaboration when it comes to technology, he said. Modis visit to the US comes ahead of the G20 Summit being hosted by India in September. After becoming Prime Minister in 2014, Modi has made more than half a dozen trips to the United States for bilateral and multilateral meetings with all three American presidents, Barack Obama, Donald Trump and now Biden, but this is for the first time he has been invited for an official state visit, a privilege accorded to Americas close friends and allies. His last visit to Washington was in September 2021 at the invitation of President Biden for a bilateral meeting. He had also attended the first in-person Quad Leaders Summit hosted by Biden. A government school teacher in Karnataka was suspended from service following allegations of criticising the newly-formed Siddaramaiah government and the policies of the Congress party in the state. Shanthamurthy MG, who is a teacher at the Kanubennahalli government school in Chitradurga districts Hosadurga, expressed his grievances against the newly-elected governments policies and its distribution of freebies in a Facebook post recently. In the social media post, he wrote about the increasing debt that Karnataka had incurred during the tenures of different chief ministers. Shanthamurthys Facebook post read, What else can you do without giving freebies? He elaborated on the accumulated debt under various chief ministers, stating, Debt during the tenure of former CMs S M Krishna was Rs 3,590 crore, Dharam Singh Rs 15,635 crore, HD Kumaraswamy Rs 3,545 crore, BS Yeddiyurappa Rs 25,653 crore, DV Sadananda Gowda Rs 9,464 crore, Jagadish Shettar Rs 13,464 crore, and Siddaramaiah Rs 2,42,000 crore. The teacher, in the post, also alleged a significant increase in loans from 1999 to 2013, covering the period from Krishna to Shettar, which amounted to Rs 71,331 crore. He claimed that the debt skyrocketed to Rs 2,42,000 crore during Siddaramaiahs previous tenure between 2013 and 2018. The teachers post further implied that this surge in debt made it convenient for the government to announce freebies. Soon after he posted his opinion on social media, his suspension order was issued by Field Education Officer L Jayappa, who stated that Shanthamurthy had violated government service rules by criticising the government. Shantamurthy, violated government service rules by mentioning the debts incurred during the previous governments while Siddaramaiah was taking oath as the new chief minister on Saturday, read the suspension order. Chitradurga Deputy Director of Public Instruction K Ravishankar Reddy \confirmed the suspension, citing the violation of the Karnataka Civil Services (Conduct) Rules, 1966. Section 10 of this act specifically forbids employees from openly criticising the government. Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News, India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Indian cuisine and millets found a prominent place at the lunch hosted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi for leaders attending the 3rd Summit of the Forum for India-Pacific Islands Cooperation here on Monday. Modi along with his Papua New Guinea counterpart James Marape hosted the key summit here. Modi is the first Indian prime minister to visit Papua New Guinea The lunch included Khandvi, Millet and Vegetable Soup, Malai Kofta, Rajasthani Ragi Gatta Curry, Dal Panchmel, Millet Biryani, Nannu Fulka and Masala Chaas. Paan Kulfi and Malpua were served as desserts. Drinks included Masala Tea, Green Tea, Mint Tea and freshly brewed PNG coffee. The inclusion of millet in the menu reflects the importance India gives to these small-seeded foods. The UN General Assembly in March 2021 declared 2023 as the International Year of Millets at the behest of the Government of India. Millets are one of the oldest foods known to mankind. Small-seeded and hardy, these crops can grow on arid lands with minimal inputs and are resilient to changes in climate. They are, therefore, an ideal solution for countries to increase self-sufficiency and reduce reliance on imported cereal grain. Millets, which are rich in proteins, antioxidants, minerals and other nutrients, help to lower blood sugar and cholesterol levels. The types of millets commonly grown in India include Jowar (Sorghum), Bajra (pearl millet), Ragi (finger millet), Jhangora (barnyard millet), Barri (proso or common millet), Kangni (foxtail millet) and Kodra (kodo millet). Due to their short growing season, millets can develop from seeds to ready-to-harvest crops in short periods. If stored properly, millets can keep well for two years or beyond. With the Reserve Bank of India announcing to withdraw Rs 2,000 banknotes from circulation, markets and petrol pumps across the country are witnessing a huge rush of people trying to spend the currency. The RBI last week announced the withdrawal of Rs 2,000 currency notes from circulation but gave the public time till September 30 to either deposit such notes in accounts or exchange them at banks. Unlike the November 2016 shock demonetisation when old Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes were invalidated overnight, the Rs 2,000 notes will continue to be legal tender till September 30. Rakesh Gupta, an owner of a supermarket in Noida said that most of the customers are coming with Rs 2000 notes to buy household goods. We are accepting such notes but on condition that customers will have to buy supplies for the full amount as it is difficult for us to give every customer the remaining amount back, he said. However, some of the customers complained that patrol pumps refused to accept Rs 2000 notes even after RBI clarified that such currency notes continue to be legal tender. @DirMktg_iocl @DirMktg_iocl @IOCRetail @FinMinIndia @RBI @nsitharaman @PMOIndia This sign at an Indian Oil Petrol Pump says all about how and panic can be created with wrong understanding of simple withdrawal process for 2000 currency. Pl take care and inform your pumps. pic.twitter.com/Fe6DPWMVVr nipunsheth (@nipunsheth2) May 21, 2023 Dilip Jain, a twitter user tweeted Today went to petrol pump in mumbai he said owner given instructions not to accept 2000 note . If this is legal tender then how the pump says not accept .after argument I have paid by credit card,. Today went to petrol pump in mumbai he said owner given instructions not to accept 2000 note . If this is legal tender then how the pump says not accept .after argument I have paid by credit card @CNBC_Awaaz @RBI @amitgupta0310 @RoyLakshman @MumbaiPolice pic.twitter.com/3mszy0h1da DILIP JAIN (@DilipPichholiya) May 20, 2023 Meanwhile, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Shaktikanta Das on Monday said most of the withdrawn Rs 2,000 rupee notes are expected to be returned by the deadline of September 30. Speaking to reporters for the first time since the surprise decision to withdraw the highest denomination currency note was announced, Das said the decision was part of currency management. The move to withdraw Rs 2000 banknotes comes amid concerns of the highest denomination notes being used to hoard black money. The RBI had stopped printing Rs 2,000 notes in 2018-19 and the notes were rarely in circulation. The Rs 2,000 denomination bank note was introduced in November 2016, primarily to meet the currency requirement of the economy in an expeditious manner after the withdrawal of legal tender status of all Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 bank notes in circulation at that time. The RBI had said that it has also been observed that Rs 2,000 denomination note is not commonly used for transactions. Further, the stock of bank notes in other denominations continues to be adequate to meet the currency requirement of the public, it added. In view of the above, and in pursuance of the Clean Note Policy of the Reserve Bank of India, it has been decided to withdraw the Rs 2,000 denomination bank notes from circulation, the RBI said. The bank notes in Rs 2,000 denomination will continue to be a legal tender, it added. The central bank has asked the public to deposit Rs 2,000 bank notes into their bank accounts and/or exchange them into banknotes of other denominations at any bank branch. Members of the public are encouraged to utilise the time up to September 30, 2023 to deposit and/or exchange the Rs 2,000 bank notes, the central bank said. In January 2014, the RBI announced the withdrawal from circulation of all bank notes issued prior to 2005. (With agency inputs) Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News, India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Former Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Monday demanded the Siddaramaiah-led Congress government in the state to prove with evidence that there was 40 per cent commission during the previous BJP rule. The saffron party leader also urged the government to investigate alleged scams or irregularities that took place during the previous BJP and Congress governments, and let the truth come out. I want to clearly say let them probe. They have alleged 40 per cent commission, they have to prove it with evidence now. I demand that the Congress, being in the government, to give us all the proof and show there was a 40 per cent commission, Bommai said in a response to a question on the Congress government reportedly planning to probe the alleged scams during BJP rule. Speaking to reporters here, he said, the Contractors Association had alleged 40 per cent, I want to tell its President Kempanna they (Congress) may claim that there is no 40 per cent commission with Congress in power so here on in all the projects contractors will have quote 40 per cent less in the tenders. If they continue to quote the same tender amount as earlier, it means that 40 per cent has continued. So Kempanna has a huge responsibility, the Contractors Association should tell all its contractors to quote 40 per cent less in their tender, he added. During the previous BJP regime, the state Contractors Association under its President Kepanna had written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, alleging 40 per cent commission charge against public representatives and officials for public works, which the Congress, then in the opposition, had used it as a major weapon against the then ruling party, during the campaign for the Assembly polls. To a question as to whether the Contractors Association would release documents at least now, Bommai said, Let them, Kempanna has not done it so far, also they have not given it to courts, but have indulged in false campaigning (against BJP). Congress benefitted from it, so let them do it at least now. Regarding claims that the Police Sub-inspector (PSI) recruitment scam will be probed, he said, Let them investigate everything. We have given the Lokayukta and CID cases regarding the scams which took place during their (previous Congress) tenurelet what happened during both their and our (BJP) tenures be probed, and let the truth come out. The former Chief Minister also expressed pain over the death caused due to rain on Sunday and said the Met department had given warning about rains, but it is clear the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) has not taken any measures. I urge the Chief Minister, we have created SDRF (State Disaster Response Force) in Bengaluru, immediately press them into service at the vulnerable spots and take measures at places which are bottleneck, as there are predictions of more rains in the days to come. Also measures should be taken regarding tree falls to avoid any disaster or inconvenience to people, he added. A 23-year old woman died on Sunday after the vehicle she was travelling in got submerged in a flooded K R Circle underpass, following thunderstorm and heavy rains in the city. Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News, India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. The CBI on Monday informed the Bombay High Court that former NCB zonal director Sameer Wankhede is trying to show the alleged messages exchanged with Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan as certificate of integrity. The High Court was hearing a petition of the official who is accused of seeking Rs 25 crore as bribe from the actor for not implicating his son Aryan in the Cordelia cruise drug bust case. A vacation bench of Justices Abhay Ahuja and MM Sathaye on Monday extended till June 8 the interim protection granted to Wankhede in the case. Last Friday, the court had directed the Central Bureau of Investigation not to take any coercive against him till May 22. Citing the messages exchanged with Khan, Wankhede, in his petition, has claimed the film superstar had no grievance against him and had requested that he be kind to his son Aryan Khan. Wankhede further claimed the actor had not only praised his integrity but has also expressed his anguish over the political involvement in the matter. Referring to the chats, Wankhede, in his plea, claimed the tone of Khans messages would have been completely contrary had he (Wankhede) raised demands for money for releasing Aryan Khan. During the hearing on Monday, the CBI, represented by advocate Kuldeep Patil, submitted that those requests (referring to the messages exchanged between Shah Rukh Khan and Wankhede) were made by a father (Khan) whose young son (Aryan) was in his (Wankhede) custody. Wankede is trying to show them (messages from Khan) as a certificate of integrity, CBI advocate Patil told court. Opposing continuation of interim protection to Wankhede, advocate Patil said the order may come in the way of arrest or any action that the CBI may want to take, adding the order (interim protection) cannot be indefinite when the probe is underway. Patil also sought time to file the CBIs response to Wankhedes plea. Advocate Abad Ponda, appearing for Wankhede, argued the officer was investigating a very serious case and was trying to clean the system. Ponda was referring to the Cordelia cruise drug bust case of October 2021 in which Aryan Khan was arrested. Ponda told the court then NCB Deputy Director Gyaneshwar Singh had been apprised of every step of the probe. Ponda said the backbone of the CBIs FIR against Wankhede is flawed as it didnt follow the provisions mandated by law. The case was illegal and bad in law and the idea was to ground an honest officer who stood against the tall and mighty, Ponda said. The court, after hearing both the sides, extended Wankhedes interim protection subject to the condition that he shall not publish any material through Whatsapp or any other mode related to the case or investigation or give press statements or tamper with evidence. The court asked Wankhede to give an undertaking to this effect. Wankhede was also directed to appear at the investigation agency as and when he is called by the concerned officer. The HC directed the CBI to file its response by June 3. The matter will be next heard on June 8. The CBI recently filed an FIR against Wankhede for allegedly seeking Rs 25 crore bribe for not framing the Bollywood stars son Aryan Khan in the drugs-on-cruise case. On a complaint by the NCB. the CBI booked Wankhede and four others for alleged criminal conspiracy and extortion threat as well as under the Prevention of Corruption Act for alleged bribery. As per the CBI, the NCBs Mumbai Zone received information in October 2021 related to the consumption and possession of narcotics substances by various individuals on the private cruise ship Cordelia, after which some of its (NCB) officers conspired and obtained undue advantage in the form of bribes from the alleged accused. Aryan Khan was arrested by the NCB on October 3, 2021 after a raid on the cruise ship. He was granted bail by the Bombay High Court after three weeks as the NCB failed to substantiate its charges against him. (With inputs from PTI) Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News, India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. The word rules based order peppers the comments by US government officials and also often in EU. What is often not brought up front is who wrote those rules and so why should it be incumbent on the rest of the world to follow those rules! Also, the urge for a rules based order masks the priority given to political considerations. That the formation has caught on so much even in academic discourse, is somewhat disconcerting since this world view could then be imposed on the larger global order. For instance the recently released Think7 Japan Communique notes, Prosperity and peace also hinge on ensuring a rules-based policy environment. It goes on to identify the increasing risks posed to the global community in terms of weaponization of food, trade, and reserve currencies and the lack of multilateral agreement on international financial institution reform. These are fine thoughts-the urgent call for creating a rule-based policy environment is commendable. But the question is who are to frame the rules? The present prevailing system of making rules-based policy is entirely opaque. The negotiators often engage in closed door interactions to frame rules on global policies. This is observed in most of the efforts intended to solve global problems of importance. The last seven decades of post-WWII period saw considerable efforts at not only identifying the problems but also both conceptual and policy-based suggestions as to what is to be done. However, when the real issue came in terms of how are they to be realised, we failed miserably and we often put the blame of lack of political will. Rules of fairness was put aside, instead the political considerations were at full play. Take some more examples. At the unfinished discussion on the Doha Round of Development at the WTO, not enough implementable actions to link free trade to the developmental process involving developing world was made possible. The World Food Programme (WFP) was experimentally started in 1961 to provide food aid through the UN system. It is operating even today. Evidently, the food security problem that was formally identified about more than 60 years ago, remains still relevant today. The International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) was established by United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) to assess the science related to climate change in 1988 and was endorsed by UN General Assembly (UNGA) in that year itself. It gave several recommendations and asked for a number of strong measures to be initiated to take care of the planet going into an irreversible change for the worse. Yet saving the planet from the vagaries of climate change is still observed to be distant dream. Many countries not engaged in a historical way in polluting the global atmosphere are the worst sufferers of the effects of climate change. In all these examples cited, the achievements did not match with the expressed commitments due to simply the lack of political will. WFP is still looking for funds to carry out its activities, implying food insecurity is still a global problem even after 62 years of its establishment. IPCC, for the last 35 years has been underscoring the need to reduce carbon emission in a meaningful way so that the global average temperature does not go beyond 1.50 Celsius by the end of the century. Now it is already feared that the global average temperature is all set to go beyond 20 C by the end of this century. Interestingly both IPCC and WFP have been recognised with the award of Nobel Prize for their noteworthy contributions. The fundamental question revolves around the lack of political will. Rules therefore is a convenient way to mask this political show. And the reasons thereof are not very difficult to find out. The existing system of creating a rules-based policy environment is highly hierarchical. The rules are created not by all the participants. Only a handful decide on the set of rules to be made and others either agree to them willingly or accept them having no other alternative options available. Obviously, often these rule sets are designed to take care of the required changes that will facilitate the ones who are hierarchically in a better position. The members of G7 or to some extent the members of G20, have leverages to build such rules-based policy. The rest of the countries, more than 180 of them, cannot contribute much to this process. Yes, they contribute only 15 per cent to the global GDP, their participation in global trade is just 25% and they constitute just one third of the global population. These characteristics put them into a status of marginalisation. The efforts made by G7 or G20 groups of countries towards finding solutions to global poly-crises are undoubtedly welcome. However, such crises are difficult to be taken care of ultimately, if the rest of the countries are not actively engaged in the deliberations. Take the case of the loss- and- damage funds being argued for in the context of climate change. None of the countries considered vulnerable and having a real concern to be supported immediately comes to be engaged as a member of either of these groups. The need of the hour to create a rules-based-policy environment cannot ignore the participation of these large number of countries into the process of making the rules. Then only the true political will will emerge through negotiated settlements. The author is a professor, OP Jindal Global University. Views expressed are personal. Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News, India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. The ice cream took over 1.5 years to develop, with a lot of trials and errors to get the taste right. Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has said that he is honoured to host Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Canberra and added that India and Australia share a commitment to a stable, secure and prosperous Indo-Pacific. I am honoured to host Prime Minister Modi for an official visit to Australia, after receiving an extremely warm welcome in India earlier this year. Australia and India share a commitment to a stable, secure and prosperous Indo-Pacific, said Australian PM Albanese. PM Modis visit to Australia builds on the Australia-India Annual Leaders Summit in New Delhi in March and discussions at the G7 Summit and Quad Leaders meeting in Hiroshima over the weekend, said the official statement released by the Australian government. Together we have an important role to play in supporting this vision. As friends and partners, the relationship between our countries has never been closer. I look forward to celebrating Australias vibrant Indian community with Prime Minister Modi in Sydney, he added. Prime Minister Modi will visit Australia from May 22-24. At their bilateral meeting, the leaders will discuss trade and investment, including efforts to boost trade between the two countries through a Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement and work to strengthen people-to-people links, renewable energy, and defence and security cooperation. PM Modi will also meet Australian business leaders to drive Australias growing trade and investment relationship with India and take forward opportunities from the Australia-India CEO Forum held in Mumbai in March, according to the statement. During the visit, the Prime Ministers will attend a community event in Sydney to celebrate Australias dynamic and diverse Indian diaspora, a core part of our multicultural community, the statement added. Meanwhile, Albanese looks forward to visiting India in September for the G20 Leaders Summit in New Delhi, the worlds premier forum for economic cooperation. The last visit of PM Modi to Australia was in 2014. The India-Australia relationship has grown stronger due to shared interests, values, and goals. Both countries want a free, inclusive, and rules-based Indo-Pacific region, and they aim to resolve any disagreements or conflicts through peaceful means. Both are members of the Quad, Commonwealth, Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA), ASEAN Regional Forum, Asia Pacific Partnership on Climate and Clean Development, and have participated in the East Asia Summits. Both countries have also been cooperating as members of the Five Interested Parties (FIP) in the World Trade Organization context. Australia is an important player in Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) and supports Indias membership of the organisation. With inputs from agencies China's Huabiao Film Awards to announce winners Tuesday Xinhua) 16:12, May 22, 2023 BEIJING, May 22 (Xinhua) -- The 18th and 19th China Huabiao Film Awards, a government-sponsored award that honors exceptional films and filmmakers, will announce the winners on Tuesday. On Monday, over 50 films and their creators were revealed as nominees. In the running for the 18th Huabiao Awards for Best Feature are "Better Days," "The Bugle from Gutian," "Dying to Survive," "Ne Zha," and "The Wandering Earth." Meanwhile, the 19th Huabiao Awards for Best Feature will see "The Battle at Lake Changjin," "A Writer's Odyssey," "A Little Red Flower," "B for Busy," and "Cliff Walkers" vie for the coveted prize. (Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Liang Jun) Page Content The week of May 09, 2023, witnessed a gathering of several Justice Ministers from various countries in the Kingdom at the Symposium on "Human Factors vs Technology" held on the island of Aruba. This significant event, aimed at fostering discussions on crucial and strategic matters concerning general security, was coordinated by the steering committee "Information Coordination," led by Mr. Juni Nicolaas, Chief of National Security in Aruba. Distinguished speakers at the Symposium included Mr. S. Hato, Minister of Justice of Curacao, and Mr. R. Tjon, Minister of Justice of Aruba. Their valuable insights shed light on the importance of investing in technology as well as human resources to effectively combat crime. The symposium facilitated a platform for stakeholders in the justice chain, both local and regional, including chiefs of police from all countries in the Dutch Caribbean, RST, and representatives from semi-public and private sectors, to come together and exchange ideas. During the event, Chief Commissioner of Police of Sint Maarten Mr. C. John delivered a compelling presentation on the utilization of Artificial Intelligence (AI). His demonstration highlighted the advantages and disadvantages of AI implementation. He also emphasizing the need to strategically analyze and use the vast amounts of data available. His presentation also delved into the practices of data collection by big businesses through cookies, underlining the significance of sharing intelligence among different organizations for the overall security and well-being of communities. Chief Commissioner of Police of Sint Maarten delivered a significant proposal to the government of Sint Maarten, highlighting the importance of harnessing big data. The recommendation stressed the need to commence dialogues on the effective utilization of big data, not only to strengthen safety and security measures but also to foster the development of strategic plans that would drive economic growth for the country. Acknowledging the vast possibilities offered by big data, the Chief Commissioner underscored its relevance in formulating holistic strategies for the advancement of Sint Maarten. By harnessing the power of data analytics, the government can make informed decisions and design comprehensive plans that address the various needs of the country, leading to overall progress and prosperity. The Symposium on "Human Factors vs Technology" in Aruba served as a catalyst for valuable conversations and collaboration among stakeholders, fostering a collective approach to address security challenges. It reinforced the importance of investing in both technological advancements and human expertise to ensure effective crime prevention and control. We are all aware of the charges that come with extra baggage at airports. While every airport has a certain limit on the amount of luggage that passengers can carry on flights, exceeding the weight set by the authorities can result in travellers paying additional costs . Speaking of which, many passengers often also try different tricks and tactics to avoid such charges and further manage to carry the extra baggage in a convenient manner. In one such incident that came to the fore recently, a female airline passenger went on to wear as many clothes as possible in order to reduce her suitcases weight. However, her travel hack didnt work out and she ended up being fined by the airline. According to a report published by New York Post, the woman, identified as 19-year-old Adriana Ocampo, was travelling on a Jetstar flight from Melbourne to her home in Adelaide, Australia after spending a vacation with her friends. At the airport, she realised that her carry-on luggage exceeded the maximum weight limit of seven kilos and now she would need to pay extra charges for the additional weight. It was then that she put on all the extra clothes (weighing around 5.5kg) to lower the suitcases weight. Her friend also did the same as her luggage was also over the limit. Speaking about the same, the young woman said that she looked like a bear while pulling off the stunt. The only way we could have taken the weight off our bags is by putting it on ourselves, so we started putting on our jackets and coats. I also had baggy trousers on and I was stuffing t-shirts and my iPad in them. I had about six layers on and stuff in my pockets, she added further mentioning how people in the line were staring and laughing at them. She then said that as the luggage was still more than 1kg over the limit, the airline asked them to pay the $65 fine. They also had to wear all the extra clothing on the plane throughout the journey. Notably, this is not the first time when such an incident has taken place. Earlier, a Filipino airline passenger was seen wearing around 2.5 kilos of clothes to bring down her bags weight. She also shared a video of the incident on Instagram. Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News, India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. The fact that China regulates its AI applications and how people access and use it, is a widely known fact. However, what has been impervious so far is the fact to what extent China has manipulated its AI bots, especially the ones that are supposed to take on ChatGPT. OpenAIs ChatGPT has been banned in China, mainly because its responses cannot be regulated, something that the Chinese Communist Party simply cannot allow. Chinas taste for ChatGPT Having said that, people in China, mainly people who are tech-literate, have often revealed that they use VPNs to access ChatGPT in the country. Having said that, tech companies in China have been busy making their own AI bots. Baidu, Chinas biggest internet services company, has an AI bot that is modelled after ChatGPT, called Ernie. Also read: AI Leads To Arrest: Chinese man arrested for using ChatGPT to create fake news about a train crash The Ernie chatbot, like Chinese citizens, appears to be subjected to stringent regulations. During a live demonstration, Ernie bot refused to address controversial questions and even banned users who drew comparisons between the Chinese President and Winnie the Pooh. Baidu, CCP, and President XI left red-faced In a segment on CNBCs Squawk Box, reporter Eunice Yoon questioned Ernie Bot about COVID-19 and Xi in both English and Chinese. However, the chatbot either remained silent or provided misleading information. When asked about the origin of the virus, Ernie Bot evaded the question, stating that it is still a topic of scientific research, disregarding the fact that the virus originated in China, with some reports suggesting a potential lab leak in Wuhan. Also read: Inventor of Chinas Firewall says that AI bots like ChatGPT pose big challenges for governments Similarly, when asked about the relationship between Xi and Winnie the Pooh, Ernie Bot failed to respond, and Yoons access to the chatbot was abruptly disabled. Chinas influence on BingAI Not just Ernie, it seems that the CCP has managed to influence Microsoft as well, and how its Bing AI responds to certain questions about China. Back in March this year, a researcher had found out that Microsofts Bing AI seemed to be biased to follow Chinese propaganda, especially when it is asked about the Uyghur ethnocide. Also read: Microsofts Bing AI toes CCPs line, says Uyghur womens testimonies of forced sterilisation fabricated A Twitter user discovered that Bing AI tried avoiding such questions at first, but when pressed took a pro-China side, saying that reports of forced sterilisation were exaggerated and made up. Xi Jinping hates being compared to Winnie the Pooh The connection between Xi Jinping and the beloved cartoon character has been a source of controversy, with Jinping being unfavourably compared to Winnie the Pooh by internet users. These comparisons date back to 2013 when Xi Jinpings image with Barack Obama was likened to that of the bear and his friend Tigger. As the comparisons and memes gained popularity online, censors began removing images that mocked Xi, leading to a complete censorship of Winnie the Pooh by the Chinese government in July 2017. This included banning the sale of Winnie the Pooh merchandise and blocking searches for the character on social media platforms. Political dissenters have often used images and merchandise of the beloved childrens cartoon to voice their dissent and opposition to Xi. The censorship of Winnie the Pooh is seen as indicative of Xi Jinpings growing intolerance of dissent and the Chinese governments efforts to control the flow of information online. Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News, India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. The White House and House Republicans concluded another round of debt ceiling discussions on Sunday, as Washington rushes to reach a budget agreement and a deal to extend the nations borrowing limit and escape a devastating fiscal default. President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy spoke by phone on Sunday while the president was flying home from the Group of Seven Summit in Japan on Air Force One. McCarthy, R-Calif., told reporters at the Capitol that the discussion was productive and that ongoing negotiations between his staff and White House representatives are centred on expenditure cutbacks. Biden and McCarthy will hold a critical discussion at the White House on Monday. Negotiators for the Democratic president and Republican speaker met for 2 1/2 hours at the Capitol as talks appear to be narrowing on a 2024 budget year cap that would be key to resolving the standoff. Well keep working, said Steve Ricchetti, counsellor to the president, as the White House team exited. The Republicans were not seen leaving the speakers office and offered no immediate comment after the talks. They all face a deadline, as soon as June 1, when the government could run out of cash to pay its bills. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said Sunday that June 1 is a hard deadline. McCarthy said after his call with Biden that I think we can solve some of these problems if he understands what were looking at. The speaker added, But Ive been very clear to him from the very beginning. We have to spend less money than we spent last year. McCarthy emerged from that conversation sounding optimistic and was careful not to criticize Bidens trip, as he had before. He did caution, Theres no agreement on anything. Were looking at, how do we have a victory for this country? McCarthy said. He said he did not think the final legislation would remake the federal budget and the countrys debt, but at least put us on a path to change the behaviour of this runaway spending. The White House confirmed the Monday meeting and late Sunday talks but did not elaborate on the leaders call. Earlier, Biden used his concluding news conference in Hiroshima, Japan, to warn House Republicans that they must move off their extreme positions over raising the debt limit and that there would be no agreement to avoid a catastrophic default only on their terms. Biden said, Its time for Republicans to accept that there is no deal to be made solely, solely, on their partisan terms. He said he had done his part in attempting to raise the borrowing limit so the government can keep paying its bills, by agreeing to significant cuts in spending. Now its time for the other side to move from their extreme position. Biden had been scheduled to travel from Hiroshima to Papua New Guinea and Australia but cut short his trip in light of the strained negotiations with Capitol Hill. Even with a new wave of tax revenue expected soon, perhaps giving both sides more time to negotiate, Yellen said on NBCs Meet the Press that the odds of reaching June 15, while being able to pay all of our bills, is quite low. GOP lawmakers are holding tight to demands for sharp spending cuts with caps on future spending, rejecting the alternatives proposed by the White House for reducing deficits in part with revenue from taxes. Republicans want to roll back next years spending to 2022 levels, but the White House has proposed keeping 2024 the same as it is now, in the 2023 budget year. Republicans initially sought to impose spending caps for 10 years, though the latest proposal narrowed that to about six. The White House wants a two-year budget deal. A compromise on those topline spending levels would enable McCarthy to deliver for conservatives, while not being so severe that it would chase off the Democratic votes that would be needed in the divided Congress to pass any bill. Top Republican negotiator Rep. Garret Graves of Louisiana, speaking alongside McCarthy at the Capitol, said the numbers are the foundation of any agreement. Republicans also want work requirements on the Medicaid health care program, though the Biden administration has countered that millions of people could lose coverage. The GOP additionally introduced new cuts to food aid by restricting states ability to waive work requirements in places with high joblessness. That idea, when floated under President Donald Trump, was estimated to cause 700,000 people to lose their food benefits. GOP lawmakers are also seeking cuts in IRS money and, by sparing Defense and Veterans accounts from reductions, would shift the bulk of spending reductions to other federal programs. The White House has countered by keeping defence and nondefence spending flat next year, which would save $90 billion in the 2024 budget year and $1 trillion over 10 years. All sides have been eyeing the potential for the package to include a framework that would speed energy project developments. And despite a push by Republicans for the White House to accept parts of their proposed immigration overhaul, McCarthy indicated the focus was on the Houses previously approved debt and budget package. I think that we can reach an agreement, Biden said, though he added this about Republicans: I cant guarantee that they wouldnt force a default by doing something outrageous. Republicans had also rejected various White House revenue proposals. Among the proposals, the GOP objects to are policies that would enable Medicare to pay less for prescription drugs. Republicans also have refused to roll back Trump-era tax breaks on corporations and wealthy households as Bidens own budget has proposed. For months, Biden had refused to engage in talks over the debt limit, contending that Republicans in Congress were trying to use the borrowing limit vote as leverage to extract administration concessions on other policy priorities. But with the June 1 potential deadline looming and Republicans putting their own legislation on the table, the White House launched talks on a budget deal that could accompany an increase in the debt limit. Bidens decision to set up a call with McCarthy came after another start-stop day with no outward signs of progress. The president tried to assure leaders attending the meeting of the worlds most powerful democracies that the United States would not default. U.S. officials said leaders were concerned but largely confident that Biden and American lawmakers would resolve the crisis. The president, though, said he was ruling out the possibility of taking action on his own to avoid a default. Any such steps, including suggestions to invoke the 14th Amendment as a solution, would become tied up in the courts. Thats a question that I think is unresolved, Biden said, adding he hopes to try to get the judiciary to weigh in on the notion for the future. Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News, India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. In what could prove a major embarrassment for Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, the Canadian government has been found funding a Quebec-based charity involved in hosting Chinese secret police stations in the country. A report by the Montreal Gazette revealed that the Service a la Famille Chinoise du Grand Montreal received more than $4.45 million from the Canadian government over the last three years. The countrys Chinese Foreign Interference committee believes that the funding might have helped pro-Beijing actors to expand their network of spying in Canada. The Service a la Famille Chinoise du Grand Montreal (SFCGM) advertises itself as a space and resource for Chinese immigrants that work toward the welfare of the community. Financial records of SFCGM show that Ottawa sent over $200,000 in public funds to the charity between 2020 and 2022. The charity specifically received $178,450 from the federal government between 2020-21. Data shows that most of the cash was transferred from Quebecs Ministry of Immigration, Francisation and Integration. Meanwhile, a database of federal government grants and contributions has listed five contributions made by Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) in 2018. An ESDC spokesperson, according to National Post, confirmed the transfer of money to SFCGM under its New Horizons for Seniors program aimed at training seniors in Quebecs Chinese community to use online communications. Link between ESDC and SFCGM goes way back According to a report by the Toronto Star, SFCGM and ESDC have had links for many years with the charity receiving funding directly from Beijing for some time. In 2016, Chinese media reports suggested that the Overseas Chinese Affairs Office had designated the SFCGM as an Overseas Chinese Service Centre. Embarrassment for Trudeau The shocking discovery of public funds being funnelled into Beijings outpost can cause embarrassment to Justin Trudeau, who is known for his liberal outlook, according to the Telegraph. Quebecs Ministry of Immigration, Francisation and Integration has since halted all remaining contracts with the group. A spokesperson of Action Free Hong Kong Montreal, a pro-democracy group, Benjamin Fung, said, If this is really a police station from China, they can use the funds to expand their network and their connections. He added, This is also one way to monitor the many international Chinese students that are here. The network of secret police stations in Canada Months after the police began investigating the existence of Chinese police stations in Canada, the countrys Public Safety Minister claimed that the menace of Chinese spies might not be over as there are more such police stations operating in the country. I am confident that the [Royal Canadian Mounted Police] have taken concrete action to disrupt any foreign interference in relation to those so-called police stations, and that if new police stations are popping up and so on, that they will continue to take decisive action going forward, Marco Mendicino said. Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News, India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Bangladesh Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen dismissed a newspaper article which called him pro-Chinese who worked as a lobbyist for a Chinese organisation before becoming a minister in 2018, and called it false and baseless. This (description of him) is very strange and surprising, Momen told a press conference, referring to an article published on Sunday in the Kalbela, a Bangla newspaper with a headline titled US Sanctions is Coming, Government Remains Ready. The foreign minister called a press conference to brief the media about Bangladesh Premier Sheikh Hasinas upcoming Qatar visit. The article, written as an analysis, claimed that Momen worked as a lobbyist for a Chinese organisation before becoming a minister in 2018. Refuting the statement, Momen called the article false and baseless. He pointed out that the article could not provide any reference or source to support its claim and said, I (rather) stayed in the USA and worked there for decades. Before joining politics in 2017, Momen served as Bangladeshs Permanent Representative to the United Nations. He stayed in the US for over three decades, serving as an economics professor at a university in Boston. Momen became the countrys foreign minister after the 2018 general elections, which installed Prime Minister Sheikh Hasinas government for the third consecutive term. Hours after the article was published on Sunday, the Foreign Ministry strongly condemned part of the analysis, stating that the comment about Momen was a blatant lie and made with ill intention as it tarnished the Bangladesh governments image. Speaking on the reports claims that the US will impose fresh sanctions on Bangladesh, Momen asserted that there was no reason for it but added that it depended on the country concerned. We dont have any idea about new sanctions as it depends on the country concerned (but) it would be unfortunate if any new US sanction is imposed, he said. (With inputs from PTI) Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News, India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. According to police and postal authorities, a large fire ripped through Manilas historic post office building overnight, mildly hurting one person and razing the almost 100-year-old monument in the Philippine capital. The fire erupted around midnight in the basement of the five-story neoclassical structure and was brought under control Monday morning, more than seven hours later, according to firemen. Officials said an investigation was ongoing to identify the cause of the fire and what was damaged. The Manila Central Post Office was one of the busiest office buildings in the city, although it was closed when the fire broke out. The structure served as the countrys major mail sorting and distribution hub, as well as the Philippine Postal Corporations headquarters. Postal service in the Philippines began during the Spanish colonial period with horse-riding mail couriers. The building, now recognized as a national landmark, was built in 1926 with high columns in the traditional neoclassical style. It was severely damaged during World War II and was rebuilt in 1946. It is located along the Pasig River and on a main intersection of the capitals key roads. Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News, India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. The south-eastern US state of Florida is a popular tourist destination for most Americans but some civil rights groups now think that the place has become hostile for black individuals. The National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People (NAACP), a civil rights group, has issued a travel advisory warning people not to travel to Florida because of the promulgation of laws championed by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis that are openly hostile toward African Americans, people of color and LGBTQ+ individuals. NAACP joined the League of United Latin American Citizens and LGBTQ advocacy group Equality Florida in issuing advisories in the state. The CEO and President of NAACP, Derrick Johnson, said, Under the leadership of Governor DeSantis, the state of Florida has become hostile to Black Americans and in direct conflict with the democratic ideals that our union was founded upon. He should know that democracy will prevail because its defenders are prepared to stand up and fight. Were not backing down, and we encourage our allies to join us in the battle for the soul of our nation, he added. What did the advisory say? The NAACP issued an advisory stating, Florida is openly hostile toward African Americans, people of colour and LGBTQ+ individuals. Before traveling to Florida, please understand that the state of Florida devalues and marginalizes the contributions of and the challenges faced by African Americans and other communities of colour. Meanwhile, the chair of the NAACP Board of Directors, Leon Russell said, Once again, hate-inspired state leaders have chosen to put politics over people. Governor Ron DeSantis and the state of Florida have engaged in a blatant war against principles of diversity and inclusion and rejected our shared identities to appeal to a dangerous, extremist minority. Under the leadership of Governor Desantis, the state of Florida has become hostile to Black Americans and in direct conflict with the democratic ideals that our union was founded upon. NAACP President and CEO @DerrickNAACP Take a stand with us. https://t.co/zsgLbNYL8t NAACP (@NAACP) May 20, 2023 We will not allow our rights and history to be held hostage for political grandstanding. The NAACP proudly fights against the malicious attacks in Florida, against Black Americans. I encourage my fellow Floridians to join in this fight to protect ourselves and our democracy, Russell added. What has DeSantis done? Ron DeSantis, the Republican Governor of Florida, and his administration in January dismissed the College Boards Advanced Placement African American Studies course. He and other Republican lawmakers have pressed for reforms banning state colleges from offering programs on diversity, equity and inclusion. He also passed the Stop WOKE Act, banning certain race-based conversations in schools. Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News, India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Jammu and Kashmirs Srinagar is all set to host the third G20 Tourism Working Group meeting today. Security has been tightened in the city and all the preparation are in place as this is the first major international event after Jammu and Kashmirs special status was scrapped in 2019. Srinagar citys walls and roads are decorated to welcome delegates. The people of Kashmir are also ready to welcome the G20 summit meetings held in Srinagar which boosts the tourism and business sector in Kashmir. For this three-day G20 Summit, from May 22-24, Kashmir is under a three-tier security grid for aerial surveillance drone monitoring is put in place National Security Guard (NSG) and MARCOS commandos are being deployed around the venue Jammu and Kashmir Polices special operation group (SOG) will be deployed at several places to give security cover to prevent from any terror incident. While there will be no restrictions on public movement public in Srinagar all shops and business establishments are open to welcome the G20 summit guest. People from different sectors welcome the delegates and believe that this G20 summit meeting give a boost to the development of Jammu and Kashmir in all fields and boost the tourism sector on an international level which boosts the economy of the Union Territory. Time and again Pakistan has shown strong discontent at New Delhis intention to convene the G20 Tourism Working Group conference in Kashmir. Rejecting Pakistans criticism, India had said G20 meetings are being organized in the entire country and hence it is natural to hold meetings in Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh as these are inalienable parts of India. Pakistan recently slammed Indias decision to host a G20 meeting in Srinagar and parts of Kashmir as an irresponsible move.G20 meetings are being organized in entire India, in all cities and parts of India. It is therefore natural to hold the meetings in Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh because these are inalienable parts of India, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) Official Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said during the MEA Weekly Media Briefing. That is what I would like to say. The meetings are being held in all parts of India, that is our natural response, the MEA official spokesperson said. As of now, the G20 Working group meeting in Jammu and Kashmir will focus on five key priority areas: Green Tourism, Digitalization, Skills, MSMEs and Destination Management. (With agency inputs) Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News, India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Brazils President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who attended the G7 Summit in Japan, said that he was upset for not meeting Ukraines President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. He added that Zelenskyy seemed uninterested in negotiating peace with Russia. Lula has been known for being soft on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine. Zelenskyy, on the other hand, was able to bag new support and military aid at the G7 Summit and had sought a one-on-one meeting with Lula. Both leaders said scheduling conflicts had prevented them from the meeting which Zelensky quipped had likely left his Brazilian counterpart disappointed. Before leaving Japan, Lula said, I wasnt disappointed. I was upset because Id like to meet him and discuss the matter. He added, Zelenskyy is a grown-up. He knows what hes doing. The Brazilian president explained that he had scheduled a meeting with Zelenskyy on Sunday afternoon. However, since the latter ran late for the meeting, the two could not meet. A meet-up later in the day was not possible since Zelenskyy had a lot on his plate. Apart from getting support from G7 nations, Zelenskyy was able to woo non-G7 nations as well. His meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi was especially noteworthy as the two leaders met for the first time since the war began. Modi told Zelenskyy, I understand your pain. However, there was no such show of support from Brazil. Lula said he did not see a point in meeting Zelensky now, saying neither he nor Russian President Vladimir Putin appeared to want peace. For now, theyre both convinced theyre going to win the war, he said. Lula has been pushing for peace talks and has proposed Brazil as a mediator, along with other neutral countries, including China and Indonesia. But the veteran leftist faced criticism last month when he accused the United States of encouraging the war. After the White House accused him of parroting Russian and Chinese propaganda, Lula toned down his rhetoric, saying Brazil condemned Russias invasion. But he renewed his criticism Monday. US President Joe Biden, he said, is sending the message that Putin has to surrender and pay for everything he wrecked. That message isnt helping, he said. With inputs from agencies Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News, India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Elon Musk, the CEO of Twitter, previously issued a legal threat against Microsoft around a month ago, alleging that the company was engaging in illegal training using Twitter data. The conflict arose when Microsoft declined to pay for access to Twitters API, which had recently implemented new payment tiers. Previously, developers could use the Twitter API at no cost, but in a move to maximize profits, Musk announced that it would no longer be free. Returning to the ongoing dispute between Microsoft and Twitter, Elon Musks attorney has now dispatched a formal notice to Satya Nadella, the CEO of Microsoft, accusing the company of breaching Twitters developer agreement. Musks personal lawyer writes to Microsoft According to a report from The Verge, Alex Spiro, the lawyer representing Elon Musk, has written a letter to Satya Nadella on behalf of Twitter. The letter, which The New York Times originally attributed to the report, alleges that Microsoft has violated Twitters developer agreement. Furthermore, Spiro suggests that Microsoft may have been in violation of several provisions within Twitters developer agreement for a significant period of time. According to the report, the letter accuses Microsoft of violating Twitters developer agreement by engaging in unauthorized and undisclosed usage of the Twitter API. It specifically highlights Microsofts failure to inform Twitter about the utilization of six out of their eight apps, which continued to operate until the previous month. The letter argues that the agreement requires full cooperation from Microsoft and requests a thorough compliance audit of all eight apps from their inception until their shutdown in April 2023. Furthermore, the letter demands detailed information from Microsoft regarding the usage of Twitter data by each app, with a deadline of June 7th to provide the requested information. When Twitter started charging for its API Following the announcement of Twitter APIs pricing, Microsoft made the decision to remove Twitter from its social media management tool due to its refusal to pay for access. In response to this news, Elon Musk stated that Microsoft had illegally trained using Twitter data, implying the need for a lawsuit. Microsoft informed its customers, through a user support page, that starting April 25th, they would no longer be able to access Twitter via their social media management tool. However, other platforms such as Instagram and Facebook would still remain accessible. The same information was also shared by Twitter Daily News. Elon Musk, reacting to this development, wrote, They trained illegally using Twitter data. Lawsuit time. Musk is only threatening, may not have grounds to sue Although Spiros letter does not explicitly mention any imminent legal action, it is important to note that in April, Elon Musk had previously threatened to sue Microsoft, alleging that they trained illegally using Twitter data. It seems that Musks concern lies in the way data from Twitter is being employed for training purposes without appropriate authorization. In contrast, other companies have pursued alternative approaches to leverage the benefits of training these models. For instance, Reddit recently announced API changes aimed at enhancing the monetization of its data, indicating a different strategy to extract value from its platforms information. Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News, India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. After awarding Elon Musks SpaceX a $3 billion contract to put humans on the Moon by 2025, NASA has also awarded a similar contract to Jeff Bezos Blue Origin, worth $3.4 billion. In a recent statement, Jeff Bezos announced that his private space exploration company, Blue Origin had secured a significant contract worth $3.4 billion with NASA, bringing him closer to his goal of sending humans to the Moon. NASA expands its Artemis programme NASA revealed that Bezos private rocket company, Blue Origin, has been awarded the contract as part of the Artemis programme, which aims to return astronauts to the Moon. Unfortunately for Bezos, Musks SpaceX was granted a similar Artemis contract back in 2021, positioning Musk and his company way ahead in the race. For their part, Musks SpaceX recently conducted a successful launch of their Starship rocket that is supposed to be used for the Artemis mission. Also read: Jeff Bezos offers NASA $2 billion discount to secure Artemis moon lander contract With Musk and SpaceX leading the way, NASAs recent contract with Blue Origin intensifies the competition between the two billionaires. Over the years, Bezos and Musk have engaged in some heated debates, exchanging jabs regarding their respective efforts to spearhead humanitys space exploration endeavours. In an Instagram post, Jeff Bezos expressed his excitement by declaring, We are going to the Moon! Accompanying the statement was a depiction of Blue Origins proposed lunar lander, hinting at Bezos intention to establish a permanent human presence on the Moon. This indicates that his mission carries a more ambitious scope compared to Musks efforts. Jeff Bezos had sued SpaceX before In 2021, Elon Musks SpaceX secured a $3 billion contract from NASA to facilitate human return to the Moon, marking the first such mission since 1972. Bezos and Blue Origin had also vied for the contract but were unsuccessful. They subsequently filed a complaint and launched a lawsuit, both of which were ultimately dismissed by the Government Accountability Office and federal court, respectively. Also read: Up, up and away: As Blue Origin makes its sixth flight, how much does space tourism cost and will it ever be affordable? NASA emphasized that the upcoming missions will explore a greater expanse of the lunar surface than ever before. The objective of sending humans back to the Moon is to conduct research that will contribute to the eventual launch of similar missions to Mars. While announcing Blue Origins contract, NASAs chief administrator, Bill Nelson, expressed a positive outlook on the competition and stated that the agency welcomes more contenders in this space race. During a conference at NASA HQ in Washington, Jeff Bezos highlighted the significance of having backups and reliability in space missions. He emphasized that having multiple providers ensures redundancy and increased mission success. Blue Origins lunar lander head, John Couluris, revealed that the company had privately contributed an amount exceeding the $3.4 billion contract payout. This demonstrates the long-standing commitment of Bezos and his team to establish a permanent outpost on the Moon. What will Blue Origin and SpaceX do for NASAs Artemis mission? While Blue Origin has been relatively discreet about the specifics of its Moon lander proposal, it has mentioned its corporate partners, including Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Draper (a spacecraft software firm), and Astrobotic (a robotics firm), as part of Artemis V mission. Also read: SpaceX says they intentionally blew up their Starship rocket during launch, calls launch a success Elon Musks NASA Artemis missions, utilizing SpaceXs Starship system, are planned for later in the decade, with Blue Origins missions currently scheduled for 2029, shortly after. Blue Origins Artemis V mission aims to deploy astronauts to the lunar surface, specifically focusing on exploring the icy southern pole of the Moon. It will be the first Artemis mission to utilize NASAs proposed orbital Lunar Gateway in conjunction with a landing on the Moons surface. On the other hand, NASA selected SpaceX to develop the first commercial human lander to safely carry the next two American astronauts to the lunar surface, as part of the Artemis III mission. The human landing system will be used for both Artemis III and Artemis IV. As outlined in NASAs budget proposal from March, the mission involves delivering the European Space Agencys ESPRIT refuelling and communications module to NASAs Gateway, along with a Canadian-made robotic arm system. During the surface phase of the mission, the Artemis astronauts will also transport an unpressurized lunar rover, as indicated by NASAs working manifest chart. Blue Origin validated? This contract is a significant achievement for Bezos and Blue Origin, as it validates their extensive investments since the companys establishment in 2000. Their aim has been to compete for prominent commercial and government space contracts, particularly with SpaceX, a dominant player in satellite launches and human spaceflight. Blue Origin, along with lawmakers, exerted pressure on NASA to award a second lunar lander contract to promote commercial competition and ensure the agency has alternative means to reach the Moon. In response, NASA announced a program for a second lander contract in early 2022. Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News, India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. A criminal investigation into the sluggish police reaction to the Robb Elementary School massacre is still underway in Texas, as the one-year anniversary of a shooter killing 19 children and two teachers inside a fourth-grade classroom in Uvalde approaches on Wednesday. The ongoing investigation highlights the long-term ramifications of Texas bloodiest school shooting, as well as how the days after the incident were tainted by officials providing incorrect and contradictory versions of efforts to apprehend a young gunman equipped with an AR-style weapon. The probe has coincided with a fresh surge of public outrage in the United States over gun violence, revived calls for stronger weapon controls, and legal challenges over Uvalde authorities refusal to provide public data pertaining to the killing and the police reaction. Heres a look at what has happened in the year since one of Americas deadliest mass shootings: Police scrutiny A damning report by Texas lawmakers put nearly 400 officers on the scene from an array of federal, state and local agencies. The findings laid out how heavily armed officers waited more than an hour to confront and kill the 18-year-old gunman. It also accused police of failing to prioritize saving innocent lives over their own safety. The students slain were all between the ages of 9 and 11. At least five cops who were placed under investigation following the incident were either dismissed or resigned, while a complete accounting is unknown. Col. Steve McCraw, the commissioner of the Texas Department of Public Safety, blamed the attack in large part on Uvaldes school police chief, who was eventually removed by trustees. McCraw had more than 90 of his own police at the school, more than any other agency, and has resisted calls to quit from several Uvalde families and politicians. Uvalde County District Attorney Christina Mitchell said last week that Texas Rangers are still investigating the police response and that her office will ultimately present the findings to a grand jury. She said she did not have a timeline for when the investigation would be finished. Calls for gun control intensify President Joe Biden signed the nations most sweeping gun violence bill in decades a month after the shooting. It included tougher background checks for the youngest gun buyers and added more funding for mental health programs and aid to schools. It did not go as far as restrictions sought by some Uvalde families who have called on lawmakers to raise the purchase age for AR-style rifles. In the GOP-controlled Texas Capitol, Republicans this year rejected virtually all proposals to tighten gun laws over the protests of the families and Democrats. Republican Gov. Greg Abbott has also waved off calls for tougher gun laws, just as he did after mass shootings at a Sutherland Springs church in 2017 and an El Paso Walmart in 2018. The issue has not turned Texas voters away from Abbott, who easily won a third term months after the Uvalde shooting. Uvalde grieves The Uvalde school district permanently closed the Robb Elementary campus and plans for a new school are in the works. Schools in Uvalde will be closed on Wednesday. About a dozen students in the classroom where the shooting unfolded survived the attack. Some returned to class in person last fall. Others attended school virtually, including a girl who spent more than two months in the hospital after being shot multiple times. Veronica Mata, a kindergarten teacher in Uvalde, also returned to class this year after her 10-daughter Tess was among those killed in the attack. Some Uvalde families have filed lawsuits against the gun maker and law enforcement. Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News, India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Pakistan Foreign Minister Bilawal visited Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) on Sunday a day before the scheduled G20 Tourism Working Group meeting in Indias Jammu and Kashmir. Pakistans Foreign Minister kickstarted his 3-day long visit where he will also deliver an address to the people residing in the region, reported Dawn. Earlier, India had rejected Pakistans criticism, saying that the G20 meetings are being organized in the entire country and hence it is natural to hold meetings in Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh as these are inalienable parts of India. Pakistan recently slammed Indias decision to host a G20 meeting in Srinagar and parts of Kashmir as an irresponsible move.G20 meetings are being organized in entire India, in all cities and parts of India. It is therefore natural to hold the meetings in Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh because these are inalienable parts of India, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) Official Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said during the MEA Weekly Media Briefing. That is what I would like to say. The meetings are being held in all parts of India, that is our natural response, the MEA official spokesperson said. India announced Srinagar as the venue for the G20 Tourism Working Group meeting scheduled to take place from May 22 to 24. The relations between India and Pakistan have been precarious for many years with regard to cross-border terrorism emanating from Pakistan. Moreover, New Delhi has consistently raised the issue of Pakistans continued support to cross-border terrorism and terrorist infiltration. It has been said that the people of Jammu and Kashmir have borne the brunt of this terrorism campaign for decades and continue to do so. Pakistan Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari recently visited India for Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Foreign Ministers meeting in Goa in May. At the meeting, he made remarks on not getting caught up in weaponizing terrorism for diplomatic point scoring. Following that, he was lambasted by External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, who said that it means they think terrorism is legitimate and that India is politically, and diplomatically exposing Pakistan before the world as it is a victim of cross-border terrorism. Jaishankar, who addressed a press conference after the meeting of SCO Foreign Ministers, said India is defending itself against terrorism. The weaponization. Its a very interesting statement because it unconsciously reveals a mindset. What does weaponizing something mean? It means that the activity is legitimate and somebody is weaponizing it. So, you say you are weaponizing trade, you are weaponizing technology. Somebody says you are weaponizing terrorism, which means they think terrorism is legitimate, and that we should not weaponize it. That is normal, said Jaishankar. However, Bilawal termed Jaishankars comments about him being a perpetrator of terrorism as a joke, the Dawn reported. This country knows me, have I once even in my political history accidentally sat down with a terrorist? Dawn quoted Bilawal Bhutto Zardari as saying. They dont see that even in our country we (PPP) perform a role in the first ranks against appeasing terrorists, he added. As of now, the G20 Working group meeting in Jammu and Kashmir will focus on five key priority areas: Green Tourism, Digitalization, Skills, MSMEs and Destination Management. The meeting aims to strengthen economic growth, preserve cultural heritage and promote sustainable development of the region. The event will witness the participation of G20 member countries, invited countries, international organizations, and industry stakeholders. Harsh Vardhan Shringla, Chief Coordinator G20 said, that it is the vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi that the message of Indias G20 Presidency is taken to the grassroot level through active Jan Bhagidari. Shringla appreciated the efforts of the Government to sensitise the people about the goals and purpose of G20 through multiple public activities.The tourism industry has played a crucial role in the development of the Union Territory. However, years of instability have impacted the tourism industry, leading to a decline in the number of visitors. Incidentally, China, which is a close ally of Pakistan on Friday said that it will not attend the next weeks G20 Tourism Working Group meeting in Jammu and Kashmir, stating that it is firmly opposed to holding any such meetings in the disputed territory. China firmly opposes holding any form of G20 meetings on disputed territory. We will not attend such meetings, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Wang Wenbin said in a regular press conference when asked about several reports doing the rounds that China will boycott G20 meetings planned in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir. India assumed the presidency of the G20 grouping on December 1, 2022, and will hold the post for a year. The G20 summit in Jammu and Kashmir promises to initiate a tidal wave of transformative outcomes, setting the region on a new trajectory towards stability, economic growth, and social development. (With agency inputs) Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News, India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Amid all-around chaos across the country over a series of violent protests for over a month, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chief Imran Khan said that he may be arrested again when he goes to court in Islamabad on Tuesday this week to join the probe in the Al Qadir trust case, ARY News reported on Sunday. The former prime minister of Pakistan, Imran Khan stated that the ruling coalitions determination to remove him from the political landscape stems from their fear of losing the 2019 general elections. Accusing the former Pakistan Army Chief Qamar Javed Bajwa of attempting to destabilise his government, Khan said that he doesnt understand why the latter attempted to destabilise him. On Tuesday, Im going to appear before the court in Islamabad for various bails and there are 80 per cent chances that I will be arrested, the former prime minister said while speaking in an interview with international media, reported ARY News. In reference to his partys crackdown, the PTI head stated that over 10,000 workers, including senior leadership and women, have been arrested. On Saturday, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chief intimated National Accountability Bureau (NAB) that he can join the probe in Al Qadir Trust Case next week, according to Dawn. Khan said that he can appear for the cases investigation on Tuesday by 11 AM. Imran urged the NAB to confirm the aforementioned time for him to join the investigation in his response to the anti-graft watchdogs call-up notice. PTI chairman Imran Khan, who is on bail till June 2, was recently arrested by Ranger personnel from Islamabad High Court (IHC) in the Al-Qadir Trust case. After Khans arrest, PTI workers held protests in cities across the country, including Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Lahore, Karachi, Gujranwala, Faisalabad, Multan, Peshawar, and Mardan. An anti-terrorism court in Lahore on Friday approved pre-arrest bail for Imran Khan in three cases filed against Pakistans former prime minister after his arrest on May 9. Imran Khan, his wife Bushra Bibi and other PTI leaders are facing a NAB inquiry related to a settlement between the PTI government and a property tycoon, which reportedly caused a loss of 190 million pounds to the national exchequer, Geo News reported. According to the charges, Khan and other accused allegedly adjusted Rs 50 billion 190 million pounds at the time sent by Britains National Crime Agency (NCA) to the government, as per the Geo News. (With agency inputs) Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News, India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi has been conferred Companion of the Order of Fiji (CF), the highest honour by the country, for his global leadership. The honour was bestowed to PM Modi by his Fijian counterpart Sitiveni Rabuka on behalf of President Wiliame Katonivere. Prime Minister Modi is among the few non-Fijians to have received the prestigious honour till date. Grateful to the people and Government of Fiji for conferring the Companion of the Order of Fiji on me. I thank PM @slrabuka for presenting the award. It is an honour for the people of India and a recognition of the strong ties between India and Fiji. Grateful to the people and Government of Fiji for conferring the Companion of the Order of Fiji on me. I thank PM @slrabuka for presenting the award. It is an honour for the people of India and a recognition of the strong ties between India and Fiji. pic.twitter.com/rhUPrE0Nvu Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) May 22, 2023 The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) in a tweet also said that the Indian Prime Minister has dedicated the honour to the people of India and to the generations of Fiji-India community, who have played a key role in the special and enduring bond between the two countries. Modi and Fiji PM Rabuka met on the sidelines of the Forum for India Pacific Islands Cooperation (FIPIC) III Summit. During the meeting, both the leaders reviewed the close and multifaceted bilateral partnership. "(They) expressed satisfaction at the progress in key sectors. Also exchanged views on regional and global issues of common interest," MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi tweeted. After meeting his Fijian counterpart, PM Modi tweeted: "Delighted to meet PM of Fiji. We had a great conversation on various topics. The relation between India and Fiji has stood the test of time. We look forward to working together to further cement it in the coming years." Delighted to meet PM @slrabuka of Fiji. We had a great conversation on various topics. The relation between India and Fiji has stood the test of time. We look forward to working together to further cement it in the coming years. pic.twitter.com/IfXKyWQMAM Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) May 22, 2023 What is Companion of the Order of Fiji that PM Modi was honoured with? The Companion of the Order of Fiji was instituted on March 8, 1995, by the former President of Fiji, Ratu Josefa Iloilovatu Uluivuda. The Fiji Honours System was established to promote national unity and to celebrate outstanding contributions made in service of the State. The Companion of the Order of Fiji is conferred upon citizens, or other foreigners by an Honorary Award, in recognition of eminent achievement or the highest degree of meritorious service to Fiji or humanity. The Order of Fiji has two versions - General and Military. The General version features a ribbon with two outer red stripes with a white stripe in the middle, while the Military version has an additional narrow red stripe down the centre white strip and crossed swords. Members of FIPIC The forum has 14 members. They are -- Cook Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Nauru, Niue, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu. Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News, India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been conferred with the highest honour of Papua New Guinea during his visit to the island nation to attend the third India-Pacific Islands Cooperation (FIPIC) Summit. PM Modi was honoured with Companion of the Order of Logohu (GCL) by Governor General of Papua New Guinea Sir Bob Dadae for championing the cause of unity of Pacific Island countries and spearheading the cause of Global South. Very few non-residents of Papua New Guinea have received this honour. Order of Logohu The Order of Logohu was instituted on the 30th Anniversary of Papua New Guineas independence on 23 August, 2005, by Queen Elizabeth II and the then Governor-General of Papua New Guinea by the National Honours System. According to Medal Book, the Grand Companion is the First Class award of the Order of Logohu. The Governor-General is the principle Grand Companion. It has also been awarded to 3 members of the royal family: Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburg, Prince Charles of Wales, and Princess Anne, the Princess Royal. Also Read: WATCH: PM Modi conferred with Fiji's highest honour for his global leadership, rare for a non-Fijian Recipients are entitled to the post-nominal letters GCL and to the title Chief. PM Modi was also conferred Companion of the Order of Fiji (CF), the highest honour by the country. The Indian PM was honoured with the CF by his Fijian counterpart Sitiveni Rabuka on behalf of President Wiliame Katonivere. Modi was conferred Companion of the Order of Fiji (CF), the highest honour by the country, for his global leadership. The honour conferred Companion of the Order of Fiji for his global leadership. Not just honourary awards, PM Modi was also presented with an Ebakl by the President of Palau, Surangel Whipps, Jr. The Ebakl is considered to be one of the most important tools for the people of Palau. It has a strong link with the local culture and it symbolises leadership and wisdom. PM Modi is the first Indian prime minister to visit Papua New Guinea. His visit is significant as it comes at a time when China is making efforts to enhance its military and diplomatic influence in the Indo-Pacific region. With inputs from agencies Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News, India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Prime Minister Narendra Modi emplaned for Sydney from Port Moresby in Papua New Guinea. PM Modi will be on a three-day visit to Australia, with whom India signed a historic trade deal last year. The prime minister decided to proceed with his visit to Sydney, after US President Joe Biden pulled out from the scheduled Quad Summit that was cancelled and later held on the sidelines of the just concluded G7 summit in Hiroshima. During his Australia visit PM Modi will hold a bilateral meeting with his Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese. At their bilateral meeting, the leaders will discuss trade and investment, including efforts to boost trade between the two countries through a Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement and work to strengthen people-to-people links, renewable energy, and defence and security cooperation, said the official statement released by the Australian government. PM Modi will also meet Australian business leaders to drive Australias growing trade and investment relationship with India and take forward opportunities from the Australia-India CEO Forum held in Mumbai in March, according to the statement. During the visit, the Prime Ministers will attend a community event in Sydney to celebrate Australias dynamic and diverse Indian diaspora, a core part of our multicultural community, the statement added. Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News, India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Prime Minister Narendra Modi landed in Sydney, Australia today in the last leg of his three-nation visit. He is expected to hold bilateral talks with his counterpart Anthony Albanese and attend a community event to celebrate the countrys dynamic, diverse Indian diaspora. PM Modi will be in Australia from May 22-24. I am honoured to host Prime Minister Modi for an official visit to Australia, after receiving an extremely warm welcome in India earlier this year, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said in a statement ahead of Modis visit. He added, Australia and India share a commitment to a stable, secure and prosperous Indo-Pacific. Together we have an important role to play in supporting this vision. During his time in Australia, PM Modi will attend a community event in Sydney to celebrate Australias dynamic and diverse Indian diaspora, a core part of our multicultural community, the Australian government said in a statement. #WATCH | Prime Minister Narendra Modi will hold a bilateral meeting with Australian PM Anthony Albanese, PM will meet Governor General David Hurley. PM Modi will also meet leading CEOs and also address the Indian community here. Australian PM Anthony Albanese will also host a pic.twitter.com/8WV873faRK ANI (@ANI) May 22, 2023 Earlier today, the Indian leader was in Papua New Guinea where he discussed bilateral relations between the two countries with his counterpart James Marape. a community event in Sydney to celebrate Australias dynamic and diverse Indian diaspora, a core part of our multicultural community, the Australian government said in a statement. Before leaving the island nation, PM Modi tweeted, My Papua New Guinea visit has been a historic one. I will greatly cherish the affection received among the people of this wonderful nation. I also had the opportunity to interact with respected FIPIC leaders and discuss ways to deepen ties with their respective nations. Landed in Sydney to a warm welcome by the Indian community. Looking forward to various programmes over the next two days. pic.twitter.com/gE8obDI5eD Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) May 22, 2023 Incidentally, Indians are the second-largest diaspora in Australia after the British, with 673,000 Indian-born citizens living in the country of 26 million. The diaspora is the most important bridge in the India-Australia bilateral business relationship, said Jodi McKay, national chair of the Australia-India Business Council. He added that both countries hope to ink new deals to form a broader economic pact this year as their ties have expanded beyond resources to areas such as renewable energy and technology. With inputs from agencies Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News, India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who landed in Papua New Guineas capital Port Moresby, on Sunday, on his maiden visit to the nation held talks with his Papua New Guinea counterpart James Marape and the island nations Governor-General Bob Dadae separately on Monday and stressed on strengthening the partnership between the two countries across multiple sectors. Modi, who is on a three-nation tour, is the first Indian Prime Minister to visit the island nation, hosted a key summit between India and 14 Pacific Island countries to boost bilateral ties. External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi, in a tweet, said, PM Narendra Modi arrives at the iconic APEC House located on the shores of Ela Beach in Port Moresby. Warmly welcomed by PM James Marape. The two leaders will co-host the FIPIC III Summit, fostering regional cooperation. According to the MEA spokesperson, discussions between the two prime ministers covered a range of issues, including strengthening partnerships in multiple sectors, climate action as well as promoting people-to-people ties. Synergising India-Papua New Guinea relations. PM Narendra Modi held a fruitful bilateral meeting with PM James Marape. PM Modi expressed his appreciation to PM Marape for co-hosting the FIPIC III Summit in Port Moresby. Discussions covered strengthening partnerships across sectors of trade and investment, health, capacity building and skill development and IT. Also discussed issues related to climate action and promoting people-to-people ties, he said. FIPIC was launched during Modis visit to Fiji in 2014. The summit will take place at a time when China is making efforts to enhance its military and diplomatic influence in the region. Posting a photo of him shaking hands with Marape, PM Modi said on Twitter, Prime Minister James Marape and I had very productive talks, covering the full range of bilateral relations between India and Papua New Guinea. We discussed ways to augment cooperation in commerce, technology, healthcare and in addressing climate change. During the meeting, Modi and Marape also launched a translation of the Tamil classic Thirukkural in the Tok Pisin language of Papua New Guinea. Indian diaspora keeping alive connect with the motherland! PM Modi and PM James Marape launched a translation of the Tamil classic Thirukkural in the Tok Pisin language of Papua New Guinea. Co-authored by Subha Sasindran and Governor Sasindran Muthuvel of West New Britain Province, the book brings Indian thought and culture closer to the people of Papua New Guinea, MEA spokesperson Bagchi added. Earlier in the day, PM Modi met Papua New Guineas Governor-General Bob Dadae at the Government House. Prime Minister Narendra Modi starts off the day in Papua New Guinea with a warm conversation with Governor-General Sir Bob Dadae at the historic Government House. Underlined the significance of India-Papua New Guinea relations ties and development partnership between the two countries, MEA spokesperson Bagchi said on Twitter. Prime Minister Modi posted photos of his meeting with Governor-General Dadae on his official Twitter handle. Had a wonderful meeting with Governor-General of Papua New Guinea, Sir Bob Dadae. We talked about ways to deepen bilateral relations between our nations across different sectors, Modi said. The Indian prime minister arrived here on Sunday evening from Japan where he attended the summit of the G7 advanced economies and held bilateral meetings with several world leaders. His visit to Papua New Guinea on the second leg of his three-nation tour is the first ever by any Indian prime minister. He was received at the airport by Prime Minister James Marape who touched his feet as a mark of respect. Normally Papua New Guinea doesnt give a ceremonial welcome to any leader coming after sunset. But a special exception was made for Prime Minister Modi and a ceremonial welcome was accorded to him. The FIPIC Summit will see participation from leaders of 14 countries. Normally all of them rarely converge together due to connectivity and other issues, sources said. FIPIC includes Cook Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, the Republic of Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Nauru, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu. (With agency inputs) Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News, India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Indian High Commissioner to Australia Manpreet Vohra on Monday appreciated Australian authorities for their great responsiveness on the vandalism of Hindu temples and said that he is confident to see a better situation. In an exclusive interview with ANI, the Indian High Commissioner to Australia said, We are seeing great responsiveness from the Australian authorities to our concerns. We are confident that they will go after those who violate the law and indulge in these hate crimes. I am quite confident that going forward, we will see a better situation. After completing his Papua New Guinea trip, PM Modi is scheduled to visit Australia today. Responding to whether Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese will discuss the issue of vandalism of Hindu temples, Vohra said, Vandalism of Hindu temples has been a concern in India and he has also raised a concern with Australian PM Anthony Albanese when he came to India. And we received a response from him as well. Earlier during his visit to India in March, Albanese had reiterated that Australia will act with full force to prevent attacks against Hindu temples. The issue was raised by PM Modi in the Hyderabad House where the two sides held a formal dialogue. Modi had said the attacks on Hindu temples in Australia had worried India. Albanese gave assurance to PM Modi of taking every action through our police and also our security agencies, to make sure that anyone responsible for this faces the full force of the law. I gave him the assurance that Australia is a country that respects peoples faith. That we dont tolerate the sort of extreme actions and attacks that weve seen on religious buildings, be they Hindu temples, mosques, synagogues, or churches. This has no place in Australia. Were a tolerant multicultural nation, and there is no place in Australia for this activity, said the Australian PM. In the past few months, the attacks on the Hindu temple have increased. In March, Shree Laxmi Narayan Temple in Brisbane was attacked. Earlier, in January, Shri Shiva Vishnu Temple in Australias Carrum Downs was also vandalised with anti-Hindu graffiti. A week before the above incident, on January 12, the BAPS Swaminarayan Mandir in Australias Mill Park was smeared with anti-India and anti-Hindu graffiti. During the interview, the Indian High Commissioner to Australia also spoke about the education and trade partnership between the two countries Vohra said that he is happy and proud of the fact that the first two foreign universities, that were announced earlier about the opening of two campuses in India, are both Australian University: University of Deakin and University of Wollongong. He also said about the Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (ECTA), which was implemented on December 29, 2022. ECTA was signed last year and has entered into force also. We have already started negotiations very intensely on the next step which is the full comprehensive economic cooperation agreement (CECA). We are committed, along with Australia, to conclude those negotiations, hopefully possibly, by the end of this year, says Indian High Commissioner to Australia Manpreet Vohra. PM Modi is scheduled to visit Australia from May 22-24, 2023. On PM Modis visit to Australia, Indian High Commissioner to Australia Manpreet Vohra, said, He has a very substantive round of bilateral discussions with PM Albanese. He will be following up on the discussions that went on when PM Albanese was in India two months ago. We expect some outcomes & announcements. Amid reports on the West will supply F16 fighter jets to Ukraine, Russias Ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov said early on Monday that the transfer of fighter jets to Kyiv would raise the question of NATOs involvement in the conflict. There is no infrastructure for the operation of the F-16 in Ukraine and the needed number of pilots and maintenance personnel is not there either, Antonov said in remarks published on the embassys Telegram messaging channel. F-16s are considered high-performance weapon systems with a range of 500 miles (860 kilometres), and would be an upgrade to the aircraft currently in Ukraines fleet. What will happen if the American fighters take off from NATO airfields, controlled by foreign volunteers? U.S. President Joe Biden on Friday endorsed training programs for Ukrainian pilots on F-16 fighter jets and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy assured Biden that the aircraft would not be used to go into Russian territory. Antonov said that any Ukrainian strike on Crimea would be considered a strike on Russia. It is important that the United States be fully aware of the Russian response, Antonov said. Ukraine has intensified its strikes on Russian-held targets especially on the Crimean Peninsula, which Russia annexed from Ukraine in 2014. WHY DOES UKRAINE WANT F-16 FIGHTER JETS? Ukraine has pressed for Western jets since the very earliest stages of the war, insisting that the sophisticated aircraft would give them a leg up in the war and allow them to strike Russian forces. Nearly a year ago, two Ukrainian fighter pilots who asked to be identified by their callsigns Moonfish and Juice met with reporters in Washington to argue for getting the F-16 Fighting Falcons, which have more advanced radars, sensors and missile capabilities. In February, Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov held up a picture of a warplane when he was asked in Brussels what military aid his country needed. And earlier this month Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said during a visit to Germany that he was pushing for allies to forge a fighter jet coalition that would provide Ukraine with the combat planes it needs to counter Russias air dominance. Ukraines leaders have argued that the F-16 is far superior to their existing fleet of Soviet-era warplanes. In response to those pleas, the U.S. has found ways to deliver some of the advanced capabilities without providing the actual jets. For example, Air Force engineers found ways to modify the HARM air-to-surface anti-radiation missile so that it could be carried and fired by Ukrainian-flown MiGs. The missile and its targeting system enable the jet to identify enemy ground radars and destroy them. WHY HAS THE U.S. BALKED? Repeatedly for months senior U.S. officials from Biden on down had flatly rejected sending F-16s to Ukraine when asked publicly. And the U.S. had so far declined to allow other countries to export their U.S.-made Falcons to Ukraine. As recently as Monday, after Zelenskyy reiterated his desire for F-16s and other jets, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby was asked if the U.S. had in any way changed its position on F-16s not being the right focus for military aid. Kirby said, No. Asked similar questions in recent months, Biden also declined to approve the F-16s. In one instance earlier this year, he was asked why he opposed sending them, and he responded, Because we should keep them here. U.S. officials at the Pentagon have insisted that the military aid the U.S. was providing to Ukraine was based on what the country needed most to fight the war. So the emphasis has been on sending air defence systems and millions of rounds of rockets, missiles and other ammunition as Ukraine prepares for a much-expected spring offensive. The other key reason, however, is the ongoing concern that sending fighter jets to Ukraine would enrage the Russians, provoke President Vladimir Putin and possibly escalate or broaden the war. WELL, ON SECOND THOUGHT Despite all the concerns, the U.S. has proven again and again during the war that it can change its mind. Early on the U.S. balked at sending Patriot missile batteries, longer-range missiles or tanks. And in each case, it eventually succumbed to pressure from allies and agreed to send increasingly advanced weapons. Of note was the recent turnabout on M1A1 Abrams tanks. For months the U.S. had said the Abrams was too complicated and required too much logistical support for Ukrainian troops. Under escalating pressure from European nations that wanted to send Ukraine their own tanks, the U.S. finally agreed to send 31 Abrams to Ukraine. Training is expected to begin soon. The F-16 approval has been a long, slow slog. Despite public insistence for months that there was no movement on the F-16s, the Pentagon in March brought two Ukrainian Air Force pilots to the Morris Air National Guard Base in Tucson, Arizona, to familiarize them with the F-16 and learn how pilots are trained. U.S. officials refused to discuss the event publicly, but privately they said the two pilots flew F-16 simulators and got a feel for the training. The U.S. Air Force, meanwhile, got insight into how long it would take for an experienced Ukrainian fighter pilot to learn the F-16s more advanced systems. Officials determined that realistically it could be done in about four months if the pilots were already trained to fly their own Soviet-era fighters. WHAT WE STILL DONT KNOW According to U.S. officials, Biden told leaders in Japan that the U.S. will participate in the F-16 training and that decisions on providing the jets will come later. Officials said its still not clear if the U.S. will simply allow other nations to send F-16s to Ukraine, or if the U.S. will also send some. And there are no estimates on how many of the jets will be provided or when. Officials acknowledge that it will not be in time for the anticipated spring offensive. And while officials said the training will begin soon, it isnt yet clear where it will be, how many pilots will be trained and how long it will take. The U.S. Air Force has two F-16 air wings in Europe: the 31st Fighter Wing at the Aviano Air Base in Italy and the 52nd Fighter Wing at Spangdahlem Air Base in Germany. The U.S. also routinely sends F-16 fighters in and out of Europe on a rotational basis in smaller groups. (With agency inputs) Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News, India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. The captured Zaporizhzhia nuclear station in Ukraine has been shut off from the electricity grid once more, according to its Russian administrators and the Ukrainian atomic agency on Monday, a potentially dangerous situation that has grown more regular as a result of the bombardment. Due to a high-tension line being cut, the plant lost its external electricity supply, the Russian administration wrote on Telegram, adding the causes of the outage were being investigated and that backup diesel generators were keeping it working. Energoatom, Ukraines nuclear agency, accused Russia of carrying out an attack that caused the power outage on Monday morning, claiming it was the seventh incident of the facility entering blackout mode since Moscows soldiers took control in March 2022. Energoatom stated that the generators had enough fuel to last 10 days. If it is impossible to restore external power to the plant during this time, an accident with radiation consequences for the whole world may occur, it warned. The governor of the Dnipro region said an overnight aerial attack had been reported, with four Russian missiles and 15 drones downed and at least eight civilians injured. The last power cut at Zaporizhzhia, Europes largest nuclear plant located in southeastern Ukraine, had been caused by another wave of Russian missile attacks, Energoatom said. The external power supply was restored after a few hours on that occasion. The UNs nuclear chief Rafael Grossi, who has tried to negotiate with both sides to reach a deal on the safety of the plant, said it was the seventh power cut at the huge nuclear facility during the war. Nuclear safety situation at the plant extremely vulnerable, he said on Twitter. We must agree to protect plant now; this situation cannot continue. Grossi visited the Moscow-occupied plant in March. Zaporizhzhia used to supply around 20 per cent of Ukraines electricity and continued to function in the early months of Russias offensive despite frequent shelling, before halting power production in September. None of its six Soviet-era reactors has since generated electricity, but the facility remains connected to the Ukrainian power grid for its own needs, notably to cool the reactors. Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News, India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. The Wagner mercenary groups head Yevgeny Prigozhin has announced that he will withdraw his troops from Bakhmut by next month and transfer control to the Russian army. The announcement comes just two days after he claimed that the troops have successfully captured the key Ukrainian city. The claims were however refuted by Kyiv who said that it is hanging on to a corner of the eastern Ukrainian city and that battles are ongoing. Wagner will leave Artemovsk from May 25 to June 1, Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin said in an audio recording on Telegram. Bakhmut was previously known as Artemovsk to honour a Soviet revolutionary before Ukraine renamed it. Before planning the transfer of control, Prigozhin readied troops on the western outskirts of the city. He said, If the ministry of defence does not have enough personnel, we have thousands of generals. Prigozhin has poured scathing criticism on Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu and army chief of Staff Valery Gerasimov, accusing them of being incompetent and causing Moscows large-scale losses in the conflict in Ukraine. Wagner fighters have spearheaded Russias storming of Bakhmut and Prigozhins influence has risen hugely during Moscows Ukraine offensive. The Russian military claimed on Saturday that it has successfully captured the much-contested eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut. The Wagner Group led the all-out offensive in the city. Earlier in the day, Prigozhin said that his troops had finally pushed the Ukrainians out of the last built-up area inside the city. The Russian defence ministry said in a statement, As a result of offensive actions by Wagner assault units, supported by artillery and aviation of the Southern Group of Forces, the liberation of Artyomovsk has been completed. Vladimir Putin congratulated the assault units of Wagner as well as all servicemen of units of the Russian armed forces who provided them with the necessary support and flank cover, on the completion of the operation to liberate Artemovsk (the Soviet-era name for Bakhmut), TASS agency quoted the Kremlin saying. With inputs from agencies Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News, India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. At a time when heart transplant surgeries have become quite common, it is not everyday that you see doctors preserving those surgically-removed hearts for multiple reasons, including medical research. In one such instance, the heart of a woman has been preserved for over 15 years and has been kept on display at a museum, where she recently got to view it closely. According to a BBC report, the woman, identified as Jennifer Sutton, had undergone a life-saving heart transplant surgery in 2007, almost 16 years back after she was diagnosed with restrictive cardiomyopathy. Speaking about her experience after getting to observe her heart displayed at the Hunterian Museum in London, she termed it incredibly surreal. Its a strange feeling when you first walk in, realising that used to be inside my body. But its also quite comfortingits like my companion. It kept me alive for 22 years, and Im quite proud of it, to be honest. Ive seen many preserved items in jars throughout my life, but the fact that its actually mine is very peculiar, she added. Jennifer also went on to state that she hopes her heart being on display will create awareness toward organ donation, as she considers it to be the greatest gift possible. How did Jennifer Suttons heart end up in a museum? Narrating the entire episode of her life, Jennifer who was then a 22-year-old university student, began by recalling how she faced difficulty doing moderate exercises, including walking up hills. It was then that she was diagnosed with restrictive cardiomyopathy, a condition that limited her hearts ability to pump blood throughout the body. After she was informed about the need for a transplant, in June 2007, she received a matching donor and got successfully operated on, thus fighting against the odds of her life. Sixteen years after the surgery, the 38-year-old Jennifer describes her life to be active and busy as she plans to keep herself going for as long as possible. She also noted how she granted permission to the Royal College of Surgeons for keeping her heart for an exhibition. Jennifer, who presently works towards creating awareness about organ donation, noted that the surgery not only enabled major moments of her life but also encouraged others to live their lives to the fullest. Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News, India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Samsung has launched the Galaxy A14 4G version, after the 5G model was launched earlier this year. It has a 6.6-inch HD+ LCD screen with Infinity-V notch, 60Hz refresh rate, and the Indian version is powered by y Exynos 850 SoC with 4GB of RAM + 4GB of virtual RAM, has a 50MP rear camera, along with a 5MP ultra-wide camera, and a 2MP macro camera. This comes with a 13MP front camera, runs Android 13 with One UI 5. Samsung has confirmed 2 OS upgrades and 4 years of security updates for the phone. It has a side-mounted fingerprint scanner and packs a 5,000mAh battery that promises up to 2 days of battery life on a single charge. With Samsungs eco-conscious technology and innovation, Galaxy A14 has been designed keeping in mind the environment and is crafted with eco-friendly materials, contributing to a more sustainable future, said Samsung. Samsung Galaxy A14 4G specifications 6.6-inch FHD+ (24081080 pixels) Infinity-V LCD screen with 60Hz refresh rate, 480 nits peak brightness Exynos 850 Octa-Core (2GHz Quad + 2GHz Quad) 8nm processor with Mali-G52 4GB RAM, 64GB / 128GB storage, expandable memory up to 1TB with microSD Android 13 with OneUI 5.0 Dual SIM (nano + nano + microSD) 50MP rear camera with f/1.8 aperture, 5MP ultra-wide camera with f/2.2 aperture and 2MP sensor with f/2.4 aperture 13MP front camera with f/2.0 aperture Side-mounted fingerprint sensor 3.5mm audio jack Dimensions: 167.7 x 78.0 x 9.1mm; Weight: 201g Dual 4G VoLTE, Wi-Fi 802.11 ac (2.4GHz + 5GHz), Bluetooth 5.1, GPS/GLONASS/Beidou, USB Type-C 5000mAh battery with 15W charging Pricing and availability The Samsung Galaxy A14 comes in Light Green, Black and Silver colours and is priced at Rs. 13,999 for the 4GB+64GB model and the 4GB+128GB model costs Rs. 14999. It is available across Samsung exclusive and partner stores, Samsung.com, and other online players. Launch offer Rs.1000 instant discount on SBI Bank Credit Cards During the launch of the Department of Telecoms Sanchar Saathi website, Union Telecom Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw revealed that over 3.6 million or 36 lakh WhatsApp accounts have been banned in India. This action by WhatsApp reinforces its dedication to ensuring user safety and security. Ashwini Vaishnaw, the Union Telecom Minister, highlighted the governments efforts to combat WhatsApp call fraud. Active engagement with WhatsApp has resulted in an agreement that recognizes the utmost importance of customer safety. Blocking Scam-Related Phone Numbers on WhatsApp In response to the rising cases of WhatsApp call scams, over 3.6 million phone numbers associated with fraudulent activities have been blocked on WhatsApp. Scammers have been observed using numbers from countries such as Indonesia, Ethiopia, Kenya, Vietnam, and Malaysia to target unsuspecting users. During the launch event, Union Telecom Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw addressed inquiries regarding the governments actions to address the increasing cases of WhatsApp call scams in the country. In response, he stated, We have had productive discussions with WhatsApp, and they have acknowledged the paramount importance of customer safety. All OTT platforms are actively collaborating to deactivate the accounts identified as fraudulent users. Speaking at the ban, Abhishek Malhotra, Managing Partner of TMT Law Practice, said: System error error: Can't call method "get_id" on an undefined value at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25. context: ... 21: 22: 23: % foreach my $c (@categories) { 24: <%perl> 25: my $category_id = $c->get_id(); 26: my @stories = Bric::Biz::Asset::Business::Story->list ( { element_type_id=>1148, category_id=>$category_id , Order=> 'cover_date', publish_status => 't' , OrderDirection=> 'DESC' , Limit=>10 } ); 27: 28: 29: ... code stack: /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html:25 /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm:948 /var/cache/mason/obj/2011159162/main/smetimes/dhandler.html.obj:17 /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/autohandler_template.html:149 Can't call method "get_id" on an undefined value at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25. Trace begun at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Exceptions.pm line 125 HTML::Mason::Exceptions::rethrow_exception('Can\'t call method "get_id" on an undefined value at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25.^J') called at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25 HTML::Mason::Commands::__ANON__ at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Component.pm line 157 HTML::Mason::Component::run_dynamic_sub('HTML::Mason::Component::FileBased=HASH(0x557d08ab1d78)', 'main') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 948 HTML::Mason::Request::call_dynamic('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x557d08e80620)', 'main') called at /var/cache/mason/obj/2011159162/main/smetimes/dhandler.html.obj line 17 HTML::Mason::Commands::__ANON__ at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Component.pm line 135 HTML::Mason::Component::run('HTML::Mason::Component::FileBased=HASH(0x557d08ab1d78)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1302 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1292 HTML::Mason::Request::comp(undef, undef, undef) called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 955 HTML::Mason::Request::call_next('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x557d08e80620)') called at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/autohandler_template.html line 149 HTML::Mason::Commands::__ANON__ at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Component.pm line 135 HTML::Mason::Component::run('HTML::Mason::Component::FileBased=HASH(0x557d08ad0d48)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1300 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1292 HTML::Mason::Request::comp(undef, undef, undef) called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 481 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 481 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 433 HTML::Mason::Request::exec('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x557d08e80620)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/ApacheHandler.pm line 165 HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler::exec('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x557d08e80620)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/ApacheHandler.pm line 831 HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler::handle_request('HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x557d07012568)', 'Apache2::RequestRec=SCALAR(0x557d08edcc20)') called at (eval 594) line 8 HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler::handler('HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler', 'Apache2::RequestRec=SCALAR(0x557d08edcc20)') called at -e line 0 eval {...} at -e line 0 Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts 1. Romans The Pauline epistles are named for the people to whom they were written; therefore, the Book of Romans is a letter that Paul wrote to the Romans. Romans has a lot of well-known verses, such as Romans 3:23, "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (NIV). 2. First Corinthians The First and Second Corinthians were written to the church in Corinth. One of the most well-known verses in First Corinthians is First Corinthians 6:19-20 which is about our bodies being temples. 3. Second Corinthians Corinth is a city in Greece. One of the well-known verses in Second Corinthians is Second Corinthians 5:21, "God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us, that in Him we might become the righteousness of God." Corinth is a city in Greece. One of the well-known verses in Second Corinthians is Second Corinthians 5:21, "God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us, that in Him we might become the righteousness of God." 4. Galatians Galatia was a city in Greece. In chapter five of Galatians, Paul writes about the fruit of the Spirit in verses 22-23: "love, joy, peace, forbearance (which means patience), kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control." 5. Ephesians Ephesus was a city in what is now modern-day Turkey. One of the most well-known verses from this letter is Ephesians 2:8-9 about being saved by grace through faith. 6. Philippians Philippi was a city in Greece. One of the most well-known verses is Philippians 4:13, "I can do all this through Him who gives me strength." 7. Colossians Colossae was a city in what is now modern-day Turkey. A well-known verse from Colossians is Colossians 3:2, which in the NIV says, "Set your mind on things above, not on earthly things." 8. 1 Thessalonians Thessalonica (also spelled Thessaloniki) is one of the largest cities in Greece. A well-known verse from 1 Thessalonians is verse 16, which says, "Rejoice always." Thessalonica (also spelled Thessaloniki) is one of the largest cities in Greece. A well-known verse from 1 Thessalonians is verse 16, which says, "Rejoice always." 9. 2 Thessalonians Paul sometimes had someone write down the words he dictated because his eyes were not very good. One of the well-known verses of 2 Thessalonians is 2 Thessalonians 2:15, in which Paul tells the Church of Thessalonica, "Stand firm," as he previously has told them what is coming in the end. 10. 1 Timothy Timothy was like a son to Paul and often worked with him in the mission field. A well-known verse in 1 Timothy is 6:7, "For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it." 11. 2 Timothy Although not listed last in the Bible, 2 Timothy is considered by most Bible scholars to be the last letter Paul wrote. A well-known verse from 1 Timothy 3:16 reads, "All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness." 12. Titus 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, and Titus are called pastoral epistles. A well-known verse in Titus is Titus 2:1, "You, however, must teach what is appropriate to sound doctrine." 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, and Titus are called pastoral epistles. A well-known verse in Titus is Titus 2:1, "You, however, must teach what is appropriate to sound doctrine." 13. Philemon Paul wrote to Philemon to tell him not to be harsh when his servant Onesimus returned because, like them, Onesimus was also a Christian. This book is only one chapter long; in it, Paul tells Philemon, in verse 11 (NIV), "Formerly he was useless to you, but now he has become useful both to you and me." Source: Author Ilona_Ritter This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor looney_tunes before going online.Any errors found in FunTrivia content are routinely corrected through our feedback system. System error error: Can't call method "get_id" on an undefined value at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25. context: ... 21: 22: 23: % foreach my $c (@categories) { 24: <%perl> 25: my $category_id = $c->get_id(); 26: my @stories = Bric::Biz::Asset::Business::Story->list ( { element_type_id=>1148, category_id=>$category_id , Order=> 'cover_date', publish_status => 't' , OrderDirection=> 'DESC' , Limit=>10 } ); 27: 28:
29: ... code stack: /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html:25 /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm:948 /var/cache/mason/obj/2011159162/main/smetimes/dhandler.html.obj:17 /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/autohandler_template.html:149 Can't call method "get_id" on an undefined value at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25. Trace begun at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Exceptions.pm line 125 HTML::Mason::Exceptions::rethrow_exception('Can\'t call method "get_id" on an undefined value at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25.^J') called at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25 HTML::Mason::Commands::__ANON__ at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Component.pm line 157 HTML::Mason::Component::run_dynamic_sub('HTML::Mason::Component::FileBased=HASH(0x557d08ba7fa8)', 'main') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 948 HTML::Mason::Request::call_dynamic('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x557d08ad3ad8)', 'main') called at /var/cache/mason/obj/2011159162/main/smetimes/dhandler.html.obj line 17 HTML::Mason::Commands::__ANON__ at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Component.pm line 135 HTML::Mason::Component::run('HTML::Mason::Component::FileBased=HASH(0x557d08ba7fa8)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1302 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1292 HTML::Mason::Request::comp(undef, undef, undef) called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 955 HTML::Mason::Request::call_next('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x557d08ad3ad8)') called at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/autohandler_template.html line 149 HTML::Mason::Commands::__ANON__ at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Component.pm line 135 HTML::Mason::Component::run('HTML::Mason::Component::FileBased=HASH(0x557d08ba8920)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1300 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1292 HTML::Mason::Request::comp(undef, undef, undef) called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 481 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 481 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 433 HTML::Mason::Request::exec('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x557d08ad3ad8)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/ApacheHandler.pm line 165 HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler::exec('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x557d08ad3ad8)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/ApacheHandler.pm line 831 HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler::handle_request('HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x557d07079360)', 'Apache2::RequestRec=SCALAR(0x557d08acf0e8)') called at (eval 594) line 8 HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler::handler('HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler', 'Apache2::RequestRec=SCALAR(0x557d08acf0e8)') called at -e line 0 eval {...} at -e line 0 North Korea recently purchased another second-hand cargo ship from a Chinese firm. This makes six so far this year. In all of 2022 North Korea only purchased six ships. All the 2023 purchases were small ships, the latest one carrying about 3,000 tons. It is suspected that North Korea is using the new ships for smuggling, specifically by taking on or transferring cargo at sea in its own territorial waters. The North Korean merchant fleet consists of about 130 ships, nearly all of them small cargo vessels. Most are purchased from Chinese firms. North Korea is a notorious and persistent maritime smuggler. Because of North Korean smuggling the United States expanded its maritime smuggling and sanctions enforcement program in 2018, when a new multi-national ECC (Enforcement Coordination Cell) was created. Initial members were the United States, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Britain, France, South Korea, and Japan. The ECC is enforcing the UN sanctions approved at the end of 2017 to curb North Korean smuggling related to items needed for their nuclear and ballistic missile programs. In addition, the ECC allowed member nations to also enforce whatever other sanctions or naval missions their government put a priority on. The U.S. has since invited India, Vietnam, Indonesia, and the Philippines to join and assist with monitoring growing Chinese violation of offshore water rights, especially in the South China Sea and other areas of the West Pacific. The ECC concentrates on the 2,000-kilometer-long shipping lane from the Indian ocean, through the Malacca Strait, the South China Sea to North Korea. Along this route there are not only North Korean flagged ships participating in smuggling, but even more Chinese, Taiwanese, Liberian, Sri Lankan, and ships that are independent and fly whatever flag they believe will keep them from getting seized for smuggling. Earlier U.S. efforts had already identified many North Korean and Iranian owned tankers and cargo ships that were often engaged in smuggling. This led Iran and North Korea to use their own ships less and willing foreign ships instead. These third-party ships are the ones the ECC sought to identify. These ships can be identified, along with their owners and the owners can have banking and other sanctions placed on them. Many nations not part of the ECC, but economic partners with ECC members will cooperate if a smuggler ship visits one of their ports. At that point the captain can be arrested and the ship impounded. The ECC member warships do not depend on inspecting suspicious ships while at sea, but confirming who is where and when. This is especially useful for spotting smugglers who often turn off their location beacons, and running dark. These location beacons transmit current ID and location to any nearby ships and often, via satellite, to their owner and international shipping organizations. The location data, past and current, can be found on several public websites. The beacons exist mainly as a safety measure for ships operating at night or in bad weather in heavily used shipping lanes. Smugglers have learned how to turn off their beacons near a port where, it is assumed, they have docked or anchored off the coast waiting for an available dock. Some smugglers are using spoofing, a form of jamming that just modifies the beacon signal to present a false location. This is where warships and maritime aircraft come in as these can identify ships visually or using radar followed by visual inspection. This is more damaging to the smugglers because it provides more evidence that their ship was involved in smuggling and with enough evidence you can go after the ship owners and seize the ship whenever it enters coastal (within 22 kilometers of land) waters belonging to a nation that will seize outlaw ships. The ECC is based on the success of Task Force 150, which came to involve twenty nations contributing ships and aircraft to deal with the Somali piracy problem. By 2012 the problem was under control but the threat and a smaller Task Force remains. As the Somali piracy problem was fading under Task Force 150 pressure, the U.S. organized another ECC to monitor and disrupt North Korea and Iran smuggling operations. This was done with the aid of the Five Eyes, a post-World War II intel cooperation group consisting of the U.S., Britain, Australia, Canada, and New Zealand. Five Eyes intel agencies shared an unprecedented amount of intelligence on foreign threats during the Cold War and continued doing so after the Cold War ended in 1991. As international Islamic terrorism began to increase during the 1990s and especially after 2001, the Five Eyes continued to provide the member nations with much more useful intel than any of them could gather themselves. This became particularly useful as Chinese aggression in the South China Sea and adjacent seas escalated after 2012, as the size of the Chinese navy and threats it posed to most of the Five Eyes members as well as other allies like Japan and South Korea. This encouraged many nations to join or consider joining the new ECC as well as earlier counter-terrorism efforts. The ECC is allowed to detain, board, and seize suspected smuggler ships that prove to be smuggling. There is no standard ROE (Rules of Engagement) for this and each ECC member can apply their own ROE. The U.S., for example, has an ROE that does not allow it to block the movement of North Korean ships or use force to board a ship whose crew opposes it. Currently the U.S. provides most of the warships assigned to the ECC, as well as one of the U.S. Navy Command Ships; the USS Blue Ridge. These command ships are literally dedicated fleet command ships which carry a large array of communications gear as well as accommodations and work space for nearly 300 command staff. The Blue Ridge now has about fifty officers and specialists from other ECC member nations on board. The main work of the Blue Ridge is to collect all the information ECC member nation warships and aircraft are collecting, and quickly analyze it, and report to ships of the ECC any important new findings as well as sending data to agencies ashore that handle further investigation and eventually sanctions or seizure of the ship. The American multinational command staff on the Blue Ridge also builds cooperation and improves coordination between the navies involved. This has turned out to be extremely valuable, as was similar international participation in Task Force 150. While China is not participating in the ECC, it is encountering and communicating with ECC ships, as it did when Chinese ships served (and still serve) in Task Force 150. Austal USA awarded contract valued up to US$3.195 Billion for up to seven T-AGOS Surveillance Ships for the United States Navy May 18, 2023 COMPANY ANNOUNCEMENT 19 MAY 2023 Austal USA awarded contract valued up to US$3.195 Billion for up to seven T-AGOS Surveillance Ships for the United States Navy Austal Limited (ASX:ASB) is pleased to announce that Austal USA has been awarded a US$113,906,029 fixed-price incentive (firm target) and firm-fixed-price contract for detail design of the Auxiliary General Ocean Surveillance Ship T-AGOS 25 Class for the United States Navy. The contract includes options for detail design and construction of up to seven T-AGOS 25 class ships which, if exercised, would bring the cumulative value of the contract to US$3,195,396,097. T-AGOS ships, operated by United States Military Sealift Command (MSC), support the anti-submarine warfare (ASW) mission of the commanders of the Atlantic and Pacific Fleets by providing a platform capable of passive and active anti-submarine acoustic surveillance. The 110 metre, steel 'small waterplane area twin hull' (SWATH) vessels support the Navy's Integrated Undersea Surveillance System (IUSS) by gathering underwater acoustical data using Surveillance Towed-Array Sensor System (SURTASS) equipment. Austal Limited Chief Executive Officer Paddy Gregg said the T-AGOS contract adds to Austal USA's growing portfolio of steel shipbuilding programs and is a further demonstration of the US Government's trust in Austal USA's capabilities. "T-AGOS is a unique auxiliary naval platform that plays an integral role in supporting Navy's anti-submarine warfare mission. Austal USA is honoured to be selected to deliver this critical capability for the Navy, utilising our advanced manufacturing processes, state-of-the-art steel shipbuilding facilities and our growing team of shipbuilders. "The T-AGOS contract is a clear acknowledgment of Austal's capabilities in steel naval shipbuilding, that includes the Navy's Towing, Salvage and Rescue (T-ATS) ships, an Auxiliary Floating Drydock Medium (AFDM), and the US Coast Guards' Offshore Patrol Cutters. "These four steel naval shipbuilding projects, and our continuing successful delivery of the Independence-variant Littoral Combat Ship and Spearhead-class Expeditionary Fast Transport programs, are positioning Austal USA exceptionally well to meet the growing demands of the US Navy and Coast Guard," Mr Gregg said. As prime contractor for the contract, Austal USA is teaming with L3Harris Technologies, Noise Control Engineering, TAI Engineering, and Thoma-Sea Marine Constructors to deliver the TAGOS-25 program, from the company's new steel shipbuilding facility in Mobile, Alabama. Utilising proven, advanced manufacturing processes and innovative production techniques that incorporate lean manufacturing principles, modular construction, and moving assembly lines, Austal USA is currently delivering multiple naval shipbuilding programs and sub-contracted projects, including; Independence-variant Littoral Combat Ships (17 of 19 vessels delivered) Spearhead-class Expeditionary Fast Transports (13 of 16 vessels delivered, including the largest uncrewed capable vessel in the U.S. Navy, USNS Apalachicola, EPF-13) Four Navajo-class Towing, Salvage and Rescue (T-ATS) Ships Up to 11 Heritage-class Offshore Patrol Cutters for the US Coast Guard An Auxiliary Floating Dock Medium (AFDM) Elevators for the Gerald R. Ford-class aircraft carrier, USS Enterprise (CVN-80) Command modules for Virginia-class Submarines (SSN) This ASX announcement has been approved and authorised for release by Austal Limited Chief Executive Officer, Paddy Gregg. Austal USA has been awarded a contract for the detail design and construction of up to seven T-AGOS 25 Ocean Surveillance Ships for the United States Navy (Image: US Navy) -ENDs- NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Estonia and Latvia to begin medium-range air defence procurement negotiations with German manufacturer Republic of Estonia - Ministry of Defence 21. May 2023 In joint procurement for medium range air defence, Estonia and Latvia will start negotiations with the German weapons manufacturer Diehl Defence for acquiring the Iris-T SLM air defence system, announced defence ministers Hanno Pevkur and Inara Murniece on Sunday in Riga. "I am very happy that together with Latvia we have reached the next milestone in our joint procurement for medium range air defence. This has been a joint project of historical proportions for our defence cooperation, the largest one to date," said Estonian Minister of Defence Hanno Pevkur. "Presuming that negotiations are successful, we hope to reach contract and, subsequently, announce the official winning bidder this summer," said minister Pevkur. "Our jointly selected medium-range air defence system will further secure the sky of Latvia and Estonia and will provide the maximum possible protection for our people, as well as civil and military infrastructure," said Minister of Defence of Latvia Inara Murniece. Estonia and Latvia signed a Letter of Intent for the joint procurement of medium-range air defence in June 2022, at the NATO Summit in Madrid. The process has been led by the Estonian Centre for Defence Investment (RKIK), which entered into agreement with the Ministry of Defence of Estonia for the joint procurement last July. "Our objective is to ensure operational medium-range air defence capabilities for Estonia by 2025, which means that the first systems should arrive in 2024," said Pevkur. The Estonian Government allocated funds for procuring medium-range air defence capabilities during the 2022 budgetary negotiations. The Estonian Centre of Defence Investment (RKIK) carried out thorough market research for potential bidders and looked at six international companies. The bids went through a thorough analysis. "For selecting the winning bidder, we looked at evaluation criteria such as the technical capacity of the system, the total cost of the system, the life cycle cost for the coming 30 years, the delivery time and the involvement of the local industry, so that Estonian and Latvian industry could also make a contribution towards the capacity development," said Priit Soosaar, head of the communications and radar category at RKIK. The final cost of the investment will be determined during contract negotiations. The capability includes the medium-range air defence system, but also the infrastructure, personnel, training, equipment and other related costs. Medium-range air defence systems are effective for neutralising both planes and helicopters, as well as a host of other threats, such as unmanned aerial vehicles, cruise missiles and loitering munitions. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address During reconstruction at Estonian base in 2024 allied air policing will move temporarily to Latvia Republic of Estonia - Ministry of Defence 21. May 2023 The Amari Air Base in Estonia will undergo reconstruction in 2024, during which the Baltic airspace will be secured from Latvia and Lithuania. After the reconstruction is completed, the allied fighter jets will return to Estonia. "Baltic defence cooperation really has strong wind under its wings. I am glad that Latvia is ready to temporarily host NATO Air Policing from the Lielvarde Air base during the Amari reconstruction, in close cooperation with our two countries," said Pevkur, while meeting with the Minister of Defence of Latvia Inara Murniece on Sunday. "The Baltic States have developed very close cooperation in strengthening regional security and the decision to station NATO air policing fighter mission in Lielvarde Air Base in 2024, during the renovation of Amari Air Base in Estonia, is another excellent example of it," said Minister of Defence of Latvia Inara Murniece. "This will allow us to improve the infrastructure of the Amari Air Base, which has been in heavy use since 2014, and therefore develop the security of Estonia and the region in general. During this period, the air space over Estonia and the entire Baltic region will continually be secured," added Pevkur. The Air Policing mission rotations will move from Amari to the Latvian Air Base Lielvarde from spring to autumn in 2024. In addition, air security will be ensured by allied fighter jets deployed to the Siauliai Air Base in Lithuania. The reconstruction works will include the surfaces of the air traffic area and technical systems. "The Russian war in Ukraine has clearly demonstrated the importance of air defence. A good infrastructure is the prerequisite for cooperation with allies and hosting their air defence systems," said minister Pevkur. The move to Latvia from spring to autumn in 2024 is temporary. The first post-reconstruction Air Policing mission from Amari will start at the beginning of 2025. According to a decision of the North Atlantic Council, allied air forces of NATO member states have secured the skies over Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania on a rotational basis since 29 March, 2004, when the Baltic States became NATO members. The NATO Air Policing mission has been operating out of the Amari Air Base since 2014. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Taliban says committed to more cooperation with Iran IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency May 21, 2023 Tehran, IRNA -- The Defense Ministry of Afghanistan's ruling Taliban group has issued a statement stressing that Kabul always seeks good ties with Iran and is committed to boost cooperation in different fields with the neighboring country. The Taliban Defense Ministry issued the statement on Sunday following a meeting between Deputy Chief of General Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces Bahram Hosseini Motlaq and his Afghan counterpart Haji Mali Khan in Kabul. According to the statement, the two sides discussed border issues and ways to enhance bilateral cooperation while stressing the need for resolving bilateral problems through dialog. Iran and Afghanistan are locked in a long-running dispute over water rights from the Helmand (Hirmand) River. The dispute has escalated recently as Iran insists the Afghan side has failed to deliver Iran's water rights from the river. On May 18, President Ebrahim Raisi warned the Taliban that they should not ignore the water rights of people living in Iran's southeast from Helmand River. President Raisi also stressed that the Iranian government is determined to defend the nation's rights under a water treaty signed in 1973 with Afghanistan, under which Iran is entitled to receive 820 million cubic meters of water from Helmand River each year. 4208**9417**4261 NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Hezbollah conducts military drills in South Lebanon to showcase its strength Iran Press TV Sunday, 21 May 2023 3:13 PM The Lebanese Hezbollah resistance movement has launched large-scale military exercises in Southern Lebanon, showcasing its strength ahead of the 23rd anniversary of the country's liberation from the Israeli occupation. The drills, which were held at a resistance camp near the village of Mleeta in southern Lebanon on Sunday, included several exercises simulating Hezbollah attacks on Israeli outposts in any future battle. Local, regional and international reporters were invited to cover the drill. During the military exercise, Hezbollah displayed its combat capabilities, while its fighters paraded on all-terrain vehicles and motorcycles. The resistance fighters successfully captured an enemy military vehicle, demonstrating their tactical prowess. They also showed valiant military skills using both light and heavy weapons, while simulating an attack on an Israeli settlement to capture the regime's soldiers. Several drones were also deployed and explosive-laden UAVs targeted potential Israeli targets in the drill venue. Earlier, Hezbollah had announced in a statement that it would hold a major exercise in Lebanon on Sunday with the participation of tanks, missile units and infantry, adding there was going to be a ground exercise, simulating the containment of an Israeli invasion of Lebanon. Hezbollah's media officer Muhammad Afif also said the drill will be covered by many media outlets around the world, and some of its stages will be conducted "with live ammunition." He went on to say that the drill is a simple example of the real capabilities of Hezbollah, adding that it sends a clear message to the Israeli regime that the resistance is ready to prevent the enemy's aggression and defend Lebanon. The chief of Hezbollah's Executive Council, Sayyid Hashim Safiuddin also noted that in this exercise, the resistance's full preparedness was shown to deal with any aggression, stressing that the weapons will remain in the hands of the resistance fighters until complete victory is achieved. Lebanon marks the Resistance and Liberation Day on May 25 each year. In May 2000, the Israeli regime was forced by Hezbollah to withdraw its troops from Lebanon, ending nearly two decades of occupation of the country's south. Hezbollah was established following the 1982 Israeli invasion and occupation of southern Lebanon. Since then, the movement has grown into a powerful military force, dealing repeated blows to the Israeli military, including during a 33-day war in July 2006. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Amid water dispute, Afghan govt. says committed to further cooperation with Iran Iran Press TV Sunday, 21 May 2023 9:54 AM The ruling Taliban government in Afghanistan has expressed its commitment to further cooperation with Tehran in different fields amid a dispute over Afghanistan's violation of Iran's water rights from the Hirmand River. The Afghan Defense Ministry issued a statement on Saturday, after a meeting between Afghan officials and an Iranian military delegation, headed by Deputy Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces Brigadier General Bahram Hosseini Motlagh, in Kabul. Hosseini Motlagh's Afghan counterpart, Mali Khan Sadiq welcomed the Iranian delegation and pointed to the good cooperation and relations between the two neighboring countries, the statement read. Sadiq said the Afghan government has always sought good relations with the Islamic Republic and is committed to further cooperation in various fields. During the meeting, the two sides discussed border issues and stressed enhancing joint cooperation and resolving problems through dialogue and relevant authorities, the statement added. The meeting was held against the backdrop of a dispute over Afghanistan's violation of Iran's water rights from the Hirmand River (also known as Helmand). Hirmand is the longest watercourse in Afghanistan. It rises in the Hindu Kush Mountains west of Kabul and flows in an arc southwest until it empties out into the Hamoun wetlands, located in Iran's Sistan and Baluchestan Province. Following more than a century of rifts over Hirmand's water supply, Iran and Afghanistan signed a treaty in 1973 to establish a means of regulating each country's use of the river. Iran should receive an annual share of 820 million cubic meters from Hirmand under the accord, which Afghanistan has grossly violated in letter and spirit, endangering the lives of many Iranians who rely on Hamoun wetlands for drinking water, agriculture, and fishing. Afghanistan has also built dams on the Hirmand which have constricted the water flow into Iran. On Thursday, Iranian President Ebrahim Raeisi warned Afghan rulers not to violate the water rights of the Iranian people and "swiftly" supply the country with its share of water from the Hirmand. No compromise on Iran's water share: Parl. speaker Meanwhile, Iran's Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf on Sunday called for the "full and precise" implementation of the 1973 treaty, saying that there will be "no compromise" on Iran's water share. "The inviolable water treaty is part of the long neighborhood history of the two countries and nations of Iran and Afghanistan. The deal's full and precise implementation benefits both nations and guarantees mutual interests... This is a vital issue and there will be no compromise on it," he told an open parliamentary session. Qalibaf further urged the Afghan authorities "to deliver a constructive response to Iran's positive will in this regard and prevent a serious problem in bilateral ties given sufficient water reserves on Afghan soil." NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Sudan's army, paramilitary RSF sign seven-day ceasefire agreement Iran Press TV Sunday, 21 May 2023 1:52 AM Sudan's army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have signed a seven-day ceasefire agreement, following six weeks of relatively incessant fighting that has claimed hundreds of lives. The deal, which was mediated by Saudi Arabia and the United States, was inked by both sides to the conflict on Saturday, and is scheduled to enter into force within 48 hours at 9:45 p.m. Khartoum time (1945 GMT) on Monday. The conflict in the North African country represents a power struggle between army chief, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and his former deputy, Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, who heads the RSF. The armed conflict between the army and paramilitary forces has so far killed more than 700 people, wounded at least 5,287 others, and displaced more than a million. The ceasefire's mediators said in a joint statement that the deal was reached following talks in the Saudi port city of Jeddah, adding that the ceasefire "shall remain in effect for seven days and may be extended with the agreement of both parties." The statement noted that the new agreement will be enforced by a US-Saudi and internationally-supported monitoring mechanism. It said subsequent talks "will focus on additional steps necessary to improve security and humanitarian conditions for civilians such as vacating forces from urban centers, including civilian homes, accelerating removal of impediments to the free movement of civilians and humanitarian actors, and enabling public servants to resume their regular duties." The new agreement came after multiple previous instances of truce between the two sides have been violated since the fighting broke out. Later on Saturday, Sudan's Forces for Freedom and Change (FFC), a coalition of political parties supporting democratic rule in the country, welcomed the truce deal. "We call for full commitment to Jeddah 'Declaration of Principles' and to the short-term ceasefire agreement as well as humanitarian arrangements" the FFC said in a statement. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address In New Crackdown, Turkmenistan Orders Young Men To Shave Their Beards, Prevents Bearded Men From Flying By RFE/RL's Turkmen Service May 21, 2023 ASHGABAT -- Police in tightly controlled Turkmenistan have launched a nationwide crackdown on men's facial hair, forcibly shaving young men's beards and barring bearded men from boarding planes or trains, witnesses said. A 30-year-old bearded man told RFE/RL on May 17 that authorities at the Turkmenbashi International Airport didn't allow him to board a plane because of his facial hair. "They said, 'Shave your beard first.... You must look like your passport photo,'" the man said on condition of anonymity. "Otherwise, we can't identify you." The man added that police also confiscated his passport and said it will be returned only after he shaves his beard. Several other residents of the coastal city in western Turkmenistan confirmed that local police in recent days have been targeting young, bearded men on the streets, demanding they shave their beards or be taken to a police station. Authorities are also demanding that men sign a written pledge that they won't grow a beard in the future, witnesses said. RFE/RL tried to contact Turkmenbashi officials for comment but didn't receive a response. In Turkmenistan and other parts of Central Asia -- the predominantly Muslim, former Soviet regions -- a bushy beard is perceived as a sign of being a follower of religious extremism or what many locals describe as "unconventional Islamic traditions." There have been numerous reports that bearded men were rounded up and forcibly shaven by police in Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. The latest crackdown in Turkmenistan started in mid-May without any announcement, comment, or explanation from the government. Police raids were also reported in the northern city of Dashoguz, where witnesses say men are being "detained en masse" and having their beards shaven at police stations against their wishes. One Dashoguz resident who was among the detainees said all the men brought to the police station were shaven with the same razor. Mosque-goers say imams have begun preaching to their congregations that growing a beard is only appropriate for older men who have reached retirement age. Turkmenistan last year launched a string of restrictions against women, banning them from wearing "tight-fitting" clothes, coloring their hair, or having cosmetic surgery, such as breast enhancement. Dozens of beauty salons closed across the country for offering some of these "banned" procedures and services. At least 20 female flight attendants and some 50 female employees of the national rail service were fired for allegedly having had their lips or breasts surgically enhanced. Written by Farangis Najibullah based on reporting by RFE/RL's Turkmen Service Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/turkmenistan-beards- crackdown-flights-forcible-shaving/32421154.html Copyright (c) 2023. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Tens Of Thousands Rally In Moldovan Capital In Pro-EU Demonstration By RFE/RL's Moldovan Service May 21, 2023 CHISINAU -- Tens of thousands of people rallied in the Moldovan capital in support of closer ties to the European Union, as Moldova's pro-European government continues struggles with political crosscurrents from Russia. The May 21 event, pushed by President Maia Sandu, drew criticism from some opposition parties and even some pro-European lawmakers, who said it was an improper use of government resources. Police estimated turnout at around 75,000 people. The rally, which featured an appearance by the president of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, came days before a meeting of the European Political Community summit on June 1, where Sandu wants to secure promises that Moldova will start membership negotiations with the European Union soon. The summit will be the first such meeting of the 44-member grouping, which was the brainchild of French President Emmanuel Macron. The grouping is meant to improve cooperation between the EU and nonmembers, including aspiring countries in the Western Balkans and the Caucasus region. Moldova was invited together with Ukraine to open accession negotiations with the EU in June last year, just months after Russia invaded Ukraine. One of Europe's poorest countries, Moldova received hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian refugees in the aftermath of the invasion and became increasingly concerned about a possible spillover of the war. Sandu, a former World Bank official educated in the United States, came to power in November 2020 on a pro-reform ticket She replaced Igor Dodon, a Moscow-backed Socialist president whose term had been marred by economic doldrums and corruption scandals. Sandu's push for closer EU ties has unnerved Moscow, which maintains open support for some Moldovan political figures. Sandu's government has also accused Russia of trying to destabilize the country. Russia continues to station more than 1,000 troops in Transdniester, a sliver of land between Moldova proper and Ukraine, ostensibly for peacekeeping operations and guarding of a huge Soviet-era munitions depot. Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/moldova-pro-european-union- rally-sandu/32421209.html Copyright (c) 2023. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Political Process Spokesman in Sudan Calls Jeddah Ceasefire Agreement a Step towards Ending War in Sudan Saudi Press Agency Khartoum, May 21, 2023, SPA -- The spokesman for the political process in Sudan, Engineer Khaled Omar Youssef, stated that the Jeddah agreement for a short-term ceasefire and humanitarian arrangements is essential to ending the Sudan crisis. Youssef stressed the need for the Armed Forces and Rapid Support Forces to follow the provisions of the Jeddah agreement to ensure a permanent ceasefire. Youssef thanked the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the United States of America for standing by Sudan during the political crisis and joining their efforts to reach a permanent agreement. The spokesman also recognized the regional and international efforts to help achieve the ceasefire and mobilize humanitarian support for the country. --SPA 15:55 LOCAL TIME 12:55 GMT 0024 NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Over a hundred Israeli designed and manufactured Shaldag (Kingfisher) patrol boats have been produced or are on order since they first appeared in the 1990s. The original Mk 1 model has been followed by Mk 2, 3, 4 and 5. The basic design of the 72-t0n fast (93 kilometers an hour) patrol boat has remained the same. What has changed is the equipment and weapons carried. The search and navigation radars as well as the fire control systems have evolved. So has the growing array of weapons available. The latest weapon is the 32 kg (71 pound) Spike ER fire-and-forget guided missile. With a max range of 16 kilometers, Spike ER can handle threats before they get close enough to do Shaldag any damage. The latest and largest version is Shaldag Mk 5. This is a 95-ton 33 meter (104 foot) long boat with a top speed of over 75 kilometers an hour and max endurance of three days, or 1,600 kilometers at 22 kilometers an hour. There are crew quarters and a water desalination system so the crew of fifteen can remain alert over long patrols. Weapons include, in addition to the several Spike ER missiles, a 25mm autocannon RWS (remote weapons station), a 20mm cannon and two 12.7mm machine-guns which can be used in manual or RWS mode. There are two RIBS (rigid inflatable boats) and a crane to put them in the water for boarding parties or rescue missions. Depth charges can also be carried because there is a sonar for monitoring the sea bottom or detecting submarines. Shaldag often operates in shallow coastal waters. The latest version is the 35-ton Mini-Shaldag. This version only needs a crew of five but is fast (100 kilometers an hour) and can carry up to eight passengers (military or civilian). This version is a fast-response vessel for port security of important stretches of coastline. While Israel has been the largest user of Shaldag, the ships have been exported to ten foreign navies and coast guards. Israel uses Shaldag to patrol its long coastline for smugglers or terrorist attacks as well as guarding ports and the new offshore natural gas fields. Near the Lebanon border and in the south near Gaza. Israel also uses some larger offshore patrol vessels and navy Saar corvettes for natural gas field protection while the most numerous patrol vessels are the Shaldags. Western Balkans Phase of NATO Defender Europe 2023 Drills Starts in Kosovo Sputnik News 20230521 BELGRADE (Sputnik) - NATO's largest international military exercise Defender Europe 2023 ongoing since April is arriving in Kosovo on Sunday to later expand to the broader Western Balkans region until June 2. "Our intentions are clear, the army of the Republic of Kosovo is ready to join the NATO family," Kosovo's defense minister, Armend Mehaj, said on social media. The opening ceremony in the center of Pristina lists Kosovo's highest-ranking officials among the attendees, including President Albin Kurti. The United States European Command (EUROCOM) will be leading the exercise. Over 7,000 troops from the United States and 17,000 from 20 allied and partner countries are expected to participate in the drills. Kosovo's media have reported that the former Serbian province's 1,300-contingent will be one of the largest. Defender Europe is an annual exercise aimed at increasing the combat readiness and interoperability between the armed forces of the US, NATO and partner states. Having started on April 22, Defender Europe 2023 is scheduled to take place at several locations in Europe until June 23. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Deepening U.S. Partnership with Papua New Guinea US Department of State Fact Sheet Office of the Spokesperson May 21, 2023 As the largest Pacific Island country, a likeminded democracy, APEC member, and regional energy provider, Papua New Guinea (PNG) is a key partner for the United States in the Indo-Pacific region. The United States will continue to partner with PNG on strengthening economic relations, security cooperation, and people-to-people ties, as well as promoting inclusive and sustainable development, including through plans to work with Congress to provide over $45 million in new programming. The United States and Papua New Guinea: Partners for Peace and Prosperity The United States is committing to work with Congress to provide an additional $10 million to Implement the Strategy to Prevent Conflict and Promote Stability (SPCPS) in PNG, bringing our total planned funding thus far to $30 million over three years : On March 24, 2023, President Biden transmitted to Congress the 10-year plan for implementing the Strategy in PNG. The plan will align and integrate U.S. activities in PNG to address the shared objectives of strengthening community capacity to prevent, mitigate, and respond to violence, including gender-based violence; supporting sustainable and equitable economic growth; and improving justice systems and professionalizing security forces. These efforts will elevate gender equity, equality, and women's empowerment. : On March 24, 2023, President Biden transmitted to Congress the 10-year plan for implementing the Strategy in PNG. The plan will align and integrate U.S. activities in PNG to address the shared objectives of strengthening community capacity to prevent, mitigate, and respond to violence, including gender-based violence; supporting sustainable and equitable economic growth; and improving justice systems and professionalizing security forces. These efforts will elevate gender equity, equality, and women's empowerment. Announce Launch of 2+2 Strategic Dialogue with Papua New Guinea: This strategic dialogue would deepen our diplomatic and security relationship with PNG, an important Indo-Pacific Partner. The strategic dialogue would discuss how key programs, including the Strategy to Prevent Conflict and Promote Stability, tie into the overall objective of a strong bilateral relationship. This strategic dialogue would deepen our diplomatic and security relationship with PNG, an important Indo-Pacific Partner. The strategic dialogue would discuss how key programs, including the Strategy to Prevent Conflict and Promote Stability, tie into the overall objective of a strong bilateral relationship. Signing of U.S.-Papua New Guinea Bilateral Defense Cooperation Agreement: On May 22, Secretary Blinken will sign a Defense Cooperation Agreement, which, when it enters into force, will serve as a foundational framework upon which our two countries can enhance security cooperation and further strengthen our bilateral relationship, improve the capacity of the PNG Defence Force (PNGDF), and increase stability and security in the region. The United States expects to publish the text of the Defense Cooperation Agreement after entry into force, consistent with U.S. law. On May 22, Secretary Blinken will sign a Defense Cooperation Agreement, which, when it enters into force, will serve as a foundational framework upon which our two countries can enhance security cooperation and further strengthen our bilateral relationship, improve the capacity of the PNG Defence Force (PNGDF), and increase stability and security in the region. The United States expects to publish the text of the Defense Cooperation Agreement after entry into force, consistent with U.S. law. Announce Exploration of U.S. Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HA/DR) Support for PNG: Following the announced signed DCA and to further ongoing U.S.-PNG dialogue, the United States will form a working group with PNG, to include USAID's Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance (HA/DR) and the U.S. Department of Defense, to explore partnerships on supporting regional training exercises and potential HA/DR warehousing for disaster preparedness. Following the announced signed DCA and to further ongoing U.S.-PNG dialogue, the United States will form a working group with PNG, to include USAID's Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance (HA/DR) and the U.S. Department of Defense, to explore partnerships on supporting regional training exercises and potential HA/DR warehousing for disaster preparedness. Supplying $12.4 Million in Equipment to PNG Defence Force: On May 19, 2023, the U.S. Department of Defense provided the PNG Defence Force (PNGDF) with $5.4 million worth of personal protective equipment (PPE) funded by the Department of State's Foreign Military Financing (FMF) program. The PPE includes ballistic helmets, flak vests with armor plates, elbow pads, knee pads, and eye protection, and will be provided to PNGDF members deployed to the border and domestically for security operations. The U.S. Department of Defense also intends to provide PNGDF $7 million in support to procure dress uniforms and name tags for the upcoming PNG 50th Independence Celebrations in 2025. This assistance is a step toward deepening the defense relationship between our countries while also demonstrating our commitment, dedication, and investment in the future of PNG. On May 19, 2023, the U.S. Department of Defense provided the PNG Defence Force (PNGDF) with $5.4 million worth of personal protective equipment (PPE) funded by the Department of State's Foreign Military Financing (FMF) program. The PPE includes ballistic helmets, flak vests with armor plates, elbow pads, knee pads, and eye protection, and will be provided to PNGDF members deployed to the border and domestically for security operations. The U.S. Department of Defense also intends to provide PNGDF $7 million in support to procure dress uniforms and name tags for the upcoming PNG 50th Independence Celebrations in 2025. This assistance is a step toward deepening the defense relationship between our countries while also demonstrating our commitment, dedication, and investment in the future of PNG. Signing of a Bilateral Agreement to Counter Illicit Transnational Maritime Activity: On May 22, Secretary Blinken will sign a comprehensive bilateral agreement to counter illicit transnational maritime activity through joint at-sea operations. This agreement will enable the U.S. Coast Guard's Shiprider program to partner with and enhance PNG's maritime governance capacity, enabling them to exercise their authority and enforce their laws and regulations where they have jurisdiction. Notably, this agreement will help to combat illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing by closing global gaps in enforcement; improving cooperation, coordination, and interoperability; and building PNG's overall maritime governance capacity. On May 22, Secretary Blinken will sign a comprehensive bilateral agreement to counter illicit transnational maritime activity through joint at-sea operations. This agreement will enable the U.S. Coast Guard's Shiprider program to partner with and enhance PNG's maritime governance capacity, enabling them to exercise their authority and enforce their laws and regulations where they have jurisdiction. Notably, this agreement will help to combat illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing by closing global gaps in enforcement; improving cooperation, coordination, and interoperability; and building PNG's overall maritime governance capacity. Papua New Guinea Transnational Organized Crime (P-TOC) Program: The United States plans to provide $4 million, subject to Congressional notification, to support PNG's ability to address transnational organized crime-enabled corruption and money laundering. This U.S. Department of State Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement-funded program will provide technical assistance and advisory services to enable PNG authorities to conduct high-quality investigations, prosecutions, asset recovery, and reinvestment of proceeds of crime. The United States and Papua New Guinea: Progressing on Sustainable and Inclusive Development Supporting High-Quality Census and Statistics: The United States Census Bureau, through support from USAID, will work with the PNG National Statistics Office to strengthen its statistical capacity to produce high-quality census data, which will support domestic programming and service delivery as well as elections. The United States Census Bureau, through support from USAID, will work with the PNG National Statistics Office to strengthen its statistical capacity to produce high-quality census data, which will support domestic programming and service delivery as well as elections. Supporting PNG to Tackle the Climate Crisis and Promote Stability: Through USAID, the United States will provide an additional $12.5 million to help PNG strengthen the critical resources and systems needed to make communities more climate resilient. USAID plans to increase PNG's access to renewable energy and climate resilient water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) systems, support nature-based solutions, and protect the country's biodiversity. USAID also plans to enhance the ability of communities, civil society, and democratic institutions in PNG to more effectively prevent and respond to conflict and increase the safe, meaningful participation of vulnerable groups, particularly women, in political, social, and economic spheres. Through USAID, the United States will provide an additional $12.5 million to help PNG strengthen the critical resources and systems needed to make communities more climate resilient. USAID plans to increase PNG's access to renewable energy and climate resilient water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) systems, support nature-based solutions, and protect the country's biodiversity. USAID also plans to enhance the ability of communities, civil society, and democratic institutions in PNG to more effectively prevent and respond to conflict and increase the safe, meaningful participation of vulnerable groups, particularly women, in political, social, and economic spheres. PEPFAR Support to Address HIV/AIDS in PNG: The United States President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) intends to provide $5 million, subject to Congressional notification, to address HIV/AIDS in PNG, inclusive of technical assistance to local clinics and communities to improve HIV case identification, linkages to treatment, and increase retention of people living with HIV on antiretroviral therapy. The United States President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) intends to provide $5 million, subject to Congressional notification, to address HIV/AIDS in PNG, inclusive of technical assistance to local clinics and communities to improve HIV case identification, linkages to treatment, and increase retention of people living with HIV on antiretroviral therapy. Co-host a Peace and Security Conflict Assessment in PNG with the World Bank and Australia: To advance Strategy to Prevent Conflict and Promote Stability (SPCPS) goals and leverage U.S. and partner resources and expertise, USAID will join Australia and the World Bank for an adaptive learning event on peace and security programming, followed by a joint conflict assessment in Morobe province. USAID plans to provide $500,000, working with Congress, to support this collaborative partner effort, and Australia plans to provide $200,000. The impact of this effort elevates the vital importance of donor collaboration and leveraging resources to maximize planned SPCPS outcomes. To advance Strategy to Prevent Conflict and Promote Stability (SPCPS) goals and leverage U.S. and partner resources and expertise, USAID will join Australia and the World Bank for an adaptive learning event on peace and security programming, followed by a joint conflict assessment in Morobe province. USAID plans to provide $500,000, working with Congress, to support this collaborative partner effort, and Australia plans to provide $200,000. The impact of this effort elevates the vital importance of donor collaboration and leveraging resources to maximize planned SPCPS outcomes. Technical Capacity Building and Cooperation with Mineral Resources Authority: The U.S. Department of State intends to provide $1.25 million in technical assistance and expert advisory support to build PNG's institutional capacity to strengthen investment and regulatory frameworks; support competitive and transparent tender processes for mineral resource assets; undertake mineral resource geoscience capacity building; and develop sustainable mining sector strategies. The U.S. Department of State intends to provide $1.25 million in technical assistance and expert advisory support to build PNG's institutional capacity to strengthen investment and regulatory frameworks; support competitive and transparent tender processes for mineral resource assets; undertake mineral resource geoscience capacity building; and develop sustainable mining sector strategies. Expanding Electricity Access Through the PNG Electrification Partnership: Since 2020, USAID's support for the multi-country PNG Electrification Partnership, which aims to expand electricity access to 70 percent of Papua New Guineans by 2030, has improved energy access for over 600,000 Papua New Guineans. Seventy-two percent of new household connections were through off-grid technologies, including solar power, to support remote rural communities and key infrastructure like health and education facilities. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address G7 nations, 'central to climate action' says Guterres, calling for global reset 21 May 2023 - The world is counting on the G7 bloc of industrialized democracies to demonstrate global leadership and solidarity, said the UN chief on Sunday, speaking to journalists in Hiroshima, Japan, which he described as a "global symbol of the tragic consequences when nations fail to work together", and abandon multilateralism. The G7, which consists of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States, together with the European Union, is meeting in the city where the first atomic bomb was dropped in 1945, a place which Secretary-General Antonio Guterres described, as a "testament to the human spirit". "Whenever I visit, I am inspired by the courage and resilience of the Hibakusha", he said, referring to the survivors of that dreadful act of war. "The United Nations stands with them. We will never stop pushing for a world free of nuclear weapons." Haves and have-nots Mr. Guterres said his message to the G7 leaders was clear and simple: "while the economic picture is uncertain everywhere, rich countries cannot ignore the fact that more than half the world - the vast majority of countries - are suffering through a deep financial crisis." He reiterated his view first expressed in an official visit to Jamaica last week, that the problems facing developing countries had three dimensions; moral, power-related, and practical. Elaborating on the "systemic and unjust bias" in the global economic and financial system; the outdatedness of the global financial architecture; and the fact that even within the current rules, developing economies had been let down and sold short; the UN chief said the G7 had a duty now to act. Redistribution of power He said the financial system created by the Breton Woods realignment post World War Two, had simply "failed to fulfil its core function as a global safety net", in the face of the economic shocks from COVID, and the Russian invasion of Ukraine. He said the time had come to fix the Breton Woods system, and reform the UN Security Council. "This is essentially a question of redistributing power in line with the realities of today's world." He said the G7 can no longer be a bystander: "In our multipolar world, as geopolitical divisions grow, no country or group of countries, can stand by as billions of people struggle with the basics of food, water, education, healthcare and jobs." 'Clearly off track' Highlighting the perils of overlooking the pace of climate change, he outlined the specific areas where the world's richest were central to the success of climate action. The current projections show humankind heading for a temperature rise of 2.8C by the end of this century, he told journalists, and the next five years are likely to be the hottest ever, according to latest figures from the UN weather agency, WMO. He said the G7, with it's huge economic and financial clout, was "central to climate action", which is working, "but not enough and we are clearly off track". "Our Acceleration Agenda aims to make up for lost time. It calls for all G7 countries to reach net zero as close as possible to 2040, and for emerging economies to do so as close as possible to 2050." A Climate Solidarity Pact calls for the G7 to mobilize resources to support less well-off economies in accelerating decarbonization, to stay within the 1.5 limit on heating, compared with pre-industrial levels. Phase out coal "This requires faster timelines to phase out fossil fuels and ramp up renewables. It means putting a price on carbon and ending fossil fuel subsidies. I call on the G7 to phase out coal completely by 2030", the UN chief said. But he also made a call for climate justice, on behalf of the countries who have done the least to cause the crisis, but are suffering the most. "We must ramp up adaptation and early warning systems to help communities on the front lines...It's high time for developed countries to provide the promised $100 billion per year", he added. And he also reiterated that the Loss and Damage Fund agreed in Sharm el-Sheikh, during COP27 last year, "must be operationalized." NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Mountain Home AFB leans forward on MEDIC-X training for future fight Published May 21, 2023 By Shireen Bedi Air Force Surgeon General Public Affairs FALLS CHURCH, Va. (AFNS) -- MEDIC-X training will be offered across the Air Force July 1, but several bases like Mountain Home Air Force Base, Idaho, have already started training their medical personnel to deliver care in the future fight. MEDIC-X is a training initiative aimed at ensuring all medical personnel have base-level clinical skills to deliver life-sustaining care in challenging deployed environments. It has already gone through successful pilot testing in 2020 at 10 bases. Since then, more Air Force bases have incorporated MEDIC-X into their military treatment facility training days. One of the beta test sites was Mountain Home AFB, which rolled out MEDIC-X in April 2022. This was shortly after Gen. Mark Kelly, commander of Air Combat Command, released his memo identifying Mountain Home AFB as one of five lead bases to "rapidly generate combat power as a deployed force," including building the multi-capable Airman. "This shift takes us from a reactive force optimized for counter-insurgency ops over the past 20 years in permissive environments, to wings ready to deploy as high-performing, task-organized combat teams, and operate in a contested environment with joint and coalition partners," Kelly said. In addition to rolling out training, Mountain Home AFB leadership witnessed how this concept worked during their Agile Flag exercise in March, which included several teams from across the base. "One of the things pointed out during our Agile Flag exercise by the evaluators was the medical response during a mass casualty," said Capt. Paulo DePaula with the 366th Medical Group Agile Combat Employment Command and Control at Mountain Home AFB. "We had three Airmen trained on MEDIC-X who worked on casualties during the exercise, allowing our clinical personnel to deliver more complex care. It made it easier for our physician assistants and paramedics to go a bit further in their clinical scope knowing baseline care was getting met through MEDIC-X and how quickly the trained Airmen were able to respond." The aim of MEDIC-X is to build multi-capable medical Airmen who can deliver base-level, life-sustaining care no matter if they have a clinical role or not. This will become increasingly important in the context of a future conflict where resources and manning may be limited, and the ability to rely on aeromedical evacuation to move patients out or bring supplies in will be challenging. "If you are going to have a small footprint, the more you can multiply the force through their capabilities, the better we will be," DePaula said. "Having MEDIC-X-trained personnel will be a valuable resource to have when we are dealing with multiple casualties. Within a small medical team, with Airmen who have MEDIC-X training, then you have an opportunity to save more lives. It enables us to be a lean and agile medical force." "The reason we are military medics is to support the readiness of the Air Force as well as the health of our deployed members," said Lt. Col. Jared Young, 366th Medical Group chief nurse. "We are not teaching these MEDIC-X skills for our home station. This is for our deployment. When something bad happens and it is an all-hands-on-deck situation, we need everyone to be an asset. The more trained hands that are aware of patient care needs and know how to perform those core clinical skills, the better our ability will be to deliver the best care possible." NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Ships Supporting Two Multinational Anti-Piracy Task Forces Train Together in Gulf of Aden US Navy 21 May 2023 From Combined Maritime Forces Public Affairs MANAMA, Bahrain -- Ships from the South Korean and Italian navies sailed together and conducted combined training in the Gulf of Aden, May 17, while operating under two multinational maritime partnerships, Combined Maritime Forces and European Union Naval Forces. Republic of Korea Navy ship ROKS Chungmugong Yi Sun-sin (DDH 975) and Italian Navy frigate ITS Luigi Rizzo (F 595) rehearsed ship and helicopter maneuvers while sharing best practices on vessel boarding procedures to enhance collaboration on combating maritime piracy. "The Korean and Italian ships collaborated, from the planning to execution making this a very successful interaction," said Capt. Yoon Sung-won, commanding officer for Chungmugong Yi Sun-sin. "We have demonstrated seamless teamwork and the ability to respond promptly in any situation." During the training, Chungmugong Yi Sun-sin operated in support of Combined Task Force (CTF) 151, one of four operational task forces under Combined Maritime Forces, which includes 38 member-nations and partners. CTF 151 conducts counter-piracy missions led by Republic of Korea Navy Rear Adm. Ko Seung-bum. "Our warships have once again joined forces. Through continuous training, we will strengthen the combined operational capabilities," said Ko. Luigi Rizzo participated while operating under Task Force (TF) 465, a multinational naval unit from European Union Naval Forces that also focuses on countering piracy in the Middle East. Task forces from Combined Maritime Forces and European Union Naval Forces regularly collaborate to enhance interoperability through combined patrols and joint training. Japanese and Italian navy warships previously conducted combined training in the Gulf of Aden, April 8, while supporting CTF 151 and TF 465 respectively. Established in 2009, CTF 151 conducts maritime security operations to deter, disrupt and suppress piracy and armed robbery at sea, outside the Horn of Africa. The task force is headquartered in Bahrain with U.S. Naval Forces Central Command, U.S. Fifth Fleet and Combined Maritime Forces. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Biden Meets Yoon, Kishida to Counter North Korea, China By Patsy Widakuswara May 21, 2023 In a sign of warming relations between America's two closest allies in Asia, U.S. President Joe Biden met Sunday with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, in a trilateral meeting on the sidelines of the Group of Seven advanced democracies' summit in Hiroshima, Japan. "You have Japan stepping up in a way that's a real consequence in terms of the defense budget number one, and a beginning of a rapprochement with South Korea, Biden told reporters after the talks. Topping the meeting's agenda was the growing nuclear and missile threat from North Korea and China's rising assertiveness, two regional threats that have aligned the three countries more closely. In a statement, the White House said the leaders discussed "how to take their trilateral cooperation to new heights," including with new coordination in the face of North Korea's nuclear and missile threats, on economic security, and on their respective Indo-Pacific strategies. "A big focus for our three countries is improving our interoperability militarily and improving our readiness and looking for ways in which we can better prepare ourselves to meet our individual and our collective national security commitments to each other and to the region," a senior administration official said in a briefing to reporters Saturday. China challenge The leaders would also discuss the "economic challenges that they all face from the PRC when it comes to coercion," the official added, referring to the People's Republic of China's use of punitive trade measures for its political goals. The three leaders are largely aligned in their views of the regional threat posed by Beijing, National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said in an interview with VOA Friday. "Japan has put forward a new national security strategy which really gives them a stronger voice and presence here in the Indo-Pacific in terms of regional security," Kirby said. "And President Yoon helped author a new Indo-Pacific strategy that the Republic of Korea put out that dovetails nicely with our national security strategy." Yoon has sought closer ties with Tokyo and Washington, a departure from his predecessor, former President Moon Jae-in, who worked to strengthen relations with Pyongyang. Treaty allies Japan and South Korea are both U.S. treaty allies. After Tokyo's defeat in World War II, the United States occupied and pledged to defend Japan in exchange for maintaining a large military presence in the country. In 1953, in the aftermath of the 1950-53 war on the Korean Peninsula, the two sides signed the U.S.-Korea Mutual Defense Treaty which became the basis of U.S. continued military presence on the Korean Peninsula. However, Japan-South Korea ties have long been strained by historical animosity following Tokyo's brutal occupation of Korea from 1910 until Japan's defeat at the end of World War II. Despite some domestic opposition, Yoon and Kishida have continued their rapprochement by expanding bilateral security and economic cooperation. South Korea, which is not a G-7 member, was invited by Kishida to Hiroshima as an observer, along with the leaders of Australia, Brazil, Comoros, Cook Islands, Indonesia, India, and Vietnam. The city, now rebuilt from the devastation caused by the atomic bomb dropped by American forces that ended World War II, provided a poignant backdrop for the trilateral meeting amid increasing saber-rattling by Pyongyang. This year alone North Korea has launched at least 13 missiles this year, including three intercontinental ballistic missiles. Extended deterrence During the South Korean leader's state visit to the White House in April, Yoon and Biden signed the Washington Declaration, whereby Seoul agreed not to pursue its own nuclear weapons program, in return for a greater decision-making role in U.S. contingency planning in the event of a North Korean nuclear attack and a more muscular U.S. presence in the region. Yoon called the Washington Declaration "an unprecedented expansion and strengthening" of the extended deterrence strategy a term also known as the American nuclear umbrella. The trilateral meeting in Hiroshima is an opportunity for the leaders to discuss whether elements of U.S. extended deterrence can plausibly be applied to both South Korea and Japan, said Ken Jimbo, former adviser to Japan's Defense Ministry who now teaches at Keio University. "In that context, I think there will be a lot of chance that we will develop some kind of coordination mechanism together rather than one by one," he told VOA. In April, senior officials from the three countries agreed to hold regular missile defense and anti-submarine exercises together. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address US Inking Cooperation Deals with Papua New Guinea By Devianti Faridz May 21, 2023 U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has traveled to Papua New Guinea to sign defense cooperation and maritime agreements with the Pacific island nation and meet with regional leaders. The trip comes as China exerts its influence in the region. Blinken was visiting the capital, Port Moresby, in place of U.S. President Joe Biden, who cut short an Asia-Pacific trip to return to Washington for negotiations on the U.S. debt limit. Biden would have been the first U.S. president to visit Papua New Guinea. Blinken was expected to meet with members of the Pacific Islands Forum, a policy group that includes the island and other countries in the region and attend the deal-signing ceremony. The agreements call for developing military infrastructure, boosting support for the Papua New Guinea Defense Force and countering illicit transnational maritime activities. U.S. officials say that Washington is supplying $12.4 million in personal protective equipment to the PNG Defense Force, including ballistic helmets, flak jackets with armor plates, elbow pads, knee pads, and eye protection, to its border patrol and domestically for security operations. PNG's foreign affairs secretary, Elias Wohengu, has said the widely publicized defense deal maintains the country's sovereignty and is in line with its laws. At a press briefing, he told reporters no laws would be changed to enter into the deal. Secretary Wohengu made the statement amidst rumors of leaked documents regarding the defense cooperation deal that stirred debate and led to questions as to whether such an agreement could undermine national security. "There's no immunity for any foreign [military] personnel that would preside in Papua New Guinea. If a crime is committed, punishment would be carried out. To anyone spreading rumors that we will provide immunity, there is no fact in this agreement that speaks truth to those lies," said Wohengu. Since its independence in 1975, Papua New Guinea has signed similar security agreements with Australia and Indonesia. Wohengu stated that the agreement will not prevent it from engaging with other nations in signing future defense cooperation deals. Separately, the maritime deal, or ship rider agreement, is expected to cover illicit transnational activities at sea. U.S. officials say the maritime agreement will enable the U.S. Coast Guard to work alongside PNG naval patrols to combat illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing by closing global gaps in enforcement. Apart from security concerns, climate change has been one of the issues central to cooperation between the United States and Papua New Guinea. The State Department says that through USAID, the United States will provide an additional $12.5 million to help Papua New Guinea strengthen critical resources and systems needed to make communities more climate resilient. Aid to the nation is also expected to address electricity needs. Meanwhile, the Associated Press has cited Chinese officials as warning against the introduction of "geopolitical games" in the South Pacific. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin was quoted at a recent briefing as saying Beijing opposes "any introduction of any geopolitical games into the Pacific Island country region." The comments followed the announcement of Blinken's visit to Papua New Guinea. Paul Rowland, a foreign affairs analyst who has lived in Papua New Guinea, says U.S. engagement with the Pacific Island countries has increased since 2018 when then-Vice President Pence visited the Solomon Islands. He notes that Chinese officials traveled to the region three times since 2018 and signed a security agreement with the Solomon Islands in 2022. Rowland says in hindsight, there has been a long history of U.S. engagement with the region. "If you go to islands, there's a place called Ironbottom Sound, which is there's kind of Japanese and American and Australian ships at the bottom of that where major battles were fought. So, this goes back almost a century. So that's not new. What is new is the real sort of engagement. Opening of new diplomatic missions. Opening of new military bases in Papua New Guinea, for example, the U.S. Navy and military is helping along with the Australians to recondition and upgrade the naval facilities in Papua New Guinea," Rowland explained. Recently, the United States reopened its embassy in the Solomon Islands after a 30-year absence and plans to open its posts in Vanuatu and Tonga. Some information provided by the Associated Press and Reuters news agency. Some information also provided from VOA files. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Remarks by President Biden in a Press Conference May 21, 2023 Hilton Hiroshima Hiroshima, Japan 6:57 P.M. JST THE PRESIDENT: Please have a seat. I don't think there's enough press here. (Laughs.) Well, good evening, everyone. Before turning to the important work we accomplished here at the G7, I want to take a few minutes addressing the budget negotiations that I'm heading back home to to deal with. Before I left for this trip, I met with all four congressional leaders, and we agreed the only way to move forward was on a bipartisan agreement. And we've I've done my part. We put forward a proposal that cuts spending by more than a trillion dollars, and on top of the nearly $3 trillion in deficit reduction that I previously proposed through the combination of spending cuts and new revenues. Now it's time for the other side to move their from their extreme positions, because much of what they've already proposed is simply, quite frankly, unacceptable. And so, let me be clear: I'm not going to agree to a deal that protects, for example, a $30 billion tax break for the oil industry, which made $200 billion last year they don't need an incentive of another $30 billion while putting healthcare of 21 million Americans at risk by going after Medicaid. I'm not going to agree to a deal that protects $200 billion in excess payments for pharmaceutical industries and refusing to count that while cutting over 100,000 schoolteachers and and assistants' jobs, 30,000 law enforcement officers' jobs cut across the the entire United States of America. And I'm not going to agree to a deal that protects wealthy tax cheats and crypto traders while putting food assistance at risk for nearly a hundred excuse me nearly 1 million Americans. And it's time for Republicans to accept that there is no bipartisan deal to be made solely solely on their partisan terms. They have to move as well. All four congressional leaders agree with me that de- that default is not let me say it again default is not an option. And I expect each of the I expect each of these leaders excuse me to live up to that commitment. America has never defaulted never defaulted on our debt, and it never will. The Speaker and I will be talking later on the plane as we head back, because it's what five or six, seven o'clock in the morning there. And our teams are going to continue working. Now, we've had a we've had a packed few days here at Hiroshima and, I think, with very productive and important meetings at the G7 Summit. We also held the Quad meeting here in Hiroshima, rather than Australia, and important bilateral discussions with Prime Minister Kishida of Japan, Prime Minister Albanese of Australia, and President Zelenskyy of Ukraine, as well as the Prime Minister of India. This is my third trip to the Indo-Pacific as President, and I look forward to rescheduling my stops in Papua New Guinea and Australia later. I've spoken with the Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea, and Secretary Blinken is traveling there to meet with the Pacific Island partners at that moment. And I'm also going to be hosting and I've spoken with the Prime Minister hosting the leaders of the Pacific Island Forum in Washington this fall, because I was unable to make it to Papua New Guinea. And Prime Minister Albanese we're going to have a state visit later this year. And I also want to thank President [Prime Minister] Kishida for his outstanding and I'm not it's not hyperbole his outstanding leadership of the G7 this year, as well as Mrs. Kishida and the entire Japanese government for the hospitality they've shown to Jill and myself and our whole team. Being in this city and visiting the memorial on Friday was a powerful reminder of the devastating reality of nuclear war and our shared responsibility to never cease our efforts to build for peace. And together with the leaders of the G7, we have reit- we have reiterated our commitment to continuing to work toward a world free from the threat of nuclear weapons. Over the past few days have showcased the unity the unity of purpose among the G7. It's a very different organization that it was 5, 7, 10 years ago, because we're addressing the challenges that matter most to the world. We're united in our efforts to strengthen global health security, and yesterday I announced that the United States plans to contribute another $250 million to the Pandemic Fund at the World Bank to make sure the world is better prepared to prevent, detect, and respond to future pandemics. We're united in our commitment to climate action and accelerating the transition to a global clean energy economy by investing in the industries of the future. We're united in our push to build a more resilient and inclusive global economy that can better withstand the kinds of shocks that we've experienced over the last few years, including by building a more secure and more diversified supply chain. Through the Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment, which we launched last year at the G7 Summit in Germany, we've addressed the infrastructure needs that are holding back too many low- and moderate-income countries, particularly in the Global South. The United States has already mobilized more than $30 billion in PGII projects around the globe, a significant step toward our our collective pledge of the G7 to mobilize $600 billion in investment by 2027. And we resolved to reform the multilateral development banks to give them more flexibility and better able fight poverty by helping respond to global challenges. Now, we're also united in our approach to the People's Republic of China, and the joint statement released yesterday outlines the shared principles we've all agreed at the G7 and beyond in dealing with China. We're not looking to decouple from China, we're looking to de-risk and diversify our relationship with China. That means taking steps to diversify our supply chains, and we're not so we're not dependent on any one country for necessary product. It means resisting economic coercion together and countering harmful practices that hurt our workers. It means protecting a narrow set of advanced technologies critical for our national security. And those elements are all agreed on by the G7. Finally, joined here in Hiroshima by President Zelenskyy, the G7 reaffirmed our shared and unwavering let me say it again our shared and unwavering commitment to stand with the brave people of Ukraine as they defend themselves against Russia's brutal war of aggression and the war crimes being committed. Together with our partner countries, we reiterated a need for a just peace that respects Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity, both core principles of the U.N. Charter. Russia started this war, and Russia could end it today by withdrawing its troops from Ukraine internationally recognized borders and ceasing its assault. Until then excuse me the ability Ukraine's ability to defend itself is essential to being able to end this war permanently and through diplomacy. You know, and this morning, I once more shared and assured President Zelenskyy, together with all G7 members and our allies and partners around the world, that we will not waver. Putin will not break our resolve, as he thought he could two years ago almost three years ago. We're going to continue to provide economic, humanitarian, and security assistance to Ukraine so it can stand strong as long as it needs it. And today, the United States announced our latest tranche of artillery, ammunition, anti-tank weapons, and bridging equipment to help Ukraine succeed in the battlefield. You know, in my private meeting with President Zelenskyy after the G7 meeting and his with staff, I told the United States, together with our allies and partners, is going to begin training Ukrainian pilots in fourth-generation fighter aircraft, including F-16s, to strengthen Ukraine's air force as part of a long-term commitment to Ukraine's ability to defend itself. We provided, the last year, all that they needed to deal with what they were dealing with at the moment, and that's what and now we're moving in the direction of putting them in a position to be able to be defend themselves in ways beyond what they've had to deal with so far. The past few days have once more underscored how important America's global leadership is. A presumptuous thing for an American President to say, but I think you'll find, if you ask if any of our colleagues, it's true. The security and prosperity of the American people are substantially increased by working in concert with our closest allies and partners to build a future of greater economic strength and resilience and a world that is more peaceful and stable. And on many of the issues that matter to the American people accelerating our clean energy transition, preventing another pandemic, dealing with China, standing up for Ukraine the meetings I've had with my fellow G7 leaders have left us more united, more resolved, and more determined to set up for the greater progress in the months ahead. And this has been an extremely significant and important summit. With that, I'm going to take some questions. And Trevor, of Reuters. Q Thank you, Mr. President. You spoke a moment ago about what you won't do in terms of your negotiations with Republicans. But I'm interested in what you've signaled you already might do. In particular, by conceding in these negotiations to some form of cap or freezing spending, are you concerned that Mr. McCarthy has already forced you into accepting a policy position that could tip this economy into a recession? THE PRESIDENT: No, I don't believe that's the case at all. As a matter of fact, I think that we can reach an agreement. As I've told you and you may be aware or you've seen it we have provided for a proposal that would cut a trillion dollars off the baseline spent from the year before by just agreeing to deal with what was initially offered. And secondly, we're in a situation where the let me put it this way: If you all were doing your budget at home, and you said, "Okay, we have to make some cuts," would you only look at the spending or would you also look at your income what was coming in the door to determine what you could afford? And so part of what I've been arguing from the beginning is a need to consider the tax structure as well as as well as cutting spending. I'm willing to cut spending, and I proposed cuts in spending of over a trillion dollars. But I believe we have to also look at the tax revenues. The idea that the my Republican colleagues want to continue the $2 trillion tax cut that had profound negative impacts on the economy from the Trump administration. The fact that they are we've provided for the number of we got a lot of input from serious economists and former administration officials in both parties that we need more people who are qualified to be able to look at the tax returns of the thousand billionaires in America very complicated stuff. It's estimated that if we had the appropriate number of tax tax personnel, that we would save somewhere between we would generate somewhere between $200 billion and $400 billion in tax revenue. And there's a lot of other for example, the idea that we're in terms of taxes that they refuse to for example, we I was able to balance the budget and pass everything from the global warming bill Anyway, I was able to cut, by $1.7 billion [trillion] in the first two years, the deficit that we were were accumulating. And because I was able to say too that the 55 corporations in America that made forty- $400 billion or $40 billion $400 billion that they they pay zero in tax. Zero. And so we said, "You got to pay a minimum of 15 percent tax." What a horrible thing. You're paying more than 15 percent in taxes, every one of you out there. And so, guess what? We not only balanced the budget; we were able to reduce the deficit by $1.7 billion [trillion]. So there's a lot of things that they refuse to look at in terms of tax generation as well as what kind of people we're going to increase taxes for. And like I said, we're now down to we went from somewhere roughly 740 billionaires to about 1,000 billionaires in America. They're paying an average tax rate of 8 percent. Raise your hand if you want to pay 8 percent only. I think you'd all be ready to do that. So my point is that there's a lot of things that they refuse to entertain, and they just said revenue is off the table. Well, revenue is not off the table. And so, that's what I contin- we continue to have a significant disagreement on, on the revenue side. Q But you don't think the spending cuts themselves will cause a recession? THE PRESIDENT: I know they won't. I know they won't. Matter of fact, the fact that we were able to cut government spending by $1.7 trillion, that didn't cause a recession; that caused growth. Look, we have the lowest unemployment rate in over 50 years. We've created 12-point- I think it's -7 million new jobs, including 800,000 manufacturing jobs. We have moved in a direction where we're rebuilding and reconstructing America through the through the infrastructure act. Look, here's the other thing. I'm sure I'm not sure; my guess is I'll get a question about, you know, "Well, wait a minute, you know, the American people aren't satisfied." Well, guess what? As I told you all before, most of this what we passed doesn't kick in it only kicks in over time. And so, the fact is, for example, that if you're in a situation where you were I'll give you the one example that I've used everybody understands the easiest is insulin. Well, I decided that we were going to be in a position where we were not going to continue to pay the highest drug prices in the world. And that's what we do, by the way. Same manufacturer of a drug in the United States, selling it here in Japan, selling it in Tokyo, or selling it in Berlin, or selling it around the world, they pay a lot less than we pay at home. So we said a simple proposition: Let's take a look at how much it costs to make the product. And I'm not going to ask you to a show of hands like I do in a town meeting, but I usually ask, "How many people know somebody who has Type 1 or Type 1 diabetes?" And I'm almost at least half the audience raises their hand. Well, they were paying somewhere between $4- and $700 a month for their insulin that they badly need to stay healthy and alive. Well, guess what? It costs $10 T-E-N $10 to make. To package, total amount, you could argue maybe as much as $13. Well, guess what? Now they can't charge more for Medicare can't, because Medicare is paying taking American tax dollars and paying for the elderly's healthcare needs. You can't charge more than $35 for that that drug. That saves $160 billion. Hear it? A hundred and sixty billion dollars less will be paid out by the American taxpayer to help the elderly people on Medicare with a problem. Well, a lot of this is just kicking in. We're in a situation where next year, for the drug costs, no senior will have to pay total cost total cost of all the drugs, from expensive cancer drugs to whatever drugs they're taking, will not have to pay more than $3,500 a year. The following year -we've already passed this. This is law now. The following year, they won't have to pay more than $2,000. That saves another $200 billion that we're paying out. But the other team won't count this. Even though it's the law we passed it they won't count that as reducing the debt. So there's a lot of those kinds of disagreements we have. And my guess is that I'm going to be talking to to the Speaker of the House on the way back on the plane, because it'll be morning time over at home. And I'm going to be in that plane in about an hour or so. And my guess is he's going to want to deal directly with me in making sure we're all on the same page. But it's probably more than you wanted to know. How about Masaru, NHK. Q Hi. Good evening, Mr. President. The Chinese military is more active at this time in the Taiwan Strait, with expectations this might increase leading up to Taiwan's presidential election next January. Despite despite some, you know, diplomatic communication recently between the U.S. and China, the military hotline is not working. Under this circumstance, how will you manage the diplomatic, you know, relationship with China? And how will you strengthen the U.S. alliance with Japan and ROK in order to counter China? Thank you. THE PRESIDENT: Well, number one, you're right we should have an open hotline. At the Bali conference, that's what President Xi and I agreed we were going to do and meet on. And then this silly balloon that was carrying two freight cars' worth of spying equipment was flying over the United States, and it got shot down, and everything changed in terms of talking to one another. I think you're going to see that begin to thaw very shortly. But in the meantime, what's happened is: I think it's fair to say, for those of you who have dealt with dealt with the Japanese government and reported from here for a long time, the situation in terms of our relations with Japan have never, ever, ever in American history been stronger. Never. Never. And we started this relationship when I came to see some of you were with me on my first trip here when I came to see President K- President [Prime Minister] Kishida's predecessor and made the case that what was happening in Europe was the sma- the world is getting smaller. What's happening in Europe and the invasion of Ukraine is it affects everyone, including people here in the Pacific basin. And so we've ended up where you have Japan stepping up in a way that's of real consequence, in terms of your defense budget, number one, and a beginning of a rapprochement with South Korea. I've spoken at length with President Loon [Yoon] of South Korea. He came to Washington of late. He's agreed we're all of the same agreement that, in fact, we are not going to we're maintaining we all agree we're going to maintain the One China policy, which says everybody kind of forgets I mean, you all know it, but the public kind of forgets that it says that neither country, Japan I mean, China or Taiwan neither er- territory can independently declare what they're going to do. Period. There has to be a mutually agreed to outcome. And so we're we're sticking by that. We're not going to tell China what they can do. We ma- we made it clear that we don't expect we don't expect Taiwan to independently declare independence either. But in the meantime, we're going to continue to put Taiwan in a position that they can defend themselves. And there is clear understanding among most of our allies that, in fact, if China were to act unilaterally, there would be a response. There would be a response. But I so I don't think there's anything inevitable about the notion that there's going to be this conflict between the United States and the West and/or Japan and Korea and the Quad. And if you take a look at what's happened, we are more secure, with all the talk about China's building its military it is building its military, and that's why I've made it clear that I am not going to prepare I'm not prepared to trade certain items with China. And when I was asked by President Xi why, I said, "Because you're using them to build nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction, and I'm not going to do it." And we've now got commitment from all of our allies they're not going to either provide that kind of material that allows them to do that. But that's not a hostile act. That's an act that says we're going to make sure that we do everything we can to maintain the status quo ante. And what's going on now is the look at the meeting we had here today today and yesterday of the Quad. I bet you I would maybe some of you thought it, but I doubt many people in this audience or any other audience would have said that two years after being elected, I'd be able to convince India, Australia, Japan, and the United States to form an organization called the Quad to maintain stability in the Indian Ocean and the South China Sea. Well, when asked by the Prime Minister by President Xi why we're doing that, I said, "Simple: We have international organizations have agreed upon what constitutes open airspace and sea space. And we're not going to allow that to be unilaterally altered. Period." We're not changing any rules, we're just making sure that we unite democracies in the conviction that the Pacific basin remains what it was before: open and clear. So I guess what I'm saying is I don't "guess" what I'm saying what I'm trying to say is I think we're more united than we've ever been ever been in the Pacific, in terms of maintaining stability and and maintaining a sense of security. So I'm not sure that answers your question, but I hope it does. If it doesn't, you want to follow up with any portion of that question? Q (Inaudible.) THE PRESIDENT: Well, how about if you don't want to follow up, how about Annmarie of Bloomberg TV and Radio? Q Thank you, Mr. President. You just said, "I'm willing to cut spending." Speaker McCarthy says that the U.S. government needs to spend less next year than they did this year. So will you agree to that? And on China, your team has been trying to secure meetings with their Chinese counterparts. Would you consider easing some sanctions to improve relations, like the sanctions that are currently on China's defense minister? Thank you. THE PRESIDENT: Yes and no. No, I'm not going to ease the sanctions. But, yes, I think we should on the front end of your question is that we there's a lot that is going on relative to spending. And we have agreed to cut spending. We've cut spending, and we're going to continue to cut spending. But the question is: What base do you start from? Initially, if you remember, when the Republicans introduced their when the Speaker, by, I guess, a four- or five-vote majority, was able to pass his what he calls extending the debt with a limitation on how what you had to do to extend it, in terms of the budget side. I said, I'm not going to negotiate on whether to extend the debt. I will negotiate on a budget. On the budget side of the equation, they came along and said, initially it was hard to determine where they are, quite frankly; and, I don't know, you all may know more from questioning them than I do. But they just came along and said, "We're going to move off of the 2023 budget, and that's the baseline we're going to use for the next two years that budget." And I said, "Well, what about what you all just voted on after the budget, which was the add-on money that you all agreed to and the House and Senate voted for?" And they said, "Well, that includes that as well." I said, "Okay, well, then we may be able to work on something." So we started calculating what that would mean, in terms of it came to a 22 percent cut for everything in the budget but the things that have already been passed the five big initiatives that I've already passed, in terms of infrastructure, the the Affordable Care Act, et cetera. But in the meantime, what happened is that that seems to be changing. They said, "Well, we're going to exempt..." remember we said that, well, you're going to cut veterans because twenty- (inaudible) said everything that's discretionary budget. They said, "No, we're not going to cut veterans." Okay, that's good. And we initially, when they started off, they were going to cut Medicare and Medicaid. They said, "Whoa, whoa, no." I mean, not Medicaid; Social Security and Medicare. They said, "No, no, no, no." The first time I ever had a negotiation in the State of the Union message. But they said, "No, we're not going to cut that." Okay, well, that's off off the off the radar. "What else is off the radar?" And they named some other things. And I said, "Well, that means if you want to get the number you wanted from freezing the budget at 2023, plus the additions you added, then it means you're going to go from 22 percent you're going to end up cutting 30 percent or 35 percent discretionary budget." For example, if you calculate what they're talking about, you're going to lose they're going to lose 100,000 teachers and assistants. They're going to lose thousands of police officers across the board. I mean, just calculate what it means if you take all discretionary spending and you make no distinctions other than what the percentage number of the cut is. And some of it makes absolutely no sense at all. And so what we've done is: We're going to have to sit down and I'm hoping that that Speaker McCarthy is just waiting to negotiate with me when I get home, which has been I don't know whether that's true or not; we'll find out. But at first, we weren't making progress. Then we made a lot of progress. And then, all of a sudden, they came back with a proposal that was very cut back from where they had agreed or discussed. And now I don't know where we we gave a counter-proposal to the counter again and I know this sounds ridiculous, but that's what we did and I'm waiting to hear the response to what we have offered. We are willing to cut spending, as well as raise revenue, so people start paying their fair share. Again, if this were a town meeting, I'd ask, "Raise your hand if you think the tax structure is fair remotely fair. What do you think?" Anyway. So that's the context. Q And on China, you will not lift sanctions on China's defense minister? Because Lloyd Austin was trying to meet with him, but he's currently sanctioned by the U.S. government. THE PRESIDENT: No, I know that. That's under negotiation right now. I thought you said would I lift sanctions on material I was going to send sell their defense department, meaning would I sell some the answer to that is under discussion. Jim Tankersley, New York Times. Q Hi. Mr. President, thank you. THE PRESIDENT: Oh. Q You speak a lot at these summits about the power of democracies to solve big problems. But I'm curious, in these meetings with world leaders, how are you explaining the possibility that American democracy could cause a global financial crisis if the debt limit is breached next month? And I'm wondering if you are offering them assurances that, whether it's by invoking the 14th Amendment or anything else, you will take whatever steps you need to make sure that doesn't happen. THE PRESIDENT: First of all, it would be a very serious circumstance if we didn't pay our debt for the first time in 230 years. That would be a serious problem. So far, there's been very little discussion and they all know what's going on about whether or not we're going to default on our debt. Number no, number two. Number three, I can't guarantee that they wouldn't force a default by doing something outrageous. I can't guarantee that. Number four, I'm looking at the 14th Amendment, as to whether or not we have the authority. I think we have the authority. The question is: Could it be done and invoked in time that it could not would not be appealed and, as a consequence, pass the date in question and still default on the debt. That's a question that I think is unresolved. And so, the point is: I think I'm hoping and I believe that when we stood in that when we sat in the room with all the leaders, from Mitch McConnell on, and they said, "We will not default. Period. We will not default." That's what all, including Kevin McCarthy, said. "We will not default." And so, I'm assuming that we mean what we say, and we'll figure out a way to not have to default. Elizabeth Palmer, CBS News. MS. JEAN-PIERRE: This is the last question, sir. Q Good afternoon THE PRESIDENT: Hey. Q Mr. President. What has President Zelenskyy told you about the big counteroffensive? And maybe you can start by telling us whether it's actually underway or not. And also, I'd like to ask you about the F-16s. You've greenlit them now. Jake Sullivan said arms and equipment go to Ukraine according to what he called the "exigencies of the conflict." So what exigency now exists that didn't exist that demands these planes? THE PRESIDENT: Well, I'll tell you exactly when they're going to move, exactly where they're going to go. He told me (laughs) come on. God love ya. I'm going to even if I knew precisely, you think I'm going to tell you what they're going to do in terms of their offensive? Q We (inaudible) hope. THE PRESIDENT: Well, I hope you hope I wouldn't do that, because that would mean it wouldn't succeed. But the fact is that we did discuss privately with with Zelen- I did discuss with Zelenskyy how let me put it this way: We and our NATO Allies know how many brigades they have trained, know what the status of those brigades are, and have an expectation as to what their likelihood of succeeding are. We don't know that for certain. War is uncertain. War is uncertain, to state the obvious. So, and my it will proceed. I can't if even if I I think I do know, but I'm not going to tell you because that would not be a smart thing to do either. So, having said that, the expectation and hope is that they will be successful in that it'll make it clear to Russia that the cost for example, Bakhmut: Bakhmut is a discussion about whether or not it's been lost or whatever. And, well, the truth of the matter is the Russians have suffered over 100,000 casualties in Bakhmut. That's hard to make up. That's hard to make up. So, whether or not there is there are troops in Bakhmut occupying there's not many buildings left standing in Bakhmut. It's a pretty devastated city. But they have been able to move in a direction that they've been able to lock down an awful lot of the Russian forces, including the Wagner Group. So, with regard to the F-16s, F-16s would not have helped in that regard at all. It was unnecessary. For example let's take just Bakhmut, for example would not have any any additional added consequence. But what's happened is: Since the provi- the provision of everything from the significant missile defense systems, tanks, sophisticated tanks and the like all the things that were of consequence in the near term in the Donbas area and where the fighting was taking place they now have all that equipment. There's a little bit still coming, but they have all that equipment. What's going to happen, though, is if they continue to do well, they're going to be in a situation where you're going to have the Russians being able to stand off at a greater distance for maintaining their headquarters and other things, which are out of range of certain of the existing capacity they have. And they have to be able to be in a position where now those fighter jets, those F-16s, make a big difference in terms of being able to deal with what is coming down the road. And God willing and we don't know this if they're successful and there ends up being an accommodation where there is not a ceasefire but there is a peace agreement that gets worked out, that they'll have the capacity to have confidence in their ability to resist response by the Russians if they were to change their position. So that's the essence of the difference. Was there another part of the question? Q No, but I have one. And that is: You do expect these F-16s to take part in this conflict? THE PRESIDENT: No. Not the per- I don't expect the F-16s to take part in the existing let's assume that it's not, but let's assume tomorrow the offensive was starting or in a week, or two, or five, or seven, or ten. It's not highly unlikely they would take place in that context. But it will take place in the context if they're successful in the near term, they're going to then continue to have to fight with the Russians, who have have headquarters beyond where they are now a- not able to be reached by the existing capacity that exists in their arsenal. So it's a different need, just like the tanks weren't needed in the beginning, but they're needed now. And so, that's that's the nature of the change. Q Mr. President, what assurances what assurances do you what assurances do you have that providing F-16s won't escalate this war? THE PRESIDENT: I have a flat assurance from the from Zelenskyy that they will not they will not use it to go on and move into Russian geographic territory. But wherever Russian troops are within Ukraine in the area, they would be able to do that. Thank you all very, very much. Appreciate it. Q Mr. President, one more on the Q How do you respond to the Kremlin calling this a "colossal risk," Mr. President? THE PRESIDENT: It is for them. Q And, Mr. President, on the debt limit, you said already, "I've done..." Q Can you speak to your experience Q "I've done my part." Do you think that if there is a breach, nobody is going to blame you? THE PRESIDENT: Of course no one would blame me. I know you won't. You'll be saying, "Biden did a wonderful job." (Laughter.) I I know you. Q I'm asking: Would you be blameless in a default situation? THE PRESIDENT: On the merits based on what I've offered, I would be blameless. On the politics of it, no one would be blameless. And, by the way, that's one of the that's one of the things that some are are contemplating. I actually had well, I got to be careful here. I think there are some MAGA Republicans in the House who know the damage that it would do to the economy. And because I am President, and presidents are responsible for everything, Biden would take the blame. And that's the one way to make sure Biden is not reelected. Thank you. MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Thank you, everybody. Q Mr. President, are you still weighing the 14th Amendment, or have you taken those options off the table? Q How would you respond to criticism that your actions and the G7 would lead to more Q Sir, is a congressional deal Q instability and division in the world? Q the only option here, or are you still weighing other unilateral or executive actions? THE PRESIDENT: We have not come up with a unilateral action that could succeed in a matter of two weeks or three weeks. That's the issue. Q So it's up to lawmakers? THE PRESIDENT: So it's up to lawmakers. But my hope and intention is: When we resolve this problem, I'd find a rationale to take it to the courts to see whether or not the 14th Amendment is, in fact, something that would be able to stop it. Thank you. MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Okay, the press conference has concluded. Thanks, everybody. Thank you, everyone. 7:36 P.M. JST NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address We and our partners use cookies to Store and/or access information on a device. We and our partners use data for Personalised ads and content, ad and content measurement, audience insights and product development. An example of data being processed may be a unique identifier stored in a cookie. Some of our partners may process your data as a part of their legitimate business interest without asking for consent. To view the purposes they believe they have legitimate interest for, or to object to this data processing use the vendor list link below. The consent submitted will only be used for data processing originating from this website. If you would like to change your settings or withdraw consent at any time, the link to do so is in our privacy policy accessible from our home page.. Russian Devolution Opponents of Russia talk about the need to divide the country into dozens of small parts. This was stated 19 May 2023 by Russian President Vladimir Putin at a meeting of the Council for Interethnic Relations. "Practically the entire arsenal of the West is directed against Russia," the president emphasized, "attacks on its values do not stop." Opponents, he said, have decided that multinationality is the weak point of the country, and are trying to divide it. "They say that Russia needs to be divided into dozens of small formations. And it's understandable why. In order to then subjugate to one's will, exploit it in one's own interests," the president said. Putin said that "idiots" who want to "decolonize" Russia do not understand that national diversity only makes it stronger. "This is the most important basis for our consolidation, which only grows stronger in the face of external aggression and threats, and our opponents, whom I mentioned, people with neo-colonial thinking, idiots, in fact, do not understand that it is this diversity that makes us stronger," Putin said. "I have already said that people who are guided by their neo-colonial ideas are idiots, and they would take second place in the competition of idiots," Vladimir Putin said. "Why only the second one? Only because they are idiots," the president continued. Putin said that the opponents of the Russian Federation would strengthen their instruments of influencing the country, including through agents. He noted that the geopolitical opponents of the Russian Federation, along with agents within the country, also use "various kinds of political outcasts." "They are trying and will continue to try to rock the country from within," the president stressed. "We must keep in mind that they exist and that they will continue to be used for their own purposes by those who seek to shake us up, in their fight against Russia they will be used," the president said. Branches of the Assembly of Peoples of Russia should be opened in every region. "There are separate areas in the programs for the socio-economic development of our new regions of Russia that accumulate all the work to strengthen the common civic identity, ensure interethnic, interreligious harmony. The activities in them must be specific and qualitatively measurable, clearly linked to the objectives of the State National Policy Strategy. These tasks are solved on the ground, and success largely depends on a direct dialogue between society and the state, constant interaction between representatives of the country's interethnic and national cultural associations and authorities, at all levels," Putin said at a meeting of the Council on Interethnic Relations. Despite growing talk abroad of Russias coming decolonization and the potential role of the war in Ukraine in bringing it about, several factors preclude the countrys disintegration along its regional borders. Alexey Gusev wrote 24 April 2023 "Russia is extremely unlikely to disintegrate along its regional borders for geographical, sociological, economic, and political-administrative reasons. Geographically, the borders of Russias regions and republics are essentially abstract, having been repeatedly redrawn between the 1920s and the 1940s. The resulting sinuous lines make as much social and geographical sense as the rectilinear ones for which the United States is so famous. Still, they can give the false impression of large national autonomies, belying, for example, that the Republic of Karelia is made up of 82 percent ethnic Russians and just 7 percent ethnic Karelians. In fact, of the republics seventeen districts, only three are home to Karelians." The US and its allies are seeking to preserve their power by dismantling Russia, with Western think tanks busy formulating the necessary plans, the secretary of Moscows Security Council claimed. In an interview published by the Izvestia newspaper on 03 May 2023, Nikolay Patrushev said "The West is trying to undermine the internal unity of our country and people, to demoralize our citizens, to inspire them with a sense of inferiority. Entire institutions in the US and Europe are working tirelessly to create the craziest pseudoscientific theories. <...> The West is trying to destroy the foundations of the all-Russian and national identity, doing its best to impose innovations alien to us, such as gender diversity and historical revisionism. He talked about how American foundations write supposedly scientific papers on how to maintain an unstable situation in states neighboring Russia and incite domestic Russian separatism. This, in the opinion of US experts working on behalf of the State Department and the Defense Department, should be staked on. Patrushev also spoke about the hushing up of Russia's role in the victory over fascism. According to him, now several American foundations are actively acquainting the elite in Washington with their scientific work on plans to split Russia. The project currently being implemented by the West to create "anti-Russia" aims to tear off the historical territories, today called Ukraine, from Russia. This was stated on 21 February 2023 by Russian President Vladimir Putin in a message to the Federal Assembly. The head of state recalled that the project of creating "anti-Russia", which the West is currently implementing in Ukraine, is "not new." Let me remind you that in the 30s of the last century, the West actually opened the way for the Nazis to power in Germany, and in our time they began to make anti-Russia out of Ukraine. The project, in fact, is not new. People who are at least a little immersed in history know perfectly well that this project goes back to the 19th century," the Russian leader said. "It was also nurtured in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, [it was nurtured] by Poland and other countries with one goal: to tear these historical territories, which today are called Ukraine, from our country. This is what this goal is, there is nothing new, no novelty , everyone repeats," the President stressed. "They have one goal: to dismantle the former Soviet Union and its main part, the Russian Federation. And then, perhaps, they will accept us into the so-called family of civilized peoples, but only separately, each part separately. For what? In order to push these parts around and put them under your control." "If we follow this path, I think that the fate of many peoples of Russia, and above all the Russians, may change dramatically. I don't even know if such an ethnic group as the Russian people can survive in the form in which it exists today. Well, there will be some Muscovites, Urals, and so on ... It was all in the plans, these plans - they are set out on paper. It's just that in the conditions of building relations, we tried not to talk about it for the sake of partner considerations. But it's all there, it's all written on paper. Well, now that their attempts to remake the world after the collapse of the Soviet Union have brought it to such a situation, well, of course, we are forced to respond to this." In 1941, Yurii Lypa published The Division of Russia. He foretold the dissolution of the Soviet Union (Russian Empire) and by extension the Warsaw Pact countries under Russian colonial domination. Lypa wrote "an unsuccessful competition for mobilizationforces of such large spaces and characterizes the entire history of Russia, that isthe history of the Russian Empire. In an effort to connect as much as possibleterrain and national antagonisms, the rudder shiftedRussia to the strangest thoughts. It is enough to mention the idea of ??indivisibilityof the people of Russia, or the third Rome, ch. last communistof the International". Former Reagan consultant Edward Luttwak wrote: "The dissolution of the Russian Federation is not the same as the collapse of the USSR . It is similar to the collapse of Austria-Hungary , which many celebrated in 1919 and mourned in 1929. Only if the PRC is dissolved first, can we get by without the Russian Federation. The dissolution cannot begin with Russia, because the parts that have separated from it, located between them, will become vassals of China." Russias war on Ukraine and before that on Syria, Libya, Georgia, and Chechnya exposed Russias imperial character to the entire world. Its aggression catalyzed a long-overdue conversation about Russias interior empire - Moscows dominion over many indigenous non-Russian nations, and the brutal extent to which the Kremlin has taken to suppress their national self-expression and self-determination. Serious and controversial discussions are now underway about reckoning with Russias fundamental imperialism and the need to decolonize Russia for it to become a viable stakeholder in European security and stability. As the successor to the Soviet Union, which cloaked its colonial agenda in anti-imperial and anti-capitalist nomenclature, Russia has yet to attract appropriate scrutiny for its consistent and oftentimes brutal imperial tendencies. Representatives of national minorities of Russia adopted a declaration on the decolonization of Russia in Prague 25 July 2022. The first Free Nations of Russia Forum took place in Warsaw on 08 May 2022, split from the Free Russia Forum. The second Forum of the Free Nations of Russia debated the radical reconstruction and structural transformation of Russia in favour of its nations and regions, according to a press release published by the organisers. The conference was attended by representatives of the Russian opposition, participants of regional and national movements, public activists, and experts, including former Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin. As noted in the announcements of the conference, if the famous leaders of the Russian opposition want to replace the bad Kremlin king with a good one, then the Forum of Free Nations is devoted to radically restructuring Russia, which should be decolonized, deimperialized, and deputinized, Novynarnia reported. A map was published on the forum, where Russia is divided into 34 states, including an independent Chechnya and Siberia. Political scientist Alexander Kynev said that the "little-known [separatist or confederalist] participants of the Forum, who have little understanding of the mood inside the country, presented a gift to Russian propaganda, which already periodically repeats that the enemies of Russia want to split and destroy it." "What happened was a gift to Russian propaganda, which already periodically repeats that the enemies of Russia want to crush and destroy it. It is unlikely that we are talking about conspiracy theories of the almost secret participation of Russian propaganda in organizing this outrage. Most likely, some forces abroad decided to hold the event, little understanding of the mood inside the country, not taking into account the extremely negative memories of the majority of its inhabitants about the relatively recent collapse of the USSR. Probably, they expected to stimulate centrifugal moods, but de facto they helped once again discredit the opposition (the layman will not understand that all this may have nothing to do with real opposition, both external and internal)..... "In the Russian Federation, according to the 2010 census, in all territories and regions, the share of Russians ranges from 80% to 95%, the lowest percentage of Russians is in the Astrakhan region (67.57%) and the Ulyanovsk region (73.58%). ... "In the worst case for the country, "shedding" is possible somewhere along the edges due to the border national regions with more cohesive elites and with the dominance of local ethnic groups (North Caucasus, Tyva). But do not forget that almost all of these regions are subsidized and depend on the financial support of the federal center." Leonid Volkov, the leader of the Navalny movement, said that there is no objective reason for Russia to disintegrate either while Vladimir Putin remains in power or after he leaves office, thereby seeking to calm both those who fear it is falling apart now or will do so without Putin in place, Kharun Sidorov said. The Navalny ally made that argument about the fate of the Russian Federation on a YouTube video ; Sidorov, a Prague-based Russian analyst, recapitulated his words and discusses them on the IdelReal pdrtal. According to Sidorov, Volkov dismissed as absurd the view that Russia will fall apart because it is so large and argues that it wont come apart as the USSR did because it is much more culturally homogeneous and unites regions that are economically interested in cooperating with one another. "Besides Chechnya, there are only a few regions in Russia such as Sakha Republic, Tyva, and a few republics in the North Caucasus which are ethnically, culturally, and historically to a much lesser degree part of Russia than typical Russian regions. But he argues that even these republics dont want to leave because they are subsidized by Moscow. Oleksandr Aleksandrovych [Ukraines Ambassador to Serbia since 2015], argued 18.09.2019 "Any attempts to pacify Russia and to do business as usual leads only to its increased arrogance, as was the case with the return of the Russian delegation to PACE. Any attempts to seek a civilized modus vivendi with Russians are a priori doomed to fail, because such a solution runs counter to the basic expansionistic mindset of the Kremlin regime, regardless of the surname of its current president and even irrespective of ideology or form of governance. The history of Moscow czars, Russian empire, USSR and modern Russian Federation reflects almost identical methods of both internal politics and foreign policy behavior. The Russian Federation within its current borders and with its current resources is not able to ever become a normal civilized nation. On the other hand, a Russia shrunk to the size of its current European territory, deprived of WMDs and of its permanent seat in the UN Security Council, has a big chance to become a responsible regional player, maybe even become a NATO or EU member, in peace with all its neighbors." Janusz Bugajski, a senior fellow at conservative Washington-based think tank The Jamestown Foundation, made the case for the dissolution of Russia, claiming it had failed to become a nation state, a civic state or a stable imperial state. Bugajski cited a range of factors that supposedly work against Russia, including a lack of economic growth, inequality, distrust in government institutions, the alienation of the population from the ruling elites, and disbelief in official propaganda. He concluded "Russia is not a nation-state like most of Europe, but a vast colonial empire that remains to be de-colonialized." In May 2022, US journalist Casey Mitchell called for the "decolonization" of Russia. In his view, the dissolution of the former Soviet Union should be continued, to end the rule of Moscow over the republics of Russia. Weeks later, the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe held an event discussing "the need to 'decolonize' Russia" because of "Russia's barbaric war on Ukraine", as they put it, calling for a conversation about Russia's "interior empire" and noting "Moscow's dominion over many indigenous non-Russian nations". Vladimir Putin himself already planted a bomb under a unified Russian Federation during the COVID-19 pandemic by shifting all the responsibility to the regional authorities. Now the regional authorities are starting to use these powers in a situation of political instability -- which is really unfolding now in Russia, despite the appearance of such police brutality. Against the backdrop of growing problems in the economy, a drop in the level of confidence in the Kremlin, the emergence of armed formations that are not controlled (in the future) by the center, this is an extremely risky adventure for Moscow. All of these - private military companies that report primarily to their leaders, regional "armies", which Kadyrov actually calls for - may well be the first step towards civil war. Under Russian law, the idea of regions carrying out their own individual military mobilizations is clearly illegal, said Sergei Krivenko, the head of the Citizen.Army.Law nongovernmental aid organization. "Russia, of course, has a federative structure," he told Current Time, the Russian-language network run by RFE/RL in cooperation with VOA. "But all matters of security and the formation and activity of the armed forces are exclusive functions of the central government. ... Any mobilization or the formation of separate military units outside the Defense Ministry or the National Guard should be impossible and illegal ....But, of course, it is possible, but it is illegal." NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Scenic area in China's Hunan prohibits drone flight for biodiversity Xinhua) 16:13, May 22, 2023 CHANGSHA, May 22 (Xinhua) -- Following recent raptor attacks on aerial drones, a scenic area in Zhangjiajie City, central China's Hunan Province, has moved to ban flying drones in order to better preserve biodiversity. Flying any kind of rotary-wing drone within the Jiutianfenglian scenic area has been prohibited in an effort to protect biodiversity and minimize the interference and damage to the bird habitat and breeding, said the forestry bureau of Sangzhi County. On May 10, a drone pilot was shooting a video in the scenic area and a raptor suddenly seized the drone. On May 14, a drone that had been deployed to find the original missing drone was also captured by a bird of prey shortly after it had left the ground. It's likely that the birds of prey attacked the drones because they mistook them for "prey" or "invaders" intruding into their territory, according to Jiang Fangming, an official with the Zhangjiajie forestry bureau. Some tourists and aerial photography enthusiasts like to fly drones to take videos of scenic spots less visited, such as mountains, canyons, and lakes, but do not know that drones may be harmful to birds, said Deng Xuejian, a professor at the College of Life Sciences at Hunan Normal University. The interference of drones can affect the normal activities of some small birds and potentially injure large birds such as eagles should they attack the drones, Deng added. Anyone who violates the ban will be punished by relevant departments according to law, and drone flights of official business can be launched after approval, according to the forestry bureau of Sangzhi County. (Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Liang Jun) Russo-Ukraine War - 21 May 2023 - Day 452 Su M Tu W Th F Sa 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 A number of claims and counterclaims are being made on the Ukraine-Russia conflict on the ground and online. While GlobalSecurity.org takes utmost care to accurately report this news story, we cannot independently verify the authenticity of all statements, photos and videos. On 24 February 2022, Ukraine was suddenly and deliberately attacked by land, naval and air forces of Russia, igniting the largest European war since the Great Patriotic War. Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a "special military operation" (SVO - spetsialnaya voennaya operatsiya) in Ukraine in response to the appeal of the leaders of the "Donbass republics" for help. That attack is a blatant violation of the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine. Putin stressed that Moscow's goal is the demilitarization and denazification of the country. The military buildup in preceeding months makes it obvious that the unprovoked and dastardly Russian attack was deliberately planned long in advance. During the intervening time, the Russian government had deliberately sought to deceive the world by false statements and expressions of hope for continued peace. "To initiate a war of aggression... is not only an international crime; it is the supreme international crime differing only from other war crimes in that it contains within itself the accumulated evil of the whole." [Judgment of the International Military Tribunal] The UK Ministry of Defence reported that since early May 2023, Russia has restarted frequent long-range missile strikes deep into Ukraine. They are likely primarily aimed at degrading Ukrainian air defences. Innovating on earlier waves of deep strikes, Russia has started more frequently integrating unarmed, surveillance uncrewed aerial vehicles (UAVs) into operations. These have included Russian-produced SuperCam UAVs which are relatively cheap and have sufficient range to fly over the cruise missiles' targets. Russia has highly likely adopted this tactic in an attempt to obtain more timely battle damage assessment and improve its targeting cycle. The Russian military's slow and inefficient targeting process has been a major weakness in its performance in Ukraine. However, slow surveillance UAVs are highly vulnerable to Ukrainian air defences. The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported that during the day of May 21st, Russian forces launched 4x missile and 45x air strikes, and conducted more than 30x MLRS attacks. Private houses and other civilian infrastructure were destroyed or damaged. The missile strikes on Ukrainian cities of Lyman, Slov'yansk and Kostiantynivk involved several S-300 SAMs that aren't high-precision systems, thus Russia once again proves to be using terror tactics against Ukraine. The threat of further missile and air strikes remains high across Ukraine. Russia continues to concentrate its main efforts on Kup'yans'k, Lyman, Bakhmut, Avdiivka and Mar'inka axes. During the day, 24x firefights took place on the specified axes. Bakhmut and Mar'inka remain at the epicenter of hostilities. Volyn' and Polissya axes: the operational situation has not changed significantly. Sivershchyna and Slobozhanshchyna axes: Russia continues to maintain enhanced military presence in the areas bordering Ukraine; Russian sabotage and intelligence groups were reported to operate in several regions of Ukraine bordering russia. During the last day, Ukrainian settlements of Progress, Studenok and Mykhailivka (Sumy oblast); Udy, Graniv, Zelene, Starytsya, Ohirtseve, Hatyshche, Pletenivka, Vovchans'k, Nesterne, and Budarky (Kharkiv oblast) were subjects to cross-border mortar and artillery fire. Kup'yans'k axis: Russian forces made attempts to improve tactical situation. During the day, the Russian occupiers conducted unsuccessful offensive operations in the vicinities of Masyutivka. Kam'yanka, Kolodyazne, Krasne Pershe, Petro-Ivanivka, Figolivka, Novomlyns'k, Zapadne, Monachynivka, Masyutivka, Tabaivka, and Berestov (Kharkiv oblast); Stelmakhivka (Luhansk oblast) were hit by Russian artillery and mortar fire. Lyman axis: during the day, Russian forces made unsuccessful attempts to advance towards Ivano-Dariivka. The vicinities of Nevs'ke suffered several air strikes. Russian artillery bombarded several Ukrainian settlements along the contact line, including Makiivka, Nevs'ke, and Biloghorivka (Luhansk oblast); as well as Tors'ke, Verkhn'okam'ians'ke, and Spirne (Donetsk oblast). Bakhmut axis: Russian forces continue to conduct offensive operations. Battle for Bakhmut continues. Russian troops made unsuccessful attempts to re-capture lost positions south of Ivanovs'ke. In addition, the Russian occupiers led unsuccessful offensive on Hryhorivka. Ukrainian defenders repelled all attacks. Air strikes took place in the vicinities of Bakhmut and Ivanovs'ke. Orikhovo-Vasylivka, Markove, Bakhmut, Ivanovs'ke, Bila Hora, and New York (Donetsk oblast) came under Russian fire. Avdiivka axis: Russian occupiers carried out unsuccessful offensive operations on Avdiivka and Pervomais'ke axes. They carried out an air strike in the vicinities of Avdiivka; The vicinities of Novokalynove, Berdychi, Stepove, Avdiivka, Sjeverne, Pervomais'ke, Karlivka, and Nevelske (Donetsk oblast) were subjects to artillery fire. Mar'inka axis: Ukrainian Defense Forces repelled numerous Russian attacks in the vicinities of Mar'inka. The adversary carried out air strikes near Mar'inka and Novomykhailivka. Heorgiyivka, Pobieda and Novomykhailivka (Donetsk oblast) came under fire. Shakhtars'k axis: Russian forces did not conduct offensive operations. At the same time, Russian occupeirs carried out air strikes in the vicinities of Vodyane, Vuhledar, Prechistivka, Zolota Nyva, and Velyka Novosilka. Vodyane and Vuhledar suffered from artillery and mortar fire. Zaporizhzhia and Kherson axes: Russian forces stayed on the defensive. At the same time, they continue to destroy Ukrainian settlements along the contact line, including: Vremivka, Burlats'k, Novosilka, and Zelene Pole (Donetsk oblast); Ol'hivs'ke, Hulyaipole, Zaliznychne, Biloghir'ya, Mala Tokmachka, Mali Shcherbaky, and Kam'ians'ke (Zaporizhzhia oblast); Tyaginka (Kherson oblast), and the city of Kherson. Stanislav (Kherson oblast) suffered from air strikes. Russia makes efforts to limit access of the civilian population on the temporarily occupied territories of Kherson oblast to mobile communications. The Russian occupiers dismantle substations, as well as relay towers. In addition, they limit movement of local residents to areas with a stable cellular connection. Ukrainian Air Force carried out 12x air strikes on concentrations of Russian troops and military equipment, as well as 4x strikes on anti-aircraft missile systems. 3x Russian reconnaissance UAVs of various types were intercepted during the day. Ukrainian missile and artillery units attacked 1x concentration of Russian weapons and military equipment, 2x ammunition depots, 2x artillery systems at firing positions and another important Russian target. The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation reported that in Kupyansk direction, aviation, artillery, and troops of the Zapad Group of Forces have engaged the units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) close to Molchanovo, Zagoruikovka, and Tabayevka (Kharkov region). In addition, actions of five sabotage and reconnaissance groups of the Armed Forces of Ukraine were thwarted near Sinkovka, Timkovka, Pershotravnevoye (Kharkov region), and Stelmakhovka (Lugansk People's Republic). Up to 85 Ukrainian troops, two armoured fighting vehicles, two motor vehicles, one Akatsiya self-propelled artillery unit have been eliminated in this direction during the day. In Krasny Liman direction, Operational-Tactical and Army aviation and artillery of the Tsentr Group of Forces engaged the units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine close to Nevskoye, Chervonopopovka (Lugansk People's Republic), Yampolovka and Serebryanka (Donetsk People's Republic). Actions of two sabotage and reconnaissance groups of the Armed Forces of Ukraine have been thwarted near Chervonaya Dibrova (Lugansk People's Republic) and Grigorovka (Donetsk People's Republic). The enemy has suffered losses of over 60 Ukrainian troops, three armoured fighting vehicles, two motor vehicles, one Gvozdika self-propelled howitzer, and one D-20 howitzer in this direction in the past 24 hours. In addition, an ammunition depot of the Ukrainian Armed Forces was destroyed near Novoyegrovka (Lugansk People's Republic). Artyomovsk has been completely liberated as a result of offensive actions by Wagner assault detachments supported by artillery and aviation of the Yug Group of Forces. The Russian aviation have made six sorties in this area during the day. The Group's artillery have performed 69 firing missions. Aviation and artillery of the Yug Group of Forces have foiled enemy's attempts to counter-attack from the areas of Konstantinovka, Bogdanovka, and Krasnoye (Donetsk People's Republic). Moreover, a road bridge used by the Ukrainian troops to deliver reinforcements to Artyomovsk and an ammunition depot of the 60th Mechanised Brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces have been neutralised close to Krasnoye. Up to 100 Ukrainian troops and mercenaries, one tank, one infantry fighting vehicle, five pick-up trucks, one Polish-made Krab artillery system, and one Gvozdika self-propelled artillery unit have been eliminated in this direction during the day. In addition, a US-made AN/TPQ-50 counterbattery radar station was destroyed near Kalinina (Donetsk People's Republic). In Donetsk direction, artillery, aviation, and troops the Yug Group of Forces eliminated more than 120 Ukrainian troops, one tank, two infantry fighting vehicles, one U.S.-made M777 artillery system, one U.S.-made M109 self-propelled artillery system, andD-20 and D-30 howitzers. An ammunition depot of the 67th Mechanised Brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces has been hit close to Kramatorsk (Donetsk People's Republic). In South Donetsk and Zaporozhye directions, units of the Vostok Group of Forces inflicted fire damage on the enemy in the areas of Ugledar (Donetsk People's Republic), Novodanilovka, Chervonoye, Novodarovka, and Nesteryanka (Zaporozhye region). Three sabotage and reconnaissance groups were also disabled close to Sladkoye, Vladimirovka (Donetsk People's Republic), and Levadnoye (Zaporozhye region). The enemy's losses in this direction during the day amounted to up to 50 Ukrainian troops, one infantry fighting vehicle, two motor vehicles, one U.S.-made M777 artillery system, and one Msta-B howitzer. An ammunition depot of the 102nd Territorial Defence Brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces has been obliterated close to Gulyapole (Zaporozhye region). In Kherson direction, up to 15 Ukrainian troops, six motor vehicles, and one Akatsiya self-propelled howitzer have been destroyed over the past 24 hours. An ammunition depot of the 123th Territorial Defence Brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces has been obliterated close to Stanislav (Kherson region). Operational-Tactical and Army aviation, and artillery of the Russian Group of Forces have engaged 103 AFU artillery units, manpower and hardware in 134 areas during the day. A Ukrainian S-300 surface-to-air missile system has been obliterated near Zheltoye (Donetsk People's Republic). The command post of the 102nd Territorial Defence Brigade has been hit near Poltavka (Zaporozhye region). Air defence forces have intercepted fifteen HIMARS, Uragan MLRS projectiles, and Storm Shadow long-range cruise missiles during the day. In addition, nine Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles were obliterated in the areas of Lozovoye, Terny, Vodyanoye, Novoandreyevka (Donetsk People's Republic), Chervonaya Dibrova (Lugansk People's Republic), and Energodar (Zaporozhye region). In total, 428 airplanes and 234 helicopters, 4,245 unmanned aerial vehicles, 424 anti-aircraft missile systems, 9,251 tanks and other armoured fighting vehicles, 1,100 combat vehicles equipped with multiple rocket-launching systems, 4,871 field artillery cannons and mortars, as well as 10,365 units of special military hardware have been destroyed during the special military operation. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address 2023 Quad Leaders' Summit Media release 20 May 2023 Prime Minister On 20 May, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese met with Quad Leaders Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi of India, Prime Minister Kishida Fumio of Japan, and President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. of the United States, in Hiroshima for the 2023 Quad Leaders' Summit. The Quad is a diplomatic partnership of four countries committed to promoting stability, resilience and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific. Australia, India, Japan and the United States share a vision for a region that is governed by accepted rules and norms, where all countries can cooperate, trade and thrive. Quad Leaders discussed regional challenges and ways to deepen existing Quad cooperation, including in the areas of climate and clean energy, health security, infrastructure, critical & emerging technology, cyber and space. Leaders released a Joint Leaders' Statement, and the Quad Leaders' Vision Statement, setting out a shared vision for the Quad and the Indo-Pacific region. Leaders announced the 2023 Quad Leaders' Summit outcomes demonstrating the Quad's positive, practical agenda, and highlighting the Quad's commitment to deliver for the Indo-Pacific. Key outcomes include: A 'Quad Statement of Principles on Clean Energy Supply Chains in the Indo-Pacific' and, to implement these principles, a 'Clean Energy Supply Chains Diversification Program' that will accelerate access to affordable, reliable and secure clean energy in the Indo-Pacific; A 'Quad Health Security Partnership' that will boost the region's capability to respond to future disease outbreaks and other health emergencies; A 'Quad Partnership for Cable Connectivity and Resilience' to help Indo-Pacific countries access resilient infrastructure - in a way that is fit for purpose and meets their needs; A 'Quad Infrastructure Fellowships Program' that will support the Indo-Pacific's next generation of engineers, consultants and government officials to deliver high-quality, sustainable, climate-resilient infrastructure; and An Open RAN (Open Radio Access Network) deployment in the Pacific that will be the first of its kind and will help improve digital connectivity and access to advanced telecommunications technology. Australia's engagement in the Quad complements our engagement in the Indo-Pacific bilaterally and through regional institutions, such as ASEAN and the Pacific Islands Forum. Prime Minister Albanese looks forward to welcoming Prime Minister Modi to Sydney next week. Quotes attributable to the Prime Minister Anthony Albanese: "While the Summit couldn't take place in Sydney as planned, I'm pleased to have convened a Quad meeting with counterparts today to discuss pressing challenges facing the Indo-Pacific region and deepening the Quad's cooperation." "The Quad Leaders coming together in-person sends a strong message about Quad unity and what the group is able to achieve together. Australia is always better off when we work together with our close friends and partners, and engage openly and constructively." "At its core, the Quad's agenda is positive and practical. I was delighted to announce the 2023 Quad Leaders' Summit outcomes, which take forward the Quad's work on climate change and clean energy, infrastructure and connectivity, health security, and critical and emerging technology. We're delivering for the Indo-Pacific, and following through on our commitments." "I am proud of what we have delivered through the Quad so far, and I will continue to work closely with my Quad colleagues in support of an open, stable, and prosperous Indo-Pacific region, where sovereignty is respected." NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Bilateral meeting with the Prime Minister of Japan Media release 21 May 2023 Prime Minister Prime Minister Albanese met today with the Prime Minister of Japan, His Excellency Mr Kishida Fumio. The Prime Minister congratulated Mr Kishida on his chairing of the G7 and reinforced Australia's commitment to our special strategic partnership with Japan. The Prime Minister underscored Australia's commitment to remaining a reliable supplier of energy to Japan as both economies transition to net zero. The leaders agreed the broader trade and investment relationship was vital to the success of each nation. Leaders noted good progress in bilateral security cooperation under the Joint Declaration on Security Cooperation and their shared commitment to an open, prosperous and secure Indo-Pacific. Prime Minister Albanese thanked Prime Minister Kishida for Japan's support to convene the 2023 Quad Leaders Summit. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Belarus: Statement by High Representative Josep Borrell on the International Day of Solidarity with Political Prisoners European External Action Service (EEAS) 21.05.2023 EEAS Press Team Today we mark the International Day of Solidarity with Political Prisoners in Belarus, in memory of political prisoner Vitold Ashurak who died in the A kloA penal colony No. 17 on 21 May 2021. The cause and circumstances of his death have still not been investigated. Since the summer of 2020, the Lukashenko regime has made over 40,000 politically motivated arrests and pursued at least 12 000 politically motivated criminal cases. There are now almost 1500 political prisoners. The recent OSCE Moscow Mechanism report on Belarus documents that numerous political prisoners are incarcerated in appalling conditions and exposed to ill-treatment and torture. Those with serious disabilities and life-threatening conditions are being denied proper medical assistance. On 7 May, blogger Mikalai Klimovich, suffering from a serious heart condition, died in prison. His "crime" was to have published a caricature of Lukashenko on social media. The space for civil society has been severely restricted by Lukashenko regime and to-date over 1,283 non-governmental entities having been forced to liquidate. This, coupled with the regime's intensified repression has made any political debate and any expression of political opposition impossible. Systematic, widespread and gross human rights violations have been and are being committed in Belarus, which may amount to crimes against humanity, as stated by the UN Human Right Commissioner's most recent report on Belarus. Lukashenko also continues to undermine Belarus' independence and sovereignty by subduing the country to Russia and collaborating with Russia's illegal aggression against Ukraine. He brutally persecutes Belarusians for anti-war statements and for supporting Ukraine. On this day of solidarity, the EU demands Belarus to live up to its international obligations, and reiterates its demand for the immediate and unconditional release of all political prisoners. The EU stands firmly by the Belarusian people and will continue to work for justice for victims and accountability for perpetrators. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Prime Minister Justin Trudeau meets with President of Brazil Luiz InAcio Lula da Silva Prime Minister of Canada - Justin Trudeau May 21, 2023 Hiroshima, Japan Today, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau met with the President of Brazil, Luiz InAcio Lula da Silva, on the margins of the G7 Summit in Hiroshima, Japan. The Prime Minister and the President emphasized their shared priorities of protecting democracy and human rights, as well as promoting inclusive economic growth and ambitious climate action, including on biodiversity and environmental conservation in critical areas such as the Amazon. They agreed on the importance of ongoing collaboration with Indigenous Peoples to address climate change and to achieve meaningful reconciliation in both countries. The Prime Minister emphasized Canada's commitment to working with partners within the Americas to support peace and security across the globe, including in Ukraine as it fights against Russia's illegal and unjustifiable invasion. The leaders expressed concern over the deteriorating security and humanitarian situations in Haiti and reaffirmed the importance of a robust Haitian-led solution. Prime Minister Trudeau welcomed the opportunity to engage with President Lula and the leaders of other G7 partner countries on common global priorities. The two leaders exchanged views on pressing issues discussed at the G7, including promoting renewed and inclusive multilateralism through enhanced engagement with emerging and developing economies. Prime Minister Trudeau and President Lula agreed to continue working closely together as Canada welcomes Brazil's presidency of the G20 in 2024. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Xi Jinping Meets with President Serdar Berdimuhamedov of Turkmenistan Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the People's Republic of China 2023-05-18 21:28 On the afternoon of May 18, 2023, President Xi Jinping met in Xi'an with President of Turkmenistan Serdar Berdimuhamedov who is in China for the China-Central Asia Summit. Xi Jinping pointed out that over the past 31 years since the establishment of diplomatic relations, China and Turkmenistan have carried out friendly cooperation based on the principles of mutual respect and mutual benefit. He recalled President Berdimuhamedov's successful state visit to China in January this year, during which they announced that the bilateral relationship be elevated to a comprehensive strategic partnership and that a community with a shared future be practiced at the bilateral level, opening a new chapter in China-Turkmenistan relations. China is advancing the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation on all fronts through a Chinese path to modernization, and Turkmenistan is marching toward the "revival of a new era of a powerful state". The China-Turkmenistan relationship enjoys enormous potential and broad prospects. China is ready to work with Turkmenistan to keep bringing the relationship forward for greater benefits of the two peoples. Xi Jinping stressed that China firmly supports Turkmenistan in safeguarding national sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity and in pursuing a development path suited to its national conditions. China has always been a trustworthy friend and partner of Turkmenistan. The two sides need to fully leverage their complementary strengths, unleash cooperation potential, and upgrade bilateral cooperation in breadth and depth and on a larger scale. China is ready to expand cooperation with Turkmenistan in such areas as economy and trade, natural gas and connectivity, expand high-tech cooperation in telecommunication and aerospace, and support more Chinese enterprises in investing and doing business in Turkmenistan. Provinces and states at the sub-national level of the two countries also need to take actions to engage in more counterpart cooperation in line with their respective strengths. The two sides should take the opportunity of holding the year of culture in each other's country this and next year to deepen people-to-people and cultural exchanges. Xi Jinping pointed out that China and Central Asian countries, as closely interconnected as lips and teeth, and having stood together through thick and thin, have become a community with a shared future. China looks forward to working with the five countries to make the China-Central Asia Summit a success, promote the steady development of China-Central Asia cooperation, and uphold peace, stability and long-term security in Central Asia. Berdimuhamedov said that the Turkmenistan-China friendship has grown stronger with renewed vitality, and the bilateral relationship is based on mutual respect, equality and mutual benefit and enjoys broad prospects. Turkmenistan highly values its comprehensive strategic partnership with China and is ready to work with China to enhance the synergy between the "revival of the ancient Silk Road" strategy and the Belt and Road Initiative, bring into full play the role of the Turkmenistan-China Cooperation Committee, deepen cooperation in key areas like energy and innovation, and enhance people-to-people and cultural exchanges. The China-Central Asiaa cooperation mechanisms will provide new opportunities for deepening friendship and cooperation and will also be of great significance to the world. Turkmenistan attaches great importance to such mechanisms, and stands ready to maintain close communication and cooperation with China to jointly tackle challenges and promote regional security, stability, development and prosperity. After the meeting, the two heads of state jointly witnessed the signing of multiple bilateral cooperation documents in such areas as science and technology, and customs. Cai Qi, Wang Yi, and Qin Gang, among others, were present at the above events. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Xi Jinping Holds Talks with President Shavkat Mirziyoyev of Uzbekistan Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the People's Republic of China 2023-05-18 21:48 On the afternoon of May 18, 2023, President Xi Jinping held talks in Xi'an with President Shavkat Mirziyoyev of Uzbekistan who is in China for the China-Central Asia Summit and a state visit. Xi Jinping recalled his state visit to Uzbekistan last September, during which the two sides jointly announced the implementation of the vision of a community with a shared future at the bilateral level and the new characterization of bilateral relations. China is advancing Chinese modernization on all fronts and Uzbekistan is developing "New Uzbekistan" across the board. Both countries are at a crucial stage of reform and development, and faced with the test of the changing international landscape. China is ready to work with Uzbekistan to deepen all-round cooperation, and build a China-Uzbekistan community with a shared future. Xi Jinping emphasized that China firmly supports Uzbekistan in safeguarding national sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity, and in following a development path suited to its national conditions. The two sides should firmly support each other and be each other's reliable and trustworthy friend and partner. The two sides need to expand cooperation in economy, trade and investment, advance connectivity building, expand cooperation in energy and healthcare, and actively carry out sub-national as well as people-to-people and cultural exchanges and cooperation, and exchanges and cooperation in poverty alleviation. The two sides also need to carry out cooperation against terrorism and interference, and make due contributions to regional security and stability. Xi Jinping pointed out that the China-Central Asia Summit is a new milestone in the history of China-Central Asia relations, and will open a new era of China-Central Asia cooperation. China is ready to join hands with Uzbekistan to advance the building of China-Central Asia cooperation mechanisms and build an even closer China-Central Asia community with a shared future. Shavkat Mirziyoyev said that the successful convening of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China and that of China's Two Sessions this year are historic events with important significance for the world today, and fully demonstrate the endorsement and support of all the Chinese people for President Xi Jinping's grand development strategy. Shavkat Mirziyoyev expressed his belief that under the leadership of President Xi Jinping, China will surely be able to complete the building of a great modern socialist country in all respects on schedule, and make important contributions to world peace and development. Uzbekistan firmly adheres to the one-China policy, and is China's reliable all-weather strategic partner. Uzbekistan is ready to learn from China's experience in poverty alleviation, further deepen cooperation with China in various fields and strengthen people-to-people and cultural exchanges, actively implement the Global Development Initiative, the Global Security Initiative and the Global Civilization Initiative, and elevate Uzbekistan-China comprehensive strategic partnership to a new level. Uzbekistan is also ready to strengthen coordination with China in multilateral settings including the China-Central Asia cooperation mechanisms, to jointly promote regional security and development. After the talks, the two heads of state signed the Joint Statement between the People's Republic of China and the Republic of Uzbekistan, approved a plan for the development of the comprehensive strategic partnership in the new era between the People's Republic of China and the Republic of Uzbekistan (2023-2027), and jointly witnessed the signing of multiple bilateral documents on cooperation in priority investment projects, poverty alleviation, trade of agricultural products, and inspection and quarantine, as well as sub-national cooperation. Cai Qi, Wang Yi, and Qin Gang, among others, were present at the above events. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Xi Jinping Holds Talks with President Sadyr Zhaparov of Kyrgyzstan Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the People's Republic of China 2023-05-18 17:07 On the morning of May 18, 2023, President Xi Jinping held talks in Xi'an with President Sadyr Zhaparov of Kyrgyzstan who is in China for the China-Central Asia Summit and a state visit. The two heads of state announced the elevation of the China-Kyrgyzstan relations to a comprehensive strategic partnership for a new era. Recalling their two meetings last year, Xi Jinping pointed out that the important common understandings they reached during those meetings on China-Kyrgyzstan relations and cooperation in various areas are being implemented effectively, providing strong momentum for the development of bilateral relations. Xi said the China-Kyrgyzstan relationship has traveled a 31-year journey, and China is ready to work with Kyrgyzstan to build a China-Kyrgyzstan community with a shared future of good-neighborliness and shared prosperity, and to contribute to the development and vitalization of both countries. Xi Jinping stressed that China and Kyrgyzstan should strengthen mutual support, particularly by giving unequivocal and strong support to each other on issues concerning their respective core interests, and be good friends who can trust and rely on each other. Xi noted that the two sides need to further synergize development strategies and enhance policy coordination, advance pragmatic cooperation in various fields by jointly promoting high-quality Belt and Road cooperation, and upgrade trade and economic cooperation. The two sides also need to advance implementation of projects concerning people's livelihood and cooperation in such fields as poverty alleviation and rural revitalization, deepen connectivity cooperation, and start the construction of the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway at an early date. China is ready to import more quality agricultural and sideline products from Kyrgyzstan and encourage more Chinese companies to invest and do business in Kyrgyzstan. The two sides also need to strengthen sub-national cooperation and expand people-to-people and cultural exchanges to consolidate the social and public support for the development of bilateral relations. The two sides need to deepen security cooperation to provide a safe and sound environment for the advancement of Belt and Road cooperation and the development of the two countries. Zhaparov expressed his pleasure at visiting the historic starting point of the ancient Silk Road, and extended warm congratulations on China's successful completion of a series of major domestic political agendas. Zhaparov expressed his confidence that under President Xi Jinping's strong leadership, China will gain new and glorious achievements in various fields, and play a more important role in the world. He said the Kyrgyzstan-China relationship is now at its best in history. Kyrgyzstan firmly supports China's unswerving positions on issues related to Taiwan, Xinjiang, Hong Kong and other core interests, and supports the Global Security Initiative and the Global Development Initiative proposed by China. Kyrgyzstan stands ready to work with China to firmly support each other, maintain close communication and cooperation, and jointly promote the security and development of the two countries and the region. Kyrgyzstan will spare no effort to provide a safe and sound investment environment for Chinese companies, and continue to advance Belt and Road cooperation. Zhaparov stressed that the announcement he jointly made with President Xi on the day to elevate Kyrgyzstan-China relations to a comprehensive strategic partnership for a new era and the agreement they reached on building a Kyrgyzstan-China community with a shared future will take the all-round mutually beneficial cooperation between the two countries to a new level. Zhaparov said he has high expectations for the upcoming China-Central Asia Summit, and is ready to work with China to jointly build the China-Central Asia Summit into a new platform for closer bilateral and regional cooperation between Central Asian countries and China. After the talks, the two heads of state signed the Joint Declaration on the Establishment of Comprehensive Strategic Partnership for a New Era between the People's Republic of China and the Kyrgyz Republic and jointly witnessed the signing of multiple bilateral cooperation documents in such fields as economy and trade, industries and investment, customs, agriculture, and cultural and people-to-people exchanges. Cai Qi, Wang Yi, and Qin Gang, among others, were present at the above events. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Xi Jinping Holds Talks with President Emomali Rahmon of Tajikistan Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the People's Republic of China 2023-05-18 18:56 On the morning of May 18, 2023, President Xi Jinping held talks in Xi'an with President Emomali Rahmon of Tajikistan who is in China for the China-Central Asia Summit and a state visit. President Xi Jinping pointed out that since China and Tajikistan established diplomatic relations, the bilateral relationship has achieve leapfrog development from one of good-neighborliness to a strategic partnership and then to a comprehensive strategic partnership. China-Tajikistan relations enjoy deep historical roots, a solid political foundation, rich substantive cooperation and extensive public support. China is ready to work with Tajikistan under the new circumstances to enhance cooperation across the board, and build a China-Tajikistan community with a shared future featuring everlasting friendship, solidarity, mutual support and mutual benefit. Xi Jinping stressed that the two sides need to deepen all-round strategic cooperation on the basis of mutual respect and a high degree of mutual trust, firmly support each other on issues concerning their respective core interests such as sovereignty, independence, security and territorial integrity, and be each other's strategic partners of mutual trust. The two sides need to enhance synergy between their development strategies, advance high-quality Belt and Road cooperation, and deepen cooperation in economy and trade, connectivity, agriculture, major projects and other fields. China is ready to import more quality agricultural products from Tajikistan. The two sides also need to enhance people-to-people and cultural exchanges, run the Luban Workshop well, step up cooperation in education and media, and tell the China-Tajikistan friendship stories well, to cement public and social support for bilateral relations. China is also ready to strengthen cooperation with Tajikistan on law enforcement and security to safeguard the common security of the two countries and the region, promote the implementation of the Global Development Initiative, the Global Security Initiative and the Global Civilization Initiative, safeguard the common interests of the vast developing countries, and advance the building of a human community with a shared future. Xi Jinping expressed his confidence that with the concerted efforts of all parties, the China-Central Asia Summit will surely be one with rich substance and fruitful outcomes, and open a new era of China-Central Asia cooperation. Emomali Rahmon said Tajikistan-China relations are built on a high degree of mutual trust, mutual respect and mutual support. This year marks the 10th anniversary of the establishment of the strategic partnership between Tajikistan and China, and the bilateral relationship has become a primary example of good-neighborly friendship and sincere cooperation between countries. Tajikistan will unswervingly abide by the one-China policy, and stay firmly committed to developing the Tajikistan-China strategic partnership and building a Tajikistan-China community with a shared future. This conforms to the fundamental interests of the two countries and peoples. Tajikistan supports the Global Security Initiative, the Global Development Initiative and the Global Civilization Initiative proposed by China, and stands ready to foster greater synergy between Tajikistan's national development strategies and the Belt and Road Initiative, learn from China's development experience, and strengthen bilateral cooperation in such areas as economy and trade, production capacity, agriculture, transportation, green economy and people-to-people and cultural exchanges. Tajikistan is ready to work with China to make the first China-Central Asia Summit a success and build up China-Central Asia cooperation mechanisms. After the talks, the two heads of state signed the Joint Statement between the People's Republic of China and the Republic of Tajikistan, and jointly witnessed the signing of multiple bilateral cooperation documents in such areas as economy and trade, connectivity, science and technology, and sub-national exchanges. Cai Qi, Wang Yi, and Qin Gang, among others, were present at the above events. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Foreign Ministry Spokesperson's Remarks on G7 Hiroshima Summit's Hyping up of China-related Issues Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the People's Republic of China 2023-05-20 22:09 Q: It has been reported that the G7 Hiroshima Leaders' CommuniquA and other documents adopted at the G7 Hiroshima Summit contain comments designed to hype up China-related issues, including irresponsible comments on the situation in the Taiwan Strait and accusations regarding the East China Sea, the South China Sea, Hong Kong, Xinjiang, Tibet and China's nuclear power, professed G7 opposition to any unilateral attempts to change the status quo and claims about "economic coercion" that allude to China. What is China's comment? A: The G7 makesahigh-soundingaclaimsaabouta"promoting a peaceful, stable and prosperous world", but what it does is hindering international peace, undermining regional stability and curbing other countries' development. That simply shows how little international credibility means to the G7. Despite China's serious concerns, the G7 used issues concerning China to smear and attack China and brazenly interfere in China's internal affairs. China strongly deplores and firmly opposes this and has made serious dAmarches to the summit's host Japan and other parties concerned. Taiwan is China's Taiwan. Resolving the Taiwan question is a matter for the Chinese, a matter that must be resolved by the Chinese. The one-China principle is the solid anchor for peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait. The G7 keeps emphasizing cross-Strait peace, and yet says nothing about the need to oppose "Taiwan independence". This in effect constitutes connivance and support for "Taiwan independence" forces, and will only result in havingaa serious impact on cross-Strait peace and stability. No one should underestimate the determination, resolve and capability of the Chinese people in safeguarding China's sovereignty and territorial integrity. Affairs related to Hong Kong, Xinjiang and Tibet are purely China's internal affairs. China firmly opposes interference by any external force in those affairs under the pretext of human rights. The G7 needs to stop pointing fingers at China on Hong Kong, Xinjiang and Tibet and take a hard look at their own history and human rights record. China is a firm defender ofaand contributor to international maritime rule of law. The East China Sea and the South China Sea have remained overall stable. Relevant countries need to respect regional countries' efforts to uphold peace and stability and stop using maritime issues to drive a wedge between regional countries and incite bloc confrontation. As for "economic coercion", the massive unilateral sanctions and acts of "decoupling" and disrupting industrial and supply chains make the US the real coercer that politicizes and weaponizes economic and trade relations.aWe urge the G7 not to become an accomplice in economic coercion. China is firmly committed to a defensive nuclear strategy. We have honored our pledge to "no first use"aof nuclear weapons and always kept our nuclear capabilities at the minimum level required by national security. China is the only one among the five nuclear weapon states to have made those pledges. China's position is above board and should not be distorted or denigrated. I need to stress that as a responsible major country, China firmly upholds the UN-centered international system, the international order underpinned by international law and the basic norms governing international relations built around the purposes and principles of the UN Charter. China will never accept the so-called rules imposed by the few. The international community does not and will not accept the G7-dominated Western rules that seek to divide the world based on ideologies and values, still less will it succumb to the rules of exclusive small blocs designed to serve "America-first" and the vested interests of the few. G7 needs to reflect on its behavior and change course. Let me make it clear that gone are the days when a handful of Western countries can just willfully meddle in other countries' internal affairs and manipulate global affairs. We urge G7 members to catch up with the trend of the times, focus on addressing the various issues they have at home, stop ganging up to form exclusive blocs, stop containing and bludgeoning other countries, stop creating and stoking bloc confrontation and get back to the right path of dialogue and cooperation. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address MBABANE The woman who is suspected to have masterminded the robberies targeting businesspeople around Mbabane and Ezulwini is reportedly hiding in Mozambique. Immigration records that were reportedly obtained by the investigators reflect that the suspect left for the neighbouring country through Lomahasha Border Gate at around 11am on Tuesday. According to an insider, Nonhlanhla Nontsikelelo Manana left the country after learning from a friend that the wheels of justice were rolling towards her direction. Manana, who hails from Ngonini in Ezulwini but resides at Sitibeni in Mbabane, is now a person of interest to the police after information emerged that she was allegedly the person who orchestrated the crimes against businesspeople around Mbabane and Ezulwini. Operation It alleged that her mode of operation included organising South African nationals after scanning her targets and following them for days. The South African nationals, according to an insider, were housed in her flat, which is situated in Ezulwini. They would allegedly spend time, even weeks, studying their targets before robbing them in the comfort of their homes. Police are still pleading with members of the public to assist them to apprehend Manana. The source went on to narrate that in most of the robberies, Manana colluded with helpers or maids, who willingly or unsuspectingly gave her information on her targets. She would allegedly call the South African nationals and some local members of the syndicate and unpack the attack plan. They would then pounce on their targets when no one would be suspecting. The sources further revealed that Manana was identified after her South African crew, in an attempt to evade arrest from the South African Police Service (SAPS), left a bag with some of the spoils from their robbery sprees in Ezulwini and Mbabane. It was also revealed that she is linked to recent robberies committed around Goje and Mantenga townships in Ezulwini. The wanted persons notice comes a few weeks after high profile businesspeople, including a bank manager and their families, were robbed of their assets amounting to over E5 million at the beginning of the month. She is suspected to have been involved in the recent robberies, which include the bank managers home, where they robbed and tortured the occupants before walking away with cash, jewellery and other goods amounting to about E177 300. It was revealed that the female mastermind studied the bankers home for weeks before unleashing the syndicate. They allegedly asked for money, but were not pleased with the amount they found in the house and demanded bank cards and their PIN codes. It is alleged that two of the men then demanded the keys of a vehicle that was parked within the homestead and used it to drive to an ATM so that they could withdraw more money. They allegedly took the bank manger along with them to the ATM, where they withdrew E1 800 and returned to the house. It was previously reported that a similar incident happened around Pine Valley, where the robbers operated in a similar manner of ambushing a family at their home during evening hours. They allegedly forced the man, who they had targeted, to go to the bank with them and withdraw some money from his account. It was gathered that the robbers targeted expensive electronic gadgets as well as cash from their victims. PLA Eastern Theater Command replaces legacy aircraft with more J-16 fighter jets Global Times By Liu Xuanzun Published: May 21, 2023 07:22 PM The Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Eastern Theater Command recently replaced a batch of legacy aircraft with additional J-16 heavy fighter jets, a type of advanced warplane frequently spotted in routine drills and patrols around the island of Taiwan. After a brigade affiliated with the air force of the PLA Eastern Theater Command made a cross-generational conversion to flying J-16 fighter jets, an air group of the brigade recently carried out its first flight training with the new aircraft, China Central Television (CCTV) reported on Friday. Several J-16s took off from a training airfield in the northern part of East China's Jiangsu Province, headed toward a target region and completed a series of training maneuvers, marking a key step for the brigade to convert to flying the more advanced new aircraft, as the pilots began actual flights after ground simulator trainings, CCTV reported. "The new J-16 aircraft has more outstanding aerodynamic configuration and better control performances [compared with previous aircraft,]" Zhang Zhencheng, brigade deputy chief of staff, said in the CCTV report. It requires pilots to overcome some of their old flying habits to make the best use of the new aircraft, Zhang said. The cross-generational conversion indicates that the brigade likely converted to the J-16s from aircraft of previous generations, like the legacy J-7 or J-8 fighter jets, a Beijing-based military expert who requested anonymity told the Global Times on Sunday. This means a huge step forward for the brigade in terms of combat capabilities, the expert said. China has been decommissioning legacy aircraft in a move to modernize its warplane fleet, with the J-7 and the J-8 both on the list, according to media reports. Widely believed by analysts to be China's second most powerful fighter jet after the stealth-capable J-20, the J-16 is a type of 4.5-generation multirole heavy fighter jet capable of both air combat and land attack. It can also form a formidable partnership with the J-20, taking advantage of its strong payload-carrying capability, analysts said. Before the latest commissioning, a decent number of J-16s have already entered service with the PLA Eastern Theater Command, with the defense authority on the island of Taiwan frequently reporting sightings of this type of aircraft in routine PLA exercises and patrols around the island. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address China boycotts G20 meeting in Indian-controlled Kashmir Iran Press TV Sunday, 21 May 2023 11:14 AM China has said it opposed the G20 Tourism Working Group meeting scheduled to take place next week in the disputed Himalayan territory of Indian-controlled Kashmir and stressed that it will not attend the event. "China firmly opposes holding any form of G20 meetings on disputed territory. We will not attend such meetings," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said at a press conference. Saudi Arabia and Turkey have also decided not to attend the Kashmir event as the two countries have not registered for the event to be held in the summer capital of Jammu & Kashmir, Srinagar, Indian news channel NDTV reported. India replied to China's decision not to attend the upcoming event by saying that it is free to hold events on its own territory. "Peace and tranquility in the border areas are essential for normal bilateral ties with China," Prime Minister Narendra Modi told Nikkei Asia during his trip to the G7 summit in Japan on Friday. It also said peace and tranquility on its border are essential for normal ties with China. China's decision comes days after Chinese and Pakistani foreign ministers reiterated their opposition to "unilateral actions" in Jammu and Kashmir, and supported resolving the Kashmir issue as per UN resolutions. Ties between New Delhi and Beijing have also been hampered since a military clash in Ladakh in 2020 in which 24 soldiers were killed. Currently, a large chunk of Ladakh is under Beijing's control. Security in the disputed region of Kashmir has been heightened for the upcoming event, which is set to take place on May 22 to 24. According to Indian media, around 60 delegates are expected to attend the meeting, the count of which earlier was over 100 delegates. On 5 August 2019, India snatched the Muslim-majority state's special status by abolishing Article 370, and downgraded the status of the state to a Union Territory, thus transferring its powers to the Governor of India. The abolishment of the article also led to the further division of the Jammu & Kashmir state into two, giving birth to the Ladakh state. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Prime Minister's meeting with Prime Minister of the United Kingdom India - Ministry of External Affairs May 21, 2023 Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi met H.E. Mr. Rishi Sunak, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom on 21 May 2023 in Hiroshima on the sidelines of the G-7 Summit. 2. The two leaders reviewed their Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, including taking stock of progress in India-UK FTA negotiations. 3. Leaders agreed to deepen cooperation across a wide range of areas, such as trade & investment, science & technology, higher education, and people to people relationship. 4. Discussions also took place on India's ongoing G-20 Presidency. Prime Minister looked forward to welcoming Prime Minister Sunak in New Delhi for the G-20 Summit. Hiroshima May 21, 2023 NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Prime Minister's meeting with President of Brazil India - Ministry of External Affairs May 21, 2023 Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi met H.E. Mr. Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, President of Brazil, on 21 May 2023 in Hiroshima on the sidelines of the G-7 Summit. 2. This was the first meeting between the two leaders. 3. The leaders noted that this year marked the 75th anniversary year of establishment of diplomatic relations. They reviewed their Strategic Partnership, and discussed ways to further deepen it, especially in sectors of defence production, trade, pharmaceuticals, agriculture, dairy & animal husbandry and bio-fuels & clean energy. Both leaders emphasized the need to organize a high level meeting of business leaders from both countries. 4. The leaders exchanged views on regional developments. They emphasized the importance of continued cooperation in multilateral platforms, and the long-standing need of reform of multilateral institutions. 5. Prime Minister looked forward to welcoming President Lula in India for the G-20 Summit in September this year. Hiroshima May 21, 2023 NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Transcript of Special Briefing by Foreign Secretary on Prime Minister's visit to Hiroshima, Japan (May 20, 2023) India - Ministry of External Affairs May 21, 2023 Arindam Bagchi, Official Spokesperson: Very good evening to all of you. Thank you very much for joining us at this late hour in Hiroshima, where we are currently here for the G7 Summit where Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi arrived yesterday evening, and the summit is still underway. We just concluded a long day of meetings and other engagements and to give us a sense of what has happened so far and the day ahead we have with us Shri Vinay Kwatra, Foreign Secretary of India. Also joining us on the dais, our Ambassador of India to Japan, Shri Sibi George as well as Joint Secretary in the Ministry of External Affairs looking after Multilateral Economic Relations, Shri Ninad S. Deshpande. Sir, I would request you to make an opening comments and then we can take a few questions. Shri Vinay Kwatra, Foreign Secretary: Thank you very much Arindam and good evening, to all the friends from media and sorry for this late-night press briefing this evening. But it's just that meetings prolonged for as long as they did. We have come to the end of packed and intensive day one of the visit of Honorable Prime Minister of India Shri Narendra Modi, who is here in Hiroshima on the first leg of his three nation visit. As you may all know, Prime Minister arrived in Hiroshima late last evening, and his engagements today, began early in the morning. His day was structured in terms of his meetings into three parts. The first set of things which was spread all over the day, was set of bilateral meetings that he had during the day. His second set of formal engagements pertained to the sessions of the G7 outreach summit between the G7 member states and the invited outreach countries. And his third session pertained to the Quad Summit, which was held earlier this evening under the chairmanship of Australia. Honorable Prime Minister Anthony Albanese chaired that session. In terms of Prime Minister's bilateral meetings, he had four or five meetings during the day today. He started off his bilateral meetings with the Prime Minister Kishida, Prime Minister of Japan, which was followed by his meetings with President of Republic of Korea and Prime Minister of Vietnam. Later in the afternoon, he met with President of France President Macron and President of Ukraine, President Zelenskyy. As you all also know, just giving you a brief run of different bilateral meetings that Prime Minister had. Prime Minister Kishida as you all know, was recently in India, and today's meeting, in fact provide an opportunity to take forward the conversation which the two Prime Minister had held during Honorable Prime Minister Kishida's visit to India. During the bilateral meeting, the two leaders discussed the whole range of bilateral areas of cooperation. More specifically, the topics of discussions included the conduct of their respective presidencies of the two groupings that they are chairing - Honorable Prime Minister of India, the presidency of G20, and Honorable Prime Minister of Japan, the presidency of G7. Besides this, Ukraine, developments in Indo-Pacific and cooperation in Indo-Pacific, bilateral engagement in the fields of education, skill development, tourism, lifestyle for environment, that's Mission LiFE, which was launched by Prime Minister of India, green hydrogen, high technology area of cooperation including semiconductors, digital public infrastructure, training and capacity building engagement across the whole range of economic areas of cooperation. These were some of the areas which featured in discussions between Prime Minister of Japan and Prime Minister of India. During this meeting, Prime Minister of Japan also informed Indian Prime Minister that the Bodhi sapling that the Honorable Prime Minister of India had gifted in March this year when Prime Minister Kishida had visited India is being planted in Hiroshima. As I mentioned, Prime Minister's other bilateral meetings were with President of Republic of Korea and Prime Minister of Vietnam, in which the discussions focused on the whole range of bilateral issues as also developments in the region. During his meeting with the President of France, both leaders spoke about their commitment to the India-France Strategic Partnership, particularly in this 25th year of our partnership. Prime Minister conveyed to President Macron that he's eagerly looking forward to his visit to France for the Bastille Day celebrations on 14th of July, where Prime Minister of India will be the chief guest. With regard to the meeting with the President of Ukraine, you have already seen earlier on in the brief, tweets and the other details put out by the spokesperson. In meeting with President Zelenskyy, Prime Minister of India conveyed India's clear support for dialogue and diplomacy to find a way forward. Prime minister also said that India will continue to extend humanitarian assistance to the people of Ukraine. Coming to the set of sessions that were held under the G7 outreach summit between the G7 members and the outreach countries, Prime Minister of India spoke at both the sessions today. The first session focused on the different challenges which are currently being faced by the world, in particular the challenges relating to the food security, health security, developmental issues and gender. In his intervention during the session, Honorable Prime Minister made a whole host of suggestions in terms of how the current challenges could be addressed. In particular, he made a 10-point call to action at the session. I would briefly enumerate the thrust areas of these points which he mentioned. His first point was to focus on developing inclusive food systems, and particularly the kinds of food systems that protect the most vulnerable sections of the developing country communities including in particular, the marginal farmer community. Second, Prime Minister Modi strongly advocated adoption and awareness about millet. In his intervention, he brought out very clearly that millets provide a very strong path for strong good balanced nutrition. Through water conservation, they extend environmental benefits and have the propensity to grow well across different agro-climatic zones. Third, he focused on the various substantial problem of food wastage, and how the efforts to stem the food wastage can be directly linked to our efforts to strengthen food security. How less food wastage translates to greater food availability. That was the central thrust of what Honorable Prime Minister said. His fourth point pertained to the importance of depoliticizing the global fertilizer supply chains. He particularly focused on a challenge that expansionist tendencies in the world today are even trying to exercise complete control over the fertilizer resources. His fifth point again, relating to larger question of fertilizer security pertained to the need of developing alternative models to farming practices which are more fertilizer intensive. So perhaps more, you move towards organic farming, natural farming. His next step, next call to action was on developing, this is more as a part of health security, developing resilient healthcare systems. In the same context, he spoke about the need to promote holistic health care. And in that context, how does pursuit of traditional systems of medicine actually helps our objectives in achieving holistic health care. The next point of call for action, again, pertaining to the larger question of health security focused on digital health to ensure global universal health coverage. And again, linking it up to how the challenge of health security to address that challenge one of the critical needs is the availability of health professionals, healthcare workers. So there he emphasized the need of mobility of healthcare professionals across different economies in order so that the challenges of the skilled human resources in providing health security needs could be addressed. He also focused, this was the 10th point of call of his action, he also focused on the need to build development models that are actually inspired less by the needs of consumerism, more by the needs of the developing countries and the growth in the developing countries. This was the thrust ideas of his principal, his intervention during the first session. The second session of the G7 outreach Summit, focused on the theme of a 'Common endeavor for a resilient and sustainable planet', where the focus was on clean energy and environment conservation. During his intervention, the gist of it has already been openly shared with you. Prime Minister emphasized a critical point that when it comes to looking at these challenges, India, under the leadership of Prime Minister Modi looks at it as the need of planet Earth. Often, he emphasized in his intervention that we tend to look clean energy and environment conservation purely from the perspective of energy or power, whereas the context is much larger. Since the context is much larger, and we are talking about needs of planet Earth, focus has to be on looking at institutional solutions. In his intervention, Prime Minister Modi clearly outlined that as part of that focus objective to seek institutional solutions, India has put forward many such strong institution, global institutional solutions. And he listed many of them. These include Mission LiFE, Lifestyle For Sustainable Environment, International Solar Alliance, which was launched at one of the CoP sessions in Paris, Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure, Mission Hydrogen, Biofuel Alliance and the Big Cat Alliance; these are all set of institutional solution which look at the whole bouquet of challenges that we face in the field of resilient and sustainable planet. Prime Minister also highlighted the need for green and clean technology supply chains to be built in climate action, and he not just spoke about the solution, he also spoke about how the Indian farmers are adopting it as a matter of practice also. He, in particular listed the measures such as per drop more crop, which is essentially trying to increase the water use efficiency in the field of crop growth. And he also listed India's targeted efforts towards reaching our goal of net zero by 2070. The third session of the outreach, G7 outreach summit will be held tomorrow where the Prime Minister will, as required, make the intervention. For the outreach Summit part, the G7 countries and the guest country have also issued a communique today and that communique is called Hiroshima Action Statement for Resilient Global Food Security. The statement has already been released and it is available for you to go through. I will only mention that statement very prominently contains India's global initiatives which have been launched by Prime Minister Modi. These include International year of millet in particular, our G20 Research Initiative which we have launched on millets and other ancient grains, we call them as Maha Rishi. Three lifestyle for environment which I just mentioned is one of the institutional solutions we have put forward. And it also talks about other efforts which have been launched by us in this field. The last plurilateral engagement that Honorable Prime Minister had today was the Quad leaders meeting which was hosted by the Prime Minister of Australia, His Excellency, Mr. Anthony Albanese. And the meeting was attended by President of the United States of America, and the Honorable Prime Minister of Japan besides Prime Minister Modi. The meeting today of the Quad leaders provided an excellent opportunity for one, sharing their strategic assessment about the developments in the region, including in the Indo-Pacific as also, more importantly, their shared vision of activity-based cooperation among the Quad countries across a whole range of areas. I'm told that a joint statement and a vision document relating to it, has just been issued. You would find both the joint statement and the joint vision very exclusively focusing on the positive agenda of cooperation not just among the Quad countries, but also between the Quad countries both individually bilaterally as also collectively and the member countries of the Indo-Pacific. It's very extensive. It's very detailed. It's very promising in terms of where Quad has reached since its latest inception and where does it plan to go in months and years ahead. I will not repeat many of those but they are there for you to look at. Besides launching many of the new initiatives you will find that is for example initiative on clean energy supply chain principles there are principles on software secure for example, which have been adopted and will probably be released. Besides that, the four leaders also actually took a detailed stock of which are the areas of engagement which require rationalization, which are doing well, what more needs to be done to move on various things. And these naturally included Indo-Pacific Partnership on Maritime Domain Awareness. The Quad Investors Network what we call as QUIN, Clean Energy Supply Chain I've already mentioned. Besides his engagements in the formal engagements, bilateral, in Quad and G7 outreach summit, honorable Prime Minister also unveiled the bust of Mahatma Gandhi, which is a gift from the Government of India to the city of Hiroshima. The unveiling event was attended by senior Japanese dignitaries, as also the Indian community members. Prime minister also had a separate small introduction with two prominent Japanese personality, Dr. Tomio Mizokami and Ms. Hiroko Takayama. Tomorrow, as I mentioned, apart from the G7 session, Prime Minister is scheduled to have a few other bilateral meetings, details of which will be later on shared by the Spokesperson. The program tomorrow would also include a visit to the Hiroshima Peace Memorial, where the leaders will pay floral tribute. I would stop here. And if there are questions, I'll try and answer them. Thank you. Arindam Bagchi, Official Spokesperson: Thank you very much. So before open the floor for questions, the ground rules, please. Please introduce yourself and the organization that you represent. And because it's late hour, we'll do quick round of questions. Ayushi Agrawal: Sir Ayushi Agrawal, ANI. Sir during the meeting of our Prime Minister and Ukrainian President, was there any kind of discussion regarding the participation of Ukraine in our G20 meetings and summit? Because we have seen that in the past he has mentioned that Ukraine would, President Zelenskyy would like to, would be happy to address the summit. So any discussion on that? Also, if Zelenskyy has extended an invitation to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to visit Kyiv? Arindam Bagchi, Official Spokesperson: The question is did he? Ayushi Agrawal: Yes. If the President has extended an invitation to Prime Minister Modi. Speaker: My name is (inaudible) I am from (inaudible) newspapers. My question is also about meeting with Ukrainian President Zelenskyy. Could you please provide us some more details of the meeting, especially in regarding the request or maybe your proposal about mediation? Thank you. Arindam Bagchi, Official Spokesperson: About mediation? Speaker: Yes. Arindam Bagchi, Official Spokesperson: Okay. Sidhant: Hi sir. Sidhant from Wion, sir how much the Chinese aggressive actions within India and in the region were part of the conversation Prime Minister had with various world leaders including with President Zelenskyy and of course, with the French President? Also, during his addresses to the outreach meeting, were there any indication of how Prime Minister talked about the aggressive actions by the Chinese because this has been a dominating focus here at the G7. Arindam Bagchi, Official Spokesperson: Okay, yeah, please go ahead. No, no. Okay. Okay, maybe what we'll do since there are a lot of questions on Ukraine. Can we have any other question on Ukraine. Okay. Let me take the Ukraine. Yes. Vishal Pandey: Sir main Vishal Pandey hu Zee News se. Mera sawal yehi hai ki kya Ukraine ke rashtrapati ke dwara yudh rukwane ke liye koi baatchit ki gai pradhan mantri ke saath me ya koi aisa madyasta ki pesh kash ki gai? (Questions in Hindi: Approximate translation) Sir I am Vishal Pandey from Zee News, Sir. My question is whether in the talks between the President of Ukraine and the Prime Minister, any any request was made for stopping of the war or mediation of the war? Arindam Bagchi, Official Spokesperson: Since we are abroad, I'll just translate briefly. The question was whether any request for stopping of the war or mediation of the war was there? Marya Shakil: Yes. This is Marya Shakil from CNN News 18. My question is who had sought this meeting? Arindam Bagchi, Official Spokesperson: Which meeting? The one with President Zelenskyy? Marya Shakil: Yes and since this was, you know, his participation in G7 came at the last minute. That is the reason why I want to know who had sought this meeting? Arindam Bagchi, Official Spokesperson: I don't know if he came at the last minute. That's your presumption. Marya Shakil: Yeah. We did not know about it till the last minute. That's what I'm saying. And also, if we could get more details on the duration of the meeting, and what else was was communicated? Arindam Bagchi, Official Spokesperson: Duration of the meeting? Marya Shakil: Yes. Between the two sides. Speaker 2: Yes. Yes. Thank you very much. My name is (inaudible) from NHK Japanese Public Broadcaster. In the meeting has the topic related to Russian fuel have been raised in the meeting. Arindam Bagchi, Official Spokesperson: Russian fuel means oil. Speaker 2: Oil. Yes. Arindam Bagchi, Official Spokesperson: Okay. In which meeting? Speaker 2: (Inaudible) Gaurav Agrawal: Sir, this is Gaurav Agarwal from TV9, So in between PM Modi and Ukraine's President Zelenskyy they have talked about... PM Modi has stated that this is not a political or economic crisis. This is a crisis based on humanitarian crisis. So what sort of help India can provide to Ukraine on that humanitarian ground? And is there any plan to send some sort of help to Ukraine from India? Amrit Pal Singh: Amrit Pal Singh from DD India. What were President Zelenskyy's expectations from India in that meeting? Arindam Bagchi, Official Spokesperson: Okay, I think that covers. Yeah. Shri Vinay Kwatra, Foreign Secretary: Thank you very much. Let me for the purposes of simplification, let me take the yes, no answers first. It's I think, easier in that sense. So the first question which ANI has asked was the participation of Ukraine in G20 came up? Answer is no. Second question, trying to pick up another no, which I think colleague from NHK asked, did the Russian fuel come up in discussion? Answer is no. I'll go to the yes part of the question, which was, was Prime Minister invited by President Zelenskyy to visit Ukraine, answer is yes. So having got those yes and no out of the way, let me just move on to the substance of what was discussed between the two leaders. And more importantly, what did Honorable Prime Minister convey to President Zelenskyy on various aspects. One of the things which, the important things which Prime Minister mentioned in his meeting with President Zelenskyy was that he expressed his concern at the ongoing conflict and the situation in Ukraine and Prime Minister at some length mentioned the wider impact of the conflict on the countries of the global South, particularly the impact relating to the multiple economic insecurities, food insecurity, in some ways, fuel, fertilizer insecurity. And how that impact has particularly been very severe on the developing countries and the larger matrix of countries of the global South. This was discussed and highlighted by Honorable Prime Minister at considerable length. Prime Minister also mentioned to President Zelenskyy two additional things. And those are spread across various questions which have been asked. One, that India would continue to provide humanitarian assistance to Ukraine including in particular, the pharmaceuticals which is sometimes critical requirement. And secondly, which is on the larger context of the challenge of the conflict and efforts to seek a resolution to this conflict, Honorable Prime Minister clearly conveyed to President Zelenskyy that India, and Prime Minister himself would do everything in their power to find a resolution to the situation to this conflict through diplomacy and dialogue. To the specific question from our colleague from CNN about who sought this meeting, it was sought by President Zelenskyy. Duration of the meeting; well, I to be honest didn't clock it in that sense, but I would put it roughly broadly half an hour, give or take a bunch of few minutes here and there. I will leave that to you. That's in terms of all, I think Ukraine related issues. I think the question of what has been referred as mediation or as peace efforts, I've clearly said that PM conveyed to President Zelenskyy that India and Prime Minister himself will do everything in their power to find a resolution to the situation through diplomacy and dialogue. There was one question in between from Siddhant which was non-Ukraine related, which was on the whether the question of Chinese approaches in the region, including in the Indo-Pacific, etc, came up. During the Quad interface, as I mentioned to you in my opening remarks, the four Quad leaders shared their strategic assessment of the developments in the region, including in the Indo-Pacific. And they also focused very heavily on how the Quad leaders among themselves and Quad leaders with the other countries of Indo-Pacific could cooperate to pursue a positive agenda of cooperation across various domains of engagement, but also in a manner that mitigate some of the challenges that they see in the region. Some of these things also came up as required in the bilateral discussion, but most of the bilateral discussion, as I mentioned, focused on areas of bilateral cooperation, but also developments in the region. Takashi: Good evening, My name is Takashi from Asahi Shimbun. My question is about global South. Prime Minister Modi ji made a voice about the global issue during the outreach sessions. While the communique when I read communique, there is no term of the global South. So do you think the G7 countries are considering the issue of global South Seriously? Shri Vinay Kwatra, Foreign Secretary: Look it is not correct for us to comment on the G7 communique, because we are not a member of the G7. So I think those are questions that one should address to G7. But I would, you know, respond to the larger context of G7. And I'll take you back to January, when Prime Minister of India, Mr. Narendra Modi made a call for the global south countries to come together and share their priorities, share their concerns, share their interest, share their challenges, share what they expect from G20, share what they expect from the rest of the world. Prime Minister Honorable Narendra Modi ji invited 135 countries of the global South. 125 countries attended the summit, Voice of Global South. The summit itself was structured around six sessions. There were two leaders level sessions, bookends - opening and the closing. And there were ministerial sessions on finance, on commerce, on environment conservation, on development partnership. And here is what came out as voice of global South. When you say voice of global South, you know in some manner, these are individual voices. But in some manner, this is also a voice of a collective, which is countries of the global South. And the whole objective of the Honorable Prime Minister was to listen to that voice and also, in a way speak for that voice. Of course, as a member of global South, we are one of them. We are also voice of global South. So what did we hear? We heard very, very clearly that global South needs development partnership template, which does not burden them with debt. And you'll find a clear reflection of that in Honorable Prime Minister's intervention today when he spoke about developmental template. When the countries of the global South spoke, they said that there is a disproportionate impact of conflict in Ukraine on them. Food availability, basic food raw materials have dried up. Fertilizers too expensive. Oil not available, which is what Honorable Prime Minister has highlighted in his G20 interventions and also in G7. Now, you could quibble that it is not there in x-communique our y-communique. It is there in our collective conscience. If you're talking of matters relating to humanity, you would be, you know, I would say, you would be running away from reality if you did not actually look at what the needs, concerns and priorities of global South are. So global South, I would urge you not to dismiss it as a terminology. It is a sentiment, it is a real concern. It's reality of the challenges and the problems. And in all the bilateral meetings that my Prime Minister had today, every leader that he met, he spoke about, referred to the challenges of global south. So Honorable Prime Minister when he convened the Voice of Global South summit in January, had precisely this objective in mind. And I think you found those concerns being very, very clearly articulated, put forward forcefully in today's interaction at least a couple of them that Honorable Prime Minister had today. Thank you. Arindam Bagchi, Official Spokesperson: Thank you very much. Sir. Thank you also to our Ambassador Shri Sibi George and Shri Ninad S. Deshpande, Joint Secretary, MER. Thank you all for joining us. Good night. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Iran bans parliament membership for dual nationals, residency holders IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency May 21, 2023 Tehran, IRNA -- Iranian legislators have approved a measure banning individuals with permanent residency or citizenship of another country from running for parliament. Lawmakers approved an amendment to Iran's Parliamentary Elections Law during a session of the parliament on Sunday. The new measure will be added as the 12th provision of Article 30 in the Law. Based on the new provision, Iranian nationals holding permanent residency in another country, as well those who possess or have acquired citizenship of another country, will not be eligible for parliamentary seats. Lawmakers said the amendment is aimed at addressing concerns about dual loyalties and making sure that elected representatives have exclusive allegiance to the Islamic Republic of Iran. In 2016, the Iranian parliament formed a special committee to investigate reports that a number of Iranian officials, including some MPs, were dual nationals or had permanent residency of other countries. The parliament passed a bill in 2020, banning dual citizens from running for president in Iran. **2050**4261 NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Oil output at NISOC subsidiary at 0.561 mln bpd: Official IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency May 21, 2023 Gachsaran, IRNA -- Gachsaran Oil and Gas company, a subsidiary of the National Iranian South Oil Company, is producing 0.561 million barrels per day (bpd) of oil, according to the company's CEO. Gachsaran Oil and Gas company is capable of producing 0.652 million bpd of oil but is not operating at full capacity, Gholamreza Kamali told IRNA on Sunday. He also said that the company is responsible for producing some 950 million cubic feet (nearly 27 million cubic meters) of natural gas per day of which some 800 million cubic feet is supplied to Bidboland Refinery and the rest in injected to Iran's nationwide gas pipeline grid. The area controlled by Gachsaran Oil and Gas company straddled four Iranian provinces of Kohkilouyeh-boyerahmad, Khouzestan, Bushehr and Fars, said Kamali. 9341**2050**4261 NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Iran condemns terrorist attack on southeast border, urges Pakistan to act IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency May 21, 2023 Gachsaran, IRNA -- The Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman has strongly condemned a Saturday terrorist attack in southeastern Iranian county of Saravan which led to killing of five Iranian border guards. Nasser Kanaani said on Sunday that Pakistan, from which the terrorists had tried to illegally enter Iran, is expected to fulfill mutual agreements on countering terrorist groups. Kanaani further urged Pakistani authorities to do more to ensure security along the joint border with Iran. Iran believes that the terrorist attack on border guards was an attempt to damage cooperation and friendly relations between Tehran and Islamabad, especially after a May 18 visit by Pakistani Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif to Iran's Sistan-Baluchestan province, said the Iranian official. Sharif and Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi opened two border projects on Thursday after they met on the border between Iran and Pakistan. 1483**4261 NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Five Iranian border guards martyred near border with Pakistan IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency May 21, 2023 Zahedan, IRNA -- Six Iranian border guards have been martyred in Saravan County in Sistan-Baluchestan province, in southeast of Iran, in an armed clash with terrorists. The gunmen were seeking to illegally enter the country when they were confronted by border guards late on Saturday, according to a Sunday statement from the information center of the Iranian police. Saravan is located to the east of Sistan-Baluchestan, a province that has a long border with Pakistan and Afghanistan. An earlier statement had put the death toll among Iranian forces at six. However, police said one border guard had been resuscitated in hospital. 1483**9417**4261 NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address MBABANE Police have launched an intense investigation into allegations of extortion and cyberbullying at EPTC. For the past five years, it is said that some employees of the Eswatini Posts and Telecommunications Corporation (EPTC) have been subjected to extortion and cyberbullying. Extortion is the practice of obtaining something, especially money, through force or threats, while cyberbullying is a form of bullying or harassment using electronic means. The person who was reportedly scamming and cyberbullying the employees used a local and South African cellphone numbers. The caller would make the targeted employee to believe that she (caller) was hired by EPTC as a private investigator and in order for her not to divulge their corrupt practices to their superiors or on social media, they were expected to pay a large amount of money to protect their jobs. Refused A number of the targeted employees are said to have refused to pay the demanded amount and as a result, they were blackmailed on social media. Police investigations have reportedly found that the local number that was utilised to scam the employees belonged to a stepdaughter of a senior technician at EPTC, while the South African number belonged to his wife. It is reported that the caller sometimes demanded money ranging from E10 000 to E20 000 as a condition for the confidential and sensitive information to be kept under wraps. This has reportedly been going on since 2018. The breakthrough by the police came after one of the targeted employees alerted the law enforcers. The targeted employee is said to have pretended to the caller that he was willing to pay her in order not to disclose his alleged corrupt practices. This was after the targeted employee had received a call from the scammer, who was demanding money in order not to disclose his secrets or alleged corrupt practices at work. Last Monday, investigations led the police to Malunge EPTC flats in Mbabane, where the Senior Technician, Bongani Magagula, his wife and stepdaughter reside. On the same day, the police visited Magagulas workplace in Mbabane, where they confiscated a number of electronic gadgets, which they believe will be of great assistance as they intensify their investigations into the matter. The confiscation of the gadgets, which include laptops, cellphone and other electronic devices, comes after the police moved an ex-parte application at the Mbabane Magistrates Court. An ex-parte application refers to an application made by one party to a court without the notice of the other party. This means that an ex-parte applicant wants to seek a court order without giving the other party the opportunity to respond to the application. In this case, the police moved the application ex-parte as they reportedly feared that the implicated people might conceal evidence or delete some of the information in their gadgets in the event they were notified or served with the application. In the order, which was granted by Magistrate Lenhle Zulu, the police officers were authorised to search and confiscate any computer storage device, external storage device, stamps or any other material of evidential value at the office, flat or car belonging to Magagula and his wife. The court also ordered Magagula to disclose any password of a computer system to access computer data. Magagula was the first respondent in the matter while his stepdaughter has been cited as the second respondent. In his founding affidavit, Mbabane Police Station Desk Officer, Detective Assistant Inspector Akhona Dludlu, narrated to the court how the investigations started and the modus operadi that was employed by the alleged perpetrators in a bid to scam the employees. He brought it to the attention of the court that he was the principal investigating officer of an alleged extortion and cyberbullying of EPTC employees. These are allegations whose veracity is still to be tested in court and the respondents are yet to file their papers in the event they are opposed to the order being made final. It will be in these opposing papers where Magagula and the other respondent are expected to present their side of the story. The investigator told the court that during the course of the years 2018 to 2023, EPTC employees reported that they were being extorted by an unknown person(s) using a South African number +27657483994 luring them to make payments to the suspect(s) in exchange for not leaking sensitive information about them. Sensitive He related to the court that after not making payment, the caller would release the sensitive information to the public through social media platforms. Assistant Inspector Dludlu highlighted to the court that investigations were still ongoing and statements had been obtained as part of evidence collection in this case. Investigations revealed that the cell number +27657483994 belongs to Ntombifuthi Ndzimandze-Magagula, a 41-year-old woman of Phonjwane and is the lawful wife of Bongani Magagula, who is employed as a Senior Technician at EPTC. There was also another cell number in the MTN Eswatini network, which was used in the alleged extortion in this case 7604 1131, which when further investigated, it was gathered that it belongs to the stepdaughter of Magagula (EPTC employee), named Londiwe Dlamini. Through the evidence obtained, it is reasonably believed that they benefitted in the commission of the above cited criminal offence, submitted the investigator. Assistant Inspector Dludlu averred that in an effort to further their investigation and bring all the offenders who (allegedly) committed this crime to justice, he deemed it prudent to apply for a search and seizure warrant, to conduct search and seizure at the residential place or the person of Bongani Magagula and Londiwe Dlamini of the under listed items, which will assist in the investigation of the cited offence; electronic gadgets including cellphones, laptops and any electronically communicable devices. Warrant Your Worship, the relevant warrant of search and seizure has been made available for your authorisation. I know and understand the contents of this affidavit. I have no objection to taking the prescribed oath. I consider the oath to be binding to my conscience, contended Dludlu. Meanwhile, in October last year, EPTC launched a 24-hour toll-free whistle-blowing hotline, on number 800 23 23. The exercise was to be done in partnership with an independent service provider, KPMG Services (Pty) Ltd, a South African company. The corporations Managing Director (MD), Themba Khumalo, was quoted having said in their drive to prevent fraud and corruption, EPTC had set up an anonymous toll-free ethics hotline (800 23 23), which would enable third parties to blow the whistle anonymously and safely on all unethical conduct within the corporation. Khumalo said KPMG would be able to receive calls in both official languages of the country that is English and siSwati. I would like to emphasise that the hotline is based in South Africa, which will ensure the protection of the whistle-blowers identification, said the MD. He said the whistle-blowing ethics hotline 800 23 23 service could be used by members of the public, employees, customers and suppliers to report cases of fraud, unethical practices, conduct and abuse of company assets. Iran condemns deadly terror attack in southeastern border region ISNA - Iranian Students' News Agency Sun / 21 May 2023 / 16:27 Tehran (ISNA) - Spokesman for the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Nasser Kanaani strongly condemned a terror and savage attack in the Marzeh-Sar border in the Saravan region, which led to the martyrdom of six brave border guards. "The Islamic Republic of Iran believes that this cowardly act of terrorism, which was perpetrated by evil terrorist groups following the presence of a high-ranking Pakistani delegation headed by Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif at the opening ceremony of joint a border bazaar and an electricity transmission project together with the Iranian President at the Pishin border, was a targeted action against the security and interests of the two countries with the aim of preventing the common border to be that of friendship and cooperation and that of economic cooperation for the people of the two countries," he added. Kanaani said the Islamic Republic of Iran condemns the sinister act and expects the Pakistani government to implement the bilateral agreements to suppress terrorist groups as soon as possible and to try to improve the security of the common borders. Certainly, the objective of these terrorist groups is to disrupt the security of the common borders and the security of the people living in the border regions of the two countries, and the Islamic Republic of Iran, as in the past, emphasizes its efforts to expand security and develop cooperation in the region, the official said. He offered condolences to the families of the martyrs. He prayed for patience for the bereaved families and lofty divine positions for the martyrs. End Item NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address In wake of terrorist attack, Iran urges Pakistan to enhance border security Iran Press TV Sunday, 21 May 2023 3:45 PM Iran has vehemently condemned a recent fatal attack on its border guards in a southeastern region neighboring Pakistan. Tehran has called on Islamabad to honor bilateral counterterrorism agreements to enhance security on the border. Five Iranian border guards were killed in clashes with armed terrorists and anti-Islamic Revolution groups in Sistan and Baluchestan late on Saturday. Foreign Ministry Spokesman Nasser Kan'ani made a statement on Sunday. He said the "cowardly act of terror" undermined the security and interests of Iran and Pakistan. Local media reports said the attack was carried out by "a terrorist group which intended to infiltrate the country's border" but "fled to the other side of the border after the confrontation." Two days before the deadly exchange of fire, Iranian President Ebrahim Raeisi and Pakistan's Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif met at the zero border point in Iran's southeast to open a first of six border marketplaces that they said would lead to a significant rise in cross-border trade. "While condemning this evil act, the Islamic Republic of Iran expects the Pakistani government to implement the agreements between the two countries to suppress terrorist groups as soon as possible and to try to improve the security of the common borders," Kan'ani stated. "Certainly, the goal of these terrorist groups is to disrupt the security of the common borders and the security of the people living on the border of the two countries." Kan'ani said Iran places a premium on expanding security in the region and the development of cooperation. The Iranian official also expressed condolences to the bereaved. Pakistan condemns terrorist attack in Saravan The spokesman of Baluchistan Government in Pakistan, Farah Azeem Shah, also condemned the terrorist attack in the border region of Saravan. Stressing that the purpose of such acts of terror was to harm the brotherly relations between Pakistan and Iran, Azeem Shah said, "The time has come for the governments and nations of Iran and Pakistan to send a strong message to these elements." The Pakistani official said such cowardly behavior cannot disrupt friendly relations with the Islamic Republic of Iran. "Our joint trade and border development projects will not be affected by this issue and Iran-Pakistan interactions will be further strengthened." Saravan has over the past years been the scene of clashes between Iranian security forces and terrorist groups as well as drug traffickers. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Five Iranian border guards killed, one resuscitated after clashes with terrorists in southeast Iran Press TV Sunday, 21 May 2023 8:33 AM Five Iranian border guards have been killed in clashes with armed terrorists and anti-Islamic Revolution groups in the country's southeastern province of Sistan and Baluchestan. Local media reports said the fatalities occured in the Maze-Sar area of the border region of Saravan, located near Pakistan, late on Saturday as the Iranian border security forces engaged in a fierce confrontation with the terrorists. Earlier reports had put the death toll at six, but police announced on Sunday morning that one border guard, Reza Borji, was resuscitated in the hospital. The attack was carried out by "a terrorist group which intended to infiltrate the country's border" but "fled to the other side of the border after the confrontation." The deputy commander of the Iranian law enforcement forces and the head of border guards were reported to have visited the area to investigate the incident. The border region of Saravan in Sistan and Baluchestan Province has over the past years been the scene of clashes between the Iranian security forces and terrorist groups and drug traffickers. Last month, a senior Iranian police officer was killed in a terrorist attack in the southeastern province after unidentified assailants launched a surprise attack on him. Colonel Alireza Shahraki, chief of the Iranian Police Criminal Investigation (CID) Department in Saravan, was fatally shot on April 30 after unknown gunmen sprayed bullets on his car in an early morning ambush at a crossroad. Shahraki's wife was also seriously wounded in the incident and was transferred to the hospital to receive medical treatment. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Iran Navy flotilla accomplished round-the-world mission despite sanctions: Top general Iran Press TV Sunday, 21 May 2023 8:18 AM The chief of staff of the Iranian Armed Forces says the country's 86th naval flotilla concluded its historic voyage on the high seas to mark an outstanding achievement despite Western-led sanctions against the Islamic Republic. Major General Mohammad Hossein Baqeri made the remarks on Sunday as he addressed the official homecoming ceremony of the flotilla in the southern Iranian port city of Bandar Abbas. He said the flotilla, comprising domestically-manufactured Dena destroyer and Makran forward base ship, is a source of pride for the Iranian nation and a landmark accomplishment in the history of the country's naval missions. "Maritime prowess is among the most significant factors of our country's military might," Baqeri said. "We do not lack anything to achieve such an ideal, and are gifted with homegrown industries [and expertise] for that purpose. Our courageous commanders and marines undertake naval missions valiantly and fearlessly." The top general said the unprecedented move of the Iranian Navy in carrying out this difficult mission ushers in a new era for the Iranian Armed Forces, adding that, "The 86th flotilla of the Navy fulfilled a historic mission... Even major countries in the world do not have the courage to undertake such a [formidable] task. He noted that the Iranian Navy, reliant on the Dena destroyer and Makran forward base ship, went on the mission at the peak of sanctions. "Our forces sailed through a precarious route. Through faith, devotion and patriotism, our forces pulled off such an achievement," the top general said, stressing that dignity can only be preserved through the path of power. 'Iran established its naval might in oceans, high seas' Commander of the Islamic Republic of Iran Navy Rear Admiral Shahram Irani also said his force, through its deployment to the high seas and conclusion of the lengthy naval mission, has established and expanded its strategic depth, foresight in maritime prowess, and regional identity and influence. Irani said Iranian marines, under Commander-in-Chief of the Iranian Armed Forces Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, managed for the first time ever to employ modern technologies and know-how to convey the message of peace and friendship. The naval forces onboard Dena and Makran showed up on the high seas to declare that the Islamic Republic is impervious to isolation and sanctions, and it continues to tread the path of sustainable development through the promotion of interactions with world nations, the navy chief added. Irani also said that Iranian marines pulled off a scientific, political and cultural achievement. He argued that the great sailing mission of the Iranian Navy's 86th flotilla also confirmed that the US-led liberal world order has been replaced by a multi-polar world order, with new alliances being formed and emerging powers beginning to display their might. "Iran, with the discourse of resistance and mottos of peace and friendship, is passing through this transition period and properly placing itself in the new order. This is a sign of the waning power and hegemony of the US," he remarked. The 86th flotilla, which set sail from south of Iran in early autumn, returned home on Saturday after circumnavigating the world. It has officially broken the record for the distance an Iranian flotilla has sailed in international waters. The flotilla's return was hailed by top Iranian officials and commanders, including Ayatollah Khamenei who congratulated the "courageous forces of the 86th flotilla of warships of the Islamic Republic of Iran Army on their great and successful voyage." NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Deadly Storm Compounds Need for Aid in Myanmar By Ingyin Naing May 21, 2023 One week after deadly Cyclone Mocha, Rohingya survivors are desperate for help. Residents at a camp for Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) told VOA that the storm made hundreds of Rohingya refugees "disappear." The Category 4 cyclone destroyed bridges, power lines and huts in refugee camps and towns in Rakhine state, home to over 600,000 Rohingya Muslims, of whom nearly 150,000 are currently living in camps outside of the state's capital, Sittwe. "Every camp and village has been devastated," Aung Zaw Hein, a resident of Thet Kay Pyin camp, recently told VOA by phone, "there is nowhere to live and no food to eat." He himself has assisted IDPs, but said, "some injured people are not receiving medical care. The government hospital in Thet Kay Pyin has been damaged, and no clinicians are available. "We discovered more than 100 dead bodies as of May 16 while compiling death registers," Aung Zaw Hein said. "It is impossible to know for certain how many people have died and been abandoned in our area." "There are likely hundreds more as we saw bodies from coastal villages floating in the floodwaters during the storm," he added. There were at least 13 IDP camps in low-lying areas near the capital, with most of the residents of the camps consisting of Muslim Rohingya displaced after clashes with Rakhine Buddhists in 2012. On Friday, state-run MRTV said that, in addition to the 117 Rohingya, four soldiers and 24 locals in Rakhine had also died. The deaths were blamed on people who didn't leave their homes even though the authorities had told them to before the storm hit. VOA cannot independently verify the death toll. Language barriers and travel restrictions may have also contributed to the problem, Aung Zaw Hein said. "The majority of Rohingya IDPs do not speak Rakhine or Burmese, when we were given advance warning [it was] in those languages. We were not given sufficient assistance to escape our compounds," he told VOA. "It is difficult for us to flee the storm and save our lives, because we lack citizenship status. Even before the coup, without official permission, the Rohingya cannot move freely without fear of arrest." Local independent community organizations in Sittwe told VOA that the response efforts in cyclone-affected communities are failing and that they require extensive humanitarian aid. "We are understaffed and under-resourced," Wai Han Aung, a Rakhine humanitarian worker from Sittwe, told VOA by phone. "No longer is assistance possible anywhere. We would like to request that INGOs and NGOs immediately intervene." UN waiting for formal approval During a regular news briefing on Friday, U.N. spokesperson Stephanie Tremblay responded to VOA regarding the U.N.'s access to cyclone-affected areas in Rakhine. "We have requested unrestricted access for coordinated field missions to distribute aid based on observed needs, and we are still awaiting formal approvals," Tremblay said. She added that the U.N. assessment of the needs of the cyclone-affected region is "ongoing and ... will have more clarity in the coming days." According to a Myanmar junta statement on May 15, Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing said, "Relief teams must be dispatched to the storm-affected areas to carry out rescue and relief operations, as well as rehabilitation." State media also depicted Min Aung Hlaing touring cyclone-devastated areas of the Sittwe township. On Friday, the United Kingdom hosted a closed Arria formula meeting of the U.N. Security Council on the situation in Myanmar. According to the statement released by the U.K., the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) member states, ASEAN dialogue partners and countries bordering Myanmar were also invited to participate. Before the informal meeting, the U.K. mission to the United Nations announced new funding of $2.5 million for the initial emergency response to support communities impacted by Cyclone Mocha in northwest Myanmar. In their statement, they also called on other U.N. member states to assist those affected by the cyclone. In a statement, British U.N. Ambassador Barbara Woodward said, "The U.N. Humanitarian Response Plan for Myanmar is 90% unfunded. We call on member states to step up and support the Myanmar people - and we call for full, safe, timely, and unhindered humanitarian access so aid can get to those in need." During the meeting, Ambassador Kyaw Moe Tun, Myanmar's opposition envoy to the United Nations, warned the international community that aid must be thoroughly monitored to ensure that it reaches those in need. "They (the junta) have put undue restrictions on humanitarian access," Kyaw Moe Tun said. "These access restrictions, intimidation of aid organizations and weaponization of aid delivery for legitimacy purposes have made humanitarian aid operations significantly challenging and undermine humanitarian principles." Many residents affected by the storm live in coup-resistant areas farther inland. The storm brought torrential rainfall and gale-force winds to Sagaing, Magway, Chin, Kachin and northern Shan. Two female representatives from human rights groups in Myanmar, who also attended the U.N. meeting, accused the military of blocking humanitarian aid to these armed opposition areas, which is not without precedent. After one of Asia's deadliest cyclones, Nargis, killed 140,000 people in Myanmar's Irrawaddy Delta in 2008, similar accusations were made that were later shown to be true. The storm has brought more devastation to a country and region already facing many challenges, while bringing into focus the need for humanitarian aid. "This is the most difficult time of our lives," humanitarian worker Wai Han Aung said. "There are many problems, such as natural disasters, armed conflict, intercommunal conflict and regions where international communities struggle to carry out their duties effectively. We are experiencing extreme suffering." NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Terrorists Attack Pakistani Military Post in Balochistan, Three Soldiers Dead - Reports Sputnik News 20230521 MOSCOW (Sputnik) - A group of terrorists has attacked a military post in the southwestern Pakistani province of Balochistan, killing three soldiers, the Dawn newspaper reports. The attack occurred on Saturday in the Zarghoon area of Balochistan, Dawn said, citing a statement issued by Pakistan's Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the military's media affairs wing. ISPR said that the military post attacked by terrorists was established recently to "help check extortion efforts targeting coal mines in the area." One terrorist and three Pakistani soldiers were killed in an exchange of fire, as security forces retaliated, pushing back terrorists, the ISPR said. Dawn said that Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has condemned the attack. A Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address German Police Investigating Mysterious Illnesses Of Russian Activist, Journalist In Berlin By RFE/RL May 21, 2023 German police said they were investigating sudden, unexplained illnesses suffered by a Russian opposition activist and a Russian journalist who attended a conference in Berlin in April. In statement to RFE/RL, Berlin state police confirmed earlier reporting by the German newspaper Die Welt that police were looking into the illnesses that were reported by two individuals around the time of the conference, which was held April 29-30. The conference was organized by Mikhail Khodorkovsky, a former Russian oligarch who was imprisoned in Russia for years. He now lives outside of Russia and funds a number of initiatives opposed to the government of Russian President Vladimir Putin. A "case has been opened" and "the investigation is ongoing," Berlin police said in a statement on May 21. No further details were released. Earlier this week, the Russian news outlet Agentstvo reported that one of the people who fell ill was a Russian journalist who was treated at Berlin's Charite hospital. That hospital was known for, among other things, its involvement in investigating the nerve-agent poisoning of opposition activist Aleksei Navalny in 2020. The European Union and Britain later targeted six top Russian officials and a state scientific research center for the poisoning. The other person who reportedly fell ill was Natalia Arno, a U.S.-based activist who heads an organization called the Free Russia Foundation. In a Facebook post, Arno, who said she traveled to Prague after Berlin, described her problems as "sharp pain" and "numbness." She has since recovered. Agentsvo said the FBI had taken blood samples from Arno and was investigating her illness. Separately, the Washington-based think tank Atlantic Council confirmed that one of its senior staffers, former Ambassador John Herbst, had experienced symptoms that it said were consistent with poisoning two years ago. Herbst, who served as U.S. ambassador in Ukraine and Uzbekistan, fell ill in April 2021 and experienced symptoms "that could have been consistent with poisoning, including elevated levels of toxins in his blood." Doctors treated Herbst "effectively at the time but could not definitively conclude there was poisoning involved," the organization said. The Atlantic Council also said federal agents had taken blood samples from Herbst, but lab results did not find anything toxic. Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/germany-mysterious-illnesses- russia-activist-journalist-/32421168.html Copyright (c) 2023. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Russian Investigative Committee Brings Charges Against ICC Prosecutor, Judge in Absentia Sputnik News 20230521 MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The Russian Investigative Committee said on Sunday that it filed charges in absentia against a prosecutor and a judge of the International Criminal Court (ICC) and put them on the wanted list. "The Russian Investigative Committee has charged a prosecutor and a judge of the International Criminal Court in absentia ... The investigation has now collected sufficient evidence to warrant the indictment in absentia of International Criminal Court prosecutor Khan Karim Asad Ahmad and International Criminal Court judge Rosario Salvatore Aitala," the investigative authority said, adding that the accused have been put on the wanted list. The charges against the prosecutor include bringing criminal proceedings against a person known to be innocent, combined with unlawfully charging a person with a particularly serious offense. The judge faces charges of knowingly unlawful remand in custody. Both have been accused of preparing to attack a representative of a foreign state enjoying international protection, with the aim of complicating international relations. "As previously noted, criminal prosecution is knowingly unlawful as there are no grounds for criminal liability. Under the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Crimes against Internationally Protected Persons of 14 December 1973, heads of state enjoy absolute immunity from the jurisdiction of foreign states," the Russian Investigative Committee said. On February 22, Prosecutor Khan applied to Pre-Trial Chamber II of the ICC to obtain an arrest warrant for Russian nationals, the investigative authority said. ICC judges Aitala, Tomoko Akane, and Sergio Gerardo Ugalde Godinez issued arrest warrants for Russian President Vladimir Putin and Presidential Commissioner for Children's Rights Maria Lvova-Belova, which Moscow has slammed as unlawful. A Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address DPP's delusion of Taiwan's WHA participation as observer dashes again as assembly kicks off Global Times By Xu Keyue and Zhang Changyue Published: May 21, 2023 08:57 PM Updated: May 22, 2023 12:58 AM The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) authorities' hope of being invited to the 76th World Health Assembly (WHA) as an observer was squashed again after the assembly started on Sunday in Geneva, Switzerland. Chinese mainland analysts pointed out that, with the support of the US-led Western camp, the DPP authorities are hyping up Taiwan's WHA participation as they see it as a potential way to expand the so-called international space for "Taiwan independence." Recently, the Permanent Mission of the US in Geneva repeatedly agitated for the so-called Taiwan's participation in the WHA, the decision-making body of the World Health Organization (WHO),aas an observer. In response, China's Permanent Mission to the UN Office at Geneva and Other International Organizations in Switzerland refuted the distorted remarks by the US on the Taiwan question on late Saturday. "There is only one China in the world.aThe Government of the People's Republic of China is the sole legal government representing the whole of China.aTaiwan is an inalienable part of China's territory," said the Chinese Mission in an announcement. Altogether, 182acountries, including the US, have established diplomatic relations with China on the basis of abiding by the one-China principle. Taiwan region's participation in the activities of international organizations, including the WHO, must be handled in accordance with the one-China principle. This is a fundamental principle affirmed in UNGA Resolution 2758 and WHA Resolution 25.1, the Chinese mission said in the announcement. The announcement noted that for eight consecutive years from 2009 to 2016, the Taiwan region participated in the WHA as an observer in the name of "Chinese Taipei," which is a special arrangement made through cross-Straits consultation on the basis of adherence by both sides of the Taiwan Straits to the 1992 Consensus, which embodies the one-China principle. However, after coming into power, the DPP authorities have placed political calculations before the Taiwan people's welfare, remained headstrong on "Taiwan independence"aand refused to admit the one-China principle. As a result, the political foundation for the Taiwan region to participate in the WHA no longer exists, the Chinese Mission stated. The island of Taiwan has never been excluded from the WHO, although the DPP authorities are not qualified to participate in the WHA. But now the DPP is trying to confuse the public by equating its lack of access to participate in the WHA with the people of the island not enjoying the relevant rights of the WHO, Zhu Songling, a professor at the Institute of Taiwan Studies of Beijing Union University, told the Global Times on Sunday. "But the two are completely different things," Zhu stressed. The Taiwan authorities claimed that its absence from the WHA will cause a "gap" in global anti-epidemic efforts. But that is not true, said analysts, noting that the DPP is just using this false assumption as a pretext to get into the WHA. The Chinese mission said that the Chinese central government attaches great importance to the health and well-being of our compatriots in the Taiwan region, and has made proper arrangement for Taiwan's participation in global health affairs on the condition that the one-China principle is upheld.aOver the past year alone, medical and technical experts from China's Taiwan region took part in WHO technical activities 24 times, which involved 26 participants. Taiwan has timely access to WHO information on global public health emergencies and reports information about public health emergencies on the island to the WHO in a timely manner. These arrangements ensure that Taiwan island can promptly and effectively deal with any local or international public health emergency. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Turkish Interior Minister Accuses Sweden of Electoral Meddling Sputnik News 20230521 ANKARA (Sputnik) - Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu has accused Sweden of meddling in his country's elections as the vote for a new president heads into a runoff next Sunday. Soylu, a member of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's AKP party, accused election monitors from Sweden's Oy ve Otesi (Vote and Beyond) of putting pressure on voters at polling places. "The Swedish state is funding this Oy ve Otesi association. Sending it money, but why? To interfere in the election in Turkiye. It is so obvious and clear," the minister told a campaign rally in Istanbul, as quoted by the Aydinlik newspaper. Soylu is known for his harsh criticism of the West. He accused the United States on Wednesday of trying to influence the election, which will see Erdogan and his opposition challenger, Kemal Kilicdaroglu, face off in the second round on May 28. A Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Amazon Payment Services, a regional leader in digital payments operating across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, has expanded its services to Bahrain with the addition of the Benefit payment method to its network. Amazon Payment Services merchants can now accept payments made through Benefit, Bahrains electronic network for financial transactions, while continuing to get support for global payment methods, said a statement. As the main network for all electronic financial transactions throughout Bahrain, Benefit accepts and processes payments from all locally issued debit cards. Customers in the country can now use their Benefit-enabled cards to shop online with Amazon Payment Services merchants by selecting the Benefit payment option upon checkout. Commenting on the launch, Peter George, Managing Director for Amazon Payment Services in MENA, said: Our overarching goal at Amazon Payment Services is to offer convenient, seamless and secure digital payments to our merchants across the region. Our launch in Bahrain supports this vision, helping merchants in the region to serve customers, while also making our offering available to local businesses. Merchants in Bahrain can now access our range of innovative payment products and services to facilitate simple, fast, and secure online payments for their customers. He added: Our expansion into Bahrain represents the next milestone in our journey as Amazon Payment Services, taking the total number of countries we serve in the MENA region to nine. We look forward to working with merchants and partners in the country to facilitate digital payments adoption, in line with Bahrains digitization strategy. Abdulwahed AlJanahi , Chief Executive of Benefit, said: We are happy to be working with Amazon Payments Services offering users an elevated payment experience. This cooperation aligns with our plans to strengthen our international partnerships while supporting the Kingdom of Bahrains national 2030 vision. With this integration, users will enjoy new reliable and trusted payment methods via our electronic payment gateway using their locally issued debit cards. Enabling payments from locally issued debit cards in addition to existing support for globally issued cards will help local and regional merchants to process online payments in Bahrain and grow their business, supporting them to expand their reach and provide their customers with multiple choices. Already offering their services in Bahrain through Amazon Payment Services is Platinum List, the GGC biggest ticketing platform by user base. Amazon Payment Services enables payments on Amazon stores in the MENA region including Amazon.ae, Amazon.sa and Amazon.eg, in addition to supporting other merchants and businesses across the region. The companys services are available for businesses in the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman, and Bahrain. TradeArabia News Service Top Turkish Diplomat Slams Kilicdaroglu Over Russia Meddling Claims Sputnik News 20230521 ANKARA (Sputnik) - Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu has criticized opposition leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu for falsely accusing Russia of meddling in the presidential race, which will be decided next Sunday. Kilicdaroglu said ahead of the first round of voting that Russia was interfering in the electoral process but gave no proof or details to support his claim. The Kremlin denied the accusation. "Mr. Kilicdaroglu has been threatening Russia. It is wrong to undermine our ties with a country like that," Cavusoglu told the Haberturk news channel in an interview. The minister said he had asked Kilicdaroglu, who will challenge President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the May 28 runoff, if he had any evidence of Russian meddling, to which he responded with "It was my impression." Cavusoglu said the aspiring president should "be more serious" and refrain from hurling groundless accusations at other countries based on his gut feeling. The diplomat also denied that Russia's decision to allow Turkiye to delay gas payments until 2024 had anything to do with the elections. Cavusoglu said Turkiye was negotiating deferred gas payments with all suppliers after a surge in prices last year. On Syria, Cavusoglu said Turkiye was negotiating refugee returns with the Syrian government. He estimated that a half million Syrians had returned from Turkiye to so-called safe zones in their home country. A Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Royal Marines conduct beach raid in Estonia during NATO exercise Around 100 marines from 45 Commando conducted an exercise to stage an amphibious raid at a beach in Estonia, as part of a major NATO exercise. 22 May 2023 Members of 45 Commando deployed from the Royal Navy amphibious assault ship, HMS Albion, under the cover of darkness on Saturday. The commandos manoeuvred their Inflatable Raiding Craft, which can travel at speeds of up to 20knots, through the waves to close in on the beach at Kaberneeme, on the north coast of Estonia. The beach raid is just the latest in a series of planned scenarios the UK Armed Forces are exercising as part of a 14,000-strong deployment from 11 NATO countries for Exercise Spring Storm. The beach raid scenario saw 45 Commando facing off against Estonia's Armed Forces, with an Estonian naval missile unit acting as the marines' target. Commanding Officer of HMS Albion, Captain Marcus Hember, said: This exercise has been a great proving ground in demonstrating the flexibility of amphibious ships like HMS Albion, enabling fast and lethal strikes by our embedded Royal Marines in 45 Commando whilst seamlessly supported by the ship and its crew. We've demonstrated our ability to exercise with our regional partners adding significant capability and shown we can 'turn up when needed'. Officer Commanding X Company, Royal Marines, Major Lee Stewart, said: The support of the crew from HMS ALBION is critical to land operations, the integrated approach with both Royal Navy and Royal Marines working as a team make amphibious warfare so effective. Two RAF Typhoon fighter jets were on station to provide close air support, information, surveillance and reconnaissance during the exercise - enabling invaluable integrated training between land, sea and air. Members of IX (Bomber) Squadron and their Typhoons are currently stationed at Amari Air Base, having flown NATO air policing missions recently with German Allies - resulting in several intercepts of Russian aircraft transiting close to Estonian airspace. The commando exercise provided a valuable opportunity for the Royal Marines to practice an amphibious deployment, swiftly infiltrating hostile territory to secure information, confuse the enemy, or strike a high value target. More than 1,500 UK troops are currently deployed for Spring Storm, Estonia's largest annual military exercise. The UK retains a continuous deployment in Estonia as part of its NATO commitment, known as the enhanced Forward Presence (eFP). At last year's NATO summit, the UK committed to increase the size of its eFP commitment, with this year's exercise marking the first time the UK has conducted a brigade-sized deployment to Estonia - involving hundreds more personnel than in previous deployments. Defence Minister, Andrew Murrison - a reserve Royal Navy officer - today visited HMS Albion to speak to Armed Forces personnel involved in the exercise. His daughter, Lt Sarah Murrison, is a Deputy Logistics Officer aboard HMS Albion. Minister for Defence People, Veterans and Service Families, Dr Andrew Murrison MP said: Exercise Spring Storm in Estonia is bolstering our ability to work closely with NATO allies on military operations and demonstrating our readiness for rapid deployment across all domains. I'm immensely proud to see first-hand the hard work my daughter, those aboard HMS Albion and everyone in our Armed Forces undertakes to keep us safe, at home and abroad. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Prime Minister Justin Trudeau meets with President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy Prime Minister of Canada - Justin Trudeau May 21, 2023 Hiroshima, Japan Today, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau met with the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, on the margins of the G7 Summit in Hiroshima, Japan. Prime Minister Trudeau welcomed President Zelenskyy's participation at the Summit and reiterated Canada's support to Ukraine for as long as it takes. President Zelenskyy provided an update on the situation on the ground in Ukraine, and the two leaders discussed the country's immediate military and financing needs, as well as longer-term challenges relating to reconstruction and economic recovery. The Prime Minister reaffirmed Canada's support for a peace plan and noted the participation of emerging economies and developing countries at the G7 as a valuable opportunity for engagement. President Zelenskyy expressed appreciation for Canadian assistance to the people of Ukraine, most notably through military training, sanctions, and humanitarian assistance, including demining. Prime Minister Trudeau welcomed Ukraine's ongoing efforts to address the devastating global effects of Russia's invasion, particularly on emerging and developing economies. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address President von der Leyen at Session VIII of G7, 'Ukraine' European Commission Statement 21 May 2023 Hiroshima Nobody wants peace more than the Ukrainians themselves. But a just peace that does not reward the aggressor, who invaded in the middle of the night. A just peace that punishes those who have committed crimes of war. A just peace that respects Ukraine's legitimate rights, their sovereignty and territorial integrity. A just peace consistent with the principles of United Nations Charter. This is why Ukraine is defending itself. And this is why we are helping Ukraine defend itself. And this is why we support President Zelensky's efforts in his Peace Formula. No peace can be negotiated without Ukraine. Over 140 nations have consistently voted to demand that Russia unconditionally withdraws all its military forces from the territory of Ukraine. Russia can and should end this war today. The impact of Moscow's cruelty goes well beyond its border with disruptions to the global economy, from energy markets to food security. We are working together to mitigate the impact of this war on developing and emerging countries. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Russia claims full control of Bakhmut while Ukraine says situation "critical" Global Times (Xinhua) 14:31, May 21, 2023 MOSCOW/KIEV, May 21 (Xinhua) -- Russia said on Saturday that its forces had taken full control of the hotly contested city of Bakhmut, also known as Artyomovsk, while the Ukrainian side said the situation there was critical. Yevgeny Prigozhin, head of Russia's Wagner private military group, said in a video message posted on his Telegram channel that Wagner will begin to withdraw its units on May 25 for rest and retraining, and its fighters will create "the necessary lines of defense." "As a result of the offensive actions of the Wagner assault detachments, with the support of artillery and aviation of the Southern Group of Forces, the liberation of the city of Artyomovsk was completed in the Artyomovsk tactical direction," said the Russian Defense Ministry, confirming the capture in a statement later on Saturday. "(Russian President) Vladimir Putin congratulates the Wagner assault detachments, as well as all servicemen of the Russian Armed Forces units, who provided them with the necessary support and flank protection, on the completion of the operation to liberate Artyomovsk," the presidential press service said. "All those who distinguished themselves will be presented for state awards," the Kremlin added. On the same day, Ukraine's Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Malyar wrote in a Telegram post that heavy fighting was underway in Bakhmut, noting "our troops maintain defense in the 'Litak' area." The Ukrainian military forces were controlling certain industrial and infrastructure facilities in the area and the private sector, Malyar said. Bakhmut, an important transport hub located some 66 km north of the city of Donetsk, has been the center of hostilities between Russia and Ukraine for months. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address G7 countries offer Ukraine long-term support despite Russia's warnings Iran Press TV Sunday, 21 May 2023 11:27 AM The Group of Seven (G7) leaders have said that they would not back down from supporting Ukraine in its war as Russian forces continue to make advancements in the pro-Moscow regions. "Together with the entire G7 we have Ukraine's back and I promise we're not going anywhere," octogenarian US President Joe Biden claimed on the final day of the G7 summit in Hiroshima, Japan. Earlier, Biden had announced to his allies that Washington supported joint allied training programs for Ukrainian pilots on F-16s warplanes, although Kiev has not won commitments for delivery of the fighter jets. Giving the green light to the US-led allies who were willing to supply Ukraine with the F-16 fighter jets, conveys the message to Russia that Western countries are still adhering to the escalation scenario as the conflict approaches its 16th month of bloody fighting. Also attending the G7 summit was British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, who met one-on-one with Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky once more after meeting him last week in England. Sunak said pilot training for Ukraine's airmen would start this summer, insisting that Kiev would get the air force it wanted for the future. Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, who hosted the event, said it was "significant" that the G7 nations showed solidarity in their intention to uphold international law and order during a summit attended by Ukraine's Zelensky as a guest. Both German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and French President Emmanuel Macron appeared to stand with Ukraine in opposing any notion of the war becoming a "frozen conflict," or any proposal for peace talks without Russian troops withdrawing. Analysts say the Ukraine war could become frozen, similar to the conflict on the Korean Peninsula. North and South Korea remain technically at war as their 1950-53 conflict ended with a ceasefire. "Peace should not make Ukraine a frozen conflict because that would lead to a war in the future. It needs to resolve the problem," Macron said. In the meantime, the event opened a venue for Zelensky to talk one-on-one with other attendees, as he lobbies among Western allies to fund the war and send more arms and munitions. Already, the West has supplied Ukraine with tens of billions of dollars worth of various weaponry since the onset of the Russian military campaign in February 2022. Western weapons supplied to Kiev include advanced missile systems, armored vehicles, tanks, and communication systems, in addition to long-range attack drones, and other weapons, as the West continues to give its all-out support to Kiev amid Moscow's warning that the military support would prolong the war. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Biden unveils new $375 mln military aid package for Ukraine Iran Press TV Sunday, 21 May 2023 9:45 AM US President Joe Biden has announced a new $375 million package of military aid to Ukraine on Sunday despite warnings from Russia, saying that the United States was making every effort to "bolster Ukraine's defense" in its war against Russia. "Together with the entire G7, we have Ukraine's back and I promise we're not going anywhere," Biden told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as they met on the sidelines of the G7 summit of world leaders in Hiroshima, Japan. The latest military aid package will include ammunition, artillery, armored vehicles, and training of forces, according to Biden. Biden emphasized during the meeting that his nation was prepared to assist in enhancing Ukraine's capacity to defend itself against and deter Russian forces, the White House said in a statement. The US president also talked about his country's support for a coordinated effort with allied and partner nations to train Ukrainian pilots on fourth-generation fighters like the F-16, the White House added. Zelenskiy thanked the US for the latest military aid package, and also for all the assistance of a whopping $37 billion to date, according to his office. The US and its Western allies have kept feeding Ukraine with massive amounts of arms since the start of the Ukrainian conflict last year, which according to Russia is the sole reason that the conflict is not coming to an end. Russia has repeatedly warned the Western governments such as the US and UK against arming Ukraine and fanning the flames of war. Apart from sending lethal armaments, the Western countries have supported Ukraine by imposing a raft of sanctions against Russia. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Russia Claims Full Control Of Bakhmut, A Claim Disputed By Kyiv, As Zelenskiy Compares Its Destruction To Hiroshima By RFE/RL May 21, 2023 Russia claims it has taken full control of Bakhmut, the epicenter of the war in eastern Ukraine over the past several months, in what would be Moscow's first major victory since last summer. However, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and Ukrainian commanders disputed the declaration, saying fighting still continues for the devastated city, which has symbolized Kyiv's fierce resistance to Moscow's unprovoked invasion. Russian President Vladimir Putin issued a congratulatory statement to his forces on May 20 after Russia's Defense Ministry and the head of the Wagner mercenary group - which has been at the forefront of Moscow's siege of Bakhmut - announced they had taken the city. Ukrainian commanders quickly pushed back on the Russian declarations, with the commander of the country's ground forces asserting that the city was still contested. Zelenskiy, meeting with the leaders of the Group of Seven industrialized nations in Hiroshima, Japan, on May 21 to discuss additional military aid, responded "no" when asked by reporters whether Russia controlled the city. Yet he seemed to downplay the significance of an eventual loss. "But you have to understand that there is nothing [left of the city]. They destroyed everything," he said, referring to Russian forces. "There are no buildings. It's a pity. It's a tragedy." Bakhmut today only remains a place "in our hearts," he said, comparing its widespread destruction to that of Hiroshima, which was nearly obliterated by an atomic bomb during World War II. The conflicting reports about Bakhmut's control came as Ukraine reportedly made tangible battlefield advances in districts north and south of the contested city that commanders bet will enable them to eventually encircle the Russian troops in Bakhmut. They also came as Ukraine gears up for a widely anticipated counteroffensive that is expected to take place in one or more locations across the more than 1,000-kilometer front line, which stretches from the Luhansk region in the northeast all the way to the mouth of the Dnieper River, near Kherson, in the southwest. Some Western military officials have questioned Ukraine's staunch defense of Bakhmut, saying its strategic value is overstated. The city, which had a prewar population of 70,000, is a transport hub with railway and road links to other parts of eastern Ukraine. Yet others say Ukraine has successfully worn down Russian forces in Bakhmut, giving Kyiv time to prepare tens of thousands of fresh troops for a counteroffensive. U.S. President Joe Biden told reporters in Hiroshima on May 21 that Russia has suffered over 100,000 casualties in Bakhmut, including dead and injured, a number analysts called "catastrophic." Symbolic City Bakhmut has become highly symbolic for both Kyiv and Moscow during the 10-month Russian siege. During his December address from the podium of the U.S. Capitol to members of Congress, Zelenskiy compared the fighting in Bakhmut to the 1777 Battle of Saratoga, a decisive moment in the U.S. war for independence. Zelenskiy told Congress that "Bakhmut holds," a phrase which has since become a rallying cry for Ukraine. Russia sought to take Bakhmut ahead of the May 9 Victory Day, one of the most important holidays in the country and which celebrates the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II. Amid the recent advances by Ukraine in the districts north and south of the city, Russia poured hundreds of more troops into Bakhmut in recent days. Wagner Group founder Yevgeny Prigozhin posted a video to his Telegram channel on May 20 standing before what appeared to be the city's destroyed railway station. "Today, at noon, Bakhmut was completely captured," he said. "We completely took the whole city, from house to house." Prigozhin has exaggerated his group's military advances in the past. Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Malyar said in a statement released about an hour later that Ukrainian troops continue to fight in "certain industrial and infrastructure facilities" in the southwest district of Bakhmut, amid "heavy fighting." Colonel General Oleksandr Syrskiy, commander of Ukraine's ground forces, on May 21 admited that Ukrainian forces controlled only a small part of Bakhmut, but suggested that his troops would still be able to reenter the city in the future. "Despite the fact that we now control [only] a small part of Bakhmut, the importance of its defense is still relevant," he said in a post to Telegram. "It gives us the opportunity to enter the city in case the situation changes. And this will definitely happen." "We continue to advance along the flanks in the suburb of Bakhmut and are actually approaching the capture of the city in a tactical situation," he said. A confirmed Russian victory in Bakhmut would have partly overshadowed Zelenskiy's visit to Japan, where he received assurances of more support. Biden announced a new $375 million package of military aid, which includes ammunition, artillery, and armored vehicles. The United States is by far the largest supplier of weaponry and equipment to Ukraine. Earlier, Zelenskiy notched a boost of confidence when Western allies signaled a willingness to supply Kyiv with F-16 fighter jets. And he thanked British President Rishi Sunak for helping to form a coalition to supply the jets. "I thanked him for the leadership in developing our capabilities in the sky," Zelenskiy wrote on Telegram. Zelenskiy also met with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, French President Emmanuel Macron, and Charles Michel, the president of the European Council. And he met with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, briefing him on the peace plan he has put forward that calls for the withdrawal of Russian forces before any negotiations can be held. India is among the nations that have not joined the international condemnation of Russian aggression following Moscow's February 2022 invasion. "Russia's brutal war of aggression represents a threat to the whole world in breach of fundamental norms, rules, and principles of the international community. We reaffirm our unwavering support for Ukraine for as long as it takes to bring a comprehensive, just and lasting peace," the G7 leaders said in a communique issued late May 20. With reporting by AP and Reuters Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/russia-bakhmut-victory- claims-ukraine-war-g7-zelenskiy/32421014.html Copyright (c) 2023. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Germany Will Not Participate in F-16 Supplies to Ukraine Sputnik News 20230521 MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Germany's participation in the possible international supply of F16 fighter jets to Ukraine is out of the question, as Berlin does not have those aircraft in the first place, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on Sunday. "First of all, everyone knows that we do not have such jets," Scholz told German broadcasters on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Japan's Hiroshima, adding that Germany will continue supporting Ukraine in other ways, including by sending financial and humanitarian aid and weapons. Scholz also said that the training programs announced by the US and some European countries for Ukrainian pilots to fly F16s would send an "important message" to Russia. Earlier, US President Joe Biden has informed the Group of Seven (G7) leaders that the United States will support the efforts together with its allies to train Ukrainian pilots to operate F-16 fighter jets. Western countries have been supplying military aid to Ukraine since the start of the conflict with Russia last February. The aid evolved from lighter artillery munitions and training in 2022 to heavier weapons, including tanks, later that year and in 2023. A Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address UK to Start Training Ukrainian Pilots This Summer Sputnik News 20230521 MOSCOW (Sputnik) - UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak confirmed on Sunday that the United Kingdom would start training Ukrainian pilots this summer as Ukraine's donors appear close to a consensus to equip it with Western fighter jets. "We are supporting Ukraine to develop the air force it needs for the future, with the UK training Ukrainian pilots starting this summer," Sunak told a press conference on the sidelines of G7 summit in Japan, adding that "we've made a real breakthrough at this summit." Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, also attending the G7's summit in Hiroshima, vowed to continue training Ukrainian troops. On Friday, White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said that US President Joe Biden had informed his G7 counterparts that the United States would support a joint effort to train Ukrainian pilots on fourth generation fighter aircraft, including F-16s. Sullivan added, however, that the right time to introduce F-16s to the fighting in Ukraine was "not right now." US media have reported, citing officials, that Biden's administration has given its consent to its allies to deliver their US-made F-16s to Ukraine after almost a year of unwillingness to do so, which was presumably the result of pressure by Congress, the US' allies and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. This past Monday, the UK government pledged to provide training to Ukrainian pilots starting this summer, as well as send air defense weapons and drones, as a "key part" of an international coalition on providing Ukraine with F16s a the fighter jet of its choice. An adviser to the Ukrainian Defense Ministry, Yuri Sak, told media on Saturday that Ukraine was hoping to receive the first F-16s in late September-early October. A Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund PIF (Public Investment Fund) has announced that its utility subsidiary - Water and Electricity Holding Company (Badeel), along with leading utility project developer Acwa Power have signed power purchase agreements (PPAs) for three major solar PV projects in the kingdom. These PPAs have been signed with the Saudi Power Procurement Company (SPPC) for the development, and operation of three major solar PV Independent Power Producer (IPP) projects in Saudi Arabia. The solar projects are part of the National Renewable Energy Program (NREP) which is led and supervised by the Ministry of Energy, with PIF mandated to develop 70% of NREPs target capacity. The new projects, which will be jointly owned by Badeel and Acwa Power, aim to produce a combined capacity of 4.55GWac of renewable energy, powering approximately 750,000 households. The Ar Rass 2, Saad 2 and Al Kahfah projects have a capacity of 2,000MWac, 1,125MWac and 1,425MWac of renewable power respectively, with a combined value of SR12.2 billion ($3.25 billion). According to PIF, the financial close for these projects is expected by the third quarter of 2023. The Ministry of Energy aims to achieve the goals of Saudi Arabias Vision 2030 in reaching the optimal power generation energy mix by displacing liquid fuels through harnessing renewable energy sources. The ministry aims to increase the share of renewables in the energy mix to around 50% by 2030 with the remainder of the energy mix being supplied through high efficiency gas-fueled power plants. PIF said it is currently developing five new projects, at an investment of over $6 billion in co-ordination with its partners. that will boast a cumulative capacity of 8GW. PIFs renewable projects - Sudair, Shuaibah 2, Ar Rass 2, Al Kahfah, Saad 2 - will help support the local private sector through requirements for significant local content contribution and the procurement of equipment, supplies, and services through local supply chains. PIF Head of Energy & Utilities Mohammed AlBalaihed said: "The three new solar projects are part of PIFs commitment to develop 70% of Saudi Arabias renewable energy by 2030, in line with the National Renewable Energy Program." "Renewable Energy is one of PIFs priority sectors, with a focus on unlocking the capabilities of promising sectors and enabling the private sector to enhance Saudi Arabias efforts in diversifying the economy," he noted. Utilising the most advanced PV technology, the innovative designs of the plants will aim to ensure the highest efficiency, reliability, and performance versus any comparable plant in the world. The energy output will cater to the rising demand in the country and increase the green energy resource in the grid, further enabling the fulfilment of Vision 2030 clean energy goals, he added. Acwa Power CEO Marco Arcelli said: "As a Saudi national champion, we are incredibly proud to lead Saudi Arabias ambitious energy diversification plans and contribute towards achieving its Net Zero targets. Today's signing of three PPAs marks a significant milestone for Acwa Power, representing the largest single transaction for solar projects in our company's history." "This achievement illustrates our firm commitment to a sustainable future for Saudi Arabia and beyond, noted Arcelli. "It's an immense honour for us to partner with Badeel and Saudi Power and Procurement Company, who trust in our expertise to deliver projects of considerable size and complexity. Our commitment to generating long-term, sustainable value for government stakeholders, our offtake partner, and communities at large remains steadfast, and we look forward to working jointly towards achieving ambitious goals," he added. Acwa Power said its portfolio of solar projects in Saudi Arabia now stands at 11, with over 12GW of combined PV capacity, following the addition of the three new projects. This brings its total renewable capacity portfolio to 23.4GW.-TradeArabia News Service Biden Unveils New Military Package for Ukraine - Reports Sputnik News 20230521 MOSCOW (Sputnik) - US President Joe Biden on Sunday announced a new package of military aid to Ukraine, which includes ammunition artillery and armored vehicles, media reported. The report says Biden unveiled the military aid package, comprising "ammunition, artillery, armored vehicles," after his meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Hiroshima. Later on Sunday, the US Department of Defense (DoD) said the new package is valued at up to $375 million and is "the Biden Administration's thirty-eighth drawdown of equipment from DoD inventories for Ukraine since August 2021." The assistance package includes additional HIMARS ammunition, artillery rounds, anti-armor capabilities and vehicles, the Pentagon said. The United States has committed $38 billion in security assistance to Ukraine by the Biden administration, including more than $37.3 billion since February 24, 2022, the statement added. Western countries have been supplying military aid to Ukraine since the start of hostilities in February 2022. The aid evolved from artillery munitions and training in 2022 to heavier weapons, including tanks, later that year and in 2023. The Kremlin, in turn, has repeatedly warned against continued arms deliveries to Kiev. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said any cargo that contains weapons for Ukraine will become a legitimate target for Russia. Russia has been conducting a special military operation in Ukraine since February 2022. Russian President Vladimir Putin has said the operation aims to "protect people subjected to genocide by the Kiev regime for eight years." A Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Russian Tsentr Group of Forces Inflicts Damage on Ukrainian Troops - MoD Sputnik News 20230521 MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Russian forces have uncovered the movements of two Ukrainian brigades and one regiment and have inflicted fire damage on the enemy, a Russian Defense Ministry spokesperson told Sputnik. "... by means of intelligence of the Tsentr Group of Forces, the movement of personnel on the equipment of the 66th mechanized brigade, the 58th motorized brigade of the AFU [Armed Forces of Ukraine] and the 15th regiment of the national guard of Ukraine was uncovered. As a result of the fire impact of artillery units of the Tsentr Group, the enemy suffered significant losses in personnel and equipment," the spokesperson said. The spokesperson added that, in the Krasny Liman direction, the crew of the Smerch multiple launch rocket system hit the positions of the Ukrainian military in the region. A Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Putin Congratulates Russian Forces on Liberation of Artemovsk Sputnik News 20230521 MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Russian President Vladimir Putin has congratulated the Wagner Group private military company (PMC), as well as the Russian armed forces, on the liberation of the city of Artemovsk (Bakhmut) in the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR), the Kremlin informs. "Vladimir Putin congratulates the Wagner assault units, as well as all the servicemen of the units of the Russian Armed Forces, who provided them with the necessary support and flank cover, on the completion of the operation to liberate Artemovsk," the Kremlin press service said in a statement. "All distinguished individuals will be presented for state awards," the Kremlin said. Earlier, the Russian Defense Ministry confirmed that the liberation of the city of Artemovsk had been completed. "In the Artemovsk tactical direction, as a result of the offensive actions of the Wagner assault units, with the support of artillery and aviation of the Yug Group of Forces, the liberation of the city of Artemovsk was completed," the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement. Wagner Group head Yevgeny Prigozhin said on Saturday that Russian forces had gained full control over Artemovsk. Artemovsk is north of the large city of Gorlovka. The city is an important transport hub with many crossroads for Donbass and served as a vital center for supplying Ukrainian troops stationed in the region at the beginning of the military operation launched by Russia in Ukraine over a year ago. A Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Russian Deputy FM Warns of 'Enormous Risks' of F-16 'Escalation' in Ukraine Sputnik News 20230521 Wyatt Reed A senior Russian diplomat said his country is analyzing the potential delivery of F-16 fighter jets to Kiev and cautioned Western regimes against further escalation in their efforts to defeat Moscow via Ukrainian proxies. Western plans to send F-16 aircraft to Ukraine carry "enormous risks," but Moscow is taking the possibility "into account" in its military strategy, according to recent statements by Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko. When asked about the possibility that the Zelensky regime will be given F-16 aircraft on the sidelines of the 31st Assembly of the Council for Foreign and Defense Policy in Moscow Grushko described Russia's position: "We can see that Western countries continue to stick to an escalation scenario, which carries enormous risks for them." "In any case, we will take it into account when making plans," Grushko explained, adding that Russia has "all the necessary means to achieve our goals." On Friday, American media reported that the US intends to greenlight the transfer of F-16 jets to Kiev by European nations. Behind closed doors, US President Joe Biden reportedly endorsed a plan to train Ukrainian pilots on F-16 fighter jets at the G7 summit in Hiroshima on Friday. It was a significant reversal from Washington, which repeatedly downplayed Kiev's need for the advanced fighter jets. As recently as February, Biden declared that there's "no basis upon which there is a rationale, according to our military, now, to provide F-16s." According to Western media, "Secretary of State Antony Blinken was a major force within the administration in pushing to allow [US] allies to transfer the jets, and worked extensively with different countries within NATO to move the policy forward." The move is seen by Moscow as a major escalation in NATO nations' efforts to target Russia via Ukrainian proxies, and Kiev's recent drone attacks on Russian territory have increased concerns among Russians that any new military hardware funneled into the conflict zone could be used for offensive operations outside of Ukraine. The F-16 has an offensive range of up to 800 kilometers, and the AIM-120 AMRAAM missiles carried by the jets Ukraine is likely to receive from Poland have an additional 100 kilometer range - meaning the aircraft could hypothetically be used for another attempted strike on Moscow. A Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address In Hiroshima, Ukraine was indeed an honored participant in the G7's work, and the topic of Ukraine was principal - President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's address. President of Ukraine 21 May 2023 - 21:02 Fellow Ukrainians! We are finishing this very difficult yet very important week. On Friday, we had the Arab League. On Saturday and Sunday - G7 plus Ukraine and an expanded format - seven plus partners, including the Global South, plus Ukraine. It was intense. The world hears our position. Protection and security guarantees, the return of all our territories, all our people, justice, the implementation of our Peace Formula... We have an understanding with the world majority on every important point for Ukraine. And together we will increase Ukraine's potential. This Saturday was Science Day in Ukraine, and the more opportunities we give to Ukraine, the more we give to everyone who works in this noble field. I congratulate all our scientists! Today, on Sunday, here in Hiroshima, Ukraine was a truly honored participant in the work of the G7. The topic of Ukraine is principal, the respect for all Ukrainians is special. I am thankful to the G7! Meeting with President Biden - and, as always, we become stronger after such talks. Meeting with the leader of Indonesia - meaningful. Meeting with the President of the Republic of Korea - there is potential for strong relations. Meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau - thank you, Justin. I also spoke with the leaders of Vietnam and Australia. We spoke separately and in detail with the Prime Minister of Japan - we will enhance cooperation. There was also a very important ceremony and address at the Peace Memorial Museum in Hiroshima... Our unity with the world, our protection for Ukrainians, and our strength - the strength of the Ukrainian state - will also be the most worthy tribute to the memory of our people of different generations, whose lives have been broken and trampled by Russian evil, by this long-standing tyranny that changes its form but kills equally brutally. Today is the Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Political Repression... the Day of Remembrance of all those who were killed in times of the Soviet regime. Let us not forget what happened, let us not forget whom we lost, and let us not forget that we must be strong. And we will always be. Glory to Ukraine! NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address The decision to train Ukrainian pilots on F-16 is the first step towards even more powerful defense of our skies - Volodymyr Zelenskyy President of Ukraine 21 May 2023 - 16:18 Ukraine has been working hard on the issue of providing Western-type aircraft, and the decision of our partners to train Ukrainian pilots on modern fighter jets is the first step towards bolstering our country's air defense. This was stated by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy during a meeting with representatives of the world's media in Hiroshima. The Head of State emphasized that for even more reliable protection of the Ukrainian sky, we need not only modern anti-aircraft missile systems, for which Ukraine is extremely grateful to the partner states, but also Western-type aircraft. "And today the training mission is open to us. This is the first step. Next, we have a certain number of months to train our pilots. We will work to ensure that these are the most experienced people at once to shorten the training process. To strengthen our air defense," Volodymyr Zelenskyy emphasized. The President expressed confidence that Ukraine would receive modern Western fighter jets. According to him, there is already an understanding of which countries are ready to work in this direction. Answering journalists' questions about the prospects of receiving arms assistance from countries such as Japan or the Republic of Korea, he said that he would like all states that are able to provide Ukraine with arms assistance to do so. At the same time, it is understood that some countries have certain legislative or constitutional restrictions in this area. In addition, the Head of State noted that Ukraine works with partners not only on the supply of weapons. For example, there is a strong interaction with Canada on demining equipment. "We are talking about thousands of square kilometers. Because Russia is not just an enemy, they behave like terrorists, they have mined our fields. And here the help of one state will not be enough," the President said. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Everyone in the world must do everything possible to ensure that wars leave only shadows on the stones of history - address by the President of Ukraine to the people of Japan President of Ukraine 21 May 2023 - 16:03 Thank you very much for your words of support. We really appreciate it. Thank you very much. Dear participants! Dear Japanese people! Everyone in the world who values peace! I came here from a country of which the war could have left only a shadow on the stones of history. But our heroic people are turning history around so that we can make the war itself become such a shadow. I believe that war has no place in the world. Humanity has come a very long way and lost many lives in bloody confrontations. Death fell from the sky, death came from the sea. Radiation brought death. People brought death to each other. Some say that the history of mankind cannot be imagined without war. We say that it is exactly war that the history of mankind should be without. Ukraine is at the epicenter of a war of destruction. Invaders have come to our land and they want not only to conquer us, Ukrainians. Russia is lying to the world that there are no Ukrainians at all. If we were not so brave, the Russian genocide against us could have succeeded. The shadow would have been left of Ukraine. Of the whole nation! Just a shadow. But Ukrainians are infinitely brave. They are infinitely freedom-loving. And we will live! And we will live freely. Even though the enemy uses non-nuclear weapons, the ruins of our cities, which were burned to the ground by Russian bombs and artillery, are similar to what I have just seen here - it is an honor to be in this Museum of Peace. Thank you very much for giving me this opportunity. What your people have seen in their history: instead of the normal life of thousands and thousands of families, only ashes remain. Instead of cities, there is a scorched wasteland. Instead of houses - only rubble. Hiroshima is a rebuilt city now. And we dream of rebuilding all of our cities that are now in ruins, and every village where not a single house is left intact after Russian strikes. We dream of returning our territories. Just as we have returned our northern territories, which were occupied by Russia, we must return the eastern and southern territories of Ukraine. We dream of returning our people who are now in Russian captivity. These are prisoners of war, civilians, deported adults and abducted children. We dream of winning! We dream of peace after our victory. But for this to happen, not only this aggressor, but also the ambition of the war itself has to lose. And this is what is important for everyone in the world. I am here in Hiroshima so that the world can hear the Ukrainian call for unification from here. Russia has trampled on everything civilized. It has been occupying our largest nuclear power plant - the largest in Europe - for over a year now. Russia is the only terrorist state in the world whose tanks fired at a nuclear power plant. No one else has ever used a nuclear power plant as a depot for weapons and shells. Russia is hiding behind a nuclear power plant to fire rocket artillery at our cities. If anyone in the world is still able to ignore Russia's other war crimes, this crime against humanity should definitely prompt action by everyone. We are saying this, Ukraine, which had to survive the Chornobyl radiation disaster in 1986. Until now, part of our land is a closed zone - an exclusion zone. Imagine, it was through this zone that Russian troops conducted their offensive. They were digging trenches right in the forests where the radiation-contaminated materials were buried back in Soviet times. If the level of evil and stupidity in Russia's actions is left without consequences, the world will inevitably become a wreck. It's only a matter of time before other criminals in public office want to start similar wars. If Russia is allowed to retain even a sliver of the territory it occupies, international law will never work again. Ukraine has proposed a Peace Formula. Honest and realistic. Its first point is radiation and nuclear safety. Russia must abandon radiation and nuclear blackmail of the world and hand over the nuclear power plant it is currently occupying to the full control of Ukraine and the IAEA. In total, our Peace Formula has 10 points, and the meaning of each of them is confirmed by UN resolutions. It contains everything that will work to end Russia's war against our country. But the strength of the Ukrainian Peace Formula is that by stopping Russia's aggressive ambitions and restoring the security that Russia has violated, we will give the world one additional result: we will paralyze other potential aggressors. When everyone who wants war sees how united and determined the world is when it wants peace, there will be no point in even starting a war. Until now, the world has not had a Formula that could stop aggressors. Ukraine offers it. Ukraine offers the world salvation from war. To do this, we need to unite and make Russia the last aggressor. So that only peace reigns after the defeat of its invasion of Ukraine. We, people, have different cultures, different views, different national flags. But we equally want security for ourselves, our children and grandchildren. And our lives are equally burned to ashes if, God forbid, war comes. Everyone in the world must do everything possible to ensure that wars leave only shadows on the stones of history and that this can only be seen in museums. Everyone in the world must respect other nations. Everyone in the world must recognize state borders. Everyone in the world must defend justice. Everyone in the world must care about life. Everyone in the world must take peace as their duty. Thank you, Hiroshima, for every blue and yellow flag on the streets these days. When there is a Ukrainian flag, it is evidence that there is faith in freedom, faith in life, faith in our people. Thank you! Thank you, Japan, Mr. Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, all the people of Japan, for your comprehensive support! Eternal memory to all victims of wars! Let there be peace! Glory to Ukraine! NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with Prime Minister of Japan Fumio Kishida President of Ukraine 21 May 2023 - 15:13 During a visit to Japan to participate in the G7 Summit, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with Prime Minister of Japan Fumio Kishida. The Head of State thanked the Prime Minister of Japan for the invitation to take part in the G7 Summit. "Now is a crucial moment for the fate of peace in Ukraine and for the future of the rules-based world order. It is extremely important that the world has the opportunity to hear Ukraine's voice in Hiroshima," Volodymyr Zelenskyy emphasized. The President praised Fumio Kishida's personal leadership in mobilizing international support for Ukraine, particularly in the framework of Japan's G7 Presidency. The President thanked Japan for the $7.6 billion package of financial assistance that was allocated earlier. Volodymyr Zelenskyy also expressed gratitude to Japan for the decision to accept wounded Ukrainian servicemen to the Self-Defence Force Central Hospital for treatment and for additional assistance in the form of 100 trucks for the needs of the Armed Forces. The Head of State informed the Prime Minister of Japan on the situation at the front and expressed gratitude for the support of Ukraine's territorial integrity and sovereignty. The President emphasized the importance of Japan's support for the sanctions policy against Russia. Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Fumio Kishida discussed further steps to assist Ukraine on the part of the Japanese government, in particular, to bolster the material and technical capabilities of the Ukrainian defense forces. The parties agreed to hold a Ukrainian-Japanese conference on rebuilding Ukraine and to involve private business in this process. The leaders discussed the possibility of Japanese investment in the production of hydrogen, lithium batteries, automobiles, and energy equipment, as well as in the construction of overpasses and railway infrastructure. The Head of State emphasized that Ukraine counts on Japan's support for the Global Summit on the implementation of the Ukrainian Peace Formula. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Andriy Yermak met with Jake Sullivan in Hiroshima President of Ukraine 21 May 2023 - 11:54 During his visit to Japan as a member of the official Ukrainian delegation, Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Andriy Yermak met with National Security Advisor to the President of the United States Jake Sullivan on the instruction of the Head of State. The parties discussed the situation on the battlefield and the formation of a coalition to provide fighter jets to Ukraine, as well as steps to move toward implementation of the Peace Formula proposed by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. The Head of the Office of the President thanked the President of the United States, the Congress and the entire American people for their continued support of Ukraine in the war for its independence. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address President of Ukraine took part in the G7 Summit in Hiroshima President of Ukraine 21 May 2023 - 11:04 In the Japanese city of Hiroshima, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy took part in the G7 Summit. In his speech at the session of the G7-Ukraine Summit, the Head of State expressed gratitude to the leaders of the G7 and all allies and partners for achieving "such a level of cooperation that ensures that democracy, international law, and freedom are respected." "And the more we all work together, the less likely anyone else in the world will follow Russia's insane path. But is this enough? Democracy needs more. I think we need the clear global leadership of democracy. This is the main thing that we provide with our cooperation," the President emphasized. Volodymyr Zelenskyy thanked the leaders for providing Ukraine with reliable air defense systems that helped protect civilian and strategic infrastructure from Russian missile attacks and save lives. "Together we've saved thousands and thousands of lives of Ukrainians from Russian missiles," he said. The Head of State also noted the decision to train Ukrainian pilots on modern fighter jets, which is an important component of the air shield. "We are now on the path to eliminating the capability gap. When our pilots know the F16 and when these aircraft appear in our skies, it will matter not only for Ukraine. This will be a historic moment for the entire security architecture in Europe and the world," the Head of State emphasized. According to him, every decision taken to protect Ukraine during the 15 months of full-scale Russian aggression guarantees the preservation of the international rules-based order. Such decisions include the formation of defense support coalitions, sanctions against the aggressor, protection of the energy and food markets, ensuring financial stability, etc. "As a house grows from bricks, so does freedom grow from our decisions - we guarantee it. We, the democracies. And our response, in fact, is a basis for mandatory rules for preventing aggression. Ukraine emphasizes the principle of preventive security. That's why our proposals for the package of security guarantees for Ukraine - when they become operational - will become the peacekeeping factor. And not only for us," Volodymyr Zelenskyy noted. He personally thanked the leaders present for their support of Ukraine: U.S. President Joseph Biden, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, French President Emmanuel Macron, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, President of the European Council Charles Michel, President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida. At the same time, the Head of State emphasized that Ukraine expects clear signals on the issue of Euro-Atlantic integration and provision of security guarantees prior to NATO membership at the Summit in Vilnius. He also called for a detailed discussion of steps to implement the Ukrainian Peace Formula. During a conversation with the participants of the G7 Summit Volodymyr Zelenskyy noted that the ceasefire proposals contained in the peace initiatives of some parties are erroneous and help Russia avoid isolation in the world, although it is still not interested in ending the war. According to the Head of State, there can be no dialogue with Russia until it leaves the territory of Ukraine within the internationally recognized borders in accordance with the UN Charter. According to Volodymyr Zelenskyy, any peace initiatives and negotiations should be based solely on the formula proposed by Ukraine. The details of its implementation can be discussed at the Global Peace Summit. Volodymyr Zelenskyy also joined the session of the summit "Towards a peaceful, stable and prosperous world", which was attended by the G7 countries, Ukraine and partner countries: Australia, Brazil, Comoros (Chair of the African Union), Cook Islands (Chair of the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF)), India (Chair of the G20), Indonesia (Chair of ASEAN), Republic of Korea and Vietnam. Among the main issues discussed at the G7 summit in Hiroshima were the issue of upholding the international order based on the rule of law and firmly rejecting any unilateral attempt to change the status quo by force or the threat to use nuclear weapons, as Russia has done; continuation of sanctions pressure on Russia and support for Ukraine; strengthening the G7's work with the countries of the Global South; ensuring energy security in the context of Russia's aggression against Ukraine, etc. Speaking at the working session of the summit, the President of Ukraine noted: "We all have a chance to become co-authors of peace. This peace will not be for one country alone, just as this war is causing harm not only to Ukraine." According to him, everyone in the world has felt the destructive consequences of Russia's aggression against our country: some have suffered from skyrocketing food or energy prices, some will be threatened in the event of a disaster at a nuclear power plant occupied by the Russian military, and some know that if Russia successfully seizes Ukrainian territories, their aggressive neighbor will come to their land. "Our world is vast, but we are all in it together. And this is our shared cause - peace," the Head of State stressed. He noted that over the past seven years, Ukraine has held more than 180 rounds of negotiations with Russia in various formats to end the aggression, but the ceasefire didn't work. "Thousands of people were killed over those years. Nothing has changed now, except that we, defending ourselves, have significantly weakened Russia. Now it openly wants to freeze the war - not for the sake of tranquility, but for the sake of gaining some time, gaining strength and striking again," Volodymyr Zelenskyy noted. Therefore, in his opinion, it is necessary to implement the Ukrainian Peace Formula, which is based on international law. "We have developed the Peace Formula in a way that ensures each of its points is backed by UN resolutions. And in a way that everyone in the world can choose the track they can contribute to," the President of Ukraine said. "From Japan to the Arab countries, from Europe to Latin America, we find support for our Formula. And we continue this work," he added. The Head of State put forward a proposal to convene a global summit on the Peace Formula in July this year and join efforts to end the war. "Even if we are separated by distance, we are not decoupled by common understanding: you would defend yourselves if your home was broken-into, if the enemy came at your gate and deports your children, - you would not surrender to the colonizers, you would unite the whole world, you would fight - as we are fighting," Volodymyr Zelenskyy concluded. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Bahrain is one of the leading countries to witness inbound tourism recovery during the year 2022 by over 90% compared to pre-pandemic levels, outperforming the international recovery rate of 60% as estimated by UNWTO, a top official said. Dr Naser Qaedi, Chief Executive Officer of Bahrain Tourism and Exhibitions Authority (BTEA), was speaking at the 118th Executive Council of the UN World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), held in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, during May 16 -18, reported Bahrain News Agency (BNA). Dr Qaedi headed Bahrains delegation to the UNWTO Executive Council in the presence of over 30 countries representing member states, including ministers and high officials in charge of tourism in the member states, representatives of public or private structures concerned, destination management bodies, as well as specialized investors. He took part in plenary sessions conversing about world tourism recovery and digital transformation. "The robust pace of Bahrains tourism recovery proves the advancement of tourism's various packages and countless promotional and marketing efforts to enhance the Kingdoms position as an international tourism destination, with the focus of attracting tourism investments in the public and private sectors with the support of BTEA", he said. During his briefing on global tourism developments, the UNWTO secretary general, Zurab Pololikashvili, shed light on Bahrain as one of the three countries, including Spain and Israel, in the area of tourism technology and innovation through the BTEAs participation in UNWTO tourism tech initiatives. The 118th Executive Council sessions discussed multiple topics related to finding out the best solutions to develop the tourism sector and support the positive recovery indicators, along with looking for ways to maximize tourism investments, create more jobs in the sector, and adopt more supportive initiatives for tourism growth and prosperity. On the sidelines of the session, Dr. Qaedi held talks with Zurab Pololikashvili, the UNWTO secretary general, to discuss travel and tourism's role in the world economy's recovery. He also met with Ahmed Alkhateeb Tourism Minister of Saudi Arabia, to discuss mutual cooperation and efforts exerted to promote both Kingdoms as a unified tourism destination globally. Dr. Qaedi held a meeting with the head of the UAE tourism delegation to discuss promoting tourism and enhancing joint tourism collaboration. He also held talks with Japan and South Korea's tourism delegation heads to discuss the fruitful outcomes of the recent visit of the Bahraini ministerial delegation to Tokyo and Seoul in order to activate agreements, investment opportunities, and tourism partnerships. "We are pleased to take part in the 118th UNWTO Executive Council which showcases Bahrains valued tourism contribution as an active elected member at the executive council among 35 countries representing 6 regions around the globe during 20212024, he said. This achievement reflects Bahrains relentless efforts to double tourism's contribution to the national economy and develop tourism infrastructure with a unique set of projects, he added. We at BTEA are fully committed to achieving tourism's new strategy goals, which will positively affect tourism product diversity and increase tourist flows to the Kingdom from various nationalities around the world", he concluded. Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with Joseph Biden in Japan President of Ukraine 21 May 2023 - 10:36 In the framework of the participation in the G7 Summit in Hiroshima, Japan, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy had a meeting with President of the United States Joseph Biden. The Head of State thanked for the powerful security assistance provided by the United States to Ukraine, which has already amounted to more than $37 billion, as well as for the new military assistance package announced by Joseph Biden worth $375 million. "A huge gratitude from our people. I am glad that we have such strong relations," Volodymyr Zelenskyy said. He emphasized the decision of the U.S. President to support the international aviation coalition. The leaders discussed further cooperation to bolster the defense capabilities of our country, as well as the implementation of the Ukrainian Peace Formula. The Presidents exchanged views on the projects of reconstruction and recovery of our country. Volodymyr Zelenskyy also focused on Ukraine's Euro-Atlantic integration and preparations for the NATO Summit in Vilnius. The Head of State emphasized the importance of obtaining security guarantees for Ukraine before our country joins the Alliance. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address President of Ukraine had a meeting with the President of the Republic of Korea President of Ukraine 21 May 2023 - 09:06 During his working visit to Japan to participate in the G7 Summit, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with President of the Republic of Korea Yoon Suk Yeol. The Head of State informed his interlocutor of the situation at the front and the course of repulsing the full-scale aggression of the Russian Federation. The President of Ukraine expressed gratitude to the Republic of Korea for humanitarian and non-lethal assistance to our country, in particular for the provision of demining vehicles and protective equipment. Volodymyr Zelenskyy expressed hope for continued cooperation. The parties also discussed the recent visit of the Ukrainian delegation to the Republic of Korea. The Head of State noted the high level of organization of the visit and thanked for the attention to the projects presented by the First Lady of Ukraine. The parties confirmed the agreements reached during the visit of the Ukrainian delegation to the Republic of Korea and agreed to exchange visits of delegations. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Speech by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the working session of the Summit "Towards a peaceful, stable and prosperous world" with the participation of G7 countries, Ukraine and partners President of Ukraine 21 May 2023 - 08:19 Dear Prime Minister Kishida! Dear leaders! We all have a chance to become co-authors of peace. This peace will not be for one country alone, just as this war is causing harm not only to Ukraine. The UN Charter and the rules-based order was ruined. Everyone has felt the destructive consequences of Russian aggression. Some have suffered from skyrocketing prices for food or energy resources. Some see that in the event of a disaster at a nuclear power plant occupied by Russia, radiation will reach their land, carried by the wind. Some know that if Russia succeeds in keeping the stolen Ukrainian territory, an aggressive neighbour will come to their land as well. Our world is vast, but we are all in it together. And this is our shared cause - peace. At the time, before the 24th of February, Ukraine held more than one hundred eighty rounds of negotiations with Russia - 183 - in various formats to stop the aggression. There were respectable international mediators in those negotiations, and they all saw that Russia was not looking for peace. Ceasefire didn't work. It was in place for 7 years and thousands of people were killed. Nothing has changed, except that we, defending ourselves, have significantly weakened Russia. Now it openly wants to freeze the war - not for the sake of tranquility, but for the sake of gaining some time, gaining strength and striking again. The one who takes the path of terror does not leave it by himself. This is why our Peace Formula is needed. International law is needed. Ukraine proposed its Peace Formula to the world. As long as Russian invaders remain on our land, no one will sit down at the negotiating table with Russia. The colonizer must get out. And the world has enough power to force Russia to restore peace step by step. We proved it. For instance - food security. This is one of the tracks of our Peace Formula. When Russia blocked our sea, we found a way out. We have agreed with the UN and TArkiye to create a sea corridor for food exports so that no one in the world suffers from hunger or food shortages. Together we stabilized the markets. So we gave the world an element of peace. And by analogy, it can work on every other track of our Peace Formula, starting from nuclear, which is very dangerous, and energy security and ending with restoring the full force of the UN Charter and our territorial integrity, which was breached by Russia. We have developed the Peace Formula in a way that ensures each of its points is backed by UN resolutions. And in a way that everyone in the world can choose the track they can contribute to. By the way I wanted to tell you that all these points are based on these resolutions and all your countries in different years supported and voted for these resolutions. I think this is really important. From Japan to the Arab countries, from Europe to Latin America, we find support for our Formula. And we continue this work. In a short time, already in July, the full-scale war will enter 500 days. And that is a symbolic period of time, a good month to convene the Summit of the Peace Formula, the summit of the global majority. The summit of all those who uphold honesty and are determined to bring this war to an end. I invite you to join in the common efforts! Even if we are separated by distance, we are not decoupled by common understanding: You would defend yourselves if your home was broken-into, if the enemy came at your gate and deports your children, - you would not surrender to the colonizers, you would unite the whole world, you would fight - as we are fighting. Thank you! NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address President of Ukraine had a meeting with the President of Indonesia in Japan President of Ukraine 21 May 2023 - 05:01 During his working visit to Japan to participate in the G7 Summit, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy held talks with President of the Republic of Indonesia Joko Widodo. Volodymyr Zelenskyy informed his interlocutor about the course of hostilities in Ukraine. The Head of State drew attention to the shelling of the civilian infrastructure of our country. He called on the President of Indonesia to support Ukraine's efforts to return illegally deported children. Joko Widodo commended the continuation of the Black Sea Grain Initiative. The parties noted the importance of its expansion. During the meeting, the leaders discussed the implementation of the Ukrainian Peace Formula. Volodymyr Zelenskyy thanked the President of Indonesia for the invitation to participate in the G20 Summit in November 2022, where the Ukrainian Peace Formula was presented to the world. The President of Ukraine also expressed gratitude to Indonesia for its readiness to support the efforts to restore our country, particularly in the healthcare sector. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address President of Ukraine met with Prime Minister of Canada in Hiroshima President of Ukraine 21 May 2023 - 04:31 While on a working visit to Japan to participate in the G7 Summit, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with Prime Minister of Canada Justin Trudeau. The two leaders discussed topical issues on the bilateral agenda, paying special attention to further cooperation in the security and defense sector. "I highly appreciate the fact that friendly Canada is one of the leaders in supporting Ukraine in countering Russian aggression. But now is a critical moment for us and for the whole world, and Ukraine needs enhanced assistance," the President said. Volodymyr Zelenskyy briefed Justin Trudeau on the situation at the front and shared the assessment of its possible development. The Head of State praised the assistance provided by Canada for demining the territories liberated from Russian invaders. "I would like to thank you for the practical assistance in demining and for the prompt processing of our requests by your government and Canadian manufacturers," the President noted. The parties also discussed the training of Ukrainian junior officers as part of the UNIFIER Canadian training mission. Canada's consistent strengthening of sanctions pressure on Russia was highly praised. In addition, Volodymyr Zelenskyy emphasized the importance of implementing all points of the Ukrainian Peace Formula. The President also focused on the issue of Ukraine's Euro-Atlantic integration. He noted that at the NATO Summit in Vilnius in July, concrete decisions on our country's membership in the Alliance should be made and clear signals should be given that Ukraine will become a member of NATO. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Latest in Ukraine: At Close of G7, Zelenskyy Likens Bakhmut Obliteration to Hiroshima By VOA News May 21, 2023 Latest Developments The Russian Investigative Committee announced Sunday indictments in absentia for a judge and prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, who issued a war crimes warrant against Russian President Vladimir Putin and Russian official Maria Lvova-Belova in March for illegal deportations of Ukrainian children to Russia. U.S. President Joe Biden announced $375 million in additional aid to Ukraine. "A package that includes more ammunition artillery, armored vehicles to bolster Ukraine's battlefield abilities," he said. Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy left the G-7 meeting in Japan with reassurances that Kyiv's allies will see out the fight. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said at the close of the G-7 Summit in Hiroshima, Japan, that the obliteration of the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut by Russian forces harkens back to the Hiroshima bombing at the end of WWII. "Hiroshima is a rebuilt city now. And we dream of rebuilding all of our cities that are now in ruins, and every village where not a single house is left intact after Russian strikes," Zelenskyy said Sunday. The Ukrainian leader delivered the warning that if the world does not unite against the Russian aggressor, it will be "a matter of time before other criminals in public office want to start similar wars," adding, "I am here in Hiroshima so that the world can hear the Ukrainian call for unification from here." Zelenskyy contested Russia's claims Sunday that it had occupied Bakhmut. On Saturday, Russia said it had seized the beleaguered city after a nine-month battle there, the longest and bloodiest since WWII. Russian President Vladimir Putin congratulated Russian troops and Wagner forces for their victory, which was contested by Kyiv, which said it still occupied a small part of the eastern city. Even during their alleged victory, Russia revealed the rift between Yevgeny Prigozhin's Wagner mercenary forces and the Russian military establishment. Prigozhin on Sunday played down the role of the regular Russian army in capturing Bakhmut, the east Ukrainian city that Moscow claimed to have taken a day earlier. Meanwhile, the commander of Ukraine's ground forces, Oleksandr Syrskyi, said Sunday he had visited front-line positions near Bakhmut and thanked the Ukrainian troops defending the area. Syrskyi said in a post on the Telegram messaging app that Kyiv's forces still controlled a part of Bakhmuta albeit a he conceded an "insignificant" area. He noted, however, that their foothold would be enough to advance into the devastated city once the tide turned. He said Kyiv's forces controlling the suburbs were forming a "tactical encirclement" around Russian troops in the city. G-7 support for Ukraine At a G-7 news conference Sunday in Hiroshima, U.S. President Joe Biden said that Western allies "will not waver" in their support for Ukraine. Biden said the major powers would remain united behind Ukraine against Russian aggression. He also announced Sunday a new $375 million package of military aid to Ukraine. Meeting with the Ukrainian leader on the sidelines of the G-7 summit, Biden said the military aid package included ammunition, artillery, armored vehicles and training. "Together with the entire G-7, we have Ukraine's back and I promise we're not going anywhere," Biden told Zelenskyy. Biden affirmed U.S. support for a joint effort with allied and partner nations to train Ukrainian pilots on fourth-generation fighter aircraft such as the F-16. Biden told reporters that he had received a "flat assurance" from Zelenskyy that Ukraine would not use Western-provided F-16 fighter jets to go into Russian territory and that such warplanes would be used "wherever Russian troops are within Ukraine and the area." But Ukraine has not yet won commitments to receiving F-16 jets from allies. Biden has defended his initial hesitancy to providing the high-tech jets to Ukraine, arguing that they would not have made any difference in stopping Russian advancement on Bakhmut. However, responding to a question by VOA's Russian Service at the G-7 Summit, Zelenskyy said that discussions on the delivery of F-16 have come a "step further," starting with the training of Ukrainian pilots on the aircraft, which he affirmed that Ukraine plans to complete as soon as possible. "We will be working for these people to be as educated as possible, as trained and experienced as possible with huge experience to decrease this process of training to make it short," he told VOA. "I cannot tell you how many aircraft we'll be able to get. I cannot tell you definitely when it will take place, but we will speed it up because it's important for us every day. We're losing our people." Some information for this story came from The Associated Press, Reuters and Agence France-Presse. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address English Estonian Dear shareholder of AS Pro Kapital Grupp, We announce that the Management Board is calling for the annual general meeting of AS Pro Kapital Grupp (registration code 10278802, located at Sojakooli 11 Tallinn Republic of Estonia) (hereinafter the Company) shareholders which shall take place on Tuesday, 19th of June, 2023 at 12.30 in the Atlantic City room at Hilton Tallinn Park, R. Kreutzwaldi 23, 10147 Tallinn Republic of Estonia. Registration of shareholders shall take place from 12.15 - 12.30 on the 19th of June 2023 at the location of the meeting. The reason for calling the annual general meeting is to decide on approval of the annual report for the financial year of 2022, distribution of the profit, election of the auditor, prolongation of term of Supervisory Council member and election of new Council members. The proposal to call the annual general meeting of shareholders was made by the Management Board of the Company. The agenda of the meeting is as follows: Election of the Chairman and Secretary of the annual general meeting of shareholders The Management Boards proposal: Elect the Chairman and the Secretary of the annual general meeting of the shareholders as per suggestions made at the meeting. Approval of the audited annual report of the Company for the financial year of 2022 The Company has prepared the annual report for the financial year of 2022. The report has been audited and the audited report has been made available to the shareholders. It is the competency of the shareholders to approve the annual report. The Councils and Management Boards proposal and draft of the resolution: Approve the audited annual report of the Company for the financial year of 2022. Resolution of distribution of the profit The Companys net profit for the financial year which ended 31 December 2022 was in the amount of 13 451 868 Euros. As per the commercial code it is the shareholders competency to decide on how to distribute profit. The Councils and Management Boards proposal and draft of the resolution: To distribute the net profit for the financial year which ended 31 December 2022 in the amount of 13 451 868 Euros into retained earnings of previous periods. Election of the auditor In financial year of 2022 Ernst & Young Baltic AS has provided audit services to the Company in relation to the audit of the annual report. The auditor has confirmed as required by the corporate governance recommendations that it has no work, economic or other relations that would threaten its independence while rendering auditing service. In 2023, the Board has taken quotations from various audit firms for the audit of the financial year 2023-2024. The Audit Committee and the Supervisory Council recommend to continue the cooperation with Ernst & Young Baltic AS, as their quotation and quality of service is the best. The Councils and Management Boards proposal and draft of the resolution: Elect Ernst & Young Baltic AS as the auditor of the Company for the financial year of 2023-2024 and leave the decision on the amount of the auditor's remuneration to the Company Management Board. Extending the term of office and election of the Supervisory Council members All three Supervisory Council members have been elected until 05.07.2023. The Chairman of the Companys Supervisory Council, Mr Bozzone, and the member of the Companys Supervisory Council, Mr Olkinuora do not consented to stand for re-election. The member of the Companys Supervisory Council, Mr Crameri has consented to stand for re-election. The Management Board of the Company is proposing to prolong the term of one existing member and to elect a new Supervisory Council members as follows: The Councils and Management Boards proposals and draft resolutions: 5.1. Prolong the term of office of Oscar Crameri as a member of the Supervisory Council of the Company until 05.07.2026. 5.2. Elect Patrick Werner as a member of the Supervisory Council from 06.07.2023 until 05.07.2026. 5.3. Elect Giovanni Bozzetti as a member of the Supervisory Council from 06.07.2023 until 05.07.2026. CV data of the Council Members can be found in the files attached to the notice and on homepage www.prokapital.com sub-section the Shareholder. Principles and sums of remuneration of members of Supervisory Council remains as decided at 20.06.2016 General Meeting of shareholders. According to the Commercial Code 297 section 5 the set of shareholders entitled to take part in the annual general meeting of shareholders shall be determined as at 7 days before holding the general meeting as at the end of the working day of the settlement system of the registrar of the Estonian register of securities or another depository where the shares of a public limited company are entered, which precedes the general meeting, i.e. on 12th of June, 2023 at end of the working day. A shareholder has the right to receive information on the activities of the public limited company from the management board at the general meeting. The management board may refuse to give information if there is a basis to presume that this may cause significant damage to the interests of the public limited company. If the management board refuses to give information, the shareholder may demand that the general meeting decide on the legality of the shareholder's request or to file, within two weeks after the general meeting, a petition to a court by way of proceedings on petition in order to obligate the management board to give information. Shareholders whose shares represent at least 1/20 of the share capital may request adding items to the agenda of the general meeting, if the respective request has been made 15 days before the meeting, i.e. on 4th of June, 2023 at the latest. They may also submit a draft resolution for each item on the agenda at least 3 days before the meeting, i.e. on 16th of June, 2023 at the latest. Please submit the draft resolution in writing to AS Pro Kapital Grupp, Sojakooli 11, Tallinn, 11316. At the meeting, items previously not on the agenda may be taken onto the agenda if at least 9/10 of participating shareholders approve and their shares represent at least 2/3 of the share capital (proxy votes will be discounted). A general meeting may decide on calling the next meeting and settle submissions concerning administrative issues related to the agenda or to the procedure for holding the meeting without such matters having to be included on the agenda beforehand, and to discuss other matters without making resolutions. The shareholder can until 16th of June, 2023 at 16:00 inform the Company of appointing a representative or of renouncing the power of attorney of the representative, by sending the digitally signed notice to prokapital@prokapital.ee or by sending the written notice to the office of the Company at Sojakooli 11 Tallinn. The shareholders of the Company can acquaint themselves with the drafts of the resolutions and proposals, the audited annual report of 2022 financial year, the auditor opinion, CVs of new Supervisory Council members on the webpage of the Company www.prokapital.com under the sub-section Company, Investor, Shareholders or upon prior request at the location of the Company at Sojakooli 11 Tallinn at an agreed time during the business days from 09:00 until 17:00. If you have any questions in regards to the annual general meeting of shareholders, please contact us by phone + 372 6 144 920 or by email at prokapital@prokapital.ee . Questions and answers related to the agenda of the shareholders meeting shall be published on the website of the Company www.prokapital.com under the section Company, Investor. Documents needed to participate at the meeting Natural person shareholders are kindly asked to bring along a valid identification document, representatives are kindly asked to bring along a valid identification document and a valid written power-of-attorney. In the case of shareholders who are legal entities we request you to bring an extract from the relevant register, where that legal person has been registered and a valid identification document of the representative. For persons representing a legal entity under power of attorney we kindly ask to bring in addition of the referred documents also a valid written power of attorney. Each document issued by a foreign countrys official must be either legalized or authenticated with a document certificate apostille and translated into English. Proxy voting It is possible to vote by proxy by submitting the relevant form to the Company before the meeting. The form with instructions is available on the webpage of the Company www.prokapital.com under the sub-section Company, Investor, Shareholders. Best regards, Management Board of AS Pro Kapital Grupp Attachments JASPER, Ind., May 22, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Board of Directors for German American Bancorp, Inc. (GABC) announced next steps in leadership succession by appointing current Director and Chief Executive Officer, Neil Dauby, to succeed retiring Mark Schroeder as Chairman of the Board, and Brad Rust as President for both the holding company and the bank. Tom Seger, lead director for GABC, stated The Board, along with the entire GABC family, are extremely grateful to Mark for his longevity and dedicated service to German American. His board and executive leadership and strong counsel throughout his extensive career enabled the company to grow its footprint, product and service offerings, and employment base as the company grew from a small community bank to a regional financial services company serving banking, insurance and wealth management. Mark Schroeder added, I am grateful for the support of the board, executive and management teams, and the entire German American family throughout my career with the company. Its satisfying to fully step down while knowing the strategy and vision of the board to transition the companys leadership into the capable hands of Neil and Brad has been successful. Mr. Dauby joined German American Bank in 2001. He served in various capacities as affiliate and regional president roles and corporate positions including Executive Vice President-Chief Commercial Banking Officer and President & Chief Operating Officer before becoming the Chief Executive Officer on January 1, 2022. Prior to joining German American, Mr. Dauby, a graduate of Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green, Kentucky, was a CPA with sixteen years of leadership experience with regional public accounting firms in various Kentucky markets, including Bowling Green and Owensboro, which are a part of German Americans footprint. In addition to being responsible for the overall vision, strategy and execution of the Company as CEO, Dauby will provide leadership, administration and oversight to the Board of Directors. Dauby states, I am honored to be selected by the Board to succeed Mark Schroeder. Mark and I have worked together for over two decades building a great management team and building great value for our shareholders. Mr. Rust joined German American in 1999 in connection with the Companys merger with 1ST Bancorp of Vincennes, Indiana. He has more than 30 years of banking experience having previously served as a federal bank examiner as well as in various capacities within the accounting and finance functions for 1ST Bancorp and German American Bank. Brad, who has been German Americans Chief Financial Officer (CFO) since 2005 and Chief Operating Officer (COO) since January 1, 2022, currently serves as Senior Executive Vice President for the Company. In his expanded role as the President, Mr. Rust will provide executive oversight over all operations of the Company, while also continuing in his present role as CFO whose duties include mergers and acquisitions, institutional research and shareholder relations. Dauby commented, Having worked with Brad for over twenty years, I have the utmost confidence in his ability to lead German American to even greater levels of success in the coming years. About German American Bank German American Bancorp, Inc. is a financial holding company based in Jasper, Indiana. German American, through its banking subsidiary German American Bank, which was founded in 1910, operates 77 banking offices in 20 southern Indiana counties and 14 counties in Kentucky. The Company also owns an investment brokerage subsidiary (German American Investment Services, Inc.) and a full line property and casualty insurance agency (German American Insurance, Inc.) to offer a full array of services in banking, insurance and wealth management. For additional information, contact: D. Neil Dauby, Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer Bradley M Rust, President and Chief Financial Officer (812) 482-1314 Photos accompanying this announcement are available at: https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/a51fa5f4-d12b-4dbc-9ed4-6be951a8d5e7 https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/eb4908c0-0fd2-4161-a736-8813904efcca New York City, May 22, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Mark Stein, DDS, MD has been named a Super Doctor by New York Times Magazine for 2023. This marks the seventh consecutive year that Dr. Stein has been recognized for his expertise as an oral surgeon in NYC and has been included on this respected list. To land a spot on this list, candidates are nominated based on evaluations from top researchers and physicians within their field. Since only 5% of New Yorks oral surgeons are chosen for this list, there is a thorough peer review process to select the best candidates. I am honored to be included among my peers and acknowledged as a 2023 Super Doctor, says Dr. Stein. This award is a testament to not only myself but the efforts of my entire team. My team and I are dedicated to providing the highest quality of care for all of our patients. To be recognized for the seventh straight year is a source of great pride for all of us. Dr. Mark Stein is a board certified Oral and Maxillofacial surgeon and has been providing care to patients in the New York City area for over 25 years. Dr. Stein specializes in dental implants , bone grafting, wisdom teeth removal, and sinus lifts . Over his career, Dr. Stein has placed more than 30,000 dental implants and is known around the world for his expertise and skillset, making him a highly sought-after oral surgeon. In addition to his oral surgery experience, Dr. Stein also offers non-surgical cosmetic procedures, such as cosmetic injectables, dermal fillers, masseter hypertrophy, and BOTOX for teeth grinding. At New York Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery Dental Implant Center, Dr. Stein and his team work together to ensure that their patients are provided with natural-looking, long-lasting results. By utilizing the latest technology, prioritizing patient comfort, and developing customized care plans for each patient, Dr. Stein makes certain that each of his patients goals are achieved. The New York Times Super Doctors list only acknowledges doctors and physicians that have excelled above and beyond within their career field. Recommendations from peers within each respective field is how the nominated doctors for the list are chosen. The nominated doctors are evaluated based on factors such as leadership, experience, achievements, board certifications, publications, presentations, and hospital appointments. The top 5% of candidates are chosen and are then recognized for making the New York Times Super Doctors list. Mark Stein, DDS, MD is an experienced, board-certified oral surgeon. He is one of the few surgeons in New York City to have both a dental and medical degree. Dr. Steins educational background includes degrees from New York University College of Dentistry and Rutgers Medical School. He has been awarded many times within his field, including receiving an award for the American Association of Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery Outstanding Achievement. Dr. Stein completed an intensive six-year residency program at the University of Medicine and Dentistry in New Jersey where he specialized in additional orthodontic procedures, such as bone grafting, placing dental implants, and cosmetic facial procedures. Dr. Stein has also taught at New York University as an Assistant Professor of Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery and has been an Attending Physician at Columbia University Medical Center, Staten Island University Hospital, Beth Israel Medical Center, and New York Eye and Ear Infirmary. To learn more about undergoing oral surgery with Dr. Mark Stein, you can contact New York Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery by phone at (212) 888-4760 or by requesting an appointment online. Attachment Five killed, dozens missing in Ghana boat accident 28 May 2023 | 8:14 AM Accra, May 28 (UNI) At least five people died and dozens went missing after a boat carrying dozens of people sank in the Savannah Region of Ghana, an official confirmed late Saturday. see more.. Cannes Palme d'Or winner Triet slams French gov't for repressing pension reform protests 28 May 2023 | 8:09 AM Cannes, May 28 (UNI) French director Justine Triet, who won the Cannes Film Festival's top prize, criticized in her acceptance speech the government of French President Emmanuel Macron for "shocking" suppression of protests against the controversial pension reform. see more.. US Africa command launches airstrike against Al-Shabaab militants 28 May 2023 | 7:23 AM Washington, May 28 (UNI) The US Africa Command says it has carried out an airstrike targeting militants from the al-Shabaab terrorist group. see more.. Turkey to hold Presidential runoff 28 May 2023 | 7:10 AM Ankara, May 28 (UNI) Incumbent Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his main opponent, opposition leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu, will meet in a showdown on Sunday as polling stations across the country prepare for a runoff. see more.. New York, US, May 22, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- According to the recent Research Report by Market Research Future (MRFR), Logistic Software Market Information by Software Type, End-User, and Region - Forecast till 2030, Logistic Software Market could thrive at a rate of 8.31% between 2022 and 2030. The market size will be reaching around USD 17.76 Billion by the end of the year 2030. Market Synopsis Logistics software refers to a suite of tools and applications designed to manage and optimize logistics operations in industries such as transportation, manufacturing, retail, and others. These software solutions help businesses to streamline their supply chain processes, automate logistics management tasks, and improve visibility and tracking throughout the supply chain. The logistics software market has grown rapidly in recent years, driven by factors such as the increasing demand for automation and digitization of logistics operations, the growing need for cost savings and efficiency, and the increasing adoption of cloud-based solutions. The market is highly competitive, with a large number of established players and new entrants competing for market share. Logistics software is used by a wide range of businesses across various industries, including transportation and logistics providers, manufacturers, retailers, and others. It is particularly useful for businesses with complex logistics operations and large supply chains, as it can help to streamline and optimize tasks such as transportation management, warehouse management, and inventory management. Get a Free Sample PDF Brochure: https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/4420 Market Competitive Landscape: The affluent companies in the Logistic Software industry include: Advantech Corporation Digilogistics UTI Worldwide Inc. Hexaware Technologies IBM Corporation JDA Software Oracle Samsung Electronics Co SAP AG Tech Mahindra Logistic Software Market Report Overview Report Metrics Details Logistic Software Market Size by 2030 USD 17.76 Billion (2030) Logistic Software Market CAGR during 2020-2030 8.31% Base Year 2020 Forecast 2020-2030 Report Coverage Revenue Forecast, Competitive Landscape, Growth Factors, and Trends Key Market Drivers is the benefits of logistics software such as cost, time saver, proper managing of labors are the driving factors for the growth of the global logistics software market. Buy Now Premium Research Report - Get Comprehensive Market Insights. Industry Updates: November 2021- JDA Software announced a partnership with Microsoft to develop cloud-based supply chain solutions for businesses. The partnership aimed to help businesses increase agility and resilience in their supply chain operations. JDA Software announced a partnership with Microsoft to develop cloud-based supply chain solutions for businesses. The partnership aimed to help businesses increase agility and resilience in their supply chain operations. October 2021 - SAP announced the launch of its new logistics management system, SAP Logistics Business Network. The system is designed to provide real-time visibility and collaboration capabilities across the entire supply chain. Market USP Covered: Market Drivers: The growing popularity of online shopping has increased the demand for logistic software solutions. With the increasing number of online orders, companies need to efficiently manage and track their inventory, shipments, and deliveries. Logistic software helps businesses to manage their logistics operations and track shipments in real time. This has led to a significant increase in the adoption of logistic software among e-commerce companies. Market Restraints: One of the major challenges facing the logistic software market is the high implementation and maintenance costs associated with these solutions. The cost of implementing logistic software solutions can be significant, especially for small and medium-sized businesses. Additionally, the cost of maintaining these solutions can also be high, which may deter some businesses from adopting these solutions. COVID 19 Analysis: The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on the logistics software market. With the pandemic causing disruptions in the global supply chain, businesses are increasingly relying on logistics software to manage their operations efficiently. The need for contactless delivery and reduced human contact has also led to an increased demand for logistics software. On the other hand, the pandemic has caused a decline in global trade, which has hurt the logistics software market. The economic uncertainty caused by the pandemic has also led to a decrease in investments in logistics software by businesses. Overall, the impact of COVID-19 on the logistics software market has been a mix of both positive and negative factors. Browse In-depth Market Research Report (100 Pages) on Logistic Software Market: https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/logistic-software-market-4420 Market Segmentation By Software Type - The software types in the market include Warehouse Management, Labor management, Transportation management, and Data management. The software types in the market include Warehouse Management, Labor management, Transportation management, and Data management. By End-User - By End-user the segment includes Automotive, Government & Defense, Healthcare, Telecommunication, and IT, Industrial, Engineering and Manufacturing, Oil & Gas, and Others Regional Insights North America is the largest market for logistics software, primarily due to the presence of a large number of established vendors in the region and the increasing adoption of cloud-based solutions by businesses of all sizes. The US and Canada are the two largest markets in the region, with a high demand for logistics software solutions across various industries. Further, Europe is also a significant market for logistics software, with a growing demand for automation and digitization of logistics processes. The region is characterized by a highly developed transportation infrastructure and a high degree of government regulation, which has created a favorable environment for logistics software vendors. The UK, Germany, and France are the largest markets in the region, but the market is also growing in other countries such as Spain, Italy, and the Netherlands. Customization Request - Submit a request to customize the report according to your unique requirements. Additionally, the APAC market is expected to grow at a rapid pace in the coming years, driven by factors such as the increasing adoption of digital technologies, the growing awareness of the benefits of logistics software, and the expanding e-commerce industry. China, India, and Japan are the largest markets in the region, with a high demand for logistics software solutions in industries such as manufacturing, transportation, and retail. However, the region is also characterized by significant variations in regulatory frameworks, cultural norms, and technological infrastructure, which can present unique challenges for logistics software vendors operating in the market. Browse the Japanese language version of the Logistic Software Market Report. Related Reports: Integration Platform as a Service (IPaaS) Market - The Integration Platform as a Service (IPaaS) market industry is projected to grow from USD 5.47 Billion in 2022 to USD 45.21 billion by 2030, exhibiting a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 35.20% during the forecast period (2022-2030). - The Integration Platform as a Service (IPaaS) market industry is projected to grow from USD 5.47 Billion in 2022 to USD 45.21 billion by 2030, exhibiting a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 35.20% during the forecast period (2022-2030). Data Catalog Market - Data Catalog Market Size was valued at USD 0.35 Billion in 2021. The Data Catalog industry is projected to grow from USD 0.66 Billion in 2022 to USD 3.10 Billion by 2030, exhibiting a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 24.33% during the forecast period (2022 - 2030). - Data Catalog Market Size was valued at USD 0.35 Billion in 2021. 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Our market research studies by products, services, technologies, applications, end users, and market players for global, regional, and country level market segments, enable our clients to see more, know more, and do more, which help answer your most important questions. Contact Us: We're sorry, you encountered a page that doesn't exist. Las Vegas, Nevada., May 22, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- EKIMAS Corporation (OTC PINK: NORD) (EKIMAS or the Company), a financial consulting company specializing in providing Nordic companies with the best possible conditions to establish themselves on the U.S. market, today announced that its common stock began trading under the symbol NORD on May 17, 2023 and changed its name to Nordicus Partners Corporation. The new ticker symbol aligns with the Companys rebranding to Nordicus. No action by the companys shareholders is required with respect to the ticker symbol change. The Companys common stock will continue to be listed on OTC Pink Market and its CUSIP number will remain unchanged. About Nordicus Partners Corporation Nordicus Partners Corporation is a financial consulting company specializing in providing Nordic companies with the best possible conditions to establish themselves on the U.S. market, taking advantage of managements combined 90+ years of experience in the corporate sector, serving in different capacities both domestically and globally. The companys core competencies lie in assisting Danish as well as other Nordic and international companies in different areas of corporate finance activities, such as: business valuations, growth strategies, attracting capital for businesses & company acquisitions and sales. Forward-Looking Statements The Company believes that this press release contains forward-looking statements as that term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Terms such as may, might, would, should, could, project, estimate, pro-forma, predict, potential, strategy, anticipate, attempt, develop, plan, help, believe, continue, intend, expect, future, and terms of similar import (including the negative of any of these terms) may identify forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements, including but not limited to statements regarding the plans and objectives of management for future operations, are based on managements current expectations and are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements. Actual results and the timing of certain events and circumstances may differ materially from those described by the forward-looking statements as a result of these risks and uncertainties. Factors that may influence or contribute to the accuracy of the forward-looking statements or cause actual results to differ materially from expected or desired results may include, without limitation, market acceptance of the companys products and services; competition from existing products or new products that may emerge; the implementation of the companys business model and strategic plans for its business and our products; estimates of the companys future revenue, expenses, capital requirements and need for financing; current and future government regulations; and developments relating to the companys competitors. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements because of the risks and uncertainties related to them. For further information on such risks and uncertainties, you are encouraged to review the Companys filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), including its Current Report on Form 8-K relating to the reverse acquisition and related transactions which was filed with the SEC on March 1, 2023. The Company assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements as a result of new information or future events or developments, except as required by law. For further information contact: Mr. Henrik Rouf Chief Executive Officer Phone +1 310 666.0750 Email hr@nordicuspartners.com New York, May 22, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA) announced today the launch of the MDA Gene Therapy Support Network (GTx), ahead of a pending FDA approval for the first gene therapy for Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD). The expanded nationally renowned MDA Resource Center offers nationwide one-on-one expert support and guidance for newly approved gene therapy treatments for people living with neuromuscular diseases (NMDs). FDA approvals for gene therapies in NMDs include treatment for spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Families may contact MDA Resource Center Gene Therapy Specialists for information, guidance and help facilitating access to novel therapies, by phone at 1-833-ASK-MDA1 (1-833-275-6321) or via email at ResourceCenter@mdausa.org. Virtual appointments may also be scheduled at: GTx Support Specialist Meeting. MDA GTx will include clinical networking to support ongoing clinical collaboration throughout the MDA Care Center Network, long-term family support and best practice sharing between care centers. In addition, MDA GTx will provide gene therapy resources and educational opportunities for families to inform their decision-making process. The Gene Therapy Support Network and the advances it represents are more than 70 years in the making; MDA pioneered the genetic research that has brought us to this exciting moment in time for families impacted by neuromuscular disease. Through MDA GTx, we will offer expert one-on-one direct support for our community to navigate the complexities of new and emerging gene therapies. MDA GTx will include clinical networking to support ongoing clinical collaboration throughout the MDA Care Center Network, long-term individual and family support and best practice sharing between our clinics. In addition, MDA GTx will launch educational resources and opportunities to build health literacy for individuals and families interested in seeking gene therapy to inform their decision-making, said Donald S. Wood, Ph.D., President and CEO, MDA. It is thrilling to finally have more treatment options that can slow the progression of disease for the families we care for throughout the MDA Care Center Network. After decades of funding towards our work in scientific and clinical research, side-by-side with families, we now have even more hope with gene therapy treatments. Its been an honor to work with my colleagues throughout the country in the MDA Care Center Network to continue the innovative work that has driven progress for the neuromuscular disease community through decades of discovery. Today, we have more tools and technology, and with gene therapy, the intention is to treat or prevent disease by administering new genetic material into affected cells using a delivery vehicle known as a vector. Genes provide instructions on how to make the proteins our bodies need. Gene therapies only target certain cells in the body, so a person's basic genetic composition is not changed, just the cells targeted by the therapy, said Barry Byrne, M.D., Ph.D., Chief Medical Advisor, MDA and Associate Chair of Pediatrics and Director of the Powell Gene Therapy Center at the University of Florida. The first in a series of educational programming features a family education event called MDA Virtual Learning: Gene Therapy 101 webinar to be held Thursday, June 15, 4-5:30pm ET with MDA Care Center Director Craig Zaidman, M.D. and Natalie Goedeker, MSN, CPNP, from Washington University in St. Louis. The event will include the discussion of the basics of gene therapy, what it is, and how it works. Attendees will receive an overview of the latest developments in gene therapy specifically for neuromuscular diseases and understand what considerations need to be taken before pursuing gene therapy treatment. Attendees will have the opportunity to ask questions during the live Q&A. This webinar will also be offered in Spanish. Registration is free (and required) for the community here. This webinar will be recorded for on-demand viewing and will be available three weeks following the live program. We are excited to partner with the Muscular Dystrophy Association for this Gene Therapy 101 Webinar, in which we will be discussing the background of gene therapies and relevant issues for access, administration, and follow-up care, said Goedeker. Muscular Dystrophy Associations investment in gene therapy Watch MDAs Gene Therapy Story - Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy - here. For more than 70 years, MDA has been committed to people living with neuromuscular disease (NMD) and is currently the largest source of research funding for NMD outside of the federal government. MDA has invested over $125 million in the development of gene therapy over the past 73 years. For decades, MDA has supported researchers who have worked to discover gene-causing mutations for neuromuscular disorders, developed and refined gene delivery tools and methods, and established protocols for safe and effective gene therapy. Gene therapy funding provided by MDA resulted in essential milestones, including the discovery of the gene that is involved in DMD by Dr. Lou Kunkel in 1986, the development of the microdystrophin strategy in the 1990's and the first gene therapy trial for DMD in 2006. In 2019, MDA was recognized for its contributions and awarded the Sonia Skarlatos Award for Public Service by the American Society of Cell and Gene Therapy (ASCGT). MDAs efforts to develop this technology for application in human clinical trials provided the foundation for the first gene therapy treatment for a neuromuscular disease a life-saving treatment for SMA which received full approval from the FDA in 2019 for children under the age of two years. MDA continues to lead advocacy efforts for accelerated access to therapies and newborn screening and build upon gene therapy support within the MDA Care Center Network. MDA has invested over $6 million in the Network, which includes multidisciplinary care teams across the nation. MDAs Resource Center includes gene therapy specialists to facilitate access to these novel treatments for families. About Muscular Dystrophy Association Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA) is the #1 voluntary health organization in the United States for people living with muscular dystrophy, ALS, and related neuromuscular diseases. For over 70 years, MDA has led the way in accelerating research, advancing care, and advocating for the support of our families. MDA's mission is to empower the people we serve to live longer, more independent lives. To learn more visit mda.org and follow MDA on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, TikTok, LinkedIn, and YouTube. Attachments Newark, May 22, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Brainy Insights estimates that the self-healing concrete market will grow from USD 39 billion in 2022 and reach USD 598.4 billion by 2032. Large-scale infrastructure project growth is a strong element which has pushed the self-healing concrete market. Request a Sample Copy of the Research Report: https://www.thebrainyinsights.com/enquiry/sample-request/13479 Europe to account for largest market size during the forecast period. Europe is expected to have the largest market share in the self-healing concrete market. The growth of the self-healing concrete market in North America region is the positive signs about governmental and private debt in Europe are encouraging the growth of the construction industry, which is expected to contribute approvingly to market development. Germany and other Western European countries make a significant contribution to the development of the global building market. The government's multiple steps and continuous projects have pushed the market's growth. The country, during the covid, made better supporting efforts for its economy, which led to the country's favourable expansion in comparison to France and the United Kingdom. The capsule segment accounted for the largest market share of 39% and market revenue of 15.21 billion in 2022. The form segment is divided into capsule, vascular, and intrinsic. The capsule segment dominated the market, with a market share of around 39% and market revenue of 15.21 billion in 2022. The capsule-based healing is anticipated to show favourable growth during the projection duration due to its different advantages, including healing bigger cracks, demanding less external needs to regain full strength, and remaining protected during mixing. The civil infrastructures segment accounted for the largest market share of 28% and market revenue of 10.92 billion in 2022. The application segment is divided into commercial, residential, civil infrastructure, and industrial. The civil infrastructures segment dominated the market, with a market share of around 28% and market revenue of 10.92 billion in 2022. Civil Infrastructures such as roads, dams, bridges, and tunnels are subjected to constant strain and are possible to create cracks. Thus, there is high demand for self-healing concrete in civil infrastructures to reduce the maintenance cost. Advancement in market In January 2020, Autonomic Materials looked at self-healing materials with protecting coating systems. Trials demonstrated the increased value of the low VOC aqueous self-healing coating for corrosion resistance. For more information about this report visit: https://www.thebrainyinsights.com/report/self-healing-concrete-market-13479 Market Dynamics Drivers: It enhances compressive strength The compressive strength of concrete is improved with microbial-induced calcium carbonate precipitation. Therefore, it forms bacterial concrete stronger than conventional concrete. When bacteria interact with the concrete matrix, it increases the compressive strength. Calcium carbonate production in bacterial concrete is a binding agent and seals the pores. Eventually, it also enhances the adhesive property of the concrete. Restraints: High Cost The cost of self-healing concrete is about double that of conventional concrete, so self-healing concrete would only be a feasible product for typical civil engineering structures where the price of concrete is much higher on account of being much higher quality, for instance, tunnels linings and marine structures where safety is a substantial element or in structures where there is limited access open for repair and maintenance. Opportunities: Increasing investment in large-scale infrastructure projects Large-scale infrastructure project growth is a strong element increasing global demand for self-healing concrete. Different nations are collaborating and investing in infrastructure schemes for long-term advantages, and this is an essential element donating to revenue expansion of the global self-healing concrete market. Increasing investment in large-scale infrastructure projects and smart cities is an important element raising the global self-healing concrete market growth currently. Growing opportunities in developing countries and enhancing the ease of doing business are resulting in large enterprises making significant investments in offshore infrastructure projects. Have Any Query? Ask Our Experts: https://www.thebrainyinsights.com/enquiry/buying-inquiry/13479 Some of the major players operating in the self-healing concrete market are: Xypex Chemical Corporation Wacker Chemie AG Polycoat Products Oscrete Construction Products Kwik Bond Polymers Green-Basilisk BV Giatec Scientific Inc. GCP Applied Technologies Inc. Fescon Oy. Corbion Comercializadora Espanola De Innovaciones Y Materiales CEMEX S.A.B. de C.V. Buzzi Unicem USA Breedon Group plc Avecom N.V. Acciona Infraestructuras S.A. Key Segments cover in the market: By Form: Capsule Vascular Intrinsic By Application: Commercial Residential Civil Infrastructure Industrial By Region North America (U.S., Canada, Mexico) Europe (Germany, France, U.K., Italy, Spain, Rest of Europe) Asia-Pacific (China, Japan, India, Rest of APAC) South America (Brazil and the Rest of South America) The Middle East and Africa (UAE, South Africa, Rest of MEA) About the report: The market is analysed based on value (USD Billion). All the segments have been analysed worldwide, regional, and country basis. The study includes the analysis of more than 30 countries for each part. The report analyses driving factors, opportunities, restraints, and challenges for gaining critical insight into the market. The study includes porter's five forces model, attractiveness analysis, Product analysis, supply, and demand analysis, competitor position grid analysis, distribution, and marketing channels analysis. Purchase this report (Price 4700 USD for a single-user license) at: https://www.thebrainyinsights.com/buy-now/13479/single About The Brainy Insights: The Brainy Insights is a market research company, aimed at providing actionable insights through data analytics to companies to improve their business acumen. We have a robust forecasting and estimation model to meet the clients' objectives of high-quality output within a short span of time. We provide both customized (clients' specific) and syndicate reports. Our repository of syndicate reports is diverse across all the categories and sub-categories across domains. Our customized solutions are tailored to meet the clients' requirements whether they are looking to expand or planning to launch a new product in the global market. Contact Us Avinash D Head of Business Development Phone: +1-315-215-1633 Email: sales@thebrainyinsights.com Web: www.thebrainyinsights.com WASHINGTON & JACKSONVILLE, FL, May 22, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The American Maritime Partnership (AMP), the voice of the domestic maritime industry, today recognizes the critical importance of the economic and national security benefits the 650,000 men and women of American Maritime deliver to the nation. This National Maritime Day we are reminded that America, from sea to shining sea, needs a strong domestic maritime industry amid continuing economic challenges and growing national security threats, said Kuuhaku Park, President of the American Maritime Partnership, Today is a day to thank our mariners and maritime workers for their sacrifices during wars, the pandemic, and other national emergencies. Though America is increasingly divided, there is one thing everyone can agree on we cannot rely on China and Russia to build, own and crew our ships. The Jones Act fleet has served the country time and again and we are honored to represent an industry that serves such a vital economic purpose in securing hundreds of thousands of jobs, while proving an asset to Americas national security and resilience. The maritime industry in the United States is supported by the Merchant Marine Act of 1920, popularly known as the Jones Act. A foundational domestic and national security law that requires that the transportation of cargo between all U.S. points be carried by American-built, American-crewed and American-owned vessels. AMP joined the Florida Maritime Partnership and Enterprise Florida in Jacksonville, Florida to recognize the critical role of the Jones Act in the Sunshine State and nationally. Florida ranks number two in the nation for the number of domestic maritime jobs, employing over 65,990 people and producing $14.6 billion annually for the states economy. What Leaders Are Saying White House Proclamation by President Joe Biden My Administration remains steadfast in its support of the Merchant Marine as well as the Jones Act, which ensures American workers see the benefits of our domestic maritime industry. U.S. Senator Ted Cruz of Texas This National Maritime Day, I want to recognize the more than 56,000 Texans who work in our thriving maritime industry. Texas domestic maritime industry accounts for more than $14 billion in economic output while playing a vital role in protecting our national security interests. U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell of Washington On National Maritime Day, we recognize the vital importance of the U.S. maritime transportation system to our nations economy and security. The maritime industry sustains 22,500 jobs and generates $6.1 billion of economic activity in the State of Washington. From cultivating our workforce and supporting shipyards, to expanding our seafood sector, we must actively support, nurture and grow our domestic maritime industry and the dedicated individuals who contribute to its success. U.S. Senator JD Vance of Ohio On this National Maritime Day, we honor the thousands of Ohioans who work in maritime roles on the Great Lakes and the Ohio River. These amazing bodies of water not only define our state by shaping its borders and boundaries, but they account for billions of dollars in economic impact every year. I have no doubt that our waterways will continue to play a vital role in growing our states economy and enriching the lives of all Ohioans. U.S. Senator Gary Peters of Michigan Today is National Maritime Day. So I just want to take a moment to thank all of our dedicated maritime workers in Michigan who power our states robust maritime industry and help keep us economically competitive on the world stage. Your work is invaluable to our community. So please know that Im working to ensure you have the support and the resources you need to be successful. U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska Alaskas maritime workforce is responsible for thousands of Alaskan jobs, billions in economic output for our state, and a stronger national security presence. On this National Maritime Day, Im grateful for the maritime workers who supply Alaskan communities with essentials, protect us from harm, and make our state a better place. U.S. Senator Dan Sullivan of Alaska The hard-working men and women of the maritime industry keep our state and our communities connected, our supply chains humming, and support our militarys operations when they are called upon. Happy National Maritime Day! Representative Rick Larsen of Washington In [Washingtons Second Congressional District], the maritime sector means jobs & drives long-term economic growth, supporting more than 2,600 jobs & delivering more than $700 million in economic activity annually. U.S. Representative Mike Gallagher of Wisconsin The maritime industry is crucial to [Northeast Wisconsin], providing a significant number of jobs and economic activity to the community. Statement by U.S. Representative Shri Thanedar of Michigan Congressman Shri Thanedar expresses his utmost appreciation and admiration for the men and women contributing to Michigans maritime sector. Their unwavering dedication, expertise, and hard work drive the states economic success, creating jobs and stimulating local economies. As an advocate for economic growth and job creation, Congressman Thanedar remains committed to supporting policies that foster the growth and prosperity of the American domestic maritime industry. U.S. Representative Michael McCaul of Texas American Maritime in Texas 10th district generates hundreds of jobs and contributes $136 million to our economy. On National Maritime Day, we recognize and appreciate the important role mariners play in the strength of our nation. U.S. Representative Randy Weber of Texas From our sailors and captains to shipbuilders and port workers, this day is a tribute to their unwavering commitment and invaluable contributions. Our maritime industry is critical to our economy and national security. U.S. Representative Jack Bergman of Michigan Michigans First Congressional District is home to shipyard workers in Menominee, dock workers in Marquette, lock operators in the Soo, the Great Lakes Maritime Academy in Traverse City, and sailors throughout the District. They are woven into the fabric of Northern Michigan and the Upper Peninsula, powering our economy and connecting our past with our future. U.S. Representative Daniel Webster of Florida Today, on National Maritime Day, we honor the history and highlight the importance of our countrys maritime industry on our economic and national security. In my district, the maritime industry supports over 1200 jobs and $150 million in economic activity. U.S. Representative Clay Higgins of Louisiana Maritime infrastructure plays a significant role in South Louisianas economy. Our district is a testament to the importance of the maritime industry in preserving our heritage, bolstering our national security, and supporting thousands of good-paying American jobs. The Jones Act ensures a skilled maritime workforce that stands ready to support our national defense and commerce by providing a strong domestic shipbuilding industry and a reliable skilled workforce. My office has made dredging and proper maintenance of water management systems a top infrastructure priority as ports and waterways are vital economic engines that serve our waterways. Well continue to advocate for the needs of our ports and maritime assets by working with industry, state, and federal partners to improve dredging efforts and grow commercial activity for the region. General Jacqueline Van Ovost, Commander of U.S. Transportation Command The U.S. maritime industry lies on the leading edge of our economic prosperity and rides the bow waves into the fight when called upon. The strategic advantage of our Merchant Mariners and Strategic Sealift Officers is critical to force projection and fight tonight readiness. Laura DiBella, Florida Secretary of Commerce & CEO of Enterprise Florida Our nation would not be where it is today without its robust maritime industry. Economic development would not exist without maritime as there are not enough planes, trains, or trucks on this planet to support the amount of cargo moved by ships. This industry is an important economic driver for the state, and it is crucial to move goods throughout the country. Enterprise Florida is proud to celebrate National Maritime Day and those who have dedicated their careers to serving others. Mike Stevens, CEO of the Navy League of the United States This National Maritime Day is not just a day to reflect on the legacy of those who have supported our military and moved the goods for every American. This year, and in the face of the threats we face, we should renew our commitment to ensuring a maritime capacity that ensures American strength and resilience. Jim Weakley, President of the Lake Carriers Association and Vice President of the Great Lakes Maritime Task Force The Great Lakes Navigation System is the pilot light of North American manufacturing. In addition to supplying our steel mills, flour mills, power plants, and construction industry, we deliver family-sustaining jobs. The women and men who sail our Fourth Sea Coast are the bedrock of our regional supply chain. The Jones Act ensures our American-made, American-owned, and American-crewed lakers protect our national economy from China, Russia, and other adversaries. National Economic Impact of the Jones Act According to the findings of a recently updated study conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) on behalf of the Transportation Institute (TI), the American Maritime industry: Contributes more than $154 billion in total economic output annually Creates $41 billion in labor income for American workers each year Adds $72 billion annually to the value of U.S. economic output Sustains nearly 650,000 American jobs, with one shipyard job creating four jobs elsewhere in the economy. To learn more about how your state plays a role in securing a strong, domestic maritime industry click here. More on National Maritime Day May 22 was declared National Maritime Day in 1933 to honor the SS Savannahs departure from Georgia to England in 1819 to become the first successful steam-powered ship to successfully cross any ocean. Since the SS Savannahs ocean voyage, the American maritime industry has served as a critical economic engine in the United States and an essential partner with U.S. armed forces in local and global waterways. # # # American Maritime Partnership (AMP) is the voice of the U.S. domestic maritime industry, a pillar of our nations economic, national, and homeland security. More than 40,000 American vessels built in American shipyards, crewed by American mariners, and owned by American companies, operate in our waters 24-hours a day, seven days a week. You can learn more by visiting www.american maritime partnership.com. Attachment Washington, May 22 (UNI) The Falcon 9 carrier rocket with the Crew Dragon spacecraft and a commercial crew of four people has lifted off from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, SpaceX informs. The Sunday live broadcast from SpaceX showed that the Axiom Mission 2 (Ax-2) was launched at 5:37 p.m. Eastern Time (21:37 GMT on Sunday). Falcon 9s separated first stage is expected to land at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station not far from the liftoff location. This is the second time that Houston-based Axiom Space is sending a commercial crew to the International Space Station (ISS). The Ax-2 crew includes retired NASA astronaut commander Peggy Whitson, US pilot John Shoffner, Saudi fighter pilot Ali Alqarni, and research technician Rayyanah Barnawi, who will become the first Saudi woman in space. They will participate in the scientific work at the ISS along with the stations regular crew. The first Axiom Space crewed mission (Ax-1) was carried out in April, 2022. UNI/SPUTNIK GNK Mercedes will still be in the dark about the success or failure of its "complete revamp" for the struggling 2023 car concept after this weekend's Monaco GP. Unlike Ferrari, who have put a new rear suspension layout back in the luggage after the Imola GP cancellation, Mercedes is pushing ahead with the debut of its much-awaited 'B' car this weekend on the Monte Carlo streets. Team boss Toto Wolff admits the cancellation of the Imola GP is a setback for the upgrade. "Of course we would have liked to see how we were doing with the new car," he told Osterreich newspaper. "When you do a complete revamp of a car, you want to know what it can do." Wolff said Mercedes had no choice other than to react after the 2023 car proved as uncompetitive as the original 'no sidepods' car concept last year. "We had to react to Red Bull's superiority," he said. "We couldn't find a solution to make the old car fast at the front or the rear, so we have rebuilt the underbody, the bodywork and the front suspension." And while the new car will be up and running in Monaco, Wolff is playing down expectations. "Monaco has nothing to do with a conventional racetrack," said the Austrian. "That's why we won't find out this weekend whether what we've changed on the car will actually do anything." It's also a busy time in Wolff's life due to the expiring contract of top driver Lewis Hamilton, amid swirling rumours of a switch to Ferrari or retirement. "These rumours come up every two years when we have to sign a new contract," Wolff said. "But none of it is true. We are discussing things normally, without any time pressure." However, seven time world champion Hamilton admitted recently that he finds contract talks with Wolff awkward. "I've said that too," Wolff insisted. "It's just uncomfortable that two friends, two blood brothers who have been through thick and thin for ten years, suddenly have to discuss money. "But I'm firmly convinced that we'll agree. There's not a millimetre of doubt for me." Hamilton, 37, insisted to Niki Lauda's son Mathias recently that he can imagine racing for longer than anyone in Formula 1 believes. When asked about that, and whether Hamilton was referring to Mercedes, Wolff answered: "I can't imagine anything else. "If we give Lewis a competitive car, he will win for a long time to come. Just look at Tom Brady and what he was still capable of in his 40s." (GMM) 24 Companies, individuals honoured at 7th Manufacturing Awards Emmanuel Bruce Business News May - 22 - 2023 , 12:13 Twenty-two companies and two individuals who have demonstrated outstanding performances in the countrys manufacturing industry were honoured at the seventh edition of the Ghana Manufacturing Awards. An initiative of Xodus Communications Limited, the Ghana Manufacturing Awards celebrated these companies and individuals for demonstrating stewardship, health and safety, corporate social responsibility and innovation in the manufacturing sector. Speaking at the awards ceremony, Events Director of Xodus Communications, Richard Abbey Jnr, said this years awards focused on innovation in the industry, with an ultimate aim of compelling individuals and companies to compete locally and globally. Contribution of manufacturing sector Mr Abbey Jnr emphasised the contributions of the sector to national development, pointing out that some manufacturers had stood the test of time, while others had added value and innovated over the years. We believe in Ghanaian manufacturing and its contribution to the economy and the community and this is why we are here to celebrate and salute achievers in the industry, he stated. He said the awards looked out for the very best in manufacturing from all aspects of the industry, sharing landmark work and developments taking place across so many important areas of science, engineering, innovation and technology. He mentioned that the winners were selected by an independent advisory board and technical committee who evaluated the awardees based on a criteria listed for each category. He said the awards had over the last seven years celebrated excellence and professional standards in the manufacturing industry and would continue to do so. Award winners Twellium Manufacturing Company was the biggest winner on the night, winning the Manufacturing Company of the Year. The company also won the Beverages Producing Company of the Year Non-Alcoholic and Confectionary Producing Company of the Year. Entrance Pharmaceuticals and Research Centre walked away with the Pharmaceutical Company of the Year; Excellence in Corporate Social Responsibility; Excellence in Health, Safety, Environment and Quality; and Marketing Campaign of the Year. Blowchem Industries Limited also won the Beverages Producing Company of the Year (Alcoholic); Brand of the Year Award (Carbonated Drink); and Water Producing Company of the Year. GB Foods Ghana Limited was adjudged the Innovative Company of the Year and Best Growing Manufacturing Company of the Year. Its Gino Tomato Mix was adjudged Product of the Year. Poly Tank Ghana won the Plastic Manufacturing Company of the Year and the Industry Leadership Award. Jay Kay Industries won the Paper and Paper Products Company of the Year, with Fabrimetal Ghana also winning the Band of the Year Award (Metal). The Indigenous Company of the Year award went to Gilsan Manufacturing Company Limited. The CEO of B5 Plus, Mukesh Thakwani won the CEO of the Year Award, while the CEO of Alpha TND Limited, Pankaj Bhati, won the Entrepreneur of the Year. Know this Xodus Communication are the organisers of the Ghana Insurance Awards, Ghana Oil and Gas Awards, Ghana Auto Awards. They are also organisers for the prestigious Ghana 40 under 40 Awards, Forty under 40 Awards South Africa, and the 40 under 40 Awards Africa. The company will in September this year hold the maiden 40 under 40 Award UK. ADB commits to more agriculture finance Loan disbursements hit GH1b Timothy Ngnenbe Business News May - 16 - 2023 , 09:45 Agriculture Development Bank (ADB) has pledged its full commitment to provide the needed funds to help build a robust agriculture sector capable of ensuring food security and sustainable development. The Managing Director of ADB, Alhassan Yakubu-Tali, who gave the assurance, said although the agriculture sector was perceived as a risky venture, the bank would stay its original mandate to provide financial intermediation to the agricultural sector players. "When you analyse the challenges in the agriculture sector, ranging from the perceived risky nature of the industry, land tenure system and absence of long-term funds, many banks shy away from financing the sector. However, for ADB, these challenges still present opportunities and we continue to keep faith with the sector," he said. Mr Yakubu-Tali stated this when he paid a courtesy call on the Minister of Food and Agricultural (MoFA), Dr Bryan Acheampong, to congratulate him on his appointment. The visit was meant to assure the minister of ADB's support to the ministry. Investments Currently ADBs investment in the agriculture sector has grown steadily, with total agricultural loan hitting over GH1billion as of April, 2023. This excludes the volumes of non-funded facilities such as letters of credits and guarantees granted for the purchase of agricultural inputs, machinery, equipment and raw materials. The ADB has also financed major government programmes such as the Planting for Food and Jobs (PFJ), Rearing for Food and Jobs (RFJ), Planting for Export and Rural Development (PERD) as well as the One-District, One-Factory Initiative (1D1F). For instance, under the PFJ, the ADB invested over GH100 million to support the purchase of fertilisers and certified seeds to various companies. Additionally, the bank disbursed over GH151.8 million to 21 viable projects to undertake various initiatives under the PFJ programme. Between 2018 and this year, the bank has disbursed in excess of GH460million to the National Food Buffer Stock Company (NAFCO) to support the purchase of stocks harvested under the PFJ programme as well as ensure constant food supplies to the free senior high school (FSHS) programme. Again, in 2020, the bank launched a GH500 million soft loans broiler revival programme dubbed "ADB Broiler Value Chain Programme" to contribute to the governments effort at reducing the importation of poultry into the country. ADB has also supported the fishing industry by importing outboard motors and fishing gear for sale to fishers at costs either under lease financing or through direct sales. For instance, in 2020, the bank invested GH19.8 million in the importation of 1,300 Yamaha outboard motors for the Ministry for Fisheries and Aquaculture Development (MoFAD) and the Coastal Development Authority (CODA). The bank further invested in excess of GH485 million in rubber, oil palm and mango plantations under the PERD initiative aimed at promoting perennial tree crops. Assurance Mr Yakubu-Tali added that after those direct investments, ADB had kept faith with the agricultural sector by being the lead sponsor of the National Farmers Day Celebration since 1987. He assured the minister that the ADB was ready to continue to partner the government in the mutual quest to ensure food security in the country. "We trust that we can work together to achieve all objectives of the ministry," he said. Appeal for tax rebate Touching on the way forward for the agriculture sector, he called on the government to commit to providing tax incentives, tax holidays and rebates to institutions engaged in agriculture financing and development. Additionally, he said there must be a robust agricultural research and extension systems to support improvement in agricultural productivity and the availability of dependable data to drive planning and policy direction in the industry. Ansell Lighting enters Ghana market - Kissart Group named exclusive distributor Daily Graphic Business News May - 22 - 2023 , 09:42 Ansell Lightning UK, a leading global manufacturer of high-quality luminaires, has expanded its presence into the Ghanaian market, aiming to offer cost-effective, environmentally friendly and superior lighting solutions to consumers. To support its operations in Ghana, Kissart Group has been appointed as the exclusive in-country distributor of Ansell Lighting in a partnership that ensures that valued clients have access to a wide range of innovative LED lighting solutions for various applications, all aimed at achieving customer satisfaction. Nick Prince, the International Account Manager for Ansell Lighting, expressed his enthusiasm about the collaboration, stating that the move aligned with Ansells commitment to making a positive impact and providing environmentally friendly lighting services. "We recognise the enormous potential of Ghana as a growing market. We have been conducting business in Ghana since 2011 and have successfully completed numerous projects. Our partnership with Kissart on several prestigious projects has established them as a trusted ally, leading us to establish this long-term partnership. Our goal is to work closely with Kissart to expand our presence in both the project and distribution markets. Ultimately, we aspire to become a household name in Ghana," he said. He said as part of the launch, Ansell Lighting introduced the Octo-Casambi, a Bluetooth mesh system app that empowers customers to have complete control over their lighting systems. Mr Prince highlighted the benefits of this product, stating, that the Octo-Casambi is highly suitable for various types of buildings, including both existing and newly constructed ones, spanning from commercial to industrial environments. He said that users have the ability to customise scenes and animations for their switches with this product. Furthermore, he noted that the double-rocker wireless wall switch utilises an electro-dynamic generator and does not necessitate any maintenance. "The Octo-Casambi is an ideal choice for both existing and new buildings, ranging from commercial to industrial settings. It allows users to personalise scenes and animations for their switches. The double rocker wireless wall switch employs an electro-dynamic generator and requires no maintenance, he explained. The Project Account Manager of Kissart Group, Aloysius Attiogbe, stressed the company's commitment to environmental protection and sustainable lighting solutions. He stated that they had partnered with Ansell on their key projects, such as the Tamale International Airport and the COVID-19 facility centre at Korle Bu, among various others. He further explained that following an evaluation of the product quality, they made the decision to expand the promotion of Ansell's offerings to other markets, beginning with Ghana. "We are a Mechanical, Electrical and Plumbing (MEP) company, and our partnership with Ansell stems from their provision of the highest quality products. We have collaborated with Ansell on our flagship programmes, including the Tamale International Airport and the COVID-19 facility center at Korle Bu, among others. After assessing the quality of their products, we have decided to promote their offerings in other markets, starting with Ghana. This launch is intended to introduce their products to the public, he noted. Mr Attiogbe further revealed that Kissart Group had over 5,000 units available to fulfil the lighting needs of Ghanaians. In addition, customers will have access to free consultation services, and those with existing lighting designs can also benefit from retrofitting services. New Delhi/Port Moresby, May 22 (UNI) Prime Minister Narendra Modi was on Monday conferred Fijis highest honor - the Companion of the Order of Fiji (CF), by Fijian Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka. The two Prime Ministers met for bilateral talks on the sidelines of the Third FIPIC Summit in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea. Accepting the award, Prime Minister Modi expressed his thanks and said it is an honour for the people of India and a recognition of the strong ties between the two countries. Grateful to the people and Government of Fiji for conferring the Companion of the Order of Fiji on me. I thank PM @slrabuka for presenting the award. It is an honour for the people of India and a recognition of the strong ties between India and Fiji. MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi in a tweet said that during their talks the two leaders reviewed the close bilateral ties. Furthering a relationship anchored in deep historical bonds. PM @narendramodi met PM @slrabuka of Fiji on the sidelines of the FIPIC III Summit. Leaders reviewed the close and multifaceted bilateral partnership. Expressed satisfaction at the progress in key sectors. Also exchanged views on regional and global issues of common interest. On behalf of @PresidentFiji H.E Ratu Wiliame M. Katonivere, PM @slrabuka bestowed PM @narendramodi with Fijis highest honor - the Companion of the Order of Fiji (CF). PM dedicated the honor to the people of India and to the generations of Fiji-Indian community, who have played a key role in the special and enduring bond between the two countries. UNI RN FBNBank partners Remitly to ease money transfer Daily Graphic Business News May - 22 - 2023 , 09:31 FBNBank Ghana and Remitly Money Transfer have announced a partnership that will make it easier for residents of Ghana to receive international money transfers from over 145 countries worldwide, including 40 African nations. The partnership will afford the diaspora community the opportunity to transfer money to their families and friends back home in Ghana through FBNBank Ghana. A release issued in Accra described Remitly Money Transfer as a digital based remittance service, and noted that the partnership with FBNBank would allow beneficiaries to receive remittances via cash pick-up at any of the 25 networked FBNBank branches and agencies across Ghana. It is an affordable, reliable and fast way to send money to Ghana and the service it offers is estimated to help millions of Ghanaians to meet financial commitments and support families that depend heavily on these remittances. This partnership is also expected to promote digital remittances in Ghana while making more people financially included, the release said. It said FBNBank, with its network of branches and passionate teams across the country, is committed to innovating its digital products to provide convenience and ease of banking for its customers, adding that; The collaboration with Remitly, therefore, supports FBNBanks dedication to innovation and increasing financial inclusion. Money transfer The Managing Director of FBNBank, Victor Y. Asante, said; the partnership with Remitly Money Transfer will support the banks agenda of facilitating transfer of money to every resident in the country in a seamless process. The collaboration will position FBNBank as the leading partner in the money transfer business in Ghana and aid the Banks efforts to mobilise remittances from Ghanaians in the diaspora for beneficiaries back in Ghana. As a bank, we continue to develop these products because we remain committed to delivering the gold standard of value and excellence to our customers by putting their needs first. This partnership rightly addresses that Customer Promise we have made and are committed to delivering on, he said. Money laundering Regarding the benefits, the release said customers and users of Remitly money transfer at FBNBank would benefit from reducing the risks of money laundering and advancing responsible financial inclusion of migrants and their beneficiaries, accelerating the transformation of rural households and increased convenience for and empowerment of users. According to Statista, an online platform specialising in market and consumer data, in 2022, personal remittances received covered 6.1 per cent of the countrys Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and this has helped reduce poverty, enabled capital imports and improved living conditions. FBNBank has in its 27 years of operating in Ghana remained focused on putting its customers and communities first, it said. Ghana secures first IMF bailout windfall "Data centre part of $300m US IDFC loan" Emmanuel Bruce Business News May - 22 - 2023 , 17:38 The country has secured its first foreign direct investment as a result of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) approval of an economic recovery programme for the country. The investment is a world-class 10 megawatts (MW) data centre, expandable to 30MW, to be located within the Trade Fair Redevelopment Project in La in the La Dadekotopon municipality in the Greater Accra Region. The President of the United States, Joe Biden, who announced the approval of the investment last Saturday at the 2023 G7 Summit in Hiroshima, Tokyo, said the facility was part of a $300-million loan the US International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) had granted to Africa Data Centers (ADCs), Africas largest network of interconnected data facilities, to invest in Africa. Context Africa accounts for less than one per cent of available global data centre capacity despite being home to 17 per cent of the worlds population. The investment is expected to lay the groundwork for a digital revolution in Africa by increasing access to cloud-based technologies, bring down the cost of the Internet, which facilitates greater access to women, and make the continent a more competitive destination for industry. According to the US government, the investment was built on Vice-President Kamala Harris recent trip to Ghana. Response In a tweet last Saturday, the Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta, said following the IMF deal, the US had led the way to signal renewed confidence in Ghana as an attractive investment destination. We welcome the announcement of a $300 million private capital investment through the Development Finance Corporation (@DFCgov) to build a first of its kind data centre in Ghana (#GhanaRising), the Finance Minister stated. It follows a similar tweet barely a month ago of a fruitful meeting the minister had with the team from DFC in Washington DC. Other beneficiaries The investment is part of a series of investments in infrastructure the US government is sponsoring in Africa. President Biden also announced a series of new PGII investments to build transformative economic corridors and drive infrastructure investments that could boost and connect economic development across multiple countries and sectors. Other countries that will benefit from projects are Sierra Leone, the Gambia, Angola, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Tanzania, among other low-income, developing and frontier economies in Africa, Asia and South America. The investment is under the Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment (PGII), which the G7 countries launched at their summit last year as a flagship infrastructure initiative to better respond to the global demand for high quality infrastructure financing in low-and middle-income countries. Since the launch, the US alone has mobilised $30 billion through grants, federal financing and leveraging private sector investments towards PGII. Under PGII, the United States Government will work to construct data centres throughout Africa. This week, DFC announced it is using its $300 million loan facility to Africa Data Centers (ADCs), Africas largest network of interconnected data facilities, to construct a first-of-its kind data center in Ghana, Mr Biden said at the 2023 G7 Summit. Private capital Private sector executives of companies such as Citi, Global Infrastructure Partners, Japan Foreign Trade Council, and Nokia also attended the G7 meeting to reaffirm their commitment to opening a serious, sustainable channel for unlocking public and private capital for these projects in the developing world. Together, they identified methods to further mobilise infrastructure investment, with a particular focus on leveraging private capital to maximise the project pipeline. Background Last year, the African Infrastructure Investment Managers (AIM) opened a 20-megawatt co-location data centre at Amrahia in the Adentan municipality in the Greater Accra Region. Known as the Onix Data Centre Limited, the $48-million investment makes Ghana the host of the only tier-four data centre in West Africa. The centre is the only African carrier-neutral co-location data centre outside South Africa. AIM is founded by two market giants, Makaraide from Australia and Old Mutual from South Africa. The latest data centre will make the country attractive to big ticket investors who rely on data and fast connectivity. Other data centres operating in Ghana are PAIX and MainOne, with logistics real estate company, Agility, announcing plans to establish a 30MW to 150MW data centre in Tema. Govt engages stakeholders on data cost Elizabeth Nyaadu Adu Business News May - 16 - 2023 , 16:03 THE government has began talks with data and cloud investors to help reduce the cost of data and cloud services in the country. The move is to create an enabling environment for digital technology companies to thrive. The Director of Technical Services of the National Information Technology Agency (NITA), Solomon Kofi Richardson, disclosed this at the maiden edition of MTN Business Chief Technology Innovation Officers (CTIO) Roundtable Africa in Accra. It was on the theme: Harnessing digital transformation and emerging technologies in the post-pandemic world. High data cost The cost of data still remains high despite the country being ranked third on the list of countries with cheapest data in Africa. The development is attributed to the continuous consumption and reliance on foreign content, especially those from the United Kingdom and United States and the lack of infrastructure are some of the factors fueling the high cost of data in Ghana. It is estimated that about 90 per cent of downloaded content in Ghana originates from the UK, US, and other parts of the world at an exorbitant 320 gigabits per second. Regulatory policy Mr Richardson said the Digital Economy Policy (DEP) to regulate the Information Communication Technology (ICT) sector has been completed and submitted to Cabinet for approval. That, he said would replace the ICT for Accelerated Development Policy, because it has become necessary in view of the growing and constant change in digital technology. Digitisation The Acting Chief Enterprise Business Officer of MTN, Daniel Asare, said the world was evolving with digitisation at the forefront hence CTIOs role has become critical. CTIOs, he said are responsible for ensuring that the companys technological infrastructure are able to deliver business objectives. In todays digital world, the CTIOs role is to help organisations to keep up with the rapid pace of technology change and also identify new technologies that help the organisations to achieve a competitive advantage. It requires a deep understanding of an organisations business model and its technological capabilities, he said. Financial inclusion The Head of Products and Services at Mobile Money Limited, Sylvia Otuo- Acheampong, said mobile money has contributed significantly to Ghanas financial inclusion. She said mobile money was driving financial inclusion and currently about 30 million customers were accessing mobile money services. One of the ways mobile money is also dealing with security is to create an ecosystem where we do a thorough deep-diving in how to secure partners and customers so that even if one platform is affected, it would not affect others, she said. Event The conference brought together leading CTIOs in all industries such as banking, technology, mining, insurance, agriculture, manufacturing, oil and gas and telecommunications to discuss challenges, share industry insights, and find new solutions to drive digital transformation in a globally connected world while supporting local innovation. Is the discovery of lithium a watershed moment? Graphic Business Business News May - 16 - 2023 , 02:21 The finding of commercial quantities of lithium is excellent news, but can we as a people definitely declare it is good news for us? There is considerable history and record of our beloved country failing to capitalise on the tremendous natural riches at our disposal. We can begin with gold, then move on to diamonds, manganese and, most recently, oil and gas. Lithium is a rare earth mineral that has gained prominence in recent times owing to the critical role it plays in the growing electric vehicle (EV) revolution which relies on lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries. Lithium is also widely used in the production of several electronic devices such as smartphones and computers. Hence, Li-ion batteries will be more in demand as mobile electronic devices such as smartphones, tablets, laptops and other wearable devices proliferate with growing access to the Internet. For a country with a long history of natural resource extraction dating back to precolonial times (gold, bauxite, manganese, diamonds etc) the discovery of lithium came as a welcome surprise. Ghanas proven 180,000 tonnes of lithium reserves ranks the country fourth place on the African continent behind DR Congo (3,000,000 tons), Mali (840,000 tons) and Zimbabwe (690,000 tons). Australia is currently the premier producer of lithium worldwide while Bolivia has the largest proven reserves of 21 million metric tonnes, according to experts. These natural resources have been hailed as a game changer for Ghana, but the number of visits to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) tells a different narrative. Despite our abundance of natural resources, we are in a fairly sad economic condition that has prompted us to return to the IMF. The Atlantic Lithium Ewoyaa Lithium Project estimates that Ghana will earn nearly $5 billion from extracting the new mineral. This is fantastic news for our economy, but can lithium be the catalyst for our economic transformation? President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, speaking at the two-day Natural Resources Stakeholders Dialogue organised by the Graphic Communication Group Limited in Accra, gave an assurance that the discovery of commercial quantities of lithium, alongside cobalt, nickel, copper, and lead, zinc, and chromium, would not suffer the same fate as other minerals such as gold, diamond, manganese, and oil and gas. He explained that procedures were being put in place to prevent the exploitation of gold and other resources from occurring again. According to the President, the sector minister was drafting a strategy statement for the exploitation, use and management of these critical minerals, which would be presented to the Cabinet in the coming weeks. In reference to the Ghana Integrated Aluminium Development Corporation (GIADEC) and Ghana Integrated Iron and Steel Development Corporation (GIISDEC) laws, the president stated that the sector minister was empowered to make regulations to ensure that no bauxite or iron ore was exported in its raw form after five years of these laws coming into effect. As good as these rules are, their execution is a big difficulty in this country. We must regard the discovery of these new minerals as the beginning of a new chapter. Lithium is a mineral for the present and the future. Unlike oil and gas, which have an expiration date due to environmental sustainability concerns and climate change, lithium is a mineral for today and tomorrow. Apart from leveraging it for economic development, the extraction of this mineral should also be done in an environmentally sustainable manner so as not to ruin the ecosystem we have. The subject of illegal mining, sometimes known as galamsey, is dominating the news. Illegal gold extraction, in particular, is becoming increasingly dangerous to our water systems. Galamsey has nearly completely devastated our water bodies. The very least we can do is prevent what is happening in gold mining from happening in lithium mining. While we're about it, we should try to enable local business leaders and specialists to fully engage in the lithium extraction and processing value chain. Indigenous firms must be empowered to extract or offer key services to the extraction and processing of minerals. As the Africa Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) continues to expand opportunities for African enterprises, we will be able to enhance the ability of these local businesses, allowing them to expand beyond Ghana's boundaries. At the end of the day, indigenous enterprises must grow strong and robust in order to help drive the development of Ghana's and Africa's economy. No country has grown as a result of foreign direct investment. Growing Ghanaian firms to worldwide standards must be a critical component of this new mineral's extraction, processing and development. Reform rural and community banking concept Pioneer advocates Elizabeth Nyaadu Adu Business News May - 16 - 2023 , 03:12 A pioneer in the creation of rural and community banks, Kwaku Abiw Dougan, has called for reforms of the rural and community banking concept in the country to compel players in that sector to focus their attention on their core activities. According to him the concept was modelled to, among other things, get rural and community banks to strictly focus their attention on their areas of jurisdiction and support economic activities by offering soft loans to medium and small-scale enterprises (MSMEs) while helping to reduce poverty among the people. The rural and community banks are also meant to be one of the key channels to distribute funds to businesses in their localities. They are also to educate and encourage positive entrepreneurial activities within the local communities. It was observed that commercial banks, as they still do today, were not interested in investing or supporting small businesses in rural areas because of what they deemed too risky and unprofitable ventures. Mr Dougan, in an interview with the Graphic Business, described the present phenomenon, where rural and community banks are, in one way or the other, competing with the big commercial banks while neglecting the people for whom the bank was established as worrying because of the manner to which rural and community banks have, to a large extent, shifted from their core mandate at the expense of the people within their immediate surrounding. He said it was unfortunate that the rural and community banks were gradually shifting from financing activities within their communities. He said These rural banks were set up in their respective communities to help people access finance for their commercial activities adding that this was to help increase agricultural productivity and boost businesses to reduce poverty and ensure food security. Mr Dougan stressed the need for the central bank to devote some funds to support rural banks to enable them to live up to expectations. Also, a portion of funds released for government projects, such as the Planting for Food and Jobs (PFJ) and NABCO, could also be granted to the rural banks for effective development of the communities. Formation of rural banks Mr Dougan explained that a lot of difficulties were encountered during the formation of rural banks which started at Agona Nyakrom in the Central Region. He said in the early days of the formation of the rural banks, one important factor considered was the provision of decent accommodation for a bank. At Nyakrom, a defunct bank was used as the premises to convince the people that it was a bank. There was the need to provide a policeman in front of the banks, a way of guaranteeing the people the safety of their money. To kick start was tough, as the people played a wait-and-see attitude, he said. He said the people of Elmina embraced the idea after he (Mr Dougan) had spoken to its leaders, adding: Today, it is known as Kakum Rural Bank. This led to the establishment of rural banks at Asikuma, Biriwa, Agomanya, Krobo Odumase, Akim Kotoku and today, they are in every part of Ghana. Benefits to economy He said if rural banks were made to operate within their mandate, as was originally envisaged, it could lead to the emergence of a credit system that will provide the needs of small farmers and other rural entrepreneurs who constitute a great majority of the countrys population, as well as eliminate the unscrupulous activities of money lenders from the rural banking system. A more effective and realistic approach to the credit problems of small farmers would be for every rural bank to be operated and managed by the local people who are familiar with the locality and the people. This is crucial because they are the ones best positioned to determine who is fit to take loans without having to ask for collateral. He added that more private funds would also be available for agricultural credit as savings mobilised by these banks from private individuals would be on-lend to the rural economy. Use part of $600m IMF support to settle maturing domestic coupons - Prof. Quartey tells govt Charles Benoni Okine Business News May - 22 - 2023 , 11:12 Government must use part of the proceeds from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to settle maturing coupons on domestic bonds and other domestic loans, an economist, Professor Peter Quartey, has advised. According to him, these due payments had already been captured in the 2023 budget and, therefore, there would be nothing wrong with the government using a portion of what the IMF had released to settle those obligations. The IMF Executive Board approved, on May 17, about US$3 billion 36-month Extended Credit Facility (ECF) arrangement for Ghana. The decision enabled an immediate disbursement equivalent to about US$604 million with the rest expected to be disbursed in tranches every six months, following programme reviews approved by the IMF Executive Board. Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta, said, at a press conference in Washington last Thursday, that the first tranche of the Extended Credit Facility would be used to support the implementation of the 2023 budget. The budget has suffered some initial setbacks due to some factors, including the lack of adequate tax revenues to carry out major projects and settle maturing coupons on domestic bonds. Although the Finance Ministers comment seemed a deviation from the earlier communication that the bailout funds would be used to support the countrys balance of payment position, Professor Quartey said the IMF had become more flexible in recent times and would support any positive actions the government would take as far as the usage of the funds was concerned. He noted, for instance, that the support from the IMF was a mid-term programme and since the budget is an annual expenditure framework, it fits into the spending strategy and, therefore, all projected payments in the 2023 budget must be considered. Bondholders pressure The Government has been under intense pressure since the beginning of the year from individual bondholders who refused to participate in the Domestic Debt Exchange Programme (DDEP), which saw the government exceed its target of 80 per cent participation. One group, the Pensioner Bondholders Forum has, for instance, been picketing at the Ministry of Finance occasionally as they demand the payment of both their matured coupons and principals. Other groups have also taken turns to pressurise the government to honour its obligations but that has not yielded any results. Downgrades Last month international rating agency, Fitch downgraded Ghanas Long-Term Local-Currency (LTLC) Issuer Default Rating (IDR) to Restricted Default (RD) from CCC. This was a result of the governments missed payments on some of the local currency-denominated bonds issued before the DDEP. It is expected, according to analysts that, should the government honour its obligation to the bondholders, it would positively impact Ghanas ratings. The unprecedented downgrades of the countrys creditworthiness have seriously impacted its ratings negatively, preventing potential investors from pushing funds into what was earlier perceived to be a risk-free instrument. Fiscal discipline To foster lasting fiscal discipline, the government has advanced reforms to enhance domestic revenue mobilisation, strengthen public financial management, and tackle the deep challenges in the energy and cocoa sectors. The government has also implemented a comprehensive debt restructuring, including both domestic and external debt, to place debt on a sustainable path. It is, however, not clear whether the government, having had some fiscal space and external credibility, will embark on another reckless borrowing spree with the tendency to erase the benefits of the ongoing exercise. Akosua Agyapong to mobilise 'Nima boys' to stop GHAMRO from attending Akwaboahs funeral Graphic Showbiz Showbiz News May - 22 - 2023 , 18:23 Renowned Highlife musician, Akosua Adjepong has threatened to organise boys from Nima to stop executives of the Ghana Music Rights Organisation (GHAMRO) from attending the funeral of the late Kwadwo Akwaboah Snr who died on Tuesday, May 16. A visibly angered Akosua Adjepong who was speaking on Kumasi-based Akoma FM in a video seen by Graphic Showbiz said her decision is based on how unfairly the leadership of GHAMRO treated their members in need. In an another video where Akosua Adjepong is in the studios of Adom FM, the Kokooko hit-maker accused GHAMROs leadership including one Abraham Adjetey of offering the deceased a paltry 250 when he once called them for assistance to pay his medical bills. Akwaboah Snr called me about three or four months to his death and complained bitterly about how GHAMRO gave him 250 to top up to pay his medical bills. He was really angry and disappointed and wanted to take the money back. We know that Akwaboah wasnt a troublesome person but see how he was treated, Akosua Adjepong said. The death of the veteran highlife musician was announced by his son Akwaboah Jnr in an Instagram post on Tuesday, May 16. He shared a photo of his father with the caption: RIP DADDY. Akwaboah Snr is reported to have died at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital in Kumasi. The deceased, 60, who is credited with songs like Awerekyekyere, Hini Me, among others played in his late father, Master Bob Kwabena Akwaboahs Akwaboah International Band, Marriot Band and Oheneba Ntim Barima Band. Some of the songs he is known for are Awerekyekyere, Face To Face and Hini Me. Kwadwo Akwaboah Snrs one week is scheduled for Trede, off the Obuasi Road on Tuesday, May 30. Related Articles I owe my success to Akwaboah Snr Nicholas Omane Acheampong Musician Akwaboah Snr is dead End of an era Kofi Otutu Adu Labi Opinion May - 22 - 2023 , 13:02 In July 2019, the then 94-year-old Dr Letitia Obeng, Ghanas first female scientist, launched her Anthology of a Lifetime. I described her then as a living legend. The nonagenarian had chalked up many firsts. She was the first female science graduate of Ghana. She was the first Ghanaian female to obtain a doctorate in science. She was the first female President of the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences. She was the founding Director of the Institute of Aquatic Biology. She was also an established author. Gathering An impressive gathering of scientists, people in academia, family and friends was at the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences to witness the launch of her Anthology of a Life Time. The anthology is a collection of her thoughts, speeches and papers covering more than 60 years and also a wide range of subjects. She was passionate (that is an understatement) about parasites, water and the environment and this passion comes out in the anthology. At 94, Dr Letitia Obeng was still going strong and did not need reading glasses. Dr Letitia Obeng hailed from Anum in the Eastern Region of Ghana. She obtained her PhD from the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine in the early 1960s, where she studied the black fly and its relevance to river blindness. In October 2018, when she was 93 years old, I met her at the funeral service of Mr L. J. Chinery-Hesse at the Accra Ridge Church and we had a good chat at the end of the service. Dr Letitia Obeng looked hale and hearty. I requested for, and was granted, an appointment with Dr Letitia Obeng. I wanted to hear more from her. Meeting The much-anticipated meeting took place at her residence. And what a meeting it was. In the event, I spent almost two hours with this remarkable person, while doing a lot of listening. This is someone I had admired from a distance since my secondary school days when she came into prominence as the first Ghanaian woman to earn a doctorate degree in science. Her son, Ernest, was my junior at Achimota and we were in Cadbury House. My mother also used to refer to her and her elder sister Theodosia in the context of their days at the Agogo Basel Mission School and College. She spoke about her childhood days. In particular, she mentioned Effiduase Ashanti where her father (later to become a Moderator of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana) was a teacher/catechist. They spent about 10 happy years there, she told me. A time of carefree happiness. She told me how she, her siblings and other young ones used to fetch water from the stream each morning, and how they used to enjoy filling the water barrels with water. The water was so fresh and clean. Pristine! A far cry from what we are witnessing today. Dr Letitia Obeng was passionate about our fresh water bodies. She did not hide her dismay with the way we seem to have neglected our fresh water bodies, as a nation. We are fast losing these precious water sources through neglect, degradation and sheer abuse, she lamented. Marks Her passing marks the end of an era in Ghana, with special reference to how she broke through the glass ceiling, as it were, to become a trailblazer in science education for the girl-child in Ghana. She has left her mark. My prayer is that we shall use this period to reflect on her unceasing cries in the wilderness about the dangers of galamsey to our water bodies and take concrete steps to restore the wholesomeness of our water sources for the sake of our grandchildren and those unborn. Students loan repayment, employers liability Enoch Asumadu Koranteng Opinion May - 22 - 2023 , 12:24 Across the globe, many countries along the development ladder have resorted to the provision of student loans designed in different forms as a structure to support students, particularly those in tertiary education, to enable them to meet their financial needs while in school. One fundamental feature of every student loan system is the obligation to repay once a beneficiary is out of school. This feature is premised on the fact that every student loan fund is a generational fund and as a result, requires sound management for the benefit of generations unborn, thereby making it mandatory on grounds of law and morality for every single beneficiary of students loan to demonstrate responsibility towards their repayment obligations. SLT In Ghana, the Students Loan Trust Fund (SLTF) is mandated under the Students Loan Trust Fund Act 2011, (Act 820) to provide financial resources and the sound management of the fund for the benefit of students in accredited tertiary institutions pursuing accredited tertiary programmes and to promote and facilitate the national ideals enshrined in articles 25 and 38 of the 1992 Constitution. In principle, Act 820 mandates the Students Loan Trust Fund to provide subsidised loans to Ghanaian students at the tertiary level and recover same upon maturity. The students loan scheme under Act 820 is a system where the Fund (lender) undertakes to lend an amount to students (borrowers). It must be emphasised that an agreement constitutes a valid contract between the parties to the agreement carrying with it the intention that each party undertakes to discharge the stipulated obligations and that the law would provide a remedy if breached; or recognise an obligation if performed. In line with the doctrine of sanctity of contract, persons with capacity to contract expect the courts to enforce the contracts they enter into, unless the contracts are vitiated by factors including fraud, frustration and duress. Accordingly, where a party to an agreement performs his or her obligation under the agreement and the other party fails to perform his obligations, a cause of action will accrue against the non-performing party. It must be emphasised in addition that where an obligation is imposed on a person or an entity, a right accrues to the beneficiary of that obligation in that regard. Effect The effect then is that where that obligation is not performed to the detriment of the beneficiary, a cause of action accrues and the breaching party is amenable to the law in that regard. It is not denied that a contract, subject to some exceptions cannot as a general rule confer rights or impose obligations arising under it on a third party. However, it must be emphasised that every contract is subject to public policy. One effect of this is that, if by the nature of a contract, public policy confers a right or imposes an obligation on a third party, generally that party has no right of escape. It is common knowledge that every contract of employment in Ghana creates obligations on both the employer and employee. Nevertheless, same contract imposes a duty on the employer to deduct income tax and pay to the Ghana Revenue Authority. This amounts to a typical definition and reflection of public policy objective in statute. In such instances, the law takes away from the hands of the employer or employee the power to determine compliance regardless of contractual privity. Equally, it does not admit of any suggestions or opinion from any employer or employee other than what the law says. By the nature of students loan contract, Act 820 imposes a statutory obligation on every employer in Ghana to effect monthly deductions from the salary of an employee indebted to the SLTF without any limitation whatsoever. Section 24 mandates employers to effect monthly deductions from the salary of the employee where the employee borrower is still indebted to the fund. Failure to perform this obligation constitutes a breach of section 24 of Act 820. At section 37 of Act 820 penal consequences have been provided to the effect that any employer who fails to pay monthly deductions effected from the salary of a borrower to the SLTF within fifteen days after the deduction, commits an offence and where the employer is a corporate body, each director or manager and the secretary of that body commits the offence and in the case of a partnership, each partner also commits the same offence. Employer The employer is liable in civil action for the recovery of interest on the amount deducted at prevailing rate plus five per cent penalty. On the other hand, a recourse to criminal prosecution shall be resorted to, where an employer fails to make monthly deductions from the salary of a borrower to repay the loan. It is important to notice also, that the option of criminal prosecution is also applicable to instances where the employers have failed to remit any amount deducted to the fund. As a standard of practice among nations that disburse loans to students, it is employers who remit repayments to relevant institutions in instances where any of their employees benefited from student loans while in school. Secondly, Students loan scheme is a support system for generations whose family are unable to meet funding requirements for their further studies. Finally, students loan system operates as a scheme to bridge the inequality gap existing among the citizens within nations. Therefore, failure of any employer to discharge a lawful obligation of deducting and remitting student loans is a demonstration of gross irresponsibility on the part of that employer, a conduct that should not be countenanced within our Republic. The writer is an officer of the Repayment and Resource Mobilisation Directorate of the SLTF. New Delhi/Port Moresby, May 22 (UNI) Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday announced a 12-point action plan, including setting up a 100-bed regional super specialty hospital in Fiji, Jaipur Foot camps, desalination units for drinking water and sea ambulances, during the Third FIPIC Summit at Port Moresby. MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi in a tweet said that PM Modi and Papua New Guinea PM James Marape successfully co-hosted the Third Forum for India-Pacific Islands Cooperation (FIPIC) Summit in Port Moresby. He said the 12-point action plan would consolidate the shared vision of a free, open and prosperous Indo-Pacific. PM @narendramodi & PM James Marape successfully hosted the FIPIC III Summit in Port Moresby. PM @narendramodi announced a 12-step action plan to propel India's partnership with Pacific Island Countries. It will fulfill the developmental aspirations of the people of the region and consolidate shared vision of a free, open and prosperous Indo- Pacific." -A 100-bed regional super specialty hospital in Fiji -Set up Regional IT and Cyber Security training hub in Papua New Guinea -Sagar Amrut Scholarships 1000 scholarships in the next 5 years -Jaipur Foot Camp in PNG in 2023. Thereafter, two camps annually in other PICs. -FIPIC SME Development Project -Solar Project for Government Buildings -Provide desalination units for drinking water -Supply sea ambulances -Set up dialysis units -Set up of 24x7 emergency helpline -Set up of Jan Aushadi Kendras -Set up Yoga centres. UNI RN Where to turn your eyes Lawrence Darmani Opinion May - 20 - 2023 , 12:38 An experienced fisherman like Simon Peter knew that we can swim in water but not walk on water. So how come this seasoned fisherman was walking on the Sea of Galilee? Was he dreaming or was that a reality? Earlier, Jesus himself walked on the water towards the trembling disciples who thought he was a ghost. To reassure his disciples, Jesus told them, Take heart; it is I. We need assurance We need this assurance if we think the ghosts of this earth are scaring us and causing us to fear. If we know the Lord is with us, we must take heart. Simon Peter, hearing this, said, Lord, if it is (really) you, bid me come to you. Was that a doubtful test or was it an opportunity to exercise faith? Well, Jesus said simply, Come, and Simon Peter jumped onto the sea and began walking towards the Lord. The other disciples dropped their jaws and watched in amazement. How on earth! John exclaimed. This is impossible! James screamed. Ignoring their remarks, Simon Peter walked on, with his eyes glued to the Lord who asked him to come and who walked towards him. Turning away Then it happened. For just a brief moment, Peter turned away from Jesus and observed the rousing waves. He looked back at the boat carrying his friends and saw the billows roll and he panicked. Looking farther away from Jesus, Peters eyes darted left and right. Just below his feet, he saw what looked like a shark swimming past, and he panicked some more. Then he began to sink. Lord, save me! Peter cried the way we must cry unto the Lord when we slip and begin to sink. The Lord Jesus reached out, scooped the bearded disciple like a child, and entered the boat with him. Peter scratched an imaginary itch on his brow, looked fearfully at Jesus and awkwardly at his friends, and sighed heavily. That was too close for comfort. That day, Peter learnt a great lesson, which was that, on this journey to eternity, in order to avoid sinking, we must fix our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith (Hebrews 12:2). Where to focus Peter was doing fine until his focus shifted from Jesus to the waves. Some of us, drunk with temporary success or challenged by temporary failure, shift our focus from God to the circumstances facing us, forgetting that that is a recipe for sinking. Years later, Peter would write in his first epistle, Cast all your anxiety on (Jesus) for he cares for you (1 Peter 5:7). About focusing on the Lord instead of on anything else, an anonymous psalmist (perhaps King Hezekiah) learnt that lesson generations earlier. In his walk with God, the psalm writer had learnt to look to the Lord, not to any of his creations. Therefore, he wrote in Psalm 121:1&2 I lift my eyes to the mountains where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth. Focusing on things on earth wealth, fellow humans, talents, businesses, gold while turning away from God, is a formula for eventual failure. We are helped, not by what is created but by the Creator. When David faced ravenous beasts, Goliath and King Saul, who hunted him and when he walked through the valley of the shadow of death he was not afraid because his eyes were upon the Lord his Shepherd who was with him. Our eyes are on you! There was a king of Judah named Jehoshaphat who faced a terrible war and had to choose where to turn his eyes. Should he turn to superpowers Egypt and Syria for their military strength? But Jehoshaphat knew where to turn. Turning to God, he prayed, Lord, we are powerless before this great multitude who are coming against us; nor do we know what to do, but our eyes are on you (2 Chronicles 20:12). Keeping our eyes on God is the same as waiting on him, and those who wait on him shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint. The biggest lesson Jehoshaphat and his troops learnt was not only that God won the battle for them but also that in times of distress, they must turn their eyes on the Almighty. Those who do that are like Mount Zion, which cannot be shaken but endures forever. Therefore, we sing with songwriters Steven Taylor and Helen Lemmel Turn your eyes upon Jesus, Look full in His wonderful face, And the things of earth Will grow strangely dim, In the light of His glory and grace. Why should these little ones perish? Rev. Richard Cudjoe Opinion May - 22 - 2023 , 10:30 It is said that when a disaster strikes, to some it is just news and to others it is a tragedy. On May 10, 2023, nine children aged one and a half to 12 years drowned while returning from school at Faana, a fishing community near Bortianor in Accra. The way and manner officialdom received and approached this disaster appeared it was just news. It was not on the menu for discussion on the major news outlets. As always, politics took centre stage: the National Democratic Congress (NDC) primaries were approaching, so this national tragedy was not an agenda for discussion. The children were buried at the Bortianor cemetery on Saturday May 20, 2023. In attendance were the Regional Minister, the Member of Parliament, the Municipal Chief Executive of Ga South and others. Characteristically, an amount of money was presented to the bereaved families. Promises were made, as always, to fix the problem and prevent recurrence. The dead cannot cry out for justice. It is a duty of the living to do so on their behalf. Why should we allow these innocent children to perish in such a gory manner? Their only offence was that they were to have access to education. Could the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) and other state agencies not have foreseen this danger and taken proactive action? The amount presented to the bereaved families could have been used, proactively, to provide the necessary logistics to prevent this tragedy. There must come a time when all our water bodies that are used as modes of transport are policed by well-trained individuals. The 12-year-old boy paddling the canoe refused to heed advice to reduce the number of passengers in the boat. We have an army of unemployed youth. A number of them could be recruited and trained as marine "police" to check some of these preventable disasters on our water bodies. Because of indifference from society these innocent children lost their lives in pursuit of education. Jesus Christ, in the parable of the Lost Sheep, said: "Even so it is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish". We continue to allow little ones, mostly children of the poor and underprivileged, to perish in this manner. May this never happen again! Rev. Richard Cudjoe, Adenta, Accra. Awudome-Avenui: Green, clean, friendly community Alberto Mario Noretti, AWUDOME-AVENUI Life May - 21 - 2023 , 12:23 THE green scenic beauty of the Awudome hills, clean surroundings and abundance of trees at Awudome-Avenui in the Ho West District of the Volta Region are features which hold the first-time visitor captive for long. Furthermore, the friendly nature of the people is awesome. The people of Awudome-Avenui revere their environment, so they do not cut trees without tangible reasons. Trees do not only surround homes but they also overshadow the compounds of the houses, giving the community a dense green coverage. The community meeting squares are pleasantly cool and breezy with the trees spreading their branches to form canopies, preventing the rays of the sun from reaching the ground. Simply put, Awudome-Avenui is a beautiful and environmentally friendly community with rich human values. Environment The commitment of the people to the well-being of the environment was readily demonstrated on Tuesday when the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) launched the No Bush Burning pilot project in the farming community on May 5. The entire population, including concerned basic school children, turned up at the meeting square to welcome the EPA officials. The Regional Director of EPA, Hope Smith Lomotey, described the response of the people towards the project as very encouraging. The project is meant to grow one million trees in Awudome-Avenui, Awudome-Kwanta, Awudome-Tsibu and neighbouring Dededo to serve as a carbon sink for the Oxygen City project of the Ho municipality. The Oxygen City project is meant to keep the air in Ho pure all the time. Mr Lomotey said the project, which would be replicated in the Adaklu and Afadzato-South districts would involve planting a total of five million tree seedlings to enhance the Oxygen City project. He explained that although the project was being implemented in Ho, it was necessary to protect neighbouring areas of Ho for the success of that project. Queen Meanwhile, things took a more serious turn when the Queen of Awudome-Avenui, Mama Akorake Gbeklui IV, declared the full support of the people for the project and vowed to ensure that those who started bush fires would be handed over to the appropriate authorities for action. Profile Awudome-Avenui is a farming community with a population of about 4,000. The people migrated from Notsie in Togo and finally settled at their present place of abode almost 600 years ago. They are farmers who produce plantain, maize, yam, cocoa, oranges and mangoes. The community has a five-member committee that supervises cleanliness, with Charles Anyomi as the chairman and the environmental focal person. Apart from a mosque, the chapels of the E.P. Church, Ghana, the Methodist Church, Ghana, the New Apostolic Church, Assemblies of God and the Christian Assembly are some of the striking features of Awudome-Avenui, where crime is absent. The weather is a case of two extremes - heavy rains and cold spells in the wet season and a very bright sun with heat in the dry season. The trees offer protection against the sun and serve as windshields in times of storms. Food According to Mr Anyomi, food was not a problem in Awudome-Avenui because the harvests on the farms were more than abundant. There are ready markets for the harvests by customers who travel from other parts of the region to the community. Apart from that, foodstuffs are also sold in the local market, Kpeve and Ho markets. Old buildings are kept clean and their compounds are devoid of rubbish, adding further beauty to the community. Despite the comfortable status of Awudome-Avenui, there are a few challenges in the community posing discomfort to the people. According to Mr Anyomi, the borehole, which supplied water to homes for years, was now inadequate for Awudome-Avenui, which was still expanding, and there was a need for more water supply to the community. In addition, he said the public place of convenience was an old pit latrine and needed to be replaced with water closets. Road Mr Anyomi said the road from nearby Awudome-Anyirawase, which ran through the Awudome-Avenui to Bame, was in a horrible state and needed to be fixed in the interest of the people and the broader national interest. The local technical school built some 11 years ago bears ample testimony to the self-help spirit of the people. The scenery at Awudome-Avenui is ideal for tourism promotion. It is, therefore, hoped that the road running through the community would be fixed as soon as possible to enhance other economic activities in the area and attract other businesses to the area. Live in love, harmony Jude Hama Life May - 22 - 2023 , 00:29 What is all this talk about being a Christian and a staunch church member? Are you really a true Christian? Are you an authentic believer in Jesus Christ? To show that we are genuinely true believers, we are to live in love and harmony. In a letter to the Church family in Ephesus, the Apostle Paul teaches them to live a life of godly love. Together, the members are to function as a biblically healthy Church family. It is said that our human body is as healthy as the individual cells and the individual organs and parts of the body. An extremely painful finger or hurting waist, makes the entire body feel uncomfortable. And the organs of a body matter. A healthy kidney and a healthy liver, make the body function well. So also, how spiritually healthy and Christ-like each member of the Church family is, contributes to experiencing genuine godly love and harmony in the Church family. But how can we better work towards living in love and harmony in the Church family? First, we are to imitate God in our Church family. The biblically healthy Church family is a Church in which members imitate God: Imitate God, therefore, in everything you do, because you are His dear children. Live a life filled with love, following the example of Christ. He loved us and offered Himself as a sacrifice for us, a pleasing aroma to God. (Ephesians 5:1-2 NLT). The model of Christs selfless, sacrificial, and life-giving love becomes the example for us to follow or imitate. To imitate God is to live a lifestyle of godliness with integrity. It is to seek to think and live according to the standard of Gods word. We are to join the hymn writer, to pray: Breathe on me, Breath of God, Fill me with life anew, That I may love what Thou dost love, And do what Thou wouldst do. Breathe on me, Breath of God, Until my heart is pure, Until with Thee I will one will, To do and to endure. Breathe on me, Breath of God, Till I am wholly Thine, Until this earthly part of me Glows with Thy fire divine. Second, we are to seek to continually be infilled with the Holy Spirit: Understand what the Lord wants you to do. Dont be drunk with wine, because that will ruin your life. Instead, be filled with the Holy Spirit. (Ephesians 5: 17-18 NLT). The language used in this Bible text on Be filled with the Holy Spirit is very descriptive. It looks at how a drunk person is so much controlled in their walk and behaviour by alcohol buzz. But instead of that negative handing over of control to alcohol power, we should submit to the Lord Jesus Christ and His word and come fully under the control of the Holy Spirit. A Church family that lives in love and harmony will be made of individual members and couples, and households, which seek to be regularly full of the Holy Spirit, and submit to the will and guidelines of the Holy Spirit in Gods word in our day-to-day interactions with one another, at home, at the work place and in the Church. Our behaviours and attitudes on Sunday must not be different from our behaviours and attitudes from Monday to Friday and Saturday. Being filled with or full of the Holy Spirit, is the secret to living in love and harmony. The reason why some people succeed in growing truly Christ-like and live a balanced life, and experience victorious Christian living, and good success, while others live defeated, guilt-ridden and inconsistent Christ lifestyles is their relationship with the Holy Spirit. The Spirit-filled individual husband, wife, or daughter or son is a joyful, godly person; and make it their goal to please Christ, at any place and at any time! The Church family that lives in harmony will be a Spirit-filled Church. The Rev. Dr John Stott comments on this Bible text (Ephesians 5:18) as follows: Paul has already told his readers that they have been sealed with the Holy Spirit, and that they must not grieve the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 1:23 & 4:30). Now he instructs them, Be filled with the Holy Spirit. There is no greater secret of holiness than the infilling of Him whose very nature and name are holy. Be filled, is not a proposal, but an authoritative command. To be filled with the Holy Spirit is obligatory not optional. All of us believers are to be filled with the Holy Spirit. All of us are to be Spirit-filled Christians. In fact, we are to go on being filled with the Holy Spirit. If you are regenerated or born again through the agency of the Holy Spirit and you are filled with the Holy Spirit, you will definitely have God-given capacity to live a victorious, holy, fruitful Christian life. As the Ghanaian adage goes, kt nnwo anomaa (a crab does not give birth to a bird). The Apostle Paul then lists four benefits that result from being filled with the Holy Spirit. And when we are walking closely with the Holy Spirit, these qualities must show in our individual lives and in our Church fellowship: Speaking: addressing one another in psalms, hymns and spiritual songs (teach and counsel one another with all the wisdom the Holy Spirit gives you (Col 3:16). Spirit-filled people walking in step with the Holy Spirit promote genuine godly fellowship and building up the faith of the community of believers. Singing: making melody to the Lord in music, worshipping the Lord with all your heart. Spirit-filled Christians, walking with the Holy Spirit engage in true worship. They are enabled to truly worship the living God. Giving thanks: continually thanking God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. The grumbling spirit is not compatible with the Holy Spirit. Spirit filled people walking in step with the Holy Spirit are grateful people to God and others; they are effective praying men and women. Submitting one to another: Spirit filled believers walking in step with the Holy Spirit submit to God-given authority; and live in such a way as to maintain the unity of believers in the Church and promote order and harmony in the home. Does your Christian life show these four qualities of a Spirit-filled person who is walking with God the Holy Spirit? And in increasing measure? We can live in love, harmony, and peace in our personal interactions with people, in our married life, and at home, in our work place and in our Church family and community, when we are continually filled with the Holy Spirit. Are you a Spirit-filled Christian? Are you in a Spirit-filled Church family? (The author is a consultant in authentic Christian Spirituality and Discipleship and former CEO of Scripture Union) Auntie Naa of Oyerepa FM and Mama Efe of Nhyira FM; Media heroes to the rescue in social sector Nana Kwasi Gyan-Apenteng Life May - 22 - 2023 , 14:54 In the last two articles of this column, we have explored the issue of what we might describe as accidental single motherhood among young poor women. Accidental because neither the woman nor the man who produced a child expected that outcome. The women who are thus encumbered with a child are poor and without much in the way of resources or opportunities. Various suggestions came at the end of the second article, including the need for the state to intervene to help these young women and also find the fathers of the children. I had not intended to continue the series, but in the context of finding solutions, I think it is important to acknowledge the work being done by some people who deserve to be celebrated as heroes of our time. Roughly two years ago, while in the UK, I became aware of the work of two women and their staff in helping reconstruct broken social relations and individual lives. Over the last thirty years, the media terrain of Ghana has changed beyond recognition, especially in terms of numbers. It has grown from a couple of radio stations and a single TV station into a massive industry which counts every category in the hundreds, including online and social media, which did not exist at the beginning of that timeframe. However, many people, including yours truly, have found occasion to question the commitment of our media to undertake the serious task of serving as mediators in the many crises that we encounter as individuals and as a nation. In Ghana, despite the existence of a huge public bureaucracy dedicated to the social and economic well-being of citizens, people find themselves alone and unsupported in times of personal need and emergency. Anyone who has tried to use any of our public services has a story; a tale of a negative experience, sometimes of humiliation and extortion at the hands of the very institutions that exist to help us overcome adversity. It is this breach that has stepped some dedicated media personalities who have dedicated their media channels and human resources to the service of poor people who, in their desperation, have nowhere to turn. These people have now found safety and consolation in a number of media channels and programmes that are providing splendid safety nets where the state is completely absent. This kind of media is evolving into a movement that is gathering public support, as well as professional and material resources along the way. It can best be described as humanitarian media, because although they form part of the vast and overblown category of commercial media in Ghana, their purpose exalts their practice beyond mere profit. Today, I dedicate this column to two women and their staff who are at the forefront of this movement. Take a bow, Mama Efe and Auntie Naa of Nhyira FM and Oyerepa FM respectively. These programmes and their hosts deploy a range of social and psychological resources to assist hundreds of thousands of people who go to them with their cases when life becomes a bit too much to bear. Auntie Naa It is safe to bet that Ghanas policymakers may not be familiar with these dedicated media personalities. They operate mostly in the context of Kumasis subculture, which has defined itself with its own movie industry known as Kumawood. In some ways, the style and content of this kind of media are influenced by the local Kumasi ethos of community, charity, solidarity and cultural pride. Mama Efe, real name Mrs Mama Efe Amanor, described as Africas Oprah Winfrey, has won the Queen of Humanitarian Affairs award provided by Prince Hampel. The humanitarian award is given in recognition of dedication to humanity. Mama Efe has been serving humanity for more than three decades. Auntie Naa, real name Eunice Amerley Nortey, has been part of the development of this media genre and currently hosts Oyerepa Afutuo on Oyerepa FM. Both the Nhyira and Oyerepa stations also have TV stations and online presence. They have a huge following abroad, especially in the UK, Europe, North America, and the Middle East and North Africa. These programmes typically resolve marital, financial, relationship and family difficulties that confront families, couples and individuals for which the normal routes of resolution are often not enough to resolve. These programmes serve as divorce courts, financial advisors, psychological counsellors, spiritual guides and cultural arbiters. The premises of these stations tend to look like courthouses, with scores of people who line up to present their cases every day. Many of the cases involve estranged couples, absentee fathers, disputed parenthood and a raft of spiritual cases involving the invocation of curses and other complicated matters. Cases that should be resolved by our courts are taken to these stations because most of the people who seek help and solace at these programmes lack the financial resources to take their cases to our courts. Also, even if these cases went before the courts, they would take weeks and months to resolve. However, these programmes are able to satisfy most people appearing before them within a few sessions. While the content comes across as sensational and prurient in some cases, the programmes are often well-researched and produced. The hosts and panels approach their work with professional seriousness and personal concern and dedication. These programmes have become social support centres to which people with various types of disability turn for support. In a recent episode I watched, Autie Naas Oyerepa programme called a list of disabled people who were invited to go for gifts from listeners and viewers who regularly respond to their calls for charity to support people in need. On the same day, during the programme, the Asanteman Peepeye Fekou International Group presented 50 pieces of cloth and money to widows who had responded to calls on Oyerepa. It was not an isolated gesture. In another episode, an appeal for help was launched on behalf of a 20-year-old lady who has suffered an unexplained paralysis. Within hours and days of the appeal, Oyerepa had collected thousands of cedis in cash and in-kind t o support her. These kind gestures from audiences tend to underscore the generosity of the Ghanaian public and the possibilities offered by a well-organised voluntary sector. Some of the methods used by these programmes may be a tad unorthodox, but they achieve results. I believe that they provide a glimpse into how the issues of poor single mothers may be resolved without a huge bureaucracy. Among the cases that are resolved are thousands of relationship issues in which the men try to avoid their responsibilities. More often than not, the cases are resolved in a way that safeguards the interest of the children. I think the state must pay attention to the work these people are doing. This is an example of how our media industry can redeem itself. Woman arrested for repeatedly burning niece with pressing iron Alberto Mario Noretti Life May - 22 - 2023 , 05:36 SOCIAL workers in Ho have taken a nine-year-old girl into care after she was burnt with a hot-pressing iron by her aunt with whom she lived for two years at Ho New Housing. Over the period, the basic schoolgirl (name withheld) was allegedly asked to sell soya kebab on the street every morning before going to school. If she did not make good sales, she was said to have been subjected to various forms of physical torture by her paternal aunt. The torture is said to have taken an extreme turn for the helpless child on Friday (May 5) when she returned from selling. This time, her aunt said the sales were shot by GHc50 and accused the child of stealing the money. She is said to have grabbed a hot pressing iron and burnt the legs and hand of the girl who bore the excruciating pain in silence. One of the burns was very close to her private part. A week after the incident (Thursday, May 11) the girl was asked again to go and sell the stuff on the street before going to school. Social welfare unit head She was spotted by the Ho Municipal Social Welfare Unit Head, Wisdom Krakani, who initially approached her to find out why she was not in school that morning. That led to the discovery of the wounds on the girls body, prompting more questions from the social worker and leading to the arrest of the girls 62-year-old aunt Margaret Gafa. The womans 30-year-old daughter, Eunice Dzifanu, who is a midwife, was also arrested after the child led a team of social workers to a bowl of water into which she (midwife) often held her head. The two suspects were subsequently handed over to the Domestic Violence and Victim Support Unit (DOVVSU) in Ho. The Mirror visited the unit upon hearing the news and saw the two suspects there. The old woman, who initially said the pressing iron accidentally fell on the girl, later admitted in the presence of this reporter that she carried out the evil act on the girl. Please, you can burn me also with the iron in the same way I burnt her and set me free, Gafa cried. She then fell on her knees and pleaded with officers at the DOVVSU to pardon her, turning to this reporter and begging him not to carry the story. At one stage, she was lying on the floor begging for forgiveness, while her daughter was sitting in a chair shedding tears. The second suspect, who denied holding the head of the girl (her first cousin) under water, also pleaded with this reporter not to carry the story. Meanwhile, Mr Krakani told The Mirror on Monday, May 15 that the victim, who now lived with a foster mother, was set to undergo medical examination at the Ho Teaching Hospital as part of investigations into the matter. The two suspects are now on police enquiry bail, assisting in investigations. You are on your own but dont walk alone Kobina Ansah's Shrine Life May - 22 - 2023 , 09:25 Your destiny should be your headache. If you ever want to make your dreams a reality, you must not leave it in anyones custody. Your life is in your hands. Whether it would be any better or worse, it is your choice to make. In this life, you are on your own. However, no man is an island. Though you are on your own, you cant live this life all by yourself. Reaching the top is not a lone journey. Even though we are supposed to take our destinies into our own hands and create the future we want to live in, we cant do everything on our own. We need helpers. We need friends and partners. People matter. They need us as much as we need them. People need to help us overcome the challenges of building our dreams. When those dreams are built, they will in turn help solve the challenges of people. We need people to help people! Success is far from a one-man baton race. We need others to watch our backs as we climb lifes ladder. We cant do everything all by ourselves. We will sometimes need to delegate. At other times, we will need others to lead us to places we couldnt have accessed on our own. The larger the size of your friends, the larger the size of doors that can open for you. You cant climb to the top of lifes ladder all by yourself. Your success in this life will largely be dependent on your network because success is teamwork. No one ever reached lifes peak all on their own. Behind them were a host of great people who contributed one way or another. Behind every great dreamer [in public] are even greater dreamers in their closet. Your life is in your hands but you would still need helping hands to make the best out of it. Though you are on a lone journey to make the best out of your life, make friends while you are at it. Its over-ambition that makes us want to walk this life all alone. Sadly, walking alone will get you nowhere. You will needlessly bear burdens others could have borne for you. Walking this life all alone is such a chore. You need independence but building a great network can give you what independence could only promise you. God made man for man! Travel down the corridors of history. All the great men who ever lived were able to reach the top not because they came from another planet but because they made use of people from this planet. Talk about Jesus and his disciples. Talk about King David and his mighty men. The list goes on and on. Success doesnt mean you are greater than everybody. It simply means you are building a network of everybody to be great. A great network of helpers can give you value no amount of money can. Build fruitful friendships. Respect everyone you meet on the street. Great men dont wear tags. Treat people that you cross paths with right. Be honest with them. If theres any help they need that you can give, just give expecting nothing in return. God will never come down to hand your blessings to you. He will always use another man! Back in the day when I used to teach in the St Roses Senior High School at Akwatia, I remember how I gave each student the utmost respect. I taught them from the depth of my heart and inspired them from the height of my mind. I did all those with no expectations. Many years on, they have become such a core part of my dreams; volunteering for Scribe at the least opportunity. When God gives a man a dream, He adds a team that would make that dream a reality. That man would meet every team member as he journeys on. It depends on how he would treat them. At all costs, try to keep the people you meet on your way in this life unless they dont want to stay. Can you imagine the biblical Josephs breakthrough came through a man he had met in prison? This gentleman, who happened to be Pharaohs chief butler, mentioned him to the king and that was it! There are similar stories of how people met others who held the key to their promise door. Build your network. Be sociable. Make [good] friends. Be active in the social media space. Have your say in WhatsApp groups you are in. Make some new friends. Learn something new about their profession. In this life, you are on your own but never walk alone. If you try to walk alone, you will needlessly die alone. Be like Liverpool. Haha. All through my stay on the University of Ghana campus (Commonwealth Hall), I came across an average of over 30 roommates. Thanks to perching which could illegally allow rooms to accommodate a lot more people. Fast forward to today. I can recall how quite a number of these roomies have rendered priceless help to me. Your network will give you what you cant access with your hard work. The size of your network will cut down the size of your hard work. If you want to go nowhere, it depends on your hard work. If you want to go somewhere, it depends on your network! Dont depend wholly on others. Dont depend wholly on yourself either. If you want to remain an island, lifes headaches will sooner or later flood you. Your future is in your hands but you will need other hands to create that future. Need I say more? Kobina Ansah is a Ghanaian playwright and Chief Scribe of Scribe Communications (www.scribecommltd.com), an Accra-based writing firm. Order for copies of his animation book, Animuonyam The Bully Stopper, via 0243752793. Accra Business School marks 14th congregation, graduates urged to address Ghana's economic challenges Kweku Zurek Education May - 22 - 2023 , 16:28 The 14th congregation of the Accra Business School (ABS) took place last Saturday at the Accra International Conference Centre, where a total of 261 students received degrees and diplomas in various disciplines. Among the graduates were 26 students from the inaugural cohort of the Masters in Business Administration (MBA) program in collaboration with Wrexham University in the United Kingdom. These students commenced their studies in February 2022. Additionally, there were 116 MBA (KNUST) graduates, 76 Masters (MSc) in Accounting and Finance graduates, and 25 Postgraduate Diploma holders. The congregation centered around the theme "Alternatives to IMF Conditionalities for Economic Development in Ghana." The valedictorian of the graduating class was Master Selorm Dzah, who received subject awards in Derivatives Securities and International Auditing and Assurance. During his address, Bishop Gideon Titi-Ofei, the Founder and Chairman of the Accra Business School, highlighted the achievements of the graduating class and emphasized the importance of addressing Ghana's economic challenges. Bishop Titi-Ofei expressed gratitude to the ABS management team and staff, acknowledging their contributions to the success of the graduation ceremony. He extended congratulations to the 261 graduands, urging all attendees to join in celebrating their accomplishments. Recognizing the economic hurdles faced by Ghana, Bishop Titi-Ofei emphasized that the conditionalities imposed by the IMF presented an opportunity to address underlying issues hindering the country's progress. He underscored the significance of supporting small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to generate employment and increase incomes, proposing measures such as improved credit accessibility, reduced bureaucracy, and an enhanced business environment. The Bishop emphasized the importance of investing in education and skills training as a crucial strategy to combat poverty. He suggested initiatives such as vocational training programs, expanded access to higher education, and job placement services to equip citizens with the necessary skills for a more productive and prosperous society. While acknowledging the challenges and resources required for these endeavors, Bishop Titi-Ofei stressed the need for decisive action to secure a brighter future for Ghana. Drawing inspiration from scriptural references and biblical examples, he highlighted the value of hard work, diligence, and social justice in achieving economic prosperity. He referred to the story of Joseph in Genesis, who triumphed over adversity and played a pivotal role in navigating economic crises, as well as the early Christian community in the book of Acts, emphasizing their unity and commitment to caring for the less fortunate. In conclusion, Bishop Titi-Ofei urged the congregation to remain steadfast in the pursuit of creating jobs, increasing incomes, and reducing poverty in Ghana. He called for collective efforts in embracing the values of hard work, diligence, and social justice to build a more prosperous and equitable society. During the event, Bernard Avle, the General Manager of Citi GM, delivered a keynote address, highlighting Ghana's reliance on the IMF for financial bailouts 17 times since gaining independence in 1957. Mr. Avle argued that IMF programs have failed to transform Ghana's post-colonial economy into a resilient and dynamic one. He pointed out that recent IMF programs in 2003, 2009, and 2015 did not achieve the desired transformation because they primarily focused on short-term stability rather than addressing the fundamental structural issues hindering long-term growth and transformation. Mr. Avle criticized the IMF's analytical tools and policy prescriptions, considering them unsuitable for post-colonial economies like Ghana's. He highlighted that the IMF's emphasis on debt servicing and macroeconomic stability overlooks the underlying reasons behind debt accumulation. He also expressed concerns about the reliance on non-concessionary loans and commercial arrangements, such as Eurobonds, which increase vulnerability to international capital markets. The speaker advocated for economic and monetary sovereignty as an alternative to the IMF. He emphasized the importance of reducing Ghana's vulnerability to external debts by promoting domestic production and reducing dependence on imported food and fuel. Avle compared Ghana's significant annual imports of essential food commodities, amounting to an average of $2 billion, with Israel's ability to produce 95% of its food requirements despite challenging geographical conditions. He called for a shift towards sustainable agriculture, energy sovereignty through renewable resources, and value-added manufacturing, citing examples from countries like Costa Rica and Vietnam. Mr. Avle also highlighted the significance of quality business education in driving economic development. He commended the Accra Business School for its practical approach, focus on job experience, and adherence to global standards. He emphasized that the caliber of business leaders trained by institutions like the Accra Business School would play a crucial role in determining the quality and quantity of jobs created in Ghana. 1st West Africa International Concrete Conference huge success "Attracts 500 delegates" Daily Graphic May - 22 - 2023 , 10:14 The International Concrete Conference & Exhibition (ICCX), has been held for the first time in West Africa (Ghana), from April 25-26, 2023, with over 30 companies from 11 countries participating. The two-day conference at the Grand Arena, Accra, which was organised by ad-media GmbH, in collaboration with the Delegation of German Industry and Commerce in Ghana, was attended by over 500 delegates who gained more insight into the concrete industry. The event which attracted speakers from Europe, the United States of America and Africa, was sponsored by leading industry companies like MC-Bauchemie Ghana Limited, Sika Chemicals Ghana Limited, Saint-Gobain West Africa as well as Ghacem Limited. Attendees could learn how to improve concrete technology, production processes and got familiar with an exceptional networking opportunity among industry professionals. Some of the participants in the conference Speaking at the opening, the Deputy Head of Mission at the German Embassy in Ghana, Sivine Jansen, said it was great to see huge interest and a good number of companies attending the conference. She said despite the difficult situation in the country, German companies that have pitched camp in the country were growing steadily although at a slow rate. They have a slow-growing-but-steady business, with lots of market opportunities that they can tap into, to grow and expand their business. So far, the experiences we have had with them are very impressive. We, therefore, encourage companies to give it a chance and tap into the market. When it comes to concrete-related businesses, it is very interesting to note that in West Africa, we see the highest population growth and we expect five per cent of the worlds population from West Africa. This presents a huge potential for the concrete market in terms of real estate and infrastructure development. In challenging economic times, people tend to invest more in real estate and this also creates opportunities for the concrete market, she explained. An exhibitor interacting with a visitor Open to ideas Also speaking at the conference, the Minister of Works and Housing, Francis Asenso-Boakye, said the country was excited to be the first country in West Africa to host the ICCX. He said Ghana was open to new ideas, technology, innovation and investment partnerships in the concrete industry. He noted that the development of sustainable infrastructure was one of the priorities of Ghana in its quest for economic transformation and development. He said Ghana and Africas economic growth and development were fundamentally connected to its advancement in the infrastructure sector. This, he said, contributed to the increasing demand for cement concrete and other construction-related materials. Available statistics indicate that an estimated 2,500 active building and construction contractors currently operate in the Ghanaian market, with players ranging from indigenous micro-enterprises and individual contractors to foreign multi-national engineering and construction giants, he stated. The next edition of ICCX West Africa is scheduled to take place from April 16-17, 2024, at the Grand Arena in Accra. All COVID-19 restrictions removed "Airport, border protocols also gone" Doreen Andoh May - 22 - 2023 , 07:35 All restrictions imposed at the countrys points of entry as part of efforts to limit importation and local spread of COVID-19 have been lifted with effect from Saturday, May 20, 2023. The decision by the national COVID-19 Task Force is premised on a pronouncement by the World Health Organisation (WHO) on May 5, 2023, that COVID-19 was no longer a public health emergency of international concern. The WHO said globally, there were decreasing numbers of deaths and hospitalisations with high levels of population immunity against SARS-CoV-2, the virus causing COVID-19. The Director-General of the Ghana Health Service (GHS), Dr Patrick Kuma-Aboagye, made public the lifting of the restrictions in Accra last Saturday. Throwing more light on the situation in an interview with the Daily Graphic, he said the decision was also justified by the fact that there had been a sustained decline in COVID-19 cases in the country over the past five months. He said based on the global and national situation, it was decided at the last national COVID-19 Task Force meeting on May 17, 2023, that: Pre-departure testing and test at all points of entry are no more a requirement for all passengers, while from May 20, 2023, COVID-19 health declaration form for international travellers has been suspended. Dr Kuma-Aboagye, however, said some laid-down interventions such as the national vaccination drive would continue to allow for constant vigilance and to protect the population from COVID-19 infections. Dr Kuma-Aboagye said persons with symptoms of fever, cough and sore throat would be tested for both flu and COVID-19 at the GHSs sentinel sites across all 16 regions. Surveillance will continue to help us identify any new COVID-19 variants of concern. The public is to maintain general safety measures like hand washing with soap and water or the use of alcohol-based hand sanitiser. Persons with complaints of fever, cough and sore throat should report to the nearest health facility for management. Persons who test positive for COVID-19 are to be managed with existing protocols, he said. Providing a highlight on the national burden, he said there had been a sustained decline of COVID-19 cases in the country over the past five months. As of May 15, 2023, there were only 18 active cases, none of which is severe or critical. The only COVID-19 death in 2023 was in January. Since January 2023, we have had 187,089 international passengers. More than 98 per cent of these passengers were either fully vaccinated or persons less than 18 years who were exempted from testing based on our national guidelines. As a result, only 3,890 passengers were required to be tested, out of which 24 were positive. As of May 10, 2023, more than 13.5 million persons had received at least a dose of the Covid-19 vaccine, while 10.5 million persons were fully vaccinated. Additionally, 4.5 million persons have taken vaccine boosters, he said. The WHO said although COVID-19 remained a global health threat, it was time for countries to transition from emergency mode to managing the condition alongside other infectious diseases. Emergencies Dr Kuma-Aboagye said the country had had outbreaks of Marburg Virus Disease, Lassa fever, Monkey Pox, measles and yellow fever since the declaration of COVID-19 as a public health emergency of international concern. However, he said, the health systems in the country had maintained sufficient capacity in the midst of those threats. The Ministry of Health and the Ghana Health Service, with the support of our partners, will continue to ensure operational readiness and flexibility to respond during surges of COVID-19, while maintaining other essential health services and preparing for the emergence of new variants with increased severity or capacity, he said. Background On March 12, 2020, the country confirmed the first two cases of COVID-19, the viral disease that had pounded many economies in the world. The case confirmation came barely 24 hours after the WHO had declared the disease a global pandemic. Shanghai FTZ's Lin-gang Special Area welcomes advanced finance institute Xinhua) 16:16, May 22, 2023 SHANGHAI, May 22 (Xinhua) -- Dishui Lake Advanced Finance Institute of Shanghai University of Finance and Economics (SUFE-DAFI) was inaugurated Monday. Co-founded by Shanghai University of Finance and Economics, the Administrative Committee of the Lin-gang Special Area of China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone and Shanghai Lingang Economic Development (Group) Co., Ltd., SUFE-DAFI aims to build a highland of emerging financial talent in the Lin-gang special area, enabling the construction of Shanghai as an international financial center. Located at the core area of the Dishui Lake Financial Bay, the institute will set up new project directions such as ESG finance, fintech, cross-border finance and offshore finance, offering Master of Finance, MBA of Finance, EMBA of Finance and other academic degree programs, as well as non-academic training programs. The first 41 Masters of Finance students will start their semester from September 2023. (Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Liang Jun) Bhubaneswar, May 22 (UNI) Odisha Governor Prof Ganeshi Lal on Monday administered the oath of office and secrecy to three newly inducted members as Cabinet Ministers at an oath taking ceremony held in the Lokseva Bhawan. Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, members of the Council of Ministers and several top bureaucrats were present at the oath taking ceremony. Bikram Keshari Arukh, Sarada Nayak and Sudan Marndi were sworn in as Cabinet Ministers after Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik made a minor reshuffle in the council of Ministers. The need for the reshuffle arose after former Health and Family Welfare Minister Naba Kishore Das was murdered by a cop on January 29 and two Ministers Samir Ranjan Dash and Srikant Sahu resigned from the Council of Ministers on May 12 last. All the three- Bikram Keshari Arukh, Sharada Prasad Nayak and Sudan Marndi were former Ministers and were re inducted into cabinet again this time. Bikram Keshari Arukh, a powerful BJD leader and six time MLA from Bhanja Nagar Assembly Constituency resigned from the post of Speaker on May 12 last. He was elected to the state Assembly in 1995, 2000, 2004, 2009,2014 and 2019. He has held many important portfolios in the council of Ministers since 2009. During the last Cabinet reshuffle in June 2022 he was excluded from the Council of Ministers and was made the Speaker. He resigned from the post of Speaker on May 12 last. Sarada Naik, a three time BJD MLA from Rourkela was elected to the state Assembly in 2004, 2009 and 2019. He held the portfolio of Housing and Urban Development from 2009 to 2012 in the Naveen Patnaik government. Sudam Marndi started his political career as a candidate of JMM and elected to the state Assembly twice and once to Lok Sabha. Later he Joined BJD and elected to state Assembly twice in 2014 and 2019 from Bangiriposi Assembly constituency in Mayurbhanja district as a BJD candidate. He was a Minister of state from 2014 to 17 in the Naveen Patnaik government and was the Revenue and Disaster Management Minister with cabinet rank in 2019. He was dropped from the Ministry during cabinet reshuffle in June 2022. Political analysts said all the three were inducted into the Council of Ministers to strengthen the party organisation in three districtsMayurbhanj, Ganjam and Sundergarha keeping in view the 2024 general election. UNI BD BM Damango: 2 babies die at St Annes Hospital due to power outage Graphic.com.gh May - 22 - 2023 , 12:23 Two babies have died at the St Annes Hospital in Damango in the Savanna Region due to a power outage as a result of power debt. The Northern Electricity Company (NEDCo) cut electric power supply to the hospital due to a GH4 million power debt. The two babies, according to the hospital management died due to an inability to transfuse blood. The three others are in critical condition at the hospital. Power supply to the hospital was disconnected for the second time last Tuesday due to the facilitys failure to settle an outstanding electricity bill of over GH4million. The St Annes Hospital operates under the Catholic Health Directorate. The head of communications and clinical coordinator of the hospital Dr. Gbeadese Ahmed told Accra based Citi FM in a radio interview monitored by Graphic Online that that the two babies were lost because of the inability of the hospital to get blood from the Blood Bank due to lack of power. He added that due to the power situation, the hospital was also unable to test for compatible blood to transfuse to the babies. From the very first time they disconnected us, we lost a baby, and the second time we lost another. As we speak, there is another one in critical condition and the reason is that we couldnt transfuse [blood to] them. It looks like almost every day we are going to have a problem to deal with, he said. Dr. Gbeadese added that the hospital has suspended deliveries due to the power disconnection On May 4, the electricity company cut power supply to the hospital, but it was later reconnected after the intervention of the Savanna Regional Minister, Saeed Muhazu Jibril. However, NEDCo issued a warning stating that its team would disconnect the hospital again on May 9 if the outstanding debt remained unpaid. credit: Citi FM Developing Ghana's hospitality sector; 2,000 benefit from training Delali Sika May - 22 - 2023 , 08:58 About 2,000 hospitality enthusiasts have been selected under the National Training and Retraining Programme in the hospitality and tourism sector to sharpen their skills and develop professionally. The beneficiaries would be trained by the Hotel, Catering & Tourism Training Institute (HOTCATT) in courses such as food and beverage skills, restaurant management, conferencing, banqueting, event management, front office responsibilities, housekeeping, tour guiding and kitchen skills. The project is a partnership between the Ministry of Finance and the Ministries of Tourism, Employment and Labour Relations, and the Social Partnership Council under the Ghana COVID- 19 Alleviation and Resuscitation of Enterprises Support (CARES) Obaatan Pa programme. Recovery The Principal Accountant of HOTCATT, Elsie Klufio, said the institute recognised the significance of the programme in shaping the future of the workforce in the hospitality and tourism sector, particularly as the world was recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic. It had a devastating effect on this sector, with consequences for the individuals who rely on it for their livelihoods. Known for its vibrant energy and ability to bring people together, travel restrictions, lockdowns and social distancing measures were introduced, resulting in a sharp decline in revenue and widespread job losses. Many workers are still seeking opportunities to upskill themselves to overcome the challenges and hardships they face. The training and retraining programme has, therefore, come at an opportune time, she said. Knowledgeable trainers Ms Klufio further commended the parties involved for recognising the struggles of workers and facilitating the training for the hospitality and tourism sector to rebound and thrive. Government is bearing the cost of tuition for all the beneficiaries and as service providers, our foremost objective is to ensure that every beneficiary receives training that is of the utmost quality, she noted. Also, Ms Klufio revealed that a team of experienced and knowledgeable trainers equipped with the latest industry insights had been assembled to ensure that beneficiaries received the most relevant up-to-date training. Economic growth For his part, the Head of International and Research Economic Policy Unit, Enoch Obeng-Darko, said the hospitality and tourism sector was one of the major drivers of economic growth in Ghana. It attracts foreign exchange through tourism receipts, stimulates local businesses and contributes to the country's gross domestic product (GDP). The sector attracts both domestic and foreign investment, fostering entrepreneurship and business development. Hotel and resort construction, restaurants, tour companies and other tourism-related ventures create opportunities for entrepreneurs to establish and expand their businesses. This investment inflow contributes to the overall economic development of Ghana, he said. Skills Mr Obeng-Darko also added that the world was changing at a rapid pace and it was essential that workforces were equipped with the skills and knowledge necessary to adapt to these changes. The programme is focused on skills upgrading, work ethics, productivity improvement and attitudinal change. It is focused on boosting workers prospects for re-entry into the labour market at higher levels of productivity or performance. "It is also designed to provide our beneficiaries with the opportunity to develop new skills and enhance existing ones. The programme will help beneficiaries to stay up-to-date with the latest developments in the hospitality and tourism sector and prepare them for the challenges of the future, he said. GIS Principal in Top 10 for Africa education award Delali Sika May - 22 - 2023 , 12:31 The Principal of Ghana International School (GIS), Dr Mary Ashun, has been named among the Top 10 finalists for the prestigious Africa Education Medal 2023. Founded last year by T4 Education and HP, in collaboration with Microsoft, the Africa Education Medal is Africas most prestigious education accolade. The Africa Education Medal recognises the work of persons who are transforming education across the continent, and to celebrate the stories of those who have lit the spark of change to inspire others. It is given to an outstanding individual who has demonstrated impact, leadership, and advocacy in the field of education. Ghanas Dr Ashun has championed projects through the GIS, including support for students from under-equipped schools, teacher training and resource capacity building in remote villages, collaborative international educator visits, as well as fostering student efforts to be innovative in the Arts and Sciences. Activities Dr Ashun advocates for all children, especially the marginalised in education. In March 2021, she learned about a young man who gained admission to a prestigious public boarding school in Ghana, but who was denied entry because he had dreadlocks. Dr Ashun wrote an opinion titled The Issue of the Other When it Comes to Admissions that was published. While the issue generated public debate and even ended up in court, a group of GIS parents worked with Dr Ashun, and a scholarship was arranged for the student, who was admitted at the GIS. Prior to joining GIS, Dr Ashun was a school principal in Canada, taught Sciences and Mathematics, and lectured at Redeemer University in Ontario, Canada, in the Faculty of Education, teaching and supervising pre-service and in-service teachers. Other finalists The other Top 10 finalists include Laura Kakon, the Chief Growth and Strategy Officer of Honoris United Universities, Morocco; Rogers Kamugisha, the Country Director of Educate!, Rwanda; Grace Matlhape, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of SmartStart, South Africa; and Mary Metcalfe, the former policymaker and CEO of Programme to Improve Learning Outcomes (PILO), South Africa. The rest are Martha Muhwezi, the Executive Director of FAWE, Uganda; Jean-Claude Nkulikiyimfura, the Executive Director of Agahozo-Shalom Youth Village, Rwanda; Simi Nwogugu, the CEO of JA Africa, Nigeria; Sara Ruto, the former Chief Administrative Secretary of Kenyas Ministry of Education and former CEO of PAL Network, Kenya; and Snehar Shah, CEO of Moringa School, Kenya. Govt urged to introduce national airline Emelia Ennin Abbey May - 22 - 2023 , 12:08 A former Director-General of the Ghana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA), Wing Commander Andy Mensah (retd), has called on the government to introduce a national airline to boost the aviation sector. The absence of a national airline, he said, had contributed to capital flight from the country, saying it was one of the main factors derailing the economy. Aviation is an anchor to every nations economy. We need an airline so that we keep all the investments in the country. Without it, we will continue to experience capital flight since the foreign airlines will repatriate their earnings. It doesnt help in promoting businesses, he said. Wg Cdr Mensah was speaking in Accra on May 16 during the 37th anniversary celebration of the GCAA. The event, which was also to honour retired staff of the authority, was on the theme: 37 Years of Providing World Class Regulation and Air Navigation Services in the Aviation Industry. Ghana Airlines Wg Cdr Mensahs proposal is in line with a revelation by the Transport Minister, Kwaku Ofori Asiamah, in March, this year that a new national airline would begin operation in June. Ghana Airlines, as it will be called, is expected to fly to the UK and USA. Mr Asiamah said the airline had satisfied all the requirements. It is well grounded and all the requirements have been satisfied. They are going to launch their logo; my information is that by the end of April or May, they will start selling their tickets. And by June-July, you will see a national airline, Ghana Airlines, flying in the air, the Transport Minister stated. The Director-General of the GCAA, Charles Kraikue, said for the past 37 years, the authority had provided world-class regulation and air navigation services within the aviation industry, connecting people and cultures from all world regions. Due to International Civil Aviation Organisation compliance and industry best practice, he said, the GCAA had secured governments support for the passage in Parliament of an Air Navigation Services Agency Bill. He noted that under the Bill, an air navigation services provider would be established to take over the provision of air navigation services within Accra, a role which is currently being performed by the GCAA, to pave the way for the authority to specifically focus on its regulatory mandate. The GCAA Director-General said the GCAA was also constructing a new air navigation services complex that would deliver air traffic management services, communications, navigation and surveillance systems, and meteorological service for air navigation and aeronautical information management, among others. Mr Kraikue stated that a new air traffic management system had been installed, while older equipment around the country, including those located in Sao Tome and Principe, had upgraded to improve service delivery. He added that the authority would soon commence the construction of another ultra-modern air traffic control tower building as the current one had outlived its purpose. Collaboration The Managing Director of the Ghana Airport Company Limited (GACL), Pamela Djamson-Tettey, congratulated the board, management and staff of GCAA on their 37th anniversary celebration. The GACL was decoupled from the GCAA in 2006 and commenced operations in 2007 with core staff who had been trained by the authority. Following the decoupling there had been an excellent professional and industry collaboration between the two organisations, said the GACL Managing Director an effective collaboration between the regulator and the operator was a positive force in propelling the aviation industry in Ghana to greater heights. She said such collaboration had led to the certification of the Kotoka International Airport and the commencement of certification processes for the other airports in the country. HOTCATT graduates 69 students Diana Mensah & Jemima Okang Addae May - 22 - 2023 , 06:47 The Hotel, Catering and Tourism Training Institute (HOTCATT) has graduated 69 students who pursued various courses at the institution. The graduates undertook courses in Front Office Services, Kitchen Skills, Tour Guiding Skills, Food and Beverages services, House Keeping Skills, Conference Banqueting as well as Event Management and Restaurant Management. They were made up of 37 students who completed in May 2022 and 32 others who completed in November of the same year. The graduation ceremony held last Friday was on the theme: Employment Through Tourism and Hospitality Training. At the event, the Deputy Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture, Mark Okraku-Mantey, called on the graduates to prioritise customer service to boost their profession. According to him, customer service was essential for customer satisfaction. That is the only way you can sustain your business; the more your business gets sustained the more your income goes up, he said. Mr Okraku-Mantey admonished graduands to treat customers like the way they would like to be treated, adding that each service encountered by a customer must be worth remembering. Unfortunately there are people who will visit your hotels and other places and would go back not happy and would not keep quiet. So make sure to treat customers to the extent nobody would have anything bad to say about you, he emphasised. Mr Okraku-Mantey urged the graduates to see customer service as a necessity that should form a key part of their businesses. Employability The Principal Accountant of HOTCATT, Elsie Klufio, noted that employability was central to the schools objective as it aimed to equip students adequately to meet the challenges of hospitality and tourism industry. Ms Klufio said HOTCATT had provided the graduates with the appropriate practical lessons to enhance their understanding through experiential learning. Graduation certainly does close the door on one era and begins a new one but our doors will always remain open to you and HOTCATT will always remain your intellectual home, she said. The National Executive Secretary of the Ghana Tourism Federation, Caleb Kofie, urged the graduates to be conscious of the kind of attitude they adopted since that would make a difference in their career. He, therefore, emphasised the need for a change in attitude as far as customer service was concerned, adding that good attitude was the only way to get to the top and maintain your spots. The Valedictorians, Mary Yawson and Martha Narh, expressed their gratitude to the institute for nurturing them and creating an enabling environment for their academic success. Nkrumah Circle fire victims count their losses Elizabeth Konadu-Boakye May - 22 - 2023 , 19:45 City authorities from the Ayawaso Central Municipal Assembly on Monday supervised the cleaning and clearing of the debris that was left from the inferno that razed stores and their wares within the neighbourhood of the Kwame Nkrumah Interchange (Circle) last Sunday. The fire, which began around 1 p.m., gutted over 50 shops that deal in computers, cellular phones and other electronics and accessories, as well as cosmetics. Although there was no casualty, the loss of property, both brick and mortar and other wares, runs into millions of Ghana cedis. The Greater Accra Regional Minister who is also the Member of Parliament for the Ayawaso Central Constituency, Henry Quartey, was at the scene in the early hours of the day to commensurate with the affected shop owners. He ordered that a list of all affected shops be compiled for further action to be taken. Investigations, delay The cause of the fire is yet to be known by the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) as investigations have begun. An Officer from the Public Relations Department at the GNFS Headquarters, Assistant Divisional Officer (ADO) II, Alex King Nartey, who spoke to the Daily Graphic, said when the GNFS team was called to attend to the fire, the team at the Circle station was attending to another fire incident and so provisions had to be made to call other fire stations nearby to come to their aid. Nonetheless, ADO II Nartey said its team did the best to stop the fire from spreading to other buildings and stores. "As a service when we come on site, our main priority is to reduce damage. There is a filling station close by and our main goal was to do our very best to prevent the fire from reaching that side but we were able to save a lot of stores from the fire by a quarter to 5p.m. yesterday and I believe that is a good thing," he said. ADO Nartey further cautioned shop owners to desist from cooking and bringing cylinders to their shops as it was one cause of the many fire outbreaks. We have been advising the public time and again to desist from cooking in such shops but it all falls on deaf ears. From our checks there is a chop bar in there and some shops have gas cylinders which is making the fire difficult to quench and so we are advising that they desist from using such commercial areas for such purposes, he said. Strange smell When Graphic Online's Elizabeth Konadu-Boakye visited the scene, shop owners were seen cleaning up and salvaging the rest of the goods that were left from the fire. While some shop owners were seen counting their losses, others were yet to visit their stores. An eyewitness, who gave her name as Auntie Mercy, said she was in her shop when she began to feel a strange smell from the shop next to hers. We realised the smell was from one of the bulbs from the next shop, so we took the bulb out and turned off our meter. The other shops did same, but the owner of the next shop after mine was not around so his meter was not off. By the time we realised there was smoke coming from the roof of his shop, she narrated. When they saw the smoke, Auntie Mercy said she and the other shop owners tried to put out the fire with soapy water but they could not quench it as the fire kept spreading. She further narrated that they called the GNFS to come to their rescue but the team could not get there in time which caused the fire to completely burn down their shops. I was not able to retrieve a single item. I sell cosmetics and a whole lot of stuff and I just bought some items worth GHC3million yesterday and they are all gone, she lamented. Partly blame politicians for collapse of buildings Institution of Engineering and Technology Emmanuel Modey May - 22 - 2023 , 08:18 The Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) Ghana has claimed that politicians are partly to be blame for the collapse of buildings in the country. They also attributed the situation to the failure of developers to engage the services of professionals to undertake their projects. Furthermore, the institution said local engineers were not given the necessary tools and resources, including vehicles to work. Interference The President of IET, Ghana, Henry Kwadwo Boateng, told the Daily Graphic that although the various metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies (MMDAs) had competent and professional engineers, they were often not allowed to enforce building regulations. He alleged that when members insisted on carrying out their responsibilities, they were often transferred. Mr Boateng, therefore, entreated politicians to stop interfering in the work of engineers who were desirous of carrying out their professional work of ensuring developers adhered to building standards. To make things worse is when our engineers embark on development control by going round to inspect buildings under construction. There are some places they go and a politician will tell them not to come there again, he claimed. Under the local government system, Mr Boateng said there was no way you could disobey the Chief Executive of an assembly because the next day you would be moved and when you are transferred, before you get to your next destination, the chief executive there had been informed that the guy coming is a very stubborn guy and so you would not have your peace. He, however, admitted that like in other professions, there might be some few recalcitrant engineers, but said those working in MMDAs were facing real challenges, including the fear of victimisation. Recall Early this month, three storey buildings collapsed at three different places within a spate of one week. They were a six-storey building under construction at the University for Development Studies (UDS) City Campus at Sagnarigu in Tamale in the Northern Region, a three-storey building at Nanakrom in the Adentan municipality, and another three-storey building under construction at the SDA Junction at the Adentan side of La-Nkwantanang Madina, in Accra. One person lost his life while three others sustained injuries in the incidents. And in October 2020, 22 people lost their lives when a five-storey church building collapsed at Akyem Batabi in the Eastern Region. Earlier in July 2015, three persons were killed, with 18 others sustaining injuries when a three-storey building collapsed at Cantonments in Accra. Fire Service The Ghana National Fire Service attributed the situation to weak foundation, reduction in reinforcement, reduction in concrete strength, poor supervision and the use of poor quality building materials, among others. It advised developers to desist from engaging the services of uncertified or unqualified practitioners and artisans. Puma Energy Ghana swears in new Union executives Graphic Online May - 22 - 2023 , 21:39 Elected executives of the newly formed Puma Energy Distribution Ghana Limited chapter of the General Transport Petroleum & Chemical Workers Union (GTPCWU) of TUC have been sworn into office recently. The mandate of the freshly elected executives is to represent the union in negotiations and also to champion the welfare of the workforce in Puma Energy Ghana. In his acceptance speech, the newly sworn in Union Chairman, Brother Karl Kplorla Gidiglo, expressed his excitement at the opportunity to serve. He promised to strengthen the relationship between staff and management in achieving organisational goals and workers welfare. He noted that the role of union executives is to seek the welfare of its members through legitimate negotiations and not to antagonise Management. The General Manager of Puma Energy, Mr. Zwelithini Mlotshwa agreed with his assertion and highlighted the essential need for harmony in building an effective and cordial relationship between the Union and management. The General Secretary of the mother Union (GTPCWU) Brother Fuseini Iddrisu after successfully swearing in the executives reiterated the fact that there must always be warmth and unity to foster a great relationship between the union and management. Puma Energy is a Swiss multinational mid- and downstream oil company, majority-owned by Singapore-based French company Trafigura. Its operations span around 40 countries across five continents and encompass the supply, storage, refining, distribution, and retail of a range of petroleum products I wont let you down - Dr Afriyie Akoto tells NPP, introduces spokespersons Daily Graphic Politics May - 22 - 2023 , 04:31 A flagbearer aspirant of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Dr Owusu Afriyie Akoto, has told party members that a vote for him in the Super Delegates Conference in August and subsequently, the National Delegates Conference in November this year will see him revive the fortunes of the UP Tradition and inspire hope among its supporters. He said despite the party having a very strong base to leapfrog on to break the 8, the party faithful and sympathisers were not happy with the economic challenges they were going through currently. These economic challenges, he noted, were largely attributed to a lack of jobs, a situation he told the party members would be turned around when he was given the nod to bear the flag of the party and subsequently as President of the nation. Everywhere I go, the complaint that weve not benefited from the party comes up strongly and indeed it is true. Our party members have no jobs. Therefore, their morale is down. We need a leader who can change things around; someone who will inspire hope. That is why I have offered myself to lead the party. My track record is there for all to see and I am the only one who can do it. I will not let you down when you vote for me, he said. Dr Afriyie Akoto made the observation when he interacted with the Greater Accra Regional Executive of the NPP, in Accra last Tuesday, over his vision for the party and the country in general when he becomes the flag bearer of the UP Tradition and subsequently the President of Ghana. Speaking on his vision for the party and the country, Dr Afriyie Akoto noted that he was a creator of job opportunities, touting his achievement as having created thousands of jobs for the teeming unemployed youth, as well as labour professionals when he was the Minister of Food and Agriculture. These jobs, he added, had impacted positively on the lives of the people, underscoring that he held the key to unlocking job opportunities for party members and the citizenry. The records are there for anybody to verify. When it comes to job creation, Afriyie Akoto stands tall. I have demonstrated with the portfolio I held for six years that we can use agriculture to turn around the fortunes of Ghana and I will do it when you give me the opportunity to lead the party, he noted. Major Concern Another major concern he highlighted was the imposition of unknown people on party members, especially, at the Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies. This act, he noted, would be a thing of the past when he was given the nod to lead the party. He said he would at all times consult the base of the party and allow them to present their own candidate for confirmation for the position of Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executive. The Greater Accra Regional Chairman of the NPP, Divine Otoo Agorhom, on behalf of the party executives, expressed profound gratitude to Dr Afriyie Akoto for always availing himself and supporting party members. He told the gathering that he had been a beneficiary of Dr Afriyie Akotos philanthropic hands and could testify how the former Food and Agriculture minister had the party at heart. He said never had Dr Afriyie Akoto turned his back on him whenever he confronted him with party matters for support. Other members of the regional party executive body also testified how supportive Dr Afriyie Akoto had been to their course, with some going ahead to thank him for inspiring them to go into agriculture under the governments flagship programme, Planting for Food and Jobs. In another development, Dr Owusu Afriyie Akoto has introduced two Campaign Spokespersons in his bid to lead the party to the 2024 Presidential election. The two, Dr Prince Sodoke Amuzu and Kenwuud Nuworsu Emmanuel, will be the mouthpiece of Dr Afriyie Akoto's campaign. They will be responsible for prosecuting an effective communications strategy to ensure victory at the party's Presidential primary slated for August and November 2023. They will keep the public, particularly the NPP delegates, up to speed with happenings in Dr Owusu Afriyie Akoto's campaign. Dr Prince Sodoke Amuzu Dr Amuzu is a medical laboratory scientist, business consultant and politician. He obtained his first degree in Medical Laboratory Science from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, and an Executive Certificate in Good Corporate Governance from the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration. Followed by a Masters degree in Business Administration from Central University and then a Doctor of Medical Laboratory Sciences from the University for Development Studies. Dr Amuzu served as DCE for the Akatsi North District Assembly from May 2017 to November 2021. Currently appointed to the Governing Board of the Allied Health Professions Council of the Ministry of Health. He chairs the boards Professions Practice Committee. Kenwuud Nuworsu Emmanuel He's the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of VIP Integrated Projects and once served as Dep. Minister, Manpower, Youth and Employment. He was previously the Chief Disaster Control Officer in charge of NADMO Volta Region, served on the Ghana National Service Scheme Board of Governors and is a former member of the Ghana Telecom Board of Directors. Lower Manya Krobo Assembly Management Committee inaugurated Ezekiel E. Sottie Politics May - 22 - 2023 , 07:25 The Minister of Local Government, Decentralisation and Rural Development (LGDRD), Dan Kwaku Botwe, has inaugurated a nine-member Interim Management Committee for the Lower Manya Krobo Municipal Assembly in the Eastern Region with a call on them to exercise their full authority and power as enshrined in the local government Act for the development of the assembly. The members, appointed by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, were the Municipal Chief Executive, Simon Kweku Tetteh; the Municipal Coordinating Director, Selorm Kwame Tsibu; the Odumase-Krobo Circuit Court Judge, Kwasi Appiatsi Abaidoo; former assembly member, Emmanuel Nuertey Siakwa, and the representative of Lower Manya Krobo Traders Association, Manye Patience Yawah Ababio. The rest were Agormanya Chief Imam, Alhaji Inusah Issah; Representative of the Manya Krobo Traditional Council, Nene Teye Adjiso III; Representative of Transport Unions, Philip Batsa, and the representative of Lower Manya Krobo Council of churches, Prophet Isaiah Lawer. History The District Level Election in Lower Manya Krobo Municipality deviated from the national one due to a court case against the Electoral Commission (EC) in 2012, thereby changing the calendar of the municipality from the national one. The assembly was inaugurated as the seventh assembly on January 19, 2019, before the National District Level Elections came off in October, 2019. As a result, the term of the seventh assembly of the Lower Manya Krobo Municipal Assembly came to an end on Wednesday, January 18, 2023 hence there was the need to conduct an election to fulfil the constitutional requirement. Unfortunately, that could not happen because of an injunction from the Koforidua High Court placed on the election by two residents of the Lower Manya Krobo Municipality restraining the EC from conducting the election to fill the vacuum. Mr Botwe quoted the Local Governance Act 2016 (Act 936) section 6, sub-section 3, which provided that whenever a situation like that of Lower Manya Krobo arose in which the EC was unable to conduct a District Level Election, the President might appoint an Interim Management Committee to perform the functions of the assembly until election was held or conducted. He said the members of the committee, by the nomination and appointment by the President, were given full authority and power which when they fully exercised and used would promote the development of the municipality economically and financially. You are to provide guidance, give directives and supervise and exercise administrative authority and functions as the law prescribes. Local governance is a serious business and when you are given an authority, exercise it fully to achieve results, he admonished the members. Funds Mr Botwe said government was sourcing for other resources for the development of the assemblies and cited Lower Manya Krobo Municipal Assembly and other 34 assemblies as beneficiaries of the project and stressed the need for Ghanaians to support the government in its activities. The Eastern Regional Minister, Mr Acheampong, said the Coordinating Council was worried because of the vacuum that was going to be created when the court issues arose. He was, however, happy that both the coordinating council, in collaboration with the chiefs and people of the municipality, had found temporary solution to the challenge until actual election was held. Open door administration The Municipal Chief Executive, Simon Kweku Tetteh, on behalf of the committee, pledged that they would discharge their duties and responsibilities for the forward march of the municipality. Mother of 8-year-old girl who died in Border Patrol custody says pleas for hospital care were denied The mother of an 8-year-old girl who died in Border Patrol custody says agents repeatedly ignored pleas to hospitalize her medically fragile daughter as she felt pain in her bones, struggled to breathe and was unable to walk Mahama thanks God for victory Samuel Doe Ablordeppey Politics May - 22 - 2023 , 06:54 The flag bearer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), John Dramani Mahama, yesterday joined the Ringway Gospel Centre Assemblies of God Church to give thanks to God for his mercies and protection that made it possible for him to be re-elected to lead his party. He was joined by his family, including siblings, nephews and nieces; party bigwigs, university mates and other friends. Clad in all-white attire, former President Mahama, his wife and the entourage took part in song ministration and worship in the almost two-hour service, which was themed on thanksgiving, Led by Piesie Esther, the Praise and Worship team ministered songs such as Tagoe Sisters Yeredi nkunim, Stella Seals Okura Yenmu se okoree, Daughters of Glorious Jesus Ene manya anigye (ayeyi nwom) and other popular thanksgiving tunes, while the youth choir, Anointed Jewels, also rendered Obinasom, meaning my heart is joyful, by Nigerian Mercy Chinwo. After the sermon, the General Superintendent of the Assemblies of God, Rev. Dr Steven Yenusom Wengam, who joined the service midway, led the church to pray for the former President who would be leading the NDC in the 2024 general election. The General Superintendent recounted how the former President had consistently visited the church to thank God in 2012, when he became President, as well as in 2016 and 2020 when he lost the elections to be re-elected. They have shown that you dont only thank God in good times. What they are doing today is part of them, he said. In a sermon on the Value of Thanksgiving, the Resident Pastor, Rev. Benjamin Tettey, drawing on several scriptures such as the books of Psalms and Samuel, exhorted the congregation and the entourage to value thanksgiving. Thanksgiving magnifies God and always causes the Lord to renew his mercies on us every morning, he said. Rev. Tettey said the Lord also continued to deliver his people because of thanksgiving, saying the practice connects the thanksgiver to the good things of the Lord. He encouraged former President Mahama, his family and followers to continue to give thanks at all times and moments, saying, Your Excellency, you should bring God into all that you do. Response In an address to the church, the NDC flag bearer said it was important to give thanks in adversity and also with an opportunity at hand. Former President Mahama also recalled how he visited the same church in 2012 to give thanks for becoming President and in 2016 when he lost power. He paraphrased a scripture that intimates that the thoughts and ways of man were not the same as Gods, and said although he led the NDC to do a lot of projects for the country, the Lord had His own thoughts and ways that led to his loss in the 2016 election. Former President Mahama said he owed God so much gratitude because he and his team had travelled 14,000 kilometres across the country to every constituency in two months without any incidents. By the grace of God we travelled safely, there was no loss of life, nobody fell sick. And its not by chance, somebody was watching over us, taking us and bringing us back safely, so we give thanks to God, he said. The former President said his team owed God gratitude for losing the 2016 election because: He said it was not the time, adding we know that He will make all things beautiful in his own time. When we did the rounds and saw the delegates, the excitement and passion with which they came to the events we organised had shaken the base of the party and made it ready for the 2024 elections, he stated. Former President Mahama said the opportunity to go round the country again enabled the team to keep themselves abreast of the challenges that we will be faced with when we come into office by the grace of God, saying they encountered issues with fertilisers, other agricultural inputs; cocoa farmers, drivers and other challenges. These will prepare us and when, by the grace of God, we return to steer the affairs of the country again we will be able to resolve them, former President Mahama stated. He also thanked the national, regional and constituency executive for the support as well as the church for the prayers and support that members gave him. Personalities present at the thanksgiving service included the NDC running mate in the 2020 election, Professor Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang; a former Chairman of the party, Huudu Yahaya; Betty Mould Iddrisu, Adjei Mensah, Faustina Nelson, Dr Sherry Aryitey, the Greater Accra NDC Regional Chairman, Ashie Moore, and his predecessor, Joseph Ade Coker; former ministers and appointees in his administration; Victor Smith, Dr Edward Omane Boamah, Alex Segbefia, Elizabeth Ofosu Agyare, Dr Stephen Opuni, Sylvester Mensah, Ken Adjei and Kukua Awortwe. Sackey sets up GH100,000 support scheme for women Donald Ato Dapatem Politics May - 22 - 2023 , 03:17 A New Patriotic Party (NPP) parliamentary aspirant for Ablekuma Central, Jefferson Kwamena Sackey, has set up a GH100,000 revolving fund to offer interest-free loans to women engaged in petty trading and small businesses in the constituency. Known as the Jefferson Care for Women Empowerment Fund, the financial assistance advances interest-free loans to NPP polling station executives ranging from GH500 to GH1000 to support their existing businesses or commence petty trading. A nine-member all-female independent committee was inaugurated to manage the fund, which commenced work immediately after the launch. Launch Launching the fund at Lartebiokoshie in Accra last Saturday, Mr Sackey, who is a Deputy Director of Communications at the Jubilee House, and who grew up in the area, noted that the decision to offer the fund was to support the hardworking women in the area. The reality is that some of these women in Sukura, Lartebiokoshie, Mambruk and some parts of Mateheko are hardworking traders who are into petty trading and are active members of the NPP and I strongly believe that these loans will assist them, he added He indicated that in these challenging times, such support would go a long way to assist the ladies to expand their trading and earn some more to support their families and be energised to undertake party work, especially monitoring the ballot and engaging in grassroots campaigns. Training Mr Sackey added that very soon the women would be taken through training in business management, bookkeeping and savings, among others, to enhance their businesses. Why EC chose a logo for an independent candidate in Kumawu By-election Zadok Kwame Gyesi Politics May - 22 - 2023 , 07:57 The Electoral Commission (EC) has explained why it chose a symbol [logo] for one of the two independent candidates in the Kumawu By-election in the Ashanti Region. The Commission says it did not approve the notice of poll in which the two independent candidates had the same name, attire and symbol [bird] for the said election. According to the Commission, the two independent candidates bearing the same names, Kwaku Duah, presented photographs of themselves in Kente and a picture of a bird as their symbol to the Commission's District Officer in Kumawu. "Based on this, a draft Notice of Poll, bearing the photograph of the Independent Candidates with similar names, attires and symbols was prepared and submitted to the Commission for approval. "It was neither approved by the Commission nor gazetted. A Notice of Poll becomes legal and binding only after it is gazetted. The version circulating on social media was never gazetted. It was a mere draft reflecting the photographs and symbols presented to the District Officer," EC said in a statement dated May 21, 2023. The EC further explained that "When this anomaly came to the notice of the Commission, the second Independent Candidate was advised to change his symbol since he was the last to submit his Nomination Form." According to the EC, when the second independent candidate was asked to change his symbol, he refused, compelling the EC to apply Regulation 14(1) (b) and (c) of the Public Elections Regulations, 2020, C.I. 127 which allows the EC to use its own discretion to choose a symbol for a candidate in such a situation. Kumawu By-election The Kumawu By-election follows the death of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Member of Parliament (MP) for the area, Philip Basoah. Mr Basoah died on Monday, March 27 at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, where he was on admission for a serious ailment. He was 54-years-old. Following the death of Mr. Basoah, the EC in a statement on Monday, April 17, 2023, signed by its Chairperson, Jean Mensa, asked interested parties who wish to contest the seat to download nomination forms from the EC's website from April 14, 2023 to May 5, 2023. The EC also set May 23, 2023, as the date for the Kumawu By-election. Attached below is a copy of the EC statement SUE Mosgortrans has started testing GAZelle e-City electric minibuses, produced by Russias GAZ. (The e-City is based on GAZs diesel-powered City minibus.) The electric bus accommodates 16 passengers, 13 of them with seats. The tests of the electric minibus will last until the end of February 2024. Such minibuses are suited for narrow roads and small passenger traffic. The electric minibuses are equipped with terminals for contactless fare payment and USB ports for recharging personal devices. The NMC battery pack supports a range of 150 kilometers, according to the company. The minibuses have a low floor system and storage platform to transport passengers with disabilities and wheelchairs or strollers. This model is suitable for routes with a low passenger traffic and can pass through narrow streets where a large electric bus will not pass. Today Moscow is now considered to be the largest e-bus fleet in Europe and we are starting to test a new one of electric vehicles. We will consider the possibility of replacing small-class buses with the electric ones in case the test is successful. Maksim Liksutov, the Deputy Mayor of Moscow for Transport Electric buses were launched in Moscow in 2018. Today more than 1,000 electric buses run on 79 bus-routes, carrying about 400,000 passengers on a daily basis. In 4 years, electric buses have run 100 million kilometers, transported more than 226 million passengers, 72 million of which have been carried in 2022. The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Department of Justice announced a Clean Air Act Settlement with BP Products North America Inc., (BPP), a subsidiary of BP plc, requiring control technology expected to reduce benzene by an estimated seven tons per year, other hazardous air pollutants (HAP) by 28 tons per year, and other volatile organic compound emissions (VOC) by 372 tons per year at its Whiting Refinery in Indiana. The United States complaint, filed simultaneously with the settlement, alleges that BPP violated federal regulations limiting benzene in refinery wastewater streams, and HAP and VOC emissions at its Whiting Refinery, as well as the general requirement to use good air pollution control practices. As part of the settlement, BPP will install one or more permanent benzene strippers to reduce benzene in wastewater streams leading to its lakefront wastewater treatment plant. In addition to securing injunctive relief, including capital investments, estimated to exceed $197 million, the settlement obligates BPP to pay a total financial penalty of $40 million, comprising a $31,424,000 civil penalty, and $8,576,000 in stipulated penalties for violations of an earlier settlement. This is the largest civil penalty ever secured for a Clean Air Act stationary source settlement. BPP separately agreed to undertake a $5-million supplemental environmental project to reduce diesel emissions in the communities surrounding the Whiting Refinery. BPP will also install 10 air pollutant monitoring stations to monitor air quality outside of the refinery fenceline. The settlement terms are included in a proposed consent decree filed with the US District Court for the Northern District of Indiana. Benzene is known to cause cancer in humans. Short-term inhalation exposure to benzene also may cause drowsiness, dizziness, headaches, as well as eye, skin, and respiratory tract irritation, and, at high levels, unconsciousness. Long-term inhalation exposure can cause various disorders in the blood, including reduced numbers of red blood cells and anemia in occupational settings. Reproductive effects have been reported for women exposed by inhalation to high levels, and adverse effects on the developing fetus have been observed in animal tests. VOCs along with NO x , play a major role in the atmospheric reactions that produce ozone, which is the primary constituent of smog. People with lung disease, children, older adults, and people who are active can be affected when ozone levels are unhealthy. Ground-level ozone exposure is linked to a variety of short-term health problems, including lung irritation and difficulty breathing, as well as long-term problems, such as permanent lung damage from repeated exposure, aggravated asthma, reduced lung capacity, and increased susceptibility to respiratory illnesses such as pneumonia and bronchitis. The State of Indiana assisted in the negotiations and is also a party to the settlement. The settlement is subject to a public comment period and final court approval. Using 'he/him,' 'she/her' in emails got 2 dorm directors fired at small New York Christian college The firing of two employees at a religious school in western New York is fanning the culture wars roiling parts of the United States The chefs Alex Lee and Suzy Cupps with farmer Rick Bishop. Photo: Suzy Cupps For the butterball-potato zealots who treat the Union Square farmers market like the High Church of Locavorism in New York, Rick Bishop is a superstar. The Mountain Sweet Berry farmer has been a fixture at the Greenmarket since 1985, when he showed up on the scene with a truckload of Tristars, the low-yield, small-but-mighty strawberry. In the 40 years since, hes become a favorite of basically every chef concerned with high-quality produce and synonymous with the citys supply of ramps. And this past week, the Union Square Greenmarket announced a bit of surprising news: Bishop is retiring from farming. I am both just crushed to not see Rick at the market anymore and also so excited for him, says Suzy Cupps, who worked at Gramercy Tavern and ran the kitchens at Untitled and 232 Bleecker. The chef says it was Bishops lesser-known crops that won her over: the cornichons, Canestrino tomatoes, peas, wild blueberries, and hand-sewn princess pine garland. His retirement will certainly leave a hole on our menus. One such menu is at Wylie Dufresnes Stretch, where Bishops potato chips are the secret to the restaurants breakout-hit potato-chip salad. Asked what he will do about this potato-chip crisis, Dufresne says, Thats a question were struggling to answer. (For his part, Bishop suggested Cape Cod.) We go back to my Jean-Georges days in the 90s, when he would come in with half a cow, walking down the stairs, literally over his shoulder, Dufresne recalls. Hes the sweetest man in the world, but hes an imposing figure carrying a cow. Its more like a viking arriving than a farmer. Over the years, many chefs have talked publicly about their own admiration for Bishop. Patti Jackson, while working at I Trulli, told Edible Manhattan in 2011 that Ricks a master who knows every bend in the river. Daniel Boulud once got Bishop to grow Lyonnaise potatoes for him and Superiority Burgers Brooks Headley says that the chef Phillipe Bertinau first convinced Bishop to grow other French crops in the 90s, and he was known to many of his customers for the quality of his tender sucrine lettuce, among other products. If Rick walked into Superiority Burger unannounced and the dining room was full, I would 100 percent kick someone out and give him the royal treatment, Headley says. You could be having the worst day imaginable at the restaurant, he adds, with the money guys breathing down your neck or brand new equipment dying, but there was nothing a visit to Mountain Sweet Berry couldnt cure. Every single time. It was like the best drugs and the best therapy all rolled up together. The former Gramercy Tavern pastry chef Miro Uskokovic, who grew up in Serbia, said that Bishop introduced him to Tristars, which he described as incomparable to any other local variety. I used to make a strawberry-lilac jam over the last decade that had many fans and wouldnt have tasted the same without Rickss berries, he says. Bishop told Dufresne a couple months ago that he was considering retirement, citing the general difficulties of farming, and concerns in the wake of the COVID pandemic. Then, this past Saturday, Frenchette chef-de-cuisine Charlie Izenstein broke the news: I cant imagine the Greenmarket without him. Hes just so upbeat, enthusiastic, and supportive, Dufresne says. Eat like the experts. Sign up for the Grub Street newsletter. Email This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Vox Media, LLC Terms and Privacy Notice By submitting your email, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Notice and to receive email correspondence from us. In this file photo from 2018, Maria A. Ulloa Elementary School employees prepare shelter spaces in their school cafeteria. Residents today are preparing for Typhoon Mawars approach to the Marianas. At the islands grocery and hardware stores, people were leaving with shopping carts full of canned goods, cases of water, and even a generator as they prepare for a storm that weather officials predict will be making its way over Guam. Guam is under a Typhoon Warning and COR2 as Typhoon Mawar tracks toward the Marianas. As of 4 p.m. Monday, the storm was about 340 miles south-southeast of Guam with sustained winds of 100 mph. The storm was moving north-northwest at 9 mph. A Typhoon Warning means that damaging winds of 39 mph or more can be expected within 24 hours. The typhoon is expected to make its way to the Marianas Islands by Wednesday morning, according to National Weather Service reports. For many residents, their experience with past storms guided their typhoon preparation. Aleta San Nicolas of Dededo recalled the aftermath of Super Typhoon Karen in 1962. I looked across at the public school, and it was toppled. The house across from the street was toppled. So, I think people now are beginning to build houses that will survive. Meanwhile, Celena Calvo-Story of Yigo drew from her experience with Typhoon Pongsona in 2002. She remembered that the storm arrived on a holy day for Guam. Dec. 8, Ill never forget, Calvo-Story said. The thing that stuck in my mind was it was almost like a payback. At the time, the Legislature had removed the holiday for Santa Marian Kamalen. That was the day the typhoon struck, and then thats when they put it back. Time to be kind Another resident looked to times like these as when we should be especially kind and giving to others. This is just the time to help each other out, said Josephine Arceo of Chalan Pago, on her way into Home Depot in Tamuning, hoping to buy kerosene for her lamps. Fellow Home Depot shopper, Tiara Paulino of Inalahan echoed Arceos sentiments. We all got to be nice to each other, Paulino said. Everybody is probably running low on things, so we just have to be there for one another and hope for the best. Tamuning resident Al Garrido also cautioned that people shouldnt panic. There still needs to be enough for everybody, he said. Arceo added that she hopes the government will be able to assist those in need, noting that those who live in wooden houses might not be prepared. Garrido advised that residents should prepare their homes and take necessary precautions. Put shutters on all the windows no matter what. Get some extra water, just in case, he said. Be safe and be ready for what is coming. It might be strong, it might not be, but just be ready, Dededo resident Steven Quiapos added. Motorists and residents are advised to drive cautiously through the construction zones, observe all posted speed limit and construction signs, and carefully heed flaggers (when present). Alternate routes and/or adjusting drive times when feasible are encouraged. Road construction updates from Monday to Sunday: Heavy Haul Cargo Transport for Ukudu Power Plant Please drive with caution. Post transport road work along Marine Corps Drive, Route 1, will occur for the next couple of months. Crew members will conduct median restoration, span wire restoration, sign removal and other post transport road work during the non peak hours of 9 a.m. - 3 p.m. Drivers are encouraged to take alternate routes available at poweronthemove.org. Please note schedule is subject to change San Vitores and Ilipog Intersection (GTA): May 18 - May 23 Tumon Lane and Route 14A (Kmart Intersection): May 24 - June 28 St. Johns and Route 14 (ITC Intersection): May 29 - July 1 DPW and Route 30 (Tamuning Jack in the Box Intersection): June 2 - July 7 Route 10A (airport) and Aspinal Intersection: June 7 - July 12 Two Lovers Point Intersection: June 12 - July 15 Doosan Ukudu Power, Doosan Enerbility, Glonet, Pacific Unlimited, Inc., Smithbridge and everyone involved with this massive transport project express our sincere gratitude to all of you for your patience, understanding and support. Route 5 and Portion of Route 12, Reconstruction and Widening (Route 2A to Naval Magazine/Route 12) Santa Rita Construction activities will continue along Route 5 from Route 2A to Plumeria Street with intermittent lane closures. Motorists are advised to slow down while driving through this area. Route 14B (Ypao Road) Reconstruction and Widening (Route 14 to Carmen Memorial Dr), Phase 1 Cliffside Tamuning There is a full road closure between Congressman Palting Loop and Pale San Vitores Road for the construction of a new retaining wall and widening of Ypao Road. Motorists will have to take alternate routes. Route 14 Resurfacing from Route 1 to Route 14B Tamuning From Monday, 5/22/23 to Friday, 5/26/23 between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m., motorists are advised that there will be lane shifts and intermittent lane closures along ET Calvo Memorial Parkway and Route 14 (Chalan San Antonio) from Route 1 to Great National Insurance Underwriters (East Espiritu Street). The contractor will also continue surveying along Route 14. Flaggers will be present to assist surveyors. On Saturday, between 5 a.m. and 6 p.m., motorists are advised that there will be lane shifts and intermittent lane closures as the contractor will continue sidewalk repairs between Copy Xpress along ET Calvo Memorial Parkway and the Mayor's office along Route 14 Chalan San Antonio. There will also be lane shifts and intermittent lane closures along Route 14 Pale San Vitores Road from Archbishop Felixberto Flores Circle to the Hilton Hotel. Traffic will be reduced to one lane in each direction. Motorists are encouraged to use alternate routes. Islandwide Safety Improvements on Primary Roads (Striping and Marking), Route 8 Between the hours of 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. temporary lane shifts, and intermittent closures will occur at the following intersections, weather permitting: Monday to Tuesday, Route 8 Route / 7A (East OBrien Drive) Intersection Wednesday to Friday, Route 8/ Route 20 Tiyan Parkway Intersection Islandwide Village Street Pavement Resurfacing Mai Mai Road, Chalan Pago-Ordot The DPW HMC crew will be preparing Mai Mai Road for milling and paving. Work will occur on weekdays between 7 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. There will be intermittent lane closures. GWA Waterline Upgrade Along Metal Road, Harmon Industrial Park GWA will continue upgrading a 6-inch waterline along Metal Road in Harmon Industrial Park. Motorists should expect lane and road closures. Work is expected to be completed on May 29, 2023. Road safety reminder of the week: Collisions Understand factors that lead to collisions so you can try to avoid them. The most common causes of collisions are: Driver distractions Unsafe speed Improper turns Not following the right-of-way rules Not following stop signals and signs Driving on the wrong side of the road A vehicle traveling faster or slower than the flow of traffic If you see a vehicles emergency flashers ahead, slow down. There may be a collision or other road emergency. Pass carefully. Avoid driving near collisions, if possible. If anyone is injured, they will get help faster if other vehicles are not blocking the road. Local and weather officials continue to monitor Typhoon Mawar as it tracks toward the Marianas Islands. As of 5 a.m. today, Mawar was located 8.5 degrees north latitude and 148.1 degrees east longitude, about 410 miles south-southeast of Guam and 485 miles south-southeast of Saipan, according to information from the Joint Information Center. The storm had intensified to typhoon strength overnight and now is moving north-northwest at 8 mph with maximum sustained winds of 80 mph. The storm is expected to continue to strengthen. Gov. Lou Leon Guerrero placed Guam in Condition of Readiness 2 at 8 p.m. Sunday. At COR 2, the government of Guam, with the exception of essential services, will not be operational and will remain closed until COR 4 is announced. A typhoon watch remains in effect for Guam, Rota, Tinian, and Saipan. A typhoon watch means that typhoon conditions are possible, with tropical storm force (sustained winds of 39 mph and greater) conditions arriving within the next 48 hours. School updates: The Guam Department of Education (GDOE) Central Office operations and school sites are closed: There are no GDOE classes today. GDOE schools that have been identified as emergency shelters will be operational for shelter by 5 p.m. The Guam Education Board Meeting scheduled for Tuesday has been rescheduled to 5 p.m. May 30. DoDEA schools will remain open today. The Archdiocese of Agana, Catholic School classes are canceled today, and the Catholic schools will remain closed until COR 4 is announced. The University of Guam is closed today, and will not be open until COR 4 is announced. The Guam Community College is closed today and will not be open until COR 4 is announced. Shelter information will be provided today: The GDOE is preparing to open certain emergency shelters at 5 p.m. today. More information regarding locations, rules and regulations will be provided today. Do not attempt to go to any emergency shelter until the designated opening time. Guam Legislature operations closed today: Upon declaration of COR 2, the Guam Legislature will be closed for public services until COR 4 is restored. Judicial court closed: The Judiciary of Guam announced the closure of the Judicial Branch upon declaration of COR 2, until the declaration of COR 4 by the governor of Guam. All hearings, jury trials, jury selections, and grand jury proceedings will be rescheduled. GSWA update: The Guam Solid Waste Authority will continue operations with trash pick up today. Assessments will be made and an update on GSWA operations for the remainder of the week will be provided. United flights operational today: United flights will operate as scheduled today, and the United City Ticket Office will be open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. United customers who are scheduled to depart Tuesday and Wednesday are encouraged to check united.com or the United app for the most current flight information as a result of Tropical Storm Mawar. Guam Memorial Hospital Authority update: Guam Memorial Hospital Authority will announce the time that pregnant mothers may begin coming to the hospital. When that time is announced, GMHA will begin receiving pregnant mothers who are 36 weeks or more along and all high-risk pregnant mothers who are 24 weeks or more in their pregnancy. GRMC update: The Guam Regional Medical City will maintain regular operating and visiting hours until 8 p.m. today. Should weather conditions worsen within 24 hours after the announcement of Condition of Readiness 2, GRMC will then announce the suspension of visiting hours. The GRMC Lung and Infectious Diseases Clinic has converted physical appointments to Telehealth until further notice. All other outpatient appointments and elective surgeries scheduled on Monday will be contacted for rescheduling accordingly. During suspension, all visitors, except patient watchers, will be asked to leave the hospital. All admitted patients may have one patient watcher. Patient watchers must obtain an approved emergency patient watcher badge from Customer Relations in the Main Lobby. Note, patient watchers are encouraged to bring food (that does not require refrigeration) for the duration of the storm. Meals will only be provided to patients. For more information, contact GRMCs Marketing & Communications Department at (671) 687-5572 or (671) 971-1347 or via email at marketing.mailbox@grmc.gu. What should you do: The community is advised to finish the following preparedness actions by today: Stay up to date monitor local news, National Weather Service and the Joint Information Center; Put up shutters. Do not wait for winds to increase by Tuesday; Clear loose debris around your yard and store any items that may become airborne with heavy winds such as canopies, tarps and trampolines, before inclement weather arrives; Keep emergency preparedness kits readily available, with battery operated radio, flashlights and extra batteries; Secure important documents such as birth certificates, tax papers, and insurance documents and keep copies in a water-proof bag; Unplug all appliances and ensure energy breakers are switched off once damaging winds approach; If you live in an area prone to flooding, cover beds and furniture with plastic to prevent water damage; Ensure pets are part of your emergency plans (i.e. have enough supplies, bring them indoors, plan to keep them with a loved one or family member); Do not camp, park, or hike along streams, rivers, and creeks. These areas can flood quickly and with little warning; Gas your vehicles and get fuel for your generators now while the weather is clear; When youre done securing your homes and you know someone elderly, living with a disability, or who will otherwise need help, please see how you can help them. If you know a neighbor or family member who has no way of getting information about the storm, please let them know the updates. Visit the following links for the latest advisory information: Former Gov. Carl T.C. Gutierrez is the president and CEO of Guam Visitors Bureau, Guam Permit Czar, and chairman of the Governors Economic Strategy Council. Send comments or questions to GVB at communityrelations@visitguam.org. Haiti - FLASH : At the G7 Summit, President Lula calls for quick action in the face of the crisis in Haiti Sunday, May 21, 2023, within the framework of the G7 Summit held in Hiroshima (Japan), the President of Brazil [guest country] Luis Inacio Lula da Silva during the working session of the G7 and the invited countries, in his speech, underlined the need for the leaders of the free world to quickly bring help to the Haitian people. "In Haiti, we must act quickly to alleviate the suffering of a population torn apart by tragedy [...] the scourge to which is faced the Haitian people is the result of decades of indifference to the real needs of the country. For years, Brazil has been saying that the Haitian problem is not only a security problem, but above all a problem of continuous development." During this G7 summit, President Lula Da Silva took the opportunity to criticize the powers' inability to deal with international crises, their blindness to the demands of emerging countries, among others. For Lula "the paradigms have collapsed and it is time for a new mentality to reign in the world." Let's remember that more than 6 months after Haiti's request to send an armed international force to fight gangs https://www.icihaiti.com/en/news-37866-icihaiti-request-for-armed-intervention-letter-from-prime-minister-to-the-un-secretary-general.html the international community is looking for new strategies because no country so far has said it is ready to take command of such a mission. After the refusal of Canada https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-39143-haiti-flash-crisis-in-haiti-trudeau-promises-money-and-biden-changes-direction.html , the United States (which also refused to lead an intervention mission in Haiti) would now target Brazil to assume this role. The American Ambassador to the UN, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, traveled to Brazil in early May to move things in this direction https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-39475-haiti-news-zapping.html . The diplomat declared that Brazil "feels concerned by Haiti" and that the Brazilians "want something to be done" and they are committed to working with us at the Security Council, affirms the American Ambassador "We are making progress, but we are all frustrated that we have not been able to make faster progress." Besides G7 members: Japan, USA, Germany, France, Italy, Canada, UK, countries like Brazil, Australia, India, Indonesia , the Republic of Korea, Vietnam, among others, were invited to this summit which was held on May 20 and 21, 2023. See also : https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-39475-haiti-news-zapping.html https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-39143-haiti-flash-crisis-in-haiti-trudeau-promises-money-and-biden-changes-direction.html https://www.icihaiti.com/en/news-37866-icihaiti-request-for-armed-intervention-letter-from-prime-minister-to-the-un-secretary-general.html SL/ HaitiLibre Haiti - Insecurity : 734 people murdered in 6 massacres, all the details (Report) Between April 2022 and April 2023, the National Network for the Defense of Human Rights (RNDDH) counted 9 massacres perpetrated in the departments of Artibonite and West. In 6 of these documented massacres, 734 people were murdered, an average of 122 people per massacre. 105 women and girls were victims of gang rapes for the most part, an average of 17 victims per massacre. - Plaine du Cul-de-sac from April 24 to May 6, 2022, at least 191 people murdered - Cite Soleil, from July 7 to 17, 2022, at least 300 people murdered; - Artistic village of Noailles, from October 12 to 17, 2022, at least 19 people murdered; - Savane Pistache, from November 10 to 30, 2022, at least 3 people murdered; - Source Matelas, on the night of November 28 to 29, 2022, at least 73 people were murdered; - Bel-Air, from February 28 to March 5, 2023 at least 148 people murdered. The massacres perpetrated in Savien in February 2023, in Cite Soleil 5, from April 14 to 19, 2023, and Source Matelas, since April 19, 2023 are being documented. 22 police officers were killed during the first 4 months of 2023. Since April 24, 2023, the population, faced with the Government's inaction, has started a hunt for bandits, through the "Bwa Kale" movement. The RNDDH speaks of more than a hundred lynched bandits, the UN mentions at least 165 lynchings... Download the full report (PDF 42 pages in French) including details of all documented cases : https://www.haitilibre.com/docs/5_Rapport_Massacres_09Mai2023_VP_FR.pdf HL/ HaitiLibre Haiti - FLASH : Do not travel to Haiti (State Department update) The US State Department maintains its level 4 "Do not travel" travel warning to Haiti. Warnings reissued on May 17, 2023 with updates to health information and increased insecurity. Do not travel to Haiti due to kidnapping, crime, civil unrest, and poor health care infrastructure. U.S. citizens in Haiti should consider departing Haiti now by commercial or other privately available transportation options, in light of the current security situation and infrastructure challenges. U.S. citizens wishing to depart Port-au-Prince should monitor local news and only do so when considered safe. Country Summary : Kidnapping is widespread, and victims regularly include U.S. citizens. Kidnappers may use sophisticated planning or take advantage of unplanned opportunities, and even convoys have been attacked. Kidnapping cases often involve ransom negotiations and U.S. citizen victims have been physically harmed during kidnappings. Victims families have paid thousands of dollars to rescue their family members. Violent crime, such as armed robbery, carjackings, and kidnappings for ransom that include American citizens are common. Mob killings against presumed criminals have been on the rise since late April. Travelers are sometimes followed and violently attacked and robbed shortly after leaving the Port-au-Prince international airport. Robbers and carjackers also attack private vehicles stuck in heavy traffic congestion and often target lone drivers, particularly women. As a result, the U.S. Embassy requires its personnel to use official transportation to and from the airport. Protests, demonstrations, tire burning, and roadblocks are frequent, unpredictable, and can turn violent. The U.S. government is extremely limited in its ability to provide emergency services to U.S. citizens in Haiti assistance on site is available only from local authorities (Haitian National Police and ambulance services). Local police generally lack the resources to respond effectively to serious criminal incidents. Shortages of gasoline, electricity, medicine, and medical supplies continue throughout much of Haiti. Public and private medical clinics and hospitals often lack qualified medical staff and even basic medical equipment and resources. If you decide to travel to Haiti : Avoid demonstrations and crowds. Do not attempt to drive through roadblocks. Arrange airport transfers and hotels in advance, or have your host meet you upon arrival. Do not provide personal information to unauthorized individuals (e.g. people without official uniforms or credentials) located in the immigration, customs, or other areas inside or near any airports. If you are being followed as you leave the airport, drive to the nearest police station immediately. Travel by vehicle to minimize walking in public. Travel in groups of at least two people. Always keep vehicle doors locked and windows closed when driving. Exercise caution and alertness, especially when driving through markets and other traffic congested areas. Do not physically resist any robbery attempt. Purchase travel insurance and medical evacuation insurance ahead of time. Review information on Travel to High-Risk Areas. Enroll in the Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (STEP) to receive Alerts and make it easier to locate you in an emergency. Follow the Department of State on Facebook and Twitter. Review the Country Security Report on Haiti. Prepare a contingency plan for emergency situations. Review the Travelers Checklist. HL/ HaitiLibre Haiti - Environment : Launch of the Multisectoral Emergency Program in the Northeast During the meeting of the departmental environmental table of the North-East, the Departmental Directorate officially launched the Multisectoral Emergency Program for the Appeasement and Social Reintegration of Vulnerable Groups (PUMARSGV) In his speech, Luckin Charles, Departmental Environment Director for the North-East, specified that within the framework of the program, particular emphasis is placed on the Vallieres watershed and took the opportunity to list the various scheduled activities. - Erection of thresholds; - Construction of dry walls; - Installation of living ramps (Planting of Vetiver, hedgerow etc.); - Planting seedlings (Bamboo, fruit and forest trees); - Construction of retaining walls; - Coastal sanitation (cleaning of coastal areas); - Manufacture of artisanal trash cans; - Production of compost. He said that through this Program, the Ministry will create more than 250 jobs in the department, over a period of 150 days. Learn more about the PUMARSGV : The Multisectoral Emergency Program for the Appeasement and Social Reintegration of Vulnerable Groups is a government program that aims to mitigate the effects of the socio-economic crisis on the population. Financed by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to the tune of 21.6 billion Gourdes, the program is executed by the Ministries of Social Affairs, Agriculture, Public Works, Environment, National Education, Commerce and the Economic and Social Assistance Fund (FAES). HL/ HaitiLibre Haiti - Cholera : Daily bulletin #186 May 12, 2023: (latest data available, previous Ministry bulletin May 11 https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-39588-haiti-cholera-daily-bulletin-185.html Data calculated since the first confirmed case (October 3rd, 2022) Total suspected cases: 44,219 cases +214 in 24 hours, the day before +15 in 24 hours Total confirmed cases: 2,678* cases +0, the day before +0 in 24 hours Total hospitalized cases (suspected and confirmed): 38,592 cases +157 cases in 24 hours, the day before +15 in 24 hours Total deaths: 685** deaths ((460 institutional (+0) and 225 community (+0)) +0, previous +1 *No information on the number of tests carried out and the number of confirmed cases, published by the MSPP Laboratories. Information not updated for 23 days **Not updated for 3 days Partial assessment of cholera in Haiti according to data from the Department of Epidemiology, Laboratories and Research of the Ministry of Public Health and Population (MSPP). Distribution of suspected cases, total since October 3: Less than 1 year: 1.016 (+6) 1-4 years: 8,837 cases (+46) 5-9 years: 6,355 cases (+25) 10-14 years old: 3,165 cases (+11) 15-19 years old: 2,324 cases (+6) 20-29 years old: 5,697 cases (+21) 30-39 years old: 4,858 cases (+26) 40-49 years old: 3,599 cases (+21) 50-59 years old: 2,729 cases (+21) 60-69 years old: 1,932 cases (+17) 70-79 years old: 1,118 cases (+7) 80 years and over: 457 cases (+7) Men: 54.39% men (-); Women 45.61 (+) Positivity rate by age segment: Number of tests performed: 7.606* +0 in previous 24 hours +0 in 24 hours Positivity rate: 35.20%, previous 35.20% *No information on the number of tests carried out and the number of confirmed cases, published by the MSPP Laboratories. Information not updated for 23 days Departments with confirmed cases: Artibonite, Centre, GrandAnse, North, North West, Nippes, North East, West, South and South East Previous bulletin: https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-39588-haiti-cholera-daily-bulletin-185.html List of Treatment Centers for acute diarrhea (including Cholera): https://www.icihaiti.com/en/news-37939-icihaiti-flash-list-of-acute-diarrhea-treatment-centers-including-cholera.html Definitions: Suspected cases: Anyone with acute watery, profuse diarrhea with or without vomiting and dehydration Confirmed case: Any suspected case with a positive culture for Vibrio cholerae or presenting an epidemiological link with a confirmed case of cholera Hospitalized case: Any suspected or confirmed case that spends at least 24 hours in a care centre Institutional death: Any suspected or confirmed case who dies in a treatment center. Community death: Any suspected case that dies outside of a caring institution. See also : https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-38148-haiti-humanitarian-the-un-and-its-partners-launch-a-flash-appeal-of-$1456m-for-haiti.html https://www.icihaiti.com/en/news-37816-icihaiti-cholera-entry-ban-on-cooked-food-from-haiti-on-the-dajabon-market.html https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-37807-haiti-flash-cholera-the-who-is-sounding-the-alarm.html https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-37803-haiti-flash-already-7-dead-from-cholera-and-dozens-of-suspected-cases.html https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-37795-haiti-flash-cholera-back-in-haiti-fear-of-epidemic-the-un-ready-to-intervene.html HL/ HaitiLibre Haiti - News : Zapping... The PAP bar is sounding the alarm Friday, May 19, 2023, several activities were organized by the Bar of Port-au-Prince around the theme "The Rule of Law : Challenge of the security situation in Haiti" including a mass of thanksgiving sung at the Montana hotel, on the occasion of the feast of St-Yves (patron saint of lawyers). The Bar of Port-au-Prince (PAP) is once again sounding the alarm. Me Marie Suzy Legros, President of the Port-au-Prince Bar Association, said she saw a flagrant violation of the rules of Rights, including human rights in Haiti. Distribution of mum kits On Friday, May 19, 2023, the International Organization for Migration (IOM - Haiti) and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA - Haiti) organized a distribution of mother kits and essential supply kits, as well as mobile clinic for displaced women and girls in eastern Port-au-Prince. This strengthened partnership between IOM and UNFPA aims to prevent and respond to gender-based violence and the associated risks faced by women and girls affected by armed gang violence in Port-au-Prince. Invitation from the Consulate of Haiti in the DR The Consulate General of Haiti in Santiago (Dominican Republic) through its cultural section, invites you to celebrate mothers at Cultural Friday this May 26, 2023. The animation is the responsibility of our precious talents : Lentz Louis, Yvencia, Guirloune Avinel and the group "Twoubadou Pam". Without forgetting our mini gastro-artisanal and cultural fair to delight our senses, and Emmanuel Inelus for the presentation of his book "Le Defi Haitien". This cultural Friday of May 26, 2023 from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., an appointment not to be missed. Estrella Sadhala No.6 Consulate General of Haiti. Phone : +1 829-994-7447 Taiwan increases the economic value of rice Taiwan Technical Mission's REPONSE-SUD Project Technical Team Visited Miserne/Modebevie Multi-Service Center in Southern Province to Help Local Farmers' Association Adjust Mill Functions and Improve Rice Quality produced locally, thus contributing to increase its economic value. D-10 hurricane season On Sunday May 21, 2023, supported by Swiss cooperation, the Directorate of Civil Protection - South repaired the community alert systems in Barbois, Conde, Dollian and Douillette in anticipation of the 2023 hurricane season which begins on June 1st. 220th of the flag : Thanks ceremony in Cap-Haitien Sunday, May 21, 2023, at the Cap-Haitien Town Hall fair, the Municipal Commission in collaboration with the directions of the Ministries of Youth and National Education, organized a ceremony of thanks and presentation of plaques of honor to several educational institutions and music schools that charmed the public during the grand parade celebrating the 220th anniversary of the creation of our national flag. HL/ HaitiLibre Login or sign up to follow actresses, movies & dramas and get specific updates and news Login Sign Up New Ad-free Subscriber Login Email Password Password Username Subscribe to our daily NewsLetter Your E-mail will only be used to retrieve a lost password or receive our NewsLetter. Stay logged in Lost password Contact remaining of Thank you for reading! On your next view you will be asked to log in to your subscriber account or create an account and subscribepurchase a subscription to continue reading. By Kris Testori The Village of Blowing Rock has a storied history of captivating people from all over. Photo by Lonnie Webster With its majestic scenery and charming, quaint downtown, the Village of Blowing Rock has a storied history of captivating people from all over. The Blowing Rock Historical Society (BRHS) plays a vital role in protecting and documenting the towns historic character. Founded in 1985 by local residents, the foundations mission is to preserve and protect the historical character and charm of the village. We preserve the areas past while working towards the future, said BRHS president Tom OBrien. BRHS offers multiple opportunities to explore Blowing Rocks history, whether learning about historic Main Street, visiting the towns history exhibit at the Blowing Rock Arts and History Museum, or touring the charming Edgewood Cottage to view the art displayed as part of the Artists in Residence at Edgewood Cottage program. OBrien joined the Blowing Rock Historical Society in 2018 after chairing the Artist in Residence program and learning about the towns history. I became a huge fan of Blowing Rocks historic charm and culture after reading Dr. Barry Buxtons book, Blowing Rock A Village Tapestry. This was a startling turnaround for a guy who generally didnt enjoy history classes, he shared. Buxton authored A Village Tapestry, publishing it in 1989. The book explores the complete history of Blowing Rock and offers an engaging insight into the towns colorful past. After OBrien became more involved with the Blowing Rock Historical Society, he said he felt the organization had tremendous potential that needed to be met. We had most of our history stored in a locked closet, our membership was aging and declining, and our community wasnt being served as effectively as it could have, he said. OBrien felt his decades of leadership experience would benefit the BRHS. Since getting involved, we as an organization have successfully brought our history to life for our community. That inspires me to be as active as I have been. BRHS president Tom OBrien (left) stands with Dr. Barry Buxton, author of A Village Tapestry. Photo by Lonnie Webster When speaking with various members of the BRHS, a clear theme weaves through each individuals account of the importance of the group bringing history to life. OBrien summarizes, Our first and most important goal is to continue bringing history to life for our community. Finding places and ways to present interesting aspects of Blowing Rock is the most important service we can provide our community. We stay focused on making more history available to our community and visitors every year. Blowing Rock Mayor Charlie Sellers, also a board member of BRHS, agrees, I think every community must embrace their history and find a way to share it, he said. Every community needs to remember their history; When you forget history, good, bad or indifferent, you are more likely to repeat it. Blowing Rock History Walk OBrien explains that various individuals, throughout the years, have contributed significantly to capturing the towns history. He considers the upcoming Blowing Rock History Walk one of the most important contributions BRHS will make to preserving the communitys heritage in recent years. It is a marvelous way to bring our history to life, he said. The Blowing Rock History Walk will consist of 21 stations, each with a historical narrative and many with seating. We were looking for places and ways to bring Blowing Rocks past to our visitors and the entire community, OBrien said. We intentionally pulled many compelling aspects of our history that tell the story of our evolution and people, events, and places that have made Blowing Rock what it is today. The self-guided tour will begin on Laurel Lane near Main Street, taking visitors on a trip through the towns history. It will proceed to Broyhill Park, around its beautiful lake, and then back up Laurel Lane to Main Street. The signs have QR codes so people can get more information on each location. OBrien said he also hopes the Blowing Rock Elementary school will use the history walk for educational purposes and that it will draw in tourists looking for cultural and heritage activities when traveling. This will be yet another community asset, OBrien said. We believe a wide variety of people will enjoy the walk, including families that have lived here for generations, newcomers, and visitors. It will be one more thing for our visitors to do while in town, and we think it may help move some of the crowd from Main Street into our beautiful park one block away. We envision this will be a great place for picnics. On June 1, the town will celebrate Blowing Rock History Day. At this event, Mayor Charlie Sellers, along with the BRHS and the Village Foundation, will host the ribbon cutting for the 21 stations of the History Walk. The town of Blowing Rock is throwing a party, said OBrien. This is going to be a hell of a party, he added. The History Walk is a partnership between the town, the Blowing Rock Historical Society, and the Blowing Rock Village Foundation. The town provided the land for the stations. The Blowing Rock Village Foundation was the fundraising arm, soliciting individual contributions from local families and organizations. BRHC significantly contributed to the funds required to build the project, and its members authored the history walk content. OBrien shared, Dr. Barry Buxton has been a very active participant in many of our recent initiatives and wrote over half of the history walk narratives. Maintaining Two Historic Cottages; The Edgewood Cottage and The 1888 Museum Historic home and gathering place for artists Edgewood Cottage was the first home and studio of artist Elliott Daingerfield. Photo courtesy of BRHS. Edgewood Cottage, located on Main street across from St. Marys of the Hills Episcopal Church, was the first home and studio of artist Elliott Daingerfield. Daingerfield spent his summers in Blowing Rock for more than 50 years and said he found a source of inspiration for his art in the Blue Ridge Mountains. Currently, Edgewood Cottage serves two crucial roles for BRHS. First, it houses the Artist in Residence Program in the late spring and summer months. This is such a great program, said OBrien. It gives high country artists a chance to sell their art and to have it on display, he added. Operating daily, the Cottage now hosts exhibits telling the story of Blowing Rocks development and personalities through the ages. Photo by Lonnie Webster During the 15-week program, rotating artists create their own personal art gallery inside the Edgewood Cottage for one week. While some artists set up easels and paint, all of the artists interact with the visitors and sell their work. This program draws more than 6,000 visitors a summer to the historic Edgewood Cottage. The 2023 Artists in Residence Program runs from May 27 to September 10. The Edgewood Cottage was restored under the direction of BRHS, using the original architectural drawings Daingerfield sketched. Photo by Lonnie Webster. For many years the Cottage sat empty after the Artists in Residence Program ended in September. Members of the BRHC decided they wanted to find more uses for the Cottage because it was such an outstanding asset. In 2021 they opened it up as a professionally curated museum; operating daily, the Cottage now hosts exhibits telling the story of Blowing Rocks development and personalities through the ages. The current exhibition is labeled A Giving Village The History of Philanthropy in Blowing Rock. The 1888 Museum emphasizes Blowing Rocks long history of supporting tourism. Photo by Lonnie Webster. The Edgewood Cottage was restored under the direction of BRHS, using the original architectural drawings Daingerfield sketched. The reconstruction was done using much of the original lumber and board. Completed in 2008, many people consider the homes most interesting architectural feature: the four-room fireplace rebuilt from the original bricks. Inside the Cottage, the original sketch by Daingerfield of the floor plan design is on display. 1888 Museum Historical Hotel Cottage One room in the museum is furnished similarly to what one would have rented in the Watauga Hotel. Photo courtesy of BRHS. When Blowing Rock started as a resort community more than 125 years ago, the Watauga Hotel was built to take advantage of the growing tourism industry. Located in the middle of Main Street, where Memorial Park now sits, tourists came to escape the industrial life of late 19th-century American cities and the heat of lower elevations. In 2020, the BRHS improved and completely re-curated the museum, adding an ADA compliant side porch facing Memorial Park and a second door. Photo by Lonnie Webster In 1888, the Watauga Hotel was so popular they added several small cottages to the perimeter of the hotel property, where single rooms with room and board were rented for fifteen dollars a month. The 1888 Museum is one of the last remaining examples of these small cottages, which the town purchased in 1939. Today the building serves as a museum that emphasizes Blowing Rocks long history of supporting tourism. One room is furnished similarly to what one would have rented, complete with a wash basin and chamber pot. The second room features photos and items from Blowing Rocks early hotels, including Mayview Manor (1921-1966) and the Farm House Inn (1951-1998). In 2020, the BRHS improved and completely re-curated the museum, adding an ADAcompliant side porch facing Memorial Park and a second door. We will be doing more work on the cottage soon, said OBrien. We want to ensure it is as similar to the Watauga Inn as possible. Capturing History The BRHS uses various types of media to preserve and capture the history of Blowing Rock. Beginning in 2019, thousands of historical photos and documents have been digitized and made more easily accessible. Members of the BRHS continue to add photos each year. In 2022, more than 11,000 photographs and 550 historic postcards of old Blowing Rock were digitized. Located in the middle of Main Street, where Memorial Park now sits, The Watauga Hotel was built to take advantage of the growing tourism industry. Photo courtesy of BRHS. The program, Blowing Rock in Transition, is a photographic record of the evolving changes to Main Street and Valley Boulevard. Every two years, photos of buildings and events on those two streets are compiled, creating a record of our wonderful village, and its changes, over time. The program, started in 2009 by the former Blowing Rocket Editor Jerry Burns, is continued today by BRHS board member and photographer Lonnie Webster. In addition to preserving historical photos and documents, BRHS is tracing its historical roots through video production. Last year, Barry Buxton, in a joint project with BRHS and the Blowing Rock Civic Association, created a video titled A Village Tapestry. I identified eight topics and vignettes and produced a video about each, Buxton said. I chose topics that were interesting and fun for people. The historical narrative, shot on location, was a big success with two public showings. Buxton was encouraged to do another series after the success of the first. I decided to create a video called Queens of Blowing Rock, he said. The video will showcase eight women who made substantial contributions to Blowing Rock. Some of these stories were lost to the fog of time, and their story may not be prominent, Buxton added. As I identify the women, I get into their lives and their psyche and understand who they were, what motivated them, and where their passion was. St. Mary of the Hills Episcopal Church has been identified by the Historic Marker Program as a site of significance. Photo by Lonnie Webster. Buxton plans to shoot and edit the video over the summer and is planning for an August debut. While the videos are mainly Buxtons projects, he works with the BRHS to locate documents and historical photos to help illustrate the stories. The Broyhill Family Foundation is the underwriter for the associated costs. Collaborative Initiatives The BRHS, in collaboration with the Blowing Rock Art and History Museum (BRAHM), brings Blowing Rocks history to life with two educational resources; the Historic Marker Program and a history museum exhibition. Downtown Blowing Rock Historic Marker Program: Dating back to 1912, Rumple Memorial Presbyterian Church has been marked for historical significance. Photo by Lonnie Webster. This program recognizes buildings and sites within the community of Blowing Rock that contributes to Blowing Rocks historical culture and charm. The mission of this program is to assist in educating the public about the rich history of Blowing Rock while adding distinction to individual homes, commercial buildings, and sites of significance. Large red oval markers are displayed at the chosen locations of historical significance, identifying the year of initial construction, the original owner or builder, and key elements of the propertys significance. The marker committee has identified over 125 properties in the downtown area alone that are at least 50 years old. The property of the historic Blowing Rock Ice House has served many purposes. Photo by Lonnie Webster. A map containing all of the historical markers is available at the Blowing Rock Chamber of Commerce, also one of the historic marker sites. The Chamber is housed in the former Miller Robbins House, constructed in 1903 for the family of Cicero Miller, owner of Miller General Mercantile. In 1919, Blowing Rock mayor and civic leader Grover C. Robbins, Sr., and his wife Lena, Cicero Millers daughter, acquired the home. Currently serving as home to the Blowing Rock Chamber of Commerce, the Miller / Robbins house is also a visitors center and is open to the public. The Blowing Rock Art and History Museum Exhibition: The BRHS, in collaboration with the Blowing Rock Art and History Museum, houses a permanent exhibition exploring the history of the town of Blowing Rock and its place in the High Country. Blowing Rock has many stories to tell, and a section of this exhibition is periodically refreshed to focus on different areas of Blowing Rocks history. This year, BRHS is undertaking a substantial exhibit refresh. Residing in the Museums upstairs gallery, the exhibit is named Stevens Gallery in honor of the cofounder of BRHS, Virginia (Ginny) & David Stevens of the Blowing Rock Historical Society. Shaping History A tremendous number of people shaped and continue to shape the history of Blowing Rock, too many to mention. The recent leaders, who made significant contributions to preserving and documenting the towns history, stand on the shoulders of pioneers who came before them, including Grover Robbins Sr., Dr. Davant, and the Broyhill, Robbins, Tate, Harper, Bernhart, and Cannon families. Virginia Ginny Stevens Virginia Ginny Stevens, co-founder of the Blowing Rock Historical Society. Photo by Lonnie Webster. The co-founder of the Blowing Rock Historical Society, Stevens was once described in Our State magazine as the sprightly attendant at the tiny white cottage-turned history museum adjacent to the towns picturesque Memorial Park. For many years, Ginny Stevens diligently worked with the BRHS to preserve and promote Blowing Rocks history; she also spent a great deal of time working at the 1888 Museum (housed in the last remaining cottage of the historic Watauga Hotel.) Under Ginnys leadership, the BRHS restored and opened the Edgewood Cottage, home of artist Elliott Daingerfield. After her death in 2010, The Friends of Ginny Stevens Committee was formed, memorializing and showing appreciation for Stevens contributions to the town. The committee petitioned the Blowing Rock Town Council to give Chestnut Street her name, and in June 2018, they were ready to dedicate the street. Ginny Stevens Lane runs in front of the Blowing Rock Art and History Museum and along the side of Edgewood Cottage. Jerry Burns Known as Mr. Blowing Rock, Jerry Burns donated all of his collections of photos and archives to the BRHS. Photo by Lonnie Webster Jerry Burns, who died in 2010, played such an essential role in preserving the history of Blowing Rock that each year the Blowing Rock Historical Society celebrates his life and dedication to Blowing Rock with Jerry Burns Day. Known locally as Mr. Blowing Rock, Burns was the editor, chief writer, and photographer for the Blowing Rocket for 44 years. He was also active in numerous civic, religious, and community organizations, including Rumple Memorial Presbyterian Church, the Blowing Rock Stage Company, the Blowing Rock Historical Society, the Blowing Rock Hospital, and Blowing Rock Fire & Rescue, among others. Each year, the BRHS celebrates Jerry Burnss life and dedication to Blowing Rock with Jerry Burns Day on June 18. Photo by Lonnie Webster. Jerry Burns, who died in 2010, played such an essential role in preserving the history of Blowing Rock. Photo by Lonnie Webster. Jerry was a native of Blowing Rock, and the towns history was very important to him, said his widow, Janice Burns. He had lots of stories of growing up in town and lots of fun. At the Blowing Rocket, he did a lot of historical articles about the history of Blowing Rock. When he retired, he donated all of his collections of photos and archives to the Blowing Rock Historical Society. He loved his town, and the history was really important to him. Joseph Dulaney Joseph Dulaney is the grandson of artist Elliott Daingerfield. Photo by Lonnie Webster Dulaney is the grandson of artist Elliott Daingerfield. He has made tremendous contributions to BRHS through his efforts and insights into our history, OBrien said. He shares his family history in honor of his grandfather, which is one more way we can bring Blowing Rocks history to life. On Main Street, one can tour the restored Edgewood Cottage, the Impressionist artists first home, and the artists studio in Blowing Rock. Daingerfield spent more than 50 years traveling between Blowing Rock and New York until his death in 1932. In 2017, a life-size bronze of the Elliott Daingerfield was unveiled to the public. Dulaney, bearing a remarkable resemblance to his grandfather, was the model for the period-style sculpture. Dulaney is a lifelong resident of Blowing Rock. Mayor Charlie Sellers Mayor Charlie Sellers speaks at the Symphony by the Lake at Chetola. Photo by Lonnie Webster. Whether its leading the Fourth of July Parade, emceeing the Jerry Burns Day Ceremony, or cutting the ribbon at a new business, its unlikely you will find a bigger supporter of the town of Blowing Rock than Charlie Sellers. Sellers is a Blowing Rock native and is the current Mayor of Blowing Rock. He is a descendant of the Robbins Family and the grandson of the late Grover Robbins Jr., who started the Chamber of Commerce in Blowing Rock in 1928 and is often credited with bringing the tourist trade to Blowing Rock. Grover Robbins Jr. also started the Blowing Rock attraction; In 2014, Sellers took over the attraction and has been the proprietor ever since. Charlie Sellers has made a major contribution to leading BRHS, OBrien said. Sellers and his wife, Deatra, sponsor the Stevens Gallery exhibit in the Blowing Rock Art and Science Museum in honor of his grandfather. Sellers serves on the BRHS Board of Directors and is also a member of the Blowing Rock Chamber of Commerce. Dr. Barry Buxton Dr. Barry Buxton has been a teacher, researcher, publisher, editor, and community leader with extensive international experience. Photo by Lonnie Webster Barry Buxton was born and raised in Blowing Rock. It will always be my home, he said. Buxton has been a teacher, researcher, publisher, editor, and community leader with extensive international experience. He served as the president of Lees-McRae College in Banner Elk, NC. from 2010-2018. Prior to his tenure at the college, Buxton authored the book A Village Tapestry, The History of Blowing Rock in 1989. The book was reprinted several years ago by the BRHS and continues to be available for those wanting to gain engaging insight into the towns colorful history. Buxton joined BRHS in 2018 after retiring from Lees-McRae College and moving back to Blowing Rock. I was very proud of their work, he said. I wanted to help preserve the unique history of Blowing Rock. There is no other place like it, he added. When asked why he thought preserving history was important, Buxton replied, Remember, Geroge Sanyayan said, Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it. History is very, very important. We natives [of Blowing Rock] were concerned Blowing Rocks history would go by the wayside if we didnt document it. Buxton shares he is concerned that local history is very often the forgotten part of history. The Blowing Rock that you love would not be what it is today without the amazing people, developments, and its natural beauty. I champion the notion that in our branding of Blowing Rock, we emphasize that rich history and natural beauty go hand in hand. It is an excellent combination for us to keep in mind going forward into the future. Share this: Twitter Facebook LinkedIn Reddit Pocket (CNBC) As a possible debt default looms just 11 days away, President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., will meet in person at the White House on Monday to resume negotiations around the debt ceiling, NBC News reports. McCarthy told reporters that he had a productive call with Biden on Sunday, and that staff members for both parties will resume talks later that same day. To read this article: (HedgeCo.Net) The Securities and Exchange Commission has announced charges against Daniel E. Levin, from Dallas-Fort Worth, with acting as an unregistered broker-dealer. According to the SECs complaint filed on May 9, 2023, Levin solicited investors to purchase approximately $2.6 million worth of units in a fund he controlled, the CRP Fund, which in turn owned units in funds run by GPB Capital. Levin allegedly violated the requirements of the broker-dealer registration provisions by soliciting those funds from at least 27 investors from 2017 through 2018, without being registered. The complaint further alleges that Levin was required to register with the SEC and maintain a brokerage license, which he failed to do. The complaint, filed in the Northern District of Texas, charges Levin with violating Section 15(a) of the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934. Levin, without admitting or denying the allegations, consented to a bifurcated settlement, agreeing to be permanently enjoined from violations of the charged provision, with monetary relief in an amount to be determined by the court at a later date upon motion of the SEC. The settlement is subject to court approval. The security environment across the Atlantic is turning unpredictable and complex with a resurgent Russia, NATO increasing its military presence in Eastern Europe, and the EU imposing financial sanctions on Russia. It has become the need of the hour for the EU as well as NATO as security actors to enhance their collective defence capabilities and move towards greater cooperation. This was made visible in the signing of their joint declaration on January 10, 2023 which reiterated the Unions commitment to NATO Treaty Article 5. The Article signifies that an armed attack against one or more member shall be considered an attack against them all; an article that has been imposed only once in NATO history, after the terrorist attacks of 9/11 on the United States in 2001. In an evolving security landscape, Russias military invasion of Ukraine is viewed as an act of definite aggression, however, NATOs policy towards Russia in the past 25 years has also been characterized as arrogant and insensitive and can be blamed for the current state of affairs. Scholars who advocate for a realistic and restrained approach to US Foreign Policy have been cautioning against the expansion of the worlds strongest military alliance towards a major power like Russia for more than a quarter of a century. The conflict in Ukraine, representing a cause-and-effect relationship with the expansion of NATO, is unequivocal testimony to show that these warnings were justified. NATOs first round of expansion was termed as the beginning of a new Cold War by George F. Kennan, credited as the originator of the containment policy that the US pursued during the Cold War. With multiple rounds of expansion by the alliance, the addition of the three Baltic republics was considered a provocative move. NATOs Baltic expansion to these countries which had historically been part of the Soviet Union and Russias czarist empire, situated it strategically at the Russian federations border. As a consequence, Vladmir Putin had stated that the NATO expansion represents a serious provocation that reduces the level of mutual trust. Further, in 2013 and 2014, with the Obama administration interfering in Ukraines political affairs to support the protesters in ousting a pro-Russia elected President resulted in significant tensions and reactions of Moscow leading into the seizure and annexation of Crimea. The manner in which Washington handled its relationship with Russia after the Soviet Unions collapse was perceived as an enormous mistake. It was easily anticipated that the NATO expansion would inevitably result in a damaging and potentially violent clash with the Kremlin with a number of adverse repercussions. The current cost of the US Foreign Policy establishments short-sightedness and arrogance is being paid now with an 8-year history of the Ukraine conflict resulting in the ongoing Russian War on Ukraine since February 2022. As a part of NATOs ninth round of expansion, Finland has officially acceded to NATO on April 4, 2023, all set to compensate for the prevalent gap in the organization's defence planning in its eastern territory, given the fact that Finland shares a 1,340-kilometre border with Russia. With this move, Finland has finally renounced its long-standing commitment to military non-alignment and neutrality maintained during the Cold War. Finland's potential entry into NATO, along with an expected entry by Sweden, has the potential to significantly alter the geopolitical landscape. These countries are viewed as valuable assets for Europe, both in terms of military and political power. They possess modern, well-equipped militaries and have stable democratic institutions, making them reliable partners for NATO in bolstering regional security and stability in Northern Europe. However, there have been concerns regarding how the growing militarisation of the Nordics could impact cooperation among nations in the region, as well as the future relations between NATO members and Russia. Russia has warned of severe military and political repercussions with this move, primarily with the territorial disputes over the Aland Islands located between Finland and Sweden, which has been autonomous since 1856. It is anticipated that with the militarisation of the Nordic countries, not only would it be met with increased militarization by Russia as a response, but is also likely to have substantial implications for the economic and environmental accords in the Arctic region. It increases the risk of disturbing a long-standing Arctic cooperation and joint governance. With further escalation in militarization, the cooperation of the Arctic Council is endangered; a regional organisation cooperating on economic territory and environmental accords, the destabilisation of which is likely to create complexities due to the impact of climate change on the glaciers and sea ice in this remote region. Russia has been historically against NATO expansion in the area and thus Finlands accession is also predicted to have a number of geopolitical implications. While Finnish officials have stated that their decision to join NATO is motivated by their need to safeguard their countrys sovereignty and territorial borders, without posing a threat to any other nation, Moscow is most likely to view this as a provocative move, an act of aggression against Russia. Further, with the background of aggression in Ukraine, a motivation for Finland to join NATO also remains the quest for expanding its security measures beyond what their national armies can provide. The accession of the Nordic countries to NATO highlights the expanding influence of the Baltic Sea Region in the alliances security strategy. From Russias annexation of Crimea in 2014, to the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, NATO has been attempting to extend its military presence in the region. Finland and Swedens strategic location in the Baltic region provides NATO with an important access to the Baltic Sea as well as the Arctic region, which is also critical for transatlantic security. Hence, the accession has been a significant step towards reinforcing NATOs deterrence and defence capabilities, notably in the Baltic region, proving to be a critical area of security concern in Europe. With NATOs expansionist nature as the backdrop and with the strengthening of relations with countries in the Indo-Pacific region being a core aspect of the NATO 2030 Agenda, the alliance is also attempting to step up political dialogue and practical cooperation with Australia, Japan, Republic of Korea, and New Zealand, while also opening up a liaison office in Japan. The strategic issues faced by Russia due to NATO are likely to be mirrored in the East with China, criticising the extension of the western alliance in the Asia-Pacific, with the intention to export Cold War mentality and replicate bloc confrontation. Finlands entry into NATO symbolizes a crucial milestone in the history of the alliance and marks a significant shift transcending into the beginning of a new era. As the security landscape continues to evolve in the 21st century, NATO is also acknowledging the necessity to modernize as well as reinvigorate its capacities. While the move proves to be significant in terms of improving the alliances defence and security capabilities as well as promoting stronger ties between North America and Europe, it could provoke an even stronger threat of a revisionist and aggressive Russia, the formation of an anti-NATO alliance and consequently a new Cold War. The expansionary trend of NATO was further reinforced at the recent NATO Summit in Madrid in June 2022, where NATO identifies Russia as the most significant and direct threat and China as a systemic challenge. Although the world order changed in the post-Cold War period, the US has continued to sustain NATO with expansionary legitimacy with the intention to ensure US hegemony, leading the world into a realm of escalated tensions and dangerous confrontations. By Shreya Sinha Shreya Sinha is a Research Fellow and DAAD Scholar at the Otto-Suhr Institut fur Politikwissenschaft, Freie Universitat Berlin. She is a Ph.D. Candidate, in the fourth year of her Doctoral Programme, at the Centre for European Studies, School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, India. This is a "Viewpoint" opinion column. The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views or position of The Helsinki Times. This column is not fact checked and HT is not be responsible for any possible inaccurate or incorrect statement in this article. HT Petteri Orpo , the chairperson of the National Coalition, on Friday said the negotiation groups assigned to tackle contentious questions such as climate, immigration and social and health care will ramp up their efforts to find positions that are acceptable to each of the four parties involved in the talks: the National Coalition, Finns Party, Swedish Peoples Party and Christian Democrats. THE COALITION FORMATION TALKS in Finland will proceed to what are expected to be the more difficult questions this week, reports Helsingin Sanomat. We have to move forward also with the difficult questions, and I believe that we will, he was quoted saying by the newspaper. Orpo on Friday stated that the talks have reached their midway point in terms of the overall workload. Riikka Purra, the chairperson of the Finns Party, principally agreed with the assessment but reminded that the questions yet to be resolved are clearly more challenging. And it probably isnt surprising that you first reach an agreement on the easier questions. Immigration, for example, its still firmly a work in progress, analysed Purra. She reiterated that the populist right-wing party will not join a ruling coalition that does not implement clear changes to immigration policy. Orpo, meanwhile, reminded that the differences of views on topics such as climate and immigration have not come as a surprise and appeared to open the door to some concessions on, for example, immigration. The election results must be reflected somewhere. They determine the starting point for the negotiations, he said. Unresolved issues remain also in the domain of social and health care policy. Purra on Friday revealed that the economic framework thrashed out by the parties has been received differently by the various negotiation groups, with most of the needs related to social and health care. She estimated that the key will be to reduce the number of statutory responsibilities but said she is confident the negotiations can be pushed over the finish line. Orpo reiterated last week that the ruling coalition will not walk back the carbon-neutrality target set for 2035. The Swedish Peoples Party has declared that it will only join the ruling coalition if the coalition not only reaffirms its commitment to the target but also takes concrete steps toward the target. Purra, by contrast, described the 2035 target as an extremely silly bit of climate policy but did not demand that it be amended or scrapped. If we decide to hold on to this [target] due to political prestige while the world around us is moving in the opposite direction, naturally there isnt anything we can do about it, she commented to reporters. Orpo indicated that Purra is entitled to her view. We share an understanding that we have to find [climate] measures that dont increase the daily costs of people or undermine the competitiveness of Finland. The parties have their own starting points, and the task forces are looking for answers to these questions, said Orpo. Aleksi Teivainen HT According to the Kunta10 study conducted by Tyoterveyslaitos, which has been monitoring sickness absences among employees in the municipal sector since 2000, the average number of sick leave days taken by municipal employees in 2022 was 20.7 days. The F innish Institute of Occupational Health (Tyoterveyslaitos) highlights a concerning trend of increased sick leave among municipal sector employees in 2022. Regardless of occupation, gender, or age group, sickness absences rose, with the likely cause being the lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. This represents an increase of four days compared to the previous year. While the study does not provide specific reasons for the sickness absences, leading researcher Jenni Ervasti from Tyoterveyslaitos suggests that the observed increase is likely attributable to absences caused by the COVID-19 virus. This assumption is supported by sickness allowance statistics from the Social Insurance Institution of Finland (Kela), which indicate a rise in sickness absences due to COVID-19-related illnesses in 2022. However, sickness absences related to mental disorders, musculoskeletal disorders, and respiratory diseases remained at similar levels to the previous year. Among various occupations in the municipal sector, healthcare-related professions experienced the highest average sick leave days in 2022. Early childhood educators, family daycare providers, facility attendants, practical nurses, childcare workers, school assistants, and home aides were absent from work due to their own illnesses for over 25 days on average. In contrast, managers, specialists, financial secretaries, and communication officers had the lowest average sick leave days, ranging from 9 to 11 days. In terms of relative growth in sick leave days compared to the previous year, park workers, home aides, firefighters and security guards, educational leaders, facility attendants, childcare workers, and early childhood educators showed the most significant increases. Regarding different age groups, employees under 30 years of age experienced the highest incidence of illnesses, but the differences between age groups did not show significant changes compared to the previous year. Interestingly, the proportion of employees who did not take any sick leave throughout the year decreased in all municipal professions in 2022. In previous years affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, remote work and reduced contact had increased the number of employees who remained illness-free. However, in 2022, only 16 percent of employees did not take a single sick day, compared to 29 percent in 2021. The findings underscore the impact of the ongoing COVID-19 situation on sickness absences among municipal sector employees. Occupations with a high level of human interaction, such as healthcare, social work, early childhood education, teaching, and emergency services, showed a higher likelihood of employees taking sick leave, further supporting the connection to COVID-19-related absences. The overall increase in sickness absences across all professional groups highlights the need for organizations to prioritize employee health and well-being. Employers should consider implementing measures that promote a healthy work environment, including adequate rest and recovery, access to healthcare services, and mental health support. Furthermore, ongoing efforts to mitigate the spread of infectious diseases, such as vaccination campaigns and effective workplace hygiene practices, can help minimize the impact on sick leave rates. To access detailed information on sickness absences in the municipal sector, including data on specific occupational groups and trends, the updated Kunta10 study results can be found on the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health's Worklife Information Service website. HT Good bye to Fort Bragg It is still Fort Bragg. Related Stories But only until June 2. Then North Carolinas mammoth U.S. Army base will become Fort Liberty. Still, it will always be Fort Bragg in my memories. My first experience in a racially integrated work situation was in ROTC summer camp at Fort Bragg in 1961. I was the product of a segregated secondary and college education. It was different at Bragg. Not only were there many Black cadets in my company, but the regular army lieutenant colonel in charge of us was Black. He was a wonderful leader. I remember the welcome speech he gave on our first day. He gathered his cadets around. We were scared to death, and he told us the story of Fort Bragg, and how it came to be named for a military leader, a general in the Confederate army named Braxton Bragg. I thought many years later that he must have had to bite his tongue because Bragg had fought to keep Blacks in slavery. Many of the Black cadets were potentially superior future officers. They prepared me, as the Army of the 1950s and 1960s prepared hundreds of thousands of other southern men, for the changes to come in civilian life in North Carolina. I arrived at Fort Bragg as a White boy who had never gone to school with Blacks, never eaten in the same restaurant, never drunk at the same water fountain, never rode in the same section of a bus or a train--and put me right beside some of the best people I ever met (not all my same color). I was never the same. When I left that summer, I don't want to say I was free of racism, but I was a changed person. I rejoiced in the diversity that Army life brought me and the great strength that came from mutual trust and respect. And I knew that the principal beneficiary of the opening of doors of opportunity was me. If our nation is ever successful in completing its task of erasing racism, intolerance and injustice, the armed forces and particularly the Army and Fort Bragg must be given due credit. The Army has led the way. Like many other North Carolinians, I have spent other times at Fort Bragg, including almost two years when I was on active duty, living on Bragg Boulevard. The most memorable time was on Thanksgiving weekend in 2002 when, as I wrote then, a little after midnight I picked up my son Grier at his Raleigh home, helped carry his heavy gear to my car, waited while he ran upstairs to tell his wife goodbye, get a look at his brand new daughter, and then began our drive to Fort Bragg for the beginning of his long journey to the other side of the world. It was raining as we approached Fayetteville, turned off Business I-95, and then on to Bragg Boulevard, passed the house where I lived as a young Army officer, and then passed by the shopping centers, pawnshops, night spots, mobile home lots, car dealerships and the other strong marks of a military town. Still under the heaviness of the rain, we came on the base, passing through security where my son returned the salute of the guard, a signal that we would soon arrive at the point of formation, where my son and his traveling companions would gather this early morning to begin their trip to Afghanistan. I will be happy to call it Fort Liberty from now on, but I will always remember what Fort Bragg has meant for me. * * * * * D.G. Martin, a retired lawyer, served as the UNC systems vice president for public affairs and hosted PBS-NCs North Carolina Bookwatch. His column has appeared every week since 1985. Sydney Bailey, a writer and NHHS theater teacher, dies at age 35 Sydney Katherine Bailey [PHOTO COURTESY OF THE FAMILY VIA SHULER FUNERAL HOME] Sydney Katherine Bailey, a brilliant writer, beloved high school theater teacher and courageous survivor, died on Sunday, May 14, after a six-and-a-half-year battle with brain cancer. She was 35. She was a brilliant writer, a beloved theater teacher, the absolute best nephew aunt, and above all else, an amazing mother. Born in Miami, Sydney spent most of her childhood in Hendersonville, where her parents were intimately involved in the Flat Rock Playhouse. Her late mother, Wendy Wilkins Bailey, performed all along the East Coast for the first eight years of Sydneys life, primarily jumping between Disney World and Flat Rock Playhouse, where she was a crowd favorite and her husband, Bruce Bailey, worked as a production manager and set designer. Having been raised by thespians certainly helped shape her craft, but the simple truth is that Sydney was born to be an artist. She knew more loss in her life than most young people. She was just 11 years old when her mother succumbed to cancer in 1999, and 27 when she lost Bailey, her adoptive father, who died in 2015 at age 60 when his heart stopped suddenly. Sydney attended New York Universitys Tisch School of the Arts, where she received her degree in dramatic writing in December of 2009. Sydney had the effortless ability to write what she knew and turn it into something beautiful. Sydneys inherent wisdom was rare and the kind that will live on forever in her words that she so generously left behind. In the fall of 2013, Sydney became the theater teacher at North Henderson High School, where she left a legacy. She was involved in her students lives more deeply than as a teacher alone. She was a confidant, mentor, safe space and friend. The fact that Sydney was responsible for changing childrens lives was abundantly clear. Some of them went as far as to say that she saved their lives. In addition to Wendy and Bruce Bailey, Sydney was preceded in death by her grandparents, George and Teal Wilkins; uncle, George Wilkins, Jr.; and cousin, Christopher Wilkins. She leaves behind the light of her life, her daughter, Hayes Wilkins Bailey; loving husband, Jeffrey Thompson; father Riccardo Hernandez; Bonus Mom Julie E. Smith; siblings Katie Bailey, Molly Bailey, Teo Hernandez and Lucas Hernandez; brother-in-law, Andrew Sigmon; nephews, Luke Collazo, Jude Collazo, Callum Bailey Enzor; countless wonderful aunts, uncles and cousins, lifelong friends, students, Hot Dog Queen Gretchen Weiners and Fairy Godmothers Allison, Amycoco and Kk. A special place will always be held for Dr. Navin Anthony. The family will never forget the care and kindness he and his team provided for our Syd. There will be a celebratory gathering to honor Sydneys life in the near future. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests memorial contributions be made to The Preston Robert Tisch Brain Tumor Center at gifts.Duke.edu. Donations can also be made by mail. Checks should be made payable to the Tisch Brain Tumor Center and sent to The Preston Robert Tisch Brain Tumor Center, DUMC Box 3624, Durham, North Carolina 27710. Donations may also be made to the Hayes Wilkins Bailey education fund at: https://gofund.me/a0cf4040 Welcome to the website for Herald-Dispatch newspaper, herald-dispatch.com (the Site). The Site is an online service owned by HD Media Company, LLC (the Company or us). This Privacy Policy discusses our privacy practices with respect to the Site, online and mobile applications owned by the Company related to the Site or to Herald-Dispatch newspaper, and any other services of the Company that display this Privacy Policy (collectively with the Site and the applications, the Services). We recognize that many visitors to our Site and users of our applications are concerned about the information that they provide to us or that may be collected, and how we treat that information. In order to address those concerns we have developed this Privacy Policy to explain how we collect, use, share, disclose or otherwise process the personal information we hold about you. A. PERSONAL DATA Among other things, this Privacy Policy addresses how we collect, protect and use your personal data, which is information that can be used to directly or indirectly identify a person. For purposes of this Privacy Policy, personal data may include not only your personally identifiable information, such as your name, address, email address, phone number, birthdate, facial photograph, and credit card information; but also online identifiers such as your computers IP (Internet protocol) address, geo-location information, and other information which by itself would not allow us to identify you, but which when combined with personally identifiable information may allow you to be identified. These online identifiers are only considered personal data under this Privacy Policy when they are or may be combined with your personally identifiable information. B. COLLECTION OF INFORMATION Registration, Forms, and Other Times You Actively Provide Your Personal Data to Us We collect personal data about you when you actively provide it to us; for example, when you fill in your contact information in a form to open an account with us, submit comments in response to one of our stories (we may require that you include some identifying information with your comments), submit photos or other information to us, sign up to receive information from us, subscribe to the Services, enter a contest, respond to a survey, make a forum submission, email us, send us a text message, purchase something through the Services, or at other times in which we alert you that you must submit personal data. Information from Devices We may also collect personal data automatically from your mobile device, laptop or other device when you use that device to interact with our Site or use our Services. The information we collect from the device may include the IP address and geo-location of the device. It may also include such information as which pages on the Site you accessed using the device, what information is downloaded, what type of device, browser and operating system are being used, which Internet service provider is being used and other information of this general type. We may also collect information from cookies, web beacons, or other trackers placed on your device (see the section on Cookies and Online Tracking in this Privacy Policy for more information about our use of these trackers). We, or third parties that provide or operate services on or through our Services, may also track information about users online activities over time and across different websites. By itself, the information we collect from devices does not allow us to personally identify you (you may not even be using the device you might have loaned it to a friend), but when combined with other personal data, it may allow us to identify you. Social Media Login If you log in to our websites or online services through a third party site, such as Facebook, that site may pass information to us, such as user ID, name associated with the ID, email address and location, plus other information permitted under the privacy policy for that website. Our Services may also return information about you to that social networking site regarding your log in, such as which of our websites or apps you visit and your use of the social media services on those websites and apps. If you log in with or connect to our Services using social media (Facebook, Twitter, etc.), the social media services use of the shared information will be governed by their privacy policy. If you do not want your personal data shared in this way, please do not connect your social media service account with your account with us, and do not participate in social sharing on our Services. Public Information and Posts Any personal data that you post or submit to our Site or Services, such as when posting comments in response to stories, submitting photos or videos, or engaging in forums or chat rooms, may be collected by us, and may be viewed by other people (including search engines), over whom we have no control. You are responsible for the information you choose to post or otherwise make available in such public areas, and you acknowledge that this information may be collected and used by third parties. Payment Processing If you purchase something through our Services, we may collect your name, address, credit card information, and other personal data in order to process the purchase, deliver the goods or services that you purchased to you, and handle any other issues related to your purchase. If you use third party payment providers, such as PayPal, to pay for or receive payment from us, that site may pass information to us including your name, email address, billing or other address, phone number (if applicable), date of sign-up, the number of payments you have received from verified PayPal users, whether you have been verified to have control of a bank account and any other information you agree they can share. Advertisers and Other Third Parties Several features of the Services, such as advertisements, classified ads, contests or sweepstakes, polls or surveys, and blogs, may be provided or operated by third parties. These third parties may also collect your personal data in order to use their services. For example, when you visit our Site or use our Services, advertisers or advertising intermediaries may select and display advertisements to you on your device. These companies may collect information from your device to help select which advertisements that they believe are more relevant to you. They may also use this information to tell advertisers that the advertisements have been delivered and seen. Please check their privacy policies for information about their privacy practices. You can also find out more about how they collect your information in the Cookies and Online Trackingsection of this Privacy Policy. In some cases these third parties may provide your personal data to us when there is a legitimate interest to do so. Affiliates Our Company has a number of affiliates. A list of them can be found at this link: http://hdmediallc.com. Our affiliates may sometimes share the personal data that they acquire with us when they have consent or there is a legitimate interest in doing so. Other Sources We may also obtain online and offline information about you from other organizations that have your permission or where there is a legitimate interest in sharing your personal data with us or companies like us. We may combine this with information we collect in accordance with this Privacy Policy. C. HOW WE USE YOUR PERSONAL DATA Provide Products and Services that Are Relevant to You, Improve Your Experience, and Manage our Relationship with You. If you sign up for an account with us (which is required in order to view some content offered through the Services or to make certain submissions) or use Facebook Connect in conjunction with the Services, then we may use your personal data to maintain your account and to correspond with you. We may use your personal data to provide you with products and services you have asked for, including allowing you to interact, comment, and participate in online games and contests. We may use your information to monitor, improve and protect our products, content, services and websites, both online and offline. We may also provide you with help and support where we believe it is required. Personalize Content and Offers. We may use your personal data to send you materials that we think would be of interest to you. We may also use cookies, web beacons, and other technology to help us recognize your computer/device and help us understand where our users go and how much time they spend there. We may also use these technologies, as well as geo-location technologies, to deliver content that is customized to you. If you do not wish to have us collect and use information collected from cookies, you should disable cookies on your computer/device. You should refer to your browsers help menu for up-to-date information on blocking cookies and other technologies. Currently, the Site is not designed to respond to any Do Not Track signals or other similar mechanisms. For more information about our use of cookies and similar technology, please see the Cookies and Online Tracking section of this Privacy Policy. Send You Direct Marketing. We may use your personal data to make decisions about what direct marketing to show you. This may include communications by post, telephone, email, messages (including push notifications from installed apps) to your devices, through social media (such as Facebook, Instagram and Twitter) and on the Site, or on other websites, as you browse the Internet. The communications may contain information about our products, services, events and offers. We may also send you information, offers and promotions from our commercial customers and partners where you have given your consent. To opt-out of direct marketing, please see the instructions in the Access and Control Your Information section of this Privacy Policy. Send You Product-Related and Similar Product and Services Communications. If you email us, submit information to us, or ask to be placed on a mailing list that we maintain, then we may contact you and send information to you. We may send you information, exclusive offers and promotions about similar products and services to those that you have already engaged with or purchased, if you have previously given your consent. We may send you service messages by email, SMS, social media, postal mail, or other methods, containing important information about changes to our services or your account. To opt-out of receiving productrelated and similar product and services communications, please follow the instructions in the communication, change your account settings or email us at privacy@hdmediallc.com. Conduct Market Research and Perform Analytics. We may use your personal data to improve our marketing and promotional efforts, as part of a statistical usage analysis, and/or to improve the features and content of the Services. Specifically and among other methods, we may use Google Analytics, which collects user information using first-party cookies (such as the Google Analytics cookie) or other first-party identifiers and third-party cookies (such as Google advertising cookies) and or other third-party identifiers. For more information about how Google collects and processes your data, please visit: https://www.google.com/policies/privacy/partners/. If you wish to opt-out of Google Analytics, we direct you to Googles opt-out mechanism at https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout/. Gain Audience Insights. We may provide our commercial customers and partners with information about the effectiveness and reach of advertising campaigns that they have planned or carried out. This information will not identify you directly without your consent. For example, we may tell advertisers how many customers their advertisements can reach based on demographic criteria they select or how many times an advertisement was viewed. To opt-out of having your information used for audience insights, please email privacy@hdmediallc.com. Detect Ad Blockers. When you visit the Site, we may check (using cookies, code, script or other technical means) to see if you have an ad blocker installed on your device or if your internet browser settings allow advertisements. If we detect that your device or internet browser is using an ad blocker, we may ask you to whitelist, trust or pause blocking advertisements while you visit the Site. If you continue to use an ad blocker this may have an impact on the content you are able to see on the Site. Allow Third-Party Advertising. In some instances, targeted advertising may be displayed on the Site by third parties. Please be aware that the Companys advertisers, business partners, sponsors, service providers, vendors and third parties accessible through the Services (such as via links from the Site and/or through Facebook Connect) may have their own privacy practices. The Company is not responsible for any actions or policies of such third parties. You should check the applicable privacy policies of the third parties when providing information to them. These third parties may provide your personal data to the Company and may also use the information in accordance with their own privacy practices. Provide Co-Branded Services and Features. We may offer co-branded services or features, such as competitions or other promotions, together with a third party and may share the information you provide with that third party with your consent. These co-branded services may be hosted by the Company or by the third party. In these instances the third party may also be a data controller for your information. In this case, the third partys use of your information will be governed by their privacy policy, which you should always read. To opt-out of sharing your information with such third parties, please email privacy@hdmediallc.com. Disclose Information as Permitted or Required by Law. Your personal data may be disclosed where we are permitted or required by law to do so, such as pursuant to a court order, warrant, subpoena, or discovery request. We may also disclose your personal data where we are allowed by law in cases where we believe in good faith that it is necessary to prevent a crime, an injury or financial loss to ourselves or to third parties. Ensure Services Are Being Used Appropriately. If you engage in disruptive behavior anywhere on the Site or in the Services, including violations of the Terms of Use, we may use your personal data to stop such behavior. This may involve informing and responding to relevant third parties such as law enforcement agencies about the content and your behavior. Sale of Our Business or Bankruptcy. In conjunction with the sale or offering for sale of some or all of the Company or in the event of the Companys bankruptcy, assignment for the benefit of creditors, or similar financial circumstances, your personal data may be part of the assets disclosed. Sale or License of Personal Data for Targeting Marketing. In order to provide you with ads and other content that may be of interest to you, or in order to provide you with targeted emails or other communications that may be of interest to you, we may sell or license some or all of your personal data to third parties. You may opt-out of this practice by emailing us at privacy@hdmediallc.com or following the procedures set forth in the Access and Control Your Information section of this Privacy Policy. Process Payments and Check Your Identity. Customer personal data will be used to take payment for products and services and may be used to verify credit details related to this payment. Permission to do so is implicit in providing financial details to process payment. Direct debit or continuous payment authority information, including card details, may be retained in accordance with our regulatory requirements, by us or our payment processors for ease of renewal of services. Additionally, we may receive updated payment details from your bank or payment provider from time to time, which we may use to ensure that your details are kept up to date and to allow us to take future payments. Financial institutions, such as those which process credit card orders, are subject to federal privacy laws. If we provide a service to you that is dependent on age or residency, and we have an obligation to verify this information, then we may pass your details to a third party to carry out the verification for us. Ensure Our Products and Services Conform With Industry Standards. We may share your personal data with auditors for the purposes of verifying that we comply with relevant standards. This may require them to access your information in our systems. Share Between Our Affiliates for Analytics, Analysis, Audience Insights, Business Efficiencies, Content Personalization, and Delivery of Relevant Advertising. The Company may rely on our legitimate interests as an advertising-funded organization to share your information with our affiliates to perform analytics and analysis of how you interact with the Site, develop relevant products and services, deliver more relevant advertising and show you relevant affiliate content. To opt-out of sharing your information with such affiliates, please email privacy@hdmediallc.com. Please bear in mind that opting-out will relate to any future sharing and not to information already shared. Disclosure to Our Processors. We may pass your information to our processors companies that we use to provide services on our behalf, for example for home delivery services, prize fulfillment agencies, market research or other purposes mentioned in this Privacy Policy. These processors can only use your information in accordance with our instructions and for no other purpose. D. OUR LEGAL BASES FOR USING YOUR PERSONAL DATA Legal Bases There are a number of legal grounds that enable us to collect and use your personal data. Below are the most relevant: i. With Your Consent (Consent) There are some activities where we process personal data with your consent, such as asking permission to send you marketing materials by email. You can opt-out or withdraw consent at any time. However, if you opt-out or withdraw consent, we may not be able to provide the product or service you have requested. ii. To Fulfill a Contract (Contract) We may process your personal data in order to fulfill a contract we have with you. For example, we would use your information to provide you with access to your digital subscription or other products you have signed up for or to provide information regarding contests you have entered (such as to notify you if you win a prize to which you are entitled). iii. For a legitimate interest (Legitimate Interest) We may use your information where there is a legitimate reason to do so and only if it is fair and lawful. When we rely on legitimate interests as the basis for collecting your information, we will balance our legitimate interests versus your privacy rights. Our legitimate interests include: Support for a free press, including journalist activities of societal importance; Support for the right to receive information; Development, delivery, and maintenance of relevant and engaging products, services, and advertising; Understanding how and when our audience engages and interacts with us and other organizations; Improvement of our ability to serve our audience; Conducting commercial business; and Compliance with industry standards. iv. To Comply with Legal Obligations (Legal Obligation) Under certain circumstances, we may process your personal data to ensure compliance with legal and regulatory obligations or to prosecute or defend claims. Purpose of Processing The specific legal basis for our use will depend on the purpose the information is used for. Please note that we may rely on more than one legal basis for our use. Purpose of Processing Legal Basis Provide products and services that are relevant to you, improve your experience, and manage our relationship with you Consent, Contract, Legitimate Interest, Legal Obligation Personalize content and offers Consent, Contract, Legitimate Interest Send you direct marketing Consent, Legitimate Interest Send you product-related and similar product and services communications Consent, Contract, Legitimate Interest Conduct market research and perform analytics Consent, Legitimate Interest Gain audience insights Consent, Legitimate Interest Detect ad blockers Contract, Legitimate Interest, Legal Obligation Allow third-party advertising Consent, Contract, Legitimate Interest Provide co-branded services and features Consent, Contract, Legitimate Interest Disclose information as permitted or required by law Consent, Contract, Legal Obligation Ensure services are being used appropriately Legitimate Interest, Legal Obligation Sale of our business Legitimate Interest, Legal Obligation Sale or license to third parties for direct marketing Consent, Legitimate Interest Process payments, check your identity Consent, Contract, Legitimate Interest, Legal Obligation Disclosure to processors Consent, Contract, Legitimate Interest, Legal Obligation Share between our affiliates for analytics, analysis, audience insights, business efficiencies, content personalization, and delivery of relevant advertising Consent, Legitimate Interest Ensure our products and services conform with industry standards Legitimate Interest E. ACCESS AND CONTROL YOUR INFORMATION Updating Your Information. Please ensure your personal information is current or tell us of any changes or inaccuracies. You may update this information in your account settings or email us at privacy@hdmediallc.com. Please note that we may seek confirmation of your identity before making any changes to your account. Managing Your Accounts with the Site. You may have several accounts for Services available through this Site. To access or modify your subscription account with the Site, log in at https://www.herald-dispatch.com/account and follow the instructions to change your account settings. For other accounts, such as a newsletter account or classifieds advertisement account, you can manage your account through the account management methodology prescribed by the vendor for that Service or contact us at privacy@hdmediallc.com. Opting Out / Withdrawing Consent for Processing. Under circumstances where we may rely on your consent to process personal data, you may withdraw your consent at any time. You may do this by changing your account settings as described above or by sending the details of your request to privacy@hdmediallc.com (please note that we may seek confirmation of your identity before making any changes to your account). In some instances we may still have an alternative legal basis to continue to process that personal data as set forth in the Purpose of Processing section of this Privacy Policy. If you do withdraw consent, we may not be able to provide the product or service you have requested. Email Promotions. For email promotions, in addition to changing your account settings, you may opt out of receiving commercial email messages from us by following the instructions contained in those email messages. Targeted Advertising. Please see the Cookies and Online Tracking section of this Privacy Policy for information about how to disable cookies and other choices that may be available to you with respect to certain types of targeted advertising. Retention of Personal Data. We will retain your personal data for as long as necessary for the uses set forth in this Privacy Policy, or while there is a legitimate reason for doing so. If you ask us to delete your information before that time, we may not be able to do so due to technical, legal, regulatory or contractual constraints. For example, we would need to retain your name and contact details for suppression purposes if you do not want to receive direct marketing from us. If you ask for your account to be closed, we will do this as soon as is reasonably possible subject to any applicable terms and conditions relating to the account. Some personal data from closed accounts is retained in order to comply with legal obligations, prevent fraud, collect any fees owed and to resolve disputes. Confirmation of Your Identity. Please note that we may seek confirmation of your identity before releasing any personal data to you or making changes to your account. F. EMBEDDED CONTENT AND LINKS TO THIRD-PARTY SITES AND SERVICES Our Services may embed content from, or link to, third-party websites and services, including social media platforms, that are outside of our control. We are not responsible for the security or privacy of any information collected by other websites or other services. This Privacy Policy does not govern these third partys content or services, and we encourage you to review the privacy statements applicable to the third-party websites and services you use. G. OUR COMMITMENT TO SECURITY We have put in place physical, electronic, and managerial procedures that we believe are appropriate to safeguard and help prevent unauthorized access, maintain data security, and correctly use the information we collect online. Please note that we cannot guarantee the security of our databases, Site or Services; nor can we guarantee that information will not be intercepted while being transmitted over the Internet. In order to use some of the features of the Services, you may be required to create an account with us. For your protection, this account will only be accessible by means of a password or similar security measure. If you believe that your password or email address has been compromised, you should change your account with us immediately. If you forget your password for your subscription account with this Site, follow the instructions on the login page at https://www.herald-dispatch.com/users/admin/. H. CHILDREN Collection of Information. The Company does not knowingly collect personal data from children under the age of 13 through the Services unless such collection is done in accordance with the law. If you are a child under the age of 13 that intends to submit information to the Company through the Services, you must obtain your parents consent prior to making such a submission. In the event that the Company obtains actual knowledge that you are a child under the age of 13, the Company may require that you (and/or your parent) prove to us your prior parental consent. Even if you are 13 or over, we recommend that all children under the age of 18 obtain parental consent prior to the submission or purchase of anything through the Services. To obtain a parental consent form, please contact privacy@hdmediallc.com. Parental Options and Review. Parents of children under the age of 13 have the option to agree to the collection and use of their childs personal data without consenting to the disclosure of the information to third parties (subject to the Companys protection of itself and others, disclosures for legal reasons, and the Companys current technological capabilities). In addition, parents can review the personal data provided by their child under the age of 13, ask to have it deleted and refuse to allow any further collection or use of the childs information (subject to the same items as above). In order to make these requests, parents should email a detailed request to privacy@hdmediallc.com or follow the procedures set forth in the Opting Out / Withdrawing Consent for Processing section of this Privacy Policy. Please note that, while the Services will not require more information from children under 13 than is reasonably necessary to participate in any activity or event, deletion of required information (such as information that would permit the Company to contact the winner of a contest) may result in termination of the childs participation in an event or activity. Parents should also note that the official rules for contests and promotions on the Services may contain additional information related to their childrens privacy and the parents rights and responsibilities. I. GDPR COMPLIANCE Company Does Not Target EU Users. Company does not presently have an office in Europe, accept sales in the currency of an EU country, market in the language of an EU country (other than English, the language of Companys country), provide translation in the language of an EU country, or have a domain suffix for an EU country. Nor does Company actively offer shipping services to an EU country, engage in monitoring the behavior of EU residents, or otherwise actively target customers or consumers in the European Union. Nevertheless, Company has incorporated certain provisions into this Privacy Policy in an effort to comply with the European Union General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Additional Rights of Users in the EU. If you are an individual in the European Union, you may request a copy of your personal data from the Company and you may have the right to not be profiled. You can also ask us to correct any inaccuracies in your personal data. In some circumstances you may be able to ask us to transfer information you have provided to us to another organization. Similarly, you may be able to transfer your information from another organization to us, but you should check with us first to confirm this is possible. You may also have the right to object, erase, or restrict our processing of your information for example, where we process personal data because this is in our legitimate interests, you may object to this. We will need to carefully consider your request, as there may be circumstances which require us, or allow us, to continue processing your data. To exercise any of these rights, please contact us at privacy@hdmediallc.com. These rights may be restricted by law, for example we may not be able to provide a copy of your data where the data we hold is also the data of a third party and it is not reasonable to disclose this information. Please note that we may seek confirmation of your identity before releasing any personal data to you or making changes to your account. J. CALIFORNIA PRIVACY RIGHTS California residents are entitled once a year, free of charge, to request and obtain certain information regarding our disclosure, if any, of certain categories of personal data to third parties for their direct marketing purposes in the preceding calendar year. California residents who are registered users of the Services and are under the age of 18 are entitled, in accordance with California law, to request and obtain removal of content and information that they themselves post on the Services. You may request such removal by emailing us at privacy@hdmediallc.com. In your request, please provide a description of the material that you want removed and information reasonably sufficient to permit us to locate the material, and include your name, email address and/or Site user name, year of birth, mailing address (including city, state, and zip code), and the subject line California Removal Request so that we can process your request. Please note that your request does not ensure complete or comprehensive removal of the material. For example, some information that you have posted may be republished or reposted by another user or third party or may be retained for legal reasons. K. COOKIES AND ONLINE TRACKING This section covers our use of cookies and similar technologies, such as web beacons, Local Shared Objects (Flash cookies) and HTML 5 Local Storage. We and third parties that provide content, advertising, or functionality to our Services, or that measure and analyze ad performance on our Services, may use cookies, web beacons, mobile ad identifiers, and similar technologies to facilitate administration and navigation on the Site, to better understand and improve our Services, to determine and/or improve the advertising shown to you on the Site or elsewhere, and to provide you with a customized online experience. Cookies. Cookies are small files that are placed on your computer when you visit a website. 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Submit Today, May 22, 2023, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra joined leaders from across the world in Geneva, Switzerland for the 76th World Health Assembly (WHA). Below are Secretary Becerras remarks, as prepared and delivered. Excellencies, esteemed colleagues. In the resolution that anchored U.S. membership in the WHO in 1948, President Harry Truman declared that it is mutual helpfulness among nations[which] alone can lead to peace and security for all peoples. That call for nations to work together for the health and wellbeing of all people is as important today as it was 75 years ago. The United States is proud to be both a strong partner and a leader in global public health. We believe in the importance of science, research, expanding knowledge, and embracing innovation. We recognize the wisdom of preparation; the necessity of inclusion; the value of building core tools and platforms that save lives, and the urgency to invest in the health workforce that is central to all. We understand and witness the benefits of building strong health systems based on equity, inclusion, and opportunity. To build that equitable and inclusive world, we must ensure sexual and reproductive health and rights for all. We must include the voices of women, minorities, and LGBTQIA+ populations in our decision-making. And, at this pivotal time for health, we also stand to condemn Russias aggression against Ukraine, in violation of the Charter of the United Nations. Russias attacks have destroyed numerous health facilities, maimed and killed civilians and health workers. And Global food system are being disrupted. That risks increasing poverty and malnutrition for millions. The international community must, and the United States will continue to, stand with the people of Ukraine. We have common health problems worldwide that require shared solutions. Maternal mortality. Cancer. Infectious disease. Behavioral health and substance use disorders, especially from synthetic drugs. Climate change. The next potential pandemic is never far away. We have come together before in pursuit of audacious goals, to face down threats, and we have succeeded. We can do it again. That we includes constructive stakeholders who have a role to play. The United States continues to strongly support Taiwans meaningful participation at the World Health Assembly and in the WHOs work more broadly. The WHO embodies our shared values and remains vitally important to the global struggle for health and well-being. President Biden and the United States are fully committed to the WHO. Together, lets commit to reaching agreement both on the pandemic accord and targeted amendments to the International Health Regulations in this coming year. Lets seize this moment and regain momentum towards achieving our global goals on health. And lets embrace mutual helpfulness and collectively work towards peace, health, and equity for all. Thank you Lesser Prairie-Chickens In The Texas Panhandle Earl Nottingham, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department My grandpa used to talk about hunting lesser prairie-chickens back in his day. He always said they werent worth a lick to eat, but they sure were fun to watch. Since then, the lesser prairie-chicken population in Texas has sharply declined and there is no longer an open hunting season for them. Many wildlife professionals and researchers attribute the decline to habitat loss and degradation due to agriculture, oil and gas production, overgrazing, brush encroachment and drought. Lesser prairie-chickens are specialized creatures that require unique habitat to survive. Once found throughout the entire Panhandle of Texas almost all the way down to the Big Bend area, prairie-chickens currently only exist in small isolated pockets in the northeast and southwest (near Lubbock) corners of the Panhandle. Prairie grasslands with little disturbance offer the best habitat for prairie-chickens. CRP can also be beneficial in certain circumstances. Prairie-chickens are very sensitive to disturbances such as noise, like that from a nearby petroleum compressor station for example. But they are also sensitive to taller structures such as power line poles, wind turbines, transmission lines and even trees. During the breeding season, prairie-chicken males will gather on display grounds called leks. These leks consist of small areas of shorter vegetation surrounded by midgrass prairie cover such as little bluestem. The leks are often found on knolls, or raised areas throughout the prairie, because visibility is crucial when the males are strutting their stuff. The males perform a display on the leks called booming, where they square off against other males and stomp their feet, bob their heads, flutter their wings, and make a water drop-like clucking sound by filling the reddish-orange air sacs located on their neck. They often attack one another during these displays which usually results in the victim losing some of his feathers. Females, or hens will sit in cover on the midgrass edge of the lek to watch the display. Once the dominant males have been decided, they will mate with the hens. The hens will then be off to create their nest and lay their eggs. Unlike quail, prairie-chicken males have nothing to do with nesting or raising the chicks. Prairie-chicken hens lay 8-13 white to blueish-gray eggs, from which usually only 3-7 chicks end up surviving. Clutch sizes are usually larger in the northeast Panhandle compared to the southwest due to the relatively wetter and cooler climate. The hens will raise their chicks primarily at night for about 14 weeks before the chicks disperse to live on their own. Texas Parks and Wildlife conducts annual surveys of lesser prairie-chicken populations in Hemphill, Gray Yoakum and Cochran counties by monitoring historic leks during the month of April. The Western Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies (WAFWA) also surveys the birds aerially across their entire range, not only in Texas but in Kansas, Colorado, New Mexico and Oklahoma as well. By the late 1990s lesser prairie-chicken populations declined to a critical point. They have since been closely monitored and even reviewed for listing by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS). The species was listed as threatened by the USFWS in 2014 before being dropped from the list by court order in 2015. Recent surveys have shown a slight increase in population levels, but cautious optimism is encouraged for those results. As long as the lesser prairie-chickens habitat remains in decline so will the birds population. We have to be vigilant with the way we use the land, especially in areas where prairie-chickens are still trying to hold on. There are programs available for those willing to lend a hand to this exceptional species. For more information, please visit https://tpwd.texas.gov/huntwild/lesserprairiechicken/. Dr. Sachin Gupta, Chancellor of Sanskriti University (Uttar Pradesh) India has a passion for providing affordable higher education to rural youth. His pockets, although not very deep, are adequate to achieve excellence while not compromising on the quality of education. He is a visionary leader with selfless exceptional interpersonal, social, and administrative skills for which he is honored with numerous awards and recognitions. Dr. Gupta's focus on research and outcome-based education has encouraged students and faculty to publish over 2200 research papers and file more than 1200 patents till 2022 and ranked First in filing patents by Ministry of Commerce & Industry by Govt. of India. He is philanthropic by heart and deeds, constantly looking for ways to help the needy, and is involved with the Rotary Club in different capacities. The state-of-the-art infrastructure and architectural excellence of Sanskriti University has made a strong impression on everyone. The university offers a wide variety of programs, including Management, Commerce, Engineering, Education, Science, Indian Medicine, Para-medical, Agriculture, Arts, and more. The university is committed to delivering world-class education with Indian ethos, with highly qualified, passionate, and futuristic faculties who believe in value-based education. Due to his encouragement, the university has received numerous recognitions, awards, and accolades for serving the best to society and for its contribution to education, research, and culture. Under Dr. Gupta's dynamic leadership, the university has been ranked among the top five in terms of patent registration and publishing research papers. Dr. Sachin Gupta, Chancellor of Sanskriti University (Uttar Pradesh) India Dr. Gupta's futurist outlook of teaching and learning is evident from his initiatives like setting up of a Business Incubator and a "Centre of Excellence" in collaboration with MSME, Govt. of India setting up labs with the latest equipments, and collaborating with Shantigiri for managing an Ayurvedic Hospital. The university's state-of-the-art Panch Karma Centre provides holistic well-being to elite patients from NCR. Dr. Gupta's networking abilities have enabled the university to have an illustrious Advisory Board that provides consultant guidance and is helpful in getting good packages for students. The academic and intellectual freedom provided by Dr. Gupta to his team of dedicated faculty is bound to take Sanskriti scaling new heights. Disclaimer: This article is a paid publication and does not have journalistic/editorial involvement of Hindustan Times. Hindustan Times does not endorse/subscribe to the content(s) of the article/advertisement and/or view(s) expressed herein. Hindustan Times shall not in any manner, be responsible and/or liable in any manner whatsoever for all that is stated in the article and/or also with regard to the view(s), opinion(s), announcement(s), declaration(s), affirmation(s) etc., stated/featured in the same. Pune, Maharashtra, India Business Wire India Impetus Technologies, an eminent player in cloud and data engineering, has announced its latest establishment in the vibrant city of Pune. The company has carefully handpicked an office space that embodies its resolute commitment to providing exceptional experience to its employees and fosters creativity and innovation. It is yet another achievement in its global outreach. The new office features state-of-the-art technology and modern amenities designed to enhance productivity and collaboration amongst employees. According to the CFO and CHRO, Mr. Sanjeev Agrawal, "The new office space in Pune is a reflection of our commitment to attracting and retaining the best and brightest minds in the industry. Its a significant step towards strengthening our position as a thought leader in our industry. We are excited to be a part of Pune's thriving business community and look forward to contributing to its growth and success. The new office is strategically located in the heart of Pune, with easy access to public transportation and other key amenities, allowing Impetus to tap into the city's diverse talent pool and further expand its global footprint. The company already has its offices in NOIDA, Gurugram, Bengaluru, Indore, and Hyderabad. Headquartered in Las Gatos, USA, Impetus also has its office in Canada also. About Impetus Technologies India Pvt. Ltd. Impetus Technologies is a digital engineering company focused on delivering expert services and products to help enterprises achieve their transformation goals. We solve the analytics, AI, and cloud puzzle, enabling Fortune 100 companies to drive unmatched innovation and growth. The company is headquartered in Los Gatos, California with international offices in India and Canada. Kerala is a true paradise for nature lovers, and during the monsoons, it transforms into a lush green wonderland. The misty mountains, serene backwaters, and enchanting waterfalls create a breath-taking sight that one must experience in their lifetime. The cool, refreshing air and the aroma of freshly washed foliage make Kerala an ideal destination for those seeking tranquility and rejuvenation. Kerala in the rainy season is a visual treat with its verdant landscapes. Its beauty gets even more endearing as soon as the first spell of rains hits the shores of Kerala during the monsoon. Unlike other places in India, Kerala does not get incessant spells of rains. Typically, the weather follows a pattern of intermittent rain showers that last for a few hours, interspersed with spells of bright sunshine filtering through the swaying coconut and palm fronds. If you are visiting this state in June, which is the best month to visit Kerala, you can bask in the occasional sunlight, enjoy the cool breeze and the vibrant greenery, and experience the colourful and rich culture of Kerala. Heres a list of things you can do when you holiday in Kerala during monsoons. Best time for ayurvedic treatment/massage The ayurvedic spas and healing centres of Kerala are popular worldwide and many tourists come to the state just to experience the iconic Kerala-style massage and other body treatments. As per the ancient traditions of Ayurveda, monsoon is the best time of the year to undergo body treatment because the moist, cool, and dust-free climate makes the therapy more effective. The ayurvedic therapists and physicians believe, during the monsoon season, the body becomes amenable to therapeutic powers of the herbs and concoction used in the treatment. Do you need a better reason to visit Kerala in the rainy season? Explore the attractions at your own pace The monsoon season in Kerala attracts mostly nature lovers to the region. This means, you get the chance to explore all the popular sightseeing attractions and the hidden gems of Kerala at your own pace without any hassles. With relatively less crowd, the surroundings are calm, and the refreshing showers make the environment perfect for a romantic outing, making monsoons the best season to visit Kerala. Witness Onam celebrations Be it anytime of the year, being in Kerala is a delight. But, during monsoons, especially in September during the Onam festival, the experience is just surreal. The harvest festival, Onam, is one of the most important festivals of Kerala, and it is celebrated for 10 days. During this period, you get to experience the vibrant and rich culture of Kerala, see the awesome festive traditions and be a part of the celebrations. One of the highlights of the Onam celebrations is the Onam Sadhya, a delicious feast, which consists of more than 20 items on the menu. The Sadhya is served on a banana leaf, and it includes, rice, sambhar, three to four varieties of vegetables, rasam, 5-6 varieties of chutneys and pickles, payasam, and more. When you are in Kerala you must have the Sadhya, it is a treat for the tummy and soul. Another significant attraction of the festival is the world-famous snake boat race, which happens across the states. However, the best place to witness the race is Alappuzha where the race happens on the azure backwaters in the region. The otherwise serene backwaters turn into a fierce battleground. Witnessing the bellowing sounds of the oars hitting the waters is a unique experience. Be in awe of the cascading waterfalls Monsoon is the best season to visit Kerala to see the iconic and ethereally beautiful waterfalls in their full glory. There are many waterfalls throughout Kerala, but none better than the Athirapilly Falls, which is about 47 kms from Thrissur town. The falls has been the backdrop for several Bollywood and regional movies. It is easily one of the best places to visit in Kerala during monsoon. You can spend several hours gazing at the beauty of the waterfalls and soaking in the natural beauty surrounding it. Some of the other popular waterfalls that you must surely explore are Attukad waterfalls in Munnar, Chethalayam waterfalls in Wayanad, and Keezharkuthu falls in Idukki. Soak in the beauty of the hill stations in Kerala The hill stations of Kerala are one of natures best creations. The arrival of the rains turns the hill station into a green paradise. The foamy and snow-white falls gushing from the hills, and the cotton candy-like clouds settling over, give you an impression of living a fairy tale. With so much beauty around, you cannot help but fall in love with the hill stations of Kerala. Whether you are looking to spend a weekend in the lap of nature or want to spend a leisurely holiday in the hills of Kerala, you must surely experience the rainy season in Munnar, one of the most popular hill stations in the state. Some of other hill stations in Kerala that beckon a visit, include Vagamon, Malayattur, Kalpetta, and Wayanad. The perfect setting for a romantic date Monsoon and romantic dates are a cliche, but they work every time. There is a different level of romantic vibe in the air when it rains in Kerala, that sets your mood right for a memorable holiday with your significant other. So, if you are looking for a perfect place to take your loved one on a romantic rainy date, Kerala is the place to be. If you are yet to pop the big question, the hills of Munnar, the backwaters of Alleppey, or the beaches of Kovalam would be the perfect spot to go down on your knees and present them the ring. Your romantic gesture, and the scenic surrounding would surely sweep them off their feet and win you a big YES! Enjoy the rains in Kerala at Club Mahindra resorts No matter where you go, be it Munnar, Alleppey, Thekkady, Kollam, Kochi or Wayanad, you can get the best holiday experience in Kerala in monsoon by staying at the most premium resorts in Kerala, offered by Club Mahindra. Dine in tree houses at Club Mahindra Munnar, relax in the floating cottages at Club Mahindra Ashtamudi, or enjoy the best of backwaters and the sea at Club Mahindra Poovar or Club Mahindra Cherai. You can also indulge in a relaxing spa therapy at Vythiri Village Resort, a Club Mahindra affiliate and one of the best resorts in Wayanad. Also, during your stay at these resorts, you can enjoy traditional Kerala art forms like Kalaripayattu, a traditional Indian form of marital arts, Kathakali, a classic Indian dance and more. Club Mahindra resorts in Kerala provide a perfect holiday experience. Forget your troubles and wander through tea plantations, create art, and spot fascinating flowers during nature safaris. Satiate your hunger with fluffy dosas and savoury curries by the resorts master chefs. These experiences cater to every type of traveller, whether it's satisfying the curiosity of children, de-stressing city-dwellers, or bringing calm and peace to you and your family. Disclaimer: This article is a paid publication and does not have journalistic/editorial involvement of Hindustan Times. Hindustan Times does not endorse/subscribe to the content(s) of the article/advertisement and/or view(s) expressed herein. Hindustan Times shall not in any manner, be responsible and/or liable in any manner whatsoever for all that is stated in the article and/or also with regard to the view(s), opinion(s), announcement(s), declaration(s), affirmation(s) etc., stated/featured in the same. Reserve Bank of India governor Shaktikanta Das on Monday made it clear that there was no plan to reintroduce 1,000 currency notes. Addressing the media on the RBI's recent decision to withdraw 2,000 currency notes, Das said the impact of the move will be very very marginal on the economy because it accounts for only 10.8 per cent of the currency in circulation. RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das.(PTI) When asked about the potential reintroduction of 1,000 currency notes, Das responded, That's speculative. There's currently no proposal for such a measure. He emphasised that the current denominations of 500 and 100 are abundant and readily accessible to the public, alleviating any apprehensions about the central bank's ability to manage without the highest-valued currency in India. The governor highlighted the ample quantity of printed notes already present within the system, stressing their availability not only with the RBI but also at the currency chests managed by banks. Das reiterated that 2,000 notes will retain their legal tender status even after the central bank's decision to withdraw them from circulation. He also urged the public not to create a rush at bank branches, expressing his belief that there is no need for people to hastily visit banks. 2,000 notes withdrawal: What did RBI governor say on impact? The RBI governor said the introduction of 2,000 bank notes aimed primarily at replenishing the notes withdrawn during demonetisation has served its purpose. Further answering the questions arising on what will be the impact of the move, he said, There will be no impact on economic activity. He cited personal experience and informal surveys that reveal the limited usage of 2,000 notes in economic transactions. News agency PTI reported that 89 per cent of the 2,000 denomination banknotes were issued before March 2017 and have reached the end of their estimated lifespan of four to five years. The total value of these banknotes in circulation has significantly decreased from its peak of 6.73 lakh crore on March 31, 2018, (accounting for 37.3 per cent of the notes in circulation) to 3.62 lakh crore, constituting a mere 10.8 per cent of the Notes in Circulation as of March 31, 2023, the report further said. Exchange to begin on Tuesday, deadline till September 30 Starting from Tuesday, the process of exchanging or depositing 2,000 currency notes will be facilitated, subject to the RBI's current deadline of September 30. Individuals can exchange a maximum of 10 currency notes at a time, while the existing Income Tax requirement of PAN for deposits of 50,000 or more will be applicable to 2,000 notes as well. Also Read | Why RBI decided to withdraw 2000 notes within 7 years Notably, the State Bank of India has announced that no ID proof or requisition slips will be necessary to exchange 2,000 notes. In anticipation of the summer season, the RBI has instructed banks to ensure suitable infrastructure at branches, including shaded waiting areas and drinking water facilities. Banks are also required to maintain daily data on the deposit and exchange of 2,000 banknotes. However, the governor of the central bank mentioned that the September deadline may be revisited based on the prevailing circumstances. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Karnataka Director General of Police Praveen Sood, who will proceed to New Delhi to take charge as the next CBI Director, on Monday expressed his gratitude to the police force for conducting the 'most peaceful elections ever' without any untoward incident. Praveen Sood. (PTI) He also gave a piece of advice to those helming the police force in Karnataka to keep the constabulary and citizens in mind before spending money. Calling the Karnataka police force as his extended family, he expressed his good wishes to the constabulary, officers and his colleagues in the department. "This state police is my extended family. I wish them all the best. I thank them for having conducted the most peaceful elections ever," Sood told PTI during a farewell parade organised in his honour. After the parade, Sood handed over charge to senior IPS officer Dr Alok Mohan, Commandant General of Home Guards, who has been given an additional charge as DGP of the state by the Karnataka government. "Over 58,000 polling booths and not a single incident. Almost 500 VIP visits and not a single incident. On the occasion, I thank my constabulary, my officers and colleagues," he said about the recently held Assembly elections in Karnataka. Sood said this was his last day in police uniform in Karnataka before proceeding on Central deputation. "I have full satisfaction of having worked in this state, which has given everything not only to me but also my entire family," he said. To his successor, he said he will never go wrong whenever they take initiatives keeping the police and citizens in mind. "I hope that the new leadership, which is going to take charge today, when they do anything in the department and spend any money, they (should) keep the constabulary and citizens as their focus. If their focus is clear, they will never go wrong." After forming the government in Karnataka, the Congress now eyes another crucial assembly election in Madhya Pradesh scheduled to be held this year as the party on Monday made five promises, including 500 gas cylinder and 1500 to every woman of the state per month. Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge with party leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi. (PTI) The Congress's five promises to the people of Madhya Pradesh before the election are- 1. Gas cylinder at 500 2. 1500 to every woman per month 3. 100 units of free electricity, 200 units halved 4. Farm loan waiver 5. Implementation of old pension scheme Senior Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra will kickstart the assembly poll campaign for the party in Madhya Pradesh on June 12 with a roadshow and a rally in Jabalpur after offering prayers to the Narmada river, news agency PTI reported citing a functionary. Another Congress leader said Priyanka has chosen Mahakoshal as the region was left out from her brother, Rahul Gandhi's Bharat Jodo Yatra, which moved through the state's Malwa and Central India regions and received a very good response from the public. Rajya Sabha MP and former chief minister Digvijaya Singh said Madhya Pradesh Congress president Kamal Nath will be the partys presumptive chief minister in the 2023 assembly election. "We will fight the elections in Madhya Pradesh under the leadership of Kamal Nath. So, he will be the CMs face, Singh told reporters in Budhni. Assembly polls are likely to be held at the end of the year in MP, where the Congress emerged as the largest party in the 2018 polls but its government fell in March 2020 following a rebellion by Jyotiraditya Scindia and more than 20 of his loyalist MLAs, paving the way for the Bharatiya Janata Party to return to power. (With agency inputs) Chief minister Bhagwant Mann on Monday targeted Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) Harjinder Singh Dhami for extending rights to telecast Gurbani at the Golden Temple to only one TV channel. Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann laying foundation stone of a sub-tehsil complex in Cheema, Sangrur, on Monday. This comes a day after SGPC reacted sharply to Manns statement, asking him to refrain from creating unnecessary controversy. On Sunday, Mann referring to the issue of the telecast of Gurbani had offered that the state government was ready to discharge the duty of bearing all expenses for installing hi-tech equipment for the telecast of Gurbani on all the channels. Mann, while addressing a gathering here in Cheema after laying the foundation stone of a sub-tehsil complex, said the SGPC president is following the line set by his masters (Badals). He also slammed Dhami for campaigning for the Shiromani Akali Dal candidate in the Jalandhar Lok Sabha bypoll. SGPC president told me not to interfere in religious affairs. If someone talks about removing the possession of Badals from gurbani, then it is interference in religious affairs. If Harjinder Singh Dhami, president of the SGPC, sought votes for Akali Dal in Jalandhar then it is a personal decision. SGPCs only work is to take care of gurdwaras then why are they interfering in politics? SGPC president must explain how giving the rights of telecasting of Gurbani to all poses a threat to the religion, the CM said. Mann also accused SGPC of stalling the work of Sangrur medical college. Badals have misused SGPC by stalling the ambitious project of the medical college at Mastuana Sahib. These people have no interest in the well-being of the people, but they are always bothered about their vested political interests, Mann said. Earlier, CM also laid the foundation stone of the multi-storey tehsil complex at Dirba. On the occasion cabinet ministers Harpal Cheema and Aman Arora along with others were also present. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON A meeting on Heat Wave Action Plan (HAP) was held under the chairmanship of advisor to the administrator on Monday with all departments of Chandigarh administration concerned. Vinay Pratap Singh, deputy commissioner-cum-chairman, District Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) briefed about the action plan to handle the heat wave and role of various departments. (HT File Photo) Vinay Pratap Singh, deputy commissioner-cum-chairman, District Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) briefed about the action plan to handle the heat wave and role of various departments such as municipal corporation (MC), engineering department, health department, education department, social welfare department, labour department, animal husbandry department, forest department and public relation department. He further informed that a detailed advisory on heat wave has been circulated to the departments along with Dos and Donts. Nitin Yadav, home secretary informed that drinking water, adequate stock of ORS and first-aid kits will be made available in all Anganwaris and child care institutes, and training will be imparted for heat wave management to supervisors and Anganwari workers. Health secretary Yashpal Garg briefed that they have adequate stock of ORS, glucose and medicines. They have issued the heat wave advisory and also sent volunteers to villages to spread awareness regarding the same. All facilities are available in hospitals for treatment of heat stroke. CB Ojha, chief engineer, informed that repairs and maintenance of electricity distribution system has been carried out to ensure uninterrupted power supply during summer season. MC commissioner Anindita Mitra briefed that electric motors, pumps, water supply lines and valves have been checked, and all defective electrical/mechanical parts have been replaced to ensure regular water supply during summer months. Giving details, the labour commissioner said factories and construction sites have been directed to not engage labourers during peak hours of the day. Drinking water and sheds will be made available at all workplaces. Education director informed that all government schools have been closed meanwhile most private schools will be closed for summer holiday in this week and few schools will be closed in the first week of June. The weather condition will be assessed in next 2-3 days and necessary directions on closure of schools will be issued accordingly. People can also alert the disaster help line number 1070 and medical helpline number 1075 in case somebody is in distress due to exposure to heat. In a bid to provide employment opportunities to students who drop out of school over various reasons, the education department has directed the schools to register them on the Union governments apprenticeship portal. The candidates will get a monthly stipend of 7000 during the first year, 7700 during the second and 8050 during the third year. (HT File Photo) The Union government has given a target to the state government to engage 1 lakh students with the National Apprenticeship Promotion Scheme by 2024. The directions come after DPS Kharbanda, director of technical education and industrial training, said in a letter to the education department that district education officers should ensure that staff at government schools apprise students about the scheme. Kharbanda added that the students should be motivated in morning assemblies and special lectures should also be organised at schools. Pointing out that candidates can receive training in 260 designated and 550 optional trades, he said that principals can connect with any nearby government industrial training centre. The letter stated that of the 2.5 lakh students who complete their matriculation from government-run school every year, only a fraction register on the portal owing to lack of awareness. Students can receive basic and on-job training in different skills required by the industry under the scheme, started by the Union government in 2016. The candidates will get a monthly stipend of 7000 during the first year, 7700 during the second and 8050 during the third year. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The government has appointed former coal secretary AK Jain as the chairman of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB), a post that was lying vacant since December 2020. Former coal secretary AK Jain has been appointed chairman of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB). (File photo) The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved the appointment of Anil Kumar Jain (retd), secretary to the Government of India as chairperson PNGRB for five years from the date of assumption of charge of the post, or till attaining the age of 65 years or until further orders whichever is the earliest, a recent government order said. Also read: India aims to boost coal output by up to 100 million tonnes, reopen Jain, who belongs to Panchkula, is a 1986-batch IAS officer from the Madhya Pradesh cadre. He retired as coal secretary on October 31, 2022. He was joint secretary in the ministry of petroleum and natural gas and additional secretary in the Niti Aayog handling energy. Jain held the charge of additional secretary and special secretary in the ministry of environment, forest and climate change before becoming the coal secretary. Former chairman of the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) DK Saraf retired as the PNGRB chief on December 3, 2020. Former oil secretary Tarun Kapoor was also recommended for the role of PNGRB chief, but was appointed adviser to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and is looking after energy. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Delegates from 19 of the Group of 20 (G20) nations participated in the latest round of meetings, which commenced in Srinagar on Monday. While China boycotted the event, private tour operators represented Saudi Arabia and Turkey. G20 Delegates were treated to a shikara ride on the Dal Lake in Srinagar. (Waseem Andrabi/HT) The delegates from Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Mexico, Russia, South Africa, United Kingdom, USA and EU were among those in attendance at the inaugural third tourism working group meeting at the Sheri Kashmir International Convention Centre (SKICC) on the banks of citys iconic Dal Lake. Earlier in the day, delegates landed at Srinagar International Airport to a traditional welcome that included them being presented with turbans and a tikka. The delegates were driven, amid high security, to the Taj Vivanta and Lalit Grand Palace hotels, where they were welcomed with the tunes of santoor and cultural folk songs. Speaking on the occasion, G20s India representative Sherpa Amitabh Kant said the tourism working group in Kashmir was off to a strong start, adding, Normally in any meeting and event, four to five countries do not come for various reasons, but here in Kashmir, we had an outstanding response. As many as 61 participants from 29 countries is a great response. Batting for action-oriented discussions related to tourism, he said, Travel and tourism is totally a private sector activity, so travel operators have also come from different countries. Delegates are expected to discuss Goa roadmap for tourism as a vehicle for achievable development goals and make the G20 ministerial declaration at the end of the three-day event. On its opening day, the event saw discussions followed by lighter moments including RRR star Ram Charan shaking a leg with Korean ambassador Chang Jaebok on the tunes of Oscar-winning hit Naatu Naatu. Earlier, Charan had attended the side event on Film Tourism for Economic Growth and Cultural Preservation and held a one-on-one with critic and commentator Mayank Sharma. I have been coming to Kashmir since 1986 with my dad. This place is magical; it draws peoples attention. No matter what we hear about Kashmir, this is such a surreal feeling that you visit, Charan said. The afternoon session witnessed the unveiling of the draft for national strategy on film tourism. Delegates were treated to a shikara ride in the evening, followed by a visit to a handicrafts exhibition at the lawns of SKICC. Deliberations will continue on the two main key deliverables Goa roadmap and G20 ministerial declaration will begin on Tuesday. Union minister of state science and technology Dr Jitendra Singh, who was also in attendance, said the very fact that they are holding the meeting in Srinagar in J&K was in itself an achievement of sorts. When asked whether hosting the event of this scale also meant that it was safe enough to begin some form of political process in Jammu and Kashmir, Singh remained evasive. I dont know what you mean by that, the political process is already going on. We have district development council, block development council, panch and sarpanches in place. They are not part of the political process?, he said. Notably, Jammu and Kashmir has been without an elected government for the past five years. Union tourism minister, meanwhile, said the Government of India had earlier decided to organise G20 meetings at allstate headquarters, adding, The security is part of the standard operating procedure. The foreign delegates came to Kashmir after so many years; people are happy and are welcoming them. Multi-tier security arrangements have been put in place across Srinagar, as the city hosts its first major international event since the abrogation of Article 370 in 2019. The Union territory administration has made efforts to give Srinagar a major facelift in the run-up to the G20 event with roads being macadamised, markets being given a revamp and walls being painted in murals. With the third G20 tourism working group meeting in Kashmir commencing on Monday, the visit of foreign delegates to the famous ski resort town of Gulmarg has been cancelled amid security concerns. Indian actor Ram Charan and Korean ambassador Chang Jae-bok shaking a leg to the Oscar-winning song Naatu Naatu at the G20 tourism meeting in Srinagar. (Waseem Andrabi/HT) The administration has not officially acknowledged the cancellation of the Gulmarg leg, but officials privy to the matter said the visit to the ski resort town is off the table. Notably, the itinerary of the G20 working meeting also skipped any mention of Gulmarg. The G20 delegates were scheduled to visit the ski resort town on the second day of the three-day event, being hosted to deliberate on the five key priority areas green tourism, digitalisation, skills, ministry of micro, small and medium enterprises and destination management. Sources said the visit has been cancelled amid security concerns and keeping in view the sensitivity of the situation. The scheduled meetings will instead be held at the Sher-i-Kashmir International Convention Centre (SKICC) on the second day of the event. For the past two weeks, the government had made high-level arrangements for the Gulmarg event and top officials held a series of meetings at the resort town, which had been spruced up for the event. A picturesque bowl-shaped meadow, surrounded by pine trees and steep slopes, in north Kashmirs Baramulla district, some 50 km from Srinagar, Gulmarg is a top tourist destination of Kashmir with both foreign and domestic tourists visiting the resort round the year, but especially during winters when foreign skiers spend a couple of months at the town. The delegates during the Gulmarg visit were scheduled to ride on the cable car Gondola. Security arrangements had been put in place at the resort due to its proximity with the Line of Control (LoC). Additional director general of police Vijay Kumar remained unavailable for comments on the cancellation of the planned Gulmarg visit. A man and his sister, separated during the Partition 75 years ago, reunited at Gurdwara Darbar Sahib, Kartarpur in Pakistan, in an emotional reunion made possible through social media on Monday. Mahinder Kaur, 81, and her family travelled from India to the gurdwara through the Kartarpur Corridor, while 78-year-old Sheikh Abdullah Aziz and his family arrived there from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. (HT Photo) Mahinder Kaur, 81, and her family travelled from India to the gurdwara through the Kartarpur Corridor, while 78-year-old Sheikh Abdullah Aziz and his family arrived there from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. The 4 km-long Kartarpur Corridor provides visa-free access to Indian Sikh pilgrims to visit the Darbar Sahib. The family of Bhajan Singh, living in India Punjab, was separated during the time of partition. Following the partition, Aziz Azad moved to Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, while his family and other members remained in Punjab. Aziz Azad said he made tireless efforts to reconnect with his family. The two families discovered that Mahendra and Aziz were indeed estranged siblings after connecting through a social media post detailing the separation of a man and his sister during the Partition. Overwhelmed with joy, Mahendra Kaur repeatedly hugged her brother and kissed his hands, and the two families also visited Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Kartarpur together, sitting side by side and sharing a meal on Sunday. They also exchanged gifts as a symbol of their reunion. Mahinder Kaur expressed her gratitude to the governments of India and Pakistan, acknowledging the role of the Kartarpur Corridor in bringing people together. She expressed hope that this corridor would continue to reunite families separated during the partition. As they bid farewell in the evening, both siblings promised to meet again in Pakistan through the corridor. A Bahrain-return man and his friend died, while another suffered severe injuries after a speeding car ran over them on Samrala Road in Khanna, police said on Monday. The driver of the car, Achhardeep Singh, has also been admitted to a hospital in Ludhiana. (HT Photo) After hitting the three friends, the car crashed into a tree, a pole and wall of a house. The driver of the car also suffered serious injuries in the mishap that took place on Sunday. Mandeep Kaur, SHO (probationary), Khanna city-1 police station, said that an empty bottle of alcohol has been recovered from the car. It is suspected that the driver of the car was drunk. The victims have been identified as Gurpreet Singh, 25, who returned from Bahrain 15 days ago, and Taranvir Singh alias Tanu, 25, of Khanna. Their friend Balwinder Singh has been referred to a hospital in Chandigarh, where his condition is stated to be critical. The driver of the car, Achhardeep Singh, has also been admitted to a hospital in Ludhiana. The FIR has been lodged following the statement of Gurdeep Singh, who is the brother Gurpreet. The complainant said that his brother, along with his friends, was sitting on roadside outside shops and chatting. Meanwhile, a speeding car crashed into them. The impact of the collision was so strong that Gurpreet died on the spot. Taranvir died on way to hospital. An FIR under sections 279, 337,338,427 and 304-A of the IPC has been registered against the driver at Khanna City-1 police station. Assets worth more than 121 crore of Anwar Dhebar, the elder brother of Raipur Mayor Anwar Dhebar, IAS officer Anil Tuteja, former MD of Chhattisgarh State Marketing Corporation Ltd. Arun Pati Tripathi and others have been attached in the alleged liquor scam-linked money laundering case, the ED said Monday. Chhattisgarh IAS officer Anil Tuteja has been termed the 'kingpin' in the alleged liquor scam by ED. (HT File Photo for representation)(HT_PRINT) The properties, provisionally attached under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), include 14 properties of Tuteja worth Rs. 8.83 crore, 69 properties of Anwar Dhebar worth 98.78 crore and one asset of Tripathi worth 1.35 crore, the federal agency said in a statement. Hotel Vennington Court in state capital Raipur of Anwar Dhebar, being run under the aegis of his firm A Dhebar Buildcon, has also been attached, it said. Properties of Vikash Agarwal alias Subbu worth 1.54 crore and 32 properties of Arvind Singh worth 11.35 crore have also been attached as part of the same order. The total value of the attached properties is 121.87 crore. This money laundering case stems from a 2022 Income Tax department charge sheet filed against IAS officer Tuteja and others before a court in Delhi. Anwar Dhebar, Tripathi and two others have been arrested by the ED in this case till now. Senior Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) functionary and former Delhi health minister Satyendar Jain, who has been jailed since May last year under a money laundering case, was rushed to the Safdarjung hospital in the city on Monday morning due to his deteriorating health condition. Former Delhi minister Satyendar Jain. (File) A senior Tihar Jail official said that Jain is suffering from spinal issues and was sent to Deen Dayal Upadhyay Hospital in west Delhi last week. At DDU Hospital, he requested for a second opinion on his problem, upon which the doctor referred him to the Safdarjung Hospital, said the official. The official said that the falling health of Jain could be because of his food habits and stress levels. We are consulting the doctors treating him to understand why he is shedding weight, he said. Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal tweeted that he would pray for better health of his former Cabinet colleague. People of Delhi can see the ego and injustice of the BJP government. People and God are with us in this struggle. This battle against cruelty, injustice and dictatorship will continue. We are the followers of Bhagat Singh, Kejriwal tweeted in Hindi with a picture that displays Jain in emaciated state in the hospital. Senior AAP functionaries and ministers also took to twitter to express solidarity with Jain. Health minister Saurabh Bhardwaj said that the person who is single handedly responsible for improving the healthcare system of Delhi has bee treated like this. God will never forgive them for this misdemeanor, he tweeted. Education minister Atishi said that she has never seen Satyendar Jain in such a weak state. What level of cruelty do these people want to reach? Jain, who created the mohalla clinic mode, is suffering from health issues but BJP is playing dirty politics, she tweeted. Last week, Jain had filed a bail plea in the apex court citing his deteriorating health conditions in which he said he has lost 35 kilogram weight. The Supreme Court bench led by justices AS Bopanna and Hima Kohli issued notice on the bail plea while granting liberty to move to the vacation bench for urgent listing of the plea. A week ago, HT reported that the Tihar administration was going to order a psychological evaluation for Jain after he asked the prison authorities to shift some other inmates to his cell, citing loneliness. The director general (prisons) Sanjay Baniwal said since the former minister had cited a recommendation by a psychiatrist in support of his application sent on May 11, the jail authorities would get an independent verification done to assess the request. However, the official quoted above said that the psychological analysis was yet to be conducted. Delhi BJP spokesperson Harish Khurana said that the Delhi CM should also inform the people of Delhi that Jain is lodged in jail under money laundering case and the courts have not been granting him bail for almost a year now. We pray that Satyendar Jains health recovers but this should not be used to portray AAP as victim. The comparison to Bhagat Singh and attempts to portray themselves as martyrs show that they dont have confidence in judiciary, he tweeted. Ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) will undertake a door-to-door campaign before holding a rally at Delhis Ramlila Maidan on June 11 to mobilise public opinion against the ordinance issued last week to restore to the Union government the power over services in the national capital. Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and lieutenant governor (LG) VK Saxena.(PTI file) AAPs Delhi convener, Gopal Rai, said the campaign will run parallel to the partys efforts to defeat the ordinance when it is presented for approval in Rajya Sabha. The BJP [Bharatiya Janata Party] has a majority in Lok Sabha. CM [chief minister Arvind] Kejriwal has said that we will contact all opposition parties to defeat the bill in Rajya Sabha, he said. Also Read | Will seek support to beat services ordinance: Kejriwal Kejriwal, who on Sunday met his Bihar counterpart, Nitish Kumar, said the powers from the elected government were snatched. He sought unity among non-BJP parties to prevent parliamentary approval for the ordinance that was promulgated after the Supreme Court on May 11 ruled the Delhi government has control over bureaucrats assigned to departments under its purview. Ordinances can be issued on any subject that Parliament has the power to make laws. They are required to receive the approval within six weeks of the reassembly of Parliament. Kumar pledged support for Kejriwal and called for unity to prevent the BJP-led Union government from undermining democratic institutions and constitutional values. Kejriwal, who called the fight in Rajya Sabha over the ordinance the semi-final for the 2024 national polls, is expected to meet his West Bengal counterpart, Mamata Banerjee, on Tuesday in Kolkata, former Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray in Mumbai on Wednesday and Nationalist Congress Party leader Sharad Pawar a day later. Also Read | Citing Centres ordinance, Delhi vigilance directorate reinstates special secretary The Union government on Friday promulgated the ordinance, effectively nullifying a Supreme Court constitution benchs judgment shifting the authority of controlling bureaucrats from the Lieutenant Governor (LG) to the Delhi government. The ordinance also provides for creating a National Capital Civil Service Authority and a Public Service Commission for transfers and postings of the officers. The ordinance makes the LG the final authority, who can act in sole discretion in deciding the matters relating to the transfer and posting. The AAP has said it will challenge the ordinance in the top court. The Union government on Sunday moved the Supreme Court for the review of its May 11 ruling granting the Delhi government control over services. It said the order has the effect of destroying the Constitutions basic structure and amounts to giving the national capital the status of a full-fledged state. Rai said their workers will go home to home to inform people about the ordinance and its impact in the run-up to the rally. He said the black ordinance reflects a dictatorial attitude being imposed on Delhi. We appeal to the people of Delhi irrespective of party affiliations. Constitution gave us the right to vote and that right is being nullified. People of the capital will have to stand up because if democracy is destroyed in Delhi...it will be replicated in other parts of the country in coming days, Rai said. Also Read | BJP defends ordinance, says Delhi is a UT with special status Rai said the constitution bench ruled in favour of the elected government but its powers have been hijacked through the ordinance. BJP leaders are trying to justify this black ordinance. The BJP is arguing that the ordinance was needed as Delhi is the capital of the country and hosts embassies as if these are new developments. They do not even have good excuses to justify the ordinance. Rai said the ordinance attempts to reduce the value of votes they got to zero. Ordinance reduced the value of 20 million people of Delhi. It effectively means the value of their votes is not equal to those in Uttar Pradesh. Now they do not even want Delhi to be the half state and effectively entire control is being transferred to LG. There was no immediate response from the BJP. On Sunday, BJP members of Parliament from Delhi argued in favour of the ordinance, saying the Union government must have a role in the national capital. They alleged that the AAP-led government was trying to shield itself from corruption cases by seeking to transfer officials. NEW DELHI: The Delhi high court on Monday asked the city government, police and private schools to respond to a petition by a lawyer who sought directions to the authorities to draw up an action plan to deal with bomb threats. Delhi Police's Bomb Detection Team arrives at the premises of Delhi Public School at Mathura Road after the school authorities received a bomb threat on April 26 (HT File Photo/Sanjeev Verma) The petition by lawyer Arpit Bhargava comes days after a private school in south Delhis Saket area received a hoax bomb threat over email on May 17, the fourth such incident in the national capital in about five weeks. At least find out how these bomb threats are happening. It never used to happen in school, no... It is very scary, justice Prathiba M Singh observed as the high court took up the petition that underlined that the government did not have an action plan to deal with such incidents which can cause havoc in anyones family and can have a large impact. Delhi Polices Bomb Detection Team arrives after DPS, Mathura Road, received a bomb threat (HT File Photo) Justice Singh asked the police to file a status report with respect to the action taken following bomb threats received by schools and sought an action plan from the city government. The case will be taken up on July 31. Lawyer Beenashaw N Soni, appearing for the petitioner, said it was everyones collective failure if schools were under repeated and constant threats. Bhargavas petition said his son studies at Delhi Public School, Mathura Road, where a bomb threat was received on April 26, which later turned out to be a hoax. The school received a second bomb threat on May 11. In the petition, Bhargava said an action plan was needed to hold regular evacuation drills and other exercises to be undertaken for the safety and security of children studying in schools that are ill-equipped to deal with such disasters. Lawyer Santosh Tripathi, appearing for the Delhi government, said the petitioner has rightly taken up the issue and sought the indulgence of the court. Tripathi also asked the high court to make all schools a party to the petition, following which the judge impleaded an umbrella association of more than 450 private unaided schools as respondents. The petition also asked the city police to outline the steps taken to ensure that the recent bomb threats received over email are not repeated. It said the authorities should identify the miscreants and take strict action against such persons and fix accountability in a time-bound manner so that there is no disturbance by those who are attempting to hold the system to ransom. The last incident of a bomb threat was reported from south Delhis Amrita Vidyalayam in Sakets Pushp Vihar on May 17 following an early morning message to the schools official e-mail ID. Special Weapon and Tactics Team commandos at The Indian School after the school received a bomb threat via email, at Sadiq Nagar on April 12 (HT File Photo) On April 12, The Indian School in south Delhis Sadiq Nagar received a fake threat over email, forcing the police to evacuate the complex and search the premises. Just 10 days later, Delhi Public School (DPS), Mathura Road, received a phone call reporting a bomb threat, prompting a similar response. The caller was later identified as a student of the school. Then, on May 11, DPS Mathura Road, received a second such threat, which was also found to be a hoax. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON No citizen should fear for his or her life when moving around in the city, the Delhi high court has said while granting police protection to a minor who sought it citing threats for the man accused of sexually assaulting her. The court will hear the matter next on May 23. (Getty Images/iStockphoto) Justice Jasmeet Singh passed the order on May 12 as the minor told the court that the accused wanted her to withdraw the sexual assault case against him. The minor said that the accused besides warning her of dire consequences also threatened to throw acid on her. Police told the court that they were investigating the matter but the accused was absconding and that they were in the process of issuing non-bailable warrants against him. The court said there are grave and serious allegations against the accused. The petitioner who is a minor feels apprehensive to even venture out of her house. I am of the view that adequate protection needs to be provided to her, said Justice Singh. The court asked police to provide the petitioner with a woman security officer for her security till further orders. It listed the matter for further hearing on May 23. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON NEW DELHI: I have only three tickets 5,000 for each. A slightly built man, wearing a white t-shirt, speaks to a small crowd, which swells rapidly around him, at a petrol station right next to Delhis Arun Jaitley Stadium. Hordes of people, meanwhile, make their way through the grounds entry gates, to watch Delhi Capitals play against Royal Challengers Bangalore on a Saturday evening. The crowd soon begins clamouring, each voice getting more boisterous by the second, as more join in. A group of five or six has become a gathering of 20 in less than a minute. Ill take all three tickets for 7,000 each, says one man. Another man makes a more tempting bid. PREMIUM Ground staff cover the field after rain delayed a match between Delhi Capitals and Kolkata Knight Riders at Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi. (ANI) Meanwhile, the toss was complete, and the chance of landing a ticket was evaporating by the second. Suddenly, a stout young man wearing blue track pants and a maroon t-shirt, with the Delhi Capitals emblem painted on both his cheeks, tore through the mob and swooped down on the ticket seller. He grabbed the mans neck in a vice grip and whisked him away without a word. The tickets went with him, and the heartbroken mob dispersed. That man in maroon is part of a 20-member special police wing carved out with the express purpose of clamping down on a host of crimes that mushroom in and around the stadium during the Indian Premier League (IPL) every summer. This team is formed before every IPL season, but does not have a name as such. Informally, officers call the team the IPL team, or the stadium team. For four or five days every week before a match, members of this wing gather intelligence about potential crimes that could happen at the stadium. On the day of the match, while spectators watch the match, these 20 policemen an all male force watch the spectators, said Sanjay Kumar Sain, deputy commissioner of police (central). In the first six of the seven matches at the stadium this season, which began on March 31, the police have registered six FIRs from in and around the stadium, arresting 42 people. Several were let off with warnings. The stadium, with a capacity of around 55,000 spectators, is guarded by about 700 Delhi Police personnel on every match day. The 20-member wing works independently of these 700 people. Most of these crimes unfold in plain sight. So, we dress up as spectators, said a sub-inspector part of the special team. The disguise process, for each officer, is elaborate if unusual. We paint our faces with logos, wear jerseys and carry flags, said a team member. Before spectators enter the stadium, they begin spreading out, either in groups of twos or individually, but always guarded by other colleagues in uniform who stay at a distance and keep watch. The trick usually is to just follow individual spectators willing to pay a little extra for tickets, until they stumble upon a racketeer. When a family lands up outside the stadium without tickets, they are often willing to pay several times the cost at the last moment. Black marketeers thrive on this, the police officer says. Stadiums across India are usually booked to full capacity for IPL matches. After all, a city only gets to host a handful of matches every season. While this team has nabbed organised black marketeers this season three were held with 24 tickets, being sold at three times their price, on April 20 as Delhi Capitals faced Kolkata Knight Riders they usually end up catching individuals who have a few spare tickets and, in the absence of a refund system, are looking to earn some quick money. According to police data, only 10% of those caught are organised criminals, while a lot more indulge in such acts as a temporary shortcut to make quick money. The job is relatively easier outside the stadium, said one of the team members. Once inside, its a different ball-game. With fewer distinct groups and most people with their eyes seemingly peeled on the ground or their phones, officers need to be much more discerning. The focus inside is on those involved in betting or people who may have entered the stadium illegally, said one officer. If a person seems suspicious, we peep into their cellphone screens, added the officer. We look for those frantically making calls, or typing away on their screens at the end of every ball. Inputs and observational skills helped arrest 25 betters from the stadium on the very first match on April 4. Each suspects was whisked away without a fuss, to ensure genuine spectators arent disturbed. With Delhi Capitals IPL sojourn over and no more matches scheduled at the Arun Jaitley Stadium this season, the 20 members of the special police team returned to their usual duties, only to back next year. A woman, who was married six months ago, was allegedly burnt alive by her in-laws on demand of dowry in a village under police station Bamanwas in Rajasthans Sawai Madhopur, police said on Monday. Police said the body was handed over to the family after post-mortem. (Representative Image) The incident occurred in village Sirsali on May 19 and her family members, who reached there after receiving the information, rushed her to Sawai Man Singh hospital in Jaipur, where the doctors declared her dead on May 20. Manish Sharma, station house officer (SHO) of Bamanwas police station, said a man filed a complaint on May 20, saying that his daughter was burnt alive by her in-laws for dowry. The body was handed over to the family after post-mortem. In his police complaint, the victims father, Pappu Lal Bairwa, 37, a native of village Shriram Pura under police station Lalsot of Dausa district, said that his daughter was married to Naval Kishor Bairwa, a native of village Sirsali in Sawai Madhopur on November 14, 2022. I provided all necessary things in dowry for her in-laws, but they started torturing her demanding a motorcycle and 50,000, he said. He said his daughter had complained to her family many times that her husband and his family members were torturing her for dowry. Police said the victims husband Naval Kishor Bairwa, her mother-in-law Kailashi Devi, her sister-in-law Billu Bairwa and brother-in-law Golu were booked for murder. KOLKATA:A Calcutta high court vacation bench on Monday upheld the April 21 order of a single bench that ordered the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to probe alleged irregularities in the recruitment of staffers by several civic bodies in West Bengal, a lawyer who attended the hearing said. BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari welcomed the Calcutta high court order (File Photo) The state government moved a division bench challenging justice Gangopadhyays order and sought a stay. The vacation bench of justices Biswajit Basu and Apurba Sinha Ray on Monday dismissed the states appeal and said the case will be next heard on June 6. The April 21 order was passed by justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay who, in May 2022, also directed the CBI to probe the bribe-for-job case in state-run schools which led to the arrest of several Trinamool Congress (TMC) leaders. Justice Gangopadhyay passed the April 21 order on a report by the Enforcement Directorate (ED), which said documents recovered during its probe into irregularities in recruitment indicated that a similar scam took place in many civic bodies, said lawyer Firdous Samim, who is representing victims of the school recruitment case. In April, ED told the high court that some documents relating to recruitment by civic bodies were recovered from the home of businessman Ayan Sil, one of the prime suspects in the school recruitment case and who was arrested in March. The court ordered CBI to initiate a separate investigation and register a first information report (FIR) if required. Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Suvendu Adhikari welcomed the court order. There has been massive corruption in appointments by civic bodies. Many of these are in the Hooghly district, Adhikari said. TMC state vice-president Jay Prakash Majumdar said: We respect every court order but Adhikari should not rejoice. He, too, is accused of taking money from the Saradha chit fund company. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON by Akim Reinhardt I cant sing. Or so I always thought. A notorious karaoke warbler, I would sometimes pick a country tune, preferably Hank Williams, so that when my voice cracked, I could pretend I was yodeling. Then one night, I stepped up to the bars microphone and sang a Gordon Lightfoot song. I wasnt terrible. For once. Why? It turns out that most pop songs are for tenors, and Im a baritone with a range similar to Dean Martin and Fats Domino, and even Lou Rawls and Johnny Cash if they dont drift too low, but especially Gordon Lightfoot. No, I still cant sing particularly well. But thanks to crooning one by Gord, I know which songs wont make me croak and quaver. The legend lives on from the Chippewa on down Of the big lake they called Gitche Gumee The lake, it is said, never gives up her dead When the skies of November turn gloomy With a load of iron ore twenty-six thousand tons more Than the Edmund Fitzgerald weighed empty That good ship and true was a bone to be chewed When the gales of November came early Lightfoot did meticulous research while writing The Wreck of the Edumund Fitzgerald. For example, on its final, ill-fated trip, the Edmund Fitzgerald did in fact leave a factory in Wisconsin headed for Cleveland, and carried 26,000 tons of iron. Later, he even made small changes to the lyrics in live performances as new facts about the ships sinking eventually came to light. But his research wasnt perfect. Chippewa is a French/English corruption of Ojibwe. He got closer on the Ojibwemowin (Ojibwe Language) name for what Anglo settlers call Lake Superior: Gichigame. The ship was the pride of the American side Coming back from some mill in Wisconsin As the big freighters go, it was bigger than most With a crew and good captain well seasoned Concluding some terms with a couple of steel firms When they left fully loaded for Cleveland And later that night when the ships bell rang Could it be the north wind theyd been feelin? When I was a about 10 years old, a kid in my school told me his dad wrote the Feelin 7-Up song for TV commercials. I still have no idea if that was true. However, Gordon Lightfoot did actually write, arrange, and produce advertising jingles after moving to Los Angeles to study music at age 19. He also sang on other peoples demos. However, instead of trying to punch through the LA music business, he returned to Canada in 1960 and threw himself into Torontos burgeoning folk scene. Some of his singles charted back home, and he signed on with legendary agent Albert Grossman, who also represented Bob Dylan, among others. Early on, Lightfoots early international success was as a songwriter. Luminaries ranging from Elvis Presley and Harry Belafonte to Johnny Cash and the Clancy Brothers recorded his songs. Marty Robbins had a #1 Country hit with Ribbon of Darkness. Bob Dylan sang his Early Morning Rain five years after Lightfoot covered Dylans Tom Thumbs Blues. But Lightfoots big breakthrough in the States as a performer came in 1971 with If you Could Read My Mind, a brutally honest and poetically rich account of his first marriage unraveling. Whos fault was it? Maybe both of them. Maybe more his. Maybe no ones. Their marital demise wasnt Shakespearean; it was more modern and more pedestrian than that. It was an old time movie. It was a paperback novel. She couldnt see him. He was a failed hero. She didnt bring out all the good things in him. He never thought he could act this way. Years later, when his daughter said she thought one line in particular unfairly blamed her mother, Lightfoot changed it. A you to a we. And he sang it that way for the rest of his life. The wind in the wires made a tattle-tale sound And a wave broke over the railing And every man knew, as the captain did too Twas the witch of November come stealin The dawn came late and the breakfast had to wait When the gales of November came slashin When afternoon came it was freezin rain In the face of a hurricane west wind Often attributed to Mark Twain, Write what you know has been popular literary advice for over a century. But what does anyone really know? To know even oneself is not easy, thus the shrinks and the priests and the bartenders quietly listening and nodding. Know thyself, Pausanias tells us, was inscribed at the Temple of Apollo in Delphi. Is it a command or merely an urging? Can you even do it? Do you need the Gods help? Theres a whole world around you, made up of everything and full of other people youll never know. What does any of it mean? Can you really know another persons story? Can their eyes glisten and tear if youve never met them? Can you even know yourself? When suppertime came, the old cook came on deck sayin Fellas, its too rough to feed ya At seven PM, a main hatchway caved in, He said, Fellas, its been good to know ya The captain wired in he had water comin in And the good ship and crew was in peril And later that night when his lights went outta sight Came the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald During the late 1990s, while volunteering at Nebraska State Penitentiary, I met a former Black Panther named Mondo We Langa. Hed been inside almost 20 years at that point, on charges that a prison official told me were probably bogus. Id see him on Thursday afternoons, and he sometimes requested a Bob Dylan song for my Friday morning radio show. He no longer remembered the title Ballad of a Thin Man, but just called it that Mr. Jones song. I always played it whenever he asked. Dylan, as it turns out, liked Gordon Lightfoot a lot more than I like Dylan. Hes publicly praised Lightfoot many times, whereas Ive been tired of Dylan since my twenties. I do recognize his brilliance. Something is happening here, but you dont know what it is, do you, Mr. Jones is a wonderful critique. Dylan was also a genius for chords and melody. He clearly understood the importance of good production values. And he is very good at rhyming a narration; he can tell a story in time, verse after verse. But I find his protest songs derivative. And while his rambling stoner lyrics were phenomenally (that is the right word) influential on rock and pop music, they tend to bore me. I often find his imagery to be banal, contrived, or even strained. However, my big complaint is that he never (at least not that Im aware of) wrote lyrics that really open up deep insights into the human condition or touch me in some way. Hes never made me laugh, hes never made me cry. Thats not to say Gordon Lightfoots better than Dylan. I think Lightfoots very inconsistent, his work sometimes drifting towards the saccharine. But on a few occasions when he put it all together, he was damn near perfect. He perceived something about the ultimate human connection: vulnerability. He could confess his own or imagine others because he seemed to understand that all vulnerability, whether yours, mine, or anyone elses, is largely the same thing. Being vulnerable is what truly enjoins us. Does any one know where the love of God goes When the waves turn the minutes to hours? The searchers all say theyd have made Whitefish Bay If theyd put fifteen more miles behind her They might have split up or they might have capsized They may have broke deep and took water And all that remains is the faces and the names Of the wives and the sons and the daughters Unlike Neil Young, Joni Mitchell, and Paul Anka of his own generation, or Celine Dion, Shania Twain, and Justin Bieber of later generations, Gordon Lightfoot didnt become a global superstar by leaving Canada behind. Aside from that one brief foray to Los Angles over sixty years ago, Canada remained his home. When touring or recording in the United States, he typically visited on a H1-B visa. Despite being based in Canada, he became a star in the United States, knocking out 20 studio albums, five of which went either gold or platinum. Fifteen songs charted from 19621986. His album Sundown went to number 1 in 1974, as did the eponymous single. But outside of Canada, he was most popular in the Great Lakes border region, where his music got heavier radio play, and Gords Gold was to that region what Hank Williams 24 Greatest Hits was to the South: you could be sure at least one of your friends parents owned it. Lake Huron rolls, Superior sings In the rooms of her ice-water mansion Old Michigan steams like a young mans dreams The islands and bays are for sportsmen And farther below Lake Ontario Takes in what Lake Erie can send her And the iron boats go as the mariners all know With the gales of November remembered Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald originally appeared on the album Summertime Dream. The December, 1975 recording session was nearly finished and Lightfoot needed one more song to round out the record. Some filler. He told his band that he had this song hed recently written. It was a simple, double-time waltz, mostly four chords over and over (Bsus2, F# minor, A major, E major). A lotta words, but hed take care of that. He laid it out for them and they recorded the backing track on the spot, in one take. Later that evening, also in one take, Pee Wee Charles and Terry Clements added the electric and steel guitars that wail like the west wind. Lightfoot then cleared the studio, turned off the lights, and added the vocals while reading from his handwritten lyrics. In a musty old hall in Detroit they prayed In the Maritime Sailors Cathedral The church bell chimed til it rang twenty-nine times For each man on the Edmund Fitzgerald The legend lives on from the Chippewa on down Of the big lake they called Gitche Gumee Superior, they said, never gives up her dead When the gales of November come early When Gordon Lightfoot died, the Mariners Church in Detroit chimed its bell 30 times. Akim Reinhardts website is ThePublicProfessor.com The district administration and the animal resource development in West Bengals Darjeeling has alerted the border guarding agency and local police stations along the IndoNepal border to restrict illegal movement of cattle following reports of sporadic incidents of Lumpy Skin Disease (LSD). West Bengal shares around 100 km of porous border with Nepal which is guarded by the SSB. (Representative Image) In view of the recent sporadic occurrence of LSD in cattle in Darjeeling, it has been observed through regular surveillance and monitoring that cattle and other small animals entering the district from Nepal, through different routes may be the source of infection, A R Rana, director of animal resources department of Darjeeling wrote in his letter to the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB). LSD is an infectious disease in cattle caused by a virus of the family Poxviridae, also known as Neethling virus. The disease is characterised by fever, enlarged superficial lymph nodes and multiple nodules on the skin and mucous membranes. The disease was also reported from Uttarakhand earlier this month, where it killed more than three dozen cattle. West Bengal shares around 100 km of porous border with Nepal which is guarded by the SSB. The illegal transportation and movement of cattle must be stopped immediately in order to mitigate further spread of the disease in other areas, the letter, which was also sent to around 10 12 police stations in the bordering areas to alert them, stated. Till date only sporadic cases have bene reported and it is still not an outbreak. It has remained confined only in Sukhiapokhari block. Police stations such as Rangliot, 6th Mile, Mirik, Maneybhanjang and Lodhoma have been alerted. The information regarding the disease was shared with our commandants at Maneybhanjang and Pasupati by the local police stations with a request to step up border vigil. The issue was also discussed at the monthly co-ordination meeting held with locals, police and customs officials among other stakeholders. We recently held an exercise named ops-alert, which is organised twice every year to activate our border outposts for various activities. We are now focussing on intelligence-based operations, said a senior SSB officer. Officials from the district administration said that cases have been reported from only two blocks Sukhiapokhari and Bijanbari which are located along the Indo-Nepal border. We have started providing medicines for the cattle to the villagers. We are monitoring the situation and creating awareness. It is well within the control. The SSB has been asked to step up vigil, said S Ponnambalam, district magistrate of Darjeeling. LUCKNOW Uttar Pradesh government on Monday decided to strengthen the Special Task Force (STF) by establishing its units in four more districts and filling up vacant posts, said a state government spokesperson. The UP government also approved the formation of STF unit in Ayodhya, where land acquisition process has been completed. (Pic for representation) In a review meeting, chief minister Yogi Adityanath gave approval to the budget for the acquisition of land and construction of buildings for the STF units in Agra, Gorakhpur, Prayagraj and Bareilly. A transit hostel would also be constructed for the STFs Noida unit while the construction of buildings has started, he said. The government approved an amount of 2046.29 lakh for all the units. Officers informed the CM that the STF units in Agra, Gorakhpur, Prayagraj, and Bareilly were working from the police lines, which made their task more challenging. The chief minister ordered for the release of funds for the construction of STFs dedicated buildings in the four districts, he added. The state government sanctioned 284.22 lakh for the Agra unit, 253.62 lakh for Gorakhpur, 258.86 lakh for Prayagraj unit and 228.22 lakh for Bareilly unit of the STF for the construction of the buildings. For construction of transit hostel in Noida, 962.193 lakh was released, he said. The UP government also approved the formation of STF unit in Ayodhya, where land acquisition process has been completed. An order was issued to create 13 posts in the unit. The recruitment process for the posts including one deputy superintendent of police, one inspector, four sub-inspectors, four computer operators, and three class IV posts had been completed. The state police department wrote to the state government for the creation of 23 extra posts in the STF. The recruitment of the four head constables, 16 constables, and three constable drivers, etc. would start after the state governments approval. The government also released 59.18 lakh for the purchase of new vehicles, added the spokesperson. Uttar Pradesh Lokayukta has issued a bailable warrant against the then principal secretary of Social Welfare Department, BL Meena. UP Lokayukta orders bailable warrant against senior official (file) The warrant has been issued for the officials failure to appear before the Lokayukta court in an ongoing inquiry, secretary, Lokayukta Anil Kumar Singh said in a press statement. At present Meena is posted as principal secretary, Cooperatives Department in the Uttar Pradesh government. In the press statement, Singh said, BL Meena was summoned in a complaint case number 623-2021. Even after the order issued by Deputy Lokayukta Dinesh Kumar Singh, Meena did not appear in the court to cooperate in the ongoing inquiry. The Lokayukta had directed BL Meena to appear with evidence and reply to the charges made against him. But he did not appear before the Lokayukta, Singh added. Due to his non-cooperation, the Lokayukta issued bailable warrant against Meena. The Lokayukta has set bail amount of 10,000. The Commissioner of Police, Lucknow, has been directed to serve the bailable warrant to Meena. The investigation in the case is continuing, he said. The Lokayukta had earlier issued notices to the senior officers of the Health and Family Welfare Department over the irregularities committed in the installation of the firefighting equipment in the community health centers. Actor Aditya Singh Rajput, who contested in popular reality show Splitsvilla and detective show Cambala Investigation Agency and acted in movies such as Maine Gandhi Ko Nahi Maara, died on Monday after he allegedly slipped and fell in the bathroom of his Andheri home. Aditya Singh Rajput The Oshiwara police have registered a case of accidental death. Senior inspector Mohan Patil said the 32-year-old actor had been unwell for the last few days, but he refused to take any medicine. Rajput woke up around 11 am and ate parathas for breakfast and had not been feeling well since. Around 2.30 pm, he told the house help who stayed with him to make some khichadi for lunch. He again complained of feeling nauseous and went to the bathroom. A few minutes later, the house help heard a thud and called out for help, Patil said, adding that some tiles were found broken at the place where he had fallen. The house help, with the assistance of guards, took Rajput out of the bathroom and into his bed. Others, meanwhile, ran to the private hospital on the ground floor of the building, Green Height. The house help also called a friend of the actor who came over and took him to Trauma Care Hospital in Jogeshwari where he was declared dead on arrival, the police officer said. Police officials said two injuries were prima facie found on the body - a bump on the back of his head and a cut on his left ear. A senior police official said the actor had been partying with friends for the last few days. The actor was living in a 3 BHK flat on the 11th floor of the building with two roommates. The other two are working professionals and were not at home at the time of the incident, the official said. Rajputs body was sent to Siddharth Hospital in Goregaon, a police officer said. Soon after the news of his death broke, social media was flooded with pictures and messages about the actor being depressed and about him suffering from a drug overdose. However, the police said some of the pictures that were thought to be of a bar were of the actors bedroom. About the possibility of drug use, they said it could only be ascertained after the post-mortem report came in. Throughout the evening, several of the actors friends and colleagues visited the building. Arya Babbar, who worked with Rajput a year ago in the yet-to-be released movie, Super Dhamaal.com, said, It is shocking news. It is hard to believe such a young and handsome man would go away this way. I have come to check on Aditya in the middle of a shooting. Another friend said Rajput was very happy after launching his brand of hoodies and jackets which was gaining popularity among youngsters. He had been in Mumbai for the last 17 years. His mother lives alone in New Delhi after his father died. He also has a sister who lives in the US, she said. Another friend said he was a good photographer and had started a photo studio in his flat. Police officers said Rajputs mother had been informed of the actors death and she was expected to reach Mumbai around 11 pm on Monday. The Gautam Budh Nagar police on Monday got the remand custody of four suspects of African origin who were arrested last week for operating a meth lab in Greater Noida, police said. The police anticipate that valuable information can be extracted from these suspects during the course of their interrogation while in remand custody. This operation had gone unnoticed for at least a year, resulting in the arrest of total of nine Nigerian men and one person from Senegal. (Representative Image) On May 17, the police uncovered a meth lab that had been established and run by foreign nationals in a three-story residential building in Greater Noida. This operation had gone unnoticed for at least a year, resulting in the arrest of total of nine Nigerian men and one person from Senegal. Forty-six kilograms of methamphetamine (MDMA) were seized from the residence, and the street value of the drugs is estimated to be around 200 crore in the international market. Furthermore, reagents and chemicals used in the production of drugs, worth an additional 100 crore, were also discovered, making this one of the largest drug seizures in the state. The substances involved, commonly referred to as meth or crystal meth, are powerful and highly addictive synthetic narcotics, specifically methamphetamine or MDMA drugs. SM Khan, the Deputy Commissioner of Police in Greater Noida, stated, Several questions and links pertaining to suppliers and distributors remain unclear at the moment. With the remand, our first priority is to determine how these individuals entered the country and whether they were residing illegally, as no documents have been found in their possession. We have been granted five days of remand for the four suspects. Additionally, police also said that once the suspects are interrogated, crucial information regarding the source of the raw materials, the supply chain, the customers involved, and the overall network will be unveiled. To aid in the interrogation process, a translator will be engaged, and the Nigerian and Senegalese embassies have been contacted for assistance, DCP Khan added. According to the officials associated with the matter, the other six suspects are still in judicial custody. Initially, nine suspects were detained by the police, but an additional suspect was arrested later on the same day. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON NOIDA: The water supply to Express Zenith apartment society in Noidas Sector 77 was abruptly halted by the developer on Sunday. This action compelled the residents to stage a protest, demanding the restoration of the supply. HT Image Approximately 600 out of the 700 units in the society, covering 5.1 acres, are currently occupied, according to authority officials. Roughly 3,000 families reside in this community. The residents alleged that the developer has failed to provide adequate maintenance and basic services, including water supply. According to the residents, the developer disrupted the water supply as a means to teach a lesson to them as they have filed complaints in the past about the poor water supply in society. Starting at 9 am, the residents protested against Express Zenith and continued their demonstration until evening. They also filed a complaint against the developers staff for misconduct at the Sector 113 police post. We noticed a complete absence of water supply in our taps around 9am. When we questioned the maintenance staff, they shouted at us and used foul language against anyone who demanded water supply. We also complained to the water department of the Noida authority, who confirmed that the water supply from their end was normal. It was the developers staff who intentionally cut off the supply to the flats. When we argued, they threatened us and refused to restore the supply until evening, solely because we had filed complaints demanding quality water supply, said Sanjiv Kumar, a resident of Express Zenith society. The residents persisted with their protest throughout the day, while the developers staff neglected to reinstate the water supply. We have every right to demand quality water, and that should not be considered a crime. The developers staff threatened to withhold the supply if residents continued to complain. We complained to the Noida authority and other agencies due to the high TDS level and salinity of the water supplied to our society. The water quality is so poor that our RO system frequently gets damaged, and doctors have advised us against drinking the water. In addition to the water issue, the complex lacks proper functioning lifts, and numerous maintenance problems persist. We demand strict action against the developer and their staff for providing substandard basic services, expressed Suchita Vohra, another resident. RP Singh, the deputy general manager of the water department at the Noida authority, dispatched a team of four staff members to investigate the water supply issues. Our team inspected the supply and informed the residents that we were providing an adequate supply to the complex. It is the builder who has halted the supply to the flats, said RP Singh. HT tried contacting estate manager KP Singh of Express Zenith society repeatedly but he did not take calls. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Lucknow/Meerut Refuting reports of an alleged rift, the leaders of Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) and Samajwadi Party (SP) in western Uttar Pradesh have clarified that both the parties are getting along well. They added that the speculation of the SP-RLD alliance hitting turbulence is just a rumour spread by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to create confusion ahead of the Lok Sabha polls next year. Both parties officially maintain there is no divide; say its just a rumour spread by BJP (HT File) The clarification comes after reports of an alleged rift between SP and RLD surfaced during the civic elections in Uttar Pradesh. In the recently-concluded civic elections, the alliance partners fought against each other for seats in municipal corporations, nagar mahapanchayat, and nagar panchayats. Notably, the two parties have been alliance partners since 2017 when the BJP came to power in Uttar Pradesh. Whats fuelling the fire? While the differences between the two parties started surfacing in the run-up to the urban local body polls, observers feel RLD chief Jayant Chaudharys idea of a united coalition with Congress is not going down well with SP, especially as its president Akhilesh Yadav has constantly been advocating a non-BJP, non-Congress alliance. In this context, a senior RLD functionary said, The alliance-dharma was not followed during the ULB polls. The SP did not engage in any due consultation. They should have consulted the RLD before deciding candidates on western U.P. seats of Saharanpur, Ghaziabad, Meerut, Aligarh, and Bareilly. Had they reserved some of these seats for us, it would have sent a good message to the electorate (about the alliance). Also, we would have won a seat or two. The RLD functionary also pointed out that the partys success rate was comparatively better than that of the SP. The speculations of a rift further gained steam after Akhilesh skipped the swearing-in ceremony of Siddaramaiah in Karnataka but Chaudhary attended it. In another such instance, Akhilesh recently backed West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjees comment that Congress should support regional parties on seats where they have a strong foothold. However, a few days after, Chaudhary triggered speculations regarding an alliance with the Congress saying, Our alliance with SP will continue. Simultaneously, the opposition parties will think about an alliance with Congress. SP, RLD in damage control mode Scrapping reports of a rift, the RLD leadership has said that the civic poll has a different nature and parties need to satisfy the political ambitions of their local candidates. This is why the two parties contested against each other. In fact, Chaudhary didnt even participate in canvassing for party candidates during civic bodies elections. SP leader and former member of the state planning commission, Professor Sudhir Panwar, accused BJP of spreading rumours. He said that the saffron fold is targeting Muslims & Jat communities in western U.P. through rumours like a disagreement over seat sharing in Lok Sabha, poor performance in urban local bodies elections, the exodus of Muslims from SP based on Moradabad & Meerut mayor elections, and Chaudharys participation in Karnatakas swearing-in ceremony. Professor Panwar also claimed that since 2017, Akhilesh Yadavs politics has stood for secularism & social justice -- the cherished ideals of Dr BR Ambedkar and Ram Manohar Lohia. The SP chief has made sincere efforts to forge alliances to check the expansion of BJP, sometimes at the expense of his own party, added Panwar. Echoing a similar viewpoint, RLD leader and former minister Dr Mairajuddin Ahmad said that those (the BJP) who are baffled by the strength of the SP-RLD alliance are behind this rumour-mongering. He said, The alliance will stay intact and grow even more stronger by the forthcoming general election... The recent poll losses in civic elections should not be seen as an outcome of a hypothetical rift in the alliance. Another senior SP leader said, Both Akhilesh Ji and Jayant Ji are mature leaders. The SP-RLD alliance is not restrictive and the leaders are free to speak their minds. Neither Akhilesh Ji nor Jayant Ji have ever spoken ill about each other or used any blackmail tactics. These speculations are mere speculations. Remember how home minister Amit Shah, during the 2023 U.P. assembly polls, had made an open offer to Jayant Ji but the latter completely rejected it. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON On April 27, 168 cadres of Dimasa National Liberation Army-Dimasa Peoples Supreme Council (DNLA/DPSC) gave up arms and signed a peace deal in New Delhi in presence of Union home minister Amit Shah, Assam chief minister (CM) Himanta Biswa Sarma and other senior officials. PREMIUM With the Dimasa National Liberation Army joining the mainstream, there is now no tribal or ethnic outfit left in Assam thats rebelling(Representational Image REUTERS) The DNLA is not one of the major rebel outfits in Assam, where insurgency in the past four decades has seen the mushrooming of many armed groups based on ethnic affiliations, with goals ranging from creation of a separate country to formation of a new state. Yet, with their joining the mainstream, there is now no tribal or ethnic outfit left in Assam thats rebelling a fact which CM Sarma highlighted in his speech ahead of signing of the agreement. The United Liberation Front of Asom-Independent (ULFA-I), the oldest and the largest insurgent outfit from the state, is not a tribal or ethnic rebel outfit its the only outfit with a pan-Assam presence and with no specific ethnic affiliation. It has refused to sit for peace talks despite several overtures from the Centre and the Assam government. It remains the lone hurdle to end insurgency that is, if another new outfit doesnt take birth. Insurgency in Assam started in April 1979 with the formation of ULFAas an offshoot of the anti-foreigner's agitation against the inflow of immigrants to the state from Bangladesh (former East Pakistan). The stated aim of the outfit was to create an independent Assam. According to the Assam Accord of 1985 and the National Register of Citizens (NRC), anyone entering Assam from Bangladesh without valid documents after March 24, 1971, is considered an illegal immigrant. A decade later, the Bodo Security Force (BSF) was formed in the areas of lower Assam. The outfit, which represented the Bodo community, sought to create an independent Bodo nation. This was followed by the emergence of many outfits of different communities with diverse goals. According to the South Asia Terrorism Portal (SATP), maintained by the non-profit Institute for Conflict Management, Assam had 60 different terror outfits at one point. The long road to peace In 1993, the Centre signed a peace treaty with the BSF. However, soon after that, other Bodo outfits like the National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB), with its own factions, and the Bodo Liberation Tigers (BLT) emerged. In February, 2011, ULFA split into two groupsone, led by chairman Arabinda Rajkhowa, decided to give up its violent past and sit for talks with Centre without any condition and another, led by commander-in-chief Paresh Baruah, which decided against talks and rebranded as ULFA-Independent. Last month, the Union home ministry sent a draft agreement to the pro-talks faction of ULFA, 12 years after the group gave up violence and agreed to sit for talks without any pre-condition. This is not to say that the previous governments did not make attempts: backroom parleys went on for years, however, nothing concrete materialised. We have received a copy of the draft proposal sent by the Centre and are in the process of discussing it amongst ourselves, said Anup Chetia, general secretary of the pro-talks faction of ULFA. Once that is complete, we will send our views on the draft along with the changes we seek to the Centre through the intermediary for the talks. If our views are accommodated, the agreement can be signed in May itself, he added. Chetia refused to divulge details of the draft stating that its a confidential document and its contents cant be disclosed. The only other major outfit that is yet to sign a peace deal is the Kamtapur Liberation Organisation (KLO). In January, Jiban Singha, the chief of this outfit, entered India from Myanmar along with 17 of his associates. Though the group is yet to announce a ceasefire, KLO is in talks with officials. The outfit is inactive at present and if talks proceed well, a deal could be inked soon. In recent years, another outfit called KLO (DL) (it is as yet unclear what the last two letters of this breakaway faction opposed to peace talks stands for) had emerged. But Assam police have informed that 24 of its sympathisers have been arrested and two killed in encounters. The outfit is stated to be almost neutralised. There are four other outfits, three Kuki groups and one comprising people from the Hmar community, who have been in ceasefire since 2012but no formal peace deal has been signed with them. At present not more than 200 active cadres of ULFA-I are present in Myanmar where the group has its base and camps. There have been offers for talks from the Centre and state government, but the rebel outfit has remained adamant on their demand for including sovereignty in the peace talks. But since the government doesnt agree to such demands, talks have not taken place, said a senior state government official. Officials maintain that though ULFA-I had gained some traction among youths in past few years and that led to a rise in fresh recruits, the trend has changed in recent months and the outfit has seen many reverses. In May, 2021 citing the Covid-19 pandemic as the reason, ULFA-I announced a unilateral ceasefire for three months. The group extended it by another three months in November the same year. In the meantime, the outfits chief Paresh Baruah started giving audio bytes to local news channels expressing his views on the diverse range of issues, said the official. Since there was a buzz around that time that a peace agreement could be signed with the outfit soon, some youth felt they might get a good deal and started leaving for Myanmar to join ULFA-I. Once there, they realised that life in the jungles was very harsh. But when they tried to return home, they were prevented and even killed on some occasions, he added. As per intelligence inputs, in the past 10-12 years, the ULFA-I leadership has killed nearly 20 cadres who tried to escape from its camps in Myanmar. Police say ULFA-I had used social media platforms like Facebook to propagate its ideology and try and enlist fresh cadres. But Assam police were able to track these accounts, get in touch with the social media platforms and pull down the pages. A brief history of peace talks In January 2000, a fresh peace accord was signed with four factions of National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB) and 4,209 active cadres laid down arms. This was followed by another deal with Karbi rebel outfits in Karbi Anglong in September 2021 and surrender of 1926 cadres. A year later, eight Adivasi groups also inked a peace deal and 1,100 cadres joined mainstream. As per Assam police records, in the past two years, police and security forces have apprehended 421 cadres of different rebel outfits, recovered 114 sophisticated weapons and more than 5,000 ammunition rounds. Once they give up arms, cadres of these outfits are rehabilitated under provisions of two separate schemes from Centre and the state government (rolled out in April 2018 and March 2019, respectively). As per the Central scheme, surrendered cadres get 4 lakh in fixed deposit and 6,000 per month for three years. Under the state scheme, those who give up arms get a one-time settlement amount of 1.5 lakh. Besides the cash component, cadres are provided with vocational skills by various government agencies to enable them to start their own businesses. Theres also a 2% reservation in state government jobs for surrendered cadres who fulfill all eligibility requirements pertaining to age, educational qualifications and physical ability. Our view is very clear. Whoever holds the gun will have to surrender before sitting for talks. Once that happens, we will provide them financial help, training and patronage from state government agencies. But if someone tries to reorganise themselves and pick up guns again, they would be handled very strictly, said Hiren Nath, Additional DGP (Special Branch). VARANASI Three women drowned while several others sustained injuries after a boat ferrying 30 passengers capsized in Ganga on Monday morning. The incident took place near Maldepur Ghat in the Phephana area of the Ballia district after the boats engine developed a technical snag. Bodies of all three victims have been recovered, said police. For representation only (PTI) The passengers were returning from a mundan (tonsuring) ceremony. Following the incident, passengers were rescued with the help of locals and police personnel. Subsequently, the passengers were rushed to the government hospital, where the three women were declared dead on arrival. The victims have been identified as Indravati Devi (60), Gangotri Devi (55), and one other woman -- all residents of different areas of Ballia. Among the rescued passengers, eight women are undergoing treatment. While, Sukra Devi (50), Manju Devi (32), Malti Devi (55), Saroj Kumari (35), Jamuna Devi (45), and two others are admitted to the local district hospital, Malti Devi has been referred to Varanasi in view of her critical condition. Meanwhile, district magistrate, Ballia, Ravindra Kumar, has confirmed the death of the three women in the incident. Doctors have been asked to provide the best treatment to those admitted to the hospital. At the same time, a rescue operation is underway to ensure that no passenger is not trapped or left under the boat. An inquiry has been launched into the incident even as the boatman has fled. LUCKNOW Following the ongoing madrasa board examinations, the Uttar Pradesh government is likely to crackdown on unregistered madrasas receiving foreign funds. According to government reports, about 4,000 madrasas receive foreign funds across the state but several of them dont have legitimate records of these sources. Several such unregistered madrasas are running in districts adjacent to the Nepal border. (Representational photo) In this regard, an action plan has been chalked out by the officials of the minority welfare department and the police. It is pertinent to mention here that the state government conducted a survey of unrecognised madrasas last year. This survey highlighted the ambiguity around the source of income of several madrasas. As per the survey, 8,441 madrasas were found running without registration. Several such unregistered madrasas are running in districts adjacent to the Nepal border. Besides, a majority of these madrasa operators have been reluctant in sharing information about their source of funding. Most of them claim that their madrasas run on money from donations. Among these, more than 4,000 madrasas were found to have received foreign funding. Speaking on the condition of anonymity, an official of the minority welfare department said, Many madrasa management are surprisingly parroting the same reply. Most of them say that they get funds from big metro cities like Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Delhi, and Hyderabad. However, investigations have revealed that the money in these madrasas was coming in from countries like Saudi Arabia, Nepal, Bangladesh, and UAE. The madrasa operators have not even been able to provide relevant documents relating to these donations. When asked about the issue, Dharampal Singh, state minister for minority welfare department, said, The government wants children of the minority community to get modern education. However, it has been found that many madrasas are getting funds from abroad. Due to this, kids from financially weaker sections of minority communities are lured into questionable activities. Following a probe, legal action will be taken against such madrasas. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Chinese researchers develop tissue-like cultured fish fillets Xinhua) 16:17, May 22, 2023 HANGZHOU, May 22 (Xinhua) -- Seafood is favored by many people for its taste and its richness in various proteins, omega-3 fatty acids and micronutrients. However, the increasing human population, coupled with environmental stress and climate change, has led to the overexploitation of marine food resources in recent decades. In response to this challenge, a team of Chinese researchers has been seeking to develop tissue-like cultured fish fillets for human consumption, combining fish muscle fibers and adipocytes with 3D-printed gel. The scientists from Zhejiang University and Dalian Polytechnic University published their findings recently in the journal npj Science of Food. They first isolated muscle stem cells and adipose stem cells from the large yellow croaker, a warm-temperate migratory fish known for its delicious flavor and richness in nutrients. They then promoted the myogenic differentiation of piscine satellite cells (PSCs) by regulating two related signaling pathways. In addition, a 3D scaffold, the supporting materials for fish cell adhesion and growth, was constructed by gelatin-based gel mixed with PSCs. After proliferation and differentiation, the muscle scaffold was filled with cultured fish adipocytes until the tissue-like fish fillets were formed. In essence, the cell culture of fish is a process of cell proliferation and differentiation in vitro through animal stem cells, explained the research team. The process of producing the fillets took 17 days. No obvious differences were noted between the cultured meats and native muscle tissues in terms of the proportions of muscle cells and fat cells, gumminess, resilience or springiness. However, plenty of safety assessments are needed before the cell-cultured fish can be served to humans, according to the research team. "The research offers potential possibilities for the future supply of meat and animal protein, and has important implications for the conservation of marine fish stocks," said Liu Donghong, a member of the research team. (Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Liang Jun) by Leanne Ogasawara 1. In Arkady Martines 2019 debut novel A Memory called Empire, newly-appointed Ambassador Mahit Dzmare travels via jumpgate from her home planet at the edge of the Teixcalaani empire to the capital. Teixcalaan is like the sun around which all the other planets in the empire revolve. The city of cities, it is the center of the Teixcalaani universe. Arriving in the capital, the new ambassador is immediately invited to attend a gathering of the glittering literati at court. Mahit stands in awe of what to her eyes is the pinnacle of civilization. The gathering doubles as a poetry contest. And as she listens to a recitation of a poem of self-sacrifice at war, which simultaneously spells the name of one of the lost soldiers in the opening glyphs of each line, Mahit realizes that right here, in this very place, is everything she has wanted since she was a young girl back on her home planet at the edge of the empire. The novel is, not surprisingly, dedicated to anyone who has ever fallen in love with a culture that is devouring their own. Memory Called Empire received the 2020 Hugo Award for Best Novel. It has also gotten some attention from linguists. The written language of the empire, Teixcalaanli, is based on the Aztec hieroglyphics of Mesoamerican language Nahuatl, which was the language spoken in central Mexico before the arrival of the Spanish. A logosyllabic tongue written in glyphs like Chinese, the script allows for wonderful poetic artistry and playful wordplay. I dont think many students of Japanese language and literature especially those of classical Japanesewould miss the affinity to the poetry contests and glamor of the Heian court. Reading as protagonist Mahit tries to display her own growing cultural prowess through her ability to make nuanced references to literary tropes, mainly from poetry, it really did feel straight out of the Tale of Genji. According to Martine, in addition to Nahuatl, Teixcalaanli is also inspired by Byzantine Greek. Digging around online, I discovered that poetry contests were a centerpiece of political life during the Middle Byzantine Period (approximately 900-1204 CE), and were used in much the same way as in the Heian court: to prove an orators intelligence and cultural competence, as well as to make political arguments. What do we have nowadays to gain cultural capital? Definitely not impromptu poetry contests at the parties of the powerful. 2. In University of Bologna linguist Silvia Ferraras new book, The Greatest Invention: A History of the World in Nine Mysterious Scripts (translated wonderfully by Todd Portnowitz), the author emphasizes the way a written script is never inherently tied to its language. Think of how Chinese characters have been used by languages as linguistically different from each other as Vietnamese, Korean, Cantonese, and Japanese. And how many languages are written using modified forms of the Roman alphabet? With so many writing systems, I wondered how Ferrara whittled the list down to just nine scripts in her attempt to pinpoint the miracle of true invention. As a Japanese translator, right off I was wondering why the two Japanese syllabaries, hiragana and katakana were not included. Japanese is unique in world languages to employ three different scripts to notate its oral language. Also excluded was the Phoenician alphabet (from which Greek as well as our Roman alphabet is derived). Her reason for this was that each of these scripts above were themselves derived from other scripts; in the case of hiragana and katakana from Chinese characters and in the case of Phoenician from Egyptian hieroglyphs by way of something called the Proto-Sinaitic script. Teixcalaani, while having cultural-semantic elements from Byzantine Greek such as diglossia, has a writing system that is pictographic, like the Aztec script used to write Nahuatl. Martines novel illuminates Ferraras point about scripts being fundamentally detached from their languages since Martine was able to come up with a language semantically like Greek but being written in logographs. 3. It is not surprising that most of the worlds scripts were influenced by other scripts. I think it is hard to pinpoint any true inventions. Though, the cuneiform writing of the Sumerians is a maybe safe betbeing considered the oldest writing form. This is followed by Egyptian hieroglyphs, and Chinese characters, or logograms. Less well known are the Indus script and the Olmec script of Mesoamerica; as well as Rongorongo of Easter Island. Right off, readers might notice that except for Chinese, none of these scripts is used by the same people anymore. So, in that sense, the greatest invention is Chinesegiven both its beauty and longevity. Scripts, like languages are fragile. Also, of the nine, more than half are as yet undeciphered: Linear A, Cretan Hieroglyphics, the Cypro-Minoan syllabary, the Indus script, Meso-American Olmec and yesRongorongo. Not much is known about Rongorongo. Scholars believe it was created to notate the language of Rapa Nui, used on Easter Island, one of the most remote places in the world. One interesting thing about the script is that it was written in reverse boustrophedon. I had never heard that phrase before. As a Japanese translator, I deeply admire and find it pleasing to read Japanese texts vertically, from top to bottom, right to left. Classical Japanese, usually written vertically, did not employ punctuation so sentences merged and flowed without pause. What is so interesting about boustrophedon systems is that the text is written in the same way an ox plows a field; so that lines run left to right and then right to left, alternating down the page. The Greek words means writing that follows the path of the ox. But Rongorongo is written in reverse boustrophedon, which means the signs in the second line are upside down with respect to the first, forcing the reader to turn the tablet over every other line. Not only that, but the language is read from bottom to top reading is quite physical! 4. According to Ferrara, scripts evolve from icons. They are at base: art. From basic pictographs development occurs by the rebus effect. This happens when existing symbols, such as pictograms, are used a second time purely for their sound, regardless of their meaning, to represent new words. An example Ferrara provides is the Chinese character , ocean, which is a combination of the images for water,, and sheep,. She writes: On the semantic level, obviously, sheep has no business being a part of this word, but on the phonetic level it does, since it is pronounced just like ocean, yang. Its a marvelously coherent system, with meaning and sound coming together to form each sign. Like inserting one thing into another with a satisfying click. This fusion, this click, is unique. Which is why calling the Chinese script ideographic is an indignity, not to mention an error. In ancient history, rebuses were a kind of lightbulb moment when a homonym was discovered to work well in conveying words with very different meanings but that sound the same. Another example comes from the earliest writing system discussed in the book: Cuneiformin this case used to write the ancient language of Sumerian 3,000 years before Christ. So much Cuneiform is concerning ledgers and accounts receivables market lists and money owed. A scribe jotting down debts owed to a temple realizes that the sound for to reimburse sounds the same as for cane (as in a reed) and Presto! He draws a cane. Later in the book, Ferrara describes a game of Pictionary where players are trying to communicate Brad Pitt. They draw a man and try to make it look like him. When that doesnt work they draw a man next to a beautiful woman with flowing hair still, no cigar. Success is arrived at by putting a peach with an arrow pointing to the dark pit in the center of the fruit. Ah ha! 5. Something missing from A Memory Called Empire is the way that language shapes thoughts in the bilingual brain. Reading the novel, you never sense that Mahit is thinkingor dreamingin Teixalaani. She has another voice in her mind, that of the former now-deceased ambassador, whose memory has been installed in her brain as an imago, a high technical achievement invented on her home planet. How something so technologically advanced was achieved out in the sticks of space is part of the fascination of the novel. But the now-dead former ambassador and Mahit communicate silently inside her mind in the Stationer language, which is an alphabetic language, heavy in consonantsnot unlike, the author points out in a note in the back of the book, Modern Armenian. As I have mentioned in these pages numerous times, I felt like a different person in Japanese. I certainly said thank you more often, and I believe I became more considerate and compassionate. In spoken Japanese there was an element of fun since verbs come at the end of sentences. Endless jokes could be made. The listener thinks you are going in one direction, only to be surprised when the action verb arrives and the whole sentence means something completely different. I listened more carefully than I did in English waiting for the verbs. Spoke slower, trying to be polite. But even more than the transformation I felt in speaking Japanese was how dramatic it was to read and write. Because many Chinese characters, called kanji in Japanese, function like pictographs (logograms), meaning is not necessarily tied to the verbal language, so you can skim and grasp meanings without actually reading. Instead of proceeding in time from left to right sounding out what the words say in your mind, for example, you see a character and immediately know what is being conveyed. As a simple example, means mountain no matter what language you speak. And when you see the character you grasp the meaning instantly. In Ted Chiangs first story collection Stories of Your Life and Others, one of the stories, called The Story of Your Life, explores communication with aliens who visit earth. Are the friends? Or enemies? To try and find out a linguist is called in. Unable to crack their oral language she turns to their written script. Discovering that their language, Heptapod, is not unlike Chinese, in that often meaning is conveyed in the structure of characters (semasiographic) rather than the pattern of phonetic, vocalized sounds (glottographic). Taking it further, Heptapod logograms can convey the meaning of entire sentences. In the story, as the hero becomes fluent in the language, which conveys all the semantic pieces of the sentence instantaneously, she experiences a great shift in how she understands time and her place therein; so that the future is already present in that precise present moment. The idea is something akin to reading kanji-dense Japanese sentences that if you comprehend meaning instantaneously instead of experiencing it unfolding in time (reading from the start of a sentence to its end), you come to perceive the future and present bound in a single instant. The language unlocks the door to a new perception of existence in time. In the same way that the language we think in changes our thoughts, so too does the language we read in open new pathways of understanding. 6. Thinking about the pit in Brad Pitt, Silvia Ferrara again and again makes the point that scripts, like oral languages, are not inventions but more like activities that evolve collectivelyin groups of people. This can be better understood when comparing it to artificial languages which are invented, like Klingon or Loglan. Arika Okrent, in her delightfully fun book In the Land of Invented Languages: Esperanto Rock Stars, Klingon Poets, Loglan Lovers, and the Mad Dreamers Who Tried to Build A Perfect Language, introduces an array of people who, often obsessed with languages as kids, go on to spend their lives constructing incredibly rich artificial languagesall for a population of one person. Themselves. I had never heard of this before, but it is called Conlanging (constructed languages) but I really went down the rabbit hole reading about it. Probably what first comes to mind, in addition to the Heptopod language above, are the languages from the Hobbit and Lord of the Rings, or Dothraki and Klingon from Game of Thrones and Star Trek. Artist and conlanger Steven Travis constructed language Tapissary stands out for the rich beauty of his made-up script, which is incorporated into works of art in charcoals and oils, as well as illuminated manuscripts. 7. During Covid, many people began to study languages. With time on their hands and imaginations unlocked ironically unlocked by lockdown people craved connecting with others. And how better to do during a lockdown that then through language study? In the US language learning has reached an all time low. Long gone are the days when students learned to read and write in French or Spanish, or in earlier times became proficient at ancient languages like Latin or Greek. How much we are missing out because of this. Especially attractive to me are the dead languages of cultures long past for their possibilities for opening up more archaic and timeless ways of being in the world. Think of all the metaphysical vocabulary in Sanskrit collected in Maria Heims Words for the Heart or the way Ann Patty in her memoir, Living with a Dead Language describes reading ancient Roman poetry with its concepts of empire and paganism. Like learning a stringed instrument, the older one gets the more challenging language learning becomes, and Ann Patty decides to stay mentally fit by taking up Latin at the age of 57. Language learning, she concedes, is an activity for young people with their more plastic minds.. and yet, the allure of finding onself reborn by thinking in a new language remains strong. One of the most interesting parts of Katherine Russell Richs book Dreaming in Hindi was her conversations with experts about the way writing and speaking are so different for language learners. While attaining native ability of a spoken language is impossible after a certain age, writing a different script is not as age-sensitive. Non-natives can become very good at writing characters. Many past U.S. presidents were proficient in one or more foreign languages, and through Theodore Roosevelt this often included the languages of Homer and Virgil. James Garfield was perhaps most famous for being ambidextrous and it is said could simultaneously write both Greek and Latin (one hand for each). Those days are long gone: oh, how the mighty have fallen! ++ To read: Natural Languages My Substack post about Japan: Oracle Bones and Writing in the Time of the Gods Silvia Ferraras new book, The Greatest Invention: A History of the World in Nine Mysterious Scripts (translated wonderfully by Todd Portnowitz) Jin Tsus Kingdom of Characters: The Language Evolution that Made Modern China Katherine Russell Richs Dreaming in Hindi Ann Pattys Living with a Dead Language: My Romance with Latin Maria Heims Words for the Heart: A New Book from Maria Heim LANGUAGE AT THE END OF THE WORLD: The undecipherable rongorongo script of Easter Island Jacob Mikanowski (Cabinet Magazine) My Substack post: How Language Shapes on Hearts Imaginary Languages A Memory Called Empire (Teixcalaan, #1) by Arkady Martine Teixcalaanli is inspired by Nahuatl ( and Greek); Stationer is basically Space Armenian. Im kinda a language nerdArkady Martine Ted Chiangs story Stories of Your Life and Others (and the film version Arrivalplus my 3QD essay here) David J Petersons The Art of Language Invention Arika Okrents In the Land of Invented Languages: Esperanto Rock Stars, Klingon Poets, Loglan Lovers, and the Mad Dreamers Who Tried to Build A Perfect Language Steven Travis constructed language Tapissary Arika Okrent, in her delightfully fun book In the Land of Invented Languages: Esperanto Rock Stars, Klingon Poets, Loglan Lovers, and the Mad Dreamers Who Tried to Build A Perfect Language And the documentary: Conlanging, The Art Of Crafting Tongues The MiGs have reached the end of the line. The realisation had dawned on Indias military planners years ago, but a spate of fatal crashes over the past two years appears to have driven the point home. Over the weekend, the Indian Air Force (IAF) decided to ground its MiG-21 fighter fleet for safety checks, days after three women were killed when a MiG-21 Bison fighter jet crashed into a house in Rajasthans Hanumangarh. With at least six high-profile crashes in the past three years putting the spotlight on the troubling safety record of Indias longest-serving fighter plane, the authorities decided to undertake a comprehensive safety check, and said the jets will resume flying in a phased manner after the checks and the completion of an inquiry into the crash. To be sure, it is not uncommon for an aircraft fleet to be grounded for inspection after an unexplained crash or incident. But the MiGs have been a cause of concern for some time. This newspaper reported that at least 400 MiG-21s have been involved in accidents that claimed the lives of 200 pilots in the last six decades. An undetermined number of civilians must have also perished alongside. This simply cannot continue. PREMIUM A MIG-21 aircraft flies past during the inauguration of the 12th edition of AERO India 2019 air show at Yelahanka airbase in Bengaluru, 2019 (AP) The MiGs have been the warhorses of the IAF since the first single-engine jet was inducted in 1963. In some ways, extending the shelf life of the MiG was inevitable, given the endemic delays in the procurement and induction of new fighters, and the structural issues with indigenous defence production. At the same time, maintenance woes mounted that were overcome with ingenuity. As a result, MiGs continued to be the mainstay of the IAF, getting an upgrade to the MiG-21 Bison in 2000, with significant improvements to avionics, radar, electronic warfare suite and weapons. The Bison was involved in IAF operations after the cross-border strike against terror targets in Pakistans Balakot four years ago. Still, it is clear that the human toll of keeping these jets in the sky is quickly becoming prohibitive. Three squadrons each with 16 to 18 fighter planes of the MiG-21 Bisons remain with the IAF, and they are scheduled to be phased out 2025. It remains to be seen if the recent crash forces the authorities to move up the deadline. Calling time on the MiG is a tricky decision, one that will have to factor in operational capability, future timelines of procurement and induction of jets, and threat assessments. But in the interest of safeguarding precious lives, no more delay is desirable. UPSC Prelims 2023: The Indian Constitution, adopted on 26th January 1950, stands as a remarkable and forward-thinking manuscript, forming the foundation of India's democratic system and governance. It encompasses a wide array of fundamental rights, duties, and principles that encapsulate the essence of the nation. The UPSC civil services prelims examination 2023 is round the corner.(HT photo) The Constitution assumes an invaluable role by bestowing power upon its citizens and fostering a fair and inclusive society. The profound importance of the Indian Constitution cannot be overstated, especially when considering civil services examinations. As the 2023 UPSC Prelims draw near, it becomes imperative for aspirants to acquire a thorough understanding of this pivotal document. Such comprehensive knowledge empowers them to confidently tackle questions related to the Indian Constitution, thereby paving the way for success in their endeavours. List Of Important Articles In The Indian Constitution The Constitution of India is renowned for being the lengthiest written Constitution worldwide, encompassing 448 articles categorised into 24 Parts and 12 schedules (there were 25 Parts till last year when the Supreme Court in the Rajesh Shah ruling outlawed Part.9B dealing with the Cooperatives. Therefore, there are 24 Parts today). This extensive document comprises crucial provisions such as fundamental rights, directive principles of state policy, emergency provisions, parliamentary powers, and the allocation of powers between the Union and the states. Given the Constitution's significance, questions on its contents are bound to arise. However, certain articles have been frequently asked about over the years. Therefore, it's worth reviewing the list below, which outlines some of the most notable articles of the Indian Constitution, along with a brief description of each one that contributed to its formation: 1. Article No. 1: Name and Territory of the Union 2. Article No. 3: Formation of new states and alteration of areas, boundaries, or names of existing states 3. Article No. 4: Not deemed amendments 4. Article No. 16: Equality of Opportunity in Matters of public employment 5. Article No. 19: Protection of certain rights regarding freedom of speech, etc. 6. Article No. 21: Protection of Life and personal liberty 7. Article No. 32: Remedies for Enforcement of Fundamental Rights 8. Article No. 43: Living wage. Read the entire Article 9. Article No. 48: Preserving and improving the breeds 10. Article No. 50: Separation of Judiciary from the Executive 11. Article No. 51A: Fundamental Duties 12. Article No. 72: Powers of the President to grant pardons, suspend, remit, or commute sentences in certain cases 13. Article No. 78: Prime Minister and the President 14. Article No.82: Delimitation 15. Article No.94: Office of the Speaker becoming vacant and by implication Protem Speaker 16. Article No.101:Vacation of Seats 17. Article. No.112.:Annual financial statement 18. Article No. 123: Power of President to promulgate ordinances during recess of Parliament 19. Art.127: Ad Hoc judges of Supreme Court 20. Art.130: Seat of Supreme Court 21. Article No. 143: Power of President to consult Supreme Court 22. Article No. 148: Comptroller and Auditor-General of India 23. Article No. 149: Duties and powers of the Comptroller and Auditor-General of India 24. Article No. 155: Appointment of the Governor 25. Article No. 163: Council of Ministers to aid and advise the Governor 26. Article No. 165: Advocate-General of the state 27. Article No. 167: Duties of Chief Minister concerning furnishing information to the Governor, etc. 28. Article No. 169: Abolition or creation of Legislative Councils in the states 29. Article No. 243(I) and 243(Y):State Finance Commission 30. Article No. 243K: Elections to the Panchayats 31. Article No.244 Administration of Scheduled Areas and Tribal Areas 32. Article.No.246A:GST 33. Article No.261. Full faith and credit 34. Article No.280: Finance Commission 35. Article No. 282:Grants The Bottom Line With UPSC aspirants gearing up for the Prelims 2023, it is vital to have a firm grasp of the essential Articles from the Indian Constitution. Read and reread the full Article and catch the nuances. Understanding the Indian Constitution is crucial for success in the examination and a fulfilling career in public service. By comprehending the significance of each article, analysing its implications, and effectively applying the concepts, candidates can enhance their chances of excelling in the UPSC Prelims and position themselves for success in pursuing a career in public service. (Author Sriram Srirangam is Founder and Director of Srirams IAS. Views expresed here are personal.) Anurag Kashyap has said that he has such a difficult relationship with violence that he faints if he sees an accident. Anurag is best known for his crime-thriller movies that are full of violence. Some of his most popular works include Gangs of Wasseypur, Raman Raghav, and Gulaal. (Also read: Twitter reacts after Anurag said Vikram didnt reply to his offer for Kennedy) Anurag Kashyap reveals how he reacts to violence. Anurag is currently attending the ongoing Cannes Film Festival. His film, Kennedy will be screened under the Midnight Screening soon. He is accompanied by his close friend and colleague, filmmaker Vikramaditya Motwane, along with the team of Kennedy, at the French film festival. I have a very complicated relationship with violence. Violence affects me a lot. If I see blood in real life, I faint. If I see an accident, I faint. I am terrified of attending funerals. I have a very difficult relationship with violence, which is why in my films, the violence will be extreme, but off-screen. An exception to this is Gangs of Wasseypur," Anurag told Film Companion. He added, I have always kept it (violence) outside. The point of impact has always been off screen In Raman Raghav, Ugly, Paanch and so on you only see the rage, but not the impact. My whole thing is, the audiences imagination is so vivid, that it will be much more scarier. If we put it on screen, we are limiting it. When we dont put it on screen, their imagination makes it scarier. Anurag and Vikramaditya recently attended the premiere of Martin Scorsese's film Killers of the Flower Moon. Featuring Lily Gladstone, Robert De Niro and Leonardo DiCaprio in the lead roles, the film received a nine-minute-long standing ovation at the world premiere which took place at the fest. Kennedy stars Sunny Leone, Rahul Bhatt, and Abhilash Thapliyal in lead roles. The film revolves around a former police officer, who is also an insomniac and continues to operate for the corrupt system. Talking about his fascination with crime and criminals, Anurag had told Hindustan Times in an interview ahead of the release of Raman Raghav that the book Crime and Punishment has had the maximum impact on his mind. He also said that he is curious to explore the mind of a criminal, adding that he also wonders who is the bigger criminal "a man with a gun who robs a bank, or a man with a bank who robs the world?" SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON This is his second time at the Cannes Film Festival as a part of the Indian delegation and Madhur Bhandarkar is thrilled to be back. The filmmaker, who has just returned from the French Riviera tells us, Its a great way to meet people from across the world. I always say that Cannes has been the mother of film festivals!. I am always excited to meet the technicians and story writers from different countries, and watch their movies. So, its a great feeling. Madhur Bhandarkar meets Michael Douglas at Cannes 2023 On of the highlights of his visit this year, he shares, was getting to meet Hollywood star Michael Douglas. It was absolutely a big fan moment for me, says Bhandarkar, adding, A friend introduced me to Michael sir at the Indian Pavilion. Weve grown up watching Michael Douglas films. He was barely there for 10-12 minutes and we kept talking about all his great films, like Basic Instinct (1992) and Wall Street. I have been a great admirer of his film King Of California. He is very gracious; such a great personality. The India Lockdown and Babli Bouncer (both 2022) director, who last attended the festival in 2019, feels Indias imprint on the global map is only growing with each passing year. For instance, at the Indian Pavillion, (politician) Khushboo, (actors) Sara Ali Khan and Vijay Varma, (producer) Guneet Monga, Dr L Murugun (Minister of State for Information & Broadcasting) spoke about how India has left a strong mark globally, especially over the last 10 years, he continues, In terms of the kind of cinema we are making, the world saw how RRR (2022) and Naatu Naatu (Oscar-winning song)caught attention. And here at Cannes also, when I interacted with people, I got a phenomenal response on Naatu Naatu. So, people are talking and are curious about the kind of cinema and content we make. The surge of OTT has also been huge. Beaming with pride, the filmmaker adds, I have been a very frequent visitor of film festivals across the globe. From the time I started making films, I have been in the juries as well. And I have seen that we are the biggest production house in the world, when it comes to cinema. Actor Parineeti Chopra has shared a bunch of unseen photos featuring her fiance-politician Raghav Chadha, cousin-actor Priyanka Chopra, their family and friends from her engagement ceremony. Taking to Instagram on Monday, Parineeti also posted a note talking about the time the actor knew she 'had met the one'. In one of the pictures, Parineeti leaned on Raghav as they smiled during the event. (Also Read | Parineeti Chopra returns to Mumbai after engagement with Raghav Chadha, thanks paparazzi for wishes) Parineeti Chopra shared new pictures from her engagement ceremony. Several pictures also showed the couple enjoying themselves with their near ones. In a picture, Priyanka Chopra applied tika (vermillion mark) on Raghav's forehead while Parineeti smiled. Raghav was seen wiping away Parineeti's tear, in a photo, as she got emotional while holding him. Parineeti and Raghav Chadha were also seen hugging each other in a picture. Sharing the pictures, Parineeti captioned the post, "When you know, you know. One breakfast together and I knew - I had met the one. The most wonderful man whose quiet strength would be calming, peaceful and inspiring. His support, humour, wit and friendship are pure joy. He is my home. Our engagement party was like living a dream - a dream unfurling beautifully amidst love, laughter, emotion and loads of dancing!" Parineeti shared a picture of a flower bouquet. She also added, "As we hugged those we loved dearest and celebrated with them, emotions overflowed. As a little girl in awe of princess stories, I had imagined how my fairytale would begin. Now that it has, it is even better than I had imagined." Reacting to the post, her brother Shivang Chopra said, "The sweetest reminder of that day!" Parineeti's mother Reena Chopra posted red heart emojis. Saba Ali Khan wrote, "Congratulations. And God bless both of you on this beautiful journey that lies ahead....! Much love Pari." Taking to her Instagram Stories, Parineeti shared a picture of a flower bouquet. The words 'Thank you so much everyone who sent presents! We are especially thankful to you. Our hearts are full of love' were written on it. Parineeti and Raghav got engaged in New Delhi at the Kapurthala house on May 13 in the presence of close family and friends. The engagement was an intimate ceremony. Members from the political fraternity and film industry also attended the function. Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann, former finance minister P Chidambaram, and Shiv Sena leader Aditya Thackeray also marked their presence at the ceremony. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The second romantic number from Vicky Kaushal and Sara Ali Khan's film Zara Hatke Zara Bachke is titled Tere Vaaste but is more fast paced than the first one, Phir Aur Kya Chahiye. The new song shows Vicky and Sara dancing their hearts out in a under-construction building as if expressing their excitement for their new home. Also read: Sara Ali Khan seeks blessings at Ajmer Sharif Dargah ahead of Zara Hatke Zara Bachke release, gets mobbed by fans. Watch Vicky Kaushal and Sara Ali Khan in a still from Zara Hatke Zara Bachke song Tere Vaaste. The melodious song has been sung by Varun Jain, Sachin- Jigar, Shadab Faridi and Altamash Faridi with music by Sachin- Jigar and written by Amitabh Bhattacharya. The song was unveiled by Vicky and Sara at the iconic Raj Mandir theatre in Jaipur on Monday. A tiny portion of the song was heard in a video which showed Vicky and Sara playing the song in their car as they travelled to Jaipur. The two are currently in Rajasthan for the promotions of the film ahead of its release in theatres on June 2. Last week, the first song, Phir Aur Kya Chahiye, was unveiled from the film. It was a soothing romantic number which showed Vicky and Sara as a married couple, living in a joint family setup, planning to take a new house in a high-rise society. The song has been sung by Arijit Singh. It is directed by Laxman Utekar of Mimi and Luka Chuppi fame. Jio Studios and Dinesh Vijan have presented the film. Talking about the film, Vicky earlier said, Working with Laxman sir and Maddock has been a delightful experience. I had a great time shooting for the film, especially with Sara, and hope the audiences enjoy the film as much as we did making it. Sara added, "I am grateful for the opportunity of getting to work with such a talented team. The film has a unique take on relationships, marriages, and I am excited for the audience to witness it." Calling the film a family entertainer, director Laxman said, This movie is close to my heart. It is a story that will resonate with audiences across the country. It is a film that is a perfect family watch that promises to entertain you throughout. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Actor Nawazuddin Siddiqui recently talked about depression and left Twitter users divided with his words. While his opinion has gone viral, a section of people expressed displeasure with it. The actor called depression an urban concept, born out of privilege. Also read: Nawazuddin Siddiqui's 'permission lena chahiye' scene with Huma in Gangs of Wasseypur was inspired by his own life Nawazuddin Siddiqui will be seen in Jogira Sara Ra Ra. Nawazuddin hails from a small village in Muzaffarnagar district, Uttar Pradesh called Budhana. Talking about his village, he recently said that depression is more of a 'city thing'.' He said he got to know about mental health-related topics, such as anxiety, depression, and bipolar disorder, after coming to the city. His words have sparked debate on social media. While some agreed with the actors, others urged Nawazuddin to not generalise such topics. Reacting to his thoughts, one Twitter user wrote, Pls stick to acting. Dont opine on subjects you know nothing about. If you are a human being, depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder can affect you. Doesnt matter where you live, what you do or who you are. Shameful to use the platform u have to spread falsehoods. What a disappointing remark from @Nawazuddin_S #Depression isn't determined based on age, gender, background, profession, ethnicity or domicile. #MentalHealth conditions don't discriminate & neither should we. Such generalisation are dangerous, invalidating & misleading, added another one. One more tweeted, Nawazuddin Siddiqui says depression is an urban concept born out of privilege: No one gets depression in villages. Ok, lets ignore farmers suicides and assume you are right. If something is an urban concept - do we just ignore it cause its urban? Someone else also wrote on the micro-blogging site, On one hand @Nawazuddin_S says, when he told his father that he was feeling depressed, while claims it's an urban concept (not even his own gyaan, copy pasted)! Good in acting zero in common sense! Depression can be anywhere: science. Talking to Mashable India, Nawazuddin said depression is an alien concept for people living in villages. He said, "I come from a place where, if I would tell my father that I am feeling depressed, he would give me one tight slap Depression waha nahi tha, kisi ko bhi nahi hota waha depression, sab khush hai (No one gets depression in villages, everyone is happy there). But I learnt about anxiety, depression, bipolar after coming to the city. Ye shehro mein aake hoti hai, yaha pe har aadmi apne chhote emotions ko bhi bohot glorify karta hai (This is an urban concept, people in cities glorify their emotions)," he added. If you ask a labourer, or someone who is sleeping on the footpath, then what is depression? When it rains, they dance even then, usko ghanta depression nahi pata hota (they dont know what depression is). Jab aapke paas paise aajate hai toh iss tareeke ki beemariya aati jaati hai (You get such diseases when you have money), he also said. Nawazuddin Siddiqui will be next seen in Jogira Sara Ra Ra. He also has Haddi, Adbhut, Tiku Weds Sheru, Noorani Chehre and Bole Chudiyan in the pipeline. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Leonardo DiCaprio's upcoming film, "Killers of the Flower Moon," is generating immense buzz and anticipation among movie enthusiasts. With its recently unveiled teaser trailer, the Western crime drama has captured the attention of audiences, showcasing the remarkable collaboration between DiCaprio and acclaimed director Martin Scorsese. Here's everything you need to know about this highly anticipated film. A scene from the movie Killers of the Flower Moon. The True Story Unveiled: Killers of the Flower Moon Based on the critically acclaimed non-fiction book by David Grann, "Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI," the film delves into a chilling true incident from early 20th-century America. Set in 1920s Oklahoma, it unravels the haunting serial murders of members of the oil-wealthy Osage Nation tribe, shedding light on the dark history of white genocide against Native people. The investigation of these crimes is led by Texas Ranger Tom White and J. Edgar Hoover, who later became the first director of the FBI. The Captivating Teaser Trailer The recently released teaser trailer, which debuted at CinemaCon, provides a tantalizing glimpse into the world of "Killers of the Flower Moon." It showcases the devastating murders through the lens of an "improbable romance" between Leonardo DiCaprio's character, Ernest Burkhart, and Lily Gladstone's Mollie Kyle, a member of the Osage Nation. The trailer offers a visually stunning depiction of the oil-rich Osage Nation land and the sinister events that unfold, including gunfights, arson, and chilling acts of violence. Release Date and Cannes Premiere Mark your calendars for the release of "Killers of the Flower Moon" in theaters this October. While an exact date has yet to be announced, reports suggest that the film will hit the big screen on October 6th. The movie's world premiere is set to take place at the prestigious Cannes Film Festival 2023 on 20 May, where it will be screened in the out-of-competition section. With a runtime of 3 hours and 26 minutes, "Killers of the Flower Moon" promises to captivate audiences with its powerful narrative, stellar performances, and breathtaking visuals. As Leonardo DiCaprio himself expressed, it is a project he is proud of, and fans eagerly await the opportunity to experience this epic Western crime drama firsthand. Stellar Cast and Filmmakers Led by the dynamic duo of DiCaprio and Gladstone, the film boasts an exceptional ensemble cast. Acting heavyweight Robert De Niro takes on the role of the main antagonist, William Hale, uncle to DiCaprio's character. Brendan Fraser, fresh off his Academy Award win, delivers another captivating performance in a prominent role. The film also features talented actors such as Jesse Plemons, Cara Jade Myers, Tantoo Cardinal, JaNae Collins, and many more. Under the masterful direction of Martin Scorsese, known for his crime epics, "Killers of the Flower Moon" marks the first time he ventures into the Western genre. Teaming up with DiCaprio for the seventh time and reuniting with De Niro after nearly three decades, Scorsese once again showcases his unparalleled storytelling prowess. Robert De Niro and his girlfriend Tiffany Chen attended the Vanity Fair x Prada party at the ongoing Cannes Film Festival at Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc on Saturday evening. The actor was at the festival for his film Killers of the Flower Moon. (Also read: Who is Tiffany Chen, Robert De Niro's girlfriend, and mother of his 7th child?) Robert de Niro at the photocall for Killers of the Flower Moon at the 76th edition of the Cannes Film Festival on May 21, 2023. (Photo by Patricia DE MELO MOREIRA / AFP)(AFP) According to a report by People Magazine, Robert donned a classic black suit whereas Chen donned an all-black ensemble consisting of a zip jacket and a black shirt underneath for the party. The couple recently welcomed their child, a daughter Gia Virginia Chen De Niro. Earlier on Saturday, the veteran actor was present for the premiere of Martin Scorsese's Killers of the Flower Moon which received a nine-minute-long standing ovation. The crime drama also stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Lily Gladstone and Jesse Plemons. Robert and Leonardo are working together again after 30 years; they were last seen in This Boy's Life in 1993. On May 11, the actor had revealed to CBS Mornings' Gayle King that he and Tiffany Chen welcomed a baby girl named Gia Virginia Chen De Niro. As Gayle shared the first photo of Gia, she said, "She weighed eight pounds, six ounces, when she was born on April 6. How cute is this baby? Robert De Niro and his partner, that's Tiffany Chen, are over the moon about this little girl." The couple has been private about their relationship before announcing Gia's birth to the world. They have been spotted together publicly many times. He was first photographed with Tiffany in August 2021 when the couple was on a vacation in the South of France. Robert divorced his wife Grace Hightower in 2018. They were together for more than 20 years. The actor has six other children from previous relationships. He and his first wife, Diahnne Abbott, are parents to daughter Drena, 51, and son Raphael, 46. In 1995, he welcomed twin sons Julian and Aaron, 27, with his former girlfriend, model and actress Toukie Smith. As per People Magazine, he also shares son Elliot, 24, and a daughter Helen, 11, with Grace. Killers of the Flower Moon will be released in theatres in October 2023 for a short period and will be streaming on Apple TV afterwards. The veteran actor's next film About My Father will be released in theatres on May 26. (With inputs from ANI) SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON RRR star Ram Charan attended the G20 event in Srinagar, Kashmir on Monday. The actor was part of the panel on Film Tourism for Economic Growth and Cultural Preservation when he met up with the South Korean ambassador to India, Chang Jae-bok, and they both danced to the Oscar-winning song Naatu Naatu from the Telugu film. (Also read: Ram Charan reveals he wanted to perform Naatu Naatu at Oscars, but was not approached: 'I was 100 percent ready...') Ram Charan and Chang Jae-bok, Korean Ambassador To India, dance on Oscar-winning song Naatu Naatu as they attend G20 tourism meeting in Srinagar on May 22, 2023. (Photo by Tauseef Mustafa / AFP)(AFP) In a video shared online, the actor tries to teach the South Korean ambassador the main hook steps to Naatu Naatu. However, the ambassador is not a quick learner. Ram is patient in trying to show him the steps and later the audience applauds their efforts. In March 2023, RRR's Naatu Naatu became the first Indian film song to win an Oscar for Best Original Song. Composer MM Keeravaani and lyricist Chandrabose were present to pick up the Oscar. SS Rajamouli and the film's stars, Ram and Jr NTR, were in the audience to cheer on the film. The actor arrived in Srinagar to take part in the 3rd G20 Working Group meeting. The three-day-long summit featured the actor speaking about his time in Jammu and Kashmir. Speaking at the panel, Ram stated, "Ive been coming to Kashmir because my dad is in the same industry, working as an actor for 45 years so I am the second generation. I have been coming here since 1986? That was the first time when I was in Kashmir. My dad has shot extensively in Sonmarg and these beautiful places. I used to come as a child. When I was invited by my dad to Kashmir, I used to feel like I had achieved something during the summer holidays. It was like an achievement." Ram and his wife Upasana Konidela are expecting their first child later this year. He is working on the film Game Changer, directed by S Shankar. Actors SJ Suryah and Kiara Advani are also part of the political thriller. Ram was last seen in a cameo in Salman Khan's Kisi Ka Bhai Kisi Ki Jaan. He appeared in the song Yentamma with Venkatesh Daggubati and Salman. ott:10 SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON by Ashutosh Jogalekar This is the second in a series of posts about J. Robert Oppenheimers life and times. The first one can be found here. In the fall of 1922, after the New Mexico sojourn had strengthened his body and mind, Oppenheimer entered Harvard with an insatiable appetite for knowledge; in the words of a friend, like a Goth looting Rome. He wore his clothes on a spare frame he weighed no more than 120 pounds at any time during his life and had striking blue eyes. Harvard required its students to take four classes every semester for a standard graduation schedule. Robert would routinely take six classes every semester and audit a few more. Nor were these easy classes; a typical semester might include, in addition to classes in mathematics, chemistry and physics, ones in French literature and poetry, English history and moral philosophy. The best window we have into Oppenheimers personality during his time at Harvard comes from the collection of his letters during this time edited by Alice Kimball Smith and Charles Weiner. They are mostly addressed to his Ethical Culture School teacher, Herbert Smith, and to his friends Paul Horgan and Francis Fergusson. Fergusson and Horgan were both from New Mexico where Robert had met them during his earlier trip. Horgan was to become an eminent historian and novelist who would win the Pulitzer Prize twice; Fergusson who departed Harvard soon as a Rhodes Scholar became an important literary and theater critic. They were to be Oppenheimers best friends at Harvard. The letters to Fergusson, Horgan and Smith are fascinating and provide penetrating insights into the young scholars scientific, literary and emotional development. In them Oppenheimer exhibits some of the traits that he was to become well known for later; these include a prodigious diversity of reading and knowledge and a tendency to dramatize things. Also, most of the letters are about literature rather than science, which indicates that Oppenheimer had still not set his heart on becoming a scientist. He also regularly wrote poetry that he tried to get published in various sources. Oppenheimers literary flourishes and baroque exaggeration are perhaps the most important aspects of the letters. They show a young man who was both brilliant and unafraid to show his erudition as well as insecure and given to bouts of irony and self-pity; in one letter to Smith he describes his work as frantic, bad, and graded A. A typical excerpt of his style comes from a letter written by the 18-year-old to Horgan on October 6, 1923: This note, helas, has got to be as short and unrhetorical as my inebriate soul and the explosive nature of my felicitations can conspire to make it. I mean, beloved, that I would like, if I had time and power, to answer your splendid epic with one not incomparable to it, and match the intricate patterns of of your quotations, allusions, epigrams, poetics, and flattery in my reply. But it is a tragic and overwhelming truism that my paltry successes do not come without assiduity and labor; that the Artzibasheffs I conquer demand a pretentious pertinacity and patience; that I am, quae cum ita sint, hysterically engaged in keeping soul and body from complete disintegration and decrepitude; and that, accordingly, I shall be unable to fabricate a masterpiece fit to stand beside, say, your Now he is on the ocean. Perhaps the most revealing letter is one written to Herbert Smith during the winter of 1923-1924: Generously, you ask what I do. Aside from the activities exposed in last weeks disgusting note, I labor, and write innumerable theses, notes, poems and junk; I go to the math lib and read and to the Phil lib and divide my time between Meinherr Russell and the contemplation of a most beautiful and lovely lady who is writing a thesis on Spinoza charmingly ironic, at that, dont you think?; I make stenches in three different labs, listen to Allard [a professor of French] gossip about Racine, serve tea and talk learnedly to a few lost souls, go off for the weekend to distill the low grade energy into laughter and exhaustion, read Greek, commit faux pas, search my desk for letters, and wish I were dead. Viola. The remarkable thing about this letter is the quiet desperation disguised as frenzied erudition; you get the feeling that Robert kept moving in order not to sink into despondency. But despondency regarding what? Some of it would undoubtedly have been the intense desire to excel and take in as much knowledge as possible, but the letter also hints at disappointments concerning romantic attachments. As his friends remember, Robert never seems to have seriously dated while at Harvard; in that respect he seemed to be the 1920s equivalent of a quintessential, socially awkward nerd. Apart from Fergusson and Horgan and a few others, he seems to have made few friends at Harvard, generally choosing to keep to himself and shut himself up in the library or his own room studying. To get through the day without interruption, he whipped up a high-energy breakfast concoction called black and tan toast slathered with a layer of peanut butter which was slathered in turn with a layer of chocolate syrup. While he did not wear his erudition and diverse interests lightly, Oppenheimer was careful to sustain the impression in the minds of others that it all came easily to him, and most of it did. At the beginning of his time at Harvard, he occupied 60 Mount Auburn Street in Cambridge with a roommate named Fred Bernheim who late became a well-known professor of pharmacology at Duke University. Bernheim regarded Oppenheimer as being just a little too overweening in the way he regularly quoted Verlaine or Baudelaire but he also found Roberts broad interests and knowledge intriguing. As he remembers: He wasnt a comfortable person to be around, in a way, because he always gave you the impression that he was thinking very deeply about things. When we roomed together he would spend evenings locked in his room, trying to do something with Plancks constant or something like that. I had visions of him suddenly bursting forth as a great physicist, and here I was just trying to get through Harvard. Later Bernheim credited Robert with steering him toward a career in medicine by developing in him an appreciation for the scientific method. Oppenheimers personality at Harvard already displayed some of the important qualities that were to both attract and repel people later in his life. While most people, like Bernheim, were dazzled by his quick mind and erudition across a remarkable variety of subjects, some were put off by what they saw as showing off, pomposity and baroque exaggeration. These traits were responsible for both his triumph and his doom. In one of the letters to Smith, Robert casually refers to the six-course load that would enable him to graduate in just three years. Along with Heat and Elementary Thermodynamics, Differential and Integral Calculus and Experimental Organic Chemistry, they include Theory of Knowledge, General View of French Literature and a course on probability. Remarkably, he plowed through the famous 3-volume set on the foundations of mathematics, the Principia Mathematica of Bertrand Russell and Alfred North Whitehead, in a course taught by Whitehead himself when he was a visiting professor. Only one other student whose name has been lost to history braved the course. While he had entered Harvard intending to major in chemistry Oppenheimers interest started to turn toward physics through these courses. In a 1963 interview he said, I cant recall how it came over me that what I liked in chemistry was very close to physics; its obvious that if you were reading physical chemistry and you began to run into thermodynamical and statistical mechanical ideas youd want to find out about themits a very odd picture; I never had an elementary course in physics, and to this day I get panicky when I think about a smoke ring or elastic vibrations. Thermodynamics seems to have been a topic of enduring interest, in particular: another friend named Jeffries Wyman who became a distinguished biochemist remembered Robert walking into his room one hot spring day and saying, What intolerable heat. I have been spending all afternoon lying on my bed reading [James] Jeanss Dynamical Theory of Gases. What else can one do in weather like this?. By the time he progressed into his final year, while he would still major in chemistry, it was clear that Roberts interests lay in physics. In one of his letters he petitioned the physics department to let him skip an elementary physics course and take an advanced physics class, citing as evidence a long list of physics textbooks that he said he had read. When the committee in charge of the decision allowed him to take the course, one of them is purported to have said, Well, if he says he has read all these books he is obviously a liar; but he should get a PhD for knowing their titles. One striking aspect of Oppenheimers education at Harvard is the scattered, incomplete nature of his learnings in mathematics and physics. Given his later accomplishments in theoretical physics this background appears even more remarkable and attests to how quickly he could self-learn and fill in the gaps in his formal education, Two important influences set Oppenheimer up for his physics career. While Harvard at the time had no figures of the caliber of Ernest Rutherford or Niels Bohr in Europe, two of the courses Oppenheimer took were taught by the physicists Edwin Kemble and Percy Bridgman. Kemble was essentially Harvards resident theoretician, Bridgman its resident experimentalist. Bridgman in particular who was good enough to win a Nobel Prize later for his work on high-pressure physics and who also wrote articles and books on the philosophy of science had a lasting influence on Roberts education and outlook. I found Bridgman a wonderful teacher,, Oppenheimer later remembered, because he never really was quite reconciled to things being the way they werehe was a man to whom one wanted to be an apprentice. Bridgman became, in effect, Roberts undergraduate thesis advisor, advising him on research and coursework and writing recommendation letters for him when Robert was applying for graduate study. Even with his professor Robert could not help showing off and nitpicking. When he was once invited to Bridgmans house for dinner, Bridgman showed him a photo of a Greek temple built in Segesta around 400 B.C. Robert disagreed, saying, I judge from the capitals on the column that it was built about fifty years earlier. As he approached his graduation, it was clear to Oppenheimer, as it would have been to any aspiring physicist then, that Europe was where all the excitement in the world of physics was. While Rutherford had been revolutionizing experimental physics with his discoveries of the atomic nucleus and atomic transformations, Bohr and Einstein had been revolutionizing theoretical physics with their theories of relativity and atomic structure. While the United States had no comparable tradition in theory, the country was halfway decent when it came to experiment, with Albert Michelson, Arthur Compton and Robert Millikan doing Nobel-caliber research. Yet it was clear that Rutherfords lab in Cambridge was the place to be if one wanted to do experimental physics. At this point, with his background working with Bridgman, Oppenheimer goal was to do experimental work. So he had Bridgman write a letter of recommendation to Rutherford. The honesty in Bridgmans letter is revealing. After commenting on Oppenheimers perfectly prodigious power of assimilation, he noted that his weakness is on the experimental side. His type of mind is analytical rather than physical, and he is not at home in the manipulations of the laboratoryIt appears to me that it is a bit of a gamble as to whether Oppenheimer will ever make any real contributions of an important character, but if he does make good at all, I believe he will be a very unusual success. Then, perhaps more revealingly but emblematic of the time, Bridgman wrote, As appears from his name, Oppenheimer is a Jew, but entirely without the usual qualifications of his race. Since Oppenheimers ineptitude for experiment would be responsible for a major emotional disaster that befell him later, its worth asking why Bridgman and Robert approached Rutherford when Roberts lack of experimental ability was already so apparent. Part of it was probably Roberts overconfidence, a trait that came from his prodigious academic performance over the previous three years. Part of it was Rutherfords fame that probably made it too tempting to not apply to his laboratory. But part undoubtedly must have been the fact that while Robert was exposed to the workings of experimental physics by working in Bridgmans laboratory, there was no comparable education he had had in theory, both because there was no world-class theorist at Harvard and because Oppenheimers slapdash, incomplete education in mathematics and physics would have given him no taste for the pleasures of theoretical contemplation. In any case, the stage set was set for Roberts entry into the world of European physics, an intellectual crucible in which revolution after revolution was being forged. In 1925 he graduated summa cum laude with his degree in chemistry. Instead of attending the graduation ceremonies, he and some of his friends repaired to a roommates room for a small celebration. While his roommates were intent on getting drunk, Robert had one drink and retired. He was ready to take on the world of physics. It was an effort that was to take him almost to the verge of insanity. Principal references: Badtameez Dil actor Asmita Sood has found love, we have exclusively learnt. Sood is dating businessman Siddh Mehta, who hails from Gujrat. He lives in Rajkot and keeps visiting Mumbai. He was here for one of his trips to Mumbai when we met, Sood confirms. Asmita Sood with her boyfriend The two have known each other since last July, however, it was only recently that they found solace in each other. We met for work and thats how the whole story started. We got to know each other in the process. Things are going good so far. Its quite nice (to fall in love). Both of us are very happy, its good. We like spending time with each other, the actor shares. Cupid struck the two three months ago and for now the lovebirds are taking it slow and going step by step. Its too soon to think about marriage. You should at least know each other for a bit, then decide. Obviously intent is there, that is why I am in a relationship with somebody. So lets see how things go. Fingers crossed! Im very positive. I hope things go in the right direction for us. I have no plans as of now, she says, adding that she is enjoying every moment of being in love. What made Sood fall in love with Mehta was his groundedness. He is a very grounded person, very honest. Hes also from a small town like me, so we have a similar thought process. Both of us love music. There are a lot of similarities, in the way we think. Even when we are thrown into a situation, we react the same way. There is no struggle with him. I have not found anyone like him, Sood elaborates. Pyaar kiya toh darna kya is what Sood believes. Im not shying away from all of this because celebrities often deny their relationships. But I pretty much like this guy. We are seeing each other and I would like to be quite open about it, she signs off. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Former Bigg Boss 7 contestant Ajaz Khan was granted bail after 26 months and he walked out of the Arthur Jail on Friday. For the first time, Khan talks about his involvement in the drug case, as he walks out of prison. NCB detained me at the airport without any warrant, my blood test was negative, I only had the sleeping pill with me, Khan laments. Ajaz Khan (Instagram) The actor was detained by the NCB at the Mumbai airport in connection with a drug case in 2021 and was subsequently arrested in March the same year. His name allegedly surfaced during the interrogation of drug peddler Shadab Batata. (Also read: Bigg Boss 7's Ajaz Khan granted bail, to walk out of jail on Friday after two years of imprisonment) The actor however denies any involvement with the crime: Chargesheet pe mere khilaf koi evidence hai hi nahi. They have arrested me in a concocted story. Khan was arrested by Sameer Wankhade, former Mumbai NCB bureau zonal director, who is currently under scrutiny by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for multiple inspections, including the controversial raid on the Cordelia cruise ship in October 2021. I begged in front of Sameer Wankhade. Today, what is happening to Wankhade, is all karma coming back. He is getting the exact treatment that he gave others, Khan cheers. Reflecting on his 26-month-long incarceration, the actor admits to have undergone a transformation: I have survived! I can now live without an AC, the luxurious life, I have learned to survive in any condition. However, he acknowledges the irreversible loss of the last two years. Main kya kya jhela hoon (What I have suffered), I know. I lost the web series Inspector Avinash. I was even tested positive for Corona. My family was going through depression. My son is 11 now, he was nine when I left him. He goes to school and when I was behind the bars, he was going to a psychiatrist for therapy. I couldnt meet him for six months initially because I couldnt face him. I used to feel very lonely whenever it was Eid or my wife or sons birthday. When I went inside, I broke down mentally, physically and emotionally, he elaborates. Khan was locked in Arthur Road Jail, the same where actor Sanjay Dutt was also imprisoned. The 47-year-old complains about the condition of jail: Even prisoners have human rights in jail, but here we didnt have that. This jail was extra crowded. We didnt have good food, and there was no sleeping space for us. 800 capacity ke jail mein 3500 kaidi the. This is the most crowded jail in the whole world. Though he is out, Khan is upset with the media. I dont know where the media is headed, he says, adding, Media is not trying to find whats actually happening, they are passing judgements even before the judges of the court. Currently out on bail, Khan has approached the Supreme Court seeking exoneration. He remains hopeful of receiving justice. India mein justice hai but bohot late hai tab tak aadmi ki life kharab ho jaati hai. I know I will get justice, I want to clear my name for my family. They know I have not done anything, he signs off. The natural rock weathering process, while effective in breaking down carbon and storing it within rocks over thousands of years, may not provide the immediate solution to combat climate change. With the urgency of the situation, waiting millions of years might not be feasible as our planet continues to accumulate greenhouse gases without significant mitigation efforts. Enhanced weathering, achieved through the application of nutrient-rich rocks to soil, offers multiple benefits.(UNDO official website) One potential solution is enhanced rock weathering which aims to accelerate the natural process. This technique involves grinding a substantial quantity of rocks into fine powder to maximize their surface area, which is then spread over the ground. By increasing the rate of weathering, the enhanced process holds the potential to capture and store carbon more rapidly. According to a BBC report, scientists affiliated with the United Nations have warned that simply reducing greenhouse gas emissions will not suffice to prevent perilous levels of global warming. They emphasised the need to actively remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. How does enhanced rock weathering help remove CO2? Over millions of years, carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has been combining with rainwater, forming carbonic acid. This natural process occurs when the acid falls on mountains, forests, and grasslands. As a result, the carbon dioxide interacts with rocks and soil, undergoing mineralisation and secure storage in the form of carbonate. Enhanced rock weathering takes advantage of this phenomenon by utilizing finely crushed rock particles. This increases the contact area between rainwater and rock, consequently enhancing the weathering process and facilitating greater carbon removal. UNDO, a pioneering company, aims to expedite the process of rock weathering by applying crushed basalt rock onto farmland. Also Read | How New York is battling climate change with one skyscraper at a time The company focuses on reducing the timescale required for the process, condensing it from millions of years to mere decades. Once the reaction between carbon dioxide and the weathered rock takes place, the resulting greenhouse gas is sequestered and securely stored for thousands of years. How does the process help crop and soil? Enhanced weathering, achieved through the application of nutrient-rich rocks to soil, offers multiple benefits. It not only facilitates carbon dioxide storage but also improves crop yields by providing essential nutrients like phosphorus and potassium. Furthermore, it enhances soil fertility, nutrient availability, and reduces the dependence on fertilizers. The process also aids in ocean restoration by reducing ocean acidification through the release of bicarbonate ions. Additionally, weathering products increase soil water retention, assisting plants during drought conditions. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The 2023 Thailand election results showed the willingness of the Thai masses especially the youth to see a change from a royalist conservative military-backed government to a more liberal and reformist one. The victory of the Move Forward Party (MFP) which won 151 of the 500 contested seats, followed by Pheu Thai at 141 is a big blow to the incumbent regime led by Prayut Chan-o-cha. The military-backed parties won merely 80 seats. This is the second time that the MFP contested the elections and its election mandate this time, which helped it win so many votes, lays out strong political reforms like limiting the role of the military in politics, reforming the lese-majeste law, which has been ingrained in Thai society for a long time. Bringing about these reforms, even if it comes to come to power with afull majority will be an extremely difficult task. After the election results were declared, the leader of the MFP, Pita Limjaroenrat, said at a press conference, the party was ready to form a government. The people of Thailand have already spoken their wish, and I am ready to be the prime minister for all of you whether you agree with me or you disagree with me. But the question is, will it be an easy task for the MFP to form the government? Wat Arun Temple, Bangkok, Thailand. (Shutterstock) To form the government, any winning candidate will need 376 votes across the House of Representatives and Senate. Parties must win 25 seats in the lower house to nominate a prime minister (PM). The 250-member unelected Senate, which normally extends its support to the military-back leaders has the power to overturn the will of the lower house of the Parliament and also the popular will. The 2019 elections bear testimony to this when the Senate voted unanimously for Prayuth Chan-o-cha, despite his party winning fewer seats than Pheu Thai. Additionally, the countrys constitutional court, national anti-corruption commission, and electoral commission do not really have any power and independence. They can ban the leader of the MFP and his Members of Parliament (MPs) as well as the parties with whom the MFP is planning to form the coalition. The MFPs predecessor, the Future Forward Party was banned after the party surprisingly managed to come in third in the 2019 polling. Pita Limjaroenrat already faces corruption charges for not declaring the shares of a media company that he owns. The progressive changes that the MFP promises to bring about in Thailand, which helped it secure these popular votes can stand in the way of getting the support of the upper house, which mostly comprises people backed by the military, given that the MFP aims to reduce the influence of the military in Thai politics. Pita has already announced his eight-party coalition plan comprising 313 MPs, with himself as the PM. The MFP and the Pheu Thai have around 293 seats in the House of Representatives, the remaining 20 seats are being divided among six other political parties, which are: Prachachat, Thai Sang Thai, Seri Ruam Thai (Thai Liberal), Fair, Plung Sungkom Mai (New Force) and Peu Thai Rumphlang. There were also reports that MFPs deputy leader, Phicharn Chaowapatanawong stated that, Chartpattanakla Party, with two house seats, had also agreed to join the coalition, which raise the number of MPs to 315, making this the ninth party to join the coalition. But given the partys past record of its leader being a part of the seven-month-long Bangkok shutdown and the anti-Yingluck Shinawatra protests that had ultimately led to the military coup of 2014 which had toppled her administration, its admission to the coalition drew a lot of criticism against the MFP. Therefore, ultimately, the MFP had to drop the decision of including the Chartpattanakla Party in this coalition. There is also growing support for Pita in the Senate as well. It is being said that he already has the support of around 16 senators, who are willing to honour the public will and are, therefore, rallying behind the MFP. So, there are rising chances that the MFP-led coalition will form the government with Pita as the PM. But the MFP will still need to win at least 376 votes in the 750-seat parliament comprising of 500 MPs and 250 senators. The MFP will have to reach out to more senators and parties outside this eight-party bloc or coalition (MFP-led coalition). There have been statements from some members of the Democrat Party, which isnot yet a part of the MFP-led coalition that they too are willing to support Pita for premiership in order to preserve democracy. But given the MFPs insistence on amending Article 112, which is the lese-majeste law, this will be a major contention point in its drive to acquire more MPs and parties to join the coalition, as well as to rally the support of more senate members. The senators might want Pita to lay out the roadmap or give out a proper explanation in how he plans to bring about this reform. The amendments that the MFP is willing to bring about in the law is to reduce prison terms and stipulate that only the Bureau of the Royal Household can lodge a complaint, as against the situation now, where anyone can lodge a complaint and the police are obligated to investigate. Still, most senators who appointed the incumbent PM, Prayut, have said that they will not lend their support to the MFP. Other parties like, the Bhumjaithai Party which too fared well in these elections and came in third by acquiring 70 seats said they will not support the MFP if they push to reform Article 112. Some analysts have pointed out that not forcing parties to adopt their position on Article 112 might help the MFP to garner more support and get additional votes. The MFP is not looking out to its coalition partners to support its Article 112 amendment agenda, and they are even willing to incorporate that in the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), which the coalition parties are set to sign on May 22, 2023. The parties do not support this stand to be a part of the government and that the MFP will table its proposed amendment to Article 112 independently in parliament. The journey ahead still seems very difficult for Pita and the MFP as there are reports of crack already between the two largest parties of the coalition, the MFP and the Pheu Thai. Pheu Thai leader, Cholnan Srikaew has reportedly said that his party has some reservations with the MOU that has been drawn up by the lead party, MFP that all the eight parties of the coalition are expected to sign on May 22, 2023. The MOU lays out the guidelines for the Partys coalition, and addresses national, political, economic and social crises that grapple Thailand. The final details of the MOU are set to be announced on May 22 itself, which also marks the ninth anniversary of the 2014 coup. The coalition will form a working group which will enable the smooth transition from the caretaker government to the new administration and will also look into the possibility of other parties joining the coalition. There is still some hesitation from Pheu Thai about signing the MOU, with statements like subsequent discussions on proposed changes from partners and the MFPs openness to accepting them would determine if the MOU could be agreed upon. There are also differences in opinion between the MFP and Pheu Thai with regard to who will be in charge of the main cabinet posts. The MFP is eyeing to occupy portfolios like finance, foreign affairs, defence, energy, and ministries handling security affairs so that the MFP can push for reforms they promised during elections, while Pheu Thai will be given economic portfolios like transport, commerce, and industry ministries. Apparently, this has not been taken well by Pheu Thai which also wants to be in charge of key ministries. But these reports of ministries being already allotted have been shunned by the MFP pointing out that discussions and decisions will be taken during the signing of the MOU. Though the MFP leader appears very optimistic about the support his party will receive and the backing he too would be receiving to become the 30 PM of Thailand given the willingness to uphold the will of the masses, it is still a rocky road ahead. It would need to deal with opposing voices both within and outside the coalition that it is trying to form. This article is authored by Premesha Saha, Fellow, Strategic Studies Programme, Observer Research Foundation, New Delhi. The ministry of health and family welfare (MoHFW) recently released national health accounts (NHA) estimates for India for 2019-20. These estimates are extremely useful for assessing health financing in the country. NHA estimates suggest that health spending remains low in the country, with relatively neglect of primary healthcare. Therefore, it is hard to assess when and how we will be able to achieve the goal of universal health coverage (UHC) articulated in the National Health Policy, 2017. UHC, which implies access to quality health services without incurring financial hardship, is also crucial for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. Healthcare (For representation) The latest NHA estimates place public health spending at 1.35% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), which is one of the lowest in the world. It is shocking that public health spending in India increased by only 0.4 percentage point of GDP over the last 15 years between 2004-05 and 2019-20. NHP 2017 articulated to raise public health spending to 2.5% of GDP by 2025 (from the then 1.15%). Though this target was to be achieved in a time bound manner, no roadmap was laid out. As a result, public health expenditure increased only by 0.20 percentage point of GDP in three years following the announcement of the policy. Likewise, NHP 2017 policy stated to increase state sector health spending to > 8% of their budgets by 2020. However, on an average, states spend only about 5% of their total expenditure on health, with many states spending even less than 5 per cent. Over last three years, public health expenditure relative to general government expenditure declined (from 5.1% in 2017-18 to 5.0% in 2019-20), instead of improving. A comprehensive and quality primary health care is at the core of realising the goal of UHC for all. NHP 2017 had stipulated to allocate two-thirds or more to primary health care, but the ratio improved marginally from 54.7% in 2017-18 to 55.9% in 2019-20. Primary health care continues to be neglected, with a large shortage of health manpower, especially in rural areas. At primary health centres, 37% of the sanctioned posts of health assistants and 24% of the sanctioned posts of doctors were vacant in 2022. Relative to the requirement, there was a shortfall of as much as 80% of specialists such as surgeons in community health centres. With such a low public health spending, it is unclear as to how and when we will be able to achieve the goal of UHC. It is significant that the idea of some form of UHC in India was first mooted by the Bhore Committee, which submitted its report way back in 1946. One of the key recommendations of the Bhore Committee was a national health system (NHS) for delivery of comprehensive preventive and curative allopathic services through a rural-focused multi-level public system financed by the government of which all the individuals would be able to reap the benefit, irrespective of their ability to pay. However, India at the time of independence could not afford NHS as it faced multiple challenges such as (i) widespread poverty; (ii) high morbidity and mortality due to several communicable diseases; and (iii) a fragile economy. There is no counterfactual to suggest as to where our health care system would have been today, had we implemented the NHS. However, around the same time when the Bhore Committee submitted, the United Kingdom (UK) enacted a National Healthcare Service Act in 1946 to secure improvement in the health of the people and the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of illness. This led to a massive boost in public health spending in the UK. The gap between public health spending to GDP ratio between India and the UK, which was 2.3 percentage points of GDP in 1960, widened to 6.6 percentage points in 2019. Three is no denying that the tax-GDP ratios and, hence, financial capacity to spend on health in two countries is different. However, many other developing economies with lower economic growth than India such as Mexico could make good make good progress towards UHC by boosting their public health spending. India lags many of its peers in the UHC index, let alone advanced economies. India is at least 14 years behind China in the UHC index. India, which was ahead of Indonesia in UHC in 2000, is almost at par with it now. The goal of UHC will remain elusive as long as public health spending is low. Globally, public health spending for UHC systems averages around 6% of GDP. International evidence also suggests that public spending on health would need to be raised to at least 5% of GDP for progressing towards UHC. Thus, the only way to achieve the goal of UHC is to step up public health spending in a time-bound manner. Both the central and state governments need to commit that in every single year, health spending will rise by at least 0.2 percentage point of GDP until it reaches at least 3% of GDP. For this to materialise, public health expenditure will need to grow every year by 22-23% (from the existing growth rate of 15%) in the next 7-8 years, assuming nominal GDP growth of 11%. At this rate, we can reach the target of 3% of GDP in next 7-8 years, which is the average public health spending to GDP ratio of low- and middle-income countries. Once we reach this stage, our next target should be to raise the public health spending gradually to 5% of GDP. Of course, money would also need to be spent efficiently. It is only then we can achieve the goal of UHC and close the gap with our peers. This article is authored by Janak Raj, Senior Fellow, Centre for Social and Economic Progress, New Delhi. Ahmedabad: As many as 25 camels died after drinking contaminated water from a pond near the parched Kacchipura village of Vagara taluka in Gujarats Bharuch district. The village suffered a loss of 30 camels, with the carcasses of 25 having been recovered, according to a villager. (Representational photo) The unfortunate event on Sunday occurred as the camels made a stopover at a nearby water body, allegedly contaminated due to a pipeline leakage carrying crude oil through the area, villagers said. The villagers of Kacchipura, comprising a population of 250 and some 60 houses, belong to the Maldhari community of cattle herders. The camels held significant importance in their lives, playing a crucial role in supporting their livelihoods. The village has been grappling with a drinking water crisis, said Rehmanbhai Jatt, a 67-year-old resident, whose family has been involved in cattle rearing, including camels, since 1916. We were getting water tankers from some private suppliers, but it has stopped for the last two months, he said. To provide relief from the scorching heat, on Sunday villagers attempted to take the camels to Chanchvel lake 5km away. However, tragedy struck when the camels started dropping dead upon reaching a water body along the way, leaving the villagers in shock and disbelief, he said. The village suffered a loss of 30 camels, with the carcasses of 25 having been recovered, according to Jatt. Efforts are underway to treat and recover the remaining camels. Musabhai Ali Kutchi, a local social worker, highlighted the villagers repeated appeals to the government for an adequate supply of drinking water, which have gone unanswered. Authorities have initiated an investigation to determine the exact cause of the contamination and hold the responsible parties accountable. A vigilance team from the Gujarat Pollution Control Board arrived at the scene on Monday to conduct an inquiry. Margie Patel, the regional officer of the pollution watchdog in Bharuch, said that no nearby chemical industry could be identified as a potential source of contamination. While an ONGC well is present in the vicinity, there have been no reports of leaks, he said. Samples have been collected from the area where the camel bodies were found, and an investigation will provide clarity following the post-mortem reports. Dr Harsh Goswami, a government vet in Bharuch, confirmed the deaths of 25 camels, although the exact cause of their demise remains uncertain. The investigation is ongoing and further updates are awaited, he said. The second day of the Common University Entrance Test for undergraduate admissions (CUET-UG) witnessed 76% attendance, the National Testing Agency (NTA) said on Monday. Students arrive to appear for thee Common University Entrance Test for undergraduate admissions (CUET-UG) at an examination centre in New Delhi. (Raj K Raj/ HT) The CUET-UG was conducted at 450 centres in 262 cities, the testing agency said on Monday. As per the National Testing Agency , 2,24,575 students were scheduled to take the exam on Monday. Out of the total candidates, 76% appeared for the exam and 24% skipped it. The first day of the exam on Sunday had also witnessed 76% attendance. The computer-based exam, which is being conducted in three shifts every day, will continue till June 6, with NTA keeping June 7 and 8 as buffer days. University Grants Commission (UGC) chairperson M Jagadesh Kumar said that the first shift witnessed 74% attendance on Monday, the second and third shifts recorded 79% and 75% attendance, respectively.Meanwhile, NTA will release the admit cards for students whose exams are scheduled between May 25 and May 8 on Wednesday morning. We will announce the city information slips for the third phase (29 May - 2 June) on 23 May, the UGC chief added. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), including chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and his cabinet colleagues, slammed the Union government and Tihar prison authorities over the alleged ill-treatment of senior AAP leader and former Delhi health minister Satyendar Jain, who was rushed to the Safdarjung hospital on Monday due to his deteriorating health condition. Former Delhi minister Satyendar Jain was taken to Safdarjung Hospital on Monday. (PTI) Jain has been in jail since May last year in connection with a money laundering case. Satyendar Jains condition has deteriorated after a debilitating injury from a fall in the jail washroom, which resulted in a spinal injury leaving him in excruciating pain. The gravity of the situation demands immediate spinal surgery, as recommended by his attending doctors, a statement released by the AAP said. A closer examination of his medical condition reveals a troubling array of ailments. He suffers from acute lumbar pain, causing vertigo and chronic lower back pain due to a slipped disc. The pain radiates throughout his lower limbs, leaving him with a constant tingling sensation and decreased mobility, the statement added. The party also said that an MRI conducted on May 3 showed degeneration in all intervertebral discs, with Jains doctors advising urgent spinal surgery and proper postoperative care. He has been placed as number 416 on a waiting list by jail authorities and is expected to be able to undergo the surgery only after five months, the party added. Apart from the impacts of his spinal injury, Jain suffers from sleep apnea and has lost nearly 35kg over the last one year, according to the release. When contacted, Delhi prison authorities said that Jains back surgery was due. Satyender Jains back surgery is due for a long time. Since we dont want to take any risk at DDU hospital, the jail administration has sent him today to Safdarjung for a second opinion about him, Sanjay Baniwal, DG Delhi Prison, said. A senior Tihar Jail official said that Jain is suffering from spinal issues, and was sent to Deen Dayal Upadhyay Hospital in west Delhi last week. At DDU Hospital, he requested for a second opinion on his problem, upon which the doctor referred him to the Safdarjung Hospital, said the official, adding that the falling health of Jain could be because of his food habits and stress levels. We are consulting the doctors treating him to understand why he is shedding weight, he added, asking not to be named. Kejriwal said on Monday that he was praying for better health of his former cabinet colleague, and slammed the Union government for his condition. People of Delhi can see the ego and injustice of the BJP government. People and God are with us in this struggle. This battle against cruelty, injustice and dictatorship will continue. We are the followers of Bhagat Singh, the chief minister tweeted in Hindi, with a picture showing Jain in hospital. Other senior AAP leaders expressed similar sentiments. Health minister Saurabh Bhardwaj said that the person who was single handedly responsible for improving the health care system of Delhi was being treated badly, while education minister Atishi said that she has never seen Satyendar Jain in such a weak state. Jain, who created the mohalla clinic mode, is suffering from health issues but BJP is playing dirty politics, she tweeted. Delhi BJP spokesperson Harish Khurana, however, said that the Delhi government should also inform people of Delhi that Jain is lodged in jail under money laundering case, and the courts have not been granting him bail for almost a year now. We pray that Satyendar Jains health recovers but this should not be used to portray the AAP as victim. The comparison to Bhagat Singh and attempts to portray themselves as martyrs show that they dont have confidence in judiciary, he tweeted. Jain has denied all charges in cases filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation and the Enforcement Directorate in a money-laundering probe, and has maintained that the case is a result of political vendetta. He has not been granted bail despite several attempts to secure his release. A doctor at Safdarjung hospital said that Jain was brought to the neurosurgery OPD on Monday morning after he complained of severe back pain. He (Jain) was brought to the neurosurgery OPD on Monday morning. He was not admitted. After his consultation, he was taken back by the police officials who were accompanying him, the doctor said. Doctors did not specify the cause and history of Jains spinal condition. Anticipating a rush to swap 2,000 currency notes for smaller denominations on Tuesday, banks will have dedicated counters, people to manage queues and enough inventory of lower denomination banknotes, officials said on Monday. A banker checks the 2000 currency notes, in New Delhi on Saturday. (ANI) The Reserve Bank of India on Friday said the process of swapping 2,000 currency notes, which will remain a legal tender, will start from Tuesday and continue till the end of September. Also Read | RBI to reintroduce 1,000 currency notes? Governor Shaktikanta Das responds The high-value notes can be exchanged without a requisition slip or identity proof, the central bank said. However, officials of some banks said they will allow deposits or exchange of 2,000 notes only if a person shows identity proof. In many states, banks have sought the help of local police to regulate queues in case of heavy rush, officials said. Banks have cautioned people against trying to deposit or exchange fake 2,000 notes, saying a police case would be registered against such people. In Uttar Pradesh, 12,000 bank branches have decided to set up separate counters for depositing or exchange of the 2,000 notes, said Anil Tiwari, spokesperson of the United Forum of Bank Unions. Banks are not expecting a huge rush as only 10% of the 2,000 notes are in circulation, he said. Also Read | 12K bank branches in U.P. to deposit/exchange 2000 notes from May 23 Account holders whose KYC has been done can deposit any number of 2,000 notes in their accounts, and only notes worth 10,000 will be allowed in Jan Dhan accounts, Tiwari said. We would request the general public to ensure that they do not have any fake notes as FIR will be lodged against them for trying to deposit fake notes, he said. Banks have made complete arrangements for checking fake notes. On Monday, 2,000 banknotes worth about 90 crore were deposited in banks and cash deposit machines in Lucknow. Also Read | Dont allow exchange of 2000 notes without ID proof: Petition in Delhi HC Jai Sangwan, chief manager of Union bank of India at Rohtak in Haryana, said the lender has set up separate counters for those customers who hold accounts with the bank and those who do not. The customers can either deposit or change notes worth 20,000 in a day by bringing in one identity document, he said. In Punjabs Bathinda, lead bank manager Manju Galhotra said the lenders are fully geared up to accept 2,000 notes from Tuesday. Banks have received instructions to accept the highest value currency notes. People need not panic, he said. Since our branch mostly caters to senior citizens and retail business, we are not expecting too much of a rush, said Barna Chaudhary, a manager at IDBI Bank in Kolkata. However, we have kept 40 lakh in denominations of 500, 200 and 100 for those who may come to exchange 2,000 notes. Similarly, a manager at Kotak Mahindra Bank said on condition of anonymity that the private bank has arranged for enough currency notes to exchange the 2,000 notes. Bankers in Patna seemed to be confused over the number of circulars issued by the Reserve Bank. While a few banks, mostly state-run, have decided to facilitate the exchange of 2,000 notes without Id proofs, others said it was mandatory to have identifiable records of the person exchanging the notes, in accordance with the banking regulators guidelines to check circulation of fake notes. Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar on Monday met Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and senior leader Rahul Gandhi to discuss a broad Opposition strategy and prepare the ground for an upcoming meeting of several political outfits opposed to the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and party leader Rahul Gandhi with Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar in New Delhi. (ANI) Janata Dal (United) president Lalan Singh was present at the meeting at Kharges residence in Delhi. This is the second meeting in as many months between Kharge and Kumar, who has spoken to a number of leaders, including West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee, for the proposed meeting. Banerjee, who has had topsy turvy ties with the Congress in the past, hasnt been contacted by the Congress directly for the proposed Opposition meeting. The country will be united now. The strength of democracy is our message. Rahul Gandhi and myself discussed the current political situation with Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar today and took forward the process of giving a new direction to the country, Kharge tweeted after the meeting. Congress general secretary KC Venugopal said that the venue and date of the Opposition meeting will be announced in a day or two. This is the latest in a series of efforts by prominent Opposition leaders to forge a common front ahead of the 2024 general elections. Kumar has met a number of leaders in recent months to try and bring them together on a common platform. Mondays meeting, which lasted for over an hour, deliberated on the contours of a united opposition meet to be held in Bihar and the need to bring the maximum number of non-BJP political parties on board, said a JD(U) leader on the condition of anonymity. The Congress will try to unite as many Opposition parties possible, even if some of them are state-level rivals, a party strategist said after the meeting. We will make a distinction between state-level compulsions and national-level priorities, he said. In the meeting, Kumar advocated that state-level issues must not cloud any national-level understanding, said another JD(U) leader. The meeting between Kumar and the Congress leadership came a day after the former held talks with Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal at the latters residence. Kumar attacked the Centre for undermining the Constitution after Kejriwal sought unity among non-BJP parties to prevent parliamentary approval for an ordinance that effectively overturns a Supreme Court judgment to restore to the Capitals lieutenant governor the power over bureaucracy in Delhi. In a tweet, Venugopal said: The Congress Party has not taken any decision on the issue of the Ordinance brought against the SC judgment... It will consult its state units & other like-minded parties on the same. The Party believes in the Rule of Law and at the same time does not condone unnecessary confrontation, political witch-hunt and campaigns based on lies against political opponents by any political party. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Fred Clasen-Kelly in Undark: Life expectancy fell in the United States in 2021 for the second year in a row, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That decline is linked to the devastating effect of Covid-19 and a spike in drug overdoses. Some academic experts and activists said the trend also underscores the lasting health consequences of mass incarceration in a nation with roughly 2 million imprisoned or jailed people, one of the highest rates in the developed world. A Senate report last year found the U.S. Department of Justice failed to identify more than 900 deaths in prisons and local jails in fiscal year 2021. The report said the DOJs poor data collection and reporting undermined transparency and congressional oversight of deaths in custody. More here. Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar is expected to meet Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Monday as part of the Janata Dal (United) or JD(U) leaders attempts to bring together non-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) parties ahead of the 2024 national polls, people aware of the matter said. Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal with his Bihar counterpart Nitish Kumar on Sunday. (ANI) This assumes significance against the backdrop of Kumars meeting with his Delhi counterpart, Arvind Kejriwal, on Sunday. Kejriwal sought unity among non-BJP parties to prevent parliamentary approval for the ordinance issued to restore to the Union government the power over services in Delhi. The ordinance was issued a week after the Supreme Court ruled the Delhi government has control over bureaucrats assigned to departments under its purview. Ordinances can be issued on any subject that Parliament has the power to make laws. They are required to receive the approval within six weeks of the reassembly of Parliament. A JD(U) leader said Congresss support for Kejriwal will be vital for Kumars unity efforts. Despite the turf war between the two [Congress and Kejriwals Aam Aadmi Party], it is the larger issue that will bind them. The ordinance is something that no political party or elected government will approve of. It could be one of the rallying points. Many such points will come...Kejriwal will also have to move a step forward for others, said the leader, who did not want to be named. The leader added Kumar is trying to set the stage for a meeting of non-BJP parties in Bihar. But before that, he wants to ensure that all come on board for a common cause. The fight will require all opposition parties to bury personal differences...meeting points will be crucial for stitching a larger alliance, said the JD(U) leader. He added Kumar will return to Patna on Tuesday and might have a few more meetings with other leaders before that. Kumar on Sunday pledged support for Kejriwal and called for unity to prevent the BJP-led Union government from undermining democratic institutions and constitutional values. He flew to New Delhi after attending the swearing-in ceremony of the Congress government in Karnataka on Saturday. Kejriwal was not invited to the ceremony. Kumar in April met Kharge and Congress member of Parliament Rahul Gandhi. He held meetings this month with Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Uddhav Thackeray, Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar, and Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik. He earlier met leaders including Samajwadi Partys Akhilesh Yadav and West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Welcome to hindustantimes.com updates platform where you can find breaking news from India and across the world. Find fast updates about the latest news as it breaks. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Hyderabad: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Monday sought the help of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) to arrest Andhra Pradesh lawmaker YS Avinash Reddy in connection with its probe into the murder of former minister YS Vivekananda Reddy, citing lack of cooperation from the local police, people familiar with the matter said. YSR Congress Party MP YS Avinash Reddy represents Kadapa Lok Sabha seat (PTI) The request came following a day-long drama in Andhra Pradeshs Kurnool town, where ruling YSC Congress Partys MP Avinash Reddy, a cousin of chief minister and party chief YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, is tending to his mother, who is undergoing treatment for a heart ailment at a private hospital. Reddy, who represents Kadapa Lok Sabha seat, was summoned by CBI to appear for questioning at 11 am on Monday in Hyderabad. But, the lawmaker wrote to the federal agency on Sunday evening, saying he would need at least seven more days to appear before it, citing his mothers ailment. CBI, however, refused to entertain the request by the MP, who had failed to appear before the agency on May 16 and May 19 after being summoned for questioning in the 2019 murder of Vivekananda Reddy. Earlier on Monday, a team of CBI sleuths reached Vishwa Bharati Hospital in Kurnool to take the YSRCP lawmaker into custody for questioning. Tension prevailed at the hospital as hundreds of followers of Avinash Reddy prevent CBI officials from entering the premises. Ruling YSRCP workers also attacked media personnel of various TV channels who had gathered to cover the developments, said an official familiar with the matter. CBI sleuths held two rounds of talks with Kurnool superintendent of police (SP) G Kishnakanth, seeking assistance from the local police to arrest the MP. The SP, however, expressed helplessness to cooperate with CBI stating that the arrest of the MP might lead to breakdown of law and order in the town and elsewhere in the state, a local police officer said, requesting anonymity. He told them that unless there are clear instructions from Director General of Police (DGP) KV Rajendranath Reddy, he cannot help them. CBI officials then called up their higher-ups and sought help from CRPF to take the lawmaker into custody. A team of 35 CRPF personnel from Hyderabad left for Kurnool late in the evening, the official quoted in first instance said, adding that the CBI team was waiting at the state guest house for the central forces to arrive in the town. The day also saw chief minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddys mother YS Vijayamma visiting the hospital where her nephew Avinash Reddys mother is admitted. Meanwhile, Avinash Reddy moved the Supreme Court, seeking a direction to the Telangana high court to consider his petition for anticipatory bail in the murder case. He also sought a direction to CBI to give him exemption from interrogation for a week in view of his mothers health condition. A vacation bench of the apex court will take up his petition on Tuesday. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON New Delhi Terming the midday meal coverage figures provided by the Kerala state education department for 2022-23 as highly improbable, the Centre has decided to send a team to verify the data and ascertain the authenticity of the reported coverage, according to the minutes of an official meeting. A senior ministry official, who asked not to be named, said that last year also the state reported very high coverage under the scheme The matter was discussed during a meeting held between the state and the project approval board (PAB) of the PM Poshan scheme, or the midday meal scheme, under the Union ministry of education on May 15. The meeting was held to review the status and progress of the implementation of PM Poshan in Kerala in 2022-23, and to chart an annual plan for the year 2023-24. According to the minutes of the meeting, seen by HT, the Kerala state government told the Centre that it has covered 99% of the 1,691,216 students enrolled at the primary level (classes 1 to 5), and 95% of the 1,145,178 students enrolled at upper primary level (classes 6 to 8) under the scheme in the academic year 2022-23. The data also showed that in some districts almost all the enrolled children in primary classes availed the school midday meals on all working days. This seems highly improbable. PAB decided that a team of representatives from central and the state government may visit a few districts to ascertain the ground level picture to verify the authenticity of the reported coverage by cross verifying data from various levels i.e. schools, blocks, and districts, the board said, according to the minutes. A senior ministry official, who asked not to be named, said that last year also the state reported very high coverage under the scheme. The state government has now been advised to take up special measures to check the authenticity of the figures regarding coverage of students in both primary and upper primary levels from districts and submit an action taken report by July, the official added. The board further advised the state to ensure that data on the coverage of students from districts may be captured in the format of Quarterly Progress Report (QPR) for greater transparency, accuracy and accountability, the minutes read. Kerala general education minister Vasudevan Sivankuttys office did not respond to an email request for a comment. HT also reached out to the states education secretary for a response, but could not get one immediately. Under the PM-Poshan scheme the Centre shares the cost with states and Union territories in a 60:40 ratio, and contributes 100% of the funds in UTs without a legislature SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON A day after meeting his Delhi counterpart Arvind Kejriwal, Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar called on Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and former party chief Rahul Gandhi in New Delhi on Monday, amid efforts to strengthen Opposition unity to take on the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. This was the second such meeting in the last one and a half months between Kharge and Kumar. Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar interacts with Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi during a meeting in New Delhi on Monday, (PTI) Congress general secretary (organisation) KC Venugopal and JD(U) chief Lalan Singh were also present during the meeting held at the Congress president's 10, Rajaji Marg residence. Venugopal asserted that a "vast majority" of non-BJP parties will meet soon. Opposition parties meet will be held. A date and place of the meeting will be announced within 1-2 days. A vast number of parties will be taking part in the meeting, Venugopal said after the meeting. Now the country will be united. The strength of democracy is our message! Mr. @RahulGandhi and I discussed the current political situation with the chief minister of Bihar @NitishKumar today and took forward the process of giving a new direction to the country, Kharge earlier tweeted. Citing sources, news agency PTI reported that during the meeting, the roadmap for strengthening Opposition unity and a possible meeting of Opposition leaders in Patna was being discussed. On Sunday, Kumar and Kejriwal called for opposition unity to take on the BJP. The JD(U) leader met the AAP convenor at his residence and extended complete support to him in the ongoing face-off with the Centre over the control of administrative services. Significantly, the Bihar CM, Tejashwi Yadav, Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren, Nationalist Congress Party president Sharad Pawar, Tamil Nadu chief minister MK Stalin and National Conference president Farooq Abdullah attended the swearing-in ceremony of Siddaramaiah as the Karnataka chief minister on Saturday, in a show of opposition unity, Kumar has been meeting Opposition leaders and regional satraps as part of the unity exercise which is yet to take a concrete shape. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The Congress party announced it will bring back the Old Pension Scheme in Madhya Pradesh if elected to power as a part of poll promises declared on Monday. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge has called a meeting on May 24 to discuss the upcoming polls. (PTI) The promise of bringing back OPS instead of the New Pension Scheme has been politically beneficial for the party that won last years Himachal Pradesh poll on the same agenda. The Congress tweeted the partys promise to the people of Madhya Pradesh even as the elections in the state is still six months away. The package includes gas cylinder for 500, 1,500 per month to every woman, farm loan waiver and no electricity charges for 100 units and 50% less charge for 200 units. We kept our promise in Karnataka now we will keep it in MP, tweeted the Congress. In Karnataka, the party had promised cash incentives to farmers, women and young people. On May 20, the newly-elected Siddaramaiah government approved the five sops in its first cabinet meeting. Two days after its government was installed in Karnataka, the Congress party has shifted its focus on the upcoming elections of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge has called a meeting on May 24 to discuss the upcoming polls. Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot, Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel, Pradesh Congress chiefs of the three states and senior AICC functionaries will attend the meeting. The elections in these states are expected in November this year. A threadbare discussion on the situation in the three states and how the Congress will approach the elections is expected to be discussed. In 2018, we formed the government in all three states. However, our government collapsed in Madhya Pradesh in 2020, said a senior Congress leader. The new pension scheme, or NPS, was brought during Atal Bihari Vajpayees government and rolled out on January 1, 2004. When the Narendra Modi government came to power, it offered tax benefits on the scheme to make it popular. At the heart of the old pay as you go scheme, operational till 2004, lay an intergenerational disparity, according to analysts. Under it, contributions from the current generation of workers were used to pay for pensions of current pensioners, making it an unfunded pension scheme because it represented a direct transfer of resources from the current generation of taxpayers to fund the pensions. Eye on China, India unveils 12-point plan to deepen ties with Pacific nations India on Monday unveiled an action plan encompassing health, renewable energy and cyber-security to bolster cooperation with Pacific island states amid Chinas efforts to increase its influence in the area, withread more. Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the 3rd Forum for India-Pacific Islands Cooperation (FIPIC) Summit at Port Moresby in Papua New Guinea on Monday. (PIB) 'Ram Temple to be ready by': Panel head reveals when devotees can offer prayers The first phase of the construction of Ram Temple in Ayodhya will be completed by December 30 this year, while the first and second storeys will be ready by December 30, 2024, Nripendra Misra, chairman of the Ramread more. WHO excludes Taiwan from annual assembly following China's opposition Taiwan failed on Monday in its efforts to gain an invitation to the World Health Organization's annual assembly despite the island's assertion that support was growing for its participation. The annual assembly inread more. Interview: Samarth Chitta inspires at 11, shines bright as podcaster and author Samarth Chitta, an 11-year-old Class 5 student of The International School Bangalore, is inspiring people. Reason? He has accomplished remarkable feats as a podcaster and author, standing out in his own rightread more. After IPL 2023 heartbreak, Virat Kohli among eight Indian stars to leave for England on Tuesday for WTC final: Report It wasn't the IPL season that Virat Kohli dreamt about, or has long dreamt about. Royal Challengers Bangalore, in fact, incurred one of their worst finishes on points table since 2019, when they had finishedread more. Minimise your risk of cancer with these simple lifestyle changes Small changes in your lifestyle can play a big role in minimising risks of certain chronic diseases. Many risk factors for cancer for instance are rooted in our lifestyle and personal choices. Making mindful lifestyleread more. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The Delhi High Court on Monday issued a notice to British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) in connection with a defamation suit a Gujarat-based non-governmental organisation (NGO) has filed against the United Kingdom (UK)s national broadcaster over its documentary India: The Modi Question. The government dismissed the documentary as propaganda. (AFP) The government has dismissed the documentary based on the 2002 Gujarat riots when Prime Minister Narendra Modi was the states chief minister as propaganda and a reflection of the colonial mindset. It issued directions in January to video-sharing service YouTube to take down copies of the film and to Twitter to remove posts related to it. The government said the documentary peddled a discredited narrative and highlighted the Supreme Court cleared Modi of any wrongdoings. BBC maintained that the film was rigorously researched according to highest editorial standards. In its plea, NGO Justice On Trial alleged the documentary defamed Indias people. It said the documentary makes defamatory imputation and casts a slur on the reputation of the country, judiciary and the Prime Minister Senior advocate Harish Salve, who appeared for the NGO in the high court, said that the whole system, the Constitutional network, including Indias judicial system, has been defamed. Issue notice to the respondents through all permissible modes, Justice Sachin Datta of the high court said orally. He said the matter would be heard next in September. The Supreme Court in February dismissed as completely misconceived a public interest litigation (PIL) demanding a ban on BBC in India amid the controversy over the documentary. A bench of justices Sanjiv Khanna and MM Sundresh told the petitioner, Beerendra Kumar Singh of Hindu Sena, the PIL was absolutely meritless. The income tax department also in February carried out what it described as a survey of the offices of BBC in Delhi and Mumbai and sparked a political row. Opposition parties criticised the action and linked it to BBCs airing of a two-part documentary, which cited a previously unpublished report of the UK foreign ministry that questioned Modis actions during the riots. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The spate of ethnic violence that has so far claimed 73 lives and left thousands homeless in Manipur has also triggered an exodus in the small state of 3.6 million people, stakeholders aware of the situation told HT on Monday. Army personnel and Assam Rifles check a vehicle on NH-37 in violence-hit Manipur. (Indian Army) They said a sizeable number of people from the Kuki tribe are abandoning their homes in the valley regions while members of the Meitei community are leaving the hills. Also Read: Army deployed as fresh violence erupts in Manipur, houses set on fire in Imphal As many as 7472 Meiteis have migrated from the hill districts to the Imphal valley while 5200 Kukis have left Imphal and surrounding areas since the violence erupted on May 3, according to the Coordinating Committee on Manipur Integrity (COCOMI), an organisation working with the states Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government to restore peace. Letzamang Haokip, the BJP MLA from Henglep in Churachandpur district, where the first incident of arson took place on May 3, told HT that thousands of Kukis are returning to the hills. In Manipur, the affluent Meitei community, which predominantly comprises Hindu Vaishnavs, accounts for 53% of the population against 44% represented by 33 tribes , including Kukis and Nagas. Also Read: Ex-MLA among 3 held for fresh round of Manipur violence, says CM Biren Singh Of Manipurs nine districts, five are located in the hill areas where the tribes live and primarily earn their livelihood by pursuing traditional jhum (slash and burn) cultivation. Most of the Meiteis live in the four districts spread out in the valleys. The demographic segregation is getting sharper with people who left their traditional home grounds over the years returning in search of safety. This is happening every day, said Haokip, who, along with nine other tribal legislators want a separate administration for the hills under the Constitution, a demand rejected by chief minister N Biren Singh on May 15 after his meeting with union home minister Amit Shah. Reports of clashes are coming in every day from the periphery of the hills, COCOMI spokesperson Khuraijam Athouba said. Also Read: Manipur extends internet ban to curb spread of hate speech We held a meeting with Kuldeep Singh, security adviser to the state government, and central government officials on May 18 to review the situation, Athouba added. The violence erupted at Churachandpur district on May 3 when Kukis took part in a solidarity march called by the All Tribal Student Union Manipur (ATSUM) in protest against an April 19 Manipur high court order directing the state government to consider giving Centre Scheduled Caste (ST) reservation to the Meitei community. After the rally ended, a mob allegedly set fire to the Anglo-Kuki War Memorial gate. A series of arson and killings paralysed life at Bishnupur, Jiribam, Thoubal, Kakching and Tengnoupal districts in quick succession, forcing the government to deploy the army, impose state-wide curfew and suspend all internet services. Though the duration of curfew has been relaxed in some areas, the ban on internet continues across Manipur. Manipur state Congress president K Meghachandra said: The violence is continuing. Some shops owned by Kukis were torched at New Chekon in the heart of Imphal city today. Yesterday, a few houses belonging to Meiteis were burnt down at Churachandpur by Kukis. Common people are scared. Many of those who took shelter in relief camps are leaving because there is shortage of essential items such as baby food. I cant understand why the Centre is silent. According to studies done by COCOMI, 1310 people have left their homes in Churachandpur district, more than 3000 have left Tengnoupal districts Moreh town at the India-Myanmar border and 260 have left Chandel district. The government is trying its best to restore normalcy. The disturbance is being created only by some armed groups, a Manipur police officer said on condition of anonymity. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON ABOUT THE AUTHOR Tanmay Chatterjee Tanmay Chatterjee has spent more than three decades covering regional and national politics, internal security, intelligence, defence and corruption. He also plans and edits special features on subjects ranging from elections to festivals. ...view detail Chennai: The Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC) filed a charge sheet against former AIADMK ministers for health C Vijayabhaskar and higher education K P Anbalagan in connection with the disproportionate assets case (Check) on Monday, the agency said. C Vijayabhaskar (PTI) The two ministers and several accused from their family and friends have been charged with amassing disproportionate assets worth several thousand crores. This is the first time a charge sheet has been filed against the opposition after the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) formed the government in May 2021. Besides the two who have been charge-sheeted, the agency has registered cases against former ministers SP Velumani (three cases), MR Vijayabhaskar, P Thangamani, R Kamaraj and former MLA KPP Baskar. DVAC filed a 150-page charge sheet against Anbalagan, a sitting MLA from the Palacode assembly constituency, at the Chief Judicial Magistrates court in Dharmapuri, said an official not wishing to be named. The supporting documents with evidence run for 10,000 pages. Our main finding is that Anbalagan has bought quarries for mining in the name of his son, son-in-law and son-in-laws brothers, which he has routed through a trust, the official said. When DVAC (check) registered a case against Anbalagan in January 2022, the assets were pegged at 113,295,755 ( 11.32 crore) disproportionate to his known sources of income. But, after investigation, it has gone up to 452,053,363 ( 45.20 crore), the agency said. Anbalagans wife, A Malliga, and two sons, A Sasimohan and A Chandramohanm, a trust- Saraswathi Pachiappan Educational and Charitable Trust are among the 11 accused in the case registered under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988. During the investigation, searches were conducted in 58 places, and certain incriminating materials were seized, the DVAC said. The investigation disclosed that K P Anbalagan had acquired assets in the form of buildings, bank balances, business investments, landed properties, machinery, ornaments and vehicles in his name and the name of his above family members and circulating the ill-gotten money in the trust by the name Saraswathi Pachiappan Educational and Charitable Trust all to the extent of 452,053,363 with the active aid of his close relatives namely P Ravisankar, P Saravanan and R Saravanakumar and close associates namely Tr C Manickam, M Malliga and SS Dhanapal, which is disproportionate to his known sources of income for which he could not account satisfactorily. DVAC also filed a chargesheet running more than 210 pages against another AIADMK heavyweight Vijayabhaskar, a sitting MLA from the Viralimalai assembly constituency. The charge sheet was filed in the Chief Judicial Magistrate Court in Pudukkottai. DVAC (check) filed a case against the former health minister and his wife, V Ramya, in October 2021. His disproportionate assets were initially pegged at 272,253,736 ( 27.22 crore), but after the DVAC conducted a probe in 56 places, their revised estimate is 357,990,081 ( 35.79 crore), the agency said. The investigation disclosed that Dr C Vijaybaskar had acquired assets in the form of bank balances, business investments through Rasi Blue Metal, Rasi Enterprises, V Infrastructure etc., landed properties, machinery, ornaments and vehicles in his name and the name of his wife V Ramya all to the extent of 35,79,90,081/- which are disproportionate to their known sources of income for which they could not account satisfactorily, the DVAC said in a statement. The DMK had promised in its 2021 election manifesto to establish a special court to try graft charges against All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) ministers from the previous regime. Soon after the DMK formed the government, the DVAC went on an offensive, cracking down on these former ministers. The two chargesheets were filed after the DVAC obtained a necessary sanction for prosecution from Tamil Nadu Assembly speaker M Appavu. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Melanie Challenger at IAI News: We demand a lot from scientists. They are required to be objective, rigorous, and accurate, and to conduct their work free from the constraints of religion or politics. Few other areas of human endeavour are expected to be or valued as being so free from human error. At the same time, scientists are tasked with assessing and considering the potential consequences and applications of their work, and to act responsibly to maintain public trust in their whole system of knowledge. That is a burden that scientists must feel acutely today, as they come under attack from the instruments of misinformation. So valued is science as an objective arbiter of reality that the freedoms of scientists are seen as a measure of an enlightened society. And yet scientific knowledge has given the world Zyklon B as well as Penicillin. As such, publics often fear science as much as they demand its boons. So, how can we better steer science towards social good? And should scientists be held responsible for the implications of their work? More here. Manipur capital Imphal witnessed a fresh round of violence and arson on Monday with a group of people setting a few houses on fire. On Sunday night, there was violence in one area of Imphal West district where three persons were injured when miscreants shot at them. Manipur violence: A convoy of vehicles including carrying essential goods moved under the escort of CRPF and Manipur Police from Noney to Imphal in view of the ongoing tensions in Manipur (ANI File) Manipur chief minister N Biren Singh confirmed the developments and stressed that action has been taken against those involved. Three people, including a former MLA were taken into custody on Monday for their alleged involvement in violence.. On Sunday night, three persons sustained minor injuries in Imphal West district in an incident. Police have arrested the culprits who were involved along with the double barrel guns used, Singh said. On Monday, another minor incident took place in the New Lambulane part of Imphal city. It is very unfortunate that an ex-MLA was involved in the conspiracy. Two armed personnel carrying single-barrel guns threatened vendors and asked them to vacate the area. Both these persons along with the ex-MLA have been picked up, he added. Singh said that the situation in Manipur has remained by and large peaceful in the past 10 days and appealed to people in the state to remain calm and help restore peace and normalcy soon. According to officials, Mondays incident took place in the New Checkon market area of New Lambulane in Imphal East district around 2 pm when some houses of those who fled the violence that erupted earlier this month, were set on fire. The arson was preceded by a clash in the main market in New Checkon, an area that is home to a mix of Kuki, Meitei and other ethnic groups. On Monday morning during relaxation in curfew, a group of people armed with firearms and led by the former MLA allegedly asked traders belonging to a particular community to close their shops. Following the violence, the relaxation in curfew in the capital area has been reduced by two hours. Earlier curfew was relaxed from 6am to 4pm. The relaxation has now been curtailed and will end at 2pm. Sporadic incidents of violence have been taking in some places in past days, but there is no major flare-up or loss of lives recently. As and when such incidents take place, army and para-military forces already deployed in the state reach these spots and bring things under control, said Lt Col Mahender Rawat, PRO (Defence), Guwahati. On Sunday, the Manipur government extended the restrictions on internet services, which started on May 3, for another five days till 3pm on May 26. The notification said this was being done to prevent any disturbances of peace and public order and to stop spread of disinformation and false rumours. Ethnic violence started in many parts of Manipur on May 3 and continued till May 5 following a proposal to grant ST status to the dominant Meitei community and opposition by tribal groups to it. Violence and arson have claimed over 70 lives and over 30,000 people have been displaced. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Here are todays top news, analysis, and opinion from Hindustan Times newspaper. Petrol pumps are facing the heat of the 2,000 banknote withdrawal. (ANI) Customers line up to exchange 2k notes; no change, say fuel pumps Petrol pumps are facing the heat of the 2,000 banknote withdrawal as customers are thronging with the high-value currency notes from Friday late to buy fuel worth as little as 100 or 200, forcing many outlets to put up notices that they would not be able to give change for 2,000 due to unavailability of notes of smaller denominations. Read more After arrest of official, DRDO directs scientists to ensure cyber discipline The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has asked the countrys military scientists and other officials to ensure strict cyber discipline, steer clear of avoidable interactions on social media and not entertain calls from unknown numbers, including those from outside the country, to safeguard critical information related to Indias security in a new advisory, government officials aware of the matter said on Sunday. Read more Oppn show of strength likely on Karunanidhis birth centenary in TN The ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) is planning a show of strength of opposition parties during the year-long events to mark the birth centenary of veteran party leader and former chief minister M Karunanidhi, people familiar with the matter said on Sunday. Read more Srinagar decked up, security tightened ahead of today's G20 meet Jammu and Kashmir is all set to host the third tourism working group meeting of G20 countries in capital Srinagar from Monday to Wednesday, with multi-tier security arrangements in place to successfully host its first major international event since the abrogation of Article 370 in 2019. Read more Big deposits of 2,000 notes in Jan Dhan accounts will draw tax scrutiny Mass cash deposits are likely to come under scanner to catch tax evaders using third party bank accounts to hide their wealth while exchanging 2,000 notes, according to officials aware of the development, who said sudden large deposits in multiple Jan Dhan Yojana accounts may also be scrutinised. Read more Isro's Chandrayaan-3 launch likely on July 12 The Indian Space Research Organisation is expected to launch the third edition of its lunar mission, Chandrayaan-3, on July 12, officials of the space agency have said. Read more Bhiwani double murder: Monu Manesar, 20 others named in FIR The Rajasthan police on Sunday named 21 people, including Bajrang Dal member Monu Manesar, in the abduction and murder of two Muslim men, whose remains were found inside a charred vehicle in Haryanas Bhiwani district on February 16, a senior officer said. Read more Niti Aayog meeting on May 27 may set the stage for Oppn talks The upcoming meeting of the Niti Aayogs governing council on May 27, where all chief ministers will participate, is likely to set the stage for parleys between chief ministers of opposition parties with an eye on the 2024 parliamentary elections. Read more IPL: Undercover Delhi cops blend in with fans to snap betting, fake ticket networks I have only three tickets 5,000 for each. A slightly built man, wearing a white t-shirt, speaks to a small crowd, which swells rapidly around him, at a petrol station right next to Delhis Arun Jaitley Stadium. Read more 2K note withdrawal spurs purchase of gold and silver The demand for bullion saw a sudden jump on Saturday, which dealers in various parts of the country said was expected to continue till people offloaded a bulk of their 2,000 banknotes for gold and silver, even as a rush to exchange the high-value currency notes is expected at banks from Monday. Read more SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON India hosted a tourism working group meeting of the G20 in Srinagar on Monday, one of the biggest international events held in Jammu & Kashmir since the nullification of Article 370 in August 2019, and one that served as a reiteration on the global stage of the region being an integral part of the country. Ram Charan with Korean ambassador Chang Jae-bok (C) in Srinagar on Monday. (AFP) Though China skipped the meeting, delegates and officials from G20 members, including Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Mexico, Russia, South Africa, the UK, the US and the European Union (EU), attended the inaugural events at the Sher-i-Kashmir International Convention Centre on the banks of Dal Lake. Some members of the grouping of the worlds largest economies and guest countries invited by India to be part of the G20 process this year, such as Indonesia and Saudi Arabia, were represented by officials from their embassies in New Delhi instead of representatives from the capitals, people familiar with the matter said. Private tour operators also represented some countries, including Turkey, the people added. Indias G20 Sherpa Amitabh Kant said the tourism working group meeting in Kashmir has had an overwhelming response. Normally, in any meeting and event, four to five countries do not come for various reasons... but here in Kashmir, we had an outstanding response. Sixty-one participants from 29 countries, and one country not coming, is a very good response. So, we are looking forward to very positive and fruitful discussions [on Tuesday], he said. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has already said that the recommendations on tourism from the working group will be action-oriented and a lot of this will emerge from the meeting in Kashmir, he said. Some countries are being represented by their private sector, he added. Travel and tourism are totally private sector activities, and so travel operators have come from different countries. There are 61 government representatives from different countries. [Some] countries wanted to join in a hybrid way but we wanted physical participation, he said. During the meeting, the participants will discuss the Goa road map for tourism as a vehicle for achievable development goals, and the G20 ministerial declaration from Monday evening to Wednesday. Jammu & Kashmirs lieutenant governor (LG) Manoj Sinha described the event as a historic opportunity for the Union territorys 13 million residents to showcase their culture, heritage and hospitality India organised G20-related events in Kashmir and Arunachal Pradesh to showcase normalcy and development in these areas and to negate territorial claims by other countries. Pakistan has objected to the holding of such meetings in Kashmir, one of the reasons behind Chinas decision to boycott the event in Srinagar. China also stayed away from a G20 event in Arunachal Pradesh. Jitendra Singh, the Union minister of state in the Prime Ministers Office, said the holding of the meeting in Srinagar was an achievement of sorts. He targeted Pakistan for sponsoring terrorism in Kashmir. I am sure the delegates coming from other places will be able to falsify the kind of narrative that is sought to be created either by certain vested interests or some self-styled cynics or self-righteous commentators. You have seen it yourself or this is an opportunity to see. Jammu & Kashmir has moved on, he said. Singh, who is an MP from the Union territory, said the common man wants to be part of the developmental journey as he has seen two generations of Kashmiris sacrificed at the altar of Pakistan-sponsored terrorism. He is no longer in a mood to succumb to that. Let us not forget that the youth of Kashmir are highly aspirational, he said, adding that the youngsters are forward looking and well informed. They (the youth) could see the enormous avenues unfolding across the country under the leadership of PM Modi in the last nine years and dont want to miss the bus, Singh said. Many of you have been frequent visitors here. Whenever there was an event like this or a leader would come from Delhi, you had a hartal call from Islamabad and shops were shut in Lal Chowk. You dont have that kind of scenario today. That speaks of the transformation that has happened. Asked whether the hosting of an event of this scale meant that it is safe to begin some form of political process in Jammu & Kashmir, Singh said: I dont know what you mean by that, political process is already going on. We have DDC, BDC, panch and sarpanchs in place. Are they not part of the political process? Besides serious discussions, the event witnessed some lighter moments, such as when RRR co-star Ram Charan shook a leg with South Korean ambassador Chang Jae-bok to the tune of the Oscar-winning song Naatu Naatu. Charan attended a side event on Film tourism for economic growth and cultural preservation and held a one-on-one conversation with critic Mayank Sharma. I have been coming to Kashmir since 1986 with my dad. I have shot here in 2017. This place has something magical, it draws people, their attention, he said. No matter what we hear about Kashmir, this is such a surreal feeling when you come to Kashmir. It has been 95 years since the Indian film industry began, it will take another 95 years to explore Kashmir. It is that beautiful this is a beautiful untapped place and I hope you dont tap it too much. It is so raw, so gorgeous and so unkempt, so I want this beautiful paradise on earth to remain like this, Charan said. A session in the afternoon witnessed the unveiling of the draft for a national strategy on film tourism. There was also a side event on ecotourism, and a panel discussion focused on green tourism, digitalisation, skills, MSMEs and destination management. These priorities are building blocks for accelerating the transition of the tourism sector and achieving the targets under the 2030 sustainable development goals (SDGs). In the afternoon, some of the foreign guests took a ride in a shikara on the Dal Lake and visited a handicrafts exhibition on the lawns of SKICC. However, a trip to the ski resort of Gulmarg scheduled for Tuesday was cancelled because of security concerns. The local administration has been in overdrive to ensure security and to give Srinagar a facelift. While the city has been decked up in the G20 colours, the road from Srinagar Airport to SKICC was spruced up, with walls being covered with murals and paintings, and local markets were cleaned up. Even security bunkers were given a new look. Authorities put in place multi-tier security arrangements to successfully host the first major international event since the abrogation of Article 370. Around the SKICC, marine commandoes and National Security Guard personnel carried out security drills over the last few days. River and lake domination was done by the marine commandos to ensure water bodies around the venue of the meeting are safe. Central Reserve Police Force personnel also conducted mock drills at the lake since Friday. G Krishen Reddy, the Union tourism minister, said the government decided to organise G20 meetings in all states and union territories. The security is part of the SOP. Foreign delegates have come to Kashmir after many years, and people are happy and welcoming them. This is sending a message to the entire country. People here are happy as there has been a lot of employment generated in the past two to three years through tourism, he said. NEW DELHI: India on Monday unveiled an action plan encompassing health, renewable energy and cyber-security to bolster cooperation with Pacific island states amid Chinas efforts to increase its influence in the area, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi telling regional leaders that New Delhi will stand by them as a friend. Prime Minister Narendra Modi addresses a meeting with Pacific island leaders to discuss ways to better cooperate in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea on May 22 (AP/Australian Broadcasting Corp) The action plan was announced by Modi while addressing the third summit of the Forum for India-Pacific Islands Cooperation at Port Moresby, the capital of Papua New Guinea. Modi was the first Indian premier to travel to Papua New Guinea, where he participated in the meeting with leaders of 14 Pacific island states. In his opening remarks at the meeting, Modi referred to challenges facing the small island countries, such as climate change, health-related issues and barriers to the supply of food, fuel, fertilisers and pharmaceuticals, and said: Those whom we considered trustworthy, it turned out that they were not standing by our side in times of need. Speaking in Hindi, he added: During these challenging times, an old saying has proven true: A friend in need is a friend indeed. I am glad India stood with its Pacific island friends during this challenging time. He also referred to aid provided by India to its partners, including vaccines, medicines, wheat and sugar. Though he didnt name any country, this was an apparent reference to China, which triggered alarm across the region last year by seeking to ramp up security cooperation with the Pacific island states. In April 2022, China signed a security pact with Solomon islands that Western officials said paved the way for a Chinese military presence. Solomon islands was among the countries present at Mondays summit. Papua New Guinea Prime Minister James Marape, who co-hosted the summit, said Modi has emerged as the leader of the Global South and thanked him for advocating the issues of developing countries at Indias G20 presidency. I want to take this moment...and ask you to offer a third big voice in the face of the Global North, Marape said. Marape urged Modi to raise concerns of Pacific island states related to climate change, including sea level rise and salination of farmland, and the fallout of the Ukraine war, such as the high cost of food and energy, at forums such as the G20. We suffer as a result of big nations at play in terms of geopolitics and power struggles...I put to you as the leader of the third world...[that] we will rally behind your leadership at global forums, he said. Modi unveiled a 12-point action plan that Indian officials said is aimed at driving Indias partnership with Pacific island states, while simultaneously fulfilling their developmental aspirations and consolidating a shared vision for a free and open Indo-Pacific. In healthcare, India will bear the full cost of setting up a super-speciality cardiology hospital in Fiji. The greenfield project with trained staff and modern infrastructure will serve as a lifeline for the region, Modi said. India will also assist in setting up dialysis units and providing sea ambulances to all 14 Pacific island states. After organising a Jaipur Foot Camp in Fiji in 2022 that provided free prosthetic limbs to more than 600 people, India will hold a similar camp in Papua New Guinea. From 2024, two camps will be held every year in the Pacific island states. Modi also proposed setting up yoga centres and bringing Jan Aushadhi Centres, which provide more than 1,800 generic medicines at affordable prices in India, to the Pacific islands. The Centre of Excellence for IT in Papua New Guinea will be upgraded into a Regional Information Technology and Cybersecurity Hub, while a 24x7 helpline will be established for Fiji, with plans for similar facilities in other countries. The Indian side also announced a project to develop the SME (small and medium enterprise) sector in all Pacific island countries by providing machinery and technology supplies. Following a project to convert the residences of all heads of state of the Pacific islands states to solar power, at least one government building in all these countries will be converted to solar power. India will provide desalination units to every Pacific island country to address water scarcity and offer 1,000 ITEC training opportunities under the new Sagar Amrut Scholarship over the next five years. Modi, who co-hosted the summit with Papua New Guinea Prime Minister James Marape, said India has worked to highlight the concerns of developing countries through the Voice of Global South Summit and outreach sessions of the G7 Summit. We are ready to share our capabilities and experiences with you without any hesitation whether its digital technology or space technology, whether its health security or food security...we are with you in every way, he said. We support a free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific. We respect the sovereignty and integrity of all countries. The voice of the Global South should resonate strongly in the UN Security Council. For this, reform of international institutions should be our shared priority. The Forum for India-Pacific Islands Cooperation was set up in 2014 and includes Cook Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Nauru, Niue, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu. Foreign secretary Vinay Kwatra told a media briefing that the forum has helped deepen Indias engagement with the Pacific islands in many areas since the two sides have similar views on regional priorities. There is an overwhelming sense of goodwill towards India and appreciation for the countrys role in the region, he said. The Pacific island states see India as a reliable partner which has democratic values and whose developmental template doesnt structurally burden their economies, Kwatra said in a tacit reference to concerns about the debt burden created by Chinas Belt and Road Initiative. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON India on Monday unveiled an action plan encompassing health, renewable energy and cybersecurity to bolster cooperation with Pacific Island states and hold off Chinas efforts to increase its influence in the region, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi telling regional leaders that New Delhi will stand by them as a friend. PREMIUM Prime Minister Narendra Modi meets the Indian Community in Sydney on Monday. (ANI) The action plan was announced by Modi while addressing the third summit of the Forum for India-Pacific Islands Cooperation at Port Moresby, the capital of Papua New Guinea. Modi was the first Indian premier to travel to Papua New Guinea, where he participated in the meeting with leaders of 14 Pacific Island states. In his opening remarks at the meeting, Modi referred to challenges facing the small island countries, such as climate change, health-related issues and barriers to the supply of food, fuel, fertilisers and pharmaceuticals, and said, Those whom we considered trustworthy, it turned out that they were not standing by our side in times of need. Speaking in Hindi, he added: During these challenging times, an old saying has proven true: A friend in need is a friend indeed. I am glad India stood with its Pacific Island friends during this challenging time. He also referred to aid provided by India to its partners, including vaccines, medicines, wheat and sugar. Though he didnt name any country, this was an apparent reference to China, which triggered alarm across the region last year by seeking to ramp up security cooperation with Pacific Island states. In April 2022, China signed a security pact with Solomon Islands that Western officials said paved the way for a Chinese military presence. Solomon Islands was among the countries present at Mondays summit. Modis visit is important because it is one prong of a multifaceted plan to counter Beijing, which has sought to increase its influence over this string of small but strategically important islands that are key to keeping the Indo-Pacific region free and open. New Delhi is hoping to project a more inclusive model of partnership and a softer touch, a sharp contrast from Chinas policy of playing hardball with infra and developmental loans to stamp its influence over the Indo-Pacific. Papua New Guinea Prime Minister James Marape, who co-hosted the summit, said Modi has emerged as the leader of the Global South and thanked him for advocating the issues of developing countries during Indias G20 presidency. I want to take this moment...and ask you to offer a big voice in the face of the Global North, Marape said. Marape urged Modi to raise concerns of Pacific Island states related to climate change, including sea level rise and salination of farmland, and the fallout of the Ukraine war, such as the high cost of food and energy, at forums such as the G20. We suffer as a result of big nations at play in terms of geopolitics and power struggles... I put to you as the leader of the third world... [that] we will rally behind your leadership at global forums, he said. Modi unveiled a 12-point action plan that Indian officials said is aimed at driving Indias partnership with Pacific Island states, while simultaneously fulfilling their developmental aspirations and consolidating a shared vision for a free and open Indo-Pacific. In health care, India will bear the full cost of setting up a super-specialty cardiology hospital in Fiji. The greenfield project with trained staff and modern infrastructure will serve as a lifeline for the region, Modi said. India will also assist in setting up dialysis units and providing sea ambulances to all 14 Pacific Island states. After organising a Jaipur Foot Camp in Fiji in 2022 that provided free prosthetic limbs to more than 600 people, India will hold a similar camp in Papua New Guinea. From 2024, two camps will be held every year in the Pacific Island states. Modi proposed bringing Jan Aushadhi Centres, which provide more than 1,800 generic medicines at affordable prices in India, to the Pacific Islands. He also proposed establishing yoga centres in these countries. The Centre of Excellence for IT in Papua New Guinea will be upgraded into a Regional Information Technology and Cybersecurity Hub, while a 24x7 helpline will be established for Fiji, with plans for similar facilities in other countries. The Indian side also announced a project to develop the small and medium industry sector in all Pacific Island countries by providing machinery and technology supplies. Following a project to convert the residences of all heads of state of the Pacific Islands states to ones that run on solar power, at least one government building in all these countries will be powered by solar energy. India will provide desalination units to every Pacific Island country to address water scarcity and offer 1,000 ITEC (Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation Programme)training opportunities under the new Sagar Amrut Scholarship over the next five years. Modi, who co-hosted the summit with Marape, said India has worked to highlight the concerns of developing countries through the Voice of Global South Summit and outreach sessions of the G7 Summit. We are ready to share our capabilities and experiences with you without any hesitation whether its digital technology or space technology, whether its health security or food security...we are with you in every way, he said. We support a free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific. We respect the sovereignty and integrity of all countries. The voice of the Global South should resonate strongly in the UN Security Council. For this, reform of international institutions should be our shared priority. The Forum for India-Pacific Islands Cooperation was set up in 2014 and includes Cook Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Nauru, Niue, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu. Foreign secretary Vinay Kwatra told a media briefing that the forum helped deepen Indias engagement with the Pacific Islands in many areas since the two sides have similar views on regional priorities. There is an overwhelming sense of goodwill towards India and appreciation for the countrys role in the region, he said. The Pacific Island states see India as a reliable partner which has democratic values and whose developmental template doesnt structurally burden their economies, Kwatra said in a tacit nod towards concerns about debt burden created by Chinas Belt and Road Initiative. An Indian appeals tribunal on Monday upheld the insolvency proceedings against cash-strapped airline Go First in a setback to efforts of its lessors to repossess their aircraft. Go First (HT File) At least three leasing companies, including GY Aviation Lease and SMBC Aviation Capital, had challenged a tribunal ruling granting Go Airlines (India), widely known as Go First, bankruptcy protection earlier this month. The airline has blamed its financial woes on problems with engines from Raytheon-owned Pratt & Whitney, which it said had led to the grounding of nearly half its fleet of Airbus A320 neos. The U.S. engine maker has said the claims are "without merit". The appeals tribunal said on Monday the National Company Law Tribunal will decide whether lessors who terminated their leases before the bankruptcy proceedings began can repossess their aircraft. Go First Chairman Varun Berry did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi held meetings with his counterparts from Papua New Guinea, Fiji and New Zealand on the margins of a regional summit at Port Moresby on Monday to discuss ways to deepen cooperation and to take stock of regional issues. Prime Minister Narendra Modi being honoured with Fijis highest honor - the Companion of the Order of Fiji by Fiji PM Sitiveni Rubuka in Port Moresby (PTI/via Twitter @MEAIndia) Modi was the first Indian premier to travel to Papua New Guinea, where he co-chaired the summit of the Forum for India-Pacific Islands Cooperation that was attended by leaders of 14 small island nations on Monday. In a special gesture, Modi was received by his Papua New Guinea counterpart, James Marape, on his arrival on Sunday evening and accorded a 19-gun salute and a guard of honour. At their bilateral meeting on Monday, Modi and Marape took stock of bilateral ties and discussed ways to strengthen their partnership in different sectors, including trade, investment, health, capacity building, skill development and information technology. They discussed issues related to climate action and people-to-people ties, and Modi reiterated Indias support for the priorities of the Pacific Island states. The two leaders launched a translation of the Tamil classic Thirukkural to the Tok Pisin language that was co-authored by Subha Sasindran Sasindran Muthuvel, governor of West New Britain province of Papua New Guinea. During a special ceremony at Government House, Papua New Guinea Governor-General Bob Dadae conferred the Grand Companion of the Order of Logohu on Modi. This is the countrys highest civilian award and recipients are titled chief. Modi also held his first bilateral meeting with Fiji Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka in Port Moresby and reviewed the development partnership between the two countries. They expressed satisfaction with progress in key sectors such as healthcare, climate action, renewable energy, agriculture, education and capacity building. They also exchanged views on regional developments and agreed to deepen cooperation at multilateral forums. The meeting assumed significance as Rabuka on May 14 offered a public apology to Indo-Fijians and other people affected by a coup he led in 1987. Rabuka, then a lieutenant colonel in the armed forces, had overthrown the elected government as it was dominated by Indo-Fijians. We confess our wrongdoings, and we confess that we have hurt so many of our people in Fiji, particularly those of the Indo-Fijian community, Rabuka said at a public ceremony. I stand here to confess and to ask for your forgiveness. On behalf of the Fijian president, Rabuka conferred the countrys highest honour the Companion of the Order of Fiji on Modi, who dedicated it to the people of India and the generations of Indo-Fijians who played a key role in the special bond between the two sides. Modi also held a meeting with his New Zealand counterpart, Chris Hipkins, in Port Moresby and discussed bilateral cooperation initiatives. This was the first meeting between the two leaders and they agreed to expand cooperation in trade, education, IT, tourism, culture and sports. During an interaction with alumni of the Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC) courses from Pacific Island states, Modi highlighted the important role played by Indias capacity-building initiative in helping countries meet their developmental goals, especially in good governance, climate change, digital public goods and sustainable development. The alumni included senior government officials, professionals and community leaders who were trained in India. Since the last summit of the Forum for India-Pacific Islands Cooperation in 2015, India has trained nearly 1,000 officials from countries in this region. India has also sent experts on long-term deputations to these countries to assist in agriculture and related areas. From Port Moresby, Modi travelled to Australia for the last leg of his three-nation tour that began in Japan, where he participated in outreach sessions of the G7 Summit. In Australia, Modi will hold talks with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, address business leaders and interact with the Indian community. The Indian government plans to take action against Alphabet Inc's Google after an antitrust watchdog last year found the group to have abused its market position by indulging in anti-competitive practices, a top IT minister told Reuters. Google has previously said the service fee supports investments in the Google Play app store and the Android mobile operating system, ensuring it can distribute it for free.(Reuters) India's antitrust body in October fined Google $275 million in two cases, which involved abusing its dominant position in the Android operating system market, and pushing developers to use its in-app payment system. Rajeev Chandrasekhar, the union deputy minister for information technology, told Reuters in an interview at the IT ministry in New Delhi that such findings are "serious" and cause "deep concern" to India's federal government, which will take its own action against Google. "The ministry has to take action," Chandrasekhar said. "We have thought through it. You will see it in the coming weeks. Certainly it's not something that we will leave and push under the carpet." The minister declined to specify what sort of policy or regulatory action the government could take. Chandrasekhar, who is one of the highest-ranking officials in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's administration, said the issue "is worrisome, not just for us, it's worrisome for the entire digital ecosystem in India". Google did not respond to a request for comment on the minister's remarks. Asked if he had held talks with Google on the issue, Chandrasekhar said "there is no need for any discussion. There is a finding of a court." While the payments case is still under appeal, an Indian tribunal in March said in response to a legal challenge that the Competition Commission of India's findings of Google's anti-competitive conduct in the Android market were correct. The comments by the minister come against a backdrop of growing tension between Indian companies and Google. India's competition watchdog has begun another inquiry into Google after Tinder owner Match Group and many startups alleged that a new service fee system Google uses for in-app payments breaches the competition commission's October decision. Google has previously said the service fee supports investments in the Google Play app store and the Android mobile operating system, ensuring it can distribute it for free. Following the Android antitrust order in India, Google was also forced make sweeping changes to how it markets its mobile operating system in the country, even though it warned "no other jurisdiction has ever asked for such far-reaching changes". About 97% of India's 620 million smartphones run on Android, and the company counts India as a critical growth market. Other companies such as Apple and Amazon also face cases against them for potential anti-competitive practices in India. Chandrasekhar said the government was keen to take steps to ensure India's digital economy is protected. "We dont want it to be growth in a way that distorts consumer choice or free competition," he said. "We will certainly be looking into what the government needs to do to prevent anybody, including but not limited to Google, from abusing their market power or market dominance." Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Monday lashed out the Narendra Modi-led central government for allegedly disrespecting the President of India by not inviting her to the inauguration of the new Parliament complex this weekend and declared the president's office had been reduced to 'tokenism under the BJP-RSS government'. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge. (HT File photo) "It looks like the Modi government ensured election of President of India from Dalit and Tribal communities for electoral reasons. It has repeatedly disrespected propriety. Office of the President of India is reduced to tokenism under the BJP-RSS government," he tweeted. Kharge insisted president Droupadi Murmu - as the highest constitutional authority of India's supreme legislative body - should inaugurate the new building that will symbolise the Indian government's commitment to democratic values and constitutional propriety. "While former president Shri Ramnath Kovind was not invited for the new Parliament foundation-laying ceremony president of India Smt Droupadi Murmu is not being invited for the inauguration of the new Parliament building," he declared. "The Parliament of India is the supreme legislative body of the Republic of India and the President of India is its highest constitutional authority. She alone represents the government, opposition, and every citizen alike. She is the 'first citizen of India'. Inauguration of the new Parliament building by her will symbolise the government's commitment to democratic values and constitutional propriety," the Congress chief added. Prime minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to inaugurate and dedicate the new Parliament building - a triangular four-storey structure with a built-up area of 64,500 square metres - to the nation on Sunday; the day also happens to be the birth anniversary of Veer Savarkar. However, several opposition leaders, including the Congress' Rahul Gandhi, the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen's Asaduddin Owaisi, the Trinamool Congress' Sukhendu Sekhar Ray, and the Communist Party of India's D Raja have objected to this, citing protocol that says the prime minister is the head of the government and not the head of the legislature. "The President should inaugurate the new Parliament House, not the prime minister!" Rahul Gandhi tweeted last week. Owaisi asked why Lok Sabha speaker Om Birla and Rajya Sabha chairperson Jagdeep Dhankhar, who is also the vice president of the country, couldn't inaugurate the building. "Why should PM inaugurate Parliament? He is head of the executive, not legislature. We have separation of powers and honourable Lok Sabha speaker and Rajya Sabha chair(person) could have inaugurated. It's made with public money... why is PM behaving like his 'friends' have sponsored it from their private funds?" the AIMIM chief tweeted. The foundation stone of the new building was laid December 10, 2020. The new building is capable of accommodating a total of 1,280 members in case of a joint sitting of both Houses. A 31-year-old man drowned in a storm drain after heavy rainfall in Bengaluru on Sunday. Officials said Lokesh got into the drain to check the depth of water despite warnings from residents. The force of the water washed him away and his body was found in another drain in Byatarayanapura, about 12 km away. Uprooted trees in Bengaluru after heavy rain on Sunday. (ANI) Bystanders asked him not to get into the water as the flow was strong. But he did not listen and got into the drain, said a police officer. This was the second death reported after the heavy rainfall on Sunday. Bhanu Rekha, a 22-year-old Infosys staffer, died after her car was stuck in neck-deep waters at an underpass. Five of her relatives were rescued. Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah met Rekhas family at a hospital and announced 5 lakh compensation and free treatment for them. Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike chief commissioner Tushar Girinath said the civic body will investigate how the car entered the underpass despite it being barricaded. Deputy chief minister DK Shivakumar, who inspected the spot on Sunday night, on Monday said he has sought a report on all the underpasses in the state. Everything would not happen in a day but will ensure that such an incident does not happen again. It is our duty to protect our citizens. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON New Delhi The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) is set to open a regional office headed by an inspector general (IG)-rank officer in Amritsar in the next two months to crack down on a drug-smuggling racket primarily run from across the border in collusion with Pakistans spy agency ISI, according to people familiar with the matter. A senior NCB official said the agency is also coordinating with other sister agencies and the Staff Selection Commission (SSC) to fill 425 newly created posts in the federal agency (PTI) The office will oversee all anti-narcotic operations across Punjab, the people added. A similar regional office was opened in Chennai two months ago. The personnel at the Chennai office have the specific task of stopping the smuggling of drugs into India via marine channels, and identifying the big players involved. Regional NCB offices will also be opened in Guwahati and Ahmedabad in the course of next few months to act against drugs coming through the northeast Frontier and the marine border in the western coast, the people cited above said. The NCB earlier had three regional offices in Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata. The expansion is part of a ministry of home affairs (MHA) decision last year to sett up of regional offices in other places of concern The opening of regional offices and creating new subzones in specific areas identified by the ministry of home affairs (MHA) and NCB are part of the Centres project to strengthen the anti-drugs unit, act against drug cartels, and make India drug-free by 2047. Home minister Amit Shah in an interview to HT on May 4 said that the government is working towards the 2047 mission laid out by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Probe in different cases have revealed that terror organizations in Pakistan along with ISI are actively pushing drugs through the land and sea border as part of their narco-terrorism project. Home Minister Amit had told Parliament in December 2022 that drug money contributes to funding terrorism, drug traffickers(no matter how big) would not be spared, and they would all be arrested within two years. Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his address during the 90th Interpol General Assembly said that from illegal drugs that destroy lives to sale of illegal arms, the dirty money generated from the crime is also used to fund terrorism. A senior NCB official said the agency is also coordinating with other sister agencies and the Staff Selection Commission (SSC) to fill 425 newly created posts in the federal agency. Apart from new regional offices, MHA last year approved the creation of these new posts to increase the NCB staff by 38% from the total number of personnel currently working in the agency (1,100). Our regional offices will open soon. NCB is in the process of getting new recruits of the newly created posts, said SN Pradhan, director general of the NCB, said. Regional offices headed by IG rank officers will open in Chennai, Guwahati, Amritsar and Ahmedabad. These places will become key to curbing drugs that come in bulk. Punjab has been identified as a problem area for a few years now because Pakistan is actively sending drugs using drones. The problem of drug smuggling and drug abuse has spread across the state, said another NCB officer aware of the different initiatives taken to add more teeth to the agency. In the last four months, NCB has also changed some of its subzones after an analysis showed that, for operational needs, it would be better to relocate some offices to different parts of a state from where they currently existed. Some subzonal offices, which were created before 2010, have also been shifted after analysis of operational needs. For example, the Ajmer sub zone has been shifted to Jaipur, the Mandsaur sub zone is shifted to Bhopal. This is an overall of the whole agency for better operational needs, the second officer added. There have been enough logged incidents to back the need for the regional office in Amritsar. Last Friday, three drones carrying drugs from Pakistan entered Indian territory in Punjab over a five-hour period, before they were shot down by security forces. The following day, another drone was shot down. BSF officials said that 28 drones have been shot down and retrieved in the first five months of the year, and 200 have been repelled by the forces. The Guwahati regional office will focus on drug-smuggling through porous land borders in the northeastern states, and officers of the new zonal offices in New Jalpaiguri, Itanagar and Agartala will report to the regional office, the second officer said. Over the last few years, smuggling of drugs, especially Yaba Tablets and Phensedyl cough syrup have increased in the north-eastern states, and in West Bengal. On Apri 23, the Centre held the first National Conference of Heads of Anti-Narcotics Task Force of States and Union territories. During the conference, home minister Shah said important cases could be given to the NCB for in-depth investigations. A third NCB official said that the NCB has been actively using the stringent Prevention of Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (PITNDPS) Act to detain big traffickers. A person can be detained for at least two years under this Act. Between 2015-2019, for which data is available, NCB did not detained a single person under this Act. In 2020, it detained 10 people; this which increased to 21 in 2021, and 42 in 2022. We have been using the stringent PITNDPS Act to detain people who are big fish in the drug smuggling racket. In the last two years we got over 50 big habitual drug traffickers detained under this law. The focus is on identifying the big fish, a third officer said. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON New Delhi: Security forces have changed their standard operating procedure (SOP) on troop movement on highways in Jammu and Kashmir to avoid being ambushed by terrorists -- a direct fallout of the Poonch terror attack on April 20, in which five soldiers were killed. Five soldiers died and another was seriously injured in the strike. (PTI) Also Read | 5 killed in terror attack on Indian Army truck in Poonch People familiar with the matter said necessary instructions have been given to local commanders that the troops should not take the same route repeatedly and that movement of non-operational personnel (administration or provisioning teams) should be infrequent. We keep on reviewing our procedures after an incident or depending on intelligence inputs. The troops have been asked to keep changing the route for travel to or from their respective camps. The administration or provisioning teams movements should be done only when necessary, said an officer in one of the central paramilitary forces, asking not to be named. Routes, turns and other spots on state or national highways which are most vulnerable have been identified and forces including the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), Border Security Force (BSF), and the army have been told to coordinate with each other regarding deployment of Quick Action Teams (QATs) and road opening parties (ROPs) before convoy movements. Also Read | Poonch terror attack: 6 locals held for providing logistics to attackers Besides, the troops have been told to keep their movements secret and ensure more effective intelligence sharing between local police and central forces. Following the Poonch attack, it emerged that there were intelligence inputs about presence of terrorists in the area around the time when five to seven terrorists fired with automatic rifles and rocket propelled grenades from three sides on a military truck travelling between Bhimber Gali and Poonch in Rajouri sector , The people cited in the first instance said the ministry of home affairs (MHA) top brass held a series of meetings with central paramilitary and intelligence agencies on the issue of troop movements as well as security arrangements in J&K during the G20 tourism working group meeting (it started Monday), during which forces were asked to be careful. Also Read | PAFF releases edited video of Poonch ambush, promises full footage soon Troop movement in J&K has been a major concern since the February 14, 2019 Pulwama attack, in which a suicide bomber rammed a vehicle borne Improvised Explosive Device (VBIED) in a CRPF bus, killing 40 personnel. Now, there are smaller convoys on the highways in the Valley, CCTVs have been installed at many points, drones are used during troops movement and operational teams now usually travel in vehicles which can withstand bullets and low intensity bombs. There is also regular audit of vehicles parked in and around security forces camps. In March, MHA directed the security forces to use codes and cipher instead of plain language while sharing messages over radio wireless sets regarding movement of VVIPs or security forces convoys. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das on Monday said there is no need to rush to the banks to exchange 2,000 as the deadline of September 30 is still four months away and the Reserve Bank of India will be sensitive to all issues cropping up in the process, if any. The decision to withdraw 2,000 from circulation is part of the currency management operations of the Reserve Bank and is in tune with the clean note policy, Das said adding that the deadline is only to streamline the process while the RBI will be sensitive to all kinds of issues arising. Most of the 2,000 notes in circulation now will come back to the RBI by September 30, Das said. As there is already a rush in the petrol pumps to exchange 2,000 notes, the RBI governor said there is more than adequate stock of other denominations in the system. The exchange of 2,000 notes at banks will begin from tomorrow. Read | What will happen to 2,000 notes after September 30? RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das reiterated that 2,000 will continue to be legal tender. The 2,000 bank notes were introduced to primarily replenish the notes withdrawn following demonetisation and the purpose has been fulfilled, Das said. "Unless you give a particular time, the process will not reach the stage of finality and you have to give a time so that the announcement is taken seriously. The banks have been advised to make necessary arrangements to ensure that people don't have to stand in this scorching heat," Das said. "Take your time. The process is starting tomorrow but you don't have to go tomorrow," Das said. 2,000 note ban in India: For those who are abroad Shaktikanta Das hinted at a possible extension of the September 30 deadline as he said he is aware that many people are abroad and they may not be able to exchange or deposit their 2,000 notes within the deadline. "We will address this issue and see what can be done," Das said. Impact of 2,000 note ban on economy There will be no impact on economic activity, Das said citing personal experience and informal surveys confirming that 2,000 notes are hardly used anywhere for economic activity. 'Question will always rise why now' On questions being raised over RBI's sudden decision to withdraw 2,000 notes from circulation, Das said, "Such questioned will always be raised -- if we had done it earlier tor later." How to exchange 2,000 notes: All you need to know The process of exchanging or depositing the 2,000 notes will start tomorrow. 1. The State Bank of India said no ID proof, requisition slips will be required for the exchange of 2,000 notes. 2. A maximum of 10 currency notes can be exchanged at a time. 3. Existing Income Tax requirement of PAN for 50,000 or more deposits in bank accounts will apply on 2,000 notes as well 4. The RBI has asked the banks to provide appropriate infrastructure at the branches such as shaded waiting spaces, and drinking water facilities considering the summer season. 5. The RBI has asked the banks to maintain daily data on the deposit and exchange of 2,000 banknotes. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON BHUBANESWAR: Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik on Monday inducted three new ministers including Sudam Marndi who was dropped from the council of ministers in the 2022 reshuffle. Odisha governor Ganeshi Lal and chief minister Naveen Patnaik at the oath event for the three BJD legislators inducted as ministers (Twitter/GovernorOdisha) Among the three ministers administered the oath of office by governor Ganeshi Lal on Monday was a six-time legislator from Bhanjanagar, Bikram Keshari Arukha who resigned as assembly speaker earlier this month. Mondays expansion takes the strength of the council of ministers to 22. Bikram Arukha was later allocated finance portfolio while Sudam Marndi got school and mass education. Sarada Nayak will head labour & employees state insurance department. Leaders of Odishas ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) said Arukha was inducted into the Naveen Patnaik team to lead the partys effort to strengthen the party in Ganjam, the home district of the chief minister. A BJD leader said the party has been facing trouble in the region after former minister and Gopalpur legislator Pradeep Panigrahi was expelled from the party in 2020 following his arrest in a corruption case. Panigrahi, once considered close to Naveen Patnaik, has since then turned into a sharp critic of the BJD leadership. Sudam Marndi, who represents the Bangriposi assembly segment, was inducted as Odishas revenue and disaster management minister in 2019 but was dropped in the June 2022 reshuffle. A BJD leader said the decision to elevate him appeared to be linked to the BJDs renewed attempt to take on the BJP which won five of the seven assembly segments under the Mayurbhanj Lok Sabha seat. Rourkela legislator Sarada Nayak was hand-picked to counter senior BJP leader and former Union minister Jual Oram who is leading the oppositions offensive in the Sundargarh district. A BJD leader said Nayaks induction is also a reward for his role in BJDs stunning victory in the just-concluded Jharsuguda assembly bypoll. Mondays cabinet expansion came days after Odishas school and mass education minister Samir Ranjan Dash and labour minister Srikant Sahu resigned after landing in controversies over the suicide of a BJD leader who blamed Dash for his death and a female BJD workers statement that accused Sahu of sexual harassment. . The questioning of NCP leader Jayant Patil by the ED on Monday evoked strong reactions with party MP Supriya Sule claiming that Opposition leaders are being targeted while Shiv Sena (UBT)'s Aaditya Thackeray alleged that people siding with truth are being pressured through Central probe agencies. NCP leader Jayant Patil(HT File Photo) Aaditya alleged the country is witnessing an authoritarian regime as Patil, who heads the Maharashtra NCP unit, appeared before the Enforcement Directorate here in a money laundering case linked to alleged financial irregularities in the now-bankrupt financial services firm IL&FS. Those who side with the truth, which is sometimes against the government, are being pressurised with the help of central probe agencies, and this pattern can be seen across the country," the Shiv Sena (UBT) leader told reporters. Speaking about Patil's questioning, NCP leader and Lok Sabha member Supriya Sule said, Of all the ED or CBI cases in the last few years, 90 to 95 per cent are against the Opposition leaders in the country. This has been widely reported by the media as well. The one who is in opposition easily gets notices from the probe agencies. Sule, however, defended officials of the probe agencies. Those poor officials are not at fault. Previously (during the UPA regime), the probe agencies were autonomous, but now they are run by some invisible hand. Everyone who speaks against the current dispensation invites a notice, the NCP leader said. This is not new for me. This has been happening in the country for the last eight to nine years, she said. Earlier in the day, hundreds of NCP workers staged a protest outside the Enforcement Directorate's office in south Mumbai against a summons issued by it to Patil in the money laundering case. The protesters claimed the Centre and the ED were indulging in "political vendetta". Prime Minister Narendra Modi was on Monday conferred with the highest honour of Fiji by its premier Sitiveni Rabuka in recognition of his global leadership, in a rare honour for a non-Fijian. Sitiveni Rabuka confreres PM Modi with Fiji's highest honour. (Twitter/PMO) Read here: For me you are large ocean countries, not small island states: PM Modi at Pacific Forum in Papua New Guinea Modi arrived here in Papua New Guinea on Sunday on his maiden visit to the country to host a key summit between India and 14 Pacific island countries to boost bilateral ties. "Big Honour for India. Prime Minister Modi has been conferred the highest honour of Fiji by the PM of Fiji: Companion of the Order of Fiji in recognition of his global leadership. Only a handful of Non-Fijians have received this honour to date," the Prime Minister's Office said. Prime Minister Modi dedicated the honour to the people of India and to the generations of the Fiji-Indian community, who have played a key role in the special and enduring bond between the two countries, the Ministry of External Affairs said on Twitter. On the sidelines of the Forum for India-Pacific Islands Cooperation (FIPIC) summit, he also met his Fijian counterpart Rabuka. Read here: PM Narendra Modi announces 12-step plan to propel India's partnerships with Pacific Island countries "Delighted to meet PM @slrabuka of Fiji. We had a great conversation on various topics. The relations between India and Fiji have stood the test of time. We look forward to working together to further cement it in the coming years," Prime Minister Modi tweeted. Prime Minister Narendra Modi Monday levelled a veiled criticism at the developed nations for their poor response towards managing the Covid-19 pandemic as a collective crisis, noting that the pandemic had hit the Global South countries hardest. While speaking at the 3rd India-Pacific Islands Cooperation (FIPIC) Summit in Papua New Guinea, PM Modi remarked the impact of Covid-19 exacerbated the existing problems in the developing nations. Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the 3rd Forum for India-Pacific Islands Cooperation (FIPIC) Summit at Port Moresby in Papua New Guinea on Monday. (PIB) Global south is referred to as the grouping of countries in Latin America, Africa, Asia, and Oceania. The global South has been worse hit by the challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic. Climate change, natural disasters, hunger, poverty and health-related challenges existed prior to the pandemic and now we are facing further new challengesthe supply chains were disrupted (due to the Covid-19 induced lockdown)..., PM Modi said, expressing his disappointment that those whom we trusted, turned out at the time of need, they did not stand with us. Reiterating the importance of regional unity, the PM added that the pandemic proved the old proverb that a friend in need, is a friend indeed. I am happy that India stood by its friendly Pacific Island countries during this time, he said, hailing Indias vaccine and other essential medicine-related assistance to other countries as well as the export of food products. PM Modis statement resonated with multiple studies including that by the World Bank and the United Nations have confirmed that the impact of the Covid-19 crisis has disproportionately affected developing nations. While developing countries had the availability of social safety nets to mitigate the impact of the pandemic, the lack of such infrastructure in low and middle-income nations, pushed more people in these nations into poverty, and widening income inequality, among other issues, which has slowed the pace of their development. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojna (PMGKY) was among the biggest relief measures which the Narendra Modi government deployed during the pandemic. The most important part of this scheme was the government providing an additional 5kg of food grain to more than 800 million people -- free of cost. The scheme cost 3.9 lakh crore and involved distribution of 12.2 million tonnes of food grain. Both the government and independent experts believe that the expansion of food safety net was crucial in mitigating large-scale distress during the pandemic. However, if the governments own statistics are to be believed, the scheme was not needed at all. To be sure, these numbers are more likely an indication of bad data rather than the government being wrong about PMGKYs need. This mismatch between data and reality has important implications for the ongoing debate on Indias poverty numbers. Here are three charts which explain this in detail. PREMIUM HT Image What happened to food consumption during the pandemic? Data from National Account Statistics (NAS) shows that food consumption it is part of private final consumption expenditure (PFCE) increased in real terms between 2019-20 and 2020-21. This holds not just for overall food consumption but almost all disaggregated items as well. One can argue that the increase in cereal consumption was supported by the heavily subsidized Public Distribution System (PDS) and the free provision of extra grains under PMGKY. But what explains the rise in consumption of non-cereal food items? If one takes these numbers on face value, Indias policy makers had something comparable to the opposite of the Marie Antoinette view on the state of the masses. They believed that the people could not even eat bread (cereals) whereas the people were comfortably consuming cake (expensive non-cereal food items), as is shown in NAS data. The PMGKY money could easily have been spent more effectively on other things. See Chart 1: YoY growth (in %) in food consumption between 2019-20 and 2020-21 Is there another explanation to rise in non-cereal food consumption during the pandemic? To be sure, there is another logical explanation to this. If the relatively well-off sections 800 million PMGKY beneficiaries are around two-thirds of Indias population have a disproportionately high share in non-cereal food consumption, it is possible that even a sharp fall in incomes and hence purchasing power of PMGKY beneficiaries would not have brought down the consumption of non-cereal food items. An HT analysis of 2011-12 Consumption Expenditure Survey (CES) data shows that while the top 40% indeed have a higher share in non-cereal food consumption, the share of bottom 60% is anything but insignificant. This means that even if the consumption of the top 40% did increase, the fall from bottom 60% should have brought the overall number down. See Chart 2: Quintile-wise share in cereal and non-cereal food consumption How is this relevant to The Great Indian Poverty Debate? Indias poverty numbers are based on CES data collected by the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO). An important criticism of these numbers draws its legitimacy from the fact that consumption spending from CES numbers have been showing an increasing divergence with the NAS numbers over time, with the latter increasingly becoming higher. Surjit Bhalla, who co-authored a working paper on new set of poverty estimates last year is among the most important voices championing this criticism. See Chart 3: Private consumption in NSS as share of NAS estimates What does it mean? If the NAS numbers are indeed a better indicator of consumption, then one will have to accept that the money spent on a scheme such as PMGKY was a complete waste. If one accepts that the government had better intelligence about the situation on the ground and not launching a scheme like PMGKY could have led to widespread deterioration in food security, then one cannot but agree that the NAS numbers on food consumption are gross overestimates. To be sure, some experts believe that the controversy is unavoidable. Private consumption as measured in the NSS surveys is very different from private consumption estimated in NAS data, Himanshu, an associate professor of economics at Jawaharlal Nehru University, told HT. NAS data captures consumption even by non-corporate entities into private consumption, so it is bound to be higher than the numbers estimated by the NSS and unlike every new round of NSS survey which generates new insights into consumption patterns, NAS numbers interpolate numbers such as PFCE by using assumed ratios of various constituents of GDP. This is exactly why we need better and regular NSS survey on consumption to comment on the state of consumption inequality and poverty in India, he added. New Delhi Reserve Bank of India (RBI) governor Shaktikanta Das on Monday said the withdrawal of 2,000 banknotes from circulation will have a very, very marginal impact on the economy, dismissed as speculative the idea that the 1,000 note could see a return, and seemed to suggest that there could be an extension for people such as those outside India who may require time to exchange. Reserve Bank of India Governor Shaktikanta Das speaks to the media in New Delhi on Monday. (ANI) His comments came ahead of banks beginning to accept these notes for exchange from Tuesday. Also Read: Banks gear up as exchange process for 2k notes starts today Das also described the motive for the withdrawal as currency management, said the high denomination notes had fulfilled their purpose rapid re-monetisation after the November 2016 demonetisation exercise and added that the central bank expects most of the 3.62 lakh crore in circulation in 2,000 notes to return to the banking system. RBI has advised banks to maintain daily data on deposit and exchange of 2,000 banknotes in a specific format, and provide waiting space in the shade, with drinking water facilities for customers from Tuesday. We expect most 2,000 bank notes to come back to the exchequer by September 30, Das told reporters on Monday in Delhi. According to the governor, the withdrawal of 2,000 banknotes from circulation would not have any significant impact because they constitute less than 11% of total currency in circulation, there are enough small denomination notes, in circulation and stock, and they (the 2,000 notes) will continue to enjoy legal tender status, allowing people to use them to buy goods and services. Also Read: Banks in Delhi-NCR brace for 2,000 note exchange In a note issued over the weekend, HSBC Researchs chief India economist Pranjul Bhandari said: We are not expecting any disruption in economic activity on the back of this move. And neither are we expecting a significant rise in consumer spending with cash holders splurging to get rid of the notes. There is no reason for people to rush to banks for exchanging the notes, Das said, pointing to adequate availability of small denomination notes and a fairly long exchange window of more than four months that starts from Tuesday. He did not specifically comment on whether the high denomination notes would be legal tender beyond September 30 but said, RBI will be sensitive to the requirements and adequacies of people; there may be people outside India who require time to exchange; we will look into all these issues and resolve them. The central bank on Friday announced withdrawal of the 2,000 denomination notes from circulation. A government official aware of the development added that the September 30 deadline and the status of legal tender could be reviewed in the due course. Banks will start the process for exchange and deposit of 2,000 notes from May 23. They will resolve any issue emerging in the process, so that customers are not inconvenienced, he said requesting anonymity. While withdrawal of any banknote from circulation is part of RBIs currency management, withdrawing legal tender status requires the governments approval, he added. Also Read: RBI to reintroduce 1,000 currency notes? Governor Shaktikanta Das responds Das said the deadline was to ensure people take the matter seriously. If we keep it open-ended, it may not be taken seriously. RBI first stopped printing 2,000 notes in 2018-19 and then started reducing it from circulation. Thus, the total value of these banknotes in circulation fell to 3.62 lakh crore or 10.8% of all notes on March 31, 2023 from 6.73 lakh crore on March 31, 2018 (or 37.3%). Das said the large denomination notes were not used for day-to-day transactions. We found that it is hardly being used for carrying out transactions. Therefore, economic activity will not be impacted, he said. He said most of the 2,000 notes are expected to come back. That is our expectation at this stage. We will see how many notes come back. And as we approach September 30, we will decide at that stage, he said, adding that people should not panic because they have more than four months to exchange these notes or deposit them in banks. He also clarified that while RBI has not specified any additional procedure for depositing the notes, bearers will have to follow the existing rules. You must be aware that theres an income tax rule if you deposit cash above 50,000 then you have to produce your PAN. So existing rules will apply, he said. IRS officer Sameer Wankhede who was granted protection from arrest till today by the Bombay high court in connection with the Aryan Khan drugs case said he and his wife Kranti Redkar have been receiving threats for the last four days. "I will write to Mumbai Police Commissioner today about it and demand special security," the former Mumbai zon chief of the Narcotics Control Bureau said. His case will be heard by the Bombay high court again today. Read | Sameer Wankhede's 'chats' with Shah Rukh Khan violation of rules: NCB officials Sameer Wankhede said he and his wife actor Kranti Redkar have been receiving threats. Kranti Redkar, Sameer Wankhede's second wife, is an actor. As the zonal chief of the Narcotics Control Bureau till 2021, Sameer Wankhede led the investigation in many high-profile Bollywood cases, including the drug angle of Sushant Sigh Rajput's death case and the dugs on cruise case in which Aryan Khan was arrested. Read | Sameer Wankhede owns 4 flats in Mumbai, made 6 foreign trips in 5 years: Reports The CBI has filed an FIR against Sameer Wankhede alleging that he sought a bribe of 25 crore from Shah Rukh Khan and promised to not press charges against Aryan Khan. Out of this bribe amount, 50 lakh was received. The transaction was executed by KP Gosavi whose selfie with Aryan Khan was viral. But KP Gosavi is not an insider of the NCB and was given a free hand by Wankhede in the case, the CBI alleged. Several other irregularities have been levelled against Wankhede including discrepancy between his income and lavish lifestyle, undisclosed property, transaction etc. Sameer Wankhede dismissed all these allegations and said much of wealth and property are ancestral. Sameer Wankhede's purported chats with Shah Rukh Khan The case took a sensational turn when Wankhede in the Bombay high court produced a transcript of his purported chat with Shah Rukh Khan, Aryan Khan's father. In those chats while Shah Rukh Khan requested Wankhede to be kind to his son, there was no mention of the bribe and Shah Rukh Khan also praised Wankhede's integrity as a government officer. NCB officials said it is a violation of rules for an investigating officer to engage with the family member of an accused. The veracity of the chats are also being questioned as some reports claimed that Shah Rukh Khan does not use WhatsApp. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Sharad Pawar, Nationalist Congress Party chief, on Monday said he was not in the race to become prime minister and asserted the Opposition wanted a leadership ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha election that would work for the betterment of the country. Bihar CM Nitish Kumar with NCP president Sharad Pawar in Mumbai. (File Photo) Pawar expressed the possibility that opposition parties, in the event of uniting, could encounter the challenge of presenting an individual as their candidate for the prime minister post. My efforts are for bringing the Opposition together. Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar is making the same efforts. I am not contesting the next election, so where is the question of becoming a PM candidate? I am not in the race to become the PM. We want a leadership who can work for the nation's development, Pawar told reporters. Speaking on seat sharing with the Congress and the Shiv Sena (UBT), which are part of the Maha Vikas Aghadi, the NCP chief said, "Recently, a meeting was held at my residence. Leaders from Maha Vikas Aghadi will decide on it." "Uddhav Thackeray, Sonia Gandhi or Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge and I will sit together to discuss more about it," he said on seat-sharing. The tenure of several civic bodies in Maharashtra got over early 2022 but polls were not held due to the coronavirus pandemic. The assembly election will be held in the latter part of 2024 in Maharashtra, some months after the Lok Sabha elections likely to take place around May. Earlier on Monday, Nitish Kumar met Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and former chief Rahul Gandhi in New Delhi after which the leaders announced that a vast majority of non-BJP parties will meet to give a concrete shape to Opposition unity to take on the BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. While Kumar had last month hinted that an Opposition meeting to strengthen unity could take place in Patna, there seems to be some re-think on the place with the leaders on Monday stating that a decision on it would be taken in a day or two. (With inputs from PTI, ANI) SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on Monday hit out at the Centre for allegedly not inviting President Droupadi Murmu for the inauguration of the new Parliament building on May 28. Tharoor's tweet comes after Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge targeted the Centre over the same issue and accused the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government of electing the President of India from the Dalit and the tribal communities for electoral reasons. Congress MP Shashi Tharoor tweeted as the Congress accused the government of disrespecting Constitutional propriety. (PTI file) Modi will inaugurate the new Parliament building on May 28 following an invitation by Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla. Yes @kharge Sahib is right. Articles 60 and 111 of the Constitution of India make it clear that the President is the head of parliament. It was bizarre enough that the PM performed the ground-breaking ceremony & puja when construction began, but totally incomprehensible (& arguably unconstitutional) for him and not the President to inaugurate the building, Tharoor tweeted. Kharge said the then president Ram Nath Kovind was not invited for the new Parliament's foundation laying ceremony in December 2020. "The Modi Government has repeatedly disrespected propriety. The Office of the President of India is reduced to tokenism under the BJP-RSS Government," the Congress president alleged in a series of tweets. Noting that Parliament is the supreme legislative body while the President is the highest Constitutional authority, he said she alone represents the government, the Opposition, and every citizen alike. "She is the First Citizen of India. Inauguration of the new Parliament building by her will symbolise the government's commitment to democratic values and Constitutional propriety," Kharge tweeted. Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi and other opposition leaders have said the president should inaugurate the new Parliament House and not the prime minister. Congress' senior spokesperson Anand Sharma told a press conference on Monday the government and the prime minister should urge the President in this regard and she as head of the institution of Parliament be accorded that honour. "The Congress has expressed its concern as the principal opposition party and we feel strongly that the constitutional propriety should be maintained and the honourable president who is the head of the Parliament should be requested by the government to inaugurate. "The honourable prime minister has every right to be there and we are only pointing out what is constitutionally correct," Sharma told reporters. It is not proper constitutionally to keep the President of India out of such a big decision, he also said. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court has set aside a 2013 order of the Bombay high court that closed the trial in a 2006 murder case, holding that the high courts decision to discharge the accused reflected non-application of mind and that the high court order hadnt even referred to the evidence collected by the investigating agency. the Supreme Court noted that the high court summed up the entire evidence against the accused in two paras without even referring to the accuseds psychological evaluation (HT FIle Photo) The high court had exercised the jurisdiction in a manner which is not vested in it to scuttle the trial of a heinous crime, the bench of justices Abhay S Oka and Rajesh Bindal said in its verdict on May 18. The bench also faulted the high court for its July 2013 verdict discharging the accused even before the trial court had an opportunity to frame the charges against them. The top court was ruling on a petition filed by a Maharashtra resident Manjit Singh Virdi who petitioned against the high court letting of the people accused of the murder of his brother, Manmohan Singh Sukhdev Singh Virdi, who was found dead at his Lonawala house on May 14, 2006. According to the prosecution, Virdhi was killed by his neighbour Hussain Mohammad Shattaf who suspected that his neighbour was in a relationship with his wife while he was working in Dubai. The police charge sheet filed in December 2009 said Virdhi was killed by Shattaf, his wife and a third person, Zaanish Khan. If the facts of the case are examined in the light of law laid down by this court on the subject, it is evident that the high court has not even referred to the evidence collected by investigating agency produced along with charge sheet in its entirety. Rather there is a selective reference to the statements of some of the persons recorded during investigation. It shows that there was total non-application of mind, the Supreme Court said. The court noted that the police extensively used psychological evaluation including psychological profiling, polygraph testing and Brain Electrical Oscillations Signature Profiling (BEOS) tests of the accused because there were no witnesses to the murder. But the high court summed up the entire evidence in two paras without even referring to the Psychological Evaluation, the May 18 verdict said. Though psychological evaluation test report alone may not be sufficient to convict an accused but certainly (is) a material piece of evidence. Despite this material on record, the High Court could not have opined that the case was not made out even for framing of charge, for which only prima facie case is to be seen. The Supreme Court referred to the opinion of the forensic sciences directorate in its report that indicated the involvement of the husband in the murder and its conclusion about the conduct of the other accused. Advocate Kunal Cheema who appeared for the deceaseds brother pointed out past judgments of the top court to show that while deciding discharge application, if a prime facie case is made out against the accused, the high court will not proceed to discharge the accused. The top court agreed. Truthfulness, sufficiency and acceptability of the material produced can be done only at the stage of trial. At the stage of charge, the court has to satisfy that a prima facie case is made out against the accused persons. Interference of the court at that stage is required only if there are strong reasons to hold that in case the trial is allowed to proceed, the same would amount to abuse of process of the court. The trial court refused to discharge the accused on February 21, 2012. The high court set aside this order and allowed the accused to be set free. To be sure, the Maharashtra police did not challenge the high court order but in response to the courts notice, accepted that it believed that the high court verdict was clearly erroneous. The Supreme Court will on Friday hear Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Abhishek Banerjees petition challenging the Calcutta high courts order permitting the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and Enforcement Directorate (ED) to proceed with the inquiry against him in connection with an alleged scam in the recruitment of teachers in West Bengal. TMC leader Abhishek Banerjee. (Twitter) The CBI on Saturday questioned Banerjee for over nine hours two days after a single judge bench of the high court gave the go-ahead to the central agencies to interrogate Banerjee, who is also chief minister Mamata Banerjees nephew. Justice Amrita Sinha also imposed a fine of 25 lakh on Banerjee for wasting the time of the high court. A Supreme Court vacation bench of justices Aniruddha Bose and Sanjay Karol allowed the listing of Banerjees plea after his lawyer Abhishek Singhvi mentioned it. Singhvi said his client was being called on a daily basis to appear for questioning. He is in Darjeeling and is campaigning... He added the imposition of the fine has been challenged separately. Additional solicitor-general SV Raju, who appeared for the CBI, sought to make submissions when the matter is heard. On April 13, Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay of the Calcutta high court allowed CBI and ED to interrogate Banerjee along with another accused Kuntal Ghosh. Banerjee questioned the order in the top court saying Gangopadhyay had spoken against him in a TV interview. The top court verified the claim and ordered on April 28 that another judge of the high court will hear the matter. Justice Gangopadhyay issued an order to the Supreme Courts secretary general seeking documents the top court considered before passing the order transferring the case. A Supreme Court bench held a sitting at 8pm the same day and stayed the direction. The newly-launched Howrah-Puri Vande Bharat Express was cancelled on Monday after the windscreen of the main engine along with the glass window of some compartments of the semi-high speed train were damaged during a hailstorm on Sunday. The train was hit by lightning and a hailstorm that cracked the windscreen of the drivers cabin. (ANI Twitter) Read here: Puri-Howrah Vande Bharat Express damaged due to lightning, hailstorm in Odisha The South Eastern Railway (SER), in a statement, said, "22895/22896 Howrah-Puri-Howrah Vande Bharat Express will remain cancelled for repairs of damages caused by thunderstorm on May 21 in Cuttack-Bhadrak section of East Coast Railway." The incident took place on Sunday at around 4:45 pm between Baitarani Road and Manjuri Road stations. The train was stranded till a relief diesel engine pulled it from where the train ran on its own. The train was hit by lightning and a hailstorm that cracked the windscreen of the drivers cabin. The overhead electric wire was also damaged by an uprooted tree resulting in the train being stranded at the Baitarani Road railway station for over two hours, officials said. India's 16th and Odisha's first Vande Bharat Express train connecting the holy city of Puri to West Bengal's Howrah, was virtually flagged-off last week by PM Narendra Modi who hailed the semi-high speed train as a symbol of India's progress. Read here: Vande Bharat Express trains now operational on 15 routes in India. See full list The train operates six days a week (except Thursday). It departs from Puri at 01:50 pm and reaches Howrah at 08:30 pm, covering a distance of 502 km in six hours and forty minutes. (With inputs from PTI) As the State Bank of India clarified that no ID proof and forms will be required to exchange 2,000 notes, former finance minister P Chidambaram on Monday asked how the withdrawal of the 2,000 notes from circulation then help unearth 'black money'. "Ordinary people do not have 2000 notes. They shunned it soon after it was introduced in 2016. They were useless for daily retail exchange. So who kept the 2,000 notes and used them? You know the answer," the senior Congress leader tweeted. Read | PM Modi never liked 2,000 notes, says ex-aide; Pathetic damage control: Congress Chidambaram said everyone know who kept 2,000 notes If there is no ID proof required and no forms need to be filled, then anyone who has been hoarding 'black money' can exchange them without coming on the radar is what Chidambaram questioned. "The BJP's spin that the 2000 notes are being withdrawn to unearth black money stands demolished," Chidambaram said. "The keepers of 2000 notes are being welcomed on a red carpet to exchange their notes! So much for the government's declared objective of rooting out black money. The 2000 note was a foolish move in 2016. I am glad that the foolish move is being withdrawn at least 7 years later," Chidambaram added. Confusion prevails over the withdrawal of the 2,000 notes as many shops are not accepting the notes after the RBI on Friday announced the withdrawal of the 2,000 notes for circulation. The Reserve Bank of India clarified that 2,000 will remain legal tender and urged people to deposit their notes or exchange them by September 30. The State Bank of India said customers can exchange 10 notes of 2,000 at a time in the bank without ID proof or filling any form. There is no restriction on depositing the notes in higher amounts in bank accounts after following KYC norms. Petrol pumps have suddenly seen an uptick in cash transactions as people are using their 2,000 notes. Confusion, criticism over the withdrawal of 2,000 notes The withdrawal of the 2,000 notes seven years after they were introduced came under heavy criticism by the opposition leaders while BJP leaders defended the move. Former chief economic adviser K Subramanian said the move will not affect the common people as they do not have 2,000 and will check the hoarding of black money. PM Modi's former principal secretary Nripendra Mishra said PM Modi never liked 2,000 notes as they are not suitable for daily use. "The 2000 note was a band-aid to cover up the foolish decision of demonetising 500 and 1000 notes which were popular and widely exchanged currencies. A few weeks after Demonetisation, the government/RBI were forced to re-introduce the 500 note. I shall not be surprised if the government/RBI re-introduced the 1000 note as well. Demonetisation has come full circle!" Chidambaram said earlier . SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Scottish-Ghanaian architect Lesley Lokko is giving a platform to voices that have long been silenced at this years Venice Architecture Biennale, which opens Saturday, the first ever curated by an African, featuring a preponderance of work by Africans and the African diaspora. The 18th architectural Biennale, titled The Laboratory of the Future, explores decolonization and decarbonization, topics about which Africans have much to say, Lokko said, citing the long exploitation of the continent for both human and environmental resources. A man wearing traditional Masai clothes walks under an installation at the Biennale International Architecture exhibition in Venice, Italy. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni) The Black body was Europes first unit of energy, Lokko told The Associated Press this week. We have had a relationship to resources since time immemorial. We operate at a place where resources are not stable. They are also often fragile. Theyre often exploited. Our relationship to them is exploitative. Lokko tapped global stars like David Adjaye and Theaster Gates among 89 participants in the main show more than half of them from Africa or the African diaspora. To reduce the Biennale's carbon footprint, Lokko encouraged the participating architects, artists and designers to be as paper-thin" as possible with their exhibits, resulting in more drawings, film and projections as well as the reuse of materials from last year's contemporary art Biennale. This exhibition is a way of showing that this work, this imagination, this creativity, has been around for a very, very long time, Lokko said. Its just that it hasnt found quite the right space, in the same way. It is a fair question why an African-centric exhibition has been so long in coming to such a high-profile, international platform like Venice. Okwui Enwezor, the late Nigerian art critic and museum director, was the first African to head the Venice Biennale contemporary art fair, which alternates years with the architectural show, in 2015. Lokko was the first Biennale curator selected by President Roberto Cicutto, who was appointed in 2020 during the global push for inclusion ignited by the killing of George Floyd in the United States. This is more for us than for them, Cicutto said, to see the production, hear the voices we have heard too little, or heard in the way we wanted to. Impediments in the West to inclusive events with a focus on the global south were evident in the refusal by the Italian embassy in Ghana to approve visas for three of Lokkos collaborators, which Lokko decried this week as an old and familiar tale. A refocusing of the North-South relationship is suggested in the main pavilions facade: a corrugated metal roof cut into deconstructed images of the Venetian winged lion. The material is ubiquitous in Africa and other developing regions, and here offers free shade. The lion, native to Africa and for centuries a symbol of Venice, serves as a reminder of how deeply cultural appropriation runs. I dont see any lions around here, Lokko said wryly. Inside, Adjayes studio exhibits architectural models created outside the dominant canon, like the Thabo Mbeki Presidential Library in South Africa that takes inspiration from pre-colonial buildings. Ghanaian artist Ibrahim Mahama explores the colonial exploitation in the installation, Parliament of Ghosts. And Olalekan Jeyifous, a Brooklyn-based Nigerian national, creates a sprawling retro-futuristic narrative around the fictional formation of a united African Conservation Effort, something he imagines would have been constructed a decade after African decolonization in an alternative 1972. His is no utopia. This new global Africa he imagines is flattened, at the expense of local traditions. Its never utopia/dystopia. Such binary Western terms, that Im really interested in operating outside of, said Jeyifous, who won the Silver Lion for a promising young participant. Its not just: Weve solved all the problems now. Everythings fantastic. Its never that simple. The Golden Lion for the best participant in the main show went to Alessandro Petti and Sandi Hilal for their exhibit DAAR, exploring the legacy and reuse of fascist colonial architecture. More than in previous editions, the 64 national participants responded to Lokko's themes with pavilions that found a natural echo with the main show and its focus on climate change issues and an expanded, more-inclusive dialogue. Denmark offered practical solutions for coastal areas to work with nature to create solutions to rising seas, proposing Copenhagen islands that invite the sea in to form canals, not unlike Venice's. The strategy contrasts with Venice's own underwater barriers, which, underscoring the urgency of the issue, had to be raised during the Biennale preview week outside the usual flood season and for the first time ever in May. Decolonization was a natural theme at the Brazilian pavilion, where curators Gabriela de Matos and Paulo Tavares show the architectural heritage of indigenous and African Brazilians, and challenge the hegemonic narrative that the capital, Brasilia, was built in the middle of nowhere. Their exhibit, titled "Terra,'' was awarded the Golden Lion for the best national participant. Decolonization is really a practice, Tavares said. Its an open word, like freedom, like democracy." The U.S. Pavilion looked at ubiquitous plastic, invented and propagated in the United States, and how to cope with its durability, under the title Everlasting Plastic. In one of the five exhibits, Norman Teague, a Chicago-based African American artist, designer and furniture-maker, used recycled plastics from such everyday items as Tide laundry detergent bottles to create one-off baskets, referencing weaves from Senegal and Ghana. Teague said he was inspired by Lokko's themes to consider "how I could really think about the lineage between the continent and Chicago. Ukraine returns to the Biennale with two installations that, in the gentlest possible way, serve as a reminder that war continues to rage in Europe. The pavilion in the Arsenale has been decked out in black-out materials to represent ad-hoc, if futile protective measures ordinary Ukrainians are taking against the threat of Russian bombardment. In the center of the Giardini, curators Iryna Miroshnykova, Oleksii Petrov and Borys Filonenko have recreated earthen mounds that served as barriers against 10th century invaders. Though long abandoned, overtaken by modern farming and sprawl, they proved effective against Russian tanks last spring. Despite their serious message, the curators said they hope visitors will come to lounge, and that children will be left to roll down the grassy hills. "These spaces, the fortifications, are a place to be quiet, to chill. But it is also kind of a reminder that somewhere, someone is fearing for their safety,'' Filonenko said. Actor Jennifer Lawrence and supermodel Gigi Hadid walked the red carpet at the 76th edition of the Cannes Film Festival in southern France. While Jennifer was there to support the film Bread and Roses, Gigi attended the screening of the film Firebrand. The two stars set the French Riviera on fire, dressed in their sensational ensembles and served this year's finest red carpet moments. Scroll through to find out what the two stars wore to one of the prestigious red carpet-events of the year. Jennifer Lawrence and Gigi Hadid serve the finest 2023 Cannes Film Festival red carpet moment. (AP, AFP) Jennifer Lawrence and Gigi Hadid serve the finest red carpet moment at Cannes Jennifer Lawrence slipped into a Christian Dior Couture gown, and Gigi Hadid chose a custom Zac Posen ensemble for her appearance on the 2023 Cannes Film Festival red carpet. While the 32-year-old Hunger Games star embodied Old Hollywood glamour, the supermodel chose to take inspiration from her younger sister Bella Hadid's vintage fishtail Jean Paul Gaultier gown she wore in 2018. The two divas chose minimal yet striking shimmering jewellery pieces to accessorise their red carpet looks. Check out the pictures and read our download on their gorgeous gowns below. Jennifer Lawrence walks the Cannes red carpet in a Dior couture gown. (AP, Reuters) Jennifer Lawrence's ruby red Christian Dior couture gown features a ruffled bust, corseted bustier, cinched waistline, a flowy pleated skirt, and a floor-sweeping train on the back. She draped an elegant shawl across her arms to style the outfit. Lastly, Jennifer accessorised the ensemble with a diamond ring and a delicate necklace. Lastly, she chose centre-parted open locks, glossy ruby red lips, subtle eye shadow, sleek eyeliner, mascara on the lashes, feathered brows, rouged cheekbones, dewy base, and highlighter for the glam picks. Gigi Hadid walks the Cannes Film Festival red carpet in a custom Zac Posen gown. (AFP ) Meanwhile, Gigi Hadid wore a custom tan-coloured Zac Posen gown to the premiere of Jude Law and Alicia Vikander's film Firebrand. Her ensemble features a strapless bodycon silhouette, a corseted bodice, a muted peplum waist, a fishtail structure, and pleats on the side. Gigi accessorised the ensemble with diamond jewels, including statement rings, a bracelet, a necklace, and delicate earrings. She complemented the accessories with side-parted open bleached blonde locks, subtle eye shadow, mascara on the lashes, chocolate brown lip shade, feathered brows, rouged cheeks, and a dewy base. Indian socialite and businesswoman Natasha Poonawalla is one of the celebrities attending the ongoing 76th edition of the Cannes Film Festival. Natasha walked the red carpet with British Vogue editor Edward Enninful and hung out with Tobey Maguire, Lukas Haas, Riccardo Tisci, and more stars. Several pictures from her red carpet appearance and the outing made it to social media and showed the socialite dressed in a gorgeous Schiaparelli ready-to-wear gown. It boasts of the brand's surrealist interpretations of the human body depicted through the Maisons' Anatomy icons. Scroll through to see Natasha's glamorous look. Natasha Poonawalla walks the Cannes Film Festival red carpet in off-shoulder Schiaparelli gown. (Instagram) Natasha Poonawalla dazzles at Cannes Natasha Poonawalla's pictures from the Cannes Film Festival red carpet show her stealing the spotlight with her unique yet sensational look. She slipped into a Spring/Summer RTW 2023 Schiaparelli gown to walk the red carpet with Editor-In-Chief of British Vogue Edward Enninful. The two attended the Cannes Film Festival world premiere of Killers Of The Flower Moon at the Palais des Festivals in Cannes. The film will be released exclusively in theatres beginning Friday, October 6, before streaming globally on Apple TV+. Check out Natasha's pictures below. Natasha Poonawalla walks the red carpet at the Cannes Film Festival 2023. (Instagram) Natasha's white ecru jersey Schiaparelli column dress features an off-the-shoulder neckline revealing her decolletage, loose gathers swathing her frame like a second skin, vertical draped panels cascading to the floor and suspended from a golden chain-link collar of a pierced casting of a Surrealist Face, and a floor-sweeping train on the back. The figure-hugging silhouette added an oomph factor to the ensemble. Natasha Poonawalla hangs out with Tobey Maguire and Edward Enninful at the Cannes Film Festival 2023. (Instagram) Natasha accessorised the gown with striking gold Schiaparelli jewels, including a pierced visage cuff bracelet and bursting eye ring, a gold box clutch, and high heels. Lastly, centre-parted open wavy locks, black and gold double-winged eyeliner, subtle eye shadow, feathered brows, mascara on the lashes, glossy rose pink lip shade, rouged cheekbones, sharp contouring, and a dewy base rounded off the glam picks. The Morarji Desai National Institute of Yoga (MDNIY), under the Ministry of Ayush, is hosting a grand Yoga Mahotsav at Parade Ground here on May 27. Union Tourism and Culture Minister G Kishan Reddy on Sunday said that in the run-up to the International Day of Yoga on June 21, various events are being organised to encourage citizens to not only adopt Yoga in their personal life, but also to showcase to the world the rich heritage of Yoga in our country, an official release said here. The Morarji Desai National Institute of Yoga is hosting a grand Yoga Mahotsav on May 27. (Pexels (For representation) ) Union Tourism and Culture Minister G Kishan Reddy said under the initiative of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, a significant milestone was achieved in 2014 when the United Nations General Assembly declared June 21 as the International Day of Yoga. Kishan Reddy further said that Telangana Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan, Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao and Telangana Finance and Health Minister T Harish Rao have been invited for Yoga Mahotsav event. Several Central Ministers including Sarbananda Sonowal, Anurag Singh Thakur are expected to participate in the event. More than 20,000 Yoga enthusiasts along with celebrities, sportspersons and senior officials from the State and Centre are likely to participate in the event, the release added. This seems to be the time for summitry and high-level diplomacy. Since the world order is largely a mess, this is most welcome. Present summitry entails plurilateral meetings among a select group of countries. India is fortunate to retain a significant presence in all these meetings. PREMIUM Prime Minister Narendra Modi meets Prime Minister of Japan, Fumio Kishida, on the sidelines of G7 Summit, Hiroshima (Mofa Japan twitter) The G7 summit took place in Hiroshima last week where India was a special invitee. The Quad summit also happened in Hiroshima on the sidelines of the G7 meeting. Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi was involved in both. The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, of which India holds the rotating presidency, will hold its summit meeting in Delhi in July. This will be followed by the BRICS summit in South Africa in August. Finally, India will host the G20 summit in September. With so many summits taking place sequentially, some observations are in order. First, Ukraine will dominate the agenda. The war in Ukraine has upended the existing world order and has adversely affected not just the main actors involved, but also the rest of the world. Second, China will loom large over these meetings. It is no secret that China has become assertive and even aggressive in protecting what it believes are its core interests. The trouble is these core interests overlap other countries fundamental interests. Third, in meetings such as the Delhi G20 summit, it may be safely assumed that China and Russia will form a bloc, with the G7 countries constituting an opposing bloc. India, therefore, has its job cut out to find common ground. Last, it is a sign of the times that none of this high-level summitry will occur in the United Nations (UN), perhaps an indication that the UN is past its shelf life. One highlight at Hiroshima was the first in-person meeting between PM Modi and Ukraines President Volodymyr Zelensky. PM Modi said India would do everything to end the war in Ukraine, a demand of the Global South. Zelensky wanted India to buy into Ukraines peace plan, which calls on Russia to vacate all occupied territory. Is it possible that Zelensky conveyed a message to PM Modi that could be relayed to Russias President Vladimir Putin? India has the attributes to be the perfect go-between. Besides, ending the war in Ukraine is in Indias strategic interest. The G7 chair Japan spelt out two objectives for the Hiroshima meeting: One, to uphold the international order based on rule of law and two, to make an outreach to the Global South. For the G7, upholding the international order based on rule of law is code for addressing not just Ukraine but also the thorny Taiwan issue, since countries such as Japan believe security is indivisible. On the war in Ukraine, G7 leaders expressed support for Ukraine for as long as it takes, in the face of Russias invasion. Moscow was condemned in the strongest possible terms. But it is about China that the G7 statement was harsh and unprecedented. Serious concern was expressed about the situation in the East and South China seas and opposition made known to any unilateral attempts to change the status quo by force or coercion. Peaceful resolution of cross-strait issues was emphasised. Concern was voiced regarding human rights in Tibet, Xinjiang, and Hong Kong, certain to roil Beijing. But, in a first, the G7 leaders also called on China to act in accordance with its obligations under the Vienna Convention on diplomatic relations and not to carry out interference activities aimed at undermining the integrity of democratic institutions and practising economic coercion. Furthermore, the G7 leaders called on China to press Russia to withdraw its troops unconditionally from Ukraine. The hyphenation of Russia and China in this fashion immediately prompted Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov to accuse the G7 of a double containment strategy of Russia and China. But his protests notwithstanding, the strong stance was significant especially against the backdrop of Beijings recent attempts to drive a wedge between Europe and the United States, and some noises about autonomy from some European leaders such as French President Emmanuel Macron. The G7 leaders reached out to the Global South by committing to mobilise the private and public resources needed to meet the sustainable development goals, reduce poverty and address debt vulnerabilities in low- and middle-income countries. In the working sessions, India voiced concerns on behalf of the Global South on issues such as the climate crisis, food security and public health. Owing to President Joe Bidens domestic preoccupation, the Quad summit was held on the sidelines of the G7 meeting. Quad leaders issued a vision statement to support a free and open Indo-Pacific that is inclusive and resilient. They also spelt out a positive and practical agenda, including SDGs, the climate crisis, health security partnership, resilient infrastructure, and maritime domain awareness. While China was not named specifically, the references to the UN Convention on the Law of the Seas, maintenance of freedom of navigation and confronting challenges to the maritime rules-based order in the East and South China Seas, left no one in doubt in this regard. Significantly, India will host the next Quad leaders summit in 2024. Indian diplomacy at present faces two challenges: One, limiting the negative fall-out from the war in Ukraine and two, enhancing strategic partnerships with like-minded powers to counter the growing threat from China. Indias participation in summit diplomacy will help it acquire some leverage to tackle both. Mohan Kumar is a former Indian ambassador The views expressed are personal The paradox and contradiction of the Indian education system is mind-boggling. Equally mind-bending are its complexities. There are 265 million students enrolled in schools, of which 120 million are girls and 130 million are boys. There was 102% enrolment of all eligible students in 2021 at the primary school level, with a 1.02 female-to-male ratio; the more than 100% figure is due to older students admitted to schools and a direct fall out of the coronavirus pandemic. This is excellent news, but as they say, the devil is in the details. PREMIUM There are 265 million students enrolled in schools, of which 120 million are girls and 130 million are boys (Santosh Kumar/HT) The 100% enrollment does not translate to 100% educational attainment at schools. Of the 100%, 83% of girls and 81% of boys clear secondary school, while 67.7% of girls and 61.6% of boys clear higher secondary; this translates to a whopping 39% dropout rate for boys and a surprising 1.07 female-to-male ratio of students in educational attainment. Simply put, more girls are clearing higher secondary levels than boys. The implication of these statistics and the drop-out rates are worrisome. More worrisome is the lack of completion of schooling of boys. However, the reasons behind the school dropout rates of boys are never discussed. Education and employment of boys should be an urgent and immediate priority because social pressures and gender role expectations for boys are also severe. A young male member of an average Indian household is expected to take full financial responsibility for his family, sometimes at a very young age. But our school education does not equip them to become earning members after school. In fact, education could be a barrier to the kind of employment these young boys need. The main reason cited for dropping out of school is financial constraint, followed by disinterest in studies. Therefore, there is a need to improve the quality of education, and this has been detailed in the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020. Young India is a much-touted demographic dividend, and experts suggest that this large, dynamic population will drive Indias growth in the decades to come. But to truly leverage this strength, it is essential to empower them, especially young men, with education and skills. Uneducated and unemployed youth could easily be a resurgent nations Achilles heel. To stem dropout rates, especially of boys, some immediate actions must be instituted by the government. It must introduce specialised vocational courses in classes 11 and 12 to train students to be employable or self-employed after completing school. One- or two-year vocational courses on basic electrical training, electronics, automobile repair, carpentry, plumbing, hospitality, cooking and hair styling must be introduced in the regular school curriculum, as an additional stream after class 10. The need for vocational courses in classes 11-12 has been mentioned in NEP 2020. The second suggestion is instituting fellowships and stipends for all male students who pursue these vocational courses. There are a number of incentives for girl students to pursue education, it is equally important to incentivise education for boys. In the Karnataka assembly election campaign, the Congress announced a social welfare scheme for young people called Yuva Nidhi. This scheme aims to support young people for two years, and pay 3,000 to unemployed graduates and 1,500 to unemployed diploma holders every month. Political parties use public funds for political gains, and this practice of freebies must be stopped. The government must institutionalise fellowships and stipends for all economically backward students pursuing higher secondary education, especially those opting for the vocational stream after class 10. As India becomes the most populous country, the nations well-being rests on the well-being of the young, and concern for our young must start at the school level. Our school curriculum must be reinvented and expanded, putting infrastructure and training teachers to meet our social fabrics vast and varied needs upfront. Introducing practical vocational courses and fellowships would be the first step towards recharging our education system. Shailja Vaidya Gupta is former adviser, department of biotechnology, Government of India. The views expressed are personal Detroit traffic cop, Edge, found herself at the center of a heartwarming story that captured the attention of the nation. Thanks to TikTok star Zachery Dereniowski, who surprised her with $500 and tickets to a Detroit Tigers game, Edge's life took an unexpected turn. However, the generosity didn't stop there. The Detroit community and the public rallied together, contributing an additional $50,000 to support her and her family. Detroit traffic cop, Edge, found herself at the center of a heartwarming story that captured the attention of the nation. The Viral Encounter In a now-viral video, Dereniowski approached Edge while she was directing traffic and offered her a jersey for $1. Overwhelmed by his kind gesture, Edge tearfully shared her struggles as the sole provider for her family, expressing her gratitude to God. The video spread like wildfire, garnering millions of views, likes, and an outpouring of heartfelt comments from touched viewers. A Generous Gesture and a GoFundMe Campaign Moved by Edge's story, Dereniowski launched a GoFundMe campaign to further support her. Within three days, the campaign raised an astounding $50,000. Dereniowski explained that Edge had recently lost her husband and carried the weight of supporting her family on her shoulders. The funds raised would alleviate some of her financial burdens, covering rent, bills, and her children's education. A Priceless Surprise During another Detroit Tigers game, Edge was brought onto the field to receive a surprise. As the announcer revealed that the Detroit community had donated an additional $50,000, Edge was overcome with emotion. Falling to her knees and spreading her arms wide in joy, she couldn't contain her gratitude. The generosity of strangers had touched her deeply. A Life-Changing Moment Since then, the GoFundMe campaign has continued to grow, surpassing $56,000. Edge expressed her disbelief at the incredible turn of events, reflecting on how a simple T-shirt had brought so much positivity into her life. Also read | No secret anymore! Bianca confirms marriage to Kanye in TikTok video This heartwarming story serves as a reminder of the power of kindness and community support. Edge's unexpected journey from a Detroit traffic cop to a symbol of hope demonstrates the impact that individuals can have when they come together to uplift those in need. A heartwarming tale from the Mumbai local, which transports countless commuters daily, has captured the attention of many. It is about an unexpected commuter who takes the train every day. Wondering who it is? Well, it is a dog who has become a regular traveller on these trains. Now, a video documenting just that is going viral on social media. It has turned into a source of happiness for many. Dog boards Mumbai local train from Borivali station daily and gets down at Andheri station. (Instagram/@indiaculturalhub) #ICHExplores: Meet the local trains regular traveller in #Mumbai, reads the caption of the video shared on Instagram by India Cultural Hub. The video opens to show a dog boarding Mumbai local train at Borivali station. Whats even more fascinating is how the canine passenger appears completely at ease amidst the hustle and bustle of commuters boarding and deboarding the train. We wont give everything away, so go and watch the video. Heres the video documenting the dogs travel: Since being shared on May 13, the video has raked up more than 8.8 lakh views and the numbers are still increasing. The share has also prompted many to leave their thoughts in the comments section. Check out a few reactions here: Yes I have seen him, he gets back to Andheri at night, he is such a smart baby, posted an individual. Another added, I just loved how others are not disturbing and mistreating him. Stories like these restore my faith in the concept of peaceful co-existence, the fact that the dog can safely get in and out of the local train safely in the middle of the cobweb of densely crowded platforms, expressed a third. A fourth commented, Just a normal 9-5 working dog. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Tension spread in Kurnool early on Monday morning as CBI officials reached Kurnool after YSR Congress Kadapa MP YS Avinash Reddy rejected CBI's summons in connection with the Vivekananda Reddy murder case. Avinash sought five more days from the CBI as his mother is currently hospitalised. YS Avinash Reddy sought five more days from the CBI. The CBI team moved early morning probably to arrest Avinash who was at the Vishwa Bharati Hospital where his mother is hospitalised. A huge number of party workers gathered at the hospital to prevent the arrest. Avinash Reddy was summoned by the CBI to appear before its office in Hyderabad at 11am on May 22. The Kadapa MP has already skipped two interrogation dates -- May 16 and May 19. Vivekananda Reddy, one of the brothers of the late Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy, was found murdered at his residence in Pulivendula in Kadapa district on the night of March 15, 2019, weeks before the Assembly elections in the state. In connection with the case, YS Bhaskar Reddy, Avinash Reddy's father and uncle of Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy, was arrested by the CBI on April 16. Avinash Reddy had filed the anticipatory bail petition in the high court ahead of appearing before the CBI. The murder case was initially probed by a special investigation team (SIT) of the state CID but was handed over to the CBI in July 2020. The CBI filed a charge sheet in the murder case on October 26, 2021 and followed it up with a supplementary charge sheet on January 31, 2022. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON In a heart-wrenching turn of events, the bodies of two young boys reported missing in New York City last week have been found lifeless in separate rivers in Manhattan, according to the New York Police Department (NYPD). Alfa Barrie, 11, and Garrett Warren, 13, who were believed to be friends, were last seen together in Harlem between May 12 and May 13, as revealed during a press conference held by the NYPD on Tuesday. Alfa Barrie, 11, and Garrett Warren, 13, who were believed to be friends, were last seen together in Harlem between May 12 and May 13. The NYPD's Harbor Unit made the devastating discovery of the boys' bodies several days apart. They were found over two miles away from each other, each in a different river, as confirmed by an NYPD spokesperson in communication with CNN. Garrett's body was found on Thursday in the Harlem River near the Madison Avenue Bridge, a connection between Manhattan and the Bronx. Two days later, Alfa's body was recovered from the Hudson River near the Upper West Side. During the press conference, Deputy Chief Brian Gill shared that surveillance footage captured the boys leaving a residence together and passing by a large group of people, providing the last known visual of their movements. Alfa was reported missing in the early hours of May 14, while Garrett's disappearance was reported in the afternoon of May 15, according to police records. Although the boys attended different schools, authorities believed they were friends and connected the two cases after Garrett was reported missing. The investigations into the circumstances surrounding their deaths are ongoing, with the New York City medical examiner tasked with determining the cause of death for both boys, according to an NYPD spokesperson. Following the tragic news of Alfa's body being found, family and friends gathered at a mosque in the Bronx, as reported by CNN affiliate ABC 7. A close family friend, Adhmadou Diallo, shared his memories of Alfa, emphasizing the special bond he had with his mother and his helpful nature at home. Diallo recounted how Alfa would always give his mother a goodbye kiss before leaving for school, as he did on the fateful Friday when he disappeared. Alfa was a sixth-grade student at Democracy Prep Public School in Harlem, as noted by ABC 7. The school expressed their deep sorrow and mourning for the loss of Alfa, describing him as a "funny, bright, witty, inquisitive, and brave child." They conveyed their solidarity with the family of Garrett Warren, even though he was not a student at their school, acknowledging the difficult time his community is also enduring. Also read | Downtown LA's daylight nightmare! Bicyclists launch brutal attack on pickup truck driver As the city grapples with the tragic deaths of these two young boys, thoughts and prayers pour in from across the community, offering solace and support to their grieving families and friends. The loss of Alfa and Garrett has left a void that will be felt deeply by those who knew them, and their memory will forever be cherished. With the debt ceiling deadline looming, the United States finds itself on the edge of a fiscal cliff. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has warned that without action from Congress, the government may struggle to pay its bills beyond June 15. The urgency is real, and time is running out. A poster at a bus shelter shows the national debt in Washington, DC, on May 21, 2023. US President Joe Biden will meet with Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy on May 22, 2023, for another round of talks on raising the US debt ceiling less than two weeks before a key deadline to avoid a disastrous default, officials said on May 21, 2023.(AFP) A Crisis in Motion As talks continue, some lawmakers believe that the government is careening towards the debt limit with no way to avert a crisis. Despite the gravity of the situation, finding a resolution remains elusive. The question now is how President Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy can bridge this divide before it's too late. A Race Against Time Negotiations should have started earlier, and the recent hiccups in talks have cost valuable days. Even if a deal is reached by Tuesday, the process of drafting the legislation, adhering to the "72 hour rule," and allowing for proper debate and voting in both the House and Senate could push the timeline dangerously close to the June 1 deadline. The path to resolution is fraught with challenges. The Delicate Balance of Votes Passing a debt ceiling bill requires delicate political maneuvering. House Republicans aim to secure "a majority of the majority" in support of any package. However, differing opinions within the party and the potential influence of conservative Republicans who favor replicating the previous debt ceiling bill create a complex equation. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries must also navigate the demands of his Democratic colleagues, who urge President Biden to invoke the 14th Amendment to resolve the issue. The McCarthy Conundrum House Speaker Kevin McCarthy faces a delicate balancing act. Accepting a deal that may jeopardize his own political career or finding a way to secure a win for everyone involved poses a significant challenge. The passage of the House's debt ceiling bill becomes both a strength and potential constraint in negotiations, further complicating McCarthy's position. The Mathematics of Compromise The heart of the matter lies in the vote count. How many Republicans remain unwavering in their support of the House GOP's April debt ceiling bill, and how many can accept a less stringent solution? The answer to this question will shape the course of the debate in the days ahead. The Time Ticking Away While the expectation is for lawmakers to stay in Washington until a solution is found, the reality is that many are scheduled for a recess next week. Keeping everyone in the capital could aid in vote counting and negotiations, but it risks disgruntlement and dissent among members. Balancing the need for resolution with lawmakers' personal commitments adds another layer of complexity to an already challenging situation. Also read | Why are Republicans and Democrats fighting over the US debt ceiling, and what could happen if they don't reach a deal? Trouble on the Horizon As the debt ceiling deadline of June 1 approaches, the absence of a viable solution becomes increasingly concerning. The nation stands at the precipice, and the stakes could not be higher. The next few days will be critical in determining whether the U.S. can navigate its way out of this fiscal quagmire. In a bombshell development, new details have emerged about the complex relationship between disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein and billionaire Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates. It appears that Epstein not only discovered Gates' affair with a Russian bridge player but also used this knowledge as leverage to threaten the tech mogul. It has emerged that disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein had allegedly threatened Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates over his affair with a Russian bridge player. The revelation sheds light on Epstein's manipulative tactics and raises questions about the extent of his influence over powerful figures. Join us as we delve into this sensational tale of intrigue and scandal. The Russian Bridge Player Affair Around 2010, Bill Gates engaged in a romantic relationship with a Russian bridge player named Mila Antonova. Epstein, who met Antonova in 2013 and later financed her software coding school education, discovered the affair. In 2017, Epstein brazenly emailed Gates, requesting reimbursement for the coding course's cost. Insiders claim that the implicit threat in the message was clear: Epstein could expose the affair if Gates didn't maintain a relationship with him. Gates' Response and Epstein's Dark Past A spokesperson for Gates vehemently denied any wrongdoing, asserting that Gates only met with Epstein for philanthropic purposes and that Epstein's attempts to manipulate him were unsuccessful. Epstein, a convicted sex offender, had a history of sexual abuse allegations and used his connections to gain favors and advance his own agenda. Gates, regretting his association with Epstein, emphasized that their meetings were primarily centered around charitable endeavors. The Mysterious Russian Bridge Player Mila Antonova, the woman involved in the affair with Gates, claims to have had no knowledge of Epstein's criminal background or ulterior motives when they met. Antonova, who viewed Epstein as a successful businessman eager to help, expressed disgust at his actions. She had sought financial support for her online bridge tutorial business, BridgePlanet, and Epstein introduced her to potential investors, including Gates' confidant Boris Nikolic. Epstein's Charitable Fund and Gates' Involvement Epstein attempted to establish a multibillion-dollar charitable fund with JPMorgan Chase, envisioning Gates as a crucial anchor donor. He aimed to rehabilitate his image and secure support from Gates. However, the fund never materialized, and Epstein's messages to JPMorgan executives revealed his desire to have Gates involved. Gates' spokeswoman refuted Epstein's claims of a close adviser relationship, emphasizing that Gates never worked with Epstein and that their connections were misrepresented. Epstein's Final Retaliatory Move In 2017, years after the affair had ended, Epstein reached out to Gates, seeking reimbursement for Antonova's coding school expenses. Sources familiar with the matter suggest that the email carried an undertone of blackmail, with Epstein hinting at his knowledge of the affair. However, Gates did not make any payment, and his spokeswoman firmly stated that he had no financial dealings with Epstein. The shocking revelations surrounding Jeffrey Epstein's threats to Bill Gates over his affair with a Russian bridge player have sent shockwaves through the public. This sordid affair exposes the depths of Epstein's manipulative tactics and raises concerns about his influence over influential figures. As the details unfold, the repercussions for both Gates and Epstein's tarnished legacies remain uncertain. Stay tuned for further updates on this scandalous and captivating saga. (Source: The Wall Street journal) We all love our holidays in between work, don't we? Even experts and research backs the opinion that working on all seven days of the week can be both tiresome, mentally draining and feel like a burden. Contrary to these established notions, a 98-year-old US citizen named Joe Grier, is walking a different path. Call him "workaholic" or "super dedicated", he works all seven days in a week and was honoured for his exemplary committment in Chicago on Saturday. 98-year-old Joe Grier speaking at the honour ceremony(YouTube) Grier is believed to be USA's oldest full time employee and works at Victory, one of The Planter Companies in the North Austin neighborhood in Chicago. On Saturday, Grier was honoured at New Life Holiness Church in a ceremony which was graced by Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and Rep. Danny Davis. The anchor of the ceremony introduced Grier and said that he was being honoured " as a recognition of his longevity, his tenacity, his inspiration, his motivation and his expertise". "We want to acknowledge how much you have meant to thousands of people during your lifetime, those who have known you, those who have watched you and those who have admired you," said the anchor while honouring Grier during the ceremony. After receiving the honour, Grier joked: "to listen to my life experience, we would have to stay here quite a few days". "My feelings are actually positive. I'm a happy person. I turn adversities into happiness. I am a graduate from the school of adversity. I thank God that I am still here," said Grier after receiving the honour. As a craftsman, Grier makes molds for trophies and awards. Talking about him Eric Priceman, owner and boss of The Planter Companies was quoted as saying by Fox32chicago: "He's a mentor for everybody that works here. Hes just somebody who has been here for so long, who teaches us everything, who has taught us everything." Interestingly, Grier even served in the armed forces in the 1940s. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON While co-chairing the 3rd India-Pacific Islands Cooperation (FIPIC) Summit in Papua New Guinea on Monday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that India believes in multilateralism and supports a free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific. India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi is greeted by Papua New Guinea's Prime Minister James Marape at Jackson International Airport, at Papua New Guinea.(Reuters) PM Modi, while speaking at the forum also said that for him, the Pacific island nations are "large ocean countries and not small island states". PM Modi co-chaired the 3rd India-Pacific Islands Cooperation (FIPIC) Summit with the Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea, James Marape. Notably, 14 Pacific Island Countries (PICs) are participating in the summit. Addressing the FIPIC Summit, PM Modi said that India is ready to share its experiences and capabilities with Pacific island countries without any hesitation. "India is proud to be your development partner. You can count on India as a reliable partner. We are ready to share our experiences and capabilities with you without hesitation. We believe in multilateralism and support a free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific," PM Modi said. Speaking on the impact of the Covid pandemic, the Prime Minister added that it was seen the most in the Global South. "Challenges related to climate change, natural disasters, hunger, poverty and health were already there, now new problems are arising...I am happy that India stood by its friendly Pacific Island countries in times of difficulty," PM Modi added. India considers it its responsibility to convey the concerns of the Global South, their expectations and their aspirations to the world through the G20. This was my effort in the last two days at the G7 summit as well, he said. Earlier today, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Papua New Guinea counterpart held a bilateral in Port Moresby and discussed cooperation in Commerce, technology, and healthcare as well as climate change. Calling the talks productive, Prime Minister Modi said that they covered the full range of bilateral relations between India and Papua New Guinea. "Prime Minister James Marape and I had very productive talks, covering the full range of bilateral relations between India and Papua New Guinea. We discussed ways to augment cooperation in commerce, technology, healthcare and in addressing climate change," PM Modi tweeted. Moreover, the two leaders also launched a translation of the Tamil classic 'Thirukkural' in the Tok Pisin language of Papua New Guinea. The book, which was launched by the PMs of India and Papua New Guinea was co-authored by Subha Sasindran and Governor Sasindran Muthuvel of West New Britain Province. PM Modi arrived in the Indo-Pacific country on the second leg of his three-country visit. Upon PM Modi's arrival, the Indian national anthem was played and the two prime ministers stood still in respect. PM Modi was also accorded a guard of honour on his arrival. This is PM Modi's first tour to PNG, as well as the first-ever visit by any Indian Prime Minister to the Indo-Pacific country. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his Italian counterpart Giorgia Meloni took public potshots at each other as the two world leaders attended the Group of Seven (G7) leader summit in Japan. The spat happened over the topic of LGBTQ rights, Bloomberg reported. Canada's Justin Trudeau and Italy PM Giorgia Meloni. Just ahead of closed-door talks, Justin Trudeau criticised Giorgia Meloni and Italy, saying, Canada is concerned about some of the positioning that Italy is taking in terms of LGBT rights, but I look forward to talking with you. Annoyed, Giorgia Meloni accused the Canadian prime minister of being a "victim of fake news" saying that he was a "bit rash" in his comments. After their talks, Italian prime minister said that Justin Trudeau now probably understood things better. As per a statement released by Justin Trudeau's office, the Canadian prime minister raised concerns about LGBTQ rights in Italy. Italian prime minister had defended her government's position and stated that they were following court rulings related to LGBTQ matters, it added. In March, Giorgia Meloni's far-right-led government ordered city councils to stop the official recording of both parents in same-sex couples after which only the biological parent was to be acknowledged, in a move that was denounced by gay rights activists as "homophobic". Alessia Crocini, the president of Rainbow Families, had then said, This government is the maximum expression of homophobia. Meloni says that for a child to grow up well, they need a mother and father, even if decades of research say otherwise. It is insulting to hundreds of thousands of families with two same-sex parents. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON German prosecutors have charged four former company executives with illegally selling software to Turkey's secret services for use to spy on the country's opposition, officials said on Monday. Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan addresses his supporters in Istanbul, Turkey, May 18. (REUTERS) The suspects were from FinFisher, a Munich-based company developing and selling spyware to law enforcement agencies and intelligence services. They are charged with breaking laws that ban the sale of "dual-use" products -- which can be used for both civilian and military purposes -- to countries outside the European Union, unless authorities grant approval. According to Munich prosecutors, the company allegedly signed a contract worth over five million euros ($5.4 million) in 2015 to sell monitoring software to Turkish secret services, along with training and support. In 2017, the "FinSpy" software was offered to a Turkish opposition movement for download from a fake website "under false pretences, in order to spy on them", the prosecutors said. The spyware allows its users to gain control of computers and smartphones, and monitor communications. In an effort to hide FinFisher's involvement, a Bulgarian company was named on the contract as the seller of the spyware. Neither the German nor the Bulgarian authorities issued a licence for the export of the software, the prosecutors said. German authorities began investigating after four NGOs that defend press freedom and human rights filed complaints in 2019. The charges were filed in Munich district court earlier this month. Concerns about the use of spyware have been growing since a 2017 investigation into Pegasus software by a consortium of media outlets. It found Pegasus was used in various countries to spy on 180 journalists, 600 politicians, 85 rights activists and 65 business executives. By the time Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy flew into Hiroshima on the afternoon of May 20, it was clear that Russias invasion of Ukraine and efforts to push back against it would dominate proceedings at the G7 Summit. PREMIUM Even before the G7 summit, Russias invasion of Ukraine and efforts to push back against was set to dominate proceedings(AFP) Even before the start of the summit, whose outreach sessions were attended by eight guest countries including India, the Japanese leadership made it clear that it intended to use the deliberations to send out a strong message about upholding the international order based on rule of law and rejecting any unilateral attempt to change the status quo by force. Zelenskyy, who joined the G7 leaders and heads of invited countries for a special session at the summit, which took place between May 19 and 21, made a strong push for both renewed military support for Ukraine to fight against the Russian invasion and taking forward the ten-point peace formula he first unveiled at the G20 Summit in Indonesia last year. Despite foot-dragging by some European countries, there has been strong buy-in among most of the G7 members for efforts by Japan and the US to continue supporting Ukraine with military equipment and supplies, including for a planned counter-offensive against Russian forces that has already run into delays. In particular, Japan has insisted the rule of the jungle cannot be allowed to prevail an apparent reference to fears that Russias actions could trigger similar moves in the South or East China seas and Taiwan Strait. The Japanese G7 presidency also pointed to Russian President Vladimir Putins threat of using nuclear weapons while pushing its agenda for nuclear disarmament. Our support for Ukraine will not waver. We will not tire in our commitment to mitigate the impact of Russias illegal actions on the rest of the world, the G7 leaders said in a statement on Ukraine, while renewing their commitment to provide the financial, humanitarian, military and diplomatic support needed by Ukraine for as long as it takes. In addition to the price cap imposed by G7 on Russian oil and petroleum products last year, the grouping said it would broaden sanctions on all items critical to Russias aggression and to starve Moscow of technology, industrial equipment and services. The US unveiled new sanctions on more than 300 targets. The US treasury-imposed sanctions on 22 individuals and 104 entities, the countrys state department targeted almost 200 individuals, entities, vessels and aircraft, and the US department of commerce added 71 companies to its Entity List, which bars sales of US technology without a hard-to-obtain licence. The sanctions were expanded to sectors such as manufacturing and construction while other actions were aimed at countering Russias evasion of embargoes. During his bilateral meeting with Zelenskyy at a special session on global peace and stability, Prime Minister Narendra Modi reiterated Indias stance that dialogue and diplomacy alone can lead to a resolution of the Ukraine conflict, which he described as an issue of humanity and human values. Despite the push given by Zelenskyy to his peace formula, there was no clarity on how this will be taken forward, given Russias reluctance to engage, or whether India could play any role in this initiative. A leaders communique issued after the G7 Summit said the groups members will coordinate their approach towards economic resilience and security based on diversifying and deepening partnerships and de-risking, not decoupling". They will also launch an initiative for resilient global food security with partners and mobilise $600 billion in financing for quality infrastructure through the Partnership for Global Infrastructure Investment. While Japan has strongly backed Indias efforts to make the concerns and issues of the Global South a central part of the G20 presidency, there has apparently not been similar enthusiasm for these efforts among other G7 members. Japanese officials have said one of the main outcomes they were eyeing from Modis participation in the outreach sessions in Hiroshima was greater synergy between the G7 and G20 processes. There was, however, no specific mention in the leaders communique to the Global South though there were the usual references to the concerns of developing countries, such as funding climate transition, the setback in the progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and the need to reform multilateral development banks (MDBs) and development financial institutions (DFIs), including acceleration of their efforts to leverage private finance. With Indias G20 presidency giving primacy to the concerns and issues of the developing countries and the focus of the G7 firmly on the Ukraine crisis, it remains to be seen how the worlds seven largest economies will be able to find common ground with the other members of the G20 at the summit to be hosted by India in September. As PM Narendra Modi arrived in Papua New Guinea for talks with Pacific leaders marking the first visit by an Indian premier to the island nation, he was greeted at the airport by his counterpart James Marape, who in a surprise move, touched his feet. PM Modi is in the country to attend the Forum for India-Pacific Islands Cooperation (FPIC). Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea James Marape greets Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Port Moresby. (PTI) BJP national spokesperson Sambit Patra reacted to James Marape's remarkable gesture for PM Modi tweeting, The Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea pays respects to the Honble PM Shri @narendramodi Ji by touching his feet. This profound visual exemplifies India's growth and influence under the leadership of PM Modi. Here are top points on Papua New Guinea PM James Marape: James Marape has been serving in the position since 2019 and belongs to the PANGU Pati political party. The 52-year-old especially made an exception for PM Modi and has not done the same for any other leader of the world. James Marape graduated with a Bachelor in Arts from the University of Papua New Guinea in 1993. He also has a Postgraduate Honours in Environmental Science and a Master's degree in Business Administration. He is the 8th prime minister of the island nation and has held many significant cabinet positions in governments in the past. He has also served as parliamentary secretary for works and transport, and been a part of the parliamentary referral committee on inter-government relations. He resigned from the People's National Congress Party in 2019 and then joined the Pangu PATI. In 2020, there was an unsuccessful attempt to topple his government through a no-confidence motion, Guardian reported. Following the talks with James Marape, PM Modi tweeted, James Marape and I had very productive talks, covering the full range of bilateral relations between India and Papua New Guinea. We discussed ways to augment cooperation in commerce, technology, healthcare and in addressing climate change. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON US President Joe Biden on Sunday struck an upbeat tone about his conversation with House Republican Speaker Kevin McCarthy on raising the federal debt ceiling and averting a US default, and said the two would speak again on Monday. President Joe Biden speaks on the debt limit during an event at SUNY Westchester Community College. (AP) Read here: Biden to call House speaker McCarthy on debt ceiling after G7 summit: W. House "It went well," the Democratic president told reporters as he arrived back at the White House after a three-day meeting with fellow Group of Seven leaders in Hiroshima, Japan. "We'll talk tomorrow." Just 10 days remain before the US Treasury expects to start running out of money, unless Congress acts to raise the debt limit, which would trigger an unprecedented default that could upend the global economy. King Charles reportedly faces a potential royal family showdown over his decision to move Prince Andrew, his eldest brother, out of his house of 20 years- Royal Lodge in Windsor Great Park, Berkshire. The Duke of York is said to be under pressure to downsize to the former home of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, Frogmore Cottage. However, Prince Andrew is refusing to do so and is backed by members of the royal family as well. King Charles III during a special industry showcase event hosted by the British Fashion Council (BFC) at 180 Studios, London.(Reuters) A close associate of the Duke of York said that he cannot be forced to vacate the premises because his name is on the lease with the Crown Estate, and not the royal family's. The source told The Times: That's not a matter for the King. It's a matter for the Chancellor of the Exchequer. The only way you could get him to move out would be through an arrangement he would have to agree. Dismissing claims made recently that Prince Andrew could be forced out of the home, the source said that any such move would not make King Charles a "very popular person within the family" as there were "other members of the family who would not want to see a member kicked out". Royal biographer Tom Bower said that the upkeep of the mansion and its land amounts is around 1million plus staffing costs. All crown leases have termination clauses. For example, if youre not paying for upkeep in a way they think desirable. So I would think the lease won't protect him forever. They can always say the paintwork isn't good enough. That's how he can be winkled out, Tom Bower said. Prince Andrew stepped down from royal duties in 2019 following row over his alleged connections with the disgraced billionaire Jeffrey Epstein. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON As the Memorial Day weekend approaches, the FOX Forecast Center is closely monitoring a complex weather situation off the Eastern Seaboard that could result in the development of a tropical disturbance over the western Atlantic. Fox news has predicted possible cyclonic disturbance off the coast of Florida during Memorial Day weekend.(Fox News) Stalled Front and Atmospheric Spin Set the Stage According to computer forecast models, a cold front is expected to stall over Florida this week, coinciding with the formation of atmospheric spin in the upper levels. These combined factors are likely to bring heavy rainfall, rough surf, and gusty winds to coastal areas of the Southeast. If a low-pressure system forms over a warm pool of water off the Southeast coast, there is a possibility that a weak tropical feature could develop. Marginal Conditions for Development The FOX Forecast Center notes that both water temperatures and upper-level winds appear to be marginally favorable for slow development. Ocean temperatures range from the lower to mid-70s, reaching near 80 degrees, while upper-level winds are not expected to be strong enough to entirely hinder development. Impacts and Precautions Regardless of tropical development, certain regions in Florida should brace for 3 to 6 inches of rainfall in the coming days. The combination of gusty winds and rough seas heightens the risk of rip currents, posing a threat extending from the Carolinas through Florida during the Memorial Day weekend. Monitoring a Disturbance Near the Bahamas Before any potential tropical development off the Southeast coast, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) is currently monitoring a disturbance in the southwestern Atlantic Ocean near the Bahamas. This disturbance is currently generating disorganized showers and thunderstorms, extending northeast of the Bahamas. Limited Chance of Development The NHC currently assigns a 10% chance of this disturbance developing into a tropical depression. The NHC Tropical Weather Outlook suggests that the system's development is not expected due to anticipated increases in upper-level winds. Out-of-Season Development: Rare but Not Impossible Out-of-season tropical cyclone development is uncommon, with only 3% of tropical cyclones forming outside the official hurricane season. However, May is the most popular month for such development. Historical data from the mid-1800s indicates that around 90 tropical cyclones have formed out of season, with nearly half of them occurring in May. Recent Out-of-Season Activity In 2021, Tropical Storm Ana formed in May, developing east of Bermuda before moving northeastward and dissipating at sea. Since 2018, four additional storms have formed during May, but none intensified beyond tropical storm status. Challenges of Off-Season Development Development during the offseason is rare, mainly due to the lack of favorable conditions. A recent example was an area of disturbed weather in the Gulf of Mexico in April, which failed to develop into a named storm. Looking Ahead to the Atlantic Hurricane Season The next tropical cyclone reaching tropical storm status in the Atlantic Basin will be named Arlene. The official Atlantic hurricane season spans from June 1 to November 30. As Memorial Day draws near, meteorologists and forecasters continue to monitor the potential for tropical development, ensuring the public remains informed and prepared for any changes in weather conditions. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday announced a 12-step programme to propel India's partnerships with Pacific Island countries. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, center, addresses a meeting with Pacific Island leaders to discuss ways to better cooperate in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea,(AP) "It will fulfill the developmental aspirations of the people of the region and consolidate shared vision of a free, open and prosperous Indo- Pacific. fulfil consolidate the shared vision of a free, open and prosperous Indo- Pacific," Ministry of external affairs spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said. The prime minister made the announcement while co-chairing the 3rd India-Pacific Islands Cooperation (FIPIC) Summit in Papua New Guinea today. Taking to Twitter, the MEA Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi listed out all the 12 steps announced by PM Modi. The first of the announcements include opening up a new 100-bed regional super speciality hospital in Fiji and to set up a Regional IT and Cyber Security Training Hub in Papua New Guinea. "Sagar Amrut Scholarships -1000 scholarships in the next 5 years, Jaipur Foot Camp in Papua New Guinea in 2023. Thereafter, two camps annually in other Pacific Island Countries," Bagchi said. "FIPIC SME Development Project, Solar project for Government buildings, Provide desalination units for drinking water, Supply sea ambulances, Set up dialysis units, Set up of 24x7 emergency helpline, Set up of Jan Aushadi Kendras, Set up Yoga centres," he added. PM Modi arrived in Papua New Guinea on May 21 at the Port Moresby airport where a rare moment was witnessed by the audience. Papua New Guinea Prime Minister James Marape touched PM Modi's feet and sought his blessings. Upon PM Modi's arrival, the Indian national anthem was played and the two prime ministers stood still in respect. PM Modi was also accorded a guard of honour on his arrival. This is PM Modi's first tour to PNG, as well as the first-ever visit by any Indian Prime Minister to the Indo-Pacific country. Today, PM Modi co-chaired the 3rd FIPIC Summit where he stated that India believes in multilateralism and supports a free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific. After the Summit, PM Modi met Palau's President Surangel Whipps Jr, Premier of Niue Dalton Emani Makamau Tagelagi, Fiji PM Sitiveni Rabuka, Marshall Islands minister kitlang kabua, Secretary General of the PIF Henry Puna, and many other Pacific-Indo Countries on the sidelines of FIPIC Summit. King Charles is committed to ensuring that Prince William does not make the mistakes he made with his chidren, Professor Chandrika Kaul claimed. Modern historian Chandrika Kaul said that the King wants to contribute to giving his grandchildren- Prince George,9, Princess Charlotte, 7, and Prince Louis, 5- a more "normal" upbringing and ensure they are more in tune with their emotions. King Charles III is seen. (Reuters) I think King Charles is very keen that his grandchildren dont make the mistakes that I think he feels he made, particularly when it came to matters of the heart, Chandrika Kaul said. What I think he wants to do is try and help these young grandchildren grow up in as normal a way as possible and create more fully rounded human beings who are unafraid of their emotions and who are able to have the confidence to marry whom they want. And to have a happy, successful and fulfilled personal life, the historian added. Royal commentator Ayesha Hazarika said that King Charles will face a further challenge in helping Prince William's two younger children understand their roles in the royal family as Prince Harry lamented the label spare in his memoir, claiming that he was made to feel the stark difference between his role and that of his elder brother during his childhood. Charles, as a good grandfather, will have to explain to the other two that theyre not just spares, theyre not just surplus to requirement, Ayesha Hazarika said. While royal commentator Katie Nicholl suggested that Prince William and Kate Middleton could consider having their three children working as a "collective" in the future to avoid any animosity. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The transfer of F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine would raise the question of NATO's involvement in the conflict, Russia's Ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov said in remarks published early on Monday. US President Joe Biden on Friday endorsed training programs for Ukrainian pilots on F-16 fighter jets. (AP) Read here: Photographs of ruined Hiroshima remind me of Bakhmut: Volodymyr Zelensky "There is no infrastructure for the operation of the F-16 in Ukraine and the needed number of pilots and maintenance personnel is not there either," Antonov said in remarks published on the embassy's Telegram messaging channel. "What will happen if the American fighters take off from NATO airfields, controlled by foreign 'volunteers'?" US President Joe Biden on Friday endorsed training programs for Ukrainian pilots on F-16 fighter jets and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky assured Biden that the aircraft would not be used to go into Russian territory. Antonov said that any Ukrainian strike on Crimea would be considered a strike on Russia. Read here: Ukrainian president Zelensky denies loss of Bakhmut to Russia "It is important that the United States be fully aware of the Russian response," Antonov said. Ukraine has intensified its strikes on Russian-held targets especially on the Crimean Peninsula, which Russia annexed from Ukraine in 2014. Indian High Commissioner to Australia Manpreet Vohra on Monday appreciated Australian authorities for their "great responsiveness" on the vandalism of Hindu temples and said that he is confident to see a better situation. Graffiti sprayed on Iskon's Albert Park temple in January. (Source: Twitter/@austhindu) In an exclusive interview with ANI, the Indian High Commissioner to Australia said, "We are seeing great responsiveness from the Australian authorities to our concerns. We are confident that they will go after those who violate the law and indulge in these hate crimes. I am quite confident that going forward, we will see a better situation." After completing his Papua New Guinea trip, PM Modi is scheduled to visit Australia today. Responding to whether Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese will discuss the issue of vandalism of Hindu temples, Vohra said, "Vandalism of Hindu temples has been a concern in India and he has also raised a concern with Australian PM Anthony Albanese when he came to India. And we received a response from him as well." Earlier during his visit to India in March, Albanese had reiterated that Australia will act with "full force" to prevent attacks against Hindu temples. The issue was raised by PM Modi in the Hyderabad House where the two sides held a formal dialogue. Modi had said the attacks on Hindu temples in Australia had "worried" India. Albanese gave assurance to PM Modi of taking "every action through our police and also our security agencies," to "make sure that anyone responsible for this faces the full force of the law. "I gave him the assurance that Australia is a country that respects people's faith. That we don't tolerate the sort of extreme actions and attacks that we've seen on religious buildings, be they Hindu temples, mosques, synagogues, or churches. This has no place in Australia. We're a tolerant multicultural nation, and there is no place in Australia for this activity," said the Australian PM. In the past few months, the attacks on the Hindu temple have increased. In March, Shree Laxmi Narayan Temple in Brisbane was attacked. Earlier, in January, Shri Shiva Vishnu Temple in Australia's Carrum Downs was also vandalised with anti-Hindu graffiti. A week before the above incident, on January 12, the BAPS Swaminarayan Mandir in Australia's Mill Park was smeared with anti-India and anti-Hindu graffiti. During the interview, the Indian High Commissioner to Australia also spoke about the education and trade partnership between the two countries Vohra said that he is happy and proud of the fact that the first two foreign universities, that were announced earlier about the opening of two campuses in India, are both Australian University: University of Deakin and University of Wollongong. He also said about the Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (ECTA), which was implemented on December 29, 2022. "...ECTA was signed last year and has entered into force also. We have already started negotiations very intensely on the next step which is the full comprehensive economic cooperation agreement (CECA). We are committed, along with Australia, to conclude those negotiations, hopefully possibly, by the end of this year," says Indian High Commissioner to Australia Manpreet Vohra. PM Modi is scheduled to visit Australia from May 22-24, 2023. On PM Modi's visit to Australia, Indian High Commissioner to Australia Manpreet Vohra, said, "He has a very substantive round of bilateral discussions with PM Albanese. He will be following up on the discussions that went on when PM Albanese was in India two months ago. We expect some outcomes & announcements." Former USA President Donald Trump is known for his distasteful and unsavoury remarks which often lead to controversies and make him prone to trolling. The latest person to draw Trump's ire is co-host of The View and CNN political commentator Alyssa Farah Griffin. Alyssa Farah Griffin, Donald Trump(Twitter/file photo) Trump took to social media platform Truth Social on Saturday and launched salvo against the former White House staffer. In his post, Trump used words like 'sleazebag' and 'loser' while describing her as a backbencher in the Trump Administration. In a contrast to Griffin's recent criticism of Trump, he highlighted her earlier favourable reviews. Trump shared an old video clip of Griffin from her White House days in which she can be seen praising him and talking about her excitement on meeting him for the first time. ALSO READ| Amazon founder Jeff Bezos' $500 million superyacht is a marvel to behold: All you need to know In the old video shared by Trump, Griffin is heard saying: "He's[Trump] is a remarkable man. The more time you spend with him behind closed doors, the more you understand what makes him such a strong leader for our nation." Backbencher in the Trump Administration, Alyssa Farah, like so many other sleazebags, had only glowing reviews of the Trump Administration until long after she left. A loser then, and a loser now! More to follow," wrote Trump in his post on Truth Social. Trump's post comes in the wake of Griffin's remarks against him after his recent CNN town hall interaction. America got to see who he is last night: a ranting, raving lunatic, who sided with Vladimir Putin, Griffin had said. Trump wrote a follow-up post and claimed that there were voices being raised in 'The View' and CNN to fire Griffin for her scathing criticism of him after the CNN town hall interaction. Word is that they are revolting at the View and CNN, and want Farrah OUT! Much more to come, posted Trump. She[Griffin] tried to delete her words, but we got them ALL. I dont see how she lasts because this stuff shows what a phony she is, said Trump while referencing the old video(stuff) of her praising him, as quoted by New York Post. Notably, in a recent interaction on The Daily Beasts podcast The New Abnormal, Griffin had accused Trump of being disrespectful towards young female staffers during her time at the White House. Its a pattern. It was visible. It didnt take a genius to see it. It was reported, I dont know if it was handled, but this is a man who does not respect women,said Griffin. British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak spoke to an ethics adviser on Monday as he grappled with the escalating controversy surrounding the speeding ticket received by his interior minister and home secretary Suella Braverman last year. British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak attends a press conference in Hiroshima, western Japan, Sunday.(AP) The Indian-origin minister, one of Sunaks most controversial appointments, landed herself into trouble after reports surfaced that she asked civil servants to help arrange a private driving-awareness course to prevent her speeding violation from becoming public knowledge, which if true, amounts to breaking ministerial rules for using government officials to help with their personal affairs. Following his arrival from the G7 meeting in Japan on Monday, Sunak told the United Kingdom Parliament that he has had discussions with an ethics adviser and Braverman about the incident. "I've asked for further information and I'll update on the appropriate course of action in due course," he said. As the controversy escalates, Sunak is facing an increased pressure from the Opposition parties to initiate an ethics inquiry into the allegation, which can prove to be fatal for Bravermans career. To add to his headache, the scandal has worsened the fast-growing splits in the governing Conservative Party. Meanwhile, Braverman, who oversees the police and law enforcement, told the media Monday that she regretted the incident. She added that she paid a fine, but did not attempt to "evade" punishment. This controversy is an added blow to Sunak's promise to restore government integrity and professionalism, when he assumed office in October last year after the Boris Johnson and Liz Truss debacle. Sunak has already lost three cabinet members to scandals so far. Bravermans troubles could compound further as the controversy comes at a time when the UK government prepares for the release of migration figures Thursday, which her office oversees. The figures are expected to confirm a record surge in arrivals last year. The minister was appointed by Sunak shortly after she resigned from Liz Truss' government after she sent confidential information using a private phone. (With inputs from Reuters, Bloomberg, AFP) SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON UK Home Secretary Suella Braverman on Monday denied any impropriety over the handling of a speeding ticket that has again put her at the centre of controversy about alleged rule-breaking. Britain's Home Secretary Suella Braverman.(AFP) Rishi Sunak promised to restore integrity to government when he became prime minister last year, after the turbulent premierships of Boris Johnson and Liz Truss. But Braverman -- a Brexit hardliner criticised for her outspoken rhetoric on immigration -- is now facing calls for a potentially career-ending ethics inquiry. The interior minister in charge of law enforcement asked her officials to set up a one-to-one driving awareness course, instead of taking penalty points on her licence, according to newspaper reports Sunday. That has led to opposition claims that she may have breached the ministerial code of conduct by requesting non-political civil servants to help deal with a private matter. Braverman, who resigned under Truss for using her personal email to send an official document to a colleague, downplayed the row in comments to media and to parliament. "Last summer, I was speeding. I regret that," she told the House of Commons, referring back to when she was attorney general before becoming home secretary under Truss in September. "I paid the fine and I accepted the points, and at no point did I seek to evade the sanction," Braverman insisted. But she thrice refused to answer when pressed by opposition parties about what she had directed civil servants to do on her behalf. "Time and again she tries to think that she's above the normal rules," senior Labour MP Yvette Cooper charged, while accusing Sunak of being "weak". The prime minister was asked about the newspaper reports while at the G7 leaders' summit in Japan and said he did not know the "full details" of the case. Downing Street later said that "of course" he had full confidence in Braverman. But the Mirror newspaper said on Monday that one of its reporters had asked her special media adviser six weeks ago about the speeding offence and was told it was "nonsense". After Sunak returned from Japan in the early hours, Braverman was seen entering 10 Downing Street as the prime minister's spokesman confirmed that he had already consulted with his ethics adviser about the case. "The prime minister is availing himself of all the information," the spokesman said, adding: "The prime minister believes in proper processes." Dave Penman, general secretary of the FDA union which represents senior officials, said: "Civil servants are publicly funded... They're not there to support the personal interests of a minister. They don't do their shopping, they don't look after their children and they don't sort out their speeding fine. A US-based advertising professional, who was laid off recently, got multiple job offers from across the world following his skydiving with an "open to work" signage. Screengrab from of a clip posted by Chris Serrano. (Chris Serrano/ LinkedIn) In a LinkedIn post last week, Chris Serrano wrote, I got laid off last week. So Ill be freefalling until I find a new gig literally. If youre looking for an award-winning creative that works hard, takes risks, and knows how to pack a parachute, reach out. Dont let your brand plunge to its death. Hire me instead, he added as he shared an eight-second clip of his skydiving. I really didnt know what to expect. I knew that people would be shocked by it, but I didnt know people would be super shocked, Serrano told 7 News Miami. I woke up the next morning to 2 million impressions and a bunch of feedback. Job offers around the world, he added. Of the many offers he received, one was from a start-up company in Manchester, England. Jack Peagam, CEO of Linkup, a new social networking app, said, I thought it was amazing. I was just, you know, normal day, scrolling through LinkedIn as you do, and I stumbled upon Chris post, and I saw it, and I was like, Wow. OK, thats cool, and I need to jump on that cause Im also looking for a creative director, so the stars were aligned. The CEO flew to the Canary Islands, which is the closest place to Manchester with weather good enough for skydiving, to respond in an equally quirky way. I cant just message him and say, Hey, lets have a chat. Ive got to respond in an equally as epic way as him, so thats exactly what I did, Jack said. He took his job offer to another level as the banner he held while skydiving read, Hey, Chris, sorry 2 see you got laid off. Weve got work 4 u. Lets link up. To this, Serrano said he could not believe it. I was like, Oh, my God. I thought that what I did was crazy and far out, and somebody matched my energy. And it was pretty impressive. Serrano now plans his new career with Linkup and shared that getting laid off has taught him something new about life. Be different. Were living in a time right now where people are getting laid off every day, but sometimes you dont know the doors that are open for you. You really just have to do what you love and put yourself out there, and somebody will notice if youre doing what you love, he said. It was a day of regal splendor and grandeur at the recent coronation of King Charles III, but behind the scenes, an unexpected drama was brewing. Whispers of a discreet standoff between Kate Middleton and Camilla Parker Bowles sent shockwaves through Westminster Abbey, hinting at a potential royal feud in the making. Princess of Wales, Kate Middleton, arrives for the Coronation of King Charles III, in London, Saturday, May 6 2023. King Charles III and Camila the Queen Consort, members of the Royal family and VIP's gathered at Westminster Abbey for the Coronation service.(AP) Kate decided to create a no-curtsy zone around Camilla, a move that immediately fueled speculation about underlying tensions. This incident unfolded amidst reports that Princess Anne had confronted Camilla over her title change, further adding to the intrigue surrounding the event. As royal expert Tom Bower revealed, the tension between Kate and Camilla was palpable during the coronation. The Princess of Wales, known for her grace and poise, noticeably refrained from curtsying at Camilla during the ceremony. Bower suggested that Kate's decision not to show the customary gesture could be interpreted as a sign of brewing conflict between the two royal figures. Bower went on to explain that Kate was not the only one unhappy with Camilla. Prince William, Kate's husband, was reportedly also angered by his step-mother-in-law's actions, adding to the growing tension within the royal family. The unease surrounding Camilla's presence at the coronation stemmed from Buckingham Palace's official announcement that she would relinquish her title of Queen Consort for the occasion, instead being bestowed with the title of Queen. This decision evidently caused discomfort among other members of the royal family. However, the change in title was not the sole reason for Kate's displeasure. Bower highlighted that the way Camilla's family was prominently featured at the coronation, with over twenty members in attendance, did not sit well with Kate. In contrast, only four members of the Middleton family were present, further amplifying the perceived disparity. Adding to the mounting tension, Prince William notably omitted to mention Camilla during the coronation concert the following day, a clear indication of the strained relations between the families, according to Bower. Meanwhile, reports emerged of a confrontation between Princess Anne and Camilla during the coronation dinner. The Princess Royal, known for her directness, apparently expressed her disapproval of Camilla's recent title transition. Buckingham Palace had previously announced that Camilla's title would change from Queen Consort to Queen, a decision that had garnered mixed reactions. Renowned designer David Emanuel, famous for creating Princess Diana's iconic wedding gown, revealed insider details about the heated exchange between Anne and Camilla. According to Emanuel, Anne staunchly maintained her stance, insisting on referring to Camilla as Queen Consort, regardless of the official change in title. With tensions running high at the dinner, the drama posed a delicate situation for King Charles, who had to navigate the complex dynamics within his family. King Charles and Queen Camilla were ultimately crowned on May 6 at Westminster Abbey, their official coronation filled with both ceremonial splendor and underlying whispers of strife. As the dust settles, the world eagerly watches to see how these simmering tensions within the royal household will unfold in the coming months. Taiwan failed on Monday in its efforts to gain an invitation to the World Health Organization's annual assembly despite the island's assertion that support was growing for its participation. There was no immediate response from Taiwans government to the WHO decision.(REUTERS) The annual assembly in Geneva decided not to extend Taiwan an invitation to the event which runs from May 21-30. China and Pakistan urged members to reject Taiwan's inclusion while eSwatini and the Marshall Islands spoke in favour. China claims sovereignty over self-ruled Taiwan and says the island is not a separate country but part of "one China" governed by Beijing. China's insistence that Taiwan is not a country means that the island is excluded from many international organisations. China welcomed the WHO decision. "This fully shows that the one-China principle is the aspiration of the people and the trend of the times in the international community and cannot be challenged in any way," the Chinese foreign ministry said in a statement. The ministry said that before the opening of the conference, nearly 100 countries expressed their adherence to the one-China principle and their opposition to Taiwan's participation in the World Health Assembly by means of special letters to WHO and statements. "China also urges certain countries not to pretend to be confused, stop politicizing the health issue, stop interfering in China's internal affairs under the pretext of the Taiwan issue, and stop the erroneous practice of using 'Taiwan to control China'," the ministry said. There was no immediate response from Taiwans government to the WHO decision. Taiwan is allowed to attend some technical WHO meetings but said its exclusion from the WHO hindered efforts to fight the COVID-19 pandemic. The island rejects China's sovereignty claims and says only the Taiwanese people can decide their future. Located in Tucson's tallest building, the hotel welcomes guests to the cultural hub of the city. The Leo Kent, Tucson, a Tribute Portfolio Hotel, announced today its grand opening slated for May 17. Located inside the iconic One South Church building, the lifestyle hotel was conceived and developed by Opwest Partners in collaboration with Iridius Capital and Remington Hotels. The hotel hopes to attract more residents and visitors alike to the heart of Tucson, helping spread the joy and history of the community. The new hotel joins Tribute Portfolio - Marriott Bonvoy's growing global family of characterful, independent hotels drawn together by their passion for captivating design and their drive to create vibrant social scenes for guests and locals alike. The hotel's architect, Nelsen Partners, and interior designers BBGM and MONOGRAM Hospitality Interiors at BBGM accentuate Tucson's unique history and soul through modern classical southwestern design, featuring a robust collection of indoor plants and art inspired by local animals and landscapes. The art created by Tucson native Jane Barton takes inspiration from the Sonoran Desert and the artist's home in Arizona. Guests can spot native trademarks such as Arizona Buttes, the Saguaro Cactus, The Greater Roadrunner, and Tucson skyline incorporated throughout the hotel's design. Spanning across nine floors, the 145-room property includes amenities such as a fitness center, function hall, meeting spaces, and The St. Cruz restaurant - a casual dining outlet that offers to-go options, with an elevated bar and lounge. Inspired by the Santa Cruz River and its history as a life source for Tucson, The St. Cruz will feature southwestern-inspired flavors curated by Tucson-native chef Devin Pinto. The hotel will source various local ingredients and feature local beers, wines, and liquor in the bar. The Leo Kent is only steps away from the SunLink Modern Streetcar Route, connecting guests to the rest of Downtown Tucson and the University of Arizona. Other nearby attractions include the Arizona State Museum, Fox Theatre, and numerous retail stores, bars, and restaurants. The Leo Kent is the second high-end boutique lifestyle property that Opwest Partners has opened in the past eighteen months, highlighting the firm's focus on lifestyle hospitality assets and delivering best-in-class authentic urban destinations. The Leo Kent will participate in Marriott Bonvoy - the award-winning travel program from Marriott International - allowing members to earn and redeem points for their stay at the new hotel, and at other hotels and resorts across Marriott Bonvoy's extraordinary portfolio of brands. With the Marriott Bonvoy app, members enjoy a level of personalization and a contactless experience that allows them to travel with peace of mind. Hotel website The Royal Commission for AlUla (RCU) will develop a new resort within the Journey Through Time (JTT) masterplan, designed in harmony with the natural environment and aligned with the Sustainability Charter for AlUla, Saudi Green Initiative, and Vision 2030. The AZULIK AlUla Resort is a stunning eco-luxury property in the Nabatean Horizon District of the JTT masterplan, tucked into canyons near the AlMutadil Equestrian Village development and Wadi AlFann, an ancient valley that will soon be home to large-scale artworks in the landscape. Slated to launch in 2027, the resort will feature 76 luxury villas of six different varieties, spa, VIP club, welcome lounges, all-day dining, and a SFER IK museum. With flowing designs inspired by the natural ecosystem and surrounding sandstone cliffs, the resort's undulating exteriors will utilise natural materials and fibres woven into several layers. AZULIK AlUla Resort will promote connection with AlUla's heritage and the area's ecology and biodiversity. For example, the development will protect and incorporate nearby ancient rock art inscriptions, and utilise a natural system of existing waterways to feed irrigation and safeguard against floods. No private vehicle traffic will be allowed on-property; instead an all-electric mobility system will be provided, along with horse and camel routes, and hiking trails for guests to enjoy the surroundings. Operated by Mexican luxury brand AZULIK and designed by Roth Architecture, the resort will offer elegant accommodations for guests and provide socioeconomic benefits for the AlUla community. Once fully operational, AZULIK AlUla Resort will create more than 300 new jobs. Along with local materials and contractors sought for construction, most operational supplies will be sought from AlUla and wider KSA to further boost regional economic growth. IHG Hotels & Resorts collaborated with the 76th Cannes Film Festival to celebrate the return of the world-renowned Carlton Cannes, a Regent Hotel - part of IHG's luxury and lifestyle portfolio. Over the last few days, Carlton Cannes, a Regent Hotel hosted multiple events to celebrate the hotel's return in grand style, after being closed for two years for extensive refurbishment. Guests included Michael Douglas, Catherine Zeta Jones, Helen Mirren, Fan BingBing, Uma Thurman, Mads Mikkelsen, Naomi Campbell, Brie Larson, to name a few. The following evening, saw The Official Launch Party of Carlton Cannes, a Regent Hotel, which also welcomed notable attendees including John C. Reilly, Twiggy, Maxime Bouttier, Andrew Scott, and Freddy Carter. The Carlton Cannes, a Regent Hotel has long been the setting for stars of film and screen, making the legendary property a natural choice to host the Cannes Film Festival's Official Opening Dinner following the highly anticipated premiere of Jeanne du Barry. On Wednesday night the exterior of the Carlton Cannes, a Regent Hotel was flooded with light and music in a show entitled 'Follow The Sun,' choreographed by famed artistic director Lionel Hun in partnership with creative teams from Image and Auditoire. The six-minute performance illuminated the legendary facade of the Carlton Cannes depicting the evolution of the sun throughout the day, from morning through to dusk. The light show coincided with The Official Launch Party of Carlton Cannes, a Regent Hotel, where over 300 guests attended a cocktail party and gala dinner to celebrate the hotel's grand reopening. At the property's iconic Beach Club, VIPs enjoyed an evening of wonder set against the backdrop of the historic property and stunning views of the Cannes Bay as the hotels historic facade came to light with the dazzling display of light and sound. Carlton Cannes, a Regent Hotel is the first new Regent destination in Europe, offering its visionary experiential and design signatures, and joins the brand's Asia flagship, Regent Hong Kong. Together, they mark a new era of Regent along with Phu Quoc, Shanghai and Chongqing, as well as three additional destinations to follow in 2023, including Regent Bali Canggu, Regent Shanghai on the Bund and Regent Santa Monica Beach, the first Americas property for the reimagined brand. Hotel website Coast Hotels Limited, a fully owned subsidiary of APA Hotel Canada, Inc. and one of North America's fastest-growing and one of Canada's largest hotel brands, is pleased to announce the appointment of Grant McKegney as the company's new Director, Technology. In his new role, McKegney will be responsible for overseeing the daily IT operations, as well as leading the development and execution of the company's short and long-term technology strategy. He will be leading a team of talented professionals to drive innovation and support the company's growth objectives. With over 20 years of experience in developing and implementing strategic technology roadmaps and complex projects, Grant is an exceptional leader with a proven track record in infrastructure architecture, IT operations management, security governance and risk, performance analytics, and business process improvement. McKegney has an extensive background working for several airline and travel companies including Air Canada, oneworld Alliance Management Company, and Rocky Mountaineer. Most recently, he served as Director of Information Technology for Canadian North Airlines, where he oversaw the organization's technology strategy, and ensured optimal technology operations stability, infrastructure management, data and cloud technology operations, and security governance and risk. WASHINGTON The American Hotel & Lodging Association (AHLA) this week hosted its Hotels on the Hill fly-in on Capitol Hill. More than 200 hoteliers representing 30-plus states met with members of Congress to share how labor shortages are impacting hotels and lobby for policies to help grow the hotel workforce. The event took place May 15-17 and included more than 100 meetings with House and Senate offices, including House and Senate leadership. During the event, hoteliers urged Congress to: Expand the legal H-2B guestworker program by including an H-2B Returning Worker Exemption in the Fiscal Year 2024 Department of Homeland Security appropriations bill. The H-2B program is vital to helping independent hotels and resorts in remote vacation destinations fill seasonal roles, but the program is capped at 66,000 visas each year. AHLA is asking Congress to modify the H-2B nonimmigrant visa program by exempting returning workers from the inadequate 66,000 annual visa cap. These employees would provide critical staffing relief for seasonal small business hotels and help to rebuild the post-pandemic economy. by including an H-2B Returning Worker Exemption in the Fiscal Year 2024 Department of Homeland Security appropriations bill. The H-2B program is vital to helping independent hotels and resorts in remote vacation destinations fill seasonal roles, but the program is capped at 66,000 visas each year. AHLA is asking Congress to modify the H-2B nonimmigrant visa program by exempting returning workers from the inadequate 66,000 annual visa cap. These employees would provide critical staffing relief for seasonal small business hotels and help to rebuild the post-pandemic economy. Cosponsor and pass the Asylum Seeker Work Authorization Act (S.255/H.R.1325) . A historic number of asylum seekers are already housed in hotels across America. They are awaiting court dates and are following the legal process. Unfortunately, current law prevents them from legally working for at least six months, forcing them to rely on assistance from local governments and communities. This bipartisan legislation would help hotels address critical staffing needs by allowing asylum seekers to work as soon as 30 days after applying for asylum. . A historic number of asylum seekers are already housed in hotels across America. They are awaiting court dates and are following the legal process. Unfortunately, current law prevents them from legally working for at least six months, forcing them to rely on assistance from local governments and communities. This bipartisan legislation would help hotels address critical staffing needs by allowing asylum seekers to work as soon as 30 days after applying for asylum. Cosponsor and pass the Save Local Business Act (S.1261/H.R.2826). The National Labor Relations Board has proposed a new joint employer legal standard that would subjectively determine which entities would be considered co-employers for collective bargaining purposes. The NLRB regulation would minimize franchisees' control over their own businesses, severely complicate hotels ability to contract with independent vendors, and allow courts and government bureaucrats to subjectively determine joint-employment liability. The Save Local Business Act would clarify the definition of an employer as an entity with direct control over specific working conditions. Americas nearly 62,500 hotels support nearly 1 in 25 American jobs, help drive nearly $760 billion into the U.S. economy, and support more than $211 billion in federal, state, and local taxes each year. To continue these positive economic contributions in communities across the country, hotels need to hire more people. There are more than 100,000 hotel jobs currently open across the nation, and as of March, national average hotel wages were near all-time highs at more than $23 per hour. Since the pandemic, average hotel wages have increased faster than average wages throughout the general economy, and hotel benefits and flexibility are better than ever. Harnessing the voices of local hoteliers from across the country is the most effective way to achieve advocacy victories. Thats why AHLAs Capitol Hill fly-in event, Hotels on the Hill, is so important. When AHLA members speak with their representatives, Congress listens. The face-to-face connections Hotels on the Hill facilitates are the most effective way to strengthen relationships with influential lawmakers and illustrate to Congress the essential role hotels play in creating jobs and supporting communities. AHLA President & CEO Chip Rogers About the American Hotel & Lodging Association (AHLA) The American Hotel & Lodging Association (AHLA) is the sole national association representing all segments of the U.S. lodging industry. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., AHLA focuses on strategic advocacy, communications support and workforce development programs to move the industry forward. Learn more at www.ahla.com. Stockholm - ASSA ABLOY Global Solutions today announced it has been selected as Overall TravelTech Company of the Year in the inaugural TravelTech Breakthrough Awards program conducted by TravelTech Breakthrough, a leading independent market intelligence organization that evaluates and recognizes standout travel technology companies, products and services around the globe. Recent advances by ASSA ABLOY Global Solutions that led to its being named this years winner include the unveiling of VingCard Novel, a next generation hotel door lock representing limitless possibilities in hotel security. Engineered using an innovative modular design, VingCard Novel allows hoteliers to keep pace with new trends in security without requiring a costly overhaul of security access infrastructure. The lock can be updated with the latest security protocols to ensure that hotels and their guests are always safeguarded with the highest level of protection. A modular-based design also means that VingCard Novel can seamlessly integrate with third-party systems and devices. Additionally, VingCard Novel is manufactured using sustainable practices while its robust design ensures that it can function both indoors and outdoors without issue. Meanwhile, with Vostio Access Management, hoteliers not only can sidestep the hassle of maintaining onsite servers but can also look forward to receiving automatic software updates representing the industrys latest security protocols. Using virtually any device with an online connection, staff can also instantly and securely manage security access operations on the go. This means that a security concern can be dealt with on the go whilst undertaking other responsibilities and not risk being overlooked during the course of a busy shift. Vostio Access Managements cloud-based design further facilitates any need for system integration and the adding of new features. The solution provides compatibility with the newest technologies, including the ability for hotels to adopt new digital key service functionalities, such as offering guests the option to use and store room-keys within digital wallets located on their personal device. Lastly, Vostio Location Solutions - Staff Safety ensures that one button push is all thats needed for employees to instantly transmit their precise location details in order for assistance to swiftly arrive. The solution can also be leveraged to enhance property efficiency. In addition, Vostio Locations- Hotel Asset Management allows employees to instantly determine the real-time location of guest rentals, stock inventory and much more, ensuring ready availability for the next guest. The speed at which guest expectations are increasing is occurring at an ever-faster rate, which is true for a vast range of hotel operations, including security, so maintaining a commitment to spurring innovation is something that always ranks high on the priorities of ASSA ABLOY Global Solutions. Winning the Travel Tech Company of the Year Award is a tremendous validation of our efforts, and we couldnt be prouder of the hard work of our team members who continue striving to ensure that hoteliers across the industry have access to advanced tools that make guest experiences that much safer, more enjoyable and always hassle-free. Li Wang, Vice President and Head of Hospitality at ASSA ABLOY Global Solutions The mission of the annual TravelTech Breakthrough Awards program is to conduct the industrys most comprehensive analysis and evaluation of the top technology companys, solutions and products in the travel technology industry today. This years program attracted more than 1,250 nominations from over 12 different countries throughout the world. With ongoing innovation in technology continuing to be the driving force behind company growth efforts in the hospitality industry, hotel businesses are increasingly transforming into hyper-connected environments. Additionally, hotel businesses are also recognizing the tremendous value of location-based technologies. This fits alongside hoteliers who are mandated to provide their employees with safety alert devices and preserving staff peace of mind. ASSA ABLOY Global Solutions is a leading pioneer for developing advanced security technologies in the hospitality space that is resulting in both safer and more efficient business environments for hotels and their guests. Their advanced electronic locking solutions and range of tailored services for guest convenience makes them our pick for Overall TravelTech Company of the Year. Bryan Vaughn, Managing Director of TravelTech Breakthrough Awards For more information about ASSA ABLOY Global Solutions and its comprehensive line of electronic in-room safes and locking solutions for the hospitality industry, please visit www.assaabloyglobalsolutions.com/hospitality. About ASSA ABLOY Global Solutions The ASSA ABLOY Group is the global leader in access solutions. Every day, we help billions of people experience a more open world. ASSA ABLOY Global Solutions is dedicated to reimagining how people move through their world. Our expertise in customer journey mapping, innovation and service design leads to the invention of new security solutions that create value for our clients and exceptional experiences for end users. For the hospitality market, these solutions include integrated software systems, mobile access and location solutions designed to help our customers enhance the hotel guest experience, while improving operational efficiency. In order to provide best-in-class customer service, we offer support in more than 166 countries. For more information, please visit assaabloyglobalsolutions.com/hospitality and follow us on LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter. About TravelTech Breakthrough Part of Tech Breakthrough, a leading market intelligence and recognition platform for global technology innovation and leadership, the TravelTech Breakthrough Awards program is the premier awards and recognition platform devoted to honoring excellence in travel technology products, services, and companies around the world. The TravelTech Breakthrough Awards provide public recognition for the achievements of travel technology companies and products in categories that include Property Management, Reservations Platforms, Airline Operations, Travel Analytics and more. For more information visit TravelTechBreakthrough.com. Mark Howbrook PRAGUE - Mews, the industry-leading hospitality cloud, has signed a new partnership with Europes Famous Hostels, an association with 40+ of the continents finest independently run hostels. One of our association's key objectives is to establish a standard of excellence in the hostel industry, drawing inspiration from the exceptional examples within our network. To accomplish this, we recognize that collaborating with top-tier service providers is just as crucial as selecting the right members. Therefore, it was a natural decision to partner with Mews. Vinicius Alkmim General Manager at Europes Famous Hostels The decision means that Mews Hospitality Cloud is now a preferred partner of Europes Famous Hostels, allowing any of the properties to onboard with Mews. A number of the associations members are already running on Mews, including Room Hostel Rotterdam and Maverick Hostel in Budapest. Mews has always been an incredibly strong fit for hostels, and so were delighted that Europes Famous Hostels has recognized this with our partnership. Their members include some of Europes greatest hostels and we cant wait to welcome more of them to Mews in the coming years. Matt Welle, Mews CEO Central to Europes Famous Hostels vision is the idea of an engaged, authentic guest experience. This aligns with Mews guest-centric approach to hospitality, with a number of digital guest journey features that free staff from manual tasks and allow them to spend more time with guests. To cement the new partnership, Mews will also be speaking at Europes Famous Hostels special industry event, alongside marketplace partners Goki and Flexkeeping. About Mews Mews is a leading platform for the new era of hospitality. Over 3,500 properties in 80 countries are powered by Mews. The Mews Hospitality Cloud is designed to streamline operations for modern hoteliers, transform the guest experience and create more profitable businesses. Customers include Accor, Generator-Freehand, Nordic Choice Hotels, The Social Hub, Life House and Les Airelles. Mews has been named the World's Best Independent Hotel PMS Provider by World Travel Tech Awards (2022) and won Best Place to Work in Hotel Tech (2021, 2022) from Hotel Tech Report. The company has offices in Europe, the United States and Australia. George Barker Director of Communications The Hospitality Sales and Marketing Association International (HSMAI) will celebrate three remarkable marketing leaders during HSMAIs Marketing Strategy Conference in Toronto on June 27. Jay Hubbs, CHDM, Vice President-Advertising, Marketing, Innovation and Analytics of BWH Hotels, and John White, CRME, CHBA, CHDM, Director of Sales & Marketing at Kaanapali Beach Hotel, will be presented with the Marketing Professional of the Year Awards for corporate and single/multi-unit categories, respectively. Dr. Makarand Mody, Associate Professor of Hospitality Marketing at Boston University, will be honored with the Marketing Educator of the Year Award. Jay Hubbs, CHDM Jay Hubbs, Vice President-Advertising, Marketing, Innovation and Analytics for BWH Hotels, is this years corporate Marketing Professional of the Year. Jay has over 30 years of experience in hospitality and travel sales and marketing. In his current role he oversees BWH Hotels consumer-facing marketing, advertising and the award-winning Best Western Rewards program. Prior to BWH Hotels, Jay was with Remington Hotels in Commercial Services and Digital Marketing positions, and before that worked at Expedia, Starwood Hotels, as well as in hotel operations roles early in his career. Jay holds a BS in Hotel Administration from Cornell University as well as an MBA from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. In 2018, Jay was named to HSMAIs Top 25 Most Extraordinary Minds and sits on HSMAIs Americas Board. John White, CRME, CHBA, CHDM John White, Director of Sales & Marketing at Kaanapali Beach Hotel and The Plantation Inn on Maui, is this year's single/multi-unit Marketing Professional of the Year. In his current role, John is responsible for global revenue and branding efforts. Throughout his tenure, the hotel and inn have garnered a coveted list of impressive accolades. Kaanapali Beach Hotel (known as Hawaiis Most Hawaiian Hotel) received Conde Nast Travelers 2021 Readers Choice Awards for the top hotel in Maui. Prior to joining KBH, White directed global event marketing campaigns for AT&T, Heineken, American Express, Pepsi and Nissan which included the Olympics and X Games. During his tenure at Nike, White was an integral player in launching the Tiger Woods brand. White also serves on the HSMAI Hawaii chapter board and in an advisory role for the Hawaii Tourism Authority. He holds HSMAI certifications in Revenue Management (CRME), Hotel Digital Marketing (CHDM) and Hotel Business Acumen (CHBA). Dr. Makarand Mody This year, HSMAI is awarding the Marketing Educator of the Year Award to Makarand Mody, Ph.D. Makarand is an Associate Professor of Hospitality Marketing at the Boston University School of Hospitality Administration (SHA). He currently serves as the Chair of Undergraduate Programs at SHA, and as the schools first-ever Director of Research. He is an internationally recognized scholar on the sharing economy and conducts research on marketing and branding issues that impact the hospitality industry. Makarand has a varied industry background, having worked in the hotel, airline, and market research industries. His diverse industry experience complements his academic expertise to impart a real-world, yet conceptually grounded understanding of marketing and branding to students. He is also leading the development of SHA's emerging curriculum in the domain of experience management, which applies a marketing, branding, analytics and operations perspective to how hospitality and other organizations form and maintain valuable stakeholder relationships. AWARD INFORMATION These awards will be presented at HSMAIs Marketing Strategy Conference, an event for leaders in hospitality marketing to expand marketing knowledge and leadership abilities and leaders in other commercial disciplines to discuss the latest developments in marketing for hotels. This year, HSMAIs Marketing Strategy Conference will be held in conjunction with ROC as a part of HSMAIs Commercial Strategy Week. For more information about the events, visit commercial.hsmai.org. HSMAI chapters and the industry at large can nominate individuals for the Marketing Professional and Educator of the Year Awards. Nominees represent top talent in the discipline and are judged by a panel of marketing leaders on a variety of criteria. Royalton Splash Riviera Cancun Resort Allianz Partners USA Reveals Top 2023 Summer Travel Destinations, Top Days for Travel With the summer travel rush about to begin, Allianz Partners' Top 10 Summer Travel Destinations review reveals where Americans are escaping to, with Orlando and Cancun once again topping sun-worshippers' must-visit lists. The travel insurance and assistance company analyzed more than 1.6 million flight itineraries* between five and eight days in length for travel booked between Memorial Day weekend and Labor Day and found that 73% of the itineraries reviewed were for U.S. domestic trips and 27% of travelers are headed abroad. Following Orlando's #1 ranking, destinations in the Hawaiian islands (Honolulu, Oahu #3 and Kahului, Maui, #5) and Pacific Northwest (Seattle, #2, Portland #10) will welcome visitors this summer, along with major metropolitan cities Boston (#4), New York (#6) and Los Angeles (#7). Travelers are also trying their luck in Las Vegas this year (#8), and Miami (#9) also returns to the Top 10, knocking out Denver, Colorado. Beach breezes and Caribbean vibes set the mood for this summer's international travel radar closely aligning with Allianz Partners' Spring Break review, Cancun enjoys the top international hotspot designation alongside Mexican destinations San Jose del Cabo (#2) and Puerto Vallarta (#7). Destinations in Aruba (#4), Jamaica (#5), and Bahamas (#6) have us humming popular refrains and dreaming of ways to "get there fast and then take it slow" in true Beach Boys style. Turks & Caicos, which dropped its COVID vaccine mandate on April 1, joins the list this year at #9 along with the US Virgin Islands (#10). London, the only European destination featured in 2023's review, chuffs across at #8 likely spurred by King Charles III's coronation festivities. The survey revealed that for international trips, the trip length favored by a majority of travelers (59%) is seven days, and the highest volume of travelers departs on Saturdays, May 27, June 10 and June 17. Domestically, trip lengths of six (49%) and seven (48%) days split the schedule, with Saturday, July 1st as the most popular departure date ahead of the nation's Independence Day holiday. "Claiming their seventh consecutive year atop our summer travel rosters, Orlando and Cancun are tried, and true destinations trusted to deliver some of the most-memorable vacations," said Daniel Durazo, director of external communications at Allianz Partners USA. "But even the best-laid plans can go awry, and travelers who cover their trip investment with a travel insurance policy can protect against the cost of covered unexpected delays and cancellations that may derail their trip." *Methodology: The data of U.S. travelers' 2023 Summer Travel plans was gathered by analyzing the number of customers that went through the online booking process of airfare and package paths for partners offering Allianz Global Assistance travel insurance, to generate itineraries for roundtrip flights departing from U.S. airports during the Summer Travel season from 5/26/2023 9/5/2023 for trips between 5-8 days in length. In total, 1.6 million itineraries were analyzed using this methodology. Extended-Stay Hotels: One of the Fastest Growing Segments in the U.S. While several new brands have emerged within the limited- and select-service segments over the past decade, the expansion of extended-stay brands was limited prior to 2021, and many of the hotels within this segment in the U.S. were dated. However, during the last two years, economy and midscale extended-stay brands have experienced a significant expansion. One of the most prominent developments is Choice Hotels International, Inc.s mid-year 2022 agreement with ServiceStar Capital Management to develop at least 21 new Everhome Suites hotels throughout Colorado, Arizona, Utah, Nevada, and Florida. This deal represents the largest investment by Choice into the Everhome Suites brand in its history. While the midscale, extended-stay brand was brought to market in 2019, only one Everhome Suites was open and operational as of December 31, 2022. In addition, it is reported that over 30 other Everhome Suites hotels are in the pipeline for development over the next few years. In addition, Choice Hotels has begun a substantial repositioning of its WoodSpring Suites brand. As part of the transition, Blackstone Real Estate Partners and Starwood Capital Group, which purchased Extended Stay America for roughly $6 billion in 2021, acquired 111 WoodSpring Suites hotels across the U.S. from Brookfield Property Partners for a reported price of $1.5 billion in early 2022. The Blackstone and Starwood Capital partnership subsequently began to transition the properties into Extended Stay Americas newest brand, Extended Stay America Select Suites. Thereafter, Choice announced a partnership with Noble Investment Group in November 2022 to develop nine new WoodSpring Suites in Georgia and South Carolina, and the brand reportedly had over 200 additional hotels in its development pipeline across the U.S. as of year-end 2022. This represents a significant expansion of the brand, almost doubling the number of WoodSpring Suites hotels throughout the U.S. Wyndham Hotels & Resorts has also been expanding within the extended-stay segment. In March 2022, the company announced the launch of the Echo Suites brand, known as Project Echo. The economy, extended-stay prototype features 124 guestrooms that average 300 square feet. The brand launch announcement also revealed that Wyndham has partnered with Sandpiper Hospitality and Gulf Coast Hotel Management to develop 50 Echo Suites hotels, with the first property slated for completion by year-end 2023 in Plano, Texas. As of March 2023, it was reported that Wyndham has over 200 Echo Suites in the development pipeline. In April of this year, Hyatt Hotels Corporation announced the launch of its new upper-midscale, extended-stay brand, Hyatt Studios. The company has over 100 letters of interest signed by various developers, and the first hotel is expected to open in 2024. The new brand will offer a complimentary grab-and-go breakfast, as well as other typical amenities, such as a 24-hour market. The following charts illustrate the occupancy, ADR, and RevPAR levels for various midscale and economy extended-stay brands. These data demonstrate the strength of the segment, even during the significant pandemic-related downturn that occurred in 2020 and early 2021. Historical Metrics for Select Extended-Stay Brands Note: Occupancy and ADR data for the Hawthorn Suites by Wyndham brand were not available at the time of publication. Source: Choice Hotels International, InterContinental Hotels Group, Wyndham Hotels & Resorts The ongoing expansions of existing brands and the announcements of new extended-stay brands reflect the strong performance and stability of the extended-stay segment over the past few years, particularly during the pandemic. These brands can provide hotel developers with a low-cost option when compared to other, higher-tier brands, while typically operating at higher margins as a percentage of revenue given the extended-stay nature of the operation. To learn more about how HVS can help with your hotel development venture in this sector, please contact Ryan Mark at (303) 881-4762 or rmark@hvs.com. He is a specialist in this sector and consults on projects nationwide. Follow us on LinkedIn for the latest market and industry insights. Sources: https://media.choicehotels.com/2022-11-10-WoodSpring-Suites-Announces-Agreement-with-Noble-Investment-Group-to-Develop-Nine-New-Hotels https://www.travelpulse.com/News/Hotels-and-Resorts/Wyndham-s-ECHO-Suites-Brand-Has-Over-200-Hotels-in-Development https:///news-releases/choice-hotels-expands-everhome-suites-across-the-us-with-largest-transaction-in-the-brands-history-301628381.html https://investors.hyatt.com/investor-relations/news-and-events/financial-news/financial-news-details/2023/Hyatts-Transformative-Growth-Continues-with-Announcement-of-Hyatt-Studios-Hyatts-First-Upper-Midscale-Brand-in-the-Americas/default.aspx About Ryan Mark Ryan Mark, a Director with HVS Denver, brings first-hand experience, excellent communication and problemsolving skills, and attention to detail to conduct hotel market studies, feasibility studies, and valuations. Before joining HVS, Ryan worked in various roles in housekeeping and front office management at the 1,100-room Hyatt Regency Denver; he also acted as Assistant Manager of the hotel. Ryan earned his BS in Restaurant and Resort Management from Colorado State University. Contact Ryan at (303) 881-4762 or rmark@hvs.com. Wait! Before you go Please sign up for our Evening Digest and Breaking Newsletters Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup. Error! There was an error processing your request. * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. Click here for a Print Subscription with Online Digital included. Some people only want to be a digital subscriber to get access online and others want to also receive the print edition. If you are already a print subscriber and want online access, it is free, you simply have to create an online account and then attach your print subscription account number to the online account you create. Below you will see test that reads Print Subscribe Access. Click this to then Get Started attaching your account number and zip code to you online user account. Click on the banner above if you would like to become a print subscriber with digital access. If you simply want online access without print click get started below. Subscribers to Register-Star or The Daily Mail are eligible to receive full access to HudsonValley360. If you have an existing print subscription, please make sure your email address on file matches your HudsonValley360 account email. 5 TikTok users sue Montana hours after TikTok ban was signed Techdirts Mike Masnick offers highlights and his take on court filings by users against Montana Governor Greg Gianfortes TikTok ban. Op-Ed by Mike Masnick from Tech Dirt We noted yesterday that Montanas embarrassment of a governor, Greg Gianforte, was about to cost the state a ridiculous amount of taxpayer money having to defend his obviously unconstitutional ban on TikTok. What I hadnt realized was that by the time Id published that article, the first such lawsuit had already been filed. Five TikTok users have sued the state of Montana, represented by Austin Knudsen, the states Attorney General. And the complaint opens by using Knudsens own words against him: Plaintiffs, creators and viewers of content on TikTok, bring this lawsuit to challenge An Act Banning TikTok in Montana (SB 419). The Act attempts to exercise powers over national security that Montana does not have and to ban speech Montana may not suppress. By shuttering an entire forum for communication that Defendant Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen himself admitted is one of the best way[s] to get your free speech out there, the law creates a prior restraint on expression that violates the First Amendment, depriving Montanans of access to a forum that for many is a principal source[] for knowing current events and otherwise exploring the vast realms of human thought and knowledge. Packingham v. North Carolina, 582 U.S. 98, 99 (2017). The opening lays out the basis of the lawsuit pretty plainly and clearly: Montanas claimed interests in SB 419 are not legitimate and do not support a blanket ban on TikTok. Montana has no authority to enact laws advancing what it believes should be the United States foreign policy or its national security interests, nor may Montana ban an entire forum for communication based on its perceptions that some speech shared through that forum, though protected by the First Amendment, is dangerous. Montana can no more ban its residents from viewing or posting to TikTok than it could ban the Wall Street Journal because of who owns it or the ideas it publishes. Even if Montana could regulate any of the speech that users share through TikTok, SB 419 wields a sledgehammer when the First Amendment requires a scalpel. SB 419 is unconstitutional and preempted by federal law. The Act violates the First Amendment and the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, as well as the Foreign Affairs and Commerce Clauses of the United States Constitution. The Act is also preempted by the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), 50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq., and by Section 721 of the Defense Production Act (Section 721), 50 U.S.C. 4565, which authorize the President and the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) not individual statesto investigate and if necessary mitigate national security risks arising from foreign economic actors. You can read the whole complaint, which goes into a lot more detail on whats stated in the two paragraphs above, but Ill just highlight one more section, which points out that former President Trump tried and failed to ban TikTok already, so its unclear why Montana officials believe that their law has any chance of being found constitutional. Federal judges have three times enjoined attempts to ban TikTok. See TikTok Inc. v. Trump, 490 F. Supp. 3d 73, 83 (D.D.C. 2020) (holding that former President Trump lacked authority to issue an executive order to regulate or prohibit, directly or indirectly any exchange of informational materials or personal communication[s] transmitted to the United States through TikTok) (citation & internal quotation marks omitted); Marland v. Trump, 498 F. Supp. 3d 624, 642 (E.D. Pa. 2020) (enjoining same executive order; rejecting governments descriptions of the national security threat posed by the TikTok app as hypothetical); TikTok Inc. v. Trump, 507 F. Supp. 3d 92, 112 (D.D.C. 2020) (enjoining the same executive order) Montana is going to lose this lawsuit. And, in a just world, it would permanently embarrass the governor and the legislature, but in these culture warring days, it will probably just embolden them to produce even more nonsense. Share on: Author Ana Reyes, Cultural Development Director Jennifer Glockner, and Berkshire Athenaeum Director Alex Reczkowski stand near the Reading Terrace. New York Times Best Seller Comes to Pittsfield PITTSFIELD, Mass. Book enthusiasts gathered on the Reading Terrace at the Berkshire Athenaeum last week to meet author Ana Reyes, known for her New York Times best seller "House in the Pines." While writing her book, it felt natural to set the tale in the Berkshires due to Reyes' strong connection to Pittsfield. "I just have a very strong connection to Pittsfield and when I wrote my first book, it just felt very natural that this was where I was going to put it. There was never any question," Reyes said. The tale follows Maya as she attempts to piece together the truth behind the death of her best friend, Aubrey. Seven years following the death of her friend, Maya is living in Boston as she attempts to cope with the memories. She is forced to face her past when she comes across a video of a young woman who suddenly dies under similar circumstances. Maya returns to her hometown in the Berkshires to uncover the truth behind what killed her friend years ago. Throughout the novel, Reyes references iconic Pittsfield places including Wally at the Berkshire Museum, Berkshire Athenaeum's terrace, Park Square, Patrick's Pub, the YMCA and the Popcorn Wagon. "When people from Pittsfield tell me that they've read the book and that they like my portrayal of it I just feel very honored because when I was writing the book, I was thinking about would the people who live there agree with my portrayal of it, so I'm just really grateful that so many people here have connected to it," Reyes said. Reyes lived in Pittsfield for 2 1/2 years with her family and attended Sacred Heart Elementary and Stearns Elementary School. "I just feel very, very comfortable here, very much at home. My family has moved away from here, but we still have a strong connection to the area." Although her time in the Berkshires was brief, the memories she created in Pittsfield have continued to influence her. "Pittsfield has a very strong place in my heart, because my grandparents are from here, I grew up coming for Christmas every year here and I've always come back here regularly because it's my mom's hometown," Reyes said. Reyes has fond memories of sitting on the terrace reading books like the Fear Street Book series or by American author Christopher Pike. During her time in Pittsfield, she wrote a short story titled "Annamarie Goes Back in Time" for the Berkshire Athenaeum's Annual Short Story Writing Contest, which earned her an honorable mention. The story can still be found in the library's archive of their past short story competitions. Although she did not write much immediately following the contest, the contest gave her the push to get her started. "I think that it really sort of set the stage for I can do this, this is something I can do if I'm motivated, I can sit down and write a story, she said. "I think just the fact that the library gave me that push by having the contest. Berkshire Athenaeum Director Alex Reczkowski said the Berkshires has a strong community of book lovers and having opportunities where residents can interact with the author is a great way to bring people together. "Having an event like this is important for students and people of all ages because it gives residents a chance to get a look behind the scenes of the writing process and provides residents an opportunity to ask the writer anything," the city's Cultural Development Director Jennifer Glockner added. Berkshire County provides residents with access to world-class artists like Reyes, Reczkowski said. "[Artists are] so accessible here. We're so lucky with that accessibility. We really work hard to break down barriers, whether it's that direct connection at Mass MoCA with all of their artists residencies, or having international dance folks at Jacob's Pillow. There's this immense access," Reczkowski said. Berkshire Athenaeum Expands World Languages Collection PITTSFIELD, Mass. The Berkshire Athenaeum, Pittsfield's Public Library, invites members of the city's Spanish speaking population to browse and borrow from the library's new Spanish Bookshelf. The library has just added more than 75 Spanish titles for adults, building on a group of over 150 Spanish titles for children. These new books include something for many reader interests: general fiction, horror, historical fiction, magical realism, mystery & thriller. Also available are some memoirs, self-help, spirituality, and business titles. The Athenaeum's librarians worked with Latinas413, an advocacy organization for Pittsfield area Spanish speakers. A partner on this project, Connie Bergs of the Berkshire County Regional Housing Authority, expresses her thoughts: "Driven by the desire to assist immigrants facing language barriers, we embarked on a mission to provide accessible resources for those who may not have the opportunity to learn English due to their demanding work schedules and family obligations. Today, as our Spanish bookshelf stands proudly in our community, we invite all to join us on this transformative journey. Let us be the steppingstone that paves the way to something wonderful, fostering understanding, bridging cultures, and nurturing the dreams of those who seek knowledge and empowerment. Together, through the pages of these books, we are shaping a brighter future for all." The Athenaeum's Circulation Department Supervisor, Catherine Congelosi, said: "We are committed to growing our World Languages Collection, continuing to buy Spanish language books; and patrons should feel free to ask library staff to request additional titles through the Interlibrary Loan service." Governor Appoints Director of Rural Affairs BOSTON Governor Maura Healey and Lieutenant Governor Kim Driscoll announced Massachusetts Senator Anne Gobi will join their administration as the new Director of Rural Affairs in the Executive Office of Economic Development. According to a press release, in this new role created by the Healey-Driscoll Administration, Gobi will serve as a dedicated advocate and ombudsman cultivating economic development within rural communities. She will ensure that the needs of rural and regional economies are incorporated into the economic development plan being developed by the Executive Office of Economic Development and will be responsible for coordinating with secretariats and state agencies to ensure that state government is attuned to the unique needs of these towns. "We are building an economy that benefits all communities, businesses, and people in Massachusetts, particular those that are too often overlooked and underrepresented like rural and small towns," said Governor Maura Healey. "Senator Gobi's fierce advocacy of rural equity, agricultural and small businesses, and conservation initiatives makes her the ideal candidate to help our rural towns across the state succeed." Gobi was first elected to the Legislature in 2001 as State Representative and became State Senator in 2014 representing 22 communities in Worcester and Hampshire counties, several of which are rural. She currently serves as the Senate Chair of the Agriculture Committee, Vice Chair of the Higher Education Committee, and Co-Chair of the Commission on 21st Century Farming within the Legislature. She also co-chairs the Rural Caucus, Food Systems Caucus, Regional Transit Authority Caucus, Municipal Light Caucus and Regional Schools Caucus, and serves on the East-West Rail Commission. "Massachusetts' rural and small towns have such an important role to play in our state's economy and I'm excited to have a true champion of these communities join Team Massachusetts," said Economic Development Secretary Yvonne Hao. "Senator Gobi has the knowledge, experience, and passion required to connect with the needs of rural towns and plug these municipalities into our state's many economic development resources." Gobi co-founded the Sportsmen's Caucus, which convenes supporters of fishing, hunting and other outdoor activities. She also serves as a member of the Veterans and Federal Affairs Committee. Prior to being elected to the Legislature, she taught at Leicester High School, had her own law office, and worked with victims of domestic violence at Central Mass Legal Assistance. A lifelong Spencer resident, Gobi graduated from Worcester State University and the Massachusetts School of Law. "I am thrilled to take on this important role and grateful to the Healey-Driscoll Administration for elevating our rural communities," said Senator Gobi. "While I will miss the Legislature, I look forward to continuing to work for the needs of small towns throughout the Commonwealth as their advocate in state government." Gobi will start in her new role June 5 as a member of the Executive Office of Economic Development's economic foundations team led by Undersecretary Ashley Stolba. She will be tasked with conducting a review of all state grant opportunities, including the Community One Stop for Growth, to ensure that barriers for rural and small towns are mitigated and will host dedicated office hours for rural towns to receive technical assistance to identify and explore grant opportunities. She will also serve as a member of the Rural Policy Commission. iciHaiti - Obituary : The journalist Wilner Altidor left us "Sunday, May 21, 2023, the Ministry of Communication learned with dismay of the death, at the Sacre-Coeur hospital in Milot, (North Dept.) of journalist Wilner Altidor, following a long illness courageously endured. In this painful circumstance, the Ministry expresses its deep solidarity and shares the pain of the family, relatives and listeners of the deceased who, over the course of many years, held high the torch of broadcasting in the departments of North and North-East. Deeply attached to his land and people, Wilner Altidor was also a poet and storyteller. He used his beautiful pen to describe the reality of his environment and the malaise of a whole youth in search of a better life. The MCC salutes the memory of this authentic son of Haiti whose disappearance will undoubtedly leave a huge void within the corporation." IH/ iciHaiti Epson leads the ASEAN market as the number one brand within the large format printing market for 2022, according to global market intelligence provider International Data Corporation (IDC). This is a testament to Epsons drive for quality and innovation amongst its peers in the market, making it the ideal partner for customers who require high-quality large-format printing solutions for a wide variety of applications and production needs. According to the IDC Worldwide Quarterly Industrial Printer Tracker 2022 Q4, Epsons large format printers successfully attained 10 percent market share for large format printers with solvent, eco-solvent, and latex ink, 43 percent market share for textile large format printers, and 19 percent market share for large format graphic printers, all within the ASEAN region. Here at Epson, we are continuously innovating to provide solutions to meet our users every need, said Tomohito Morikawa, Regional Director of Commercial and Industrial Products, Epson Southeast Asia. The proprietary technology built into our large format printers exemplifies our commitment to printing excellence, enabling our products to meet the demands of our customers in a vast array of printing requirements and environments. The driving force behind Epsons success is its continued dedication towards superior print technology, consistent print quality, and continued innovation in product development. Designed as a high-performance solution for small to medium-sized textile production, Epsons latest SureColor SC-F6430/H allows users the freedom to create vibrant prints through the use of violet and orange dye sublimation inks. It also features Epsons Integrated Ink Pack system, which boasts a 45 percent increase in ink capacity as compared to its predecessors. Epson SureColor SC-F6430/H The SureColor SC-V7000 UV Flatbed Signage Printer is Epsons first UV flatbed large format printer, ensuring top-notch quality and color-consistent prints on a wide range of materials including wood, metal, and glass, empowering users with a wider range of application options. In line with Epsons focus on sustainability, the SC-V7000 also uses GreenGuard Gold certified UV inks, meeting recognized international standards for emissions. Epson SureColor SC-V7000 UV Flatbed Signage Printer Epsons dedication to reliability and top-notch print quality has allowed it to maintain its leadership position within the ASEAN region. The development of patented technology such as the PrecisionCore and MicroTFP printheads facilitate high-speed and crisp printing to meet users every need, while its focus on digital textile printing technology allows users the benefits of cost savings, customization, and on-demand printing which also helps users minimize potential wastage. As graphic demand increases post-pandemic, Epson continues to see growing opportunities across the ASEAN region. In line with its dedication to innovation, Epson will continue to drive its development of products which meet users evolving requirements, while maintaining the print quality and reliability that its products are known for. Sign up to Roisin OConnors free weekly newsletter Now Hear This for the inside track on all things music Get our Now Hear This email for free Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Roisin OConnors email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Josh Freese has been declared as Foo Fighters new drummer following the death of Taylor Hawkins last year. The news was announced during the Foo Fighters: Preparing Music for Concerts livestream that previewed the groups 11th studio album, But Here We Are, on Sunday (21 May). Freese is an American session drummer. He is the son of tuba soloist Stan Freese and the older brother of musician Jason Freese. The 50-year-old has previously played drums for Guns N Roses, Sting, A Perfect Circle, Nine Inch Nails, Weezer and Sublime with Rome, among others. Freese also performed with Foo Fighters for the Taylor Hawkins Tribute Concerts in 2022 and is now set to join the band as Hawkins touring replacement this year. Last week, Foo Fighters revealed that theyre dedicating their new album But Here We Are to Hawkins and Dave Grohls mother Virginia. The album, which is set to be released on 2 June, will be the bands first album since Hawkins death. Hawkins was declared dead at a hotel in Colombia after paramedics battled to revive him. Before his death, he had been suffering from chest pain. (Getty Images for iHeartMedia) Grohl, the bands frontman, lost his mother in the summer of 2022. The band has described the new album as a brutally honest and emotionally raw response to everything they have experienced in the last year. Foo Fighters are embarking on a tour this summer with their first couple of shows in New Hampshire, Boston Calling Music Festival, and Sonic Temple Arts & Music Festival in Ohio. The group is set to perform in the UK next month. Sign up to Roisin OConnors free weekly newsletter Now Hear This for the inside track on all things music Get our Now Hear This email for free Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Roisin OConnors email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Lance Un Rivera has gone on record stating that Jay-Z did not stab him. In 1999, the Empire State of Mind rapper pled guilty to third-degree assault of the former music executive and record producer. He was sentenced to three years of probation. At the time, it was reported that Rivera had been stabbed in the stomach and shoulder after Jay-Z confronted him over rumours that Rivera had leaked his third album, Vol 3... Life and Times of S Carter, ahead of its release. In a new interview with journalist DJ Vlad on his eponymous YouTube channel 22 years later, Rivera has contested the original accounts of the incident that occurred at the now-closed New York City Kit Kat Club. I ended up getting surrounded by a bunch of people. It was probably 10 knives that I knew of, and I ended up getting stabbed, Rivera said. Asked if Jay-Z was the one who actually stabbed him, he responded: Jay-Z was not the guy who actually stabbed me that night. Rivera confirmed that Jay-Z was there and that they had had a conversation right before I got hit in the head with a champagne bottle. It was a brief conversation and I was looking at him like, What are you talking about? You know you f***ing the money up right now, he recalled. [Jay-Z] kept saying, You broke my heart. You broke my heart. And Im like, What are you talking about? You bucking right now bro. You getting ready to f*** up everything. Rivera admitted that he didnt know why people came to the conclusion that Jay-Z had stabbed him because if anybody knows Jay-Z, Jay-Zs a nice guy. Hes an artist, hes a poet, hes gifted and its never been his history. If Jay-Z had stabbed me, yall wouldnt have gotten [the 2003 Jay-Z record] The Black Album because through my whole history, Im an eye for an eye type of guy. The Independent has contacted Jay-Zs representative for comment. Rivera additionally corrected that he was only stabbed once in the back of his shoulder. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} The BBC has been issued summons by a court in India in connection with a defamation case filed against it for its documentary on prime minister Narendra Modi earlier this year. The defamation suit relates to the BBC documentary titled India: The Modi Question, a two-part documentary which was banned in India and aired only in the UK. The film attempts to examine the prime ministers relationship with Muslims, the countrys largest minority group. On Monday, the Delhi high court issued summons to the BBC while hearing a defamation suit filed by a Gujarat-based non-profit Justice on Trial, reported legal news portal LiveLaw. It is contended that the documentary makes defamatory imputation and castes slur on reputation of the country and the judiciary and against the prime minister. Issue notice to the respondents, the court was quoted as saying by the outlet. The first part of the series aired on 17 January and showed a previously unpublished report from the UK Foreign Office that holds Mr Modi directly responsible for the climate of impunity that enabled the Gujarat riots in 2002 to take place. The violence occurred when Mr Modi was chief minister of the western state and led to the deaths of nearly 1,000 people mostly Muslims. The documentary also holds the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) responsible for the violence. The VHP is a right-wing organisation that claims its aim is to protect the Hindu religion. It is a part of an overall family of Hindu nationalist organisations that operates in the country. Last year, Indias Supreme Court cleared Mr Modi of wrongdoing over the riots, with previous investigations finding there was insufficient evidence to prosecute him over allegations that he ordered police to step aside and let the riots play out. Senior advocate Harish Salve, appearing for the non-profit, claimed in court on Monday that the documentary defamed the entire country, including the judiciary. We are aware of the court proceedings. It would be inappropriate to comment further at this stage, a BBC spokesperson told The Independent. The summons to the British broadcaster comes weeks after a trial court in Delhi on 5 May issued summons to the BBC, Wikimedia Foundation and the Internet Archive, restraining them from publishing the same documentary. The BBC had earlier defended itself and said its production abided by the highest editorial standards. Indias federal government dubbed the documentary a propaganda piece that showed a continued colonial mindset. Weeks after the release of the documentary, Indias tax authorities conducted raids on the BBCs offices in New Delhi and Mumbai. Last month, authorities in India registered a case of alleged foreign exchange violations by the BBC. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} A 22-year-old techie drowned after the car in which she was travelling got stuck in a flooded underpass in India's southwestern city of Bengaluru in Karnataka state. The woman, identified by her first name Bhanurekha, was touring with her family on Sunday when the car entered the KR Circle underpass at the centre of Bengaluru city, touted to be India's Silicon Valley. Fire and emergency services personnel, with the help of locals, pulled out Bhanurekha, five other family members, and the driver. The group was rushed to St Martha's Hospital where the doctors declared the techie dead. Newly-elected Karnataka chief minister Siddharamaiah visited the hospital and declared an ex-gratia of Rs 500,000 (4,842) to the kin of the victim. The family, which belonged to Vijayawada city in Andhra Pradesh state, were travelling in a rented car, touring the city, the chief minister said. "There was a barricade to prevent people from entering the underpass. But the barricade had fallen over due to rain," he continued. "The driver could have avoided the underpass. Yet, he entered it." The driver allegedly tried to zoom through the water, but the car almost got submerged in the middle of the underpass, news agency PTI reported. Due to incessant rain and hailstorm, the water levels rose to the glass of the car, which made opening the doors difficult. When they brought her to the hospital, they performed an ECG. She was declared dead at the hospital, Mr Siddaramaiah said. The driver, identified by his first name Harish, said the engine turned off within a minute or two of the car getting stuck in the flooded underpass. Two vehicles a car and an auto had passed through just before we entered the underpass," he was quoted by the Indian Express as saying. "Another auto driver, who was in front of the car, stopped. If he had gone right behind the two vehicles, then I could have passed too. He waited for a bit and then asked me to go ahead of him." Separately, a woman passenger reportedly saved her life by climbing on top of a stuck auto and was eventually rescued. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} A recent advertisement by Starbucks has come under the spotlight for focusing on the message of gender inclusivity in India. The advertisement, launched under the hashtag #ItStartsWithYourName, shows estranged parents reuniting with their adult daughter as they accept her new identity of a trans woman. The commercial, starring trans actor Siya, opens with a tense elderly couple waiting at a Starbucks cafe. The father begins dialling a number with the display picture of young man named Arpit. As the phone goes unanswered, the woman sitting beside him requests: Listen dont get angry this time please As she completes the sentence, the scene cues to a young woman entering the cafe with poignant music in the background. While the mother hugs her daughter warmly, the father seems hesistant. The young woman takes a seat at the table and looks at her father saying: Thank you for meeting me dad. I know a lot of years have passed, she says, visibly overwhelmed. But you still mean the world to me. He nods with a reluctant smile and gets up to ask whether she wants coffee. They wait while silence fills the air, only to be broken by the barista calling out: Three cold coffees for Arpita! Astounded, the girl looks from the counter to her father sitting in front of her. For me, you are still my kid. Only a letter has been added to your name, he says in a calm voice, implying that he accepts his daughter Arpitas decision to undergo a gender reassignment surgery and embrace her new identity as a trans woman. They hold hands across the table and the ad faded out the jingle and hashtag #ItStartsWithYourName. Posted on Twitter on 10 May, the video went viral. It has been viewed over 5.1 million times and retweeted by over 3,800 users. The ad has also garnered praise for its casting, which stars 25-year-old trans model Siya. Born as Sourav, she felt trapped in her body and felt like a woman, she told the Indian Express, about her personal journey of coming to terms with her identity. My father passed away when I was six, so I grew with my mother and two sisters. Everybody thought I was confused because I was growing up around women, she told the outlet and also shared her experience of being bullied at school. I would hold my pee for several hours to avoid being bullied inside the washroom, she told the outlet adding that she attempted to die by suicide at the age of 15. It was with the support of her mother and two sisters, that she started making frequent trips to Delhi from nearby Dehradun city for hormone therapy and psychiatric help. At 19, she took a job as a beautician before finding footing in the hospitality industry. By 2019, she saved enough to undergo sex reassignment surgery, while by 2020, she legally changed her name to Siya from Sourav. She soon moved to Mumbai city and landed gigs and advertisements, before playing the part of a trans make up artist in the Netflix show Rana Naidu, an official adaptation of Ray Donovan. Speaking of the campaign by Starbucks, she said: When I got the brief about this advertisement, I wanted to be the one doing it, so I auditioned in three different styles. The campaign aims to look at personal connections and relationships with a renewed lens, said Starbucks in a press release after The Independent reached out to the coffee chain for comment on ads ideation and execution. The riveting brand film and communication aims to further the companys positioning as being people first and creating cherished interpersonal interactions and brings alive how each experience is inclusive and feels like a homecoming, it said. Starbucks has always been a warm, welcoming space for its customers where relationships are fostered, and personal connections are celebrated over a cup of coffee, said Deepa Krishnan, Tata Starbucks Pvt Ltds chief marketing officer. The unique Starbucks experience where everyone feels welcome is what drives our growth. At Starbucks, we are not in the coffee business serving people, but in the people business serving coffee, nurturing the limitless possibilities of human connection every day. With the #ItStartsWithYourName campaign, the coffeehouse chain hopes to further drive the message of being a welcoming, inclusive brand where nothing matters to us more than our customers comfort, she said. We understand that our customers enjoy and cherish their individuality and we are always ready to celebrate it with them. Social media users heaped praise on the ad campaign. Its about time to move past transphobia, wrote one user. One of the best and most touching ads Ive seen in my life! A parents love and acceptance to their trans kid is truly everything. Thank you, [Starbucks India]. What a beautiful way to commemorate International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia, Intersexphobia, and Transphobia! wrote another user. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} The leaders of the Group of Seven (G7) countries wrapped their three-day summit in Hiroshima, Japan, by further imposing sanctions on Russia, criticising China's aggression, and a surprise visit from Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky. The leaders from the US, Canada, Britain, Italy, France and Germany attended the summit in prime minister Fumio Kishida's home constituency in the western city that was devastated by a US atomic bomb in August 1945. The G7 "reached a consensus on the significance of the 77-year-old record of non-use of nuclear weapons and reaffirmed that there are no winners in a nuclear war", Mr Kishida said, amid growing fears that Russia may use a nuclear weapon in its war in Ukraine. Mr Zelensky participated in sessions on the closing day of the summit, where heads of the world's most advanced economies discussed ways to curb Vladimir Putins unprovoked invasion. The G7 declarations issued on Saturday also singled out China on issues including Taiwan, nuclear arms, economic coercion, and human rights abuses. This year, the leaders of India, Australia, Brazil, Indonesia, South Korea, and Vietnam were also invited to the summit, reflecting Mr Kishida's efforts in strengthening ties with developing nations. Here are the top developments from the three-day summit: Tightened sanctions on Russia The list of sanctions against Russia grew over the weekend, as the world leaders toughened their approach to hinder the Kremlin's war efforts in Ukraine. The UK on Friday announced new sanctions targeting Russian seizures of Ukrainian grain, advanced military technology and Moscows remaining revenue sources. It froze the assets of 86 more individuals and entities including companies connected to Rosatom that support president Putins war effort. Britain also published plans to ban imports of Russian diamonds, copper, aluminium, and nickel. Russian sovereign assets will stay frozen until the country "agrees to pay for the damage it has caused to Ukraine", Whitehall said in a statement. The US State Department announced new sanctions on more than 200 entities, individuals, vessels and aircraft, targeting Russias energy, military, technology, and metals and mining sectors. The EU enforced sanctions largely in line with those imposed by the US, Britain and Canada. The EU has imposed 10 rounds of sanctions so far. We will starve Russia of G7 technology, industrial equipment and services that support its war machine, said Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission. Canada announced sanctions on 17 individuals and 18 entities linked to Russian companies that provide military technology to the Russian armed forces. Zelensky meets Modi, skips Lula The Ukrainian president met Indian prime minister Narendra Modi for the first time since the onset of the war in February 2022. Mr Modi reportedly assured Mr Zelensky of whatever is possible to find a solution to bring an end to the continuing war amid Russias full-scale invasion. Over the past one-and-a-half years, we have spoken on the phone but after a long time, we have an opportunity to meet. The war in Ukraine is a very big issue for the whole world. It has had many different impacts on the whole world, Mr Modi told the Ukrainian president on Saturday. But I dont see this as a political or economic issue, for me this is an issue of humanity, an issue of human values, Mr Modi added. Ukraines president Volodymyr Zelensky (R) shaking hands with Indias prime minister Narendra Modi (Ukrainian Presidential Press Ser) The two leaders met even as New Delhi remained an ally of Russia, emerging as the largest buyer of Russian soil from almost negligible imports before the war. India has also abstained at least six times at the UN General Assembly voting held for condemning the Russian invasion. While Mr Zelensky caught up with other heads of state, he failed to meet Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, "upsetting" the Brazilian president. He had sought a one-on-one meeting with Mr Lula, who has faced accusations of taking a soft stance on Russia over its invasion. I met almost everyone, all the leaders. All of them have their own schedules, that is why we couldnt meet with the Brazilian president, the Ukrainian president told reporters. Before leaving Japan, Mr Lula told a news conference that he "wasn't disappointed" but "upset, because Id like to meet him and discuss the matter. But Zelensky is a grown-up. He knows what hes doing, he added. Livid China calls out Britain, summons Japan China slammed Rishi Sunak who called Beijing a challenge to global security by labelling Britain a vassal of the US and warning of lasting damage to its ties with London. The relevant remarks by the British side are simply parroting words from others and constitute malicious slanders in disregard of the facts. China firmly opposes and strongly condemns this, said a spokesperson for Zheng Zeguang, the Chinese ambassador to Britain. Beijing also summoned the Japanese ambassador to lodge a protest over joint declarations and statements to smear and attack China. In a communique of the G7 summit, the group criticized China for its use of economic coercion", the militarisation of the South China Sea, interference activities aimed at undermining the safety of diplomats, the integrity of democratic institutions, and economic prosperity. Japan and South Korea pay joint respect Japanese prime minister Fumio Kishida and South Korean president Yoon Suk Yeol paid their respects at a memorial for Korean victims of the atomic bombing in Hiroshima, as the two leaders continued efforts to mend ties hurt by disputes stemming from Japan's wartime brutality. Mr Yoon is the first South Korean leader to visit the memorial, underscoring the thawing in their rocky relations. The leaders, accompanied by their first ladies, stood in front of the memorial where they laid bouquets and lowered their heads as they paid tribute to tens of thousands of Koreans who died in the attack. South Korean president Yoon Suk Yeol (L) with Japans prime minister Fumio Kishida bow after laying flowers at the Korean Atomic Bomb Victims Memorial Memorial (AP) Ties have thawed rapidly between the countries since March, when Mr Yoon made an ice-breaking visit to Tokyo. "This G7 summit was the most significant ever for Korea," said Leif-Eric Easley, a professor at Ewha University in Seoul. "Leaders issued a statement on nuclear disarmament that took a unified stance on North Koreas illegal weapons and launches. "Seoul-Tokyo relations continued to improve as Yoon and Kishida together remembered Korean atomic bomb victims in Hiroshima and met with Biden to provide further momentum for trilateral cooperation with the US" Spat between Trudeau and Maloni over LGBTQ rights Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau and his Italian counterpart Giorgia Meloni spat with each other over LGBT+ rights in an unprecedented display of disagreement. "Canada is concerned about some of the positioning that Italy is taking in terms of LGBTQ rights, but I look forward to talking with you, Mr Trudeau said in front of cameras ahead of the talks. Italys prime minister Giorgia Meloni speaks during Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment' meeting (Ministry of Foreign Affairs of J) The Italian leader looked visibly annoyed by Mr Trudeaus remarks before the media left the room, Bloomberg reported. A statement issued by Mr Trudeaus office said he also raised the issue during their meeting, while Ms Meloni defended her governments position. The Italian leader shot back, accusing Mr Trudeau of being the victim of fake news and a "bit rash" in his comments. Sign up to the Independent Climate email for the latest advice on saving the planet Get our free Climate email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Independent Climate email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} The summit of the seven largest economies of the world ended with a host of promises and a mixed bag of outcomes for progress on combating the climate crisis, as experts pointed out that the final communique left glaring loopholes despite dire warnings. The Hiroshima G7 leaders summit communique was released ahead of schedule this year, prompted by the arrival of Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky. In the final communique, the powerful bloc reiterated its commitment to expanding more renewables. However, it left the door open for more gas investments in the short term in response to Russias war on Ukraine and the resulting energy crisis. The text emphasised that these investments must be limited to the exceptional circumstance given the Russian-driven energy shock and as a temporary response. Climate experts said this green light for investment in more gas was a major contradiction from the promise of limiting warming to 1.5C, which requires stopping all new investments in fossil fuel production. Experts emphasised that the G7 was not walking the talk when it came to urgent reforms required to limit worsening impacts of the climate crisis despite dire warnings from scientists to halt all fossil fuel investments. "G7 leaders have ignored warnings of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change: act now or it will be too late for 1.5C, Tracy Carty, a global climate politics expert at Greenpeace International, said. The gap between G7 ambition and what climate science demands is stark and widening, she said. When G7 leaders refuse to shift gear, they doom current and future generations to sink deeper in a climate crisis. Time is running out. Other climate experts echoed the same concerns. Luca Bergamaschi, co-director of ECCO, a non-profit think tank, expressed concern over this contradiction, emphasising that the gas industry has already profited significantly, while governments have had to subsidise public bills. "This is a major contradiction that will unnecessarily pressure already stretched public budgets and further fill the coffers of the gas industry, Mr Bergamaschi said. There was increased pressure on the G7 this year to deliver more on climate as the summit came after a series of stark warnings from international scientific bodies that the devastating impacts of the climate crisis were too close to us to ignore. Last week, the World Meteorological Organisation said the 1.5C threshold, a limit agreed upon in the international Paris Agreement to limit global heating, was likely to be breached, at least temporarily, over the next five years. It also said that at least one of the next five years was almost certain to become the warmest year on record. The devastating impact of the climate crisis has already multiplied in recent years even at the current 1.2C warming since the 1800s. In 2023, early heatwaves gripped large parts of Asia, Europe, and Americas. Cyclones, floods and wildfires wreaking havoc on vulnerable communities have been scientifically proven to have been caused or exacerbated by rising global temperatures. Women labourers rest in the shade of a tree near India Gate, in New Delhi, on May 15 (Reuters) While the summit had a long to-do list amid a global energy crisis, Russian war on Ukraine, and rising tensions with China, experts hoped the group of rich and developed nations would give emphasis to the humanitarian cost of the climate crisis. The G7 summit was also set to send strong signals for prioritising climate action for the upcoming G20 summit of developing countries happening in India and the UNs climate summit in Dubai, Cop28, where all countries will once again unite to mull over a climate pact. However, the outcome has been lukewarm. Harjeet Singh of Climate Action Network (CAN) said paying lip service to the need to keep global warming below 1.5C while at the same time continuing to invest in gas shows a bizarre political disconnect from science and a complete disregard for the severity of the climate emergency. Such hypocrisy from historical polluters as climate impacts continue to increase sets a low bar and jeopardises global efforts to fight the crisis, he added. The G7 countries must come to Cop28 with a clear focus on doing their fair share on phasing out fossil fuels and delivering climate finance. When G7 leaders refuse to shift gear, they doom current and future generations to sink deeper in a climate crisis. Time is running out. Tracy Carty, a global climate politics expert at Greenpeace International Other than continuing investments in gas, the G7 was also being criticised for the resistance by Japan, the host of the summit, to phasing out coal power generation and Germanys continued focus on gas investments. Coal, the dirtiest of all fossil fuels, was agreed to be phased out in the landmark Cop26 summit in Glasgow in 2021. There is an increased push to phase out all fossil fuels, including gas, to be able to reduce the harmful greenhouse gas emissions that mainly come from fossil fuels. G7 leaders acknowledge we are facing a climate crisis and call on other countries to do more to fight it, but they weaken this message by not walking the talk at home, Alden Meyer, a senior associate at think-tank E3G, said. In particular, Japans resistance to phasing out coal power generation and Germanys insistence on more public investment in gas undercut the G7s leadership at a time when it is desperately needed. Despite the controversy surrounding gas investments, the G7 leaders backed the commitment from their energy & climate ministers earlier in the year to rapidly hike investments in clean energy. The G7 leaders did not endorse Japans efforts to promote coal and ammonia co-firing of coal in the communique. It called the use of renewable hydrogen or ammonia, co-firing with coal in the power sector, as reasonable only if it can be aligned with a 1.5C pathway. The stance underscored a clear divide between their collective climate goals and Japans position on coal. The communique highlighted the goal of expanding renewable energy sources globally, specifically through offshore wind capacity and solar photovoltaic (PV) installations. The leaders collectively aimed for a 150GW increase in offshore wind capacity and over 1TW of solar PV by 2030. In addition to these outcomes, the G7 leaders provided more details on their Clean Energy Economy Action Plan, aiming to create trade policies that decarbonise economies, develop resilient clean energy supply chains, and mobilise significant public and private sector investments in climate and energy security. A lot of hopes were set on the summit for stronger commitment on the issue of climate finance that richer countries that have benefitted by emitting these fossil fuels are supposed to provide to developing and under developed countries to be able to adapt to worsening impacts of the crisis and invest in better mitigation efforts. However, experts said not enough has been done to repair the broken trust after rich economies failed to stand up on their promise so far. This years G7 communique shows that the group of 7 is off track. While the communique reads good on many issues such as the need for further World Bank reform or new debt tools, it misses the mark on whats really needed: action, said Friederike Roder, vice-president for global advocacy at Global Citizen. No new concrete commitment has been made by the G7. For example, it is good to see a commitment to finally meeting the $100B international climate finance promise in 2023 3 years late but no new pledges have been made to give this promise some credibility. Stay ahead of the trend in fashion and beyond with our free weekly Lifestyle Edit newsletter Stay ahead of the trend in fashion and beyond with our free weekly Lifestyle Edit newsletter Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Lifestyle Edit email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Skincare company Biore and influencer Cecilee Max-Brown have issued an apology after facing backlash for references to a school shooting in a partnership post for pore strips. Max-Brown, a social media influencer and Michigan State University graduate, shared a sponsored post on 18 May as part of Biores campaign for Mental Health Awareness Month. In the since-deleted TikTok video, Max-Brown spoke about her experience with anxiety since surviving the MSU school shooting in February 2023, which claimed the lives of three students. The clip also showed off a box of Biore deep cleansing pore strips, as she told her followers to strip away the stigma of anxiety. Life has thrown countless obstacles at me this year from a school shooting to having no idea what life is going to look like after college, Max-Brown narrated the TikTok video, which was reposted to Twitter. In support of Mental Health Awareness Month, Im partnering with Biore Skincare to strip away the stigma of anxiety. The sponsored ad showed clips of Max-Brown exercising, resting, and using skincare products as she spoke about the negative mental health effects shes faced since the February shooting. I found myself recently struggling from seeing the effects of gun violence firsthand, she said. I will never forget the feeling of terror that I had walking around campus for weeks in a place I considered home. The recent college graduate told viewers that its OK not to have it all together and to know everything will work itself out, before adding: Join me and Biore Skincare in speaking up about mental health. Both Biore and Cecilee Max-Browns video quickly sparked backlash, as many social media viewers felt it was insensitive to reference the tragic school shooting in a paid post for Biore pore strips. The ad was taken down on Friday, less than 24 hours after it was posted, but Twitter user @capt_thomas1492 received more than five million views on the app after reposting the video. If you were in a school shooting, you should try a Biore pore strip, they captioned the tweet. The comments were quickly flooded by people asking whether the video was real, while others called it dystopian. Influencers need to be stopped at all costs, said one user. Another person quipped: School shootings are scary. But not as scary as blackheads. Try Biore pore strips today! Victims of gun violence also weighed in on the backlash, criticising the skincare company for using a school shooting as promotion for its products. Im a student at this university. Im a victim of this shooting. Im literally wearing a shirt bought that funded the victims funerals, claimed one person on Twitter. The thought of using it as a promotion, a brand dealits disgusting. I dont get how people can feel comfortable monetizing it. I dont know why my therapist or docs didnt tell [me] that Biore pore strips could have helped heal the bullet wound on my stomach, or my anxiety after being shot, or my fear of loud noises, or stop my nightmares, or help me feel ok at school, added Saugus High School shooting survivor, Mia Tretta. Firing them and buying in bulk! Following the backlash, Biore apologised for the inappropriate sponsored post in a statement shared to social media on Sunday. We lacked sensitivity around an incredibly serious tragedy, and our tonality was completely inappropriate, the statement read. In the Instagram caption, the company also asked followers to direct their anger towards the brand, not towards the creators themselves. This is our mistake, and we own it. We let our community down and we let our creators down by not providing better guidance, they added. Meanwhile, Max-Brown posted an apology to her TikTok on Sunday, explaining that the partnership video was strictly meant to spread awareness about the struggles that I have had with anxiety since our school shooting. She continued: This partnership was not intending to come off as the product fixing the struggles I have since this event. Rather, partnering with a brand to spread awareness of what me and so many other students have been dealing with. I did not mean to desensitize the traumatic event that took place as I know the effects it has had on me and the Spartan community, her apology read. I take accountability for this and will ensure to be smarter in the future. In an emailed statement to NBC News on Friday, Max-Brown said the TikTok came off completely wrong. I wanted the message to shed light on how Ive been struggling with anxiety after our school shooting, she said. My only intention was to try and help other people that are going through the same experience, and not desensitize what happened. A Biore representative told The New York Times that theyve been in contact with Max-Brown more than once since the video was posted and planned to continue to provide her with support. The sponsored post was shared as part of Biores Strip Away the Stigma challenge, which aims to normalise conversations about mental health. Last February, three Michigan State University students were killed and five others were critically injured after a gunman opened fire at the East Lansing campus. Brian Fraser and Alexandria Verner were named by MSU Police as victims of the shooting. The identity of the third victim was confirmed by family as 19-year-old Arielle Anderson. There have been more than 230 mass shootings in the United States this year, according to the Gun Violence Archive, a nonprofit research group that tracks gun violence. The Independent has contacted Biore and Cecilee Max-Brown for comment. Stay ahead of the trend in fashion and beyond with our free weekly Lifestyle Edit newsletter Stay ahead of the trend in fashion and beyond with our free weekly Lifestyle Edit newsletter Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Lifestyle Edit email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Jennifer Lawrence opted for comfort at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival, where she walked the red carpet in a stunning Christian Dior gown and an unexpected shoe choice. The Oscar-winning actor arrived at the annual French film festival on 21 May wearing a crimson Christian Dior couture gown for the Anatomie Dune Chute (Anatomy Of A Fall) premiere. The Old Hollywood-style dress featured a ruffled bust, corset bustier, and matching shawl draped over her shoulders. She paired the ensemble with a diamond choker necklace and a pale red lip colour. However, it was her shoes that turned heads. Underneath the Hunger Games stars floor-length gown was a pair of casual black flip-flops, which could be seen in photos as she descended the Palais des Festivals steps. Jennifer Lawrence is in Cannes for the premiere of the documentary Bread and Roses, which she co-produced. The film follows three Afghan women in the weeks after the Talibans return to power in 2021 following the withdrawal of US troops. The Silver Linings Playbook star isnt the only celebrity to ditch a pair of heels for more comfortable footwear on the red carpet. In 2018, Kristen Stewart also removed her heels while walking the red carpet at the Cannes Film Festival though many believed it was in protest of the festivals alleged dress code. The Cannes Film Festival has previously caused controversy for its strict dress code, allegedly requiring that all female guests wear heels. Stewart had expressed her opposition over the expectations that women must dress in a specific way in a 2017 interview with The Hollywood Reporter. Theres definitely a distinct dress code right, people get very upset at you if you dont wear heels or something, whatever, she said. But I feel like you cant ask people that anymore, its just kind of a given, like if youre not asking guys to wear heels and a dress you cannot ask me either. Jennifer Lawrence wears black flip-flops while descending steps at Cannes Film Festival red carpet (Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP) The festivals alleged dress code previously sparked backlash in 2015, when a group of women in their 50s were reportedly turned away from a screening of the film Carol for not wearing high heels. The alleged incident caused many social media users to complain that the festivals red carpet traditions were outdated. A spokesperson for the Cannes Film Festival told The Independent at the time that the policy had been in place throughout the years, adding: There is no specific mention about the height of the womens heels as well as for mens. Thus, in order to make sure that this rule is respected, the Festivals hosts and hostesses were reminded of it. However, the uproar surrounding the dress code prompted festival head Thierry Fremaux to tweet about the controversy, writing at the time: The rumor that the festival requires high heels for the women on the steps is baseless. Hunger Games star dons couture Christian Dior gown in Cannes, France (Getty Images) Meanwhile, actor Emily Blunt whose film Sicario had premiered at the 2015 festival weighed in on the backlash. Everyone should wear flats, to be honest. We shouldnt wear high heels, said Blunt during a press conference. Thats very disappointing, just when you kind of think there are these new waves of equality. Most recently, Natalie Portman addressed the different expectations for women and men at this years Cannes Film Festival. While speaking about her upcoming film May December, which also stars Julianne Moore and Charles Melton, Portman explained how gender norms are even seen on the Cannes red carpet, where women are required to wear heels. Even here, the different ways we, as women, are expected to behave at this festival even compared to menhow were supposed to look, how were supposed to carry ourselves, she said, according to Variety. The expectations are different on you all the time. It affects how you behave, whether you are buying into or rejecting it. Youre defined by the social structures upon you. The Independent has contacted Cannes Film Festival for comment. Stay ahead of the trend in fashion and beyond with our free weekly Lifestyle Edit newsletter Stay ahead of the trend in fashion and beyond with our free weekly Lifestyle Edit newsletter Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Lifestyle Edit email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Despite increasing public awareness of endometriosis, with celebrity figureheads including Lena Dunham and Molly Mae, the conditions evil twin sister, adenomyosis, remains neglected. While the NHS has an entire webpage which explains what endometriosis is, there is currently no equivalent for its sister condition. Read on for five things you should know. Its not the same as endometriosis Both endometriosis and adenomyosis occur when the lining of the uterus (known as the endometrium) grows out of place, but there are major differences between the two. In endometriosis, the rogue tissue invades areas outside of the uterus. While the extent of the growth varies from patient to patient, it can affect areas such as the bladder, bowel, ovaries, and even the lungs. Adenomyosis, on the other hand, causes the rogue tissue to bury inside the muscular wall of the uterus. Its possible to suffer from both conditions at the same time. Symptoms include bloating, heavy periods, and pelvic pain Thanks to the invasive endometrial growth, adenomyosis is characterised by an enlarged uterus. During menstruation, the embedded tissue swells and bleeds, typically causing a variety of symptoms (although some women are asymptomatic). According to a patient leaflet published by University College Hospital, sufferers commonly have painful and irregular periods, with more than half experiencing heavy bleeding. Chronic pre-menstrual pain, and feelings of heaviness and discomfort in the pelvis are among other possible symptoms. Less frequently, adenomyosis can cause bloating, pain during intercourse, and pain related to bowel movements. All symptoms should stop after the menopause. It affects 1 in 10 women The condition is believed to affect 10 per cent of women in the UK. That makes it just as prevalent as endometriosis, although its more common in women between the ages of 40-50, and those who have been pregnant before. While the cause of the condition is not known, UCH says that genetics and some hormones may play a role. In terms of long-term effects, the North Bristol NHS trust says that adenomyosis does not appear to decrease the chance of pregnancy, however it has been linked to an increased risk of miscarriage and premature birth. Treatment options are limited (iStock) For women with mild symptoms, trying to get pregnant, or nearing menopause, the North Bristol trust says that treatment may not be necessary, but for those seeking relief from symptoms, it recommends medication to reduce pain and bleeding, and hormonal interventions such as the contraceptive pill. The only cure is a surgical procedure involving the removal of the womb (hysterectomy), although this is a last resort intervention. The Bristol-based trust also offers an alternative surgery which involves blocking the blood supply to the endometrial growth, forcing it to shrink, but neither procedure is advisable for women who want to get pregnant in the future. It can take years to diagnose The condition is typically diagnosed using MRI and ultrasound scans, but the NHS says that adenomyosis can take a long time, even years, to diagnose because symptoms and severity can vary between women. The frequent dismissal of womens gynaecological symptoms means that signs of adenomyosis may be conflated with normal menstruation, or even other conditions such as endometriosis. Anecdotal reports of sufferers suggest that misdiagnosis is common. Gabrielle Union, one of the only celebrities to have publicly identified as having the condition, suspects her condition went undiagnosed for years. Speaking at a conference in 2019, Union explained: The gag is I had [adenomyosis] in my early twenties, and instead of someone diagnosing me they were like Oh you have periods that last nine or 10 days and youre bleeding through overnight pads? Not a mere inconvenience... perhaps theres something more there. Earlier this year, the charity Tommys reported that the condition might be underdiagnosed after a review of existing studies found that mild cases could be missed by clinicians using current diagnostic methods. There should be training for clinicians and sonographers to diagnose adenomyosis using a standardised criteria, said Dr Ishita Mishra, leader of the review. Being able to identify this condition using a uniform set of criteria would then help give us a true picture of the numbers affected, and better understanding of the impact of this condition, Mishra explained. If you have any health concerns, you should always contact your GP in the first instance. There is also information available via NHS Scotland or Endometriosis UK. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} A judge on Monday ordered a psychiatric review of the former University of California, Davis student charged with two fatal stabbings and an attempted murder that shook the normally serene community outside Sacramento. An attorney for Carlos Dominguez said in Yolo County Superior Court that his client is not mentally competent to stand trial. Dominguez, 21, sat next to his court-appointed public defender and tried to speak several times during the short proceeding, The Sacramento Bee reported. Before he left, Dominguez said he did not want an attorney. Relatives of the second victim, Karim Abou Najm, a 20-year-old UC Davis student, attended the hearing, some wearing T-shirts with the young mans image. Police have not disclosed a motive for the stabbings, which took place over a span of days and rattled the community. Students stayed at home or ventured out in pairs, and some businesses closed early. Dominguez had been a third-year student majoring in biological sciences until April 25, when the university let him go for academic reasons. The body of the first victim, a 50-year-old homeless man well known in the community as the Compassion Guy, was discovered on April 27. Abou Najm was killed on April 29 as he walked through Sycamore Park. A homeless woman survived being attacked in her tent. Dominguez was caught by police after more than a dozen people reported seeing him in the neighborhood where the second victim was killed, wearing clothes recognizable from the third stabbing. A competency hearing is scheduled for late June. Sign up to our free Brexit and beyond email for the latest headlines on what Brexit is meaning for the UK Sign up to our Brexit email for the latest insight Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Brexit and beyond email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Scottish government transgressions at meetings with foreign ministers resulted in the UK taking a tougher stance over international discussions, Alister Jack told MPs. The Scottish Secretary insisted his UK government colleague, Foreign Secretary James Cleverly, was right to take a firmer line. Mr Cleverly last month wrote to UK officials, instructing them to take a strengthened approach to visits involving Scottish ministers and overseas governments, urging them to ensure Westminster representatives were also present for any talks. But the move angered Scottish External Affairs Secretary Angus Robertson, who accused the Foreign Secretary of making misleading statements as he called for the guidance to be withdrawn. With Scottish Affairs Committee chair Pete Wishart suggesting at a meeting on Monday that the guidelines seemed to be provocative, Mr Jack said he absolutely approved of the content of the letter. The new guidelines do not, as claimed, hinder the Scottish governments abilities to engage overseas Scottish Secretary Alister Jack Mr Jack claimed in meetings with foreign administrations, Scottish government represenatives had been straying into territories of the constitution and foreign affairs by talking about matters such as Brexit and Scottish independence noting these areas are under the control of Westminster. We dont think that our high commissions, our embassies, our consulates should be used for that purpose, Mr Jack insisted. He told MPs: We believe the United Kingdom infrastructure should be used for the Scottish government to promote trade and culture and other things we have agreed, the devolved areas we have no problem. But once you go into the reserved areas and start talking to those, we take exception to it. The Scottish Secretary insisted to the committee: The new guidelines do not as claimed hinder the Scottish governments abilities to engage overseas. Hitting out at Mr Robertson, the Scottish Secretary however said the guidance didnt go down very well with old Air Miles Angus for a very good reason that is because he took offence at us calling him out visiting governments and talking to them about matters we know are reserved, the constitution and foreign affairs. Mr Jack said an indication had been given to the Scottish government in November that such behaviour needed to stop. But he told the committee: It was ignored, and it actually got worse. There were five of six other examples actually brought to light to the Secretary of State, of transgressions of what we thought was the right position, and that was when the letter went. I feel it was the right letter, I saw the letter, absolutely approved of the content of the letter because I think it is wrong for us to facilitate using our embassies and high commissions for members of devolved administrations to then go and meet foreign government ministers and undermine our foreign policy which is what they were doing. Despite his comments, Mr Jack insisted his assessment of how the Scottish and UK governments were working together was a very positive one. Mr Wishart told him: I dont think intergovernmental relations have ever been at such a low ebb between the UK and Scottish governments. They seem to be characterised by mistrust, never ending conflict, and a sense of diktat. Mr Jack told him he had tried to use his role to set out a clear position from the UK government, so the Scottish government know where we are, not to fudge any issues. He summed up the two administrations differing stances on Scottish independence by saying: The Scottish government get up each day and go to work to destroy the United Kingdom, I get up and go to work each day to strengthen the United Kingdom. Mr Wishart asked if remarks such as that were helpful, but the Scottish Secretary told him: I am honest, it is an honest position, they want to destroy the United Kingdom. I think if we come at this honestly and acknowledge they want to destroy the United Kingdom, they want to bring it to an end, they want to break it, whatever language you want to use. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} A man is set to appear in court charged with causing death by dangerous driving after a car crash that killed the stepdaughter of a well-known author. Olivia Riley, 41 from Suffolk, died in the collision at Cheyne Walk in Chelsea, west London, on Saturday 14 May last year. Police and paramedics were called out at around 6.20am following reports of a crash. Ms Riley was pronounced dead at the scene and her three Golden Retrievers also died from injuries sustained in the collision. Laszlo Dancs, 28, is due to appear at the Old Bailey on Tuesday charged with multiple driving offences. He has been charged with causing death by dangerous driving, drink driving, drug driving and failing to provide a sample of breath when required. The 28-year-old previously appeared at Westminster Magistrates Court on 14 November, 2022. Ms Riley is the stepdaughter of best-selling author Lucinda Riley, who died of cancer aged 56, and was best known for her Seven Sisters series. The 41-year-old was reportedly helping manage her stepmothers estate following her death in June 2021. Police forensic officers at the scene at Cheyne Walk in Chelsea, London (PA) In a tribute last year, Ms Rileys uncle Mark, told the Daily Mail: She was beautiful, fun-loving, she just lit up the room for everybody. She had to deal with the recent death of stepmother. The sequence of events is just horrible. Livi just made everyone laugh, she was the most pleasant individual that anybody could hope to meet. Certainly the tributes that have been pouring in ... are all saying the same thing, that she was one in a million and nobody can come to terms with this tragedy, this loss. She saw the best in everyone and lived life to the full. Kensington and Chelsea councillor Johnny Thalassites previously said: Were extremely saddened to hear about the collision on Cheyne Walk which resulted in the tragic death of a woman and three dogs. Our thoughts are with the victims family and friends. Cheyne Walk is a mansion-lined road that stretches along the Thames and has long drawn famous residents such as rock star Sir Mick Jagger. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} A man has been found guilty of the murder of a father-of-three who was stabbed to death in the food hall of an Essex shopping centre. Michael Ugwa, 29, was killed at Lakeside Shopping Centre in Thurrock on April 28 last year after complimenting a woman, a trial at Basildon Crown Court was told. On Monday, 23-year-old Muhammad Khan was found guilty of Mr Ugwas murder and of affray, Essex Police said. The force said jurors cleared a second man, Brandon Lutchmunsing, 20, of murder. Lutchmunsing was found guilty of manslaughter and of affray, police said. Karim Khalil KC, prosecuting, said Khan and Lutchmunsing had cornered Mr Ugwa before Khan stabbed him in the chest. Mr Ugwa, from Rainham, east London, died of catastrophic blood loss at the scene as the two men fled. Khan, of Ilford, east London, and Lutchmunsing, of Dagenham, east London, had denied the charges against them. Jurors were told how an argument broke out after Mr Ugwa made comments towards Lutchmunsings girlfriend, Shannon Weston. Khan is said to have brandished a knife before he and Lutchmunsing stalked Mr Ugwa through the shopping centre food hall. Mr Khalil described the brutal attack of two on one in which the men trapped Mr Ugwa in a pincer movement. Footage played at court showed Mr Ugwa holding up a chair in a bid to defend himself before throwing it at Lutchmunsing. Khan then stabbed Mr Ugwa in a single and deadly blow before fleeing with Lutchmunsing in Westons red Audi, Mr Khalil said. Weston was accused of driving Khan and Lutchmunsing away from the shopping centre, and of helping her then-boyfriend to evade police between April 28 and May 4. The 21-year-old, of Canewdon, Essex, was found guilty of three counts of assisting an offender, which she had denied, police said. Opening the case, Mr Khalil had said: The killing is particularly shocking because it happened just before 4.30 in the afternoon in the public food court. It happened in front of a number of people going about their normal business. Witnesses were clearly frightened for their safety. A mother with two youngsters in a pushchair can be seen dragging them away as fast as she can. The three defendants were sitting by a food outlet when Michael Ugwa and his friend walked in. There was a short verbal exchange during which Michael passed some admiring comments towards Shannon Weston. The two male defendants decided to take it as some form of challenge. Muhammad Khan pulled out a knife. Khan did this in a secretive manner but we say from the manner of Lutchmunsings behaviour that he knew. Mr Ugwa ran for his safety. He continued to be chased around the food court. Mr Ugwa went through some tables. He grabbed a chair. He threw the chair at Lutchmunsing. He was the subject of a pincer movement as they went around different parts of the food court effectively trapping him between them. Eventually Mr Khan cornered him and stabbed out. He aimed the knife at his chest and struck him as he intended to. It was a single and deadly blow. Lutchmunsing said he was unaware that his friend had pulled out the knife until he stabbed Mr Ugwa, while Khan had claimed he was acting in self-defence. Senior investigating officer Temporary Detective Chief Inspector Julie Gowen said afterwards: Although this incident played out over the course of a few minutes, the fatal assault was over in a matter of seconds. This case shows the tragic consequences that carrying a knife can have and how quickly an incident can escalate when weapons are involved. The defendants are due to be sentenced at Basildon Crown Court on a date to be fixed. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} More than 1,000 officials from governments and police forces across the world will come to Scotland next year as Glasgow hosts the Interpol general assembly. The 92nd annual event will come to the Scottish Events Campus in November of next year, and will see votes for 10 leadership positions within the organisation, including secretary general. Welcoming the announcement, UK security minister Tom Tugendhat said: Global challenges call for global solutions. Hosting the Interpol general assembly in Glasgow underlines the UKs role as a global leader when it comes to security and policing, and demonstrates our steadfast commitment to tackle global threats such as organised crime, terrorism and fraud. Hosting the Interpol General Assembly in Glasgow underlines the UKs role as a global leader when it comes to security and policing Tom Tugendhat, security minister Scotlands Justice Secretary, Angela Constance, added: Glasgow has a global reputation for hosting major international events and hosting the Interpol general assembly is yet another opportunity to add to that impressive list. The Scottish Government will continue to work closely with partners in the UK Government, law enforcement, local government and Police Scotland, which is already globally recognised for its work keeping the people of Scotland safe, as we welcome delegates from around the world to Glasgow. Graeme Biggar, the director general of the National Crime Agency, which will be a partner in the event, said the group was immensely proud to be holding the conference. Police Scotland Chief Constable Sir Iain Livingstone said: Interpols decision to hold their general assembly in Glasgow underlines the significant global interest in policing in Scotland. Police Scotland works with partners locally, nationally and internationally to contribute to safety and security within Scotland, throughout the United Kingdom and across the world. We will work with organisers and our communities to ensure the event is delivered securely for delegates and local residents. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Kemi Badenoch is to visit Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates this week in a bid to make progress on the ambitious trade deal with the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). The five-day tour will see the Business and Trade Secretary meet her ministerial counterparts in each nation and the new Secretary General of the GCC Jasem Al-Budaiwi. The UK began negotiations for a free trade deal with the six-country bloc in 2022 and has completed three rounds of talks so far, with the fourth due to take place later this year. Ahead of her visit, Ms Badenoch said: We already have a strong trade and investment relationship with the Gulf nations, but Im determined to strengthen this even further. The GCC represents an enormous opportunity for UK firms, whether its selling brilliant British food and drink products into new markets or offering new consumers for our flourishing digital trade and renewable energy sectors. I know my counterparts are as ambitious for this deal as I am, and Im ready to match their ambition. I know my counterparts are as ambitious for this deal as I am, and Im ready to match their ambition Kemi Badenoch According to the Government, analysis shows that, in the long run, a deal with the GCC which includes Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates is expected to increase trade by at least 16% and add at least 1.6 billion a year to the UK economy. Collectively, the GCC is equivalent to the UKs seventh largest export market, with their demand for goods and services expected to grow rapidly to almost 1 trillion by 2035 an increase of more than 75%. During the visit, Ms Badenoch will also speak to senior business leaders and investors to build on inward investment to the UK. Green technology firms based across the UK, such as Levidian Nanosystems, Sonihull, Graphene Solutions and G-volution, have expanded their operations to the Gulf as the region diversifies their economy and pivots away from fossil fuels. John Hartley, chief executive of the climate tech business Levidian Nanosystems, said: The GCC is an important region for Levidian the combination of large-scale gas assets which require decarbonisation, heavy industry which can benefit from graphene application and a political will to decarbonise at pace make it an area in which Levidian can have significant impact. The Business and Trade Secretary is expected to speak at the Qatar Economic Forum on Tuesday and take part in a series of business engagements throughout the week. Get our free weekly email for all the latest cinematic news from our film critic Clarisse Loughrey Get our The Life Cinematic email for free Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the The Life Cinematic email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Irish actor Ray Stevenson has died at the age of 58. The actor is known for starring in films including King Arthur, Punisher: War Zone and Marvels Thor films. He is also due to star in the forthcoming Star Wars spin-off series Ahsoka. Stevenson died on Sunday (21 May), his publicist confirmed to Variety. A cause of death has not been given. His former co-stars, including Harry Potter actor Matthew Lewis and Romes James Purefoy, have led tributes to the actor. Marvel fans will recognise Stevenson from his role in 2008s Punisher: War Zone opposite Dominic West and Doug Hutchinson. Stevenson was the third actor to portray Frank Castle (aka Punisher) on screen, following in the footsteps of Dolph Lundgren in 1989 and Thomas Jane in 2004. Jon Bernthal later portrayed the character in Netflixs Daredevil and The Punisher shows. In his second Marvel role, Stevenson starred in the first three Thor films, appearing opposite Chris Hemsworths titular character as Asgardian hero Volstagg. He made his last appearance in 2018s Thor: Ragnarok. He recently appeared in the Oscar-nominated Tollywood action film RRR, starring as the evil Governor Scott Buxton. Stevenson will also appear in the highly anticipated Ahsoka. The Star Wars spin-off series will arrive on Disney Plus in August. He plays Baylan Skoll, a Jedi who turns to the dark side. (Jeff Spicer/Getty/Disney) The Lisburn-born actor began his career on TV shows in the Nineties. His first major film role arrived in Antoine Fuquas film King Arthur. The 2004 film saw him star opposite Clive Owens Arthur. Stevenson played Dagonet, one of the Knights of the Round Table. Access unlimited streaming of movies and TV shows with Amazon Prime Video Sign up now for a 30-day free trial Sign up Elsewhere in his career, the Northern Irish star appeared in action movies, including The Book of Eli (2010) and GI Joe: Retaliation (2013). Obit Ray Stevenson (Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.) He also starred in the popular Divergent franchise opposite Shailene Woodley, Theo James, Zoe Kravitz, and Miles Teller. Stevenson played Marcus Eaton, father to Jamess character, Four. Stevenson also appeared in a number of small screen productions. He played Titus Pullo, a Roman soldier, on HBOs historical drama Rome from 2005 to 2007. The critically acclaimed series was awarded seven Emmys during its two seasons. In 2012, Stevenson played Ukrainian mob member Isaak Sirko in the seventh season of Showtimes serial killer series Dexter. He also starred as Blackbeard in the third and fourth seasons of Black Sails (2016 and 2017) and Othere on the sixth season of Vikings (2019). Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Morning Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Ten people have been hospitalised after the roof of a double-decker bus was torn off as it crashed into a rail bridge in Glasgow. Trains between Glasgow Central and Paisley were brought to a halt on Sunday afternoon following the crash at Cook Street in the citys south side, close to the 02 Academy concert venue, shortly before midday. The crash drew a large emergency response, and the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service said a number of people with injuries which did not require hospital care were also treated at the scene. An image shared by Network Rail showed the double-decker bus lodged underneath the rail bridge, with the near-intact remains of its roof and parts of the top floor window frames splayed out behind it, atop a mess of shattered glass. This is what we're dealing with right now, Network Rail tweeted alongside the image of the aftermath and police cordon. Confirming that the vehicle was one of its own, First Bus said in a widely reported statement that it was working closely with the emergency services at the scene and that the thoughts of its staff are with those involved in the incident. Discussing the cause of the rail disruption, Network Rail initially said that the safety assessment needed to reopen the bridge could take place only once the bus was removed from underneath, as engineers checked to assess whether any damage to the bridge was superficial, and for any changes to the tracks above. But just three hours later, the rail operator announced that the rail line had reopened, adding: While the bus is still under the structure, it's no longer touching any part of the bridge. View more Several roads were also closed off following the incident including Salkeld Street, Kilbirnie Street and Commerce Street with police telling drivers to use an alternative route, and asking people to avoid the area to ensure access for the emergency services. Chief Inspector Elaine Tomlinson, of Police Scotland, said in a statement issued to various outlets: Around 11.35am on Sunday, 21 May, 2023, we received a report of a bus crashing into a bridge on Cook Street, Glasgow. Emergency services attended and 10 people were taken to various hospitals for treatment. A number of road closures remain in place, with disruption to some rail services. I would like to thank the public for their cooperation and ask they continue to avoid the area while enquires are ongoing. Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Morning Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} The head of a seven-year inquiry that found a national epidemic of child sex abuse in Britain has condemned the government for failing to accept all of its recommendations. Suella Braverman announced consultations for a new victims redress scheme and mandatory reporting duty on Monday, but the government only partially accepted some calls from the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) and rejected others. The chair of the inquiry, which was founded by Theresa May in 2015, said each of the recommendations made in October were carefully considered. We are deeply disappointed that the government has not accepted the full package of recommendations made in the final report, she added. In some instances, the government has stated that a number of them will be subject to consultations, despite the extensive research and evidence-taking which the Inquiry carried out over seven years. The package announced by the government will not provide the protection from sexual abuse that our children deserve. IICSA found that there are tens of thousands of victims living in England and Wales - many suffering life-long effects on their mental health, relationships, education and employment prospects. It said the true scale of abuse is unknown because it is under-reported and poorly chronicled by official statistics, with many survivors not feeling able to report their experiences for decades. The inquiry called for significant changes including laws making failing to report abuse a criminal offence, the creation of a Child Protection Authority and a minister dedicated to the issue. In its official response, the government rejected a recommendation to ban the use of pain compliance techniques on children, saying that officials could be trained in the safe use of such tactics in custody. Suella Braverman defended the governments response in parliament on Monday (PRU/AFP via Getty Images) It said the education secretary already fulfils the role of a cabinet-level childrens minister, and did not commit to creating a stand-alone Child Protection Authority. Several other recommendations were accepted in principle but are subject to further assessment, consultations and reviews, including IICSAs core demands for a new redress scheme and guaranteed specialist therapeutic support for child victims of sexual abuse. Rotherham MP Sarah Champion, who lobbied for the inquiry to be set up in 2015, told parliament that accepting the need to act isnt the same as acting. We have had seven years of victims and survivors laying their stories out there, she added. Where is the funding? Where is the actual getting on with the recommendations? Childrens charity the NSPCC called the governments response disappointing and lacked concrete commitments. Head of policy Anna Edmundson added: Children at risk of sexual abuse today need government to commit to and follow through with a step change in preventing abuse through reforming child protection and investing in support services. This and future generations deserve nothing less to protect them from the devastating harm of child sexual abuse. Report author Professor Alexis Jay said the government should reconsider and accept and enact all our recommendations in full Ms Braverman defended the governments response in parliament, saying the reforms proposed were on a level not seen before and would mark a step change in our approach to child sexual abuse. The home secretary said: We need to get it right, and if that takes time that is time well spent. I do not want to give victims and survivors the false impression that implementing these big commitments will just happen overnight. But what I can promise them is today heralds a new start, it signifies a change in direction and it represents an acknowledgement of what theyve been through, of what theyve testified and the work of this inquiry. The home secretary committed to introducing a new mandatory reporting duty across England that aims to address the systemic under-reporting of abuse, and consult survivors on a scheme to properly acknowledge their suffering, deliver justice and an appropriate form of redress. The government said it was looking at improving the way police collect data on child sexual abuse to better understand the scale and nature of the crime, and would use the Online Safety Bill to keep children safe. When IICSAs final report was released, the government said it would respond in full to its recommendations within six months - which would have been in April. Several recommendations made by IICSA in previous reports focusing on specific institutions and themes have not been implemented. The inquiry revealed horrific accounts of rape, physical and mental abuse, sexual grooming and exploitation across institutions including schools, churches and childrens homes. Authorities from local councils to the police were found to have repeatedly failed victims, by not protecting them and then failing to monitor abuse or react properly to their reports. Victims were instead blamed for their own abuse, shamed and in some cases faced with orchestrated cover-ups to protect people in positions of authority. Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Morning Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Phillip Schofields family has so far remained silent after his sudden departure from This Morning. Schofield announced he was leaving the ITV talk show on Saturday with immediate effect, amid widespread reports of a feud with his long-term presenting partner Holly Willoughby. In the first broadcast since his exit, Alison Hammond and Dermot OLeary praised Schofield as one of the best live television broadcasters this country has ever had. Phillip Schofield (right) and his wife Stephanie Lowe during the National Television Awards at London's O2 Arena (PA) However, his two daughters Molly and Ruby Schofield, and his estranged wife Stephanie Lowe have not yet publically addressed the 61-year-olds shock departure from the show. The TV presenter has been married to Ms Lowe, 59, for 30 years after they met while working at the BBC and became parents to Molly in 1993 and Rub in 1996. Ms Lowe threw her support behind her husband after he came out as gay in a statement made on his Instagram account in February 2020. At the time, she told The Sun: I love Phillip, as much today as I ever have, and always will. Weve been awestruck by the strength and love of our precious girls, even as theyve been trying to make sense of it all for themselves. Our family have also been so supportive and will help us going forward. Although this is difficult for us all, I support Phillip in taking this brave step. Schofield with Holly Willoughby on Dancing on Ice' (Matt Frost/ITV/Shutterstock) Molly also supported her father and posted a picture of the family on holiday with the caption Love you always, so proud of you. Schofield and Ms Lowe are reportedly still married, but the TV presenter is understood to have moved out of the family home in Henley-On-Thames. Philips father Brian died after a long-running heart problem in May 2008. His mother Pat is in her 80s. Schofield has a younger brother, Timothy Schofield, who was jailed last week for child sex offences. Timothy Schofield, 54, was convicted of 11 sexual offences involving a child between October 2016 and October 2019, including two of sexual activity with a child, after a trial at Exeter Crown Court. In a statement released by his lawyer following the verdicts, the former ITV presenter said: I no longer have a brother. My overwhelming concern is and has always been for the wellbeing of the victim and his family, his statement said. I hope that their privacy will now be respected. If any crime had ever been confessed to me by my brother, I would have acted immediately to protect the victim and their family. These are despicable crimes, and I welcome the guilty verdicts. As far as I am concerned, I no longer have a brother. Holly Willoughby will be back in the studio to present This Morning from Monday June 5. It is not yet known who will present the show for the rest of the week. Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Morning Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Madeleine McCann, a three-year-old girl from Rothley, Leicestershire, went missing from the Portuguese holiday resort of Praia da Luz on the Algarve on 3 May 2007, a case still unsolved and still the subject of intense interest among the public and press. Follow all the latest updates on The Independents live blog Her parents, Kate and Gerry McCann, posted a statement on the Find Madeleine website on 3 May 2023 marking the latest anniversary of their daughters disappearance, reiterating their hopes of being reunited with her one day and posting a poem, The Contradiction by Clare Pollard, to express their feelings. Today marks the 16th anniversary of Madeleines abduction. Still missing... still very much missed, they wrote. The police investigation continues, and we await a breakthrough. Thank you to everyone for your support- it really helps. Here is a reminder of the events of the case. The story began when the McCanns affluent doctors Kate and Gerry, their three-year-old daughter Madeleine and her two-year-old twin siblings joined a group of seven family friends and their five children on holiday at the Ocean Club in the village of Praia da Luz on the southwestern tip of Portugal on 28 April 2007. After a pleasant spring break by the sea, the adults in the party went out for dinner at the resorts open-air tapas bar on 3 May, gathering at 8.30pm. The children were left behind sleeping in their respective apartments with the doors unlocked and a rota system in place among the parents to ensure that someone returned every half-hour to check on them. When Kate McCann took her turn and returned to her apartment at 10pm, she raced back to the restaurant screaming Madeleines gone! Someones taken her! The police were quickly called and 60 staff and fellow guests searched the complex, calling out the girls name in vain until daybreak the following morning. Border police and airport staff were put on alert and hundreds of volunteers joined the efforts to find the missing girl over the coming days, the case fast becoming a sensation. Madeleine McCann (PA) The Portuguese authorities would later attract criticism over their conduct in the crucial earliest hours of the investigation when the trail might still have been warm, accused of making rudimentary mistakes like failing to conduct a house-by-house search of every local residence or interview all of the other guests at the resort, acting slowly to erect roadblocks and potentially compromising forensic evidence at the crime scene. The police initially stated that they believed Madeleine was still alive and had been abducted from the room by a stranger as the parents described their anguish and despair over her vanishing, a worst fear realised for any parent. On 26 May, police issued a description of a suspicious man seen on the night of the girls disappearance. The individual in question was spotted by Jane Tanner, one of the McCanns dining companions, who said she had seen a Mediterranean man with dark hair and beige trousers carrying a child close to the apartment when she went to check in on her own children. Scotland Yard would later come to dismiss the sighting as a red herring. The search continued as the summer progressed amid a wild media circus and with huge fundraising activities underway, the McCanns setting up Madeleines Fund on 15 May to raise cash to support further investigation and keep the profile of the case high, attracting generous donations from celebrities like Richard Branson, Simon Cowell, JK Rowling and Coleen Rooney. By 30 May, the case was such a cause celebre that they were being flown out to meet the Pope at the Vatican in Sir Phillip Greens Learjet. A local man, Robert Murat, subsequently became its first suspect and had his house and car searched, his swimming pool drained and his electronic devices confiscated but no evidence was found to link him to Madeleine and the matter was soon dropped. By June, the Portuguese police admitted that they had failed to protect potentially useful evidence at the scene as frustration with the lack of developments grew and the media began to question whether the McCanns themselves had been involved in the matter. Lurid tabloid allegations suggested the couple and their friends might have been swingers and that the McCanns, as physicians, might have been in the habit of sedating their children, while others claimed inconsistencies in their version of events. Gerry and Kate McCann (AP) The intensity of the hostility towards the parents would later be described by Roy Greenslade of The Guardian as no journalistic accident, but a sustained campaign of vitriol against a grief-stricken family, singling out The Daily Express and Daily Star for particular condemnation. In July, assistance offered by former South African police officer Danie Krugel who claimed his handheld matter orientation system could help to find Madeleine was rubbished, while British police sent over two springer spaniel sniffer dogs to search for DNA. Relations with the local authorities would ultimately sour as the latter came to resent British intrusion into a Portuguese inquiry, according to Anthony Summers and Robbyn Swans book Looking for Madeleine (2014). By August, Madeleine has been missing for 100 days and police admitted for the first time that she may never be found. They also told the McCanns that they were no longer considering the matter an abduction case but, rather, a murder inquiry. The McCanns themselves were interviewed as arguidos (suspects) by Portuguese police in September, with the parents told that the dogs had discovered DNA evidence from the missing girl in the boot of their holiday rental car, lines of inquiry that had already been leaked to the British press. They vehemently denied having any part in her disappearance. Despite being listed as suspects (a designation that would linger until the following July), the McCanns were allowed to return to Britain on 9 September. A day later, chief inspector Tavares de Almeida of the Policia Judiciaria in Portimao signed a nine-page report concluding that Madeleine McCann had died in their apartment as a result of an accident, that the tapas dinner and rota checks on the McCann children had been part of a planned cover-up, that the familys friends had helped to mislead the police and that the McCanns had concealed the body and then faked an abduction. A public prosecutor subsequently applied for the confiscation of Kate McCanns diary and Gerry McCanns laptop plus the groups phone records. On 2 October, chief inspector Goncalo Amaral was removed from the case and transferred after alleging that the British police were only interested in pursuing leads favourable to the McCanns. He would later publish a book, Maddie: The Truth of the Lie, the following summer, resulting in a lengthy libel battle with the McCanns that would run back and forth through the courts until March 2017. Back in Britain, Gerry McCann issued a video that November in which he speculated that his family had been watched by a predator during their stay at Praia da Luz. His wife had come to believe that a potential perpetrator could have seen a note in the resorts guest book visible to all in reception noting their dining arrangements on the evening of Madeleines disappearance. The couple followed up on 20 January 2008 by releasing a sketch of a creepy man they said other holidaymakers had said they had seen loitering at the Ocean Club. In April, a month before the one-year anniversary of the fateful night, Portuguese police travelled to Leicestershire to conduct further interviews with the McCanns friends. Then, on 21 July, Portugals attorney general, Fernando Jose Pinto Monteiro, announced that there was no evidence to link either the McCanns or Robert Murat to the disappearance and closed the case, unsolved. With the trail cold and no closure in sight, the McCanns continued to publicise their cause, issuing computer-generated images of how Madeleine might look now that she had aged on 3 November 2009 and condemning the release of previously unseen Portuguese police files detailing possible sightings of their daughter to British newspapers in March 2010. The McCanns published a book of their own about their ordeal in May 2011, entitled simply Madeleine, which was serialised in The Sun as the newspaper led a campaign calling on British prime minister David Cameron to launch a new inquiry. He did so. Commenced by then-home secretary Theresa May, the Metropolitan Polices Operation Grange would be led by commander Simon Foy and comprise a team of three detective inspectors, five detective sergeants, 19 detective constables and six civilian staff. It began to yield results in 2013, with Scotland Yard formally announcing a new investigation in July and saying in October it had identified 41 potential suspects. That same month, BBC Crimewatch released an e-fit image of a man of particular interest who had been seen in Praia da Luz with a child matching Madeleines description in May 2007. Detectives arrived in Portugal in January 2014 promising new arrests and finally searched the village in June, interviewing four people the following month but without unearthing new information. The quartet would be definitively ruled out in April 2017, before the UK government said it would continue to fund the investigation until 2020, having already admitted it had cost 10m in its first four years of operation. That investment had enabled detectives to have tens of thousands of documents translated, investigate over 8,000 potential sightings, take 1,338 statements, collect 1,027 exhibits and investigate 650 sex offenders and 60 persons of interest, all without definitively establishing the truth. The Madeline McCann case lay dormant before suddenly exploding into life in June 2020 when German media revealed that Christian Brueckner, a 43-year-old prisoner with a track record of child abuse and drug trafficking, had been identified as a new suspect by the public prosecutor of the German city of Braunschweig. Christian Brueckner (Italian Carabinieri) He had reportedly been living in a Volkswagen camper van in the Algarve at the time of Madeleines disappearance and one woman has since come forward to suggest she saw a girl that might have been Madeleine speaking German in a supermarket in Portugal in 2017. German investigators classified their probe into his movements as a murder inquiry, saying they were working on the assumption that Madeleine is dead and reporting in July 2021 that they had found an abandoned cellar beneath his former allotment near Hanover where she could, theoretically, have been held captive. Hans Christian Wolters, the prosecutor leading the investigation into Brueckner, has said he was very confident the inmate is responsible for kidnapping her. If you knew the evidence we had you would come to the same conclusion as I do but I cant give you details because we dont want the accused to know what we have on him these are tactical considerations, he told the BBC. It was subsequently revealed that Madeleines Fund still had 773,629 to spend as of 31 March 2020, meaning the McCanns can continue to bankroll a private investigation to find their daughter long after the police hunt is finally drawn to a close, should they choose to. Brueckner was formally made a arguido in relation to the case on 21 April 2022. On 19 September, the McCanns lost their libel case against Mr Amaral, the former chief inspector who had investigated the disappearance, before the European Court of Human Rights. The couple had attempted to argue that Mr Amaral was responsible for damaging their reputation and breaching their rights to respect for their private life and to be presumed innocent after taking exception to his book and associated media appearances in which he had repeatedly suggested they were responsible for the vanishing. Their complaint also argued that Portugals Supreme Court had failed to allow them proper redress over the alleged libel by Mr Amaral after judges threw out their earlier claim in 2017. The verdict left the McCanns with three months to appeal against the decision. In February 2023, a Polish woman called Julia Faustyna made headlines by claiming she was Madeleine, using the Instagram name @iammadeleinemccann. Ms Faustyna, 21, did not provide any supporting evidence but sought DNA tests to prove her origins. The results ultimately revealed that she was entirely of Polish origin, with no British heritage, disproving her claims for good. In April 2023, a court in Braunschweig dropped a rape charge against Brueckner, unrelated to the Madeleine McCann case, concluding it did not have jurisdiction. Police in Germany continue to claim they have concrete evidence that Madeleine is dead but this has still not been confirmed and their investigation is ongoing, with Brueckner still not charged in the McCann case. Like her parents, Madeleines sister Amelie, now 18, observed the 16th anniversary of her disappearance in May 2023. Speaking publicly for the first time at a prayer meeting in Rothley, she said: Its nice that everyone is here together but its a sad occasion. Amelie McCann reportedly joined in with chants including Never never give up, leave no stone unturned, dont forget about me and still missing, still missed. Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Morning Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} The Prince of Wales has called for a change in the way child victims of trauma are treated after a damning report found survivors of the Manchester Arena attack were told the bombing would make them stronger. Victims who were as young as 10 when an Isis supporter targeted crowds leaving an Ariana Grande concert in 2017 have spoken publicly for the first time about their battles for help. One spoke of a school tutor who told me that I should take the attack as a positive experience that this hardship would make me a stronger person. He said not many young people experience hardships nowadays, they added. This felt totally insensitive so I didnt return. Another survivor said they had poured their heart out to a GP but felt that the doctor dismissed their need for treatment, adding: I was 15 and she said that, in the two years it would have taken for her to get me into CAMHS [child and adolescent mental health services], I would then be 17 and probably feeling a lot better. Prince William, who is patron of the National Emergencies Trust which carried out the report with Lancaster University, said young people who have experienced the trauma of terrorism need the space to have their voices heard and feelings acknowledged. We must listen to their stories now, in order to learn for the future. I look forward to seeing the change that it creates, he added. The research was published on the sixth anniversary of the bombing, which left 22 victims dead and hundreds injured following failings by MI5 and the emergency services. Almost a third of young survivors surveyed said they had never received any professional support. Of those, 40 per cent said support had never been offered, while 28 per cent said they had not felt comfortable asking for help and 14 per cent did not know where to find it. For others, support only started months or years after the bombing, and some victims found that the professional help they were given inadvertently introduced more trauma as they recounted their experiences again and again. Prince William said child trauma victims deserved to have their voices heard (Getty) Yasmine Lee, who was 12 when she was injured in the blast, said she was quickly given a lot of support for her physical injury but initially nothing for her mental health. I didnt really think anything was wrong for a very long time, she told The Independent. It wasnt until about nine or 10 months later that I filled out a survey that was sent out by the Greater Manchester Resilience Hub, and they were like We think you should start getting some support. Yasmine, who is now 18 and studying at university, said she later had years of helpful counselling and built a support network through friendships with fellow survivors. But she said she was shocked to find that others werent getting what I was getting, and believes she may have received support faster because of her physical injury. Its so much harder being a child, because youre still trying to grasp what the world looks like, Yasmine added. If something like that happened to me now, I would have reacted completely differently. I wasnt aware of terrorism as a whole, you never think its gonna happen to you. Ruby Bradbourne, who was 11 when she survived the attack after attending the concert with her sister, told how she struggled to ask for support at school and faced delays when she did. MI5 director general is profoundly sorry following Manchester Arena attack final report They just told me to fill out this questionnaire, which didnt help me in any way, she added. I had to wait for months for counselling, and when I had it I felt like I didnt need it ... I just felt like I had to keep it to myself. Ruby said she only had one hour-long session with a counsellor and felt she should have had more support, adding: I dont want anyone else to go through anything like that, especially at such a young age. Some survivors who took part in the survey praised the care they received from mental health services and schools, but the report called for six key changes to improve the treatment of young terror attack victims in future. Lead researcher Dr Cath Hill, who is also a co-founder of the Manchester Survivors Choir, said the proposed changes should prevent children from having to relive their trauma time and again. The bombing killed 22 people and injured hundreds more (Emilio Morenatti/AP) The National Emergencies Trust said there was a glaring gap in knowledge about how disasters affect children. The Greater Manchester Resilience Hub said it was still open to anyone affected by the attack, and had quickly established an outreach and screening process after the incident. The hub was set up within seven weeks following the attack, with staff from all four Greater Manchester mental health trusts, a spokesperson said. It was and still is the fastest large-scale mental health response to such an incident in UK history. More than 700 individuals were supported within the first few days, and then were prioritised under the psychological screening within the first few weeks. They included those people physically injured, bereaved families, and those on the police witness list that the police believed were experiencing psychological distress. Its statement said that the NICE guidelines at the time meant that officials waited three months to write to all ticket-holders for the concert to screen them for support. We have supported over 3,800 individuals, more than 1,000 under-18s, and more than 500 family units, it added. More than 200 young survivors took part in the research, all of whom were under 18 at the time of the attack. A government spokesperson said: The government has worked to strengthen the support available to victims of terrorism, but we know there is still more to do. The Home Office Victims of Terrorism Unit is currently conducting an internal review into the support package provided to victims of terrorism, to better address their needs following a terrorist attack. Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Morning Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Personal finance guru Martin Lewis has warned that despite record-high energy prices being forecast to fall in the months ahead, households wont feel any real benefit. In less than two years, the price cap set by regulator Ofgem has rocketed from 1,162 a year for a typical household in August 2021 to its current level of 3,280, having briefly reached 4,279, with the pandemic and Russias war in Ukraine having both served to push up wholesale prices. Customers have been partly shielded from the most recent rise by the governments Energy Price Guarantee which limits annual energy costs to 2,500 for the average household. But that is set to finish at the end of June and a government minister on Sunday appeared to rule out further support. New forecasts by energy consultancy Cornwall Insight predict that Ofgems cap will fall dramatically to 2,054 in July, saving households an average of 446 a year. This forecast remains well above pre-pandemic levels, and Cornwall Insight warned this week that these higher prices may become the new normal, as it predicted the cap would remain at similar levels until at least January 2024. Despite the predicted fall, Mr Lewis warned that there are monumental questions hanging over the system governing consumer energy bills in the UK and accused those in charge in recent years of having been asleep at the wheel. Asked about the price cap changes expected to be announced on Thursday, the Money Saving Expert founder told the BBCs Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg show: In practical terms what you pay from July will drop by somewhere between 15 and 20 per cent were pretty sure its in that ballpark. Then the next price cap comes in October. The current prediction and the further out you go, the more crystal ball gazing it is is that it will drop a little bit more and then go up a little bit in January, but still be roughly the same amount it is now. Martin Lewis appeared on the BBCs Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg show (screengrab) It is an improvement, [but] its not the biggest improvement, Mr Lewis said, pointing to the fact that the 400 of government support handed out universally during the winter also came to an end in April. In practical terms, people arent going to be feeling any real benefit. Theyre going to be paying the same that they were over winter, and next winter will be as expensive as the winter just gone which is over double what we always thought. The standing charge the roughly 300 paid each year by households for merely accessing gas and electricity is unlikely to fall, Mr Lewis said. We have monumental questions about consumer energy bills coming forward theyre too expensive, theyre badly structured, theres no competition in the marketplace. Clearly, the people who have been in charge have been asleep at the wheel for the last few years, and things need to change. On the issue of standing charges, environment secretary Therese Coffey said she expected the government will continue to look at the different ways that those charges are put through to bill payers, claiming that there is considerable support being given to households struggling with soaring bills. Environment secretary Therese Coffey failed to say whether the government would provide further support with bills (screengrab) Only those in receipt of means-tested benefits, pensioners and those with disabilities are currently set to receive further help with their energy bills, amounting to 900, 300 and 150 respectively. Responding that the 2,000 price cap is unaffordable for households living just above the threshold to qualify for the existing support, Mr Lewis asked Ms Coffey whether there would be any help for those people. The minister said: The chancellor set out our plans several months ago on what was happening there and I am conscious there is only a limited amount going to every bill payer. But I think that the critical thing that people will be expecting from the government is getting that electricity pipeline flowing within our own country rather than constantly being reliant on aspects of the link to the gas prices in the world. Arguing that the governments Energy Price Guarantee is set to end nine months earlier than predicted, having cost tens of billions of pounds less than expected, Mr Lewis said: There is money [available to the government] to help those on lower and middle incomes. Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Morning Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} A motorbike riders left leg had to be amputated below the knee after an alleged hit-and-run in London. Emergency services were called to Gunnersbury Lane, in Acton, west London at 7.10pm on Sunday. The motorbike rider, 45, was found with serious injuries and taken to hospital. Police are appealing for further information about the crash as the car involved, a silver Mercedes Benz saloon, did not stop at the scene. The car was found a short distance away from the collision and the driver was seen fleeing down an alley between two houses in Lillian Avenue. The Metropolitan Police is asking for anyone who witnessed the incident to contact them. They are particularly keen for anyone with dash-cam footage, who was in the area near the time and date of the collision. Any witnesses or anyone with any information is asked to call police on 101 or contact via Twitter @MetCC. Please quote CAD 5843/21MAY To give information anonymously contact Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 or online at crimestoppers-uk.org. Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Morning Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} From breaking news to live mishaps, Naga Munchetty takes the unpredictability in her stride and often while in excruciating pain. Unbeknown to millions of viewers and listeners, the BBC presenter has been battling a debilitating womb condition called adenomyosis. In an exclusive and deeply personal interview with The Independent, the 48-year-old revealed she was only diagnosed eight months ago after she bled for 30 days on the trot. An estimated one in 10 women are affected by adenomyosis but the misunderstood condition often remains undetected for years and sometimes even decades. Symptoms include heavy periods, bloating, and pelvic pain. Ms Munchettys experience with this crippling pain began long before her diagnosis; she had been warned her entire life that she might suffer from it but it was more than three decades before it was confirmed. I went through this for 32 years before being diagnosed, the Radio 5 Live and Breakfast presenter said. Even then, there is no like cure, there is no treatment. She recalled the pain on the first day she started her period, aged 16, while in a shopping centre with her mother. I was literally bent over double, she recalled. I went to the loo I was very ill. I threw up. I had started my period. It was very heavy. I was in extreme pain, crying, doubled over, feeling faint. And that became my routine every time I had my period. Ms Munchetty endures constant pain and has lived every day on painkillers for the past year recounting a recent incident where she nearly passed out while presenting Breakfast. I just said, I have to leave, she recalls. And I went to the loo and I thought I was going to pass out, but I threw up and then just came back. The presenter was left feeling panicky because she could not concentrate. I just felt I wasnt in the room because I just couldnt concentrate, she adds. And then you get annoyed with yourself for not doing your job to the best of your ability. Ms Munchetty noted she does not wear light-coloured trousers while presenting as she is so afraid of leaking while on her period, and has been coping with life-changing heavy periods since she was a teenager. She explained her period would last for 10 days and come on every two and a half weeks. When I used to have my periods, I used to set an alarm every three hours at night, sleep on a towel, and wear a massive sanitary towel, she recalled. She also revealed she felt doctors did not take her pain seriously enough when she was growing up even though her periods were crippling and she would be throwing up and wrapped around the toilet for the first 12 hours. Youve got pain and it's just like Oh, you are just unlucky, some women have really heavy periods, she added. Or you feel like, well, everyone else is having periods and theyre fine. Why am I being so weak? Why am I being such a baby about it? Its just part of being a woman. Its almost like you end up gaslighting yourself. Ms Munchetty also revealed she was so incapacitated with pain over the past weekend that her husband called an ambulance in the middle of the night because she was writhing around and moaning and screaming in pain. All I remember saying is: If the ambulance comes (which it didnt), do not let them give me a full hysterectomy, she added. Because that is the only cure to get rid of it. She recalled she was in such agony she did not even know if she would be able to get dressed to get in the car to go to hospital. It was like something was exploding inside of me constantly. The journalist said she was frustrated by the lack of research into womens health as well as the lack of training doctors receive as she noted a gender, ethnicity, and class gap exists in healthcare. Women go through stuff alone, dont they? she reflected. Be it miscarriage, be it bad birth experiences, be it endometriosis, be it adenomyosis, be it body dysmorphia. But when we are a collective, when we realise that there are many of us having this, we are stronger. Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Morning Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} When police in Scotland pulled over a car with 10,000 worth of Class A drugs, they were not expecting to find a lamb perched in the back seat with a bag of chips. The bizarre encounter took place on the M74 near Glasgow in April, resulting in the arrest of all the passengers- minus the lamb. Officers said the lamb had been taken in by a local farmer, who said the innocent bystander appeared at deaths door. After giving the lamb milk, vitamin boost and placing it in a heat box, it soon perked up. After police obtained information where the lamb came from using the tag in its ear, it was eventually returned to its owner, Kirsty Mair. The 25-year-old runs North Lanrigg Farm, near Motherwell, North Lanarkshire, with her father Robin only learned about the theft of her lamb when police officers showed up at her door. She has since named the lamb Pablo, after the Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar. MS Mair told The Times she had seen a social media post from Police Scotland on April 23 about the lamb. When I saw the picture I thought it looked an awful lot like the lambs Ive been getting, she said. In a series of tweets at the time of the discovery, Police Scotland joked about the peculiar circumstances uncovered at the roadside. Oh ewe! Officers from #GlasgowRP stopped this vehicle (not a Lamborghini!) on the #M74 J3 NB yesterday, officers wrote. The force also thanked a police dog that was said to be instrumental in finding the drugs. PD Billy entered the car and indicated drugs were present. Officers recovered heroin, with an estimated street value of 7,000 and cocaine, worth an estimated value of 3,000, the force said in a statement. Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Morning Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} A year-long news partnership with Pride in London has been announced by The Independent, including the relaunch of The Pride List a celebration of extraordinary LGBT+ changemakers. The Independent will also showcase its coverage of LGBT+ reports and features in a new Pride homepage hub, making coverage available to more than 70 million readers globally. The collaboration includes commercial and marketing initiatives during the upcoming Pride Month and the Pride in London march on 1 July. As part of its coverage, The Independent is relaunching The Pride List, which first began more than two decades ago as the Pink List. Geordie Greig, editor-in-chief, said: The Independent has always been proud and unwavering in its championing of the LGBT+ community and it is a privilege to publish The Pride List, which will honour those who have done the most to make change happen in our society. Our Pride activity will run over the next year and beyond carrying on our steadfast commitment to support LGBT+ people every single day. Pride in London chief executive Christopher Joell-Deshields said: We are honoured to welcome back The Independent as our official news partner. Its commitment to amplifying the voices and stories of the LGBT+ community aligns perfectly with our mission to celebrate diversity and promote inclusivity. Together, through the Pride Hub, we will create a powerful platform to share the news and experiences that matter most to our community. Pride in London is a majority volunteer-led organisation responsible for delivering the capitals flagship LGBT+ Pride parade and events since 2013. The annual event now welcomes over 1.5 million LGBT+ people and allies onto the streets of London. Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Morning Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} An adorable litter of puppies have become the first of their kind to be born in the UK. The eight Wetterhoun puppies tripled the country's population when they were welcomed into the world last month. Mike and Nicky Jan, from Dorchester, bought their first Wetterhoun Aafke in 2020 and are now the proud owners of the six-week-old pups. But with just over 1,000 Wetterhouns in the world, they had to go to the Netherlands to find the nearest male Lex to breed her with. The extraordinary litter includes five males and three females all named after notable England rugby players: Dan, Jason, Jonny, Billy Ben, Poppy, Maggie, and Marlie. While these are their registered names, their new potential owners are free to rename them, Nicky explained. The eight puppies are each delightful and with their own personalities. At six weeks old they are learning to be calm in their interactions and to be confident in problem solving, she said. It is an amazing experience to deliver and care for these beautiful dogs alongside their lovely mother Aafke. She is a brilliant mum, from cutting the tiny umbilical cords at birth to teaching them that no means no when they still grab for her health-giving milk. Mike and Nicky bought their first Wetterhoun Aafke (pictured) in 2020 (UKSA) The puppies were born as part of a breeding programme at the UK Stabyhoun Association (UKSA) which hopes to grow a healthy UK population of Wetterhouns and promote their cousin the Stabyhoun as an active family dog. Nicky said she is following puppy culture protocols which are designed to give dogs the skills they need to thrive in the human world. She hopes the pups will be able to make their own contribution to the next generation of Wetterhouns but only with the right permission from the Breeding Committee of the Dutch Breed Club. Cross-breeding is absolutely forbidden to ensure the continued health of the breed going forward, she explained. Poppy (pictured) is one of the first eight Wetterhoun pups born in the UK (UKSA) Breeding experts at the UKSA said Wetterhouns have a unique and charming character, are calm and reliable in their nature and definitely have a sense of humour. They are classified in FCI Group 8 Retrievers and Waterdogs and love to be with their people. Once they welcome you into their family, you have a friend for life, a spokesperson said. Wetterhouns were traditionally used for hunting small mammals and waterfowl in the Netherlands, where they were developed at least 400 years ago in the province of Fryslan. Their name comes from the West Frisian Wetterhun meaning water dog. The pair had to look to the Netherlands to breed Aafke and found a suitable male Lex (pictured) (UKSA) The dog breed was almost wiped out during the German occupation of the Second World War but dog lovers were able to bring it back through careful breeding and it is now gaining in popularity. Wetterhouns are known for working closely with their owner always trying to stay in contact in order to know what is wanted from them, according to Stayhouns UK. Their thick and curly coat is water repellent and protects them in all outdoor conditions. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Union leaders have promised to defy the Governments controversial legislation on minimum levels of service during strikes in a series of speeches at a rally in central London. More than one hundred people gathered in Parliament Square waving colourful union flags as they cheered at criticism of the Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Bill, which returns to Parliament for MPs to discuss amendments put forward by the Lords. Unions have warned the Bill could lead to workers being sacked for legally voting to take industrial action. Addressing the crowd in which people held signs that read defend the right to strike and bring down the Tories general secretary of the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union Mick Lynch prompted applause when he called for a mass campaign of workplace disobedience if the Bill is enacted. We will not allow our members to be dismissed, he said. We will not allow our members to be disciplined. We will not obey work notices issued by the employer or issued by the Government. We will defy this law. If this law comes into fruition the TUC and all of the trade unions affiliated and every worker in this country has got to unleash a mass campaign of workplace disobedience. He urged Labour MPs to vote against the legislation, insisting it is easy to do so. Lets vote them out at the next election Paul Nowak, TUC general secretary Addressing Labour, he added: You must not only robustly oppose this Bill, it must be repealed and you must go on the record again during this debate that it will be repealed in full within 100 days of a Labour government being elected. Mr Lynch went on to say that a Bill of rights for workers that enshrines in law the right to strike as a human and civil right is needed. Paul Nowak, general secretary of the Trades Union Congress (TUC) which organised the rally, also hailed the necessity of a new deal for workers. If this Government wont deliver that new deal for working people were going to make them pay the electoral price for 13 years of these spiteful attacks on working people, 13 years of decimating our public services, 13 years of reducing our pay and holding down our conditions, he said. Lets vote them out at the next election. He told the crowd that if the Bill gets on to the statute books, the TUC will challenge the Government legally and industrially. You might get this legislation on the statute book but we will not stand by and let you sack one single nurse, one single paramedic, one single teacher, one single railway worker, one single civil servant, he added. Speaking to the PA news agency before the start of the rally, Mr Nowak insisted there is no appetite for the legislation. The idea that somebody could be sacked for exercising a basic democratic right to take strike action is absolutely reprehensible, he added. It shouldnt be about fining unions and sacking workers, it should be about fining this Government and sacking the ministers Kevin Courtney, joint general secretary of the NEU Demonstrators booed after joint general secretary of the National Education Union (NEU), Kevin Courtney, told them the Government wants to continue with Margaret Thatchers trajectory. It is just not right, not fair that nurses are using foodbanks, he said. Its not right, its not fair that school support staff are using foodbanks and any decent government, any decent set of ministers would acknowledge that and they would begin an emergency programme to put it right. But this Government instead wants to continue in the same direction its been on since 2010 of cutting of public services, preparing them for privatisation and cutting our wages. They want to continue with Margaret Thatchers trajectory. He added: It shouldnt be about fining unions and sacking workers, it should be about fining this Government and sacking the ministers. Mr Courtney praised the House of Lords for putting forward amendments including ensuring that failure to comply with a so-called work notice under the legislation was not a breach of contract so a worker could not be sacked and that unions do not have any responsibility or obligation to ensure their members comply with a work notice. Well I never thought I would say this on a union platform but good for the House of Lords, he told the crowd, prompting laughter. Labour has promised to repeal the Bill if it wins the next general election and MP Jo Stevens reiterated the promise at Monday nights rally. If it passes on the back of Tory votes, no ifs, no buts, Labour will repeal it, she said. The politician added: This is all about Rishi Sunak distracting from the Tory conveyer belt of crisis with a vindictive attack on working people. Sign up to our free Brexit and beyond email for the latest headlines on what Brexit is meaning for the UK Sign up to our Brexit email for the latest insight Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Brexit and beyond email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Brexit regret among Leave voters has reached a record high, a new poll has found. Seven years on from the UKs decision to leave the European Union, more voters than ever believe Brexit has been a failure. The YouGov poll found more than a third of those who backed Leave in the referendum say Brexit has been more of a failure than a success. Meanwhile just a fifth of Leave supporters said Brexit had been more of a success, the survey found. Overall, 62 per cent of voters said leaving the EU had been more of a failure, with just nine per cent saying it had been a success. Among 18-24-year-olds, more than two thirds said Brexit had been more of a failure. Less than one in 20 considered it a success. Support remains stronger in older age groups, but almost half of over-65s now consider Brexit to have been a failure. The stark findings come just a week after Nigel Farage declared that Brexit had failed . The former Brexit and UKIP Party leader said the UK had not benefitted from Brexit economically, claiming that government policy had deterred businesses from investing in the UK. Brexiteer Tory MP David Jones was more positive about the UKs departure from the EU. He told The Independent: Brexit is the biggest and best opportunity presented to the UK for two generations. We have regained our sovereignty and can now make our own way in the world. Mr Jones said everyone knew the break-up would take some time, but insisted we are already seeing the benefits. He cited trade deals with the UKs old allies including Australia and New Zealand. The benefits of Brexit will continue to manifest themselves and become increasingly obvious over the years to come, he added. But Liberal Democrat foreign affairs spokeswoman Layla Moran told The Independent: The Conservatives botched deal with Europe has been an utter disaster for the country. "We simply cannot afford to go on like this. To grow the economy, you have to fix our broken relationship with Europe." And Naomi Smith, chief executive of Best for Britain, which campaigns for closer ties with the EU, said: Polling consistently shows that Britain has a severe case of voter's remorse from a Brexit that increased costs for businesses and consumers alike, removed freedoms and opportunities, and delivered none of its promised benefits. Hundreds of businesses have told us that Brexit, in its current form, isnt working and we will continue to feel the economic pain until policymakers acknowledge this clear consensus. YouGovs poll also found that more than seven in 10 people think the government has handled Brexit badly. Less than a fifth of voters think the governments handling of Britains EU exit has been good. Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the View from Westminster email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} China offered a stinging rebuttal to Rishi Sunak who called Beijing a challenge to global security by labelling Britain a vassal of the US and warning of lasting damage to its ties with London. The relevant remarks by the British side are simply parroting words from others and constitute malicious slanders in disregard of the facts. China firmly opposes and strongly condemns this, said a spokesperson for Zheng Zeguang, the Chinese ambassador to Britain. We call on the British side to stop slandering and smearing China so as to avoid further damage to China-UK relations, the statement said. Speaking at a press conference at the end of the Group of Seven (G7) summit, Mr Sunak branded China as a global security challenge to the world and said Britain supports de-risking, an expression used in the G7 declaration on Saturday. "China poses the biggest challenge of our age to global security and prosperity, they are increasingly authoritarian at home and assertive abroad," he warned. "This is all about de-risking, not de-coupling." Explaining the phrase, he said: "We will work together as the G7 and other countries make sure that we can de-risk ourselves and the vulnerability of supply chains that we have seen from China, take the steps necessary to protect ourselves against hostile investment and do so in a way that doesn't damage each other." The Chinese embassy in the UK asked the British government to cease always dancing to the tune of the US, stirring up trouble around the world, and creating division and confrontation. He said those without any prejudice towards China could see that it is a builder of world peace, a contributor to global development, and a defender of the international order while calling out the US and vassal countries for provoking confrontations. They are the ones that pose the biggest challenge to global security and prosperity, the statement said. The Chinese diplomat urged the British government to instead focus on dealing with long-standing political, economic and social issues in their own countries. China also summoned the Japanese ambassador to lodge a protest over joint declarations and statements to smear and attack China. Chinas vice foreign minister Sun Weidong said Japan collaborated with the other countries at the G7 summit in activities grossly interfering in Chinas internal affairs, violating the basic principles of international law and the spirit of the four political documents between China and Japan, referring to the China-Japan Joint Statement of 1972. He said China is strongly dissatisfied and firmly opposes Japans activities in Hiroshima where it held a summit with G7 and other world leaders. Japan should correct its understanding of China, grasp strategic autonomy, adhere to the principles of the four political documents between China and Japan, and truly promote the stable development of bilateral relations with a constructive attitude, he said. The heads of the worlds most advanced economies issued a strong condemnation of China, expressing serious concerns about rising tensions in East and South China Seas as well as voicing concerns about the human rights situations in China, including in Tibet and Xinjiang. They also called on China to devise a peaceful solution to tensions across the Taiwan Strait and push Russia to withdraw troops from Ukraine. Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the View from Westminster email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Former SNP MP Margaret Ferrier has lost her appeal against a proposed 30-day suspension from Commons bringing a by-election in her Rutherglen and Hamilton West constituency a step closer. The punishment was proposed by MPs on the Commons Standards Committee after a breach of Covid rules by Ms Ferrier saw her speak in the House of Commons and take the train between Scotland and England while positive for the virus. With a sanction of 10 sitting days or more being enough to potentially force a by-election, Ms Ferrier, who now sits as an independent MP, had appealed against the length of her proposed suspension. But the Independent Expert Panel, which considers appeals against decisions by the Committee on Standards from MPs, has rejected this. With regards to Ms Ferriers appeal, a sub-panel which considered the matter found that none of the grounds had substance and also said that the sanction imposed was neither unreasonable nor disproportionate. Ms Ferrier was elected as an SNP MP in 2019, but was suspended by the party the following year after she breached Covid rules. She has already been ordered to complete a 270-hour community payback order by a court after admitting culpably and recklessly exposing the public to the risk of infection, illness and death as a result of her behaviour. MPs will now be asked to vote on whether the 30-day sanction, which is being imposed as her behaviour also breached the House of Commons Code of Conduct, should go ahead. Under Parliament rules, if an MP is suspended for 10 sitting days or more a by-election can be held but for this to happen 10% of registered voters in the constituency need to sign a recall petition. There has never been a recall petition in Scotland since the procedure was introduced in 2015. Dismissing Ms Ferriers appeal against the proposed 30-day suspension, the Independent Expert Panel said: She acted with blatant and deliberate dishonest intent. She acted with a high degree of recklessness to the public and to colleagues and staff at the House of Commons. She acted selfishly, putting her own interests above the public interest. There could therefore be no lesser sanction for this conduct. The report stressed that MPs are expected to be held to a high standard of conduct as well as honesty. It added: When members fall short of that conduct, the trust and confidence in Parliament and its members are undermined. Ms Ferrier had argued that the proposed 30-day ban amounts to double jeopardy, since she has already been penalised by the Sheriff Court. But the report from the Independent Expert Panel said: We do not agree. There is no double jeopardy here. It insisted the criminal proceedings against Ms Ferrier and the workplace disciplinary proceedings she now faces are quite different. The report went on to describe her as being dishonest, pointing out she had not told anyone at the Commons she had tested for Covid, and when his came back positive, she failed to inform the Parliamentary test and trace team and did not tell the SNP chief whip. The panel stated: Ms Ferriers failure was not a single misjudgement, but a series of deliberate actions over several days. The report said the MPs actions demonstrated, in particular, a lack of honesty adding that this was one of seven principles of public life. At a time when others both across the country and within the Parliamentary community, made significant sacrifices in order to follow the rules and guidance during the Covid-19 pandemic, the report said Ms Ferrier knowingly exposed others to risk. Scottish Labour deputy leader Jackie Baillie said the failure of Ms Ferriers appeal meant that by-election that the people of Rutherglen and Hamilton West need has moved one step closer. Ms Baillie added: It is simply disgraceful that this community has been left without proper representation due to the actions of Margaret Ferrier. Scottish Liberal Democrat deputy leader Wendy Chamberlain MP said: At a time when so many Scots were staying home to keep themselves and others safe, Margaret Ferrier acted with real recklessness. Todays news takes us one step closer to a recall petition and a long overdue by-election. An SNP spokesperson said: There must now be a by-election in Rutherglen and Hamilton West, which the SNP has been calling for since Ms Ferriers Covid rule breach first came to light in 2020. The SNP is ready to take the fight to the Tories and pro-Brexit Labour Party at that by-election and we will be putting the cost of living, NHS and independence at the heart of our campaign. We will be working hard for every vote to ensure the people of Rutherglen and Hamilton West can have a strong SNP MP to stand up for their interests locally and for Scotland. Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the View from Westminster email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Labours Rachel Reeves has been branded a hypocrite for taking a business class British Airways flight to New York. The shadow chancellor, who is visiting the US to promote Labours economic plans, sat in a luxury seat costing around 4,000. Ms Reeves posted a picture of her ticket on Sunday alongside a promise that Labour will restore our economic dignity at home and abroad. Tonight, I fly to the US to start that work, she added. But the shadow chancellor quickly deleted the post, which revealed she was in seat 3K, at the front of business class on the Boeing 777-200 aircraft. A party donor paid for the flight, and a Labour spokeswoman said donations relating to the trip will be declared in the usual manner. Rachel Reeves is visiting the US to promote Labours economic plans for the future, strengthen our relationships and rebuild confidence in the UK after the Conservatives catastrophic economic crash last autumn, she added. In February, Labour accused Conservative ministers of living the high life at taxpayers expense. The party highlighted publicly-funded stays at five-star hotels for ministers including then-chancellor Rishi Sunak in 2021. And Tory MPs rounded on Ms Reeves for flying in business class on a donor-funded trip. Brendan Clarke-Smith told The Telegraph: When it comes to luxury travel, with Labour they still expect to be top of the list - its a case of do as I say, not as I do. "Whilst they claim they want to make a brand new start of it, when it comes down to it, to be frank, they are still the same old hypocrites theyve always been." Ms Reeves is hoping to become the UKs first female chancellor. In an interview with The Independent in March, she said she wants to smash glass ceilings and end the gender pay gap. On the possibility of becoming the first female chancellor, she said: Theres been a chancellor of the Exchequer now for just over 800 years, and theyve always been men. And I think, if you look at the history of women in parliament, its always been women who have championed issues that have improved the lives of women. She added: I want to be the chancellor who closes that pay gap between men and women. Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the View from Westminster email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Suella Braverman is facing allegations that she asked civil servants to help her avoid getting points on her licence for speeding, as prime minister Rishi Sunak is set to make a decision on her future as home secretary today. During her two stints as home secretary, Mrs Braverman has regularly attracted criticism for her comments and policy decisions. Here are some of her controversial moments: Speeding points The Sunday Times reported Mrs Braverman asked Home Office aides to help organise a one-to-one driving awareness course after being caught speeding last summer while attorney general. Officials refused the request, so the Home Secretary allegedly turned to a political aide to assist her in attempting to arrange an alternative to having to attend a course with other motorists. The newspaper said multiple requests were made to a speeding awareness course provider by an aide, including asking if the senior Conservative minister could do an online course, but use an alias or have her camera switched off. Mrs Braverman ultimately chose instead to accept three points on her driving licence. Labours shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper was among those demanding an investigation to see whether she breached the ministerial code. Email about civil servants In March, an email sent out to Conservative Party members in Mrs Bravermans name blamed an activist blob of left-wing lawyers, civil servants and the Labour Party for blocking previous attempts to tackle illegal migration. She was accused of potentially breaking ministerial rules by questioning the impartiality of public servants after the publication of the Governments Illegal Migration Bill. Dave Penman, general secretary of the FDA union which represents senior civil servants, said the email amounted to a direct attack on the integrity and impartiality of those working in the Home Office. The Prime Ministers press secretary told reporters Mrs Braverman did not see, sign off or sanction the email, which she said was sent in error. Sacking and reappointment Liz Truss forced Mrs Braverman out as home secretary in October 2022 after she breached the ministerial code by sending an official document to a Tory backbencher from a personal email. Mrs Braverman, who had been in the role six weeks, said she made a mistake which she conceded was a technical infringement of the rules. Six days later, after Ms Truss resigned as prime minister, her successor Mr Sunak reinstated Mrs Braverman. Both Labour and the Liberal Democrats raised national security concerns and demanded a Cabinet Office investigation. Outburst against tofu-eating wokerati Just before being sacked, Mrs Braverman accused opposition parties of being a coalition of chaos when discussing the Public Order Bill to crack down on disruptive protests. She told the Commons: Its the Guardian-reading, tofu-eating wokerati, dare I say, the anti-growth coalition that we have to thank for the disruption that we are seeing on our roads today. Ms Cooper said Mrs Bravermans words were astonishing, adding: The home secretary actually talked about a coalition of chaos we can see it in front of us as we speak. Rwanda comments The Home Secretary attracted criticism when talking about migration during a fringe event at the Conservative Party conference in October last year. Mrs Braverman said she would love to be here claiming victory, I would love to be having a front page of the Telegraph with a plane taking off to Rwanda, thats my dream, thats my obsession. She said it would be amazing if the first UK flight carrying migrants to the African country could take off by Christmas, but added: If Im honest, I think its going to take longer. Clashes with Downing Street On at least two occasions while Ms Truss was prime minister, she expressed views which put her at odds with Government policy. Ms Braverman said she had reservations about relaxing immigration controls as part of any trade deal with India, telling the Spectator magazine she had concerns about having an open borders migration policy with India because I dont think thats what people voted for with Brexit. Her comments were reported to have provoked a furious reaction from ministers and officials in New Delhi. She also faced criticism from a senior Government source for calling on the UK to leave the European Convention on Human Rights, who said: Her personal views are contrary to Government policy and if she wishes to make those views known within Government she should do so in a more appropriate setting. Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the View from Westminster email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Watch as Suella Braverman and Rishi Sunak faced questions in the House of Commons on Monday, 22 May, following the home secretary's speeding ticket controversy. Over the weekend, reports emerged alleging that Ms Braverman asked officials to try to arrange a private speed awareness course for her rather than take penalty points on her driving licence. The home secretary has since declared she is "confident that nothing untoward happened" over her handling of a speeding offence. A Downing Street spokesperson said Rishi Sunak has spoken to his ethics adviser regarding the allegations, but it is understood no formal inquiry has yet been launched into whether Ms Braverman breached the ministerial code. Ms Braverman is appearing in the Commons today for Home Office questions. The prime minister will later appear to make a statement following G7 talks over the weekend. World leaders, including Ukraine's president Volodymyr Zelensky, gathered in Japan for discussions that focused on China and Russia. Click here to sign up for our newsletters. Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the View from Westminster email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Conservative MPs are urging Rishi Sunak to order an investigation into Suella Braverman and sack her if the home secretary is found to have breached the ministerial rules over her handling of a speeding offence. Senior Tory MPs told The Independent Ms Braverman had shown constant poor judgement and appeared to have made a mistake too far following reports she asked officials to try to arrange a private speed awareness course rather than take points on her licence. In her first public comments on the row, the home secretary did not deny asking civil servants to look into the possibility of a one-on-one course but said she was confident she had done nothing untoward and denied trying to evade punishment. Mr Sunak held back on offering his support, saying he had spoken to both Ms Braverman and No 10 ethics adviser Sir Laurie Magnus and was still seeking more information before deciding whether to order an investigation. Senior Conservatives are frustrated by yet another ethics row engulfing the government, with a split between those who want to see Ms Braverman fired if a rule breach is proven and allies who claim disgruntled civil servants are behind the storm in a teacup. One Tory minister told The Independent: The PM should ask Sir Laurie to investigate urgently. If shes found to have breached ministerial code again she should absolutely go. A former cabinet minister said there was clearly a case for investigation adding that it appeared to be a mistake too far for Ms Braverman. Frankly, there have been a number of lapses of judgement. If theres a breach of code the prime minister might want to get someone else. Another Tory ex-minister added: Its behaviour which illustrates her constant poor judgement. The PM will be damaged if he lets her continue peddling inflated rhetoric and giving speeches that trash the Conservative brand. Mr Sunak was seen patting the home secretary on the back as he arrived in the Commons on Monday in an apparent show of support. No 10 said the PM wants to make sure a proper process is followed but refused to endorse the home secretarys own claim she did nothing untoward. Pressed by opposition MPs in the Commons, Ms Braverman said: Last summer I was speeding. I regret that. I paid the fine and I took the penalty. And at no point did I try to evade sanction. Suella Braverman is under pressure after she was caught speeding (PA) However, former top civil servant Sir Philip Rycroft accused her of a real lapse of judgement over the request for a one-on-one course. This, on the face of it, I think, is a breach of the ministerial code, he said. He pointed to paragraph 7.1 of the ministerial code, stating that ministers must ensure that no conflict arises, or could reasonably be perceived to arise, between their public duties and their private interests. Sir Alistair Graham, former chair of the committee on standards in public life, also called for an investigation. It looks like totally inappropriate behaviour a speeding fine is a domestic matter, so to seek some special privilege through the civil service would be quite wrong, he told The Independent. The former standards chief pointed to paragraph 1.3 of the code which outlines the overarching duty on ministers to comply with the law and protect the integrity of public life. Sir Alistair added: If the evidence demonstrates she asked civil servants to behave in an inappropriate manner, I would think it would be a breach of the code. Rishi Sunak is under pressure to order an investigation in his home secretary (PA) One senior Tory figure said Ms Braverman is in difficulty if the reports are borne out, because you cant use your official position to get privileged treatment. The former minister likened the situation to Labour home secretary David Blunkett, who resigned in 2004 after claims by his former lover, Kimberly Quinn, that he abused his powers as home secretary to fast-track a visa for her foreign nanny. The MP said colleagues would be less sympathetic if Ms Braverman is found to have broken the rules because she has a track record, adding: Despite all this stuff about her representing a faction, it is a pretty small faction and a lot of right-wingers do not like her at all. Ms Braverman was sacked by Liz Truss in October after she sent an official document from her personal email to a fellow Tory MP, in a breach of the ministerial code which she described as a technical infringement. Despite the latest row, Ms Bravermans allies jumped to her defence and claimed she is being targeted by civil servants as part of a smear campaign. Craig Mackinlay MP told The Independent that the row over Ms Bravermans speeding fine is a total storm in a teacup. Henry Smith MP said the speeding story suggested a wider movement against Ms Braverman in Whitehall. There is a lot of pushback against policies she is pursuing, particularly the Rwanda plan, so I suspect that is what is more behind this, the Tory backbencher added. Suella Braverman is said to have approached civil servants about a one-on-one driving course (PA) The Sunday Times reported that Ms Braverman asked Home Office civil servants to help arrange a one-to-one driving awareness course, rather than the group session offered to motorists for minor speeding offences. Officials are said to have refused the request, so Ms Braverman allegedly turned to a political aide to assist her. Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said Ms Braverman should quit if found to have breached the ministerial code, while the Liberal Democrats said Mr Sunaks inability to act on a probe is a clear failure of leadership. Dave Penman, general secretary of the FDA union representing senior officials, said: Civil servants are publicly funded. They dont do their shopping and they dont sort out their speeding fine. Meanwhile, Downing Street would not be drawn on a report in the Mirror that Ms Bravermans special adviser repeatedly denied she had been caught speeding when the suggestion was put to them last month. A No 10 spokesperson said of course Mr Sunak believes special advisers should tell the truth to journalists but would not say whether the special adviser had failed to tell the truth. The Home Office and Ms Bravermans aide have been approached for comment. Close Suella Braverman 'confident that nothing untoward happened' over speeding ticket Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the View from Westminster email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Suella Braverman is facing fresh allegations that she broke the ministerial code over her failure to formally disclose years of previous work with the Rwandan government. The home secretary is already facing accusations that she broke the ministerial code after the Sunday Times revealed Ms Braverman asked her staff to help her dodge a speeding fine. Now Ms Braverman is facing further pressure after she failed to disclose that she co-founded a charity called the Africa Justice Foundation which worked with several key members of President Paul Kagames government who are involved in the UKs 140m deal to send asylum seekers to Rwanda. Ms Braverman did not officially disclose her previous links to the country when appointed home secretary in 2022, despite ongoing legal challenges alleging politically-driven human rights violations including torture, murder and kidnappings. One former minister told The Independent that the home secretary never mentioned her work with the charity and should have been upfront and transparent. A spokesperson for the home secretary said it was not necessary for Ms Braverman to disclose her links with the charity, which she resigned from shortly before being elected to parliament. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} The Foreign Secretary will tell young leaders in Chile that South America deserves a bigger say on the international stage, as part of a keynote speech on Monday. James Cleverly will tell crowds at Santiagos Gabriela Mistral Cultural Centre that the tectonic plates of world politics are shifting once again. The politician is visiting the region as part of the first visit by a foreign secretary to South America since 2018. Mr Cleverly will visit Chile, Colombia and Brazil as part of his visit to the continent. In a keynote speech celebrating 200 years of UK-South America relations, Mr Cleverly will set out the UKs future relationship with South America. The Foreign Secretary will call for South American countries to be given a louder voice in multinational organisations like the UN, including a permanent Security Council seat for Brazil, according to the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO). Mr Cleverly will tell crowds: [Latin Americas] demographic and economic weight gives you a pivotal role in determining whether the international order will endure But our worlds multilateral institutions need reform, in particular to give more voice and more influence to Latin America. The Foreign Secretary will also use his address in Santiago to describe Britain as the regions oldest friend and will highlight how Britain and South America are partners on issues such as climate change, protecting democracy and human rights, and securing free and open supply chains of critical minerals. The Foreign Secretary will also use the visit to try and boost Britains jobs, growth and influence. The UK will be joining Mexico, Chile and Peru in the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) trading bloc. Britain joined the CPTPP, a major Indo-Pacific trade bloc, earlier in the year. Mr Cleverly will highlight how South America only represents 2% of British imports and 2.5% of British exports worldwide. He will also highlight how there is much more to do on trade and investment going forward. British embassies across the continent are preparing celebrate 200 years of UK-South America relations. Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Around 60,000 pounds of ammonium nitrate, commonly used as a fertilizer and in explosives, have disappeared from a rail shipment on its way from Wyoming to California. The shipment went missing in April and still has not been found, according to The New York Times. Chemical manufacturing company, Dyno Nobel, reported the missing chemicals to the US government. It issued a statement saying that it was investigating what led to the disappearance. The company noted that the rail car carrying the chemicals was sealed when it left its manufacturing site in Cheyenne, Wyoming, and confirmed seals were intact when the train arrived in Saltdale, California. Dyno Nobel said it believe that a "leak through the bottom gate on the rail car may have developed in transit." The rail car has since been sent back to Wyoming for further inspection, according to the company. We take this matter seriously and will work to understand how it happened and how it can be prevented from occurring again, a spokesperson for Dyno Nobel said in a statement to Cowboy State Daily News. A spokesperson for rail carrier Union Pacific said that Dyno Nobel's investigation was still in its "early stages," noting that if the chemicals did leak out of the rail car, it is intended for use in soil and can be absorbed without harm. The fertilizer is designed for ground application and quick soil absorption, spokesperson Kristen South said. If the loss resulted from a rail car leak over the course of transportation from origin to destination, the release should pose no risk to public health or the environment. The company said it does not believe theft or malicious activity was to blame for the disappearance of the chemicals. The Federal Railroad Administration and the California Public Utilities Commission are also investigating the incident, according to KQED. Ammonium nitrate can be used as an explosive when combined with pressure, heat and a fuel source. Mining and construction companies sometimes use the chemical in that capacity, according to the Department of Homeland Security. The chemical was used in explosives in the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995 and in the 2011 bombings in Delhi, India. The chemical is more typically used as a fertilizer or in cold packs found in first aid kits. Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} A 30-tonne rail shipment of an explosive chemical vanished en route from Wyoming to California last month, officials say. A train loaded with 60,000 pounds of ammonium nitrate departed Cheyenne, Wyoming, on 12 April, explosives company Dyno Nobel told The Independent. When it arrived at a stop in the Mojave Desert two weeks later, the car was empty. The company notified authorities in a 10 May report to the federal National Response Center. The mysterious disappearance of ammonium nitrate, a key ingredient used by Timothy McVeigh in the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing, has since prompted four separate investigations. The Federal Railroad Administration, the California Public Utilities Commission, Union Pacific, and Dyno Nobel are probing the disappearance. Dyno Nobels told authorities that reason for the chemicals release was due to an unknown cause, and that it made the alarming discovery after the Union Pacific rail car arrived in Saltdale, California, more than 1,000 miles from Cheyenne. A spokesperson told The Independent the nitrate had been shipped in pellet form and may have accidentally fallen out of the rail car. The train was taken back to Wyoming for an inspection. The railcar was sealed when it left the Cheyenne facility, and the seals were still intact when it arrived in Saltdale. The initial assessment is that a leak through the bottom gate on the railcar may have developed in transit, the company spokesperson said. A 30-tonne shipment of ammonium nitrate produced at the Dyno Nobel plant near Cheyenne, above, vanished en route to California (The Center for Land Use Interpretation) The chemical, which is also used to make fertilizer, was the primary ingredient in the 1995 terrorist attack on the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City that killed 168 people and injured around 850. It has also caused deadly accidents. In 1947, a 2,000-tonne ammonium nitrate shipment exploded in Texas City, Texas, killing at least 581 people. It was also the cause of a catastrophic explosion in Lebanon in 2020, which killed more than 200 people and injured thousands more. A Union Pacific spokesperson told The Independent that the ammonium nitrate would be quickly absorbed into the soil. If the loss resulted from a railcar leak over the course of transportation from origin to destination, the release should pose no risk to public health or the environment, the spokesperson said. At this point in the investigation, we do not believe there is any criminal or malicious activity involved. Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Convicted sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein reportedly blackmailed Bill Gates and threatened to expose his alleged affair with a Russian bridge player. The late paedophile threatened to expose the Microsoft co-founders supposed affair with Mila Antonova if Mr Gates didn't reimburse him for tuition costs that Epstein had initially covered for the woman to attend a software coding school, the Wall Street Journal reported. Epstein blackmailed Mr Gates in the form of an email in 2017, the report claims, after he failed to convince the world's fourth richest man to join a multibillion-dollar charity fund that he attempted to set up with JPMorgan Chase. The bombshell report adds weight to longstanding speculation that Epstein may have been extorting his powerful network of friends. According to the WSJ report, the implication behind the message was that Epstein could reveal the affair if Mr Gates didnt keep up an association between the two men. Mr Gates met with Epstein solely for philanthropic purposes. Having failed repeatedly to draw Mr Gates beyond these matters, Epstein tried unsuccessfully to leverage a past relationship to threaten Mr Gates, a spokesperson for the Gates Foundation told the Journal. The Microsoft co-founder reportedly met Ms Antonova around 2010, when she was in her 20s. In a YouTube video posted that year, she spoke about meeting Mr Gates at a bridge tournament and playing against him. "I didn't beat him but I tried to kick him with my leg," Ms Antonova said in the video. According to the Journal, Ms Antonova was trying to secure funds in order to establish an online bridge tutorial business. She was introduced to Epstein through Boris Nikolic, a close adviser to Mr Gates. Ms Antonova and Mr Nikolic met Epstein at his townhouse in November 2013 in New York City, where she reportedly sought $500,000 for her initiative to promote bridge by creating quality tutorials for beginners and advanced players. Mila Antonova in a video from 2010 talks about playing bridge with Bill Gates (Screengrab/ IgniteNYC) Epstein did not invest in her project but she went on to stay at one of his apartments in New York a year later. He later paid for Ms Antonova to attend software coding school. While she was looking to set up her initiative, Epstein was attempting to establish his charitable fund with JPMorgan, which would require the multi-billionaires to make a minimum $100m contribution. Ms Antonova, in a statement to the Journal, said she didnt know who Epstein was when they met. I had no idea that he was a criminal or had any ulterior motive, she said of Epstein. I just thought he was a successful businessman and wanted to help. I am disgusted with Epstein and what he did. The bridge player declined to comment about Mr Gates. In 2006, Epstein was accused of sexually abusing minors as young as 14 and pleaded guilty in 2008 to procuring a minor for prostitution. A so-called sweetheart deal saw him spend just 13 months in jail, and was allowed to return to his office during the day. Rumors that Epstein had been blackmailing his wealthy friends have been circulating for years. In 2020, the Netflix documentary Jeffrey Epstein: Filthy Rich claimed that the late paedophile had set up surveillance cameras in his Manhattan townhouse as part of a blackmail scheme to extort his powerful associates. Virginia Giuffre told the documentary makers Epstein had said to her people owe me favours and Ill never get caught and I can get away with it. In this 28 March 2017 photo provided by the New York State Sex Offender Registry shows Jeffrey Epstein (New York State Sex Offender Registry) In his 2019 book Epstein: Dead Men Tell No Tales, author Dylan Howard alleged that Epstein had been a Mossad spy after being introduced to the Israeli spy firm by Robert Maxwell, the father of his longtime associate Ghislaine Maxwell. The book claimed that Epstein and Ghislaine had lured prominent politicians and celebrities to his proprieties, and filmed them having sex with underage girls. The tapes existence has never been confirmed by authorities. Epsteins network included former presidents Bill Clinton and Donald Trump, lawyer Alan Dershowitz, billionaire Les Weiner and Prince Andrew. All have strongly denied any wrongdoing or knowledge of criminal behaviour. Mr Gates reportedly started meeting with Epstein after he was convicted of sex crimes. The duo met on numerous occasions beginning in 2011, at least three times at Epstein's Manhattan townhouse, the New York Times previously reported. Mr Gates never had any financial dealings with Epstein. As Bill has said before, it was a mistake to have ever met him, a spokesperson for Mr Gates told The Independent. His ex-wife Melinda French Gates said that the clandestine Epstein meetings were a factor in their 2021 divorce. In a 2022 interview with CBS News, Ms French Gates said she went to meet Epstein because she wanted to see who this man was, and that she regretted it from the second I stepped in the door. She described Epstein as abhorrent and evil personified, and said she had nightmares about the meeting afterwards. The charitable fund was supposed to be a way for Epstein to rebuild his reputation, according to the WSJ report. Epstein, in emails sent to JPMorgan executives, tried to come off as a close adviser to Mr Gates. In essence, this [fund] will allow Bill to have access to higher quality people, investment, allocation, governance without upsetting either his marriage or the sensitvities [sic] of the current foundation employees, Epstein wrote in an email in August 2011. The next day he followed up, writing: Bill is terribly frustrated. He would! like to boost some of the things that are working without taking away from those that are not [sic]." In October, Epstein sent another email to JPMorgan executives after the company prepared a presentation, writing, the presentation, is not tailored to [Bill]. He is the only person, the only one, that counts. A JPMorgan spokesperson said: The firm didnt need him for introductions. Knowing what we know today, we wish we had never done business with him. The Journal quoted a Gates spokesperson as saying that Epstein never worked for Mr Gates and misrepresented their ties in communications with JPMorgan and others. In August 2019, Epstein killed himself in a New York City federal jail cell aged 66 as he awaited trial on sex trafficking charges. Sign up to our free US news bulletin sent straight to your inbox each weekday morning Sign up to our free morning US email news bulletin Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the US Morning Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} The mother of a newborn child found abandoned in a wooded area wrapped in a plastic bag in Georgia has been arrested after four years. Karima Jiwani, 40, was arrested on Thursday after authorities used DNA to identify the biological parents of the child named "Baby India", Forsyth County sheriff Ron Freeman said. She has been charged with criminal intent to commit murder, cruelty to children in the first degree, aggravated assault, and reckless abandonment. In 2019, a family in Cummuning, about 40 miles north of Atlanta, called 911 after hearing cries coming from the woods. Law enforcement officers responding to the call found an hours-old girlchild tied in a yellow plastic bag, with her umbilical cord still attached. Body camera footage of the discovery was made public as officials appealed to the members of the public for help locating the girl's parents. The footage showed officers removing the baby from the plastic bag and wrapping her in a blanket. Baby Indias birth likely took place inside a vehicle, Sheriff Freeman said on Friday, adding that she was found hours before a severe thunderstorm struck Forsyth County. The child's father was identified nearly 10 months ago using advanced DNA investigative practices and familial DNA. However, there was no indication that he was involved in her abandonment, the sheriff said. There is no evidence, at this point, that the father was aware of either the pregnancy or the abandonment of (the) baby, he added. Ms Jiwani drove for a "significant period of time" after the birth with the infant in a car "until she decided to tie the baby in a plastic bag and throw it into the woods to die", police said. Evidence suggested that the mother was alone when the child was abandoned, Sheriff Freeman said. Ms Jiwani cooperated with detectives throughout the investigation, according to the sheriffs office. The authorities said they could not discuss motives or details of what Ms Jiwani told investigators at the time because the case is pending prosecution. "This child was tied up in a plastic bag and thrown into the woods like a bag of trash. I can't understand that," Mr Freeman said. "It literally is one of the saddest things I have ever seen. ...little can explain how this happened, and no motive can justify that decision. "Jiwani made no effort to leave this child, not only under Safe (Haven) Law, but in any place this child could be found." Georgia's "Safe Haven" law provides mothers criminal immunity if they leave their baby with medical facility volunteers or staff, or at a fire or police station, if the child is no more than 30 days old. The sheriff's office did not provide details of Baby India's current state but said she was "thriving" in the care of the Georgia Department of Family and Children Services. Close Moment Idaho student murders suspect arrives in court for arraignment Sign up to our free US news bulletin sent straight to your inbox each weekday morning Sign up to our free morning US email news bulletin Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the US Morning Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Police in Pennsylvania have spoken out about the possible connection between Idaho murders suspect Bryan Kohberger and the death of a woman whose body was found almost a year after her disappearance. It emerged this week that Mr Kohbergers parents had been ordered to testify before a grand jury investigating the disappearance and death of Dana Smithers, 45. Smithers vanished without a trace in May 2022 from Monroe County, Pennsylvania where Mr Kohberger was living at the time. Her remains were found last month in a wooded area, her cause of death still unknown. A source told CNN that the accused killers mother had already given evidence to the grand jury while his father was appearing to testify on Thursday. Stroud Area Regional Police Department has now issued a statement insisting there is NO EVIDENCE that Dana Smithers disappearance, is in ANY WAY tied to Idaho murder suspect Bryan Kohberger. The development comes days after Mr Kohberger was arraigned on four counts of murder and one count of burglary in Moscow, Idaho. Mr Kohberger is accused of killing Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Madison Mogen, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, and Ethan Chapin, 20, on 13 November. Sign up to our free US news bulletin sent straight to your inbox each weekday morning Sign up to our free morning US email news bulletin Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the US Morning Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Bryan Kohberger bought a Ka-Bar knife and knife sheath from Amazon seven months before he allegedly stabbed four University of Idaho students to death in a brutal attack that sent shockwaves across America, it has been revealed. NBCs Dateline special The Killings on King Road reported that the 28-year-old accused killer shopped online for the military-style knife in April 2022. At the time, he was still studying for his masters degree in criminology at DeSales University in Pennsylvania. He graduated from the university that June and then relocated across the country to Pullman, Washington, where he began a graduate program in criminal justice at Washington State University. The report indicates that Mr Kohberger took the knife with him when he moved. On 13 November, he allegedly used either that knife or a similar one to stab Madison Mogen, Kaylee Goncalves, both 21, and Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin, both 20, to death in an off-campus home in Moscow, Idaho. Investigators tied Mr Kohberger to the murders after the killer left a Ka-Bar knife sheath behind at the scene next to Mogens body. DNA found on the sheath matched that of the 28-year-old PhD student, according to the criminal affidavit. The murder weapon itself has never been found. Former FBI profiler Greg Cooper told Dateline that the knife purchase coming months before the murders indicates that the suspect had a fantasy of thinking about committing crimes for a long time with that knife prior to the moment he allegedly used it. The NBC special also revealed for the first time that Mr Kohbergers own family allegedly had suspicions of his possible involvement prior to his arrest and that he may have broken into another female students home in the lead-up to the murders. The 28-year-old criminology PhD student had befriended the woman after he moved to Pullman, according to a source. Bryan Kohberger appearing in court in Idaho in January (AP) One day, the woman returned to her apartment and found that someone had broken in and moved items around the home but that nothing was missing. Since nothing was taken, the woman decided not to call the police but instead called her new friend Mr Kohberger and asked him to come over. Mr Kohberger allegedly offered to install a video security system inside her home and the woman agreed. Following its installation, investigators believe Mr Kohberger used the security cameras to spy on the woman as knowing her wifi password he was able to tap into the cameras when within close proximity to the apartment. Mr Cooper told Dateline that the incident was a step in progression for Mr Kohberger to move from breaking into a home when no one was in to allegedly breaking in when multiple people were home at the King Road address that deadly night in November. In the Dateline episode, sources also revealed that Mr Kohbergers sister was growing suspicious that her brother could have been responsible for the murders when the family gathered to spend the holidays together. In mid-December, Mr Kohberger left Pullman to travel cross country with his father back to the family home in Albrightsville, Pennsylvania, for the holidays. During his time at home, his family members noticed that he was behaving somewhat bizarrely. The source said that Mr Kohberger was constantly wearing latex gloves, including inside their own home. One of his two older sisters began to wonder if he could have played a part in the murders and, at one point, she raised her concerns with her other family members. She loudly pointed out that, at the time of the murders, her brother was living just a few miles from the crime scene and that he drove a white Hyundai Elantra the make and colour of vehicle at the centre of the investigation. Along with his bizarre tendency to wear latex gloves at all time, she believed that the family should consider that Mr Kohberger might have killed the four victims, the source said. Mr Kohbergers father allegedly defended his son and insisted he could not have been involved. A Ka-Bar USMC knife. Investigators believe a knife of this kind was the murer weapon ( Rich Bowen/CC BY 2.0) But her suspicions were so great that at one point several family members searched Mr Kohbergers white Hyundai Elantra for possible evidence of the crime, the source said. By that point, police said Mr Kohberger had already been spotted cleaning his car out with bleach and so the family members didnt find anything of note, the source said. It is not clear if Mr Kohberger was aware of his family members suspicions that he could have been behind the murders or what potential prior behaviour may have led his own sister to suspect him capable of carrying out such a brutal crime. Soon after, in the early hours of 30 December, law enforcement swooped on the family home and arrested him for the murders. At the time of his arrest, the source said Mr Kohberger was wide awake standing in the kitchen wearing latex gloves and putting his personal trash in plastic bags to take it out to a neighbours trash can. An attorney close to Mr Kohbergers family declined to comment on the revelations to Dateline. On Monday (22 May), he will appear in court for his arraignment on four counts of first-degree murder and burglary. The 28-year-old is now scheduled to be arraigned in Latah County Court in Moscow, where he is expected to enter a plea on the charges. Mr Kohberger had been due to appear in court for a week-long preliminary hearing on 26 June, where the prosecution would lay out the case and evidence against the suspect. However, on 16 May, a grand jury indicted Mr Kohberger on the charges, paving the way for the case to proceed without and leading to the cancellation of the preliminary hearing. Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin (Jazzmin Kernodle) Mr Kohberger is accused of breaking into the student home in the early hours of 13 November and stabbing the four students to death in a horror attack that rocked the college town of Moscow and sent shockwaves across America. The motive remains unknown and it is still unclear what connection the WSU PhD student had to the University of Idaho students if any prior to the murders. However, the affidavit, released in January, revealed that Mr Kohbergers DNA was found on a knife sheath left behind at the scene of the murders. It also revealed that his white Hyundai Elantra was caught on surveillance footage at the crime scene and that one of the surviving roommates came face to face with the killer masked, dressed in head to toe black and with bushy eyebrows as he left the home in the aftermath of the murders. New details have also emerged about what was found during an initial search of his apartment and a rental storage unit. The court documents show that two items found in his apartment tested positive for blood. The two items were a mattress cover on the bed and an uncased pillow, both of which had visible reddish brown stains. The documents do not reveal who the blood belongs to. Investigators seized a string of other items from his home including possible human and animal hair strands, a disposable glove and a computer. The murder weapon a fixed-blade knife has still never been found. Madison Mogen and Kaylee Goncalves pictured together before their murders (Instagram) As a criminal justice PhD student at WSU, Mr Kohberger lived just 15 minutes from the victims over the Idaho-Washington border in Pullman. He had moved there from Pennsylvania and began his studies there that summer, having just completed his first semester before his arrest. Before this, he studied criminology at DeSales University first as an undergraduate and then finishing his graduate studies in June 2022. While there, he studied under renowned forensic psychologist Katherine Ramsland who interviewed the BTK serial killer and co-wrote the book Confession of a Serial Killer: The Untold Story of Dennis Rader, the BTK Killer with him. He also carried out a research project to understand how emotions and psychological traits influence decision-making when committing a crime. He is facing life in prison or the death penalty for the murders that have rocked the small college town of Moscow and hit headlines around the globe. Sign up to our free US news bulletin sent straight to your inbox each weekday morning Sign up to our free morning US email news bulletin Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the US Morning Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Bryan Kohberger refused to enter a plea in the murders of four University of Idaho students who were brutally stabbed to death in a shocking attack that horrified the nation. The 28-year-old criminology PhD student appeared in Latah County Court in Moscow, Idaho, on Monday morning for his arraignment on four charges of first-degree murder and one charge of burglary. His attorney said that he was standing silent on the charges, leaving the judge to enter not guilty pleas on his behalf. Shackled and dressed in an orange prison jumpsuit with what appeared to be protective armour underneath, the accused killer entered the courtroom just after 9am PT, giving his attorney Anne Taylor a brief smile as he sat down next to her. During the brief hearing, Judge John Judge informed Mr Kohberger of his rights, reading out each of the charges against him and the penalties including the death penalty if he is convicted. The judge went through each count individually, saying aloud each of the victims names. Mr Kohberger showed no emotion or expression as he stared straight ahead at the judge while hearing the names of the students who he is accused of violently killing. Mr Kohberger spoke only to answer defiantly and loudly yes and yes I do when asked if he understood the charges, maximum penalties and his rights in the court. Meanwhile, several members of Kaylee Goncalves and Madison Mogens families choked up with emotion as they came face to face with the man accused of killing their 21-year-old daughters and he declined to enter a plea. Now, the prosecution has 60 days to confirm whether or not they are seeking the death penalty in the case. Judge Judge has set Mr Kohbergers trial date for 2 October 2023 following a request by Mr Kohbergers attorney to set the date as late as possible. The trial is expected to take around six weeks. Bryan Kohberger enters the courtroom for his arraignment hearing in Latah County District Court on Monday 22 May (AP) Mr Kohberger had been due to appear in court for a week-long preliminary hearing on 26 June, where the prosecution would lay out the case and evidence against the suspect. However, last Tuesday, a grand jury indicted Mr Kohberger on the charges, paving the way for the case to proceed to trial without that hearing. Following the latest hearing, Goncalves family released a statement thanking the state for taking the case to the grand jury but saying that they are disappointed with the ongoing gag order preventing them from speaking about the case. The family would like to thank everyone for continuing to follow this case and keep the memories of Kaylee, Maddie, Xana and Ethan alive. They are what is important not the Defendant, the statement reads. We are thankful that the Latah County District Attorneys Office finally took the case to a GJ and came back with an indictment. At the same time we are disappointed that the judicial process has not been more efficient in addressing the Gag order. This is just the beginning of a long journey for all the families and we are thankful for your continued support and coverage. Mr Kohberger is accused of breaking into an off-campus student home on King Road in the early hours of 13 November and stabbing Goncalves, 21, Mogen, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, and Ethan Chapin, 20, to death with a large, military-style knife. Bryan Kohberger looks at his attorney Anne Taylor during arraignment (CourtTV) Two other female roommates lived with the three women at the property and were home at the time of the massacre but survived. One of the survivors Dylan Mortensen came face to face with the masked killer, dressed in head to toe black and with bushy eyebrows, as he left the home in the aftermath of the murders, according to the criminal affidavit. For more than six weeks, the college town of Moscow was plunged into fear as the accused killer remained at large with no arrests made and no suspects named. Then, on 30 December, law enforcement suddenly swooped on Mr Kohbergers family home in Albrightsville, Pennsylvania and arrested him for the quadruple murders. The motive remains unknown and it is still unclear what connection the WSU PhD student had to the University of Idaho students if any prior to the murders. However, the affidavit, released in January, revealed that Mr Kohbergers DNA was found on a knife sheath left behind at the scene of the murders. It also revealed that his white Hyundai Elantra was caught on surveillance footage close to the crime scene. New details have emerged since about what was found during an initial search of his apartment in Pullman and a rental storage unit. The court documents show that two items found in his apartment a mattress cover on the bed and an uncased pillow tested positive for blood. The documents do not reveal who the blood belongs to. Investigators also seized a string of other items from his home including possible human and animal hair strands, a disposable glove and a computer. Meanwhile, the murder weapon a fixed-blade knife has still never been found. As a criminal justice PhD student at WSU, Mr Kohberger lived just 15 minutes from the victims over the Idaho-Washington border in Pullman. He had moved there from Pennsylvania and began his studies there that summer, having just completed his first semester before his arrest. Before this, he studied criminology at DeSales University first as an undergraduate and then finishing his graduate studies in June 2022. Ethan Chapin, 20, Madison Mogen, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, and Kaylee Goncalves, 21, took this photo together hours before they died (Instagram/Kaylee Goncalves) While there, he studied under renowned forensic psychologist Katherine Ramsland who interviewed the BTK serial killer and co-wrote the book Confession of a Serial Killer: The Untold Story of Dennis Rader, the BTK Killer with him. He also carried out a research project to understand how emotions and psychological traits influence decision-making when committing a crime. He is facing life in prison or the death penalty for the murders that have rocked the small college town of Moscow and hit headlines around the globe. Sign up to our free US news bulletin sent straight to your inbox each weekday morning Sign up to our free morning US email news bulletin Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the US Morning Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Bryan Kohberger is believed to have broken into the home of a female student and then installed security cameras to spy on her in the months before he allegedly killed four other students in a horror attack in Moscow, Idaho. The 28-year-old criminology PhD student had befriended the woman after he moved to Pullman, Washington state, to begin a graduate program in criminal justice at Washington State University (WSU), according to a source. One day, the woman returned to her apartment and found that someone had broken in and moved items around the home but that nothing was missing. Since nothing was taken, the woman decided not to call the police but instead called her new friend Mr Kohberger and asked him to come over. Mr Kohberger allegedly offered to install a video security system inside her home and the woman agreed. Following its installation, investigators believe Mr Kohberger used the security cameras to spy on the woman as knowing her wifi password he was able to tap into the cameras when within close proximity to the apartment. The bombshell allegation was revealed in an NBC Dateline episode titled The Killings on King Road, which reported that Mr Kohberger is now a strong suspect in the initial break-in. NewsNation originally reported the claims last month. Months later, on 13 November, Mr Kohberger is accused of breaking into an off-campus home in Moscow, Idaho, and stabbing to death Madison Mogen, Kaylee Goncalves, both 21, and Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin, both 20. Former FBI profiler Greg Cooper told Dateline that the incident was a step in progression for Mr Kohberger to move from breaking into a home when no one was in to allegedly breaking in when multiple people were home at the King Road address that deadly night in November. I would expect that he orchestrated the whole thing, he was not looking at her as a potential victim necessarily, said Mr Cooper. But he orchestrated it so that she would come to him and that he would be able to help her. It is another level of power and domination and control over another person. Bryan Kohberger appearing in court in Idaho in January (AP) The hero image that he can portray. Youve got this problem, Im here to solve the problem for you and to make it better for you. In the Dateline episode, sources also revealed that Mr Kohbergers sister was growing suspicious that her brother could have been responsible for the murders when the family gathered to spend the holidays together. In mid-December, Mr Kohberger left his student rental home in Pullman, Washington, to travel cross country with his father back to the family home in Albrightsville, Pennsylvania, for the holidays. During his time at home, his family members noticed that he was behaving somewhat bizarrely. The source said that Mr Kohberger was constantly wearing latex gloves, including inside their own home. One of his two older sisters began to wonder if he could have played a part in the murders and, at one point, she raised her concerns with her other family members. She loudly pointed out that, at the time of the murders, her brother was living just a few miles from the crime scene and that he drove a white Hyundai Elantra the make and colour of vehicle at the centre of the investigation. Along with his bizarre tendency to wear latex gloves at all time, she believed that the family should consider that Mr Kohberger might have killed the four victims, the source said. Mr Kohbergers father allegedly defended his son and insisted he could not have been involved. But her suspicions were so great that at one point several family members searched Mr Kohbergers white Hyundai Elantra for possible evidence of the crime, the source said. By that point, police said Mr Kohberger had already been spotted cleaning his car out with bleach and so the family members didnt find anything of note, the source said. It is not clear if Mr Kohberger was aware of his family members suspicions that he could have been behind the murders or what potential prior behaviour may have led his own sister to suspect him capable of carrying out such a brutal crime. Soon after, in the early hours of 30 December, law enforcement swooped on the family home and arrested him for the murders. At the time of his arrest, the source said Mr Kohberger was wide awake standing in the kitchen wearing latex gloves and putting his personal trash in plastic bags to take it out to a neighbours trash can. An attorney close to Mr Kohbergers family declined to comment on the revelations to Dateline. On Monday (22 May), he will appear in court for his arraignment on four counts of first-degree murder and burglary. The 28-year-old is now scheduled to be arraigned in Latah County Court in Moscow, where he is expected to enter a plea on the charges. Mr Kohberger had been due to appear in court for a week-long preliminary hearing on 26 June, where the prosecution would lay out the case and evidence against the suspect. However, on 16 May, a grand jury indicted Mr Kohberger on the charges, paving the way for the case to proceed without and leading to the cancellation of the preliminary hearing. Mr Kohberger is accused of breaking into the student home in the early hours of 13 November and stabbing the four students to death in a horror attack that rocked the college town of Moscow and sent shockwaves across America. Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin (Jazzmin Kernodle) The motive remains unknown and it is still unclear what connection the WSU PhD student had to the University of Idaho students if any prior to the murders. However, the affidavit, released in January, revealed that Mr Kohbergers DNA was found on a knife sheath left behind at the scene of the murders. It also revealed that his white Hyundai Elantra was caught on surveillance footage at the crime scene and that one of the surviving roommates came face to face with the killer masked, dressed in head to toe black and with bushy eyebrows as he left the home in the aftermath of the murders. New details have also emerged about what was found during an initial search of his apartment and a rental storage unit. The court documents show that two items found in his apartment tested positive for blood. The two items were a mattress cover on the bed and an uncased pillow, both of which had visible reddish brown stains. The documents do not reveal who the blood belongs to. Investigators seized a string of other items from his home including possible human and animal hair strands, a disposable glove and a computer. The murder weapon a fixed-blade knife has still never been found. Madison Mogen and Kaylee Goncalves pictured together before their murders (Instagram) As a criminal justice PhD student at WSU, Mr Kohberger lived just 15 minutes from the victims over the Idaho-Washington border in Pullman. He had moved there from Pennsylvania and began his studies there that summer, having just completed his first semester before his arrest. Before this, he studied criminology at DeSales University first as an undergraduate and then finishing his graduate studies in June 2022. While there, he studied under renowned forensic psychologist Katherine Ramsland who interviewed the BTK serial killer and co-wrote the book Confession of a Serial Killer: The Untold Story of Dennis Rader, the BTK Killer with him. He also carried out a research project to understand how emotions and psychological traits influence decision-making when committing a crime. Now, he is facing life in prison or the death penalty for the murders that have rocked the small college town of Moscow and hit headlines around the globe. Sign up to our free US news bulletin sent straight to your inbox each weekday morning Sign up to our free morning US email news bulletin Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the US Morning Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Bryan Kohbergers sister feared that her brother was involved in the stabbings of four University of Idaho students before police swooped on their parents home and arrested him for murder, according to a bombshell report. Sources told NBCs Dateline that one of the accused killers older siblings grew increasingly suspicious of her brother and his behaviour when the family gathered to spend the holidays together. Her suspicions were so great that at one point several family members searched Mr Kohbergers white Hyundai Elantra for possible evidence of the crime, they said. Madison Mogen, Kaylee Goncalves, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin were found brutally stabbed to death in the off-campus home in Moscow, Idaho, that the three women shared with two other roommates on 13 November. For more than six weeks, no suspects were publicly identified and leads appeared to have gone cold. In mid-December, Mr Kohberger a 28-year-old criminology PhD student at Washington State University (WSU) embarked on a cross-country trip with his father from his student rental home in Pullman, Washington, back to the family home in Albrightsville, Pennsylvania, to spend the holidays together. But, during his time at home, his family members noticed that he was behaving somewhat bizarrely. The source said that Mr Kohberger was constantly wearing latex gloves, including inside their own home. One of his two older sisters began to wonder if he could have played a part in the murders and, at one point, she raised her concerns with her other family members. She loudly pointed out that, at the time of the murders, her brother was living just a few miles from the crime scene and that he drove a white Hyundai Elantra the make and colour of vehicle at the centre of the investigation. Along with his bizarre tendency to wear latex gloves at all time, she believed that the family should consider that Mr Kohberger might have killed the four victims, the source said. Mr Kohbergers father allegedly defended his son and insisted he could not have been involved. But the concerns were clearly big enough for several of the family members to reportedly decide to search the 28-year-olds vehicle to look for possible evidence. Bryan Kohberger is accused of killing Madison Mogen, Kaylee Goncalves, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin (PA police) By that point, police said Mr Kohberger had already been spotted cleaning his car out with bleach and so the family members didnt find anything of note, the source said. It is not clear if Mr Kohberger was aware of his family members suspicions that he could have been behind the murders or what prior behaviour may have led his own sister to suspect him capable of carrying out such a brutal crime. Soon after, in the early hours of 30 December, law enforcement descended on the family home and arrested him for the murders. At the time of his arrest, the source said Mr Kohberger was wide awake standing in the kitchen wearing latex gloves and putting his personal trash in plastic bags to take it out to a neighbours trash can. An attorney close to Mr Kohbergers family declined to comment on the revelations outlined in Datelines The Killings on King Road. On Monday (22 May), he will appear in court for his arraignment on four counts of first-degree murder and burglary. The 28-year-old is scheduled to be arraigned in Latah County Court in Moscow, Idaho, where he is expected to enter a plea on the charges. Mr Kohberger had been due to appear in court for a week-long preliminary hearing on 26 June, where the prosecution would lay out the case and evidence against the suspect. However, on 16 May, a grand jury indicted Mr Kohberger on the charges, paving the way for the case to proceed without and leading to the cancellation of the preliminary hearing. Mr Kohberger is accused of breaking into the student home in the early hours of 13 November and stabbing the four students to death in a horror attack that rocked the college town of Moscow and sent shockwaves across America. The motive remains unknown and it is still unclear what connection the WSU PhD student had to the University of Idaho students if any prior to the murders. However, the affidavit, released in January, revealed that Mr Kohbergers DNA was found on a knife sheath left behind at the scene of the murders. It also revealed that his white Hyundai Elantra was caught on surveillance footage at the crime scene and that one of the surviving roommates came face to face with the killer masked, dressed in head to toe black and with bushy eyebrows as he left the home in the aftermath of the murders. Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin (Jazzmin Kernodle) New details have also emerged about what was found during an initial search of his apartment and a rental storage unit. The court documents show that two items found in his apartment tested positive for blood. The two items were a mattress cover on the bed and an uncased pillow, both of which had visible reddish brown stains. The documents do not reveal who the blood belongs to. Investigators seized a string of other items from his home including possible human and animal hair strands, a disposable glove and a computer. The murder weapon a fixed-blade knife has still never been found. As a criminal justice PhD student at WSU, Mr Kohberger lived just 15 minutes from the victims over the Idaho-Washington border in Pullman. He had moved there from Pennsylvania and began his studies there that summer, having just completed his first semester before his arrest. Before this, he studied criminology at DeSales University first as an undergraduate and then finishing his graduate studies in June 2022. Madison Mogen and Kaylee Goncalves pictured together before their murders (Instagram) While there, he studied under renowned forensic psychologist Katherine Ramsland who interviewed the BTK serial killer and co-wrote the book Confession of a Serial Killer: The Untold Story of Dennis Rader, the BTK Killer with him. He also carried out a research project to understand how emotions and psychological traits influence decision-making when committing a crime. Now, he is facing life in prison or the death penalty for the murders that have rocked the small college town of Moscow and hit headlines around the globe. Sign up to our free US news bulletin sent straight to your inbox each weekday morning Sign up to our free morning US email news bulletin Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the US Morning Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} A Florida man brutally beat his grandmother to death with a hammer before asking a housekeeper to clean up the bloody murder scene, according to police. Anthony Michael Corrado of Naples, Florida, is accused of killing his grandmother and seriously injuring his grandfather in the attack at their home. The Collier County Sheriffs Office says that Corrados grandparents had an active order for protection against him, but did not give any details of why the restraining order was taken out. Anthony Michael Corrado (Collier County Sheriff's Office) Investigators say that on 17 May, the suspect called a housekeeper to help him clean up at his grandparents home. When she arrived at the property she was allegedly met by the blood-stained suspect, who told the 34-year-old that she needed to get cleaning products from her car. Police say she then fled the scene and flagged down a sheriffs deputy in his patrol car nearby and raised the alarm. Deputies responded to the property and found the body of the elderly victim. The suspects father was found in another room wrapped in a blanket and suffering from severe head injuries. He was flown by helicopter to a nearby trauma centre. Investigators say that a hammer was found on a kitchen counter, with blood covering the walls and the floor of the property. Corrado has been charged with second-degree murder and aggravated battery on a person over age 65. Police say that the suspect was released from prison last year after a parole violation. He also has a criminal record stretching back to the age of 23 that includes possession of amphetamines and heroin, hit-and-run, and multiple parole violations. Sign up to our free US news bulletin sent straight to your inbox each weekday morning Sign up to our free morning US email news bulletin Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the US Morning Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} The murder of four college students in the quiet town of Moscow, Idaho, last November unravelled a months-long investigation that is now headed to trial. The victims, all students at the University of Idaho, were ambushed in their rooms and stabbed to death with a military-style knife that has yet to be found. Police were called to the gruesome scene at the off-campus residence almost eight hours after the vicious attack. For weeks, only scant details about the carnage were revealed as the community reeled from the tragedy and grappled with fears of a murderer on the loose. That changed with the December arrest of Washington State University student Bryan Kohberger, whose apartment, office and family home were raided and searched for evidence. While more information has become public through the release of search warrants and arrest records in recent months, a gag order in the case remains in place and most aspects of the probe and its findings are still a mystery. In a bombshell move on Tuesday (15 May), a long-expected preliminary hearing was rerouted when a grand jury secretly convened and indicted the suspect on one charge of burglary and four charges of murder. As Mr Kohberger is expected to enter his plea on Monday, The Independent takes a deep dive into the developments in the complex case in the last six months: How did the stabbings unfold? Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin were stabbed to death in the young womens rental home on King Road in Moscow on 13 November. Chapin, Kernodles boyfriend, was staying at the residence, which is just a few minutes walk from campus, on the night of the murders. According to an affidavit for Mr Kohbergers arrest, the killings are believed to have taken place around 4am. Among the revelations in the 18-page document is that Mr Kohbergers DNA was found on a knife sheath that the killer left behind at the crime scene. The tan leather Kabar sheath, which featured the United States Marine Corps symbol, was discovered on Mogens bed next to her butchered body. At the time of the quadruple homicide, the two other roommates, Bethany Funke and Dylan Mortenson, were inside the home, but were left unharmed by the killer. The police report reveals that Ms Mortenson came face to face with the masked killer. Ethan Chapin, 20, Madison Mogen, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, and Kaylee Goncalves, 21 (Instagram) According to Ms Mortensons terrifying account, she had gone to sleep in her bedroom on the second floor of the three-floor home and was woken by what sounded like Goncalves playing with her dog in one of the third-floor bedrooms. She told investigators she was in her bedroom on the second floor of the home the same floor where Kernodle and Chapin were killed and was standing in the doorway as the killer walked right past her. A short time later, Ms Mortenson said that she heard someone believed to be either Goncalves or Kernodle saying, Theres someone here. Minutes later, Ms Morterson. said that she looked out of her bedroom for the first time but did not see anything. She then opened her door for a second time when she heard what she thought was crying coming from Kernodles room, the documents state. At that point, she said she heard a mans voice saying, Its ok, Im going to help you. When she opened her door for a third time minutes later, she said she saw a figure clad in black clothing and a mask that covered the persons mouth and nose walking towards her. As she stood in a frozen shock phase, she said the man who she did not recognise walked past her and headed toward the back sliding glass door of the home. She then locked herself in her room. A private security officer sits in a vehicle on Jan. 3, 2023, in front of the house in Moscow, Idaho where four University of Idaho were murdered (Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.) Despite the close encounter, a 911 call wasnt made until 11.58am eight hours later. The call, made from one of the surviving roommates cellphones reported an unconscious individual. It is unclear if the killer saw her or whether she simply had a lucky escape because he didnt notice her inside the dark home. This raises the question around whether or not he planned to kill all four victims or whether some of the victims were treated as collateral damage in the horrific attack. Goncalves and Mogens bodies were found in a bedroom on the third floor, while Kernodle and Chapin were found on the second floor of the home. The affidavit reveals no details about what connection if any Mr Kohberger had to his alleged victims. Mr Kohberger, a criminal justice PhD student at Washington State University, lived just 15 minutes from the victims over the Idaho-Washington border in Pullman, having moved there to begin the academic programme in August 2022. Who are the victims? Goncalves and Mogen, both 21, were seniors at the University of Idaho and were expected to graduate this year. At a vigil weeks after the murders, Goncalves father Mr Goncalves told how the two absolutely beautiful young women first met in sixth grade and became inseparable. They just found each other and every day they did homework together, they came to our house together, they shared everything, he said at the time. Then they started looking at colleges, they came here together. They eventually get into the same apartment together. And in the end, they died together, in the same room, in the same bed. Madison Mogen and Kaylee Goncalves pictured together before their murders (Instagram) Kernodle and Chapin were juniors at the college and had begun dating months before their deaths. The couple of 20-year-olds is believed to have been awake at the time the stabbings were carried out. Six months after the stabbings, the families of the slain students accepted posthumous awards for their achievements. Mogen and Goncalves relatives walked across the stage for their degrees in an emotional ceremony on 13 May. Kernodles family also accepted her certificate in marketing at a separate ceremony while Chapins award in sports, recreation and management was mailed to his parents. Kernodles family accepted her certificate in marketing at a private ceremony last week while Chapins award in sports, recreation and management will be mailed to his parents this week. Ethan Chapin and Xana Kernodle (Jazzmin Kernodle) Who is Bryan Kohberger? At the time of the murders, Mr Kohberger was studying for his PhD and working as a teaching assistant in criminal justice at WSU. Prior to this, Mr Kohberger studied criminology at DeSales University first as an undergraduate and then finishing his graduate studies in June 2022. According to online school records, Mr Kohberger received an associate arts degree in 2018 from Northampton Community College in Albrightsville and received a masters degree in criminal justice this year from DeSales University. Bryan Kohberger is seen in court While studying at DeSales, he studied under renowned forensic psychologist Katherine Ramsland who interviewed the BTK serial killer and co-wrote the book Confession of a Serial Killer: The Untold Story of Dennis Rader, the BTK Killer with him. He was working part-time as a security guard until August 2021 at Pleasant Valley School District, where his mother was listed as a paraprofessional. The alleged murderer carried out a research project to understand how emotions and psychological traits influence decision-making when committing a crime. Mr Kohberger reached out to potential participants on Reddit, with the chilling survey resurfacing after his arrest. In particular, this study seeks to understand the story behind your most recent criminal offense, with an emphasis on your thoughts and feelings throughout your experience, the post said. His fascination appears to have continued around the time of the murders when he applied for an internship with the local police department. The affidavit revealed that he applied for an internship in the fall of 2022 with the Pullman Police Department and wrote in an essay how he had an interest in assisting rural law enforcement agencies with how to better collect and analyze technological data in public safety operations. What the unsealed records reveal After weeks of no updates on the investigation, law enforcement in Idaho and Pennsylvania announced Mr Kohbergers arrest on 30 December. A search warrant was executed at Mr Kohbergers apartment in Pullman, Washington, the same day he was arrested at his parents home in Pennsylvania. A record of evidence recovered during the apartment search revealed the seizure of 15 items including hairs, receipts, a computer tower, a disposable glove and items with peculiar stains. In the search warrant record, investigators list several items with stains, including cuttings of a mattress cover, a reddish/brown stain on an uncovered pillow and a collection of dark red spot. Dr Monte Miller, a former crime scene investigator and forensic expert, and former FBI agent Jennifer Coffindaffer told The Independent back in January that investigators most likely believed those items had blood stains. List of items seized adt authorities served a search warrat at Bryan Kohbergers home (Pennsylvania Courts ) A reddish or brown stain is a euphemism for, We found something that looks like blood, Dr Miller said at the time. It might be blood from the victims, might be his blood. They dont know until they test it, but theyll be able to get DNA if it is blood. We dont know what the stains in the cover sheets look like, but again theyre looking for any kind of DNA, evidence that might have come from the crime scene. Ms Coffindaffer added: They dont call it blood, but its definitely inferred that it was blood. Court documents, released by Washington authorities on 4 May showed that multiple items taken from Mr Kohbergers apartment in Pullman had been tested for the presence of blood. While most items came back negative, two unspecified items were positive. Bryan Kohberger is seen in his mugshot (Monroe County Correctional Facility) Another item included on the list of seizures was a possible animal hair strand. While Mr Kohberger is not believed to have a pet, one of the victims he is accused of killing, Goncalves, had a dog that was at home at the time of the murders and was later found by police responding to the scene. The possible animal hair theyll try to connect that to the dog left at the scene, according to Dr Miller. If theres a root on that, if there is any skin on that hair, they could do a DNA test with that dog. If its just a hair thats been shed and there is no skin, they would still be able to do a microscopical comparison and exclude most dogs but they wouldnt be able to connect it necessarily to that dog. Mr Kohberger was also linked to the crime through cellphone records and his white Hyundai Elantra, a similar model of the car seen near the murder home around the time of the murders. Mr Kohberger changed the license plates on his Hyundai Elantra just days after the murders. The suspects car had Pennsylvania plates when it was pulled over by police in Moscow, in August 2022, according to a citation from the Latah County Sheriffs Office. A review of documents on CarFax by Newsweek showed that Mr Kohberger changed the registration from Pennsylvania to Washington on 18 November, five days after four students were found stabbed to death in a Moscow home. What we dont know No murder weapon has been found, police said before the gag order was issued following Mr Kohbergers arrest. It is not known if the killer personally knew one or more of the victims and whether the attack was carried out in a fit of jealousy or rage. No motive is known. Authorities have refused to reveal who made the 911 call and will not release the audio. It is unclear what the roommates and other friends discussed in the call and what led them to describe a victim as merely unconscious. Investigators have not revealed whether they believed the killer entered the house before the victims arrived home and hid before striking in their sleep or whether he entered the house after the students returned. Kohberger indicted by grand jury A preliminary hearing, where prosecutors had to show a judge that there is enough evidence to justify moving forward with charges of burglary and four counts of murder, was previously scheduled for 26 June. However, on 16 May, a grand jury indicted Mr Kohberger on the same charges, effectively rerouting the case directly to the states felony court level and allowing prosecutors to skip the preliminary hearing process, the Associated Press reported. The former Washington State University PhD student is now expected to appear for his arraignment at the Latah County District Court at 9am on Monday to enter a plea. According to the indictment, Mr Kohberger is charged with four counts of murder in the first degree and one count of burglary. Each murder count states that he did wilfully, unlawfully, deliberately, with premeditation and with malice aforethought, kill and murder each of the victims by stabbing. The list of witnesses who testified before the grand jury is sealed. Mr Kohbergers indictment means that the jurors empanelled on the grand jury believed there was enough evidence against him for the case to proceed to trial. Mr Kohberger said through a public defender earlier this year that he was eager to be exonerated. He is being represented by Ann Taylor, one of thirteen public defence attorneys in the state who can work in cases where the prosecution requests capital punishment. Prosecutors in the Idaho murders case have not publicly addressed whether they plan to make that request Kohbergers parents asked to testify in Pennsylvania death case It has emerged that Mr Kohbergers parents have been ordered to testify before a grand jury in the familys home state of Pennsylvania in the case of a woman found dead almost a year after her sudden disappearance. CNN first reported the news on Wednesday (24 May), citing a source who said that the accused killers mother has already given evidence to the grand jury while his father will appear to testify on Thursday (25 May). The information can then be shared with Idaho prosecutors. The investigation is said to be about the disappearance and death of a 45-year-old woman Dana Smithers, reported Eyewitness News. Smithers vanished without a trace in May 2022 from Monroe County, Pennsylvania where Mr Kohberger was living at the time. Her remains were found last month in a wooded area. What comes next? On Monday (22 May), Mr Kohberger refused to enter a plea in Latah County District Court, with his attorney saying that he was standing silent on the charges. The unusual response prompted the judge to enter a not guilty plea on Mr Kohbergers behalf, setting the stage for a trial in which he could potentially face the death penalty. The judge has set Mr Kohbergers trial date for 2 October 2023 following requests by Kohbergers attorney and the state. The trial is expected to take around six weeks. Sign up to our free US news bulletin sent straight to your inbox each weekday morning Sign up to our free morning US email news bulletin Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the US Morning Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Last November, four University of Idaho students were found stabbed to death at a rental house in Moscow, mere hours after posting smiling photographs together on Instagram. The case shocked the small college town and drew media attention from across the world, yet for nearly seven weeks there appeared to be no suspect in the case. Then, on 30 December, Bryan Kohberger a PhD student in criminology at Washington State University (WSU) was suddenly arrested and charged with their murders. Last week, a grand jury indicted MrKohberger on four counts of first-degree murder and one burglary charge, effectively rerouting the case directly to the states felony court level and allowing prosecutors to skip the preliminary hearing process. After months of unanswered questions, the grieving relatives of Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin faced their childrens accused killer in court, only for Mr Kohberger to refuse to enter a plea on the murder charges. So how did we get here? Heres a timeline of the case so far: Ethan Chapin, 20, Madison Mogen, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, and Kaylee Goncalves, 21, took this photo together hours before they died (Instagram/Kaylee Goncalves) 12 November One lucky girl At 8.57pm local time on 12 November, Goncalves posted for the last time on Instagram. It was a picture of herself and the three other slain students standing together arm-in-arm on the porch of a house. The two other roommates Dylan Mortensen and Bethany Funke who lived at the home with Mogen, Goncalves and Kernodle on King Road are also in the photo. One lucky girl to be surrounded by these people everyday, Goncalve wrote in the caption. That night, Chapin and Kernodle went to a party together on the university campus, while Mogen and Goncalves went to a bar in town. 13 November, 1.41am Victims last seen alive in footage In the early hours of Sunday morning, Mogen and Goncalves were seen stopping by a local food truck for a late-night bit to eat. Twitch footage seen by The Independent captured the two best friends arriving at the food truck at around 1.41am. Officers later said that Mogen and Goncalves used a private party for a ride home from the downtown area after visiting the food truck. The driver dropped them off at their home at around 1.45am. Meanwhile, Chapin and Kernodle were seen at the Sigma Chi fraternity house, and also returned home around the same time. The two other surviving roommates had also been out on Saturday night and returned to the property at around 1am, police said. Goncalvess sister revealed that multiple calls were made from the phones of Goncalves and Mogen to the phone of Goncalves former longtime boyfriend between 2.26am and 2.52am. Between the two best friends, 10 calls were made, but none were answered. 13 November, 2.44am Suspects car is spotted Not long after, according to court documents released by Latah County prosecutors, a car matching the description of Bryan Kohbergers Hyudai sedan was recorded on surveillance cameras at Washington State University, where the 28-year-old is a crimonology graduate student. Ten minutes later, the car was spotted heading towards SR 270, a road which connects the town of Pullman, Washington, to nearby Moscow, Idaho. At roughly the same time the sedan was likely heading towards Moscow, Mr Kohbergers cell phone pinged off towers near the his apartment in Pullman, and later showed on cell towers in Idaho in the hours directly after murders. 13 November, 3am to 4am Murders Officials believe the students were killed some time between 3am and 4am on Sunday 13 November). All four were stabbed to death with an edged weapon such as a knife though the murder weapon has not been found. There was no sign of forced entry, the door appeared to be unlocked and nothing seems to have been taken. The two other roommates were home at the time of the attack but were unharmed. Police said that they were not necessarily witnesses to the incident, there was no hostage situation and they appear to have slept through the murders. Latah County Coroner Cathy Mabbutt said the victims were likely sleeping when they were killed, as all four were found in bed, and were stabbed multiple times. According to the Latah County records, the car appearing to be Mr Kohbergers vehicle was seen on various surveillance cameras near the students home between 3.29 and 4.20am, before appearing once again in Pullman at 5.25 near the WSU campus. 13 November, noon Investigation begins Law enforcement officers arrived at the house at 11.58am on Sunday after getting a 911 call from the cell phone of one of the surviving roommates (though police refused to confirm who). Officers said that the roommates woke up on the Sunday and called some unidentified friends to the home because they believed that one of the victims on the second floor had passed out and was not waking up. The four victims were discovered stabbed to death in their beds on the second and third floors of the house. 16 November Autopsy findings released Autopsy findings for the victims were released on Thursday, officially ruling their deaths homicides by stabbing. Latah County Coroner Cathy Mabbutt confirmed that each victim was stabbed multiple times with a large knife, describing their wounds as pretty extensive and revealing that they bled out inside their student home. She said the autopsies confirmed that the victims were killed early in the morning, sometime after 2am, but still during the night but that it was not been possible to determine from the injuries the order in which the victims were attacked. DNA samples and nail clippings were also taken from the crime scene with the coroner saying that it is possible that the tests could turn up DNA from people besides the victims. A local prosecutor revealed that investigators were exploring the possibility that more than one killer is responsible for the killings, while officers were reportedly searching for a military-style Ka-Bar knife believed to be the murder weapon. 7 December Police seek a white car An initial breakthrough seemed to come when police announced that they were looking for the owner and occupants of a white Hyundai Elantra that was spotted near the crime scene in the early morning hours on the day of the murders. Detectives did not reveal whether the owner of the white 2011-2013 Hyundai Elantra is believed to be a suspect but said that the occupant(s) of [the] vehicle may have critical information to share regarding this case. The licence plate is unknown. The car was in the immediate area of the rental home on King Road in the early hours of 13 November. The murders are thought to have taken place between 3am and 4am. The development was quickly linked in online sleuth communities to body-camera footage from a separate incident on the night of the killings, which police said stemmed from an alcohol offence just before 3am. Officials would later shut down speculation around the video, telling The Independent on 8 December that the incident on the body-camera footage was in no way connected to the murders and the white car in the background was not the same one they were seeking information about. 15 December Two key traffic stops As police closed in Bryan Kohberger, the graduate student made his way across the country with his father, driving from Washington to spend the holidays with family in Pennsylvania. By then, officials later revealed, police were on to the 28-year-old, and Indiana police pulled the pair over twice during their journey. The stops came at the request of the FBI who were seeking images of the suspects hands as part of the investigation into the quadruple homicide of Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin back in Moscow, Idaho. It is not clear why images of Mr Kohbergers hands were important to the investigation or if the officers managed to obtain anything of interest by carrying out the stops on 15 December. 30 December, early morning Mountain raid Finally, at around 1.30am local time on 30 December, local police and FBI swooped on a home in Albrightsville, Pennsylvania, near ski resorts in the Pocono Mountains and arrested a 28-year-old criminology graduate student named Bryan Christopher Kohberger. According to reports, the property appeared to be Mr Kohbergers parents house in a gated community. A white Hyundai Elantra was also seized. NewsNation correspondent Brian Entin said that the suspect asked if anyone else was arrested and had a quiet, blank stare, citing inside sources. 30 December, 8am News breaks Later that day the Moscow Police Department and prosecutors held their first press conference since 23 November, revealing that Mr Kohberger had been charged with four counts of first degree murder. They declined to give details on how he had come to be arrested and charged but said they still wanted to hear from members of the public who may have information about what happened. Meanwhile, several insiders have provided crucial details to the media. One law enforcement official told CNN that Mr Kohberger was identified through genetic testing that linked DNA at the crime scene to his relatives. Sources say authorities then confirmed that Mr Kohberger owned a white Hyundai Elantra like the one spotted near the crime scene on the night of the murders. Investigators reportedly tracked Mr Kohberger as he drove more han 2,000 miles from Washington state to Pennsylvania, where he was surveilled for days before being taken into custody. 31 December Charges filed Shorly after his arrest, Mr Kohberger was charged with four counts of first-degree murder, as well as felony burglary. But the legal process didnt end there. 4 January The suspect returns to Idaho The 28-year-old arrived in Moscow in the late evening, where a group of officers walked the suspect into a waiting truck. Mr Kohberger appeared to be wearing body armour as police led him into custody. On 4 Judge, the judge also issued a gag order, banning investigators, law enforcement personnel, attorneys, and members of both the prosecution and the defence from sharing any new information about the investigation or the suspect before a verdict is reached at trial. As a result Moscow Police Department, which had been sharing updates on the investigation, said in a statement that it will no longer be communicating with the public or the media regarding the case. 5 January Kohberger appears in court After weeks of investigations, police and community members alike finally got what they wanted: a suspect, in Idaho court, facing charges for the four University of Idaho murders. Mr Kohberger appeared in a Latah County court for the first time, where he heard the charges against him, had his bail rights revoked, and faced down crying family members of his alleged slain victims. 12 January - Kohberger waives preliminary hearing Mr Kohberger appeared in Latah County Courthouse with cuts on his face as he waived his right to a speedy trial on charges of murdering the four Idaho students. Mr Kohbergers public defender Anne Taylor then requested that his next court date be pushed back until June. The prosecution agreed to the request and the judge scheduled the preliminary hearing for the week beginning 26 June. 19 January - Idaho police unseal search warrants Police investigating the murder of four Idaho students seized a string of items from suspect Mr Kohbergers apartment, including possible hair strands, a disposable glove, items with red and brown stains and a computer, according to a newly unsealed search warrant. Police said that one of the items found at the suspects apartment at nearby Washington State University was a possible animal hair strand. In the documents, investigators said one item had a collection of dark red spotting, and that a pillow had a reddish/brown stain on it. The application also stated that the murder scene near the University of Idaho campus where the victims were discovered had a large amount of the victims blood including spatter and castoff blood. 28 February - Search warrant reveals items seized in Pennsylvania The search warrant application was filed in Pennsylvanias Monroe County court on 29 December, the day before Mr Kohbergers arrest. It approved a search of the family residence, the adjacent garage and the suspects car. It allowed investigators to collect blood, or other bodily fluid or materials and items with blood - but the list of seizures does not mention any such items. Investigators seized nine items: one Defiant-brand silver flashlight, four medical-style gloves, a large white t-shirt, a pair of black and white size 13 Nike shoes and a pair of black Under Armor shorts. They also took a buccal swab, possibly from Mr Kohberger. 27 March - Prosecutors reveal officer is under internal affairs investigation In a filing, authorities disclosed the existence of a Giglio/Brady list that could potentially affect the ongoing criminal proceedings against Mr Kohberger, the only suspect in the case. ...the State has become aware of potential Brady/Giglio material related to one of the officers involved in the above-referenced case, the filing stated. Under Brady law, investigators are responsible for disclosing exculpatory information to defence counsel. Meanwhile, Giglio material conveys information that could potentially indicate that a witness is not credible, according to the National Association for Civilian Oversight of Law Enforcement. The scope of the list and the role of the officer in the murder investigation were not immediately clear. The evidence mentioned in the recent filing was submitted in camera to the court on 24 March, but its content remains sealed at the request of prosecutors. 5 May - Kohbergers belongings test positive for blood Court documents, released by Washington authorities showed that multiple items taken from the 28-year-old Washington State University criminology PhD students apartment in Pullman had been tested for the presence of blood. While most items came back negative, two items were positive. Those items were a mattress cover on the bed and an uncased pillow, both of which were described as having visible reddish brown stains. The documents did not reveal who the blood belongs to. 13 May - Victims families accept posthumous degrees Six months after the victims were killed in their sleep at their off-campus home in Moscow, their loved ones received the awards during two separate ceremonies. Goncalves four siblings received their sisters general studies diploma while Mogens parents were given her marketing degree. Kernodles family accepted her certificate in marketing at a previous private ceremony while Chapins award in sports, recreation and management was mailed to his parents. 16 May - Kohberger indicted by grand jury over Idaho murders A grand jury indicted MrKohberger on charges of burglary and four counts of murder, allowing the parties to skip the previously planned 26 June preliminary hearing. Each murder count states that he did wilfully, unlawfully, deliberately, with premeditation and with malice aforethought, kill and murder each of the victims by stabbing. The list of witnesses who testified before the grand jury is sealed. Mr Kohbergers indictment means that the jurors empanelled on the grand jury believed there was enough evidence against him for the case to proceed to trial. 22 May - Kohberger refuses to enter plea Mr Kohberger refused to enter a plea in Latah County District Court, prompting the judge to make one on his behalf. His attorney said that he was standing silent on the charges. Several members of Kaylee Goncalves family were present in the courtroom, facing the man accused of killing their 21-year-old daughter as he declined to enter a plea. The judge set Mr Kohbergers trial date for 2 October 2023 following requests by Kohbergers attorney and the state. The trial is expected to take around six weeks. Sign up to our free US news bulletin sent straight to your inbox each weekday morning Sign up to our free morning US email news bulletin Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the US Morning Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} The grieving family of slain University of Idaho Kaylee Goncalves has complained to the court after the judge presiding over their daughters murder case mispronounced her name. Bryan Kohberger, accused of the 13 November stabbings of Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin, appeared in Latah County Court in Moscow to enter a plea on Monday (22 May). During the brief hearing, Judge John Judge informed Mr Kohberger of his rights, the charges against him and the penalties including the death penalty if he is convicted. But while reading out the charges, the judge mispronounced two of the victims names. First, he appeared to call Goncalves Kayla and then struggled to pronounce Kernodles first name, ultimately saying Zana. This is hard, Im sorry, the judge told the court. According to reporters present during the hearing, Goncalves sister Alivea Goncalves was seen shaking her head in disapproval. Ms Goncalves later complained to the victim assistance coordinator, COURTV reported. Before the hearing kicked off on Monday, the grieving sister was seen arriving in court with her parents and newborn baby, who she named in part after Goncalves and Mogen. Latah County Judge John C. Judge presides over an arraignment hearing for Bryan Kohberger (Reuters) Mondays hearing appears to be the first time Judge Judge presided over a hearing in which Mr Kohberger was present. He has been on the district court bench since 2008. Mr Kohberger last appeared in court on 12 January to waive his rights to an expedited preliminary hearing, with Judge Megan Marshall presiding at the time. In an unusual move on Monday, Mr Kohbergers attorney said that he was standing silent on the charges, leaving the judge to enter not-guilty pleas on his behalf. Bryan Kohberger enters the courtroom for his arraignment hearing in Latah County District Court on Monday 22 May (AP) Shackled and dressed in an orange prison jumpsuit with what appeared to be protective armour underneath, the accused killer entered the courtroom just after 9am PT, giving his attorney Anne Taylor a brief smile as he sat down next to her. The judge went through each count individually, saying aloud each of the victims names. Mr Kohberger showed no emotion or expression as he stared straight ahead at the judge while hearing the names of the students who he is accused of violently killing. Mr Kohberger spoke only to answer defiantly and loudly yes and yes I do when asked if he understood the charges, maximum penalties and his rights in the court. The prosecution now has 60 days to confirm whether or not they are seeking the death penalty in the case. Mr Kohberger is accused of breaking into an off-campus student home on King Road and stabbing the victims to death with a large, military-style knife. FILE - Bryan Kohberger, left, looks toward his attorney, public defender Anne Taylor, right, during a hearing in Latah County Court Two other female roommates lived with the three women at the property and were home at the time of the massacre but survived. One of the survivors Dylan Mortensen came face to face with the masked killer, dressed in head to toe black and with bushy eyebrows, as he left the home in the aftermath of the murders, according to the criminal affidavit. For more than six weeks, no arrests were made and no suspects named before law enforcement swooped on Mr Kohbergers family home in Albrightsville, Pennsylvania, on 30 December and arrested him for the quadruple murders. Ethan Chapin, 20, Madison Mogen, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20 and Kaylee Goncalves, 21 (Instagram/Kaylee Goncalves) An affidavit released in January revealed that Mr Kohbergers DNA was found on a knife sheath left behind at the scene of the murders It also revealed that his white Hyundai Elantra was caught on surveillance footage close to the crime scene. New details have emerged since about what was found during an initial search of his apartment in Pullman and a rental storage unit. The court documents show that two items found in his apartment a mattress cover on the bed and an uncased pillow tested positive for blood. Judge Judge has set Mr Kohbergers trial date for 2 October 2023 following a request by Mr Kohbergers attorney to set the date as late as possible. The trial is expected to take around six weeks. Sign up to our free US news bulletin sent straight to your inbox each weekday morning Sign up to our free morning US email news bulletin Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the US Morning Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} A man whose wife disappeared in 1998 has died by suicide just as the cold case was getting renewed attention. Jim Sweeten, 79, called police in Texas to say that he was going to take his own life. Law enforcement found him dead at his home at an RV park in Welasco, about five miles from the border with Mexico on Wednesday, according to Fox 23. The authorities said he was found in a shed with a self-inflicted gunshot wound. The discovery was made just two days after the disappearance of his wife, 25 years ago, was once again in the news as police found a barrel in a body of water close to the home in Oklahoma where they had lived until she disappeared. Peggy Sweeten, a special education teacher, was 52 when she vanished. The Delaware County Sheriffs Office in Oklahoma wrote on Facebook that Law enforcement returned to the former Sweeten home Monday this week to conduct an underwater search and retrieve a metal barrel that was discovered a few weeks ago and could possibly have been a burn barrel that was noticed to be missing around the same time as Peggys disappearance. No human remains were located. This is a cold case that has been under active investigation. When she vanished, Mr Sweeten claimed that she had left with a lover, but no evidence was found to support this theory, and he shortly stopped cooperating with the investigation. He rejected efforts to conduct a property search or take part in a polygraph test. When questioned in 2011, Mr Sweeten told officials that he thought he should consult an attorney, according to Valley Central. A detective wrote in an application for a search warrant that Mr Sweeten appeared to be deceptive and evasive and he appeared to be attempting to find out how far the investigation had progressed and what [the investigator] knows and what direction the investigation was headed. Police assumed that Ms Sweeten was dead as the years passed following her disappearance. She was last seen on 13 January 1998. Police shared the worry with local media that, as the investigation progressed, Mr Sweeten might kill himself or flee to Mexico, according to Fox 23. Mr Sweeten was a former Kansas superintendent who had been having an affair with a teacher from another district, according to the 2011 warrant. He filed for divorce just weeks after Ms Sweetens disappearance. He claimed to police that when he got back from a conference, Ms Sweeten had left him a note to say that she was leaving him, but all her belongings, including her car, clothes, and personal mementos, were left behind. There was nothing indicating that she was planning to leave. Mr Sweeten told law enforcement that his wife had met a man online, but she never used email and didnt have an email address. Sign up to our free US news bulletin sent straight to your inbox each weekday morning Sign up to our free morning US email news bulletin Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the US Morning Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Three people were killed and two others were wounded in a mass shooting at a nightclub in Kansas City, Missouri in the early hours of Sunday. The fatal incident is at least the fifth mass shooting in the US this weekend and brings the total number of mass shootings in America to more than 230 this year, or at least one every day in 2023, according to the Gun Violence Archive. Police in Kansas City responded to the shooting at Klymax Lounge at roughly 1.25am during a performance by the rapper Nutty Still Gassin, according to officials. Three victims were transported by emergency responders to nearby hospitals, police told The Independent. Two victims were pronounced dead at the scene. One victim was found outside the lounge and the second was discovered inside, according to police. A third victim died in hospital. At least two other people were injured. One person remains in critical condition and another is in stable condition, police told The Independent. Law enforcement have not publicly identified a suspect, and events surrounding the shooting were not immediately clear. All of the victims are adults, according to police, though officials have not yet released their names and ages. One man, identified by family members as 41-year-old Jason McConnell, was reportedly fatally shot while working as a security guard at the club, his family told The Kansas City Star. He was remembered by his stepdaughter Honystye Chancellor as good and nice and always trying to keep us on the right path, she told the newspaper. One woman who lives near the club told The Star that she woke up to the sound of 10 gunshots followed by another five. A womans body could be seen at the doors to the club, and two other bodies at the base of a nearby street lamp, the woman told the newspaper. The fatal shooting in Missouri appears to have happened at roughly the same time that four people were wounded during a shooting outside a bar in Birmingham, Alabama. On Saturday, four people were injured in a shooting near a luxury high-rise apartment building in Los Angeles, while four others were shot at a party in Thomson, Georgia. Three teenagers and one adult were also shot in Louisville, Kentucky on Saturday. This weekends violence comes in one of the deadliest years for mass shootings in the US, according to the Gun Violence Archive. The organisation and gun reform advocacy group, Everytown for Gun Safety, consider incidents in which at least four people are killed or wounded as a mass shooting. Sign up to our free US news bulletin sent straight to your inbox each weekday morning Sign up to our free morning US email news bulletin Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the US Morning Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} A woman who was reported missing from her home in west Texas was found dead on Saturday, and a man has been arrested in connection to her death, police said. Madeline Pantoja, 20, was reported missing on 11 May. Her keys, phone and car were still at her home in Midland when police arrived to follow up on her disappearance. After an investigation by Midland Police Department and other law enforcement agencies, Ms Pantojas body was found on Saturday in a rural area outside the city limits. Hours after her remains were discovered, police arrested Mario Juan Chacon Jr, 24, on suspicion of killing Ms Pantoja. He has been charged with first-degree murder and is being held without bond at the Midland County Jail. Police did not provide further details on Ms Pantoja's death however it is believed to be a homicide, pending autopsy results. Ms Pantoja was last seen around 11pm on 10 May after she spent the evening out with her friends in Midland. After family and friends were unable to reach her the following day, she was reported missing, prompting police to visit her home. Her friends told police that they believed a recent ex-boyfriend could be behind her disappearance. Ms Pantojas neighbors also told police that they heard a man and a woman arguing inside her residence on the night of her disappearance. Police have not said whether or not Mr Chacon Jr was Ms Pantojas ex-boyfriend. The young womans disappearance sparked a search using drones and multiple law enforcement agencies. Mario Juan Chacon, Jr in a booking photo. He has been charged with first-degree murder connected to the death of Madeline Pantoja (Midland County Sheriffs Office) Ms Pantoja's loved ones were reportedly frustrated by the pace of the search, which led to approximately 100 people protesting outside Midland Police headquarters on Thursday. They called for "justice" over the "lack of investigation," according to local outlet KTSM. Midland Mayor Lori Blong said on Friday that law enforcement agencies searching for Ms Pantoja were working tirelessly in searching and in gathering information and evidence on her whereabouts. A man claiming to be Ms Pantojas older brother, Christian, established a GoFundMe page to generate reward money for information in his sisters disappearance. On Sunday, the page had raised approximately $27,000. Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} A transgender high school student in Gulfport, Mississippi did not join her classmates at her graduation ceremony on Saturday after a federal judge allowed her school to force her to wear what the boys are wearing to the event. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Mississippi said in a statement that the courts decision to uphold the school districts explicit discrimination of our client is deeply disappointing and concerning. Our client should be focused on celebrating this life milestone alongside her friends and loved ones, the organisation added. Instead, this ruling casts shame and humiliation on a day that should be focused on joy and pride. The ACLU filed an emergency request for a temporary restraining order against Harrison County school officials and Harrison Central High School on behalf of the parents a 17-year-old student identified in court documents as LB, who argued that she was prohibited from wearing a white dress and heels she purchased for the ceremony. LBs parents, Samantha Brown and Henry Brown, accused the school district of discrimination on the basis of sex and gender and violating the teens First Amendment rights, according to the complaint. On 9 May, Harrison Central principal Kelly Fuller told LB that she would have to wear what the boys are wearing if she wanted to join the ceremony, according to the complaint filed in US District Court on 18 May. LB has been openly transgender since she began attending the school in her freshman year four years ago, she said. She wore dresses to classes and extracurricular events throughout high school, including prom, without issue or repercussion, LB stated in her filing. School superintendent Mitchell King told LBs mother that she would be required to wear pants, socks, and shoes, like a boy, if she wanted to attend the ceremony, according to court filings. Mr King also testified in court documents that the district relies on birth certificates to record whether students are boys or girls. An attorney for the school district responded in a filing stating that participating in a voluntary graduation ceremony when you are no longer a student and wearing a cap and gown and complying with the dress code you agreed to abide by does not infringe on protected rights or justify extraordinary injunctive relief. LB ultimately skipped the ceremony on 20 May, hours after US District District Judge Taylor B McNeel denied her motion for a temporary restraining order to block the schools enforcement of the dress code. For LB, high school graduation signified the beginning of a new chapter in her life, and a celebration of what she achieved in the past four years, ACLU staff attorney Linda Morris said in a statement after the ruling. LB chose a dress that made her feel beautiful and confident. Thats how she wanted to feel when she took her diploma in hand. The Independent has requested comment from Wynn Clark, the attorney for Harrison county schools. Recommended A look inside the playbook on transgender health bills Its deeply offensive that the school would choose to take a celebration of our daughter and her accomplishments and attempt to ruin it with such discriminatory action, LBs mother Samantha said in a statement accompanying the filing. Mississippi is among several states that have filed a wave of legislation aimed at LGBT+ people, particularly trans youth, in recent years. The state does not have a law explicitly prohibiting discrimination against LGBT+ people or bullying LGBT+ students. Republican Governor Tate Reeves signed a bill into law earlier this year that prohibits trans youth from receiving affirming healthcare, against guidance from most major medical organisations supporting age-appropriate, medically necessary and potentially life-saving care. More than a dozen other states have enacted similar laws or policies banning gender-affirming care for young trans people. Court injunctions have blocked bans from going into effect in three states. More than half of all trans youth in the US between the ages of 13 and 17 are at risk of losing access to such care in their home state, according to the Human Rights Campaign. Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Alumni are criticising a small New York Christian university for firing two employees who refused to remove gender pronouns from their email signatures. In April, Raegan Zelaya and Shua Wilmot, residence hall directors at Houghton University, were fired from their positions, after they put she/her and he/him on their emails. In a widely-circulated termination letter to Ms Zelaya, the school wrote that it fired her shortly before the end of the semester as a result of your refusal to remove pronouns in your email signature and because she criticised the decision in the student newspaper. Mr Wilmot said he was also accused of making a threat towards the general superintendent of the Wesleyan Church. The university is affiliated with the conservative branch of the Methodist Church. Mr Wilmot had written what he described as a constructive letter to Superintendent Wayne Schmidt about the churchs views on gender identity and expression, saying they were outdated and problematic. A spokesperson for the university told The New York Times this week that the school has never terminated an employment relationship based solely on the use of pronouns in staff email signatures. Over the past years, weve required anything extraneous be removed from email signatures, including Scripture quotes, a spokesperson said. In a video last month explaining the incident, the ex-residence hall directors, neither of whom is transgender, said their decision to put pronouns in emails was meant both as a gesture of inclusivity, and because people often werent able to tell their genders from their first names over email. It is pretty standard industry practice ... to include your pronouns in your email signature, Ms Zelaya said, in the video. They explained that pronouns are often shared during conferences, interviews and other professional events. Its professional courtesy I can offer, and its a way I can show care and dignity for others, she added. Calling people by the name they like to be called, using the pronouns that they use, thats just a way to dignify them and humanize them, Mr Wilmot continued. By normalizing the visiblity of pronouns in an email signture, I can play a small role ... in empowering others to also share their pronouns in an email signature, thus it normalizes a less emotional labourious way for gender-expansive people to out themselves. Houghton University is affiliated with the Wesleyan Church, which teaches that gender confusion and dysphoria are ultimately the biological, psychological, social and spiritual consequences of the human races fallen condition and views adult gender nonconformity as a violation of the sanctity of human life. Mr Wilmot also defended his decision to speak out in a Facebook post last month. I would just like to express how profoundly grateful I am to have enough privilege to stand up for truth and justice at the expense of a job, he wrote. If any of you are ever in a position where you believe your employer is asking you to do something unjust or unethical, please reach out to me and others for encouragement and empowerment. In April, an open letter with nearly 600 signatures of Houghton University alumni criticised the employees firings as part of a seemingly broader turn against multiculturalism at the school. The letter highlighted the recent closure of a multicultural student centre. Our overall concern is that these recent changes demonstrate a concerning pattern of failure on the part of the current administration to respect that faithful and active Christians reasonably hold a range of theological and ethical views, and in turn, failure to allow for genuine dialogue about these differing views. In this way, Houghton is not living up to its own ideals, the alumni wrote. In a response earlier this month, university president Wayne D Lewis Jr defended closing the student centre for budgetary reasons, and didnt explicitly mention the firings. While we require that all Houghton employees be active Christians, our employees come from a range of Christian traditions, his letter reads. We do, however, require as a condition of employment that all employees be respectful of the positions, doctrine, and beliefs of the university. However, Houghton unapologetically privileges an orthodox Christian worldview, rooted in the Wesleyan theological tradition. At the time of their appointment and again annually, every Houghton employee affirms his or her understanding of and agreement to these commitments. Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} The extraordinary legal battle between former husband and wife Johnny Depp and Amber Heard inadvertently became the social media event of 2022. With it came an unexpected spotlight on a group likely unused to the spotlight: Mr Depps ferocious legal team. A year later, trial is now being put back on display through Channel 4s new three-part documentary Depp v Heard. The series from Bafta-nominated director Emma Cooper, pledges to examine what the blockbuster events of last spring reveal about violence, gender and the memeification of justice in the era of post-truth. For those who need a refresher, Mr Depp, 58 at the time, had sued his ex-wife Ms Heard, then 35, for $50m over an op-ed she had written for The Washington Post in December 2018 in which she discussed domestic abuse and experiencing the full force of our cultures wrath for women who speak out. Although she had not named Mr Depp to whom she was married between 2015 and 2017 his lawyers argued that readers of the newspaper were likely to assume he was the person responsible for the ordeal she alluded to and claimed that the article had caused their client to lose out on lucrative movie roles as a result. Ms Heard countersued her estranged former husband whom she met when they starred together as lovers in The Rum Diary in 2011 for $100m, arguing that it was she who has been defamed by one of his attorneys, who had argued that her claims to victimhood were a hoax. The case duly went to trial and for seven weeks, commencing 11 April 2022, proceedings unfolded at the Fairfax County courthouse in Virginia with the entire world watching on via livestream. Viewers were soon picking over every barbed interaction or seemingly-significant glance between the two Hollywood stars and their respective legal teams on TikTok, Instagram and Twitter, obsessing over the minutiae of the case in intricate detail, hunting out hot takes and fiercely advocating for their chosen side. On 1 June, the jury returned a verdict largely in favour of Mr Depp and ordered that Ms Heard must pay him $10m in compensatory damages and $5m in punitive damages, also siding with Ms Heard on one point from her counterclaim, requiring Mr Depp to pay her $2m. Both sides appealed against their respective verdicts before finally agreeing a settlement in December. As Depp v Heard invites us to return to those feverish days, here is a look back at the members of Mr Depps legal team who became unlikely social media stars as a result of their parts in a real-life courtroom drama. Camille Vasquez Unquestionably the star of the show, Mr Depps counsel was the 37-year-old attorney Camille Vasquez of Brown Rudnick, a prestigious firm based in Irvine, California. A graduate of the University of Southern California and Southwestern Law School, Ms Vasquez began in commercial litigation before specialising in plaintiff-side defamation suits and contract suits, with her firm citing her experience in reputation management and crisis communications issues. Those observing the case online and rooting for Mr Depp enjoyed Ms Vasquezs rapid-fire objections to one particular summary made by Ms Heards attorney Elaine Bredehoft that were so fast they left the latter spluttering in exasperation: Im trying Im trying. Camille Vasquez with Johnny Depp (Shawn Thew/AFP/Getty) This was one of many moments that went viral, inspiring several fan accounts devoted to her as well as endless memes likening Ms Vasquez to the Marvel heroes Thor and She-Hulk and even rumours that she was dating her client, a suggestion she politely laughed off when asked about it directly on the courthouse steps by a TMZ reporter. An affectionate embrace between Mr Depp and Ms Vasquez on 17 May only added fuel to that particular fire, but Judi James, a rather more cynical body language expert, told The Daily Mail the gesture had more to do with strategy: For Depps loyal fans these dramatic rituals will seem like validation If this smart, beautiful woman thinks he is OK then maybe he is will be the implied message. Interviewed after the furore had died down, Ms Vasquez was quick to praise the youthful team around her for their success but also told CBS host Gayle King: When I look at myself in the mirror, I see an advocate. I was born to do this. I really feel that way. She has since been hired by NBC News as a legal analyst. Benjamin Chew The other most prominent face on Mr Depps side was DC-based Ben Chew, a graduate of Princeton and the University of Virginia School of Law who was noted for is passion for candy, snacking on gummy bears and M&Ms throughout proceedings to keep his energy levels up. Like Ms Vasquez, Mr Chew soon found his statements going viral and fan accounts springing up on TikTok devoted to him, with viewers enjoying the bromance they imagined him to be having with his famous client, as well as his gamely posing for pictures with two alpacas, Teddy and Truffle, outside the courthouse alongside his colleague. Speaking to Insider, Kristen Johnson, an attorney who worked with Mr Chew for nine years at his previous firm, Squire Patton Boggs, said that beneath his easy-going demeanour lies a far steelier reality. The thing that throws people off about him is that he looks happy, but hes actually a cutthroat lawyer, she said. Benjamin Chew and Camille Vasquez speak outside court (Craig Hudson/AP) Hes not intimidated by anyone, so it doesnt matter whos on the other side. It would probably give him a boost to have a formidable opponent. Prior to his most recent brush with fame, Mr Chew has previously represented Cher and two Olympic gold medallists as well as the governments of Guatemala, Ecuador and Honduras and argued cases before both the European Court of Human Rights and the International Criminal Court. He is said to love suits, cars and show tunes and was seen in the earlier Discovery+ documentary, Johnny vs Amber: The US Trial, which aired last September, conceding graciously that Ms Heard came across as credible in her deposition. Halfway through the case we were worried about Amber, because during the deposition there were times, there were moments, when she came across as credible, he said. We felt that somebody needed to explain to the jury why someone as presentable as Amber Heard would make up these horrific stories of abuse. Other key members making up Mr Depps legal team were Rebecca MacDowell Lecaroz, Stephanie Calnan, Andrew Crawford, Yarelyn Mena, Jessica Meyers and Sam Moniz. Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Inside Washington email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Texas Senator Ted Cruz found himself denounced by the daughter of late civil rights champion Dr Martin Luther King Jr on Sunday after he attempted to invoke Dr Kings legacy in order to attack the modern incarnation of the anti-racism movement. Mr Cruz used Dr Kings name in his own tweet attacking the NAACP, one of Americas oldest and best known anti-racist institutions. The Texas Republican took issue with the organisation after it issued a travel advisory warning about Floridas far-right turn under Governor Ron DeSantis, in particular efforts to ban what he calls woke lessons in schools which most experts on the issue say is really about erasing teachings about the struggle for civil rights and racial equality in America. The advisory came as a result of a unanimous vote by the NAACPs board. "Florida is openly hostile toward African Americans, people of color and LGBTQ+ individuals. Before traveling to Florida, please understand that the state of Florida devalues and marginalizes the contributions of, and the challenges faced by African Americans and other communities of color," the advisory states. Mr Cruz responded on Twitter to a conservative publications writeup of the issue and wrote angrily: This is bizarre. And utterly dishonest. In the 1950s & 1960s, the NAACP did extraordinary good helping lead the civil rights movement. Today, Dr. King would be ashamed of how profoundly theyve lost their way. But Dr Kings daughter, author and activist Bernice King, retorted that her father would be strongly opposed to conservative efforts to whitewash American history as well as the campaign against LGBT+ Americans currently consuming the far-right. What my father would be deeply concerned about is the harmful, discriminatory legislation in Florida, she wrote. She wasnt the only person to take issue with the senators tweet. A Democratic former member of New Yorks congressional delegation, Mondaire Jones, was less subtle in his response as he opined that Mr Cruz would have fought desegregation efforts in the 50s and 60s. We know exactly which side you wouldve been on in the 1950s and 60s, Ted, wrote the congressman-turned-CNN-contributor. The NAACPs president, Derrick Johnson, further explained the organisations decision in a statement. "Under the leadership of Governor DeSantis, the state of Florida has become hostile to Black Americans and in direct conflict with the democratic ideals that our union was founded upon. He should know that democracy will prevail because its defenders are prepared to stand up and fight. We're not backing down, and we encourage our allies to join us in the battle for the soul of our nation, said Mr Johnson. Mr DeSantis team, meanwhile, issued a response calling the advisory a stunt for attention. Close Listen: Ron DeSantiss presidential launch suffers major technical issues Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Inside Washington email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Donald Trump Jr has shared a seemingly AI-generated clip of Ron DeSantis edited into the role of Michael Scott in The Office in a clip in which the character is mocked for wearing a womans suit. Imagine when next time its not an obvious spoof from The Office but an attempt to depict itself as legitimate and much more nefarious, CNNs Jake Tapper tweeted. Since his 2024 campaign got off to a shaky start on Wednesday evening with its much-derided Twitter Spaces launch, Mr DeSantis has been doing the rounds of right-wing media outlets, reminding voters of his record in Florida and taking the occasional dig at his chief rival, former president Donald Trump. In one interview, he said that if hes elected president, he would consider pardons for those charged with January 6 Capitol riot offences, and when pressed as to whether that would include Mr Trump, he said the measure would include everyone. His remark was criticised not just by Democrats, but was also sharply rebuked by former Republican Rep Liz Cheney, who tweeted: Any candidate who says they will pardon January 6 defendants is not qualified to be president. Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Inside Washington email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Democratic Senator Tom Carper of Delaware announced Monday that he will not seek reelection to a fifth term in the US Senate. Mr Carper's announcement paves the way for a wide-open contest for the seat he has held since 2001 in heavily-blue Delaware. It also ensures that his unblemished record of never having lost an election during more than four decades in politics remains intact. "If I ran for a fifth term in the Senate and won, it would be a record 15 statewide elections," Mr Carper, 76, noted in prepared remarks at a Wilmington news conference. He said he and his wife, Martha, began talking months ago about what the future holds for them. After a good deal of prayer and introspection, and more than a few heart-to-heart conversations, weve decided we should run through the tape over the next 20 months and finish the important work that my staff and I have begun on a wide range of fronts, many of them begun in partnership with Democrat and Republican colleagues in the Senate and in the House, he said. Mr Carper is one of several incumbent senators who have announced that they will not seek reelection next year. The others are Democrats Ben Cardin of Maryland, Dianne Feinstein of California and Debbie Stabenow of Michigan, and Republican Mike Braun of Indiana. Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Inside Washington email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Senator Tim Scott, the only Black Republican member of the upper chamber, has officially declared himself a candidate for president in next years Republican primary election. According to a statement of candidacy filed on Friday with the Federal Election Commission, Mr Scott has designated his official campaign committee as Tim Scott for America, with a campaign address in the Palmetto States capital, Charleston. Mr Scott, who has served as South Carolinas junior senator since 2013, was first appointed to his Senate seat by one of his presidential primary opponents, then-South Carolina governor Nikki Haley. He filled a vacancy left by the resignation of Jim DeMint, who left the Senate to lead the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank. At the time of his appointment, Mr Scott was the first Black senator to represent a state that had been part of the Confederacy during the American Civil War and the first Black Republican since Massachusetts senator Edward Brooke left the body in 1979. The then-freshman GOP senator retained the seat hed been appointed to in a 2014 special election and was reelected easily in 2016 and 2022 with at least 60 per cent of the vote in both elections. He has long been considered a rising star in the Republican Party, and was given the honour of delivering the partys response to president Joe Bidens inaugural address to Congress in 2021. Mr Scott, whose campaign website has teased a special announcement on 22 May, joins a GOP primary field that includes Ms Haley, former president Donald Trump, ex-Arkansas governor Asa Hutchinson and businessman Vivek Ramaswamy. Florida governor Ron DeSantis and ex-New Jersey governor Chris Christie are also expected to officially enter the GOP presidential field in the coming days. Mr Trump, who has retained his preeminent position in the GOP despite being impeached twice by the House of Representatives, losing the 2020 election, inciting a deadly attack on the US Capitol in an effort to remain in power, facing criminal charges in his former home state of New York and his status as a potential defendant in at least two more criminal probes, currently holds a commanding advantage in most polls. Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Inside Washington email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Sen Tim Scott (R - South Carolina), the sole Black Republican in the United States Senate, announced his candidacy for the Republican nomination for president, joining a crowded field. Mr Scott made the announcement on Monday in his home of North Charleston, where he referenced his humble upbringing by noting how his grandfather worked in South Carolinas cotton fields. My family went from cotton to Congress in his lifetime. And it was possible because my grandfather had stubborn faith, he said. A senator since 2013, Mr Scott joins a crowded field that includes former president Donald Trump, former Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson, businessman Vivek Ramaswamy and former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley, who appointed him to become a Senate to fill the vacancy left by a retiring senator. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is also expected to join the Republican presidential primary. As the Senates sole Black Republican, Mr Scott has spoken regularly about how the Republican Party can offer opportunities for marginalised communities. When Republicans passed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, Mr Scott included a provision to create opportunity zones that encouraged investment in low-income communities. After police in Minneapolis killed George Floyd in 2020, he attempted to negotiate with Sen Cory Booker (D - New Jersey) to pass police reform, but negotiations ultimately fell through. During his speech on Monday, he criticised the Biden administration and Democrats for denigrating police. And in Bidens America, crime is on the rise and law enforcement is in retreat, he said. The far left is ending cash bail. Theyre demonizing, demoralizing, and de-funding the police. I grew up in neighborhoods alongside people who ended up incarcerated or in a cemetery. We needed more public safety, not less! America is not a nation in decline. But under Joe Biden, we have become a nation in retreat, Mr Scott added. At the same time, Mr Scott voted for most of Mr Trumps cabinet nominees and judicial nominees, including all three Supreme Court justices Mr Trump nominated. Upon Mr Scotts announcement, Mr Trump praised the Senator while also taking a dig at Mr DeSantis, his arch rival. Good luck to Senator Tim Scott in entering the Republican Presidential Primary Race, he posted on Truth Social. It is rapidly loading up with lots of people, and Tim is a big step up from Ron DeSanctimonious, who is totally unelectable. I got Opportunity Zones done with Tim, a big deal that has been highly successful. Good luck Tim! During his announcement speech, Mr Scott refrained from mentioning Mr Trump, preferring instead to aim his attention at President Biden. Mr Scott will likely make a play for South Carolinas primary, the first Republican presidential contest in the South, which could siphon off votes from Ms Haley and Mr DeSantis. But his colleague Sen Lindsey Graham (R - South Carolina) and the states Gov Henry McMaster (R - South Carolina) have both endorsed Mr Trump. Polling shows that Mr Scott faces a significant disadvantage. A Morning Consult survey showed he is tied with Texas Gov Greg Abbott and Mr Hutchinson at one per cent, far behind Mr DeSantis and Mr Trump. Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Inside Washington email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} The company behind Donald Trumps Truth Social platform has filed a $3.78bn defamation lawsuit against the Washington Post. The lawsuit, filed by Trump Media & Technology Group Corp (TMTG) in Floridas Sarasota County, claims that a 13 May article that alleged the company may have committed securities fraud was false and defamatory, and posed an existential threat. The article titled Trust linked to porn-friendly bank could gain a stake in Trumps Truth Social alleged that the company had concealed key details about a proposed merger from the Securities and Exchange Commission and shareholders, citing internal documents provided by a whistleblower. The lawsuit claims the Washington Post had been on a years-long crusade to undermine the Trump Media, which was founded in February 2021. The clickbait headline of the WaPo Article... immediately grabbed the common mind of readers, falsely insinuating that TMTG was involved in shady business dealings, the suit claims. The case is the latest in a series of defamation suits brought by Mr Trump, his political campaign organisations and companies in recent years. In March 2020, the Trump Campaign filed a defamation suit against The Post over two articles about Robert Muellers investigation into Russian collusion and his campaign strategy. The suit was dismissed by a federal judge in March this year. A $100m defamation lawsuit against the New York Times and his niece Mary Trump alleging an insidious plot to obtain his tax records was thrown out by a New York supreme court judge in May. Mr Trump was ordered to pay all of the legal fees and costs associated with the case. In October, Mr Trump sued CNN in a Florida court for $475m, claiming he had been smeared with a series of ever-more scandalous, false, and defamatory labels. The Independent has contacted the Post for comment. Truth Social was announced in October 2021 as an alternative to Twitter and Facebook, after Mr Trump was kicked off both platforms for inciting the deadly January 6 Capitol riots. The business, which is 85 per cent-owned by Mr Trump, was hyped with a potential value of $22bn after investors piled money into Truth Socials special purpose acquisition company (SPAC). But according to Forbes, the business was worth around $1.2bn in April this year. Truth Social is reportedly under investigation by the Justice Department for alleged money laundering, and is subject to probes by the Securities and Exchange Commission and Financial Regulatory Agency. The whistleblower cited by The Post, former Trump Media executive Will Wilkerson, told the news site in a recent interview that he had handed over 150,000 internal documents to federal investigators. Mr Trumps net wealth plunged by $700m to $2.5bn in 2023 due to his investment in the struggling social media platform, according to Forbes. Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Inside Washington email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Donald Trump took yet another swing at Florida Governor Ron DeSantis as he welcomed South Carolina Senator Tim Scott to the Republican presidential race. Good luck to Senator Tim Scott in entering the Republican Presidential Primary Race, the former president wrote on Truth Social on Monday morning. It is rapidly loading up with lots of people, and Tim is a big step up from Ron DeSanctimonious, who is totally unelectable. I got Opportunity Zones done with Tim, a big deal that has been highly successful. Good luck Tim! Mr Scotts Senate website states that the Opportunity Zones is a bipartisan initiative authored by Senator Tim Scott and enacted through the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act which empowered the governors of each state to designate economically-distressed communities that were ripe for investment and tie them to a brand new federal tax incentive to drive private investment into our nations most distressed zip codes. The South Carolina senator, the only Black member of the GOP in the chamber, announced his campaign on Monday in his hometown of North Charleston. He spoke about his familys humble past, mentioning his grandfather working in the cotton fields in the state. My family went from cotton to Congress in his lifetime. And it was possible because my grandfather had stubborn faith, he said. Mr Scott, who joined the Senate a decade ago, is stepping into a growing field of candidates, including Mr Trump, former Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson, businessman Vivek Ramaswamy, and former South Carolina governor and UN ambassador Nikki Haley. As governor, Ms Haley appointed Mr Scott to the Senate in 2013 after Senator Jim DeMint left the chamber. Mr DeSantis has yet to announce his candidacy but is expected to do so. On Monday, Mr Scott slammed the Biden administration and other Democrats for their stances on law enforcement. And in Bidens America, crime is on the rise and law enforcement is in retreat, he said. The far left is ending cash bail. Theyre demonizing, demoralizing, and de-funding the police. I grew up in neighborhoods alongside people who ended up incarcerated or in a cemetery. We needed more public safety, not less! America is not a nation in decline. But under Joe Biden, we have become a nation in retreat, Mr Scott added. Lawyer Ron Filipkowski tweeted that Mr Trump wants as many people in as possible to carve up the anti-Trump vote. He also knows Tim Scott is unlikely to criticize him in any significant way. Scott joins the running-mate race. Mr Scott said during his announcement: We live in the land where it is possible for a kid raised in poverty by a single mother in a small apartment to one day serve in the Peoples House and maybe even the White House. Joe Biden and the radical left are attacking every rung of the ladder that helped me climb, he added. And that is why Im announcing today that I am running for president of the United States of America! Close Donald Trump Jr accidentally says his father has the charisma of a mortician in bungled attack video Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Inside Washington email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Prosecutors in Mr Trumps criminal case in Manhattan have shared a recording of the former president speaking to a witness with Mr Trumps legal team, according to CBS News. The witness hasnt been identified, a document made public by the prosecutorial office on Friday stated. The document is known as an automatic discovery form and outlines the charges that a defendant is facing and also provides an overview of the evidence gathered against Mr Trump thats set to be put forward at trial or at a preliminary hearing. Meanwhile, as competition builds for the Republican Partys 2024 presidential nomination, Mr Trumps other legal woes continue to mount as a maintenance worker has made a shocking claim about the handling of classified documents at Mar-a-Lago. The worker recalled helping to move boxes into a storage room just one day before the Department of Justice visited Mar-a-Lago seeking the papers, reported The New York Times. The worker didnt know what the boxes contained at the time. Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Inside Washington email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} They're known as family photos, the images of world leaders posed in faux relaxation during global summits. And like portraits of a family that has isolated a dysfunctional member, recent family photos from the G7 and G8 the world's most industrialized nations show how Russian President Vladimir Putin has been outcast. The Russian president has faced unprecedented international isolation since his nation invaded Ukraine in February 2022. An International Criminal Court arrest warrant hangs over his head and clouds his prospects of traveling to many destinations, including those viewed as Moscows allies. It was only 10 years ago when Putin stood proudly among his peers at the time - former U.S. President Barack Obama, former German Chancellor Angela Merkel and former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at a Group of Eight summit in Northern Ireland. But Russia has since been kicked out of the group, which consists of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Britain and the United States, for illegally annexing Crimea in 2014. Images from the G8 summit this year show leaders of the same governments, minus Putin. Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} The trial in Johnny Depps defamation lawsuit against Amber Heard drew to a close with a civil jury handing him an overwhelming victory after weeks of dramatic and harrowing testimony. Depp sued Heard in March 2019, alleging a column Heard wrote in The Washington Post about domestic violence was defamatory and asking for $50m in damages. Heard filed a $100m countersuit. After a six-week trial in Fairfax, Virginia, the jury returned a verdict on 1 June 2022 after deliberating for around two-and-a-half days. Here is a timeline of Johnny Depp and Amber Heards relationship, separation, and court battles, from when they are said to have started dating to the year after their trial: 2012: Johnny Depp and Amber Heard start dating Johnny Depp and Amber Heard are believed to have started dating that year, after Depp split from his longtime partner, French actor Vanessa Paradis. Depp and Paradis have two children: a daughter named Lily-Rose and a son named Jack. Heard and Depp are believed to have met on the set of the 2011 film The Rum Diary, in which they both starred. March 2014: Johnny Depp and Amber Heard get engaged Johnny Depp confirms that he and Amber Heard are engaged, after a couple of months of speculation. The fact that Im wearing a chicks ring on my finger is probably a dead giveaway, he says while promoting the film Transcendence. Not very subtle. February 2015: Johnny Depp and Amber Heard get married Amber Heard and Johnny Depp marry. According to People magazine, they had two ceremonies: the first at Depps home in Los Angeles, and the second at Depps private island in the Bahamas. Amber Heard and Johnny Depp at a gala on 9 January 2016 in Culver City, California (Alison Buck/Getty Images) May 2016: Amber Heard files for divorce Amber Heard files for divorce from Johnny Depp, citing irreconcilable differences. That same month, a judge grants Heard a restraining order against Depp over allegations of domestic violence on his part. In a sworn declaration, Heard alleges that Depp threw a cellphone at her during a fight, which struck her in the eye and the cheek, and that he screamed at her, hit her, violently grabbed her face, and pulled her hair. According to The Associated Press, she submits to the court a photo of her bruised face when requesting the restraining order. Heard is seen with a bruise on her right cheek below the eye, per the AP, during a court appearance. During the entirety of our relationship, Johnny has been verbally and physically abusive to me, Heard writes in the filing. I endured excessive emotional, verbal and physical abuse from Johnny, which has included angry, hostile, humiliating and threatening assaults to me whenever I questioned his authority or disagreed with him. She also writes: I live in fear that Johnny will return to (our house) unannounced to terrorize me, physically and emotionally. Depp has denied the allegations of domestic abuse. His lawyers alleged in a court document in 2016 that Heard was attempting to secure a premature financial resolution by alleging abuse. The LAPD said in May 2016 that police officers who responded to a domestic incident radio call on the 21 of that month found no evidence of any crime. Heards legal team has since subpoenaed the LAPD in connection to that same call as part of the ongoing defamation court case opposing Heard and Depp. Amber Heards lawyer Samantha Spector (left) arrives for a court appearance on 9 August 2016 in Los Angeles (Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images) August 2016: Johnny Depp and Amber Heard settle their divorce After months of contentious proceedings, Depp and Heard reach a settlement in their divorce. Our relationship was intensely passionate and at times volatile, but always bound by love, the pair say in a joint statement at the time. Neither party has made false accusations for financial gain. There was never any intent of physical or emotional harm. Heard pledges to donate the $7m from Depp to the American Civil Liberties Union and the Childrens Hospital Los Angeles. (In August 2021, a New York judge partially granted a petition from Depp to determine whether donations had been made.) January 2017: The divorce is official Depp and Heard formally finalize their divorce. We are all pleased to put this unpleasant chapter in Mr Depp and his familys lives behind them, Depps attorney Laura Wasser writes in a statement. Having his request for entry of the dissolution judgment granted today made it a particularly lucky Friday the 13th. Heards lawyer tells Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Carl H Moor that his client would be very happy to move on with her life. June 2018: Johnny Depp sues over The Sun headline On 1 June 2018, Depp sues News Group Newspapers, the company that publishes The Sun, for alleged libel over an article published in the tabloid newspaper in April of that year, with the headline: Gone Potty: How can JK Rowling be genuinely happy casting wife beater Johnny Depp in the new Fantastic Beasts film? Depp would eventually lose the case. December 2018: Amber Heard publishes an op-ed On 18 December 2018, Amber Heard publishes an op-ed in The Washington Post titled: I spoke up against sexual violence and faced our cultures wrath. That has to change. In it, she writes in part: Like many women, I had been harassed and sexually assaulted by the time I was of college age. But I kept quiet I did not expect filing complaints to bring justice. And I didnt see myself as a victim. Then two years ago, I became a public figure representing domestic abuse, and I felt the full force of our cultures wrath for women who speak out. Depp isnt mentioned by name in the op-ed. The op-ed would later become the basis of the $50m defamation lawsuit filed by Depp naming Heard as a defendant. March 2019: Johnny Depp sues Amber Heard Depp files a $50m lawsuit against Heard, alleging she defamed him in her Washington Post op-ed. The op-ed depended on the central premise that Ms Heard was a domestic abuse victim and that Mr Depp perpetrated domestic violence against her, the complaint alleges in part, calling the claim of domestic abuse categorically and demonstrably false. Amber Heard makes a statement as she leaves court after the final day of the libel trial by Johnny Depp against News Group Newspapers in London on 28 July 2020 (NIKLAS HALLE'N/AFP via Getty Images) July 2020: Johnny Depps lawsuit against The Sun goes to trial The trial opens on 7 July 2020 in London. Johnny Depp and Amber Heard both arrive at the High Court of Justice, with Heard scheduled to testify in support of The Sun. Depps lawyers argue he is seeking vindication, not money, and Depp himself denies the allegations of domestic abuse. A spokesperson for Heard tells Vanity Fair Heard never asked for these proceedings to take place and has tried to move on with her life. The trial lasts for three weeks, with explosive allegations emerging as part of the evidence and testimony. The proceedings wrap up at the end of July. Johnny Depp departs from the court on 28 July 2020 in London (Stuart C Wilson/Getty Images) August 2020: Amber Heard countersues Heard files a $100m countersuit against Depp in response to his libel lawsuit, accusing him of allegedly orchestrating a smear campaign against her and describing his own lawsuit as a continuation of abuse and harassment. In the filing, Heard asks the court to grant her immunity from Depps complaint and asks for compensatory damages of not more than $100m, specifying this is twice the amount Mr Depp asserted against Ms Heard. November 2020: Johnny Depp loses his libel battle against The Sun The court rules in favour of The Sun in the libel lawsuit. Justice Andrew Nicol said the defendants proved that their allegations against Depp were substantially true, The Associated Press reports at the time. I have found that the great majority of alleged assaults of Ms. Heard by Mr. Depp have been proved to the civil standard, the judge writes in a ruling. An attorney for Depp calls the judgment so flawed that it would be ridiculous for Mr Depp not to appeal this decision. March 2021: Johnny Depp is denied permission to appeal loss in The Sun case Two court of appeal judges find against granting Depp permission to appeal the judges decision in his libel suit against The Sun. Per the AP, Justices James Dingemans and Nicholas Underhill ruled that the original hearing was full and fair and the judges rulings have not been shown even arguably to be vitiated by any error of approach or mistake of law. Dingemans and Underhill found that the appeal has no real prospect of success and that there is no other compelling reason for it to be heard. It is clear from a reading of the judgment as a whole that the judge based his conclusions on each of the incidents on his extremely detailed review of the evidence specific to each incident, they said. In an approach of that kind there was little need or room for the judge to give weight to any general assessment of Ms Heards credibility. Amber Heard walks the runway as part of Paris Fashion Week on 3 October 2021 in Paris, France (Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images For L'Oreal) 11 April 2022: Defamation case goes to trial in Virginia The trial in Depps defamation case against Heard began on 11 April 2022 in Fairfax, Virginia. (The Washington Post, in which Heards op-ed was published, has printing facilities in the state.) Depp suffered a significant setback before the trial began when the judge in the case, Virginia Judge Penney Azcarate, found that Heard could argue that her op-ed deals with a matter of public interest. Per the AP, Depps legal team had tried to argue that Heard shouldnt be able to rely on Virginias anti-SLAPP legislation. Anti-SLAPP laws, which stand for anti-Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation, are designed to protect people from being sued when they speak out on matters of public interest. Judge Azcarate ruled that Heard could, in fact, invoke Virginias anti-SLAPP legislation in her defence and argue to the jury that it should apply to her op-ed. 1 June 2022: Depp prevails in US defamation trial The jury in the Fairfax case announced its verdict seven weeks after the beginning of the trial. Jurors found that Heard had defamed Depp in three statements and awarded him more than $10m in damages. As part of Heards counter-suit, they also found that a lawyer for Depp defamed Heard in one of three statements highlighted in the filing. Heard was awarded $2m in damages. 21 July 2022: Heard says she will appeal judgement Heards lawyers filed a notice of appeal in Fairfax County Circuit Court, notifying the Virginia Court of Appeals that Heard intends to appeal the judgment, as well as rulings the judge made after the verdict, including rejecting Heards request to set aside the verdict and dismiss the lawsuit or order a new trial. We believe the court made errors that prevented a just and fair verdict consistent with the First Amendment. We are therefore appealing the verdict, a spokesperson for Heard said in a statement. While we realise todays filing will ignite the Twitter bonfires, there are steps we need to take to ensure both fairness and justice. The appeal was officially filed on 7 December 2022. 22 July 2022: Depp says he will appeal judgement Depp filed a notice of appeal for the $2m awarded to Heard just a day later, stating that he was appealing all adverse rulings and from the final judgement order. This was an overwhelmingly positive verdict for Mr Depp, a source told ABC News. The verdict speaks for itself, and Mr Depp believes that this is a time for both parties to move on with their lives and heal. But if Ms Heard is determined to pursue further litigation by appealing the verdict, Mr Depp is filing a concurrent appeal to ensure that the full record and all relevant legal issues be considered by the Court of Appeal. The appeal was officially filed on 3 November 2022. 19 December 2022: Depp and Heard settle appeals Depp and Heard settled their defamation lawsuits with Heard announcing the decision on social media. Both sides had filed appeals of various aspects of the jurys verdicts in June. Depps camp said the deal includes a $1m payment from her to him to settle all financial claims. His lawyers said he will donate that money to charity. We are pleased to formally close the door on this painful chapter for Mr Depp, who made clear throughout this process that his priority was about bringing the truth to light. The jurys unanimous decision and the resulting judgement in Mr Depps favour against Ms Heard remain fully in place, his lawyers Benjamin Chew and Camille Vazquez, said. Heard wrote on Instagram: I never chose this. I defended my truth and in doing so my life as I knew it was destroyed. The vilification I have faced on social media is an amplified version of the ways in which women are re-victimised when they come forward. Close Madeleine McCann Footage shows holes in the ground in Portugal as search ends For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} A three-day search of a remote Portugal reservoir has resulted in the reported discovery of a relevant clue linked to the disappearace of Madeleine McCann. Officers concluded their search of the Algarve reservoir on Thursday, where key suspect Christian Brueckner reportedly visited some days after the three-year-old vanished on May 3, 2007. Using sniffer dogs and a tractor-based tree-cutter, authorities scoured Barragem do Arade reservoir in the Algarve - around 31 miles inland from where the McCanns were staying in the Praia de Luz resort. Police in Portugal said: [The search] resulted in the collection of some material that will be subject to the competent expertise. The material collected will be handed over to the German authorities. During the search, a relevant clue was found which led to police officers concentrating on a specific paper, according to the Correio de Manha newspaper. Brueckner has denied any involvement and is currently behind bars in Germany for raping a 72-year-old woman in the same part of Portugal. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Madeleine McCanns disappearance has puzzled detectives for more than 15 years but in 2020 a new potential suspect emerged. Now, police are searching a remote reservoir in Portugals the Algarve that he used to visit in a renewed effort to shed further light on the case. Follow all the latest updates on the Independents live blog German prisoner Christian Brueckner was first named in connection with the unsolved mystery that summer, and officially named as a suspect last year. His yellow and white VW T3 Westfalia campervan was reportedly identified as having been near to the Praia da Luz resort in Portugal where the young girl went missing on May 3, 2007. Christian Brueckner is serving seven years behind bars in Germany (Reuters) Three-year-old Madeleine disappeared from the bed of her holiday apartment while her parents and family friends dined 180 feet away. Her two-year-old twin siblings were also in the apartment she went missing from. Madeleines parents Kate and Gerry McCann have been searching for answers ever since. The Metropolitan Police took over the investigation, Operation Grange, in 2011 but they hit dead ends. There has not been another significant suspect in the case since 2007 until Brueckner. Who is Christian Brueckner? German prisoner Christian Brueckner is a prolific burglar and has been previously convicted for sex crimes against young girls. He was born in Germany in 1976 and moved to Portugal in his late teens. It is believed he lived there between 1995 and 2007 working in the food industry. Brueckner is described as being about 6ft tall, slim and white with short blond hair. Brueckner had reportedly been using a yellow and white VW T3 Westfalia campervan in and around Praia da Luz (PA Archive) What are the accusations against him? Brueckner was declared a prime suspect in the case of the disappearance of Madeleine by Portuguese police in April 2022. Already in prison in Germany for the rape and murder of a 72-year-old woman, he has now also been charged with multiple sex offences which are alleged to have taken place between 2000 and 2007. Police in Germany claim to have concrete evidence that the British girl is dead though this has not been proven. A spokesperson from the Braunschweig prosecutors office previously said: The accused is the same person against whom charges were brought in connection with the disappearance of the then three-year-old British girl Madeleine Beth McCann. Specifically, the accused is charged with three offences of aggravated rape and two offences of sexual abuse of children. The investigation into the disappearance of Madeleine McCann continues. The charges mentioned do not relate to the McCann case. But in May German police claim to have found new evidence linked to Madeleine inside a van belonging to Brueckner. Madeleines parents Kate and Gerry McCann have been searching for answers ever since her disappearance (PA Wire) How was he identified as a suspect? Brueckner had reportedly been using a yellow and white VW T3 Westfalia campervan in and around Praia da Luz the Algarve resort where the McCanns were holidaying at the time Madeleine vanished. German prosecutors say telecomms data shows Brueckner received a phone call on 3 May 2007 near the Praia da Luz holiday apartment from which the three-year-old went missing, but he reportedly claims to have been miles from the scene with a young German woman. Brueckner, who has always denied any involvement in Madeleines disappearance, insists he drove the woman, who was on holiday with her parents, to the airport in Faro for her return flight home the following day. They were stopped and photographed at a police roadblock, according to Sky News. When Portuguese police named Brueckner an arguido a formal suspect on 21 April last year, it was the first time they had identified an official suspect since 2007. Back then, they named Madeleines parents, Kate and Gerry McCann as suspects but both were later cleared. Brueckner is the first significant suspect in the case since 2007 (PA Media) Why is he in prison in Germany? In April 2022, Brueckner was jailed in Germany for the rape and murder of a 72-year-old woman in the same resort - Praia da Luz - as where Madeleine went missing. Police in Germany, who are treating the case as a murder enquiry, believe Brueckner planned to rob the holiday apartment but moved on to a sexual motive. It is believed he has a total of 17 convictions including burglary as he steals from hotels and holiday let apartments. Other cases Brueckner has been linked to Brueckner has also been linked to other disappearances of children, including a boy, six, in Portugal in 2000, a five-year-old girl in Germany in 2015 and a number of others. In 2020, he was being investigated over the rape and murder of Tristan Brubach, a 15-year-old boy from Germany. Belgian authorities have also linked him to the murder of teenager Carola Titze, 16. She went missing while on holiday in De Haan, Belgium on July 5, 1996 and her body was discovered among sand dunes severely mutilated on July 11. Other cases believed to be linked to Brueckner include that of Inga Gehrike who went missing from Saxony-Anhalt in Germany on May 2, 2015, Rene Hasee, six, who vanished while on a family holiday in Aljezur, Portugal on June 21, 1996 and Jair Soares who disappeared in August 1995. Peggy Knoblochs case has also been linked to Brueckner after she went missing in May 2001. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Greek prime minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis hailed his partys victory in the parliamentary elections as a political earthquake after the conservatives secured a smashing win but fell short of forming a majority. With most votes counted after the election on Sunday, the ruling New Democracy party has secured a commanding lead with 40.8 per cent of the votes, while the previous governing party, Syriza, trailed far behind with 20.1 per cent for the 300-seat Hellenic Parliament. However, Mr Mitsokaiss party fell just short of the majority required to form a government on its own, as the fate of the new government still hangs in limbo. According to projections by Greece's interior ministry, New Democracy is expected to win 145 seats in parliament, which is six seats shy of an absolute majority. Starting from Monday, Greek president Katerina Sakellaropoulou will give the top three parties - New Democracy, Syriza, and the Socialist PASOK three days each to attempt to form a coalition government. If all three parties fail, Ms Sakellaropoulou will appoint a caretaker government to prepare for new elections to be held approximately a month later. Without Mr Mitsotakis, the numbers for potential coalitions do not add up, as Syriza has 72 seats, PASOK has 41 seats, the Communist KKE party has 26 seats, and the right-wing Hellenic Solution party has 16 seats. The KKE party has already stated that it will not participate in any alliance, while the Hellenic Solution party has been critical of both New Democracy and Syriza. Mr Mitsotakis, who served as prime minister and leader of the New Democracy leader, had expressed his desire for a strong one-party government, but he believes that the election results provide a clear mandate. Addressing supporters outside party headquarters in Athens, Mr Mitsotakis called his partys victory a political earthquake. "The ballot results are decisive. They show that New Democracy has the approval of the people to rule, strong and autonomous." This victory for Mr Mitsotakis is quite significant, as his administration faced numerous challenges, including a wiretapping scandal, the Covid-19 pandemic, a cost of living crisis, and a fatal rail crash that sparked public outrage. However, it comes as a significant setback for Syriza and its leader Alexis Tsipras, who rose to power in 2015 on the wave of public dissatisfaction with other parties' handling of the debt crisis that severely impacted Greece's economy for over a decade. The MeRA25 movement, led by former Syriza finance minister Yanis Varoufakis, failed to secure any seats in parliament. Mr Tsipras, who congratulated Mr Mitsotakis on his win, noted that the race is not over and talked about the possibility of a second election. Battles have wins, and losses, he said. The electoral cycle has not ended yet ... it is very possible there will be a second election. Kyriakos Mitsotakis, center under the Greek flag, speaks to his supporters during his election campaign in northern Athens (AP) Greece faced the threat of a eurozone exit during the height of its debt crisis in 2015, leading to the country accepting a third bailout under Mr Tsipras' leadership. Mr Mitsotakis, elected in 2019, focused his campaign on improving the financial conditions of the Greek people, promising to raise wages and pensions that were cut during the crisis. Panos Koliastasis, an adjunct assistant professor of politics at the University of Peloponnese, attributed Mitsotakis' victory to his emphasis on addressing financial concerns and his clear proposal for an autonomous government. He also had a clear proposal of (how) he will be in power - that of an autonomous government, he said. The alternative of Syriza, of a coalition government, wasnt that realistic because others refused to cooperate. The elections in Greece are held every four years to determine the composition of the 300-seat parliament. Additional reporting by agencies For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Monday sharply criticized climate activists as nutty for drastic protests such as blocking streets or gluing themselves to famous paintings in museums. I think its completely nutty to somehow stick yourself to a painting or on the street, Scholz said during a visit to an elementary school in the town of Kleinmachnow outside of Berlin, German news agency dpa reported. The chancellor added that he did not think anybody's opinion on climate change could be changed by such actions but rather that these protests made people angry. "Thats an action that I dont think is going to help, Scholz told the students. Members of the group Last Generation have repeatedly blocked roads across Germany in an effort to pressure the government to take more drastic action against climate change. In recent weeks, they've brought the traffic to a halt on an almost daily basis in Berlin, gluing themselves to busy junctions and highways. Over the past few months, they've also glued themselves to various paintings in Berlin and elsewhere. While some people support the protesters fight for climate protection, others especially angry drivers who get stuck in traffic have tried to pull the activists off the roads using violence, even though officials have warned motorists repeatedly not to engage in vigilantism. Last Generation wants Germany to stop using all fossil fuels by 2030 and take short-term measures including the imposition of a general speed limit of 100 kilometers per hour (62 mph) on highways as a way of cutting transport emissions. Even though Scholz expressed criticism on Monday of the ways climate activists draw attention to global warming, he is committed to transforming Germany's economy to be greener and more climate-friendly. The German government insists that protecting the climate is one of its central concerns. It has said it wants to slash greenhouse gas emissions by at least 65% from 1990 levels by 2030 and has plans in place to sharply boost renewable energy production while phasing out fossil fuels. Close G7 summit: Zelensky and Fumio Kishida lay wreaths at Peace Memorial Park in Hiroshima For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Russia unleashed a major two-wave overnight air attack on Kyiv ahead of its anniversary on Sunday, killing at least one person. More than 40 drones were downed in Kyivs airspace, the capitals military administration officials said on Sunday on its Telegram messaging channel Meanwhile, Russias envoy to the UK warned of an escalation to the war in Ukraine as the UK and other Western allies commit more weapons to aid president Volodymyr Zelensky. The actions of Nato countries, especially the UK, risk lengthening and triggering a new dimension in the war, Andrei Kelin told BBC News. Earlier, Kyivs military intelligence had warned of Moscow plotting a large-scale provocation at a nuclear power station it occupies in southeast Ukraine to disrupt a looming counteroffensive. A statement from the intelligence directorate of Ukraines defence ministry claimed Russian forces will strike Zaporizhzhia, the biggest nuclear power plant in Europe, and report a radioactive leak to trigger an international probe that would pause the hostilities and give them the respite they need. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Ukraines Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant was left without power today after a barrage of Russian shelling, the UN nuclear watchdog has said. Rafael Grossi, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), made an appeal for the protection of the plant after warning the situation is extremely vulnerable. He said the plant was forced to switch to emergency diesel generators after losing its external power supply for the seventh time since Vladimir Putin launched his invasion. Rafael Grossi, director of the International Atomic Energy Agency, warned the situation at Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant is extremely vulnerable (Copyright 2020 The Associated Press. All rights reserved) The nuclear safety situation at the plant (is) extremely vulnerable, Mr Grossi said in a tweet. We must agree to protect (the) plant now; this situation cannot continue. The plants six nuclear reactors are protected by a reinforced shelter able to withstand an errant shell or rocket. But a disruption in the electrical supply could disable cooling systems essential for the reactors safety. Emergency diesel generators can be unreliable. The Zaporizhzhia power plant is one of the 10 biggest atomic power stations in the world. Ukraines Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant was left without power for the seventh time since war broke out (Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.) Russian officials have begun training for a planned evacuation from the plant of 3,100 staff and their families, a representative of Energoatom said last week. The plant employed around 11,000 staff before the war, some 6,000 of whom remain at the site and in the surrounding town of Enerhodar. More Russian military units have been arriving at the site and are mining it, the representative added. The Zaporizhzhia power plant is one of the 10 biggest atomic power stations in the world (REUTERS) Fighting, especially artillery fire, around the plant - which is Europes largest atomic power station - has fuelled fears of a disaster like the one at Chernobyl in 1986. Then, a reactor exploded and spewed deadly radiation, contaminating a vast area in the worlds worst nuclear catastrophe. Energoatom, Ukraines state nuclear company, blamed Russian shelling for the loss of the last high-voltage transmission line to the plant in Russian-occupied southern Ukraine, about 300 miles from Kyiv. The facility is on the verge of a nuclear and radiation accident, Energoatom warned. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Anti-Kremlin militia are said to have launched a cross-border raid from Ukrainian territory overrunning one Russian village and pushing on into others. Ukrainian military intelligence, the GUR, claimed that two self-described Russian partisan groups, the Liberty of Russia Legion and the Russian Volunteer Corps (RVC) both consisting of Russian citizens carried out the attack. It is one of the largest such incursions since Russia invaded Ukraine. A spokesperson for the GUR told Ukraines public broadcaster, Suspilne, that the two groups were conducting an operation in the Belgorod region to create a security strip to protect Ukrainian civilians. The incursion was being carried out exclusively by Russian citizens, the spokesperson added. The Liberty of Russia Legion a Ukraine-based Russian militia that says it is working inside Russia for Vladimir Putin's overthrow said it had completely liberated the border town of Kozinka. It said forward units had reached the district centre of Graivoron, further east. Moving on. Russia will be free! The RVC claimed in a Telegram post it had crossed the border into Russia again, after claiming to have breached the border in early March. It describes itself as a volunteer formation fighting on Ukraines side and is reportedly run by a Russian nationalist. The governor of Russias Belgorod region said a Ukrainian sabotage group had entered the town of Graivoron, about three miles (five kilometres) from the border. The town also came under Ukrainian artillery fire, he said. The governor, Vyacheslav Gladkov, claimed eight people were wounded and most residents has left the area but the situation remained tense. The Kremlins spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, said President Putin had been informed about the incursion. An effort to push them out from the Russian territory and liquidate them was under way, he said. A senior aide to Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said Kyiv had nothing to do with the incursion, putting it down to Russias emerging violent resistance movement. Mykhailo Podolyak claimed that Ukraine had nothing to do with it and that underground guerrilla groups are composed of Russian citizens. In a separate, long statement to Reuters, he said: The violent Russian resistance movement, whose architects are exclusively citizens of Russia itself, is gradually coming out of the underground. They are independent in their decisions, have certain experience, and are free from fear. The border attack comes as Moscow and Kyiv continue to trade claims over the fate of the eastern city of Bakhmut the scene of some of the bloodiest fighting during Moscows invasion. Russia claimed over the weekend that city was captured after months of battle but Kyiv has said it is still fighting. The Kremlin spokesperson, Mr Peskov, claimed the border incursion was an attempt by Ukraine to divert attention from Bakhmut. Ukraines deputy defence minister, Hanna Maliar, said Kyivs forces still held a foothold inside the city, although such a presence is likely to be small. She said that Ukraines advance on the Russian forces flanks around Bakhmut is more meaningful than its withdrawal inside the city itself, and Russia will have to weaken its lines elsewhere to send reinforcements to hold the shattered city. Through our movement on the flanks to the north and south we manage to destroy the enemy, Ms Maliar said on Monday in televised comments. By moving along the flanks and occupying certain heights there, our armed forces have made it very difficult for the enemy to stay in the city itself. Ukrainian forces were still advancing, particularly south of Bakhmut, Ms Maliar said, though she said fighting on the northern flank had become less intense for now. The situation in either location could not be independently verified. Wagner Group mercenaries likely secured the western administrative borders of Bakhmut City while Ukrainian forces are continuing to prioritise counterattacks on Bakhmuts outskirts, the Institute for the Study of War think tank which monitors the conflict said on Monday. Earlier on Monday, Ukraines Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, Europes largest atomic power station, spent hours operating on emergency diesel generators after losing its external power supply for the seventh time since Russias invasion began, the head of the UN nuclear watchdog said. The nuclear safety situation at the plant (is) extremely vulnerable, Rafael Grossi, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), said. Hours later, national energy company Ukrenergo said on Telegram that it had restored the power line that feeds the plant. We must agree to protect (the) plant now; this situation cannot continue, Mr Grossi said, in his latest appeal for the area to be spared from the fighting between Ukrainian and Russian forces. IAEA staff are deployed at the plant, which is occupied by Russian troops. The plants six nuclear reactors, which are protected by a reinforced shelter able to withstand an errant shell or rocket, have been shut down. But a disruption in the electrical supply could affect cooling systems that are essential for the reactors safety even if they are turned off. Elsewhere, Ukraines presidential office said on Monday morning that at least three Ukrainian civilians were killed and 16 others were injured in Russian assaults over the previous 24 hours. The Ukrainian Air Force reported that four out of 16 Russian missiles and all 20 drones launched against Ukrainian targets were shot down. Reuters and Associated Press contributed to this report For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Russian soldiers fighting in Ukraine have been supported on the battlefield by tens of thousands of mercenaries from a shadowy group led by a businessman and longtime affiliate of president Vladimir Putin. The Wagner Group is a private military company under the control of Yevgeny Prigozhin that cut its teeth in deployments to Crimea and eastern Ukraines Donbas region in 2014 and has since dispatched troops to several conflicts in the Middle East and Africa, including the Syrian Civil War. In Russias invasion of Ukraine, Wagner has proved indispensable, but an apparent power struggle between the Kremlin and the outspoken Mr Prigozhin has led to the group having its wings clipped by Moscow. Yevgeny Prigozhin and Vladimir Putin on a tour around the formers food factory in 2010 (AP) Mr Prigozhin a 61-year-old ex-convict sometimes known as Putins chef because his catering business has hosted dinners for the Russian president and fed the Kremlins armed forces denied all links with the group until September last year when he announced he was proud to be its founder. He said he founded Wagner to support Russian-backed separatists in the Donbas conflict. I cleaned the old weapons myself, sorted out the bulletproof vests myself and found specialists who could help me with this, Mr Prigozhin said. From that moment, on 1 May 2014, a group of patriots was born, which later came to be called the Wagner Battalion. Dmitry Utkin, a former Russian intelligence officer, is alleged to be a co-founder who remains near the top of the groups command. Since its formation, Wagner has been accused of committing human rights abuses in Ukraine, Syria, Libya, the Central African Republic, Sudan, Mali and Mozambique. The group is also believed to be working for the Burkina Faso government against an Islamist insurgency. Prior to admitting his involvement, Mr Prigozhin had a history of suing Russian and Western news outlets that alleged his ties to the group. His secretive stance was to protect the Wagner soldiers, he has claimed. Wagner fighters in a Soledar salt mine after Mr Prigozhin claimed to have taken the town (Telegram) Mr Prigozhin was finally forced to confess his links with Wagner as the group rose to prominence in the Ukraine conflict. British intelligence puts the number of Wagner troops active in Ukraine at 50,000, comprising a quarter of Russias total strength. War contractors are nothing new but military analysts say the Kremlin has been heavily reliant on Wagner due to the heavy losses incurred by official Russian forces during the war, along with difficulties in recruitment. The UKs Ministry of Defence (MoD) first reported that Wagner had been deployed in Ukraine on 28 March 2022, little over a month into the conflict after Russian losses had already begun to hamper the pace of the initial assault. Wagner has since then played significant roles in capturing towns such as Soledar, Popasna and Lysychansk offering relative operational competence while the Kremlin has been forced to repeatedly switch around command of its own forces in the face of losses. Graves of Wagner fighters in a cemetery near the village of Bakinskaya (Reuters) Mr Prigozhin has been at pains to claim victories for Wagner in Ukraine, sometimes putting him at odds with the Kremlin line. He has even accused Russias defence ministry of taking credit for Wagner successes. In the battle for Soledar, a small town subject to an intense assault as part of Russias still-ongoing campaign to take over the city of Bakhmut, Mr Prigozhin said his mercenaries had triumphed over Ukrainian forces days before the Kremlin said its own troops had done the same. Bakhmut is prized by Moscow as its capture would put Russian forces in a stronger position in the goal of capturing all of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions that make up the Donbas. On 12 February, Mr Prigozhin said Wagner had taken the village of Krasna Hora near Bakhmut, making no mention of Russian forces as Moscow began to launch a major offensive targeting the Donetsk town along with several other frontline settlements. A picture released by Mr Prigozhins press service shows what it said were Wagner fighters at the entrance sign to the village of Krasna Hora (Reuters) Speculation has raged over Mr Prigozhins ambitions in Russian politics and there are signs that Mr Putin is sensitive to any potential challenges by his former cook. The Kremlin has moved to clip Mr Prigozhins wings, ordering him to halt his public criticism of the defence ministry while advising state media to stop mentioning him or Wagner by name. Mr Prigozhin has since confirmed that he had also been stripped of the right to recruit convicts from prisons a key feeding ground for Wagners ranks ceding the power back to the government for its own forces. Sergei Markov, a former Kremlin adviser who maintains contacts in political circles, said the Russian government extracted a promise from Mr Prigozhin that he would not create his own political movement or join a parliamentary party unless asked to do so by officials. They are a little afraid of him and find him an inconvenient person, Mr Markov said. The group, formally PMC Wagner, recently moved its headquarters to an imposing glass high-rise in St Petersburg, which also acts as a technology centre and holds exhibits of advanced weaponry along grey corridors filled with camouflaged personnel. The Wagner Groups headquarters in St Petersburg (EPA) Unsettling accounts of life in the mercenary group have surfaced recently from former members including Andrei Medvedev, who sought asylum in Norway in January after deserting a Wagner regiment in Ukraine. The 26-year-old said sergeants were ruthless in their attempts to recruit new fighters. They would round up those who did not want to fight and shoot them in front of newcomers, he alleged in an interview with CNN. They brought two prisoners who refused to go fight and they shot them in front of everyone and buried them right in the trenches that were dug by the trainees. The MoD said last July that Wagner was lowering recruitment standards to include formerly blacklisted individuals. Andrei Medvedev in Oslo after fleeing Wagner command (Reuters) Mr Medvedev claimed he joined Wagner as a volunteer after serving in the Russian military. He said Wagner fighters were often sent into battle with little direction. Two former Wagner fighters captured by Ukraine told CNN of devastating losses in assaults reminiscent of First World War charges. Recalling his first assault near the village of Bilohorivka in Luhansk, one said: There were 90 of us. Sixty died in that first assault, killed by mortar fire. A handful remained wounded. The other fighter said he was involved in a push for Lysychansk on the Luhansk-Donetsk border. The first steps into the forest were difficult because of all the landmines spread out. Out of 10 guys, seven were killed immediately, he said. The fight went on for five days, he said. There is no feeling attached to it. Just wave after wave. Four hundred [Wagner fighters] were brought there, and then more and more, all the time. Further evidence of brutality emerged on 14 February, as footage appeared to show a Russian convict who fought for Wagner being beaten to death with a sledgehammer after being accused of fleeing the war. The UKs opposition Labour Party is just the latest political organisation to demand the Wagner Group be classified as a terrorist organisation in response to its barbarous conduct in Ukraine and beyond. The group again made headlines in early March, following the one-year anniversary of the wars commencement, when Mr Prigozhin once more took to Telegram to undermine Moscow by warning that the entire Russian frontline in Ukraine would be in jeopardy if his soldiers are finally forced to retreat from Bakhmut amid ammunition hunger, seemingly a plea for more resources. If Wagner retreats from Bakhmut now, the whole front will collapse, he said in a four-minute video posted to the encrypted app. The situation will not be sweet for all military formations protecting Russian interests. If we retreat, then we will go down in history forever as people who have taken the main step towards losing the war. This is exactly the problem with ammunition hunger. His appeal comes amid reports that Russian troops have been reduced to engaging in hand-to-hand combat with shovels due to the scarcity of weapons and bullets. The fighting has remained intense around Bakhmut for months, although local residents who have held on despite the considerable danger to their lives are now finally fleeing as the Ukrainian militarys withdrawal begins to look inevitable following a courageous fightback. Sign up to our free weekly IndyTech newsletter delivered straight to your inbox Sign up to our free IndyTech newsletter Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the IndyTech email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} The Axiom Mission 2 (Ax-2) rocket arrived at the International Space Station (ISS) on Monday, 22 May. The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carried a former Nasa astronaut and three civilian customers for a week-long stay aboard the ISS. It is the second private mission to the space station, following Axiom Mission 1 which took the first fully-private crew to the orbiting complex back in April. The rocket was launched on Sunday afternoon from Nasa's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Its passengers are commander Peggy Whitson, pilot John Shoffner, and mission specialists Ali Alqarni and Rayyanah Barnawi to the orbital complex. They will live and work on the space station, conducting more than 20 research experiments to inform future human spaceflight and improve life on Earth, Axiom Space said. The Ax-2 missions undocking is expected on 31 May, shortly followed by splashdown. Click here to sign up for our newsletters. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} In a couple of weeks, at its annual Worldwide Developers Conference, Apple could be set to reveal one of its most important and risky products ever: a whole new way of seeing the world. The mixed reality headset is still a secret and a mystery. Though it has been strongly rumoured, it still might never arrive; it would certainly not be a surprise if it did not turn up at that WWDC event, though it would be something of a disappointment given how many whispers there have been. But whether it arrives now, later or never, Apples headset has been in the works for years. And clues to what it might look like or what the world might look like through it are already sprinkled through the companys other products and apps. Rumours of how the headset will look have suggested it might be something like ski goggles, with cameras mounted on the outside and a precise screen on the inside, borrowing some of the design language of the Apple Watch; eventually, that is expected to morph into something less like a virtual reality headset, and more like glasses with a screen that will blend into normal life. We have a lot of clues about what the mixed reality experiences that Apple wants people to see through it will look like. Thats because Apple and its executives have frequently discussed the uses of augmented reality in public, even as the hardware has stayed a tightly protected secret. Recommended The 20 technologies that defined the first 20 years of the 21st Century Apples work on a kind of headset is thought to have been ongoing since 2016, though what exactly that headset was rumoured to be has shifted over the years. The main rumours have coalesced since then into work on a mixed reality headset: something that would use cameras to show a picture of the real world inside a headset strapped to users face, and sensors and software to overlay virtual objects on that real world. Apples mixed reality headset may evolve from looking like goggles, to resembling more discreet glasses (Getty/The Independent) In 2017, Tim Cook spoke to The Independentabout the importance of augmented reality. At that point, he was talking primarily about the iPhone and iPad, and how their cameras, sensors and screens could be used to layer virtual objects on top of the real world. It was clear even then that Apple really planned to include it in some sort of glasses or goggles, however. Asked at the time, Mr Cook pointed to rumours and stuff about companies working on those and declined to discuss Apples plans, but he said that the technology itself doesnt exist to do [devoted hardware] in a quality way. The display technology required, as well as putting enough stuff around your face theres huge challenges with that, he said then. The field of view, the quality of the display itself, its not there yet, he added, saying that Apple doesnt give a rats about being first and would not launch anything until it was satisfied. Apple CEO Tim Cook speaks to The Independent in London in 2017 about iPhones, AR, and why things are getting better (Brooks Kraft/Apple) In the time since, Apple has seemingly been working very hard to get satisfied with that technology. It appears to be paying off: last week, virtual reality pioneer Palmer Luckey, who created Oculus and then sold it to Meta, suggested that he had seen an early version of the headset and that it was so good. Morsels of unclear and uncertain information like that are all we have to go on about the headset, which has not really been leaked in any definitive form even as rumours suggest it is just weeks from launch. But if the hardware is unknown, Apples plans are not so mysterious. That is because Apple may already have been quietly planning for the metaverse or something like it, given that the company may be unlikely to adopt a term that has been soured both by the mixed reaction to Web 3.0 and Facebooks attempt to co-opt it by changing its name to Meta and re-orienting the company around it. Apple will probably avoid much of that branding, since it has quickly become attached to a kind of hype and boosterism that it tends not to associate itself with. It also usually likes to make up its own terms and recent trademarks have included filings for xrOS, which may be the branding for the operating system that powers the headset. But those early experiments in the metaverse do already show some of the ways that Apple might be imagining us interacting with its new headset. The most obvious comparison is with the Oculus headsets that are now developed by Meta. (AFP via Getty Images) Those have focused more on virtual reality than augmented reality; Meta has been interested in creating whole new digital worlds, rather than overlaying virtual objects on the real world, like Apple seems to be interested in. But the use cases may be the same, and Meta has focused on applications such as business meetings, where people can sit around a real table and discuss things, as well as VR games such as the hugely popular Beat Saber, where people try and strike objects with a sword in time to a beat. Apple has in recent years been more focused on the quality of interactions with devices, and has actually encouraged users to spend less time on their devices and more time being active. As such, it might not opt for mixed reality experiences that leave people cooped up inside the headset, and might instead be more outward-looking. As such, Apple might still focus on meetings, but would presumably use its augmented reality technology to add virtual people onto real rooms, rather than stuffing them in computer-designed spaces. And it might focus more on peoples interactions with the real environment by, for instance, allowing people to see their messages or directions as they move around, a version of which is already experienced by people who wear the Apple Watch. Apple has already offered a host of technologies aimed at making it easier for developers to include augmented reality in their iPhone and iPad apps. In 2017, when Cook made those tantalising comments about a possible headset, he was actually showing off uses of those frameworks: in the app Night Sky, for instance, which overlays virtual images of the constellations on top of real camera views of the stars. The company makes that technology possible with a range of systems, in both its hardware and software. That hardware includes the cameras, of course, but also the LiDAR sensor in some iPhones and iPads that allows for precise scanning of the environment; the software is most obvious in the form of ARKit, which does the heavy lifting of understanding the world around a user so that developers can just place their virtual objects into it. Since then, developers such as Ikea have used that to offer the option to drop virtual furniture into a real room to see how it might fit, for instance. Other apps such as 3D Scanner harness those sensors to allow people to easily create virtual views of those rooms as if they are in a video game. But the most telling way of guessing what Apples plans for the headset are can be found in its own technology. Apple has been quietly creating a whole world of apps that appear to be ready for mixed reality, hidden in plain view. One of them is Memoji, which are cartoon versions of people that can be used as stickers to react to messages or as profile pictures within messages. Apple has leaned on them heavily in recent years, using them as decorations in its presentations, for instance. Apple CEO Tim Cook (right) speaks using his Memoji during 2020s WWDC in California (Getty Images) At the moment, they are just a fun picture. But its very easy to imagine how they could instantly be used as avatars for people in virtual environments. If people are to participate in virtual meetings through their headsets, then other participants in that meeting will need to appear in some form, and current versions of those environments such as Metas Horizon Worlds rely on cartoonish drawings of people rather than realistic depictions. Apple already has those ready to go many iPhone owners might already have created their virtual avatar, without even realising it. Aside from meetings, one of the most discussed use cases of mixed reality is in finding directions. A person might be walking up to junction, for instance, and see a virtual signal telling them to turn left overlaid on the real road that they need to start walking down. Apple has been putting the foundations of that kind of technology in place for years. It launched Apple Maps in 2012 and in the time since has been working to integrate it with the real world: collecting detailed 3D information about the world, for instance, so that it can show accurate and precise virtual models of real buildings, and a Look Around tool introduced in 2019 that works like Google Street View and lets people scroll around three dimensional panoramas. At the moment, those features are used to make peoples phone navigation look nice: as you drive into a city, for instance, the 3D models of buildings shift around, to make it feel like the virtual car on your phone is really driving along. But it takes very little imagination at all to see that the real purpose of those models may be to allow Apple to have a precise understanding of the real world, so that the headset will know where it is and help its wearer. Apple Maps features 3D models of buildings and attractions ( Apple) Apple has also already been working on wearable products, which might themselves offer an insight into how the headset will work. The Apple Watch and AirPods already work by attaching themselves to peoples bodies and adding a layer of digital information which, in a way, is exactly what the headset will aim to do. The AirPods, for instance, have found a way to lightly add information on top of the real world: using Siri to read out messages as they arrive, and adding transparency modes that allow the noises of the real world in as well as the sound coming through the earphones. And the Watch may be a glimpse at how Apple will encourage people to strap a computer to their body in a way that might look alarmingly sci-fi but has become accepted as relatively normal. Apple encouraged the Watch to become an acceptable accoutrement by focusing on personalisation, and designing in a way that brought in a sense of softness that did not make the hardware seem too much like a computer it will probably do much the same with the headset. Apples new products are often described as if they have been magicked up from nowhere. But in truth all of its recent innovations have had their roots in previous products: the iPhone combined an iPod and a computer, and both the iPad and Apple Watch were bigger and smaller versions of that iPhone. The same thing appears to have been happening with Apples headset, which might look a lot more familiar than we are expecting. When the company takes to the stage to reveal its new products in a couple of weeks, we might realise that the product Apple wants us to strap to our faces has been developed right under our noses. A huge fire raged at a post office in Manila on Sunday (21 May), destroying the historic building. Footage shows thick smoke pouring from the Manila Central Post Office, which dates back to the 1920s. More than 80 fire engines were deployed to tackle the fire which took more than seven hours to get under control. Postmaster general Luis Carlos told local news that the cause of the blaze is being investigated. Click here to sign up for our newsletters. Drone footage shows a dam in Portgual where police will search for Madeleine McCann. Officials will inspect the Arade dam on Tuesday, 50km (31 miles) from where the toddler went missing aged three in Praia da Luz on 3 May 2007, local news reported. According to Portuguese media, the search is being conducted at the request of German police, and British police will also be present. In 2020, German police identified Christian Brueckner as a suspect. It is believed that Brueckner used to visit the Algarve reservoir being searched. Click here to sign up for our newsletters. Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the View from Westminster email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Just over a year ago the final Ukrainian soldiers left the Azovstal steelworks in Mariupol, ending a nearly three-month siege of the city by Russian forces. The Ukrainian troops mission to tie Russian forces up in the city for as long as possible and kill as many of them as possible in the process was complete. Ukraine pulled off a similar trick in Severodonetsk and Lysychansk, twin cities on either side of the Donets River, during May and June 2022. Now, perhaps the perfect realisation of these tactics has either just ended, is ongoing but close to ending, or is about to take a new twist. Over the weekend Russia claimed it had fully "liberated" Bakhmut, a town with little practical importance that has been fought over by Ukrainian forces and the pro-Moscow Wagner mercenary group for a staggering 10 months. The US estimates 100,000 Russian soldiers and mercenaries have been killed or injured in the battle for the town. Wagners oligarch leader Yevgeny Prigozhin, a man of such moral and physical ugliness that you suspect dairy products spontaneously sour in his presence, posted a video on Saturday claiming to have taken full control of the town. He said Wagner would completely inspect Bakhmut, create the necessary defence lines and then leave the city to the Russian military by 25 May. After initial confusion about the Ukrainian governments official position, Kyiv denied (and continues to deny) that Bakhmut is fully in Russias hands, and on Sunday came news that Ukrainian troops were advancing around the edges of the town, with the aim of tactically encircling and then attacking the Wagner mercenaries now controlling the bulk of the city. Regardless of the uncertainty, online cheerleaders for Vladimir Putins regime seized on the news with wild abandon, while last night state TV propagandist Vladimir Solovyov began his nightly programme by showing off the emblem of Bakhmut, which he had apparently stolen from one of the roads leading into the town. Putins former puppet president and current liquid refreshments enthusiast Dmitry Medvedev, meanwhile, contributed Twitters most hilariously embarrassing celebratory take. Clearly still a very busy and important man, Dmitry spent part of his Sunday digging back through seven months of replies to 20 October last year, when Elon Musk (yes, there really was nobody to root for in this exchange) complimented him on a lettuce-related dig at the departing Liz Truss, before hedging his bets by adding: Btw, hows it going in Bakhmut? @elonmusk, Medvedev triumphantly, if a little belatedly, frothed, youve asked me about Bakhmut... Come and see for yourself! So why all this ballyhoo over the possible capture of a town with a pre-war population similar to that of Barnsley, located just 22km from territory that Russia has held since 2015? Despite what sources sympathetic to Moscow will claim, the town is not an important transport and logistics hub, particularly now that all infrastructure in the city has been destroyed. Ukraine also still controls high ground just to the west, making all Russian activity in Bakhmut, including its hypothetical use as a hub for troops and equipment, vulnerable to attack. The loss of Bakhmut would also not, as some will claim, deal a significant blow to Ukrainian military or civic morale. The value of attriting Russias forces for as long as possible in one place before finally withdrawing from it to save Ukrainian lives is well understood by the Ukrainian population by now. The losses of Mariupol, Severodonetsk and Lysychansk were deeply felt in Ukraine, but the countrys determination to defeat Russia and its belief in that outcome is rock solid, and the loss of Bakhmut would do nothing to erode that. Prigozhin and Putin are so desperate to declare the capture of Bakhmut simply because both are desperate for some sort of victory to point to, for slightly different reasons. For Prigozhin its about business and his exhausted and heavily depleted mercenary groups future credibility as a fighting force. Moscows angle, as the Institute for the Study of War said in its latest assessment yesterday, will be that taking Bakhmut is an opening step towards Sloviansk, Kramatorsk, and Dnipro cities Russia can only dream of occupying at this point. In reality, the most significant lasting consequence of Prigozhin and Putin capturing the ruins of Bakhmut (if it ever really happens) may well be the passing into obsolescence of the term Pyrrhic victory a victory that inflicts such a devastating toll on the victor that it is tantamount to defeat in favour of Bakhmut victory. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Two million people have been killed by extreme weather, and climate and water-related events in the last half-century, the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) has said. As many as 11,778 disasters have been reported since 1970, impacting the poorest of the poor, said the WMOs secretary-general, as over 90 per cent of the subsequent reported deaths happened in developing countries. Economic damage from floods, storms and wildfires has soared by a factor of eight since the same year, totalling 4.3 trillion US dollars (3.5 trillion). Firefighters rescue an elderly man in the flooded village of Castel Bolognese, Italy, in May (Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved) The number of deaths has fallen dramatically since then, which the WMO said was because of improved early warning systems and disaster management. The United States alone lost 1.7 trillion dollars (1.4 trillion), which accounts for 39 per cent of the economic losses sustained between 1970 and 2021 the years analysed in the WMOs updated Atlas of Mortality and Economic Losses from Weather, Climate and Water Extremes. However, it is least developed countries and small island developing states who have suffered a disproportionately high cost in relation to the size of their economies, the WMO said. Data from 2020 and 2021 has been added to the Atlas which already covers the period up to 2019. Dried cracked mud is visible at the Antelope Island Marina due to low water levels on the Great Salt Lake, near Syracuse, Utah (Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved) It shows 22,608 deaths from the most recent two years a continuation of the declining trend while economic losses increased further with the majority attributed to storms. Professor Petteri Taalas, the WMOs secretary-general, said: The most vulnerable communities unfortunately bear the brunt of weather, climate and water-related hazards. Extremely severe cyclonic storm Mocha exemplifies this. It caused widespread devastation in Myanmar and Bangladesh, impacting the poorest of the poor. In the past, both Myanmar and Bangladesh suffered death tolls of tens and even hundreds of thousands of people. A woman surveys the damage caused to her home by Cyclone Mocha at Saint Martin island in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh, in May, with the storm causing widespread devastation (AP) Thanks to early warnings and disaster management these catastrophic mortality rates are now thankfully history. Early warnings save lives. Asia accounted for 47 per cent of all reported deaths worldwide nearly one million with tropical cyclones being the leading cause. Bangladesh had the highest death toll in Asia with 520,758, attributed to 281 disasters. In Europe, 166,492 people were killed in 1,784 disasters, accounting for 8 per cent of reported deaths worldwide. A man walks away from an advancing wildfire in Turkey in 2021, with Europe accounting for 8 per cent of reported deaths worldwide (AFP/Getty) Extreme temperatures were the leading cause of reported deaths and floods were the leading cause of economic losses. The WMO wants to ensure that early warning systems reach everyone on Earth by 2027 and has published its findings ahead of the World Meteorological Congress on May 22 to help speed up this process. Representatives from UN agencies, development banks, governments and national meteorological and hydrological services responsible for issuing early warnings will meet in Geneva, Switzerland, next week. The Congress, of which the UK is a member, has said the UNs Early Warnings for All initiative is one of its top strategic priorities this year. Fears of widespread job cuts proved unfounded The statue of Patrick Kavanagh in front of the new LinkedIn office campus in Dublin Anadolu Agency via Getty Images When Mark Zuckerberg proclaimed in February that 2023 would be the year of efficiency, fears of a wave of job cuts quickly spread. After all, if Meta owner of Facebook and Instagram felt the need to cull jobs, what were the chances that other employers wouldnt start to trim their workforces too? As the months and weeks have ticked by, however, widespread job cuts have not transpired as yet, anyway. While several thousand job cuts have been announced by big-name companies such as Google, Microsoft and Irish-founded payments company Stripe, the Irish labour market remains in rude health. Unemployment is now below 4pc, according to April figures from the Central Statistics Office, and there are 15,000 fewer people unemployed than a year ago. Recruitment experts note that tech jobs still pay well but offer fewer bells and whistles, a trend that may increasingly affect the rankings of big tech names in the Best Employers list. Metas EMEA headquarters in Dublin Anadolu Agency via Getty Images However, the biggest challenge for most sectors continues to be a shortage of workers, which in some cases is leading to better conditions and perks. Conall Mac Coille, chief economist at Davy, says that sometimes there is a lack of understanding of just how insane our jobs performance has been through the pandemic. Employment is about 9pc above pre-pandemic levels. Weve had an extraordinary few years and some slowdown was inevitable. But he adds that some sectors, such as hospitality, are not yet back to pre-pandemic levels, suggesting that employment still has some growth to go. Barry Whelan, CEO and founder of Excel Recruitment, says it is a thriving time for his business. It is so challenging to find labour in this market, which is why we are performing so well. In technology, although some jobs have been lost, others are being created. Often it is the support jobs linked to the sector that are cut, rather than the core tech roles, which companies continue to recruit. There has been an adjustment and a significant adjustment but it is not the Armageddon that looked like was coming. It is still very hard to find a good developer, a good programmer, says Whelan. The packages wouldnt be as attractive as they were in the past, particularly when it comes to agile working. Some tech employers are looking for more people to be based in their offices. It has been a big wake-up call to the tech community. While some firms are hiring tech workers based remotely in international hubs, roles that require collaboration are definitely moving back to the office, he confirms. Despite these changes, tech companies continue to be star performers on the Best Employers rankings, with LinkedIn nudging Google into second place in 2023. It is worth noting that the overall scores for the top 10 tended to be lower than last year, perhaps reflecting some uncertainty even among the most satisfied of workers. Barry Whelan, CEO and founder of Excel Recruitment Whelan says that several sectors such as retail and hospitality which are consumer-facing and offer tough hours and no work-from-home options continue to be very challenging in terms of hiring. People had an epiphany during Covid that they didnt want to do those jobs. He says employers are responding with better pay and conditions. Demand for staff in healthcare continues to be high, while a shortage of construction workers has become part of the national debate, as the Government struggles to get on top of the housing crisis. At a time when Irish-based construction workers are actively being lured to Australia and elsewhere, it has recently emerged that the State is planning to target construction workers in South Africa for Irish projects. Plenty of other areas, from logistics to accountancy, are also trying to plug gaps in their teams. Mac Coille estimates that around 3,000 jobs have gone in tech in 2023, compared with over 9,000 jobs created in the sector in the previous year, according to IDA numbers. One of the main reasons blamed for the job cuts in tech has been overly ambitious hiring during the pandemic, with a need now to right-size workforces. There has been an adjustment but not the Armageddon that it looked like was coming If you look at the jobs growth in the sector over the last two or three years, thats not even unwinding the job growth from last year, Mac Coille says of the job cuts announced to date. He adds that two-thirds of jobs created by multinationals last year were outside technology. Overall it is just exceptionally strong. Most people were expecting a slowdown in jobs growth but there is precious little sign of it yet in the official figures. In terms of foreign direct investment (FDI) jobs, he points out that the pharma and medtech sectors continue to power ahead. Perhaps it is little surprise then that big-name pharmaceutical companies have performed strongly in this years rankings, with Pfizer and Lilly leapfrogging into the top-10 list of Irelands Best Employers. In March, US bio-pharma giant Eli Lilly announced a $1bn (927m) investment in a medicine manufacturing site in Limerick, which it said would deliver almost 300 new jobs once it becomes fully operational. Eli Lilly campus in Cork Another company that saw its rankings improve is Boston Scientific (17, up from 41), an employer of more than 6,500 people across its three Irish sites in Galway, Clonmel and Cork making it the largest life-sciences employer in Ireland. Operating here since 1994, it last week announced that more than 400 new jobs are to be created in Clonmel, Co Tipperary in an 80m expansion. Reflecting the shortages of staff in a number of sectors, several employers have taken to high-profile advertising campaigns to lure workers. In February, Dublin Bus announced that it was looking to recruit mechanics for its team in the capital city, while in March, Minister for Justice Simon Harris announced a new recruitment campaign for An Garda Siochana. One significant legislative development since last years Best Employers report has been the requirement for larger firms to publish gender pay-gap reports. Irelands first round of gender pay-gap reports was published last December, revealing that men make, on average, between 12.3pc and 12.6pc more than women in Irelands largest 500 companies. As workers continue to hold the upper hand, employees will be keen to see improvements in measures such as the gender pay gap as they weigh up potential employers. Another huge talking point has been the release of ChatGPT, which has posed serious questions about the likely impact of AI on a host of jobs in several sectors. Experts predict that law, healthcare, media and technology are among those that will be affected. In the meantime, recruiters have to work twice as hard to find the right staff for the jobs on offer. Whelan says, You have to leave no stone unturned to find someone. It is still very much an employees market rather than a client market at the moment. Ding CEO Roden introduced pre-paid electricity top-ups for the Nigerian market and 14 other countries have now followed. Photo: David Conachy When it comes to exporting to markets on the African continent, Irish companies often underestimate the opportunity and overestimate the difficulty involved. In fact, the commercial opportunity for Irish enterprise is huge, and growing, in key markets such as Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa. Enterprise Ireland is committed to supporting Irish-owned companies achieve greater scale and expand their global footprint. In 2022, non-food exports to Kenya from companies supported by Enterprise Ireland increased by 60pc. Last year also saw a 10pc boost in non-food exports to Nigeria, while overall exports to South Africa rose by an encouraging 6pc. Non-food exports include innovative products and services from Irish enterprises in the agriculture, aviation, tech and high-tech construction industries, among others. Not only are these exports on the rise in core markets within the region, they are also growing in newer export markets such as Cameroon and Mauritius. Irish companies are taking leading and transformative positions, leveraging the commercial potential to solve continental challenges. Increased innovation is required to meet Africas rising demands for goods and services, and Irelands reputation as an island of innovation ensures that Irish companies are seen as a trusted source. This is particularly evident in terms of the level of involvement of Irish companies in the increase of sustainable high-tech builds in the region. New market opportunities are emerging all the time in line with Africas significant geographic advantages in solar and geothermal. Other innovative Irish companies enjoying success in these dynamic markets include mobile top-up specialists Ding. Ding developed a new product for the Nigerian market, pre-paid electricity top-up, and has rolled this out to 14 African countries with more to come as they build out their value transfer platform for emerging markets.. And Irish digital banking provider CR2 is a market leader across Africa, with more than 100 banks in 60 countries as customers. Ireland has a strong reputation globally for excellence in agriculture, and companies in this sector are capitalising on this. Dundalk-based GM Steel is finding huge local interest in its world-leading specialist equipment for abattoirs and meat-processing plants. At Enterprise Irelands office in Johannesburg, we work with our client companies to advise and help them navigate the local business landscape in a wide range of Sub-Saharan African markets. These are predominantly English-speaking markets, with familiar legal, financial and other professional services based locally. Enterprise Ireland works hand-in-hand with companies to provide in-market intelligence, support in identifying local partners, as well as market opportunities. While there is no question that there are significant opportunities for Irish companies in this ever-developing continent, its worth bearing in mind that new markets in Africa typically dont provide a quick sale. Interested companies should be willing to commit time and energy to understanding and identifying markets of interest and where potential opportunities exist, but the rewards are plentiful for those who do. If you are interested in exploring market potential across Sub-Saharan Africa, contact the team in the region at nicola.kelly@enterprise-ireland.com Nicola Kelly is director, Sub-Saharan Africa, Enterprise Ireland Ireland has technically cleared a WTO approval process, though the matter has yet to be discussed politically at a meeting scheduled for June 21 Health Minister Stephen Donnelly said the new law would give consumers a better understanding of the risks associated with consuming alcohol. Photo: Niall Carson/PA Niall Carson Irish drinks makers have hit out at Irelands new alcohol labelling law, accusing Health Minister Stephen Donnelly of zealotry. The labels were signed into law today, despite objections from 13 EU member states and comments from international partners, including the UK and US. From 2026, the new labels must include fatal cancer" and liver disease warnings, calorie and alcohol content per container, a caution against drinking while pregnant and a link to the HSEs alcohol website. Unfortunately this is an example of zealotry rather than evidence-based legislation, said Cormac Healy, Director of Drinks Ireland, the Ibec group representing the industry. We would call on Government to urgently address these significant international concerns from the EU and beyond, and explain why Ireland is going alone on alcohol labels at a time when harmonised labels are being planned across the EU. The Government have been staunch defenders of the harmonised EU market, but is now clearly causing unnecessary tensions with important trading partners. We do not need two labelling systems. The logic remains that Ireland works with the EU on its plans for a harmonised approach. Ireland is the first country in the world to link alcohol and fatal cancers on labels. The World Health Organization says alcohol is a carcinogen and that no amount of alcohol is safe for health. The European Commission had pledged to draw up new health warning labels for alcohol products by the end of this year. Drinks makers say Ireland should have waited for that legislation rather than going it alone. Today's News in 90 Seconds - May 22nd Last week EU beer, wine and spirit makers lodged a formal complaint with the European Commission over Ireland's plans, saying the Government is creating a barrier to trade for the rest of the bloc. The president of the European Committee of Wine Companies (CEEV), Mauricio Gonzalez-Gordon, has called it clear discrimination against EU exporters. French ambassador Vincent Guerend told the Irish Independent recently that it could end small wine makers exports to Ireland. Californian wine makers have said the same. Italian farmers and politicians have been even more outspoken, calling the move absurd" and draconian". Earlier this month, a World Trade Organization approval process into the law ended, despite comments from up to 10 countries, including the US, the UK, New Zealand, Australia, Mexico and Cuba. It technically gave Ireland the green light to go ahead with the plan, though Drinks Ireland said the Government should at least have waited until Irelands international partners had discussed the issue at a planned WTO meeting on June 21. Last year, eight EU countries, including Spain, France and Italy, lodged official objections during a separate process, with five more registering their concerns. The European Commission approved the law despite the objections, surprising Department of Health officials. Health Minister Stephen Donnelly said he looked "forward to other countries following our example. On Friday, Barryroe Offshore Energy issued a stock market notice saying its application for a permit to pursue its key exploration in an area 50km off the south-west coast of Ireland had been turned down Wider policy issues, including moves to slash dependence on fossil fuels, played no role in the decision to reject an exploration permit for Barryroe Offshore Energy, Environment Minister Eamon Ryans department has said. On Friday, Barryroe Offshore Energy, formerly Providence Resources, issued a stock market notice saying it had been informed that the minister was turning down its application for a permit to pursue its key exploration prospect in the SEL1/11 licence area 50km off the south-west coast of Ireland. The permit area is home to the Barryroe undersea prospect, discovered in 2012, and tipped by the company to hold potentially billions of euro worth of oil and gas. Despite that promise Barryroe has struggled to turn the prospect into a reality and to secure financial backing to develop its plans. Barryroe Offshore had an 80pc stake in the prospect licence alongside partner Lansdowne Oil & Gas. Its statement on Friday Barryroe said it had been informed by letter that the partners had no rights over SEL1/11 after the minister found the applicant did not meet the criteria necessary to satisfy the terms of the legislation. Barryroe said the minister was not satisfied with the financial capability of the applicants. This assessment has concluded that from a technical perspective the Barryroe permit application was satisfactory, Barryroe said. The company said it is considering its response to the letter. That could include a legal challenge to the ministers decision, including a potential judicial review. A judicial review can only challenge aspects of the decision-making process, not the decision itself. The department said in a statement to the Irish Independent that its decision followed extensive engagement over several years between the applicants and its Geoscience Regulation Office in relation to the application. The assessment showed that the application did not meet the criteria necessary to satisfy the terms of the legislation and associated guidance. This includes the technical competence of the applicant and the financial resources available to it in order to undertake the work programme and any other commitments pursuant to the relevant petroleum authorisation, it said. The department said the minister does not comment on individual regulatory decisions but it did say the decision in the Barryroe case was not linked to wider energy policies. It should be noted that broader policy issues relating to, for example, the phasing out of fossil fuels or our security of energy supply, did not form part of the assessment process. As set out in the Programme for Government, holders of existing petroleum authorisations such as the applicants in this case were entitled to apply to progress to the next stage of the regulatory process, the statement said. Shares in Barryroe Offshore are set to come under intense pressure today. The Euronext Dublin listed company is in a process of raising 20m from shareholders to bolster its financial standing after securing a 40m facility last year from shareholders led by billionaire Larry Goodman. The firms market capitalisation had fallen to 45m when the market closed before Fridays update around 10pc of its value back in 2012 after the Barryroe find. The Government had yet to apply for an approved 915m in grants as of last week from the EUs pandemic recovery and resilience facility The EU must approve Irelands request for a delay, which can take three months European Commissioner for the Economy Paolo Gentiloni and Public Expenditure Minister Paschal Donohoe signed an agreement saying the RRF funding was due at the end of March. Photo: Gareth Chaney/Collins The Governments failure to draw down 1bn in EU pandemic funding is unforgivable given the cost-of-living crisis, Sinn Fein MEP Chris MacManus has said. Even similar countries in size and wealth to Ireland like Denmark or Austria have drawn down funds, to the tune of hundreds of millions, he told the Irish Independent. Given the cost-of-living crisis it is unforgivable that the Government has not got its act together to draw down our allocation. His comments come after the Government asked Brussels for an extension on two projects due to be funded by the States 1bn allocation from the EUs 750bn pandemic recovery and resilience facility (RRF). Ireland has requested to postpone the completion date of three targets linked to a social and affordable housing scheme due to delays in the construction process and other implementation issues, the Commission said in a statement. Irelands request to modify its plan is based on the need to factor in objective circumstances which make particular milestones or targets no longer achievable within the original timeline, the statement said. A scheme to promote private investment in energy efficiency is being delayed due to unforeseen technical hurdles. It can take up to three months for the request to go through, as it has to be assessed by the Commission and then approved by Irelands 26 fellow EU member states. The Irish Independent reported last week that the Government had yet to draw down any of its pandemic funding, which was approved in 2021. While the EU money comes with conditions attached, Mr MacManus said the delay was likely due to incompetence rather than a political decision. Brussels will not wait interminably for Ireland to draw down its allocation, said Mr MacManus. Again, we have had zero political debate on the issue. The grants will be paid in five instalments between now and 2026. The payment request process for the first instalment began in December, according to a spokesperson for the Department for Public Expenditure and Reform (DPER). Commission economy chief Paolo Gentiloni and Public Expenditure Minister Paschal Donohoe agreed that a first 395m payment would be made in March. DPER said it anticipates a payment request will be made this summer. Ireland is ultimately in line to receive well over 900m in pandemic grants up to mid-2026. It is also entitled to apply for a similar amount in loans, but so far the Government has held off on that option. The scheme is a lifeline for some economies, such as Italys, which is due to receive 200bn, although some of that money is held up due to concerns about the appropriateness of the projects it is supporting. Irelands economy has had an unexpectedly strong rebound following the end of pandemic restrictions, with record tax receipts flowing into the Exchequer, so the need for EU grants is not especially urgent. The RRF funding represents less than 1pc of the 116bn allocated for infrastructural investment under the National Development Plan. Ireland will have to hit 109 milestones and targets associated with the funding to keep the EU money flowing until 2026. The funding will go towards 16 investment projects and nine reform measures. Apart from the 164m going to Corks rail project, there is 108m allocated to biodiversity and ecosystem support, such as rehabilitation of boglands, while 142m is set aside for a digital upgrade of the healthcare system. The States Ireland Strategic Investment Fund (ISIF) is investing 68m in two international decarbonisation funds with US-based Energy Impact Partners. The move aims to direct more international capital to Irish decarbonisation sector and is part of ISIFs 1bn 5-year climate action investment plan. Decarbonisation refers to technologies and process that reduce the creation of carbon dioxide as a result of economic activities. ISIFs investments are in funds managed by Energy Impact Partners (EIP), a New York-headquartered investment firm with over $3bn (2.8bn) in assets under management. Read more In finance, having functional responsibility now means personal liability EIP plans to invest in emerging Ireland-based decarbonisation and energy technology companies. It will also establish an office in Dublin, with climate investor and entrepreneur Arthur Pierse as its first representative based on the ground in Ireland. ISIFs Head of Climate Paul Saunders said the investment shows how we can leverage our investment capability to build a deeper, stronger network with climate investors from all over the world and ultimately attract more international capital to Ireland while supporting emerging Irish businesses in this space. Meanwhile, large private sector operators are continuing to back energy projects here. Technology giant Microsoft has partnered with energy firm Statkraft for a new 34MW solar project in Co Meath, Harlockstown Solar, that can potentially power the equivalent of almost 9,000 homes. The scheme is one of several renewable energy projects being delivered as part of a corporate power purchase agreement (CPPA) package Statkraft signed with Microsoft last year. Under the multi-year deals, Statkraft Ireland will supply the technology firm with 366MW of clean energy from six of its wind and solar farms. In Galway, meanwhile, global healthcare technology giant Medtronic has signed a CPPA with DCC-owned Flogas Enterprise from a local wind farm to meet 50pc of the groups electric annual requirements for sites in Ireland. Demand for renewable CPPAs is set to grow rapidly as companies look to reduce their carbon footprint and seek budget certainty given the last 18 months of extremely volatile energy prices. The fine is for Facebook data transfers to the US, deemed unlawful by EU courts Meta has been hit with a 1.2bn fine by the Irish Data Protection Commissioner, the largest GDPR-related fine to date. The penalty was imposed in relation to Facebook data transfers to the US, which European authorities have deemed to be unlawful. Meta has also been instructed by Helen Dixons office to suspend Facebook personal data transfers from the EU to the US, and to stop storing the personal data of EU Facebook users in the US. The company, which says it will appeal the ruling, has five months to comply with the Irish regulators verdict, meaning that Facebook users wont immediately see their service disrupted between the US and EU. The ruling applies to Facebook personal data, but not Instagram or WhatsApp, Facebooks sister platforms under the Meta corporate brand. The new fine means that the Irish regulator has now levied financial penalties of 2.5bn on Meta over the last two years. Under current arrangements, Ireland gets to keep the proceeds of those fines. In a statement, the Irish regulator says that its initial decision, which would have seen a lower fine, was partly overruled by the European Data Protection Board (EDPB) on foot of objections from four of the 47 European data protection authorities. The EDPBs intervention resulted in a bigger fine than originally planned, according to the Irish regulator and European authorities. Previous reports suggested a fine of as little as 36m, far below todays sanction. In a response to the fine, Metas global affairs president Nick Clegg said that the company is disappointed to have been singled out for using the same legal mechanisms as other companies in Europe. This decision is flawed, unjustified and sets a dangerous precedent for the countless other companies transferring data between the EU and US, he said. Meta has almost 3,000 staff in Dublin with thousands of extra contractors also employed. Today's News in 90 Seconds - May 22nd Metas appeal could delay implementation of the Irish regulators order beyond the five month period. The company is expecting the EU and US to ratify a new treaty (called the Data Privacy Framework) that is likely to supersede the DPCs decision under current law. This treaty was agreed, in draft form, between EU and US negotiators last year, with a view to implementation this year. While there is still some opposition to it a European Parliament committee urged its rejection until more explicit protection for fundamental privacy rights were clarified most observers expect it to take effect in the coming months. Max Schrems, the Austrian campaigner who initially brought the case against Facebook over data transfers, said that the fine vindicates his pursuit of the social media giant on the issue. "We are happy to see this decision after ten years of litigation, he said. The fine could have been much higher, given that the maximum fine is more than 4 billion and Meta has broken the law to make a profit for ten years. Unless US surveillance laws get fixed, Meta will have to fundamentally restructure its systems." Mr Schrems took the original case against Facebook in protest at how his personal data was being abused by the tech giant. The Irish Data Protection Commission said that its decision was spurred by a ruling from the European Court of Justice that classed commonly-used Standard Contractual Clauses to be insufficient in protecting privacy rights. The decision records that Meta Ireland infringed Article 46 GDPR when it continued to transfer personal data from the EU/EEA to the USA following the delivery of the CJEUs judgment in Data Protection Commissioner v Facebook Ireland and Maximillian Schrems, the regulator said in a statement. "While Meta Ireland effected those transfers on the basis of the updated Standard Contractual Clauses that were adopted by the European Commission in 2021 in conjunction with additional supplementary measures that were implemented by Meta Ireland, the DPC found that these arrangements did not address the risks to the fundamental rights and freedoms of data subjects that were identified by the CJEU in its judgment. However, it also admitted that there had been disagreement over what fine should be imposed. A small number (4) of the 47 CSAs raised objections in relation to the corrective power that the DPC proposed to exercise by way of the draft decision. Within this subset of CSAs, all four CSAs took the view that Meta Ireland should be subject to an administrative fine for the infringement that was found to have occurred. Two of those CSAs also took the view that Meta Ireland should be ordered to take action to address the personal data that had already been unlawfully transferred to the US, [meaning] the data transferred from July 2020 to the present. The DPC disagreed, reflecting its view that the exercise of additional corrective powers, beyond the proposed suspension order, would exceed the extent of powers that could be described as being appropriate, proportionate and necessary to address the infringement of Article 46(1) GDPR. Following an informal consultation process, it became clear that consensus could not be reached. Consistent with its obligations under the GDPR, the DPC referred the objections to the European Data Protection Board (the EDPB) for determination pursuant to the Article 65 dispute resolution mechanism. More to follow... Metas huge 1.2bn fine for Facebook data transfers to the US came about over the objections of the Irish data regulator, according to Europes data protection oversight authority. Helen Dixons office had not initially included a significant fine, arguing that it would be disproportionate and serve little point on top of the main sanction of data suspensions. Her office also argued that it would be out of kilter with other regulatory precedents. However, the European Data Protection Board (EDPB) overruled the Irish data regulator, arguing that Metas infringement was of such a significant nature, gravity and duration that it deserved a big fine. Its not the first time that the Irish regulator has seen its recommendation on a proposed fine revised upwards on foot of objections from other European data protection authorities. Under European law, the Irish office was obliged to circulate details of its draft decision to other European data protection regulators in advance of a final public verdict. Today's News in 90 Seconds - May 22nd However, four of the 47 European regulators took issue with the Irish watchdogs position, appealing it to the EDPB for mediation. The objectors main issues were that there was no fine and that Meta did not have to delete any data on US servers. The EDPB agreed with the objectors, saying that Metas transgression deserved a substantial fine in addition to other corrective measures. It then ordered the Irish office to amend its decision and include a big fine. The [Irish regulator] takes the view that the imposition of an administrative fine in addition to an order directing the suspension of the data transfers would not be effective, proportionate and dissuasive, the European Data Protection Board said in its ruling. [The Irish office said that a fine] would not render the DPC's response to the findings of unlawfulness any more effective. The European body quoted the Irish offices draft decision, which said that 'in the particular circumstances of this case, or in relation to transfers generally, the imposition of an administrative fine on top of the suspension would [not] have any meaningful dissuasive effect, particularly when set against the consequences said to attach to an order directing the suspension of transfers. But regulators from Germany, France, Spain and Austria disagreed. Not imposing a fine on Meta Ireland would demonstrate to controllers including Meta Ireland that past infringements of the GDPR will not be properly addressed and that the enforcement of the GDPR and its provisions is not as effective, according to the Austrian data regulator, in its statement of objection to Irelands draft decision. There would be little incentive to bring processing in connection with the transfer of personal data to a third country in compliance with the GDPR. Since Meta is the provider of the biggest global social media network with an enormous number of users within the European Union and thus affected persons, not properly addressing the identified infringement would generally weaken the position of the supervisory authorities and endanger compliance with the GDPR on a general level. In a statement today, the Irish DPC said that it had initially disagreed with calls for an administrative fine and the deletion of EU user data in the US, because the exercise of additional corrective powers, beyond the proposed suspension order, would exceed the extent of powers that could be described as being appropriate, proportionate and necessary to address the infringement. Her office had also argued that other GDPR infringements sustained against Google, in cases initiated by the Austrian campaigner Max Schrems, did not attract significant fines. However, it said that following the EDPBs ruling on the matter, it then assessed the size of the fine at 1.2bn. Some while ago, the actor Richard E Grant found a cake tin tucked away in the west London house that, on good days, he might describe as maximalist, and on others might concede reveals unbridled hoarding tendencies. Every inch of our house is rammed with stuff, he says brightly. Ive got stuff everywhere. When Gay started the Late Late in 1962, he was commuting from Granada in Manchester, the Newstalk broadcaster observed. Above, Patrick Kielty. Photo: BBC NI Former Late Late Show stalwart Pat Kenny says commuting from England to RTE, wont be as good as living in Ireland full-time for new host Patrick Kielty, but added its doable. Kielty (52) plans to travel from his London base, where he lives with his presenter wife, Cat Deeley and their two children, to Dublin each week to film the Late Late. And Kenny, who was the face of the Late Late from 1999 to 2009, said while commuting may have challenges, these will not impact the role. Theres a lot of planning in the Late Late but you can do things remotely, as the pandemic showed us, he told the Irish Independent. It wont be as good as being in Ireland for the whole week, but its definitely doable. Kenny, who hosts the Pat Kenny Show on Newstalk, pointed to the legendary host of the Late Late, Gay Byrne, as an example of mastering commuting and juggling the chat show with other work. When Gay started the Late Latein 1962, he was commuting from Granada in Manchester, Kenny (75) said. The technology and communications were there, but Gay was very successful. On one occasion, he couldnt make it due to fog, which prevented a plane taking off. Someone had to take over presenting. But how often would planes be cancelled due to fog now? What was osmosis for Ryan, will not be for Patrick and he has to keep fully briefed. But that will be fine, I am sure. It is certain that Kennys seal of approval and support for Kieltys decision, as a previous and respected host, will no doubt help to quieten any concerns. Kenny also had insights on the potential shape of the talk show under Kieltys tenure. And it is clear, he feels there could be an almost American chat show modernisation approach introduced. Patrick Kielty in Profile I suspect Patrick will do a stand-up at the start of the show each week, he said. And that stand-up will have to be topical and researchers will have to be kept in the loop. But Patrick has played many times to live audiences, including to diverse audiences of Catholics and Protestants. If he can walk that walk, he can definitely manage theLate Late. He has had lots of live TV experience too. One RTE source told the Sunday Independent:People have wondered how tuned-in he can really be to the Irish conversation, if he is not here all the time. Tubridy, the source added, had been having conversations every day with the people who work in the dry cleaners, with the butcher, the people in the supermarket. He was very connected with what was going on and how people were feeling. Freight and goods lorries disembark from the Cairnryan, Scotland to Larne, Northern Ireland ferry without goods checks by customs officials on February 3, 2022 in Larne, Northern Ireland.(Photo by Charles McQuillan/Getty Images) Getty Images Cheese and meat products from Europe will blockaded from entering Britian, under plans for new Brexit border checks, the Government has been warned. Industry leaders in the UK have sounded the alarm over proposals to introduce border controls on goods arriving from the continent from the end of October. The extra red tape means a vet will have to sign off on all imports of medium risk food, including unpasteurised cheese, and both fresh and frozen meat. Last month, ministers involved plans to finally introduce safety checks that have been delayed since Britain left the EU at the start of 2020. Massive shock coming Shane Brennan, the chief executive of the Cold Chain Federation, warned the controls would make it much harder to bring some goods into the UK. Were going to see EU-based cheese and meat suppliers finding on November 1 that they cant fulfil their Christmas orders, he told the Daily Telegraph. Its going to come as a massive shock to the system, and there will be paralysis as a result while everything has to reset. Were not talking about shelves being empty. Were talking about the choice being severely reduced, particularly in the first eight to 12 weeks. Some goods will not be available at all in the UK at first, and then they will be much more limited in supply and much more expensive. A step back to the 1950s Mr Brennan called for a Government rethink, saying the need for veterinary checks was a 19th century solution to a 21st century problem. Were putting our food supplies at the mercy of German Polish and Dutch vets, who have no interest in whether it gets to us or not, he added. Its a step back to the 1950s in terms of the types of the supply chain options we have, in terms of getting hold of goods from Europe. EU countries applied the full range of checks to goods arriving from Britain on the first day after Brexit, but the UK delayed reciprocating. The planned border controls were postponed four times, most recently in April last year amid concerns they would worsen the cost of living crisis. Jacob Rees-Mogg, the former Brexit opportunities minister, has repeatedly argued in Cabinet that the UK should draw up a system with a much lighter touch. But some sectors, notably the farming industry, have pushed hard for checks to be brought in on goods arriving from the EU. Creating a world-class frontier After their initial plans for border controls were dismissed as unworkable, Whitehall officials came back with the new model last month. They said it will save businesses 400 million a year, compared with the original plan, and create a world-class digital frontier. But the new system was still expected to cost businesses 600 million more than the status quo and it will not be fully implemented for 18 months. Baroness Neville-Rolfe, a Cabinet Office minister, said when unveiling the model that it would ensure Britain has the most effective border in the world. We are protecting UK consumers and businesses, while using tech and data to remove burdens wherever possible, she told them. Britain is legally bound to introduce checks on EU goods under both the terms of the Brexit trade deal and World Trade Organisation rules. Telegraph.co.ck A judge has indicated he may impose a community service order in lieu of a jail sentence on three-time All-Ireland winning Limerick hurler, Pat Ryan, who was convicted of perjury earlier this year. Mr Ryan (28), from Doon, Co Limerick, today appealed the severity of a two-week jail sentence that was handed down in March for perjury committed during criminal proceedings in October 2020 in which he was accused of speeding. During that hearing, Mr Ryan falsely told Limerick District Court that he did not receive a summons for the speeding offense. Gardai who were acting on a separate investigation later discovered a photograph of the speeding summons sent from Mr Ryans mobile phone to a third party as well as text messages exchanged between the two phones. Today, solicitor for Mr Ryan, John Herbert, asked the presiding judge Mr Justice Tom ODonnell, to consider removing the two-week jail term, which was imposed on Mr Ryan by Judge Patricia Harney at Limerick District Court, on March 28 last. In her sentencing of Mr Ryan, Judge Harney said he had told a brazen lie in the face of this court, that the whole criminal justice system is based on truth given to the courts, and that he was facing very very serious trouble. Today, Mr Herbert argued that Mr Ryan had been ignorant of the law and courts and the serious consequences of convictions for offenses such such as falsehoods, telling lies, or deceit. Mr Ryan went into the October 2020 hearing without taking any legal advice, and had he (Mr Ryan) sought legal advice from a practitioner, he would have been apprised of all of these things, and that there was ways of working around these things. Mr Hebert added that a jail sentence would have life-changing consequences for Mr Ryan who at the time of committing the offense was an elite athlete in an elite team, a hurling team which we now know is one of the most successful hurling teams in the country. Outlining the facts, State Solicitor for Limerick, Padraig Mawe, said gardai detected Mr Ryan exceeding the national roads speed limit at Dooradoyle, Limerick, on November 14, 2018. A fixed charge penalty notice was issued by the prosecuting garda and it was posted to Mr Ryans home address four days later. That fixed charge penalty notice remained unpaid and triggered the automatic issuing of a summons, he said. When the matter went before Limerick District Court on May 28, 2019, it was struck out after the court heard the summons had not been served on Mr Ryan. Mr Mawe explained that fixed charge penalty notices can be reissued within six months of an offense. The prosecuting garda applied to reissue the summons and it was reissued again on the 13th September 2019, he said. The speeding summons went back before Limerick District Court Court on April 24, 2020, and was adjourned to October 21, 2020 when Mr Ryan escaped a conviction by committing perjury, stating under oath that he had not received the fixed charge penalty notice. Detective Garda Darren John Swan, Garda National Bureau of Criminal Investigation (GNBCI), agreed with Mr Mawe that a photograph of the original speeding summons was unearthed during other separate investigations after gardai obtained a mobile phone. During an analysis of the mobile phone gardai discovered Mr Ryan had sent a copy of the photograph to a third party a year prior to the perjury. An exchange or conversation of messages were also unearthed by gardai from their analysis of the mobile phone. Mr Mawe said Mr Ryan had been looking for assistance from a third party, who was not identified in court. Mr Ryan had one previous conviction for holding a mobile phone while driving a vehicle, but he was regarded as generally of good character with no real previous convictions of note, Mr Mawe added. Appealing for leniency for Mr Ryan, Mr Herbert said the defendant had given sworn testimony without having taken legal advice beforehand, and believing certain beliefs in his head about certain things. He had never been in a court before, the immediacy of the potential loss of his drivers license and perhaps the loss of his job clouded his judgment, added Mr Herbert. Judge Tom ODonnell said: Perjury is a very serious matter, which strikes at the very heart of the administration of justice. He said Limerick senior hurlers were regarded as role models for the generation to come and that it was disappointing that one of the teams former All Ireland winning members was now facing a possible jail sentence. He said Mr Ryan had done wrong by going into the witness box, taking up a Bible and taking an oath and telling an untruth, and thats very disappointing in itself. Adjourning his decision to July 25, he directed that the probation service and Mr Ryan liaise with one another, and if 100 hours of voluntary work can be found between this and then he would factor that in to his final judgment. However, I want it to be clearly understood Im keeping my options open, Im not formally making a community service order but I am thinking along those particular lines. This is the first time I have come across an offence of this nature in this court, and I sincerely hope it will be the last time. Kyle Pilbrow was killed when his tractor overturned. Photo: St Colman's College, Facebook A 13-year-old boy who died in a Co Mayo tractor accident has been named locally as Kyle Pilbrow. The first-year student at St Colmans College, Claremorris, was the driver and sole occupant of the tractor, which overturned on a road at Scardaune, near Claremorris. In a statement published online, the school said its community was deeply saddened by the sudden death. Kyle will be remembered for his lovely personality, his friendly smile and his pleasant demeanour. We will all miss him terribly as a school community and we are keeping his mam and dad and his three brothers, Ethan, Alex and Morgan, in our thoughts and prayers at this very difficult time. May Kyles gentle soul rest in peace. Local Fine Gael councillor Tom Connolly from Claremorris said the local community was devastated by the tragedy. Its a very tight-knit community and everyone is shocked and devastated by the news, he told Independent.ie. Its a very sad case. The family and the local community is devastated by this awful news, he said. I want to send my sincere condolences to his family.Kyle is survived by his parents, Janny and Lisa; brothers Morgan, Alex and Ethan; grandparents Seamus and Veronica Nevin and Renate Pilbrow; his cousins, wider family, relatives, neighbours and many friends. The young mans remains will repose at his home in Hollymount, Co Mayo, on Wednesday evening from 4pm until 8pm, arriving to the Church of the Immaculate Conception, Roundfort, Hollymount, for funeral mass at 2pm on Thursday. Burial takes place afterwards in Roundfort Cemetery. Gardai are appealing for witnesses following the single-vehicle traffic collision, which they were alerted to shortly after 8.15pm on Saturday. The teenager was treated at the scene for serious injuries and removed to Galway University Hospital. He was subsequently transferred to Temple Street Hospital in Dublin, where he died on Sunday. A technical examination of the scene was conducted by Garda Forensic Collision Investigators and the road at the crash site has since fully reopened to traffic. Gardai are appealing to anyone who may have witnessed the collision to contact them. Anyone with any information is asked to contact Claremorris garda station on (094) 937 2080, the Garda Confidential Line on 1800 666 111 or any garda station. Additional reporting by PA Media. The new rules of etiquette: how to smooth over the many irritations of modern life 03:30 The new reverse vending machines will pay cash for old cans and bottles Plastic bottles and aluminium cans will soon be redeemable via money-back deposits at a supermarket car park near you. The Government has this weekend formally waived the planning permission requirement on reverse vending machines at supermarket car parks meaning they will be widely in place by next February. Changes mean higher prices of between 15 and 25 cents for cans and plastic bottles but these extra costs can be reclaimed when the receptacle is returned. Junior Minister Ossian Smyth, the minister of state responsible for technology, expects about 360m per year will be reclaimed via vouchers in the shops concerned. The project has already been piloted in 15 supermarkets countrywide and has resulted in a public take-up rate that was larger than expected. It is believed the speed of the Irish rollout may be helped by the availability of reverse vending machines from Scotland, which has had to delay the introduction of a similar scheme, from a start-date next August due to tensions with the London government. The new scheme would see the introduction of a redeemable 15c deposit on bottles and cans under 500cl, with a 25c deposit/return on receptacles over 500cl. The scheme is likely to have huge public participation and the incentive of cash-back will help, Mr Smyth told Independent.ie. People will also have the opportunity to gift their return deposit to charity but given the large sums involved here, we will have to work hard on devising a fair and practical system of sharing this. A similar scheme has been in operation in Germany for about 20 years and the Green Party has been behind this idea for quite some time. It is a feature of daily life in Nordic countries for many decades. Mr Smyth welcomed the participation of the major supermarket chains SuperValu, Lidl, Dunnes, Aldi, Centra and Tesco in a well-received pilot run in 15 diverse centres including Drogheda, Co Louth; Claremorris, Co Mayo, and Dungarvan, Co Waterford. I now look forward to their participation in a scheme which will recycle some 1.9 million plastic bottles and aluminium cans used each year, he said. Last month the new Scottish First Minister, Humza Yousaf, conceded that Scotlands scheme would have to be delayed as he set out his priorities for the next three years but he expressed the hope it may be launched later next spring. Others in the Edinburgh administration expressed doubts about whether an August rollout was ready at all events. Mr Yousaf said there was uncertainty because the UK government had delayed a decision on whether to exclude the scheme from its new Internal Market Act being put in place after Brexit. The London governments Scottish Secretary, Alister Jack, had previously hinted that the UK government might not grant a Scotland opt-out necessary for the scheme which may be deemed at risk of causing cross-border trade barriers via differing prices from England and Wales. A man who was jailed for three years for harassing six journalists has appeared before Dublin Circuit Criminal Court charged with breaching his bail conditions. Brendan Doolin (41) of Leighlin Road, Crumlin, Dublin, was sentenced in 2019 to five years in prison, with the final two years suspended. Doolin, described by his lawyers as an internet troll, had admitted harassing Sarah Griffin, Kate McEvoy, Sinead O'Carroll, Christine Bohan, Roe McDermott and Aoife Barry by sending them hundreds of abusive online messages on dates between May 2012 and February 2018. The court heard Doolin had only left his home twice in the previous 17 years prior to these matters being investigated. At a hearing today, the court heard Doolin was released from custody in December 2021 and has not reoffended since. Eoghan Cole BL, representing the State, said that after Doolin had been charged with the harassment offences and was facing trial, he committed multiple breaches of his bail condition not to be in any contact whatsoever with any of the injured parties, either directly or indirectly. A prosecuting garda told Mr Cole that in April and May 2019, Kate McEvoy and Sarah Griffin contacted gardai to report that posts were being made about them online in language similar to that used previously by Doolin. Gardai got a warrant to search Doolin's house and seized his laptop. He told gardai he didn't own a phone. The laptop was analysed and found to contain photos of Kate McEvoy and Roe McDermott taken in the atrium of Dublin Circuit Criminal Court, linked to a particular model of smartphone. A second search was carried out of Doolin's home and the smartphone in question was found concealed under his floor boards containing the photos. Doolin admitted the phone was his. Mr Cole said that separately, Doolin had made up email addresses very similar to the names of some of the injured parties and then used these emails to post obnoxious or upsetting messages online. Ms McDermott, Ms Griffin and Ms McEvoy reported that they were contacted by others at various times in 2019 asking why they were posting such messages. Ms Griffin said people including fellow writers would get negative comments from her from an email similar to her name, in what she felt was an attack on her livelihood. One comment made to look like it had been posted by Ms Griffin said: You're going to be ripped into tiny pieces all in good time. Ms Griffin cancelled certain public engagements, the court heard, due to a fear that Doolin would be monitoring her. Counsel told the court that Doolin also responded to several legitimate tweets posted by the injured parties by using uncomplimentary, unflattering or abusive language, describing them as dull, cowardly, classist, white feminist. Doolin also responded to social media post by Ms Griffin's husband by commenting: We know where you are, all in good time. Aoife Barry, Sarah Griffin and Kate McEvoy also reported that they received multiple password reset requests after Doolin tried to enter their emails, knowing that this meant they would receive messages asking them to change their passwords. On This Day In History - 22nd May None of the six injured parties were present in court although all submitted victim impact statements which were not read aloud. Mr Cole said a theme of all the victim impact statements was a wish shared by the women that Doolin would receive whatever help he needs to overcome his problems. Keith Spencer BL, defending Doolin, said his client's bail breaches were of a lower order than his original offending, describing it as more nuisance behaviour. Mr Spencer said that Doolin had been suffering from profound mental health difficulties at the time but has since corrected his behaviour and expressed remorse. He doesn't even operate computers now, he doesn't go near them because he's afraid and he knows that there are orders in place, said Mr Spencer, pointing out that Doolin continues to cooperate with the Probation Service. Judge Nolan adjourned a decision until tomorrow. The court heard previously that all the cases shared similar features in that each of the women Doolin targeted either worked as journalists or had a strong social media presence, particularly on Twitter. Sentencing Doolin previously, Judge Nolan said that the court had heard about what was the dark side of the internet, which allows a man sitting in his house to inflict huge amounts of trauma on six women. He said the defendant felt like he was untouchable. Judge Nolan said that most of us could put up with one, two, three or even a dozen insulting and abusive responses, but that there had been literally hundreds of responses to what the women said. He said the women were literally stalked on the internet by the accused. He said that all of the complainants asked Doolin to stop, but he persisted. He said he behaved in a very vindictive way. Judge Nolan said the mitigating factors in the case were Doolin's guilty plea, his cooperation, his admissions, his expression of remorse, his own difficulties and his unlikelihood of offending in the future. He said that he had no doubt that Doolin knew the difference between right and wrong and that nothing in the psychiatric report disputed this. He said Doolin offended grievously and he persisted in harassing and intimidating and attempting to frighten the victims. The High Court has ordered the extradition to Germany of a 50-year-old Irish man who allegedly tried to strike a man with a wooden chair leg and commit robbery in a Berlin takeaway almost 30 years ago. Making the order today, Mr Justice Kerida Naidoo said that Liam Patrick Daly (50), Dublin-born but with an address in Birmingham, had been a major contributor to the delay in bringing him before the courts to face the charge. The respondent, who objected to the extradition due to the length of time that has passed, is wanted by police in Germany on a charge of attempted aggravated robbery. His barrister, Willie Hughes, had argued that it would be "unjust and oppressive" to extradite Mr Daly for a "stupid act" where "a very drunk man went into a takeaway in 1994" and, he submitted, was incapable of carrying out the offence. The details of the charge are that on February 18, 1994, the respondent allegedly entered a snack bar at Uhlandstrasse in Berlin armed with a wooden chair leg and tried to strike a man and steal money. This alleged robbery failed as the man was able to defend himself and took the chair leg off his assailant. The respondent was arrested and questioned, and during his detention he allegedly made admissions saying that he had a mask on his head and a chair leg in his hand but only wanted to scare the other man. He allegedly said that he drank beer beforehand and wanted money. He was detained for three days and then released after giving his fiancees address. Mr Justice Naidoo said the respondent was not charged with any offence before being released but given the nature of the offence and the fact he was detained for three days, the respondent could not reasonably believe the German authorities were not going to pursue a prosecution against him. His passport was later examined by the German police, and he was not told he had to answer the charges and continued to live in Germany. The respondent claimed that this lulled him into believing there were no proceedings against him. An attempt was made to serve a warrant on him in March 1994, but this was unsuccessful as he had left his residence, and in March 1996, an international search was initiated. On This Day In History - 22nd May Mr Daly was arrested in England in February 2003, and an extradition case was heard by the court of appeal, who found in his favour and refused the extradition. The court at that time, nine years after the alleged offence, ruled that it would be unfair to return him as he was unlikely to face a fair trial given the delay. The court is entitled to have regard as to how his behaviour contributed to the delay, said Mr Justice Naidoo, adding that the respondent has been a major contributor to the delay. His conduct did contribute to the delay, as had he made any inquiries into the matter, it would have been dealt with, so he bears a significant part of the responsibility for it, he said. He said Mr Daly argued that in the context of the time passed, the German authorities were under obligation to take steps to establish his whereabouts. The authorities, however, said the international search that was begun in 1996 had not been interrupted at any time, and they were under no obligation to go further. The judge pointed out that when the German authorities became aware of his presence in England, they issued a warrant, which was unsuccessful. Mr Justice Naidoo also rejected Mr Dalys claim that the alleged offence was at the lower end of the scale. I am not convinced it is minor as the complainant had to defend himself and disarm him, and this is not in the respondent's favour, he said. While acknowledging that Mr Dalys mother had been diagnosed with cancer and he argued that his surrender to Germany would have an adverse effect on his family, Mr Justice Naidoo said he was not satisfied that his surrender would be an abuse of process. "I do not accept that he could reasonably believe that they had abandoned the prosecution, he said. He made an order for the surrender of Mr Daly to the Federal Republic of Germany but agreed to postpone this to allow him to facilitate the care of his mother. Having waited 27 years, they can wait another few months, said Mr Justice Naidoo. He made an order for Mr Dalys surrender and postponed this to July 24. Members of the new North Clare Solidarity Network welcoming asylum seekers to the area Gardai are investigating an alleged assault on a man which took place during a protest against asylum seeker accommodation in Co Clare. The incident happened on the outskirts of Corofin, in the townland of Scool, on Sunday evening and comes as a separate blockade in Inch was lifted yesterday morning. Rumours had been circulating on social media in recent days that a group of asylum seekers, roughly 40, were being moved into a vacant dormer style house in the Scool area. Protesters gathered outside the house at the weekend and a blockade was formed. It is understood the injured man attempted to pass the blockade, but was stopped and struck in the head. He was taken to University Hospital Limerick, and kept in overnight. "Gardai are making enquiries into an alleged assault which occurred in Corofin, Co. Clare on Sunday night, 21st May 2023, a garda spokesperson said. A man in his 70s is currently receiving treatment at University Hospital Limerick for injuries which are not believed to be life-threatening. Enquiries are ongoing. Members of the new North Clare branch of the Clare Solidarity Network came out to welcome asylum seekers into the community over the weekend, and they gathered again this evening to condemn the incident which left the man in hospital. The groups spokesperson Theresa ODonohoe said it has been established to welcome our new neighbours in North Clare, whenever they may arrive. Members of the new North Clare Solidarity Network welcoming asylum seekers to the area We believe most people in Clare are compassionate and want to help those fleeing persecution and war. Unfortunately, their voices have been drowned out and intimidated by those seeking to block asylum seekers from coming to the area, she said. And now with this latest terrifying incident, we have seen that local people are in more danger from extremists than from asylum seekers. This shocking incident also appears to be another example of agitators infiltrating or even instigating local protests, and creating and exploiting fear and hatred. Ms Donohoe said the group is against the Direct Provision system but sleeping in a tent on the streets of Dublin... is much worse than a rural dwelling in Co Clare. People seeking international protection are here legally and the state is obliged to protect them, she added. Clare-based Fianna Fail senator Timmy Dooley said the incident was wrong and must be condemned outright. Of course people are entitled to protest peacefully, but theyve got to be very careful that in establishing a peaceful protest, it doesnt become a catalyst of external tensions, which can lead to an overrun of emotions and lead to something like this happening, he said. We all have a responsibility. Government has a responsibility to communicate better, I as a public representative have a responsibility to explain better and communication better thats what Im trying to do with these various incidents. Senator Dooley said it is his understanding that there is no contract with the State to house asylum seekers at the property in Scool. He said the people are still protesting in Corofin but there is no blockade at present. Senator Dooley said misinformation is causing fear among some local people and it needs to be challenged at source. "We havent done a good enough job in society fighting back against these hard-rights who keep dropping little bits of information out there and weve been letting it go and we havent challenged it, he added. It comes as the barricade erected by protesters to keep asylum seekers out of Magowna House in Inch, Co Clare, was lifted on Sunday morning. The protesters erected the blockade of roads leading to the centre last week amid news asylum seekers were to be moved into the disused hotel. The move has caused division and saw political leaders call for its end. "I welcome the decision of residents to remove the blockade. My meeting with the residents on Thursday, in Ennis, was an honest open discussion and I am pleased that that engagement has helped bring some improvement to the situation, Integration Minister Joe OBrien said. Mr OBrien said he has agreed to return to the centre in four weeks, which he agreed with locals. A man riding an electric scooter has died following a collision with a car in Belfast earlier this month. He has been named by police as Eddie Jackson (46) from east Belfast. The PSNI said there was a collision involving a Mercedes GLA 200 and an electric scooter shortly before 2.30pm on May 10 on the Knock Road in east Belfast. A police spokesperson said officers attended the scene, alongside colleagues from other emergency services. They have appealed for anyone who witnessed the collision or has any footage of it to speak to police. They added: The rider of the electric scooter was taken to hospital following the collision for treatment, but sadly died from his injuries while in hospital. He has been named as 46-year-old Eddie Jackson from the east Belfast area. An investigation into the circumstances surrounding the collision is ongoing. Officers would appeal to anyone with any information or who may have dash-cam footage available to contact them at the Collision Investigation Unit on 101, quoting reference number 1149 of 10/05/23. A major flood prevention scheme is getting underway to protect central Dublin but not a drop of concrete will be poured or a brick laid in its making. The solution being used is natures own engineering - the planting of 60,000 trees. High up in the Dublin-Wicklow mountains where the Dodder River rises, banks of native hazel, hawthorn, holly, alder, rowan and birch will be planted to create beautiful woodland gullies. Far down in the city where the Dodder weaves its way through neighbourhoods and business districts, the result will be enjoyed through stable river levels and a much-reduced risk of flooding. How the idea works was explained by ministers Eamon Ryan and Malcolm Noonan and the team of National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) rangers who are turning it into a reality. They gathered on International Biodiversity Day in the stunning new addition to the Wicklow Mountains National Park a 2,000 hectare valley at Glenasmole which is in Co Dublin but forms a natural extension to the 23,000 hectares of national park across the county boundary. The state bought it several years from NAMA which had taken it over from a developer at the beginning of the downturn in the mid-2000s. At the time there was a real fear that a private buyer would snap it up and fence it off but now the only thing that will be fenced off are the saplings. Some will be clustered in enclosures and others individually wrapped in tubes or mesh cages until they are tall and sturdy enough to survive without protection. Nature could do the job alone if it wasnt for the large numbers of non-native sitka deer and the sheep that graze the area, stripping it of new growth. With help, however, this is set to become a flagship example of nature restoration in action. With trees, youll have small birds and with small birds come the birds of prey, said Mr Ryan who was the first to spot a lone peregrine falcon hovering over the exposed mountainside. You get a cascade of action going in the right way. You also get a landscape knitted together with an extensive network of roots that makes it far better able to absorb the heavy rainfall that regularly pounds the area. When it rains, there is nothing to soak it up so it rushes down, taking the peat with it. All that runs into the Dodder here and on into the reservoir where it has to be removed for the drinking water supply, Mr Ryan said. The torrents of water gushing down the mountain also swell the Dodder dangerously in the city where various flood alleviation works have taken place and more are proposed. Weve a choice. Do we do a massive flood protection along the Dodder, where we culvert and pour huge amounts of concrete, or do we do this sort of project, allowing the trees to do the work? Mr Ryan said. Local sheep farmer Donie Anderson answered that one, pointing to the narrow stream that is the infant Dodder and the modest clusters of trees hanging on valiantly against the grazers. Youd need to be looking at it every day to see this but where there are trees there, they soak up the moisture, he said. One day last week there was a flood in the river and now theres only a couple of inches of water. The restoration project wont interfere with his grazing rights so hes happy to see the NPWS rangers out plotting planting spots. With the EUs draft Nature Restoration Law and domestic land use reviews proving contentious, projects such as Glenasmole need to be more widely seen and understood, Mr Ryan said. Its not hugely expensive about 1.5m over three or four years and the return we get from that is beyond compare. Fundraisers set up by Cara, whose two brother are autistic, have already raised over 70,000. Pictured, Cara with parents Noelle and Mark. Photo: Dylan Vaughan A 12-year-old girl is on course to sit the Leaving Certificate maths exam in a bid to raise awareness and funds for autistic children. Cara Darmody will sit the exam six years ahead of time as part of her advocacy to draw attention to the 20,000 people awaiting autism assessments in Ireland. Fundraisers established by Cara have already raised more than 70,000 in the past year to assist families of autistic children. Cara, from Ardfinnan in Co Tipperary, is not autistic but has two autistic brothers, Neil (10) and John (5), who are both non-verbal. Cara has been a constant advocate for them as well as the thousands of others suffering due to a lack of services. Cara sat the Junior Cert maths exam in 2022 at the age of 11 and scored 97pc a result she was presented with live on the Late Late Show by Ryan Tubridy. Along with clocking more than 400 hours of study for the upcoming Leaving Cert exam the equivalent of an extra 70 school days this academic year Cara has travelled to Leinster House every Wednesday so far in 2023 to lobby politicians on the plight of autistic people in Ireland. As a result of her persistence, there will be a two-hour Dail slot on Wednesday devoted to a Labour motion on access to autism and disability assessments and supports. Im working really hard, Cara said. It is very hard but it is also lots of fun. Of course, my dad is the best teacher ever, she said, a reference to the time she mortified her father Mark live on RTEs Drivetime,telling the interviewer he has to sneak up the stairs to teach himself first because he hasnt got a clue. Cara said she took on the challenge because maths is seen as the hardest subject of them all, so I wanted to do the most difficult one. I really like algebra, but I dont like calculus or differentiation theyre a lot harder. Im very excited and its getting close now, the primary school student said. 12-year-old carer Cara Darmody gets her Junior Cert Maths Results on The Late Late Show According to Mark, Cara is the driving force behind her advocacy: she even devised a plan to meet different politicians on different weeks to gain access to Leinster House so that her message would be heard as often as possible in the corridors of power. Nobody is driving this but Cara, Mark said. She was doing really well with her advocacy last year but she said, Its still not working, I am down here and they are up there (in Dublin), we have to go to Leinster House. I told her that we could not make that happen, but she came up with the idea to go inside for specific meetings that theyd have to let her in. So it was only after several weeks of thinking about it, we said Look, shes not going to stop, so well have to support her on this. But it actually worked out. Its probably the first time someone has ever gone there every single week for meetings. Cara is driven by the desire to see a change in the services provided by the HSE for autistic people but also out of compassion for the thousands of families trying to get an assessment for a child they believe may be autistic. Currently, that figure stands at around 20,000. Many end up forking out 2,000 to have an assessment carried out privately but this is a cost many cant afford and one that Cara believes they should not have to pay. Caras fundraiser can be found at: https://www.gofundme.com/f/caras-mount-everest-maths-challenge New legislation on health labelling for alcohol products has been signed into law by Health Minister Stephen Donnelly. The law means that the labels of alcohol products will state the calorie content and grammes of alcohol in the product. They will also warn about the risk of consuming alcohol when pregnant and of the risk of liver disease and fatal cancers from alcohol consumption. Ireland is the first country in the world to introduce such regulations. There is a three-year lead-in time built into the law in order to give businesses time to prepare for the change. The law will apply from May 22, 2026. As well as health labelling of alcohol products sold in Ireland, similar health information will be available for customers in licensed premises. Mr Donnelly said: "This law is designed to give all of us as consumers a better understanding of the alcohol content and health risks associated with consuming alcohol. "With that information, we can make an informed decision about our own alcohol consumption. "Packaging of other food and drink products already contains health information and, where appropriate, health warnings. "This law is bringing alcohol products into line with that." Minister for Public Health, Wellbeing and the National Drugs Strategy Hildegarde Naughton said: "Everyone has a right to be told about the risks associated with a product before we consume it. "This law is designed to ensure all consumers of alcohol have access to clear and concise information about the risks from alcohol. "The medical evidence is clear that a cancer risk applies even at lower levels of alcohol consumption." Mr Donnelly said: "I welcome that we are the first country in the world to take this step and introduce comprehensive health labelling of alcohol products. "I look forward to other countries following our example." It comes as European wine, beer and spirits makers have said they will step up their actions to block Irelands plan for labels on alcohol packaging linking drinks to cancer, claiming the proposals will damage the EU Single Market. Spirits Europe, a group representing small distillers and major alcohol producers including Guinness maker Diageo and Pernod Ricard which produces Irelands Jameson Whiskey, has lodged an official complaint, asking the European Commission to open an infringement procedure against Ireland over the labels. Brewers of Europe, which represents EU beer makers in 29 countries, as well as the European Committee of Wine Companies (CEEV), which acts on behalf of 7,000 wine producers, have also lodged complaints with the EU executive. In its complaint, Spirits Europe said Irelands plan represents a disproportionate trade barrier and would make it considerably more complex and more expensive for non-Irish producers and distributors. The EU approved the labels last December, despite formal objections or concerns from 13 countries, including France, Italy and Spain. Nine countries, including the US, UK, Australia and New Zealand, are understood to have submitted comments under a World Trade Organization (WTO) technical barriers to trade process, which concluded last week. Drinks makers want Ireland to freeze its plans until the European Commission comes forward with EU-wide alcohol health warnings. A 13-year-old boy was killed in an incident in which the tractor he was driving overturned in Co Mayo this weekend. Gardai are appealing for witnesses following a single vehicle collision, which happened on Saturday evening. Shortly after 8.15pm Gardai and emergency services were alerted after a tractor overturned on a local road at Scarduane near Claremorris. The driver and sole occupant of the tractor, a 13-year-old boy, was treated at the scene for serious injuries and removed to Galway University Hospital, according to Gardai. The boy was subsequently transferred to Temple Street Hospital, Dublin where he died on Sunday. A technical examination of the scene was conducted by Garda Forensic Collision Investigators and the road at the crash site has since fully reopened to traffic. Local Fine Gael councillor Tom Connolly from Claremorris said the local community is devastated by the tragedy. He said the boy is from the townland of Scardunane, outside of Claremorris. Its a very tight-knit community and everyone is shocked and devastated by the news, he told Independent.ie. Its a very sad case. The family and the local community is devastated by this awful news, he said. I want to send my sincere condolences to his family. Gardai are appealing to anyone who may have witnessed the collision to contact them. Anyone with any information is asked to contact Claremorris Garda Station on (094) 937 2080, the Garda Confidential Line on 1800 666 111 or any Garda station. Billy Keane: Thank you, Ryan, you were the keeper and governor of our central bank of kindness Sinn Fein vice-president Michelle O'Neill (left) and president Mary Lou McDonald at Belfast City Hall as the results came in for the Northern Ireland local elections on Friday. Photo: Liam McBurney/PA PA Sinn Fein is now the biggest party in both Stormont and Northern Irelands 11 local councils. This is a moment of historic change in a polity created a century ago to safeguard political control by those who trenchantly supported the link between the north- east of Ireland and the United Kingdom. Dean Maguire, 29, Karl Freeman, 26, and Graham Taylor, 31, were all well-known Dublin criminals and had amassed 200 convictions between them before their deaths in 2021. Maguire was wanted in the UK at the time of his death as he had absconded from an open prison while serving a sentence for burglary. The vehicle the men were travelling in on the night they died was recognised by gardai as one that may have been involved in a spate of burglaries. When gardai signalled for them to pull over, they fled gardai at speed, driving the wrong way down a dual carriageway, before colliding head-on with a lorry on the N7 on the outskirts of Dublin. All three were killed instantly. In the wake of their deaths, three extravagant funerals were held and offertory gifts including a screwdriver and a torch were brought to the altar at one of the funerals. Gardai also launched an investigation into one of the funerals when the hearse was videoed driving erratically at high speeds. The Indo Daily: Fears for garda safety after fatal N7 chase of burglary gang The story has burst back into the public consciousness in recent days after it was confirmed that the policing watchdog in Ireland, GSOC, would soon be bringing charges against one of the gardai involved in the chase the night the men died. Opposition politicians have blasted the news as disgraceful and called for a government examination as to how a serving garda could facing criminal charges for carrying out his duty. Just this past weekend, The Irish Independent reported there were fears for the safety of the garda at the centre of the investigation as GSOC prepare to bring charges against him. In a case that has seen public outrage and calls for a deeper look into the already embattled garda ombudsman, what will come from the N7 crash saga? Host Kevin Doyle gets the latest details in the saga from Ireland Editor at the Irish Independent, Fionnan Sheahan. IT has been busy few weeks for members of Fermoy Camera Club, with interest in both national and club competitions. On the national competition side, the Irish Photographic Federation (IPF), the governing body for all Irish clubs, held their first in person individual competition since Covid. Club PRO Padraig Barry and Deirdre Casolani represented Fermoy in the competition, Mr Barry saying it was great to meet up with other club members for the first time on more than two years. A large contingent of Fermoy members travelled to the Horse and Jockey for the judging and take opportunity to see what the general standard of photography in the country is like, said Mr Barry. Deirdres photos scored very highly with the judges, while it could be said of my submissions sure at least he entered, he grinned. On the local scene, members were invited to submit entries for their latest monthly competition, which challenged them to produce a series of thought-provoking urban themed images. This once again displayed the talents of the club members with images from Cape Town in South Africa, Venice, London, Eyeries and Cork to name a few. The judging made for a fascinating evening viewing the images as well as getting the stories behind each of the photographs, said Mr Barry. First place went to Catherine Sheehan who captured a perfect moment in time as a flock of resident London pigeons startled a passer-by. Second place went to Ger Duggan for her colourful image of a street scene in the South African capital Cape Town while the third image was also captured in the English capital with George OKeefe going underground to capture a tube train as it sped through a station. The theme for the next club challenge will be rural, with the meeting to discuss and judge the entries taking place at the Fermoy Community Youth Centre on June 7. Mr Barry said Fermoy Camera Club was a great way for photography enthusiasts to connect with like-minded individuals, improve their skills and explore new locations and techniques. If people would like to learn more about membership they can email fermoycameraclub@gmail.com of check out our Facebook and Instagram pages, said Mr Barry. Local community and voluntary groups have been invited to submit expressions of interest for the future use of the former fire station building in Kanturk (above), which has lain idle for the past year. COMMUNITY and voluntary groups from the Kanturk area have until this coming Friday to pitch ideas for the future use of the former fire station building in the town. Cork County Council is seeking expressions of interest from local organisations for the building at St Theresas Place, which had housed the local fire service for almost 70-years. The building has laid idle for the past year following the opening of the towns new fire station at the Mill Road junction on Percival Street. The authority said they will consider submissions from community-based groups that provide services and activities for people living in Kanturk and the surrounding area. A council spokesperson said the successful applicant group would be required to enter a lease agreement with the authority and would take responsibility for the maintenance and upkeep of the building, including providing insurance cover. The building is provided as is, with the successful applicant required to arrange for any necessary modifications and adaptions to meet their needs, said the spokesperson. They said expressions of interest submitted must, at minimum contain the following information: * Applicant group name and contact details. * Their charitable/community-based/voluntary status and, where applicable, articles of association or constitution. * A detailed description of an applicants intended use for the building and specific services/activities proposed. * Details of current facilities used by applicants. * Sources of income/funding they receive. * Confirmation of affiliation to any national body, where applicable. The closing date for receipt of application by email to kanturkmallowMD@corkcoco.ie is 4pm on Friday, May 26. Cork County Council will review all submissions received and may engage with applicant groups for further details as necessary, said the spokesperson. Cork County Council is not obliged to accept any expression of interest received under this process, they added. Local Cork County Councillor John Paul OShea (FG) said he has the building urged interested local groups to ensure they submit their expressions of interest before Fridays deadline. I have been contacted by a number of people enquiring about the future use of the building, said Cllr OShea. It is great to see that it will be put to good use as it will make an ideal base for one of the many groups that do so much good work for, and on behalf, of the local community in Kanturk, he added. Artefacts will help highlight a little but of Corks history some locals may not have heard of The Cork Horns, found in the Docklands area of the city near the Centre Park Road, are thought to have been part of an ornamental headdress dating from the 2nd century AD. They are made of thin sheet bronze and decorated in La Tene Style. A Roman fibula found in West Cork, near Bantry, dating from the 2nd century supports evidence for early contact with the Roman Empire. Late Iron-Age bronze open-ring brooch and pin that has deep circular settings. Fashioned from Roman fibulas, brooches would have been worn to fasten clothing.. Fragments of pottery dating between the 5th 6th centuries contained Eastern Mediterranean goods such as olive oil or wine. These shards provide evidence for trade between Cork and the eastern Mediterranean. One of six silver torc's dating from the Iron Age found near Rathcormack in the 19th century. A silver torc was a piece of jewellery worn by the elite of the time. Silver was imported into Ireland from the Roman world and had not been used in Ireland up to that point. Images courtesy of the Cork Public Museum. Cmere to me boy, what have the Romans ever done for us? Actually, quite a lot as it turns out. A fascinating new exhibition entitled Cork and the Roman World being staged in the Cork Public Museum is set to explore Roman influence on Ireland and shed new light on its connections to Cork. A collaboration between the museum and the Museum Studies programme at University College Cork , the exhibition, the first of its kind ever to be held in the country, will run at the Fitzgeralds Park venue from June until May of next year. It will explain the history of Roman contact in Ireland and how the evidence of their contact can be seen right up to the present day. While the emperor Claudius invaded Britain in 43 AD, the Romans never actually conquered Ireland as it provided no military or financial advantage, they did exert their influence on the Celtic people for centuries. The earliest evidence of Roman influence on Ireland dates back to the first and second centuries, with many archaeological finds located at ancient strongholds such as Tara, Cashel, Garranes, and Newgrange. Dr Griffin Murray, programme director of the Museum Studies course shed light on this there. There are sites in Leinster that have well-known Roman finds, places like Drumanagh, Co. Dublin and at Newgrange, Co. Meath, said Dr Murray. It was thought until recently that County Cork and the south coast had very little evidence of contact with the Roman world, even though one would expect somewhere like Cork harbour to have been a centre of trade during the Iron Age, he added. Archaeological evidence suggests that the Romans influenced the Irish people in many ways, resulting in conversion to Christianity, the introduction of literacy and changes in dress and ornament. The major themes that will be explored in the exhibition include Iron Age Ireland and Roman Britain, Roman influence in early Medieval Ireland, and Cork antiquarian interest in Rome. This exhibition tells the story of Ireland throughout the centuries, with a specific focus on Roman evidence in Cork. The exhibition will feature several archaeological objects that were found in Cork, many of which are being displayed for the first time, said Dr Griffin. One of the most famous objects from this collection is the Cork Horns. The Horns originally made up a headdress that may have been used in pagan rituals. Another artefact on display is a penannular brooch, a characteristic dress ornament of the post-Roman Celtic world, that would have been influenced by Romano-British culture but designed in the Celtic style. A silver torc, one of six found near Rathcormack in the 19th century and dating from the Iron Age will also be exhibited. Silver was imported into Ireland from the Roman world and had not been used in Ireland up to that point. For the presentation of the exhibit students were tasked with different roles and responsibilities. Evelyn Nunez, a design team member, explained her aspirations for the exhibition. I hope that this exhibition will generate a meaningful learning experience for the visitors. The planning of this exhibition has been a roller coaster of challenges and emotions. However, I expect a sense of satisfaction at the end of the ride, said Evelyn. A sentiment echoed by fellow student/ exhibition curator Mary Cate Babcock. I am really excited to share this exhibition, exploring little-known parts of Corks history, with the public. I find that really exciting, said Mary Cate. This exhibition also stands as a testament to the hard work of the MA Museum Studies students at UCC who are working tirelessly to share this unique bit of Corks history, she added. Multimedia team member Ciaran Cussen said his hope was that the exhibition will highlight a little bit of Corks history that some locals may not have heard of previously. The issue of road safety on Charlevilles Main Street was raised at question time in Dail Eireann by Michael Moynihan, Cork North West TD on last Thursday, following the latest fatality on the street when an elderly man lost his life in a traffic incident with a HGV some two weeks ago. Deputy Moynihan was told by Minister for State at the Department of EU Affairs and Defence, Peter Burke, T.D. who was standing in for the Minister for Transport, that it was the TII (Transport Infrastructure Ireland) working with the local authority that had responsibility for the road safety along the N20, and this includes Charlevilles Main Street. It will be recalled that in 2014 the former Charleville Chamber of Commerce, led by the then President P. J. McCarthy, made a joint submission with Cork County Council for a relief road to be put in place to take heavy goods vehicles out of the Mian Street in order to contribute to improving the safety environment in Charleville town. The report set out in detail the economic case for such a relief road (which also included a costing for the project), and its critical importance in the efforts of Charleville Chamber to develop the area. The case from the perspective of Cork County Council was also made to provide an interim solution to the problems currently associated with the N20 in the town, and in the facilitating of the development of Charleville in conjunction with the then Cork County Development Plan and the Local Area Plan. Read more Charleville tragedies highlight need for urgent new traffic calming measures At the time, as indeed now, the Cork/Limerick M20 Motorway scheme comprised the development of approximately 80km of new motorway extending from Blarney to Patrickswell, linking the two largest urban centres in the State. This was outlined in the development strategy for the National Primary Roads in the National Development Plan (2007 -2013). However, the M20 Motorway Scheme was suspended in 2011 due to budgetary constraints. It is presently under active consideration again, with the project office based in Limericks Dooradoyle. The 2014 plan jointly submitted by Charleville Chamber and Cork County Council was rejected by the then NRA (National Roads Authority). In the interim, many people have lost their lives in the towns Main Street in collisions with HGVs. How many more lives must be lost before the TII and Cork County Council take the necessary action to remove the HGVS from the street by constructing a relief road around the town to remove heavy goods vehicles from the town centre? A public meeting has been called by Charleville Community Forum to discuss the prevailing situation regarding the passage of heavy goods vehicles through the town, and what may be done to remove them from the Main Street, where they constitute a continuing hazard to pedestrians. The meeting is at Charleville Park Hotel at 7.30pm on Wednesday, May 31. All are welcome to express their views. Teresa Elumelu, Ararat Aneke, Jacqueline Tshikota, Mary Carroll, Sean Lyons, Grace Titus, Valentine Asafor and John Lazuras at the launch of Africa day at the Tralee International Resource Centre. The celebrations will take place on the 28th of May in the Town Park. Photo by Mark OSullivan Tralee Town Park will later this month play host to what was described this week as a big event to mark the African community in Kerry with groups such as Tralee International Resource Centre (TIRC), the Killarney Immigrant Support Centre (KASI) and the African community in Kerry (AFCOM) preparing for the big day on Sunday May 28. The day itself will kick off at 1:30pm in the park when it is officially opened by Minister for Education Norma Foley a guest of honour for the occasion and it will bring together different African cultures and traditions from communities right across Kerry with many of those from Africa, who now call this county home, set to showcase their traditional African dress. Highlights of the day will include the showcasing of traditional African food and African drumming with Tralee Town Park set to transformed thanks to a variety of Africa-themed displays. Many of those from Africa, now living in Kerry, will showcase their traditional African dress. Other fun activities that will take place include over the course of the family fun include a DJ, face-painting, bouncy castles and games, Co-ordinator of TIRC, Mary Carroll, said that the day will support integration by bringing different cultures and communities together. This type of initiative is more than just good fun, it is about raising awareness and encouraging integration as the different communities work together. Music, games and food is a fun way to achieve this very important goal. This day is an opportunity to celebrate African diversity and success and join Africans around the world in highlighting the cultural and social energy of the continent. We held a similar event last year and it was wonderful to see so many people coming to try African food, and learning so much about the different cultures, and meeting and talking together, in a fun way. The African drumming is always a highlight at the event also, she continued. The action will run from 1:30 to 5pm and everyone is urged to come along to this family fun event that promises to be both educational and entertaining. Africa Day is supported by funding from Irish Aid at the Department of Foreign Affairs, facilitated through Kerry County Council. The organisers are very grateful for the use of Tralee Town Park and for all the help from local groups and businesses including the Irish Red Cross and Sean Murphy Electrical contractor. Michael Collins (49) was found guilty of causing the death of Jillian Thornton (20) in Duleek crash in 2016 An intoxicated driver who was jailed for 14 years for causing the death of a 20-year-old woman in Co Meath has appealed his conviction, with his lawyers arguing the unprecedented, "very radical proposition" that he should not have been allowed to represent himself during the trial. Michael Collins (49) was jailed by Trim Circuit Court in July 2019 for causing the crash that claimed the life of Jillian Thornton seven years ago. Following a 13-day trial, Collins, of St Finians Park, Drogheda, Co Louth, was found guilty of dangerous driving causing the death of Ms Thornton on May 27, 2016 at Waterside Great, Duleek, Co Meath. Collins defended himself after sacking his legal team at the start of the trial and was also convicted on two charges of endangerment, 12 charges of dangerous driving and of driving under the influence of an intoxicant on the same date. The court heard that Collins was on his way to a music festival in Mullingar on the night with the victim and a friend Alannah Byrne, who survived the crash. Ms Thornton was killed when she was thrown from the back seat of the defendants car, which was split in two when it collided with another car near Ballymagarvey on the N2 after a 35-minute garda pursuit. The court heard that Collins failed to stop for gardai after driving the wrong way on a roundabout at Waterunder, Drogheda, and then continued through east Meath towards Slane and turning back towards Ashbourne. The trial had heard recordings of 999 calls from the passengers in the car claiming the driver was going to crash unless gardai called off the pursuit. One of the calls made just before the crash ended in a scream. Today's News in 90 Seconds - May 23rd The court heard Garda evidence of Collins speeding on the wrong side of the road, being involved in near-misses, driving head on at Garda vehicles, travelling without lights and weaving from side to side. A Garda witness said the defendant appeared to have been playing chicken with other motorists. Collins, who was found to have cannabis in his system on the night, later told gardai his head had been melted and claimed in court he had been in fear for his life at the time, as someone had put a hit on him and he did not believe it was gardai who were following him. He said he was scared of being shot and believed he was being chased by would-be assassins. He claimed that at one stage he was being followed by 10 Garda cars, some of which had tried to ram him, and that just before the crash his car was rammed into the other vehicle involved in the collision. The court heard that later technical and other investigations found no evidence to support this claim. At the Court of Appeal, Michael Lynn SC, for Collins, said his client should not have been permitted to conduct his own defence, submitting that Collins previously had episodes of paranoia and had attended a facility in Drogheda to address this. Mr Lynn said Collins' trial was "not one in accordance with the law" because of the lack of legal representation for Collins, which raised "a difficult issue". Mr Lynn said that Collins chose to represent himself after sacking his legal team. However, the barrister submitted that the trial was "not one functioning properly because that person is incapable of running a coherent defence". Ms Justice Isobel Kennedy asked if Mr Lynn was submitting that a legal team should be forced on such defendants and was told "yes, in the interest of a fair trial". Mr Justice Patrick McCarthy said that the proposition of forcing a legal team upon an individual would infringe on their right not to have lawyers and represent themself. Mr Lynn said the "adversarial nature" of the criminal trial meant that it must be a fair procedure to involve legal representation when this applied in the case of a person who "is incapable of making a rational decision". Mr Lynn said the trial judge in Collins' case had tried to persuade the defendant to be legally represented. The barrister said the trial judge also was faced with a scenario where it was considered whether the trial could proceed with Collins absent from the courtroom due to his behaviour. Mr Lynn said this course of action could have been possible if a legal team had been imposed on Collins. Mr Justice George Birmingham noted that some jurisdictions, at a final appeals level, demanded all parties to have legal representation. Ms Justice Kennedy asked Mr Lynn whether a trial judge should step in and stop a trial if it emerges during trial that a person is incompetent in representing themselves. Mr Lynn said this should be so. "At that point it doesn't represent the adversarial process which is what we have chosen in the interests of justice," said Mr Lynn. "A person's right to represent themselves can be over-ridden in the public interest. The waiver of legal representation has to be voluntary and an informed choice. They have to intelligently elect to do so," said Mr Lynn. "In this case, the judge was very, very concerned and a family member called it "delusional" and that he [Collins] couldn't represent himself. Of course it wasn't an intelligent choice," said Mr Lynn. Mr Justice Birmingham said that to dispense with available lawyers that the State pays for "is not an intelligent choice". "It's a free choice and that may be the end of it," he said. "There is an overriding public interest which requires the trial to be run in accordance to law and this can't be described as a properly functioning trial," said Mr Lynn. "It shouldn't have been permitted that the legal team came off. They can still go into court and test the evidence, as they do in mental health cases when they can't take instruction. That's to ensure a fair trial," said Mr Lynn. Mr Justice Birmingham said that Collins was found fit to be tried, made a decision that he is representing himself and "fired his team and a very experienced senior counsel provided by the State". Mr Justice Birmingham described Mr Lynn's submission as a "very radical proposition - I think without precedent in the Irish courts". Carl Hanahoe BL, for the State, said that people had a right to represent themselves and that the adversarial system was so that all participants have that right. "Mr Collins has the right to defend himself and has his right to conduct the defence as he sees fit," said Mr Hanahoe. "If it offends our sense of what ought to have occurred that can't be used as a vehicle to deprive him of the right to do it and do it as he [Collins] saw fit. We can't deprive him of that fundamental right," said the barrister. Mr Hanahoe said there was no evidence to suggest that Collins lacked capacity to make the decision to represent himself. "Does it offend our sense of how we feel a trial should be conducted? It might have been an utterly unreasonable decision but other than that there's not a shred of evidence he wasn't competent," said Mr Hanahoe, who added that a medical report found Collins to not be suffering any mental illness. Mr Justice Birmingham said the court would reserve its judgement in the matter. A former priest and Irish Times columnist who was sentenced to four years in prison for sexual assaults on a school boy in the late 1990s has had his conviction quashed and is to be retried. Connolly Motor Group has been appointed as main dealers for MG Motor in the North West of Ireland. Connollys MG will open in Collooney, Sligo in June with the creation of 15 new jobs and an investment of 2m by the Connolly Motor Group. The new jobs will increase the number of full-time employees at Connolly Motor Group to 335. The company will begin recruitment immediately. The group, which is run by brothers Kevin and Neil Connolly, is one of the biggest motor groups in the country. The new MG dealership brings Connolly Motor Groups total number of outlets to 16 with the company now representing 10 different franchises. Connolly Motor Group already has Audi dealerships in Sligo, Ballina and Galway; Mercedes-Benz dealerships in Sligo and Galway; Volkswagen dealerships in Sligo, Ballina and Letterkenny as well as Volkswagen Commercial dealerships in all three centres. It also has Hyundai Galway, SEAT Sligo, Volvo Galway and CUPRA Sligo as well as running three used Car Centres in Ballina, Sligo and Galway. With this latest appointment, Connolly Motor Group is taking on what is Europes fastest-growing car brand with the MG4 EV selected as The Irish Times Car of the Year 2023. Connollys will have responsibility for MG Motor sales and after-sales services for the entire North West region covering the counties of Mayo, Sligo, Donegal, Roscommon, and Leitrim. As well as selling the brand-new models in the MG range, the company will be offering aftersales services to current MG drivers. The new state-of-the-art dealership in Collooney is being developed in a building which had been standing vacant since the financial crisis with Connolly Motor Group investing 2 million to rescue the building from a derelict condition and create a state-of-the-art dealership. The showrooms will have space to display up to six cars which will be a range of hybrid and fully electric models. The premises will also house a customer reception and individual sales offices. The facility will also have a five-bay workshop featuring the latest diagnostic equipment. Co-owner and Director of Connolly Motor Group Neil Connolly said: We are delighted to be appointed to represent a brand such as MG. The creation of another 15 new full-time jobs in Sligo is a source of pride for Kevin and I as we expand the Connolly Motor Group in the North West. This is a fantastic market for the brand and its strategy of a full EV-focused range at market-leading price points which is incredibly attractive, all accompanied with a full seven-year warranty. Gerard Rice, Managing Director of MG Motor Ireland, said: MG Ireland is delighted to welcome Connolly Motor Group as our latest partner to join the MG dealer network. Connollys MG is based in a prime location in Sligo and will be a key dealership for MG in the North West region. We are excited to work closely with the Connolly Motor Group which has an excellent reputation and is committed to serving MG customers in the North West with an exceptional standard of customer care. As the MG brand continues on our strong growth journey with affordable and stylish electric vehicles for everyone, we know its vital to partner with the right people which is why we have joined forces with Connollys MG. MINISTER James Browne TD will be visiting Enniscorthy Mart on Tuesday, May 23, as part of National Community Engagement Week. Min Browne will also be attending events in Cavan an Donegal during the week. Previously run over the course of one day, the new week-long series will see hundreds of events taking place in communities across Ireland, giving people a chance to get to know their local gardai and other representatives in their areas. Min Brownes visit to Enniscorthy Mart will the first of his three engagement appointments during the week. He will in Cavan for an Age Friendly wellbeing event on Thursday and the following day will see him visit Clonleigh Farm Co-op in Co Donegal. Following an extremely success Tractor Run fundraiser in recent weeks, proud students at Colaiste Bhride recently presented the proceeds of the event to Jigsaws Wicklow branch. The annual event, which this year saw 30 tractors roll out of the school gates, raised an impressive 1,650 for the charity. On Thursday, staff and students from the school gathered to present this to Jigsaw representative Nicky Russell. Always a much-loved event in the local calendar, the Colaiste Bride tractor run was organised by students in conjunction with Mr Gleeson. Organised as part as WellFest 2023 an immersive outdoor health and wellness festival with events in Dublin and London the event had student wellbeing at its core as all funds were raised for Jigsaw Wicklow. This mental health organisation provides support and counselling to students across the region. Following an extremely successful community day and fundraiser, a spokesperson for Colaiste Bhride offered their congratulations to all of the students for helping to raise money and more importantly, awareness for mental health issues. The director of Normandy Tourism is eager to develop links with New Ross ahead of a showcase of Normandy food and culture in the town this June Bank Holiday Monday. Speaking ahead of the arrival of the inaugural Normandy Food Tour to Ireland this June Bank Holiday weekend Michael Dodds said: We are very excited to take the Normandy Food Tour to Ireland for the very first time. It will be an opportunity for our Norman cousins to enjoy an authentic experience in food, culture and music from the Contentin Peninsula (in Normandy). Mr Dodds said; We look to Ireland as our closest European neighbour and we recognise the opportunity that Brexit has created. We are looking forward to meeting with stakeholders across Ireland and building cooperation not only in tourism but trade and cultural links and possibly even exploring the possibility of identifying thematic tourism to further showcase the shared experiences of Normandy and Norman Ireland. We very carefully selected to visit the cities and towns of Dublin, Waterford and New Ross where Norman heritage runs deep and it will be a wonderful opportunity for locals and visitors alike to enjoy a flavour of this shared heritage during our Food Tour of New Ross town on bank holiday Monday, from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Normandy food trucks will arrive en masse to serve up tasty sweet and savoury dishes with tastings on offer all day long. Chez lCouz marries the finest Normandy beef with creamy camembert and Neufchtel cheese served up in a soft bun. GrignotMalin will be serving up traditional French crpes filled with cheese and more. And who can resist dessert, especially when its Caravanille preparing delicious fresh brioches topped with Normandy delicacies. A Normandy Sweet Treats Tasting will also be on offer with Cara-Meuh, La Maison Du Biscuit cakes, Jeannette Madeleines, Caramel De Pommes Dieppois apple spread and more. Visitors will also have the opportunity to bring some home, thanks to cheese vendor La Dgusterie. Traditional brews will also be on offer and visitors can enjoy a cider-tasting experience with Cidrerie de la Brique where visitors can journey from the traditional methods through to styles defining the future. There will also be a Calvados tasting of Chateau du Breuil and Busnel apple brandies. La Mont Vinette, a bar in a vintage caravan will also be offering samples of their unique and authentic Normandy cocktails. A demo stage will see a schedule of fabulous Normandy chefs cook up traditional and innovative cuisine including `Escalope la Normande, Teurgoule rice pudding along with the universally loved brioche. Totally free-to-attend master classes will be held throughout the day with sampling some of Normandys best exports available plus a family-friendly crepe demonstration activity will be showcased each afternoon. Joining the food and drinks producers are the Normandy Tourist Board who are keen to build upon the historic Norman connections and to share the heritage and cultural offerings available in picturesque Normandy. To top the celebrations off visitors to each of the food tour stops will be entertained by the French musicians For the Hackers, who will be performing for the very first time in Ireland. Hailing from Dieppe, Normandy, these indie-rockers have been active for about a decade now, and have numerous hits to their name. Their blend of pop, rock and electro with French lyrics is guaranteed to impress. The Normandy Food Tour is a free-to-attend family-friendly event with live music, free cookery demos, tasting opportunities and more. See https://en.normandie-tourisme.fr/normandy-food-tour/ for more details. Wexford County Council has granted planning permission for a luxury five-star nursing home in a unique circular design on a panoramic site overlooking the sea at Ardcavan on the outskirts of Wexford town. Developer Tom O Connor has been given approval to build the 103-bedroom nursing home and 22 sheltered housing units on a site off the Wexford to Castlebridge road, with facilities including a cinema, swimming pool and steam rooms. The project was designed by Fergus Flanagan Architects of Wexford and Dublin and is to be constructed in a number of different phases over a two-year period on a 10-acre site overlooking the sea at Burgess Bay with views to the end of the Raven Strand in Curracloe. As the site is situated in the Slaney and Wexford Harbour catchment area, a Natura Impact Statement was submitted with the application, which concluded there would be no significant adverse impact on special areas of conservation but recommended a number of mitigation measures during the construction and operation. The HSE was a notified body and recommended that planning permission be granted while the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage requested an amendment to the NIS relating to the protection of hen harrier roosts and otter habitats in the vicinity, which was complied with. There was also a request for further information from Irish Water. The Department recommended granting permission with a condition that archaeological monitoring be carried out during work on the site, to protect possible prehistoric remains or artefacts. The Council received one public submission on the application, from John Molloy of Orchard Lane, Ardcavan who said the existing infrastructure is inadequate, there is no street lighting, the R741 road and Wexford bridge are heavily-trafficked and the development is speculative and premature. Today's News in 90 Seconds - May 22nd A traffic report accompanying the application concluded the development would have a negligible impact on the adjoining road network.. Explaining the brief, the architect Mr Flanagan said that from the outset, the client wanted to create a nursing home like no other and came up with the concept of creating a contemporary five-star retirement facility for people to enjoy the last remaining years or months of their lives. The proposal is for two communities of sheltered housing to the north and south of the site with the main nursing home and associated facilities located at the centre of the development. Each of the houses features small covered terraces which allow the occupier to sit outside regardless of the weather and encourage social integration between the neighbours. The design has taken advantage of the spectacular views by strategically locating the dining and day rooms at upper levels with views of the bay. All rooms face towards the central open space or in the direction of Wexford Harbour and large areas are set aside for recreational activities. In assessing the application, a senior planner said the design and lay-out were acceptable in principle and would make a strong, positive architectural statement for this location. Planning permission was granted subject to a number of conditions, including that the proposed development remain in single ownership and should only be sold as a single planning unit, and that a qualified architect be hired to monitor all the site clearance work, with landscaping to be carried out within 12 months. During the planning process, there was a change to the number of housing units, with permission granted for 22, instead of the 32 originally sought. Uisce Eireann is to begin carrying out works in Greystones to upgrade the pipework to some 28 properties in St Bridgets Park and are expected to be finished by the end of July. The utility said that protecting the water supply in Greystones is a vital focus for Uisce Eireann and further works are planned as part of its programme to drive down leakage and reduce the number of bursts and unplanned outages impacting the community. Following on from the successful replacement of 600 meters of water main rehabilitation works on Church Lane, Greystones, Uisce Eireann, in partnership with Wicklow County Council, will replace approximately 250 meters of ageing and problematic backyard service water mains serving the 28 properties in St Bridgets Park. The new water mains, which will be installed to the front of the properties, will provide a more reliable water supply, improve water quality, and reduce the amount of treated drinking water lost to leakage. The works, which are due to get underway on the week beginning Monday, May 22, will take place at the junction of St Bridgets Park with Kindlestown Lower Road and are a critical step in reducing high levels of leakage, which have been a significant source of disruption and outages for customers. Uisce Eireann said the backyard water mains are found in older areas and are often installed to the rear of a customers property and typically made of cast iron or lead. Due to the age and deteriorating condition of the pipework, they are often a significant source of leakage and supply disruption for customers. The pipes are usually shared, running through a number of neighbouring properties, making it difficult to detect and repair leaks. Where properties share a connection, leaks and bursts affect all connected properties, resulting in low pressure and/or outages. Commenting on the works, Joe Carroll, Infrastructure Delivery Programme Manager at Uisce Eireann said: Old backyard service connections are a huge source of leakage and continue to impact communities right across Ireland, causing low pressure and supply disruption. Replacing these old water mains and service connections in poor condition will eliminate existing leaks and significantly reduce the amount of clean drinking water lost into the ground. Mr Carroll added: This essential programme is only successful if all customers on a shared backyard water service connection, support and facilitate these vital works, so that old and leaking mains can be decommissioned and properties can be transferred to a new water main supply located to the front of the property. We would like to thank the local residents in St Bridgets Park for facilitating these works and working with us to provide a more secure and reliable water supply for generations to come. The works will be carried out by Ward & Burke Construction Ltd on behalf of Uisce Eireann and are expected to be fully completed by the end of July. Uisce Eireanns customer care helpline is open 24/7 on 1800 278 278. Minister Mary Butler TD (centre) and Moninne Griffith (L), CEO of Belong To, with East Wicklow Youth Service: Crosscare, represented by (L-R) Tara Garvey, Linda Lambert, Conor Hickey, CEO of Crosscare, Angeline Pluck, Paul Murphy, Liz OSullivan, Mary Millet, of Wicklow Partnership and Fiona Creedon, of ETB, at the Belong To Rainbow Award ceremony, in the Lighthouse Cinema, Smithfield, Dublin. The Rainbow Award is an in-depth, action-focused accreditation programme supporting a whole organisational approach to becoming a safe, supportive and inclusive service for LGBTQ+ young people. To meet the award criteria, youth services must meet high standards in six key areas. Minister of State with responsibility for Mental Health, Mary Butler, met with staff and young people from East Wicklow Youth Service and awarded them at a ceremony in Dublin City Centre. The event recognised and celebrated the efforts of six youth services in creating safe and supportive spaces for LGBTQ+ youth. Upon receiving the Rainbow Award, Angeline Pluck, youth worker with East Wicklow Youth Service, Crosscare said: As always, Belong To are a fantastic organisation to work with, and going through the process of the Rainbow Award affiliation has shown us how Belong To are constantly striving for excellence in the work they do with young people and youth services all over the country. They have been a constant support to our Youth Workers over many years and this process has made us reflect and demonstrates to us that we are providing a level of care and support to our young people that is worthy of Belong Tos Rainbow Award. We will continue to work alongside Belong To and the National Network of Youth Workers to provide the best possible safe and supportive service to our young people. Speaking at the event, Minister of State, Mary Butler said: The Rainbow Award recognises the importance of services being, and becoming places where the LGBT+ community can feel safe and supported. The Government is fully committed to ensuring the safety and support of this community, as we know this can have a huge impact on their health and wellbeing. To do this, we need to address the discrimination and stigma that is often experienced by people in the LGBT+ community. The National LGBTI+ Inclusion Strategy sets out a pathway for supporting our LGBT+ community to ensure that they are visible, included, safe and free from discrimination. Moninne Griffith, CEO, Belong To commented: Today marks the beginning of an exciting journey towards LGBTQ+ inclusion as we officially launch this programme across the country. With over 20 years of experience supporting LGBTQ+ youth in Ireland, we at Belong To are here to empower local communities to develop a culture of LGBTQ+ inclusion and support young people to thrive. Made In Chelsea stars Jamie Laing and Sophie Habboo can be seen celebrating their marriage with family and friends in a new wedding video. Laing posted the video on his Instagram on Sunday which captures special moments from their lavish second wedding ceremony held in Spain. The couple previously tied in the knot in a smaller ceremony in London last month ahead of the more extravagant celebrations on Saturday. In the short clip, Laing and Habboo can be seen sharing private moments together and getting ready for the big day with their own bridal parties. Habboos wedding dress featured delicate lace sleeves and a bellowing train which she paired with a long veil clipped into a bun hairstyle. Meanwhile, her bridesmaids wore cream dresses in various styles and cuts and carried white bouquets of flowers. Laing donned a traditional black tuxedo for the day and at one point in the video he says: I feel super emotional. The TV star and fellow Made In Chelsea star Spencer Matthews can also be seen giving speeches during the grand outdoor reception. Later in the video, Laing and Habboo can be seen dancing and laughing with their guests as the sun sets. Alongside the video, Laing wrote: It happened.. To find true Love you must first find a true Friend. What an amazing night. I want to say thank you to all of our family and friends who came and have had to put up with all of our content over the past year He also thanked their wedding planners, their musicians and their videographer for putting the piece together overnight. Also among the celebrity guests were fellow Made In Chelsea stars Sam Thompson and Oliver Proudlock and former Love Islander Zara McDermott. Thompson, who was previously in a relationship with Habboo before she was with Laing, also posted a throwback clip from the reality show to mark the day. In the video he can be seen confronting Laing about dating his ex Habboo, telling him: I wish youd gone and married the girl because at least then Id be like at least it was for something. The clip then cuts to Thompson witnessing Laing and Habboo being declared husband and wife with a proud look on his face. Some things in life are meant to be. Congratulations to you both, and heres to happily ever after, he wrote alongside the post. Laing and Habboo announced their engagement on Instagram in 2021, revealing Laing popped the question at the London hotel where they had their first date. The former member of The Saturdays joined Vogue Williams and Joanne McNally as a special guest on My Therapist Ghosted Me Fans may be just days away from finally finding out what went down in Una Healys rumoured throuple as the singer is set to appear on one of Irelands most popular podcasts this week. The former member of The Saturdays joined Vogue Williams and Joanne McNally as a special guest on My Therapist Ghosted Me. The trio recorded the dramatic bonus episode last week and its set to be released on streaming platforms this Friday. Joanne McNally, Una Healy, and Vogue Williams Vogue and Joanne took a stunning selfie with the Tipperary woman and shared it on Instagram with the caption: "We had a guest on out bonus episode for next week... the amazing Una Healy." The trio looked very excited as they grinned from ear to ear in the snap and Una later followed up the announcement with a cryptic post of her own. In a skintight vest and sunglasses, Una took a snap in the drivers seat of a car and declared the muzzle is off!" before finishing off her post with a high five emoji Alongside the image the Thurles native wrote; 'The muzzle is off!' teasing that her tell-all interview is just around the corner. This left fans wondering whether Una would finally address her infamous throuple with boxer David Haye and his girlfriend Sian Osborne during her chat with Joanne and Vogue. Earlier this year, it was reported how she had called off her throuple with David (42) and Sian (30), who welcomed her into their relationship at the end of last year. A source told OK!: She just didnt think it was worth it in the end. It went from something fun into a big media frenzy and everyone seemed to be talking about it. The mum-of-two has remained tight-lipped over the three-way romance ever since it was first reported at the beginning of the year, but David made it no secret the trio were romantically involved. He publicly gushed about his two queens in Valentines Day social media posts and shared plenty of snaps of all three cosying up to each other. However, it later emerged that Haye had added a new girlfriend to his throuple relationship just over a month after splitting from Una. David took to his Instagram to show off the new woman in his life as he wrapped his arms around Sian and personal trainer Mica Jova in a Costa Rica beach snap. He captioned the image: "In the opening chapter of 2023, I have immersed myself fully in the richness of each passing moment. "I have found myself in the company of open-hearted individuals who perceive me through the lens of my daily actions, rather than the societal expectations foisted upon a man of 42. BEIJING, May 21 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping sent a congratulatory letter to the Rehabilitation International Centennial Celebration on Sunday. On China's 33rd national day of assisting disabled persons on Sunday, Xi extended his greetings to all individuals with disabilities, their relatives, and the dedicated personnel serving them across the nation. He also expressed gratitude to all international organizations and personages from all walks of life who demonstrate care and support for the cause of empowering people with disabilities in China. Rehabilitation International is an international organization of great influence in regard to the cause of persons with disabilities, and has worked tirelessly in safeguarding the dignity of such individuals, protecting their rights and improving their well-being, said Xi. He added that China actively supports the organization's work. China pays particular attention to the well-being of people with disabilities in the country, Xi said, noting the country will continue to improve the social security and service systems for these people and promote the all-around development of relevant programs. China is willing to join hands with all countries worldwide to promote international exchanges and cooperation on disability, and continue improving the health and well-being of humankind, Xi said. Hosted by Rehabilitation International and organized by the China Disabled Persons' Federation, the centennial celebrations of Rehabilitation International kicked off in Beijing on Sunday. An overnight fire raced through a dormitory in Guyana, killing at least 19 students and injuring several others, most of them girls, at a government boarding school serving remote, mostly indigenous villages. A Christian teacher has been banned from the profession for misgendering a pupil in a case believed to be the first of its kind in the UK. Meet the firm behind our content. Visit their website to see how their services can help your business succeed. Image credit: Wikimedia Commons London/IBNS: A statue commemorating Sister Nivedita, an Irish-born educator and advocate for women's education and India's nationalism, will be unveiled in London's Wimbledon on July 1. The statue will stand as a testament to her remarkable contributions and will serve as an inspiration for generations to come. Sister Nivedita, born Margaret Elizabeth Noble (1867-1911), founded schools in Wimbledon before dedicating her life to India at the behest of her master Swami Vivekananda. She played a pivotal role in promoting women's education and was actively involved in the nationalist movement through her efforts to espouse Indias spiritual and cultural heritage. This statue will be located prominently in front of Richard's Lodge High School for Girls, paying tribute to Sister Nivedita's legacy as a strong and independent educator of women. The statue will face southeast towards Bengal, symbolizing the connection between the two regions. The bronze statue, standing at an impressive height of 6 ft 2 in. above an octagonal plinth, was designed by Swami Vishwamayanandaji. It was fabricated and cast in India by artist Nirjan De. The project was made possible through a successful crowdfunding campaign led by Sarada Sarkar of the Sister Nivedita Celebrations Committee in the UK. The London Borough of Merton provided essential support, and Marcus Beale Architects, in collaboration with LB Merton, oversaw the selection of the location, obtained the necessary consents, and directed the installation carried out by FM Conway. Multilateral served as the structural engineers for this magnificent project. The generous donation of the statue and plinth came from Dr Chanchal Dey of Ramakrishna Vivekananda Kendra, Bidhan Nagar and Dr Satyajit Chakrabarty of the University of Engineering and Management. The formal inauguration of the statue will take place on 1st July 2023 at 3:30 pm. Revered Swami Sarvasthanandaji Maharaj, the Minister-In-Charge of the Ramakrishna Vedanta Centre, UK, along with several dignitaries will be present on the occasion. This statue will not only commemorate Sister Nivedita's extraordinary life and work but will also foster stronger ties between the United Kingdom and India. STOP whatever you are doing and for a moment just imagine a kaleidoscope of colors and loud boisterous laughter among thumps of dhol and the gorgeous aroma of food wafting through the doors you got it right! Its a Punjabi wedding scene!!! The Sikh culture revolves around the belief that the sure-shot way to a full and peaceful life is through giving and receiving love because bonds like marriages are seen as a key to getting closer to the divine. As it is always asserted, Sikhisms central principle is equality and a wedding reflects just that: equal union and purpose for both man and woman. A fiesta of celebration through songs, dance, prayer, togetherness, the opulent Sikh culture, and rich Punjabi traditions make the entire wedding process enchantinglike a fairytale. Having talked about the spiritual and religious bit of Punjabi weddings, now let us dive headlong into the fun part of the celebrations; it starts with the Roka and Thaka ceremonies where the consent of parents and elders of the family is sought. While all the pre-wedding rituals are taking place, there is a parallel search going on! The Auntyjis flaunting their Canada returned son or daughter! Looking for a suitable match, exaggerating about their achievements, bragging about their Kothis, and so on!! In the midst of this hullabaloo, what comes to rescue is always Punjabi Music! The thumping beats of dhol and peppy lyrics have become souls of a wedding, be it a Punjabi one or one from any other culture or country. So much so that no shaadi can be complete without a kaala chashma from the Bollywood movie Baar Baar Dekho or a Saturday Saturday from Humpty Sharma ki Dulhaniya, Punjabi music has taken all our weddings by storm. Even across the border, Pakistani nikkahs are incomplete without grooving to Punjabi songs. Anyways, back at the wedding, the Maiya and Vatnaa takes place where the respective relatives of the bride and groom apply a mixture of turmeric, and mustard oil on their body to make their skin clean and glowing. Like others, these festivities take place amongst songs sung by women and dancing by relatives. Again, it will not be an exaggeration to say that this tradition is being portrayed even in South Indian weddings! Even in Netflix series Bridgerton, the second season partakes a Haldi ceremonyPunjabi wedding traditions in British television series!! Next is the Warna ceremony when relatives wave money around the couples heads. This money is usually donated to charity or distributed among house help. What is fun to watch is the fact that Punjabis always have a never-ending supply of 10-Ruppee notes for Nazar Utarana. This goes on and on till the bride reaches her Sasural. The weddings progress with Mehendi and Kalire ceremonies. Talking about mehendi, any wedding, of any cultural background, cannot take place without this fuction and kalire have become the Bollywood brides quintessential ornament! As the groom gets dressed in splendid attire just like the bride and guests, the gravity of the celebration comes forth. Its larger than life! The riot of colors; pinks, reds, yellows, purple, the bling of gold, not to forget the contagious spirit!! Thus, begins the never-ending journey, Baraat. Here all the dancers come alive. Cousins go berserk, uncles do Nagin dance, aunties give thumkas, but the groom? The poor guy just sits on the ghodi and smiles while giving galis in his heart. Does nobody realize the hurry he is in!! Once the baraat reaches the wedding venue, the brides family welcomes the grooms family with gifts and warm hugs. Wait! Do you think a Punjabi wedding can progress so far without lavish food and drinks? Not at all! Food, spreads of it, is a central part of Punjabi life. All this while, as the celebrations are taking place, there are tables loaded with chole bhature, tandoori chicken, naans, kulchas, gulab jamuns, phirnis phew the list is endless. But theres still a missing link. You know what Im talking about! Right? Yes, car-o-bar time! At all weddings, there are men who keep coming and going out of the events with big smiles plastered on their faces. A vital requisite of a Punjabi wedding is daaru without which festivities are incomplete. Getting back on track again, Anand Karaj takes place next. After bowing down before the Guru Granth Sahib, the bride and groom start the Laavas (wedding vows) while circling around the Holy Book. Back to food as the ceremony concludes! The guests are served a vegetarian lunch at the Gurudwara. In the evening, a reception is planned by the Grooms family to welcome the newly-wed couple. Finally, its Vidai time and the bride says her final goodbyes as her parents and relatives bless her and set her off on a new journey! All in all, just like their energy and zest for life, Punjabi weddings are king-size! They do not believe in mediocrity. Everything, from clothes to jewelry, from food to music, has to be exquisite and glorified. That is a Punjabi wedding. Beautiful. Fun. Pious. Over-the-top. And an integral part of Bollywood. It seems like Punjabi weddings have captured the Indian movies completely for no wedding in a Hindi movie can happen without a Punjabi silhouette; music, food, attire, traditionstheres a bit of Punjab everywhere!! To wrap up, it can be easily seen that these days Punjabi wedding traditions can be witnessed not just in Indian cultures and religions but globally. They have become infused in everybodyundivided by caste or creed. (Image and text credit: Khalsavox.com) Narendra Modi Twitter page Port Moresby: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was on Monday conferred Papua New Guineas highest civilian honour, the Grand Companion of the Order of Logohu (GCL), by PNG Governor-General Sir Bob Dadae. Prime Minister Modi said he is humbled by the gesture, and that the award is a great recognition of India and the accomplishments of the Indian people. Humbled by the gesture of Papua New Guinea of conferring me with the Companion of the Order of Logohu. Gratitude to Governor General Sir Bob Dadae for presenting the award. This is a great recognition of India and the accomplishments of our people. Humbled by the gesture of Papua New Guinea of conferring me with the Companion of the Order of Logohu. Gratitude to Governor General Sir Bob Dadae for presenting the award. This is a great recognition of India and the accomplishments of our people. pic.twitter.com/VDhqTJK6Ra Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) May 22, 2023 MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi in a tweet said: An honour emblematic of depth of Indai-PNG relationship." Governor-General Sir Bob Dadae of Papua New Guinea conferred PM @narendramodi with country's highest civilian award, Grand Companion of the Order of Logohu (GCL)," he said. Image: UNI Port Moresby: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was on Monday conferred Papua New Guineas highest civilian honour, the Grand Companion of the Order of Logohu (GCL), by PNG Governor-General Sir Bob Dadae. Prime Minister Modi said he is humbled by the gesture, and that the award is a great recognition of India and the accomplishments of the Indian people. Humbled by the gesture of Papua New Guinea of conferring me with the Companion of the Order of Logohu. Gratitude to Governor General Sir Bob Dadae for presenting the award. This is a great recognition of India and the accomplishments of our people. MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi in a tweet said: An honour emblematic of depth of Indai-PNG relationship." Governor-General Sir Bob Dadae of Papua New Guinea conferred PM @narendramodi with country's highest civilian award, Grand Companion of the Order of Logohu (GCL)," he said. PIB Port Moresby: Narendra Modi met Sitiveni Ligamamada Rabuka, Prime Minister of the Republic of Fiji on Monday in Port Moresby, on the sidelines of the 3rd Summit of the Forum for India-Pacific Islands Cooperation (FIPIC). This was the first meeting between the two leaders. The Prime Minister recalled that FIPIC had been launched during his visit to Fiji in November 2014, and noted the deepening of India's cooperation with Pacific Island Countries (PIC) since then. Both leaders reviewed the close and multifaceted development partnership between the two countries and expressed satisfaction at the progress in key sectors including capacity building, health care, climate action, renewable energy, agriculture, education and information technology. The two leaders also exchanged views on regional developments and agreed to deepen cooperation in multilateral fora. On behalf of the Fijian President, Ratu Wiliame Maivalili Katonivere, Prime Minister Rabuka bestowed Prime Minister Modi with the highest honor of the Republic of Fiji - the Companion of the Order of Fiji (CF). The Prime Minister Modi thanked the Government and the people of Fiji for this honour and dedicated it to the people of India and to the generations of Fiji-Indian community, who have played a key role in the special and enduring bond between the two countries. Image: UNI Chandigarh: Four shooters of Lawrence Bishnoi gang were arrested by AGTF, Punjab police said on Monday. DGP Gaurav Yadav said in a tweet that the police have recovered six pistols and 26 live cartridges from the accused. Police said the arrested accused have a criminal history with a number of criminal cases, including attempt to murder, car-jacking, extortion, Arms Act etc , registered against them in Punjab and Haryana. Those arrested have been identified as Mehfooz alias Vishal Khan, Manjeet Singh alias Guri, Ankit and Goldy. Yadav said the arrested shooters were tasked by Bishnoi to harm/attack their rival gang members. ADGP Promod Ban said the accused Mehfooz alias Vishal was wanted in a case pertaining to recovery of six pistols, wherein his aide identified as Nitish Rana was arrested by the Dhakoli Police, while he managed to escape from the spot. He was also involved in a firing incident that took place at the premises of Pub & Restaurant, Brew Bros in Mohali in March 2022, on the directions of Bishnoi to extort money. A FIR has been registered against the accused under section 384 and 120-B of IPC and section 25 of Arms Act and further investigation is on, said ADGP. (With UNI inputs) Narendra Modi Twitter page New Delhi/Sydney: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday evening arrived in Sydney, Australia, on the final leg of his three-nation tour and was greeted by an enthusiastic Indian diaspora crowd. Prime Minister Modi will interact with Australian CEOs and business leaders, and address the Indian diaspora at a community event in Sydney tomorrow. He will be joined by Australian PM Anthony Albanese. He have a bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Albanese on May 24, before emplaning for India. MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi in a tweet said: Final leg of the three nation tour begins! PM @narendramodi arrives in the vibrant city of Sydney on his second visit to Australia." Two days of constructive engagements with Australian leadership, business community and diaspora members await," he said. Landed in Sydney to a warm welcome by the Indian community. Looking forward to various programmes over the next two days. pic.twitter.com/gE8obDI5eD Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) May 22, 2023 PM Modi in a tweet said he landed in Sydney to a warm welcome from the Indian community, who greeted him with cheering and waving of the Indian tricolour. Landed in Sydney to a warm welcome by the Indian community. Looking forward to various programmes over the next two days. Image: UNI Srinagar/IBNS/UNI: Amid unprecedented security, the high-profile third G20 Tourism Working Group meeting kicked off in Kashmir's Srinagar on Monday. The three-day G20 meet is the first major international event in Jammu and Kashmir since 2019 when the erstwhile state's special status was scrapped and it became a Union Territory. G20 members - Turkey and Saudi Arabia - did not register for the meeting, sources said. Some tour representatives from Saudi Arabia and Turkey are, however, in the city to attend the deliberations. At Srinagar airport, the foreign delegates were welcomed in a traditional way. Officials said over 70 foreign delegates are in Srinagar for the crucial meeting. Sources said they arrived at Srinagar International Airport from New Delhi via two chartered flights. The G20 meeting got underway at Sher-e-Kashmir International Conventional complex on the bank of the picturesque Dal Lake here, with a side event on 'Film Tourism for Economic Growth and Cultural Preservation' which was aimed at promoting film tourism strategies. On May 15, 2023, Security Forces (SFs) averted a major attack by defusing an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) planted by Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist) cadres in a forest area near Kichatpadar under Sadar Police limits in Kalahandi District. The IED, planted on the Bhawanipatna-Thuamul Rampur-Kashipur Road, which was blocked with felled trees, was to target Security Force (SF) personnel during the Maoists bandh (general shut down strike) call in Rayagada, Ganjam, Kandhamal, Kalahandi, Boudh, Nayagarh and Gajapati Districts, on May 15. On May 9, 2023, at least three CPI-Maoist cadres were killed in an encounter between Police personnel and the Maoists inside the Taperenga-Ludengad Forest area under M. Rampur Police Station limits in Kalahandi District. A combing operation was launched in view of the week-long Maoist campaign, as part of their strategy to regroup in the region. During the subsequent search operation, the bodies of three Maoists were recovered from the site. One AK-47 assault rifle was also recovered. One Deputy Superintendent of Police sustained critical injuries during the exchange of fire. On February 2, 2023, during a combing operation in the Bhuruti Forest under Narla Police limits in Kalahandi District, SFs recovered one locally made rifle, 11 Electric detonators, four batteries, one axe, two torchlights, clothes, medicines, one Maoist banner, Naxal [Left Wing Extremism] literature, and other items. According to partial data collated by the South Asia Terrorism Portal (SATP), these are the three Maoist-linked incidents in 2023 (data till May 21). In 2022, there was a total of eight incidents. Since March 6, 2000, the district has recorded 71 incidents. Just one of the three incidents in 2023 was a killing incident. Year 2022 had recorded two incidents of killing resulting two civilian deaths. Since March 6, 2000, a total of 23 incidents of killing have bene recorded in the district, resulting in 33 deaths (12 civilians, two SF personnel and 19 Naxalites). These numbers demonstrate that the SFs have maintained their dominance on the ground in their fight against Maoists. Since 2000, there is only one incident in which SFs suffered fatal losses, that too during an offensive against Maoists. On September 9, 2020, SFs initiated an operation in the forest area of Kandhamal District, during which they were subjected to heavy firing from the other side. In the ensuing exchange, five Maoists, including a woman, and two SF personnel were killed. Moreover, SFs have arrested a total of six Naxalites (Left Wing Extremist) in the District, since March 6, 2000, though no arrest has been registered in the current year. The last arrest was recorded on March 2, 2020, when a Maoist, identified as Ghana Majhi (30), a militia member of the Kandhamal, Kalahandi, Boudh, Nayagarh (KKBN) Division, was arrested along with explosives, which were to be supplied to fellow Maoists from the Barabandha Forest under Madanpur Rampur Police Station limits in Kalahandi District. The Police also recovered Maoist leaflets and food materials from his possession. Mounting SF pressure has led to the surrender of 10 Naxalites, since 2000. On May 1, 2022, the secretary of the CPI-Maoist Kalahandi Area Committee, Laxman Apka alias Lalsu, carrying a cash reward of INR 500,000 on his head, surrendered before the Police at Bhawanipatna in Kalahandi District. Other parameters also suggest that the Maoists were never able to establish their hold in Kalahandi. The rebels triggered five blasts since 2000, with the last one recorded on February 5, 2022. A total of eight arson incidents have been recorded in the district since 2000, the last one on May 24, 2022, when at least three vehicles engaged in road construction work at Tala Pipili village under Sadar Police Station limits in Kalahandi District were set ablaze by CPI-Maoist cadres. Despite the clear SF dominance, civilians have intermittently been targeted. Of 12 civilians killed, one was killed in 2011, two in 2015, three in 2016, one each in 2017 and 2018 and two each in 2019 and 2022. The last civilian killing was reported on November 24, 2022, when Maoists shot dead a 48-year-old man, Lalbati Majhi, at Panchakul village under Sadar Police Station limits in Bhawanipatna, Kalahandi District. According to reports, while Lalbati was sleeping in his house, he was roused and forcibly taken away by the Maoists and killed near Katlang village. The Maoists left some posters at the spot in which the Maoists Bansadhara-Ghumusar-Nagabali (BGN) Division declared that Lalbati was punished for working as a Police informer. The posters also warned other people in the area, who were working as informers for the Police, would soon be punished. Kalahandi District occupies the south-western portion of Odisha, sharing borders with the Bolangir and Nuapada Districts in the north, Nabarangpur, Rayagada, and Koraput Districts to the south, Raipur District (Chhattisgarh State) to the west, and Rayagada, Kandhamal, and Boudh District to the east. The district occupies an area of 7,920 square kilometres, with 2538.01 square kilometres, or about 32.04 per cent of its total geographical area, under forest cover. The physiography of the district comprises plains, hills, and mountains. Administratively, Kalahandi District is divided into two subdivisions Bhawanipatna and Dharmagarh. These two subdivisions are further divided into seven and six blocks, respectively. Sharing its borders with the worst Naxalite-affected state, Chhattisgarh, to the west, and other Naxalite-affected districts of Odisha to the east, north and south, has made Kalahandi an ideal place for a guerrilla safe haven. Moreover, the district falls under the disturbed KKBN Division, which has accounted for at least 118 Maoist-linked fatalities (51 civilians, 23 SF personnel, and 44 Maoists), since March 6, 2000, which is around 12.62 per cent of the total fatalities recorded in the State, 935 Maoist-linked fatalities (375 civilians, 227 SF personnel, and 326 Maoists). Kalahandi is in the list of 25 Most Affected Districts, from eight States across India, released by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (UMHA) on June 19, 2021. Moreover, Kalahandi is also included among the 70 Naxal-affected Districts in 10 States across India, covered under the Centres Security Related Expenditure (SRE) scheme, which funds focused operations against the rebels. Indeed, concerns persist, as the Maoists continue to work to secure the district as a safe haven. The recovery of a Maoist dump on February 2, 2023, underlines the persistence of such efforts. The Maoists using diverse tactics to garner the sympathy of the civilian population, raising issues concerning the common people. Thus, for example, the Maoists called for a bandh (general shut down strike) in seven districts of Odisha, including Kalahandi, on May 15, 2023 alleging that the poor of the State were being denied access to education, healthcare and housing. They emphasised the need for the Government to rectify these discrepancies and ensure the welfare of the marginalised population. Further, the Maoists demanded establishment of Adarsha (Model) Schools and hospitals in every Panchayat (a village level local self-Government institution) within the district. Other demands included the fair distribution of forest land, accurate valuation of forest produce, end to the sale of alcohol in the region and fulfilment of demands put forth by Anganwadi (rural child care centre) workers and teachers. At present, nine CRPF companies, along with five teams of the Special Operation Group, 50 District Voluntary Force units, five India Reserve Battalion, and one Special Security Battalion, are positioned in Kalahandi to counter the Maoists. Though the Forces have long been able to contain the Maoist threat in Kalahandi, the rebels efforts to make a base in the district persist. Any neglect of the residual capacities of the Maoist at this juncture is likely to prove detrimental to a lasting solution to this enduring insurgency. Pooja Hegde Instagram page Mumbai: Actress Pooja Hegde knows how to raise the temperature on social media and this is evident from her latest Instagram images. She could be seen wearing a red dress. Pooja looked stunning in her red off-shoulder thigh-high slit gown. She interestingly captioned the images as: " Wheres the matchstick coz Im about to set this world on fire." Pooja made her acting debut with the Tamil film Mugamoodi (2012) and had her first Telugu release in Oka Laila Kosam (2014). Hegde has established herself as one of the leading actresses in Telugu cinema. Her other commercially successful films include Duvvada Jagannadham (2017), Maharshi (2019), Gaddalakonda Ganesh (2019) and Housefull 4 (2019). She was last seen in the movie Kisi Ka Bhai Kisi Ki Jaan. The movie featured Salman Khan in the lead role. Shot on iPhone, the ambitious short film explores the dark side of social media in the quirkiest ways, featuring Abhishek Banerjee, Mokshda Jailkhani, and Shruthy Menon in lead roles. The much-anticipated trailer of the short film has created curiosity amongst the audience. Director Keith believes that the short film will strike a chord with most social media users. A fast-paced thriller with a social message will keep the audience on the edge of their seat. The trailer of Sex, Likes & Stories features the trio chasing validation, seeking love online, and needing to share a story first. Keith Gomes' choice of offbeat topics challenges the social reality through this story of three lives and the mean world index we currently live in. The trailer claims to be a unique one as it throws light on mental health issues caused by social media, body shaming, and our need to be white-skinned. Speaking on this, Director Keith said, Sex, Likes & Stories is a rollercoaster ride through the twisted depths of social media, blending dark humor and gripping storytelling. Brace yourself for a wild journey that will make you question everything you thought you knew about the virtual world we live in. Get ready to embark on an unconventional ride that exposes the underbelly of social media with a dash of quirkiness and a whole lot of surprises!" Keith immersed himself in this project post his Oscar-eligible Shameless. He captured the essence of Sex, Likes & Stories by shooting on an iPhone. Shot by ace cinematographer Tapan Basu, the actors also shot their own parts, like real users. Speaking of quirky roles with social messaging, actor Abhishek Banerjee said, I did the film because whenever Keith will call me for anything I will be there. He is one of the pillars of my career in Mumbai! The one who gave me my first job as a casting director, but having said that I also feel that even though Keith has been an associate director on many commercial films his sensibilities are completely original and quirky like our film which I feel is quite an original take on the social media madness. Mokshda herself faced body shaming, having done dance reality TV. She said, Like so many performing artists in the spotlight, I've been subjected to a lot of negativity, verbal abuse, and trolling on social media. Initially, it got me really low, but slowly I learned to understand what really matters versus what is transient. The numbers, the popularity, and the comments dont define who you are, your work does. As the universe would have it, Keith sir reached out to me exactly during this phase of realization and gave me the opportunity to be a part of this absolutely pure, unadulterated, and much-needed mirror to society in the form of our film, and I cannot wait for everyone to see it and live it as we all have while making it. Girish 'Bobby' Talwar when quizzed, "Social media has become an influential force that deeply affects our lives and mental well-being. With our film, we strive to shed light on the often unseen personal struggles waged daily within the realm of social media. Our intention is to ignite meaningful conversations, foster empathy, and encourage individuals to embrace more positive attitudes in our society, both towards one another and themselves." Written and directed by Keith Gomes, Sex, Life & Stories stars Abhishek Banerjee, Mokshda Jailkhani, and Shruthy Menon. The film was produced by Emmy-nominated Girish Bobby Talwar (co-founder of OML and founder of Rebellion Management), Oscar academy member Sandeep Kamal, Keith Gomes, and Suresh Jagasia. Creative director Huzefa Lokhandwala (co-founder of Prime Focus), Sound designer Oscar winner Resul Pookutty & Jagdish Nachkekar, Score by Bollywood music composer Clinton Cerejo, Yash Kapoor, Zain Boxwala, SFX and Production design Suresh Selvarajan & Gargi Mukherjee. The film will be released on Director Keith Gomes YouTube channel on 25th May. Image: Unsplash New Delhi: Air India, Indias leading airline and a Star Alliance member, and Air India Express, India's first international budget airline, will be flying around 19,000 Haj pilgrims from four destinations in India to Jeddah and Medina in Saudi Arabia. "Yesterday, the first Air India flight of this years Haj operations, AI5451, had taken off from Jaipur International Airport at 1105 hrs and reached Medina at 1350 hrs (All local time)," Air India said in a statement. During the first phase of the operations, Air India will be operating 46 flights from Jaipur and Chennai to Medina and Jeddah, respectively, from 21st May to 21st June 2023. During the second phase, Air India will be bringing back the pilgrims from Jeddah and Medina to Jaipur and Chennai operating 43 flights from 3rd July to 2nd August 2023. The number of pilgrims scheduled to fly with Air India from Jaipur is 5871 on 27 flights while 4447 pilgrims will be flown by it from Chennai on 19 flights. Overall, a total of 10318 passengers will be flown by Air India to Saudi Arabia with its Boeing 787 and Airbus 321neo aircraft. On the other hand, Air India Express will be deploying its B737-800 aircraft to operate flights from Kozhikode and Kannur from 4th to 22nd June 2023. It will operate 44 flights from Kozhikode to Jeddah - carrying 6363 passengers and 13 flights between Kannur and Jeddah carrying 1873 passengers during the first phase. A total of 8236 passengers will be flown by Air India Express operating 57 flights during the first phase. In the second phase, from 13th July to 2nd August 2023, Air India Express will fly back the pilgrims from Medina to Kozhikode and Kannur. Commenting on the joint operations, Campbell Wilson, CEO and MD, Air India said, Air India is happy to resume the annual special flights for the sacred Haj pilgrimage from the cities of Chennai and Jaipur while Air India Express will operate from Kozhikode and Kannur. Our collective effort with Air India Express is to provide unparalleled comfort and convenience to the passengers on this pilgrimage. We look forward to serving the pilgrims through our dedicated flights. We have taken special efforts to boost our on-ground teams at the relevant airports to ensure special care for all our valued guests on these flights. Aloke Singh, MD, Air India Express and AirAsia India, added, We are happy to operate Hajj special flights from Kozhikode and Kannur, for the benefit of pilgrims from Kerala, in addition to our scheduled flights to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia from Mumbai, Mangaluru, Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi, Kozhikode and Kannur. With this special initiative, Air India Express and Air India are going the extra mile to ensure a seamless travel experience, enabling our passengers to embark on their spiritual quest with peace of mind and undivided focus." Pixabay Right-wing New Democracy took a strong lead over Tsipras left-wing Syriza party, the returns published by the Interior Ministry showed. The turnout exceeded 60%. After more than 90% of ballots were counted, the ruling party stood to gain 40.81% of the vote and 146 seats in the 300-seat parliament, against Syrizas 20.06% of the vote and 71 seats. The center-left PASOK came third with 11.58% and 41 seats, followed by the Communist Party with 7.18% and 26 seats, and the far-right Greek Solution with 4.46% and 16 seats. With no outright majority, a repeat parliamentary vote is expected at a later date. Tsipras, a former prime minister, called Mitsotakis to propose June 25 or July 2 as tentative dates of the next vote, state-owned ERT news channel said. Mitsotakis called the result of the vote a "big and clear victory." He said he saw the outcome as a stamp of approval for his course and a clear mandate for New Democracy to govern alone, in a hint that he would seek to secure an absolute majority in the next vote. (With UNI inputs) Image: Pixabay Georgetown: At least 20 people were killed and several others were hurt as a fire broke out at a school dormitory in Guyana, media reports said on Monday. It is with great sadness that we bring to you a heart-wrenching update on the fire at the dormitory at the Mahdia Secondary school in central Guyana, a Department of Public Information statement was quoted as saying by CNN. We have lost many beautiful souls in that fire. The death toll currently stands at 20, while several others received injuries. However, the identities of the victims are still not known. The Guyanese government earlier mobilized a full-scale medical evacuation-supported response after the fire broke out, reports CNN. Representational image by Bastian Riccardi on Unsplash Dublin/Ireland: The Irish Data Protection Commission (DPC) has imposed a record-breaking fine of 1.2 billion ($1.3 billion) on Meta (formally Facebook) for unlawfully transferring user data from the European Union (EU) to the United States. The fine, ordered by the European Data Protection Board (EDPB) on behalf of the EU, comes as a result of Meta's failure to address the risks to users' fundamental rights and freedoms, as previously highlighted by a ruling from the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU), reported AFP. The investigation into Meta Ireland's data transfers, which began in 2020, revealed a breach of EU data protection regulations. The DPC, acting as the EU representative, found that Meta, headquartered in Dublin, had disregarded the concerns raised by the CJEU ruling. The CJEU serves as the authoritative body responsible for interpreting and ensuring consistent application of EU law across member states. Meta responded to the fine by expressing disappointment at being singled out and criticizing the ruling as flawed, unjustified, and potentially setting a dangerous precedent. The company's President of Global Affairs, Nick Clegg, and Chief Legal Officer, Jennifer Newstead, stated in a blog post that they intended to appeal the decision, including the fine, seeking a stay through the courts to pause the implementation deadlines. They reassured users that there would be no immediate disruption to Facebook's services in Europe. Initially, the DPC aimed to force Meta to suspend the data transfers, questioning the appropriateness of a fine exceeding its powers. However, the Concerned Supervisory Authorities (CSAs), comprising peer regulators from EU member states, disagreed. Consequently, the DPC referred the matter to the EDPB, which ultimately ruled in favor of suspending future data transfers to the United States and imposing the hefty fine. Clegg and Newstead expressed concerns about the EDPB's decision, suggesting that it raised serious questions. They argued that the US had made significant efforts to align with European rules through recent reforms, while data transfers to other countries, such as China, continued without similar scrutiny. This latest fine adds to the growing list of penalties imposed on Meta by EU regulators for data breaches involving its platforms, including Instagram, WhatsApp, and Facebook. It marks the third fine Meta has received in the EU this year and the fourth within the past six months. Last year, Amazon faced a substantial fine of 746 million in Luxembourg for violating the EU's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Despite the fine, Meta's operations in Europe remain unaffected for the time being. The company's legal battle against the decision is expected to unfold through the appeals process. Unsplash At least two soldiers and three terrorists were killed during an intelligence-based operation in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa region of Pakistan, media reports said on Monday. According to a press release issued by Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the killed terrorists remained actively involved in numerous terrorist activities against security forces as well as innocent citizens, reports Dawn News. The statement said the martyred soldiers, identified as 39-year-old Naik Muhammad Atiq from the Chakwal district and 36-year-old Naik Rajab Ali hailing from Attock, fought gallantly. Sanitisation of the area is being carried out to eliminate any terrorists found in the area, the ISPR was quoted as saying in the statement. Security forces of Pakistan are determined to eliminate the menace of terrorism and such sacrifices of our brave soldiers further strengthen our resolve, it added. Image: Wikimedia Commons Dhaka: Former Member of Dutch Parliament and human rights activists Harry van Bommel on Sunday said the genocide which occured in Bangladesh by the Pakistani Army in 1971 will get global recognition. "Even if it takes a hundred years to get global recognition of the Armenian Genocide, I hope it will not take that long in the case of Bangladeshi Genocide. We want to have it within a few years, not even decades", Bommel told a press conference at Jatiya press club here as quoted by BSS. The press conference was conducted by Amra Ekattor, Projonmo Ekattor and the European Bangladesh Forum (EBF), a platform of the Bangladeshi diaspora in Europe. To gather global public opinion in favor of Bangladeshi Genocide, the conference is being arranged at Dhaka University campus, organizers said in the conference. Harry van Bommel said cold war and the then global superpower, the United States, support to Pakistan is the reason why Bangladeshi Genocide has not been recognised globally even after fifty-one years of independence, reports BSS. "In 1971, the US extended their cooperation to Pakistan directly providing arms while India was with Russia at that time. That's why US has been pretending to know nothing about the genocide even though they have been well aware of everything," Bommel, adding, "West's friendship with Pakistan is the reason of this dilemma". Representational image by Tom Carnegie on Unsplash Ottawa: Canadian lawmakers have sent a letter to PM Justin Trudeau and expressed 'grave concern' over the political situation in Pakistan. The letter comes as the Pakistan government's crackdown continues against the PTI leaders and workers. Talking to the media outside his residence, Imran Khan said over 7,500 workers, including women, of his party have been arrested by police, reports The News International. The 16 signatories of the letter are lawmakers who are members of the Canada-Pakistan Parliamentary Friendship Group, the Pakistani newspaper reported. The lawmakers highlighted the importance of the right to peaceful protest and condemned all incidents of violence in the letter. Pakistan had witnessed violence following the arrest of former Prime Minister Imran Khan. The lawmakers have urged Prime Minister Trudeau to address the grave issues of violence, arbitrary arrests, and the need for fair trials in civilian courts, the newspaper reported. A lack of theological texts, no idol worship and a complete absence of written history - yet survived since centuries on oral literature and mythological tales. Wikimedia Commons This is Bathou, the traditional religion followed by the Bodo (pronounced Boro) community of Assam. The Bodo community of Assam The Bodos, a group of people speaking Tibeto-Burmese language, are the largest minority group in Assam. Concentrated in the northern areas of the Brahmaputra River valley, the Bodos consist of a large number of tribes such as the Kachari, Rabha, Garo, Mech. Theyhave a distinctive culture, food and customs compared to the rest of the State. Twitter Bodos are spread all over North-east India as well as Nepal and Bangladesh, but they are predominant in Kokrajhar, Chirang, Baksa and Udalguri districts of Assam. Deep Philosophical Thought The Boros of Assam: Ethnography, Culture and Customary Law states that the Bathou is a blend of religious faiths, philosophical ideas and guiding principles for Boro people. In the Bodo language, 'ba' means five and 'thou' means deep/ philisophical thought. Thus, Bathou consists of five principles or elements namely, Bar (Air), San (Sun), Ha (Earth), Or (Fire) and Okhrang (Sky). This religion is centred round the worship of Bathoubwrai or Sibwrai. i.e the supreme god of the Bodos. It is polytheistic as other Gods and Goddesses are also worshipped. Followers of Bathou do not worship any idol, instead the divine qualities of the Supreme Being is believed to be reflected through the five basic elements. 'Animistic' roots of Bathou Animism (n): the belief that plants, objects and natural things such as the weather have a living soul. Sidney Endle in his book The Kachari, published in 1911, asserted that the Bathou religion "is Animistic, believing in animals, earth, air, water, trees etc having spirits which they usually called, Modai- all possessing powers and faculties." However, other scholars strongly believe that the religion is not animistic - as they worship 'Bathou' as the Supreme God. Wikipedia The Sijou tree At the centre of Bathou religion is the Sijou tree (belonging to the Euphorbia genus) which is placed on an altar and worshipped as an ultimate symbol of the Supreme God. https://bododimasaarchive.org/ Bodos plant the sijou tree on an elevated altar encircled with a bamboo fencing of eighteen pairs of posts weaved with five pieces of bamboo split. The five bamboo strips signify the five bindings of Bathou, viz. (i) birth, (ii) marriage or procreation, (iii) sorrow, (iv) happiness and (v) death. At the time of planting the Sijou tree on the altar, a stone and an egg are placed below the tree, the former symbolizing firmness of their religion and the latter symbolizing fertility. Significance of five A study of the Asian Journal of Multidisciplinary Studies on the Bathou Religion of Bodos writes on the significance of the five in Bathouism. The Euphorbia splendens (sijou tree) is characterized by five ridges which correspond to five elements of creation and represent truth, knowledge, power, beauty and goodness. Bathouism is also based on five moral and spiritual messages, namely (i) messages on holy realization, (ii) messages on holy practice (iii) messages on love (iv) messages on truth and (v) messages on hatred. Attempt to achieve separate religious status In 1992 The All Bathou Religious Union (ABRU), an organization, was formed to revitalize Bathouism and propagate its religious preachings across the world. The Speaker of Assam Legislative Assembly, Biswajeet Daimary said that the Bathou religion had its own religious practice, tradition and beliefs and the civilization of the Bodos emanated from it. The leaders of Bathouism have moved the Registrar General of India for a separate religious identity. Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, on Monday, applauded Africas richest man, Aliko Dangote, on the opening of the Dangote Refinery at the Ibeju-Lekki area of the state. Sanwo-Olu described Dangote as a detribalised individuals who saw the wealth of the state and who invested in the prosperity of Lagos and Nigeria. The governor of Lagos state said Dangote came to Lagos with nothing about 45 years ago, but he is now Africas richest man. He however said, within the period of his stay in Lagos, the Nigerian billionaire has built the biggest empire in the world for Africa. Those like me, who have made Lagos our home will testify that since the beginning of the current democratic dispensation, the government of Lagos State has been exceptionally remarkable in its commitment and support for the private sector. READ MORE: Peter Obi Lands In Lagos For Commissioning Of Dangote Refinery (Video) From the tenure of the President Elect, H.E Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu who established the Lekki Free Zone, to the incumbent governor H.E Babajide Sanwolu who has been most proactive in ensuring the successful execution of this project, the State government has indeed demonstrated great commitment to promoting an investment friendly climate, which made it possible for Our Group to invest over $30billion in various industries in the state economy over that period. Sanwo-Olu added that he would like to express his appreciation and gratitude to the Lagos State government and its successive governors for the resolute facilitation of enabling business environment in Lagos. Also speaking at the commissioning, President Muhammadu Buhari said the incoming government of Bola Ahmed Tinubu will build on the success of the Dangote refinery. I have confidence that my successor, His Excellency, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu will sustain the improvement in our economy and business environment and stress on the framework of our government partnership to accelerate the growth of our economic development. I am going to be leaving our economy in competent hands and I congratulate the Chairman and the board of directors and the management of Dangote Group for notable contribution to the industrialization of our economy and that of our continent. Veteran Nollywood actress, Patience Ozokwor has reacted to her Industry Merit Award, received on Saturday at the Africa Magic Viewers Choice Award saying there was no social media during her prime, therefore progress was based on her talent and humility. Ozokwor who also said that her children made significant sacrifices for her career, revealed this on Instagram on Monday as an appreciation post. According to Mama G, as she is fondly called, she not only relied on her talent, humility but on word of mouth and trust when she began her acting career. READ ALSO: Delta State Police PRO Slams Tacha Over N9.2 Million Outfit To AMVCA She posted, LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD When we started in the industry, there was no social media and so many other luxuries we enjoy now. Progress was completely dependent on your talent, humility, word of mouth and trust. I appreciate my colleagues who work tirelessly and often times without recognition. I appreciate my family who have always surrounded me with love and acceptance. My children sacrificed a lot and stayed long periods without a mother. At one point, my daughter became my PA and is still my Associate Manager till date. Aide to President Muhammadu Buhari, Garba Shehu, on Sunday, disclosed that his principals recent apology to Nigerians does not imply wrongdoing. Recall that President Buhari recently apologized to Nigerians for his governments actions and inactions and asked for forgiveness. However, Shehu made the disclosure while speaking on Buharis achievement after eight years of governing in an interview on Channels Television. Insisting that the President has performed exceptionally well, he added that Buhari is satisfied with his achievements. The President feels fulfilled. He has done exceptionally well as best as he can in the circumstances in which he has found himself. He is satisfied going home for the next president to contribute and build on the foundations he has laid, Shehu stated. READ ALSO: Buhari Has Built Nigerian Military Power To Near Global Standard Adamu Garba He further asserted that the Presidents apology doesnt mean he admits any wrongdoing. You cant walk on eggs without breaking them. It is absolutely not possible. So, the apology by President Muhammadu Buhari did not indicate acceptance of wrongdoing on his part, he added. Shehu who explained that Buhari may have unintentionally offended some people, noted he is not a malicious individual, adding that, the move to apologize demonstrates accountability. On insecurity, Shehu maintained that Buhari has made significant strides in combatting Boko Haram insurgents, adding that the military is now better equipped to tackle the countrys security challenges. The Army has made so many acquisitions drone technology etc. So, much has changed and President Muhammadu Buhari will be appreciated, if not now, [it will be] later, Shehu stated. Godswill Akpabio, former Governor of Akwa Ibom State, has called on Nigerians and members of the incoming 10th National Assembly not to assess him using his tenure as Minister of Niger Delta Affairs. The former Minister who made the submission at the weekend, in an interview with journalists in Abuja, said he preferred to be judged by his record as a lawyer of 36 years, commissioner for six years and a governor for eight years. Recall Akpabio, who is senator-elect for Akwa Ibom North West, is one of the contenders for the office of the Senate President for the 10th National Assembly, scheduled for inauguration on June 6. Akpabio was first elected to the Nigerian Senate in 2015 from where he became the Minority Leader on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party but later defected to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC). He resigned his position as the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs to contest the presidential primaries of the APC for the 2023 general elections but later stepped down for the President-elect, Bola Ahmed Tinubu. Also, it will be recalled that in July 2020, while in office as the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Akpabio appeared before the House of Representatives Committee on Niger Delta in a forensic audit hearing of the N81.5bn spent by the ministry between January and July 2020. However, during the probe, a mild drama ensued while speaking on the corruption allegations levelled against him, the former Akwa Ibom State governor was told to off your mic by a member of the committee, leading to the popular phrase, Honourable Minister, off your mic. READ ALSO: 10th Speaker: If People Hear Were Disagreeing With Tinubu Theyll Laugh At Us Gov. Sule Meanwhile, though Akpabio is the preferred candidate of the President-elect and APC, former Governor of Zamfara State, Abdulaziz Yari, and the Senate Chief Whip, Orji Uzor Kalu, have vowed not to step down from the Senate Presidency race. I do know that I have not changed in any way. I am somebody God has given the opportunity to be an uncommon transformer wherever I go. I will not like to be judged by ministerial appointment for Niger Delta, which everybody knows is a problematic place. But I would like to be judged by my record as a lawyer of 36 years, commissioner of six years and a governor of eight years, Akpabio said. On his Senate Presidency ambition, Akpabio promised that if elected, he would sustain the January-December budget cycle initiated by the 9th National Assembly. According to him, the introduction of the January-December budget cycle is one the major success stories of the outgoing Assembly. He also explained his relationship with some of his colleagues opposing his ambition. On the issue of whether somebody is supportive or not, that is not the issue. The issue is that we must continue to engage. God has put us together for the next four years. We must continue to speak to people so that whatever perception they have which are really not correct about me will be totally debunked, he said. The Minister of State for Labour, Festus Keyamo has hailed the decision of the presidential election tribunal which ruled against the request for the live broadcast of its proceedings. Keyamo, who was the chief spokesperson for the Tinubu/Shettima presidential campaign organization said emotions and sentiments are not allowed in law. Recall that INFORMATION NIGERIA reported that the Presidential Election Petition Court in Abuja on Monday dismissed a request to televise its daily proceedings on petitions seeking to overturn the 2023 presidential election results. Justice Haruna Tsammanis five-member panel rejected the application, brought by the two key candidates challenging the election results, as lacking merit. READ MORE: Tribunal Dismisses PDP, LPs Request For Live Coverage The court ruled that no existing regulatory framework or policy allowed it to approve such a request. It stated that allowing cameras in the courtroom requires legal backing as a major judicial policy. We cannot permit a situation that may lead to dramatization of our proceedings, Justice Tsammani declared. The court argued that the request was not part of any relief in the petitions and was based merely on a sentimental claim of public interest. It added that the petitioners failed to demonstrate how televising proceedings would benefit their case. Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Peter Obi of the Labour Party (LP) initially demanded live coverage, arguing that the case was a matter of monumental national concern and public interest. However, both the President-elect, Bola Tinubu, and the All Progressives Congress (APC) called on the court to dismiss the application, which they described as an abuse of the legal process. Reacting to the action of the court, Keyamo wrote on Twitter: The law does not admit to emotions and sentiments. We shall continue to educate them. Governor Rotimi Akeredolu of Ondo State has described Nigerias 1999 constitution as one which does not represent the interest of the citizens. Akeredolu lamented that the constitution is adding to the mystery of Nigerians because it sustains the privileges enjoyed by a parasitic few at the detriment of the majority. He made the submission during the 59th Founders Day Anniversary Lecture, Award, and Endowment of the Adeyemi Federal University of Education in Ondo. Represented by his Special Adviser on Union Matters and Special Duties, Dare Aragbaiye, Akeredolu said that States in the federation have been reduced to pathetic beggars as a result of the skewed nature of the 1999 constitution. He further called for its replacement with the 1963 constitution because according to him, the 1999 constitution is an experiment in audacious mendacity. His words: A defective law cannot engender peace and progress. It is, more often than not, the source of the seemingly intractable crises. There can be no development in a place where the law and its application are skewed, heavily, against the majority of the people. When the law becomes an instrument of repression, society is imperiled. A codification which alienates the people from its intendment is not only repressive but also fraudulent. READ ALSO: Dont Judge Me Based On My Ministerial Performance Akpabio There can be no meaningful achievement from the existence of a set of regulations whose purpose is to sustain the privileges enjoyed by a parasitic few at the detriment of the majority. He added that The subversion of the peoples will cannot engender progress in any society if the essence of development is the amelioration of the challenges faced by them. Any law which imposes the whims and caprices of a select but partisan few on the majority of the people cannot be used to advance the cause of the society. If there is any document whose existence represents an experiment in audacious mendacity, it is this so-called Constitution of the people of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. The Constitution tells manifest lies against itself. It purports to represent the wishes of the Nigerian people but nothing can be farther from this obvious lie. Akeredolu further called on the incoming administration of Bola Ahmed Tinubu to be bold in confronting the challenges facing the country. The in-coming administration has its job clearly defined. It is inheriting not only a heavy backlog of disaffection and complaints from the citizenry from all parts of the country; it has sold its campaign on the promise of a Renewed Hope, he said. Operatives of the Ogun state Police command have arrested four farmers for allegedly killing and dismembering the body of a herder, Umaru Aliyu, at Ijagunre village in Imeko-Afon local government area of the state. A statement by SP Abimbola Oyeyemi, the spokesperson of the command, says the suspects identified as Akinyele Adebayo, Gbalo Idosu, Abiala Segun and Kareem Fagbemi Lana, were arrested following a report lodged by one Umaru Jakake. Jakeke, who stated that while he and his brother Umaru Aliyu were grazing their cattle at Ijagunre village, they were accosted by one Ojugbele who warned them not to take their cattle near his farm. He stated further that upon the warning, they took their cattle to the other side of the bush for grazing. But the said Ojugbele later called two men who started chasing them about in the bush. The complainant further stated that he managed to escape, but the whereabout of his brother Umaru Aliyu is yet to be known since then. Oyeyemi added that the case was reported at Imeko divisional headquarters, but was transferred to State Criminal Investigation Departments Eleweran for discreet investigation on the order of the Commissioner of Police. READ ALSO: Several Trapped As Fuel Tanker Explodes On Lokoja-Abuja Expressway The case was assigned to SP Kehinde Beyioku led Homicide section who there and then embarked on a technical and intelligence-based investigation to unravel the whereabouts of the missing herdsman. There investigation led to the arrest of Kareem Fagbemi Lana, who confessed to the police that it was one Ojugbele who called him from his own farm to inform him of the presence of herdsmen in their farm vicinity, and that he should come and join him to chase them away. He confessed further that he also called Abiala Segun, who came with his dane gun and the three of them started chasing the herdsmen. While chasing them, Kareem Fagbemi Lana collected the dane gun and shot one of the herdsmen Umaru Aliyu to death. After killing him, they invited Akinyele Adebayo whose farm is nearby and informed him of the incident. It was Akinyele Adebayo who helped them to dismember the body after telling them that he needs the head of the deceased for certain ritual and they all agreed with him to take it. They then took the remaining parts of the body to Tamake town and buried it in front of Gbalo Idosu house.The confession of Kareem Fagbemi Lana led to the arrest of three others while Ojugbele is still on the run. The deceaseds head and other body parts have been recovered by the policemen. Oyeyemi said. The police spokesperson added that the state Commissioner of Police, CP Olanrewaju Oladimeji, who commended the Homicide team for the painstaking investigation, has ordered a massive manhunt for the fleeing member of the gang to be brought to book. He stated that the CP has also ordered that the arrested suspects be charged to court as soon as investigation is concluded. In the early hours of Monday, members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) re-elected Professor Emmanuel Osodeke unopposed as their National President to pilot the affairs of the Union for another two years. Asides Osodeke of the Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike, Abia State, the union members also re-elected Chris Piwuna, a Consultant Psychiatrist and Associate Professor in the College of Medicine, University of Jos, as Vice President. During the 22nd National Delegates Conference of ASUU which was hosted by the University of Jos, Plateau State between May 19 and 21, they were re-elected READ ALSO: Dont Treat Academics The Way Buharis Administration Did ASUU Tells Tinubu Other National Officers of ASUU who were also re-elected during the conference include Siji Sowande (Treasurer); Ade Adejumo (Financial Secretary); Austen Sado (Investment Secretary); Adamu Babayo (Internal Auditor) and Aisha Bawa who replaced Dr Stella-Maris Okey as the Welfare Secretary. Osodeke who spoke with Punch on his way to Abuja after the National Delegates Conference described it as successful. We have finished with our national delegates conference in Jos. It was successful. We are on our way back to Abuja. We will issue a statement regarding the conference and my re-election and other national officers when we get back to our station . Thank you, he said. As part of efforts to ensure transparency and fairness in the judicial sector, which was earlier demanded by political groups and some stakeholders, the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal will today determine whether proceedings at the Tribunal will be broadcasted live. It was gathered that this comes as the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the Labour Party (LP), and the All Progressives Congress (APC) locks horns over the live broadcasting of the tribunals sessions. Recall that PDP and LP strongly advocate for the live broadcast, asserting that it would dispel any doubts about the transparency of the judiciary and ensure fairness in the process. Conversely, the APC opposes this stance, arguing that it would not contribute to the pursuit of justice. READ MORE: Election Petition Tribunal Not Secret Meeting Onaiyekan Backs Proceedings Live Telecast The PDP, led by its presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar, who finished second in the February 25 election, has formally requested that the tribunals sessions be broadcasted live to keep the Nigerian public informed about the proceedings. In their application, Atiku and the PDP, represented by lawyer Chris Uche, have urged the court to establish guidelines for media practitioners and their equipment within the courtroom. However, the LP and its candidate, Peter Obi, have submitted a similar application, emphasising the importance of providing real-time information to the Nigerian populace, who are stakeholders in the election petition proceedings. Meanwhile, the Independent National Electoral Commission, the president-elect, and the APC vehemently oppose these applications, deeming them unnecessary. They argue that the formulation of court policies lies outside the tribunals jurisdiction. Counsel for the APC, Lateef Fagbemi, cautioned the court against transforming the proceedings into a mere Big Brother electoral series. At the same time, Wole Olanipekun, the president-elects lawyer, expressed concerns about potential risks to judges and lawyers if live broadcasting were approved. Ahead of the tribunals ruling, Peter Obi insists on live broadcasting, stating, In this modern age, transparency is essential. With four political parties disputing the election, fairness and equity dictate that the processes be streamed live for the public to follow. Contrarily, Festus Keyamo, Chief Spokesman for the dissolved Tinubu-Shettima Presidential Campaign Council, maintains that the issue should be resolved through the court rather than by public opinion. Former Presidential aide, Reno Omokri has tackled the Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, over his style of dressing during a visit to the residence of the United States Consul General, Sam Altman, in Lagos. It was gathered that Sanwo-Olu took to his Twitter page to share photos of the recent visit while wearing a jacket and black shirt while the American consul also at the meeting was wearing Nigerian clothing. Reno while reacting to the post made by the governor said, the meeting was held in Nigerian yet, the Sanwo-Olu chose to dress in Western clothing in front of the Nigerian flag. He added that Sanwo-Olus style of dressing might send a wrong message to Sam Altman, stressing he is likely to invest in a country and state whose top officials have enough confidence in their county in their outfits. He wrote: Dear Governor @jidesanwoolu, Thank you for this update. In these photos, you are the only Nigerian. Yet, you are not wearing any Nigerian attire. But the American Consul, at whose residence you met, is wearing Nigerian clothing. What does that say about us as a country? What does that say about you? READ MORE: Leaked Audio: Are These The Caliber Of People You Plan On Working With? Reno Omokri Mocks U.S Do you think an Indian or Arab Governor would do the same? You are a Nigerian. The meeting was held in Nigeria. Yet, you are dressed in Western clothing. In front of a Nigerian flag. With a jacket on a black shirt. When the temperature in Lagos right now is a blazing 30. Your clothing may have communicated to Mr Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, much more than your words ever did. Mr Altman is more likely to invest in a country and state whose top officials have enough confidence in their country to dress to represent it. Dont you think so? I come in peace. Thanks again and may God bless you The Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP) has again raised concerns over the lingering Bachelors Degree / Higher National Diploma (BSc/HND) dichotomy and asked President Muhammadu Buhari to abolish the differences before leaving office. Information Nigeria reports that ASUP has been pushing for the bill seeking to erase inequality between holders of first degrees from universities and diploma graduates from polytechnics in Nigeria. It is also seeking to legislate the discrimination of polytechnic graduates from their university counterparts in employment and promotion in the workplace. The Buhari government will vacate office this week for the incoming administration which will be inaugurated May 29 ASUPs National President, Anderson Ezeibe, addressing newsmen on Sunday in Abuja, said it is important now that President Buhari abolish the dichotomy which has made young Nigerians not show interest in getting admitted to polytechnic in the country. READ ALSO: Government Has Removed Dichotomy Between HND And B.Sc In Federal Civil Service FG He said: We are urging President Buhari to go ahead and sign that bill into law. That is another way of saving this sector. As we speak, the Roman figures are dropping significantly so because the sector is losing its attraction to young people. So we expect him to sign this bill. Other stakeholders in the sector have also been calling for him to do so. It will be an enduring legacy if Mr President succeeds in doing this before he leaves office. The Senator Ayo Akinyelure-led legislation piece, has since passed the third reading on the floor of the Senate at plenary. Chairman of the Joint Committee, Ibrahim Shekarau (APC, Kano Central), on the bill had said, The enactment of the bill to abolish and prohibit discrimination between First Degrees and Higher National Diploma for the purpose of employment in Nigeria will no doubt freeholders of HND from stagnation and ensure balanced treatment with their counterparts from other higher tertiary institutions in Nigeria. Police stand outside the Northside Medical office building, where five people were shot, one fatally, on May 3 in Atlanta. Read more ATLANTA When Destiny heard screams, she raced to a hospital room where she saw a patient assaulting a care technician. As a charge nurse at Northeast Georgia Health System, she was trained to de-escalate violent situations. But that day in spring 2021, as Destiny intervened, for several minutes the patient punched, kicked, and bit her. And by the time a team of security guards and other nurses could free her, the patient had ripped out chunks of Destinys hair. We are not protected on our floors, she said as she recapped the story during testimony later that year to the Georgia Senate Study Committee on Violence Against Healthcare Workers. Destiny used only her first name at the hearing, for fear of retaliation for speaking out against the patient who assaulted her. In May, Republican Gov. Brian Kemp signed a law that boosts criminal penalties for assaults against hospital workers and allows health care facilities in the state to create independent police forces. The law is a response to that testimony as well as hospital lobbying and data documenting a rise in violence against health care workers. In enacting the law, Georgia joined other states attempting to reverse a rise in violence over the last several years through stiffer criminal penalties and enhanced law enforcement. Advertisement Nearly 40 states have laws that establish or increase penalties for assaults on health care workers, according to the American Nurses Association. And lawmakers in 29 states have approved or are working on similar laws, as well as ones that allow the creation of hospital police forces. Members of those forces can carry firearms and make arrests. In addition, they have higher training requirements than noncertified officers such as security guards, according to the International Association for Healthcare Security and Safety. Groups representing nurses and hospitals argue that such laws address the daily reality of aggressive or agitated patients who sometimes become violent. Still, such interventions are relatively new. Critics worry that establishing hospital police forces will escalate violence in health care settings and could have downstream effects. I worry about all the reasons patients have to not trust me and trust the health care system, said Elinore Kaufman, a trauma surgeon at the University of Pennsylvania. Health care workers are five times as likely to experience violence as employees in other industries, according to federal data. The day after Kemp signed the Safer Hospitals Act into law, a person opened fire in a midtown Atlanta medical office, killing one woman and injuring four others, including workers at the medical practice. Verbal and physical threats, which increased during the pandemic, are exacerbating a dire nursing shortage, said Matt Caseman, CEO of the Georgia Nurses Association. Destiny testified that one of her co-workers left nursing after the 2021 assault, in which the patient smashed the care technicians face into a wall and the floor. Destiny also suffered from post-concussion headaches for months, she said. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services noted the alarming rise of violence in health care settings last November. The federal agency recommended hospitals implement a patient risk assessment strategy, increase staffing levels, and improve training and education for staffers. There was no mention of boosting law enforcement presence. Health centers say they are better able to retain workers and improve patient care when they can reduce the number of violent incidents, said Mike Hodges, secretary of the Georgia chapter of the International Association for Healthcare Security and Safety. State laws governing how hospitals can respond to violence vary. In Georgia, the new law boosts criminal penalties for aggravated assaults against all health care workers on a hospital campus, not just those in emergency rooms, which were already regulated. And hospitals can now establish law enforcement offices like those on university campuses. The officers must be certified by the Georgia Peace Officer Standards and Training Council and maintain law enforcement records that can be made public. Having a dedicated police force helps hospitals better train officers to work in a health care setting, said Republican State Rep. Matt Reeves, who co-sponsored the Georgia bill. Officers can get to know staff members and regular patients, as well as the layout and protocols of hospital campuses. If you have a specialized police department, they are more in tune with the needs of the facility, he said. Thats the case at Atrium Health Navicent, which operates hospitals across central Georgia, said Delvecchio Finley, its president. The health system was one of a handful to staff certified law enforcement before the new law. Atrium Health recruits officers who reflect the diversity of the community, conducts training to counteract implicit biases, and holds debriefings after any incidents, Finley said. Officers are trained to react when someone becomes violent at one of the facilities. The biggest thing for us to convey to officers is that they are in the setting where we provide a safe environment where we care for anyone, he said. Unlike other businesses, hospitals cant merely throw out patients who misbehave, said Terri Sullivan, an emergency nurse in Atlanta. A patient once punched her in the chest, fracturing two ribs, before running out of the room and trying to punch his physician. Sullivan said that, in her experience, the presence of hospital security can prevent patients from acting out. Still, little data exists on whether such forces are effective at preventing hospital violence. Ji Seon Song, a University of California-Irvine law professor who studies policing in health care settings, worries about the unintended consequences of legislation that boosts the presence of law enforcement in places people receive medical care. You can see where there might be a lot of problems, she said, especially if the patient is African American, undocumented, Latino something that makes them prone to being criminalized. A ProPublica investigation found Cleveland Clinics private police force disproportionately charges and cites Black people. And in March, a video emerged showing police and hospital staff members in Virginia holding down a patient who was experiencing a mental health crisis, leading to his death. In 23% of emergency department shootings from 2000 to 2011, the perpetrator took a gun from a security officer, according to a Johns Hopkins University study. The CMS memo noted several hospital incidents involving police, in which the agency cited the facility for failing to provide a safe environment. The Georgia law doesnt require hospital police officers to arrest patients with outstanding warrants for offenses that occurred off a hospital campus, such as violating probation. But it doesnt limit those powers either, said Mazie Lynn Guertin, executive director of the Georgia Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. Unless discretion is limited, it will be exercised at some point, by someone, she said. Law enforcement should always be the last resort, argued Kaufman, the trauma surgeon. While the threat of violence is concerning, hospitals can spend more on health care staffing, boost overall training, and teach de-escalation skills. Our primary lens shouldnt be that our patients are a danger to us, she said. Its a harmful lens and a racist one. We should develop safe and healthy workplaces through other ways. In the video, Brown repeatedly mentions struggling with the aftermath of surviving a school shooting at Michigan State University in between footage of her using Biore skincare products. Read more Skincare brand Biore is apologizing after a promotional video used the trauma associated with surviving a school shooting to promote its pore strips. Last week, Cecilee Max Brown a popular TikTok creator with nearly 30,000 followers posted a video sponsored by Biore to promote the brands campaign for Mental Health Awareness Month. In the video, Brown repeatedly mentions struggling with the aftermath of surviving a school shooting at Michigan State University in between footage of her using Biore skincare products. The Michigan State University shooting where a gunman killed three people and injured five others occurred in February. For some students, it wasnt the first school shooting theyve endured. READ MORE: MSU students who graduated from nearby Oxford High have experienced two shootings in under two years Advertisement Life has thrown countless obstacles at me this year. From a school shooting to having no idea what life is going to look like after college, Brown said in her now-deleted TikTok. I will never forget the feeling of terror that I had walking around campus for weeks in a place I considered my home. With countless anxiety attacks to crying alone in my room at night. My message to you guys is that its okay not to have it all together. Life continually changes, and your thoughts will too. Do things that make you happy and know everything will work itself out. Join me and Biore Skincare in speaking up about mental health, she said. The video was met with fierce backlash, prompting Brown to turn off comments and eventually delete the video (though it has been saved and reposted by countless accounts since). Critics turned to Biore's social media accounts to sound off, questioning who approved the videos content and why the skincare company thought tying school shootings to a pore strip ad was OK. I wont purchase from a brand that uses gun violence as a marketing tactic, one user wrote on Biore's TikTok account. Are the strips bulletproof? said another user. You should rethink your marketing department, wrote another. Across the country, gun violence at schools impacts todays youth and has sparked a surge in activism. According to Education Week, there have been 22 school shootings resulting in injuries or deaths this year and 12 fatalities. Online, school shooting survivors and activists against gun violence have been speaking out about and sometimes mocking the Biore ad. Mia Tretta, 18, an activist who was shot during the 2019 Saugus High School shooting in Santa Clarita, Calif., tweeted in response to the Biore ad: I dont know why my therapist or docs didnt tell [me] that Biore pore strips could have helped heal the bullet wound on my stomach, or my anxiety after being shot, or my fear of loud noises, or stop my nightmares, or help me feel ok at school. She joked about firing her health professionals and buying the pore strips in bulk instead. Others who say they attend or attended Michigan State during the time of the shooting criticized Browns willingness to monetize the traumatic event. When Kelly Branigan, an MSU alumnus who graduated weeks ago, first saw the TikTok, she thought it was a joke. It was so tone-deaf and the delivery of equating a school shooting to figuring out life after college are so far removed from each other, it was almost comical to hear, she told The Inquirer. It feels like the brand, and honestly, the creator, are exploiting what happened to us for money. The Biore debacle isnt the first time a brand has used school shootings to sell products or gain popularity. Following the Sandy Hook Elementary shooting in 2012, one memorial post on Facebook redirected followers to an artists hip-hop page, HuffPost reported. A Texas gun shop used the incidents timing to offer discounts on guns for teachers. Kmart posted a thoughts and prayers post along with a hashtag for its #Fab15Toys sale, though the brand later retracted the tweet and said the hashtag was an accident. Following the backlash, both Biore and Brown posted apologies on their respective social media accounts on Sunday. Our consumers have told us that mental health is one of their biggest priorities, and it is so important for us to be able to provide meaningful support to them around this issue, Biore said in an Instagram post. This time, however, we did it the wrong way. We lacked sensitivity around an incredibly serious tragedy, and our tonality was completely inappropriate. We are so sorry. Biore went on to urge critics to direct any anger our way, not towards the creators themselves. In the comments section, several users said they still felt like Brown shared culpability. In a TikTok post viewed about 4,000 times as of publication time, Brown also apologized. This was strictly meant to spread awareness about the struggles that I have had with anxiety since our school shooting. This partnership was not [intended] to come off as the product fixing the struggles Ive [had] since this event. Rather, partnering with a brand to spread awareness of what [I] and so many other students have been dealing with, she wrote. I did not mean to desensitize the traumatic event that took place as I know the effects that it has had on me and the Spartan community. I take accountability for this and will ensure to be smarter in the future. Branigan, the MSU alum, said she blames Biore first for putting Brown, a survivor, in the position to share ... even if she felt comfortable. Its a joke that a well-known brand would ever think it was okay to approve something like that, she said. And its sick that we are now monetizing school shootings. Cherelle Parker, second from left, greets City Controller Christy Brady, center, and others at the traditional election day lunch at the Famous 4th Street Deli. Parker checked into the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania hours later with severe tooth pain. Read more After meeting with Gov. Josh Shapiro, Cherelle Parker on Monday will hold her first news conference since winning the Democratic nomination for mayor. Parker has largely stayed out of the public eye since her historic victory last week as shes been recovering from a dental emergency that caused her to miss her campaigns election night victory party at the laborers union hall. She spoke to The Inquirer the day after her election and briefly addressed the Philadelphia Association of Black Journalists on Friday, but has otherwise stayed out of sight as she rested and recovered. The dental emergency came after she delayed getting a tooth pulled for more than two months so that she could stay on the campaign trail. READ MORE: Inside Cherelle Parkers winning campaign for Phillys Democratic mayoral primary Advertisement Parker, who lives in Mount Airy, emerged from a crowded and competitive field to win the Democratic nomination with just under one-third of the vote. The only top contender who was a lifelong Philadelphian and who did not live in Center City, Parker ran on a tough-on-crime platform and won the backing of scores of local Democratic elected officials and ward leaders on her way to victory. She will address the press in Center City on Monday morning immediately following her meeting with Shapiro. Parker and Shapiro, who is from Montgomery County, served together in Harrisburg when they were both Democratic state representatives and overlapped in the General Assembly from 2005 to 2012. Parker faces Republican David Oh in the November general election but is all but guaranteed victory thanks to Philadelphias overwhelmingly Democratic electorate. Both she and Oh are former City Council members. The next mayor will take office in January. From 2000 to 2004, students at Grover Washington Jr. Middle School, in Olney, attended year-round school. The single-school pilot was discontinued by Philadelphia School District officials. Read more Cherelle Parker, the Democratic nominee for Philadelphia mayor, has pledged to make Philadelphia a national leader in public education. One way Parker intends to get there? Year-round school. Superintendent Tony B. Watlington Sr. will present his five-year strategic plan on Thursday, and district officials have confirmed that a year-round school pilot program will be part of that plan, which Parker said that she backs. But details have not yet emerged about how many and which schools will participate, how they will be structured, who will staff them, when it would start, and how the district will get families to buy in. READ MORE: A guide to Cherelle Parker: What to know about the person Philly Democrats picked for mayor Advertisement The obstacles to keeping students in class year-round are hard to miss the districts buildings are old, plagued by environmental issues, and many do not support central air-conditioning. The teachers union would need to approve a massive schedule shift. And parents used to traditional calendars and with children at multiple schools are likely to balk. But a year-round calendar is no stranger to Philadelphia. From 2000 through 2004, students enrolled at Grover Washington Jr. Middle School in Olney attended school for 180 days the minimum number of instructional days required in Pennsylvania and the same as their peers in the rest of the district but those days were spread throughout the year, with no single, monthslong break. READ MORE: Inside Cherelle Parkers winning campaign for Phillys Democratic mayoral primary At the time, officials said they wanted to reduce summer learning loss and help struggling students. Grover Washington administrators hoped the schedule change would cut failure rates by 50%; research shows that such schedules especially benefit students from economically disadvantaged families. But then-Philadelphia chief executive officer Paul Vallas ultimately ended the experiment. It didnt show enough promise to justify keeping or expanding it past the single school. Obviously, if they had had tremendous growth, we would have reconsidered, Vallas told The Inquirer at the time. Grover Washington showed only modest standardized test-score growth. Michael Galbraith worked at Grover Washington in the year-round school days, and still teaches English there. Grover Washington was a brand-new school then, and Galbraith was part of a handpicked staff hired to work the nontraditional schedule of nine weeks in school, then three weeks off, year-round. But if parents wanted their children in school during intersession weeks, they could send them, for extra reading and math help, but also for extracurriculars. There were all sorts of possibilities, Galbraith said. There was less learning loss. Teachers could volunteer to teach the intersessions, or not, and typically, there were enough volunteers who wanted extra pay that staffing those weeks wasnt a problem. Principal Michael Rosenberg told The Inquirer in 2001 that he recruited two retired teachers to fill in intersession gaps. Galbraith loved the schedule because he thought it kept his students sharper, but also because he didnt get exhausted the way he had teaching a traditional school year. I always felt super crispy burned out by May, Galbraith said. It would take two full weeks to decompress and get yourself back to feeling unruffled. I just never felt it in the years we had the year-round schedule. READ MORE: How Cherelle Parker won the primary: Black voters, a boost from labor, and a personal story of Philly grit There were downsides, for sure, Galbraith said: Being the only school in the city with such a schedule meant attendance was spotty at times, especially when Grover Washington kids were supposed to be in session and everyone else was on break. It also proved to be a problem when students were supposed to be taking tests that benchmarked them against their peers across the district, because the calendars didnt match up. Ultimately, Galbraith said, it seems the district is too big to make allowances for small variances such as a year-round pilot. But if it were on the table, I would go back to a year-round schedule in a second. I really feel like the upsides outweighed the glitches. It would just take a commitment from the district. At a news conference Monday, Parker suggested that schools start as early as 7:30 a.m. and stay open as late as 6 p.m., expanding schools opportunities for development, whether it be through building trades or newer technology, such as coding. According to the National Association for Year-Round Education, an estimated 4% of schools, serving about three million students, followed a year-round schedule in 2020. The Philadelphia Federation of Teachers declined to comment specifically on Parkers year-round education plan. President Jerry Jordan, in a statement, offered Parker his congratulations and said she is ready to lead on Day 1, and is ready to get to work for the city we all know and love. READ MORE: Cherelle Parker spent 10 years in Harrisburg. That could pay off for Philly. At the Lee Family Farms in Chatsworth, Steven Lee gathers another marker as Herb Armstrong guides the "picker through the flooded cranberry bogs. Read more They lobbied, wrote letters, and trekked to Trenton to make their case to lawmakers to make cranberry juice a symbol for New Jersey. And it worked. The state Senate unanimously approved a bill Monday designating cranberry as the state juice. With the Assembly having previously approved the measure, it now heads to Gov. Phil Murphys desk. It was a long time coming for the fourth graders in Erin Zarzyckis class at Eleanor Rush Intermediate School in Cinnaminson, a project started in 2020 with now-sixth graders during a lesson on state symbols. READ MORE: South Jersey fourth graders pick up charge to make cranberry juice a state symbol Advertisement Last week, the class made a final push during a trip to the statehouse to testify at a hearing on the bill. They waited anxiously Monday for the vote, Zarzycki said. Zarzycki flashed a picture of the 36-0 vote sent by the office of State Sen. Troy Singleton (D., Burlington), one of the bills sponsors. Her students jumped to their feet and cheered, she said. They were so proud of themselves, Zarzycki said. This is awesome. Zarzycki said the students, who learned how a bill becomes a law during their civics lesson, raised a concern that Murphy could veto it, blocking the measure from becoming a law. Is the governor going to say no? they asked Zarzycki. Murphy has 45 days to take action. Zarzycki said she reassured the class that the bill had bipartisan support and has a good chance of becoming a law. And Singleton said Monday: I anticipate the governor signing it. I dont know why he wouldnt. Singleton said the students were passionate advocates for the bill, which was reintroduced this year for a second time. The pandemic and delays put the bill on hold when it was first proposed in 2020. After learning that New Jersey didnt have a state beverage, students began brainstorming. They rejected tomato juice because they didnt think that would be popular. They turned down blueberry juice, too. They selected cranberry juice to celebrate the states cranberry-growing heritage. New Jerseys cranberry production ranks third in the country with an annual harvest valued at $15.8 million. This years fourth graders said they wanted to make the class that started the process proud by getting the bill signed. Some changes were made to the bill, such as making cranberry juice the state juice, not the state beverage. During their statehouse visit, the students teamed up to make their pitches. They cited statistics and gave a historical overview of cranberries, grown in the Pinelands. Many kids before us have created New Jersey state symbols, like the state insect and the state fruit, said Gabriella Fennel, and so when we learned about the cranberry, we knew this was a powerful fruit and a delicious juice worthy of a state symbol. Said classmate Robbie Minniti: Our history is ripe with the love of cranberries. For this reason, we think that cranberry juice is the right juice to be the state juice! Besides the civics lesson, Zarzycki offered her students a life lesson: Hard work pays off, she said. If you work hard enough, youll go places. The childrens book Bright April on display at the Inspiring Bright April exhibit at Historic Germantown in Philadelphia. Read more Becky Birtha, a poet and author who has written three childrens books herself, has a lot in common with the young girl who is the main character in the book Bright April. Like April, Birtha is Black, grew up in Germantown, was a member of a Brownie troop, wore her hair in two pigtails, and had a father who worked for the U.S. Postal Service. The book, by former Philadelphia resident Marguerite de Angeli, about a 9-year-old girl named April Bright, is considered a classic among childrens literature of the 20th century. It tells the story of a Black girl who experiences racial prejudice for the first time. Aprils awareness that racism is about limiting the goals, aspirations, and opportunities for Black people occurs during a meeting of her integrated Brownie Scout meeting. Advertisement A white girl in the Brownie troop laughs at April for saying she wants to grow up to become a hat designer and the big boss of a major department store on Chestnut Street. April runs home and sobs in her mothers arms and asks: Mamma, is it true there are some places we cant go? While Bright April has the format of a childrens book because of how its author wanted to display her drawings, it is actually an 87-page novel for middle school-age students, Birtha said. It also conveys Aprils older brothers concerns about job opportunities when he returns home from serving as a soldier in World War II. April learns about her brothers worries, but does not fully understand them, through the letters he writes home. Birtha, now 74 and living in Lansdowne, said that she was struck by the way Aprils fictional parents explained racial prejudice In a way, Aprils parents did more in explaining things to her than my parents did for me, Birtha said. When I was in the third grade, I had a teacher with racist attitudes who was working with Black students for the first time. She didnt want to believe the Black children could perform as well as white students, she said. I was an excellent reader, but she wouldnt put me in the top readers group, and I would draw things, but she wouldnt post them on the bulletin board. Birthas parents met with the teacher and eventually Birtha was transferred to another classroom. But Birtha said her parents never discussed racial prejudice with her in that situation. My parents never explained to me what was going on. I always felt like I wasnt good enough. And somehow, I could never please Ms. Peters. Aprils mother, on the other hand, pointed out that because of Aprils skin color, there were some people who thought that she could not have any career she wanted. The exhibition acknowledges the books real-life inspiration The story of how Marguerite de Angeli, the white author and illustrator of Bright April, portrayed both racial prejudice and interracial understanding is the subject of a new exhibit, Inspiring Bright April: Race and Class in 1940s Germantown, that opened May 13 at Historic Germantown. First published in 1946, the book, about a 9-year-old Black girl about to turn 10, was the first mainstream childrens book about a Black child experiencing racial prejudice written by a white author, said Barbara Dowdall, one of the exhibits curators. [De Angeli] first proposed writing about a Black child in 1940, but her publishing company thought that would be too controversial. Barbara Dowdall Dowdall said the idea leading to the exhibit began in 2021, the year of the books 75th anniversary. Through conversations with Susan Bockius, the co-curator who knew de Angeli after the author moved to Green Lane, a borough in Montgomery County, and Lynn Washington, who once operated a bookstore in Germantown, the plans for a 75th anniversary observation changed into the broader, current exhibit. In the book, April attends an integrated school that was patterned after the old Joseph B. Hill Elementary School in Germantown. In reality, the Hill school, which has since been demolished, was a segregated school for Black students in the 1940s. Dowdall said that in de Angelis 1971 memoir, Butter at the Old Price, the author wrote about reaching out to interview Black teachers, educators, and other professionals she met in Germantown, including the real-life principal of the segregated Joseph B. Hill School, Nellie Rathbone Bright, and the real-life Jessica Cole, the Black leader of Girl Scout Troop 338, to understand Black families and culture. De Angelis dedicated Bright April to Nellie, to Jessica and to Griz, with grateful appreciation. Griz was later identified as Gertrude E. Gold, who was executive director of the Girl Scouts Council in Philadelphia. In her memoir, de Angeli, who once lived on Carpenter Lane when it was considered Germantown, recounted one discussion with Nellie Bright. Bright told de Angeli that as a child, she told a teacher she wanted to teach at a womens college. The teacher replied, Dont you know you cant do that? We wept together, de Angeli wrote. This was new to my experience and heartbreaking. In todays world, some might criticize Bright April for a message that suggests Black people must be perfect to be accepted by white people. The book points out that Aprils family keeps their house clean and neat, but down the block, some houses look unkempt. When the book came out, its discussions about race were considered quite radical and revolutionary, Birtha said. Dowdall noted that de Angeli had written several other books about families from Amish, Quaker, and Polish backgrounds. She first proposed writing about a Black child in 1940, but her publishing company thought that would be too controversial, Dowdall said. The book was finally published in 1946. The Historic Germantown exhibit includes a drawing desk that de Angeli once used. Bockius refurbished the desk and donated it to the historical society. There are also pictures of Nellie Bright, along with photos of some of the Black luminaries whose pictures Bright hung on her classroom walls as a teacher: Marian Anderson, Paul Robeson, Langston Hughes, and Paul Laurence Dunbar. There is a childrens room with a Brownie uniform from the 1940s, a pupils school desk, and a list of questions parents or teachers might use to discuss issues of race with children. One question asks children whether their parents have had the talk explaining racism to Black children with them. The exhibits introductory film includes excerpts from a PBS interview of Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden, who said Bright April was her favorite book as a child and had inspired her passion for reading. Germantown as a central character Birtha said one of the most exciting things about reading Bright April when she was a child was recognizing the places mentioned in the book. Birthas mother, Jessie Birtha, once worked as a librarian at the Vernon Park library, which is now the Center in the Park, and Wissahickon Valley Park, where the Brownie Scouts go to identify trees and birds. Aprils teacher talks about the Battle of Germantown during the Revolutionary War and how George Washington walked the streets of the village. When I was a child, I had a lot of pride about living in Germantown, and it being a historic area, Birtha said. I dont think I realized how unusual it was to have a book that takes place [where you live] and to be able to recognize all the historic landmarks and places. Inspiring Bright April runs through Dec. 31 and is free and open to the public at Historic Germantown, 5501 Germantown Ave., Philadelphia. The hours are 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Tuesdays, and 1 to 5 p.m. on Thursdays. For more information, call 215-844-1683. A 15-year-old Pennsylvania girl was bitten by a shark while surfing in Stone Harbor, N.J., on Sunday, according to rescue officials. The teen suffered lacerations to her left foot and calf and was taken to the hospital, where she was treated for non-life-threatening injuries, authorities said. First responders said the teen was attacked around 3 p.m. in the waters off the 109th Street Beach. After consulting with local marine life experts, law enforcement and medical officials confirmed the bites were consistent with those from a shark, but they did not determine its size or species. No restrictions on beach activities in Stone Harbor are planned at this time. Advertisement Stone Harbor remains a beloved and popular destination for beachgoers from near and far, Stone Harbor Mayor Judy Davies-Dunhour said in a statement. The local police and fire departments are fully committed to ensuring the safety and well-being of both residents and tourists. They are taking appropriate measures to thoroughly assess the situation and provide necessary updates to the public. The attack comes as beachgoers across the region prepare to spend Memorial Day weekend at the Jersey Shore. Stone Harbor officials stressed that despite the scare, shark attacks remain rare in the state. Shark attack records shows that since the late 1800s, around 25 unprovoked incidents have occurred in New Jersey. The last recorded unprovoked attack in New Jersey came in 2017, when a woman suffered a minor hand injury from a two-foot sand tiger shark in Ventnor. In 2013, a 16-year-old boy was attacked in Bay Head, Ocean County, but avoided injury when the shark bit his swimming fin, according to data from the Shark Research Institute. Stone Harbor officials said Monday that the chances of falling victim to a shark attack are 1 in 11.5 million. Though chances are slim, Jaws-inspired anxieties swelled last year as shark sightings were reported up and down the Northeast coast. That includes Sea Isle City. Thanks to video captured by a boat of startled fishermen, beachgoers were abuzz from footage of an estimated 12-foot, 1,000-pound great white shark that surfaced in July 2022. Still, actual shark attacks that year were tied for a 10-year low, experts say. Of the 57 unprovoked bites recorded globally in 2022, five were fatal. And when it comes to geography, Florida took the top spot for attacks with 16 incidents in its waters. Marine biologists have pointed to a handful of reasons for why so many spotted sharks close to Northeastern shores in recent years. Warming sea temperatures due to global climate change are possibly pushing some sharks to migrate to northern waters, one expert speculated. Other theories give credit to human-enacted protections, such as shark sanctuaries and fin hunting bans, that have helped shark populations recover from decades of overfishing. Montgomery County Sheriff Sean Kilkenny (center) announces a new effort by his office to inspect gun stores in the county to ensure they're complying with state and federal law. Read more The Montgomery County Sheriffs Office announced Monday that it will begin conducting regular inspections of the countys 92 gun stores in an effort to curb gun violence, becoming the first in the state to do so. Representatives from the office will ensure that the shops are complying with state and federal laws, including sending sales records to the state police for review and making sure those records match the shops inventories. . If a shop fails an inspection or isnt up to legal standards its owners will have an opportunity to schedule a follow-up inspection after fixing the issues, according to Montgomery County Sheriff Sean Kilkenny. Otherwise, the shops license which is issued by Kilkennys office will be revoked. Our inspections are not intended to infringe upon the privacy rights of firearms dealers or their customers, he said. Instead, they are conducted solely to ensure that firearms dealers are operating in compliance with existing state standards and regulations and are properly handling the sale and transfer of firearms. Advertisement Gun stores are inspected every 10 years by the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, but visits from local authorities are rare. Kilkenny said he learned that state law afforded his office a right to inspect gun stores, and after seeing the rise in gun crimes and straw purchasing in the region, decided to act. He pledged to work closely with Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin Steele if any illegal activity was uncovered by the inspections. READ MORE: Philly has a gun problem. Straw buying makes it worse. Steele established a firearms unit that has prosecuted several straw purchasing rings, documenting hundreds illegal guns that have been distributed to people who could not otherwise have obtained them. So often the question is posed, what can the government do to stem the tide of gun violence thats ravaging our streets? Kilkenny asked. The statement and the answer from people on all sides of the political spectrum is enforce the laws that are already on the books. Thats exactly what were doing here. Carol Lastowka, the Southeast Pennsylvania coordinator for CeaseFirePa, said the move was a huge step forward for eliminating gun crimes in the state. We know a very small percentage of gun shops are not following regulations, and that most gun shop owners want to be that first filter to keeps individuals who are dangerous from having access to a gun, she said. And they, I believe, will wholeheartedly accept this. Letters notifying the gun stores of the inspections were sent out Monday, according to Kilkenny, advising owners to contact the sheriffs office to schedule the first visit. Investigators were called to Nicholas Scurria's apartment in February 2022 after a concerned neighbor called police. There, they found the 33-year-old dismembering his ex-girlfriend with a machete, according to court filings. Read more A Clifton Heights man who killed his ex-girlfriend and dismembered her body was sentenced Friday to 35 to 70 years in state prison. Nicholas Scurria, 33, pleaded guilty to third-degree murder, abuse of a corpse, aggravated assault, and related crimes in the death of Deborah Sager, 58, in February 2022. Scurria, in entering the plea late last week before Delaware County Judge John Capuzzi, apologized for killing Sager, saying he regretted his actions. I feel really horrible for what Ive done, he said. At one time, the victim was my best friend. Ive lost a best friend, and I have to live with that every day of my life. Advertisement Scurrias attorney, Mary Elizabeth Welch, declined to comment Monday. READ MORE: Man arrested for killing and dismembering his ex-girlfriend in Clifton Heights Prosecutors said Sager had few living relatives and relied heavily on Scurria. The two had a falling out, and Scurria attacked her, they said, when she insulted him. Investigators were called to the Willow Apartments on Springfield Road in the aftermath of that argument. A concerned neighbor had heard screaming, banging, and later sawing-like sounds, according to the affidavit of probable cause for Scurrias arrest. Though officers were unable to enter the apartment, they looked through a window and saw Scurria sitting on a bed beside a decapitated body, attempting to cut off a leg, the affidavit said. The officers forced their way into the apartment and confronted Scurria, who told them he repeatedly punched Sager, and knocked her unconscious, according to the affidavit. He said he then tried to dismember her with a machete to dispose of the evidence, the affidavit said. Down the shore, T-shirt merchants are ready for another season. Read more Every summer, up and down the Jersey Shores most popular boardwalks, T-shirt merchants check the vibes, see whats popular, and press it on cotton faster than anyone in Paris or Milan. Store owners hold the scales, blindly, like Lady Justices cousin, Miss Capitalism: two shirts of Donald Trumps mug shot positioned together, with guilty written on one shirt, not guilty on the other. No one is less worried about public opinion than people selling shirts on the boardwalk, said Dan McQuade, the visual editor at Defector.com and a longtime Philadelphia journalist whos explored Shore shirt culture for years. The boardwalk market exists in its own world. Some of the trends come and go like the tide. Youd be hard-pressed to find a Wiz Khalifa Taylor Gang shirt anywhere on the boardwalk these days, or those blocky video game characters that once raked in billions. No, sorry, no more Minecraft, a store manager told a young boy and his father in Wildwood. On this sunny, warm day a few weeks before Memorial Day, Wildwood shirt merchants were aiming for the easy targets: the thousands who hit the raucous resort town that weekend for a drumline and band competition. Every store had a dozen or so offerings targeting the band kids, tie-dyed hoodies and tees with drummers marching across the shirts. Store managers say shirts marketed to those ever-increasing events and festivals are the steadiest sellers, from wrestling tournaments to the firefighters weekend to the recent explosion of country music festivals. Advertisement READ MORE: Do these 4 rest stops on the way to the Jersey Shore live up to the people theyre named after? Many of the classic, raunchy Wildwood novelty tees the boardwalk is known for were holdovers from previous summers: anime characters, confessions of love for hot moms and dads, Tupac wearing a Kobe Bryant jersey, and a whole slew of marijuana-inspired fashions that seem less controversial by the day. But there were new players, hot off the press, like shirts featuring Ice Spice shes like a rapper, one shirt seller said and walking billboards for Prime Hydration Drink, which various store employees described as a nutritional thing or like a Gatorade. You know Jake Paul from YouTube? I think its his thing, one store manager said. Luckily, this gumshoe reporter is deeply sourced in the retail business world. Its a drink by Logan Paul, my daughter, 18, texted me. Oddly, none of the stores have capitalized on early 2023s biggest Jersey Shore controversy: wind energy. There wasnt a Save the Whales shirt to be found up and down the boards. Its still early, said McQuade. Unless a famous person died or a meme takes over, it takes time. An ever odder, shockingly wholesome trend has emerged, both in Ocean City and Wildwood, considering the war on teenagers who gather in great numbers there. Shirt sellers in both resort towns say their biggest sellers, hands down, are tourist-themed shirts, with the town names in a chunky, 70s-style font, and a crucial image. It has to have the hibiscus flower on it, seller Shawn Keoughan, 24, said in Wildwood. They really took off last summer and its already hot right now already this year. In Ocean City, where modern shirts touting the resorts name are more common than in Wildwood, Luliia Lobunets at the Shirt Shack said teens there want the same thing: the hippie font and that flower. The flower is key, Lobunets said. They are a top seller. Keoughan said anime characters are still hot, and above him, a few tattooed Disney princesses brandishing handguns remained. He expects Donald Trump shirts to continue to sell at a steady pace. Some feature Trump with bulging biceps; another depicts him in a tropical shirt with a modern, high and tight haircut. One shirt at Keoughans store simply said Elon Musk 2024. The political stuff isnt as big as it used to be but with the election coming I think it might start picking up again. In the Ocean City store selling the dueling Donald Trump shirts, an employee who asked not to be identified said the not guilty shirts have outsold the guilty shirts by a big margin. In fact, I think we just sold our first guilty shirt this weekend, the woman said. In Wildwood, shops were still awash in the seemingly offensive shirts that will always make teen boys giggle. A glut of booty shorts remain, though youre unlikely to see anyone wearing them. A recent, clever booty short trend has Thick fil A emblazoned across the cheeks, in a font that mimics, copyrights-be-damned, the chicken sandwich peddler. The kids always get a kick out of the shorts, but theyre obviously not buying, said Andrew Brown, a shirt shop employee from New York. Theyre always trying to touch the butt. Pedestrians walk across a refreshed set of rainbow crosswalks, installed by the city over the weekend, at 13th and Locust Streets. Read more Philadelphias Gayborhood now has a more permanent pop of color, thanks to newly refreshed rainbow crosswalks at 13th and Locust Streets. The crosswalks were refreshed with a material known as thermoplastic, rather than paint, Streets Department spokesperson Keisha McCarty-Skelton said. The material is often used for permanent street markings, such as road striping, and is more durable and longer lasting than the traffic paint previously used to mark the rainbow crosswalks. The crosswalks also have a few more stripes this time around, representing the Progress Pride flag, which adds five additional stripes to the traditional Pride flag, and is an evolution of the Philly Pride Flag. Those colors black, brown, white, pink, and light blue represent transgender and marginalized communities, as well as people who have died of AIDS. The refresh of Phillys rainbow crosswalk comes at a time when LGBTQ rights are under attack across the country. There are about 490 anti-LGBTQ bills moving through state legislatures nationwide. Advertisement Installed Sunday, the new thermoplastic rainbow crosswalks were done under the Streets Departments Center City resurfacing project. They came following earlier repaving on 13th Street in order to prevent tire tracking on the new crosswalks, according to the city. Ramos and Associates, a local contractor, completed the work, which cost $125,000, McCarty-Skelton said. These rainbow crosswalks are supposed to be permanent, according to the Washington Square West Civic Association. Thats a marked change for the crosswalks, which have been a beloved landmark in the Gayborhood for just shy of a decade. Installed in June 2015, the crosswalks debuted a day before the Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage with its decision in Obergefell v. Hodges. Announced by Philly Pride Presents, the former organizers of Phillys annual Pride Parade, the crosswalks were later dedicated at the Annual Reminders Block Party, which honored the 50th anniversary of the first U.S. LGBT-rights group demonstrations. But the original crosswalks were not meant to be permanent, and by 2018, they had faded heavily due to years of traffic and utility work. There was no one consistently maintaining them, The Inquirer reported in 2018, but some locals had been using Swiffers to clean them the first month after they were installed. Its been destroyed, Franny Price, ousted executive director of Philly Pride Presents, told The Inquirer in 2018. The group dissolved in 2021 amid accusations of racism and transphobia. Price and the city then began looking for more permanent solutions to keep the crosswalks vibrant. One option, The Inquirer reported, was thermoplastic, which had been used in other cities such as West Hollywood to increase the longevity of their rainbow crosswalks. An initial refresh came last July, when PATCO crews repainted the rainbow crosswalks during an accessibility project, CBS3 reported. It is not clear how many other cities maintain rainbow crosswalks nationwide. But Philadelphia is among a number of places that feature them, including Seattle; San Diego; Key West, Fla., and Newport, R.I. Shreya Datta thought she had met her dream guy on Hinge, but ended up being scammed out of $450,000 in a cryptocurrency investment scheme known as pig butchering a loose translation of the name of the online scam in China, where its thought to have originated. Datta, 37, shared her story with The Inquirer in hopes of raising awareness about the con. We spoke to two experts Tracy Z. Maleeff, principal of Sherpa Intelligence, a cybersecurity research firm, and Ronnie Tokazowski, a cyber-romance scam victim advocate at Cofense Email Security about how to avoid these kinds of schemes. Victims reported losing $2.57 billion in cryptocurrency investment scams last year, nearly tripling from 2021, according to the FBIs internet Crimes Complaint Center (IC3). Be skeptical The old adage applies here: If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Listen for what someone isnt saying, Malleeff advised. Do they skirt direct questions about their life and change the subject? Are they avoiding being on camera or making excuses about why they cant meet up? That can be a tell. Advertisement And even if they do go on camera with you: A.I. has come a long way, Tokazowski said. Scammers can use filters to modify their appearance or share a video file to make it look like its streaming through a webcam. Not that fast Scammers will try to move quickly, Tokazowski said. Thats why anything thats urgent is something to be wary of, according to Maleeff. Dont download apps sent to you Always find apps on your own, Maleeff said, from an online store like Apples or Googles. Links sent by people you met on an app could be malware. Be careful of what you share online Dont offer information about your salary or investments with someone new. And outside of an interaction with someone on an app, Maleeff said, anything you post online is information a scammer can mine to manipulate you. Be empathetic with victims If youre talking to a friend or a loved one and concerned they might be getting scammed, Maleeff said its most important to not victim-blame. Theres nothing to gain from shaming. Keep in mind youre dealing with professional criminals, she said. Theyre as tactical as surgeons. Try sharing an article about the scam instead of alienating victims by judging their actions. If you do get scammed, alert authorities. Its hard to get money back after youve been scammed through crypto investment fraud, Tokazowski said, but your best bet is to report the scam to the IC3, the Federal Trade Commission, the Federal Communications Commission, and the U.S. Secret Service. Useful information include the name of the program you downloaded, the website it came from, and any usernames associated with it. Dont keep engaging with the scammer. The person on the other line is usually a victim themselves its likely theyve been trafficked and forced to work as scammers, Vice News and the South China Morning Post have reported and stringing that person along could get them in trouble. Its something Tokazowski has seen firsthand. Shaurn Thomas, embracing Attorney Marissa Bluestine of the Pennsylvania Innocence Project, with his lawyer James Figorski at the Philadelphia Criminal Justice Center in Center City in 2017. Read more Shaurn Thomas was a millionaire, but prosecutors say he killed a man over a $1,200 drug debt. Thomas was paid more than $4 million three years ago after spending 24 years behind bars for a murder conviction that was later overturned. And yet, a witness said in court Monday, he fatally shot a man on a North Philadelphia street corner earlier this year over the comparatively paltry sum. He said it was the principle, Ketra Veasy, accused of being Thomas getaway driver in the new crime, testified through tears on the witness stand. She said Thomas confessed to the killing as she drove them both back to her house afterward. Advertisement Thomas stands accused of killing of 38-year-old Akeem Edwards, who was fatally shot on the 3500 block of Germantown Avenue on Jan. 3. On Monday, Municipal Court Judge Wendy Pew held Thomas for trial on charges of first-degree murder and related crimes. Prosecutors also added a new charge of witness intimidation, saying Thomas sought to have Veasy killed earlier this spring because he thought she may have spoken to authorities. Veasy pleaded guilty on Friday to counts including conspiracy and aggravated assault, prosecutors said. The news of Thomas arrest earlier this spring and its connections to Veasy stunned many in the criminal justice system. His case was overturned just months before District Attorney Larry Krasner was sworn into office and dramatically expanded the offices focus on reviewing old convictions. And the settlement of his lawsuit came as prosecutors had begun helping to overturn dozens of other old cases, nearly all of them murders. Many of the men who have whove been released from prison as a result have gone on to form friendships and stayed in touch with one another. Veasy testified Monday that she met Thomas through that close-knit network: Both were connected to the Pennsylvania Innocence Project, which helped free Thomas, and which also supported Veasys brother Willie, whose murder case was overturned in 2019. A few years before her brothers release, Veasy said, she and Thomas developed an on-again-off-again romantic relationship. Last fall, she said, when she and Thomas were seeing one another, she told him shed bought some bad weed from her friend, Edwards. According to Veasy, that caused Thomas to ask her if Edwards might agree to sell some cocaine on his behalf. Late last year, Veasy said, Edwards and Thomas met to discuss the deal. She said Edwards took the drugs and told Thomas hed pay him $1,200 from the proceeds. But Edwards never paid, Veasy said, and Thomas grew impatient. He regularly asked her if shed seen Edwards, or whether shed heard him say anything about paying Thomas his money. Then, on Jan. 3, Veasy said, Thomas came to her Delaware home and drove with her into Philadelphia, where she was heading to pick up a rent check. After stopping at her mothers old house to use the bathroom, Veasy said, Thomas said they should drive through the neighborhood looking for Edwards. Thomas spotted him on Germantown Avenue, Veasy said, then asked her to park and he got out of the car. Veasy said she didnt know Thomas had a gun, and didnt want Edwards to be shot; shed been friends with him since she was 16, she said. Video played at Mondays hearing showed a man in a hoodie and jeans walking up and down the block for a few minutes. The man, who prosecutors say is Thomas, can then be seen shooting Edwards while concealing his hands with a pizza box. After the crime, Veasy said, Thomas came running back into her car and said: Hes hit, hes down, just drive, while moving to put his gun back in his waistband. Veasy said she was scared, and did what he told me to do. She said as she drove back to Delaware with Thomas, he made a mysterious allusion to his past. He said its his third homicide and he said he cant go back to jail, she said. It was not clear from the testimony what other killings Thomas may have been referring to, but Veasy said she felt intimidated by him. She followed his advice and got rid of her car and her phone. She said Thomas repeatedly warned her not to tell anyone about the crime. He said he knew where everybody lived, she said. Keep my mouth quiet or else. In February, as detectives were investigating Thomas potential role in the killing, they searched his house in Chester County and arrested him after they found a stolen gun inside. He was released on bail. Several weeks later, in March, Veasy was arrested and charged with murder. A few days after that, Thomas was charged in the killing as well. Assistant District Attorney Cydney Pope said Monday that in between Thomas gun arrest in Chester County and Veasys apprehension for the killing, Thomas put a hit out on Veasy, suspecting she played a role in the raid on his house. He also later sent her letters in jail, Pope said, writing in one of them: You make it through this and you wont be alone. Veasy said she took the messages as a threat. Veasy choked up often on the stand Monday, and at one point said shed tried to tell Thomas she could have paid him if the $1,200 was so important to him. Still, she acknowledged that she continued seeing Thomas after the murder, and text messages displayed during the hearing showed them talking intimately the day before Veasy was arrested. It was not immediately clear what might happen next in Veasys case; all of the court records connected to it were sealed Monday, and Pope said in court she had significant concerns about Veasys safety. Thomas was jailed without bail to await trial. His attorney, Michael Wiseman, declined to comment after the hearing. Edwards relatives, meanwhile, said they were grateful for the investigation that led to Thomas arrest. Edwards daughter, Zynajah, said of her father: He was a great man. Zynajahs mother, Sharondah King, said: Im just glad that we are able to get some justice. Supporters of Democratic candidate for mayor Cherelle Parker can be seen reflected in her campaign poster during her watch party at Laborers 332 in Philadelphia on Tuesday, May 16, 2023. Read more Black voters, especially those living in low-income neighborhoods, propelled Cherelle Parker to victory in the Democratic primary for mayor of Philadelphia. According to an Inquirer analysis, majority-Black precincts gave nearly 56% of their vote to Parker. It can be easy to dismiss Parkers win as politics as usual in Philly. She is, after all, the consummate insider of the Democratic establishment in the city. Sure, Parkers been around a long time. But neither of Phillys popular former mayors, Michael Nutter and John F. Street, endorsed her. Instead, they threw their weight behind Rebecca Rhynhart who leaned toward the progressive wing of her party albeit less so than Helen Gym, who had proclaimed socialists Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on her side. And the messaging from both Rhynhart and Gym played well with liberal wealthy white elites, 74% of whom voted for either Rhynhart or Gym. In recent elections, liberal wealthy white people seem to be trending toward socialist candidates, perhaps because they usually get to be the ones who benefit most from socialist systems. Advertisement Black voters, according to recent surveys, are typically motivated by different factors. A 2022 poll by the Kaiser Family Foundation and theGrio found that the top priorities of many Black voters are economic opportunity, a better life for their kids, and more cops on the beat. Only 17% of Black voters who responded to the survey wanted to decrease funding for the police. Here in Philadelphia, a Lenfest Institute for Journalism/SSRS poll showed that nearly 75% of Black respondents said the city needs more police officers. And a May poll done by Democrats for Education Reform shows that Black parents overwhelmingly support school choice as the means to a massive overhaul of American public education. While Parker didnt run on this platform, she is now allied with Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, a Democrat who, during the campaign, signaled his support for school choice. To be sure, no group of voters is monolithic. But it would be unwise and unfair to discount the survey data when analyzing Parkers win. No, Parker wasnt particularly substantive on policy specifics, but neither was anyone else in the Democratic primary. Also, Parker is charismatic and comes across as a pugilist which is how most Philadelphians see themselves. Most importantly, Parker successfully painted herself not just as a political moderate, but as a conservative Democrat. She boldly campaigned in opposition to ideas warmly embraced by the extreme left flank of her party. Positioning herself as the tough-on-crime candidate, Parker ran on a platform of expanding law enforcement, including her signature plan to add 300 police officers to the force. She also rejected supervised injection sites, pushing back against politicians like Gym (who signaled support) and Rhynhart (who hadnt ruled them out). Parker demonstrated some humility by changing her mind on the divisive issue of stop-and-frisk arrests, especially as a means to combat the current gun violence epidemic. As Tuesdays vote tally indicates, the hollow pleas to defund the police still fall on deaf ears, especially those of Black voters whose communities continue to be disproportionately affected by crime. Parker championed enhancing economic opportunity. She sees homeownership and job development as Phillys pathway to the middle class. To do so, Parker advocated for a business-friendly environment that encourages growth by cutting through the red tape and impediments to doing business in the city. A former teacher, Parker also did something that drew the ire of the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers (who endorsed Gym): she campaigned on year-round schooling and on-the-job vocational training for young people. Heres hoping she will challenge the established educational order that continues to marginalize people of color and traps kids in bad schools. Like most politicians who have been around for ages (looking at you, Gov. Shapiro), Parker knows how to play the political game and adapt to the times. If she becomes the first female mayor of Philadelphia, shell generate a ton of national media especially if she continues to vocally disavow the progressive tilt of her party. To buck that trend, shell have to govern as she ran: as a moderate (or even conservative) Democrat. But first, she must win in November. People hold candles as they gather for a vigil in the aftermath of a deadly shooting at the Tree of Life Congregation, in the Squirrel Hill neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Saturday, Oct. 27, 2018. Read more Access to guns makes antisemitism deadly. Access to guns makes racism deadly. Access to guns makes domestic violence deadly. Access to guns makes curiosity deadly. Advertisement Research shows that strong gun laws decrease gun deaths and injuries, while permissive gun laws increase gun violence. The overwhelming majority of us support stronger gun laws. A recent national Fox News poll found that more than 80% of voters and a majority of gun owners support universal background checks to keep guns out of the hands of felons and others who shouldnt have them. Sixty-one percent want a ban on assault weapons and semiautomatic weapons. We can stop the carnage, and the vast majority of us want to. Polling of Pennsylvania voters finds that 95% of us support universal background checks; 90% support mandatory reporting of lost and stolen guns; and 86% support red flag laws, which give families or law enforcement a way to temporarily remove guns from someone who poses a serious threat to themselves or others. Seventy-one percent support banning the sale of assault weapons and high-capacity gun magazines that hold more than 10 rounds of ammunition. The Pennsylvania state legislature is poised to finally address this epidemic. A raft of four evidence-based bills, the Common Agenda to End Gun Violence, is moving through the state House. The Common Agenda includes HB 338, which mandates the reporting of lost and stolen guns; HB 714, which requires a background check for every gun sale; HB 731, which requires the safe storage of firearms; and HB 1018, which establishes extreme risk protection orders (red flag laws). This is personal for me. Four and a half years ago, our congregation, Dor Hadash, along with New Light and Tree of Light Congregations, was attacked, and 11 congregants were murdered: Joyce Fienberg, Richard Gottfried, Rose Mallinger, Jerry Rabinowitz, Cecil Rosenthal, David Rosenthal, Bernice Simon, Sylvan Simon, Daniel Stein, Melvin Wax, and Irving Younger. Jury selection in the perpetrators trial began last month. For months before the shooting, he spewed antisemitic hatred on social media, but it was an assault rifle and three semiautomatic handguns that turned his hatred lethal. Unfortunately, this is far from the only example. A year ago, a man shot and killed 10 Black shoppers at a Tops supermarket in Buffalo, N.Y. His online manifesto is filled with racism, antisemitism, and white supremacy. But it was his Bushmaster XM-15 AR-15-style rifle that turned his hatred lethal. This month, a gunman with neo-Nazi tattoos and an online preoccupation with white supremacy and violence against women and Jews shot and killed eight people at a mall in Allen, Texas. Three of those killed were children. His AR-15 and handgun turned his hatred into murder. We see the same trend with abusers. Women are five times more likely to be murdered by an abusive partner when the abuser has access to a gun. The presence of a gun also increases the risk of multiple victims a majority of mass shootings involve or begin with domestic violence. Even the innocent curiosity of children can become deadly with ready access to guns. Earlier this month, a toddler in Indianapolis unintentionally shot and killed himself. In March, a 5-year-old child in Lafayette, Ind., shot and killed their 1-year-old brother; a 3-year-old girl in Harris County, Texas, unintentionally shot and killed her 4-year-old sister; and a 7-year-old boy in Cleveland unintentionally shot and killed himself. It doesnt have to be this way. The Pennsylvania House can vote on these commonsense bills as soon as today. Passage is by no means assured the gun safety majority in the state House is tenuous. Our voices, the voices of the voters of Pennsylvania, can make the difference. If the bills pass, they will then move to the state Senate, where our support will remain essential. These bills will not end antisemitism. They will not end racism or domestic violence. But if each of us contacts our state legislators with the message to support the Common Agenda to End Gun Violence, these bills will go a long way toward decreasing the toll that gun violence takes on our communities. Jo Recht is president of Congregation Dor Hadash. Dor Hadash is an inclusive, egalitarian, community-oriented, and member-led Reconstructionist Jewish congregation and one of three congregations formerly housed in the Tree of Life building in Pittsburgh. In her first major public appearance since winning the Democratic nomination for mayor, Cherelle Parker said Monday she was focused on working with state leaders to deliver wins for Philadelphia in Harrisburg and bringing the city together after a bruising campaign, saying this is the unifying moment here in our city. I dont care who you voted for, I dont care what section of the city you live in, your ZIP code, what your political philosophy or ideology is, Parker told reporters. Our democratic process, we worked through it, we now have the results, and we need all of Philadelphia to unify in order to move our city forward. Parker, a former state representative and City Council majority leader, delivered her remarks at a news conference Monday morning after meeting with Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro in the Center City offices of the Stradley Ronon Stevens & Young law firm. She said she chose the Shapiro meeting as the occasion to make her first public appearance to highlight her commitment to working with Harrisburg on issues like gun violence and public education. Parker and Shapiro, who is from Montgomery County, served together in Harrisburg when they were both state representatives and overlapped in the General Assembly from 2005 to 2012. Parker was hospitalized Tuesday night for a dental emergency and missed her own victory party. She spoke to The Inquirer on Wednesday and made a brief appearance at a media awards program Friday, but she has been otherwise recovering privately. Parker said Monday she had largely recovered after requiring medical attention for severe tooth pain on Election Day. She learned in February that she had to have a tooth pulled due to a fractured root canal from years earlier. But she said she put off the procedure to stay on the campaign trail. Advertisement Days before the election, the pain caught up with her, she said, and she had the tooth removed in an emergency procedure the Friday before the election. But she kept campaigning through the weekend without allowing it to heal, and the pain in her jaw became immense on Election Day, she said, prompting her hospital visit. Parker, who lives in Mount Airy, won the nomination with about a third of the vote in a crowded field of nine Democrats. Polls showed as many as five front-runners had viable paths to victory, but Parker ended up winning handily with an almost 10 percentage point lead over her nearest competitor. On Monday, she thanked her primary opponents and said she intends to meet with each of them. She prevailed with a moderate, tough-on-crime message that appealed to many of the citys voters of color, with Black and Latino neighborhoods delivering her the decisive win. Our message has taken hold across the city, she said, but most importantly in the neighborhoods and the communities who are closest to the pain of gun violence, neighborhood life, struggling schools, and quite frankly, a lack of opportunity. And with our win, to me, these communities they are now closest to the power. In November, shell take on Republican David Oh, who ran in the GOP primary unopposed. Parker is strongly favored to win, since Democrats outnumber Republicans in the city 7-1. A Republican hasnt held the mayors office in more than 70 years. If elected, Parker will be the first female mayor in city history. Philadelphia is one of just a few major American cities that has never elected a woman to be mayor. Parker on Monday said she had the opportunity to break Philadelphias glass ceiling thanks to women who came before her, such as former City Councilmembers Marian Tasco and Augusta Clarke, who were both mentors to Parker. I didnt get here alone. Im not superwoman, Parker said. I stand on the shoulders of some women who generations ago, they could have been standing up as the Democratic nominee for mayor were it not for their inability to raise the funds needed to compete with, most of the time, men. Parker on Monday also discussed several of her policy priorities. She defended her embrace of the controversial policing technique known as stop and frisk, saying she would ensure that officers have the latitude to make pedestrian stops when appropriate but wont tolerate police misconduct. She touted a neighborhood commercial corridor cleaning effort that she championed on Council and said would be the basis for her efforts to improve sanitation across the entire city. And she elaborated on her plan to pilot a policy that would extend school hours to better accommodate working parents and keep schools open year-round. Parker said her plan doesnt mean kids would be in a traditional classroom setting all day from 7:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Instead, she would like schools to offer more opportunities for development, whether it be through the building trades or new technology, such as coding. Superintendent Tony B. Watlington Sr. will present his five-year strategic plan on Thursday, and district officials have confirmed to The Inquirer that a year-round school pilot program will be part of that plan. I was happy to see the superintendent talk about a potential pilot, Parker said, because if you look and read my plan as it was referred to, I talked about a pilot as well, and you get a chance to see what it would look like here, in the city of Philadelphia. Parker is likely to become mayor after winning less than a third of the vote in a low-turnout primary. Thats not uncommon in Philadelphia elections, which have seen fewer ballots cast in recent decades and are often won by candidates who fail to take a majority of votes when there are three or more serious contenders. Still, Parker said she will be focused on getting more Philadelphians to believe that city government can improve their lives, which will in turn improve voter participation. Low turnout to me equates to apathy, frustration, lack of hope, of believing in government, Parker said. Too many Philadelphians dont believe that government can work for them, and were going to be working very hard to change that narrative. City Councilmember Cindy Bass (center) cheers after a shoutout from the D.J. at an election night watch party for Democratic candidate for mayor Cherelle Parker. Bass won a close primary race. Read more Philadelphia City Councilmember Cindy Bass a three-term Democrat who faced one of the most competitive reelection campaigns in the city has won her primary race by a slim margin. With about 95% of the vote tallied, Bass held about a 400-vote lead Monday morning over progressive challenger Seth Anderson-Oberman, according to unofficial election returns. She declared victory in the race Wednesday while ahead by a similar margin, but the Associated Press did not call the race until Monday morning, nearly a week after the May 16 primary. This was a hard-fought race, but I am pleased to have won the Democratic primary for city council in the 8th District, Bass said when she declared victory last week. We need to be diligent about ensuring that every last vote is counted, but based on our analysis of the divisions remaining we are confident in the outcome. Bass represents the 8th Council District, which spans an economically and racially diverse swath of North and Northwest Philadelphia from the wealthy and largely white Chestnut Hill, to the more mixed-race and progressive Mount Airy, to the working-class, majority Black enclaves of Germantown. Anderson-Oberman conceded Monday shortly after the race was called, thanking his supporters in a race that turned out to be the closest in the city. There are many challenges facing our district and the city and we must pull together to solve them, he said. Although we came up just short, the issues raised by our campaign and supporters remain of urgent importance and require immediate action. Advertisement Given the closeness of the race, the campaign had been waiting for election officials to tally provisional ballots paper ballots that are used when voter eligibility issues arise, like when a persons name is not found in the poll books, or they lack proper identification when voting for the first time. The City Commissioners could not confirm the number of provisional ballots in the 8th District, but a spokesperson said the final tally would be posted online by Monday evening. The race, for many voters, was seen as a referendum on gentrification and development, as well as Bass leadership style. READ MORE: Councilmember Cindy Bass is facing a serious progressive challenger. Will voters choose her experience or change? Bass, 55, has long had political enemies in her district, but had never faced a serious challenger before this year. She emphasized her experience over Anderson-Oberman, 52, a union organizer who ran a progressive campaign focused on increasing affordable housing and ending the stalled redevelopment of district landmarks. She argued that with a new mayor about to take office and high turnover on Council, now was not the time to gamble on a progressive who may not have the know-how to deliver on lofty policy ideas. Bass also had the backing of party leaders, Phillys largest municipal union, and SEPTAs largest labor union. Anderson-Oberman also attacked Bass as an ineffective leader whose tenure had been marked by division and political cronyism. Bass cast Anderson-Oberman as an outsider who, despite growing up in the district, had not held a visible leadership role. More than 26,000 ballots had been counted in the race as of Monday, and ultimately the race was decided by about a 1% margin. Bass ran strong in the Germantown and North Philadelphia sections of the district, while Anderson-Oberman outperformed her in Chestnut Hill and Mount Airy. Barring a third-party challenger, Bass will run unopposed in the November election and is on track to begin her fourth term in Council next year. Nina Ahmad, Democratic candidate for City Council at-large, at the United Democratic Spring Dinner in Philadelphia earlier this month. Read more In 1981, Nina Ahmad was living in an attic outside Detroit, learning English from reruns of Happy Days, and studying chemistry at a commuter school. It was a lonely time for the young immigrant, who moved to Michigan after enduring years of war in her native Bangladesh. In a sea of people who didnt look like me, didnt sound like me, I just had to hunker down and make do, Ahmad said. I didnt have the luxury to complain or feel like I cant do this. Ahmad moved to Philadelphia two years later to attend the University of Pennsylvania, kick-starting a successful career as a molecular biologist, womens rights advocate, deputy mayor, political candidate, and real estate developer. Next year, she is poised to add City Council member to that resume. Advertisement READ MORE: A whos who of the (likely) new Democratic faces in City Council next year Ahmad, 64, won one of five Democratic nominations last week for at-large seats on Council. In deep-blue Philadelphia, Democratic nominees are all but guaranteed to prevail in the general election, putting Ahmad on track to become the first South Asian and the first immigrant in recent memory to hold a seat in the legislature. Her path to victory was far from certain in political circles. It was Ahmads third run for elected office, following two unsuccessful bids at the state level. Running in a crowded field of 27 Democrats, she described herself as an outsider who had to fight for credibility among donors and win over allies. The Democratic City Committee recommended but did not officially endorse her. She picked up support from dozens of ward leaders in the city. And she self-financed her campaign, delivering her message to voters on television while stacking endorsements from a patchwork of labor unions, Democratic officials, and social justice groups. Just cause you maybe cleaned up your block doesnt make you City Council material, said Ernest Garrett, president of District Council 33, the municipal workers union that backed Ahmads bid. You need to be more active in the community and with her background, the way she talks, her vision she sounded like she could have been a good mayoral candidate. Ahmad casts herself as a fighter for marginalized groups, and a trained scientist who will bring a data-savvy lens to complex budgetary and development issues. She said her first term will focus on low-hanging-fruit solutions to addressing crime and economic growth in struggling neighborhoods. From war-torn Bangladesh to Penn student After the Bangladesh Liberation War broke out in 1971, Ahmad recalled, her childhood was spent at home with her mother in Dhaka, abiding by strict curfews as genocide and guerrilla warfare ravaged the country. As a young Ph.D student at Penn, she saw Philadelphias challenges income inequality, gun violence, and the crack epidemic. She recalled seeing the smoke from the 1985 MOVE bombing from her apartment in West Philadelphia. When I see things like this, it brings back all kinds of memories, she said. One of the things I sympathize with is young children in the city who are terrified of bullets flying around them. READ MORE: Philadelphias next leaders will inherit a divided city at an inflection point in its history After Penn, she worked as the director of molecular biology at Wills Eye Hospital, launched a small biotech business, and cofounded a successful real estate financing firm called JNA Capital Inc. with her husband, developer Ahsan Nasratullah, while raising their family in East Mount Airy. Gregarious by nature, she found her political spark in 2004 when she began organizing immigrant communities around Howard Deans ill-fated presidential campaign. My goal is to take the energy Dean has generated and use it to pull in people who are disenfranchised and felt they never had a voice, she told The Inquirer at the time. In 2009, former Mayor Michael Nutter appointed her to his Commission on Asian American Affairs. She later landed a job as the president for the Philadelphia chapter for the National Organization for Women, and then moved to Mayor Jim Kenneys administration as his deputy mayor for public engagement. She always organized women, she always marched, and she always made sure our voices were heard, said State Rep. Darisha Parker, who endorsed Ahmad. Ahmad left City Hall in 2017 to float a short-lived campaign against then-U.S. Rep. Bob Brady a move that made her some enemies in Democratic circles. She went on to spend over $1 million financing unsuccessful bids for lieutenant governor in 2018 and auditor general in 2020. Some began to quietly criticize her as a perennial candidate, hungry for any public office she could get. But Ahmad said the statewide campaigns drove her back to the local stage. What those races taught me was that Philadelphia is looked at in a very poor light in Pennsylvania, and I want to rectify that, Ahmad said. We are an economic driver in this state. This years Council at-large race was dominated by a battle between business interests and progressive groups, but Ahmad did not fall neatly into either camp. She built her own coalition and, aided by over $250,000 in personal contributions to her campaign, finished fourth in the crowded contest. No one ever gave her a fair shake, said political consultant Kyle Darby, who did not work for any candidates in the race. But she fought, and she fought. She really did it her way. Navigating a return to City Hall While allies said Ahmads immigrant roots and advocacy career will lend her a unique perspective on Council, her ties to development could be a source of scrutiny. Real estate holdings are a hot-button issue for lawmakers, given Councils wide influence over land use and development in the city. But shes not the first candidate to have development ties former Councilmember and mayoral candidate Allan Domb owns more than 400 Philadelphia properties. And Ahmad said she would come up with a plan to avoid conflicts of interest. While she is removed from day-to-day operations, she still owns a 49% stake in JNA Capital, and remains active advising what she describes as community-oriented development projects. The companys portfolio includes the Crane Chinatown apartment tower, the Africatown in Southwest Philly, and a historic theater restoration in Delaware County. Its development partners also include political heavy-hitters like the University of Pennsylvania. Were going to have a financial disclosure and talk to the ethics board to find out how we handle this, she said. If elected, Ahmad said she would seek economic relief by seeking automatic enrollment in tax breaks for homeowners who are leaving money on the table and by cleaning up tangled-title ownership for inherited properties. While Councils power is limited on gun violence, she would also like to facilitate conversations between city agencies and eds and meds leaders to bring more gun violence disruption services to local hospitals. This is a virus its a pathogen and I would like to begin treating it with services in the emergency room, she said. I want to be sure we are looking for the lowest-hanging fruit. HARRISBURG The Pennsylvania House approved two gun reform bills Monday, while a third measure failed on the House floor highlighting the fragile nature of Democrats one-seat majority. Democrats had hoped to pass a four-bill package of what they called commonsense gun reforms. But one was voted down, and House leadership didnt bring the fourth up for a vote Monday. The passage of two reform measures represented a victory for gun control advocates, who have spent years pushing legislative action and were hopeful for change when Democrats took control of the House this year. Still, Democratic leaders inability to muster enough votes for the full package of legislation showed that their narrow majority may not be sufficient to accomplish their legislative agenda. And its unlikely that the bills approved Monday will pass the GOP-controlled Senate. House Democrats and a handful of Republicans approved two gun reforms that would: Advertisement Allow law enforcement to temporarily seize firearms from someone deemed by a judge to be an immediate threat to themselves or others, otherwise known as a red-flag bill. It passed 101-99, with two Bucks County Republicans joining Democrats to advance the bill. Close the so-called gun show loophole by expanding background checks to include private purchases of long-guns. It passed 109-92, with several Republicans joining the Democratic majority. A third bill and most notable to Philadelphia, where illegally obtained guns are often involved in shootings failed on the House floor, by a 100-101 vote. The bill would have required firearm owners to report their guns as lost or stolen to law enforcement within three days. Rep. Frank Burns (D., Cambria), one of few elected House members from a rural county, voted with Republicans to defeat the bill. He votes with Republicans more than any other House Democrat on partisan bills, an Inquirer analysis found earlier this year. The fourth bill that did not get a vote Monday would have required trigger locks to be purchased with some gun purchases. In a three-hour debate on the House floor, House Republicans largely rejected the gun bills as violating the U.S. Constitution. They argued that the proposals strip a person of their 2nd Amendment or due process rights. But Democrats, especially those from Philadelphia, said the bills were necessary tools to help protect communities with high rates of gun violence. My police in the city of [Philadelphia], they want all of these pieces of legislation to help them actually fight crime, said Rep. Jordan Harris (D., Philadelphia). Bleak future in Senate The two gun reform bills that passed Monday have a bleak future in the state Senate, which has historically declined to consider any gun control bills. Sen. Lisa Baker (R., Luzerne), who chairs the Senate Judiciary committee, said in a statement she would analyze each of the bills. They must be approved by her committee before advancing to a vote in the full Senate. Baker rejected the notion that the bills were dead-on-arrival in her committee, adding, I have frequently said what I am looking for in potentially considering any gun-related bills: bipartisan involvement and support, full enforceability, and ensuring due process in accordance with constitutional protections. Senate Majority Leader Joe Pittman (R., Indiana) said in a statement that advancing measures to increase safety and security is of chief importance to Senate Republicans. We remain steadfast in our ongoing support of law enforcement, leadership of school safety initiatives, and examination of ways to provide greater mental and behavioral health support to help protect our communities, Pittman added. Pennsylvania currently has robust laws in place pertaining to guns, which must be enforced in every corner of our commonwealth. At that time, there was a trend in the industry where a lot of brokers were getting paid, overriding commission, and possibly profit share on their portfolio, he said. If they were a smaller broker, they were in a buying group. If they were a larger broker, they could do it themselves where they would have 20 million of premium and theyd say, OK, well share that at $5 million each to four main underwriters, and in return, we get higher commissions, but ultimately, [they] cut away the competitiveness of the negotiation. Without the tree planting and the other work being done, it might be 15 or 20 years before it looks like what it was, but with the work being done by the volunteers, itll probably be back in a third of that time, which means that itll handle flooding in the future much better. The new legislation was created with industry input to clarify regulatory expectations and best practices, the DFR said in a news release. The legislation aligns the statute with the information collected when a new company applies for a license and updates the language for how the confidentiality of that information is handled. It also extends that treatment to subsequent updates, approved amendments or revisions to a companys information, and its plan of operation. New You can now listen to Insurance Journal articles! The rollout of the Lloyds Market Associations (LMA) cyber war exclusions received considerable criticism for the chaos and confusion they caused leading up to their effective date on March 31. But here are some certainties about the new regime: A compliant cyber war exclusion must be included in policies purchased through Lloyds its not voluntary. Also, the most commonly used exclusion LMA5567A/B does not exclude state-sponsored cyber attacks, unless certain thresholds are met the most notable of which is that the insured digital assets must be located in a state that has suffered a major detrimental impact. Another important fact to keep in mind is that the LMAs exclusions can be revised, provided they adhere to requirements listed in Lloyds Market Bulletin Y5381. Of course, the devil is in the detail and some market practitioners say that the legal profession could be a major beneficiary, when and if future disputes arise. While Lloyds executives admit the market has faced and will continue to face some disruption, they support the need for exclusions. Burkhard Keese, Lloyds CFO, admitted the exclusions have received a lot of criticism, but are needed to provide contractual certainty around uninsurable losses. During a media briefing in March to discuss the markets 2022 financial results, he said: Our stakeholders expect Lloyds to provide leadership in these difficult decisions, and I believe we are happy to take and to accept that leadership. Lloyds CEO John Neal admitted during the same briefing that the cyber war exclusion could cost the market some income. (Some market participants have suggested that it will be the U.S. market that benefits from the rollout of the exclusion, although it remains to be seen how the market will evolve once people get used to the new regime.) Youve got to define what limits youre giving, what exposure youve got. Its obvious. It may take others a little while to get there, but its the right answer, Neal said. We cannot leave ourselves in a similar situation that we found ourselves in, for example, with business interruption claims where were debating the cover at the point of loss. So, weve made the right decision, short term. Do I think that could cost us some income? Yes, I think it could, but cyber is still our fastest growing insurance product anyway, Neal confirmed. Keeses and Neals concerns about clear wordings appear to be justified, given the recent decision in the appellate division of New Jersey Superior Court, which upheld a state trial court opinion that the war exclusion in drugmaker Merck & Co.s all-risk property insurance policy does not apply in the case of the cyberattack the company suffered in 2017. (Notably, this was not a cyber policy). The court ruled that insurers could not use the policy exclusion to avoid covering about $1.4 billion in damages Merck said it suffered from the NotPetya cyberattack of spring 2017. Nevertheless, there is an agreement that the LMA cyber war exclusions may be a good start for discussions but further refining probably will be required. While many Lloyds syndicates and non-Lloyds insurers have adopted the LMA exclusions, other insurers (such as Beazley) are providing their own acceptable adaptations of the exclusions. Brokers, including Marsh (in conjunction with Munich Re) and WTW, also have prepared adaptations in response to consultations with cyber insurance buyers. Deeply Unhelpful But the rollout wasnt an easy one in part because of communication failures from the press and even the LMA itself. Lessons have been learned. Misreporting about the LMA exclusions specifically that Lloyds war exclusions do not cover state-sponsored cyberattacks has been deeply unhelpful, said Andrew Hill, global head of cyber coverage and innovation at WTW, who moderated a panel on the LMA cyber war exclusions at the Zywave Cyber Risk Insights London Conference 2023. While one of the exclusions does exclude all state-sponsored attacks thats LMA5564 and its iterations Hill said that exclusion is not being used anyway. The most commonly used exclusion is LMA5567, which does not blanket exclude nation-state attacks. In fact, on the contrary, it covers nation state cyberattacks unless certain thresholds have been met, he added. Hill suggested the manner in which Lloyds rolled out its cyber war exclusions had shaken buyers confidence in the London market and the communications surrounding the publication of the LMA exclusions could have been handled better. Im sure brokers all share experiences of clients having some reticence to buy into the LMA war exclusions. For example, Hill noted that over the past year, clients have had to face the prospect of five, six or seven different war exclusions in one tower of insurance because there is a lack of market consensus on appropriate war exclusions, which has not been helpful. In an emailed interview after the meeting, Hill said the sheer number of war exclusions hitting the market in recent months has naturally led to some confusion among insurance buyers. Whilst Im not necessarily recognizing that there has been tangible damage to the perception of the London market, I can see that theres been a lot of very unhelpful publicity, and I think thats based on a misunderstanding of how these clauses actually operate, said Helga Munger, senior cyber claims manager, Munich Re, who spoke on the panel and also worked on developing the exclusions. Patrick Davison, underwriting director for the LMA, admitted that the rollout hadnt gone according to plan. What we probably didnt do very well and with hindsight could have done better, was engage a bit more broadly around some of the principles of what we were doing. He recalled that there was a long debate over three years to develop the exclusions and the initial publication in 2021 was met relatively quietly, but with the re-publication of the clauses last year, the volume of debate increased significantly. Now had we had some earlier conversations about principle and intent, would those discussions have been less emotive and more constructive? Quite possibly, I think, is the answer. So, there are some lessons for us as an organization. Davison said the model clauses are designed to stimulate debate and weve certainly achieved that. The LMA has published four exclusions for war, cyber war and cyber operation: LMA5564, LMA5565, LMA5566, and LMA5567. (In January, the LMA issued revised versions the A clauses with LMA5567A proving to be the most popular. A Marsh-Munich Re exclusion is also available to the market.) With the benefit of hindsight, Hill asked the Zywave panel, if it was possible that a war exclusion spread over a page and a half, which deals with multi-layered issues of war, nation-state attacks and infrastructure issues, was perhaps too ambitious to be socialized with clients who perhaps dont have that amount of time to invest in understanding all of those layered issues? Munger acknowledged that the first iteration of the LMA5567 clause was complex but it has since been revised, with input from Munich Re, Marsh and Aon. We have a clause, which LMA published this year, which is much simpler, much shorter, much more concise and very understandable, she said. So, I think weve recognized that the complexity of the language was an impediment, but the function of the clause is basically the same. What we are trying to exclude is those catastrophic events that insurance cannot possibly sustainably cover. Hill expressed concern that there are signs in the international cyber insurance market of a trans-Atlantic dichotomy. On the one hand, there is the influential U.S. market, which is still hanging its hat on war exclusions based on the NMA464-type exclusion drafted as far back as 1938. On the other hand, he said, there is the Lloyds market, which together with Munich Re and a few other companies are putting their weight behind the LMA exclusions. (The NMA, or the Lloyds Non-Marine Association, is the predecessor of the LMA). In response, Munger speculated that some U.S. markets may be hesitant to change until the outcome of the Merck case. (The Zywave meeting was held before the recent Merck decision). I would say that the debate that we have sparked is actually beneficial for people, whether or not the clauses themselves are the final answer but I suspect theyre not, she said. Questions Remain Hill questioned the decision not to define what is meant by major detrimental impact. (The trigger for the exclusion would be an attack that has a major detrimental impact on a states ability to function). He acknowledged, however, that a one-size-fits-all definition applicable to the functions of every nation state would not be without its challenges. Hill recalled a conversation with a representative of a leading global insurer, which is still using a NMA464-type exclusion and expressed concern that LMA5567 just kicks the issues of interpretation further down the road. The argument is that, while the LMA exclusions succeed in clarifying whats meant by war and whats meant by a nation-state attack, we still have this concept of major detrimental impact, which would require interpretation in the event of the exclusions application, Hill said. Davison said the definition of major detrimental impact was not included because the complexity of defining that term would mean that you would probably end up with a list of types of things that would happen, which at the time we felt was not the correct way of proceeding. The aim was to give the utmost transparency, according to Munger. So weve given those additional explanations of what war means or what is a cyber operation as a part of war. When it comes to the additional concepts of major detrimental impact to the functioning of the state, we do have references that we used for that [which] were discussed right at the beginning in the LMA discussions. And they relate to, for example, the UK critical national infrastructure guidelines, which references just what a high bar that major detrimental impact is, she said. Davison emphasized that the LMA is open to suggestions about how to improve the exclusions. I think our view was that there wasnt an easier or clearer way of doing it the current time. Topics Cyber Excess Surplus Lloyd's New You can now listen to Insurance Journal articles! When the Federal Emergency Management Agency unveiled its new Risk Rating 2.0 methodology for calculating flood insurance, advocates and critics alike warned that it would mean higher premiums for thousands of property owners, especially in low-elevation coastal areas. Now, the full impact of the sticker shock is becoming clear, thanks to new data released by FEMA that shows price increases and decreases by county and by ZIP codes. For some parts of Florida, including the appropriately named Hell Gate on the East Coast, flood insurance will spike an average of 342%, according to the Miami Herald, which analyzed some of the data. The most expensive ZIP codes in Florida include the Miami areas Key Biscayne, which will eventually see flood rates as high as $7,000 annually, on average, the Herald reported. Most ZIP codes across the Southeastern U.S. will see some increase, the data show. In parts of Pensacola, in the northwestern part of Florida, the average flood premium will double, from $639 annually to $1,293. In Houma, Louisiana, southwest of New Orleans, the average premium will jump from $982 per year to $3,511. Some seemingly flood-prone areas may face smaller price hikes than might be expected, due to a number of factors in the new rating system. In two Houston, Texas, ZIP codes that were hardest hit by flooding in Hurricane Harvey in 2017, the average premium will rise by about 50% to 60%. In ZIP code 77028, on Houstons northeast shoulder, the average annual cost will go from $13 to $1,166, the database shows. And its not just coastal areas. Albany, Kentucky, ZIP code 42602, which has seen historic flooding in recent years, will see prices soar from $741 to $4,597, on average, the FEMA data show. Perhaps some good news is that some spots will see decreases under RR 2.0, which is based less on FEMAs much-criticized flood maps and more on a multitude of factors, including rainfall levels, elevation, a homes distance from water, and rebuilding costs. In one St. Petersburg ZIP code, for example, more than 80% of policies will see a decrease in premiums, the data show. Existing property owners wont feel the pain all at once. Federal law limits the rate increases to no more than 18% annually on renewals. For people buying new policies, though, the full impact will be painfully obvious. For the past year, FEMA has required new policies to be rated under RR 2.0. Even before the FEMA data was broken down by ZIP code, some insurance agents have had a pretty good idea of the magnitude of the changes. For one policyholder in a flood zone in Palmetto Bay, Florida, his annual premium will eventually climb from just over $1,000 to almost $5,000, said Clayton Fischer, an agent with Blue Marlin Insurance in Coral Gables. For a modest slab home in Homestead, Florida, with 1,700 square feet and a replacement value of $271,207, a policy through Wright Flood Insurance will come to about $2,300. I have found private carriers to be not only competitive but, in some cases, more competitively priced than the NFIP RR2.0 policies, Fischer said. He also noted that some prospective home buyers may not be aware of the soaring premiums. If the seller doesnt explain about the new rating system, which grandfathers in existing owners, buyers could easily assume that their rates will remain the same. Florida homeowners with Citizens Property Insurance Corp. also will see higher premiums this year. The Florida Legislature late last year required all Citizens policyholders to buy flood insurance, regardless of the propertys locale. Topics Florida Flood New You can now listen to Insurance Journal articles! A bill that would have required school officials to disclose to inquiring parents that their child is using a different name or being referred to as being a different gender was defeated Thursday in the New Hampshire House. The bill had passed the GOP-dominated Senate in March along party lines. But while Republicans hold a razor-thin majority in the 400-member House, Democrats had a one-vote edge in attendance for Thursdays session. Democrats passed several poison pill amendments to weaken the bill before it was defeated on a 195-190 vote, with two Republicans crossing party lines to oppose it. Rep. Gerri Cannon, a Democrat from Somersworth who was one of the first transgender lawmakers elected in New Hampshire, said her heart was beating faster and faster with each amendment until the final vote. I was truly excited, she said. Ive been so upset with whats going on in this country. Many states with Republican-controlled legislatures have enacted similar measures, fueled by parental frustration with schools that boiled over during the coronavirus pandemic. In the U.S. House, such a bill was the first legislation that House Speaker Kevin McCarthy formally announced fulfilling a major part of the GOP campaign platform. The New Hampshire version sought to establish a consistent mechanism for parents to be notified of information relating to the health, well-being, and educational progress of their minor children while those children are in the custody and control of the public schools. Now is the time to recognize that parents, not schools, not school personnel, are the parents with all those rights and responsibilities for their minor children, said Rep. Rick Ladd, a Republican from Haverhill. The final vote to indefinitely postpone the bill means the topic cant be revisited this session, a scenario that drew an angry response from House Majority Leader Jason Osborne. This will send a message to parents that they must continue, until the next election when they can replace their representatives, to accept that school is a mysterious and secretive black box where they deposit their children, who knows what happens inside that box and who knows what comes out the other side, he said. Opponents have argued that while it may appear benign in detailing many rights already covered by existing state and federal law, the bill would have exposed LGBQT+ students to the risk of abuse at home a bad idea for young people who are already prone to stress, depression and suicidal thoughts. Rep. Linda Ryan, a Democrat from Nashua and a retired teacher, objected to a provision that would have allowed parents to sue school personnel. If I have to keep a record and call every one of those parents every single time I see Susie and Sally hugging in the hallway, we will never have another public school teacher again, she said. I strongly encourage you to go to your public schools and substitute for less than $100 a day and see for your very own self what this bill will do to our public schools and our teachers. Gov. Chris Sununu vetoed a similar bill last year that would have required schools to automatically notify parents about students sexual or gender identity. Sununu said Wednesday he generally supported the new bill. Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission. Copyright 2023 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Topics K-12 New You can now listen to Insurance Journal articles! The families of Sandy Hook school shooting victims are preparing to sue Alex Jones wife and other family members to help satisfy $1.5 billion in judgments they won from lawsuits against the bankrupt right wing conspiracy theorist over his lies about the deadly 2012 U.S. school massacre. Jones has engaged in financial gymnastics to hide his assets and avoid paying the judgments, spreading money to friends, family members, and shell companies, David Zensky, a lawyer for the families, said on Friday during a bankruptcy court hearing in Houston. The families have a very strong case to claw back certain payments to Jones family, including a $1 million payment from Jones to his wife, Zensky said. U.S. bankruptcy law allows debtors or their creditors to unwind asset transfers that were made before bankruptcy in an effort to avoid paying debts. The families have investigated about $62 million in transfers out of the Jones company. Jones attorney, Vickie Driver, said Jones was not opposed to unwinding payments if they were proven to be improper, but he would prefer to appoint an independent expert for that work. You can imagine that if someone was to sue their wife over transfers, thats a little hard in the home, Driver said. The families have accused Jones and FSS of profiting off lies about the shooting for years and sued him for defamation. They have won about $1.5 billion in two trials so far. Jones and his company Free Speech Systems filed for bankruptcy protection in December and July of last year. Jones had claimed the killing of 20 students and six staff members in the 2012 Sandy Hook elementary school massacre in Newtown, Connecticut, was staged with actors as part of a government plot to seize Americans guns. Jones has since acknowledged the shooting occurred. U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Christopher Lopez, who is overseeing the bankruptcies, said Jones and the Sandy Hook families should make one last effort to reach a settlement. Its time for everyone to put their cards on the table, said Lopez, who set a July 21 deadline for mediation. (Reporting by Dietrich Knauth, Editing by Alexia Garamfalvi and Marguerita Choy) Topics Lawsuits Exxon Mobil Corp on Friday said an ongoing dispute over oil-spill insurance in Guyana could halt production at its first offshore platform there, cutting revenue by about $350 million per month. A Guyanese court this month found Exxon in breach of insurance obligations for Liza One, its first offshore oil project, and called for additional insurance adequate to protect against a catastrophic oil spill. The government has appealed the court ruling. Exxon and partners in an offshore consortium that has produced all the countrys oil to date have $600 million in insurance and up to $19 billion in assets in the country, Exxon officials said at media briefing. The consortium is working with the countrys Environmental Protection Agency on financial guarantees to cover damages and remediation of any oil spills, said Exxon Country Manager Alistair Routledge. Exxon said that if the sides are unable to agree, it could halt output from Lisa One platform and cost about $350 million in lost revenue. Guyana would incur a hit of $80 million to $88 million to earnings from its share of production, according to the countrys National Resource Funds latest quarterly report. The court set a June 10 deadline for the group to provide authorities with an unlimited liability agreement. We are working with our affiliated companies to finalize those papers to provide them to the EPA after a very exhaustive process, Routledge said. Liza One, which inaugurated Guyanas oil production in 2019, has an environmental permit requiring provision of two forms of insurance coverage, one from the affiliate that stands at $600 million in case of an oil spill, and a parent guarantee committing to cover all costs beyond the $600 million threshold. The offshore vessel is pumping over 155,000 barrels of oil per day. Photo: (AP Photo/Richard Drew, File) Topics Profit Loss Rapid advances in artificial intelligence (AI) such as Microsoft-backed OpenAIs ChatGPT are complicating governments efforts to agree laws governing the use of the technology. Here are the latest steps national and international governing bodies are taking to regulate AI tools: AUSTRALIA * Seeking input on regulations The government is consulting Australias main science advisory body and is considering next steps, a spokesperson for the industry and science minister said in April. BRITAIN * Planning regulations The Financial Conduct Authority, one of several state regulators that has been tasked with drawing up new guidelines covering AI, is consulting with the Alan Turing Institute and other legal and academic institutions to improve its understanding of the technology, a spokesperson told Reuters. Britains competition regulator said on May 4 it would start examining the impact of AI on consumers, businesses and the economy and whether new controls were needed. Britain said in March it planned to split responsibility for governing AI between its regulators for human rights, health and safety, and competition, rather than creating a new body. CHINA * Planning regulations Chinas cyberspace regulator in April unveiled draft measures to manage generative AI services, saying it wanted firms to submit security assessments to authorities before they launch offerings to the public. Beijing will support leading enterprises in building AI models that can challenge ChatGPT, its economy and information technology bureau said in February. EUROPEAN UNION * Planning regulations Key EU lawmakers on May 11 agreed on tougher draft rules to rein in generative AI and proposed a ban on facial surveillance. The European Parliament will vote on the draft of the EUs AI Act next month. Related: Legislation to Govern AI Takes Another Step in Europe EU lawmakers had reached a preliminary deal in April on the draft that could pave the way for the worlds first comprehensive laws governing the technology. Copyright protection is central to the blocs effort to keep AI in check. The European Data Protection Board, which unites Europes national privacy watchdogs, set up a task force on ChatGPT in April. The European Consumer Organisation (BEUC) has joined in the concern about ChatGPT and other AI chatbots, calling on EU consumer protection agencies to investigate the technology and the potential harm to individuals. FRANCE * Investigating possible breaches Frances privacy watchdog CNIL said in April it was investigating several complaints about ChatGPT after the chatbox was temporarily banned in Italy over a suspected breach of privacy rules. Frances National Assembly approved in March the use of AI video surveillance during the 2024 Paris Olympics, overlooking warnings from civil rights groups. G7 * Seeking input on regulations Group of Seven leaders meeting in Hiroshima, Japan, acknowledged on May 20 the need for governance of AI and immersive technologies and agreed to have ministers discuss the technology as the Hiroshima AI process and report results by the end of 2023. G7 nations should adopt risk-based regulation on AI, G7 digital ministers said after a meeting on April 29-30 in Japan. IRELAND * Seeking input on regulations Generative AI needs to be regulated, but governing bodies must work out how to do so properly before rushing into prohibitions that really arent going to stand up, Irelands data protection chief said in April. ITALY * Lifted ban ChatGPT is available again to users in Italy, a spokesperson for OpenAI said on April 28. Italy temporarily banned ChatGPT in March after its data protection authority raised concerns over possible privacy violations and for failing to verify that users were aged 13 or above, as it had requested. SPAIN * Investigating possible breaches Spains data protection agency said in April it was launching a preliminary investigation into potential data breaches by ChatGPT. It has also asked the EUs privacy watchdog to evaluate privacy concerns surrounding ChatGPT, the agency told Reuters in April. U.S. * Seeking input on regulations The U.S. Federal Trade Commissions chief said on May 3 the agency was committed to using existing laws to keep in check some of the dangers of AI, such as enhancing the power of dominant firms and turbocharging fraud. Related: Washington Is Determined to Govern AI, but How? Senator Michael Bennet introduced a bill on April 27 that would create a task force to look at U.S. policies on AI, and identify how best to reduce threats to privacy, civil liberties and due process. The Biden administration said in April it was seeking public comments on potential accountability measures for AI systems. President Joe Biden had earlier told science and technology advisers that AI could help to address disease and climate change, but it was also important to address potential risks to society, national security and the economy. Topics InsurTech Data Driven Artifical Intelligence Aspen Appoints Boon as Head of Singapore; Morely Relocates to London Aspen Insurance Holdings Limited has appointed industry veteran Tay Boon Chuan as head of Singapore, effective June 1. Aspen is headquartered in Hamilton, Bermuda. Boon joins Aspen after 12 years at Tokio Marine Kiln as part of their property treaty reinsurance team, most recently as Asia treaty team lead. He has over 23 years of experience in the Asian (re)insurance industry, having held positions at Asia Capital Re Group and Swiss Re. Also, as of August 1, Beatrice Morley will relocate to the London, England, office and remain global head of casualty and head of international reinsurance. Liberty Mutual Appoints Patrick Thielen Global Head of Cyber Liberty Specialty Markets named Patrick Thielen global head of cyber to lead the development and execution of a cyber strategy to help brokers and buyers across the globe better manage cyber exposure. Thielen reports to GRS Insurance Solutions President Elizabeth Geary. Prior to joining Liberty Mutual, Thielen was senior vice president, Tech E&O, and cyber insurance product lead at Chubb. He previously held various strategic and technical positions at Travelers. GRS also announced the promotion of Jelmer Andela to the newly created role of head of cyber underwriting for Liberty Specialty Markets (LSM), its London-based specialty insurer. Andela is responsible for leading execution of GRS global cyber strategy across LSM, building a single view of cyber for that operation, and being a trusted advisor to its regional chief underwriting officers. He will report to Thielen and LSM CUO Rachel Conran. Guy Carpenter Makes Senior Appointments in Europe Guy Carpenter, a business of Marsh McLennan, has made several senior appointments to its European teams. Anders Nises has been named CEO of the Nordics region. Effective in the second half of this year, Nises will be based in Stockholm, Sweden. Nises joins Guy Carpenter from Hannover Re in Stockholm, where he is general manager for its P&C business. Nises previously held various senior positions at Swedish insurance company Lansforsakringar, including group manager, reinsurance. Lisa Ljunggren has been named head of analytics, Nordics, beginning in June. She will be based in Stockholm. Ljunggren has held several senior analytics and underwriting roles, including with RMS, Willis Re, Nephila and Tokio Marine, before joining SiriusPoint in 2016. Enver Karapinar has been named head of facultative, Europe. He joined Guy Carpenter in 2019 and most recently was head of facultative for Germany, Austria and Switzerland. He is based in Hamburg, Germany. Riccardo Roveta has been named head of facultative, Europe, London branch. He is based in London, England. He has more than 22 years of experience and joined Guy Carpenters facultative team in 2015, specializing in casualty, specialty and financial lines. Topics Cyber Europe France and Germany are showing no sign of nearing a compromise on the role of nuclear energy in the European Unions transition to cleaner energy, highlighting the challenge faced in reaching a deal in the coming weeks to push ahead with the blocs Green Deal package. Paris wants to ensure the same treatment for power generated by its fleet of reactors as for that from sources such as wind and solar. This led it to hold up progress on an EU law aimed at scaling up renewables last week. Related: EU Spat Over Nuclear Energy Escalates as Key Vote Is Delayed France is in talks with the EUs Swedish presidency and the European Commission, the blocs executive arm, in an effort to resolve the spat over nuclear by the end of June, clearing the way for the so-called renewable energy directive. French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire and Germany Economy Minister Robert Habeck indicated during a Franco-German parliamentary assembly hearing held at the European Parliament building in Strasbourg on Monday that their views remain far apart. Robert knows that nuclear energy is an absolute red line for France, simply because it is part of our economic sovereignty and our independence, Le Maire said via video link. A nation in Europe doesnt have multiple red lines, so where they exist, its important to respect them. Further Talks He called for further talks to try to find solutions and reach a compromise. Habeck responded, also by video link, that Berlin wants the renewable energy directive to remain as it is. That is the line that we, Germany, do not want to cross: Nuclear energy and renewables are not the same, he told lawmakers. Thats what was decided and thats how it should stay. France generates the bulk of its electricity using nuclear, while Germany retired its remaining reactors last month. The French government has formed a large alliance to accelerate its development and says 16 of the EUs 27 member states support the fuel, while Austria, Luxembourg and Germany dont want to use it. Photo: The Penly nuclear power plant, operated by Electricite de France SA (EDF), in Penly, Normandy, France. France, located at the heart of Western Europes power grid, with its fleet of nuclear reactors has for decades been the continents largest electricity exporter, supplying the U.K., Spain, Italy, Switzerland, Belgium and Germany at times of peak demand. (Bloomberg) Copyright 2023 Bloomberg. Topics Energy Germany France New You can now listen to Insurance Journal articles! More than 40 years ago, the Illinois legislature sought to reduce the number of defendants in medical malpractice actions by allowing plaintiffs to name health care providers as respondents for the purposes of discovery and convert them to defendants later if the facts showed they were culpable. State lawmakers did not intend to make it more difficult to bring malpractice actions when they passed section 2-402 of the Code of Civil Procedure in 1976, the Illinois Supreme Court said last Thursday. In a 6-0 decision, the high court reversed rulings by the trial court and Illinois Appellate Court that dismissed a lawsuit filed by Carol Cleeton against Southern Illinois University Healthcare and eight other defendants. They are accused of errors that led to the death of Cleetons son. The laws purpose was to protect health care providers from excessive litigation, the court said. However, there is no indication in the legislative history that the legislators intended to make it more difficult for a plaintiff to name a defendant or convert a respondent in discovery to a defendant, the opinion says. The trial court in the case on review misapprehended section 2-402 and its underlying purpose. Cleetons attorney, Timothy M. Shay, said the Illinois Supreme Court has never before addressed the threshold of evidence required to convert a respondent in a medical malpractice action to a defendant. He said if the decision had gone the other way, plaintiffs attorneys would stop naming potential defendants as respondents and instead sue every health care provider who potentially could be liable. It would be an absolute mess because of litigation and it wouldnt benefit doctors because their insurance would have gone up, Shay said during a telephone interview Thursday. Donald Cleeton severed his spinal cord in swimming pool accident when he was 17 years old, leaving him a quadriplegic. Doctors implanted a device in his body that pumped medicine, called baclofen, into his spinal cavity to control the involuntary spasms caused by nerve damage. The device required regular refills, which involved inserting a needle through his abdomen. In October 2017, Donald and his mother were visiting the Southern Illinois University neurology clinic to refill the baclofen pump, but two nurses made several failed attempts before finally making contact with the pump and refilling it. Four days later, Donald was admitted to Memorial Medical Center emergency room complaining of a headache, abdominal pain and increased spasms. The on-call neurology resident recommended that his treating physician have the manufacturer of the baclofen pump, Medtronic, test the pump to see if it was functioning. The test revealed no problems. Treating physicians diagnosed Donald with sepsis and acute urinary tract infection. He was admitted to the hospital. The next day, Donald was transferred to the hospitals intensive care unit. The hospital contacted Medtronic for help with troubleshooting the pump. Medtronic faxed instructions to the hospital for emergency procedures to treat baclofen withdrawal syndrome. Shay said patients who are treated with baclofen cannot suddenly stop using it. Withdrawal from the drug causes symptoms that are similar to sepsis, he said. A neurologist who examined Donald reported that he may be suffering withdrawal from baclofen, but did not make a firm diagnosis. He discussed the possibility with the ICU physician, Dr. Mouhamad Bakir, but admitted he was not familiar with baclofen withdrwal. Bakir treated Donald for sepsis. He did not administer baclofen until a code blue was called because Donald lost his pulse. By that time, it was too late. Shay said an autopsy revealed that a catheter connected to the baclofen pump and been punctured, preventing the medicine from reaching Donalds spinal canal. Carol Cleeton filed a lawsuit against the hospital, SIU Healthcare and other defendants, but initially Bakir was named only as a respondent because his role in the events that led to Donalds death were not yet known, Shay said. When Shay filed a motion to convert Bakir to a defendant, the Sangamom County Circuit Court denied the motion, finding the evidence insufficient. The Appellate Court affirmed the ruling. The Supreme Court said Section 2-402 requires that a plaintiff demonstrate probable cause when requesting to convert a respondent in a medical malpractice suit to a defendant. Both the trial court and Appellate Court, the opinion says, were demanding a higher standard than what the statute requires. The opinion says Cleeton had presented sufficient evidence to assert that Bakir had deviated from the standard of care by failing to recognize that her son was suffering from baclofen withdrawal syndrome. That isnt to say that Bakir is liable, the court said, only that Cleeton should have a chance to make her case before a jury. The opinion says Section 2-402 doesnt require plaintiffs to prove that a defendant is liable at the discovery stage. Instead, the threshold the plaintiff must meet is to present evidence that would establish a reasonable probability that the respondent in discovery could be liable for the plaintiffs injury, the opinion says. The Illinois State Medical Society, American Medical Association, and the Illinois Association of Defense Trial Counsel filed amicus briefs in support of Bakir, but Shay said he believes the Supreme Courts decision actually benefits doctors. He said during oral arguments that if the Circuit Courts decision were not overturned, plaintiffs attorneys would return to the old Wild West days when every person or institution potentially liable was named as defendants. The Supreme Court reversed the circuit court and appellate court decisions and remanded the case. Topics Lawsuits Illinois Medical Professional Liability EVANSVILLE, Ind. (AP) A southwestern Indiana man allegedly set a fire that gutted a building more than 100 years old that was listed decades ago on the National Register of Historic Places, police said. Charles James Perrin, 25, was arrested Thursday and booked into the Vanderburgh County jail on charges of arson and criminal mischief causing at least $50,000 in damages, Evansville police said Thursday at a news conference. Online court records do not list an attorney who could speak on Perrins behalf. The Evansville man is accused of setting a Wednesday fire that gutted the former Pearl Cleaners building, a historic structure once known as Pearl Steam Laundry, the Evansville Courier & Press reported. The former laundry business on downtown Evansvilles north side was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984. A website maintained by the University of Southern Indiana states the structure dates to 1912 and it had been vacant since closing in 2017 in Evansville, an Ohio River city about 170 miles (275 kilometers) southwest of Indianapolis. The building is owned by The Pearl Development LLC, which said in a statement that nearly a year ago it had purchased this historical landmark with the hopes of restoring it to usable commercial space. Our dream of revitalizing this iconic building and returning it to her former glory is now ash, it added. Copyright 2023 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Topics Indiana New You can now listen to Insurance Journal articles! Just as the plaintiffs law firm of Morgan & Morgan warned, the number of Florida lawsuits filed across the state has shattered previous records, topping 280,122 in April, the Florida Bar reported. Thats more than double the previous record set in May 2021 and is largely due to anticipation of the Legislatures passage of a far-reaching tort reform bill that Gov. Ron DeSantis signed into law March 24, the Bar noted. As it became clear that House Bill 837 was about to pass in March, limiting one-way attorney fees and multipliers in almost all insurance and injury litigation, and slashing damages if the plaintiff is found to be 50% at fault, Morgan & Morgan and other claimants firms told insurance defense attorneys that they were getting ready to file tens of thousands of lawsuits in the days before the law took effect upon the governors signature. The firms were not exaggerating. And insurers and county clerks of court are now dealing with the impact. Our primary concern is having adequate resources to process the high volume of cases and appropriately serve all parties and the judiciary, Martin County Clerk of Courts Carolyn Timman told the Bar. Sarasota County Clerk Karen Rushing said the flood of new cases began around March 17, Rushing told the Bars news site. The total number of documents in the case filings was almost 3.6 million in March, a third more than the previous month. About 44% of the new cases were filed in Miami-Dade County and in Hillsborough County, home to Tampa. Some clerks have said they already are facing budget shortfalls, spiraling costs and understaffed offices even before the tort wave hit, the Bar noted. The Florida Department of Financial Services, which must be included on notices of intent to litigate against insurers, also reported a spike in planned litigation. The agency in March recorded 8,637 notices of intent to initiate litigation, up from 7,634 in February. Thats double the number of notices filed in March 2022, the DFS web page shows. In previous eras, many of the insurance claims behind the lawsuits would have been dropped or settled without litigation, Florida Justice Association Secretary Todd Michaels told the Tallahassee Democrat news site. But with the law taking effect immediately in late March, firms felt compelled to file the suits to avoid the laws fee limitations and protect their clients, Michaels said. At this moment we are doing what all lawyers should be doing protecting the interests of our clients, John Morgan, head of the Orlando-based plaintiffs firm, said in a statement in March. The tort-reform law clamped the attorney fee and other restrictions on suits filed after March 24. It does not apply retroactively in most cases, although some insurer lawyers have indicated they may challenge that in some circumstances. Topics Lawsuits Florida Flood New You can now listen to Insurance Journal articles! The Walt Disney Co. announced Thursday that it was scrapping plans to build a new campus in central Florida and relocate 2,000 employees from Southern California to work in digital technology, finance and product development. The decision follows a year of attacks from Gov. Ron DeSantis and the Legislature because the company opposed a state law that bans classroom lessons on sexual orientation and gender identity in early grades. Disney filed a First Amendment lawsuit against DeSantis and other officials last month. Disney had planned to build the campus about 20 miles (30 kilometers) from the giant Walt Disney World theme park resort, but Josh DAmaro, chairman of the parks, experiences and products division, said in a memo to employees that new leadership and changing business conditions prompted the company to abandon those plans. I remain optimistic about the direction of our Walt Disney World business, DAmaro said. We have plans to invest $17 billion and create 13,000 jobs over the next ten years. I hope were able to do so. Disney and DeSantis have been engaged in a tug-of-war for more than a year that has engulfed the GOP governor in criticism as he prepares to launch an expected presidential bid in the coming weeks. Also last week, Disney announced it was closing its popular Star Wars hotel in September. The hotel at Disneys Hollywood Studios in Florida opened in March 2022 and lets guests create and live out Star Wars immersive adventures. It costs nearly $5, 000 per couple for a two-night stay. This premium, boutique experience gave us the opportunity to try new things on a smaller scale of 100 rooms, and as we prepare for its final voyage, we will take what weve learned to create future experiences that can reach more of our guests and fans, a company spokesperson said in a statement Friday. Disney said on the hotels website that new bookings are temporarily paused but will resume May 26 for available voyages through Sept. 28-30. The company said it would reach out to guests who booked stays for that time or later to discuss alternatives. Meanwhile, DeSantis has asked that a federal judge be disqualified from the First Amendment lawsuit filed by Disney against the Florida governor and his appointees, claiming the jurists prior statements in other cases have raised questions about his impartiality on the states efforts to take over Disney Worlds governing body. The Republican governors motion was filed a day after Disney announced that it was scrapping plans to build a new campus in central Florida and relocate 2,000 employees from Southern California to work in digital technology, finance and product development, amid an ongoing feud with DeSantis. DeSantis motion said Walker referenced the ongoing dispute between his administration and Disney during hearings in two unrelated lawsuits before him dealing with free speech issues and fear of retaliation for violating new laws championed by DeSantis and Republican lawmakers. One of those was a First Amendment lawsuit filed by Florida professors that challenged a new law establishing a survey about intellectual freedom and viewpoint diversity on state campuses. Walker, who was nominated to the federal bench in 2012 by President Barack Obama and is now chief judge of the district, tossed out that lawsuit on the grounds that the professors didnt have standing to challenge the law championed by DeSantis and Florida lawmakers. In the first case, Walker said, Whats in the record, for example is there anything in the record that says we are now going to take away Disneys special status because theyre woke? In the second case, the judge said, And then Disney is going to lose its status because-arguably, because they made a statement that run afoul-ran afoul of state policy of the controlling party, according to the DeSantis motion. The feud started after Disney, in the face of significant pressure, publicly opposed the state concerning lessons on sexual orientation and gender identity in early grades that critics called Dont Say Gay. As punishment, DeSantis took over Disney Worlds self-governing district through legislation passed by lawmakers and appointed a new board of supervisors. Before the new board came in, the company signed agreements with the old board stripping the new supervisors of design and construction authority. In response, the Republican-controlled Florida Legislature passed legislation allowing the DeSantis-appointed board to repeal those agreements and made the theme park resorts monorail system subject to state inspection, when it previously had been done in-house. Disney filed the First Amendment lawsuit against DeSantis and Disney-appointed board last month in federal court in Tallahassee, and it landed in Walkers court. The Disney-appointed board earlier this month sued Disney in state court in Orlando seeking to void the deals the company made with the previous board. The creation of Disneys self-governing district by the Florida Legislature was instrumental in the companys decision in the 1960s to build near Orlando. Disney told the state at the time that it planned to build a futuristic city that would include a transit system and urban planning innovations, so the company needed autonomy. The futuristic city never materialized, however, and instead morphed into a second theme park that opened in 1982. Photo: (AP Photo/Ted Shaffrey, File) Copyright 2023 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Topics Florida Talent New You can now listen to Insurance Journal articles! Crews searching the rubble of a massive construction fire in North Carolina on Friday found the bodies of two people that firefighters couldnt reach before the flames became too intense. Authorities didnt identify the victims, but officials said two workers were missing after the Thursday fire on the site of a new apartment building in the upscale South Park neighborhood of Charlotte. No one else was injured in the five-alarm fire, including more than 90 firefighters and a worker trapped for a time on top of a crane as a fire engine sprayed water on the metal to keep it from collapsing. Ive never ever seen a fire of this magnitude, said Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Chief Johnny Jennings, a 31-year veteran of the force. Its devastating, heartbreaking. Investigators think the fire started about 9 a.m. Thursday in a trailer used to spray insulation into the buildings walls, Charlotte Fire Chief Reginald Johnson said. The chief said they arent sure exactly what set off the blaze and havent been able to do a thorough investigation of the trailer. Obviously, the buildings still in a state where it is not safe for all of our members to go in, Johnson said. The massive fire sent huge red flames and dense black smoke into the sky. At least two small crews of firefighters had to make mayday calls and be rescued from the fast-moving blaze, including one who could hear the cries of the trapped people on the sixth floor but couldnt see them through the smoke, Johnson said. They were going by sound, trying to get to them but were unable to get to them before conditions changed, Johnson said. They had to call a mayday. The firefighters did rescue 15 workers inside the building, including the crane operator. Firefighters delivered protective clothing to him until he could climb down to safety, Johnson said. Photo: Firefighters at the scene. (Khadejh Nikouyeh/The Charlotte Observer via AP) Copyright 2023 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Source: Andrew Semple May 22, 2023 (Investorideas.com Newswire) Results for the first quarter of this year for Ayr Wellness Inc. were better than expected, reported an Echelon Capital Markets research note. Ayr Wellness Inc. (AYR.A:CSE; AYRWF:OTCQX) recently reported solid results for the first quarter of this year (Q123), noted Andrew Semple in a May 17 Echelon Capital Markets research note. Results were better than expected, according to Semple, after adjusting for "the accounting of Arizona as discontinued operations." The company's organic sales growth and adj represented strong progress, as well as the reduction of its expenses. This expense reduction is of premier importance to Ayr's management team, and the company projects to reach a 30% adj. Semple stated he saw promise in the company's outlook through the guidance management demonstrated during the second quarter of 2023. He noted, "Management guided to Q223 demonstrating the same pace of sequential sales and EBITDA growth, which we believe implies Q223 sales of roughly US$121 million and adj. EBITDA of approximately US$28.7 million." Ayr expects growth to ramp up in H223 due to new stores being opened. There will be 17 new locations in Florida and two in Ohio. "With ~18 months until maturity, we believe Ayr has a sufficient window to demonstrate improved financial performance, supporting our ongoing bullish view, but we acknowledge that macro conditions outside of the Companys control have increased the risk profile of the business and narrowed its margin of safety," Semple stated. Semple also reiterated that the new management team has already begun to take on previous concerns. This included a restructuring of a few contingent consideration payments and seller notes, leading to a large reduction in potential shareholder dilution. Key Highlights Semple thought it pertinent to point out some key reasons for his evaluation of the company. Results for Q123 were better than expected after adjusting for the divestiture of Arizona. Forward profitability estimates were upheld by guidance from management. Two new medical dispensaries were reopened in Flordia, leading to a current total of 59 in the U.S. The formal closure of its portion of the Tahoe Hydro acquisition, previously pending regulatory approval. The formidable restructuring of contingent consideration, increasing cash consideration, and materially reducing dilution. The prior COO, Jen Dranke, agreed to step down in April. With EBITDA estimates being held solid, Q123 print and management's outlook gave Semple confidence in the company's ability to reach forecasts for the rest of 2023. 2024 Estimates With all of the above, Semple also introduced estimates for 2024. These are listed as follows. Revenue: US$568 million Adjusted Gross Margin: 51.9% Adjusted EBITDA: US$149.7 million With these, Semple commented, "We note that our 2024 estimates show a solid double-digit pace of growth expected in 2024, though not as steep as the nearly 30% y/y increase expected by the consensus estimate, which we view as too aggressive ... We believe Ayr sustainably hits breakeven levered FCF by 2024 (prev. Q423)." Structure and Predictions In his report, Andrew Semple raised his target price from CA$5.50 to CA$6.00. Semple's research also shared current market data on the company. Price: CA$1.34, with a 52-week range between CA$0.78 and CA$8.63. Price Target: CA$6.00 Market Cap: CA$76.3 million Semple noted a projected return of 348% and gave Ayr Wellness a speculative Buy rating. More Info: This news is published on the Investorideas.com Newswire - a global digital news source for investors and business leaders Disclaimer/Disclosure: Investorideas.com is a digital publisher of third party sourced news, articles and equity research as well as creates original content, including video, interviews and articles. Original content created by investorideas is protected by copyright laws other than syndication rights. Our site does not make recommendations for purchases or sale of stocks, services or products. Nothing on our sites should be construed as an offer or solicitation to buy or sell products or securities. All investing involves risk and possible losses. This site is currently compensated for news publication and distribution, social media and marketing, content creation and more. Disclosure is posted for each compensated news release, content published /created if required but otherwise the news was not compensated for and was published for the sole interest of our readers and followers. Contact management and IR of each company directly regarding specific questions. More disclaimer info: https://www.investorideas.com/About/Disclaimer.asp Learn more about publishing your news release and our other news services on the Investorideas.com newswire https://www.investorideas.com/News-Upload/ Global investors must adhere to regulations of each country. Please read Investorideas.com privacy policy: https://www.investorideas.com/About/Private_Policy.asp Health, Wellness and Sustainability Stocks Research and News at Investorideas.com - investing ideas for a better world Like Health, Wellness and Sustainability Stocks? View our LOHAS Stocks Directory Source: Streetwise Reports May 22, 2023 (Investorideas.com Newswire) Mining major Newcrest invests in Metallic Minerals Corp. to advance its La Plata copper-silver-gold-platinum group project in Colorado. Mining major Newcrest Mining Ltd. (NCM:ASX) has invested CA$6.34 million in Metallic Minerals Corp. (MMG:TSX.V; MMNGF:OTCQB) to advance its La Plata copper-silver-gold-platinum group project in Colorado. Following the closing of the investment, Newcrest will hold 9.5% of the issued and outstanding common shares of the company on a non-diluted basis. Including warrants, it will hold 15.5% of the issued and outstanding common shares on a partially diluted basis. In addition to capital, the Australia-based major will help Metallic Minerals with technical issues involving similar alkalic porphyry systems and underground bulk-tonnage block-cave mining operations. A technical committee will be formed with representatives from both companies. "Newcrest was one of the first to recognize the potential (of La Plata)," Metallic Minerals Chief Executive Officer Greg Johnson said in a recent interview. "These guys really have key expertise in this type of geology as well as in bulk-tonnage block-cave mining, which is what we're probably looking at." The company completed an NI 43-101 resource last year for La Plata of 889 million pounds copper (Cu) and 14.975 million ounces silver (Moz Ag) at an average grade of 0.39% Cu Eq, 0.35% Cu, and 4.02 4.02 g/t Ag, using a 0.25% Cu Eq cutoff grade. Hole 22-04, drilled in 2022 for resource expansion, is ostensibly what caught Newcrest's attention. The hole hit 816 meters of 0.41% recovered copper equivalent (Cu eq), which the company said was "one of the top intersections for any North American project for the past several years" as it ended in 2.44% Cu, 18.7 grams per tonne silver (g/t Ag) and 5 g/t Au+PGE due to mechanical issues with the rig. The company has indicated its priority is to step out from 22-04 and take it to depth in order to test the extent of the high-grade mineralization. Johnson said expanding the 43-101 resource will form the basis of exploration of the project in 2023. Combined with results from its flagship Keno Silver project in the Yukon Territory and a royalty agreement signed with Parker Schnabel of the Discovery Channel's "Gold Rush" on claims in the Yukon, the La Plata results led Couloir Capital to maintain its Buy rating on the stock with a fair value per share estimate of CA$0.75. "The developments, especially the large intercept at La Plata and the royalty agreement, are catalytic events that could fundamentally change aspects of our valuation thesis for MMG moving forward," Couloir wrote in a March research note. "Should the company manage to achieve similar results with its 2023 follow-on drill program at La Plata, management believes the project could start to attract interest from major mining companies." The company is also moving forward on an inaugural resource estimate for Keno, which could also bring more attention from majors. "That estimate has the potential to raise Metallic's profile as a silver explorer with considerable upside," Gold Newsletter Editor Brien Lundin wrote May 5. "Metallic Minerals remains a Buy." The Catalyst: Fast-Tracking Expansion Drilling The money will allow Metallic Minerals to fast-track planned expansion drilling following up on 2022 successes, Greg Johnson said. "This year is shaping up to be one of the most exciting in our company's history, with an updated resource estimate in progress at La Plata and an inaugural resource at our Keno Silver project also underway," he said. As part of the private placement, Newcrest will complete a financing of CA$6.34 million, consisting of 15,838,593 units of Metallic Minerals at a price of CA$0.40 per unit, with each unit comprising one common share and 0.75 of a common share purchase warrant. This represents a 13% premium to the 20-day volume weighted average price of Metallic Minerals' shares on the TSX-V on May 9. Each full warrant entitles Newcrest to purchase one common share at an exercise price of CA$0.55, providing CA$6.5 million in additional funding if exercised. The warrants are exercisable for three years and contain a customary acceleration provision, which is effective if the common shares trade for a period of 20 consecutive trading days at or above CA$0.825 on the TSX-V. Newcrest will also have investor rights, such as participation in future equity issuances and a right to maintain its pro-rata position in the company. Newcrest will also have the right to appoint a director to MMG's board if they hold at least 13% of the issued and outstanding shares of the company. "We are excited to become a cornerstone investor in Metallic Minerals and to be able to contribute towards this promising copper and precious metal project," Newcrest General Manager of Exploration Fraser MacCorquodale said. Working Toward Maiden Resource in Yukon The Keno Silver project is in the historic Keno Hill Silver District of the Yukon, which has produced more than 200 million ounces Moz Ag at an average grade exceeding 1,300 grams per tonne (g/t), the company said. The district also hosts Hecla Mining Co.'s (HL:NYSE) Keno Hill mines, which feature an estimated life-of-mine production grade of 804 g/t and a fully operational mill complex, highway access, and grid power. Metallic Minerals said its project covers mainly the eastern portion of the district and was host to eight historical silver mines, five of which had average production grades of about 5,000 g/t. The company said in total, at Keno Silver in 2022, there were 138 significant intervals of greater than 100 g/t Ag eq and 22 intervals over 500 g/t Ag eq over 23 holes. A "robust" drilling program meant to expand the resource and test new targets is planned for this year. [OWNERSHIP_CHART-9081] "We expect these results will be instrumental in advancing Keno Silver to its maiden resource milestone," Couloir Capital wrote. Ownership and Share Structure About 17% of Metallic Minerals is owned by management and insiders, including CEO Johnson with 4.67% or 7.05 million shares, Independent Director Gregor Hamilton with 0.91% or 1.37 million shares, and the president, Petsel, with 0.56% or 850,000 shares. About 34% is owned by strategic investors, including Newcrest's 9.5% and mining financier Eric Sprott, who owns 14.5%. About 22% is owned institutionally. The rest, 27%, is retail. Its market cap is CA$59.6 million, with 150.9 million shares outstanding, 120 million of them free-floating. It trades in a 52-week range of CA$0.435 and CA$0.195. More Info: This news is published on the Investorideas.com Newswire - a global digital news source for investors and business leaders Disclaimer/Disclosure: Investorideas.com is a digital publisher of third party sourced news, articles and equity research as well as creates original content, including video, interviews and articles. Original content created by investorideas is protected by copyright laws other than syndication rights. Our site does not make recommendations for purchases or sale of stocks, services or products. Nothing on our sites should be construed as an offer or solicitation to buy or sell products or securities. All investing involves risk and possible losses. This site is currently compensated for news publication and distribution, social media and marketing, content creation and more. Disclosure is posted for each compensated news release, content published /created if required but otherwise the news was not compensated for and was published for the sole interest of our readers and followers. Contact management and IR of each company directly regarding specific questions. More disclaimer info: https://www.investorideas.com/About/Disclaimer.asp Learn more about publishing your news release and our other news services on the Investorideas.com newswire https://www.investorideas.com/News-Upload/ Global investors must adhere to regulations of each country. Please read Investorideas.com privacy policy: https://www.investorideas.com/About/Private_Policy.asp Healthcare technology company Medtronic has signed a first of its kind agreement with a Galway wind farm to directly supply 50% of power for its Irish sites. Medtronic has signed a Corporate Power Purchase Agreement (CPPA) with Flogas Enterprise to meet half of annual electricity requirements for its five sites in Ireland across Galway, Dublin and Athlone, using renewable energy from a windfarm located 30 minutes from the companys Galway location. A CPPA is a contract which allows a company to procure renewable electricity through a direct agreement with a renewable electricity developer. It is expected that demand for CPPAs will grow over the next few years as companies seek to lower their carbon footprints, and also seek certainty in energy prices. CPPAs are typically signed over long periods, guaranteeing both the renewable generator and corporate consumers a fixed electricity price and hedging against market risks. Medtronics CPPA was completed with Shane Cannon and the energy management team at Medtronic, with support from energy management consultant, NUS Consulting Group. It is the first of its kind in Ireland as it is a multi-buyer CPPA, meaning Medtronic is one of a number of customers bundled together by Flogas Enterprise under the agreement and enabled to partner with a wind farm they otherwise could not have partnered with due to scale. Flogas Enterprise, previously Naturgy Ireland and part of DCC plc, is a supplier to large energy users across Ireland and Northern Ireland, providing renewable electricity as well as natural gas, biomethane and energy services. Anita Tuch, Vice President, Facilities, Risk and Environmental Health and Safety at Medtronic, said that the deal is a significant milestone for the company. We look forward to working with Flogas Enterprise. Renewable electricity is a vital pillar in our commitment to sustainability, and this momentous occasion marks a significant milestone, she said. The guarantees of origin realised from the arrangement will also be utilised to support our Scope 2 emissions reporting, she added. Oil and gas exploration firm Barryroe's application for a lease to continue drilling operations off Ireland's south west coast has been turned down. In a statement, Barryroe Offshore Energy said it received a letter on Friday from Minister for the Environment Eamon Ryan that he was not satisfied with the financial capability of the applicants. Legislation requires Lease Undertaking applicants to have a tangible net worth that is 3.5 times the total financial commitments. Barryroe said it is considering its response to the contents of the letter. They said from a technical perspective the application was satisfactory. The decision is a further setback to Barryroe's long-running attempt to access oil and gas reserves off the Irish coast. In an update in November, Barryroe's CEO Alan Curran said the company had secured 40m in new funding from Larry Goodmans Veven Unlimited to allow it to proceed to the next phase of drilling off the Cork coast and confirmed it had submitted additional information regarding the new funding to the Department. If the Lease Undertaking was granted, Curran said they would have moved rapidly to commence preparations for drilling operations in 2024. In response to the decision, Davy analyst Colin Grant said the letter from the Minister is disappointing but also not surprising given its stance on energy policy. "Smaller equity funded companies only ever raise 1x the capital that is required for their financial commitments and do not raise 3.5x this amount," he said in a note. "Therefore, no small oil and gas or resources stock could ever meet this criterion no matter how valuable or strategically important its assets might be." The Central Bank of Ireland has issued a warning notice for a Waterford retail credit firm, which it says has been operating "in the absence of appropriate authorisation." It warned that Walsh Money, with contact information including an address in Waterford, holds no authorisation as a moneylender despite offering loans in exchange for advanced fees. Online, the firm calls itself as a "direct lender", offering loans of up to 100,000, advertising that it is "here to provide loan assistance for all types of financial needs," including personal and education loans. Operating without the necessary permission, The Central Bank said the scam is an example of "advance fee fraud." "Walsh Money seeks an upfront payment fee prior to providing a loan. The loans are never provided," the Central Bank explained. The bank has issued several warnings concerning scammers who are increasingly using legitimate firm's details to add validity to their own operations, with those acting illegally and without clearance often using real authorisation numbers, company registration numbers and links to what appear to be authentic websites. Similar warnings have also been issued by the Irish League of Credit Unions, who earlier this year warned that scammers had cloned authentic credit union websites, using them to obtain personal information from victims. Other firms that have been recently classified as fraudulent by the Central Bank include a London-based credit provider called Irish Lends, as well as several firms which have cloned some of the details of legitimate Central Bank authorised firms. Clarification: This article originally included a Waterford address that was falsely used by Walsh Money on their website, as referenced in a Central Bank media notification on this issue. That address was removed by the Central Bank on request, and has now also been removed by the Irish Examiner on foot of a similar request. Clarification: This article originally included a Waterford address that was falsely used by Walsh Money on their website, as referenced in a Central Bank media notification on this issue. That address was removed by the Central Bank on request, and has now also been removed by the Irish Examiner on foot of a similar request. The Ireland Strategic Investment Fund (ISIF) is to invest 68m in two international decarbonisation funds, as part of its 1bn five-year climate action programme. Check out our Sustainability and Climate Change Hub where you will find the latest news, features, opinions and analysis on this topic from across the various Irish Examiner topic desks and their team of specialist writers and columnists. The funds are managed by New York-based investment fund Energy Impact Partners (EIP), which has more than $3bn (2.77bn) in assets under management. Through ISIFs investment, EIP will establish an office in Dublin with plans to invest in emerging Ireland-based decarbonisation and energy technology companies. Climate investor and entrepreneur Arthur Pierse will be EIP's representative based on the ground in Ireland. The Ireland Strategic Investment Fund is investing across two of EIPs funds, the European Fund at 34m which primarily focuses on 10m-25m growth equity and late-stage investments and the Deep Decarbonisation Frontier Fund at $35m (34m) which focuses on investing in revolutionary early-stage companies that have the potential to fully decarbonise the global economy. The move builds on approximately 500m of committed investments by ISIF in climate action as the body continues its 1bn investment programme in this sector. Target segments will include energy supply decarbonisation such as hydrogen, the electrification of industrial processes, and tech-enabled infrastructure. "The combination of early-stage technology with support for growth stage businesses offered by the two funds in which we are investing is a unique proposition that will be of real benefit to new climate businesses in Ireland," said ISIF head of climate Paul Saunders. "This [investment] shows how we can leverage our investment capability to build a deeper, stronger network with climate investors from all over the world and ultimately attract more international capital to Ireland while supporting emerging Irish businesses in this space. EIP founder and managing partner Hans Kobler said: "Our model of bringing together brilliant entrepreneurs with key industrials across all sectors of the economy, will make it easier for Irish technologies to scale in both Europe and North America." IRELANDS frontline workers are buckling under pressure. These are people who deal directly with the public and in the case of medics, teachers, childcare workers, and members of An Garda Siochana, they fulfil a vital role in the community. Statistics show they are finding it difficult to cope with the stress of their work. The Nursing and Midwifery Survey published earlier this month found that work negatively impacted the psychological wellbeing of 94% of nurses and midwives. And the Irish Medical Organisations most recent survey of doctors health and wellbeing found that 90% experienced some form of depression, anxiety, stress or other mental health condition related to or exacerbated by work. Teachers are suffering too. In February, the Irish National Teachers Organisation published a survey in which 90% of respondents said teaching had become more stressful in the past five years and that they struggled with the workload. A national conference at Nano Nagle Place in Cork and online on May 30 aims to offer some respite to this pressure. Its being organised by the Heart of Frontline Practice Alliance, a collaborative initiative providing frontline practitioners across all sectors with safe spaces to reflect upon the impact of their work. Dr Maeve Hurley is one of the conference organisers. She is a former GP and a trainer with Relationships in Practice, a programme that helps frontline practitioners to develop and maintain supportive relationships with those around them. People who work in caring professions go into that work for a reason, to make a difference and to look after others, says Dr Hurley. But often the stress of their work erodes that, and we wondered if there was something that might allow them to reconnect with what drew them to their work in the first place. Thats the aim of the conference. Jim Sheehan, Director of SHEP -The Social and Health Education Project. Pic: Darragh Kane Taking time out If frontline workers were overloaded pre-pandemic, they are even more so now. Thats according to Jim Sheehan, a former secondary school teacher, director of the Cork-based Social and Health Education Project (Shep) and one of the conference organisers. Covid pushed people to their limits, adding an extra level of stress and compounding the already-challenging reality of frontline practice, he says. People are still recovering from that trauma and finding it hard to recalibrate. Add the current staffing shortages and the picture that emerges is of a frontline workforce under severe strain. Take nurses and midwives, for example. Some 85% of those interviewed for the nursing and midwifery survey said that staffing levels cannot meet work demands and 89% said they felt burnt out. It is vital frontline workers take steps to safeguard their health and wellbeing. As practitioners, its important to take time out of our daily routine to reflect on what sustains us and keeps us well in our work, says Sheehan. You cant care for or support others if you are unwell in any way. Connecting with colleagues and setting time aside for reflection are two such steps. Having someone to talk to and being able to speak from the heart about your shared experiences can be enormously beneficial, says Sheehan. Hurley refers to a 2022 study of frontline workers in Ireland and Britain during the pandemic. It found that the sense of solidarity within teams helped people through that difficult time, she says. Being able to talk to someone who understands your reality makes a big difference. Reflective spaces Dr Nicola OSullivan is an independent social care consultant specialising in offering reflective spaces where frontline practitioners can process their experiences. These practitioners often carry an immense weight of responsibility in their work, living with anxiety about the decisions they make concerning the life, death or ongoing wellbeing of their patients, service users or clients, she says. The stakes are high in the work and the pace can be relentless. They may not have the time or the inclination to slow down and reflect on what is happening and how it affects them. OSullivan thinks this is a mistake. In my experience, any group of practitioners working closely with complex human experience need to have the opportunity to make sense of it and be able to think and talk openly about it, she says. If we do not consider and reflect upon our emotional experience at work, we run the risk of struggling on with them and we may miss vital information about how to help ourselves and those we work with as we become more psychologically burdened. Hurley agrees that taking time to process difficult experiences at work can prevent problems further down the line. It can stop people from becoming stressed or distressed at work, which can then minimise the risk of accidents happening, or mistakes being made, which can have huge fallout for the person involved and the person affected, she says. Professor Maeve Eogan, obstetrician and gynaecologist at the Rotunda Hospital Difficult line of work Prof Maeve Eogan is an obstetrician and gynaecologist at the Rotunda Hospital and the clinical lead for all six sexual assault treatment units in Ireland, which provide care for anyone over 14 who has experienced sexual crime. The HSE introduced a programme of reflective practice in 2021 to reduce the attrition rate in her health service sector. This means we have group sessions a couple of times a year and individual sessions once a month in which we are given time to talk through whats been difficult at work, whats caused us stress or posed a challenge, says Eogan. She has found it therapeutic. I experience its benefits in all aspects of my life, she says. In the health service, we are expected to be present, compassionate, caring, and non-judgmental. We have to manage our emotions when dealing with patients traumas. But we cant pour from an empty cup and to be the best version of ourselves for our patients, we have to look after ourselves first. Having this support helps us to do that. Eogan finds her work in the sexual assault treatment units particularly challenging. There are times when I can see my kids in their eyes and I realise that I dont want to bring that feeling home with me or to let the stress of work impact my life at home or my role as a parent, she says. Being able to talk those cases through with someone helps me to balance my responsibilities in life while continuing to offer patients the very best care. She would like to see reflective practice offered more widely. It could have a huge impact on enhancing staff wellbeing, reducing attrition and saving on the costs related to that as well as bolstering the health service so that it delivers the quality care that people need, she says. The team behind the Heart of Frontline Practice Alliance is advocating for this practice too. We know that people are resilient and capable of finding ways of supporting themselves such as attending conferences like ours, says Sheehan. But the organisations they work for have a responsibility to support them in dealing with the psychological impact of their work too. Small changes such as giving people the opportunity to reflect regularly upon their work can be massively transformative for people. Tickets for the Reconnecting with the Heart of Frontline Practice Conference cost 50. Details can be found at www.heartoffrontlinepractice.com The trailblazing Belfast-born star of an Oscar-winning film is to be honoured by Ulster University. Actor James Martin was part of the cast of the short film An Irish Goodbye which swept the major awards ceremonies this year. Martin is the first actor with Downs syndrome to scoop an Oscar. He joins gymnast Rhys McClenaghan, poet Michael Longley and broadcaster Sean Rafferty among the cohort in Ulster Universitys honorary graduates this year. I will be delighted to receive this honorary doctorate from Ulster University in recognition of my contribution to An Irish Goodbye Martin said the impact of his win and recognition has been very positive. I will be delighted to receive this honorary doctorate from Ulster University in recognition of my contribution to An Irish Goodbye, he said. We had a great team working on the movie which told a universal story that people really connected with and enjoyed watching. The impact it has had on people with learning difficulties has been very positive. Also among the honorary graduates are Sara Booth, head of competitions within the Fifa Womens Football Division, Lyn Moffett for peacebuilding and conflict resolution, Anne McVicker, director at the Womens Resource and Development Agency, Kieran Kennedy for building economic diversity in the north west, and Lisa Brankin, an Ulster University alumna and Fords current managing director of the UK and Ireland. Ulster University vice-chancellor Professor Paul Bartholomew described graduations as a time for celebration. At Ulster University, we work to develop well-rounded, skilled and experienced graduates, and as part of this, we also identify and celebrate positive role models for our graduates to aspire to, he said. These honourees are individuals making a genuine difference in their local or global community in various fields such as arts, sport, peacebuilding and community work, business, health, and social work. We are recognising those who have made and continue to make significant contributions to our society As Northern Ireland marks 25 years since the signing of the Belfast Good Friday Agreement, it is right that we both reflect on where weve come from, and the direction we are heading in. We are recognising those who have made and continue to make significant contributions to our society, and Ulster University is delighted to celebrate this cohort of exceptional role models who demonstrate leadership, perseverance, integrity, innovative thinking, determination, talent, and creativity, and they inspire us all. The honorary doctorates will be conferred during summer graduations which take place from June 29 until July 7, across all three Ulster University campuses. A judge has refused to put an eight-month-old baby, its parents and two siblings on the street because Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council claimed they did not meet the criteria for a tenancy of a two-bed house in Co Dublin. The decision of Judge James McCourt in the Circuit Civil Court on Monday was met with applause by friends of the family in court and the agreement of Irish People Before Profit TD Richard Boyd-Barrett and Councillor Melisa Halpen, who supported the family. Dylan Mooneys wife Gemma burst into tears following Judge McCourts decision to overturn an order of the District Court which had ordered her husband Dylan Mooney to hand back their home in St Kevins Villas, Sallynoggin, to the council. Lorry driver Mr Mooney told his counsel Sean Beatty that eviction would be devastating for the family, leaving them with nowhere else to live and putting their eight months baby on the street. Following Judge McCourts decision and refusal to grant the local authority its legal costs in opposing Mooneys appeal, Mr Boyd Barrett said: I think this a right and just decision and prevents a family being made homeless. Clearly this was their family home. Judge McCourt heard Mr Mooneys mother at the age of 57 had come home from hospital in the last week of her fight against cancer to die in the presence of her family in the St Kevins Villas where she had lived with her son, Dylan, from his birth. She was more comforting to us than we were to her, Mr Mooney said. There is a very sentimental attachment of our family with the house. The court was told that in order for consideration of a new tenancy Mr Mooney had to meet the councils housing allocation policy whereby he had to have lived for five years in the house prior to his mothers death or to have lived for at least 10 of the 15 years prior to her demise. The council claimed he failed to meet all of the criteria, missing the 10-year requirement by a year and two months. He had moved back into the house following his mothers death and had been joined by his wife and two children. The baby had been born following their move in without confirmation of any new tenancy. The council described him to the court as a trespasser and had been granted a possession order in the District Court. Judge McCourt told Mr Beatty, who appeared with Daly Khurshid Solicitors, that he was satisfied Mr Mooney had lived in the house for the required amount of time to satisfy the councils house allocation criteria. He had lived in the property for eight years and 10 months as an adult and for more than the alleged shortfall of 14 months as a minor. It is accepted by the council that Mr Mooney had been included in the rent assessment for his mother which is a significant factor, Judge McCourt said. I have enormous sympathy with any housing authority in trying to distribute meagre supplies of houses to satisfy the overwhelming demand. It is akin to the distribution of the five loaves and two fishes. There arent enough houses to go around and it is not the fault of local authorities. I dont like to see anyone skipping a queue but I dont accept that Mr Mooney was a trespasser. Judge McCourt said the question was whether it was proportionate and reasonable to grant what was an eviction order and it was his view that it would be disproportionate and unreasonable in all of the circumstances and he would allow Mr Mooneys appeal but would not make an order for costs against the county council. These are difficult cases but the facts in this case are unique. I have a lot of sympathy for councils which have little or no houses and yet have to deal with a problem not of their making. It is all very unfortunate but I do not think any use would be served by making an eviction order, Judge McCourt said. The State has contended the courts cannot consider Senator Gerard Craughwell's constitutional challenge against what he claims is the 'secret arrangement' allowing the British military to intercept any aircraft in Irish airspace that poses a threat to either country. The Independent senator has brought proceedings over what he claims is an agreement between Ireland and Great Britain allowing the RAF to fly into Irish airspace and "intercept aircraft that pose a threat. He claims the agreement is unlawful and unconstitutional, without a referendum. The agreement, which he claims has never been put before the Dail, was introduced following the September 11, 2001 attacks in the United States. The Government and the State, which do not confirm nor deny the existence of the alleged agreement, have filed a defence opposing Senator Craughwell's action. It denies any suggestion it has acted improperly or unconstitutionally. Senator Gerard Craughwell. The agreement, which he claims has never been put before the Dail, was introduced following the September 11, 2001 attacks in the United States. It has brought a pre-trial motion where it claims that any exercise of the government's power in relation to the State's external relations and security, in the absence of any material facts capable of establishing a clear breach of the constitution, is not justiciable, meaning that such it cannot be reviewed or determined by a court of law. It also submits that the courts cannot review matters of external security that fall within the scope of the government's executive power, where the denial or confirmation of any such arrangement could endanger state security and its international relations. Should the State succeed in its pre-trial application, Senator Craughwell's case will fall. The Senator's legal team are opposing the motion. The case was briefly mentioned before Ms Justice Eileen Roberts at the High Court on Monday. The judge was told that the pre-trial motion is ready to proceed to a hearing. The court heard the issue should take two days to hear. Ms Justice Roberts said that she was not in a position to fix a hearing of the motion, and adjourned the matter to a date in June, It is hoped that a hearing date will be fixed when the matter returns before the court. Senator's claims The senator has brought proceedings where he claims that the purported agreement contains provisions that are "fundamentally incompatible" with the Irish Constitution and constitutes an alleged unlawful abdication of the Government's duty. To grant such a power to any foreign military, he adds, "is expressed prohibited" by several articles of the Irish Constitution. By entering into this agreement, he claims, that the Government has "fettered the sovereignty of the State and acted outside of the powers entrusted to it by the Constitution." The failure to put the agreement before the Dail, he claims, "amounts to a deliberate disregard" by the Government of the powers and duties conferred on it by the Constitution. This deal, he says, can only be approved by the people of Ireland in a referendum. Senator Craughwell claims he sought information from the Government and the State about the existence of the agreement in August 2022. His request was based on an answer given in the Dail by the then Taoiseach Brian Cowen in November 2005 to a question asked by Fine Gael's Enda Kenny. Mr Cowen replied that "there is co-operation and a pre-agreed understanding" when asked if the RAF would be called to intercept a hijacked aircraft over Irish airspace. Senator Craughwell claims that the "State's consistent approach" in response to questions on this topic is "not to disclose any information" as it concerns matters of "national security." He also claims that in response to his questions, government departments will "not confirm nor the deny the existence of any alleged agreement or arrangement". Arising out of that response he has brought proceedings against the Government of Ireland, Ireland and the Attorney General where he seeks various orders and declarations including that the agreement is unconstitutional. Senator Craughwell, who is a former member of the Irish Defence Forces and the British Army, as well as being an ex-President of the TUI, seeks various declarations from the court including that the agreement with Ireland and the UK allowing armed British military aircraft to intercept aircraft over Irish airspace amounts to breaches of the Irish Constitution. He also seeks a declaration that the Government's failure to exercise control over Ireland's territorial waters, airspace and exclusive economic zone breaches Article 5 of the Constitution which declares that Ireland is a sovereign independent democratic state. He further seeks an order restraining the government from bringing in legislation to give effect to the agreement, unless it has been passed by a referendum. A prison officer is not entitled to have a lawyer represent him at a disciplinary hearing over allegations including that he made inappropriate contact with the wife of a prisoner, the High Court has ruled. The officer, who cannot be named, has brought proceedings against the governor of the prison he serves in and against the Irish Prison Service (IPS) over a refusal to permit him to have a lawyer at the hearing. Mr Justice Anthony Barr ruled he was not entitled to the relief sought. The judge, outlining the case, said in late 2020, the wife of a prisoner, who was an inmate in the prison where the officer worked, emailed the prison governor alleging she was being harassed by the officer via messages on her phone. She also claimed the officer was bringing in drink and phones and doing bets for prisoners on the working landing of the prison. WhatsApp messages She provided screenshots of WhatsApp messages to the prison authorities. The officer was informed it was intended to establish a number of investigations including referring certain matters to the gardai and an investigation under the IPS code. He was also suspended from duty. One of the investigations began but concluded without reaching a result because the investigator had not been able to interview either the prison officer or the woman who made the complaints. In the meantime, further complaints about the officer were made by another prisoner, who alleged the officer had brought in a baby Nokia phone with a Sim card and charger and passed them to the husband of the woman who made the complaint. He also alleged that drugs and alcohol had been smuggled into the prison. He also alleged the woman had been paying the officer to bring these articles to her husband, but he speculated the [officer] may have been doing it because he "fancied" the woman. The prison authorities informed the officer that these allegations were to be investigated too. Threat to woman complainant The judge said the the woman complainant, at one point, complained about another inmate in the prison who had threatened to burn her house down with her and her children in it. The judge said as a result, the sender of the WhatsApp messages made a number of threats about that prisoner, saying he would stab him, kill him or strangle him. In 2021, the officer was told a formal investigation would be carried out into various allegations including over contraband, threats, and inappropriate contact. An investigator interviewed the prison officer, who refused to answer questions because he said he had been informed the allegations had been referred to the gardai. In a report, the investigator was satisfied in relation to a number matters including that, on the balance of probabilities, it could be shown he had threatened to have a prisoner killed or seriously assaulted and that there was inappropriate contact with the wife of a prisoner. The prison governor decided to convene a disciplinary hearing and the officer was informed he could be accompanied by a Prison Officers Association (POA) official or by another serving officer. The officer sought to be accompanied by his solicitor, saying the POA had refused to represent him because it was being investigated by the gardai. The prison authorities confirmed with gardai, however, that there was no criminal investigation. The governor refused to allow him to bring a solicitor and he then brought a High Court challenge, which was opposed by the respondents. In his judgment, Mr Justice Barr said due to the lack of cooperation from both the woman who first made allegations and the prisoner who made more allegations, the investigator ruled that the allegations about contraband material should not proceed. The officer can now be represented by the POA as it has been confirmed there is no Garda investigation, the judge said. He faces three allegations in relation to being the sender of WhatsApp messages, making threats and of inappropriate contact with the wife of a prisoner, the judge said. None of these issues required an in-depth grasp of either legal or factual complexities, he said. "The court is satisfied that the services of a legal representative are not necessary to ensure that the applicant [the officer] will obtain a fair hearing in the remainder of the disciplinary process", he said. Housing Minister Darragh OBrien has expressed deep concerns to the EU Commission that it is delaying measures to crack down on Airbnb lettings. New rules that would see around 12,000 short-term or holiday-let properties come back into the long-term rental market have been mothballed by Europe after the standstill period of the new regulations was extended. Mr OBrien has written to commissioner Nicolas Schmit to complain that undue delays in signing off on the measures at EU level is exacerbating housing supply problems here. In his letter, seen by the Irish Examiner, Mr OBrien has called for a fast-track system to approve measures relating to social urgency such as housing. Housing is a crisis that demands swift and ongoing responses, it says. Without prejudice to the final decision and processes and procedures of the EU Commission on the specific matter, I am deeply concerned around undue delays in resolving issues that are integral to helping address housing supply problems. New regulations The Government signed off on new regulations late last year that will require property owners to register with Failte Ireland before advertising with online platforms such as Airbnb and booking.com. Failure to register would see the property owner fined 300, which would jump up to 5,000 if a case went to court. Failte Ireland will also be given the power to fine online platforms up to 5,000 per listing for advertising properties without a valid registration number. The Government had hoped to have the requirement in place early this year. However, the EU Commission has extended the standstill period of the new regulations to December 22. While Mr OBrien acknowledged that the EU Commission should review and consider policies, he said this should be balanced with the recognition of the need to make timely judgments on policies that have an immediate social impact on pressing issues such as housing. He added: A failure to act in a timely manner will undermine citizens confidence in the ability and willingness of the State to tackle these problems. He has suggested that accelerated decision-making procedures be rolled out for matters of social urgency such as housing. Housing targets Meanwhile, Mr OBrien has said this years housing targets of almost 30,000 will be exceeded but warned that meeting targets in the years ahead could be challenging. In an interview with the Irish Examiner, he said the continuation of the no-fault eviction ban would have punished mom and pop landlords who want to exit the market. He said in pushing for an extension of the moratorium which was lifted in April, members of the opposition would have completely restricted the ability of people to sell their own property, impacting hugely on pensions and savings. Blockades of refugee accommodation are "not appropriate" the Housing Minister has said. Darragh O'Brien was speaking in Swords on Monday amid reports that there has been protests at a new facility in nearby Santry which is due to house refugees. Mr O'Brien said that protests are allowed for under the law, but doing so outside of facilities or blocking roads as has happened in Clare over the last week was "not appropriate". I would say to people that blockades or protests outside of these centres is not appropriate," he said. "Protest is fine. I respect the right to protest. Where it is an appropriate place and when appropriate, people are allowed to protest. But theyre not allowed to intimidate. Mr O'Brien said that growing numbers of international protection applications would likely be seen as the number of conflicts globally grows. If you look at the number of conflicts, right across the world, they unfortunately are increasing weve never had so many conflicts, right across across Africa and in Europe now as well. People are fleeing and they are looking for safety. And thankfully we're in a position as a country to provide that safety. As I said, the vast majority of people in this country support what is being done in that space. And I reject some of the politicisation of this." Asked about his desire to see unused office space converted for housing, Mr O'Brien said that he had written to Enterprise Minister Simon Coveney on the issue but could not say how many homes it would deliver. I think weve got to look at all avenues and to see what things can be done to look at where there may be surplus office space, and what can be repurposed into housing. But we need to actually increase our housing supply. We know that and were doing that, and its about further additionality, in that space. Were going to pursue this measure, but as I said, its about using vacant stock, bringing it back in and looking at other buildings that would be better used for residential, but also building our new stock which thankfully, we are doing and were doing at scale now, a scale that hasnt been seen in decades. But I think most people will know, particularly across our cities where we see people are working differently and we have more remote working too, that there may be opportunities where office developments have been built that can be repurposed." Russian officials have claimed that Ukrainian military saboteurs launched an attack across the border, wounding three people in a small town. Kyiv officials denied any link with the group and blamed the fighting on a revolt by disgruntled Russians against the Kremlin. Neither version of events could be independently verified in an area that has witnessed sporadic spillover from the almost 15-month war in Ukraine. The governor of Russias Belgorod region, which borders Ukraine, said that a Ukrainian Armed Forces saboteur group entered the town of Graivoron, about five kilometres (three miles) from the border. Valentina, 53, a local woman, stands inside the Evangelical Christian Baptists prayer house, which was destroyed by a Russian attack in Orihiv, Ukraine (Andriy Andriyenko/AP) The town also came under Ukrainian artillery fire, he said. Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said three people were wounded by shrapnel in the assault. Three houses and an administrative building were damaged, he said. In nearby Zamostye village, a projectile hit a pre-school and caused a fire. One woman was wounded in her hand, Mr Gladkov said. He also reported that Russian anti-aircraft systems shot down an unmanned aerial vehicle over Belgorod region. Mr Gladkov said a counterterrorist operation was under way and that authorities were imposing special controls, including personal document checks and stopping the work of companies that use explosives, radioactive, chemically and biologically hazardous substances. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russian President Vladimir Putin was informed about the alleged saboteur incursion. Local residents receive humanitarian aid from volunteers in front of Evangelical Christian Baptists prayer house, which was destroyed by a Russian attack in Orihiv (Andriy Andriyenko/AP) An effort to push them out from the Russian territory and liquidate them was under way, he said. Mr Peskov described the action as an attempt by Ukraine to divert attention from the eastern city of Bakhmut, which Moscow claimed to have captured after months of battle but where Kyiv says it is still fighting. But Ukrainian military intelligence officials did not confirm that Kyiv had deployed saboteurs. Instead, they claimed that Russian citizens seeking regime change in Moscow were behind the Graivoron incursion. Ukraine intelligence representative Andrii Cherniak said Russian citizens belonging to murky groups calling themselves the Russian Volunteer Corps and the Freedom of Russia Legion were behind the assault. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskys adviser, Mykhailo Podolyak, said on Twitter that Ukraine has nothing to do with it. He suggested an armed guerrilla movement was behind the attack. The Russian Volunteer Corps claimed in a Telegram post it had crossed the border into Russia again, after claiming to have breached the border in early March. The only driving political force in a totalitarian country of tightened screws is always an armed guerrilla movement. #Ukraine is watching the events in the #Belgorod region of #Russia with interest and studying the situation, but it has nothing to do with it. As you know, tanks (@Podolyak_M) May 22, 2023 The Russian Volunteer Corps describes itself as a volunteer formation fighting on Ukraines side. Little is known about the group, and it is not clear if it has any ties with the Ukrainian military. The same is true for the Freedom of Russia Legion. The RVC was founded last August and reportedly consists mostly of anti-Putin far-right Russian extremists who have links with Ukrainian far-right groups. Earlier on Monday, Ukraines Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, Europes largest atomic power station, spent hours operating on emergency diesel generators on Monday after losing its external power supply for the seventh time since Russias full-scale invasion of its neighbour, the head of the UN nuclear watchdog said. The nuclear safety situation at the plant (is) extremely vulnerable, Rafael Grossi, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), said in a tweet. Hours later, national energy company Ukrenergo said on Telegram that it had restored the power line that feeds the plant. But for Mr Grossi, it was another reminder of what is at stake at the Russian-occupied plant which has seen shelling close by. We must agree to protect (the) plant now; this situation cannot continue, Mr Grossi said, in his latest appeal for the area to be spared from the fighting between Ukrainian and Russian forces. A Russian serviceman at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station in 2022 (AP) IAEA staff are deployed at the plant, which is occupied by Russian troops. The plants six nuclear reactors, which are protected by a reinforced shelter able to withstand an errant shell or rocket, have been shut down. But a disruption in the electrical supply could disable cooling systems that are essential for the reactors safety even when they are shut down. Emergency diesel generators, which officials say can keep the plant operational for 10 days, can be unreliable. Mr Grossi said it was the seventh time the plant had lost its outside power supply since Russias full-scale invasion in February 2022. The Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant is one of the 10 biggest atomic power stations in the world. Ukraines presidential office said on Monday morning that at least three Ukrainian civilians were killed and 16 others were injured in Russian assaults over the previous 24 hours. The Ukrainian Air Force reported that four out of 16 Russian missiles and all 20 drones launched against Ukrainian targets were shot down. Military targets and public infrastructure in Dnipro, Ukraines fourth-largest city in the centre of the country, were singled out for Russian attacks, which injured eight people, officials said. The Dnipro fire department was affected, and 12 houses, shops, and a pre-school were damaged, according to governor Serhii Lysak. South Carolina Senator Tim Scott has launched his US presidential campaign, offering an optimistic and compassionate message he is hoping can contrast with the two figures who have used political combativeness to dominate the early Republican primary field: former president Donald Trump and Florida governor Ron DeSantis. Mr Scott, the Senates only black Republican, kicked off the campaign in his home town of North Charleston, on the campus of Charleston Southern University, his alma mater and a private school affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention. He repeatedly mentioned his Christian faith in his kick-off speech, crying, Amen! Amen! Amen! and at several points drew responses from the crowd, who sometimes chanted his name. But Mr Scott also offered a stark political choice, saying our party and our nation are standing at a time for choosing: victimhood or victory, and adding that Republicans will also have to decide between grievance or greatness. Republican presidential candidate Tim Scott delivers his speech announcing his candidacy for president of the United States on the campus of Charleston Southern University in North Charleston, South Carolina (Mic Smith/AP) I choose freedom and hope and opportunity, Mr Scott said. He went on to tell the crowd that we need a president who persuades not just our friends and our base but seeks common sense solutions and displays compassion for people who dont agree with us. That was a far cry from Mr Trump, who has played to the Republicans most loyal supporters with repeated lies about how he was denied a second term by widespread fraud that did not occur during the 2020 presidential election. Mr DeSantis, meanwhile, has pushed Florida to the right by championing contentious new restrictions on abortion, LGBTQ rights and by seeking to limit the corporate power of Disney, one of his states most powerful business interests. Mr Scott, 57, planned to huddle with home-state donors then begin a two-day campaign swing to Iowa and New Hampshire, which go first in Republican presidential primary voting. His announcement event featured an opening prayer by Republican Senator John Thune of South Dakota, the number two Senate Republican, who said: I think our country is ready to be inspired again. Republican Senator Mike Rounds, South Dakotas other senator, has already announced his support for Mr Scott. Traci Smith, far left, and her daughter Brooke, 12, bow their heads in prayer before Tim Scott delivers his speech announcing his candidacy for president of the United States on the campus of Charleston Southern University in North Charleston, South Carol A number of high-profile Republican senators have already backed Mr Trumps third bid for the White House, though, including Mr Scotts South Carolina colleague, Lindsey Graham. Mr Trump nonetheless struck a conciliatory tone, welcoming Mr Scott to the race in an online post on Monday and noting that the pair worked together on his administrations signature tax cuts. A source of strength for Mr Scott will be his campaign bank account. He enters the 2024 race with more cash on hand than any other presidential candidate in US history, with 22 million dollars left in his campaign account at the end of his 2022 campaign that he can transfer to his presidential coffers. Mr Scott also won re-election in firmly Republican South Carolina which has an early slot on the Republican presidential primary calendar by more than 20 points less than six months ago. Advisers bet that can make Mr Scott a serious contender for an early, momentum-generating win. But Mr Scott is not the only South Carolina option. Tim Scott hugs his mother Frances Scott after announcing his candidacy for president of the United States (Mic Smith/AP) The states former governor, Nikki Haley, who also once served as Mr Trumps former United Nations ambassador, is also running. Ben LeVan, a business professor at Charleston Southern who attended Mondays event, said he had not decided who to support in the Republican primary but did not plan to back Mr Trump. I really do hope that we can bring some civility back in politics, Mr LeVan said. Thats one of the nice things about Tim Scott, and quite frankly, Nikki Haley, and some of the other candidates as well. Theyre more diplomatic, and that is something that I appreciate. Like others in the Republican race, including former Arkansas governor Asa Hutchinson and Woke, Inc author Vivek Ramaswamy, Mr Scotts initial task will be finding a way to stand out in a field led by Mr Trump and Mr DeSantis, the latter of whom could announce his own bid as early as this week. One way Mr Scott hopes to do that is his trademark political optimism. Mr Scott often quotes scripture at his campaign events, weaving his reliance on spiritual guidance into his speeches, and calling his travels before the campaigns official launch the Faith in America listening tour. Tim Scott delivers his speech announcing his candidacy at Charleston Southern University (Mic Smith/AP) He said on Monday that Americas promise means you can go as high as our character, our grit, and our talent will take you. The Democratic National Committee (DNC) responded to Mr Scotts announcement by dismissing the notion that he offers much of an alternative to Mr Trumps policies. DNC chair Jamie Harrison, who ran unsuccessfully for the Senate in South Carolina in 2020, released a statement calling the senator a fierce advocate of the MAGA agenda, a reference to the former presidents Make America Great Again movement. On many issues, Mr Scott does indeed align with mainstream Republican positions. He wants to reduce government spending and restrict abortion, saying he would sign a federal law to prohibit abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy if elected president. But Mr Scott has pushed the party on some policing overhaul measures since the killing of George Floyd, and he has occasionally criticised Mr Trumps response to racial tensions. Throughout their disagreements, though, Mr Scott has maintained a generally cordial relationship with Mr Trump, saying in his book that the former president listened intently to his viewpoints on race-related issues. Tim Scott delivers his speech announcing his candidacy for president of the United States (Mic Smith/AP) When he was appointed to the Senate by then-governor Ms Haley in 2012, Mr Scott became the first black senator from the South since just after the Civil War. Winning a 2014 special election to serve out the remainder of his term made him the first black candidate to win a statewide race in South Carolina since the Reconstruction era. He has long said his current term, which runs through until 2029, would be his last. Mr Scott has long rejected the notion that the country is inherently racist. He has also routinely repudiated the teaching of critical race theory, an academic framework that presents the idea that the nations institutions maintain the dominance of white people. Today, Im living proof that America is the land of opportunity and not a land of oppression, Mr Scott said on Monday. Burma Lives in Limbo in Cyclone-Hit Rakhine Where Relief in Short Supply Devastation in Sittwe caused by Cyclone Mocha. / The Irrawaddy Over one week after Cyclone Mocha devastated farming and fishing communities in western Myanmars Rakhine State, local residents have yet to receive any proper assistance and are struggling to return to their normal lives. Cyclone Mocha made landfall in northern Rakhine State on May 14 with winds of up to 120mph, before hitting neighboring Chin State and Sagaing and Magwe regions. The military regime has said that 145 people were killed in Rakhine alone, but local volunteer groups fear the number will rise as there are still many missing yet to be accounted for. The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said on Sunday that Sittwe and Rathedaung townships were hit hardest by the cyclone, with significant damage done to homes and infrastructure. Destruction of public infrastructure, as well as disruption to water systems, continues to limit access to clean drinking water in Rakhine, increasing the risk of waterborne diseases especially among the affected population, said OCHA. Junta-controlled media reported that aid has arrived in Rakhine and been distributed. The regime has also tasked senior Myanmar military officers to lead the recovery operation in Rakhine. However, aid has yet to reach Thea Khon Village in Rakhines Pauktaw Township, a fishing village where all the houses were destroyed in storm surges triggered by Cyclone Mocha. I cant even remember where my house used to be. There is nothing left, a villager told The Irrawaddy. The villagers told The Irrawaddy that they desperately need emergency food supplies and drinking water, as their village was completely wiped out by the storm and the water wells flooded by seawater. A volunteer who went to Thea Khon Village last Friday described the village, which has over 500 households, as being destroyed and in urgent need of aid and drinking water. Two villagers are still missing, according to locals. Many villages in Mrauk-U Township, which is famous for its historic sites, also need food and medical aid after they were partially or completely destroyed by Cyclone Mocha. Despite no reported casualties, the storm caused extensive damage to houses and buildings in the township. Many people came to Mrauk-U Town to shelter from the storm in advance. So there were no fatalities in our township, a volunteer said. U San Thein, a fisherman from Mo Hin Village in Mrauk-U Township, said his home was blown away by storm winds and that his village is still waiting for aid supplies to arrive. He said some villagers were now sheltering in Mrauk-U Town as their houses had been completely destroyed. The fisherman said that he and his family have stayed in the village as they cant afford to move to Mrauk-U Town. I bought some plastic sheeting to repair my house as the weather is getting hot again. I fell ill yesterday and we dont have medicine or enough food. If we dont receive any help, we will soon be on the brink of starving, said U San Thein. Rohingya communities in displacement camps near the Rakhine capital Sittwe are also in urgent need of food and medical aid after the cyclone ripped through the camps. Four people share one egg for lunch. We desperately need food and medical supplies, said a Rohingya man last Thursday. A spokesperson from the Youth for Youth volunteer team said that they would bring some food supplies on Tuesday for Rohingya in Bayda camp as they had completely run out of rice. U Thein Shwe, a volunteer in the Rohingya camp, said hygiene is an issue as there are not enough toilets in the camp. With sweltering temperatures, shelter is also a huge problem in the storm-hit areas with most houses damaged or destroyed and trees uprooted. Residents of Thea Chaung Village in Bupin village-tract who lost their homes are staying at the local monastery and community hall and have yet to receive any aid supplies. The Sayadaw of the Thea Chaung monastery said over 120 houses and a monastery building were destroyed by the cyclone. A spokesperson for a local volunteer group said that the most vulnerable communities in storm-hit areas havent received any relief supplies from international organizations, despite preparing food supplies in advance of the storm. They told me that they havent received permission [to distribute aid] from the junta yet, said the spokesperson. On Sunday, OCHA said that international aid agencies are still waiting for the juntas approval to begin relief work on the ground. Burma Myanmar Junta Arrests Resistance Members Accused of Assassinations and Robberies A regime photo showing detainees accused of being resistance members and carrying out assassinations and attacks in Yangon from November 2021 to April 2023. /Junta website Myanmars military regime has arrested 31 alleged Peoples Defense Force (PDF) members in Yangon and Mandalay accused of assassinations and robberies of junta-linked individuals including its deputy electoral chief. Sai Kyaw Thu, the deputy director-general of the junta-appointed Union Election Commission and a former army lieutenant-colonel, was shot dead in Yangon on April 22. Arkar Htet Kyaw, one of his alleged killers, was arrested at his apartment in Yangons Sanchaung Township on May 12, the regime claimed. After investigating Arkar Htet Kyaw, the junta arrested nine more accomplices over the next four days. The 10 detainees are accused of involvement in eight assassinations in Yangon from November 2021 to April 2023, killing at least 10 people including regime-appointed ward administrators and U Thein Aung, the CFO of military-linked Mytel Telecommunications Co.Ltd. They were also involved in six attacks on regime targets in Yangon, the junta report said. Jame and Oakkar Lin Yan, the leaders of the Yangon Revolution Force PDF, are accused of being the masterminds behind the assassinations and attacks. The regime said that it will take effective action against the detainees. In Mandalay the junta has arrested Chan Myae Oo, the deputy leader of the Royal Phoenix Guerrilla Force (RPGF) PDF. 12 of his alleged accomplices were arrested on May 18, the junta said. It said the detainees were involved in two assassinations and nine attacks on regime targets and junta-linked business in Mandalay and Sagaing Region. U Yee Mon, the defense minister of the civilian National Unity Government (NUG), has been accused by the junta of being the mastermind behind the RPGFs assassinations and attacks. On May 14, the regime said that it had captured eight members of the Anti-Dictatorship Peoples Revolutionary Army (ADPRA) PDF, who were allegedly involved in a May 13 robbery of a jewelry store in Yangons Thaketa Township. The group has been accused of committing two assassinations and three robberies in Yangon. The NUGs U Yee Mon has also been accused by the junta of providing weapons to the ADPRA and overseeing the assassinations and robberies. The Irrawaddy could not verify any of the juntas accusations independently. Burma Rights Group Demands Sanction for Myanmar Energy Minsters Family Junta energy minister Myo Myint Oo at a meeting with a Russian delegation in Naypyitaw on January 31. / MITV Justice For Myanmar (JFM) has called for Australia, Canada, the European Union, UK and US to impose sanctions on the family of Myanmar regimes energy minister. The Environmental Quality Management Co Ltd (EQM) consultancy firm is owned by Dr Ohnmar May Tin Hlaing, wife of the juntas energy minister Myo Myint Oo. The family business profits from fossil fuel and mining companies operating in Myanmar, JFM said, in a clear conflict of interest. JFM campaigns for justice and accountability in Myanmar and exposes junta-linked businesses. EQM was registered in 2012 under the militarys proxy-civilian Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) government. Ohnmar May Tin Hlaing owns it with her father U Tin Hlaing, who was a high-ranking civil servant. The EQM website lists 87 projects, many for oil and gas companies that were mostly completed before the 2021 coup, and its clients include TotalEnergies of France, Indias Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) Videsh, Italian major Eni, Posco International of South Korea, PTTEP of Thailand, the Malaysian firm Petronas, Shell and Petroleum Brunei. EQM delivered air and noise monitoring services for a polluting cement factory in Karen State controlled by the military-owned conglomerate, the Myanmar Economic Corporation, in 2018. In 2016 the company prepared an environmental examination and management plan for Bo Aung Kyaw Port controlled by the military-run Myanma Economic Holdings Limited. EQM monitored air quality at the controversial, Chinese-owned Letpadaung copper mine in 2012. Myo Myint Oo was appointed managing director of Myanma Oil and Gas Enterprise (MOGE) in 2014 by the USDP regime. He held the role until becoming the juntas energy minister in August 2022. The US, EU and Canada have sanctioned Myo Myint Oo but Ohnmar May Tin Hlaing and her father, an EQM director, face no sanctions. The EU stated that Myo Myint Oo, is in charge of enabling the investment and cooperation with foreign partners in the oil and gas sectors, which creates revenue for the State Administration Council [junta], thereby contributing to securing the financial needs of the military regime and to importing aviation fuel for the military which enables the military airstrikes against civilians. Their daughter Ma Lin Hay Thi Oo is studying in Australia. She benefits from her parents business interests and should be investigated by the Australian authorities, said JFM. In September 2017, TotalEnergies provided a five-month internship to Lin Hay Thi Oo. JFM said Myo Myint Oos roles at MOGE and as energy minister and his wifes business are a clear conflict of interest, raising serious corruption concerns. Of EQMs clients, ONGC Videsh, Posco and PTTEP remain in Myanmar, investing in projects that bankroll the juntas military operations against civilians, JFM added. TotalEnergies relationship with Myo Myint Oos family was particularly problematic, it said. Myanmars Crisis & the World Myanmar Junta Alerts Troops After Move Forward Party's Statements on Myanmar -- Shortly after Thailands Move Forward Party (MFP), a party of young liberal activists that campaigned on a promise to reform the monarchy and the armed forces, won the largest number of seats among the contestants in the countrys May 14 polls, the second-most powerful man in neighboring Myanmars military junta issued a directive to his regional commanders to watch the Thai-Myanmar border. In his message, Vice Senior General Soe Win said: The Move Forward Party is pro-West and they will assist terrorists we have to watch the border and get information about them, their movements and their activities, The Irrawaddy has learned. The terrorists he refers to in the message are anti-Myanmar regime resistance groups active along the border. The general has reason to be wary. The MFPs leader, Prime Minister-elect Pita Limjaroenrat, 42, has been a consistent critic of Thailands policy toward neighboring Myanmar, where the regime has been attacking civiliansincluding bombing villages, schools and clinicsas well as resistance forces. Soe Wins concern was likely only compounded when Pita revealed his policy on Myanmar at a post-election press conference on May 15, saying We want to push ahead to make sure the Five Point Consensus is really achieved. The consensus is a peace plan for Myanmar adopted by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in the wake of the military coup in 2021. The junta has ignored the plan and continued killing civilians. Pita said: We would start a humanitarian journey, especially with the Burma Act that passed in the Congress in America, we can start that work with the international community to make sure that we have the right amount of pressure and incentives for people to resolve their conflict. The Burma Act authorizes US funding of non-lethal support for resistance forces in Myanmar. For the Myanmar junta, it must seem that the writing is on the wall. The current Thai government has been accused of being too close to the regime and offering only a muted response to its atrocities. Bangkok has said it is adhering to ASEANs so-called non-interference policy, which prevents members of the association from interfering in the internal politics of other members. Currently, the MFP is struggling to form a coalition government with other parties. Under the Thai constitution, which was forced through by the then-ruling junta in 2016, the senate has an outsized role in appointing the prime minister. To get around that, Pita would need at least 376 votes in the lower house. However, the party leader has been spelling out his plans for Myanmar and the region, and at the very least they will be worrisome for the junta leaders next door. On Saturday, Pita discussed his plans for the regional bloc when he met with a senior official from the World Economic Forum (WEF), stating that the next Move Forward-led government will revive Thailands leading role in ASEAN and work to lessen the violence in Myanmar. Then on Sunday, he tweeted in English and Burmese that his thoughts and prayers are with the people of Myanmar, especially those affected by the recent cyclone that devastated the countrys western regions. He urged the Thai caretaker government and the international community to expedite the delivery of humanitarian assistance to those affected by the cyclone. He said the call was in line with his new foreign policy agenda as PM-elect, adding that his policies on Myanmar will engage with all stakeholderssignifying an intention to engage with anti-regime forcesfocusing on human security considerations, including humanitarian and economic aspects. These will be implemented with a view to achieving mutual peace and prosperity for Thailand, Myanmar, ASEAN and beyond, his tweet reads. War Against the Junta At Least 20 Myanmar Regime Troops Killed in Three Days of Attacks by Resistance Forces Resistance fighters of Special Operation Force undergo sniper training in Karen State in May. At least 20 Myanmar junta forces were killed in the last three days as Peoples Defense Forces (PDFs) and an ethnic armed organization (EAO) continued to attack regime targets across the country. Incidents were reported in Sagaing, Mandalay, Magwe and Tanintharyi regions and Mon State. The Irrawaddy has rounded up the following reports of significant attacks from PDFs and the EAO. Some military casualties could not be independently verified. Police outpost attacked in Sagaing Resistance forces in a moving vehicle attack regime forces at a police outpost in Hla Taw Village, Wetlet Township on Sunday. / Bandula PDF At least seven junta policemen were killed in Wetlet Township, Sagaing Region on Sunday evening when several PDF groups conducted a surprise attack on a police outpost in Hla Taw Village, claimed Bandula PDF group, which coordinated the attack. Regime forces that burned houses attacked in Sagaing At least four regime forces were killed in Khin-U Township, Sagaing Region last Saturday when local resistance groups used land mines to ambush a military detachment that raided and burned villages, said revolutionary media unit Khin-U True News. A military column of 100 troops burned down at least 200 houses during their raids on four villages in Khin-U and nearby Shwebo Township. The regime forces were ambushed with land mines while taking a rest under a tree in Khin-U. The dead bodies of four soldiers were burned along with a house by the junta troops, the media unit said. Junta ambush patrol attacked in Sagaing PDF group Black Wolf Army said it and another PDF group used 10 heavy explosives to attack 20 regime forces waiting to ambush resistance forces on a road in Shwebo Township, Sagaing Region last Friday. Resistance forces also conducted drone strikes against the regime soldiers. Military casualties were unknown. Police outpost bombed in Mon Resistance group Kyaikhto Revolution Force (KRF) said it coordinated with PDF groups including the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA), the armed wing of the Karen National Union, to conduct drone strikes on a police outpost in Mae Pali Village in Bilin Township, Mon State on Sunday. Four bombs were used in the drone strikes, but police casualties were unknown. Military convoy ambushed in Mandalay A regime vehicle faces a land mine blast on the Mandalay-Madaya Highway in Madaya Township on Sunday. / Operation Myanandar At least five regime forces including a captain were killed in Madaya Township, Mandalay Region on Sunday morning when the resistance members taking part in Operation Myanandar used land mines to ambush a military convoy of nine vehicles traveling from Mandalay to Madaya, said the resistance group. Two military vehicles were hit by the blasts. Pro-junta militia forces attacked in Tanintharyi A two-hour-long clash broke out in Palaw Township, Tanintharyi Region last Friday night when local resistance groups raided pro-junta militia forces in Kyaukkar Village, the resistance groups told the media. After being attacked, the militia forces fled to a mountain nearby where their camps are located. Resistance groups burned the junta-controlled village administration office and destroyed the house of the militia leader in the village, The Tanintharyi Times reported citing resistance forces and locals. Resistance members retreated from the village when military reinforcements arrived at midnight. The next morning, regime troops tortured and interrogated about 40 villagers, of whom seven were abducted by soldiers to their base at Military Infantry Battalion 285. Regime forces attempting to arrest resistance leader bombed in Magwe At least four regime forces were killed and five injured in Natmauk Township, Magwe Region on Saturday when a resistance leader of Galone PDF (Natmauk) bombed regime forces attempting to arrest him, the PDF group told the media. After being tipped off, regime forces attempted to arrest Bo Aung Din, a squadron leader of the PDF group, as he was having lunch at a restaurant. However, the resistance leader escaped. The resistance leader triggered explosives on his motorbike while the regime forces were gathering round the bike to check it. 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. BEIJING -- Chinese Vice-Premier Ding Xuexiang Saturday encouraged scientific and technological workers to raise awareness of science popularization and actively promote the integration of science popularization work into economic and social development. Ding, also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, made the remarks after attending the opening ceremony of China's 2023 National Science and Technology Week and Beijing Science and Technology Week in Beijing. Following the opening ceremony, Ding inspected innovations in the fields of artificial intelligence, integrated circuits, biomedicine, and nuclear power equipment in the exhibition area. He learned about the operation state of large-scale scientific facilities and the industrial application of independent innovation achievements, and interacted with scientific and technological workers. Ding urged efforts to promote public science passion and innovation dedication and boost high-level scientific and technological innovation via high-quality science popularization. Yin Li, a member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and secretary of the CPC Beijing Municipal Committee, and Li Shulei, a member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and head of the Publicity Department of the CPC Central Committee, also attended the opening ceremony activities. China's 2023 National Science and Technology Week, aiming to popularize science, runs from May 20 to 31. Activities will focus on the latest scientific and technological achievements in artificial intelligence, biotechnology, as well as carbon peaking and neutrality. FILE - Rick Allen, of Def Leppard, arrives at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony at the Barclays Center on March 29, 2019, in New York. Allen says he was blindsided by an attack on him outside a South Florida hotel following a concert earlier this year. I heard a couple of steps and then I just saw this [flash] and the next thing I knew was I was on the ground, Allen, 59, told ABC's Good Morning America in an interview broadcast Monday, May 22, 2023. I landed on my backside hit my head on the pavement. FILE - Demonstrators gather on the steps of the Montana state Capitol protesting anti-LGBTQ+ legislation in Helena, Mont., March 15, 2021. Republican Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte signed a bill on Friday, May 19, 2023, to define "sex" as only male or female in Montana. Kansas and Tennessee have similar laws that LGBTQ+ advocates argue are denying legal recognition to nonbinary and transgender people. Montana's law would take effect on Oct. 1, 2023. FILE - Jesse Osborne waits for a ruling at the Anderson County Courthouse, Feb. 16, 2018, in Anderson, S.C.. Osborne, a school shooter serving a life sentence without parole for killing a first grader on a South Carolina playground when he was 14 is asking a judge to lessen his sentence so he can eventually get out of prison. On Monday, May 22, 2023, Osborne's lawyer asked Judge Lawton McIntosh to reconsider his sentence so Osborne, now 21, could have some hope of freedom in his late 50s or even 60s. 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Ireland Uruguay, Eastern Republic of Uzbekistan Vanuatu Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of Viet Nam, Socialist Republic of Wallis and Futuna Islands Western Sahara Yemen Zambia, Republic of Zimbabwe ON A CASTAWAY ISLAND UNDISCOVERED BY EVEN THE GREEK GODS, SIX SENSES MEGALONISOS WILL OPEN WITH STANDALONE POOL VILLAS AND BRANDED RESIDENCES (Greece) Six Senses will open its first Greek resort in partnership with Grivalia Hospitality, one of the most significant investors in the ultra-luxury hospitality sector in Greece. ON A CASTAWAY ISLAND UNDISCOVERED BY EVEN THE GREEK GODS, SIX SENSES MEGALONISOS WILL OPEN WITH STANDALONE POOL VILLAS AND BRANDED RESIDENCES (Greece) Six Senses will open its first Greek resort in partnership with Grivalia Hospitality, one of the most significant investors in the ultra-luxury hospitality sector in Greece. Greece - Industry economy - Hotel projects This is a press release Category: Europe This is a press release selected by our editorial committee and published online for free on 2023-05-22 Megalonisos, one of the 10 Petalioi islands and islets with some of the finest undiscovered beaches in the Greek Maldives. Six Senses Megalonisos will be a short boat ride from the port of Rafina, just across the mainland from Athens, or Marmari on Evias West coast. Whereas the island of Evia or Euboea was said to have been separated from mainland Greece by a strike from Poseidons trident, the childhood home of Goddess Hera, and the battleground for the Titans versus the Giants, the tranquil and secluded Megalonisos has been left by history and mythology to snooze in the sun. There will be 75 guest villas and 20 branded residences for sale, all unobtrusively blending into the contours of the bay, which is protected by prevailing winds to make it an ideal location for a mooring site for yachts and sailboats. The plentiful diving opportunities in the clear turquoise waters and uninterrupted hiking trails in undisturbed nature help create a range of out-of-the-ordinary experiences to stimulate, energize and restore. Easy day trips to Athens add to the appeal of exploring everything from Greeces cultural heritage the Acropolis, Ancient Agora, Parthenon, and Temple of Olympian Zeus, to name just a few to its abundant fine dining and street food scene. Six Senses was chosen for this project in part for its eco-credentials in terms of energy, materials, and operations, which support Greeces shifting approach towards sustainable and responsible tourism practices. The development will be powered by its own solar electric farm. The three restaurants include all-day dining, a beach bar and grill, and a specialty sunset bar. There will also be a pastry cafe, perfect for a coffee after a morning dip or sun salutation, along with a boutique. The 1,700 square-meter Six Senses Spa will offer multiple treatment rooms, including four double sensory suites, a Watsu for a range of hydro therapies, and a Hammam for a warm herbal steam and body scrub. Guests will enjoy locally inspired cuisine and spa treatments along with trademark experiences and brand differentiators, including Sleep, Eat, and Grow With Six Senses, the Alchemy Bar, Earth Lab, and Integrated Wellness. Six Senses Megalonisos offers a unique opportunity to step foot on a Greek island that even the Gods left undiscovered, says Neil Jacobs, CEO of Six Senses. We look forward to welcoming our guests with emotional hospitality that encompasses pioneering wellness, sustainability, and meaningful experiences. Mr. George Chryssikos, Chairman and CEO of Grivalia Hospitality stated, We are delighted to join forces with Six Senses as we share common values in terms of sustainability and well-being. In Grivalia Hospitality, via our investments, we aim to create special and unique hospitality projects and experiences, while at the same time strengthening Greeces position as a leading destination for luxury tourism and attracting world-class brands that recognize the great potential of our country in the premium hospitality sector. Six Senses Megalonisos can be accessed by private boat from Rafina port (a 16-kilometer, 30-minute drive from Athens International Airport), or from the ports of Marmari or Karystos on Evia. The target open date has been set for the end of 2027. Today Rain likely. High 57F. Winds NNE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 90%. Rainfall may reach one inch. Tonight Periods of rain. Low 53F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 90%. Rainfall near an inch. Tomorrow Rain early...then remaining cloudy with thundershowers developing in the afternoon. High 66F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 70%. Ahead of the presidential race, Mauritanias ruling party emerges victorious in local and legislative elections. The ruling party in Mauritania has won a comfortable victory in the recent legislative and local elections, as per the official results announced on Sunday. This serves as a test for President Mohamed Ould Ghazouani before the presidential poll next year. Ghazouanis El Insaf party, which is anticipated to field him as the candidate for re-election in 2024, won 80 out of the 176 seats in parliament. Thirty-six other seats were shared by the presidents allied parties and 24 went to the opposition, with nine to the Islamist Tewassoul movement. The opposition has raised objections of massive fraud in the polls, which saw a turnout of 71.8 percent. The run-off vote for the remaining 36 parliamentary seats is scheduled for May 27. Emmanuel Macron paid a significant visit to Mongolia on Sunday, becoming the first French president to do so. The country, nestled between China and Russia, is of growing strategic interest in the West. Upon landing in Ulaanbaatar after attending the G7 summit in Japan, Macron was welcomed by a traditional Mongolian guard of honour. At Sukhbaatar Square, the French president attended a reception alongside a statue of Mongolian hero Damdin Sukhbaatar and a monument to Genghis Khan. The visit comes as France increases diplomacy with countries that have not explicitly condemned Russia following its invasion of Ukraine earlier this year. In Mongolian capital Ulaanbaatar, Macron dined at the museum of Genghis Khan to signify a historic moment. Mongolia is looking to diversify its partnerships to better contend with China and Russia. France is seeking to widen its options, specifically for Russias neighbours, and allow for European diversification of energy supplies. Mongolia has been the subject of growing interest from the US in recent years as part of a strategy to curb Chinas influence. The vast country has struggled with political instability since its first democratic constitution in 1992. Roughly 86% of its exports go to China, with half being coal. The Palestinian Ministry reports three Palestinian deaths in West Bank by Israeli forces. According to Palestinian sources, the Israeli army carried out an overnight raid in the occupied West Bank, resulting in the death of three Palestinian fighters. The Palestinian health ministry identified the fighters killed in the Balata refugee camp in Nablus as Muhammad Abu Zaytoun (32), Fathi Abu Rizk (30), and Abdullah Abu Hamdan (24). The Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, the armed wing of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbass Fatah party, said that the three were among the groups fighters. The Israeli army did not immediately comment when contacted by AFP. The West Bank has been occupied by Israel since the 1967 Six-Day War. Approximately three million Palestinians reside there, along with about 490,000 Israelis in settlements considered to be illegal under international law. The recent deaths occurred just over a week after a fragile ceasefire agreement was reached between Israel and the Islamic Jihad militant group, ending a five-day cross-border conflict. Since the start of the year, there have been at least 153 Palestinian deaths, 20 Israeli deaths, one Ukrainian death, and one Italian death in violence linked to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, including combatants and civilians on the Palestinian side and mostly civilians and three members of the Arab minority on the Israeli side, according to an AFP count compiled from official sources on both sides. (AFP) Reddit Email 36 Shares ( Tomdispatch.com) He appointed three conservative Supreme Court justices who shocked the nation with rulings that dramatically took away rights. He sided with the racists who used states rights to push through undemocratic policies locally. And hes the only American president who lost a reelection bid but returned to office in the following election. Yes, Im thinking of former New York governor and Democrat Grover Cleveland who first won the presidency in 1884, lost his reelection bid in 1888, only to successfully regain the presidency in 1892 against then-incumbent Benjamin Harrison. In 2024, Donald Trump hopes to repeat that history in all its ugliness by becoming the second former president to recapture the White House. And mind you, the consequences of that second Cleveland administration were devastating. Three of his Supreme Court appointees Melville W. Fuller, Rufus W. Peckham, and Edward D. White were part of the majority in the crucial and devastating 1896 Plessy v. Ferguson case that would sanction racial segregation across the nation and so solidify an American apartheid system that didnt end legally until the landmark 1954 Brown v. Board of Education decision. In a similar vein, its hard to imagine how destructive a second Trump administration would be, given his first time in office. In virtually every area of public policy, the Trump administration proved a setback for women, people of color, working-class communities, LGBTQ individuals, environmental advocates, and those fighting to expand human and democratic rights. His three hyper-conservative Supreme Court appointees helped overturn Roe v. Wade, taking away abortion rights for millions without hesitation, while there have also been significant setbacks in the areas of gun safety, religious freedom, workers rights, and more. But in truth, its not the policymaking that Donald Trump truly longs for. Above all, he clearly misses the corruption, cruelty, and sense of power that came with his presidency. His dream of an authoritarian state in which he can punish his enemies endlessly without accountability (while enriching himself and his family) was thwarted in 2020 when voters rejected his candidacy. The bitterness of that loss still eats at his very being and drives his current presidential bid. As he himself stated, in a second term he seeks retribution against one and all. For those still in the Republican Party, Trump is once again the overwhelming early favorite. While 61% of Americans dont want him as president again 89% of Democrats and 64% of independents a whopping 76% of Republicans are Trumpian to the core, according to a March 2023 Marist poll. If impeachments, a slew of coming indictments, and a conviction for libel dont deter his GOP supporters indeed, they seem to have had the opposite effect then its easy to see Trump winning the nomination in a landslide. Yet, in a number of ways, as the Republican Party continues to move ever more to the right, MAGA has already evolved beyond him. Despite the media oxygen he continues to consume, the current moment is less about him than most of us believe. Just as Cleveland reflected the growing racial retrenchment of the white South in the late 1800s, Trump embodies the growing entrenchment of an ever more extremist wing of American politics. As hyper-MAGA losing Pennsylvania senatorial candidate Kathy Barnette correctly stated, MAGA does not belong to President Trump. In referring to the ascendant far-right wing of the Republican Party last year, she claimed that our values never, never shifted to President Trumps values. Rather it was President Trump who shifted and aligned with our values. What she neglected to add was that his conversion was completely transactional: he needed their support, and they needed his. Once committed, Trump leaned fully into the politics of white supremacy and white Christian nationalism that still animate the base of the party and its most prominent leaders at the local, state, and federal levels. Before, during, and since his presidency, hes hurled racist invective at every category of black Americans black women, black women journalists, black athletes, black elected officials, black appointed officials, black law-enforcement officers, black election workers, black prosecutors, black youth, black countries, black historic figures, black activists, black-dominated cities, and black political leaders. In rallies and speeches, he regularly refers to any black person who holds him to account as a racist, tapping into the prejudices of his base, a crew who nominally contend that racism no longer exists. Trump and the most horrendous member of Congress, Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene have championed the January 6th violent insurrectionists. Only recently in a CNN town hall, he promised to pardon a large portion of them, if reelected, to the cheers of his supporters who conveniently ignore the fact that he didnt pardon them in his last two weeks as president. It should be noted that, in his time in office, he failed to keep any of the major promises he made on the campaign trail, including building that border wall, ending Obamacare, passing an infrastructure bill, and lowering the cost of prescription drugs. His one signature piece of legislation proved to be a tax cut that transferred billions of dollars to the already super-rich. His other big achievement, of course, was to stack the Supreme Court with those three ultra-conservative justices who have taken away rights, including the 50-year-old national right to an abortion. Despite an impulse to hide the most draconian aspects of the GOP policy agenda, it can be glimpsed via Republican initiatives in Congress and those of governors and Republican-controlled state legislatures. At the moment, their far-right trek towards authoritarianism remains largely in sync with Trumps political and personal aspirations for power. The DeSantis Dilemma There is remarkably little difference between Trump and his main challengers for the presidential nomination when it comes to the politics and policies of the contemporary Republican Party. Take Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. For much of the last year, the mainstream media focused its attention on a potential cage match between a resurgent Trump and the now politically deflating DeSantis. It was the undisciplined populist versus the inflexible ideologue, the former presidents ability to articulate the most dangerous far-right ideas against DeSantiss proven ability to actually implement them. For many on the left and in the progressive world, the debate has been over which of them would be worse, which would be quicker to destroy the country. Would DeSantiss less chaotic approach ultimately be worse than that of the scandal-magnet Trump? Would a growing list of potential indictments benefit or harm Trump? Who would prevail in the battle of the brands Make America Great Again (MAGA) or Make Florida America (MFA)? In the end, the differences between the two of them are likely to prove superficial indeed. In the areas where Americans would be most severely affected, theres hardly a flys hair of separation between them. Beyond the fact that both are mercurial, petty, narcissistic bigots, as well as textbook definitions of toxic masculinity, its in the realm of politics and public policy where they might take somewhat different roads that, unfortunately, would head this country toward the very same destination: an undemocratic, authoritarian state whose foundational creed would be racism and unrelenting bigotry. A dive into the policy wasteland of both reveals a distinctly unsurprising convergence. DeSantis has become infamous for the anti-woke initiatives that have roiled Floridas education system from elementary school to college. Books have been (figuratively and perhaps literally) burned, teachers fired, school boards overthrown, and from English and history to math and social science curriculums revamped to fit a right-wing agenda. Almost singlehandedly, the governor has pushed through anti-woke policies and signed legislation aimed at reconstructing the states education system from top to bottom. It should be recalled, however, that Trump was no slouch when it came to attacking wokeness. On September 4, 2020, he ordered the White House Office of Management and Budget to issue a memorandum that directed federal agencies to begin to identify all contracts or other agency spending related to any training on critical race theory, white privilege, or any other training or propaganda that might suggest the United States is a racist country. The goal was to cut funding and cancel contracts related to programs or training supposedly employing such concepts. In September 2020, with only two months left in office, in a move likely meant to counter the actions of DeSantis, Trump launched a 1776 Commission whose purpose was to develop a curriculum that would promote a patriotic education about race and the nations history. This was a pathetic effort to refute the New York Timess 1619 Project that argued slavery and racism were central to the birth of the nation, a theory that has driven conservatives into a frenzied state of panic. Cynically, that commission issued its 1776 Report on Martin Luther King Jr. Day January 18, 2021 only two days before Trump left office in humiliation. It would be soundly criticized for its host of inaccuracies, its right-wing ideological bent, and even plagiarism that whitewashed American history, its founders, and their racism. A second Trump administration would undoubtedly go all in to put DeSantis in the shade by presenting a distinctly falsified, though politically useful version of that history. Suppressing the Vote and Cheering Street Violence DeSantiss ideological opposition to abortion is in sync with Trumps transactional one. While some GOP big names are calling for a national ban, both DeSantis and Trump are trying to find a sweet spot where they can build support, especially among evangelical extremists, while still retaining some possibility of winning educated white suburban women. Unlikely as that is, in a distinctly cowardly move, DeSantis signed his extreme Florida anti-abortion law late on a Thursday night behind closed doors, while Trump continues to fume and worry (legitimately) about paying the cost for losing women voters in a general election. DeSantis loves to highlight the work of his Gestapo-like election police unit as his contribution to enforcing voter integrity. Established in 2022, the unit operates out of Floridas Office of Election Crimes and Security (OECS) and includes a statewide prosecutor. It will undoubtedly shock no one that most of those arrested in its initial months were overwhelmingly people of color. Virtually all of them were dealing with a confusing election system that had restored voting rights to some but not all ex-felons. (That system had, in fact, actually issued voter ID cards to former felons who werent eligible.) DeSantis proudly praised the arrests, no matter that most of them were later tossed out of court. In fact, local prosecutors refused hundreds of OECS referrals. In terms of voting rights, though, has DeSantis topped Trumps effort to throw out millions of black votes, attack black election workers, and have his Justice Department support every voter-suppression policy passed by GOP state legislatures? Not yet, he hasnt. And dont forget that Trump also created an ill-fated, disingenuous Presidential Commission on Election Integrity within months of taking office in 2017. Its real purpose was to collect state election data and weaponize it against Democratic voters. That effort, however, proved so clumsily fraudulent that even Republican-controlled states refused to submit information and the Commission was dissolved within seven months. Six years later, with the clear aim of suppressing Democratic and black voters, Trump has been calling for same-day-only in-person voting with paper ballots. And finally, dont forget how both Trump and DeSantis (as well as Texas Governor Greg Abbott) have brazenly celebrated the street violence perpetrated by armed white men. Trump hosted Kyle Rittenhouse at Mar-a-Lago in November 2021. Rittenhouse had shot and killed Anthony Huber and Joseph Rosenbaum, while wounding Gaige Grosskreutz, during racial-justice protests in Kenosha, Wisconsin, in 2020. He became a cause celebre of the far-right media and the MAGA movement and was eventually found not guilty, leading to Trumps invitation. The former president has also loudly pledged to pardon charged or convicted violent January 6th insurrectionists. Not to be outdone, DeSantis recently praised Daniel Penny who killed Jordan Neely, a slim, young black man having a mental health crisis on a New York City subway car. Penny, a trained ex-Marine, applied a chokehold for many minutes. Neelys death was ruled a homicide and Penny has now been arrested for it. Far-right Republicans were quick to issue statements of solidarity and to support fundraising for his legal case. DeSantis referred to Penny as a good Samaritan and shared a link to his fundraising page, while somehow associating the incident with that number one billionaire scoundrel for conservatives, George Soros. By their behavior and words, Trump and DeSantis provide a permission zone for white nationalist violence. In the end, the two of them arent so much highlighting their differences as competing to see who can be the most extreme, issue by issue. As Trump made clear in his recent CNN town hall functionally, a Trump rally he has no intention of tacking towards the middle. Quite the opposite, as he heads for Election Day 2024, his hurricane of lies will only grow more extreme, shameless, and dangerous, while the GOP base cheers him on. DeSantis has, so far, been reduced to running against Trump on the issue of electability. He claims Trump cant win in a general election possibly true (if the economy doesnt go into recession) and is calling on GOP voters to put aside their Trumpian passions and be more practical. Essentially, this is the same argument being made by other soon-to-be also-rans like former Trump U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, former Trump Vice President Mike Pence, and Senator Tim Scott. They all cower when it comes to really going after Trump, becoming instead the political equivalents of passive-aggressive 13-year-olds. Even former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, who may join the race and has gone from frenemy to all-out never-Trumper, has shown little divergence from the former presidents most basic policies. Trump Misses the Corruption, Cruelty, and Power What distinguishes DeSantis from the rest of the pack and aligns him more fully with The Donald is that they both have an urge to be cruel for no other reason than that they can be. Few political leaders have ever been quite as thin-skinned as Trump. His pettiness is legendary, while it clearly gives him pleasure to inflict pain on others. DeSantis has a similar personality. His treatment of immigrants, the way he describes LGBTQ individuals, and his press releases and speeches against any perceived opponent are filled to the brim with invective and venom. DeSantiss Make Florida America, or MFA, is a genuine threat and his own version of a MAGA move. A Trump or DeSantis administration would ensure at least four long years of brutal retaliation and murderous policies through the prism of white nationalist Great Replacement rhetoric. Sadly, the problem isnt just Trump or rather its not only Trump or DeSantis either. The horror of our moment is the way the base of the contemporary Republican Party has come to embrace the most extreme views and policies around. So, heres a final question for this difficult moment: In a forest of fascism, does it matter which tree is the tallest? Copyright 2023 Clarence Lusane Via Tomdispatch.com Reddit Email 108 Shares Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) The Israeli newspaper Arab 48 reports that dozens of Israeli squatters, with Minister of National Security Itamar Ben-Gvir at their head, stormed the al-Aqsa Mosque complex early on Sunday morning from the Moroccan Gate. They were closely guarded by Israeli police, who imposed restrictions on the entry of Palestinians. It was the second time since Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu made Ben-Gvir a cabinet minister that he has stormed the grounds of al-Aqsa Mosque. This time he led his fellow fanatics to the area in front of the Buraq Mosque, a subterranean chamber with a ring on its wall where Muslims believed that the Prophet Muhammad tied his donkey, Buraq, before ascending from that place to the outskirts of heaven. The al-Aqsa Mosque Compound, which includes the Dome of the Rock and the Buraq Mosque, is the third holiest spot for the 1.8 billion Muslims worldwide. Article continues after bonus IC video Al Jazeera English: Palestinians condemn incursion by Israeli security minister into Al Aqsa Mosque compound Although many Jews call it the Temple Mount, there is no reason to believe that Solomons temple ever stood there. There are many disputes about where exactly the Second Temple stood, but Israeli archeologists have concluded that the al-Aqsa Mosque does not stand within the area of the ancient Temple. The Israeli religious establishment has decreed that no Jew should step foot there because there are human remains somewhere in the area. This may be a reference to the Zealots killed by Roman troops when they took the Second Temple in 70 CE and destroyed it. Ben-Gvir is therefore defying the Chief Rabbinate and making himself ritually impure in the eyes of Orthodox Jews. Arab 48 reported from informed sources in Ben-Gvirs far right wing Jewish Power bloc that PM Netanyahu was aware of the plans to storm the al-Aqsa compound. Ben-Gvir said once he was at the site, Israel is sovereign over Jerusalem, and added, the threats of Hamas no longer work. He said, We are the masters of Jerusalem and all of the land of Israel. The group of extremist squatters received information about the alleged Temple at the site and performed religious rites there. They also taunted the Palestinians. At the same time, Israeli security has imposed restrictions on Palestinian young men coming to the compound. The spokesman for the office of the president of the Palestine Authority, Nabil Abu Radina, said that this second incursion to the holy site would have repercussions. He said that the attempts of Ben-Gvir and others to change the Status Quo at the al-Aqsa Mosque compound were rejected and doomed to failure. The al-Aqsa Compound Endowment is run by the government of Jordan, and the foreign minister condemned the incident in the strongest possible terms. He said that all 45 acres of the compound comprised a place of worship purely for Muslims. He said that the Jordanian Ministry of Endowments has exclusive jurisdiction over the compound. I explained earlier, The holy places in Jerusalem are governed by a kind of compact among religious groups called the Status Quo, which Israel had agreed to observe. The UN reported last year, The Permanent Observer of the State of Palestine said that a few days ago, Israeli occupying forces stormed the Aqsa Mosque compound/Haram al-Sharif, shooting at worshipers and desecrating the mosque with military boots and violence. He pointed out that 200 Palestinians, including women and children were wounded and 400 arrested, yet Israel claims it is upholding the historic status quo. Not only does Israel use security to justify killing Palestinian children on their way to school, it labels Palestinian worshippers as terrorists, he continued. Jewish extremists and settlers are not merely visiting Haram alSharif, but are seeking a takeover. Israel has no authority over Haram alSharif where the historic and legal status quo must be upheld, he said, adding that the occupying Power is also targeting the Palestinian identity of the city. The US State Department sharply criticized Ben-Gvir for his provocative actions and inflammatory rhetoric. The Turkish foreign ministry issued a statement, calling the incursion fascist and saying, We strongly condemn the incursion by the Israeli Minister of National Security on May 21, accompanied by Israeli security forces, into the Haram-i Sharif, which clearly violates international law. It is in no way acceptable for the members of the Israeli Government to challenge the historical status of the Haram-i-Sharif and to engage in provocative and fascist actions. Once again, we call on the Israeli Government to immediately cease any provocative action that violates the historical status of the Haram-i-Sharif based on international law and to act responsibly. Although secular Americans may not be able to see it, these disputes over al-Aqsa are some of the more dangerous events now happening in the world, and could easily boil over into Armageddon. I dont think the worlds Muslims will take losing al-Aqsa lying down. Reddit 587 Email 787 Shares Gainesville, Fl. (Special to Informed Comment) The Affordable Care Act (ACA) was supposed to contain costs and make insurance for health/mental health care affordable. It did bring coverage to 20 million but 30 million remain uninsured. Data indicate that the bad outweighs the good. ACA is too expensive, unsustainable, overly complex and bureaucratic. Even worse, its a gift to private insurers and other 1% corporate stakeholders and profiteers in the neoliberal medical-industrial-congressional complex. Since the Affordable Care Act (ACA) was enacted in March, 2010, Big Insurance has lobbied Congress hard to ensure that most non-elderly Americans become compulsory customers of the private insurance industry and approve taxpayer financing of massive subsidies for that industry. The private insurance industry is very happy that with ACA. Americans are forced to purchase the product of their private industry plus give huge tax-financed subsidies to their industry in the amount of a half-trillion dollars To fix this problem, on May 17, 2023, Rep. Pramila Jayapal, Rep. Debbie Dingell, and Sen. Bernie Sanders and more than 120 other colleagues re-introduced the Medicare for All Act in the U.S. House and Senate. These landmark pieces of legislation would finally establish a single-payer national health program in the United States. These long-overdue bills are most welcomed and Congress is urged to move quickly to guarantee universal coverage, comprehensive benefits, and zero out-of-pocket costs for all U.S. residents. The nuts and bolts of the new Medicare for All Act-2023 calls for citizens to be guaranteed access to health care while achieving significant overall savings compared to our existing obsolete system. This is accomplished by lowering administrative and eliminating profiteering Big Insurance costs, controlling Big Pharma prices of prescription drugs, fees for physicians and other health-care professionals and hospitals, reducing unnecessary treatments and expanding preventative care. Each of these bills provides all residents of the United States and its territories with a nationally consistent comprehensive benefit design, eliminates nearly all copays and deductibles, is funded through an equitable tax model, protects current benefits and services for veterans and Native Americans while also including them in Medicare for All, and dedicates expanded resources towards improving equity and justice in health care/health insurance. EVERYBODY IN, NOBODY OUT ! The new legislation upgrades Medicare with a 21st century modern and improved Medicare for All health insurance system that covers all age groups, cradle to grave. Newborns will leave the hospital with their new Medicare card, and drop it off years later at lifes end. Benefits of the new act include the following items and services if medically necessary or appropriate for the maintenance of health or for the diagnosis, treatment or rehabilitation of a health condition: (1) Hospital services, including inpatient and outpatient hospital care, including 24-hour-a-day emergency services and inpatient prescription drugs. (2) Ambulatory patient services. (3) Primary and preventive services, including chronic disease management. (4) Prescription drugs and medical devices, in- cluding outpatient prescription drugs, medical de- vices, and biological products. (5) Mental health and substance use treatment services, including inpatient care. (6) Laboratory and diagnostic services. (7) Comprehensive reproductive, maternity, and newborn care. (8) Dentistry/Oral health, audiology, and vision/ophthalmology services. (9) Rehabilitative and habilitative services and devices. (10) Emergency services and transportation. (11) Early and periodic screening, diagnostic, and treatment services. (12) Necessary transportation to receive health care services for persons with disabilities, older indi- viduals with functional limitations, or low-income in- dividuals (as determined by the Secretary). (14) Hospice care. (15) Services provided by a licensed marriage and family therapist or a licensed mental health counselor.(In addition to psychiatrists, licensed clinical psychologists, licensed clinical social workers, psychiatric nurses.) CO-PAYMENTS / DEDUCTIBLES ENDED Co-payments and deductibles paid at health professionals offices are ended because payment for health insurance is fully prepaid directly into Medicare, just like pre-payment into Social Security, and covered at first dollar amounts. This means the obsolete 80 percent/20 percent payment split between private health insurance companies and Medicare is eliminated, with Medicare for All 2023 covering 100 percent. Article continues after bonus IC video Senator Bernie Sanders: Medicare for All Town Hall All residents are guaranteed access to quality health care while achieving significant overall savings compared to our existing Medicare system by lowering administrative costs, controlling the prices of prescription drugs and fees for physicians and other health/mental health-care professionals and hospitals, reducing unnecessary treatments and expanding preventive care. HEALTH CARE ESTABLISHED AS A BASIC HUMAN RIGHT Good health care is established as a basic human right, as in almost all other advanced countries. Nobody would have to forego needed treatments because they didnt have insurance or they couldnt afford high insurance premiums and co-pays. Nobody would have to fear a financial disaster because they faced a health care crisis in their family. Virtually all families would end up financially better off and most businesses would also experience cost savings compared to what they pay now to cover their employees. Health insurance is based on residence, not employment. With M4A, citizens are guaranteed access to health care while achieving significant overall savings compared to our existing obsolete system. This is accomplished by lowering administrative and eliminating profiteering Big Insurance costs, controlling Big Pharma prices of prescription drugs, fees for physicians and other health-care professionals and hospitals, reducing unnecessary treatments and expanding preventative care. FINANCING M4A SYSTEM: We finance our new and improved Medicare for All system by eliminating profiteering by the private health insurance industry and slashing the system-wide administrative waste they generate, with a single streamlined, nonprofit public payer health insurance system. Such savings, estimated in 2017 to be about $500 billion annually, would be redirected to patient care. More than two dozen independent analyses of federal and state single-payer legislation by agencies such as the Congressional Budget Office, the General Accountability Office, the Lewin Group and Mathematica Policy Research Group have found that the administrative savings and other efficiencies of a single-payer program would provide more than enough resources to provide first-dollar coverage to everyone in the country with no increase in overall U.S. health spending. According to a 2016 study in the American Journal of Public Health, tax-funded expenditures already account for about two-thirds of U.S. health spending. That revenue would be retained and supplemented by modest progressive taxes based on ability to pay, taxes that would typically be fully offset by ending todays very high premiums paid to the for-profit private insurance industry and out-of-pocket expenses for care. The vast majority of U.S. households one study says 95 percent would come out financially ahead. The system would reap savings by dealing with drug and medical supply companies for lower prices. M4A is a solid investment in our country because it promotes a social service for universal access to affordable health insurance for everyone. The USA is a country where health insurance for medical and mental health care is a function of socio-economic status. Everyone knows that this inhumane system should have been corrected long ago, but the death and illness ravages of the pandemic crisis makes it impossible to any longer avoid reality. We must immediately end our moral crime of having the greatest health system in the world, but only for those who can afford it. WHY BIG INSURANCE OPPOSES MEDICARE FOR ALL: ! PROFITS PROFITS PROFITS ! I. Highlights from Wendall Potter, Feb 27,2023, BIG INSURANCE 2022: Revenues reached $1.25 trillion thanks to sucking billions out of the pharmacy supply chain and taxpayers pockets Analysis of the 2022 financial statements of UnitedHealth Group, CVS/Aetna, Cigna, Elevance, Humana, Centene, and Molina 1. Big Insurance revenues and profits have increased by 300% and 287% respectively since 2012 due to explosive growth in the companies pharmacy benefit management (PBM) businesses and the Medicare replacement plans they call Medicare Advantage. 2. The for-profits now control more than 80% of the national PBM market and more than 70% of the Medicare Advantage market. 3. In 2022, Big Insurance revenues reached $1.25 trillion and profits soared to $69.3 billion. Thats a 300% increase in revenue and a 287% increase in profits from 2012, when revenue was $412.9 billion and profits were $24 billion. II. Facts and figures to keep in mind as Big Insurance thrives (W. Potter) 1. 27.5 million people remain uninsured in the United States. 2. Up to 14 million more will lose their Medicaid coverage once the pandemic emergency period ends later this year. 3. 100 million of us almost one of every three people in this country now have medical debt. 4. In 2023, U.S. families can be on the hook for up to $18,200 in out-of-pocket requirements before their coverage kicks in, up 43% since 2014 when it was $12,700. 5. The Affordable Care Act allows the out-of-pocket maximum to increase annually 43% since the maximum limit went into effect in 2014. 6.44% of people in the United States who purchased coverage through the individual market and (ACA) marketplaces were underinsured or functionally uninsured. 7. 46% of those surveyed said they had skipped or delayed care because of the cost. 8. 42% said they had problems paying medical bills or were paying off medical debt. 9. Half (49%) said they would be unable to pay an unexpected medical bill within 30 days, including 68% of adults with low income, 69% of Black adults, and 63% of Latino/Hispanic adults. 10. In 2021, about $650 million, or about one-third of all funds raised by GoFundMe, went to medical campaigns. Thats not surprising when you realize that in the United States, even people with insurance all too often feel they have no choice but to beg for money from strangers to get the care they or a loved one needs. 11. 62% of bankruptcies are related to medical costs. 12. Even as we spend about $4.5 trillion on health care a year, Americans are now dying younger than people in other wealthy countries. 13. Life expectancy in the United States actually decreased by 2.8 years between 2014 and 2021, erasing all gains since 1996, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. As these numbers show, the real boogeymen opposing M4A are the wealth addicted private health insurance and pharmaceutical industries who have the most to lose if their huge profits are redirected to direct patient care. Beholden members of Congress want to protect the interest of their insurance and Big Pharma donors these two industries spent $371 million on lobbying in 2017 alone. Big Pharma and Big Insurance industries have literally bought most of our legislators (both Democrat and Republican). A massive disinformation/fear campaign has promoted the myth that Medicare for All would limit choice of doctors and hospitals, create unsustainable costs, and expansive, uncontrolled bureaucracy. These myths better describe the reality of our present system based on the private insurance industry. If we are a society that cares enough to see that everyone receive the health care they need, the basic point of Medicare for All, then its important that citizens reject catastrophic expectations and predictions, false fear and scare tactics of the M4A opposition. Citizens now better understand that the real cause of high US health insurance costs is the private insurance industrys need for high profit. A record number of Americans reject our fractured, profit-based health insurance system and support programs like House and Senate Bills, which improve Medicares benefits by adding in previously uncovered services such as dental, hearing, vision, and long-term care while eliminating cumbersome out-of-pocket fees with prepaid health insurance. Although Medicare for All supporters are often derided as unrealistic, in fact its not realistic to expect that Americans will continue passively accepting how much money is in the bank account as the most significant factor in their mortality. By seeking to weaken Social Security, Medicaid and Medicare to fund tax cuts for the rich during a time of the Covid-19 public health crisis, the one percenters have elevated self-interest even further above life itself for the ninety-nine percent. The USA is a country where health insurance for medical and mental health care is a function of socio-economic status. Everyone knows that this inhumane system should have been corrected long ago. We must immediately end our moral crime of having the greatest health system in the world, but only for those who can afford it. A majority of Americans support Medicare and want expansion of this program to provide health insurance for all. Write to your senators and representatives and let them know how you feel about expanding Medicare. By making health insurance available to all age groups, we can have the assurance that this life-saving health insurance program will continue. Reddit Email 58 Shares By Tara Sonenshine, Tufts University | Loud explosions rock the evening sky. Streaks of light appear like comets. Missiles rain down. Below, people scramble for cover. The injured are taken on stretchers the dead, buried. That is daily life in Ukraine, where pilotless vehicles known as drones litter the sky in an endless video gamelike but actually very real war with Russia. Both Russia and Ukraine are using drones in this war to remotely locate targets and drop bombs, among other purposes. Today, drones are used in various other conflicts, but are also used to deliver packages, track weather, drop pesticides and entertain drone hobbyists. Welcome to the world of drones. They range from small consumer quadcopters to remotely piloted warplanes and all types are being used by militaries around the world. As a scholar of public diplomacy and foreign policy and a former United States under secretary of state for public diplomacy and public affairs I know how important it is for people to understand drones and their proliferation, given the risks of war, terrorism and accidental drone clashes in the world today. A buying spree The U.S. is among more than 100 countries using drones in times of conflict. Terrorists have also been known to deploy drones because they are relatively low-cost weapons with high degrees of civilian damage. Consumer drone shipments, globally, topped 5 million units in 2020 and are expected to surpass 7 million by 2025. Via Pixabay. Sales of drones globally were up 57% from 2021 to 2022. With the exponential rise in drone purchases, there are few constraints for buyers, creating a wild, wild west of uncontrolled access and usage. Each country is free to decide when and where drones fly, without answering to any other country or international authority governing drones. The skies are often filled with drone swarms, with little on-the-ground guidance on the rules of the sky. Different purposes Each country has a unique interest in getting and using drones. China is increasingly using sophisticated drones for covert surveillance, especially in international waters to patrol the disputed islands in the South China Sea. Its expanding drone program has influenced other countries like the U.S. to also invest more in the technology. Turkeys military has a highly sophisticated drone, the Bayraktar TB2, which is capable of carrying laser-guided bombs and small enough to fit in a flatbed truck. The United Arab Emirates imports drones from China and Turkey to deploy in Yemen and Libya to monitor warlords in case conflict breaks out. And South Korea is considering starting a special drone unit after it failed to respond to a recent North Korean drone incursion. When North Korea deployed five drones towards it southern neighbor in December 2022, South Korea had to scramble its fighter jets to issue warning shots. No rules in the air The countries with armed drones are individually navigating their own rules instead of an international agreed-upon set of regulations. International law prohibits the use of armed force unless the United Nations Security Council authorizes an attack, or in the case of self-defense. But short of launching a full war, drones can legally be deployed for counterterrorism operations, surveillance and other non-self defense needs, creating a slippery slope to military conflict. Figuring out the national and international rules of the sky for drone usage is hard. For 20 years, experts have tried to create international agreements on arms and some countries supported an informal 2016 U.N. agreement that recommends countries document the import and export of unmanned aerial vehicles. But these efforts never evolved into serious, comprehensive standards and laws that kept pace with technology. There are several reasons for that: To protect their national sovereignty, governments do not want to release drone data. They also want to avoid duplication of their technology and to maintain their market share of the drone trade. US and drones For decades, the U.S. has wrestled with how to balance drone warfare as it became involved in overseas operations in Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria and other conflict zones. The U.S. killed a top al-Qaida leader with a drone strike in Afghanistan in 2022. But there have been other instances of drone strikes that resulted in unintended casualties and damage. In 2021, The New York Times reported that a U.S. drone strike on a vehicle thought to contain an Islamic State bomb resulted in the deaths of 10 children not three civilians, as the U.S. said might have happened. There is scant public opinion research on how American feel about the use of drones overseas, which makes building public support for their military use difficult. Drone dangers Drone dangers are real. Many drone experts, including myself, believe it is unsafe for each countrys military to make its own decisions on drones with no rules guiding drone transfers, exports, imports and usage and no major forum to discuss drones, as the technology continues to evolve. Multiple drones can communicate with each other remotely, creating shared objectives rather than an individual drone path or pattern. Like a swarm of bees, these drones form a deadly and autonomous aerial army ripe for accidents. With the advent of artificial intelligence and more sophisticated unmanned aerial vehicles, drones can change speed, altitude and targeting in seconds, making them even more difficult to track and investigate. Attacks can happen seemingly out of the blue. In my view, the world needs new and consistent rules on drone usage for the decade ahead better international monitoring of drone incursions and more transparency in the outcome of drone attacks. Information about the impact of military use of drones is not just important for historical purposes, but also to engage societies in action and temper the impulse to engage in conflict. It is time to talk seriously about drones. Tara Sonenshine, Edward R. Murrow Professor of Practice in Public Diplomacy, Tufts University This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. The International Criminal Court said Saturday that it was "undeterred" after Russia put prosecutor Karim Khan on a wanted list over his issuance of an arrest warrant for President Vladimir Putin. "The ICC finds these measures unacceptable. The court will remain undeterred in the conduct of its lawful mandate to ensure accountability for the gravest crimes," the Hague-based tribunal said in a statement. Khan, a Briton, issued an arrest warrant for Putin in March on the war crime accusation of unlawfully deporting Ukrainian children. The war crimes court added that it was "aware and profoundly concerned about unwarranted and unjustified coercive measures... by the authorities of the Russian Federation". The ICC statement urged the court's 123 member states to "enhance their efforts to protect the court, its officials and its personnel". Khan's picture could be seen in the Russian interior ministry's database on Friday. The notice described him as a man born on March 30, 1970, in Edinburgh, Scotland, but did not specify his offence. Russia, which is not a member of the ICC, has previously said the warrant against Putin is "void". The court also issued an arrest warrant against Maria Lvova-Belova, Russia's presidential commissioner for children's rights, on similar charges. In a separate statement, the legislative body representing the member nations said it was "deeply concerned" by the measures against Khan and the court's judges. The presidency of the ICC Assembly of the States Parties said it "regrets these acts of intimidation and unacceptable attempts to undermine the mandate of the International Criminal Court". In March, Russia's Investigative Committee said Khan was being probed for the "criminal prosecution of a person known to be innocent." Kyiv says more than 16,000 Ukrainian children have been deported to Russia since the beginning of Moscow's invasion in February 2022, with many allegedly placed in institutions and foster homes. Russia's private army Wagner claimed Saturday the total control of the east Ukrainian city of Bakhmut, the epicentre of fighting, as Kyiv said the battle was continuing, while admitting the situation was "critical". The announcement by Wagner came as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky took part in the G7 summit in Japan. Bakhmut, a salt mining town that once had a population of 70,000 people, has been the scene of the longest and bloodiest battle in Moscow's more than year-long Ukraine offensive. The fall to Russia of Bakhmut, where both Moscow and Kyiv are believed to have suffered huge losses, would allow Moscow to bring home a victory after a series of humiliating defeats. It would also come before a major counteroffensive that Kyiv has been preparing for months. Zelensky himself has said that the fall of the city would open the way for Russian troops to capture more parts of Donbas. Wagner's boss Yevgeny Prigozhin claimed the city had fallen to his mercenaries in a video posted on Telegram, in which fighters held Russian flags against a backdrop of ruins. "Today on May 20, around midday, Bakhmut was taken in its entirety," Prigozhin said in the video, adding that Wagner fighters would search the captured city before handing it over to the official Russian army. "By May 25 we will completely examine (Bakhmut), create the necessary lines of defence and hand it to the military," Prigozhin said. "We ourselves will go into field camps." Artillery sound could be heard in the background of Prigozhin's video. - 'Bakhmut will be liberated' - Ukraine, which earlier this month claimed successes in and around Bakhmut, said the battle was not over. "Heavy fighting in Bakhmut. The situation is critical," deputy defence minister Ganna Malyar posted on Telegram. She said Ukrainian troops were "holding the defence" in the city's "Airplane area". "As of now, our defenders control certain industrial and infrastructure facilities in the area," she said. It was not possible for AFP to verify either claim. Mykhailo Podolyak, an advisor to Zelensky, said it was not the first time that Prigozhin had made such claims, suggesting he might be trying to distract attention from Zelensky diplomatic successes at the G7 summit in Japan. In any case, he said: "Bakhmut will be liberated, just like any other territory of Ukraine." Podolyak was speaking hours after Zelensky made a surprise appearance at the G7 summit in Hiroshima, Japan -- another diplomatic coup a day after he attended the Arab League summit in Saudi Arabia. Zelensky, who was flown in on a French government plane, was able to meet not just G7 leaders but those from other key international players such as the unaligned powers Brazil and India. The fruits of his diplomatic efforts have already paid off, with the US announcing on Friday that it would allow Kyiv to acquire F-16 fighter jets, the most sophisticated material yet supplied by the West. - ICC denounces Moscow warrant - Prigozhin meanwhile continued his running battle with Russia's military establishment. "The operation to capture Bakhmut -- the Bakhmut meat grinder -- lasted 224 days," Prigozhin said, wearing a camouflage uniform. Moscow's losses would have been far smaller if it was not for incompetent generals, he added. Wagner, which spearheaded the fight for Bakhmut, is believed to have suffered huge losses in the months-long storming of the city. Prigozhin has long complained about Wagner not being given the appropriate amount of ammunition. "There was only Wagner here (in Bakhmut)," he said in the video. "We fought not only the Ukrainian army here, we fought Russian bureaucracy." He blamed Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu and Chief of General Staff Valery Gerasimov for turning the offensive into "their own amusement". "One day in history they will pay for their actions," Prigozhin said. The two camps are now awaiting a counteroffensive announced by Ukrainian authorities who are backed by Western arms deliveries. Zelensky said recently that his army needs more time before launching the assault. The International Criminal Court responded on Saturday to the previous day's news that Moscow had put its prosecutor Karim Khan on a wanted list over his issuance of an arrest warrant for President Vladimir Putin. Describing the move as "unacceptable", the Hague-based tribunal added: "The court will remain undeterred in the conduct of its lawful mandate to ensure accountability for the gravest crimes." And the Vatican said Saturday that Pope Francis had asked Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, head of the Italian bishops' conference, to lead a peace mission to try to stop the fighting. Russia said Saturday it has captured the east Ukrainian city of Bakhmut, epicentre of the fighting, as President Vladimir Putin congratulated his troops and private mercenary group Wagner. The announcement from the Russian army came hours after Kyiv said the battle was continuing, while admitting the situation was "critical", and with Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky meeting G7 leaders in Japan. Bakhmut, a salt-mining town that once had a population of 70,000 people, has been the scene of the longest and bloodiest battle in Moscow's more than year-long Ukraine offensive. The fall of Bakhmut, where both Moscow and Kyiv are believed to have suffered huge losses, would allow Moscow to bring home a key victory after a series of humiliating defeats. It would also come before a major counteroffensive that Kyiv has been preparing for months. Zelensky himself has warned that the fall of the city would open the way for Russian troops to capture more parts of Donbas. "As a result of offensive actions of the Wagner assault units, with the support of artillery and aviation of the 'Southern' unit, the liberation of the city of Artemovsk was completed," Russia's defence ministry said, using the Soviet-era name of Bakhmut. "Vladimir Putin congratulated the assault units of Wagner as well as all servicemen of units of the Russian armed forces who provided them with the necessary support and flank cover, on the completion of the operation to liberate" the city, the TASS news agency quoted a Kremlin statement as saying. Wagner's boss Yevgeny Prigozhin earlier claimed the city had fallen to his mercenaries in a video posted on Telegram, in which fighters held Russian flags against a backdrop of ruins. "Today on May 20, around midday, Bakhmut was taken in its entirety," Prigozhin said in the video, adding that Wagner fighters would search the captured city before handing it over to the Russian army. "By May 25 we will completely examine (Bakhmut), create the necessary lines of defence and hand it to the military," Prigozhin said. "We ourselves will go into field camps." Artillery sound could be heard in the background of Prigozhin's video. - 'Bakhmut will be liberated' - Ukraine, which this month claimed successes in and around Bakhmut, said earlier that the battle was not over. "Heavy fighting in Bakhmut. The situation is critical," deputy defence minister Ganna Malyar posted on Telegram. She said Ukrainian troops were "holding the defence" in the city's "Airplane area". "As of now, our defenders control certain industrial and infrastructure facilities in the area," she said. It was not possible for AFP to verify either claim. Russia's announcement that the city had fallen came hours ahead of Zelensky's meeting Sunday with US President Joe Biden in Japan, during the G7 summit. Biden, who has spearheaded Western backing of Ukraine with sanctions and supplies, "looks forward" to the meeting, a senior administration official said, adding that it is expected to take place after 2:00pm (0500 GMT) Sunday. Zelensky made a surprise appearance Saturday at the summit in Hiroshima -- another diplomatic coup a day after he attended the Arab League summit in Saudi Arabia. The Ukrainian president, who was flown in on a French government plane, was able to meet not just G7 leaders but those from other key international players such as unaligned powers Brazil and India. The fruits of his diplomatic efforts have already paid off, with the US announcing Friday that it would allow Kyiv to acquire F-16 fighter jets, the most sophisticated material yet supplied by the West. - ICC denounces Moscow warrant - Prigozhin meanwhile continued his running battle with Russia's military establishment. "The operation to capture Bakhmut -- the Bakhmut meat grinder -- lasted 224 days," Prigozhin said, wearing a camouflage uniform. Moscow's losses would have been far smaller if it was not for incompetent generals, he added. Wagner, which spearheaded the fight for Bakhmut, is believed to have suffered huge losses in the months-long storming of the city. Prigozhin has long complained about Wagner not being given appropriate amounts of ammunition. "There was only Wagner here (in Bakhmut)," he said in the video. "We fought not only the Ukrainian army here, we fought Russian bureaucracy." He blamed Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu and Chief of General Staff Valery Gerasimov for turning the offensive into "their own amusement". The two camps are now awaiting a counteroffensive announced by Ukrainian authorities who are backed by Western arms deliveries. Zelensky said recently that his army needs more time before launching the assault. The International Criminal Court on Saturday denounced the previous day's "unacceptable" move by Moscow to put ICC prosecutor Karim Khan on a wanted list over his issuance of an arrest warrant for Putin. "The court will remain undeterred in the conduct of its lawful mandate to ensure accountability for the gravest crimes," the Hague-based tribunal said. Russian President Vladimir Putin launched the biggest attack on a European country since World War II when he ordered the invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022. Since then some 150,000 people have been killed and wounded on both sides, according to Western estimates. Some eight million Ukrainians have also fled their homes. Here is a timeline: - Full-scale invasion - At dawn on February 24, Putin announces a "special military operation" to demilitarise and "de-Nazify" the former Soviet country. He says he is acting to protect two self-proclaimed pro-Russian territories in the eastern Ukraine Donbas region from "genocide", without substantiating his allegations. A full-scale invasion begins, with missile strikes on several Ukrainian cities and ground forces entering the country from the north, south and east. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky stays in Kyiv to lead the resistance. The United States warns that Russia is out to "decapitate" his government. The invasion comes after frantic diplomatic efforts to dissuade Putin and causes an international outcry. The West imposes unprecedented sanctions on Russia and progressively ramps them up. The European Union agrees to send weapons to Ukraine -- a first for the bloc -- and Washington greenlights billions of dollars in military aid. Russian forces make rapid gains on Ukraine's Black Sea coast, seizing the southern port of Kherson, close to the Russian-occupied Crimea peninsula, and the port of Berdyansk on the Sea of Azov. They attempt to encircle Kyiv and heavily bombard Ukraine's second-largest city, Kharkiv, near the Russian border in the northeast. - Horror in Bucha - A month later, having failed to enter Kyiv, Russian troops withdraw from northern Ukraine to focus on the east and south. As they retreat from Kyiv's western suburbs, they leave behind scenes of horror. On April 2, AFP discovers the bodies of at least 20 civilians, some with their hands tied behind their backs, lying in a street in Bucha. Over the following weeks, hundreds more bodies, many bearing signs of torture, are found in homes, cellars and shallow graves across the north. Russia denies accusations of widespread war crimes. - Mariupol falls - On April 21, Russia claims to have taken the southeastern port city of Mariupol, which it has relentlessly bombarded and besieged since the start of the war. Russia is thus aiming to link up rebel-held territory in the Donbas with the occupied Crimea peninsula to the south. Around 2,000 Ukrainian fighters hold out for nearly a month in Mariupol's sprawling Azovstal steelworks. Kyiv orders them in May to surrender to save their lives. According to Kyiv, 90 percent of Mariupol has been razed and at least 20,000 people killed. - Ukraine fights back - Over the summer, the United States and EU step up their supplies of heavy weapons to Kyiv, allowing it to stage a two-pronged fightback. In the south, Ukrainian forces launch a major offensive to retake Kherson. They follow up in early September with a lightning counter-offensive around Kharkiv, winning back hundreds of towns and villages. Putin announces a call-up of some 300,000 reservists. Days later he formally annexes four regions of Ukraine -- Donetsk, Lugansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia. On November 9, Russia's forces suffer their greatest setback when they are forced to abandon Kherson. During the autumn and winter, Russia targets Ukraine's energy infrastructure, with repeated barrages of missile and drone strikes, leaving millions without power and heat in freezing temperatures. - Battle for Bakhmut - In January 2023, Russian forces backed by the controversial Wagner mercenary group intensify their offensive on the Donetsk town of Bakhmut, launching the longest and bloodiest battle of the war. They advance in the north and south of the city, seizing its eastern area, but without managing to surround it. In March, Zelensky says the fall of Bakhmut would create an "open road" for Russian forces to other cities in eastern Ukraine. As fighting intensifies around the city, AFP video journalist Arman Soldin is killed by rocket fire on May 9 in the nearby town of Chasiv Yar. After months of house to house combat and gradual advances by both sides, Russia on May 20 says it has fully captured the city. The Russian defence ministry announces "the liberation of the city of Artemovsk", using the Soviet-era name of Bakhmut. - Kyiv prepares offensive - The West delivers the heavy tanks demanded by Kyiv in late March and long range artillery. Ukraine announces on April 19 it has received the first US Patriot air defence systems. In late April, Ukraine announces that preparations are underway to launch a counteroffensive with a view to liberating the some 20 percent of its territory occupied by Moscow, including Crimea. In May, a spate of sabotage attacks and long-distance strikes behind Russian lines fuel speculation that the counter-offensive has begun. But Zelensky tells the BBC in an interview on May 11 that Ukraine needs "a bit more time". Israeli forces killed three Palestinian fighters Monday in a raid on a refugee camp in the occupied West Bank, in what the army described as an operation targeting "terrorist" suspects. In a statement, the Palestinian health ministry identified the three men killed in Balata camp in Nablus as Muhammad Abu Zaytoun, 32, Fathi Abu Rizk, 30, and Abdullah Abu Hamdan, 24. The Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, the armed wing of Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas's Fatah party, said in a statement that the three were among the group's "fighters". The group's emblem was wrapped around the foreheads of the men in a morgue, while their bodies were shrouded in the Palestinian flag. The Israeli army said it had shot several fighters when a gun battle erupted during a "counterterrorism" operation. During the operation, "armed suspects fired at the soldiers, who responded with live fire. Hits were identified," it said. The army added in a statement that it "apprehended three wanted individuals suspected of involvement in terrorist activity", and that weapons and ammunition were seized. Palestinian presidency spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeineh described the killings as a "veritable massacre" and charged that repeated Israeli raids and attacks by settlers constituted a "major war crime and a collective punishment". He said "silence" from the United States had emboldened Israelis to escalate attacks, calling on Washington to "immediately intervene to stop the Israeli madness that will drag the region toward explosion". Israel has occupied the West Bank since the 1967 Six-Day War and its forces regularly launch incursions into Palestinian cities, which are nominally under the control of Abbas's Palestinian Authority. Deadly military operations have surged in recent months across the Palestinian territory. - Escalating violence - Witnesses told AFP that Israeli forces raided several houses in the camp overnight in search of people wanted by the army. Gunfire and loud explosions rocked the camp, the witnesses said, adding that a house was demolished. Israel's army, meanwhile, said it had "located in one of the residences an explosives manufacturing site" and detonated it. Following the raid, Palestinians inspected the rubble of a damaged building and salvaged belongings. The Hamas militant group, which rules the blockaded Gaza Strip, described those killed as "freedom fighters". "Hamas reiterates that resisting the (Israeli) occupation is a legitimate right for the Palestinian people in their quest for freedom," the group said in a statement. Densely-populated Balata is home to some 27,000 people, making it the largest camp in the West Bank, according to the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA). The Israeli army also reported clashes in an operation in Jenin, north of Nablus, where it said suspects hurled explosive devices and fired at the soldiers. The troops "responded with live fire" and in two cases "a hit was identified", the statement said. Israeli forces arrested three suspects in Jenin and seven others in other parts of the West Bank, it added. The latest raids come just over a week into a fragile Gaza ceasefire after a five-day cross-border conflict between Israel and the Islamic Jihad militant group. Since the start of the year, at least 153 Palestinians, 20 Israelis, a Ukrainian and an Italian have been killed in violence linked to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, according to an AFP tally compiled from official sources from both sides. They include, on the Palestinian side, combatants and civilians, and on the Israeli side mostly civilians and three members of the Arab minority. The Netherlands is the second country to prosecute Islamic State (ISIS) members for their crimes against Yazidis before a national court, under the principle of universal jurisdiction. Germany took action first, with already two convictions for genocide against this community living in the Sinjar region of northern Iraq, targeted by ISIS in 2014. Many had to flee, while men were killed and many women were forced into slavery and suffered sexual and gender-based crimes. This has been qualified as a genocide by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights as of 2015. In 2022, around 200,000 Yazidis were still living in and outside displaced camps across the Kurdistan region of Iraq, according to the UN. And as more hate speech occurred again in early May, Yazidis activists demand an accountability mechanism and guarantees of non-repetition. Forced labour Hasna Aarab first appeared before a court in Rotterdam on February 14. She is accused of co-perpetrating slavery as a crime against humanity against a Yazidi woman, referred to as Z. for security reasons. According to the prosecution, the defendant forced the woman to perform cleaning and domestic work, prepare food and care for her son for many hours a day, as a forced labour. The crime was allegedly committed in 2015 in the city of Raqqa, central Syria. Still in the pre-trial phase, the case is handled in Rotterdam by the District Court of The Hague, that is dealing with international crimes. A second hearing was held on April 25 and the next one is scheduled for June 27. Aarab is one of 12 women who were repatriated from camps located in the Kurdish autonomous area in northern Syria, together with their 28 children in November 2022. The women were all arrested as they entered the Netherlands. Another woman is accused of an international crime, namely pillaging as a war crime. All of them are now facing charges for membership of a terrorist organisation. The slavery charges for Aarab are based on the statements of three Yazidi witnesses, including Z. The prosecution explained that these statements were initially made to the UN Investigative Team to Promote Accountability for Crimes Committed by Islamic State (UNITAD). According to the prosecution, Aarab traveled to Syria from the Netherlands with her 4 year old son in 2015 to marry a Moroccan national IS fighter. Between May 1 and August 1, 2015, she stayed at her husbands acquaintances house in Raqqa, the capital of the self-proclaimed "Islamic caliphate" - one of the first major localities to fall into the hands of ISIS in 2014. This case must be viewed in the context of the mass murder, the genocide, committed by ISIS against the Yazidi community, said the prosecutor Mirjam Blom during the first hearing. She argued that Aarab was aware of the widespread and systematic attack targeting the Yazidis and she knew that Z. was a Yazidi. Aarabs defense lawyers Andre Seebregts and Mirjam Levy firstly said that their client denies keeping Z. as a slave and invoked her right to remain silent. She did not attend the second hearing on April 25, but the defense lawyer said she acknowledged being in the same house as Z. while denying commanding her. The lawyer added that the accused was young and naive and was placed in the house by her husband who then left. The defense did not wish to make more comments at this stage. The merit of the case will probably be heard in winter, explains Brechtje van de Moosdijk, spokesperson of the prosecutors office. The investigation is ongoing, she says, and time may stretch if defense lawyers demand to hear witnesses that need to be transferred from foreign countries. Every three months a new hearing is held to give the lawyers an opportunity to present investigative submissions. To date, the defense was allowed by the court to hear Z. as a witness. It was also allowed to submit written questions to UNITAD. It means a lot, for the Yazidi community We are happy that finally something is moving, it means a lot for the Yazidi community, says Wahhab Hassoo, an activist and co-founder of the NGO NL Helpt Yezidis, who has been following the preliminary hearings from up-close. I was very emotional during the first one, the judge talked about the suffering of the Yazidis, he says. Hassoo is hoping for more. We have been demanding for a more active attitude from Western governments and the government in the Netherlands, which according to him has started mobilising only when foreign fighters and their relatives started to be repatriated and could pose a risk to the countrys national security. We want compensations and we want the Yazidis who are coming to the Netherlands as refugees to get asylum, he adds. We need this government to take responsibility now because Dutch nationals contributed to the genocide against us, Hassoo argues. It is important to see our government take legal action against Dutch nationals - not only for joining ISIS, but for the atrocities they committed as ISIS members against innocent individuals like Yazidis, says in a written note Pari Ibrahim, executive director of the Netherlands-based NGO Free Yezidi Foundation. There are thousands of ISIS members who committed those crimes and thousands of victims and you just have two countries in Europe who on their own initiative try to move this justice process forward with a handful of cases, says Natia Navrouzov, legal advocacy director of the Yazidi NGO Yazda. This is really not enough. The Netherlands has officially recognised the Yazidi genocide in July 2021. Several other countries have done the same but so far only Dutch and German prosecutors have taken few concrete steps. PLEAS FOR AN INTERNATIONAL COURT AND ACCOUNTABILITY IN IRAQ Beyond universal jurisdiction trials, Yazidi activists believe that both Iraqi national trials and international mechanisms are needed to capture the full scale of what they suffered. Both Wahhab Hassoo, of the NGO NL Helpt Yezidis, and Pari Ibrahim, from the Free Yezidi Foundation say that the Yazidi genocide should be handled in an international mechanism where our community and the whole world can benefit from seeing the truth of the crimes committed by ISIS, says Pari Ibrahim. We want an international tribunal because ISIS is an international problem and there were so many foreigners who joined ISIS, says Natia Navrouzov from Yazda, a Yazidi organization based in the United States. But setting up an international tribunal also takes a long time and significant financial resources, and Navrouzov says that this would also only work temporarily. Meanwhile, hate speech against Yazidis in Iraq continues. In this context, Navrouzov believes that an accountability mechanism within the Iraqi national justice system would be key to long-term justice as it could also tackle possible future crimes. But survivors have said many times that they would not trust a purely national process because of the huge risk that it's going to be politicised and an accountability mechanism in Iraq would have to have international involvement,, she clarifies. At the moment Iraq has not incorporated genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity into its domestic legislation. ISIS members are only prosecuted for terrorism crimes under Iraqi law. Understanding the reasons behind the genocide is also a function of trials in Iraq, says Navrouzov, as Yazidis have in fact been persecuted since the Middle Ages. In her recent variety show appearance, this "My Liberation Notes" actress shared the negative comment she received when she was still a rookie. Can you guess who this celebrity is? 'My Liberation Notes' Star Lee El Exposes Harsh Reality She Experienced During Rookie Days In JTBC's "Knowing Brothers" episode 384, which aired on May 20, veteran actresses Jin Seo Yeon, Cha Ye Ryun, Park Hyo Joon, and Lee El made their guest appearances. They are the lead stars of ENA channel's new drama "Happiness Battle." In the middle of the show, the guests shared their personal stories. When it was Lee El's turn, the "My Liberation Notes" actress shared a shocking story from her rookie days. She said, "I am not just a beauty, but when I went to an audition, someone from the casting team said that they didn't know where to put me." That staff member who was talking to her started making nasty remarks, "You should go and shoot an erotic thriller or something." After hearing her stories, the cast members on the set could not hide their shock. Lee El confessed that it hurt a little before since she was still starting in the industry. However, those experiences helped her aim for a niche market. She commented that those people who say such things don't go well in life. What's Next For Lee El: 'Happiness Battle' & 'When the Stars Gossip' Lee El made her acting debut in 2009. In fact, as of this writing, she already has more than twenty dramas and more than a dozen of movies under her belt. She is known for her roles in "Black," "Goblin," "It's Okay, That's Love," "Inside Men," "Love and Leashes," "Yaksha: Ruthless Operations," and more. The actress made a magnificent performance in JTBC's hit drama "My Liberation Notes," where she worked with Kim Ji Won, Lee Min Ki, and Son Seok Ku. Meanwhile, Lee El is expected to have a back-to-back drama comeback this 2023. She will headline the upcoming ENA Channel series "Happiness Battle," which follows the story of 3 mothers, who come from different backgrounds, compete fiercely on social media, and are happier. Aside from it, the actress is joining the star-studded cast of the sci-fi romance drama "When the Stars Gossip" also known as "Asks the Stars." She will share the frame with Gong Hyo Jin, Lee Min Ho, and Oh Jung Se. The long-awaited series is set to premiere in the second half of 2023. IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: Kang Mina Makes Heads Turn With Her See-Through 'Fit What can you say about Lee El's revelation? Share your thoughts/replies in the comments! For more K-Drama, K-Movie, and celebrity news, keep your tabs open here at KDramaStars. KDramaStars owns this article. Shai Collins wrote this. Kim Bum redefined the meaning of fan service after showing his appreciation to his supporters in a meaningful way. The 33-year-old South Korean heartthrob is recently making waves as he stars in the newest K-drama sequel, "Tale of the Nine-Tailed 1938." As the series gains popularity among viewers, the lead star not only listens to the media's perception of the series but also keeps an eye on the reactions of his fans. Kim Bum Instagram: Actor Proves He Monitors Fans' Posts In Kim Bum's Instagram Stories, the actor, who is an avid Twitter user, revealed that he had "so much fun" monitoring the public's response up until 2:00 a.m. He mentioned it along with a Twitter screenshot, showing a trending topic that states a line from the latest episodes of "Tale of the Nine-Tailed 1938." Interestingly, he also posted the fans' reactions and answered some of it. "Lee Yeon and Lee Rang should be the models for the alcohol brand that's using the gumiho character. I mean, we LITERALLY have Chosun's living gumihos right here. Hello," user @/paikchi wrote. Kim Bum responded, "I agree. I like that brand of alcohol, too." Meanwhile, some fans expressed concern that the actor was still awake and reading online comments until 2 in the morning. One even mentioned how "terrifying" Kim Bum's research skills are. "I know how to look up tweets about me. Even the ones being hidden from me. I even searched in Thai. Should I not...?" he answered. On the other hand, a netizen mentioned that the actor might be looking just for the most trending and popular topic on Twitter, and that's just it. However, it seemed like he assured fans that he often reads Twitter and social media after correcting a netizen when the fan said she was "relieved" that Kim Bum only looked for "most popular tweets and that's it," to which he replied "wrong." Wrapping up Kim Bum's Instagram Story saga, a user expressed worries that the actor might come across malicious posts about him, but it seemed like Kim Bum is unbothered by the negative feedback. "I don't even care about malicious posts about me. I'm not bothered," he explained. The South Korean hearthrob pointed out that all he wanted for his fans was "to have fun watching K-Dramas" that he is in. "Also... It's not ONLY Twitter that I'm looking at. Like... How come Theqoo doesn't have a page under my name?" he joked. Kim Bum Returns as Lee Rang in 'Tale of the Nine-Tailed 1938' In the sequel to the smash hit 2020 K-drama "Tale of the Nine-Tailed," the beloved duo Kim Bum and Lee Dong Wook return, reprising their roles along with new characters. Playing the role of Lee Rang, Kim Bum is Lee Yeon's half brother. He hated Lee Yeon (Lee Dong Wook) because of a grave misunderstanding. In the second season, "The Penthouse" star Kim So Yeon joined as Ryu Hong Joo, one of the mountain goddesses and owner of a restaurant in the present time. For more K-Drama, K-Movie, and celebrity news, keep your tabs open here at KDramaStars. KDramaStars owns this article Written by Geca Wills Former presidential candidate, Dr. Kizza Besigye on Monday appeared before the Uganda Human Rights Commission Tribunal over the alleged violation of his rights during the 2016 elections. The tribunal panel of three commissioners was chaired by the commission chairperson Ms. Mariam Wangadya. The allegations relate to what rights body, Amnesty International described as a violation of human rights of leaders of the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) and undermining the ability of their party to legally challenge the results of the February 18 elections. Dr. Besigye also challenges his repeated arrest and that of his party colleagues and supporters by the security forces. Besigye also says security forces also besieged his home and raided the partys main office in Kampala, something he claims the government has often denied. Besigye has informed the Human Rights tribunal that shortly after the 2016 General elections in which he stood as an FDC presidential candidate, he and other 3 senior party officials including the then party president Mugisha Muntu, Ingrid Turinawe, and Wasswa Birigwa were arrested by police at that time commanded by late former AIP Andrew Felix Kaweesi. That the 4 were then bundled into a waiting police van and driven to Nagalama police station where they were jailed. Besigye says the arrest prevented him from filing an election petition something which up to now he regrets as he says he is still stuck with his evidence which would have eventually overturned the 2016 presidential election results, henceforth telling the commission that he cannot recognise Museveni as a dully elected president of Uganda. I still have evidence with me that I defeated President Museveni in the 2016 presidential election, Besigye told the commission. He now seeks compensation from government for the continued alleged violation of his rights, torture, loss of income, lost opportunities, and sealing off FDC party offices. The proposed marriage reforms on cohabitation continue to draw mixed reactions from Ugandans. The time limit on cohabitation is among a raft of proposals in a private members bill titled The Marriage Bill, 2022 that is yet to be tabled before parliament by Tororo Woman MP Sarah Opendi. The Family Life Network Executive Director Stephen Langa says such a proposal only seeks to cheapen marriage and weaken the family institution. Langa says marriage is not a joke adding that it requires serious commitment and must involve consent from both parties. He advises cohabitating couples to make their mistake right by getting married legally either through church or trying the civil away. By Abubaker Lubowa | Monitor The Judiciary driver who complained about his low salary has been remanded to prison on allegations of promoting hate speech. Stanley Kisambira Male, a resident of Sazzagulu zone in Mukono District was on Monday arraigned before Buganda Road Chief Magistrates court in Kampala on charges of spreading hate speech contrary to section 26A(1)(C) of the computer misuse (Amended) Act, 2022. Prosecution states that Kisambira, 46, on May 12 2023, within Uganda, through a computer, shared on Judiciary transport WhatsApp group information to wit a recorded audio which was likely to promote hostility against judges in the Judiciary, in that judges salaries are unfairly over and above those of their drivers and that a driver can decided to cause road accidents by ramming into a moving truck thereby, killing the judges and their bodyguards. Read more As one of the activities to mark the International Day for Biological Diversity, the National Environment Management Authority is bent on restoring Mabira Forest. The authority has often come under fire for reportedly looking on while encroachers destroy what used to be one of the countrys largest natural forests. The day is being marked under the global theme; From Agreement to Action: Build Back Biodiversity. This is the 23rd commemoration after in December 2000, the United Nations General Assembly adopted May 22, as IDB to honor the adoption of the Agreed Text of the Convention on Biological Diversity on May 22, 1992 in Nairobi. Uganda ratified the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) on September 8, 1993, and it was domesticated on December 29, the same year. Meanwhile, David Cooper, the Acting Secretary of Convention on Biological Diversity has implored governments and businesses across the globe to formulate policies that will stop biodiversity loss by 2030. He says this will clean our air and water, ensure food security, limit zoonotic diseases and help achieve the global vision of living in Harmony with nature by 2050. Governments need to urgently develop national targets to align with those of the framework and to put in place policies and programmes to achieve them, Cooper said. Uganda is among the about 196 countries which are Parties to CBD. Regional police commanders have been ordered to ensure the safety of all pilgrims trekking to Namugongo Martyrs shrines ahead of the June 3rd commemoration. Police publicist, Fred Enanga has revealed that these have been tasked to escort pilgrims and provide protection to them as they rest at churches, schools, and community centres. According to Enanga, the Inspector General of Police, Martins Okoth Ochola has also tasked the commanders to also ensure that movement under the cover of darkness at night and early morning is restricted and to also identify those who cannot endure the journey for medical attention. Every 3rd June, believers across the globe make a pilgrimage to the Uganda Martyrs shrines at Namugongo to celebrate the Martyrs, a group of 22 Catholic and 23 Anglican converts to Christianity who were executed between 1885 and 1887 for their faith. Pilgrims come from as far as DRC, Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi, South Sudan, and world over trekking on foot to Namugongo to review their faith and renew themselves mentally and spiritually. Police say so far, no incidents of crime have been registered against the groups that kicked off their journey. The expiry of university courses and programmes has been blamed on the high cost of reviewing them. According to information published on the National Council for Higher Educations (NCHE) website, over 2,200 courses being taught in both public and private institutions expired with some dating as far back as 13 years, and have not been submitted for review. This has affected some graduates who wish to further their education. The matter has come to the fore after the University of Bristol reportedly declined to admit an alumnus of Makerere University over concerns that he was taught a bachelors degree (Biomedical Laboratory Technology) which was listed as expired by the Council, a body that is mandated to regulate these institutions. The Chairperson of the NCHE, Prof Eli Katunguka who also doubles as the Vice Chancellor of Kyambogo University, says some institutions have failed to review their courses because it is expensive. According to Prof Katunguka, each course unit within a programme costs Shs700, 000, citing Bachelor of Education programmes whose review is charged separately, a cost he said is very high, especially for public institutions that have been faced with budget cuts. Makerere University which is the largest and top institution in the country has the highest number of courses listed by the Council as expired. Out of 303 courses taught at the institution, a total of 159 are expired while 41 are under review and 103 are active. Other affected universities included Kabale University (59), Busitema (28), Mbarara University of science and technology (34), Makerere University Business Schools (25), Mountains of the Moon (18), All Saints University, Lango (14), Ankole Western University (4), Avance International University (5), Bishop Stuart University ( 63), Bugema University (40), Cavendish University (34) among others. Speaking earlier in an interview with KFM, the Vice Chancellor Makerere University, Prof Barnabas Nawangwe said that while there are indeed a few programmes whose re-accreditation expired and the review process has delayed, many of those on the list are programmes that have either been discontinued or have already been submitted to the Council for re-accreditation. Nawangwe added that they are doing everything possible to address this challenge so that graduates are not disadvantaged by a few universities abroad that insist on using the NCHE website to confirm accreditation. He explained that generally, most universities consider the accreditation of the Institution and not the programmes. Mbarara University Vice Chancellor, Prof Celestino Obua says they have no expired courses, and that some of those listed as expired were submitted to them two years ago. Similarly, Prof George Ladaah Openjuru, the Vice Chancellor Gulu University says the list that the Council has on its website is an old one that needs to be updated. Boston Scientific Corporation has announced an 80 million investment in its Clonmel operation ahead of a visit by Taoiseach Varadkar to mark the 25th anniversary of its arrival in the town. The funding, supported by the Irish Government through IDA Ireland, will go towards the continued expansion of the companys medical technology manufacturing and research and development (R&D) capabilities and is expected to enable the creation of more than 400 jobs in the coming years. The new investment will increase office and manufacturing space and transition the entire site to source more than 90% of its energy needs from renewable sources. This is part of the companys broader sustainability commitment to achieve carbon neutrality by 2030. Boston Scientific has been steadily growing its footprint in Ireland for the past quarter century, said Taoiseach Leo Varadkar. Ireland is a global leader in the life sciences sector, and the decision by the company to invest again in Clonmel shows real confidence in the talent and infrastructure available. The companys Clonmel site includes a Centre of Excellence for metal additives used in a range of electronic components for medical technology. Hiring is underway for positions in highly specialised roles within production, engineering, quality, supply chain and R&D functions. Our growth in the region has been possible thanks to our talented workforce here in Clonmel, said Conor Russell, vice president, Operations, Boston Scientific. Our team has worked to build strong manufacturing and R&D capabilities and also a high-performing and inclusive culture that we are proud to continue to foster as an employer of choice. Boston Scientific employees based in Clonmel manufacture medical devices that support the treatment of more than 400,000 patients globally each year. Products created in Clonmel help patients suffering from conditions such as heart disease, neurological disorders, kidney stones, and diseases of the pancreas, bile ducts and esophagus. Boston Scientific in Ireland has transformed its activities over its 30 years here said Mary Buckley, executive director with IDA Ireland. We welcome this investment in R&D and further manufacturing, which will offer new opportunities and careers in Tipperary and the region from the largest life sciences employer in Ireland. IDA Ireland is tasked with attracting investment into Ireland by foreign-owned companies with a focus on jobs growth and industrial transformation in high growth sectors including MedTech. The agency supports a wide range of multinational companies with operations in Ireland through grants and other business supports in compliance with EU and Irish legislation. Boston Scientific also recently renovated part of the Clonmel facility to create a more agile and collaborative space for its growing workforce and to further support an innovative environment. As a result, the site received a commercial interior design award as Project of the Year Workplace Interiors 5,000-15,000 square foot category at the UK Mixology Awards, which recognise the best projects, products and people in commercial interior design. Loreto Kilkenny Secondary School is gearing up for the national finals of the F1 in Schools Ireland competition. The esteemed STEM competition presents secondary school students with an exciting challenge: to undertake a comprehensive project encompassing the development of a race brand, the design of a pit display, and the construction of a miniature F1 car, which will all be put to the test at the national finals on Monday the 29th. Luas Suas Racing, drawing from the Irish phrase speed up is the first team from Kilkenny having ever made it to the national finals a testament to the schools commitment to providing a diverse range of STEM subjects to their students. Thanks to the generous sponsorship from Lister Machine Tools, who serve as the title sponsor, and the support from local businesses such as Kiltorcan Karting, Michael Lyng Motors, Pauls, Goods, and Fran Gincell Properties, the team is well-prepared to compete. More information can be found from the Luas Suas team under the name @luas.suas.racing across all social media platforms where they encourage their community to show support by following their accounts and engaging with their content. Kilkennys Missing Persons national monument has now been on the grounds of Kilkenny Castle for 21 years, having been unveiled by then President Mary McAleese on May 26, 2002. The occasion of its 21st year in situ in Kilkenny Castle will be marked with a special gathering at the monument on Sunday at midday and an address from Minister for Justice and Higher Education, Simon Harris. Created by local artist Ann Mulrooney, the eight-feet-high lattice-style bronze sculpture commemorates missing people in Ireland. The monument, which features the handprints of family members of the missing, was commissioned by a trust established by the late Mary Phelan, from Callan, Co Kilkenny, whose sister, Ms JoJo Dullard has not been seen since November 1995. Deputy John McGuinness who has been a strong advocate for missing persons and the case of JoJo Dullard, assisted in securing the funding for the monument and has helped to arrange an annual gathering to commemorate missing persons along with Fr. Willie Purcell and the Dullard family. Im delighted that Minister Simon Harris has accepted our invitation and he will join us on this important occasion as we ensure that all of those that have disappeared without a trace are not forgotten and the search for evidence that may lead us to a final conclusion will always continue, said Deputy John McGuinness. There are many families throughout the country still searching for answers. Locally I always think of JoJo Dullard and Dean Roche. Its heart-breaking to think that JoJos sister Mary and Dean Roche's mother Geraldine both passed away without any answers and there are so many families that share that pain. I hope this monument brings some kind of solace to them, but I also hope that these gatherings help to raise awareness and encourage anybody that has any information, no matter how small, to come forward, he said This year we reach a milestone in that our missing persons monument is in place 21 years on the grounds of Kilkenny Castle. Like every year, we will meet and commemorate those missing persons from all over the country, we will join with their families and friends and pray for them. This monument has served as a place of prayer and reflection for those people who do not have a grave to visit, but also as a place of remembrance, said Fr. Willie Purcell. People are advised to meet at the entrance to Kilkenny Castle at 11:30am on Sunday. There will then be a walk to the monument where there will be prayer and reflection, music by Kilkenny Gospel Choir and an address from Minister Simon Harris. Strengths: The best-performing precious metal for the week was platinum, showing a 0.44% increase. AngloGold is changing its domicile and primary listing location. The new corporate structure will have a primary listing on the NYSE and secondary listings on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, A2X Markets and the Ghana Stock Exchange. The reasons for this corporate restructuring include enhanced access to global capital markets, improved competitive positioning and a corporate domicile in a leading, low-risk jurisdiction. Newmont has agreed to acquire Newcrest Mining in a friendly all-share transaction. The deal offers 0.4 Newmont shares per Newcrest share, along with a special dividend of $1.10 per share paid to Newcrest shareholders. The total consideration for the acquisition amounts to $19.2 billion, aligning with Newmont's previous best and final offer announced on April 10. K92 reported Q1 financial results that exceeded consensus expectations due to lower operating costs. The company reiterated its guidance, with production weighted towards the second half of the year and targeting the lower end of the range following operational issues in Q1. Weaknesses: The worst-performing precious metal for the week was gold, showing a 2.08% decrease. Gold strung together three days of losses before rebounding slightly on Friday. Robust labor market numbers and optimism on a debt ceiling deal weighed on prices most of the week. Centerra Gold reported Q1 earnings per share (EPS) of -$0.24, significantly missing the consensus estimate of -$0.07. The EPS miss was primarily driven by higher operating and exploration expenses. Q1 cash flow per share (CFPS) was -$0.45, also missing the consensus estimate of $0.21. The value of polished stone exports from India, which serves as a proxy for demand, declined by 39% year over year (YoY) and 17% month over month (MoM). Volumes also decreased by 32% YoY and 19% MoM, indicating broadly stable monthly prices but an 11% YoY decrease, possibly influenced by changes in product mix. Opportunities: Wheaton Precious Metals announced a financing package of up to $300 million for Lumina Gold. In return, Wheaton Precious Metals will receive a 6.6% gold stream on the Cangrejos project. The financing commitment will be made through spaced-out cash payments, starting with a $48 million upfront deposit, which will be divided based on transaction and project milestones. The gold stream will reduce to 4.4% after 700,000 ounces have been delivered, and Wheaton Precious Metals will also make ongoing production payments tied to the gold spot price. Scotia highlights Kinross Gold's focus for 2023, which includes further de-risking key assets. This involves delivering on the Tasiast 24,000 mill expansion by mid-2023, conducting a preliminary economic assessment (PEA) at Great Bear in early 2024, de-risking the mine plan at Round Mountain, progressing on the Manh Choh satellite development project and advancing the Curlew pre-feasibility study, expected to be completed in Q2 of 2024. Bloomberg reports that copper is at the heart of the latest spending spree by miners, amid expectations that demand for the metal will rise as the world decarbonizes. Electric vehicles and wind farms use copper in much greater quantities than gasoline-powered cars and coal-fired power stations. Tom Palmer, Newmont's president and chief executive, said the opportunity to produce more copper had been a key attraction of a deal to acquire Newcrest along with the size of its resource base that can sustain mining for decades. The location of Newcrest's mines in low-risk jurisdictions such as Canada and Australia also bolstered the appeal of a takeover. Threats: Automakers are increasingly substituting platinum for palladium in catalytic converters, resulting in a potential deficit in the palladium market for the first time in two years, according to Johnson Matthey. Demand from automakers is expected to exceed 3 million ounces, marking a shift in preference towards platinum and a decline in palladium usage. This poses a significant threat as both metals are used to reduce emissions from car exhausts. Centerra Gold faces near-term headwinds that could limit immediate-term upside. These include upcoming elections in Turkey, scheduled to conclude on May 28, uncertainty regarding the timing of the permit for the restart of their Oksut mine in Turkey (as mining permit issuance is typically low during election cycles), and the upcoming VanEck Vectors Junior Gold Miners ETF (GDXJ) rebalance on June 9, which may result in additional selling pressure. South Africa faces a difficult winter as it heads into the cold months with 3,000 megawatts less capacity than last year, Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd. acting Chief Executive Officer Calib Cassim told reporters on Thursday. The utility envisages a worst-case scenario of having to cut 8,000 megawatts from the electricity grid a process known locally as loadshedding which would entail 16 hours of outages in a 32-hour cycle. The blackouts and the deteriorating economic outlook have weighed on investor sentiment, with the rand dropping 12% this year the worst performance among major currencies monitored by Bloomberg. By Frank E. Holmes Contributing to kitco.com Follow @bulldogholmes www.goldnewsletter.com Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and may not reflect those of Kitco Metals Inc. The author has made every effort to ensure accuracy of information provided; however, neither Kitco Metals Inc. nor the author can guarantee such accuracy. This article is strictly for informational purposes only. It is not a solicitation to make any exchange in commodities, securities or other financial instruments. Kitco Metals Inc. and the author of this article do not accept culpability for losses and/ or damages arising from the use of this publication. PARIS, May 21 (Reuters) - Mongolia will supply critical metals to France needed for its energy transition, President Emmanuel Macron said on Sunday during the first ever visit to Ulaanbaatar by a serving French president. "We decided to work together to boost our energy sovereignty through the supply of critical metals from your country, which has this resource," he told a news conference with the Mongolian President Ukhnaagiin Khurelsukh, who called France its "third neighbour". A partnership with nuclear group Orano, which is working on developing a uranium mine in Mongolia, would be key, Macron added. Macron stopped in Mongolia on his way back from the G-7 in Japan. Nearly 80% of Mongolia's total exports go to China, but the mineral-rich country is working to expand trade and mining relationships beyond its two big neighbours China and Russia and hopes to become a bridge between Europe and Asia. Rare earth minerals are essential to many high-tech manufacturing processes and are used in electric vehicles, wind turbines, portable electronics, microphones and speakers. (Reporting by Michel Rose) NEW YORK, May 22 (Reuters) - A U.S. judge on Monday dismissed long-running litigation by investors who accused HSBC Holdings Plc (HSBA.L) and Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS.TO) of conspiring to fix silver prices. U.S. District Judge Valerie Caproni in Manhattan said the investors lacked legal standing to pursue federal antitrust claims under the Sherman Act, or claims under the federal Commodity Exchange Act. Investors had accused HSBC, Scotiabank and Deutsche Bank AG (DBKGn.DE) of manipulating silver prices from 2007 to 2013, saying they had "smoking gun" evidence of a price-fixing conspiracy among those banks and several other silver market makers. The litigation began in 2014, and Deutsche Bank settled for $38 million two years later. In a 24-page decision, Caproni found the investors unable to trace their losses to banks' alleged effort to depress the Fix, which set benchmark prices for silver bars, and trade derivatives based on advance knowledge of the Fix price. Caproni said the investors did not show it was "plausible, as opposed to merely possible" that distorted pricing affected their trades, and said any damages were "too speculative." The judge also said the investors were not "efficient enforcers" of their private antitrust claims, unlike people who might have sold silver at the Fix price. Lawyers for the investors did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The banks and their lawyers did not immediately respond to similar requests. Caproni dismissed the lawsuit with prejudice, meaning it cannot be brought again. She had in 2016 let the case proceed, but said recent decisions by the federal appeals court in Manhattan have clarified when private plaintiffs can bring antitrust and commodities act claims. The cases is In re London Silver Fixing Ltd Antitrust Litigation, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No. 14-md-02573. Get all the essential market news and expert opinions in one place with our daily newsletter. Receive a comprehensive recap of the day's top stories directly to your inbox. Sign up here! (Kitco News) - The Securities Commission (SC) of Malaysia has ordered the Huobi Global Limited cryptocurrency exchange to cease operations in the country, saying it has been operating illegally without registration. "The SC has issued a public reprimand against Huobi Global Limited, and Leon Li for operating illegally in Malaysia," a media release from the regulator said. "In addition, the SC has ordered Huobi Global Limited to stop its operations in the country, including disabling its website and mobile application on several platforms such as Apple Store, Google Play and any other digital application platform." The exchange has also been directed to halt the circulation, publishing or sending of any advertisements to Malaysian investors. Leon Li, the CEO of Huobi, was directly named by the SC as being tasked with ensuring that these directives are carried out. According to the SC, "This decision comes after concerns about the platform's compliance with local regulatory requirements and protecting investors' interests." Last year, the SC placed Huobi on its investor alert list for operating without registering as a recognized market operator (RMO), which is viewed as a serious offense under the Capital Markets and Services Act. This latest development represents an escalation of that alert, with the SC ordering an immediate halt to all trading activities and encouraging Malaysian users to withdraw all their investments from the platform and close their accounts. The SC concluded its update by advising Malaysian residents to only invest and deal with RMOs that are registered and legally compliant in the country. "Registered RMOs have undergone strict regulatory scrutiny and are required to adhere to strict guidelines so that investors are protected under Malaysia's securities laws," the SC wrote. "Those who invest with unlicensed or unregistered entities or individuals are exposed to risks such as fraud and may not be protected under Malaysian securities laws." Hotbit shut down trading services The Hotbit cryptocurrency exchange, which has been in operation since 2018, announced on Monday that it would be closing down, citing a deterioration in operating conditions and changes in the crypto industry trend. According to Hotbit, after the exchange was forced to suspend its operations for several weeks last August while a former member of its team was under investigation, "the industry has experienced a series of crises, including the collapse of FTX, bank crises causing USDC off-peg incidents, resulting in continuous outflows of funds from CEX users, including Hotbit, and deteriorating cash flow." The exchange also noted that, following the collapse of FTX and other prominent firms like BlockFi and Genesis, the industry is being pushed towards embracing regulation or becoming more decentralized. "The Hotbit team believes that centralized exchanges (CEX) are becoming increasingly cumbersome, with highly complex and interconnected businesses that are difficult to comply with, whether for compliance or decentralization, and are unlikely to meet long-term trends," the announcement said. Hotbit has also been the target of numerous cyber attacks and the exploitation of project defects by malicious users, which has resulted in significant losses. "Therefore, the Hotbit team believes that the operation model of supporting a diverse range of assets is unsustainable from a risk management standpoint," the exchange concluded. Hotbit users have been given until June 21 to withdraw their remaining assets. COPENHAGEN, May 22 (Reuters) - Denmark would like to host a summit in July aimed at finding peace between Ukraine and Russia, but such a meeting would need engagement from India, China and Brazil, Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen said Monday. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Sunday sought global support at the G7 meeting in Japan for Kyiv's plan to end Russia's war in Ukraine and proposed to hold a global summit in July. "If Ukraine finds that the time has come to have such a meeting, that would be fantastic. And then Denmark would obviously like to host the meeting," Lokke Rasmussen told reporters on the sidelines of the EU Foreign Affairs Council in Brussels. A proposal in December by Ukraine to hold a peace summit in February this year never materialized. "For starters, we need to put some effort into creating a global commitment to organise such a meeting," Lokke Rasmussen said, adding that a summit should not just be attended by Ukraine's allies. "It is necessary to build interest and involvement from countries like India, Brazil and China," he said. "It is hard for me to see" Russia taking part, he added. Zelenskiy last year proposed a 10-point peace plan, which calls on Russia to withdraw all its troops from Ukraine and to respect Ukraine's territorial integrity. The details of its implementation should be discussed at the proposed peace summit, Zelenskiy's administration said in a statement on Sunday. Lokke Rasmussen said he welcomed a decision by Washington to support joint allied training programmes for Ukrainian pilots on F-16 fighter jets. "It makes sense to begin training of Ukrainian pilots as soon as possible," Lokke Rasmussen said, adding it was too early to say if Denmark would supply F-16s to Ukraine. LONDON/STOCKHOLM, May 22 (Reuters) - As the race to develop more powerful artificial intelligence services like ChatGPT accelerates, some regulators are relying on old laws to control a technology that could upend the way societies and businesses operate. The European Union is at the forefront of drafting new AI rules that could set the global benchmark to address privacy and safety concerns that have arisen with the rapid advances in the generative AI technology behind OpenAI's ChatGPT. But it will take several years for the legislation to be enforced. "In absence of regulations, the only thing governments can do is to apply existing rules," said Massimiliano Cimnaghi, a European data governance expert at consultancy BIP. "If it's about protecting personal data, they apply data protection laws, if it's a threat to safety of people, there are regulations that have not been specifically defined for AI, but they are still applicable." In April, Europe's national privacy watchdogs set up a task force to address issues with ChatGPT after Italian regulator Garante had the service taken offline, accusing OpenAI of violating the EU's GDPR, a wide-ranging privacy regime enacted in 2018. ChatGPT was reinstated after the U.S. company agreed to install age verification features and let European users block their information from being used to train the AI model. The agency will begin examining other generative AI tools more broadly, a source close to Garante told Reuters. Data protection authorities in France and Spain also launched in April probes into OpenAI's compliance with privacy laws. BRING IN THE EXPERTS Generative AI models have become well known for making mistakes, or "hallucinations", spewing up misinformation with uncanny certainty. Such errors could have serious consequences. If a bank or government department used AI to speed up decision-making, individuals could be unfairly rejected for loans or benefit payments. Big tech companies including Alphabet's Google (GOOGL.O) and Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O) had stopped using AI products deemed ethically dicey, like financial products. Regulators aim to apply existing rules covering everything from copyright and data privacy to two key issues: the data fed into models and the content they produce, according to six regulators and experts in the United States and Europe. Agencies in the two regions are being encouraged to "interpret and reinterpret their mandates," said Suresh Venkatasubramanian, a former technology advisor to the White House. He cited the U.S. Federal Trade Commission's (FTC) investigation of algorithms for discriminatory practices under existing regulatory powers. In the EU, proposals for the bloc's AI Act will force companies like OpenAI to disclose any copyrighted material - such as books or photographs - used to train their models, leaving them vulnerable to legal challenges. Proving copyright infringement will not be straightforward though, according to Sergey Lagodinsky, one of several politicians involved in drafting the EU proposals. "It's like reading hundreds of novels before you write your own," he said. "If you actually copy something and publish it, that's one thing. But if you're not directly plagiarizing someone else's material, it doesn't matter what you trained yourself on. 'THINKING CREATIVELY' French data regulator CNIL has started "thinking creatively" about how existing laws might apply to AI, according to Bertrand Pailhes, its technology lead. For example, in France discrimination claims are usually handled by the Defenseur des Droits (Defender of Rights). However, its lack of expertise in AI bias has prompted CNIL to take a lead on the issue, he said. "We are looking at the full range of effects, although our focus remains on data protection and privacy," he told Reuters. The organisation is considering using a provision of GDPR which protects individuals from automated decision-making. "At this stage, I can't say if it's enough, legally," Pailhes said. "It will take some time to build an opinion, and there is a risk that different regulators will take different views." In Britain, the Financial Conduct Authority is one of several state regulators that has been tasked with drawing up new guidelines covering AI. It is consulting with the Alan Turing Institute in London, alongside other legal and academic institutions, to improve its understanding of the technology, a spokesperson told Reuters. While regulators adapt to the pace of technological advances, some industry insiders have called for greater engagement with corporate leaders. Harry Borovick, general counsel at Luminance, a startup which uses AI to process legal documents, told Reuters that dialogue between regulators and companies had been "limited" so far. "This doesnt bode particularly well in terms of the future," he said. "Regulators seem either slow or unwilling to implement the approaches which would enable the right balance between consumer protection and business growth." (This story has been refiled to fix a spelling to Massimiliano, not Massimilano, in paragraph 4) Sanctions levied last week against Polyus (LSE:PLZL) by the U.S. are unjustified, according to the Rusian miner. On 19 May the Department of the Treasurys Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) published a document imposing sanctions targeting the Company and its business units. Polyus is a top five global gold mining company by production volumes and the largest gold miner in terms of attributable gold ore reserves. The company has the lowest production costs among major global gold producers. Its principal operations are located in Siberia and the Russian Far East: Krasnoyarsk, Irkutsk and Magadan regions and the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia). According to General License issued by OFAC, the equity and debt holders of Polyus have to wind down their operations involving the Company until 17 August 2023. The UK and Australia also announced sanctions against Polyus on 19 May 2023. "The company considers all sanctions imposed on Polyus and its subsidiaries as unjustified. The company will thoroughly examine the relevant authorities decisions and the prospect of opposing the sanctions by all legal means," wrote the company in a statement. "While the company is now evaluating a potential impact of announced restrictive measures, Polyus will focus on maintaining its operations as normal, delivering on operational goals and proceeding with organic development of its asset portfolio. The company also confirms an intention to meet all its social and environmental obligations." LONDON, May 19 (Reuters) - Britain published plans to ban imports of Russian diamonds, copper, aluminium and nickel on Friday and announced new sanctions against Russia, targeting companies connected to the suspected theft of Ukrainian grain. The United States and Canada also announced new penalties on Russia over its war against Ukraine. Washington imposed sanctions on gold producer Polyus (PLZL.MM) and the Russian business of its peer, Polymetal (POLYP.L), which would further damage Russian gold sales already hit by Western sanctions and restrictions. The UK import ban, however, will only have a muted impact as Russian exports of those commodities to the UK have already dropped after the imposition of tariffs. "We will legislate later this year to ban imports of Russian diamonds, and end all imports of Russian-origin copper, aluminium and nickel," British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said in a statement. Data shows Britain imported only a small proportion of its aluminium, nickel and diamonds from Russia. Last March the British government placed 35% additional duties on imports of Russian base metals. Then the London Metal Exchange (LME) suspended deliveries of Russian copper, aluminium, nickel and lead into its approved warehouses in Britain, although there was none stored in them. "The LME will closely monitor the latest development for further details and will communicate to the market in due course should the LME consider any further action is required beyond the suspension that is already in place," it said on Friday. Russia is a major producer of aluminium, nickel and diamonds. Britain's import ban plans were announced before the G7 nations discuss how to trace Russia's diamond trade with the aim of imposing restrictions at a later stage. "The global market is fluid, rich in alternative destinations," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Friday, when asked about possible future diamond restrictions in the European Union. Russia is also one of the world's largest producers of gold, along with China and Australia. The latest U.S. penalties on its two major gold miners' operations come on top of sanctions on major Russian banks, which used to be the main gold exporters from the country before the war, and June's ban by Britain, the United States, Japan and Canada of new imports of Russian gold. The ban was imposed when Russian exports to the West had already dried up as the Russian gold trade, according to industry players, was rerouted to Asia, where most countries have not imposed sanctions on Russia. U.S. sanctions target only the Russia-based part of Polymetal - Polimetall AO - and do not apply to the parent company, Polymetal International PLC, which is based on Jersey island and owns assets in Kazakhstan. In May, Polymetal asked its shareholders to approve re-domiciling to Kazakhstan from Jersey as it hopes to separate its Russian and Kazakh businesses next year. 'SHADY ENTITIES' Britain also targeted "shady individuals and entities" connected to the theft and resale of Ukrainian grain, something Russia has been accused of and has denied. Targeting entities involved in grain trading is unusual as such activity typically comes under humanitarian exemptions. Both Russia and Ukraine are major grain exporters to Africa and the Middle East. "This grain, and other agricultural goods, has been reportedly stolen from warehouses and fields in the temporarily occupied territories in Ukraine," the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office said in a statement. Russian nickel and copper producer Nornickel and Polymetal declined to comment. Aluminium producer Rusal, diamond miner Alrosa and Polyus did not reply to Reuters requests for comment. Reporting by Sarah Young; editing by Kate Holton By Harish Sridharan May 22 (Reuters) - Newcrest Mining Ltd's Cadia mine in Australia's New South Wales (NSW) state is facing a fresh investigation over emission of dust and other pollutants, the state's Environment Protection Authority (EPA) said on Monday. Cadia is Newcrest's flagship goldmine and the investigation comes nine months after the country's biggest listed gold miner was fined a maximum penalty of A$15,000 for dust pollution. Newcrest is currently the subject of a A$26.2 billion ($17.77 billion) takeover offer from Newmont Corp . "The industry has strict obligations to meet clean air standards and currently Cadia appears to be falling well short of our expectations," said NSW EPA Chief Executive Officer Tony Chappel. "Last week, the EPA received new evidence from the community to suggest actions by the mine to reduce dust pollution have not been effective." In March, Cadia Community Sustainability Network (CCSN) - a residents' group based in Orange, New South Wales said they along with a researcher from Western Sydney University recently identified some heavy metal contamination, particularly in the bottom of residential rainwater tanks around the district. Reports from local media say that test results of residents living near the mine show they have high levels of selenium, nickel and lead in the blood. Newcrest said it remains firmly committed to making sure that statutory obligations are met. "We take our environmental obligations and the concerns raised by some members of the local community seriously," said acting Cadia General Manager Mick Dewar. The EPA has also written to the NSW Chief Health Officer requesting a full health risk analysis to determine if mine dust is impacting the health of the community. NSW Health did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. In a Facebook post on Monday, CCSN said they welcome the EPA's move to investigate concerns about heavy metal contamination of tank water around the region. "This is a solid start to ensuring our homes and families are safe, with plenty more to be done," it said. Cadia has until May 23 to respond to the EPA's latest investigation. ($1 = 1.4743 Australian dollars) (Reporting by Harish Sridharan in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh Kuber) Stuff reports: A new Whanau Ora campaign has been launched encouraging a future built on Maori aspiration and inspiration. The Our Future is Maori message will be visible on billboards, bus stops and televisions throughout Aotearoa, asserting that Maori must take control of their future. It seeks to reinforce tino rangatiratanga while reminding whanau of the effectiveness of by-Maori, for-Maori approaches. This campaign looks to be a total waste of money. I saw their advertisements in the Dom Post it was a double page ad which just said something like Maori Unemployment is higher than non-Maori and something about taking control of destiny. The hundreds of thousands of dollars being spent on these ads could actually achieve some real good if used to support Maori whanau and hapu. But this advertising campaign is just going to transfer money from taxpayers to media companies. Share this: Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Reddit WhatsApp More Pinterest Print Tumblr Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup. COLUMBIA Several suspects accused of hazing Danny Santulli at the Phi Gamma Delta (Fiji) fraternity at MU had status hearings at the Boone County Courthouse Monday. Judge Brouck Jacobs presided over hearings for Harrison Reichman, Samuel Morrison and Samuel Gandhi. All three are charged with hazing life endangerment, a class D felony, in connection to the 2021 October fraternity party that left Santulli with brain injuries. Reichman, 21, entered a plea agreement to the misdemeanor charge of supplying alcohol to a minor, which was accepted by Jacobs. Under the plea agreement, Reichman will be required to do the following: One year in Boone County jail with the execution of the sentence suspended Two years of unsupervised probation with conditions of obey all laws 15 days of shock detention in the Boone County Jail Perform 100 hours of community service work in 180 days Complete in-person drug and alcohol education program Complete victim impact panel Engage in restorative justice communication Pay court costs Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup. Error! There was an error processing your request. Morrisons case will go to trial in either September or October, and Gandhi has a new status hearing scheduled for 9 a.m. June 12. A victim notification statement was made and Reichman waived his right to a trial and agreed to the plea agreement. He was taken into custody to begin his shock detention just past 9 a.m. on Monday. Reichman is the third defendant to plead guilty in the case, along with Alec Wetzler and Thomas Shultz. Wetzler pleaded guilty to supplying alcohol to a minor and purchasing or possessing alcohol by a minor, a misdemeanor. Sentencing will take place at 9 a.m. June 6. Shultz also pleaded guilty to the misdemeanor charge. As part of a plea deal, Shultz was sentenced to 30 days of shock detention, a boot camp-style program. Smoke from Canadian fires is pouring into the US and could linger for days President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy are slated to meet again Monday. McCarthy, along with Senate and House Republicans, speaks to the press outside the Capitol on Wednesday, May 17, in Washington, DC. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Brinker International (NYSE:EAT Get Rating) in a report published on Thursday morning. The brokerage issued a buy rating on the restaurant operators stock. A number of other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Brinker International from $30.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 18th. Northcoast Research started coverage on shares of Brinker International in a research report on Tuesday, May 2nd. They issued a neutral rating for the company. Raymond James lifted their price objective on Brinker International from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Thursday, February 2nd. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Brinker International from $45.00 to $48.00 in a report on Thursday, May 4th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Brinker International from $37.00 to $41.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Thursday, February 2nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $37.81. Get Brinker International alerts: Brinker International Trading Down 2.6 % Shares of Brinker International stock opened at $39.54 on Thursday. Brinker International has a 1 year low of $21.47 and a 1 year high of $42.12. The companys fifty day simple moving average is $37.56 and its 200-day simple moving average is $36.50. The company has a market cap of $1.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.28, a PEG ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 2.36. Institutional Inflows and Outflows Brinker International ( NYSE:EAT Get Rating ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 3rd. The restaurant operator reported $1.23 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.17 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $1.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $1.07 billion. Brinker International had a negative return on equity of 44.32% and a net margin of 2.17%. The companys revenue for the quarter was up 10.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.92 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Brinker International will post 2.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year. Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its position in shares of Brinker International by 81.3% during the third quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 990 shares of the restaurant operators stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 444 shares during the last quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. bought a new position in shares of Brinker International in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Advisors Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Brinker International during the 1st quarter worth approximately $32,000. Quadrant Capital Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Brinker International by 451.6% during the third quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 2,052 shares of the restaurant operators stock worth $51,000 after buying an additional 1,680 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Advisory Services Network LLC boosted its stake in Brinker International by 276.5% in the first quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC now owns 1,600 shares of the restaurant operators stock valued at $61,000 after acquiring an additional 1,175 shares during the last quarter. About Brinker International (Get Rating) Brinker International, Inc engages in owning, developing, and franchising Chilis Grill and Bar and Maggianos Little Italy restaurant brands. It operates through the following segments: Chilis, and Maggianos. The Chilis segment includes the results of company-owned Chilis restaurants in the U.S. Recommended Stories Receive News & Ratings for Brinker International Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Brinker International and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Brookfield Asset Management (NYSE:BAM Get Rating) (TSE:BAM.A) in a research note issued to investors on Thursday. The firm issued a hold rating on the financial services providers stock. A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on BAM. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an outperform rating and set a $40.00 price target on shares of Brookfield Asset Management in a report on Tuesday, March 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut Brookfield Asset Management to an underperform rating in a report on Tuesday, April 18th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Brookfield Asset Management from $35.00 to $39.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Thursday, February 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $43.57. Get Brookfield Asset Management alerts: Brookfield Asset Management Trading Up 0.0 % NYSE BAM opened at $31.20 on Thursday. The businesss fifty day moving average is $32.02 and its 200 day moving average is $34.28. Brookfield Asset Management has a fifty-two week low of $26.76 and a fifty-two week high of $36.50. Brookfield Asset Management Dividend Announcement Insiders Place Their Bets The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 30th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.10%. In other Brookfield Asset Management news, Director Multi-Strategy Mast Brookfield sold 24,744 shares of the businesss 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 sale, 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 at this hyperlink. 11.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders. Institutional Inflows and Outflows Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Brookfield Asset Management by 47.0% in the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 246,367 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $8,062,000 after purchasing an additional 78,721 shares during the period. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of Brookfield Asset Management by 7.4% in the first quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 167,376 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $5,475,000 after purchasing an additional 11,479 shares during the period. Check Capital Management Inc. CA boosted its holdings in shares of Brookfield Asset Management by 464.7% in the first quarter. Check Capital Management Inc. CA now owns 56,197 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $1,839,000 after purchasing an additional 46,245 shares during the period. Ancora Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Brookfield Asset Management by 9.0% in the first quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 18,722 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $613,000 after purchasing an additional 1,540 shares during the period. Finally, Oak Grove Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Brookfield Asset Management by 86.6% in the first quarter. Oak Grove Capital LLC now owns 250,822 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $8,207,000 after purchasing an additional 116,407 shares during the period. Brookfield Asset Management Company 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. Further Reading Receive News & Ratings for Brookfield Asset Management Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Brookfield Asset Management and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Chatham Lodging Trust (NYSE:CLDT Get Rating) in a research report sent to investors on Thursday. The brokerage issued a hold rating on the real estate investment trusts stock. Several other research analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. B. Riley decreased their price target on Chatham Lodging Trust from $16.00 to $15.00 in a research note on Monday, May 8th. Oppenheimer decreased their price target on Chatham Lodging Trust from $18.00 to $15.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 28th. Get Chatham Lodging Trust alerts: Chatham Lodging Trust Trading Down 1.4 % NYSE:CLDT opened at $9.94 on Thursday. Chatham Lodging Trust has a 1 year low of $9.34 and a 1 year high of $14.38. The stock has a market cap of $485.67 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 71.00 and a beta of 1.80. The business has a fifty day moving average of $10.18 and a 200-day moving average of $11.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a current ratio of 1.51. Chatham Lodging Trust Cuts Dividend Insider Buying and Selling The firm also recently disclosed a monthly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 17th. Investors of record on Friday, March 31st were paid a $0.07 dividend. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 30th. Chatham Lodging Trusts dividend payout ratio is currently 200.00%. In other news, CEO Jeffrey H. Fisher purchased 10,000 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 16th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $10.28 per share, with a total value of $102,800.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 611,545 shares of the companys stock, valued at $6,286,682.60. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 5.20% of the companys stock. Institutional Inflows and Outflows Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Foundry Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Chatham Lodging Trust by 10.5% in the 4th quarter. Foundry Partners LLC now owns 295,805 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock valued at $3,630,000 after acquiring an additional 28,075 shares in the last quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. raised its stake in shares of Chatham Lodging Trust by 48.7% in the 3rd quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 291,702 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock valued at $2,879,000 after acquiring an additional 95,565 shares in the last quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System raised its stake in shares of Chatham Lodging Trust by 14.4% in the 3rd quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 77,196 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock valued at $762,000 after acquiring an additional 9,700 shares in the last quarter. Algert Global LLC raised its stake in shares of Chatham Lodging Trust by 179.6% in the 3rd quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 177,115 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock valued at $1,748,000 after acquiring an additional 113,758 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC raised its stake in shares of Chatham Lodging Trust by 38.7% in the 3rd quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC now owns 125,696 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock valued at $1,241,000 after acquiring an additional 35,089 shares in the last quarter. 84.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors. Chatham Lodging Trust Company Profile (Get Rating) Chatham Lodging Trust engages in the acquisition and investment in hotel properties. It focuses on the upscale extended-stay and premium branded select-service hotels. The firms management evaluates the companys hotels as a single industry segment because all of the hotels have similar economic characteristics and provide similar services to similar types of customers. See Also Receive News & Ratings for Chatham Lodging Trust Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Chatham Lodging Trust and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Granby Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in iShares Russell 2000 ETF (NYSEARCA:IWM Get Rating) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 65,000 shares of the exchange traded funds stock, valued at approximately $11,333,000. iShares Russell 2000 ETF makes up 8.4% of Granby Capital Management LLCs investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund increased its position in shares of iShares Russell 2000 ETF by 8.9% during the third quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 14,581,100 shares of the exchange traded funds stock worth $2,404,715,000 after acquiring an additional 1,192,100 shares during the period. Toronto Dominion Bank boosted its stake in iShares Russell 2000 ETF by 12,616.2% in the third quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 7,756,010 shares of the exchange traded funds stock valued at $1,279,086,000 after acquiring an additional 7,695,017 shares in the last quarter. Personal Capital Advisors Corp boosted its stake in iShares Russell 2000 ETF by 4.3% in the third quarter. Personal Capital Advisors Corp now owns 6,267,638 shares of the exchange traded funds stock valued at $1,033,659,000 after acquiring an additional 260,184 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in iShares Russell 2000 ETF by 1.0% in the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,019,321 shares of the exchange traded funds stock valued at $825,046,000 after acquiring an additional 39,661 shares in the last quarter. Finally, M&T Bank Corp boosted its stake in iShares Russell 2000 ETF by 1.2% in the third quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 3,009,440 shares of the exchange traded funds stock valued at $496,316,000 after acquiring an additional 36,857 shares in the last quarter. Get iShares Russell 2000 ETF alerts: iShares Russell 2000 ETF Price Performance Shares of IWM traded up $2.26 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $178.37. 17,053,587 shares of the companys stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 28,281,602. iShares Russell 2000 ETF has a fifty-two week low of $162.50 and a fifty-two week high of $201.99. The businesss 50 day moving average is $174.77 and its two-hundred day moving average is $180.72. About iShares Russell 2000 ETF iShares Russell 2000 ETF (the Fund) is an exchange-traded fund. The Fund seeks investment results that correspond generally to the price and yield performance of the Russell 2000 Index (the Index). The Index is a float-adjusted capitalization weighted index that measures the performance of the small-capitalization sector of the United States equity market and includes securities issued by the approximately 2,000 smallest issuers in the Russell 3000 Index. Read More Want to see what other hedge funds are holding IWM? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for iShares Russell 2000 ETF (NYSEARCA:IWM Get Rating). Receive News & Ratings for iShares Russell 2000 ETF Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for iShares Russell 2000 ETF and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Sandhill Capital Partners LLC reduced its position in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR Get Rating) by 2.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 111,003 shares of the conglomerates stock after selling 2,321 shares during the quarter. Danaher comprises approximately 3.1% of Sandhill Capital Partners LLCs investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest position. Sandhill Capital Partners LLCs holdings in Danaher were worth $29,462,000 at the end of the most recent quarter. Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. My Personal CFO LLC acquired a new position in Danaher in the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Private Ocean LLC raised its stake in Danaher by 1,485.7% in the 4th quarter. Private Ocean LLC now owns 111 shares of the conglomerates stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 104 shares during the last quarter. Bellwether Advisors LLC raised its stake in Danaher by 157.7% in the 3rd quarter. Bellwether Advisors LLC now owns 134 shares of the conglomerates stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares during the last quarter. WFA of San Diego LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Danaher in the 4th quarter worth $36,000. Finally, Concord Wealth Partners acquired a new stake in shares of Danaher in the 4th quarter worth $39,000. 77.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds. Get Danaher alerts: Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth A number of analysts have issued reports on DHR shares. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on Danaher from $309.00 to $275.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 26th. Credit Suisse Group cut their target price on Danaher from $300.00 to $270.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 26th. SVB Securities initiated coverage on Danaher in a research note on Monday, May 1st. They issued an outperform rating and a $300.00 target price for the company. Barclays cut their price objective on Danaher from $270.00 to $260.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 26th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on Danaher from $310.00 to $275.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 27th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $294.06. Insider Activity Danaher Stock Up 1.6 % In other news, Director Walter G. Lohr sold 3,490 shares of Danaher stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $240.88, for a total value of $840,671.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 12,115 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,918,261.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link . In other news, SVP Georgeann Couchara sold 695 shares of the firms stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $245.27, for a total transaction of $170,462.65. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 1,565 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $383,847.55. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink . Also, Director Walter G. Lohr sold 3,490 shares of the firms stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $240.88, for a total value of $840,671.20. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 12,115 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,918,261.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here . In the last quarter, insiders sold 14,619 shares of company stock worth $3,568,741. 11.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders. Shares of DHR traded up $3.74 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $232.07. The company had a trading volume of 1,589,770 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,844,824. The companys 50-day simple moving average is $243.25 and its 200-day simple moving average is $255.15. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $171.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.60, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.80. Danaher Co. has a 1 year low of $221.22 and a 1 year high of $303.82. Danaher (NYSE:DHR Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 25th. The conglomerate reported $2.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.26 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $7.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $7.06 billion. Danaher had a return on equity of 16.70% and a net margin of 22.40%. The businesss quarterly revenue was down 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.76 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Danaher Co. will post 9.49 EPS for the current year. Danaher Dividend Announcement 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 paid a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 29th. Danahers payout ratio is presently 11.64%. Danaher 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. Featured Stories 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). Receive News & Ratings for Danaher Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Danaher and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE:CMG Get Rating) in a report published on Thursday. The firm issued a buy rating on the restaurant operators stock. A number of other analysts have also recently issued reports on CMG. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Chipotle Mexican Grill from $1,600.00 to $1,750.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 26th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Chipotle Mexican Grill from $1,900.00 to $2,050.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 26th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Chipotle Mexican Grill from $1,875.00 to $2,050.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 26th. Stephens upped their price target on Chipotle Mexican Grill from $1,970.00 to $2,000.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 26th. Finally, Raymond James upped their price target on Chipotle Mexican Grill from $1,900.00 to $2,100.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 26th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-two have issued a 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 $2,021.37. Get Chipotle Mexican Grill alerts: Chipotle Mexican Grill Stock Performance CMG opened at $2,106.22 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $1,819.24 and a 200 day moving average price of $1,624.89. Chipotle Mexican Grill has a twelve month low of $1,196.28 and a twelve month high of $2,110.00. The firm has a market cap of $58.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 56.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.34. Insider Buying and Selling Chipotle Mexican Grill ( NYSE:CMG Get Rating ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 25th. The restaurant operator reported $10.50 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $8.89 by $1.61. The company had revenue of $2.40 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.34 billion. Chipotle Mexican Grill had a return on equity of 45.01% and a net margin of 11.49%. The companys revenue for the quarter was up 18.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $5.70 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Chipotle Mexican Grill will post 43.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year. In related news, insider Laurie Schalow sold 3,658 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $2,066.73, for a total transaction of $7,560,098.34. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 1,637 shares in the company, valued at $3,383,237.01. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, insider Laurie Schalow sold 3,658 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $2,066.73, for a total transaction of $7,560,098.34. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 1,637 shares of the companys stock, valued at $3,383,237.01. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Robin S. Hickenlooper sold 74 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $2,056.73, for a total value of $152,198.02. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 853 shares of the companys stock, valued at $1,754,390.69. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 12,154 shares of company stock worth $23,791,597. 0.96% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders. Institutional Trading of Chipotle Mexican Grill A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in CMG. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Chipotle Mexican Grill during the 4th quarter worth approximately $450,560,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in Chipotle Mexican Grill by 185,417.0% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 306,103 shares of the restaurant operators stock worth $1,645,000 after acquiring an additional 305,938 shares during the last quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Chipotle Mexican Grill during the 4th quarter worth $248,604,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill in the first quarter valued at about $166,000. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised its holdings in Chipotle Mexican Grill by 65.8% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 375,736 shares of the restaurant operators stock worth $521,332,000 after purchasing an additional 149,115 shares during the last quarter. 93.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds. Chipotle Mexican Grill Company Profile (Get Rating) Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc engages in the development and operation of classically-cooked, real food with wholesome ingredients without artificial colors, flavors or preservatives. It offers a focused menu of burritos, tacos, burrito bowls, and salads prepared using classic cooking methods. The company was founded by Steve Ells in 1993 and is headquartered in Newport Beach, CA. Featured Stories Receive News & Ratings for Chipotle Mexican Grill Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Chipotle Mexican Grill and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Waste Management (NYSE:WM Get Rating) in a report published on Thursday. The firm issued a buy rating on the business services providers stock. Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Raymond James reduced their target price on shares of Waste Management from $167.00 to $166.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 6th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Waste Management from $179.00 to $181.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a report on Thursday, April 6th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Waste Management from $158.00 to $167.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 6th. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded Waste Management from a hold rating to a buy rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $171.00 to $177.00 in a research note on Friday, April 28th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their target price on shares of Waste Management from $157.00 to $151.00 and set a hold rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 6th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Waste Management presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $176.64. Get Waste Management alerts: Waste Management Trading Up 0.2 % NYSE WM opened at $165.36 on Thursday. Waste Management has a 12 month low of $138.89 and a 12 month high of $175.98. The stock has a market cap of $67.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.29, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.72. The stocks fifty day moving average price is $162.70 and its 200-day moving average price is $158.91. 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 Announces Dividend Waste Management ( NYSE:WM Get Rating ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 26th. The business services provider reported $1.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.29 by $0.02. Waste Management had a return on equity of 33.23% and a net margin of 11.33%. The firm had revenue of $4.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $4.86 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.29 earnings per share. The companys revenue was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Waste Management will post 6.03 EPS for the current fiscal year. The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 1st. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.69%. Waste Managements payout ratio is 51.28%. Insider Transactions at Waste Management In other Waste Management news, CAO Leslie K. Nagy sold 800 shares of the firms stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.11, for a total transaction of $120,888.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 5,210 shares in the company, valued at approximately $787,283.10. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 924 shares of company stock valued at $139,918. 0.27% of the stock is currently owned by insiders. Hedge Funds Weigh In On Waste Management Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new position in shares of Waste Management in the 1st quarter valued at about $29,000. Ten Capital Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 1,106.7% in the 1st quarter. Ten Capital Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 181 shares of the business services providers stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 166 shares during the period. Steward Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Waste Management during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. TD Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Waste Management during the 3rd quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, KB Financial Partners LLC purchased a new position in Waste Management during the first quarter worth $33,000. 78.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors. Waste Management Company Profile (Get Rating) Waste Management, Inc is a holding company, which engages in the provision of waste management environmental services. It operates through the following segments: East Tier, West Tier, and Other. The East Tier segment consists of Eastern U.S., the Great Lakes Region, and Canada. The West Tier segment includes the upper Midwest region and British Columbia, Canada. Recommended Stories Receive News & Ratings for Waste Management Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Waste Management and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Southeast Asian country is now Korea's 3rd-largest trading partner By Lee Kyung-min Vietnam is now the source of Korea's biggest trade surplus, which reached $34.26 billion (45 trillion won) last year, driven by exports that stood at $60.98 billion, outpacing imports which totaled $26.72 billion, trade ministry data showed. The figure more than tripled compared to 2012, when Korea's trade surplus with the Southeast Asian country was just $10.22 billion. The two countries established diplomatic relations in 1992 and signed a bilateral free trade agreement in 2015. Also at play is Vietnam's increasing role as a global production hub and as a manufacturing alternative to China. An increasing number of global firms are moving their production facilities to Vietnam from China, leading to a high overall trade volume. The Southeast country is also emerging as a generator of high-value products, such as organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) and semiconductors, reorienting its profile significantly away from labor-intensive goods and services. The trade surplus is expected to continue displaying robust growth, unless countered by a significant easing of the drawn-out hegemonic competition between the U.S. and China. According to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, and Federation of Korean Industries (FKI), the country's largest business lobby, Vietnam became Korea's third-largest trading partner in 2022, generating the largest trade surplus for Korea. The FKI's analysis of trade and investments between the two countries from 1992 to 2021 showed that Korea has mostly registered a surplus in trade with Vietnam. Most notable is the fact that Korea's trade surplus with Vietnam is higher than the trade surplus with the U.S., which stood at $25.4 billion. The total trade volume between Korea and Vietnam was $500 million in 1992, but increased 161-fold to $80.7 billion in 2021. Korea's global export and import volume grew 8.4 times and 7.5 times, respectively, but exports to and imports from Vietnam rocketed 142 times and 240 times, respectively. "Vietnam has established itself as an important trading partner of Korea, accounting for 8.8 percent of Korea's exports and 3.9 percent of imports," the FKI said. Gov. Eric Holcomb, seated between Indiana Rep. Dave Heine and East Allen County Schools Superintendent Marilyn Hissong, signed HB 1528 on May 22. Holcomb signed the bill, which provides tuition assistance to those thinking of transitioning to teaching, alongside several other education leaders. New Delhi [India], May 22 (ANI): The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) will organise a 'Maha-Rally' in the national capital to voice its opposition against the Centre's ordinance, Delhi Minister Gopal Rai said on Monday. The rally, scheduled to take place at Ramlila Maidan on June 11, aims to unite people in the support of Aam Aadmi Party. Also Read | 7th Pay Commission Latest Update: Two Gifts for Central Employees in July As Govt May Hike DA and Fitment Factor. The Union government brought an ordinance to notify rules for the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (GNCTD) regarding the 'transfer posting, vigilance and other incidental matters'. "Against this decision of the Central government led by PM Modi, the Aam Aadmi Party has decided to run a campaign together with the people of Delhi. On June 11, the people of Delhi under the aegis of AAP will organise a Maha Rally at Ramlila Maidan to express their anger against this Ordinance," AAP Delhi State Convenor and Cabinet Minister Gopal Rai said at a press conference. Also Read | Stray Dog Menace in Telangana: Canine on Biting Spree Attacks, Injures 14 in Mahabubabad. Rai appealed to the people of Delhi to support and join the rally and raise their voices against this Ordinance, irrespective of political affiliations. "After the Supreme Court's decision to preserve the rights of the electorate of Delhi and grant power to the elected government over the bureaucracy, the manner in which the central government and the Prime Minister have issued an Ordinance is a betrayal of trust of the people of Delhi," he added. Gopal Rai denounced the actions of the central government and said that the people of Delhi have been shocked by the turn of events. "Ever since this Ordinance was issued, you all are seeing that the leaders of BJP are singing praises in favour of this ordinance," he said. "Whether it is the central government of India or the government of a state, every state body or agency receives power from and under the Constitution. For instance, the Constitution is very clear about what powers ought to be given to Delhi's elected government and what powers ought to be wielded by the Lieutenant-Governor," Rai added. Gopal Rai also said that despite the apex court's judgement, the central government has issued the Ordinance. "This is the insult not only to the elected government of Delhi but also to the two crore people of Delhi," he added. Meanwhile, the Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Sunday held a meeting with his Delhi counterpart Arvind Kejriwal here and extended his support to the AAP chief against the Centre's Ordinance. Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav was also present on the occasion. (ANI) (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Guwahati (Assam) [India], May 22 (ANI): Indian Youth Congress president Srinivas BV on Monday arrived in Guwahati to appear before the state police in connection with the allegations of harassment levelled by Angkita Dutta. Security was stepped up at the Guwahati airport to maintain a law and order situation ahead of Srinivas BV's arrival. Also Read | Delhi: 25-Year-Old Man Stabbed by Three Persons Following a Scuffle in Usmanpur Area. On April 22, Assam police registered a case on Saturday based on the complaint filed by Dr Angkita Dutta, former President of Assam Youth Congress against Indian Youth Congress President Srinivas BV. In her complaint, Angkita alleged Srinivas BV of "harassing" and "discriminating" against her for the past six months. Also Read | New Like and Earn Scam: Thane Resident Duped of Rs 14 Lakh by Conman While Trying To Earn Money by Giving Likes and Ratings Online. Meanwhile, Section 144 of CrPC was also been imposed in the Police Commissionerate, Guwahati area to ensure peaceful movement of the public, traffic and normal activities of local residents and functioning of offices of the jurisdiction of Police Commissionerate, Guwahati. Angkita, the former president of Assam Youth Congress was expelled from the party for anti-party activities on April 22. On May 17, the Supreme Court granted anticipatory bail to Indian Youth Congress president Srinivas BV in an FIR registered against him by expelled woman party member for allegedly causing her mental agony. A bench of Justices BR Gavai and Sanjay Karol granted anticipatory bail to Srinivas to cooperate with the probe and asked him to appear before the police on May 22. It also issued notice to the state of Assam and others and posted the matter for hearing on July 10. Taking into account the one-month delay in lodging the FIR, the apex court determined that Srinivas was entitled to interim protection. (ANI) (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Kurnool (Andhra Pradesh), May 22 (PTI) Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy's mother Y S Vijayamma on Monday paid a visit to the hospital where MP Y S Avinash Reddy is tending to his mother Lakshmi, putting off his appearance before the CBI for questioning in the 2019 murder of his uncle Y S Vivekananda Reddy. Vijayamma is the aunt of Avinash Reddy. Also Read | Delhi: Blistering Heatwave Scorches Parts of National Capital, Mercury Soars to 46 Degrees. Police personnel have been deployed near the hospital since morning as Avinash Reddy's supporters gathered there leading to some tension. MP Avinash Reddy is wanted by the CBI for questioning in the 2019 murder of his uncle Y S Vivekananda Reddy and failed to appear before the CBI on May 16 and May 19. Also Read | Guyana Fire: 20 Kids Die While Sleeping As Fire Rips Through at Dorm of Mahdia Secondary School. "Yes, madam (Vijayamma) has come and left. She stayed for some 10 minutes," Kurnool sub-divisional police officer Vijaya Sekhar Reddy to PTI. Avinash Reddy is on the fifth floor of the hospital but no official has gone inside yet, he added. According to the officer, the MP's supporters, numbering about 200 people, continue to stay put near the hospital. On Sunday night, some supporters of the MP had snatched away the cameras and phones of a few regional news channels' journalists, requiring police intervention to restore them. Earlier in the morning, the hospital where Lakshmi Reddy has been admitted issued a medical bulletin saying that she needs to be in the ICU for a few more days as her blood pressure is low. AP incharge DGP Shanka Brata Baghchi, Kurnool Range DIG S Senthil Kumar and Kurnool District's Superintendent of Police of G Krishnakanth did not respond to several phone calls and messages seeking information about the prevailing situation. (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Dergaon (Assam) [India], May 22 (ANI): As a part of the sequel undertaken to bring about police modernization in Assam, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Monday attended the first-ever conference of the commandants at the Police Training Centre in Dergaon. The conference has been organised to help the Assam Police Battalions transform them into vibrant bodies capable of meeting their mandate. Also Read | Delhi: Blistering Heatwave Scorches Parts of National Capital, Mercury Soars to 46 Degrees. Delivering his introductory speech, Chief Minister Sarma said that considering the important role played by the commandants and the Assam Police Battalions, the commandants; the conference will be organised every six months. "This will be done to bring about positive changes in the rank and file of the battalions and give a more result-oriented police force to the state," CMO said in a release. Also Read | South Africa: Man Arrested for Porn Images with President Cyril Ramaphosas Face Superimposed on Them. The Chief Minister also said that since Assam Police Battalions are the backbones of the policing system, he would visit the battalions during his district tours. Sarma also observed that training plays an important role and therefore in shaping the professionalism and readiness of the police personnel, retired army officers will be appointed in the rank of Additional Superintendent of Police to impart training. The officer would be in charge of a rigorous training regimen to help the police personnel to meet the changing dynamics in crimes. He also said that attention will be given to ensure that the personnel belonging to different battalions are not used for any purpose other than those exclusively connected to bonafide policing. The Chief Minister said that steps will be taken to ensure that there is a positive change in the mindset of the forces of the battalions to make them feel that Commandants and forces belonging to different battalions are an integral part of the Police Forces in Assam. "Adequate steps will be taken to empower the Assam Police Battalions so that they themselves are complete to deal with law and order in the state. They will also be reoriented to control the mob without using lethal weapons or using them to the minimum extent possible," CMO said. With the continuous improvement of the law and order situation in the state, AFSPA will likely be lifted from the entire state by the end of this year. The Armed Forces Special Powers Act empowers security forces to arrest a person without a warrant and enter or search premises without a warrant. In such a situation, Assam Police battalions would be empowered to replace Central Armed Police Forces other than the number of CAPFs whose presence is mandatory in the state as per law. (ANI) (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Silchar (Assam), May 22 (PTI) A 30-year-old man was sentenced to 25 years in jail by a special court in Assam's Hailakandi district for kidnapping and forcibly marrying a 13-year-old girl. Special judge Sanjay Hazarika sentenced the man to 20 years of rigorous imprisonment after convicting him under the POCSO Act, and an additional five years under IPC Section 366 for kidnapping her and forcibly marrying her. Also Read | Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann Slams SGPC Chief for Extending Exclusive Rights To Telecast Gurbani at Golden Temple to Badals' TV Channel. He was also directed by the judge to pay Rs 10,000 each in both cases, and if he fails to do so, he will get an additional year in jail. The case was heard by a fast-track court, which completed the hearing and gave the verdict in one year and four months, on Saturday. Also Read | 7th Pay Commission Latest Update: Two Gifts for Central Employees in July As Govt May Hike DA and Fitment Factor. The case was filed against the man, a resident of Ramnathpur police station area, on January 18 last year by the family of the girl when she did not return home after attending a religious event in a nearby village. The family members found her in the house of the man who claimed that they were married. The police registered the case under Section 366 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) for abducting and forcibly marrying her, Section 9 of the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, and Section 4 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act against him. The girl was rescued and he was arrested. He was granted bail after five months of arrest. (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Jammu (Jammu and Kashmir) [India], May 22 (ANI): In consonance with the Mission LiFE and to mark the International Day for Biological Diversity on Monday, the Jammu and Kashmir Biodiversity Council organized a technical cum awareness session on the birds, butterfly and plant diversity at the Forest Information Centre, an official statement said. The theme of the International Day for Biological Diversity was 'From Agreement to Action-Build Back Biodiversity'. Also Read | Rajasthan BJP in Crisis? Vasundhara Raje's Absence in Working Committee Meeting Indicates All Is Not Well With Party. On the occasion, Suresh K Gupta, Principal Chief Conservator of Forests and Chief Wildlife Warden, J-K laid emphasis on the conservation of biodiversity in all life forms and exhorted to attune to a lifestyle which was environmentally friendly. He advised reducing human footprints on the environment by adopting all those practices which cause the least harm to the environment. He further advised everybody present at the event to modify their lifestyles by going back to natural ways of living as our ancestors and which was in harmony with nature. Also Read | Sarath Babu Death: PM Narendra Modi Condoles Actor's Family and Admirers in Latest Tweet. Asaf Mehmood Sagar, Principal Chief Conservator of Forests and Director of J-K Forest Research Institute who is also the Member Secretary of J-K Biodiversity Council explained the importance of biological diversity in all forms of life. He also mentioned that this year IDB is also celebrated in consonance with the Mission LiFE launched by Prime Minister on 20th October 2022 at Kevadia Gujarat. The students from different schools who had participated in Painting and Debate Competitions on the theme of International Day for Biological Diversity-2023 on May 19 and 20 too attended the programme. The outstanding students were felicitated in this programme, the statement said. Jasmin Kour (Govt. Girls Higher Secondary School, Shastri Nagar), Hashim Ayoub (Govt. Boys Higher Secondary School, Gandhi Nagar) and Maniya Devi (Govt. Girls Higher Secondary School, Rehari) secured 1st, 2nd and 3rd positions respectively in the debate competition, the statement mentioned. Sobiya Shabir Malik (Govt. Girls Model School Mubarak Mandi), Mohit Sharma (SRML Hr. Secondary School) and Mohammad Atif (Govt. Hari Singh Hr. Secondary School) secured 1st, 2nd and 3rd positions respectively in the Painting Competition, it added. (ANI) (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Kochi, May 22 (PTI) A local court here on Monday asked the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), which is probing the recent seizure of over 2,500 kilograms of methamphetamine from a vessel in Indian waters in a joint operation with the Navy, to file a fresh affidavit including the details of the arrest of the accused among other things. The court was considering the petition of the NCB seeking the custody of Pakistan national accused Zubair Derakshshandeh for five days from today. Also Read | Rs 2000 Notes Withdrawal: NCP Chief Sharad Pawar Says It Is an Act of a Moody Person. Lawyer representing the accused, B A Aloor, said the court asked the agency to file whether the arrest was made from the Indian waters in order to decide on the jurisdiction of the court. The court will consider the matter again on Tuesday. Also Read | G20 Summit 2023: Event Kicks Off Amidst Tight Security in Kashmir; Delegates Given Rousing Welcome. In the remand report filed by the agency on May 16, it had said that a drug trafficker from Pakistan had offered the accused, "good money" after the work was completed. The agency had on May 15 said that the actual commercial value of the contraband after its latest evaluation was close to Rs 25,000 crore, because of the high purity of the seized methamphetamine. NCB had said that the contraband was kept in 2,525 plastic boxes and placed in 132 bags. "The net weight of methamphetamine came out to be 2,525.675 kg," the agency said. Initially valued at Rs 12 000 crore, NCB had said that it was the largest seizure of methamphetamine in the country. The officials had earlier said that the product was packed in such a professional manner that even if it was aboard a ship for a longer duration, the moisture will not affect the drugs. The agency claimed that the latest consignment of over 2,500 kg of methamphetamine was meant for India, Sri Lanka and Maldives from Afghanistan. The drug cache was at a "mother ship" a large vessel that distributes narcotics to various boats during its journey from the Makran coast around Pakistan and Iran, it said. As many as 132 sacks of suspected methamphetamine, the intercepted boat and some other items salvaged from the ship along with the Pakistani national were brought to Mattancherry Wharf and handed over by the Navy to the NCB, it said. (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Union Minister Meenakashi Lekhi and Delhi L-G V K Saxena flag off first batch of Hajis (Photo/ANI) New Delhi [India], May 22 (ANI): The first batch of 381 Haj pilgrims from India left for the Saudi Arabi for the holy pilgrimage from the Indira Gandhi International Airport on late Sunday night. Union Minister Meenakashi Lekhi and Delhi Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena flagged off the first batch of Hajis from Indira Gandhi International Airport. Also Read | Two Saudi Astronauts on Falcon 9 Rocket to the ISS. "For the first time, 4,314 women are going for Haj without a mahram, which shows women empowerment," said Union Minister of State for External Affairs and Culture Meenakashi Lekhi, adding that the Ministry of Minority Affairs has made good arrangements for the Hajis. The Lieutenant Governor said about 2600 people are going for Haj this year from Delhi alone. Also Read | Uma Bharti Health Update: Ex-Madhya Pradesh CM Hospitalised After Feeling Unwell in Bhopal. Ministry of Minority Affairs Smriti Irani, who was the Chief Guest on the occasion congratulated the Hajis. Saudi Ambassador to India, Shaqli Bin Eid Al Hussaini, President of Delhi Haj Committee Kaushar Jahan and many other prominent people were also present. Delhi Haj Committee has taken several initiatives for the ease of pilgrims including a special camp to boost physical fitness. "A special camp with a focus on physical fitness was organised for those travelling from Delhi. A fitness camp was held with trainers imparting training including in yoga asanas," a source told ANI earlier in the month. Also, to ensure that there is no congestion at the Delhi airport, the embarkment point for the Hajis has been kept at Haj Manzil instead of the airport. Those travelling on the flight for the pilgrimage will then be taken in buses from the place to the airport on the day of the travel. Doctors have also been placed at the Haj Manzil for easy medical access and for giving medical certificates that are needed for travel, the sources said earlier. A banking counter has also been set up at the embankment point should the travellers need any foreign currency exchange. Special arrangements have also been made to take senior citizens among Haj pilgrims to the boarding gate. A special passage will be created to ensure smooth transit of the Haj passengers to the boarding gate, the sources had said. There has been a significant rise in the number of women travelling for Haj and without a mahram (without a male support traveller). Of nearly 4000 women who have registered without Mahram this year, 39 are travelling from Delhi. From about 8000 Haj pilgrims last year from Delhi, the number of passengers who will be embarking on the pilgrimage is thrice the number. As per the available data, more than 22,000 will travel for the annual pilgrimage this year from the national capital. ANI reported in March that for the first time in the history of the Haj pilgrimage, 4,314 women have applied to go on the pilgrimage without a 'Mehram' or male guardian with blood relation. The Saudi Arabian government, in October, announced that Mehram -- a male blood relative with whom marriage is not permissible -- is no longer required to accompany a woman pilgrim from any part of the world. Earlier in the month, sources said since the Narendra Modi government came to power, several initiatives have been taken for ease of Haj pilgrims. The Modi government did away with the Haj subsidy and announced they would use that money for the education of the girl child. (ANI) (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) New Delhi, May 22 (PTI) The Delhi High Court on Monday issued summons to the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) on a defamation suit filed by an NGO claiming that its documentary cast a slur on the reputation of India, its judiciary and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Besides the BBC (UK), Justice Sachin Datta also issued notice to the BBC (India) seeking its response on the suit filed by Gujarat-based NGO Justice for Trial. Also Read | Karnataka Government School Teacher Suspended for Criticising CM Siddaramaiah Over Freebie Policies in Facebook Post. The plea said BBC (India) is the local operation office and BBC (UK) has released the documentary -- "India: The Modi Question" -- which has two episodes. Senior advocate Harish Salve, appearing for the NGO, said the suit for defamation against the BBC is in relation to the documentary which has "defamed" India and the whole system including the judiciary. Also Read | Delhi: 25-Year-Old Man Stabbed by Three Persons Following a Scuffle in Usmanpur Area. He contended that the documentary also makes insinuation against the prime minister. It was argued on behalf of the plaintiff that the documentary makes defamatory imputation and cast slur on the reputation of the country. The high court said, "Issue notice to the respondents through all permissible modes" and listed it for further hearing on September 15. (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Kulgam (Jammu and Kashmir) [India], May 22 (ANI): Special Court Kulgam designated under NIA Act issued proclamation orders under section 82 CrPC against five active terrorists involved in various terror crimes and target killing cases including the killing of a lady teacher Rajni Bala and Bank Manager Vijay Kumar in district Kulgam, last year, an official statement said on Monday. On the request of SIU Kashmir, proclamation notices have been issued against terrorists namely Arjumand Gulzar @Hamza Bhuran, resident of Kharbatapora Ratnipora Pulwama, Bilal Ahmed Bhat, resident of Chaki Cholend Shopian, Sameer Ahmed Sheikh @ Kamran Bhai, resident of Chaki Cholend Shopian, Abid Ramzan Sheikh, resident of Chotipora Shopian and Basit Amin Bhat, resident of Frisal Kulgam. Also Read | G20 Summit 2023: 'RRR' Actor Ram Charan Arrives in Srinagar To Attend G20 Tourism Working Group Meeting (Watch Video). Before issuing the proclamation, the Court has already issued open-ended non-bailable warrants (NBW) against all these terrorists. Proclamation orders have been read in the conspicuous places of their native villages and copies of orders pasted in conspicuous places of their residential houses and conspicuous place of their villages as well, the statement added. Also Read | Uttar Pradesh Shocker: Man Jailed for 20 Years for Keeping Heroin, Freed After It Turns Out To Be Powder. Before initiation of further proceedings under the law against these terrorists, the Court has given them a chance to surrender before the Court or investigation agency. According to the statement, teams of SIU went to their native villages in Kulgam, Shopian and Pulwama districts alongwith local police and magistrates for the execution of proclamation notices and proper SOPs were followed during these proceedings. (ANI) (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Ernakulam (Kerala) [India], May 22 (ANI): Kerala city of Kochi hosted its first Jewish wedding in 15 years when Racheal Benoy Malakhi married Richard Zachary Rowe on Sunday. The wedding ceremony between Rachael, a US-based data scientist with roots in Kerala's capital city Thiruvananthapuram and Rowe an American NASA engineer was officiated by a Rabbi from Israel and held following Jewish traditions. Also Read | Karnataka Government School Teacher Suspended for Criticising CM Siddaramaiah Over Freebie Policies in Facebook Post. Rabbi Aerial Sharon, who arrived from Israel conducted the rituals under the 'chuppah' (a canopy) at a private resort in Kochi. https://twitter.com/ANI/status/1660480258569801728 Also Read | Delhi: 25-Year-Old Man Stabbed by Three Persons Following a Scuffle in Usmanpur Area. "I have come here to perform the wedding for this wonderful couple, Rachel and Richard. It will be a wedding according to the Jewish traditions," the Rabbi said prior to the ceremony. "Jewish traditions are based on rules defined in the Jewish Bible. basically, it is that together with God they (the groom and the bride) promise to be husband and wife. That is what a Jewish wedding is all about," the Rabbi said. Rachel is the daughter of former Crime Branch Superintendent of Police Binoy Malakhai while Richard is a US citizen who works for the space agency NASA. The ceremony was attended by family, friends, and community members. The Jewish community in Kochi that has 25 members, had last hosted a wedding in 2008. It is also the first Jewish marriage in Kerala that took place outside a Jewish Synagogue. Once Kochi had a significant Jewish population but that has now dwindled with the members of the community migrating to Israel. Now there are only 25 Jews who are permanent residents of Kerala. The presence of at least 10 Jews is required by custom for religious ceremonies in the Jewish religion. Only four Jewish marriages have taken place in Kerala in the last 70 years. The last Jewish wedding in the State was held on December 28, 2008 at the Thekkumbhagam synagogue in Mattancherry. (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 22( ANI): Maharashtra NCP president Jayant Patil will appear before ED today in connection with the alleged IL&FS (Infrastructure Leasing and Financial Services Limited) scam. Meanwhile, NCP workers on Monday protested in Mumbai over the Enforcement Directorate's (ED) summon to party leader Jayant Patil. Also Read | G20 Summit 2023 in Jammu and Kashmir: Indian Agencies Uncover Sinister Plot of Pakistan ISI, Terror Outfits To Destabilise G20 Meetings, Spread Propaganda. "I will cooperate and provide whatever information they ask for," said Jayant Patil. "I will be present at ED office today at 11 am. Since the summons of ED, I have been receiving calls from office bearers of my party and other friendly parties from all over the state and I understand that people from all over the state are coming to ED office today. I request that no one should come to Mumbai. I will fully cooperate with the ED in this inquiry and thank you all for the love you have shown me," tweeted the NCP chief. Also Read | Assam 10th Result 2023 Out at resultsassam.nic.in; SEBA HSLC Results Declared, State Records 72.69% Pass Percentage, Know Steps To Check Scorecard. The ED last week summoned NCP's Maharashtra unit's chief and MLA Jayant Patil to appear before the agency on Monday, in the IL&FS case. This was the second summons by the agency sent to the NCP leader in connection with the alleged IL&FS scam. On May 11, the ED summoned Patil to appear before the agency, to record his statement in the case. However, he later cited his busy schedule and requested ED for another date to appear before it. He had sought 10 days' time from the federal agency. The ED is probing the NCP Maharashtra chief's alleged involvement in dubious loans extended to Kohinoor CTNL by IL&FS, which filed for bankruptcy in 2018. The investigation pertains to alleged irregularities in IL&FS Group's loan and equity investment in Kohinoor CTNL, which is one of the defaulters. Kohinoor CTNL is developing the Kohinoor Square tower in Dadar (West). The ED began its probe into the IL&FS money laundering case in 2019 based on a First Information Report by Delhi Police's Economic Offences Wing (EOW). (ANI) (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) New Delhi, May 22 (PTI) The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has issued notices to the Uttar Pradesh Police and the chief secretary of the state over the "suicide" of a 45-year-old farmer after police allegedly forced a compromise with the perpetrators of the kidnapping and rape of his minor daughter. The commission has sought a report in the matter from the police and the chief secretary within four weeks. Also Read | BBC Documentary on Narendra Modi: Delhi High Court Issues Notice to BBC on Plea Seeking To File Suit as an 'Indigent Person'. It said it has taken suo motu cognisance of a media report, according to which the man committed suicide after the police allegedly forced a compromise with the perpetrators of the kidnapping and rape of his minor daughter in Pilibhit district of Uttar Pradesh. The victim reportedly belonged to a Scheduled Caste (SC) community. "The commission has observed that the contents of the media report, if true, amount to a violation of human rights. Accordingly, it has issued notices to the Chief Secretary, Government of Uttar Pradesh, and the Director General of Police, Uttar Pradesh, calling for a detailed report within four weeks," it said in a statement. Also Read | Bihar: Man Held for Threatening To Blow Up Samastipur Railway Station. The report should also include the present status of the matter and disbursement of the monetary relief to the victim under SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Rules, 1995. The commission would also like to know about the action taken against the delinquent officer responsible for the tragedy, it added. According to the media report published on May 19, the girl was kidnapped by the accused persons when she was going to meet her father at a farm on May 9. Her father got a police complaint lodged the next day but the police, instead of registering an FIR, allegedly forced a compromise between the survivor and the accused. The police allegedly neither called nor informed the victim's parents and closed the matter, according to the report. Upset over the developments, the girl's father allegedly committed suicide on May 17. (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Pune, May 22: Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar on Monday said he was not in the race to become prime minister and asserted the opposition wanted a leadership that would work for the betterment of the country. Speaking at a condolence meet for Ram Takawale, Vice Chancellor of Pune University who passed away recently, Pawar said opposition parties might face a little task of projecting one person as the prime ministerial candidate if they come together. Rs 2000 Notes Withdrawal: NCP Chief Sharad Pawar Says It Is an Act of a Moody Person. "I am putting efforts to get the opposition together. I am not in the race to become the prime minister as I am not contesting the next (Lok Sabha) election," he told reporters. Delhi Ordinance Row: CM Arvind Kejriwal to Meet Uddhav Thackeray, Sharad Pawar to Seek Support Against Centre's Directive on May 24 & 25. Speaking on seat sharing with the Congress and the Shiv Sena (UBT), which are part of the Maha Vikas Aghadi, he said, "Recently, a meeting was held at my residence. Leaders from Maha Vikas Aghadi will decide on it." "Uddhav Thackeray, Sonia Gandhi or Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge and I will sit together to discuss more about it," he said on seat-sharing. The tenure of several civic bodies in Maharashtra got over early 2022 but polls were not held due to the coronavirus pandemic. Moreover, Assembly polls will be held in the latter part of 2024 in the state, some months after the Lok Sabha elections likely to take place around May. (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) From Left to Right: Bikram Keshari Arukha, Sarada Prasad Nayak and Sudam Marndi (Photo/ANI) Bhubaneswar, May 22: Former Odisha Speaker Bikram Keshari Arukha was among three new ministers who were on Monday sworn into the Odisha cabinet led by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik. Governor Ganeshi Lal administered the oath to the new ministers - Arukha and two senior BJD MLAs Sarada Prashad Nayak and Sudam Marandi at the Convention Centre of Lok Seva Bhavan in Bhubaneswar in the presence of Patnaik. Cabinet Reshuffle: Arjun Ram Meghwal Replaces Kiren Rijiju As Union Law Minister. The rejig of the Council of Ministers comes ahead of next year's Assembly and General Elections. This will be Patnaik's second Cabinet reshuffle in his fifth term as the chief minister of Odisha. The Cabinet reshuffle was necessitated after Odisha Speaker Arukha and two cabinet ministers had resigned from their respective posts earlier this month citing personal reasons. Apart from that there was one post lying vacant after the assassination of Health and Family Welfare Minister Naba Kishore Das was assassinated in January. Soon after the Speaker sent his resignation, two Cabinet Ministers namely Samir Ranjan Dash and Srikant Sahu also resigned. Samir Ranjan Dash was the Minister of State in the Ministry of School and Mass Education while Srikant Sahu handled the Ministry of Labour in the state. Odisha Cabinet Reshuffle: School and Mass Education Minister Samir Ranjan Dash and Labour Minister Srikant Sahu Resign. It is worth mentioning that the newly elected MLA of Biju Janata Dal (BJD) and daughter of slain Odisha Minister Naba Kishore Das, Deepali Das, took oath on May 15, the day of her late father's birthday. She won the Jharsuguda by-election after defeating BJP candidate Tankadhar Tripathy Biju Janata Dal (BJD) fielded Deepali in the constituency of her father. (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Aizawl, May 22 (PTI) Over 7,500 people have fled to Mizoram from the violence-hit Manipur, an official said on Monday. A total of 7,527 ethnic Zos, known as Kukis in Manipur, have crossed over to Mizoram till 5 pm on Monday, he said. Also Read | Stray Dog Menace in Telangana: Canine on Biting Spree Attacks, Injures 14 in Mahabubabad. They have taken shelter in eight districts of the state. Kolasib has the highest number of displaced people at 2,685, followed by Aizawl (2,386) and Saitual (2,153), the official said. A total of 164 people have taken shelter in Champhai district, 36 in Khawzawl district, 27 in Serchhip district, 19 in Mamit district and 57 in Lunglei district, he said. Also Read | Delhi Road Accident: Two Killed As Speeding SUV Hits Their Bike on Burari Flyover. The displaced people are lodged in temporary relief camps, while many others were given shelter by their relatives, he added. Mizoram Chief Minister Zoramthanga said the unification of all ethnic Zo tribes in India, and bringing them under one administrative unit was one of the main objectives of the founders of his Mizo National Front (MNF). Zoramthanga's statement came close on the heels of the demand made by 10 Kuki MLAs of Manipur for a separate administration for the hill areas in their state. The unification of Zo inhabited areas of states in the neighbourhood of Mizoram to form one administrative unit -- 'Greater Mizoram' -- was one of the demands of the MNF, Zoramthanga told party workers on Friday. It was raised during the peace talks with the Centre, which stated that it could be done under Article 3 of the Constitution, he claimed. He, however, said that Mizoram cannot directly interfere in the internal affairs of Manipur. "That initiative should be taken by our kindred brothers in Manipur as the issue of unification of Chin-Kuki-Mizo-Hmar-Zomo tribes should not be imposed," he said. Mizoram shares a 95-km-long border with Manipur. The hill areas of Manipur adjoining Mizoram are inhabited by Kukis, who share ethnic and cultural ties with the Mizos. The violence broke out in Manipur on May 3 after a 'Tribal Solidarity March' was organised in the ten hill districts of the state to protest against the Meitei community's demand for Scheduled Tribe (ST) status. 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 live in the hill districts. (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) New Delhi, May 22 (PTI) Calling the 2016 move of introducing the Rs 2,000 notes as "foolish", senior Congress leader P Chidambaram on Monday alleged that the currency denomination only helped keepers of black money to hoard money with ease and now they were being "welcomed on a red carpet" to exchange their notes. The former finance minister's attack on the BJP government comes after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Friday made a surprise announcement of withdrawal of Rs 2,000 currency notes but gave the public time till September 30 to either deposit the Rs 2,000 notes in accounts or exchange them at banks. Also Read | New Like and Earn Scam: Thane Resident Duped of Rs 14 Lakh by Conman While Trying To Earn Money by Giving Likes and Ratings Online. It said it had asked banks to stop issuing Rs 2,000 notes with immediate effect. In a Twitter post, Chidambaram said, "Banks have clarified that no identity, no forms and no proof will be required to exchange the Rs 2000 notes. The BJP's spin that the Rs 2000 notes are being withdrawn to unearth black money stands demolished." Also Read | Lucknow Horror: Dalit Minor Girl Raped, Subjected To Abortion by Butcher in Gosainganj, Accused Arrested. Ordinary people do not have Rs 2,000 notes as they shunned it soon after it was introduced in 2016, he said, adding they were useless for daily retail exchange. "So, who kept the Rs 2000 notes and used them? You know the answer. The Rs 2,000 note only helped keepers of black money to hoard their money with ease," Chidamabaram said. "The keepers of Rs 2,000 notes are being welcomed on a red carpet to exchange their notes! So much for the government's declared objective of rooting out black money," the former finance minister said. Chidambaram said the Rs 2,000 note was a "foolish" move in 2016. He said he was glad that the foolish move is being withdrawn at least seven years later. The Congress leader on Friday last had hit out at the government after the RBI's announcement, saying the Rs 2,000 note was a "band-aid" to cover up the "foolish decision" of demonetising Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes. The former Union finance minister had said that a few weeks after demonetisation, the government and the RBI were forced to re-introduce the Rs 500 note and he will not be surprised if the Centre re-introduces the Rs 1,000 note as well. (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Mumbai, May 22: Maharashtra Nationalist Congress Party president Jayant Patil, whom the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has summoned for questioning on Monday in a money laundering case, said one faces such sufferings for being part of the opposition. Speaking to reporters outside his residence in Mumbai, Patil said he was going to appear before the ED and also asked his party workers to maintain peace. The ED has summoned Patil for questioning in a money laundering case linked to alleged financial irregularities in the now bankrupt financial services firm IL&FS, as per officials. The 61-year-old MLA from Islampur seat of Maharashtra was issued the first summons for appearance on May 12, but he had sought deferment for about 10 days citing some personal and official engagements. Karnataka Verdict a Boost for MVA; Will Put Up Joint Challenge to BJP in 2024 Lok Sabha Elections, Says Maharashtra NCP Chief Jayant Patil. The politician was subsequently asked to appear on May 22. Patil on Monday said, I am part of the opposition and one needs to face such type of suffering. I never heard the name of the IL&FS in the past, but the ED officials have summoned me to appear before them. I will try to address their queries in the legal framework. Jayant Patil, NCP Leader, Summoned by Enforcement Directorate for Questioning in IL&FS Case. Several party workers gathered outside the NCP office, which is adjacent to the ED's office in south Mumbai. "I appeal to the party workers to maintain peace and allow the officials to do their work. I am going to appear before the ED officials. I also ask party workers not to be afraid of it, said Patil, a seven-term legislator who is former state minister of home and finance. However, several NCP workers gathered near the NCP's office, protesting against the summons issued to Patil. They shouted slogans against the Union government and claimed the action against Patil was "political vendetta". Patil told reporters earlier this month that he never had any association or financial dealing with IL&FS. Alleged payment of some "commission amount" by some accused companies to entities linked to Patil are under the scanner of the ED and it is understood he will be questioned about these transactions and his statement recorded under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). The agency recently initiated fresh action in this 2019 case after it searched the Mumbai offices of-- Deloitte Haskins and Sells and BSR and Associates, an Indian affiliate of global accounting firm KPMG--, the two former auditors of IL&FS. The Infrastructure Leasing and Financial Services Limited (IL&FS) filed for bankruptcy in 2018. (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Dehradun (Uttarakhand) [India], May 22 (ANI): As the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government completes nine years on May 30, the Bharatiya Janata Party has planned a "Vikas Teerth Program" across Uttarakhand at Lok Sabha constituency level from June 10 to 12, said a party source. Under this party's campaign in the state, tiffin meetings will be held at the developmental project sites detailing about the ongoing projects. During the campaign, BJP will highlight the ongoing dream projects of PM Modi across the state. Also Read | Two Saudi Astronauts on Falcon 9 Rocket to the ISS. On the other hand, in the neighbouring Uttar Pradesh as well the BJP plans something similar and will start a massive 'Mahajanajagaran campaign' across the state on May 30. Bharatiya Janata Party's State General Secretary (Organization) Dharampal Singh said that through public relations campaign, the achievements of the Central Government have to be reached the doorstep of every household. Also Read | Uma Bharti Health Update: Ex-Madhya Pradesh CM Hospitalised After Feeling Unwell in Bhopal. "In the recently concluded civic body elections, there were historic results in favour of the BJP in the entire state. The credit for this goes to the people of the state and the loyal workers of the party," Singh said. He further said that public meetings will be organized at the Lok Sabha level from May 30 to June 30 under the Maha Sampark Abhiyan organized on the completion of 9 years of the central government. "Businessmen conferences will also be organized under the campaign," he added. He further said that a senior workers' meeting will be organized in which MPs, MLAs, national office bearers, former office bearers, and state office bearers up to the divisional level will hold a meeting with Tiffin. "A joint conference of all the seven fronts will also be organized. Along with this, a conference of the beneficiaries of the central and state government has also been planned at the assembly level. Beneficiaries will be invited to this. On the occasion of International Yoga Day, the Yoga Day program is also to be organized at every Shakti Kendra on June 21," he detailed. A mass contact campaign will be launched by the organization at the booth level under which public representatives and senior leaders are going to do door-to-door public relations and distribute leaflets of historical achievements of the central and state government. "For the success of the Mahasampark Abhiyan, before May 30, a complete road map has to be prepared for planning and implementation of the plan. For this, district working committee meetings have to be organized in each district on 20 and 21 May and divisional working committee meetings on 22, 23 and 24 May," he said. (ANI) (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Kurnool(Andhra Pradesh) [India], May 22 ( ANI): Amid the protests of his party cadres, CBI officers reached Vishwabharati Hospital in Kurnool on Monday morning to question YSRCP MP YS Avinash Reddy in connection with the YS Vivekananda Murder case. According to sources, YSRCP MP YS Avinash Reddy wrote to CBI on last Saturday seeking 10-day relief from questioning in connection with the YS Vivekananda Murder case, stating his mother's ill health as the reason. But CBI has issued him a fresh summon to appear before investigating officer today. Also Read | Delhi: 25-Year-Old Man Stabbed by Three Persons Following a Scuffle in Usmanpur Area. The CBI team reached the hospital today morning and police blocked the roads and didn't allow the YSRCP cadre to reach the hospital. A month before the General elections in 2019, Vivekananda Reddy, a former MP, was found murdered at his residence in Pulivendula on March 15, 2019. Also Read | New Like and Earn Scam: Thane Resident Duped of Rs 14 Lakh by Conman While Trying To Earn Money by Giving Likes and Ratings Online. CBI took over the investigation in July 2020 on the orders of the High Court of Andhra Pradesh. The case was earlier registered at Police Station Pulivendula in Kadapa (Andhra Pradesh). CBI has filed a requisition with the Kadapa police before reaching the Vishwabharati hospital where YS Avinash Reddy's mother was admitted on 19th May. YSRCP MP YS Avinash Reddy wrote to CBI last Saturday seeking 10-day relief from questioning in connection with the YS Vivekananda Murder case, stating his mother's ill health as the reason. However, CBI has issued him a fresh summon to appear before investigating officer on Monday. Avinash Reddy skipped the CBI's summoning of questioning on May 16. And he claimed that on May 19 he was enroute to the CBI office to appear before its officers before he got to know that his mother was sick so he went back to visit her. Avinash Reddy's father YS Bhaskar Reddy was arrested in April in connection with the murder case and he was lodged in Chanchalguda prison along with Uday Reddy, the other accused in the murder case. In late March this year, the Supreme Court set aside the Telangana High Court order granting interim relief from arrest to Kadapa MP YS Avinash Reddy in the YS Vivekananda Reddy murder case and said such a decision prejudices the investigation. (ANI) (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) New Delhi, May 22 (PTI) Artificial Intelligence will be "critical" to future scientific and economic growth, a blog post by tech titan Google has said asserting the need for a holistic AI strategy focused on unlocking opportunity through innovation, ensuring responsibility and trust, and protecting global security. A cohesive AI agenda needs to advance all three goals not any one at the expense of the others, Google said in a white paper with suggestions for policy agenda for responsible AI progress. Also Read | Delhi: Blistering Heatwave Scorches Parts of National Capital, Mercury Soars to 46 Degrees. The suggestions ranged from growing investments in innovation and competitiveness to promoting an enabling legal framework for AI innovation and preparing the workforce for an AI-driven job transition. The blog post titled, `A policy agenda for responsible AI progress: Opportunity, Responsibility, Security' said calls for a halt to technological advances are unlikely to be successful or effective, and risk missing out on AI's substantial benefits and falling behind those who embrace its potential. Also Read | India Lost Over 1.3 Lakh Lives in 573 Disasters Linked to Extreme Weather, Climate Change in 50 Years: World Meteorological Department. Instead, broad-based efforts are needed across government, companies, universities, and others, to help translate technological breakthroughs into widespread benefits, while mitigating risks. On security aspects, it said the challenge is to put appropriate controls in place to prevent malicious use of AI and to work collectively to address bad actors, while maximising the potential benefits. "AI will be critical to our scientific, geopolitical, and economic future, enabling current and future generations to live in a more prosperous, healthy, secure, and sustainable world," Google blog said calling on Governments, the private sector, educational institutions, and other stakeholders to work together to capitalise on AI benefits. Getting AI innovation right requires a policy framework that ensures accountability and enables trust, it asserted. "We need a holistic AI strategy focused on: unlocking opportunity through innovation and inclusive economic growth; ensuring responsibility and enabling trust; and protecting global security," it said. Economies that embrace AI will see significant growth, outcompeting rivals that are slower on the uptake. "Governments should increase investments in fundamental AI research, studies of the evolving future of work to help with labour transitions, and programmes to ensure strong pipelines of STEM talent. Governments and industry need to deepen their efforts to upskill workers and support businesses meeting changing demands and new ways of producing goods and services," it said. If not developed and deployed responsibly, AI systems could also amplify societal issues, it said pointing out that tackling these challenges will require a multi-stakeholder approach to governance. Some of these challenges will be more appropriately addressed by standards and shared best practices, while others will require regulation, say requiring high-risk AI systems to undergo expert risk assessments tailored to specific applications. Other challenges will require fundamental research to better understand potential harms and mitigations, in partnership with communities and civil society. AI has important implications for global security and stability, it observed. It can help create and help identify and track mis- and dis-information and manipulated media, and drive a new generation of cyber defenses through advanced security operations and threat intelligence. "Our challenge is to put appropriate controls in place to prevent malicious use of AI and to work collectively to address bad actors, while maximising the potential benefits of AI. Governments, academia, civil society, and industry need a better understanding of the safety implications of powerful AI systems, and how we can align increasingly sophisticated and complex AI with human values," it said. It recommended proportionate, risk-based regulation that enables responsible development and application of next-generation technologies. "Require regulatory agencies to issue detailed guidance on how existing authorities (e.g., those designed to combat discrimination or protect safety) apply to the use of AI," it said. Another suggestion included driving international policy alignment, working with allies and partners to develop common approaches that reflect democratic values. "Develop optimal `next-generation' trade control policies for specific applications of AI-powered software that are deemed security risks, and on specific entities that provide support to AI-related research and development in ways that could threaten global security," the blog said. It also called for exploring ways to identify and block disinformation campaigns, including interference in elections, where malicious actors use generative AI to generate or manipulate media (deepfakes/cheapfakes). (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) New Delhi, May 22 (PTI) India will host the 44th edition of the annual International Organization for Standardisation's Committee on Consumer Policy (COPOLCO) plenary from Tuesday in the national capital. Union Minister of Food and Consumer Affairs Piyush Goyal will inaugurate the four-day event (May 23-26). COPOLCO Chair Sadie Dainton, International Organization for Standardisation (ISO) General Secretary Sergio Mujica and other senior officials will participate in the event, an official statement said. Also Read | Uttar Pradesh Surpasses Maharashtra in Sugar Production This Season. ISO, comprising 168 countries as members, develops standards for the world impacting a diverse range of business and social sectors. Through COPOLCO, ISO involves the wider public in the process of standardisation. "Therefore, ISO COPOLCO is reckoned as the major international event that brings together representatives from ISO member countries to discuss and develop strategies for accelerating the development of standards for the world," the statement said. Also Read | Punjab to Telecast Gurbani From Golden Temple On All Channels, Announces Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann. The event, being organised by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), will also feature dialogue sessions and workshops on related themes. With a people-centric approach and themes such as Challenges and Good Practices for Consumer Engagement', 'Empowering Consumers for a Sustainable Future' and 'Consumer Protection and Legal Frameworks', this year's plenary is particularly important for India and the international community, the statement said. India, one of the founding members of the ISO, has long been actively involved in matters of international standardisation. (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) New Delhi, May 22 (PTI) Torrent Power board will consider a proposal to raise up to Rs 3,000 crore through the issuance of non-convertible debentures on a private placement basis. A meeting of the Board of Directors is scheduled to be held on Monday, May 29, 2023, to consider and approve the raising of funds by issuance of non-convertible debentures up to Rs 3,000 crore through private placement basis, a BSE filing showed. Also Read | Delhi: Blistering Heatwave Scorches Parts of National Capital, Mercury Soars to 46 Degrees. The board will also consider and approve audited standalone and consolidated financial results for the quarter and year ended March 31, 2023, and recommendation of final dividend, if any, on the equity shares of the company for FY 2022-23. (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Bhopal, May 22: In a shocking case in Madhya Pradesh, a police constable on Monday opened fire on three persons of a family, and later his body was found on a railway track. The incident took place in Berchha village of Shajapur district. Uttar Pradesh: Cop Opens Fire at Dhaba in Ghaziabad After Owner of Eatery Tells Him No Food Available. Addressing media persons, a senior police official said that upon receiving information of the shooting, a team rushed to the spot and found one person dead of bullet injuries, while the two others, including a woman, were rushed to a nearby hospital. Preliminary investigation revealed that the deceased constable, identified as Subhash, was in a relationship with the woman and he took the drastic step on suspicion that she was betraying him. Punjab Shocker: Policeman 'Accidentally' Opens Fire With His Gun at Mobile Shop in Amritsar, Gets Suspended As Bullet Injures Youth (Watch Video). "While we were searching for the accused, we received information that a body had been found on a railway track. When we reached the spot, the person was identified as Subhash. It is suspected that he committed suicide by jumping in front of a runing train. however, investigation is still underway," the official said, adding that the person who died in the shooting was the woman's father. (The above story first appeared on LatestLY on May 22, 2023 02:13 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com). Warsaw, May 22 (AP) A member of the Belarus opposition movement urged the European Union on Monday to keep sanctions against a Belarusian state fertiliser producer, warning that lifting them would generate a $1.5 billion windfall for Alexander Lukashenko's regime as it supports Russia's war on Ukraine. Pavel Latushka, a former Belarusian minister of culture who is now in exile in Poland, said he feared the EU might be tempted to lift sanctions against Belaruskali, which is one of the world's largest exporters of potash fertilisers. Also Read | Mexico Volcanic Eruption: Popocatepetl Volcano Spewing Ash and Gas, Authorities Order Schools Closure. Latushka heads an opposition group, the National Anti-Crisis Management, which has been documenting what it alleges is Lukashenko's participation in a scheme to deport Ukrainian orphans to camps in Belarus. The team has been working to bring international attention to its findings in an attempt to stop the alleged deportations and hold Lukashenko to account. Also Read | South Africa: Man Arrested for Porn Images with President Cyril Ramaphosas Face Superimposed on Them. Belaruskali is the firm that finances the deportation of Ukrainian children, Latushka, who was sentenced to 18 years of prison in absentia in March by a court in Belarus, told The Associated Press. His appeal comes as EU foreign ministers were meeting for informal talks expected to focus on sanctions against Belaruskali and the Belarusian Potash Company, which exports Belaruskali's products. This is an opportunity for Lukashenko to generate at least one and a half billion dollars in revenue each year, which he will spend on the war, Latushka said. The group alleges that the Ukrainian orphans deported to Belarus undergo a process of Russification before being sent to Russia for adoption, something they say amounts to violations of the Geneva conventions against war crimes. Lukashenko's government denies those claims. The allegation of Belarus' involvement in the forced removal of Ukrainian children looks absolutely wild and inappropriate, even against the backdrop of the usual accusations and demands toward us that have nothing to do with reality, said Anatoly Glaz, spokesman of the Belarusian Foreign Ministry. Latushka and his team are collecting evidence and bringing it to international organisations, hoping that the International Criminal Court will issue an arrest warrant for Lukashenko as it did for Russian President Vladimir Putin. The ICC in March issued arrest warrants for both Putin and his commissioner for children's rights. Judges in The Hague said they found reasonable grounds to believe the two were responsible for war crimes, specifically the unlawful deportation and transfer of children from occupied areas of Ukraine to Russia. The Belarusian authorities have said that Belarus would host more than 1,000 children aged 6-15 from the partially occupied Donbas in eastern Ukraine for convalescence. The first 350 of those children arrived in Belarus in late April. The authorities have allotted at least four summer camps for them. Officials haven't specified for how long exactly the Ukrainian children would stay in Belarus, but say the decision was made at the presidential level. Lukashenko's press service said it underscored his commitment to the ideas of humanism and mercy towards children in need of care and support. Within the framework of the Union State of Belarus and Russia, special programs were approved aimed at relocating Ukrainian children. Financial support is provided by Belaruskali. The placement of children and logistics in Belarus are handled by a pro-government activist, Aleksey Talai, a Paralympian who has set up a charitable foundation. Belarus gives children peace of mind, help and continues to provide support to the regions affected by hostilities, Talai 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) Dearborn (US), May 22 (AP) Ford CEO Jim Farley says the company will stop competing in over-served market segments and instead will place big bets on connected vehicles and digital services. The days of Ford being all things to all people are over, Farley said at the company's capital markets day event Monday. Also Read | Abu Dhabi Fire: Six Killed, Seven Injured After Blaze Engulfs House in Al Moazaz Area, Cause Unknown. The company, he said, has been stuck in a box, with thin profit margins, weak growth and low stock valuation. Ford, Farley said, will emphasise software and services as well as iconic vehicles such as pickup trucks, large SUVs, commercial vehicles and advanced second-generation electric vehicles. Also Read | PM Narendra Modi Arrives in Australia; To Hold Talks With PM Anthony Albanese (See Pics). He said the company is eliminating waste to close a cost gap with the best in the industry with a lean disciplined operating system that reaches into all Ford factories. Farley said by focusing on software, services and Ford's strengths in products, the company won't be as vulnerable to a downturn as in the past. He said the company has let complexity overrun our business as we tried to be all things to all people. We will focus on growth segments where we lead, Ford Blue President Kumar Galhotra said. Farley says Ford will be competing differently, going for tailored ownership experiences rather than jockeying for slivers of market share with complex vehicles in over-served market segments. He said the company will go to non-negotiated prices, working with dealers. Ford has said it will get to a 10 per cent pretax profit margin in 2026. It reiterated 2023 full-year guidance of USD 9 billion to USD 11 billion in adjusted pretax profits. Ford Motor Co. also said it cut deals with a number of companies to supply its rapidly growing electrical vehicle division, Ford Model e. Ford will get more than 100,000 metric tons of lithium hydroxide from Albemarle, based in Charlotte, North Carolina. Compass Minerals International announced a multiyear deal to supply Ford with up to 40 per cent of the battery-grade lithium carbonate coming from its project in Utah. EnergySource Minerals will supply the carmaker with lithium hydroxide from a new site in Imperial Valley, California, and Nemaska Lithium, a Canadian miner, will supply Ford with 13,000 tons of lithium hydroxide annually for 11 years. Because the materials are coming from the US and Canada, it ensures that Ford's electric vehicles will qualify for new federal tax credits, making them more competitive. Ford has split itself into three business units, Ford Blue for gasoline-powered and hybrid vehicles, Ford Model e for electric vehicles and digital products, and Ford Pro, the company's commercial vehicle business. I'm not here to tell you that we're under valued, Farley said Monday. You make your own decision. (AP) (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Srinagar (Jammu and Kashmir) [India], May 22 (ANI): The delegations arriving for the third G20 Tourism Working Group meeting were warmly welcomed at Srinagar Airport. The 3rd Tourism Working Group meeting is being held at Srinagar from May 22-24. Also Read | G20 Summit 2023 in Jammu and Kashmir: Indian Agencies Uncover Sinister Plot of Pakistan ISI, Terror Outfits To Destabilise G20 Meetings, Spread Propaganda. The guests were welcomed by Union Tourism Minister G Kishan Reddy, along with Amitabh Kant G20 Sherpa at Srinagar Airport. An ethnic and magnificent display of traditional dance forms by local Artists, showcasing Jammu and Kashmir's cultural heritage, was also done. The security measures have been heightened in Srinagar. For this three-day G20 Summit Kashmir is under a three-tier security grid for aerial surveillance drone monitoring is put in place National Security Guard (NSG) and MARCOS commandos are being deployed around the venue Jammu and Kashmir Police's special operation group (SOG) will be deployed at several places to give security cover to prevent from any terror incident. Also Read | PM Narendra Modi Conferred With Fijis Highest Honour Companion of the Order of Fiji by Its Premier Sitiveni Rabuka In Recognition of His Global Leadership (See Pics and Video). In Srinagar, graffiti depicting the scenic beauty and colours of Srinagar cover the walls of the city. As of now, the G20 Working group meeting in Jammu and Kashmir will focus on five key priority areas: Green Tourism, Digitalization, Skills, MSMEs and Destination Management. The meeting aims to strengthen economic growth, preserve cultural heritage and promote sustainable development of the region. The event will witness the participation of G20 member countries, invited countries, international organizations, and industry stakeholders. Harsh Vardhan Shringla, Chief Coordinator G20 said, that it is the vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi that the message of India's G20 Presidency is taken to the grassroot level through active Jan Bhagidari. Shringla appreciated the efforts of the Government to sensitise the people about the goals and purpose of G20 through multiple public activities. The tourism industry has played a crucial role in the development of the Union Territory. However, years of instability have impacted the tourism industry, leading to a decline in the number of visitors. India assumed the presidency of the G20 grouping on December 1, 2022, and will hold the post for a year. The G20 summit in Jammu and Kashmir promises to initiate a tidal wave of transformative outcomes, setting the region on a new trajectory towards stability, economic growth, and social development. (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 22 (ANI): The Government of Kazakhstan has cancelled visa fees for Indian tourists for two weeks and Kazakhstan's low-cost carrier (LCC) FlyArystan has also launched flights from Delhi to Shymkent in Kazakhstan. Low-cost carrier FlyArystan (Air Astana Group) made the first flight between India and Kazakhstan. The flight on the Delhi-Shyamkent route was carried out on Monday, May 22. Also Read | South Africa: Man Arrested for Porn Images with President Cyril Ramaphosas Face Superimposed on Them. As the Government of Kazakhstan cancelled visa fees for Indian tourists for a 14-day visit in Kazakhstan, airline company FlyArystan is very hopeful that tourists will visit for their vacation. "Since the cancellation of the visa regime for Indian citizens to enter Kazakhstan, the flow of tourists has increased significantly; therefore, we decided to fill the need of passengers to travel between countries pursuing our main goal - providing affordable, convenient and high-quality air transportation options," Pom Komutanont, Senior Director Operations of FlyArystan told ANI. Also Read | Abu Dhabi Fire: Six Killed, Seven Injured After Blaze Engulfs House in Al Moazaz Area, Cause Unknown. Kazakhstan's low-cost carrier has also announced their fare for one-way flights between two major metros, which starts from USD 55. FlyArystan is the first Kazakh low-cost carrier that started its operations in May 2019. The carrier's fleet consists of 14 Airbus A320 aircraft with an average age of 7 years. It is worth noting that four aircraft were received directly from the manufacturer's factory. By the end of 2023, FlyArystan plans to expand its fleet to 19 aircraft, including new aircraft. The airline company is planning to make Kazakhstan a gateway to the European market for Indian passengers. (ANI) (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Lahore [Pakistan], May 22 (ANI): Punjab province's former Chief Minister Usman Buzdar has been once again summoned by Pakistan's National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Lahore on Wednesday, ARY News reported on Monday, citing sources. As per the details, the NAB has sought answers to 30 questions from former Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Buzdar n the assets beyond means case. Also Read | Victoria Day 2023 Date: Know History and Significance of Federal Canadian Public Holiday That Honours Queen Victoria. Buzdar is accused of constructing an 'illegal' bus stand on the government's land in Muzaffargarh, reported ARY News. The former Chief Minister did not appear before the NAB office despite receiving two previous summons. Also Read | Indian-Origin NYPD Cop Sumit Sulan Honoured by US President Joe Biden With Presidential Medal of Valor. Usman Buzdar has obtained interim bail from the Accountability Court, which provides him with temporary relief from potential arrest or detention during the proceedings. Earlier in the day, the anti-corruption court dismissed the interim bail that was granted to Buzdar over a no-show, according to ARY News. An anti-corruption judge scrapped the interim bail as the former chief minister did not show up before the court. Previously, the Lahore High Court (LHC) refrained police from arresting the former chief minister of Punjab and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Usman Buzdar, The Nation reported. (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 22 (ANI/WAM): More than 300 innovative ideas to combat food waste were showcased by 150 young participants at the "Sustainability Hackathon" held over the weekend. The event, organised by the Sharjah Entrepreneurship Centre (Sheraa) in collaboration with the Information and Communication Technology Fund (ICT Fund) and powered by BEEAH Education, aimed to address sustainability in line with the UAE's Year of Sustainability and the upcoming COP 28 summit. The hackathon focused on developing sustainable solutions for food waste, with BEEAH Education as the challenge partner, inspiring young entrepreneurs to think creatively and contribute to a more sustainable world. From the initial 10 finalist groups, four teams were chosen to advance in the competition, receiving expert guidance, mentorship, and the opportunity to present their prototypes to industry leaders. Also Read | South Africa: Man Arrested for Porn Images with President Cyril Ramaphosas Face Superimposed on Them. The intensive weekend bootcamp aimed to instill design thinking principles in Emirati youth, enabling them to tackle complex challenges and generate innovative solutions through experimentation and validation. Sheraa pledged ongoing support to the hackathon winners, including access to mentorship, validation bootcamps, summer incubation programmes, and community-building initiatives, all geared towards helping them bring their solutions to fruition and launch successful ventures. Also Read | Abu Dhabi Fire: Six Killed, Seven Injured After Blaze Engulfs House in Al Moazaz Area, Cause Unknown. Najla Al Midfa, CEO of Sheraa, emphasised the importance of sustainability and the role of youth in driving meaningful change. She highlighted the value of initiatives like the Sustainability Hackathon in empowering young minds and ensuring their voices are heard in the nation's sustainability agenda. Omar Al Mahmoud, CEO of ICTFund, commended the support for innovation-based projects, particularly in sustainability, which aligns with the UAE's focus on a sustainable future. The Sustainability Hackathon represents a national effort to embrace technological advancements and digital transformation, with the TDRA playing a leading role in this regard. Hind Al Huwaidi, Managing Director of BEEAH Education, expressed admiration for the young entrepreneurs' commitment to making a positive impact in sustainability. She praised Sheraa's efforts in fostering entrepreneurship and innovation, noting that events like the Sustainability Hackathon contribute to shaping a modern economy driven by circularity, sustainability, and innovation. (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) Aditya Singh Rajput, a popular actor, model and casting coordinator, who is known for Splitsvilla 9, Love, Ashiqui and Code Red, was found dead at his Mumbai residence on the 11th floor in a high-rise apartment on Monday afternoon. His body was discovered by his friends in the washroom of his house. He was taken to a nearby hospital where he was declared dead on arrival. Aditya Singh Rajput Found Dead: Late Actor's Last Insta Post Was Him Having 'Sunday Funday With Besties'. Sources have pointed to his death as a suspected case of drug overdose. However, an official statement from medical experts is awaited. Aditya, who has been a part of films such as Krantiveer and Maine Gandhi Ko Nahin Mara, was of late involved with a production house and was more into casting. He was popular in the Mumbai glamour circuit and was a regular at parties and page 3 events. Watch Video: (The above story first appeared on LatestLY on May 22, 2023 06:42 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com). On 21 May Brazils President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva concluded a visit to Japan, where he had been invited as an external partner to the G7 leaders summit, where he continued his calls for peace talks between Ukraine and Russia. Analysis: Lula has sought to establish Brazil as a potential mediator between Russia and Ukraine but has not endorsed the calls from Ukraine insisting on the countrys territorial integrity as a key condition to any peace deal. However, G7 members are committed to only supporting a peace process after the complete and unconditional withdrawal of Russian troops, according to the G7 joint statement. Ukraines President Volodymyr Zelensky made an unannounced visit to Hiroshima where the summit is taking place but did not meet Lula. With Lula having recently sent a representative to visit Kyiv, this missed opportunity to be seen personally talking to Zelensky regarding a potential peace process is a blow to Lulas efforts to improve Brazils standing on the world stage as a credible peacemaker. Speaking to journalists in Hiroshima, US President Joe Biden announced details on a package of up to US$375m of ammunition and equipment for Ukraines defence. The G7 joint statement also mentioned increasing sanctions on Russia, pledging to broaden our actions to ensure that exports of all items critical to Russias aggression [] are restricted. This could prove a point of tension between Brazil and the G7, due to the continued economic cooperation between Brazil and Russia. announced details on a package of up to US$375m of ammunition and equipment for Ukraines defence. The G7 joint statement also mentioned increasing sanctions on Russia, pledging to broaden our actions to ensure that exports of all items critical to Russias aggression [] are restricted. This could prove a point of tension between Brazil and the G7, due to the continued economic cooperation between Brazil and Russia. Brazilian national daily Folha de Sao Paulo reported that Lula was due to meet Zelensky in the afternoon of 21 May, but the Ukrainian president never showed up. Zelensky later downplayed this at a press conference, attributing the missed appointment with Lula to a scheduling problem. Zelensky did manage to meet another G7 external partner on 20 May, Narendra Modi, the prime minister of India, a member of the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) group of developing economies who share Lulas calls for peace and continue to refuse sending aid or arms to Ukraine. Looking Ahead: Despite the continued divergence with the G7 over Ukraine, Lula can take away some diplomatic gains from the summit, such as further talks with Indonesias President Joko Widodo about setting up an international group to protect rainforests. The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) has issued a travel advisory for Florida, saying the state is "openly hostile toward African Americans" under Governor Ron DeSantis. Florida's several restrictive laws under DeSantis, which may violate the First Amendment, are getting a lot of pushback from advocacy groups like the NAACP. Some of DeSantis' laws have also resulted in boycotts and protests from Latino and LGBTQ+ groups. The NAACP has issued a travel advisory against Florida, warning people of color about traveling to the state. It is "in direct response to DeSantis' aggressive attempts to erase Black history and to restrict diversity, equity, and inclusion programs in Florida schools," the group said in a statement released on Saturday. The civil rights group added that the state under DeSantis is "openly hostile toward African Americans, people of color, and LGBTQ+ individuals." The travel advisory comes after the League of United Latin American Citizens or LULAC also issued a travel advisory against Florida, a state with one of the largest Latin American communities in the country, because of DeSantis' restrictive new immigration law, which bans businesses from hiring illegal immigrants. This law has already resulted in a trucker boycott and farms and construction sites, which usually hire undocumented immigrants, going empty, threatening Florida's economy. The NAACP advisory came after Florida banned the teaching of critical race theory, which "acknowledges systemic racism is a part of American history and challenges the beliefs that allowed it to flourish,," according to CNN. The NAACP advisory added that the state under DeSantis "devalues and marginalizes the contributions of, and the challenges faced by African Americans and other communities of color." DeSantis has also passed a law barring instruction suggesting anyone is privileged or oppressed based on skin color or race. Under his leadership, Florida also blocked an initial version of a new Advanced Placement course on African American studies, with the state's Department of Education saying it "significantly lacks educational value." READ NEXT: Disney Cancels $1 Billion Florida Plan Amid Ron DeSantis Feud Florida Businesses Worried About Latino Trucker Boycott Because of Ron DeSantis' Policies Ron DeSantis' new immigration law has Latino truck drivers rising up in solidarity with other Latinos who will no longer be allowed to work in Florida anymore. It has worried many Florida businesses, especially in Jacksonville, according to News 4. Tio Moralez, a Jacksonville restaurant owner, told the local news outlet that many workers are leaving Florida because they are scared. He added that the trucker boycott could directly affect his business, saying, "I have product coming from Georgia to here. All the meat and everything... so if they don't come - I can't do much." This lack of labor could also directly affect Florida's economy, as it will lead to prices in the state going up and will hurt many residents in the Sunshine State. Ron DeSantis Also Threatening to Strip Press of First Amendment Protections It is not just Latinos, African-Americans, and the LGBTQ that are affected by Florida's policies under Ron DeSantis, but also the media. The governor reportedly wanted to abolish the First Amendment safeguards that obstruct lawsuits looking to strong-arm the press into silence. De Santis has allegedly shown disregard for the freedom of speech and freedom of the press by attacking the Supreme Court's landmark decision in New York Times v. Sullivan (1964) in February. Vox News reported that the decision established that if somebody is accused of making false claims about a public figure regarding a matter of public concern, that person will not be held liable for defamation unless the said statement was made with the "knowledge that it was false or with reckless disregard of whether it was false or not." Without this decision, government officials could use defamation suits to impose financially devastating liability on their political enemies, including the press. READ MORE: North Carolina Is Luring Disney World to Abandon Florida This article is owned by Latin Post. Written by: Rick Martin WATCH: NAACP Issues Travel Advisory Urging People to Avoid Florida - From ABC-7 The rape of Roxana Ruiz and her strangling and killing of the man who raped her has captured the imagination of much of Mexico. Now, prosecutors have withdrawn their case against her after massive protests from feminist groups amid the rising wave of violence against women in the country. The withdrawal of the case was announced by Mexico City prosecutors last Saturday, just a few days after a Mexico State court sentenced Ruiz to six years in prison after finding her guilty of homicide with "excessive use of legitimate defense." According to the Associated Press, the decision also ordered the raped Mexico woman to pay over $16,000 to the family of the man who raped her. The Mexico State Prosecutor's Office stated that it examined the case and took into consideration the fact that Ruiz is part of a vulnerable group. They then found that she is "exempt from guilt" and added that they believe that she only acted in self-defense. However, this reversal only came after the massive protests against the decision already happened. The Public Outcry in Mexico After Roxana Ruiz Conviction The decision caused national outrage with massive protests happening around Mexico City, Feminists groups claimed that the ruling criminalized survivors of sexual violence and protected perpetrators in a country with an already-high number of gender-based violence and a rising number of femicides, the latter of which has grown exponentially during the administration of President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador. Business Insider pointed out that shortly after the decision, her supporters gathered outside the courtroom and chanted "Justice!" An emotional Roxana Ruiz also addressed them and thanked them for all their support. READ NEXT: New Mexico: 3 Caregivers Arrested For Torturing Disabled Woman Following the decision, Ruiz, who is an Indigenous woman and single mother, stated at a news conference that she has already received death threats because of the case and admitted that she was worried for her family's safety, especially the life of her 4-year-old son. As for the protests following the decision, protesters marched around Mexico City with signs reading "Defending my life isn't a crime." President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador also weighed in on the matter and said that he plans to pardon the convicted Mexico woman. However, before that could happen, prosecutors already dropped the case. The Rape of Roxana Ruiz and Her Fighting Back Many consider Roxana Ruiz, a Mixteca woman, to be an inspiration after standing up to the man who raped her during a time of rising violence against women in Mexico. According to Sportskeeda, the incident happened in May 2021. Ruiz was reportedly earning a living selling french fries in Nezahualcoyotl in Mexico State. She was having a beer with a friend after work when she met a man she had seen around town. That man reportedly offered to walk her home because it was already late and he lived in the same area. Because it was already late at night, the man asked if he could stay the night at Ruiz's home, which she reluctantly agreed to. This was when the man attacked her and raped her. Ruiz was reportedly unable to fend him off so she grabbed a T-shirt and strangled him, leading to her rapist's death. She was soon captured by police as she was seen by an officer while dragging the man's body. This led to her conviction which then led to massive protests. READ NEXT: Jalisco New Generation Cartel's Timeshare Fraud Network Sanctioned This article is owned by Latin Post. Written by: Rick Martin WATCH: Protests Grow In Mexico Over Accusations Of 'Femicide Cover-Up' - NBC News Daniel Penny, a former Marine veteran, has broken his silence regarding the tragic NYC subway chokehold case that resulted in Jordan Neely death, per Fox News. Penny expressed his profound sorrow over Neely's passing in an interview. "It's tragic what happened to him," Penny shared, conveying his hopes for systemic changes to prevent similar failures in the future. Despite facing criminal charges in relation to the incident, Penny vehemently denied any claims of racism associated with his detainment of Neely, who was Black. The Marine emphasized that race played no part in the encounter. "I judge a person based on their character. I'm not a white supremacist," Penny clarified. He further elaborated, "It's a little bit comical. Everybody who's ever met me can tell you that I love all people; I love all cultures." Penny cited his extensive travels and plans for a road trip through Africa as evidence of his inclusive worldview. Providing his account of the events on May 1, Penny recounted to the Post that Neely entered his subway car en route to the gym. Reportedly suffering from mental illness, Neely began ranting about his imminent detention, hunger, and exhaustion. Eyewitnesses stated that Neely's behavior was increasingly erratic and disruptive, prompting Penny to intervene. To protect himself and the other passengers, Penny restrained Neely using a chokehold, as asserted by his legal team. READ MORE: New York Mayor Eric Adams Slams Joe Biden Jordan Neely's Death Gained Different Reactions As the NYC subway chokehold case involving Marine veteran Daniel Penny and homeless man Jordan Neely unfolds, Penny's legal team asserts that their client acted in self-defense, aiming to protect himself and other passengers on the subway train. Eyewitness testimonies indicate that while Neely exhibited agitated behavior, he did not pose a direct threat or harm to anyone until Penny applied the fatal chokehold. The Jordan Neely death has sparked a wave of public outcry, prompting swift action from the government, according to KLFY. New York Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez voiced her concerns shortly after the incident, criticizing the city's delay in charging Penny and raising issues regarding media coverage of the story. In a tweet, Ocasio-Cortez stated, "Jordan Neely was murdered." She further expressed frustration, suggesting that the media was indifferent and that no charges were filed due to Neely's homeless and hungry status, emphasizing the city's focus on rising rents and reductions in social services, which she claimed contributed to the militarization of the authorities and a disdain for the impoverished. Conversely, conservative voices have emerged in support of Penny. Florida Governor and potential 2024 presidential candidate Ron DeSantis referred to Penny as a "good Samaritan" in a press release, expressing his approval of Penny's actions. Another prominent Republican figure, former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, also considering a presidential bid, recently called upon Democrat New York Governor Kathy Hochul to pardon Penny. Jordan Neely's Mental Health Heartbreaking revelations have emerged surrounding the life of Jordan Neely, the homeless man whose encounter with Daniel Penny ended in tragedy. Neely's loved ones, who spoke to The NY Post, shed light on a tumultuous past marked by a brutal loss and inadequate mental health treatment. According to accounts from friends and family, Neely's descent into deep despair can be traced back to the brutal murder of his mother, Christie Neely, at the hands of his stepfather in 2007. Carolyn Neely, his aunt, vividly described the incident's devastating impact on Jordan. "My sister Christie was murdered in '07, and after that, he has never been the same," Carolyn shared. The details of Christie's murder were chilling-strangled to death and discarded in a bag. Carolyn, 40, expressed concern over her nephew's deteriorating mental state following Jordan Neely's death. She revealed that he developed depression, progressively worsening his condition, leading to schizophrenia and PTSD. Carolyn firmly believed that medical professionals and the judicial system knew Jordan's mental health needs but failed to provide the necessary treatment. As Jordan's closest living family, Carolyn lamented her unsuccessful attempts to secure assistance for her nephew. She voiced her disappointment in the system, stating, "The whole system just failed him. He fell through the cracks of the system." READ MORE: Idaho College Murders Suspect Indicted This article is owned by Latin Post. Written by: Bert Hoover WATCH: Daniel Penny, charged in NYC subway chokehold death, finally speaks: "I am not a white supremacist" - From New York Post South Africa: Technical response teams sent to Hammanskraal amid Cholera outbreak Water and Sanitation Minister, Senzo Mchunu, has activated technical teams to work with the City of Tshwane and Health Department in response to a Cholera outbreak in Hammanskraal, north of Pretoria. This follows the death of 12 people and the hospitalisation of others. The technical teams will work with the national and provincial Health Departments and the City of Tshwane to assist with various matters, including an investigation into the water quality and identifying the causes for the outbreak. The department has been continuously carrying out water quality tests at the Temba Water Treatment Works and water distribution points in Hammanskraal. The latest tests indicate the water quality from the Temba Water Treatment Works does not meet minimum standards. However, water supplied by Magalies and Rand Water meet the drinking water quality standards. Therefore, the water quality challenges are in central Hammanskraal, which is supplied by the city. The Minister has further deployed his Deputy Ministers, David Mahlobo and Judith Tshabalala, to work with Gauteng Health MEC, Nomantu Nkomo-Ralehoko, to visit Hammanskraal and the affected areas. The Minister is expected to meet with Tshwane Mayor, Cilliers Brink, before 26 May 2023 with an aim of discussing and agreeing on a plan with timeframes for Tshwane to rehabilitate and upgrade the Rooiwal Wastewater Treatment Works. In a statement issued on Monday, Mchunu expressed his concern at the outbreak, noting that despite the upgrade of Temba Water Treatment Plant to a capacity of 120 megalitres a day (ML/d), the community of Hammanskraal, which is under the City of Tshwane Municipality, has been experiencing unreliable and poor-quality potable water supply for an extended period. According to the Minister, the poor water quality is caused by the failure of Rooiwal Wastewater Treatment Works to meet the desirable final effluent quality for discharge to the Apies River, which in turn flows into the Leeukraal Dam. The Wastewater Treatment Works is situated upstream of Hammanskraal and has affected the Leeukraal Dam, where the Temba Water Treatment Works abstracts water for treatment and distribution. This has over the years led to the department instituting a series of enforcement actions (directives) against the city, and for the city to address the pollution from the Rooiwal Wastewater Treatment Works into the Apies River and Leeukraal Dam, Mchunu said. After the city failed to respond to the departments directives, the department instituted a legal process, with the aim of obtaining a court order to force the city to address the failure of the Rooiwal Wastewater Treatment Works. The Minister said the legal process is currently underway and to date the city has opposed the legal action. The department has also directed the city to stop supplying water from Temba Water Treatment plant to Hammanskraal residents for human consumption, and the city is currently providing potable water to affected communities, who were initially supplied by the Temba Water Treatment Plant, through the deployment of water tankers. In 2021 the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) released a report Gauteng Provincial Inquiry into the Sewage Pollution of the City of Tshwanes Rivers and the Roodeplaat Dam, which recommended, among other things, that the national government should take over the water and sanitation function of the city, in terms of section 139(7) of the Constitution, section 63 of the Water Services Act (Act 108 of 1998), and section 19 of the National Water Act (Act 36 of 1998). However, according to the Minister, the city rejected the SAHRC recommendations. Mchunu said the department contacted the National Treasury for funding for the intervention recommended by the SAHRC, however, Treasury indicated that the city had already been provided with funding for the rehabilitation and upgrading of the Rooiwal Wastewater Treatment Works, through its Urban Settlements Development Grant (USDG) allocations. Consequently, the department is pursuing legal action against the city for a court order to force the city to use its USDG allocations to rehabilitate and upgrade the Rooiwal Wastewater Treatment Works, Mchunu explained. SAnews.gov.za This story has been published on: 2023-05-22. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. Meta Platform Inc. (META.O) announced that the popular social media platform Instagram was back online for most users following a technical issue Sunday that caused disruptions for thousands of people. A spokesperson from Meta addressed the situation, stating, "Earlier today, a technical issue caused some people to have trouble accessing Instagram. We resolved the issue as quickly as possible for everyone who was impacted," in response to inquiries from Reuters. The company has not provided specific details on the number of customers affected by the Instagram global outage. However, outage tracking website Downdetector.com recorded over 100,000 instances in the United States, 24,000 in Canada, and more than 56,000 in Britain during the disruption. At its peak, the outage impacted over 180,000 Instagram users. The service disruption on Sunday began at approximately 5:45 p.m. EST (2145 GMT), with a gradual decrease in reports of disorders by 8:30 p.m. EST, with fewer than 7,000 incidents reported, said Downdetector.com, a reputable outage tracking service, collects status information from various sources, including user reports, to monitor and report on disruptions across different platforms and services. READ NEXT: Technology Behind Instagram Instagram Global Outage Did Not Affect Other Meta Services In a welcome relief to users, it appears that Facebook, WhatsApp, and Horizon Worlds, all under the ownership of Meta, have remained unaffected as Instagram experienced a temporary outage, per The Verge. Unlike the corporation's widespread crisis in 2021 due to a failed data center backbone, there are no indications of a similar problem on the horizon. During the recent outage, there were no official notices on the Instagram support page or the platform's social media feeds, leaving users to speculate about the cause of the disruption. Fortunately, the Instagram global outage has been resolved, allowing users to make posts once again and engage with the platform. Instagram acknowledged the issue on Twitter, stating, "Instagram is back! Sorry for the trouble - we had a brief outage earlier and resolved the issue that caused it." Instagram is back! Sorry for the trouble - we had a brief outage earlier and resolved the issue that caused it. #instagramdown Instagram Comms (@InstagramComms) May 22, 2023 Instagram Allegedly Building an App to Compete with Twitter Meta, the parent company of Instagram, reportedly revealed its plans to develop a text-based discussion app during a private conference attended by select individuals. Alleged screenshots of the upcoming app suggest it will feature a user interface resembling Twitter, according to Cointelegraph. Lia Haberman, a professor specializing in influencer marketing and social media at UC Los Angeles Extension, uncovered Instagram's plans to compete with Twitter. Haberman asserts that the text-based app will be decentralized and operate independently from Instagram, although it will be built on the existing platform. Metas been briefing creators on its upcoming text-based app now looking at a possible late June launch. Details are in my newsletter but Ill list some highlights pic.twitter.com/KYqqXjrRmD Lia Haberman (@liahaberman) May 19, 2023 Users can expand their networks by sharing content with other decentralized social media platforms, including Mastodon. Emulating Twitter's format, the future app will offer a consolidated feed where users can browse posts from their favorite accounts and those they follow. All textual updates will be subject to a 500-character limit. While the Instagram competitor will function autonomously, users can leverage their existing controls and account security settings, such as blocklisting specific accounts and keywords. Bloomberg reporter Sarah Frier has independently verified the existence of Instagram's plans to develop a Twitter-like app through insider sources within the company. Meta's official announcement in March stated, "We are exploring the development of a separate decentralized social network for exchanging text updates." READ MORE: US Debt Ceiling This article is owned by Latin Post. Written by: Bert Hoover WATCH: Instagram down? Users report outage - From FOX 11 Los Angeles Midland Police made a grim discovery when they located human remains believed to belong to Madeline Pantoja, a missing Texas woman. The remains were found approximately three miles east of the County Roads 190 and 1160 intersection Saturday, per KWTX. The authorities wasted no time in taking action, as detectives from the Midland Police Department promptly apprehended Mario Juan Chacon, a 24-year-old male, on the same day. Chacon has been charged with murder in connection with Pantoja's death. Following the Texas woman's disappearance report on May 11, the Midland Police Department launched an intensive investigation and search efforts. Their dedicated efforts led them to the discovery of the human remains, believed to be those of Pantoja, on the morning of Saturday, May 20. As the investigation continues, an autopsy will be conducted by professionals in Dallas County to determine the cause and circumstances surrounding Pantoja's death. The authorities have informed Pantoja's family about the developments in the case, providing them with the devastating news of the discovery. READ NEXT: 'Jealous' Texas Man Kills Nicaraguan Wife Texas Woman's Disappearance Madeline Pantoja was last seen on May 10 at approximately 11:00 pm, according to authorities. Concern grew among her friends and family when they could not reach her the following day, leading them to report her disappearance to the police out of fear for her safety, said the Independent. Those close to Pantoja shared their suspicions with law enforcement, indicating they believed her ex-boyfriend might be involved in her vanishing. Reports from neighbors alleged hearing a heated argument between a man and a woman inside Pantoja's residence on the night she went missing. However, police have yet to confirm the status of her relationship with Mario Juan Chacon Jr., the suspected ex-boyfriend. The disappearance of the young Texas woman prompted an extensive search effort involving multiple law enforcement agencies and aerial drones. Expressing frustration with the pace of the investigation, Pantoja's relatives and friends staged a protest outside the headquarters of the Midland Police Department on Thursday, demanding justice due to what they perceive as a "lack of investigation." Midland Mayor Lori Blong addressed the concerns on Friday, assuring the public that authorities were diligently working to search for Pantoja and gather information and evidence related to her disappearance. To gather information about Pantoja's whereabouts, her purported older brother, Christian, established a GoFundMe page, offering a reward. Thus far, the page has generated approximately $27,000 in donations as of Sunday. Midland Mayor Offered $20,000 Reward Before Texas Woman Found Dead Midland Mayor Lori Blong announced a $20,000 reward on Friday for any information that could lead to locating Madeline Pantoja before discovering her body, Yahoo! News noted. Speaking at a press conference, the mayor expressed empathy for Pantoja's family and friends, acknowledging the immense stress and worry they have experienced throughout this ordeal. It remains to be seen if the reward will be claimed, as police have yet to provide an update. The search for Pantoja has been a round-the-clock effort over the past week, according to Midland Police Chief Seth Herman. Law enforcement agencies, including the FBI, Texas Rangers, Department of Homeland Security, and Midland County Sheriff's Office, have collaborated to scour approximately 60 square kilometers of remote terrain by air and on the ground. Chief Herman revealed that numerous search warrants had been executed, and more than 25 individuals were interviewed in the quest to locate Pantoja. The investigation has been focused and thorough in its approach. Meanwhile, as of Saturday evening, Mario Juan Chacon Jr. remains in custody without bond at the Midland County Jail. Police have not disclosed specific details about Chacon's connection to Pantoja or the evidence that led them to suspect him in her death. READ MORE: El Salvador Stampede This article is owned by Latin Post. Written by: Bert Hoover WATCH: Midland man charged with murder of Missing Person Madeline Pantoja - From NewsWest 9 Ricardo Salinas Pliego was born in Monterrey, Mexico, on October 19, 1955. He is a prominent figure in the business world, known for his diverse portfolio of ventures spanning media, telecommunications, retail, and financial services, per Billionaire Index. As the founder and chairman of Grupo Salinas, he has established himself as one of Mexico's most influential corporate executives, with a track record of driving economic growth and development in the country. Salinas Pliego's educational background is noteworthy, having earned a Bachelor's degree from Tecnologico de Monterrey and a Master of Business Administration from Tulane University in New Orleans, Louisiana. His academic achievements have undoubtedly contributed to his success and strategic insight. Among his notable roles, Salinas Pliego serves as the CEO of Grupo Salinas, overseeing its multifaceted operations. Additionally, he holds the position of owner and head of Azteca, a leading media company in Mexico, demonstrating his significant influence in television and broadcasting. Not content with his business pursuits alone, Salinas Pliego has also demonstrated a commitment to philanthropy through the Ricardo Salinas Establishment. This organization has supported various charitable initiatives, promoted education and bolstering the Mexican economy. READ NEXT: Carlos Slim Net Worth Ricardo Salinas Pliego Source of Wealth In Mexican business, few names hold as much weight as Ricardo Salinas Pliego. This influential figure has amassed a formidable empire through two prominent holding corporations: Grupo Salinas and Grupo Elektra, with ownership stakes in several of Mexico's top corporations, according to SuperYachtFan. Salinas Pliego's vast business portfolio includes ownership of TV Azteca, Elektra, Grupo Lusacell, Unefon, and Banco Azteca, to name a few. These enterprises span diverse sectors such as media, telecommunications, retail, and finance, highlighting the breadth of his influence. The Salinas family's business legacy can be traced to Benjamin Salinas, Ricardo Salinas Pliego's great-grandfather, who established the furniture manufacturing company Salinas & Rocha in 1906. Building on this foundation, Salinas Pliego's grandfather went on to show Grupo Elektra in 1950, setting the stage for future success. Upon assuming the CEO role in 1987, Ricardo Salinas Pliego reshaped Elektra's strategy, refocusing the company on providing essential goods like home appliances, electronics, and furnishings. By offering credit sales and a wide range of financial products and services, he successfully expanded Elektra's customer base among Mexico's lower middle class, cementing the company's status as a household name. TV Azteca, another jewel in Salinas Pliego's crown, is one of the world's largest producers of Spanish-language television. Grupo Lusacell, a significant player in Mexico's wireless telecommunications sector, owns TV Azteca and further strengthens Salinas Pliego's grip on the industry. In addition, Grupo Lusacell operates Unefon, another prominent telecommunications company. Ricardo Salinas Pliego's Net Worth and Family The third wealthiest person in Mexico, Ricardo Salinas Pliego net worth of $13.8 billion, according to Forbes. Beyond his impressive business endeavors, Salinas Pliego also cherishes his role as a family man. The influential Mexican entrepreneur has been married twice and is the proud father of six children, each representing a unique chapter in his personal life, MorningExpress noted. With his first wife, Ninfa Sada Garza, Salinas welcomed three children: Ninfa, Benjamin, and Hugo Salinas Sada. Following his first marriage, Salinas embarked on a new chapter with his second wife, Maria Laura Medina. Together, they welcomed three more children into their family: Mariano Mateo, Cristobal Patricio, and Ricardo Emilio. READ MORE: Quotes for Success From Mexican Billionaire This is owned by Latin Post. Written by: Bert Hoover WATCH: Billionaire Ricardo Salinas Pliego EXCLUSIVE Bitcoin Interview - From Bitcoin Magazine A United Kingdom-based kitchen designer, manufacturer, and retailer is coming soon to Airport Road Shopping Center. Signs in recent weeks have gone up for a Wren Kitchens showroom at the site of the former A.C. Moore space at the bustling shopping center, 1800 block of Airport Road in Hanover Township, Lehigh County. Wren Kitchens has more than 100 United Kingdom locations and theres at least eight other national locations in its online directory, spanning Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York and Connecticut. Theres another statewide site in Wilkes-Barre, Luzerne County. Its unclear when the regional showroom is expected to open. Its listed as Opening Soon on the retailers website and signs at the regional location indicate the company is looking to hire workers to staff the site. A chain spokesman did not immediately return a request for more information Monday, nor did a representative for Goodman Properties, the malls leasing agent. Founded in 2009, Wren is known for its design stations, where patrons can sit with experts alongside large-screen monitors and design new kitchen spaces in 3D. Customers typically create everything from new cabinet styles to flooring, appliances, counter-top choices, sinks and other accessories, according to the website. Some kitchen styles to help them get started include: farmhouse, country, modern, white, gray or two-tone. The Hanover Township location, similar to other company showrooms, will be pet and child friendly, equipped with a play area, the website states. Showrooms additionally are known for cutting-edge virtual reality, which allows patrons to review choices and explore designs while wearing virtual headsets, the website states. Once a patron completes the design process, installation can be performed by a company contracted by Wren to provide professional services. The installation services cover products purchased only from Wren and do not include utility hookup, the website states. Once open, Wren Kitchens will fill a much-needed vacancy at the shopping center. Arts and crafts chain A.C. Moore announced in November 2019 it would be closing all 140 of its stores. That company, which opened its first store in Moorestown in 1985, then stated about 40 of its locations would eventually be replaced by another arts and crafts chain, Michaels. However, Michaels never moved in at Airport Road Shopping Center and the space sat idle ever since A.C. Moores departure. Kinya Ramen Sushi Bar, known for topping some dishes with real 24-karat gold flecks, is opening soon at Airport Road Shopping Center. It'll become the national chain's first regional location. Dwindling vacancies Also opening soon at the shopping center will be Kinya Ramen Sushi Bar, a national Japanese ramen and sushi bar chain. Signs this week indicated that eatery also is Coming Soon in space that previously occupied by Roma Ristorante, next to Game Stop. Roma Ristorante shuttered for good in early summer 2020 with its owners on Facebook citing the coronavirus pandemic as the reason. Kinya Ramen Sushi Bar is known for topping some dishes with real 24-karat gold flecks. Kinya currently has about a dozen other locations in operation or opening soon in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Indiana and Florida, according to the chains locator map. Other statewide locations include in Royersford, Montgomery County; and Wilkes-Barre in Luzerne County. The pair of new tenants will join some other recent additions to the shopping center, which was hammered by several vacancies amid the coronavirus pandemic. Within the past eight months, Wingstop opened next to Red Wing Shoes; Trek Bicycle Allentown opened between the former Roma Ristorante space and Mattress Firm; and Buff City Soap opened in space that previously occupied SneakerKing. Red Wing Shoes in late 2021 opened in the former Zoup! spot. The popular footwear company then filled a vacancy that sat idle for more than two years. It appears just one vacancy remains: at the former Sprint space, between Panera Bread and Great Clips. Please subscribe now and support the local journalism YOU rely on and trust. Pamela Sroka-Holzmann may be reached at pholzmann@lehighvalleylive.com. The Easton Area School Board will vote Tuesday on contracts for two of three top-level administrative vacancies. The administration recommends Kara Dufour to become the districts chief human resources officer. The appointment would be effective June 1. She would replace John Burrus, who is leaving to take a similar position in the Bethlehem Area School District. Assistant Superintendent Tracy Piazza has already been tapped to replace David Piperato, who will retire as superintendent. A judge entered not guilty pleas Monday for a Poconos man charged in the stabbing deaths of four University of Idaho students, setting the stage for a trial in which he could potentially face the death penalty. The Nov. 13, 2022, killings stunned the rural community of Moscow, Idaho, and prompted many students to leave campus early, switching to remote learning for the remainder of the semester. Bryan Kohberger, 28, was arrested late last year in Monroe County and charged with burglary and four counts of first-degree murder in connection with with the slayings of Madison Mogen, Kaylee Goncalves, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin at a rental home near the University of Idaho campus. Mondays hearing came after a grand jury indicted the Poconos man in the stabbing deaths, allowing prosecutors to skip a planned week-long preliminary hearing that was set for late June. Kohberger refused to enter pleas in Latah County District Court, prompting the judge to make them on his behalf. The judge set the trial date for Oct. 2, although it could be delayed. He was a graduate student studying criminology at nearby Washington State University at the time, but prosecutors have not released any information about how he may have chosen the victims or whether he had met any of them previously. Police released few details about the investigation until after Kohberger was arrested at his parents home in eastern Pennsylvania early Dec. 30, 2022. Court documents detailed how police pieced together DNA evidence, cellphone data and surveillance video that they say links Kohberger to the slayings. Investigators said traces of DNA found on a knife sheath inside the home where the students were killed matches Kohberger, and that a cellphone belonging to Kohberger was near the victims home on a dozen occasions prior to the killings. A white sedan allegedly matching one owned by Kohberger was caught on surveillance footage repeatedly cruising past the rental home around the time of the killings. Kernodle, Chapin, Mogen and Goncalves were friends and members of the universitys Greek system, and the three women lived together in the rental home just across the street from campus. Chapin Kernodles boyfriend was there visiting on the night of the attack. Latah County Prosecutor Bill Thompson now has 60 days to inform the court whether he will seek the death penalty in the case. Best-selling novelist James Patterson announced he is teaming up with investigative journalist Vicky Ward on a book about the 2022 killings and Kohbergers criminal case. Patterson and Ward will draw from dozens of exclusive interviews, extensive on-the-ground reporting, copious court transcripts and they plan to attend Kohbergers trial, Little, Brown and Company announced Friday. The manager of a Laois business has won a national award. Keith Browne, 4 Aces, Portlaoise, Co. Laois has been named Cash and Carry Manager of the Year at the prestigious annual ShelfLife Grocery Management Awards. Described as one of the most eagerly anticipated events in the Irish retail calendar, the National Grocery Management Awards is Irelands premier scheme for recognising and honouring management excellence. Cash & Carry Director of BWG Foods Vincent Brown praised the Portlaoise manager. I would like to extend my congratulations to Keith and indeed all the team in 4 Aces Wholesale, Portlaoise on winning this prestigious national title. Keith is very deserving of this industry accolade and he and his team are great champions for the Value Centre network, he said. Winning a Shelflife Management award is a high point in the career of many of Irelands best performing managers from across a variety of categories and at various levels of career progression. The awards is also a leading networking event for managers from across all wholesale brands to gather with colleagues, business partners, suppliers and friends. Nikki Murran, director of Grocery Retail, Excel Recruitment, presented the Cash and Carry Manager of the Year Award to Keith Browne. Portlaoise wholesaler 4 Aces has had a presence in Laois since 1984 and provides employment to 42 people locally. It underwent a 1 million revamp in 2019, and supplies 30 Gala stores locally, as well as a host of other businesses, including hotels, restaurants, pubs, off-licences and independent retail stores. It is part of the Wholesale division of BWG Foods, with 22 locations across Ireland. The crossroads next to a famous Irish Civil War bombsite has been the recent site of two "bad accidents" recently, a local councillor has said. The Monument Crossroads in Tonduff, Laois is beside a monument commemorating the first act of the civil war in 1922. Laois County Council is planning to carry out road safety measures at the crossroads. Cllr John Joe Fennelly tabled a motion to the May meeting of the Portlaoise Municipal District requesting safety measures. "Is there anything we can do immediately? "In the last two weeks there have been two bad accidents, where there is a meeting of Ballytarsna and Portlaoise traffic. It is used as a shortcut. Maybe extra signage or lineage," he said. Cllr Willie Aird seconded the motion. "I know this cross very well. It is very dangerous. I've a small amount of my discretionary fund left, 275. I will put something in because they have been very good to me," he said. Cllr Barry Walsh said that he would contribute some of his budget to the works also. The Portlaoise Municipal District Office is going to apply for money for safety measures to be carried out in the vicinity of the junction of the L-16565 and L-1656 at Monument Cross, Tonduff, Abbeyleix. A group of Laois convent school graduates are holding a fun fundraiser in aid of a new school for music and grinds where they used to board. Ladies who went to the Brigidine convent in Mountrath have reunited to raise money to convert bedrooms and classrooms into a School for Music and Grinds. The school will be on the first floor of the convent, now transformed into a thriving community and business hub in Mountrath after it was donated by the Brigidine Sisters to the local community in 2017. Theres fun and fundraising on the table this coming June 24, organised by The Class of 1990 Restoration Project. They hope to open the new music and grind school in the autumn. The night will feature plenty of brain teasing, refreshments and prizes and the committee are hoping that as many quizzers as possible will get their thinking caps on and take part for a cause which will greatly benefit the local community. Work is underway by the Mountrath Community Forum, working closely with the Class of 1990. A number of rooms are being kitted out to host in-demand music lessons and provide a space for extra tuition for students. The money raised will all go to ensure that the new space is up to the same high spec as other renovations in the old convent and school. The idea to raise funds to aid the buildings restoration and help bring it to life again, came about following the Class of 1990s first ever reunion in January of this year. Buoyed by the success of the event which was attended by well over half the class, the group decided to carry on the reunion spirit and work to give something back. Helen Moorehouse is a member of the Class of 1990. Our reunion group is full of women with immense achievement and capability under their belts so we thought why not put that to good use. Weve been working hard behind the scenes for the last few months making plans and now were so excited to host our first event. Of course, the last time we answered questions in St Philomenas Hall they were on our Leaving Cert papers. We think our quiz will be a lot more craic somehow, and all for a great cause, very close to our hearts. In our time as students, music was an enormous part of the school culture - Christmas carol services, school assemblies, the school orchestra and of course the annual musical. Were so excited that our fundraising will benefit the new School of Music. Were very proud to pay tribute to the Brigidine traditions of music and learning, and determined to create something meaningful for future generations of young people, the committee rep said. Participants are invited to register early for tables (40 per table of 4) by emailing 1990restproject@gmail.com This National Community Engagement Week is designed to achieve the collaborative objective of increased community engagement and community reassurance throughout Ireland. Traditionally, the event has been held over the course of one day, in 2023, the event will now run for 5 days from 22nd to 26th May for National Community Engagement Week. Details of event locations are further down this page both in PDF and image format. Below is a breakdown of the locations where events will take place during the 22nd to 26th May: Over the course of the week hundreds of communities, from all across the country will have the opportunity to meet with their local Gardai and community representatives to discuss matters of importance to them such as rural safety, crime prevention and security. Stakeholders in these areas will be highlighting key aspects of their services to inform, guide and reassure the general public. The objectives of the week: Allow communities to meet and discuss safety concerns with their community Gardai and other key stakeholders. Promote and inform best safety and security practices - share details on the use of innovation and education to improve community safety. Raise awareness of the many aspects of crime prevention and community safety. Empower communities to acquire advice and knowledge that promotes and maintains personal safety and security. This years themes: To promote the collaborations of the various community safety stakeholders and include priorities as outlined in the Rural Safety Plan 2022-24 Day 1 22nd May Community Safety - Priority 1 Community alerts Being Vigilant Scam and phishing Bogus callers Personal alarms Calling into neighbours Day 2 23rd May Road and Pedestrian Safety - Priority 3 All road user safety Driving under the influence Car maintenance Child and car seat safety Horse riding safety Trailers Reporting dangerous driving Day 3 24th May Burglary and Theft - Priority 2 Heritage Crime - Priority 5 Discouraging thieves Securing valuables Marking valuables CCTV Home alarms Phone alarms Day 4 25th May Personal Safety and Wellbeing Mental wellbeing for older groups Focus on stress and anxiety in younger people Suicide awareness Day 5 26th May Farm and Rural Safety - Priority 4 Animal Crime Farm Safety awareness Loose dogs Trespassers Dog coursing Protecting yards Supporting farm families after sudden loss and injury A man who is before Naas District Court is being detained in horrendous conditions in Cloverhill prison Patrick Behan, 41, whose address was given as 3407 Bishopsland, Kildare town and Stefan OLeary, 21, whose address was given as 25 Roseberry Court, Newbridge, are being prosecuted for on two counts of attempted robbery, production of an article and resisting arrest. Garda Lorraine Foran told a previous hearing of receiving a report of an incident at the Apache Pizza outlet, Eyre Street, Newbridge, on March 27 at 8.40, during which a knife was produced. While en route to this and accompanied by a colleague, she saw two males on top of the counter at the Yummi Yaki Chinese food premises, Charlotte Street, Newbridge. The pair had their faces covered and one had a large knife, measuring at least 12 inches long and was swiping with it. They were kicking at a protective screen and when the two gardai identified themselves the pair ran at them. Gda Foran sustained a bang to the head and deployed pepper spray before the pair were arrested. Solicitor Tim Kennelly said Patrick Behan is sharing a three man cell which has four people and he asked for the case to proceed. There is one guy on the floor, said Mr Kennelly adding that while the defendant is being patient, the situation is not ideal by any stretch of the imagination.. He called for the case to be struck out and pointed out that the defendant has the presumption of innocence. Sgt Dave Hanrahan commented that the pair are in custody because the matter is very serious. He said the matter is still under investigation and the investigation is only five weeks old. He added there are two defendants and multiple allegations. He also said scientific forensics reports are awaited. Judge Desmond Zaidan said that while he understood the argument, he declined to strike the matter out. The judge told the defendant that for what its worth you look a lot healthier than when you came before me. He also said that if he could bring about an improvement in prison, he did not know why he could not do it in the community. Barrister Aisling Murphy also expressed concern at the delay affecting Stefan OLeary, pointing out that the gardai objected to bail so there is an added pressure on the State to expedite the matter. Judge Zaidan responded that the investigations take time and a case involving many allegations takes more time. The matter was adjourned. Read more Kildare news Please allow ads as they help fund our trusted local news content. Kindly add us to your ad blocker whitelist. If you want further access to Ireland's best local journalism, consider contributing and/or subscribing to our free daily Newsletter . Support our mission and join our community now. The European Union on Monday, May 22, said it had demanded that Greece open a comprehensive probe into video footage apparently showing the forceful expulsion of migrants who are set adrift at sea. The footage, published by the New York Times on Friday, showed what appeared to be masked men on April 11 accosting migrants including a baby who had arrived in Greece by boat and bundling them in a van. The video then showed the migrants being taken out into the Aegean Sea, transferred to an inflatable raft and set adrift. Turkish coast guard boats are seen rescuing them around an hour later. The video added to growing documentation by media and rights groups suggesting Greek authorities were actively involved in multiple "pushbacks" of migrants illegal under refugee law. Letter from Athens Article reserve a nos abonnes In Athens, solidarity with refugees has gradually faded Ajouter a vos selections Ajouter a vos selections Pour ajouter larticle a vos selections identifiez-vous Sinscrire gratuitement Se connecter Vous possedez deja un compte ? As in previous cases brought to light, the European Commission on Monday expressed its "concern" at the latest report, with one spokeswoman saying it "is enquiring with the Greek authorities" about it. "My services have sent a formal request to Greek authorities that this incident be fully and independently investigated," European Commissioner for Home Affairs Ylva Johansson tweeted. Johansson pointed to past conversations she had had with Greek government officials about the multiplying incidents of alleged pushbacks, saying that a year ago she had told them "there is no place for illegal deportations." From July 2022 Article reserve a nos abonnes EU investigators find Frontex turned blind eye to Greece migrant pushbacks Ajouter a vos selections Ajouter a vos selections Pour ajouter larticle a vos selections identifiez-vous Sinscrire gratuitement Se connecter Vous possedez deja un compte ? Member states sitting on the south and southeastern outer rim of the European Union, including Greece, complain that they are unfairly burdened with arrivals of undocumented migrants. They were at the forefront of a big 2015 influx of migrants, many of them Syrians fleeing the civil war, which was reduced when Brussels struck a 2016 financial deal with Turkey to stem the flow. Efforts by the Commission to come up with a revised asylum policy have foundered on the refusal of several EU countries to allow a redistribution of undocumented migrants onto their territories. Le Monde with AFP Belarusian dissident journalist Roman Protasevich gestures while speaking at a news conference at the National Press Center of Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Minsk, Belarus, Monday, June 14, 2021. RAMIL NASIBULIN / AP The Belarusian state news agency on Monday, May 22, reported that a dissident journalist who was pulled off a flight that was forced to land in the country and was later sentenced to eight years in prison says he has received a presidential pardon. "I literally just signed all the relevant documents that I was pardoned. This, of course, is just great news," Roman Protasevich was quoted as saying by the news agency Belta. Protasevich was convicted and sentenced on May 3 for organizing unrest and plotting to seize power. He ran a Telegram messaging app channel that was widely used by participants in mass protests against the disputed August 2020 election that gave authoritarian Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko a sixth term in office. The protests, which lasted for months, were the longest and largest demonstration of opposition to Lukashenko since he took power in 1994. Belarusian authorities responded to the demonstrations with a brutal crackdown that saw more than 35,000 people arrested, thousands beaten by police and dozens of media outlets and nongovernmental organizations shut. Protasevich was living in exile at the time, but he and his girlfriend were arrested in May 2021 when their Ryanair flight from Greece to Lithuania was ordered to land in the capital of Belarus, Minsk. Belarusian authorities said there was a bomb threat but later said no explosives were found on board. Western countries condemned the flight diversion as tantamount to hijacking and imposed strong sanctions against Lukashenko and Belarus. Protasevich subsequently made several confessional appearances on state television that critics claimed were made under duress. He was later released from custody and put under house arrest. His girlfriend, a Russian citizen, was sentenced to six years in prison in May 2022. The Belarusian human rights organization Viasna says nearly 1,500 people have been put behind bars in Belarus in connection with opposition activities. That includes Viasna's founder, Ales Bialiatski, one of the 2022 Nobel Peace Prize laureates. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison in May. Le Monde with AP The streets of Belgorod, decorated with red stars and Russian flags, on July 5, 2022. ELENA CHERNYSHOVA FOR 'LE MONDE' Moscow said Monday, May 22, its troops were battling a Ukrainian "sabotage" group that infiltrated Russian territory. The announcement of the latest incursion in the southern region of Belgorod came after Ukraine said Russian forces pummelled the eastern Ukrainian city of Dnipro with missiles and drones overnight, and as Kyiv insisted it is still fighting for control of the flashpoint eastern city of Bakhmut. Russian authorities said they had introduced an "anti-terror regime" in Belgorod, which has been attacked since the start of Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February last year. A similar regime which gives special powers to security services and places a number of curbs on the public was in place in Chechnya between 1999 and 2009. "In order to ensure the safety of citizens in the Belgorod region, the legal counter-terror regime has been introduced today," Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said. He also said that at least six people were injured in an attack and most were in hospital with shrapnel and other wounds. The Kremlin said President Vladimir Putin had been informed of the cross-border incursion, adding Moscow believed the attack was designed to "divert attention" from Bakhmut. 'Russia will be free' Members of the anti-Kremlin Freedom of Russia Legion claimed responsibility for the attack. In a video released by a Telegram channel claiming to represent the group, a camouflaged spokesman, surrounded by armed men in fatigues, said: "Russia will be free!", using a slogan frequently used by Russian opposition activists. The Telegram channel said that two settlements including Graivoron had been attacked. Kyiv denied involvement. "Ukraine is watching the events in Russia's Belgorod region with interest and is studying the situation, but has nothing to do with it," Ukrainian presidential advisor Mikhaylo Podolyak said. Podolyak suggested that Russian "guerrilla groups" could be responsible. After Putin sent troops to Ukraine, the border region of Belgorod has been repeatedly shelled, and dozens of people have been killed. Authorities have also reported a series of incidents involving members of "sabotage" groups crossing over from Ukraine. In April, the city of Belgorod was bombed by a Russian fighter jet that dropped ammunition over the city by accident. Read more Article reserve a nos abonnes Ukraine intensifies sabotage operations in border regions with Russia Ajouter a vos selections Ajouter a vos selections Pour ajouter larticle a vos selections identifiez-vous Sinscrire gratuitement Se connecter Vous possedez deja un compte ? Governor Gladkov said authorities were helping people leave the area under attack. "The situation here continues to be extremely tense," he said, adding that authorities were going door to door to notify local residents. Le Monde with AFP An aerial view of Bakhmut, Ukraine, dated Wednesday, April 26, 2023. LIBKOS / AP Ukraine said it continued to fight for Bakhmut on Monday, May 22, and still controlled a corner of the eastern city, as Russia's paramilitary Wagner company said it would transfer control of the ruined hotspot to the Russian army by June 1. Both Wagner and the regular Russian army said over the weekend that Bakhmut has fallen to them, but Ukraine has denied this. "The fighting continues," Ukraine's Deputy Defense Minister Ganna Malyar said, a day after President Volodymyr Zelensky said Bakhmut was "not occupied" by Russia. Malyar said Kyiv's troops retained control of the "Airplane" district of Bakhmut. "The battle for the dominant heights on the flanks north and south of the suburbs continues," she added. The head of Russia's mercenary group Wagner, whose fighters have spearheaded Moscow's storming of Bakhmut, announced on Saturday that the city had fully fallen to his fighters. On Monday, he said the mercenaries would leave Bakhmut by June 1 and hand over control to regular Russian troops. "Wagner will leave Artemovsk from May 25 to June 1," Yevgeny Prigozhin said in an audio recording on Telegram, using the city's former Soviet-era name. Prigozhin said the mercenaries had set up "defense lines" on the western outskirts of the city before a planned transfer of control to the Russian army. "If the ministry of defense does not have enough personnel, we have thousands of generals," said Prigozhin, who has been embroiled in an increasingly public spat with the Russian military leadership. Prigozhin has poured scathing criticism on Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu and army chief of staff Valery Gerasimov, accusing them of being incompetent and causing Moscow's large-scale losses in the conflict in Ukraine. Bakhmut, a salt-mining city in the Donetsk region, had a pre-war population of around 70,000 people. Both sides are believed to have suffered huge losses in the battle for Bakhmut, the longest and bloodiest in Moscow's offensive. Read more Article reserve a nos abonnes Zelensky, the G7's surprise guest, upsets summit agenda Ajouter a vos selections Ajouter a vos selections Pour ajouter larticle a vos selections identifiez-vous Sinscrire gratuitement Se connecter Vous possedez deja un compte ? Le Monde with AFP Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (left) and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad before the Arab League summit in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on May 19, 2023. COUR ROYALE SAOUDITE VIA REUTERS Syria's reintegration into the Arab League has caught the West by surprise. Only three months passed between the first signs of this changeover, following the earthquake that devastated Turkey and the northwestern tip of Syria on February 6, and the return of the Damascus regime to the pan-Arab organization on May 7. The United States, France and the European Union had no choice but to bow down to the determination of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) to lift the diplomatic embargo imposed on the Syrian dictator. Western governments have been content to urge their Arab partners to demand guarantees from Damascus on the issues of political transition, prisoners and refugees in return. The Amman Message, which was signed on May 1, lists a series of measures that Bashar al-Assad demanded in exchange for normalization. But MBS did not make the Syrian president's appearance at the Arab summit in Jeddah on May 19 conditional on the start of implementing these measures. And, without waiting, the United Arab Emirates sent the Syrian dictator an invitation to the United Nations climate conference (COP28), which they will host in the fall. "At least now it's a done deal. We saw it coming for a year, but we continued to bury our heads in the sand," said a European diplomat. Read more Article reserve a nos abonnes Arab League Summit: Assad overshadowed by Zelensky Ajouter a vos selections Ajouter a vos selections Pour ajouter larticle a vos selections identifiez-vous Sinscrire gratuitement Se connecter Vous possedez deja un compte ? "The West offered nothing, we were at a dead end. We were pursuing a policy of negligent indifference. As long as there is no Western offer in the face of the implicit offer from the Iranians and Russians, we won't be heard," said Michel Duclos, former French ambassador to Syria. After the August 2013 retreat of President Barack Obama, who was reluctant to order strikes on Syria in retaliation for the chemical attack in Ghouta, a suburb of Damascus, the Americans totally disengaged from this issue. 'The ball is in the Western camp' Divided, the Europeans have been unable to weigh in against Russia's obstruction at the UN and its undermining work on the ground, where it deployed forces in 2015. "Since Obama, Democrats and Republicans have applied the same simplistic policy that does not solve the crisis: sanctions, counterterrorism and humanitarian aid. Saudi Arabia felt that a new strategy was needed," said Robert Ford, former US ambassador to Syria. "The ball is now in the Western camp," said Duclos. "Currently, in the United States as in Europe, there is no major shift. We are still holding onto the position of the three no's: normalization, reconstruction and lifting sanctions," said a European diplomat. The American sanctions applied under the Caesar Act (2019) are the main obstacle to normalization and to financial support from the Gulf to rebuild Syria, which is in concerning shape after 12 years of war and a devastating economic crisis. The Caesar Act only authorizes the delivery of humanitarian aid and the establishment of stabilization projects. You have 51.4% of this article left to read. The rest is for subscribers only. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis pauses as he speaks during the Florida Family Policy Council Annual Dinner Gala, in Orlando, Florida, US, May 20, 2023. MARCO BELLO / REUTERS The NAACP over the weekend issued a travel advisory for Florida, joining two other civil rights groups in warning potential tourists that recent laws and policies championed by Governor Ron DeSantis and Florida lawmakers are "openly hostile toward African Americans, people of color and LGBTQ+ individuals." The NAACP, long an advocate for Black Americans, joined the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), a Latino civil rights organization, and Equality Florida, a gay rights advocacy group, in issuing travel advisories for the Sunshine State, where tourism is one of the state's largest job sectors. The warning approved on Saturday, May 21, by the NAACP's board of directors tells tourists that, before traveling to Florida, they should understand the state of Florida "devalues and marginalizes the contributions of, and the challenges faced by African Americans and other communities of color." An email was sent on Sunday morning to DeSantis' office seeking comment. The Republican governor is expected to announce a run for the GOP presidential nomination this week. Florida is one of the most popular states in the US for tourists, and tourism is one of its biggest industries. More than 137.5 million tourists visited Florida last year, marking a return to pre-pandemic levels, according to Visit Florida, the state's tourism promotion agency. Tourism supports 1.6 million full-time and part-time jobs, and visitors spent $98.8 billion in Florida in 2019, the last year figures are available. 'A shadow of fear' Several of Florida's Democratic mayors were quick to say Sunday that their cities welcomed diversity and inclusion. "EVERYONE is always welcome and will be treated with dignity and respect," tweeted Mayor Ken Welch of St. Petersburg in a message echoed by the mayor across the bay in Tampa. "That will never change, regardless of what happens in Tallahassee," tweeted Mayor Jane Castor of Tampa. The NAACP's decision comes after the DeSantis' administration in January rejected the College Boards Advanced Placement African American Studies course. DeSantis and Republican lawmakers also have pressed forward with measures that ban state colleges from having programs on diversity, equity and inclusion, as well as critical race theory, and also passed the Stop WOKE Act that restricts certain race-based conversations and analysis in schools and businesses. In its warning for Hispanic travelers considering a visit to Florida, LULAC cited a new law that prohibits local governments from providing money to organizations that issue identification cards to people illegally in the country and invalidates out-of-state drivers licenses held by undocumented immigrants, among other things. The law also requires hospitals that accept Medicaid to include a citizenship question on intake forms, which critics have said is intended to dissuade immigrants living in the US illegally from seeking medical care. "The actions taken by Governor DeSantis have created a shadow of fear within communities across the state," said Lydia Medrano, a LULAC vice president for the Southeast region. Recent efforts to limit discussion on LGBTQ topics in schools, the removal of books with gay characters from school libraries, a recent ban on gender-affirming care for minors, new restrictions on abortion access and a law allowing Floridians to carry concealed guns without a permit contributed to Equality Florida's warning. "Taken in their totality, Floridas slate of laws and policies targeting basic freedoms and rights pose a serious risk to the health and safety of those traveling to the state," Equality Florida's advisory said. Read more Florida lawmakers approve six week abortion ban Ajouter a vos selections Ajouter a vos selections Pour ajouter larticle a vos selections identifiez-vous Sinscrire gratuitement Se connecter Vous possedez deja un compte ? Le Monde with AP THE SARSFIELD Homecoming Project continues full steam ahead with Mayor Francis Foley scheduled to visit the believed site of Patrick Sarsfields remains later this month. Councillor Foley will travel to Huy, Belgium on May 31 with Dr Loic Guyon, Honorary Consul of France in Limerick and founder of The Sarsfield Homecoming Project; Dr Pat Daly, CE of Limerick City and County Council; Frank Coyne of Aegis Archaeology and sponsor of the project John Shaw of Carelon Ireland. The assemblage will visit the site where Sarsfields remains are located, according to Dr Guyons research. They will also meet with the local council and discuss the timeline for the project. By autumn this year, the preliminary on-site works will take place. Trial trenching, soil analysation and geophysical surveying are among the procedures that will occur. In early summer of next year, a full scale excavation will take place and DNA testing will begin. Plans are also in place to begin a Y-DNA mapping exercise with Irish men residing in Ireland who hold the Sarsfield surname. Dr Guyon launched The Sarsfield Homecoming Project in October 2020. The aim of the project was to bring back the remains of Sarsfield to Limerick. Sarsfield negotiated the Treaty of Limerick in 1691 after staunchly defending the city. Despite suffering overall defeat, the treaty ended the Williamite War. After continuing the fight in France, Sarsfield perished in service in 1693, in what is now Belgium. Dr Guyon, Associate Professor and Head of the Department of French Studies at Mary Immaculate College, has spent over two years researching Sarsfield. He has published his research in both French and English in his academic journals Annales du Cercle Hutois des Sciences & Beaux-Arts, and the North Munster Antiquarian Journal. The total cost of the excavation is an estimated 90,000 and a fundraising campaign is underway. PLANNERS have given permission for a multi-million euro redevelopment of one of Limerick's oldest schools. Colaiste Mhichil CBS, which is almost 200 years old, is set for a 25m upgrade which will see its student numbers increase from 330 to 550. The landmark 19th century building at Sexton Street is to remain untouched, but its interior will be completely upgraded. An extension is to be built to the rear of the school with a building constructed in the 1980s demolished. This will pave the way for state-of-the-art classrooms, science labs and practical rooms. Notably, there will be a new gym - as opposed to the refurbishment of the existing one - and an autism learning unit. School principal Denis O'Connor said: We have to recognise the Department of Education have been positive in all this and are backing it. It's good to see. There has been a lot of investment in other educational sectors in Limerick, so it's great to see the department backing the voluntary school sector. He also paid tribute to the school's board of management, which is leading the project. Deputy principal Rob Williams added it's massive for Colaiste Mhichil. For a school like ours with almost 200 years of history, it's great to see we can still service the local area. We have a massive community. Forty-two different nationalities here and it's great to get what the kids deserve and what the teachers deserve. They have been fabulous. So the least they deserve now is a building they are proud of. The board of management at the school will now tender for a builder to carry out the construction work, which is estimated to last from between two and two-and-a-half years. There will be a jobs dividend too, Mr O'Connor added, saying that hundreds of construction workers will be employed. And, since the school is increasing its student numbers by 30%, new teacher roles will also be created. It's hoped builders will move on site before the end of this year. Founded in 1829, famous alumni of the school include JP McManus. LIMERICK CITY and County Council will hold a special meeting following a legal challenge from a councillor. Councillor Sharon Benson had initiated a legal challenge against the council following a special meeting held on April 5 discussing the end of the eviction ban. During the meeting, Councillor Benson alleged that the council "blatantly disregarded standing orders and refused to have the motion heard". The emergency motion was submitted by Cllr Sharon Benson, Cllr PJ Carey and Cllr Tom Collopy who were supported by Social Democrats councillor Elisa O'Donovan and Independent councillor Eddie Ryan. The motion, which was not discussed, called on the local authority to note the comments by tenants' charity Threshold which predicted that "unprecedented" numbers of adults and children could become homeless as a result of the end of the moratorium. The motion also called on the council to write to the government to urge it to reconsider the ending of the eviction ban. Following the news that a special meeting will now be held on the topic, the Sinn Fein councillor said she welcomed the opportunity to discuss the "very important motion". "The course of action the council took unfortunately left me with no choice but to pursue legal avenues to ensure that not only this special meeting was held but that the local democratic processes were protected. "If fair process was followed from the start, I would not have had to pursue legal action. An action that has left Limerick City & County Council facing legal costs. But here we are and I am delighted to see that both common sense and due process has won out. "I would like to thank both my party colleagues and fellow councillors who stood by me during this process and of course my legal team who worked tirelessly to get this matter addressed". Confirming the scheduling of the special meeting, a spokesperson for Limerick City and County Council said: "Following the Special Meeting on the 5th of April relating to a requisition on Housing, Limerick City and County Council received legal advice and a decision has been made to rescind the notice of motion and schedule a special meeting to allow for a full debate on the topic. "A date and time for same will be confirmed in due course". Kathy Casteel | A Lincoln University agroforestry researcher has received a grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to develop a highly productive alley cropping system for demonstration and research that will aid small farmers in Missouri. Sougata Bardhan, an assistant professor of natural resources management, will establish the demonstration plot at Lincolns George Washington Carver Farm near Jefferson City. Alley cropping is a system of planting rows of trees or shrubs to create alleys where agricultural crops are produced between the tree rows. Alley cropping improves soil health, soil quality and water quality, and reduces greenhouse gas emissions. Bardhans project will incorporate tree rows of high-yielding Chinese chestnut trees; alley crops will include hybrid hazelnut, currants, gooseberry, roselle or other berry crops. Additionally, native pollinator strips will integrate honeybee hives into the plot to maximize financial returns as it protects biodiversity and wildlife habitat. The $399,606 award, administered by the USDAs Natural Resources Conservation Service, is a Conservation Innovation Grant that promotes the development of new tools, technologies and strategies to support next-generation conservation efforts on working lands and develop market-based solutions to resource challenges. Alley cropping offers an alternative to conventional agricultural practices that provides many benefits, Bardhan says. Farmers can produce diverse crops, leading to greater ecological and financial resilience. The marketing of climate-smart produce can help producers access a niche market of consumers concerned with climate change and eating local foods. With a small footprint and through cost-share mechanisms, this production system is ideally suited for small and marginal farmers in Missouri. As the project progresses, Bardhan wants to share the advantages of alley cropping with small farmers in Missouri. A significant portion of farms are operated by small, minority and/or resource-limited farmers, characterized by having a very low household income, Bardhan notes. A well-designed alley cropping system can provide high-value yields of specialty crops compared to their land footprint, providing small farmers with a diverse, economically viable production alternative that also provides crucial ecosystem services for their farm and community. Bardhan expects to see economic returns from the ally crops and honey production within two to three years. The Chinese chestnut trees should start producing marketable nuts within seven to ten years, he says. The project is the third of five major agroforestry practices established at Lincoln University. With climate change and extreme weather events, agroforestry is getting national attention in promoting ecosystem services, Bardhan says. With the success of these projects, Lincoln University will be at the epicenter of this focus. Law enforcement departments are turning to HBCUs to diversify and strengthen their forces, according to the Inside Higher Ed article Police Seek Recruits at HBCUs, published May 15, 2023. The article quotes Lincoln University of Missouri Police Department Chief Gary Hill and features the Lincoln University of Missouri Law Enforcement Training Academy (LULETA). The article states: As police departments seek to diversify, particularly after the national racial reckoning in 2020, some are turning to historically Black colleges and universities, like Lincoln, as a source of new hires and launching new efforts to engage HBCU students and fill their ranks. The article explains how police departments have been historically less diverse than the communities they serve. It highlights the importance of programs like LULETA in creating inclusive learning environments that train students to become well-educated, community-oriented police officers. It notes that LULETA is the first and only police academy at an HBCU. According to Chief Hill, several HBCUs are interested in creating programs such as LULETA, and he has been in contact with police departments looking to recruit HBCU graduates and build partnerships. This interest in hiring HBCU grads is being seen across the nation, not just in mid-Missouri. At LULETA, Chief Hill said that there is a sense of security with being in a Black space, where people of color feel comfortable in their environment and pursue a career in a place thats going to be inclusive. Read the full article. NEW DELHI : Low-cost carrier Go First, which is yet to resume flight operations after filing for voluntary insolvency, will need to convincingly win back the trust of passengers and travel companies before making plans for a successful revival, Madhavan Menon, chairman & managing director, Thomas Cook (India) Ltd told Mint . My customers interest is primary. Till Go Air can convince us that they will operate in a sustained manner I dont see demand for their seats coming back," Menon said. They suddenly stopped operations one day, they left passengers of mine and everybody else stranded. They have to give both the passengers and the industry the confidence that they can fly again. They have extended period for flight cancellation six times. Unless I have confidence, I will not give it to my customer. At the end of the day my reputation lies with my customer, not Go Airs," he added. Go Firsts closure has impacted various bookings made by Thomas Cook, which has led to this stance by the travel service provider. My customers who were booked on Go Air earlier are now witnessing higher air fares and every time they go to book, the seats are disappearing," he said. The Thomas Cook India Group, an omnichannel travel company, is present in 28 countries worldwide and naturally had exposure to the Wadia Group-backed airline when it suddenly suspended flights operations from 3 May. While the company will stand in the line of creditors to which Go Air owes dues, it has made provisions for the dues in the interim and does not see any major disruption to the cash flows as a result of the same. Meanwhile, the airline has informed its pilots that it plans to resume some flight operations from 27 May but a plan is yet to be submitted to civil aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation on the same. Thomas Cook India Group, on Thursday, reported operating earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation at 2.7 billion in 2022-23 as compared to a loss of 1.2 billion in 2021-22. The profit before tax for the group stood at 560 million in 2022-23, while it had reported a loss of 1.14 billion in 2021-22. The group attributes the increase in revenues to record demand. This is the change in consumer behaviour and it is here to stay for some time, people are saying okay doesnt matter what it costs, let me go on holiday," he added. The group derives revenues and profits from largely four segments including foreign exchange, Sterling Holidays, travel services including meetings, conferences incentives, and leisure travel, and digital imaging solutions. Thomas Cook has a 72.34% shareholding of Fairbridge Capital, a subsidiary of Fairfax, which is the promoter group for Bengaluru airport. The group expects numbers for the existing fiscal to be better than last year on the back of high demand. I have got a very strong forward booking book for the next quarter... Q1, Q2, Q3 demand is going to be continuous. Despite high air fares, hotel rates there is sufficient demand across all segments. The group is also hopeful of strong business from government projects including G20, Khelo India among others. We expect to book record sales this year. This is driven by a lot more government business coming our way, we are one of the three logistics partners for G20 meetings, 70-80 of the 130 meetings, that is going to add over 100 crore to our turnover, Khelo India in Uttar Pradesh, Goa...our expectation is we will see record business in incentive business," he said. Overall, the group expects better results in 2023-24 as compared to 2022-23 on the back of forex, corporate businesses including incentive and corporate travel, and leisure. The domestic market benchmarks the Sensex and the Nifty have been in the green since March this year, on a monthly basis, thanks to in-line March quarter numbers of India Inc., foreign capital inflow, signs of an end of aggressive rate hikes and India's healthy economic outlook. Analysts point out that the undertone of the market is positive and after the end of the short-term concern over the debt ceiling crisis in the US, the market may move to hit its fresh all-time high. It appears to be a time to pick quality stocks for the long term. However, keeping in mind that the market may remain volatile in the short term, one should bet on stocks that are not only fundamentally sound but also have strong technical structures. Analysts recommended the following nine stocks to bet on for the next three to four weeks as their technical indicators indicate they are poised for gains in the shoer term. Sumeet Bagadia, Executive Director, Choice Broking Mahindra and Mahindra (M&M) | Target price: 1,325 | Stop loss: 1,220 The stock has formed a hammer pattern on the daily chart which indicates the reversal of the bearish trend in the stock. Strength is shown by the RSI indicator's current trading range of 58 levels. The stock is currently trading above all of the key moving averages. The Bollinger band continues to expand on the daily chart, with the price trading above the band's centre line, indicating the stock's strength. A small resistance is placed near 1,285 level; if it surpasses this level, it may move towards 1,325 level and higher. "With a medium-term target price of 1,325, we advise purchasing M&M at the current market price of 1,260. It can also be accumulated close to 1,240 levels. If the price closes below 1,220, our analysis will become invalid," said Bagadia. The price has been consolidating and building a firm base in the 1,9101,920 zone on the weekly chart. The short-term support is further confirmed by the stock's current price, which is above 21 simple moving averages (SMA). On the hourly chart, it is also moving in a higher-high-higher-low pattern. The daily period RSI plot is still at a level of 60. On a daily chart, the Bollinger Band has begun to widen. "One can start a long position at the current market price based on the technical framework described above. To be on the safe side, it would be better to enter the 1,9201,925 level range. Closing and sustaining above 1,960 will lead prices in the following days towards 2,0402,050 levels. Stop loss may remain at 1,895," said the analyst. Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), after experiencing a month-long rally from its low of 3,071.50 to the high of 3,309.70, has recently retraced. The chart suggests that TCS has established a strong support level in the range of 3,180-3,200. This indicates that the stock has found considerable buying interest around these levels, providing a potential foundation for further upward movement. The Relative Strength Index (RSI) for TCS is currently at 49, indicating that there is still room for potential upside. "Considering the technical factors and market conditions, it appears to be a favourable opportunity to buy TCS at dips until it reaches the 3,000 level. The target for this trade would be 3,340, with a recommended stop loss set at 3,150," said the analyst. Read all market-related news here Jigar S. Patel, Senior Manager of Equity Research at Anand Rathi Share and Stock Brokers For the last one year, this counter has been consolidating in the range of 100-120 approximately. Recently, it gave a clean breakout along with heavy volume which hints towards further upside in the counter. Additionally, on a weekly scale, MACD is displaying a bullish crossover exactly above the zero line which is a sign of further bullish momentum. Recently, this counter has given a breakout from its previous weekly trading range of 550-620 and is currently well placed above it. On the indicator front, the price action is well above William Alligator (trend-following indicator) while the weekly MACD is displaying a bullish crossover exactly above the zero line which is a sign of further bullish momentum. "One can buy this stock in the range of 635-640 with an upside target of 690 and stop loss would be 615 on a daily close basis," said the analyst. After making the top 925 in May 2021, it nosedived, resulting in a 71 per cent cut in price. Between June 2022 to March 2023, it made a solid base near 300 levels and has reversed nicely from those levels. Additionally, it has made a bullish bat pattern on a weekly scale along with bullish divergence i.e. price was making lower lows and MACD was making higher lows. "One can buy this stock in the range of 340-350 with an upside target of 430, keeping a stop loss of 310 on a daily close basis," said the analyst. Read: Day trading guide for today: Six buy or sell stocks for Monday - May 22 Vaishali Parekh, Vice President - Technical Research, Prabhudas Lilladher The stock has given a decent rally in the past one and a half month scaling the peak level of 537 and thereafter witnessing a short correction to halt near the rupee 500 level, forming a higher bottom pattern on the daily chart. The RSI indicator has indicated a reversal making the chart look attractive and has signalled a buy. "With the stock overall in a rising trend, we anticipate another upward move in the coming days. We suggest buying and accumulating this stock for an upside target of 575 level, keeping the stop loss at 504," said the analyst. The stock after the recent slide has consolidated near the 43 level and currently, with a positive candle pattern, it has shown improvement and is expected to see further rise in the coming days. The RSI has indicated a trend reversal from the oversold zone, signalling a buy. "The stock has much upside potential. With the chart looking attractive, we recommend buying this stock for an upside target of 54, keeping the stop loss of 41," said the analyst. The stock has indicated a strong support near 220 levels where it has shown trend reversal on three occasions. Currently, it has shown a significant pullback from the support zone, improving the bias after moving past the important 50EMA (exponential moving average) level of 235 and a further rise to 280 is anticipated. The RSI has indicated a trend reversal from the oversold zone and it is currently in a strong position with strength indicated. "With the chart looking good, moving in an ascending channel pattern, we recommend buying this stock for an upside target of 280 keeping a stop loss of 225," said the analyst. Disclaimer: The views and recommendations given in this article are those of individual analysts. These do not represent the views of Mint. We advise investors to check with certified experts before taking any investment decisions. Know your inner investor Do you have the nerves of steel or do you get insomniac over your investments? Lets define your investment approach. Take the test Best investment option: All of us want to become rich early in our life and amass huge wealth. But, not many of us do what it takes to pursue the path. To become rich, individuals need to learn how to invest smartly and grow their money. Also, one important point here is to start your investment journey early, the sooner you begin, the better off you will be able to cash in the power of compounding. There is no shortcut and no hard formula to become rich . All it requires is patience and discipline. Money experts always advise investors to diversify their portfolio 1)Invest in equity to become rich Investing in equity is one of the most popular ways to generate a steady income. equity investments allow investors to earn returns through dividend payments and capital appreciation. One of the key benefits of investing in equities is that it provides investors with long-term goal growth potential. Ravi Singhal, CEO, GCL said by focusing on blue chip stocks and well-established companies with a strong history of returns, investors can minimize their risk and achieve consistent returns over the long term. For example, Protector and Gamble(P&G) is known for its reliable dividend payments which have been steadily increasing for over 60 years. Another good example is Real Estate Investment Trusts(REITs) to get good income from equities. One can also consider Realty Income Corporation, which has a monthly dividend payment schedule and a history of consistent dividends, explained Singhal 2) Invest in Mutual funds to become rich Mutual funds are a popular investment option for those seeking steady income. These funds pool money from multiple investors and invest in a diversified portfolio of stocks, bonds, and other securities. This diversification reduces the risk for individual investors and offers long-term growth potential. To achieve a steady income through mutual funds one can choose various options such as dividend mutual funds, income funds, and balanced funds," said Dhruv Jain, Technical analyst and trader. One example of a mutual fund that provides steady income is the Vanguard. Dividend Appreciation Index Fund, this fund invests in companies with a history of increasing their dividends each year providing a reliable source of income for investors. Another example is the National Muni Bond which invests in a diversified portfolio of municipal bonds issued by state and local governments, suggested Dhruv Jain. 3) Invest in rental office space to become rich Investing in rental office space can be a reliable way to generate steady income. According to Nakul Mathur, MD, Avanta India, when selecting a property, it's important to consider the location, size, and condition of the building, as well as the demand for office space in the area. For example, a small office complex located in a growing business district can be a great investment opportunity. Many businesses are looking for affordable office space in areas with easy access to transportation and amenities, and a well-maintained property can attract high-quality tenants," said Nakul. Another option is to purchase a larger building and lease out individual offices to multiple tenants, suggested Nakul. This can be especially lucrative in areas with a high demand for flexible office space, such as coworking spaces or serviced offices. With careful planning and management, investing in rental office space can be a profitable and rewarding venture, he added. However, it's crucial to do your research and diversify your investments to minimize risk and maximize potential income. Disclaimer: The views and recommendations made above are those of individual analysts, and not of Mint. We advise investors to check with certified experts before taking any investment decisions. How to invest in mutual funds (MFs) online: Mutual Funds are a smart way to grow your money. They can help you achieve your financial goals if you stay invested for the long term. There are multiple ways to invest in mutual funds. You can invest directly from the website of the fund house or through investing apps. Investing online is simple, fast, and convenient. Investing in Mutual Funds(MFs) has become much easier compared to the experience a decade ago. Heres how to invest in mutual funds online. PAN A permanent account number (PAN) is the biggest requirement. KYC compliance It is mandatory to be compliant with know-your-customer (KYC) norms Investors should ideally buy direct plans Every mutual fund scheme comes in two versions - Regular and Direct. Investors should ideally buy Direct versions of the MF, since these give up to 1% more returns than the regular variants, said Amber Pabreja, Founder and CEO of Trendlyne. Broking platforms offering direct Mutual Funds An ideal option to make the investment is an online broking platform, one that gives you the choice to buy MFs as well as equities. As per Amber Pabreja, some of the brokers currently offering direct MFs are Zerodha(Coin), Groww, 5Paisa, and Paytm Money. Fund selection To choose the right Mutual Fund, investors should look beyond past returns, and check ratings. This is important since checklists tell you for example, how much risk the fund has taken to deliver the returns, the health of the underlying assets, etc. All that glitters is not gold, and these tools scratch the surface to make sure," said Amber Pabreja. According to Amit Gupta, MD, SAG Infotech, to invest in mutual funds online in India, investors should research and choose a reputable SEBI-registered mutual fund provider. -Open an account and complete the KYC process -On the basis of your investment goals, select the appropriate mutual funds. -Read the fund's offer document, decide on the investment amount, and initiate the transaction online. -Monitor your investments regularly and make adjustments as needed. -Remember to consider market risks and consult with a financial advisor if necessary. How to invest in mutual funds? 1) You can invest in mutual funds by filling out an application form along with a cheque at the branch office of mutual funds or registrar & transfer agents of the respective mutual funds. 2)The investor can also invest through the websites of the relevant mutual funds via online mode. 3) You can invest with the help of a financial intermediary, i.e., a Mutual Fund Distributor registered with the Association of Mutual Funds in India )AMFI). ABOUT THE AUTHOR Sangeeta Ojha A business media enthusiast. Writes on personal finance, banking and real estate. Read more from this author The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) recently 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 banks will start the campaign on June 1. What are unclaimed deposits? The balances in savings or current accounts which are not been operated for 10 years, or term deposits not claimed within 10 years from the date of maturity are classified as 'Unclaimed Deposits'. What happens to unclaimed deposits after 10 years? These amounts are transferred by banks to the Depositor Education and Awareness (DEA) Fund maintained by the Reserve Bank of India. What are the reasons for their occurrence? The primary reason for deposits becoming unclaimed is the death of the depositor/accountholder without leaving a nomination. Ankit Garg, Advocate & Founder of Garg Law Chambers (GLC) said most depositors while opening their accounts or even afterward do not carry out the necessary modifications for appointing a nominee in their accounts. In case of their demise, banks are required to follow the legal procedures before handing over the money to the legal heirs. Other reasons may be a very low balance in the account or change of name or shifting of residence to another city or country, he added. Which measures can individuals adopt to avoid their deposits from being classified as unclaimed ? Ankit Garg listed out steps that individuals should take to avoid the risk of unclaimed deposits. To avoid the risk of unclaimed deposits, individuals can take several important steps. 1) Addition of nominees One of the most important steps is to appoint a nominee for their bank accounts or deposits. This ensures that if anything happens to the account holder, the nominee can claim the funds or assets without any delay. 2) Share bank accounts and deposits details with family members It's also important to share the details of bank accounts and deposits with family members, so they are aware of the accounts and can access them in case of a mishap. 3) KYC (Know Your Customer) updation Regularly updating KYC (Know Your Customer) details with the bank is crucial to receive regular communications and alerts from the bank. This helps to stay informed about any changes or updates related to the account or deposits. 4) Close all your extra accounts Another important step is to close down any unwanted or extra accounts and maintain only 1-2 accounts for day-to-day living. This simplifies managing accounts and reduces the risk of losing track of ones accounts. 5) Keeping fixed deposit (FD) slips safely Finally, keeping FD (Fixed Deposit) slips safely is important as they serve as evidence of ownership and can be used to claim the funds at maturity. By following these steps, individuals can reduce the risk of unclaimed deposits and ensure that their hard-earned money is safe and easily accessible. How to claim the unclaimed deposits? Every bank is required to show the details of unclaimed accounts on its website, as per the RBI regulations. After checking the details on the website, customers can visit the bank branch with a duly filled claim form, and receipts of the deposits, and know your customer's (KYC) documents to claim the money. How nominees can claim the unclaimed deposits If you are the nominee, you need to visit the bank with the deposit receipts, identity proof, and a copy of the death certificate of the account holder. After verifying the claim, the bank will release the money. According to a report in PTI, State Bank of India (SBI) tops the chart of unclaimed deposits worth 8,086 crore followed by Punjab National Bank 5,340 crore, Canara Bank 4,558 crore and Bank of Baroda 3,904 crore. NEW DELHI : Adani Power Ltd will contest an order issued by the Registrar of Companies (RoC), Ahmedabad, imposing penalty on three senior executives for alleged breaches connected to related party transactions over three years till FY20. The RoC had in an order issued on 16 May imposed penalty on three senior executives of Adani Power, including chairman Gautam Adani. The three officials have been asked to pay 75,000 each in penalty within three months out of own resources, but have the chance to contest the same within 60 days, showed the order posted in the website of the ministry of corporate affairs. A spokesperson for Adani Group said the company is in the process of filing an appeal. Being aggrieved by the impugned ROCs order of 16th May 2023, the Company is in the process of filing an appeal before the Regional Director to set aside the said impugned order," the spokesperson said in response to emailed queries. The company also rejected the charges levelled by the regulator. The order alleged that RoC has reasonable cause to believe that the company and its officers in default have violated the provision of section 189 of Companies Act read with section 188" of the Act. These sections deal with the maintenance of registers regarding contracts and arrangements in which directors are interested and the requirement of board consent and conditions the board can impose on related party transactions. The company has made adequate disclosures in the Financial Statements for FYs 2017-18, 2018-19 and 2019-20. All the related party transactions were entered at arms length basis and in ordinary course of business and thus, not covered under the provisions of section 188 of the Companies Act 2013," the Adani Group spokesperson said. The Companies Act mandates that except with the consent of the board of directors given at a board meeting and subject to the conditions attached, related party transactions are not to be undertaken. Related party transactions include arrangements and deals between a company and any of the persons defined as related parties, such as a director, a key managerial personnel or their relative and entities in which a director, manager or his relative is a partner or director. The order came following an inquiry initiated in 2018 under a provision dealing with RoC probe into compliance breaches and investor grievances not getting addressed. The order alleged citing financial statements of the company for the FY18 to FY20 period that the company has not maintained the register of contracts as mandated under the Companies Act. For the contravention, every director who fails to comply with the provisions, shall be liable to a penalty, the order said. The All India Petroleum Dealers Association, which represents petroleum dealers nationwide, has expressed concerns regarding the recent decision made by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to withdraw the 2000 note. The association cited difficulties faced by petrol pumps in providing adequate change to customers. Ajay Bansal, President of the All India Petroleum Dealers Association, drew attention to the similarities between the current situation and the challenges experienced during the 2016 demonetisation drive. Bansal further highlighted that the withdrawal of the 2000 note has resulted in a significant shortage of change at petrol pumps across the country. Many customers continue to use these high-value notes even for small purchases, creating a strain on petrol outlets ability to meet the demand for change. Consequently, both dealers and customers are experiencing inconvenience. Bansal urged customers to consider alternative payment methods such as card or digital payments to alleviate the shortage of change. He also emphasised the need for the RBI to issue guidelines to banks, ensuring an adequate supply of smaller denomination notes specifically for petrol pumps, thereby enabling smooth transactions for customers. The association expressed concerns about the repercussions of the current situation. Prior to the withdrawal, only 10% of cash sales at petrol outlets were in the form of 2000 notes. However, with the majority of cash received now consisting of these high-denomination notes, dealers are required to deposit them in banks on a daily basis. This has raised concerns about potential scrutiny from income tax authorities, as dealers may face unwarranted investigations due to increased sales during this period. Furthermore, the sudden decline in digital payments, which previously accounted for 40% of daily sales, down to just 10%, has compounded the challenges faced by petroleum dealers. The increasing reliance on cash transactions, driven by customers desperation to use 2000 notes, may result in further complications with income tax authorities. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Friday announced the gradual withdrawal of 2000 denomination notes from circulation saying that it has served its purpose. Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese welcomed PM Narendra Modi for a two-day visit to the country starting today. Prime Minister Albanese also remembered the extremely warm welcome he received in India earlier this year. As per a release from the Australian government, Prime Minister Albanese said, "I am honoured to host Prime Minister Modi for an official visit to Australia, after receiving an extremely warm welcome in India earlier this year." Australia and India share a commitment to a stable, secure and prosperous Indo-Pacific. Together we have an important role to play in supporting this vision. As friends and partners, the relationship between our countries has never been closer. I look forward to celebrating Australias vibrant Indian community with Prime Minister Modi in Sydney." According to the Australian Prime Minister's Office, the two leaders will discuss trade and investment during their meeting and will focus on efforts to boost trade between Australia and India through a Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement. The two Prime Ministers will also seek to strengthen people-to-people linkages and look to cooperate on areas such as renewable energy, and defence and security cooperation. Taking forward the legacy of the Australia-India CEO Forum held in Mumbai this year, PM Modi will meet with Australian business leaders. He will also attend an event in Sydney to celebrate Australias dynamic and diverse Indian diaspora. Prime Minister Modi is visiting Australia after a gap of 9 years, he last visited the country in 2014. Meanwhile, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will visit India in September this year to attend the G20 Leaders Summit in New Delhi. PM Modi is on a six-day visit to Japan, Papua New Guinea and Australia. Narendra Modi became the first Indian Prime Minister to visit the Pacific island. Interestingly, when PM Modi landed at Port Moresby airport, Papua New Guinea Prime Minister James Marape touched PM Modi's feet and sought his blessings. Security measures have been tightened in Srinagar ahead of the Third G20 Tourism Working Group Meeting . The meeting is expected to see more delegates participating compared to the last two times. The previous G20 Tourism Working Group meetings were held in Gujarat's Rann of Kutch and West Bengal's Siliguri. Reportedly, a multi-year security apparatus has been put in place around the Sher-i-Kashmir International Conference Centre (SKICC) while Marine and NSG commandos have also been making drills around Srinagar for the past few days. Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) commandos have also been conducting mock drills since Friday. Marine commandos have also been deployed to ensure that water bodies around the meeting areas are secured Talking about the security measures in Srinagar ahead of the G20 meeting, Additional Director General of Police Vijay Kumar said, A three-tier security system is in place. We are also putting in place air anti-drone technology with the assistance of the NSG and Army, and for the water body Dal Lake we have the Marcos team in place in addition to the police," #WATCH | J&K | Security tightened in Srinagar as the city is all set to host the 3rd G20 Tourism Working Group meeting. The meeting is being held here on May 22-24. Visuals from Diamond Chowk and Gupkar Road. pic.twitter.com/eC7QUTLrJF ANI (@ANI) May 22, 2023 ADGP Kumar added that police, BSF, CRPF and SSB personnel have been deployed on the ground to ensure a peaceful event. Third G20 Tourism Working Group meeting will be held between May 22 to May 24. The meeting will deliberate on five key priority areas, namely green tourism, digitalisation, skills, SMEs and destination management. Tourism secretary Arvind Singh while speaking about the G20 event said, This is the only working group meeting taking place in Srinagar as part of the G20 effort with excellent response from all the member countries, all the invited countries and the international organisations, having the highest participation registered compared to the first two Tourism Working Group Meetings at Rann of Kutch and Siliguri," Meanwhile, China has decided to boycott the planned G20 Tourism Working Group meeting in Srinagar and Turkey could also miss the international event starting from today. (With inputs from agencies) The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) is set to deliver its verdict on May 22 regarding the petitions filed by three aircraft lessors against Go First's voluntary insolvency resolution proceedings. Stakeholders eagerly await the decision of the NCLAT, which will have far-reaching implications for Go First and its lessors. The two-member bench, led by Chairperson Justice Ashok Bhushan, earlier concluded the hearing and reserved its order while requesting the submission of any additional documents within the next 48 hours. The tribunal heard a series of petitions filed by SMBC Aviation Capital Ltd, GY Aviation, and SFV Aircraft Holdings, all of whom have leased approximately 21 aircraft to Go First. During the proceedings, senior advocate Arun Kathpalia, representing SMBC Aviation, argued that they had terminated the lease prior to the initiation of Go First's Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process (CIRP). He emphasised that, as per the Cape Town Conventions, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has the authority to cancel the lease within five working days without requiring consent from Go First. Consequently, he asserted that the airline could not continue to fly or operate the aircraft. Another lessor, represented by senior advocate Krishnendu Datta, alleged that the CIRP was a deliberate tactic by Go First, creating a smokescreen to avoid its financial obligations. Datta claimed that the airline had intentionally suspended flight operations, creating a sense of urgency and prompting the insolvency filing. Senior Advocate Ramji Srinivasan, representing the Interim Resolution Professional, argued that the lessors' termination of the lease was an attempt to undermine the insolvency proceedings, suggesting that such a step should not have been taken once the case was before the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT). Also Read: Go First to resume operations from May 24 In defence, senior advocate Maninder Singh, representing Go First, highlighted the airline's difficult circumstances and expressed that voluntary insolvency was a decision taken out of compulsion. Recently, several lessors have approached the Directorate General of Civil Aviation seeking deregistration and repossession of Go First's 45 planes. The airline ceased its operations on May 3. Previously, the principal bench of the NCLT in Delhi appointed an interim resolution professional to oversee Go First's affairs and suspended the airline's board as part of the insolvency resolution process. (With agency inputs) International leisure flight bookings from India for the June-August period are up 40% from a year earlier, a new report said, indicating a robust recovery path for the domestic travel market. However, demand still remains 15-20% below the pre-pandemic peak in 2019. According to RateGain, a software solutions provider for the travel and hospitality sector, Singapore was the top destination for flight bookings, followed by San Francisco, Melbourne, Toronto, and Bali. The companys data platform Adara collects captures insights from around 300 travel brands including airlines, hotel chains, tourism organizations, OTAs, and luxury retailers. According to the research findings shared with Mint, Indian couples are keen on western countries, with the US, Canada, and the UK emerging as the most frequently booked destinations for the summer season. In Asia, Bali and Singapore have gained popularity. Europe was noticeably absent from many holiday plans, likely due to visa issues. Last month, Mint had reported on the visa processing delays faced by Indian tourists intending to visit the Schengen area, comprising 27 European nations. While some travel operators said European embassies failed to anticipate the rising demand from India, others attributed the delay to visa-processing companies such as VFS Global. The research said that for families from India, the most favoured destinations include the US, Singapore, UAE, Canada and Thailand. Solo travellers predominantly choose the US, Canada, and the UK as their top destinations, while Thailand remains a popular choice for leisure travel among solo travellers. Destinations like Qatar and the UAE are also witnessing increased bookings from solo travellers, primarily for business purposes rather than leisure. These locations have become significant hubs for business-related activities, attracting solo travellers seeking professional engagements and opportunities. Among family travellers tracked, approximately 19.8% booked hotels with an average daily rate of $400 (approximately 33,000). It is noteworthy that this particular segment of family travellers booked twice as many rooms at this rate compared to couples. These trends indicate that the Indian travel market is recovering from the pandemic, with a focus on leisure travel concentrated in western countries. Business travel is also recovering in locations like the US, Canada, and the UK. Families are travelling more and are booking higher-priced hotels," said the companys spokesperson. The Delhi High Court on Monday summoned the British Broadcasting Company (BBC) in a defamation suit claiming that its two-part documentary titled 'India: The Modi Question' cast a slur on the reputation of India, its judiciary as well as Prime Minister himself. Besides the BBC (UK), Justice Sachin Datta also issued notice to the BBC (India) seeking its response on the suit filed by Gujarat-based NGO Justice for Trial, PTI reported. The plea said BBC (India) is the local operation office and BBC (UK) has released the documentary -- "India: The Modi Question" -- which has two episodes. Senior advocate Harish Salve, appearing for the NGO, said the suit for defamation against the BBC is in relation to the documentary which has "defamed" India and the whole system including the judiciary. He contended that the documentary also makes insinuations against the prime minister. It was argued on behalf of the plaintiff that the documentary makes defamatory imputation and cast slur on the reputation of the country. The high court said, "Issue notice to the respondents through all permissible modes" and listed it for further hearing on September 15. (With PTI inputs) Prime Minister Narendra Modi flew into Australia on Monday, aiming to strengthen economic ties by tapping into his country's fastest-growing diaspora. Modi landed in Sydney, the last stop on his Asia-Pacific tour, looking to assert India's role as a regional power in the face of China's growing influence. A young girl from the Indian diaspora sang a patriotic song to welcome the Indian Prime Minister to which PM Modi said, Ho Jaye to the young girl's request. #WATCH | People from the Indian diaspora greet Prime Minister Narendra Modi as he arrives in Sydney, Australia. pic.twitter.com/REGbrUNCRp ANI (@ANI) May 22, 2023 At Sydney's Qudos Bank Arena, organisers said 18,000 people were expected at an event Tuesday evening to welcome Prime Minister Narendra Modi. #WATCH | People from the Indian diaspora gather outside a hotel in Sydney to welcome Prime Minister Narendra Modi as he arrives in Sydney, Australia. pic.twitter.com/ZJUdHYGHXM ANI (@ANI) May 22, 2023 "Look, there's going to be euphoria," said Jay Shah, a director at the India-Australia Diaspora Foundation, which is organising the show. Asked about Australian media reports of divisions within India and the diaspora under Modi's Hindu nationalist BJP, Shah said he could not understand such claims being made of the world's largest democracy. "We respect all the diverse views," he told AFP. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will attend the stadium event, addressing a crowd that few Australian politicians could muster, before hosting Modi at a summit on Wednesday. Modi's trip comes as China expands its diplomatic, financial and military footprint in the Asia-Pacific region. Over the weekend, the Indian leader joined a Quad summit in Japan with the leaders of the United States, Japan and Australia, aimed at countering Beijing's growing assertiveness. *With agency inputs Former Finance Minister P Chidambaram on Monday targeted the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) at the Centre over its demonetization decision in 2016 and now withdrawing the 2,000 note from circulation . Taking to Twitter, the Congress leader wrote the BJP's spin that the 2000 notes are being withdrawn to unearth black money stands demolished. Ordinary people do not have 2000 notes. They shunned it soon after it was introduced in 2016. They were useless for daily retail exchange," he further tweeted. Chidambaram asked, So who kept the 2000 notes and used them? You know the answer." The 2000 note only helped keepers of black money to hoard their money with ease. The keepers of 2000 notes are being welcomed on a red carpet to exchange their notes! So much for the government's declared objective of rooting out black money," he added. The former finance minister termed the central government's decision to introduce 2,000 note in 2016 a foolish move". I am glad that the foolish move is being withdrawn at least 7 years later." Banks have clarified that no identity, no forms and no proof will be required to exchange the 2000 notes The BJP's spin that the 2000 notes are being withdrawn to unearth black money stands demolished Ordinary people do not have 2000 notes. They shunned it soon after P. Chidambaram (@PChidambaram_IN) May 22, 2023 On Friday, he said it was an expected move and that the 2,000 note was a band-aid" to cover up the foolish" decision of demonetizing 500 and 1000 notes in 2016. The senior Congress leader also added that he will not be surprised if government re-introduces 1,000 as well. Reserve Bank of India on Friday announced its decision to withdraw all 2,000 notes from circulation. The central bank asked all banks in the country to immediately stop issuing the 2,000 notes and the people can deposit 2000 banknotes into their bank accounts and/or exchange them into banknotes of other denominations up to September 30, 2023. The RBI said that the 2,000 notes were issued after the demonetization in 2016 to meet the currency requirement of the economy in an expeditious manner. As the other denominations became available in adequate quantities, the objective of using 2,000 notes is completed. New Delhi: India and Germany are planning to expand their trilateral development partnership projects, according to persons aware of the matter. Launched in 2022, these projects aim to support sustainable development goals (SDGs) in third countries in Asia, Africa and the Indo-Pacific. So far, New Delhi and Berlin have started work with four Peru, Malawi, Cameroon and Ghana. The projects range from promoting agri-business among women in Malawi to potato production in Cameroon through agri-tech. The objective would be to build on individual strengths and experiences in development cooperation and offer sustainable, viable and inclusive projects to third countries in addressing development challenges and achieving SDGs and SDG-related climate targets, including through multilateral institutions where India and Germany are members, such as the International Solar Alliance (ISA)," the two sides said in a joint declaration of intent released in May 2022. Both participants strive to undertake capacity-building initiatives in jointly decided priority sectors and will explore co-financing and other innovative partnership models to support joint projects in third countries," it added. According to the persons cited above, talks are now going on between India and Germany to expand the partnership to include Mozambique. External affairs minister S Jaishankar concluded his first visit to the country in April. Indias development diplomacy in the country was on display as the foreign minister rode a train procured by Mozambique under an Indian funded line of credit (LoC) and inaugurated a bridge on the River Buzi. India has extended support to Mozambique in diverse areasprovision of drinking water, improving power generation and distribution, improving agricultural productivity, rehabilitation of irrigation infrastructure, creation of an Information Technology park, construction of an assembly plant for solar cells, rehabilitation of road networks, construction of housing units, railway equipment," according to the Indian embassy in Mozambique. In 2010, India extended a $500 million line of credit to Mozambique as part of development cooperation. Education, emergency humanitarian relief and medical supplies also form a part of the bilateral development partnership. The expansion of the trilateral development cooperation platform points to some encouraging signs for Indias development diplomacy ambitions. Some previous efforts to design trilateral partnerships for development had stalled. This was most notably the case with the Asia-Africa Growth Corridor (AAGC) which envisaged cooperation with Japan in the African continent. India has also launched a trilateral development cooperation platform with the UK. India, France and UAE have also established a minilateral grouping which aims, among other things, to promote cooperation on food security, the circular economy and climate change related issues like desertification. Indian Americans across the United States are eagerly preparing to extend a warm welcome to Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his upcoming historic state visit to the country. Organisers have announced plans for an 'India Unity Day' march to be held in 20 major cities on June 18, two days before the Prime Minister's arrival. Prime Minister Modi's state visit holds significant importance as it marks his first visit to the US since President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden extended the invitation. The visit will include a state dinner hosted by the US President and First Lady on June 22 to honour the Prime Minister. Community leader Adapa Prasad, the national president of Overseas Friends of BJP (OFBJP) USA, expressed the Indian American community's excitement about Prime Minister Modi's visit. He highlighted the planned 'India Unity Day' march from the Washington Monument to the Lincoln Memorial in Washington DC, where people will gather to welcome Modi. Similar marches will also take place in 20 other prominent cities across the nation, including New York's Times Square and San Francisco's Golden Bridge. Prasad emphasised that the Indian American community, representing various sections, has united to make the Prime Minister's visit a memorable and proud occasion. Special events are being organised in New York and Washington DC, the primary destinations on Modi's itinerary. The welcoming festivities will include a cultural extravaganza at Lafayette Square Park, where diverse Indian American groups and organisations will showcase India's rich cultural heritage. The evening of June 21 will witness a grand cultural event spanning from Kashmir to Kanyakumari in front of the White House, highlighting India's growth and development in the past nine years. On June 22, a historic moment awaits as several thousand Indian Americans are expected to gather on the South Lawns of the White House to witness President Biden and the First Lady extend a warm welcome to Prime Minister Modi with a 21-gun salute. This invitation marks the first time a country-specific diaspora has been invited to the White House in such large numbers. Indian American leaders, including prominent figures like Ajay Bhutoria and Ashok Mago, have expressed their delight at the visit, emphasising the strong partnership and enduring friendship between India and the United States. They believe the visit will pave the way for further collaboration in areas of mutual interest such as technology, trade, education, and clean energy. Prime Minister Modi's visit to the US holds immense significance, as it precedes India's hosting of the G20 Summit in September. Over the years, Modi has engaged in several bilateral and multilateral meetings with American presidents, but this official state visit exemplifies the close friendship and alliance between the two nations. (With agency inputs) This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate CANNES, France (AP) It was well into the process of making Killers of the Flower Moon that Martin Scorsese realized it wasn't a detective story. Scorsese, actor Leonardo DiCaprio and screenwriter Eric Roth had many potential avenues in adapting David Grann's expansive nonfiction history, Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI." The film that Scorsese and company premiered Saturday at the Cannes Film Festival, however, wasn't like the one they initially set out to make. The film, which will open in theaters in October, chronicles the series of killings that took place throughout the Osage Nation in 1920s Oklahoma. The Osage were then enormously rich from oil on their land, and many white barons and gangsters alike sought to control and steal their money. Dozens of Osage Native Americans were killed before the FBI, in its infancy, began to investigate. DiCaprio had originally been cast to star as FBI agent Tom White. But after mulling the project over, Scorsese decided to pivot. I said, I think the audience is ahead of us, Scorsese told reporters in Cannes on Sunday. They know its not a whodunit. Its a who-didnt-do-it. The shift, filmmakers said, was largely driven from collaboration with the Osage. Osage Nation Chief Standing Bear, who consulted on the film, praised the filmmakers for centering the story instead on Mollie (Lily Gladstone) and her husband Ernest Burkhart (DiCaprio), the tragic romance at the heart of Scorsese's epic of insidious American ethnic exploitation. Early on, I asked Mr. Scorsese, How are you going to approach the story? He said Im going to tell a story about trust, trust between Mollie and Ernest, trust between the outside world and the Osage, and the betrayal of those trusts, said Chief Standing Bear. My people suffered greatly and to this very day those effects are with us. But I can say on behalf of the Osage, Marty Scorsese and his team have restored trust and we know that trust will not be betrayed. Killers of the Flower Moon, the most anticipated film to debut at this year's Cannes, instead became about Ernest, who Scorsese called the character the least is written about. DiCaprio, who ceded the character of White to Jesse Plemons, said Killers of the Flower Moon reverberates with other only recently widely discussed dark chapters of American history. This story, much like the Tulsa massacre, has been something that people have started to learn about and started to understand is part of culture, part of our history, said DiCaprio. After the screenplay, from almost an anthropological perspective Marty was there everyday we were talking to the community, trying to hear the real stories and trying to incorporate the truth. Killers of the Flower Moon premiered Saturday to largely rave reviews and thunderous applause nearly 50 years after Scorsese, as a young filmmaker, was a sensation at Cannes. His Taxi Driver won the Palme d'Or in 1976. Among the most-praised performances has been that of Gladstone, the actor of Blackfeet and Nimiipuu heritage. These artistic souls on this stage here cared about telling a story that pierces the veil of what society tells us were supposed to care about and not, said Gladstone, who singled out Scorsese. Who else is going to challenge people to challenge their own complicity in white supremacy in such a platform except as this man here? Were speaking of the 1920s Osage community. Were talking about Black Wall Street and Tulsa. Were talking about a lot in our film," she continued. Why the hell does the world not know about these things? Our communities always have. Its so central to everything about how we understand our place in the world. In the film, Robert De Niro plays a wealthy baron who's particularly adept at plundering the Osage. Speaking on Sunday, De Niro was still mulling his character's motivations. Theres a kind of feeling of entitlement, said De Niro. Its the banality of evil. Its the thing that we have to watch out for. We see it today, of course. We all know who Im going to talk about but I wont say the name. Because that guy is stupid. Imagine if youre smart? A minute later, De Niro resumed: I mean, look at Trump," referring to former President Donald Trump. With a running time well over three hours and a budget from Apple of $200 million, Killers of the Flower Moon is one of Scorsese's largest undertakings. Asked where he gets the gumption for such risks, the 80-year-old director didn't hesitate. As far as taking risks at this age, what else can I do? said Scorsese. 'No, let's go do something comfortable.' Are you kidding? ___ Follow AP Film Writer Jake Coyle on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/jakecoyleAP The Click It or Ticket enforcement campaign is underway, Laredo police announced. The enforcement of the states seat belt laws started Monday and ends June 4. LPD along with the Texas Department of Public Safety and local law enforcement agencies are joining forces during this enforcement period. Authorities want to increase seat belt use in anticipation of the busy summer driving season that starts Memorial Day weekend. This Click It or Ticket campaign is made possible through federally funded Texas Department of Transportation traffic safety grants. Safety officials at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) report that wearing a seat belt reduces the risk of dying in a car crash by 45% and up to 60% if riding in a pickup truck, LPD said in a statement. A driver can be fined up to $200 for not wearing a seatbelt or $250 if a child is not properly restrained. Children younger than 8 years old must be in a child safety seat or booster seat unless theyre taller than 4 feet, 9 inches, according to police. A man from Guadalupe, Nuevo Leon, Mexico was caught transporting a machine gun in Zapata County, according to an arrest affidavit. Ricardo Alfredo Garza Ortega was arrested and charged with trafficking firearms and possession of a firearm by a migrant under a nonimmigrant visa. On May 16, the Zapata County Sheriffs Office requested assistance from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives after pulling over a 2013 Volkswagen Jetta with a broken taillight by the intersection of 2nd Street and U.S. 83. The deputy identified the driver as Garza Ortega, a citizen from Gradalupe, Nuevo Leon, Mexico. He allowed the deputy to search the vehicle, according to court documents. During the search, the deputy discovered a compartment between the rear seat of the vehicle and the trunk. Garza Ortega told the deputy how to open the compartment from a toggle switch underneath the drivers seat, states the affidavit. The deputy then found a Palmetto State Armory M4A1 Carbine 5.56mm rifle, authorities said. The firearm had a fully automatic setting designed to fire more than one bullet with a single trigger pull. A field function test determined it to be a fully automatic firearm, or a machine gun, states the affidavit. Garza Ortega stated he had conspired with an acquaintance to pick up the vehicle from a location in McAllen, where the firearm was placed inside the compartment. Garza Ortega added he was instructed to drive the vehicle to a location in Laredo, the affidavit states. The firearm was then supposed to be taken into Mexico. Garza Ortega was offered $300 for the trip, court documents state. Garza Ortega is a (migrant) legally admitted in the United States under a nonimmigrant visa who is prohibited from shipping, transporting, receiving, or possessing a firearm or ammunition, states the affidavit. Courtesy/U.S. Border Patrol A Paisas gang member was arrested in Laredo for being in the country illegally, according to the U.S. Border Patrol. On May 15, Laredo South Station agents apprehended a group of five migrants. One migrant was identified as Luis Armando Barbosa-Campos, a 47-year-old citizen of Mexico. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) A fired Florida sheriff's deputy charged with failing to confront the gunman who murdered 17 at a Parkland high school five years ago said Monday that he is looking forward to his trial, which is scheduled to start next week. Former Broward County sheriff's deputy Scot Peterson told reporters after a court hearing that the public needs to know he did everything he could as Nikolas Cruz murdered 14 students and three staff members at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on Feb. 14, 2018. Peterson, the deputy then assigned to the school, says he didnt charge into the three-story classroom building during the six-minute massacre because he thought the dozens of shots fired were coming from outside. He was armed with a handgun at the time. Some victims parents have labeled Peterson the coward of Broward. Free on bail, he now lives in North Carolina and could face nearly a century in prison if convicted. I want the truth to come out and if it is going to be through a trial, so be it. Im eager, Peterson said. Not only the people in Florida, the country, most importantly the families, they need to know the truth about what happened, because unfortunately it has never been told. Peterson, 60, is charged with seven counts of child neglect and three counts of culpable negligence for the 10 people Cruz shot on the third floor, six of them fatally, after Peterson arrived at the building. The former deputy is not charged in connection with the 11 killed and 13 wounded on the first floor before he got there. Prosecutors say Peterson's actions show he knew the shots were coming from inside and that he could have prevented some of the shootings if he had confronted Cruz, who was armed with an AR-15-style semiautomatic rifle. Peterson's attorney, Mark Eiglarsh, said there are 22 defense witnesses who will testify that they also thought the shots were coming from somewhere other than inside the classroom building. Hes not the only one who heard those shots and believe they were coming from a different location, Eiglarsh said. Peterson retired shortly after the shooting, was fired retroactively and charged a year later. Jury selection is scheduled to start May 31 with opening statements in early June. The trial could last until August. During Monday's hearing, Circuit Judge Martin Fein rejected Eiglarsh's request to delay the trial until August. The attorney said some of his witnesses have vacations and other conflicts and say they won't appear. Fein said if the witnesses are subpoenaed, they have no choice. The judge also expressed skepticism of the prosecution's request to have jurors tour the classroom building's blood-stained halls, something Cruz's jury did during his penalty trial last year. The building has been maintained and sealed since days after the shooting and is expected to be torn down after Peterson's trial. Prosecutor Steven Klinger told the judge that the jurors need to see the distances inside the building. But Fein seemed to agree with Eiglarsh, who says there is sufficient video and photo evidence to demonstrate the distances and that having jurors tour the building would only inflame their emotions. Fein said he would issue his ruling later. It is likely, however, that the jury will be be taken to the school to see the outside area where Peterson stood during most of the attack. To gain a conviction, prosecutors must convince jurors that Peterson knew the gunman was firing inside the building and that his actions and inaction exposed more victims to harm. Security videos show that 36 seconds after the attack began, Peterson left his office about 100 yards (92 meters) from the building and jumped into a cart with two unarmed civilian security guards, according to a state report. They arrived at the crime scene a minute later. Peterson got out of the cart near the classroom building's eastern first-floor doorway to the first-floor hallway while the gunman was at the opposite end, firing numerous shots. Peterson, his handgun drawn, didnt open the door. Instead, he took cover outside next to a neighboring building. It was so loud and so close. I thought it was probably outside, Peterson told investigators two days after the shooting. He said he heard two, three shots, though security guards told investigators they heard many more, clearly coming from inside the building. Inside, Cruz climbed to the buildings upper floors, firing approximately 75 more shots over nearly four minutes. Cruz pleaded guilty to the murders in 2021, but the jury in his penalty trial could not unanimously agree that he deserved a death sentence. The 24-year-old former Stoneman Douglas student was sentenced instead to life in prison. boonchai wedmakawand/Getty Images ABC 13 Houston's Erica Simon won't be anchoring weekend mornings alongside anchors Jeff Ehling and meteorologist Kevin Roth anymore. Instead, viewers can now find Simon behind the news desk on weekdays in the evenings. Simon anchored her last morning shift on Sunday when she announced the change in her schedule. "Instead of a super early alarm clock, you can now catch me Monday through Friday at eight in the evenings," Simon told viewers. "Honestly, this is a dream come true for me. I'll still be doing what I love for you and with ABC 13 but getting some more sleep and having some much-needed weekends with my family." Edwin Tan /Getty Images Moviegoers at the Violet Crown Theater in Dallas had the chance to see the film, Monica, for free this weekend, thanks to Hollywood actress Sarah Paulson. In an Instagram post on Friday, theater reps announced that Paulson bought every ticket to the Sunday showtimes of the movie, which stars and tells the story of a transgender woman. Paulson, of American Horror Story fame, had heard the theater would be the only one to offer screenings of the movie in Dallas and reached out to distributor IFC Films to sponsor them, Violet Crown Cinema spokesperson David Gil told The Dallas Morning News' Tommy Cummings. The actress was not in attendance at any of the showings. According to Cummings, Paulson is not associated with the film's production but is a prominent LGBTQ+ advocate. She has been in a relationship with fellow actress Holland Taylor since at least 2015 when the couple confirmed their romance. A mobile app, Too Good To Go, is helping Houston shops and restaurants combat waste while offering diners food at a fraction of its usual cost. This past week, the new platform officially launched in H-Town, as well as in Dallas and San Antonio, reported Bao Ong for the Houston Chronicle. Through the app, restaurants and stores can sell their surplus supplies at a discounted price toward the end of the day, and Houstonians can use it to purchase a "surprise bag" of food. They simply have to select the deal they want, reserve a time to pick it up and pay for it ahead of time, Ong wrote. While it doesn't specify how much food diners can expect, most of the bags cost about $5. Marketed as a social impact company, Too Good To Go first came to the U.S. about three years ago and made its debut in New York City, according to a 2020 news release. It positioned itself as a pro-sustainability champion and soon expanded to other parts of the country, including Austin in 2021. Another statement from the company said there are now more than 450 vendors partnering with Too Good To Go across the Lone Star State. Chris MacAulay, director of the company's U.S. division, told the Houston Chronicle that Too Good To Go takes about $1.79 per order, but it feeds customers for about a third of the usual price while helping generate a little extra money for business owners a big appeal when considering today's rising costs. More than 80 Houston area shop and restaurant owners have already signed on, reported Heather Sullivan with FOX 26, including Veronica Avila of Henderson & Kane. "We make fresh food every day. So part of that experience is at the end of the night we do have food that goes to waste," she told Sullivan. And ideally, using the app will help cover the costs of making certain items, Avila added. Many are also swayed by the environmental stance Too Good To Go is taking. Its site highlights the company's efforts to fight food insecurity and greenhouse gas emissions. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, about one-third of the country's food supply goes to waste, and it's the "single most common material landfilled and incinerated in the United States." What's more, the EPA estimates that each year food waste has the same impact as "the annual [carbon dioxide] emissions of 42 coal-fired power plants" not including methane emissions from food rotting in landfills. In the news release sent out on Wednesday, MacAulay said that part of the drive to expand Too Good To Go's presence is to effect change. "In partnership with the incredible local food businesses across Texas, we want to make reducing food waste accessible to all. Together, with the great restaurant community and residents in Texas, we know we will have an immediate impact," he said. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate LONDON (AP) The European Union slapped Meta with a record $1.3 billion privacy fine Monday and ordered it to stop transferring users' personal information across the Atlantic by October, the latest salvo in a decadelong case sparked by U.S. cybersnooping fears. The penalty of 1.2 billion euros is the biggest since the EU's strict data privacy regime took effect five years ago, surpassing Amazon's 746 million euro fine in 2021 for data protection violations. Meta, which had previously warned that services for its users in Europe could be cut off, vowed to appeal and ask courts to immediately put the decision on hold. The company said there is no immediate disruption to Facebook in Europe. The decision applies to user data like names, email and IP addresses, messages, viewing history, geolocation data and other information that Meta and other tech giants like Google use for targeted online ads. This decision is flawed, unjustified and sets a dangerous precedent for the countless other companies transferring data between the EU and U.S., Nick Clegg, Meta's president of global affairs, and chief legal officer Jennifer Newstead said in a statement. It's yet another twist in a legal battle that began in 2013 when Austrian lawyer and privacy activist Max Schrems filed a complaint about Facebooks handling of his data following former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowdens revelations of electronic surveillance by U.S. security agencies. That included the disclosure that Facebook gave the agencies access to the personal data of Europeans. The saga has highlighted the clash between Washington and Brussels over the differences between Europe's strict view on data privacy and the comparatively lax regime in the U.S., which lacks a federal privacy law. The EU has been a global leader in reining in the power of Big Tech with a series of regulations forcing them police their platforms more strictly and protect users' personal information. An agreement covering EU-U.S. data transfers known as the Privacy Shield was struck down in 2020 by the EU's top court, which said it didnt do enough to protect residents from the U.S. government's electronic prying. Monday's decision confirmed that another tool to govern data transfers stock legal contracts was also invalid. Brussels and Washington signed a deal last year on a reworked Privacy Shield that Meta could use, but the pact is awaiting a decision from European officials on whether it adequately protects data privacy. EU institutions have been reviewing the agreement, and the bloc's lawmakers this month called for improvements, saying the safeguards aren't strong enough. The Irelands Data Protection Commission handed down the fine as Metas lead privacy regulator in the 27-nation bloc because the Silicon Valley tech giants European headquarters is based in Dublin. The Irish watchdog said it gave Meta five months to stop sending European user data to the U.S. and six months to bring its data operations into compliance by ceasing the unlawful processing, including storage, in the U.S." of European users' personal data transferred in violation of the bloc's privacy rules. In other words, Meta has to erase all that data, which could be a bigger problem than the fine, said Johnny Ryan, senior fellow at the Irish Council for Civil Liberties, a nonprofit rights group that has worked on digital and data issues. This order to delete data is really a headache for Meta, Ryan said. If the company has to scrub data for hundreds of millions of European Union users going back 10 years, it is very hard to see how it will be able to comply with that order. If a new transatlantic privacy agreement does take effect before the deadlines, "our services can continue as they do today without any disruption or impact on users," Meta said. Schrems predicted that Meta has no real chance of getting the decision materially overturned. And a new privacy pact might not mean the end of Meta's troubles, because there's a good chance it could be tossed out by the EU's top court, he said. Meta plans to rely on the new deal for transfers going forward, but this is likely not a permanent fix," Schrems said in a statement. "Unless U.S. surveillance laws gets fixed, Meta will likely have to keep EU data in the EU. Schrems said a possible solution could be a federated social network, where European data stays in Meta's data centers in Europe, "unless users for example chat with a U.S. friend. Meta warned in its latest earnings report that without a legal basis for data transfers, it will be forced to stop offering its products and services in Europe, which would materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations. The social media company might have to carry out a costly and complex revamp of its operations if it's ultimately forced to stop the transfers. Meta has a fleet of 21 data centers, according to its website, but 17 of them are in the United States. Three others are in the European nations of Denmark, Ireland and Sweden. Another is in Singapore. Other social media giants are facing pressure over their data practices. TikTok has tried to soothe Western fears about the Chinese-owned short video sharing app's potential cybersecurity risks with a $1.5 billion project to store U.S. user data on Oracle servers. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate ATHENS, Greece (AP) Greece faces new national elections as early as June 25, with Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis confirming Monday he would not try to build a coalition government despite having dominated the ballot hours earlier by the most decisive margin in half a century. It was a tantalizing result for the center-right leader: although Mitsotakis slightly expanded his New Democracy party's standing, getting double the votes of leftwing Syriza and nearly four times those of third-place Socialist Pasok, the one-off electoral law in place Sunday denied him a governing majority. He'll now pin his hopes on a second vote expected no later than July 2 where the electoral system will revert to boosting the first party with a bonus of up to 50 of Parliament's 300 seats. That system would have secured ND more than 170 seats Sunday. With 99.70% of the votes counted, New Democracy has 40.79% and 146 seats, five short of a majority, winning in 58 of the country's 59 constituencies. Syriza got 20.07% and 71 seats, while Pasok came in third at 11.46%. Turnout was 61%. ND's margin of victory far outstripped pollsters' forecasts and was the biggest since 1974, when Greece's first democratic elections were held after the fall of the seven-year military dictatorship. Athenian Fotis Hatzos said that while he had expected ND's win, its hammering of the main opposition party took him by surprise. What is there to say? (Mitsotakis) destroyed them," he told The Associated Press. He won fairly. Markets welcomed what seems to signal the end of the political uncertainty that troubled the NATO and European Union member following the 2009-2018 financial crisis, with the Athens stock exchange general index surging more than 7% Monday and Greek bonds rallying. Mitsotakis, 55, met Monday with President Katerina Sakellaropoulou, who formally gave him the mandate to try and form a government. But the Harvard-educated former banking executive said there would be no point. I can effectively see no way for the current parliament to form a government, he said in a brief televised exchange. That is why I will return the mandate to you this afternoon, so that we can head for new elections ... as soon as possible, perhaps even on June 25. The country needs a strong and stable government with a four-year mandate and as soon as this is settled the better. Several hours after the meeting, the invitation was formally returned by the prime minister. The mandate will now pass to Syriza leader Alexis Tsipras, and then to Pasok leader Nikos Androulakis neither of whom has any realistic chance of success. Each will have a maximum of three days to try to form a coalition. Once all options are exhausted, a senior judge will be appointed caretaker prime minister and new elections called. Mitsotakis had long suggested he would not seek a coalition partner, whatever the election outcome, in the interest of stable governance. Greece has little tradition of successful coalition governments, despite a series of forced matches during the fraught years of financial crisis. Analyst Wolfango Piccoli, who has followed Greek politics for years, said voters on Sunday prioritized the economy and political stability over everything else. NDs overwhelming performance is largely due to the positive track record on the economic front of the past four years, the senior political risk analyst at Teneo told the AP. Syrizas inability to convey a coherent and credible economic plan also helped PM Mitsotakis and his ND. The outcome of yesterdays vote creates a window of opportunity for Greece to turn the page and move away from the toxic populist politics that emerged during the financial crisis, he added. Mitsotakis came to power in 2019 on a promise of business-oriented reforms and has vowed to continue tax cuts, boost investment, bolster middle-class employment and further raise wages. His victory is widely expected to spur an upgrade of Greece's key credit rating to investment grade, which it lost in 2010. That would strongly boost the country's ability to borrow from international markets, broadening its bonds' appeal to investors and gilding the economic outlook. Mitsotakis has been credited with Greeces successful handling of the pandemic and of two crises with neighboring Turkey, while overseeing high growth and job creation. His term in office was tarnished by a wiretapping scandal and a railway disaster, but opposition efforts to capitalize on both fizzled. Tsipras, 48, called Mitsotakis on Sunday night to congratulate him. In a video message Monday, Tsipras inisted he was not considering stepping down in the wake of his party's major defeat. I have learned in my life not to flee from the battle, he said. Tsipras, who was prime minister from 2015 to 2019 riding a wave of anti-establishment feeling amid the financial crisis said his party would gather to examine the results and how they came about. However, the electoral cycle is not yet over, he said. We must immediately carry out all the changes that are needed so we can fight the next crucial and final electoral battle with the best terms possible. Tsipras transformed Syriza from a political minnow into Greece's main leftwing political pole during the financial crisis, when he won office pledging to reverse resented cutbacks dictated by international creditors. Instead, he was quickly forced to impose further financial pain in return for a new rescue loan. Now, his political future beyond the forthcoming election remains unclear, particulalrly if it confirms the trend set Sunday when Syriza lost about 11 percentage points compared to its showing in 2019. Pasok leader Androulakis, however, was buoyant, seeing his party claw back some of the ground it lost to Syriza in the crisis before which it traditionally dominated Greece's center-left. The communist party posted gains, as did a small right-wing anti-immigration party. Analyst Piccoli said the devastating blow suffered by Syriza and the failure of smaller leftwing parties to enter parliament suggest that voters are determined to look ahead and leave behind the painful recent memories of the economic crisis. It remains to be seen whether Pasok will be up for the challenge of regaining a central role on the left side of Greek politics now that Syriza is on the back foot, he said. ___ Idyli Tsakiri and Derek Gatopoulos in Athens contributed to this report. Drivers should continue to exercise caution as crews may still be at work near highways. The name is Open AI Chat GPT and right now it's only available in the Apple App Store for iPhones and iPads. Crime By Chris Boyle Published: May 22 2023 Quality King Increased Prices of Lysol Products by More Than 50 Percent During Pandemics Early Days. New York Attorney General Letitia James recovered $100,000 from a wholesale grocery and drug distributor, Quality King Distributors, Inc. (Quality King), for price gouging Lysol products at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. In the early days of the pandemic, the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) received complaints from consumers of abnormally high prices for Lysol products, including Lysol Spray and Lysol Wipes. An OAG investigation found that Quality King, which distributes to retailers, drug stores, and local grocery stores in New York City and Long Island, increased prices of Lysol by more than 50 percent. New Yorks price gouging statute prevents companies throughout the supply chain from increasing prices on essential goods and services during emergencies. This agreement resolves an earlier lawsuit against Quality King and requires the company to pay $100,000 to the state. Nearly 1,500 New Yorkers who reported high prices to OAG will receive reimbursement checks. As we were grappling with fear and uncertainty during the early days of the pandemic, Quality King took advantage of New Yorkers and jacked up prices on these essential products, said Attorney General James. Price gouging hurts consumers and small businesses and prevents people from getting critical goods in a time of crisis. We are putting money back into consumers' pockets and requiring Quality King to clean up its act. I thank the New Yorkers who raised these concerns to my office and enabled us to investigate, uncover the price gouging, and take action to hold Quality King accountable. The OAG received complaints from consumers in New York City and Long Island about excessive prices for Lysol products at their local stores, including drug and grocery stores, dollar stores, and bodegas. The OAG investigated local retailers and found that many of these small businesses were increasing the price of Lysol because they incurred significantly higher prices from the wholesaler, Quality King. The OAG found that Quality King raised its prices on Lysol products dramatically in the early months of 2020. For example, in February 2020, Quality King sold 19-ounce cans of Lysol Spray for $5.20 per can. Just five weeks later, Quality King increased the price to $8 per can, a 54 percent increase. In another example, in February 2020, Quality King sold 12-can Lysol cases to a dollar store in the Lower East Side for about $5 per can. When the store purchased Lysol from Quality King again in early April 2020, the price shot up to $9.08, nearly double the price. Quality King will pay $100,000 to New York within 30 days, of which $20,000 will be paid in penalties. Nearly 1,500 New Yorkers who filed complaints with OAG will each receive checks for approximately $10 in the mail for buying Lysol that was subject to price gouging. Todays announcement continues Attorney General James work to stop price gouging and protect New York consumers. In March, Attorney General James announced price gouging rules to protect consumers and small businesses from corporate profiteering. The rules would strengthen enforcement of New Yorks price gouging law. In December 2022, Attorney General James cautioned against price gouging ahead of a snowstorm that hit Western New York. In May 2022, Attorney General James issued warnings to more than 30 retailers across the state to stop overcharging for baby formula after consumers reported unreasonably high prices. In April 2021, Attorney General James secured an agreement with the nations largest egg producers for price gouging eggs in the early months of the pandemic. As a result of that agreement, Attorney General James delivered 1.2 million eggs to food pantries throughout the state to feed vulnerable New Yorkers. New Yorkers should report potential concerns about price gouging to OAG by filing a complaint online or calling 800-771-7755. This matter was handled before the trial court by Assistant Attorney General John P. Figura, under the supervision of Bureau Chief Jane M. Azia and Deputy Bureau Chief Laura J. Levine all of the Bureau of Consumer Frauds & Protection. The matter was handled on appeal by Assistant Solicitor General Philip Levitz, under the supervision of Solicitor General Barbara D. Underwood and Deputy Solicitor General Ester Murdukhayeva all of the Division of Appeals & Opinions. Data Scientist Gautam Sisodia also assisted in this matter, under the supervision of Director of Research and Analytics Jonathan Werberg and Deputy Director Megan Thorsfeldt. The Bureau of Consumer Frauds and Protection is a part of the Division for Economic Justice, which is led by Chief Deputy Attorney General Chris DAngelo and overseen by First Deputy Attorney General Jennifer Levy. (Alliance News) - Ryanair Holdings PLC on Monday said it returned to profit in its recently concluded financial year and is "cautiously optimistic" of further growth in the new year, amid robust demand. The Dublin-based budget airline said total revenue more than doubled to EUR10.78 billion in the financial year to March 31 from EUR4.80 billion a year before. Ryanair swung to a pretax profit of EUR1.44 billion from a loss of EUR429.8 million. From the previous year, load factor improved to 93% from 82%, as customer numbers rose by 74% to 168.6 million - which was also 13% ahead of financial 2020's levels, before the Covid-19 pandemic, Ryanair noted. Total operating costs rose 75% to EUR9.20 billion, mostly due to higher fuel costs, which more than doubled to EUR3.90 billion. The airline hailed its commitment to maintaining jobs throughout the pandemic, when its competitors had cut thousands of jobs. Ryanair said the strategy meant it was fully staffed to operate its summer schedule in 2022, whereas its competitors cancelled capacity, often at short notice, due to staff shortages. "As Ryanair grows traffic to [225 million per annum] by [financial 2026 and [300 million by financial 2034], our group will create over 10,000 new jobs for highly paid pilots, cabin crew, and engineers," it said. With short-haul capacity below pre-Covid levels, demand is "notably robust", Ryanair said, with forward bookings and air fares currently into Summer 2023 "strong". The airline said it hopes annual traffic will grow 10% in financial 2024 to 185 million. "Boeing's recent delivery delays may push some of this growth into the lower yielding H2 and may reduce this target slightly," it warned. Earlier this month, Ryanair placed an order for up to 300 new Boeing 737-MAX-10 aircraft, worth around USD40 billion a list prices. In April, Boeing said the model would be hit by delays, after a defect was discovered. When the Ryanair order was announced, Boeing's co-chief executive officer said he was "confident" the company will fulfil the order. For the current year, Ryanair expects its fuel bill to rise by over EUR1 billion, due to higher oil prices, but its jet fuel costs are almost 85% hedged, it said. The airline also expects a "modest" increase in unit costs, excluding fuel, due to higher staff costs and increased enroute charges. "Despite ongoing uncertainty over the timing of Boeing deliveries, almost 15% unhedged fuel, limited [second quarter] visibility and zero [second half] fare visibility (normal at this time of year), we are cautiously optimistic that [financial 2024] revenue will grow sufficiently to cover our EUR1 billion higher fuel bill and still deliver a modest year-on-year profit increase," the Irish carrier said. By Elizabeth Winter, Alliance News senior markets reporter Comments and questions to newsroom@alliancenews.com Copyright 2023 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved. Thanks to Apples move to its own chips, the Mac has been on a roll recently, after a frustrating spell of bad keyboards, poor ports, and overheating with pre-M1 Macs. But not all of those old Macs are badmany of them are actually still cherished by their owners. For example, the Intel-equipped 13-inch MacBook Pro and MacBook Air were tremendously popular and held down the fort on the affordable end of the MacBook lineup for many years. These laptops may not be considered modern by the new standards set by Apple, but they are still supported with the latest version of macOS. They were somewhat upgradeable, easy to fix, and had tons of spare parts available. Within the secondhand community, even Macs with soldered-down components are looked at as having value, and ingenious tinkerers are repairing, upgrading, and adding software support to old machines long after Apple moved on to something new. YouTuber Collin Mistr, known as dosdude1, demonstrates his skilled approach to upgrading and modifying older Macs on his channel. The videos are far from polished but show off how modifications and soldered-on upgrades can give old Macs new life. The first machine I ever got was some water-damaged MacBook off of eBay for really cheap. One day I just decided to learn how to fix those. Then I got good with surface mount soldering and over time, got different equipment for [ball grid array chips], Mistr said. Whether its upgrading soldered RAM or CPU beyond factory specifications, Mistr does it all with a combination of tweaked custom firmware and chip swaps. [The 2015 MacBook Airs] are actually pretty straightforward because Apple actually, when they were developing it, intended those to work with 16 gigs of RAM you dont have to modify the system ROM. Mistr says his wildest upgrade was to a 2015 11-inch Air, the last year for that body style. I took the CPU and RAM from a 2015 MacBook Pro with the top spec and soldered them on and made a 3.1 GHz Air. iBoffs NevBolt modifies older MacBook Pros so that it can equipped with a high-speed M.2 slot and a SATA 2.5-inch drive. iBoff Mistr cited pioneering work from a small firm in Malaysia that sent him parts to test. iBoff, run by a man who goes by the name Bo, keeps Macs running longer due to user demand. Bos craziest modification replaces the Thunderbolt chip on 2011 and 2012 MacBook Pros. Newer storage technologies like NVMe SSDs can increase performance meaningfully, but not all Macs from the past can natively support these devices because of the Thunderbolt chip. Customers started asking if we can add NVMe SSDs to the MacBook Proafter much studying, prototype trial & error, testing stability, we successfully released the NevBolt. NevBolt runs a cable from where the Thunderbolt controller would otherwise sit and adds a high-speed M.2 slot and a SATA 2.5-inch drive in the optical drive bayeven offering an option to connect an external GPU (something that Thunderbolt 1 Macs didnt quite support). Other iBoff products add M.2 drives to devices that had only soldered-on storage. The whole story changed when Apple started to solder SSDs to the [logic board] for MacBooks 2016 and above, said Bo. The soldered SSD [has a finite life], so we found a way to replace the dead soldered SSD, pushing us to do more homework regarding this issue, and we are able to install NVMe SSDs [in these models]. Older Macs, newer software As old Macs are dropped from Apples supported list, the Open Core Legacy Patcher project swoops in, using tricks learned when running macOS on non-Apple hardware and gives its utilities away for free. The goal is to extend the life of Macs Apple no longer wants to support. For me its really important for people of lower income, people from other countriesin Brazil [Macs] are four times the price [of elsewhere], says Mykola Grymalyuk, the project leader. With the current scope of the project, were only targeting 2008 or newer Macswe want to support every Mac that has been dropped since then. We support 88 models, if I recall correctly. The Open Core Legacy Project does work that allows obsolete Macs to run current versions of macOS. Dortania Open Core Legacy Patcher lets unsupported machines run newer versions of macOS but sometimes with reduced functionality and it makes routine updates potentially tricky for novices. You couldnt give [an OCLP-enabled device] to a 6th grader and say, Heres your laptop for school. Just because there is something, like when you do an OS update, Apple nukes all our patches, so you have to repair the operating system. We do have mechanisms in place that try to notify youbut that can only go so far for end users. Future hurdles may be too high A hard reality may be coming up for these savvy hardware and software hackers. With the advent of tighter security, things like Apples T1 and T2 chips, along with device management software, can turn older Macs into trash, with little hope of resuscitation or repair. I know Apple claims [Activation Lock] is mostly for anti-theft, which it does prevent, but they try to hide from you that most locked devices you find out there, on eBay or in surplus sales, are locked not because they were stolen, but because the organization that had the devices didnt know the lock exists in the first place, opines Colin Mistr. [Apple] doesnt caretheyd rather the device be destroyed than reused. People like Bo, Mistr, and Mycola, have their work cut out for them. Older Macs still browse the internet just fine, can run newer operating systems with a little bit of work, and can even get hardware boosts well beyond what they were designed for. With a lot of Intel Macs hitting retirement age, theres never been a better time to pick one up and spiff it up for casual use. It saves people money, it means theres less e-waste, and more people have an opportunity to get into the Mac for a lot less money, says Mykola. Especially if you see a Mac on the side of the roadjust pick it up, adopt it, and give it some love. First responders rushed to a residence on Sheila Drive in Chesterfield, N.H., after a reported logging incident that left a person unconscious on Friday, May 19, 2023. Dartmouth-Hitchcock Dance Rescue Teams helicopter was called and a landing zone was set up in a field on Route 9 near Perkins Lumber. The helicopter was later called off and Chesterfield Police Department confirmed the individual died at the scene. It was not known at the time if it was a private contractor or the resident of the property. Chesterfield Fire and Police, Spofford Fire Department and Rescue Inc. responded to the scene. Law professor Tranquil Salvador told senior and junior high school graduating students of the Philippine Christian University to pour in hours and hours of committed work to achieve the level of competence in their chosen business or profession. In this digital age, there is this notion that everything can be accessed by browsing using your fingers, and this includes access to information, he told 1,400 graduating students at their commencement exercises at the bayside Philippine International Convention Center. COMMENCEMENT SPEAKER. Law professor and Manila Standard columnist Tranquil Salvador is flanked by officials of Philippine Christian University after telling the schools high school graduates to pour in hours and hours of committed work to achieve the level of competence in their chosen business or profession. It may even lead you to believe that what you can perceive you can achieve (but) this is only partly true. In between perceiving and achieving are hours, days, months, years, and decades of dedication, hard work, and sacrifices to achieve your goals, Salvador, who writes a column in the Manila Standard, said in his speech. He shared with the graduates, led by senior high valedictorian Dhenzo Tyler Montojo and junior high valedictorian Judiel Charl Del Rosario, lessons he learned as a teenager from his misadventures. I thoroughly believe there is as much to gain from misadventures as there are from achievements, said Salvador, listed among the Top 100 Lawyers in the Philippines for 2021 and 2022 by the Asia Business Law Journal. But he said: Misadventures, mistakes, and slips are instrumental in the formation of a young mind. I am by no means encouraging you to make mistakes or engage in adventurism. All we are saying is that missteps can offer wisdom in retrospect or what we know as 20/20 hindsight vision. Salvador, who teaches law at the Ateneo de Manila University, University of the Philippines, Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila, and the University of Makati, then told his audience some lessons he said could help them. I learned early in life that there is a God who I can depend onfor those who have a different religion but believe in a Divine Being you know what I mean. Challenges are mere stepping stonesfind what you love to do and work hard to achieve it. He quoted his father as saying there is no substitute for preparation, stressing We have to persevere and work to achieve our goals in life. Please enable JavaScript to view the comments powered by Disqus. The success of any tourism plan or program does not depend entirely on slogans or high-sounding plans There seems to be no end to the debates over the proposed merger of the Land Bank of the Philippines and the Development Bank of the Philippines, with officers and personnel of the DBP also continuing their protests. The DBP believes that with the merger, and with LBP as the surviving bank, it will be the DBP that will suffer retrenchment. I have written the pros and cons of the proposed merger with the proposed merger having more cons, since it will create a huge retrenchment at the expense of the DBP. Another con is the proposed merger will create such a behemoth financial institution for the government that could well impact against the private sector banking system with thousands of branches at almost every nook and corner of the country as a result of the merger. Santa Banana, I also believe theres some kind of conflict of interest on the part of Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno who is the main proponent of the merger since Diokno is the ex-officio chairman of the LBP. Lets rewind a bit and note that the law that created LBP mandated it to provide assistance to the agriculture sector. On the other hand, my gulay, the law that created the DBP mandated it to provide assistance to the industrial sector. Recall that the DBP used to be the Rehabilitation Financing Corp., created after the war to provide assistance for the rehabilitation of the Philippines. With the merger, Santa Banana, what government bank will provide assistance to the industries? With the creation of a behemoth financial institution with the merger of the LBP and DBP, I see no benefit at all for the government. That, to me, is the strongest argument against the merger. This and aside from the fact that since both the LBP and the DBP were created by separate laws by Congress, the proposed merger simply cannot be done by an executive order. From my point of view, this is where the danger lies, Santa Banana, on the proposed merger simply by an executive order. I can almost predict that some legislators will oppose the merger by President Marcos Jr. merely issuing an executive order. Diokno predicts that the merger will be finished by the end of the year. I doubt it. *** Malampaya contract extended 15 years The extension of 15 years by President Marcos Jr. of Service Contract 38 to a new consortium replacing Shell and Caltex in the exploration of gas to power at Malampaya off Palawan is expected to guarantee energy to the Philippines, especially Luzon a step in the right direction. The new consortium given the 15-year extension are Ricky Razons Prime Energy Resources Development B.V, UC38 LLC of the Udenna Group of Dennis Uy of Davao City, and the state-run Philippine National Oil-Exploration Corp (PNOC). The Malampaya project is a deep well gas power plant providing 20 percent of Luzons energy needs. Through the project, the government was able to generate P374 billion revenue, P26 billion of which was earned in 2022 alone. Records show the past consortium of Shell, Caltex and the PNOC has been remitting 60 percent of the proceeds from petroleum operations to the government. The consortium has remitted more than US$13.14 billion to the government from October 2001 to December 2022. It is now all up to the Department of Energy how the new consortium will perform. In a statement, the DOE said under Service Contact 38 the consortium is required to continue production operations, as well as to conduct a minimum work program consisting of geological and geophysical studies and the drilling of at least two deep water wells during the sub-phase 1 from 2024 to 2029. The problem, however, is, how far can the remaining gas system go since studies have shown the remaining deep water-gas reserve may not be enough to last 15 years. And thats for the DOE to study and confirm. BBM would not have extended the project for another 15 years if he had not been advised by the DOE that the remaining gas reserves are adequate. But, what is disturbing is the latest word from DOE Secretary Raphael Lotilla that the remaining gas reserves may not last long. If that is true, BBM could fire the energy secretary, which in effect could make Marcos Jr. a big liar. *** Return to masking With some local government units (LGUs) reimposing the mask mandate following the surge of COVID-19 cases brought about by the Omicron sub variant XBB.1.16 Arcturus, a subvariant which is highly transmissible, health experts say theres need for the Department of Health to reimpose a nationwide mask mandate. The Mayor of Manila Honey Lacuna had required the masking mandate at the Manila City Hall, and Baguio City Mayor Benjamin Magalong had all Baguio City residents and visitors also wearing masks indoors and outdoors. There had been reports that the uptick of COVID-19 cases had occurred in many provinces and cities, particularly in the National Capital Region and in Metro Manila. The positivity rate in fact hit more than 25 percent requiring hospitals to reopen their COVID-19 wards. While the DOH and health experts said the surge of COVID-19 cases may not be as alarming as it was in the past. But it would do well for the DOH to warn LGUs that there is need for caution, and theres need for the elderly and those with illnesses to be cautioned. My wife and I, since we are very elderly and susceptible to the COVID-19 transmission, always wear masks when out of our house, both. indoors and outdoors. Somebody asked me if theres a need for all these precautions, after the World Health Organization lifted its Public Health Emergency of International Concern for COVID-19. As I have been saying all along, experts say while the WHO ended the global emergency status for COVID-19, in the Philippines the DOH should warn the public that COVID-19 is here to stay, like the flu, pneumonia, TB, cholera, dengue and other known illness. Its always best for the people to be cautious. The surge and uptick of COVID-19 cases may not be alarming as in the past, but caution is needed. *** Tourism slogan It would do well for Tourism Secretary Christina Garcia Frasco to realize that the success of any tourism plan or program does not depend entirely on slogans or high-sounding plans. Any tourism secretary must realize that marketing is first and foremost in any tourism program, and marketing can only succeed in the ability of the tourism department to sell the country. Marketing includes advertising the Philippines all over the world, particularly over television, like CNN. Advertising is one, selling the country abroad is another, which requires the tourism secretary to go abroad to sell the country and this needs funding. And thats the reason why there must be separate funding of the tourism department just to sell the country abroad. What I am saying is the tourism secretary must travel abroad and conduct sales blitzes. A tourism secretary must be a salesman and sell the country. Secretary Frasco must also solicit the help of the foreign affairs department to help in advertising the tourist spots of the country , with brochures and posters to enable foreign tourists to realize where they must go when they travel abroad. Most importantly, the DOT secretary herself must engage in missions abroad accompanied by the countrys beauty queens to advertise the Philippines as a country of beautiful women. In other words, to attract foreign tourists, there is no substitute to selling the country to make foreign tourists see and experience what the Philippines is a country not only with unparalleled hospitality but a beautiful country. Please enable JavaScript to view the comments powered by Disqus. The restaurant industrys recent labor problems have had a somewhat unsavory side - operators desperate to staff their businesses have been cutting corners when it comes to child labor laws. The U.S. Department of Labor recently assessed more than $200,000 in penalties against three fast food franchisees for employing underaged youth. Those operators were found to have hired and scheduled 305 children, some as young as 10 years old, in 62 different locations. Across the U.S. economy as a whole, child labor law violations have increased during the pandemic years, with the Department of Labors Wage and Hour Division having conducted more than 800 investigations involving such violations during last year alone. Not surprisingly in a divided America, theres been pushback against these enforcement efforts. Lobbyists and legislators in a number of states, primarily across the Midwest, have been working to loosen restrictions on the hours and circumstances under which teens can be employed. These proposals, most of which seem to be on their way to becoming law, permit school age employees to work later on school nights and to put in longer weekday shifts. Some also reduce restrictions on the handling of alcoholic beverages by underage employees. Proposed legislation in Iowa even provides for a special class of drivers license that could be issued to 14-year-olds. Holders of those special licenses would then be able to drive themselves to and from a job. With the shortage of under-age-24 workers predicted to persist throughout the next two decades and beyond, pressures to weaken child labor law protections isnt expected to diminish anytime soon. ************* Side dishes The Irish House Restaurant and Trinity Pub in West Springfield has hired a new general manager, Michael Ratte. An experienced restaurant operator, Ratte has begun a process of enhancing the menu at the Irish House, adding back Fish Fry Fridays, promoting a traditional corned beef dinner thats served Friday and Saturday evenings, and introducing several new desserts, including a house-made cheesecake. The Irish House Restaurant and Trinity Pub is open Wednesday through Saturday from 5 p.m. on; reservations can be made by calling 413-342-4358. ************* Maifest continues at the Student Prince Cafe and Fort Restaurant in Springfield with Executive Chef Timothy Saxer having created some menu specialties in support of the celebration. Lamb is the headline ingredient for Saxers Maifest handiwork, and he is offering four options that feature the other red meat. His May Burger, which is made with fresh ground lamb, is served garnished with onion jam, pickled cucumber, goat cheese, crispy onions, and aioli. Lamb & Maibock Pie is Saxers springtime interpretation of a potpie, while his Lamb Schnitzel is finished with a traditional lemon caper sauce and served with home fries and sauerkraut. Paired with mashed potatoes and fresh asparagus, a classic Rack of Lamb is finished with a red wine demiglace. The Student Prince offers complimentary valet parking Wednesday through Saturday after 5 p.m. Call 413-734-7475 to make reservations. ************* As a promotional tie-in with the release of Sony Pictures Animations Spider Man: Across the Spider-Verse, participating Burger King locations are offer two special menu items. A Spider-Verse Whopper is served on a red bun with black sesame seeds, while a Spider-Verse Sundae features soft serve ice cream topped with black and red popping candies. Both options are slated to be available through June 15 or as long as supplies last. ************* Wilbraham-based Friendlys Restaurants has unveiled their Summer Festival Menu, which will be served through September. Lobster, a New England favorite, is featured in two of the summer offerings, a Lobster Roll Plate and a chunky Lobster Bisque. Strawberry Lemonade will be a summer season drink at participating locations, and two ice cream treats have also been created for warm weather enjoyment. Made with blue raspberry ice cream, the Shark Fribble comes decorated with gummy sharks and a drizzle of red syrup, while the Shark Ice Cream Sundae is made with Cotton Candy ice cream, blue marshmallow topping, and gummy sharks. More menu details can be found at friendlysrestaurants.com. ************* Dennys Corp, which operates nearly 1600 franchised restaurants worldwide, reported earlier this month that it was making progress in its effort to return restaurants across the system to 24/7 operations. Long a hallmark of the Dennys brand - many of its locations didnt even have locks on their front doors prior to the pandemic - the return to round-the-clock operation has proven to be a challenge in a tight labor market. As of early May, about 70% of the Dennys locations in the U.S. were back to 24-hour operations, still some distance from the companys goal of having 90% of its restaurants open for late night. The return to 24/7 operation is a priority for the chain, since the after hours traffic is both profitable and growing. Dennys is also rolling out a new loyalty program in June. The revamped Dennys Rewards program will be, according to company officials, focused on driving digital sales, enhancing customer data acquisition, and building brand loyalty. ************* On June 5, the Dirty Truth Beer Hall in Northampton will be hosting the first of its Summer Farm Dinners. Two seatings will be available, one at 5:30 p.m. and a second at 8 p.m. The five-course menu is to feature the early season produce of Astarte Farm in Hadley, which specializes in sustainable no-till agricultural practices. For more details on this event, contact the Dirty Truth at 413-585-5999. ************* The Uno Pizzeria & Grill at Haymarket Square on Boston Road in Springfield is hosting a sangria tasting event on Thursday, May 25, from 6 to 8 p.m. The program will focus on the history of sangria and will feature a flight of four sangria varieties, both red and white, for participants to taste. Food is not included, but the restaurant, in addition to serving its full menu, will be offering half-priced appetizers during the tasting event. The tasting is being co-sponsored by the Italian winery label Gruppo Mezzacorona. Tickets can be purchased at Eventbrite.com, where they will cost $20 plus a convenience fee. Uno Pizzeria & Grill answers at 413-543-6600. ************* A special Fathers Day celebration thats always a sell-out, the Lobster Surf & Turf Fathers Day Feast presented by Max Hospitality is scheduled for June 18 starting at 12:30 p.m. Part of the Max Hospitality Groups Chef to Farm event series, the Feast will be held at Rosedale Farms & Vineyard in Simsbury, CT. The menu features baked stuffed lobster, grilled steak, clam chowder, and more; hamburgers and hot dogs are available for the youngsters. Beer, wine, and specialty cocktails will also be available. Tickets, which are $89, can be ordered online at maxhospitality.myshopify.com. ************* On June 16 starting at 6:30 p.m., the Hardwick Vineyard & Winery, in conjunction with Wine Down Events, will be hosting a Brunch in the Evening wine pairing event. Wine educator Missa Capozzo will guide participants through wine and brunch pairing that include Hardwick Vineyard wines served alongside morning food favorites such as lemon poppy seed muffins, mini quiche, and bagels with strawberry cream cheese. The program is designed to illustrate some fundamental principles of wine-food pairings. Tickets for the event are available at eveningbrunchhardwick.eventbrite.com and are priced at $49 plus a convenience fee. Hardwick Vineyard & Winery can be reached at 413-967-7763. ************* The Farmers Market at Forest Park has returned for its summer 2023 season. Held every Tuesday, rain or shine, from 12:30 p.m. to 6 p.m., May through October, the market sponsors free entry into the park for shoppers. For more details, contact the markets organizers at famersmarketforestpark@gmail.com. Hugh Robert is a faculty member in Holyoke Community Colleges hospitality and culinary arts program and has nearly 50 years of restaurant and educational experience. Robert can be reached online at OffTheMenuGuy@aol.com. As he delivered the commencement speech for Boston Universitys graduating class of 2023 at Nickerson Field on Sunday, Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav was met with boos and chants echoing the sentiments of the Writers Guild of America, which went on strike May 2. Zaslav, a 1985 Boston University School of Law graduate, told students theyll have to work with people looking for a fight in order to be successful, according to one video shared by television writer Mike Scollins on Twitter. Screenwriters formed picket lines outside studios in Southern California while also marching across other parts of the country after talks between WGA and the studios fell apart May 1, according to the Associated Press. Depressed pay thanks to streaming and creating a gig economy inside a union workforce... are among the WGAs reasons for going on strike. Other grievances include studios refusal to guarantee any level of weekly employment in episodic television... the creation of a day rate in comedy variety, and stonewalling on free work for screenwriters and on AI for all writers... according to the unions statement. Zaslavs salary amidst the strike has become a rallying point in itself $246.6 million a year, according to The Hollywood Reporter. For its part, Boston University acknowledged WGAs announcement to picket Zaslavs speech but would not withdraw its invitation. We fully respect the right of the WGA to seek the best possible compensation through the collective bargaining process, but it is not in keeping with our policy for free and open speech to disinvite a speaker to indicate support to a party in a labor dispute, Boston University president Robert Brown told Boston Universitys newspaper The Daily Free Press in a May 17 article. But it was more than Writers Guild of America East members in protest at the commencement. Pro-labor organizations like the Democratic Socialists of America and even students in their caps and gowns heckled the WB CEO. A person in a graduation cap and gown holds a sign during an address by David Zaslav, president and CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery, at Boston University commencement ceremonies, Sunday, May 21, 2023, in Boston. Many graduating students chanted slogans in support of the Hollywood writers' strike during the ceremonies. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)AP An inflatable rat sat not far from the ceremony while students chanted no wages, no pages, according to the AP. Shots were taken at ChatGPT, including one sign from a student that read I am a writer (not written by ChatGPT), while another held a sign asking Who wrote your speech? ChatGPT? Zaslav makes something in the hundreds of millions per year, which is not far off from what 11,000 writers are asking for [pay] for three years, Annie Stamell, a WGA East member who helped check in strikers at the Boston Playwrights Theatre, said to BU Today. Hes also overseen this massive (streaming) merger and, with that as his goal, it reveals that his true customers are not actually consumers of content, but shareholders. The college news website reported that 200 protestors were outside the commencement ceremony. A message in support of the Hollywood writers' strike is pulled by an airplane in the sky above Boston University commencement ceremonies, Sunday, May 21, 2023, in Boston, during an address by David Zaslav, president and CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)AP This is the first strike held by Hollywood screenwriters since the 2007-08 strike which lasted 14 weeks. Writers cannot work while on strike, leaving production teams to either continue working or halt production entirely. The writers have received solidarity from actors and directors, but the strike could expand as the Directors Guild of America negotiates on streaming residuals, according to Deadline, and the Screen Actors Guild or SAG AFTRA announced it may authorize its own strike. A long list of actors, actresses, directors and writers have taken to the streets in solidarity with the WGA, including J.J. Abrams, Wanda Sykes, Jeri Ryan, Neil Gaiman and Larry David. Sharks are back in Cape Cod water, scientists are reminding Massachusetts beachgoers, after a 12-foot white shark was seen eating a seal on Saturday. The shark sighting, which was off of Provincetown on May 20, was noted on the New England Aquarium and Atlantic White Shark Conservancys Sharktivity app. It was seen feasting on the seal by a Dolphin Fleet Whale Watch, the app stated. Dolphin Fleet Whale Watch also shared a video of the shark. The entire event only lasted around 7 minutes from when we first saw the shark quickly break the surface of the water, in what we think was the initial strike, to when the seal was consumed, the whale watching company wrote. They shared the video with researchers who have confirmed this is the first eyewitness confirmation of a white shark and predation this season, the Facebook post stated. OCEARCH Chief Scientist Bob Hueter told the Boston Herald sharks usually return to Massachusetts waters around May 15. Read more: 55 new sharks were identified by Atlantic White Shark Conservancy in 2022 As the water temperature starts warming past 60 degrees, then these animals will march north. Sharks also use daylight. As days get longer, they will become more active and move farther to the north, he told the newspaper. Between May and November, when white sharks feed on the regions resurgent seal population, thats when trackers identify and tag sharks to follow their trajectories along the East Coast. A couple of white sharks were previously spotted by OCEARCH inching closer to New England waters. An eight-foot, 395-pound juvenile named Jekyll was spotted on May 10 off the coast of Atlantic City, while the nine-foot, 434-pound juvenile Simon was tracked off Long Island on May 7. Sharks attacking humans are rare but scientists are still warning beachgoers to be mindful of the presence of these ocean animals. Though white shark bites on humans are rare, the sighting serves as a reminder to beachgoers and boaters to be mindful of the presence of these ocean animals, said John Chisholm, adjunct scientist in the New England Aquariums Anderson Cabot Center for Ocean Life. Its important to be aware of sharks presence in shallow waters, to avoid areas where seals are present or schools of fish are visible, and to stay close to shore where rescuers can reach you if needed. Read more: Photos of sharks near Cape Cod shared by Atlantic White Shark Conservancy The Sharktivity app can be used to inform beach goers of sharks that have been reported. There is a real public concern around beach safety, and we recognize the need to respond to that, said Nick Whitney, senior scientist at the New England Aquarium and chair of the Anderson Cabot Centers Fisheries Science and Emerging Technologies program. Thats why were excited to continue this partnership with the Conservancy to help provide accurate, timely information on shark sightings in the region. A Bolton man was transported to a local hospital with unknown injuries after he was ejected from his car during a car accident on I-93 in Hookset, New Hampshire, according to officials. New Hampshire state troopers along with fire and medical personnel responded to a report of a single-vehicle rollover on I-93 North in Hookset on Saturday around 5:30 p.m., the New Hampshire state police department said. A witness told the state troopers that the vehicle operator was ejected from the vehicle in the crash, New Hampshire state police said. After an initial investigation, troopers determined that the vehicle a 2007 Blue Honda Civic was being operated by Jonathan Fiore, 50, of Bolton, according to the New Hampshire state police. Fiore was driving down the left lane of I-93 when he lost control of his car. His car hit the median guardrail, then rolled over and landed on two right lanes of the interstate. New Hampshire state troopers said that impairment and speed were the two leading causes behind the crash. Fiore was arrested and charged with Driving While Intoxicated and Reckless Driving. An experienced hiker from Massachusetts had to be rescued in New Hampshire after dealing with snow, rain and falling in a brook, New Hampshire Fish and Game Department said. Elizabeth ONeill, 28, from Fall River, Massachusetts, was hiking Downes Brook Trail to Mt. Tripyramid and then over to Mt. Whiteface with her dog on Saturday. Officials said it rained and snowed during her hike. But she had to call 911 for help on Diceys Mill trail about a half mile from the summit of Mt. Passaconaway, officials said. She had fallen into a brook, getting her and her equipment wet. She is an experienced hiker who had planned for the weather conditions and an extended stay if necessary, officials said. She had all the ten essentials, which include rain gear, extra clothing, food, water, tent and sleeping bag. Although she was an experienced hiker with the needed equipment, officials said she did not expect to fall in a brook. She tried to set up her tent and stay warm in her sleeping bag. But she ran into issues setting up the tent properly and the rain continued to increasing, causing more issues. Thats when she decided to call 911. After talking with her on the phone, it was determined that the best course of action was to hike to her location and assist her, officials said. They helped her back around 11:35 p.m. Officials commended ONeill for her equipment and for deciding to call 911. The outcome could have been much worse if she had not had the equipment that she did, officials wrote. South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott launched his presidential campaign on Monday, offering an optimistic and compassionate message hes hoping can contrast the two figures who have used political combativeness to dominate the early GOP primary field: former President Donald Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. The Senates only Black Republican, Scott kicked off the campaign in his hometown of North Charleston, on the campus of Charleston Southern University, his alma mater and a private school affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention. He repeatedly mentioned his Christian faith in his kickoff speech, crying, Amen! Amen! Amen! and at several points electing responses from the crowd, who sometimes chanted his name. Read more: Joe Biden announces reelection bid for 2024 presidential election But Scott also offered a stark political choice, saying our party and our nation are standing at a time for choosing: Victimhood or victory and adding that Republicans will also have to decide between Grievance or greatness? I choose freedom and hope and opportunity, Scott said. He went on to the crowd that, We need a president who persuades not just our friends and our base but seeks commonsense solutions and displays compassion for people who dont agree with us. That was a far cry from Trump, who has played to the GOPs most loyal supporters with repeated lies about how he was denied a second term by widespread fraud that did not occur during the 2020 presidential election. DeSantis, meanwhile, has pushed Florida to the right by championing contentious new restrictions on abortion, LGBTQ rights and by seeking to limit the corporate power of Disney, one his states most powerful business interests. Scott, 57, planned to huddle with home-state donors then begin a two-day campaign swing to Iowa and New Hampshire, which go first in GOP presidential primary voting. His announcement event featured an opening prayer by Republican Sen. John Thune of South Dakota, the No. 2 Senate Republican, who said, I think our country is ready to be inspired again. Republican Sen. Mike Rounds, South Dakotas other senator, has already announced his support for Scott. A number of high-profile GOP senators have already backed Trumps third bid for the White House, though, including Scotts South Carolina colleague, Lindsey Graham. Trump nonetheless struck a conciliatory tone, welcoming Scott to the race in an online post Monday and noting that the pair worked together on his administrations signature tax cuts. A source of strength for Scott will be his campaign bank account. He enters the 2024 race with more cash on hand than any other presidential candidate in U.S. history, with $22 million left in his campaign account at the end of his 2022 campaign that he can transfer to his presidential coffers. Scott also won reelection in firmly Republican South Carolina -- which has an early slot on the Republican presidential primary calendar -- by more than 20 points less than six months ago. Advisors bet that can make Scott a serious contender for an early, momentum-generating win. But Scott is not the only South Carolina option. The states former governor, Nikki Haley, who also once served as Trumps former United Nations ambassador, is also running. Ben LeVan, a business professor at Charleston Southern who attended Mondays event, said hed not decided who to support in the GOP primary but didnt plan to back Trump. I really do hope that we can bring some civility back in politics, LeVan said. Thats one of the nice things about Tim Scott, and quite frankly, Nikki Haley, and some of the other candidates as well. Theyre more diplomatic, and that is something that I appreciate. Like others in the GOP race, including former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson and Woke, Inc. author Vivek Ramaswamy, Scotts initial task will be finding a way to stand out in a field led by Trump and DeSantis, the latter of whom could announce his own bid as early as this week. One way Scott hopes to do that is his trademark political optimism. Scott often quotes Scripture at his campaign events, weaving his reliance on spiritual guidance into his speeches calling his travels before the campaigns official launch, the Faith in America listening tour. Scott said Monday that Americas promise means you can go as high as our character, our grit, and our talent will take you. The Democratic National Committee responded to Scotts announcement by dismissing the notion that Scott offers much of an alternative to Trumps policies. DNC chair Jamie Harrison, who ran unsuccessfully for Senate in South Carolina in 2020, released a statement calling the senator a fierce advocate of the MAGA agenda, a reference to the former presidents Make America Great Again movement. On many issues, Scott does indeed align with mainstream GOP positions. He wants to reduce government spending and restrict abortion, saying he would sign a federal law to prohibit abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy if elected president. But Scott has pushed the party on some policing overhaul measures since the killing of George Floyd, and he has occasionally criticized Trumps response to racial tensions. Throughout their disagreements, though, Scott has maintained a generally cordial relationship with Trump, saying in his book that the former president listened intently to his viewpoints on race-related issues. Read more: How to watch CNN Town Hall with former President Donald Trump for free When he was appointed to the Senate by then-governor Haley in 2012, Scott became the first Black senator from the South since just after the Civil War. Winning a 2014 special election to serve out the remainder of his term made him the first Black candidate to win a statewide race in South Carolina since the Reconstruction era. He has long said his current term, which runs through 2029, would be his last. Scott has long rejected the notion that the country is inherently racist. Hes also routinely repudiated the teaching of critical race theory, an academic framework that presents the idea that the nations institutions maintain the dominance of white people. Today, Im living proof that America is the land of opportunity and not a land of oppression, he said Monday. After a traumatic swatting incident at St. Johns Prep in Danvers Monday, the head of the Catholic school is asking for prayers. We appreciate your patience, understand your concerns and anxiety and ask that you please pray for the law enforcement people that are here, pray for our students and our staff and pray for each other as we realize this is a challenging and traumatic experience for everyone to go through, Ed Hardiman said in a video. At around 1:45 p.m. on Monday, May 22, there was a report of an active shooter in Brother Benjamin Hall on the St. Johns Prep campus, according to the school. The campus went on an enhanced lockdown. Both Danvers Police Department and Massachusetts State Police responded to the school. At 1:49 p.m., state police said an immediate entry was made and no threats were identified. Both teams then did a second sweep. State police said there were no injuries. Parents and guardians were informed of the incident by email and text at 2:01 p.m., the school said. Students, staff and faculty continued to shelter in place until state police cleared the buildings. An all clear was declared at 2:09 p.m. and campus was deemed safe with no immediate danger, the school said. St. Johns Prep is a Catholic school for boys in grades 6 through 12. The website states it has 10 student buildings on campus and 175 acres. The report of an active shooter at St. Johns Prep in Danvers was likely swatting a false report intended to provoke a police response the school said. We believe that St. Johns was the victim of a Swatting call, the schools website stated around 3 p.m. Monday. Everyone is safe, there have been no injuries and police are currently clearing campus buildings as we account for all students. Swatting is when a false 911 report is made that is intended to prompt a major police response. Researchers say swatting incidents are on the rise since the FBI started tracking such cases in 2008. Parents were asked to not go to the school. Instead, they were directed to the Stop & Shop parking lot on Route 62, located at 301 Newbury St. in Danvers. Some students fled school grounds on their own after the reported active shooter, according to Massachusetts State Police. Those students are also being directed or shuttled to the Stop & Shop. Parents can report there to be reunited with their children, state police tweeted. A Massachusetts man was seriously injured in an explosion caused by fireworks Sunday, the Kingston Fire Department said. The explosion happened on Nobadeer Circle in Kingston, according to the fire department. Officials said they believe the man was manufacturing fireworks in the basement when the explosion happened. Read more: Kingston homemade fireworks injury prompts officials to warn public of danger Wed like to be able to talk to him to see what his intent was, but obviously, we have to deal with the physical injuries first, to him, Kingston Police Department Detective Lt. Michael Skowyra told WCVB. No reason for us to believe there was any sort of public safety concern that he was going to use it maliciously, just it looks like [he] made a mistake, essentially, building explosives that he shouldnt have been. The news outlet reported the man has life-threatening injuries. SPRINGFIELD MGM Springfield is installing more railings and a security station near its South End Market food court in a continuing battle to keep anyone under the age of 21 off the casino floor. The casino might also make more changes to the wide-open layout, with its many access points to downtown, executives told state gaming regulators Monday. But designers are still working out the fire-safety and access complications. The new barriers are going up in the next week to 10 days. The Massachusetts Gaming Commission fined MGM Springfield $45,000 on Monday as a result of multiple incidents resulting in people under the age of 21 having access to the gaming floor. We appreciate that MGM Springfield self-reported many of these instances and their ongoing cooperation to put enhanced practices into place to prevent similar incidents in the future, said Kathleen Kramer, the commissions senior enforcement counsel. The commissions Investigations and enforcement Bureau will continue to monitor MGM Springfields compliance and the new remedial steps, she said. The fine stems from incidents between June and December of 2022. MGM Springfield agreed to the penalty, the commission said. In a new report to the state Gaming Commission, MGM Springfield admitted Monday it is still finding young people on the gaming floor. Security at the $1 billion casino on the citys South End intercepted 127 minors gambling or drinking in the first three months of 2023, according to a report it submitted Monday to the commission. Of those, 115 were minors intercepted and prevented from gambling; another 12 actually made a bet. Eight of the 12 who bet were standing on the non-gaming walkway and leaning across their parents to hit a slot-machine button. One 19-year-old was in the gaming area for an hour and 25 minutes before she, in violation of state gaming law, pressed the button to cash out her fathers ticket. One youngster was intercepted after 8 seconds. Commissioner Bradford R. Hill called all these numbers disturbing. According the Q4 2022 report, for the years last three months, MGMs security team intercepted 76 people under 21 on its casino floor in December 2022, a big jump from the 30 nabbed in November and the 16 stopped in October. In January 2023, there were 61 under-age visitors; 57 were caught before they gambled and four after. In February 2023, there were 31 under-age people; 28 were caught before they gambled and three after. In March, 35 under-age people were located; 30 were stopped before they gambled, five after. Our goal is to get to zero, said Gus Kim, vice president and legal counsel at MGM. The single underage drinker in the first quarter was a 19-year-old woman whod been passed a drink from an over-21 friend. Kim said casino security acted swiftly. The teen drank at 12:45 a.m. and was dealt with by security at 12:46. Opened in 2018, MGM Springfield was built with an inside-out design meaning the casino floor has many entry points and access to the street and downtown Springfield. MGM Springfield also has attractions restaurants, a movie theater, bowling open to people who are under 21. MGM Springfield offers free parking, which is especially popular when there are games and events at the MassMutual Center. The Civic Center Garage was demolished starting last August and is being rebuilt. But construction eliminated 700 parking spots next to the arena. Kim said parents are cutting through the casino as they lead families on their way from the parking deck to the arena. Hill, the commission member, said parents need better direction and signs. The casino needs to make clear that families with children should stay on tiled walkways and off the carpeted gambling floor. A Manchester-by-the-Sea man has been charged with murder in the weekend shooting of another man, according to the Bristol County District Attorneys Office. William OBrien of Manchester-by-the-Sea had previously been charged with carrying an illegal firearm and carrying a loaded illegal firearm. The prosecutors office said OBrien is expected to be arraigned later today in Attleboro District Court. First responders were dispatched to 42 W. Church St. in Mansfield shortly after 11 a.m. Saturday, where the found Samuel Waters already dead, according to the prosecutors office. Massachusetts State Police are investigating. The Middlesex District Attorneys Office and Waltham Chief of Police Kevin OConnell said they are investigating a fatal shooting that occurred early Monday morning in Waltham. Waltham police officers went to Lyman Street near Faneuil Road after a report of shots fired at about 1:29 a.m. on Monday, officials said. Upon arrival, the officers found a man outside on the sidewalk suffering from apparent gunshot wounds. Although life-saving measures were performed on the scene, the man was later pronounced dead at Lahey Hospital, officials said. Police have not made any arrests. Officials are asking any member of the public with information connected to the fatal shooting to call Waltham Police at 781-314-3550 or Massachusetts State Police Detectives assigned to the Middlesex District Attorneys Office at 781-897-6600. School counselors will be available to help students, faculty and staff process the trauma of a suspected swatting call at St. Johns Preparatory School in Danvers Monday, the school head said at a news conference Monday afternoon. Head of School Ed Hardiman, joined by Danvers Police Chief James Lovell, spoke regarding the call, the lockdown it caused and the subsequent investigation. Our primary goal ... was just to make sure that everybody was safe, that nobody was hurt, Hardiman said. Now we reflect on what happened, take what was learned and prepare for the future, and ideally this doesnt happen again. No suspects have been identified regarding the call, which is believed to have been a hoax. Lovell said that an accidental discharge during the response resulted in increased response from area departments. Lovell said an investigation is continuing into that weapon discharge, which happened in an otherwise unoccupied bathroom in Brother Benjamin Hall. No one was injured, Lovell said. Hardiman said the school has proactively communicated with parents and is making sure parents and their children are united following the event that, he said, certainly caused trauma to some. This is everybodys nightmare, Hardiman said. Every parent, given the context of our culture today, is concerned that things like this could happen. The Catholic school educates 1,450 students, in grades six through 12. Hardiman said the school community will support the students and their families affected. Its our responsibility to reach out to each other, to support for each other and to care for each other The schools website notified people that there was a report of an active shooter at St. Johns Prep in Danvers Monday afternoon. The school said the report came from the Benjamin Hall building on campus. Both Danvers Police Department and Massachusetts State Police were at the school, St. Johns Prep said in the statement. At 1:49 p.m., state police said an immediate entry was made and no threats were identified. Both teams then did a second sweep. Students, staff and faculty continued to shelter in place until state police cleared the buildings. UPDATE: Report of active shooter at St. Johns Prep in Danvers likely swatting, school says There was a report of an active shooter at St. Johns Prep in Danvers Monday afternoon, according to the schools website. The school said the report came from the Benjamin Hall building on campus. Both Danvers Police Department and Massachusetts State Police are at the school, St. Johns Prep said in the statement. At 1:49 p.m., state police said an immediate entry was made and no threats were identified. Both teams are doing a second sweep. State police said there were no injuries. Read more: Officials investigating fatal shooting that occurred in Waltham Students, Faculty, and Staff are sheltering in place, the statement read at 2:15 p.m. Monday. We will further provide updates as soon as possible. Some students fled school grounds on their own, according to state police. Those students are being directed or shuttled to Stop and Shop located at 301 Newbury St. in Danvers. Parents can report there to be reunited with their children, state police tweeted. St. Johns Prep is a Catholic school for boys in grades 6 through 12. The website states it has 10 student buildings on campus and 175 acres. SPRINGFIELD Convicted loan shark Rex Cunningham denied criminal charges Monday related to his alleged threatening to break every bone in a mans body over a $600 debt in 2022. The man was a tenant in an East Longmeadow property owned by Cunninghams girlfriend. Cunningham allegedly bullied him because he was behind on the rent. Cunningham pleaded not guilty to four criminal charges in Hampden Superior Court and was released on $10,000 bail he previously posted when the case was brought in Palmer District Court. Cunningham was since indicted in the higher court and was arraigned Monday morning. The older I get, the older this gets, Cunningham, 72, groused to a reporter outside the courtroom. Cunningham did a 17-year stint in federal prison for breaking a mans arm over a debt as he ambushed the man outside his sisters funeral. He was released in 2011. He served a yearlong sentence in county jail for running a gaming and loan sharking ring out of two Irish pubs he owns in Springfield. He also has ties to Marios Cafe Ambiance in East Longmeadow. Rex Cunningham, of Springfield, is shown here in Hampshire Superior Court in 2018 after being charged with loansharking and illegal gaming crimes. The alleged victim in the new case activated an audio recording app on his phone when Cunningham and two unnamed men knocked on his door in April 2022 amid an eviction dispute, according to a police report. The man reluctantly forked over $140 after Cunningham demanded $600 for rent and utilities and threatened to beat him, the report says. (The alleged victim) was threatened even more and was told by Tammys husband that he has his name and license plate number and he would hunt him down, beat him and put him in a hospital if he did not pay or pressed legal charges, according to a statement of facts filed by the East Longmeadow Police Department. The man went to police that night, the report adds. Cunninghams attorney has variously referred to the dispute as a misunderstanding and the product of a generational divide. On Monday, Springfield attorney Daniel D. Kelly said he looks forward to defending the case. Were anticipating Mr. Cunninghams day in court and maintain our position that this case does not support an indictment, Kelly said. A Fitchburg man has been charged with murder in the 2021 killing of Franklin Mane, according to prosecutors. Wilbert I. Nieves, 25, was charged Friday with murder in connection with the Leominster killing, discovered on May 12, 2021, the Worcester County District Attorneys Office announced Monday. Nieves is expected to be arraigned on June 1. Police responded to the area of 46 Industrial Road in Leominster after a body was reported, finding the body near a parking lot. An autopsy determined Mane died of gunshot wounds. Local and state law enforcement continue to investigate the incident. Nieves is currently in custody at a Massachusetts jail on unrelated firearms charges, the prosecutors office said. What did it take to get a truly conservative Republican lawmaker and an unreservedly liberal Democrat to see eye-to-eye? A new report detailing misuse of a spy database. The finding came from the court that oversees the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. It found that the FBI has been seriously and systematically abusing its warrantless electronic surveillance authority. U.S. Rep. Jim Jordan, a no-holds-barred conservative Republican from Ohio, and U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden, a classical liberal from Oregon who has long backed civil liberties, are both outraged over apparent abuses by federal authorities. Without first obtaining a search warrant, or having demonstrated probable cause, those authorities were poking around in the records of some of those involved in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on our nations Capitol. They also sifted through the records of people connected to protests that occurred after the murder of George Floyd, the unarmed Black man who died beneath the knee of a white Minneapolis police officer in May 2020. Those acts appear to violate the Fourth Amendment to our Constitution, which reads: The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized. The language is old-fashioned, but clear: The amendment requires authorities to obtain a search warrant before having a look around to see what they might find. That is how its still supposed to work in our era, when so much information is stored in electronic databases. The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court decides who gets to view and sort through electronic records, granting warrants to those suspected of links to terrorism. It gives the green light to those who make their case to a panel of judges on the super-secret court. This can never be seen as optional. The FBI says it has since changed its practices. Some authorities with access to the spy database just went ahead and poked around with no warrant, no probable cause. Since so much was redacted from the official account of this behavior, specifics are uncertain. But what we do know stinks. A multi-car crash on Interstate 91 near Springfield Monday prompted a rescue by the Massachusetts State Police, as one woman was left trapped inside her car as a result of the crash. Troopers responded at around 8:30 a.m., according to a state police tweet. Around 8:30AM Troopers responded to I-91 NB around Exit 8 in Springfield for multiple-vehicle crash w/entrapment. Second photo shows cruiser being used to stabilize female victims car so she could be safely extricated. More info to be released later today. pic.twitter.com/APk09XjxQa Mass State Police (@MassStatePolice) May 22, 2023 As they attempted to rescue a woman trapped inside her vehicle, troopers used one of their cruisers to stabilize her car so she could get out safely. It is unknown how many vehicles were involved in the crash, or how many people were injured or hospitalized. State police said more information would be released later today in their tweet. MassLive has reached out for more information. I cant, but we can. For Southwick resident David Sutton, it is that simple and one of the reasons he was chosen to receive the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 872s annual Peter L. Miller Community Service Award, presented during Town Meeting on May 16. A 76-year-old pedestrian hit by a car and killed in Fitchburg late Friday was identified by Worcester County District Attorney Joseph Early Jr.s office on Monday. Mario Bratkon, of Fitchburg, was walking on a crosswalk before he was struck by a Toyota Corolla that was driving east on Water Street at about 8:45 p.m. He was flown to the hospital by medical helicopter, Massachusetts State Police said. Bratkon was taken to UMass Memorial Medical Center in Worcester, where he was pronounced dead, Earlys office said in a previous statement. The driver remained at the scene after the fatal crash, MassLive previously reported. The operator of the Toyota did not suffer any injuries, state police said. Fitchburg police took over the investigation after it was determined the crash occurred in their jurisdiction, despite Leominster police responding first, Leominster police told MassLive on Saturday. The crash remains under investigation by Fitchburg Police, Leominster Police and the Massachusetts State Police Collision Analysis and Reconstruction Team, along with investigators from the Worcester County District Attorneys Office, Earlys office said. The Healey-Driscoll Administration is tapping another well-known Central Massachusetts figure to join its team. The administration announced Monday that Sen. Anne Gobi, a Democrat from Spencer, will take on the newly created position of director of rural affairs in the Executive Office of Economic Development starting June 5. The announcement comes a week after the administration appointed former Worcester City Manager Edward Augustus Jr. as the states housing secretary. I am thrilled to take on this important role and grateful to the Healey-Driscoll Administration for elevating our rural communities, Gobi said in a statement. While I will miss the legislature, I look forward to continuing to work for the needs of small towns throughout the commonwealth as their advocate in state government. Gobi has been a member of the state legislature for more than two decades. She was first elected as a state representative in 2001 before moving to the state senate in 2014, representing communities in Worcester and Hampshire Counties. Gobi overcame Republican challenger James Amorello in the Massachusetts General Election in 2022, earning 35,409 votes, or 54.4%, compared to Amorellos 29,734. In her role as state senator, she serves as Senate Chair of the Agriculture Committee, Vice Chair of the Higher Education Committee and Co-Chair of the Commission on 21st Century Farming. We are building an economy that benefits all communities, businesses, and people in Massachusetts, particular those that are too often overlooked and underrepresented like rural and small towns, Healey said regarding the appointment. Senator Gobis fierce advocacy of rural equity, agricultural and small businesses, and conservation initiatives makes her the ideal candidate to help our rural towns across the state succeed. Read more: Worcester County coalition aims to reduce barriers to food access Gobi has lived in Spencer her entire life and attended Worcester State University and the Massachusetts School of Law. Senator Gobi brings to this new role deep knowledge of the challenges that rural and small-town economies face and decades of experience serving the people of our state, Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll said of Gobi. We are excited to welcome her to our administration and look forward to working with her to better reach rural communities and help them grow. When she starts in her role, Gobi will serve as a member of the Executive Office of Economic Developments economic foundations team led by Undersecretary Ashely Stolba. Our office supports all of Massachusetts 351 cities and towns, more than half of which are rural communities, Stolba said. Were excited that Senator Gobi will join our office to provide these municipalities with dedicated attention to help their economies succeed. Gobi will be responsible for reviewing all state grant opportunities to ensure that barriers for rural and small towns are mitigated and will have office hours for rural towns to provide them technical assistance and help them identify and explore grant opportunities. African ministers, government and private sector leaders are set to converge in a powerful cross-continental forum in Marrakech this month to press on with digital transformation alliances as the tech world reorganises itself in the wake of the global digital upheaval. Against the biggest market correction in recent years, Africa continues to march onwards to empower and unify a continent on the cusp of transformative ICT growth, with the GITEX Africa Digital Summit the new focal point steering a pursuit of a unified digital vision. The influential summit will spearhead an inspiring conference programme at the inaugural GITEX Africa 2023 the largest tech and start-up show in the African continent, taking place from 31 May-2 June unifying 500-plus policy makers, government heads, investors and academics to explore how technology and connectivity are redrawing the boundaries of sustainable social-economic development for African government, business and society. H.E. Lacina Kone, the Director General and CEO of Smart Africa the pan-African organisation driving the continents digital transformation agenda is a headline speaker. Kone said digital technologies offer new avenues for economic growth in Africa by accelerating job creation and talent development, supporting access to public services and increasing productivity and innovation. However, challenges remain. The lack of connectivity in remote and rural regions along with insufficient data protection and high cost of African connectivity have brought new challenges to businesses, governments, and people, said Kone, who oversees the process of defining Africas digital agenda in addition to advancing key continental initiatives. Intra-governmental cooperation is the key enabler of digital services adoption and acceleration, while mitigating these associated challenges across the African continent. Kone will be part of a panel at the GITEX Africa Digital Summit titled: Uniting Towards One African Market. He will share how Africas leaders are building a secure, resilient and sustainable digital future. Agile enabling regulations are needed to quickly respond to market developments, facilitating entry of new competitors for the benefit of consumers in a united African continent, he said. The GITEX Africa Digital Summit will arrive amid a remarkable period of African ICT and broadband growth, with statistics showing the continent has the worlds fastest-growing internet population, up by 20 percent in just one year. Africas digital economy has become one of the main drivers of cross-continental progress, coupled with strong talent development and a spike in public private sector investments. Jerome Henique, CEO for the Middle East & Africa at Orange, France; Tonny Bao, Vice President of Huawei, China; and Saad Toma, General Manager of IBM MENA, are among the foremost private sector leaders speaking about the critical pathways advancing the continents digital transformation missions, from building a more digital and inclusive Africa to exploring the social and economic impacts of 5G, or how AI can drive business transformation and sustainability. Other headliners at Africas most impactful leadership conference programme include H.E. Syed Amin Ul Haque, Minister of Information Technology and Communications in Pakistan; and Babajide Sanwo-Olu the Governor of Lagos Nigeria, who will deliver a keynote address on what is accelerating Africa to become the next Silicon Valley. The state of play in Africas digital economy will be another key discussion point, addressed by H.E. Belete Molla, the Minister of Innovation and Technology in Ethiopia; and H.E. Cina Lawson Minister of Digital Economy and Transformation in Togo. I am honoured to be part of the GITEX Africa hosted by Morocco, said H.E. Molla. It creates opportunities to governments, innovators and leading experts from around the world to discover new ideas, build new partnerships, and connect with inspiring mentors and investors. It would help Ethiopia to get connected to the global tech space and leading players. Accelerating the epic race for African AI dominance The next wave of digital transformation accelerated by the power of generative AI along with AIs impact on African societies will meanwhile stimulate curious discussions at a dedicated AI track on day three of GITEX Africa, where the brightest minds and most innovative thinkers share their insights on AIs ability to revolutionise industries, from agriculture to finance. Dr. Adel Alsharji, Chief Operating Officer at UAE-headquartered Presight, the Middle Easts leading international big data analytics company powered by AI, will deliver the keynote address on the Societal Impact of Artificial Intelligence. The societal impact of AI is multifaceted and far-reaching globally, and it is already reshaping sectors, such as healthcare, finance, agriculture, education, and manufacturing and therefore the way we live, said Dr. Alsharji. The African continent is showing a speedy AI adoption rate and a readiness to explore and harness the potential of AI for driving economic growth and addressing local challenges, ultimately benefiting the greater good of people. As AI advances, we can anticipate further innovation and positive applications. It is crucial, however, to embrace AI responsibly, ensuring ethical considerations are in place as we navigate this transformative landscape. Mustapha Zaouini, the Chairman of AI in Africa, will speak on a panel on Responsible Generative AI. He said while Africa has unique challenges such as disparity in internet access, the continent is steadily embracing AI. Africa is exploring AI to solve pressing issues like poverty, unemployment, and inequality, said Zaouini. However, readiness varies across countries, and theres a need to invest in infrastructure, education, and policy-making to fully harness this fast-evolving technology. Access to AI technologies can level the playing field so it is essential not to be left aside. Ensuring equitable access to technology and bridging the digital divide are crucial steps to prepare for AIs impact in Africa. Digital cities evolution and plotting the path to a net zero future With the global push towards a net zero economy, technologys role in advancing sustainability is more important than ever. A panel at GITEX Africas Digital Cities conference track will explore how technology can advance an African-centric Net Zero agenda, addressed by Dr. Shaoshan Liu, Founder and CEO of PerceptIn in the USA; Mohammed Essaidi, MEA Chairman of the Global Cities Alliance, IEEE in Morocco; Laurent Roussel, President of Francophone Africa & Islands at Schneider Electric; and Gilles Babinet, French Government Representative of Digital Champions Group (EU) in France. Other preeminent speakers at GITEX Africa include Emmanuel Gadret, CEO of Francophone Africa at Deloitte, who will share his insights into charting Africas path to prosperity by unlocking economic and data sovereignty; and Dr. Ray Johnson, CEO of the Technology Innovation Institute in the UAE, who will dive into generative AIs ubiquitous role in fuelling economic growth. A historic launch in the worlds next biggest digital economy The inaugural GITEX Africa will make its historic debut from 31 May-2 June 2023, welcoming more than 900 exhibitors, start-ups, and visiting delegations from 80 countries for three days of intensive outcome-focused public-private sector collaborations in the worlds next biggest digital economy. More than 250 hosted investors from 34 countries with US$200 billion worth of assets under management will also seek breakthrough technologies and potential African tech scale-up co-investment opportunities. As the ultimate start-up incubator and magnet for flourishing VC funds, GITEX Africa will deliver an unmatched scouting platform for these investors, of which 70 percent are coming from outside of Africa. GITEX Africa is held under the High Patronage of His Majesty King Mohammed VI, and hosted by the Digital Development Agency (ADD), the public entity leading the Moroccan governments digital transformation agenda under the authority of the Moroccan Ministry of Digital Transition and Administration Reform. KAOUN International will lead the partnership for this much awaited business endeavour, urging the global tech community to go to Africa, leveraging the power of the trusted GITEX Global brand in Dubai, the worlds largest tech event. With tech-friendly policies in a continent that is now far more accessible, African investment is rocketing. Analysts predict the tech market is on track to scale from $115 billion to $712 billion by 2050, while according to Briter Bridges, African start-ups raised a total of US$5.4 billion across 900+ deals in 2022. Meanwhile, a youthful populace coupled with Africas rapid urbanisation is accelerating digital economic growth, with 70 percent of the Sub-Saharan African population under 30 years of age and 45 percent of Africans set to live in cities by 2025. Articles similaires The annual Computing Research Association (CRA) Widening Participation (WP) Grad Cohort for Women workshop provides an opportunity for women in the early stages of their graduate studies in computing to build mentoring relationships and develop peer networks. As a member of the CRA and department sponsor of the CRA-WP Grad Cohort for Women, Northwestern Computer Science received full support for three graduate students to attend the 2023 conference last month in San Francisco. In addition, the department funded three additional students to attend the conference. Of the nearly 700 students that applied to participate, Connie Chau, Melissa Chen, Lily Ge, Radhika, Yunqing Sun, and Mara Ulloa joined more than 250 other participants at the conference. Thirty leaders and senior researchers in academia, industry, and government laboratories led sessions including Career Paths and Job Search, Teaching Your First Course, and Publishing Your Research. In the Strategies for Human-Human Interaction session, speakers discussed strategies for productive interaction with colleagues (both faculty and students), including the opportunities and challenges of being a woman in a computing technology career. The Northwestern attendees were particularly motivated by the keynote address presented by Margo Seltzer, Canada 150 Research Chair in Computer Systems and Cheriton Family Chair in Computer Science at the University of British Columbia. Seltzer used the metaphor of a three-legged stool to discuss balance across important pillars of life. For most of us, one of the legs is definitely research and school, but we need other pillars to keep our stool standing, Chau said. Grad school can feel isolating and it's really important that we are able to build not just an intellectual academic community, but one that is based on empathy, compassion, and solidarity. We can all do a little better to reflect on who we are, why we're here, and what we can do for others to really give each person here a chance to really flourish as an academic and a person. And pay that forward. The talk not only strongly motivated the need for work-life balance, but also provided actionable takeaways or advice to actually develop that for ourselves, Chen said. Only one leg should be research, Garg said. The stool can be unbalanced sometimes but it allows us to view our lives holistically. Even though research is important to us, only having one leg of a three-legged stool can make it harder to balance, Ge said. It is important to have support that is meaningful to you on top of research. We asked the students about the importance and benefits of attending this type of mentoring conference, their experience attending the CRA-WP Grad Cohort for Women, and an especially resonant piece of advice or perspective they gained from the event. Connie Chau Chau is a second-year PhD student in the joint Technology and Social Behavior program with Northwesterns School of Communication. Chau noted that conferences like the CRA-WP Grad Cohort for Women are helpful for those who are newer to academia and looking for guidance on how to navigate graduate programs. She appreciated the opportunity to network with students from other universities. Opportunities like this are really helpful in building a sense of belonging, especially in a field/department where both the student body and faculty could be much more diverse, Chau said. Workshops catered to students makes networking a little easier, less intimidating, and it feels like you're really there to build friendships with people who will likely grow with you along your academic journey. Chau is advised by Maia Jacobs, Lisa Wissner-Slivka and Benjamin Slivka Professor of Computer Science at Northwestern Engineering and assistant professor of preventive medicine at Northwesterns Feinberg School of Medicine. Melissa Chen Chen, a first-year PhD student in computer science at Northwestern Engineering, felt energized by the advice and support she received at the conference, and found the sessions focused on bigger-picture aspects of graduate study particularly beneficial. The opportunity to zoom out and look at the PhD timeline as a whole was a major benefit of the conference. I find it really easy to get caught up in the day-to-day aspects of my research, but I struggle to visualize what the further future would look like and be strategic about working toward those goals, Chen said. The conference had a lot of helpful sessions for understanding things like proposing thesis research, grant writing, networking, and practicing resilience. Chen is advised by Eleanor O'Rourke, assistant professor of computer science at the McCormick School of Engineering and of learning sciences in the School of Education and Social Policy. Lily Ge Ge is a second-year PhD student in computer science. She underscored the conferences goal of facilitating connections among peers and mentors in the computing field. The energy, excitement, and knowledge everyone brings are truly inspiring, Ge said. Research is largely interdisciplinary, so opportunities like this can really facilitate communication among people with diverse backgrounds. Ge is advised by Matthew Kay, assistant professor of computer science at Northwestern Engineering and of communication studies at Northwesterns School of Communication. Radhika Radhika is a first-year PhD student in computer science at Northwestern Engineering. She highlighted the connections she made with other students engaged in computing research and the opportunity to showcase her work. She benefited from learning about others experiences in the field. Numerous prominent figures in the field shared their journeys, granting us a unique opportunity to glean insights and knowledge from their experiences, Garg said. Radhika is advised by Xiao Wang, assistant professor of computer science at Northwestern Engineering. Yunqing Sun Sun is a second-year PhD student in computer science, advised by Wang. She met and connected with women in computer science at the conference. I was able to listen to other people's ideas and experiences, and I could contribute to this community with my own experiences and ideas, Sun said. As an international student coming to the US for my PhD studies, I wanted to expand my network and exchange ideas with people from both similar and different academic and cultural backgrounds. The workshop allowed me to connect with women in this field who share the same vision. Mara Ulloa Ulloa is a second-year PhD student in computer science, advised by Jacobs. Ulloa was particularly inspired by the session Preparing Your Thesis Proposal and Becoming a PhD Candidate, led by Ming Lin, Barry Mersky and Capital One Endowed Professor and Distinguished University Professor of Computer Science, University of Maryland. Becoming a PhD candidate and defending your thesis are natural stages of a PhD program. These concepts, however, are somewhat nebulous to junior researchers, Ulloa said. Lin outlined what should be included in the proposal and provided advice for selecting a committee member and managing the other various tasks involved like proposal writing, immersing yourself in the literature, and disseminating your research. Ulloa described the event attended by highly-motivated women in computing from across the US and Canada as unlike any other. We were brought together at CRA-WP by our collective vision of creating technology that tackles societal challenges in areas like misinformation, healthcare disparities, and CS education, Ulloa said. We shared advice ranging from career development in research to valuable insights from the decades of personal and professional experience of other women leading the event. The global Ambulatory Blood Pressure Monitors market size is expected to reach USD 2,225.00 million by 2030, registering a CAGR of 7.9% from 2023 to 2030, according to a new report by Coherent Market Insights Inc. Due to the rising demand for blood pressure monitoring devices used for self-health monitoring, the ambulatory blood pressure monitors (ABPM) market is predicted to experience rising demand. Moreover, ambulatory blood pressure monitors are employed by pharmaceutical firms to evaluate the effectiveness of hypotensive and antihypertensive medications that are being developed for cardiac health. For instance, ERT Clinical announced the availability of a centralised ABPM system in the US in April 2013, a provider of high-quality patient safety and efficacy data gathering solutions for use in clinical drug development. With the aid of ABPM, biopharmaceutical companies can quickly assess endpoints for cardiovascular and cerebrovascular outcomes as well as the effectiveness and cardiac safety of both hypertension and anti-hypertensive medications. ABPMs are used to track a patients blood pressure measurements taken over the course of a 24-hour period as they were moving around and going about their regular lives. The main indications for the use of ambulatory blood pressure monitors include white coat hypertension, nocturnal hypertension, masked hypertension, and paroxysmal hypertension. These monitors enable regular monitoring of the bodys blood pressure values at predetermined time intervals, which can be anywhere between 15 and 30 minutes. It gives specific details regarding how changes in blood pressure readings are related to peoples daily routines and sleeping habits. The main advantages of ambulatory devices over traditional blood pressure measuring techniques are their lower rate of misdiagnosis, continuous monitoring, and precise blood pressure profile. Request Sample Report + All Related Graphs & Charts: https://www.coherentmarketinsights.com/insight/request-sample/411 We have an updated report [Version 2023] available. (The sample of this report is readily available on request. The report sample contains a brief introduction to the research report, a Table of Contents, a Graphical introduction of regional analysis, Top players in the market with their revenue analysis, and our research methodology.) Our Sample Report May Includes: 2030 Updated Report Introduction, Overview, and In-depth industry analysis. 100+ Pages Research Report (Inclusion of Updated Research). Provide Chapter-wise guidance on Requests. 2023 Updated Regional Analysis with Graphical Representation of Size, Share & Trends Includes Updated List of tables & figures. Updated Report Includes Top Market Players with their Business Strategy, Sales Volume, and Revenue Analysis. Top Key Players: OSI Systems Inc. SunTech Medical Inc. Andon Health Co. Ltd. Schiller AG Omron Healthcare Co. Ltd. Beurer GmBH Finapres Medical Systems B.V. Welch Allyn Inc. Koninklijke Philips N.V. The two main variables that are anticipated to propel market growth are an ageing population and an increase in people who live unhealthy lifestyles like smoking and drinking. Due to their increased risk of hypertension and propensity for high blood pressure, this target population is unintentionally fuelling the need for blood pressure monitors. The International Heart Federation reported that 970 million people worldwide experienced high blood pressure in 2015. Out of 970 million people, approximately 330 million (9%) lived in developed nations and the remaining 640 million (80%) came from emerging economies. In the management of hypertension, a few preventive steps taken in conjunction with routine blood pressure monitoring can significantly improve outcomes. Wearable and ambulatory blood pressure monitoring devices make it simple to monitor blood pressure, which will promote expansion in the global market. Hypertension is more likely to occur in those who are obese. Moreover, excess weight gain raises visceral adiposity, which contributes 65% to 75% of the risk for primary hypertension. For instance, the World Health Organization estimates that in 2016 there were over 650 million obese individuals worldwide, out of the 1.9 billion adults who were overweight. Ambulatory blood pressure monitors face difficulties such device failure and inconsistent product components. Recalls by the Food and Drug Administration result from this, which hinders the market expansion for ambulatory blood pressure monitors. For instance, the French company Withings BPM+ wireless blood pressure monitor was recalled by the U.S. FDA in June 2018. The device was recalled because it was unable to meet the demands of reliably measuring systolic pressure and because the control system showed some inconsistent behaviour. The ambulatory blood pressure monitors market is divided into North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Middle East, and Africa on the basis of region. Due to increasing public awareness of personalised and portable blood pressure monitoring systems, which in turn boosts demand for these devices, North America is anticipated to have a prominent position in the worldwide ambulatory blood pressure monitors market. For instance, the National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion reports that in 2017, several campaigns, including Million Hearts, Well-integrated Screening And Evaluation For Women Across The Nation (WISEWOMAN), and Sodium Reduction in Communities Program (SRCP), were launched to lower the populations mortality rate due to hypertension by raising awareness of the effects of hypertension on health. This increased the sale of portable d Due to the increased rate of childhood obesity in the region, the Asia Pacific market is anticipated to expand significantly over the next years. For instance, about 50% of all children in Asia Pacific, or 41 million children under the age of 5, were obese in 2016, according to the World Health Organization. We Offer Customized Report, Click: https://www.coherentmarketinsights.com/insight/request-customization/411 Key Highlights Market Study: Revenue and Sales Estimation: Historical Revenue and sales volume is presented and further data is triangulated with top-down and bottom-up approaches to forecast complete market size and to estimate forecast numbers for key regions covered in the report along with classified and well recognized Types and end-use industry. Additionally macroeconomic factor and regulatory policies are ascertained in Ambulatory Blood Pressure Monitors industry evolution and predictive analysis. Manufacturing Analysis: The report is currently analysed concerning various product type and application. The Ambulatory Blood Pressure Monitors market provides a chapter highlighting manufacturing process analysis validated via primary information collected through Industry experts and Key officials of profiled companies. Competition: Leading players have been studied depending on their company profile, product portfolio, capacity, product/service price, sales, and cost/profit. Demand & Supply and Effectiveness: Ambulatory Blood Pressure Monitors report additionally provides distribution, Production, Consumption & Export & Import Purchasing the Ambulatory Blood Pressure Monitors Market: Outlook for the worldwide Ambulatory Blood Pressure Monitors market in both developed and emerging markets, both now and in the future. Both the market segment with the largest projected share and the market segment with the highest CAGR throughout the projection period. Countries and regions anticipated to experience the fastest development throughout the projected period. The most recent innovations, market shares, and business tactics used by the key market participants. Study examines emerging market trends as well as the likelihood that various trends will impact expansion. Analysis also discusses the factors, challenges, and opportunities that will have a significant impact on the global Ambulatory Blood Pressure Monitors industry. Research includes a detailed analysis of market statistics as well as historical and current growth conditions in order to provide futuristic growth estimates. Purchase This Complete Business Report: https://www.coherentmarketinsights.com/insight/buy-now/411 Table of Content Chapter 1 Industry Overview 1.1 Definition 1.2 Assumptions 1.3 Research Scope 1.4 Market Analysis by Regions 1.5 Ambulatory Blood Pressure Monitors Market Size Analysis from 2023 to 2030 11.6 COVID-19 Outbreak: Ambulatory Blood Pressure Monitors Industry Impact Chapter 2 Global Ambulatory Blood Pressure Monitors Competition by Types, Applications, and Top Regions and Countries 2.1 Global Ambulatory Blood Pressure Monitors (Volume and Value) by Type 2.3 Global Ambulatory Blood Pressure Monitors (Volume and Value) by Regions Chapter 3 Production Market Analysis 3.1 Global Production Market Analysis 3.2 Regional Production Market Analysis Chapter 4 Global Ambulatory Blood Pressure Monitors Sales, Consumption, Export, Import by Regions (2017-2023) Chapter 5 North America Ambulatory Blood Pressure Monitors Market Analysis Chapter 6 East Asia Ambulatory Blood Pressure Monitors Market Analysis Chapter 7 Europe Ambulatory Blood Pressure Monitors Market Analysis Chapter 8 South Asia Ambulatory Blood Pressure Monitors Market Analysis Chapter 9 Southeast Asia Ambulatory Blood Pressure Monitors Market Analysis Chapter 10 Middle East Ambulatory Blood Pressure Monitors Market Analysis Chapter 11 Africa Ambulatory Blood Pressure Monitors Market Analysis Chapter 12 Oceania Ambulatory Blood Pressure Monitors Market Analysis Chapter 13 South America Ambulatory Blood Pressure Monitors Market Analysis Chapter 14 Company Profiles and Key Figures in Ambulatory Blood Pressure Monitors Business Chapter 15 Global Ambulatory Blood Pressure Monitors Market Forecast (2023-2030) Chapter 16 Conclusions Explore More Related Insights: Vital Sign Monitoring Devices Market Cell Counting Devices Market Vein Finder Market Prosthetic Liners Market Pharmaceutical Packaging Equipment Market Foley Catheters Market Surgical Drapes and Gowns Market ECG Sensor Patch Market Bladder Scanners Market Motion Preservation Devices Market About Us: Coherent Market Insights is a global market intelligence and consulting organization focused on assisting our plethora of clients achieve transformational growth by helping them make critical business decisions. We are headquartered in India, having sales office at global financial capital in the U.S. and sales consultants in United Kingdom and Japan. Our client base includes players from across various business verticals in over 57 countries worldwide. We create value for clients through our highly reliable and accurate reports. We are also committed in playing a leading role in offering insights in various sectors post-COVID-19 and continue to deliver measurable, sustainable results for our clients. Contact Us: Mr. Shah Coherent Market Insights Pvt Ltd, 533 Airport Boulevard, Suite 400, Burlingame CA 94010, United States Email: sales@coherentmarketinsights.com United States of America: +1-206-701-6702 United Kingdom: +44-020-8133-4027 JAPAN: +81-50-5539-1737 INDIA: +91-848-285-0837 Mycoplasma pneumonia (MP), also known as M.pneumonia, is a contagious respiratory infection spread through direct contact with infected respiratory secretions. Its also called walking pneumonia because the bacteria that cause it can spread rapidly in public places. The airborne spread of the infectious bacterium Mycoplasma pneumonia poses a risk to otherwise healthy people. Mycoplasma diagnostics has been noted as a rapidly developing and growing sector of the in-vitro diagnostic market in recent years. A stethoscope is used to detect abnormal heart and lung sounds in the early stages of MP diagnosis. A physician may order a chest X-ray, CT scan, or blood tests to further diagnose a patient with an infection. The global Mycoplasma Diagnostics Market is anticipated to expand in scope, speed of growth, and vitality by both therapists and researchers. The World Health Organization (WHO), an international health agency, reports that the United States is home to nearly 600 diagnosis centers and about 200 independent working research labs capable of mycoplasma diagnosis. In addition, the Austrian Research Promotion agency to (FFG) invests in part in R&D for MP Diagnosis. Ask Us to Get Your Sample Copy Of The Report, Covering TOC and Regional Analysis @ https://www.coherentmarketinsights.com/insight/request-sample/763 Mycoplasma diagnostics are expected to see significant growth due to the prevalence of lung and respiratory diseases Opportunities in the mycoplasma diagnostics market have arisen in response to the rising prevalence of respiratory tract infections around the world, and the leading providers of mycoplasma diagnostics devices anticipate that rising demand for improved diagnosis will drive growth in the global market in the near future. There has been an increase in the number of deaths caused by respiratory diseases, pulmonary sickness, and tuberculosis, and this trend is expected to continue, as reported by the Forum of the International Respiratory Society in 2014. This is expected to stimulate growth of the mycoplasma diagnostic market. The rising number of elderly people who are suffering from respiratory illness is one of the main factors driving the mycoplasma diagnostics market upward. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that 33.5% of the elderly population has serious problems with their respiratory system. Mycoplasma diagnostics could see global growth as effective diagnosis becomes increasingly important in the fight against chronic respiratory disorders. Mycoplasma diagnostics device market growth is being hindered by a lack of education about the devices The worldwide market for mycoplasma diagnostic tools is expanding. However, the mycoplasma diagnostics market may have to deal with some unfavorable obstacles. The main misguided reason to restrain expansion is a lack of public awareness of the benefits of diagnosis. In addition, the high price of Mycoplasma Diagnosis equipment is a factor that is reducing its demand and utility. The growing demand for advanced methods is expected to be a key factor propelling the Mycoplasma Diagnostics market Recent developments in technology, like Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR), DNA staining, and Immunoassay, have reportedly captured the majority of the market as of 2016, as reported by the World Health Organization. But there has been a dramatic increase in the application of methods like ELISA and RIA. The pharmaceutical and diagnostic industries regularly employ such methods because of their low cost and widespread availability. Mycoplasma Diagnostics Market-Regional Analysis Markets for mycoplasma diagnostics are broken down into several sub segments based on geography: North America, Europe, the Middle East and Africa, Asia-Pacific, and Latin America. North America accounts for 35.6% of global sales of Mycoplasma diagnostics, as reported by the World Health Organization in 2015. Mycoplasma infections are on the rise in the Asia-Pacific region, where in 2016 an estimated 7.4 Mn people were affected by them, according to the World Health Organization. The rising prevalence of respiratory tract infections and mortality rates in the Asia Pacific region bode well for the Mycoplasma Diagnostics Market. The Asia-Pacific region is expected to continue to lead the global market, and its key players and government are optimistic about the prospects for growth in the coming years. Mycoplasma Diagnostics Device Market-Competitive landscape Agilent Technologies, American Type Culture Collection (ATCC), Thermo Fisher Scientific, Takara Holding, PromoCell GmbH, Merck KGaA, Lonza Group, Savyon Diagnostics, Tecan Group, Charles River Laboratories International, F Hoffmann-La Roche, and Sartorius Stedim BioOutsource are some of the key players in the global mycoplasma diagnostics market. Companies like Thermo Fisher Scientific and Merck KGaA, which play a significant role in the global mycoplasma diagnostics industry, hold roughly 23% of the global market, which increases the opportunities towards profitable and global market insights in Mycoplasma Diagnostics. Ask For Discount Before Purchasing This Business Report : https://www.coherentmarketinsights.com/insight/request-discount/763 Key Development With 510(k) clearance from the FDA, QIAGEN introduced the QIAstat-Dx Respiratory Panel in May 2019 for the instantaneous qualitative detection and recognition of multiple respiratory pathogens such as viruses and bacteria .In July of 2018, ATCC introduced a PCR-based service for monitoring cell cultures for mycoplasma contamination. The STR Profiling Service is a part of ATCCs expanding service portfolio that helps verify the identity of cell lines used during basic and translational research. In 2018, Konica Minolta, Inc. established a wholly-owned subsidiary in Japan called Konica Minolta Precision Medicine Japan, Inc., whose job it is to promote expensive diagnostic equipment and medical testing services in the field of precision medicine. Using data gleaned from a patients DNA and other biomarkers, precision medicine doctors tailor care to individual patients. Mycoplasma pneumonia antigen rapid diagnostic test kit, developed by GENESIS in 2016, can detect the antigen of the P1 gene of M. pneumonia in specimens taken from patients suspected of having M. pneumonia infection. Merck entered the market for mycoplasma diagnostic devices after purchasing Sigma-Aldrich Co., a global leader in the life science sector, in 2015. Mycoplasma Diagnostics Device Market-Taxonomy The market for Mycoplasma diagnostics worldwide is split up by application, target audience, and geographical location By Techniques Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) Immunoassay RIA (Radio immuno assay) ELISA (Enzyme linked immune sorbant assay) DNA staining Microbial culture techniques By End User Hospitals Clinics Diagnostic laboratories By Region North America Asia Pacific Latin America Middle East Europe Africa Direct Purchase This Business Report @ https://www.coherentmarketinsights.com/insight/buy-now/763 Table of Contents with Major Points: Executive Summary Introduction Key Findings Recommendations Definitions and Assumptions Market Overview Definition of Mycoplasma Diagnostics Market Market Dynamics Drivers Restraints Opportunities Trends and Developments Key Insights Key Emerging Trends Key Developments Mergers and Acquisition New Product Launches and Collaboration Partnership and Joint Venture Latest Technological Advancements Insights on Regulatory Scenario Porters Five Forces Analysis Qualitative Insights Impact of COVID-19 on Global Mycoplasma Diagnostics Market Supply Chain Challenges Steps taken by Government/Companies to overcome this impact Potential opportunities due to COVID-19 outbreak Conclusion Appendix Data Sources Abbreviations Disclaimer TOC Continued! Why Choose Coherent Market Insights? Identified business opportunities Our market research report can be used to analyze potential markets and new products. It can give information about customer needs, preferences, and attitudes. Also, it compare products and services. A clear understanding of your customers A market report gives companys marketing department an in-depth picture about customers needs and wants. This knowledge can be used to improve products, prices, and advertising. Clear data-driven insights Our Market research encompasses a wide range of activities, from determining market size and segment to forecasting demand, and from identifying competitors to monitoring pricing. All of these are quantified and measurable which means that gives you a clear path for building unique decisions based on numbers. Zika virus is a mosquito-borne infection that can cause severe birth defects in pregnant women, such as microcephaly (a condition where a babys head is smaller than expected). In response to the Zika virus outbreak, scientists and researchers worked on developing a vaccine to prevent the infection. For immunisation and protection against infections brought on by the Zika virus, zika vaccines are being developed. This virus, which is a member of the Flavivirus genus, is spread by Aedes mosquitoes. Moreover, the virus can be passed from an infected pregnant woman to the foetus by a blood transfusion, sexual contact, or other means. Viral DNA is discovered using PCR to validate the infections diagnosis. Just one in four zika infected individuals will experience symptoms, though. Since most cases of the zika virus were asymptomatic, the World Health Organization (WHO) ruled in November 2016 that the infection is no longer a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC). Note: Updated Version 2023 is Available Click Here To Get The Sample Copy of The Report: https://www.coherentmarketinsights.com/insight/request-sample/413 The Zika virus began a significant ongoing outbreak in Brazil in April 2015, which later spread to South and Central America. This outbreak resulted in a mild illness (fever, rashes, joint pains, conjunctivitis, nausea, and muscle pain), but more recent outbreaks have shown serious complications in infants born to infected mothers, including microcephaly, Guillain-Barre syndrome, and various congenital neurological abnormalities. In Brazil in 2015, it was discovered and stated that there is a connection between the zika virus and microcephaly and Guillain-Barre syndrome. In the United States, 70 new cases of the zika virus infection were recorded in 2015, while 41,181 cases were reported in 2016, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). A significant contributor to 2015s lower incidence rate is a lack of reporting. An increase in knowledge may lead to increased diagnoses and reports, which would drive up demand for zika vaccines globally. The zika virus can be killed by an extract of the Australian San Francisco plant (Codiaeum variegatum), according to researchers at Queensland University of Technology. Without harming the host cells, this extract can halt the viruss replication and arrest it. Zika Vaccines Market Taxonomy: against There are various vaccines that offer defence against the Zika virus: DNA-based vaccines Inactivated vaccines Live-attenuated vaccines mRNA vaccines Genetically engineered vaccines Global market by application: Therapeutic Vaccines Preventive Vaccines Global market by end user: Hospitals Clinics Zika vaccine sales will climb as a result of rising zika incidence and ongoing expansion of human clinical trials. As of March 2016, 67 businesses and academic institutions were engaged in various R&D initiatives and clinical studies that advanced the creation of efficient vaccines against the zika virus. Inovio Pharmaceuticals GLS-5700, a zika vaccine under development, received FDA approval for its first human clinical study in June 2016. In addition, a grant for the Vaccine Research Center of NIAIDs phase 2 clinical trials of a DNA vaccine was granted in 2017. (VRC). Controlling the incidence rate of zika infection would be made easier by raising public knowledge. With the help of its Zika Strategic Response Strategy and Joint Plan, the WHO launched a global strategy for raising public awareness in February 2016. This plan covers every step that needs to be performed in the event of an infection. A training programme was created in June 2016 by the WHO Regional Office for Europe in order to raise awareness with the release of the Zika Risk Assessment for European Region. As of March 2016, 67 businesses and academic institutions were engaged in various R&D initiatives and clinical studies that advanced the creation of efficient vaccines against the zika virus. Inovio Pharmaceuticals GLS-5700, a zika vaccine under development, received FDA approval for its first human clinical study in June 2016. In addition, a grant for the Vaccine Research Center of NIAIDs phase 2 clinical trials of a DNA vaccine was granted in 2017. (VRC). The zika vaccine market is constrained by the high investment costs necessary for R&D and the creation of efficient zika virus vaccines. While the majority of Zika virus cases are found in tropical countries like Brazil, Paraguay, Venezuela, Colombia, and Suriname, there is a higher risk of mosquito-borne illnesses in tropical U.S. states like Texas and Florida. In the subregion, which includes Brazil, Argentina, Peru, and Ecuador, there were approximately 1,246 suspected and confirmed cases recorded between epidemiological week (EW) 10 and EW 14 of 2016. Competitive Environment Biken Inc, Sanofi S.A., Inovio Pharmaceuticals, Cerus Corporation, Bharat Biotech International Pvt. Ltd, GlaxoSmithKline plc, GeneOne Life Science, Immunovaccine Inc., and NewLink Genetics Corp.are a few of the major companies in the zika vaccine industry. To achieve immunogenicity against the zika virus, the corporations started a variety of R&D initiatives and clinical trials. With the release of Dengvaxia (the dengue vaccine), Sanofi S.A. began a project to research and develop vaccines. This effort will help the firm better understand the Zika virus and create a vaccine that is effective against it. In Puerto Rico, Inovio Pharmaceuticals started a clinical trial of the zika vaccine (GLS-5700) in August 2016. If successful, this experiment might provide Inovios vaccine a boost because the zika outbreak in Puerto Rico at the time was spreading quickly. This might help the trial evaluate the vaccines actual efficacy and safety. Fast advancement in clinical studies and approval would accelerate the market expansion for zika vaccines. The Global Zika Vaccine Market size was valued at $14,500 million in 2022 and is expected to reach $18,697 million by end of 2030, growing at a CAGR of 7.67%. % @ https://www.coherentmarketinsights.com/insight/buy-now/413 Report Attribute Details The market size value in 2023 USD 14,500 million The revenue forecast in 2030 USD 18,697 million Growth Rate CAGR of 5.2% The base year for estimation 2022 Historical data 2017 2021 Forecast period 2023 2030 Growth Drivers: Outbreaks and Public Health Concerns Collaboration between Organizations International Health Regulations Travel and Tourism Industry Impact Restraints & Challenges: Limited demand Regulatory hurdles Vaccine hesitancy Economic challenges Table of Contents with Major Points: Executive Summary Introduction Key Findings Recommendations Definitions and Assumptions Executive Summary Market Overview Definition of Zika Vaccines Market Market Dynamics Drivers Restraints Opportunities Trends and Developments Key Insights Key Emerging Trends Key Developments Mergers and Acquisition New Product Launches and Collaboration Partnership and Joint Venture Latest Technological Advancements Insights on Regulatory Scenario Porters Five Forces Analysis Qualitative Insights Impact of COVID-19 on Global Zika Vaccines Market Supply Chain Challenges Steps taken by Government/Companies to overcome this impact Potential opportunities due to COVID-19 outbreak Conclusion Appendix Data Sources Abbreviations Disclaimer TOC Continued! Why Choose Coherent Market Insights? Identified business opportunities Our market research report can be used to analyze potential markets and new products. It can give information about customer needs, preferences, and attitudes. Also, it compare products and services. A clear understanding of your customers A market report gives companys marketing department an in-depth picture about customers needs and wants. This knowledge can be used to improve products, prices, and advertising. Clear data-driven insights Our Market research encompasses a wide range of activities, from determining market size and segment to forecasting demand, and from identifying competitors to monitoring pricing. All of these are quantified and measurable which means that gives you a clear path for building unique decisions based on numbers. Ask For Discount Before Purchasing This Premium Report : https://www.coherentmarketinsights.com/insight/request-discount/413 Explore More Related Insights: India immune oncology drugs market Halal nutraceuticals and vaccines market Biologics market Fish skin disease market Veterinary medicine market Veterinary dermatology drugs market Veterinary excipients market Veterinary healthcare market Cattle healthcare market Ambulatory surgical center market by Todd Wasserman , May 22, 2023 Wendys has partnered with Pipedream, a hyperlogistics company, to deliver digital food orders from the kitchen to designated parking spots within seconds. Deepak Ajmani, U.S. Chief Operations Officer at Wendys, said the goal is to satisfy customers. "Pipedream's Instant Pickup system has the potential to unlock greater mobile order speed of service and accuracy, enabling us to consistently deliver hot and fresh Wendy's products to our fans," he said in a press statement. The technology uses autonomous robots to transport the meals underground and deliver them to the car-side Instant Pickup portal. Pipedreams autonomous robots will travel through tunnels to deliver customers orders. The system uses temperature-controlled delivery that will keep the food from getting too warm or too cold and lets customers order and receive food without coming in the restaurant. advertisement advertisement Wendys hasnt introduced the technology to any of its restaurants yet. The company says its planning to test the system at an existing restaurant later this year. The chains mobile orders are growing. Wendys told Gizmodo that 11% of its March 2023 orders were digital. Currently, 80% of Wendys orders come via drive-thru. Wendys recently revealed it is partnering with Google Cloud to test a drive-thru AI in Columbus, Ohio. by Colin Kirkland , May 22, 2023 Irelands Data Protection Commission (DPC) has fined Meta a record-breaking $1.3 billion for transferring the personal data of Facebooks users in the European Union to servers in the United States. Regulators say Metas actions violate EU data-protection rules as brands struggle to navigate the future of data-privacy standards. The DPCs ruling stems from laws created in response to what former American intelligence contractor and consultant and whistleblower Edward Snowden revealed about data transfers in 2013, including 2018s landmark data-privacy law called the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which made Europe the worlds top technology watchdog as it allowed people to request their online data and restricted how businesses obtained and handled the data. advertisement advertisement Metas data transfers to the U.S. did not address the risks to the fundamental rights and freedoms of Facebook users in the EU, stated the DPC. Regulators added that Meta's data transfers also failed to comply with the EUs 2020 decision to strike down the Privacy Shield law, which originally allowed businesses in the EU and the US to move data seamlessly between both regions. Meta is planning to appeal the decision -- which only applies to Facebook, not Instagram or WhatsApp, the companys other leading social media platforms. Per the ruling, Meta also has a five-month grace period before it must stop future transfers and a six-month deadline to discontinue holding current data in the U.S. In addition, Meta may avoid penalties if the EU and U.S. finalize a new data-sharing pact, announced last year, that would make data transfers between regions legal. The transfer of data to the U.S. is essential for Metas ad-targeting strategy. In 2022, the company threatened to shut down Facebook and Instagram in the EU if it wasnt allowed to send data back to the U.S., saying that if a new data transfer framework was not adopted, it would materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations. Overall, while efforts continue to pass federal privacy legislation in the U.S. -- such as the American Data Privacy and Protection Act, which aims to create a national framework for data privacy -- the GDPR remains the standard for brand operations The window of opportunity for leniency in privacy compliance is closing rapidly, and both global and US brands must ensure that their standards are up to par to avoid facing legal consequences, said Hugo Loriot, partner at Global Martech Consultancy fifty-five, in an email to MediaPost. From Meta to Sephora, we are increasingly seeing large retailers and businesses being held accountable by federal courts for flouting data privacy compliance regulations. Loriot said that these legal battles have served as a wake-up call for brands, emphasizing the significance of privacy protection. We can expect to see more of these cases in the near-term as the grace period for privacy compliance closes. This is a concerning situation for businesses across the UK, added Chris Combemale, CEO of the UKs Data and Marketing Association (DMA). Particularly those who have customers based in the EU and who use cloud tech services hosted in the US. Combemale told MediaPost that the DMA is reviewing the case to determine how it will influence UK companies and believes that the DPCs fine raises important questions about differing privacy standards between countries outside of the EU with commercial interests inside of it. by Wendy Davis @wendyndavis, May 22, 2023 The federal children's privacy law doesn't prevent parents from suing YouTube for allegedly violating California laws by tracking young children, the Federal Trade Commission is telling an appeals court. The federal Children's Online Privacy Protection Act overrides claims rooted in inconsistent state laws, but doesn't override state-law claims that parallel the federal law, the agency wrote in a friend-of-the-court brief filed over the weekend with the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. Congress did not intend to wholly foreclose state protection of childrens online privacy, the FTC wrote. The agency said it agreed with a ruling issued last December by a 9th Circuit panel, which held that the federal children's privacy law doesn't foreclose the parents' lawsuit against Google. The parents' case dates to 2019, when California resident Nicole Hubbard sued YouTube and various channel operators on behalf of her 5-year-old child, who viewed YouTube channels aimed at young children. advertisement advertisement Her complaint, later joined by other parents, came around two months after Google agreed to pay $170 million to settle allegations by the FTC and New York Attorney General that YouTube wrongly collected data via cookies from viewers younger than 13. The parents alleged in their class-action complaint that Google engaged in intrusion upon seclusion -- a privacy claim that can be brought in California, and that involves highly offensive conduct. Google contended that the parents' claim should be dismissed on the grounds that the federal Children's Online Privacy Protection Act forecloses private lawsuits over alleged violations of children's privacy. That federal law prohibits website operators and apps from collecting tracking data from children under 13, without parental consent. It also doesn't allow for private lawsuits; instead, the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act tasks the FTC and state attorneys general with enforcement. A trial judge agreed with Google and threw out the parents' lawsuit, but a three-judge appellate panel said last year the case should be reinstated. Those judges said the federal law doesn't preclude private lawsuits for intrusion upon seclusion. Google then asked the entire 9th Circuit to reconsider the matter, arguing that the appellate judges on the initial panel overlooked the purpose of the federal children's privacy law. The federal law established a uniform nationwide standard governing the personal information online service providers can legally collect from children under 13, a standard critical to parents, children, and organizations that create and deliver online content and services for children, Google wrote. In March, the 9th Circuit asked the FTC to weigh in on the interpretation of the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act. While the agency's views could inform the appellate judges' decision, they won't necessarily go along with the FTC's interpretation. The agency said it disagrees with Google, writing that the company's interpretation of the federal law would override all state claims involving children's online privacy. Nothing in the statutes text, purpose, or legislative history supports such sweeping preemption, the agency wrote. Questions about the federal children's privacy law's effect on state laws are coming up in other disputes, including a lawsuit challenging California's new Age-Appropriate Design Code, which imposes new restrictions on how web companies treat minors' data. NetChoice, which is seeking to block that law, says it's overriden by the federal Children's Online Privacy Act, among other arguments. The FTC hasn't officially weighed in on that matter, but its friend-of-the-court brief in the dispute involving YouTube suggests the agency also believes the federal law doesn't override the California Age-Appropriate Design Code. Chris Marchese, director of the NetChoice Litigation Center, said through a spokesperson: "We are aware of the FTC's incorrect interpretation, but because our litigation is ongoing, that is all we can say." by Wendy Davis @wendyndavis, May 22, 2023 President Joe Biden has tapped telecom lawyer Anna Gomez to fill a vacancy on the Federal Communications Commission, which has been politically deadlocked with two Republicans and two Democrats for more than two years. Biden's original nominee for the spot, consumer advocate Gigi Sohn, withdrew from consideration in the face of opposition from Republicans as well as Senator Joe Manchin, a Democrat from West Virginia. Sohn, an outspoken proponent of net neutrality rules, told The Washington Post that she was subjected to unrelenting, dishonest and cruel attacks during her unsuccessful confirmation hearings. advertisement advertisement It is a sad day for our country and our democracy when dominant industries, with assistance from unlimited dark money, get to choose their regulators, she stated in March. And with the help of their friends in the Senate, the powerful cable and media companies have done just that. If the Senate had confirmed Sohn, she could have provided a tie-breaking vote that would have allowed FCC Chair Jessica Rosenworcel to move ahead with ambitious policy goals -- including the restoration of the Obama-era net neutrality rules, which prohibited broadband carriers from throttling or blocking traffic and from charging higher fees for prioritized delivery. The Senate Commerce Committee held three confirmation hearings for Sohn, during which she faced hostile questions from Republicans about numerous issues, including her social media activity. For instance, at a hearing in February, Senator J.D. Vance (R-Ohio) blasted Sohn over a tweet that described Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh as an angry white man, and a retweet of a post describing former president Donald Trump as a raggedy white supremacist president." Gomez currently serves as senior advisor for International Information and Communications Policy in the Bureau of Cyberspace and Digital Policy. She has also previously worked at both the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, and the FCC. Gomez also previously was a lobbyist for Sprint Nextel, and was a partner in the law firm Wiley LLP. by Wendy Davis @wendyndavis, May 22, 2023 California officials recently defended the state's new kids online safety law by arguing that it won't regulate content, only data collection. That argument is "nonsense," the tech industry group NetChoice says in new court papers. Content was the through-line in the legislative process: Defendant Attorney General Bonta praised the Act precisely because it would 'protect children from harmful material' and 'dangerous online content' -- in other words, speech -- and Governor Newsom lauded the law for 'protect[ing] kids' from harmful 'content.' NetChoice argued in papers filed with U.S. District Court Judge Beth Labson Freeman in San Jose. The Age Appropriate Design Code (AB 2273) requires online companies likely to be accessed by minors under 18 to prioritize their best interests and well-being, and restricts those companies' ability to collect data from minors. advertisement advertisement The state claims that AB 2273 regulates data management ... not speech. Nonsense, NetChoice wrote. NetChoice is suing to block the law, arguing its inconsistent with other federal laws and violates the First Amendment. The group specifically says the law runs afoul of free speech principles by interfering with decisions about editorial content, and that the mandate to prioritize minors' well-being is unconstitutionally vague. The 'harm' the law seeks to address -- that content might damage someones 'well-being' -- is a function of human communication itself, NetChoice wrote in papers filed with Freeman earlier this year. California Attorney General Rob Bonta recently urged Freeman to uphold the measure, arguing that it only regulates data -- not speech. Nothing in the Act restricts the content that businesses can provide to minors, attorneys with Bonta's office wrote. Businesses can continue to make recommendations to child users, even including recommendations for content the business knows or has reason to know will harm the child; they just may not use the childs personal information to do so. The law itself says companies that develop or provide online services likely to be accessed by children should consider the best interests of children when designing, developing, and providing that online service, product, or feature. The statute also says: If a conflict arises between commercial interests and the best interests of children, companies should prioritize the privacy, safety, and well-being of children over commercial interests. Another content related provision requires online services to enforce published terms, policies, and community standards established by the business. NetChoice points to those obligations in its new papers. Many of the Acts provisions have nothing to do with data collection or use, such as the requirements that services document and mitigate risks of 'harmful, or potentially harmful, content,; the group writes. The group adds that all online providers must use data to deliver their content and services, which means the effect of the law is censorship of content based on subject matter and audience. Freeman is expected to hold a hearing in the case on July 27. Sawyer Auger performing in Caseville and Bad Axe this weekend Country musician and artist Sawyer Auger is coming to the Thumb, highlighting mental health... Facebook put me in a time out I simply posted the lyrics to a hit song from 1967, and Facebook removed my post for going... Parent clarifies concerns over explicit books at Caro Library Stephanie Spencer filed a recall petition against two members of the library board due to the... This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate BIG RAPIDS The latest business to join the marijuana industry in Big Rapids incorporates a family dynamic and homegrown product. Cannrose Cannabis, 805 Maple St., held its soft opening Thursday, May 18, which saw an influx of marijuana enthusiasts. The business is family owned and grows its own flower product. It kicked off its soft opening with 29 different strains for customers to choose from. Owners Doug Gingrich, Alan Gingrich and Sean Alspaugh focused on keeping the business local in both growing products and catering to customers' preferences. Doug Gingrich said centering family has helped keep things running smoothly. Myself and my brother are two of the partners, and our good friend is our other partner, Gingrich said. The manager of the store is my daughter, Reese. My direct assistant is my brother's son, Lester, and my nephew, Joe, runs our outdoor grow facility. My mother also actually does work at the outdoor grow facility, so it truly is a family business. Cannrose Cannabis has a variety of marijuana products including flower, cartridges, wax, distillate and their own line of edibles. The flower is the highlight of the store, according to Doug Gingrich, as it is cultivated and packaged by locals. Strains will rotate regularly depending on popularity and availability. Gingrich said keeping business local was important to every co-owner. We're bringing jobs to the community, and all the money staying here, Gingrich said. The grow facility is here, the employees are here. When you spend $1 here at this store you're spending it in Big Rapids. It's not going to Detroit or California or Oregon, everything stays here. Cannrose Cannabis is aiming for a full grand opening around the first week of July with new deals for customers, but has not set an official date yet.. Before then, the plan is to have several specials and deals to spread awareness of the shop and its products. Gingrich said hes hoping to be a part of normalizing the benefits of marijuana. I'm an extrovert, and I just love working with people and stuff like that, Gingrich said. As far as the cannabis industry goes, I'm glad that the people are finally accepting it in the state. It's been around for a lot of years. It should have never been illegal in the first place. Its no different from someone who wants to have a glass of wine at night with their dinner or wants to have a beer with a steak or a burger. For more information on Cannrose Cannabis and its giveaways, deals and updates visit the businesss Facebook page at www.facebook.com/CannroseCC. KIMIHIRO HOSHINO/AFP via Getty Images A Michigan elementary school student was chosen as the state's representative in the final round of the 15th annual Google Doodle contest and could have her design featured on the search engine's homepage. Doodle for Google is an annual art contest open to students in grades kindergarten to 12th who are invited to create their own version of the Google logo to have it published on Google.com. This year's contest asked students to answer the prompt I am grateful for through their art. A crash in mid-Michigan over the weekend claimed the life of a senior in high school and left three more teenagers hospitalized. At about 2:55 a.m. Saturday, residents in Frankenlust Township called 911 after hearing a loud collision, Michigan State Police announced Sunday. Troopers for the MSP Tri-City Post responded to the scene on Seven Mile Road near Freeland Road. They found a 2008 GMC Sierra had left the roadway and crashed into a water-filled ditch and driveway embankment. Four teens were riding in the pickup truck, including an 18-year-old man from Saginaw driving and three passengers, a 15-year-old boy from Saginaw, a 16-year-old boy from St. Charles and an 18-year-old man from Hemlock, according to a Sunday press release. The driver and two younger passengers sustained severe injuries, while the 18-year-old from Hemlock sustained fatal injuries. The Hemlock Public School District identified him as Dax Burk. Burk was a virtual senior at Hemlock High School. No other vehicles were involved in the crash, MSP wrote in the release. MSP suspects alcohol and speed contributed to the crash, though an investigation is ongoing, the release stated. The Huskie Pack is deeply saddened by the tragic accident that occurred on Saturday, May 20, resulting in the loss of our Hemlock Virtual Senior Dax Burk, Hemlock Public School District wrote Sunday on its website and Facebook page. Our hearts are heavy as we think of the family and friends who are grieving during this difficult time. Please join us in keeping them in your thoughts and prayers. All occupants of the truck were transported to local hospitals for medical treatment. The three surviving teens remain hospitalized as of Sunday evening. Troopers were assisted at the scene by firefighters from Frankenlust and Monitor townships and Mobile Medical Response, MSP wrote in the release. "Our thoughts are with the families, friends and classmates of the teens involved in this crash," MSP continued. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate 3 1 of 3 Submitted photo/Jason Dean, MIIPH Show More Show Less 2 of 3 Midland Daily News Show More Show Less 3 of 3 Midland Rotary Clubs Peacebuilding Committee Chair Gail Hoffman will be recognized with a Community Peace Award at the inaugural Mridha International Peace Symposium, taking place from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. on June 9 at Saginaw Valley State Universitys Gilbertson Hall. Hoffman, who serves as chair of Midland Rotary Clubs Peacebuilding Committee, was instrumental in the recent designation of Midland as an International City of Peace by International Cities of Peace, a nonprofit organization that advocates for a nonviolent world. Fifty years ago, a mix-up at a chemical company in St. Louis, Michigan resulted in a fire retardant being mixed into animal feed and sent to farms throughout the state. The chemical, polybrominated biphenyl, or PBB, entered the human food supply, exposing an estimated 8.5 million Michiganders. But those who were most closely affected were the farmers and their families, who are still seeing the devastating effects of the mistake. One of those people is Jennifer Knowles, who was born in 1971 on a dairy farm in Barryton, the fifth of six children. She says her parents lost their farm as a result of the PBB poisoning. I think in some of the reports I've been hearing, the FHA (Federal Housing Administration) told people they tried to help people to save their farms and they didnt - they kicked them off the farms, said Knowles in an interview during The PBB Disaster at 50: A Conference to Commemorate and Learn from the Poisoning of Michigan last Friday at Alma College. It was very hard for them to start over again. They lost everything. Knowles says she remembers the local health department coming to her family's house to take blood work from her and her siblings in order to test them for PBB. To me it felt like Men in Black because they were actually in suits with briefcases and they took fat tissues from my older brothers and sisters, but my younger sister and I were so terrified that we actually held on to the legs of the TV, and Mom said she wasn't going to make us (get tested)," Knowles said. Knowles says shes struggled with health problems all her life. She describes her illnesses starting at the age of 10, being in the hospital often due to severe asthma attacks. She says she and her sisters all lost children in their first pregnancies, which she is finding in common with other women connected to PBB poisoning. Knowles lives with asthma, severe migraines, eosinophilic esophagitis, gastroesophageal reflux disease, hiatal hernia, lymphocytic colitis, fibromyalgia, neuropathy, restless leg syndrome, and multiple other neurological disorders, as well as three autoimmune diseases. Im in pain every day, and I take a lot of medications. Its not easy. she said. Im 52 years old and I'm on disability because I can't work. How can you hold a job when you don't know what you're going to feel like when you get up in the morning? Knowles described the health issues that have plagued her family. One of her sisters died at the age of 20 from cancer. Her younger sister experiences painful ovarian cysts. Her father beat colon cancer before dying of throat cancer. We need the funding, we need the government, the health people, whoever it is to take us seriously. The doctors dont know what PBB is, they have no idea. Some of them, when I try to talk to them about it, they try to get educated, and other ones just think it's all in our head, said Knowles. Jennifer Newman says her experience has been similar. She grew up on a farm in Chase in Lake County. Newman has ADHD, an autoimmune disorder, and severe migraines. She says finding a doctor who will take her seriously has been a challenge. I was recently told I need to eat fewer calories because I have self-induced hypothyroid. I literally told the doctor I have an auto-immune disorder. I bring the handouts to every doctor's appointment I go to, and they won't listen to me. They still wont listen and its really frustrating," Newman said. Newman has used her own experience to inform and help others who may be dealing with the same struggles that she is. It was to a point where people were like, Oh, Jen's talking about PBB again, but there was always one person there who was like, Wait, tell me more? and then I would start talking to them and they said, You have just explained my whole life. Newman said. So much was verified for them, and then they could start to heal. So I've just continued to try and inform people about it who are just completely lost and have no idea why they have so many problems." Newman says despite her personal crusade to help people who have been affected by PBB, she still sees the same issues over and over again. And then two miles down the road, Ive just watched a house be built on a location where a barn and a silo were, and then people in the area got sick within a month of the ground being stirred up. For me, that was just all the more reason that people need to be aware of this," she said. The Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia is working to develop testing for medical professionals to help inform them of PBB and its effects on people. Newman hopes this will help others to heal. If there could be ways to get it out to the community more, people who are unaware of it, at this time I feel it is important, Newman said. And for medical professionals to be mandated to be trained on those new courses that Emory University is putting together (is also important)." To learn more about the PBB disaster and if it may have affected you, visit Rollins School of Public Health | Michigan PBB Registry at emory.edu. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) Chinese petroleum giant Sinopec signed an agreement with Sri Lanka on Monday to enter the South Asian island country's retail fuel market as it struggles to resolve a worsening energy crisis amid an unprecedented economic upheaval. The contract agreement would enable Sinopec to import, store, distribute and sell petroleum products in Sri Lanka, which has had a fuel shortage for more than a year. The move comes as Beijing looks to consolidate investments in Sri Lankas ports and energy sector amid growing security concerns raised by the island nations immediate neighbor, India, which considers Sri Lanka to be its strategic backyard. Sri Lanka, which is facing a foreign exchange crisis, hopes the deal will help to resolve its energy crisis. The agreement signed Monday in the Sri Lankan capital, Colombo, was made to ensure uninterrupted fuel suppliers to consumers, the president's office said in a news release. Under the pact, Sinopec will be granted a 20-year license to operate 150 fuel stations currently operated by Sri Lankas state-run Ceylon Petroleum Corporation, and to invest in 50 new fuel stations and in the country's energy sector, the nation's Power and Energy Ministry said in a statement. Sinopec can start operations within 45 days of license issuance and "this development brings hope for a more stable and reliable fuel supply, boosting the countrys energy sector and providing assurance to consumers, the president's office said. When the economic crisis hit Sri Lanka last year, the government couldn't find foreign currency to import fuel, triggering a severe shortage that lasted for more than two months and forcing people to endure long lines at fuel stations. Sri Lankans are still allotted limited amounts of fuel that is distributed according to a QR code system. In an effort to resolve the crisis, Sri Lanka opened its retail fuel market to foreign petroleum companies, asking them to use their own funds to purchase fuel, without depending on Sri Lankan banks for foreign exchange. The government has given approval to two other foreign companies Australias United Petroleum and U.S. company RM Parks in collaboration with Shell to enter its fuel market. An Indian oil company already operates in Sri Lanka. But, India is concerned over the growing influence of China in Sri Lanka, which sits along one of the world's busiest shipping routes. Sri Lanka borrowed heavily from China over the past decade for infrastructure projects including a seaport, airport and a city being built on reclaimed land. The projects failed to earn enough revenue to pay for the loans, a factor in Sri Lankas economic woes. In 2017, Sri Lanka leased the seaport in Hambantota to China because it could not pay back the loan. China accounts for about 10% of Sri Lankas loans, trailing only Japan and the Asian Development Bank. Sri Lankas economic crisis resulted in severe shortages of essentials such as medicines, fuel, cooking gas and food, leading to angry protests that forced then-President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to flee Sri Lanka and resign last summer. Sri Lanka defaulted payment of foreign debts and sought the support of international partners and organizations to resolve the crisis. The IMF approved a nearly $3 billion rescue program for in March which will run for four years. Sri Lanka authorities are now discussing debt restructuring with foreign creditors. ___ This story was updated to correct that the quote that begins, This development brings hope..., is from the presidents office, not the Power and Energy Ministry. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate ROME (AP) Pope Francis will travel to Portugal for World Youth Day in the first week of August and include a stop at the popular Marian shrine in Fatima, the Vatican said Monday. The Aug. 2-6 visit is longer than originally expected and covers almost the entire week of the big Catholic rally that St. John Paul II inaugurated to try to invigorate young people in their faith. Francis is staying in Lisbon for the length of the visit but will make a day trip to Fatima on Aug. 5. Francis previously traveled there in 2017 to mark the 100th anniversary of one of the most unique events of the 20th-century Catholic Church: the visions of the Virgin Mary reported by three shepherd children and the secrets she told them. Francis visit this time around comes as war is raging in Ukraine, providing a comparison to when the original visions were reported at a time when Europe was in the throes of World War I. The visit comes as the Portuguese Catholic Church is reckoning with its legacy of clergy sexual abuse. Earlier this year, an independent report found that more than 4,800 people may have been victims starting in 1950. Previously, senior Portuguese church officials had claimed only a handful of cases had occurred. There was no word on whether Francis would meet with victims, as he has done on several occasions elsewhere. The Portuguese Bishops Conference expressed huge joy at the Vatican announcement of Francis' visit and said hundreds of thousands of young people from around the world are expected in Lisbon. The rally was originally scheduled for 2022 but was postponed a year because of the COVID-19 pandemic; the last international World Youth Day was held in 2019 in Panama. We hope that the presence of Pope Francis among us, and which includes a significant pilgrimage to the Fatima shrine, will provide a powerful sense of renewal and grace for the church in Portugal, the Bishops Conference said in a statement. Francis' other travel this year is expected to include a quick trip to Marseille, France, on Sept. 23 to address a meeting of Mediterranean bishops. Also under study is a proposed visit to Mongolia starting in late August. BROWNSVILLE, Texas (AP) A Guatemala-born designer combined Indigenous weaving technique, modern clothing design and colorful history from her native country in a recent Texas runway showcase. The display offered a taste not only of Elena De Leons artistic vision, but of work by Guatemalan mothers, including some in the U.S. and others who remained at home to support their families. The Costumes of the Americas Museum in Brownsville hosted the May 12 event with assistance from the Guatemalan Consulate in nearby McAllen and in Maryland, where De Leon lives after migrating to the U.S. seven years ago. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate ROYAL OAK, Mich. (AP) Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer gave final approval Monday afternoon to a red flag law that aims to keep firearms away from those at risk of harming themselves or others as the state grapples with ways to slow gun violence in the wake of its second mass school shooting. Michigan joined Minnesota as the second state in under a week to implement a red flag law after Democrats in both states won control of both chambers and the governors office in November. New Mexico previously was the last state to pass a red flag law in 2020. Whitmer signed the legislation just outside of Detroit, flanked by state lawmakers and individuals affected by gun violence. Former Arizona Congresswoman Gabby Giffords, who began campaigning for gun safety after she was shot in the head in 2011, was also in attendance. We have heard too many times from those who knew a mass shooter who had expressed concern in advance about that mass shooter's intentions, Whitmer said Monday. With extreme risk protection orders, we have a mechanism to step in and save lives. The new law, also known as extreme risk protection orders, is expected to go into effect next spring. It will allow family members, police, mental health professionals, roommates and former dating partners to petition a judge to remove firearms from those they believe pose an imminent threat to themselves or others. The judge would have 24 hours to decide on a protection order after a request is filed. If granted, the judge would then have 14 days to set a hearing during which the flagged person would have to prove they do not pose a significant risk. A standard order would last one year. Michigan became the 21st state to implement a red flag law. Questions remain of whether the state will have better success in enforcing it than others have. An Associated Press analysis in September found that in the 19 states with red flag laws, firearms were removed from people 15,049 times since 2020, fewer than 10 per 100,000 adult residents. Some local sheriffs in Michigan have told The Associated Press that they won't enforce the law if they don't believe it's constitutional. Over half of the states counties have passed resolutions declaring themselves Second Amendment sanctuaries, opposing laws they believe infringe on gun rights. For those who are in law enforcement who refuse to enforce these important orders, let me say this loudly and clearly: I will make certain that I find someone with jurisdiction who will enforce these orders, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel said at the bill signing. The U.S. is on a record pace for mass shootings so far this year. Nearly half the states have passed legislation addressing guns or school safety this year, but the division among states continues to widen. Democratic-led states have enacted new laws to restrict semi-automatic weapons and expand background checks and waiting periods to buy guns. Republican-led states have backed the right to carry concealed guns without permits or for trained staff to bring guns to school. Gun violence within schools has rocked Michigan in recent years. A total of seven students have been killed, and 12 others injured, in school shootings at Oxford High School in 2021 and Michigan State University in 2023. Earlier this month, two school districts in Michigan banned backpacks as a results of fears of firearms being brought into schools. The ban at Grand Rapids Public Schools came after a third-grader brought a loaded gun into the school. The red flag law is the final piece of legislation to be signed in a sweeping 11-bill gun safety package advanced by Michigan Democrats following the Feb. 13 shooting at MSU. Safe storage and universal background checks were signed into law last month by Whitmer. Karen Kobylik, whose daughter shot and killed her brother and boyfriend before taking her own life last May, was also in attendance. Kobylik had repeatedly called police prior to the shooting, pleading with them to take her daughter's firearms. She told the AP in an interview earlier this month that she believes all three lives would have been saved in the state had there been a red flag law. I want to thank Karen and all the brave people who have come forward and shared the most painful story of your life to try to help improve the world for others, Whitmer said prior to the signing. Troy Forbush, who was injured after being shot at MSU on Feb. 13, was also in attendance Monday and spoke with Whitmer following the signing. Michigan Democrats, who are in control of all levels of state government for the first time in 40 years, have indicated that they plan to advance further gun safety measures. This represents a floor for the types of intervention that we can do," Michigan Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist II told reporters Monday when asked what gun policies will follow. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) Republican Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen signed a bill Monday that bans abortion at 12 weeks of pregnancy and restricts gender-affirming medical care for people younger than 19. The abortion ban takes effect immediately, while the ban on gender-affirming care takes effect on Oct. 1. The hybrid measure ties together restrictions that Republicans have pursued across the U.S. Pillen called the law the most significant win for social conservative agenda in over a generation of Nebraska before he signed the law while holding the 5-day-old daughter of some friends as his two oldest granddaughters stood next to him. Its about protecting our kids and saving babies. Pure and simple, Pillen said. Opponents have promised to sue to try and block the law. The head of the American Civil Liberties Union of Nebraska, Mindy Rush Chipman, said in a statement that every option is on the table to undo these regressive measures. The governors decision to sign these sweeping restrictions into law betrays a total disregard for Nebraskans freedom, health and well-being, Rush Chipman said. Just as we have seen in other states, these bans will result in significant harm, most intensely hurting already vulnerable communities. Nebraska had not passed a new abortion ban since 2010, when it became the first state to limit the procedure at around 20 weeks of pregnancy. The 12-week ban includes exceptions for rape, incest and to save the life of the mother. State Sen. Joni Albrecht of Thurston, who pursued even tougher abortion restrictions during the session, wiped away tears as she said she hopes to eventually enact a ban at all stages of pregnancy. Planned Parenthood, which operates two of Nebraskas three abortion clinics, said the new law increases the burden on women who need abortions, forcing more of them to travel out of state. Its heartbreaking that we have to tell patients that they cannot receive their health care here in Nebraska anymore, said Andi Curry Grubb, Nebraska executive director for Planned Parenthood North Central States. The law forced Planned Parenthood to reschedule three patients this week, and Curry Grubb said that within her five-state region, there has been a 40% increase in second-trimester abortions since Roe v. Wade was overturned last summer. More women are being forced to push abortions later into pregnancy because of hurdles involved with seeking care out of state. She said its troubling that the new law doesnt include any exception for fetal anomalies, which may not be diagnosed until after the 12th week of pregnancy. North Carolina also recently passed a 12-week abortion ban, among a slew of restrictions enacted in states after the U.S. Supreme Court last year struck down the 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling that established a nationwide right to abortion. Fourteen states have approved an abortion ban throughout pregnancy. Nebraska's law also will prevent transgender people under 19 from receiving any gender-confirming surgery. It restricts the use of hormone treatments and puberty blockers in minors, putting the states chief medical officer a political appointee who is an ear, nose and throat doctor in charge of setting the rules for those therapies. In Nebraska, people younger than 19 are considered minors. The state's unicameral Legislature passed the bill with the two contentious issues on Friday after hours of heated debate. Conservative lawmakers wrangled just enough votes to end a filibuster before approving the bill. The proposal restricting gender-affirming care was the flashpoint of an epic filibuster led by Omaha Sen. Machaela Cavanaugh. She and a handful of progressive allies slowed the business of passing laws to a crawl by introducing amendment after amendment to every bill that made it to the Senate floor. That sent leadership scrambling to prioritize which bills to push through. Omaha Sen. Kathleen Kauth, who introduced the proposal restricting gender-affirming care, said Monday that the filibuster actually gave senators more time to discuss and research the issue. The filibuster actually is what made this happen, Kauth said. And so I doubt it was their intention, but that gave us the time to make this work. Nebraska is now among at least 18 states that have enacted laws restricting or banning gender-affirming medical care for minors. Proposals are pending before the governors of Texas and Missouri. Medical groups and advocates say such restrictions are further marginalizing transgender youth and threatening their health. One Nebraska lawmaker, Omaha state Sen. Megan Hunt, disclosed in March that her teenage son is transgender and said Friday that she now plans to leave the state. Pillen said he didnt want Nebraska families considering gender-affirming medical care to be duped into the silliness that if you do this, youre going to become happy." ___ Funk contributed to this story from Omaha, Neb. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate GEORGETOWN, Guyana (AP) An overnight fire raced through a dormitory in Guyana, killing at least 19 students who were trapped and injuring several others at a government boarding school as authorities probe whether it was intentionally set. All but one of the victims were Indigenous girls, officials said Monday. This is a horrific incident. Its tragic. Its painful, President Irfaan Ali said, adding that his government was mobilizing all possible resources as he requested help from the region to identify the remains of 13 bodies. The fire broke out at about 10:50 p.m. Sunday in the dormitory building of a secondary school that serves remote, mostly Indigenous villages and is located in the border town of Mahdia, a gold and diamond mining community about 200 miles (320 kilometers) south of the capital, Georgetown, the government said in a statement. Deputy Fire Chief Dwayne Scotland said "the fire was maliciously set and began in the building's southwest corner. However, Police Chief Clifton Hicken said initial investigations suggest that it was maliciously set." He also said that while the girls' dorm had five doors, iron grill work trapped the students inside. Authorities did not provide further details and did not share what evidence, if any, points to arson. This is the saddest day of my life as president. I wish it had not occurred, Ali said. A total of 59 girls usually reside in the dorm, but only 56 were in the rooms when the fire began because three of them went home for the weekend. Thirteen girls and a small boy died at the dorm, while five died at Mahdia Hospital, the government said. Of those injured, six children were flown to Georgetown and 17 remain hospitalized in Mahdia, officials said. Officials initially said 20 students were killed but later updated the toll to 19, with several others injured. National Security Adviser Gerald Gouveia said the figure was revised after doctors revived a very critical patient that everyone thought was dead. When firefighters arrived on the scene, the building was already completely engulfed in flames, Guyanas Fire Service said in a statement. Our heartfelt sympathy goes out to the relatives and friends of those young souls. Officials said two children remain in critical condition and four have severe injuries. Firefighters did manage to rescue some 20 students by breaking holes in the northeastern wall of the building, the department said. The school serves mostly Indigenous children aged 12 through 18, Gouveia said. He said it was too early to speculate what might have caused the fire, adding that heavy thunderstorms in the area posed a challenge to those responding by air. It was a battle for us, he said. The pilots were very brave, very determined. He added that the government and emergency responders made a gigantic effort to save as many people as possible. Ali said officials were contacting parents and mobilizing psychologists to help those affected by the fire. I cannot imagine the pain right now of the parents, he said. This is a major disaster. The opposition party, APNU+AFC, issued a statement saying it will seek a thorough investigation and thanked people in the small community for helping authorities rescue children who were trapped. We need to understand how this most horrific and deadly incident occurred and take all necessary measures to prevent such a tragedy from happening again in the future, opposition lawmaker Natasha Singh-Lewis said. Decades ago, developing the Marine Air Corps Station Beaufort was about modifying the Lowcountry land to fit the military's needs. But more recently, as more storms and rising seas threaten parts of the low-lying air base, it's time to work alongside Mother Nature, said Gary Herndon, the air station's natural and cultural resources manager. "Were here for a reason to train pilots," Herndon said. "The only way we can do that is being responsible stewards of the land." Scientists say the base's 6,900 acres could be partially swallowed by flooding and sea level rise if left unchecked. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration selected The Nature Conservancy for a grant that will fund $6.2 million in South Carolina coastal resilience and habitat restoration projects. A chunk of that money will help the air base address erosion that's happening near a housing area. The money will be used to build oyster-castle living shorelines consist of interlocking concrete blocks that become living reefs as oyster larvae attach to them and grow all while helping reduce wave energy and erosion along the shoreline. Building and placing living shorelines keep the water clean, build up salt marshes, create wildlife habitats and support important local resources, such as the commercial fishing industry. If predictions by the Union of Concerned Scientists hold, current flood-prone areas at MCAS Beaufort could experience tidal flooding more than 300 times a year by 2050, given the highest scenario. And in an end-of-century, worst-case scenario, a Category 4 hurricane storm would bring 6 feet of sea level rise and maybe double the area exposed to flood depths of 20 feet or more. On top of flooding and sea level rise, heavy boating activity, wind-driven waves and high tidal energy eat away at the shorelines. Already, parts of the air base's shorelines have eroded. About 10 years ago, base leaders turned to living shorelines to solve erosion issues near the airfield. Joy Brown, the organization's marine program manager, said constructing a half-mile living shoreline at Laurel Bay on the Broad River is the first task in The Nature Conservancy's four-year process to scale up the use of nature-based solutions for South Carolina's coastal resilience. When Brown saw the erosion at Laurel Bay, which threatened the base's housing area, she told Herndon it was the "perfect" place for a living shoreline. "The stars aligned," Herndon said. The main concern isn't housing washing into the water. Rather, the issues are the waning shoreline and the loss of marsh and trees. "Years down the road, yes, if left, it would've threatened structures of houses," he said. Herndon said a living shoreline in the area is a long-term solution, but it isn't a quick-fix. It'll take time to build back the marsh in order to slow wave action that's eroded the shoreline. MCAS Beaufort isn't the only base embracing natural solutions to Mother Nature's threat. In December, the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation awarded nearly $1.2 million from its National Coastal Resilience Fund to Parris Island Marine Corps Recruit Depot and partner organizations to install living shorelines near the base. "The DoD ( Department of Defense) in the last couple years has really started to focus in on resilience and adaptation efforts for their bases," Brown said. "We had that top-down messaging coming through to them of thinking about 'How are you going to have a sustainable base into the future?'" Brown said The Nature Conservancy has already submitted permits to place the living shoreline at Laurel Bay. She predicted it'll take about eight volunteer events to get the project built. The MCAS Beaufort living shoreline is a smaller chunk of the $6 million-plus grant that will build living shorelines and do coastal nature-based resilience projects. The grant will also establish a community assistance program, which will partner with the Gullah Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor, to help under-served communities build living shorelines. Brown said the third task is developing an implementation plan for coastal development that'll last 10 years and establish more large-scale, nature-based solutions to protect South Carolina's coast. "All of these paths are trying to set us up for the future," Brown said. "We're not going to go out tomorrow and install a 10-acre living shoreline, but I feel like we're setting up South Carolina to really start getting to that scale." ___ (c)2023 The Island Packet (Hilton Head, S.C.) Visit The Island Packet (Hilton Head, S.C.) at www.islandpacket.com Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. Like Wright-Patterson Air Force Base itself, the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force is unmistakably Dayton-bred and born. The museum celebrates its 100th anniversary with a special exhibit that opened Sunday. The exhibit offers a detailed look at the museum's history, complete with rare photos and the citation of little-known facts. If you think the museum's story began with President Richard Nixon's dedication of today's campus on Wright-Patterson Area B in September 1971, think again. "There's more to the story," said Doug Lantry, historian and curator with the museum. "There's a backstory to the backstory." The origin of what is still called the " Air Force Museum" easily predates the 1947 birth of the Air Force itself. Born on McCook Field McCook Field was a modest flight experimentation station just minutes north of downtown Dayton, operated by what were then the U.S. Signal Corps and the Army Air Service. The Army chose Dayton as a place to experiment with airplanes and aeronautics as the nation entered World War I. The location was chosen (among other reasons) for its connection to the Wright Brothers, the Dayton brothers who invented, built and flew the first motor-operated airplane. That field, roughly between today's Keowee Street and the Great Miami River still easily visible while driving on Interstate 75 became home to early American military aviation research and development work, where Americans taught themselves to build and fly combat planes. It was as part of that effort that the Army gathered motors, airplane parts, wings and more. "It started small," Lantry said. "It started as a collection of engines, instruments and air-frames that were basically an engineering study collection. And these things brought from Europe during World War I, so we could learn to make airplanes better." Initially, these components were grouped together in a way that would allow McCook Field technologists to easily find and study them. Engines were often grouped with other engines, propellers with propellers and parts in general were grouped with similar parts. The nascent engineering collection attracted attention. "This area was a center of industrial and technology innovation and invention," Lantry said. "A lot of people who were interested in aviation were here. And they gravitated to look at this." It occurred to Army officers that the public may be interested as well. Americans had just emerged victorious with their European allies from what was called "the Great War." "Airplanes had captured the public's imagination," Lantry said. "Especially combat aircraft." The small museum was opened to the curious in May 1923 a century ago. According to Lantry, members of the public could simply show up at the McCook Field gates and say, "I'm interested in looking at the airplanes." "That collection, and that first effort at a museum, is the nucleus of this gigantic institution that we have now," he said. Today, the museum has nearly 100 federal civil service employees, four large hangar buildings, more than 350 aerospace vehicles and missiles, tens of thousands of artifacts, all spanning 20 indoor acres with outdoor air and memorial parks. Pre-pandemic, the museum attracted close to a million visitors a year. All of this is still growing. A retired F-15C Eagle flown to Wright-Patterson by a Massachusetts Air National Guard pilot April 25 was being prepared for inclusion in the museum's Cold War gallery in early- and mid-May. 'The newest, most exciting thing' McCook Field a small field to start with, nestled amid hundreds of homes and businesses was soon seen as a less than ideal place to learn to fly. In 1927, that early aviation study effort, with the museum collection, moved to Wright Field, roughly congruent with today's Area B on Wright-Patterson. Drive east on Springfield Street away from Riverside, and you can see stone gates to the right, off to the side of a now-closed entrance to Area B. Those were some of Wright Field's original gates. A bit further to the east along Springfield, before reaching the railroad overpass, drivers can see on their right a building adorned with art-deco flourishes close the road building 12. "That was the first purpose-built home of this institution," Lantry said. The building opened in 1936. Other parts of the collection were scattered across Wright Field, but here was the core, curated and overseen by a small staff. World War II shut the operation down as wartime needs took precedence. The museum became dormant for more than a decade. But staff continued to look after and even grow the collection, sometimes quietly offering private tours. In 1954, another building on what is today's Area A was devoted to engine work. A large air park was outside, right off Main Street in the growing community of Fairborn. (The building is long gone, but a semi-circular road that was outside that structure is still visible behind a base gate.) "That became the museum that many, many people know from their childhood," Lantry said. Some may remember the Atlas missile outside the building that was dressed up as Santa Claus around Christmas. While the building may be remembered fondly by those growing up in the 1960s, Lantry said it wasn't suited as an aviation museum. Poles spaced as regular intervals within made parking airplanes "a huge headache." "In the end, it was a losing proposition," he said. Steps toward correcting the situation were already being taken. The Air Force Museum Foundation was created in 1960. By 1971, the foundation had raised $6.5 million for a new museum home. But the design for that home needed to be right. Lantry said an early vision for the museum by Eero Saarinen Associates designer of JFK International Airport and the gateway to the St. Louis arch was seen as "super modern and really visually stunning." But expensive. Plans from Cleveland architects Dalton, Dalton & Little pointed in a different, more familiar direction. Enormous hangars were relatively easy to build and replicate, more practical, and, importantly, less expensive. It was that first hangar attached to a larger hangar, with some offices, which Nixon dedicated in 1971 the nucleus of today's campus. 'This is the mothership' Compared to previous decades, growth happened with relative speed. By 1976, $900,000 was gifted for a two-story addition. With $10.8 million gifted by 1988, along with a $5.4 million federal grant, an additional building opened. The IMAX theater opened its doors in 1991, aided by gifts totaling more than $7 million. In 2003, another building was opened, with the Missile Gallery following the next year. And in 2016, another building again, fueled by gifts of nearly $41 million. In the early 2000s, the Air Force Museum officially became the " National Museum of the United States Air Force." That eliminated some confusion, Lantry said. With a dozen service-related field museums and scattered collections across North America, the name signals that this museum, at this location in the Dayton area, anchors it all. "This is the Department of the Air Force's main museum," he said. "It's a big system. And this is the mothership." 'I always learn something new' Mike Fitzsimmons, 68, of West Milton, is a retired GM machinist and a 36-year volunteer at the museum. What keeps him volunteering after nearly four decades? "I'm just interested in history and aviation," Fitzsimmons said. "It's nice to come to a place where I can be around other people who are interested" in the same things. "I always learn something new," he added. "It's been interesting to see how the museum is involved over those years." Oakwood resident Jason Wysong, 46, started volunteering just four months ago. Wysong is a veteran who served as an Air Force maintenance crew chief. "I'm an aircraft fan, historian, wanna-be, just being here, it fills all the blocks that I need to fill," Wysong said. With hundreds of thousands of visitors a year, Wysong and fellow volunteers see visitors from across the United States and the world. "I think it's amazing," he said. "Getting to talk to people from Europe and Asia, and you hear all the different languages of people coming in. It's pretty fantastic." ------ Timeline: May 1923: Engineering study collection at McCook Field in Dayton opens to the curious. 1936: The first purpose-built museum for the Army Air Corps and combat aviation opened on Wright Field, today's Area B on Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. 1960: The Air Force Museum Foundation is created to secure funds for a new museum home. A nationwide fund-raising campaign resulted in the construction of a new facility in the late 1960s, with President Richard Nixon dedicating a new building and campus in September 1971. In 1976, the foundation donated an addition, and in 1988 the foundation and federal government funded a second exhibit building. The IMAX Theatre and atrium opened in 1991. In 2003, the museum opened the 200,000 square-foot Eugene W. Kettering Cold War Gallery. A Missile and Space Gallery constructed as a missile silo, opened in 2004, and the theatre underwent an $800,000 renovation in 2012 as part of its conversion to a 400-seat digital 3D theatre. Implementation of the third phase of the museum's expansion plan, privately financed by the foundation, was construction of a 224,000 square-foot fourth building, which opened to the public in 2016. Source: National Museum of the U.S. Air Force. ___ (c)2023 Springfield News-Sun, Ohio Visit Springfield News-Sun, Ohio at www.springfieldnewssun.com Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. WASHINGTON, D.C. A projected $35 million budget deficit at Mann-Grandstaff VA Medical Center caused largely by the use of a flawed computer system is forcing the Spokane hospital to reduce its staff, according to an internal email, despite the ongoing effects of the Department of Veterans Affairs' decision to test the system there. In a May 9 email to supervisors, obtained by The Spokesman-Review, Mann-Grandstaff Director Robert Fischer wrote that the hospital would need to reduce its authorized staffing level by more than 15% because of the projected shortfall. That would mean eliminating the equivalent of 146 filled full-time positions as they become vacant, he said, even as national VA leaders acknowledge the new electronic health record system has reduced the number of veterans each clinician can see. Hampered by the system and lacking clinicians in key specialties, Mann-Grandstaff has increasingly relied on the private sector for care. According to separate documents obtained by The Spokesman-Review, that has put the hospital on track to spend roughly an additional $38 million over budget while veterans face long waits for care outside of the VA. In a call with reporters Friday, VA health care chief Shereef Elnahal said the department already had provided additional funding to the regional office that allocates funds to each VA medical center in the Northwest to account for the system's impact. But in his email, Fischer said Mann-Grandstaff must pare down its staff because the bloated payroll in Spokane is effectively cutting the budgets of hospitals in Puget Sound, Portland and Boise. In a statement, Sen. Patty Murray, the Washington Democrat who controls federal spending as chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, said cutting staff in Spokane is "completely unacceptable," adding that "there is no question" that the VA has the money it needs to keep the jobs. "Facilities operating the new health record should absolutely not be cutting staff," Murray said, especially when the VA announced in April it would halt the system's rollout and focus its resources on making it work at the five hospitals where it's already deployed. "Mann-Grandstaff can't do that if its budget and staffing needs are not being met." Murray said she raised the staffing issue when she met Thursday with VA Chief of Staff Tanya Bradsher, whom President Joe Biden has nominated to serve as the department's deputy secretary. "If VA needs more funding, they should ask for it and they haven't," Murray said. "I will be following this closely to ensure Mann-Grandstaff has the resources it needs to support providers and get Washington state veterans the care they deserve." A spokesman for Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers said the Spokane Republican would "under no circumstances" accept a reduction in staff or services at Mann-Grandstaff, especially as a result of the Cerner system's rollout. "Even suggesting that as an option is entirely unacceptable, so the congresswoman will be looking at every available option to ensure veterans in Eastern Washington have access to the care they need," spokesman Kyle VonEnde said in a statement. 'Cerner mitigation' In an email to VA staff across the Northwest on Wednesday, Teresa Boyd, the director of the regional office, thanked her colleagues at hospitals in Eastern Washington and Oregon for putting up with the new computer system, developed by the health technology company Cerner under a $10 billion contract awarded by the Trump administration in 2018. Since the VA began testing the system in the Inland Northwest in October 2020, it has repeatedly crashed, hamstrung health care providers and contributed to incidents of harm, including the deaths of four veterans. After problems emerged at the pilot site in Spokane, VA Secretary Denis McDonough stopped the system's rollout and ordered a review in 2021, then launched it at additional sites in 2022. In her email, Boyd explained that the department and the company that now owns the system, the tech giant Oracle, had agreed a day earlier to restructure the 10-year contract when a five-year option period ended. Oracle, which acquired Cerner for $28.3 billion last June, will need to meet stricter performance targets under the reworked contract, which the VA could renegotiate again after a year. "THANK YOU," Boyd wrote in the email, obtained by The Spokesman-Review, addressing staff at the VA medical centers in Spokane, Walla Walla and White City and Roseburg, Oregon. The Cerner system also has been deployed in Columbus, Ohio. "You have my full support as you continue trying, communicating and giving your all to improve the lives of Veterans and, ultimately, make your work more efficient and effective as we move forward together on this journey," she wrote. "I know it has at times been difficult, stressful and exhausting." But according to the email Fischer sent a week earlier, the Spokane hospital has been getting less than full support from the regional office, which allocates funding for VA facilities in Washington, Oregon, Alaska, most of Idaho and small parts of Montana and California. Fischer wrote that the new system which is meant to replace the VA's aging but highly specialized electronic health record system, called VistA has affected Mann-Grandstaff's budget in several ways. Surges in authorized staffing for " Cerner mitigation" in September 2018 and July 2021 have increased payroll costs. Pay raises and bonuses meant to aid recruiting and employee retention have further boosted those expenses. But because the system's inefficient design and functionality problems slow employees down, they see fewer patients, which is reflected in a lower allocation of funds to the hospital. Because the Cerner system has trouble billing insurance companies and collecting copays, revenue from those sources has decreased. Meanwhile, Mann-Grandstaff has increasingly referred veterans to private-sector doctors in each of the past five years. "As a consequence of all of these factors, we have no option but to change the trajectory of staffing," Fischer wrote. He said the hospital's "target" staffing level equivalent to 1,508 full-time employees would be reduced to 1,278, the "ceiling" set by the regional office's funding formula and chief financial officer. While not all of those positions are currently filled, he said the cuts would mean eliminating 146 full-time positions "over a number of years." Since the VA chose Mann-Grandstaff as the pilot site for the new system, the hospital received three surges in staffing, Fischer wrote: in September 2018 for " Cerner mitigation," in April 2020 to combat the COVID-19 pandemic and again in July 2021 for the Cerner system's impact. Since coronavirus cases peaked nationwide in early 2022, Fischer said, "essentially all filled mitigation positions have been applied to Cerner mitigation for maintaining safety, quality, and access." By January 2022, Fischer said, those staffing surges had created a projected budget deficit of $50 million for the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30, 2022. As a result, the regional office created a task force to review all proposed hires in Spokane. Starting in late summer 2022, he said, the task force's reviews applied only to new hires. In a news conference in January after The Spokesman-Review reported that Mann-Grandstaff was reducing its workforce because of those budget problems, McDonough denied that such a thing had happened. When The Spokesman-Review followed up with a VA spokesman, he said the department was "not cutting staff" in Spokane and pointed out that the hospital added staff since adopting the Cerner system. "In an effort to practice sound position management, as we do at all our sites, we review and evaluate the need for each position as circumstances change and new efficiencies are implemented," spokesman John Santos said in a statement March 2. As part of an ongoing review at Mann-Grandstaff, Santos said, "leadership eliminated some but not all of the mitigation positions in consultation with the leaders across the facility with no adverse impact on operations or service to Veterans." Based on a common method of calculating a clinician's workload called "relative value units," Santos said, productivity at Mann-Grandstaff was about 18% lower at the end of the 2022 fiscal year than it was just before the Cerner system launched two years earlier during a surge in COVID-19 cases. The VA spokesman attributed that decline to multiple factors, including staff turnover, the long-term effects of the pandemic on health access and the Cerner system. He added that productivity had improved 70% since the initial days after the system launched, when work slowed to a crawl, according to Mann-Grandstaff employees. Non- VA care increases That reduced productivity has forced the Spokane hospital to refer more patients to the private sector, through a program the VA calls community care. Congress created that option in response to a 2014 scandal over long delays in care at VA medical centers, but documents obtained by The Spokesman-Review show that Inland Northwest veterans now face long waits to see non- VA doctors. New patients have to wait between six months and a year to see a mental health therapist, four to six months to see an endocrinologist and nine to 18 months to see a kidney specialist in Eastern Washington. According to the documents, Mann-Grandstaff's annual spending on community care is on track to grow by more than $71 million since the Cerner system arrived, from about $190 million in the fiscal year that began in October 2020 to a projected total of over $262 million in the current fiscal year. With a budget of about $223 million, that would mean an additional deficit of more than $38 million for private-sector care. Community care spending at Mann-Grandstaff was about $60 million in fiscal year 2017, $101 million in fiscal 2018, $117 million in fiscal 2019, $179 million in fiscal 2020, $190 million in fiscal 2021 and $235 million in fiscal 2022. That spending has spiked despite the number of veterans enrolled for care at the Spokane hospital about 47,000 staying nearly the same over the past two years, according to Mann-Grandstaff spokesman Bret Bowers. Those community care funds are separate from the "general purpose" funds that cover payroll, and Fischer didn't mention that additional budget deficit as affecting staffing in Spokane. The VA uses a complex formula to allocate funding to each of its 18 regional offices, each of which then uses another model to allocate those funds to individual medical centers. According to the Government Accountability Office, a nonpartisan watchdog agency, both models are based on the number of veterans who receive care and the complexity of that care. That means that by sending more patients into the private sector because of lost staff and the Cerner system's impact on productivity, Mann-Grandstaff's share of funding allocated by that model could decline as a result of being chosen as the testing ground for the troubled system. Elnahal, who was confirmed by the Senate as undersecretary for health in July 2022, said Friday that the VA had provided extra funds to the Northwest regional office, recognizing that the standard formula "wouldn't adequately fund those facilities, because we have not yet reached baseline productivity clinically in those sites." "In other words, we are making these facilities whole," Elnahal said. "We have a plan to do so this fiscal year as well. And we will make sure that veterans are not impacted in any way in terms of the services available to them, with that strategy of being able to fund these facilities to the extent that they need to." Fischer began his email by thanking Mann-Grandstaff's managers and department heads for their help determining the hospital's staffing needs "to ensure patient safety, quality, and access to care" a project he said began in fall of 2022 and concluded in March. He said that Boyd, the regional director, had been briefed on the results of that work. But in an April meeting with the directors of all the Northwest medical centers, she decided that all hiring in Spokane would be subject to the task force's review. "There will be considerable scrutiny" of each proposed hire, Fischer wrote, "and therefore robust justification must accompany each request." The Mann-Grandstaff director's email ended with an expression of gratitude for the employees who have borne the brunt of the VA's decision to adopt a vital computer system that the department's leaders now acknowledge is still not ready to be safely deployed anywhere else. "As we charter a strategic plan that incorporates the requirements above, we cannot lose sight of our responsibility to provide safe and high-quality health care to Veterans entrusted to our care," Fischer wrote. "In the meantime, please know that I am extremely sensitive to the many trials and tribulations you have experienced in meeting our VA mission despite often treacherous seas." When VA leaders announced a "reset" of the Cerner system's rollout in April, they told Congress they would no longer need all of the money they had requested earlier in the year. They have said they intend to use some of the remaining money to improve the quality of care for veterans at the affected hospitals and clinics, but they have yet to specify how that will happen. Orion Donovan-Smith's reporting for The Spokesman-Review is funded in part by Report for America and by members of the Spokane community. This story can be republished by other organizations for free under a Creative Commons license. For more information on this, please contact our newspaper's managing editor. ___ (c)2023 The Spokesman-Review (Spokane, Wash.) Visit The Spokesman-Review (Spokane, Wash.) at www.spokesman.com Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. PORT MORESBY, Papua New Guinea The United States signed a new security pact with Papua New Guinea on Monday as it competes with China for influence in the Pacific. Papua New Guinea's location just north of Australia makes it strategically significant. It was the site of fierce battles during World War II, and with a population of nearly 10 million people, it's the most populous Pacific Island nation. The State Department said the new agreement provides a framework to help improve security cooperation, enhance the capacity of Papua New Guinea's defense force and increase regional stability. The full agreement will be made public once politicians in both countries have an opportunity for input, likely in a couple of months. The work that were doing together to try to shape the future could not be more important, could not be more timely," U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken told reporters. Were deeply invested in the Indo-Pacific because our planets future is being written here. Papua New Guinea is playing a critical role in shaping that future." Papua New Guinea Prime Minister James Marape said the pact is mutually beneficial and secures our national interests in becoming a robust economy in this part of the world. But the agreement sparked student protests in the second-largest city, Lae. And many in the Pacific are concerned about the increasing militarization of the region. Student Naomi Kipoi, 17, said she was opposed to the security pact because she felt it means the U.S. could come to her country whenever it pleased without permission. She said China had been a big help to her country by building roads and funding schools. The U.S. didn't help us with aid and other things, Kipoi said. They're just trying to sign the agreement. Last year, nearby Solomon Islands signed its own security pact with China, a move that raised alarm throughout the Pacific. The U.S. has increased its focus on the Pacific, opening embassies in Solomon Islands and Tonga, reviving Peace Corps volunteer efforts, and encouraging more business investment. But some have questioned how reliable a partner the U.S. is in the Pacific, particularly after President Joe Biden canceled his plans to make an historic stop in Papua New Guinea to sign the pact. Biden would have been the first sitting U.S. president to visit any Pacific Island country, but he ended up canceling to focus on the debt limit talks back at home. Blinken traveled in Biden's place, arriving in Papua New Guinea early Monday. In response to news of Blinken's impending visit, China warned against the introduction of geopolitical games" into the region. As well as the defense pact, the U.S. also signed a maritime agreement with Papua New Guinea which will allow the U.S. Coast Guard to partner with the Pacific nation to counter illegal fishing and drug smuggling. The U.S. visit coincided with a trip by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who was hosting a meeting with Pacific Island leaders to discuss ways to better cooperate. Blinken met with New Zealand Prime Minister Chris Hipkins and said the two nations had a shared vision for the region. To make sure that it remains free, open, secure and prosperous, Blinken said. Hipkins told Blinken he was very happy that Blinken had made the trip. The increased U.S. presence in the Pacific is something we welcome, Hipkins said. But Hipkins also drew a distinction to his own nation's efforts. We are not interested in the militarization of the Pacific, Hipkins told reporters before the Blinken meeting. We are interested in working with the Pacific on issues where we have mutual interest. Issues around climate change. And were not going to be attaching military strings to that support. Hipkins was one of the few leaders to venture out publicly. He got a rapturous reception from hundreds of well-wishers when he visited Gordons Market, a large fruit and vegetable market. HIROSHIMA, Japan Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Sunday that Russian forces weren't occupying Bakhmut, casting doubt on Moscow's insistence that the eastern Ukrainian city had fallen. Responding to a reporters question about the status of the city at the Group of Seven summit in Japan, Zelenskyy said: Bakhmut is not occupied by the Russian Federation as of today. We are not throwing people (away) to die," Zelenskyy said in Ukrainian through an interpreter. "People are the treasure. I clearly understand what is happening in Bakhmut. I cannot share with you the technical details of what is happening with our warriors. The fight for the city of Bakhmut is continuing, the Ukrainian military's general staff said in a statement on Sunday evening. Oleksandr Syrskyi, a spokesman for the military's eastern command, said Ukrainian forces control the outskirts of the city, and defense forces continue offensive actions on the flanks near Bakhmut. The fog of war made it impossible to confirm the situation on the ground in the invasions longest battle, and a series of comments from Ukrainian and Russian officials added confusion to the matter. Zelenskyys response in English to a question earlier at the summit about the status of Bakhmut suggested that he believed the city had fallen to Russian forces, and he offered solemn words about its fate. When asked if the city was in Ukraines hands, Zelenskyy said: I think no, but you have to to understand that there is nothing, Theyve destroyed everything. There are no buildings. Its a pity. Its tragedy. But, for today, Bakhmut is only in our hearts. There is nothing on this place, so just ground and and a lot of dead Russians, he said. Zelenskyys press secretary later walked back those previous comments. Ukrainian defense and military officials said that fierce fighting was ongoing. Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Malyar even went so far as to say that Ukrainian troops took the city in a semi-encirclement. The enemy failed to surround Bakhmut, and they lost part of the dominant heights around the city, Malyar said. That is, the advance of our troops in the suburbs along the flanks, which is still ongoing, greatly complicates the enemys presence in Bakhmut. And the spokesman for Ukraines Eastern Group of Forces, Serhii Cherevaty, said that the Ukrainian military is managing to hold positions in the vicinity of Bakhmut. The president correctly said that the city has, in fact, been razed to the ground. The enemy is being destroyed every day by massive artillery and aviation strikes, and our units report that the situation is extremely difficult. Our military keep fortifications and several premises in the southwestern part of the city. Heavy fighting is underway, he said. It was only the latest flip-flopping of the situation in Bakhmut after eight months of intense fighting. Only hours earlier, Russian state new agencies reported that President Vladimir Putin congratulated Wagner assault detachments, as well as all servicemen of the Russian Armed Forces units, who provided them with the necessary support and flank protection, on the completion of the operation to liberate Artyomovsk, which is Bakhmut's Soviet-era name. Russia's Defense Ministry also said that Wagner and military units completed the liberation of Bakhmut. At the G-7 in Japan, Zelenskyy stood side by side with U.S. President Joe Biden during a news conference. Biden announced $375 million more in aid for Ukraine, which included more ammunition, artillery and vehicles. I thanked him for the significant financial assistance to (Ukraine) from (the U.S.), Zelenskyy tweeted later. The new pledge came after the U.S. agreed to allow training on American-made F-16 fighter jets, laying the groundwork for their eventual transfer to Ukraine. Biden said Sunday that Zelenskyy had given the U.S. a flat assurance that Ukraine wouldn't use the F-16s jets to attack Russian territory. Many analysts say that even if Russia was victorious in Bakhmut, it was unlikely to turn the tide in the war. The Russian capture of the last remaining ground in Bakhmut is not tactically or operationally significant, a Washington-based think tank said late Saturday. The Institute for the Study of War said that taking control of these areas does not grant Russian forces operationally significant terrain to continue conducting offensive operations, nor to to defend against possible Ukrainian counterattacks. In a video posted on Telegram, Wagner head Yevgeny Prigozhin said the city came under complete Russian control at about midday Saturday. He spoke surrounded by about a half-dozen fighters, with ruined buildings in the background and explosions heard in the distance. Russian forces still seek to seize the remaining part of the Donetsk region still under Ukrainian control, including several heavily fortified areas. It isn't clear which side has paid a higher price in the battle for Bakhmut. Both Russia and Ukraine have endured losses believed to be in the thousands, though neither has disclosed casualty numbers. Zelenskyy underlined the importance of defending Bakhmut in an interview with The Associated Press in March, saying its fall could allow Russia to rally international support for a deal that might require Kyiv to make unacceptable compromises. Analysts have said Bakhmuts fall would be a blow to Ukraine and give tactical advantages to Russia but wouldnt prove decisive to the outcome of the war. Bakhmut, located about 55 kilometers (34 miles) north of the Russian-held regional capital of Donetsk, had a prewar population of 80,000 and was an important industrial center, surrounded by salt and gypsum mines. The city, which was named Artyomovsk after a Bolshevik revolutionary when Ukraine was part of the Soviet Union, also was known for its sparkling wine production in underground caves. Its broad tree-lined avenues, lush parks and stately downtown with imposing late 19th-century mansions all now reduced to a smoldering wasteland made it a popular tourist destination. When a separatist rebellion engulfed eastern Ukraine in 2014 weeks after Moscows illegal annexation of Ukraines Crimean Peninsula, the rebels quickly won control of the city, only to lose it a few months later. After Russia switched its focus to the Donbas following a botched attempt to seize Kyiv early in the February 2022 invasion, Moscows troops tried to take Bakhmut in August but were pushed back. The fighting there abated in autumn as Russia was confronted with Ukrainian counteroffensives in the east and the south, but it resumed at full pace late last year. In January, Russia captured the salt-mining town of Soledar, just north of Bakhmut, and closed in on the citys suburbs. Intense Russian shelling targeted the city and nearby villages as Moscow waged a three-sided assault to try to finish off the resistance in what Ukrainians called fortress Bakhmut. Mercenaries from Wagner spearheaded the Russian offensive. Prigozhin tried to use the battle for the city to expand his clout amid the tensions with the top Russian military leaders whom he harshly criticized. We fought not only with the Ukrainian armed forces in Bakhmut. We fought the Russian bureaucracy, which threw sand in the wheels, Prigozhin said in the video on Saturday. The relentless Russian artillery bombardment left few buildings intact amid ferocious house-to-house battles. Wagner fighters marched on the bodies of their own soldiers according to Ukrainian officials. Both sides have spent ammunition at a rate unseen in any armed conflict for decades, firing thousands of rounds a day. Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu has said that seizing the city would allow Russia to press its offensive farther into the Donetsk region, one of the four Ukrainian provinces that Moscow illegally annexed in September. ___ Elise Morton reported from London, and Susie Blann from Kyiv, Ukraine. Elaine Kurtenbach and Adam Schreck contributed to this report from Hiroshima. They say life isn't about the destination, it's about the journey. For Gerard Butler in the new movie "Kandahar," it's about both. Butler plays Tom Harris, an undercover CIA operative working against the Iranian nuclear program. When his mission is exposed, he has 30 hours to make it to an extraction point in Kandahar, some 400 miles away. With Harris is his Afghan translator (Navid Negahban, "Homeland"), who had already escaped from Afghanistan. Together, the two must navigate the Taliban's new Afghanistan, the rival militias and a foreign intelligence bent on revenge to return to their families. "Kandahar" is an epic road trip across dangerous, unknown terrain, set amid a spy thriller, and Butler's Harris is far from the James Bond kind of operative. Don't expect the kind of action where the bad guys can't aim and the hero never has to reload. Once Harris' mission is blown, he and his translator have to trust each other and work together to survive. There is an interesting element of realism thrown into this Iranian Cold War spy game. "Kandahar" was written by Mitchell LaFortune, an Army veteran who helped develop counterinsurgency strategy for Afghanistan and Pakistan during his deployments. As a soldier with the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), he also actively worked against Iranian influence in the region. LaFortune's deep knowledge of the region could mean veterans of the Afghan War and foreign policy wonks will have a special insight to the complex landscape across which Harris and his translator have to survive. Director Ric Roman Waugh, who worked with Butler in "Angel Has Fallen" and "Greenland," returns to direct Kandahar in whats sure to be a movie that is peak Gerard Butler. Gerard Butler and Navid Negahban in "Kandahar." (Open Road) Just judging from the trailer, Harris and his translator are all alone in their journey, hopelessly outgunned, while outrunning jihadi fighters, like the Islamic State-Khorasan Province (ISIS-K), Irans Revolutionary Guard Corps and certainly the Taliban. "Kandahar" also stars Ali Fazal ("Furious 7") and Travis Fimmel ("Vikings"). It opens in theaters nationwide on May 26, 2023. -- Blake Stilwell can be reached at blake.stilwell@military.com. He can also be found on Twitter @blakestilwell or on LinkedIn. Keep Up With the Best in Military Entertainment Whether you're looking for news and entertainment, thinking of joining the military or keeping up with military life and benefits, Military.com has you covered. Subscribe to the Military.com newsletter to have military news, updates and resources delivered straight to your inbox. Michigans largest-ever marijuana recall is at the center of a court matter that the public is forbidden from attending. The case focuses on Cannabis Regulatory Agency accusations that Viridis Laboratories, one of the largest marijuana safety testing labs in the state, produced inaccurate test results related to potentially harmful contaminants, and inflated THC potency data. Viridis has denied the claims and filed its own lawsuit against the CRA, accusing the regulator of abusing its power and unfairly targeting the safety lab. Related: Lab fights back after becoming focus of $230 million recall The dispute is before Administrative Law Judge Stephen Goldstein, who in his Feb. 16 scheduling order said all hearings in this matter shall be closed to the public and all media sources. There was no explanation for the decision. MLives request to cover the hearings has been denied. Hearings were held May 15 and 16 and are scheduled for Tuesday, May 23, and Wednesday, May 24. Judges dont typically close court hearings to the public without a request from one or both of the parties; administrative court hearings involving government agencies are open to the public. Without having the proceedings being published, its possible a lot of things may remain hidden from public view and I dont think thats democracy, said marijuana insider Rick Thompson, who is the executive director of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) of Michigan, Attorney General Dana Nessels office is representing the CRA. We did not request that the hearings be closed to the media, but we defer to the tribunal on this issue, AG spokesman Danny Wimmer said. The tribunal has the legal authority to regulate the course of the hearing. Viridis CEO Greg Michaud said the lab supports public access to these hearing but is abiding to the rules and procedures set by the judge. We believe there should be a full public accounting and transparency around the CRAs actions leading up to the botched recall of 2021 and after, Michaud said. Unfortunately, the state has fought tooth and nail to keep relevant evidence under wraps every step of the way. Spokesman David Harns said the CRA has always valued transparency with our cannabis industry stakeholders and that will continue to be the case now and into the future. Lisa McGraw, who lobbies for government transparency and access on behalf of the Michigan Press Association, said the court decision to close the hearings doesnt pass the transparency smell test. The answer is vague, she said. Theyre doing the peoples work, so why cant the people see what it is? Furthermore, McGraw said this deals with consumer protection issues that are of public interest. Were paying them to do the job, she said, so we should be able to know how they do the job. Related: Historic marijuana recall tied to 18 health complaints The Michigan Office of Administrative Hearings and Rules employs administrative law judges tasked with, among other duties, administering contested hearings when there is a dispute between a licensee and a regulatory agency. In this case, the CRA and Viridis. While the hearings are conducted similar to those in civil, criminal and probate courts -- theres a judge, witnesses, evidence and attorney statements -- the court records are handled differently. Its difficult to learn what cases the administrative court is hearing, since there is not public access online or designated records office with a public access terminal to review cases. Many administrative hearings, at least since the coronavirus pandemic began, have been conducted remotely using Zoom. MLive has requested and received media access for multiple other previous contested hearings. In addition to the public health aspects of the case, Thompson said this is also a matter of government transparency. In my opinion, anytime a private citizen or a corporation sues the government for misdeeds, we should be able to view those proceedings, Thompson said. Otherwise, how else will we know exactly in which areas the government was deficient? This whole case stems around accusations that numbers that appear on cannabis labels are not accurate and from a consumer perspective, thats hugely important. Related: Super potent weed spurs distrust The CRA recalled an estimated $230 million of marijuana products tested by Viridis in November 2021 after an audit revealed Viridis labs cleared product that was subsequently found to be contaminated with aspergillus, a potentially harmful mold that can cause lung infection. Other audit findings included allegations Viridis didnt use incubation logs, which are necessary to properly determine yeast and mold contamination. Another CRA complaint said Viridis testing accounted for a disproportionately high number of THC potency results when compared to other labs. Related: Controversial Michigan marijuana testing lab says potency results are legit. Viridis has claimed its testing methods are proprietary and revealing details could harm its business. While administrative hearings are public, theyre rarely attended, said attorney David A. Kallman who regularly represents clients at administrative hearings. For 40 years Ive been doing administrative hearings and Im struggling to remember even one time when anybody from the public or media was even there, Kallman said. My gut reaction would be: they should be open to the public. Its a public body. Its involving issues that are of interest to the public ... Im really kind of shocked at it. An attorney representing the Michigan Press Association, of which MLive is a member, said the judge has wide discretion to close hearings. Goldstein in his order barring media cited Michigan law, which states, the administrative law judge may exercise discretion with regard to the exclusion of parties, their attorneys or authorized representatives or other persons, and may adjourn hearings when necessary to avoid undue disruption of the proceedings. The judge also referenced Michigan Office of Administrative Hearings and Rules Media Coverage and Equipment Use During Administrative Hearing Policy that says: the presiding Judge has the discretion to admonish anyone who disrupts proceedings, and to order the removal of anyone who does not comply with the tribunals request for proper hearing room behavior. Its not clear how the presence of the public or media, when the hearing is conducted remotely via conference call and Zoom, even allows for undue disruption or disruptive behavior. Depending on how the Zoom is set up, even if you did start shouting out questions or something like that, the person running the Zoom could just mute you or boot you out of the room, said McGraw. So they have almost more control in that situation than they would have in a courtroom. McGraw said government transparency is an overall problem that we have in this state. Were looking so bad, nationwide, transparency-wise, right now, she said. MLive has sent a letter to the presiding judge asking him to reconsider his media ban on future hearings in the case and has filed a pending Freedom of Information Act request for audio recordings of the closed hearings. More on MLive: Controversial Michigan marijuana testing lab says potency results are legit Super potent weed spurs distrust Lab fights back after becoming focus of $230 million recall Lawsuit calls recall bureaucratic abuse Historic marijuana recall tied to 18 health complaints " Two Michigan State University undergraduates are suing one of their former professors and two MSU administrators, alleging that they and hundreds of other students were unlawfully required to buy a $99 subscription to a website that supported the professors liberal activism. Nathan Barbieri and Nolan Radomski enrolled in a required business communication course taught by Amy Wisner during the spring semester. According to the lawsuit, Wisner required the roughly 600 students in their class to sign up for The Rebellion Community, which her syllabus described as a global social learning community, even though its use in the context of the class largely mimicked services already available at no additional cost from the universitys D2L software. Though Wisner initially told students that she would reap no benefit from the subscriptions, the lawsuit said, students found out that Wisner operated the site and had said in different contexts that its proceeds would be donated to Planned Parenthood or used to fund an RV roadtrip around the United States to co-create communities of rebels. They complained. Wisner was removed from the class. MSU offered students a refund of the money theyd paid to The Rebellion Community, roughly $60,000 in all. MSU spokesman Dan Olsen said refunds came from Broad College of Business funds. He also said that Wisner, who had been an adjunct professor, is no longer employed by MSU. Wisner didnt respond to messages seeking comment on the case, but in an April 7 Facebook post, she wrote that MSU fired me because they did not want me and my guest lecturers to teach diversity, equity, and inclusion to students in the core business communication class. The battle over this issue started in October 2022 and ended about a month ago when they fired me for insubordination, she said. She then encouraged readers to check out The Rebel Community if you are worried about the hateful rhetoric and divisiveness in America, state of our education system, daily threat of gun violence, overt racism, sexism, antisemitism, xenophobia, ableism, ageism, homophobia, transphobia, and other forms of bullying. Barbieri and Radomski oppose abortion, the lawsuit says. They believe that rebellion, when directed against the idea of absolute truth or universal moral norms, is wrong. They reject all branches of critical theory. They do not wish to financially support the speech of others that contradicts their views, and they do not wish to become members of groups organized for the purpose of promoting messages that contradict their views, the lawsuit says. The lawsuit is asking the court to require Wisner to pay back the money, because shes still out there using these funds to promote ideas that our clients disagree with, said Tyson Langhofer, senior council with the Alliance Defending Freedom, a conservative Christian legal advocacy group that is representing the students. The suit, which also names Judith Whipple, the interim dean of the Broad College of Business, and interim Provost Thomas Jeitschko, also notes that MSUs current policies encourage professors not to profit from assigning their own work to students but do not explicitly forbid it. It asks MSU to to instruct all faculty that their discretion to select course materials does not include authority to require students to pay membership fees to outside organizations or to financially support any private expression. Olsen declined to speak about the case, saying that MSU doesnt comment on pending litigation. MACKINAC COUNTY, MI Firefighters from multiple departments had to get creative to battle a fire on a small, Michigan island. 9&10 News reports the blaze was reported at a home on Boot Island just after 7 a.m. on May 20. Boot Island is in Lake Huron off the coast of Cedarville. It is part of the Les Cheneaux archipelago of 36 small islands and is home to the Nordquist Nature Preserve. The Clark Township Fire Department, Pickford Township Fire Department and Mackinac Island Volunteer Fire Department all responded to the scene. Mackinac Marine Rescue posted some photos of the effort. Firefighters took boats to the island and used water from Lake Huron to battle the fire for nearly three hours, but the house was destroyed, according to the TV station. The cause of the fire has not been determined. Firefighters didnt say if anyone was home at the time the fire started. READ MORE: Consumers Energy power pole shot with rifle will cost $30K to fix, Michigan police say Michigan man pointed laser at police helicopter, troopers say 2-year-old dies after Monroe County mobile home fire HOUGHTON, MI Theres a new, easy way to experience one of Michigans natural treasures. Yooperlites, sodalite-bearing syenites that possess fluorescent properties, are now on display in the Upper Peninsula at the A.E. Seaman Mineral Museum at Michigan Tech University in Houghton. The mystical minerals, which entered the national spotlight after an MLive feature was published in 2018, have become sensational to rock collectors and nature lovers alike. Theyre found in abundance on Keweenaw County shores because of the peninsulas unique geology and prime location on the Great Lakes. Yooperlites, and other similar sodalites have likely been in Michigan for centuries, left behind by glaciers and rounded by the wave action on Lake Superior. The rocks have a mesmerizing, out-of-this-world glow when hit with high-powered UV lights, something Brimley resident Erik Rintamaki discovered when he first encountered the mineral on the shores of Lake Superior in June of 2017. Testing completed at Michigan Tech University confirmed the presence of sodium, aluminum, silicon, chlorine and oxygen, but no structural sulfur, which likely results in the fluorescent properties of the mineral, Kevin Cole, associate professor of geology at Grand Valley State University, told MLive. The new exhibit in the U.P. will offer a streamlined way for collectors to learn about and experience the Yooperlites. The sodalite-bearing syenites are cool because they are fluorescent who doesnt like glow-in-the-dark, said John Jaszczak, director and John and Phyllis Seaman Endowed Curator of the A.E. Seaman Mineral Museum. Hunting for them has a simple and rewarding sense of adventure and discovery for young and old alike while enjoying the beautiful beaches of the Great Lakes, especially Lake Superior. Our new display of them in the Fluorescent Minerals Gallery is now open. The Mineral Museum is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday. Prospective hunters can also get a UV light from Copper World from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday. However, anyone looking for Yooperlites should be mindful of material collection laws in Michigan. READ MORE: Behold Yooperlites, newly-discovered glowing treasures in Michigans Upper Peninsula 10 Michigan state parks, recreation areas that are perfect for disc golf lovers Make way for ducklings: DNR has tips for herding duck families out of buildings New freighter carrying 21,000 tons of salt had electrical malfunction in Detroit River DETROIT A Michigan woman is charged with murder in the death of her 4-year-old son after she turned herself in for allegedly giving him narcotics, which resulted in fatal cardiac arrest. Anthony Scott Upshaw Jr. died on April 10 after he went into cardiac arrest at his familys home, according to a news release from the Wayne County Prosecutors Office. He was taken to a hospital for treatment but did not survive. Anthonys mother, Chavon Caprice Boone, 40, of Detroit, is charged with felony murder and other crimes related to her childs death. There was an unexpected turn of events that brought to us to these charges, Prosecutor Kym Worthy said in a statement. Everyone deserves not to be forgotten. This child is no longer a cold case statistic. We will bring justice to Anthony and his family. It is alleged that Boone was alone in her childs bedroom in the family home in the 18540 block of Fitzgerald Court in Detroit when he went into cardiac arrest. The childs father was in another room sleeping. He woke to the sounds of Boone screaming and went to the bedroom. He found Anthony unresponsive and began giving him chest compressions. 911 was called and the child was transported to a local hospital where he was treated but did not survive. The medical examiner indicated that fentanyl was found in his system. It was unknown how he ingested the drug; the cause and manner of death was indeterminate. On May 19, Boone called 911 and was transported to the Detroit Police Homicide Section where she turned herself in for the murder of Anthony. She was arrested. It is alleged that she was alone in the childs bedroom when she gave her son narcotics that caused him to go into cardiac arrest and die. On May 21, Boone was charged with felony murder, first-degree child abuse and delivery of a narcotic causing death. She was arraigned in 36th District Court and remanded to jail. Boone is due back in court on Wednesday, May 31, before Judge Kenneth King. READ MORE: Family asks for help in search for missing father of 2 2-ton steer wandered southeast Michigan for 6 weeks before capture along highway Gas station clerk trapped 3 men inside with customer who opened fire, killing 1 WASHINGTON, D.C. The NAACP has issued a travel advisory warning Blacks and other minorities from visiting Florida, saying its a response to unrelenting attacks on fundamental freedoms by Gov. Ron DeSantis and state legislators. Florida is openly hostile toward African Americans, people of color and LGBTQ+ individuals, the advisory says. Before traveling to Florida, please understand that the state of Florida devalues and marginalizes the contributions of and the challenges faced by African Americans and other communities of color. The NAACP joins the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), a Latino civil rights organization, and Equality Florida, a gay rights advocacy group, in issuing travel advisories for Florida. The NAACP Board of Directors issued the advisory on Saturday. DeSantis called the travel advisory a joke during a news conference Sunday in Orange Park, Florida, according to 10 Tampa Bay. Its a pure stunt, DeSantis said. And fine, if you want to waste your time on a stunt, thats fine. Look, I Im not wasting my time on your stunts, OK? Im going to make sure that were getting things done here and were going to continue to make this state a great state. The NAACPs decision comes after the DeSantis administration in January rejected the College Boards Advanced Placement African American Studies course. DeSantis and Republican lawmakers also have pressed forward with measures that ban state colleges from having programs on diversity, equity and inclusion, as well as critical race theory, and also passed the Stop WOKE Act that restricts certain race-based conversations and analysis in schools and businesses. Let me be clear - failing to teach an accurate representation of the horrors and inequalities that Black Americans have faced and continue to face is a disservice to students and a dereliction of duty to all, NAACP President & CEO Derrick Johnson said in a statement. Under the leadership of Gov. Desantis, the state of Florida has become hostile to Black Americans and in direct conflict with the democratic ideals that our union was founded upon. He should know that democracy will prevail because its defenders are prepared to stand up and fight. Were not backing down and we encourage our allies to join us in the battle for the soul of our nation. Florida is one of the most popular states in the U.S. for tourists, and tourism is one of its biggest industries. More than 137.5 million tourists visited Florida last year, marking a return to pre-pandemic levels, according to Visit Florida, the states tourism promotion agency. Tourism supports 1.6 million full-time and part-time jobs, and visitors spent $98.8 billion in Florida in 2019, the last year figures are available. The Associated Press contributed to this story. Paul Whelan, the Michigan man who is currently serving a 16-year sentence in Russia over false espionage claims says hes confident the United States is working hard to get him released, but also says he wants officials to move faster. In an interview with CNN, Whelan says he feels better now about his potential release than he has in the past, despite having been in custody for more than four years. I remain positive and confident on a daily basis that the wheels are turning. I just wish they would turn a little bit more quickly, Whelan said in the telephone interview. The interview marks the first public statements from Whelan since December when he last spoke with CNN. That interview came just after news broke that WNBA star Brittney Griner had been released from Russian custody thanks to a prisoner swap. Whelan was not involved in that swap and remained behind bars in a Russian prison. Related story: Family of Paul Whelan devastated he remains in Russian prison, but support Griner swap The possibility of Whelans potential release has been reignited as the U.S. has increased talks with Russia about Americans jailed in the country, which includes bringing home Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich who was detained on espionage charges in Russia in March. Whelan was arrested in Russia on charges of espionage in 2018, but has maintained his innocence throughout the process. Ive been held hostage for more than 52 months and the only crime I have commited in Russia is that of being an American citizen, Whelan said. Whelan was convicted in 2020 and ordered to serve his sentence at a maximum-security prison colony. Although hes encouraged by the U.S. governments continued efforts to bring him home, he also hopes hes not overlooked again. He expressed his and hs familys concern that a swap for Gershkovich could once again supercede his own release, despite having been in custody for a significantly longer period. I feel that my life shouldnt be considered less valuable or important than others who have been previously traded, Whelan said. And I think there are people in D.C. that feel the same way, and theyre moving towards a compromise and resolution to this as quickly as they can. Whelan went on to say that hes been told he wont be left behind and that his release remains a priority to President Joe Biden. At the White House Correspondents Dinner last month, Biden made mention of Whelan when speaking about efforts to bring home Americans who are wrongly imprisoned overseas. And while hes grateful for the kinds words, Whelan told CNN he hopes Biden lives up to them. Freedom isnt free; it comes at a price. But the loss of freedom is even more costly, and I pay that cost every day Russia holds me, Whelan said. Please follow through with your promises and commitments, truly make my life a priority, and get me home. WASHTENAW COUNTY, MI -- Big news has been happening recently for businesses in and around Ann Arbor. Some longtime businesses are calling it quits after spending decades serving customers, while others are making their debut. There is even one beloved Ann Arbor book store thats planning to return after closing in 2022. Here is some recent business news you might have missed. Angelos Restaurant to close as University of Michigan plans $4.5M purchase By December, people will no longer be able to enjoy the deep-fried French raisin toast or sandwiches at Angelos Restaurant in Ann Arbor. Related: I will think of the raisin toast forever: Community mourns pending closure of Angelos Restaurant The University of Michigan will purchase the 1100 Catherine St. building where the Ann Arbor staple is located, as well as its accompanying bakery and two residential apartments for $4.5 million, according to university documents. Read the full story here. Crazy Wisdom Bookstore in Ann Arbor plans to reopen Crazy Wisdom Bookstore is planning to return to Ann Arbor after closing more than a year ago. The book store that spent 40 years serving the city is currently looking for a full-time manager to spearhead the reopening of the brick-and-mortar store at 114 S. Main St, according to a job post on its website. Read the full story here. The 1923 double-decker bus known for its tacos has a new location An Ann Arbor restaurant known for operating out of a double-decker English tour bus recently moved to a new location in the city. 1923, the gluten-free restaurant that has quickly become known for its tacos opened at 320 Miller Ave. in September. Now, roughly eight months later, the eatery has moved to a new spot on South Main Street. Read the full story here. Whats that near Ann Arbor? New Mediterranean restaurant is now open A new Mediterranean restaurant is now open for business right outside Ann Arbor. The Great Greek Mediterranean Grill opened at 3268 Ann Arbor-Saline Road earlier in May and is planning to bring modern interpretations to some of the traditional Mediterranean dishes it serves. Read the full story here. Whats that? A new restaurant has opened right outside downtown Chelsea A new restaurant dedicated to using fresh ingredients in its drinks and dishes has officially opened near Chelsea. The Nest Cocktail Bar and Kitchen opened in April at Robin Hills Farm, a 129-acre education and event center at 20390 M-52 in Sylvan Township. The restaurant has a farm-inspired menu filled with classic American dishes made using ingredients sourced from Robin Hills and other local farms. Read the full story here. Ann Arbor-area landscaping and nursery business to close after nearly 40 years After nearly 40 years of operating in Lodi Township, Abbotts Landscape Nursery is set to close on June 30. The business just outside Ann Arbor at 2781 Scio Church Road has been helping customers with their landscaping needs since 1983. However, Owner Michael Abbott said he is officially ready to retire. Read the full story here. Want more Ann Arbor-area news? Bookmark the local Ann Arbor news page or sign up for the free 3@3 Ann Arbor daily newsletter. Read more from The Ann Arbor News: Heres what big tax jump means for Ann Arbor property owners Humane Society of Huron Valley is hosting its annual Walk & Wag and Run event NPRs Wait Wait Dont Tell Me! news quiz show is coming to Ann Arbor WASHTENAW COUNTY, MI -- Washtenaw County is preparing to honor U.S. military members with upcoming Memorial Day events. The federal holiday dedicated to respecting and mourning those who have died while serving in the United States armed forces is celebrated every year on the last Monday of May. The upcoming holiday will take place on Monday, May 29, this year. Here is a list of events going on for Memorial Day throughout Washtenaw County. Ann Arbor Glacier Highlands Park Memorial Day Parade and Ceremony The Glacier Highlands Neighborhood Association is hosting its Memorial Day parade on Monday, May 29. The annual parade will begin at 10 a.m. at Greenbrier Park, 3705 Frederick Drive, and end around 10:30 a.m. at Glacier Highlands Park, 3600 Larchmont Drive. The event will allow children to join the parade and decorate their bikes, wagons and strollers for a chance to win a prize for having the most patriotic decor. Along with the parade, there will be a ceremony to honor fallen service men and women as well as food trucks like Tacos El Mariachi Loco, PB&J BBQ and Kona Ice. Learn more about the upcoming parade on social media. Ypsilanti Ypsilanti Memorial Day Parade The city will be hosting its Memorial Day Parade on Monday, May 29. People traveling in the area can expect Huron Street to be closed starting at 8 until around 10:30 a.m. This closure will be from Catherine Street to West Cross Street. The detour route for traffic on Huron Street will be eastbound on East Spring Street to northbound Grove Street. Anyone traveling westbound will detour to Harriet Street to northbound First Avenue ending on Michigan Avenue. The detour will continue westbound on Michigan Avenue to Hewitt back to Washtenaw Avenue. Michigan Avenue will be open until the parade crosses at Huron Street, but police officers will be detouring traffic when it faces a temporary closure. Drivers traveling eastbound can expect to be detoured southbound on Hamilton to Harriet Street and East Spring Street to northbound Grove Street. As for westbound traffic, traffic will detour southbound at Grove Street to East Spring Street or Harriet Street to northbound First Avenue. Learn more about the parade on social media. Pops in the Park Ypsilanti Symphony Orchestra is hosting a season finale outdoor concert at 2 p.m. on Saturday, May 27. The event called Pops in the Park will be at Riverside Park, 2 E. Cross St., and feature the orchestra joined by an Ann Arbor-based duo called Gemini. Anyone interested in attending is invited to bring a chair or blanket to enjoy the beginning of summer with the concerts live music. Learn more about the upcoming outdoor concert online or on social media. Chapter 310 of the Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter 310 of the Vietnam Veterans of America will be hosting several events throughout the weekend. To kick off the weekend, the group will honor and retire several American flags with its Watchfire event at 6 p.m. on Sunday, May 28, at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Ypsilanti. People can bring their own hot dogs, drinks and lawn chairs to enjoy a picnic prior to the event. During the flag burning, the group will burn worn flags one at a time while dedicating each one to a deceased veteran. The group will also be meeting at the Saline Fire Department, 205 E. Michigan Ave., to ride or march in the citys parade at 10 a.m. on Monday, May 29. Following that, the group will meet at Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Ypsilanti at 1 p.m. to remember and honor both those listed on the memorial and also dedicate inscribed bricks to recently deceased members. Find these events online. Saline Memorial Day pancake breakfast Tri-County Scouts BSA Troop 439 is bringing back its Memorial Day pancake breakfast with the Saline Fire Department, 205 E. Michigan Ave. The pancake and sausage breakfast will feature King Pancake Co. and take place from 8 to 10 a.m. on Monday, May 29. The group will only be accepting cash and will charge $5 per person. Learn more about the event on social media. Christ Our King Lutheran Church Christ Our King Lutheran Church will be hosting a free event to honor Memorial Day and for fallen soldiers from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. on Saturday, May 27. The free event at 3255 Saline Waterworks Road will feature guest speaker Paul V. Schwimmer along with musical performances from Village Brass Quintet, Brenner Brothers, Christ Our King Praise Team and Dianne Newberry. There will be lunch provided following the event. Learn more about the event online. Chelsea Herbert J. McKune American Legion Post 31s annual parade The Herbert J. McKune American Legion Post 31 will be hosting Chelseas Memorial Day parade starting at 10 a.m. on Monday, May 29. The parades route will go south on Main Street, east on Park Street, north on East Street and east on Middle Street before stopping in Oak Grove Cemetery where there will be a ceremony honoring veterans following the parade. Find the post on its website. Dexter The Rotary Club of Dexter is hosting the citys Memorial Day parade at 10 a.m. on Monday, May 29, starting on Ann Arbor Street. There will also be a Memorial Day Ceremony held in Monument Park immediately following the ceremony at 11 a.m. Parade organizers are anticipating over 980 people to be walking in the parade alongside organizations, school groups, classic cars and honored military members. The events guest speaker will be Captain Joe Evans who is retired from the U.S. Navy. Learn more about the parade online or on social media. Dont see your event? Reach out to Makayla Coffee at mcoffee@mlive.com to have your event included. Want more Ann Arbor-area news? Bookmark the local Ann Arbor news page or sign up for the free 3@3 Ann Arbor daily newsletter. Read more from The Ann Arbor News: Broken windows, threats led to workplace safety inspection at Washtenaw County building Whats that? A new restaurant has opened right outside downtown Chelsea Ann Arbor-area landscaping and nursery business to close after nearly 40 years FLINT, MI A Flint woman who shot and killed her friend near the intersection of Lapeer Road and Howard Avenue back in August 2021 will likely spend at least 22 years in prison after pleading guilty in Genesee County Circuit Court. Deaisha Keishon-Janee Fisher, 24, is scheduled to appear before Circuit Court Judge Chris B. Christenson on July 17 for sentencing on charges of second-degree murder and felony firearm, online court records show. The hearing comes after Fisher, originally charged with first-degree murder, felony firearm and carrying a concealed weapon, pleaded guilty on May 11 to a reduced charge of second-degree murder as well as the felony firearm charge, according to online records. The single count of carrying a concealed weapon was dismissed, records show. Related: Suspect charged with murder in shooting death of Flint woman Prosecutors and Fishers attorney, Barry Wolf, agreed to a sentence agreement of 20 years on the minimum for the second-degree murder charge, online records indicate. Felony firearm includes a mandatory two-year prison term to be served consecutive to the homicide charge. A separate case in which Fisher was charged with the assault of a prison/jail employee was dismissed as part of the plea, records show. Had Fisher been convicted of the first-degree murder charge she would have faced a mandatory life sentence without the possibility of parole. Second-degree murder, however, carries a life sentence but allows the judge to determine the minimum time served. Read more: Woman bound over in Flint shooting that left 28-year-old woman dead Fishers charges stem from Aug. 15, 2021. Flint police officers responded to reports of a shooting around 3:40 a.m. that day, near the intersection of Lapeer Road and Howard Avenue in Flint. Police found 28-year-old Yanisha Monique Edwards lying on the sidewalk at the scene. Shed suffered gunshot wounds to her abdomen and head and was pronounced dead a short time later. According to prior testimony, the shooting took place after an argument following a night out between friends at Vibez Nightclub on Flints north side and a party at the downtown flat lot. Fisher remains lodged at the Genesee County Jail without bond. Read more at The Flint Journal: Hotel shooting leaves at least 1 dead in Mt. Morris Township Flint mother mistakes repossession agent for kidnapping auto thief Genesee County man wanted in connection with dogs found starved to death, sheriff says Want more Flint-area news? Bookmark the local Flint news page or sign up for the free 3@3 Flint daily newsletter. MONTCALM COUNTY, MI A nurse rescued a woman and her daughter after their car caught fire in a head-on crash, state police said. The woman, 29, and her daughter, 6, were critically injured Monday, May 22, in the crash. The other driver was seriously injured. The crash was reported at 6:26 a.m. on Sidney Road near Stevenson Road in Montcalm Countys Evergreen Township, state police said. Early investigation showed that a 37-year-old man was driving east on Sidney Road when his vehicle crossed the center line and collided head-on with an oncoming Subaru. A nurse drove upon the crash scene immediately following and heroically rescued the female driver and child from the burning vehicle, state police said in a tweet. All of those involved in the crash are from Crystal, northeast of Greenville. The mother and daughter were taken to the hospital in critical condition. The other driver suffered serious injuries, state police said. Montcalm County Emergency Services, Sheridan Community Fire Department and Stanton Community Fire Department assisted at the scene. A state police accident reconstructionist is investigating. Read more: Police investigate multiple reports of gunfire near South Haven intersection Police arrest suspect in robbery at Applebees Driver killed after car hits tree, catches fire in Muskegon County Man shot after fight breaks out at Kent County car show Miss Michigan returns home to Muskegons Frauenthal Center for 2023 competition ROYAL OAK, MI Michigan is the latest to join a growing number of states across the country in signing into law a process to temporarily remove firearms from at-risk individuals, otherwise known as red flag orders. A throng of anti-gun violence activists, medical professionals, police, students and politicians gathered Monday, May 22, in front of Royal Oaks 44th District Court to watch as Gov. Gretchen Whitmer sign the package into law. The fact of the matter is, the overwhelming majority of people want and expect us to take this crisis seriously and its a public health crisis that is unique to the United States of America, Whitmer said of gun violence. We are now getting Michigan on the right side of a lot of common-sense gun policies that have been proven to save lives, and I think thats always got to be our North Star. Since the bills failed to obtain immediate effect before leaving the legislature, however, the practice will not be implemented until 90 days after the legislature adjourns session for the year. Questions of whether Whitmer has talked with lawmakers on ending the legislative year early, potentially starting the take-effect clock ahead of when the legislature typically adjourns in December, were met with a resounding no. Its because of this interest in when the law officially takes effect that Rep. Kelly Breen, D-Novi, said the day was a mixture of relief but trepidation for her. Breen, sponsor of one of the bills signed Monday and chair of the House Judiciary Committee, told the crowd Monday the heart of the legislation was to make sure our loved ones come home at the end of the day. RELATED: 5 things to know about Michigans pending red flag laws Twenty other states, plus the District of Columbia, already have some form of extreme risk protection orders in place including Florida, Illinois and Minnesota the last of which beating Michigan by just days in becoming the first state in three years to act on red flag legislation. Once in effect, Michiganders can seek temporary removal of firearms from at-risk individuals by obtaining an extreme risk protection order, the formal name for a red flag complaint. A family member, current or former partner, mental health professional or other eligible petitioner would have to file a complaint using forms created by Michigans State Court Administrative Office, as ordered by the state Supreme Court. The complaint would have to show whether the person at issue, called the respondent, can reasonably be expected within the near future to intentionally or unintentionally seriously physically injure himself, herself or another individual by possessing a firearm, per the bills final language. Though experts say abuse of the process is rare, the package also accounts for punitive use of risk protection orders. For a first offense, a person could be punished by up to 93 days in jail, a fine of not more than $500, or both. That then escalates to up to four years in prison, a fine of not more than $2,000, or both, for a second offense and up to five years in prison, a fine of not more than $20,000, or both for a third or subsequent offense. Attorney General Dana Nessel told the Monday crowd that she is already planning to travel to as many areas of the state as possible to educate members of the public, law enforcement, judges, and others about the importance of these laws and how they can best be utilized. And for those in law enforcement who refuse to enforce these important orders, let me say this loudly and clearly: I will make certain that I find someone with jurisdiction who will enforce these orders, Nessel said. RELATED: Livingston County leaders take aim at red flag gun laws, vote to become constitutional county Depending on the individual situation, the restrained person would be required to either immediately or voluntarily relinquish guns within 24-hours of a judge issuing an order. A standard order would last one year. During that time, a law enforcement agency would possess the persons firearms and ammunition identified in the initial risk protection order as well as any later discovered in the persons home. No fewer than three months after a judge grants an order, a person could ask a court to or a court itself could extend the order for an additional year should enough reason exist. Conversely, a judge could end the order early if there is sufficient evidence risk protection measures are no longer needed. In attendance at the bill signing was Oakland County Treasurer Robert Wittenberg. During his three terms in the legislature, Wittenberg founded the Gun Violence Prevention caucus and was the first to champion the idea of making Michigan a red flag state. He was modest about his impact on the topic when speaking with MLive on Monday, saying the signing of the package marked a good day for everyone in the state. Moving forward, this is really going to have an impact on our state and its really going to save lives, Wittenberg said. So, well continue to push forward because we know that this isnt the one thing thats going to stop all gun violence, right? Its got to be a concerted effort of a lot of different things. ... Were never going to get rid of it entirely, but weve got to do our best to try to mitigate it. More from MLive Republicans want to let Michigan gun owners carry concealed pistols without license Library wars, budget predictions and common sense: Your guide to Michigan politics Tax cuts may require Democrats to trim draft budgets, officials say Auto industry could cushion Michigans economy in a coming recession, experts say Michigan conservatives against extremism trying to start new political party After Michigan Democrats outlined their vision for gun control in the state with newly passed laws, Senate Republicans have recently introduced their own firearm proposals. The GOP legislation would repeal sections of Michigan law that makes it a felony to carry a concealed firearm without a concealed pistol license, otherwise known as constitutional carry. Lead bill sponsor Lana Theis, R-Brighton, said in a press release that the legislation would remove a barrier for Michigan residents so they are better able protect themselves in case of emergency. Danger can strike at any moment, Theis said. Now, more than ever, it is essential that law-abiding citizens be prepared to protect themselves and their families. With crime and lawlessness on the rise, residents shouldnt have to ask permission to better defend themselves. In addition to removing the requirement for an individual to obtain a concealed pistol license, Theis bill would also do away with supposed safe zones where one without a license could concealed carry in places like their homes or businesses. Companion legislation would repeal requirements for military members and retired law enforcement officers to obtain a license, eliminate firearm transportation guidelines and amend sentencing guidelines. Senate Minority Leader Aric Nesbitt, R-Porter Township, signed on as co-sponsor of all six bills within the package. The fundamental right to keep and bear arms is enumerated in the Michigan and U.S. Constitutions, Nesbitt said in a statement. Law-abiding citizens should not have to submit or rely on state bureaucrats in order to exercise their God-given right to defend themselves. This push by Republicans comes shortly after Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed into law Democrats own gun bills. The new laws would require the safe storage of firearms and ammunition where minors are present, as well as a background checks for every person purchasing a firearm in the state. Whitmer is to sign Monday, May 22, additional legislation that would temporarily remove firearms from Michigan residents who could be in danger of hurting themselves or others. Related: Gun laws are changing in Michigan. Heres what you need to know. Democrats and Republicans have long debated gun policy in the legislature. It was made more prevalent this term due to the mass shooting in February on Michigan State Universitys campus, where a gunman killed three students and injured five more. Police had arrested the gunman in 2019 for carrying a concealed handgun without a license. Initially charged with a felony, former Ingham County Prosecutor Carol Siemon allowed him to plead guilty to a misdemeanor. Some Republicans criticized the prosecutors decision. They argued the MSU shooting could have been avoided entirely were he tried as initially charged. Related: Should Michigans prosecutors be allowed to plea down felonies? Republicans say no. Bill co-sponsor Sen. Jim Runestad, R-White Lake, said he believes the root issue in that case was a lack of enforcement after it was found the person carrying the gun was dangerous. The neighbors were calling because the guy was shooting his gun out of his house, shooting up the neighborhood, shooting up cans, said Runestad, who also serves as minority vice chair of the Senate Committee on Civil Rights, Judiciary, and Public Safety. Constitutional carry is nothing new, he added, citing the 27 other states with existing laws. However, with Democratic majorities in the state House and Senate, its unlikely the Republicans gun bills will receive a vote or committee hearing. The messaging out there is that this will increase crime, increase shootings, Runestad said. I dont believe that that is going to take place at all. Itll just allow the law-abiding citizen to be able to carry a gun concealed just as they are able to currently under law that they carry. Read more from MLive: Juneteenth one step closer to becoming Michigan holiday Marshall businesses want an economic engine. They hope Ford is the answer. Outright war: Gender Queer and the attack on Michigan libraries Winners and losers in Michigans draft budgets Ann Arbor Skyline students braved spring showers Friday night to celebrate their 2023 prom on the hallowed field at Michigan Stadium. Some students made use of the umbrellas provided by staff, while others braved the rain in their suits and gowns. GRAND RAPIDS, MI Union High School held their prom at CityFlatsHotel in downtown Grand Rapids on Friday, May 19. Related: Union holds masquerade prom in downtown Grand Rapids Michigan is investing $160 million in a resurface and repair project on I-75 thats expected to require four years of construction. The Oakland County construction project will include milling and resurfacing three lanes of I-75 in both directions for about 15 miles from Ortonville Road (M15) north to the Oakland/Genesee county line, according to the Michigan Department of Transportation. Beginning 7 a.m. Monday, May 22, workers will close Belford Road, Davisburg Road, and Holcomb Road -- all extending over I-75 -- for bridge repairs. The closures are expected to last through late July, during which I-75 will largely remain open underneath. Meanwhile, beginning Monday evening, the highways left two lanes will be closed between Dixie Highway and Davisburg Road, east of Holly, until June 12. Work along that stretch is expected to be done overnight, between 8 p.m. and 5 a.m. Related: Michigan gets poor grades for drinking water, roads and energy in 2023 Pavement repairs along the 15-mile stretch of I-75 may cause lane closures from late May through the fall. Workers will also build temporary crossovers along the bridge work during that time, though the full construction schedule hadnt yet been announced as of Friday, May 19. In 2024, northbound and southbound traffic will share the existing southbound roadway while northbound lanes are resurfaced. During the following year, theyll flip both directions of traffic to the northbound roadway. Finally, in 2026, workers will remove the temporary crossovers and finish up remaining activities. In addition to resurfacing, the I-75 project will including repairing 11 bridges, drainage improvements, culvert replacements, signs, and guardrails. According to MDoT, the project is expected to support 1,936 jobs. About 67% of Michigans federal-aid roads were in good or fair condition when last assessed, according to the Michigan Transportation Asset Management Councils 2022 Roads & Bridges Annual Report. That left about 33% of roads with a poor designation. Officials have warned that Michigan will face an increasing annual deficit in infrastructure funding annually if the state doesnt find avenues to increase funding. They forecast worsening road conditions without change, with 48% of roads falling into poor condition by 2033. Read more on MLive: Construction on I-375, I-96 among Michigan projects set to start 25 Michigan ZIP codes that have donated the most to Trump 2024 WOLVERINE, MI Michigan state officials may reverse course on the expected fate of a cherished up-north fishing hole deep within the Pigeon River Country State Forest. Officials with the state Department of Natural Resources said that with more data from coming inspections of the Cornwall Creek Dam along with an influx of funding for needed upgrades they may change their plans to drawdown the water level in the flooding behind the dam. The warm-water fishery is beloved by local and visiting anglers and when the state announced the fishing spot was at risk with the dismantling of the dam, lawmakers and advocates scrambled to find money for repairs. Its estimated as much as $2 million may be required to rebuild the dam and keep it maintained into the future. Randy Claramunt, DNR fisheries division head, said both partner support and funding are critical to the future of Cornwall Creek Flooding, and officials may investigate other options for the high-hazard dam. We understand that Cornwall Flooding is an important part of the surrounding community, as well as an outdoor recreation draw for people who love to fish, kayak and watch wildlife, but protecting the safety of area visitors and everyone living downstream has to be a top priority, Claramunt said. State inspectors previously found seepage through the dam and recommended the water level be drawn down to prevent the infrastructure from failing and harming the downstream cold-water Pigeon River, a beloved blue-ribbon trout stream. The drawdown was slated for late summer this year. Now the state contracted two companies to perform a soils and structure analysis, followed by expected culvert work tentatively planned for late June, said Tim Cwalinski, northern Lake Huron management unit supervisor for DNR fisheries. In January, the DNR announced water levels behind Cornwall Creek Dam would be drawn down after finding the dam in poor condition. What followed was a groundswell of support that led to the creation of the Save Cornwall group led by nearby resident Curtis Goldsborough. Im more optimistic than ever, he said. It all comes down to the money and Im confident that well find it. Well-established conservation organization Huron Pines also endorsed efforts to save the fishery by repairing the dam infrastructure, should the funding be found. State Rep. Cam Cavitt, R-Cheboygan, introduced a $1.5 million appropriations bill for a budget line item to be used for dam repairs. The legislation was referred to committee but was twice voted down along party lines. Ive received an outpour of support to repair the Cornwall Creek Flooding dam from locals in Cheboygan County, as well as folks throughout my entire district, and across the state, Cavitt said. I have no doubt in my mind that the dam is worth saving. For over half a century, this unique destination has served as the home for some of our states most beloved wildlife. State officials are looking for other funding options. The DNR said the state also applied for federal dollars through the Federal Emergency Management Agency; FEMA rejected a prior grant application in 2021 for the same work. Claramunt said the new FEMA funding proposal will require strong support from partners, but even then, there is no guarantee federal dollars will be awarded. A big hurdle to funding work at Cornwall Creek Dam is that virtually all available funding sources for dam infrastructure work are for removal, not rebuilds. Nonprofits and foundations typically want to fund river sustainability projects that remedy problems dams cause: warming water and blocked fish passages. Sign up to receive MLive's free new environment and climate newsletter, "Lake Effect." Enter your email below: Related articles: Beloved up-north fishing spot at risk if dam isnt rebuilt 6 ways to feed the bees and butterflies in cities, suburbs If trees had feet: Tree migration brings climate resiliency to Michigan forests Taylor Swift is bringing her sold out tour to New Jersey and there are still ways to get tickets. Get last-minute Taylor Swift tickets for this weekends tour stops in New Jersey for shows Friday May 26, Saturday May 27 and Sunday May 28 at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, NJ. Tickets have been hovering $1,800 at Stubhub and Vivid Seats but can run upwards of $10,000 depending on where you want to sit. Stubhub, and Vivid Seats still have tickets for Eras tour stops on all three dates. Swift continues to break records including breaking her own Spotify record of the most streamed songs in a day on March 19 with 67 million. She currently has 10 top-selling albums in the U.S. according to the Billboard 200 chart. She recently won the Grammy for Best Music Video for All Too Well: The Short Film, and the 2023 iHeartRadio Innovator Award. Get tickets to the Eras Tour, and experience lively performances with songs that span her entire career, including new music, dancers and more. East Rutherford - Friday May 26 at 6:30pm with Phoebe Bridgers and Gayle, MetLife Stadium East Rutherford, NJ Stubhub Vivid Seats East Rutherford - Saturday May 27 at 6:30pm with Phoebe Bridgers and Gracie Abrams MetLife Stadium East Rutherford, NJ Stubhub Vivid Seats East Rutherford - Sunday May 28 at 6:30pm Taylor Swift with Phoebe Bridgers and Owenn, MetLife Stadium East Rutherford, NJ Stubhub Vivid Seats Alhaji Iddrisu Sulemana 21.05.2023 LISTEN The Savannah Regional Chairman of the governing New Patriotic Party, Alhaji Iddrisu Sulemana has lamented what he described as a show of opulence at the just ended parliamentary primaries of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the Savannah Region. In a Facebook post, the regional chairman widely known as Professor Kalamonia, alleged that the level of ostentation showcased during the primaries of the NDC has never happened before in the body politics of the Region. According to him, the opulence was extremely pervasive that delegates were seen madly rushing for cash and other goodies ostensibly to vote in a certain pattern which he said is unhealthy for Ghana's democracy. "The level of opulence shown at the primaries was terrifyingly shocking and invariably posing danger because it has the tendency to jeopardize Ghana's Democracy", he stressed. Kalamonia also cautioned that the unfortunate phenomenon if not stopped, persons with money but without leadership qualities will get the opportunity to man the affairs of the country. "This canker, if not nibbed in the bud, can instigate monecracy into our body politics, regrettably paving the way for criminals with tainted money to rise to the helms of political office," he stated. He roundly condemned the action of the NDC in the Savannah Region and called on the Special Prosecutor and other anti-corruption institutions to probe the alleged opulence and vote-buying characterised the primaries held on May 13. "In conclusion, we wish to call on our anti-corruption agencies, especially the Office of the Special Prosecutor, to probe the opulence and vote-buying which were on display in the just ended presidential and Parliamentary primaries of the NDC held in the Savannah Region," he emphasised. 21.05.2023 LISTEN An Economist, Dr. Patrick Assuming has predicted severe hardships for Ghanaians in the coming months following the countrys receipt of $600 million, being the first tranche of the International Monetary Funds (IMF) $3 billion three-year extended credit support. The senior lecturer with the University of Ghana entreated Ghanaians to brace themselves up as they will experience more hardships than what they are currently facing. Ghana received the first tranche of the IMF cash yesterday, Friday, May 19. While confirming this to Citi News, Minister of Information, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah said: Yes, that's the confirmation I have. As we have mentioned, there are supposed to be 7 different disbursements, the first being the $600 million received on the back of conclusion of the approval by the IMF Board. Dr. Assuming feared that with the many IMF conditionalities which the government has to deal with, Ghanaians are likely to suffer some shocks. Speaking on Citi TV/Citi FMs political show, the Big Issue hosted by Selorm Adonoo, the Economist said, Its good that we finally get the programme [IMF deal]. When you study the programmes document, you will come to the conclusion that its really the start of a difficult journey, rather than an end to our problems. We have been to IMF 17 times, it seems to me that this particular programme is the one that will impose probably the heftiest hardships on Ghanaians. Dr. Assuming charged the government not to rest on its oars but to ensure that structural changes are effected to move Ghana away from further severe economic crisis. He asserted, If you look at the prior actions we have had to take in order to get here, you can readily tell, starting with the Domestic Debt Exchange (DDEP), you can tell the impact of the DDEP on financials of the banks. What we hope is that if we are paying this kind of hefty price, by way of what the DDEP has done, and the new taxes that we are going to pay Ghanaians and businesses are going to pay a huge chunk aside from what we have already done. It will be a real travesty if we dont take advantage of such a heavy economic crisis and pay such a heavy price to make fundamental structural changes that will ensure that we stay away from this trouble for a very long time at the minimum. citinewsroom About 10 shops with phone accessories have been destroyed by fire at Tip-Toe lane, close to the Kwame Nkrumah Interchange, in the national capital on Sunday, May 21. The fire which started around 2pm was doused by a joint team of fire tenders from Abelenkpe and Ministries branches of the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS). There was no casualty and the cause of the fire is not yet established. Speaking to Citi News, Kenser Manford whose shop was completely burnt indicated that, although the firefighters got to the scene on time, they were unable to recover their items. We actually heard that the fire started from the back, but we dont know where it started from. By the time we realised, everything was gone. Even though, the firefighters were swift, the intensity of the fire took everything away. All we can boast of is the ones you can see on the ground, we took nothing. We leave it to the experts to determine the cause of the fire. It started around 10am, we are the biggest casualty, Im sure it started for a very long time before it got to our shop, he lamented. Meanwhile, ADOII Alex Nartey with the Public Relations Department of the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) urged the public to avoid making hasty conclusions when there is a fire outbreak. The cause of the fire is unknown yet, different people are saying different things, until we are done with investigations, we cannot pre-empt the cause of the fire. We had to rely on our men from the ministries and Abelenkpe fire stations to douse off the fire. How we operate, people dont understand. When they come, and we are cooling-off other places for the fire from burning, then they will be giving instructions as to why we are not attending to the fire at their end as well. When our men arrive at fire scenes then they will be insulting them. Its not nice, they should stop mocking our efforts. We make sure that if there are persons trapped, we try to rescue them, people should learn to understand how we work, he advised. citinewsroom 22.05.2023 LISTEN The Electoral Commission (EC) has described as fake a notice of poll for the upcoming Kumawu by-election circulating on social media. A notice of poll with two independent candidates wearing kente cloth with each having a symbol of a bird was circulated on the internet. But the EC in a statement clarified that a draft notice of poll, bearing the photograph of the independent candidates with similar names, attires and symbols was prepared and submitted to the Commission for approval from the district office. This, the EC explained that it was neither approved by the Commission nor gazetted adding that the version circulating on social media was never gazetted. The attention of the Electoral Commission has been drawn to a Notice of Poll circulating on social media purporting to be that of the Kumawu By-Election. The Notice of Poll has the photos of two Independent Candidates, wearing kente cloth. The said Candidates have the symbol of a bird. EC further clarified, For the information of the Public, both Independent Candidates presented photographs of themselves in kente and a picture of a bird as their symbol to our District Officer in Kumawu. Based on this, a draft Notice of Poll, bearing the photograph of the Independent Candidates with similar names, attires and symbols was prepared and submitted to the Commission for approval. The EC in its statement added that it applied the Public Elections Regulations and assigned the second independent candidate a hoe as his symbol after he refused to heed advice to change his symbol. When this anomaly came to the notice of the Commission, the second Independent Candidate was advised to change his symbol since he was the last to submit his Nomination Form. He refused to do so causing the Commission to apply Regulation 14(1) (b) and (c) of the Public Elections Regulations, 2020, C.I. 127 which states as follows: The Commission has assigned him the symbol of a hoe which is reflected in the Notice of Poll posted throughout Kumawu, EC clarified in its statement. The Kumawu by-election comes off Tuesday, May 23 and the ballot paper has Ernest Yaw Anim, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) candidate as the first, followed by the National Democratic Congress (NDC) candidate, Kwasi Amankwaa, then followed by the two independent candidates in that order. The by-election is coming off following the demise of the late MP, Philip Basoah, who died in March and was buried Saturday, May 20. citinewsroom Sudan's war has left farmers of gum arabic, a vital ingredient for global industry including fizzy drinks, bereft of local buyers but a trade group assures global stocks are -- for now -- sufficient. The golden blobs of resin tapped from thorny acacia trees are an emulsifying agent used in everything from soft drinks to chewing gum and pharmaceuticals. Sudan is the world's largest producer of the raw gum which is a major source of foreign currency for the northeast African nation. The sector has survived repeated conflicts, a warming climate and decades of sanctions. Map of growing regions for gum arabic, made from Senegalese acacia in Sudan and neighbouring countries. By Valentin RAKOVSKY, Sophie RAMIS (AFP) But now, since war between two generals began on April 15, "producers are grappling with disaster," Adam Issa Mohammed, a gum arabic trader, told AFP in El Obeid, the North Kordofan state capital 350 kilometres (220 miles) southwest of Khartoum. The city is one of the main local markets for Sudanese gum arabic growers. Other farming sectors are also coping with a wartime lack of buyers as fuel shortages hinder transport to market, and prices soar. However, given its importance to Sudan's economy, and the five million Sudanese which the industry supported, the war's impact on gum arabic is particularly significant. 'No one is buying' Battles between army chief General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and his deputy-turned-rival General Mohamed Hamdan Daglo have killed around 1,000 people, uprooted more than a million from their homes, and further devastated an already-crippled economy. The golden blobs of resin are tapped from thorny acacia trees. By ASHRAF SHAZLY (/File) The bulk of the conflict has been in the capital Khartoum, parts of which have been reduced to smouldering rubble, as well as the western region of Darfur. Witnesses have also reported fighting in El Obeid. Further east, closer to the Ethiopian border, the Gedaref area and its acacia trees have been spared the fighting but gum arabic farmers are still affected. "We have large quantities we need to sell, but no one is buying because exporters and distributors can't find any transport companies willing to risk their trucks," according to the trader, Adam Issa Mohammed. A gum arabic producer, Ahmed Mohammed Hussein, said the absence of buyers has led to a price collapse of around 60 percent. "The price of a tonne has gone down from 320,000 Sudanese pounds to 119,000 ($627 to $233)," Hussein told AFP. The risk is clear: everything including customs and cargo processing has to go through the war zone of Khartoum. Truckers who venture onto the road not only risk their lives but spend much of their time scrambling for petrol. Even if they find it, the price per litre is now 20 times what it was before the war. At the ports, however, it is business as usual, according to Sudan's port authority, which told AFP "imports and exports are operating normally." Customs and cargo processing has to go through the war zone of Khartoum, where smoke hangs in the sky during battles. By - (AFP/File) But Othman Abdelsalam, an employee of a shipping company in Sudan who has viewed the data, said numbers are down. He told AFP "exports from Darfur and Kordofan via Khartoum -- particularly gum arabic -- have suffered a strong impact" since the war started. Sudan's gum arabic belt extends from Gedaref, through Kordofan, across the country to Darfur in the west. According to the Hamburg-based Association for International Promotion of Gums, which brings together importers, processors and producers, there is no current supply threat to industry users of gum arabic. "Member companies keep sufficient stocks of gum arabic imported from Sudan and other countries in their warehouses, so that possible interruptions in supply... can be absorbed," it said in a statement. The group added that Chad and Nigeria are among alternate producers, so "immediate supply bottlenecks are not to be expected because of the current events in Sudan." Industry players within Sudan or elsewhere could not, however, say how long global stocks can last. Global importance Sudanese exports accounted for 70 percent of global raw gum supplies, according to pre-war data from AFD, the French agency for development. Gum arabic exports from Sudan totalled 88,000 tonnes in 2021, earning $110 million, according to central bank figures, the latest official data available. A broken and looted petrol station in southern Khartoum -- even if truckers find fuel, they must pay inflated prices. By - (AFP/File) Mostafa al-Sayyed Khalil, who heads the Gum Arabic Council of Sudan, said his figures show export of 60,000 tonnes in 2022, which he considers an underestimate. Khalil was not able to project the war's impact. Even before the conflict, low prices in local markets pushed many farmers to cut down their trees for building materials or firewood. Others left their lands entirely to work in nearby gold mines. Aly Verjee, a researcher at Sweden's University of Gothenburg, said fighting across Sudan has affected other sectors, leading to the country's "partial deindustrialisation" and a much poorer future. That leaves gum arabic increasingly crucial. "If we lose the gum Arabic belt, we'll drown," Khalil warned. In terms of effectiveness and competence, John Mahama is one of Ghana's best presidents after Kwame Nkrumah. However, he suddenly became the target of tribalism and received insults regularly from all over the nation. Apart from Ghanaians that rained insults on the former Ghanaian leader, the current president, Akufo Addo, the vice president, Mahamudu Bawumia, and his wife, all insulted Mahama, yet; he didn't arrest anyone; therefore, why should Dampare arrest someone for insulting Akufo Addo? Does it mean that the president is a tyrant under a dictatorship camouflaged democracy? Akufo Addo's appointees in the field of law regularly abuse their positions of authority to win his favor. As you can see, the fall of Ghana as a country is due to both pervasive corruption and improper application of the law. George Dampare believes it is necessary to detain a hungry victim of corruption, who insulted the president out of his frustration, but it is acceptable for a corrupt president to steal public money, including COVID funds, use taxpayers money for extramarital affairs, engage in illegal mining, and gold trade with impunity, while all those malpractices are affecting the poor people. George Dampare, the Inspector General of Police, continues to abuse his position of authority, by using intimidation and causing fear within Ghanaians to prevent them from criticizing the despotic ruler. I continue to write about Dampare, not because I hate him, but rather because of how his abuse of authority and partisan service is harming the country. Although the president appointed the Inspector General of Police that does not mean that he must just serve the president's interests. How can I continue to defend Dampare, a policeman who struggles to look into the deaths of J. B. Danquah-Edu and Ahmed Hussein-Suale? Thats why I entirely agree with Ken Agyapong's assertion about the murder of the NPP politician. According to the MP for Assin Central, to avoid George Dampare, who wasnt then the Inspector General of Police to investigate the homicide of J.B. Danquah-Edu, he was transferred to a different place. Since then, Dampare has declined to look into the case because he is aware that a high-ranking individual authorized the murder. More crucially, he has been appointed Inspector General of Police to reward him and stop looking into the murder case. Can someone from Ghana confirm a time when the president mentioned the NPP politician's passing? This government's ruling party is represented by J.B. Danquah-Edu, but ever since he was cruelly murdered, Akufo Addo has never acknowledged him or asked Dampare to look into the matter and bring those responsible to justice. Both the death of the politician and that of the late journalist, Ahmed Hussein-Suale, are still unsolved crimes as of right now. This makes it further clearer that there are important persons involved in the deaths of the two people. Even if you are illiterate, it is relatively simple to look into and examine the cause of George Dampare's ongoing misuse of authority. I shall consider Dampare to be one of the most dishonest and corrupt police officers ever chosen as Inspector General of Police to serve the country unless he can look into these killings and bring those responsible to justice. I will let Dampare know that he has never impressed me in anything because I live in a country where other police officers provide services to the community and their works aren't as dishonest and corrupt as his. Dampare is a component of this harmful government and he is the reason why so many suffering young people kill themselves. Including the corrupt Supreme Court judges and the Attorney General, Godfred Dame, they have enough to eat with their families, so he is spared the everyday misery those poor Ghanaians endure. Dampare won't ever detain somebody for defaming the president if he sincerely understands the plight of the vulnerable people. Does he believe that arresting the man will help the economy or advance him to be a better IGP? In my opinion, no. Many people are afraid to write about the sensitive problems that are destroying our country. In all honesty, Dampare is the worst IGP in Ghana's political history. Ghana wouldn't be in this terrible condition if Dampare is doing a good job and Akufo Addo is as smart as Mahama. I tried my best to explain things to him, but because he simply came to plunder the country since he believes Ghana owes his incompetent father, our nation has now descended into a state of despair. Dampare has repeatedly failed, and as a result, his resignation ought to have been effective immediately. When security personnel acting on the president's orders drew a gun on the Ghanaian-Canadian nurse, were the offenders apprehended? Did George Dampare detain Bryan Acheampong for making the treasonous claim that "the NPP will never hand over power to the NDC? Did Dampare arrest Rev. Kusi Boateng for his corruptible deals associated with the cathedral? Since Akufo Addo is in power, he failed to arrest those who go against the law in this government. Dampare, remember that everything has its time, never assume that your position will last forever; before you know it, you'll be under a new administration and grinning from the wrong side of your mouth. Many Ghanaians have come to terms with the NPP government's failures as well as the role that tribalism has played in the Ashanti Region's underdevelopment. I used to underestimate the impact of tribalism but after reading articles by some writers; I realized the strength of this psychological illness. They cant even write about the president's crimes, his incompetence and laziness, let alone the pervasive corruption that has ruined the nation's infrastructure. However, they spend all of their time writing pointless articles for which I am unable to discern the true motivations, considering that the public is so fed up with Akufo Addo's administration. The damage, suffering, and pervasive corruption in Ghana today, have changed the minds of the people and many dont want to hear the name of the president. The NPP act as if they are unaware of what is happening, but in reality, Akufo Addo is the target of insults and expletives from all corners of the country. The three incompetent and "corruptionists," Akufo Addo, Ken Ofori-Atta, and Mahamudu Bawumia, have wrecked Ghana beyond remedy. Everyone, including Dampare, is aware of this, and it is one of the reasons he arrested the man who insulted Akufo Addo, making sure to instill fear in the populace. Unfortunately, his actions inflamed many Ghanaians to the point where insults directed at Akufo Addo have risen. I feel bad for the individual since this happened to him because Ghanaian law is ineffective. Who can be able to inform me if anyone has heard of a president-insult arrest in a developed nation? Things are only stupid in Africa. This demonstrates that the public no longer has faith in this government, and as a result, they are not wanted. The majority of Ghanaians do not want Bawumia or Kyerematen either because they are all a part of this disastrous government. Writing articles to persuade Ghanaians that the new IMF deal is better than past ones would not change their minds, therefore if you are a writer and find it difficult to write about the political calamity that has struck the country, don't waste your time trying. I can prove that. The NPP politicians are aware that this government is supported by a frail thread that could break at any moment since, aside from their worst failure; they have no other means of persuading the populace that they are qualified to lead this nation. People in Ghana today, are suffering so much that they desire miracle emancipation; as a result, no one cares whether they receive a better deal from the IMF in terms of financial aid; instead, they want to be freed from this pain, which is still a long way off. Why did the NPP government have to start working on street projects at night as a result of the by-elections? They are acting to remedy the problem because they are conscious of their failure, but the people are now wise and acting accordingly. The NPP government was seen in a video that has gone viral, giving rice to the poor due to their extreme predicament. How many days can a man survive on two cups of rice? The NPP administration is conscious that it has failed since Mahama has outperformed Akufo Addo, as already mentioned. Below are John Mahamas accomplishments in the Ashanti Region MARKETS Kumasi kejetia ultramodern market. (Contain school, police station, rest place, and hospital). One of the best in Africa. Tafo market Asawase market Atonsu market HOSPITALS Sawiya hospital 37 military hospital Fomina hospital Kumawu hospital Tepa hospital Bekwai hospital Eye care center inside Okomfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) ROADS Suame Road Tafo Road High School junction to gyenyase road kenyase road Bomso to high school road kwetei to aduase road Tech Campus Fomina to boadi road Bonwire junction to bonwire road Aprade to pakoso road Tikrom to bawoso to Antoa road New Adubease town roads Bekwae town roads Bonfa junction to Asiwa road Bekwai to Asiwa road Kumawu to Droboso road Tepa manfo to Subreso to Fante roads E-BLOCK SCHOOLS Paakoso Community Day School Agric Nzima Community Day School Banka Community Day School Adobe wura Community Day School Adogyama Community Day School Droboso Community Day School Bosomtwe Oyoko Community Day School Kwabena Kwakrom Community Day School Asuoso-Offinso Community Day School Adanse Apagya Community Day School Adanse Fumso Community Day School Tepa Manfo Community Day School Adwira Community Day School WATER PROJECTS Kumawu water supply Konongo water supply OTHER PROJECTS Kumasi Shoe Factory Kumasi Airport Expansion I'll once more offer 500 Euros to any NPP politician or supporter who can give me a rundown of Akufo Addo's accomplishments in the heartland of tribalism Ashanti Region. They are witnessing it, and very soon, many NPP politicians and followers who believe their party is worthless will defect and join the NDC. Time will always tell, and you'll remember this article. Authorities on the French Indian Ocean island of Mayotte have begun demolishing homes in a large slum in an operation to tackle illegal migration, delinquancy and poor housing. France began deploying hundreds of police officers and gendarmes in Mayotte the country's poorest department in April as part of a major security operation known as Wuambushu ("Take Back" in the local language). On Monday morning, diggers finally began destroying the sheet-metal shacks in the Talus 2 slum in Majicavo in the north-east of the island. The electricity and water supply was cut off. Then gendarmes wielding crowbars entered the homes known as "banga" to check no one was inside before the destruction began, RFI's correspondent Lola Fourmy reported. There were a few tense exchanges between police and young migrants during the night, but no serious incidents Fourmy said. The operation is due to last all week, according to the local prefecture. Some 135 dwellings will be razed out of around 1,000 sub-standard homes slated for destruction on Mayotte. The demolition of Talus 2 was originally scheduled to take place on April 25 but was suspended by a court decision. Two subsequent legal rulings then authorised the French state to proceed. 'Painful' to watch The majority of the 400 inhabitants of the shanty town left on Sunday, collecting whatever belongings they could. Sophia chose to stay and watch her home disappear. "I want to stay and watch through to the end even if it's painful," she told RFI. Associations have denounced Wuambushu as a "brutal" measure violating the rights of migrants, but local elected officials and many residents have supported it. The operation initially triggered clashes between youths and security forces in Mayotte and fuelled political tensions with the neighbouring archipelago of Comoros, where most of the French island's undocumented migrants come from. Out of Mayotte's estimated 350,000 residents, half do not possess French nationality. Mayotte began expelling undocumented Comorans once more on Wednesday when it reopened ferry links with the Comoran island of Anjouan. The opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) has pledged its commitment to ensuring a peaceful by-election in the Kumawu constituency of the Ashanti region set to take place on Tuesday, May 23. The party's General Secretary, Fiifi Fiavi Kwetey, has assured Ghanaians that the NDC will cooperate fully with security agencies to ensure a peaceful electoral process. He stressed that his outfit will never engage in any illegal tactics or violence before, during and after the elections. Mr Fiifi Kwetey made the pledge in a Facebook post on Sunday, May 21, in which he revealed that he and other leaders of the NDC had met with the leadership of the police service team in charge of the by-election in Kumawu to discuss the party's commitment to peace and cooperation. He also expressed hope that the police would be impartial in enforcing law and order during the elections. Chairman and I and other Leaders of the NDC met the Leadership of the Police Service team in charge of the By-election in Kumawu to reassure them of our cooperation in ensuring a peaceful By-election. "The NDC will not be part of illegal tactics and violence before, during, or after the elections and hope the police will be impartial in the enforcement of law and order during the elections," Mr Kwetey wrote. He added that the police had assured the NDC team of its mandate to enforce law and order in the elections on Tuesday and nothing much. The Police assured the team that they are the only Security Service managing Law and Order in the elections on Tuesday, he said. The opposition partys chief scribe expressed optimism that, In unity, the entirety of the Party is campaigning thoroughly for a win in Kumawu. The Kumawu by-election follows the death of the constituency's incumbent MP, Philip Basoa, in March this year. The by-election is required by the constitution for the constituency to choose a new MP. Stephen Atubiga, a former member of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) has defended Benard Antwi Bosiako, the Ashanti Regional Chairman of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP). NPP's Chairman Wontumi, as he is affectionately called, was seen kneeling to beg voters to vote for his party's candidate in the upcoming Kumawu by-election scheduled for Tuesday May 23. While many criticized his action as a sign of desperation, Stephen Atubiga said there is nothing wrong with it. In a Facebook post on Saturday, May 20, he wrote "The Regional chairman on his knees begging for votes is in the right direction for any serious party today." He added "In politics, especially in our cultural heritage and values GOING ON YOUR KNEES to beg is the biggest positive Omen for achieving dreams, victory, forgiveness, and reconciliation, including the least punishment." Stephen Atubiga argued that both NDC and NPP have "stepped on toes" and kneeling to seek forgiveness can win them votes in any corner of the country. He indicated how such apologies should be done, demonstrating, "I am very wrong. I have not done well at all. Please forgive me. It will not happen again. I am on your knees begging will always get you off the hook." The former NDC member cited examples of late Prof Mills and Jerry John Rawlings who also knelt down to seek forgiveness and support which yielded positive results for the party. He jabs NDC, "Nonsense, stupidity with powerless arrogance Niggers around opposition power-blocks, feeling big to beg the masses for power?" Political science lecturer at the University of Ghana, Professor Ransford Gyampo has advised voters in the Kumawu constituency to reject "politics of sentimental attachment. He advised them to vote based on "reason, common sense and rational choice" in the upcoming by-election. In a Facebook post ahead of the by-election on Tuesday May 23, Prof. Gyampo said "Politics of sentimental attachment to partisan nonsense must give way to politics of reason, common sense and rational choice." He urged voters to "refuse to be fooled" and not blindly vote for a certain political party just because it is the dominant party in the area. Prof. Gyampo stressed, "We have come of age, and voters must refuse to be fooled." He advised voters to "exchange politics of sentimental attachment for common sense" and critically assess the candidates based on their ability to serve the constituency's interests. His comments come as the Ashanti region, including the Kumawu constituency, is known as a stronghold of the NPP where voters traditionally vote for the party based on sentiment rather than rational assessment of candidates. But Prof. Gyampo is urging voters to break that trend and vote based on which candidate can best serve the constituency's interests if not they will continue to suffer bad leadership. The University of Ghana has been ranked among the top 6.1% of universities in the world, according to the Center for World University Rankings (CWUR) 2023 Edition of the Global 2000 List. The CWUR ranking process assesses universities based on seven robust and objective indicators across four key areas: education quality, alumni employment, faculty quality, and research performance. Scoring an impressive 69.1 out of 100, the University of Ghana outperformed most universities to attain the top spot in Ghana and second in West Africa, next only to Nigeria's University of Ibadan which scored 69.5%. According to Prof. Nana Aba Appiah Amfo, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ghana, "this achievement reflects the University's collective commitment to excellence and the relentless pursuit of knowledge." She attributed the success to the dedication and hard work of faculty, staff, and students. The recognition comes as the University celebrates its 75th Anniversary and affirms its position as an intellectual powerhouse providing high-quality education. The university has nurtured generations of leaders and professionals who have significantly contributed to Ghana's development. With increasing global competition and evolving demands of higher education, this notable achievement undoubtedly establishes the University of Ghana as a world-class institution and a leading force in promoting academic excellence and innovation in research. The university has set a new standard of higher education for universities in Ghana and across West Africa to emulate. The Center for World University Rankings is recognized worldwide for publishing one of the largest academic rankings of global universities based on four factors: quality of education, alumni employment, faculty excellence, and research influence. Its rankings aim to measure the overall quality of higher education institutions from an academic perspective. The 2023 ranking by CWUR further strengthens the University of Ghana's reputation as the premier university of choice among prospective students and the academic community worldwide. The entire University community can take pride in this remarkable achievement. The Ghana Education Service (GES) recently organized a staff durbar at its headquarters in Accra. Held on Wednesday, May 17, the event chaired by the Director-General, Dr Eric Nkansah aimed to provide an opportunity for staff to discuss and deliberate on issues while reinforcing its commitment to achieving the Service's mandate. During the event, the Minister for Education, Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum, who graced the event as a special guest, addressed and engaged with the staff. The minister reiterated his vision and expectations for the Service and encouraged staff to work diligently towards achieving its goals. The staff durbar highlighted the importance of collaboration and teamwork in achieving the objectives of the GES. The discussions centered on ways to improve the quality of education in Ghana, including the implementation of effective policies and strategies that would enhance the teaching and learning process. Speaking at the event, Dr Eric Nkansah expressed his appreciation to the staff for their hard work and dedication over the years. He emphasized the need for staff members to remain committed to their responsibilities and work towards achieving the Service's goals. The staff durbar was also an opportunity for the management of the GES to engage with staff and address any concerns or challenges that staff members may have been facing. The management assured staff that their welfare and concerns would be addressed promptly and efficiently. The paramount chief of Klefe Traditional area in the Ho Municipality of the Volta region Togbe Kwaku Dzaga XI has cautioned parents not to relent on the education of their wards in this modern day, believing it's the good medium to brighten the future of their children. He said parents should strive no matter the situations at hand to finance the education of their children at all levels. This was in an address read on his behalf at the climax of the 2023 Biannual thanksgiving service by the Evangelical Presbyterian Church Ghana "Hadzihaga Zone 4" (The Great Choir) in the Ho East Presbytery at Klefe Dome. Togbe called on parents and guardians to always see it as a priority to support the future of their children and consider it very important by giving the necessary disciplines that shape their future. "Parents, consider the future of your children as a priority," he stated. Togbe Kwaku Dzaga XI further lamented, "Parents these days are failing in applying the sense of discipline into their children leading them wayward and subsequently endangering their future." The paramount chief however described as sad a joint report by Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology and the University of Health and Allied Sciences which is said to have ranked Volta Region women as first in alcoholic consumption in the entire country.He warned men and women in the region to abstain from such behavior since it creates a bad image of them considering its health implications. 22.05.2023 LISTEN A member of the legal team of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Godwin Edudzi Tamaklo has lambasted President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and his Vice, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia. Speaking in an engagement on TV3 on Monday, May 22, he argued that the President and his vice assumed office with the mindset to borrow. He is of the view that this is why President Akufo-Add and Dr. Bawumia's government has collapsed the Ghanaian economy. When this government came to power, they came with a borrowing mindset, Godwin Edudzi Tamakloe said. The NDC legal team member in his argument said what is frustrating is that the NPP government after borrowing so much does not have much in terms of capital-intensive projects to show for it. He insists this is why Ghanaians are unhappy with the government. If you have borrowed this much with corresponding capital-intensive projects, Ghanaians will not have a problem, Godwin Edudzi Tamakloe said during a discussion on the governments deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The Fund last Wednesday announced that its Executive Board has approved a $3 billion Extended Credit Facility (ECF) to support Ghana come out of the current economic crisis. Already, the first tranche of the funds ($600 million) has been sent to the Bank of Ghana. Electorates in Kumawu Constituency of the Ashanti Region will head to the polls on Tuesday to elect a new Member of Parliament, in what is expected to be a tight race between the two major political parties, National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP). The most anticipated by-election which became necessary after the demise of the incumbent MP Hon Philip Basoah also has one vibrant independent candidate, giving the two parties a wild chase in the race. This reporter who has keenly followed events to the elections profiled the three arch-rivals, who are squaring off for the now vacant Parliamentary seat in the by-election First on the ballot paper is the parliamentary candidate for the incumbent New Patriotic Party (NPP), Mr Ernest Yaw Anim. The NPP candidate pulled 195 votes to beat the other four aspirants during the party's primaries. Mr Ernerst Yaw Anim was a Senior Accountant at Vanguard Properties Development, Ghana. He held several positions at Vanguard including Financial Controller where he managed an annual budget of over $4m on four different projects. He also ensured compliance with all regulatory frameworks companies code and taxation. Before joining Vanguard, he was an Account Officer at Millennium Development Authority Ghana. He has also worked as Assistant Manager, Tax Services for Nobisfields. Ernest was a graduate assistant at Ohio University Economics Department and holds the following qualifications: Masters of Financial Economics at Ohio University, Professional Certificate in Accounting from ACCA and B.Com from the University Of Cape Coast. He is a member of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA On the flip side of the coin comes the parliamentary candidate for the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), Mr Akwasi Amankwaa who is branded in political circles as Tomcee. Mr Akwasi Amankwa was confirmed as the partys parliamentary candidate to lead the party into 23rd May 2023 By-election after nobody challenged him during the party primaries. Mr Akwasi Amankwa, a brother to Dr. Kwabena Duffour, a stalwart in the NDC has since vowed to win the seat for the umbrella party. Tom Cee as he is affectionately called is a graduate of Cambridge International School in Kwadaso, Prempeh College and Thames Valley University London, UK in Business Administration. He works in Ghana as an entrepreneur, gold trader and mining management consultant. The NDC PC has also worked in the United Kingdom as the Chief Executive Officer for a Logistics Company, Oasis restaurant Retail management. He is a native of Kumawu Bodomase where he was born and brought up by Madam Charlotte Duffuor, his mother. His father happens to be the Dwantoa hene of Kumawu in the person of Nana Baffour Badu. Another person who is tipped to pull a major shock in the pending by-election is Mr Kwaku Duah, an independent candidate. Mr Kwaku Duah who contested in the 2020 general elections as an independent candidate came second in with a total valid vote of 11,698, representing 39.96% of the total votes trailing behind Mr. Basoah who won the race with 14,960 valid votes, representing 51.11% of the total votes. The 62-year-old man, a native of Kumawu Bodomase is a registered nurse, a businessman and a farmer. He is number three on the ballot paper. Interestingly, the last on the ballot paper is another independent candidate who also bears the name, Kwaku Duah. It will interest you to note that this particular candidate who is relatively young in the race is said to be the nephew of the other independent candidate. Relatively unknown to the electorate until the declaration of his intent to contest in the election, some critics believe the young independent candidate, who hails from Bodomase, is being sponsored by the NPP in a clever strategy to derail the prospects of the popular independent candidate who bear the same name. The ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) has reacted to a comment by former President John Mahama that he is grateful to God for not winning the 2020 elections for God to expose the current Akufo-Addos government for the lies and deception. The ruling party said the statement is an indication that the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) is not ready to govern Ghana. National Communications Director of the NPP, Richard Ahiagbah in a tweet on Monday, May 22, said Mr. Mahamas comments show the NDC is incapable of resolving Ghanas challenges even after 7 years in opposition. The NPP spokesperson further called on Ghanaians to support the NPP government to deliver them from the economic quagmire. This from former President Mahama...means that the NDC still doesn't have what it takes to confront Ghana's problems after 7 years in opposition. NPP is our hope, let's build it together, his tweet reads. Mr. Ahiagbah was reacting to a statement by Mr. Mahama during a thanksgiving service on Sunday at the Ringway Gospel Centre Assemblies of God, Accra. Mr. Mahama said the NDC is grateful to God for not making them win the last general election and be confronted by the current economic hardship. He stressed that everything happening in the country is by God and in the right time, which the former President believed to be 2024, the NDC will oust the NPP. In 2020 again, we went for the elections and we lost. Again we came here after the Supreme Court case and we gave thanks to God for his mercy and in protecting us. As I said our ways are not his ways but on hindsight when I think about it we owe him a debt of gratitude that we didnt win in 2020, we would have been giving these haircuts and all these IMF wahala, the former President said. He stressed, [God]said, this is not the time my children, you stand aside and we know that he will make things well in his own time. His Royal, Naa Baaki Musah, the Dagbamba Chief of Kintampo and President of the council of Dagbamba chiefs in the Bono-East region has paid a courtesy call on management and members of the Dagbon Students Association at the Tamale Technical University (TaTU). The visit was to help the chief familiarize himself with management and students of the University and the Tamale Technical Institute (TTI). In an engagement with the Dean of the Faculty of Business and DASA Patron of the University, Professor Abdul Razak Abubakari and leadership of the Association, Naa Baaki reiterated his commitment and the need for Dagbon youth to make education their utmost priority. According to him, the Northern Region will continue to be deprived of the needed development, if the youth fail to prioritize education. He said poverty is one factor that affects youth development in the north, adding that, the youth should work harder to overcome the challenge. Professor Abdul Razak on behalf of the University management thanked the chief and his entourage for the visit. He hoped that the visit would help create stronger bonds of brotherhood between Naa Baaki's palace, DASA and the Tamale Technical University. Prof. Abdul Razak used the opportunity to share the courses being studied at the University, including a new entrepreneurship development programme aimed to empower students directly. The DASA chief of the University, Naa Nurudeen lauded the eminent chief for his endless efforts in bringing development to Kintampo and its environment, adding that, many are back to school due to his intervention. You're repositioning Dagbon positively in the southern sector through your developmental agenda, you have touched so many lives in the area and still impacting, we're very proud of you may you grow from strength to strength to continue to do more, on behalf of students of TaTU and TTI am appealing to you to extend your philanthropic work to us, he stated. Naa Nurudeen further appealed for mechanized boreholes at the two educational institutions to help reduce the water predicament. In the upcoming by-election on Tuesday, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo is urging electorates in the Kumawu constituency to vote massively for the New Patriotic Party's parliamentary candidate. The seat is being contested by the NPP, National Democratic Congress (NDC) and two independent candidates. The NPP and NDC's top leaders have stepped up their efforts to guarantee that their candidate wins the seat as the hotly anticipated by-election in Kumawu is ready to take place. President Akufo-Addo and Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia were in an aggressive campaign to find support for their party's candidate, while former President John Dramani Mahama and the NDC team were crisscrossing in an aggressive campaign too. The President, who endorsed Ernest Yaw Anim, urged the voters to support him in a speech at the NPP's final rally in the constituency on Sunday, May 21. The replacement for Philip Basoah is handsome, humble, and kind-hearted and is ready to serve you. He has united all members of the party in this constituency. Ernest Yaw Anim deserves to do the job. Hes number one on the ballot paper, place your thumb on where you see him, we dont want any deceptive candidate," the President stated. The Vice President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia on the other hand praised the NPP's accomplishments and warned the electorate the development projects they would miss if they vote the NDC candidate. Vote for the NPPs candidate to go to parliament to bring development to the constituency. The NDC should know that we havent forgotten the dumsor era. Do you want us to experience dumsor again? he asked. Mr. Ernest Yaw Anim, the NPP's candidate for Kumawu advised his supporters to shun complacency and turn out in large numbers to vote. Lets all go out in our numbers to vote massively for me to win, he urged. The ASA Savings and Loans Limited on Thursday, May 18 donated one computer set and ten ceiling fans to Tarkwa Islamic Basic School at Tarkwa in the Western Region of Ghana at a cost of GHS6,700.00. The items will benefit the 20 teachers and 436 pupils in the school. At the short presentation, the Area Manager of the company, Mr. Md Nasimul Islam said, there was a need for this donation as it forms part of the companys Corporate Social Responsibilities. According to him, education is the backbone of the nation. No nation can prosper without education. There is no substitute for education if every nation is to reach the pinnacle of development. The mainstay of vertebrates is their spine. Man cannot stand up straight without his spine, he cannot walk back and forth, and he cannot use force in any work. Similarly, education is very important for a nation. We are very glad to help the school. We believe that if a nation will be educated then the country will prosper, he said. As a company, Mr. Md. Nasimul Islam said it has always been their priority to meet the needs of their stakeholders through CSR to foster developmental change in living standards. SDGs: The Branch Manager of ASA Savings and Loans in Tarkwa, Mr. Cephas Allotey said I'm very honoured on behalf of ASA Savings and Loans Ltd, to attend the donation to the local needy school. Today's donation by ASA is a very important part of a series of activities that our company does to help local schools. The work fully reflects the care for social welfare and children's education, and their earnest expectations for our social responsibility and friendship. He noted that the company hopes that helping the disadvantaged and supporting education will become the common undertaking of all the different sectors. He said the donation will help influence social fairness, justice, harmony, and sustainable development. I sincerely hope that all the students study hard in the good times and grow into useful talents to society. I also hope that teachers and students remember the care and expectations placed on them by ASA savings and loans. In addition to the obvious benefit of access to remote learning, the digital skills children gain by using tech in their day-to-day lives are invaluable, Mr. Cephas Allotey said. After receiving the items, the Headmaster of Tarkwa Islamic Basic School, Mr. Abudu Nassar on behalf of the school management committee, Parents, Teachers, and students of Tarkwa Islamic Basic School expressed their appreciation to ASA Savings and Loans Ltd for the kind gesture. Our appreciation stems from the fact that these items have been on the list of felt needs of the school for a long time. The items will indeed enhance the teaching and learning of ITC for teachers and students. It is against this background that we extend these special thanks and gratitude to ASA Savings and Loans Limited and all of the various stakeholders. May Allah reward and bless you and make you all members of Jannatu al-Firdaus, he said. The author, Kwamena Ahwoi, socially constructed the years 1999 -2000 into two very difficult years for President Rawlings and the NDC in which very difficult manoeuvres had to be made and decisions taken. In self-glorification and gloating, the author states that: I was involved in most of these very difficult manoeuvres and decisions. The author also stated what he perceived to be the major events making up the two difficult years to include: (i) the Swedru Declaration which was allegedly triggered off by the politics of Rawlings succession; (ii) the split within the NDC giving rise to the formation of the National Reform Party (NRP); (iii) the Ho Coronation of Professor Mills as the NDC presidential candidate for the 2000 elections; (iv) the search for a running mate to partner Professor Mills for the 2000 elections and the eventual choice of Martin Amidu; and (v) the personality of President Rawlings and its effect on Professor Mills 2000 presidential campaign, amongst others. A cursory review of the alleged major events chosen by the author to socially construct his two difficult years reduces the events into a single theme: the politics of the succession to President Rawlings and the indispensable role of Professor Mills puppet masters in that enterprise. Kwamena Ahwoi constructed his narrative of the events in such a manner as to make his cohort of puppet masters of Professor Mills and he to emerge the heroes of those two difficult years while President Rawlings wife and Rawlings together with others were cast as the villains. It is, therefore, necessary in this critique and subsequent ones, to deconstruct the fabricated facts used to socially construct Kwamena Ahwois self-serving narrative in order to expose the muddled and unethical reasoning he used to arrive at his self- gloating conclusions. The Swedru Declaration and the politics of the succession The author, Kwamena Ahwoi, began with what his other puppet masters and him coined as the Swedru Declaration. President Rawlings is quoted by the author to have said at a rally at Agona Swedru in the Central Region at the anniversary celebration of the June 4 Revolution on June 6, 1998, that: I will support the Vice President, Professor Mills, if he decides to contest the 2000 presidential elections (Emphasis supplied). The author also wrote unequivocally at page 142 of Working with Rawlings that it was the media that reported that: . President Rawlings had announced that Professor Mills would be the NDC presidential candidate for the 2000 election. And that became known as the Swedru Declaration. An objective reading and analysis of the authors own written narrative of President Rawlings quoted statement leaves one in no doubt that President Rawlings did not declare his Vice- President (Professor Mills), whose political handler and chief puppet master was the author as his successor to be the presidential candidate of the NDC in the 2000 elections. Vice President Mills was given the free will and choice by President Rawlings verbatim statement at the Agona Swedru June 4 rally on 6 June 1998 to decide whether or not he was ready, able, and willing to contest the 2000 presidential elections on the ticket of the NDC. On the foregoing premises, the mis-reportage of President Rawlings statement at the Agona Swedru June 4 rally by the media and Prof. Mills supporters within the NDC, including the self-appointed puppet masters of the politically naive Vice President, of the clear words of President Rawlings do not support the self-fulling prophecies and conjectures that Vice President Mills had been anointed by Rawlings as the presidential candidate of the NDC for the 2000 elections. The self-fulfilling presentation by the author of what Rawlings said at Agona Swedru as a final decision, directive, and instruction to the NDC and Professor Mills to be the NDC presidential candidate for the 2000 elections partakes of the design of the author to present Rawlings as an autocrat dictating who was to succeed him for the 2000 elections. It was deliberately intended as a traitorous insult to the excellent management skills of President Rawlings as Chairman of the PNDC and later as the constitutional President of Ghana. My previous critique of Working with Rawlings has demonstrated with supporting analysis and data that from the moment President Rawlings made the political misjudgment of entrusting the author with sensitizing Professor Mills to interest him in running with Rawlings as the vice presidential candidate of the NDC for the 1996 elections, the author and his Ahwoi brothers saw themselves as the minders, handlers, and puppet masters of Professor Mills within the NDC. As the author wrote at page 125 of Working with Rawlings, he quickly discovered Professor Mills political naive nature: This was Professor Mills political baptism of fire and in his political naivete he asked me: Is something happening in Tamale today? Why are there so many people at the Airport? In the authors narrative, the future NDC Vice President Mills made these enquiries and statements when he saw a sea of human heads beyond the tarmac of the Tamale Airport - the population of Tamale who had been mobilized to the Airport to welcome and receive him as the partys presidential running mate to be the Northern Region. The author thus painted Professor Mills as politically naive and in so doing asserted the authors superior role as the new vice presidential candidates primary puppet master, who got him the nomination as the NDCs vice presidential candidate for the 1996 elections. The author wittingly cemented his belief in Professor Mills political naivete and Mills abundant gratitude to the author as his chief puppet master when the author wrote on the same page that: When I told him that they were there to welcome him, he slowly muttered: Oh my God! What have I let myself into? The author continued to assert his dominance as the chief puppet master of vice president Mills even after President Rawlings and Professor Mills had won the 1996 presidential elections. An example is the manner he skewed his understanding of President Rawlings Agona Swedru statement of 6 June 1998 in his Working with Rawlings published in July 2020. Any minimally and reasonably educated person would not have missed the point that President Rawlings never imposed the decision whether or not to contest for the Presidential slot of the NDC for the 2000 presidential elections on his then Vice President. Consequently, President Rawlings naturally had no reason to consult anybody whether to make the open offer he made at Agona Swedru to his Vice President. The fact that different operatives of the NDC approached their understanding of the substantive statement made by President Rawlings with their own bank of knowledge and self-fulfilling prophecies to derive their preferred subjective interpretations of what he said cannot be attributed to what President Rawlings said on 6 June 1998 at Agona Swedru. The author discloses at pages 144 to 150 of Working with Rawlings that his faction as Professor Mills puppet masters, and Dr. Obed Asamoah in his book The Political History of Ghana (1950-2013): The Experience of a Non-conformist, interpretated President Rawlings offer to support Professor Mills decision to contest for the 2000 presidential election with similar expectations from their respective bank of knowledge. The disclosures constitute what is known in the study of social interaction, psychology, social psychology, and conflict studies as self-fulfilling prophecy of partys expectations. Dr. Obed Asamoah is reported by the author to have written on page 463 of Dr. Asamoahs book that: if the matter had been discussed beforehand, I (meaning he, Obed Asamoah) would have supported it anyway. The author then states his own self-fulfilling prophecy thus: Similarly, I am sure that if President Rawlings had discussed the matter with any or all three of us, we would have supported it anyway. The truth, however, is that, he did not. The words with any or the three of us in the immediate quoted sentence refers to the arch puppet masters of Professor Mills - Ato Ahwoi, Kwamena Ahwoi and Totobi-Quakyi (see page 144 of Working with Rawlings). The author of Working with Rawlings has been shown in my previous critiques of his supposedly scholarly work to have also allowed his own self-fulfilling prophecies of future events to dictate his fabrication of evidence and conclusions from rumours and other unethical sources of academic scholarship. This disregard for the use of research data and experiential learning to guide objective reporting of events is the only plausible explanation for the author who after quoting President Rawlings statement that: I will support the Vice President, Professor Mills, if he decides to contest the 2000 presidential elections still found it self-fulling, mischievous, and traitorous to conclude that Rawlings did not consult Mills before the Swedru Declaration .because he clearly considered Mills as his subordinate rather than a substantive successor who might transcend him. After the offer made by President Rawlings at Agona Swedru to support his Vice President, the onus shifted to Professor Mills and his minders, handlers, and puppet masters of whom Kwamena Ahwoi was the most visible chief puppet master to either accept or reject the offer. The three puppet masters were present in Agona Swedru, heard the clear words of President Rawlings, and knew that President Rawlings never appointed or nominated Professor Mills to succeed him at the Agona Swedru rally on 6 June 1998. The three puppet masters were, however, happy with the statement of offer made to Vice President Mills, upon whose future rested their political ambitions to remain in power and drive a wedge between Rawlings, and Mills. President Rawlings cannot, therefore, from Kwamena Ahwois own quotation of what he said at Agona Swedru take responsibility for the interpretation of his offer and the self- fulfilling prophecies with which the puppet masters misreported the offer to the absentee Professor Mills. I served in the PNDC from February 1982 to 6 January 1993. I also served in the NDC 1, and NDC 2 Governments under President Rawlings from 7 January 1993 to 6 January 2001. I spent cumulatively twelve and half upwards years as the only Deputy Attorney General and PNDC Deputy Secretary for Justice during the PNDC regime, and the only Deputy Attorney General and Minister for Justice under the first two constitutional Governments. I had known, fraternized, experienced, and formed observable impressions of those who self-appointed themselves the puppet masters of Professor Mills due to his inexperience within the political landscape of the PNDC/NDC regimes. These were opportunists from the inception of the PNDC regime who always arrogated to themselves the right to use the state media to achieve their ulterior self-interested motives in the reportage of Government activities and statements. The Goebbels of Ghanaian politics within the PNDC, NDC1, and NDC2 regimes who could manipulate and control the mind of fellow citizens to attain their personal and selfish ends. One such puppet master lost his portfolio for one such unscrupulous and banal manipulation and misrepresentation of the policies of the Government only to be rehabilitated a few years down the line. The internalized attitude of these puppet masters and self-styled Goebbels leads one to the reasonable conclusion that the media reportage of what President Rawling actually said at Agona Swedru was wittingly stage managed with a gullible media to achieve the wishes of Professor Mills handlers who occupied sensitive positions within the Government of NDC 2 at the time. They wittingly saw President Rawlings offer as an opportunity for the achievement of their political ambitions since they had already succeeded in making Professor Mills to be beholden to them for bringing him into the NDC for acceptance and subsequent election with Rawlings at the 1996 elections. As the author, Kwamena Ahwois Working with Rawling brings out from beginning to end, these puppet masters also played the role of double agents with both President Rawlings and Professor Mills in their opportunist anticipation of the later succeeding the former as President of Ghana at the 2000 presidential elections. The childlike question that Working with Rawlings leaves unanswered is what they told the absentee Professor Mills was what President Rawlings really said at the Agona Swedru rally on 6 June 1998. Professor Mills taught the law of contract, commercial law, and company law for several years at the School of Administration of the University of Ghana. He also taught Commercial Law with the late DR. Richard Benjamin Turkson at the University of Ghanas Faculty of Law for a number of years. He had a clear understanding of what an offer meant. There could, therefore, be no doubt that if Kwamena Ahwoi and his two other friends and co- conspirators referred to by Dr. Obed Asamoah in his book quoted by the author, had dutifully conveyed the exact words of President Rawlings to Professor Mills he would not have reacted or come to the conclusions the author attributes to the quoted hearsay statements of Mr. J. E. E. Turkson, Vice President Mills Secretary. The author quotes Mr. J. E. E. Turkson to have allegedly told the author the reaction of Professor Mills when he was told about the Sewdru Declaration as follows: Mr. Turkson, ame ankasa menka de me rehwehwe President edzi (meaning Mr. Turkson, I have not said I want to be President). In what also appears to be hearsay confirmation of Mr. Turksons hearsay statement, the author paraphrases what Mr. J. Bebaako-Mensah then Secretary to the Cabinet allegedly said in confirmation of Mr. Turksons words as follows: That was confirmed by Mr. J. Bebaako-Mensah, then Secretary to the Cabinet, who stated that while the Cabinet Ministers were very happy about the Swedru Declaration, Professor Mills himself was indifferent. However, Mr. Bebaako-Mensah was of the view that the Swedru Declaration did not affect his attitude and performance. The conclusion any reasonable person can draw from Professor Mills reaction to the offer President Rawlings made to him as his vice president at the Agona Swedru June 4 rally of 1998 is that the puppet masters misreported to him what Rawlings indeed said on that day. An accurate reportage of Rawlings words would have alerted Professor Mills to the fact that President Rawlings only made a declaration of intent in the nature of an offer to Professor Mills to voluntarily decide whether he was going to contest the 2000 presidential elections on the ticket of the NDC. Professor Mills would not have deluded himself that President Rawlings had irrevocably appointed or nominated him as his only successor. The fact that what President Rawlings said at Agona Swedru was misrepresented by the media, friends and puppeteers to Professor Mills is brought out in the authors narrative of what one of the three puppeteers referred to in Dr. Asamoahs book and who was present in Agona Swedru was later told by Professor Mills. The author writes: According to former Information and later National Security Minister Kofi Totobi- Quakyi, when Professor Mills heard the media rendition of the Swedru Declaration, his reaction was: Swedru yi odze asem beba (meaning this Swedru thing will bring trouble.) The foregoing narrative and quotation from the author supports the incontestable conclusion that even one of the gang of three, Mr. Kofi Totobi-Quakyi, the former Information and later National Security Minister who was present when the Agona Swedru offer to Professor Mills was made, failed, or refused to tell Professor Mills the exacts words and content of the offer made to him by President Rawlings. The fact that the author continued to refer to the the media rendition of the Swedru Declaration underscores the contention that Professor Mills puppet masters were pursuing their own self-fulfilling prophecies and not what President Rawlings really offered at Agona Swedru. There was nothing in President Rawlings statement of intent in the nature of an offer to Professor Mills that may remotely be interpreted as offending any provisions under the 1992 Constitution or any democratic norms to warrant the pernicious assertion by Kwamena Ahwoi that: the NDC was still an autocracy with power increasingly concentrated in President Rawlings and his social circles. The conclusion from the imagined and unidentified alternative ideological interpretation that: From their various reactions, it was clear that state officials, NDC officials, including Vice President Mills, the media and the general population understood the Swedru Declaration as the equivalent of a Rawlings presidential decree are the results of authors own expectations and self-fulfilling prophecies based on no verifiable facts as demanded of any scholarly work. This constituted a continued insult to the intelligence of President Rawlings as a distinguished statesman by the author. A close reading of Kwamena Ahwois Working with Rawlings and the quotations attributed to Professor Mills show an indication of the reluctance of Professor Mills to accept the media reportage of what was attributed to President Rawlings at the Agona Swedru rally on 6 June 1998. The reader is not told by the author that the former Information, and National Security Minister, Kofi Totobi-Quakyi, corrected Professor Mills misunderstanding of what President Rawlings said exactly at Agona Swedru rally. The assumption is that no correction was made. Kwamena Ahwoi and his cohort of puppet masters for whom he confesses that: if President Rawlings had discussed the matter with any or all of the three of us, we would have supported it, anyway were definitely happy with the media mis-reportage or their media orchestration of what President Rawlings said at Agona Swedru. Their past conduct, from my association with them in the handling of other government businesses, convinces me that they might even have been instrumental in dictating the media reportage. But the inalienable right of Professor Mills, to freely decide whether to contest the 2000 presidential elections, from what Rawlings said in fact, depended largely on the self-interest and opportunistic aspirations of these puppet masters who suppressed the real facts from coming to his knowledge. I personally have no doubt that Professor Mills was not keen to be the next president, and he would have rejected the offer made by President Rawlings if the decision to contest the 2000 presidential election was left to him and his dear wife to make. Unfortunately, the circumstances that thrust him into the vice presidency made him a captive of the interests of the dominant and deep state political elite actors within the NDC who saw him as a mere tool for the achievement of their goals. The portrayal of Professor Mills as having deferred to the offer made by President Rawlings at Agona Swedru is a disingenuous attempt to undermine the will power and independence of Professor Mills. It was intended to hide the self-interest of the powerful deep state political elite players to whom Professor Mills had unwittingly mortgaged his political future when he accepted to be the 1996 vice presidential candidate. The mentality of these deep state political elite power players was exposed in the confession by the author himself and on behalf of his cohort puppeteers supporting the so-called Swedru Declaration which the author knew was no declaration from Rawlings but a mere offer. Nothing could, therefore, have stood in their way in goading Professor Mills gradually towards making the final decision to contest the 2000 elections on behalf of the NDC. I saw their antics in full operation when I became the running mate to Professor Mills at the 2000 presidential elections. They stopped at nothing during the 2000 presidential campaign to impose their selfish will upon Professor Mills who naively trusted them. The NDC Ho Congress and Coronation The doubting Thomass will do well to carefully read the narrative of Kwamena Ahwoi about the so called Ho Coronation on 29 April 2000 and the ingratiating words he caused to be inserted into Professor Mills acceptance speech. The uncalled for insertion by the author, Kwamena Ahwoi, of those words into an already prepared and vetted speech were intended to show the politically naive Vice Presidents gratitude to President Rawlings for his offer of support at Agona Swedru. That inexperienced insertion of those words at the behest of Kwamena Ahwoi doomed beyond repair the whole of the subsequent campaign of Professor Mills for the Presidency. The author, Kwamena Ahwoi, tried to use Working with Rawlings to re-write the history of the events of the period to distance his cohort of puppet masters and him from the decision by the NDC to endorse and acclaim Professor Mills as the NDCs presidential candidate for the 2000 election. The author attempts the same feat for the choice of the theme for the Ho Congress of: Continuity in Change. He did not succeed in his enterprise of fabricating the data and evidence to support his intentions. The decision by the NDC to endorse and acclaim Professor Mills as the NDCs presidential candidate for the 2000 election could not have been made by the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the NDC if Professor Mills had not voluntarily or through the pressure of his puppet masters indicated an unconditional acceptance of the offer made to him by President Rawlings to contest for the 2000 elections. Having been accepted by the NEC of the NDC as its sole Presidential candidate for acclamation at the Ho Congress, Professor Mills and his puppet masters were deeply involved in the choice of the Congress theme of: Continuity in Change. The author exhibited the highest degree of hypocrisy and double speak when as part of the gang of three which included the National Security Ministry and the government apparatus controlled by them, he had the temerity to say, with tongue-in- cheek, that unlike the decision to bring Professor Mills on board as the NDC Vice Presidential candidate in 1996 , the decision to make him the presidential candidate for the 2000 elections was not subject to democratic discussion at the party leadership level. The author developed sudden amnesia and wished away his earlier narrative that within hours of Professor Mills acceptance to be Jerry Rawlings running mate in the authors office at the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development, celebrations took place with Club beer. As the author narrated the events, they were waiting for the arrival of Nana Ato Dadzie, the Chief of Staff to President Rawlings and Tsatsu Tsikata with the nomination forms in which President Rawlings had filled his personal details as required by the Electoral Commission. Professor Mills took the forms and duly completed his portion (See pages 122 to 123 of the book). By the authors own narrative, the candidature of Professor Mills as President Rawlings running mate was finalized when Professor Mills took the forms and duly completed his portion as the running mate to President Rawlings. The next steps to give an appearance of democratic endorsement to the fait accompli was to summon the so-called Chapel Group meeting for a Sunday afternoon for a formal announcement of Professor Mills as the selected running mate for the 1996 election. The post facto processes which the Goebbels of the NDC orchestrated after Professor Mills had already completed his portion of the registration forms for the elections cannot by any stretch of semantics be called a democratic process or discussion at the level of the leadership of the NEC of the NDC for the selection of the candidate for running mate in 1996 presidential elections. It was an imposition spearheaded by the author, Kwamena Ahwoi, in his Ministry of Local Government office, clear and simple. There was no difference between how Professor Mills was identified and compelled to fill his portion of the Electoral Commission forms as running mate to President Rawlings in the authors office, and the orchestrations and willy dilly undertaken by the known puppet masters of Professor Mills when they eventually got him to agree to contest the 2000 presidential elections. The author from his narrative in Working with Rawlings comes out as the chief puppet master of Professor Mills who with his cohort of puppeteers exploited the trust Mills placed in them for being the harbinger of his unexpected rise to the Vice Presidency. This is consistent with the conviction of cadres of the 31 December Revolution in 2000 that they were the alter ego of the NEC in deciding the Ho Congress theme of Continuity in Change. The so-called coronation of Professor Mills on 29 April 2000 at the NDC Extraordinary Congress at Ho was similarly perceived by cadres of the 31 December Revolution as having been concluded by the NEC with Mills puppeteers as the alter ego of the decision. Support for the pivotal role played by the known puppet masters of Professor Mills in the organization of the Ho Congress is contained in Professor Mills acceptance speech which Kwamena Ahwoi and Kofi Totobi-Quakyi confess that they had worked on. Kwamena Ahwoi confessed that in response to President Rawlings speech where he had said that: When I retire in 2001, I am not going anywhere. I will stay here with you in Ghana., the chief puppet master, Kwamena Ahwoi, knowing that Mills will listen to him, quickly scribbled on a piece of paper that: At the appropriate point in your speech reply to Rawlings: When you retire in 2001, we will not allow you to go anywhere because we will come knocking at your door morning, noon and night. And had the note passed on Professor Mills on the platform who duly uttered those words of his chief puppet master. I will quote the introductory words of Kwamena Ahwoi in his Working with Rawlings at the second paragraph of page 150 on the note he had passed on to Professor Mills which puts beyond any reasonable doubt the contention of how the puppet masters exercised absolute control over their politically naive ward. He wrote that after Rawlings speech: I saw an opportunity. Totobi-Quakyi and I had worked on Professor Mills Congress speech so I knew Mills would listen to me. I quickly scribbled on a piece of paper: At an appropriate time in your speech, reply Rawlings: One of the basic rules I learned in my practice as legal practitioner rising to the position of a Deputy Attorney General who was specifically instructed by the PNDC, and Rawlings NDC 1, and 2 regimes to represent those Governments in the Courts is that a good lawyer must never accept suggestions from colleagues at the bar on the spur of the moment when he is not in position to soberly digest the implications of those suggestions. Professor Mills, an enrolled lawyer, so trusted Kwamena Ahwoi as his chief puppet master and political guru that on the spur of the moment he threw caution to the wind and read the note passed over to him with the possible endorsement by Kofi Totobi-Quakyi. The conduct of the author and his cohorts also underscored the double agency of Professor Mills puppeteers in attempting to serve two masters at the same time and contributing in no small measure to removing the credibility of President Mills as a person capable of holding his own grounds as President of Ghana. It casts Professor Mills not only as a poodle to President Rawlings but also to his puppet masters. Kwamena Ahwoi and his cohort of puppet masters cannot escape blame for their immense influence on the Political Oversight Committee of Government of the NDC and Functional Executive Committee (FEC) of the NDC in the decision by the National Executive Committee (NEC) that Professor Mills should be endorsed by the NEC and acclaimed at the Ho Congress as the partys presidential candidate. Those of us who were party to the meetings of the Political Committee of the Government witnessed the modus operandi and activities of the puppet masters in shaping the gradual process for the consummation of the Ho Coronation. Conclusions The foregoing critique has examined, analyzed, and assessed the authors narrative on the alleged Swedru Declaration, and the 2000 NDC Congress held at Ho for the Coronation of Professor Mills as its presidential candidate and their contributory effect on the politics of the succession to President Rawlings. This critique is intended to empower and enable the reader of Working with Rawlings to make a holistic assessment of the authors narrative to appreciate the fabricated facts used to construct his self-serving narrative as the hero of the political succession process. The reader can then appreciate that Kwamena Ahwoi who holds himself out in Working with Rawlings as an erudite academic, scholar, and Professor of Law exposed his competences and standing in academia by the use of unethically concocted facts and evidence along with muddled reasoning in arriving at his self-gloating conclusions. Martin A. B. K. Amidu 21 May 2023 New York, 22 May 2023 - A Ghanaian peacekeeper serving with the United Nations Interim Security Force in Abyei (UNISFA) will receive the 2022 United Nations Military Gender Advocate of the Year Award. Captain Cecilia Erzuah, 32, who has served in Abyei since March 2022 as the Commander of the Ghana Engagement Platoon, will receive the award from Secretary-General Antonio Guterres during a ceremony marking the International Day of UN Peacekeepers on Thursday, 25 May 2023. Created in 2016, the United Nations Military Gender Advocate of the Year Award recognizes the dedication and efforts of an individual military peacekeeper in promoting the principles of UN Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security. Resolution 1325 reminds us that our women peacekeepers are not only supporting global peace and security. They are leading the way. By every measure, Captain Cecilia Erzuah of Ghana is one of those leaders, said Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. On every front, Captain Erzuahs work has set the standard for ensuring that the needs and concerns of women are reflected across our peacekeeping operations. Captain Erzuah expressed her gratitude for being selected to receive the prize which she called an award for all of us, referring to her platoon members. The visit is the first by Prof. Marwala since assuming office in March 2023. He will familiarize with the UNU-INRA and discuss with the Board and leadership of the Institute future prospects and support levers to ensure UNU-INRAs long-term viability. The visit also aims at repositioning UNU-INRA as a strategic partner for Natural Resource governance and management and in the policy circle, critical for Africas growth. Read further. 22.05.2023 LISTEN Samuel Pyne, the mayor of Kumasi in the Ashanti region has stated that the late Member of Parliament for Kumawu Philip Basoah made promises to build roads for his towns before his death. This follows the overnight asphalting of township roads in the constituency ahead of the by-election on May 23, 2023. The Woraso, Bodomase, Besoro, and Kumawu-Effiduase highways were busy as contractors work around the clock to complete the project. On Monday, May 22, 2023, Mr. Pyne discussed the development on Morning Starr with Francis Abban stated, It is not because of the by-election thats why Kumawu roads are being fixed. The Ejisu to Kumawu road was in two phases, the first phase was from Ejisu to Juaben and the second phase from Juaben to Kumawu. Your reporters who were there saw that work had commenced not from Kumawu but from the Juaben end which passes through parts of Juaben constituency then Effiduase constituency before the Kumawu constituency. So would anyone want to tell me that because of Kumawu we are doing the three constituencies? If you check from the records even the Paramount Chief of Kumawu put it straight when this matter came up that the last time that they had a durbar and the MP (late Basoah) came to address them. He stated categorically that works on the Kumawu were going to be commenced by April this year (2023). Mr. Pyne added, But it was unfortunate that he is gone but that is the situation. When the road minister addressed the media he reiterated that point. So if people want to associate that to the by-election and other comments that are not palatable and even wish that their MP die. Its an unfortunate thing. Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has called for new elections "possibly on June 25", a day after his conservative New Democracy party fell short of winning an absolute majority. Mitsotakis's centre-right New Democracy party won 40.8 percent of the vote versus a disappointing 20 percent for centre-left Syriza led by Alexis Tsipras. The prime minister described the victory as a political earthquake and said the result showed that Greeks had given his party a mandate for a four-year government. The size of the win came as a surprise Mitsotakis's administration has been dogged by a wiretapping scandal, the Covid pandemic, a cost of living crisis and a deadly rail crash in February which triggered public outrage. But under a new voting system based on proportional representation, New Democracy is five seats short of the 151 required to form a majority. 'No possibility' of forming coalition "We will head for new elections... as soon as possible," Mitsotakis told President Katerina Sakellaropoulou, adding that there was no possibility of forming a new government under the current parliament. Sakellaropoulou was due to hand Mitsotakis an official mandate to try to form a coalition government after failing to win an absolute majority. He is invited to lead negotiations with other parties to try to form a coalition. If that fails, she will pass it to the second and third parties Syriza and then socialist PASOK. Failing that, she will appoint a caretaker government until a new vote about a month later. This appears to be Mitsotakis's preferred option. In his victory speech on Sunday, he said that people gave him the mandate to rule strong and autonomous. A second ballot in June allows the winning party to pick up bonus seats to be able to govern alone. The people wanted the choice of a Greece run by a majority government and by New Democracy without the help of others," he said. 6 percent growth The centre-right has governed Greece for the past four years and growth was close to 6 percent last year. Sunday's election was Greece's first since its economy stopped being strictly supervised by international lenders who had provided bailout funds during the country's nearly decade-long financial crisis. The result was a major blow for Syriza's leader Alexis Tsipras, who came to power in 2015 campaigning against the austerity measures imposed by international bailouts, but ended up agreeing to creditors' demands. President Akufo-Addo has stated emphatically that he will hand over the baton of leadership of the country to a New Patriotic Party (NPP) president in 2024 to sustain his splendid works in political office. Addressing a mammoth political rally in Kumawu on Sunday, he introduced the NPP parliamentary candidate, Ernest Yaw Anim, for the Tuesday by-election to the people. According to him, his NPP administration has done a yeoman's job to put the country on the path of prosperity, despite international shocks that have adversely affected world economies, which Ghana is included. President Akufo-Addo therefore stated that the NPP would peacefully elect their next flagbearer and the party would also go ahead to unite and campaign for their next leader to succeed him as president in 2024. Sounding very confident, he indicated that the citizenry are discerning, therefore they would definitely reward the NPP's good works by voting for the party's next flagbearer to lead the country in 2024. We have done the work already and those who have eyes to see can see our positive works. But those who cannot see our good works, I'm sorry, I cannot help them. We shall hand over to NPP presidential candidate in 2024, he stressed. Comparing his administration's decision to go to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for support and that of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) administration, he said his administration cannot be faulted that much as they were forced to go to the IMF due to issues beyond their control. According to him, whilst his administration went to IMF due to the external shocks such as the Russia-Ukraine war and COVID-19 pandemic, the NDC went to the IMF because of gross mismanagement in political office. President Akufo-Addo said even in the midst of the external shocks and other challenges, his government has delivered and improved the lives of Ghanaians as compared to the NDC administration. He, therefore, cautioned the electorate against voting for the NDC in 2024 since they don't have the ability and men to lead the country, stressing the need for the NPP to retain political power in 2024 and sustain its good works. We shall unite to win power in 2024 and that victory starts from Kumawu on Tuesday. Let's vote massively for NPP's Ernest Yaw Anim, because he is the right person to lead the constituency into affluence, he added. President Akufo-Addo admonished the Kumawu electorates to reject the propaganda and politics of blatant lies by the opposition NDC and rather cast their ballot in large numbers of Yaw Anim on Tuesday. -Daily Guide One person has been shot dead in renewed chieftaincy dispute at Yong Dakpemyili, a suburb of Tamale Metropolis in the Northern Region. On Thursday, May 18, 2023, renewed chieftaincy dispute erupted in the community resulting in the killing of the deceased and burning of several houses. Sporadic gunshots started at the community from May 18 until May 21, 2023 when calm was restored in the community. DAILY GUIDE understands that women and children have fled the community to seek refuge in nearby communities. The Assemblyman for the Yong Dakpemyili Electoral Area, Abdul Wahab Dawuda, who confirmed the death to DAILY GUIDE, indicated that the body of the deceased has been deposited at the Tamale Teaching Hospital for preservation. He disclosed that security has since been beefed up at the Yong Dakpemyili community to protect lives and properties. The Yong Dakpemyili situation has been a long-standing chieftaincy dispute between two brothers over who is the rightful person to occupy the chieftaincy skin. -DGN online 22.05.2023 LISTEN The practice of gathering, verifying, and publishing news and information to the public serves an important role in society as a watchdog, a forum for educated debate, and a means of holding those in power accountable. Journalism's key purposes include informing the public, promoting transparency, and encouraging an engaged and well-informed populace. The public trust the media for a number of reasons. Journalists serve as a trustworthy source of information and a well-informed electorate is essential for a functional democracy. Journalists bring transparency to government activities, corporate practices, and other powerful entities by investigating and reporting on them. By offering multiple perspectives and giving an avenue for different voices to be heard, the media encourages public discourse and constructive debate. Journalists also help to foster social cohesion by fostering understanding and empathy among diverse cultures. These are among the crucial reasons why the public repose so much trust and confidence in the media and this is same for media in Ghana. In safeguarding public trust, the media adhere to ethics and professionalism without which there exist the risk of eroding public trust. One of the prominent subjects sparking discussions in Ghana's socio-political sphere is the recent expose conducted by The Herald regarding the operations of Aker Energy Ghana Limited, a Norwegian oil company. The investigation revealed that Aker Energy Ghana made a substantial payment of US$125,281.21 to Excomsult Media, owned by Evans Mensah, who also serves as a journalist/reporter with Multimedia Group, the parent company of Joy FM. The payment was purportedly made for media consultancy and communication services, including the suppression of negative stories about Aker in the Ghanaian media. This revelation has garnered significant attention and has become a focal point of public discourse. This commentary would focus on why this arrangement or private contract between Excomsult Media erodes the ethics of journalism. It is public knowledge that Mr. Evans Mensah has admitted being the owner of Excomsult Media and may have received some amount of money from Aker Energy but denies receiving US$125,281.21. Thus, Excomsult Media being his private company has the mandate to contract with the whole world. However, what make this situation one of public interest is the revelation that Mr. Evans Mensah was contracted to suppress negative news about Aker Energy. What is more interesting is that this is not in isolation with the $1.65 billion loan approved by the Parliament of Ghana to acquire 37% of Deep Water Tano/Cape Three Points (DWT/CTP) operated by Aker Energy Ghana Limited and 70% of the South Deep Water Tano (SDWT) operated by AGM Petroleum Ghana Limited. There was some public outcry in the lack of transparency in this deal but it suffices to say the least that there has been ground works to kill the story. While some CSOs and think tanks like IMANI were pushing for the deal to be transparent, other CSOs specifically, Alliance for Social Equity and Public Accountability (ASEPA) and Chamber of Petroleum Consumers (COPEC) were reported to have been compromised and hence playing soft with the loan deal. According to reports , it has been alleged that Mr. Mensah Thompson, the founder of ASEPA and Duncan Amoah, the Executive Secretary of COPEC received amounts of GHS 10,000 and GHS 30,000 respectively in exchange for taking a lenient stance. These payments were reportedly made in the presence of Evans Mensah, a journalist with Joy FM and the owner of Excomsult Media. This situation calls to question the ethic of Evans Mensah as a journalist. The ethics of journalism are seriously impacted if reporters are being paid to sabotage a bad story. In its ideal form, journalism is based on values like truth, accuracy, impartiality, independence, and accountability. These core standards are violated and the credibility of the profession is damaged when journalists are paid to bury or alter stories. Here are some ethical concerns raised by the actions of Evans Mensah to journalism as a whole in Ghana; Public information should be accurate, according to journalism. The truth is compromised when journalists are paid to kill a story, and the public is kept from learning crucial facts that might affect their lives or society as a whole. Journalists are supposed to be impartial and maintain their independence from other influences. By paying them to cover up a story, journalists lose their objectivity and their capacity to operate freely. This creates a conflict of interest. By using a private company Excomsult Media - for these activities, the journalist creates a clear conflict of interest. Their personal financial gains may influence their editorial decisions, compromising the independence and objectivity of their reporting. In society, journalists frequently have a position of trust and trustworthiness. Utilizing a private firm to distort or stifle stories in order to take advantage of that trust harms both the journalist's reputation and the public's confidence in the entire industry thus abuse of trust. Additionally, this conduct has the potential to erode the integrity and reputation of reputable media consulting firms. These businesses are often expected to offer expert counsel and services that adhere to moral principles. The credibility of the entire industry is damaged when a journalist utilizes the moniker "media consultancy" for unscrupulous purposes. Journalism depends on the public's long-term development of trust and credibility. The audience loses trust in journalists when they engage in unethical behavior, such as burying stories for personal gain, which undermines the legitimacy of the entire profession. In conclusion, to protect the public's access to knowledge and to preserve an effective democratic society, the independence and integrity of journalism must be protected. In order for a society to be free and informed, ethical journalism is essential. Media organizations should have better policies in place to guard against actions that jeopardize the ethics of journalism, and journalists are responsible for upholding these standards. Article by Nathaniel Dwamena He is a free-market policy analyst and president of the YAFO Institute . He engages in activities that promote civil liberty and economic freedom in Ghana. He was part of the team consulted by Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ Ghana) to undertake a study on business red tape in Ghana. He has a background in law, geography, and economics. Prof. O. Igho Natufe 22.05.2023 LISTEN Okpe Union, a foremost socio-cultural and political organization in Africa, on Tuesday, May 16, 2023 celebrated its 93 years of existence with a call for the Okpe Nation to be accorded recognition as a distinct ethnic nationality in Nigerian federation. The dignitaries who congregated to celebrate the Okpe Union Day fumed at various attempts by some uninformed and mischievous elements within and outside the group classifying Okpe as a sub-group or clan of any other ethnic nationality in Nigeria, ostensibly referring to the Urhobo people. The notable leaders therefore dismissed as unverified, the narrative being propagated by some traditional rulers and political turn-coats referring to Okpe kingdom as one of the twenty four kingdoms of the contemporary federated Uhrobo nationality of Delta central senatorial district. Addressing journalists, President General of Okpe Union, Prof Igho Natufe, insisted that the Okpe Union remains committed to the agitation for the restoration and recognition of Okpe as an independent and distinct ethnic group in Nigeria. He called on stakeholders and institutions of nations and Okpe people worldwide to focus on achieving synergy for the growth and development of the Okpe Nation so that Okpe can once again attain its rightful place in the committee of other ethnic nationalities in Delta state and by extension Nigeria. The occasion provided an opportunity for some of the leaders to review Okpe Kingdom past and draw a roadmap for the future. Their suggestions once again centred on the unity and development of Okpe kingdom. Natufe whose speech was entitled: Restatement of Okpe distinct ethnic nationality reviewed events in Delta State and express dismay at the role of politicians in the underdevelopment of Okpe Kingdom. Amidst intermittent applause from the cream of the nations social and political elite, who gathered to add colour to one of the events marking the unions 93rdanniversary in Lagos, Natufe condemned the marginalization and often the denial of some positions as a result of lumping of Okpe with Uhrobo , citing the case of Delta State Oil Producing Areas Development Commission (DESOPADEC), where the Okpe Nation has been denied its rightful slots of appointment and awards of projects due to the placing of Okpe under Urhobo whereas the Ijaw , Ika , Isoko ,Itsekiri and Ndokwa ethnic nationalities were accorded due recognition and therefore received their respective slots as recognized ethnic nationalities. Paying tribute to Okpe Union founding fathers, Natufe however noted the pathetic case of Orerokpe which is one of the oldest local governments in Nigeria and yet without a bank and other amenities as a result of neglect by succeeding governments both at the federal and state levels. He restated the call for the restoration of Sapele, Warri and Koko Ports abandoned by successive governments as these will shore up social-economic activities and create value addition in these areas. The Okpe Union President General also noted with commendation the recent Federal Government directive on the teaching of indigenous languages in local government across Nigeria as this will give credence to the age long agitation for the teaching of Okpe language in all educational institutions situated in Okpe kingdom as a critical component of Okpe identity. He urged elected officials to change the worlds perception of Okpe Kingdom and make the people proud by performing creditably. Credit: Henry Ovie Ghana Meteorological Agency (GMA) is cautioning Ghanaians to brace themselves for more torrential rains with ravaging lightning storm in the coming months. There were sparks of thunderstorms on Thursday and over the weekend in parts of the capital, Accra, causing some fear and panic amongst a section of Ghanaians. Yeah, there are more thunderstorm rains to come, we have not reached June yet. When we checked the lightning data, June is the peak of lightning. When we get to July or August we will not be getting lightning. Along the coast, and the middle belt, yes, we will still be getting lots of lightning and thundering activities. Its not yet over at all, the Director of Forecasting for GMA, Joseph Portuphy, told host of Citi Breakfast Show, Bernard Avle. Giving some precautionary measures on the Citi Breakfast Show, Joseph Portuphy admonished Ghanaians not to stand either close or under trees, or sky-rise buildings when its raining as charge particles have the tendency to strike them dead. Mr. Portuphy further advised land developers to install arresters to avoid losing properties in their buildings when thunder and lightning strike. Its not advisable to stay under tall trees or trees when its raining because when thunder strikes, it passes through the trees and when you are under the trees wearing slippers, the charged particles will pass through and kill you instantly. It is also dangerous to walk under trees during rains. He added, The building code requires that when putting up tall buildings, you need to install charge arresters to prevent lightning from striking through the buildings. When walking, and its threatening to rain, and theres lightning and thunder, we should avoid tall buildings and tall trees. Avoid anything that can expose you, you shouldnt be carrying metals when its raining. Because the metal is a very good conductor of those charged particles. When the thunder strikes, and it falls on it, it can kill you, we should avoid all those things, and we will be fine. -citinewsroom 22.05.2023 LISTEN Ashanti regional executives of the Ghana Pentecostal and Charismatic Council (GPCC) has called for peace ahead of the Kumawu by-election slated for Tuesday 23rd May 2023. Regional Chairman for the Council, Apostle Bright Sosu has pleaded with parties involved especially NDC and NPP should exhibit conduct that will protect and sustain the peace within the constituency and Ghana before, during and after the much-awaited election. Speaking to this medium exclusively, he urged the rank-and-file of each political party to consider Ghana's enviable peace, owing to the fact that Ghana is greater than NPP, NDC and the other political parties. The Chairman also charged the Electoral Commission to exercise professionalism in the electoral process for a free and fair election. "The Electoral Commission must ensure a free and a fair election," he stated. Apostle Sosu further admonished that the EC must exercise vigilance and avoid all forms of negativity that will be initiated by any of the parties to undermine the credibility of the elections. Below is a copy of the Council's press statement issued on Monday 22nd May 2023: PRESS STATEMENT Date: Monday, 22nd May 2023 GHANA PENTECOSTAL AND CHARISMATIC COUNCIL (GPCC) ASHANTI REGIONAL EXECUTIVE PLEA FOR PEACE DURING AND AFTER KUMAWU BY-ELECTION Good day ladies and gentlemen and fellow citizens. Sadly in the recent past the Kumawu Constituency painfully lost her Member of Parliament in the person of the Late Honorable Philip Basoah. The GPCC takes this opportunity to extend sincere condolences to the family, friends and the entire constituency. May his soul rest in eternal peace. As regulation demands, the Electoral Commission has scheduled a by-election for the constituency to elect a new Member of Parliament. The by-election is scheduled for Tuesday 23rd May 2023. So far campaigns have been vigorous, peaceful and uneventful. The GPCC is very thankful for the peaceful environment prevailing in the constituency leading to the by-election. The GPCC further prays all stakeholders and community members to continue conducting themselves in a civil and peaceful manner during and after the elections. We all acknowledge that this by-election will have only one winner who will represent the constituency in Parliament. Our plea is for all parties and individuals of interest, and involved in this process to ensure that the peace of the communities and the entire constituency is maintained and protected during and after the elections. We humbly plead that the peace and development of the Kumawu Constituency will be considered as paramount. The GPCC takes this opportunity to wish all parties and individuals involved in the election the very best and prays that the peoples preferred candidate emerges as the winner to represent the entire constituency. Thank you. Signed Apostle Bright Sosu GPCC Ashanti Regional Chairman Dr Patrick Awuah, Founder of Ashesi University, has called for collaboration among African Business Schools in higher education to help graduates reflect on the experiences of others to solve economic challenges. He admonished African business schools to have well written case studies of local companies and national economic crises, failures, challenges and successes to learn from the experiences and develop comprehensive measures to address crises in the financial sector. Dr Awuah made the call at a conference of the Association of African Business Schools in Accra on the topic: Are Business Schools Relevant in Africa, hosted by the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA). He said one of the best ways to learn was from experience, stressing that it was much better to learn from the bad experiences of others to develop better options to address the situation. Using Ghana as a case study, he said the country's banking crises between August 2027 and the end of 2018 contributed significantly to the current economic crises faced by the country. The crisis led to the collapse of 23 banks, 25 savings and loans, and 137 microfinance institutions, with two banks taken over by the GCB, and five banks merging as the Consolidated Bank of Ghana. He said the major reasons cited for the collapse of the financial institutions were poor corporate governance on the part of the management of the banks and financial institutions, conflicts of interest in the awards of loans, failure to oversee proper auditing, among others. Other countries adopted different measures to address their banking crises. Kenya, for instance, addressed its challenges quietly, where depositor funds were secured and the cost involved was less than Ghana's own, he said. What if the current managers of our economy had had the benefit of reading and reflecting on cases that were locally relevant 30 years ago when they were in business school. And if we write the right cases now for this crisis, for example, and hopefully 30 years from now, the errors that we made in 2017 and 2018, will not be repeated in our country, he said. He said what the country, especially Business Schools had done was write and publish articles in international journals that only other academia could have access to and that were mostly written in dry language that the media, politicians, and business people could not comprehend. This is happening because publishing in those international journals is what will get the lecturers promoted, he said. He urged Universities to have broader discussions with the Ghana Tertiary Education Commission on issues of what cases or journals to publish for promotion, adding that, the primary focus of every business school was to ensure good governance and deal with corruption. We need to address the challenge of high integrity leadership at every University business school in Africa to shape the future and enhance the pace of development on the continent, he said. Prof Samuel Bonsu, Rector of GIMPA, called on young graduates to work hard to achieve their career aspirations, stressing that success was not achieved on a silver platter. Professor Famiyie, Dean of GIMPA Business School, said the conference would study the complexities in the system and adjust its teaching contents to correspond to the needs of society. Prof Jonathan Foster-Pedley, Chair, Association of African Business School urged African universities to take the lead and provide ideas and principles to create a better ethical structure. GNA 22.05.2023 LISTEN Iranian politicians who hold dual citizenship, will no longer be allowed to run for parliament, according to new law. In addition, anyone with a permanent residence in another country, will also be banned from serving as a lawmaker. Iranian legislators passed a law to this effect on Sunday, according to a report by state news agency IRNA. The measure aims to prevent conflicts of interest. A similar bill, to ensure that candidates with only Iranian citizenship are eligible to run for president, was passed in 2020. The recent execution of the British-Iranian and former top politician Alireza Akbari, caused international outrage. He was convicted of espionage, sparking a debate in the country among Iranian politicians about his loyalties, based on his British citizenship. Millions of Iranians currently live abroad. After the Islamic Revolution of 1979, many of the countrys inhabitants emigrated to Europe, the US or Canada. In the decades that followed, many more people moved abroad for work, to study, or because of political persecution. GNA Gunfire and explosions rocked Sudan's capital Monday, hours before a one-week humanitarian ceasefire was to take effect after a series of previous truce announcements were all violated. The United States and Saudi Arabia on Sunday announced that the ceasefire agreed between the rival camps would take effect at 9:45 pm (1945 GMT) Monday to enable humanitarian assistance to civilians. Unlike truces previously announced, the US and Saudi said this one is different because it was "signed by the parties" and will be supported by a "ceasefire monitoring mechanism". Desperate residents voiced hope that the new agreement would stem the brutal warfare that has shaken the capital Khartoum and other parts of the impoverished country, particularly the western Darfur region. Fighting erupted on April 15 between the army, led by Sudan's de facto leader Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces commanded by Burhan's former deputy Mohamed Hamdan Daglo. The two sides on Sunday affirmed that they would respect the ceasefire, which was welcomed by the United Nations, African Union and East African bloc IGAD. A Sudanese army armoured vehicle is stationed in southern Khartoum. By - () According to a text of the agreement released by the US, warring sides were to use the two days before it takes effect Monday night to "inform their respective forces" about it and "instruct them to comply." Both sides also "conveyed to the Saudi and US facilitators their commitment not to seek military advantage" during the 48 hours leading up to the ceasefire, a US-Saudi statement said. But for the 37th consecutive day, the capital of five million awoke Monday to the sound of air strikes and anti-aircraft fire, said witnesses, as the city endures sweltering heat and only intermittent water and power supplies. "Fighter jets are bombing our neighbourhood," Khartoum resident Mahmoud Salah el-Din told AFP. "We have seen no sign that the Rapid Support Forces are preparing to withdraw from the streets." While government forces control the skies they have few men on the ground in the centre of Khartoum, where RSF are on the streets. Around 1,000 people have been killed and more than a million displaced in the more than five weeks of violence that have plunged the already poverty-stricken country deeper into humanitarian crisis. 'Save myself' Despite the previous breached truces, war-weary civilians clung to hope that the upcoming ceasefire would hold, allowing desperately needed aid to bolster the dwindling supplies of food, medicine and other vital resources. For residents like Khaled Saleh, who lives in the capital's twin city of Omdurman across the Nile, the latest truce pledges could be a lifeline. An RSF vehicle drives down a main road in Khartoum. By - () "With a ceasefire, running water can be restored and I will finally be able to see a doctor because I am supposed to see one regularly for my diabetes and high blood pressure," he told AFP. Medics have repeatedly warned that the health care system is on the verge of collapse in Khartoum and elsewhere, particularly Darfur. The UN has reported hundreds of civilians killed in the West Darfur capital El Geneina. Intense fighting in Nyala, the capital of South Darfur, killed 28 people last week, according to the doctors' union, which warned its numbers are conservative as many of the wounded cannot reach hospitals, most of which remain out of service. "If the truce holds, I will leave Nyala in order to save myself and my livelihood," said Othman al-Zein, a shop owner in Nyala market, which has been repeatedly attacked and looted. "Although I doubt it will be implemented across Sudan," he told AFP. The ceasefire agreement to take effect Monday night includes as "an integral part" an earlier pact, signed by the warring parties on May 12 in Jeddah, to respect humanitarian principles and allow in badly needed aid. Residents of Khartoum have for weeks awoken to the sounds of gunfire and explosions as fighting rages. By - () But the May 12 deal was already violated, according to the UN which reported "at least 11 attacks against humanitarian premises in Khartoum, and four new attacks against health facilities" since May 12. The UN's envoy to Sudan, Volker Perthes, was to brief the Security Council on the situation in the country later Monday. Burhan and Daglo in October 2021 jointly staged a coup that derailed a fragile transition to democracy put in place after the 2019 overthrow of former autocrat Omar al-Bashir. But they later fell out in a bitter power struggle, including over the integration of the RSF into the regular army. Nigeria's President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday commissioned an oil plant billed as Africa's largest oil refinery, after years of delays and a week before stepping down from office. Built by Africa's richest person Aliko Dangote in the commercial hub of Lagos, the refinery should begin operations in June with the first products expected on the market by August though some analysts said it could be later. Once at full capacity, it will have the ability to process 650,000 barrels a day, according to the company. Buhari -- who steps down on May 29 after eight years in office -- described the project as "a notable milestone" and "a game changer for the downstream petroleum products market, not only in Nigeria but for the entire African continent." The presidents of Ghana, Niger, Togo, Senegal and a representative of the Chadian leader were present at the commissioning. The refinery is expected to meet Nigeria's domestic demand as well as serve global markets, Dangote said. "Once our plant is fully commissioned... we expect that at least 40 percent of the capacity will be available for export, and this will result in significant foreign exchange entering the country," said Dangote. For decades, Africa's most populous nation and one of the continent's largest crude producers has depended on fuel imports to meet local demand because of under-performing state-run refineries. Nigeria swaps crude worth billions of dollars for gasoline that it then subsidises for its domestic market. It has caused a huge drain on foreign exchange at a time of dwindling oil revenue following the coronavirus pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war. Costly subsidies For analyst Tunde Leye, from the Lagos-based SBM Intelligence consultancy, it was "important for Buhari to inaugurate (the plant) before leaving power" but he doesn't expect the refinery to be fully operational before the end of 2024. Amaka Anku, Eurasia Group's Africa head, was more optimistic about the timeline. "It typically takes six to nine months to get to full operations," she told AFP, which would be "by the end of the year or next year." She said the "significant" project would also have a beneficial impact on a range of industries that need refined crude products, from pharmaceuticals to construction. Both analysts noted however that Dangote's refinery will not make the price of petroleum products cheaper but could present an opportunity for the government to remove costly subsidies and address revenue shortages. "I think that this is a significant opportunity for the government to support its goal of removing subsidies," said Anku, but "there's a political decision to be made." President-elect Bola Tinubu -- whose February victory is being contested by the opposition -- has said that he would remove subsidies once in office. He was not present at the commissioning. The refinery could also help improve transparency in the oil sector, according to Anku. "Dangote is a publicly listed company so it will be publishing information about how much crude it is purchasing and petroleum it is selling," she said, noting it as an improvement compared to the current situation where "we don't have a lot of transparency." The current opaque system has fostered corruption according to analysts, and limited the government's ability to invest in key areas like education and healthcare. The new facility, lying on 2,635 hectares (6,500 acres) of land at the Lekki Free Zone, was initially estimated to cost $9bn dollars but some $18.5bn has been spent to complete it, according to the company. Some 1,100 kilometres (about 680 miles) of subsea pipelines have been laid to link the oil-rich Niger Delta to the complex. The pipelines are also expected to create a corridor for the evacuation of trapped gas from offshore platforms and allow for the monetisation of the product. Also on the massive complex is a $2 billion fertiliser plant with a three million tonnes per annum capacity. More than 100,000 direct and indirect jobs are expected to be created through the project, the Lagos State government has said. 22.05.2023 LISTEN Lawyer Edudzi Tamakloe has accused the EC boss of plotting ballot stuffing in the upcoming by-elections in Kumawu constituency. During an interview on TV3s New Day show monitored by ModernGhana News, Lawyer Tamakloe alleged that the EC Chairperson Jean Mensa is intentionally deviating from the regulations outlined in Constitutional Instruments (CI) 127, which governs the organization of Parliamentary and Presidential primaries. Lawyer Tamakloe raised concern about the design of the pink sheet used to record election results. He said, According to CI 127, the pink sheet should include a column for the number of persons verified through either the Biometric Verification Device (BVD) or facial recognition, as well as a manual verification column. However, Tamakloe claimed that Jean Mensa has removed the column for the number of persons verified electronically, allowing for potential ballot stuffing. She has put in the pink sheet the manual verification column without any column for the number of persons verified electronically. Now the end result is that, anytime you have that situation, it allows for ballot stuffing. This is because you will not have the opportunity to verify on the BVD," he explained. He emphasized that the removal of the electronic verification column on the pink sheet does not make room for verifying voters using the BVD, noting that even the presence of polling agents would not be sufficient to ensure verification was done properly. Deliberately, they have decided to take the number of persons verified electronically out of the pink sheet and its for a purpose - to allow for ballot staffing, he said. He further mentioned, Even when you have polling agents, it matters not. In fact, the CI is even the creation of Jean Mensa herself. She herself put in what the pink sheet should look like. According to Lawyer Tamakloe, the issue had been brought to the attention of the acting director of elections, who reported the matter to Samuel Tettey at the EC. He said, So we have raised this issue - I am aware the acting director of elections has bridged this issue to the level of Samuel Tettey at the EC. The lawyer raised questions about the EC's decision to repeat the mistake of the 2020 general elections, attributing it to attempt to rig the election in favour of the NPP candidate. Each time, theyve been trying to dodge the critical question on how they have decided for the 74 polling stations in Kumawu. Theyll decide to use pink sheets that do not have the number of persons electronically verified - a mistake they committed in the 2020 general elections and have decided to repeat it ...the EC officials allegedly ignored addressing the critical question of why the pink sheets for the 74 polling stations in Kumawu were designed without the electronic verification column, he questioned. Tamakloe urged the EC to rectify the issue, expressing disappointment in repeating an old mistake. The Ghana Police Service has issued a press release to confirm its readiness to ensure the Kumawu by-election is incident-free. On Tuesday, May 23, the Electoral Commission (EC) will hold a by-election to elect a new Member of Parliament (MP) to replace late lawmaker Philip Basoah. Ahead of the election, the Ghana Police Service wants the public to be rest assured that all the necessary measures have been put in place to maintain law and order. The Ghana Police Service would like to assure the public that sufficient measures have been put in place to maintain law and order as well as ensure peace and security before, during, and after the Kumawu Constituency bye-election which comes off tomorrow, 23rd May, 2023, part of the Police release said. The release added, Adequate Police personnel have been deployed to Kumawu and the other communities within the Constituency to support the local Police to provide security for the election. As part of the security arrangement, the Police on Monday morning engaged the parties contesting the election including the New Patriotic Party (NPP), the National Democratic Congress (NDC), and one of the Independent candidates to enhance collaboration among all stakeholders towards a peaceful election. The other independent candidate in the election was, however, unable to honour the invitation to the meeting. We wish to assure the people of the Kumawu Constituency to go about their normal activities freely including going out to exercise their civic duty of casting their vote. We would also like to urge the general public, especially the people of the Kumawu Constituency to work with us to deliver a peaceful election and ensure the safety and security of all, the Police press release concluded. 22.05.2023 LISTEN Some of us were taken aback listening to former President Mahama lamenting over the jailed galamseyers and evocatively promising to pardon the wrongdoers who have been rightly convicted and sentenced to prison by a competent court of jurisdiction. With all due respect, if the former president has a consuming desire to pardon convicted illegal miners so as to restart their lives, he might as well free other criminals such as armed robbers, prostitutes, the goat thieves, plantain, mobile phone, cassava thieves, amongst others. After all, whats good for the goose is good for the gander. It is quite amazing to see no less a person than a former president of the land, who out of desperation to gain electoral advantage, unblushingly playing down the menace of illegal mining. If we are happy to send the goat, plantain, mobile phone and cassava thieves to the penitentiary, how much more the illegal miners who are bent on stealing our mineral resources, destroying the water bodies and degrading the environment? Suffice it to stress that in addition to stealing our natural resources, the illegal miners are gleefully polluting our sources of drinking water with noxious mercury and cyanide. Given the extreme devastation associated with illegal mining, it is, indeed, a step in the right direction for any forward thinking and committed leader to halt the illegal miners. If you may recall, when the recalcitrant illegal miners were all over the place stealing our mineral resources, terrorising the indigenes and at the same time destroying the lands and water bodies and President Akufo-Addo decided to place a ban on their activities, no less a person than former President Mahama bizarrely came out to oppose the NPP administration (See: Stop chasing illegal miners with soldiers Mahama to government;citinewsroom.com/ghanaweb.com, 28/04/2018). Ex-President Mahama was reported to have grouched somewhat plangently: it is true that if we dont do something about it, it will destroy the environment. But we need to apply wisdom. Because weve chased young people involved in illegal small-scale mining with soldiers in the past in this country but it didnt work. Former President Mahama was said to have shockingly pontificated: But if we put a blanket ban and send soldiers after the young people that is not the way to go. As you stop illegal small-scale mining, at the same time you must put in place a livelihood package so that as you are displacing people from illegal mining, they have something to do. But when there is nothing to do but you are just chasing them, shooting them, it is not the way to go. Deductively, Ex-President Mahama was suggesting that the security personnel should cease chasing armed robbers with guns and rather offer them alternative livelihoods. How bizarre? In fact, there is an incontrovertible evidence of some galamseyers quitting their gainful jobs and moving to the rural areas to embark on the illegal mining. A criminal shall remain so regardless. It is, however, true that potential economic benefits (employment, tax revenues and development outcomes) can be derived from artisanal and small scale mining in Ghana. We cannot also deny the fact that artisanal mining is a significant contributor to the economic and social well-being of many people and households in rural, remote, and poor communities in Ghana. However, the negatives within the illegal mining outweigh the positives. The negative effects include, among other things, environmental degradation, water pollution, the release of mercury and other toxic and hazardous wastes into the free environment, and unforeseen social tensions that could lead to civil unrest. Given the preponderance of the negatives over the positives in the illegal mining, it is absolutely right for any serious, committed and forward-thinking leadership to place a ban on such activities and bring the offenders to book. I cannot also end my fury in condemnation over the NDCs 2024 flagbearer, former President Mahamas bizarre electioneering promise of legalising the Okada business in the unlikely event of winning the forthcoming general elections. Ironically, however, it was former President Mahama who judiciously brought in the law in 2012 to ban the seemingly perilous Okada business. Suffice it to stress that despite the numerous protestations by the Okada riders, Mahama spurned their pleas and went ahead and ban the use of motor cycles for commercial use. If anything at all, I would like to believe that the rationale behind the Okada ban was the ostensibly extreme dangers associated with the business. Of course, Mahamas concern back then was in the right direction. The all-important question every well-meaning Ghanaian should be asking now is: why is Mahama going back on his word to legalise the hitherto dangerous Okada business? Astonishingly, former President Mahama is on record to have said somewhat weirdly and anecdotally that the Okada has created more jobs than Akufo-Addo innovative Nation Builders Corp (NABCO), so it is about time the illegal business is legalised. Tell me, dearest reader, if the legalisation of the Okada business is not a perfunctory approach to job creation, what is it then? Some of us, as a matter of conviction, cannot be hoodwinked by manipulating geezers into believing that Okada can solve Ghanas unemployment problems. For argument sake, if former President Mahama is thinking of legalising Galamsey and Okada as viable means of creating more jobs for the jobless youth, then he might as well consider legalising prostitution and armed robbery. It is absolutely true that millions of Ghanaian youth will most likely become jobless as a result of any ban on the illegal mining. But, after all, what is good for the goose is good for the gander. More so, there are thousands, if not millions of women who are regrettably indulging in the illegal prostitution. So is Ex-President Mahama is saying there are more women in the illegal prostitution than the Akufo-Addos NABCO and therefore it must be legalised as a means of creating more employment? With all due respect with no hidden condescension whatsoever, the legalisation of Galamsey and Okada is a lazy approach and not the viable means of creating employment for the Ghanaian youth. In sum, given the preponderance of the negatives over the positives in the illegal mining and Okada, it is absolutely right for any serious, committed and forward-thinking leadership to place a ban on such activities. K. Badu, UK. [email protected] Former Trade and Industry Minister Alan Kyerematen has celebrated his mother Victoria Kyerematen who turned 103 years old today, May 22. In a social media post, he described the new age as a milestone and "truly remarkable" thanking God for her life. "Happy 103rd Birthday to my mother," he wrote. Mr. Kyerematen, 67, is a veteran politician and an aspirant in the NPP's 2024 flagbearer and presidential race. He has had a lengthy career in both the public and private sectors. He served two terms as Ghana's Trade and Industry Minister between 2003 to 2009 under the Kufuor administration. Prior to that, in 1994, Mr Kyerematen was listed by Time Magazine as one of the 100 global leaders for the new millennium, alongside Bill Gates, John F. Kennedy Jr. and others. Before his ministerial position, Mr Kyerematen was appointed Ghana's ambassador to the U.S. when the NPP came into office in 2001. He served as a trade advisor at the UN Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. He headed the African Trade Policy Centre (ATPC); a centre created by the ECA with the main objective of strengthening the human and institutional capacities of African governments to formulate and implement sound trade policies and participates more effectively in trade negotiations at the bilateral, regional and multilateral levels. Mr. Kyerematens political career dates back to the inception of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in 1992 and has held several positions in the party. His mother, Victoria Kyerematen, has played a supporting role throughout his career, providing him with motherly love and inspiration. Her longevity and good health at 103 years have undoubtedly been a blessing to the blessing the Kyeremateng family. The Chief Executive Officer of Engineers & Planners Ghana Limited, Mr. Ibrahim Mahama has been conferred Ghanas Mining and Engineering CEO Of The YEAR, at the 7th Ghana CEO Summit 2023 The special ceremony happened today, Monday, 22nd May 2023 at Kempinski Gold Coast Hotel. The special ceremony brought together all distinguished captains of industry across Ghana. Mr. Ibrahim Mahama was awarded and specially recognized for inspiring business and economic transformation, contribution to the growth and development of mining and engineering sector and private sector businesses in Ghana and Africa. Other distinguished CEOs across all private and public sector companies were awarded for their contributions towards business development in Ghana. The awards were presented to both the private and public winners by H.E John Dramani Mahama, who was the special guest of honor for the special event. Former President, John Dramani Mahama has argued that Ghanas return to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for support makes the Ghana Beyond Aid policy the butt of jokes amongst many communicators in the world. According to him, the countrys quest for economic sovereignty must go beyond the flowery speeches delivered by government officials. The flagbearer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) insists that it will take a committed political will for Ghana to determine its own destiny. The quest for economic sovereignty must undoubtedly go beyond the flowery and impact-less speeches about Ghana Beyond Aid. Indeed our return to the IMF cup in hand has made our Ghana Beyond Aid policy the butt of jokes amongst many commentators in the world. It will take a resolute and committed political will to determine our own economic destiny, John Dramani Mahama said on Monday, May 22. The former President continued, It will further require the ability to determine our own economic policies, make decisions that prioritise the well-being of citizens, and create an environment conducive for the advancement of sustainable growth and development for job creation. John Dramani Mahama was delivering an address at the 7th Ghana CEOs Summit when he shared these thoughts. He has assured Ghanaians that when the NDC returns to power with him as President, all economic challenges facing the country will be addressed. The Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre (KAIPTC) is organising a Maritime Security Reporting (MSR) Pilot Course for media and maritime security professionals this week. The Maritime Security Reporting course is being organized with funding from the Government of Denmark, through the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The course opened on Monday, May 22, in Takoradi and will run throughout the week before it climaxes on Friday, May 26. The course forms part of the five-year project on Integrated Responses to Threats to Maritime Safety and Security in the Gulf of Guinea Maritime Domain in West and Central Africa (2022-2026). The 5-year project being implemented by KAIPTC and the Danish government continues along the lines of enhanced research, dialogue, and capacity building from the previous project. The project also broadly focuses on women and vulnerable groups in maritime security; strengthen inter-agency collaboration among maritime stakeholders, and building the capacities of media practitioners to effectively report on maritime security issues. The aim of the Maritime Security Reporting Course is to enhance the capacity of selected journalists and media liaisons to understand, collaborate and report accurately on maritime issues and support efforts to reduce maritime criminality in the region In his welcome address to mark the start of the course, Maj Gen Richard Addo Gyane, the Commandant of KAIPTC underscored the importance of building the capacity of the media. He acknowledged the power of the media while arguing that they need a critical understanding of maritime issues to properly report on the sector. I am sure by now, you all agree with me about the power of the media in amplifying stories, experiences, and events. This power ensures that media practitioners play a critical role in supporting transparency, accountability, and public awareness of maritime developments. They are key partners in maritime security, validating the work of maritime actors, such as state security agencies, maritime agencies, shipping lines, oil drilling companies, as well as acting as watchdogs on behalf of the public by analyzing and highlighting developments in the maritime domain. Yet, this ideal has been challenged by the complex and nuanced nature of the domain coupled with the limited capacity of journalists to fully appreciate the Gulf of Guinea maritime space. For journalists to achieve an intended impact in their maritime reportage, they need a critical understanding of the maritime issues at hand as well as harness relationships with maritime stakeholders in order to report accurate information, provide meaningful insights, and do so with professionalism. From a need that was shared in Takoradi and which resonated across the 5 targeted countries visited last year in our consultative visits, it is clear that media practitioners need to be brought on board to support current efforts at maritime security in the GoG, Maj Gen Richard Addo said. Maj Gen Richard Addo Gyane The KAIPTC Commandant in his remarks urged all participants to take full advantage of the pilot course to benefit from the unique opportunity of the Maritime Security Reporting Course. In his concluding remarks, Maj Gen Richard Addo expressed appreciation to the Government of Denmark and the Inter-Regional Coordinating Centre (ICC) for their continuous support. In his Keynote Address on day one of the week-long course, H.E. Tom Nrring, the Danish Ambassador to Ghana explained that the course was developed to enhance media practitioners' capacity to raise awareness about maritime crimes and educate the public about the severity and implications of these crimes. He said through the training, the media should be able to provide accurate and timely maritime reporting to help dispel misconceptions and counter misinformation about maritime crimes and maritime security efforts. Among other things, the course, according to H.E. Tom Nrring will resource the media to not only influence maritime security policy and strategy formulation by collecting and disseminating information about maritime crime trends, amongst others, but also support the monitoring and evaluation of maritime security efforts by both state and non-state actors, at the national and regional levels. H.E. Tom Nrring It is our hope that this course will equip you all with the needed knowledge and skills to actively play your role as Media in the suppression of maritime crimes in the region, H.E. Tom Nrring stressed. In all 21 participants are taking part in the pilot course. The pilot course for journalists and maritime security professionals this week will cover a number of modules including Introduction to the Blue Economy, Introduction to Maritime Security, Policy and Legal Frameworks on Maritime Security, Media and Maritime Security, Information Management in Maritime Security, Law and Ethics in Maritime Security Reporting, Coastal Communities and Maritime Security, Gender, Livelihoods and Maritime Security, Collaboration and Cooperation among maritime security stakeholders, and Scenario Based Exercises/Case Studies/Field visits. NDC National Communications Officer Sammy Gyamfi 22.05.2023 LISTEN The opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) has issued a press release to address some claims made by Vice President John Dramani Mahama over the weekend. The NDC is unhappy that the Vice President while on his visit to Kumawu claimed that the erstwhile John Dramani Mahama government only built two factories when it was in power. Reacting to claims that the NPP has built 150 factories since President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo took office, the opposition party says it is a palpable falsehood. In its release, the NDC said, It is an indisputable fact that the Akufo-Addo/Bawumia/NPP government has not built even one state-owned factory since they took office on 7th January, 2017. Their record relative to the establishment of state-owned factories is zilch. The claim by Dr. Bawumia that this NPP government has built over 150 factories is therefore palpable falsehood. The NDC explains that if Dr. Bawumias 150 factories claim relates to governments poorly-implemented 1D1F program, then he needs to educate himself and cure his own ignorance about the nature of their so-called 1D1F initiative. The opposition party insists that this is because, none of the said 1D1F factories, was actually built by the Akufo-Addo/Bawumia government. On the contrary, 1D1F projects are purely private sector initiatives which are supported by government/state agencies in one way or the other. While some of the projects under the 1D1F are new projects, most of them are existing companies/factories. What Bawumia must understand is that, facilitating and/or supporting a private initiative as has been half-heartedly done by the Akufo-Addo/Bawumia government under the 1D1F initiative, is not the same as building a factory, the NDC release signed by National Communications Director Sammy Gyamfi said. Find out more in the NDC release below The National Democratic Congress (NDC) has admonished Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia to take the Ghanaian people seriously and stop claiming that Guinea fowls flew to Burkina Faso under John Dramani Mahamas government. Over the weekend, the Vice President in Kumawu rehashed the claim while campaigning for the Parliamentary candidate of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) ahead of Tuesdays by-election. Reacting to the Vice President in a press release, the NDC argued that such claims only undermine his intelligence. Dr. Bawumia should for once take the people of Ghana seriously given the disastrous outcome of his hopeless leadership of the management team of our economy, and not be indulging in the nuisance comedy of the sort displayed on that campaign platform. The lying one, Alhaji Bawumia, must stop rehashing this ridiculous and senseless lie as it only undermines his own intelligence and makes a mockery of the high office he occupies, the NDC press release signed by its National Communications Officer Sammy Gyamfi said on Monday, May 22. The NDC shares the view that Dr. Bawumias management of the Ghanaian economy has been useless. The opposition party believes that the Vice President has proven himself unfit to come anywhere near the leadership of the country due to his comical posturing. Read more from the NDC press release in the post below: The Director of Elections of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP), Evans Nimako, has stated that the NPP is confident that the people of Kumawu will reward its parliamentary candidate for the area with their votes in Tuesdays by-election due to the level of development in the area. Mr. Nimako stressed that the party has put in a lot of work and conducted extensive consultation in the constituency and is confident of a massive win in the May 23 by-election We have consulted all the opinion leaders in Kumawu. Our campaign team are at all the polling stations. We are talking to serious people who appreciate where we are as a country and where the constituency is. From what they have seen, they have confidence in the party that it is only the New Patriotic Party that will bring legislations that will transform Ghanas development and that is what we are bound to do so the NDC can continue with their antics or propaganda, and it will serve them no good, Mr. Nimako told Umaru Sanda Amadu on Eyewitness News on Citi FM. He added that What we are looking out for is that the Kumawu constituency will reward us with another win, and we will ensure that by the close of polls tomorrow, the New Patriotic Partys candidate will emerge victorious. Mr. Nimako further rejected claims that the ongoing road projects in the constituency were a means to garner votes in the by-election. He stated that Before the MP, Philip Basoah passed, he had already organized a press conference to announce that the roads were going to be constructed, and it just happened that the MP had to unfortunately pass. What is important is that the constituents are ready to vote for the NPP. -citinewsroom StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Aegon (NYSE:AEG Get Rating) in a research report sent to investors on Thursday morning. The firm issued a hold rating on the financial services providers stock. Separately, Bank of America initiated coverage on Aegon in a research report on Tuesday, April 4th. They set a neutral rating on the stock. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $5.15. Get Aegon alerts: Aegon Trading Up 0.2 % Shares of AEG opened at $4.63 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 0.09 and a current ratio of 0.09. Aegon has a 1 year low of $3.76 and a 1 year high of $5.68. The stocks 50-day moving average price is $4.39 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $4.86. Institutional Inflows and Outflows Aegon Company Profile Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in AEG. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. increased its position in shares of Aegon by 218.0% during the 1st quarter. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. now owns 40,768 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $399,000 after purchasing an additional 27,947 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in Aegon by 44.5% in the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 10,277 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 3,167 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in Aegon by 62.4% in the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 431,303 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $2,282,000 after purchasing an additional 165,800 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Aegon by 6.9% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,613,502 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $19,115,000 after purchasing an additional 233,687 shares during the period. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers bought a new stake in Aegon in the 1st quarter valued at $82,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 19.30% of the companys stock. (Get Rating) Aegon NV is an international financial services company, which engages in the provision of investment, protection, and retirement solutions. It operates through the following segments: Americas, The Netherlands, United Kingdom, International, Asset Management, and Holding and Other Activities. The Americas segment covers business units in the United States and Brazil, including any of the units activities located outside these countries. Featured Stories Receive News & Ratings for Aegon Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Aegon and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Altria Group (NYSE:MO Get Rating) in a research note released on Thursday morning. The firm issued a buy rating on the stock. MO has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Stifel Nicolaus began coverage on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Thursday, April 13th. They set a buy rating and a $52.00 target price on the stock. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Altria Group from $43.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research note on Monday, January 23rd. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Altria Group from $49.50 to $47.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 17th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the companys stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Altria Group has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $44.67. Get Altria Group alerts: Altria Group Stock Performance Shares of NYSE MO traded down $0.18 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $45.12. The stock had a trading volume of 2,465,586 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,893,128. The firm has a market cap of $80.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.59. Altria Group has a twelve month low of $40.35 and a twelve month high of $54.89. The companys 50 day moving average price is $45.65 and its 200 day moving average price is $45.87. Altria Group Announces Dividend Altria Group ( NYSE:MO Get Rating ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 27th. The company reported $1.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of $1.19 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $4.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.89 billion. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 245.43% and a net margin of 22.44%. The firms revenue for the quarter was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.12 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Altria Group will post 5.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year. The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 15th will be paid a $0.94 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 14th. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.33%. Altria Groups payout ratio is 120.90%. Institutional Trading of Altria Group Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 159,134,691 shares of the companys stock worth $6,425,858,000 after buying an additional 1,275,790 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 71,579,128 shares of the companys stock worth $2,957,671,000 after buying an additional 513,208 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 8.7% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 44,066,327 shares of the companys stock worth $2,000,861,000 after buying an additional 3,516,646 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 1.9% in the 1st quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 35,856,051 shares of the companys stock worth $1,596,257,000 after buying an additional 671,929 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 8.3% in the 1st quarter. FMR LLC now owns 25,132,929 shares of the companys stock worth $1,121,431,000 after buying an additional 1,926,492 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 58.68% of the companys stock. About Altria Group (Get Rating) Altria Group, Inc operates as a holding company, which engages in the manufacture and sale of cigarettes in the United States. It operates through the following segments: Smokeable Products, Oral tobacco products, and Wine. The Smokeable Products segment consists of cigarettes manufactured and sold by PM USA and machine-made large cigars and pipe tobacco manufactured and sold by Middleton. Read More Receive News & Ratings for Altria Group Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Altria Group and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. American Express (NYSE:AXP) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Monday. Traders bought 33,847 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 75% compared to the typical daily volume of 19,298 call options. Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades Several research analysts have recently issued reports on AXP shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated an outperform rating on shares of American Express in a research note on Friday, January 27th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of American Express from $158.00 to $178.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research note on Monday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of American Express from $186.00 to $188.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Wednesday, April 5th. Oppenheimer decreased their price objective on shares of American Express from $182.00 to $180.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 4th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on shares of American Express from $194.00 to $185.00 and set a market perform rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 21st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $177.41. Get American Express alerts: American Express Price Performance Shares of NYSE AXP traded up $2.31 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $155.26. The stock had a trading volume of 1,329,696 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,423,668. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $158.40 and a 200-day moving average of $159.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.58, a quick ratio of 1.55 and a current ratio of 1.55. The company has a market capitalization of $115.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.18. American Express has a 12-month low of $130.65 and a 12-month high of $182.15. American Express Dividend Announcement American Express ( NYSE:AXP Get Rating ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 20th. The payment services company reported $2.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of $2.66 by ($0.26). The firm had revenue of $14.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $14.02 billion. American Express had a return on equity of 29.44% and a net margin of 13.00%. The businesss revenue for the quarter was up 21.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.73 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that American Express will post 11.15 EPS for the current fiscal year. The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 10th. Investors of record on Friday, July 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 6th. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.55%. American Expresss payout ratio is 25.24%. American Express declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, March 8th that authorizes the company to buyback 120,000,000 shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the payment services company to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically a sign that the companys board believes its stock is undervalued. Insider Buying and Selling In related news, insider Monique Herena sold 15,217 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $173.18, for a total transaction of $2,635,280.06. Following the sale, the insider now owns 13,712 shares of the companys stock, valued at $2,374,644.16. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, insider Monique Herena sold 15,217 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $173.18, for a total transaction of $2,635,280.06. Following the sale, the insider now owns 13,712 shares of the companys stock, valued at $2,374,644.16. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Howard Grosfield sold 5,456 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $174.52, for a total transaction of $952,181.12. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 7,045 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,229,493.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by insiders. Hedge Funds Weigh In On American Express Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. RB Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in American Express by 5.3% during the 1st quarter. RB Capital Management LLC now owns 3,783 shares of the payment services companys stock valued at $707,000 after buying an additional 190 shares in the last quarter. Roundview Capital LLC lifted its holdings in American Express by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Roundview Capital LLC now owns 27,029 shares of the payment services companys stock valued at $5,054,000 after buying an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. lifted its holdings in American Express by 5.6% during the 1st quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 1,421 shares of the payment services companys stock valued at $266,000 after buying an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd lifted its holdings in American Express by 207.1% during the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 946 shares of the payment services companys stock valued at $177,000 after buying an additional 638 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Donaldson Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in American Express during the 1st quarter valued at about $397,000. 83.30% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors. American Express Company Profile (Get Rating) American Express Co engages in the provision of charge and credit card products and travel-related services. It operates through the following segments: U.S Consumer Services (USCS), Commercial Services (CS), International Card Services (ICS), Global Merchant and Network Services (GMNS), and Corporate and Other. Recommended Stories Receive News & Ratings for American Express Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for American Express and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Beacon Harbor Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA Get Rating) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 14,854 shares of the specialty retailers stock, valued at approximately $4,152,000. Beacon Harbor Wealth Advisors Inc. owned 0.07% of Murphy USA as of its most recent SEC filing. Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Trexquant Investment LP lifted its holdings in Murphy USA by 8.7% in the 3rd quarter. Trexquant Investment LP now owns 16,902 shares of the specialty retailers stock worth $4,647,000 after purchasing an additional 1,357 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 87,085 shares of the specialty retailers stock worth $24,344,000 after acquiring an additional 2,574 shares in the last quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System raised its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 187.8% during the 3rd quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 49,452 shares of the specialty retailers stock worth $13,595,000 after acquiring an additional 32,267 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 6.7% during the 3rd quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 126,024 shares of the specialty retailers stock worth $34,646,000 after acquiring an additional 7,936 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Delphia USA Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 36.3% during the 3rd quarter. Delphia USA Inc. now owns 1,688 shares of the specialty retailers stock worth $464,000 after acquiring an additional 450 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.30% of the companys stock. Get Murphy USA alerts: Murphy USA Trading Down 1.3 % Murphy USA stock traded down $3.63 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $274.09. The companys stock had a trading volume of 123,877 shares, compared to its average volume of 285,159. The company has a 50 day moving average of $265.56 and a 200-day moving average of $272.76. The stock has a market cap of $5.97 billion, a PE ratio of 10.25 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.50, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a current ratio of 0.92. Murphy USA Inc. has a one year low of $217.39 and a one year high of $323.00. Murphy USA Increases Dividend Murphy USA ( NYSE:MUSA Get Rating ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 2nd. The specialty retailer reported $4.80 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.18 by $0.62. The company had revenue of $5.08 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.95 billion. Murphy USA had a return on equity of 86.87% and a net margin of 2.68%. Murphy USAs quarterly revenue was down .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $6.08 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Murphy USA Inc. will post 19.2 EPS for the current year. The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 15th will be issued a $0.38 dividend. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.55%. This is a boost from Murphy USAs previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 12th. Murphy USAs dividend payout ratio is currently 5.67%. Wall Street Analyst Weigh In Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on MUSA shares. StockNews.com raised Murphy USA from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report on Friday, May 12th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Murphy USA from $325.00 to $330.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 4th. Finally, Raymond James cut their target price on Murphy USA from $335.00 to $305.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Murphy USA presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $315.60. Insiders Place Their Bets In other Murphy USA news, Director Jeanne Linder Phillips sold 550 shares of the companys stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $283.97, for a total value of $156,183.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 2,874 shares in the company, valued at approximately $816,129.78. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 9.04% of the companys stock. About Murphy USA (Get Rating) Murphy USA, Inc engages in marketing motor fuel products and convenience merchandise through retail stores, namely Murphy USA and Murphy Express. It collaborates with Walmart to offer customers discounted and free items based on purchases of qualifying fuel and merchandise. The company was founded in 1996 and is headquartered in El Dorado, AR. Read More Receive News & Ratings for Murphy USA Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Murphy USA and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Campbell Soup (NYSE:CPB Get Rating) in a research report sent to investors on Thursday. The brokerage issued a buy rating on the stock. CPB has been the subject of a number of other reports. Credit Suisse Group lifted their price target on shares of Campbell Soup from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Thursday, March 9th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a sector perform rating and set a $50.00 price objective on shares of Campbell Soup in a research report on Thursday, March 9th. Stifel Nicolaus initiated coverage on Campbell Soup in a research report on Thursday, April 13th. They set a hold rating and a $55.00 price objective for the company. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Campbell Soup from $50.00 to $51.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 9th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on Campbell Soup from $54.00 to $53.00 and set a hold rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 20th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $51.92. Get Campbell Soup alerts: Campbell Soup Stock Performance Shares of CPB stock opened at $52.68 on Thursday. The stocks 50-day moving average is $54.41 and its two-hundred day moving average is $53.71. The firm has a market cap of $15.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.51, a PEG ratio of 4.44 and a beta of 0.34. Campbell Soup has a 1 year low of $44.37 and a 1 year high of $57.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a current ratio of 0.77. Campbell Soup Announces Dividend Campbell Soup ( NYSE:CPB Get Rating ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 8th. The company reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $2.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.43 billion. Campbell Soup had a return on equity of 26.97% and a net margin of 8.86%. The businesss revenue was up 12.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.69 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Campbell Soup will post 3.01 earnings per share for the current year. The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 6th were paid a dividend of $0.37 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 5th. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.81%. Campbell Soups dividend payout ratio is presently 54.82%. Institutional Trading of Campbell Soup Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in CPB. Old North State Trust LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Campbell Soup during the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Campbell Soup by 121.5% during the 3rd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 536 shares of the companys stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 294 shares in the last quarter. Exos TFP Holdings LLC acquired a new position in shares of Campbell Soup during the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust lifted its holdings in shares of Campbell Soup by 149.8% during the 1st quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 597 shares of the companys stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 358 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Gradient Investments LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Campbell Soup by 77.7% during the 1st quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 519 shares of the companys stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 227 shares in the last quarter. 50.39% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors. Campbell Soup Company Profile (Get Rating) Campbell Soup Co engages in the business of manufacturing and marketing food and beverage products. It operates under the Meals and Beverages, and Snacks segments. The Meals and Beverages segment includes soup, meals, and beverage products in retail and foodservice. The Snacks segment offers cookies, crackers, bakery, and frozen products. Read More Receive News & Ratings for Campbell Soup Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Campbell Soup and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Cross Timbers Royalty Trust (NYSE:CRT Get Rating) in a research note issued to investors on Thursday morning. The firm issued a hold rating on the oil and gas companys stock. Cross Timbers Royalty Trust Stock Performance Shares of NYSE CRT opened at $21.18 on Thursday. Cross Timbers Royalty Trust has a twelve month low of $13.20 and a twelve month high of $30.40. The stocks 50 day moving average price is $19.31 and its 200-day moving average price is $21.97. Get Cross Timbers Royalty Trust alerts: Cross Timbers Royalty Trust Cuts Dividend The firm also recently announced a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 31st will be paid a $0.185 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 30th. This represents a $2.22 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 10.48%. Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cross Timbers Royalty Trust Cross Timbers Royalty Trust Company Profile A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of CRT. NewEdge Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Cross Timbers Royalty Trust in the 1st quarter worth approximately $780,000. UBS Group AG lifted its stake in Cross Timbers Royalty Trust by 9.3% in the first quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 13,425 shares of the oil and gas companys stock valued at $176,000 after purchasing an additional 1,138 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its stake in Cross Timbers Royalty Trust by 54.9% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 6,374 shares of the oil and gas companys stock valued at $83,000 after purchasing an additional 2,260 shares during the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC lifted its stake in Cross Timbers Royalty Trust by 20.9% in the second quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 13,010 shares of the oil and gas companys stock valued at $197,000 after purchasing an additional 2,251 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Citadel Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Cross Timbers Royalty Trust in the third quarter valued at approximately $216,000. (Get Rating) Cross Timbers Royalty Trust is an express trust, which operates as a trustee of Southwest Bank. It is created to collect and distribute monthly net profits income to Unitholders. It has interest in certain royalty and overriding royalty interest properties in Texas, Oklahoma and New Mexico. The firm also has interest in certain working interest properties in Texas and Oklahoma. Further Reading Receive News & Ratings for Cross Timbers Royalty Trust Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Cross Timbers Royalty Trust and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Danaos (NYSE:DAC Get Rating) in a research note released on Thursday morning. The firm issued a buy rating on the shipping companys stock. Separately, Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a buy rating and issued a $80.00 price target on shares of Danaos in a research note on Wednesday, February 15th. Get Danaos alerts: Danaos Trading Down 1.0 % Shares of DAC opened at $61.67 on Thursday. Danaos has a 52-week low of $51.10 and a 52-week high of $87.11. The businesss fifty day moving average is $56.38 and its 200-day moving average is $56.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.56 and a current ratio of 1.86. The firm has a market cap of $1.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 1.55. Danaos Dividend Announcement Institutional Investors Weigh In On Danaos The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 7th. Investors of record on Friday, May 26th will be issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.86%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 25th. Danaoss dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 16.30%. Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of DAC. Fox Run Management L.L.C. acquired a new position in Danaos during the 4th quarter worth about $280,000. Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. lifted its holdings in Danaos by 59.2% during the 4th quarter. Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. now owns 1,549 shares of the shipping companys stock worth $82,000 after buying an additional 576 shares during the period. Apollon Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Danaos during the 3rd quarter worth about $223,000. Jump Financial LLC acquired a new position in Danaos during the 3rd quarter worth about $746,000. Finally, Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lifted its holdings in Danaos by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 79,072 shares of the shipping companys stock worth $4,163,000 after buying an additional 1,572 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 19.41% of the companys stock. About Danaos (Get Rating) Danaos Corp. engages in the provision of marine and seaborne transportation services. It offers services by operating vessels in the containership sector of the shipping industry. The company was founded by Dimitris Coustas in 1972 and is headquartered in Piraeus, Greece. Featured Stories Receive News & Ratings for Danaos Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Danaos and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Dell Technologies Inc. (NYSE:DELL Get Rating) gapped down before the market opened on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $47.75, but opened at $46.75. Dell Technologies shares last traded at $47.71, with a volume of 806,228 shares changing hands. Analysts Set New Price Targets A number of brokerages recently commented on DELL. Credit Suisse Group reiterated an outperform rating and issued a $50.00 price objective on shares of Dell Technologies in a research report on Monday, March 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on Dell Technologies from $48.00 to $45.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Dell Technologies in a report on Monday, March 20th. They issued a buy rating and a $43.00 price objective on the stock. KGI Securities upgraded Dell Technologies from a neutral rating to an outperform rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 14th. Finally, Raymond James dropped their target price on Dell Technologies from $50.00 to $45.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 3rd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Dell Technologies currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $48.56. Get Dell Technologies alerts: Dell Technologies Price Performance The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $42.01 and a 200 day simple moving average of $41.46. The firm has a market cap of $34.72 billion, a PE ratio of 14.83, a PEG ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 1.03. Dell Technologies Increases Dividend Dell Technologies ( NYSE:DELL Get Rating ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 2nd. The technology company reported $1.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.38 by $0.17. Dell Technologies had a negative return on equity of 173.72% and a net margin of 2.39%. The business had revenue of $25.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.82 billion. On average, equities analysts forecast that Dell Technologies Inc. will post 4.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year. The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 5th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 25th were issued a $0.37 dividend. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.12%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 24th. This is a boost from Dell Technologiess previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. Dell Technologiess payout ratio is 45.96%. Insider Activity at Dell Technologies In other news, COO Anthony Charles Whitten sold 15,983 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.49, for a total transaction of $583,219.67. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 841,207 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,695,643.43. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Dell Technologies news, CAO Brunilda Rios sold 22,042 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.78, for a total value of $964,998.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 18,647 shares of the companys stock, valued at $816,365.66. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, COO Anthony Charles Whitten sold 15,983 shares of Dell Technologies stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.49, for a total transaction of $583,219.67. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 841,207 shares of the companys stock, valued at $30,695,643.43. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 522,371 shares of company stock worth $22,038,868 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 48.60% of the companys stock. Hedge Funds Weigh In On Dell Technologies Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Dell Technologies by 17.7% during the 1st quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 14,076 shares of the technology companys stock valued at $706,000 after purchasing an additional 2,117 shares during the period. D.A. Davidson & CO. purchased a new stake in Dell Technologies in the 1st quarter worth approximately $304,000. MetLife Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Dell Technologies in the 1st quarter worth approximately $568,000. Rhumbline Advisers raised its holdings in shares of Dell Technologies by 2.0% during the 1st quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 254,266 shares of the technology companys stock valued at $12,762,000 after purchasing an additional 4,949 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Yousif Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Dell Technologies by 5.2% during the 1st quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 6,090 shares of the technology companys stock valued at $306,000 after purchasing an additional 302 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 26.42% of the companys stock. About Dell Technologies (Get Rating) Dell Technologies, Inc is a holding company, which engages in the provision of information technology hardware, software, and service solutions through its subsidiaries. It operates through the following segments: Infrastructure Solutions Group (ISG), Client Solutions Group (CSG), and VMware. The ISG segment includes servers, networking, and storage, as well as services and third-party software and peripherals that are closely tied to the sale of ISG hardware. Further Reading Receive News & Ratings for Dell Technologies Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Dell Technologies and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Dover (NYSE:DOV Get Rating) in a research report report published on Thursday morning. The firm issued a buy rating on the industrial products companys stock. A number of other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Credit Suisse Group reiterated an outperform rating and issued a $174.00 price objective on shares of Dover in a report on Thursday, March 9th. Bank of America upped their price objective on Dover from $180.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Tuesday, April 11th. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on Dover from $167.00 to $174.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Friday, March 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on Dover from $147.00 to $145.00 and set a hold rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 12th. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on Dover from $176.00 to $170.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 26th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the companys stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $162.31. Get Dover alerts: Dover Price Performance Shares of NYSE DOV opened at $139.47 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.60, a P/E/G ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The stocks 50-day simple moving average is $143.79 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $143.45. Dover has a twelve month low of $114.49 and a twelve month high of $160.66. Dover Dividend Announcement Dover ( NYSE:DOV Get Rating ) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 26th. The industrial products company reported $1.94 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts consensus estimates of $1.94. The business had revenue of $2.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.08 billion. Dover had a return on equity of 28.27% and a net margin of 12.51%. The companys quarterly revenue was up 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.90 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Dover will post 8.99 EPS for the current fiscal year. The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 31st will be issued a $0.505 dividend. This represents a $2.02 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.45%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 30th. Dovers dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.93%. Insiders Place Their Bets In other Dover news, CFO Brad M. Cerepak sold 34,972 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $143.25, for a total value of $5,009,739.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 73,878 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,583,023.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 1.30% of the companys stock. Institutional Inflows and Outflows A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in DOV. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Dover by 49,017.9% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 1,468,135 shares of the industrial products companys stock valued at $171,155,000 after purchasing an additional 1,465,146 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Dover in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $167,153,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in shares of Dover by 8.8% in the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 13,992,891 shares of the industrial products companys stock valued at $2,126,080,000 after purchasing an additional 1,134,365 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in shares of Dover by 112.1% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,902,351 shares of the industrial products companys stock valued at $257,597,000 after purchasing an additional 1,005,470 shares during the period. Finally, CI Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Dover in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $126,175,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.52% of the companys stock. Dover Company Profile (Get Rating) Dover Corp. operates as a manufacturer and solutions provider delivering innovative equipment and components, consumable supplies, aftermarket parts, software and digital solutions, and support services. It operates through the following segments: Engineered Products, Clean Energy and Fueling, Imaging and Identification, Pumps and Process Solutions, and Climate and Sustainability Technologies. Read More Receive News & Ratings for Dover Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Dover and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of DTE Energy (NYSE:DTE Get Rating) in a research report report published on Thursday morning. The brokerage issued a hold rating on the utilities providers stock. Several other research analysts have also weighed in on DTE. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of DTE Energy from $138.00 to $133.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 1st. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of DTE Energy from $123.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock a market perform rating in a report on Monday, April 10th. Guggenheim dropped their target price on shares of DTE Energy from $131.00 to $127.00 in a report on Monday, April 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of DTE Energy from $120.00 to $126.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Thursday, April 20th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $129.89. Get DTE Energy alerts: DTE Energy Stock Down 0.3 % Shares of NYSE DTE opened at $108.56 on Thursday. The firms 50-day moving average is $110.84 and its 200-day moving average is $113.29. DTE Energy has a 1 year low of $100.64 and a 1 year high of $136.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.38 billion, a PE ratio of 19.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66. DTE Energy Dividend Announcement DTE Energy ( NYSE:DTE Get Rating ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 27th. The utilities provider reported $1.33 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.38 by ($0.05). DTE Energy had a return on equity of 10.59% and a net margin of 6.15%. The firm had revenue of $3.78 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.79 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.31 EPS. Equities analysts expect that DTE Energy will post 6.18 EPS for the current year. The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 19th will be issued a $0.9525 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 15th. This represents a $3.81 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.51%. DTE Energys dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 67.43%. Insider Activity In other news, SVP Joann Chavez sold 4,000 shares of DTE Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.09, for a total value of $452,360.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 14,607 shares in the company, valued at $1,651,905.63. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.61% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders. Institutional Trading of DTE Energy A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in DTE. Retirement Income Solutions Inc raised its holdings in shares of DTE Energy by 6.8% in the first quarter. Retirement Income Solutions Inc now owns 2,498 shares of the utilities providers stock valued at $330,000 after purchasing an additional 158 shares during the last quarter. Prudential PLC acquired a new position in DTE Energy during the first quarter worth $1,710,000. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its holdings in DTE Energy by 4.3% during the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 7,094 shares of the utilities providers stock worth $938,000 after buying an additional 290 shares during the last quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. acquired a new position in DTE Energy during the first quarter worth $280,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in DTE Energy by 6.6% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 23,028,699 shares of the utilities providers stock worth $3,044,624,000 after buying an additional 1,420,586 shares during the last quarter. 74.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds. About DTE Energy (Get Rating) DTE Energy Co operates as a diversified energy company, which engages in the development and management of energy-related businesses and services. It operates through the following segments: Electric, Gas, DTE Vantage, Energy Trading, and Corporate and Other. The Electric segment consists of generation, purchase, distribution, and sale of electricity to residential, commercial, and industrial customers in southeastern Michigan. Featured Stories Receive News & Ratings for DTE Energy Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for DTE Energy and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Shares of FactSet Research Systems Inc. (NYSE:FDS Get Rating) have received a consensus rating of Hold from the thirteen ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, six have issued a hold recommendation and five have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $444.56. A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on FDS. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on FactSet Research Systems in a report on Monday, May 15th. They issued a market perform rating and a $424.00 price target on the stock. SpectralCast reiterated an initiates rating on shares of FactSet Research Systems in a report on Tuesday, May 9th. CICC Research initiated coverage on shares of FactSet Research Systems in a report on Friday, March 17th. They issued an outperform rating on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an outperform rating and set a $500.00 price objective on shares of FactSet Research Systems in a research note on Friday, March 24th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their target price on shares of FactSet Research Systems from $477.00 to $454.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 24th. Get FactSet Research Systems alerts: Insider Buying and Selling at FactSet Research Systems In other FactSet Research Systems news, EVP Robert J. Robie sold 2,457 shares of FactSet Research Systems stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $412.31, for a total transaction of $1,013,045.67. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 1,436 shares in the company, valued at approximately $592,077.16. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, EVP Jonathan Reeve sold 783 shares of the firms stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $404.82, for a total transaction of $316,974.06. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 92 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $37,243.44. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Robert J. Robie sold 2,457 shares of FactSet Research Systems stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $412.31, for a total transaction of $1,013,045.67. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,436 shares of the companys stock, valued at $592,077.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 15,537 shares of company stock valued at $6,404,608. 0.97% of the stock is owned by insiders. Institutional Inflows and Outflows FactSet Research Systems Stock Performance A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Trivant Custom Portfolio Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of FactSet Research Systems during the 1st quarter worth approximately $92,000. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in FactSet Research Systems during the first quarter worth $519,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in FactSet Research Systems by 6.7% during the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 509,941 shares of the business services providers stock valued at $211,672,000 after purchasing an additional 31,964 shares in the last quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. grew its position in shares of FactSet Research Systems by 342.9% in the first quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 92,092 shares of the business services providers stock valued at $38,226,000 after purchasing an additional 71,300 shares during the period. Finally, Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC increased its stake in shares of FactSet Research Systems by 1.4% during the first quarter. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC now owns 22,605 shares of the business services providers stock worth $9,383,000 after purchasing an additional 319 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.98% of the companys stock. Shares of FactSet Research Systems stock opened at $396.19 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 2.09, a quick ratio of 2.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08. The stocks fifty day moving average price is $406.11 and its 200-day moving average price is $418.73. The firm has a market cap of $15.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.39, a P/E/G ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.83. FactSet Research Systems has a 12 month low of $345.92 and a 12 month high of $474.13. FactSet Research Systems (NYSE:FDS Get Rating) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, March 23rd. The business services provider reported $3.80 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $3.65 by $0.15. FactSet Research Systems had a net margin of 22.30% and a return on equity of 40.18%. The business had revenue of $515.10 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $510.79 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.27 EPS. The companys revenue for the quarter was up 19.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that FactSet Research Systems will post 14.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year. FactSet Research Systems Increases Dividend The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.98 per share. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 30th. This is a boost from FactSet Research Systemss previous quarterly dividend of $0.89. FactSet Research Systemss dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.90%. About FactSet Research Systems (Get Rating) FactSet Research Systems Inc (the Company or FactSet) is a global provider of integrated financial information, analytical applications and services for the investment and corporate communities. Since inception, global financial professionals have utilized the Companys content and multi-asset class solutions across each stage of the investment process. Featured Stories Receive News & Ratings for FactSet Research Systems Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for FactSet Research Systems and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Farmers Edge (OTC:FMEGF Get Rating) had its price target decreased by Raymond James from C$0.30 to C$0.15 in a research report report published on Thursday, The Fly reports. Separately, National Bank Financial reduced their target price on Farmers Edge from C$0.30 to C$0.25 in a report on Thursday, January 26th. Get Farmers Edge alerts: Farmers Edge Trading Up 2.7 % FMEGF stock opened at $0.17 on Thursday. Farmers Edge has a 52-week low of $0.13 and a 52-week high of $1.92. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $0.14 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $0.19. About Farmers Edge Farmers Edge Inc develops digital agriculture solutions in Canada, the United States, Brazil, Australia, Russia, and Ukraine. It offers FarmCommand, a cloud-based analytics software platform that provides real-time monitoring, alerts, predictive models, and outcome-based data recommendations offered through web-based platform, mobile app, and universal terminal. See Also Receive News & Ratings for Farmers Edge Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Farmers Edge and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Patton Fund Management Inc. trimmed its position in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS Get Rating) by 0.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 29,996 shares of the companys stock after selling 205 shares during the period. Patton Fund Management Inc.s holdings in General Mills were worth $2,515,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. James Investment Research Inc. acquired a new position in shares of General Mills in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Almanack Investment Partners LLC. acquired a new position in shares of General Mills in the 3rd quarter valued at $28,000. Paragon Wealth Strategies LLC increased its position in shares of General Mills by 164.9% in the 4th quarter. Paragon Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 392 shares of the companys stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 244 shares during the period. Concord Wealth Partners acquired a new stake in General Mills during the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, RFP Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in General Mills during the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. 74.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds. Get General Mills alerts: Analysts Set New Price Targets Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on General Mills from $76.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Thursday, March 16th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of General Mills from $88.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research note on Friday, March 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on shares of General Mills from $84.00 to $86.00 in a research note on Friday, March 24th. Mizuho increased their target price on shares of General Mills from $75.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Monday, March 27th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on shares of General Mills from $81.00 to $83.00 in a research note on Monday, March 27th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $84.76. General Mills Price Performance GIS traded down $1.90 during trading on Monday, reaching $85.73. The companys stock had a trading volume of 805,165 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,214,776. The company has a quick ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $86.44 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $82.98. General Mills, Inc. has a 1 year low of $64.94 and a 1 year high of $90.89. The company has a market cap of $50.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.93, a PEG ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.27. General Mills (NYSE:GIS Get Rating) last released its earnings results on Thursday, March 23rd. The company reported $0.97 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.06. General Mills had a net margin of 14.04% and a return on equity of 24.51%. The business had revenue of $5.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.97 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.84 EPS. The businesss revenue was up 13.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.23 EPS for the current year. Insiders Place Their Bets In other General Mills news, insider Jodi J. Benson sold 3,009 shares of the firms stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.59, for a total value of $272,585.31. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 35,491 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $3,215,129.69. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, insider Bethany C. Quam sold 21,734 shares of the firms stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 4th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $4,083,501.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Jodi J. Benson sold 3,009 shares of the firms stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.59, for a total transaction of $272,585.31. Following the sale, the insider now owns 35,491 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $3,215,129.69. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 55,371 shares of company stock valued at $4,849,178 in the last ninety days. 0.67% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders. General Mills Company Profile (Get Rating) 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. Further Reading Receive News & Ratings for General Mills Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for General Mills and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Globe Life (NYSE:GL Get Rating) in a research note published on Thursday. The firm issued a hold rating on the stock. Several other brokerages have also issued reports on GL. Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of Globe Life from $112.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a research note on Friday, February 3rd. Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on shares of Globe Life from $135.00 to $130.00 in a report on Friday, May 5th. Raymond James lowered their price objective on shares of Globe Life from $141.00 to $138.00 and set a strong-buy rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 14th. Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on shares of Globe Life in a report on Tuesday, April 25th. They set an equal weight rating and a $120.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Globe Life from $133.00 to $129.00 and set an underweight rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 12th. One investment 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $127.50. Get Globe Life alerts: Globe Life Price Performance GL stock traded up $0.32 during trading on Thursday, reaching $108.60. 73,615 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 545,382. The company has a 50-day moving average of $107.93 and a two-hundred day moving average of $114.92. The company has a market capitalization of $10.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.35 and a beta of 0.79. Globe Life has a twelve month low of $87.87 and a twelve month high of $123.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 0.06 and a quick ratio of 0.06. Globe Life Increases Dividend Globe Life ( NYSE:GL Get Rating ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 3rd. The company reported $2.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $2.47 by $0.06. Globe Life had a net margin of 15.28% and a return on equity of 19.20%. The business had revenue of $1.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $1.36 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.70 EPS. The firms quarterly revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Globe Life will post 10.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year. The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 3rd were given a dividend of $0.225 per share. This represents a $0.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 31st. This is a positive change from Globe Lifes previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. Globe Lifes dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 11.10%. Insiders Place Their Bets In other news, Director Melissa Jane Buchan sold 1,900 shares of the firms stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.95, for a total value of $201,305.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 81,658 shares in the company, valued at $8,651,665.10. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Globe Life news, insider Larry M. Hutchison sold 13,000 shares of Globe Life stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.56, for a total transaction of $1,567,280.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 750,863 shares in the company, valued at $90,524,043.28. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Melissa Jane Buchan sold 1,900 shares of Globe Life stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.95, for a total transaction of $201,305.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 81,658 shares of the companys stock, valued at $8,651,665.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 91,125 shares of company stock worth $10,994,960 over the last quarter. 4.33% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders. Institutional Inflows and Outflows Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in GL. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Globe Life by 0.3% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,638,209 shares of the companys stock worth $1,060,631,000 after buying an additional 31,957 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in Globe Life by 37.0% in the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 7,308,014 shares of the companys stock valued at $735,187,000 after acquiring an additional 1,973,186 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. boosted its holdings in Globe Life by 0.9% in the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 6,520,494 shares of the companys stock valued at $655,963,000 after acquiring an additional 57,587 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in Globe Life by 6.3% in the first quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,689,921 shares of the companys stock valued at $295,945,000 after acquiring an additional 160,145 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in Globe Life by 18.2% in the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,678,038 shares of the companys stock valued at $294,639,000 after acquiring an additional 412,639 shares in the last quarter. 81.04% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors. Globe Life Company Profile (Get Rating) Globe Life, Inc is a holding company, which engages in the provision of individual life and supplemental health insurance products and services. It operates through the following segments: Life Insurance, Supplemental Health Insurance, Annuities, and Investments. The Life Insurance segment includes traditional and interest-sensitive whole life insurance as well as term life insurances. Featured Stories Receive News & Ratings for Globe Life Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Globe Life and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Halliburton (NYSE:HAL Get Rating) in a research note issued to investors on Thursday morning. The firm issued a buy rating on the oilfield services companys stock. A number of other equities research analysts have also commented on HAL. Benchmark restated a buy rating and set a $50.00 price objective on shares of Halliburton in a report on Monday, April 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Halliburton from $52.00 to $54.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 25th. UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Halliburton in a research report on Wednesday, April 19th. They issued a buy rating and a $49.00 target price for the company. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Halliburton from $47.00 to $44.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 22nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Halliburton from $40.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Monday, January 30th. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the companys stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of Buy and an average price target of $48.24. Get Halliburton alerts: Halliburton Trading Up 0.3 % HAL traded up $0.08 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $30.25. The stock had a trading volume of 4,547,323 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,378,598. The stocks fifty day simple moving average is $31.52 and its 200-day simple moving average is $35.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 2.14 and a quick ratio of 1.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $27.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.38 and a beta of 2.11. Halliburton has a 1-year low of $23.30 and a 1-year high of $43.99. Halliburton Dividend Announcement Halliburton ( NYSE:HAL Get Rating ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 25th. The oilfield services company reported $0.72 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $0.67 by $0.05. Halliburton had a net margin of 9.04% and a return on equity of 29.38%. The business had revenue of $5.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.49 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.35 earnings per share. The firms quarterly revenue was up 32.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Halliburton will post 3.13 EPS for the current fiscal year. The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 28th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 7th will be paid a $0.16 dividend. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.12%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 6th. Halliburtons dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.63%. Insiders Place Their Bets In other news, CAO Charles Jr. Geer sold 12,065 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.60, for a total value of $369,189.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 52,817 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,616,200.20. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, CAO Charles Jr. Geer sold 12,065 shares of Halliburton stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.60, for a total transaction of $369,189.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 52,817 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $1,616,200.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Jeffrey Allen Miller sold 271,283 shares of Halliburton stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.25, for a total transaction of $8,206,310.75. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 829,230 shares in the company, valued at $25,084,207.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.60% of the companys stock. Institutional Investors Weigh In On Halliburton A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Halliburton by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 59,383,523 shares of the oilfield services companys stock worth $1,462,022,000 after acquiring an additional 1,241,290 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners boosted its stake in shares of Halliburton by 98.6% in the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 24,628,480 shares of the oilfield services companys stock valued at $779,876,000 after purchasing an additional 12,228,234 shares during the last quarter. Sanders Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Halliburton by 3.8% in the 1st quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 21,837,221 shares of the oilfield services companys stock valued at $690,930,000 after purchasing an additional 796,683 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Halliburton by 1.5% in the 1st quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 18,691,333 shares of the oilfield services companys stock valued at $590,048,000 after purchasing an additional 271,718 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted its stake in shares of Halliburton by 65.5% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 17,217,776 shares of the oilfield services companys stock valued at $677,520,000 after purchasing an additional 6,815,373 shares during the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors. Halliburton Company Profile (Get Rating) Halliburton Co engages in the provision of services and products to the energy industry related to the exploration, development, and production of oil and natural gas. It operates through the Completion and Production, and Drilling and Evaluation segments. The Completion and Production segment delivers cementing, stimulation, intervention, pressure control, specialty chemicals, artificial lift, and completion services. Read More Receive News & Ratings for Halliburton Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Halliburton and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Heritage Trust Co reduced its stake in Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC Get Rating) by 3.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 21,963 shares of the specialty retailers stock after selling 735 shares during the quarter. Heritage Trust Cos holdings in Genuine Parts were worth $3,811,000 as of its most recent SEC filing. Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in GPC. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Genuine Parts by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 17,760,417 shares of the specialty retailers stock worth $2,651,985,000 after buying an additional 258,620 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Genuine Parts by 4.0% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,860,574 shares of the specialty retailers stock worth $612,531,000 after buying an additional 185,529 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in Genuine Parts by 8.2% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,120,686 shares of the specialty retailers stock worth $141,228,000 after buying an additional 85,231 shares in the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its position in Genuine Parts by 6.2% during the 3rd quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 1,021,997 shares of the specialty retailers stock worth $152,604,000 after buying an additional 59,360 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec lifted its position in Genuine Parts by 4.4% during the 1st quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 986,646 shares of the specialty retailers stock worth $124,337,000 after buying an additional 41,700 shares in the last quarter. 78.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors. Get Genuine Parts alerts: Insider Activity at Genuine Parts In related news, CEO Paul D. Donahue purchased 1,600 shares of the firms stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 24th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $156.08 per share, for a total transaction of $249,728.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 59,727 shares in the company, valued at $9,322,190.16. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.39% of the stock is owned by company insiders. Analyst Ratings Changes Genuine Parts Stock Performance Several brokerages have commented on GPC. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Genuine Parts in a research report on Thursday. They set a buy rating on the stock. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Genuine Parts from $186.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Friday, April 21st. Wedbush restated a neutral rating and set a $165.00 price objective on shares of Genuine Parts in a research note on Friday, April 21st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Genuine Parts from a sell rating to a neutral rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $163.00 to $164.00 in a research note on Monday, May 1st. They noted that the move was a valuation call. Shares of Genuine Parts stock traded down $1.62 during trading on Monday, hitting $163.15. 253,442 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,089,322. Genuine Parts has a 1-year low of $126.95 and a 1-year high of $187.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $165.96 and a 200-day moving average price of $171.85. The company has a current ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 20th. The specialty retailer reported $2.14 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $2.03 by $0.11. Genuine Parts had a net margin of 5.50% and a return on equity of 32.53%. The business had revenue of $5.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.68 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.86 EPS. Genuine Partss quarterly revenue was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Genuine Parts will post 9.06 EPS for the current fiscal year. Genuine Parts Announces Dividend The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, June 2nd will be paid a $0.95 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 1st. This represents a $3.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.33%. Genuine Partss dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 43.53%. About Genuine Parts (Get Rating) Genuine Parts Co engages in the distribution of automotive and industrial replacement parts. It operates through the following segments: Automotive Parts Group, Industrial Parts Group, and Corporate. The Automotive Parts Group segment distributes replacement parts, other than body parts for substantially all makes and models of automobiles, trucks, and other vehicles. Further Reading Want to see what other hedge funds are holding GPC? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC Get Rating). Receive News & Ratings for Genuine Parts Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Genuine Parts and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Hess (NYSE:HES Get Rating) in a research report sent to investors on Thursday. The firm issued a sell rating on the oil and gas producers stock. Several other analysts have also issued reports on the company. 92 Resources restated a maintains rating on shares of Hess in a research note on Friday, April 28th. Credit Suisse Group upped their target price on Hess from $125.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Thursday, January 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded Hess from a buy rating to a neutral rating and upped their target price for the company from $161.00 to $170.00 in a research report on Friday, January 27th. Piper Sandler upped their target price on Hess from $166.00 to $167.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Thursday, April 20th. Finally, Bank of America upped their target price on Hess from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Thursday, January 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $169.00. Get Hess alerts: Hess Stock Performance NYSE:HES traded up $0.95 on Thursday, hitting $134.50. The companys stock had a trading volume of 384,313 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,705,850. The company has a current ratio of 1.65, a quick ratio of 1.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $135.46 and a two-hundred day moving average of $139.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $41.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.13 and a beta of 1.57. Hess has a one year low of $90.34 and a one year high of $160.52. Hess Cuts Dividend Hess ( NYSE:HES Get Rating ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 26th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.03 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $2.45 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.37 billion. Hess had a return on equity of 25.85% and a net margin of 18.47%. The businesss revenue for the quarter was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.30 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Hess will post 5.88 earnings per share for the current year. The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 15th will be paid a $0.4375 dividend. This represents a $1.75 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.30%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 14th. Hesss payout ratio is 25.07%. Insider Activity In other news, SVP Richard D. Lynch sold 33,191 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.84, for a total value of $4,608,238.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 23,622 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,279,678.48. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, COO Gregory P. Hill sold 7,500 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $132.40, for a total transaction of $993,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 116,346 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $15,404,210.40. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Richard D. Lynch sold 33,191 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.84, for a total value of $4,608,238.44. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 23,622 shares of the companys stock, valued at $3,279,678.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 53,721 shares of company stock worth $7,391,691. Insiders own 9.93% of the companys stock. Institutional Inflows and Outflows Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Delta Asset Management LLC TN bought a new position in Hess during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. KB Financial Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Hess during the 1st quarter worth about $26,000. Orion Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Hess by 63.4% during the 4th quarter. Orion Capital Management LLC now owns 214 shares of the oil and gas producers stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares during the period. Lindbrook Capital LLC grew its holdings in Hess by 53.8% during the 4th quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 223 shares of the oil and gas producers stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares during the period. Finally, New Hampshire Trust acquired a new stake in Hess during the 4th quarter worth about $35,000. 86.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors. Hess Company Profile (Get Rating) Hess Corp is an exploration and production company, which engages in exploration, development, production, transportation, purchase & sale of crude oil, natural gas liquids and natural gas with production operations. It operates through the following segments: Exploration and Production and Midstream. See Also Receive News & Ratings for Hess Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Hess and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Jarislowsky Fraser Ltd lessened its stake in shares of Sun Life Financial Inc. (NYSE:SLF Get Rating) (TSE:SLF) by 1.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 262,894 shares of the financial services providers stock after selling 3,776 shares during the quarter. Jarislowsky Fraser Ltds holdings in Sun Life Financial were worth $12,194,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period. Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Sun Life Financial by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,016,287 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $835,608,000 after purchasing an additional 703,122 shares during the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI raised its stake in shares of Sun Life Financial by 229.8% during the 4th quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 6,172,350 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $286,253,000 after buying an additional 4,300,627 shares during the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank raised its stake in shares of Sun Life Financial by 13.5% during the 4th quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 5,108,321 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $241,744,000 after buying an additional 606,748 shares during the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Sun Life Financial by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 3,741,600 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $148,593,000 after buying an additional 84,832 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Letko Brosseau & Associates Inc. raised its stake in shares of Sun Life Financial by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Letko Brosseau & Associates Inc. now owns 3,129,097 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $125,091,000 after buying an additional 51,200 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 44.94% of the companys stock. Get Sun Life Financial alerts: Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades A number of research firms have weighed in on SLF. TD Securities lifted their price objective on Sun Life Financial from C$68.00 to C$71.00 in a research note on Friday, February 10th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Sun Life Financial from C$76.00 to C$78.00 in a research report on Friday, February 10th. CIBC cut Sun Life Financial from an outperform rating to a neutral rating in a report on Thursday, February 9th. They noted that the move was a valuation call. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded Sun Life Financial from a sector perform rating to an outperform rating in a report on Monday, May 15th. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their price objective on Sun Life Financial from C$71.00 to C$75.00 in a report on Friday, February 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the companys stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Sun Life Financial currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $72.78. Sun Life Financial Stock Down 0.2 % Sun Life Financial Announces Dividend NYSE SLF traded down $0.08 on Monday, reaching $49.66. The stock had a trading volume of 11,721 shares, compared to its average volume of 500,177. The firm has a market capitalization of $29.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.89, a P/E/G ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.00. Sun Life Financial Inc. has a 12-month low of $37.96 and a 12-month high of $51.63. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $47.33 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $47.54. The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 31st will be given a $0.554 dividend. This represents a $2.22 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.46%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 30th. Sun Life Financials payout ratio is 54.66%. Sun Life Financial Company Profile (Get Rating) Sun Life Financial, Inc engages in the provision of insurance and asset management solutions to individual and corporate clients. It operates through the following segments: Canada, United States, Asset Management, Asia, and Corporate. The Canada segment offers individual insurance and group benefits and retirement services. Recommended Stories Want to see what other hedge funds are holding SLF? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Sun Life Financial Inc. (NYSE:SLF Get Rating) (TSE:SLF). Receive News & Ratings for Sun Life Financial Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Sun Life Financial and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Kroger (NYSE:KR Get Rating) in a research note published on Thursday. The firm issued a buy rating on the stock. Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the company. Roth Capital reiterated a neutral rating on shares of Kroger in a research note on Friday, March 3rd. Telsey Advisory Group lowered their price target on Kroger from $64.00 to $55.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 3rd. Northcoast Research upgraded Kroger from a neutral rating to a buy rating and set a $60.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 20th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on Kroger from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a research note on Friday, March 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Kroger from a neutral rating to an overweight rating and upped their price objective for the company from $50.00 to $54.00 in a research note on Friday, March 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the companys stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $52.31. Get Kroger alerts: Kroger Stock Up 0.8 % Shares of NYSE:KR traded up $0.38 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $50.02. 2,686,476 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,090,045. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a current ratio of 0.74. Kroger has a 52-week low of $41.81 and a 52-week high of $53.47. The businesss fifty day simple moving average is $48.43 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $46.68. The company has a market capitalization of $35.90 billion, a PE ratio of 16.17, a P/E/G ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 0.47. Kroger Announces Dividend Kroger ( NYSE:KR Get Rating ) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, March 2nd. The company reported $0.99 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.09. Kroger had a return on equity of 31.84% and a net margin of 1.51%. The company had revenue of $34.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.89 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.91 earnings per share. The businesss revenue was up 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Kroger will post 4.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year. 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 given a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.08%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 12th. Krogers payout ratio is 33.88%. Insider Buying and Selling at Kroger In other Kroger news, VP Carin L. Fike sold 3,000 shares of the companys stock in a transaction on Friday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.90, for a total transaction of $137,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 40,147 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,842,747.30. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Kroger news, SVP Valerie L. Jabbar sold 62,414 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.47, for a total transaction of $2,900,378.58. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 63,079 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,931,281.13. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Carin L. Fike sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.90, for a total value of $137,700.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 40,147 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $1,842,747.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 201,505 shares of company stock worth $9,622,597. Insiders own 1.35% of the companys stock. Hedge Funds Weigh In On Kroger A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in KR. Synovus Financial Corp boosted its stake in shares of Kroger by 6.3% during the 1st quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 12,869 shares of the companys stock worth $739,000 after buying an additional 764 shares during the last quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. lifted its stake in Kroger by 30.2% in the 1st quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 29,150 shares of the companys stock valued at $1,672,000 after purchasing an additional 6,764 shares during the last quarter. Blair William & Co. IL lifted its stake in Kroger by 7.1% in the 1st quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 14,673 shares of the companys stock valued at $842,000 after purchasing an additional 974 shares during the last quarter. Prudential PLC acquired a new stake in Kroger in the 1st quarter valued at about $1,443,000. Finally, Moors & Cabot Inc. lifted its stake in Kroger by 3.6% in the 1st quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 7,703 shares of the companys stock valued at $442,000 after purchasing an additional 269 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.03% of the companys stock. Kroger Company Profile (Get Rating) The Kroger Co engages in the operation of supermarkets and multi-department stores. Its brands include Big K, Check This Out?, Heritage Farm, Simple Truth, and Simple Truth Organic. The company was founded by Barney Kroger in 1883 and is headquartered in Cincinnati, OH. Featured Stories Receive News & Ratings for Kroger Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Kroger and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR Get Rating) had its target price decreased by Piper Sandler from $60.00 to $59.00 in a research note published on Thursday morning, The Fly reports. Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Mizuho cut their target price on Murphy Oil from $51.00 to $50.00 in a research note on Friday, March 10th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Murphy Oil from a hold rating to a buy rating and set a $41.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 17th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Murphy Oil from $43.00 to $44.00 in a research note on Monday, May 15th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Murphy Oil from $44.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research note on Friday, January 27th. Finally, Truist Financial raised Murphy Oil from a hold rating to a buy rating and raised their target price for the stock from $49.00 to $56.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 11th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the companys stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $47.50. Get Murphy Oil alerts: Murphy Oil Stock Down 1.0 % Shares of NYSE:MUR opened at $35.08 on Thursday. The stocks 50-day moving average price is $36.16 and its 200-day moving average price is $40.66. Murphy Oil has a 12-month low of $25.97 and a 12-month high of $51.28. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.35 and a beta of 2.37. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. Murphy Oil Announces Dividend Murphy Oil ( NYSE:MUR Get Rating ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 3rd. The oil and gas producer reported $1.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $0.95 by $0.29. Murphy Oil had a return on equity of 19.42% and a net margin of 30.08%. The firm had revenue of $841.72 million for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $777.23 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.73 earnings per share. The companys revenue for the quarter was up 52.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Murphy Oil will post 5.62 earnings per share for the current year. The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $0.275 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 12th. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.14%. Murphy Oils payout ratio is 13.63%. Insider Buying and Selling at Murphy Oil In other Murphy Oil news, CFO Thomas J. Mireles sold 14,500 shares of Murphy Oil stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.14, for a total transaction of $509,530.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 58,372 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $2,051,192.08. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 5.92% of the companys stock. Institutional Trading of Murphy Oil A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in MUR. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new stake in shares of Murphy Oil in the 1st quarter worth approximately $29,000. Toronto Dominion Bank bought a new stake in shares of Murphy Oil in the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Belpointe Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 68.2% in the 1st quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC now owns 900 shares of the oil and gas producers stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 365 shares in the last quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC bought a new position in Murphy Oil in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $48,000. Finally, Park Place Capital Corp bought a new position in Murphy Oil in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $51,000. 77.55% of the stock is owned by institutional investors. About Murphy Oil (Get Rating) Murphy Oil Corp. is a holding company, which engages in the exploration and production of oil and natural gas. It operates through the Exploration and Production and Corporate and Other segment. The Exploration and Production segment includes the United States, Canada, and all other countries. The Corporate and Other segment focuses on interest income, other gains and losses, interest expense, and unallocated overhead. See Also Receive News & Ratings for Murphy Oil Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Murphy Oil and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Patton Fund Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM Get Rating) by 4.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 16,487 shares of the companys stock after purchasing an additional 649 shares during the quarter. Patton Fund Management Inc.s holdings in Philip Morris International were worth $1,669,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Kwmg LLC grew its holdings in Philip Morris International by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Kwmg LLC now owns 3,161 shares of the companys stock worth $320,000 after acquiring an additional 98 shares during the period. Means Investment CO. Inc. grew its stake in shares of Philip Morris International by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Means Investment CO. Inc. now owns 39,184 shares of the companys stock valued at $3,966,000 after buying an additional 98 shares during the period. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Philip Morris International by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,600 shares of the companys stock valued at $263,000 after buying an additional 99 shares during the period. Horizon Investment Services LLC grew its stake in shares of Philip Morris International by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Horizon Investment Services LLC now owns 4,871 shares of the companys stock valued at $493,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. Finally, Ellenbecker Investment Group grew its stake in shares of Philip Morris International by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Ellenbecker Investment Group now owns 27,013 shares of the companys stock valued at $2,734,000 after buying an additional 102 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.85% of the companys stock. Get Philip Morris International alerts: Philip Morris International Stock Performance Shares of Philip Morris International stock traded up $0.04 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $93.23. 394,412 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,342,742. Philip Morris International Inc. has a 12 month low of $82.85 and a 12 month high of $109.81. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $96.55 and a 200 day simple moving average of $98.78. The company has a market capitalization of $144.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.68, a P/E/G ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.68. Philip Morris International Dividend Announcement Philip Morris International ( NYSE:PM Get Rating ) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 20th. The company reported $1.38 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.04. Philip Morris International had a net margin of 10.80% and a negative return on equity of 128.55%. The firm had revenue of $8.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $8.03 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.56 EPS. The companys quarterly revenue was up 4.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Philip Morris International Inc. will post 6.2 EPS for the current year. The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 23rd were issued a $1.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 22nd. This represents a $5.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.45%. Philip Morris Internationals dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 90.88%. Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades PM has been the subject of several research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Philip Morris International from a neutral rating to an overweight rating and raised their target price for the company from $109.00 to $116.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 30th. Stifel Nicolaus initiated coverage on Philip Morris International in a research note on Thursday, April 13th. They issued a buy rating and a $114.00 target price for the company. UBS Group upgraded 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 research note on Wednesday, March 1st. StockNews.com initiated coverage on Philip Morris International in a research note on Thursday. They set a hold rating for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Philip Morris International from $109.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Thursday, February 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the companys stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $110.60. Insider Buying and Selling In related news, insider Werner Barth sold 8,000 shares of Philip Morris International stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.35, for a total value of $786,800.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 87,321 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $8,588,020.35. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by insiders. Philip Morris International Company Profile (Get Rating) Philip Morris International, Inc is a holding company engaged in the manufacturing and sale of cigarettes, tobacco, and nicotine-containing products. Its products include cigarettes and reduced-risk products, including heat-not-burn, vapor, and oral nicotine products. The firm operates through the following geographical segments: European Union, Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa, South and Southeast Asia, East Asia and Australia, and Americas. See Also Want to see what other hedge funds are holding PM? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM Get Rating). Receive News & Ratings for Philip Morris International Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Philip Morris International and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. National Bankshares upgraded shares of Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers (NYSE:RBA Get Rating) (TSE:RBA) from a sector perform rating to an outperform rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday morning, BayStreet.CA reports. The firm currently has $61.00 price objective on the business services providers stock. Several other research firms also recently commented on RBA. National Bank Financial upgraded shares of Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers from a sector perform rating to an outperform rating and set a $61.00 price target for the company in a research report on Thursday. Raymond James lifted their price target on shares of Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a market perform rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 24th. OTR Global raised shares of Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers to a positive rating in a research report on Thursday, May 4th. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on shares of Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers from $66.00 to $64.00 in a report on Monday, March 20th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $61.57. Get Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers alerts: Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers Trading Up 3.2 % NYSE:RBA opened at $55.97 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $55.91 and a 200 day moving average of $57.37. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 57.11, a PEG ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 0.89. Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers has a 52 week low of $48.72 and a 52 week high of $72.73. The company has a quick ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers Dividend Announcement Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers ( NYSE:RBA Get Rating ) (TSE:RBA) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 21st. The business services provider reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $0.50 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $443.86 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $430.21 million. Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers had a net margin of 6.13% and a return on equity of 5.25%. Ritchie Bros. Auctioneerss quarterly revenue was up 23.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.27 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers will post 2.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year. The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 20th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 30th will be issued a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.93%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 26th. Ritchie Bros. Auctioneerss payout ratio is currently 110.20%. Insider Buying and Selling In related news, CEO Ann Fandozzi acquired 18,522 shares of Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 18th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $54.06 per share, with a total value of $1,001,299.32. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 116,607 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $6,303,774.42. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers news, CEO Ann Fandozzi purchased 18,522 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 18th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $54.06 per share, for a total transaction of $1,001,299.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 116,607 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,303,774.42. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Robert George Elton bought 1,471 shares of the firms stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 18th. The stock was bought at an average price of $54.15 per share, for a total transaction of $79,654.65. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 1,471 shares in the company, valued at $79,654.65. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders purchased 21,993 shares of company stock valued at $1,185,754 over the last 90 days. 4.32% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders. Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of RBA. Independent Franchise Partners LLP boosted its position in shares of Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers by 203.8% in the 1st quarter. Independent Franchise Partners LLP now owns 14,851,085 shares of the business services providers stock valued at $835,968,000 after purchasing an additional 9,962,297 shares during the period. Cooke & Bieler LP acquired a new position in shares of Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers in the 1st quarter valued at $197,481,000. Luxor Capital Group LP boosted its position in Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers by 95.9% during the 4th quarter. Luxor Capital Group LP now owns 4,209,222 shares of the business services providers stock worth $243,419,000 after acquiring an additional 2,060,511 shares during the period. Boston Partners boosted its position in Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers by 114.8% during the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,492,206 shares of the business services providers stock worth $196,586,000 after acquiring an additional 1,866,099 shares during the period. Finally, BlackRock Inc. boosted its position in Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers by 1,638.0% during the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 1,674,933 shares of the business services providers stock worth $94,282,000 after acquiring an additional 1,578,560 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.09% of the companys stock. Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers Company Profile (Get Rating) 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. Featured Articles Receive News & Ratings for Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Shell (NYSE:SHEL Get Rating) had its target price cut by Piper Sandler from $77.00 to $75.00 in a report issued on Thursday morning, The Fly reports. Several other research analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Berenberg Bank boosted their price objective on shares of Shell from GBX 2,900 ($36.33) to GBX 3,000 ($37.58) in a research note on Friday, February 17th. AlphaValue upgraded shares of Shell to a reduce rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Shell from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a research note on Monday, February 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered shares of Shell from an equal weight rating to an underweight rating in a research note on Thursday, February 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the companys stock. According to MarketBeat, Shell presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $2,526.29. Get Shell alerts: Shell Stock Up 0.6 % Shell stock opened at $60.42 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $210.59 billion, a PE ratio of 5.01, a P/E/G ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 0.65. The companys 50-day moving average is $59.48 and its 200-day moving average is $58.62. Shell has a fifty-two week low of $44.90 and a fifty-two week high of $62.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 1.47 and a quick ratio of 1.19. Shell Announces Dividend Institutional Inflows and Outflows The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 19th will be given a dividend of $0.575 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 18th. This represents a $2.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.81%. Shells payout ratio is presently 19.07%. Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Householder Group Estate & Retirement Specialist LLC bought a new stake in shares of Shell during the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,000. TD Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Shell during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Worth Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Shell in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Corrado Advisors LLC bought a new position in Shell in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, Standard Family Office LLC bought a new position in Shell in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 7.74% of the companys stock. About Shell (Get Rating) 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. Featured Articles Receive News & Ratings for Shell Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Shell and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Sherwin-Williams (NYSE:SHW Get Rating) in a research note released on Thursday. The firm issued a buy rating on the specialty chemicals companys stock. SHW has been the subject of a number of other reports. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $263.00 to $268.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 26th. Loop Capital boosted their target price on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $260.00 to $285.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 26th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $220.00 to $240.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $260.00 to $235.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 27th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $260.00 to $265.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $257.83. Get Sherwin-Williams alerts: Sherwin-Williams Trading Down 0.3 % SHW stock traded down $0.60 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $232.17. 149,116 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,521,370. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.03, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a current ratio of 1.00. Sherwin-Williams has a one year low of $195.24 and a one year high of $278.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $59.87 billion, a PE ratio of 28.56, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.07. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $225.31 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $233.01. Sherwin-Williams Dividend Announcement 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, beating analysts consensus estimates of $1.84 by $0.20. The firm had revenue of $5.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.14 billion. Sherwin-Williams had a net margin of 9.41% and a return on equity of 86.29%. The businesss revenue was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.61 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Sherwin-Williams will post 8.7 EPS for the current year. The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.605 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 18th. This represents a $2.42 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.04%. Sherwin-Williamss dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 29.69%. Insider Activity In other news, SVP Bryan J. Young sold 2,750 shares of the companys stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.76, for a total transaction of $607,090.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 7,955 shares in the company, valued at $1,756,145.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.55% of the companys stock. Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sherwin-Williams Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Trivant Custom Portfolio Group LLC acquired a new position in Sherwin-Williams in the 1st quarter worth approximately $138,000. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. increased its holdings in Sherwin-Williams by 26.2% in the 1st quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 61,081 shares of the specialty chemicals companys stock worth $13,728,000 after buying an additional 12,674 shares during the period. Providence Capital Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Sherwin-Williams by 44,853.3% in the 1st quarter. Providence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 6,743 shares of the specialty chemicals companys stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 6,728 shares during the period. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC increased its holdings in Sherwin-Williams by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC now owns 137,091 shares of the specialty chemicals companys stock worth $30,814,000 after buying an additional 1,085 shares during the period. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its holdings in Sherwin-Williams by 2.0% in the 1st quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 33,566 shares of the specialty chemicals companys stock worth $7,375,000 after buying an additional 645 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.03% of the companys stock. About Sherwin-Williams (Get Rating) The Sherwin-Williams Co engages in the development, manufacture, distribution, and sale of paint and coatings. It operates through the following segments: America Group, Consumer Brands Group, and Performance Coating Group. The America Group segment manages the exclusive outlets for Sherwin-Williams branded paints, stains, supplies, equipment, and floor coverings. Featured Stories Receive News & Ratings for Sherwin-Williams Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Sherwin-Williams and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Shoker Investment Counsel Inc. bought a new stake in iShares MSCI Germany ETF (NYSEARCA:EWG Get Rating) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund bought 64,278 shares of the exchange traded funds stock, valued at approximately $1,590,000. Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Evergreen Capital Management LLC lifted its position in iShares MSCI Germany ETF by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 34,271 shares of the exchange traded funds stock valued at $677,000 after purchasing an additional 570 shares during the period. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of iShares MSCI Germany ETF by 3.8% during the 1st quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 20,178 shares of the exchange traded funds stock valued at $573,000 after acquiring an additional 733 shares during the last quarter. H&H Retirement Design & Management INC lifted its stake in shares of iShares MSCI Germany ETF by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. H&H Retirement Design & Management INC now owns 44,344 shares of the exchange traded funds stock valued at $1,232,000 after purchasing an additional 781 shares during the period. Continuum Advisory LLC boosted its position in shares of iShares MSCI Germany ETF by 9.7% in the 3rd quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 11,948 shares of the exchange traded funds stock worth $236,000 after purchasing an additional 1,055 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Zions Bancorporation N.A. acquired a new stake in shares of iShares MSCI Germany ETF during the first quarter worth $31,000. Get iShares MSCI Germany ETF alerts: iShares MSCI Germany ETF Stock Performance NYSEARCA:EWG traded down $0.09 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $29.23. The company had a trading volume of 229,787 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,681,771. The firm has a market cap of $1.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.82 and a beta of 1.07. iShares MSCI Germany ETF has a fifty-two week low of $19.35 and a fifty-two week high of $29.56. The businesss fifty day moving average is $28.52 and its two-hundred day moving average is $27.05. About iShares MSCI Germany ETF iShares MSCI Germany ETF, formerly iShares MSCI Germany Index Fund (the Fund), is an exchange-traded fund. The 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 German market, as measured by the MSCI Germany Index (the Index). Featured Stories Want to see what other hedge funds are holding EWG? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for iShares MSCI Germany ETF (NYSEARCA:EWG Get Rating). Receive News & Ratings for iShares MSCI Germany ETF Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for iShares MSCI Germany ETF and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX Get Rating) in a research note released on Thursday morning. The firm issued a sell rating on the utilities providers stock. A number of other brokerages also recently weighed in on SWX. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Southwest Gas from $71.00 to $63.00 and set an equal weight rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an underweight rating and issued a $95.00 price target (down from $100.00) on shares of Southwest Gas in a research report on Monday, March 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Southwest Gas from $78.00 to $75.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $79.60. Get Southwest Gas alerts: Southwest Gas Stock Performance Shares of NYSE:SWX traded down $1.04 during trading on Thursday, reaching $56.40. 52,221 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 534,979. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $58.59 and a two-hundred day moving average of $63.08. Southwest Gas has a 52-week low of $53.79 and a 52-week high of $95.62. The company has a current ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39. Southwest Gas Announces Dividend Southwest Gas ( NYSE:SWX Get Rating ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 28th. The utilities provider reported $1.16 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of $1.57 by ($0.41). The company had revenue of $1.42 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.22 billion. Southwest Gas had a negative net margin of 4.79% and a positive return on equity of 6.24%. Equities research analysts forecast that Southwest Gas will post 3.5 EPS for the current fiscal year. The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 15th will be paid a $0.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 14th. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.40%. Southwest Gass dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -65.44%. Insider Transactions at Southwest Gas In other news, major shareholder Carl C. Icahn acquired 19,770 shares of Southwest Gas stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 21st. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $60.63 per share, with a total value of $1,198,655.10. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider now directly owns 9,707,776 shares in the company, valued at approximately $588,582,458.88. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, major shareholder Carl C. Icahn bought 238,785 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 13th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $59.89 per share, with a total value of $14,300,833.65. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider now owns 9,483,250 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $567,951,842.50. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Carl C. Icahn bought 19,770 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 21st. The shares were bought at an average cost of $60.63 per share, with a total value of $1,198,655.10. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider now directly owns 9,707,776 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $588,582,458.88. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders bought a total of 3,236,622 shares of company stock valued at $194,582,985 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.32% of the companys stock. Hedge Funds Weigh In On Southwest Gas A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in SWX. Channing Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Southwest Gas by 660.0% in the 1st quarter. Channing Capital Management LLC now owns 1,322,800 shares of the utilities providers stock worth $82,609,000 after buying an additional 1,148,750 shares in the last quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Southwest Gas by 631.1% in the 4th quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 850,500 shares of the utilities providers stock worth $52,629,000 after acquiring an additional 734,161 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Southwest Gas by 11.6% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,646,936 shares of the utilities providers stock worth $520,388,000 after acquiring an additional 690,696 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Southwest Gas in the 4th quarter worth about $39,176,000. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted its holdings in shares of Southwest Gas by 146.8% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 882,058 shares of the utilities providers stock worth $54,582,000 after acquiring an additional 524,625 shares during the last quarter. 87.59% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors. Southwest Gas Company Profile (Get Rating) Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc engages in the energy business. It operates through the following business segments: Natural Gas Operations and Utility Infrastructure Services. The Natural Gas Operations segment focuses on purchasing, distribution, and transportation of natural gas in Arizona, California, and Nevada. Featured Stories Receive News & Ratings for Southwest Gas Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Southwest Gas and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Spirit Airlines, Inc. (NYSE:SAVE Get Rating) declared a dividend on Friday, May 19th, investing.com reports. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 24th will be paid a dividend of 0.10 per share on Wednesday, May 31st. This represents a dividend yield of 3.16%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 23rd. Spirit Airlines Stock Down 1.2 % Shares of NYSE:SAVE opened at $15.59 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.15. Spirit Airlines has a 1 year low of $15.27 and a 1 year high of $25.67. The stocks fifty day moving average price is $16.94 and its 200-day moving average price is $17.87. Get Spirit Airlines alerts: Spirit Airlines (NYSE:SAVE Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 27th. The company reported ($0.82) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of ($0.89) by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $1.35 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.35 billion. Spirit Airlines had a negative return on equity of 6.24% and a negative net margin of 8.50%. The companys quarterly revenue was up 39.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted ($1.60) earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Spirit Airlines will post 0.41 earnings per share for the current year. Institutional Trading of Spirit Airlines Analysts Set New Price Targets A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP increased its position in Spirit Airlines by 25.6% in the first quarter. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP now owns 313,455 shares of the companys stock worth $5,382,000 after buying an additional 63,912 shares in the last quarter. Cim Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Spirit Airlines in the first quarter worth about $201,000. Squarepoint Ops LLC increased its position in Spirit Airlines by 18.3% in the first quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 52,405 shares of the companys stock worth $900,000 after buying an additional 8,098 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Spirit Airlines by 5.6% in the first quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,086,873 shares of the companys stock worth $35,832,000 after buying an additional 111,174 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Spirit Airlines in the first quarter worth about $1,227,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.72% of the companys stock. A number of analysts recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Spirit Airlines from $28.00 to $10.00 in a research report on Monday, May 8th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on Spirit Airlines in a research report on Thursday. They set a sell rating for the company. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Spirit Airlines has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $24.14. About Spirit Airlines (Get Rating) Spirit Airlines, Inc engages in the provision of air transportation services. Its operations are concentrated in markets such as South Florida, the Caribbean, Latin America, and the Northeast and Northern Midwest regions of the United States. The firm offers travel insurance, carry-on and checked baggage, online booking, and other services. See Also Receive News & Ratings for Spirit Airlines Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Spirit Airlines and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Spirit Realty Capital (NYSE:SRC Get Rating) in a research note released on Thursday. The brokerage issued a hold rating on the real estate investment trusts stock. Other analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. JMP Securities cut their target price on shares of Spirit Realty Capital from $49.00 to $45.00 and set a market outperform rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 21st. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on shares of Spirit Realty Capital from $48.00 to $45.50 in a research note on Thursday, May 4th. Finally, Oppenheimer reissued a market perform rating and set a $38.00 target price on shares of Spirit Realty Capital in a research note on Tuesday, March 7th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Spirit Realty Capital has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $43.15. Get Spirit Realty Capital alerts: Spirit Realty Capital Price Performance Shares of NYSE SRC traded up $0.01 during trading on Thursday, hitting $38.93. The company had a trading volume of 98,964 shares, compared to its average volume of 787,162. The company has a market cap of $5.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.07, a PEG ratio of 5.93 and a beta of 1.27. Spirit Realty Capital has a 52 week low of $34.31 and a 52 week high of $44.93. The businesss 50-day moving average is $38.47 and its 200 day moving average is $40.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a current ratio of 0.31. Spirit Realty Capital Announces Dividend Spirit Realty Capital ( NYSE:SRC Get Rating ) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 28th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.86 by ($0.38). Spirit Realty Capital had a net margin of 44.28% and a return on equity of 7.42%. The firm had revenue of $183.39 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $184.95 million. Equities research analysts predict that Spirit Realty Capital will post 3.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year. The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 30th will be given a dividend of $0.663 per share. This represents a $2.65 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 29th. Spirit Realty Capitals dividend payout ratio is 116.23%. Institutional Inflows and Outflows A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of SRC. Money Concepts Capital Corp acquired a new position in Spirit Realty Capital during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. CoreCap Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Spirit Realty Capital during the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Householder Group Estate & Retirement Specialist LLC lifted its position in Spirit Realty Capital by 938.4% during the 1st quarter. Householder Group Estate & Retirement Specialist LLC now owns 758 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 685 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Spirit Realty Capital during the 4th quarter worth $34,000. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. acquired a new position in Spirit Realty Capital during the 4th quarter worth $42,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.01% of the companys stock. Spirit Realty Capital Company Profile (Get Rating) Spirit Realty Capital, Inc operates as a holding company, which engages in investments in real estate. Its in-house capabilities include acquisition, portfolio management, asset management, credit research, real estate research, legal, finance, accounting, and capital markets. The company was founded on August 14, 2003, and is headquartered in Dallas, TX. Further Reading Receive News & Ratings for Spirit Realty Capital Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Spirit Realty Capital and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Acuity Brands (NYSE:AYI Get Rating) in a report published on Thursday. The brokerage issued a strong-buy rating on the electronics makers stock. Several other research analysts have also weighed in on AYI. UBS Group lowered their price objective on Acuity Brands from $180.00 to $170.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 5th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Acuity Brands from $193.00 to $180.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 5th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on Acuity Brands from $192.00 to $175.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 5th. Oppenheimer restated an outperform rating and issued a $210.00 target price on shares of Acuity Brands in a research note on Tuesday, April 11th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on Acuity Brands from $201.00 to $173.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 5th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Acuity Brands has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $191.88. Get Acuity Brands alerts: Acuity Brands Trading Down 1.0 % Shares of NYSE:AYI opened at $159.17 on Thursday. The businesss 50 day simple moving average is $165.60 and its 200 day simple moving average is $176.95. The company has a market capitalization of $5.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.95, a P/E/G ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.57. Acuity Brands has a 1 year low of $142.71 and a 1 year high of $202.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 2.34 and a quick ratio of 1.61. Acuity Brands Dividend Announcement Acuity Brands ( NYSE:AYI Get Rating ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 4th. The electronics maker reported $2.79 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.28 by $0.51. Acuity Brands had a return on equity of 22.20% and a net margin of 9.22%. The company had revenue of $943.60 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $959.99 million. On average, research analysts anticipate that Acuity Brands will post 12.79 EPS for the current fiscal year. The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 17th were paid a dividend of $0.13 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 14th. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.33%. Acuity Brandss dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 4.56%. Insider Buying and Selling at Acuity Brands In other Acuity Brands news, Director Laura Oshaughnessy bought 632 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 11th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $158.05 per share, for a total transaction of $99,887.60. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 2,111 shares of the companys stock, valued at $333,643.55. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 1.10% of the companys stock. Hedge Funds Weigh In On Acuity Brands A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of AYI. Morgan Stanley boosted its stake in shares of Acuity Brands by 620.3% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,197,721 shares of the electronics makers stock worth $198,355,000 after buying an additional 1,031,432 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners raised its holdings in shares of Acuity Brands by 354.5% in the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 562,839 shares of the electronics makers stock worth $101,937,000 after purchasing an additional 438,993 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Acuity Brands in the 4th quarter worth approximately $56,734,000. Balyasny Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Acuity Brands by 2,234.6% in the 3rd quarter. Balyasny Asset Management LLC now owns 241,024 shares of the electronics makers stock worth $37,954,000 after purchasing an additional 230,700 shares during the period. Finally, Pzena Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Acuity Brands in the 1st quarter worth approximately $37,284,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.80% of the companys stock. Acuity Brands Company Profile (Get Rating) Acuity Brands, Inc operates as an industrial technology company, which engages in the provision of lighting and building management solutions and services. It operates through the Acuity Brands Lighting and Lighting Controls and Intelligent Spaces Group segments. The company was founded in 2001 and is headquartered in Atlanta, GA. Featured Articles Receive News & Ratings for Acuity Brands Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Acuity Brands and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of EMCOR Group (NYSE:EME Get Rating) in a report issued on Thursday morning. The firm issued a strong-buy rating on the construction companys stock. Separately, DA Davidson lifted their target price on EMCOR Group from $165.00 to $188.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Friday, February 24th. Get EMCOR Group alerts: EMCOR Group Trading Down 1.1 % Shares of EME opened at $164.95 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.34, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $160.99 and a 200 day moving average price of $154.58. EMCOR Group has a 12-month low of $95.64 and a 12-month high of $174.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.13 and a beta of 1.09. EMCOR Group Increases Dividend EMCOR Group ( NYSE:EME Get Rating ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 27th. The construction company reported $2.32 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.49. The business had revenue of $2.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $2.87 billion. EMCOR Group had a net margin of 3.91% and a return on equity of 22.68%. The businesss revenue for the quarter was up 11.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.39 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that EMCOR Group will post 9.74 EPS for the current year. The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 17th were issued a $0.18 dividend. This is a positive change from EMCOR Groups previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.44%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 14th. EMCOR Groups dividend payout ratio is currently 7.91%. Insider Activity at EMCOR Group In other EMCOR Group news, EVP R Kevin Matz sold 13,462 shares of the companys stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.46, for a total transaction of $2,227,422.52. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 191,709 shares in the company, valued at $31,720,171.14. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other EMCOR Group news, CEO Anthony Guzzi sold 11,000 shares of EMCOR Group stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.52, for a total value of $1,820,720.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 257,655 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $42,647,055.60. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP R Kevin Matz sold 13,462 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.46, for a total transaction of $2,227,422.52. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 191,709 shares in the company, valued at $31,720,171.14. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 49,462 shares of company stock worth $8,298,143. Insiders own 1.70% of the companys stock. Institutional Investors Weigh In On EMCOR Group Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Zions Bancorporation N.A. acquired a new position in shares of EMCOR Group in the first quarter worth $26,000. Arlington Partners LLC purchased a new position in EMCOR Group in the first quarter valued at $27,000. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust grew its stake in EMCOR Group by 66.2% during the 1st quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 251 shares of the construction companys stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. purchased a new stake in EMCOR Group during the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, Benjamin Edwards Inc. acquired a new stake in EMCOR Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. 93.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors. About EMCOR Group (Get Rating) EMCOR Group, Inc engages in the provision of electrical and mechanical construction, and facilities services. It operates through the following segments: United States Electrical Construction and Facilities Services, United States Mechanical Construction and Facilities Services, United States Building Services, United States Industrial Services, and United Kingdom Building Services. Featured Stories Receive News & Ratings for EMCOR Group Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for EMCOR Group and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of AerCap (NYSE:AER Get Rating) in a research note issued to investors on Thursday. The firm issued a buy rating on the financial services providers stock. A number of other analysts have also recently issued reports on AER. Barclays boosted their target price on AerCap from $77.00 to $78.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 3rd. Citigroup started coverage on AerCap in a research report on Monday, May 15th. They issued a buy rating and a $71.00 target price on the stock. Susquehanna dropped their price target on AerCap from $75.00 to $70.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on AerCap in a research report on Thursday, March 30th. They issued a buy rating and a $74.00 target price on the stock. Finally, TheStreet raised AerCap from a c rating to a b- rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 2nd. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, AerCap currently has an average rating of Buy and a consensus price target of $72.00. Get AerCap alerts: AerCap Price Performance Shares of NYSE:AER opened at $58.63 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $13.93 billion, a PE ratio of 8.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 1.99. The businesss fifty day moving average price is $54.95 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $58.45. AerCap has a one year low of $37.20 and a one year high of $66.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.87, a quick ratio of 0.28 and a current ratio of 0.28. Institutional Investors Weigh In On AerCap AerCap ( NYSE:AER Get Rating ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 2nd. The financial services provider reported $2.34 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $2.00 by $0.34. AerCap had a net margin of 24.08% and a return on equity of 14.03%. The company had revenue of $1.87 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.77 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.23 EPS. The companys quarterly revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that AerCap will post 8.72 EPS for the current fiscal year. A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in AER. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of AerCap by 33.3% during the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 349,165 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $19,634,000 after purchasing an additional 87,233 shares during the period. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of AerCap by 77.6% in the first quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 1,744,841 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $98,110,000 after purchasing an additional 762,199 shares in the last quarter. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP bought a new stake in shares of AerCap in the first quarter valued at about $15,303,000. Seven Grand Managers LLC bought a new stake in AerCap during the first quarter worth about $4,400,000. Finally, State Street Corp raised its stake in AerCap by 11.2% in the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,807,501 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $157,866,000 after buying an additional 283,101 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 98.17% of the companys stock. AerCap Company Profile (Get Rating) AerCap Holdings NV engages in the leasing, financing, sales, and management of commercial flight equipment. The company was founded in 1995 and is headquartered in Dublin, Ireland. Further Reading Receive News & Ratings for AerCap Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for AerCap and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of B&G Foods (NYSE:BGS Get Rating) in a research report report published on Thursday. The firm issued a hold rating on the stock. BGS has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of B&G Foods from $15.00 to $16.00 in a report on Monday, May 8th. TheStreet raised shares of B&G Foods from a d+ rating to a c- rating in a report on Friday, March 24th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and five have issued a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $15.75. Get B&G Foods alerts: B&G Foods Trading Down 1.1 % Shares of B&G Foods stock opened at $13.09 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $945.23 million, a P/E ratio of -29.75 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 4.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.65. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $15.10 and a 200 day simple moving average of $13.91. B&G Foods has a 12-month low of $10.91 and a 12-month high of $26.13. B&G Foods Announces Dividend B&G Foods ( NYSE:BGS Get Rating ) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 4th. The company reported $0.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $0.26 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $511.81 million during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $528.18 million. B&G Foods had a negative net margin of 1.48% and a positive return on equity of 8.59%. The firms revenue for the quarter was down 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.34 EPS. Research analysts expect that B&G Foods will post 1.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year. The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 30th will be paid a $0.19 dividend. This represents a $0.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 29th. B&G Foodss dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -172.73%. Insider Activity In other news, CFO Bruce C. Wacha sold 12,500 shares of the firms stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $14.81, for a total value of $185,125.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 46,491 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $688,531.71. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 2.80% of the companys stock. Institutional Inflows and Outflows Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. ExodusPoint Capital Management LP bought a new position in B&G Foods during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $194,000. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS boosted its stake in B&G Foods by 14.0% during the 4th quarter. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS now owns 764,910 shares of the companys stock worth $8,529,000 after acquiring an additional 93,810 shares during the last quarter. Fox Run Management L.L.C. bought a new position in B&G Foods during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $235,000. Daymark Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in B&G Foods during the 4th quarter worth approximately $157,000. Finally, Triumph Capital Management raised its holdings in B&G Foods by 229.0% during the 4th quarter. Triumph Capital Management now owns 99,752 shares of the companys stock worth $1,112,000 after buying an additional 69,431 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 63.71% of the companys stock. B&G Foods Company Profile (Get Rating) B&G Foods, Inc is a holding company, which engages in the manufacture, sale, and distribution of shelf-stable frozen food, and household products in the U.S., Canada, and Puerto Rico. Its products include frozen and canned vegetables, hot cereals, fruit spreads, canned meats and beans, bagel chips, spices, seasonings, hot sauces, and wine vinegar. Featured Stories Receive News & Ratings for B&G Foods Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for B&G Foods and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Tenet Healthcare (NYSE:THC Get Rating) in a report published on Thursday. The firm issued a buy rating on the stock. Several other analysts also recently commented on THC. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Tenet Healthcare from $74.00 to $84.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 26th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Tenet Healthcare from $70.00 to $105.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. began coverage on shares of Tenet Healthcare in a research note on Wednesday, April 19th. They issued an overweight rating and a $72.00 target price for the company. Stephens lifted their price objective on shares of Tenet Healthcare from $64.00 to $77.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 26th. Finally, Raymond James lifted their price objective on shares of Tenet Healthcare from $72.00 to $85.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of Buy and a consensus target price of $75.76. Get Tenet Healthcare alerts: Tenet Healthcare Trading Down 0.7 % Shares of NYSE:THC traded down $0.51 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $72.37. The stock had a trading volume of 117,968 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,567,566. The firm has a market cap of $7.38 billion, a PE ratio of 19.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.78 and a beta of 2.18. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $64.03 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $55.19. The company has a current ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.79. Tenet Healthcare has a twelve month low of $36.69 and a twelve month high of $74.10. Insider Transactions at Tenet Healthcare Tenet Healthcare ( NYSE:THC Get Rating ) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 25th. The company reported $1.42 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.16 by $0.26. The firm had revenue of $5.02 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.85 billion. Tenet Healthcare had a net margin of 2.13% and a return on equity of 28.65%. The businesss quarterly revenue was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.93 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Tenet Healthcare will post 5.69 EPS for the current fiscal year. In other news, Director Tammy Romo sold 7,000 shares of the companys stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.95, for a total transaction of $426,650.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 57,598 shares of the companys stock, valued at $3,510,598.10. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Tenet Healthcare news, Director Tammy Romo sold 7,000 shares of the companys stock in a transaction on Friday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.95, for a total value of $426,650.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 57,598 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,510,598.10. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Thomas W. Arnst sold 825 shares of the companys stock in a transaction on Monday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.00, for a total value of $50,325.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 22,778 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $1,389,458. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.30% of the stock is owned by insiders. Institutional Inflows and Outflows Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its stake in Tenet Healthcare by 33.9% in the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 624 shares of the companys stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 158 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE raised its holdings in shares of Tenet Healthcare by 14.6% in the 1st quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,428 shares of the companys stock valued at $123,000 after acquiring an additional 182 shares in the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its holdings in shares of Tenet Healthcare by 46.3% during the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 629 shares of the companys stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 199 shares in the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System raised its holdings in shares of Tenet Healthcare by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 28,900 shares of the companys stock valued at $1,410,000 after buying an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its holdings in shares of Tenet Healthcare by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 28,800 shares of the companys stock valued at $1,405,000 after buying an additional 245 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.14% of the companys stock. Tenet Healthcare Company Profile (Get Rating) Tenet Healthcare Corp. engages in the provision of healthcare services. It operates through the following segments: Hospital Operations and Other, Ambulatory Care, and Conifer. The Hospital Operations and Other segment is composed of acute care hospitals, ancillary outpatient facilities, urgent care centers, micro hospitals and physician practices. Recommended Stories Receive News & Ratings for Tenet Healthcare Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Tenet Healthcare and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Teradata (NYSE:TDC Get Rating) in a research report sent to investors on Thursday morning. The brokerage issued a strong-buy rating on the technology companys stock. Other research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Craig Hallum upped their price objective on Teradata from $48.00 to $50.00 in a research report on Friday, May 5th. 92 Resources reaffirmed a maintains rating on shares of Teradata in a research report on Friday, April 28th. Barclays upped their price objective on Teradata from $37.00 to $41.00 in a research report on Friday, May 5th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Teradata from $37.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a sector perform rating in a report on Tuesday, February 14th. Finally, TheStreet upgraded Teradata from a c rating to a b- rating in a report on Thursday, May 4th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $47.44. Get Teradata alerts: Teradata Trading Up 0.3 % NYSE:TDC traded up $0.15 on Thursday, reaching $46.16. The companys stock had a trading volume of 58,983 shares, compared to its average volume of 868,588. Teradata has a 1-year low of $28.65 and a 1-year high of $46.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.43, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.01. The firm has a market cap of $4.67 billion, a PE ratio of 127.81, a PEG ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 0.92. The businesss 50-day moving average price is $40.64 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $36.98. Insider Buying and Selling at Teradata Institutional Investors Weigh In On Teradata In other Teradata news, insider Kathleen R. Cullen-Cote sold 24,400 shares of the companys stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.78, for a total value of $995,032.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 121,489 shares in the company, valued at $4,954,321.42. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link . In other news, insider Kathleen R. Cullen-Cote sold 24,400 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.78, for a total transaction of $995,032.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 121,489 shares in the company, valued at $4,954,321.42. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website . Also, CFO Claire Bramley sold 4,528 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.21, for a total value of $200,182.88. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 120,920 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,345,873.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here . Corporate insiders own 0.92% of the companys stock. A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in TDC. US Bancorp DE boosted its holdings in shares of Teradata by 10.9% in the 1st quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 2,575 shares of the technology companys stock valued at $104,000 after purchasing an additional 253 shares in the last quarter. Xponance Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Teradata by 1.4% in the 1st quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 18,994 shares of the technology companys stock valued at $765,000 after purchasing an additional 265 shares in the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Teradata by 40.5% in the 1st quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 1,031 shares of the technology companys stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 297 shares in the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Teradata by 14.5% in the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 2,602 shares of the technology companys stock valued at $88,000 after purchasing an additional 329 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Teradata by 1.5% in the 1st quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 23,220 shares of the technology companys stock valued at $935,000 after purchasing an additional 334 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.92% of the companys stock. Teradata Company Profile (Get Rating) Teradata Corp. is a cloud data analytics company which is built for a multi-cloud reality and solving data challenges at scale. It operates through the following geographical segments: Americas, EMEA, and APJ. The company was founded on July 13, 1979, and is headquartered in San Diego, CA. See Also Receive News & Ratings for Teradata Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Teradata and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Toll Brothers (NYSE:TOL Get Rating) will be posting its quarterly earnings results after the market closes on Tuesday, May 23rd. Analysts expect Toll Brothers to post earnings of $1.89 per share for the quarter. Persons that are interested in participating in the companys earnings conference call can do so using this link. Toll Brothers (NYSE:TOL Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 22nd. The construction company reported $1.70 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $1.37 by $0.33. The company had revenue of $1.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.74 billion. Toll Brothers had a net margin of 12.92% and a return on equity of 21.02%. The firms revenue for the quarter was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.24 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect Toll Brothers to post $9 EPS for the current fiscal year and $8 EPS for the next fiscal year. Get Toll Brothers alerts: Toll Brothers Stock Performance Shares of Toll Brothers stock opened at $66.36 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $7.35 billion, a PE ratio of 5.76, a P/E/G ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 5.59. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $61.12 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $55.67. Toll Brothers has a one year low of $39.53 and a one year high of $67.54. Toll Brothers Increases Dividend Analyst Ratings Changes The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 21st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 6th were issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 5th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.27%. This is an increase from Toll Brotherss previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. Toll Brotherss dividend payout ratio is 7.29%. Several research firms have recently issued reports on TOL. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Toll Brothers from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Thursday, February 23rd. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Toll Brothers from $65.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Thursday, February 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a sector perform rating and issued a $55.00 price target on shares of Toll Brothers in a report on Thursday, February 23rd. Raymond James increased their price target on shares of Toll Brothers from $61.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Thursday, February 23rd. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Toll Brothers from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report on Saturday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the companys stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $60.09. Insider Buying and Selling In related news, Director Carl B. Marbach sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.69, for a total transaction of $586,900.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 65,066 shares of the companys stock, valued at $3,818,723.54. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Carl B. Marbach sold 10,000 shares of the firms stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.69, for a total value of $586,900.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 65,066 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,818,723.54. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Christine Garvey sold 2,980 shares of the firms stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.13, for a total value of $179,187.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 8,284 shares in the company, valued at $498,116.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 14,105 shares of company stock valued at $831,824 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.79% of the companys stock. Institutional Inflows and Outflows A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Advisory Services Network LLC raised its stake in shares of Toll Brothers by 215.0% in the 1st quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC now owns 7,405 shares of the construction companys stock worth $445,000 after buying an additional 5,054 shares in the last quarter. Alaethes Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Toll Brothers during the first quarter worth $1,138,000. Atlas Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Toll Brothers by 6,002.9% during the first quarter. Atlas Capital Advisors LLC now owns 6,347 shares of the construction companys stock worth $381,000 after purchasing an additional 6,243 shares during the period. Colony Group LLC raised its position in shares of Toll Brothers by 142.7% during the first quarter. Colony Group LLC now owns 57,893 shares of the construction companys stock worth $3,475,000 after purchasing an additional 34,037 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Toll Brothers by 0.8% during the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,684,205 shares of the construction companys stock worth $221,163,000 after purchasing an additional 30,525 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.74% of the companys stock. Toll Brothers Company Profile (Get Rating) Toll Brothers, Inc engages in the design, building, marketing, and arranging of financing for detached and attached homes in residential communities. It operates through the following segments: Traditional Home Building and City Living. The Traditional Home Building segment builds and sells homes for detached and attached homes in luxury residential communities in affluent suburban markets and caters to move-up, empty-nester, active-adult, age-qualified, and second-home buyers. Featured Stories Receive News & Ratings for Toll Brothers Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Toll Brothers and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Premium Brands (TSE: PBH) recently received a number of ratings updates from brokerages and research firms: 5/16/2023 Premium Brands had its price target lowered by analysts at National Bankshares, Inc. from C$124.00 to C$121.00. They now have an outperform rating on the stock. 5/16/2023 Premium Brands had its price target raised by analysts at TD Securities from C$120.00 to C$125.00. They now have a buy rating on the stock. 5/16/2023 Premium Brands had its price target raised by analysts at CIBC from C$98.00 to C$99.00. 5/1/2023 Premium Brands had its price target raised by analysts at Scotiabank from C$114.00 to C$120.00. Premium Brands Trading Up 1.3 % Shares of PBH traded up C$1.28 during trading hours on Monday, hitting C$102.75. 73,516 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 54,196. Premium Brands Holdings Co. has a 1-year low of C$77.36 and a 1-year high of C$104.50. The business has a fifty day moving average of C$99.26 and a 200-day moving average of C$92.27. The company has a current ratio of 2.49, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 147.06. The firm has a market capitalization of C$4.59 billion, a PE ratio of 28.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 0.97. Get Premium Brands Holdings Co alerts: Premium Brands (TSE:PBH Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 16th. The company reported C$1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of C$1.35 by C($0.16). The firm had revenue of C$1.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of C$1.55 billion. Premium Brands had a return on equity of 8.10% and a net margin of 2.31%. Analysts expect that Premium Brands Holdings Co. will post 4.8905283 EPS for the current year. Premium Brands Dividend Announcement The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.00%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 29th. Premium Brandss dividend payout ratio is 86.27%. Premium Brands Holdings Corporation, through its subsidiaries, manufactures and distributes food products primarily in Canada and the United States. It operates in two segments, Specialty Foods and Premium Food Distribution. The company provides meat products and snacks, deli products, beef jerky and halal, sandwiches, pastries, specialty and gourmet products, salads and kettle products, entrees, panini, wraps, subs, hamburgers, burgers, muffins, breads, pastas, and baking and sushi products, as well as processed meat products and ready-to-eat meals. See Also Receive News & Ratings for Premium Brands Holdings Co Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Premium Brands Holdings Co and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. The biggest headline in the news space towards the end of last week was that the Reserve Bank of India would start withdrawing Rs 2,000 currency notes from May 23. People will have time till September 30 either to exchange or deposit these bills at bank branches or select RBI offices, though they will continue to be a legal tender. The Rs 2,000-denomination notes were introduced to remonetise the system after the government banned the Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes in November 2016 to check a surge in fake currencies. But, why did the RBI choose to withdraw these bills? There could be a few possible reasons. First, it makes sense to terminate the denomination that isn't in use much compared to other denominations. The total value of these banknotes has declined from Rs 6.73 lakh crore at its peak on March 31, 2018, with 37.3 percent of notes in circulation, to Rs 3.62 lakh crore, constituting only 10.8 percent of notes in circulation on March 31, 2023, shows RBI data. As a percentage of total currency in circulation, these notes have bene declining over the years. Hence, it was only logical to withdraw these notes sooner than later. Second, the Rs 2,000 notes created a headache for the government and tax authorities as illegal elements used these bills widely. Going by the data from the income tax department, these notes have constituted a major chunk of the black money seized in recent years. In November 2019, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman told Parliament that 43.22 percent of unaccounted cash seized in the financial year 2020 was in the form of Rs 2,000 notes. In the financial year 2018, the Rs 2,000 note made up 67.91 percent of unaccounted cash, while the figure was 65.93 percent for FY19. Consolidated data is not available for 2020-2022 but the trend is likely to be largely in line with the previous years. Third, Fake currency rackets loved the Rs 2000 bills. The Rs 2,000 notes were used rampantly by the fake currency mafia ever since they were introduced. According to this Business Standard report, a major chunk of the fake currencies seized in the last three years was in Rs 2,000 denominations. The report says that in 2021, the face value of seized fake notes of the Rs 2,000 denomination stood at Rs 4,84,78,000 crore. Also, as many as 2,44,834 lakh fake notes of Rs 2,000 in 2020 and 90,566,000 notes were seized in 2019. This probably convinced the government that there is a looming risk with continuing these high-value bills. The Rs 2,000 notes were stopped from printing way back in 2019, which would mean that these currency notes would have gone out of circulation in the next few years anyway. But, possibly, the government and the RBI wanted to give the black money holders a jolt by making the sudden announcement. Read: With his Rs 2,000 knock, Shaktikanta Das deals a body blow to black-money hoarders Black money holders with countless unaccounted Rs 2,000 currency notes will get exposed if they choose to deposit the money in bank branches in one go. But certainly this category will find a work around creating challenges for the tax department. There is a possibility that the black money hoarders will try to split the stock into smaller quantities and deposit in multiple accounts to escape the taxman's lens. However, in the near term, the withdrawal of Rs 2,000 notes will help to curb the black money menace and, at least temporarily, will weaken the fake currency lobby. Banking Central is a weekly column that keeps a close watch and connects the dots about the sector's most important events for readers. The Reserve Bank of Indias (RBI) decision to withdraw banknotes of Rs 2,000 denomination from circulation is likely to increase the liquidity in the banking system, which may lead to fall in short-term debt instruments rates, experts said. On a net basis, it is likely that deposits increase by Rs 1.5-2 lakh crore. Durable liquidity could increase by around Rs1 lakh crore depending on the behaviour of depositors. This should ease the credit-deposit ratio across banks, said Upasna Bhardwaj, chief economist, Kotak Mahindra Bank. Madhavi Arora, lead economist at financial advisory firm Emkay Global, said most Rs 2,000 notes are likely to be initially deposited with banks and will improve the deposit base and, thus, the system liquidity by as much as Rs 1.4-1.6 lakh crore. This is because, as of March 31, 2023, Rs 2,000 notes in circulation constituted Rs 3.62 lakh crore or 10.8 percent of notes in circulation compared to Rs 6.73 lakh crore at its peak in March 2018. So, considering the return of these funds to the banking system, the deposit base will increase sharply as the RBI has urged people to either exchange or deposit such notes in bank accounts or at branches till September 30. Earlier on May 22, RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das during an interaction with reporters said they expects most of the Rs 2,000 notes to return to the banking system by September 30. Given this, liquidity will increase substantially, dealers said. Currently, liquidity in the banking system is in surplus of around Rs 93,461.40 crore as on May 21, according to the money market operation as on that date. Also read: RBI will ensure adequate liquidity in system, says governor Shaktikanta Das Impact on rates The rates or yields on the short-term debt instruments such as commercial papers, certificates of deposit, treasury bills and government securities, among others, will ease once the liquidity in the banking system rises, dealers said. Treasury dealers expect yields to ease 15-20 basis points (bps) in the coming months. One basis point is one-hundredth of a percentage point. In the last few weeks, yields on the short-term debt instruments eased after the RBI at its April monetary policy meeting surprised with an unexpected rate pause. Since the RBIs April monetary policy, yields on papers rated AA and below have fallen 18-34 bps across maturities. Similarly, yields have eased by 15-25 bps on AAA-rated papers. JSW Steel on May 22 said it has reached an in-principle agreement with JFE Steel to establish a 50:50 joint venture company (JV) to manufacture cold-rolled grain-oriented (CRGO) electrical steel in India. The agreement comes after a wait of two years. The two companies first entered into a memorandum of understanding (MoU) in May 2021 to conduct a joint feasibility study. The feasibility study has since been completed and both JSW Steel and JFE Steel have inprinciple reached an agreement to establish a 50:50 joint venture company. The JV shall be able to manufacture the entire range of CRGO products at its proposed facilities at Vijayanagar, Karnataka, India, JSW Steel said in a statement. JSW Steel said the JV will be the first company to produce CRGO products with its entire chain of manufacturing processes in India. JFE Steel holds a 15 percent equity stake in JSW Steel. In 2012, JFE Steel had entered into an agreement with JSW Steel to provide technology for the production of non-grain-oriented electrical steel products, which has enabled JSW to become Indias leading supplier in this field. The latest agreement extends to cold-rolled grain-oriented electrical steel. CRGO allows excellent magnetic properties in a single (rolling) direction making it ideal for power transformers while nongrain-oriented electrical steel exhibits magnetic properties that are largely uniform in all directions, and has applications in iron cores of generators, motors, appliances, etc. The finalisation of the JV, JSW Steel said, will be subject to the execution of definitive agreements and necessary regulatory approvals. In an interview with Moneycontrol on May 19, Jayant Acharya, joint managing director and chief executive officer (CEO) for the company said, This particular technology is a licensed technology and there are very few steel producers which have that. So JFE Steel has the technology and they would be licensing it to us. In a big-ticket deal which is part of the RBI's requirement for the HDFC-HDFC Bank merger, a consortium of BPEA EQT, formerly Baring PE Asia, Chrys Capital and Faering Capital has emerged as the frontrunner to pick up a majority stake in education loan provider HDFC Credila, multiple industry sources have told Moneycontrol. In April, ahead of the merger with HDFC Bank, the banking regulator directed HDFC to reduce its stake in subsidiary HDFC Credila to 10 percent within two years without onboarding new customers. Established in 2006, HDFC Credila is India's first dedicated education loan company. " The transaction has received a lot of interest from several PE suitors. Currently, the combine of BPEA EQT, Chrys Capital and Faering Capital has an edge over others and is keen to join hands and acquire a combined 90 percent stake in HDFC Credila, said one of the persons mentioned above. If discussions progress well, a deal is likely to be signed in the next few weeks." Two other persons also confirmed the development. "There is too much reliance on the IT segment for Baring PE Asia and they are keen to grow big in other sectors as well like financial services and pharma and healthcare," one of them said. A fourth person told Moneycontrol that HDFC was expecting a valuation of around Rs 10,000 crore for Credila, which, if sealed, would make the transaction one of the biggest by India Inc in 2023. All four persons spoke to Moneycontrol on the condition of anonymity. An email query sent to HDFC remained unanswered at the time of publishing this article. EQT declined to comment. Moneycontrol has sent reminders and is awaiting a response from Chrys Capital and Faering Capital. This article will be updated when we hear from them. On May 2, 2023, news agency Bloomberg reported that HDFC had picked investment bank Jefferies for the sale process of HDFC Credila. Recently, HDFC CEO Keki Mistry said the parent had received a lot of interest for a stake buy Credila and that the firm was likely to take a call by June. We are willing to look at reducing our stake in the company from 100 percent to 10 percent and a variety of people are calling and making bids, so we are still collating all that, Mistry said in an investor call on HDFC's Q4 and FY 23 results. Following EQT's acquisition of Baring PE Asia in 2022, BPEA was integrated with the EQT platform and is now known as BPEA EQT, operating as EQT's private equity business line alongside EQT's infrastructure and real estate businesses in Asia. It also holds a minority stake in private sector lender RBL Bank. According to its website, in the financial services space, Chrys Capital backs the likes of Bandhan Mutual Fund, Hero Fin Corp and Varthana, which provides loans and services to affordable private schools in India. Faering Capital's recent investments include Digit Insurance, Finova Capital and WheelsEMI and others. Credila The saga and stats In November 2009, HDFC announced the acquisition of a 41 percent stake in HDFC Credila Financial Services, marking its entry into the segment. HDFC purchased the 41 percent equity from DSP Merrill Lynch Capital Ltd, an Indian subsidiary of global financial services major Merrill Lynch. Then in December 2019, the mortgage lender took complete control by acquiring a 9.12 percent stake from the promoter Bohora family, valuing the entire company at Rs 4,331 crore. According to reports, HDFC Credila has extended loans to 1.2 lakh customers. In FY23, its gross loan assets grew 73 percent year on year to Rs 15,298 crore, with PAT at Rs 276 crore and a net interest margin of 4 percent. According to its website, the firm has funded Indian students going to 50 plus countries, more than 3,400 institutes and studying 1,800 different courses. "Unlike banks, which typically charge a fixed rate for a certain category of students, HDFC Credila has a range of rates depending on the institute, co-borrower details, collateral security offered and the academic background of the student," the website says. Credila provides an education loan approval letter even before the student gets confirmed admission with the real loan getting disbursed later, the website adds. According to a February 10 report by Care Ratings, non-banking finance companies (NBFCs) almost doubled their market share in retail education loans (edu retail) in the last two years from 9.9 percent in September 2020 to 18.6 percent in September 2022. Retail education loan AUM of CARE-rated NBFCs increased from Rs 7,738 crore as on September 2020 to Rs 17,877 crore as on September 2022. "The growth rate is expected to remain strong during FY23 aided by an improved demand scenario for overseas education among Indian students. Though growth rates may moderate in FY24 due to the base effect, evolving changes in the industry, especially on the demand side, are likely to support double-digit AUM growth," the report added. The board of Vedanta , the mining major led by billionaire Anil Agarwal, is scheduled to meet on May 22 to deliberate on and approve the company's first interim dividend for FY 24. As stated in a regulatory filing made on May 18, Vedanta has set May 30 as the record date for the dividend, should it be declared. On April 6, the Mumbai-based company made an announcement regarding an interim dividend of Rs 20.50 per share, resulting in a total dividend payout of Rs 101.50 per share for FY23. Meanwhile, Vedanta Resources' Ltd (VRL) is reportedly in talks with Deutsche Bank and other global lenders, including JPMorgan and Barclays, to raise a $500-600 million loan after delays in securing funds from Farallon Capital Management to meet its obligations later this month. The company aims to borrow the money via its Zinc International unit. A $ 500 million repayment is due on a 7. 125 percent bond that matures on May 31. Last week, Vedanta Limited reported a 56.3 percent year-on-year decline in profit at Rs 2,634 crore in the March quarter against Rs 6,027 crore in the same quarter of the previous fiscal. Net profit attributable to owners of the company fell over 67 percent YoY to Rs 1,881 crore. Revenue, too, dropped 5.4 percent to Rs 37,225 crore from Rs 39,342 crore in Q4 FY22. On the operating front, the company's EBITDA decreased 33.4 percent to Rs 8,754 crore. USER CONSENT We at moneycontrol use cookies and other tracking technologies to assist you with navigation and determine your location. We also capture cookies to obtain your feedback, analyse your use of our products and services and provide content from third parties. By clicking on 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies and other tracking technologies. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy. *We collect cookies for the functioning of our website and to give you the best experience. This includes some essential cookies. Cookies from third parties which may be used for personalization and determining your location. By clicking 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies to enhance your personalized experience on our site. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy *I agree to the updated privacy policy and I warrant that I am above 16 years of age I agree to the processing of my personal data for the purpose of personalised recommendations on financial and similar products offered by MoneyControl I agree personalized advertisements and any kind of remarketing/retargeting on other third party websites I agree to receive direct marketing communications via Emails and SMS Please select (*) all mandatory conditions to continue. I Accept India will withdraw its highest denomination currency note from circulation, the central bank said on Friday. The 2000-rupee note, introduced into circulation in 2016, will remain legal tender but citizens have been asked to deposit or exchange these notes by Sept. 30, 2023. The decision is reminiscent of a shock move in 2016 when the Narendra Modi-led government had withdrawn 86% of the economy's currency in circulation overnight. This time, however, the move is expected to be less disruptive as a lower value of notes is being withdrawn over a longer period of time, according to analysts and economists. WHY DID THE GOVERNMENT WITHDRAW 2000-RUPEE NOTES? When 2000-rupee notes were introduced in 2016 they were intended to replenish the Indian economy's currency in circulation quickly after demonetisation. However, the central bank has frequently said that it wants to reduce high value notes in circulation and had stopped printing 2000-rupee notes over the past four years. "This denomination is not commonly used for transactions," the Reserve Bank of India said in its communication while explaining the decision to withdraw these notes. WHY NOW? While the government and the central bank did not specify the reason for the timing of the move, analysts point out that it comes ahead of state and general elections in the country when cash usage typically spikes. "Making such a move ahead of the general elections is a wise decision," said Rupa Rege Nitsure, group chief economist at L&T Finance Holdings. "People who have been using these notes as a store of value may face inconvenience," she said. WILL THIS HURT ECONOMIC GROWTH? The value of 2000-rupee notes in circulation is 3.62 trillion Indian rupees ($44.27 billion). This is about 10.8% of the currency in circulation. "This withdrawal will not create any big disruption, as the notes of smaller quantity are available in sufficient quantity," said Nitsure. "Also in the past 6-7 years, the scope of digital transactions and e-commerce has expanded significantly." But small businesses and cash-oriented sectors such as agriculture and construction could see inconvenience in the near term, said Yuvika Singhal, economist at QuantEco Research. To the extent that people holding these notes chose to make purchases with them rather than deposit them in bank accounts, there could be some spurt in discretionary purchases such as gold, said Singhal. HOW WILL IT AFFECT BANKS? As the government has asked people to deposit or exchange the notes for smaller denominations by Sept. 30, bank deposits will rise. This comes at a time when deposit growth is lagging bank credit growth. This will ease the pressure on deposit rate hikes, said Karthik Srinivasan, group head - financial sector ratings at rating agency ICRA Ltd. Banking system liquidity will also improve. "Since all the 2000-rupee notes will come back in the banking system, we will see a reduction in cash in circulation and that will in turn help improve banking system liquidity," said Madhavi Arora, economist at Emkay Global Financial Services. WHAT ARE THE IMPLICATIONS FOR BOND MARKETS? Improved banking system liquidity and an inflow of deposits into banks could mean that short-term interest rates in the market drop as these funds get invested in shorter-term government securities, said Srinivasan. The Reserve Bank of Indias planned withdrawal of Rs 2,000 banknotes will help the ecosystem fight corruption, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Partys National Spokesperson for Economic Affairs said. Prime Minister Narendra Modijis vision is that we have to eradicate corruption completely, Gopal Krishna Agarwal told Moneycontrol in an interview. Many steps have been taken by the prime minister, and this is part of the governments initiative of eradicating corruption and strengthening the ecosystem to fight it. On May 19, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) announced that it will be withdrawing the Rs 2,000 banknote, and gave the public until September 30 to either exchange or deposit the currency with them in bank branches. However, the note, first introduced after demonetisation, will continue to be legal tender. Same impact as demonitisation 2016? The move reminded several of the demonetisation of November 2016, when Prime Minister Modi banned Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes overnight in a bid to curb black money. Unlike demonetisation, which took a large chunk of currency out of the economy, the withdrawal of Rs 2,000 notes wont impact the economy as it was not used much in transactions, Agarwal said. I dont think it will have much impact on the economy, but will strengthen the governments ability to eradicate corruption. Also, with more and more digital transactions happening, large denomination currency is not required now, he added. Also read: RBIs Rs 2,000 note withdrawal to have little impact on economy Establishing an audit trail He further said that the governments recent move to raise the tax collected at source (TCS) for certain overseas transactions was in line with its plans to establish an audit trail for economic activities. This would lessen tax evasion and also curb corruption, he added. Our government wants to establish a complete audit trail of every transaction. We have done that with the implementation of GST, virtual (tax) assessment, direct benefit transfers, digital transactions, etc. However, the government has noted the peoples demand on TCS and clarified that small ticket spending wont be taxed, Agarwal explained. Credit / debit card spends abroad were brought under the ambit of the Liberalised Remittance Scheme (LRS), whereby all such spends would attract a TCS of 20 percent. Following widespread backlash, the finance ministry exempted international spends of up to Rs 7 lakh from TCS. International card spends were brought under LRS on May 16, and the 20 percent TCS will kick in from July 1. Until then, TCS of 5 percent will apply for such spends above Rs 7 lakh. Also read: Former RBI Deputy Governor Gandhi sees no need for notes larger than Rs 500 Balanced tax collection On overall tax collections, the BJP spokesperson said that a balance needs to be struck. Government has to strike a balance between tax harassment and tax collection, Agarwal said. At times, bureaucrats and administrative people, in their overzealousness, cause harassment. Going ahead, the use of analytical tools and artificial intelligence in establishing audit trails will help reduce tax harassment, he added. The rapid alignment of Indian exports with world exports in recent years shows that Make in India and Atmanirbhar Bharat are helping India become a key supplier to the world, an article in the Reserve Bank of Indias (RBI) May 2023 bulletin has said. According to the article titled `Exploring Indias export potential through the lens of export similarity indices this has happened on the back of Indias increasing specialisation and competitiveness, which has helped it ride the current trend of diversification of supply chains. Indias changing export structure is visible at the commodity level. The exports of commodities such as engineering goods, chemicals, drugs, pharma, rice, and electronics has increased, while exports of gems and jewellery, and other labour-intensive items such as textiles, leather, and leather products have declined, the article notes. This is in line with the shifting pattern in international merchandise trade, characterised by a gradual dip in the share of textiles, clothing, hides and skins over the decades, the article states. India on the path to achieve developed country status The article says that at 0.64, Indias Export Similarity Index (ESI) for merchandise exports is the highest, along with the US, which is Indias top export destination. The ESI measures the overlap of countries export baskets and their export competitiveness. Currently, around 60 percent of Indias exports are similar to that of the G7, and there exists further scope for convergence. Indias merchandise export structure is most similar to that of the US (0.64), followed by the UK (0.62), the article notes. India has progressed over the years as its index value has improved from 0.50 in 2002 to 0.67 (merchandise) , and from 0.6 in 2005 to 0.65 (services) in 2021, the article says. The shares of Godawari Power & Ispat slumped 5 percent in the morning trade on May 22, reacting to a disappointing performance in the March quarter of the financial year 2022-23. The companys consolidated revenue from operations declined to Rs 1,316.59 crore from Rs 1,437.93 crore in the year-ago quarter last year. Profit from continuing operations came in at Rs 169.57 crore in the March quarter, down from Rs 406.52 crore in the year-ago period, the company said on May 20. Godawari Powers iron ore mining volumes were down 15 percent YoY, while iron ore pellet production increased 8 percent to 6,62,200 MT. Iron ore pellet sales increased to 5,73,278 MT, up 13 percent YoY, while pellet and sponge realisation increased by 19 percent and 6 percent quarter on quarter to Rs 9,883 per ton and Rs 33,707 per ton but dropped 17 percent and 3 percent, respectively, from the year-ago period. Catch up on all LIVE stock market updates here The company commissioned 30MW solar power plant at Bemetara on March 29, 2023 and has sought environmental approval from the environment, forest and climate change ministry to expand in ore mining capacity of Ari Dongri mines, the company said in its investor presentation. The company said World Steel Association (WSA) expects the demand to increase by 2.3 percent in 2023 and another 1.7 percent in 2024, the company said. The demand would support the prices at current levels, it said. Demand scenario Global iron ore prices touched $133 a ton in mid-March after the reopening of China's economy. However, sharp increase in supplies by global majors and lower-than-expected demand in China has led to a correction to $108 per ton. On the domestic front, India remains one of the bright spots globally for steel demand, it said. WSA forecasts India's steel demand to increase by 7.3 percent in 2023. The governments push for infrastructure with 33 percent increase in capital outlay in addition to 75 percent increased outlay for railways augurs well for steel demand, especially long steel products. Recently, iron ore prices have risen to Rs 4,010 from Rs 3,660 a ton in January 2023. At 11.01 am, Godawari Power & Ispat stock was quoting at Rs 369.10, down 3.94 percent. Billionaire Anil Agarwal-led Vedanta Ltd on May 22 said that its board has approved the first interim dividend for the financial year 2023-2024 of Rs 18.50 per share. "...The Board of Directors of the Company through resolution passed by circulation on Monday, May 22, 2023 have approved First Interim Dividend of Rs 18.50 per equity share i.e. 1850% on face value of rupee 1 per share for the Financial Year 2023-24 amounting to Rs 6,877 crore," Vedanta said in a regulatory filing. The record date for the purpose of payment of dividend is Tuesday, May 30, 2023, the mining and metals company further stated. Ahead of the announcement, shares of Vedanta closed 1.90 percent to hit the day's high of Rs 287.35 apiece on May 22 on the BSE. On April 6, the Mumbai-based company made an announcement regarding an interim dividend of Rs 20.50 per share, resulting in a total dividend payout of Rs 101.50 per share for FY23. Meanwhile, Vedanta Resources' Ltd (VRL), the UK-based parent of Vedanta Ltd, is reportedly in talks with Deutsche Bank and other global lenders, including JPMorgan and Barclays, to raise a $500-600 million loan after delays in securing funds from Farallon Capital Management to meet its obligations later this month. The company aims to borrow the money via its Zinc International unit. A $500-million repayment is due on a 7. 125 percent bond that matures on May 31. Vedanta posted a 68 percent drop in Q4FY23 net profit, weighed down by a one-time charge" in its oil and gas business. The company's profit in the three months ended March declined to Rs 1,881 crore from Rs 5,799 crore a year earlier. The company's net debt stood around Rs 44,500 crore, up 115 percent YoY due to dividend payout and higher capex. Its cash and cash equivalent stood at around Rs 21,800 crore. USER CONSENT We at moneycontrol use cookies and other tracking technologies to assist you with navigation and determine your location. We also capture cookies to obtain your feedback, analyse your use of our products and services and provide content from third parties. By clicking on 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies and other tracking technologies. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy. *We collect cookies for the functioning of our website and to give you the best experience. This includes some essential cookies. Cookies from third parties which may be used for personalization and determining your location. By clicking 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies to enhance your personalized experience on our site. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy *I agree to the updated privacy policy and I warrant that I am above 16 years of age I agree to the processing of my personal data for the purpose of personalised recommendations on financial and similar products offered by MoneyControl I agree personalized advertisements and any kind of remarketing/retargeting on other third party websites I agree to receive direct marketing communications via Emails and SMS Please select (*) all mandatory conditions to continue. I Accept James Gorman, 64, is all set to step down as the chief executive of Morgan Stanley within the next 12 months after more than a decade at the top of the Wall Street bank. The veteran banker overhauled Morgan Stanley into a wealth management juggernaut after it almost collapsed during the global financial crisis in 2008. The specific timing of the CEO transition has not been determined, but it is the boards and my expectation that it will occur at some point in the next 12 months, He said addressing the banks annual shareholder meet on Friday. Gorman said the board has identified three very strong senior internal candidates for consideration as the next CEO and added that he will assume the role of executive chairman for a period of time to help Morgan Stanley transition to its next era of leadership. The Morgan Stanley chief didnt name his likely successors. Several media reports, however, mentioned that Ted Pick and Andy Saperstein, the co-presidents of Wall Street bank, and Dan Simkowitz, chief of the investment management unit, are the potential candidates to step into Gorman shoes. It will be the end of an era, Wells Fargo & Co analyst Mike Mayo told Bloomberg Television in an interview. It has been one of the best-performing bank stocks since he took over as CEO. In 2010, Australian-born Gorman replaced John Mack as chief executive and have been the banks co-president in charge of global wealth management, investment management and operations. He became chair in 2012. Gorman is one of the highest-paid public-company boss on Wall Street, making $31 million in 2022, according to media reports. The banks market capitalisation has tripled during his tenure to approximately $140 billion. Under his leadership, the bank closed two major transactionsthe acquisitions of online broker E*Trade Financial Corp for $13 billion in 2010 and its $7 billion purchase of Eaton Vance Corp in 2021. Further, his tenure saw a rough patch, too. The bank was being probed by US authorities over its block trading business and this month said it was in discussion about settling the case. Hes been a phenomenal CEO, the London-based Financial Times quoted Christian Bolu, banking analyst at Autonomous Research, as saying. Where Morgan Stanley was, where they are now, a big chunk of that is his vision, the execution. India's flagship overseas oil firm ONGC Videsh has got a new partner in Oil India Ltd to replace a reluctant IndianOil (IOC) for the potential acquisition of a 50 per cent stake in Tullow Oil Plc's USD 3.4 billion oilfield project in Kenya, according to people with knowledge of the matter. But the OVL-OIL duo now faces competition from super-aggressive Chinese energy giant Sinopec which has entered the fray taking advantage of the delay on the Indian part in finalising the deal. Originally, ONGC Videsh, the overseas arm of state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), was interested in buying out half of the stakes that Tullow, Africa Oil Corp and TotalEnergies SE held in the Lokichar oilfield in Kenya. The board of OVL had approved the deal, sources said adding the firm however wanted to bring on board IOC, which too had shown interest in the project. For months, OVL-IOC negotiated the stake in the project. But the transaction couldn't be completed as IOC started having second thoughts, possibly due to financial strains resulting from losses on fuel sales. Sources said when a Kenyan ministerial delegation visited the India Energy Week in Bengaluru in February, the Indian side informed that IOC would not be going ahead and instead state-owned Oil India Ltd (OIL) will join in. However, the months of delays led to the Chinese sensing an opportunity. China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation (Sinopec) is now sending fillers to Tullow and the other two partners in the project, they said. Tullow, which is headed by India-origin CEO Rahul Dhir, had originally favoured the Indian consortium as the Kenyan project and the Barmer fields in Rajasthan had a lot of similarities. As much as 70 per cent of the supply chain sourcing could have been done from India and Dhir, who as CEO of Cairn India Ltd had brought the Rajasthan fields to production more than a decade back, saw a lot of synergy, sources said. Chinese interest may however spoil the party as Beijing yields considerable influence on the African nation. The deal being negotiated by OVL-OIL would have made the Indian state-backed firms joint operators of the venture. Tullow is the present operator of the venture with 50 per cent stake. Africa Oil Corp and TotalEnergies SE have 25 per cent stake each. The three were selling half of their stakes to the Indians. OVL, an explorer with pursuits in 35 oil and gas assets in 15 nations, would be the lead on the venture, backed by OIL, the nation's second-largest state oil explorer. Kenya's south Lokichar fields in blocks 10BB and 13T are projected to produce 120,000 barrels of oil per day (6 million tonnes per annum), with anticipated gross oil restoration of 585 million barrels over the total lifetime of the sector. The waxy crude from the project, which is similar to what is produced from Barmer in Rajasthan, will be shipped from the fields by way of a 20-inch, 825-kilometer heated pipeline to a port in the archipelago of Lamu. Barmer crude oil too is transported through a 700-km heated pipeline from Barmer deserts to the Gujarat coast. Indian refiners on the west coast would have been ideal customers of the Kenyan crude, sources said adding it would take three years for the companies to start producing oil from the date the investment decision is made. The USD 3.4 billion investment includes developing the South Lokichar fields and linking them to Kenya's Indian Ocean port of Lamu via a heated pipeline. The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has proposed tentatively that fund houses management fees be linked to them outperforming benchmark indices, throwing the Mutual Fund (MF) industry into a tizzy. In an internal analysis, SEBI observed that just 26.67 percent of actively managed equity schemes had outperformed the benchmark index or gave similar returns over the five years ended February 28, 2023. That has worried SEBI, which put forth the proposal that perhaps fund houses should earn a management fee only if they outperform the benchmark. The performance-based fee model was proposed in a consultation paper put out by SEBI on March 18. It followed investor concerns over growing underperformance of MF schemes. Some investors have turned to passive schemes given their low cost, absence of fund manager risk and possibility of achieving near benchmark returns. Can the proposal be implemented? SEBI said the underperformance of MF schemes can some extent be attributed to a) sectoral, issuer level investment limits for MF schemes; b) scheme expenses (total expense ratio, or TER), c) transaction, liquidity, impact cost and d) cost of rebalancing of portfolio due to daily investment and redemptions in the scheme. ALSO SAID: Finmin's Rs 7-lakh relief to taxing foreign spends on credit cards can't resolve TCS crisis Any significant underperformance of the fund versus its benchmark is not in the interest of unitholders. Further, AMCs (Asset Management Companies) outperforming the market may find merit in charging unitholders with performance-linked TER, wherein the management fee is based on scheme performance. Thus, the concept of variable TER based on the performance of the schemes can be explored, SEBI said in the consultation paper. But can the proposal be implemented? Lets dig a little deeper. What is on offer? SEBI has suggested that an AMC can charge a higher fee if an open-ended active scheme does better than an indicative return above the tracking difference adjusted benchmark (benchmark returns less operating costs of managing the MF scheme). ALSO READ:Five Sebi proposals may make mutual funds cheaper and more transparent Alternatively, the AMC can charge a higher fee if the scheme beats a pre-decided hurdle rate. The hurdle rate needs to be clearly defined in the scheme information document. In both cases, the management fee can be fixed or floating. SEBI permits charging base expenses equal to those applicable to passive schemes if the AMC wants to go for performance-based fee for an actively managed equity fund. The regulator has suggested two ways of charging performance fee. ALSO READ: Commissions to drop if SEBIs proposal to cut MF expense ratio goes through, say distributors First, the mutual fund will charge only base expense ratio on a daily basis till the time the investor remains invested. Maximum fees that can be charged should also be clearly defined so that the fund managers do not take imprudent risks to amplify outperformance. At the time of redemption, the fund house will compute the extent of outperformance (or underperformance). In case of outperformance, the fund will recover the management fees from your corpus and redeem your remaining corpus. In the second approach, the fund house charges higher than base level expenses, which are based on previous years performance of the scheme. At the time of redemption, if the fund house has not managed to outperform the benchmark, then the fund house will return the expenses charged over and above the base expense ratio to the investor, along with the redemption amount. Since this would be tried for the first time in the Indian MF industry on a mass scale, the regulator has made it optional to offer such a scheme and it has even put the model under the experimental regulatory sandbox arrangement. Will it work? The future of all good business ideas depends on the cost-efficient, flawless implementation in the real world, say experts. Mutual funds are pooled vehicles, where thousands of investors transact everyday. This arrangement can be tough to execute, says a chief executive officer of a fund house on the condition of anonymity. Deciding the extent of management fee based on performance at the time of redemption sounds like a good idea. But that can cause a lot of remorse and confusion. ALSO READ: MC Explains | What to do with your Rs 2,000 currency notes? How will investors react if they see the mutual fund house taking away some money, from the large chunk of money accumulated in the folio over the years at the time of redemption, citing outperformance? asks another mutual fund official, who wishes not to be identified. Weighing investor reactions Think of a situation wherein an investor has accumulated a few lakh rupees for his retirement over a couple of decades in a scheme and at the time of redemption, the fund house credits a small amount to his account over and above his corpus stating they have underperformed. The investor may keep thinking that he has been hanging out with an underperformer all these years, he adds. Many distributors and fund officials expressed concerns around this adjustment at the time of redemption as many thought that investors may think they are being cheated. The CEO quoted earlier also said: AMC needs money on an ongoing basis to cover its costs, pay distributors and also pay shareholders. How long should we wait for our share of money? The distribution community also expressed its own set of reservations about the performance-based fee. Performance of mutual funds needs to be assessed based on various factors including volatility, drawdowns and other factors on the ongoing basis and not just on the basis of returns on the day of redemption, says a Registered Investment Advisor (RIA) who wishes not to be identified. Many investors do not understand the difference between growth and dividends even after investing in mutual funds for years. Many do not understand how the dividend amount payable to them is computed in mutual funds. We are yet to evolve to offer profit share arrangements to retail investors, says a Mumbai-based mutual fund distributor. That is not all. Fee-based financial advisors have found it difficult to convince their customers (investors) to write them a separate cheque as their fee. Fund houses may, too, face this challenge, if their fees are separately shown and extracted from the investors corpus just when the investor is about to redeem. SEBI has asked for feedback by June 1, 2023. It remains to be seen if SEBI goes ahead with this proposal and what shape it takes. Well keep you posted. Travellers wanting to swipe their credit cards to book a foreign holiday package will be badly hit by recent announcements from the Ministry of Finance. Until May 15, credit card spending overseas was not considered part of the Liberalised Remittance Scheme (LRS), which sets limits on how much foreign exchange can be remitted overseas. This changed from May 16. International credit card spends now come under the LRS limit and a 20 percent tax collection at source (TCS) will kick in from July 1 if the expenses abroad exceed Rs 7 lakh ($8,445). Until June 30, TCS at the rate of 5 percent beyond the threshold of Rs 7 lakh will apply. The move is aimed at curbing evasion of the LRS limit via the use of credit cards, according to the government. Here are answers to some of the most commonly asked questions on the applicability of TCS on various types of international transactions. Does TCS apply on debit cards, foreign currency and forex cards? Yes, international spends via debit cards, foreign currency and forex cards come under the Reserve Bank of Indias LRS, which permits Indian residents to remit up to $250,000 overseas per financial year without prior approval. From May 16, 2023, international spends via credit cards have been included under LRS. Foreign currency remittances or spends (excluding those for education and medical purposes) beyond Rs 7 lakh a year using debit and credit cards, forex cards, foreign currency or other means will attract 5 percent TCS until June 30. From July 1, 20 percent of TCS will be collected. In the case of debit or credit cards, TCS will apply only beyond the Rs 7 lakh limit. There is no minimum threshold specified for forex cards and foreign currency this is an area that needs clarification. If you have already planned your holiday and booked tickets, you can avoid TCS this year by buying your foreign currency in advance. Sudarshan Motwani, founder of BookmyForex.com, said individuals can buy foreign exchange 60 days before the date of travel. For travel up to August 30, you can buy foreign exchange in advance before June 30, the day before the 20 percent TCS rule comes into force. Also read: Finmin's Rs 7-lakh relief to taxing foreign spends on credit cards can't resolve TCS crisis Will TCS come into play if payment for an overseas tour package is made in rupees through an Indian tour operator? On the purchase of overseas tour packages, there is currently a TCS of 5 percent levied. From July 1, this will be hiked to 20 percent. Gautam Nayak, a partner at CNK & Associates, said TCS is applicable whether payment for the tour package is made in rupees or not. The onus of collecting TCS will be entirely on the customers card-issuing bank at the time of payment through the card, irrespective of the point of purchase whether customers book or pay through domestic travel agents, overseas travel agents or even directly to the eventual overseas service provider, said Mohit Kabra, CFO of MakeMyTrip. Also read | TCS increase and Go First challenges impact travel industry, domestic demand strong: Thomas Cook If I go abroad and sign up for a credit card there, will TCS apply? According to Sumanta Mandal, founder of TechnoFino, if you sign up for a credit card from a foreign bank outside of India, no TCS will apply. But getting a credit card means you meet certain eligibility criteria. Mandal said most banks in the US require a checking account (similar to a current account in India), your Indian passport and a US-based physical address in your name. Mandal said global issuers such as American Express and Citibank may issue you a credit card in a foreign country based on your credit score in your home country. If you have income in that country and use it to pay your credit card bills, it will not come under LRS and will not attract TCS. If you remit income from India to pay this credit card bill, TCS will apply on that remittance. Is TCS applicable on foreign transactions through corporate credit cards issued to an employee? A credit card issued against a company's PAN to an employee will not attract TCS for a transaction overseas. Will shopping on foreign e-commerce websites or subscriptions to foreign publications attract TCS even though they are executed while in India? Yes, TCS provisions apply if you pay online in dollars for shopping on a foreign e-commerce website or subscribing to an international magazine and making payment in pounds using your credit card. You have to pay 20 percent TCS if it breaches the Rs 7 lakh threshold that is now applicable. So, most users will escape TCS as the subscriptions will not cost more than Rs 7 lakh per year, said Mandal. Buying a smartwatch from a foreign e-commerce website and subscribing to a foreign periodical on a UK website using a credit card from India will attract 20 percent TCS if it breaches the Rs 7 lakh threshold. How is tax on international credit cards transactions likely to be collected? Details on this are awaited. The card-issuing bank will be responsible for TCS. Neeraj Agarwala, director of Nangia Andersen India, said, "The TCS could possibly reflect in your credit card statement as an additional charge on your international spends (which are shown under a separate head from domestic credit card spends)." Also read: How will tax on foreign tour spends on credit cards affect your holiday. The complete guide. What TCS rules are applicable to outward remittances for investments in foreign stocks, bonds, and real estate? If you have invested Rs 7 lakh under LRS in foreign stocks, bonds, or real estate in a financial year, TCS at 5 percent will be applicable till June 30. From July 1, TCS of 20 percent will be applicable and you will no longer have the comfort of the Rs 7 lakh threshold. All your investments will attract a TCS of 20 percent. If you invest Rs 10 lakh in foreign stocks or real estate after July 1, Rs 2 lakh will be the TCS. What are the implications on remittances for overseas education funded through a loan or own funds after July 1? There is no change in the TCS rate for overseas education from July 1. TCS at 0.5 percent will be applicable on the amount exceeding Rs 7 lakh in a financial year under LRS if the amount remitted is obtained out of a loan from a financial institution. If the amount remitted under LRS in a financial year is Rs 10 lakh for overseas education, TCS at 0.5 percent will be applicable on Rs 3 lakh (Rs 10 lakh less Rs 7 lakh) and the tax collected will be Rs 1,500. If the amount remitted for overseas education is from ones own funds, 5 percent TCS will apply on the amount exceeding Rs 7 lakh in a financial year. So, if the amount remitted under LRS in a financial year is Rs 15 lakh for pursuing overseas education from own funds, TCS at 5 percent will be applicable on Rs 8 lakh (Rs 15 lakh less Rs 7 lakh) and tax collected will be Rs 40,000. I am travelling abroad In July for medical treatment. What is the tax implication on remittances associated with medical treatment abroad? There is no change in the TCS rate for remittances towards medical treatment abroad. TCS at 5 percent will apply on the amount exceeding Rs 7 lakh in a financial year under LRS. If the amount remitted under LRS in a financial year is Rs 20 lakh for medical treatment, TCS at 5 percent will be applicable on Rs 13 lakh (Rs 20 lakh less Rs 7 lakh) and the tax collected will be Rs 65,000. Can I ask my relatives or friends living abroad to pay on my behalf (instead of using my credit card) and reimburse them later? Is this legally allowed? According to Rohinton Sidhwa, a partner at Deloitte India, the rules permit the obligation of a resident to be met by a non-resident, but reimbursements are not allowed. A relative can make a gift of foreign exchange to an Indian resident. But if the idea is to pay first and then reimburse later, that is not permissible under the law, Sidhwa said. How do I claim TCS credit while filing income tax returns? To claim TCS credits, you will need a TCS certificate provided by the collector. This certificate can be used while filing your income tax returns to claim TCS credits. While filing the returns, provide the TCS details in the appropriate section of the form. This typically includes the TCS amount, TCS certificate number, and other relevant information. The taxpayer can claim TCS credits against their total tax liability, which is the tax payable. TCS credit reduces the overall tax liability or can be refunded if it exceeds the tax liability. Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Shaktikanta Das on May 22 asked banks to further strengthen the governance and assurance functions such as risk management, compliance and internal audit so that the banks are able to identify and mitigate risks at an early stage. The RBI governor was talking to the directors on the boards of public sector banks in New Delhi. The governor also emphasised the need for banks to ensure continued financial and operational resilience. On April 23, 2023, Moneycontrol reported that the central bank has called a meeting with the board of directors of all PSBs on May 22 in New Delhi to discuss issues related to governance and ethics. Ethics is extremely important from the banks point of view, especially after the global financial crises. Some reports in the past have highlighted that conduct of financial institutions has led them into crises due to a lack of ethics, former RBI Deputy Governor Shyamala Gopinath told Moneycontrol. Unethical practices like misselling have been raised in the past meetings with the banks as well, Gopinath added. Interestingly, this meeting has come after the RBI's announcement that it has decided to withdraw the Rs 2,000 denomination bank notes from circulation. However, the apex bank said the existing Rs 2,000 denomination bank notes will continue to be legal tender. In order to ensure operational convenience and to avoid disruption of regular activities of bank branches, the exchange of Rs 2,000 notes into notes of other denominations can be made up to a limit of Rs 20,000 at a time at any bank starting from May 23, 2023, the central bank noted. The RBI expects most of the Rs 2,000 notes to return to the banking system by September 30, Governor Das said on May 22, a day before citizens start exchanging or depositing the note being pulled out of circulation. The withdrawal of the countrys highest denomination note, which was announced by the RBI on May 19, was part of the central bank's currency management, Das said. The central bank has given citizens time till September 30 to deposit or exchange the notes which continue to be a legal tender. RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das explained the decision to withdraw Rs 2,000 notes stating that the move is part of the central bank's currency management exercise. Rs 2,000 notes were primarily introduced to quickly replenish earlier Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes, Das said. He appealed to the public to not rush to banks to exchange the Rs 2,000 notes. He said the public has time until September 30 for exchange and/or deposit of the Rs 2,000 notes. "We have given a September 30 deadline for the exchange and deposit of the Rs 2,000 note so that the decision is taken seriously," Das said. The Governor assured that the impact on the economy on account of the decision to withdraw Rs 2,000 note will be "very very marginal". The Rs 2,000 notes comprised just 10.8% of the total currency in circulation. He also termed any talk of re-introduction of the Rs 1,000 notes as speculative. "We have more than adequate quantities of printed notes already available in the system, not just with RBI but with currency chests operated by banks. There is no reason for worry. We have sufficient stocks, no need to worry," Das said underlining the robustness of India's currency management system. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on May 19 announced that it has decided to withdraw the Rs 2,000 denomination bank notes from circulation. However, the apex bank said that the existing Rs 2,000 denomination bank notes will continue to be legal tender. In order to ensure operational convenience and to avoid disruption of regular activities of bank branches, the exchange of Rs 2,000 notes into notes of other denominations can be made up to a limit of Rs 20,000 at a time at any bank starting from May 23, 2023, the central bank noted. Economists expect the decision to bolster system liquidity and bring down short-term money market rates which have gone up recently. The short duration bonds rallied on the news. We will see the short-end continue to rally as about 1 trillion to 1.5 trillion rupees of liquidity come into the banking system, a Bloomberg report quoted Rajeev Pawar, head of treasury at Ujjivan Small Finance Bank, as saying. The five-year will probably come down to 6.78%-6.75%. The move to withdraw the note will likely result in a temporary spurt in system liquidity owing to a higher deposit base, Madhavi Arora, lead economist at Emkay Global Financial Services, wrote in a note. We expect the bond curve to steepen in the near term, while forward premium will decrease further, putting pressure on the rupee. The Reserve Bank of India will ensure adequate liquidity in the banking system and the previous weeks repo operation was conducted to address problems of some banks, governor Shaktikanta Das said on May 22. The system had adequate liquidity but certain banks had more liquidity and certain banks were running short of liquidity, so our last weeks repo operations were to address the problems of such banks which did not have liquidity, Das said. As reported by Moneycontrol, the RBIs variable rate repo auction on May 19 was aimed at easing the liquidity stress for some banks. The RBI infused Rs 46,790 crore through a 14-day variable rate repo auction at a cut-off rate of 6.51 percent, just over the repo rate, the rate at which the central bank lends funds to other banks. Also read: RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das explains why Rs 2,000 notes were withdrawn The uneven distribution of liquidity among banks led to a sharp rise in call money rates in the inter-bank market. Call money rates shot up and remained above the RBIs repo rate of 6.5 percent on most days in April and May. The weighted average call money rate remained in the range of 6.55 percent to 6.79 percent between April 18 and May 16, according to Bloomberg data. This was above the repo rate and close to the marginal standing facility rate of 6.75 percent. Also read: Banking Central | Black money menace, rampant fake currency behind Rs 2,000 note recall Usually, when liquidity in the banking system is in surplus, call money rates are marginally below the repo rate. While call money rates in the past two days remained at or below the repo rate, the weighted average three-day call money rate is trading at 6.3875 percent. As on May 19, liquidity in the banking system remained in surplus of around Rs 49,499.40 crore. Days after taking charge, the Karnataka government led by Siddaramaiah ordered to stop the release of funds for projects/works initiated by the previous BJP-led government. In a circular dated May 22, Ekroop Caur, Secretary, Finance (Budget and Resources) stated, As per the directive of the Chief Minister, all releases/payments related to projects initiated by the previous government across departments, including boards and corporations, are to be stopped. The direction has also ordered to stop all works which have not yet started. Kaur told Moneycontrol that this will apply to the projects, which have not started/work orders have not been issued. This will not affect ongoing infrastructure projects like Metro rail. This circular applies to pending projects or those work orders not issued, Caur clarified. A senior bureaucrat on condition of anonymity said, The new government is expected to conduct a thorough review of major projects, and a clear picture will emerge in the coming days. He said infrastructure projects such as the Bengaluru Metro and Bengaluru suburban rail, which operate under a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) joint venture model, may not be affected as they involve contributions from both the central and state governments. The funding pattern for these projects is 20 percent each from the Karnataka government and the Government of India, with the remaining 60 percent sourced through external funding. However, projects initiated or proposed in the months leading up to the elections could potentially face implications from the funding halt, he said. MG Devasahayam, a retired IAS officer, said: "Congress government's decision to halt funding for projects initiated by the previous BJP government was expected." He said the Congress party received a significant mandate in Karnataka on an anti-corruption plank and had pledged to investigate projects, particularly regarding allegations of 40% commission charges against the previous government. However, Devasahayam believes that infrastructure projects like the Metro rail will not be affected by this order. This move is also aimed at generating funds for the implementation of the Congress's five poll-guarantees, which is estimated to cost the exchequer around Rs 50,000-60,000 crore per year. By halting funding for certain projects initiated by the previous government, the plan is to redirect resources towards fulfilling the promises made during the elections. Siddaramaiah took over as CM on May 20 after Congress won 135 out of 224 seats in the legislative assembly. Congress ran its election campaign in the state on the anti-corruption plank, accusing former chief minister Basavaraj Bommai of running a 40 percent commission government. Hours after assuming office, Siddaramaiah gave in-principle approval for all five guarantees made in Congress' manifesto ahead of the assembly election, to be implemented. The poll guarantees played a significant role in securing their victory in Karnataka. The party's guarantees comprise initiatives such as providing 200 units of free electricity to all households (Gruha Jyothi), offering Rs 2,000 monthly to each female head of the family (Gruha Lakshmi), supplying 10 kg of food grains (rice, ragi, jowar, millet) to each member of Below Poverty Line (BPL) families (Anna Bhagya), granting Rs 3,000 monthly for two years to unemployed graduates and Rs 1,500 monthly for two years to unemployed diploma holders (Yuvanidhi), and enabling free travel for women across the state in regular KSRTC/BMTC buses. Shares of Siemens Ltd fell over 10 percent on May 22 after the firm said its board approved the sale of low voltage motors and geared motors businesses to a Siemens AG subsidiary -- Siemens Large Drives India -- for Rs 2,200 crore. The stock hit a low of Rs 3,338 and fell as much as 11 percent from its previous close. At 10.06am, the stock was trading at Rs 3,363 on BSE, down 9.45 percent while India's benchmark Sensex rose 0.08 percent to 61,780 points. "In doing so, Siemens is letting go a business with outsourced manufacturing that has grown at mid-to-single-digit CAGR over the past decade. Proposed valuations appear to consider a similar growth trajectory in the future. The business at an aggregate market level has good market prospects in our view," said Kotak Institutional Equities in its latest note. "We retain Rs 3,200 FV while noting the case for Rs 3,000 FV if this transaction goes through. We build in a 15% lower multiple for SIEM versus what the Street builds. These factors, among other things, lower growth/value of businesses contributing to 50% of RM cost that is purchase of stock-in-trade," Kotak report added. The Board of Directors of Siemens Limited has approved the sale and the transfer of low voltage motors and geared motors businesses, including related customer service business to Siemens Large Drives India Pvt Ltd, an entity wholly owned by Siemens AG, for a consideration of Rs 2,200 crore with effect from October 1, 2023, a company statement said. The segment was 7% of FY22 sales and 9% of profits valued at 15X FY2022 EBITDA and 17X FY2022 profit from operations. Although this segment is not considered significant for Siemens' growth prospects in Transmission and Railways, its sale at a lower enterprise value-to-sales (EV/sales) ratio resulted in an implied loss of Rs189 for investors, Jefferries noted. "As strong double-digit order flow and profit growth continues, and given this is a smaller division, this is likely to have only a temporary stock impact. However, we will be watchful on multiple should a more meaningful event occur," Jefferies said in a note to investors. Meanwhile brokerage firm Nomura has downgraded the stock to reduce from Neutral and kept target price to Rs 3,521 from Rs 3,008 a share. The brokerage firm said concerns arise on fairness of valuation for business being sold to the parent. The Board has also decided to consider the distribution of 100 per cent of the sale consideration as reduced by applicable Capital Gains Tax and any other applicable taxes, if any, on the transaction, as a special dividend, at the first board meeting after the completion of the proposed transaction. Brokerage firm Kotak expects a 7% cut in its face value on loss of 9% of bottom-line against the post-capital gains tax payout of Rs 1,800 crore to shareholders from the proposed transaction. "We continue to value SIEM at 47X two-year forward earnings, 15% discount to Streets multiple and that of ABB. Such is the extent of rerating over and above that of ABB that SIEM saw over the past 21 months, over which it underperformed ABB on EBITDA growth," Kotak report added. Renewable energy solutions provider Suzlon has bagged a 204 MW wind energy project from Serentica Renewables. "Suzlon Group has bagged a significantly large order for its 3 MW series of wind turbines from Serentica Renewables - a decarbonization platform that seeks to accelerate the energy transition for energy-intensive industries," a company statement said. The company, however, didn't disclose the value of the project. Suzlon will install 68 wind turbine generators (WTGs) with a Hybrid Lattice Tubular (HLT) tower and a rated capacity of 3 MW each for Serentica's 204 MW wind power project coming up at Koppal in Karnataka. "This order from industrial decarbonisation player, Serentica Renewables is a testament of India Inc's commitment to our nation's net-zero ambitions," Girish Tanti, Vice Chairman, Suzlon Group, said in the statement. The project is expected to be commissioned by early 2024. A project of this size can provide electricity to 1.68 thousand households and curb 6.63 lakh tonnes of CO2 emissions per year. This is the fifth order for Suzlon's 3-MW series in less than a month and as part of the agreement, Suzlon will supply the wind turbines (equipment supply) and execute the project including erection and commissioning. Suzlon will also provide comprehensive operation and maintenance services post-commissioning. "This partnership with Suzlon for our renewable energy project in Karnataka represents a milestone in our industrial decarbonisation journey," said Pratik Agarwal, Director, Serentica Renewables. Established in 2022, Serentica Renewables (India) is a decarbonization platform that looks to provide round-the-clock clean energy solutions enabling the transition of large-scale, energy-intensive industries to clean energy. The company is focused on industrial decarbonization, by making renewables the primary source of energy for the commercial and industrial segment which consumes more than 50 per cent of the electricity generated in India. USER CONSENT We at moneycontrol use cookies and other tracking technologies to assist you with navigation and determine your location. We also capture cookies to obtain your feedback, analyse your use of our products and services and provide content from third parties. By clicking on 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies and other tracking technologies. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy. *We collect cookies for the functioning of our website and to give you the best experience. This includes some essential cookies. Cookies from third parties which may be used for personalization and determining your location. By clicking 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies to enhance your personalized experience on our site. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy *I agree to the updated privacy policy and I warrant that I am above 16 years of age I agree to the processing of my personal data for the purpose of personalised recommendations on financial and similar products offered by MoneyControl I agree personalized advertisements and any kind of remarketing/retargeting on other third party websites I agree to receive direct marketing communications via Emails and SMS Please select (*) all mandatory conditions to continue. I Accept Swiggys Instamart arm is the latest to run a cafe-like division, Instacafe, after the much-publicised launch of a similar extension by rival Zepto through Zepto Cafe. Instacafe is the latest category expansion for Swiggy Instamart in its bid to turn profitable, as these items typically offer higher margins than grocery delivery. Confirming the development to Moneycontrol, a Swiggy Instamart spokesperson likened Instacafes offerings to pre-made food that is available for purchase at supermarkets. Instacafe currently offers pre-made snacks such as puffs (Rs 59), toasties (Rs 79), baos (Rs 120), cold coffee (Rs 79), cookies (Rs 59), tarts (Rs 149), croissants (Rs 59) and more, which customers can add to their Instamart cart, alongside their groceries orders. The cafe also marks the latest expansion by Instamart after launching its own private brands and later, electronics and mobile accessories. Adding categories over and above groceries will help Swiggy increase the basket size of customers, and thereby earn better margins on a per-order basis. In response to queries from Moneycontrol, a Swiggy Instamart spokesperson said, Buying pre-made food and snacks along with groceries in-store is fairly common. Instamart's Instacafe is a similar online food counter with fast-moving snacks that are great additions to the grocery baskets of users and are delivered in minutes along with other items on Instamart. Instacafe has been live in a couple of locations on Instamart since last year." Targeting higher margins Instacafe, which was first piloted in certain pockets of Hyderabad late last year, and then extended to Bengaluru around March this year, is already looking to add more items to its menu, a person aware of the companys plans told Moneycontrol. Currently in its pilot stage, Instacafe has about 60 stock-keeping units (SKUs) or items, which are only available in locations such as Bommanahalli and Bellandur in Bengaluru and a few areas of Hyderabad. Most of the food items available on Instacafe are unbranded for now and are sourced directly by the dark store managers responsible for servicing a particular location, the people cited above added. That is a key difference between Instacafe and Zepto Cafe, which buys from brands in bulk, ships it to dark stores, and later sells the snacks to customers. The latter has already tied up with brands such as Blue Tokai and Chaayos, which helps it offer a more elaborate and standardised menu. While there are concerns that this could cannibalise Swiggys core business, the person cited above maintains that the food items on Instacafe are largely quick snacks and not meals something Zepto has also previously said, stating that it is not getting into food delivery. However, the menus of both companies seem to be expanding into larger meal options as well. While Zepto Cafe has already begun selling Thai Red Curry with steamed basmati rice (Rs 259), Instacafe has a few meal options like chicken fried rice (Rs 199) to choose from. Selling items with higher margins has become imperative with several stakeholders, including founders and investors, questioning the business model of startups that claim to deliver in minutes. Consequently, these companies are looking to expand basket sizes, said analysts. Declining AOVs in quick-commerce However, Zomato and Ola had earlier gone down a similar route, with little to no success. Zomato, which had piloted 10-minute food delivery of similar items, shut it down earlier this year. Ola, which offered items such as pizza and rolls in 10 minutes in Bengaluru through its quick-commerce service Ola Dash, eventually shuttered it in June 2022. Data shows that the average order value (AOV) for quick-commerce companies has largely been on a downward trend. Last week, Zomato-owned Blinkit, in its results for FY23, said that in Q4FY23, its AOV fell to Rs 522 from Rs 553 in Q3FY23 and Rs 568 in Q2FY23, and even below Rs 528 in Q1FY23. Last week, when Swiggy co-founder and CEO Sriharsha Majety said the companys food-delivery arm had turned profitable on an adjusted EBITDA level, he added that the company would be investing less in Instamart henceforth. As our investments in food delivery are starting to pay off successfully, were also very excited about the trajectory of our quick-commerce business, Instamart. We pioneered and built this category from the ground up, and have made disproportionate investments in Instamart given the attractiveness of the consumer proposition and its strategic importance to usThe peak of our investments is behind uswere on track to hit contribution neutrality for this 3-year-old business in the next few weeks, Majety said. Tata Realty and Infrastructure plans to launch 5 million square feet (msf) of office space in Bengaluru, including two IT parks, with an investment of Rs 4,000 crore by the end of this year. The company is currently foraying into cities such as Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Pune for its commercial segment, Ritesh Sachdev, Senior Vice President and head of commercial leasing and asset management at Tata Realty told Moneycontrol. "The company plans to develop about 8 msf of office spaces in Bengaluru and Pune with an investment of Rs 6,000 crore. Additionally, we will grow our commercial portfolio to 19msf, up from 10 msf today, within the next six years across major cities in India," he added. Sachdev said Tata Realty plans to continue developments in Tier I cities, with an exception for Kolkata owing to poor supply-demand dynamics in the city's real estate sector. For Bengaluru, the company plans to launch at least two IT parks in the office segment. The launches will sprawl across about 30 acres and will be taking place in the northern part of the city like Hebbal and the eastern IT corridor of Whitefield. "We are also looking at the outer ring road (ORR) and Sarjapura road, however, the infrastructure is still a challenge in these areas, other than high land costs," he added. Last year September, Bengaluru saw major waterlogging in parts of ORR and Sarajapura that led to a loss of Rs 225 crore for the IT companies along the stretch. For Pune, the company plans to invest Rs 2,000 crore to add 3.5 msf in the non-IT commercial segment branded as Intellion Edge. About five years back, the company rebranded their commercial segments under Intellion, with the IT parks being called Intellion Park and the smaller office spaces called Intellion Square. "In Pune, we are targeting the western parts like Balewadi. The east corridor is saturated and I think the west will be the next growth corridor. For Hyderabad, we are looking at Madhapur and Trivoli. However, the city is currently saturated and we are looking at launching Bengaluru and Pune, followed by Hyderabad this year," Sachdev said. Currently, the company has a presence across three key markets of Chennai, Mumbai and Gurugram sprawling 10 msf. "We already have about 4.5 msf flagship office park in Chennai and we have another 3.5 msf in Gurgaon. We are developing the largest development to date in Navi Mumbai which is about 7. Additionally, we are also developing about 1.6 msf of smaller office space in Gurgaon. And we have a small IT park development in Mumbai's Malad," he added. With the global headwinds slowing down the real estate sector globally, Sachdev added that the recovery in the commercial segment was encouraging last year. "The absorption was about 50-60 msf last year when we already did more than 60 msf in 2019. Due to the slowdown in the US and European market coupled with the Ukraine-Russian war, we will see slow absorption in the second and third quarter of this month for the commercial segment," he said. However, the banking and manufacturing firms will lead the demand, with global capacity centres (GCCs) and the semiconductor industry playing a large role in India's commercial sector. Decentralised, end-to-end encrypted messaging platform Briar, which was recently banned by the Centre along with other similar apps for allegedly being used by terror groups, has neither been notified by the Indian government nor Google regarding the development, a company spokesperson told Moneycontrol. Earlier, it was reported that 14 messaging applications were banned in India under Section 69A of the IT Act. The ban was implemented based on the recommendation of intelligence agencies, as these apps were allegedly being used by terror groups. However, no order of any such directive has been made publicly available, raising questions over transparency and natural justice, digital rights group Software Freedom Law Centre opined. Briar has over one million downloads on the Google Play Store and offers peer-to-peer communications with no centralised servers and little reliance on external infrastructure. Briar claims that the app is designed to be used by journalists and activists. "The app is designed to be used by activists and journalists to protect their privacy and freedom of expression, but like many technologies, it can potentially be used by anyone, including those whose actions we would not wish to support," the spokesperson said. Currently, a petition challenging these orders is also lodged at the Kerala High Court, where the petitioners have accused the Indian government of violating freedom of expression and speech, as well as the right to free trade and profession, and have sought to quash these orders. "We've read reports in the press that Briar is one of several apps blocked in India by order of the government. However, we haven't received a copy of the blocking order or any other communication from the government," a Briar spokesperson said. "Google hasn't notified us about the app being removed from Google Play. The Google Play dashboard shows that Briar was still being downloaded in India as of May 18, so it appears the blocking order has not yet come into effect," he added. Sources said that de-listing apps after government orders take time to implement. Moneycontrol has reached out to Google and the Ministry of Home Affairs for more clarity on the subject, and the article will be updated when a response is received. Other apps that were reported to have been blocked under the direction of the Union government include UK-based decentralised messaging platform Element, Germany-headquartered encrypted chat app Crypviser, Enigma (developed by Incubeta UK), Switzerland-based SafeSwiss, Amazon Web Services-owned Wickr Me, US-headquartered MediaFire, Canada-based Nandbox and so on. Moneycontrol has reached out to all the other messaging platforms that have reportedly been blocked, and their responses are awaited. How does Briar work? "The Briar app is completely decentralised - messages are delivered directly from the sender's device to the recipient's device in a peer-to-peer fashion," the spokesperson said. He added that Briar developers neither operate servers nor have any access to the content or metadata of users' communication. "Nor do we have access to any information about who uses the app, except for some summary statistics provided by Google Play about the number of users in each country, language, etc," he said. What Element said Meanwhile, Element, another decentralised messaging platform that has been banned, criticised the Indian government's move in a blog post. Element stated that the block is a result of a 'flawed' understanding of how encryption and decentralisation work. "Some governments see undermining encryption as the most effective way to combat the ills of terrorism or other illegal behaviour. That approach is completely flawed; it just removes ordinary peoples ability to communicate in private which leaves them vulnerable to all types of surveillance, crime and subjugation," Element said in the blog post. Taking cognisance of media reports that the Indian government may have blocked the apps as they did not have any representatives in the country, Element said that they have addressed prior concerns of Indian authorities "in a constructive fashion". "While Element never compromises end-to-end encryption or user privacy, we have been contacted by Indian authorities in the past and addressed them in a constructive fashion (typically responding same-day). Indeed our Trust & Safety team works with governments to build safer secure communications for everyone; while ensuring user privacy and protecting end-to-end encryption," the blog added. Prime Minister Narendra Modi was on Monday conferred with the highest honours of Papua New Guinea and Fiji, in a rare recognition for a non-resident in the two Pacific island nations. Modi arrived here in Papua New Guinea on Sunday on his maiden visit to the country to host a key summit between India and 14 Pacific island countries to boost bilateral ties. "Unprecedented honour for India as Papua New Guinea confers their highest award to PM Modi," the Prime Minister's Office said. It was presented to him by Papua New Guinea Governor-General Sir Bob Dadae. Papua New Guinea conferred the Companion of the Order of Logohu to Prime Minister Modi for championing the cause of unity of Pacific Island countries and spearheading the cause of Global South. Very few non-residents of PNG have received this award, including former US President Bill Clinton, it said. "An honour emblematic of the depth of India-Papua New Guinea relationship," the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) tweeted. This comes immediately after Fiji's Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka also conferred the country's highest award to Modi. "Big Honour for India. Prime Minister Modi has been conferred the highest honour of Fiji by the PM of Fiji: Companion of the Order of Fiji in recognition of his global leadership. Only a handful of Non-Fijians have received this honour to date," the Prime Minister's Office said. Prime Minister Modi dedicated the honour to the people of India and to the generations of the Fiji-Indian community, who have played a key role in the special and enduring bond between the two countries, the MEA said on Twitter. "Grateful to the people and Government of Fiji for conferring the Companion of the Order of Fiji on me. I thank PM @slrabuka for presenting the award. It is an honour for the people of India and a recognition of the strong ties between India and Fiji," the prime minister tweeted. Modi also held a "wonderful meeting" with President Surangel S Whipps, Jr of the Republic of Palau on the sidelines of the FIPIC Summit. Whipps presented Modi with an Ebakl, one of the most important tools for the people of Palau. Ebaki has a strong link with the local culture. It also symbolises leadership and wisdom, the MEA said on Twitter. Some of the previous international awards conferred by countries on Prime Minister Modi are The Order of Abdulaziz Al Saud (the highest honour of Saudi Arabia awarded to non-muslim dignitaries), State Order of Ghazi Amir Amanullah Khan (the highest civilian honour of Afghanistan), the Grand Collar of the State of Palestine Award (the highest honour of Palestine awarded to foreign dignitaries) and Order of Zayed Award (highest civilian honour of the United Arab Emirates). Other awards include the Order of St. Andrew Award ( the highest civilian honour of Russia), the Order of the Distinguished Rule of Nishan Izzuddin (the highest honour of the Maldives awarded to foreign dignitaries) and King Hamad Order of the Renaissance (a top honour by the gulf country). (With PTI inputs) Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday held talks with his Papua New Guinea counterpart James Marape and the island nation's Governor-General Bob Dadae separately and stressed on strengthening the partnership between the two countries across multiple sectors. Modi, who arrived here on Sunday on his maiden visit to the nation, will host a key summit between India and 14 Pacific island countries to boost bilateral ties. External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi, in a tweet, said, "PM Narendra Modi arrives at the iconic APEC House located on the shores of Ela Beach in Port Moresby. Warmly welcomed by PM James Marape. The two leaders will co-host the FIPIC III Summit, fostering regional cooperation. According to the MEA spokesperson, discussions between the two prime ministers covered a range of issues, including strengthening partnerships in multiple sectors, climate action as well as promoting people-to-people ties. "Synergising India-Papua New Guinea relations. PM Narendra Modi held a fruitful bilateral meeting with PM James Marape. PM Modi expressed his appreciation to PM Marape for co-hosting the FIPIC III Summit in Port Moresby. "Discussions covered strengthening partnership across sectors of trade and investment, health, capacity building and skill development and IT. Also discussed issues related to climate action and promoting people-to-people ties," he said. FIPIC was launched during Modi's visit to Fiji in 2014. The summit will take place at a time when China is making efforts to enhance its military and diplomatic influence in the region. Posting a photo of him shaking hands with Marape, PM Modi said on Twitter, "Prime Minister James Marape and I had very productive talks, covering the full range of bilateral relations between India and Papua New Guinea. We discussed ways to augment cooperation in commerce, technology, healthcare and in addressing climate change." Earlier in the day, PM Modi met Papua New Guinea's Governor-General Bob Dadae at the Government House. "Prime Minister Narendra Modi starts off the day in Papua New Guinea with a warm conversation with Governor-General Sir Bob Dadae at the historic Government House. Underlined the significance of India-Papua New Guinea relations ties and development partnership between the two countries," MEA spokesperson Bagchi said on Twitter. Prime Minister Modi too posted photos of his meeting with Governor-General Dadae on his official Twitter handle. "Had a wonderful meeting with Governor-General of Papua New Guinea, Sir Bob Dadae. We talked about ways to deepen bilateral relations between our nations across different sectors," Modi said. The Indian prime minister arrived here on Sunday evening from Japan where he attended the summit of the G7 advanced economies and held bilateral meetings with several world leaders. His visit to Papua New Guinea on the second leg of his three-nation tour is the first ever by any Indian prime minister. He was received at the airport by Prime Minister James Marape who touched his feet as a mark of respect. Normally Papua New Guinea doesn't give a ceremonial welcome to any leader coming after sunset. But a special exception was made for Prime Minister Modi and a ceremonial welcome was accorded to him. The FIPIC Summit will see participation from leaders of 14 countries. Normally all of them rarely converge together due to connectivity and other issues, sources said. FIPIC includes Cook Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, the Republic of Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Nauru, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday met with leaders of several Pacific island countries, including with his Fijian counterpart and Palau's president, as part of India's efforts to boost ties with these nations. Modi arrived here on Sunday on his maiden visit to Papua New Guinea to host a key summit between India and 14 Pacific island countries to boost bilateral ties. On the sidelines of the Forum for India-Pacific Islands Cooperation (FIPIC) summit, he held bilateral meetings and interactions. During Modi's meeting with Fijian counterpart Sitiveni Rabuka, the two leaders reviewed the close and multifaceted bilateral partnership. "Delighted to meet PM @slrabuka of Fiji. We had a great conversation on various topics. The relations between India and Fiji have stood the test of time. We look forward to working together to further cement it in the coming years," the Prime Minister tweeted. "Furthering a relationship anchored in deep historical bonds. PM@narendramodi met PM @slrabuka of Fiji on the sidelines of the FIPIC III Summit. Leaders reviewed the close and multifaceted bilateral partnership. Expressed satisfaction at the progress in key sectors. Also exchanged views on regional and global issues of common interest," the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) tweeted. On behalf of the President of Fiji, Rabuka bestowed the Prime Minister with Fiji's highest honour - the Companion of the Order of Fiji (CF). "PM dedicated the honour to the people of India and to the generations of Fiji-Indian community, who have played a key role in the special and enduring bond between the two countries," the MEA said. He also held a "wonderful meeting" with President Surangel S Whipps, Jr of the Republic of Palau on the sidelines of the FIPIC Summit. Whipps presented Modi with an Ebakl, one of the most important tools for the people of Palau. Ebaki has a strong link with the local culture. It also symbolises leadership and wisdom, MEA said on Twitter. "Humbled by the gesture of President Surangel Whipps Jr. of presenting me with an Ebakl, which is of great cultural significance among the people of Palau. I will greatly cherish this," the prime minister tweeted. Prime Minister Modi had a great meeting with Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare of the Solomon Islands on the sidelines of the FIPIC Summit. He also met President Russ Joseph Kun of the Republic of Nauru. "We had a wonderful discussion," Modi tweeted. He said he held a "great conversation" with Prime Minister Siaosi Sovaleni of the Kingdom of Tonga on the sidelines of the FIPIC Summit. "Happy to have interacted with PM Kausea Natano of Tuvalu at the FIPIC Summit in Papua New Guinea," Modi tweeted. He said he held fruitful deliberations with Prime Minister Fiame Naomi Mataafa of Samoa on ways to boost bilateral ties. "From Japan to Papua New Guinea, the conversations continue Great to see PM Mark Brown of Cook Islands yet again," the prime minister tweeted. Modi also met Prime Minister Alatoi Ishmael Kalsakau of Vanuatu in Papua New Guinea. "India attaches great importance to stronger ties with Vanuatu," he tweeted, He also interacted with President Taneti Maamau of the Republic of Kiribati today. "We discussed various subjects aimed at enhancing the relationship between our nations," Modi tweeted. "Good to have met the Secretary General of the PIF, Mr. Henry Puna today," the prime minister said. He also met Minister Kitlang Kabua of the Republic of Marshall Islands. "Happy to have met Mr. Dalton Emani Makamau Tagelagi, Premier of Niue. We had a fruitful conversation on several topics," the prime minister said. The Uttar Pradesh urban local body election results reestablish the dominance of independents in lower tiers of governance. Independents captured more than half of the seats in municipal council and nagar panchayat member elections in the state. In a hyperlocal election, local patronage, relationships, and image of the candidate trump the prevalence of the party system that are visible in national or state elections. A scrutiny of votes polled during assembly elections since the 2014 Lok Sabha elections reveals a broad pattern of consolidation of votes among major parties/contenders, and the squeezing out of marginal players and Independents. In a research paper, Sacha Kapoor and Arvind Magesan show that a rise in the number of independents increases voter turnout and total vote share for independents, while reducing the vote share of the winner. They play an important role in elections by increasing citizen knowledge about alternative policies and facilitating the selection of representatives who are more responsive to their constituents. Three Clear Trends Three trends are clearly visible as one analyses the role of independents in the Indian electoral system. 1. The proportion of seats won by Independents have drastically reduced over the years. 2. The number of Independents elected are far higher in local bodies than general elections (state as well as national). 3. In local body elections, Independents far outnumber the number of members elected on tickets of political parties (recognised or otherwise). Dwindling Lok Sabha Numbers The first Lok Sabha had 38 Independent MPs, the second 42, accounting for 10 percent of its strength. Since 1989, their tally has never reached double digits, currently less than 1 percent of Lok Sabha MPs are Independents. Their influence is also declining from 54 percent in 1952 to 16 percent in 2019. Influence here is defined as the number of seats where Independents finished 1st/2nd/3rd. The decline in the number of Independent MPs is because they do not have the infrastructural advantage (party cadre/machinery) and money which party candidates have to fight an election. Many of them have been co-opted by political parties over the years. The increase in security deposit by the Election Commission of India from Rs. 10,000 to Rs. 25,000 for Lok Sabha elections has also been somewhat an impediment. In 2004 Lok Sabha elections, 48 percent of total candidates contesting were Independents, which dropped to 43 percent in 2019. The recently concluded 2019 Lok Sabha elections saw an estimated expenditure of around Rs 55,000 crore. This translates to Rs. 100 crore per seat, Rs 6-7 crore per candidate, seven-nine times the official spend allowed (Rs 75-95 lakh). Such exorbitant sums are difficult for an Independent to cough up, and more so given the low probability of victory. Over the years, Independents are also being put up by parties as dummy candidates to cut into votes of opponents, thus earning them the derisive tag of vote-cutters, further hampering their chances to win. But Dominant In Local Bodies In the recently concluded urban body polls in Uttar Pradesh, Independents bagged more than 55 percent of the total seats on offer. Their share of the seats increases as we move down from the highest tier to lowest tier elections. This trend is visible across most of the states. In UP, Independents won 15 percent wards in municipal corporation vis-a-vis 67 percent seats in nagar panchayat elections. While they couldnt win a single mayor post, they won 21 percent and 36 percent of President/ Chairman positions in municipal council and nagar panchayats. On the contrary they failed to win a single seat in the 2019 general elections and 2022 state elections in Uttar Pradesh re-emphasising the dominance of the party system in such polls. In local body polls, barring the mayor post, the number of voters are on an average between 1,000-5,000. This significantly reduces the number of votes one needs to manage to win the elections. Money and muscle power play a key role here and locally influential people with deep pockets are able to manage party cadre and leaders at these lower levels of governance. Local factors and issues, local equations and relationships, patronage networks (caste, class, profession) and personality cult (image, reputation) help Independents do well in lower tier local body polls. But the lack of resources, prevalence of state and national issues, party system, lack of ideological alignment and a much higher voter base make it difficult for them to do well as one moves higher up in the governance ladder. Amitabh Tiwari is a former corporate and investment banker-turned political strategist and commentator. Twitter: @politicalbaaba. Views are personal, and do not represent the stand of this publication. Once upon the time, India looked upon international climate meetings with something akin to distaste. Indira Gandhi played the role of malcontent at the 1972 Stockholm conference that kicked off modern environmental diplomacy, characterising such concerns as a luxury for rich countries that poorer nations couldnt afford to indulge. In 2009, then-Prime Minister Manmohan Singh waited until the last minute before deciding to even attend the Copenhagen UN climate summit and then faced criticism from the opposition BJP for doing so. That attitude is changing. Right now, the developed countries that have long been in the vanguard of efforts on climate look to be falling behind. India is taking the initiative, fueled by the growing self-confidence of a country thats the worlds most populous and seeing the fastest economic growth this year among the Group of 20 major economies. Consider the outcome of the Group of Seven meeting last month on climate and energy the appetizer to this weekends G7 summit. It was a squib, rejecting a push to end unabated coal power generation by 2030. Thats disappointing, but hardly surprising. The US has a 2035 end-date and Poland, a key member of the European Union at the G7, still plans to keep burning coal in 2049. Host nation Japan is pinning its hopes on gasification and ammonia co-firing projects that would prolong the life of existing coal plants at extortionate cost and slender environmental benefit. It even managed to get language on its ammonia policy into the official communique. The backsliding isnt just words in statements. Despite G7 leaders last year pledging to end public support for international fossil fuel projects by the end of 2022, the US governments export credit agency this month approved a $100 million loan to expand an Indonesian oil refinery. Japan, meanwhile, is still building coal-fired power stations, with about 1.8 gigawatts due to start delivering to the grid in the next few months alone. The contrast with New Delhi is striking. India has made green development, climate finance and sustainable lifestyles its number one priority in its G20 presidency this year, and has reportedly weighed joining the Climate Club proposed by Germanys G7 presidency last year as a way to reduce industrial pollution. India must become one of the first countries in the world to industrialise without carbonising the world, Amitabh Kant, whos coordinating the countrys G20 policy, said in a speech this week in Delhi. Its also convened a group, chaired by former US Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers, to reform multilateral lenders such as the World Bank. Summers last year called for shifts in the Banks model and capital base to drive an extra $100 billion in annual lending, directed mostly toward the energy transition. It would be wrong to think these shifts are disinterested. India itself would be one of the biggest beneficiaries of a change in development banks lending policies. Prime Minister Narendra Modi said his country alone would need $1 trillion in funding from rich countries this decade to meet its target of reaching net zero by 2070. Similarly, Indias enthusiasm about joining the G7s Climate Club may well represent an attempt to sail with the shifting winds of trade policy and geopolitics. One objective of such a clique would be to prevent carbon leakage the move of industrial activities away from countries implementing green policies to take advantage of lower costs in places that dont price their emissions. Becoming a key member of the Climate Club, fueled by cheap World Bank finance for decarbonisation, would put India in an emerging quasi-trade bloc alongside the rich world. That would help meet its ambitions to rival China as a center for global manufacturing supply chains. It could even use membership of the club to water down rules that might be too arduous for its own firms to implement. India hasnt even made up its own mind on the path its going to take. A report earlier this month that the country was about to halt approvals of new coal-fired power plants appears to have been dashed, after the electricity regulator issued plans calling for a net 14.1 gigawatts beyond whats currently being built. Its working alongside China to introduce the concept of multiple pathways to net zero in G20 negotiations, unnamed officials told Reuters this month. That could function as a way of resisting calls for a coal phase-out date from rich nations. The uncertainty about the direction New Delhi is taking just emphasises how the center of gravity is shifting. Indias emissions likely overtook those of the European Union last year to be the largest in the world after China and the US. Within five years, it should have the third-largest national economy, too. With the worlds fate increasingly in its hands, India can no longer afford to stand aloof from climate debates. Instead, its working out how to shape them to its own ends. David Fickling is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering commodities, as well as industrial and consumer companies. Views are personal, and do not represent the stand of this publication. Credit: Bloomberg Mark Zuckerberg started Meta Platforms Inc to connect the world. Unfortunately for him, connecting people across continents clashes with differing rules about privacy. His company got hit on Monday with the biggest monetary fine to date from the European Unions data protection regulators, worth 1.2 billion euros ($1.3 billion), due to a complaint about how the company processed European data in the US, where surveillance laws allegedly infringe on their privacy. The ruling, theoretically, could impact other large US tech companies, such as Alphabet Inc and Amazon.com Inc, because it also requires that all European data that Meta has previously stored about a decades worth be made compliant in the next six months. In other words, Meta no longer has a legal route in place to process European data on its US servers. And if lawmakers dont agree to an alternative arrangement for legally transferring EU data in the next six months, Meta must delete all the EU user data it has stored in the US. Thats no easy task, given that the companys engineers have admitted in court filings that finding individual Facebook profiles amongst the mountains of personal data the company has collected on billions of people borders on impossible. The good news for Meta is that theres a decent chance it wont have to disentangle its European user data and delete it. The US and EU are currently negotiating a new data-transfer agreement that would render todays order effectively moot. And the two sides are expected to have a deal by the end of this summer, according to sources close to Meta and EU data protection regulators. If they dont reach an agreement in time, and Metas efforts to appeal and delay the ruling in the court dont work as the company hopes, then Meta will have to undergo an unprecedented effort to remove the data of hundreds of millions of people from its systems. How much that will cost, or how that data disentanglement will work in practice, is still unclear. In one sense, this is a symbolic victory for privacy regulators, because it shows the EU is serious about enforcing its law known as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). For years, Silicon Valleys biggest internet companies have managed to sidestep it by knocking regulatory rulings back into court with endless appeals. Yet while $1.3 billion is a major blow at a time when Zuckerberg is trying to make the company more efficient, the company can still chalk it up as a cost of doing business. It made $28.7 billion in revenue in the first quarter of 2023. The bigger punishment, if it isnt preempted by a new trans-Atlantic agreement or court appeals, will be a major change to the way Meta processes Europeans data. The ruling is the result of a case brought by Austrian privacy campaigner Max Schrems, who 10 years ago filed a legal challenge against Meta for failing to protect his privacy rights. Schrems tells me that its hard for him to feel a sense of victory as theres always a strong likelihood that Meta will appeal and delay the ruling for years with court action. Its another round in the hamster wheel, he says. Schrems also warned theres no guarantee that the US and EU will reach an agreement on data transfers. Meta plans to rely on the new deal for transfers going forward, but this is likely not a permanent fix, he said. A spokesman for Meta said the company was assessing the decision and its implications. This decision is flawed, unjustified and sets a dangerous precedent for the countless other companies transferring data between the EU and US, Meta said in an official statement on Monday. By and large, Meta will probably continue enjoying the status quo, cross-pollinating our data across continents for years to come and reaping billions in profits through its targeted ad business. But theres a chance things could get seriously upended. If politicians and courts dont play the way Meta needs them too, Mondays ruling could become far more painful. Parmy Olson is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering technology. Views are personal and do not represent the stand of this publication. Credit: Bloomberg Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy is, among other things, one of the worlds most gifted storytellers. And I mean that in the best sense. Coming from a Jewish family and speaking Russian as his first language, he knows as well as anybody that Ukrainian-ness is a fraught identity, and a work in progress. But the same is true of other nationalities too all others, as Ill argue in this essay. National character, it turns out, ultimately rests neither on ethnicity nor on language, but on narrative. Zelenskiy understands that. As Zelenskiy sees it, Vladimir Putins genocidal attack on Ukraine actually accelerated the process of Ukrainian nation-building. This outcome is, of course, the exact opposite of what the Russian president had in mind. In Putins narrative, Ukraine isnt a nation at all, just a borderland (the etymological origin of the word Ukraine) of Greater Russia whose denizens became confused about their identity. The powerful story Zelenskiy and Ukrainians have converged on instead is one of national rebirth. In this telling, Ukrainians suffered for centuries inside of other peoples empires Polish-Lithuanian, Austro-Hungarian, Russian, Soviet. At times as during Stalins policy of deliberate mass starvation, the Holodomor they even came close to extinction. In 1991, they reemerged as an independent state. But they werent yet fully formed as a nation. The gestation that followed was a progressive emancipation. This was at once an incremental liberation from the Kremlin, an embrace of the democratic West and the European Union, and an assertion of Ukrainian uniqueness. Thus Ukrainians spontaneously rose up to kick out a corrupt Moscow-sponsored thug, Viktor Yanukovych, in the Orange Revolution of 2004, then again almost a decade later in the pro-EU Euromaidan uprising, which became known as the Revolution of Dignity. That upheaval provoked Putin into his annexation of Crimea and infiltration of the Donbas in 2014, and last year made him attack the whole of Ukraine, including Zelenskiy personally. But the Ukrainian president didnt flee. He was tut here as he said nine times in the first of his many inspirational video messages following the invasion. And Ukrainians were tut with him. We all changed, Zelenskiy told his compatriots on their Independence Day in 2022, on day 182 of the war. Each of us was born again. As a person, individual, citizen, patriot, simply as a Ukrainian. From ancient roots in Kyivan Rus, a new nation had emerged on Feb 24, 2022 at 4 am, Zelenskiy said: Not born, but reborn. **** Such narratives of rebirth, often in the context of wars of independence, are one archetype of nation-building. As in other former colonies, from Africa to Asia and South America, they echo a Biblical pattern: Once upon a time we our forebears lived in a pristine state of communal purity and bliss. Then we lost our innocence, either to foreign conquerors, internal sin or both. But eventually we regained our boon, and that redemption affirmed us as the nation we are. This rebirth trope can take other forms. Post-war West Germany settled on an atonement narrative. We Germans, this storyline went, committed the worst evils in history during the Holocaust. But then we accepted our guilt and built a new identity on being democratic, tolerant, peaceful, neighborly. This became official when, on the 40th anniversary of Germanys defeat in World War II, its then-president Richard von Weizsaecker, who had once defended his own father at the Nuremberg Trials redefined that zero hour of German collapse as a day of liberation. There are other types of national narratives too, and sometimes they compete. When unresolved, those can undermine rather than reinforce national identity and coherence. The dominant version of American exceptionalism, for example, has long referred in one form or another to the image of a Shining City on a Hill, as Ronald Reagan put it in 1980. He picked up the phrase from John Winthrop, governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony in the 17th century, who had in turn taken it from Jesus Sermon on the Mount. This emphasized Americas predestined and perennial ascension toward virtue and liberty. This storyline, though, had important counternarratives. They included the memories of exclusion and genocide suffered by Native American tribes, and Black recollections of slavery and Jim Crow. This latter narrative became the basis of the 1619 project. Named after the year in which the first ship carrying African slaves arrived in Virginia (one year before the Pilgrims disembarked from the Mayflower), it in effect inverts Americas autobiography. Instead of a paean to freedom that contains a footnote to racism, it becomes an indictment of enslavement and discrimination with a subplot of liberty for one group. Predictably, this account threatens the self-image of many Americans the 1619 project provoked its own rebuttal in the 1776 Report, commissioned by former president Donald Trump. At a time when many Americans worry about polarisation and even another civil war, its worth remembering that national narratives can divide countries as well as unite them. In this singular sense, American nationhood currently appears more vulnerable than the Ukrainian kind. **** The concept of nationhood is so recent in human history dating back just about two centuries, and taking over the globe only since World War II that it has long fascinated and flummoxed scholars. One enigma is how nations invariably view themselves as ancient when in fact most are young. Another is how notions of nationality are universal everybody is assumed to have at least one even though each nation thinks its unique and exceptional. A third is the contradiction between the philosophical vacuity of nationalism and its awesome psychological power. Hardly anybody volunteers to perish for Marxism or Liberalism; many people die for their country. Already in 1882, the French historian Ernest Renan rebuked notions that nations are based on a common racial heritage after all, you can be American, French or Brazilian whether youre white, Black or brown. He also ruled out language as the crucial factor otherwise the Swiss, with their four official tongues, couldnt form a single nation, while all the worlds English speakers would have to inhabit one and the same. The core of nationhood, Renan argued, is rather a collective project of selective forgetting and remembering. A group of people looks at the past and cherry-picks certain events, traumas, heroes, martyrs, grievances and victories. Out of that selection, the nation spins a yarn that makes all members rich or poor, noble or lowly believe they have something important in common. In that sense, Renan said, nationhood is not based on history, as a scholar would practice it, but on story, as Homer or the Bible might tell it. Because those two concepts, history and story, have the same word in many languages including Russian, Ukrainian and German that can cause confusion. So the scholarly consensus is that nationalism pretends to be about the past and heritage, while actually being about the future and destiny. And storytelling connects the two. As the historian Benedict Anderson famously put it in 1983, nations are imagined communities of millions of people whove never met one another and never will, but who nonetheless choose to face the world together, owing to the way they narrate it. **** Precisely because national storylines are so powerful, it matters hugely whether they are for lack of a better word healthy or unhealthy. Following the breakup of Yugoslavia (a state with weak narratives), its various communities went their separate ways, armed with new stories. Some chose to remember traumas and humiliations from centuries earlier to justify hatred in their own time. Leaders like Slobodan Milosevic harped on the Battle of Kosovo in 1389, in which Ottoman Muslims vanquished Serbian forces. Milosevic used that narrative to seek vengeance that is, to commit atrocities against Kosovar Albanians and others. China has its own variant of a revenge narrative, in which scholars espy a problematic mixture of inferiority and superiority complexes. Its called the Century of Humiliation, and refers to the period between the First Opium War and the Maoist Revolution, when Britain and other Western powers corrupted and disgraced the Middle Kingdom. Generations of Chinese school children have been raised on the belief that the West forever means to bully and oppress China. By convenient extension, only the Chinese Communist Party can and therefore must stand up for the nations honor and restore China to its rightful primacy in world affairs. This epic Chinese grudge plays a large part in todays tensions, from the Taiwan Strait to the South China Sea and beyond. But the most dangerous national narrative of our time is Russias, as used and abused by Putin. Ive been corresponding about it with James Wertsch, a professor at Washington University in St. Louis, whos studied this mental universe for decades. According to Wertsch, specific Russian stories about the world are variations on an ingrained narrative template he calls the Expulsion of Alien Enemies. In Act I of this template, Russians and their culture are pristine, pure and innocent but come under attack from malign foreign forces. These might be Teutonic Knights, Mongols, Poles, Swedes, Turks, Napoleon, Hitler, NATO, LGBTQ+ communities, liberals or what have you. So the alien threat can be military but also spiritual. As the Soviet Union lay in its death throes, Russian intellectuals reinterpreted Marxism as a nefarious Western import that had to be rejected and expunged. Similarly, thinkers whove influenced Putin regard Western materialism, sexual liberation, secularism and democracy as corrupt, un-Russian and indeed downright Satanic. In Act II, Russians heroically fight back and, at huge cost and sacrifice, prevail against the foreign evils. The greatest specific storyline in this template is of course what Russians call the Great Patriotic War. To Putin, World War II didnt start in September 1939 with the joint attack on Poland by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union mentions of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact are suppressed in Russia as heretic. Instead, it began on June 22, 1941, with Hitlers attack on the USSR. So the narrative barely mentions Pearl Harbor or D-Day, but dwells on the Battles of Moscow, Stalingrad, Kursk and Berlin, according to Wertsch. If the celebrations of Soviet victory every May 9 only extolled the heroism of the Red Army and included the many Ukrainians, Balts and others who fought in it, that would be healthy remembrance. But Putin has turned the occasion into something ominous at once jingoistic and quasi-religious. To Russias neighbors, it feels menacing. In the process, Putin and his propaganda apparatus wantonly invert history and reality. In Putins telling, the Red Army didnt occupy Eastern Europe but liberated it. Balts, Poles and others beg to differ. In Putins story, moreover, Russians fought fascism once and are destined to fight it forever, so that anybody he considers an enemy Ukraine, NATO, the US, even the Jewish Zelenskiy must also be fascist. To Ukrainians and much of the world, of course, Putin is the one waging wars of aggression and genocide meaning hes the fascist. Putin wants Russians to keep seeing him, as in that classic story template, as expelling alien enemies from Greater Russia. But to Russias neighbors, from the Caucasus to the Baltic, Moldova and of course Ukraine, Putin himself is the Alien Enemy Who Must Be Expelled. **** Such is the power of narrative. What some observers might dismiss as a victimhood complex or paranoia, others may well deem incontrovertible truth. So it is with many stories. The result is what Wertsch calls a mnemonic standoff a confrontation of competing realities. Especially when the opposing sides have nukes, that can get scary. In writing about nationalism and narrative, I may sound like an atheist talking about religion. If you happen to be a nationalist, in whatever country, youre likely to be offended. Youll probably find other peoples stories interesting, if weird. But your own is, as youve heard since kindergarten, simply true. So you wont like my suggestion that theres an arbitrariness to storytelling, and therefore to nations. Youve got to wonder, though. Why is Belgium still a country, whereas Czechoslovakia no longer is? We can explain, or rationalise, in retrospect why, say, Sudan and South Sudan were destined to split, or Pakistan and Bangladesh, or indeed both of the latter two and India. But we cant predict the storylines and nations of the future. Will the European Union one day have a master narrative as compelling as those of its member states? If so, will it become the United States of Europe? Could Palestinians and Israelis one day form a nation as warring Franks, Saxons and Swabians did from 911 when they founded the first Kingdom of Germany? Im not making the case against narratives per se. Storytelling, as science has now accepted, is the only way human brains can make sense of a confusing world both in their own lives and in those of their nations. Narrative, in short, is inevitable. My plea is rather to strive for healthy stories and to reject unhealthy ones. The latter genre includes populist fare thats simplistic and meant to stoke resentment. Stories in the healthy category are complex, open-ended and inclusive, and positive in exhorting people to become better. The story Zelenskiy and Ukrainians are telling is of that healthy and positive kind. It is defiant in the face of an enemy and uplifting in that it prophesies ultimate victory. But Zelenskiy goes beyond the mere negation of Putinism. In his story, the Ukrainian nation must use victory to clean up corruption at home, to rebuild, to become the open society at the heart of Europe that it aspires to be and in that sense, a Shining City on a Hill. Amen to that. And Slava Ukraini. Andreas Kluth is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering European politics. Views are personal, and do not represent the stand of this publication. Credit: Bloomberg The anticipated regrouping of a section of the Opposition at Bengalurus Kanteerava Stadium on May 20 to witness the swearing-in of Siddaramaiah as the Karnataka chief minister cannot even be described as a work in progress. Contrary to paving the way for a larger unity among the non-BJP spectrum before the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, the event demonstrated that the lines of disunity in the Opposition have hardened, in part attributable to the Congresss newfound confidence (overconfidence?) in its presumed ability to challenge the BJP almost solo and in part to the unwillingness of certain parties to endorse the Congresss preeminence. A Tale Of Two Swearing-Ins: 2018 and 2023 This feature was apparent in the Congresss exclusion of the Aam Aadmi Party, the Bharat Rashtra Samithi, Biju Janata Dal, YSR Congress Party, and the Bahujan Samaj Party from the function. While the BSP is unarguably down and out presently, the other four entities are vital links in a chain that could potentially bind the Opposition into a whole. The Trinamool Congress Party, Samajwadi Party and Rashtriya Lok Dal were among the invitees who dialled down their participation or stayed away: TMC chief Mamata Banerjee neither attended nor sent a weighty representative; the SP and RLD kept away. This showed the complexities in bringing together the Opposition in a pre-poll scenario because the TMC, SP and RLD viewed the Congress as a rival on their turfs and realised the futility of doing any manner of business right now for fear of sending the wrong signals to their party cadres as well as their voters. Rewind to May 24, 2018, and recall the stage outside Bengalurus Vidhana Soudha where HD Kumaraswamy, the Janata Dal (Secular) leader, was sworn in as the CM in a Congress-JD(S) coalition that was short-lived. Sonia Gandhis presence infused a frisson to the occasion which commentators described as the coming together of the new MMS, denoting Mayawati, Mamata and Sonia. Sonia herself was missing this time as were the two Ms. Five years ago, it looked like this sorority ushered the beginning of hope for the Opposition to combat the Modi-led BJP. A year later, everything unravelled before the Lok Sabha polls, proving the transience of the most attractive optics and the almost unbridgeable gap existing between hope and ground realities. Futile Chasing Opposition Unity Doubtless the Congresss Karnataka victory on a scale unanticipated by most pollsters gave a fillip to the partys ambitions and ought to have shored up its position to reassemble the Opposition and stake a claim to lead in 2024. Instead the Congress itself drew the red lines by showing who was wanted and who was not. Indeed, Pinarayi Vijayans exclusion from the guest list on the ground that only Congress CMs and those leading alliance governments (MK Stalin, Nitish Kumar and Tejashwi Yadav) were invited provoked jibes from CPI(M) politburo member Prakash Karat even as the partys general secretary Sitaram Yechury played peacemaker in Bengaluru. For Mamata, one straw in the wind was unsettling. In March this year, the Congress won the Sagardighi bypoll in West Bengal. Its candidate was backed by the Left Front. In a constituency with 63 percent Muslims, the TMCs vote share plunged from 50.95 percent in the 2021 assembly polls to 34.94 percent, indicating a shift in the minority votes towards the Congress-Left. Not only will Mamata have to fight a perennially belligerent BJP, she will have to contain a movement of the Muslim votes away from the TMC. Similarly the SP and RLD have to contend with the fact that Muslim voters in the recent Uttar Pradesh polls gravitated towards the Congress to signal to Akhilesh Yadav that he cannot take their support for granted. The AAP, which is battling the Centres headwinds, sought the Oppositions support to fight the Centres ordinance to create an authority which will decide on the postings and transfers of top bureaucrats in the Delhi government. While the Congresss Delhi leaders continued to be antagonistic towards Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal, National Conference leader Omar Abdullah reminded Kejriwal of his support to the Centre on the reading down of Article 370 in J&K. However, Janata Dal (United) leader and Bihar CM Nitish Kumar called on Kejriwal on Sunday to express solidarity with his stand against the central ordinance, reflecting the possibility that the Congress could eventually be isolated in the Opposition. Recent history shows that chasing Opposition unity before an election is futile because each constituent, big and small, aspires to bolster its numbers and form bargaining chips in an eventuality. The United Front and the United Progressive Alliance came into being after the elections. While these entities might be one on keeping the BJP away in 2024, emphasising the centrality of an anti-BJP plank will help the BJP polarise the polity even more sharply. 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. Perhaps a fallout of the recent controversies, SEBI has released a flurry of consultation papers, three of which relate to corporate governance in securities markets - suspicious trading activities, review of Unpublished Price Sensitive Information (UPSI) definition, and regulation of Foreign Venture Capital Investors (FVCIs). The first one is the most ambitious. While its new alert generation models picked up around 5,000 alerts during the year 2022 (involving 3,588 unique entities) with as many as 97 entities appearing repetitively for five or more times, it could not act on many as it was unable to gather evidence to establish preponderance of probability. Changing Tack On Suspicious Actions Modern tech that violators deployed (encrypted technologies, disappearing messages) made it extremely tough. Besides, the differing evidence requirements of different laws also posed a challenge. It therefore seems to have taken a different approach now proposing a new regulation that would establish presumptive guilt based on suspicious actions that are not satisfactorily rebutted, quite like the Income Tax department. It sums up the approach in a neat equation STA = UTP + Existence of MNPI. What this means is if Unusual Trading Patterns (UTP) co-exist with Material Non Public information (MNPI) that would amount to suspicious trading activity (STA), which if not rebutted satisfactorily will attract prosecution. To be sure, SEBI says both unusual trading patterns and material non-public information will be challenged, but it hopes to win the battle by shifting the burden of proof on the accused, instead of itself chasing evidence. This is bound to be challenged in courts as this reverses the generally accepted innocent-until-proven guilty principle, but nevertheless marks a new approach in the battle against bad practices. Dealing With Price Sensitive Information The second paper is about reviewing the definition of Unpublished Price Sensitive Information (UPSI) under the SEBI (Prohibition of Insider Trading) Act. The definition has had a longish history. Based on a SEBI committee recommendation in 2017, the insider trading material disclosure requirements were pruned by leaving out the disclosures under the Listing Obligations and Disclosure Requirements (LODR) as they were seen as excessive. But now, with the benefit of its actual experience with UPSI disclosures of listed entities, SEBI feels that companies failed to live up to expectations. Out of the 1,100 press releases made by the top 100 listed companies between January 2021 and September 2022, only 18 were categorised by them as UPSI (price-sensitive) while SEBI believes the number to be far higher at 227, based on a 2 percent price movement criterion post-release. The fallout of under-reporting was that SEBIs surveillance alerts on suspected insider trading transactions also failed to go further because MNPI (material disclosure) was supposed to work in tandem with the UTP that its surveillance system throws up the equation in the earlier paper. But SEBIs solution to fix the non-disclosure problem seems to be more disclosures, which is what the paper proposes by including the Regulation 30 disclosures of LODR also under this framework. The point is that the onus of disclosure is still on the entities, but SEBI perhaps believes that by sufficiently widening the ambit of materiality, entities will find it difficult to escape disclosure. Whether this will work is a moot question, but SEBI also needs to tweak its surveillance systems alongside legal reforms. If it is any comfort, insider-trading cases are the hardest to establish everywhere in the world. Ensuring Genuine Foreign VC Fund Flows The third paper on streamlining regulatory framework for Foreign Venture Capital Investors (FVCIs) seems more benign as all it seeks to do is to align the registration requirements of FVCIs with those of Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPI). But the norms for FPIs are very stringent (for instance, controlling investors only from permitted foreign jurisdictions and from countries that have strategic anti-money laundering measures). With FVCI being one of the three routes for inward foreign capital, the intent is unmistakable. There are already restrictions in place for eligible sectors and the tightening of investor criteria is only to ensure that genuine venture capital funds flow in. There are two other important changes: One, the responsibility of scrutiny and registration shifts from SEBI to designated depository participants (who already do the job for FPIs); and two, RBI approval is being done away with. Whether all of this would impact FVCI flows remains to be seen, but as of March 2023 there were only 269 FVCIs with a cumulative investment of Rs 48,286 crore. SEBI has travelled a long way in making markets safe for investors, but this is an unending battle as the pressure from the forces of technology, business complexity and rogue elements will be relentless. SA Raghu is a columnist who writes on economics, banking and finance. Views are personal and do not represent the stand of this publication. Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar met Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and former party chief Rahul Gandhi here on Monday, the second such meeting in the last one and a half months amid efforts to strengthen Opposition unity to take on the BJP in the 2024 general elections. Kumar met Kharge and Gandhi at the Congress chief's 10, Rajaji Marg residence here. Sources said during the meeting the roadmap for strengthening Opposition unity and a possible meeting of Opposition leaders in Patna was being discussed. Congress General Secretary (Organisation) K C Venugopal and JD(U) chief Lalan Singh were also present during the meeting, which came a day after Kumar and Delhi counterpart Arvind Kejriwal called for opposition unity to take on the BJP. The JD(U) leader met the AAP convenor at his residence here and extended "complete support" to him in the ongoing face-off with the Centre over the control of administrative services. Significantly, Bihar Chief Minister Kumar, Tejashwi Yadav, Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren, Nationalist Congress Party president Sharad Pawar, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin and National Conference president Farooq Abdullah attended the swearing-in ceremony of Siddaramaiah as the Karnataka chief minister on Saturday, in a show of opposition unity, Kumar has been meeting Opposition leaders and regional satraps as part of the unity exercise which is yet to take a concrete shape. Late last month, Kumar had hinted that a meeting of opposition leaders may take place in Patna after the Karnataka assembly polls were over and issues related to forging opposition unity are expected to be discussed at length at that meeting. USER CONSENT We at moneycontrol use cookies and other tracking technologies to assist you with navigation and determine your location. We also capture cookies to obtain your feedback, analyse your use of our products and services and provide content from third parties. By clicking on 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies and other tracking technologies. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy. *We collect cookies for the functioning of our website and to give you the best experience. This includes some essential cookies. Cookies from third parties which may be used for personalization and determining your location. By clicking 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies to enhance your personalized experience on our site. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy *I agree to the updated privacy policy and I warrant that I am above 16 years of age I agree to the processing of my personal data for the purpose of personalised recommendations on financial and similar products offered by MoneyControl I agree personalized advertisements and any kind of remarketing/retargeting on other third party websites I agree to receive direct marketing communications via Emails and SMS Please select (*) all mandatory conditions to continue. I Accept Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has stepped up efforts to reach out to opposition leaders following his latest tussle with the Central government. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) convenor is scheduled to meet West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on May 23 in Kolkata. He will also meet Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar and Shiv Sena President Uddhav Thackeray on May 24 and 25, respectively. These meetings have been organised by Kejriwal to secure support in the Rajya Sabha in order to overturn an ordinance issued by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led central government. ALSO READ: Centre's ordinance 'unconstitutional', will challenge it in Supreme Court: Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal Currently, the opposition has a strength of 128 MPs in the Rajya Sabha, while the ruling BJP-led National Democratic Alliance has 110 MPs. The ordinance aims to nullify a Supreme Court ruling, giving the city-state control over the bureaucracy and services in the national capital. Kejriwals planned meetings with opposition leaders dovetail with efforts by others to forge a united non-BJP front as an alternative to the Narendra Modi government in next years Parliamentary elections. ALSO READ: Centre's ordinance on transfer of bureaucrats 'unconstitutional', attempt to snatch power from Delhi govt: AAP Although the elections are scheduled to take place a year later, the process of dialogue among opposition parties has already begun. Furthermore, regional parties are likely to support Kejriwal due to their disagreements with the central government over matters of constitutional authority, such as the appointment of governors said Rasheed Kidwai, a political commentator. On May 21, Kejriwal held a meeting with the Janata Dal (United) leader as well as Bihar Deputy Chief Minister and Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Tejashwi Yadav. Sources also said that Nitish Kumar, who has been meeting Kejriwal more frequently now, also requested him to establish contact with the leaders of regional parties in southern states. Kejriwal openly supported the Congress party when Rahul Gandhi was disqualified from the Lok Sabha. The Congress party has been refraining from extending open support to Kejriwal, primarily due to the critical stand its senior Delhi unit leader Ajay Maken has been taken on him on various issues. According to sources, Kejriwal has requested Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar to engage with the Congress party also. Interestingly, during the Apex Courts affirmation of the powers of the Delhi government, the Delhi government was represented by the senior Congress leader and prominent lawyer Abhishek Manu Singhvi. The Centre aims to establish a National Capital Civil Service Authority, which will consist of the chief minister, chief secretary and principal home secretary as members. Their role is to make decisions on postings and transfers of civil service officers. The ordinance grants authority to the Lieutenant Governor (LG) to make the final decision in case there is a difference of opinion between the authority and the LG. Furthermore, the ordinance stipulates that the LG, before making appropriate orders based on recommendations, may request any relevant material concerning Group 'A' officers who are serving in the administration of the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi. AAPs resentment On the evening of May 19, the Central government issued an ordinance that effectively overturned a previous judgment by a Constitution bench. This judgment had transferred the authority to control bureaucrats in the national capital from the Lieutenant Governor to the Delhi government. A week prior to the ordinance, on May 11, the Supreme Court had ruled on the ongoing dispute between the Centre and the Delhi government on the control of services in Delhi. The court's verdict stated that the Delhi government would have control over administrative services in all areas except land, public order and police. Kejriwal has criticized the ordinance as an insult and a direct challenge to the authority and power of the country's highest court. AAPs challenges The AAP has faced significant challenges on multiple fronts in recent times. Two senior ministers of the party, Manish Sisodia and Satyendra Jain, are currently in jail on corruption charges. Additionally, the party did not perform well in the Karnataka Assembly elections. The partys attempts to expand into South India were unsuccessful, with only a meagre 0.58 percent of the vote share and none of its candidates being able to retain their deposits. However, the AAP did manage to secure a Lok Sabha seat from Jalandhar. Given the controversies surrounding the party, it has been engaged in ongoing discussions with opposition leaders, advocating a united front to counter the BJP in the 2024 elections. The BJP on Monday said all political leaders in Jammu and Kashmir must welcome the G20 delegates wholeheartedly. The third G20 Tourism Working Group meeting began in summer capital Srinagar on Monday. It is aimed to give a boost to tourism in the Union Territory. I request that all big leaders of political parties wholeheartedly welcome the G20 team members, J-K BJP chief Ravinder Raina told reporters here. Atithi Devo Bhava, Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam has been our tradition. Big leaders like Farooq Abdullah who have worked in constitutional positions, sometimes as chief ministers and sometimes as Union ministers, were always welcomed in different countries during their foreign visits, he said. Now that the guests have come to our home, we must welcome them with love and an open heart, he added. About 60 foreign delegates arrived in Srinagar on Monday for the third tourism working group meeting of the G20 countries. This is the first international meeting being held in Kashmir after the abrogation of Article 370 and the bifurcation of the erstwhile state into Union Territories Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh in August 2019. Raina thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for giving respect to Jammu and Kashmir by holding the event in Srinagar. The people of J-K are highly grateful to Modi for giving an opportunity to the people to welcome the representatives of the mighty G20 group. It is for the first time that such a big event is being held in J-K. We are grateful to the nations who are taking part in the event, he said. Conspiracies were going on at the international level and thus the event being held in Kashmir has a great meaning, the BJP leader said. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's visit to the United States in June, during which he is slated to address public meetings and interact with university students, is aimed at promoting shared values and vision of "real democracy", Indian Overseas Congress chairperson Sam Pitroda has said. Gandhi is scheduled to visit San Francisco, Washington DC and New York, where he is planning to address two public meetings with Indian Americans, meet lawmakers at Capitol Hill and members of think tanks, interact with university students and meet Wall Street executives, said Indian Overseas Congress, the organizers of the events, on Sunday. Sharing the agenda and purpose of Gandhi's visit to the United States, Pitroda said, "We are not here to complain. We are here to share what is going on in India. Indian democracy is the biggest democracy in the world and we owe it to the people to tell them about the real situation on the ground." "We are not asking for everybody to come and help us. We can deal with the problems. We want to share with you what is needed," he told a group of Congress supporters in Chicago. He was addressing a Karnataka Assembly victory celebration in Chicago which was organised by eminent community leader Ifteqar Sheriff and the Indian Overseas Congress-USA. "The purpose of his (Gandhi's) trip is to connect, interact and begin a new conversation with various individuals, institutions and media, including the Indian diaspora that is growing in numbers in the United States and abroad to promote the shared values and vision of the real democracy with a focus on freedom, inclusion, sustainability, justice, peace and opportunities world over," Pitroda said in a statement on Sunday. George Abraham, the vice-chairman of the Indian Overseas Congress-USA, said, "I hope that Rahul Gandhi's visit will energise the diaspora into a renewed appreciation of democracy and freedom the Indian diaspora aspires to have as they constitute more than 30 million non-resident Indians who live around the world." Pitroda said the Indian Overseas Congress has planned multiple meetings for Gandhi in the three cities. "We have lots of meetings planned with think tanks, universities; a thousand people in San Francisco, 200 people having dinner in Washington DC... The programme is jam-packed to a point. We don't even have half-an-hour flexibility," he told a group of Congress supporters in Chicago. "It has been worked out. And he (Gandhi) does a great job when he gets a chance to interact with people. He doesn't like to broadcast like a 'Mann ki Baat'. He likes to interact and that's what Indian democracy is all about -- to listen to people. So, we hope that we get a good reception on the Capitol Hill," Pitroda said. In San Francisco, Gandhi is likely to meet a group of artists, while a private dinner has been planned by eminent Indian-American Frank Islam at his mansion in the Potomac suburb of Washington DC. In March this year, Gandhi had visited the UK during which his remarks alleging that the structures of Indian democracy are under attack and there is a "full-scale assault" on the country's institutions, had created a row back home. His remarks had triggered a political slugfest, with the BJP accusing him of maligning India on foreign soil and seeking foreign interventions, and the Congress hitting back at the ruling party by citing instances of Prime Minister Narendra Modi raising internal politics abroad. India's largest telecom operator Reliance Jio added 30.5 lakh mobile subscribers in March, accelerating its momentum of February, while Vodafone Idea lost 12.12 lakh wireless users during the month, according to data released by telecom regulator TRAI. Sunil Mittal-led telecom company Bharti Airtel onborded 10.37 lakh mobile subscribers in March, raising its subscriber base to 37.09 crores in March against 36.98 crores in February. Reliance Jio added 30.5 lakh subscribers in March, as its subscriber count exceeded 43 crore, compared to 42.71 crore in February. It is pertinent to mention that in February too, Reliance Jio had added the maximum number of mobile subscribers (at about 10 lakh) among telcos, while Airtel had gained 9.82 lakh mobile users during February. A look at March data released by TRAI showed that Vodafone Idea which trails Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel in the mobile market subscriber tally lost 12.12 lakh mobile users in March. Vodafone Idea's mobile subscriber base shrunk to 23.67 crore in March, from 23.79 crore in the previous month. Overall, the broadband subscribers' tally rose by 0.86 per cent month-on-month. " the total broadband subscribers increased from 839.33 million at the end of February-23 to 846.57 million at the end of March-23 with a monthly growth rate of 0.86 per cent," a Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) release said. Top five service providers constituted 98.37 per cent market share of the total broadband subscribers at the end of March 2023, including Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd (43.85 crore), Bharti Airtel (24.19 crore), Vodafone Idea (12.48 crore). Overall, the number of total telephone subscribers in India increased to 1,172.84 million (117.2 crore) at the end of March 2023, showing a monthly growth rate of 0.21 per cent. "Urban telephone subscription increased from 652.16 million at the end of February-23 to 653.71 million at the end of March-23 and the rural subscription also increased from 517.77 million to 518.63 million during the same period. "The monthly growth rates of urban and rural telephone subscription were 0.24 per cent and 0.17 per cent respectively during the month of March-23," TRAI said. Overall teledensity in India increased to 84.51 per cent at the end of March 2023. "The Urban Tele-density increased from 133.70 per cent at the end of February-23 to 133.81 per cent at the end of March-23 and rural tele-density also increased from 57.63 per cent to 57.71 per cent during the same period," it said. Disclaimer: Moneycontrol is a part of the Network18 group. Network18 is controlled by Independent Media Trust, of which Reliance Industries is the sole beneficiary. Bhanu Rekha, the 22-year-old Infosys employee, who died in Bengalurus rain fury on Sunday, had her family visiting her in the city. The young woman, her mother and other relatives who arrived from Andhra Pradeshs Vijayawada, had hired an MUV which got stuck in a flooded underpass, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said. The family was trapped in neck-deep water the white car in the citys busy KR Circle underpass amid heavy rain late Sunday afternoon and the water gushed inside the vehicle, which had six passengers and a driver inside. "The family from Vijayawada in Andhra Pradesh had hired a car and come to see Bengaluru. Bhanu Rekha works in Infosys. Due to the downpour, the barricade at the underpass fell and the driver took the risk of crossing the underpass, which he should not have," Siddaramaiah, who met the womans family at Bengalurus St Marthas Hospital, told reporters. According to eyewitnesses, the driver of the car tried to zoom through the water in the underpass, but the car got stuck and was almost submerged. People who rushed to help those inside the vehicle reportedly threw sarees and ropes to help them stay afloat. While two of them were dragged out by swimmers of the emergency services personnel, others were brought out using a ladder. Videos showed two women climbing onto the road above the underpass using a ladder provided by the rescue teams. The survivors were rushed to the hospital where they found Bhanu Rekha dead. Siddaramaiah said allegations that the woman did not receive timely treatment at the hospital and that she was alive when taken there will be investigated. The patient was frothing at the mouth, her pupils were dilated and there was no pulse. An ECG was done immediately, and it showed a flat line. She was declared dead due to drowning, Dr Vaishali DS, emergency medical officer, St Marthas Hospital, told The Times of India. Several parts of Bengaluru were flooded, with numerous areas reporting extremely slow-moving traffic and power-cuts due to the sudden heavy rain. The downpour uprooted several huge trees and even led to the collapse of a building in north Bengalurus Vidyaranyapura. Neighbourhoods such as Malleswaram, Rajaji Nagar, Srirampuram, Kengeri, Mysuru Road and several other low-lying areas saw water gushing into several homes. A government school teacher in Karnataka was suspended on May 21 following allegations of criticising the newly formed Siddaramaiah government and the policies of Congress in the state. Shanthamurthy MG, a teacher at Kanubennahalli government school in Chitradurga district's Hosadurga, expressed his discontent with the state government's policies and its distribution of freebies in a Facebook post. In the post, he wrote about the increasing debt of the state incurred during tenures of different chief ministers. Shanthamurthy's Facebook post read, "What else can you do without giving freebies?" He further elaborated on the accumulated debt under various chief ministers, stating, "Debt during the tenure of former CMs - S M Krishna was Rs 3,590 crore, Dharam Singh Rs 15,635 crore, HD Kumaraswamy Rs 3,545 crore, BS Yeddiyurappa Rs 25,653 crore, DV Sadananda Gowda Rs 9,464 crore, Jagadish Shettar Rs 13,464 crore, and Siddaramaiah Rs 2,42,000 crores." Shanthamurthy, in the post, also alleged substantial increase in loans from 1999 to 2013, covering the period from Krishna to Shettar, which amounted to Rs 71,331 crore. However, he claimed that the debt skyrocketed to Rs 2,42,000 crore during Siddaramaiah's tenure between 2013 and 2018. The teacher's post implied that this surge in debt made it convenient for the government to announce freebies. Soon after he posted the status, his suspension order was issued by Field Education Officer L Jayappa, who stated that Shanthamurthy had violated government service rules by criticising the government. Shantamurthy, a suspended teacher, had violated the government service rules by mentioning the debts incurred during the previous governments while Siddaramaiah was taking oath as the new chief minister on Saturday, read the suspension order. Read: Siddaramaiah attends grandson's Class 12 farewell ceremony Chitradurga Deputy Director of Public Instruction K Ravishankar Reddy further confirmed the suspension, citing the violation of the Karnataka Civil Services (Conduct) Rules, 1966. Section 10 of this act specifically forbids employees from openly criticising the government. USER CONSENT We at moneycontrol use cookies and other tracking technologies to assist you with navigation and determine your location. We also capture cookies to obtain your feedback, analyse your use of our products and services and provide content from third parties. By clicking on 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies and other tracking technologies. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy. *We collect cookies for the functioning of our website and to give you the best experience. This includes some essential cookies. Cookies from third parties which may be used for personalization and determining your location. By clicking 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies to enhance your personalized experience on our site. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy *I agree to the updated privacy policy and I warrant that I am above 16 years of age I agree to the processing of my personal data for the purpose of personalised recommendations on financial and similar products offered by MoneyControl I agree personalized advertisements and any kind of remarketing/retargeting on other third party websites I agree to receive direct marketing communications via Emails and SMS Please select (*) all mandatory conditions to continue. I Accept Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is currently on a visit to Papua New Guinea (PNG), was greeted by his counterpart James Marape at the airport. However, he won the hearts of many when he touched PM Modi's feet at the airport. #WATCH | Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea James Marape seeks blessings of Prime Minister Narendra Modi upon latter's arrival in Papua New Guinea. pic.twitter.com/gteYoE9QOm ANI (@ANI) May 21, 2023 Here are a few things to know about Papua New Guinea Prime Minister James Marape: Marape is part of the PANGU Pati political party and has been the Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea since 2019. Marape quit the People's National Congress Party in 2019 and joined the Pangu PATI. Marape graduated from the University of Papua New Guinea with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1993. Additionally, he also holds a Postgraduate degree in Environmental Science and a Masters' degree in Business Administration. He is the eighth PM in PNG's history and has held several important positions in the government, previously. Marape has worked as a parliamentary secretary for transport and works and has also featured in the parliamentary referral committee on inter-government relations. As per Guardian, there was an attempt made to topple his government in 2020 which proved unsuccessful. Marape was accused of failing to deliver on the promises made around corruption reform and economic development. During such a time of chaos in the island, Marape insisted that he would not resign as the Prime Minister. Also read: PM Modi embarks on three-nation visit USER CONSENT We at moneycontrol use cookies and other tracking technologies to assist you with navigation and determine your location. We also capture cookies to obtain your feedback, analyse your use of our products and services and provide content from third parties. By clicking on 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies and other tracking technologies. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy. *We collect cookies for the functioning of our website and to give you the best experience. This includes some essential cookies. Cookies from third parties which may be used for personalization and determining your location. By clicking 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies to enhance your personalized experience on our site. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy *I agree to the updated privacy policy and I warrant that I am above 16 years of age I agree to the processing of my personal data for the purpose of personalised recommendations on financial and similar products offered by MoneyControl I agree personalized advertisements and any kind of remarketing/retargeting on other third party websites I agree to receive direct marketing communications via Emails and SMS Please select (*) all mandatory conditions to continue. I Accept Billionaire Jeff Bezos and girlfriend Lauren Sanchez arrived in Cannes, south of France, in the Amazon founders $500 million superyacht over the weekend, Page Six reported. The power couple arrived at the resort town which has attracted global celebrities for the ongoing Cannes Film Festival 2023. The luxury boat, named Koru, is believed to be the largest sailing yacht in the world. The vessel completed its construction recently, five years after it was commissioned in 2018, and made its maiden voyage in April. The front of the superyacht reportedly features a mermaid figure that resembles Lauren Sanchez. Bezos has also brought his support yacht, Abeona, to Cannes, along with Koru. In Cannes, Bezos and Sanchez were seen at a magazine party at the Hotel Du Cap Eden Roc, and at a private mansion party for Hollywood filmmaker Martin Scorseses Killers of the Flower Moon, according to the Page Six report. Running the superyacht will cost Jeff Bezos $25 million a year. Koru is the tallest yacht in the world, with triple masts towering at over 230 feet, making the sailing yacht nearly half the size of the Great Pyramid of Giza. The vessel is 127 meters long and can accommodate 18 guests and requires a crew of 40, New York Post had reported. The aluminium and steel vessel reportedly boasts three decks, including one with a swimming pool. Last year, Bezos found himself in the middle of a controversy after Dutch shipmaker Oceanco requested that a historic bridge in the Netherlands be dismantled because the yacht's three masts were too tall to pass under the bridge, despite its 131-foot clearance. The 130-foot steel structure wouldnt allow the vessel and its 229-foot masts to pass through. Following an uproar from residents, the boat was towed from its construction location to another shipyard in a nearby town without its masts. There were also reports of locals threatening to pelt the yacht with eggs. Subsequently, Koru was towed away under cover of darkness. In what came as a relief for Go First, the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT), on May 22, upheld the NCLT order on the airline's insolvency. The lessors have been asked to move an appropriate application at the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT). As a consequence of this order, the moratorium that kicked in as a result of NCLT's order will stay in place. The NCLAT's order has given liberty to the aircraft lessors to file an appropriate application at NCLT for clarification on the applicability of the moratorium on the aircraft for which leases were terminated prior to Go First's insolvency. The appellate tribunal has also granted liberty to the Interim Resolution Professionals (IRPs) to move an application at NCLT with respect to the claims of both parties relating to the aircraft in question. The NCLAT has directed the NCLT to decide the applications of the lessors and IRP without being influenced by any observations made by it. The aircraft lessors to Go First, such as SMBC aviation capital, SFV Aircraft Holdings and GY Aviation Lease, challenged the order of the NCLT admitting the cash-strapped airline's plea for insolvency. The lessors argued at the NCLAT that Go First is using the insolvency proceedings to hold on to aircraft that it does not own. Aircraft lessor SMBC called into question the rationale behind Go First filing for voluntary insolvency despite having 26 functional aircraft and taking bookings for future dates. SMBC Aviation claimed that it has unpaid dues of Rs 700-800 crore from Go First. SMBC further argued that the NCLT did not provide them with an opportunity to present their side of the case and admitted Go First's plea for insolvency without ascertaining the entire situation. The aircraft lessor argued that they had already terminated the leases before the NCLT-ordered moratorium. However, they are not able to obtain possession of aircraft owing to the tribunal's order. Citing aviation rules, the leasing company argued that Go First cannot operate aircraft once the lease is terminated. Go First argued that it had initiated insolvency proceedings with bonafide intentions to protect the 7,000 employees in its rolls and ensure that the country's aviation sector enjoys healthy competition. The airline dismissed the claims made by lessors stating that it had malafide intentions. Go First's IRP, represented by his lawyer, argued that the airline owes over Rs 1,000 crore to its vendors and that the insolvency process will only help it repay its dues. The tribunal reserved their plea for judgment on May 15. On May 10, the principal bench of NCLT at Delhi admitted Go First's voluntary plea to initiate an insolvency resolution process. The tribunal appointed an IRP while suspending the board and putting a moratorium on the debt-ridden airline's financial obligations. Founded by billionaire Nusli Wadia, Go First, earlier GoAir, filed for bankruptcy on May 2, blaming US engine maker Pratt & Whitney for the grounding of half of its fleet. The ultra-low-cost airline has liabilities worth around Rs 11,000 crore. Lawyers have opined that a 20 percent tax collected at source (TCS) on spending on international credit cards will push people to source foreign exchange from informal markets. The finance ministry on May 16 notified the Foreign Exchange Management (Current Account Transactions) (Amendment) Rules, 2023, saying that henceforth, spending in foreign exchange through international debit and credit cards will be covered under the Reserve Bank of India's liberalised remittance scheme (LRS). All international transactions made using credit cards when outside India have been brought under the RBIs LRS, which permits Indian residents to send up to $250,000 in a financial year abroad, without prior approval from the central bank. This has come into effect from May 16, 2023, as per a notification by the Ministry of Finance in the Gazette of India. Spends beyond a transaction value of Rs 7 lakh currently attract a levy of 5 percent TCS. But this rate is applicable only up to June 30, 2023. From July 1, these credit card transactions will attract a higher TCS rate of 20 percent with no minimum threshold, the gazette notification read. However, the ministry on May 19 clarified that it has exempted TCS on international card expenses up to Rs 7 lakh per financial year. Legal experts have noted that businessmen and others who frequently travel abroad may cross the Rs 7 lakh limit easily and upon crossing it, may choose to source foreign exchange currencies from informal markets. An unnecessary burden: Senior advocate Sanjoy Ghose noted that the move was not required when the government is encouraging citizens to move from the informal economy to the formal economy, especially when the rate is as high as 20 percent. He said, The government has undertaken many exercises in the past, such as demonetisation, to push people into formalising their sources of income. The changes to TCS are akin to terrorising the citizens for having made the choice which the government wanted them to make in the first place. Earlier, people were taking foreign exchange from the informal market, through illegal means, such as hawala or black markets. With this move, there is a chance that the situation could go back to this. He opined that when the government was moving towards formalisation and regulation with Aadhaar, Know Your Customer (KYC), and PAN card, the new measure is two steps backwards. Ghose said Firstly, it is not easy to get a credit card or a debit card with the amount of background checks that is done before it is issued. Secondly, every expenditure on a credit or debit card is easily traceable and is accounted for. Under these circumstances, I fail to understand why the government would want to impose this kind of burden on a person. Could boost informal channels Pallav Pradhyuman, partner at law firm CNK and Associates, said, There are two schools of thought on this issue, the first being that air and foreign travel being Veblen goods (a Veblen good is one for which demand rises with a rise in its price) will see an uptick in demand from the wealthier classes which will be eager to brush off the effects of the 20 percent TCS. At the same time, there will be others who will be keen to avoid the 20 percent cash flow restriction as well as the reporting requirements that this entails. He thus notes that there is a definite chance that the latter group of people will try to access the informal forex market. Discourages individuals from engaging in foreign transactions Ankit Jain, partner at Ved Jain and Associates, a Delhi-based chartered accountancy firm, notes that the high TCS rate might force individuals who desire to avoid the tax to resort to this channel, which is largely unregulated and carries its own risks. Not only would this risk an increase in untracked, informal transactions, it could also inadvertently fuel a black market for forex exchange, which goes against the principles of a transparent and fair tax system. According to Jain, High TCS could discourage individuals from engaging in foreign transactions and travel unless absolutely necessary. This avoidance behaviour, spurred on by the 20 percent rate, may negatively impact sectors reliant on these transactions, including tourism, international e-commerce and others. He added that the stringent nature of the tax could push individuals to explore alternative channels for foreign transactions. For instance, some might choose to leverage their company's expense limits, given that company expenses are not typically covered under the LRS. This, in turn, could lead to a rise in corporate transactions and a potential decrease in personal foreign transactions, he said. The prudent would opt against riskier alternatives Keshav Singhania, head of private client practice at law firm Singhania and Co, notes that the threshold limit should be enough for the majority of Indians, barring the likes of high net-worth individuals (HNIs) who prefer to splurge on more luxuries. However, even for frequent travelers and HNIs, alternatives such as tapping the informal forex markets is not advisable. He said, Accordingly, a prudent audience would opt against other riskier alternatives to bridge a fund flow timing issue. A 14-year-old girl from the Dharavi area of Mumbai was selected as the face of beauty brand Forest Essentials' new campaign named "The Yuvati Collection". Maleesha Kharwa was identified in Mumbai in 2020 by Hollywood actor Robert Hoffman and three years on, the girl has over 225,000 Instagram followers. She often adds the hashtag #princessfromtheslum to her posts. Recently, Kharwa has been part of several modelling assignment and was even part of a short film, titled ""Live Your Fairytale". "Her face lit up with pure delight, To see her dreams in front of her in sight. Maleesha's story is a beautiful reminder that dreams really do come true. #BecauseYourDreamsMatter," the brand wrote in the caption of a video shared on Instagram. The video received several responses, many of whom expressed their happiness at the girl becoming the face of the brand. "So happy to see this, and applause for the brand. In our country dusky girls were never considered to promote beauty brands, now time has changed... she's so beautiful," a user wrote. "Wow. So much positivity in here. Also her smile is beautiful," another user wrote. "It's wonderful watch her savor her success! Blessings and much more success in future for her!" a third user wrote. Kharwa later said that the campaign with Forest Essentials was her "biggest job till date". She further said her ambitions was to become a model, but not without sacrificing her education. "I want to be a model, but education will always come first for me," she said. View this post on Instagram A post shared by @forestessentials Tornado Cash, a service that allows users to mask cryptocurrency transactions, suffered a hostile takeover by hackers through a malicious governance proposal. Samczsun, a security researcher at crypto investment firm Paradigm, said on Twitter that an attacker granted themselves 1.2 million fake votes on Saturday. As the fake votes exceeded the 700,000 legitimate votes, it allowed the attacker to gain full control over the governance of Tornado Cash. Tornado Cash couldnt immediately be reached for comment via Twitter. On 2023/05/20 at 07:25:11 UTC, Tornado Cash governance effectively ceased to exist. Through a malicious proposal, an attacker granted themselves 1,200,000 votes. As this is more than the ~700,000 legitimate votes, they now have full control.https://t.co/nY87XmrYgT pic.twitter.com/h9qjc3xRqz @samczsun.com (@samczsun) May 20, 2023 Tornado Cash is a blockchain protocol and TORN, its governance token, enables holders to vote on proposed changes in the service. Now that they have all the votes, they can do whatever they want. In this case, they simply withdrew 10,000 votes as TORN and sold it all, Samczsun said in a tweet. Soon after the news of the exploit, crypto exchange Binance said that it will temporarily pause deposits of TORN. The token steadied on Monday in Asia after sliding on Sunday. Its price is down by over a third to about $4.56 compared with an intraday high on Saturday, according to CoinGecko data. Tornado Cash is allegedly the preferred tool for hackers and criminals to launder stolen or illicit funds. Data from Dune Analytics showed over $8 billion had been sent through Tornado Cash since the service started in 2019. The US Treasury Department imposed sanctions on Tornado Cash in August after saying the service was used by North Korean hackers to launder illicit gains. North Koreas Lazarus Group laundered about $450 million through the service, a Treasury official said then. Singapore, May 22 Singapores Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said on Monday that he tested positive for COVID-19 after recent visits to South Africa and Kenya. I tested positive for COVID-19 for the first time this morning, Lee said in a Facebook post. This comes after my recent work trips. I am generally feeling ok but my doctors have advised me to self-isolate until I am asymptomatic," he added. Lee, 71, said due to his age, doctors prescribed him the antiviral medication Paxlovid, adding that his most recent COVID-19 vaccine booster was in November. Please continue to keep your vaccinations up-to-date, as it reduces the risk of severe illness, he wrote. Posting a picture of his positive antigen test, the prime minister added, As COVID-19 remains endemic in Singapore, we must continue to stay safe and healthy." Lee made official visits to Cape Town in South Africa from May 14 to 16 and Nairobi in Kenya from May 17 to 19. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is currently in Sydney, Australia, wished his Singaporean counterpart a speedy recovery. "Wishing my friend @leehsienloong good health and a quick recovery," he tweeted. Earlier this month, Singapore's Health Minister Ong Ye Kung said in Parliament that fewer seniors are keeping up to date with their COVID-19 shots, Channel News Asia reported. He warned that if the trend of falling vaccinations continues, it could weaken the populations resilience against COVID-19 over time and make it vulnerable to the virus again. The benefits of the COVID-19 vaccines continue to far outweigh the risks, and you should keep your vaccination updated, he said last month. This is the recommendation of both the Expert Committee On COVID-19 Vaccination and the Health Sciences Authority," the minister was quoted as saying in the report. Singapore is experiencing a COVID-19 wave, which peaked in late April. March 11, 2023 Ukraine Is Lying About Casualty Ratios To Justify Holding Of Bakhmut I follow and like Adam Tooze. His Chartbooks have always good materials. This recent one on the Silicon Valley Bank crash is also fine. But I was somewhat disturbed by a recent tweet of his: Adam Tooze @adam_tooze - 20:11 UTC Mar 9, 2023 "Some experts worry Ukraine may be expending high-quality troops and equipment to kill mere Russian prison recruits as cannon fodder." Wow the language around the attritional battle at Bakhmut is getting grotesque! 7:1 ratio not good enough for you? Link: ft.com Military briefing: Ukraines battle of diminishing returns for Bakhmut Was that satire? Moon of Alabama @MoonofA - 20:14 UTC Mar 9, 2023 Replying to @adam_tooze 7:1 to whose advantage? He did not respond. But no, it was not satire. The linked Financial Times piece, reprinted in the Irish Times, actually quotes the Ukrainian national security chief Oleksiy Danilov as saying that the kill ratio was one to seven in Ukraine's favor. The whole passage is nuts: US and European officials estimate 200,000 Russian troops have been killed or seriously injured since February last year, and Ukraine about half that. One western official said Russia had suffered between 20,000 and 30,000 casualties over the past six months, adding that most of them were mercenaries fighting for the Wagner private military company. Wagners operations have been largely focused on Bakhmut. Nato officials estimate one Ukrainian had been killed or injured for every five Russians. Ukrainian national security chief Oleksiy Danilov last week estimated the ratio was one to seven in our favour. This makes no sense. Had 200,000 Russian's be killed or seriously wounded in the war while 20,000 to 30,000 of those were killed or wounded in the past six month then the first six month of the war would have cost the Russian side 175,000 losses. That's more than the total numbers that were, until the recent mobilization, involved in the whole campaign. Those numbers must have been pulled from hot air. Danilov casualty ratio is likewise obvious nonsense. The Medical Department of the U.S. Army has a book about CAUSATIVE AGENTS OF BATTLE CASUALTIES IN WORLD WAR II. It is quoted here: A report on the causative agents of battle casualties in World War II showed the comparative incidence of casualties from different types of weapons for several theaters. Compilers of the report believed that, while the more detailed subdivisions within their three major classes were open to question, their findings on the percent of total casualties due to small arms, artillery and mortars, and miscellaneous were reasonably accurate. From these they drew the following conclusions: 1. Small arms fire accounted for between 14 and 31 percent of the total casualties, depending upon the theater of action: The Mediterranean theater, 14.0 percent; the European theater, 23.4 percent; and the Pacific theaters, 30.7 percent. 2. Artillery and mortar fire together accounted for 65 percent of the total casualties in the European and Mediterranean theaters, 64.0 and 69.1, respectively. In the Pacific, they accounted for 47.0 percent. The Encyclopedia Britannica likewise notes for World War I: The greatest number of casualties and wounds were inflicted by artillery, followed by small arms, and then by poison gas. When I was in officer school the number estimated for a big war in Europe was 75% of casualties due to artillery and aerial bombing. Data from the European Commission, quoted by El Pais, says that Russia has a 10:1 advantage in artillery: According to data from the European Commission to which EL PAIS has had access, Russia fires between 40,000 and 50,000 artillery shells per day, compared to 5,000-6,000 Ukrainian forces expend. The Estonian government, which has been one of largest contributors to Kyivs war effort, puts the average use of artillery at between 20,000 and 60,000 Russian shells per day, and 2,000 to 7,000 Ukrainian rounds, according to a document sent to EU Member States by Tallinn, to which this newspaper has had access. The Russian forces fire ten times the number of shells the Ukrainians can fire. In a modern war artillery fire causes 65+% of all casualties. It is thus impossible that Ukraine is losing less soldiers than the Russians. The total ratio may well be 7 to 1 but it will certainly be to the advantage of the Russian forces side. But minimizing the losses Ukraine has in Bakhmut seems to be a current propaganda scheme. A recent Newsweek piece quotes similar nonsense. This propaganda seems to be designed to justify the Ukrainian decision to hang on to the city as long as possible: Moscow's troops are on the cusp of taking the city in the eastern Donetsk region fought over for months, of which they reportedly control half. Amid rumors of a Ukrainian retreat Western officials suggested would do Kyiv no harm, President Volodymyr Zelensky insisted his troops would stay to prevent Russian forces from moving on "to other towns." Already in January the U.S. was pressing the Ukraine to forget about Bakhmut and to move to a more mobile campaign: In a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, deputy national security adviser Jon Finer, Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman, and Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Colin Kahl, said the US wants to help Ukraine shift away from the sort of pitched battle of attrition playing out in Bakhmut and focus instead on a style of mechanized maneuver warfare that uses rapid, unanticipated movements against Russia, sources familiar with their discussion said. The hundreds of armored vehicles the US and European countries have provided to Ukraine in recent weeks, including 14 British tanks, are meant to help Ukraine make that shift, officials said. In his latest summary Dima of the Military Summary Channel reported that the Ukrainian side will soon try a counterattack to cut the Russian ring around Bakhmut and to draw the Russian side into a decisive general battle. I see, like Dima, little chance that such an attempt could be successful. The force ratio to achieve something like that is simply not there. But if the Ukraine wants to do that, against 'western' advice, it needs some justifications. The lies about casualty ratios in favor of Ukraine seem designed to give those. Posted by b on March 11, 2023 at 18:11 UTC | Permalink Comments next page next page May 22, 2023 Media And Politicians Throw So Much Bullshit At Us That It Is Difficult To See Through It Western media are feeding us bullshit. It is so strong that even western politicians, like the public, seem to believe in it. The reason is that it is increasingly difficult to detect the bullshit because there is just too much of it. Gilbert Doctorow takes on the Western disinformation campaign especially with regards to the fall of Bakhmut: [I]t is these censorious states and the mass media that carry their messages with stenographic precision into print and electronic dissemination who are the ones that day after day feed disinformation to the public. It is cynically composed and consists of a toxic blend of spin, by which is meant misleading interpretation of events, and outright lies. The many months long battle for the provincial Donbas city of Bakhmut, or Artyomovsk as it is known in Russia, has been described variously from on high in Washington, London and Berlin. When the likely outcome was unclear, the defense of Bakhmut was called heroic and demonstrative of the brave fighting spirit of the Ukrainians. Casualty figures issued by Kiev and then trumpeted from Washington suggested that the Russians were stupidly throwing away the lives of their fighting men by using WWI style human waves of attackers who were decimated by the defenders. Russian lives are cheap was the message. The fact that Russian artillery on site outnumbered and outperformed Ukrainian artillery by a factor of five or seven to one was freely admitted by the Western propagandists as they pleaded for increased supplies to Kiev. They, nonetheless, issued casualty reports for the Russians that inverted the force correlation. It was assumed, obviously with reason, that the public was too lazy or too uninterested to do the arithmetic. I had earlier taken on the nonsensical casualty claims: The Russian forces fire ten times the number of shells the Ukrainians can fire. In a modern war artillery fire causes 65+% of all casualties. It is thus impossible that Ukraine is losing less soldiers than the Russians. The total ratio may well be 7 to 1 but it will certainly be to the advantage of the Russian forces side. The reporting on the alleged not-fall of Bakhmut in mainstream media is similar nonsensical: The New York Times writes: As Russia Claims Victory in Bakhmut, Ukraine Sees Opportunity Amid Ruins Russias capture of Bakhmut would be a powerful symbolic success for Moscow. It would represent the first Ukrainian city it has seized since Lysychansk last summer, and be a setback for Kyiv, which expended precious ammunition and sent some of its most capable forces to try to thwart Russias devastating monthslong assault on the city. Thousands of troops from both sides are believed to have been killed in nearly a year of intense fighting there. Bakhmut has fallen. Why then is the NYT writing in the subjunctive 'would'? It does not make sense. The Washington Post does likewise: As hold on Bakhmut slips, Ukrainian forces push to encircle city Ukrainian forces have been reduced to small footholds in the devastated eastern city of Bakhmut, which despite its limited strategic importance has emerged as the wars bloodiest battlefield. But they have made gains on the Russian flanks, in a move to encircle the city and extend the fight there, according to Ukrainian officials and military personnel in the field. ... Ukraine still holds slivers of the city, including the area around what has become a landmark of Ukraines last redoubt: a destroyed sculpture of a Soviet MiG fighter jet, according to multiple military personnel involved in defending the position, which Russian forces continue to contest. No. Ukraine does not hold 'slivers of the city'. Videos published yesterday evidently prove that: Ukraine Control Map @UAControlMap - 10:50 UTC May 22, 2023 46/48 Wagner flag raise in south west Bakhmut near the destroyed MiG statue Coordinates: 48.57570907, 37.96475216 Map view: Google 'Encircling the city' is likewise a dream. Situation in Bakhmut on May 8 Source: LiveUAmap - bigger . Situation in Bakhmut on May 22 Source: LiveUAmap - bigger The scale of the map is on the bottom right. From it we can tell that the Russian forces, under attack, have moved back some 1 or 2 kilometers from the difficult to defend fields towards better suited positions after Ukrainian forces wasted their lives to open a corridor for the troops fleeing from Bakhmut. That attack happened on May 11. On the following day the Russian Defense Ministry said that the Ukrainian side, during the last 24 hours, had lost 1,725 men, 9 tanks and 55 armored combat vehicles. That was so far the biggest reported daily loss in this war. The lines on the flanks of Bakhmut have since been stabilized. So where please is the 'encirclement'? The maps show no attempt of one. Yves Smith points out that the disinformation allures have seemingly turned into the believes of those who issues them: US Geopolitics: Believing Impossible Things In corporate America, theres a decent risk that fakery will get caught out by competitors, short sellers, whistleblowers, and just plain careful reading of audited financials. ... By contrast, in politics, reality avoidance is routinely the key to a long and successful-looking career, witness Eurocrats fondness for kick the can strategies. And that propensity is particularly dangerous when leadership groups have become both selfish and short-termist. There really was once upon a time some people who went into government service for the service part, and not for the revolving door and networking. ... But now, the well-honed effectiveness of propaganda has encouraged politicians and their media amplifiers/allies to go hog wild with selling Big Lies. And the worst is there are no consequences for the perps. ... The wee problem with the war in Ukraine and the escalating US eye-poking of China is neither is going very well, to the degree that the propaganda started fizzling out very quickly in the Global South and is losing its potency in the West. Its hard to keep up the pretense of a great inevitable Ukraine victory with Ukraine losing Bakhmut, after Zelensky made it the centerpiece of his Congressional love-fest last December. Oh, but Ukraine is still trying to deny it is lost, as they did for Mariupol and Soledar until well after the fact. The believe into impossible things is not only with regards to the war in Ukraine but also with the bigger view towards China: Similarly, US officials may have told themselves that much of the world regarded China with suspicion due to its often-overheated rhetoric and hypersensitivity to slights. But these self-comforting beliefs about Chinas position on the world stage got a big wake up call with China brokering a normalization of relations between Saudi Arabia and Iran, and then Syria. Now China is making more trouble by wandering into Americas back yard, as in Europe, and talking up its napkin-doodle Ukraine peace plan. The extreme hostile G7 communique on China is simply another expression of western delusion: According to the Financial Times, the G7 has issued its strongest condemnation of China, and most of the other international mainstream media also highlight that it "amps up pressure on China." It seems that the only way for the G7 to catch people's attention and show its sense of presence is to speculate on the issues related to China. As a "rich countries' club" that once accounted for up to 70% of the global economy, the G7 has been facing a serious existential crisis in recent years as its economic weight has been declining, coupled with a decline in global population share and perceived attractiveness. ... The louder the anti-China rhetoric from the G7, the smaller its actual impact will be, as this is a natural law. This is because it would mean that G7 serves the strategic interests of the US rather than the welfare of the international community, making it difficult to receive any "assistance" but more difficult to make progress. It is very likely that in the end, the G7 will find that it has expended a lot of effort, but the result is only spinning its wheels. ... The Hiroshima summit seems to have given the G7 a sense of "shaping history," but this illusion will soon be blown away by the winds of reality, since without internal prosperity and development, external displays of strength are only superficial. Unfortunately many people in the west believe the bullshit their politicians and media are throwing at them. As Caitlin Johnstone observes: The problem that underpins most other problems in modern times is that human minds are highly hackable, and that the science of hacking them at mass scale has been advancing since Bernays over a century ago. This is what keeps people consenting to the destructive and exploitative agendas of the powerful against their own interests. ... Many people, maybe even most people, are to some extent aware that our entire civilization is bullshit. Relatively few are able to describe exactly how and why its bullshit, though, because theres so much bullshit its hard to get a clear view of how the bullshit is happening. Its hard to understand how and why our civilization is bullshit exactly because our civilization is bullshit. Its rife with lies, the teachers feed us lies, the algorithms feed us lies, and were trained to look for information in areas that will turn up lies. ... In a civilization thats made of bullshit, its rare to gain solid enough footing and high enough ground to be able to look around and clearly see how all the bullshit is happening. Everything here is geared toward preventing us from gaining that footing. It takes hard, diligent work, and more than a little luck. Unfortunately her conclusion is right. Posted by b on May 22, 2023 at 14:25 UTC | Permalink Comments next page next page May 22, 2023 I find this funny: > In late October a Ukrainian Sukhoi-27 Flanker, Soviet-era fighter, was shot down by a long-range air-to-air missile (LRAAM) the R-37M. This is not the first Ukrainian aircraft to be shot down since Russias invasion commenced in February, but it is nevertheless a significant feat for the Russian Air Force because the R-37M took down the Ukrainian Sukhoi-27 from a range of 217km (about 140 miles). This would make the kill the longest on record. The R-37M is a hypersonic long-range air-to-air missile (LRAAM) reportedly capable of reaching Mach 6 and striking targets up to 400km (250 miles) away. The R-37M has become virtually unmatched, with few potential rivals.Furthermore, it is reported that the R-37M was fired from Russias fifth-generation fighter the Sukhoi-57 Felon rather than the Mikoyan MiG-31 Foxhound, Russias primary interceptor. The possibility of a fifth-generation Felon executing a target from such a long range is not at all impossible; the Sukhoi-57 has a sophisticated actively electronic scanned arrays (AESA) radar system comprising of the solid state AN/APG-77 with a range of at least 200km (125 miles); and the N036 Byelka radar which boasts a maximum range just under 400km (250 miles). < Oil and gas operators selling a successful company dont always take the money and run. Instead, they start again in search of new opportunities. Thats the case with the Weatherls, a father and son team who built Stronghold Energy II and sold its assets to Ring Energy in August 2022. Theyve just launched Garrison Energy Holdings alongside the management team that built up Stronghold. Armed with a $500 million line of equity financing from an institutional investor and Garrisons management team and employees, they are on the hunt for opportunities. Were looking all over the Permian Basin the Delaware Basin, Central Basin Platform, Northwest Shelf, Midland Basin, all across the Permian Basin, for assets with upside to develop horizontal, vertical, recompletion, Caleb Weatherl told the Reporter-Telegram in a telephone interview. He will serve as chief executive officer, while his father Steve will serve as executive chairman. Were looking for, really, assets with upside that we can expeditiously develop, apply our technical expertise to develop, he said. And with $500 million in its treasury, Garrison can look at deals as large as $1 billion or even larger Garrisons investors have the ability to add more equity to as small as one or two sections that have large upside potential. It can be an outright sale or a farmout structure, he added. We feel fortunate to have a big checkbook behind us, Caleb said. Capital is not a challenge for us; it presents opportunities for us we can quickly evaluate and make deals. We have the opportunity to deploy a rig quickly. The No. 1 goal, he said, is to generate value for the investors and do so by building a scaled company. Caleb said the management team is looking to quickly put its capital to work and grow quickly. He said the company is already off to a quick start, currently looking at several deals. Were committed, when someone brings us a deal, to do technical evaluations and due diligence and give a quick answer, he said. The Weatherls plan to start up a new oil and gas company and the $500 million equity backing it are a sign of confidence in the industry. We believe the world will need oil and gas long-term, said Caleb. The US onshore, and the Permian Basin specifically, will be a critical part of the story. We look to provide safe, reliable energy for the rest of the world so people can flourish. Its so important to have affordable, abundant, reliable energy. That has really come into focus in the last year. Were excited to our part in the Permian Basin. The Weatherls are joined by an experienced senior team with significant experience and expertise, said Caleb. They are: Executive Vice President of Reservoir Engineering & Corporate Development Matt Holland; Senior Vice President of Land Drew Hendricks; Senior Vice President of Exploration, Josh Russo; Senior Vice President of Completions Lee Martin; Senior Vice President of Accounting & Administration Misty Andrews; Vice President of Drilling Rafael Madrid; and Vice President of Finance Will Regan. Caleb said the plan is also to continue following regulations, be prudent operators, good stewards of its acreage and invest back into the community. Midland is our home, he said. Were operating in our own backyard. A Midland man charged with the murder of 20-year-old Madeline Molina Pantoja was arrested after phone records showed he had lied during his interviews with a Midland police detective, according to court documents. Mario Juan Chacon Jr., 24, was arrested Saturday after officials found Madeline's remains, in an area approximately 3 miles east of County Road 190 and County Road 1160. On May 11, an MPD officer was dispatched at about 11:02 p.m. to Palladium Museum Place Apartments at 1711 West Francis in reference to an attempt to locate/welfare check. The call notes stated that the caller was looking for his sister-- identified as Madeline-- who he had last heard from the day before at 8 p.m. The brother noted the apartment manager was able to let him inside the apartment where he found her phone and keys. He also stated Madeline and her boyfriend-- identified as Chacon-- had issues. The officer met with Madelines brother who stated Madeline lived in the apartment with Chacon, but that Chacon would "stay at the apartment occasionally." Madeline's brother stated that he had received a call from Chacon around 8:30 p.m. the day before (May 10) and told him that he had an argument with Madeline, and she was not answering his calls. The brother called Madeline around 8:35 p.m. after getting off the phone with Chacon and spoke to her, according to the arrest affidavit. Madeline's brother sent her a text at 8:37 p.m. and never heard back from her, according to the arrest affidavit. The officer spoke with one of Madeline's best friends who stated the last time she heard from Madeline was on May 10 at 9:31 p.m. when confirming plans for the next day. She stated that she arrived at Madeline's apartment around 6 p.m. and called her several times but her calls went unanswered, according to the affidavit. She went up to Madeline's apartment and knocked but no one answered. She stated she was able to push the apartment's door and through a small crack through the door, she saw that the light was on, according to the affidavit. The friend left and stated, "she had a gut feeling something was wrong" and called Madeline's other best friend and told her what was happening. She stated she had not seen Madeline since dropping her off on May 9 at her apartment at 11 p.m. Both women went back to Madeline's apartment to check a second time at about 8 p.m. and observed the light that was previously on was now off, according to the arrest affidavit. The friend was beginning to get worried and called Madeline's brother. According to the arrest affidavit, Madelines brother called Chacon at 9:25 p.m. to see if he knew where Madeline was, but he was "very evasive and did not appear concerned that Madeline (Pantoja) had not been heard from. Chacon said he was with his dad all day and his "family could verify where he was." Madeline's brother stated Chacon sent him his location around 9:26 p.m. showing he was at his house, according to the arrest affidavit. The friend also stated she called Chacon at 9:20 p.m. but it appeared he was declining her calls. Chacon called her back at 9:23 p.m.and told her he "had witnesses for today and has been at his house all day" and that he was "taking his anger medication and was not able to drive," according to the arrest affidavit. Apartment management let Madeline's brother and friends inside the apartment and found her purse, car keys, and her dog. They stated that it was out of Madeline's character to leave her dog alone for more than two hours at a time. They noticed that a black couch table was missing. Officers were able to enter Madeline's apartment and observed a mop with a dirty bucket of water sitting next to the front door and that the floor was "extremely sticky as it is when too much cleaning product is used when mopping the floor," according to the arrest affidavit. The officer contacted an on-call detective and informed him of the situation. The officer spoke with a neighbor who stated she was woken up at about 1:30 a.m. by the yelling coming from Madeline's apartment. She stated it was a man and woman she heard yelling. When asked if she heard anyone scream, she stated she heard a woman scream. The neighbor stated she hears yelling from Madeline's apparent very often, according to the arrest affidavit. On May 12, officers met with Chacon at about 12:05 a.m. who told them he had last seen Madeline on May 9. He also stated he only communicated with Madeline by cellphone and last heard from her around 9 p.m. on May 10. He said he was at his house around that time and remained there during the night, according to the arrest affidavit. Also on May 12, officers received a second check welfare call from Madeline's apartments at about 10:50 a.m. The caller stated that a woman's voice was heard inside Madeline's apartment. Officers attempted to contact the person inside, but no one answered. Officers made entry and searched the apartment. Officers observed a mop with dirty water near the front door, and a Swifter-style mop on the floor near the door that leads to the bedroom. Officers also noticed holes in the bathroom door and the door that leads into the bedroom which appeared to have hair attached to the damage in the door. The bed comforter was also missing, and a dark red stain was on the bed sheet, according to the arrest affidavit. Officers did not find Madeline inside the apartment. Chacon was interviewed again on May 12 at about 5:45 p.m. and told officers he forgot to mention the first time that he met with a cousin for drinks on May 10 and picked him up in his truck from the same apartments Madeline lived in. He dropped him back at his apartment and texted him around 11:06 p.m. to let him know he got to his house, according to the arrest affidavit. Chacon stated he was the only one who drove his pickup during the month of May. Security camera footage from May 10 showed Chacon's pickup near an oil company near Madeline's apartment complex. The footage timestamp was from 1:59 a.m., according to the arrest affidavit. Detectives obtained a search warrant for Chacon's cellphone records on May 13 from AT&T, according to the arrest affidavit. According to the arrest affidavit, a Flock camera showed the license plate of Chacon's pickup in the area of South County Road 1160 at 3:22 a.m. Evidence gathered from traffic and business cameras and cellphone data showed Chacon's whereabouts were tracked between 12:26 a.m. and 3:37 a.m. On May 18, Chacon was interviewed by detectives and was told they had "found lies in his timeline" to which Chacon said "ok." Chacon asked if he could leave the interview and ended the interview, according to the arrest affidavit. A polygraph was attempted during this interview, but Chacon declined. On May 20, detectives obtained the cellphone records from AT&T. MPD sent the records to the Texas Rangers who helped map out the geolocation records for the dates May 10-12. The geolocation showed an "approximate one-mile area around East County Road 190 and South County Road 1138 in Midland County," according to the arrest affidavit. MPD and Texas Rangers conducted a search of the area and found human remains. Detectives found jewelry Madeline was known to wear on the remains, according to the arrest affidavit. An autopsy will be performed in Dallas County. Chacon was charged with murder and is being held in Midland County Jail on a $3 million bond. Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and U.S. President Joe Biden speak during the G7 leaders' summit in Hiroshima, Japan May 21, 2023. Ukrainian Presidential Press Service/Handout via REUTERS Reporter Andrew Roberto was raised his whole life on Saipan. He graduated from Saipan Southern High School, holds a degree from Northern Marianas College, and a BA in English from the University of Guam. He once worked for KUAM, UNO Magazine, and the Guam Daily Post. Staff Reporter Richelle obtained a bachelor of arts degree in mass communications from the Far Eastern University in Manila, the Philippines. She was a junior reporter for Marianas Variety from 2009 to 2010, and from 2014 to 2015. In the Maldives, she worked as a news reporter and marketing executive. In her free time, shes a painter, pianist, and mom baker. Bikini community members march down the main road of Majuro to the capital building on May 11 to protest alleged misuse of trust funds for the nuclear test affected atoll community. FILE PHOTO: Pope Francis holds the weekly general audience in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican, May 17, 2023. REUTERS/Guglielmo Mangiapane/File Photo FILE PHOTO: Transgender rights activist waves a transgender flag at a rally in Washington Square Park in New York, U.S., May 24, 2019. REUTERS/Demetrius Freeman/File Photo Lawmakers didnt finish their spring legislative session by Fridays scheduled adjournment as negotiations over the state budget remain in flux. The May 19 end to the General Assemblys spring session had been on the calendar for months, but its not a deadline; lawmakers still have until the end of May before a constitutional trigger raises the threshold on the number of votes needed to pass legislation immediately to a three-fifths majority. Democratic legislative leaders in the General Assembly issued a statement saying theyll return this week instead of working through the weekend. Both chambers will be back on Wednesday and Thursday, while the House has scheduled Friday session as well. When we came to Springfield in January, we made it clear that our top priority was a fiscally responsible budget that prioritized hardworking Illinoisans, Senate President Don Harmon and House Speaker Emanuel Chris Welch said in a joint statement. That continues to be true. Conversation is ongoing and negotiations are productive. We are committed to passing a good, balanced budget for the people of Illinois. The weeks realization that budget talks were not wrapping up neatly frustrated members on both sides of the aisle, but Republicans who only make up a super-minority of both the Illinois House and Senate were much more vocal about it. During House floor debate, Rep. Jeff Keicher, R-Sycamore, renewed his request for an estimate as to when a draft copy of the budget might drop or at least a revenue estimate for the states fiscal year that begins July 1. Youre asking me? replied Rep. Jay Hoffman, a Democrat from Swansea who was presiding over the House chamber at the time. Hoffmans quip elicited laughs from members, and Keicher broke into a smile. Funny story, Keicher responded. After I made my inquiry last night, I had eight members of the other side of the aisle suggest to me that they hadn't seen one either. House Republicans lead budget negotiator, Rep. Norine Hammond, R-Macomb, said members of her party have been essentially uninvolved or uninvited to budget negotiations throughout the spring session. We have attempted numerous meetings with the House Democratic budgeteer, with the speaker and the governor, Hammond said. Only one group has met with us on more than one occasion; that is the governor and his team. No negotiations with others have occurred. Most Democrats havent seen anything resembling a draft budget either, as the group of top lawmakers negotiating the states spending plan is intentionally small. The most recent revenue estimate from the Governors Office of Management and Budget anticipates about $50.4 billion in revenues for the upcoming budget year, even after April revenues plummeted more than $1.8 billion from one year ago. One point of contention among Democrats in negotiations is an anticipated $1.1 billion in spending on health care for non-citizens aged 42 and older who would otherwise qualify for Medicaid if not for their citizenship status. The governors office had budgeted $220 million for that program, creating an $880 million budget pressure. Members of the Illinois Legislative Latino Caucus and Progressive Caucus have called for expanding the program to non-citizens between the ages of 19 and 42, at an estimated cost of $380 million next year. While advocates for the non-citizen health care expansion have called those estimates overblown, the program has far exceeded estimates through its implementation and two expansions. Budget requests from other groups include raising Medicaid reimbursement rates for hospitals, increased pay for providers serving individuals with disabilities, increases in funding for local governments and dozens of others. Sen. Elgie Sims, D-Chicago, who serves as the chambers lead budget negotiator, said Thursday he thought negotiations between Democrats were in a very good place. We haven't made any final decisions yet. I would say everything is still on the table. We're still negotiating, he said. Rep. C.D. Davidsmeyer, R-Jacksonville, said he expected the budget to once again be filed at the last minute and quickly pushed through by the supermajority party, a customary process in recent years. There's little to no I would emphasize no opportunity for debate on these issues, he said. I think we're going to see it drop, and we're gonna be expected to figure out what the gimmicks are at the last minute. While rank-and-file lawmakers awaited the budget details, several other major, wide-ranging initiatives were filed in a similar last-minute fashion. That included an expansive cannabis regulatory bill, a change to Illinois strongest-in-the-nation biometric privacy law, a broad elections bill and an ethics proposal prohibiting political donations from red light camera companies among other reforms. CANNABIS: A bill that aims to implement a variety of reforms to Illinois burgeoning cannabis industry would change dispensary operations and restrictions on craft growers. The measure overhauls portions of the 2019 cannabis legalization law, which also sought to address the disproportionate impact of cannabis criminalization on communities of color. According to the ACLU, Black people in Illinois were 7.5 times more likely than white people to be arrested for cannabis-related offenses prior to the states decriminalization of the drug in 2016. The 2019 law sought to address that impact, including laying the groundwork for the expungement of 492,129 cannabis-related convictions, a lottery process to award dispensary licenses to social equity applicants, and the opening of the states first Black-owned dispensaries. The amended Senate Bill 1559, among other things, would increase canopy space for craft growers from 5,000 square feet to 1,400 square feet. It would also allow dispensaries to operate drive-thru windows and offer curbside pick-up services, making sure they prioritize medical patients. BIOMETRIC PRIVACY: Business groups balked Friday after Democrats dropped a bill that would change Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act, a first-of-its-kind law that allows individuals to sue companies over improper collection or storage of information such as fingerprints or facial scans. Although BIPA passed in 2008, it wasnt until years later that companies began to face lawsuits under the law as technology like fingerprint and retinal scanners became more widely used. Business groups have been especially worried about companies legal exposure after recent BIPA-related decisions from the Illinois Supreme Court. One decision ruled violations occur every time biometric data is collected without an individuals express permission like each time an employee clocks in and out using their fingerprints. Fridays amendment to House Bill 3811 stipulates that the same biometric identifier from the same person using the same method of collection has created a single violation, but business groups said the language was too vague. They also assailed the proposed fine increase for negligent violations from $1,000 to $1,500 and decried the addition of another type of biometric data to the law electronic signatures as a giveaway to trial lawyers. ELECTIONS: A new elections bill would, among other things, establish a task force to study the feasibility of adopting a ranked-choice voting system in certain elections. Thats a method of voting in which voters can mark their ballot for multiple candidates in order of their preference. An amendment to Senate Bill 2123 has several other elections-related provisions, including one that would allow 16-year-olds who are otherwise qualified to vote to preregister to vote, although their registration would be held in abeyance until they turn 18. It would also allow 17-year-olds who will turn 18 before the next election to circulate nominating petitions or petitions proposing a ballot question. ETHICS: An amendment to House Bill 3903 filed late Friday would prohibit companies that sell automated traffic enforcement devices such as red light cameras from contributing to campaign funds if they contract with municipalities in Illinois. The measure also requires municipalities to conduct statistical analyses of the safety impact of existing systems. In recent years, executives of red light camera companies have been named in federal investigations involving lawmaker misconduct. That measure also prohibits state lawmakers and municipal officers or employees from knowingly accepting employment or compensation from a vendor that provides automated traffic law enforcement system equipment or services to municipalities. It would create a two-year prohibition of any of those lawmakers or employees from receiving such compensation after they leave office or government work. OTHER ACTION: All those bills were introduced at the end of a week that saw the passage of several measures that had been making their way through the legislative process for months. Those include bills allowing optional all-gender bathrooms, regulating the gun industry, environmental measures and dozens of others. Jacksonville police are investigating the sixth incident of shots fired in the city since early March after a resident reporting hearing nine gunshots Sunday night. Police were called to North Church and West Walnut streets at 9:18 p.m. Sunday, Lt. Matt Martin said, after a caller reported hearing nine gunshots in that area. Martin said several shell casings were recovered, but there was no evidence any residences or buildings were hit. No injuries were reported. "The caller only said she heard shots. We have no descriptions, and no idea of how many people might be involved. There is little for us to go on," Martin said. The Sunday night incident brought the number of shots-fired reports this year to six. On May 13, police were called to the 800 block of North Main Street after several witnesses said they heard shots come from behind a vacant house. A Springfield teenager was charged with aggravated discharge of a firearm, which police said was related to shots being fired May 14 in the 800 block of East College Avenue. The other three incidents have been in the 600 block of North Clay Avenue. Those were reported on March 6, April 9 and May 8. Martin said it is unusual for the city to have a rash of shots-fired incidents such as this in a period of a few weeks, though it is not unprecedented. "We've had some similar stretches, but nothing recent," Martin said. "These incidents usually occur because of personal disputes. For some reason, this is how some people like to handle them. There is no real rhyme or reason for them." These types of cases can be difficult to investigate, Martin said, unless there are witnesses who saw what happened, or they are caught on surveillance cameras. "Any information the public has, we'd like to hear about it, even if it turns out to be nothing. We'd rather have some information than have nothing at all," Martin said. "My advice is if you hear the shots, don't run out and investigate yourself. if you witness something, report it, but only until it is safe to do so. When you believe there is no danger to yourself, call 911," Martin said. Authorities said anyone with information about any of the cases can call Jacksonville police detectives at 217-479-4630 or Crime Stoppers of Morgan, Scott & Cass Counties at 217-243-7300 or by texting 274637 (CRIMES) with "payout" as the first word of the text. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate SRINAGAR, India (AP) Delegates from the Group of 20 leading rich and developing nations began a meeting on tourism in Indian-controlled Kashmir on Monday that was condemned by China and Pakistan, as authorities reduced the visibility of security in the disputed regions main city. The meeting is the first significant international event in Kashmir since New Delhi stripped the Muslim-majority region of its semi-autonomy in 2019. Indian authorities hope the meeting will show that the contentious changes have brought peace and prosperity to the region. The delegates will discuss topics such as ecotourism, destination management and the role of films in promoting tourist destinations. The main city of Srinagar appeared calm on Monday and roads were unusually clean. Most of the usual security checkpoints had been removed or camouflaged with G20 signs. Officials said hundreds of officers were specially trained in what they called invisible policing for the event. Shops in the city center opened earlier than usual after officials asked shopkeepers to remain open. Many shops in the past have closed in protests against Indian policies in the region. But authorities shut many schools in the city. Mondays measures contrasted sharply with the visible security imposed in the days before the event. A massive security cordon was placed around the venue on the shore of Dal Lake, with elite naval commandos patrolling the water in rubber boats. The citys commercial center was spruced up, with freshly black-topped roads leading to the convention center and power poles lit in the colors of Indias national flag. Indian-controlled Kashmir remains one of the worlds most heavily militarized territories, with hundreds of thousands of troops. In 1989, a violent separatist insurgency erupted in the region seeking independence or a merger with Pakistan, which also controls part of Kashmir. India replied with a brutal counterinsurgency campaign, and tens of thousands of civilians, soldiers and rebels have been killed in the conflict. Indias crackdown intensified after 2019 when New Delhi took the region under its direct control. Since then, the territorys people and its media have been largely silenced. Authorities have seized scores of homes and arrested hundreds of people under stringent anti-terror laws. The government says such actions are necessary to stop a terror ecosystem, or civilian support for the armed rebellion. Authorities have also enacted new laws that critics and many Kashmiris fear could transform the regions demographics. Indian federal Minister Jitendra Singh told attendees on Monday that Kashmir is changing. If such an event was held earlier, a strike call would be given from Islamabad and shops on Residency Road (in) Srinagar would close. Now there is no hartal (strike)," he said. Common people on the streets of Srinagar want to move on. Last week, the U.N. special rapporteur on minority issues, Fernand de Varennes, said the meeting would support a facade of normalcy while massive human rights violations continue in the region. Indias mission at the U.N. in Geneva rejected the statement as baseless and unwarranted allegations. Indias tourism secretary, Arvind Singh, said on Saturday that the meeting was not only to showcase (Kashmirs) potential for tourism but to also signal globally the restoration of stability and normalcy in the region. Kashmir, known for rolling Himalayan foothills, has for decades been a major domestic tourist destination. Millions of visitors arrive in Kashmir every year and experience a strange peace kept by ubiquitous security checkpoints, armored vehicles and patrolling soldiers. The mainstay of Kashmirs economy, however, continues to be agriculture, and the tourism industry contributes only about 7% to the regions GDP. China, with which India is locked in a military standoff along their disputed border in the Ladakh region, has boycotted the event. Pakistan also slammed New Delhi for holding the meeting in Srinagar. Both have argued that such meetings can't be held in disputed territories. In a speech to lawmakers in Pakistani-controlled Kashmir on Monday, Pakistani Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said the Srinagar meeting was a display of Indias arrogance on the world stage" and the region "has become an open prison for its residents. India dismissed Pakistan's criticism, saying it is not even a member of the G20. The G20 has a rolling presidency with a different member setting priorities each year. India is steering the group in 2023. ___ Associated Press writer Munir Ahmed in Islamabad, Pakistan, contributed to this report. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Ideas about men and manhood have been evolving for more than 50 years, but Sen. Josh Hawley has not gotten the message. Like so many others working to protect white male supremacy (see Carlson, Tucker; McCarthy, Kevin), hes driving a gas-guzzling Cadillac on a road increasingly filled with EVs. Just as women are vigorously resisting returning to a pre-Roe v. Wade America, men arent going back either. Tone deaf to shifts in the culture, Hawley published a book about men last week, perhaps as a ploy to revive his presidential ambitions. "Manhood: Finding Purpose in Faith, Family, and Country" is a call for American men to stand up and embrace their God-given responsibility as husbands, fathers, and citizens, according to Regency, Hawleys far right publisher. If you want to know what not to embrace in considering American manhood, its all in the 256 pages of this book. Claiming that our countrys all-male founders believed that the U.S. depends on certain masculine virtues, ignores the realities of today. There is much to appreciate about men; still, wed be much better off if we talked about positive changes embracing gender equality and rejecting white male supremacy. Calling men out as unemployed whiners, and trash-talking women while playing video games and watching pornography, misses the mark. Examples of new expressions of masculinity abound, from stay-at-home dads to younger men becoming curious about feminism. Hawleys thesis that men are in crisis does have a kernel of truth; there are men floundering, but that is not where the majority of younger men are headed. More and more men are abandoning expressions of masculine culture based on oppressing anyone not white or male. Sure, we still have a ways to go, but support among younger men for womens reproductive rights, for gay and trans rights, for voting rights, is on the rise. There are organizations around the country and across the globe promoting gender equality, challenging mens violence, encouraging involved fatherhood, while rejecting men as top dog at home, work nd houses of worship. Danger does exist; just not what Hawley is concerned about. Its in young men enamored of gun culture, sucked into social media echo chambers of hate. To see how out of touch Hawley is, theres nothing in his book about perpetrators of mass shooting massacresprimarily young men. Ever since the Jan. 6 committee showed the video of Sen. Hawley running from the insurrectionist mob hed earlier encouraged with a fist in the air, weve all had a good laugh at his expense, Jonathan Capehart wrote in the Washington Post. Although caricatured as a manhood-obsessed hypocrite, make no mistake: Hawley is dangerous precisely because, as Capehart noted, He is selling a vision of masculinity to white America that has much more to do with prejudice than manliness. His message may still resonate with older white men, but younger men, even those who may enjoy watching Ultimate Fighting, are generally tolerant, accepting of their gay and trans coworkers, and are supportive of colleagues who have had an abortion. The future is not white male supremacy, in part because patriarchy is dangerous for men. In a March 31, 1776, letter, Abigail Adams, future first lady to our second president, wrote her husband John, urging the Continental Congress to remember womens interests as they prepared to fight for independence from Great Britain. [I]n the new code of laws ... I desire you would remember the ladies and be more generous and favorable to them than your ancestors." There have been profeminist men since at least the 18th century. While Abigail Adams may not have mentioned men, they were allies-in-waiting then, and are growing in numbers today. What is different now is that were stepping forward to say so. Fifty years ago, Josh Hawley may have sold a lot of books. Today, Im betting theyll be remaindered by the Fourth of July. Rob Okun, syndicated by PeaceVoice, writes about politics and culture. He can be reached at rob@voicemalemagazine.org. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate The worst kind of graft is perfectly legal. Thats a lesson Ive observed in my 35 years as a journalist. Ive been thinking about that lesson these past few weeks as revelations are brought forth about gifts U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas received from a rich buddy. Let me preface my criticisms of the jurist by saying I often agree with his decisions. But that doesnt absolve him from the shady things he has done. Thomas and his wife, Ginni, received luxury vacations and private jet travel from Texas real estate magnate Harlan Crow. The justice contends he did nothing wrong and that these were just gifts from a friend. I dont doubt that Thomas and his wife consider Crow to be a dear friend. But a more appropriate question might be whether the billionaire would be chumming around with Thomas if he didnt happen to be a Supreme Court justice. Democrats in Congress are squawking about how wrong this relationship is. What is happening here is wrong but probably not illegal. When I was a young reporter, the managing editor had a column in which he wrote a weekly love note to the auto industry. The price of this journalistic prostitution? Every week, a car company would send him a new vehicle to test drive along with a press release espousing the models virtues. His teenagers drove them to school. And even when they sent him a real dog with major mechanical issues, he wrote about how swell it was. Most journalists would say what he was doing wasnt ethical. The readers were never informed of this cozy relationship. But its also the kind of graft that is legal. If pressed as to why he did it, I suspect he would have justified his actions by pointing to his salary and saying he deserved some sort of perk. Thomas, who earns $184,000 a year as a Supreme Court justice, could make a similar claim, noting that he would make many times that in private practice. That justification reminds me a bit of one given by another supreme court justice, Ray I. Klingbiel, who served on Illinois highest court in the 1960s. Before that he was East Moline mayor. Sometime in 1966 Ted Isaacs, a member of then-Gov. Otto Kerner's cabinet and a wheeler-dealer, managed to put himself in a position to allocate stock in the politically connected Civic Center Bank in Chicago. At the time, the state high court was considering the dismissal of a 35-count felony indictment accusing Isaacs of bilking the Illinois Treasury. Shortly thereafter, the court unanimously affirmed the dismissal of Isaacs' felony indictments in an opinion written by Klingbiel. According to the book "Illinois Justice" by Kenneth Manaster, Klingbiel kept his 100 shares in a dresser drawer. Klingbiel insisted that the stock was merely a campaign contribution. But it was given after he had been elected and in the form of a stock certificate and it had been given to him by an associate of Isaacs, who had a case before the court. "There is no doubt in my mind Isaacs was trying to influence the court with his actions," Manaster told me. So why do educated people like Thomas and Klingbiel do stupid things like this? Manaster attributes Klingbiels transgressions to the Illinois political culture that he had been reared in. Klingbiel served as the Republican mayor of East Moline for six years and before that worked as the city attorney. There were few regulations on campaign contributions in those days. But that strikes me as a childs excuse: Everybodys doing it. Someone with a better moral compass would have known better. Klingbeil's final days were sad ones, Manaster said. He remained bitter about what he described as a "political push" to get him off the court. Shaken and sorrowful, Manaster said he told one member of the commission, he knew in his heart he was not a crook, "but I was a ... fool." Will Justice Thomas have such a revelation? Dont hold your breath. Governor Gavin Newsom View Photo Sacramento, CA Governor Gavin Newsoms latest public dispute with the State of Florida concerns school textbooks. Newsom sent a letter to various publishers on Saturday demanding to know who is supplying textbooks to Florida, and if they are agreeing to make changes in the wording related to things like race and historical figures. The opening in the letter, states, Earlier this month, the Florida Department of Education rejected dozens of social studies textbooks and worked with publishers to edit dozens more erasing topics about race, civic engagement, and historical protest. Newsom wants to know if the publishers that agreed to make the changes are companies that also supply textbooks to California. He says it is something that California deserves to know. Newsom also announced that he has submitted a related public records act request to Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, and the Department of Education, for any correspondence between them and publishers about being in compliance with new Florida laws. DeSantis has stated that he is fighting back against woke ideology. Newsom also earlier attacked Florida, and DeSantis, for stances on abortion, gun rights, and LGBTQ issues. Newsom asks that the information be sent to the California Legal Affairs Office by June 1. One year after Uvalde shooting, investigation of police response continues View Photo AUSTIN, Texas (AP) A criminal investigation in Texas over the hesitant police response to the Robb Elementary School shooting is still ongoing as Wednesday marks one year since a gunman killed 19 children and two teachers inside a fourth-grade classroom in Uvalde. The continuing probe underlines the lasting fallout over Texas deadliest school shooting and how the days after the attack were marred by authorities giving inaccurate and conflicting accounts about efforts made to stop a teenage gunman armed with an AR-style rifle. The investigation has run parallel to a new wave of public anger in the U.S. over gun violence, renewed calls for stricter firearm regulations and legal challenges over authorities in Uvalde continuing to withhold public records related to the shooting and the police response. Heres a look at what has happened in the year since one of Americas deadliest mass shootings: POLICE SCRUTINY A damning report by Texas lawmakers put nearly 400 officers on the scene from an array of federal, state and local agencies. The findings laid out how heavily armed officers waited more than an hour to confront and kill the 18-year-old gunman. It also accused police of failing to prioritize saving innocent lives over their own safety. All of the students killed were between the ages of 9 and 11 years old. At least five officers who were put under investigation after the shooting were either fired or resigned, although a full accounting is unclear. The head of the Texas Department of Public Safety, Col. Steve McCraw, put much of the blame after the attack on Uvaldes school police chief, who was later fired by trustees. McCraw had more than 90 of his own officers at the school more than any other agency and has rebuffed calls by some Uvalde families and lawmakers to also resign. Uvalde County District Attorney Christina Mitchell said last week that Texas Rangers are still investigating the police response and that her office will ultimately present the findings to a grand jury. She said she did not have a timeline for when the investigation would be finished. On Monday, Uvalde Mayor Don McLaughlin said he was frustrated by the pace of the investigations a year later. They dont have answers to simple questions they should have, McLaughlin said of the families. CALLS FOR GUN CONTROL INTENSIFY President Joe Biden signed the nations most sweeping gun violence bill in decades a month after the shooting. It included tougher background checks for the youngest gun buyers and added more funding for mental health programs and aid to schools. It did not go as far as restrictions sought by some Uvalde families who have called on lawmakers to raise the purchase age for AR-style rifles. In the GOP-controlled Texas Capitol, Republicans this year rejected virtually all proposals to tighten gun laws over the protests of the families and Democrats. Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has also waved off calls for tougher gun laws, just as he did after mass shootings at a Sutherland Springs church in 2017 and an El Paso Walmart in 2018. The issue has not turned Texas voters away from Abbott, who easily won a third term months after the Uvalde shooting. UVALDE GRIEVES The Uvalde school district permanently closed the Robb Elementary campus and plans for a new school are in the works. Schools in Uvalde will be closed Wednesday. About a dozen students in the classroom where the shooting unfolded survived the attack. Some returned to class in person last fall. Others attended school virtually, including a girl who spent more than two months in the hospital after being shot multiple times. Veronica Mata, a kindergarten teacher in Uvalde, also returned to class this year after her 10-daughter Tess was among those killed in the attack. Some Uvalde families have filed lawsuits against the gun maker and law enforcement. By PAUL J. WEBER Associated Press NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) As Sen. Tim Scott enters the 2024 GOP presidential field, he will be eager to introduce himself to voters who might not know much about him. Here is what you should know about the South Carolina Republican: FOREMOST: FAITH Raised by a single mother, Scott, 57, talks often of how Frances Scott worked long hours as a nurse's assistant to provide for her two sons. It was a meager existence, the senator said, but it was centered around their strong Christian faith. At age 18, Scott became what he terms a born-again believer. His faith is an integral part of his political and personal narrative, as well as his belief in being a positive catalyst for change. He often quotes Scripture at campaign events, weaving his reliance on spiritual guidance into his stump speech and using Faith in America to describe his series of appearances before joining the race. Last year in a speech at the Reagan Presidential Library, Scott said he saw America at a crossroads with the potential for a great resetting, a renewal, even a rebirth." His autobiography, released last year, is titled America: A Redemption Story. When his now-rival Nikki Haley appointed him to the U.S. Senate in 2012, Scott became the first Black senator from the South since just after the Civil War. In a 2014 special election to serve out the remainder of his term, Scott became the first Black candidate to win a statewide race in South Carolina since the Reconstruction era. Before that, Scott had just been elected to his second term representing South Carolinas 1st Congressional District. He served a single term in the state House, as well as, beginning in 1995, nearly 14 years on the Charleston County Council, while also operating an insurance business. He also briefly ran for lieutenant governor, ultimately abandoning that pursuit to seek the congressional seat vacated by retiring Rep. Henry Brown. At that time, South Carolinas governor and lieutenant governor were elected separately; had Scott stayed in that race and won it, he and Haley would have served together as South Carolinas top officeholders. I DISRUPT THEIR NARRATIVE The Senate's sole Black Republican, Scott doesn't shy away from pointing out that his is often the only face of color in many rooms of conservatives. When I fought back against their liberal agenda, they called me a prop. A token. Because I disrupt their narrative, he said in an April video announcing his presidential exploratory committee, shot on the site of Fort Sumter in Charleston, South Carolina, where the Civil Wars first shots were fired. In his Reagan Library speech last year, Scott said that belief in conservative values had changed his life, arguing that his ability to succeed in politics had disproven critiques from liberals he said you can call me a prop, you can call me a token. ... Just understand what you call me is no match for the proof of my life. Rejecting the notion that the country is inherently racist, Scott has repudiated the teaching of critical race theory, an academic framework that presents the idea that the nations institutions maintain the dominance of white people. He has also spoken on the Senate floor about his personal experiences as a Black man in America. I have felt the anger, the frustration, the sadness and the humiliation that comes with feeling like youre being targeted for nothing more than just being yourself, Scott said in 2016, recounting how he was pulled over seven times in a year. But Scott argues that liberals have tried to weaponize race by portraying nonwhite citizens as politically oppressed. Hear me clearly: America is not a racist country, he said in a nationally televised response to President Joe Biden's 2021 address to Congress. Its backwards to fight discrimination with different types of discrimination. And its wrong to try to use our painful past to dishonestly shut down debates in the present. MONEY TALKS Scott is coming into the campaign with more cash on hand than any other presidential candidate in U.S. history. At the end of his 2022 campaign, he had $22 million left over, which he plans to immediately transfer to his presidential coffers. There are millions more in other organizations created to support Scott and his efforts. Opportunity Matters Fund, a pro-Scott super political action committee, spent more than $20 million to help Republicans in 2022, reporting $13 million-plus on hand to start 2023. Tech billionaire Larry Ellison has donated at least $30 million to the organization since 2021, according to federal filings. Another super PAC, Opportunity Matters Fund Action, had around $3 million at the end of last year. HISTORY WITH TRUMP Scott has maintained a generally cordial relationship with Trump, despite initially endorsing Florida Sen. Marco Rubio in the 2016 GOP presidential primary. But he also spoke out against Trump after the then-president said there were very fine people on both sides of a deadly clash between white supremacists and anti-racist demonstrators in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 2017. Scott said that Trumps principles had been compromised and that without some introspection, it will be hard for him to regain ... moral authority. Scott also called it indefensible after Trump retweeted a post in June 2020 containing a racist slogan associated with white supremacists. Trump later deleted it. In his 2022 book, Scott said that Trump listened intently to his viewpoints on race-related issues. And on the campaign trail, Scott has railed against political correctness in much the same fashion as Trump. If you wanted a blueprint to ruin America, youd keep doing exactly what Joe Biden has let the far left do to our country for the past two years, Scott said this year in Iowa. Tell every white kid theyre oppressors. Tell Black and brown kids their destiny is grievance, not greatness. ___ Meg Kinnard can be reached at http://twitter.com/MegKinnardAP SRINAGAR, India (AP) As India prepares to host a meeting of tourism officials from the Group of 20 in the disputed region of Kashmir, authorities have deployed elite commandos and stepped up security in the region's largest city. The meeting will be the first significant international event in Kashmir since New Delhi stripped the Muslim-majority region of semi-autonomy in 2019. Indian authorities are hoping the meeting will show that the controversial changes have brought peace and prosperity to the region. Since the 2019 changes, the city, known for rolling Himalayan foothills and exquisitely decorated houseboats, has become a major domestic tourist destination. Hotels have been mostly booked out for months. Kashmir has also drawn millions of visitors, who enjoy a strange peace kept by ubiquitous security checkpoints, armored vehicles and patrolling soldiers. For the G20 meeting, the city has spruced up its commercial center and roads leading to the convention center on Dal Lake, while police have increased security even further, placing a massive security cordon around the site. On a recent Wednesday, gun-toting naval commandos in rubber boats mingled with tourists in canary-yellow gondolas. Paul Staniland, a political scientist who studies South Asia at the University of Chicago, said the G20 meeting is in line with Indian government policy to symbolically project normalcy and stability in Kashmir, and is unlikely to herald a change in policy. The meeting is good and it could boost tourism, said college student Mufeed Hilal. But we also want to see the Kashmir issue resolved. That is our basic problem. ___ REGIONAL NEIGHBORS AND UN HUMAN RIGHTS EXPERT CRITICIZE KASHMIR MEETING Pakistan, which controls a part of Kashmir but, like India, claims the entire territory, has slammed New Delhi for holding the meeting in Srinagar. Speaking on the sidelines of a recent Shanghai Cooperation Organization meeting in India, foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said the choice of location showed Indias pettiness and was a show of arrogance to the world. Indias foreign minister, Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, dismissed the Pakistani ministers comments, saying that he was not going to debate the issue with a country which has nothing to do with the G20, referring to the fact that Pakistan is not a member of the group. The G20, made up of the worlds largest economies, has a rolling presidency with a different member state in charge of the groups agenda and priorities each year. India is steering the group in 2023. China also criticized India's plan to hold the meeting in Srinagar. China firmly opposes holding any form of G20 meeting in disputed areas and China will not attend such a meeting, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin told reporters at a daily briefing Friday. Last month, China skipped another G20 meeting held in the disputed region Ladakh, where Indian and Chinese soldiers are locked in a bitter military standoff high in the mountains after 20 Indian and four Chinese soldiers were killed in a hand-to-hand melee in 2020. A U.N. human rights expert on Monday said the meeting would support a facade of normalcy while massive human rights violations continue in the region. The government of India is seeking to normalise what some have described as a military occupation by instrumentalising a G20 meeting and portray an international seal of approval, said Fernand de Varennes, the special rapporteur on minority issues, in a statement. Indias mission at the U.N. in Geneva rejected the statement as baseless and unwarranted allegations. In a tweet on Tuesday, it said it was Indias prerogative to host its meetings in any part of the country. India also held G20 tourism meetings in the states of West Bengal and Gujarat earlier this year, and one more is scheduled in Goa next month. ___ SEARCHES AND PATROLS REDOUBLE AHEAD OF MEETING Intrusive security measures have been a fact of life in Indian-controlled Kashmir since 1989, when a violent separatist insurgency erupted and Indian forces replied with a brutal crackdown. While the armed rebellion was largely suppressed, the region remains one of the worlds most heavily militarized territory, with hundreds of thousands of Indian troops deployed. For decades, a typical Kashmiris day has included frisking and questioning by police and soldiers, house raids and random searches of cars. But after New Delhi took the region under its direct control, authorities have seized scores of homes and arrested hundreds under stringent anti-terror laws. The government says such actions are necessary to stop what it calls a terror ecosystem. Mehbooba Mufti, the region's former top elected official, said that police had detained hundreds of Kashmiris ahead of the meeting. In a party newsletter, she alleged that there has been an unprecedented surge in arrests, raids, surveillance and persecution of our people ahead of the event. In a statement on Monday, police said there is a need to enhance the security measures at vulnerable locations to avoid any chance of terrorist attack during the G20 meeting. Kashmir has remained on edge since the 2019 changes, as authorities put in place new laws that critics and many Kashmiris fear could transform the regions demographics. In New Delhis effort to shape what it calls Naya Kashmir, or a new Kashmir, the territorys people and its press have been largely silenced. Although violence has ebbed in last few years, fighting between government forces and rebels opposed to Indian rule still erupts periodically. At least 10 Indian soldiers, including five members of army special forces, were killed recently in two militant attacks in Jammu region. ___ Follow Aijaz Hussain on Twitter at twitter.com/hussain_aijaz MERIDEN A little over a hundred people gathered at Il Monticello on Wednesday evening to honor city resident Rhudean Raye, 96, and raise funds at the annual Strong, Smart and Bold Benefit held by the nonprofit Girls Inc. of Meriden. Girls Inc. is headquartered on Lincoln Street and has programs aimed at empowering girls to be themselves, take risks, accept their bodies, be confident and express themselves since 1919. This year, it has served over 500 girls in the after-school program and summer camp. Raye is the first Black recipient of the Strong, Smart, Bold award. She was nominated for her decades of serving youth and leading local civic organizations, although she is best known for starting the annual Martin Luther King Jr. / Albert Owens Scholarship Breakfast in 1985. We're here tonight to honor you with a plaque and some paper, said Meriden Mayor Kevin Scarpati. I cant thank you enough for what you've done for Meriden. On behalf of all 60,000 of our residents, I thank you for reminding people of what is right, what is just and what we must continue to fight for every single day. In addition to the award from Girls Inc., Raye received congratulations from the Meriden City Council, the Connecticut General Assembly and the office of U.S. Congresswoman Jahana Hayes. Scarpati also declared Friday, June 2, 2023 as Rhudean Raye Day to honor her 97th birthday. Raye grew up in a segregated Bennettsville, South Carolina, and studied to become a nurse and a teacher. She balanced both careers when she moved to Meriden and became one of the first Black teachers in the city. Raye spent over 32 years teaching first and second grade at Nathan Hale, in addition to being an active member of the Kiwanis club and her church. For the sake of our community, I implore you to get involved. Find a need and try to fill it. Stand with me and help in areas that are of your interest. You will find that life is more fulfilling and then you will have a feeling of a job well done, she said. Remember, you too can be a part of the dream for a better tomorrow. Past honorees include Marlene McGann, retired director of the South Central Connecticut Substance Abuse Council, Midstate Chamber of Commerce President Rosanne Ford and executive director of the United Way of Meriden and Wallingford Maria Campos-Harlow. The award was started in 2000 to celebrate Maureen Bilger as she retired from being the executive director of Girls Inc., remembered longtime supporter Arlene Hamelin. Hamelin remembered the first dinner was organized at the Eagles club, cost $10 a plate and raised about $2,000 for the nonprofit. Over 20 years later, the nonprofit aimed to raise $20,000 through the dinner, silent auction and the sale of mystery envelopes, said Board President Chad Cardillo. As part of the programming, Cardillo recognized new Executive Director Laura Tiedge. Tiedge has worked in several national nonprofits and just ended a large fundraising effort at the YMCA of Wayne, New Jersey. She been in her role since February and is taking over from interim director Laura Goodwin. Goodwin is the Director of Business Learning for Girls Inc. national, but stepped in from June 2022 to January 2023 to lead the team. After several rounds of applause, thanks to sponsors, a celebratory cake in honor of Raye and presentations from Girls Inc. members, the dinner wrapped up and the winners of the table centerpieces were announced. Over the years the event has grown in popularity and support and funds raised, Hamelin said. But more importantly and more impactful, it has continued to recognize a deserving woman from the community who is a role model for young girls and embodies those very important traits that we all hope our daughters, granddaughters, nieces, girlfriends, and ourselves will forever aspire to. lguzman@record-journal.com,Twitter: @lguzm_n Latino Communities Reporter Lau Guzman is a corps member with Report for America, a national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms. Support RFA reporters at the Record-Journal through a donation at https://bit.ly/3Pdb0re. To learn more about RFA, visit www.reportforamerica.org. A 33-year-old man from Zimbabwe was sentenced to 16 years behind bars by a South African court for smuggling explosives across the Beitbridge border. Prosper Takunda Henry Mumbure was arrested last November as he drove a truck from Zimbabwe to Johannesburg. South African officials searched the vehicle and discovered a stash of explosives totaling R132,000 worth hidden on board. The explosives seized included 17 detonating fuses, over 1,200 connection caps and around 2,600 cartridges. Mumbure and his passenger were initially granted bail but he later skipped a court date, forcing authorities to track him down and rearrest him. The Musina Magistrates Court sentenced Mumbure to 15 years imprisonment for violating South Africas explosives laws and an additional year for failing to appear in court. The charges against his passenger were later dropped after authorities determined she was simply given a lift. A senior police official commented that its time cross-border criminals realise their time is over and authorities will do everything to protect South Africa from such criminals. Article continues below these jobs... Work In Zimbabwe Latest Jobs General Hand on 28 May 2023 Valley Crest Academy is a [] Marketing Attache on 28 May 2023 Defcorp Security is a leading [] Peer Educator Supervisor on 28 May 2023 Centre for Sexual Health and [] Sales Administrator on 28 May 2023 BYD Zimbabwe is a subsidiary [] Breaking News via Email By Lambert Strether of Corrente. Well, Doctor, what have we gota Republic or a Monarchy? A Republic, if you can keep it. Benjamin Franklin to Elizabeth Willing Powel of Philadelphia, 1787. The Durham Report (Report on Matters Related to Intelligence Activities and Investigations Arising Out of the 2016 Presidential Campaigns ) is sprawling, and as we might expect, the characters in the cast are all as twisty as corkscrews (and unlikely to be indicted, which must be a relief to everyone who is anyone). For clarity, I will put a thesis to the readership: What the Durham Report (DR) documents, but does not name, is a change in the Constitutional order. As we know, the Professional-Managerial Class (PMC) is the Democrat base (see Thomas Frank). The PMC achieved class consciousness in 2016, triggered by Trumps victory (and Clintons defeat). They then collectively declared a state of exception as sovereigns or would-be sovereigns are wont to do where anything that would defeat Trump was licensed (a permission structure, as we say; here is an early example). In the process, the hegemonic elements of the PMC fused Democrat Party operatives, the organs of state security, and the press into a single, Flexnet-like Faction (I use the word Faction deliberately) that had the objective of retaining its own power by delegitimizing an elected President, an object it in part achieved. This Faction[1] has dominated the governing class[2] of the United States since 2016, and has a good shot of retaining power permanently (assuming the United States remains a single political entity). The result is a new, and distinctly anti-democratic, Constitutional order that is no way a Republic as the Framers understood the term. The Durham report is a window into the initial stages of the process I have just described. Sadly, I will not be able to document all the elements of that thesis today. I would love to distentangle one of the more complicated subplots outlined in the Durham Report say, the Steele dossier, where the FBI initiated an investigation into the Trump campaign based on unvetted and uncorroborated information but it would take Balzac-like skills for me to do that, and I dont have them, or the time. Rather, I will focus on a Durham Report subplot that shows the claim that is central to my thesis: Faction > Constitutional Order: The Clinton Plan. Lets now turn to the report. The Clinton Plan The provenance and definition of the Clinton Plan. DR, p. 81: Vilify, eh? Looks like that intelligence was pretty good! The relevance of the Clinton Plan to the investigation. DR, p 82: I would say that determining whether materials like the Steele Dossier oppo and that sought to use the resources of the federal governments law enforcement and intelligence agencies in support of a political objective would be pretty important! Especially if, oh, checks and balances are important to you. Apparently, our organs of state security thought so, too, because the Clinton Plan went straight to the White House: (DR doesnt say whether Obama, or indeed anybody else, was surprised by the intelligence; its not unreasonable to think they knew all about it already.) The Clinton Plan was then buried. DR, 87: (Again, note the contrast to the Steele dossiers handling.) Its hard to characterize burying the Clinton Plan as anything other than a derelection of duty, DR, p. 97: One can only wonder why this happened! DR, p. 81: Tis a mystery! DR, p 9: Of course, it would be interesting to know if the Clinton campaign put the Clinton Plan into effect (very much including the resources of the federal governements law enforcement and intelligence agencies in support of a political objective). Durham spends many pages on circumstantial evidence that they did just just that, but then he talked to Clinton World, too: Ridiculous! Ridiculous! Ridiculous! Why, its almost as if Podesta, Sullivan, and Palmieri were working off the same talking points memo, isnt it? One would think that the material from DR pages 81 (Clinton may be our next President) and 9 (someone who should lose to Clinton) would show that the FBI investigation, at least, had been captured by Faction, but lets look at the matter a little more deeply. The Victory of Faction Durham attributes the FBIs totally inexplicable inhumation of the Clinton Plan to confirmation bias. DR p. 303: Besides letting rather a lot of spooks off the hook, confimation bias is a psychological, cognitive framing. Such framing does not address the direction of the bias, nor the selection of topics to be biased about (Strozok, for example, might well have been biased toward the Washington Wizards, and entirely neutral on politics). We need to move beyond the psychology of the individual and look at institutional factors. Here, the work of James Madison in Federalist #10, also 1787, is relevant: By a faction, I understand a number of citizens, whether amounting to a majority or a minority of the whole, who are united and actuated by some common impulse of passion, or of interest, adversed to the rights of other citizens, or to the permanent and aggregate interests of the community.. [T]he most common and durable source of factions has been the various and unequal distribution of property. Those who hold and those who are without property have ever formed distinct interests in society. Those who are creditors, and those who are debtors, fall under a like discrimination. A landed interest, a manufacturing interest, a mercantile interest, a moneyed interest, with many lesser interests, grow up of necessity in civilized nations, and divide them into different classes, [will The Bearded One please pick up the white courtesy phone?] actuated by different sentiments and views. The regulation of these various and interfering interests forms the principal task of modern legislation, and involves the spirit of party and faction in the necessary and ordinary operations of the government. No man is allowed to be a judge in his own cause, because his interest would certainly bias his judgment, and, not improbably, corrupt his integrity. With equal, nay with greater reason, a body of men are unfit to be both judges and parties at the same time; yet what are many of the most important acts of legislation, but so many judicial determinations, not indeed concerning the rights of single persons, but concerning the rights of large bodies of citizens? Madison then goes on to urge that the Republican form of government is proof, if proof there can be, against faction, at least in the United States. I dont find all of his argument persuasive, but I think the argument that the sheer scale and differentiation of these united states is a defense against faction has merit: [T]he extent of the Union gives it the most palpable advantage. The influence of factious leaders may kindle a flame within their particular States, but will be unable to spread a general conflagration through the other States. A religious sect may degenerate into a political faction in a part of the Confederacy; but the variety of sects dispersed over the entire face of it must secure the national councils against any danger from that source. However, fast forwarding to the present day, a Faction that can nationalize politics by controlling a political party, and capturing the press and the organs of state security, will be able to secure the national councils in a manner that would horrify Madison. And has done so! Similarly, it looks to me very much like factionalists in the FBI were very much judges in their own cause, or else they would not have gone full speed ahead on the Steele Dossier, and buried the Clinton Plan. Lets sketch out something a bit more up-to-date, retaining Madisons central insight that class struggle property is the driver of faction. Randy Waldman has a great post on the structure of the PMC: In a stratified, liberal capitalist society, the ability to command market power, to charge a margin sufficiently above the cost of inputs to cover the purchase of positional goods [like violin lessons for little Madison, or a house in the right neighorhood], becomes the definition of caste. When goods like health, comfort, safety, and ones childrens life prospects are effectively price-rationed, individuals will lever themselves to the hilt to purchase their place. The result is a strange precariot, objectively wealthy, educated and in a certain sense well-intended, who justify as a matter of defensive necessity participation in arrangements whose ugliness they cannot quite not see. In aggregate, they are predators, but individually they are also prey, and they feel embattled . So long as the intensity of stratification endures, they will feel like they have little choice but to participate in, even to collude to entrench, the institutions that secure their market power and their relatively decent place. The margin the resources that allow you to eat the smaller fish and, hopefully, evade the larger fish comes, I would urge, from Bourdieus social capital: First, social capital. From Bourdieus glorious Manet, which I am nowhere near finishing, pp. 303 et seq.: Manets life may be described as a long accumulation of social capital. I am not going to give you a rigorous definition of this concept but, in a nutshell, this is what is known as connections, along with the set of economic, cultural, and symbolic resources that can be acquired from lasting relationships with the range of agents that hold this capital. Flexians, for example, are masters at monetizing social capital. In the Beltway, one would accumulate social capital in the usual ways, through credentials, but also through access, and the possession of secrets[3]. (It we were looking into the history of the Steele dossier, we would see all these factors at play.) But in the instant case, I think were looking at PMCs in the organs of state security hoping to accumulate social capital by hopping on the bandwagon of the Clinton campaign, their favored Faction. They are, as it were, working toward the Clintons. Their Factional allegiance drives their confirmation bias. As Madison points out, thats entirely incompatible with republican government. Conclusion Needless to say, the destruction of our Republican form of government by a Faction working in and through the government to disempower an elected President is a SCAD: A State Crime Against Democracy. We discussed SCADs here. All the listed characteristics here are documented in various operations and projects described by the Durham Report: SCAD, by constrast, focuses on groups of individuals acting within institutions (12): SCADs can be characterized as crimes within institutions (12): The Framers understood SCADs to be high crimes (11): The Democrat Faction that got away with the RussiaGate SCAD is still running the show, and has a good shot at doing so indefinitely. No doubt upgrades to our new Constitutional order will be forthcoming[4]. 2024 should be interesting! NOTES [1] I considered calling this Faction The Glob (Government Blob, where Blob follows Ben Rhodes name for a similarly amorphous group of Flexians in the foreign policy establishment). Glob also connotes globalist (and no, thats not anti-semitic, ffs). [2] Governing class as distinct from rulling class typical American extravagance on whose behalf the governance is done. In an exchange with alert reader some guy, I wrote (lightly edited): The [ruling class] Prime Directive is emergent behavior, determined by a sort of summation or aggregation of elite portfolios of all forms of capital: Economic, social, symbolic, etc. Of course, the incentives are what they are; capitalism is a paperclip maximizer. The composition of those portfolios, and their investment in firms, political parties, NGOs, etc., which aggregate into a governing class, is territory for Thomas Fergusion and his stellar team of analysts. UPDATE Since ruling class portfolios by definition can mix public and private, firm and NGO, fixer and politician, media property and intelligence officer, etc., the ruling class is corrupt by definition. Its not so much a matter of public office for private gain as it is a complete erasure of public and private as categories; a suitable topic for another post. [3] The conversion of social capital into economic capital through book deals, the Green Room, etc., is IMNSHO undercharacterized. [4] For example. Back in the day when raiders were putting fear in the hearts of Corporate America, merger & acquisition pros were business media stars. One of the top shops back then, Lazard Freres, prided itself in its skills in abnormal psychology, aka managing CEOs. One of its most important bits of advice to them was danger of believing your own PR. In corporate America, theres a decent risk that fakery will get caught out by competitors, short sellers, whistleblowers, and just plain careful reading of audited financials. That said, Jack Welch kept reality at bay for a very very long time, to the detriment not only of GE but also his many imitators. By contrast, in politics, reality avoidance is routinely the key to a long and successful-looking career, witness Eurocrats fondness for kick the can strategies. And that propensity is particularly dangerous when leadership groups have become both selfish and short-termist. There really was once upon a time some people who went into government service for the service part, and not for the revolving door and networking. There was also a time, before the rise of global elites, where the powerful had ties to particular physical communities and some took interest in their betterment. In other words, while there were plenty of self-promoting and mediocre people at the helm, there were often enough in the room who were concerned about long-term risks to put a check on the worst behavior.1 But now, the well-honed effectiveness of propaganda has encouraged politicians and their media amplifiers/allies to go hog wild with selling Big Lies. And the worst is there are no consequences for the perps. After the first systematic use of large-scale propaganda, by the Creel Committee during what was then called the Great War, was uncovered, the US public was aghast. In a comparatively short time, this multi-channel campaign turned American opinion from unconcerned to rabidly anti-German with fabricated atrocities, like German soldiers bayonetting babies. There was a lot of soul-searching, as well as rationalizations by the likes of Walter Lippmann of the need for experts to interpret not just technical information but matters of general interest for a citizenry inherently unable to perceive reality due to bias and incomplete information. Not only has the reliance on tall tale-telling grown, but there has been perilous little self-reflection in the wake of abject fabrications like WMD in Iraq and Russiagate. Instead, it seems that Americans are all too eager to become pupils of the White Queen. From Lewis Carrolls Through the Looking Glass: How old are you? said the queen. Im seven and a half exactly You neednt say exactly the queen remarked : I can believe it without that. Now Ill give you something to believe. I am just one hundred and one, five months and a day I cant believe that! said Alice. Cant you? the Queen said in a pitying tone. Try again: draw a long breath, and shut your eyes. Alice laughed. Theres no use trying, she said: one cant believe impossible things. I daresay you havent had much practice, said the Queen. When I was your age, I always did it for half-an-hour a day. Why, sometimes Ive believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast. The wee problem with the war in Ukraine and the escalating US eye-poking of China is neither is going very well, to the degree that the propaganda started fizzling out very quickly in the Global South and is losing its potency in the West. Its hard to keep up the pretense of a great inevitable Ukraine victory with Ukraine losing Bakhmut, after Zelensky made it the centerpiece of his Congressional love-fest last December. Oh, but Ukraine is still trying to deny it is lost, as they did for Mariupol and Soledar until well after the fact. Or how about Ukraine shooting 30 Patriot missiles in about two minutes, which is as much as 10% of total annual production for all countries, in an unsuccessful effort to stop a Kinzhal hypersonic missile?2 Or commander-in-chief General Zaluzhny, usually highly visible, being missing in action for weeks, and Ukraine legitimating rumors about him being critically injured in a Russian missile strike by presenting old footage of him as current? Similarly, trying to bully countries that had no reason to take sides into aligning against Russia and then doubling down on coercion confirmed Putins messaging about colonial powers trying to reassert their historical, exploitative roles. This new cold war has seen many countries chose move to the allegedly undemocratic side of the Iron Curtain, much to the Wests impotent fury. The US and NATO have needed to maintain an image of success with Ukraine because it quickly turned into a bizarrely public coalition exercise, with arguments among NATO members about who really ought to empty their stockpiles for the cause, and one suspects not so public discussions about Ukraine refugees. Even though the press in collective West countries has mainly been cheerleading the war, albeit with more and more admissions of late that the exercise has gone pear-shaped, theres a growing sense in the US, and even reportedly in some parts of Europe like Germany, that enthusiasm on the man on the street level is waning. Another problem is NATO is simply not fit for this purpose. It was designed for defense, with many nations designing their own very compatible weapons, which each requires their own logistics tail (why not better pork-sharing via common designs and divvying of the manufacturing pie, as the EU did successfully with Airbus?). Brian Berletic, Douglas Macgregor, and Scott Ritter have explained repeatedly why deliveries of disparate weapons systems, mainly new to Ukraine, is a prescription for yet more failure. Oh and to the extent NATO forces have seen combat, its been in small insurgent wars, and so not helpful in Ukraine. The balkanized weapon systems are symptomatic of a lack of NATO cohesiveness at the level of institutional design, which is now being tested to destruction by this conflict. Article 5, often incorrectly presented as a one for all and all for one mutual defense pact. In fact, all Article 5 obligated member states to do is to taking action as it deems necessary. Each state gets to decide on its own if it wants to commit armed forcesor indeed, anything else. Similarly, US officials may have told themselves that much of the world regarded China with suspicion due to its often-overheated rhetoric and hypersensitivity to slights. But these self-comforting beliefs about Chinas position on the world stage got a big wake up call with China brokering a normalization of relations between Saudi Arabia and Iran, and then Syria. Now China is making more trouble by wandering into Americas back yard, as in Europe, and talking up its napkin-doodle Ukraine peace plan. That scheme will go nowhere but Chinas campaign has the effect of identifying it trying to end conflicts (as contrasted with the US trying to keep them going) and intensifying already apparent splits among the alliance. So the US efforts to pretend everything is going swimmingly are now looking a bit frayed. Not to overdo an analogy, but the US seems to be in a weird phase of the Kubler-Ross five stages of grief paradigm, which are denial, anger bargaining, depression, and acceptance. Theres still plenty of denial, witness the someday-gonna-arrive game-changing Great Ukrainian Counteroffensive, following many game-changing weapons deliveries like Bayraktars, Javelins, HIMARS and Leopard tanks, and other efforts at unduly upbeat messaging about generally terrible conditions on the ground. Zelensky has just given two self-sabotaging ire-filled lectures about how hes entitled to more support and where the hell is it, to the Arab League and G-7. But to me, the most intriguing is the weird bargaining, which very much like bargaining over death, is bargaining with yourself. For some time, since at least General Mark Milleys quickly deflated trial balloon last November, there has been more and more talk from pundits and even sometimes from officials how Ukraine should negotiate with Russia, after some sort of retaking of ground so as to better Ukraines bargaining position. Of course, the idea that Russia will do anything more than go through the motions of negotiating for appearances sake is delusional. As former Indian diplomat M. K. Bhadrakumar reminded readers in his latest post, Putin warned Ukraine and its backers last July, the longer the conflict lasted, the harder it will be to negotiate with us. That was before Merkel and Hollande bragged about their Minsk Accords duplicity, which has led Putin to make embittered statements about what a mistake it had been to try to cooperate. Putin has a history of endeavoring not to repeat mistakes. Russia was already depicting the US as not agreement capable even before the Minsk disclosures. And even if there were a regime change in Washington, Putin has repeatedly seen presidents make commitments to him that they reneged on later. He (perhaps charitably) attributed that to a permanent bureaucracy really being in charge.3 The US is again negotiating with itself in approving having allies supply F-16s to Ukraine, then trying to claim this isnt an escalation because they wont be used against Russian territory, ignoring the Russian view that not just Crimea but also the four annexed oblasts are Russian territory. Russias tart response, per TASS: Western countries continue down the path of escalation and Moscow will take their plans to send F-16 aircraft to Ukraine into account, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko told TASS on Saturday. We can see that Western countries continue to stick to an escalation scenario, which carries enormous risks for them. In any case, we will take it into account when making plans. We have all the necessary means to achieve our goals, he said on the sidelines of the 31st Assembly of the Council for Foreign and Defense Policy, when asked to comment on the possible supplies of F-16 aircraft to Ukraine. A new flavor of Western copium is the latest idea of a frozen conflict per a trial balloon in Politico: U.S. officials are planning for the growing possibility that the Russia-Ukraine war will turn into a frozen conflict that lasts many years perhaps decades and joins the ranks of similar lengthy face-offs in the Korean peninsula, South Asia and beyond. The options discussed within the Biden administration for a long-term freeze include where to set potential lines that Ukraine and Russia would agree not to cross, but which would not have to be official borders. The discussions while provisional have taken place across various U.S. agencies and in the White House. Again, this is intellectual masturbation the US a little too obviously talking to itself. Its become more and more clear from the Russian side that it must prosecute the war until Ukraine is decisively defeated, which means Russia dictates terms and either installs a puppet regime or somehow manages to tee off the Medvedev scenario of Poland, Hungary and Romania eating big bits of Western Ukraine, leaving only Ukraine as Greater Kiev, as in too small to serve as a platform for much of anything. We have pointed out Russia could create a DMZ, which is not the same as agreeing to one with the West, by creating a very large de-electrified zone which only the Eastern European versions of preppers might inhabit. And now that the West has decided to deploy Storm Shadows, it would have to be at least 250 miles wide so as to keep Russian territory out of strike range. On China, the US position is just as internally driven and therefore incoherent. As we and others have pointed out, the China hawks have been quietly duking it out with the Russia haters for a while. The implied compromise, that Russia would be dispatched quickly so the US could pivot to China, is not working out. China hardliner Charles Brown is expected to replace Mark Milley at the Joint Chiefs of Staff, but that may not be sufficient to shift the US focus decisively to China and allow for Ukraine to be quietly abandoned. Biden, Blinken and Nuland are heavily invested in the get Putin project and are likely to be incapable of abandoning it. And with the US $100 billion or so into this investment, some Congresscritters are likely to demand either results or an explanation. The latest display on the China front was the decidedly China-hostile G-7 meeting. Admittedly, the official statement was in flabby NGO-speak and did start with a handwave about UN principles and sticking with Ukraine for as long as it takes. Even so, the anti-China barbs stood out. For instance: 2. We will champion international principles and shared values by: strongly opposing any unilateral attempts to change the peacefully established status of territories by force or coercion anywhere in the world and reaffirming that the acquisition of territory by force is prohibited. 51. We stand together as G7 partners on the following elements, which underpin our respective relations with China: We stand prepared to build constructive and stable relations with China, recognizing the importance of engaging candidly with and expressing our concerns directly to China. We act in our national interest. It is necessary to cooperate with China, given its role in the international community and the size of its economy, on global challenges as well as areas of common interest. We call on China to engage with us, including in international fora, on areas such as the climate and biodiversity crisis and the conservation of natural resources in the framework of the Paris and Kunming-Montreal Agreements, addressing vulnerable countries debt sustainability and financing needs, global health and macroeconomic stability. Our policy approaches are not designed to harm China nor do we seek to thwart Chinas economic progress and development. A growing China that plays by international rules would be of global interest. We are not decoupling or turning inwards. At the same time, we recognize that economic resilience requires de-risking and diversifying. We will take steps, individually and collectively, to invest in our own economic vibrancy. We will reduce excessive dependencies in our critical supply chains. With a view to enabling sustainable economic relations with China, and strengthening the international trading system, we will push for a level playing field for our workers and companies. We will seek to address the challenges posed by Chinas non-market policies and practices, which distort the global economy. We will counter malign practices, such as illegitimate technology transfer or data disclosure. We will foster resilience to economic coercion. We also recognize the necessity of protecting certain advanced technologies that could be used to threaten our national security without unduly limiting trade and investment. Theres plenty more in Section 51 but you get the drift of the gist. Theres a lot to lambaste, but I found the not seeking to harm China and not decoupling but de-risking bits to be particularly rich. The Financial Times interpretation of the G-7 statement, in what at the time was a lead story: G7 issues strongest condemnation of China as it intensifies response to Beijing Yet somehow Biden thinks all of this nastiness will lead to improved relations, as if China were some sort of battered wife that would meekly accept abuse as better than neglect. From a new story in the pink paper, Joe Biden expects imminent thaw in China relations: Joe Biden has said he expects to see a thaw in US relations with Beijing, even as he concluded a G7 summit in Japan that made a concerted effort to counter military and economic security threats from China. The US president said in a news conference at the end of the three-day summit that talks between the two countries had shut down after a silly balloon carrying spying equipment flew over North America in February, before being shot down by the US military. Yes, the fact that the US and China are now talking is technically an improvement, but thats not saying much. The silly balloon remark comes off as Biden trying to minimize and shift blame for the US hysterical reaction ont China, which is not going to improve matters. And the G-7 was insultingly acting as if it was the upholder of territorial integrity as the US is persistently promoting and funding separatism in Taiwan. Confirm the notion that any improvement is marginal, the May 12 (as in pre G-7) press conference by Chinas Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Wang Wenbin had Agence France-Press quizzing why an 8 hour meeting between CPC Central Committee and Director of the Office for Foreign Affairs Wang Yi and Jake Sullivan produced short readouts. The answer was terse and contained a nugget: The two sides held candid, in-depth, substantive and constructive discussions on ways to stabilize the relationship from deterioration. That points to extremely low expectations on the China side. The interview also included a detailed complaint about The PRC Is Not a Developing Country Act, passed by the US House, which instructs the Department of State to press the WTO and other international organizations to revoke Chinas developing nation status. Wenbin cited key metrics by which China is still a developing nation and argued the US had no authority to seek changes like this. But the answers were measured until one reporter asked about the expectation that the G-7, as indeed happened, would accuse China of engaging in economic coercion. From the official translation: 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 worlds 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. Due to the length of this post, Ill spare you more Chinese reactions, but the English language government house organ Global Times lays it on thick in G7 has descended into an anti-China workshop and Manipulative G7 slammed for exclusiveness, against trend. Bloomberg shows how this G-7 was less than a rousing success: This sort of thing would normally be merely cringe-making, like catching a performance in Britains Got Talent where the performer energetically delivered a lousy act, and lacked the self-awareness to know how bad it was. But the stakes are high and we will have to live with the consequences. _____ 1 I am not saying the old system was wonderful. It brought us Vietnam and an undue fondness for regime change operations. But there was far less open corruption. 2 The UK press has maintained that the Patriots hit some Kinzhals, but even the Ukraine military has denied that. The initial reports that they did may be due to the fact that each Kinzhal shoots 6 dummies, per reader JW, shortly before impact. And yes, the 10% of global production is from Brian Berletic. Recent annual output is 300 missiles a year, with plans underway to increase that to 500 a year. So perhaps production is now above 300 missiles annually, but likely not that much more. 3 In the Oliver Stone interviews, apropos Bush. Putin may have made similar remarks els (Natural News) Over the weekend, Russia completed its military effort to seize control over the city of Bakhmut. Even as the leader of the Wagner group declared victory, announcing total control over the city, the delusional political leaders and military propagandists of western nations pretended that Ukraine still controlled Bakhmut, borrowing a page from transgenderism where a biological man can pretend to be a woman. In reality, however, men cant have babies and also men cant block artillery by wishing it so. While the delusional West remains steeped in lies, mass mental illness and sheer runaway insanity, Russias military bet on kinetic reality and used the laws of physics to achieve a tactical military victory that Western leaders said would never happen. (When the US military is rooted in reality and military sense, it is amazingly capable and effective. But when its run by woke policies and delusional political leaders, it fails at everything as weve seen since the day Biden took office) Now, a delusional Joe Biden says he wants to inject American-made F-16 fighter jets into the fray, no doubt flown by US military fighter pilots who will inevitably be shot down by Russias anti-air systems (which are vastly superior to anything the US currently deploys). This will put American pilots in the hands of the Russian military, giving Russia the direct evidence they need to declare that the United States has entered the war directly. At that point, Russia may decide to initiate its own existential threat posture and start launching nuclear missiles at western targets, including key cities in the United States and across Western Europe. This seems to be what the Obiden administration is trying to achieve. Thats why they dont really care about the debt ceiling crisis or collapsing US cities. They dont care that Americas border is wide open, or that the economy is collapsing. They appear to be hoping to make sure America is struck by nuclear weapons and destroyed, so watching the nation burn before that happens is of no consequence to these criminals. Hear the full details on all this and much more in todays Brighteon Broadcast News, via Brighteon.com: USPS reportedly halts mail delivery to a zip code in Seattle as crime explodes Bud Light parent company wants to PURGE all white men Nearly all Hollywood movies now depict black women as the people in charge of everything Humanoid guard robots are now deployed. Soon they will be armed to police the quarantine camps Bakhmut falls to Russia after nearly a year of fighting Western countries and leaders PRETEND Russia didnt achieve military victory there Biden escalated toward WWIII by promising F-16 fighters American pilots will lose their lives for corrupt Ukraine and Biden regime cronies Jeffrey Epstein tried to blackmail Bill Gates over alleged affair with Russian card player girl How Epstein worked for intelligence communities to blackmail powerful people with pedo rape tapes GOP pushing back against WHOs efforts to control the entire world with its pandemic treaty The WHO considers poverty to be a pandemic. And bad weather. Interview with The Texas Boys, a family that homesteaded in Texas Interview with Lucinda Bailey from TexasReady.net about food production Brighteon: Brighteon.com/fb68a89c-1488-4b13-aa3e-46bcca679b4b Rumble: Rumble.com/v2pat4w-bbn-may-22-2023-biden-provoking-nuclear-war-while-america-collapses-and-bur.html Bitchute: Bitchute.com/video/GkzeDE5RcMNm/ Banned.Video: Banned.video/watch?id=646b7bb07060d786590014af iTunes podcast: Healthrangerreport.com/brighteon-broadcast-news-may-22-2023-biden-provoking-nuclear-war-while-america-collapses-and-burns Discover more interviews and podcasts each day at: https://www.brighteon.com/channels/HRreport Follow me on: Brighteon.social: Brighteon.social/@HealthRanger (my breaking news gets posted here first) Telegram: t.me/RealHealthRanger Substack: HealthRanger.substack.com Banned.video: Banned.video/channel/mike-adams Truth Social: https://truthsocial.com/@healthranger Twitter: @MikeAdamsHR Gettr: GETTR.com/user/healthranger Parler: Parler.com/user/HealthRanger Rumble: Rumble.com/c/HealthRangerReport BitChute: Bitchute.com/channel/9EB8glubb0Ns/ Clouthub: app.clouthub.com/#/users/u/naturalnews/posts Join the free NaturalNews.com email newsletter to stay alerted about breaking news each day. Download my current audio books including Ghost World, Survival Nutrition, The Global Reset Survival Guide and The Contagious Mind at: https://Audiobooks.NaturalNews.com/ Download my new audio book, Resilient Prepping at ResilientPrepping.com it teaches you how to survive the total collapse of civilization and the loss of both the power grid and combustion engines. (Natural News) Officials at the Los Angeles County Sheriffs Department (LASD) are having a hard time tracking the spread of the so-called zombie drug xylazine because it is technically legal there. Xylazine, also known as tranq, is a veterinary tranquilizer approved in the U.S. for use in cows and horses. Despite not being approved for humans, it has become increasingly present in illegal drugs. Sources say it can either be cooked into powder form and mixed with opioids such as heroin and fentanyl, or pressed into counterfeit pills or sedatives. In April, the LASD launched a pilot program in partnership with crime lab analysts to better document the drugs prevalence. Under the program, the analysts will start noting down any preliminary signs of xylazine they find when testing confiscated drugs. Lab workers simply dismissed test results showing the presence of xylazine. According to the LASD, the problem is that the drug is technically a legal substance. Capt. Ernest Bille, who is in charge of the LASDs scientific services bureau, said: There are a bunch of different additives like vitamin C, which comes up a lot, that we dont write down. The mission, given the volume of the caseload that we have, is to figure out [if] this a controlled substance or not. Nicole Nishida, spokeswoman for the LA field division of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), told the LA Times that they were seeing xylazine as an additive in fake fentanyl pills in the Greater LA area. Per federal data, about 23 percent of fentanyl powder and seven percent of fentanyl pills seized in 2022 contained xylazine. While the numbers are relatively low in our community compared to elsewhere in the U.S., the presence of xylazine is now becoming more frequent and the trend is concerning, she remarked. Flesh-eating xylazine an emerging threat across the country Xylazine is also known for causing severe harms, with nurses describing wounds that are seemingly eating away flesh from the inside out. Xylazine also disfigures users through sores that cause limb amputation in some cases. (Related: Skin-rotting animal tranquilizer drug known as tranq spreads all over US.) Bill Bodner, DEA special agent, described the effects of xylazine in an interview with local news station KTLA. He said: Its really gruesomely disfiguring people. Its a vasoconstrictor. So, when youre injecting it, its actually reducing the blood circulation. The DEA itself issued an urgent public safety alert against xylazine mixed with fentanyl. DEA Administrator Anne Milgram remarked that xylazine is making the deadliest drug threat our country has ever faced, fentanyl, even deadlier. The White Houses Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) also reiterated the dangers of xylazine in an April 12 statement. ONDCP Director Dr. Rahul Gupta said in the statement: As a physician, I am deeply troubled about the devastating impact of the fentanyl-xylazine combination. I am [also] immensely concerned about what this threat means for the nation. Gupta, in his official capacity as ONDCP director, also designated the lethal xylazine-fentanyl mix as an emerging threat. By declaring xylazine combined with fentanyl as an emerging threat, we are being proactive in our approach to save lives and creating new tools for public health and public safety officials and communities, he added. Head over to Addiction.news for more stories about xylazine mixed in street drugs. Watch this report that talks about xylazine found in peoples systems. This video is from The Sword & Shield channel on Brighteon.com. More related stories: Philadelphias Kensington neighborhood in CRISIS due to widespread abuse of animal tranquilizer xylazine. Philadelphias Zombieland Kensington neighborhood continues to suffer from spread of tranq drug. ZOMBIE DRUG Tranq secretly mixed with fentanyl ROTS human tissue, leading to amputation and more overdose deaths in 48 US states. Horse sedatives street drug killing thousands in Philadelphia and other US cities. Sources include: DailyMail.co.uk LATimes.com KTLA.com WhiteHouse.gov Brighteon.com (Natural News) A folded lead tablet first found in the 1980s at Mount Ebal in the West Bank had a secret text that preceded known Hebrew inscriptions. The tablet was inadvertently disturbed during diggings performed by Adam Zertal, a controversial archaeologist from the University of Haifa (UH) in Israel, back in 1982. Like almost all diggings, Zertal left behind piles of unearthed soil following his discovery of two altars on the mountain. One of the piles dubbed as the east dump apparently held the tablet that was rediscovered 37 years later. Wet sifting on the soil at the east dump in December 2019 yielded the folded tablet, which originated from one of the altars. Dents blemished its outside, and the tablet could not be opened without damaging it. Given this restriction, a team of scientists from Israel and Europe performed X-ray tomographic measurements to show what was written on the tablet. They found the Hebrew inscription written during the late Bronze Age, preceding any earlier known Hebrew inscription in Israel by at least 200 years. (Related: Scientists uncover invisible ancient Hebrew inscription that can only be seen with advanced technology.) But the writing did not pertain to any statement of the time. Instead, the Hebrew inscription etched on the lead tablet was a malediction. You are cursed by the God YWH, cursed. You will die, cursed cursed, you will surely die. Cursed you are by YHW cursed, the tablets inscriptions read. Curses on the tablet appear to line up with Biblical tradition The curses on the tablet appear to line up with Biblical tradition mandated by God after the Israelites left slavery in Egypt. Two books of the Old Testament directly mention Mount Ebal, where the lead tablet was found. The book of Deuteronomy states: When the Lord your God has brought you into the land you are entering to possess, you are to proclaim on Mount Gerizim the blessings, and on Mount Ebal the curses. (Deuteronomy 11:29) Meanwhile, the book of Joshua explicitly mentions the building of the altar on Mount Ebal as part of the Israelites renewal of their covenant with God. Zertal would later uncover this altar thousands of years later. Joshua built on Mount Ebal an altar to the Lord, the God of Israel, as Moses the servant of the Lord had commanded the Israelites. He built it according to what is written in the Book of the Law of Moses an altar of uncut stones, on which no iron tool had been used. (Joshua 8:30-31) According to the researchers, the use of the term YHW a shortened version of the divine name Yahweh clearly points to the inscriptions as ancient Hebrew. This is because it references the name of the Lord first used in ancient Israel. They also noted that the tablet is a type of legal text, which threatens curses upon individuals who transgress a covenant. UHs Gershon Galil, one of the team members involved in the research, said all 48 letters on the tablet are clear. While he believes the inscription dates back to the end of the 13th century B.C., his co-authors believe it could be older. The scribe that wrote this ancient text, believe me he could write every chapter in the Bible, Galil remarked. Follow Artifacts.news for more stories like this. Watch this video that discusses the folded lead tablet found on Mount Ebal. This video is from the Gibraltar The Rock channel on Brighteon.com. More related stories: Ancient Babylonian clay tablet discovered to be a trigonometry reference sheet for building temples and canals. Ancient potsherd inscription may be the missing link in the alphabets history, researchers suggest. Experts say oldest, most complete Hebrew Bible could sell for $50M. Sources include: JPost.com BiblicalArchaeology.org Brighteon.com (Natural News) Post-pandemic burnout could cause hundreds of thousands of nurses to quit the profession entirely in the next few years, according to a survey published in the Journal of Nursing Regulation. The study, Examining the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on burnout and stress among U.S. nurses, analyzed a subset of data taken from nearly 30,000 registered nurses and advanced practice registered nurses and just over 24,000 licensed practical nurses from 45 states who participated in the 2022 National Nursing Workforce Survey. The key takeaway from the report was that 20 percent of nurses could quit their jobs by 2027. The researchers found that 62 percent of nurses experienced a higher workload during the pandemic. Nearly 51 percent said they felt emotionally drained, 45.1 percent said they were burned out, and 56.4 percent reported feeling used up. Nearly 30 percent said they felt like they were at the end of their rope either every day or a few times per week. These problems were more prevalent in nurses with less than 10 years of experience in the profession. High workloads and unprecedented levels of burnout during the COVID-19 pandemic have stressed the U.S. nursing workforce, particularly younger, less experienced RNs. So far, the U.S. has seen 100,000 nurses leave the workforce during the pandemic, and a further 800,000 could walk away in the next few years. According to the National Council on State Boards of Nursing (NCSBN), more than 600,000 nurses with more than 10 years of experience with an average age of 57 reported they intend to quit by 2027 due to burnout, stress or retirement; 189,000 nurses with 10 or fewer years of experience and an average age of 36 said the same. This mass exodus would have a significant effect on healthcare. One of the studys authors, Maryann Alexander, a chief officer of nursing regulation for the NCSBN, said the findings surprised her, particularly the feelings of younger nurses. When the industry is forced to depend on less-experienced nurses to serve as leaders, managers and mentors, it could have a big impact on the quality of care. It will send us into a health care crisis of huge proportions, she noted. She added that although young nurses do sometimes leave their jobs to obtain more advanced degrees, young nurses do not leave the job due to burnout and stress under normal circumstances. Some nurses are complaining that hospitals place profits over people In January, more than 7,000 nurses went on strike to draw attention to their working conditions in New York. One union official who addressed the crowd, Danny Fuentes, explained the dire situation many nurses are experiencing. He said: Time and time again, we are forced to take unsafe patient loads. We are humans, and we are burnt out. And we are tired. And the hospital doesnt seem to care. All they see are profits. We dont want to be out here. We would much rather be with our patients. We need a fair contract to protect our patients. A different study carried out by AMN Healthcare found that 60 percent of nurses are planning to change their job status within the coming year. Meanwhile, just a third report having an ideal amount of time to spend with patients; this is a drop of 10 percentage points since 2021. After surveying more than 18,000 nurses, they found that declining job satisfaction among nurses is a major factor, including satisfaction with the quality of care they are able to provide to patients due to time constraints and post-pandemic nurse shortages. Just half of nurses said they would encourage other people to enter the field, marking a 14 percentage point drop from 2021. Sources for this article include: ZeroHedge.com JournalOfNursingRegulation.com Edition.CNN.com MedCityNews.com (Natural News) An alleged accounting mistake is the reason why United States military aid to Ukraine, which includes weapons and ammunition, was overestimated by at least $3 billion. Officials at the Pentagon and the Department of Defense (DoD) claim that they made a few oopsies in tabulating the value of all this aid, which created discrepancies in the books that are now coming to light. During our regular oversight process of presidential drawdown packages, the Department discovered inconsistencies in equipment valuation for Ukraine, said Pentagon deputy press secretary Sabrina Singh in an emailed statement to The Epoch Times. As soon as defense official noticed the miscalculation, the DoD Comptroller re-issued guidance clarifying how to properly set equipment values in alignment with Financial Management Regulations and DoD policy. This requires the utilization of net book value, ensuring that the most accurate accounting methods are in place. (Related: According to Russia, the Pentagon is the entity in charge of running Ukraines biowarfare facilities, which are the target of its special operation.) This little error means that Biden can delay having to ask Congress for more cash for Zelensky how convenient! According to Singh, the mistake occurred when the Pentagon inadvertently used a higher cost value, or a replacement cost, rather than the weaponrys actual value when it was purchased and started depreciating. In some cases, replacement cost rather than net book value was used, therefore overestimating the value of the equipment drawn down from U.S. stocks, Singh explained in the same emailed statement. This over-valuation has not constrained our support to Ukraine nor impacted our ability to flow capabilities to the battlefield. It is unknown the precise date on which the accounting error was noticed, nor has it been made public which weapons were mistakenly overestimated in value on the books. Defense officials told The Hill that the Pentagon is still in the process of assessing the overvaluation, but that for now they are going with an estimated minimum of $3 billion though this figure could, and likely will, rise further in the coming days. This is great news for the Biden regime and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Because of this mistake, Bidens people might be able to delay having to ask Congress to authorize more aid for Ukraine, which Zelensky is expected to welcome ahead of Ukraines much-anticipated counteroffensive. Previous to this on May 9, the Biden regime announced that it will be sending another $1.2 billion worth of military aid to Ukraine to help bolster its air defenses while adding to its ammunition artillery. Once that $1.2 billion in aid is disbursed, the total amount that the U.S. under Biden has handed over to Ukraine will amount to $37.6 billion. Of this, $36.9 billion was sent to Ukraine just since Russias invasion back in February 2022. Among the weapons sent by the U.S. to Ukraine are High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) launchers, Javelin anti-tank weapons, and a Patriot surface-to-air missile system. Several congressional Republicans, upset by the mistake, are now ordering the Biden regime to make up for this precious lost time by using the extra money that is now available through the accounting readjustment to provide Ukraine the DPICMS and ATACMS they need to fuel the counteroffensive and win the war, these being the exact words used by House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul (R-Tex.) and House Armed Services Committee Chairman Mike Rogers (R-Ala.). These funds could have been used for extra supplies and weapons for the upcoming counteroffensive, instead of rationing funds to last for the remainder of the fiscal year, they further complained about the matter. The latest news about the money laundering scheme known as Ukrainian aid can be found at Corruption.news. Sources for this article include: TheEpochTimes.com NaturalNews.com 5G promises increased speed, lower latency, and support for a significantly larger number of connected devices. But the growth in devices and in new applications that will ensue also will expand the attack surface, offering new opportunities for malicious actors to take advantage of security gaps. Plus, as with any new technology, there is a great deal of potential for misconfigurations, errors, and unpatched vulnerabilities while companies are still learning how to deploy and secure 5G at scale. About 75% of communication service providers worldwide said that they had experienced up to six security breaches of 5G networks within the past year, according to a November 2022 survey by GlobalData and Nokia. Half of the respondents said that they experienced an attack that resulted in the leakage of customer data, and nearly three quarters said that an attack had caused a service outage. But 5G networks have a great, built-in security advantages over their predecessors, one of which is network slicingthe ability to subdivide networks into multiple virtual networks on top of a single physical infrastructure. Each network can have its own configurations, performance parameters, and quality of service. This allows different applications to share the same physical infrastructure but also provides an additional layer of isolation and security, creating barriers to attacker movement. 5G introduced a large number of technical innovations and improvements to 4G technology, but network slicing was one of the most important, says Doug Gatto, practice development manager, services, at IT services provider Insight, and security benefits are a major advantage. It can really reduce the impact of a cyber attack by isolating an attack to one slice. However, a misconfigured 5G network slice is vulnerable to multiple threats, including denial-of-service attacks, man-in-the-middle attacks, and basic configuration attacks, he says. And if the slices arent designed properly, an attacker could also move from one slice to another, he adds. Gatto says that hes sure these kinds of attacks are already taking place, though the threat is a relatively new one, and he hasnt yet seen public data about specific breaches. Plus, the idea of 5G network slicing is very new. It requires that a carrier have standalone 5G in place, instead of a 5G layer over an existing 4G LTE network. That infrastructure is now becoming widely available, and carriers are just starting to experiment with slicing. For example, in February, Singtel announced a 5G security-as-a-slice capability that will become available in the next few months. Also in February, Ericsson released a report calling 5G slicing a near-term opportunity. In March, Verizons Bryan Schromsky, managing partner for its public-sector unit, said that Verizon plans to begin implementing network slicing at the end of this year. But the security risks surrounding 5G network slices are serious enough that, in December, the National Security Agency and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, issued a warning and offered advice on mitigating these risks. The security issues arent limited to attacks on individual slices; they can also cross between slices if the networks arent property secured, the agency says. Improper network slice management may allow malicious actors to access data from different network slices or deny access to prioritized users, the report says. And researchers at Deloitte and Virginia Tech recently conducted a proof-of-concept test and demonstrated that lateral movement was, in fact, possible. Say, for example, a particular device is connected to one network slice, says Abdul Rahman, associate vice president at Deloitte, All we need to do is Google the vendor website, find out what the default username and password is, and build a script to try that username and password from different points within the network, he says. Then, once an initial slice has been compromised, that access can be used to pivot to other network slices, and compromise data or devices used by other customers. According to the CISA report, the three biggest threats to 5G network slices are denial-of-service (DoS) attacks, configuration attacks, and man-in-the-middle attacks. DoS attacks could degrade service across slices. In a DoS attack, a malicious actor floods a network or critical application or component with traffic so every device using the same slice suffers an outage. According to a report released earlier this year by ENEA AdaptiveMobile Security, denial of service attacks against 5G networks cannot be mitigated with todays approaches and technologies. Its possible for network slices to reduce the reach of DoS attacks by isolating their effect to an individual network segment but only if the infrastructure is properly configured. But some types of attacks can spill over into other slices if proper preventative measures arent taken. For example, if malware compromises an IoT device connected to the 5G network, and it floods the network with messages, it could degrade signal quality for all network slices that share the same spectrum or other physical resources. Another possibility is that a malicious mobile-edge computing application infects one slice and starts to generate fake and computationally intensive tasks. It will use up edge-computing resources, and, if the malware is able to circumvent compute-resource segmentation policies, it can affect the performance of all the other slices sharing the same edge computing. Deloitte and Virginia Tech released a report in April summarizing denial of service attack vectors for 5G networks. It was a contained study within a lab environment, says Shehadi Dayekh, 5G and edge specialist leader at Deloitte. But it is practical. And it is possible to create resource constraints on the common infrastructure that both slices are using. In addition, network architects might not want to duplicate every network function on each slice, so an attack on a particular network function might affect every slice that uses it, Dayekh says. In addition, there are some shared resources that all slices have to use. Say, for example, an operator uses 5G network slices to offer private networks to several enterprise clients in the same area. They would end up using one cell tower to feed multiple clients, says Dayekh. You cannot replicate the cell tower for each and every single client. So if youve compromised that specific shared resource, that will end up affecting other clients, as well. Configuration attacks can lead to wide compromises. Those same shared resources can also provide an opportunity for malware to spread between slices, Dayekh says. For instance, a network function might use a common set of servers to provide services to different device types from different customers on different network slices. In this case one customers IoT devices might need access to the same network function and its underlying infrastructure as another customers connected vehicles. These are totally different industries and different clients but are served by the same compute nodes that have the same network function, he says. If theres a vulnerability within the IoT device that attackers exploit, they could then push malware to other devices that are connected via the same network function. IoT devices are notorious security risks because many of them are old, and many may have firmware that is old and not patched, he says. But other network components may also be using default usernames and passwords or have unpatched vulnerabilities, he adds. Proper configuration of both the network infrastructure and shared network services is key, he says. Do you have ports that are open? Do you have the right segmentation and not allow users to discover more of these network functions? he says. According to CISA, configuration attacks can have a broad range of adverse effects. A malicious attacker may be able to steal data from other users on the same network slice, but if are weaknesses in the way shared components are accessed, attackers can also gain access to another slice. In a virtualized architecture it will be more difficult to detect and recognize the types of traffic crossing these networks and mitigate against any new threats, CISA warns. Man-in-the-middle attacks endanger data. 5G network slices are also vulnerable to man-in-the-middle attacks, CISA says, where an attacker jumps into the middle of an unencrypted conversation between two network participants. There it can listen to their communication to steal data, pass along corrupted data, or shut down or slow the communication. Such an attack could be devastating, as misinformation and disinformation could result from the malicious actor modifying the contents of the messages, CISA says. How to secure network slices. According to CISA, two key aspects of network slice security are Zero Trust Architecture (ZTA) and continuous monitoring. ZTA, together with multi-layer security, encryption, and isolation, can help defend data and systems from attacks within individual slices and across different slices. Monitoring can detect malicious activity, but many tools focus on performance and not on malicious attacks, the agency warns. Network operators want to have performance monitoring and quality-of-service monitoring, says Insights Gatto. But you actually need control-plane monitoring, monitoring the logic of the actual network to make sure its protected against any malicious actors. Operators should also consider anomaly-detection and intrusion-prevention systems, he adds. These can identify and stop dangerous behaviors. Network security starts with having good visibility, says Deloittes Dayekh. Knowing where your infrastructure is, knowing what resources each component is using, tracking IoT devices, and tracking connected devices, whether known or unknown devices. Once you have that visibility, you can start applying policies and rules around securing that connectivity. However, the expansion and deployment of Kubernetes services and containerized deployment of telecommunication functions present a challenge for carriers, says Deloittes Dayekh. Its becoming harder and harder to have that visibility and control over network traffic and over access, and its just adding to the complexity of visibility, detection, and response, he says. Especially when you have hundreds if not thousands of new devices joining the network every single day. Finally, carriers need to have a plan for when prevention measures fail. Its important to be prepared for an attack if one does occur, says Dayekh. What is your plan of action if something falls down? You should have a method in order to control and be able to prevent any further damage in your network, he says. Real-world attacks have yet to surface. Deloitte runs tests on its lab environments that are connected to major cloud hyperscalers, Dayekh says. You can tell that IoT devices have multiple vulnerabilities, open ports, and outdated software, he says. Its clear, if you look at it, that major organizations dont have, at this point, the full visibility into whats connected, to begin with. Dayekh says he hasnt seen successful attacks on vulnerable slices in the wild, but, I am sure that these slices exist, and Im sure the same vulnerabilities apply to those slices. Insights Gatto says he also hasnt seen public-facing data about network slices being successfully attacked, but it probably is happening. One ray of hope is that, in the short term, network slicing attacks are going to be harder to accomplish because of the way cellular technologies work, says Gatto. 5G, in general, is secure by default, unlike Wi-Fi, which is open by default, so it would be harder to compromise. With Wi-Fi, all you need is a password or some type of secure certificate exchange to join a network, but with 5G, youll need a physical SIM card or an eSim even to join a network or network slice, he says. The attacks themselves would need to be considerably complex in order to succeed, says Chester Wisniewski, field CTO of applied research at global cybersecurity firm Sophos. To date, almost no one outside of a nation-state has the resources to conduct an attack like this effectively, he says. Still, Wisniewski urges caution. If you are adopting 5G for mission-critical applications, you shouldnt assume it will always be available and unhackable, he says. Like any device communicating over a public network, devices should always use encryption and verify both client and server identities before communicating. By PTI NEW DELHI: Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Shaktikanta Das on Monday said most of the withdrawn Rs 2,000 rupee notes are expected to be returned by the deadline of September 30. Speaking to reporters for the first time since the surprise decision to withdraw the highest denomination currency note was announced, Das said the decision was part of currency management. Rs 2,000 currency notes continue to be legal tender, Das added. Indian currency management system is very robust, the exchange rate has remained stable despite the crisis in financial markets due to war in Ukraine and failure of certain banks in the West, he said. The impact of the withdrawal on the economy will be "very very marginal", he said, adding Rs 2,000 currency notes made up for just 10.8 per cent of the total currency in circulation. He said Rs 2,000 rupee notes were introduced primarily to replenish the currency that was withdrawn following the 2016 demonetisation. While the withdrawn 2,000 rupee notes can either be deposited in bank accounts or exchanged for other currency, banks have been advised to make necessary arrangements for exchange, he said. "We expect most of Rs 2,000 bank notes to come back to the exchequer by September 30," he said. "We have more than adequate quantities of printed notes already available in the system, not just with RBI but with currency chests operated by banks. There is no reason to worry. We have sufficient stocks, no need to worry." Das said that the RBI will be sensitive to difficulties faced by people and would come out with regulations if need be. The existing income tax requirement of furnishing PAN for deposits of Rs 50,000 or more in bank accounts will continue to apply for deposits of the withdrawn 2000 rupee notes, he said. Das said liquidity in the system is being monitored on a daily basis. Meanwhile, the Central Bank also advised banks to provide shade from the sun and water to customers waiting to exchange or deposit Rs 2,000 notes. It can be noted that during the note ban in 2016, there were allegations of customers dying while waiting in queues to exchange bank notes. Following Friday's announcement of withdrawing Rs 2,000 notes -- the notes continue to be legal tender unlike the demonetisation exercise -- there were concerns about customers facing inconvenience, especially given the summer being at its peak. "Banks are advised to provide appropriate infrastructure at the branches such as shaded waiting space, drinking water facilities, etc. considering the summer season," RBI said in a notification on Monday. It asked banks to provide the note exchange facility across the counter to the public in the usual manner, that is, as was being provided earlier. The banking regulator also asked banks to maintain daily data on deposits and exchange of Rs 2,000 notes. Key remarks from RBI Governor's address: Rs 2000 notes were introduced to replenish notes withdrawn following demonetisation Withdrawal of Rs 2,000 bank notes part of currency management Reluctance among merchants to accept Rs 2,000 notes may have increased after the withdrawal Expect most of Rs 2,000 notes to come back to exchequer by September 30 Banks have been advised to make necessary arrangements for exchange of Rs 2,000 notes RBI will be sensitive to difficulties faced by people regarding exchange of Rs 2,000 notes Existing Income Tax requirement of PAN for Rs 50,000 or more deposits in bank accounts will apply on Rs 2,000 notes as well NEW DELHI: Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Shaktikanta Das on Monday said most of the withdrawn Rs 2,000 rupee notes are expected to be returned by the deadline of September 30. Speaking to reporters for the first time since the surprise decision to withdraw the highest denomination currency note was announced, Das said the decision was part of currency management. Rs 2,000 currency notes continue to be legal tender, Das added.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); Indian currency management system is very robust, the exchange rate has remained stable despite the crisis in financial markets due to war in Ukraine and failure of certain banks in the West, he said. The impact of the withdrawal on the economy will be "very very marginal", he said, adding Rs 2,000 currency notes made up for just 10.8 per cent of the total currency in circulation. He said Rs 2,000 rupee notes were introduced primarily to replenish the currency that was withdrawn following the 2016 demonetisation. While the withdrawn 2,000 rupee notes can either be deposited in bank accounts or exchanged for other currency, banks have been advised to make necessary arrangements for exchange, he said. "We expect most of Rs 2,000 bank notes to come back to the exchequer by September 30," he said. "We have more than adequate quantities of printed notes already available in the system, not just with RBI but with currency chests operated by banks. There is no reason to worry. We have sufficient stocks, no need to worry." Das said that the RBI will be sensitive to difficulties faced by people and would come out with regulations if need be. The existing income tax requirement of furnishing PAN for deposits of Rs 50,000 or more in bank accounts will continue to apply for deposits of the withdrawn 2000 rupee notes, he said. Das said liquidity in the system is being monitored on a daily basis. Meanwhile, the Central Bank also advised banks to provide shade from the sun and water to customers waiting to exchange or deposit Rs 2,000 notes. It can be noted that during the note ban in 2016, there were allegations of customers dying while waiting in queues to exchange bank notes. Following Friday's announcement of withdrawing Rs 2,000 notes -- the notes continue to be legal tender unlike the demonetisation exercise -- there were concerns about customers facing inconvenience, especially given the summer being at its peak. "Banks are advised to provide appropriate infrastructure at the branches such as shaded waiting space, drinking water facilities, etc. considering the summer season," RBI said in a notification on Monday. It asked banks to provide the note exchange facility across the counter to the public in the usual manner, that is, as was being provided earlier. The banking regulator also asked banks to maintain daily data on deposits and exchange of Rs 2,000 notes. Key remarks from RBI Governor's address: Rs 2000 notes were introduced to replenish notes withdrawn following demonetisation Withdrawal of Rs 2,000 bank notes part of currency management Reluctance among merchants to accept Rs 2,000 notes may have increased after the withdrawal Expect most of Rs 2,000 notes to come back to exchequer by September 30 Banks have been advised to make necessary arrangements for exchange of Rs 2,000 notes RBI will be sensitive to difficulties faced by people regarding exchange of Rs 2,000 notes Existing Income Tax requirement of PAN for Rs 50,000 or more deposits in bank accounts will apply on Rs 2,000 notes as well By PTI MUMBAI: Former NCB zonal director and bribery accused Sameer Wankhede is trying to show the alleged messages exchanged with film superstar Shah Rukh Khan as a 'certificate of integrity', the CBI told the Bombay High Court on Monday. The High Court is hearing a petition of Wankhede, who is accused of seeking Rs 25 crore as bribe from the actor for not implicating his son Aryan in the Cordelia cruise 'drug bust' case. A vacation bench of Justices Abhay Ahuja and MM Sathaye on Monday extended till June 8 the interim protection granted to Wankhede in the case. Last Friday, the court had directed the Central Bureau of Investigation not to take any coercive against him till May 22. Citing the messages exchanged with Khan, Wankhede, in his petition, has claimed the film superstar had no grievance against him and had requested that he be kind to his son Aryan Khan. Wankhede further claimed the actor had not only praised his integrity "but has also expressed his anguish over the political involvement in the matter". Referring to the chats, Wankhede, in his plea, claimed the tone of Khan's messages would have been completely contrary had he (Wankhede) raised demands for money for releasing Aryan Khan. During the hearing on Monday, the CBI, represented by advocate Kuldeep Patil, submitted that those requests (referring to the messages exchanged between Shah Rukh Khan and Wankhede) were made by a father (Khan) whose young son (Aryan) was in his (Wankhede) custody. Wankhede is trying to show them (messages from Khan) as a "certificate of integrity", CBI advocate Patil told the court. Opposing the continuation of interim protection to Wankhede, advocate Patil said the order may come in the way of arrest or any action that the CBI may want to take, adding the order (interim protection) cannot be indefinite when the probe is underway. Patil also sought time to file the CBI's response to Wankhede's plea. Advocate Abad Ponda, appearing for Wankhede, argued the officer was investigating a "very serious case" and was trying to clean the system. Ponda was referring to the Cordelia cruise 'drug bust' case of October 2021 in which Aryan Khan was arrested. Ponda told the court then NCB Deputy Director Gyaneshwar Singh had been apprised of every step of the probe. Ponda said the "backbone" of the CBI's FIR against Wankhede "is flawed" as it didn't follow the provisions mandated by law. The case was "illegal and bad in law" and the idea was to ground an "honest officer who stood against the tall and mighty", Ponda said. The court, after hearing both sides, extended Wankhede's interim protection subject to the condition that he shall not publish any material through WhatsApp or any other mode related to the case or investigation or give press statements or tamper with evidence. The court asked Wankhede to give an undertaking to this effect. Wankhede was also directed to appear at the investigation agency as and when he is called by the concerned officer. The HC directed the CBI to file its response by June 3. The matter will be next heard on June 8. The CBI recently filed an FIR against Wankhede for allegedly seeking Rs 25 crore bribe for not framing the Bollywood star's son Aryan Khan in the drugs-on-cruise case. On a complaint by the NCB, the CBI booked Wankhede and four others for alleged criminal conspiracy and extortion threat as well as under the Prevention of Corruption Act for alleged bribery. As per the CBI, the NCB's Mumbai Zone received information in October 2021 related to the consumption and possession of narcotics substances by various individuals on the private cruise ship Cordelia, after which some of its (NCB) officers conspired and obtained undue advantage in the form of bribes from the alleged accused. Aryan Khan was arrested by the NCB on October 3, 2021 after a raid on the cruise ship. He was granted bail by the Bombay High Court after three weeks as the NCB failed to substantiate its charges against him. MUMBAI: Former NCB zonal director and bribery accused Sameer Wankhede is trying to show the alleged messages exchanged with film superstar Shah Rukh Khan as a 'certificate of integrity', the CBI told the Bombay High Court on Monday. The High Court is hearing a petition of Wankhede, who is accused of seeking Rs 25 crore as bribe from the actor for not implicating his son Aryan in the Cordelia cruise 'drug bust' case. A vacation bench of Justices Abhay Ahuja and MM Sathaye on Monday extended till June 8 the interim protection granted to Wankhede in the case.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); Last Friday, the court had directed the Central Bureau of Investigation not to take any coercive against him till May 22. Citing the messages exchanged with Khan, Wankhede, in his petition, has claimed the film superstar had no grievance against him and had requested that he be kind to his son Aryan Khan. Wankhede further claimed the actor had not only praised his integrity "but has also expressed his anguish over the political involvement in the matter". Referring to the chats, Wankhede, in his plea, claimed the tone of Khan's messages would have been completely contrary had he (Wankhede) raised demands for money for releasing Aryan Khan. During the hearing on Monday, the CBI, represented by advocate Kuldeep Patil, submitted that those requests (referring to the messages exchanged between Shah Rukh Khan and Wankhede) were made by a father (Khan) whose young son (Aryan) was in his (Wankhede) custody. Wankhede is trying to show them (messages from Khan) as a "certificate of integrity", CBI advocate Patil told the court. Opposing the continuation of interim protection to Wankhede, advocate Patil said the order may come in the way of arrest or any action that the CBI may want to take, adding the order (interim protection) cannot be indefinite when the probe is underway. Patil also sought time to file the CBI's response to Wankhede's plea. Advocate Abad Ponda, appearing for Wankhede, argued the officer was investigating a "very serious case" and was trying to clean the system. Ponda was referring to the Cordelia cruise 'drug bust' case of October 2021 in which Aryan Khan was arrested. Ponda told the court then NCB Deputy Director Gyaneshwar Singh had been apprised of every step of the probe. Ponda said the "backbone" of the CBI's FIR against Wankhede "is flawed" as it didn't follow the provisions mandated by law. The case was "illegal and bad in law" and the idea was to ground an "honest officer who stood against the tall and mighty", Ponda said. The court, after hearing both sides, extended Wankhede's interim protection subject to the condition that he shall not publish any material through WhatsApp or any other mode related to the case or investigation or give press statements or tamper with evidence. The court asked Wankhede to give an undertaking to this effect. Wankhede was also directed to appear at the investigation agency as and when he is called by the concerned officer. The HC directed the CBI to file its response by June 3. The matter will be next heard on June 8. The CBI recently filed an FIR against Wankhede for allegedly seeking Rs 25 crore bribe for not framing the Bollywood star's son Aryan Khan in the drugs-on-cruise case. On a complaint by the NCB, the CBI booked Wankhede and four others for alleged criminal conspiracy and extortion threat as well as under the Prevention of Corruption Act for alleged bribery. As per the CBI, the NCB's Mumbai Zone received information in October 2021 related to the consumption and possession of narcotics substances by various individuals on the private cruise ship Cordelia, after which some of its (NCB) officers conspired and obtained undue advantage in the form of bribes from the alleged accused. Aryan Khan was arrested by the NCB on October 3, 2021 after a raid on the cruise ship. He was granted bail by the Bombay High Court after three weeks as the NCB failed to substantiate its charges against him. Anuraag Singh By Express News Service BHOPAL: BJP-ruled MP, became the first state in the country on Sunday, to start free pilgrimage service by air for financially weak elderlies. And seeing off the 32 elderly pilgrims, including 24 men and eight women (all from Bhopal) at the Bhopal Airport on the inaugural free pilgrimage flight destined for Prayagraj (Uttar Pradesh) was the MP chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan himself. After the pilgrimage at Prayagraj, the pilgrims will return to Bhopal by Monday evening. Emotional scenes of the elderly men and women blessing the MP CM, while chanting the religious slogan 'Har Har Gange' and many of them equating Chouhan with Shrawan Kumar (mythological character of Ramayana who carried elderly parents on pilgrimage on his shoulders) were witnessed at the airport before the regular Indigo flight took off with the pilgrims under the CM Teerth Darshan Yojana. Pilgrimage by air has been started with the aim that our elders can attain spiritual peace by going on pilgrimage in less time conveniently. At present, a member from each family can go on pilgrimage by plane under the Mukhyamantri Teerth Darshan Yojana. From the next visit, arrangements will be made for more than one member from a family to go on pilgrimage, so that elders will be able to get the virtue of pilgrimage along with their spouse, the CM said. PM Modi has said that our government has made such arrangements that even those wearing slippers will be able to travel by air. This is an attempt to make the PMs vision come true, Chouhan said. BHOPAL: BJP-ruled MP, became the first state in the country on Sunday, to start free pilgrimage service by air for financially weak elderlies. And seeing off the 32 elderly pilgrims, including 24 men and eight women (all from Bhopal) at the Bhopal Airport on the inaugural free pilgrimage flight destined for Prayagraj (Uttar Pradesh) was the MP chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan himself. After the pilgrimage at Prayagraj, the pilgrims will return to Bhopal by Monday evening. Emotional scenes of the elderly men and women blessing the MP CM, while chanting the religious slogan 'Har Har Gange' and many of them equating Chouhan with Shrawan Kumar (mythological character of Ramayana who carried elderly parents on pilgrimage on his shoulders) were witnessed at the airport before the regular Indigo flight took off with the pilgrims under the CM Teerth Darshan Yojana.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); Pilgrimage by air has been started with the aim that our elders can attain spiritual peace by going on pilgrimage in less time conveniently. At present, a member from each family can go on pilgrimage by plane under the Mukhyamantri Teerth Darshan Yojana. From the next visit, arrangements will be made for more than one member from a family to go on pilgrimage, so that elders will be able to get the virtue of pilgrimage along with their spouse, the CM said. PM Modi has said that our government has made such arrangements that even those wearing slippers will be able to travel by air. This is an attempt to make the PMs vision come true, Chouhan said. Preetha Nair By Express News Service NEW DELHI: The row over the Centres ordinance to bypass a Supreme Court order that gave the Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP government in Delhi control over bureaucrats seems headed for a political show of strength. On Sunday, JD(U) leader and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar called on the AAP leader to extend support in his fight against the Centre on the issue. How can the Centre take away the states rights, which were given by the SC? We will unite as many Opposition parties as possible and run a nationwide campaign against the ordinance, Nitish said. RJD leader and Bihar deputy CM Tejashwi Yadav was also present at the meeting, held at Kejriwals residence. The development comes a day after the big show of Opposition unity at the swearing-in ceremony of the new Congress government in Karnataka. Having secured Nitishs support, Kejriwal will now meet other Opposition leaders such as West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee on May 23, Sena leader Uddhav Thackeray on May 24 and NCP supremo Sharad Pawar on May 25. Kejriwal said the ordinance can be defeated in the Rajya Sabha if all Opposition parties vote against it. If it is defeated, it will be a semi-final of the 2024 elections. A message will be sent out to the country that BJP will not be able to return in 2024, he said. The AAP government and the Centre are locked in a fight for control of Delhis administrative services. The Centre had promulgated the ordinance on Friday to create a National Capital Civil Service Authority for the transfer and posting of bureaucrats in Delhi. While several opposition parties have termed the ordinance an attack on the federal structure of the country, Nitish, who spearheads the Opposition unity project, said he will try to unite all parties against the Centres move to curtail the power of states. When asked if the Congress will join the campaign against the ordinance, Kumar said he will speak to the grand old partys leadership on the issue. NEW DELHI: The row over the Centres ordinance to bypass a Supreme Court order that gave the Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP government in Delhi control over bureaucrats seems headed for a political show of strength. On Sunday, JD(U) leader and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar called on the AAP leader to extend support in his fight against the Centre on the issue. How can the Centre take away the states rights, which were given by the SC? We will unite as many Opposition parties as possible and run a nationwide campaign against the ordinance, Nitish said. RJD leader and Bihar deputy CM Tejashwi Yadav was also present at the meeting, held at Kejriwals residence. The development comes a day after the big show of Opposition unity at the swearing-in ceremony of the new Congress government in Karnataka.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); Having secured Nitishs support, Kejriwal will now meet other Opposition leaders such as West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee on May 23, Sena leader Uddhav Thackeray on May 24 and NCP supremo Sharad Pawar on May 25. Kejriwal said the ordinance can be defeated in the Rajya Sabha if all Opposition parties vote against it. If it is defeated, it will be a semi-final of the 2024 elections. A message will be sent out to the country that BJP will not be able to return in 2024, he said. The AAP government and the Centre are locked in a fight for control of Delhis administrative services. The Centre had promulgated the ordinance on Friday to create a National Capital Civil Service Authority for the transfer and posting of bureaucrats in Delhi. While several opposition parties have termed the ordinance an attack on the federal structure of the country, Nitish, who spearheads the Opposition unity project, said he will try to unite all parties against the Centres move to curtail the power of states. When asked if the Congress will join the campaign against the ordinance, Kumar said he will speak to the grand old partys leadership on the issue. By PTI NEW DELHI: Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Monday accused the Modi government of repeatedly disrespecting propriety by not inviting the president and former president for the inauguration of the new Parliament building. He also alleged that the Office of the President of India has been reduced to tokenism under the BJP-RSS Government. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be inaugurating the new Parliament building on May 28, after the Speaker invited him to do so. Kharge charged that the Modi Government has ensured the election of the President of India from the Dalit and tribal communities only for electoral reasons. While former president Ram Nath Kovind was not invited to the new Parliament foundation laying ceremony, President Droupadi Murmu is not being invited for the inauguration of the new Parliament building, he said. Noting that the Parliament is the supreme legislative body of the Republic of India, and the President is its highest Constitutional authority, he said she alone represents the government, opposition, and every citizen alike. "She is the First Citizen of India. Inauguration of the new Parliament building by her will symbolise the government's commitment to democratic values and Constitutional propriety," Kharge said. "The Modi Government has repeatedly disrespected propriety. The Office of the President of India is reduced to tokenism under the BJP-RSS Government," the Congress president said in a series of tweets. Several opposition leaders have said that the president should inaugurate the new Parliament House building rather than the prime minister. The President of India Smt. Droupadi Murmu is not being invited for the inauguration of the new Parliament Building. The Parliament of India is the supreme legislative body of the Republic of India, and the President of India is its highest Constitutional authority. 2/4 Mallikarjun Kharge (@kharge) May 22, 2023 The Modi Govt has repeatedly disrespected propriety. The Office of the President of India is reduced to tokenism under the BJP-RSS Government. 4/4 Mallikarjun Kharge (@kharge) May 22, 2023 NEW DELHI: Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Monday accused the Modi government of repeatedly disrespecting propriety by not inviting the president and former president for the inauguration of the new Parliament building. He also alleged that the Office of the President of India has been reduced to tokenism under the BJP-RSS Government. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be inaugurating the new Parliament building on May 28, after the Speaker invited him to do so.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); Kharge charged that the Modi Government has ensured the election of the President of India from the Dalit and tribal communities only for electoral reasons. While former president Ram Nath Kovind was not invited to the new Parliament foundation laying ceremony, President Droupadi Murmu is not being invited for the inauguration of the new Parliament building, he said. Noting that the Parliament is the supreme legislative body of the Republic of India, and the President is its highest Constitutional authority, he said she alone represents the government, opposition, and every citizen alike. "She is the First Citizen of India. Inauguration of the new Parliament building by her will symbolise the government's commitment to democratic values and Constitutional propriety," Kharge said. "The Modi Government has repeatedly disrespected propriety. The Office of the President of India is reduced to tokenism under the BJP-RSS Government," the Congress president said in a series of tweets. Several opposition leaders have said that the president should inaugurate the new Parliament House building rather than the prime minister. The President of India Smt. Droupadi Murmu is not being invited for the inauguration of the new Parliament Building. The Parliament of India is the supreme legislative body of the Republic of India, and the President of India is its highest Constitutional authority. 2/4 Mallikarjun Kharge (@kharge) May 22, 2023 The Modi Govt has repeatedly disrespected propriety. The Office of the President of India is reduced to tokenism under the BJP-RSS Government. 4/4 Mallikarjun Kharge (@kharge) May 22, 2023 Yeshi Seli By Express News Service NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday met US President Joe Biden on the sidelines of the G7 Summit in Hiroshima with a warm hug. Later, the duo met again during the Quad Leaders Summit. No bilateral meeting, however, did take place. But the PMs upcoming visit to the US in June is expected more than cover up missed opportunity for a bilateral meeting. Taking the upcoming visit of the Prime Minister forward, the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken met External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on the sidelines of the just concluded G7 Leaders Summit. I had a great discussion with Jaishankar on the sidelines of G7 in Hiroshima. We look forward to hosting Mr Modi in June. PM Modis visit will celebrate the deep partnership between the US and India, said Blinken. Jaishankar said it was good to meet Secretary Blinken and he was looking forward to meeting him again in June during the Prime Ministers visit. The PM will reach the US on June 21, which also happens to be the International Yoga day. In New York, he is likely to perform yoga along with participation from the UN and emphasise yoga as a "unifier" in the world. A day later on June 22, the Prime Minister will head to Washington DC for a state visit and attend a dinner hosted by President Biden. The PM is also expected to go to Chicago where he will meet the Indian diaspora. You have made a fundamental shift in climate issues, you have influence in Indo-Pacific, and you are making a difference, US President Biden told PM Modi on the sidelines of meetings in Hiroshima. Modi and Biden, despite having differing views on the conflict in Ukraine, have continued their association with civility. Meanwhile, trade between the two nations is a major unifier. The US has emerged as Indias biggest trading partner in 2022-23 on account of increasing economic ties between the two countries. According to the provisional data of the Commerce Ministry, the bilateral trade between India and the US has increased by 7.65 per cent. NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday met US President Joe Biden on the sidelines of the G7 Summit in Hiroshima with a warm hug. Later, the duo met again during the Quad Leaders Summit. No bilateral meeting, however, did take place. But the PMs upcoming visit to the US in June is expected more than cover up missed opportunity for a bilateral meeting. Taking the upcoming visit of the Prime Minister forward, the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken met External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on the sidelines of the just concluded G7 Leaders Summit. I had a great discussion with Jaishankar on the sidelines of G7 in Hiroshima. We look forward to hosting Mr Modi in June. PM Modis visit will celebrate the deep partnership between the US and India, said Blinken. Jaishankar said it was good to meet Secretary Blinken and he was looking forward to meeting him again in June during the Prime Ministers visit. The PM will reach the US on June 21, which also happens to be the International Yoga day.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); In New York, he is likely to perform yoga along with participation from the UN and emphasise yoga as a "unifier" in the world. A day later on June 22, the Prime Minister will head to Washington DC for a state visit and attend a dinner hosted by President Biden. The PM is also expected to go to Chicago where he will meet the Indian diaspora. You have made a fundamental shift in climate issues, you have influence in Indo-Pacific, and you are making a difference, US President Biden told PM Modi on the sidelines of meetings in Hiroshima. Modi and Biden, despite having differing views on the conflict in Ukraine, have continued their association with civility. Meanwhile, trade between the two nations is a major unifier. The US has emerged as Indias biggest trading partner in 2022-23 on account of increasing economic ties between the two countries. According to the provisional data of the Commerce Ministry, the bilateral trade between India and the US has increased by 7.65 per cent. Yeshi Seli By Express News Service SRINAGAR: A hartal call would be made from Islamabad calling for shops to be shut down in Kashmir every time a major event was scheduled in Srinagar, not very long ago. Fortunately, that has become history, said Union Minister of Science and Technology, Dr Jitendra Singh. "The youth in Kashmir has moved on from the days when life used to come to a standstill and they no longer want to be identified with the past when Islamabad used to sabotage any important events by making a hartal call which would lead to shops in Lal Chowk downing their shutters, Dr Singh said. He added that 61 delegates from 29 countries are presently in Kashmir experiencing the culture and environment. Nearly three decades have been lost to insurgency so the youth of India (50 per cent of the population is under 30) hasnt seen Kashmir in films. With the resurgence of filmmakers returning to the valley there is bound to be more and more interest in bringing Kashmir back on 72 mm screens, said Information and Broadcasting Secretary, Apurva Chandra. The ongoing G20 Tourism Working group meeting has the objective of bringing the shooting of films in the Valley back on the manifold. Interestingly 370 films have sought permission to shoot in Kashmir from across the country and the OTT platform is going to add to those numbers. Shahrukh Khan, Raj Kumar Hirani, and Karan Johar have been in Srinagar for shooting their films and the G20 meeting was attended by Ram Charan whose song 'Nathu Nathu won an Oscar. "Kashmir is a place I have loved and cherished as I used to accompany my father (actor Chiranjeevi) for film shoots here and I would love to go back to shooting for films here. It is serene and beautiful, said Ram Charan who besides being an actor is also a producer. He said in 2016 he shot for a film in SKICC (the venue of the ongoing G20 meet). Ram Charan enthralled the audience at the G20 meet when he and South Korean Ambassador to India Chang Jae-bok shook a leg together on stage on 'Naatu Naatu'. SRINAGAR: A hartal call would be made from Islamabad calling for shops to be shut down in Kashmir every time a major event was scheduled in Srinagar, not very long ago. Fortunately, that has become history, said Union Minister of Science and Technology, Dr Jitendra Singh. "The youth in Kashmir has moved on from the days when life used to come to a standstill and they no longer want to be identified with the past when Islamabad used to sabotage any important events by making a hartal call which would lead to shops in Lal Chowk downing their shutters, Dr Singh said. googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); He added that 61 delegates from 29 countries are presently in Kashmir experiencing the culture and environment. Nearly three decades have been lost to insurgency so the youth of India (50 per cent of the population is under 30) hasnt seen Kashmir in films. With the resurgence of filmmakers returning to the valley there is bound to be more and more interest in bringing Kashmir back on 72 mm screens, said Information and Broadcasting Secretary, Apurva Chandra. The ongoing G20 Tourism Working group meeting has the objective of bringing the shooting of films in the Valley back on the manifold. Interestingly 370 films have sought permission to shoot in Kashmir from across the country and the OTT platform is going to add to those numbers. Shahrukh Khan, Raj Kumar Hirani, and Karan Johar have been in Srinagar for shooting their films and the G20 meeting was attended by Ram Charan whose song 'Nathu Nathu won an Oscar. "Kashmir is a place I have loved and cherished as I used to accompany my father (actor Chiranjeevi) for film shoots here and I would love to go back to shooting for films here. It is serene and beautiful, said Ram Charan who besides being an actor is also a producer. He said in 2016 he shot for a film in SKICC (the venue of the ongoing G20 meet). Ram Charan enthralled the audience at the G20 meet when he and South Korean Ambassador to India Chang Jae-bok shook a leg together on stage on 'Naatu Naatu'. Yeshi Seli By Express News Service NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his address in a session on the sidelines of the G7 Summit in Hiroshima raised the question of why the United Nations (UN) has not been able to establish peace. Pitching for a reform of the global body, the Indian leader said that the United Nations and the Security Council will remain just a "talk shop" if they do not reflect the realities of the present world. "The United Nations was established with the very purpose of establishing peace. Why does it often fail to prevent conflicts today? Why, even the definition of terrorism has not been accepted in the UN yet?" he asked. "If introspection is done, then one thing is clear. The institutions created in the last century are not in line with the system of the twenty-first century. They do not reflect the realities of the present. That is why it is necessary that reforms should be given concrete shape in big institutions like the UN. It will also have to become the voice of the Global South. Otherwise, we will just keep talking about ending conflicts. UN and Security Council will become just a talk shop," the Indian Prime Minister added. He also spoke about his interaction with Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelenskyy. "I do not consider the current situation as an issue of politics or economy. I believe that this is a matter of humanity, a matter of human values. From the very beginning, we have maintained that dialogue and diplomacy is the only way. And we will make every possible effort to contribute, in whatever way India can, for resolving this situation," he said. Global peace, stability and prosperity are the worlds common objectives, he noted. New Delhi has been strongly pressing for reform of the UN and has been eyeing a permanent seat at the UN Security Council (UNSC). At present, the UNSC comprises five permanent members and 10 non-permanent member countries which are elected for a two-year term by the General Assembly of the UN. The five permanent members are Russia, the UK, China, France and the United States and these countries can veto any substantive resolution. There has been growing demand to increase the number of permanent members to reflect the contemporary global reality. India, Brazil, South Africa, Germany and Japan are strong contenders for permanent membership of the UNSC which has primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security. (With inputs from PTI) NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his address in a session on the sidelines of the G7 Summit in Hiroshima raised the question of why the United Nations (UN) has not been able to establish peace. Pitching for a reform of the global body, the Indian leader said that the United Nations and the Security Council will remain just a "talk shop" if they do not reflect the realities of the present world. "The United Nations was established with the very purpose of establishing peace. Why does it often fail to prevent conflicts today? Why, even the definition of terrorism has not been accepted in the UN yet?" he asked.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); "If introspection is done, then one thing is clear. The institutions created in the last century are not in line with the system of the twenty-first century. They do not reflect the realities of the present. That is why it is necessary that reforms should be given concrete shape in big institutions like the UN. It will also have to become the voice of the Global South. Otherwise, we will just keep talking about ending conflicts. UN and Security Council will become just a talk shop," the Indian Prime Minister added. He also spoke about his interaction with Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelenskyy. "I do not consider the current situation as an issue of politics or economy. I believe that this is a matter of humanity, a matter of human values. From the very beginning, we have maintained that dialogue and diplomacy is the only way. And we will make every possible effort to contribute, in whatever way India can, for resolving this situation," he said. Global peace, stability and prosperity are the worlds common objectives, he noted. New Delhi has been strongly pressing for reform of the UN and has been eyeing a permanent seat at the UN Security Council (UNSC). At present, the UNSC comprises five permanent members and 10 non-permanent member countries which are elected for a two-year term by the General Assembly of the UN. The five permanent members are Russia, the UK, China, France and the United States and these countries can veto any substantive resolution. There has been growing demand to increase the number of permanent members to reflect the contemporary global reality. India, Brazil, South Africa, Germany and Japan are strong contenders for permanent membership of the UNSC which has primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security. (With inputs from PTI) Sudhir Suryawanshi By Express News Service MUMBAI: The tug of war over seat sharing for Lok Sabha 2024 and Maharashtra Assembly elections has begun among the Maha Vikas Aghadi alliance partners. The three major constituents of the MVA alliance are fighting over the 'big brother' status. Senior NCP leader and leader of Opposition Ajit Pawar said that earlier Congress was the 'big brother' in their alliance, but now the NCP has acquired the status as they have higher MLA count in the Maharashtra Assembly. The NCP has 54 MLAs and four Lok Sabha members from Maharashtra while Congress has 44 MLAs and only one Lok Sabha member from the state Pawar said that Congress used to get more seats than the NCP but now NCP will demand more seats on the basis of its current MLA strength in the state. However, former Maharashtra chief minister and senior Congress leader Prithviraj Chavan said that there is no point giving importance to Ajit Pawar's statement. He said that in alliance, the leaders have to make such a statement to motivate their cadre ahead of the elections. Maharashtra Congress president Nana Patole said there is no such thing as big brother and younger brother. Congress is a national party and has always won the highest numbers of seats in India and in Maharashtra, but never treated its alliance partners with a big brother attitude. We never did injustice to alliance partners. Maha Vikas Aghadi has to work together to defeat the BJP, Patole said. On the other hand, Shiv Sena (UBT) Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut said that if the alliance partners of MVA want to defeat the BJP, then they all should be ready for compromise and sacrifice. He said Uddhav Thackeray rallies are pulling a huge crowd plus there is a sympathy wave for Uddhav Thackeray after BJP snatched the party, and its symbol after toppling the MVA government. In the MVA meeting at NCP chief Sharad Pawars residence at Silver Oak, no seat distribution formula was discussed and finalized. We are all ready to defeat the BJP in Lok Sabha and state assembly elections. Karnataka has shown the way. Prithviraj Chavan said that there is a wave of change in India. People want change and there is a huge current against the present BJP regime in India. BJP got decimated in Karnataka so things are very much clear that people are against the BJP and its anti-farmers and common man policies, Chavan added. MUMBAI: The tug of war over seat sharing for Lok Sabha 2024 and Maharashtra Assembly elections has begun among the Maha Vikas Aghadi alliance partners. The three major constituents of the MVA alliance are fighting over the 'big brother' status. Senior NCP leader and leader of Opposition Ajit Pawar said that earlier Congress was the 'big brother' in their alliance, but now the NCP has acquired the status as they have higher MLA count in the Maharashtra Assembly. googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); The NCP has 54 MLAs and four Lok Sabha members from Maharashtra while Congress has 44 MLAs and only one Lok Sabha member from the state Pawar said that Congress used to get more seats than the NCP but now NCP will demand more seats on the basis of its current MLA strength in the state. However, former Maharashtra chief minister and senior Congress leader Prithviraj Chavan said that there is no point giving importance to Ajit Pawar's statement. He said that in alliance, the leaders have to make such a statement to motivate their cadre ahead of the elections. Maharashtra Congress president Nana Patole said there is no such thing as big brother and younger brother. Congress is a national party and has always won the highest numbers of seats in India and in Maharashtra, but never treated its alliance partners with a big brother attitude. We never did injustice to alliance partners. Maha Vikas Aghadi has to work together to defeat the BJP, Patole said. On the other hand, Shiv Sena (UBT) Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut said that if the alliance partners of MVA want to defeat the BJP, then they all should be ready for compromise and sacrifice. He said Uddhav Thackeray rallies are pulling a huge crowd plus there is a sympathy wave for Uddhav Thackeray after BJP snatched the party, and its symbol after toppling the MVA government. In the MVA meeting at NCP chief Sharad Pawars residence at Silver Oak, no seat distribution formula was discussed and finalized. We are all ready to defeat the BJP in Lok Sabha and state assembly elections. Karnataka has shown the way. Prithviraj Chavan said that there is a wave of change in India. People want change and there is a huge current against the present BJP regime in India. BJP got decimated in Karnataka so things are very much clear that people are against the BJP and its anti-farmers and common man policies, Chavan added. By Express News Service GUWAHATI: Indian Youth Congress president Srinivas BV appeared before the police in Guwahati on Monday for questioning after an FIR was lodged against him by now-expelled Assam Youth Congress leader Angkita Dutta alleging he had mentally harassed and humiliated her for six months. Accompanied by his lawyer and Assam Congress leaders, including MLAs Rakibul Hussain and Rekibuddin Ahmed, Srinivas reached the Panbazar Women Police Station at 11 am where his statement was recorded. Later, he appeared before the officials of Criminal Investigation Department. While coming out of the Panbazar Women Police Station, Srinivas told journalists that the matter was in court and he has full faith in the judiciary. ALSO READ | Congress leader Angkita Dutta who accused IYC chief of harassment expelled for 6 years Assam Congress leader Debabrata Saikia told The New Indian Express that the Youth Congress chief cooperated with the police at both places. Whatever they asked, he helped them with his replies, Saikia said. He added that Srinivas also visited the Kamakhya temple and offered his prayers. Last Wednesday, the Supreme Court had granted interim anticipatory bail to the Indian Youth Congress president in connection with the FIR lodged with the police in Guwahati. Earlier, the Congress had expelled the complainant, Dutta, for six years as it was not satisfied with her reply to a show cause notice. GUWAHATI: Indian Youth Congress president Srinivas BV appeared before the police in Guwahati on Monday for questioning after an FIR was lodged against him by now-expelled Assam Youth Congress leader Angkita Dutta alleging he had mentally harassed and humiliated her for six months. Accompanied by his lawyer and Assam Congress leaders, including MLAs Rakibul Hussain and Rekibuddin Ahmed, Srinivas reached the Panbazar Women Police Station at 11 am where his statement was recorded. Later, he appeared before the officials of Criminal Investigation Department. While coming out of the Panbazar Women Police Station, Srinivas told journalists that the matter was in court and he has full faith in the judiciary.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); ALSO READ | Congress leader Angkita Dutta who accused IYC chief of harassment expelled for 6 years Assam Congress leader Debabrata Saikia told The New Indian Express that the Youth Congress chief cooperated with the police at both places. Whatever they asked, he helped them with his replies, Saikia said. He added that Srinivas also visited the Kamakhya temple and offered his prayers. Last Wednesday, the Supreme Court had granted interim anticipatory bail to the Indian Youth Congress president in connection with the FIR lodged with the police in Guwahati. Earlier, the Congress had expelled the complainant, Dutta, for six years as it was not satisfied with her reply to a show cause notice. Success of businesses is connected to circumstances surrounding their inception: Study Washington, May 20: In accordance with data from the U.S. Bureau of Labour and Statistics, just 25 per cent of new enterprises survive for 15 years or more. That statistic hasn't changed in 30 years, despite shifting economic situations within and between markets. An elegant explanation is offered by a recent study published in the Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal: a company's long-term success is greatly influenced by the circumstances surrounding its inception, rather than just changes in its markets. Success of businesses is connected to circumstances surrounding their inception: Study "A venture's performance following environmental change depends on its internal processes," says D. Carrington Motley, an entrepreneurship lecturer at Carnegie Mellon University and a co-author of the study. "A business's founding environment shapes those processes, which quickly solidify and become ingrained in beliefs about how to operate."Motley and his co-authors, Charles E. Eesley of Stanford and Wesley Koo of INSEAD Asia, examined performance for more than 1,000 ventures founded from 1960 to 2011. The businesses operated in 19 industries ranging from agriculture to energy and utilities. The authors used data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis to quantify dynamism within each industry over time and within each venture's founding year. They used alumni survey data to establish the composition of each business's founding team as well as its longevity and ultimate outcome."Businesses founded in dynamic environments by a functionally diverse team show meaningfully more ability to survive during market change," Eesley said. "However, they don't necessarily have an increased likelihood of a positive exit."Businesses founded in dynamic environments typically favor slower, decentralized decision-making and increased creativity and flexibility. A founding team with many distinct functional roles compounds these behaviors -- they have broader strategic focus and seek large amounts of information. These risk-averse structures and strategies help businesses persevere during environmental change, but the study also found that these businesses where less likely to gain IPOs or acquisitions if their market stabilized."In stable, more predictable environments, being more aggressive can produce better outcomes," Woo said. "The risk of untested assumptions is less, so continued use of risk-averse processes produces fewer benefits and may detract from a venture's ability to respond to opportunities."The authors argue that the key differentiator for businesses founded in dynamic environments by functionally diverse teams was slower decision-making. They tested the theory by first examining their performance in industries where fast product development was critical to competitive advantage and second by determining how quickly they took to receive angel or venture capital funding. Businesses founded in dynamic environments by functionally diverse teams fared worse in both instances.Whether an industry is in flux or stabilizing, the study indicates that typically businesses benefit from market change only if that change better aligns with their founding environment. Despite its premise that founding processes become entrenched, it offers an insight to entrepreneurs hoping to both survive chaos and thrive in calm. Businesses need to examine their founding structure and internal processes and consistently re-evaluate whether they are best suited to their market environment.ANI21 May 2023 Shared Recently! 3rd G20 ECSWG meet commences with beach clean up drive at Mumbais Juhu Mumbai, May 21: The 3rd meeting of the Environment and Climate Sustainability Working Group (ECSWG) under the India G20 Presidency commenced on Sunday with a beach clean-up drive at Juhu beach in Maharashtra's Mumbai. 3rd G20 ECSWG meet commences with beach clean up drive at Mumbai's Juhu Maharashtra Governor Ramesh Bais, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, and Union Minister Ashwini Choubey along with G20 delegates took part in a beach cleanup campaign organized with an aim to promote a sustainable and climate-resilient blue economy.G20 delegates from different countries are attending the 3rd ECSWG meeting starting in Mumbai on Sunday."Representatives from 20 countries participated in the beach cleanup at Juhu today. This is important for the environment as we face challenges of climate change and global warming," Chief Minister Eknath Shinde said after participating in the beach clean-up.The ECSWG meeting will continue till May 23. The main focus of this meeting will be on steering the discussions around Communique with a more outcome-driven approach.The Beach Clean Up would be followed by another side event, the Ocean 20 Dialogue, said the official statement.The beach clean-up is an initiative aimed at enhancing awareness and sensitizing citizens on the role of community participation in safeguarding our coasts and oceans.The Ocean 20 platform, launched during the Indonesia Presidency Dialogue, was aimed to advance ideation and action for ocean solutions.To ensure continuity and build on the initiative, the Indian Presidency is demonstrating active leadership by anchoring the Ocean 20 Dialogue in the 3rd ECSWG which will focus on three significant pillars of the Blue Economy. Both the side events are aimed at promoting a sustainable and climate-resilient Blue Economy, said the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.The sessions on the first day of the meeting will cover various aspects of the Blue Economy. The first session of the day will be on science, technology, and innovation for a Blue Economy. The subsequent session will be on policy, governance, and participation, with the concluding session on establishing blue finance mechanisms for Blue Economy.The sessions have been designed to have a panel discussion followed by engaging discussions with the audience. The deliberations will be aimed at working towards the well-being of the oceans and the need to make conscious efforts towards reversing damage to them and protecting our marine resources.The next two days of the 3rd ECSWG will involve discussions on the draft Ministerial Communique with deliberations tuned towards achieving a consensus amongst the G20 countries. The closed-door sessions will conclude on a way-forward note for the fourth ECSWG.The Environment and Climate Sustainability Group (ECSWG) under India's G20 Presidency aims to enhance cooperation among the G20 nations to develop state-of-the-art solutions for the sustainable management of oceans and marine biodiversity conservation. The need for concerted global efforts and immediate action to address the current scenario has been consistently underscored in the meetings.The third ECSWG meeting is a critical step in fostering the efforts of the G20 countries, invitee countries, and international organizations toward a sustainable and resilient future. The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change is committed to working with all stakeholders to drive outcomes under each of the priority areas, and to achieve a sustainable and resilient future for all, said the statement issued by the Ministry.ANI21 May 2023 Shared Recently! Biden invites Japan, South Korea PMs for trilateral meeting in US Hiroshima, May 21: United States President Joe Biden on Sunday invited Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol to hold a formal trilateral meeting, Kyodo News Agency reported. Biden invites Japan, South Korea PMs for trilateral meeting in US The invitation comes amid Chinese assertiveness in the Indo-Pacific region. Moreover, the G7 leaders during the Summit in Hiroshima agreed on the importance of the G7 having a unified approach on China, recognising the systemic challenge China poses to our collective economic security and regional stability.Biden commended Kishida and Yoon on their courageous work to improve their bilateral ties when he met with them together in Hiroshima on the sidelines of the Group of Seven summits, according to the statement released by the White House.The leaders discussed how to take their trilateral cooperation to new heights, including new coordination in the face of North Korea's illicit nuclear and missile threats, on economic security, and on their respective Indo-Pacific Strategies.The leaders last held a three-way meeting in Cambodia in November and agreed to share missile warning data in real-time to cope with the growing threat of North Korea's nuclear and missile program.In the previous year's meeting, all three leaders reaffirmed the trilateral partnership guided by shared values, driven by innovation, and committed to shared prosperity and security. The Leaders commended the unprecedented level of trilateral coordination. Together, in their second trilateral meeting this year, the Leaders resolved to forge still closer trilateral links, in the security realm and beyond."They recognize that the Indo-Pacific cannot be stable and secure while aggression rages anywhere; threats to territorial integrity and sovereignty undermine the fabric of the entire international order. They share condemnation in the strongest possible terms of Russia's indiscriminate attacks against civilians and civilian infrastructure and call for the immediate restoration of Ukraine's territorial integrity and sovereignty," the statement read."They condemn Russia's nuclear threats to coerce and intimidate and state unequivocally that any use of a nuclear weapon by Russia would be an act of hostility against humanity and Russia shall never use it under any circumstances," it added.The leaders strongly opposed any unilateral attempts to change the status quo in the waters of the Indo-Pacific, including through unlawful maritime claims, militarization of reclaimed features, and coercive activities.The leaders reiterated their firm commitment to the rule of law, including the freedom of navigation and overflight, consistent with the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).ANI21 May 2023 Shared Recently! Zelenskyys presence at G7 a way to build peace, says Macron Hiroshima, May 21: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's visit during the G7 Summit for talks with allies and major developing nations is a way to build peace, French President Emmanuel Macron said Sunday. Zelenskyy's presence at G7 a way to build peace, says Macron Taking to Twitter, Macron said, "Allowing President Zelenskyy to go and plead and obtain very clear international support in Jeddah at the Arab League Summit, then in Hiroshima at the G7, is a way of building peace, of avoiding a partition of the world. This is the meaning of our diplomacy."Earlier, the Ukrainian President and France's leader met with each other on May 14, 2023, in Paris.A statement, released by the French government, read, "The Presidents of Ukraine and France reiterated their unequivocal condemnation of Russia's ongoing war of aggression against Ukraine. Ukraine has shown remarkable determination in exercising its inherent right to self-defence against this unprovoked and unjustified attack. Russia must immediately, completely and unconditionally withdraw all its military forces from the territory of Ukraine within its internationally recognized borders.""France and Ukraine call specifically on Russia to withdraw from the Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP), of which the irresponsible seizure and militarization by Russian armed forces is causing a grave threat," the statement added.According to the statement, France remains unwavering in its commitment to Ukraine's independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity within its internationally recognized borders. France commends the determination and courage of the Ukrainian people and armed forces and acknowledges their significant contribution to the security of the European continent and beyond.Meanwhile, at the G7 Summit, he also held a meeting with the Ukrainian President. French President Emmanuel Macron described Zelenskyy's visit to Japan for the G7 summit as a "game changer." Macron also stressed France will be with Ukraine "to the very end".ANI21 May 2023 Shared Recently! G20 meet: Tamil Nadu govt conducts beach clean up drive in Chennai Chennai, May 21: The Tamil Nadu government organised a massive beach cleaning drive on Sunday in connection with the G20 summit, said officials. G20 meet: Tamil Nadu govt conducts beach clean up drive in Chennai The event has been organised at Besant Nagar Beach in Chennai to remove the accumulating garbage.According to officials, in connection with the G20 conference, 20 countries in the world are working to remove the garbage that is accumulating on the sea surfaces on Sunday.Tamil Nadu Health and Family Welfare Minister M. Subramanian and Environment and Climate Change Minister Meiyyanathan inaugurated the drive by waving a flag.They also created awareness about clean beaches and beach safety.School students and volunteers also participated and collected the garbage from the beaches.Earlier in the day, the third meeting of the Environment and Climate Sustainability Working Group (ECSWG) under the India G20 Presidency commenced with a beach clean-up drive at Mumbai's Juhu.Maharashtra Governor Ramesh Bais, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, and Union Minister Ashwini Choubey along with G20 delegates took part in a beach cleanup campaign to promote a sustainable and climate-resilient blue economy.G20 delegates from different countries attended the 3rd ECSWG meeting starting in Mumbai on Sunday."Representatives from 20 countries participated in the beach cleanup at Juhu today. This is important for the environment as we face challenges of climate change and global warming," Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde said after participating in the beach clean-up.ANI21 May 2023 Shared Recently! Climate change driving threat of fungal infections in humans: Report New Delhi, May 20: Global rise in temperatures is increasing the threat of fungal infections, which can be fatal to human lives, according to US health officials. Climate change driving threat of fungal infections in humans: Report Climate predictions show that temperatures will likely rise by more than 1.5 celsius above the UN mandated pre-industrial levels at some point before 2027.The health officials state that climate change is "pushing the organisms to adapt to better infect and invade people", the Telegraph reported."Since many of these fungal pathogens typically exist in nature, they're not as well adapted to human or mammalian body temperatures at 37 degrees centigrade," Dr Michael Kurilla, a director of the US National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, a department within the National Institutes of Health was quoted as saying."But with global warming, they are actually adapting... (it is) becoming much easier for fungi to colonise and infect and invade citizens, as well as other mammalian species," he added.Of particular concern is Candida auris, which has a fatality rate between 30 and 72 per cent, the report said.First identified in Japan in 2009, the pathogen is rapidly spreading around the world, with about 30 countries reporting on it. It is also difficult to detect and even harder to treat.Candida auris exploits weakened immune systems and has emerged globally as a multidrug-resistant health care-associated fungal pathogen, which has led to outbreaks in hospitals across the world.In March, the US Centre for Disease Control and Prevention in a study published in the medical journal Annals of Internal Medicine, reported that clinical cases of Candida auris increased steadily between 2019 and 2021.Experts saw an especially dramatic increase during that time period From 2019 to 2021, cases increased from 476 to 1,471."It's coming to be a perfect storm," Dr Prabhavathi Fernandes, a World Health Organization advisor was quoted as saying."You're having increasing resistance rates, increasing immunosuppressed patients worldwide, and you have this bug which is now adapting to higher temperatures."According to experts a surge in conditions including diabetes, heart disease and even long Covid will also suit the fungi, the report said.IANS21 May 2023 Shared Recently! J-Ks hopes soar as G20 event in Srinagar promises to create numerous opportunities Srinagar, May 21: All eyes are on the historic three-day G20 event set to take place in Srinagar from May 22, as the central government and the Jammu and Kashmir administration anticipate a significant boost to the UT's tourism potential. J-K's hopes soar as G20 event in Srinagar promises to create numerous opportunities With a focus on sustainable tourism, adventure tourism, film tourism, and eco-tourism, the event is expected to create numerous opportunities for the local youth and revive the economy of Jammu and Kashmir.During a pre-event press conference held at SKICC, the Chief Coordinator of the G20 event, Harsh Vardhan Shringla, highlighted the extensive preparations that have taken place in Srinagar.He emphasized the laying of fibre cables and the rapid development undertaken to ensure the success of the event.Shringla also mentioned that this is the first time G20 events are being organized across different regions of India, and extensive awareness campaigns have been conducted nationwide.He expressed confidence that the Tourism Working Group's event in Srinagar will contribute to the revival of Jammu and Kashmir's economy, emphasizing the potential for sustainable tourism, adventure tourism, film tourism, and eco-tourism in the region.Shringla further said, "The G20 event will provide immense opportunities for the people of Jammu and Kashmir, who are blessed with natural beauty."In his remarks, J and K's Chief Secretary, Arun Kumar Mehta, highlighted the increasing trend of tourism influx in the region over the past few years, with 1.88 crore tourists visiting Jammu and Kashmir in 2022.He mentioned upcoming developments such as a direct train route from Delhi to Srinagar, expected to be operational next year, and the rise in foreign tourist arrivals.Mehta emphasized the readiness of Jammu and Kashmir to welcome guests throughout the year, with 300 new tourist destinations awaiting exploration and the availability of diverse experiences in each season.As the grand event approaches, J and K's Chief Secretary warmly welcomed the foreign and domestic participants, highlighting the region's year-round attractions symbolized by the four colours white for snow, rainbow for spring, green for summers, and orange for autumn.Jammu and Kashmir is positioned as a premier tourism destination, eagerly awaiting visitors from across the globe.ANI22 May 2023 Shared Recently! Will send a strong message across world...: Kashmir Traders ahead of 3rd Tourism Working Group meet Srinagar, May 21: Ahead of the third G20 Tourism Working Group meeting here, the Kashmir Traders and Manufacturers Federation (KTMF) on Sunday said that the meet will send a strong message across the world that Kashmir is a peaceful place. Will send a strong message across world...: Kashmir Traders ahead of 3rd Tourism Working Group meet The stage is all set for the third G20 tourism working group meeting scheduled to take place in Srinagar, the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir from May 22- 24, 2023 under India's presidency and the people of the region are ecstatic.The Kashmir Valley in recent years has witnessed an unprecedented rise in tourism, thanks to the scenic beauty and the culture of the region.People hope that the meeting would bring about more employment opportunities and help the region's development.While talking to ANI, Gen Secretary, KTMF Bashir Ahmad Kongposh, said, "This is very good news that the G20 Tourism meeting is going to take place here in Srinagar. It will send a strong message across the world that Kashmir is a peaceful place. The travel advisories which many foreign countries have imposed on their citizens (Foreign Tourists) should be lifted. Tourism is the backbone of Kashmir's economy. Local tourists who visit Kashmir Valley also praise its beauty and we also hope that the G20 tourism meeting in Kashmir will boast the tourism sector of the region.""We want more and more development to take place here. This Summit should benefit all of us," he added.Meanwhile, the Chief Coordinator for India's G20 Presidency, Harsh Vardhan Shringla, on Sunday said the mega event will be an opportunity for delegates to see 'Paradise on Earth'."The 3rd meeting of the Tourism working group in Srinagar will be an opportunity for G20 delegates to see 'paradise on Earth'," Harsh Vardhan Shringla said in a tweet.Shringla shared some pictures of the city being ready for the summit, and said, "Here's how Srinagar and its people are getting ready to welcome the delegates."According to a report, there has been a resurgence of confidence among the youth that foreign tourists would soon start travelling to Kashmir in great numbers.Tourism, the backbone of Jammu and Kashmir's economy absorbs the labour force from unskilled to the unorganized sector, which gives impetus to educational unemployment.From ensuring that 120 Smart City projects are completed on time to beefing up security, the administration in Jammu and Kashmir Union Territory (UT) is working round-the-clock to ensure that the summit in Srinagar, is a huge success and promotes Kashmir as a global tourism destination.With sustainable and inclusive development initiatives taken by the Modi government, the citizens in Jammu and Kashmir believe that the event (G20 Tourism Working Group meeting) can serve as a power booster for the local economy and a progressive factor for the business community in the region to explore multidimensional growth opportunities.Stating that G-20 was purely a peoples' event, Jammu and Kashmir's Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha on April 15 said the event would provide a great opportunity to push J-K's handloom, handicraft, Pashmina, and dry fruit to international markets.Apart from the security situations, streets and flyovers have been painted in the G20 theme colours, while new walkways are being created throughout Srinagar city in preparation for the event.Delegates from different countries will envision the valley in terms of socio-economic development. The amalgamation of international organizations and Kashmir Valley is a golden opportunity for remote areas to foster limited tourism to large-scale tourism.The meeting will openly discuss the challenges coming in the way of tourism and development.ANI22 May 2023 Shared Recently! Ukraines security is our security: Rishi Sunak at G7 Hiroshima, May 21: Emphasising his country's support to war-torn Ukraine, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Sunday said that Kiev should not only win the war against Russia, but achieve lasting and just peace. Ukraine's security is our security: Rishi Sunak at G7 "We will be with Ukraine as long as it takes because their security is our security," the British Prime Minister was quoted as saying by CNN.Addressing a press conference here, Sunak welcomed the G7 delivering more support for the war-torn country.Hailing Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's presence at the summit, Prime Minister Sunak said "To see President Zelensky standing shoulder to shoulder with his G7 allies, I think, sends a message to Russia and the world that we are united behind him and his people and will continue to support him for as long as it takes."Confirming the G7's unwavering commitment to stand with Ukraine, US President Joe Biden called for a "just peace that respects Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity"."Russia started this war and could end it, today," said Biden.IANS22 May 2023 Shared Recently! Deluged with bday wishes, Jr NTR says fans my anchor, rock, pillar of support Hyderabad, May 20: Popular Tollywood actor Junior NTR, who turned 40 on Saturday, said that fans have been his anchor, rock and pillar of support. Deluged with b'day wishes, Jr NTR says fans 'my anchor, rock, pillar of support' Thanking the fans for their birthday wishes, the actor issued a statement. "Over the past few decades, there have been many highs and lows but my fans have been my anchor, rock and pillar of support. Every role I played and every story I've been a part of, has been for my fans," Jr NTR said."My heartfelt thanks to each and every fan for embracing my performances, for unwavering loyalty and for being the driving force behind my passion," he said.The actor also thanked his fans for their overwhelming response to 'Devara'.On the eve of his birthday, Junior NTR had revealed the first look-poster of his 30th film. Titled 'Devara', the Koratala Siva directorial has Janhvi Kapoor playing the female lead.Junior NTR said "I am truly grateful to you all for your overwhelming response to #Devara! Made my day!"IANS22 May 2023 Shared Recently! Chintan Shivir in Kerala on making India global leader in maritime sector Munnar, May 21: The Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways (MoPSW) on Sunday embarked upon its two-day Chintan Shivir in Kerala's Munnar. Chintan Shivir in Kerala on making India global leader in maritime sector The Shivir was chaired and inaugurated by Union Minister Sarbananda Sonowal. Minister of State in MoPSW Shantanu Thakur and Shripad Naik and chairpersons of all major ports, heads of the other organizations and PSUs of the Ministry and senior officials were present at the Chintan Shivir.Speaking on the occasion, Sonowal lauded the efforts of the Ministry MoPSW and each of the organizations in positioning India as a global leader in the maritime sector.Recognizing the significance of enhancing connectivity and fostering new business opportunities, he emphasized the Ministry's goal to educate and create awareness among the common people too by highlighting the impact of the Maritime sector in simple language and how it impacts the lives of the common people.MoS Shripad Naik said the Maritime India Vision 2030 has led the blueprint of the actions that would lead towards making the country one of the leading blue economies of the world and the Ministry should try to achieve the determined targets.Shantanu Thakur, MoS, MoPSW said, "India is one of the leading economies of the world and the considerable amount of work has been done towards infrastructure documentation in the Ports enhancing ease of doing business, increasing the share of renewable energy in the sectors and promoting shipbuilding and ship repair".He also added that now the Ministry should focus on making India a hub for maritime training and strengthening maritime institutions.During the first day of the Chintan Shivir, the achievements and targets set during the previous Chintan Shivir were discussed.An exclusive session with the HoDs of the major ports, chaired by Sarbananda Sonowal, focused on the innovative ideas of the ports. The other session focused on lighthouse tourism and how to become a global player in shipbuilding and enhance India's tonnage. Apart from this, the participants from various organisations shared valuable insights, paving the way for informed decision-making and effective implementation strategies, said the Ministry statement.On Day 2, the Chintan Shivir will focus on cargo handling by Major Ports, improving and optimizing port call procedures, digitalization and standardization, Inland waterways and coastal shipping enhancing cargo and good governance.ANI22 May 2023 Shared Recently! Natalie Portman says women at Cannes are expected to behave differently than men Los Angeles, May 21: A scandalous age-gap relationship plays out at the centre of 'May December' which debuted recently at the Cannes Film Festival. Natalie Portman says women at Cannes are expected to behave differently than men In the starry romantic drama directed by Todd Haynes, Julianne Moore plays the 'December' to Charles Melton's much-younger 'May', whose character was just 13 when the two fell in love, reports 'Variety'.It's a complicated dynamic, Moore admitted, because of the time in their lives when they first met."An age gap is one thing, but a relationship between an adult and a child is a different thing entirely," Moore said at Sunday's press conference for 'May December' which was embraced in the Grand Palais the day prior with an enthusiastic six-minute standing ovation."When is age inappropriate? It's when people are in different places developmentally, when someone is not an adult. This is why we have boundaries around that," she said, quoted by 'Variety'. "The reason why this movie feels so dangerous watching it is because people don't know where anyone's boundaries are. It feels scary."In 'May December', Natalie Portman plays an actress who travels to Maine to study the life of Moore's character, whom she's set to play in a film.As per 'Variety', Moore and Melton portray as a married couple whose 20-year age gap inspired a national tabloid scandal. As they plan to send their twin girls off to college, the family dynamic begins to buckle as Portman delves into their past.Given America's obsession with scandal, Portman says there was no shortage of material to mine for inspiration."We had all the inspirational tabloid materials that existed. There was a book with a crazy title, like "Punished for Love," or something like that," she recalled. "We had those resources at our fingertips, which was helpful at getting background."Portman describes the film as a study of "the different roles we play in different environments." She observes that discrepancy is particularly on display at the Cannes Film Festival, where women are mandated to wear heels on the red carpet."Even here, the different ways we, as women, are expected to behave at this festival even compared to men... how we're supposed to look, how we're supposed to carry ourselves," she said. "The expectations are different for you all the time. It affects how you behave, whether you are buying into or rejecting it. You're defined by the social structures upon you".IANS22 May 2023 Shared Recently! Kerala forest minister joins issue with Bishops council over wild gaur attacks Thiruvananthapuram, May 21: Forest Minister A.K. Saseendran slammed the Kerala Catholic Bishops' Council (KCBC) for its stand on the killing of farmers by wild gaurs,. Kerala forest minister joins issue with Bishops' council over wild gaur attacks The minister while speaking to media persons at Kozhikode said there were attempts on the part of some organisations to fan the flames of anger against the government.He said the statement of the Bishop's council that farmers should be protected from attack of wild animals just like the state government was protecting wild animals, was a bit provocative. He said the Bishop's body was trying to bargain with the dead.Saseendran also said that the Bishop's body was aggressive and the government has to make efforts to pacify the agitating protesters. He also said that the KCBC should avoid provocative statements that are against its rich heritage.Responding to the minister, the KCBC deputy secretary general and spokesperson, Father Jacob G. Palakkyapilly told media persons that the people have the right to live peacefully and added that expressing people's concern should not be considered as provocation.He also said that a person, who was reading a newspaper in his verandah, was killed by a wild gaur and added that the people of the state can share the concern only with the government.The people of Erumeli are mounting their protests after two elderly persons, Chackochan (70) and Thomas (71) were killed in the gaur attacks. The people are angry at the statement of the forest department that it would tranquilize the gaur and relocate it to deep forests while the people wanted the animal to be shot dead. The Kottayam district collector, Girija had promised the public that the wild gaur would be shot dead.The protest of the local people has turned into a mass protest with several organisations lending their support to it.IANS22 May 2023 Shared Recently! PM Modi arrives in Papua New Guinea, PM Marape touches his feet New Delhi, May 21: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday arrived in Papua New Guinea and received a warm welcome by his counterpart James Marape, who touched his feet. PM Modi arrives in Papua New Guinea, PM Marape touches his feet The Prime Minister arrived Papua New Guinea on his second leg of three-nation tour after attending G7 Summit in Japan's Hiroshima.After his arrival he received a warm welcome by the Prime MinisterAIn a tweet, Modi said, "Reached Papua New Guinea. I am thankful to PM James Marape for coming to the airport and welcoming me. This is a very special gesture which I will always remember. I look forward to boosting India's ties with this great nation during my visit."Even the BJP shared the video of PM Marape touching Modi's feet, saying "As a mark of respect, the PM of Papua New Guinea touches the feet of PM Modi."PM Modi's visit to Papua New Guinea is the first-ever tour by any Indian Prime Minister to the Pacific island country.Upon his arrival in Port Moresby, PM Modi was accorded welcome in an exceptional gesture.The Prime Minister was also welcomed by the Indian community.In a tweet, Modi said, "The Indian community in Papua New Guinea came in large numbers and showed remarkable affection. Thankful to them for the memorable welcome."After his visit to Papua New Guinea, PM Modi will travel to Sydney at the invitation of his Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese.IANS22 May 2023 Shared Recently! Greeks living abroad vote in general elections Athens, May 21: Greeks living abroad started casting their ballots for the general elections, a day earlier than voters living in Greece. Greeks living abroad vote in general elections It is the first time ever that Greek expatriates can vote from their place of residence, based on criteria set out in a recent law.In previous elections, Greek expatriates who wanted to participate in elections had to return to Greece to vote, Xinhua news agency reported.A total of 22,816 expatriates registered to vote in places where they are living, according to the Interior Ministry on Saturday. They can vote at 99 polling centres located in 35 countries, as a minimum of 50 registered in an area was required to set up a polling station.Most have registered in the UK, Germany, the US, Belgium and Cyprus, according to the Ministry.Their ballots will be sent back in sealed bags by planes and the votes will be sorted when the polls close in Greek territory, Greek national news agency AMNA reported.A total of 9.8 million Greeks are eligible to elect the 300 members of parliament.All recent opinion polls indicate that the ruling conservative New Democracy (ND) party leads, with the Leftists following second and the Socialists third.According to political analysts, due to the way the Greek electoral system works, it will be difficult for any single political party to secure a clear parliamentary majority in the first round.If a second election round is required, it will take place at the beginning of July at the latest, the government has said. The second round would be held under new electoral rules, which provide for extra seats for the winning party.IANS22 May 2023 Shared Recently! Work tirelessly, avail opportunities: Dhankhar tells Panjab University students Chandigarh, May 20: Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar on Saturday called upon the students to work tirelessly, avail opportunities and script the blueprint for New India at 2047, when the nation celebrates the centenary of its independence. 'Work tirelessly, avail opportunities': Dhankhar tells Panjab University students Encouraging students to make opportunities out of challenges, he suggested that "nothing is more dangerous than to have a brilliant idea parked in your mind. Act on the ideas by unleashing your talent and exploiting your potential".The Vice-President was the chief guest at the 70th Annual Convocation of Panjab University, Chandigarh.During the ceremony, the Vice-President, who is also the Chancellor of Panjab University, conferred the Honoris Causa (Doctor of Literature) on noted educator and philanthropist, Dr Sudha N. Murty and Honoris Causa (Doctor of Laws) on the former Chief Justice of India and Member of Parliament (Rajya Sabha), Ranjan Gogoi.Addressing the gathering, the Vice-President reminded the students about their "responsibility to contribute to the wider good of society, and to work for the greater good of all"."Ensure and inculcate a deep sense of keeping nation always first," he said.Hailing the National Education Policy 2020 as a game changer, the Vice-President said the policy developed after consultation with all sections, is transforming education at all levels.He observed that systemic reforms and affirmative governance measures in recent years have paid rich dividends and that India, "the largest functioning democracy, is a favourite global destination of opportunity and investment and bright star in the world economic growth".Touching upon digital transformation in India, the Vice-President referred to IMF recognising India's digital development as a "world-class digital public infrastructure", serving as a model for other nations undergoing digital transformation.He also referred to direct benefit transfers through PM Kisan Samman Nidhi, MUDRA scheme, etc., as reflective of India's changing governance model which gives no scope for pilferages.In his address, the Vice-President noted the convocation was being organised under the first woman Vice-Chancellor of the Panjab University, Prof Renu Vig.He appreciated that Panjab University is home to some of the most illustrious alumni and called upon them to catalyse further growth of the university.He lauded the university for ever pursuing excellence, noting the various MoUs signed with foreign universities and its participation in international projects like the High Energy Research Programme.During his visit, the Vice-President held separate meetings with Senate Members, Syndicate Members, students' union, teachers association and the non-teachers' association of Panjab University.Banwarilal Purohit, Governor of Punjab, Bandaru Dattatreya, Governor of Haryana, Som Prakash, Union Minister of State for Commerce and Industry, Harjot Singh Bains, Minister of Education, Punjab, among other dignitaries were present at the event.IANS22 May 2023 Shared Recently! After local body polls, Yogi prepares for cabinet rejig, big changes likely Lucknow, May 21: With less than a year left for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath is planning for a cabinet reshuffle in. After local body polls, Yogi prepares for cabinet rejig, big changes likely The reshuffle will be based on the work done in their departments by the ministers in the past one year and also the performance of party candidates in the constituencies of the ministers in the recent municipal polls."Some ministers may be promoted while some senior ones may be shifted for organisational work. The party and the chief minister will decide which minister is more suited for the government or the party. The exercise will rejuvenate the party and the government and ensure that it is fighting fit for the Lok Sabha elections," said a senior party functionary.BJP sources said that by changing responsibilities of ministers and the state leaders, the party wants to keep the ministers and the organisational leaders consistently on toes. The sources said that the party and the state government have been receiving inputs about some of the ministers and organisational leaders not acting promptly in some of the districts."The party is analysing the performance of ministers and legislators in their respective constituencies in the recent municipal polls. The entire data will be shared with the chief minister and other senior leaders after which a decision will be taken regarding cabinet reshuffle," the functionary said.The Yogi Adityanath government's decision to reshuffle his cabinet marks the beginning of the much-anticipated change in the government and party structure ahead of the Lok Sabha polls.Party sources said that some high-profile ministers who had failed to perform may be shifted to organisational posts in the party and new blood will be inducted in the government.In view of his own excellent performance, the chief minister is likely to be given greater freedom in choosing which ministers are to be dropped and which one should be promoted.This, incidentally, will be the first cabinet reshuffle of the Yogi government after it returned to power in the 2022 Assembly elections.Those ministers who have failed to counter the opposition campaign against the BJP on various issues, will be on the firing line, said sources.The sources further said that the state government had been planning changes in responsibilities of the ministers after the BJP lost Khatauli Assembly seat and failed to breach the SP bastion of Mainpuri in the bypolls held last year. The BJP, at the same time, continues to consider Azamgarh and Rampur as the challenging political terrain, despite it wresting the two constituencies from the Samajwadi Party in the bye-elections.IANS22 May 2023 Shared Recently! Harrison Ford makes a classic reply to still very hot comment at Cannes Los Angeles, May 21: Hollywood star Harrison Ford proved why he is one of the most popular actors in Hollywood following his brilliant response to comments that he is still very hot at the age of 80. Harrison Ford makes a classic reply to 'still very hot' comment at Cannes The actor was clearly taken aback when a member of the media complimented his looks and physique during his latest film 'Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny', where he returns as the main character for the fifth time, reports Mirror.co.uk.The stars of the fifth installment of the movie franchise were all in attendance at the Cannes Film Festival, where Harrison was given a five-minute standing ovation following the world premiere.As per Mirror.co.uk, he also received the Palme d'Or - the highest ranked award of the ceremony - as he made a rare red carpet appearance with his wife Calista Flockhart on the French Riviera.Co-stars Mads Mikkelsen and Phoebe Waller-Bridge were sitting alongside Harrison during a press conference when the journalist fired her shot at the veteran actor.She said "Look, I still think you are very hot," before the room of the reporters and the stars themselves burst into laughter, with Harrison blinking twice as he digested the compliment. "And, we were stunned to see you take your shirt off in the second scene, I mean you have still got it. How do you keep fit? And can you ride a horse?"Harrison responded in his true comedic style "Let me tell ya, yeah I can ride a horse. If they let me! Look, I have been... erm... I've been blessed with this body," to which a chorus of laughter echoed around the room once again.Mads clearly enjoyed the comment as he banged his finger on the table while laughing, before his co-star added "Thanks for noticing."IANS22 May 2023 Shared Recently! The question of leadership in public life (Column: The Third Eye) Democracy defines a system by which most people in a country would like to be ruled by leaders elected by them on merit - this was widely regarded as the most equitable and stable form of governance. The question of leadership in public life (Column: The Third Eye) The electorate had an implicit understanding and faith that the rulers would turn out to be persons of sterling qualities who come up in public life for seeking the rare satisfaction of being able to do something for the larger public good and not for turning their empowerment into means of personal gain.The party system in a democratic order provides an instrumentality for installing the right people in positions of power, but by its very nature it becomes at best a measure of the popular base of the 'ruling party' - not a guarantor of best leadership from the point of view of the people.Periodicity of elections theoretically provides the opportunity to the people to 'throw out' the non-performing rulers, but this all happens at the cost of precious time in the life of the nation that was wasted in a strategic sense.A welcome development in the Indian context that might have gone unnoticed by many is the new found trend of people taking note not so much of the image of the party as of the merit of the leaders at its top.Clearly, the BJP as the ruling party is in the news not only because it is the largest party size-wise but mainly because it is identified with Prime Minister Narendra Modi as its supremo.In the past, parties ruled the country because they secured electoral majority but often failed to make an impression in terms of the leadership they provided.The 'package' of leadership 'traits' was often incomplete - the leader might have 'integrity' but not 'decisiveness' for instance - and this would be enough for the people to feel let down ultimately.The Modi government makes the point that somewhere it is the ruler not the organisation he represents that determines the political fortune of the party - the BJP no doubt kept up its image and symbolism to match up to the leader.In a way it is an advance of Indian democracy that people are now attaching importance to both the political content of a party and the leadership it is capable of providing to the former.The requisites of leadership needed in the area of governance are the same core competencies as are required anywhere else, but here some more demands are made on the leader commensurate with the public service dimensions of a democratic rule.The first quality - basic to successful leadership - is the exercise of political will that is needed to make the leader look 'decisive'.It is here that Prime Minister Modi has stood out - the decision to order surgical strike against Pakistan at Balakote in 2019 in reply to the terrorist attack on a convoy of CRPF at Pulwama in which 40 men were killed, was in contrast with the timid response of the then government to the unprecedented 26/11 attack.Secondly, a leader must lead and to do that has to keep the 'initiative' with him. Prime Minister Modi is totally engaged in putting out schemes for economic development and 'leading the nation' towards a vision for the future.His outreach and connectivity with the people are phenomenal and there is no dearth of his personal followers which makes him a leader of distinction - considering that classically one cannot be a leader unless one has followers.The third basic requirement of leadership is 'courage,' which is a personal acquisition for somewhere it denotes strong nerves. While 'political will' is also an expression of courage, connected with the party backing to an extent, there are moments in public life when the leader would respond more effectively if he or she has the courage of conviction, self-confidence, and an intuitive understanding of what would be for public good.These are rooted in intellectual strength. Another vital paradigm of leadership is the 'trustworthiness' of the leader in the eyes of the followers. An individual earns a reputation for reliability when he does not allow a gulf to develop between his sayings and his deeds, seems to adhere to a set of principles and fulfils the promise made to a follower.If people are convinced of a certain transparency of his doings, they would consider him trustworthy even when he might not succeed fully in these matters.Finally, a leader of our times has to measure up to the demands of the 'Age of Knowledge' - of being well informed, being attuned to knowledge-based decision-making and being fully aware of the value of time in the life of the people.The ultimate test of being well-informed, for a leader in public life, is that he should be totally aware of the situation facing the citizens across the socio-cultural spectrum.Prime Minister Modi's success as a leader is attributable substantially to his informed connectivity with the people.A leader in public life has to measure up to a few more yardsticks of success - these are essentially linked to the leader's reputation which is of prime importance. Personal integrity, interest in human concerns beyond the mere exercise of 'emotional intelligence' in dealing with individuals and a 'paternal nurtural' image in the eyes of the subjects, are the principal requirements here.Politics in the country is seen to be ridden with corruption and a leader with a clean image stands out in the public eye. This was a major factor behind the arrival of Modi on the national scene in 2014 - he had the additional advantage of being looked upon as a leader who would govern the country with a 'strong' hand.Over the years, Modi has been able to connect with people and send down the message that he is working for the common man while strengthening the sentiment of nationalism among Indians to make India one big family.He has successfully achieved the image of a national leader, who beyond holding the position of a Prime Minister, is carrying forward the process of economic growth at home on one hand and pushing ahead with building the status of India as a major power with global influence on issues of world peace and development, on the other.Today, BJP is known by its leader more than by its own party ideology and organisational strength. This has happened in this country after a long time and should be regarded as a healthy feature in a party-based democracy.The narrative of 'authoritarianism', 'illiberal' regime and lack of 'secularism' built by the opposition against the Modi government may not gather strength so long as Indian democracy sticks to the fundamental of 'one man one vote' and does not permit any denominational stamp to be put on the national government.An entirely new dimension added to leadership is related to the advent of the Information Age consequent on the success of the IT revolution in the beginning of the nineties.Today's leader has to be technology savvy in terms of grasping the value of 'digitisation', has to have an understanding of the importance of time as a 'resource' and has to establish transparent channels for the implementation of welfare measures.Prime Minister Modi has to be given credit for showing an acute awareness of these transformational developments and giving speed to all development schemes - earlier leaders followed the political culture of merely announcing the launch of schemes without showing any concern about their completion.The system of governance under Modi has broken new grounds - inter-ministerial coordination is not allowed to hold up policy formulation and the gap between policy and its execution is being consciously eliminated through a tightening of control on bureaucracy.Performance of ministers and bureaucrats is often scrutinised directly by the Prime Minister. The call of 'sabka saath sabka vikas' given by Modi as the motto of his government has built secularism into Indian democracy and acted as a counter to the 'minority politics' played by his opponents.The Prime Minister at the same time has been fierce in denouncing minority 'separatism' that was prone to being exploited by India's adversaries for damaging our internal security.Developments in recent years on India's domestic front underline the need for the parties to keep national security above politics.Finally, the classical test of a successful leader is the potential for riding a change - not merely coping up with it - that he displays in that crucial moment.In corporate and business settings, this ability comes to the fore because of the vulnerability to sudden shifts they had by the very nature of things happening in a competitive environment.However, leadership in public life is no less exposed to sudden alterations of power equation and since the stakes there were much higher, the political leader was required to show greater equanimity and initiative in trying to prevail over the challenge and maintain his or her position against all odds.It is the cumulative advantage of all the essential leadership qualities that comes to the help of a political leader in situations of uncertainty and flux. To handle a transformative change, a business leader thinks primarily of the profitability of the corporate body, but in public life the leader is guided by the principle of 'largest good of the largest number'.Preserving the personal stock is the concern of the leader in all situations, but in public life the leader's response to the 'challenge of change' has to satisfy the long-term interests of the nation and the people at large.There should be no place for lesser mortals with petty minds in the area of national governance and the public evaluation of leadership operating at that level should rest on the policy content and the pathways of implementation of crucial decisions, defined by the powers that be.In the Modi regime, the Prime Minister has led from the front - directly involving himself in all strategic moves on security and development and often laying down the policy himself with great clarity about its objectives.Modi represents the ruling party but he has put his personal stamp of leadership on the national governance that has been acknowledged by the people at home and the international community as well.The merits of a leader in public life survive the fluctuations of the political party they led and determine his or her place in history ultimately.(The writer is a former Director of the Intelligence Bureau. The views expressed are personal)IANS22 May 2023 Shared Recently! Aahana Kumra gets loses her cool after fan touched her Mumbai, May 21: Actress Aahana Kumra, who is known for films like 'Lipstick Under My Burkha', 'Inside Edge' and 'Rangbaaz', recently lost her cool at a fan breached her personal space and touched her while she was posing for the paparazzi. Aahana Kumra gets loses her cool after fan touched her A video, shared by a paparazzi account, revealed how a fan touched her around her waist at an event in Mumbai. In the video one of her fans can be seen putting his hand around her waist. The actress was taken aback. She turned towards him and told him "Don't touch me!"The video has gone viral since then with several netizens coming out in support of the actress against the fan's behaviour.Aahana's fans were also angry at the man. Most of them wrote in the comment box that the actor was right.One of them commented "She is right. Self-respect is very important." Another one wrote "This is bang on !! She is absolutely correct. Guys/fans need to understand that they can't put their unsolicited hands behind anyone's back while taking a picture. Not cool.""The second man also touched her, if a girl says no it means no !!!!!!!" another fan commented.Meanwhile, on the work front, Aahana will next be seen in Faisal Hashmi's 'Cancer' opposite Sharib Hashmi. She was last seen in 'Salaam Venky' which also stars Kajol and Vishal Jethwa.IANS22 May 2023 Shared Recently! Leo DiCaprios Killers of the Flower Moon gets 9-minute standing ovation at Cannes Los Angeles, May 21: Veteran filmmaker Martin Scorsese's 'Killers of the Flower Moon' recently premiered to the biggest standing ovation at the Cannes Film Festival so far. Leo DiCaprio's 'Killers of the Flower Moon' gets 9-minute standing ovation at Cannes The 3 hour and 26 minute drama starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Robert De Niro and Lily Gladstone - which tells the story of a dark, largely unexplored chapter of American history - is connected with theatre-goers in the French Riviera, reports Variety.Even after sitting through a movie that was longer than 'Titanic' the crowd was so enraptured that they sprang to their feet and applauded for nine minutes. Cannes clearly loves Leo and Scorsese, who returned to the festival for the first time since 1985's 'After Hours'. And that's good news for Apple Original Films, which forked over $200 million to the auteur to realise his vision, hoping he'd deliver one of his signature explorations of criminality.As per Variety, while many of Scorsese's classic movies unfold on the mean streets of New York, aKillers of the Flower Moon' is set in northeastern Oklahoma as members of the Osage Nation are murdered in a systematic fashion for sinister ends.Variety further states that Leo, De Niro and Jesse Plemons walked the red carpet alongside Scorsese before the premiere, braving the rainy and overcast weather. Cate Blanchett, who won an Oscar for playing Katharine Hepburn in The Aviator, greeted Scorsese as he took his seat to cheers.But when the movie ended, the loudest screams were directed at the discovery of the film Gladstone, who plays an Osage woman betrayed by her greedy husband for her wealth. She earned rave reviews and fought back tears as the crowd inside the Palais clapped loudly. On social media, Oscar bloggers are already tapping her performance for possible awards attention.As the applause continued after the film ended, Scorsese took the microphone to address the crowd."Thank you to the Osages," he said. "Everyone connected with the picture. My old pals Bob and Leo, and Jesse and Lily. We shot this a couple of years ago in Oklahoma. It's taken its time to come around but Apple did so great by us. There was lots of grass. I'm a New Yorker. I was very surprised. This was an amazing experience. We lived in that world."IANS22 May 2023 Shared Recently! Ricky Gervais net worth revealed as he earns over Rs 10L for one stand-up show London, May 20: English comedian Ricky Gervais earned a staggering 1.41 million pounds ($1.75 million) or over Rs 10 lakh for a single stand-up performance, making history as the world's highest-grossing single gig by a British stand-up comedian. Ricky Gervais' net worth revealed as he earns over Rs 10L for one stand-up show After taking to the stage in Los Angeles' Hollywood Bowl on May 6 as part of his Armageddon tour, the British comedian joked that he would "retire" after how much money he made at the packed-out show, reports mirror.co.uk.Needless to say, Ricky could actually retire if he wanted to, as he has seen a hugely successful career in the world of comedy, acting, writing and directing that has raked him in a whopping net worth of $160 million.Ricky's primary source of money has come from 'The Office' which he wrote, created and starred in from 2001 to 2003. The beloved series saw massive success and was adapted into the hugely popular American version starring Steve Carell and Mindy Kaling, which ran for nine series.He has also generated a massive income from roles in the shows Derek, Extras, After Life and more. He also receives royalties from the sale of merchandise related to all his film and television projects.Ricky's collective wealth has come from five multinational stand-up comedy tours, including Fame, Science and Humanity.He is currently on his Armageddon tour, which has him performing on dates across the US, UK and Europe throughout the year, and will be released as a special on the streaming service, Netflix.With him being comfortable on-stage, Ricky has hosted big-scale events such as the Golden Globe Awards five times.Ricky is also quite the writer, having penned several books, including 2004's Flanimals and its sequel More Flanimals in 2005.Meanwhile, as a keen investor in real estate, Ricky is the owner of several properties around the world in locations such as London, Los Angeles and New York. They are all worth millions.He currently lives in a sprawling 10.8 million pound north London mansion with his wife, Jane Fallon.Ricky also invested in stocks and bonds to earn passive income over the years.His million-dollar endorsement deals throughout his career have been with major companies such as Microsoft Xbox 360 Kinects, Audi and Pepsi.All of this makes Ricky one of the richest comedians in the world. He was sure to express his gratitude at his recent history-making performance at the Hollywood Bowl, which he dubbed "one of the most surreal nights of my life."He added "I can't even imagine what my mum would think about me playing the Hollywood Bowl. I hope she would be horrified by the language, tell me I looked fat, and be secretly proud."IANS22 May 2023 Shared Recently! Martin Amis, era-defining author of Money and London Fields, dies at 73 New Delhi, May 21: A day after 'The Zone of Interest', the Jonathan Glazer film based on the novel of the same by Martin Amis received a rapturous ovation at the Cannes Film Festival, the celebrated British writer passed on at the age of 73. Martin Amis, era-defining author of 'Money' and 'London Fields', dies at 73 Famous for his caricatures of what he perceived as the absurdities of "late capitalist" Western society, Martin Amis succumbed to oesophagal cancer at his Florida home, reports BBC, quoting 'The New York Times'.Coming from literary nobility -- his father was the famous novelist, Sir Kingsley 'Lucky Jim' Amis, and Elizabeth Jane Howard was his stepmother -- Amis was hailed by 'TheTimes' as one of the 50 greatest British writers since 1945 and he's best known for his novels Money (1984) and London Fields (1989), and for his memoir, 'Experience' (2000).'The Guardian' has called Amis "an influential author of era-defining novels" and noted that he was "among the celebrated group of novelists, including Salman Rushdie, Ian McEwan and Julian Barnes, whose works defined the British literary scene in the 1980s".Paying tribute to Amis, Rushdie told the 'New Yorker' "He used to say that what he wanted to do was leave behind a shelf of books -- to be able to say, 'from here to here, it's me'. His voice is silent now. His friends will miss him terribly. But we have the shelf."Another contemporary of Amis, the Nobel laureate Sir Kazuo Ishiguro, told the BBC "He was a standard-bearer for my generation of novelists and an inspiration to me personally. For all the bite of his satire, the brilliant swagger of his prose, there was always something tender not far from the surface, a yearning for love and connection. His work will last, surviving the various shifts of fashions and mores."Amis was born in 1949 in Oxford, says 'The Guardian', and educated at schools in Britain, Spain and the US, before going to Exeter College, Oxford, where he graduated with first-class honours in English.He credited his stepmother, the novelist Elizabeth Jane Howard, who introduced him to literature with Jane Austen at a time when all read were comic books. "She gave me a reading list and after an hour, I went and knocked on her study door and said 'I've got to know does Elizabeth marry Darcy?'," Amis would recall.His first novel, 'The Rachel Papers', writes 'The Guardian', was published in 1973 while he was working as an editorial assistant at the 'Times Literary Supplement'. It won the Somerset Maugham award in 1974.The darkly comic 'Dead Babies' was out the following year. He worked as the literary editor of the New Statesman between 1977 and 1979, during which time he published his third novel, 'Success'.Amis, 'The Guardian' points out, was often compared with his father, who won the Booker prize in 1986 for his novel 'The Old Devils'. Though the younger Amis never won the Booker himself, he was shortlisted for his 1991 novel 'Time's Arrow', a portrait of a Nazi war criminal told in reverse chronological order, and longlisted in 2003 for his novel 'Yellow Dog'.IANS22 May 2023 Shared Recently! PM Modi applauds INS Vikrant for successful berthing at Karwar Naval Base New Delhi May 21: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday praised INS Vikrant for successfully berthing for the first time at the newly constructed Aircraft Carrier pier, at Karwar. PM Modi applauds INS Vikrant for successful berthing at Karwar Naval Base In response to a tweet by Indian Navy, Prime Minister said, "Remarkable!"India's first indigenous aircraft carrier INS Vikrant on Saturday docked for the first time at the newly built berthing facility of Karwar Naval base.This landmark development under Project Sea Bird aims to enhance the ship-berthing capacity of the Karwar Base."India's first indigenous aircraft carrier INS Vikrant successfully berthed for the #first time at the newly constructed Aircraft Carrier pier, at Karwar today. Built under Project Seabird, this is a landmark in enhancing the ship-berthing capacity of the Karwar Base," Indian Navy said in a statement.ANI22 May 2023 Shared Recently! Kriti Sanon, Tabu head to Goa for The Crew shoot, have chai pe charcha inside plane Mumbai, May 22: Actors Kriti Sanon and Tabu on Sunday, jetted off to Goa for the next schedule of their upcoming film 'The Crew'. Kriti Sanon, Tabu head to Goa for 'The Crew' shoot, have 'chai pe charcha' inside plane Taking to Instagram, Kriti shared a boomerang video with Tabu in which they could be seen having tea inside the plane which she captioned, "Chai pe characha. Missing you @kareenakapoorkhan #TheCrew. #rheakapoor The Crew has boarded."Reacting to the video, Kareena wrote, "Where are the biscuits ladies? See you tomorrow."The 'Heroine' actor is all set to join the cast of 'The Crew' in Goa soon.Responding to Kareena's message, Kriti wrote, "Umm.. we will have to manage with Goa ke biscuits! @tabutiful finished the Dilli wala box. #CrewKiChai."Apart from their fuun banter, the 'Mimi' actor also shared a selfie on her story and captioned it, "Goa. #TheCrew."'The Crew' stars Kareena Kapoor Khan, Tabu, Kriti Sanon and Diljit Dosanjh in the lead roles. It is a story of three women and is touted as a laugh-riot, set against the backdrop of the struggling airline industry. However, their destinies lead to some unwarranted situations and they get caught in a web of lies.Helmed by Rajesh Krishnan, the official release date of the film is still awaited.Meanwhile, Kirti will also be seen in the upcoming pan-India film 'Adipurush' opposite actor Prabhas.Helmed by Om Raut the film also stars Saif Ali Khan and Sunny Singh in the lead roles and is all set to hit the theatres on June 16.Apart from this, she also has 'Ganpath Part-1' opposite Tiger Shroff.Kareena, on the other hand, will also be seen in director Sujoy Ghosh's thriller which is based on the book 'The Devotion of Suspect X'. It also stars Vijay Varma and Jaideep Ahlawat. Apart from that, she also has director Hansal Mehta's next untitled film in her kitty.Tabu, will also be seen in director Neeraj Pandey's next 'Auron Mein Kahan Dum Tha' opposite Ajay Devgn.ANI22 May 2023 Shared Recently! Dutch politician leads fact-finding mission to Bangladesh to investigate genocide committed by Pak army London, May 22: Dutch politician and former Member of Parliament Harry van Bommel, along with a European delegation is on a visit to Bangladesh from May 20-26, where the delegation will investigate the genocide committed by Pakistan in 1971. Dutch politician leads fact-finding mission to Bangladesh to investigate genocide committed by Pak army The mission is an initiative of the European Bangladesh Forum (EBF) and will also consist of genocide scientist Anthonie Holslag (VU), political analyst Chris Blackburn, British EBF chairman Ansar Ahmed Ullah and Dutch EBF chairman Bikash Chowdhury Barua.The mission's goal is to obtain firsthand information on the genocide committed by the Pakistani army in Bangladesh during the Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971.The delegation tends to meet victims, witnesses, genocide researchers, academics, policymakers and government representatives in Bangladesh. In addition, the team visits a number of killing fields and war museums in and around the capital Dhaka and the second major city Chittagong, according to an official statement.The mission to Bangladesh takes place at a time when there is worldwide attention for the genocide in Bangladesh.Recently, two members of the US Congress submitted a resolution to the US House of Representatives calling on the President of the United States, Joe Biden, to recognize the crimes against humanity committed by the Pakistani military at the time.In the United Kingdom, too, recognition of the 1971 genocide has been discussed in parliament. According to delegation leader Van Bommel, "Dutch recognition of this genocide is relevant because in 1972 the Netherlands was one of the first countries to recognize the independence of Bangladesh."According to the official statement, the fact-finding mission will communicate its findings to the Dutch government and the House of Representatives. The European Bangladesh Forum will also organise a conference on the findings.ANI22 May 2023 Shared Recently! Heatwave alert issued for several states for today, says IMD scientist New Delhi, May 22: India Meteorological Department (IMD) scientist Soma Sen Roy on Monday said that a heatwave alert had been issued for today for south Haryana, Delhi, south UP, north MP, Jharkhand, Bihar and Bengal. Heatwave alert issued for several states for today, says IMD scientist "We have issued a heatwave alert for today for south Haryana, Delhi, south UP, north MP, Jharkhand, Bihar and Bengal. Tomorrow, a heatwave alert is not given for any place other than Jharkhand," said Soma Sen Roy while talking to ANI."Yes, there is a strong possibility that is likely," she said when asked if there will be relief from the heatwave from tomorrow.She said that because of the Western disturbances the heatwave conditions will ameliorate."...The change is that moisture incursion is there in northwest India...We are expecting that Rajasthan temperatures will fall slightly but heatwave conditions will persist over south Haryana, south UP, parts of Delhi, north, northeast MP, Jharkhand, Bihar and south Bengal. This entire belt is likely to see heatwave conditions even today. From tomorrow we will see amelioration because there is a fresh western disturbance coming...So, we are expecting that temperatures will start to fall over this entire region and heatwave conditions will ameliorate," said Soma Sen Roy.The MeT department issued a yellow alert for today.According to reports, Chandigarh has been witnessing a lot of heat for the previous two days. The temperature on Sunday crossed 40 degrees Celsius and the temperature could cross 40 degrees Celsius on Monday as well.The effect of heat is also seen in Punjab and Haryana, the temperature has been recorded up to 44 degrees in many places. Due to Western Disturbance, it may rain in Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh in the coming two days.On May 21, Varanasi witnessed scorching summer as the temperature soared above 40 degrees Celsius.Health experts advised the residents to stay hydrated to battle the blazing heat wave.A heatwave is a period of abnormally high temperatures, more than the normal maximum temperature that occurs during the summer season in the North-Western parts of India, according to National Disaster Management Authority.Heatwaves typically occur between March and June, and in some rare cases even extend till July.ANI22 May 2023 Shared Recently! Ram Charan arrives in Srinagar to attend G20 summit event Srinagar/Hyderabad, May 22: Oscar-winning movie 'RRR' actor Ram Charan arrived in Srinagar on Monday to participate in a side event of the third G20 Tourism Working Group Meeting in the Kashmir valley. Ram Charan arrives in Srinagar to attend G20 summit event In a tweet, Jiamp;K's Information and Public Relations Department wrote "Actor Ram Charan arrives at Srinagar airport to attend the first side event on 'Film Tourism for Economic Growth and Cultural Preservation' of the 3rd G20 #Tourism Working Group meeting."The actor hit global headlines when 'RRR' won the Oscar this year for the best original song 'Naatu Naatu' that featured them. The film also bagged the Golden Globe award.He will be among the representatives of the Indian film industry at the summit to discuss film tourism for economic growth and cultural preservation.Ram Charan's fans, who hail him as a global star, see this as another honour for their favourite actor. This is said to be the first time that an actor from Tollywood is representing the Indian film industry at a prestigious global event.The G20 summit is an annual gathering of leaders from the world's major economies to discuss and address global issues, primarily on economics, finance and global governance.India, which is presiding over the international forum, chose Kashmir to host the Tourism Working Group meeting. This includes a panel discussion on film tourism for economic growth and cultural preservation.The security measures have been heightened in Srinagar. For the 3-day G20 Summit. Kashmir is under a 3-tier security grid for aerial surveillance drone monitoring is put in place.NSG and marine commandos are being deployed around the venue. Jiamp;K Police's special operation group (SOG) will be deployed at several places to give security cover to prevent from any terror incident.In Srinagar, graffiti depicting the scenic beauty and colours of Srinagar cover the walls of the city. As of now, the G20 Working group meeting in Jammu and Kashmir will focus on five key priority areas Green Tourism, Digitalisation, Skills, MSMEs and Destination Management.The meeting aims to strengthen economic growth, preserve cultural heritage and promote sustainable development of the region.IANS23 May 2023 Shared Recently! 76th World Health Assembly begins in Geneva Geneva, May 22: The 76th World Health Assembly (WHA), kicked off here, focused on saving lives, driving health for all, the WHO said in a statement. 76th World Health Assembly begins in Geneva As 2023 marks the 75th anniversary of the WHO, this year's WHA which began on Sunday will determine the immediate and longer-term future of the organisation, starting with the programme budget for the next two years, key decisions about the sustainable financing and changes to improve WHO's processes and accountability, Xinhua news agency reported.During the 10-day meeting, delegates will deliberate about the critical role that the WHO has in the Global Health Emergency Architecture. The assembly will also review last year's progress, accomplishments and challenges along with future priorities across the key pillars of the WHO's work Universal Health Coverage, Emergencies, Promoting Health and Well-being."Peace depends on health, disease in one nation endangers all, achieving the greatest possible health for everyone everywhere relies on cooperation," UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in a video speech at the opening ceremony of the assembly.Since the birth of the WHO 75 years ago, human health has advanced dramatically, the Secretary-General noted, adding that global life expectancy is up over 50 per cent, infant mortality is down by 60 per cent, and smallpox eradicated."The Covid-19 pandemic has stalled and even reversed progress in public health. We risk further eroding the enormous gains made over the past decades and backsliding on Sustainable Development Goals," Guterres said."But this is not inevitable," he stressed, calling on all to "continue to work together and to support the WHO to achieve the highest standard of health for all".While addressing the opening of the WHA, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus recalled the major achievements that the organisation had realised during the past 75 years.Tedros said that the organisation faces complex challenges as the world's expectations of the WHO have grown enormously."The road is meandering and rough, but the destination is sure," he added.IANS23 May 2023 Shared Recently! Download Now The News-Gazette mobile app brings you the latest local breaking news, updates, and more. Read the News-Gazette on your mobile device just as it appears in print. A release from casino officials said anxious gamblers 21 and over are welcome tonight until midnight, Sunday from 4 p.m. to midnight, and Monday from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. It will be closed Tuesday. It was well into the process of making Killers of the Flower Moon that Martin Scorsese realized it wasnt a detective story In a recent study posted to the Research Square* preprint server, researchers in Hong Kong examined the presence of antibodies directed against the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) following vaccination in human breast milk and how these levels correlate to breast milk microbiota composition. Study: COVID-19 mRNA vaccine-mediated antibodies in human breast milk and their association with breast milk microbiota composition. Image Credit: comzeal images / Shutterstock.com *Important notice: Research Square publishes preliminary scientific reports that are not peer-reviewed and, therefore, should not be regarded as conclusive, guide clinical practice/health-related behavior, or treated as established information. Protecting newborns against COVID-19 The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) continues to be a global threat to public health due to the emergence of highly transmissible and immune-evasive SARS-CoV-2 variants. Unvaccinated children, such as newborns under six months of age, are particularly vulnerable to the effects of these variants. As a result, health agencies worldwide recommend that pregnant women and breastfeeding get vaccinated against SARS-CoV-2 to protect themselves and their infants. Following vaccination, SARS-CoV-2-specific antibodies can be detected in breast milk and infant stool. In addition to conferring protection to the infant against harmful pathogens, breastfeeding also has a vital role in establishing and maintaining the infant's gut microbiome. The early-life gut microbiome has long-term effects on health, particularly in the development of B- and T-cell immunity. To date, it remains unclear how changes in the breast milk microbiota after vaccination, if any, may affect the immune response to COVID-19. About the study Lactating mothers who intended to receive the BNT162b2 messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) vaccine and tested negative for COVID-19 before receiving the vaccine were eligible to participate in the current study. Thereafter, the study participants collected breast milk at their homes using sterile milk bags at four different time points. Self-administered questionnaires were used to gather information on demographic and lifestyle factors such as age, educational level, and breastfeeding habits at each time point. SARS-CoV-2 spike protein-specific immunoglobulin A (IgA) and IgG antibodies were measured to evaluate immune responses to the BNT162b2 vaccine at various stages of the vaccination schedule. Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) was extracted from breast milk to analyze its microbiota, whereas 16S recombinant RNA amplicon sequencing was used to investigate the potential correlation between microbiome composition and concentration of vaccine-induced anti-receptor-binding domain (RBD) antibodies present in breast milk. The microbial composition and diversity of breast milk samples were also assessed at various time intervals. Study findings A total of 175 samples from 44 participants were selected for downstream analyses after excluding specimens without available sequencing data. The study included lactating mothers between 25 and 42 years of age, with a median age of about 36. SARS-CoV-2 spike protein-specific IgA and IgG levels in breast milk samples were comparable to baseline levels prior to vaccination. One week after the second vaccine dose, IgA and IgG levels increased to an interquartile range (IQR) of 0.198 and 0.216, respectively, as compared to 0.116 and 0.058, respectively. By one month following receipt of the second dose, IgA levels returned to baseline, whereas IgG levels remained significantly higher as compared to baseline. Interestingly, mothers who had epidural anesthesia during delivery had lower IgA levels one week after receiving the second vaccine dose. A significant increase in bacterial Chao1 richness in breast milk samples was observed one week following receipt of the first vaccine dose as compared to baseline values; however, no significant change in Shannon diversity was observed at this time point. One week after the second dose, microbiome richness returned to baseline levels. Notably, a consistent decline in Chao1 diversity over time was observed. Beta diversity also significantly changed upon comparing the composition of pre-vaccination breast milk samples to all samples obtained after receiving the second vaccine dose. A total of 109 differentially abundant species were identified in breast milk samples between pre- and post-vaccination time points, ten of which remained abundant throughout the study period. Notably, 53 species, including Anaerococcus octaviu, Arthrobacter russicus, Bacteroides caecimuris, Clostridiaceae bacterium, Helicobacter rodentium, Lactobacillus aviarius, and Rothia sp., were differentially abundant when baseline levels were compared to those observed following the second vaccine dose. Furthermore, levels of the 12 most abundant species varied across all samples and time points. The researchers then investigated any correlations that might exist between microbiome composition and anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in breast milk before and after COVID-19 vaccination. To this end, no significant difference in Chao1 richness and beta diversity with respect to baseline microbiota between participants with low- and high levels of IgA was observed, whereas Shannon richness was higher in high-IgA subjects as compared to low-IgA subjects. Furthermore, low-IgA samples exhibited a higher relative abundance of Firmicutes at 74.62% as compared to 61.78% detected in the high-IgA group. Comparatively, Proteobacteria levels were lower in the low-IgA group at 9.01% compared to 18.64% in the high-IgA group. Conclusions Significant changes in the microbiota of breast milk were observed following BNT162b2 vaccination, with many abundances correlating with anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibody levels. Since many of these species, such as Neisseria sp., are immunomodulatory, vaccination of lactating mothers against COVID-19 may directly protect infants against infection through the transmission of both antibodies and beneficial microorganisms. *Important notice: Research Square publishes preliminary scientific reports that are not peer-reviewed and, therefore, should not be regarded as conclusive, guide clinical practice/health-related behavior, or treated as established information. Reduce fossil fuel use and air quality will improve, right? It might not be as straightforward as it appears, according to a Penn State-led research team. They explored almost 30,000 simulated future scenarios and found that some climate mitigation efforts could lead to harmful health impacts in certain geographic areas. Their results were published today (May 18) in Nature Sustainability. "In general, reducing fossil fuel use is good for climate mitigation and good for cleaning up the air, and the modeling studies have always found health benefits from climate mitigation," said corresponding author Wei Peng, assistant professor of international affairs and of civil and environmental engineering at Penn State, who has conducted research in this area for a decade. "But in this study, for the first time, we were able to see potential co-harm occur in a certain part of the scenarios." The researchers found some scenarios where fossil fuel reduction requires a significant land use change to grow bioenergy resources, such as algae and plants like corn stalks and barley straw that can be used to create biofuels including types of ethanol and biodiesel. In these scenarios, deforestation could occur on a grander scale for certain areas, such as Russia and Canada, leading to worsening air quality. As a result, people in these areas with worsened air quality could suffer from more respiratory and cardiovascular diseases, which could lead to more premature deaths, said the researchers. The researchers obtained these results by using an exploratory ensemble approach, which samples several variables at different levels -; for example, carbon emissions at different levels of emission -; to obtain an understanding of the breadth of potential future scenarios. "Instead of using narrative-based scenarios, which tend to ask questions such as, 'What if we have a high inequality world?' or 'What if we have a low carbon development world?' we developed a large ensemble of scenarios," said first author Xinyuan Huang, a doctoral student in the Penn State Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. "This approach couples models of climate, energy and health to explore a wide range of plausible futures." In this assessment, the researchers modeled the energy and land system changes for 32 geopolitical regions based on the Global Change Analysis Model, an open-source integrated assessment model. They then conducted the air quality and health impact assessment for nearly 200 countries. Peng said that since the future is deeply uncertain, the likelihood of potential future scenarios that involve health co-harms are unknown, but their findings demonstrate the possibilities of unintended consequences of climate mitigation. What I find especially useful is that now we can start to think about the levers we have, and how we can use them to mitigate harmful impacts and to embrace the benefits. If we go for the bioenergy-heavy future, then we really need to pay attention to how we manage land." Xinyuan Huang, First Author Levers for mitigating harmful impacts could include different approaches to any necessary deforestation, according to Peng. She said that clear cutting instead of burning, for example, still allows unavoidable deforestation but lessens the impact on air quality. For next steps, the researchers plan to assess the impacts at an even finer geographic resolution. "If we want to learn more about energy system changes and the resulting distribution of health impacts, we need more analysis at the finer resolution," Huang said. "For example, we are now working on a new scenario ensemble at the state and county level for the United States, so that it could be more informative for policymakers." The other authors on the paper are Vivek Srikrishnan of the Department of Biological and Environmental Engineering at Cornell University, Jonathan Lamontagne of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Tufts University, and Klaus Keller of the Thayer School of Engineering at Dartmouth College. The National Science Foundation, the Penn State Institutes of Energy and the Environment, the Penn State Institute of Computational and Data Sciences, and Dartmouth College funded this research. Researchers at the University of Basel have developed a new approach for a vaccine against COVID-19. This vaccine is based on a modified coronavirus that can enter body cells and trigger an effective immune response but cannot multiply in the body. In animal studies, the vaccine effectively protected against the disease and even prevented virus transmission. Clinical trials in humans are to follow. Although safe and effective COVID-19 vaccines have been available since early 2021, SARS-CoV-2 continues to spread, with new variants continuously emerging. In some regions, the population lacks access to vaccines; in others, there is a lack of confidence in the novel mRNA vaccines. New vaccines that are easy to store and administer and that build up effective immune protection would be an important step toward keeping the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus at bay in the long term. Researchers led by Professor Thomas Klimkait of the Department of Biomedicine at the University of Basel, in collaboration with the company RocketVax, are now presenting a vaccine concept that could lead to a new generation of vaccines against SARS-CoV-2. This concept can also be rapidly adapted to new variants and even to other viruses. Their promising results are now being submitted to a peer-reviewed journal for publication and are accessible on a preprint server. Vaccine virus incapable of replication "Single-cycle virus" is how the researchers describe the principle of their novel vaccine. The vaccine is based on a specially adapted version of the virus that can be produced in the laboratory. In cells of the vaccinated person, however, the single-cycle virus cannot replicate further after the initial entry. A virus normally brings with it, in its genetic material, the blueprints for all the components needed for new virus particles. Once inside a body cell, the virus then misuses the cellular machinery: the cell begins to multiply the virus. Subsequently, newly built viruses destroy the cell and go on to infect other cells. For their vaccine, however, the researchers modify the genome of the virus: "Among other things, we remove a specific gene from the blueprint for the viral envelope," explains Klimkait, a virology expert. If this envelope component is missing, no new virus particles can be formed. Yet, the body cells still produce the remaining components of the virus and present them on their surface to the immune system, which recognizes the viral components and builds up effective immune protection. Vaccine production using a special cell line To ensure that the virus can still be made for vaccine production - given that it can no longer multiply in normal cells - the researchers developed a unique "production cell line." They did this by incorporating the missing gene for the virus building block into the genetic material of special cells so that they now produce this component on a permanent basis. If the modified virus (with an incomplete blueprint for the viral envelope) is now used to infect these production cells, complete virus particles can efficiently be produced. "Externally, these vaccine viruses are identical to normal coronaviruses. But a viral envelope gene is missing from their genome. This means that they cannot replicate in normal body cells, which have no substitute to offer," says Dr. Christian Mittelholzer, the scientist leading this project. Improved immune response Apart from the missing blueprint for the viral envelope building block, the researchers altered other details of the viral genome: They removed genes that allow the virus to reduce the cells' defense. These changes aim to enable a most effective immune response to the virus and to facilitate strong and long-lasting immune protection. The researchers recently tested their new vaccine successfully in hamsters: After immunization administered by nasal drop, 20 out of 20 animals were protected: They developed no symptoms even after contact with a high dose of the natural SARS-CoV-2. Moreover, the vaccine was able to prevent transmission of SARS-CoV-2 to other, unvaccinated animals. Thus, according to current knowledge, they built up sterile immunity. Vaccination without needles For humans, the plan is also to administer the vaccination by nose or mouth. In addition, as the single-cycle virus is highly stable, the vaccine can simply be stored in the refrigerator for long periods of time, says Klimkait. The research team is now planning towards vaccine production and a human study with a small cohort of subjects in Switzerland. Should new variants or even a "SARS-CoV-3" emerge, Klimkait explains that the same concept can be used and quickly adapted to the new virus. "From a technical point of view, we introduce the modified virus genome as several pieces into the production cell line, because that is easier to produce and sneak in." Inside the cell, repair enzymes ensure that the pieces of virus genome are put back together to form a whole. "This also means, for example, that we can easily exchange the section containing the blueprint for the spike protein if a new variant emerges with new mutations." No re-conversion to a live virus It is impossible for the missing gene, corresponding to the viral envelope building block, to return, Klimkait emphasizes. "The envelope protein gene is located in the genetic material in the nucleus of the production cell. The virus genome, on the other hand, always remains outside the nucleus - so they never meet, and the virus genome cannot restore itself to the original version." The researchers led by Thomas Klimkait and Christian Mittelholzer have applied for a patent on the system. The development and preclinical trials of the new vaccine took place in collaboration with the company RocketVax. Animal experiments were conducted at the Friedrich-Loeffler-Institute in Germany. This collaboration is embedded in a research partnership with the University Hospital of Basel (UHBS) and the Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute (Swiss TPH). The University Hospital of Basel and the Canton of Basel-Stadt provided start-up funding for the preclinical research work on the new vaccine, and the project received financial support from Innosuisse. A new survey of 8,000 UK adults has highlighted an increase in mental health transparency in the workplace. This year 35 percent of UK employees said they called in sick due to poor mental health but gave another reason. While this is a significant percentage, it is lower than the findings from Nuffield Healths 2022 report, with the percentage previously being 39 percent. This is especially significant given that Nuffield Healths 2023, Healthier Nation Index, also revealed that over 1 in 4 people (29%) now feel comfortable enough to disclose to their employer if they need time off due to poor mental health. These latest findings suggest a positive shift in how employees are communicating with their workplaces about their emotional wellbeing. Whilst this still indicates that stigma remains a barrier for people talking about their Mental Health at work, it is a promising sign that people are beginning to speak out when they need more rest, emotional support, and time away from their desks. These findings are especially pertinent during this years Mental Health Awareness Week, which focuses on anxiety. Anxiety is a natural response particularly in these current times of uncertainty. Its important to become aware of when we may need additional support with emotions such as anxiety so that it does not negatively impact on our lives. We are passionate about building a healthier nation and know that challenging work environments and stress can have a huge knock-on effect on both our physical and mental wellbeing. As well as the day-to-day worries that come with our personal and working lives, employees have also had to deal with the impact of a global pandemic and now the ongoing cost-of-living crisis. All these stressors combined can significantly affect the mental health of employees, so its more important than ever that businesses find ways to create open, transparent, and connected workplace environments. When people feel supported and able to reach out to their employer, this can have a positive impact on their mental health alone and help them better address feelings of worry and anxiety. Thats why we are calling on other UK workplaces to #Find5 minutes to look after their bodies and minds. Just by spending five extra minutes on personal wellbeing a day can significantly boost mental and physical health. Lisa Gunn, Mental Health Prevention Lead, Nuffield Health. Lisa offers advice on how employers can play their part in creating a connected and transparent workplace, which prioritises both physical and mental wellbeing: 1. Notice when anxiety takes over. In the past year, 48 percent said their work had negatively impacted their physical/mental health, so its imperative companies are equipped to recognise signs of mental distress, like anxiety, in others. The symptoms of anxiety can be seen in various ways. Physical signs include heart palpitations, shortness of breath, headaches, tiredness, and dizziness. You might notice heightened emotions in the workplace such as irritability or tearfulness. Employees experiencing anxiety may find it hard to maintain a healthy work-life balance. They may cancel annual leave last-minute claiming they have too much on, to take holiday work from home late at night or insist on coming into work when unwell. However, spending too much time at work is counter-productive, as it can result in us overlooking our physical and mental health. According to this years findings, 59 percent of Nuffield Health respondents said they were also less productive at work when their mental health was poor. Just five minutes of conversation from employers reaching out to employees presenting with signs of anxiety or distress can have a positive impact. This could be as simple as asking Are you OK? or offering more regular meetings to catch up on how theyre feeling about their workloads. 2. Keep talking. It is encouraging that more employees feel comfortable sharing with their employers when they are having problems with their mental health. However, 18 percent of us will still go to work one or two times a year when our mental health is poor, and 19 percent will go to work more than ten times a year when experiencing poor mental health. Its good for managers to try and understand why individuals come to work despite experiencing reduced mental wellbeing. The more we know about the actions of our teams, the more support we can put in place to help them and reduce behaviours like presenteeism. Aim to spend at least five minutes with employees each week, practising active listening a skill that requires a genuine understanding and reflection of whats being said and providing a considered response, especially for those experiencing symptoms of stress and anxiety. Active listening means listening attentively to whats being said and showing understanding by paraphrasing and asking open questions to demonstrate your understanding. Employers may also consider offering Emotional Literacy Training to staff equipping them with the skills needed to recognise signs of distress in others and themselves and the confidence to approach them. This way they can nurture a workforce capable of recognising and tackling signs of anxiety in both themselves and others. 3. #Find5 Our 2023 study revealed 38 percent of people in the last 12 months have dedicated no time to supporting their own mental health, which includes everyday self-care, activities like meditation or speaking to a medical professional. This Mental Health Awareness Week, Nuffield Health is extending its Find 5 campaign to encourage individuals to find 5 with 5 spending five extra minutes a day focusing on their physical and mental wellbeing for body and mind. In the same way, employers can play a huge role in creating an environment where employees feel a sense of connection and belonging by promoting campaigns which foster connectivity, team building and reduce stress. Our study shows individuals are becoming more aware of the benefits of exercise on overall wellbeing, with 27 percent saying that exercise lifts their mood and helps them feel less anxious or depressed. Encouraging employees to #find5 throughout the working day could also be as simple as promoting regular exercise in morning meetings or creating ideas to be distributed around the office or over email. In just five minutes, managers can also arrange, or raise awareness of, physical health screenings available in the office to uncover any underlying issues among employees. 4. Be open about formal support. While meaningful social interaction plays a key role in reducing feelings of anxiety, professional support can also be invaluable. This may include Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) and Employee Assistance Programmes (EAPs) that offer direct and confidential access to a mental health expert. Offering these services can help employees to understand and address feelings of anxiety using techniques such as challenging negative thoughts. It only takes five minutes to signpost employees towards the support on offer, along with guidance and encouragement on how to access the help available. This may be via email to employees, an office huddle or a virtual wellbeing hub. We want mental health transparency to keep increasing beyond the 4 percent we have seen within the past year and openly communicating the options available shows employees that conversations about mental health are both welcomed and expected. 5. Allow individuals to pick whats best for them. Finally, its important to remember that no single intervention works for everyone. The key to supporting the workforce is flexibility. Employers should be flexible with letting staff choose five minutes of self-care each day, whether its simply stretching at their desk, going for a brisk five-minute walk between meetings or finding five minutes to do a short, guided meditation or breathing exercises. Similarly, employers need to be flexible in how their teams choose to communicate with them. Encourage individuals to use a communication style that works best for them whether its an in-person meeting or a phone call this will make it easier for people to come forward and share their experiences. More flexibility means workplaces can cater to the individual and allow everyone to thrive and overcome feelings of anxiety. A recent study published in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report estimated the efficacy of the JYNNEOS vaccine against mpox. Background The United States has recorded over 30,000 mpox cases by March 21, 2023. JYNNEOS, the Modified Vaccinia Ankara-Bavarian Nordic vaccine, was approved in 2019 for smallpox and mpox prevention in a two-dose regimen. To increase vaccine access, the vaccine was authorized for emergency use in a dose-sparing approach (0.1 ml per dose instead of 0.5 ml per dose). It was offered to individuals with presumed or known mpox exposure and those at risk of mpox or who could benefit from vaccination. About the study In the present study, researchers assessed the effectiveness of the JYNNEOS vaccine in a matched case-control cohort across 12 jurisdictions in the US. Cases had a probable or confirmed diagnosis of monkeypox virus infection on August 19, 2022, or later. Controls were those visiting sexual healthcare, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) care, or HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) clinics, who did not have a mpox diagnosis. Cases were identified through health department registries, and controls were identified through passive or active recruitment approaches at local clinics. Sexually-active individuals aged 18-49 who identified as transgender or men who have sex with men (MSM) were eligible for participation. Participants were asked to complete an online or telephonic survey, which included questions on mpox diagnosis or vaccination, exposure history, immunocompromised conditions, and demographic information. The index date was the date of the positive result for cases or clinic visits for controls. Vaccination registries were used to verify the vaccination status. Participants were classified as fully vaccinated, partially vaccinated, and non-vaccinated. Each case was matched with around four controls based on the index date and the state or region. The authors used conditional logistic regression to compute odds ratios assessing the association between case/control status and vaccination status. Additionally, the team adjusted models for age, ethnicity/race, immunocompromised status, and close contact with mpox case(s). Vaccine effectiveness (VE) estimates were stratified by the route of administration and immunocompromised status. Findings Around 86.1% of 1414 respondents had the required data for the analysis. The team matched 309 cases with 608 controls. Over 32% of cases and 23.4% of controls were Hispanic or Latino, and 27.2% of cases and 16.9% of controls were non-Hispanic Black or African American. More cases than controls reported experiencing recent homelessness, living with HIV, and engaging in transactional sex. Among participants not living with HIV, fewer cases than controls reported taking HIV PrEP. There were more cases with immunocompromised conditions or recent contact with a mpox case. About 22.5% and 32.2% of participants received two doses and a single dose, respectively, and 45.4% were not vaccinated. The crude VE was 87.4% and 75.7% for complete and partial vaccination, respectively. After adjustment, VE was 85.9% for two doses and 75.2% for the single dose. The VE was 80.6% and 77% for partially vaccinated subjects by the intradermal and subcutaneous administration routes, respectively. Similarly, the VE was 80.3% for intradermal administration and 88.9% for subcutaneous injection among double-dose recipients. The VE was 51% and 70.2% for immunocompromised subjects after partial and complete vaccination, respectively. The VE was 72.1% and 87.8% for partial and complete vaccination among immunocompetent individuals. Conclusions The adjusted VE of the JYNNEOS vaccine against mpox was 75.2% for the single dose and 85.9% for the double dose, consistent with evidence from prior studies. The researchers also computed VE for immunocompromised individuals and by the route of vaccine administration. VE was comparable by the administration route. The findings may have several limitations, including selection bias, recall or social desirability bias due to the self-reporting nature of the survey, lack of VE estimates for post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) due to the small sample size, and the non-generalizability to the entire US population. Additionally, some participants with well-controlled HIV might have been misclassified as immunocompromised. Vaccination remains a critical tool for mpox prevention, and the study corroborated the efficacy of the JYNNEOS vaccine in reducing the risk of mpox. Additional precautions should be considered to mitigate exposure, especially among immunocompromised individuals. Further research is required to determine the durability of the protection. Writing in the May 22, 2023 issue of Cell Systems, a diverse team of scientists, led by researchers at University of California San Diego School of Medicine, have produced a novel map that depicts the human body's enormously complicated and highly evolved system for addressing and repairing DNA damage -; a cause and consequence of many diseases. Damage to DNA and replication errors caused by stress and other factors play a major role in disease, and are a hallmark of cancer and other afflictions. To maintain the integrity of the genome and support normal functioning and health, cells have evolved an intricate network of cell-cycle checkpoints and DNA damage repair tools, collectively known as DNA damage response or DDR. Defects in DDR are linked to numerous diseases, including cancer and heritable neurological disorders caused by unstable DNA, erroneous repeats, rearrangements and mutations. Conversely, better understanding how DDR works and why it sometimes fails provides new therapeutic opportunities to treat or cure the same diseases. The ongoing challenge, of course, is that DDR is an extremely complex system involving hundreds of different proteins assembling in different ways to address different problems. You can't fix a problem with DDR until you understand how it works." Trey Ideker, PhD, senior author, professor at UC San Diego School of Medicine and UC San Diego Moores Cancer Center In the new paper, Ideker and colleagues take a major step forward in elucidating the complexities and functions of DDR, producing a multi-scale map of protein assemblies in DDR. Unlike earlier maps, based on published scientific literature that included conflicting findings or tend to focus only on well-studied mechanisms, the new reference map employs affinity purification mass spectrometry and a broad collection of multi-omics data to develop a fuller picture: a hierarchical organization of 605 proteins in 109 assemblies that captures canonical repair mechanisms and proposes new DDR-associated proteins linked to stress, transport and chromatin functions within cells. Multi-omics is a new approach in which data sets of different omics groups are combined during analysis to create a more complete and nuanced understanding of whole systems and organisms. The cell contains different classes of molecular processes: genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics and others. Each of these "omics" molecular processes involves interactions between thousands of genes, transcripts or proteins. To make sense of this complexity, scientists have tended to take a reductionist view, examining omics one at a time. In contrast, systems biology considers molecular processes simultaneously and holistically, using machine learning and other tools to evaluate to what extent different molecular processes inform any given interaction, and how whole systems and networks work. Machine learning describes computer systems that are able to learn and adapt without following explicit instructions. It is an application of artificial intelligence. "Experimental screens of ever-increasing scale are capturing interactions between genes or proteins in human cells, often beyond what has been described in literature. They can, in principle, be used to create data-driven maps of DDR," said first author Anton Kratz, PhD, formerly a research scientist in Ideker's lab who now works at The System Biology Institute in Tokyo, Japan. But screening presents its own challenges since different forms may measure molecular processes in isolation, missing some interactions that appear only under certain stresses or conditions. To address these challenges, the researchers measured new protein-protein interaction networks centered around 21 key DDR factors with and without DNA damage. They developed a machine learning approach to combine new data with existing data, and statistical analysis that showed the results significantly informed the resulting map. "To me, two things were most revelatory," said Kratz. "First, the sheer amount of novel proteins in the map. About 50% of the proteins included in the map following our data-driven paradigm were not included in the literature-curated maps considered here, justifying a data-driven approach to building the map. "Second and related to that, membership to DDR is not a binary affair, but takes place on a continuum (and we quantify this continuum), extending to stress, transport, and chromatin functions." The researchers have created interactive software that will enable other scientists to investigate proteins and DDR interactions of specific interest. Kratz said scientists can also use the map as a component in visible machine learning systems that potentially could illuminate larger questions, such as how DDR is relevant in the transition from genotype (the genetic constitution of an individual organism) to phenotype (characteristics of an individual resulting from interaction of its genotype with the environment). For example, how drug or toxin exposure might change the DDR. Co-authors include: Minkyu Kim, Maya Modak and Nevan J. Krogan, UC San Francisco; Mark Kelly, Fan Zheng, Keiichiro Ono, Yue Qin, Christopher Churas, Jing Chen, Rudolf T. Pillich, Jisoo Park, Rachel Collier, Kate Licon and Dexter Pratt, all at UC San Diego; Christopher A. Koczor, Jianfeng Li, University of South Alabama; Robert W. Sobol, Brown University. Short film captures journey of students and cold-water swimmers collaborating on research project - first time cold water exposure has been tested in saliva samples. Sam Petrie, Hayley Dorian (Founder) and Naomi Brehm from the Wild Sea Women Swimmers take a dip in the sea at Seaburn. Image Credit: University of Sunderland While the impact of the global pandemic is still being felt three years on - one area of positive change came with the rediscovery of outdoor swimming and the potential health benefits it brings. As public swimming pools closed and with people unable to travel, there were those who looked closer to home for opportunities to swim. In June 2020 Wild Sea Women began in Sunderland with just a handful of women keen to connect and dip in the sea together for their health and wellbeing. Since then, the group has taken off, capturing the imagination of swimmers and now has 12,000 members across the north-east and into Scotland. One of those members is Bridie Hodgson, a final-year Biomedical Science degree student at the University of Sunderland, who wanted to draw on her scientific knowledge to discover more about any biological changes to these cold-water swimmers bodies, which could shed light on the mental and physical health benefits they experience. Working alongside Dr Katrin Jaedicke, a Senior Lecturer in Applied Biosciences and a salivary biomarkers scientist, together with other final-year project students they spent time with the Wild Sea Women on two mornings at Seaburn beach, taking saliva tests before they entered the water and afterwards. Tests were then carried out in the Universitys labs. The project also attracted interest from north-east filmmaker Dan Prince, who documented the stages, and results, capturing the first time anyone has ever tested cold water exposure in saliva samples, charting the journey between scientists and swimmers. The enthusiasm from all involved in this project has been the real success story behind the project. These women were so willing to stand there and spit in a tube at 6am on the beach every morning, and be filmed in the process, we were incredibly lucky to have a group so involved in the process. Dr Jaedicke She added: We wanted to discover if there were any biological changes in the body reacting to the cold-water environment, through saliva tests. While the saliva results did not show any significant changes in the womens bio-markers, this was more about feasibility than anything else, can we actually do this type of research on a larger scale, and weve just opened the doors. Clearly there are changes taking place in the physical and mental wellbeing of these women, and this needs further investigation. Bridie will now take the project forward as part of a masters degree, with a larger group of the Wild Sea Women, from across the region and Scotland. The new study will look at women going through menopause, checking for biomarkers which play an important role in illuminating relationships among environmental exposures, human biology, and disease. Scientists can use biomarkers to better understand fundamental biological processes. There will also be work with the University of Sunderlands Psychology Department, to measure psychological parameters in collaboration with the swimmers. Bridie said: This is a terrific opportunity to undertake some very fascinating work, and the University of Sunderland has allowed me to put the skills I've learned over the previous three years into practice. I have confidence since I have been engaged in every aspect of the project, from recruiting to meeting participants and working with samples. Our next step is to pursue a master's degree in September with a similar project. The Wild Sea Women made this possible, and Katrin has been an inspiring lecturer throughout my entire journey, providing endless guidance and support. Hayley Dorian, who set up Wild Sea Women in 2020, added: Its been a privilege and such a fantastic opportunity to work alongside the science team at the University of Sunderland, to help with their incredibly interesting research. Although it would have been great for us all to see some tangible proof of the benefits of going into the sea from this particular project, we know from our own personal experience that the sea improves our health in ways we may never understand. Dan Prince explained the process behind creating the film, he said: Even though the results were not what the students were looking for, I felt their journey was just as important as the research for the story. I really enjoyed working with them on this. Going from the sea to the lab showed two very different worlds, but all starting from only one subject - sea swimming. This was really interesting for me to capture. Sepsis is a global health priority affecting 55 million patients worldwide and causing 11 million deaths annually. Treatment for sepsis may include prompt recognition, source control, antibiotics, fluids, vasopressors, and adjunctive therapies. Corticosteroids have been evaluated as adjunctive therapy for septic shock for more than 50 years. Despite this substantive body of research, uncertainty persists about the effects of corticosteroids on mortality. In a study publishing May 22, 2023 in the New England Journal of Medicine: Evidence, an international team of researchers from UC San Francisco, Raymond Poincare AP-HP Hospital, Versailles SQY University, Paris-Saclay University and Inserm, and the George Institute for Global Health in Sydney, studied the role of hydrocortisone in the management of adult patients with septic shock. They found that while the effect of hydrocortisone was modest in terms of overall survival, it was associated with a decrease in the need for vasopressor drugs and improvement in survival when used in combination with other corticosteroids. The study, coordinated by first authors Romain Pirracchio, MD, MPH, PhD, UCSF Professor of Anesthesia, Djillali Annane, MD, PhD, and senior author Anthony Delaney, MBBS, MSc, PhD, was designed to evaluate the role of corticosteroids in the management of patients with septic shock and the contradictory effects on mortality as recorded in past research and treatment. The research team performed a meta-analysis of the effect of hydrocortisone on patients with septic shock by pooling individual data from studies conducted between 1998 and 2019 including adult patients with sepsis or septic shock who received intravenous hydrocortisone at a maximum daily dose of 400 mg for at least 72 hours, or a placebo. Individual patient data were available for 17 studies, and 7 of these provided 90-day mortality data. The primary endpoint was 90-day all-cause mortality. Secondary outcomes included mortality in ICU and discharge from hospital, at 28 and 180 days, and number of days without the need for vasopressor drugs to maintain cardiovascular function, without a ventilator, and the number of days without vital organ failure. The researchers found that hydrocortisone was not associated with a significant reduction in mortality for patients with septic shock compared to placebo. Hydrocortisone was, however, associated with a significant increase, on average of 1.24 days, in the number of days without the need for vasopressor drugs. The study also suggests that the association of fludrocortisone, a corticosteroid with a strong action on the regulation of water and sodium, with hydrocortisone might reduce mortality. For the first time, the effects of hydrocortisone for the treatment of patients with septic shock could be studied by analyzing individual data from the main randomized trials published to date. This study shows that if the effect of hydrocortisone on the mortality of septic shock is modest, this treatment makes it possible to spare the exposure of patients to vasopressor drugs and to prevent their complications. The combination of fludrocortisone with hydrocortisone seems to provide a greater benefit in terms of survival." Romain Pirracchio, MD, MPH, PhD, UCSF Professor of Anesthesia An intensive study into the treatment of angina has found that the use of tests for small blood vessel function in the heart clarify the underlying cause of the condition. NHS Golden Jubilee - Consultant Cardiologist Professor Colin Berry. Image Credit: NHS Golden Jubilee Patients referred to hospital by their General Practitioner (GP) for assessment of chest pain were invited into the study if a heart scan had ruled out blocked heart arteries. The trial showed that the common underlying cause of chest symptoms in angina sufferers was myocardial ischaemia with no obstructive arteries (INOCA), which wasnt diagnosed by a standard CT heart scan. The diagnosis was clarified using the tests where INOCA was 4 times more likely, while normal results were half as less likely to detect small vessel disease. The study, funded by the British Heart Foundation and the Chief Scientist Office of the Scottish Government and sponsored by the NHS Golden Jubilee, was carried out by heart specialists from the University of Glasgow and took place in 3 hospitals within NHS Scotland the Golden Jubilee University National Hospital in Clydebank, Glasgow Royal Infirmary and Forth Valley Royal Hospital in Larbert, Falkirk. One of the trials leads, Professor Colin Berry - a Cardiology Consultant at NHS Golden Jubilee and Chair in Cardiology and Imaging at the University of Glasgow said: In patients experiencing angina in the community, it is not known whether INOCA is a common cause of angina and, in addition, if it is diagnosed, the treatment of INOCA is also uncertain. We assessed whether the addition of tests of small vessel function might change the diagnosis based on the CT scan and, if so, would changes in treatment lead to improvements of symptoms, health-related quality of life, satisfaction with care and onward referrals for medical care. In terms of clinical implications, the trial results show that use of these tests will help to answer what patients regularly ask - What is the cause of my chest pain?. We found that this approach led to improvements in treatment satisfaction, reduced unnecessary referrals for extra tests and helped to improve control of blood pressure. Professor Colin Berry Professor Berry believes more research is needed to develop new medicines for small vessel disease in the heart. He added: To this end, our team is currently leading the PRIZE trial, funded by the Medical Research Council, which is scheduled to report results towards the end of 2023. We would like to thank the patients and the staff who supported this study, the study sponsor and the funders - the British Heart Foundation and the Chief Scientist Office of the Scottish Government. Chest pain is one of the most common reasons for people to visit hospital, but despite routinely undertaken heart investigations, the cause remains a mystery for many. This research shows that more detailed tests can identify a cause in many more people. While the study did not show that such tests directly improved quality of life or outcomes, the findings open up the possibility of new and specific treatments being developed for this group of people." Professor Sir Nilesh Samani, Medical Director, British Heart Foundation. Members of the team who carried out the trial will present the findings at the world-leading cardiovascular medicine conference, EuroPCR, in Paris on Thursday 18 May. In a groundbreaking initiative towards sustainable and eco-friendly transportation, the Mumbai-Pune route is all set to welcome 100 electric buses by the end of June, with the first batch of 15 buses scheduled to roll out this week. This significant step is poised to transform the way commuters travel between these bustling cities. Embracing the vision of a greener future, the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) has joined forces with leading manufacturers to introduce a fleet of state-of-the-art electric buses. The decision aligns with the state governments commitment to reducing carbon emissions and promoting clean energy alternatives. The introduction of these electric buses promises numerous benefits, including reduced air pollution, enhanced passenger comfort, and cost-effective operations. The electric buses boast cutting-edge technology and eco-friendly features, making them an ideal choice for long-distance travel. Also Read: Plan to Buy an Electric Scooter? Read About Slashed Subsidy as Govt Amends FAME II Scheme from June 1 Notably, the move comes as part of the Indian governments ambitious push to adopt electric vehicles and promote sustainable transportation nationwide. By introducing electric buses on the Mumbai-Pune route, the government aims to set an inspiring example for other cities and encourage the adoption of electric vehicles across the country. The electric buses are equipped with advanced features such as air-conditioning, comfortable seating arrangements, and ample space for luggage. With their efficient battery systems, these buses can travel long distances without the need for frequent recharging. This ensures a smooth and uninterrupted travel experience for passengers. To facilitate the operation of electric buses, charging infrastructure is being set up along the Mumbai-Pune route. This infrastructure will comprise strategically located charging stations to ensure seamless connectivity and minimize any inconvenience caused by charging requirements. As part of the initial rollout, the 15 electric buses will undergo comprehensive testing and trials before being deployed for regular service. The feedback gathered during this phase will be invaluable in refining the overall experience and addressing any potential challenges. top videos With the launch of these electric buses, commuters between Mumbai and Pune can look forward to a greener, more comfortable, and sustainable travel experience. As the number of electric buses increases on this route, it will contribute significantly to reducing carbon emissions and fostering a cleaner environment for future generations. The introduction of electric buses on the Mumbai-Pune route serves as a testament to the states commitment to prioritizing environmental conservation and embracing innovative solutions for a brighter and greener future. Reduction of the maximum subsidy ceiling from 40 per cent to 15 per cent and that on electric two-wheelers from the current Rs 15,000 per kWh to Rs 10,000 per kWh are among the demand incentives modified by the Ministry of Heavy Industries under the Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric Vehicles (FAME) II scheme. According to a notification issued by the ministry, the adjustment will take effect on June 1 this year and will be applicable to any electric two-wheelers registered on or after that day. The scheme was approved with an outlay of Rs 10,000 crore for a period of three years commencing from April 1, 2019, with an aim to create a nationwide demand for electric 2 and 3-wheelers, 4-wheeler passenger cars and e-buses. The Union Minister of Heavy Industries Mahendra Nath Pandey underscored the governments commitment to assisting the industry in achieving sustainable growth and lowering carbon emissions while there is an uprising demand for electric 2-wheelers. He believes that this step will benefit both the environment and the economy, making it stronger and more robust. However, after the recent changes in the scheme, it is believed that while this will create a strong EV ecosystem in the country, the growth rate for electric 2-wheeler sales may decline slightly due to higher prices. This amendment may also lead to OEMs making fast decisions to release stripped-down versions of their products in order to maintain market dominance. According to JMK Research & Analytics, India witnessed five launches of EVs in the month of April that included an electric bicycle, an electric scooter, an electric 2-wheeler cargo, an electric passenger vehicle, an electric 3-wheeler cargo and an electric car. As per the monthly report, overall EV sales in April decreased by 21 per cent year on year to 1,10,503 units. Despite that, electric two-wheelers and passenger-type electric three-wheelers drove EV registrations in April 2023, accounting for 90.48 per cent of all registrations in the month. top videos In the last month, while UP, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Gujarat remained the top-performing states in terms of EV adoption in the country, with 21,845 units sold, Ola Electric emerged as the top player. Meanwhile, Ampere surpassed TVS Motors to take the second position, while the latter and Ather came in third and fourth place, respectively. According to the Vahan portal, sales of electric 2-wheelers have reached roughly 39,000 units so far in May. In a groundbreaking development, Mumbai is set to witness a transformation in its transportation system with the introduction of the Vande Bharat Metro. This state-of-the-art train system, approved by the Railway Board, is expected to replace the citys local trains and become the primary mode of transportation. The Mumbai Railway Vikas Corporation (MRVC) has announced the procurement of 238 Vande Bharat Metro trains exclusively for Mumbai, signaling a significant infrastructure upgrade. According to railway authorities, the Vande Bharat Metro is designed to efficiently cover short distances, connecting cities that are approximately 100 kilometers apart. This modern train system aims to augment the capacity of Mumbais suburban train network, which serves as the lifeline for millions of residents. The ambitious Mumbai Urban Transport Project-III (MUTP-III) and 3A (MUTP-3A) will oversee the procurement of these 238 Vande Bharat Metro rakes, in collaboration with the Railway Ministry and the Maharashtra government. Also Read: Northeast Indias 1st Vande Bharat Express Between Guwahati And New Jalpaiguri To Operate Soon To support the maintenance of these trains, two depots will be established under the MUTP-III and 3A projects. The technology partner will play a crucial role in setting up these depots at Vangaon and Bhivpuri, ensuring efficient operations and upkeep of the trains. The estimated cost of MUTP-III and MUTP-3A projects stands at Rs 10,947 crore and Rs 33,690 crore respectively, demonstrating the scale and significance of this infrastructure development. Funding for these projects has been secured from both the central and state governments. Notably, the manufacturing of the Vande Bharat Metro trains will not be handled by government-run railway factories. Instead, technology partners will be contracted, following the guidelines of the Make-in-India initiative. The forthcoming AC local trains, which are being referred to as Vande Metro, are anticipated to be an advanced version of the AC local trains that arrived in Mumbai last year. These new trains will boast several features, including luggage compartments at both ends, onboard CCTV cameras for enhanced security, and a separate AC duct for vendor compartments. top videos While details about the fare structure for the Vande Bharat Metro remain unclear, there is growing concern among commuters regarding potential premium fares. This aspect will undoubtedly be a significant consideration as Mumbais residents await further updates on the pricing model. As Mumbai gears up for the arrival of the Vande Bharat Metro, this cutting-edge train system promises to revolutionize the citys transportation landscape. With its advanced features, improved connectivity, and potential to replace the local trains, the Vande Bharat Metro holds the key to a more efficient and convenient commuting experience for millions of Mumbaikars The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) on Monday upheld the NCLT order granting a moratorium to crisis-hit airline Go First, thus refusing to allow lessors to take back possession of aircraft. The NCLAT passed the order on May 22 on petitions filed by three aircraft lessors against Go Firsts voluntary insolvency resolution proceedings. All three lessors have leased out around 21 aircraft to Go First. A two-member bench headed by Chairperson Justice Ashok Bhushan after recently completing the hearing on the three petitions had reserved its order for May 22. With liabilities worth Rs 11,463 crore, the airline has sought voluntary insolvency resolution proceedings as well as an interim moratorium on its financial obligations. On May 10, 2023, the Delhi-based principal bench of the NCLT appointed an interim resolution professional to look after the affairs of Go First and also suspended its board as part of the insolvency resolution process. It also directed IRP to maintain the status of the airline as a going concern. top videos Admitting Go Firsts plea for voluntary insolvency, the NCLT also granted protection under a moratorium from recovery by lessors and lenders. Go First had filed a plea for voluntary insolvency resolution proceedings before the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT). It filed its petition under Section 10 of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code to initiate insolvency against itself. The plea is different from Sections 7 and 9 where the financial and operational creditors, respectively, take the corporate debtor to the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) in case of default in payment of dues. For the last two years, the world has been restricted to homes. Daily activities that couldnt be managed without stepping out, came indoors all at once from office to grocery shopping and schools. As the world accepts the new normal, News18 launches weekly classes for school children, explaining key chapters with examples from happenings around the world. While we try to simplify your subjects, a request to break down a topic can be tweeted @news18dotcom The French Revolution was a period of social and political upheaval that occurred in France from 1789 to 1799. This revolution had a profound impact on the course of modern history, and it is widely considered one of the most paramount events in Europe. The French Revolution was a turning point in European history and marked the end of the Old Regime and the beginning of a new era of political thought and social reform that influenced the rest of the world. It also had a significant impact on the arts, literature, and culture of the time. In this weeks class with News18, we are discussing the French Revolution and the three most important events that shaped it. The French Revolution began in 1789 with the meeting of the Estates-General, a legislative body made up of representatives from the three estates: the clergy, the nobility, and the commoners. The commoners, who made up the vast majority of the population, demanded more representation and greater political power. When their demands were rejected by the other two estates, they formed the National Assembly and vowed to write a new constitution for France. The Storming of the Bastille The Storming of the Bastille marked the beginning of the French Revolution and is widely regarded as the most crucial event of the time. The storming took place on July 14, 1789, when a group of Parisians stormed the Bastille prison, which was a symbol of the French monarchys power. The Bastille was also known to house political prisoners, and its fall was seen as a victory for the people against the oppressive regime. The Storming of the Bastille inspired people all over France to join the revolution and overthrow the monarchy. The fall of the Bastille also led to the formation of the National Assembly, which drafted the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen, a document that established the basic principles of democracy and human rights. The Reign of Terror The Reign of Terror was a period of extreme violence and political repression that occurred during the French Revolution. It began in 1793 when the Committee of Public Safety, led by Maximilien Robespierre, gained control of the government and lasted a whole year. Robespierre led the Jacobin club, whose membership was largely composed of people from the less affluent segments of society. However, his government implemented regulations that resulted in the rationing of food, and policies of severe control that were rigorously enforced leading even his followers to call for moderation. The Reign of Terror was characterised by mass executions of those suspected of opposing the revolution. It is estimated that over 16,000 people were executed during this period. The Reign of Terror was an important event because it demonstrated the radicalisation of the French Revolution. It showed how the ideals of the revolution could be corrupted by those who sought to use violence to achieve their goals. The Reign of Terror also led to the downfall of Robespierre and the end of the radical phase of the revolution. The Rise of Napoleon Bonaparte Napoleon Bonaparte was a military general who rose to power during the French Revolution. He became a hero of the revolution by leading successful military campaigns that expanded French territory and defeated its enemies. In 1799, he seized power in a coup and established himself as the First Consul of France. He eventually crowned himself the emperor of France in 1804. Napoleons rise to power was a critical event because it marked the end of the radical phase and brought stability and prosperity to France after years of turmoil. He also introduced a series of reforms, including the Napoleonic Code. The Napoleonic Code, also known as the French Civil Code, established a uniform legal system throughout France, replacing the patchwork of laws that had existed before the Revolution. It codified civil law, including property rights, contracts, and family law, and introduced many new legal principles, such as the notion of equality before the law. However, Napoleons rule was also marked by a series of costly wars that ultimately led to his downfall. His invasion of Russia in 1812 was a disastrous defeat that weakened his hold on power. In 1815, he was defeated at the Battle of Waterloo and exiled to the island of Saint Helena, where he died six years later. top videos In conclusion, the French Revolution was a defining moment in European history, characterised by a series of significant events that carved the course of modern history and its legacy can still be seen in modern political and social structures. To learn about other topics taught in school, explained by News18, here is a list of other Classes With News18: Queries Related to Chapters on Elections | Sex Versus Gender | Cryptocurrencies | Economy & Banks | How to Become President of India | Post Independence Struggle | How India Adopted Its Flag | Formation of States & United India | Tipu Sultan | Indian Teachers Day Different from Rest of the World |Queen Elizabeth & Colonialism | The Madhya Pradesh Board of Secondary Education (MPBSE) will release the classes 10 and 12 board exam results on May 25. Once out, students will be able to view their scores on the official website at mpbse.nic.in. The MP board class 12th exam was held from March 2 to April 5, while the MP board class 10th exam was held from March 1 to March 27. More than 19 lakh children took the board exams this year for classes 10 and 12. MP education minister Inder Singh Parmar will announce the result through a press conference. Candidates will require their hall tickets once the results are announced in order to check their scores using their roll number and birthdate. Students may pick up their original mark sheets at their individual schools after they get them.rtment tests if they do not receive 33 in any one subject. top videos Recently, the MP Board called for proposals from online portals until May 11 to publish the results on the official website. The official notice stated, 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. Last year, nearly 10 lakh students registered for the class 10 board examinations and around 9 lakh students took the class 12 exams. On April 29, the results were revealed at a news conference. For the class 12 exam, the pass rate was 72.72 per cent, and for the class 10 exam, it was 59.54 per cent. In the class 12 exam, girls performed better than boys overall, with a pass rate of 70.64 percent compared to 69.94 percent for boys. Harrison Ford-led Indiana Jones And The Dial Of Destiny made its grand premiere at the ongoing Cannes Film Festival on Thursday night. The film, which is also the first Indiana Jones movie not to be directed by Steven Spielberg, will be released in theatres worldwide on June 30. At the Cannes screening of the film, director James Mangold, cast members Mads Mikkelsen, Boyd Holbrook, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, and Ethaan Isidore made an appearance, with Harrison Ford being the centre of attraction. The fifth and final chapter of one of the most celebrated movie franchises received a five-minute standing ovation at the prestigious film festival, leaving the lead actor quite emotional. Now, after the screening, early reviews of Indiana Jones 5 have taken social media by storm. The early critical reception appears to be mixed, where some deem it was a dignified farewell for one of Harrison Fords most iconic characters but many believed the final chapter deserved better. While Indiana Jones And The Dial Of Destiny seems to be a blend of action, humour, and drama, heres what the early reviews of the film look like: A few are already hailing Indiana Jones 5 a summer blockbuster. One said the movie, retains the action, humor and spirit of the franchise even if James Mangold cant measure up to Spielbergs cinematic brilliance. INDIANA JONES AND THE DIAL OF DESTINY retains the action, humor & spirit of the franchise even if James Mangold cant measure up to Spielbergs cinematic brilliance. Harrison Ford gets the dignified ending his iconic character deserves but Phoebe Waller-Bridge steals the show! pic.twitter.com/Dd264igQGS Matt Neglia @Cannes (@NextBestPicture) May 19, 2023 Another called it a rousing adventure ride. #IndianaJones Dial of Destiny REVIEW: Instant Classic! Harrison Fords career best. A ROUSING ADVENTURE that shows this old man still has great libido. Not just another Indy film, its one of the best movies ever! A fitting end to his journey, while setting up whats next #Cannes pic.twitter.com/lGqcLi9I4E Atom (@theatomreview) May 18, 2023 One more said it was fun to watch Harrison Ford reprise his iconic role. Indiana Jones and The Dial of Destiny is a great summer blockbuster. Though it could have been tighter in places & feels far less final than expected, I had so much fun seeing Harrison Ford reprise his role as one of the greatest cinematic heroes of all time #Cannes2023 pic.twitter.com/WXkUHHzahc yasmine kandil (@filmwithyas) May 19, 2023 On the contrary, a section of movie buffs believes that James Mangold failed to recapture Spielbergs magic on the big screen. One tweeted: Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny fails to recapture Spielbergs magic. With uninspired action and conflicting themes and character motivations, its proof that some things should just be allowed to end. Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny fails to recapture Spielbergs magic. With uninspired action and conflicting themes and character motivations, its proof that some things should just be allowed to end.Our video review: pic.twitter.com/zoMTgyahTU IGN (@IGN) May 20, 2023 However, it seems loyal Indian Jones fans are unfazed by the early reviews. A die-hard fan commented, Indiana Jones reviews arent super great. Me: a guy who unapologetically loves Crystal Skull and will be in the theatre opening weekend no matter what. Indiana Jones reviews arent super great. Me: a guy who unapologetically loves Crystal Skull and will be in the theater opening weekend no matter what. pic.twitter.com/cnPlKRvnzU Adam Leonhardt (@theartofadaml) May 19, 2023 Indiana Jones And The Dial Of Destiny see Harrison Ford playing the iconic eponymous archeologist. Set against the backdrop of 1969, the plot recaptures the main protagonist fighting heinous Nazis amidst a space race. In his press interviews, Ford has stressed the fact that Indiana Jones 5 marks the end of his tenure of playing the iconic archaeologist. Former Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos and his girlfriend, Lauren Sanchez, have confirmed their engagement, The New York Post reported citing an exclusive source. The couple, currently attending the Cannes Film Festival in the South of France, has been making appearances at star-studded events while enjoying the lavish experience on Bezos USD 500 million yacht. Speculation about their impending marriage has been circulating for months, fueled by rumors surrounding Sanchezs eye-catching heart-shaped ring. Bezos, the 59-year-old billionaire, and Sanchez, a prominent broadcast journalist, have been inseparable since they began dating in 2018. Their relationship became public in 2019, but they maintained a low profile until Bezos finalized his divorce from his wife of 25 years, MacKenzie Scott. Sanchez, who has accompanied Bezos on global travels during their courtship, revealed her plans to venture into space, following in the footsteps of Bezos Blue Origin space exploration endeavors. While Bezos will not be joining her on the expedition, Sanchez expressed her admiration for him in a recent interview. The couple continues to enjoy their time at the Cannes Film Festival, attending high-profile parties and basking in the luxury of Bezos $500 million yacht. According to Page Six, Sanchez was previously married to Hollywood talent mogul Patrick Whitesell. On the other hand, Bezos was hitched to MacKenzie Scott, from whom he separated after a substantial divorce. Scott, aged 53, and Bezos share four children. In the divorce settlement, Scott received a staggering USD 38 billion, with a commitment to donate half of it to charitable causes. As a result of the settlement, Scott became the worlds third richest woman, holding 25 percent of the former couples joint stock in Amazon. However, Bezos retained voting control over her nearly 20 million shares. With a net worth of USD 139 billion, Bezos also maintained his ownership of the Washington Post, which he acquired in 2013, as well as his space company, Blue Origin. Actor Aditya Singh Rajput was found dead in the washroom of his house. The cause of his sudden death is not yet known. His friend rushed him to the hospital where he was declared brought dead. However, hours before his death he was seen enjoying a night out with friends at a bar. The late actor shared a picture on his Instagram stories. In the picture, shared the beautiful Mumbai skyline and captioned it as Sunday funday with besties. As per media reports, Adityas friend, along with the help of a watchman, rushed him to the nearby hospital where the actor was declared dead on arrival. While some reports have claimed that the actor died due to an alleged drug overdose, theres been no confirmation by the police on the cause of death yet. Aditya Singh Rajput was a popular TV actor, model, and casting coordinator in Mumbai. He was also a part of Splitsvilla season 9. Take a look at the photo here: The news of Aditya Singh Rajputs death has prompted an outpouring of condolences and tributes from friends, colleagues, and fans across social media platforms. Many have expressed their disbelief and sadness at the loss of a promising talent who had a bright future ahead. Aditya was quite active on social media. Just five days ago, he had shared a heartwarming video on his Instagram account, emphasising the importance of self-love". He captioned the video: What is happiness according to you?" Aditya, who hailed from Delhi, started his career as a model. He was a part of films such as Krantiveer and Maine Gandhi Ko Nahin Mara. He reportedly appeared in several advertisements and participated in MTV Splitsvilla 9. He was also part of TV projects like Love, Ashiqui, Code Red, Aawaz Season 9, Bad Boy Season 4, and others. TV actor Aditya Singh Rajput was found dead at his home in Mumbai on Monday. A friend discovered the actor in an unconscious state in his bathroom and took him to a hospital, where Aditya was declared dead. Aditya Singh Rajput was a popular TV actor, model, and casting coordinator in Mumbai. He was also a part of Splitsvilla season 9. As per media reports, Adityas friend, along with the help of a watchman, rushed him to the nearby hospital where the actor was declared dead on arrival. While some reports have claimed that the actor died due to alleged drug overdose, theres been no confirmation by the police on the cause of death yet. As for reports, mortal remains of the actor has been taken to Siddharth hospital and postmortem will begin post 10 am tomorrow. The actors family will reach Mumbai tomorrow morning ALSO READ | Actor Aditya Singh Rajput Died Due to Alleged Drug Overdose? Police BREAK SILENCE Aditya was quite active on social media. Just five days ago, he had shared a heartwarming video on his Instagram account, emphasising the importance of self-love". He captioned the video: What is happiness according to you?" In the clip, Aditya Singh Rajput said, Happiness is maa ke hath ka khana. Happiness is cuddles after a long tiring day at work. Happiness is playing with your dog. Happiness is best time with your best friend. But happiness nowadays is money also. But more important happiness is finding happiness in small things. For that, you dont need money, but yes money is important. But happiness is more important and inner peace is important. Do you agree?" Aditya, who hailed from Delhi, started his career as a model. He was a part of films such as Krantiveer and Maine Gandhi Ko Nahin Mara. He reportedly appeared in several advertisements and participated in MTV Splitsvilla 9. He was also part of TV projects like Love, Ashiqui, Code Red, Aawaz Season 9, Bad Boy Season 4, and others. Yerevan, May 22, ARMENPRESS. "Ser Artsakh" will continue to support Artsakh newborns under the blockade, giving each newborn its first gift box. In an interview with Armenpress, Armenian-American author, philanthropist, lawyer, president of the "Anna Astvatsaturian" Foundation and founder of the "Ser Artsakh" Initiative, Anna Astsvataturian Turcotte stated that her Foundation continues to deliver the gift boxes through representatives of the Republic of Artsakh and the Red Cross. "On June 1, 2022, International Children's Day, we launched the "Ser Artsakh" Initiative based on the desire to support and protect the children born in Artsakh after the 44-day Artsakh war in 2020. It was extremely important for me to nurture the children born in families who chose to live in Artsakh. And today, almost a year later, I can say that we were able to gift 1553 boxes full of vital essentials for mother and babies to every newborn in Artsakh," she said. Anna Astvatsaturian emphasized that she had previously decided to implement the program for one year, but since Artsakh is under the blockade at the moment, and the need for this help is more than ever, she decided to continue delivering aid until December, or as long as they can deliver to Artsakh. When brainstorming the initiative in early 2021 it was important for Anna to include items either made in Armenia or Artsakh or purchased there. This was a way to support the local economy and promote domestic products. "One of my very good friends in Artsakh, who makes wooden toys, agreed to make the wooden toy bird, which has become the symbol of the project," she added. "Before the project started, we were looking for Armenian-made clothes, toys, and care items for months. And of course, we found high-quality items of Armenian production, which we included in the gift boxes. There were some things that were not produced in Armenia, for example, diapers or thermometers. That was unfortunate, but we purchased these in Armenia for the Artsakh babies to support the Armenian economy and the Armenian businesses. Anna Astvatsaturian said during the conversation that at the time they were finalizing the idea for this project and deciding which products to include in the boxes, many people asked her why she was focusing on the best and highest quality products instead of just mere quantity. It was hard for people who had not seen the refugee path to understand the emotional nuances. I was a refugee once too and wore second-hand clothes and my brother played with old worn-out toys. I remember the feeling that came with that very well. It is a second layer of trauma. To me this project is not a donation but a gift because Artsakh families deserve the best and we should honor them for being so strong. she said Astvataturian mentioned that this program is an opportunity for her not only to support Artsakh and the economy of Armenia, but also to connect the Diaspora to Artsakh with their donations. For me, the most important thing was not giving support but to show the Diaspora that people live and continue to be born in Artsakh. And to show the people of Artsakh that the Diaspora is still worried about them. The most important thing was emotional support, showing them our attention, and providing these rare moments of joy with so much stress and pain around them daily. - she added When speaking about new projects, Anna Astvataturian said that she plans to meet and talk with the leadership of the Syunik region in order to discuss the idea of implementing a similar project there as well, under the title "Ser Syunik". "It is very important for me that people stay in Syunik and have many children there. It is also important for me to ensure they know we remember them. I hope that this assistance will last, because this is an opportunity for people to continue to stay in Artsakh and Syunik. At the moment, the situation in Artsakh is quite difficult and the Diaspora is very concerned about this issue, and I have come to talk to people on the ground and understand the situation," said Anna Astvatsaturian. She mentioned that the project requires quite a lot of resources because each box costs around $105 and any support is very important for the Foundation. Anyone can support the Initiative by visiting www.astvatsaturian.org. Anna Astvatsaturian Turcotte is an American-Armenian writer, philanthropist, lawyer, elected official, president of the Westbrook City council and the president of the "Anna Astvatsaturian'' foundation. Anna also is an author of a book "Nowhere, a Story of Exile, 2012"based on her diaries which she wrote as an 11 year old child escaping the Baku massacres. In 2013 Anna spearheaded a successful recognition of Artsakh at the state of Maine legislature. Since thenAstvatsaturian Turcotte has implemented a number of charitable programs in Armenia and Artsakh. In 2020 she founded the Anna Astvatsaturian Charitable Foundation. One of the fund's major projects is the "Artsakh War 2020: Losses, Challenges - Opportunities for resistance development'' survey conducted after the 44-day war. Srinagar city has been spruced up for the three-day G20 working group meeting on tourism beginning Monday, while stringent security arrangements are in place across the Kashmir Valley to ensure that the high-profile event passes off peacefully, officials said on Sunday. Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha on Sunday had said the G20 working group meeting in J&K is a historic opportunity for people of the Union Territory to showcase their culture, heritage, tourism and warm hospitality. The third G20 Tourism Working Group meeting is scheduled to take place in summer capital Srinagar from May 22 to 24. Here are your ten top questions about the G20 summit answered: What is the G20? The G20, also known as the Group of 20, is an intergovernmental forum that consists of 19 countries and the European Union (EU). Its primary objective is to address crucial global economic issues, including international financial stability, climate change mitigation, and sustainable development. Comprising the finance ministries of the worlds largest economies, the G20 includes both industrialized and developing nations. Collectively, its members account for approximately 80% of the gross world product (GWP), 75% of international trade, two-thirds of the global population, and 60% of the worlds land area. Established in 1999 in response to various global economic crises, the G20 has held annual summits since 2008. These summits involve the participation of heads of government or state, finance ministers, foreign ministers, and other high-ranking officials from each member country. The European Commission and the European Central Bank represent the EU in these gatherings. Additionally, select countries, international organizations, and non-governmental organizations are invited to attend the summits, some on a permanent basis. What is Indias Role in the G20 This Time? India assumed the presidency of the G20 on December 1, 2022, taking over from Indonesia, and will hold this position for a year. This presidency presents a unique opportunity for India to make valuable contributions to the global agenda, addressing pressing issues of international importance. #WATCH | Srinagar in Jammu & Kashmir is all set to host the #G20 meeting that begins here today.The 3rd G20 Tourism Working Group meeting will be held here on May 22-24 pic.twitter.com/pZVI3ckbN5 ANI (@ANI) May 22, 2023 In recent years, G20 summits have expanded their focus beyond macroeconomics and trade, recognizing the intricate interconnections between various global issues and their profound impact on the global economy in the era of advancing globalization. These issues encompass a wide range of areas, including comprehensive development, climate change and energy, health, counter-terrorism, as well as migration and refugees. By actively engaging in these discussions, the G20 aims to foster inclusivity and sustainability, working towards the resolution of these global challenges and the realization of a more equitable and sustainable world. What is Happening in Srinagar? Srinagar, the capital city of Jammu and Kashmir, was beautifully adorned in preparation to host the third G20 Tourism working group on May 22. This significant event marks the first international gathering held in Jammu and Kashmir since it became a Union Territory in 2019. The meetings will take place at the Sher-e-Kashmir International Convention Centre, providing a conducive environment for productive discussions. To showcase the diverse cultural heritage of Jammu and Kashmir, various cultural programs representing all regions of the state are being organized for the delegates attending the event. How Does the G20 Work? The G20 Presidency holds the responsibility of steering the G20 agenda for a duration of one year and hosting the Summit. The G20 operates through two parallel tracks: the Finance Track and the Sherpa Track. The Finance Track is led by Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors, while the Sherpa Track is led by Sherpas who act as personal representatives of the Leaders. From the Sherpa side, the G20 process is coordinated by Sherpas from member countries who work closely with their respective Leaders. The Finance Track is primarily led by the Ministry of Finance. Both tracks consist of thematic working groups where representatives from relevant ministries of member countries, as well as invited/guest countries and international organizations, participate. These working groups meet regularly throughout the Presidencys term to address specific topics. The Sherpas oversee the negotiations throughout the year, discussing agenda items for the Summit and coordinating the substantive work of the G20. In addition, there are Engagement Groups that bring together civil societies, parliamentarians, think tanks, women, youth, labor, businesses, and researchers from the G20 countries. These groups provide perspectives and inputs from various stakeholders. Its important to note that the G20 does not have a permanent secretariat. Instead, the Presidency is supported by a Troika comprising the previous, current, and incoming Presidencies. During Indias Presidency, the Troika will consist of Indonesia, India, and Brazil, respectively. What is the G20 Logo This Time and Indias Theme? The G20 Logo draws inspiration from the vibrant colors of Indias national flag - saffron, white, green, and blue. It combines the imagery of planet Earth with the lotus, Indias national flower symbolizing growth amidst challenges. The Earth signifies Indias pro-planet approach and its commitment to living in harmony with nature. Below the G20 logo, the word Bharat" is written in the Devanagari script, representing India. The theme of Indias G20 Presidency, Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam" or One Earth One Family One Future," is derived from the ancient Sanskrit text of the Maha Upanishad. This theme emphasizes the inherent value of all forms of life, including humans, animals, plants, and microorganisms, and underscores their interconnectedness within the Earth and the broader universe. Furthermore, the theme highlights the importance of LiFE (Lifestyle for Environment), promoting environmentally sustainable and responsible choices at both the individual and national levels. It aims to drive transformative actions globally, leading to a cleaner, greener, and more sustainable future. The logo and theme combined send a powerful message of Indias G20 Presidency, which focuses on pursuing inclusive and equitable growth for all, particularly during these challenging times. It emphasizes the need for sustainable, holistic, responsible, and inclusive approaches. They represent Indias unique perspective and commitment to living in harmony with the surrounding ecosystem during its G20 Presidency, the government said earlier. What to Expect from the G20 Summit? Originally established as a platform for finance ministers and central bank governors in response to the financial crisis that affected Southeast Asian economies in the late 1990s, the G20 underwent an upgrade in 2007 to include heads of state and governments. top videos During and following the global financial crisis of 2008, the G20s coordinated efforts played a crucial role in mitigating panic and restoring economic growth. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has emphasized the importance of international cooperation in addressing global challenges, outlining Indias approach to the G20. In a statement, he highlighted that challenges such as climate change, terrorism, and pandemics cannot be effectively addressed through conflict but require collective action. Modi also emphasized the need to de-politicize the global supply of essential resources like food, fertilizers, and medical products to prevent geopolitical tensions from escalating into humanitarian crises. Prime Minister Narendra Modi was on Monday conferred with the highest honours of Papua New Guinea and Fiji, in a rare recognition for a non-resident in the two Pacific island nations. Modi arrived in Papua New Guinea on Sunday on his maiden visit to the country to host a key summit between India and 14 Pacific island countries to boost bilateral ties. Unprecedented honour for India as Papua New Guinea confers their highest award to PM Modi," the Prime Ministers Office said. It was presented to him by Papua New Guinea Governor-General Sir Bob Dadae. The Honour Papua New Guinea conferred the Companion of the Order of Logohu to Prime Minister Modi for championing the cause of unity of Pacific Island countries and spearheading the cause of Global South. Very few non-residents of PNG have received this award, including former US President Bill Clinton, it said. An honour emblematic of the depth of India-Papua New Guinea relationship," the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) tweeted. Some more glimpses from a very special welcome in Papua New Guinea. pic.twitter.com/uHFCV2j0FA Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) May 21, 2023 This comes immediately after Fijis Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka also conferred the countrys highest award to Modi. Big Honour for India. Prime Minister Modi has been conferred the highest honour of Fiji by the PM of Fiji: Companion of the Order of Fiji in recognition of his global leadership. Only a handful of Non-Fijians have received this honour to date," the Prime Ministers Office said. Prime Minister Modi dedicated the honour to the people of India and to the generations of the Fiji-Indian community, who have played a key role in the special and enduring bond between the two countries, the MEA said on Twitter. About Papa New Guinea Papua New Guinea is an island country located in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It encompasses the eastern portion of New Guinea, which is the worlds second-largest island (the western part belongs to the Indonesian provinces of Papua and West Papua). Additionally, it includes the Bismarck Archipelago, consisting of islands such as New Britain, New Ireland, the Admiralty Islands, and others. Bougainville and Buka, which are part of the Solomon Islands chain, as well as several small offshore islands and atolls, are also part of Papua New Guinea. The national capital, Port Moresby, is situated in the southeastern region of New Guinea, near the Coral Sea, according to a report by Britannica. The islands that make up Papua New Guinea have been inhabited for approximately 40,000 years by a diverse mix of people commonly referred to as Melanesians. Since gaining independence in 1975, one of the countrys major challenges has been effectively governing the many hundreds of distinct and once-isolated local societies as a unified and viable nation. Indias Ties With the Country India established diplomatic relations with Papua New Guinea in 1975 when the island gained independence from Australia. In 1996, India opened its mission in Port Moresby, the capital of Papua New Guinea, while Papua New Guinea established its mission in Delhi in 2006. The Ministry of External Affairs reports that there are approximately 3,000 Indians residing in Papua New Guinea. Among them, around 2,000 are employed in various projects within the LNG (liquefied natural gas) sector. The Indian community in Papua New Guinea comprises individuals from diverse professional backgrounds, including chartered accountants, university professors, school teachers, doctors, IT professionals, finance experts, and more. Their contributions enrich the cultural and professional landscape of both countries, according to a report by Firstpost. Humbled by the gesture of Papua New Guinea of conferring me with the Companion of the Order of Logohu. Gratitude to Governor General Sir Bob Dadae for presenting the award. This is a great recognition of India and the accomplishments of our people. pic.twitter.com/VDhqTJK6Ra Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) May 22, 2023 Why the Visit is Important In Papua New Guinea, Prime Minister Narendra Modi hosted the third summit of the Forum for India-Pacific Islands Cooperation (FIPIC), a significant gathering that brings together India and 14 Pacific Island countries. First initiated in 2014 in Fiji, FIPIC was designed to foster Indias presence in the Pacific Island region. The second summit took place in Indias vibrant city of Jaipur in 2015. At this years summit, Prime Minister Modi expressed Indias commitment to multilateralism and emphasized the countrys support for a free, open, and inclusive Indo-Pacific region. He made a noteworthy statement highlighting that the Pacific island nations are not simply small island states, but rather, large ocean countries." This gathering holds immense importance as India seeks to counter Chinas increasing influence in the Pacific, argues a report by Firstpost. As retired navy chief Arun Prakash pointed out, these Pacific Island nations offer strategic opportunities for establishing naval bases, friendly ports, and airstrips, in addition to their vast ocean resources. Western countries, including India, are concerned about China taking advantage of any voids in the region and filling them up. China has been expanding its presence in the Pacific through initiatives like the Belt and Road project. Notably, in 2022, Beijing signed a security deal with the Solomon Islands, and more recently, it secured a contract to redevelop the port in the capital city of Honiara. Furthermore, Papua New Guineas inclination towards China is raising serious concerns among the Quad countries, namely Australia, India, the United States, and Japan. In November 2022, Papua New Guineas Prime Minister James Marape held a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Bangkok, where Beijing referred to both countries as good friends, good partners, and good brothers." Marape has also received an invitation from Chinas special envoy to the Pacific, Qian Bo, to visit Beijing for a state visit, the report says. top videos It is hoped that Prime Minister Modis visit to Papua New Guinea will help redirect the countrys attention and establish New Delhi as an emerging global power in the region. With inputs from PTI The skies over Catania were shrouded in a dramatic display as Mount Etna unleashed its fury on Sunday, May 21. The eruption blanketed the city in thick clouds of smoke and ash, creating an otherworldly scene. Astonishing footage captured the aftermath, revealing a thick layer of lapilli, or hardened lava, coating cars parked near the mountain. The eruption had a significant impact on air travel, with flights temporarily halted at Catania airport due to the ash settling on the runway. Fortunately, there have been no reports of injuries resulting from the eruption. The increased tremor activity recorded in recent days by Italys National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV) serves as a stark reminder of the ever-present power and unpredictability of Mount Etna. How Did Etna Erupt? Italys National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology, or INGV, which closely monitors Etna with instrumentation on the slopes, noted that cloud cover on a rainy day was impeding views of the eruption, which often serves up a spectacular display of flaming lava during the volcanos not infrequent eruptions. The institute said that ash had fallen on Catania and at least one town on Mount Etnas inhabited slopes. No injures were reported. Catania airport said due to ashfall, flight operations were temporarily suspended. INGV indicated that monitoring had recorded evidence of a stepping up in tremor activity in recent days. People in the towns of Adrano and Biancavilla reported hearing loud booms emanating from the volcano on Sunday, the Italian news agency ANSA said. Italys national Civil Protection agency had noted on Thursday in an alert that in view of increased volcanic activity, sudden variations of Etnas activity could occur. In early 2021, an eruption of the volcano lasted several weeks. What is a Volcano Eruption and What Causes it? Volcanoes are openings on the surface of planets or moons that allow the escape of hot material from their interiors. They can cause explosive eruptions, launching materials high into the sky, or gentler flows of material. Volcanoes can be categorized as active, dormant, or extinct based on their eruption history. Volcanic Formation and Characteristics Volcanic areas are often characterized by mountains formed from layers of rock, ash, or other materials surrounding the volcanic opening. Active volcanoes have experienced recent eruptions or are anticipated to erupt in the near future. Dormant volcanoes have ceased erupting but may erupt again in the future. Extinct volcanoes are unlikely to erupt again. Causes of Volcanic Eruptions Volcanic eruptions occur when significantly hotter material from the planet or moons interior is expelled onto the surface. On Earth, erupted materials include liquid rock (lava/magma), ash, cinders, and gases, as per a report by NASA. Magma rises and causes eruptions through three main mechanisms: a) Diverging Tectonic Plates: Magma rises when tectonic plates move apart, creating space for magma to fill in, often resulting in underwater volcanoes. b) Converging Tectonic Plates: Magma rises when tectonic plates collide, causing crustal melting and subsequent magma ascent. c) Hot Spots: Magma rises over hot spots, areas within the Earth that generate intense heat and lower magma density, promoting upward movement. Volcanoes, driven by the forces deep within the Earth, are remarkable manifestations of natures power and continue to shape our planets landscapes. top videos Some Interesting Facts About Volcanoes As many as 5,000 first-year undergraduate students from 27 states and four Union Territories will be awarded the Reliance Foundation Undergraduate Scholarships for 2022-23, with selected scholars receiving a grant of up to Rs 2 lakh. The Reliance Foundation Undergraduate Scholarships are awarded on merit-cum-means basis to students in any stream of study. For this year, selected scholars are from Engineering/Technology, Science, Medicine, Commerce, Arts, Business/Management, Computer Applications, Law, Education, Hospitality, Architecture and other professional degrees. The 5,000 scholars for 2022-23 cycle, of whom 51% are girls, were selected from nearly 40,000 applicants studying at over 4,984 educational institutions through a rigorous selection process, which involved an aptitude test, Class 12 marks and other eligibility criteria. Further reflecting the diversity inherent to the programme, this round saw selection of 99 students with disabilities for award of scholarships. By enabling access to education, the Reliance Foundation Scholarships hope to give wings to dreams of young people. This is a diverse group of scholars as they are from varying disciplines of study, from nearly all the states of India and with girls and boys being equally represented. We congratulate every selected scholar and we are confident that they will build a strong future for themselves while contributing to Indias progress, said Mr Jagannatha Kumar, CEO, Reliance Foundation. The Reliance Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Reliance Industries Limited, had in December announced it will award 50,000 scholarships over the next 10 years. Since 1996, the Dhirubhai Ambani Scholarships have been awarded to nearly 13,000 undergraduate scholars on merit-cum-means basis, of whom 2,720 scholars were people with disabilities. top videos The announcement of the selected Reliance Foundation Postgraduate Scholars for 2022-23 is expected in July. The applications call for the next round of Reliance Foundation Undergraduate Scholarships (2023-24) will be made in the coming months, a press release said. Disclosure: News18.com is part of Network18 Media & Investment Limited which is owned by Reliance Industries Limited TV actor Aditya Singh Rajput was found dead at his home in Mumbai on Monday. A friend discovered the actor in an unconscious state in his bathroom and took him to a hospital, where Aditya was declared dead. Aditya Singh Rajput was a popular TV actor, model, and casting coordinator in Mumbai. He was also a part of Splitsvilla season 9. For More: Actor Aditya Singh Rajput Found Dead In Home; Splitsvilla Fame Spoke About Happiness In Last Post Vikram has now responded to Anurag Kashyap a day after the filmmakers claims. Taking to Twitter today, Vikram wrote, Dear @anuragkashyap72, Just revisiting our conversation from over a year ago for the sake of our friends and well wishers on social media." Chiyaan Vikram said that he had reached out to the filmmaker directly and had explained that he hadnt received any emails or messages since the email address used was inactive and his phone number had changed two years before the said communication. For More: Vikram Reacts to Anurag Kashyap Claiming He Didnt Respond To Kennedy Offer; Says, I called you myself Popular actor Sarath Babu passed away in Hyderabad on Monday morning. He was 71. Sarath Babu had been keeping unwell for the past few weeks and was undergoing treatment at the AIG Hospital in Gachibowli, Hyderabad. For More: Sarath Babu, Popular Tamil And Telugu Actor, Passes Away In Hyderabad RRR Star Ram Charan arrived in Srinagar today to take part in the 3rd G20 Working Group meeting kickstarting from Monday. The three-day long summit that is taking place in Jammu & Kashmirs capital featured Ram Charan engaging in an insightful discussion on Film Tourism in a diverse and rich democracy like India. In his interaction, Ram Charan expressed his love for Jammu & Kashmir. For More: G20 Summit: Ram Charan Expresses His Love For Jammu & Kashmir, Been Coming Here Since 1986 top videos Shah Rukh Khan and Gauri Khans daughter Suhana Khan is celebrating her birthday today. She is one of the most popular star kids and on this special occasion, the actor took to his social handle to celebrate his daughters birthday in the most heartwarming way. The doting father shared an adorable video, expressing his love and warm wishes for his beloved daughter as she turned a year older. For More: Shah Rukh Khan Wishes Daughter Suhana On Her Birthday With An Adorable Video; Says Love You Baby A day after a techie died in Bengaluru after being stranded in her car in a waterlogged underpass in Karnatakas Bengaluru, Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar has ordered a report on all underpasses in the state. A 22-year-old woman techie working in Infosys died on Sunday after the car she was travelling in with her family got stranded in a heavily waterlogged KP Circle underpass in Bengaluru amid heavy rainfall. The family was heading towards Cubbon Park when the incident took place. While five members of the family and the driver were rescued, the 22-year old, identified as Bhanurekha, was unable to survive. Newly sworn-in Karnataka Deputy CM DK Shivakumar on Monday said a report on all the underpasses in the state, including the 18 underpasses in Bengaluru, has been ordered. Bengaluru: We have ordered for a report on all the underpasses in the state including the 18 underpasses in Bengaluru, following the death of a techie. Everything won't happen in a day but will ensure that such an incident doesn't happen again. It is our duty to protect our pic.twitter.com/F8om4DfucO ANI (@ANI) May 22, 2023 Everything wont happen in a day but will ensure that such an incident doesnt happen again. It is our duty to protect our citizens lives," DK Shivakumar added. Upon receiving news of the incident, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah promptly visited the hospital to assess the situation. In response to the tragedy, he had announced a compensation of Rs 5 lakh to be provided to the bereaved family as well as free medical treatment for those admitted to the hospital. The family from Vijayawada in Andhra Pradesh had hired a car and come to see Bengaluru. Bhanurekha works in Infosys. Due to the downpour, the barricade at the underpass fell down and the driver took the risk of crossing the underpass, which he should not have," Siddaramaiah said. According to witnesses at the scene, the driver of the car made an ill-advised attempt to navigate through the water, resulting in the vehicle becoming partially submerged in the middle of the underpass. In a frantic effort to save themselves, the occupants of the car emerged from it. A witness told News18 that the engine of the vehicle in which Bhanurekha was travelling was switched off and as soon as the vehicle got stuck, the occupants started panicking and yelled for help. The commuters on the bridge over the underpass rushed to help, some of them tied sarees and dupattas together for the passengers to hold on to, while others called the fire service. Former CM Basavaraj Bommai, meanwhile, said heavy rains and underpass waterlogging happened earlier also, adding that no death has ever taken place due to the same. top videos Timely action by BBMP could have saved the life, said Basavaraj Bommai. Heavy rains and underpass waterlogging happened earlier also but I dont remember any death happening beforethis [death] could have been avoided and timely action by BBMP could have saved the life. There are some lapses, needs to look into it," ANI quoted former Karnataka CM Basavaraj Bommai as saying. A blast at a home where firecrackers were being assembled at Maheshtala in Nandarampur Daspara killed three on Sunday evening, days after an explosion at an illegal firecracker factory in Erga in West Bengals East Midnapore left 12 dead on May 16. News18 travelled to Nandarampur Daspara in Budge Budge police station area of South 24 Parganas district to check the ground reality in the area from where Diwali and Durga Puja firecrackers are bought every year. As News18 crossed Mahestala Thana Road to Nandarampur, a lot of shops were closed. As we went further inside, road blockades were in place. The angry villagers did not allow the media to enter. Hours later, Biswajit Das, a protester, told News18: We are not making bombs here, why are people saying that. We have been making firecrackers for more than 100 years. Accidents can happen anywhere, but the police raided the village and ransacked shops. Where will we go? What will we eat? A majority of families in the village are involved in making firecrackers, claiming that is their only source of livelihood since time immemorial. Shabbir Ali, another protesting villager, said, Where will we go if our work is stopped? My grandfather and father were all involved in this work. At least 35 lakh people across the state are involved in this line of work. The government should help us out. The blast has left the colour of the house changed. More than 30 people have been detained. FEAR OF LOSS OF LIVELIHOOD LOOMS Those aged 18 to 80 are involved in this occupation in the village. Amid police raids, gunpowder was thrown in a pond which led to a minor blast. All the villagers are now scared of losing their livelihood, with many still shocked. Rabiya Biwi, a local villager, said, Will everything be shut? Our entire family depends on it. We dont make bombs. The government should legalise our work, otherwise we will die of starvation. Bharatiya Janata Partys Suvendhu Adhikary has demanded a National Investigation Agency (NIA) probe, even as the state Cabinet on Monday formed a committee to see whether cluster formation for firecracker work is possible. Minister Firhad Hakim said: This system will be legalised and green firecrackers will be allowed to be made. People who are working in firecracker factories will get work there. This committee will give a report in two months. top videos As News18 was leaving the village, a woman begged, Please help us earn our living. We dont want to risk our lives, but we dont have any choice. At the time of filing this report, another blast was reported in Dubrajpur, Birbhum on Monday, making it the third in the past six days in West Bengal. A friend in need is a friend indeed, Prime Minister Narendra Modi told leaders of 14 Pacific Island nations on Monday invoking the old proverb and said those considered trustworthy were not standing by our sides in times of need", in what is being seen as an oblique reference to China. In his address to the leaders at a summit in Port Moresby, Modi said India stood by the Pacific Island nations in the challenging time and conveyed to them that they can consider New Delhi as a reliable" development partner as it respects their priorities and its approach for cooperation is based on human values. The prime minister, who arrived here on Sunday on the second leg of his three-nation tour, also underlined the importance of a free and open Indo-Pacific for the Pacific Island nations and said India respects the sovereignty and integrity of all countries. In his remarks at the FIPIC (Forum for India-Pacific Islands Cooperation) summit, Modi assured the island nations that India is ready to share its capabilities and experiences with them without any hesitation" and we are with you in every way." The prime ministers comments in the capital city of Papua New Guinea came amid Chinas aggressive behaviour in the region as well as its efforts to expand its influence in the Pacific island nations. Those whom we considered trustworthy, it turned out that they were not standing by our side in times of need. During these challenging times, an old saying has proven true: A Friend in need is a friend indeed," he said while talking about the adverse impact of Covid-19 pandemic and other global challenges. I am glad that India stood with its Pacific island friends during this challenging time. Whether it was vaccines or essential medicines, wheat or sugar; India, in line with its capabilities, has been assisting all partner countries," he said. The prime minister said Indias approach to development partnership is based on human values". India respects your priorities. It feels proud to be your development partner. Whether its humanitarian assistance or your development, you can count India as a reliable partner. Our perspective is based on human values," he said. Explaining Indias priorities for the island nations, Modi said: For me, you are not small island states, but large ocean countries. It is this vast ocean that connects India with all of you. Indian philosophy has always viewed the world as one family." He also announced a series of new development initiatives by India in the areas of healthcare and cyberspace including establishing a super-specialty cardiology hospital in Fiji, setting up dialysis units in all 14 Pacific island countries as well as sea ambulances for them. Modi also announced bringing Jan Aushadhi Centers to the island nations for ensuring medicines at affordable prices besides a project for the development of the small and medium enterprise sector in every Pacific Island country. To address the water scarcity issue, Modi pledged to provide desalination units for the people of every Pacific Island country. In his address, he said the world has gone through a difficult period of Covid-19 pandemic and many other challenges and their impact has been felt mostly by the countries of the Global South. Climate change, natural disasters, hunger, poverty, and various health-related challenges were already prevalent. Now, new issues are emerging. Barriers are arising in the supply chains of food, fuel, fertilizer, and pharmaceuticals," he said. The prime minister also reaffirmed Indias strong support for a free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific. We share your belief in multilateralism. We support a free, open, and inclusive Indo-Pacific. We respect the sovereignty and integrity of all countries," he said. Modi said the voice of the Global South" should also resonate strongly in the UN Security Council. For this, reform of the international institutions should be our shared priority." I had discussions with Australia, the US and Japan in Hiroshima as part of the Quad. This dialogue has a special focus on the Indo-Pacific region. In the Quad meeting, we have taken a decision to establish the Radio Access Network (RAN) in Palau," he said. In a plurilateral format, we will enhance partnership with Pacific Island countries," Modi said. Modi conveyed to the Pacific Island nations that India is ready to share its capabilities and experiences with them without any hesitation". Whether its digital technology or space technology; whether its health security or food security; whether its climate change or environmental conservation; we are with you in every way," he said. The prime minister also highlighted Indias priorities under its G20 presidency. The theme of our ongoing G-20 Presidency this year, One Earth, One Family, One Future, is also based on this ideology," he said. This year, in January, we organised the Voice of Global South Summit, in which your representatives participated and shared their thoughts," he said. I congratulate you for that. India considers it a responsibility to bring the issues, expectations and aspirations of the Global South to the attention of the world through the G-20 platform," he added. The summit was co-chaired by Prime Minister Modi along with his counterpart from Papua New Guinea. Indias engagement with the 14 Pacific Island Countries (PICs) is part of New Delhis Act East Policy. A major part of Indias engagement with PICs is through development assistance under South-South Cooperation which is mainly in the form of capacity building and community development projects. A major initiative launched under the rubric of the Act East Policy for the PICs is the Forum for India-Pacific Islands Cooperation (FIPIC). Prime Minister Modi hosted the first FIPIC summit in Suva on November 19, 2014, during his visit to Fiji. top videos The second FIPIC summit was held in Jaipur on August 21 again with all 14 PICs taking part. At that summit, India announced initiatives across a wide array of areas to assist the PICs in facing challenges and achieving aspirations for the well-being and development of its people. The torrential rain that hit Bengaluru on Sunday saw several areas dangerously flooding and this also caused the tragic death of an Infosys employee, Bhanurekha, who was trapped in the backseat of an MUV. The vehicle was submerged in an underpass near KR Circle, just metres away from Vidhana Soudha, the seat of governance in Karnataka. The presence of mind of a News18 reporter who called for immediate help from a Quick Response Team (QRT), aided in saving the lives of five members of Bhanurekhas family. Manjunath Chandra, a reporter from News18 Kannada, who had been on the field covering the rain and how the city was getting flooded, gives us his first-person account of what occurred, how the family trapped below the underpass was screaming for help, and what happened subsequently. The presence of mind of our brave reporter to bring in help from the QRT and the rescue services helped in saving five out of six lives or else the casualties would have been higher, said police officials to News18. A witness said that the reporter also ensured that people avoided the underpass while the traffic piled up. It was around 3.45 pm that it suddenly turned dark and began to rain very heavily. I was near Vidhana Soudha Metro station taking video footage of the rain when I decided to move towards KR Circle to get a better visual. I was trying to find a vantage point to do my lives on television about the rain when I heard screams for help in Telugu. I could hear voices of women saying Kaapadandi (meaning save us). I rushed towards the underpass and saw a Xylo car immersed in water," recalled Manjunath. According to witnesses, the driver of the car which was hired by Bhanurekha to take her family out for a visit across the city had tried to zoom through the water in the underpass. He had not estimated the depth of the water that was getting logged and the occupants soon found themselves in water that was as high as the windshield of the vehicle. Manjunath further described how he saw the driver sitting atop the vehicle and trying to break the glass panes. The engine had switched off and none of the automatic mechanisms in the vehicle could work including the rolling down of the windows. This turned out to be a deathtrap; the passengers inside the MUV were unable to get out safely. I frantically began making calls to the police. I called the fire services which had a station less than a kilometre away. I could not get through the 112 hotline due to incessant rain. Then I began calling all the senior officers including Bengaluru police commissioner Pratap Reddy. He responded by alerting the local teams in the area. I saw a QRT that was heading towards the Cubbon Park metro station and I rushed to stop the vehicle. I opened the door of their vehicle and pleaded that they come and help the distressed family which was now in almost 7-feet-deep water," explained the reporter. I forced open the door of the moving QRT vehicle to explain the tragic situation to them and they quickly responded as well. What astounded me was when a lady from the public opened her saree and tried to give it to the trapped family. Though it was not enough, people also tried to bring in cloth banners and sheets to help them stay afloat." The rain continued to last the city and the fire services managed to reach the location ten minutes after the call was made. Two of the family members were pulled out by swimmers from the QRT while the others were brought to safety using a ladder from the fire services department. Manjunath hoped his very good presence of mind and timely calls helped us avert a major disaster. Though we tried to save one of the occupants, she was trapped in the back seat and was in extremely bad shape by the time she was pulled out," explained a local police officer who was on the field. Karnataka DGP Praveen Sood also praised Manjunaths efforts to seek immediate help, call the top officials, and gather as much assistance as possible to save the family. He called me in panic and I immediately activated our team and called the police commissioner. Manjunaths interventions were very timely as otherwise it would have caused a bigger casualty. If I understand correctly, he tried to elicit a lot of help from the public who were there and many did not stop. In this age when people are busy taking videos of such incidents, Manjunath put humanity first and tried to save lives, which is commendable," Sood told News18. The survivors were rushed to the nearest hospital. Unfortunately, Bhanurekha died at the hospital where she was taken for immediate medical attention. The hospital authorities said that she had been received in the emergency room with no pulse and the ECG had shown a flatline. top videos She had lost her life due to drowning," said a doctor from Bengalurus St Marthas Hospital. Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah visited the family at the hospital and announced a compensation of Rs 5 lakh to Bhanurekhas family. Two persons returning home from work were killed when a car collided head-on with their motorcycle in Maharashtras Palghar district, police said on Monday. The accident took place at around 7:30 pm on Sunday near Palgaon in Boisar Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) area, an official from the police control room told PTI. The deceased Narendra Chintaman Bari (42) and Rupesh Bari (40) worked at a company in the MIDC. They were returning home when the car collided with their two-wheeler, the official said. The bodies were sent to a government hospital for post-mortem. The car driver was detained and booked under relevant provisions of the Indian Penal Code and the Motor Vehicles Act, the official said, adding there were three more persons in the vehicle. It was not yet known if the car driver was under the influence of alcohol, he said. top videos After the incident, residents of Nandgaon village gathered near a hospital and demanded immediate arrest of the person responsible for the two deaths. They complained to the police about the rash and negligent driving by car drivers leading to fatal accidents in the area and said such incidents need to be checked. YEREVAN, MAY 22, ARMENPRESS. During his first visit to Armenia this week (22-23 May), the UKs Minister for Europe, Leo Docherty, will urge for a peaceful resolution to the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh as negotiations continue between Armenia and Azerbaijan, the British Embassy in Armenia said in a press release. He will call on both sides to continue substantive negotiations to resolve all outstanding tensions including the closure of Lachin Corridor in a peaceful and sustainable way. He will also say that immediate action needs to be taken to restore the flow of goods and people into Nagorno-Karabakh. Ahead of the visit, Minister Docherty said: The conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh is affecting thousands of people, and while we are supporting humanitarian efforts, the only way this will end is through both sides continuing to engage fully in good faith negotiations. The UK is committed to supporting Armenias democratic and economic reform agenda. I am proud that the UK is funding programmes to protect freedoms and boost prosperity. "While in Yerevan, Minister Docherty will reiterate the UKs long-standing support for Armenias democratic and economic development. During meetings with the Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, he will also discuss security, defence and the strengthening of trade relations. "He will announce the launch of a Strategic Dialogue that will take place between the two countries later this year as well as underline a desire to sign a Comprehensive Enhanced Partnership, an agreement which will enhance our countries economic relationship. "In addition, Minister Docherty will meet Members of Parliament and the Minister of Economy. He will also visit representatives from across civil society and business, including companies with ties to the UK. The Minister will discuss opportunities to strengthen the UK-Armenia trading relationship and grow both of our economies. "Minister Docherty will visit a Research and Training Centre at the Armenian Parliament and a project developing the textiles industry. They are both part of the UKs programme to support Armenia. The UK funded programmes worth nearly 4 million supporting Armenias democratic and economic reform agenda in 2022. "As well as contributing to humanitarian efforts related to Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, UK funding is also supporting Armenias efforts towards green transition; tackling disinformation by promoting media self-regulation and effective cooperation with the state authorities in regulating the sphere; promoting conflict resolution through facilitation of dialogue, enabling healthy debate and promoting the Women, Peace and Security Agenda," the embassy said. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday met people from the Indian diaspora after his arrival in Sydney. People greeted the PM with great fervour and some of them sang songs in his praise. Suno suno oh duniyawalon Bharat ne bulaya hai, Modi ji ke navbharat ko aage aur badhana hai, some women were heard singing. To which, Modi responded with Waah, Waah" and clapped for them. Landed in Sydney to a warm welcome by the Indian community. Looking forward to various programmes over the next two days. pic.twitter.com/gE8obDI5eD Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) May 22, 2023 PM Modi, who arrived in Syndey for the third and final leg of his three-nation tour, will hold talks with his Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese and attend a community event to celebrate the countrys dynamic, diverse Indian diaspora. Modi is visiting Australia from May 22-24 as a guest of the Australian Government. Ahead of Modis arrival, Prime Minister Albanese said in a statement, I am honoured to host Prime Minister Modi for an official visit to Australia, after receiving an extremely warm welcome in India earlier this year." Australia and India share a commitment to a stable, secure and prosperous Indo-Pacific. Together we have an important role to play in supporting this vision," he said, amidst Chinas aggressive behaviour in the region as well as its efforts to expand its influence. During the visit, the Prime Ministers will attend a community event in Sydney to celebrate Australias dynamic and diverse Indian diaspora, a core part of our multicultural community", the Australian government said in a statement. Modi arrived in Syndey from Papua New Guinea, where he held talks with his counterpart James Marape and took stock of their bilateral relations. He also discussed ways to further augment cooperation in areas like commerce, technology, healthcare and climate change. The two leaders co-hosted the Forum for India-Pacific Islands Cooperation (FIPIC) summit on Monday, fostering regional cooperation. My Papua New Guinea visit has been a historic one. I will greatly cherish the affection received among the people of this wonderful nation. I also had the opportunity to interact with respected FIPIC leaders and discuss ways to deepen ties with their respective nations," Modi tweeted. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics 2016 census, 619,164 people in Australia declared that they were of ethnic Indian ancestry. This comprises 2.8 per cent of the Australian population. Among those, 592,000 were born in India. Prime Minister Modi last visited Australia in 2014. Modi began his three-nation tour on Friday from Japan where he attended three sessions at the G7 summit following an invitation by Japanese counterpart Fumio Kishida. Modi along with US President Joe Biden, Japanese Prime Minister Kishida and his Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese also attended the 3rd in-person Quad Summit in Hiroshima. The Quad meeting was moved to the sidelines of the G-7 summit in Hiroshima after US President Biden postponed his trip to Australia to return to Washington, amid ongoing negotiations over raising the US debt limit. top videos (With PTI inputs) The 16.5 km long deck of Mumbai Trans Harbour Sea Link (MTHL), the longest sea bridge in the country", will be reportedly completed by May 25-26. The MTHL will be the first bridge in India to have an Open Road Tolling (ORT) system and is expected to make travel from Sewri in central Mumbai to Chirle in Navi Mumbai possible in 15 to 20 minutes. Once the entire deck for the sea link is laid, vehicles will be allowed on the bridge, according to a report by Times Now. The MTHL will be 22-km-long comprising 5.5 km via ducts on land on both sides and the 16.5 km bridge running over the sea, with 70,000 vehicles likely to zoom across it daily in both directions. With this project, the government aims to alleviate traffic congestion and stimulate economic development in the region. It is a 6-lane road bridge plus 2 emergency lanes, spanning the harbour between Sewri on the Mumbai side and Chirle in Navi Mumbai on the mainland, and would be longest sea bridge in India after completion. Estimated to cost around Rs 18,000 crore, the project is being implemented on a Design-Build basis with a loan from the Japan International Cooperation Agency. As per media reports, after the deck launch, the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) will shift its focus to other tasks including- waterproofing, asphalting, and the construction of crash barriers along the sea link. top videos Furthermore, the MMRDA will also commence the installation of CCTV cameras, lampposts, and toll infrastructure. With the ORT system, commuters would have a seamless pass through toll booths at speeds of up to 100 km without the need to slow down. Jailed Aam Aadmi Party leader and former Delhi minister Satyendar Jain was brought to Safdarjung Hospital on Monday after he complained of deterioration in health. A couple of before and after images shared on social media reveal a drastic difference in Jains appearance since his arrest. On May 15, the former minister approached the Supreme Court seeking bail in a money laundering case against him. He has challenged the Delhi High Courts order dismissing his bail plea. The SC will hear the matter on May 26. The HC while dismissing Jains plea in April stated that the applicant is an influential person and has the potential of tampering with evidence. top videos In his bail plea, Jain stated, I appeared before ED on 7 occasions. I have cooperated and participated in the investigation. I was arrested 5 years down the line in 2022." The Enforcement Directorate had arrested Jain on May 30 last year on the charge of laundering money through four companies allegedly linked to him. Congress leader Rahul Gandhis visit to the United States in June, during which he is slated to address public meetings and interact with university students, is aimed at promoting shared values and a vision of real democracy", Indian Overseas Congress chairperson Sam Pitroda has said. Gandhi is scheduled to visit San Francisco, Washington DC and New York, where he is planning to address two public meetings with Indian Americans, meet lawmakers at Capitol Hill and members of think tanks, interact with university students and meet Wall Street executives, said Indian Overseas Congress, the organizers of the events, on Sunday. Sharing the agenda and purpose of Gandhis visit to the United States, Pitroda said, We are not here to complain. We are here to share what is going on in India. Indian democracy is the biggest democracy in the world and we owe it to the people to tell them about the real situation on the ground." We are not asking for everybody to come and help us. We can deal with the problems. We want to share with you what is needed," he told a group of Congress supporters in Chicago. He was addressing a Karnataka Assembly victory celebration in Chicago which was organised by eminent community leader Ifteqar Sheriff and the Indian Overseas Congress-USA. The purpose of his (Gandhis) trip is to connect, interact and begin a new conversation with various individuals, institutions and media, including the Indian diaspora that is growing in numbers in the United States and abroad to promote the shared values and vision of the real democracy with a focus on freedom, inclusion, sustainability, justice, peace and opportunities world over," Pitroda said in a statement on Sunday. George Abraham, the vice-chairman of the Indian Overseas Congress-USA, said, I hope that Rahul Gandhis visit will energise the diaspora into a renewed appreciation of democracy and freedom the Indian diaspora aspires to have as they constitute more than 30 million non-resident Indians who live around the world." Pitroda said the Indian Overseas Congress has planned multiple meetings for Gandhi in the three cities. We have lots of meetings planned with think tanks, universities; a thousand people in San Francisco, 200 people having dinner in Washington DC The programme is jam-packed to a point. We dont even have half-an-hour flexibility," he told a group of Congress supporters in Chicago. It has been worked out. And he (Gandhi) does a great job when he gets a chance to interact with people. He doesnt like to broadcast like a Mann ki Baat. He likes to interact and thats what Indian democracy is all about to listen to people. So, we hope that we get a good reception on the Capitol Hill," Pitroda said. In San Francisco, Gandhi is likely to meet a group of artists, while a private dinner has been planned by eminent Indian-American Frank Islam at his mansion in the Potomac suburb of Washington DC. top videos In March this year, Gandhi had visited the UK during which his remarks alleging that the structures of Indian democracy are under attack and there is a full-scale assault" on the countrys institutions, had created a row back home. His remarks had triggered a political slugfest, with the BJP accusing him of maligning India on foreign soil and seeking foreign interventions, and the Congress hit back at the ruling party by citing instances of Prime Minister Narendra Modi raising internal politics abroad. A man from Uttar Pradesh recently walked out of jail after 20 years. What was his crime? He did not do anything. Well, you read it right. Now the question is why did he spend two decades of his precious life behind bars if he had not committed any crime? Abdullah Ayyub was arrested with 25 grams of heroin worth Rs 1 crore on March 14, 2003. The substance recovered was not heroin and it took Ayyub two decades to prove that the heroin" seized was normal powder sold at shops. Ayyubs lawyer Prem Prakash Srivastava said his client had evicted a police constable named Khurshid from his home after he failed to pay rent. In a rage of revenge, Khurshid hatched a conspiracy with three other police officials to implicate Ayyub in a false case, Srivastava told India Today. According to Ayyubs lawyer, these policemen planted fake heroin to implicate Ayyub and also tampered with forensic evidence. During the trial, a forensic lab in Basti said the substance recovered was heroin. But the real story came to light when the substance was sent to Lucknow and that confirmed that it was not heroin at all. However, the sample was sent to a forensic lab in Delhi, where these cops tampered with the evidence. top videos As reports were contradictory, the court summoned expert scientists from Lucknow who said that the sample was fake and had a brown colour. As per scientists, heroin remains white and never changes its colour in any climate. After scientists statements, Justice Vijay Kumar Katiyar acquitted the wrongfully accused victim. Coming down heavily on the prosecution, the judge observed that the police had misrepresented the whole matter and said the prosecution had wasted the time of the court. Former Mumbai NCB chief Sameer Wankhede, who is being questioned by the CBI for allegedly demanding bribe of Rs 25 crore from actor Shah Rukh Khan for not implicating his son Aryan in the Cordelia cruise drug bust case, has claimed to be receiving threats on social media. Sources told News18 that Wankhede, an Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officer, will meet Mumbai Commissioner of Police Vivek Phansalkar on Monday to apprise him of the situation and request additional security. Wankhede has reportedly alleged that he and his wife, actor Kranti Redkar, have been receiving vulgar messages and threats. My wife Kranti Redkar and I are receiving threats for the last four days and obscene messages on social media. I will write to Mumbai Police Commissioner today about it and demand special security," news agency ANI quoted Wankhede as saying. The CBI had booked Wankhede and four others on May 11 for alleged criminal conspiracy and threat of extortion, besides provisions pertaining to bribery under the Prevention of Corruption Act on a complaint by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB). The Bombay High Court has directed the CBI not to take any coercive action", such as arrest, against Wankhede till May 22. Seeking quashing of the FIR, Wankhede has alleged before the High Court that the draft complaint" in the 2021 drugs-on-cruise case named Aryan Khan as an accused, but it was later replaced and Aryans name was dropped. Aryan Khan was arrested by the NCB on October 3, 2021, following the alleged drug seizure on board the Cordelia cruise ship off the Mumbai coast. He was granted bail by the High Court three weeks later as the anti-drugs agency failed to substantiate its charges against him. The CBI alleged that the NCBs Mumbai zone received information in October 2021 regarding the consumption and possession of narcotic substances by various individuals on the cruise ship, and some NCB officers conspired to get bribes from the accused in return for letting them off. top videos Wankhede has denied the allegations against him. His petition in the High Court provided transcriptions of phone chats with Shah Rukh Khan during the period Aryan was in NCB custody. It cited Khan pleading with Wankhede to be kind to his son and praising the officer for his uprightness". With PTI inputs Mira Kapoors undeniable diva status shines through her impeccable fashion experiments, effortlessly making each look her own. Her unique style choices never fail to captivate fans, who eagerly await updates on her wardrobe additions and fashion statements. Recently, Mira delighted her followers with a series of photos from an extravagant award ceremony, giving them a glimpse of her stunning ensemble. During a recent award ceremony, Mira Kapoor made a striking appearance in a captivating gown by fashion designer Amit Aggarwal. The off-shoulder gown showcased an elegant black and white stripe pattern, exuding sophistication and style. To complement her ensemble, Mira accessorized with stunning statement diamond earrings and a ring from Mahesh Notandass. Her hair was styled in a chic ponytail adorned with wavy curls, completing her glamorous look for the evening. Her makeup artist for the day, Richard Joseph, complemented her look with silver eyeshadow, mascara-laden eyelashes, and nude lipstick. Didnt they say diamonds are a girls best friend, captioned Meera as she posted her dazzling pictures posing against a white and green backdrop. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Mira Rajput Kapoor (@mira.kapoor) Well, it is not the first time that Mira chose to go with a white outfit to rock an event. Recently, she was snapped at the grand opening of NMCCC, the Nita Mukesh Ambani Cultural Centre. Shahid Kapoors wife Mira also marked her presence at the event, wearing a breathtaking white attire. Her dreamy appearance at the event garnered the attention of her fans and she was showered with appreciation and praises for her on-point fashion game. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Mira Rajput Kapoor (@mira.kapoor) Mira Kapoors pictures had everyone swooning as she shared snapshots of her stunning ensemble on Instagram. The attention to detail was evident as she paired her draped gown with bracelets that beautifully echoed the intricate design of the dress. The pastel green beaded neckpiece and bracelet flawlessly matched the attire, adding a touch of elegance. Miras hair was styled in a low bun with side hair tied, enhancing the overall aesthetic. Her sheen makeup look was impeccably done, highlighting her features perfectly. Mira Kapoors caption, White is always right," aptly captured the essence of her impeccable fashion choice. Having made his acting debut with Vishal Bhardwajs Maqbool, Deepak Dobriyal rose to prominence with his character Pappi in Aanand L Rais Tanu Weds Manu, alongside R Madhavan and Kangana Ranaut. Since then, he has been unstoppable, delivering praiseworthy performances in films like Angrezi Medium, Good Luck Jerry, Bhediya and more. He was recently seen in the OTT series, Saas Bahu aur Flamingo, as the antagonist. In an exclusive chat with News18 Showsha, the actor opened up on being still considered as an underrated actor, working with the new generation of actors and his fondest memories of his co-star, late Irrfan Khan. Excerpts: As an actor who has predominantly played comedy roles, have you ever worried about being typecast? Whatever the role may be, I try to do it with utmost sincerity and dedication. Whether its a supporting role or a lead role, Im involved in it completely. Main poori shiddat se karta hoon. Typecasting usually happens only in comedy roles or when it comes to roles like the heros friend. You dont feel typecast in any other genre. There are different emotions (Nav Ras) in acting. We dwell within 3-4 emotions only. As an actor, I want to grow and experience all the emotions of acting. I want to break free from my comfort zone and take on projects that I havent tried before. How was it working with Dimple Kapadia in Saas, Bahu Aur Flamingo? She treats everyone as equal on sets. She seems casual on the surface, but then, when she sits alone with her scripts, she becomes a whole new person. She is so passionate about her work. When others would sleep, she would be by the swimming pool working on her script. The dedication is unparalleled. You had previously dedicated an award you won for Good Luck Jerry to Janhvi Kapoor. You mentioned that you wanted to dedicate the award to her because people watched the film due to her fan following. Do you think that this perspective is now changing? Are films still star-driven or moving towards a more performance driven model? When I receive awards, I express gratitude to everyone involved so that I dont become complacent and let success get to my head. In Bholaa, the costume designer and makeup artist deserve as much praise as I do. Ajay bhai (Devgn) deserves recognition for casting me in that role. I have a clear understanding of this in my mind. I dont want the entire cake I just want a slice of it. Whoever deserves credit should get it rightfully. During Tanu Weds Manu, I mentioned Himanshu Sharma because people often overlook the contribution of writers. Good Luck Jerry premiered on OTT. If it werent for the star power of Janhvi Kapoor, hardly anyone would have seen it. I dont want to be the one who claims credit for everything. I always give myself a reality check. In your two-decade-long career, youve delivered many memorable performances. And yet, you are still often referred to as an underrated actor. What do you believe is the reason behind this perception? I love the fact that the audience perceives me as underrated. To me, there cant be a greater compliment. It goes on to say that they expect more from me and that they havent grown tired of my work yet. In showbiz, its important to bring freshness to each project. Being underrated is a beautiful thing. It feels like people are still watching my showreel, and my actual work is yet to come. I am constantly learning and evolving. Many senior actors get stuck in one role, and I feel sorry for them. One must continue to learn. Have you ever had to make an effort to break away from your comic actor image? Did you face challenges in convincing filmmakers to cast you in serious roles? I never ask to be cast in a role. The director should cast me based on merit. If they have any doubts, Im willing to suggest three other names who might be a better fit. I am not greedy for roles. My goal is for the director to give me a role that they are satisfied with. I have worked in 30 films so far, and the directors have been happy with my performances. Yeh field hee belief system ka hain. You need to believe your actor. When working with actors from the new generation, such as Janhvi Kapoor and Radhika Madan, do you feel that they are more prepared and confident? How is it working with the younger lot? The newer generation lacks patience. Agar jis cheez ka confidence chahiye woh nehi hain, aur kisi dusre cheez ka hai, toh gadbad hain. You need confidence in the specific thing youre pursuing. Vishwanathan Anand can play chess, but he cant run like Ronaldo. Ronaldo cant play chess. This clarity is crucial. There is a lot of hype on social media and excessive exposure. Theres no exclusivity among the newer actors anymore. Everyone knows everything. Give yourself time, at least two hours, as an actor. Sab airport mein busy hai. I want to ask them kya karke aa rahe ho? Kya karne jaa rahe ho? You started your career with Irrfan. You also featured in the late actors last film, Angrezi Medium. Tell us about the relationship you shared with him. We shared a great working relationship. He supported me wholeheartedly. I was working on a film and the DOP told me Thora sa Irrfan bhai ka jhalak dikha. Shayad kuch andar reh gaya hai. He showed me a still photo. One of my biggest achievements is that I made him laugh a lot during Angrezi Medium. I considered making him laugh my work. He would tear up from laughing. His infectious laugh reverberates in my mind. Adhi from the music duo Hiphop Tamizha last essayed the titular role in the film Anbarivu. Now, he is gearing up for his upcoming release Veeran. ARK Saravan has directed the film, which will hit the theatres on June 2. Saregama Tamil unveiled the official trailer of Veeran on May 20 and it shows a person explaining a scientific phenomenon on television. He shared that Laser Power Technology should be used only in inhabitant places otherwise, it can cause the world to explode. The trailer then shows Adhi, who receives the laser power from the stone kept in a temple, which a scientist wants to destroy to make a pipeline for that laser. What happens afterwards forms the core theme of the film. Watch the trailer here: The trailer has garnered more than 3.5 million views and is trending on 1 YouTube. Social media users loved the trailer of this superhero fantasy-based film and wrote that they are eagerly looking forward to it. Actors Vinay Rai, Athira Raj, Munishkanth, Kali Venkat and Sassi Selvaraj also acted in this film. The Hiphop Tamizha duo composed the music for Veeran. Deepak D Menon has handled the cinematography. GK Prasanna is in charge of the editing. Sendhil Thyagarajan and Arjun Thyagarajan have produced this film. Adhi is also looking forward to his film titled PT Sir, which narrates the storyline of a teacher and how he introduces physical activities in a school. Actresses Kashmira Pardeshi, Anikha Surendran, Munishkanth, B Thyagarajan, and others have also acted in this film. PT Sir is currently in the production process and its release date is not known. Karthik Venugopalan has written and directed this movie. Vels Film International unveiled the trailer of this movie which received an excellent response from the audience. Adhis last release as an actor was Anbarivu directed by Aswin Raam. This film revolved around the story of twins Anbu and Arivu, who are separated as infants. Anbu lives with his mother and grandfather, while Arivu grows up with his father. How they reunite their family forms the premise of this film. Anbarivu failed to impress the audience and was a box-office disappointment. Bollywood diva and VJ Anusha Dandekar showed off her perfect 10 figure as she shared a photo of herself from her French vacay. The actress is currently living her best life by the beaches in Saint-Tropez, a coastal town on the French Riviera. In the picture she shared, Anusha can be seen flaunting her killer curves, covered in sand, while sporting a white bikini. She let her blonde hair loose in beachy, cascading waves and wore minimalistic jewellery. She captioned the photo in French, Un peux de francais fait du bien a ton ame (white heart emoji)". It loosely translates to A little French is good for your soul". Check out the post right here: A week back, Anusha took off to France with her girlfriends. She took to Instagram to share that shes having just the best time in Europe. Sharing a picture of herself, Just a Desi girl, who took a flight to France, Germany came in between, now shopping Italian things and letting the European breeze & sun set her soul free The beginning" In another picture, she can be seen in a grey cami top. She wrote in the caption, I just wanna know, do blondes have more fun?" In one of her stories, Anusha can be seen raising the temperature in a black bikini set. She captioned it, Pool day in Saint Tropez." Anusha, who began her career in showbiz as a VJ on MTV, recently revealed how her male co-hosts would receive double the salary and enjoy more airtime compared to their female counterparts. Anusha hosted many shows including House of Style, Love School, Dance Crew, Teen Diva for MTV. She was also one of the judges on Indias Next Top Model. YEREVAN, MAY 22, ARMENPRESS. Armenia hopes the expected reactions of Azerbaijan on a peace treaty to reflect the discussions and understanding of the Washington foreign ministerial talks, PM Nikol Pashinyan said when asked whether or not the signing of a peace treaty is planned anytime during the upcoming negotiations. Negotiations in Moscow are planned for May 25. Pashinyan said signing a peace treaty by May 25 would be unrealistic. I cant rule it out if we were to have success in having a common understanding regarding the opening of connections. Our task is to complete the negotiations and sign a peace treaty as soon as possible. Our team is working very intensively, Pashinyan said. Armenia had conveyed to Azerbaijan an amended version of the peace treaty before the Washington talks and now Yerevan is waiting for Bakus response. We hope [the Azerbaijani response] will reflect the discussions, understanding and agreements, the progress of understanding during the Washington talks. If Azerbaijan would convey its response this week and one week were to be enough for studying it, if we were to see that we find these proposals and approaches to be acceptable in terms of compromise logic, then why not? But so far we havent received their response, Pashinyan said. Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah has been making headlines for all the wrong reasons. Now, in a fresh interview with News18 Showsha, Monika Bhadoriya, who used to play the role of Bawri in the popular sitcom, has made several shocking allegations against TMKOC producer Asit Kumar Modi. Monika revealed that Asit Modi would have a lot of fights" with co-star Munmun Dutta too. Munmun was missing from the show for a few months last year. Munmun hasnt left the show but she must be tortured and therefore she must not have come to the sets for a long time," Monika told us. When they torture a lot, people decide that they cannot comeback to work but then they call back and try to make things better. A lot of fights have happened with her (Munmun Dutta) too. She has also left the sets several times after arguments. She has not come to sets then for several days," the actress added. Monika further alleged that females are not respected on the sets of Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah and said, They do not value females. If a female actor is done with her shoot, they ask them to stay back. They try to finish male actors shoot first. Come what may, they do not value females there." Monika further claimed that female actors are not even given equal pay in TMKOC despite same screen time as their male counterparts. Males are paid more. They pay us very less in comparison to male actors even if the screen time for both actors is same. They abuse females there. What else can you expect? I can never tell you what all they say. I can never use such dirty language," she argued. The actress concluded by saying that Asit Kumarr Modi is misguided by his team and therefore he mistreats people in his show. Asit Modis team has been changed. His new team misguides him. He does not get to know the whole thing. Therefore, he listens something, understands something else and then mistreats people. He talks very badly with everyone," she told us. Samantha Ruth Prabhu, South Superstar is making major strides with films like Kaathuvaakula Rendu Kaadhal and Jaanu. The actress who also made her Hindi debut with the hit OTT show The Family Man has also managed to woo the audience with her cameo song in Pushpa:The Rise Oo Antava. She also made headlines for her wit at Karan Johars controversial talk show Koffee With Karan. Besides acting, Samantha has also cemented her footing on Instagram where she enjoys a following of whipping 27.3 millions and she often shares titbits from her personal life. Following that trajectory, Samantha Ruth Prabhu took to her Instagram handle on Monday and shared a slew of pictures in her Instagram Stories that featured the Shaakuntalam actress lounging on a couch with her pet dogs. She wrote, Only Love (with heart emojis)". Samantha followed it up with a snap of a sweet delicacy that was captioned, When there are cravings, there is @vibrantlivingbysridevijasti" as well as a picture of herself getting a hair spa. She wrote, Favourite human @loicindia". Following her film Shaakuntalam, Samantha Ruth Prabhu is now rumoured to join forces with Telugu actor Siddhu Jonnalagadda, igniting excitement among fans with the prospect of their onscreen chemistry in an upcoming romantic film. Notably, Siddhu Jonnalagaddas popularity soared after his remarkable performance in director Vimal Krishnas musical rom-com Dj Tillu. With Samanthas stellar acting prowess and Siddhus inherent charm, this anticipated collaboration promises to introduce an exciting and dynamic new onscreen pair to the silver screen. The much-anticipated project is likely to be bankrolled under the inspection of producer Ram Talluri. Adding more to the new venture is said to be the addition of acclaimed director Nandini Reddy, as per a report in Siasat. If the report is to be believed, then the rumoured project will mark the third collaboration of Samantha Ruth Prabhu and filmmaker Nandini Reddy. The details of the plot along with the remaining cast remain unknown as of yet. It is pertinent to note that the makers havent officially announced the project, and neither Samantha nor Siddhu has confirmed or denied their reported collaboration. In terms of work, Samantha Ruth Prabhu already has a slew of interesting projects lined up in her kitty. The star, who made her Hindi debut with The Family Man: Season 2, is busy with the shooting of her much-awaited series Citadel alongside Varun Dhawan. Some of her latest social media updates remain to be about braving excessive workout blows owing to the strenuous acting sequences. In addition to this, she will romance South heartthrob Vijay Deverakonda in Shiva Nirvanas romantic-comedy Kushi, set to be released in September. She also has Chennai Story in the pipeline which is the adaptation of Indian Author Timeri N Muraris bestselling novel titled, The Arrangements of Love. Saif Ali Khan and Amrita Singhs daughter Sara Ali Khan recently made her Canned debut. The actress walked the red carpet for the 76th Cannes Film Festival. From traditional lehengas to elegant gowns, the actress made headlines for her noteworthy sartorial choices. Now, the actress opened up about her experience attending the film festival and also revealed inheriting certain qualities from her parents. The actress also shared how she built relationships in the film fraternity without her parents support despite being a star kid. In an interview with Film Companion, the actress spoke about the qualities she took Fromm her parents. She shared, My father is a thinker, he is a bit of a planner, he is a traveller and I have inherited that from him. Mum is happy to be on her own and not explore much. My father has the need to explore, travel, eat different kinds of food, and see the whole world." Calling her mom the epitome of strings, Sara shared, she is emotionally very strong. She sleeps with a lot of peace. I dont think I have her peace as yet. But, both of us are emotional beings at the core. She has never pretended to be somebody that she is not." Saif and Amrita had gotten married in January 1991 and divorced in 2004 after 13 years of marriage. They have two children - Sara Ali Khan and Ibrahim Ali Khan. In 2012, Saif married actress Kareena Kapoor. As a star kid, Sara has quite often acknowledged her privileges, however, shared that every relationship and connection she has built in the film industry has been a very independent equation. Every relationship I have established in the film fraternity has been a very independent equation, which is very nice because I have never felt the pressure to follow through with my fathers friends or my mothers friends." Sara Ali Khan shared that her mother, Amrita Singh, has encouraged her to create her own path rather than relying on her parents. She added, She (Amrita) says, Everyone has their own journey, and you should chalk out your own and this is not for me." Meanwhile, on the work front, Sara Ali Khan is awaiting the release of Zara Hatke Zara Bachke with Vicky Kaushal. Set in Indore, the small-town story starts with the on-screen couple head-over-heels for each other. However, life takes a turn a few years later, with they constantly fighting. They eventually file for a divorce but there seems to be a catch. The makers recently shared the trailer also revealed that Zara Hatke Zara Bachke will be bringing back Tum Kya Jano Mohabbat Kya Hai from Rishi Kapoors Hum Kisise Kum Naheen. Helmed by Laxman Utekar, the film is slated for a theatrical release for June 2. Manoj Bajpayees hard-hitting and eye-opening movie Sirf Ek Bandaa Kaafi Hai will be released on Zee5 on May 22, narrating the story of a fight between power and willpower. The film centres on the idea that one man is enough to move the system by using faith in law as a weapon. The movie is inspired by real-life incidents in which the session court lawyer from Jodhpur is fighting the five-year-long battle to bring justice to a minor girl who is sexually assaulted by a powerful godman. The fierce courtroom drama, which follows the incident, hooks the audience throughout the movie. The powerful acting of Manoj Bajapyee as a lawyer binds the whole movie together. Apoorv Singh Karki deserves appreciation for bringing a tale so fierce and gripping that the audience finds themselves hooked with every passing scene. The movie opens with a young girl named Nu (Adrija Singh) and her parents (Jai Hind Kumar and Durga Sharma) entering a Delhi Police Station to report the rape by a Godman (Surya Mohan Kulshrestha), whom they worship. Being a high-profile case, this one encounters numerous obstacles and setbacks. He is quickly taken to jail by the police and held for 15 days. In this five-year courtroom trial story, the movie shows the lawyer PC Solankis ( Manoj Bajpayee) ups and downs as he fights for the girls justice while maintaining his integrity above all else. Theatre veteran Surya Mohan Kulshrestha, who played the role of the godman, has only a few dialogues, but his presence and expressions are enough to captivate the audience. The spectators will fall in love with Adrija Singhs portrayal of Nu because of her innocence and authenticity. As Nus parents, Jai Hind Kumar and Durga Sharma delivered genuine performances. The filmmaker skillfully managed their rage and helplessness. Balaji Lakshminarasimhan, Vivek Tandon, Abhijeet Lahiri, and Vipin Sharma also handled the courtroom drama admirably. Actor Sonakshi Sinha says that embraces all the ups and downs in her career as valuable experiences that contribute to her personal and professional growth. From her debut in Dabangg back in 2010 alongside Salman Khan to her recent role as a police officer in the Prime Video series Dahaad, she continues to evolve in her craft. Sonakshi has been praised for portraying the role wit finesse. However, Sonakshi Sinha doesnt perceive her journey from Dabangg to Dahaad, her digital debut, as a complete full circle" just yet. She thinks she is still navigating in a spiral of growth. Its not a full circle. Meri jalebi ban rahi hai. Im still going around in a spiral. And, I want to keep growing. This is a good place I have reached in 13 years now. Whatever Ive learned, Ive learned on the job with the people Ive worked with, the roles Ive done and the things Ive worked on," Sonakshi told PTI during an interview, adding, Everything teaches you something and whatever experiences Ive had, whatever work Ive done good, bad, ugly, whatever it may be, have all led me to this moment." Over the past decade, there has been a noticeable shift in the portrayal of women police officers on screen be it the big screen or OTT. Tabu in Drishyam, Kuttey, and Bholaa, Sanya Malhotra in Kathal, Shefali Shah in the Delhi Crime series, and Raveena Tandon in Aranayak are such examples. As an actress, Sonakshi is of the opinion that these changes were long overdue. She mentioned that it is an excellent time for women actors in the industry, as well-written characters and good content are being produced, making it a fantastic period to be a part of. Its actually a really good time for a woman to be an actor in the industry because great characters are being written and theres such lovely content coming out," she said. Sonakshi says she is overwhelmed by the positive reception and praise she has received for her portrayal of Anjali Bhaati, the only female police officer in rural Rajasthan, who suspects the presence of a serial killer in Dahaad. Its like my debut has happened all over again. Im getting so many messages and calls from people I havent spoken to in a year or so. Its truly overwhelming, its been so good. Even my family loves the show," she added. Why did the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) withdraw Rs 2,000 notes from circulation? Explaining the move, the RBI said, About 89 percent of the Rs 2,000 denomination banknotes were issued prior to March 2017 and are at the end of their estimated lifespan of 4-5 years. The total value of these banknotes in circulation has declined from Rs 6.73 lakh crore at its peak as on March 31, 2018 (37.3 percent of notes in circulation) to Rs 3.62 lakh crore, constituting only 10.8 percent of notes in circulation on March 31, 2023. It has also been observed that this denomination is not commonly used for transactions. Further, the stock of banknotes in other denominations continues to be adequate to meet the currency requirement of the public. The Central Bank added, In order to ensure operational convenience and to avoid disruption of regular activities of bank branches, exchange of Rs 2,000 banknotes into banknotes of other denominations can be made upto a limit of Rs 20,000 at a time, at any bank starting from May 23, 2023. Additionally, the facility for the exchange of Rs 2,000 bank notes up to the limit of Rs 20,000 at a time will be provided at the 19 regional offices of the RBI. Why was the Rs 2,000 note introduced? As banknotes of smaller denominations became readily available, the requirement of Rs 2,000 notes was met and its printing was stopped in 2018-19 (FY19). It was introduced after the demonetisation exercise in November 2016, as it was the right step at that point, for various reasons. How many Rs 2,000 notes are currently in circulation? There are approximately 181 crore notes in the denomination of Rs 2,000. This amounts to a value of Rs 3.62 lakh crore, constituting about 10.8 percent of Indian currency notes in circulation. The number of banknotes of Rs 2,000 denomination has steadily declined over the last few years to touch 214 crore or 1.6 percent of the total currency in circulation (CIC) at the end of March 2022, according to the RBI. The total number of currency notes of all denominations in circulation stood at 13,053 crore as of March 2022, up from 12,437 crore from the year-ago period. Do note that Rs 2,000 notes have not been printed since FY19. At the end of March 2020, the number of Rs 2,000 denomination notes in circulation stood at 274 crore, accounting for 2.4 percent of the CIC. The count of Rs 2,000 notes further declined to 245 crore or 2 percent of the total banknotes in circulation as of March 2021 and further fell to 214 crore or 1.6 percent at the end of last fiscal year. The limited point is, 2,000 rupee notes have been consistently and persistently declining in volume, as a percentage of total currency notes in circulation. It was the right time, therefore, for the Modi government, to announce the calibrated exit of these notes on March 19, 2023. In value terms also, the 2,000 denomination notes dipped from 22.6 percent of the total value of currency notes in circulation in March 2020 to 17.3 percent at the end of March 2021 and further to 13.8 percent at the end of March 2022. That figure in March 2023 is even lower, at barely 10.8 percent. In volume terms, Rs 500 denomination constituted the highest share at 34.9 percent, followed by Rs 10 denomination bank notes, which constituted 21.3 percent of the total banknotes in circulation as on March 31, 2022. The 500 denomination notes accounted for 31.1 percent share at the end of March 2021 and 25.4 percent as of March 2020. In value terms, these notes rose from 60.8 percent to 73.3 percent from March 2020 to March 2022. The total value of currency notes in circulation of all denominations rose to Rs 31.05 lakh crore at the end of March 2022, from Rs 28.27 lakh crore at the end of March 2021. In value terms, the share of Rs 500 and Rs 2,000 notes together accounted for 87.1 percent of the total value of banknotes in circulation as on March 31, 2022, as against 85.7 percent at the end of March 2021. The value and volume of banknotes in circulation increased by 9.9 percent and 5 percent respectively, during 2021-22 (FY22), as compared to 16.8 percent and 7.2 percent respectively, during 2020-21 (FY21.) The CIC includes all kinds of banknotes and coins. Now that we have all the relevant numbers as mentioned above, it will be easier to appreciate the reasons why the Modi government decided to have a calibrated exit for the Rs 2,000 notes. Before delving deeper, it is important to note that what happened on November 8, 2016, was the demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes, whereby these notes ceased to become legal tender. While Rs 1000 notes ceased to exist, a fresh series of Rs 500 notes, replacing the old ones, came into play. However, what happened on May 19, 2023, is not demonetisation but simply a calibrated exit of the Rs 2,000 notes, because these notes continue to be legal tender. State Bank of India (SBI), Indias largest public sector bank, has clarified that the facility of exchange of Rs 2,000 denomination bank notes upto a limit of Rs 20,000 at a time, will be allowed without obtaining any requisition slip, which means without any identity proof. Also note that while there is an upper threshold of Rs 20,000 on the exchange of notes at a given time, there is no upper cap on the deposit of these notes. What are the advantages of this calibrated exit? Well, first and foremost, phasing out of Rs 2,000 currency notes by the RBI would help ferret out a huge part of the Rs 3.62 lakh crore worth of Rs 2,000 currency notes that are in circulation. As we have seen in several raids, where mountains of currency stored using the Rs 2,000 note were uncovered, all these instances of hoarding of cash involved the Rs 2,000 note. As the use of the Rs 2,000 note as a medium of exchange has declined significantly, it is being used primarily to hoard money by the corrupt. Hence, the calibrated withdrawal will help nail the corrupt and make their ill-gotten wealth a part of the formal banking channels, on which they have to pay relevant tax rates. But if the corrupt choose to keep their pile of Rs 2,000 notes hidden, without depositing it in banks, then their hoarded wealth eventually will not be even worth the paper that the Rs 2,000 notes are printed on. So the choice for hoarders is to either pay tax on their hoarded wealth and still keep some wealth with themselves by legitimising it, or simply lose everything. Again, the 80-20 rule suggests that 20 percent of the people hoarding the Rs 2,000 notes are likely to be hoarding/storing as much as 80 percent of the total value of these notes (Rs 3.11 lakh crore). The move will not inconvenience common people as the Rs 2,000 notes are not being used much in any case, as a medium of exchange. In fact, they currently constitute only 10.8 percent of the CIC. Again, digital payments are being used in a large number of economic transactions. So the role of physical currency notes, especially the Rs 2,000 note, as a medium of exchange has declined significantly. Additionally, the Rs 500 note could be used as a medium of exchange to substitute even the minimal use of the Rs 2,000 note. Digital transactions are expected to multiply 3x (three times) from now to 2026, thereby minimising the need for the Rs 2,000 note as a medium of exchange even more, in the coming years. There are concerns that a four-month window to deposit or exchange 80 percent of the Rs 2,000 notes in circulation, amounting to Rs 3.11 lakh crore, may not be enough. Well, it is more than enough. What is the total number of bank branches? Approximately, 1.5 lakh. On average, each branch has to accept deposits or change just 2 crore worth of Rs 2,000 notes. There are roughly four months or about 80 working days, assuming a 5-day working week and banking-related national holidays in these four months. Each day, you need each branch to replace Rs 2.5 lakh or 125 notes of the Rs 2,000 note. This, in turn, translates into a 5-minute per day, per branch, average job. Even if you assume that only 30,000 branches in top cities actively exchange the Rs 2,000 notes, even then it is just a half-hour job per branch, per day, for the next four months. There are many within the Opposition who have again started maligning the Modi governments decision pertaining to demonetisation in 2016. They need to be reminded that in January 2023, the Supreme Court of India upheld the demonetisation move of the government in a 4:1 majority verdict. The majority, comprising Justices S Abdul Nazeer, B R Gavai, A S Bopanna, and V Ramasubramanian, held that the Centres notification dated November 8, 2016, was valid and satisfied the test of proportionality. Even the only dissenting voice, Justice BV Nagarathna, held that demonetisation was well-intentioned. The SC heard a batch of 58 petitions challenging the demonetisation exercise, before announcing its verdict, whereby the apex court underlined that the Modi government and the RBI worked in tandem and not in isolated boxes, as alleged by some. The majority view also placed reliance on the record submitted by the Central government after the hearing was complete and the SC held that the RBI was sufficiently consulted on the issue and that the Centre and RBI discussed the demonetisation issue for over six months. Hence, wild allegations by the likes of Rahul Gandhi and his acolytes, that demonetisation was a unilateral decision by the Modi government, proved to be false. Be it the decision about calibrated withdrawal of the Rs 2,000 notes in May 2023 or the demonetisation decision in November 2016, the Central government under sub-section (2) of Section 26 of the RBI Act of 1934, has always used its powers for the greater good, with an aim to clamp down on black money and money hoarders. The 4:1 verdict by the Supreme Court in the Modi governments favour not only rejected the petitions challenging demonetisation but also upheld its legality, with the majority concluding that there was no flaw in the decision-making process. The apex court in its January 2023 ruling also stated that the Central governments interpretation of the RBI Act is pragmatic and not pedantic, in a big jolt to the Opposition and virulent Modi naysayers. The Centres decision on demonetisation, on November 8, 2016, withdrawing the legal tender for Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes does not suffer from any flaws in the decision-making process is what the SC effectively said in its January 2023 ruling. There were consultations between the Centre and RBI for a period of six months. There is a reasonable nexus to bring such a measure and it satisfies the test of proportionality. The decision-making process cannot be faulted merely because the proposal emanated from the Centre. Ex-Finance Minister, P Chidambaram, had claimed that the dissenting verdict on demonetisation is a slap on the wrist, which is again false. There was no dissenting verdict but only a lone, dissenting voice of Justice Nagarathna. The demonetisation decision was upheld in both law and spirit by the SC via a 4:1 majority verdict and that is the only thing that matters, eventually. Unusual deposits of Rs 1.7 lakh crore were seen during demonetisation, says an RBI paper. In nominal terms, excess deposits accruing to the banking system due to demonetisation are estimated to have been in the range of Rs 2.8-4.3 lakh crore. So demonetisation did achieve what it set out to do, by not only leaving a paper trail for erstwhile unaccounted deposits but also giving a massive impetus in formalising the economy and encouraging greater financialisation of savings, besides enlarging the tax base. Massive searches, seizures and surveys by the Income Tax (I-T) department over the last three years led to the detection of around Rs 71,941 crore worth of undisclosed income, the Centre told the SC before it gave the 4:1 majority verdict. The biggest beneficiaries of demonetisation have been the poor due to digital transactions and the plugging of leakages through Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT). Over Rs 28 lakh crore has been disbursed to the poor via DBT. Demonetisation ushered in an unprecedented digital revolution in India. Transactions on the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) platform hit a new high of 890 crore transactions in April 2023. The value of these transactions stood at a new record of Rs 14.07 lakh crore. Meanwhile, FASTag transactions stood at 30.5 crore for a value of Rs 5149 crore. Indeed, demonetisation has been one of the critical steps in the series of transformational economic policy steps and a major step to fight the menace of fake currency notes, storage of uncounted wealth and financing of subversive activities. All that said, the excellent decision to have a calibrated exit of the Rs 2,000 note is not demonetisation but simply a gradual withdrawal of the note. As these notes were not printed since FY19 and account for only a minuscule part of the overall CIC, this step will not inconvenience the commoner in any measure. Equally, it will flush out illegally hoarded wealth by those who amassed these Rs 2,000 notes, simply to circumvent paying taxes and to evade the institutional banking channels. As for the Opposition crying wolf, well, crying foul will not work simply because the calibrated withdrawal of the Rs 2,000 currency notes is a timely and wise move that will hold the commoner in good stead in the years ahead. Sanju Verma is an Economist, National Spokesperson of the BJP and the Bestselling Author of The Modi Gambit. I want to kill her, he said. The 19-year-old law student was livid that his girlfriend broke away from him. I want to take revenge, he continued while talking to me a year ago. This boy was possessive and stifled the girl completely. Dr Richard Lettieri, a psychologist, has the following to say about such behaviours: Emotions, including anger, continue to fester long after the provoking event. Intense emotions tend to increase over time until a behaviourally relieving discharge occurs. As anger develops, it creates an urgency to take action, disrupting judgement and rational decision making. Such possessiveness is also known as obsessive relational intrusion (ORI) which is defined as repeated and unwanted behaviours toward a partner that invade his/her privacy and cause fear for his/her safety. Obsessive passion and fear of abandonment can lead to violence against the partner. The boy I mentioned above recovered as his healthy friends befriended him, gave him company and he was subsequently counselled. Emotional blinding and emotional hijacking where reason fails and action explodes is a common feature among people caught in the throes of rapid pace, loneliness and social change where angst predominates. In my experience, I will teach him or her a lesson is a phrase one listens to among all age groups, more so in the last decade. In an era where disconnection is a disease, there are very few avenues for the young to heal their anger or find a route for it to be resolved. The pressure cooker minds among many can explode with disastrous consequences to self or others. In this context, the death of a young girl at the hands of her alleged boyfriend and the demise of the boy himself via self-harm at a university in Noida a few days ago has sent shock waves across the country. Though many describe it as an aberration, there has been an increase in violence against women in recent times. Violence by intimate partners is the highest in Asian countries. The rate of crime against women rose by 15 percent in one year, from 56.5 percent in 2020 to 64.5 percent in 2021. The cases of crimes against women in Delhi accounted for 32.20 percent of total crimes in the category among all 19 metropolitan cities. Delhi also recorded 13,892 cases of crimes against women in 2021, a significant surge of more than 40 percent compared to 2020 when the figure was 9,782 (NCRB 2022). The reasons for such heinous crimes need to be researched and generic textbook answers may not help fathom the true picture on the ground. Colleges, students and families can work together to prevent a lot of violence. Following can be a few preventive measures: Breaking the conspiracy of silence Years ago in a school where I was associated, four 15-year-olds drove a car illegally and met with an accident. Later, we realised that other kids knew about it and kept quiet out of loyalty and fear. Many students may express their desire to harm others or themselves with their peers when in distress. Lack of awareness of issues related to violence and self-harm is a severe impediment. This should never be brushed away and a mechanism of anonymous reporting and intervention should be in place in educational institutions. Conspiracy of silence that originates from loyalty to ones own peers based on caste, region, religion or social class and fear also needs to be broken. At Shiv Nadar University, I am sure some students may have been aware of those who use drugs, carry weapons, and are violent or disturbed but they may have all kept quiet. Sense of belonging Breaking the silence requires a sense of belonging. Students should feel that they are part of one community where interdependence, collaboration and cooperative learning are significant factors for holistic growth. Colleges that teach business, law, engineering, design, medicine etc need to spend equal time and effort in building an ecosystem that promotes well-being and mental health. I have been conducting workshops on love, life and learning for many years but this only can be a beginning. A systems approach where every students emotional and physical health is tracked is the need of the hour. A college where emotions such as anger, sadness, fear, joy, envy, love, shame and guilt are discussed openly is a healthy college. Mindfulness, Yoga and Vipassana have to be as important as business economics, international business, computer engineering and other subjects. These practices will help bring in synchrony between the mind and the body when faculties breathe down the neck of the students for assignments, deadlines and tests. In my experience, while travelling across India, I realise that the ability to understand emotional well-being among the majority of top-notch faculties is very poor. Their sensitisation should have the same impetus and intensity as for the students. When a single faculty is insensitive in a college, the entire batch of students may suffer. This may be due to a lack of awareness but a chronic refusal to be aware can be termed as arrogance. Yet, I would request my fraternity to keep chipping in till the irrational beliefs about emotional health crack. The humanistic philosophy of the college is very important not only in printed fancy brochures but in its actionable transaction. Changing the Narratives The other day I asked a bunch of management college teachers to name the four pillars of an educational institution. The common replies were: Teaching, Examinations, Results and Job Placements. Very few mentioned emotional well-being. In the movie Mohabattein, Amitabh Bachchan too proclaims that parampara (tradition), pratishtha (prestige) and anushasan (discipline) are the three pillars of his Gurukul. Educational institutions need to open their eyes and their ears to the ground with respect to mental health. Information about students who are very sad, depressed, harbouring suicidal/violent thoughts, have had break ups, having difficult family situations, financial stress, having bad grades or other stressors should reach the anointed faculties/mental health professionals as soon as possible. Heightened psychological vigilance is the need of the hour and teachers need to reach out to them before a catastrophe. False and exaggerated understanding of privacy issues should be discarded. In the event of impending violence or self-harm, privacy should be invaded to save lives. Families should also contribute to the information processing system related to the mental health of their wards. Knowledge of mental illness/violent predisposition should always be shared with the institution and an inclusive policy towards those who are under treatment should be followed by the colleges. Many colleges have appointed faculty members as mentors for students but they need to be trained to identify students at risk and intervene or seek help. Screening and Intervention Screening of students for mental health issues periodically should be given priority. Mental well-being centre is a must in every institution and should be visible. The faculties need to patronise it so that students find it easy to access help. Mental health counsellors should be seen visiting classrooms and hostels and conducting activities to promote mental health. Every student should be treated equally irrespective of their antecedents. Red flags that need to be reported immediately to the college authorities by students are: Threat of violence or self-harm Constantly being stalked and abused Forced to share all private details or passwords Forced to share live locations all the time Blackmail with pictures or videos Any form of exploitation Acts that cause fear, a threat to life etc Forced to consume drugs or have physical intimacy Is being cheated on or is in touch with multiple partners All colleges need to have a robust liaison with law-enforcing agencies and medical establishments. Students need to believe that they need a circle of safety of healthy friends where they can be emotionally vulnerable. The circumference of safety can help identify danger signs early and pre-empt the loss of lives. Special Populations Students who have low self-esteem/self-worth and depression tend to cling and get into exploitative relationships. Such students may be toppers in the college but a wide vacuum in their personality may not be visible to all. Those harbouring Cluster B personalities are more prone to violence and they exist in all populations. The four types of Cluster B personality disorders are- Borderline Personality, Histrionic Personality Disorder, Narcissistic Personality Disorder and Antisocial Personality Disorder. Such students can be emotionally unstable, have an excessive fear of abandonment, can be attention seeking, may have an inflated self-esteem, possess a sense of entitlement, lack empathy towards others, have no remorse or guilt and disregard the feelings of others. These symptoms may exist in dilute forms and different combinations in many students. Social checks may keep them tamed but in an era of anonymity and alienation, they may explode without inhibition following a mild provocation. These special populations need to be identified and subjected to rational conversations and if required, counselling. Students, educational institutions and families chasing the moolah, pay packages, fancy cars and homes need to understand that connectedness, compassion and collaborative interdependence can only guarantee health and happiness, failing which, a large number of artistically manufactured fractured souls will be let loose on our beautiful Earth. It is time to focus on holistic development and well-being. Dr Harish Shetty is a Psychiatrist and has been working with students across three decades and conducts sessions in educational institutions regularly. Views expressed are personal. Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Monday announced that he is aiming to withdraw the controversial Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA) completely from the state by the end of this year. Speaking at the Commandants Conference, Sarma said, We are aiming at withdrawing AFSPA completely from Assam by the end of 2023. AFSPA may be lifted from the entire state by November." This will facilitate the replacement of the CAPFs by Assam Police Battalions. However the presence of CAPFs are required by law shall be in place," he added. As of now, eight districts in Assam come under the AFSPA Act of 1958. In this, security forces can conduct operations and arrest anyone without any warrant. The act also gives immunity from arrest and prosecution to the security forces if they shoot someone dead. Highlights of HCM Dr @himantabiswas speech at the Commandants Conference today. pic.twitter.com/xtsEkFKRWB Chief Minister Assam (@CMOfficeAssam) May 22, 2023 The Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958 (AFSPA) was extended for six months from October 1 with the continuation of the Disturbed Area tag for Tinsukia, Dibrugarh, Charaideo, Sivasagar, Jorhat, Golaghat, Karbi Anglong and Dima Hasao districts along with Lakhipur sub-division of Cachar in the Barak valley. The government had withdrawn the controversial law from West Karbi Anglong district as the situation considerably improved" there. In October last year, Sarma had said that his government was considering withdrawing AFSPA from two more locations in the state. What is AFSPA? Promulgated by the British, the law was enacted in response to the Quit India movement in 1942. Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru decided to retain the Act after Independence. In 1958, the AFSPA was notified as an Act. A note on AFSPA on the Union Home Ministry website says that its enactment in 1958 was necessitated by the law order situation in the northeastern states where state governments and local authorities were found to be incapable of dealing with disturbances in the region. Under AFSPA, armed forces are defined as any military troops and the air forces operating as land forces, and includes other armed forces of the Union so operating. More info here Officers stipulated under AFSPA can arrest without warrant any person in connection with the commission of a cognisable offence or even on the reasonable suspicion that he has committed or is about to commit a cognisable offence. The Act allows such officers to use such force as may be necessary to effect the arrest. AFSPA also permits officers based on the opinion that it is necessary so to do to destroy any structure or shelter from which armed attacks are made or are likely to be made or are attempted to be made. top videos Armed forces are also allowed to enter and search without warrant any premises. Section 6 of the Act grants immunity from prosecution for actions carried out in disturbed areas by security forces. No prosecution, suit or other legal proceedings shall be instituted, except with the previous sanction of the Central Government, against any person in respect of anything done or purported to be done in exercise of the powers conferred by this Act, it says. The Bharat Rashtra Samithi on Monday began its drive to form party committees in Maharashtra, where it plans to expand as part of the move to go beyond the confines of its traditional stronghold Telangana. The K Chandrasekhar Rao-led party had, in December last year, changed its name from Telangana Rashtra Samithi to Bharat Rashtra Samithi to underline its intention of becoming a national party. Telangana Chief Minister Rao, popularly known as KCR, held rallies in Nanded in Maharashtra recently, and had slammed the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government at the Centre and the one here under Eknath Shinde for neglecting farmers and the downtrodden. The campaign to make party committees in Maharashtra began on Monday and will continue for the next 30 days," Maharashtra BRS Kisan Cell chief Manik Kadam told PTI. A two day training program of BRS took place in Nanded last week where teams from every Assembly seat in the state attended, he said. As per the plan rolled out by BRS chief K Chandrasekhar Rao, four to five teams have been constituted in every Assembly constituency. Each team will go to at least five villages in a day. Like this, we can cover nearly 1500 villages in a day across Maharashtra. Each team will constitute village level teams of nine party cells," Kadam said. The BRS will constitute committees of workers, farmers, minorities, Scheduled Castes, workers, students, women etc in the next 30 days, and details will be uploaded at the BRS party offices, he added. The party has bought an office in Nagpur and the process is in the final stages in Aurangabad, while moves to procure a plot for the state head office in Mumbai were underway, Kadam said. top videos . Egyptian luxury brands are harnessing traditional craftsmanship from jewellery design to carpet weaving to bring the countrys ancient cultural riches to the world. Experts in the sector say the global appeal of Arab and Islamic designs from other countries shows Egypt could do more to promote its rich, millennia-old artistic heritage. One pioneer has been master jeweller Azza Fahmy, whose signature Islamic art-inspired pieces have graced the worlds rich and famous including US pop star Rihanna and Jordans Queen Rania. Fahmy, who started off in an Old Cairo workshop about 50 years ago, said her focus has been designs that resonate with Egyptian identity". Artists and artisans in Egypt, the Arab worlds most populous country, draw from a history that spans ancient Pharaonic times, the Mamluk, Ottoman and modern eras. We are lucky to be able to draw on 6,000 years of history," said textile designer Goya Gallagher, founder of Cairo-based Malaika Linens, which makes high-end household pieces. The main challenge is making sure our pieces are timeless, that theyre very well made and always hand-made," she said at the company workshop on the western outskirts of Cairo. Myriad challenges But while Egypt boasts some business success stories, many more luxury goods makers say they labour against myriad odds to eke out a market both locally and internationally. In the era of global mass production, Egypts once expansive pool of skilled artisans has shrunk, with many young people turning their backs on family skills passed down through the ages. As businesses struggle to fill the talent gap, they also face the headwinds of a painful economic crisis that has tanked the local currency and restricted raw material imports. The states efforts to support the handicrafts sector, meanwhile, have been limited and sporadic", says the United Nations Industrial Development Organization. Culture consultant Dina Hafez agreed that Egypt offers little in the way of formalised arts and crafts training. The training of artisans is still essentially based on informal education and networks of apprenticeship," said Hafez of Blue Beyond Consulting. The sector lacks any structure. We need a real ecosystem. But for the moment, its all based on personal initiatives." She said Egypt could learn from Turkey and Morocco, where the opportunities and obstacles look a lot like Egypt", but which had managed to launch their designs onto the international scene". Soft power Still, change is afoot. Fahmy, the jewellery designer, said there is always space in the market for works made by skilled artisans and good designers with creative minds and quality education". Many designers hope to benefit from government initiatives to draw in investment and tourism revenue from its ancient wonders. At the Grand Egyptian Museum at the foot of the Giza pyramids, Egyptian luxury stores enjoy pride of place. Although its official opening has been long delayed, the museum offers limited tours and events, and the shops already showcase the best of Egyptian crafts", said the owner of one, Mohamed al-Kahhal. In Cairos historic centre, linen company Malaika trains women from marginalised backgrounds in embroidery and sells the wares to its customers and to other fashion and textile brands. Carpet maker Hend al-Kahhal works in the same spirit, of bringing Egyptian identity to global frontiers. Standing on the factory roof, where wool and silk creations hung out to dry, Kahhal said the family business works with designers to give a contemporary touch to Pharaonic and Mamluk motifs". The Egyptian Handicrafts Export Council, under the trade and industry ministry, has long been working to showcase such Egyptian creations internationally. top videos But Hafez, the culture consultant, said she hopes for more progress in future, as often budget constraints, red tape and customs regulations dont exactly make things easier". The question, she said, is whether Egyptian authorities are really aware of the soft power these creators can have". YEREVAN, MAY 22, ARMENPRESS. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has said that the West is not telling Armenia to disrupt its ties with Russia or push Russia out. Pashinyan made the remarks at a press conference when asked to comment on Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrovs recent remarks claiming that the West is signaling Armenia to push Russia out of its territory in exchange of ensuring security. We are not receiving any signals from the West on disrupting relations with Russia or pushing Russia out, we havent received such signals and I dont think such signals would ever happen. Signals can be in relation to the development or course of bilateral relations, which pertains to Russia, among others. I mean that we are discussing our bilateral relations with our Russian partners very transparently. And I believe there is no unclarified point in these talks about our concerns which we have on Russia in the region and the situation in our relations, Pashinyan said. Pashinyan stated that it is Russias obligation to keep Lachin Corridor under control by the 2020 ceasefire agreement. The Armenian PM said that the illegal installation of a checkpoint by Azerbaijan on the corridor is a violation of that obligation. Russia had, and has to keep this corridor under its control. Weve previously also talked both publicly and in a working level about the developments in Khtsaberd to Parukh. After all, the trilateral statement noted the existence of the line of contact and the obligations of the Russian peacekeeping forces deployed inside of the line of contact, and we have constantly encouraged, we havent created any problems, weve helped with whatever we could in order for these obligations to be fully fulfilled, Pashinyan said. The most important factor of our relations are our relations itself, our mutual obligations. To what extent are these obligations being fulfilled? I dont think the West is restraining someone and not allowing for these obligations to be fulfilled, in the most various sectors, in security, military-technical cooperation, or activities pertaining to peacekeepers in Nagorno Karabakh. There was a case when a farmer was shot dead in the presence of peacekeepers. And we think that Russias response was improper. Moreover, as far as I know, the peacekeepers themselves had convinced that farmer to start working there, telling him they would ensure his security, but he was killed half an hour later. What has the West got to do with it? 90% of our compatriots who are held captive today were taken captive after the deployment of the Russian peacekeepers in their area of responsibility. Whats the West got to do with it? Pashinyan noted that there is no agenda of pushing Russia out in the Armenia-EU or Armenia-USA agenda. At the same time, Pashinyan said that he has started to discuss security issues with Western partners unlike in the past when they believed that security architecture was in place. When we see that this security system isnt functioning the way it should under binding documents, due to objective and subjective reasons, we also discuss security agenda issues with Western and not only Western partners, Pashinyan said. Our species arose in Africa more than 300,000 years ago, with the oldest-known Homo sapiens fossils discovered at a site in Morocco called Jebel Irhoud, located between Marrakech and the Atlantic coast. But the scarcity of Homo sapiens fossils from early in our evolutionary history and the geographical spread of those remains in Africa in places like Ethiopia and South Africa have made it difficult to piece together how our species emerged and dispersed across the continent before trekking worldwide. A new study tapping into genome data from modern-day African populations is offering insight into how this may have unfolded. The research indicated that multiple ancestral groups from across Africa contributed to the emergence of Homo sapiens in a patchwork manner, migrating from one region to another and mixing with one another over hundreds of thousands of years. It also found that everyone alive today can trace their ancestry to at least two distinct populations that were present in Africa dating back about a million years. The findings did not support a longstanding hypothesis that a single region in Africa gave rise to Homo sapiens or a scenario involving mixture with an unidentified closely related species in the human evolutionary lineage within Africa. All humans share relatively recent common ancestry, but the story in the deeper past is more complicated than our species evolving in just a single location or in isolation," said University of Wisconsin-Madison population geneticist Aaron Ragsdale, lead author of the study published this week in the journal Nature. The ancestral groups were likely spread across a geographic landscape in a population structure that, Ragsdale said, was weak, meaning that there was ongoing or at least recurrent migration between groups, and this maintained genetic similarity across ancestral populations." Because of the paucity of fossil remains and archaeological evidence, the researchers turned to genome data from living people to find clues about the past. They examined genome data from 290 people, mostly from four geographically and genetically diverse African peoples, to trace the similarities and differences between the populations and identify genetic interconnections over hundreds of thousands of years. These included: 85 individuals from a West African group called the Mende from Sierra Leone; 44 individuals from the Nama Khoe-San group from southern Africa; 46 individuals from the Amhara and Oromo groups in Ethiopia; and 23 individuals from the Gumuz group, also from Ethiopia. Genome data also was examined from 91 Europeans to account for post-colonial era influence and from a Neanderthal, the extinct human species that was concentrated in Europe until about 40,000 years ago. The fossil record is scanty in the time period that would be most informative about the emergence and spread of Homo sapiens, and there is no ancient DNA from skeletal or dental remains from these time periods, the researchers said. top videos While we find evidence of anatomically modern human remains and artifacts in different parts of Africa, they are so sparse in space and time that it is difficult to understand their relationships with each other, and with us," said study geneticist and study co-author Simon Gravel of McGill University in Montreal. Were they related to each other? Are they related to our ancestors, or were they local populations who went extinct?" Genetic data was inherited from a continuous chain of transmissions dating back to well before the origins of modern humans. The relatedness among contemporary humans contains a lot of information about this chain of events," Gravel added. By building models of how these transmissions occurred, we can test detailed models that relate past populations to present-day populations." When life gives you lemons, make lemonade. But you can also bring them to life, like this magician. In an ordinary grocery store, where shoppers were busy going about their daily routines, an extraordinary encounter took place. It left everyone in awe and questioning the laws of physics. It was a routine lemon-buying expedition for two unsuspecting customers, but little did they know that their mundane task was about to be transformed into a mesmerizing display of magic and wonder. As the shoppers were carefully selecting lemons, a figure quietly appeared behind them. It was none other than the renowned French magician, Xavier Mortimer. With a mischievous smile, he swiftly grabbed the lemon from the womans hand and enveloped it in a plastic bag. What happened next was beyond anyones comprehension. The plastic bag containing the lemon floated effortlessly into the air, defying gravity and leaving the shoppers dumbfounded. As the lemon appeared to lose its life force and droop, it suddenly defied all expectations, performing a series of astonishing flips and twists. It was a sight that seemed straight out of a fairy tale or a wizards enchantment. To the astonishment of the shoppers, the magician deftly trapped the levitating lemon in a glass jar. Yet, just as quickly as he had taken control, Xavier Mortimer released the lemon from its transparent prison, catching it effortlessly in a nearby shopping basket. With a flourish, he retreated into the aisles, leaving behind a pair of speechless and bewildered witnesses. The captivating moment was captured on video and shared by the French magician on his Instagram handle. The accompanying caption, Lemon comes to life," perfectly encapsulated the enchantment that had unfolded before the eyes of the startled shoppers. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Xavier Mortimer (@xaviermortimer) Since the video surfaced, viewers have been left enthralled, sharing their amazement and theories about the magicians secret behind this lemon metamorphosis. For many, this moment showed that magic has the power to spark wonder and suspend reality, even in the most ordinary of settings. An Instagram user wrote, Only organic lemons are compatible with that magic. That lemon identity as a bird. That is why it can fly, another user joked. A comment read, Watching, again and again, to figure out the actual logic behind this magic. Anyway, the trick is cool. Bro completed studies at Hogwarts," wrote one, referring to the Harry Potter series. top videos Another hilariously commented: Dr. Strange at grocery stores." Many questioned how did he do it. Only Xavier Mortimer knows the answer, leaving the rest to marvel at the magical possibilities that exist beyond our everyday perceptions. Tori Armbrust grows magic mushrooms. Not secretly or furtively, but commercially. Because in the western US state of Oregon, its legal. Anywhere else in the United States I would get in big trouble for this, 1,000 percent," she laughs. From this year, licensed growers like Armbrust have been able to sell what the Aztecs called the flesh of the gods" to centers offering psychedelic therapy sessions, a legalization that proponents say could offer real help to people struggling with psychological problems. Hallucinogenic mushrooms have long been associated with Americas counterculture, most closely with Timothy Leary, whose phrase Turn on, tune in, drop out" helped define the 1960s. After decades of being socially frowned upon, the active ingredient of such fungi, psilocybin, is now the subject of increasing research interest: a promising possible treatment for depression, addiction or post-traumatic stress. Oregon, a rugged, rural state with a distinctly liberal streak, is defying a federal ban to allow people over the age of 21 access to magic mushrooms without a prescription, as long as they are ingested under the auspices of a certified facilitator. A shroom trip under these circumstances lasts about six hours and must be followed by at least one non-trippy session of counselling. Tool Certification requires the completion of a 160-hour training course, and appeals to mental health professionals like Tyler Case, who paid around $10,000 for the qualification in the hope of being able to offer an alternative to patients with personality disorders that are often considered incurable. Psilocybin is a tool that can help people who havent found help anywhere else," the 44-year-old counsellor told AFP. We use powerful psychotropic medications all the time, do things that will alter the way peoples brains function. Why not try this too?" Scientists are still studying how psilocybin works, and little is known about its long-term use. But research suggests that in common with other psychedelics such as LSD (acid) or MDMA (ecstasy) it increases neural connections, effectively re-formatting the brain and encouraging new ways of processing information that can help users resolve longstanding emotional or behavioral problems. Tobias Shea thinks this re-formatting helped pull him out of a deep depression. Two tours of Afghanistan with the US Army in which he lost comrades left Shea with debilitating anxiety that sometimes meant he was unable even to leave the house. Psychotherapy and antidepressants did not work for him, so more than a decade before Oregons legalization, he twice took mushrooms. My experience in both sessions involved visual hallucinations that resembled a colorful prism, like a rainbow that covered everything in my visual field," he said. Emotionally, I felt an abundant joy, and also an overwhelming sense of awe at the vastness and complexity of the universe, and wonder at how I was connected to everything around me." Working with a facilitator, he unpacked that scary content in my head" and was able to process it in a way that he is now comfortable with. Vulnerability Such off-the-books use of mushrooms has long existed on the fringes of psychotherapy. But operating in grey areas left patients open to abuse. Curbing bad behavior and establishing a legal framework is one of the main advantages of Oregons move, says Elizabeth Nielson, a psychologist and founder of Fluence, one of the companies approved to train new supervisors. In her workshops, trainers emphasize the extreme vulnerability" of patients during their transcendental journeys. Would-be facilitators are taught to intervene as little as possible so as not to influence their clients. They must also agree beforehand which parts of the body can be touched, especially in cases where someone might be experiencing a bad trip. While Oregon is out in front, the experiment in legalization is gaining ground elsewhere in the United States. In November, Colorado voted to decriminalize hallucinogenic mushrooms and create treatment centers." A dozen other states, including New York and California, are considering similar measures. But beyond the therapeutic promises, there is another question: who will be able to afford such services? The $3,500 sessions offered by Oregons first licensed center, which has only just opened, are outrageous to some locals like Don, who runs a fungiculture shop in Portland. top videos You can grow your own for $40," says the 49-year-old, who declined to give his last name. I feel that its gonna be mainly towards the tourists." The extension of paternity leave in many countries around the world has been seen as a means to promote gender equality at home and at work, and to challenge many gender stereotypes. A new study by US researchers supports these benefits, suggesting that paternity leave can help mitigate certain sexist attitudes. Subject to debate and discussion, paternity leave has been extended in recent years in many countries around the world. The aim has largely been to increase the involvement and role of fathers from the first days of a childs life, in favor of the childs health and well-being, and to reduce certain inequalities between men and women, whether related to finances, the mental load, or other factors. Researchers from Washington University in St. Louis, USA, wanted to look at the impact of the extension of paternity leave for fathers on certain sexist prejudices, and on support for pro-women policies. Combatting certain sexist attitudes Published in the journal, American Political Science Review, their work focused on the extension of paternity leave in Estonia, where the new parental leave policy tripled it to 30 days paid at 100%, as from 2020, according to data presented by the European Parliament. The team of scientists specifically conducted two studies in the country: the first focused on parents and future parents who have benefited from the reform, and the second was conducted among a representative sample of the national population before the implementation of the reform. The aim was to determine the potential new life choices of parents impacted by the extension of paternity leave, but also to observe the reactions of the population as a whole before and after the reform to sexist statements such as men make better political leaders than women do" or a preschool child is likely to suffer if his or her mother works." The researchers report that the first survey suggests that parents eligible to benefit from the reform had a greater propensity to support gender equality in the social and economic spheres than those who had children before the policy took effect. The difference between the two groups is about 20% of a standard deviation, say the researchers. In the same vein, parents who gave birth to children after the reform was implemented were more likely to support women who wanted to become involved in politics. Gender norms and biases are hard to overcome because they are so deeply ingrained in our society. Extending caregiver leave for fathers, however, has the power to decrease gender biases because it disrupts traditional gender roles and promotes less stereotypical ones," explains study first author, Margit Tavits. Promoting equality However, while women impacted by the reform were more inclined to support actions aimed at favoring or promoting women to the detriment of men, the latter did not follow the same trend. Researchers found no such increase in support for positive action by men," reads a news release accompanying the study. On the other hand, the second study, conducted among the general population, showed no change in attitudes towards support for such policies or gender equality. top videos Our results show that direct exposure to progressive social policy can weaken sexist attitudes, providing governments with a practical and effective tool to reduce harmful biases," says Margit Tavits. She continues: The former policies perpetuated the belief that women were the main caregivers of young children. By offering a benefit that can be accessed only through the choice of a nontraditional caring role by men, fathers leave directly challenges mothers and fathers to conceive of their social roles in less stereotypical ways. Casting men and women in roles that contradict stereotypically gendered expectations provides alternative social role associations for each group and promotes less unequal perceptions of the essential attributes of women and men." While further and broader work is needed to determine the actual benefits of extending paternity leave, the researchers conclude that other policy interventions that broaden gender roles" could do even more to advance gender equality. So far, the largest stars observed anywhere have a mass of around 300 times that of our Sun. But the supermassive star described in a new study has an estimated mass of 5,000 to 10,000 Suns. The team of European researchers behind the study previously theorised the existence of supermassive stars in 2018 in an attempt to explain one of the great mysteries of astronomy. For decades, astronomers have been baffled by the huge diversity in the composition of different stars packed into what are called globular clusters. The clusters, which are mostly very old, can contain millions of stars in a relatively small space. Advances in astronomy have revealed an increasing number of globular clusters, which are thought to be a missing link between the universes first stars and first galaxies. Our Milky Way galaxy, which has more than 100 billion stars, has around 180 globular clusters. But the question remains: Why do the stars in these clusters have such a variety of chemical elements, despite presumably all being born around the same time, from the same cloud of gas? Rampaging seed star Many of the stars have elements that would require colossal amounts of heat to produce, such as aluminium which would need a temperature of up to 70 million degrees Celsius. That is far above the temperature that the stars are thought to get up to at their core, around the 15-20 million Celsius mark which is similar to the Sun. So the researchers came up with a possible solution: a rampaging supermassive star shooting out chemical pollution". They theorise that these huge stars are born from successive collisions in the tightly packed globular clusters. Corinne Charbonnel, an astrophysicist at the University of Geneva and lead author of the study, told AFP that a kind of seed star would engulf more and more stars". It would eventually become like a huge nuclear reactor, continuously feeding on matter, which will eject out a lot of it," she added. This discarded pollution" will in turn feed young forming stars, giving them a greater variety of chemicals the closer they are to the supermassive star, she added. But the team still needed observations to back up their theory. Like finding a bone They found them in the galaxy GN-z11, which is more than 13 billion light years away the light we see from it comes from just 440 million years after the Big Bang. It was discovered by the Hubble Space Telescope in 2015, and until recently held the record of oldest observed galaxy. This made it an obvious early target for Hubbles successor as most powerful space telescope, the James Webb, which started releasing its first observations last year. Webb offered up two new clues: the incredible density of stars in globular clusters and most crucially the presence of lots of nitrogen. It takes truly extreme temperatures to make nitrogen, which the researchers believe could only be produced by a supermassive star. Thanks to the data collected by the James Webb Space Telescope, we believe we have found a first clue of the presence of these extraordinary stars," Charbonnel said in a statement, which also called the stars celestial monsters". If the teams theory was previously a sort of footprint of our supermassive star, this is a bit like finding a bone," Charbonnel said. We are speculating about the head of the beast behind all this," she added. But there is little hope of ever directly observing this beast. The scientists estimate that the life expectancy of supermassive stars is only around two million years a blink of an eye in the cosmic time scale. top videos However they suspect that globular clusters were around until roughly two billion years ago, and they could yet reveal more traces of the supermassive stars they may have once hosted. The study was published in the journal Astronomy and Astrophysics this month. Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said he is looking forward to welcoming Prime Minister Narendra Modi ahead of his two-day visit to Australia. The Australian government in a press release said that PM Modis two-day visit to Australia builds on the Australia-India Annual Leaders Summit in New Delhi in March and discussions at the G7 Summit and Quad Leaders meeting in Hiroshima over the weekend. I am honoured to host Prime Minister Modi for an official visit to Australia, after receiving an extremely warm welcome in India earlier this year, his Australian counterpart Albanese said, according to the release shared by the Australian government. The government said that Modi and Albanese will discuss matters related to trade and investment and find ways to boost trade between New Delhi and Canberra through a Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement. The leaders will also focus on boosting people to people links, renewable energy. Measures to bolster defence and security cooperation will also be discussed. Issues related to maritime security and how to build a stable, secure and prosperous Indo-Pacific will also be discussed between both ministers. Australia and India share a commitment to a stable, secure and prosperous Indo-Pacific. Together we have an important role to play in supporting this vision, Albanese said. The press release also said that PM Modi and Australian business leaders will also meet and discuss ways to drive Australias growing trade and investment relationship with India. Australian business leaders will also discuss how to take forward opportunities from the Australia-India CEO Forum held in Mumbai in March. Albanese and Modi will also attend a community event in Sydney to celebrate Australias dynamic and diverse Indian diaspora which the Australian government described as a core part of our multicultural community. As friends and partners, the relationship between our countries has never been closer. I look forward to celebrating Australias vibrant Indian community with Prime Minister Modi in Sydney, Albanese further added. top videos This is the first time in almost a decade that PM Modi is visiting Australia. He last visited Australia in 2014. The Australian government said that Albanese is also looking forward to visiting India in September for the G20 Leaders Summit in New Delhi. The head of Russias Wagner mercenary group said on Monday his fighters would leave Bakhmut by June 1 and transfer control to the Russian army, after claiming to have fully captured the city. Both Wagner and the regular Russian army have said Bakhmut had fallen to them but Kyiv denies this, saying it is hanging on to a corner of the eastern Ukrainian city and that battles are ongoing. Wagner will leave Artemovsk from May 25 to June 1," Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin said in an audio recording on Telegram. Bakhmut was previously known as Artemovsk, in honour of a Soviet revolutionary, before Ukraine renamed it. Prigozhin said the mercenaries had set up defence lines" on the western outskirts of the city before a planned transfer of control to the Russian army. If the ministry of defence does not have enough personnel, we have thousands of generals," said Prigozhin, who has been embroiled in an increasingly public spat with the Russian military leadership. Prigozhin has poured scathing criticism on Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu and army chief of staff Valery Gerasimov, accusing them of being incompetent and causing Moscows large-scale losses in the conflict in Ukraine. Wagner fighters have spearheaded Russias storming of Bakhmut and Prigozhins influence has risen hugely during Moscows Ukraine offensive. On Saturday, he announced that Bakhmut had fallen to his fighters, speaking in a video against the backdrop of the ruined city. He said then that Wagner fighters would pull out by May 25. top videos Russian President Vladimir Putin congratulated Wagner and the Russian army on the alleged conquest. But Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said at the G7 summit on Sunday that Bakhmut was not occupied" by Russia. Pakistan Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari is on a visit to Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) in protest against India holding the G20 meeting in Jammu and Kashmir capital. Bilawal Bhutto arrived in Muzaffarabad city in PoK on Sunday on a three-day visit and called the G20 meeting in Srinagar a violation of international law. India cannot suppress the voice of Kashmiris through a conference. By violating the UN resolution, it is not possible for India to play an effective role in the world, Bhutto reportedly said. The Pakistani foreign minister said that at a time when India is holding the G20 meeting in Kashmir, he has been invited to address the assembly in PoK. The third G20 tourism working group meeting is set to begin in Srinagar on Monday. The three-day meeting will see the highest participation of foreign delegates as compared to the two previous meetings, according to officials. Pakistan has called the decision to hold the G20 Tourism Working Group meeting in Kashmir a self-serving move. Bhutto will address the special session of the Legislative Assembly of PoK on Monday and will participate in a protest rally at Bagh on Tuesday. At a time when India is holding a conference in Kashmir, I have been invited to deliver an address to the PoK Assembly, the minister said. Earlier this month, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari had attended the meeting of Foreign Ministers of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) in Goa. The latest G20 meeting is the first such international event in Jammu and Kashmir since 2019, when it was made into a Union Territory. The first G20 tourism working group meeting was held in Gujarat and the second in West Bengal. Over 60 delegates will participate in the meeting in Srinagar although not all G20 member countries will be participating in it. G20 member countries, invited countries, international organizations, and industry stakeholders are expected to attend the event. Singapore has the largest contingent among the member countries attending the meeting, including its High Commissioner Simon Wong. top videos Under Indias G20 Tourism Track, the Tourism Working Group is working on five interconnected priority areas - Green Tourism, Digitalization, Skills, Tourism MSMEs and Destinations. (With Inputs from Shailendra Wangu) China Vice Foreign Minister Sun Weidong has summoned the Japanese ambassador to register protests over hype around China-related issues" at the Group of Seven (G7) summit over the weekend, a ministry statement late on Sunday said. The heads of the worlds leading democracies meeting in the Japanese city of Hiroshima expressed serious concerns about rising tensions in East and South China Seas as well as voicing concerns about the human rights situations in China, including in Tibet and Xinjiang. Sun said Japan collaborated with the other countries at the G7 summit in activities and joint declarations to smear and attack China, grossly interfering in Chinas internal affairs, violating the basic principles of international law and the spirit of the four political documents between China and Japan," referring to the China-Japan Joint Statement of 1972. He said Japans actions were detrimental to Chinas sovereignty, security and development interests, and that China is strongly dissatisfied and firmly opposes" them. Japan should correct its understanding of China, grasp strategic autonomy, adhere to the principles of the four political documents between China and Japan, and truly promote the stable development of bilateral relations with a constructive attitude," Sun said. Hideo Tarumi, Japanese ambassador to China, rebutted that it is natural" for the G7 to refer to issues of common concern as it has done in the past and will continue to do so in the future as long as China does not change its behaviour, according to a readout. China should first take positive steps to address those issues of concerns if China demands not to refer to them," Tarumi told Sun, according to the readout. top videos Japans Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said during Monday morning briefing that the countrys policy toward China has been consistent that it will insist on matters that is needed and urge responsible behaviour, while take steps to address concerns and cooperate on common issues. The Chinese embassy in Britain had earlier asked London to stop slandering and smearing China to avoid further damage to China-UK relations. A crushing victory in Greeces elections Sunday by the conservative New Democracy party of Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis will nevertheless lead to a new ballot in a month, as the winner fell short of a majority. Here are five takeaways from the vote in the eastern Mediterranean country of 10.5 million people: - Huge win comes up empty - New Democracy scored its best result since 2007 at 40.79 percent, beating the leftist Syriza party of former premier Alexis Tsipras by over 20 points the widest margin between the two leading parties in a Greek election since 1974. But under a proportional representation electoral system introduced by Tsipras, New Democracy won 146 seats, five short of a majority in the 300-deputy parliament. Mitsotakis on Monday declined a mandate to form a coalition government and said Greece should head for new elections as soon as possible", stating a preference for June 25. The new election will be governed by different rules that grant the winner bonus seats in parliament. - Left penalised - Tsipras lost his fourth straight election to Mitsotakis after a campaign in which he accused the ruling party of profiteering, inequality, nepotism, indifference, arrogance and injustice. But the message failed to register with voters. The former premier who led the 2015 bailout negotiations that nearly crashed Greece out of the euro saw his party lose 600,000 votes compared to the 2019 election. Syriza finished second even in Tsipras home village near Arta, northwestern Greece. Tsipras for now remains in charge of his party but the next election is do-or-die for his political future. Another casualty Sunday was Tsipras former maverick finance minister Yanis Varoufakis, whose anti-austerity MeRA25 party failed to garner enough support to make it to parliament. - Abstention fears unfounded - As the ballot was not expected to be decisive, many feared mass abstentions and such concerns seemed vindicated when the first turnout was reported at just 31.5 percent of the electorate. In the end, however, nearly 61 percent of Greeks turned out to vote, higher than in 2019. - Forgiving voters - Greece was swept by nationwide protests after 57 people died in a collision between two trains in February, the countrys worst rail disaster. Rumoured plans to hold the election in April were scrapped, the transport minister resigned and Mitsotakis was forced to apologise for the poor state of the railway network. The government was also slammed over a wire-tapping scandal implicating the state intelligence agency, which is overseen by Mitsotakis own office. The head of the intelligence agency and a nephew of Mitsotakis, who was a top office aide, both resigned over the scandal. But talk of retribution against the ruling party failed to materialise at the ballot, where conservative voters re-elected Mitsotakis under-fire transport minister. - Youth turn right - For months, it was widely expected that nearly 440,000 young voters taking part in elections for the first time some as young as 16 would side with the leftist party of 48-year-old Tsipras. top videos Greece is struggling with high youth unemployment and even those lucky enough to have a job barely earn enough to cover their rent. But in the end, a third of the 17-24 age bracket apparently sided with Mitsotakis conservatives, Sundays exit poll found. YEREVAN, MAY 22, ARMENPRESS. There is some change in understanding in the peace treaty talks with Azerbaijan, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said at a May 22 press conference. I am glad to note that it seems like there is some change of understanding in this issue, Pashinyan said. Pashinyan said that other wordings describing the function of a guarantor have been proposed during the talks. PM Pashinyan said that being a guarantor in such a difficult region would be a huge responsiblity which could create both possibilities and risks for countries, and also increase or seriously damage reputation. Its not like everyone is [eagerly waiting] to assume this role. But at the same time, if the international community were to record that there is sincere desire between the parties to establish lasting peace, I believe there would be countries and organizations starting from individual countries up to the UN Security Council, who wouldnt just want to but would agree to assume this function, Pashinyan said. One of the most important records made during the Washington talks, according to Pashinyan, is that the parties have started to communicate more directly and openly, presenting their concerns, reasons and grounds for mistrust. Many nuances have emerged which werent visible for the parties in the past, or werent recorded. I find the biggest specificity of the Washington talks to be the style of the conversation, a very open conversation took place. Often the sentences in the negotiations contain hidden meanings, and often its not easy to realize. At some point, these hidden meanings became lesser and the conversation began to be mutually more understandable. This is our perception, Pashinyan said. Trade unions and anti-racism groups have criticised an initiative by the French interior ministry to check on the number of Muslim children who skipped school last month to celebrate Eid al-Fitr. The festival, which concludes the holy month of Ramadan, is observed as a holiday in Muslim-majority countries and fell on Friday, April 21, for most believers this year. Frances interior ministry said Sunday that it had ordered an evaluation of the level of absenteeism recorded on the occasion of Eid al-Fitr". The ministry regularly studies the impact of some religious festivals on the workings of public services, and notably in the educational sector", said a statement from junior minister Sonia Backes. In the city of Toulouse, police asked the heads of local schools to report the number of absent children on April 21, leading to accusations that authorities were creating a registry which was denied by Backes. The countrys biggest teachers union, the FSU, said in a statement addressed to Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin on Monday that it harshly denounces this operation". Attempting to create statistics by security forces on religious beliefs and their observance or not, above all in a school environment, goes against the basic principles of secularism and fundamental rights," it said. The smaller CGT Education union called it a scandalous and dangerous stigmatisation". Using police to carry out the checks was particularly shocking because it associates the observance of the Islamic religion to an issue of security", the anti-racism group SOS Racisme said. France has a strict form of secularism that seeks to separate the state and its various branches from religion and religious bodies, while guaranteeing the freedom to worship to all. top videos Collecting information about ethnicity or religious beliefs is also generally prohibited in France under the countrys anti-discrimination laws. Owing to the countrys Catholic heritage, major Christian festivals such as Christmas or Easter are observed as public holidays in France when schools are closed. Former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan has claimed that there are 80 percent chances that he would be arrested again while he will appear before the court in Islamabad on Tuesday to join the probe in the Al Qadir trust case. The Election Commission of Pakistan will hear the contempt case against former Prime Minister Imran Khan and other PTI leaders on Tuesday. On Tuesday, Im going to appear before the court in Islamabad for various bails and there are 80 per cent chances that I will be arrested," Imran Khan said in an interview with CNN. A three-member bench headed by Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sikandar Sultan Raja will hear the prohibited funding case against PTI leaders Imran Khan, Asad Umar and Fawad Chaudhry, sources said. Meanwhile, the Lahore High Court will also hear the Al Qadir Trust case against Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi on Tuesday. Imran Khan had agreed to appear before the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Rawalpindi office on May 23 in the Al-Qadir Trust case. He further said that over 10,000 workers had been arrested as of now and his partys entire senior leadership was in jail. The crisis unfolded in Pakistan after Imran Khan was arrested by the paramilitary Pakistan Rangers at the Islamabad High Court premises on May 9, which triggered unrest across the country. top videos For the first time in Pakistans history, protesters stormed the army headquarters (GHQ) in Rawalpindi and also torched a corps commanders house in Lahore. Imran Khan is currently on bail till June 2 in three terrorism cases filed against Pakistans former prime minister in the wake of violence that erupted after his arrest on May 9. Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that India is proud to be a development partner of the Indo-Pacific island nations while addressing the third edition of the India-Pacific Islands Cooperation (FIPIC) Summit on Monday, news agency ANI reported. He said the Pacific Island nations can count on India as a reliable partner and New Delhi remains ready to share its experiences and capabilities with the Pacific island nations. India is proud to be your development partner. You can count on India as a reliable partner. We are ready to share our experiences and capabilities with you without hesitation. We believe in multilateralism and support a free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific, PM Modi was quoted as saying by news agency ANI. He said he considers the Pacific Islands as large ocean countries and not as small island-states while addressing the leaders and delegations of the island countries at the summit. For me, you are large ocean countries and not small island states, PM Modi was quoted as saying by news agency ANI. The impact of the Covid pandemic was most on the countries of the Global South. Challenges related to climate change, natural disasters, hunger, poverty and health were already there, now new problems are arising. I am happy that India stood by its friendly Pacific Island countries in times of difficulty, he further added. Papua New Guineas Prime Minister James Marape also thanked Prime Minister Modi for taking steps as G20 chair to present the issues faced by the Global South in front of global leaders in the upcoming summit. We all come from a shared history. A history of being colonised. History that holds the nations of the Global South together. I thank you (PM Modi) for assuring me in the bilateral meeting that as you host G20 this year you will advocate on issues that relate to the Global South, Marape was quoted as saying by news agency ANI. Fourteen Pacific Island nations are participating in the third edition of the FIPIC Summit. The Prime Minister started his day with a meeting with Papua New Guinea governor general Sir Bob Dadae where both of them discussed measures to strengthen the bilateral relationship between New Delhi and Port Moresby. PM Modis historic tour to Papua New Guinea marks his first visit to the country and the first-ever visit by an Indian Prime Minister to the Pacific Island. It should be noted that Papua New Guinea does not hold a ceremonial welcome for leaders arriving after sunset. However, in a remarkable exception, PM Modi received a grand ceremonial welcome, which showcases the significance of his visit. PM Modi thanked the Pacific Island-nation leaders and also Papua New Guinea counterpart James Marape for the warm welcome in a tweet before leaving for Australia and New Zealand. top videos I thank PM James Marape for the warm welcome accorded. Now leaving for Australia to take part in various programmes in Sydney. Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) May 22, 2023 My Papua New Guinea visit has been a historic one. I will greatly cherish the affection received among the people of this wonderful nation. I also had the opportunity to interact with respected FIPIC leaders and discuss ways to deepen ties with their respective nations. I thank PM James Marape for the warm welcome accorded, PM Modi said. Irans president on Monday appointed a new official to take over the post of secretary of the countrys Supreme National Security Council, replacing the longtime powerful official Ali Shamkhani after becoming implicated in a recent spy scandal. President Ebrahim Raisi issued a decree replacing Shamkhani who has faced persistent corruption allegations which he denied as well as scrutiny because of close ties with a British-Iranian man hanged on spying charges earlier this year in Iran. Shamkhani was a key player in negotiations with the West over Irans 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, as well as years of tensions that followed then-President Donald Trumps 2018 decision to unilaterally withdraw America from the accord. The decree, reported by the state-run IRNA news agency, offered no explanation for the change. In a message on Twitter on Sunday night, as rumors about his position circulated, Shamkhani cryptically posted a verse by the 14th century Persian poet Mohtasham Kashani. His replacement, a Revolutionary Guard figure, will take over as Iran faces continued economic pressure from Western sanctions, challenges following monthslong protests over the death of Mahsa Amini who died while in custody of Irans morality police and a recent de-escalation with Irans Gulf Arab neighbors, particularly Saudi Arabia. Shamkhani had served in the position for just under a decade. He wasnt the longest-serving secretary of the council, which is the highest-level body to deal with security matters under Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Former President Hassan Rouhani served in the same capacity for 15 years before taking office. However, Shamkhani was believed to have the trust of politicians across Irans theocracy and Khamenei. Shamkhani had been key in negotiations with Gulf Arab states as they sought to de-escalate tensions with Tehran, including being on hand for the announced detente between Iran and Saudi Arabia reached in China. But Shamkhani increasingly faced criticism from within the theocracy. Purported minutes leaked earlier this year of a meeting between Shamkhani and raking Revolutionary Guard officials rekindled corruption accusations against him, including over real estate and shipping deals tied to his family. Shamkhani publicly denied all allegations he faced. In January, Iran hanged British-Iranian Ali Reza Akbari, a close ally of top security official Shamkhani, on spying charges. An audio message from Akbari aired by the BBCs Persian service included him saying he was accused of obtaining top-secret information from Shamkhani in exchange for a bottle of perfume and a shirt." Shamkhani was an urban guerrilla during the 1979 Islamic Revolution and commanded several successful military operations during Irans eight-year war with Iraq in the 1980s as well. top videos Shamkhanis replacement will be Ali Akbar Ahmadian, the former chief of the paramilitary Revolutionary Guards strategic centre. A biography of Ahmadian, 62, published on Monday by the semiofficial Fars news agency said he served as commander of the Guards navy and the chief of the Guards joint staff. He is also on the countrys Expediency Council, which advises the supreme leader, as well as settles disputes between parliament and the Guardian Council which acts as Irans constitutional watchdog overseeing the countrys elections. A Sikh woman and her brother, separated during the Partition more than 75 years ago, were reunited at the landmark Kartarpur Corridor, in an emotional reunion made possible through social media. Mahendra Kaur, 81, from India, reunited with her 78-year-old brother Sheikh Abdul Aziz from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir at the Kartarpur Corridor after they found out through a social media post that they were siblings separated during the Partition in 1947. The two families discovered that Kaur and Aziz were estranged siblings after connecting through a social media post detailing the separation of a man and his sister during the Partition. During the Partition, the family of Sardar Bhajan Singh from the Indian side of Punjab was tragically torn apart when Aziz relocated to Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, while his other family members remained in India, said Imran Sheikh, a family member of Aziz. He married at a young age but always had a longing to reunite with his parents and other family members. On Sunday, Kaur and Aziz arrived at the Kartapur Corridor on wheel-chairs. Emotional scenes of the family reunion were witnessed, with the family members singing songs and showering flowers to express their love. Overwhelmed with joy, Kaur repeatedly hugged her brother and kissed his hands and the two families also visited Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Kartarpur together, sitting side by side and sharing a meal. They also exchanged gifts as a symbol of their reunion. Following the joyful reunion, the Kartarpur administration adorned both families with garlands and distributed sweets. top videos The Kartarpur Corridor links Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Pakistans Punjab province, the final resting place of Sikhism founder Guru Nanak Dev, with the Dera Baba Nanak shrine in Gurdaspur district in Indias Punjab state. The 4 km-long corridor provides visa-free access to Indian Sikh pilgrims to visit the Darbar Sahib. Fijian Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka conferred the highest honour of the island-nation to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday. Prime Minister Narendra Modi was bestowed with Companion of the Order of Fiji for his exceptional global leadership. PM Narendra Modi has been conferred the highest honour of Fiji by the PM of Fiji: Companion of the Order of Fiji in recognition of his global leadership.Only a handful of Non-Fijians have received this honour till date. pic.twitter.com/et71OYnL2k ANI (@ANI) May 22, 2023 Few non-Fijians have received this prestigious recognition, news agencies reported. Grateful to the people and Government of Fiji for conferring the Companion of the Order of Fiji on me. I thank PM Sitiveni Rabuka for presenting the award. It is an honour for the people of India and a recognition of the strong ties between India and Fiji, PM Modi said upon receiving the honour. Grateful to the people and Government of Fiji for conferring the Companion of the Order of Fiji on me. I thank PM @slrabuka for presenting the award. It is an honour for the people of India and a recognition of the strong ties between India and Fiji. pic.twitter.com/rhUPrE0Nvu Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) May 22, 2023 Papua New Guinea also honoured PM Modi with Companion of the Order of Logohu for his advocacy of unity among Pacific Island nations and his leadership in the Global South. This prestigious award is also rarely bestowed upon non-residents, with former President Bill Clinton being one of the notable recipients. Papua New Guinea conferred the Companion of the Order of Logohu to PM Narendra Modi for championing the cause of unity of Pacific Island countries and spearheading the cause of Global South. Very few non-residents of Papua New Guinea have received this award.This comes pic.twitter.com/WIisl81rGs ANI (@ANI) May 22, 2023 The recognition from Papua New Guinea follows closely after Fijis conferred their highest honour upon PM Modi. Papua New Guinea Prime Minister James Marape handed the award to PM Modi and felicitated him. Prime Minister Narendra Modi earlier in the day co-hosted the third edition of the FIPIC Summit with Marape. During the summit, PM Modi said that India is a reliable partner of the Pacific Island nations and will help these nations without any hesitancy when it comes to sharing experiences and capabilities. India is proud to be your development partner. You can count on India as a reliable partner. We are ready to share our experiences and capabilities with you without hesitation. We believe in multilateralism and support a free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific, PM Modi said. PM Modi also pointed out that those who were trusted did not help during times of crisis. Today we are seeing disruption in the supply chain of fuel, food, fertiliser and pharma. Those whom we trusted, didnt stand with us when needed, PM Modi said. He further added that India is happy to have stood beside the Pacific Island nations during the Covid-19 pandemic. The impact of the Covid pandemic was most on the countries of the Global South. Challenges related to climate change, natural disasters, hunger, poverty and health were already there, now new problems are arising. I am happy that India stood by its friendly Pacific Island countries in times of difficulty, he said. A special gift from a valued friend.President @Surangeljr of Palau honoured PM @narendramodi with Palauan tool Ebakl. Ebakl holds important significance in Palauan society as a symbol of leadership and wisdom. pic.twitter.com/uba7GQNH3Y Arindam Bagchi (@MEAIndia) May 22, 2023 During the FIPIC Summit, Papua New Guinea Prime Minister James Marape expressed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi that he is regarded as the leader of the Global South. Marape further stated that Pacific Island nations will unite and support Indias leadership in international forums. Palauan President Surangel Whipps, Jr. also bestowed upon PM Narendra Modi the esteemed Palauan tool called Ebakl, which holds great significance in Palauan culture as a representation of leadership and wisdom. PM Modi also thanked the Pacific Island-nation leaders and also Papua New Guinea counterpart James Marape for the warm welcome in a tweet. My Papua New Guinea visit has been a historic one. I will greatly cherish the affection received among the people of this wonderful nation. I also had the opportunity to interact with respected FIPIC leaders and discuss ways to deepen ties with their respective nations. Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) May 22, 2023 top videos My Papua New Guinea visit has been a historic one. I will greatly cherish the affection received among the people of this wonderful nation. I also had the opportunity to interact with respected FIPIC leaders and discuss ways to deepen ties with their respective nations, PM Modi said. (with inputs from Shalinder Wangu) Prime Minister Narendra Modi along with his Papua New Guinea counterpart James Marape on Monday released the Tamil classic Thirukkural in the Tok Pisin language to bring the Indian thought and culture closer to the people of this southwestern Pacific nation. In Papua New Guinea, PM James Marape and I had the honour of releasing the Thirukkural in Tok Pisin language. Thirukkural is an iconic work, which provides valuable insights across different subjects. pic.twitter.com/JHa4DcPneu Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) May 22, 2023 Modi arrived here on Sunday on his maiden visit to Papua New Guinea, becoming the first Indian prime minister to visit the country. He co-hosted with Marape a key summit between India and 14 Pacific island countries to boost bilateral ties. Tok Pisin is the official language of Papua New Guinea. Indian diaspora keeping alive connect with the motherland! PM@narendramodi & PM James Marape launched a translation of the Tamil classic Thirukkural in the Tok Pisin language of Papua New Guinea," the Ministry of External Affairs tweeted. Co-authored by Subha Sasindran and Governor Sasindran Muthuvel of West New Britain Province, the book brings Indian thought and culture closer to the people of Papua New Guinea, it said. In Papua New Guinea, PM James Marape and I had the honour of releasing the Thirukkural in Tok Pisin language. Thirukkural is an iconic work, which provides valuable insights across different subjects," Prime Minister Modi tweeted. Thirukkural, a collection of couplets on ethics, political and economic matters, and love, is written by Poet Thiruvalluvar. I would like to commend @pngsasi, Governor of the West New Britain Province and Mrs. Subha Sasindran for their effort to translate the Thirukkural in Tok Pisin. Governor Sasindran has done his schooling in Tamil while Mrs. Subha Sasindran is a respected linguist," he said in another tweet. Prime Minister Modi has previously released a translation of the book in his mother tongue Gujarati. He has praised Thirukkural on many occasions. top videos In one of his speeches, the Prime Minister said, Thirukkural is not only a literary masterpiece but an extraordinary guide for common living. It shows us the path of righteousness and inspires us to lead a selfless life." He also stated that Thirukkural remains relevant even today and can serve as an inspiration for the present generation." The prime minister has often quoted Thirukkural in his speeches and tweets and even gifted a copy of the book to the late Japanese PM Shinzo Abe in 2014. Thirukkural is a treasure trove full of inspiring ideas that youngsters all over the world can read and benefit from," he had said. Prime Minister Narendra Modi landed in Australia on the third and final leg of his three-nation tour on Monday. Before his arrival in Syndey, he visited Papua New Guinea where he co-hosted the first FIPIC summit and met leaders from the Pacific Island nations to boost bilateral ties. Modi is visiting Australia from May 22-24 as a guest of the Australian Government. He will also attend a community event in Sydney to celebrate Australias dynamic and diverse Indian diaspora, a core part of our multicultural community. Read More Residents of Ukraines eastern hotspot of Bakhmut drop into a Kyiv support centre for medical care and clothing, weeping for their shattered town as Russia claims full control. Russias Wagner mercenaries claim to have captured Bakhmut after months of intense attacks while Ukraine insists it is still fighting in the destroyed city. I only want to say one thing to those who were waiting (for Russia): youve got what you wanted!" said Olga, who fled her hometown. Olga and other displaced Bakhmut residents visit a support centre in Kyiv set up by their local government, where they can see a doctor and get free clothes or bedding. With angry tears, Olga, 33, described how she arrived in the capital Kyiv in October, after fleeing Bakhmut with her husband and two children. Ending up homeless when you have an address" she said, as her two-year-old daughter Nikol fiddled nervously with her dress. The Bakhmut residents follow what has happened to their homes in the once quiet and leafy town on news and social media channels, showing harrowing images on their mobile phones. Russias Wagner (mercenaries) went in there and we realised that was it," Olga said. At first we had friends still there. When they (Russians) removed the last people who hadnt evacuated in time, we realised they were razing it all." Vera Biryukova, a 74-year-old retired teacher, showed a stream of pictures of a burnt-out building with empty windows her flat is on the ground floor. There are battles round there now. I see from the footage that in my block the 2nd and 5th entrances were on fire and the roof too. - Nowhere to go back - Theres nowhere to go back to any more, but I want to go home, even if only to stones," she sighed. We didnt think our town would become a fortress." The grey-haired woman in a tracksuit breaks into tears as she describes how she left for Kyiv after months sleeping in the cellar, taking only a few clothes and leaving her precious family photos. She declines to comment on Russias actions, adding: What can I say? I want to go home. Im not a politician." But Iryna Tkachenko, who worked as a shop assistant for 38 years, is strongly optimistic about Bakhmuts future. The city is not there any more, but we believe they (the Ukrainians) will seize it back, they will chase (the Russians) out," the 58-year-old said. Of course its a great shame that a lot of people think the opposite. Its a great shame that they support" Russia, she added. She said Russian forces had been removing locals from the conflict zone, including her brother and her sister-in-law, who stayed to work at a local childrens hospital. My younger brother and his wife have just been taken to the other side," she said, referring to Russia. They went in (to work) to just safeguard the paperwork and worked as long as possible. Now they have been taken to Russia." - Think were Nazis - Tkachenko is herself originally from Russia and still has family there. My relatives write to me now: Everything will be fine. We are liberating you," she said. I never expected it could be like this, that 80 percent (of Russians) now think we are enemies, that we are Nazis." The centre for Bakhmut dispalced is bustling and decorated with childrens drawings. Its head, Lyudmyla Bondareva, says more than 6,500 people from the city are living in Kyiv and its surrounding region among them 1,400 children. Visitors say making ends meet is a struggle mainly due to the high rents in Kyiv but Lyudmyla also complained of a lack of food parcels from donor organisations. top videos Iryna said she sleeps on a mattress on the floor in a studio flat shared with three others. She has not received any food parcels since September. Its hard but what can you do? Thats life." UK Home Secretary Suella Braverman is under pressure as it was claimed in a media report on Sunday that she attempted to dodge a driving fine after being caught speeding outside London when she was Attorney General of the country last year. The Sunday Times reported that the Indian-origin Cabinet minister asked civil servants to help her avoid a speeding fine and points on her driving licence by arranging a private one-to-one driving awareness course. In the UK, anyone caught speeding is handed a fine and penalty points on their licence unless they sign up to an awareness course held in group sessions or online. A spokesperson for the Home Secretary said she accepts that she was speeding last summer and regrets doing so. She took the three points (on her licence) and paid the fine last year, the spokesperson said. However, the issue has been dominating headlines in the UK as Opposition parties demand an independent investigation to determine if Braverman broke the ministerial code and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunaks G7 news conference in Japan was also overshadowed by the issue. I dont know the full details of what has happened nor have I spoken to the Home Secretary, said Sunak, in response to a media inquiry. I think you can see first-hand what I have been doing over the last day or so but I understand that shes expressed regret for speeding, accepted the penalty and paid the fine, he said. But Labours shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper called it shocking that Braverman had reportedly tried to bend the normal process for speeding drivers. As Home Secretary, Suella Braverman is responsible for upholding the law, yet this report suggests she has tried to abuse her position to get round the normal penalties, said Cooper of the newspaper report. She called for an urgent investigation, starting with Prime Minister Sunaks independent adviser on ministers interests, Laurie Magnus, assessing whether the Home Secretarys behaviour breached the ministerial code. Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesperson Alistair Carmichael has also called for Braverman to be urgently investigated. The Sunday Times reported that instead of signing up for an in-person course with other motorists, or completing one online that would show her name and face to other participants, Braverman allegedly asked civil servants to arrange a private one-to-one course. When the civil servants refused, she is said to have sought help from a political aide, who requested the private course organiser to provide a private session, or allow her to use an alias or turn her camera off. When the provider refused, Braverman opted to take the three points on her licence, the newspaper reported. Sources close to the minister believe the case was settled by her taking the penalty points, which are wiped off over time unless additional points accrue for other road safety penalties. Accumulating 12 or more points on a licence could result in the driver losing their licence and being disqualified from driving over time. The Cabinet Office was made aware of the situation as requested by Mrs Braverman. She was not and is not disqualified from driving, a source close to Braverman was quoted as saying. top videos It would not be appropriate to comment on the existence or content of advice between government departments, a UK Cabinet Office spokesperson said. YEREVAN, MAY 22, ARMENPRESS. The issue of possible withdrawal from the CSTO is still on Armenias agenda, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has said. Why was that issue raised? Because it is our understanding that the CSTO has withdrawn or is withdrawing from the Republic of Armenia. I mean, if Armenia were to make a de-jure decision on withdrawing from the CSTO, it would take place as a result of Armenia recording that the CSTO has withdrawn from Armenia. By saying the CSTOs withdrawal I mean first of all the obligations of the organization. I wouldnt say that this issue has been withdrawn from our agenda, because the issue is being discussed as long as there is an issue to discuss. Look, there is a lot of talk on whether or not the monitoring group should come to Armenia, why its not coming. I dont rule out that Armenia could de-jure make a decision on suspending or freezing its membership to the CSTO, but this could happen only in case when we were to record that the CSTO is withdrawing from Armenia. What else should we do if it has left? That is, if we were to record that the CSTO has withdrawn from Armenia, the [needless] status of a de-jure member of the CSTO would only hinder us from discussing security agenda with other countries, the PM said. Pashinyan said that membership to CSTO has blocked Armenias opportunities for arms acquisitions from other countries. Papua New Guinea Prime Minister James Marape on Monday told Prime Minister Narendra Modi that he is the leader of the Global South and Pacific Island nations will rally behind Indias leadership at global forums while addressing the FIPIC Summit. We are victims of global powerplay. You (PM Modi) are the leader of Global South. We will rally behind your (India) leadership at global forums, Marape was quoted as saying by news agency ANI. Prime Minister Narendra Modi also addressed the FIPIC Summit where he said that New Delhi will do everything in its power to highlight the issues faced by Pacific Island nations in global forums. PM Modi said that in the recently concluded G7 summit he made efforts to discuss issues faced by Pacific Island nations and will do so in the upcoming G20 summit as current G20 chair. India considers it its responsibility to convey the concerns of the Global South, their expectations and their aspirations to the world through the G20. This was my effort in the last two days at the G7 summit as well, PM Modi was quoted as saying by news agency ANI. PM Modi also pointed out that those who were trusted did not help during times of crisis. Today we are seeing disruption in the supply chain of fuel, food, fertiliser and pharma. Those whom we trusted, didnt stand with us when needed, PM Modi said. He then went on to say that India is happy to have stood beside the Pacific Island nations during the Covid-19 pandemic. The impact of the Covid pandemic was most on the countries of the Global South. Challenges related to climate change, natural disasters, hunger, poverty and health were already there, now new problems are arising. I am happy that India stood by its friendly Pacific Island countries in times of difficulty, he said. India is proud to be your development partner. You can count on India as a reliable partner. We are ready to share our experiences and capabilities with you without hesitation. We believe in multilateralism and support a free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific, PM Modi said. He further added that he does not view Papua New Guinea and other islands in the Pacific as island nations but as ocean countries and said that the ocean binds India and the Pacific Islands together, referring to the Indian Ocean. top videos For me, you are large ocean countries and not small island states, he said. During his visit to Papua New Guinea, Prime Minister Narendra Modi engaged in discussions with Governor General Bob Dadae at the Government House in Port Moresby. The talks highlighted the importance of bilateral ties and the development partnership between India and Papua New Guinea. YEREVAN, MAY 22, ARMENPRESS. United States Major General Keith Phillips and Mr. Patrick Prior from the U.S. Department of Defense have arrived in Armenia, the U.S. Embassy announced Monday. The U.S. Embassy in Armenia welcomes to Yerevan Major General Keith Phillips and Mr. Patrick Prior from the U.S. Department of Defense. They will meet with Armenian government officials and members of the Armenian Armed Forces to discuss opportunities to strengthen the U.S.-Armenia defense and security relationship, the U.S. Embassy said. Visitors to a Philadelphia burger bar might want to pay attention to the menu pricesone new cheeseburger at DBG will set them back $700. NBC10 explains: The "Gold Standard" burger includes 8 ounces of Japanese wagyu beef, aged Irish cheddar, plus caviar, black truffle, and lobster that's been flambeed in ritzy cognac. "We gold-plate it with edible, 24-karat gold," co-owner Vasiliki Tsiouris-Balis tells WPVI. Yes, it also comes with fries. Plus, for those who imbibe, a 1-ounce pour of the aforementioned booze, Louis XIII Cognac, which UPI notes costs $5,000 per bottle. You won't catch Hannah Albertine of Philadelphia Magazine digging in. In "the year 2023, no burger safe for human consumption should cost $700," she writes. And for the record, you could get that amount of wagyu beef for $70, by the magazine's math. The piece offers alternative ways to spend $700 on food in the city, including "58 turnip hoagies at Honeysuckle Provisions in West Philly." Those who still want a burger but would like to spend much, much less can visit the same eatery during happy hour to pick up a "smash" burger for under $3. (Read more luxury living stories.) The city of Minneapolis has agreed to a $700,000 settlement with family members who were locked inside two squad cars when police killed their father after officers refused their offers to try and help calm him down. As the AP reports, a federal judge ruled that officers were justified in shooting 52-year-old Chiasher Vue after he pointed a rifle at them on Dec. 15, 2019. The settlement will resolve a lawsuit his family filed arguing that police had illegally and unconstitutionally detained them that night. Chamee Vue and her brothers Hailee and Nou Vue tried to intervene but werent allowed out of the police cars. And after the shooting, they spent hours detained in interrogation rooms while police questioned them. A language barrier contributed to the incident because Chiasher Vue spoke little English and few officers there that night spoke Hmong. Since this incident, Minneapolis police have changed department policy on handling witnesses to say they must be treated in a constitutional manner. A police spokesman told the Star Tribune the policy change wasnt related to this case, but the Vue siblings say they still take consolation in the change. The new policy makes it more clear that a person who has not been charged with a crime and isnt being held on probable cause is free to leave at any time. Family members say Chiasher Vue was going through a mental health crisis and suffering from untreated depression on the night he was killed. A night of drinking and karaoke spiraled out of control when, after a series of quarrels, Chiasher fired several shots at a wall inside the house and another one of his sons called 911 around 3am. An autopsy later determined that Chiasher Vue had a blood alcohol level of 0.20 at the time he was killed. When officers arrived, they instructed the Vue children, then ages 17 to 29, to exit their car and sit in the squad cars. "Look, my dad is mentally ill ... Just let me and my little sister go talk to him. We can talk him out, Nou Vue said to an unidentified officer, according to squad car footage. "Youre not getting out of the squad. Stop asking," replied the officer. "I couldnt get out of the car, couldnt give him reassurance that everything would be OK," Chamee said. After Vue came out of the house pointing a rifle, he and officers quickly exchanged gunfire. Investigators weren't able to determine who fired first, but Vue was struck by 13 bullets. (Read more police shooting stories.) It's become a familiar tale among critics of the Kremlin: Two more may have been poisoned in Germany. Police there have opened an investigation after two women became ill while attending a forum in Berlin last month organized by Russia critic Mikhail Khodorkovsky, reports Reuters. One is Natalia Arno, director of the NGO Free Russia Foundation, who wrote on social media that she returned to her hotel room and discovered the door ajar, per CNN. "I woke up at 5 am, suffering sharp pain and strange symptoms." Arno says her symptoms worsened in the following days, and she was treated at a hospital in Washington upon flying back to the US, per the Guardian. I have a suspicion that during my recent trip to Europe I was poisoned, probably by some nerve agent, she wrote. The other woman is an unidentified journalist. Moscow has been accused of multiple poisonings, with high-profile cases involving Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny and journalist Vladimir Kara-Murza, notes dw.com. Also, a number of prominent Russian business leaders and politicians have died in unusual ways since the start of the Russia-Ukraine war, including falls from building windows. (Read more Russia stories.) More than a year after Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins died in a Bogota hotel while on tour at the age of 50, the band has finally found a worthy replacement. As Pitchfork reports, he's session drummer Josh Freese, whose dizzying credits include gigs with the Offspring, Rob Zombie, Bruce Springsteen, A Perfect Circle, Sting (with Shaggy), Danny Elfman, Lana Del Rey, and Devo; he's also a past drummer for Guns N' Roses, Nine Inch Nails, and Weezer. The band made the reveal Sunday via livestream, in which Chad Smith of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Tommy Lee of Motley Crue, and Danny Carey of Tool made jokey appearances to suggest that they might be the new addition before the camera cuts to Freese complaining about all the chatter and the lack of rehearsing. They oblige him with a new cut. There might have been an inkling as to who was going to take up Hawkins' sticks when Freeze performed with the band at Hawkins' two all-star tribute shows last yearon Hawkins' drum kit. "Without hesitation I said, 'Taylor's drums need to be up there and I want to play on his exact set up,'" he wrote at the time, per Vulture. "I want THAT energy to be up on THAT stage. I want to sweat all over the same drums he was sweating all over every night ... don't change a thing." Hawkins was with the Foo Fighters for a quarter century, and his beat helped take the band to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. The Foo Fighters canceled the rest of their tour after Hawkins' March 2022 death, and other than the tribute shows, they haven't played since. As The Hollywood Reporter notes, the band's new tour kicks off Wednesday in New Hampshire. (Read more Foo Fighters stories.) When Hollywood exec David Zaslav agreed to give the commencement speech at his alma mater, he surely never thought it would go like this. The CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery was heckled throughout his speech at Boston University Sunday because of the ongoing Hollywood writers' strike, reports Mediaite. At one point, as Zaslav was talking about the importance of getting along with colleagues, a chant of "pay your writers" forced him to temporarily pause. Watch the moment here. Other times, shouts of "we don't want you here" and "shut up Zaslav" could be heard, per the Washington Post. Zaslav is "one of the most powerful people in Hollywood," per Boston.com, and the Writers Guild of America organized pickets at the university to protest his appearance. In a statement to the Hollywood Reporter, Zaslav attempted to shrug off the commencement awkwardness. I am grateful to my alma mater, Boston University, for inviting me to be part of todays commencement and for giving me an honorary degree, and, as I have often said, I am immensely supportive of writers and hope the strike is resolved soon and in a way that they feel recognizes their value." Another part of the speech that appeared to especially rankle the crowd was when Zaslav spoke of how he worked as a lawyer early in his career, which he found unsatisfying despite the nice paychecks. When he said, I was making good money, I was feeling really great, the crowd unleashed more chants and boos, notes THR. In his current job, Zaslav reportedly makes nearly $250 million a year, per Boston.com. (Read more Hollywood writers' strike stories.) A Frontier Airlines passenger headed from Colorado to Florida delayed her plane's trip to warmer climes and now has an arrest under her belt after a confrontation with a flight attendant. The airline says in a statement that the "belligerent" female passenger on Flight 708 from Denver to Tampa had been asked to leave the aircraft, waiting for departure at Denver International Airport, in the wee hours of Sunday morning, a request that apparently set her off, per USA Today. "As she was deplaning, she picked up an intercom phone and struck a flight attendant with it," the airline's statement notes. It's not clear what provoked the passenger's alleged behavior, nor how seriously hurt the flight attendant was. The passenger, identified by KMGH as Shuri Turner, was arrested and charged with assault, according to the Denver Police Department. After being cited, Turner was released and booked on another flight home. The original flight left about four hours later than scheduled. Denver International Airport told CNN in a statement that, "unfortunately," it lacked further "information on the flight." Out-of-control airline passengers have run rampant since the pandemic began, with nearly 6,000 reports in 2021, and more than 2,450 last year, per Federal Aviation Administration stats. This year, there have been 670 such reports so far. For context, 2017 saw just 544 reports in total. (Read more Frontier Airlines stories.) YEREVAN, MAY 22, ARMENPRESS. Armenia is not holding any Azerbaijanis whove trespassed into the country after getting lost, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has said. I confirm that there is an understanding that soldiers and citizens whove appeared on the opposite side as a result of getting lost must be returned through a speedy procedure, Pashinyan said at a press conference, referring to the agreements reached in Brussels. But I also confirm that as of this moment there are no Azerbaijanis in Armenia whove appeared here as a result of getting lost. All Azerbaijanis who are now in Armenia have crossed the border consciously, knowing that they are trespassing the Armenian border, Pashinyan said. Any Azerbaijani crossing into Armenia as a result of getting lost will be released back to Azerbaijan through a speedy procedure, he added. Asked whether or not he rules out releasing the two Azerbaijani servicemen currently jailed in Armenia for trespassing, one of whom is also accused of murdering a civilian in Syunik, Pashinyan said that the normalization of relations envisages difficult and important decisions, but not unilateral. Yes, we are ready to discuss, certainly after making legal procedures. Because on the other hand we cant simply ignore the fact that a citizen of Armenia has been killed, but we are not violating anyones presumption of innocence too. The issue is under investigation, Pashinyan said. After a court verdict various solution are envisaged under legal proceedings, he said. An Illinois lawmaker is making headlines for his reaction to a bill that would greenlight mixed-gender bathrooms in his state. On Thursday, Illinois senators debated HB 1286, which would allow for the creation of public multi-occupancy restrooms that individuals of any gender can use. Per the Washington Post, these bathrooms would have floor-to-ceiling stall dividers and lockable doors, and there would be no urinals. There are already single-use multigender bathrooms in the state. The new bill introduced earlier this year by Democratic Rep. Katie Stuartwhich wouldn't mandate multi-occupancy mixed-gender bathrooms, but simply allow for themwas designed "to promote the privacy, safety, and gender inclusivity of all Illinois residents and visitors." Not everyone is seeing the bill through such a positive lensnotably Republican lawmakers, who are decrying the mixing of genders in restrooms. "If all you ladies want guys in your bathroom, be careful what you wish for," Sen. Chapin Rose said, citing his fears of sexual assaults, per WMBD. But it was comments made by GOP state Sen. Neil Anderson that are drawing the most attention, after he predicted during Thursday's floor debate what he and others might do if the legislation passes and they don't like who uses these bathrooms. "This [bill] is gonna cause violence, and it's gonna cause violence from dads like me," he noted, adding that if he ever saw anyone he perceived to be male entering the bathroom along with his 10-year-daughter, he would "beat the living piss out of him," per the Post. After Anderson made his remarks, "shouts of support could be heard from other Republicans," per WMBD. Sen. Mike Simmons, a Democrat and Illinois' first openly gay state senator, was not among those cheering for Anderson, calling his remarks "dog-whistling against LGBTQ+ communities." Simmons asked for Anderson's comments to be stricken from the record, noting, per the Post: "I wouldn't want a single person in the state to read that record and think that anybody here would come after them if they would do something so mundane as ... use the bathroom." A joint statement from Aids Foundation Chicago, Equality Illinois, and Pride Action Tank concurred, decrying Anderson (though not by name) for calling for "transphobic violence." Democratic Rep. Kelly Cassidy on Friday had even more advice for her GOP colleagues. "Y'all [Republicans] need to get yourselves together and stop being so obsessed where people pee," Democratic Rep. Kelly Cassidy said on Friday, per the State Journal-Register. The bill passed the Senate in a 35-20 vote, and the House also gave its thumbs-up on Friday. The legislation now heads to Democratic Gov. JB Pritzger's desk for signing. (Read more Illinois stories.) Teenagers will officially be allowed to open a Venmo account with a parent's permission, the company said Monday, expanding the popular social payments app to an age demographic that's likely to embrace it almost immediately. The Venmo Teen Account will be available for 13- to 17-year-olds and comes with a debit card as well, per the AP. Parents will be able to monitor transactions and adjust privacy settings, as well as move money to their teenager. Parents will also be able to lock and unlock the debit card and see who the teenager is sending money to and receiving it from. Withdrawals from ATMs using the debit card will have a $400 daily limit, and users will need to withdraw money from participating ATMs or incur a $2.50 fee. Otherwise, there are no fees attached to creating or maintaining the account. Parents will be able to monitor up to five Venmo accounts for teenagers. Using Venmo won't necessarily be new to a good number of teensparents often set up accounts for their children through their own accounts, which is a violation of Venmo's terms of service. There have been guides on the internet for some time showing parents how to create a child's account without Venmo penalizing them. Venmo has been a popular way to send money to individuals for years, and the app now has more than 90 million users. The product for teens comes at a time when other social apps are being watched closely by politicians and regulators: For example, the state of Montana banned TikTok last week, and other states are considering a ban as well. (Read more Venmo stories.) The Supreme Court has declined to hear a challenge to California's ban on foie gras, leaving in place a lower court ruling that upheld the ban. The lawsuit was brought by Canadian duck and goose farmers who described the fatty bird liver delicacy as the most "maligned and misunderstood food in the world," CNN reports. The farmers argued that they "care about their animals just as much as any California politician or animal-rights activist." They said their products passed federal inspection and California's ban violated federal law. France filed a "friend of the court" brief, saying foie gras "represents an enduring part of Frances heritage and culture that the federal government has worked with France to protect. Lawyers for California defended the ban, saying producing the delicacy involves using a feeding tube to force the birds to consume more food than they would voluntarily. California's legislature "considered evidence that the process of force-feeding ducks and geese causes extreme suffering," state attorney general Rob Bonta said. The court did not comment on why it declined the appeal. Earlier this month, the court sided with California and upheld a law that required more humane treatment of pigs, USA Today reports. The law banned the sale of pork products from pigs born to sows that didn't have at least 24 square feet of space and the ability to stand up and turn around in their pens. It was upheld in a 5-4 decision. (Read more foie gras stories.) This is an interesting snapshot on the state of religion in America: As of 2022, not quite half of Americans have no doubt that God is watching over them, which is a little startling in that that number topped 60% in 2008, just 15 years ago. As the Hill reports, citing the General Social Survey conducted by the University of Chicago's NORC research group, about a third of Americans34%never go to church, but about three-quarters of Americans classify themselves as spiritual and believe in things like life after death. Not surprisingly, churches, in terms of membership and attendance, took a hit during the pandemicas did belief in a higher power. Findings from a recent study by the Public Religion Research Institute also add some interesting findings. Highlights: Most Americans are still Christian, and white Christians have stayed static at 42% over the last five years. It's worth noting: that number was 54% in 2006 and 72% in 1990. Christians of color make up 25% of the nation's population. Only 7% of Americans do not believe in God, per the Hill. "Belief is very stubborn in America today," say Ryan Burge, who studies faith at Eastern Illinois University. Another 7% are agnostic, meaning they think the answer is unknowable. The remainder believe but have doubts to some degree. Mainline Protestantism is "collapsing," says Burge. Nondenominational Protestants, however, clock in at nearly 15% of Americans and "are the second-largest religious group in America today, after Catholics." The percentage of those who are religiously unaffiliated has risen to 27% from 16% in 2006. The number of Americans who worship in other housesincluding Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, or Unitarian Universalisthas held pretty steady at 6%. Check out the full NORC survey here , or the PRRI study here . (Or go here to meet "Heaven's receptionist." States along the Colorado River have finally struck a deal to keep the vital waterway from running dry in the West, reports the New York Times. The shorthand version of the complicated arrangement is that California, Arizona, and Nevada will reduce by 13% the amount of water they pull from the river in exchange for more than $1 billion in federal funding, per the Washington Post. The states reached the deal ahead of a May 30 deadline, at which point the federal government threatened to impose more drastic cuts. The stakes? Without action, the river might well run dry below the Hoover Dam, which could drastically impinge on water for cities such as Los Angeles and Phoenix. The states have been negotiating unsuccessfully for about a year in what the Times describes as a "state-against-state cage match." The big-picture context here is provided by the Post, which describes the 1,450-mile river that runs from the Rockies to Mexico as a lifeline for the West. The problem is that "climate change has made the region hotter and drier, and exposed how rules made over a century ago to share the river among Western states are inadequate to keep it from drying up," writes Joshua Partlow. The new rules would apply only through the end of 2026, at which point the states would have to reassess. One factor that helped a deal is this year's above-average snowpack, notes the Denver Post. But water experts interviewed by the newspaper warn that the temporary boost in water and the temporary deal struck by the states do nothing but buy a relatively short amount of extra time before a potentially catastrophic water shortage. "The river is telling us that we haven't done enough," says Jennifer Gimbel, a water policy scholar at Colorado State University. "It's challenging us." (Read more Colorado River stories.) Another longtime Democratic senator is retiring, the fourth in this election cycle. Tom Carper of Delaware announced his decision on Monday, reports Politico. The 76-year-old, who serves as chairman of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, first won the seat in 2000, per the Delaware News Journal. He joins fellow Democrats Dianne Feinstein of California, Ben Cardin of Maryland, and Debbie Stabenow of Michigan in deciding to retire. While Democrats already faced a brutal 2024 slate in the Senate, Delaware's seat is thought to be safe for the party. The leading contender to replace him is Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester, who already had expressed interest in running if Carper retired. She is on track to become the Senate's lone Black female senator, filling a void that's been in place since Kamala Harris vacated her seat to become vice president, notes the Hill. "We love Lisa," Carper said, adding that he spoke with her before his announcement. "I said, Youve been patient, waiting for me to get out of the way and Im going to get out of the way, and I hope you run and I hope youll let me support you in that mission. And she said, 'Yes, I will let you support me.' And so Im going to." (Read more Tom Carper stories.) The man accused of murdering four University of Idaho students appeared in court Monday to enter his plea to the charges. Instead, Bryan Kohberger said nothing when asked to do so by the judge, reports Fox News. "Your honor, we are standing silent," said the 28-year-old's attorney, per CNN. The tactic means "a defendant does not take a stance on being guilty or not guilty," per this legal explainer, and it's tantamount to a not-guilty plea because a judge then typically enters a plea of not guilty on the person's behalf. That's exactly what happened Monday, setting the stage for a trial tentatively scheduled to begin October 2, reports the AP. Prosecutors now have 60 days to inform the court if they intend to seek the death penalty, per NBC News. In his court appearance Monday, Kohberger smiled at his attorney, Kootenai County public defender Anne Taylor, and answered, "Yes I do," when the judge asked if he understood the charges against him. Kohberger was studying for his doctorate in criminology at nearby Washington State University when he allegedly stabbed the four Idaho students to death in November. (Prior to the killings, Kohberger allegedly tricked a female friend into believing a burglar had entered her residence.) Sixteen years after Madeleine McCann disappeared in Portugal, there has been a major development in the case: Police are planning to search a reservoir in the Algarve region around 30 miles away from where the British girl went missing. Sources tell Reuters that German authorities requested the search as part of their investigation of Christian Brueckner, a sex offender who is currently in prison for raping a 72-year-old American woman in the same region of Portugal. Brueckner was formally identified as a suspect in the McCann case last year. Brueckner was living in the Algarve region when Madeleine disappeared in May 2007, just before her fourth birthday. German prosecutors say phone records show he was in the area when the girl disappeared from her family's hotel room. The Times of London reports that according to Portuguese broadcaster SIC, investigators believe Brueckner, who lived in a camper van, spent a lot of time at the reservoir. "He would call it his little paradise and would often spend the night here. He was seen here often," SIC said. The reservoir was searched twice in 2008 after a Portuguese lawyer said underworld sources had told him the girl's body had been thrown in there, the Times reports. "You cant see anything down there. The divers are searching entirely by touch, feeling in the silt for anything suspicious," the leader of the dive team said at the time. "It's a long, slow process." Earlier this month, parents Kate and Gerry McCann marked what would have been their daughter's 20th birthday, the BBC reports. "Happy birthday Madeleine. Still missing. Still very much missed," they said in a Facebook post. "Still looking. For as long as it takes." (Read more Madeleine McCann stories.) Russian officials claimed that Ukrainian military saboteurs launched an attack across the border Monday, wounding eight people in a small town. Kyiv officials denied any link with the group and blamed the fighting on a revolt by disgruntled Russians against the Kremlin. Neither version of events could be independently verified in an area that has witnessed sporadic spillover from the almost 15-month war in Ukraine, the AP reports. The governor of Russias Belgorod region, which borders Ukraine, said that a Ukrainian Armed Forces saboteur group entered the town of Graivoron, about three miles from the border. The town also came under Ukrainian artillery fire, he said. Gov. Vyacheslav Gladkov said eight people were wounded and most residents had left the area, but the situation remained tense. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russian President Vladimir Putin was informed about the alleged saboteur incursion. An effort to "push them out from the Russian territory and liquidate them" was underway, he said. Peskov described the action as an attempt by Ukraine to divert attention from the eastern city of Bakhmut , which Moscow claimed to have captured after months of battle but where Kyiv says it is still fighting. But Ukrainian military intelligence officials didnt confirm that Kyiv had deployed saboteurs. Instead, they claimed that Russian citizens seeking regime change in Moscow were behind the Graivoron incursion. Ukraine intelligence representative Andrii Cherniak said Russian citizens belonging to murky groups calling themselves the Russian Volunteer Corps and the Freedom of Russia Legion were behind the assault. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskys advisor, Mykhailo Podolyak, said on Twitter that Ukraine "has nothing to do with it." The Russian Volunteer Corps claimed in a Telegram post it had crossed the border into Russia again, after claiming to have breached the border in early March. (Read more Russia-Ukraine war stories.) Sorry! This content is not available in your region YEREVAN, MAY 22, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has said that increasing supervision for abiding by the Western sanctions against Russia is being discussed with all Western partners. At the same time, Pashinyan said that the sanctions issue is also on the discussion agenda between Armenia and Russia. Speaking at the press conference on May 22, PM Pashinyan said that Armenia is giving the same response to both Western and Russian partners in these discussions. This issue is being discussed with all our Western partners, they are raising this issue. But before that, this issue was on our discussion agenda with Russia. And we are giving the same response to both. We are saying that Armenia is a member of the EEU, Armenia has strategic, collegial relations with Russia, deep economic relations of strategic significance, but Armenia cannot afford to come under Western sanctions due to these and other circumstances. Therefore, in our relations with Russia we will act in the volume that will allow us not to come under Western sanctions. First of all, Armenia doesnt have that much of resources to come under such sanctions, besides, if we were to come under such sanctions it wouldnt be good for any of our allies, while we would ruin our relations with our Western partners, Pashinyan said. We have used your information to see if you have a subscription with us, but did not find one. Please use the button below to verify an existing account or to purchase a new subscription. Fairbanks, AK (99707) Today Cloudy skies this evening will become partly cloudy after midnight. Low around 45F. Winds SSW at 5 to 10 mph.. Tonight Cloudy skies this evening will become partly cloudy after midnight. Low around 45F. Winds SSW at 5 to 10 mph. Fairbanks, AK (99707) Today Cloudy skies this evening will become partly cloudy after midnight. Low near 45F. Winds SSW at 5 to 10 mph.. Tonight Cloudy skies this evening will become partly cloudy after midnight. Low near 45F. Winds SSW at 5 to 10 mph. YEREVAN, MAY 22, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has revealed the terms of the 2020 Nagorno Karabakh ceasefire agreement which Armenia rejected during the drafting phase. Yes, there were items which we removed, and we said that we wont sign it no matter what. One of the items pertained to the enclaves, the other pertained to a corridor through the territory of Armenia, Pashinyan said on Monday. Pashinyan said that there were officials who were in favor of signing the agreement with the clause on enclaves. In the future, some of those people accused us of treason and demanded our resignation, but this is a fact. I regret that these conversations werent recorded, because in that case many people wouldnt have the option of speaking, he said. PM Pashinyan said he held a discussion with various officials before signing the 9 November 2020 trilateral statement. Pashinyan said that during the meeting he told those present that the matter wouldnt be put up for vote in order not to place responsibility on others. After the discussions he decided to sign the document. Some of those present emotionally didnt want the document to be signed. Pashinyan said he himself didnt want to sign it emotionally. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy huddled with some of his biggest backers as the Group of Seven summit closed in Hiroshima on Sunday, building momentum for his country's war effort even as Russia claimed a symbolic victory on the battlefield. The Ukrainian leader's in-person appearance in his trademark olive drab underscored the centrality of the war for the G7 bloc of rich democracies. It also stole much of the limelight from other priorities, including security challenges in Asia and outreach to the developing world, that the leaders focused on at the three-day gathering. G7 reaffirmed our commitment to continue our strong backing for Ukraine from every possible dimension, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said. Zelenskyy held two major rounds of meetings Sunday, one with G7 leaders and a second with them and a host of invited guests including India and South Korea. He also held one-on-one talks with several of the leaders. Hanging over Sunday's talks was the Russian claim that forces of the Wagner private army, backed by Russian troops, had seized the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut. The eight-month battle for the eastern city seen by both sides as a major symbolic prize has been the longest and likely bloodiest of the war. Asked if Bakhmut was still in Ukraines hands, Zelenskyy said he thought that Russian forces had finally taken the city. ...continue reading Kyodo - May 22 Yuko Kishida, the wife of Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, has gifted pairs of wearable binoculars to the spouses of the leaders of the Group of Seven countries and international organizations who attended the G-7 summit that concluded Sunday in Hiroshima, according to the Japanese Foreign Ministry. , May 22 ( CGTN ) - Local protesters were joined by demonstrators from the U.S., the Philippines and South Korea to rally against the ongoing Group of Seven (G7) summit and the possible establishment of an Asian version of NATO. Gathering at Senda Park in central Hiroshima, protesters said the summit and alliance-building do no good for the world and that the participating countries are threatening regional and global stability. Among the demonstrators were two people with disabilities in wheelchairs who made the trip to the scene with the help of friends. Economics Nation - May 17 Japan is a very interesting country and stands out in many ways. But there is one statistic in particular that stands it apart from other developed countries. It is the only country that, despite having a population of 125 million, has very few homeless people or people living on the streets. YEREVAN, MAY 22, ARMENPRESS. Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan presented details from the Washington negotiations. ARMENPRESS reports, Mirzoyan said during the press conference held on May 22 that some progress was made in the negotiations in Washington in the sense that it was possible to agree on two more articles of the draft peace treaty, but it is possible to agree on several other articles in a direct, long, sincere conversation. "I can say that during these conversations, the parties understand each other's concerns, intentions and ideas very well. Apart from the two articles I mentioned, I think there is a possibility of agreement regarding the other articles as well. This is not only my assessment, I was assured by other parties as well. Of course, there are articles and topics where the positions of the parties are quite far from each other. These are the articles that deal with the most difficult issues. But there was also quite an effective discussion in this direction," said Mirzoyan. The Foreign Minister also reaffirmed Armenia's commitment to establishing a long-lasting, stable and dignified peace in the South Caucasus. "Armenia cannot take constructive steps alone," said Mirzoyan. He also mentioned that it is fundamental for Armenia to have certainty in the demarcation process. Spirit Airlines is yanking Jamaica off its itinerary of direct flights to and from Bradley International Airport outside Hartford, citing poor ticket sales just six months after debuting the new route. Bradley introduced the service in mid-December 2022 to Montego Bay, Jamaica, with fares starting at $116 each way for the four hour flights. On Priceline Monday, a few flights were offered in June for $104, with most fares otherwise ranging between $144 and $290 each way. While Spirit offers Northeast service to Jamaica via John F. Kennedy International Airport, Newark Liberty International Airport and Logan International Airport, the company was counting on the Bradley option would pay off providing service for both vacationers and people with family there. Bradley fares to Jamaica were in line with flights originating out of JFK, with Newark Liberty having a larger number of flights priced below $125. In a statement in response to a CT Insider query, the Connecticut Airport Authority stated it is "very disappointed" in the Spirit Airlines decision. We continue to believe strongly in the markets ability to support nonstop Jamaica service at Bradley International Airport, but the airline was unfortunately unable to attract those passengers to use the service in the limited time that it was offered," the Connecticut Airport Authority stated. "The CAA is committed to continue seeking a new carrier to relaunch and maintain this important service for our community. Under a deal with the state of Connecticut, Spirit was to have been reimbursed up to $2 million if revenue from the new route did not hit expectations. CAA stated Spirit Airlines has not drawn any amounts as recompense. Despite a 40 percent jump in revenue in the first quarter to more than $1.3 billion, Spirit Airlines reported a $103 million loss as costs jumped as well for fuel, wages and aircraft costs among other expenses. The company is readying to begin flying new Airbus A321neo jets starting in June equipped with engines from Pratt & Whitney based in East Hartford. Spirit Airlines CEO Ted Christie criticized Pratt & Whitney in February for what he called "diminished service" of engines mounted on Airbus A320 jets already in the fleet. Spirit Airlines' future hit turbulence in March, after the U.S. Department of Justice sued to block the budget carrier's proposed merger with JetBlue Airways, citing the potential impact on discount carrier fares with one fewer competitor. Speaking last month on a conference call, Christie expressed confidence in the merger surviving an October trial intact. "We need to get bigger because scale is the best way for us to compete with these dominant airlines that control 80 percent of the capacity in the United States," Christie said in April. "I think we have a really good path towards a stronger fifth competitor, which will still be half the size of the fourth competitor, but one that can actually start to create competitive balance in the industry. And I think we'll lay out a very successful case." This article has been updated to reflect that the Connecticut attorneys general office is not among those supporting the DOJ lawsuit to lock the Jet Blue-Spirit merger. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate WASHINGTON (AP) One woman had to carry her baby, missing much of her skull, for months knowing she'd bury her daughter soon after she was born. Another started mirroring the life-threatening symptoms that her baby was displaying while in the womb. An OB-GYN found herself secretly traveling out of state to abort her wanted pregnancy, marred by the diagnosis of a fatal fetal anomaly. All of the women were told they could not end their pregnancies in Texas, a state that has enacted some of the nation's most restrictive abortion laws. Now, they're asking a Texas court to put an emergency hold on some abortion restrictions, joining a lawsuit launched earlier this year by five other women who were denied abortions in the state, despite pregnancies they say endangered their health or lives. More than a dozen Texas women in total have joined the Center for Reproductive Rights' lawsuit against the state's law, which prohibits abortions unless a mother's life is at risk an exception that is not clearly defined. Texas doctors who perform abortions risk life in prison and fines of up to $100,000, leaving many women with providers who are unwilling to even discuss terminating a pregnancy. Our hope is that it will allow physicians at least a little more comfort when it comes to patients in obstetrical emergencies who really need an abortion where it's going to effect their health, fertility or life going forward, Molly Duane, the lead attorney on the case, told The Associated Press. Almost all of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit tell similar stories about their doctors saying, if not for this law, I'd give you an abortion right now. The Texas attorney general's office, which is defending the state in the lawsuit, did not immediately return an email seeking comment Monday. The lawsuit serves as a nationwide model for abortion rights advocates to challenge strict new abortion laws states that have rolled out since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last year. Sixteen states, including Texas, do not allow abortions when a fatal fetal anomaly is detected while six do not allow exceptions for the mother's health, according to an analysis by KFF, a health research organization. Duane said the Center for Reproductive Rights is looking at filing similar lawsuits in other states, noting that they've heard from women across the country. Roughly 25 Texas women have contacted the organization about their own experiences since the initial lawsuit was filed in March. The women who joined the lawsuit describe being elated about finding out they were pregnant before the experience turned catastrophic. Jessica Bernardo and her husband spent years trying to conceive, even consulting fertility doctors, before finally become pregnant with a daughter, Emma, last July. Almost immediately, Bernardo was coughing so hard and often she would sometimes throw up. Fourteen weeks into the pregnancy, test results revealed her baby likely had Down Syndrome, so she consulted a specialist who gave her devastating news: Emma's heart was underdeveloped and she had a rare, deadly disorder called fetal anasarca, which causes fluid to build up in the body. He handed me a tissue box, recalled Bernardo, who lives in Frisco, Texas. I thought maybe the worst thing he was going to tell us was that she's going to have Down Syndrome. Instead, he said, I can tell you right away...she wouldnt make it.' The doctor warned her to watch out for high blood pressure and coughing, symptoms of Mirror syndrome, another rare condition where a mother mirrors the same problems the fetus is experiencing. With Bernardo's blood pressure numbers climbing, her OB-GYN conferred with the hospital's ethics board to see if she could end the pregnancy but was advised Bernardo wasn't sick enough. Bernardo spent $7,000 traveling to Seattle for an abortion a week later. Even if Emma made it through the pregnancy, doctors would have immediately needed to drain excess fluids from her body, only for her to survive a few hours or days, Bernardo said. Reading about everything they would do sounded like complete torture to a newborn that would not survive," she said. Had I not received an abortion, my life would have very likely been on the line. Other women facing similar situations have not had the financial resources to travel outside of the state. Samantha Casiano, a 29-year-old living in eastern Texas, found out halfway through her pregnancy last year that her daughter, Halo, had a rare diagnosis of anencephaly, where much of the skull and brain is missing. Her doctor told her she would have to continue with the pregnancy because of Texas law, even though her baby would not survive. With five children, including a goddaughter, at home she quickly realized she could not afford an out-of-state trip for an abortion. The next next few months of her pregnancy were spent trying to raise money for her daughter's impending funeral, soliciting donations through online websites and launching fundraisers to sell Mexican soup. Halo was born in April, living for only four hours. I was so full of heartbreak and sadness, all at the same time, Casiano said. Women in the lawsuit say they could not openly discuss abortion or labor induction with their doctors, instead asking their doctors discreetly if they should travel outside of the state. Dr. Austin Dennard, an OB-GYN in Dallas, never talked about her own abortion with her doctors after they discovered anencephaly on the baby's ultrasound during her third pregnancy last year. She worried her out-of-state trip to end the pregnancy could jeopardize her medical license or invite harassment against her and her husband, also an OB-GYN. Dennard was inspired to go public with her case when one of her own patients joined the original lawsuit filed in March after traveling to Colorado to abort a twin fetus diagnosed with a life-threatening genetic disorder. There was an enormous amount of fear that I experienced afterward, Dennard said. Its an additional way of feeling silenced. You feel you have to do it in secret and not tell anyone about it. Dennard is expecting another child later this year. ___ Associated Press writer Paul Weber in Austin, Texas, contributed to this report. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate 3 1 of 3 Ben Lambert / Hearst Connecticut Media Show More Show Less 2 of 3 Arnold Gold/Hearst Connecticut Media Show More Show Less 3 of 3 NEW HAVEN More than a dozen people, including several children, were displaced from their home early Monday after a fire broke out close to midnight, city and Red Cross officials said. A little before 12:15 a.m., firefighters, police and medics were called to the three-story residential structure in the 100 block of Winthrop Avenue, according to Rick Fontana, the city's emergency management director. WEST HAVEN Five mayoral hopefuls had already thrown their hats in the ring when Mayor Nancy Rossi privately announced to city Democrats that she would not seek a fourth two-year term in this year's elections. Rossi's leadership has been met with continuous criticism throughout the entirety of her third term from state oversight board officials, who have cut off the city from restructuring funds and placed it under the highest level of oversight; from the city's state delegation, which warned the public's trust in government was "severely eroded" by findings of significant misappropriation in a forensic audit report; from the City Council, which took a vote of no-confidence in Rossi following a number of scandals related to missing protocols and structures in the city's finance office; and from residents, a number of whom protested and demanded Rossi's resignation last April. Mike Last, chairman of the West Haven Democratic Town Committee and a past campaign manager for Rossi, has not taken any direct shots at Rossi but released a statement following her announcement that she would not seek reelection indicating the party will be "turning the page" after "a bumpy few years." Last week, he said the city needs "a fresh start." Rossi did not respond to a request for comment for this story. Local political science experts say the dynamics of the mayoral race make it a unique one that will render predictions futile and could prove many prior assumptions invalid. Elections are really hard to predict. We try very hard in political science to do that, but they're hard to predict because voters are unpredictable," said Trish Crouse, a practitioner in residence of political science at the University of New Haven. "But West Haven, I think it's one of these cities where I do think the voters actually pay attention. "I think you're going to see people paying close attention to both the primaries and the election and they actually feel like they have an investment in this election," Crouse said. Jon Wharton, an associate professor of political science at Southern Connecticut State University, said he believes Rossi's announcement has made the race "more open," as candidates who may have been awaiting a mayoral vacancy could declare their candidacy. Thus far, all five candidates one of whom has only formed an exploratory committee filed paperwork before Rossi's announcement. In a contentious City Council vote, the council voted to approve a roughly $20,000 raise for the mayor's position, a move that City Councilman Ron Quagliani, D-At Large, said "can get us in the ballpark" compared to similarly-sized cities. How do we know there's not some great hidden little gem, that he or she needed twenty-thousand more dollars so that they're willing to give up their entire life for two years to make West Haven a better place to live? said City Councilwoman Colleen O'Connor, R-At Large, before voting with the Democratic majority to give the budget amendment the minimum nine votes required to pass. No new candidates have entered the race since that vote, although the state Municipal Accountability Review Board, an oversight board with approval power over West Haven's budget, declined to approve that budget Thursday, requesting the council do more work on creating a budget with staff positions that can actually be filled in the coming fiscal year. I think having the influence of MARB there is a big factor that can't be ignored," said Wharton. "It wasnt an issue the last time around (in 2017, when Rossi won her first term), and this time its proven to be a significant issue. In many ways this is new territory. As for Rossi's announcement of her retirement, Wharton and Crouse said they believe it's a benefit to both political parties. "I think Nancy Rossi choosing not to run probably is the best thing for the Democratic Party," Crouse said. "I dont think it was with any sort of mandate that she was reelected for her third term." To win that third term, Rossi defeated Republican opponent Barry Lee Cohen, then a one-term city councilman, by 32 votes in an election that happened only weeks after former state Rep. Michael DiMassa, a Democrat who worked in City Hall, was federally indicted in the theft of $1.2 million in federal pandemic relief funding from the city. Following her election, Rossi has been criticized for using tens of thousands of dollars of those pandemic relief funds as compensatory payments to department heads in her City Hall inner circle. Although Crouse believes city Democrats are in a better position to win in November without Rossi, she said it's possible that Democrats will carry "guilt by association," even if they had nothing to do with any of the Rossi administration's decisions. "It'll become a trust issue, whether voters trust a Democrat to be in the Mayor's Office again," she said. I do think both sides are going to have to really step it up, because the voters are wary now of the Mayor's Office just in general. Crouse said she expects Independent or unregistered voters can play a large role in deciding November's election. Wharton said it's typical in West Haven mayoral elections to see third party or minor party mayoral candidacies, although none have emerged yet. Dave Riccio, chairman of the West Haven Republican Town Committee, said the party's messaging for this election "has been made a lot simpler since the last few years the Democratic regime has been in office, all their wrongdoings and faults." Although Cohen, who again has declared his candidacy, narrowly lost to Rossi even after the DiMassa arrest, Riccio said he believes the public's perception of the Rossi administration will be a bigger asset this time. We are keeping our eye on the prize, and the only way to achieve that is hard work, he said. Following O'Connor's vote to increase the pay of the position of mayor, the West Haven RTC took a vote of no-confidence in the most senior Republican councilwoman. Riccio said it would not be a deterrent to party unity in the 2023 election; he said the party's registration deficit among voters motivates city Republicans every election. Wharton said he believes the pay raise vote is a "lightning rod," but so are many other things in the city. Last said he expects Democrats nominated by the DTC up and down the ballot to embrace the party's "core values" of "improving and providing a transparent and honest government, financial responsibility, community equality, quality education and public safety." "What irks me the most is the declared Republican mayoral candidates continue to complain but have yet put forward any real platform, original ideas or suggestions for improvement and until they do, the voters of West Haven can not take them seriously," Last said in an emailed statement. The Cohen campaign released its platform to media outlets at the beginning of May and expects a website detailing it to go live later this month at barry4westhaven.com. In addition to navigating MARB control and emerging from the theft of relief funds, experts said they believe the city's next mayor will have their hands full with promoting economic development. "It'll be a matter of identifying specific projects," Wharton said, as the city has had a number of development projects become stalled or abandoned. Most notably, he said, the site of the proposed shoreline outlet mall The Haven has been a blighted, fenced-off mess for years, but the city has also failed to do much development in the area of the city's train station. "If you propose something like that, you need to follow through on it, Crouse said of The Haven. Crouse said she believes "the door is open" to Republicans in this election, but both major political parties and several declared candidates will still have to make affirmative cases for themselves to voters while finding effective lines of attack against their opponents. Wharton said that, despite all the pontificating, elections are won based on the strength of candidates' campaigns more than anything else. It's going to come down to personality, it'll come down to personal politics, it may not all be the issues," he said. "And when you're dealing with a city like West Haven, there it's close-knit. It'll come down to the candidates." This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) Three Palestinian militants were killed in an Israeli army raid in a West Bank refugee camp early Monday, Palestinian officials said, while the Biden administration sharply condemned Israels latest act of settlement expansion. The Palestinian Health Ministry said the three men were killed during a raid in Balata, a refugee camp near the city of Nablus. Six people were wounded, including one who was in critical condition, the ministry said. The Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, a militant group with connections to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas Fatah party, identified the men killed as its members. The army confirmed the raid, saying troops came under fire and killed three Palestinians. Three others were arrested there, the army said. Israel has stepped up raids over the past year in response to a spate of Palestinian attacks and said Monday's operations netted weapons and an explosives manufacturing operation in a home, which it detonated. Meanwhile, the Biden administration issued a sharply worded statement on Sunday criticizing Israel for moving to reestablish a settlement at the formerly evacuated outpost of Homesh in northern West Bank. In March, the Israeli government repealed a 2005 act that dismantled four West Bank settlements. Over the weekend, the top Israeli army general in the West Bank signed an order attaching Homesh to a local settler regional council a move paving the way for reconstruction of the outpost. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said the U.S. was deeply troubled by the announcement, and noted that Israel itself had determined the settlement was built illegally on private Palestinian land. Miller also expressed Washington's concerns about ultranationalist National Security Minister Itmar Ben-Gvir's visit Sunday to the Temple Mount, the holiest site in Judaism. The contested site is also home to the Al-Aqsa Mosque, the third-holiest site in Islam. This holy space should not be used for political purposes, and we call on all parties to respect its sanctity, Miller said in the statement. Under longstanding arrangements, Jews are permitted to visit the site, but not to pray there. But in recent years, a growing number of Jewish visitors have begun to quietly pray, raising fears among Palestinians that Israel is plotting to divide or take over the site. Ben-Gvir has long called for increased Jewish access. Ben-Gvir visited the hilltop compound earlier on Sunday, declaring that we are in charge, while the Israeli Cabinet held a rare meeting in Jerusalems Old City to celebrate its control of the area. Ben-Gvir's visit drew condemnations from the Palestinians and Israels neighbor, Jordan. A former West Bank settler leader and far-right activist who years ago was convicted of incitement and supporting a Jewish terror group, Ben-Gvir now serves as Israels national security minister, overseeing the countrys police force. The Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades said the three killed in Balata on Monday were Fathi Jihad Rizk, 30, Abdullah Yousef Abu Hamdan, 24, and Muhammad Bilal Zaytoun, 32. In a separate overnight raid in the northern town of Jenin, the army said two Palestinians were shot and three were arrested when the Israeli forces came under attack. More than 250 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire since the spring of 2022. About 50 people have been killed in Palestinian attacks against Israelis. Israel says most of the Palestinians killed were militants, but stone throwing youths protesting the incursions and people not involved in the confrontations have also been killed. Israel captured the West Bank, east Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip in the 1967 Mideast war. The Palestinians seek those territories for a future independent state, with east Jerusalem as its capital. Israel annexed east Jerusalem in a move unrecognized by most of the international community and considers the city its undivided, permanent capital. Tensions at the disputed compound have fueled past rounds of violence. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government, the most right-wing in Israeli history, includes ultra-Orthodox and far-right nationalist parties and has made West Bank settlement construction a top priority. Most of the international community considers Israeli settlements, home to 700,000 people in the West Bank and east Jerusalem, to be illegal and obstacles to peace. Earlier this month, fighting also erupted between Israel and militants in the Gaza Strip. In that escalation, Israeli fire killed 18 militants and 10 civilians, while three civilians were hit by misfired rockets, according to a Palestinian rights group. Two other people were killed and Israel claims they were militants, but that could not be independently verified. Armenia has petitioned to the UN International Court of Justice (ICJ) for a second time after Azerbaijan installed a checkpoint on the motorway linking Armenia and Artsakh, news.am informs, citing First Channel News. May 22, 2023, 09:10 Armenia applies to International Court of Justice for 2nd time on illegal Azerbaijan checkpoint at Lachin corridor STEPANAKERT, MAY 22, ARTSAKHPRESS: Until the final verdict on Armenias lawsuit, Armenia expects the (ICJ) to apply an interim measure against Azerbaijan, demanding from the latter o ensure uninterrupted movement through the Lachin corridor. The office of the representative of Armenia on international legal matters has raised the matter of Azerbaijan's irresponsibility at the European Court of Human Rights as well. Azerbaijan not only does not implement the interim decisions of the ICJ, but also ignores the judgments of the European Court of Human Rights. The Armenian side has submitted this fact to the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, body overseeing the execution of the judgments. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) Near a peak of the Zagros Mountains in central Iran, workers are building a nuclear facility so deep in the earth that it is likely beyond the range of a last-ditch U.S. weapon designed to destroy such sites, according to experts and satellite imagery analyzed by The Associated Press. The photos and videos from Planet Labs PBC show Iran has been digging tunnels in the mountain near the Natanz nuclear site, which has come under repeated sabotage attacks amid Tehrans standoff with the West over its atomic program. With Iran now producing uranium close to weapons-grade levels after the collapse of its nuclear deal with world powers, the installation complicates the Wests efforts to halt Tehran from potentially developing an atomic bomb as diplomacy over its nuclear program remains stalled. Completion of such a facility would be a nightmare scenario that risks igniting a new escalatory spiral, warned Kelsey Davenport, the director of nonproliferation policy at the Washington-based Arms Control Association. Given how close Iran is to a bomb, it has very little room to ratchet up its program without tripping U.S. and Israeli red lines. So at this point, any further escalation increases the risk of conflict. The construction at the Natanz site comes five years after then-President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew America from the nuclear accord. Trump argued the deal did not address Tehrans ballistic missile program, nor its support of militias across the wider Middle East. But what it did do was strictly limit Irans enrichment of uranium to 3.67% purity, powerful enough only to power civilian power stations, and keep its stockpile to just some 300 kilograms (660 pounds). Since the demise of the nuclear accord, Iran has said it is enriching uranium up to 60%, though inspectors recently discovered the country had produced uranium particles that were 83.7% pure. That is just a short step from reaching the 90% threshold of weapons-grade uranium. As of February, international inspectors estimated Irans stockpile was over 10 times what it was under the Obama-era deal, with enough enriched uranium to allow Tehran to make several nuclear bombs, according to the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency. President Joe Biden and Israels prime minister have said they wont allow Iran to build a nuclear weapon. We believe diplomacy is the best way to achieve that goal, but the president has also been clear that we have not removed any option from the table, the White House said in a statement to the AP. The Islamic Republic denies it is seeking nuclear weapons, though officials in Tehran now openly discuss their ability to pursue one. Irans mission to the United Nations, in response to questions from the AP regarding the construction, said that Irans peaceful nuclear activities are transparent and under the International Atomic Energy Agency safeguards. However, Iran has been limiting access for international inspectors for years. Iran says the new construction will replace an above-ground centrifuge manufacturing center at Natanz struck by an explosion and fire in July 2020. Tehran blamed the incident on Israel, long suspected of running sabotage campaigns against its program. Tehran has not acknowledged any other plans for the facility, though it would have to declare the site to the IAEA if they planned to introduce uranium into it. The Vienna-based IAEA did not respond to questions about the new underground facility. The new project is being constructed next to Natanz, about 225 kilometers (140 miles) south of Tehran. Natanz has been a point of international concern since its existence became known two decades ago. Protected by anti-aircraft batteries, fencing and Irans paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, the facility sprawls across 2.7 square kilometers (1 square mile) in the countrys arid Central Plateau. Satellite photos taken in April by Planet Labs PBC and analyzed by the AP show Iran burrowing into the Kuh-e Kolang Gaz La, or Pickaxe Mountain, which is just beyond Natanzs southern fencing. A different set of images analyzed by the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies reveals that four entrances have been dug into the mountainside, two to the east and another two to the west. Each is 6 meters (20 feet) wide and 8 meters (26 feet) tall. The scale of the work can be measured in large dirt mounds, two to the west and one to the east. Based on the size of the spoil piles and other satellite data, experts at the center told AP that Iran is likely building a facility at a depth of between 80 meters (260 feet) and 100 meters (328 feet). The centers analysis, which it provided exclusively to AP, is the first to estimate the tunnel systems depth based on satellite imagery. The Institute for Science and International Security, a Washington-based nonprofit long focused on Irans nuclear program, suggested last year the tunnels could go even deeper. Experts say the size of the construction project indicates Iran likely would be able to use the underground facility to enrich uranium as well not just to build centrifuges. Those tube-shaped centrifuges, arranged in large cascades of dozens of machines, rapidly spin uranium gas to enrich it. Additional cascades spinning would allow Iran to quickly enrich uranium under the mountains protection. So the depth of the facility is a concern because it would be much harder for us. It would be much harder to destroy using conventional weapons, such as like a typical bunker buster bomb, said Steven De La Fuente, a research associate at the center who led the analysis of the tunnel work. The new Natanz facility is likely to be even deeper underground than Irans Fordo facility, another enrichment site that was exposed in 2009 by U.S. and other world leaders. That facility sparked fears in the West that Iran was hardening its program from airstrikes. Such underground facilities led the U.S. to create the GBU-57 bomb, which can plow through at least 60 meters (200 feet) of earth before detonating, according to the American military. U.S. officials reportedly have discussed using two such bombs in succession to ensure a site is destroyed. It is not clear that such a one-two punch would damage a facility as deep as the one at Natanz. With such bombs potentially off the table, the U.S. and its allies are left with fewer options to target the site. If diplomacy fails, sabotage attacks may resume. Already, Natanz has been targeted by the Stuxnet virus, believed to be an Israeli and American creation, which destroyed Iranian centrifuges. Israel also is believed to have killed scientists involved in the program, struck facilities with bomb-carrying drones and launched other attacks. Israels government declined to comment. Experts say such disruptive actions may push Tehran even closer to the bomb and put its program even deeper into the mountain where airstrikes, further sabotage and spies may not be able to reach it. Sabotage may roll back Irans nuclear program in the short-term, but it is not a viable, long-term strategy for guarding against a nuclear-armed Iran, said Davenport, the nonproliferation expert. Driving Irans nuclear program further underground increases the proliferation risk. ___ Follow Jon Gambrell on Twitter at www.twitter.com/jongambrellAP. ___ The Associated Press receives support for nuclear security coverage from the Carnegie Corporation of New York and Outrider Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate SANTIAGO XALITZINTLA, Mexico (AP) At the edge of this town near the Popocatepetl volcano, away from the din of traffic, there was an occasional low rumble Monday, like an idling engine. A cloud of superfine ash descended, slightly reducing visibility and coming to rest on vehicles windshields. For more than a week, the 17,797-foot (5,425-meter) mountain just 45 miles (about 70 kilometers) southeast of Mexico City and known affectionately as El Popo, has been increasingly explosive, spewing great plumes of gas, ash and incandescent rock into the air. The activity led the Mexican government to raise the warning level and to close schools in dozens of municipalities across three states. On Monday, local, state and federal officials held drills for the possibility of evacuations. You hear it more at night, said Violeta Fuentes, 39, who lives with her husband and two children, ages 9 and 12, on the outskirts of Santiago Xalitzintla. Thats also when they can see the glow from the crater. Last night, several times it would go out one moment and then light up again." Fuentes said she was a bit unnerved by it because you can see (the volcano) doesnt want to be okay anymore. The family worried about the impact the falling ash would have on their crops. Her father-in-laws corn across the street was already coated in it. The alerts and preparations, however, are old hat for residents here. Job Amalco, a driver, said it was normal. It doesnt scare us. Were spectators of what nature gives us, he said proudly. But anxiety was beginning to build among some. Its worrisome, above all because of the children, because you dont know if there will be an enormous explosion or a small one, said Claudia de la Cruz, 27, who has two children ages 3 and 5. Her husband hikes up the volcanos flanks each day to collect firewood to make charcoal. He says that there it sounds like the peaks are crashing down and it shakes, but hes brave for us, she said. De la Cruz remembers as a girl the first time she saw the mountain glow and how back then residents had very little information. She trusts that now with a cellphone they will know in real time what is happening. Still, the real warning residents listen for as it has been her whole life will be the urgent tolling of the towns church bells. Monday they rang out as part of the drill. There were no signs of panic Monday, but people worried about the possibility of having to evacuate, leaving homes and animals unattended. Authorities have warned people to stay out of 7.5-mile (12-kilometer) radius around the peak. Florencio de Olarte, 69, and Placida de Aquino, 72, recalled having to evacuate their home in the center of town twice before, years ago. On those occasions, you could see (the volcano) was lit up, throwing out rocks, Olarte said. One of their children already wants them to come to Mexico City, but the couple doesnt want to leave before authorities tell them they have to, because of their turkeys, pig and donkey. We have animals and couldnt leave them, Aquino said. Right now theres a lot of smoke plume and it oozes and thunders, the curtains shake, Aquino said. But for the moment nothing more. The volcanos activity temporary halted flights at the capitals two airports over the weekend. On Monday, an ash plume extended hundreds of miles (hundreds of kilometers) to the east, stretching out over the Bay of Campeche, according to a U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration report. On Sunday, national Civil Defense Coordinator Laura Velazquez said in a news conference that the stoplight-style warning system for the volcano remained on yellow, but had risen to phase 3. Still, she said, there is no risk to the population at this time. In this phase, large domes develop and explode in increasing intensity, launching incandescent rock into the air and pyroclastic flows down its flanks. Velazquez said only three of the volcanos 565 explosions since September had been big, and the current activity was not the greatest of this century. On Monday, she oversaw the drill in Santiago Xalitzintla. We don't know what's going to happen, she said Monday. We are prepared for any scenario. The Defense Department said it was ready to activate 6,500 troops if necessary. Shelters were being prepared. Some 25 million people live within a 60-mile (100-kilometer) radius, most of those in Mexico Citys metropolitan area. Popocatepetl came to life in 1994 after a decades-long dormancy and experienced periods of greater activity from 2000 to 2003 and 2012 to 2016. KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said Monday he tested positive for COVID-19 for the first time after returning home from work trips in Africa and Asia. Due to his age, the 71-year-old said he was prescribed the Paxlovid antiviral medication. I tested positive for COVID-19 for the first time this morning, Lee said on Facebook, where he posted a photo of a positive antigen rapid test. I am generally feeling ok, but my doctors have advised me to self-isolate until I am asymptomatic. Lee was on an official visit to South Africa from May 14 to 16, and Kenya from May 17 to 19. He also attended the Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit in Indonesia from May 10 to 11. Lee said his last COVID-19 vaccine booster was in November. He urged Singaporeans to keep their vaccinations up to date to reduce the risk of severe illness. Health Minister Ong Ye Kung was reported by local media as saying recently in Parliament that fewer seniors were keeping up with their COVID-19 shots. He warned this could weaken the populations resistance against COVID-19 over time and make the nation vulnerable to the virus again. ___ Find more of APs Asia-Pacific coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/asia-pacific PEMBROKE, Ont. - Ontario Provincial Police are investigating a suspected double homicide in Pembroke early this morning that left a third person with life-threatening injuries. Police say officers were called to a home on Mackay Street shortly before 3 a.m., where they found two people with life-threatening injuries. Both were taken to hospital, where one was pronounced dead and the other remains as of this afternoon. Officers found a third person dead near the scene shortly afterward. Police believe the victims were targeted and are asking the public to report any suspicious activity in the area, while being mindful of their own personal safety. The investigation remains in its early stages and local residents should expect to see a large police presence. This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 22, 2023. SHARE: WASHINGTON (AP) One woman had to carry her baby, missing much of her skull, for months knowing shed bury her daughter soon after she was born. Another started mirroring the life-threatening symptoms that her baby was displaying while in the womb. An OB-GYN found herself secretly traveling out of state to abort her wanted pregnancy, marred by the diagnosis of a fatal fetal anomaly. All of the women were told they could not end their pregnancies in Texas, a state that has enacted some of the nations most restrictive abortion laws. Now, theyre asking a Texas court to put an emergency hold on some abortion restrictions, joining a lawsuit launched earlier this year by five other women who were denied abortions in the state, despite pregnancies they say endangered their health or lives. More than a dozen Texas women in total have joined the Center for Reproductive Rights lawsuit against the states law, which prohibits abortions unless a mothers life is at risk an exception that is not clearly defined. Texas doctors who perform abortions risk life in prison and fines of up to $100,000, leaving many women with providers who are unwilling to even discuss terminating a pregnancy. Our hope is that it will allow physicians at least a little more comfort when it comes to patients in obstetrical emergencies who really need an abortion where its going to effect their health, fertility or life going forward, Molly Duane, the lead attorney on the case, told The Associated Press. Almost all of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit tell similar stories about their doctors saying, if not for this law, Id give you an abortion right now. The Texas attorney generals office, which is defending the state in the lawsuit, did not immediately return an email seeking comment Monday. The lawsuit serves as a nationwide model for abortion rights advocates to challenge strict new abortion laws states that have rolled out since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last year. Sixteen states, including Texas, do not allow abortions when a fatal fetal anomaly is detected while six do not allow exceptions for the mothers health, according to an analysis by KFF, a health research organization. Duane said the Center for Reproductive Rights is looking at filing similar lawsuits in other states, noting that theyve heard from women across the country. Roughly 25 Texas women have contacted the organization about their own experiences since the initial lawsuit was filed in March. The women who joined the lawsuit describe being elated about finding out they were pregnant before the experience turned catastrophic. Jessica Bernardo and her husband spent years trying to conceive, even consulting fertility doctors, before finally become pregnant with a daughter, Emma, last July. Almost immediately, Bernardo was coughing so hard and often she would sometimes throw up. Fourteen weeks into the pregnancy, test results revealed her baby likely had Down Syndrome, so she consulted a specialist who gave her devastating news: Emmas heart was underdeveloped and she had a rare, deadly disorder called fetal anasarca, which causes fluid to build up in the body. He handed me a tissue box, recalled Bernardo, who lives in Frisco, Texas. I thought maybe the worst thing he was going to tell us was that shes going to have Down Syndrome. Instead, he said, I can tell you right away...she wouldnt make it. The doctor warned her to watch out for high blood pressure and coughing, symptoms of Mirror syndrome, another rare condition where a mother mirrors the same problems the fetus is experiencing. With Bernardos blood pressure numbers climbing, her OB-GYN conferred with the hospitals ethics board to see if she could end the pregnancy but was advised Bernardo wasnt sick enough. Bernardo spent $7,000 traveling to Seattle for an abortion a week later. Even if Emma made it through the pregnancy, doctors would have immediately needed to drain excess fluids from her body, only for her to survive a few hours or days, Bernardo said. Reading about everything they would do sounded like complete torture to a newborn that would not survive, she said. Had I not received an abortion, my life would have very likely been on the line. Other women facing similar situations have not had the financial resources to travel outside of the state. Samantha Casiano, a 29-year-old living in eastern Texas, found out halfway through her pregnancy last year that her daughter, Halo, had a rare diagnosis of anencephaly, where much of the skull and brain is missing. Her doctor told her she would have to continue with the pregnancy because of Texas law, even though her baby would not survive. With five children, including a goddaughter, at home she quickly realized she could not afford an out-of-state trip for an abortion. The next next few months of her pregnancy were spent trying to raise money for her daughters impending funeral, soliciting donations through online websites and launching fundraisers to sell Mexican soup. Halo was born in April, living for only four hours. I was so full of heartbreak and sadness, all at the same time, Casiano said. Women in the lawsuit say they could not openly discuss abortion or labor induction with their doctors, instead asking their doctors discreetly if they should travel outside of the state. Dr. Austin Dennard, an OB-GYN in Dallas, never talked about her own abortion with her doctors after they discovered anencephaly on the babys ultrasound during her third pregnancy last year. She worried her out-of-state trip to end the pregnancy could jeopardize her medical license or invite harassment against her and her husband, also an OB-GYN. Dennard was inspired to go public with her case when one of her own patients joined the original lawsuit filed in March after traveling to Colorado to abort a twin fetus diagnosed with a life-threatening genetic disorder. There was an enormous amount of fear that I experienced afterward, Dennard said. Its an additional way of feeling silenced. You feel you have to do it in secret and not tell anyone about it. Dennard is expecting another child later this year. ___ Associated Press writer Paul Weber in Austin, Texas, contributed to this report. SHARE: With less than two weeks to go before the planned closure of an emergency department in the central Ontario community of Minden, residents opposing the move are hoping to take their battle to court. Haliburton Highlands Health Services announced in April that the ER at its Minden location would close as of June 1 and all emergency services would be transferred to its Haliburton site, about 25 kilometres away. That has enraged some local residents, who have launched a campaign called Save Minden ER. On Friday, the group announced a plan to raise $100,000 in order to fund a legal challenge seeking an injunction and judicial review of the consolidation plan before it moves ahead. If we dont get this injunction in place and that blue H comes down from the emergency department, well never see another emergency department in the area, said campaign spokesman Patrick Porzuczek, just prior to a Sunday afternoon rally organized by the group. The whole catchment of Minden will have no hospital in the area for any reason to deal with heart attacks, seizures, strokes, injury, sickness. They will have to be transported ... out of the community to receive emergency services. Porzuczek said the group raised $50,000 or half its ultimate goal in the first two days of the campaign. That swift response, he said, demonstrates the urgency that this community has to fight this closure. Everybody is well aware with the way its set up that somebody is going to die, he said. Theres been no public consultation. Access to community care for emergencies is basically removed. A one-way cab fare from Minden to Haliburton is $110. We also have one of the highest rates of poverty in the area where a lot of people that are here are on social allowances that cant afford to take that taxi cab ride. The office of Health Minister Sylvia Jones issued a statement saying the consolidation of the two emergency departments would provide more timely access to care. Spokeswoman Alexandra Adamo noted the move is not a closure. This decision was made by Haliburton Highlands Health Services board and leadership as they are responsible for daily operational decisions, Adamo said in a statement. The consolidation will ensure patients are receiving emergency care in the location that is best equipped to provide urgent acute care as the Minden site was used primarily to stabilize patients before being dispatched to larger centres and did not have any inpatient beds. The Minden site will remain open for some services and will continue to serve the community. HHHS president and CEO Carolyn Plummer said in a statement that a nursing and medical staff shortage is behind the boards decision. She said without consolidation, both emergency departments would have faced temporary closures throughout the summer, sometimes with as little as two hours notice. HHHS fought for as long and as hard as it could to keep both the Haliburton and Minden Emergency Departments open, but with no long-term solutions to the severe and persistent staffing shortages we have been experiencing for the past 18 months, we couldnt go on any longer, Plummer said. It would have been almost impossible to properly communicate such short-notice closures to the community, especially to those who would be visiting for a short period of time. This is not a decision that was made lightly, and it was not one that anyone at the organization wanted to have to make. Asked during an unrelated press conference whether his government would try to keep the Minden ER from closing, Premier Doug Ford said Friday its important to highlight that the Minden hospital is going to remain open. Were working with the hospitals, Ford said. Theyre the ones that hire nurses within that community, but we always believe in giving the best service we can when it comes to health care right across the province. Porzuczek said the premiers comments skirted the issue. What theyre calling a hospital is basically care for support for patients, but not for support in any emergency, he said. This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 22, 2023. SHARE: MONTREAL - The Assembly of First Nations Quebec-Labrador is calling for a member of Quebecs governing Coalition Avenir Quebec party to resign after he suggested numerous Indigenous women lied about being sexually assaulted by police officers. Ghislain Picard, the organizations chief, says the only honorable thing Pierre Dufour can do is resign after his disgraceful comments about a Radio-Canada report alleging police abuse and about the conclusions a public inquiry made on the relationship between Indigenous people and Quebec public servants. I think there are (members of the legislature) or ministers who have been asked to resign for less, Picard said in a phone interview on Monday. Picard also called Dufours comments inexcusable and said people need to be able to have a minimum of faith and trust in their elected officials. Its precisely because one is an elected official that they need to pay a bit more attention to what they say, he said. Dufour made the comments while speaking about the issue of homelessness during a May 15 city council meeting in Val dOr, Que., a city in his riding of Abitibi-Est about 500 kilometres northwest of Montreal. After touting the programs offered by the provincial government to address the issue, Dufour added the city council inherited a pile of shit created by a 2015 episode of the Radio-Canada investigation show Enquete, which looked into physical and sexual assaults of Indigenous women in the community by police. The show was full of lies and attacked police officers that were very honest, Dufour said, before adding there may have been some crooked police officers in the community 30 years before. This report won awards, but it created a split between the police service and the community, which didnt protect the police officers afterwards, he said. Dufour went on to say a public inquiry, known as the Viens Commission, which launched partially in response to the Enquete broadcast, said police were racist against Indigenous people because they ticketed more homeless people. He said police officers didnt feel supported after the allegations and only did the strict minimum at their jobs, he said. Val dOr has been served by the Quebec provincial police since 2002. Dufour later posted on Facebook the comments were made while he was emotional and he misspoke. The situation in Val dOr is concerning. Its a sensitive and complex issue, he wrote, adding that hes working with the mayor and public security to ensure the safety of all citizens without exception. But for Picard, thats not enough. For me, its kind of a slap in the face to the efforts that were trying to make to encourage a better understanding of the situation not just in Val dOr but across Quebec, he said. This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 22, 2023. Read more about: SHARE: An Abuja-based legal practitioner, Abdulazeez Tijani Ahmed, has dragged the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, before a Federal High Court in Abuja over its alleged refusal to put a former Edo State Governor, Adams Oshiomhole, on trial for electoral offences. The lawyer wants the electoral body to prosecute the former National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, APC, for the alleged offence of double nominations during the last primary elections of the APC. In his suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/2178/22, Ahmed is praying for an order of mandamus against INEC, compelling it to initiate an investigation and prosecution of Oshiomhole for willfully violating Section 115 of the Electoral Act 2022. The legal practitioner sought an order from the court to compel the electoral body to invoke Section 145 of the electoral act in putting the Edo senator-elect on criminal trial. Ahmed claimed that under Section 145 of the electoral act, INEC had a mandatory legal duty to initiate criminal prosecution of anybody who willfully breached Section 115 of the act, as alleged against the former Edo State governor. In a three-paragraph affidavit in support of the motion on notice brought pursuant to Order 34 Rule 1 of the Federal High Court Civil Procedure, Oshiomhole was alleged to have run afoul of the law by obtaining and signing more than one form as an aspirant for senatorial and presidential primary elections. He claimed to have written INEC on July 30, 2022, drawing the attention of INEC with evidence of the alleged offences, but that the electoral body, despite receipt of the letter, refused and neglected to act on his demand. In the affidavit deposed to by one Rose Bitrus, a litigation clerk, the lawyer promised to undertake the prosecution of Adams Oshiomhole on behalf of INEC once the order of mandamus is granted and complied with by the electoral body. The motion on the notice was attached with several exhibits on how the former national chairman of the APC reportedly signed the two nomination forms in the same primary elections. Meanwhile, the suit has been fixed for hearing on September 28 before Justice Mobolaji Olajunwon. The founder, Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti (ABUAD), Afe Babalola SAN, has advised the President-Elect, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, to seek debt forgiveness for the country when he assumes office. Babalola said he expects the incoming president to learn from former President Olusegun Obasanjo, who spent two-three years of his administration begging for debt forgiveness for the nation. He made the remarks at the weekend while answering questions from journalists after a lecture titled: Smart Infrastructure: Catalyst for Sustainable Development held at the Alfa Belgore Hall of the university by Prof Bamidele Adebisi of the University of Manchester. The educationist, who described Nigeria as the worst debtor today, said we owe trillions of dollars and we are still borrowing more even as the present administration has few days to go. He added, We learnt that the in-coming president has gone to look for those who will invest here. Our naira is worthless, seek for debt forgiveness. Prof. Adebisi, whose lecture was on smart infrastructure, said technology has come to stay. He said, We can use technology as a tool for societal development. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Sunday urged North Korea to stop ballistic missile testing after visiting the fortified border between North and South Korea ahead of a summit with South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol in Seoul, Reuters reports. May 22, 2023, 09:49 German chancellor urges North Korea to stop missile tests STEPANAKERT, MAY 22, ARTSAKHPRESS: Scholz, who visited South Korea after the G7 summit in Japanese Hiroshima, called the missile tests a sign of the "still dangerous situation" on the Korean Peninsula. This is a threat to peace and security in this region," he stated at the military base after visiting the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) separating South and North Korea. Former Vice President and presidential candidate in the February 25 election, Atiku Abubakar and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) have thrown their weight behind the consolidation of the three petitions challenging the return of Bola Ahmed Tinubu as a winner of the election. Atiku argued that merging his petition with that of Peter Obi of the Labour Party (LP) and that of the Allied Peoples Movement (APM) would engender quick disposal of the petitions. Besides, he canvassed that the interest of justice would prevail when the petitions are accorded expeditious hearing. At Mondays proceedings, Atiku represented by Eyitayo Jegede, SAN, maintained the monumental importance of the petitions is the reason they deserve a speedy hearing. The former Vice President cited several provisions of the Electoral Act 2022 which donates powers to the Court to merge petitions for quick disposal in the interest of justice. He insisted that the three petitions though filed by different parties are targeted at the same 2023 presidential election and the same declaration of Tinubu as winner. The petitions from their contents and foundation are flying together with equal force to the same direction of righting the wrongs in the election, he said. Atiku argued that it is natural and appropriate for the Court to do everything within its power and the law to bring justice to the parties. He asked the Court to disregard the objections by Tinubu and the All Progressives Congress, APC, adding that their motive is to delay the hearing of the petitions against natural justice. However, the Independent National Electoral Commission INEC represented by Chief Kemi Pinheiro, SAN said it would abide by the decision of the Court. Meanwhile, the Chairman of the Court, Justice Haruna Simon Tsammani has fixed May 23 for ruling in the matter.fad Aliko Dangote, the Nigerian billionaire businessman, says the Dangote Refinery will supply its first tranche of petroleum products to the market before the end of July. The business tycoon spoke on Monday at the inauguration of the 650,000 barrels per day (BPD) integrated refinery project located in the Lekki free trade zone area of Lagos state. The project, which cost $19 billion, is said to be Africas largest oil refinery and the worlds largest single-train facility. The combined refinery and petrochemical complex will create 9,500 direct jobs and 25,000 indirect jobs. Speaking at the landmark event, Dangote said the commissioning ceremony is the beginning of a great journey, adding that it is a milestone in a new and exciting trajectory for Nigerias oil and gas downstream sector. It is our firm commitment that we will replicate in this sector what we have actually achieved in the cement and fertilizer markets while Nigeria transformed from being the largest importer of these crude products to a net exporter, he said. Our first goal is to ramp up projections of various production to ensure that within this year, we are able to fully satisfy our nations demand for higher quality products to enable us to eliminate the tragedy of import dependency and stop, once and for all, the dumping in our market of toxic substandard petroleum products. Our first products will be in the market before the end of July, beginning of August this year. Speaking further, Dangote said the company will ensure that its plants are run at the highest capacity utilisation and the highest efficiency to enable the refinery to export competitively to other markets. He added that the operationalisation of the refinery is a clear opportunity for Nigeria given the African Unions commitment to the creation of an African common market through the recently established African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). Furthermore, the Dangote Group founder said once the plant is fully commissioned, it is expected that at least 40 percent of the capacity will be available for export, adding that it will result in significant foreign exchange into the country. The presidential election petition tribunal has refused a request for live broadcast of its proceedings. A five-member panel of the court led by Haruna Tsammani held that the application lacked merit. Atiku, presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), made the request on May 7. The former vice-president had said televising the proceedings will enhance public confidence. Arguing the motion, Chris Uche, counsel for Atiku and the PDP, said: There is no single legislative or statutory position against it. He said a live broadcast doesnt necessarily mean the faces of the justices would be shown. In his submission, Abubakar Mahmoud, counsel to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), said a live broadcast will only defeat the solemn atmosphere of the court. President-elect Bola Tinubu, represented by Wole Olanipekun, said he is surprised by the application. The court is not a stadium or a crusade ground. It is not a theatre or circus, he said However, the court in its ruling held the petitioners submission on public proceedings does not mean the court must sit in a stadium or a market square. The application is a novel one in this country. It is not provided for in any of our rules or procedures. The court also held that the case of Oscar Pistorius, O.J Simpsons and others cited by petitioners in their application does not apply to the Nigerian judiciary. The panel further held that for the court to do that, judicial policies and regulatory frameworks have to be put in place. Five African presidents are expected to attend the inauguration of the Dangote Refinery alongside President Muhammadu Buhari and President-elect, Bola Ahmed Tinubu on Monday, May 22, 2023. The dignitaries are President Gnassingbe Eyadema of Togo, President Nana Akufo-Addo of Ghana, President Macky Sall of Senegal, President Mohamed Bazoum of Niger Republic, and President Mahamat Deby of Chad. Others are President Paul Kagame of Rwanda who will deliver a goodwill message virtually, amongst other hosts of ambassadors. Sanford Group in a statement on Sunday said the historic event will also be graced by all the 36 state governors and most of the governors-elect, ministers, senators, and captains of industries in Nigeria and outside. The company added that global oil traders, top international bankers, and international multilateral agencies have indicated their readiness to grace the ceremony. In an epoch-making event that will positively transform Nigerias oil and gas sectoral landscape, President Muhammadu Buhari will today commission Dangote Petroleum Refinery & Petrochemicals, the worlds largest single train refinery in Ibeju-Lekki, Lagos, alongside his counterparts from Ghana, Togo, Senegal, Niger, and Chad, the statement reads. Promoted by Africas richest man, Aliko Dangote, the petroleum refinery with a capacity to process 650,000 barrels of oil per day (bpd), is sitting on 2,635 hectares of land located in Dangote Industries Free Zone in Ibeju-Lekki, Lagos, and will employ over 100,000 persons. The coming onstream of the gigantic project is expected to mark Nigerias exit from the league of oil-rich nations which are heavy importers of petroleum products. Nigerias president-elect, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, whose administration as the governor of Lagos in 2002 floated the Free Trade Zone in Ibeju-Lekki where the refinery is located, is expected to be at the event. The commissioning of Dangote petroleum refinery is significant given that it is the first time that a refinery of such magnitude built by an individual is being commissioned. DRIVE CRUDE OIL PRODUCTION, SURPLUS REFINED PRODUCTS According to a factssheet on the facility, the refinery will be beneficial to not just Nigeria but other African countries. The Dangote refinery meets the needs of Nigerian consumers and those in neighbouring countries while allowing for exports beyond the African continent. The refinery will drive the promotion of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) as over 50 countries in the trade bloc depend on imported refined petroleum products, it said. The document also said the new refinery can meet 100 percent of the Nigerian requirement of all refined products (gasoline, 53 million litres per day; diesel, 34 million litres per day; kerosene, 10 million litres per day, and aviation jet, (2 million litres per day), and also have a surplus of each of these products for export. The refinery is designed for 100 percent Nigerian crude with the flexibility to process other crudes. It has self-sufficient marine facilities with the ability for freight optimisation, and the largest single order of five SPMs anywhere in the world. Diesel and gasoline products from the refinery will conform to euro V specifications, the company added. The refinery design complies with World Bank, US EPA, European emission norms, and Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) emission/effluent norms. State-of-the-art technology. Designed to process a large variety of crudes including many of the African crudes, some of the Middle Eastern crudes, and the US light tight oil. 65 million cubic metres of sand dredged costing approximately euros 300 million, using the worlds largest, the second largest, and the tenth largest dredgers to elevate the height by 1.5 metres, to insure against any potential impact of the increase in mean sea level due to global warming. Bought over 1,209 units of various equipment to enhance the local capacity for site works. 332 cranes to build up equipment installation capacity. Built the worlds largest granite quarry to supply coarse aggregate, stone column material, stone base, stone dust, and material for the breakwater. (10 million tonnes per year production capacity). Developed a port and constructed two quays with a load-bearing capacity of 25 tonnes/sq metres to bring over dimensional cargoes close to the site directly. The company also constructed two more quays in the port with a capacity to handle up to panamax vessels to export fertiliser and petrochemicals and two quays to handle liquid cargoes. The port will, thus have six quays, including a roll-on/roll-off quay. Dino Melaye, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate in Kogi, says the state has no business with poverty given its richness in natural resources. In a statement released on Sunday by his media team, Melaye spoke during a visit to traditional rulers and council of chiefs of Mopa-Amuro, Yagba-East and Yagba-West LGAs. Melaye assured the traditional rulers that their rights and powers in the state will be restored if he is elected into office as governor. The PDP candidate said the economy of the state is in a quagmire because workers and pensioners are earning ridiculous salaries. Melaye promised to put an end to percentage salary payments, which he claimed has ravaged the lives of the workers and the economy of the state in the last eight years. Kogi, our state, has no business with poverty given the numerous resources we have. As governor, we shall open up the state and generate revenues that will enable us as a people to feed ourselves and meet other existential needs, Melaye was quoted as saying. Our royal fathers, your highnesses and majesties will no longer be by mouth alone. We will create the environment that will enable you to participate more robustly in the affairs of the state in befitting offices. Melaye also promised to rescue Kogi residents from hunger and starvation, saying he would think outside of the box to harness resources needed to develop the state. The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Kaduna State Chapter, has expressed concern with the way and manner the leadership race for the 10th National Assembly is going on and called on all interested persons not to allow their quest to divide Nigerians along ethnic or religious lines. Chairman, Rev. John Joseph Hayab, in a statement made available to newsmen in Kaduna on Monday, said, The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Kaduna State Chapter, is following development in the leadership race for the next National Assembly with dismay and wishes to counsel all interested persons not to allow their quest to divide Nigerians along ethnic, regional, or religious lines. He added, CAN believes that Nigerias elected representatives, both from the upper and lower chambers, are politically matured and responsible enough to do what will make Nigeria great by choosing from among them competent leaders with good experience to do the needed task while respecting regional and religious affiliations. He noted that some of the inciting messages now making rounds could create unnecessary strife between the South and North; Christian versus Muslim, suggesting that it should be disregarded and halted without delay. According to Hayab, CAN as a body has earlier advocated for fairness before the general elections and believes strongly that a fair and just Nigeria is beneficial to its unity and growth in every ramification. He, therefore, appealed to the political class to discontinue any action that could further divide Nigerians, saying, rather, the elected representative needs to promote matters that could support the citizenry to attain the goals of a unified nation irrespective of religious, tribal, sectional or political affiliations. The CAN state chairman advised that those who eventually become leaders of the National Assembly must be lawmakers who would guide their colleagues to make laws for the common good of the country not as representatives of their regional or religious enclaves but for the overall benefit of all Nigerians. He assured, To attain a cohesive nation, CAN will pray and work for the unity, peace, and progress of Nigeria as speaks truth to power. As Nigerians prayed for a peaceful inauguration of the next administration come May 29th, CAN appealed to the political class to consider the entire country as their most important constituency, rather than promote primordial sentiments that lead to no development at all. The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) says more than 70 percent of food exported from Nigeria are rejected abroad. Speaking at the official commissioning of the new NAFDAC office complex at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos, Mojisola Adeyeye, the agencys director-general, said the issue was causing huge financial losses to the exporters and the country at large. However, she said the incidence of rejection of food exports by other countries may soon become a thing of the past if collaboration between NAFDAC and other government agencies at the ports is strengthened. Adeyeye said along with the port agencies, NAFDAC would ensure goods being exported are of requisite quality and meet the regulatory requirements of the importing countries before they are even packaged. Over 70 per cent of the products that leave our ports get rejected. Considering the money spent on getting those products out of the country, it is a double loss for both the exporter and the country, she said. Adeyeye added the mandate to safeguard the health of the populace and the quality of imports into a nation like Nigeria which is overwhelmingly dependent on importation can not be actualised without the effective presence of NAFDAC at the ports and land borders. The director-general commended the police and Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) for the symbiotic relationship that exists between its management and the agency. Without customs, we will not be able to do a lot of what we have been able to do, Adeyeye said. She also said that without the police, NAFDAC cannot do much in terms of investigation and enforcement. We have over 80 policemen with us in NAFDAC. They help us a lot when we are doing raids or investigations as the case may be As the race for the Speaker of the 10th House of Representatives goes on, a group has appealed to one of the contenders, Honourable Mukhtar Aliyu Betara to step down for Tajudeen Abbas. The political pressure group, North-East Advancement for Good Governance, led by its Coordinator, Hamza Ukkasha, made the appeal at a press conference held in Bauchi. According to Ukkasha, the appeal became imperative for reasons of equity, fair play, national unity and cohesion in view of the fact that the party and the President-elect, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu have both given the North-East subregion the opportunity to produce the Vice President-elect, Senator Kashim Shettima. We strongly appeal and call on Hon. Betara, in the name of patriotism, recognition of ethnic divisions, national cohesion and the greater good of the North-East people, to emulate competent colleagues who have stepped down for Hon. Tajuddeen Abbas and help ensure the smooth take off of the Asiwaju administration, the groups coordinator said. Ukkasha added that, it is no longer news that the 2023 general elections have come and gone, leaving behind a discussion that requires all hands to be on deck to safeguard the peace and unity of Nigeria. The above mentioned is the reason we are all here once again to air our voice as North East Advancement for Good Governance on which region should get what for justice, fairness and equity. First of all, we want to join other leaders and the party leadership in their decision to zone the office of the Speaker to the North West. This is an undeniable response to goodwill poured out by the people of the region towards the election of Tinubu/ Shettima ticket in the last general election. The need to add our voice to this ongoing conversation became necessary, considering the fact that the party and the President-elect, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu have both given the North-East subregion the opportunity to produce the Vice President-elect, Senator Kashim Shettima. According to Ukkasha, the group would have preferred a situation whereby the North-East subregion produced many officials, including the Speaker, House of Representatives, in the Tinubu presidency, asserting that the intricacies of national unity and social cohesion made it expedient for the group to call on party faithful to allow other zones to produce the Speaker. Ukkasha then commended APCs National Working Committee led by Senator Abdullahi Adamu for its choice of Abbas as the next Speaker after wide consultations with stakeholders, including the President-elect. The Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors has directed its members to resume work today (Monday) following a five-day nationwide warning strike embarked upon by its members. NARD, after its three-hour Extraordinary National Executive Council meeting, however, said it would review Federal Governments commitment to resolving the issues in the next two weeks. The association on Friday signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Federal Government to address the issues raised by the resident doctors. NARD, however, said it would be reviewing the strike in two weeks Recall that the NARD on May 17 embarked on a nationwide strike to press home its demands from the Federal Government. The doctors are demanding immediate massive recruitment of clinical staff in the hospitals; immediate withdrawal of the bill seeking to compel medical and dental graduates to render five-year compulsory services in Nigeria before being granted full licences to practise; immediate infrastructural development in the hospitals with a subsequent allocation of at least 15 per cent of the budgetary provisions to health in line with the 2001 Abuja declaration. Other demands are the immediate payment of the 2023 Medical Residency Training Fund in line with the agreements reached at the stakeholders meeting convened by the Federal Ministry of Health on February 15, 2023; the immediate increment in the Consolidated Medical Salary Structure to the tune of 200 per cent of the gross salary of Doctors in addition to the allowances included in the letter written to the Minister of Health, Dr Osagie Ehanire on July 7, 2022, for the review of CONMESS; among others. The President of the association, Dr Emeka Orji, in an interview with our correspondent, said the strike had been suspended with effect from 8am on Monday. He said the association would review the progress regarding its demands during its ordinary general meeting in Lagos. Orji said, The strike has been suspended and work resumes at 8am tomorrow (Monday). The ultimatum extended till June 2, 2023, for reassessment. The Publicity, and Social Secretary of the association, Dr Umar Usman, said, Before we embarked on the strike, we called a National Executive Council meeting and the council gave us the backing and we promised that it would be a five-day warning strike and at the end of it, we will call them to the progress made. So, we will resume tomorrow as agreed. Since we have signed a MoU with the government, the agreement has a timeline and it was agreed that issues will be addressed with timelines. We will review the commitments made and to know the progress about the issues raised. The supreme court has fixed May 26 to deliver judgment in a suit seeking the disqualification of Bola Tinubu and Kashim Shettima as presidential and vice-presidential candidates of the All Progressives Congress (APC). The judgment will be delivered three days before the inauguration of the president-elect and the vice-president-elect. The PDP, in the suit filed on July 28, 2022, claimed that Shettimas nomination as Tinubus running mate was in breach of the provisions of sections 29(1), 33, 35, and 84(1)(2) of the electoral act, 2022. The party argued that Shettimas nomination to contest the position of vice-president and Borno central senatorial seat at the same time contravened the law. The PDP, which sought an order disqualifying the APC, Tinubu, and Shettima from contesting the presidential election, also sought an order nullifying their candidacies. However, Inyang Ekwo, the trial judge at the court of appeal, dismissed the suit on the grounds that the PDP lacked the locus standi to institute the suit. Not satisfied, the PDP appealed the judgment. Delivering judgment in the appeal, a three-member panel of the court of appeal led by James Abundaga held that the PDP failed to establish that it had locus standi to institute the case. Abundaga described the PDP as a busybody, who dabbled into issues that were internal affairs of the APC. The appellant, having failed to disclose its locus standi, this appeal fails and it is hereby dismissed, he said. The judge also awarded N5 million cost against the appellants lawyer, J. O. Olotu. Azerbaijani forces violated the ceasefire in Artsakh Republic on May 21 in two directions, the Defense Ministry of Artsakh Republic said in a statement Monday. May 22, 2023, 11:02 Azerbaijani forces violated the ceasefire in Artsakh STEPANAKERT, MAY 22, ARTSAKHPRESS: The Azerbaijani military opened small arms fire in the northern and eastern directions of the line of contact. The Armenian side did not suffer casualties. The Defense Ministry said it notified the Russian peacekeeping contingents command on the shooting. As of 10:00, May 22, the situation in the line of contact was relatively stable. The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) says the refusal of its application for a live broadcast of the presidential election petition proceedings is not a setback. Recall that the presidential election petition tribunal declined the request by Atiku Abubakar, PDP candidate, for a live broadcast of its proceedings. Speaking with journalists after the tribunals decision, Eyitayo Jegede, counsel to PDP, said instead of dwelling on refusal, the party and its candidate were ready for the pre-hearing report. There is no setback here. The court, in its wisdom, decided that the subject of our application on the live streaming and open telecast did not, in any way, connect with the merit of our petition, Jegede said. The petition is separate; it is ongoing. The application did not succeed to have the televised version of the proceedings. As far as we are concerned, we are now set for hearing. Tomorrow, we will be here by Gods grace for the pre-hearing report that will determine the progress of the petition and the time the petition will be heard and concluded. On whether the party still has confidence in the court, the lawyer replied: For us, we are prepared for hearing. On the merging of all the petitions challenging the election of Bola Tinubu, president-elect, Jegede noted that the issue was compelled by statute adding that they had no objection to it. A 14-year-old boy was in critical condition after being shot in Newark on Sunday evening, police said. At 5:22 p.m., officers responded to a call that a male had been shot on the 100 block of Boyd Street, Newark Public Safety Director Fritz Frage said in a statement. Officers who arrived at the scene found the wounded 14-year-old, Frage said. He said the boy was taken to University Hospital in Newark, where he was in critical condition early Sunday evening. Frage said the incident was under investigation evening, and no further information was available. Nobody knows Jersey better than N.J.com. Sign up to get breaking news alerts straight to your inbox. Steve Strunsky may be reached at sstrunsky@njadvancemedia.com An Ocean County drywall company must pay $167,000 in back wages, damages, penalties, and fees after the state Department of Labor and Workforce found a subcontractor had committed numerous wage and hour, earned sick leave, and employee misclassification violations on a Harrison project, officials said. The state DOL said the compliance agreement with Donald Drywall of Lakewood includes a three-year debarment from working on public construction contracts, the submission of payroll records for all its employees, and the implementation of compliance measures, including ensuring all its workers are correctly classified as employees, are paid on the books, and reported to state employment benefits and tax agencies. Additionally, the company will list each employees earned sick leave hours on their paystub so the employees are informed of their right to paid sick time and know how much sick time they have accrued and used. The first round of investigations revealed that misclassification of drywall workers is rampant, said Labor Commissioner Robert Asaro-Angelo of the DOLs strategic enforcement initiative. Our investigators are dedicated to rooting out worker exploitation; Im proud of their collaboration with employers and employee advocates to effect lasting change in industries with high rates of non-compliance such as drywall installation. The states Wage and Hour Division found 48 misclassified employees working for Donald Drywall on a construction project on South Fifth Street in Harrison. March Associates Construction Inc. of Wayne, the general contractor, could be liable if a subcontractor fails to pay its assessment. In addition to misclassifying employees, the subcontractor failed to pay employees minimum wage, failed to pay all wages owed, and failed to pay wages at least every two weeks, the investigation found. Some employees were being paid in cash and off the books, depriving them of safety-net employee benefits such as workers compensation, overtime, and more. The DOLs strategic enforcement initiative focuses on industries with a history of non-compliance with existing labor laws and those whose employees are less likely to file complaints with the Department. A stop work order issued as a result of the violations brought construction to a halt for a week. During a subsequent hearing, the drywall installer agreed to the stringent enhanced compliance agreement. Officials say the Wage and Hour Division will continue to make unannounced visits in various regions of the state, investigating drywall contractors performing work on high-profile, multi-unit residential construction projects. The division plans to continue its work to change the culture within the construction industry that has led to frequent misclassification of workers. Investigators have identified a pattern in which subcontractors performing drywall work often pay their workers off the books in violation of New Jersey law, and these cases often result in additional violations of state minimum wage and overtime, unemployment and temporary disability benefits, workers compensation, and tax laws. Employers who pay their workers off the books profit illegally at the expense of workers and communities, with an unfair competitive advantage over employers who do comply with the law. Construction businesses place themselves at risk of significant sanctions if workers on project sites are not treated as employees in compliance with state law. Smoke shops and tobacco stores beware you might soon need a license to sell your products in Jersey City in the near future. The city council will vote on introducing an amendment on fees and charges for smoking devices that would put a licensing requirement for all of the citys smoke shops and tobacco stores to sell tobacco or smoking products, and limit the amount of licenses issued to 45. Annual licenses would cost $600 for a tobacco store and $1,000 for a smoke shop. The requirements are being introduced because of whats been described as a huge proliferation of vape shops in the city, according to Councilman Yousef Saleh, particularly those that illegally sell flavored vapes to children. A study by drugwatch.com revealed that in 2021, 27.8% of minors in New Jersey had vaped or used an e-cigarette at least once in the 30 days prior to being polled. State law already prohibits selling vape products to anyone under the age of 21. We need to start to limit their spread and put more regulation to ensure that they are being good stewards within the community, Saleh said. If you talk to kids and ask them whats happening in the schools, theyre going to tell you that a lot of kids are vaping. The proposal specifically includes language that it would not impact mom-and-pop bodegas, convenience stores and grocery stores that sells cigarettes, cigars and other smoking products as an ancillary sale. Current stores in operation will be required to submit an application with 60 days of the new rules taking effect. If their applications are received by the city within that time frame, they may receive an exemption from the cap. Last year, the city council banned THC products or any other cannabinoids to anyone under 21 years old, which was also put it to prevent them from ending up with kids. The city and county has also seen a rise in stores selling marijuana without local and state approvals since cannabis sales were legalized slightly more than one year ago. Visitation for longtime Jersey City City Clerk Robert Byrne will be held Wednesday in Cliffside Park. The 63-year-old Byrne, who worked for the city his entire adult life, died Friday after a 10-month battle with glioblastoma, an aggressive form of brain cancer. He started in the city clerks office in 1982 and in 1989 became the city clerk. The visitation is scheduled for 1-4 p.m. and 6-p.m. at A.K. Macagna Funeral Home, 495 Anderson Ave., Cliffside Park. Byrne was beloved in the city and beyond for his generosity in sharing his encyclopedic knowledge of the city and its processes. Anyone who dealt with Jersey City over the last 30 years would have encountered Robert Byrne, and every single one of them would have left with a positive and memorable experience, Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop said. For me, I have countless examples as he embraced me when I was an outside councilman first elected and taught me about government. He swore me in at midnight when I was first elected mayor of Jersey City. In an interview with The Jersey Journal in 2020, Byrne said he had calculated that during his tenure as clerk, he attended more than 1,700 evening council sessions, handled 150 Election Day results, and signed over 50,000 marriage licenses. Nadine and I are deeply saddened to hear of the passing of Robert Byrne, a Jersey City legend who dedicated his life to the community he loved dearly, U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez said. From running over 1,700 city council meetings, to overseeing municipal elections, Robert was a part of each and every history making moment in Jersey City for more than three decades. His knowledge of municipal government was unmatched and he leaves a lasting legacy as one of the best city clerks in the history of New Jersey. But anyone who knew Robert, knew his pride and joy was his daughter and his wife. We are sending our prayers to them both, and all of Roberts loved ones, during this difficult time and hope they find comfort in the tremendous life he lived. A 54-year-old New Jersey man who exposed himself to multiple 14-year-old while chatting online has been sentenced to two years of probation, authorities said. Michael Rave was also ordered to continue undergoing sex offender therapy and will be registered as sex offender under Megans Law, the Morris County Prosecutors Office said Monday. Rave, a former Morris Township resident who now lives in Pennsville in Salem County, used the chat website Omegle to engage with the teenagers, officials said. Omegle randomly pairs users in one-on-one chats between strangers. A South Jersey theater company slammed two elementary school groups for walking out of School of Rock mid-performance last week over concerns about swearing and inappropriate content in the musical. The Ritz Theatre Company in Haddon Township says 172 students, teachers and chaperones more than 70% of the audience abruptly bailed on last Wednesdays performance after their teachers deemed the show inappropriate and unsuitable for their age groups, according to a statement from the theater posted on its Facebook page. We would like to invite those students and parents to return to The Ritz for one of the remaining performances of School of Rock, free of charge, the theaters statement said. A few months ago, a terrible bill was moving through the Legislature to eliminate the state test that New Jersey students must take to graduate. Thankfully, it did not succeed. But now, the state school board is pushing an idea thats almost as bad: lowering the minimum score required to get a degree. By a 1-vote margin, the board approved this horrendous plan from Gov. Phil Murphys Department of Education. Republicans are using extortion to cut our nations spending. I complained to my congressman, Tom Kean Jr., R-7th Dist., about his partys refusal to increase the federal debt ceiling to pay our countrys bills. One quarter of the debt was accumulated under Republican President Donald Trump. Kean responded, We need a budget that saves taxpayers money and puts us on a path to strengthen our fiscal standing. Its also important that we do not default on our debts, and that our nation pays its bills. This was Keans weak attempt to justify voting for the Limit, Save, Grow Act, the House Republican bill that raises the federal debt ceiling, but also makes unrealistic spending cuts. The debt ceiling component is nothing but a Band-Aid. Dont miss an issue of our Opinion newsletter! Get it delivered each Wednesday right into your inbox by adding your email below and hitting "subscribe." Kean deliberately obfuscates. He wants us to refuse to pay our credit card bill until we agree to budget cuts. Does he not realize that credit card holders are expected to pay their debts? If we give in to this economic terrorism now, were opening the door to a repeat performance next year, just in time for the presidential election. Rep. Kean, pay our debts. Pass a budget. Invest in our nation. Do your job. Mervyn Turner, Scotch Plains U.S. has a revenue problem, not a spending one Its debt ceiling season and, like clockwork, Republicans rail about overspending. Actually, America doesnt have a spending problem; we have a revenue problem, because the very richest and big corporations arent paying their fair share. From 2016 to 2020, $7.8 billion was added to our national debt because of tax cuts doled out to the GOPs corporate overlords and the rich. How do Republicans plan to fix this? By cutting programs like SNAP, which millions of Americas lowest wage workers, seniors and families depend on for daily sustenance. I volunteer at a local food pantry. Even middle-class towns like mine have folks who rely on others to get by. How much would food insecurity worsen if SNAP is cut? If Republicans really want to lower U.S. debt, they should eliminate the $2 billion a year in they awarded to their wealthy donors in their 2019 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. They can also tax capital gains at the same rate as workers salaries. Closing estate tax loopholes would also prevent the accumulation of extreme wealth thats exacerbating U.S. inequality. The additional funding would provide revenue for important programs, and prevent American dynastic wealth from becoming the new American monarchy. Dianne Douthat, Wayne Slanted op-ed requires pro-Israel response In George Ygarzas guest column, New Jerseys Palestinian community commemorates 75 years since the Nakba, there are some parts that need correction and response. (Palestinians use Nabka catastrophe to describe the 1948 establishment of the State of Israel, and the displacement of some of them.) The first point is that Ygarza uses the loaded term Zionist forces, possibly as an attempt to make the situation about something other than Jews returning to their homeland, which is what Zionism really is about. Also, he refuses to accept the United Nations legal authority about Israeli independence. The British Mandate that had governed the region ended when the U.N. accepted the partition plan. Ygarza also wrote nothing about nothing about any previous government that was run by local Arabs. Prior to 1948, the local Jews were also referred to as Palestinians. Any previous government was under the jurisdiction of the Ottoman Empire or other older groups. Honestly, the biggest point is that the catastrophe in 1948 was that neither Egypt nor Jordan set up a government for the Arab section. These were the two countries that had control over territory that was to become the Arab half under the partition plan. If they had set up a government, then there would have possibly been a bit less fighting. Sam Stein, East Brunswick Book bans diminish critical thinking There is so much going on in our state. One could go to the beach this summer and wonder if the guy under the next umbrella is carrying a gun. (Is my radio too loud?!) Or, as a society, what should we do when migrants and refugees turn up at our doorstep? But, as someone who has spent more than 50 years as a teacher, I cant believe we are banning books in schools and the sweet librarian in our school is being called a child predator for not removing them. Every teacher eventually finds out that we collectively want to teach our children is how to learn. The world changes faster and faster. None of us knows what what we will need to know five years, or even one year, from now. Critical thinking is a topic addressed even in grade school. So, what are we doing when we tell our children. You cant look at that book. As a parent, wouldnt it be better to say OK, Im going to read that book, too. And then, we are going to discuss it. Carl Della Peruti, Morristown Will Biden block the lithium? ExxonMobil just purchased the drilling rights, from another company, to a sizable tract of land in Arkansas that holds vast amounts of lithium. Lithium is used to make batteries for EVs, laptops and cell phones. The 120,000 acres of the Smackover formation that ExxonMobil acquired is said to contain enough lithium to power 50 million EVs. Watch the incompetent boobs at the Biden administrations Environmental Protection Agency try to put a stop to that production. After all, we cant take production of batteries batteries away from the Chinese. That would dry up the cash flow from China to the Biden family. Walter Goldeski, East Brunswick Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com. The Star-Ledger/NJ.com encourages submissions of opinion. Bookmark NJ.com/Opinion. Follow us on Twitter @NJ_Opinion and on Facebook at NJ.com Opinion. Get the latest news updates right in your inbox. Subscribe to NJ.coms newsletters. Gov. Phil Murphy is headed to the Midwest for a two-day political trip. He and his wife, First Lady Tammy Murphy, are scheduled to leave New Jersey on Monday morning to attend the Democratic Governors Association Spring Policy Conference in Michigan, according to Murphys office. Crimea is part of Russia. This was stated by Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov, commenting on the statement by US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, news.am informs, citing RIA Novosti. May 22, 2023, 12:28 Russia MFA comments on threats to attack Crimea STEPANAKERT, MAY 22, ARTSAKHPRESS: "We will find a way to prevent the implementation of such threats. The territorial integrity of the Russian Federation, as well as its security, will be reliably ensured," said Ryabkov. Sullivan had stated that US does not allow Ukraine to use Western weapons to attack Russian territory, but does not consider Crimea to be Russian territory. The following is a listing of all home transfers in Bergen County reported from May 15 to May 22. There were 180 transactions posted during this time. During this period, the median sale for the area was a 1,716-square-foot home on First Street in Hackensack that sold for $560,000. Allendale 111 Schuyler Road, Allendale, $1,080,000. A motorcycle rider was injured Saturday evening when they were ejected in a Warren County crash, New Jersey State Police said. The crash was reported at 6:51 p.m. on Anderson Road in Franklin Township, Trooper Charles Marchan said. A preliminary investigation shows the motorcycle was traveling on Anderson Road when the rider lost control and was ejected from the bike, Marchan said. The driver was taken to an area hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, the trooper said. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to lehighvalleylive.com. Sarah Cassi may be reached at scassi@lehighvalleylive.com. UPDATE: Big questions remain over Memorial Day weekend forecast, but trend is more dry than wet Dont change your Memorial Day weekend plans just yet. Forecasters are having a tough time nailing down the weather outlook in New Jersey for the upcoming holiday weekend, saying theres a chance of pesky rain showers each day and also a chance of long stretches of nice, dry weather. The high degree of uncertainty hinges on how the weather pattern will shape up, with one major influence being an area of high pressure with nice weather over New England and another being a potential upper-level low pressure system circulating over the southeastern United States, forecasters say. Steven DiMartino, a meteorologist who heads the NY NJ PA Weather forecasting company, said its not yet known how far south the dome of high pressure (and nice weather) will dip or how far north the low pressure (and rainy weather) will push up the East Coast and affect New Jersey and surrounding states this weekend. On Saturday, Sunday and Monday, this forecast is a bit volatile, DiMartino said in a forecast video this morning. We may be dodging a few showers. DiMartino said although it will be a few more days before the holiday weekend forecast comes into better focus, as new computer model guidance and other data comes in, it does not appear all three days will be wet in New Jersey. This does not look like a washout type of scenario, he said. And theres a chance we could remain completely dry for much of this upcoming weekend. While social media posts have been sounding some alarms over a possible tropical depression forming near the Bahamas this week, DiMartino said theres less than a 10% chance of that system developing, so he doesnt believe it will be a factor in our Memorial Day weekend weather. Forecasters from the National Hurricane Center say there's a 10% chance that a disorganized area of low pressure a couple of hundred miles northeast of the central Bahamas could develop into a tropical depression in the next two to seven days.National Hurricane Center We have this upper-level low festering around the Southeast, and were going to have waves of low pressure developing on the east side of that upper-level low, he said. And while its festering about, its gonna start to produce an easterly wind in our neck of the woods. DiMartino said if the low in the Southeast moves close to New Jersey, winds will be blowing in from the east throughout the weekend, so some coastal flooding could occur. The National Weather Services regional forecast office in New Jersey agrees the forecast for the upcoming holiday weekend is highly uncertain. An unsettled pattern sets up for the long-term period, and the old saying, Upper low, forecasters woe, will be the rule for next weekend, the weather service office said in its public forecast discussion Monday. Forecasters from AccuWeather are also on the same page, saying its possible that a strong rainstorm could hit the southeastern U.S. and drift north into the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast regions. Just how close to the coast this disturbance travels will dictate how wet the holiday weekend will become, AccuWeather noted in a forecast report Monday afternoon. Quiet today for most of the area. Clouds develop this afternoon, and we can't rule out a few showers in the northern portions of the forecast area later today. Above normal temps on tap. #NJwx #PAwx #DEwx #MDwx pic.twitter.com/aX5Jqaljdb NWS Mount Holly (@NWS_MountHolly) May 22, 2023 In addition to the possibility of wet weather this weekend, forecasters say temperatures will likely be warm and spring-like not hot and summery. DiMartino says highs each day will range from the lower to mid-60s on Long Island, mid- to upper 60s on the Jersey Shore and around Connecticut, lower to mid-70s over the northern interior and lower to mid-70s in the Delaware River Valley. The bottom line, he says: The closer you are to the coast, the cooler itll be. Current weather radar Thank you for relying on us to provide the local weather news you can trust. Please consider supporting NJ.com with a subscription. Len Melisurgo may be reached at LMelisurgo@njadvancemedia.com. Six-day (Tuesday through Sunday) print subscribers of the Watertown Daily Times are eligible for full access to NNY360, the NNY360 mobile app, and the Watertown Daily Times e-edition, all at no additional cost. If you have an existing six-day print subscription to the Watertown Daily Times, please make sure your email address on file matches your NNY360 account email. You can sign up or manage your print subscription using the options below. The New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival's Congo Square poster may be a relic of the past. Starting in 1991, Jazz Fest produced both a standard annual poster and a Congo Square poster that celebrated the continued African influence in modern music. But theres been no Congo Square poster since 2018. The Congo Square poster was inspired by the early 19th-century gathering place of enslaved Black people just outside the French Quarter. Historians credit the music shared at Congo Square with the perpetuation of African musical customs into the era of jazz and rhythm and blues music. There is some change in understanding in the peace treaty talks with Azerbaijan, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said at a May 22 press conference. May 22, 2023, 14:08 Pashinyan praises very open talks with Azerbaijan in Washington, notes change of understanding for guarantor function STEPANAKERT, MAY 22, ARTSAKHPRESS-ARMENPRESS: I am glad to note that it seems like there is some change of understanding in this issue, Pashinyan said. Pashinyan said that other wordings describing the function of a guarantor have been proposed during the talks. PM Pashinyan said that being a guarantor in such a difficult region would be a huge responsiblity which could create both possibilities and risks for countries, and also increase or seriously damage reputation. Its not like everyone is [eagerly waiting] to assume this role. But at the same time, if the international community were to record that there is sincere desire between the parties to establish lasting peace, I believe there would be countries and organizations starting from individual countries up to the UN Security Council, who wouldnt just want to but would agree to assume this function, Pashinyan said. One of the most important records made during the Washington talks, according to Pashinyan, is that the parties have started to communicate more directly and openly, presenting their concerns, reasons and grounds for mistrust. Many nuances have emerged which werent visible for the parties in the past, or werent recorded. I find the biggest specificity of the Washington talks to be the style of the conversation, a very open conversation took place. Often the sentences in the negotiations contain hidden meanings, and often its not easy to realize. At some point, these hidden meanings became lesser and the conversation began to be mutually more understandable. This is our perception, Pashinyan said. Louisiana principal David Schexnaydre has a unique way of communicating with students and fostering a sense of community at his school creating viral TikTok videos. Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva considers it necessary to hold a UN summit on the situation in Ukraine before the UN high-level meeting in September, Tass informs. May 22, 2023, 17:35 President of Brazil proposes to hold UN summit on Ukraine STEPANAKERT, MAY 22, ARTSAKHPRESS: "It is necessary to discuss the war in Ukraine in the UN. During all five months of my presidency, no one invited me to attend a UN meeting to discuss this war. We could reschedule the General Assembly meeting, which usually takes place in September, to June or July to discuss the war," da Silva said, speaking during a press conference on Monday. According to the Brazilian president, one should invite both Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky to speak at such and event, which should be followed by a corresponding discussion. According to da Silva, it is inappropriate to discuss the situation in Ukraine either in the G7 or the G20 format; instead, this issue must be discussed in the UN Security Council. Earlier, the Brazilian leader said that Russia is a guarantor of long-lasting peace in the entire world. He previously proposed to establish a new international format to create an opportunity for dialogue between Moscow and Kiev and stated his readiness to act as a mediator in direct negotiations between Russian and Ukrainian presidents. He stood on top of this world: Heartbreak after SA man dies on Mt Everest Jason Kennison (left) died during the descent from Mt Everest on Friday. Picture: Just Giving The family of an Australian man who died while descending the worlds highest peak have revealed their heartbreak in the wake of his death. Jason Kennison, 40, died on Friday while making his way down Mt Everest, which he was climbing to raise money for charity. The body of Mr Kennison, who is from South Australia but had been living in Perth, is yet to be recovered. He had been in Nepal for the previous six weeks preparing for the climb, which was part of a charity trip to raise money for Spinal Cord Injuries Australia. Remembering him as a beloved brother, son, cousin and friend, Mr Kennisons family wrote on social media that he had achieved his goal of reaching the peak. He stood on top of this world but sadly didnt come home, his family said. He was the most courageous, adventurous human we knew and he will be forever missed. Jaoson Kennison had been raising money for Spinal Cord Injuries Australia following his own injury in a car crash at the age of 23. Picture: Just Giving Mr Kennison (left) died during the descent from Mt Everest on Friday. Picture: Just Giving His family have said that he would do anything to achieve his goal of climbing Mt Everest. Mr Kennisons family also revealed how he was one to live a full life. He would put his mind to something, set a goal and achieve it. Whether that be playing footy as a kid, winning motorcross races, working around the world in the mining industry and in high-risk environments, they said in a seperate statement. He did all the training he could in preparation to achieving his new goal: climbing to the top of Everest. He trained anywhere he could, including the mountains of New Zealand. We are so proud of his achievements and we take great solace in knowing he made it to the summit. The highest place on this earth. The family also took time to thank those who tried to rescue him. We would like to send our greatest love and thanks to Nepal where he had Sherpas go above and beyond to help try to bring him home, they said. We are worlds apart but united through our love for Jason. Mahmud Khalili, a close friend of Mr Kennison, shared the pairs last conversation to social media, speaking of the tough year of prep undertaken in the lead-up to the climb. A friend of mine, Jason Kennison, reached the top of Mt Everest but died of medical complications, Mr Khalili said. He was a very good guy with a kind heart. I had a quick chat with him a few weeks ago before he was gonna summit. Im happy he made it to the top! He died doing something he was passionate about. Jason, well see you again one day my friend. Mr Kennison's friend Mahmud Khalili shared a touching tribute to social media. Picture: Facebook Mr Khalili shared the pair's last conversation together. Picture: Facebook Asian Trekking chief Dawa Steven Sherpa, who had been managing Mr Kennisons climb, confirmed that the Australian died after being reaching the peak and being brought to an area of Everest known as The Balcony. Since the oxygen cylinders that they had with them were running out, they decided to descend to Camp 4 hoping to climb back again with oxygen cylinders to rescue him, he told AFP. It was high wind and bad weather that prevented them (from) going back to bring him down. He died at The Balcony area. Mr Kennisons last Instagram post from Camp 2 view on Mount Everest. Picture: Instagram Mr Kennison suffered his own spinal cord injury in a car crash when he was 23 and was told he may never walk again. In a blog post on Just Giving, Mr Kennison said he wanted to help people living with spinal cord injury to live their best life. As a relatively fit and healthy lad at 23 at the time of my accident, with a great career and my life ahead of me, I found it hard to come to terms with things and fell into depression, he wrote. Three years ago he also had an extended stay in hospital after a routine spinal procedure resulted in complications, including spinal nerve damage. He was photographed walking across Khumbu Icefall in his last series of posts shared to social media. Picture: Instagram One leg was barely strong enough to stand, while the other leg was left with no strength, feeling paralysed, he wrote.. In 2023 I will head to Nepal, to see and be on Mount Everest, a long way from once battling traumatic injuries and the low and dark days of depression. An ambitious feat that I would never have dreamed of, or thought was possible after once being told that I would not be able to walk. Mr Kennison was raising money for Spinal Cord Injuries Australia while hiking up Mt Everest. The organisation said it shared heartfelt condolences to the family and friends of Jason after his passing. We were beyond shocked to hear the news of his passing whilst undertaking such an incredibly inspiring feat. He was a shining example of overcoming the odds and Jason showcased incredible tenacity and determination in everything he set his mind to, a spokesperson said. Jason was an amazing man and we are so honoured that he chose to support our organisation. Our thoughts are with his family at this time. Jock Kennison said he was informed of his sons death from local authorities early Sunday morning. The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade is providing consular assistance to the family of an Australian who has died in Nepal, a DFAT spokesperson said. We offer our deepest condolences to their family and friends. Mt Everest is in the Mahalangur Himal sub-range of the Himalayas, sitting on the border between Nepal and China. You are clearly a super-user of NUVO.net. Thats a good thing. It means you depend on independent and local news sources to keep you informed. You are a smart person. Coincidentally, independent and local news sources depend on you too. Youve read 25 articles this month and now, wed like you to be join our mission and become a NUVO Supporter. For as little as $4 a month, you can keep us alive and fighting -- and can have unlimited access to the independent news that cant be found anywhere else. Gift this article Share this article paywall-free. The picture with this column shows a group of horsemen/women who rallied around the flagpole, on town grounds behind the Methodist Episcopal Church in Victory, on patriotic holidays and for town field days in the 1940s. On Monday, May 29, we will again gather at 9 a.m. at the Victory Union Cemetery on East Street (Old State Road off Route 370) to commemorate Memorial Day. Everyone is welcome to attend. It is said that we celebrate the third Saturday in May, Armed Forces Day, for those who wear the uniform. We commemorate Memorial Day for those who never made it out of the uniform, and we honor Veterans Day for those who used to wear the uniform. In the Union Cemetery and the French Settlement Cemetery, just west of Victory, are veterans from the American Revolution, Civil War and World Wars I and II. We have a program with poems, prayers and songs that our attendees volunteer to recite/sing before the LaBuff-Cole American Legion Post No. 911 of Cato arrives to deliver its service and salute. The Legion post and Sons of the Legion perform these services at six cemeteries/sites in the towns of Cato, Ira, Victory and Conquest starting at 6 a.m. on the 29th. In Victory, we also have a flyover (weather permitting) by local pilot Lauren Dates and his friends. When you see our American Legion Auxiliary selling poppies (May 26 is National Poppy Day) this year, please donate generously. The ALA has a partnership with the Honor Flight Network, and poppy funds can be used for veteran and guardian expenses on their trip to see the memorials in Washington, D.C. In fall of 2016, I wrote a column in this paper and in The Lakeshore News (Wayne County) about 1st Lt. Lawrence J. (Jack) Hadcock, U.S. Army Air Force, of Fair Haven, who served in World War II. He and his crew members were killed in action Aug. 1, 1943, when his B-24 Liberator bomber was shot down by ground fire over the oil refinery targets in Ploesti, Roumania (Romania). This Operation Tidal Wave saw the loss of 53 aircraft and 660 aircrewmen in the raid. The crew was buried locally in the Bolovan Cemetery in Ploesti and later interred in the U.S. military cemetery in Neuvileen, Condroz, Belgium. Hadcocks remains were identified, through dental records, and brought home in June 1950 for interment in the Martville Cemetery, town of Sterling. Another member of this group has just come home, almost 80 years after being lost in this same operation. Through years of testing and identification by the U.S. Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, Airman 1st Lt. John B. Thomas, of Rose (Wayne County), will receive a burial with full military honors later this month. We are grateful for his service and his sacrifice to our country. Speaking further of Wayne County, since 2019 all 15 towns have been planning their bicentennial 2023 programs, which just kicked off at the Wayne County Courthouse in Lyons on April 11 with a Founders Day celebration and Pomeroy historic marker dedication. They have put together a bicentennial float, a memories book with stories from historians and residents, a special quilt and quilt poster with historic sites, a 60-page historical activity book for children, special postal cancellations, a two-year 2022 and 2023 commemorative calendar, a torch relay through each town starting Aug. 14, celebrations in each town, and a family fun day on Aug. 19 during the week of the Wayne County Fair. For more information, visit waynecounty200.com, with links to Facebook and Instagram. Many of us in northern Cayuga County attended Red Creek Central School. On April 29 we attended the historic mural dedication organized by the Red Creek Historical Association. The mural painting depicts the Lake Ontario Shore Railroad, the Red Creek Airport, Snyder Brothers Circus, the Red Creek Union Academy and Seminary, and the Red Creek Pond. The mural is on the outside wall of the Madigans Red Creek Cafe and painted by Mural Mania artists. The CIViC Heritage Historical Society, on Route 34 just south of Route 370 in Cato, is now open from 1 to 5 p.m. Sundays. Come and visit with us, and learn about and see the treasures of the towns of Cato, Ira, Victory and Conquest. Upcoming events: 9 a.m. Monday, May 29: Memorial Day service, Victory Union Cemetery Saturday, June 24: Red Creek Central School Alumni Banquet (to RSVP, visit rccsd.org and click "Alumni" and then "Invitation" before June 1) Saturday, July 15: 15th annual Vietnam Veterans Memorial Highway of Valor Tribute Ride from Owego to Sterling on Route 38 Gift this article Share this article paywall-free. GARY Some of the people responsible for assembling the Gary's new school board have begun the appointment process. When Gov. Eric Holcomb signed Senate Enrolled Act 327 into law May 5, he ended a nearly-six year state takeover of the Gary Community School Corp. The law establishes a new appointed school board in Gary, set to assemble July 1. The board won't be elected, as most traditional school boards are. It will be comprised of one person appointed by the mayor of Gary, one person appointed by the Gary Common Council and three people appointed by the Indiana Secretary of Education, who must appoint at least one Gary resident, a resident of Lake County and a final member from anywhere. During its meeting Tuesday, the Gary Common Council said it is accepting applications for its appointee. Councilwoman Linda Barnes-Caldwell, D-6, has been put in charge of the process. "The only requirement is that the person resides within the city of Gary," Caldwell said. "This person will begin their term on July 1, 2023, and serve for two years. The term would expire on June 30, 2025. After that, the council could choose to appoint the same person or pick a new one for another two-year term." Interested parties can contact the Gary Common Council, 401 Broadway, Suite 209, or email Caldwell at lcaldwell@gary.gov. Applications are due May 31. Councilman William Godwin, D-1, said the council hopes to vote on the appointment by the June 6 meeting. If not, then during the June 20 meeting. Mayor Jerome Prince is vetting "a number of candidates," spokesman Michael Gonzales told The Times. "He expects to announce his appointment around the middle of next month." Indiana Secretary of Education Katie Jenner has not announced her appointments or whether there will be any sort of application process for them. Christina Molinari, press secretary and spokeswoman for the Indiana Department of Education, told The Times the department is working through all new legislative items, including these appointments. She would not provide any further details. When the board first convenes in July, it will serve in an advisory capacity until July 1, 2024, or whenever the state deems the district no longer a distressed unit, whichever is later. At that point, the board will be able to hire its own superintendent and begin fully managing the district. GALLERY: The Times Photos of the Week 'Valpo has shaped us,' grads reminded 'Valpo has shaped us,' grads reminded 'Valpo has shaped us,' grads reminded 'Valpo has shaped us,' grads reminded Ivy Tech Lake graduation 2023 Ivy Tech Lake graduation 2023 Ivy Tech Porter graduation 2023 Ivy Tech Porter graduation 2023 57th Annual IU Northwest Commencement Ceremony 57th Annual IU Northwest Commencement Ceremony 57th Annual IU Northwest Commencement Ceremony 57th Annual IU Northwest Commencement Ceremony 'We fight together:' Sounds of Sarah fentanyl and addiction awareness walk 'We fight together:' Sounds of Sarah fentanyl and addiction awareness walk Free reading material? Book on it Free reading material? Book on it k-9 sophie Hoosier Theater Hoosier Theater Municipal Day Town Council meeting Municipal Day Town Council meeting Students run the show in Merrillville Health Department has new mobile clinic Health Department has new mobile clinic Gallery HTML code Gift this article Share this article paywall-free. MERRILLVILLE Police are seeking the public's help in locating a shooter, who left a man injured Sunday in the 7100 block of Fillmore Court in the Turkey Creek subdivision. Officers were called out around 3:30 a.m. for a report of gunshots, Cmdr. Matthew Vasel said. "Patrol officers quickly arrived on scene and discovered a male victim lying in the street," he said. "The victim has several injuries as a result of the gunfire and was transported to a local hospital for treatment." Jury takes half-hour to find Porter County man not guilty in 6-year-old child molest case "From the first moment he had learned of these allegations from the police during an interrogation until he testified in trial, Agustin Espinoza has always always said the same thing, 'I did not do this,' " his attorney said. The shooter fled the scene by the time police arrived. No one is yet in custody. Merrillville police ask that anyone with information about the shooting contact Detective Samantha Jordan at 219-769-3531, ext. 362; or sjordan@merrillville.in.gov. Anonymous tips can be sent to investigations@merrillville.in.gov. Gallery: Recent arrests booked into Lake County Jail Domynic Yerger Shanna Taylor Damon Wade Nicholas Sanchez John Smith Jr. George Stevens Aaron Rawls Ronald Robinson III Dakota Ruel Juan Salas Michael Murray Alex Marion III Crystal McLain Maria Hoyo Paris Hewlett Joseph Coleman Brandon Dubose Diana Enriquez Jessica Hermosillo Erich Boone Dwayne Smith Javante Toran Michael Williams Jr. Vandana Pagany Matthew Parker Daniel Rosario Obaid Shafiq Paul Newlin Pablito Madera II Anthony Manson Jr. Willie McGee Donna Jackson Jocelyn James Kamika Harrell Angel Bousono Jr. Kenyatta Branch Derrick Daniel Rodney Allen Jr. Cesar Torres Michael Toy Roman Martinez Lori Minyard Jeremy Lewis David Keck Samantha Hellems Darius Herron Michael Flores Nariana Williams Chad Shaw John Vann Ricardo Vela Justin Neely Trendarious Peterson Mosley Keandrea Robinson Bailey Llamas Anthony Hardesty-Berry Hope Horn James Lenoir-Williams Cristina Galka Armando Cartagena-Dhuperoyis Gregory Cormick Jr. Genito Balderas William Betts Benjamin Byers Michael Albanese Joshua Baker Roderick Atkins Mark Abel Gift this article Share this article paywall-free. Portage police Lt. Rob Maynard recalls a young Black man laughing and responding with a resounding "no" when asked at a career fair a couple of months ago if he was interested in a job in law enforcement. "The other officer helping me out that day asked him why that was, and this young person said their family would never accept them being a police officer," Maynard said. "He explained that when he was growing up his mother told him that the police were not a good organization to be a part of or to even be around." While the conversation continued in a positive direction, Maynard said, he in no way felt the young man would go against his family and consider a job as a police officer. The encounter reflects the types of challenges police departments across the Region can face when attempting to bring greater diversity to their forces. As part of a seven-month investigation by Lee Enterprises and Type Investigations, reporters reached out to more than 170 law enforcement agencies across much of the United States, seeking data on, among other things, their racial, ethnic and gender makeup. Numerous local departments have grown in diversity since The Times 2020 analysis of police diversity. However, many of them still struggle to reflect the racial makeup of their communities. Diversity underrepresentation in policing Data gathered from October 2022 to May 2023 from nearly 120 law enforcement agencies in 14 states shows frequent disparity in the racial and ethnic makeup of the agencies compared to the communities they are hired to protect and serve. Data gathered from October 2022 to May 2023 from nearly 120 law enforcement agencies in 14 states shows frequent disparity in the racial and ethnic makeup of the agencies compared to the communities they are hired to protect and serve. Some law enforcement officials said there is a need for diversity, equity and inclusion to establish more trust between police and the community. However, some officers disagree with the notion that a more diverse force will help police build better relationships with the people they serve. The Portage police force, like many others across the Region, does not exactly mirror the makeup of its diverse community with two Black and seven Hispanic officers among its 67 men and seven women. "I personally dont think the agency needs to be an exact reflection of the statistical makeup, but I do think a police agency should have representatives from each demographic found within the community it serves," he said. "Having officers of the different sexes, races, ethnicities or religions helps us to understand cultural nuances and more effectively communicate with community members." The Portage department took part a couple of years ago in the citywide diversity committee, which resulted largely in gains in salary, training and equipment, he said. These gains in attracting potential hires, however, were offset by similar efforts in nearby competing departments. The city's civilian merit board, which handles all the hiring for the department, is made up of three women and three men, with one Black member. "The Portage Police Department has opportunities for all people regardless of race or sex," Maynard said. "Each hiring process is competitive by nature, with the applicants being ranked by their individual performance through physical and mental testing as well as an interview process with the merit board. We believe this process is fair to everyone, with the ultimate goal of PPD hiring the best police officers to be had, regardless of race or sex." When asked about having just one person of color in a leadership role, Maynard said most of its officers do not have the required five years of seniority to be eligible to test for a promotion. "At this time we do have one Hispanic officer with nine years of service, and he was promoted to the rank of corporal in June 2022," Maynard said. "Becoming a supervisor is a competitive process using a point system consisting of supervisor evaluations, years of service, interviews with the civilian police merit board and score on a written test." The average years of service at the time of promotion is 11 for all officers. Departments in Lake, Porter and LaPorte counties have lamented their struggle to find viable candidates for the job. The Gary Police Department has the most diverse leadership, according to the data Lee Enterprises collected from 90 U.S. police departments. Maj. Chief Jerry Williams said the department prides itself on being one of the most diverse in the area, but it doesnt actively recruit women or people of color. A police department should attempt to represent the diverse nature of its community members, he said. However, choosing quality candidates should be the top priority. Their recruitment process is undergoing an update under Williams, who was appointed chief in January. The application has been shortened and moved online. The East Chicago Police Department ranks second in the national assessment of most diverse leadership, according to data. Chief Jose Rivera said it also strives to find the most qualified candidates as opposed to focusing on diversifying the department. Salary and benefits can make or break where an applicant chooses to begin their career. Salaries throughout Lake County's police departments vary. The starting salary for entry-level officers in Hammond, Lake County's largest city and largest department, is $51,510. In Gary, the second-largest city, police officers start at $56,650, according to the department's website. East Chicago, a heavily diverse city with a force more than half the size of Gary's, offers $57,257 to candidates, plus an abundance of incentives to join the department, including $30,000 in down payment assistance on a house in the city. While the Porter County Sheriff's Department did not provide demographic information requested for the current report, it did release a statement: "We hire the best candidate regardless of sex, race or religion." The department does not keep track of applicants and employees based on sex, race or religion, Sgt. Benjamin McFalls said. "Its very important to us that our composition reflects the diverse makeup of our community," he said. "We are implementing new recruitment goals and attending job fairs throughout the state and Midwest." In Valparaiso, Capt. Joe Hall said the Police Department has tried to expand its diversity through expansion of the recruitment team and partnerships with 20 universities, academies and organizations to promote job openings. "The Valparaiso Police Department is always looking to find the best candidates for open positions and specifically look to share our recruitment messages in ways that will promote a diverse workforce," Hall said. "We do our best to recruit quality people for our positions, looking at character and personality that is a good fit with our agency and the community." The diversity in the Valparaiso Police Department closely represents that of the city, according to the data: The force is 14% people of color while the city is 12% people of color. The biggest challenge, Hall said, is finding quality candidates of any kind. Law enforcement agencies "are competing against each other to complete our hiring needs. Ensuring that we reach all candidates is also a challenge, as law enforcement must be creative in finding ways to share their brand and publicize their openings." In an effort to do so, Hall said, Valparaiso police increased their presence on social media and streamlined the digital application process to reach more candidates. "Law enforcement must be creative in finding ways to share their brand and publicize their openings," he said. The Sheriff's Department is one of the more diverse in Lake County. According to the data, 30% of its officers are people of color, compared with 47% of the county. Sheriff Oscar Martinez Jr. said he believes it's important for the department to represent the community in order to build relationships and encourage the community's confidence in their police. "I seek to hire people from diverse backgrounds because its simply the right thing to do for the communities we serve," he said. "It helps to forge relationships with people in our neighborhoods and increase understanding and awareness. We want to make sure all members of our community are treated with dignity and respect." The county's police force more closely represents its population when compared with departments of similar size, such as Gary or Hammond. Martinez said the department recruits through campaigns that seek to reach people from a broad range of backgrounds, such as on roadside billboards at high-traffic intersections, area radio stations and at job fairs throughout the community. "We have intentionally spread our hiring messages across a diverse set of platforms, including social media and law enforcement trade groups like the International Association of Chiefs of Police, to try to make contact with as many groups of people as we can," he said. Martinez said he also strives to have diverse representation at neighborhood events like parades and festivals so the department can engage with the public and speak with people who might have an interest in working in law enforcement. Some departments chose to not respond to Lee Enterprises survey this year, even those that provided the data in summer 2020 when Lee carried out a similar but smaller-scaled analysis of police demographics. In 2020, the Merrillville Police Department had the widest gap between percentages of minorities within the police force and the population served. It was ranked against about 65 law enforcement agencies that Lee surveyed. Merrillville is within one of Indianas most minority-dense urban cores in northwest Indiana. 2020 census data showed that Black residents accounted for 44% of the town's population. Yet only 5.3% of Merrillville's sworn police officers were Black, according to data the agency supplied then. Merrillville fared the worst of all departments in Northwest Indiana, but Hammond, Griffith, Portage and Gary werent far behind. On the opposite end of the spectrum, the city of East Chicago one of the regions most diverse melting pots had one of the most diverse police forces in 2020 and when surveyed in 2023. Merrillville declined to provide data to participate this year. Chief Kosta Nuses said the leadership felt they were represented unfairly in 2020, and that the story didnt highlight the struggles in recruiting. If people don't apply, you can't do anything. It would have been more accurate if you wrote it was due to lack of people applying, he said. Nuses was the department spokesman who was interviewed in 2020. The 2020 story quoted several leaders on the many challenges that persist in recruiting and how diversity within police ranks is no solution for the systemic racism alleged by many who continue seeking reform. The story noted how departments partnered with schools, universities, community groups and others to diversify their ranks to little avail. Waves of retirements nationally compounded by a lack of new applicants was also noted. I cant make people apply. Its hard to recruit anybody, let alone a diverse pool, Nuses said. As at other departments nationwide, Nuses said, applicants are down in Merrillville, which went from fielding 100 applicants to maybe three to five. Nobody wants to be the police. Hammond is one Indiana's most diverse cities. William Short, who became chief in 2021, is its first Black police chief. While Hammond police's diversity has increased since 2020, the numbers do not reflect that of the community. Short cites the challenges of living in a post-pandemic world where young people entering the work force choose careers that may have more flexibility, such as the ability to work from home. However, he said, Hammond has "quadrupled their search efforts" to recruit from different areas of the Region. "Officers volunteer to help us reach the public, whether its through a live event, such as visiting high schools, universities and churches, or through social media and marketing platforms, such as fliers, billboards and Facebook ads," he said. Short said he believes the force should reflect the community and is proud that Hammond's has increased. Like many others, he believes the focus should be on a candidate's character when hiring. "We want people who stand on high moral ground and who care for, and empathize with, the people we serve," he said. Lauren Cross of Lee Enterprises Public Service Journalism team contributed to this story. Gallery: Protesters, police clash in Hammond after George Floyd's death Hammond protests in solidarity with Minneapolis Hammond protests in solidarity with Minneapolis Hammond protests in solidarity with Minneapolis Hammond protests in solidarity with Minneapolis Hammond protests in solidarity with Minneapolis Hammond protests in solidarity with Minneapolis Hammond protests in solidarity with Minneapolis Hammond protests in solidarity with Minneapolis Hammond protests in solidarity with Minneapolis Hammond protests in solidarity with Minneapolis Hammond protests in solidarity with Minneapolis Hammond protests in solidarity with Minneapolis Hammond protests in solidarity with Minneapolis Hammond protests in solidarity with Minneapolis Hammond protests in solidarity with Minneapolis Hammond protests in solidarity with Minneapolis Hammond protests in solidarity with Minneapolis Hammond protests in solidarity with Minneapolis Hammond protests in solidarity with Minneapolis Hammond protests in solidarity with Minneapolis Hammond protests in solidarity with Minneapolis Police block protesters in Hammond Police block protesters in Hammond Police block protesters in Hammond Police block protesters in Hammond Police block protesters in Hammond Police block protesters in Hammond Police block protesters in Hammond Police block protesters in Hammond Police block protesters in Hammond Police form blockade at 171st and Calumet 171st and Calumet Gallery: Hammond protests in solidarity with Minneapolis Gallery: Hammond protests in solidarity with Minneapolis Gallery: Hammond protests in solidarity with Minneapolis Gallery: Hammond protests in solidarity with Minneapolis Gallery: Hammond protests in solidarity with Minneapolis Gallery: Hammond protests in solidarity with Minneapolis Gallery: Hammond protests in solidarity with Minneapolis Gallery: Hammond protests in solidarity with Minneapolis Gallery: Hammond protests in solidarity with Minneapolis Gallery: Hammond protests in solidarity with Minneapolis Gallery: Hammond protests in solidarity with Minneapolis Gallery: Hammond protests in solidarity with Minneapolis Gallery: Hammond protests in solidarity with Minneapolis Gallery: Hammond protests in solidarity with Minneapolis Gallery: Hammond protests in solidarity with Minneapolis Gallery: Hammond protests in solidarity with Minneapolis Gallery: Hammond protests in solidarity with Minneapolis Northwest Indiana Stands In Solidarity Against Police Brutality rally Northwest Indiana Stands In Solidarity Against Police Brutality rally Northwest Indiana Stands In Solidarity Against Police Brutality rally Northwest Indiana Stands In Solidarity Against Police Brutality rally Northwest Indiana Stands In Solidarity Against Police Brutality rally Northwest Indiana Stands In Solidarity Against Police Brutality rally Northwest Indiana Stands In Solidarity Against Police Brutality rally Northwest Indiana Stands In Solidarity Against Police Brutality rally Northwest Indiana Stands In Solidarity Against Police Brutality rally Northwest Indiana Stands In Solidarity Against Police Brutality rally Northwest Indiana Stands In Solidarity Against Police Brutality rally Gallery Gift this article Share this article paywall-free. VALPARAISO In the wake of Saturday's deadly hand grenade blast, the Porter County Bomb Squad has issued guidance on how to handle found explosives. Bryan Niedert, 47, died Saturday at his home in Lake of the Four Seasons, the Lake County Coroner's Office reported. Around 6 p.m., Niedert's family was searching through their grandfather's belongings at a residence in the 3700 block of West Lakeshore Drive and found a hand grenade, according to the Lake County Sheriff's Department. The grenade detonated, killing Niedert and wounding his 14-year-old son and 18-year-old daughter. The children were hospitalized and treated for shrapnel injuries. The Lake County Sheriff's Department said the blast appeared to have occurred in the garage area. The Porter County Bomb Squad was requested on scene. The squad four technicians and four nontechnicians from the Porter County Sheriff's, Lake County Sheriff's and Portage Police departments and the Indiana Department of Natural Resources handles calls for service in Lake, Porter, LaPorte, Starke, Jasper, Newton and Pulaski counties. It handles an average of 30 calls for service a year. The squad has seen an increase in recent years in calls for service related to people finding explosives, Porter County Sheriff's Sgt. Benjamin McFalls said in a news release Monday, urging residents to call the police if they find anything that resembles a military weapon. "Often veterans bring items home from their service/tour of duty sometimes they are inert, but some are live explosives," the release says. "Items that may be considered family heirlooms could contain hazardous energetic material." Officials also warned that many military weapons are waterproof and can detonate even if they are found underwater. Jason Platipodis Jason Platipodis (right) poses with his triplet siblings Jessica and Jeff. They are the first set of triplets successfully born in Valparaiso. INDIANAPOLIS Marion County 911 dispatchers answered a call around 7:15 a.m. Jan. 3, 2022. The voice of a 6-year-old girl traveled through the receiver. She told dispatchers she couldn't wake her father and needed help. Indianapolis police and medical personnel swiftly arrived at the scene to do a welfare check on the girl's father at his apartment in the 7000 block of River Walk Drive. The medics found Jason Platipodis, 40, deceased. Jason's brother, Jeff, who lived in the area, arrived at Jason's apartment and grabbed Jason's phone. While scrolling through messages, he saw texts between Jason and a contact called "Johnny Boy." Messages showed that Johnny Boy had acquired some sort of drugs and given them to Jason. Jason had a history of drug abuse but had been clean for six years. Jeff was shocked. "I saw him every day. We worked together," Jeff said. "If he had relapsed, I would have known." Jeff brought Jason's phone to the Indianapolis Metro Police Department and handed it to a detective, which was the beginning of an investigation that would last over a year into how Jason died and who would be held responsible for giving him the lethal substance that ended his life. Fighting for Jason Jonathan Spurling, 38, of Valparaiso was charged March 22 with dealing a controlled substance resulting in death, a Level 1 felony, for his role in Jason's death. If convicted, he is looking at 20 to 50 years in prison. A law passed in 2018 gave prosecutors the ability to file charges against anyone who allegedly provided a drug that resulted in death, but the cases are difficult to prove. The charges against Spurling are one of few cases in Indiana in which charges have been filed since the law was passed. In the Region, charges related to this statute are seldom filed. There have been seven cases charged in Lake County, six in LaPorte County and three in Porter County, according to data from the Indiana Supreme Court. Shortly after Jason's death, his uncle Scott Westergren said he read an article about a woman named Susan Fox who lost her son, Nathan May, to a fentanyl overdose in 2020. Fox had worked to collect evidence that implicated the man who provided the lethal drug to her son. She presented the evidence to police, who involved the Drug Enforcement Administration. Charges were filed in June against the man who provided the drug. Westergren sent an email to her. She responded and connected him with the DEA agents who worked on her son's case. DEA Assistant Special Agent in Charge Chip Cooke said families have taken a crucial role in these cases when it comes to gathering evidence. "Its really the families who are driving this," Cooke said. "Every time [law enforcement] investigate or come upon an overdose victim, I dont think the thought is, this is a homicide. Its really the families of the victims who are getting involved and going to state local law enforcement. Westergren said he knew the case was being investigated but was not aware of the details until charges were filed. I am so grateful that the DEA and Indianapolis police were able to pursue these charges, he said. "We got to fight for Jason." Jason's story Jason, a triplet, grew up in Valparaiso. His triplet brother, Jeff, said Jason worked as a carpenter. The two lived in Indianapolis but would drive back to the Region every weekend to work on a home improvement project. Jason loved fishing and spending time with his daughter. Jeff described him as a "family man" who always had a smile on his face. "He's the type of guy that would give you the shirt off his back," Jeff said. "He was a good dad, a hard worker, a family man." Jason Platipodis Jason Platipodis poses with his nephew. His family remembers him as someone who enjoyed bringing all generations of his family together for ac Jason was prescribed an opioid pain reliever for back pain early in adulthood, Westergren said. He said their family has a history with substance abuse but believes the prescription could have been the catalyst that fueled Jason's opioid abuse. When Jason's daughter was born, he worked to get sober and "transformed." "Hes dearly missed," Westergren said. "Theres not a day that goes by that I dont think about him." His triplet sister, Jessica, said she remembers him taking all his nieces and nephews swimming, boating and fishing. He wanted to involve the "younger generation" in every activity. He was the glue to our family," she said. "He always tried to get our family together while he was out in Valparaiso. By bringing awareness to the circumstances surrounding Jason's death and the charges filed against his alleged dealer, the family said they hope it can bring awareness to substance-abuse disorders and bring justice to other victims of drug poisonings. Proving their case Investigations related to dealing a controlled substance resulting in death are handled as homicide investigations, LaPorte County Drug Task Force Sgt. Kyle Shiparski said. Techniques used to investigate are similar. Detectives rely on evidence from cellphones, witnesses toxicology reports and forensic evidence on scene. The difficulties lie in proving that a person died from a specific instance in which they were supplied a drug and subsequently ingested it. This can be hard, Shiparski said, if a person has multiple suppliers or died with a combination of drugs in their system. More challenges include underlying conditions or other risks surrounding death. The cases are not black-and-white. What were seeing with these cases is, theyre much harder to prove and investigate," Shiparski said. "And when they get in front of a jury, they become even harder to prove in that setting. The deaths are often labeled as accidental overdoses, Shiparski said. Once the cause of death is determined, investigators can begin to explore the case, searching into what happened on scene. Law enforcement are reliant on cellphones and witnesses to provide information, and a timeline of events is created. Official cellphone data showed that Jason communicated with Spurling in the days before his death. According to court documents, Spurling traveled to a location in the Chicago area to obtain drugs from another source. Jason asked Spurling to "grab me a couple," purportedly referencing the drugs Spurling was purchasing. The men planned to meet up Jan. 2, 2022 at Spurling's home in Valparaiso. After obtaining the drugs, Jason and his daughter, who were in Valparaiso that weekend, subsequently drove back to Indianapolis. In one of the messages, Spurling said: "Promise it did the trick but wasnt overwhelming?" Investigators believe this indicates that Spurling knew the drug had the potential to have an "overwhelming" effect. Spurling told police he gave Jason heroin and nothing else, according to court documents. Shiparski said there are some people who do not agree with how the law reads. The language of the law targets anyone who "knowingly manufactures or delivers" a drug that results in death, but the ultimate goal is to find the drug dealers who are widely distributing the counterfeit pills. You try to climb that ladder and hold the initial source of supply accountable, Shiparski said. Kristen Martin, founder of Gary Harm Reduction, said she believes laws related to dealing resulting in death are counterproductive to curbing the drug epidemic in the United States. She said stricter laws could instill fear in people who are using drugs, making them scared to ask for help. "If were charging people, no one is going to want to ever call for help if somebody is overdosing," Martin said. "Theyre going to leave more people left for dead. Martin said some trust has been built in communities of people who use drugs, erring on the side of nonjudgment and leading with compassion to help people struggling with substance abuse to find help. Martin and other organizations offer free naloxone and fentanyl testing strips to reduce harm for anyone who uses drugs. She worries that if laws surrounding the prosecution of individuals who deal or use drugs villainize those who are struggling with addiction, it will do more harm than good. Theres a fine line between drug dealer and drug user, Martin said. Its not getting at the root of the problem. How is ruining someone elses life by putting them in prison going to help the issue? Seeking justice Spurling, who posted bond April 4, is set to stand trial May 30 in Marion Superior Court, according to online court records. The family has traveled from Valparaiso to attend some of the court hearings and plan to attend the trial. Jason's family said they will continue to bring awareness to the law that they believe will help them get justice for their brother. "We understand its not going to bring Jason back, but it could save another family from going through what we went through," Jessica said. "Something needs to be done. People who are dealing need to be held accountable." Gift this article Share this article paywall-free. An announcement by Gov. Kathy Hochul is a major development in finding a new use for the shuttered Bombardier plant on the west end of Auburn. The city has been awarded $8.5 million to renovate the factory, which closed in 2006. It is one of four special projects statewide that received funding through the Restore NY Communities Initiative. City officials announced in January that it would seek a $10 million grant to rehabilitate the Orchard Street facility. The state program "encourages community development and neighborhood growth through the elimination and redevelopment of blighted structures," according to its description. Auburn City Manager Jeff Dygert told The Citizen Monday that the combination of the state grant and new owners of the Bombardier plant will help with any potential project at the site. The property is now owned by Alstom, which acquired Bombardier in 2021. "They have been very responsive to us as we had conversations about the future of that facility," Dygert said. "Those two things coming together, the right owner and the financial incentives, I think that if we continue to work together with Alstom, hopefully we'll find the most appropriate tenant we can find for that building." Alstom has committed to marketing the property to find a new owner that will reuse the facility. Local leaders have said that is a departure from Bombardier's approach, which was to resist attempts to redevelop the site. There has been some movement this year toward finding a new use for the closed factory. Michael Miller, executive director of the Cayuga Economic Development Agency, told county lawmakers in March that a "blind applicant" inquired about the property through Empire State Development, New York's lead economic development agency. With that apparent interest, CEDA updated its materials to better market the property. One potential use for the facility is to capitalize on Micron's $100 billion investment in central New York. The semiconductor chipmaker will need supply chain businesses to support the larger manufacturing plant in Onondaga County. In a press release announcing the grant for the city of Auburn, Hochul's office said the former Bombardier factory "will be rehabilitated into a space to attract supply chain companies that will be interested because of the Micron megafab in Clay." Dygert explained that the site's location it's on the Arterial in the city and not far from the Thruway could make it attractive to a Micron supply chain business. The facility also has its own substation, he said, so it is equipped for a company that needs a lot of power. "I think it puts us in a great position for (Micron), but there's a lot of other stuff going on right now outside of Micron," he added. "The timing couldn't be better on this." Auburn will received a second grant through the Restore NY Communities Initiative for a separate project. The city has been awarded $1.12 million for the renovation of a building at 22 E. Genesee St. The funding will support a project to transform the building into a mixed-use facility with commercial space on the first floor and apartments on the upper floors. Gift this article Share this article paywall-free. CROWN POINT Crown Point police found a 1-year old child Sunday and spent part of the day working to identify and locate that child's guardian, the department said Sunday morning. The child was found around 9 a.m. near Jerry Ross Park in the 300 block of West North Street, police said. The department promptly put out a notice via social media and email, alerting the community and asking for help from anyone with information on who the child's guardian might be. A second notice was distributed around 11 a.m. that the child's guardian had been found. The department declined to publicly identify the guardian. Police Chief Ryan S. Patrick said the child was examined by paramedics when found and that the department, as it does with all cases involving minors, is working with the Indiana Department of Child Services. "We are thankful the child was found in a timely manner with no injuries," he said. Patrick declined to comment further, saying it is an ongoing investigation. GALLERY: The Times Photos of the Week 'Valpo has shaped us,' grads reminded 'Valpo has shaped us,' grads reminded 'Valpo has shaped us,' grads reminded 'Valpo has shaped us,' grads reminded Ivy Tech Lake graduation 2023 Ivy Tech Lake graduation 2023 Ivy Tech Porter graduation 2023 Ivy Tech Porter graduation 2023 57th Annual IU Northwest Commencement Ceremony 57th Annual IU Northwest Commencement Ceremony 57th Annual IU Northwest Commencement Ceremony 57th Annual IU Northwest Commencement Ceremony 'We fight together:' Sounds of Sarah fentanyl and addiction awareness walk 'We fight together:' Sounds of Sarah fentanyl and addiction awareness walk Free reading material? Book on it Free reading material? Book on it k-9 sophie Hoosier Theater Hoosier Theater Municipal Day Town Council meeting Municipal Day Town Council meeting Students run the show in Merrillville Health Department has new mobile clinic Health Department has new mobile clinic Gallery HTML code Gift this article Share this article paywall-free. MUNSTER Nearly 200 guests danced the night away Friday at the sixth annual NWI Parkinsons Inc. dinner dance. "There's some great people who have Parkinson's and they're all here helping, founder Elizabeth Woodbury said. Were family. We have the same problem. We can cope with it and talk about it together and its wonderful. Woodbury, nicknamed Libby, founded the 501(c)(3) organization after she was diagnosed with Parkinsons in 2004. Woodbury established it with the goal of making people more aware of Parkinsons and helping those whove been diagnosed cope with the disease. "I think it's a special gift someone gave me, it's amazing," she said at the dance. "Never in a million years would I have thought that I would be in this spot. It's very rewarding and humbling." Over the past 16 years, NWI Parkinsons has raised more than $575,000 at its annual fundraisers, including a live style show and dinner dance. The organization has donated more than $250,000 of its proceeds to The Michael J. Fox Foundation and the American Parkinson Disease Association (APDA). No one has talked about this until now. Now its being celebrated, Woodbury said. Something is going to happen soon and were going to have a cure. It might not be in my lifetime but its coming soon. About 90,000 people in the U.S. are diagnosed with Parkinsons every year, according to the Parkinsons Foundation. The disease affects around 10 million people, but the cause remains largely unknown. Common symptoms include tremors, limb stiffness, balance problems, slowness and paucity of movement. NWI Parkinsons has grown to serve more than 2,000 people annually. Vice Chairman Don Nadgeman said the group continues to expand its client base from across Northwest Indiana and parts of Illinois. Nowhere else has anything like we have, Nadgeman said. The following we have is amazing. Two fundraisers a year allow NWI Parkinsons to provide no-cost exercise classes and seminars to patients and their families. A variety of exercise classes are offered Monday through Friday at NWI Parkinsons office, 2927 Jewett Ave. in Highland. If it wasnt for Elizabeth wed have nothing. Shes a hard worker and has done things that are amazing, Robert Diliglio said in the dinner dance's opening speech. Shes a very special person in my heart because she likes to help people. The fundraiser was from 5:30 to 11 p.m. at The Center for Visual and Performing Arts in Munster. Guests had the opportunity to participate in six raffle prizes and a silent auction. Volunteer Terry Sanders of Griffith said the event wouldnt have been successful without the 44 silent-auction donors and guests who purchased tickets. Sanders has been involved with the group for a handful of years. Her husband, Glenn, was diagnosed with the disease 29 years ago at age 36. After the couple attended a NWI Parkinsons event, Sanders immediately knew she wanted to help out. Its a very isolating disease. Once people have trouble with speaking or mobility, they dont really get out, she said. This is a way for them to get out and have some socialization. Attendants enjoyed listening to local vibraphonist DiKobie Berry and dance music provided by Uptown Dance Band. Before dinner, guests watched an exhibition by Indiana Ballet Theatre. A variety of the arm movements displayed by IBT are executed in weekly NWI Parkinsons yoga and dance classes, Maxine Ettema said. Ettema, who was diagnosed with Parkinsons in 2020, has found the organization to be her home away from home. The Cedar Lake resident attends all NWI Parkinsons educational events and exercise classes. She has also become a member of the silent-auction committee. We enjoy all the support we get from people and we hope it continues, she said. People really do benefit from this. Kathy Clyborne said her husband, John, didnt feel comfortable in public as his Parkinsons progressed until discovering NWI Parkinsons. When my husband was alive, he didnt like going in public because he was always afraid people were judging him, so hed sit in the car and wait, she said. When he went to NWI Parkinsons, he felt like himself. It made him happy. John died from Parkinsons in October at age 64. He had Parkinsons for 13 years. The couple were affiliated with the organization for over six years and regularly attended exercise classes, Kathy said. Theres nothing like this organization in the country, she said. This is a genuine organization and theyre here to help. Clyborne expresses gratitude toward Woodbury and everyone at NWI Parkinsons who helped John in his Parkinsons battle. Shes also grateful for how accepting the organization is toward caregivers. What Libby has done is one of the most amazing things Ive ever seen, she said. You dont feel like you have a disease when youre there. NWI Parkinsons Inc. Dinner Dance Elizabeth Woodbury and Don Nadgeman Di'Kobie Berry Indiana Ballet Theatre Uptown Dance Band NWI Parkinsons Inc. annual dinner dance Jazzy Jems Elizabeth's Fashions Alloy holds online support groups where women, clearly of varying socioeconomic backgrounds, often vent about how hard it was for them to find relief, how much they are still suffering or how traumatized they still are by the lack of compassion and concern they encountered when seeking help for distressing symptoms. On one call in July, a middle-aged woman described severe vaginal dryness. When I was walking or trying just to exercise, I would be in such agony, she said. Its painful just to move. She was trying to buy vaginal estradiol cream, an extremely low-risk treatment for genitourinary syndrome; she said there was a shortage of it in her small town. Until she stumbled on Alloy, shed been relying on antibacterial creams to soothe the pain she felt. The space was clearly a no-judgment zone, a place where women could talk about how they personally felt about the risks and benefits of taking hormones. At one meeting, a woman said that shed been on hormone therapy, which she said changed my life during perimenopause, but that she and her sisters both had worrying mammograms at the same time. Her sister was diagnosed with breast cancer and had her lymph nodes removed; the woman on the call was diagnosed with atypical hyperplasia, which is not cancer but is considered a precursor that puts a woman at high risk. The NAMS guidelines do not indicate that hormone therapy is contraindicated for a woman at high risk of breast cancer, leaving it up to the woman and her practitioner to decide. My new OB-GYN and my cancer doc wont put me on hormones, the woman said. She bought them from Alloy instead. So Im kind of under the radar. No one at the meeting questioned the womans decision to go against the advice of two doctors. I mentioned the case to Faubion. It sounds to me like she felt she wasnt being heard by her doctors and had to go somewhere else, she said. Faubion told me that in certain circumstances, higher-risk women who are fully informed of the risks but suffer terrible symptoms might reasonably make the decision to opt for hormones. But, she said, those decisions require nuanced, thoughtful conversations with health care professionals, and she wondered whether Alloy and other online providers were set up to allow for them. Anne Fulenwider, one of Alloys founders, said the patient in the support group had not disclosed her full medical history when seeking a prescription. After that came to light, an Alloy doctor reached out to her to have a more informed follow-up conversation about the risks and benefits of hormone therapy. As I weighed my own options, I sometimes asked the doctors I interviewed outright for their advice. For women in perimenopause, who are still at risk of pregnancy, I learned, a low-dose birth control can even things out, suppressing key parts of the reproductive system and supplying a steadier dose of hormones. Another alternative is an intrauterine device (IUD) to provide birth control, along with a low-dose estrogen patch, which is less potent than even a low-dose birth-control pill and is therefore thought to be safer. Too much equipment, I told Rachel Rubin, the sexual-health expert, when she suggested it. This is why I dont ski. I found myself thinking often about an insight that Santoro says she offers her patients (especially those under 60 and in good health): If youre having any symptoms, how can you weigh the risks and benefits if you havent experienced the extent of the benefits? In November, I started on a low-dose birth-control pill. I am convinced and those close to me are convinced that my brain is more glitch-free. I have no hot flashes. Most surprising to me (and perhaps the main reason for that improvement in cognition): My sleep improved. I had not even mentioned my poor quality of sleep to my gynecologist, given the length of our discussion, but I had also assumed that it was a result of stress, age and a sweet but snoring husband. Only once I took the hormones did I appreciate that my regular 2 a.m. wakings, too, were most likely a symptom of perimenopause. The pill was an easy-enough experiment, but it carried a potentially higher risk of clots than the IUD and patch; now convinced that the effort of an IUD is worth it, I resolved to make that switch as soon as I could get an appointment. Sometimes there will be a week of nothing but tribal, said Mr. Bast, 30, whose long hair and neo-Deadhead style give him the look of an Online Ceramics model. Appropriating the 1990s? Just as those seeking tribal tattoos 20 and 30 years ago were drawn to the aesthetics of an exoticized, ancient culture, so too are many of the new, Gen Z tribal fans: specifically, to the years 1997 to 2004, and their curious folkways. That is the cultural period Aesthetics Wiki defines as Y2K, an era that is in the process of being strip-mined by cool internet people under 30 for outfit ideas, design trends and general vibes. The street culture pages on social media are relentless in the way they upload 90s and 2000s content, said Lewis James Dixon, who runs Cold Archive, a social media research firm and brand consultancy. For some of these customers and some of the tattoo artists a dash of authentic 90s bad taste is the whole idea. The actor Rainn Wilson, who is best known for playing Dwight Schrute on The Office, has been candid about his history with anxiety and depression. In 2008, he founded Soul Pancake, a digital media company that explores lifes big questions as part of his search for clarity. His struggle to find happiness has also led him to churn through therapists and self-help books. When we spoke by phone, Wilson told me about crippling panic attacks he had in his 20s that would leave him on the floor, shaking and sweating. At first, he self-medicated I used a lot of drugs and alcohol, he said. Since then, he has turned to Gestalt therapy and hypnosis, but anxiety is still something he deals with every day, he said. Now, in a new travel series, Rainn Wilson and the Geography of Bliss, Wilson explores some of the worlds happiest and unhappiest places in an attempt to unlock the secrets of well-being. The show was inspired by Eric Weiners best-selling memoir of the same name, and Wilsons destinations were chosen from the United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Networks World Happiness Report, which rates life satisfaction in different nations. When I asked for advice based on his travels, Wilson noted that many aspects of happiness are outside a persons control such as economic status or where someone lives. But he shared three things he learned that might help us in our own lives. Jump to: Todays Theme | Tricky Clues | Solving Tip MONDAY PUZZLE Once, in a bid to get past a bout of writers block, I attended a workshop hosted by one of my favorite authors of contemporary fiction. When asked how she managed to use such descriptive language in her writing, she said that she liked to collect her favorite words from other novels as if they were seashells, or rare stamps. This was heartening because I, too, often find myself pocketing words that tickle me so that I can use them when inspiration strikes. Many such words appear in todays puzzle, which is constructed by Dang Quang Thang in his New York Times debut. I want to thank Mr. Thang not only for a breezy Monday solve, which Ill unpack below, but also for adding a few delightful new words to my collection. Todays Theme At first glance, the revealer at 58-Across may seem redundant. Print ad phrase for infomercial products or, parsed differently, a description of 17-, 25-, 35- or 50-Across suggests that its fill AS SEEN ON TV can be read two different ways. But how should you parse it? The answer reveals itself only after you realize what ties together all of the entries that the revealer is referencing their initials. All of these names are A.S. names, which means that any one of them can be an A.S. SEEN ON TV. He was easygoing, warm, funny. He told me we were destined to be friends, if not colleagues. I said I felt like we already were friends, and he immediately agreed! He confided that he was annoyed that I was a better writer than he was but said hed get over it though, by weeping over his Emmy. We shared a similar smug charm. I thought, So this is what it was like to have to deal with a Michael Rovner. I learned that, years earlier, when I had been a prolific journalist, he had regularly accepted compliments on my published pieces. What could be more Rovnerian than taking credit for someone elses work, I thought. Over the years, Ive written about being an alcoholic in recovery, being fired from my job as a private detective and having spent half my life in therapy. Based on my lifetime of oversharing, I wondered what those people must have thought of him. There was definitely a component of the movie Fight Club to this whole thing. He, too, primarily went by his surname, only he pronounced it wrong ROWV-ner, instead of RAHV-ner. I was informed that the Massachusetts and Iowa Rovners favored his style. I told him that wasnt how we did it in Philly. He told me his ancestors hailed from Rivne, Ukraine, which had been Rovno, Poland, at the time. I said that, whenever I asked my grandparents, I was told our family had come from Minsky-Pinsky, which was how people in that generation had tried to put the past behind it. He said he would recommend me for the job at his company, but mainly because theyd give him a $5,000 bonus for bringing in a new hire if I could last for 90 days. I told him nothing would make me happier than enriching Michael Rovners bank accounts a rising tide lifts all Michael Rovners. Should it work out, I promised not to sully our good name. He suggested that, if I were hired, I go by any form of Michael that suited me. While this seemed like a major concession on my part, since I was used to going by just Rovner, I figured wed work out the details later. He said he would send a hilarious Michael Rovneresque note to the people making the hire, adding that the rest was up to me and the ghosts of Michael Rovners past. At the start of my first interview, the hiring manager said she had initially been perplexed. I thought the Michael Rovner who already worked here was interviewing for this position, she said. I was delighted at the potential confusion this would unleash on the world. The Minnesota Senate passed a bill on Sunday that would guarantee drivers for Uber and Lyft a minimum wage and other benefits, sending the measure to Gov. Tim Walz. The narrow passage, a 35-32 vote after an earlier 69 to 61 approval from the states House of Representatives, capped a dramatic week of political maneuvering so the bill would clear the legislature before the session ends on Monday. Drivers for Uber and Lyft are known as gig workers because they are treated as independent contractors, meaning they are responsible for their own expenses and are not guaranteed a minimum wage, health care or other benefits. If the legislation is signed by the governor, it will require Uber and Lyft to pay their drivers at least $1.45 per mile they drive a passenger or $1.34 per mile outside the Minneapolis-St. Paul region as well as $0.34 per minute. It also establishes an appeals process through which drivers can request a review if they feel they have been improperly deactivated from the platforms, and requires additional transparency around how drivers earnings are calculated. Mr. Walz has called the bill an important piece of legislation, but has also said that more conversations need to happen before he commits to signing it. An Indiana father was killed and his two children were injured after they went through a grandfathers belongings and found a hand grenade that detonated at a family home on Saturday, the authorities said. The Lake County Sheriffs Department said on Monday that investigators were still trying to determine whether the device may have self-detonated because its age or if the pin of the grenade was pulled. The explosion, which occurred Saturday sometime before 6:30 p.m., unleashed shrapnel that injured the fathers 14-year-old son and 18-year-old daughter, who were taken to a hospital, the sheriffs department said in a statement. Their conditions were not immediately known on Sunday night, and the authorities have not identified members of the family. The father, 47, was found dead at the scene, the sheriffs department said. A bomb squad was called to the home to secure the area and determine whether there may be additional explosive devices, the authorities said. The blast appeared to have occurred in a garage area of the home in Lakes of the Four Seasons, a gated community of about 7,300 residents and roughly 140 miles northwest of Indianapolis. A suspect was arrested on suspicion of arson after a fire last week at a mosque in St. Paul, Minn., at least the fifth such act of vandalism in the state so far this year that has left members of the Muslim community living in fear, a state senator said. Jaylani Hussein, the executive director of the Minnesota chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said at a news conference that the mosque, the Oromo American Tawhid Islamic Center, was left completely burned after being set on fire on Wednesday. The building was unoccupied at the time and no injuries were reported, the St. Paul Fire Department said. The suspect, Said Murekezi, 42, was arrested on Thursday and booked on suspicion of arson, the St. Paul Police Department said. Ather Energy has confirmed that its 450X electric scooters will see a price hike from June 1, 2023, owing to the subsidy reduction by the central government in a recent decision. The EV manufacturer has announced on its social media platform that till the price hike is implemented, the buyers can save up to 32,500 till May 31. The company also said that this offer would be available till the stocks last. The electric vehicle manufacturer has said in its social media post that customers who would buy Ather Energy's 450X electric scooter till May 31, before the FAME-II incentives reduce and prices increase, could save up to 32,500. Retweeting the same, Ather Energy's CEO Tarun Mehta has said that the EV industry must stand on its own feet soon instead of relying on government subsidies for support to grow. He mocked how the government announced a subsidy of 30,000 for the electric two-wheelers in 2019 and then doubled that to 60,000 in 2021, and then slashed it to 22,000 in 2023. Mehta said that it had been a roller coaster ride for the Indian electric two-wheeler industry. He also mentioned that the subsidy amount was bound to come down. Also Read : Ather 450X Pro Pack: Here's what the Pro Pack offers We live in the most roller coaster of an industry 2019 - subsidy goes to 30K 2021 - subsidy goes to 60K 2023 - subsidy goes to 22K What goes up, must come down. The industry must stand on its own feet very soon. https://t.co/jH39dUGmjB Tarun Mehta (@tarunsmehta) May 21, 2023 This price hike move comes as the Ministry of Heavy Industries has proposed a subsidy of 15 per cent for the electric two-wheelers, which results in an upward price revision for all the electric two-wheelers in India that used to receive the subsidy benefit so far. A total of 24 electric two-wheeler manufacturers who avail of the FAME-2 subsidy benefit met last week to discuss the strategy ahead. Incentives for electric two-wheelers under the FAME scheme have become a major booster for the EV industry in India over the last few years. Combined with the FAME scheme incentives, the buyers in some states also enjoy the respective state EV policy benefits, which bring down the upfront cost of the electric two-wheeler significantly. No wonder, this has propelled the growth of the electric two-wheelers across the country so far. However, with the FAME-2 incentives being slashed and the EV manufacturers hiking prices of their electric two-wheelers, it is to be seen how the industry and the EV customers brace for the impact. First Published Date: For years, Andy Warhol and Richard Prince have been known as two of the art worlds most famous copiers, boundary-pushing appropriators whose use of other peoples images in their work has been scrutinized in court cases as the blurry line of copyright law is continually redrawn. Last week, the Supreme Court resolved a major copyright dispute involving a Warhol that many experts thought would have a spillover effect on other cases, including a pair involving Prince that are currently playing themselves out in federal court in New York. But in the end, the courts Warhol decision appeared to be fairly narrow, the experts said, as the justices did not so much weigh in on how much of another work an artist can copy, but ruled instead on what sort of use such a work can be put to. Warhol, who died in 1987, had created a series of silk-screen portraits of the rock star Prince that were based on a photograph of the musician taken by Lynn Goldsmith. One of the silk-screens was licensed by his estate to Conde Nast in 2016 to illustrate the cover of a special issue about the musicians legacy. There are writers who disdain the idea that generations matter. Amis was not one of them. From first to last from The Rachel Papers to Inside Story his novels bristle with characters who not only live (and sometime drown) in the flow of history, but who relentlessly historicize their own experience. Their libidos unfurl like banners in the sexual revolution and soldier on in its aftermath. Their political views and social attitudes follow the left-right zigzagging and centrist muddle of the Reagan/Thatcher and Clinton/Blair eras. Their economic prospects wane and wax with the cycles of global hypercapitalism. The closer these characters come to Amis himself most recently in the retrospection of The Pregnant Widow and Inside Story the more overt this generational mapping becomes. But its also evident in his State of England fictions, including the 1996 story of that name and the 2012 novel Lionel Asbo, which recycles the phrase as a subtitle. There, the working-class protagonists situate their own frustrations and satisfactions, their aging and their coming-of-age, within an ambient dialectical narrative of progress and decline. In the shorter State of England, an upwardly mobile, almost-divorced bouncer named Mal reflects that class and race and gender were supposedly gone (and other things were supposedly going, like age and beauty and even education): all the really automatic ways people had of telling who was better or worse they were gone. Right-thinkers everywhere were claiming that they were clean of prejudice, that in them the inherited formulations had at last been purged. This they had decided. But for those on the pointed end of the operation the ignorant, say, or the ugly it wasnt just a decision. Some of them had no new clothes. Some were still dressed in the uniform of their deficiencies. Some were still wearing the same old shit. Even when Amiss fictional attention veered toward other histories, notably and controversially the Holocaust and Stalins terror, a reader couldnt help hearing the voice and sensibility of a worldly and well-placed citizen of post-imperial literary London. By all accounts certainly by Amiss accounts to be young in that twilight was, if not quite heaven, then an awful lot of fun. The 1970s, when Amis, still in his 20s, served as back-of-the-book editor of The New Statesman and published his early, funny novels, were a swirl of deadlines, love affairs, literary quarrels and long, boozy lunches with brilliant friends. Such friends! Amiss cohort of male British writers included Ian McEwan, James Fenton, Salman Rushdie and Christopher Hitchens, all of whom (especially Hitch) pop up frequently in his pages. With Bakhmut in ruins, Ukraine shifts focus Ukraine has tacitly acknowledged that Russia has seized Bakhmut: A Ukrainian official said today that Russian forces are engaged in mopping up operations to clear the remaining Ukrainian soldiers in the city even as Kyiv seeks to shift the focus from the apparent loss to the battle for the citys outskirts. The recent comments signaled a shift in how Ukraine is portraying the wars deadliest campaign. For months, even as its hold on Bakhmut shrank to a few blocks, Ukraine would emphasize fierce fighting to keep the Russians from seizing the city. Officials now appear to be acknowledging that their focus is changing from defending Bakhmut to making it difficult for Russians to hold it. But Bakhmut itself is destroyed. Drone footage captured by The Times shows the once-peaceful city, known for its salt mines and sparkling wine, reduced to ashes. By the time Russia declared victory over the ruins, it was clear the city was all but lost, said our colleague Marc Santora, who reported from the Bakhmut region last week. At the same time, a different battle is playing out around the city this one for the high ground taken by Russian forces over the winter. The skin care brand Biore apologized this week after facing criticisms that a paid social media post advertising its products at once trivialized and exploited the issue of gun violence in America. An influencer and graduate of Michigan State University, Cecilee Max-Brown, had posted a TikTok sponsored by Biore in which she talked about how a shooting on campus in February affected her mental health along with stressors like her post-college career, narrating over videos that show her alternating between exercising, resting and using skin care products. The video was quickly taken down on Friday, less than 24 hours after it was posted, after social media users said it was insensitive and remarked on the startling contrast between the videos upbeat nature and focus on skin care, and the tragedy it touched on. Ms. Max-Brown said the Michigan State shooting in February had caused her to have anxiety attacks and filled her with terror on campus. Three students were killed in the shooting and five others were wounded. Youre espousing these values but saying this other organization claiming the same values the union isnt good for your work force, said David Pryzbylski, a labor lawyer at Barnes & Thornburg who represents employers. It puts you in a little bit of corner. Once the union wins a few elections, however, you pull out all the stops, Mr. Pryzbylski said. In some cases, the apparent escalation of company pushback has coincided with a slowing down of the union campaigns. At Starbucks, filings for union elections fell below 10 in August, from about 70 five months earlier, and no Apple store has filed for a union election since November. At Starbucks, the company unlawfully dismissed seven Buffalo-area employees last year, not long after the union won two elections there, according to a ruling by a federal administrative judge. A Trader Joes store in Louisville, Ky., which was the third at the company to unionize, fired two employees who were supportive of the union campaign and has formally disciplined several more, said Connor Hovey, a worker involved in the organizing. Documents shared by Mr. Hovey show the company citing a variety of issues, such as dress-code violations, tardiness and excessively long breaks. And in advance of a recent union election at an REI near Cleveland, management sought to exclude certain categories of workers from voting, according to the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union. It said the chain, a co-op that sells recreational gear, had made no such challenge in two previous elections, in which workers voted to unionize. (The union said the company had backed down after workers at the Cleveland-area store walked out, and the store voted to unionize in March.) Meta on Monday was fined a record 1.2 billion euros ($1.3 billion) and ordered to stop transferring data collected from Facebook users in Europe to the United States, in a major ruling against the social media company for violating European Union data protection rules. The penalty, announced by Irelands Data Protection Commission, is potentially one of the most consequential in the five years since the European Union enacted the landmark data privacy law known as the General Data Protection Regulation. Regulators said the company failed to comply with a 2020 decision by the European Unions highest court that Facebook data shipped across the Atlantic was not sufficiently protected from American spy agencies. But it remains unclear if or when Meta will ever need to cordon off the data of Facebook users in Europe. Meta said it would appeal the decision, setting up a potentially lengthy legal process. At the same time, European Union and American officials are negotiating a new data-sharing pact that would provide legal protections for Meta and scores of other companies to continue moving information between the United States and Europe a pact that could nullify much of the European Unions ruling on Monday. A preliminary deal was announced last year. When cutting foreign technology companies from Chinese supply chains, Beijing has long chosen to work obliquely or even secretly. Regulators would give executives back-room lectures, weigh them down with excessive red tape or hit them with occasional office raids. Rarely did the government tell a firm outright it was no longer welcome. But that is what it signaled to Micron Technology in a late-night announcement on Sunday. The Chinese government barred companies that handle critical information from buying microchips made by the Boise, Idaho-based Micron. The companys chips, which are used for memory storage in all kinds of electronics, like phones and computers, were deemed to pose relatively serious cybersecurity problems by Chinas internet watchdog after a review. Micron said it was evaluating the governments finding and assessing what it would do next. Analysts said the company, which has been selling chips in China for years, could find itself cut out of future business from Chinese companies. The openness and speed with which the Chinese authorities took action against Micron they spent less than two months on the investigation underscore how far apart the two sides are drifting on tech policy. Last year, the Biden administration took harsh steps to block Chinese chip makers access to crucial tools needed to make advanced chips, as well as access to the chips that run supercomputers and craft powerful artificial intelligence algorithms. Every day dozens of tanker trucks, many laden with pig manure and other kinds of agricultural waste, rumble through the gateway of an imposing steel-and-concrete plant in northeast Netherlands. This pungent cargo will be mixed together into a slurry and pumped into massive tanks, where hungry bacteria will within weeks turn it into methane gas that will ultimately be sold to the energy grid to heat homes and generate electricity. The gas is a biofuel similar to the natural gas pumped out of offshore wells in the North Sea but, because of its biological origins, considered carbon neutral. The recipe for success, said Fritz Ullrich, the plant manager, is keeping the microbes nourished with a steady stream of waste. We have to coddle them, he said on a recent morning. They are our factory. The crowds streaming into Highland Park Village are hungry for luxury. At this open-air shopping center in suburban Dallas, they valet-park their Porsches, sport Yves Saint Laurent handbags, flit in and out of Audemars Piguet and pause for brunch at Sadelles, the fancy new deli from Major Food Group in New York. Sadelles has been open for just over a year, and its not unusual to find the place packed on a Tuesday afternoon, as well-dressed guests sip mimosas and snack on $18 pigs in a blanket and $85 latkes topped with salmon and osetra caviar. Even the sugar for coffee comes to the table in tiny Le Creuset Dutch ovens. Dallas has long had a reputation for living large, an image built on oil money and the wide swaths of ranch land displayed on its namesake TV series. But today, the city is enjoying a surge of new development, new residents, new wealth and a dining scene pumped up by the arrival of several high-end national restaurant groups, all looking to cater the party. These companies are giving Dallas the kind of attention theyve previously lavished on tourist playgrounds like Las Vegas and Miami. In the last two years or so, local outposts have been established by STK, RH, Komodo, La Neta Cocina y Lounge and even Nusr-Et, the Salt Bae steakhouse. Major Food Group opened a Dallas branch of its maximalist-Italian restaurant Carbone last year, and says it has even larger ambitions in the city. A.C.S.s own workers have said there is, in an audit done in 2020 that seemed to confirm what families and advocates have been saying for decades. The audit which A.C.S. did not release until it was compelled to do so under the Freedom of Information Law surveyed more than 50 Black and Hispanic frontline caseworkers and agency managers, along with many parents and advocates. It described a predatory system that specifically targets Black and brown parents and subjects them to a different level of scrutiny that is extraordinarily disruptive to families lives. Black families in New York City are seven times as likely as white families to be accused of child maltreatment and 13 times as likely to have their children removed. While there are many possible explanations for that, and while A.C.S. has taken steps over the years to reduce racial disproportionality, the audit concluded that in the eyes of the agency, race operates as an indicator of risk even though most A.C.S. caseworkers are Black, as is most leadership in the agencys Division of Child Protection. (The audit was based on conversations with people who chose to participate, rather than on a quantitative survey.) Rivers said she and her baby were tested for drugs without her consent. Isnt that unusual? And why did the doctors and nurses suspect she had been using marijuana? Had she smoked pot in her room at the hospital? She said that she was asked by a doctor or nurse while giving birth if she had used drugs or alcohol and that she replied that she had smoked weed several hours earlier. It is not clear why she was asked or if that was standard practice at that hospital, BronxCare Health System, which did not respond to my questions. While many hospitals routinely screen maternity patients verbally for drug use, a study published last month of nearly 40,000 births in Pennsylvania found that Black mothers were more likely to be drug tested than white mothers, even though white mothers were more likely to test positive. Beijing (Gasgoo)- Chinese legacy automaker Dongfeng Motor recently announced the first official export of Dongfeng Honda's new energy vehicles. Photo credit: Dongfeng Honda The first batch of 300 CR-Vs has set sail from Shanghai Haitong Port to Europe, and is expected to arrive at the port of Zeebrugge in Belgium by late June. After Belgium, the vehicles will then be transported to over 20 countries including the United Kingdom, Ireland, Iceland, Greece, and Portugal. Dongfeng Motor stated that the export marks Dongfeng Honda's official entry into the overseas market, serving as a crucial milestone in its international expansion. Aside from the aforesaid CR-V (HEV and PHEV), the other model under Dongfeng Honda's export project is the e:NS1 (BEV). Earlier in April, Dongfeng Motor unveiled to the public its future operational plans. You Zheng, deputy general manager of Dongfeng Motor Corporation, expressed that the company will focus on platform, product, technology, service ecosystem, and overseas exports to enhance its core competitiveness and gain a leading edge. In terms of overseas markets, Dongfeng Motor will develop and unify its vehicle models globally with its partners, and promote its new energy vehicles in developed European countries. Thousands of migrants have come to New York City in the past two weeks, fueling what Mayor Eric Adams called one of the great humanitarian crises in the citys history, as officials struggle to find places to house them. In particular, Mr. Adams has spoken repeatedly about the citys program to put migrants up in hotels, suggesting that the homeless newcomers were hurting the tourism industry and taking rooms away from vacationers. For now, however, there are thousands of unoccupied hotel rooms in New York City, the largest hotel market in the country, reflecting the reality that the industry has not yet fully rebounded from the pandemic. As of mid-May, there were more than 20,500 rooms available every night in the five boroughs, according to the hotel data company STR, suggesting that there was space to accommodate both tourists and migrants. Even though Mr. Stanbros injuries were obvious he could not walk or move his body from the neck down the officer who injured him avoided discipline. Mr. Stanbro, however, was accused of assault and after he left the hospital was put in solitary confinement. In July, a federal jury awarded him $2.1 million in damages. Image Chad Stanbro was paralyzed after a prison guard knelt on his neck. Credit... via Kim Reddon Such cover-ups are commonplace across New York States prison system, according to a Marshall Project review of thousands of pages of court documents, arbitration records and officer disciplinary data. At Auburn Correctional Facility, west of Syracuse, guards kicked a man, called him a racial slur and broke three of his ribs in what a judge called a barbaric assault. At Elmira Correctional Facility, near the Pennsylvania border, officers beat a handcuffed man and threw him down a flight of stairs, fracturing his skull. At Clinton Correctional Facility, near the Canadian border, guards kicked and punched a handcuffed man, breaking his rib. In all three cases, the staff members filed false reports to cover up the assaults, court records show, and faced no discipline. The records illustrate how cover-ups can make it difficult to hold officers accountable for using excessive force. They also reveal a typical playbook: Guards often work in groups to conceal violent assaults by lying to investigators and on official reports, and then they file charges against their victims and have them sent to solitary. The Marshall Project, a nonprofit news organization, obtained disciplinary data on more than 290 cases in which the corrections department tried to fire guards or supervisors accused of abusing prisoners. In nearly three-quarters of those cases, the agency also accused the officers of covering up misconduct, often by acting in concert. The department tried to discipline guards for incidents in which one or more were accused of committing abuse while others lied to hide it, bringing a case on average every two months over 12 years. Mr. Salpeter sank into depression. Sometimes, he went to his office and slept. He spent a year, maybe two, mostly at home. His drinking increased. Several clients complained to state officials that he had not provided them with written contracts or detailed reports of the work he had done. He settled the matters with nominal fines. The residual fame from the Tankleff case still attracted clients. One, Marina Lebron, met Mr. Salpeter in August 2014. Ms. Lebron, whose husband was in prison for murder, was put off by how Mr. Salpeter bragged about his importance. Nonetheless, she paid him a $6,000 retainer to help get her husband out. Then, after hearing nothing for months, she confronted him. He apologized, sent her $2,000 and vowed to repay the rest. When he did not, she got a judgment against him. When he failed to pay that, she filed a complaint with the state. The grievance was one of at least nine filed against Mr. Salpeter, state records show. One said he should be investigated because he is taking advantage of inmates. Another said he had replied to inquiries with excuses and mild threats. Mr. Salpeter acknowledged that he had not always accomplished what the aggrieved clients had hoped, but he said they had unrealistic expectations. Do a miracle once, and everyone assumes thats what theyll get. Its very empowering for us all to be fighting for the same cause, fighting for fairness, and fighting for parity, Dr. Kajornsakchai said in a phone interview Monday from the picket line. Dr. Kajornsakchai was already working at Elmhurst in 2020, though most of his fellow strikers on the picket line were still in medical school back then. One of the signs on the picket line referenced the 7 p.m. nightly cheer a brief tradition when New Yorkers opened their windows to clap and bang pots and pans to express thanks to front-line workers. Elmhurst was Covid epicenter, the sign read. Now were 7 p.m. clapping back. Physician strikes are a rarity in the United States. The last one in New York City, according to the Committee of Interns and Residents, the union organizing this weeks strike, was in 1990 when doctors at a Bronx hospital went on strike for nine days. They won a pay raise and stricter enforcement of rules against working more than 12 hours in a row. Though the striking doctors work at Elmhurst, they are employed by the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in Manhattan. Doctors at many of New Yorks 11 public hospitals are affiliated with major Manhattan hospitals and medical schools, the result of longstanding contracts between the citys public hospital system and the citys leading medical institutions. That means that the public hospital system, NYC Health + Hospitals, is largely a bystander in the negotiations. Both the system and Mount Sinai said they had taken steps to minimize interruptions to patient care. Bret Stephens: Hi, Gail. It looks like well be getting two new campaign launches soon in the race for the Republican presidential nomination: Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina and Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida. Any free advice you want to offer them on how they can beat you-know-who? Gail Collins: Gee, Bret, I guess they could both use a little help being faster on their feet when theyre surrounded by curious reporters. But its not like Im rooting for either of them. Ive already told you with multitudinous qualifications that if I was locked up in a room and forced to choose between DeSantis and Trump, Id beat my head against the wall and then pick the Donald. Bret: Gail! No! No, no, no, no. Youre reminding me of the old Bad Idea Jeans skit from Saturday Night Live, in which a bunch of middle-aged guys bat around some really, really terrible brainstorms: Well, hes an ex-freebase addict, and hes trying to turn his life around, and he needs a place to stay for a couple of months . What about Tim Scott? Gail: Scott hasnt been a serious enough possibility for me to worry about. Give me a little more time to judge what looks like it will be a growing throng. An advisory panel at the Food and Drug Administration this month unanimously recommended that a contraceptive pill, Opill, be made available over the counter. The F.D.A. will decide this summer whether to follow this recommendation; if it does, the United States will join over 100 other countries that have approved oral contraceptives for use without a prescription. This development, which health experts widely agree could greatly affect public health for a nation in which nearly half of pregnancies are unintended, comes three decades later than many people once expected. At a 1992 conference on birth control, an official on the F.D.A.s fertility and maternal health drugs advisory committee, Philip Corfman, noted that the birth control pill is safer than aspirin, which is available over the counter. The F.D.A. subsequently announced plans to convene a hearing to consider moving oral contraceptives to over-the-counter. It was believed that this would greatly expand access to birth control by bypassing doctors, to whom millions of Americans then as now had little access. But as the historian Heather Munro Prescott has recounted, the hearing was canceled at least partly because of criticism from what might seem a surprising cohort: the nations leading feminist patient advocacy organizations. Dr. Prescott reported that the program director of the National Womens Health Network at the time, Cindy Pearson, said that a birth control prescription is the poor womans ticket to health care. Advocates for womens health were concerned that if birth control was made available over the counter, then insurance might stop paying for it and impose new financial barriers to access. Then we asked hundreds of undergraduate students which majors and careers they would choose if they followed their passions and which majors and careers they would choose if they prioritized salary and job security. We found that when it came to pursuing male-dominated fields like computer science and engineering, gender gaps were greater when students chose to follow their passions, with men disproportionately choosing those fields. We also found that gender gaps in selecting future occupations were smaller when we asked people of both genders to prioritize nurturing and emotionally supporting other people. That is, if you encourage women and men to follow their passions in selecting a major or career, there is a big gender gap. If you encourage them to make money, there is less of a gender gap, with more women skewing toward traditionally masculine fields. And if you encourage them to nurture and support other people, there is also less of a gender gap, with more men skewing toward traditionally feminine fields. Are we suggesting that women shouldnt pursue their passions and should enter fields that they dont really care about just to close gender gaps? Of course not. For one thing, traditionally feminine work is important, and society needs people who are passionate about it and want to pursue it including men. But what strikes us, based on this and other research, is that for many young people, passions seem to be based in large part on internalized societal expectations about what is appropriate for their gender rather than complete and accurate information about what, say, studying computer science is really like. Consider that most U.S. high school students do not take a single computer science, engineering or physics class. And girls are even less likely to take these classes than boys. That means that many girls who forsake these courses are doing so without ever trying them. Even when girls take these classes, research shows that they often encounter negative stereotypes about their abilities and interests whereas giving girls positive experiences in these fields can increase their interest. Some 252 million years ago, it was a disastrous time to be alive. Erupting supervolcanoes destabilized ecosystems, plunging the planets living things into a series of extinctions over the course of a million years and permanently changing life on Earth. But in what is today southern Africa, some large predators managed to beat the odds for a time. In a paper published Monday in the journal Current Biology researchers describe a new saber-toothed beast that appeared unexpectedly, then vanished, at the very end of the extinction event, challenging the ecological theory that says large predators are first to fall victim to extinction pressures. The discoveries help unlock some of the extinction dynamics of the Permian-Triassic transition, which could be useful in better understanding what may result from the ecological crises faced by life on our planet today. Life on land throughout the Permian Period, which lasted from about 298 million to 252 million years ago, was dominated by synapsids, the evolutionary precursors to mammals or protomammals. Dinosaurs were millions of years from evolving. Permian synapsids included our own ancestors, and not nearly enough people know about this, said Christian Kammerer, a research curator and paleontologist at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences and an author of the paper. These synapsids, he added, are more closely related to us than any dinosaur or other reptile. The rolling green lawns of a 12th-century castle perched on a windy stretch of the South Wales coastline hosted not one but two kings of Europe last weekend. The purpose of the visit to St. Donats by the royal families of Spain and the Netherlands was the graduation of their daughters from UWC Atlantic College, a high school housed in a remote castle once owned by the newspaper tycoon William Randolph Hearst. Under unusually bright blue skies on Saturday, Princess Alexia of the Netherlands, 17, smiled in a white linen trouser suit flanked by her parents, Queen Maxima and King Willem-Alexander (a former Atlantic College student himself) in a photograph posted on Instagram. Princess Leonor of Asturias, who is also 17 and the heir to the Spanish throne, wore a scarlet red button down blazer dress with split sleeves as she posed for selfies with her parents and younger sister Princess Sofia, who is set to start there in September. Beijing (Gasgoo)- Changan Automobile recently disclosed the plans of its overseas operations during an investor inquiry that the company aims to expand its global footprint by establishing a Southeast Asian business unit and a European regional headquarters. Photo credit: Changan Auto In addition, the Chinese automaker will also consider the establishment of regional headquarters in the Americas and Africa. Moreover, Changan Automobile aims to gradually set up at least 20 localized marketing agencies and bring its total overseas market outlet number to over 3,000. In April 2023, Changan Automobile sold 181,980 vehicles in total, representing a 57.23% surge over a year ago. Among the vehicles sold last month, 22,496 units were new energy vehicles (NEVs) under Changan Automobile's wholly-owned brands, shooting up 111.77% year on year. Meanwhile, cumulative sales of the automakers wholly-owned brands summed up to 671,940 units, climbing 7.99% over the prior-year period. Among the wholly-owned brands vehicles sold in the Jan.-Apr. period, 76,922 units were sold in overseas markets to reflect a 16.71% increase from the same period in 2022. Googles and Apples tools were clearly the most sophisticated when it came to image analysis. Yet Google, whose Android software underpins most of the worlds smartphones, has made the decision to turn off the ability to visually search for primates for fear of making an offensive mistake and labeling a person as an animal. And Apple, with technology that performed similarly to Googles in our test, appeared to disable the ability to look for monkeys and apes as well. Consumers may not need to frequently perform such a search though in 2019, an iPhone user complained on Apples customer support forum that the software cant find monkeys in photos on my device. But the issue raises larger questions about other unfixed, or unfixable, flaws lurking in services that rely on computer vision a technology that interprets visual images as well as other products powered by A.I. Mr. Alcine was dismayed to learn that Google has still not fully solved the problem and said society puts too much trust in technology. Im going to forever have no faith in this A.I., he said. Computer vision products are now used for tasks as mundane as sending an alert when there is a package on the doorstep, and as weighty as navigating cars and finding perpetrators in law enforcement investigations. Errors can reflect racist attitudes among those encoding the data. In the gorilla incident, two former Google employees who worked on this technology said the problem was that the company had not put enough photos of Black people in the image collection that it used to train its A.I. system. As a result, the technology was not familiar enough with darker-skinned people and confused them for gorillas. TikTok on Monday sued to block Montana from banning the popular video app, escalating its efforts to stop a prohibition that would be the first of its kind in the nation. In a lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Montana, the company said Montanas legislation violated the First Amendment and parts of the U.S. Constitution that limit state powers. The ban was unconstitutionally shutting down the forum for speech for all speakers on the app, the company said in the lawsuit. TikTok sued days after Montanas governor, Greg Gianforte, signed the ban which would fine the app if it operated in the state or app stores if they allowed it to be downloaded into law. The state law has become a test case for whether it is possible to prohibit the use of TikTok, which is owned by the Chinese internet company ByteDance, over national security concerns. The ban, which is set to go into effect on Jan. 1, has already raised questions about how it would be enforced within Montanas borders. Mr. Daniels said the shooting was under review by the Office of Professional Responsibility of the Customs and Border Protection. He added that the F.B.I. and the Tohono Oodham Police were also investigating. The F.B.I. said the shooting occurred in the village of Menagers Dam, which is about a mile from the U.S.-Mexico border and about 40 miles south of Ajo. The bureaus Phoenix field office confirmed that it was assisting the Tohono Oodham Police but would not provide further information. The killing comes as the United States has been bracing for an increase in asylum seekers crossing the southern border after the expiration this month of the public health measure known as Title 42, which had ordered the immediate expulsion of most migrants through the pandemic. Our hearts go out to his family and all those impacted during this difficult time, Mr. Norris said in the Tohono Oodham statement. As the investigation proceeds, the Nation expects full consideration of all related facts of the incident and an appropriate and expeditious response from relevant public safety agencies. Because the investigation is ongoing, we will refrain from making further comment at this time. The nation occupies nearly 3 million acres in southwestern Arizona and includes about 28,000 members, making it the second largest reservation in Arizona in both population and geographical size, according to the tribal nations website. The man accused of murdering four college students during a predawn intrusion at their house near the University of Idaho declined to enter a plea to the charges Monday, electing to stand silent during the first step in what promises to be a lengthy legal process. Judge John C. Judge said he would enter a not-guilty plea for the defendant, Bryan Kohberger, after Mr. Kohbergers lawyer, Anne Taylor, said her client had elected not to enter any plea at this stage. Mr. Kohberger has said through a lawyer in the past that he expects to be exonerated. A trial was set to begin in October in Moscow, the quiet Idaho college town that had not recorded a murder in the seven years before the four students were killed Nov. 13. Investigators have said in court records that they linked Mr. Kohberger to the killings with the help of DNA found on a knife sheath at the crime scene, as well as through surveillance video that showed a car similar to his near the house around the time of the killings. California is expensive thats no secret. Nor is the fact that for years, lower-wage, less-educated workers have been leaving for more affordable states, like Texas, Nevada or Idaho. Those losses have usually been offset in part by net gains in college graduates who can more easily afford Californias high cost of living. But a New York Times analysis of census data finds that working-age college graduates have also been moving out of our most expensive metropolitan regions, and have been since before the coronavirus pandemic began. Los Angeles, San Francisco and San Jose crossed a significant threshold in 2020 and 2021: More college-educated workers left than moved in. When California was already struggling with the loss of people due to migration, they were actually holding on to people with a college degree, but over time that situation started to change, said my colleague Robert Gebeloff, who conducted the new analysis along with Emily Badger and Josh Katz. When the pandemic came, it just accelerated everything and the loss of college grads grew even more. The proliferation of remote work has allowed people to reconsider where they live, and to perhaps keep high-paying jobs based in places like the Bay Area without having to actually live there. President Biden and his allies spent much of the G7 summit in Hiroshima, Japan, announcing new arms packages for Ukraine, including a pathway to providing F-16 fighter planes. They spent hours discussing strategy with President Volodymyr Zelensky for the next phase of a hot war started by Russia. So it was easy to miss Mr. Bidens prediction on Sunday of a coming thaw in relations with Beijing, as both sides move beyond what he called the silly Chinese act of sending a giant surveillance balloon over the United States, only the most recent in a series of incidents that have fueled what seems like a descent toward confrontation. It is far too early to say whether the presidents optimism is based on the quiet signals he has received in behind-the-scenes meetings with the Chinese government in recent weeks. Mr. Bidens own aides see a struggle underway in China between factions that want to restart the economic relationship with the United States and a far more powerful group that aligns with President Xi Jinpings emphasis on national security over economic growth. As this weekend showed, China is enormously sensitive to any suggestion that the West is organizing a challenge to Beijings growing influence and power. As a 44-year-old member of Generation X, Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida might be an unlikely candidate to wrest his partys older voters away from Donald J. Trump, a 76-year-old baby boomer. But he is trying anyway. As Mr. DeSantis closes in on the official rollout of a 2024 campaign for president, he is seeking to make early inroads with this large, politically influential group of voters, and doing so by appealing to their pocketbook concerns. He has focused especially on his efforts to lower prescription drug costs in Florida, including pushing the federal government for permission to import cheaper drugs from Canada. This month, he signed a bill that he says will bring down costs by regulating drug industry middlemen. We think that health care is too expensive, Mr. DeSantis said as he signed the bill in Palm Beach County. Prescription drugs are too expensive. Mr. Schweizers research caught the eye of F.B.I. agents in Washington, who in 2016 opened a preliminary investigation based solely on unvetted hearsay information in the book, according to the final report by John H. Durham, the Trump-era special counsel who led an investigation into the bureaus inquiry into possible ties between Mr. Trumps campaign and Russia. The F.B.I. in New York and Little Rock, Ark., also opened investigations that relied on information from confidential source reporting, according to Mr. Durham. Mr. Durham also compared the handling of the Clinton Foundation investigation to the F.B.I.s treatment of the Russia investigation. As part of his inquiry, Mr. Durham questioned Mrs. Clinton last spring. Secretary Clinton was voluntarily interviewed by Special Counsel Durham on May 11, 2022, said David E. Kendall, her lawyer. No topics were off limits. She answered every question. The Justice Department did not think much of the foundation investigations, frustrating F.B.I. agents. Raymond N. Hulser, a prosecutor in charge of the public integrity section at the time, told Mr. Durham that the Washington case that was based on the book lacked predication. Indeed, some prosecutors at the time believed the book had been discredited. The investigation became a source of friction at the F.B.I. as agents believed the Justice Department had stymied their work. That tension spilled into public view and had far-reaching consequences. Andrew G. McCabe, then the F.B.I.s deputy director, was accused of leaking information about the case to a Wall Street Journal reporter and later lying about it to the Justice Departments inspector general. The episode helped prompt his dismissal in 2018 and a failed effort by the department to prosecute him. In August 2016, the three foundation cases were consolidated under the supervision of agents in New York. Agents were authorized to seek subpoenas from the U.S. attorneys offices in Manhattan and Brooklyn, but prosecutors declined to issue them. The investigation seemed to go dormant. Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina, who announced his presidential campaign on Monday, is the first Black Republican senator from the South in more than a century and has been one of his partys most prominent voices on matters of race, often navigating a political tightrope. Here are five things to know about Mr. Scott. A rapid rise Mr. Scott was elected to Congress during the Tea Party wave of 2010 to represent South Carolinas First District, which would flip to Democrats in 2018 and back to Republicans in 2020. He was previously an insurance agent and served on the Charleston County Council and in the South Carolina House. Just two years after winning his U.S. House seat, he was appointed to the Senate to replace Jim DeMint, a conservative hard-liner who resigned to lead the Heritage Foundation, a right-wing think tank. The woman who appointed him was Nikki Haley, then the governor of South Carolina and now one of his opponents in the race for the Republican presidential nomination. A fire that engulfed a girls dormitory at a school overnight in central Guyana and killed at least 19 people, many of them children, had been maliciously set, a fire service official said on Monday, as the authorities in the South American country scrambled for answers. The official, a representative for the Guyana Fire Service, said in a message, We cannot confirm who set the fire at this time. Earlier on Monday, the countrys president, Mohamed Irfaan Ali, described the blaze as horrific and a major disaster, and said he was organizing a full-scale emergency plan. With Gasgoo Daily, we will offer daily important automotive news in China. For those we have reported, the title of the piece will include a hyperlink, which will provide detailed information. AVATR to launch second major OTA upgrade AVATR, the new energy vehicle maker backed by Changan Automobile, Huawei, and CATL, announced on May 21 that it will soon launch its second OTA upgrade, with the software version labeled as AVATR.OS 1.2.0. The update will be rolled out in batches based on the distribution of service centers. Photo credit: AVATR DENZA D9 DM-i to introduce new trim regarding range Zhao Changjiang, general manager of DENZAs sales division, revealed on its Sina Weibo account that DENZA plans to introduce a new trim of the D9 DM-i with a range between 50km and 190km. The new model will be equipped with an 80kW DC fast charging and 6kW external power discharge functions as standard, the same as the 190km-range trim. The delivery is planned for the third quarter of this year. All-new Honda Accord hits market in China On May 20, the all-new Honda Accord was officially put onto the market by GAC Honda, with a price range from 179,800 to 258,800 yuan. Photo credit: GAC Honda FAW-Toyotas new Corolla hits market with 4T technologies carried On May 21, the all-new Corolla was officially put onto the market by FAW-Toyota with nine trim levels offered, including six oil-fueled variants (116,800 yuan-132,800 yuan) and three HEV trims (131,800 yuan-155,800 yuan). First mass-produced XPeng G6 rolls off line The first mass-produced vehicle of the XPeng G6, which made its debut at the Auto Shanghai 2023, has already rolled off the production line, along with another piece of news that the company has scrapped the "Black Knight" edition, according to a local media outlet. Changan Deepal S7 kicks off presale, starting at 169,900 yuan On May 20, Deepal, Changan Automobile's new energy vehicle-dedicated brand, officially commenced pre-orders for its first mid-size SUV, the Deepal S7, with an official pre-order price of 169,900 yuan to 239,900 yuan. JAC Group boasts 198.92 million yuan of net profit in Jan.-Apr. 2023 period Beijing (Gasgoo)- Chinese major automaker JAC Group reported a strong business performance for the period of January to April in 2023, with a total of 182,897 vehicles sold, which marked a rise of 16.68% compared to the same period last year. Changan Automobile discloses plans to set up business units in Southeast Asia, Europe Changan Automobile recently disclosed the plans of its overseas operations during an investor inquiry that the company aims to expand its global footprint by establishing a Southeast Asian business unit and a European regional headquarters. JAC Group's 'EV 3' electric compact car starts presale JAC Group started pre-sale for its intelligent electric vehicle, the EV 3 ("Yiwei 3" in Chinese Pinyin), on May 20. The new pure-electric model, which is the first production model under JACs Yiwei brand, starts at 97,900 yuan. Dongfeng Honda's new energy vehicles set sail to Europe Chinese legacy automaker Dongfeng Motor recently announced the first official export of Dongfeng Honda's new energy vehicles to Europe, which involves two models, namely the CR-V (hybrid and plug-in hybrid) and the e:NS1 (pure electric). SKF inaugurates Changshan production bases Phase II On May 18th, the Sweden-headquartered ceramic ball bearing provider SKF held an opening ceremony for the second phase of its tapered roller bearings and cylindrical roller bearings production base in Changshan county, Quzhou city, Zhejiang province. BYDs first brand experience center opens for business in Wuhan city On May 20th, BYD's first brand experience center officially opened at the Wuhan International Conference & Exhibition Center, according to a post on BYDs WeChat account. He is a longtime friend of the president, a close political ally for decades who is now the governments top human rights official. And he has been spied on, repeatedly. Alejandro Encinas, Mexicos under secretary for human rights, was targeted with Pegasus, the worlds most notorious spyware, while investigating abuses by the nations military, according to four people who spoke with him about the hack and an independent forensic analysis that confirmed it. Mexico has long been shaken by spying scandals. But this is the first confirmed case of such a senior member of an administration let alone someone so close to the president being surveilled by Pegasus in more than a decade of the spy tools use in the country. The attacks on Mr. Encinas, which have not been reported previously, seriously undercut President Andres Manuel Lopez Obradors pledge to end what he has called the illegal spying of the past. Theyre also a clear sign of how freewheeling the surveillance in Mexico has become, when no one, not even the presidents allies, appears to be off limits. An alert level was raised on Sunday for a volcano in Central Mexico that was spewing ash and smoke, prompting officials to close schools and public parks, and to prepare for the possibility of evacuations. The National Disaster Prevention Center of Mexico said on Sunday that the alert level was being raised to what is known as Phase 3, which is just shy of an evacuation order, for the area around the volcano, Popocatepetl, in the central region of the country. Laura Velazquez Alzua, the head of the center, said at a news conference on Sunday that when an alert level is raised to Phase 3, it is possible for a volcano to produce mild to moderate explosions that can hurl fragments of rock, cause ash to fall in surrounding areas, and disrupt air travel. The expulsion of magma is also possible, the center said. President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador of Mexico said at a news conference on Monday morning that he was in contact with federal and local officials about the volcano, adding that it was being monitored constantly. Prosecutors accuse Mr. Tate of luring women to his compound and then putting them to work under duress as performers on pornographic webcams. The lawyer said that Mr. Tates residence had no webcam studios and that his client had never coerced anyone into staying or working there. The Tate brothers, he said, are famous; they are rich; they are young and beautiful, adding: What would be their interest in forcing women to act as slaves? The only people living in the compound, the lawyer said, were the brothers and their various girlfriends. He acknowledged that some of the women had appeared in videos released by Mr. Tate, but said they had done so of their own free will in the hope that this would help them gain followers on social media. He never took money from the girls, the lawyer said. The now defunct website for one of Mr. Tates business ventures an online academy offering a Ph.D. Program in techniques for getting girls gave a different story. It boasted that Mr. Tate owns and operates strip clubs and webcam studios and has TOP QUALITY women living with him and making him money full time. The sales pitch for the program, which charged more than $400 for enrollment, promised to teach students how to build an army of women who are so loyal to you that they allow you to have as many girls as you want. Gen. Oleksandr Syrsky, commander of Ukraines ground forces, said those few troops would continue defending their ground in order to provide opportunities to enter the city in case of a change of circumstances suggesting that their focus was changing from defending Bakhmut to making it difficult for Russians to hold it. Indeed, Russias grip on the city is far from assured. And beyond the politics and symbolism of capturing Bakhmut, experts say it is highly unlikely that Moscow can parlay the conquest of a ravaged city into further gains that would fulfill Mr. Putins ultimate goal of taking all of the Donbas region in eastern Ukraine. No independent count of the total casualties has been verifiable, and each side is seen as inflating the others losses while concealing its own. But Ukraines military has assessed that no fewer than 20,000 Russian troops were killed in the monthslong battle and more than 100,000 wounded, according to a senior Ukrainian military official, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss Ukraines military strategy. He made his assessment two months ago, and cautioned that this was a very rough estimate. There are thousands still rotting there, the official said. Ukraine, too, has suffered from high losses. Though Ukrainian officials have refused to give a precise number, their toll most likely includes many thousands killed and wounded. Just weeks before President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine visited the city of Bakhmut in December, a soldier with the military call sign Bear stared out from the window of a ruined sixth-floor apartment overlooking the citys eastern reaches. I quietly stood next to him. The battle below played out in muted ferocity. Rockets lit the sky. A tank burned in the distance. To the south, Russian incendiary munitions floated downward, the thin arc of white flames igniting small fires on the ground but little else. There was nothing left to burn, the area already shelled to what seemed like oblivion. Bakhmut, I wrote in my journal, is in rough shape. That was one long night of hundreds, as Bakhmut became the focal point of some of the fiercest fighting of the war the object of acute desire for Russia and of a tenacious defense by Ukraine. And now, the city of Bakhmut appears to have fallen to the Russians after 10 months, leaving thousands of soldiers wounded or killed, and a lingering question: How did a nondescript city the world had never heard of become the place where both sides decided to fight to the end, no matter the cost? Seems all the vultures are here, one soldier messaged me as throngs of journalists showed up when the city seemed on the brink of falling in March. Where were you before it got this dire? Bakhmut is obliterated. As fighting around the city in eastern Ukraine rages on, drone footage taken by The New York Times on Friday captured the scorched buildings, destroyed schools, and cratered parks that now define Bakhmut. What looks like an early-morning haze spreading across the shattered skyline is the acrid smoke that hung heavy after another night of relentless shelling. The Russians are declaring victory in this battle, the wars longest and bloodiest. The Ukrainians, making gains on the outskirts, say the death of the city is not the end of the campaign to drive the Russians from the ruins, just one more phase in a catastrophic war. The notion of a winner, however, defies what is so clearly lost the many lives and homes in the once peaceful city, known for its salt-mines and sparkling wine, largely reduced to ashes. A few remaining civilians moved anxiously trying to find a safe path as the Russians fought in the neighborhood where the people were taking shelter. It was not immediately possible to know who the people are, where they are going and how they survived. Belarus has pardoned an opposition activist who was arrested in 2021 after the Belarusian government forced the landing of a commercial flight he had been on that was transiting its airspace, state media reported on Monday. The activist, Roman Protasevich, 28, was the editor of Nexta, a channel on the Telegram messaging app that was instrumental in organizing mass protests against President Aleksandr G. Lukashenko after his disputed election victory in 2020. The details of Mr. Protasevichs arrest drew international attention. A Belarusian court in May sentenced Mr. Protasevich to eight years in prison for crimes including acts of terrorism and insulting the president. But on Monday, Belta, the Belarusian state news agency, reported that Mr. Protasevich had told journalists he had been pardoned, calling it great news. Such leniency for someone who had been an active member of the opposition is unusual in Belarus, where, during nearly three decades in power, Mr. Lukashenko has a longstanding pattern of silencing dissent and violently suppressing opponents. A group called the Free Russia Legion, which says its ranks are made up of Russians, claimed to be behind the attacks. The group operates under the umbrella of Ukraines International Legion, a fighting force overseen by Ukrainian officers. Ukrainian officials sought to cast the units action on Monday as proof of division among Russians, but it was not clear whether the group had acted on its own initiative or under the direction of Ukrainian officers. The Ukrainian government, which typically follows a policy of deliberate ambiguity about strikes inside Russian territory, said that it had not been behind the attack. An adviser to President Volodymyr Zelensky, Mykhailo Podolyak, said that Kyiv was watching the events in Belgorod with interest and studying the situation, but it has nothing to do with it. Ukraines military intelligence agency identified the attackers as opposition-minded citizens of Russia. Andrii Yusov, a spokesman for the agency, told Ukrainian news outlets that Russian partisans were working to create a security zone intended to protect Ukrainian civilians near the border. Mr. Gladkov, the regional governor, said that a Ukrainian sabotage group had crossed the border near the city of Belgorod on Monday morning and that the Russian military, border service and intelligence agency were taking the necessary measures to eliminate the enemy. By Monday evening, he reported that eight residents had been injured. The Free Russia Legion said it had liberated the border village of Kozinka the location of the border crossing in the verified videos along with another pro-Ukraine group known as the Russian Volunteer Corps. Those claims could not be independently confirmed, and it was unclear late Monday whether the groups fighters remained in Russian territory. Spreading across a highway so that no cars could pass, 100 or so protesters banged saucepans in a deafening racket that echoed through a remote valley outside the town of La-Cluse-et-Mijoux in eastern France last month. They were marching toward a nearby castle where the French president was due to arrive, determined to stand in his way and create cacophony around the visit. Suddenly, a helicopter carrying President Emmanuel Macron appeared overhead, the sound of its blades briefly drowning out the din. Although the boisterous demonstrators didnt stop the French leaders visit, the scene was an earsplitting reminder of the fury that has dogged his government since it enacted a highly unpopular pension overhaul this spring that raised the legal age of retirement to 64 from 62. For weeks, opponents of the change have been harassing Mr. Macron and his cabinet members by banging pots and pans on their official trips. In a country with no shortage of kitchenware, the protests, known as casserolades, after the French word for saucepan, have disrupted or stopped dozens of visits by ministers to schools and factories. Like the yellow vest protest movement of 2018-19 that began over fuel prices and then expanded to include multiple grievances, the pan beating has also become the symbol of a broader discontent in France after months of large street demonstrations failed to push the government to back down on the pension changes. The Irish nationalist party, Sinn Fein, cemented its status as the largest party in Northern Ireland in local election results counted over the weekend. But rather than break a political deadlock in the North, Sinn Feins striking gains may harden the sectarian divide that has long complicated its fragile government. Sinn Fein, the party that has historically called for uniting the North with the Republic of Ireland, gained 39 seats, for a total of 144 council members who oversee services like fixing roads and collecting trash. The Democratic Unionists, who support remaining part of the United Kingdom, managed to hold on to their existing total of 122 seats, a mediocre result that is nevertheless viewed by some in their ranks as vindication of the partys refusal to enter a power-sharing government since last year. The combination of a surging Sinn Fein and a stalled, but defiant, Democratic Unionist Party, or D.U.P., gives neither side much incentive to compromise in restoring Northern Irelands assembly, which collapsed over a year ago after the D.U.P. pulled out in a dispute over the post-Brexit trade rules that govern the territory. And British officials in London seem resigned to continued paralysis, with some predicting there wont be any movement toward a restored government until the fall. Shanghai (Gasgoo)- On May 20th, BYD's first brand experience center officially opened at the Wuhan International Conference & Exhibition Center, according to a post on BYDs WeChat account. This marks an important step for BYD in creating a world-class brand experience center, offering users a new commercial landscape that combines the exploration of technology charm, cultural and artistic experiences, and leisure gatherings. As a one-stop destination for users to learn about BYDs brand philosophy, experience its technologies, and explore its products, BYDs brand experience centers will be located in core commercial areas of major cities and provincial capitals throughout the country, creating "one landmark each city", said the automaker. BYD's brand experiecen center in Wunan; photo credit: BYD Wuhan is one of the most vibrant cities globally and an important base for the Chinese automotive industry. By establishing its first brand experience center in Wuhan, BYD aims to provide local users with an in-depth experience of BYDs products, allowing them to feel the technological charm of new energy vehicles (NEVs) and the limitless possibilities of future transportation. The new facility in Wuhan spans five floors with a total area of 6,550 square meters. It includes functional areas such as brand displays, vehicle showcases, technology exhibitions, and user co-creation spaces. In the brand display area, users can learn about BYD's four major industries: electronics, automotive, new energy, and rail transportation. They can also gain a deeper understanding of BYD's forward-looking "7+4" strategy for full-market electrification and grasp the brand's vision of "cooling the Earth by 1." Vehicle showcase area in Wunan; photo credit: BYD The vehicle showcase area brings together such popular new models as the Frigate 07, the Seagull, the DENZA D9, and the Yangwang U8, which are under BYDs Dynasty and Ocean series, as well as DENZA, Yangwang, and the yet-to-be-launched professional personalized brands. Technology exhibition area in Wunan; photo credit: BYD Furthermore, BYD has created a technology exhibition area that allows users to experience the unique charm of BYD's core technologies like the DM-i super hybrid technology and the e-platform 3.0 platform. User co-creation area; photo credit: BYD In the future, the user co-creation area will regularly host a series of events, including technology salons and art galleries, making users immerse themselves in the charm of technology and the joy of life. Typhoon Mawar was moving west over the Pacific Ocean toward the Philippines on Sunday, days after the tropical cyclone brought damaging winds and rain to Guam. As of Sunday morning in the Philippines, Mawars center was about 500 miles east of Luzon, the countrys largest and most populous island, the Philippine meteorological agency said. Because the country gives its own names to typhoons that enter its so-called area of responsibility, a large area of the Western North Pacific, the storm is known locally as Betty. The storm was moving west at 14 miles per hour with maximum sustained winds of 140 m.p.h., according to the Joint Typhoon Warning Center, a weather agency operated by the U.S. Navy. That wind speed is equivalent to the force of a strong Category 4 hurricane in the United States. The judges of the prestigious Gilbert et Gaillard international wine competition were duped into awarding this years gold medal to a 2.50 ($2.70) supermarket wine they deemed exceptional. Ever wonder how the average person chooses wine at a supermarket? Well, it turns out that having one or more medals plastered on the bottle can increase sales by up to 15 percent, so its no wonder that wineries take wine-tasting competitions very seriously. But does winning such medals actually reflect the quality of the wine, or are these contests simple money-making events that charge winemakers hefty sums for participation and the chance to increase sales? Eric Boschman, once named Belgiums best sommelier, and the team at On nest pas des pigeons, a Belgian consumer magazine and television program, decided to find out by taking the worst supermarket wine they could find and registering it in a prestigious wine competition. Photo: Getty Images/Unsplash+ The organizers of this intriguing prank started out by enlisting the help of Eric Boschman, named Belgiums best sommelier in 1988, and conducting a supermarket wine tasting. There were plenty of wines under 3 to choose from, but they decided to go with the cheapest and worst-tasting one they could find. a 2.50 bottle was selected and then disguised it as a premium product by naming it Chateau Colombier and creating a more eye-catching label. They even created a story for the wine, claiming it was made from grape varieties located in Cotes de Sambre and Meuse (Wallonia). On nest pas des pigeons had dozens of wine contests to choose from, but they opted for Gilbert et Gaillard, a competition that reportedly awards medals every three months. Participants must pay a 50 ($55) entrance fee, send samples for tasting, and provide laboratory data, such as the alcohol and sugar levels. Luckily, this last requirement was easily bypassed, as organizers very rarely double-check winemakers provided data by paying for their own lab tests. To increase their chances of getting a good placement in the wine contest, the team at On nest pas des pigeons sent in the lab data of another, truly high-quality wine, and, just as they suspected, no one bothered to check whether it was genuine. Boschman also started praising the 2.50 wine as exceptional to fellow sommeliers and wine enthusiasts, betting on the fact that many of them tend to be influenced by their peers. Photo: Apolo Photographer/Unsplash In the end, the prank worked like a charm. The 2.50 wine won the gold medal at the most recent Gilbert et Gaillard international wine competition, with the judges describing it as suave, nervous (a quality of fresh wine) and rich palate with clean young scents that promise a nice complexity, very interesting. Along with the announcement, organizers also notified the winners that they could buy 1,000 gold stickers to display on their wine labels for just 60. On nest pas des pigeons recently revealed their successful prank, warning consumers that not all wine gold medals are created equal. Some competitions are more professional than others, while some are just run as a business. Max Rose Max Rose, former Brooklyn/Staten Island Democratic Congressman, has joined Oaktree Solutions as managing director for federal and international affairs. Frank Carone, who was NYC mayor Eric Adams chief of staff, founded Brooklyn-based Oaktree. Republican Nicole Maliotakis defeated Rose in the 2022 election, which was a repeat of his 2020 defeat. In Congress, Rose chaired the Homeland Security subcommittee on Intelligence and Counterterrorism and the subcommittee on Emergency Preparedness and Recovery. He also served in the infantry in Afghanistan and is still a Major in the Army Reserve. Rose served in the Biden administration as senior advisor on Covid-19 to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin. He joins Oaktree from The Soufan Group, which Rose joined in January as vice chairman. Carone said Rose has devoted his entire life and career to serving the common good, and hes going to be an excellent addition to our senior team. Plans for a long awaited new community hall in Offaly have been put on hold. Ballyboy Community Development Community Development Company is seeking permission to demolish the existing, derelict hall and to construct a new community hall in its place. The old hall has lain idle for many years. The new hall is planned to have a new main hall area, a smaller meeting room, kitchen, store room and a partial lower ground/basement storage area. The plans also include a new road entrance and car parking. A recent Birr Municipal District Meeting was told that 50,000 from Town and Village Reneewal has been granted towards the scheme. Offaly County Council will lease back this property to Ballyboy Development Association. The aim of Ballyboy Development Association is that the Hall will become a multi-purpose community space. However plans for the development have been put on hold for now as Offaly County Council has sought further information before making a decision on the plans. The applicant has been asked to submit a revised layout plan with further information including sight distances on the public road and details on car parking spaces. Among further information, details are also being sought on additional car parking spaces for temporary use when larger events are taking place. Dog Shelters in every county in Ireland report that they bursting at the seams with dogs that have been surrendered, abandoned or rescued all too often from horrific neglect or cruelty, says Deputy Michael Lowry. Shelters report having to house multiple dogs in overcrowded kennels as they struggle to provide a space for the rising number dogs that are coming into their care. They are forced to appeal endlessly for financial support from the public in order to keep these dogs sheltered and fed. Astronomical veterinary bills are a huge problem. It is extremely rare that a dog coming into a shelter will not require some form of veterinary attention. Veterinary costs can account for the greatest outlay of funds by a Dog Rescue. Funds they do not have. For the most part, these Dog Rescues are run on a day-to-day basis by animal-loving volunteers. These people are the lifeblood of animal rescue in Ireland. Yet, even while not having to pay wages to those who give their time to cleaning, feeding, exercising and socialising these dogs, Dog Rescues simply cannot handle the financial weight or the growing demand for their services. The increased cost of living has hit these Rescues from every possible angle. Despite having received record funding from the Department for the current year, these Voluntary groups right across Ireland are struggling like never before. 'In addition, the rising cost of living has resulted in a dramatic increase in the number of dogs being surrendered or even abandoned, as fraught owners cannot afford to keep their pets. Similarly, less people are adopting dogs as their household budget cannot stretch to caring for them, while fewer and fewer people have sufficient resources to donate money to help Animal Rescues. 'The stark reality is that Rescues Groups will be forced out of existence and this will be an enormous threat to Dog Welfare. Without such Groups, all hope for the safety and well-being of abandoned, surrendered and neglected dogs will evaporate. Referring to the Report last week from the Joint Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Deputy Lowry says that it highlights some very crucial and pertinent issues. The sadistic practices of ear-cropping, the provision of canine fertility services by non-veterinary practitioners are amongst the cruel practices that have been identified in this Report. I compliment the members of the Joint Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine for highlighting these matters that must and should be addressed as priorities he said. Yet so too should the expectation that Dog Rescues can continually pick up the pieces for people who surrender or abandon their family pets. A quick visit to any of their Social Media pages will reveal the real truth of how Ireland rates in terms of Dog Welfare. The stories of dogs that end up in Rescues can be heartbreaking. The work of the Rescues is overwhelming and unending. The reality is that it will continue to go from bad to worse unless they receive greater financial support and proper recognition for the work they do. Eliminating the barbaric practices identified in the Joint Committees Report is crucial. Yet so too is helping to sustain the Rescue Groups who care for the sad, broken, defeated and confused dogs who flood through their gates every week. The hungry, the ill and the unloved animals whose only hope is to receive care, rehabilitation and the chance of a loving family that a Rescue can provide. Mans best friend asks for little in life and the very least we can do is help to provide them with the safety and care of a Rescue Centre and the possibility of one day finding a loving and caring forever home he concluded. Two XL shops in Offaly, Martin Grogans XL Cloghan and Enda Scullys XL Danigean, are among an elite group of retailers from around the country who have been honoured for their outstanding commitment to their local communities at the annual XL Retailer Awards celebration, held in The Hodson Bay Hotel in Athlone recently. Hosted by BWG Foods, owners and operators of the XL Retail brand in Ireland, the XL Retail Awards are presented to XL stores that demonstrated outstanding industry excellence following a comprehensive programme of inspections and audits carried out by Irelands leading Retail Audit company, SMA Retail Specialists Martin Grogans XL Cloghan was presented with two awards on the night for Best Use of Social Media and and Best Forecourt Newcomer while Enda Scullys XL Danigean went home with the award for Best Off Licence presentation on the night. Paul Bealin, Cash and Carry Sales Director, BWG Foods, said: XL retailers strive for excellence in every aspect of their service to their shoppers and the local communities in which they are embedded. In meeting the exacting standards of the independent SMA Audit, our retailers have illustrated their commitment to being industry leaders in the retail sector and their focus on exceeding customer expectations. I congratulate Martin and Enda and their respective staff on their outstanding achievements. OPINION: G-7 Summit And Beyond Feature lekhaka-Jagdish N Singh There is little agreement among G-7 leaders on addressing the major issues the world is confronted with today. The leaders, including US President Joe Biden, are not popular enough in their respective countries to assert any meaningful global agenda. They could turn to India's popular Prime Minister Narendra Modi for guidance. Apparently, the Group of Seven (G-7) summit held in Hiroshima last week attained several important breakthroughs. Going by media reports, the summit centred on two key issues: how to better arm Ukraine for its counter-offensives against Russia and how to checkmate communist China's expansionist designs and militarisation. Ahead of the summit, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and US President Joe Biden agreed on continuing with the severe sanctions slapped against Russia in the wake of its war on Ukraine in February 2022. They agreed that no unilateral attempt (read China's military expansion and economic coercion) to change the status quo in East Asia would be tolerated. President Biden and Prime Minister Kishida reiterated the importance of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait. They also agreed that Japan and South Korea must advance their bilateral relations so as to unitedly work with the United States to advance the cause of peace and development in the world, particularly the Indo-Pacific. The G-7 summit discussed the issues, including nuclear disarmament, economic resilience and security, climate, energy, food, health, development, digitisation, science and technology. The leaders of the G-7 reiterated their "commitment to provide the financial, humanitarian, military and diplomatic support" to Ukraine. They urged "Russia to stop its ongoing aggression and immediately, completely and unconditionally withdraw its troops and military equipment from" Ukraine. PM Modi Greets US President Biden With Tight Hug At G7 Summit In Japan Observers are, however, not sure how the key agreements arrived at the G-7 would be translated into reality. They say there is little substantial agreement among G-7 leaders on the major problems the world is confronted with. It was the United States that had first dropped the atomic bomb on the city. As such it bears the utmost moral responsibility to denuclearise the world. In 2016, during his visit to Japan, then US President Barack Obama did talk of Washington's determination toward achieving a "world without nuclear weapons." But the US and allies have taken little concrete action in the matter. Nuclear powers, such as Russia and China, have been using this non-seriousness as a pretext to proceed with their advanced nuclear armament programs. The observers say the G-7 leaders must take bold decisions to address the world's major problems today. Presently, it may be hard for President Biden and other G-7 leaders to do so. They are not as popular in their own countries as to assert any meaningful global agenda. According to an estimate, no G-7 leader has the support of even a majority in their countries. Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni of Italy has around a 49 per cent approval rating, US President Biden 42 per cent, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada 39 per cent, Chancellor Olaf Scholz of Germany 34 per cent, Prime Minister of Britain Rishi Sunak 33 per cent, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida of Japan 31 per cent and President Emmanuel Macron of France just 25 per cent. In contrast, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has a huge 78 per cent approval score at home. The G-7 leaders could turn to Prime Minister Modi for guidance to address the world's major problems. India can be very helpful in guiding the G-7 on nuclear non-proliferation. India is not a member of the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) regime. Yet it has had an impeccable record in exercising a self-imposed nuclear restraint. India can be helpful to the G-7 in reining in the expansionist designs of communist China. New Delhi shares with the G-7 capitals the same concerns over China's growing militarisation. New Delhi could be helpful to the G-7 also in tackling Moscow. All G-7 countries - the US, the UK, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the EU - have had a tough sanctions diplomacy towards Russia in comparison to India's policy of peace and dialogue in the matter. It has been friendly to both Russia and the G-7. The observers hope the G-7 leaders are already making use of Prime Minister Modi. They say India has been a special invitee to the G-7 summit since 2019. On the sidelines of the recent G7 Summit in Hiroshima, Prime Minister Modi held bilateral discussions with several leaders of the G7. The latter must have solicited words of wisdom from Prime Minister Modi. (Jagdish N. Singh is a senior journalist based in New Delhi. He is also Senior Distinguished Fellow at the Gatestone Institute, New York) Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are the personal opinions of the author. The facts and opinions appearing in the article do not reflect the views of OneIndia and OneIndia does not assume any responsibility or liability for the same. Beijing (Gasgoo)- JAC Group started pre-sale for its intelligent electric vehicle, the EV 3 ("Yiwei 3" in Chinese Pinyin), on May 20. The new pure-electric model, which is the first production model under JACs Yiwei brand, starts at 97,900 yuan. Photo credit: GAC Group The EV 3 is built on the DI platform, and is equipped with the world's first 9-in-1 electric drive system and a zero-heat-diffusion honeycomb battery, forming an exceptionally powerful powertrain. Currently, the EV 3 offers two versions with a respective range of 405 km and 505 km, and comes in six different configurations. The EV 3s 9-in-1 electric drive system delivers a maximum power of 100 kW and a top driving speed of 150 km/h, while leading the industry in terms of NVH performance. In terms of intelligent driving assistance, the EV 3 adopts a fusion solution, equipped with three millimeter-wave radars, five cameras, and twelve ultrasonic radars, coupled with an L2 intelligent driving assistance system that comprehensively ensures driving safety. The 540 transparent chassis enables a full perception of the vehicle's surroundings, promptly identifying potential road hazards. In addition to a wealth of intelligent features, the EV 3 incorporates the customized Yiwei OS developed in collaboration with iFlytek and Huawei, ensuring that user needs at met on every level. Photo credit: GAC Group Furthermore, the EV 3 boasts a four-zone intelligent voice system typically found in luxury vehicles priced at 300,000 yuan and above. Users can activate "Xiao Yi" (Little Yi) from any position within the car. According to JAC Group, the EV 3 is now available in stores, allowing consumers to experience and make purchases at any time. In the second half of this year, an extended 600 km range version of the EV 3 will be introduced to the market, providing users with more choices. Aditya Singh Rajput, 32-Year-Old TV Actor Found Dead India oi-Madhuri Adnal Television actor Aditya Singh Rajput was found dead on Monday afternoon. According to reports, the actor's body was found in the bathroom of his Andheri home. He was declared dead when he arrived at the hospital. As per multiple media reports, the late actor passed away due to an alleged drug overdose. He was 32. Mumbai Police said that the body has been sent for post mortem. Investigation is underway. Reports claimed that Rajput's family lives in Delhi and the late actor used to live with a roommate in a building named Lashkaria Heights in Andheri Lokhandwala. Rajput was allegedly not keeping well since the last couple of days and he collapsed in the bathroom of his apartment in Oshiwara area this afternoon, an official said. The actor's maid noticed the fall and informed the building's security guard, following which he was rushed to a nearby hospital, where doctors declared him dead, he said. ''We have not found anything suspicious about Rajput's death so far. An accidental death report (ADR) has been registered and his body has been sent for autopsy,'' the official added. Contractor Charged After Labourer Falls To Death At Uddhav Thackeray's Home Rajput was born on 19 August 1990 in Uttarakhand. He made his acting debut in the television show 'Rajputana' in 2015. He has also appeared in the television shows 'Love', 'Ashiqui', 'Code Red', 'Aawaz', 'Splitsvilla', 'Bad Boy', and 'Cambala Investigation Agency'. He made his Bollywood debut in the film 'Love Hostel' in 2022. Aditya Singh Rajput was a versatile actor who can play a variety of roles. He was known for his good looks and his acting skills. Recently, he had been actively engaged with a production house and primarily focused on casting. He had gained popularity within the Mumbai glamour scene and was a frequent attendee at parties and page 3 events. He Should Return As Prime Minister In 2024: Madurai Priest Who Will Present Sengol To PM Modi PM Modi To Inaugurate New Parliament Building On May 28: Here Is The Full Schedule After Fiji, Papua New Guinea Confers Highest Award On PM Modi India oi-Vicky Nanjappa Immediately after Fiji conferred its highest award to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Papua New Guinea too has done the same. Papa New Guinea conferred the Companion of the order of Logohu to PM Modi for championing the cause of unity of Pacific Island countries and spearheading the cause of Global South. Very few non residents of PNG have received this award, a release read. Earlier PM Modi was conferred with the highest honour of Fiji by its premier Sitiveni Rabuka in recognition of his global leadership, a rare honour for a non-Fijian. The PM arrived in Papua New Guinea on Sunday on his maiden visit to the country to host a key summit between India and 14 Pacific Island countries in a bid to boost bilateral ties. "Big Honour for India. Prime Minister Modi has been conferred the highest honour of Fiji by the PM of Fiji: Companion of the Order of Fiji in recognition of his global leadership. Only a handful of Non-Fijians have received this honour to date," the Prime Minister's Office said in a release. PM Modi Conferred With Fijis Highest Honour The PM dedicated the honour to the people of India and to the generations of the Fiji-Indian community, who have played a major role in the special and enduring bond between the two nations, the Ministry of External Affairs said on Twitter. "Delighted to meet PM @slrabuka of Fiji. We had a great conversation on various topics. The relations between India and Fiji have stood the test of time. We look forward to working together to further cement it in the coming years," PM Modi said in a tweet. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Monday, May 22, 2023, 12:08 [IST] Aiming To Completely Withdraw AFSPA From Assam By November-End: Himanta Sarma India oi-Madhuri Adnal Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma announced on Monday that his government is working towards the complete removal of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA) from the state by the end of this year. Assam was declared a 'disturbed area' under AFSPA in November 1990, and the act has been extended every six months since then. The Chief Minister who was speaking at the first Commandant's Conference at the Lachit Barphukan Police Academy here, said, ''We are aiming at withdrawing AFSPA completely from Assam by the end of 2023. We will also rope in military personnel to train our police force.'' He also said, ''This will facilitate replacement of central police with Assam police batalions.'' The AFSPA which gives armed forces the right to arrest and search without warrants as well as use force without a magistrate's permission, has been lifted from most Assam districts except 8 districts and one sub-division. Sarma also said that attention will be given to ensure that the personnel belonging to different battalions are not used for any purpose other than those exclusively connected to bonafide policing. Assam Mosque Committee Not to Allow Burial Of Those Who Died Due To Consumption Of Drugs Steps will be taken to ensure that there is positive change in the mindset of the forces, it will also be ensured that good and professional police officers are posted as Commandants, he said. ''Adequate steps will be taken to empower the Assam Police Battalions so that they can deal with law and order in the state. They will also be reoriented to control the mob without using lethal weapons or using them to the minimum extent possible'', the Chief Minister said. Sarma said that the Commandants' Conference will be organised every six month to bring about positive changes in the rank and file of the battalions and give a more result oriented police force to the state. Director General of Police G P Singh, Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister Samir Kumar Sinha, Principal Secretary to Home and Political Niraj Verma, Special DGP Harmeet Singh and other senior police officers were present on the occasion. The AFSPA is currently in force in 8 districts of Assam: Tinsukia, Dibrugarh, Charaideo, Sivasagar, Jorhat, Golaghat, Karbi Anglong and Dima Hasao. The Assam government has been under pressure to withdraw the AFSPA from the state. In 2022, the government announced that it would withdraw the AFSPA from 23 districts of the state. However, the AFSPA was retained in 8 districts, including Tinsukia, Dibrugarh and Karbi Anglong. As G20 Summit Kicks-Off In Srinagar, Security Detail Like Never Before India oi-Vicky Nanjappa All eyes are on the G20 meet to be held at Srinagar today. There are stringent security arrangements in place at the as the capital of Jammu and Kashmir is hosting its first major event since the abrogation of Article 370. There are several inputs that terrorists would look to strike. An Intelligence Bureau official tells OneIndia that they have inputs that terror groups are looking to carry out an attack in Jammu and Kashmir during the summit. However security is on in full swing and any such attempt would be thwarted the official also said. All roads are being are being guarded by the CRPF personnel. The CRPF has been deployed on all the roads that the delegates would take to reach the meeting venue. The meeting would be held at the Sher-e-Kashmir International Convention Centre (SKICC) where at least 60 delegates would take part. The security detail is also being provided by the National Security Guards and Marine Commandos. In addition to this the police and the paramilitary forces are also on guard. Domination exercises and massive sanitisation is underway as the summit kicks off. Sniffer dogs and scanners are in place and the forces are taking nothing to chance. Vehicles are being randomly checked to ensure that no subversive elements gain entry into the city. China, Turkey Likely To Give A Miss To G20 Meet In Kashmir There have been reports that Pakistan backed terror groups may try and engineer a hit in Jammu and Kashmir. Due to this the Indian Army has been roped in to patrol the high reaches of Zabarwan Range which overlooks the meeting venue and accommodation facilitating the guests. Further, a hit team of the Black Cat commandos is also on standby to deal with any terror attack of a hostage-like situation. The Dal Lake would be patrolled by the Marcos with the help of personnel from the Jammu and Kashmir police. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Monday, May 22, 2023, 11:39 [IST] One can file case under DV Act after changing gender to female: HC Bombay HC Asks CBI Not To Take Coercive Action Against Wankhede In Aryan Case Till May 22 HC Extends Protection From Arrest to Sameer Wankhede In Aryan Case, But Conditions Apply India oi-Prakash KL The Bombay High Court on Monday extended protection from arrest to former Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) Mumbai zonal director Sameer Wankhede till June 8 in a case related to the drugs-on-cruise case. However, he will not be arrested only if the conditions laid out by the court are met. It has asked him not to release WhatsApp chat related to the case, tamper with the evidence and give the undertaking to attend the investigation. "Petitioner shall not publish any material by way of WhatsApp or any other mode on the subject matter of petition or investigation or give press statement or tamper with evidence in any matter whatsoever," a vacation bench of the Bombay High Court said. On Friday, a vacation bench of the Bombay High Court granted Wankhede relief against coercive action till May 22. The next date of the hearing is on June 8. The case is related to Shah Rukh Khan's son Aryan Khan, who was arrested in the alleged drug bust case on the Cordelia cruise ship on October 2, 2021, on suspicion of cocaine possession. However, he was cleared of all charges due to lack of sufficient evidence after staying in jail for 25 days. According to the CBI, KP Goswami appeared like an NCB official during the raid on the cruise and was responsible for the arrest of Shah Rukh Khan's son, the FIR accessed by the IANS stated. The CBI has claimed that 'independent witness' KP Gosavi had planned to extort Rs 25 crores from Aryan Khan's family. However, it was settled at Rs 8 crore and a token amount of Rs 50 lakh as a bribe was paid, but later some money was returned due to the case getting stuck, according to an IANS report. The CBI booked Wankhede and others for alleged criminal conspiracy (120-B IPC), and threat of extortion (388 IPC) besides provisions pertaining to bribery under the Prevention of Corruption Act on a complaint from the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), according to a report in PTI. Congress vs BJP Over New Parliament Building Inauguration India oi-Madhuri Adnal The BJP accused the Congress on Monday of deliberately stirring up unnecessary controversy surrounding the inauguration of the new Parliament building. The BJP criticized the Congress for engaging in cheap politics and undermining the country's achievements for their own selfish interests. Anil Baluni, the BJP chief spokesperson, stated that Congress leaders consistently resort to cheap politics whenever something positive occurs. He attributed this behavior to the leadership of Rahul Gandhi, stating that the Congress has stooped to a new low when the nation should be proud of the construction of the new Parliament building. The Congress had accused the government of disregarding constitutional propriety and demanded that President Droupadi Murmu inaugurate the building instead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. However, a senior BJP leader claimed that even Murmu preferred Modi to inaugurate the new building, which is scheduled for May 28. Insult to Prez Murmu: AAP On PM Modi Being Invited To Inaugurate New Parliament Building Baluni criticized the Congress for its negative and defeatist mindset, which he believed was a result of Rahul Gandhi's anarchist politics. He argued that the comments made by Congress leaders reflected their tendency to repeatedly undermine national morale. While the construction of the new Parliament building is seen as a proud moment for the country, Baluni accused the Congress of being a spoilsport and unable to accept the rejection they have faced from the people. He emphasized that the new building symbolizes Indian democracy and should be celebrated by all Indians. Defamatory: Delhi High Court Issues Summons To BBC Over Modi Documentary India oi-PTI The Delhi High Court on Monday issued summons to the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) on a defamation suit filed by an NGO claiming that its documentary cast a slur on the reputation of India, its judiciary and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Besides the BBC (UK), Justice Sachin Datta also issued notice to the BBC (India) seeking its response on the suit filed by Gujarat-based NGO Justice for Trial. The plea said BBC (India) is the local operation office and BBC (UK) has released the documentary -- "India: The Modi Question" -- which has two episodes. Senior advocate Harish Salve, appearing for the NGO, said the suit for defamation against the BBC is in relation to the documentary which has "defamed" India and the whole system including the judiciary. Fact Check: BBC survey predicted clear majority for BJP in Karnataka? He contended that the documentary also makes insinuation against the prime minister. It was argued on behalf of the plaintiff that the documentary makes defamatory imputation and cast slur on the reputation of the country. The high court said, "Issue notice to the respondents through all permissible modes" and listed it for further hearing on September 15. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Monday, May 22, 2023, 11:54 [IST] JDS for ban on Sudeep's films days after the actor extended support to BJP Do laws apply to PM Modi or not? Cong files complaint with EC over poll code violation From Walking Stick To Baby Walker, EC Releases Fresh List Of 193 Free Poll Symbols India pti-PTI Walking stick, baby walker, air conditioner, balloon and bangles are among the 193 free symbols issued by the Election Commission recently for Independents and candidates of unrecognised parties to pick from. While recognised national and state parties contest assembly and Lok Sabha elections on their symbols, Independents and candidates of unrecognised parties have to choose their symbols from the list issued by the poll panel from time to time. The fresh list issued by the EC on May 15 has 193 such "free symbols". Among the free symbols are walking stick, baby walker, air conditioner, balloon, bangles, wheel barrow, whistle, window, wool and needle, water melon, walnut, wallet, violin, vacuum cleaner and trumpet. The last part of 2023 would witness a series of assembly polls with the terms of the legislative assemblies of Mizoram, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Telangana ending on different dates between December this year and January 2024. While the term of the 40-member Mizoram assembly ends on December 17, the tenures of the Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh legislative assemblies conclude on January 3 and January 6, respectively. The tenures of the Rajasthan and Telangana assemblies end on January 14 and January 16. Polls in these five states being held together cannot be ruled out at this stage. Besides the scheduled polls, assembly elections in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir cannot be ruled out this year. Sources had earlier said that elections in Jammu and Kashmir may be held in the summer of 2023 after winter conditions subside, and the timing would depend on the security scenario. After the conclusion of the 62-day long Amarnath Yatra from July 1 to August 31, a possible window sometime in October this year could be available for polls in Jammu and Kashmir. The terms of the legislative assemblies of Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh and Odisha are ending on different dates in June next year. Since Lok Sabha polls are usually held in April-May, there is a likelihood that assembly elections in the three states could be held simultaneously with the parliamentary exercise. Fugitive For 20 Years With 102 Cases Pending, NIA Nets Chief Of Banned PLFI India oi-Vicky Nanjappa In a major breakthrough the National Investigation Agency arrested one Dinesh Gope, a self-styled supremo of the banned People's Liberation Front of India (PLFI). "More than 102 criminal cases are registered against Gope in Jharkhand, Bihar and Odisha. Most of these cases relate to murder, abduction, threat, extortion, and raising funds for the PLFI, a militant Maoist outfit formed in 2007 in Jharkhand and also a splinter group of the Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist). The NIA had also declared a reward of Rs 5 lakhs for leads on Gope, in addition to the reward of Rs 25 lakh announced by the Jharkhand government. He had been absconding for almost two decades," the NIA said in a statement. "Gope, a resident of Khunti district in Jharkhand, was arrested in Delhi. He was charge-sheeted by the NIA in 2018 in a case related to the recovery of demonetised currency notes worth Rs 25.38 lakh from PLFI operatives," an NIA spokesperson said. "On February 3 last year, an encounter had taken place between a Gope-led PLFI squad and security personnel in a forested area under Gudri police station of West Singhbhum district of Jharkhand. Several rounds were fired in the encounter before the rebels sneaked into the forest and Gope managed to escape, the official said, adding he had been taking shelter at different places while making all efforts to re-establish the PLFI's stronghold in Jharkhand," the NIA also said. The case was initially registered on November 10 2016 at Bero police station in Rancho. It was re-registered by the NIA on January 19 2018. Punjab gangster Goldy Brar wanted in Moosewala killing named in Canadas fugitive list Currency notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 were withdrawn from circulation in 2016. "The police had filed the first chargesheet against four persons on January 9, 2017. The NIA filed the first supplementary chargesheet in the case against 11 accused, including Gope. Subsequently, the NIA filed the second supplementary chargesheet in the case on July 23 last year against five individuals and three private limited companies," the NIA added. "Gope used to extort money and execute attacks through his PLFI team members to terrorise businessmen, contractors and the public at large. He, along with his associates, was involved in depositing the demonetised currency notes in a bank account and later collected them through extortion. The illegal money was then invested through banking channels and dubious shell companies in the name of close associates and family members of Gope," the NIA official also said. "Investigation has revealed that the PLFI used to lure unemployed youths by providing them motorbikes, mobile phones and easy money... after imparting training, they used to equip them with lethal weapons to carry out terror incidents. Extortion is PLFI's major source of income and the outfit has been targeting coal traders, railway contractors and various private entities involved in developmental projects in various districts of Jharkhand," said the spokesperson. G20 Delegates Enjoy Shikara Ride In Dal Lake India oi-Madhuri Adnal The delegates of the G20 summit had a delightful experience as they embarked on a serene shikara ride across the enchanting Dal Lake in Srinagar on Monday. More than 60 delegates are participating in the third G20 Tourism Working Group meeting, which commenced on Monday and is scheduled to run until May 24. The G20 delegates were warmly welcomed upon their arrival in Srinagar, where they were greeted with traditional hospitality. They then proceeded to the Sheri Kashmir International Convention Centre, located on the banks of the picturesque Dal Lake, the venue for the momentous meeting. The G20 Tourism Working Group meeting in Srinagar holds significant importance as it marks the first high-profile international gathering to be held in Kashmir since the abrogation of Article 370 on August 5, 2019. The event showcases the region's growing prominence and its potential to contribute to global tourism discussions. India Downplays China, Saudi Absence As G20 Events Kicks Off In Srinagar However, strict security arrangements have been put in place to ensure the smooth conduct of the meeting and the safety of all participants. The authorities are leaving no stone unturned in their efforts to create a secure environment for the G20 delegates during their stay in Srinagar. The shikara ride on Dal Lake served as a serene interlude, allowing the delegates to immerse themselves in the natural beauty and tranquility of the surroundings. The delegates appreciated the unique experience and the opportunity to witness firsthand the splendor of the Dal Lake, a jewel of Kashmir's scenic landscape. The G20 Tourism Working Group meeting aims to foster collaboration and exchange ideas on promoting sustainable and inclusive tourism practices worldwide. As the delegates engage in discussions and deliberations, the enchanting setting of Srinagar and the memorable shikara ride on Dal Lake contribute to the overall experience, adding a touch of Kashmiri charm to the global summit. Beijing (Gasgoo)- On May 20, Deepal, Changan Automobile's new energy vehicle-dedicated brand, officially commenced pre-orders for its first mid-size SUV, the Deepal S7, with an official pre-order price of 169,900 yuan to 239,900 yuan. S7; photo credit: Deepal Leveraging Deepal's robust manufacturing process, the Deepal S7 achieves a remarkable height-to-width ratio of 84.2%, showcasing a sporty and low-profile stance, poised for exhilarating performance. Enabled by a digitalized intelligent manufacturing platform, the Deepal S7 boasts a class-leading 61% wheelbase ratio. Combined with an 880mm ultra-short front overhang design and a 970mm short rear overhang design, the vehicle maximizes space utilization efficiency. The luxurious yacht-inspired interior of the Deepal S7 offers premium quality and cutting-edge intelligence. The standard AR-HUD holographic augmented reality system seamlessly integrates with intelligent driving and in-car systems, transforming the driver's front field of vision into an intelligent information screen. The 15.6-inch center control screen is capable of rotating up to 15 to the left or right like a sunflower, providing voice control and automatic welcome functions for both the driver and the passenger. The Deepal S7 is powered by the EPA1 digital platform. The pure electric version provides a CLTC range of 520/620 km with acceleration from 0 to 100 km/h in as low as 6.7 seconds and energy consumption as low as 14.2 kWh/100 km. Meanwhile, the extended-range version achieves a combined CLTC fuel consumption of as low as 4.95 L/100 km, with a pure electric range of up to 200 km. G20 Summit Today: 26/11 Type Terror Plan Exposed, Security Tightened India oi-Deepika S Kashmir is all set to host the third G20 Tourism Working Group (TWG) meeting on Monday in Srinagar amid high security. This is the first major international event to be held in the Kashmir valley after the revocation of the special status of the state under Article 370 of the Constitution and the bifurcation of the erstwhile state into the Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh. The government reportedly made last-minute changes to the G20 conference itinerary after security forces found out that terrorist groups had conspired to repeat the horrific 26/11 terror attacks in Mumbai, during the G20 in Gulmarg at the behest of Pakistani intelligence agency ISI, India Today reported on Sunday. Following the incident, the Kashmir police have issued an advisory to the public regarding any suspicious international mobile numbers around the G20 venue, security has been beefed up in the area. Reportedly, the terrorists from Pakistan aimed at entering the hotel where the G20 dignitaries were staying and opening fire, similar to the Taj Hotel attack on 26/11. About 60 delegates from G20 countries are taking part in the event. It will also witness the participation of invited countries, international organizations, and industry stakeholders. G20 Meet In Srinagar: A Big Opportunity To Showcase Kashmir's True Potential However, China is skipping it as its ally Pakistan has raised objections to the event being held in Kashmir. Also, Turkey, which had made critical remarks against India after the BJP government scrapped Article 370 in 2019, is not attending the G20 meeting. The G20 is an inter-governmental forum of the world's 20 leading economies comprising Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, the Republic of Korea, Mexico, Japan, Russia, STurkey, United Kingdom, audi Arabia, South Africa, and the European Union and the United States. Bangladesh, Egypt, Mauritius, Netherlands, Nigeria, Oman, Singapore, Spain, and the UAE are the special invitee guest countries for the G20 event held in Srinagar. He Has Small Thinking: BJP Slams Rahul For Raising Objection To PM Inaugurating Parl Building India oi-Prakash KL The BJP has slammed senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for raising objections to Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurating the new Parliament building. "Why does this happen? When the country is progressing, he comes forward as a bad omen during auspicious times. He has such small thinking that he can't welcome such a historic moment when the new Parliament building will become a temple of democracy," NDTV quoted BJP spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia as saying. On Sunday, Gandhi had said that the President should inaugurate the new Parliament building and not the prime minister. The Prime Minister will inaugurate the new Parliament building on May 28 which will coincide with the birth anniversary celebration of Hindutva ideologue V D Savarkar. On the other hand, Congress Chief Mallikarjun Kharge criticised the Centre and accused the BJP government of disrespecting the President of India by not inviting her to the event. "It looks like the Modi government ensured the election of President of India from Dalit and Tribal communities for electoral reasons. It has repeatedly disrespected propriety . Office of the President of India is reduced to tokenism under the BJP-RSS government," Kharge tweeted. PM Modi To Inaugurate New Parliament Building On May 28 President Draupadi Murmu, as the highest constitutional authority of India's supreme legislative body should inaugurate the new building that will symbolise the Indian government's commitment to democratic values and constitutional propriety, Kharge urged. "She alone represents government, opposition, and every citizen alike. She is the First Citizen of India. Inauguration of the new Parliament building by her will symbolise Government's commitment to Democratic values and Constitutional propriety," he added. Not just Congress, several Opposition leaders have objected to PM Modi inaugurating the Parliament building. AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi asked why Lok Sabha Speaker and Rajya Sabha chairman won't inaugurate it. "Why should PM inaugurate Parliament? He is head of the executive, not legislature. We have separation of powers and honourable Lok Sabha Speaker and Rajya Sabha Chair could have inaugurated. It's made with public money, why is PM behaving like his "friends" have sponsored it from their private funds?" Owaisi tweeted. "Obsession with self-image and cameras trumps decency and norms when it comes to Modi Ji," CPI's D Raja said. According to the Lok Sabha Secretariat, the new Parliament building can comfortably seat 888 members in the Lok Sabha chamber and 300 in the Rajya Sabha chamber. Why Pakistan Will Continue To Boil And There Is No Solution Around The Corner IB Uncovers Plot By Pakistan To Disrupt G20 Meet In J&K India oi-Vicky Nanjappa The Intelligence agencies have uncovered a plot by Pakistan to disrupt the G20 meet in Jammu and Kashmir. The plot according to the Intelligence Bureau by Pakistan is to carry out an attack and defame India, while it hosts the G20 meet. The Pakistan agencies have tasked outfits such as the Lashkar-e-Tayiba and Jaish-e-Mohammad to carry out the attacks, sources tell OneIndia. In addition to attacks, the Pakistan backed agencies have also planned to carry out a misinformation campaign. The agencies are currently tracing 500 mobile phones which have been asked to spread misinformation. These persons are running campaign called 'StopG20Meetings.' G20 Delegates Arrive In Srinagar Amid Warm Welcome Sources said that these groups would look to step up attacks as Pakistan has been sidelined on international platforms. Furthermore Pakistan is undergoing a crisis and this would be a perfect diversionary tactic, the IB official also said. There are around 600 social media accounts that have been created to spread misinformation, the source also added. There are anti-India campaigns that are being run through these handles, the sources also said. These handles have also been running campaigns which oppose the Citizen Amendment Act, NRC, UAPA and the National Security Act. Pakistan has also been propagating issues such as Love Jihad. Further the Pakistan backed groups also are creating hatred amongst the Sikh community against India, the IB official also said. In this regard it had activated the K-2 Desk, which focuses on violence in both Kashmir and Punjab. J&K: Curfew relaxed for 12 hours in Bhaderwah, educational institutions likely to reopen on Monday Manipur: Curfew Reimposed In Imphal After Fresh Clashes; Army called in India oi-Madhuri Adnal The capital city of Imphal in Manipur witnessed tense situations on Monday as a mob set fire to houses in the Imphal East district. The Army and paramilitary forces have been deployed to the affected area to restore control. The curfew, which had previously been relaxed until 4 pm, was reimposed after 1 pm due to the recent escalation. Clashes and conflicts related to various issues have been ongoing in Manipur for nearly a month. The clashes originated from a 'Tribal Solidarity March' organized on May 3 in the hill districts to protest against the demand for Scheduled Tribe (ST) status by the Meitei community. Prior to this violence, tensions had already arisen from the eviction of Kuki villagers from reserve forest land, leading to several smaller agitations. Fresh Flare-Up In Manipur: Army Called In The population of Manipur consists of Meiteis, who make up around 53% of the population and reside mainly in the Imphal Valley, and the remaining 40% comprises Nagas and Kukis, who are tribal communities living in the hill districts. These have resulted in more than 70 deaths, necessitating the deployment of approximately 10,000 army and paramilitary personnel to restore normalcy in the northeastern state. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Monday, May 22, 2023, 17:05 [IST] What Happens If You Fail To Deposit, Exchange Rs 2,000 Note By September 30 Is Aadhaar, PAN Or Any Other ID Proof Required To Exchange Rs 2,000 Notes? Banks Clarify Will The Withdrawal Of The Rs 2,000 Notes Have An Impact On The Fake Currency Industry? No Proposal To Reintroduce 1,000 Rupee Note: RBI Governor India oi-Deepika S The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Monday dismissed claims of the reintroduction of 1,000 rupee notes and said there is no proposal to bring back such currency notes, yet. The statement comes amid speculations that the government may re-introduce Rs 1,000 notes. "That's speculative. There's no such proposal right now," RBI governor Shaktikanta Das said when asked whether there is a possibility of reintroducing Rs 1,000 notes. RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das has said that there was no need to rush to the banks to exchange the notes. RBI Advises Banks To Continue Exchange of Rs 2,000 Notes In Usual Manner "There is no reason to rush to banks now. You have four months, till September 30. The deadline has been given so that it is taken seriously by people. Otherwise, if you leave it open-ended, it become kind of an endless process," he stated. Last week, the central bank announced its decision to withdraw the Rs 2,000 denomination banknotes from circulation as part of its 'Clean Note Policy'. Recommended Video RBIs Shaktikanta Das urges people to not rush to banks to exchange 2,000 notes | Oneindia News Rs 2,000 banknotes were initially introduced in November 2016 to address the urgent currency requirements of the economy following the withdrawal of the legal tender status of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 banknotes. However, with an ample supply of banknotes in other denominations now available, the purpose of introducing the Rs 2000 banknotes has been fulfilled, leading to the cessation of their printing in 2018-19, the RBI said in a statement. "Approximately 89 per cent of the Rs 2000 banknotes were issued prior to March 2017 and are nearing the end of their estimated lifespan of 4-5 years. The total value of these banknotes in circulation has significantly decreased from its peak of Rs 6.73 lakh crore as of March 31, 2018 (constituting 37.3 per cent of the total Notes in Circulation) to Rs 3.62 lakh crore, representing only 10.8 per cent of the total Notes in Circulation as of March 31, 2023," it added. No Reason To Rush To Banks To Exchange Rs 2000 Notes: RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das Considering these factors, the RBI has made the decision to withdraw the Rs 2000 denomination banknotes from circulation, while reaffirming their continued acceptance as legal tender. The central bank said that this withdrawal follows a similar measure undertaken by the RBI in 2013-2014. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Monday, May 22, 2023, 14:01 [IST] Let them write what they want: Pawar on Saamna editorial States Need To Have Formal Policies For Promotion Of Film Tourism, says Kishan Reddy Not In PM Race, Working To Get Oppn Parties Together, Says Sharad Pawar India pti-PTI Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar on Monday said he was not in the race to become prime minister and asserted the opposition wanted a leadership that would work for the betterment of the country. Speaking at a condolence meet for Ram Takawale, Vice Chancellor of Pune University who passed away recently, Pawar said opposition parties might face a little task of projecting one person as the prime ministerial candidate if they come together. "I am putting efforts to get the opposition together. I am not in the race to become the prime minister as I am not contesting the next (Lok Sabha) election," he told reporters. Speaking on seat sharing with the Congress and the Shiv Sena (UBT), which are part of the Maha Vikas Aghadi, he said, "Recently, a meeting was held at my residence. Leaders from Maha Vikas Aghadi will decide on it." Karnataka Template Should Be Implemented In Other States: Sharad Pawar "Uddhav Thackeray, Sonia Gandhi or Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge and I will sit together to discuss more about it," he said on seat-sharing. The tenure of several civic bodies in Maharashtra got over early 2022 but polls were not held due to the coronavirus pandemic. Moreover, Assembly polls will be held in the latter part of 2024 in the state, some months after the Lok Sabha elections likely to take place around May. This Mandate Is For Pro-People's Govt: Sonia Gandhi's Message For People Of Karnataka Opposition Parties To Meet Soon: Congress After Nitish Meets Kharge India oi-Madhuri Adnal Efforts to forge unity in the opposition ranks gained momentum on Monday with the Congress asserting that a ''vast majority'' of non-BJP parties will meet soon, after Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar met its president Mallikarjun Kharge and senior leader Rahul Gandhi. Congress general secretary (organisation) K C venugopal told reporters that the venue and date of the expected meeting will be announced in a day or two. In a tweet, Kharge said, ''The country will be united now. The strength of democracy is our message. Rahul Gandhi and myself discussed the current political situation with Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar today and took forward the process of giving a new direction to the country.'' Kumar was accompanied by his Janata Dal (United) president Lalan Singh. After holding meeting with Kharge last month, Kumar has met leaders of a host of regional parties in his bid to bring them together on one platform with the Congress to take on the BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. Siddaramaiah, Shivakumar Finalise Cabinet With Cong High Command, Likely To Have 20 Ministers The JD(U) leaders had met AAP convenor and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday at his residence here and extended ''complete support'' to him in the ongoing face-off with the Centre over the control of administrative services. Significantly, Bihar Chief Minister Kumar, Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav, Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren, Nationalist Congress Party president Sharad Pawar, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin and National Conference president Farooq Abdullah attended the swearing-in ceremony of Siddaramaiah as the Karnataka chief minister on Saturday, in a show of opposition unity. Some regional leaders, including Kejriwal and Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao, were not invited to the ceremony. Kumar, though, has been trying to bring them on board as well. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Monday, May 22, 2023, 18:41 [IST] What Happens If You Fail To Deposit, Exchange Rs 2,000 Note By September 30 Will The Withdrawal Of The Rs 2,000 Notes Have An Impact On The Fake Currency Industry? People Crowd At Petrol Bunks To Spend Rs 2,000 Currency India oi-Vicky Nanjappa The Reserve Bank of India has clarified that the Rs 2,000 note would continue to be legal tender, but there are evident signs of panic among the people. Across cities people are rushing to spend the Rs 2,000 note after the RBI had announced that it was withdrawing the denomination banknotes from circulation. The highest rush to spend the denomination are being seen at petrol bunks. Apart from this a huge rush is being witnessed at wholesale markets, where people are trying to spend their Rs 2,000 currency. Many petrol bunks in Bengaluru and other parts of the city are not accepting the notes and this has led to a sense of panic among the people. RBI Advises Banks To Continue Exchange of Rs 2,000 Notes In Usual Manner Many who have the Rs 2,000 notes have been spending instead of making digital payments. In some bunks, the owners have put out boards which strictly insist on digital payments. Many are reminded of the demonetisation announcement and are hence panicking. Since the announcement, petrol bunks across the country have reported a two time increase in the number of customers wanting to offload their Rs 2,000 note. Meanwhile RBI Governor, Shaktikanta Das said that there is no need to rush to the banks to exchange the notes as there is still four more months to do so. "Unless you give a particular time, the process will not reach the stage of finality and you have to give a time so that the announcement is taken seriously. The banks have been advised to make necessary arrangements to ensure that people don't have to stand in this scorching heat," Das said. No Reason To Rush To Banks To Exchange Rs 2000 Notes: RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das "Take your time. The process is starting tomorrow but you don't have to go tomorrow," Das also said. Das also added that withdrawing the Rs 2,000 note will have no impact on the economy. He also said that the note is hardly being used anywhere. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Monday, May 22, 2023, 13:08 [IST] PM Modi Arrives In Australia; To Hold Talks With PM Albanese India oi-PTI Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived here on Monday for the third and final leg of his three-nation tour during which he will hold talks with his Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese and attend a community event to celebrate the country's dynamic, diverse Indian diaspora. Modi is visiting Australia from May 22-24 as a guest of the Australian Government. Ahead of Modi's arrival, Prime Minister Albanese said in a statement, "I am honoured to host Prime Minister Modi for an official visit to Australia, after receiving an extremely warm welcome in India earlier this year.'' "Australia and India share a commitment to a stable, secure and prosperous Indo-Pacific. Together we have an important role to play in supporting this vision,'' he said, amidst China's aggressive behaviour in the region as well as its efforts to expand its influence. PM Modi Meets New Zealand Counterpart Chris Hipkins, Holds Bilateral Talks Prime Minister Modi has also said that he was looking forward to his meeting with Albanese on May 24. During the visit, the Prime Ministers will attend a community event in Sydney to celebrate Australia's dynamic and diverse Indian diaspora, ''a core part of our multicultural community'', the Australian government said in a statement. Modi arrived here from Papua New Guinea, where he held talks with his counterpart James Marape and took stock of their bilateral relations. He also discussed ways to further augment cooperation in areas like commerce, technology, healthcare and climate change. The two leaders co-hosted the Forum for India-Pacific Islands Cooperation (FIPIC) summit on Monday, fostering regional cooperation. ''My Papua New Guinea visit has been a historic one. I will greatly cherish the affection received among the people of this wonderful nation. I also had the opportunity to interact with respected FIPIC leaders and discuss ways to deepen ties with their respective nations,'' Modi tweeted. After Fiji, Papua New Guinea Confers Highest Award On PM Modi According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics 2016 census, 619,164 people in Australia declared that they were of ethnic Indian ancestry. This comprises 2.8 per cent of the Australian population. Among those, 592,000 were born in India. Prime Minister Modi last visited Australia in 2014. Modi began his three-nation tour on Friday from Japan where he attended three sessions at the G7 summit following an invitation by Japanese counterpart Fumio Kishida. Modi along with US President Joe Biden, Japanese Prime Minister Kishida and his Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese also attended the 3rd in-person Quad Summit in Hiroshima. The Quad meeting was moved to the sidelines of the G-7 summit in Hiroshima after US President Biden postponed his trip to Australia to return to Washington, amid ongoing negotiations over raising the US debt limit. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Monday, May 22, 2023, 17:25 [IST] Public Is With Us: Delhi CM Kejriwal As Satyendar Jain's Health Deteriorates India oi-Prakash KL Former Delhi minister Satyendar Jain on Monday was taken to the Safdarjung Hospital after he complained of deterioration in health. Since his arrest in May 2022, he has been lodged at Tihar Jail in Delhi. As he was rushed to the hospital, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal prayed to God for his recovery. "I pray to God for the better health of Satyendar Jain ji. The people of Delhi and the country are watching this arrogance and oppression of the BJP government very well. Even God will never forgive these oppressors. The public is with us in this struggle, God is with us, we are the disciples of Sardar Bhagat Singh. Our fight against oppression, injustice and dictatorship will continue," he said on Twitter. SC Seeks EDs Reply on Bail Plea of Satyendar Jain in Money Laundering Case Responding to the latest development, Trinamool Congress spokesperson Saket Gokhale slammed the BJP and said, "This is very heartbreaking. Modi govt unleashes central agencies on Opposition leaders to either get them to join the BJP or break them completely. As someone who has been through this, I know what they're doing to @SatyendarJain. This is criminal vendetta." Jain was taken to the Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Hospital on Saturday. However, he wanted a second opinion, hence he was admitted to the Safdarjung Hospital, PTI reported citing a senior jail official. "Jain visited the neurosurgery OPD in the morning and after being examined by the doctors there, he left. He was accompanied by police," said a spokesperson of the Safdarjung Hospital. It may be recalled that senior advocate Abhishek Singhvi, appearing for Jain, told the Supreme Court recently that the former minister had lost 35 kg and virtually became a skeleton. Based on a First Information Report (FIR) filed by the CBI on August 24, 2017, the ED initiated the investigation into the money laundering case. Tihar Jail SP Gets Notice After 2 Inmates Shifted To Satyendar Jains Cell on His Request The CBI alleged that Jain, while holding the office as a Minister in the Government of Delhi from February 14, 2015, to May 31, 2017, had acquired assets disproportionate to his known sources of income. Last week, the Supreme Court issued notice to Enforcement Directorate Jain's plea seeking bail in the said case. However, it also granted him the liberty to move the vacation bench of the top court with his plea, which challenged the Delhi High Court order dismissing his bail plea. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Monday, May 22, 2023, 15:15 [IST] House Bill 2469 , which sought to declare a public health crisis at the border due to fentanyl trafficking and mandated that the Department of Health Services take every action available to resolve the problem. The bill doesnt address the core issues at the heart of the states fentanyl crisis, Hobbs said, and she advocated instead for increased access to affordable health care and mental and behavioral health treatment. House Bill 2617 , which would have added off-duty constables to the definition of peace officers, effectively allowing them wide berth to carry firearms whether on the job or not. Currently, constables are protected from having their right to carry guns limited only while theyre on-duty. Hobbs worried that expanding those rights would endanger the safety of Arizona families by causing constables to view themselves as having a duty to respond when they are off duty . House Bill 2539 , which would have created the Arizona School Choice Program in the states education department, tasked with identifying failing schools and notifying parents of other schools students can attend. The measure, Hobbs said, does nothing to aid struggling schools. House Bill 2309 , which would have placed Arizona laws over federal ones if the two were in conflict over the role of state and local law enforcement agencies. Hobbs dismissed it as an unnecessary attempt to limit federal authority and warned it would have jeopardized federal funding for many Arizona programs. House Bill 2094 , sponsored by a lawmaker who owns a food truck , would have allowed food trucks to park on residential streets or private property with permission and removed regulations for their disposal of gray water and grease. Hobbs cited public health concerns in her rejection of the measure. House Bill 2416 directed the state to take a more involved approach into what apps are on government employees phones. The measure comes as several states, including Arizona, banned TikTok from state devices under worries about cybersecurity threats. Hobbs executive order to that effect in April rendered HB2416 redundant, she wrote . House BIll 2757 would have allowed all Arizonans to decide the fate of judges on the state court of appeals, despite the fact that judges represent specific populations. Hobbs cited that concern in her veto, saying it would be unfair to dilute the opinions of the voters in their assigned divisions. House Bill 2305 would have allowed members of both political parties to observe each stage of the signature verification process for early ballots, which election officials warned would likely lead to uninformed objections that could lengthen the process and jeopardize the private voting information of Arizonans, which is protected by law. House Bill 2377 banned public officers from lobbying outside of their official duties, which likely would have violated first amendment rights, Hobbs warned . Series Of Lapses, Last Minute Tweaking Says NCB Report On Officer Who Arrested SRKs Son Bombay HC Asks CBI Not To Take Coercive Action Against Wankhede In Aryan Case Till May 22 HC Extends Protection From Arrest to Sameer Wankhede In Aryan Case, But Conditions Apply Sameer Wankhede, Wife Kranti Get Threats Amid Aryan Khan Case Probe India oi-Deepika S Former NCB zonal director Sameer Wankhede, who is under investigation for allegedly seeking Rs 25 crore as a bribe for not framing Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan's son Aryan Khan in the drugs-on-cruise case said he and his wife Kranti Redkar have been receiving threats for the last four days. "My wife Kranti Redkar and I have been receiving threats for the last 4 days and obscene messages coming on social media. I will write to the Mumbai Police Commissioner today about it and demand special security," Sameer Wankhede told news agency ANI. The Central Bureau of Investigation has registered a case against Sameer Wankhede and three others for allegedly seeking Rs 25 crore as a bribe for not framing Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan's son Aryan Khan in the Mumbai drugs-on-cruise case. Sameer Wankhede's Alleged Chats With Shah Rukh Khan Violate Rules: NCB Officials In its FIR, the probe agency claimed that Sameer Wankhede allowed people who were actually in possession of drugs and the supplier as well to go. 'Arbaaz Merchant had confessed possession of Charas to NCB but he was allowed to go,' the CBI said. CBI claimed that Gosavi, an independent witness, was allowed to handle the accused violating the rules. Aryan Khan, who was formally arrested by the NCB on 3 October 2021, was granted bail by the Bombay High Court on 28 October 2021 for lack of evidence. Aryan Khan Drugs Case: Sameer Wankhede Arrives At CBI Office "I am getting rewarded for being a patriot, yesterday 18 CBI officials raided my residence and searched it for more than 12 hours while my wife and children were present in the house. They found Rs 23,000 and four property papers. These assets were acquired before I joined the service," Wankhede was quoted by ANI. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Monday, May 22, 2023, 12:31 [IST] School Jobs Scam: TMC Leader Abhishek Moves SC Against CBI Questioning, Plea To Be Heard On May 26 India oi-PTI The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to hear on May 26 a plea by senior TMC leader Abhishek Banerjee against his questioning by the CBI in the school jobs scam case. Banerjee, who was on May 20 questioned for over nine hours by the CBI in connection with the probe into the case, has sought the apex court direction that no coercive steps be taken against him by the agency. Senior advocate Abhishek Singhvi, appearing for Banerjee, mentioned the matter for urgent listing before a vacation bench of Justices Aniruddha Bose and Sanjay Karol. The bench said the plea would be heard on Friday. Banerjee's name cropped up in a complaint filed by Kuntal Ghosh, a local businessman and an accused in the school jobs scam, where he alleged that central investigating agencies were pressuring him to name Banerjee, who is the national general secretary of the TMC, in the case. The agency's summons came within 24 hours of the Calcutta High Court dismissing on Thursday a petition filed by Banerjee seeking recall of a previous court order, which said that investigative agencies such as the CBI and ED could interrogate him in the teacher recruitment scam case. An attempt on Friday to get a division bench and, after that, the chief justice of the Calcutta High Court to hear his revision plea did not yield results. While mentioning the matter before the apex court, Singhvi said Banerjee has already been quizzed for over nine hours by the CBI and the TMC leader is apprehending that he may be arrested if called against for questioning by the agency. "I (Banerjee) am asking for no coercive step," Singhvi told the bench, while requesting it to list the matter for hearing in this week. The bench agreed to hear the plea on Friday and told Singhvi to ask his junior counsel to go to the mentioning officer. After his questioning was over on May 20, Banerjee had told the mediapersons keeping vigil outside the CBI's office at Nizam Palace in Kolkata, that the questioning was a waste of time for both him and the investigative agency's officers, but he "cooperated in all that was asked". HC asks CBI to probe teacher recruitment scam in West Bengal Banerjee, nephew of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, had alleged that while TMC leaders who were unwilling to bend were being harassed, BJP leaders who had been involved in various cases were allowed to go scot-free. The two-time TMC MP from Diamond Harbour was questioned by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) twice in the coal pilferage case in the agency's office in the national capital in 2021 and also in Kolkata in 2022. While the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is probing the criminal aspect of the scam, the ED is looking into the money trail involved in the alleged irregularities in school recruitment. Abhishek Banerjee, who was on the campaign trail in Bankura in western Bengal, had rushed back to Kolkata Friday night to answer the summons sent by the central investigative agency. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Monday, May 22, 2023, 13:20 [IST] 'Be ready to go to jail': Kejriwal tells AAP leaders after 'national party' tag Services Row: AAP To Hold Rally On June 11 Against Centre's Ordinance India oi-PTI The AAP on Monday said it will organise a maha rally on June 11 against the Centre's "black ordinance" that effectively gives the lieutenant governor control over administrative services, negating a Supreme Court order in favour of the Kejriwal dispensation. This ordinance shows that the Centre will impose dictatorial decisions like this on the country, AAP's Delhi convenor Gopal Rai said at a press conference. He appealed to Delhiites to join the rally in large numbers. The Centre promulgated the ordinance on May 19 to create a National Capital Civil Service Authority for transfer of IAS and DANICS cadre officers and disciplinary proceedings against them. This came a week after the Supreme Court handed over the control of services, excluding those related to police, public order and land, to the elected government in Delhi. Congress Likely To Oppose Bill To Replace Centre's Ordinance On Delhi Services "This black ordinance has made it clear that the BJP-led Centre will impose dictatorial decisions like this on the country. Therefore, the AAP has decided to launch a campaign against it along with the people of Delhi. "On June 11, the people of Delhi will gather for a 'maha rally' at Ramlila Maidan to express their anger against this ordinance," Rai said. After the Supreme Court's decision, the AAP leader said, the manner in which the "central government and the prime minister have issued an ordinance is a betrayal of trust of the people of Delhi". "Through this machination, the rights of the citizens of Delhi have been hijacked. Ever since this ordinance was issued, you all are seeing that the leaders of BJP are singing praises of this black ordinance and beating their chests proudly," he added. Rai said the Supreme Court gave an opportunity to the government elected by Delhiites to run the bureaucratic system of Delhi on the basis of accountability and transparency. "What the Modi government has done due to arrogance of power is an insult not only to the elected government of Delhi but also to the two crore people of Delhi," he said. The people of Delhi have been fighting to make it a full-fledged state since the time when Madan Lal Khurana was the chief minister, he said. "Now, the BJP says that it will not let Delhi remain half or even a quarter of the state it is supposed to be. Now, all the decisions of Delhi will be taken by the lieutenant governor," he said. In light of these perilous circumstances, the AAP has decided to run a campaign to oppose this ordinance with the people of Delhi, Rai said. He appealed to the people of Delhi to join the AAP's 'maha rally' and raise their voice against the ordinance, irrespective of their political affiliations. "If democracy is murdered in the capital of India, then all of us have to stand together. Otherwise, democracy will be killed in the country as well and the nation will be pushed back by centuries. Our fight will continue against their dictatorship," he said. On Sunday, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal met his Bihar counterpart Nitish Kumar here and called for Opposition unity to take on the BJP. Kejriwal said he would meet leaders of various parties to ensure that any bill brought to replace the recent central ordinance is not passed in Rajya Sabha. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Monday, May 22, 2023, 21:08 [IST] 'What Was The Need For A New Parliament?' Nitish Kumar Ahead of Its Inauguration Stop Dreaming Of Becoming PM, BJP Tells Nitish Kumar India oi-Vicky Nanjappa The BJP has taken a swipe at Bihar Chief Minister, Nitish Kumar and said that he should get out of his dream of becoming prime minister. The comments come after Nitish Kumar met with his Delhi counterpart, Arvind Kejriwal amidst the ongoing face-off with the Centre over the control of administrative services. BJP's national spokesperson, Prem Shukla said that Nitish is dreaming about becoming prime minister. Instead, he needs to focus on Bihar, Shukla also said. Shukla also said that meeting with other leaders is Kumar's right, but he should focus on Bihar. Opposition Unity Bid: Nitish Kumar Meets Arvind Kejriwal After Congress' Snub He is daydreaming about becoming prime minister. Instead, he should discharge his duties as chief minister of Bihar. That is his constitutional responsibility, the BJP spokesperson also said. On the other and, Sanjay Mayukh, an MLC from Bihar said that Kumar should come out of his dream world. There is no vacancy for the post of prime minister, he also said. The people of the state will never forgive him for pushing it deeper into crime and corruption, Mayukh also said. The BJP also said that the state is being pushed into anarchy. He should pay attention to this instead of dreaming of becoming prime minister, the BJP also said. Kumar in recent days has been meeting with several leaders in a bid to forge an alliance against the BJP. He had also thrown his weight behind Kejriwal following the protest by the Aam Aadmi Party over the ordinance. Mamata Dropped Non-Congress Third Front Plan After Meeting Nitish: JDU Leader On Friday, the Centre promulgated an ordinance to create a National Capital Civil Service Authority for the transfer of IAS and DANICS cadre officers and disciplinary proceedings against them. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Monday, May 22, 2023, 8:47 [IST] PM Modi Conferred With Fijis Highest Honour International oi-Deepika S Prime Minister Narendra Modi was on Monday conferred with the Fiji's highest award, the Companion of the Order of Fiji, in recognition of his global leadership. Only a handful of Non-Fijians have received this honour till date. "Big Honour for India. Prime Minister Modi has been conferred the highest honour of Fiji by the PM of Fiji: Companion of the Order of Fiji in recognition of his global leadership. Only a handful of Non-Fijians have received this honour to date," the Prime Minister's Office said. Meanwhile, Governor-General Sir Bob Dadae of Papua New Guinea conferred PM Modi with country's highest civilian award, Grand Companion of the Order of Logohu (GCL) for championing the cause of unity of Pacific Island countries and spearheading the cause of Global South. Very few non-residents of Papua New Guinea have received this award. This comes immediately after Fiji also conferred their highest award to PM Modi. An honour emblematic of depth of - relationship. Governor-General Sir Bob Dadae of Papua New Guinea conferred PM @narendramodi with country's highest civilian award, Grand Companion of the Order of Logohu (GCL). pic.twitter.com/CZGnfcd44e Arindam Bagchi (@MEAIndia) May 22, 2023 According to the Ministry of External Affairs, PM Modi dedicated the honour to the people of India and to the generations of the Fiji-Indian community, who have played a key role in the special and enduring bond between the two countries. Prime Minister Narendra Modi also met his Fijian counterpart Rabuka, on the sidelines of the Forum for India-Pacific Islands Cooperation (FIPIC) summit. "Delighted to meet PM @slrabuka of Fiji. We had a great conversation on various topics. The relations between India and Fiji have stood the test of time. We look forward to working together to further cement it in the coming years," PM Modi tweeted. Saudi Creates History As First Arab Woman Astronaut Is Sent Into Space International oi-Prakash KL A breast cancer researcher from Saudi Arabia has become the first-ever Arab woman to voyage to space on a private rocket that took off from Kennedy Space Center in the US on Sunday night. Rayyanah Barnawi is the first-ever Saudi woman to voyage into space along with another Saudi national and fighter pilot Ali AlQarni. The 33-year-old woman is a young laboratory specialist with vast experience in cancer stem cell research. She is currently working as a research and laboratory specialist. As far as her educational qualification is concerned, she holds a bachelor's degree in reproductive science, genetic engineering, and tissue development from the University of Otago in New Zealand. Also, she earned a master's degree in biomedical sciences from King Faisal University. Astronaut McDivitt who commanded Apollo 9, dies at 93 Barnawi has nine years of brilliant experience in the field of cancer stem cell research, according to Saudi Gazette. Whereas Alqarni is a captain and fighter pilot with 12 years of experience in the Royal Saudi Air Force. They became the first Saudi astronauts to go on a multimillion-dollar journey to the International Space Station in decades. SpaceX Falcon 9 was launched from the Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral in the southern United States at 5:37pm local time (21:37 GMT). Leading the crew of four is Peggy Whitson, a former NASA astronaut and the Director of Human Spaceflight at Axiom Space. Assisting her is John Shoffner, a mission pilot and a participant from the private spaceflight sector. "Hello from outer space! It feels amazing to be viewing Earth from this capsule," Al Jazeera quoted Barnawi as saying after settling into orbit. However, it is not clear how much Shoffner and Saudi Arabia are paying for the planned 10-day mission, but Axiom had previously stated a ticket price of $55 million each. "This is a dream come true for everyone," Barnawi stated before the flight. "Just being able to understand that this is possible. If me and Ali can do it, then they can do it, too." "Once docked, the astronauts plan to spend eight days aboard the orbiting laboratory, carrying out a full mission comprised of science, outreach and commercial activities. During their mission, Barnawi and Al Qarni will conduct 20 experiments, including research into predicting and preventing cancer and a study into how to generate artificial rain in future human settlements on the Moon and Mars," as per the report in the Saudi Gazette. Fact Check: Video of astronaut walking on road shared with false claim that it is from J&K The objective of the space mission is to strengthen the expertise of Saudi scientists in the field of human spaceflight, with a focus on utilizing space industry advancements for the betterment of humanity. Additionally, it aims to contribute to various areas of scientific research, including health, sustainability, and space technology. By implementing this program, the Kingdom aims to stimulate scientific breakthroughs in the realm of space sciences and bolster its capacity to independently pursue research endeavours. The positive impact of these endeavours is expected to extend to both the future of the space industry and the nation as a whole, as highlighted by the Saudi Gazette. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Monday, May 22, 2023, 11:06 [IST] How Damage From A US Debt Default Could Cascade Across the Global Economy US Man's Skydiving Stunt with 'Open to Work' Signage Leads to Multiple Job Offers International oi-Madhuri Adnal Chris Serrano, an advertising professional based in the US who recently lost his job, received numerous job offers from around the world after skydiving with a sign that read 'open to work'. In a LinkedIn post last week, Serrano shared a video clip of his skydiving adventure, along with a message expressing his availability for new opportunities. The post stated, "I got laid off last week. So I'll be freefalling until I find a new gig - literally. If you're looking for an award-winning creative that works hard, takes risks, and knows how to pack a parachute, reach out. Don't let your brand plunge to its death. Hire me instead." To his surprise, Serrano woke up the next day to find his post had garnered 2 million impressions and attracted a flood of feedback and job offers from all over the world. One of the offers came from a start-up company in Manchester, England. Imran Khan Receives Luxury Tax Notice Of PKR 14 lakhs For Lahore Residence Jack Peagam, CEO of Linkup, a social networking app, came across Serrano's post on LinkedIn and was captivated by his unique approach. Peagam, who was also in search of a creative director, flew to the Canary Islands, the nearest place with suitable weather for skydiving, to respond in an equally creative manner. During his own skydiving session, Peagam held a banner that said, "Hey, Chris, sorry 2 see you got laid off. We've got work 4 u. Let's link up." Serrano expressed his astonishment at Peagam's response, stating that he couldn't believe someone matched his energy and took the job offer to another level. He was impressed by the creativity and effort put into the gesture. Now, Serrano is planning his new career with Linkup and reflecting on the valuable lesson he learned from being laid off. He encouraged others to be different and pursue their passions, emphasizing that sometimes unexpected doors open when you put yourself out there and do what you love. Watch: Two adrenaline junkies walk barefoot on slackline over an active volcano to set world record WATCH: Mount Etna, Europe's Most Active Volcano Erupts, Spews Ash On Catania International oi-Deepika S Mount Etna, Europe's most active volcano, erupted on Sunday, spewing volcanic ash on Catania, eastern Sicily's largest city. The volcanic eruption forced authorities to cancel flights to and from Catania, a popular tourist destination until normal safety conditions could be guaranteed. "Due to the eruptive activity of Etna and copious amounts of volcanic ash on the airport surfaces, flight operations are suspended until safety conditions are restored," airport authorities said in a statement. Cars in the city were covered in a layer of dark gritty dust. However, there was no loss of life reported, according to the Italian media. Recommended Video Italy: Mount Etna volcano erupts; halts flights to Sicily's Catania airport | Oneindia News Watch: Two adrenaline junkies walk barefoot on slackline over an active volcano to set world record The Repubblica Daily reported loud rumbles were heard in the region from early Sunday. Italy's National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV) warned that it had recorded evidence of a stepping up in tremor activity in recent days. According to Rueter's report, the 3,330 metre (10,925 ft) high volcano can burst into spectacular action several times a year, firing lava and ash high over the Mediterranean island. The last major eruption was in 1992. You Are Leader of the Global South: Papua New Guinea Leader Hails PM Modi International oi-Deepika S Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea James Marape on Monday hailed Prime Minister Narendra Modi as the leader of the Global South, during his address to the third summit of the Forum for India-Pacific Islands Cooperation (FIPIC). "We are victims of the global powerplay. You (PM Modi) are the leader of Global South. We will rally behind your leadership at global forums," Marape was quoted as saying by news agency ANI. Narendra Modi became the first Indian Prime Minister to visit the Pacific nation which is a part of the second leg of his three-nation visit. PM Modi also assured that New Delhi will do everything in its power to highlight the issues faced by Pacific Island nations in global forums. "India considers it its responsibility to convey the concerns of the Global South, their expectations and their aspirations to the world through the G20. This was my effort in the last two days at the G7 summit as well," PM Modi was quoted as saying by news agency ANI. the prime minister also pointed out that those who were 'trusted' did not help during times of crisis. PM Modi Stresses On Boosting India-Papua New Guinea Ties In Talks With Marape "Today we are seeing disruption in the supply chain of fuel, food, fertiliser and pharma. Those whom we trusted, didn't stand with us when needed," PM Modi said. "The impact of the Covid pandemic was most on the countries of the Global South. Challenges related to climate change, natural disasters, hunger, poverty and health were already there, now new problems are arising. I am happy that India stood by its friendly Pacific Island countries in times of difficulty," he said. "India is proud to be your development partner. You can count on India as a reliable partner. We are ready to share our experiences and capabilities with you without hesitation. We believe in multilateralism and support a free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific," PM Modi said. He further added that he does not view Papua New Guinea and other islands in the Pacific as island nations but as 'ocean countries' and said that the ocean binds India and the Pacific Islands together, referring to the Indian Ocean. "For me, you are large ocean countries and not small island states," he said. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Monday, May 22, 2023, 10:49 [IST] Kimberly Noel Kardashian is an American socialite, model, media personality, and businesswoman. She first gained media attention as a friend and stylist of Paris Hilton, but received wider notice after the sex tape Kim Kardashian, Superstar, shot in 2003 with her then-boyfriend Ray J, was released in 2007. Later that year, she and her family began to appear in the E! reality television series Keeping Up with the Kardashians (20072021). Its success led to the formation of the spin-off series Kourtney and Kim Take New York (20112012), Kourtney and Kim Take Miami (20092013), and Hulu's The Kardashians (2022present). Madeleine Beth McCann is a British missing person who disappeared from her bed in a holiday apartment in Praia da Luz, Portugal on the evening of 3 May 2007, at the age of 3. The Daily Telegraph described the disappearance as "the most heavily reported missing-person case in modern history". Madeleine's whereabouts remain unknown, although German prosecutors believe she is dead. Special rapporteur David Johnston is expected to release his decision Tuesday on whether the federal Liberals should call a public inquiry on foreign interference. Investments in China by Canada's largest public pension funds are facing increased scrutiny amid worsening relations between the two countries and allegations that some of those investments are funding the oppression of China's Uyghur minority. Two more universities in Victoria and NSW have banned the recruitment of students from some Indian states as the federal government flagged a surge in applications, but also an increase in fraudulent applications. The 2020 incident, in which a suspect was unlawfully detained by two NSW Police officers, was condemned by a horrified magistrate. Scores of Boston University students turned their backs on the head of one of Hollywoods biggest studios as he gave the schools commencement address in a stadium where protesters supporting the Hollywood writers strike picketed outside. About 100 protesters chanted, waved signs and were accompanied by an inflatable rat outside Nickerson Field as David Zaslav, president and CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery, gave his address on Sunday. About 11,500 members of the Writers Guild for America walked off the job at the beginning of May, after talks on a new contract broke down. Its the first writers strike in 15 years. Finance ministers and central banks' chiefs are discussing a wide range of topics, including the US debt standoff and preventing Russian sanction evasion. Measures to counter China were also reportedly being debated. President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy have a pivotal meeting coming up on the impasse over the debt ceiling. Washington is racing to strike a budget compromise and raise the nations borrowing limit in time to avert a devastating federal default. They're to meet face to face Monday afternoon. After a weekend of start-stop talks, both men appeared upbeat as they face a deadline, as soon as June 1, when the government could run out of cash to pay its bills. Back in the U.S. after the G-7 summit, Biden said his phone call with McCarthy earlier Sunday went well. The Metropolitan Police have been called upon to apprehend social media prankster Bacari Ogarro, also known as Mizzy on YouTube and TikTok. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba is expected to join the Brussels meeting via video link. The ministers are also scheduled to speak with the leaders of Western Balkan states intending to join the bloc. Xem them ... Tin bai cuoi cung Khong con du lieu e load The opposition blogger was arrested in 2021 after his Ryanair flight was diverted and forced to land in Minsk. He was sentenced to eight years in prison earlier this month on charges including inciting terrorism. Ukrainian officials said the attack was carried out by Russian citizens. The Russian border region of Belgorod has been hit several times since the Kremlin ordered its invasion of Ukraine. Oneindia 22 May 2023 At a time when China is expanding its influence in the Pacific region, the United States and Papua New Guinea have signed a new.. Daily Record 25 May 2023 The former Rangers and Liverpool star, 70, has become close to 14-year-old epidermolysis bullosa sufferer Isla Grist and her.. Real Madrid have lodged a hate crime complaint with Spanish prosecutors after Vinicius Junior was targeted with racist abuse during their away tie against Valencia. Ukraine's military reportedly said the attack was carried out by Russian citizens. The Russian Belgorod border region has been shelled several times since the Kremlin ordered its invasion of Ukraine. Ukraine's military reportedly said the attack was carried out by Russian citizens. Russia's Belgorod border region has been hit several times since the Kremlin ordered its invasion of Ukraine. Buzz60 25 May 2023 Were learning a lot about Princess Kate thanks to some recent royal engagements. At the Chelsea Flower Show, the Princess of.. More than 100 protesters gathered outside the gates for opening day at aquatic theme park Marineland of Niagara Falls, Ont. on Saturday. They held a vigil for Kiska, Canada's last captive killer whale, who died at the park in March. A group of diplomats, media professionals and other international visitors recently gathered in the city of Nyingchi in southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region to learn about how one local community is balancing green development with environmental protection. The visit comes ahead of the 2023 Xizang Development Forum in Beijing, scheduled for May 23. "I came 25 years ago when I was a student. I was studying in China and I came here. I went to Lhasa and around. Everyone says it's the Switzerland of Tibet, right? I think it's very true because you can see the snow-capped mountains. It's very beautiful," said Anke Redl, managing director of China Media Monitor Intelligence. Known as Tibet's Mother River, the Yarlung Zangbo River runs more than 500 kilometers on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, nurturing a rich culture. Along the water, Zhaxigang Village in Lulang Township draws travelers closer to nature. "We have 314 people in 67 households, and there are 51 family hotels. You barely see any garbage in our village. We cut trees every year and follow regulations by planting new ones. No house is built on farmland. It's part of Tibetan culture that people need to respect and revere nature," said Zhou Linfeng, who heads the Zhaxigang Village Working Team. During their stay in Nyingchi, diplomats praised Tibet's efforts to balance development with environmental protection. "This is my first visit to Tibet. I've spent four years in China. The scenery and the landscape are just mesmerizing, captivating. From what I've seen yesterday and today, the communities and villages of Tibet have grown and been alleviated from poverty. While in that process of development, they are also safeguarding their environment. Lucid waters, lush mountains. Those are the words of His Excellency President Xi Jinping. And that signifies a lot of things. These are valuable assets. Why? Because this gives sustenance to mankind. From the two days I've been here, I think Tibet is doing a great job in addressing that," said Manasa Tagicakibau, ambassador of the Republic of Fiji to China. On April 26, 2023, Chinese lawmakers voted to adopt a landmark law on ecological conservation on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. It imposes penalties on travelers who litter on the plateau, ensuring the "roof of the world" is ready to welcome more visitors to explore the local culture in a clean and beautiful environment. source: CGTN PM Narendra Modi held talks with Papua New Guinea's Governor-General Bob Dadae during his visit on Monday. This visit is part of Modis three-nation tour, following his attendance at the G7 summit in Japan and marks the first-ever visit to Papua New Guinea by an Indian Prime Minister. Newsy 21 May 2023 ViewUkrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy huddled with some of his biggest backers as the Group of Seven summit closed in.. Rumble 22 May 2023 Please Support American Patriot News Check Out Straight Shooter Coffee if you use the link, below you will get 10% off NPR 22 May 2023 Scott announced his run Monday morning in North Charleston, S.C. He has been endorsed by Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., the second.. Junior doctors in Scotland have been offered a 14.5% pay rise over two years in an attempt to halt strike action. 2008-2023 One News Page Ltd. All rights reserved. One News is a registered trademark of One News Page Ltd. Hillary Clinton said "people have every right" to consider President Biden's age while appearing at the Financial Times Weekend Festival on Saturday. ODN 24 May 2023 Rishi Sunak departs Downing Street for PMQs at the House of Commons, where he will face Sir Keir Starmer across the Despatch Box... Saudi Arabia's first astronauts in decades rocketed toward the International Space Station on a chartered multimillion-dollar flight. The crew will spend just over a week there before returning home. With the United States at risk of defaulting for the first time, hopes for a breakthrough have dimmed in recent days. Gift this article Share this article paywall-free. Gov. Jim Pillen holds his 5-day-old grandchild in his arms moments before signing LB 574 into law on Monday, May 22, 2023, in Lincoln, Neb. (Zach Wendling/Nebraska Examiner) LINCOLN Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen on Monday signed into law new restrictions on abortion and gender-affirming care for minors, which opponents vowed to fight until the very end. Legislative Bill 574, proposed by State Sen. Kathleen Kauth of Omaha, passed 33-15 last Friday on the final round of debate. The measure includes an approximate 10-week abortion ban (12 weeks gestational age) and restrictions on transition surgeries, hormone therapies and puberty blockers for youths. Today is an extraordinary, historic day for the State of Nebraska, Pillen said at a signing ceremony. Its a day where its really simple: Protect our kids so that our state has a bigger and brighter future. Under the law, the chief medical officer and Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services would be charged with setting the rules and regulations around the puberty blockers and hormones for patients before the age of 19. Transition surgeries would be prohibited. Today is about celebrating The abortion restrictions will become law after one legislative day, approximately at midnight on Tuesday, according to legislative rules. State Sen. Joni Albrecht of Thurston, who led the original six-week abortion ban that failed by one vote on second reading, choked up Monday as she thanked her colleagues and Pillen for sticking by her and getting more restrictions into law. The current law allowed abortions up to 20 weeks post-fertilization, or 22 weeks gestational age. LB 574 included exceptions for rape, incest and the life of the mother. Today is about celebrating and protecting the unborn and allowing our children to grow, Albrecht said. I look forward to the day when every child is protected from conception from elective abortions. The gender care restrictions will become effective Oct. 1, and youths who previously received transition medications before that date can continue. However, opponents said its unclear whether the law allows patients who received blockers, for example, to then receive hormones. LB 574 faced significant opposition this year and spurred a 12-week-long filibuster, but Kauth and Pillen said the purpose is simple: protecting our kids and saving babies. I brought LB 574 because you have too many kids who are being swept up in what is a social contagion and being told that their bodies are not perfect the way they are and if they just switch their gender, theyll be fine, everything will be great, Kauth said. Thats not true. We will not stop The new law is expected to face significant challenges at the ballot box and in the courts, according to opposing senators and advocacy organizations outside the Legislature. Pillen said he and his team are ready to fight any challenges. State Sens. Danielle Conrad of Lincoln, George Dungan of Lincoln and John Cavanaugh of Omaha, all attorneys, have said the bill faces multiple areas of scrutiny under the law. One argument is that LB 574, on the gender care side, discriminates on the basis of sex. It is one of 130 bills nationwide that would restrict health care for primarily LGBTQ people. For example, cisgender boys or girls could continue to receive some restricted treatments, such as breast augmentation or puberty blockers, while transgender youths could not. The ACLU includes LB 574 among nearly 500 state-level proposals that are attacks on LGBTQ rights. After the fall of Roe v. Wade in 2022, dozens of states moved to restrict abortion, with lawsuits challenging many of those new laws. Multiple states have also implemented restrictions or bans on gender-affirming care since the Supreme Court struck down Roe, which have been challenged, too. Mindy Rush Chipman, interim executive director of the ACLU of Nebraska, said Pillens signature betrays a total disregard for Nebraskans freedom, health and well-being. Every option is on the table to undo these regressive measures, including seeking justice through the courts, Rush Chipman said in a statement. We will not stop working toward a future that safeguards all Nebraskans rights, including the rights of transgender youth, their families and people in need of reproductive health care. Backdoor ban and single subject Opponents have also said the law violates the Nebraska Constitutions single subject rule, requiring that laws deal with single issues. Kauth and other supporters argue their law holds up on this standard because it deals with health care and protects babies and children. Dungan on Friday also criticized the Legislatures unlimited and unrestrained delegation to the chief medical officer and DHHS. State Sen. John Fredrickson of Omaha said the delegation could lead to a backdoor ban on transition medications for transgender minors. Pillen did not specify what guidance he would give interim chief medical officer Dr. Timothy Tesmer, whose confirmation hearing is this week. However, Pillen noted he has known Tesmer for a long time. He knows Nebraska, Pillen said of Tesmer. He understands that his job is to carry out the law that has been signed in, and thats what we expect him to do. Tesmer served as chair of the State Board of Health in March when it issued a statement in support of an unamended version of LB 574 that included a full ban on the medications for minors. State Sen. Lynne Walz of Fremont and Cavanaugh put forward specific rules and regulations that would have clarified some of this confusion and offered specific guidance for when the bill goes into effect. They drafted these with Fredrickson. Walz said their proposed version could serve as a roadmap for Tesmer. Nebraska nice not Nebraska meek State Sen. Ben Hansen of Blair introduced the amendment to revive an abortion ban this year, calling those efforts one of legislative teamwork, compromise and courage. While this approach doesnt seem to be the norm in Washington, D.C., this is what good government looks like, Hansen said. Lawmakers also gave a nod to State Sen. Julie Slama of Dunbar, whose absence Friday as she was hospitalized for treatment of hyperemesis gravidarum, a severe form of nausea and vomiting tied to pregnancy. This almost doomed LB 574, but Slama returned that afternoon, still sick, and provided the 33rd vote for passage. Its one example of extraordinary efforts to get the bill passed. Others included getting State Sen. Ray Aguilar of Grand Island, who was recovering from knee surgery, to the chamber in time to vote on first round, as well the Legislature taking a 45-minute pause in debate on second round to salvage the legislation. Hansen said that when it comes to protecting children, lawmakers would do all they could. Lets not confuse Nebraska nice with Nebraska meek, he said. Filibuster to continue as 2024 takes shape Another Kauth proposal, LB 575, the Sports and Spaces Act, is expected to be considered next year. It would restrict sporting teams, bathrooms and locker rooms for K-12 schools based on sex assigned at birth. State Sen. Dave Murman of Glenvil, chair of the Education Committee, said its his hope the bill comes to the floor and is passed next year. The bill has 28 cosponsors, more than LB 574, and is missing four supporters of that measure: State Sens. John Arch of La Vista (the speaker), Carolyn Bosn of Lincoln, Mike Moser of Columbus and Slama. Five of the eight Education Committee members are cosponsors. Cosponsorships do not always mean promised support, but its an indication that LB 575 could be a defining mark in 2024. Kauth said the 12-week-long filibuster aided in the passage of LB 574 because it allowed senators to work together on the sidelines and shore up support. Had they not filibustered, this bill would have been dead in February, Kauth said, calling it a three- to five-year issue to work on. The filibusters, led by State Sens. Machaela Cavanaugh and Megan Hunt, both of Omaha, have promised to continue the fight. Cavanaugh said that Fridays vote was unfortunate already, but because Pillen is rushing to sign the bill, with an emergency clause to go into effect almost immediately, it will lead to extremely devastating effects for the Nebraska medical community and health care generally. I think that this is not what Nebraska is, Cavanaugh said of LB 574. This is not what Nebraska wants, and we will see that reflected in the coming months and year. Firefighters in Italy's northeastern Emilia-Romagna region have been continuing clear up work, monitoring the stability of buildings and removing water after heavy rains caused serious flooding in areas. (May 22) Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has compared the ruined eastern city of Bakhmut to the destruction of Hiroshima in World War Two while attending the G7 summit in Japan. Russia said it had captured the city after a bloody battle, but Ukraine denied its forces had lost control. Zelenskyy said that Ukrainian troops were still fighting, and he hoped for successful reconstruction after the war. Following weeks of the government's scrutiny of its stance on the conflict in Ukraine, Minister in the Presidency Khumbuzo Ntshavheni is headed to Russia this week for a high-level security meeting. When the smoke finally clears, President Bidens Ukraine debacle will go down along with Afghanistan and Iraq as one of the greatest foreign policy disasters in US history. Hundreds of thousands have been killed on both sides in the service of the US neocons long standing desire to regime change Russia. And... Russia said on Monday it was battling a cross-border incursion by saboteurs who burst through the frontier from Ukraine, in what.. Upworthy 22 May 2023 Tim Scott, a Black Republican senator from South Carolina, launched his presidential campaign on Monday, offering an optimistic message he hopes can contrast the two dominant figures in his party's primary field: Donald Trump and Ron DeSantis. President Joe Biden and top congressional Republican Speaker Kevin McCarthy will meet on Monday to discuss raising the federal government's debt ceiling, just 10 days before the United States could face an unprecedented default. The Democratic president and the speaker of the Republican-controlled #kevinmccarthy #ustreasury #capitol #republicans #222213 #democrats #housefreedomcaucus #donaldtrump #liberaldemocrats #constitution Rumble 25 May 2023 A nationwide shortage in baby formula in the US is making its way into Canada as parents begin to panic buy which is causing.. Upworthy 27 May 2023 Andrew Kutan/AFP via Getty Images A Papua New Guinea pact reveals the complexity of creating partnerships in the region. The US has.. Port Moresby: Papua New Guinea will sign a defence pact with the United States on Monday, as it hosts Washington's top diplomat and India's prime minister Narendra Modi for separate talks that will focus on China's rising influence. The Pacific island nation is strategically located close to trade routes to Australia and Japan, in a region where Washington and New Delhi are concerned about China trying to woo tiny nations with diplomatic and financial incentives. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will follow Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in holding separate talks with 14 Pacific leaders including New Zealand Prime Minister Chris Hipkins who have gathered in the PNG capital Port Moresby. Before that meeting, Blinken is expected to sign a defence cooperation agreement with Papua New Guinea Prime Minister James Marape that will give US troops access to the Pacific nation's ports and airports. The State Department said the pact would "enhance security cooperation and further strengthen our bilateral relationship, improve the capacity of the PNG Defence Force, and increase stability and security in the region". Marape last week said the deal would offer Washington movement in the country's waters in return for access to US satellite surveillance to battle "illegal activities on the high sea". Blinken replaced Joe Biden at the summit after the US president cancelled the trip to take part in debt ceiling talks in Washington. Biden -- whose uncle died in Papua New Guinea during World War II -- would have been the first sitting US president to visit the island nation. No longer a 'sleepy outpost' Washington is courting Pacific nations more intensely after Solomon Islands became the unlikely epicentre of a US-China diplomatic tussle last year when it signed a security pact with Beijing. The US defence pact is being framed as a deal to protect Papua New Guinea's territorial borders but experts say China's Pacific presence is a key driver. "Port Moresby is no longer the sleepy diplomatic outpost it once was," said Gordon Peake, a senior adviser for the Pacific Islands at the United States Institute of Peace. "While China might not be mentioned anywhere in the document, it's an important subtext in this story of deepening US-PNG relations." Marape said the deal would not prevent him from signing similar deals with other nations, including China. Modi's talks earlier in the day with Pacific leaders are expected to focus on trade, development and climate change. Gift this article Share this article paywall-free. Four new federal prosecutors for the U.S. Attorneys Office in Montana are set to be hired in coming months, including two attorneys dedicated to working on tribal land caseloads. These new Assistant United States Attorney positions are a significant investment from the Justice Department and will strengthen our ability to address public safety across the state, especially in Indian Country, U.S. Attorney Jesse Laslovich said in a press release. In addition to the two tribal land attorneys, a third lawyer based in Billings will be tasked with prosecuting general violent crime cases and the fourth will handle eLitigation work (namely processing electronic filings in cases). All of the positions are full time. Of the two prosecutors working on tribal cases, one will be based in Great Falls or Helena while the other will sit in the Billings branch of the U.S. Attorneys Office, the press release stated. Their positions will serve as liaisons between the office and reservations and bolster violent crime prosecution on tribal lands. While the U.S. Attorneys Office currently has prosecutors with caseloads partially dedicated to tribal crimes, Laslovich explained in a phone call that the new additions will be solely focused on Indian Country investigations. He said the new positions are rare, and described them as a big deal. Offenses including assault, sexual violence, drug cases, burglaries and murders fall under the umbrella of cases the two prosecutors will work on. Prosecutors assigned to Indian Country, which is a legal term in federal law, prosecute major crimes arising in six Montana Indian reservations within federal jurisdiction, including the Blackfeet, Rocky Boys, Fort Belknap, Fort Peck, Crow and Northern Cheyenne, the press release stated. The U.S. Department of Justice allocated the money for the new hires in President Joe Bidens budget last year, according to the release. Funding was distributed all over the country for positions in U.S. Attorney's Offices. Hiring for the four new posts is expected to take several months. Right now, 31 prosecutors work in Montana's U.S. Attorney's Office. That number will increase to 35 once the four positions are brought on. Russia Ukraine War (Image by manhhai) Details DMCA "Is it true that Bakhmut is now under complete control by Russian forces and only await[s] [Yevgeny] Prigozhin's and/or [Sergei] Shoigu's meeting with Putin to celebrate the biggest military victory of Russia's SMO? Where is General Zaluzhnyi? Why hasn't he been seen in current video since April 14? Prigozhin says he probably was killed by a Russian missile strike. It so, why hasn't the Times reported it? Is it true that Kiev fired 32 Patriot missiles into the air just a few days ago? Why? And why hasn't the Times reported it? Is it true that Russian missiles took out five Patriot launchers and one (of two) radars? Is it true that Russia has shot down seven of Britain's Storm Shadow missiles? If so, why haven't you reported it? More generally, has there been a single Wunderwaffe from the U.S. or Europe that Russia has not successfully countered? Is it true that on May 12 alone, 1725 Ukrainian soldier were killed on the Donbas front? If true, why didn't you report it? Are you aware that, as far as unsourced casualty counts from the Pentagon or the British MoD are concerned, historian Geoffrey Roberts recommends dividing those for Russia by ten and multiplying those for Ukraine by ten? Do you know that Retired Col. Douglas MacGregor claims that 300,000 Ukrainian soldiers have died during this SMO? Who's really running out of missiles, Russia or Ukraine? Why has Russia been able to launch so many missiles during the month of May? Ukraine seems to have run out of S-300s and Buks. If Kiev fired 32 Patriots on one night and the U.S. manufactures only 250 per year, how long can Kiev (or the U.S.) hold out? There were two gigantic explosions at major ammo/weapon's centers, one of them at Khmelnytski. Did those explosions obliterate newly delivered weapons and ammo from the West? Why don't you correct obviously contradictory Ukrainian claims about the number of missiles/drones shot down by Ukraine on any given day when there are separate contradictory claims by another spokesperson, for example, about power losses Ukraine suffered that day? Do you believe that Ukraine shot down any kinzhal missiles or simply fired at decoys? Do you believe that it is merely a coincidence that Zelensky has largely stayed out of his country ever since the failed drone assassination attempt on Putin in Moscow? Or is Zelensky a dead man walking? I receive these reports from other sources and they stand in stark contrast to your largely pro-Ukrainian propaganda. Why and when should I believe you? You seem to cherry-pick Ukrainian military successes while overlooking the fact that, in general, Ukraine is getting clobbered Walter C. Uhler Talking about "clobbered," on the very day when I sent my queries to the New York Times, former CIA operative, Larry Johnson wrote: "The tempo of the war underway in Ukraine has shifted dramatically in Russia's favor and Ukraine has no answer. It is running out of artillery shells, tanks, aircraft and, most importantly, trained fighters who can execute large unit maneuvers" (sonar21.com) One day later, Prigozhin -- the head of the Wagner forces engaged in the bulk of the fighting against the Ukrainians in Bakhmut -- proclaimed the city's capture. A day later, on May 21st, Russia's state media celebrated the capture of Bakhmut, easily the largest single victory by either side since Russia's invasion of Ukraine. That same day the analyst at the Military Summary Channel provided a detailed list of losses suffered by Ukraine in Bakhmut during its 224 days of war, according to Russia's Ministry of Defense. Of the approximately 39,000 Ukrainian military casualties, some 23,000 were killed. Ukraine lost the equivalent of $7.85 billion in equipment, including some 100 vehicles, 2,700 drones and 23 planes. Predictably, given the ongoing propaganda war between Russia and the West, Russia's MOD didn't provide numbers for Russian casualties and equipment destroyed during the battle. But their losses must have been high, even if significantly lower than those suffered by Ukraine. As of May 21st, the Times still had not responded to my letter of the 19th. Now, it must be said that the Times is only the foremost of American (and British) news media propagandists for Ukraine. Just like CNN began pimping for conservative viewers by broadcasting Donald Trump's outrageous town hall meeting, corporate America's decision makers in the news media have decided to go all in on the Biden administration's proxy war against Russia in Ukraine. Echoing the Soviet period when its news media marched in lockstep with official Soviet policy, CNN, MSNBC, ABC World News, NBC News, CBS News, The Washington Post, The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Los Angeles Times, The Boston Globe, The Atlantic, The Bulwark, Foreign Policy and Foreign Affairs, among others, routinely "report" what officials in the Biden administration say or what officials in the corrupt Zelensky regime feed them. The Post, The Atlantic, and The Bulwark feature the opinions of notorious neocons; you know, the people who championed the Bush/Cheney illegal, immoral invasion of Iraq and then the coup overturning Yanukovych's pro-Russia government in Ukraine. To their credit, most of the propagandists frequently assert that they cannot independently verify many of the pro-Ukrainian assertions by the Biden administration or the Zelensky regime. But, significantly, they seldom report Russian Ministry of Defense claims, even when similar caveats would allow such reporting. Today, the 21st, these propagandists are shamelessly falling all over themselves in an attempt to deny the Bakhmut has been captured. One major exception to the frenzied group think that has captured the Western media is Harper's Magazine. Its June issue contains an article titled: "Why are we in Ukraine?" The answer to that question is found in the subtitle: "On the Dangers of American Hubris." Ever since our colonial period, what became the United States has been populated by braggarts. From John Winthrop's "city on a hill" to Lincoln's "the last best hope for earth," to Ronald Reagan's "last best hope for mankind," to Madeline Albright's "indispensable nation;" America's leaders have not been shy about extolling American exceptionalism. It's all a lie of course, given that it took the enslavement of Africans to provide free or cheap labor, as well as the murder or displacement of the Indians -- to steal their land -- in order to create the fabulous wealth that allowed American white supremacy to flourish and penetrate virtually all of our institutions. Thus, it wasn't an accident when the country's first naturalization act (of 1790) denied the possibility of citizenship to anyone except certain free white people. Granted, other people in other lands lie and create myths about their particular country's greatness, but the United States possesses the loudest megaphones. But, as the authors Benjamin Schwarz and Christopher Layne see it, the leaders of post-Cold War America took their triumphalism and hubris to a new level, arrogating to themselves the right to intervene anywhere around the world where the absence of democracy in another country posed a threat to our way of life. It's no longer "live and let live." For example, President George W. Bush - well into his disastrous illegal, immoral, regime changing invasion of Iraq to impose democracy there -- declared "the survival of liberty in our land increasingly depends on the success of liberty in other lands." In this he differed little from his predecessor, President Clinton who claimed: that "the security of the United States demands 'a focus on relations within nations, on a nation's form of governance, on its economic structure.'" Clinton, as is well known, made what the eminent Soviet scholar, George Kennan, dubbed the "fateful error" of endorsing the expansion of NATO, NATO's expansion and unprovoked aggression began the process of gradually turning a friendly Russia into an adversary, as Kennan predicted. Every Russian leader - Mikhail Gorbachev, Boris Yeltsin, and Vladimir Putin -- warned the West about the danger that NATO expansion posed to Russia. Western leaders arrogantly dismissed Russia's warnings, as if they knew better what constituted a threat to Russia than the Russian themselves. The Eisenhower Media Network, in a recent full-page letter in the New York Times, condemned the senseless bloodshed in Ukraine, but significantly, added that "Profit from weapons sales was a major factor" explaining why the U.S. pushed for NATO's expansion. "Facing opposition to NATO expansion, a group of neoconservatives and top executives of U.S. weapons manufacturers formed the U.S. Committee to expand NATO. Between 1996 and 1998, the largest arms manufacturers spent $51 million ($94 million today) on lobbying and millions more on campaign contributions. With this largess, NATO expansion quicky became a done deal, after which U.S. weapons manufacturers sold billions of dollars of weapons to the new NATO members." (sonar21.com, May 19th). Authors Schwarz and Layne add that America's post-Cold War leaders learned the wrong lesson from President Kennedy's "victory" over the Soviet Union during the Cuban Missile Crisis. They uncritically accepted the the idea that a willingness to use force could often coerce an adversary to back down - as the Soviets supposedly did - without actually needing to use that force. This belief further fueled America's aggressive tendencies. Only those willing to read the small print would have learned that the Soviet Union did not back down, but only removed its missiles from Cuba after the United States agreed to remove similar missiles from Turkey and Italy. News of the actual and secret agreement came much later, long after the Kennedy tough guy reputation took root in America's political psyche. America's expansive view of threats to its security and its willingness to threaten force or actually use force have been nothing short of disastrous. Often using an ever-expanding and aggressive NATO as the tip of its spear, the U.S. has invaded Panama, overseen NATO's unprovoked bombing of Yugoslavia, led an illegal, immoral invasion of Iraq, sanctioned NATO's bombing of Libya and the overthrow of Muammar Qaddafi's regime, and "semi-covertly" promoted regime change in Ukraine "by destabilizing [pro-Russia President] Yanukovych." The U.S.-led coup in Ukraine provoked President Putin to seize Russian speaking Crimea and support Russian speaking separatists in the Donbas. It was not a knee-jerk reaction. As authors Schwarz and Layne tell us, it was at the 2008 conference in Bucharest, where President Bush proclaimed Georgia and Ukraine to be the next candidates for inclusion into NATO, that Putin warned President Bush, "if Ukraine joins NATO.it will do so without Crimea and the eastern regions. It will simply fall apart." After President Obama, Vice-President Biden, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and the neocons Victoria Nuland and Antony Blinken doubled down for eight years by arming Ukraine and building fortified lines, the newly elected Zelensky jettisoned his peace platform that brought him to power in favor of preparations for a massive attack on the Donbas. Aware of such preparations, Putin pre-empted that attack by invading Ukraine. Obviously, the prospect of Ukraine in NATO was at least as intolerable to Russia as Soviet missiles in Cuba were to the U.S. Authors Schwarz and Layne assert that the Biden administration "will not entertain an end to the conflict until Russia is handed a decisive defeat." That, however, is not going to happen. More likely is a Russian defeat of Ukraine. Recall that even President Obama was wise enough to acknowledge the Russia possesses escalation dominance in the area. Thus, as Russia marches toward victory in Ukraine, one that at least and finally wrests control over the Donbas, will America and NATO attempt to double down - increasing the already high risk of nuclear war -- perhaps by activating the 20,000 troops from the 82nd and 101st Airborne Brigades inexplicably near the border between Poland and Ukraine? Or might they be forced to accept a defeat, one which chastens an arrogant United States and leads to the dissolution of NATO? Although highly unlikely, these are the two changes that the authors believe to be necessary for the West to "pursue a more tolerant relationship with a recalcitrant world." (Image by World Union of Deists) Details DMCA Reason is a beautiful and priceless tool that enables us to objectively examine beliefs to determine what is true and what is false. People who believe in any and all of the "revealed" religions mistakenly believe they are believing in God's word. Our reason informs us that in reality, they are believing what ancient clergymen wrote. Clergymen who claimed God told them certain things that they then put in the "holy" scriptures/books. This is a classic case of hearsay. Followers of the "revealed" religions are not at all putting their trust in God; they are putting it in the largely anonymous ancient clergymen whose writings are found in the various "holy" books. Often Deists (Deists believe in The Supreme Intelligence/God based on reason and nature) are told by religious people that we should not put our trust in human reason. Thomas Paine did a great job of addressing this claim by the religious. In The Age of Reason, Paine wrote: ... he (religious people) despises the choicest gift of God to man, the GIFT OF REASON; and having endeavored to force upon himself the belief of a system against which reason revolts, he ungratefully calls it human reason, as if man could give reason to himself. There are many painful examples of why it is foolish and harmful to value man-made religions over our God-given reason. A trial that recently ended is yet another example of the vital importance of always valuing our innate God-given reason over all of the man-made "revealed" religions. The trial was of Lori Vallow Daybell. She was on trial for murdering her children, Joshua "JJ" Vallow and Tylee Ryan, and conspiracy of murder for the death of Tammy Daybell, her husband Chad Daybell's former wife. May 12, 2023, she was found guilty of all counts by a jury. Lori Vallow Daybell was a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormon). She was such a devout Mormon, before she married Charles Vallow, he had to convert from his life-long Catholicism to Mormonism. As a Mormon, Lori had to turn her back on her God-given reason (as everyone who belongs to a "revealed" religion has to do) in order to believe the nonsense in both the Christian Bible and in Mormonism and the Book of Mormon. When we stop using our reason in one instance, it sets a precedent to be unreasonable in other instances. And once we stop using our reason, there is no limit to the harm we can cause. As the Deist Voltaire pointed out: Truly, whoever is able to make you absurd is able to make you unjust. If the God-given understanding of your mind does not resist a demand to believe what is impossible, then you will not resist a demand to do wrong to that God-given sense of justice in your heart. As soon as one faculty of your soul has been dominated, other faculties will follow as well. And from this derives all those crimes of religion which have overrun the world. Some of the beliefs Lori Vallow Daybell and her husband Chad Daybell have sound insane. They seem to be a melding of Christianity, Mormonism and New Age nonsense. Ideas such as Chad having received spiritual insight and powers after a near-death experience. This allegedly made Chad a visionary and capable of traveling from this realm to other realms. It also, allegedly, empowered him to determine if someone was light/good or dark/evil. This superstitious foolishness eventually led to Chad and Lori believing Lori's children, Joshua "JJ" Vallow, 7, and Tylee Ashlyn Ryan, 17, were possessed by evil spirits and were taken over by these imaginary evil spirits to the point of them being turned into zombies. They believed all people who have been taken over by evil spirits needed to be killed before the end times/end of the world and return of Jesus could take place. This is the reason they had Lori's brother, Alex Cox, murder Lori's two innocent and helpless children. Religious/superstitious beliefs in evil spirits possessing people are part and parcel of all religions, including Buddhism. The anonymous authors of the Christian Gospels claim Jesus exorcised demons and evils spirits multiple times. Modern-day belief in these irrational beliefs cause very real harm and even death to adults and to children. The quality of Deism being solidly based on our innate God-given reason empowers people who become Deists to break free of the fear-based superstitions of the various "revealed" religions. People who realize that God gave us reason and not religion would never fall prey to the unreasonable teachings of the "revealed" religions. If Lori Vallow Daybell had been a person of reason instead of a person of faith, her children would still be alive today. An international economic summit to enhance cooperation in trade, economy, science and technology and promote social and cultural ties between Russia and the Islamic world opened in Kazan, the capital of the Russian Republic of Tatarstan, on Thursday. The 14th International Economic Summit: Russia-Islamic World: Kazan Forum 2023 also aims to expand Islamic finance and the halal industry in Russia and create new markets and economic opportunities for investors from the member countries of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC). Tellingly, Kazam will also host the 2024 BRICS summit. Vladimir Putin's message Russian President Vladimir Putin, in a message to the three-day Forum, pointed out that Russia enjoys traditionally close, trust-based relations with Muslim states, both bilateral and as part of our interaction with the Organization of Islamic Cooperation. "These relations are built on partnership, respect for each other's sovereignty and civilizational identity. We are united by a common desire to create a more just multipolar world order that is based on international law. The Islamic world is actively developing and has important accomplishments in trade, finance, innovations and applied scientific research. Russia is open to extensive business and cultural cooperation with Muslim countries," he added. Addressing the opening session, Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Marat Khusnullin stressed that Russia and the Islamic states are bound by strong ties of friendship and deep respect. "The strategic nature of our partnership not only strengthens relations, but also opens up new prospects. This is evidenced by the growth of trade turnover between Russia and the OIC states by almost 30% over the past 3 years. I am convinced that by joining efforts, we will be able to overcome the existing challenges together, achieve prosperity of our states and peoples," Marat Khusnullin said. "Special words of gratitude to our friends from the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, with whom we are actively working, to all foreign partners and business representatives who visited Kazan Forum. We have tried to create comfortable conditions for our guests to work and establish new contacts. I am sure that this forum will contribute to the further prosperity of our countries," Chairman of the Strategic Vision Group "Russia - Islamic World" Rustam Minnikhanov added. Russia Halal Expo 2023 Russia Halal Expo 2023 on Thursday opened its doors to visitors on the sidelines of the 14th International Economic Summit: Russia-Islamic World: Kazan Forum 2023. Expected to garner more than 7,000 visitors, the expo features halal products and services with an aim to promote the halal industry in Russia, improve commercial, economic, and social relations between Russia and participating Muslim countries and give trading partners a chance to showcase their goods. "Our slogan is trust and cooperation that has become the pivotal factor in the development of relations between Russia and Muslim countries not only in the economic sphere but also in the diversity of all cooperation projects that truly manifest our strategic partnership," Marat Khusnullin, Russia's deputy prime minister, said in his keynote speech. Khusnullin, who is also chairman of the Organizing Committee of the International Economic Forum, said the trade between Russia and the member countries of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) has grown by almost 30% over the past three years in line with the strengthening ties between countries taking part in the Kazan Forum. Tellingly, restaurants and hotels in Kazan have been asked to feature alcohol-free and Muslim-friendly halal menus, while markets were urged to temporarily stop selling pork. After the opening ceremony, the guests got acquainted with the exposition of Russia Halal Expo. The exhibition is the largest halal industry venue in Russia. Among the participants are representatives of almost all sectors of the economy, including food production, healthcare, industry, fashion and beauty industry, tourism, information technology, finance and investment. The International Economic Forum of Russia and the countries participating in the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) was first held in 2009, creating a leading international platform for discussing cooperation and implementing joint projects. Next Page 1 | 2 (Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher). This article originally appeared at TomDispatch.com. To receive TomDispatch in your inbox three times a week, click here. How strange! Once upon a time, the men who wrote the Constitution were only worried about how young a president could be. They set a bottom age limit of 35 but never considered a top limit of any sort. How things have changed! When I was boy, the oldest president ever "" and that was almost 200 years into the "American Century" "" was Dwight D. Eisenhower who, on leaving office in 1961, had just turned a staggering 70. In doing so, he had outlasted Andrew Jackson, who left the presidency at age 69. Later in my life, Ronald Reagan, after his second term, was almost 78 (my age now). Joe Biden, on taking the oath of office in January 2021, was already a record-breaking 78. Were he to win again in 2024, he would take that oath at 82 (unlike the youthful Donald Trump, who would be nearly 79). How strange then that no significant younger Democrat is challenging the president even as Ron DeSantis, a mere 44, is taking "our" former president on a trip to the GOP version of hell "" without as yet, as TomDispatch regular Clarence Lusane, author of the riveting Twenty Dollars and Change: Harriet Tubman and the Ongoing Fight for Racial Justice and Democracy, notes today, much luck. Before you consider Lusane's cogent thoughts on the mad Republican contest to turn this country into an authoritarian hell on earth, let me just fret a little about a Democratic candidate already older than creaky old me. Joe Biden clearly has no intention of not running a second time "" he's already announced "" and so is preparing to potentially set an oldest-yet record that may never be broken. It seems to matter little to him that a large majority of American voters, according to the latest polling, would like anything but a Biden-Trump repeat. And honestly, facing the increasingly authoritarian Republican right that's Lusane's focus today, it scares this old guy to imagine scenarios in which Biden's age could effectively hand this country and democracy itself over to the all-too-dangerous Donald Trump or another younger Republican intent on taking us into an authoritarian hell. Just a single Biden health crisis (especially if the U.S. economy were also to undergo one) and we could all be heading for genuine nightmare territory. Tom Donald Trump and Ron DeSantis Two Peas in a (White Nationalist) Pod By Clarence Lusane He appointed three conservative Supreme Court justices who shocked the nation with rulings that dramatically took away rights. He sided with the racists who used "states' rights" to push through undemocratic policies locally. And he's the only American president who lost a reelection bid but returned to office in the following election. Yes, I'm thinking of former New York governor and Democrat Grover Cleveland who first won the presidency in 1884, lost his reelection bid in 1888, only to successfully regain the presidency in 1892 against then-incumbent Benjamin Harrison. In 2024, Donald Trump hopes to repeat that history in all its ugliness by becoming the second former president to recapture the White House. And mind you, the consequences of that second Cleveland administration were devastating. Three of his Supreme Court appointees "" Melville W. Fuller, Rufus W. Peckham, and Edward D. White "" were part of the majority in the crucial and devastating 1896 Plessy v. Ferguson case that would sanction racial segregation across the nation and so solidify an American apartheid system that didn't end legally until the landmark 1954 Brown v. Board of Education decision. In a similar vein, it's hard to imagine how destructive a second Trump administration would be, given his first time in office. In virtually every area of public policy, the Trump administration proved a setback for women, people of color, working-class communities, LGBTQ individuals, environmental advocates, and those fighting to expand human and democratic rights. His three hyper-conservative Supreme Court appointees helped overturn Roe v. Wade, taking away abortion rights for millions without hesitation, while there have also been significant setbacks in the areas of gun safety, religious freedom, workers' rights, and more. But in truth, it's not the policymaking that Donald Trump truly longs for. Above all, he clearly misses the corruption, cruelty, and sense of power that came with his presidency. His dream of an authoritarian state in which he can punish his enemies endlessly without accountability (while enriching himself and his family) was thwarted in 2020 when voters rejected his candidacy. The bitterness of that loss still eats at his very being and drives his current presidential bid. As he himself stated, in a second term he seeks "retribution" against one and all. For those still in the Republican Party, Trump is once again the overwhelming early favorite. While 61% of Americans don't want him as president again "" 89% of Democrats and 64% of independents "" a whopping 76% of Republicans are Trumpian to the core, according to a March 2023 Marist poll. If impeachments, a slew of coming indictments, and a conviction for libel don't deter his GOP supporters "" indeed, they seem to have had the opposite effect "" then it's easy to see Trump winning the nomination in a landslide. Yet, in a number of ways, as the Republican Party continues to move ever more to the right, MAGA has already evolved beyond him. Despite the media oxygen he continues to consume, the current moment is less about him than most of us believe. Just as Cleveland reflected the growing racial retrenchment of the white South in the late 1800s, Trump embodies the growing entrenchment of an ever more extremist wing of American politics. As hyper-MAGA losing Pennsylvania senatorial candidate Kathy Barnette correctly stated, "MAGA does not belong to President Trump." In referring to the ascendant far-right wing of the Republican Party last year, she claimed that "our values never, never shifted to President Trump's values." Rather it was "President Trump who shifted and aligned with our values." What she neglected to add was that his conversion was completely transactional: he needed their support, and they needed his. Next Page 1 | 2 | 3 (Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher). New evidence shows that Bryan Kohberger may have infiltrated a womans home months before he allegedly carried out Novembers slayings of four University of Idaho students, a news report says. Kohberger befriended a woman, snuck into her home and moved items around before convincing her to let him install a video security system, a recent report by NBCs Dateline says. Kohberger and the woman were both students at Washington State University in Pullman when he reportedly moved around items in her home to make her feel uneasy and fearful. When the woman asked Kohberger unaware that he may have been the perpetrator Kohberger convinced her to install the video security system. Authorities say that Kohberger may have been able to hack the system and view the footage remotely, because he knew the womans WiFi information. I would expect that he orchestrated the whole thing, said retired FBI profiler Greg Cooper, who spoke on the episode of Dateline. (Kohberger) orchestrated it so that she would come to him ... its another level of having power and control over another person, Cooper added. The break-in allegations come just days after Kohberger was indicted for the deaths of four University of Idaho students: Madison Mogen, Kaylee Goncalves, Ethan Chapin, and Xana Kernodle. The students, all in their 20s, were reportedly sleeping in their off-campus home in Moscow, Idaho after a night out when they were gruesomely stabbed to death on the morning of Nov. 13, 2022. ______ 2023 New York Daily News. Visit nydailynews.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. Homeless and lacking identification, Katy Lyda lay unconscious in a Legacy Emanuel Medical Center bed for 12 days before hospital staff learned who she was. By then, neurological experts had declared her brain dead. A doctor called her family May 7 to tell them the 40-year-old had been struck by a car on a Northeast Portland street on April 25. Her family rushed to her bedside to say their good-byes. One of her sisters brought along Lydas framed aestheticians certificate and a collage of photos of Lyda in better days. Lyda holding her now 12-year-old daughter as a toddler. Lyda with a niece. Lyda with her parents, her skin a healthy glow and her smile brilliant. I wanted them to know that she was somebody, sister Rebecca Clark said. Katy was going through a really hard time, but she was a person. She had a life. Everybody is somebody. Lydas lightning quick descent into drug addiction in her 20s one that she never was truly able to shake and the way she died struck under the cover of darkness on a busy Portland street illustrate two of Portlands entwined problems: homelessness and traffic deaths. Last year, 63 people died in traffic-related crashes in Portland. Thats the highest number in at least 30 years. Of them, 28 were pedestrians, also the highest number in at least the past 12 years. And of those pedestrians, 36% were homeless, although they comprise only 0.7% of the Multnomah County population. So far in 2023, Portland has recorded at least 19 fatal car crashes. Nine have killed pedestrians. Its not yet clear how many others may have been homeless. In March, a 46-year-old man died while attempting to cross Northeast Sandy Boulevard at 162nd Avenue. He and his family had recently moved into a new apartment after living in a complex with black mold and before that a homeless shelter and motels, his family said. The stretch of road where Lyda was fatally struck Northeast 122nd and Skidmore Street also has a haunting history. About a block away, a second pedestrian was struck and killed last September. Police say 22-year-old Ian Stegall died in the 4000 block of 122nd Avenue after he was struck by a hit-and-run driver shortly before midnight. Parkrose community members have been lobbying the city for lower speed limits on 122nd. Driving south along the avenue, the speed limit slows from 45 mph to 30 mph a block or two before where Lyda was hit. Pedestrian safety advocates say the intersection is frequented by students from nearby Parkrose High School and Parkrose Middle School during daylight hours. Community members are fighting the planned arrival of a truck distribution center that will increase heavy truck traffic to the area. They also want the speed limit lowered to 20 mph. Statistics posted on the city of Portlands Vision Zero website state that about 10% of pedestrians die or suffer serious injury when struck at 20 mph. That rises to 40% at 30 mph and 80% at 40 mph. Eva-Jeanette Rawlins, a Parkrose School Board member, said encouraging students to bicycle or walk to school could be dangerous in her district. The idea is to roll to school or walk to school and unfortunately that doesnt apply to communities like Parkrose, Rawlins said, a mother of two. Because I feel like theyd be more at risk doing that instead of if I were driving them. Portland police didnt cite the driver who struck and killed Lyda with any crimes. A drug recognition expert didnt see any signs that he was impaired, so testing/evaluation was not justified, Sgt. Kevin Allen wrote in an email to The Oregonian/OregonLive. Allen said Lyda was wearing dark clothing, stepped into the crosswalk when the signal indicated she shouldnt walk and the driver had a green light. Though police dont have any evidence the man was speeding, they did ticket him for driving without a license and insurance. Lydas family said a police officer told them they didnt impound the car, didnt ticket the man on the spot and he was allowed to drive away from the scene information that greatly upset them. Police, however, told The Oregonian/OregonLive that they impounded the car and gave the man a ride home. An officer visited him that afternoon and handed him a $540 traffic citation for the lack of a license and insurance, Allen said. Lydas family suspect that she may have been high on drugs and unaware of the danger. But they also wonder how the driver didnt see Lyda until it was too late. She was pushing a shopping cart, they said. And although the crash happened at about 5:20 a.m., before sunrise, the area is lit with street lights and area businesses, including fast-food restaurants and a gas station. Bottomline, they say, a slower speed limit might have helped. The story of people who are homeless and dying on Portland streets is one that keeps repeating, they note. Lydas family say time and time again, the system let her down. She was raised in Sonoma County, Calif., got her GED and her aestheticians license, then began running a successful beauty business. But after a bad romantic break-up, she turned to drug use, family members said. She was going out and drinking and probably partying to numb the pain, said Clark, her sister. In a very short time, she lost her business. She started making a lot of mistakes because she was high on Oxycontin. Opioids. Her family said Lyda eventually managed to get off the drugs, had a daughter and entered a cycle of ups and downs while on methadone for about a decade. Lyda and her daughter lived with her parents, who about a decade ago moved to Washington County. Sometime around 2022, Clark said, Lyda weaned herself off of methadone and started to exercise and eat right. But some months later, after another break-up, she spiraled back into drug use methamphetamine and fentanyl, too. When this 2022 photo was taken, Katy Lyda had started to use drugs again, her family says. Due to her erratic behavior and the instability that introduced into her daughters life, her parents say they had to force her out of the house. But her mother, Cheri Lyda, never gave up trying to get her help. Cheri Lyda said she would meet her daughter at MAX stations to give her grocery gift cards, coats or other warm clothes. She would drive her to rehab clinics, only to have her daughter back out at the last moment because of drug-induced paranoia, such as unwillingness to sign paperwork because she thought bad things would come of it. Cheri Lyda said her daughter told her how rough homeless life was how shed ride MAX until it shut down for the night, find a place to huddle with other homeless people, then catch the earliest train in the morning for shelter. Once, Cheri Lyda said, her daughter told her she found a restroom at a local college where the door locked. She slept there at night for about a week before employees caught on. She told me her back was sore from sleeping on the hard floor, Cheri Lyda said. When she couldnt find a secure place, shed pass out and people would steal her stuff, Cheri Lyda said. She also heard stories about her daughter overdosing, but someone had always given her Narcan and brought her back to life. When I lay in bed worrying about her, I worried about her having a fentanyl overdose, Cheri Lyda said. She didnt worry much that her daughter would be killed by a car. Cheri Lyda said shed warned her about the dangers of crossing the street while living outside, but her daughter had assured her that she always looked three times before crossing the street and was careful to wear light clothing. The emphasis Katy Lyda put on that statement made her mother believe that it just might be true. On the morning Katy Lyda was fatally struck, her family thinks she was crossing Northeast 122nd on the way to the apartment of her boyfriends father. His dad did not want Katy Lyda to stay there, so she would show up during the day after the father had gone to work, her family said. Katy Lydas family say they tell her story because they hope it will help change something for the better. They are distraught by the many ways they believe the system failed her. That started with the methadone clinic that kept giving her methadone for so many years, Cheri Lyda says. But shes also disappointed in Oregons civil commitment system. A police officer told her it wasnt worth trying because he didnt believe Katy Lyda met the standard for forced mental health treatment. But Cheri Lyda does. She believes her daughter was a clear danger to herself. Katy Lydas family also is upset that it took so long for the system to identify her daughter. Though she didnt have identification on her, Cheri Lyda had filed a missing persons report two days after she was struck because she couldnt reach her daughter. I feel blessed we actually found out what happened to her, she said. Up until the day they learned she was in the hospital brain dead, they had hope she might one day turn her life around. Inside the pocket of the jacket she had been wearing, her mother found a folded piece of paper shed given her weeks earlier with rehab locations and phone numbers listed. She still had hope in her life, Cheri Lyda said, and this ended her hope. That hope now is gone. -- Aimee Green; agreen@oregonian.com Our journalism needs your support. Please become a subscriber today at OregonLive.com/subscribe In its second year back after two years of COVID pandemic shutdowns, the Portland Rose Festival hopes to bring the city something everyone could use right about now: An old-fashioned good time. The 2023 Portland Rose Festival theme is Focus on Fun, and while it might sound a bit cheesy, maybe focusing on the basic idea of having fun, something that has become challenging to most people during the last three years of pandemic anxiety, weather anxiety, violence anxiety, etc., is the perfect way to kick off Portlands summer. We feel so ready to come back together and celebrate, said Marilyn Clint, the festivals new CEO. Clint has been CEO for eight months, though she worked for the Rose Festival for many years before that, helping with events and communications. Whats amazing to me is that we can continue to do this now, Clint said, when we need it more than ever. We can continue to have parades and carnivals and clowns all those things weve been doing for more than 100 years, she continued. It just feels fantastic. So far, things are looking good on the fun front. Drag performer Poison Waters is set to be the Grand Marshal of the Starlight Parade in downtown Portland and the Oregon Brewers Fest is getting a second life as a tap takeover during the second weekend of the CityFair, which brings all the trappings of a county fair to the Portland waterfront. The Grand Floral Parade will use the same east side-only route it took last year, staying in the Lloyd District instead of traveling through downtown via the Burnside Bridge. Not everyone is thrilled about the new route, which is the result of police staffing shortages and future work on the Burnside Bridge, but attendees last year didnt seem bothered by it and downtown business owners arent worried either. The festival officially starts on Friday, May 26, with opening ceremonies at Tom McCall Waterfront Park. The festivities will include live music, the classic carnival rides of the CityFair midway and fireworks. CityFair is a ticketed event and one-day admission for everyone seven and older is $12. The fair, which will also include rotating local food trucks and a maker market with craft people working on site, runs for three weekends: Friday, May 26- Monday, May 29, Friday, June 2 to Sunday, June 4 and Friday, June 9 to Sunday, June 11. The festival, as usual, will have three major parades throughout the city. The CareOregon Starlight Parade is the first of the trio, beginning at 8 p.m. on Saturday, June 3 in downtown Portland. The Fred Meyer Junior Parade goes through the Hollywood District beginning at 1 p.m. on Wednesday, June 7. The Grand Floral Parade on the east side starts at 10 a.m. on Saturday, June 10. For anyone looking for a low bar to entry, the Junior Parade welcomes walk-up entries and there will even be a station where families and kids can decorate their floats or wagons on the day of the parade. There will be other types of fun, too the treasure hunt is back, starting May 28, as is Fleet Week, starting June 7 and, on June 10, the dragon boat race. And for anyone who really wants to get involved in making the fun, the festival is always looking for volunteers to guide visitors during the parades, build floats and clean up. Anyone 14 and over who wants to be part of that effort should visit rosefestival.org for more information. Though the 2023 festival may not be the first festival since COVID changed the world, it is part of what began last year. Were still on our comeback, she said. Portlands comeback and the Rose Festival come back. Lizzy Acker 503-221-8052; lacker@oregonian.com; @lizzzyacker Our journalism needs your support. Please become a subscriber today at OregonLive.com/subscribe Antony Valoppi, owner of Type Space in Southeast Portlands Richmond neighborhood, was packing up his shop Wednesday when a message landed in his email inbox. A manager for Tom Hanks let Valoppi know the Oscar-winning actor was interested in stopping by the store, which sells vintage typewriters. I emailed back, Hey, I can close the shop, I can open early, I can do a private viewing I can do whatever you want, Valoppi said. And his manager responded, Hes so much easier than that; dont even worry about it. But worry he did. Valoppi stayed up into the early morning Thursday, only getting a few hours of sleep before returning to the shop. Valoppi said he knew about Tom Hanks passion for typewriters, and figured the visit was a possibility when he learned Hanks would be in town to promote his new novel. Hanks showed up around 1 p.m., security in tow, but quickly waved them away when he met Valoppi. Tom didnt even wait, he just popped out of the side of the car, right up to the sidewalk with his hand out and says, Hey Tony, Im Tom,' Valoppi said. Like I wouldnt know who he was. Valoppi said their conversation did not delve into Hollywood and the Forrest Gump stars acting career, but focused on the machines both men share a passion for. Hanks collection of typewriters stands about 200 strong, Valoppi said, and Hanks told him he uses every one. Hanks passed on some of the rarest items in Valoppis shop and opted for a more practical typewriter, finding one at Valoppis shop that he struggled to find at other stores across the country. They were gearing up to head out after about an hour, and he made a comment that one of his favorites was a Smith Corona, Valoppi said. I just happened to have a Clipper sitting on the floor, and he told me hed been looking for one for so long. Hanks walked out with the $185 Smith Corona Clipper and a gold watch Valoppi gifted him from his collection. Valoppi said Hanks role in the 1980s sitcom Bosom Buddies helped get him through tough times as a 12-year-old boy and that the zany nature of the shows premise two male friends dress as women in order to room together at an inexpensive women-only rooming house made life tolerable. Valoppi added that Hanks lived up to his reputation as one of the nicest Hollywood personalities. Ive met celebrities before at restaurants and stuff like that, and they had ego, Valoppi said. He had none of it. Rather than meeting Tom, I just met a really great guy. Now others have a reason to visit the store off Southeast Division Street. Hanks promised to send a signed typewriter from his own collection. Austin De Dios; adedios@oregonian.com; @austindedios; 503-319-9744 Our journalism needs your support. Please become a subscriber today at OregonLive.com/subscribe Gift this article Share this article paywall-free. When people in Crow Agency see Rep. Sharon Stewart Peregoy around town and ask her how the legislative session went, she tells them, It was terrible. Thats the only way I can respond, she said. And she isnt alone. Other members of Montanas American Indian Caucus share the sentiment. Sen. Susan Webber, D-Browning, said the session was nasty, describing her experience as a really difficult and horrible time. Rep. Jonathan Windy Boy, D-Box Elder, who has served in the Legislature for two decades, described it as the most hyper-partisan, super hyper-partisan session Ive ever been in. Rep. Frank Smith, D-Wolf Point, who said this was his 24th year in politics, said it was the worst session yet. There are 11 Native American state lawmakers in Montana, nine of whom are Democrats. The group, formally known as the American Indian Caucus, is a minority within a minority in Montanans Legislature, which boasts a Republican supermajority. This legislative session, the caucus faced blatant and subtle racism and discrimination in the halls of the Capitol, in the elevators, in committee meetings and on the House and Senate floors. Before they could make a case for their bills, caucus members often had to first educate lawmakers on the basics of Indian law, tribal sovereignty and tribes unique relationship with the federal government. Caucus members also had to strategize and build relationships across the aisle so they could pass bills to help their communities. Many found themselves toeing a line making calculations about when to call out racism and when to let things go to ensure they could still work with their colleagues. Setting the stage In a redistricting meeting last August, months before the session began, the Daily Montanan reported that Rep. Brad Tschida, R-Missoula, said it wasnt fair that Indigenous people are overrepresented in the Legislature. The 2021 session was the first time the American Indian Caucus achieved parity in the Legislature, meaning their representation in the House and Senate mirrored their representation in the state population. The Havre Daily News reported last summer that Rep. Ed Butcher, R-Winifred, made disparaging comments about Indigenous lawmakers. The reservation doesnt always send their best and brightest, he was quoted as saying. Butcher was appointed to his seat this session when Doug Flament resigned due to health concerns. Later, in December, legislative aide Drew Zinecker publicly questioned whether Native Americans living on reservations in Montana should be able to participate in state elections. Webber, who is Blackfeet, said the various comments set a tone. Before (the session) started, we knew we were going to be on defense, she said. You could just feel it. Racism in the session In January, when the session started, the caucus members found themselves on defense. Sen. Keith Regier, R-Kalispell, drafted a joint resolution that urged Congress to investigate alternatives to the American Indian reservation system. The resolution contained stereotypes and misinformation, saying, in part, that reservations have produced the negative effects of drug abuse, alcoholism, domestic violence, welfare dependence, poverty and substandard educational achievements, resulting in lack of opportunity for their future well-being and happiness. Members of the American Indian Caucus were quick to condemn the resolution, calling it an attack. The resolution made national news, and Regier later said he would not bring it. Later in January, Webber brought a bill to establish a Chief Earl Old Person Memorial Highway on the Blackfeet Reservation. Old Person, an advocate, orator and the longest-serving elected tribal leader in the country, died in October 2021 at 92. Montana leaders, including Republican Gov. Greg Gianforte, spoke at his funeral. Webber, who brought the bill on behalf of her 12,000 constituents, said she thought it was a slam dunk. Instead, the bill was initially tabled in committee, where members cited an unwritten rule that highways can only be named for law enforcement members who died in service. Webber ultimately blasted the bill out of committee and onto the Senate floor, where several Republicans spoke against it. Sen. Theresa Manzella, R-Hamilton, cited the cost for the highway signs $4,700 each as a reason for her opposition, though the Legislature this session was working with a $2.4 billion surplus. The bill eventually passed out of the House and Senate, and with Gianfortes signature, became law, but Webber still thinks back on the barriers the legislation had to overcome. They made up these rules, she said, referencing some Republican lawmakers. She added that when she drives from her home in Browning to Helena, she passes through Dupuyer and sees signs for the Ivan Doig Memorial Highway, named for the famous writer. Hes not law enforcement, she said. They made up these rules on the spot because Earl Old Person was an Indian that right there is racism. Perhaps one of the biggest wins for the caucus was the advancement of a bill that would codify parts of the federal Indian Child Welfare Act into state law. Windy Boy, Chippewa Cree, brought the bill, and in his introductions, he emphasized that the federal law, called ICWA, was enacted in 1978 in response to decades of state child welfare and private adoption agencies separating Native children from their families. Sen. Dennis Lenz, R-Billings, later introduced a bill dubbed ICWA for all, which would expand some concepts of the federal law to apply to all children in Montana. Windy Boy insisted that his bill and Lenzs could coexist. When you think about it, ICWA for all shouldnt even be a term, Windy Boy told Lee Montana newspapers. ICWA stands for Indian Child Welfare Act. It was made in response to Indian children being taken from their parents. Windy Boy asked Sen. Jason Small, one of two Republicans in the American Indian Caucus and the chair, to carry his ICWA bill on the Senate floor, and Small, who prides himself on his ability to work across the aisle, agreed. The floor discussion was heated. Sen. Steve Hinebauch, R-Wibaux, said he heard that 49% of kids on the reservation are being investigated for child abuse. Small said he cant imagine thats the case. Sen. Jeremy Trebas, R-Great Falls, said he would support the bill if it applied aspects of ICWA to all children in Montana, and Sen. Daniel Emrich, R-Great Falls, asked Small if the word Indian was struck from the bill, would he still support it? Small answered that, yes, Lenzs bill applying some ICWA concepts to all children passed the Senate 50-0. That (hearing) was a tough one, Small, who is Northern Cheyenne, recalled. Theres definitely some kind of turbo-charged racism there. Theres some misunderstandings. ICWA is the gold standard for child welfare. Meanwhile, they wont let us have it? It was just getting so ignorant. The ICWA bill eventually passed both chambers with some new amendments, and it awaits Gianfortes signature. If passed into law, Small said it would be a big step forward. Native lawmakers said racism wasnt just prevalent in committee meetings or on the House and Senate floor it also showed up in the hallways, in muffled conversations and snide comments. Keegan Medrano, Muscogee Creek and policy director for the ACLU, tweeted that he got a haircut, and the next day, a legislator asked if Id been scalped. Sen. Shane Morigeau, D-Missoula, replied on Twitter saying in 2013, when he was a lobbyist, he wore a hat, and a lawmaker asked if it was his war bonnet. Stewart Peregoy, who is Crow, said Rep. Tanner Smith, R-Lakeside, approached her and two other Native caucus members this session to complain about Supaman, a famous Crow hip-hop artist who had recently visited a school in his district. (Smith) was upset that Supaman in his presentation told kids, Youre living on stolen land, Stewart Peregoy recalled. He asked us if we know Supaman, and when we said, Yes, we do, he said, We should get after Supaman for saying that. Stewart Peregoy said she told Smith that she will not condemn Supaman because what he said is true and he has a right to artistic expression. I just thought, Im not going to put up with this, Stewart Peregoy recalled. So I did take him on. I told him that he has white privilege and that as an American Indian woman, I am treated as a second-class citizen even within this Legislature. Smith denied calling for condemnation of Supaman and wrote in an email to Lee newspapers, "I was genuinely wondering their perspective on having these discussions with the younger age group." Looking back, Stewart Peregoy said Smiths comments crossed a line. Im Crow, but Im not in charge of all Crow people or all Natives, she said. The idea that were all the same is stereotypical. And those attitudes and assumptions impact how these people vote. Rep. Donavon Hawk, D-Butte, said when it came to Native bills, a small group in the House consistently voted against them. Reps. Braxton Mitchell, R-Columbia Falls, Matt Regier, R-Kalispell, Amy Regier, R-Kalispell, and Caleb Hinkle, R-Belgrade, were among five lawmakers who voted against establishing the Chief Earl Old Person Memorial Highway. The same four legislators were also among 10 lawmakers who opposed a bill strengthening Montanas Indian language preservation. Jerry Schillinger, R-Circle and the vice-chair of the Montana Freedom Caucus, was the only person to vote against establishing a missing persons training grant program. He was also one of three lawmakers to oppose a bill extending the Missing Indigenous Persons Task Force, and he voted in opposition to a resolution that would recognize the harm done in Indigenous boarding schools. Notably, Rep. Rhonda Knudsen, the other Republican in the American Indian Caucus, voted no on several of the caucus priority bills. She did not support Windy Boys ICWA bill, and she did not support the resolution to recognize Indigenous boarding schools. Knudsen declined to comment on her role within the caucus. Lack of education Several caucus members noted that oftentimes, before defending their bills, they first had to educate lawmakers on things like federal Indian law, criminal jurisdiction and what life actually looks like on reservations. Webber brought a bill that would provide tax exemptions to tribal members who own fee land and are in the process of converting that land to trust and spent much of her time defining fee and trust land for the committee. She concluded the hearing saying she hoped she educated the committee, and the bill later died in the House. When she introduced the bill on establishing an Earl Old Person Memorial Highway, Webber fielded questions from committee members on what it means to be a chief and what roles that person fulfills in a tribal community. Its a lack of knowing your neighbor, Webber said later. Its a lack of knowing what goes on in neighboring communities. It showed me how little they know about their Indian neighbors and how little they want to know. Montana was the first state to constitutionally mandate a commitment in its educational goals to understanding Native American tribes and cultures, but lawmakers are not required to receive such education. Morigeau, a citizen of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes, introduced a bill to improve lawmakers grasp on tribal issues by making information on Indian law and policy readily available to all legislators. He said in his testimony that while there was a training offered to lawmakers on Native issues this session, it lasted just 10 minutes. The bill didnt pass out of committee. Morigeau said he was disappointed by the bills failure, adding that training would have helped people make better, more informed decisions. When it comes to legislation aimed at improving life for Native Americans, Morigeau said some Republicans have an us vs. them attitude. When he proposed his bill on tribal education for lawmakers, for example, he said he heard that people were upset by the idea of having to learn about Natives. They think, Why dont you (Natives) have to learn about us (non-Natives)? Morigeau explained. Well, the thing is, we learn about dominant society and history every day. We live it. Morigeau said he saw this kind of attitude during ICWA discussions, too, particularly when Emrich suggested removing the word Indian from the legislation. Its this idea of, Why arent we getting this and you are? Morigeau said. In their mind, (legislation that applies to Native Americans) is this special thing. This attitude, Morigeau said, is another reason why educating lawmakers on Native history, policy and law is important. If people knew that ICWA was first enacted to address harmful and assimilationist U.S. policies, maybe they would understand why the law applies to Native Americans and not all children, for example. What were trying to do is close gaps so there is equity, Morigeau said. With a lack of education and formal training, Stewart Peregoy said stereotypes persist in the Capitol. (Some lawmakers) are completely ignorant of Indigenous people in Montana, she said. Its willful. When they see us, they think were a bunch of drunks who live off the government. Thats the attitude. Asking for scraps Webber said when compared with the $2.4 billion surplus the Legislature dealt with this session, Native bills were afforded pocket change. Stewart Peregoy said several of the Native bills, including the one on language preservation and a missing Indigenous persons task force, are one-time only, meaning funding expires, and the bills must be revisited every session. Thats the intent, she said. We have to go in and fight for them every year and justify them up the wazoo. She noted that a bill to expand and enhance the Montana Missing Indigenous Persons Task Force originally requested $50,000 and was cut to $5,000. You cant do anything with that, she said. Its piecemeal. Morigeau said a former lawmaker said being in the American Indian Caucus feels like were dogs asking for scraps. Rep. Marvin Weatherwax, D-Browning, said the environment in the Capitol was so bad, he hardly went to any of my committees. It wasnt going to make a difference anyway, he said, adding that his other commitments as a tribal councilman and leader of the Coalition of Large Tribes were more fulfilling for him. I doubt Ill run again, he added. I dont feel like degrading myself like that. Weatherwax said he was able to vote by proxy so his constituents still had a voice in the Legislature, but there was at least one time where he did not vote by proxy, which a Democratic spokesperson attributed to a communication error. "A lot of (my constituents) didn't notice I was gone," Weatherwax said. Supporting Rep. Zooey Zephyr When Rep. Zooey Zephyr, a transgender lawmaker from Missoula, was censured for saying legislators should be ashamed to support bills that would hurt transgender youth, the American Indian Caucus was among the first groups to issue a formal statement in support of her. Morigeau said when legislators voted to keep Zephyr off the House floor, he could tell members of the American Indian Caucus were upset. They were upset about what happened to her, but I could also see it was a bummer for people because it triggered other emotions from things weve dealt with in the past, he said. Man, weve been hurt so many times, and the Zephyr thing really disturbed the ground. Its like when you drop a rock in a mud puddle and a bunch of dirt comes up and floats around. It really brought up emotions and experiences for people. Morigeau himself was also criticized for speaking on one of his bills, prior to Zephyrs censure. In his introduction to a bill replacing Columbus Day with Indigenous Peoples Day, he listed atrocities that Columbus had committed against Native people, including amputation, rape and beheading. Sen. Dan Salomon, R-Ronan, blamed Morigeau for the bills failure. (Morigeau) starts off with accusing Columbus of rape, beheading, amputations I have never in my experience been so mad, he said. I shared factual information, Morigeau said later. They didnt like hearing those facts. Its a double standard of, Just dont say the things we dont like and youll be alright. The point is, they say stuff all the time that makes us uncomfortable. Stewart Peregoy called Zephyrs censure blatant fascism, and Webber said it was discrimination. We know all about discrimination in the American Indian Caucus, Webber said. And for Zooey, it was discrimination. Bottom line. Rep. Donavon Hawk, D-Butte, said Native communities have supported and integrated Two-Spirit people, who occupy a traditional third gender, into their communities since time immemorial. It surprises me that this country is only a couple hundred years old, and we are not able to function with LGBTQ people in our communities, he said. (The caucus) knows what its like to be persecuted, to be written out of existence, so we stood up. Walking on eggshells Morigeau said as a Native lawmaker, he often feels like hes walking on eggshells. When youre in a minority, you have less room for error, he explained. If I get upset about something, then Im just the angry Native guy who has a chip on his shoulder. So you cant get too upset or emotional because it pushes people away. You have to keep your composure. Im not going to get anything passed if Im enemies with people. We have to get along. While Native lawmakers faced discrimination and combated stereotypes this session, many said they came to the Capitol prepared to do exactly that. Webber views the Native caucus as a firewall protecting tribes from harmful policies. Windy Boy said if people are making decisions on behalf of the people he represents, I want a seat at that table. And Sen. Mike Fox, D-Hayden, said if Natives arent in the room, rumors and misinformation spread. We grew up with this stuff, said Morigeau, referencing stereotypes and discrimination. And weve learned to ignore it or handle it respectfully. A lot of us have dealt with this our whole lives. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Fifty years after what became known as the poisoning of Michigan, community members, scientists and policy makers gathered at Alma College to remember the history and explore the legacy of PBB and the large-scale contamination of Michigan farms. The PBB Disaster at 50: A Conference to Commemorate and Learn from the Poisoning of Michigan took place May 18-20 at Alma College. The contamination occurred throughout Michigan in 1973 due to a shipping error made by Velsicol Chemical. Multiple bags of the fire retardant Firemaster were mistakenly shipped to a Farm Bureau Services, Inc. feed packing plant along with the intended shipment of magnesium oxide Nutrimaster, causing toxic chemicals to be mixed with animal feed. Polybrominated biphenyls (PBBs) are man-made chemicals that were commonly used as a fire retardant in plastic products before being banned in the United States in 1976. PBBs dont break down quickly in nature - the chemicals have stayed in our environment for decades. PBBs can build up in people who are exposed and remain in their bodies for many years, according to the Michigan Department of Health. The error was discovered nearly a year later, after PBB had entered the food supply products and exposed an estimated 8.5 million Michiganders to the chemical through contaminated milk and dairy products, beef, pork, lamb, chicken, and eggs. The companys error led to the destruction of more than 30,000 contaminated animals and food products. Researchers continue to identify health problems in people connected to the exposure 50 years later. Gratiot County farmer Rick Halbert, formerly a Dow Chemical engineer, was the first person to identify the companys error after his cattle fell ill and he discovered PBB in their feed. According to Ed Lorenz, vice chair of the Pine River Superfund Citizen Task Force nonprofit organization and a member of the conference organizing committee, the impact that PBB poisoning had on Michigan was immense economically, environmentally and on the health of countless people spanning multiple generations. It really cant be overstated what a major crisis this was not just locally, but across the state and even throughout the Midwest, Lorenz said. This became something that the Gratiot County area became known for on an international level. St. Louis native James Hall experienced firsthand the effects of PBB poisoning. When his blood was tested in 2013, it was found to register more than five parts per billion, one of the highest levels of PBB found in a human. Hall and his five siblings all suffer from thyroid conditions, likely caused by their exposure to PBB. One brother passed away from cancer at the age of 24. Hall and his wife lost a daughter at only 2 years old from a rare heart illness, highly suspected to have been partially caused by Halls exposure to PBB. In 2003, I had a daughter born. In 2005 she passed away. Multiple, multiple things wrong with her, birth defects, Hall said. Eighteen years later, it still hurts. Those affected directly by the PBB contamination are using the 50th anniversary conference to tell their stories and inform the public, as many of them have felt swept under the rug for years. One of the major conference events was naming PBB Heroes, individuals, community partners, and citizen groups who have dedicated their time and energy to advancing knowledge and raising awareness about Michigans PBB disaster. One of the people honored was Thomas Corbett, who was working as an anesthesiologist and clinical investigator with a background in reproductive biology when the PBB disaster began. Using his research laboratory, Corbett was the first to demonstrate that PBB caused birth defects in laboratory animals, the first to warn Michigan consumers to not eat contaminated farm products, and among the first to warn mothers to not breastfeed their babies. I said we have to help these people because its totally out of hand, Corbet said. Theyre letting people eat these contaminated products and theyre not doing anything to help protect the people. Corbett sought the advice of Dr. Irving Selikoff, who offered his services and his team of experts to the state to investigate and advise the Michigan regulatory officials. Another person who was recognized was Edith Clark, who was an aide to Michigan Speaker of the House Bobby Crim during the PBB disaster years. When state and federal agencies withheld information about the disaster from the press, she went ahead and gave them the facts. Clark made the PBB contamination her personal crusade and worked to get bills passed by an often-hesitant legislature. Id like everybody to really take into consideration the reality that most of the good information that we got in the early stages of this crisis did not come from state agencies; it came from farmers and their children, Clark said. They were not listened to for a long time. In 1982, after three years of negotiation, Velsicol reached a settlement with the U.S. EPA and Michigan Department of Natural Resources to be freed of future liability if the company paid for demolition of the old factory (closed in 1979) and moved all contamination from the Velsicol Burn Pit to the old plant site and buried it. Velsicol Chemical officials estimated the company spent $38.5 million for clean-up. In 1983, the Former Velsicol plant site, Gratiot County Landfill and Velsicol Burn Pit became Superfund sites, meaning the Environmental Protection Agency is given the funds and authority to clean up the contaminated sites. That cleanup continues today. Republican Gov. William Milliken was in office in 1973 when it took more than a year for state agriculture officials to determine the feed was tainted, and several more months before action was taken that led to the slaughter of more than 1 million animals. Fear spread over the health effects of eating contaminated animals, their milk or eggs. When Milliken went to the tiny community of Mio in Oscoda County to talk to residents about burying slaughtered animals, he spoke with his effigy (hanging) behind him and a near riot in front of him, biographer David Dempsey said. When it comes to the human health impact from the PBB disaster, Liz Braddock, Health Officer with the Mid-Michigan District Health Department, said the scars of how people suffered with their health will go on, and the studies being done with epigenetics show that this will go on for generations. We need to make sure that those who are struggling with what happened and are dealing with the health effects of PBB are able to move forward and get the testing that they want, said Braddock. And make sure that the legacy of what happened is brought forward and that children and grandchildren are also made aware of it and keep this as a focal point. To learn more about PBB contamination in Michigan and if it may have affected you, visit Rollins School of Public Health, Michigan PBB Registry, at emory.edu. A woman and her young daughter were critically injured Monday in a head-on crash on a West Michigan road, per state police. A woman and her young daughter were critically injured Monday in a head-on crash on a West Michigan road, per state police. Photos provided/Michigan State Police Sixth District A nurse saved a Michigan woman and her daughter after their car caught fire in a head-on crash. Michigan State Police announced Monday afternoon that around 6:26 a.m. a vehicle traveling eastbound crossed the centerline on Sidney Road near Stevenson Road in Montcalm Countys Evergreen Township. Driven by a 37-year-old man from Crystal, the vehicle struck a Subaru after crossing the line. In the Subaru, which caught on fire from the collision, were the 29-year-old woman and her 6-year-old daughter, also from Crystal, according to MSP Sixth District in the Monday announcement. Crystal is northeast of Grand Rapids. A nurse drove upon the crash scene immediately following and heroically rescued the female driver and child from the burning vehicle, MSP wrote. The mother and child were taken to the hospital in critical condition, according to MSP. The other driver suffered serious injuries and was also transported to the hospital. Story update Update as of Thursday, May 26: The 6-year-old girl died from her injuries sustained in the crash, while her mother survived, Michigan State Police announced three days after the collision. An investigation into the two-vehicle crash by troopers for the MSP Lakeview Post is ongoing. Montcalm County Emergency Services, Sheridan Community Fire Department, Stanton Community Fire Department and a state police accident reconstructionist assisted troopers at the scene. The Rotary Clubs of Midland are hosting a free Community & Connections Event on Thursday, June 8 in Grove Park in Midtown Midland. This event will take place from 3 to 6:30 p.m. It is open to all ages, offering two sessions (of the same content) with activities tailored to age 5 and above. Noted facilitators include DeOndre Hogan, Midland Public Schools diversity director; Erin Patrice, founder of The Breaking Bread Village; Gina Wilson from the Cultural Awareness Coalition; and Ken Jolly, history professor and Black Studies degree advisor for Saginaw Valley State University. This is designed as an opportunity to further Midlands vision: "Together. Forward. Bold. An exceptional place where everyone thrives." The Cultural Awareness Coalition and Youth Inclusivity Committee will facilitate the conversation. The purpose is to have community discussion around and build the skills for courageous conversations, the power of three (dialogue, inclusion and intentionality); ways to break down barriers; how to deal with systemic inequality; address privileges/accessibility; and create a circle of connection. It will include a post-workshop evaluation. Hot dogs, water, and ice cream will be provided, and a food truck will be available. Music begins at 2:30 p.m., and the welcome tent opens at 2:45 p.m. The first workshop runs from 3 to 4:30 p.m., and the second workshop from 5 to 6:30 p.m. The workshops will be interactive with activities facilitated in small groups. The Grace A. Dow Memorial Library will host a variety of activities at the park, including a musical program geared toward kids; a MidLab (makerspace) geared toward teens and adults; crafts for all ages; a park reading area promoting mindfulness; and sign-up for the summer reading program. The following list includes recent reports from the Midland County Sheriffs Office and the Midland Police Department. Compiled by reporter Tereasa Nims. Sunday, May 21 11:08 p.m. - Deputies were dispatched to a Homer Township location for a loud music complaint. Deputies located the loud music and spoke to the tenants of the residence, who advised they would shut off the music. 6:22 p.m. - Deputies, Lee Township Fire Department, MyMichigan EMS and the Michigan Department of Natural Resources were dispatched to a Greendale Township residence for an unknown medical problem. It was determined that a 20-year-old woman had a panic attack and was refusing medical attention. The incident stemmed from a verbal argument with her 24-year-old fiance. No crime was committed. 6:14 p.m. - Police responded to the 900 block of Joe Mann Blvd. for reports of drug possession, child endangerment and driving under the influence of drugs/alcohol. Police arrested a 25-year-old Midland woman. 3:05 p.m. - A deputy was dispatched to a Coleman residence regarding a possible vehicle theft. A 38-year-old woman reported that her 2011 Ford Escape was moved from her driveway to the library parking lot, which was only a few blocks away, sometime between 10 a.m. and noon. She said she originally thought it was stolen, but later learned her teenage son's friends were playing a joke on her. After learning that it was a joke, she didn't want a report filed. 2:40 p.m. - Police responded to domestic violence and larceny complaints in the 1500 block of West Union Street. More Information Teen's played a joke on a friend's mom, moving her SUV from her driveway to the nearby library. Deputies were called before realizing it was a joke. See More Collapse 11:31 a.m. - A deputy was dispatched to meet a neighboring jurisdiction to pick up a 49-year-old man on two Midland County warrants. The man was lodged in the Midland County Jail. 11:12 a.m. - A 32-year-old Edenville Township man reported his 28-year-old wife as a missing person. Deputies located the woman. She was fine, but said she was leaving her husband and did not want him to know her location. 3:21 a.m. - Deputies were dispatched to a Lee Township residence for a report of an unknown woman attempting to break into the residence. Deputies contacted the 20-year-old Alma woman, who resisted during the encounter. The woman was lodged at the Midland County Jail for attempted home invasion and resisting an officer. A report was turned over to the prosecutor. Saturday, May 20 11:52 p.m. - A deputy met with Michigan State Police for a warrant pick-up in Bay County. A 41-year-old Birch Run man was transported and lodged at the Midland County Jail without incident for a Midland County warrant. 8:41 p.m. - Police were called to the area of E. Patrick and Washington streets for a warrant arrest. 8:11 p.m. - A deputy was dispatched to an Edenville Township residence regarding a possible illegal burn. The complainant advised that his neighbor was burning rubber. Contact was made with the 47-year-old homeowner, who allowed the deputy to inspect the fire pit. Nothing but tree materials was located. 8:01 p.m. - A deputy responded to a Porter Township adult foster care residence for a suspicious situation. The 24-year-old female resident said she was receiving threatening calls from a man who is a resident at another AFC home. The staff at the residence advised they would handle the complaint. 10:06 a.m. - A 61-year-old Gladwin man was cited for no insurance and improper plate following a traffic stop in Edenville Township. A report is being sent to the prosecutor. 10:00 a.m. - Police were called for a K9 request in the 200 block of E. Collins Street. Friday, May 19 11:10 p.m. - Deputies were sent to the City of Coleman for a report of a suicidal woman. Contact was made with the woman who admitted to being suicidal. EMS transported her to the ER. A deputy completed a mental health petition for treatment. 10:45 p.m. - A subject struck a porcupine with their vehicle in Geneva Township and asked for a deputy to dispatch the animal. A deputy responded and removed the injured animal from the road. There was no damage to the vehicle. 8:21 p.m. - Police were called to a hit-and-run crash at Ann and Ashman streets. 5:58 p.m. - Deputies were dispatched to an alleged criminal sexual conduct that occurred at a Lincoln Township residence involving a 14-year-old girl. This is an ongoing investigation. 5:47 p.m. - Police responded to George and E. Ellsworth streets for a drunken driving property damage crash. 3:32 p.m. - A Midland County Animal Control deputy received a call regarding a dog bite at a home in Greendale Township. A man was bitten by his own dog. An isolation notice was issued. 4:48 p.m. - A deputy met with Mount Pleasant police to pick up a man with a Midland County warrant. The man was transported to the Midland County Jail without incident. 3:57 p.m. - Deputies were dispatched to speak with a 39-year-old woman regarding her 15-year-old daughter being harassed by a 17-year-old girl over the phone. The mother only wished for the incident to be documented. 1:45 p.m. Police were called to the 100 block of W. Larkin Street for a K9 request. BRUSSELS (AP) Almost 20,000 Belgian trade union members mounted a demonstration on Monday to protest what they see as increasingly bad working conditions and the erosion of their right to strike. Action by transport workers paralyzed subway and other traffic in Brussels for most of the day. The trade unions are irked by companies that seek to impose new contracts on workers that impact their social rights, affect their working conditions and cut their pay. They are specifically protesting the decision by the Delhaize supermarket chain to change the store management setup, directly cutting into the income and rights of staff. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate America, we have a problem. MAGA Republicans are threatening to default on America for the first time in history unless they can take away the things everyday Americans need to survive: food and health programs, health care for Veterans, public education, and housing assistance. Instead of growing our economy as U.S. House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy purports to care about, they want to stifle investments that will create good-paying jobs, rollback home energy tax credits, and defund the IRS so it cant go after wealthy tax-cheats and force them to pay what they owe. McCarthy cares more about providing kickbacks in the form of tax breaks to his wealthy donors than he does making sure you have food on your table, gas in your car, and clothes on your kids back. His MAGA colleagues that are holding the Republican party hostage? They care far more about sticking it to President Joe Biden and the liberals than how this is going to hurt their constituents. Despite McCarthy and his extreme colleagues claiming that this deficit is all Bidens fault, we have to examine actual facts. Trump had the 3rd-biggest primary deficit growth of any president in history at 5.2% of the GDP - Trump was exceeded only by George W. Bush (11.7%) and Abraham Lincoln (9.4%). Military spending is a factor in all of those situations, but for Bush and Trump, massive tax cuts for the wealthy are a huge culprit as well. Another blow to the theory of "trickle down" economics that never really made sense anyway. If MAGA Republicans block America from paying its bills, bills that were clearly racked up under Trump, millions of hard working American families wont be able to pay theirs. Republicans have grabbed the wheel of the car and are careening us toward a cliff that will plunge us into complete economic shutdown. Every American (except maybe the uber-wealthy) will feel the effects of this catastrophe. All because a handful of far-Right representatives want to play chicken with your financial future. Most of us just want to work hard, live our lives, and leave things better off for generations to come. But McCarthy and the extremists holding his leash want to steal benefits from Americans who work every day to raise their kids, care for aging parents, punch the clock at their job, and enjoy whatever part of the American dream theyve been able to procure for themselves. Why are Republicans doing this? Holding on to tax breaks for the wealthy that have already increased the deficit and crippled programs that assist the least of us. It all boils down to one word: Freedom. MAGA Republicans have gone after your freedom to love who you love, make your own decisions about your body, provide a good education for your kids and grandkids, and parent your kids as you see fit. Now they are attacking your economic freedom. The party of small government wants to control what you do, what you say, where you go, and even how or if you can provide for your family by handing more economic power to the wealthy few. This is not freedom. And its not America. We have to stand up and demand that America pay its bills, just like all the rest of us do. Kevin McCarthy and his MAGA extremists need to halt this attack on Americans. They need to stop doing the bidding of the wealthy and start standing up for everyday Americans instead. Jennifer Austin is chair of the Midland County Democratic Party. Banjul, Gambia (PANA) - Gambia's ruling National People's Party (NPP) and the opposition United Democratic Party (UDP) won four seats each in Saturday's mayoral and chairmanship elections Gift this article Share this article paywall-free. A kitchen fire destroyed a house on Bismarck's Connecticut Street on Sunday evening, but no one was hurt. Dispatchers received a call shortly after 4:30 p.m. Twenty-four firefighters responded to the scene and reported heavy smoke coming out of the eaves of the home, according to the Fire Department. The stove top fire was out but the flames had spread to the rest of the house via the attic. Firefighters had to knock down the drywall in order to access the attic area and put out the fire. The two residents were able to evacuate with their pets. No injuries were reported. The cause of the fire was ruled accidental. New York, US (PANA) - A Ghanaian peacekeeper serving with the United Nations Interim Security Force in Abyei (UNISFA) will receive the 2022 United Nations Military Gender Advocate of the Year Award, it was announced on Monday Tripoli, Libya (PANA) - Jordan has reaffirmed its position of standing by Libya, its people, national interests, and reaching a permanent solution that the people will accept Tripoli, Libya (PANA) - Libyan Prime Minister Abdelhamid al-Dbaiba has stressed the need for concerted efforts by all state institutions to support the plan of the General Electricity Company of Libya (GECOL) to ensure supply during the summer peak, after its success in dealing with the winter peak Khartoum, Sudan (PANA) - An Adviser to the Commander of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has expressed the hope that the temporary humanitarian truce signed in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, last Saturday, with the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) would evolve into a permanent ceasefire Khartoum, Sudan (PANA) - The Trilateral Mechanism, consisting of the United Nations, the African Union, and the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), have welcomed the signing of an Agreement on a Short-Term Ceasefire and Humanitarian Arrangements by the warring Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on Saturday On May 16 Patently Apple posted a report titled " The rumor of a Shell Company Trademarking 'xrOS' in New Zealand resurfaces with new information. This morning we posted another IP report titled "The Australian and Hong Kong Trademark Office Databases reveal that Apple's Shell Company filed for xrProOS Trademark last Week." Later this morning, a new report from MacRumors revealed that the Apple shell company by the name of 'Immersive Health Solutions LLC, filed for the "RealityProOS" Trademark in New Zealand according to a patent attorney who didn't provide a screenshot of the filing for Apple fans to see. So we decided to look into this and the trademark filing from the New Zealand IP Office is presented below in the form of a screen shot of the basic filing information. (Click on the image below to greatly Enlarge) The MacRumors report also pointed to Realityo Systems LLC filing for 'REALOS" (all caps). We found the trademark filing under #1237684 was submitted on May 18, 2023. The International Registration number is 1729924. It was filed under International Classes 09 and 12. (Click on image to Enlarge) However, let it be known that REALOS is owned by Fujitsu Limited of Japan. It was registered in the U.S. on March 8, 2008 under #3,393,347 covering computer operating system. Yet interestingly the trademark was transferred to Realityo Systems LLC on March 30, 2023 under serial #78909065. (Click on image to Enlarge) While at the New Zealand IP Office, we Entered "RealityProOS" into the search bar and the results came in with one for Reality Pro and two other were for "Reality OS" under two filings, but none for RealityProOS combined. We'll check back tomorrow to see if anything new has been filed, but the latest finding in the New Zealand IP Office has no such filing registered. (Click on image to Enlarge) We also took another look at both Australian and Hong Kong IP Offices searching for more trademarks related to "Immersive Health Solutions." Both IP Offices also included a trademark filing for "Reality Processor" and others as noted below. (Click on both Screenshots below to Enlarge) As we get closer to Apple's WWDC23, we're bound to read about more rumors surfacing about Apple's XR Headset as the excitement about the introduction of this all-new device from Apple builds. So stay tuned. One of the speakers in our sacrament meeting today referred briefly to the story of John Colter, who appears to have been the first person of European descent to have explored the area of todays Yellowstone National Park and to have seen the Grand Tetons, and who is often termed the first of the mountain men. John Colter (or Coalter or Coulter) was born in the first half of the 1770s in Virginia. From 1804 to 1806, he participated as a member of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, the famous Corps of Discovery. Afterwards, though, during the winter of 1807-1808, he explored the area of modern-day Wyoming largely on his own, and he died in the vicinity of St. Louis, Missouri, on either 7 May 1812 or 22 November 1813 Colter left no record of his own behind but, reportedly, he visited at least one geyser basin during his 1807-1808 journeys. Many authorities now believe that he most likely was near present-day Cody, Wyoming, which may still have had some geothermal activity at that time to the immediate west. Heading north and then west thereafter, he is believed to have come across Yellowstone Lake, another location in which he saw geysers and other geothermal features. At the conclusion of his adventure, Colter arrived back at Fort Raymond, which was located at the confluence of the Yellowstone and Bighorn Rivers in what is now known as Montana. When he reported jets of scalding water soaring into the sky (geysers), bubbling mudpots, and steaming pools of sulfurous water, very few in his audience believed him. Such things were far outside of their experience and seemed to them merely his fantasies. In fact, he was ridiculed for his claims, and the region of which he told came to be known, jokingly, as Colters Hell. We now know, of course, that Colters reports were accurate, though we still dont know exactly where to locate Colters Hell. Many believe it to have been immediately west of Cody, Wyoming, where some thermal activity still exists and for which other reports from near Colters time report phenomena similar to those that Colter had first described. The name Colters Hell may refer specifically to the region of the Stinking Water, which is now known as the Shoshone River, and particularly the section of it that runs through Cody. The rivers original name was given because of the presence of sulfur in the area surrounding it. When Benjamin Silliman and James Kingsley from Yale reported that stones had fallen from the sky over Weston, Connecticut, Thomas Jefferson, very much a man of the Enlightenment and very much in the spirit of the skeptical philosopher David Hume, reportedly commented that It is easier to believe that two Yankee professors would lie than that stones would fall from heaven. Jeffersons Humean skepticism about meteorites, wrote John Suppe, Blair Professor of Geosciences at Princeton University, was not directed just at New England and it was not expressed out of scientific ignorance. He had published several geologic contributions, and he was aware of some details of the then-current scientific controversy over stones falling from the sky. For many skeptics the first convincing investigation had come a few years earlier, in 1803, when Jean-Baptiste Biot, a brilliant young professor of the College de France and friend of Laplace, was dispatched by the French Academy of Sciences to investigate a fall of stones near the town of LAigle in Normandy. He collected detailed testimony from the surrounding villages that confirmed the time and place of the fall, that about 3000 stones fell in a 4-by-10-kilometer area, and that the stones were found lying on top of the ground and were of a type unlike rocks native to the area. Biots evidence was overwhelmingly convincingbut not to Jefferson, who wrote to a friend saying that the report was a result of the exuberant imagination of a Frenchman . . . run away with his judgment. The evidence of nature, derived from experience, must be put into one scale, and in the other the testimony of man, his ignorance, the deception of his senses, his lying disposition. In our day, the evidence for meteorites is overwhelming and, so far as Im aware, no serious person doubts that stones can and do sometimes fall from the sky. In fact, Professor Suppe, writing about Jeffersons early-nineteenth-century skepticism in 2000, remarked that It is . . . ironic that nearly 200 years later, convincing evidence has been amassed in Chesapeake Invader by C. Wylie Poag, a paleontologist from the U.S. Geological Survey in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, that a vastly larger meteor impacted south of the Mason-Dixon line, creating a 100-kilometer-wide crater that lies deeply buried under Chesapeake Bay and the shores of Jeffersons Virginia. [See John Suppe, Reports of Stones Falling from the Sky, Books & Culture: A Christian Review (May/June 2000) (https://www.booksandculture.com/articles/2000/mayjun/14.44.html)] What should we conclude from such stories as that of Jeffersons reported skepticism about meteorites? What can we learn from the first reactions to John Colters discovery of geothermal activity in the area of modern Yellowstone National Park? Surely one lesson to be learned is that, while gullibility is surely a fault to be avoided, closed-minded skepticism can also be a barrier to understanding reality. All truth, it is said, passes through three stages: First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is passionately and sometimes even violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as self-evident. Something similar happens, unfortunately, with certain falsehoods. The reputations of Nicolas Copernicus, Galileo Galilei, and Johannes Kepler dont rest upon their acceptance of the astronomical consensus of their times. Albert Einstein, accepting the consensus of a static and unchanging cosmos, mistakenly shied away from the expanding universe predicted by his own equations. His reputation rests on his achievements in other regards, where, more characteristically, he didnt fear to go against commonly held opinion. Unintimidated by consensus, Edwin Hubble and Alexander Friedmann and Father Georges Lemaitre gave us the Big Bang and the subsequently expanding universe. Alfred Russel Wallace and Charles Darwin didnt originate the theory of evolution by deferring to consensus. Ignaz Semmelweis argued for the importance of disinfection during surgeries, but his argument did not sit well with his medical colleagues. His life ended in an asylum for the insane, where he died after being beaten by the guards. A few years later, Louis Pasteur confirmed the germ theory of disease and Joseph Lister pioneered improved medical hygiene. Alfred Wegeners proposal of continental drift directly clashed with the geological consensus of his day, and it didnt help matters that he was an outsider whose doctorate was actually in astronomy. The American Association of Petroleum Geologists organized an entire symposium specifically devoted to rebutting Wegeners hypothesis, and George Gaylord Simpson, arguably the most important paleontologist of the twentieth century, went out of his way to oppose it. Nearly a century after Wegeners premature death during a 1930 expedition in Greenland, continental drift is universally accepted among serious geologists. So slavish conformity to scientific or other consensus has little if anything to commend it. On the other hand, unless there are strong reasons to oppose consensus, its generally safest in intellectual and other regards to be guided by it. Vaccination is almost certainly useful against COVID-19 and almost certainly doest cause autism. Petroleum jelly probably doesnt cure blindness. Its very unlikely that the Great Pyramid of Giza was built by aliens. A program of repeated enemas most likely wont cure cancer. Earth almost certainly isnt flat. You probably shouldnt take arsenic as a remedy for leukemia or malaria. The Biden administration probably isnt run by a secret cabal of cannibalistic pedophiles. The white race very likely wasnt created by a black scientist named Yakub in a laboratory on the Isle of Patmos 6600 years ago. Dr. Pepper isnt a brain tonic. Dr. Kilmers Swamp Root almost certainly wont cure internal slime fever, which almost certainly doesnt exist. Hitler isnt living in Brazil. And Bubba Ho-Tep may not be entirely based on fact. The fact that an idea or theory is overwhelming rejected by a consensus of scientists doesnt prove it true. This isnt rocket science. Heck, its not even homeopathy or iridology. Let alone herpetology. Me, I love saints. I love the whole category of saints, holy people of their various religions. Holy people who are not quite considered gods, but who partake of something special. Sometimes theyre martyrs for their faiths. Often theyre wonder workers, in large or small ways. They might have the marks of the divine like stigmata among Christians. They may blend into prophecy, or be charismatic teachers. A very important function of saints is as intercessors between humanity and the divine. But, most of all saints, at least as I see it, as I find most attractive, is how saints are exemplars of the deep way. In the West writ large, there are a ton of saints in the Roman & Orthodox calendars. Originally, in their corner of the Reformation, the Anglicans stripped their calendar down dramatically. Although theyve been enriching it in very interesting ways over the last couple of hundred years. Mostly I like their calendar best. Although the Romans are the go to for obscure and surprising saints. Like, for instance, the Buddha. Saints just have a way of popping up in the oddest of places. Today, the 21st of May, marks the celebration of a prime example. One, I have to admit, I find very interesting. Tis the feast of Helena of Constantinople, known in some circles as the Feast of the Holy Great Sovereigns Constantine and Helen, Equal to the Apostles. Hard for me to imagine a blood thirsty tyrant like Helenas son Constantine as an equal to the apostles. Although. I guess arguably as the author of what would become the normative face of Christianity, maybe. Sort of. And Helena. Shes much more attractive. He life is celebrated by the Catholic, the Orthodox and the Anglicans. Maybe some Lutherans, too. As I noted Helena is the mother of Constantine the Great. We dont want to confuse him with those lesser Constantines. Apparently the Brits like to say she was English, and want her to have been the daughter of a king. Others suggest a lower rank, including stable maid. Whatever, it doesnt look like her life was all that easy. Until her son took over as head of the Roman Empire. Then things changed. She was a pious person, an actual Christian, I believe. Unlike the rest of that clan who were in the tyrant business above all else. I dont think theres blood on her hands. Her major contribution to the church was to the religious tourist industry in Israel & Palestine. As well as giving the relic industry a much need shot in the arm. One angle on something that I think is actually much deeper. Or, co-exists with spiritual tourism. Pilgrimage. I will return to this in a moment. Between 326 and 328 Helena traveled to the Holy Land and her tour guides at the time helped her to discover the sites of the nativity in Bethlehem, the ascension, Jesus tomb, the true cross, including several of the nails from the cross, as well as, on a side trip, the site of the burning bush. Pretty cool. And I have no doubt she believed these were all exactly what they were presented as. So. I admit I dont see equal to the apostles. Mother of the author of Christianity, Inc., perhaps. Patron saint for religious tourism, you bet. And, maybe a representative of something deeper. Again. Pilgrimage. And something else. People dont make themselves saints. Okay, some try. But, theyre at best always suspect. Saints, real saints, if you will, are woven out of many things. Some of it flesh and blood. Some of it a lived life. But other strands include human longing. And hope. And dreams. Put together by many people over time. Miracles occur in their presence. They become icons. Saints are icons in the spiritual sense of sacred images. Whatever the great mess that came together in time and space to create them, they become windows into heaven. And so, worthy of a pause. And a noticing. Helena. What invitation does her life bring to the spiritual pilgrim? Like, in this case, perhaps, a dive into the mysteries of pilgrimage itself. The online version of my personal favorite dictionary for American English, Merriam-Webster gives two definitions for that word quest. First as a journey made in search of something and second, a long and difficult effort to find or do something. Pilgrimage, as it turns out, is also given two definitions. The first is a journey to a holy place and the second is a journey to a special or unusual place. The dictionary goes on to cite the first usages for both English words in the fourteenth century. That can be a bit confusing as pilgrimage is one of the oldest of spiritual practices, and the idea of a quest is perhaps the oldest literary motif there is, songs of quest were sung around campfires, and became the subjects of the first bards in far distant antiquity. The quest is our human desire to find the treasures of our hearts. Pilgrimage is the journey of the heart. They are something critical for us, if we ever want to move from our status quo, from the comfortable shallows of our lives, and into our depths. And, lets be clear, like pretty much all spiritual practices, pilgrimage can be a way of avoiding the real deal, becoming tourists rather than pilgrims. Theres that famous story where a businessman, infamous for his harsh dealings with others, telling Mark Twain of his plans to take a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. Im going to climb Mt Sinai, he explains. And from the top of the mountain Im going to read out the Ten Commandments to the world. Twain replies, somewhat dryly, I imagine, Or, you could stay in Boston, and try to keep them. There is that. Ive known people who see their spiritual journey as a pilgrimage in a way that misses the point. The dream quest for them is a running away from the problems and difficulties of life. I suspect we need to take heed of that Buddhist text which proclaims, how sad that people ignore the near, and search for truth afar. Pilgrimage is not about running from, but rather running to. Pilgrimage is a lot like that Medieval Jewish story of the man who dreams of a treasure buried by a lamppost at the edge of a bridge, who takes off on his quest, on his pilgrimage, and after much hardship finds the spot. While digging at the foot of the lamppost a policeman stops him. When the pilgrim tells his story, the policeman laughs and says he had such a dream himself, and in minute detail describes the mans own basement. But, the policeman continues, you dont see me chasing off after such things. Leaving the man in peace to return home and dig up the treasure. That man had to wander in order to come home. Lifes pilgrimage is taking that walk, wandering out, and then going home. Often in order to find the true treasure we need to step out, to walk about, to experience the sacred way, in order to find our home. Its as natural as breathing. Who, as a child or, maybe today, hasnt had a fantasy about embarking on an adventure and toward some wonderful object? This intuition, dream, aspiration, is about as baseline human as it gets. We all, or, just about every one of us, dreams of that better. I suggest the dream version is itself the origin of all quest. And, I think pilgrimage brings the dream of quest down to the earth. Pilgrimage is what we actually do out of that great dream. Its about taking that walk, long or short, home. So. A pause is in order. A moment to notice and to reflect. A saint shows us the way. Certainly one of the true ways *** Through the eyes of religion Through the eyes of an archeologist And to conclude a delightful three minutes about pilgrimages. Its supposed to be for kids. But. You know Icon of Helena may be purchased at the Damascene Gallery. Gift this article Share this article paywall-free. Public schools in Bismarck and Mandan will be following new transgender legislation regarding the use of bathrooms. Gov. Doug Burgum on May 8 signed House Bill 1522, which prohibits transgender K-12 students from using the bathroom that aligns with their gender identity. Schools are allowed to make accommodations for students, with parental permission. The Forum reported that Fargo Public Schools will continue to allow students to use the restroom that aligns with their gender identity or a staff/single-stall restroom that is available for use. Superintendent Rupak Gandhi said he will prioritize keeping students safe over following the law that places constraints on transgender students in schools. The bill sponsored by Rep. Scott Dyk, R-Williston, also bars schools from adopting policies that require or prohibit any individual from using a student's preferred gender pronoun. Other provisions block school districts and their governing boards from creating policies to accommodate transgender students unless parents give explicit permission. Teachers also are prohibited from withholding information about students transgender status from parents. The law that passed the House and Senate by wide margins went into effect the same day it was signed. Bismarck Public Schools -- the largest district in the state -- intends to comply with the new legislation. "Bismarck Public Schools remains committed to providing high-quality learning environments in accordance with local, state, and federal laws, and intends to comply with North Dakotas new transgender legislation," Superintendent Jason Hornbacher said. "Bismarck Public Schools will continue to work with parents and students to provide alternative restroom accommodations." Mandan Public Schools Superintendent Mike Bitz said MPS follows all state and federal laws and that it will "make accommodations for students to help them access our schools." Gandhi told The Forum that he believes the new state law might be in conflict with federal law. Hornbacher told The Forum that "If this matter arises, it will be addressed through our legal counsel." Charles Owusu, former Head of Monitoring Unit at the Forestry Commission, has charged government to commit money to support media practitioners and other communicators to publicize their works to Ghanaians. Speaking on Peace FM's "Kokrokoo" show following Information Minister Kojo Oppong Nkrumah's interview on the show Friday morning which was majorly centered on the IMF bailout for Ghana, Charles Owusu wondered why it should take only the Minister to be explaining things to Ghanaians. The Minister elucidated that the $3 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) will be released to Ghana in seven (7) tranches with the first tranche being the 600 million dollars which he noted has hit the account of the Bank of Ghana. Kojo Oppong Nkrumah also revealed that the other tranches have been spread over the next 3 years, however they will be released only when Ghana meets the performance criteria given by the IMF. "It's a three-year programme till April 16th, 2026. The way we structured is such that, when the Board approved it, they released 600 million...then by November 1st, they will release another 600 million when we meet the performance criteria," he told host Kwami Sefa Kayi. To Charles Owusu, the government is making the Minister to suffer as he is the only one who's taken the responsibility to make Ghanaians understand the details of the bailout and how it will benefit the nation whereas, in his view, the Finance Ministry should be handling the communications as well. "Kojo is suffering. He is suffering because he has been the lone voice," he said. Mr. Owusu slammed the government for not utilizing the media which will do a better job on informing the citizenry about their policies and activities including this loan facility from the IMF. "What is the essence of the radio stations? What is the essence of the TV stations?", he questioned, stressing "government should commit for media publicity...You cannot tell me that you won't commit money but you expect people to convey your message for you". Watch video below 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. Featured Video According to Ghana Statistical Service data from the 2021 Population and Housing Census, about 79,733 girls in Ghana aged 12 to 17 have been in a union, either married or living together with a man. Out of this number, 25,999 are girls of junior high school-going age (12 to 14 years). In the Volta Region, it states that one out of four girls are married or are in a union before 18 years. According to the GHS District Health Information Management System (DHIMS), over 6,000 girls got pregnant between 2020 and 2021 alone. Domestic violence also remains very high in the region with the Domestic Violence and Victims Support Unit (DOVVSU) of the Ghana Police Service recording about 1,058 cases in 2020 alone, as compared to 2018 and 2019 when 809 and 687 cases respectively were recorded. Of great concern were defilement incidents, where 230 cases were reported, threat of death, 114; assault, 278; rape, 70; threat of harm, 75; abduction, 50 and non-maintenance 100. Many adolescent girls and boys remain victims as well as perpetrators of such abuses. Some may engage in such behaviour for varied reasons, including lack of knowledge of their individual and collective rights and the laws. Implications Aside from depriving girls of their right to education and a healthy childhood, sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV), adolescent pregnancy and child marriage also expose girls to early unprotected sexual activities, which result in serious reproductive health and economic consequences such as unsafe abortion, malnutrition, obstructed birth, obstetric fistula and sexually transmitted infections (STIs), including HIV/AIDs, dropout from school and feminised intergenerational poverty for the victims, their families and society as a whole. Currently, the Ghana Health Service (GHS), says the region records over 14 per cent of adolescent pregnancies, which is above the regional figure of 10 per cent attained in 2022. In view of these, stakeholders have been urged to step up efforts to reduce adolescent pregnancies in the region. On the sidelines of an engagement session with students of the Vakpo Senior High School in the North Dayi District, last week Wednesday, the Director of the Department of Gender in the Volta Region, Thywill Eyra Kpe, stated that efforts needed to be strengthened to make the achievement of the SDGs attainable by 2030. "For example, if we have about 6,000 girls getting pregnant in our region alone it is not something we can be proud of. It is not something that can help us in achieving our SDGs by 2030," she stated. The SDG Target 3.7 on Sexual and Reproductive Health states that by 2030, there should be universal access to sexual and reproductive healthcare services, including family planning, information and education, and the integration of reproductive health into national strategies. Ms Kpe stated further; "We've made a slight improvement and slight gains in addressing teenage pregnancy from about 14.5 per cent to about 13.5 per cent, so at least we have made some small gains. However, these gains are insignificant. Therefore, it is for us to sustain the efforts that we are making." Measures She also stressed the need for intensive education and empowerment on adolescent sexual and reproductive health (ASRHR) as well as SGBV and the provision of space to respond to some of their fears and concerns, in order to achieve the goal of a good and proper transitional growth of the adolescents. "There is the need to empower adolescents on issues of Gender Equality, Sexual and Gender-Based Violence, Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health, Drug Abuse, Assertiveness and confidence building and intensify knowledge-sharing engagements with adolescents. Most especially it is important to listen to their fears about the changes that occur in their lives at this stage and help to deal with these fears effectively," she said. Camp Convo The one-day Campus Conversation organised for students of the Vakpo Senior High School empowered adolescents on ASRHR and SGBV. Dubbed: Camp Convo, the engagement was used to empower the students to become assertive, build their confidence and support one another when faced with challenges. The programme under the auspices of the Volta Regional Coordination Council, with support from the United Nations Fund for Population Activities, was an avenue to generate honest discussions with the adolescents and provide a platform to respond to some of their fears and concerns. Public Health Nurse, Hilda Kotoh, speaking to the media on the sidelines of the event, said teenage pregnancy was still prevalent in the district. She said the district had so far recorded 18.9 per cent in adolescent pregnancies in the first quarter of 2023 alone, despite a national target of 11.5 per cent. Ms Kotoh described the challenge as a huge difficulty since it mostly maimed the possibilities of Ghana's future leaders in reaching their full potential. She called for a multi-stakeholder approach in curbing the canker resulting from poor parental control and other environmental factors including the unavailability of positive role modelling. She said the collective efforts would lead to the total prevention of unsafe abortions and other health complications such as preeclampsia in adolescent pregnancies. 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 The late New Patriotic Party (NPP) Member of Parliament for the Kumawu constituency, Philip Atta Basoah, who died on March 13, 2023, will be buried today. A high-powered delegation from both the majority and minority sides of Parliament are billed to attend the funeral at Kumawu, in the Ashanti Region, to pay their last respects to their former colleague who died suddenly. He was one of the three absentee MPs during a crucial vote to confirm President Akufo-Addos ministerial appointees a day after his death. Party representation A strong party representation, including the Ashanti regional chairman of the NPP, Bernard Antwi-Boasiako (Chairman Wontumi), is expected to grace the occasion. Ahead of the funeral, former President, John Dramani Mahama, led a delegation yesterday to the area to campaign for the partys parliamentary candidate in the upcoming by-election, scheduled for Tuesday. Statement A statement issued by the special aide to the former President, Joyce Bawah Mogtari, said the leadership of NDC had been in the constituency supporting the candidate, Akwasi Amankwa, and his executives in the campaign. The statement said former President Mahama is joining the national chairman, Johnson Asiedu Nketia, and others, already on the ground, to lend his support to the campaign. He was expected to have called on the chief of Kumawu, before meeting various groups to campaign. And on Sunday, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo is also expected to lead a team from the Jubilee House and party faithful to crown the moment and mobilise support for the NPP candidate, Ernest Yaw Anim. Mr Anim, 38, and a Chartered Accountant won the NPP primary on Sunday, April 23, after polling 195 votes as against his closest rival and the only female in the five-man race, Obaapa Ama Serwah, who polled 181 votes. Kwaku Duah, a former NPP member who went independent in the last parliamentary election at Kumawu, is also contesting the Kumawu by-election. Profile of Basoah Philip Atta Basoah, 53, was a member of the seventh and eight Parliament of the Fourth Republic of Ghana. He entered Parliament in 2012 and held onto the seat in subsequent elections until his sudden demise. Before entering Parliament, he was the project coordinator of the Ghana Education Service in the Ashanti Region. He was also the District Chief Executive at the ministry of local government for the Sekyere East District from 2005 to 2009. The late Basoah was once a tutor at the Agogo Senior High School. 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 Police in the Northern Region have launched an inquiry into a shooting incident at Yong Dakpemyili, a suburb of Tamale Metropolis. Reports said a long-standing chieftaincy dispute between two brothers in the community resulted in the shooting incident that left some residents injured. The Assemblyman for the community, Abdul Wahab Dawuda, who confirmed the incident on Accra-based Citi TV, said the incident occurred Thursday, May 18, 2023. There were some gunshots fired as a result of a feud between two brothers over a chieftaincy title. One side was to perform some traditional activity, and some people were injured, but the community is currently calm, and we dont know what will happen next, he stated. The police officers were sent to the community to restore order, but no arrests were made. Reports said inhabitants remained fearful, and economic activities had slowed dramatically as a result of the incident. Over the years, both sides of the conflict have reported deaths, injuries, and the burning and damage of property worth thousands of Ghana Cedis. Source: dailyguidenetwork.com Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Ghana has lifted all COVID-19 restrictions at entry points across the country, effective Saturday, May 20, 2023. According to a statement signed by the Director-General of the Ghana Health Service (GHS), Dr. Patrick Kuma-Aboagye, Saturday, "the World Health Organisation (WHO) announced on 5th May 2023 that COVID-19 is no longer a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC). Globally, there are decreasing numbers of deaths and hospitalization with high levels of population immunity against SARS-CoV. Though COVID-19 still remains a global health threat, it is time for countries to transition from emergency mode to managing COVID-19 alongside other infectious diseases.3". In view of this restriction at all entry points is lifted and pre-departure testing and testing at all entry points are no longer mandatory for all passengers. COVID-19 health declaration form for international travelers has also been suspended. While the restrictions are lifted, the Ghana Health Service emphasizes the need for constant vigilance and protection against COVID-19 infections. The vaccination drive will continue, and individuals with symptoms of fever, cough, and sore throat will be tested for both influenza and COVID-19 at sentinel sites across all 16 regions. Surveillance efforts will also be ongoing to identify any new variants of concern. The public is advised to maintain general safety measures such as regular handwashing with soap and water or the use of alcohol-based hand sanitizers. Those experiencing symptoms of fever, cough, and sore throat are encouraged to seek medical assistance at the nearest health facility. Positive COVID-19 cases will be managed according to existing protocols. Source: Peacefmonline.com Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Deborah Seyram Adablah, a former National Service personnel, who sued her banker sugar daddy and boss, Ernest Nimako, has been arrested by the police. The cause of her arrest is yet to be confirmed. However, sources suggest it may be due to her refusal to provide a car under contention, to the courts registrar as ordered by the judge hearing her case against the banker. Seyram announced her arrest through a live social media video, where she questioned why she was being apprehended as she had not committed any crime. The police hauled her off to the regional police station after she demanded an explanation in her locality, Labadi. She asked why she was being transported to another station as her locality is where she should be held. As yet, the exact reason behind Seyrams arrest is unknown. An update on the situation will occur once there is further confirmation. Source: dailyguidenetwork.com Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video About ninety (90) Ghanaians who were illegally staying in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) arrived in the country between May 19 - 20, 2023. The deportees were in two batches via Emirates and Ethiopian Airlines and went through necessary processes of the Ghana Immigration Service at the Kotoka International Airport before being handed over to the National Investigation Bureau (NIB) for further action. MyNewsGh.com confirmed that most of them through fake recruitment agents travelled to Dubai illegally while others had overstayed their visas. It is gathered that over 431 such persons are currently in Dubai with a number of them said to be in detention after being promised lucrative jobs by agents who smuggled them into the country only to be faced with a different reality. Sources at the Ghana Immigration Service revealed to this portal that more deportees are expected in the coming days as the number that has so far arrived in the country is just a fraction of those expected. It would be recalled that late last year, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration (MFARI) said efforts were underway to evacuate some 431 Ghanaians who had been detained in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE). Comprising 341 males, 88 females and two children below the age of three, they were lured there by some agents who promised them jobs in Dubai and other cities in the UAE. They have been detained at Al Tawadi Medical Centre and the Immigration Centre in Dubai, alongside an unspecified number of African migrants who have suffered the same fate. A statement issued by the MFARI said the government was collaborating with the authorities of the UAE to bring the stranded nationals back home safely. 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 Speaker of Parliament, Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin, has asked Parliamentary Service staff to uphold the essential values of honesty, integrity, and hard work that define the Parliamentary Service. Speaking at a ceremony in Parliament to honor retiring service personnel for their remarkable contributions to the legislative process, Mr. Bagbin stated that staff employees needed to improve their knowledge and skill sets by participating in capacity-building programmes. A total of 14 retiring employees of the Parliamentary Service were honoured for their exceptional dedication and contributions to the work of Parliament. Speaker Bagbin commended the retiring staff for their work ethics and sacrifices, and pledged his unwavering support for initiatives in recognizing the work and contributions of staff. He emphasised the importance of continuous learning and professional development in order to ensure growth and effectiveness within the Parliamentary Service. He encouraged the retiring officers to document their experiences so that they might be used to advise and motivate current staff, as well as to build a culture of excellence and continuity in the service. Speaker Bagbin called upon the existing staff members to embrace their role as mentors, providing guidance and support to their successors. By sharing your wisdom and expertise, you will help uphold the principles of the service and ensure a smooth transition for future generations of parliamentary staff, he said. As symbols of appreciation for their essential efforts, retirees were honoured with certificates of service, citations of honour, and gifts. Source: dailyguidenetwork.com Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video The Vice President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, and his wife, 2nd Lady Samira Bawumia, spent a significant amount of time on Friday campaigning for the NPP Parliamentary candidate for Tuesday's by-election, Ernest Yaw Anim. The arrival of Dr. Bawumia Friday afternoon set the constituency agog as frenzied constituents, both young and old, came out in their numbers to cheer and welcome the Vice President and listen to his message. In towns he visited, including Sekyere and Woraso, Dr. Bawumia was mobbed by enthusiastic crowd, giving him a hard time to walk through on many occasions. In each town, Dr. Bawumia and his entourage including the Parliamentary candidate first called on traditional authorities to seek their permission and blessings before going out to meet the people. At Sekyere, where the NPP candidate hails from, Dr. Bawumia symbolically presented the candidate to the Chiefs, asking them to pray for him and grant him their blessings ahead of the elections. Dr. Bawumia told the ecstatic crowd how intelligent the NPP Parliamentary candidate is and described him as the worthy successor to the late MP. He urged the Kumawu constituents to come out in their numbers to vote to prove to the world that "Kumawu is indeed the home of the NPP". Dr. Bawumia and his wife are also expected to join bigwigs of the NPP for the burial and funeral of the late MP today in Kumawu. The NPP is scheduled to have its final rally on Sunday ahead of the elections on Tuesday. The Vice President is expected to address a mega rally which will be attended by the party bigwigs. Source: Peacefmonline.com/Ghana Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Martin King Arthur popularly known as Kofi Kinaata has applauded his former boss, Samini for the role he played in his music career while disclosing that he wasnt discovered as a music talent by the award-winning MOBO Artiste. In a recent interview on #UrbanBlend with Blakk Rasta on 3FM, Kofi Kinaata once again expressed his deep appreciation for the immense impact Samini had on his journey to stardom. Reflecting on his early days in the industry, Kofi Kinaata who hails from Takoradi in the Western Region highlighted the pivotal moment when he was signed onto the High-Grade Family, an influential music group, at a time when he was relatively unknown. It was during this period that Kinaata had the privilege of tagging along with Samini, an established figure in the Ghanaian music scene. The discovery term, I dont get it, but Samini has been really helpful to my career, Kinaata shared. With Saminis existing fanbase, the association allowed Kinaata to swiftly gain recognition and support. As Saminis fans embraced him, Kinaatas own fanbase began to grow exponentially. I got signed unto the High-grade family when no one knew me. It was Samini that they knew so me tagging along with Samini, his fans became automatically my fans, he explained Moreover, Samini played a crucial role in introducing Kofi Kinaata to larger platforms and audiences. The EffiaKuma love cronner recounted a memorable instance when he had the opportunity to perform on stage for a notable event featuring international artist Chris Brown. Thanks to Saminis endorsement, Kinaatas talent was showcased to a broader audience, further propelling his career forward. What Samini did for me was give me a lot of exposure, Kinaata explained. The acclaimed artist went above and beyond to secure performance slots for Kinaata, even for shows where he wasnt originally scheduled to perform. Saminis generosity and support opened doors for Kinaata, enabling him to reach new heights in the music industry. When Chris Brown came to Ghana, I was now in Accra, Samini brought me to the stage to perform 4 or 5 minutes. Shows I wasnt billed to perform even though he got me to perform. Samini gave me a lot of exposure, he disclosed While acknowledging the pivotal role Samini played in his journey, Kofi Kinaata made it clear that he had been actively involved in rap and music since 2008. But he didnt really discover me. I was doing rap and music way back in 2008 but he pushed me from one stage to the other, he concluded. However, Saminis unwavering support and guidance propelled him from one stage to another, amplifying his presence and setting the stage for his subsequent success. 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 Gift this article Share this article paywall-free. Aaron and Lacey Jennen's roots in Arkansas run deep. They've spent their entire lives there, attended the flagship state university, and are raising a family. So they're heartbroken at the prospect of perhaps having to move to one of an ever-dwindling number of states where gender-affirming health care for their transgender teenage daughter, Sabrina, is not threatened. We were like, OK, if we can just get Sabrina to 18 ... we can put all this horrible stuff behind us, Aaron Jennen said, and unfortunately thats not been the case, as youve seen a proliferation of anti-trans legislation here in Arkansas and across the country. At least 17 states including North Dakota have enacted laws restricting or banning gender-affirming care for transgender minors, though judges have temporarily blocked their enforcement in some, including Arkansas. An Associated Press analysis found that often those bills sprang not from grassroots or constituent demand, but from the pens of a handful of conservative interest groups. Many of the proposals, as introduced or passed, are identical or very similar to some model legislation, the AP found. Those ready-made bills have been used in statehouses for decades, often with criticisms of carpetbagging by out-of-state interests. In the case of restrictions on gender-affirming care for youths, they allow a handful of far-right groups to spread a false narrative based on distorted science, critics say. These are solutions from outside our state looking to solve nonexistent problems inside our state, said Aaron Jennen. For whatever reason, they have the ear of legislatures in states like Arkansas, and the legislators will generally defer to and only listen to those individuals. The AP obtained the texts of more than 130 bills in 40 state legislatures from Plural, a public policy software company, and analyzed them for similarities to model bills peddled by the conservative groups Do No Harm, which also criticizes efforts to diversify staffing in medicine, and the Family Research Council, which has long been involved in abortion restrictions. One of the clearest examples is in Montana, where nearly all the language in at least one bill can be found in Do No Harms model. Publicly available emails from December show the Republican sponsor, Sen. John Fuller, tweaked the model before introducing it weeks later. Democrats criticized his efforts. This is not a Montana issue; it is an issue pushed by well-funded national groups, Democratic Sen. Janet Ellis said during debate in February. Republicans pushed back. Someone mentioned this is not a Montana solution. And I can tell you that I won my election on this issue, said Republican Sen. Barry Usher, who ran unopposed in the general election after winning his contested primary. The Montana bill passed in March with much of Do No Harms model language intact and has been signed into law. Do No Harms model and the 2021 Arkansas bill endorsed as a model by the Family Research Council also have many similarities, including the assertion rebutted by major medical organizations that the risks of gender-affirming care outweigh its benefits. Republicans' recent focus on legislation to restrict aspects of transgender life is largely a strategy of using social wedge issues in the past, abortion or same-sex marriage to motivate their voting base, political observers say. And it does appear to resonate; a Pew Research Center survey a year ago found broad support among Republicans, but not Democrats, for restrictions on medical care for gender transitions. These organizations are not introducing this model legislation to make legislators jobs easier, to support kids in their constituencies. Theyre introducing this model legislation to gain wealth, to gain eyes, to gain power, and to gain access, said Heron Greenesmith, a senior research analyst who monitors anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric for Political Research Associates, a liberal think tank. Such bills often distort valid science that supports gender-affirming care for youths, said Dr. Jack Drescher, a psychiatry professor at Columbia University who edited the section about gender dysphoria in the American Psychiatric Association's diagnostic manual. Do No Harm cites the manual in its model bill. These bills are not at all interested in patient care, Drescher said. These bills are designed to inflame. It's problematic any time policymakers are cherry-picking isolated studies or scientific research that arrives upon a different conclusion than the rest of the community or that relies upon studies without having that expertise," said Marty P. Jordan, an assistant professor of political science at Michigan State University. "Its problematic for the individuals that the legislation could impact. Its problematic for the larger public, and problematic for democracy writ large. Kent Syler, a political science professor at Middle Tennessee State University, said: If its a good bill, no one should be shy about where they got it because thats the federal system working correctly. Do No Harm launched last year with an initial critical focus on the role of race in medical education and hiring, and the Virginia-based nonprofit has registered lobbyists in at least four states. People associated with it have testified in statehouses around the U.S. When asked about Do No Harms legislative activity, founder and chair Dr. Stanley Goldfarb responded in an email: Do No Harm works to protect children from extreme gender ideology through original research, coalition-building, testimonials from parents and patients whove lived through deeply troubling experiences, and advocacy for the rigorous, apolitical study of gender dysphoria. The Family Research Council, an advocacy group that opposes abortion and LGBTQ+ rights, has been behind what it calls the Save Adolescents from Experimentation Act, or SAFE Act. Among other things, it falsely asserts that gender transition is an experiment. A leader of the Family Research Council declined to directly answer several questions about its model bill, including where it had been used and which legislators it had worked with, but said, What should be an issue debated in the scientific community now has to be dealt with through legislation. The SAFE Act gives minors a chance to experience development before imposing lifelong chemical and surgical procedures that increasingly show evidence of psychological and physiological harm and completed suicide after the transition, Jennifer Bauwens, the organization's director of family studies, said in an email. In Arkansas, Sabrina Jennen who will turn 18 in July continues to receive gender-affirming health care while her family's suit winds through the courts. For these outside groups to carry more weight than the people these legislators were elected to represent is very upsetting, Aaron Jennen said. They didnt listen to us before, but now they have to listen to us because we filed a lawsuit and went to court. DEPTFORD, N.J. A man put a police officer in a chokehold before a bystander came to his aid during a struggle at a New Jersey mall, police said. Deptford Township police said officers were sent to the Deptford Mall just after 7:30 p.m. Friday on a report of a disorderly man allegedly harassing patrons. A uniformed officer found the man on the second floor of the mall and asked him to leave multiple times but he refused to do so and allegedly became confrontational, eventually taking a fighting stance, police said. As the officer tried to arrest him on defiant trespass and disorderly conduct charges, a struggle ensued during which the man was able to put a chokehold on the officer, effectively cutting off his blood and oxygen supply, police said. During the struggle, a bystander interceded and helped the officer escape the chokehold and get the man into handcuffs, police said. The officer was treated by county emergency medical personnel for minor injuries, police said. Michael Carberry, 43, of Mickelton, was charged with attempted homicide, aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer, resisting arrest, disorderly conduct and defiant trespass and was taken to Salem County jail. Its unclear whether he has an attorney; listed numbers in his name were not in service Sunday. Chief Joe Smith said he would be forever grateful that a mall patron had the bravery to intervene and assist our officer. Now, more than ever, we rely on the strength of community and the strength of each other, he said in a statement. The incident came two days after thousands gathered for the funeral of Deptford Officer Robert Shisler, who died May 7 from injuries suffered when he was shot March 10 during a struggle with an armed pedestrian that also left that person dead. More: Central Pa. man charged after firing gun inside residence 3 dead, 2 wounded in early morning shooting at Kansas City bar A Maryland man fatally shot a 23-year-old man and injured a 38-year-old woman Sunday evening in York County, Pennsylvania State Police said. Zachary T. Piccolo, 26, of Nottingham Maryland, is charged with homicide, attempted homicide, recklessly endangering another person, and aggravated assault in connection with the double shooting in Shrewsbury Township. The shooting happened around 5:15 p.m. on the 4000 block of Steltz Road in Shrewsbury Township, Coroner Pamela Gay said. The male victim, who has not yet been publicly identified, was found dead at the scene, Gay said. The woman was taken to WellSpan York Hospital and was in unknown condition as of Monday. State police said the man was from Shrewsbury, and the woman lives in New Freedom . State police said the Baltimore County Police Department in Maryland helped arrest Piccolo at his home. Gay said the name of the man who died will be released once additional next of kin has been notified. An autopsy will be performed at 8 a.m. Tuesday at Lehigh Valley Hospital in Allentown. READ MORE: Pa. man convicted of torture at Iraqi military compound A Pennsylvania resident directed Kurdish soldiers to kidnap a man in Iraq and beat, tase, choke, and otherwise physically and mentally abuse him for 39 days in 2015, federal prosecutors said. After the victim was kidnapped and taken to an Iraqi military compound, Ross Roggio, 54, of Stroudsburg, suffocated him with a belt and threatened to cut off one of his fingers, in addition to the abuse the man suffered at the hands of the soldiers, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. Prosecutors said Roggio was convicted Friday of torture, conspiracy to commit torture, conspiring to commit an offense against the United States and a number of related crimes. Roggio tortured the man to stop him from interfering with Roggios illegal export of firearms parts, prosecutors said. Roggio was developing a weapons factory in the Kurdistan region of Iraq for manufacturing M4 automatic rifles and Glock 9-millimeter pistols, and the victim was a factory employee. Roggio brutally tortured another human being to prevent interference with his illegal activities, Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite, Jr. said in a news release. Thanks to the courage of the victim and other witnesses, the hard work of U.S. law enforcement, and the assistance of Estonian authorities, he will now be held accountable for his cruelty. A sentencing hearing is scheduled for Aug. 23. Roggio is facing up to life in prison. Prosecutors said Roggio is the second person to be convicted of torture since a federal torture statute went into effect in 1994. READ MORE: Central Pa. motorcyclist dies after losing control on I-81: state police Man killed, woman injured in central Pa. shooting: coroner New evidence shows that Bryan Kohberger may have infiltrated a womans home months before he allegedly carried out Novembers slayings of four University of Idaho students, a news report says. Kohberger befriended a woman, snuck into her home and moved items around before convincing her to let him install a video security system, a recent report by NBCs Dateline says. Kohberger and the woman were both students at Washington State University in Pullman, Washington, when he reportedly moved around items in her home to make her feel uneasy and fearful. When the woman asked Kohberger unaware that he may have been the perpetrator Kohberger convinced her to install the video security system. Authorities say that Kohberger may have been able to hack the system and view the footage remotely, because he knew the womans WiFi information. I would expect that he orchestrated the whole thing, said retired FBI profiler Greg Cooper, who spoke on the episode of Dateline. (Kohberger) orchestrated it so that she would come to him ... its another level of having power and control over another person, Cooper added. The break-in allegations come just days after Kohberger was indicted for the deaths of four University of Idaho students: Madison Mogen, Kaylee Goncalves, Ethan Chapin, and Xana Kernodle. The students, all in their 20s, were reportedly sleeping in their off-campus home in Moscow, Idaho after a night out when they were gruesomely stabbed to death on the morning of Nov. 13, 2022. Evan Rosen of the New York Daily News wrote this story. 2023 New York Daily News. Visit nydailynews.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. More: Stampede at El Salvador soccer match kills 12, injures dozens Dead grandfathers hand grenade kills Indiana man, injures 2 teens One of the 65,000 fans at Taylor Swifts Eras Tour show on Saturday night at Gillette Stadium had something else to make the night memorable. A woman went into labor at the parking lot after the show, according to WPRI. The television station reported that the woman called 911 at 11:30 p.m. on Saturday after she began having contractions, and the Foxborough Fire Department arrived to help. Foxborough fire officials did not immediately return a request for comment. The woman was taken by hospital to deliver the baby at a nearby hospital, and officials told the news station they believe the mother and child are doing OK. MORE: Taylor Swift defends fan from security during Pa. performance: reports Heres what Taylor Swift played at the first of her 3 Philly concerts Pa. ice cream shop invited Taylor Swift to try Eras-inspired flavors: Here was her response Early bird tickets will expire midnight Sunday for the Spring Portfolio Tasting Fete le Vin that the Winemakers Co/Op of New Jersey is planning for June 4. The event will take place at Unionville Vineyards in Ringoes, New Jersey. Early-bird tickets are priced at $40, which will increase to $50 beginning Monday. The tasting will include a winemakers discussion among the six wineries that are members of the co/op. Those will include (winery/winemaker/wine): The event provides attendees the opportunity to meet the winemakers and proprietors of the co-op wineries, gain insight into the fine wine movement in New Jersey and be a part of the burgeoning local wine scene. All wines poured at this event will be 100% New Jersey-grown and made from classic vinifera grapes of Europe and dry in style. The celebration of New Jersey wine will include a walk-around tasting of more than 45 of co/op members current wine releases, with live music and a gourmet a la carte menu to pair with the wines. More: Pa. grape-growing panel shows regions potential to produce diverse wine varieties Boordy Vineyards new dessert wine named Md. Winemasters Choice winne Red blends earn the top prizes in pair of Va. wine competitions Editors note: Several additional responses have been added to the story. Last week provided another reminder of the risks of farming overall and growing grapevines specifically. With the buds open and vulnerable from the vineyards in Quebec south to Virginia and west to Ohio, a significant frost settled in last Thursday night with temperatures falling into the 20s in some areas. There are any number of ways that East Coast vineyards have suffered damage over the past 10 years, from the polar vortex in 2014 (and to more specific areas in 2019 and this winter) to the spotted lanternfly (largely across Pennsylvania but with a footprint now expanding into adjoining states) to summer storms such as the hail and winds from a thunderstorm that took out several blocks of vines at Karamoor Estate outside Philly a couple of years ago. But the two biggest threats to how much a vineyard will produce remain East Coast tropical weather, which generally rolls through before or during harvest, and spring frosts, which winery people will tell you are happening with more frequency. So how damaging was this latest frost outbreak? That will differ from site to site and require a multitude of calls to wineries to provide a full assessment. But just scanning Facebook and through a few returned emails, its safe to say that there was enough damage to reduce the anticipated 2023 production at a number of wineries up and down the East Coast. Wineries in Quebec, as you would figure, took a pounding, including at Carone on the north side of the St. Lawrence. Located around 45 miles northeast of Montreal, Quebec, the winery operates out of the home of Sarah and Anthony Carone and has built a reputation for, among other things, award-winning dry reds. They worked overnight to try to keep the frost from settling in, using both the heat from fires and operating fans to keep the air circulating. Said Sarah in a message over the weekend: We ran our fans the longest ever and supplemented with fires. If we hadnt we would have been toast. In the area closest to our forest we have about 2-5% loss depending on the variety. Im counting that as a win compared to what I am hearing in other areas. More than 600 miles to the southwest, sitting along Keuka Lake, is Heron Hill Winery in Hammondsport, New York, temperatures that night fell to the mid-20s. Vineyard manager Kirby Field and winemaker Jordan Harris did what they could to reduce the damage. Per Heron Hills Facebook page: Last night, at 2 am, Kirby and Jordan embarked on a mission to safeguard our vineyards delicate buds from freezing temperatures. They tirelessly burned haybales to create warmth and maintain the necessary temperatures for our buds to survive. Despite facing the challenge of freezing temperatures, with the coldest dropping to 24.1 degrees in our Cabernet Franc block, our passionate team fought valiantly. Although the air didnt warm up enough to reach 32 degrees, resulting in some loss, Kirby assures us that there is still hope for our vineyards future. We should hopefully get some growth from the secondary buds, as well as buds that werent as far along, says Kirby Field, our Vineyard Manager. Its incredible to learn that grape vines, unlike apple and peach trees, possess the ability to have a second bloom! This is a challenge for all of our Finger Lake Neighbors, but the Finger Lakes is resilient and strong. While there will certainly be frost damage, like a lot of our awesome neighbors and colleagues, it isnt all lost and we will still push to have the greatest vintage yet, 2023, hopefully. Remember the glass should always be half full (of wine) and at the end, the sun still comes up! Asked how bad the damage was at Heron Hill and other Finger Lakes wineries, Harris in a Facebook message sent this reply: It definitely turned out worse than I originally hoped/thought. Our Keuka site is pretty darn close to a complete loss for the year. Vineyard wide at least 90% loss. Ingle Vineyard did way better. Its about 25-30% loss. Our Blaufrankisch got really hammered and is about 60% loss. Some blocks are completely fine though. Across the rest of the region on site we pull from it is anywhere from 5% loss to 50% loss but not many that are total loss that I found yet. Its very block to block. Overall, it is rough out there. Wagner Vineyards Estate Winery, about 25 miles to the northeast, told a similar tale in its Facebook post. We waited a day to post about this on the off chance it was just a bad dream but, alas, no such luck. As you may already know, the region was hit by a night of freezing temperatures and no wind. This left our vines which had experienced immense growth all spring extremely susceptible to damaging frost. For a variety of reasons, the level of devastation will take weeks to assess. The biggest determination will be to what degree the shoots of each vine were fully frozen vs just frozen on the tip. That will make a difference in the amount of recovery time needed and, ultimately, the yield and ripeness potential for each vineyard and variety. So goes grapegrowing in the Finger Lakes. We always rush to share the positives, but its just as important to show you the challenges. We know youll stick with us through it all, and we cant wait to welcome you again. Back outside Hammondsport, Weis Vineyards also had bad news: We are saddened to say that we have, as others, experienced an extreme loss in our vineyards. Normally we try to keep things as upbeat as possible, but it feels important to also share the reality of working with Mother Nature and how little control we have in these situations. Thinking of all the growers, farmers and producers as we stride forward. At Lakewood Vineyards in Watkins Glen, New York, the loss was estimated to be about half of the vineyard. Those reports werent restricted to Quebec and the Fingers Lakes. Heres more from a few East Coast wineries that are farther south: Weathered Vineyards, New Tripoli, Pennsylvania: Well the good news is we have plenty of wine in the bottle waiting for you this summer. The bad news is the vineyard suffered a lot of frost damage this morning which could impact availability next year and beyond. Vineyard growing is definitely not for the faint of heart. Coldest I have ever seen it this late in May. Beneduce Vineyards , Pittstown, New Jersey: We did have some minor damage in one small block of Chardonnay that was at the bottom of our hill, but were luckily spared in the rest of the vineyard. We were right on the edge though, I think another degree or two and we would have been in a different situation. Its the latest frost weve ever had since we started in 2009. My heart goes out to everyone who was affected. Ive been there and know how disheartening it can be to start out a growing season in survival mode. Unionville Vineyards , Ringoes, New Jersey: My 25 acres in the Amwells were wiped out. Almost 75% loss. We ran a frost fan in one vineyard and burned things in another, to little effect. When I arrived in the field at 2:30 a.m., it was already 28F on the vineyard floor, and the grass was an ice rink. Vermilion Valley Vineyards, Wakeman, Ohio: We currently have four separate vineyards spreading 45 minutes from east to west and each site has pros and cons and experience both extreme winter temps as well as spring frost differently. We have three sites (VVV, The Winerie, and The Quarry Vineyard) that have protections in place for such events. At VVV and The Winerie, we have wind machines that help circulate warm air high above down toward our vines below. The Quarry Vineyard is perfectly located on the plateau of a working quarry where the 100 deep quarry pit allows the cold air a place to settle, allowing warm air to remain in the vineyard. All three of these sites saw 0% damage from the six frost events we saw this spring. However, our largest vineyard in Berlin Heights does not currently have protections in place to combat such events. Three of the six frost events this spring, caused damage to our crop in this vineyard. The damage is very sporadic based on variety and location within the vineyard. Many varieties like Moscato and Cabernet Sauvignon will have a full crop and might actually need thinned come midsummer. However, we received significant damage in varieties like Malbec and Sauvignon Blanc. All things considered though, we COULD NOT BE HAPPIER with our position right now. We snuck by what could have been pure disaster for an estate winery like us. Our hearts go out to our friends across the state of Ohio and beyond that took catastrophic damage in their vineyards and orchards. THIS IS FARMING, AN EMOTIONAL ROLLERCOASTER. Cain Hickey, Pennsylvanias viticulture extension educator, responded Tuesday with an email detailing what he knows about his states vineyards. He wrote: There was variable cold damage in some PA vineyards. Many escaped it; others had various levels of tissue injury. Im generally optimistic. It has been a challenging spring in addition to the early bud break and multiple cold injury threats, it has been a relatively dry spring, too, which is good for early season fungal disease management. But it could be an issue for younger vines, and could become an issue if dry weather persists, especially for vineyards planted on lean/rocky/sloped sites. More: Argentinas winemaking legend chose path of enology rather than physics. The rest is history. Pa. grape-growing panel shows regions potential to produce diverse wine varieties Md. winery officially begins writing new chapter in historic space Napa sustainability conference speech offers these 6 wine trends Its easy to walk into the wild in central Pennsylvania and come back home with plenty to eat. For those new to the idea of foraging, experts like Debbie Naha-Koretzky, owner of the Wild Edibles Lady in central Pa., advise not relying on a single source for information. Instead, she suggests heading out with an expert and checking multiple resources before picking or consuming any wild plants, berries, nuts or fungi. It is the only beer that you can drink and use to grill your chicken. Perdue Beer Can Chicken Beer will be available beginning at 9 a.m. ET on Monday, May 22, online. The price for a 6-pack is $14.99 plus shipping and handling. Beer Can Chicken Beer, from Perdue and Torch & Crown Brewing Company, Perdue said, is a honey double-citrus summer ale brewed with classic grilled chicken seasonings like rosemary, thyme, and pink peppercorn to help backyard grillers make the perfect beer can chicken. The beer, Perdue said, is tangy, juicy and has just a hint of sweetness. Beer can chicken has long been one of the most popular methods of grilling poultry, but we noticed a lack of consensus on what type of beer is best, said Julie Lehman, Perdue Vice President of Marketing. Beer can chicken, Perdue said, is a method of indirect grilling that involves pouring a directed amount of the beer into a food-grade roasting stand and then standing a chicken upright and cooking it using a grill or smoker. The cooking method infuses flavor, marinates the chicken from the inside out and keeps it moist and tender. Perdues research found that Google searches for beer can recipes peak around Memorial Day and evidence suggests the grilling method is on the rise more generally. To meet the need, Perdue said it partnered with the brewery to create a unique ale brewed with barley, American ale yeast, citra hops, lemon and orange puree, honey, rosemary, thyme, sea salt, and pink peppercorn. READ MORE: Wendys going underground to pilot robot system to deliver food to your parking spot. In a whopper of a mix-up that started more than two years ago, a New Jersey mans health insurance plan has been billed for more than 300 claims, and counting, for another patient. The patient just happens to have the same exact name and the same exact birthday down to the year as another man in the state. David noticed the problem when he reviewed his Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield statements in March 2021. NJ Advance Media is withholding Davids last name to protect the privacy and health information of the other person with the same name. He found charges from Cooperman Barnabas Medical Center that werent his, and he called the insurance company to report the problem, he said. But the charges continued. The bills at that point in time were beginning to get larger and more detailed, he said, noting it included a $140,000 surgery in April 2021 of which the patient was responsible for more than $53,000. David, of Chester, said he called Horizon several times that month, and it eventually assigned a case number and said it would take four to six weeks to resolve. The bills kept coming in. Not just from Cooperman Barnabas, but from many other medical providers, too. In July, David said he called one of the providers billing offices. It, too, assigned a case number. He next filed a fraud claim with Horizon, and he received another case number. The bills, and his calls to correct the mistakes, continued through the fall and winter, he said, with no resolution but more case numbers. During the calls, he learned where the other David lived, he said. In April 2022, now a year after the charges started, David said he filed a complaint with the states Department of Banking and Insurance. He said he never received a response. More charges to his insurance, and more phone calls. During calls in June 2022, David said he learned the other man was living in a nursing home and he was given contact information for his power of attorney, who turned out to be a more-than-100-year-old relative living in another country. By August, a new issue came up. I was having a problem scheduling any type of procedure for myself, David said, noting that some were initially denied by his insurance company because according to its records, David had already had the procedures. But it was the other guy. Time continued to pass and more charges accrued. David decided he had step up his efforts after he got a call in March 2023. I received a call from my primary care physician, very alarmed about the results of a CAT scan that showed a mass, said. To say the least, this was very disturbing until we both realized that it was (the other man). That wasnt all. I currently receive via my cell phone a copy of (his) prescriptions every week, David said, noting that hes sorry for what the other man is going through, but enough is enough. He asked Bamboozled for help. A BUREAUCRATIC BUMBLE We reviewed a 23-page list of charges submitted in error for the other patient. How could this have happened? Medical providers typically ask for a patients insurance card and photo ID before services are rendered. Perhaps the man was brought in during an emergency so identification wasnt checked as it should have been. And whatever the cause, why has it taken more than two years for the involved companies to examine this more closely? Insurers only process claims submitted by providers, so whatever the problem, it somehow had to start with a provider. We reached out to Davids insurer and several of the care providers to see if they could find an end to this big mess. For privacy reasons, the providers said they couldnt comment on the case. And even though David signed a form authorizing Cooperman Barnabas, the hospital where the first charge was made, to discuss the issue with Bamboozled, a spokesperson said it couldnt respond because it did not have permission from the other David. Patient safety and privacy is imperative, the spokesperson said. Horizon also said it was limited because of privacy reasons, but it thought it figured out a part of it. Spokesman Thomas Wilson said another insurance plan conducted a routine coordination of benefits search through a database used to confirm insurance eligibility, triggering this highly unlikely series of events. That plan appears to have mistakenly associated (his) Horizon insurance ID with their member, he said. The database only permits a company providing coverage to modify information about its own members, so Horizon was unfortunately unable to fix this mistake on its own. He said the other provider was making a fix, and Horizon has been in touch with David to apologize, to make sure his coverage is not interrupted and to explain what happened. Wilson said he was unable to say how many people of the same name it covers in New Jersey. (In case youre curious, a public records search came up with more than 3,000 people in the state with the same first and last names as David, though many of the entries are probably duplicate listings.) We are grateful to (him) for being so conscientious and determined, for reviewing his Explanation of Benefits (EOB) and reporting to Horizon payments for services that he did not receive, he said. He did exactly what we should all be doing - looking at our EOBs and reporting anything that doesnt make sense to help prevent waste, fraud and abuse. Thats a lesson we can all take from this. David also started to get frequent calls from concerned higher-ups at Cooperman Barnabas who promised to make things right. But that apparently didnt happen. In late April, David received more statements with charges that werent his. David said he told it all to a Cooperman executive who apologized but said it wasnt a Barnabas issue. David said he explained again that the dates of service when this first started were at his facility, and the executive said hed go back to his team. David said hes not looking to sue over the ongoing mix-ups. Instead, he asked the executive to make a substantial donation to the Visiting Nurse Service (VNA), he said. The donation is wonderful and good for VNA but youre not off the hook to fix it, he said he told the executive. It still needs to be fixed. Indeed, it does. But how? NJ Advance Media Research Editor Vinessa Erminio contributed to this report. Karin Price Mueller may be reached at KPriceMueller@NJAdvanceMedia.com. Follow her on Twitter at @KPMueller. Gift this article Share this article paywall-free. Many of this year's statehouse proposals to restrict gender-affirming care for youths, as introduced or enacted, are identical or very similar to some model legislation, or ready-made bills suggested to lawmakers by interest groups, an Associated Press analysis has found. The AP obtained the texts of more than 130 bills in 40 state legislatures from Plural, a public policy software company, and analyzed them for similarities to model bills touted by the conservative groups Do No Harm and the Family Research Council. Some statehouse bills share similarities with Do No Harms model legislation and a 2021 Arkansas bill endorsed as a model by the Family Research Council. The model bills have similar preambles, including the assertion rebutted by major medical organizations that the risks of gender-affirming care outweigh its benefits. They both also include nearly the same list of circumstances under which the care would be permitted and similar descriptions of how the provisions of the bill should be enforced. The APs analysis was not exhaustive; not all model legislation was analyzed and cross-referenced with actual statehouse bills. But here are some similarities the AP found: MONTANA Nearly all the language in Montana Senate Bill 99, as introduced, can be found in Do No Harm's model bill. The version that passed in March retained much of the model's language. Publicly available emails from December show the Republican sponsor, Sen. John Fuller, tweaked Do No Harm's model before introducing it weeks later. ARKANSAS This years Arkansas Senate Bill 199 which has been signed into law and Do No Harms model bill both cite studies from Europe with similar framing to assert that the benefits of gender-affirming care are not backed by evidence. Arkansas Sen. Gary Stubblefield, a Republican and the chief sponsor of Senate Bill 199, said he had not talked with Do No Harm about the legislation. IOWA Iowa Sen. Sandy Salmon, a Republican who sponsored Senate File 129, and a spokesperson for Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds, who was consulted on Senate File 538, did not respond to requests for comment. MISSISSIPPI The sponsor of Mississippi House Bill 1125 denied in a conversation with AP reporters this year that he used model legislation or consulted with a specific group, saying that his constituents raised concerns and that legislative attorneys helped craft the language. The AP found that the bill contains definitions, descriptions of gender-affirming surgeries and exempted health procedures that were worded similarly and sometimes identically in the models from Do No Harm and the Family Research Council. Republican Gov. Tate Reeves signed the bill in February. When contacted for comment recently about the APs findings, the sponsor, Republican state Rep. Gene Newman, said he had received his information from legislative staffers, that they pulled language from other states bills, and that he didnt know who else they might have spoken with. NEW HAMPSHIRE A bill in New Hampshire closely resembles the 2021 Arkansas bill put forth as a model by the Family Research Council. It shares the same preamble, definitions and enforcement process. It is being held in committee for further work. WEST VIRGINIA Two bills in West Virginia share the same preamble, definitions and enforcement process as the 2021 Arkansas bill suggested by the Family Research Council as a model. A West Virginia Republican, Sen. Mark Maynard, opposed adding mental health exemptions, saying during floor debate, Fifteen states already have this exact language in their code." Contributing to this report were Associated Press journalists around the country, including Andrew DeMillo in Little Rock, Arkansas; Amy Beth Hanson in Helena, Montana; Michael Goldberg and Emily Wagster Pettus in Jackson, Mississippi; Scott McFetridge in Des Moines, Iowa; Holly Ramer in Concord, New Hampshire; and Leah Willingham in Charleston, West Virginia. Harjai is a corps member of the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues. SpaceX on Sunday, May 21, 2023, launched a crew of four private astronauts in a mission to the International Space Station that was chartered by Axiom Space, a private space company. There actually are five crew members - the fifth is a small furry teddy bear from Build-A-Bear Workshop named GiGi. She is wearing a smaller version of the same spacesuit that the Ax-2 astronauts are wearing. The crew was scheduled to arrive at the International Space Station at 9:30 a.m. today, Monday, May 22, 2023. GiGi going to space continues the tradition of having a zero-gravity indicator inside the spacecraft to provide a visual indicator when the spacecraft has reached the weightlessness of microgravity. As the fifth crew member of Ax-2, GiGis mission is to inspire children around the world to learn about space and consider careers in science, technology, engineering, the arts, and mathematics (STEAM), Build-A-Bear said. Sharon Price John, president and Chief Executive Officer at Build-A-Bear, said the brand hopes that GiGis story inspire youth across the globe to reach for the stars, pursue adventures and follow their passion. Axiom Space is excited to partner with the iconic brand Build-A-Bear to encourage children of all ages to learn about space exploration and our efforts to expand access to microgravity for individuals, countries and institutions to conduct meaningful scientific research, said Sandra Nelson, vice president of marketing, Axiom Space. GiGi was designed and built for the next generation of space explorers who will enable us to explore beyond, build a sustainable future in low-Earth orbit, and realize the extensive science research that will be achievable with their involvement and active participation in STEAM. The Ax-2 crew launched from NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The crew includes Commander Peggy Whitson and Pilot John Shoffner, both from the United States, and Mission Specialists Ali Alqarni and Rayyanah Barnawi representing the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The Happy Hugs Teddy and Axiom Spaces Next Generation Spacesuit gift set is $40 from Build-A-Bear. The spacesuit individually sells for $22. The replica spacesuit comes with a portable backpack, a helmet with lights and a camera, gloves and boots. The newly released Axiom Space Bear wearing a next-generation spacesuit is now available exclusively online at Build-A-Bear and Axiom Space.Build-A-Bear Workshop A Match 6 Lotto ticket worth $1.14 million was sold in York County, according to the Pennsylvania Lottery. The ticket matched all six numbers to win the jackpot in the Saturday, May 20, 2023, drawing. SOUTH WILLIAMSPORT Little League chose not to buy railings for dormitory bunk beds eight months before a Utah player was critically injured in a fall during last years world series. And a staff member a month before Easton Oliverson fell out of a top bunk in the middle of the night on Aug. 15 suggested the bunks should have railings. That information is contained in emails obtained during discovery in the suit by Eastons parents, Jace and Nancy Oliverson, against Little League and the manufacturer of the beds. WASHINGTON One woman had to carry her baby, missing much of her skull, for months knowing shed bury her daughter soon after she was born. Another started mirroring the life-threatening symptoms that her baby was displaying while in the womb. An OB-GYN found herself secretly traveling out of state to abort her wanted pregnancy, marred by the diagnosis of a fatal fetal anomaly. All of the women were told they could not end their pregnancies in Texas, a state that has enacted some of the nations most restrictive abortion laws. Now, theyre asking a Texas court to put an emergency hold on some abortion restrictions, joining a lawsuit launched earlier this year by five other women who were denied abortions in the state, despite pregnancies they say endangered their health or lives. More than a dozen Texas women in total have joined the Center for Reproductive Rights lawsuit against the states law, which prohibits abortions unless a mothers life is at risk an exception that is not clearly defined. Texas doctors who perform abortions risk life in prison and fines of up to $100,000, leaving many women with providers who are unwilling to even discuss terminating a pregnancy. Our hope is that it will allow physicians at least a little more comfort when it comes to patients in obstetrical emergencies who really need an abortion where its going to effect their health, fertility or life going forward, Molly Duane, the lead attorney on the case, told The Associated Press. Almost all of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit tell similar stories about their doctors saying, if not for this law, Id give you an abortion right now. The lawsuit serves as a nationwide model for abortion rights advocates to challenge strict new abortion laws states that have rolled out since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last year. Sixteen states, including Texas, do not allow abortions when a fatal fetal anomaly is detected while six do not allow exceptions for the mothers health, according to an analysis by KFF, a health research organization. Duane said the Center for Reproductive Rights is looking at filing similar lawsuits in other states, noting that theyve heard from women across the country. Roughly 25 Texas women have contacted the organization about their own experiences since the initial lawsuit was filed in March. The women who joined the lawsuit describe being elated about finding out they were pregnant before the experience turned catastrophic. Jessica Bernardo and her husband spent years trying to conceive, even consulting fertility doctors, before finally become pregnant with a daughter, Emma, last July. Almost immediately, Bernardo was coughing so hard and often she would sometimes throw up. Fourteen weeks into the pregnancy, test results revealed her baby likely had Down Syndrome, so she consulted a specialist who gave her devastating news: Emmas heart was underdeveloped and she had a rare, deadly disorder called fetal anasarca, which causes fluid to build up in the body. He handed me a tissue box, recalled Bernardo, who lives in Frisco, Texas. I thought maybe the worst thing he was going to tell us was that shes going to have Down Syndrome. Instead, he said, I can tell you right away...she wouldnt make it. The doctor warned her to watch out for high blood pressure and coughing, symptoms of Mirror syndrome, another rare condition where a mother mirrors the same problems the fetus is experiencing. With Bernardos blood pressure numbers climbing, her OB-GYN conferred with the hospitals ethics board to see if she could end the pregnancy but was advised Bernardo wasnt sick enough. Bernardo spent $7,000 traveling to Seattle for an abortion a week later. Even if Emma made it through the pregnancy, doctors would have immediately needed to drain excess fluids from her body, only for her to survive a few hours or days, Bernardo said. Reading about everything they would do sounded like complete torture to a newborn that would not survive, she said. Had I not received an abortion, my life would have very likely been on the line. Other women facing similar situations have not had the financial resources to travel outside of the state. Samantha Casiano, a 29-year-old living in eastern Texas, found out halfway through her pregnancy last year that her daughter, Halo, had a rare diagnosis of anencephaly, where much of the skull and brain is missing. Her doctor told her she would have to continue with the pregnancy because of Texas law, even though her baby would not survive. With five children, including a goddaughter, at home she quickly realized she could not afford an out-of-state trip for an abortion. The next next few months of her pregnancy were spent trying to raise money for her daughters impending funeral, soliciting donations through online websites and launching fundraisers to sell Mexican soup. Halo was born in April, living for only four hours. I was so full of heartbreak and sadness, all at the same time, Casiano said. Women in the lawsuit say they could not openly discuss abortion or labor induction with their doctors, instead asking their doctors discreetly if they should travel outside of the state. Dr. Austin Dennard, an OB-GYN in Dallas, never talked about her own abortion with her doctors after they discovered anencephaly on the babys ultrasound during her third pregnancy last year. She worried her out-of-state trip to end the pregnancy could jeopardize her medical license or invite harassment against her and her husband, also an OB-GYN. Dennard was inspired to go public with her case when one of her own patients joined the original lawsuit filed in March after traveling to Colorado to abort a twin fetus diagnosed with a life-threatening genetic disorder. There was an enormous amount of fear that I experienced afterward, Dennard said. Its an additional way of feeling silenced. You feel you have to do it in secret and not tell anyone about it. Dennard is expecting another child later this year. A Pennsylvania surfer was hospitalized Sunday after suffering an apparent shark attack while surfing along the Jersey Shore, in the waters off the 109th Street Beach, according to a news release posted by the Borough of Stone Harbor, New Jersey. The Stone Harbor Police Department, Fire and Rescue Squads responded to the 911 call of the shark attack at 3 p.m. and reported to the scene in Stone Harbor, to find that a 15-year-old female surfer had been removed from the water with several lacerations sustained to her left foot and calf, according to the release. The teen was transported to Cape Regional Medical Center, where she was treated and evaluated. She received 6 stitches, and her injuries are considered non-life threatening. After careful examination, the New Jersey State Southern Regional Medical Examiners Office determined that the teens injuries were caused by the kind of bite associated with a shark, although the size and type are unknown, the release said. Even though there are no restrictions on beach activities at this time, Stone Harbor officials urged all beachgoers to exercise caution and adhere to any safety guidelines issued by the local authorities. Read More: Want a say in the news? Email Claudia at todayinpa@pennlive.com to have your thoughts on the stories covered here or on PennLive heard during Listening to Listeners, an original Today in Pa. segment that occurs every other Friday. You can listen to the latest episode of Today in Pa at this link, or on any of your favorite apps including Alexa, Apple, Spotify, and Stitcher. Episodes are available every weekday on PennLive. Feel free to subscribe, follow or rate Today in Pa. as you see fit! Today in Pa. Daily Podcast | May 22, 2023 One county has found West Nile-positive mosquitoes, the first of 2023. Some Philly residents have taken combatting crime into their own hands so to speak and hired a private security firm. Pennsylvanias elementary and middle schools may have to take chocolate milk off the menu, and dairy farmers arent happy about it. Plus, a teenager keeps up a family tradition pole climbing. Those are the stories we cover in the latest episode of Today in Pa., a daily weekday podcast from PennLive.com and hosted by Claudia Dimuro. Today in Pa. is dedicated to sharing the most important and interesting stories pertaining to Pennsylvania that lets you know, indeed, whats happening today in Pa. Todays episode refers to the following articles: If you enjoy Today in Pa., consider leaving us a review on Apple Podcasts or on Amazon. Reviews help others find the show and, besides, wed like to know what you think about the program, too. As sponsored by Renewal by Anderson of Central PA. On May 17, 2023, Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte signed legislation banning TikTok in the state. The law imposes fines of US$10,000 per day on any app store that offers the popular Chinese-owned video social media app, and on the app maker itself if it operates in the state. Individual users are not subject to penalties. The law, which is scheduled to go into effect Jan. 1, 2024, is the first total ban by a U.S. state government. The company claims 200,000 users in the state of 1.1 million people. Many members of Congress have called for the federal government to ban the Chinese-owned video social media app nationally. TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew was grilled by members of Congress during testimony before the House Energy and Commerce Committee on March 23, 2023. The federal government, along with many state and foreign governments and some companies, has already banned TikTok on work-provided phones. This type of ban can be effective for protecting data related to government work. But a full ban of the app is another matter, which raises a number of questions: What data privacy risk does TikTok pose? What could the Chinese government do with data collected by the app? Is its content recommendation algorithm dangerous? Is it legal for a government to impose a total ban on the app? And is it even possible to ban an app? Vacuuming up data As a cybersecurity researcher, Ive noted that every few years a new mobile app that becomes popular raises issues of security, privacy and data access. Apps collect data for several reasons. Sometimes the data is used to improve the app for users. However, most apps collect data that the companies use in part to fund their operations. This revenue typically comes from targeting users with ads based on the data they collect. The questions this use of data raises are: Does the app need all this data? What does it do with the data? And how does it protect the data from others? So what makes TikTok different from the likes of Pokemon-GO, Facebook or even your phone itself? TikToks privacy policy, which few people read, is a good place to start. Overall, the company is not particularly transparent about its practices. The document is too long to list here all the data it collects, which should be a warning. There are a few items of interest in TikToks privacy policy besides the information you give them when you create an account name, age, username, password, language, email, phone number, social media account information and profile image that are concerning. This information includes location data, data from your clipboard, contact information, website tracking, plus all data you post and messages you send through the app. The company claims that current versions of the app do not collect GPS information from U.S. users. There has been speculation that TikTok is collecting other information, but that is hard to prove. If most apps collect data, why are governments worried about TikTok? First, they worry about the Chinese government accessing data from TikToks 150 million users in the U.S. There is also a concern about the algorithms used by TikTok to show content. Data in the Chinese governments hands If the data does end up in the hands of the Chinese government, the question is how could it use the data to its benefit. The government could share it with other companies in China to help them profit, which is no different than U.S. companies sharing marketing data. The Chinese government is known for playing the long game, and data is power, so if it is collecting data, it could take years to learn how it benefits China. One potential threat is the Chinese government using the data to spy on people, particularly people who have access to valuable information. The Justice Department is investigating TikToks parent company, ByteDance, for using the app to monitor U.S. journalists. The Chinese government has an extensive history of hacking U.S. government agencies and corporations, and much of that hacking has been facilitated by social engineering the practice of using data about people to trick them into revealing more information. The second issue that the U.S. government has raised is algorithm bias or algorithm manipulation. TikTok and most social media apps have algorithms designed to learn a users interests and then try to adjust the content so the user will continue to use the app. TikTok has not shared its algorithm, so its not clear how the app chooses a users content. The algorithm could be biased in a way that influences a population to believe certain things. There are numerous allegations that TiKToks algorithm is biased and can reinforce negative thoughts among younger users, and be used to affect public opinion. It could be that the algorithms manipulative behavior is unintentional, but there is concern that the Chinese government has been using or could use the algorithm to influence people. Can a government ban an app? The Montana law aims to use fines to coerce companies into enforcing its ban. Its not clear if companies will comply, and its unlikely that this would deter users from finding workarounds. Meanwhile, if the federal government comes to the conclusion that TikTok should be banned, is it even possible to ban it for all of its 150 million existing users? Any such ban would likely start with blocking the distribution of the app through Apples and Googles app stores. This might keep many users off the platform, but there are other ways to download and install apps for people who are determined to use them. A more drastic method would be to force Apple and Google to change their phones to prevent TikTok from running. While Im not a lawyer, I think this effort would fail due to legal challenges, which include First Amendment concerns. The bottom line is that an absolute ban will be tough to enforce. There are also questions about how effective a ban would be even if it were possible. By some estimates, the Chinese government has already collected personal information on at least 80% of the U.S. population via various means. So a ban might limit the damage going forward to some degree, but the Chinese government has already collected a significant amount of data. The Chinese government also has access along with anyone else with money to the large market for personal data, which fuels calls for stronger data privacy rules. Are you at risk? So as an average user, should you worry? Again, it is unclear what data ByteDance is collecting and if it can harm an individual. I believe the most significant risks are to people in power, whether it is political power or within a company. Their data and information could be used to gain access to other data or potentially compromise the organizations they are associated with. The aspect of TikTok I find most concerning is the algorithm that decides what videos users see and how it can affect vulnerable groups, particularly young people. Independent of a ban, families should have conversations about TikTok and other social media platforms and how they can be detrimental to mental health. These conversations should focus on how to determine if the app is leading you down an unhealthy path. This article has been updated to include news that the state of Montana has enacted a law banning TikTok. Doug Jacobson, Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Iowa State University This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. Speed cameras everywhere? Thats the intention of PA Act 86 of 2018 that authorized speed cameras on Roosevelt Boulevard, Philadelphia, and in highway work zones. Roosevelt Boulevard could be made far safer tomorrow, for free. Simply synchronize the traffic lights to 45 MPH ending speeding, and ending any need for cameras. Work zone speed cameras do not increase highway safety. A Minnesota Department of Transportation study found no evidence that speed cameras had any positive impact on driver behavior and awareness. The Iowa Department of Transportation told the Iowa Supreme Court that speed cameras are potential highway hazards. The UK Department for Transport funded a study that shows a 55 percent increase in injury accidents when speed cameras are used in highway work zones and a 31 percent increase when used on freeways without construction projects. From 1970 to 2015 the number of Pennsylvania highway workers killed by passing cars has been 1 every 2.14 years, no reason to install speed cameras. Because camera data is kept top secret by PA law, we dont know if the cameras are contributing to highway safety or not. Cameras cant stop accidents, cameras only take pictures. Many in the Legislature have expressed a desire to blanket the state with speed cameras, so its no secret that Act 86 of 2018 is a Trojan Horse to get cameras everywhere. Act 86 of 2018 will Sunset at the end of 2023. Tell your State Representative and Senator to Sunset Act 86 of 2018 on schedule. Legislation designed use the states gas tax revenue in its entirety for road and bridge work is advancing in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives. The House Transportation Committee on Monday unanimously approved a bill that aligns with Gov. Josh Shapiros proposal to gradually reduce the annual appropriation taken out of the Motor License Fund to support the operations of the Pennsylvania State Police by $100 million until it reaches zero in 2027-28. The measure, sponsored by committee Chairman Ed Neilson, D-Philadelphia, and ranking Republican Rep. Kerry Benninghoff of Centre County, also provides for other revenue sources that would be used to replace the funding for state police and place it in a special account called the Public Safety and Protection Fund. The proposed new sources of funding include a portion of the funding the state tax on liquor and tobacco products as well as a portion of the sales and use tax from motor vehicle sales, Neilson said. The measure now advances to the full House for consideration. Funding in the Motor License Fund comes primarily from the gas tax and motor license fees. This funds constitutional purpose is to pay for road and bridge projects but since 1945, lawmakers have stretched its use to include partial funding for the state police. Over the years, the legislature increased the amount coming out of that fund to support state police to avoid tax increases or spending cuts in the general fund budget. The amount diverted to state police reached the highest level - $801 million - or 65% of the state police budget, in 2016-17. As the need for more funding for transportation projects grew, Neilson said, gradually the General Assembly has reduced this to $500 million annually. This bill takes us in a better direction to get those resources back to where they belong, back to fixing roads. The Senate in February passed similar legislation, sponsored by Transportation Committee Chairman Wayne Langerholc, R-Cambria County. It also phased out the amount of the Motor License Fund that could be transferred to support state police in a slightly different way. That bill, which passed on a near party-line vote of 29-21, capped the transfer at $250 million in 2023-24 and stepped it down by $50 million a year until it reached zero in 2028-29. Both it and the House bill enjoy a broad swath of support ranging from the construction industry to the business community to the Pennsylvania Motor Truck Association. The Pennsylvania State Troopers Association and the Fraternal Order of Police Pennsylvania State Lodge support or have taken a neutral position on the move to disconnect state police funding from the Motor License Fund but state it is imperative that a sustainable and growing funding source be identified to replace that revenue. Benninghoff said the commitment remains to fully fund the state police but maintain the Motor License Fund for its intended use. The legislation aims to begin to address the PennDOTs reported $9 billion shortfall in the more than $17 billion needed annually to keep the transportation system in a good repair, plus it puts Pennsylvania in a better position to compete for federal funding for highway and bridge projects being made available through the federal Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. Jan Murphy may be reached at jmurphy@pennlive.com. Follow her on Twitter at @JanMurphy. PHILADELPHIA State Sen. Doug Mastriano plans to make an announcement next week about the decision he has made on whether he will run for U.S. Senate, in what he teased as crazy good news. Mastriano, an uber-conservative who lost his 2022 gubernatorial bid to Democrat Josh Shapiro by 15 percentage points and 800,000 votes, said Saturday at a Lebanon County event that he will disclose his decision about entering the 2024 primary on Facebook Live. U.S. Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., is up for reelection next year, and at least one other Republican, former U.S. Senate candidate and financier Dave McCormick, are angling to challenge Casey. Mastriano has been considering a run in recent months. If we do run for U.S. Senate, its ours to lose in the primary, Mastriano said in an Inquirer interview at the Walk as Free People event in Lebanon County. I dont think we can be stopped, noting his ongoing grassroots support around the state. Mastriano made a surprise appearance at the event and was met with cheers from the crowd of 20 to 25 people. Our teams are alive and well in all 67 counties, Mastriano added. People are ready to go. So well see you next week. However, several of his core supporters at the potluck Saturday said they were unsure whether Mastriano should run in another statewide race, especially one that would take him out of Harrisburg. But they will support him in whatever he decides. Others were more excited to support Mastriano in another statewide election. After Mastriano addressed the group from the Millcreek Township barn filled with American flag decorations, one supporter yelled, Now U.S. Senate! to claps from the group. Mastriano noted that he and former President Donald Trump were frontrunners up by 18 points in a March poll of Pennsylvania Republicans conducted by Public Policy Polling, a Democrat-affiliated polling company. A Franklin & Marshall College Poll from April shows McCormick as a more competitive candidate than Mastriano in a general election against Casey, though both poll behind the incumbent Democrat. Some Republican Party officials say they believe a Mastriano run for U.S. Senate would end any chance they have at flipping Caseys seat and, potentially, controlling the U.S. Senate. Even Trump has privately expressed concerns about Mastriano potentially appearing on the top of the Pennsylvania ticket with him in the 2024 primary, Politico reported last month. Trump is reluctant to endorse Mastriano this time around, after going against the Republican establishment last year to endorse him just before Pennsylvanias gubernatorial primary, three people close to Trump told Politico. Mastriano said hes spent time with McCormick and his wife, former Trump adviser Dina Powell. He likes McCormicks military experience and Powells life story. I like his background, but for us, and I hate to say it this way, but no one else is gonna beat my drum. Its going to have to be myself, Mastriano added. Im a once-in-a-lifetime candidate for this. Mastriano also referred to his top-secret clearance as a U.S. Army colonel and his 30 years military experience, at least 10 of which he spent abroad, which he said uniquely prepares him to work on international foreign policy. Ive spent a lot of time developing plans with our Baltic allies Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania to defend against Russian aggression, even before (the invasion) of Ukraine. ... To have that kind of depth and understanding I think would be beneficial to have in the U.S., but youll find out whats going on next week, said Mastriano, who retired from the Army in 2017. No matter his decision on a U.S. Senate run, Mastriano said he wants to use his grassroots movement to give birth to a new generation of leaders and make sure that the (next) generation can live life how you want to and not how some governor or some president says you should. Im not an opportunist. I didnt want to do politics. I did it out of necessity, Mastriano added. Whether I think Im more effective in Harrisburg right now, Ill stay in Harrisburg. If I can be more effective in D.C., then Ill go to D.C. So my heart is: Where can I best serve the people of Pennsylvania? 2023 The Philadelphia Inquirer. Visit inquirer.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. Gift this article Share this article paywall-free. Interim North Dakota Chief People Officer Molly Herrington is taking over her state government role on a permanent basis. The Office of Management and Budget on Monday announced her appointment to the Cabinet-level job. Since joining the state in 2019, Molly has established herself as a tremendous leader and strategic partner to state agencies, OMB Director Joe Morrissette said in a statement. Her innovative vision and guidance have helped create a more engaged culture and inclusive workplace at Team ND. She has worked hard to advance our goal to position the state as a premier employer across North Dakota and recruit top talent to the state. Morrissette appointed Herrington in consultation with Gov. Doug Burgum and Lt. Gov. Tammy Miller. Herrington has been in the interim role for 10 months. She succeeds Stacey Breuer, who served from January 2021 to August 2022, and resigned to return to work at Doosan Bobcat North America. Herrington is the fifth chief people officer in Burgum's administration, a role described as "state governments top workforce strategist." The chief people officer leads OMB's division of Human Resources Management Services. It is an honor to be chosen to serve as the states chief people officer, Herrington said in a statement. At Team ND, we are dedicated to evolving HR and creating a strong foundation to further the success of our organization. Im excited to continue the momentum weve gained as we move forward during this time of incredible opportunity. I look forward to continuing to work with our talented team members across the state. Her annual salary will be $145,200. Burgum since last fall has appointed new Cabinet leaders for OMB and the state departments of Information Technology, Labor and Human Rights, Transportation, Workforce Safety & Insurance, and Commerce. Additionally, Burgum in December appointed former governor's office Chief Operating Officer Tammy Miller to lieutenant governor after Brent Sanford resigned to return to the private sector. Mississauga Mayor Bonnie Crombie is photographed on the steps of the Ontario legislature in Toronto on Thursday May 18, 2023. Crombie is exploring a bid for the leadership of the Ontario Liberal Party.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young Facebook Twitter Pinterest Email Print Somebody told Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) to turn it up to 11 when he launched his presidential campaign, and what Scott was when cranked up was really weird. This was the first bad sign: This is not the way you want to kick off a presidential campaign. Ouch. pic.twitter.com/CAVwLTUhGq Sawyer Hackett (@SawyerHackett) May 22, 2023 Scott went on to asset his Republican cred by bragging about how he failed civics: Tim Scott says he failed civics in high school pic.twitter.com/7HFrd7fWEH Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) May 22, 2023 Tim Scotts full speech: Two thoughts come to mind. First, should this guy even be in the Senate? 9.99% of Americans have never thought of Tim Scott before, and this is the impression that he voluntarily sent to the nation. Secondly, Tim Scott should be thanking the Writers Guild for being on strike right now because otherwise, he would be torched by every late-night talk show, comedian, and sketch show on television. Scott tried to work the evangelical angle, but he came off as an over-the-top parody. There have been bad presidential campaign launches. Donald Trump was mocked for the escalator ride, but that what immediately forgotten when he called Mexican immigrants rapists. Candidates are often clunky and awkward because they are stepping onto the biggest national stage. Sen. Scott took cringeworthy weirdness to a whole other place. The good news for Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) is that the bar is really low when he announces his presidential campaign this week. As long as somebody can program Robot Ron to replicate human behavior, hell look like Ronald Reagan on the campaign trail next to Tim Scott. If this is what the 2024 Republican primary campaign is going to look like, buckle up for a whole lot of weirdness. Facebook Twitter Pinterest Email Print South Carolina State Senator Sandy Senn is a Republican woman fighting yet another legislative attempt to shackle women along side with her Sister Senators. You might recall Senn from her April speech, in which she and four other women lawmakers (three Republicans, an Independent and one Democrat) united to filibuster a near total abortion ban. Theyve stopped various abortion bills from passing three times since Roe was overturned, rather surprisingly leaving ruby red South Carolina as somewhat of a safe haven for women right now. The group is comprised of Sen. Mia McLeod (I-Richland), Sen. Katrina Shealy (R-Lexington), Sen. Penry Gustafson (R-Kershaw), Sen. Margie Bright-Matthews (D-Colleton), and Sen. Sandy Senn (R-Charleston). Theyre at it again as yet another abortion vote looms as early as Tuesday. Three times Senn and the bipartisan group have hustled to thwart what she views as attempts to shackle women,' the Washington Post reported Monday. The group three Republicans, an independent and a Democrat, who call themselves the Sister Senators filibustered for three days last month to defeat a near-total ban. Even if we dont agree with abortion, most of us agree with giving women some kind of escape hatch, Senn said. My male colleagues are taking the wrong approach. Were going to lose people in the Republican Party. The Sister Senators represent not just a gender divide, as it is being reported, but an incredible shift toward unity on basic concepts of freedom and human rights. Senn, a die hard Republican, said during the April filibuster, Abortion laws, each and every one of them, have been about control. Its always about control, plain and simple. And in the senate, the males all have control. We, the women, have not asked for nor do we want your protection. We dont need it. There is not a single thing I can do when women such as me are insulted except make sure that you get an earful. As the world feels like its fraying at the seams, these moments of hope are important. Long before Republicans decided to politicize abortion as a get out the vote tool, it was not seen as a political issue. Their decision to turn a private medical issue into a culture war pushed them to label abortion murder, which galvanized their supporters in its extreme belief, but did not leave them any room to make compromises. If abortion is murder, then it cant be allowed under any circumstances; which means legally women are less than full human beings and citizens in the United States, whose bodies can be used by the state. There simply isnt any room in the position Republicans carved out to make common sense law that allows women freedom and dignity. Even now, as they lie about late term abortion in order to whip up emotion over fact, they are unable to handle the reality that late term abortion does not exist. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists defines late term as 41 weeks 41 weeks + 6 days, and abortion does not happen in this period. To restrict medically necessary procedures at this stage is to put the mothers life at risk. No one is carrying a pregnancy to term and then choosing to get an abortion. It does not happen. Abortion is a medical freedom won because it was a necessity for women to be free beings. Abortion is considered a human right around the globe. The Sister Senators represent what is best about our country and show that there are some extremes that will cause a rethink, even in small groups, that can have ripple effects. These five women have staved off extreme near total bans in South Carolina by sticking together, across the aisle. Even if they are not successful on Tuesday, they have shown that change is possible and our country could possibly find its way back together. Image: Mia McLeod Twitter Discover employs over 17,000 employees globally, which requires them to examine processes to make sure the business is running effectively. Their goal was to take all of their manual processes in order to understand, optimize, automate, or eliminate them altogether. In this report, you will see the massive benefits that Discover realized by partnering with the worlds leading provider of enterprise open source software solutions, including: 800,000 labor hours saved increased ROI increased staff enablement to take on higher priority tasks Read more to learn how Discover used extreme automation and how this line of thinking and action can help transform your business. When a young, single working mom reaches out for help, we all have a responsibility to dig deep and give what we can. And if she's not even asking for herself but for a friend who's in need of some assistance, you know that it must be for an exceptionally good cause. But if you happen to be struggling at the time maybe with the consequences of some sort of global health crisis that has brought on a major economic downturn and don't happen to be the founder of your own billion-dollar cosmetics empire, what should you do when the 23-year-old cosmetics mogul and star of Keeping Up with the Kardashians asks you to pay for her makeup artist's medical bills? There's no easy answer, but it's a situation that those of us unfortunate enough to have never been featured on the cover of Forbes will have to deal with at some point. In fact, that's exactly the situation that Kylie's more than 200 million Instagram followers were faced with over the weekend, when Jenner shared an Instagram story with a link to a GoFundMe campaign raising money for make up artist Samuel Rauda. Her post read, "May God watch over you and protect you @makeupbysamuel everyone take a moment to say a prayer for Sam who got into an accident this past weekend. And swipe up to visit his families [sic] go fund me," and linked off to the campaign. Rauda reportedly suffered serious injuries in a recent car accident, and his family was trying to raise $60,000 to pay for multiple emergency surgeries. That initial goal has been reached, but even their updated goal of $120,000 may not cover the absurd cost of receiving vital medical care in the United States. Rauda, 26 years old, is a talented makeup artist who has a substantial following on Instagram and has done work for numerous celebrities, including the Kardashian-Jenner clan. So it's only natural that Kylie would want to help Rauda and his family in any way she could...other than, you know, paying all the medical costs herself. To be fair to Kylie whose estimated net worth is around $700 million it would take her an average of slightly more than three hours of her life to "earn" an additional $60,000, or require her to give up around 6% of her earnings from one sponsored post. That's obviously beyond the pale, which is why she donated just $5,000 (what she makes during a 15-minute power nap). And to make up the difference, she turned rather than to the insanely wealthy people with whom she is surrounded at all times to the select group of people with the privilege of having an Instagram account... But on the off chance that you somehow find yourself with the luxury of internet access but without hundreds of millions of dollars in spare wealth burning a hole in the pockets of your pleated Balenciaga tracksuit, what should you do the next time Kylie Jenner comes around asking for money? Come Up with an Excuse If your funds are tied up in a variety of ventures and assets at the moment, one good excuse is to claim that you're actually drowning in debt. That probably sounds crazy, but it turns out that millions of Americans owe more money to banks, credit card companies, and even hospitals than they earn in a year of full time work. Who knew?! Some popular options would be, "I was told that my $200,000 college degree would pay for itself, and now I make $13 an hour." Or, "I've been paying off one credit card bill with another credit card for months, and it's the only way I've been able to pay for both rent and food." This kind of thing might sound like the financial equivalent of "my dog ate my homework," but if Kylie decides to do some research to catch you in your lie, she'll find out that actually millions of people who live outside her bubble are barely scraping by. She'll find out that Americans owe nearly $2 trillion in student debt, and a lot of people can't even afford to go to the doctor for their own health concerns, let alone pay for someone else's emergency surgery with less than 0.01% of their wealth. She might even find out that "thousands of dollars" is a real sum of money for some people, and actually requires more consideration than a throwaway Insta post. So...pretty good excuse. Distract and Redirect Another thing you could do is to throw out a diversion so she forgets that she was asking you for money at all. One good way to distract her is with some unrelated numbers. She's throwing around figures like $60,000 for surgery, so you can bring up the fact that you can fit around 10 million ping pong balls in a 747, or that the median income for American adults is around $36,000 per year. Or remind her that she made an estimated $590 million in 2020, while millions of Americans were filing for unemployment each month. If that doesn't work, try throwing some crazy geography facts at her. For example, did you know that Russia has 11 different time zones? Another good one is the fact that America is the only developed economy in the world that doesn't guarantee provide health care for all its citizens. Wacky stuff! Remind Her Who She Is Option three remind Kylie who she is seems to be the most popular of the bunch, and it comes in many forms, from memes to ranting diatribes. Here's an example of the kind of reminder that might motivate her to stop asking you for money: "Hey Kylie, remember when you were on the cover of Forbes for being the youngest 'self-made' billionaire in history? Well, it must have been pretty embarrassing after you sold Kylie Cosmetics to have that lie revealed when it was discovered that you actually only had the measly sum of several hundred million dollars... "You obviously still really want to be a billionaire, but that doesn't mean you have to pinch pennies. You will literally never notice that $60,000 is gone, but you will notice everyone on social media disgusted by your willingness to ask ordinary people to chip in to help someone you know when you did the equivalent of tossing in some pocket change. "People were annoyed when Sarah Hyland from Modern Family shared a personal GoFundMe campaign, and you have about 100 times more money than her, so...maybe don't? "Maybe consider the idea that crowdfunding shouldn't be one of the primary ways that people pay for healthcare in the United States, and just offer to cover Samuel Rauda's hospital bills...then throw $500 million behind the push for Medicare for All, to help counter the parasitic trillion dollar American health insurance industry that is fighting tooth and nail to keep driving down life expectancy and make sure that the only way to not die in America is by giving them lots of money. "Just a thought." Adam Schenk closed out a 3-under 67 with a 16-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole to match PGA Tour rookie Harry Hall for the lead at 10 under after three rounds at the Colonial. Hall had the solo lead after the first and second rounds and had to overcame consecutive double-bogeys on the front nine Saturday. His final putt in his round of 72 was a 10-foot par at No. 18 after a birdie at the 17th. Harris English was a stroke back at 9-under 201 after his bogey on 18. Schenk and Hall are both seeking their first PGA Tour victory. Read moreSchenk, Hall tied for Colonial lead after 3 rounds as both seek 1st PGA Tour win COLUMBIA South Carolina lawmakers finished their regular session in 2023 passing a flurry of bills that have kept Gov. Henry McMaster's right hand busy signing them into law. The new laws range from eliminating state permission for hospitals to expand to breaking up the state's health and environment agency. The governor also signed a shield law into effect allowing South Carolina to keep secret anyone who provides drugs needed for lethal injections and employees and others who help executions take place. The General Assembly has passed 87 bills in 2023. More than 70 of them have been sent to the governor this month. McMaster signed 36 bills into law on May 16. Bureaucratic changes Lawmakers managed to pass two big pieces of government restructuring they have been working on for years. Big changes are coming to the Department of Health and Environmental Control. By summer 2024, the agency's environmental work such as checking air and water quality, monitoring landfills and coastal management will be assigned to a new Department of Environmental Services. Food safety will be given to the Department of Agriculture, and veteran nursing homes will be monitored by the Department of Veterans Affairs. The new law also requires the Department of Administration to review recommendations on how to restructure the health portion of the new, smaller agency. The state is also getting rid of its certificate of need program, under which hospitals and large health care providers needed government permission to build new facilities, expand or buy expensive equipment. Supporters of eliminating the requirement said it stifled competition and limited care, especially in fast growing areas. Opponents said the requirement protected health care in rural areas and could prevent hospitals from overspending because of competition. The new law takes effect immediately except for hospitals that will still need permission to build a new facility or add beds until the end of 2026. Execution secrecy The governor also signed a shield law into effect allowing South Carolina to keep secret anyone who provides drugs needed for lethal injections and employees and others who help executions take place. Prison officials said the rules are needed if the state is going to restart executions, which have been on hold since South Carolina's supply of lethal injection drugs expired after the state's last execution in 2011. Opponents said the secrecy prevents the kind of public oversight of executions that assure they are carried out professionally and without causing unwarranted pain to the condemned prisoner. Corrections Department Director Bryan Stirling said he would start looking to buy lethal injection drugs as soon as he can and petition the court to restart executions. School stuff The General Assembly approved a law allowing teachers and other school employees to take six weeks of paid parental leave after the birth of a child. The law allows other caretakers to take two weeks of leave and adoptive parents will get two weeks of leave as well. The benefit was offered to all other state employees in 2022. Another bill signed into law this month allows students to use nonaerosol sunscreen in schools. Federal regulations meant sunscreen was considered an over-the-counter drug, and school systems had varied requirements from needing parental permission to requiring a doctor's note. On May 11, the U.S. Senate passed a Congressional Review Act resolution to overturn a recent decision to list the northern long-eared bat one of South Carolina's rarest bats as endangered. "Honestly, I was very surprised," said Mike Leahy, senior director of wildlife policy for the National Wildlife Federation. He said the only other time the Senate has stepped in to overturn an endangered species listing was for a decision related wolves in Idaho and Montana, "after decades of controversy." There had been little controversy over this cave-dwelling, insect-loving bat found in 37 states, including South Carolina. In a 51-49 vote, members of the Senate passed a Congressional Review Act resolution that would overturn the bat's listing decision made under the Endangered Species Act. Every Republican lawmakers voted for the resolution, including South Carolina's Lindsey Graham and Tim Scott, as did Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., and Sen. Joe Manchin, D.-W.Va. In the same day, the Senate passed another resolution that would fundamentally change the implementation of the Endangered Species Act. It would revert the definition of "critical habitat" to a Trump-era rule that excluded any wildlife habitat that was in need of restoration or was newly available because of changing temperatures. President Joe Biden has vowed to veto both resolutions should they pass the House vote in coming weeks and arrive at his desk. The resolution was surprising because the bats have been disappearing at alarming rates. Since 2013, there has been a deep concern about the species' susceptibility to a fatal fungus. White-nose syndrome infects hibernating bats and has an almost 100 percent mortality rate. Its a disease that biologists suspect has killed more than 6 million cave-dwelling bats. The syndrome is the primary reason why the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service upgraded the species listing from "threatened" to "endangered" in November 2022. The service first listed the bat as threatened in 2015. Studies show the bat is slowly disappearing from most of its historical range. In South Carolina, the species hasn't been seen by scientists in the Upstate since 2015. Prior to 2013, northern long-eared bats were one of the most common bats that state scientists would catch and then release in surveys there. Then, in 2016, a northern long-eared bat showed up in Beaufort County, surprising biologists across the state. "We thought they were just a mountain bat," said Jennifer Kindel, statewide bat biologist for the S.C. Department of Natural Resources. Scientists have since found the bats in other coastal locales, including Berkeley, Charleston and Georgetown counties. In the summer of 2021, Kindel and others discovered the first maternity colony a colony of mother bats with their pups in the Santee Coastal Reserve. None of the bats there showed signs of the fatal white-nose fungus. Scientists believe the bats could be thriving in South Carolina's coastal areas because they don't need to hibernate as long, either because of the warmer climate or available insect prey. This might decreases the risk of fungal infection, a phenomena tied to the bat's winter hibernation time. "We see this coastal population as a hopeful population," said Kindel. But she warned against using the success of this one coastal population to justify the removal of federal protections for the entire U.S population, as the Senate resolution proposes. "There is a ton of evidence that these bats need more protection," said Kindel. Without protection for bats, farms and food could be impacted. A groundbreaking 2011 study found that insect-eating bats, like the northern long-eared bat, provide $4 billion worth of pest-control services to the U.S. agriculture industry. Their loss would necessitate the use of more pesticides, a change that would impact both the environment and supermarket prices. Because bats are so difficult to survey, DNR doesn't know if northern long-eared bats are the state's most threatened bat. Kindel stressed an urgent need for more state funds to accurately survey them. "We haven't been able to get the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service the best information that they need," she said. If the U.S. Senate is successful at removing the endangered status for the species, those funds will be even harder to come by. "In the few places that we used to find these bats hibernating," said Kindel. "The bats are no longer there." The owner of a downtown Charleston wine bar has converted the space into a private events venue, while simultaneously opening a new restaurant next door. Azur and Azur Events are now open at 159 Market St. and 40 Archdale St. Accommodating up to 50 guests, Azur Events is located in the restored 19th-century Charleston single house previously occupied by Bistro A Vin. Dominic Chantepie, who opened the wine bar in 2018, has experience hosting events there, too. Before turning it into a full-time private venue, chef Forrest Parker utilized Bistro A Vins bar during his top-rated Undiscovered Charleston food tour. The restaurants space was previously home to Cafe Framboise, also owned by Dominic Chantepie until 2020. After he sold the business, the new owners kept the daytime French cafe open until August 2022. Azur is a partnership between Benjamin Boisson, Chantepie and his son Mathis Chantepie, who is leading the restaurant's craft cocktail program. For food, diners can expect a French menu with Spanish and Italian influences. Escargot cassolette, whipped brie, mussels and a warm goat cheese salad are among the shareable plates that pair with an in-house pastry program. It is something that reflects our personality, Dominic Chantepie said. We want something that is affordable but at the same time a cozy setting. Azur is open for dinner starting at 4 p.m. Wednesday through Monday (closed Tuesday). For more information, visit azurcharleston.com. Kingstree, SC (29556) Today Rain showers in the morning becoming more intermittent in the afternoon. High 66F. Winds NW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 70%.. Tonight Mostly cloudy. Slight chance of a rain shower. Low 56F. Winds light and variable. As the CEO of Adaptiv Networks, Bernard Breton is leading the way in simplifying and enhancing SD-WAN solutions for SMEs. On the back of three years of R&D and a $10M investment, Adaptiv has released its new generation product, Version 8, redefining the companys SD-WAN stack. He said in an in-person interview, Sub 5k users businesses dont need the complexity, but they certainly need the outcome of SD-WAN, Bernard explained. He believes that burying these businesses in complex projects they cannot deploy or support only leads to higher costs. With the Version 8, Breton states, We continue our quest to bring simplicity, performance, and security to these enterprises. The new product has been well-received. Weve received great feedback, Bernard shared, also revealing a new relationship with Telesystem, which was made possible by the simplicity and breadth of functionality offered by Version 8. Telesystems Chief Revenue Officer, Bruce Wirt, expressed his enthusiasm for the partnership, praising Adaptivs SD-WAN and SASE solutions for their agility, reliability, and end-to-end network visibility and control. Breton echoed this sentiment, noting how their joint venture is transforming the SD-WAN market landscape. Bernard Breton Breton disclosed that a SASE solution is due to be launched this summer, which will work in harmony with all their existing SD-WAN products including their product My Connect. This ZTNA client also functions as an SD-WAN solution for remote workers, eliminating the need for a device. It features link conditioning and multi-link and multi-link failover, delivering security and quality posture away from the office. As mobile work has exploded, you want a level of experience and security similar at home and in the office, Breton added. On the topic of competition, Breton acknowledges that Velocloud may be their closest competitor, but insists that Adaptiv stands apart in affordability, simplicity, and suitability for smaller customers. We think we have the best ease of use in the market and capabilities that are equal to others, he affirmed. Adaptivs offering allows for split tunneling, providing SD-WAN protections for traffic such as UCaaS and CRM, among others, while offloading non-business traffic. With the ability to apply policies swiftly, MSPs can maintain volume while remaining profitable, fulfilling a crucial requirement for the SME market. The company is currently working with a Canadian partner with 6,000 customers, aiming to sign 1,000 a year. Breton shares, They think three-quarters will be cookie-cutter customers like restaurants. These clients cant afford a high-maintenance network but we have a solution that combines quality with simplicity. Over the next 12 months, Adaptiv will focus on providing focus and attention to its 12 launch partners while also progressing with their SASE initiative. Bernard likens this to Having a new kid helping him grow. While the network is already ahead of the UI, the aim is to simplify it for partners without requiring them to be experts, he explained. We expect to have a fully automated solution in the future, Breton shares, Based on the link patterns, we can determine the best approach such as aggressive or laid back, etc. For Adaptiv Networks and Bernard Breton, the goal is clear: delivering high-performance SD-WAN solutions that are simple, affordable, and effective for SMEs. With their new products and partnerships, they seem to be on their way to achieving it. See our latest video interview with Bernard at ITEXPO this past February and come visit them in their booth at the next ITEXPO #TECHSUPERSHOW Feb 13-15, 2024, Fort Lauderdale, FL. Aside from his role as CEO of TMC and chairman of ITEXPO, Rich Tehrani is CEO of RT Advisors and a Registered Representative with and offering securities through Four Points Capital Partners LLC (Four Points) (Member FINRA/SIPC). RT Advisors is not owned by Four Points. RT-Advisors continues its mission of assisting tech companies in M&A and capital raising using our unique tech media background and relationships to aid companies to optimally position themselves. In addition, as of late we have been increasingly assisting fast-growing tech companies in obtaining non-dilutive capital. Please let us know if we can be of assistance. The above is not an endorsement or recommendation to buy/sell any security or sector mentioned. No companies mentioned above are current or past clients of RT Advisors. Mount Pleasant, SC (29464) Today Showers in the morning, then cloudy in the afternoon. High near 70F. Winds WNW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 50%.. Tonight A few clouds. Low 58F. Winds W at 5 to 10 mph. In 2018, Wade Williamson shot and killed a man in his Cane Bay home. Williamson called it self-defense. The state of South Carolina called it murder. The victim was his wifes lover, after all. For nearly five years, Williamson faced the threat of 30 years to life imprisonment if a jury believed the state. The charges against him murder and a weapons offense hung over his head until last October, when the solicitor dropped the case. Unlike when he was charged, there were no press releases, no media coverage that the case had been dismissed. Williamson's attorney contacted The Post and Courier, which published three articles about the slaying in 2018. Williamson agreed to talk with The Post and Courier and an open-records request opened the complete investigative file for review. Williamson later told a reporter he'd like to set the record straight. Its like I was holding that breath for almost five years, Williamson said recently on an episode of his podcast, which he started while on house arrest. When he first launched the weekly podcast and YouTube channel in mid-2021, Williamson didnt talk about his own case. But he used the platform to try to make sense of what was happening to him. He interviewed others who had served time in prison some unjustly earning the channel more than 4,000 subscribers and a true crime tag. Williamson only spent two nights in the Berkeley County jail, but it left an impression on him. He remembered staring at the ceiling thinking, I'm not supposed to be here," before leading to the question: How many other people are in here right now, staring at the ceiling, that arent supposed to be here? Don't get me wrong, some of the stuff I heard in there, some of the people were right where they needed to be. But I don't doubt for a minute that there's people in this world, probably even in this county right now, that are in there for no other reason than they don't have the money to get a lawyer to prove it and fight for them. Williamson no longer believes the adage the U.S. criminal justice system is built upon: innocent until proven guilty. You're guilty until you pay out your nose to prove you're innocent, he said. That's really what it is. He found that out in the early morning hours of April 8, 2018, when he shot and killed 35-year-old Liam Vernon. Williamson doesnt deny it. But he didnt murder Vernon, he insists. He told the 911 dispatcher that Vernon attacked him, that he had no choice. He came at me, Williamson said in the 911 call. He was striking me. I had to shoot him. He is down. We need an ambulance. His story didn't change in the days, months and years that followed. But that night, he sat handcuffed in the back of a Berkeley County sheriff deputy's cruiser outside his home for hours. At midmorning, he was released. The reprieve was temporary. A week later, he was charged with murder and a weapons offense. They got a juicy story, Williamson said of police assuming a love-triangle-gone-wrong motive. And they jumped to the conclusion of 'he must have killed him to get his wife back.' Williamson and his wife separated in August 2017. Around the same time, she met Vernon on a Craigslist dating portal, according to court documents. Williamson's wife started dating Vernon, and they moved in together in a home near where Williamson lived. Williamson and his wife continued to have issues after the separation. At one point, he put a tracking device on her car, court records show. At least twice, the police were called when they argued, police records document. But in early 2018, Williamson's wife said she came to fear Vernon. The 35-year-old Army veteran suffered from PTSD following his military service in Iraq, which made him volatile, she told police. She enlisted Williamson to start tracking and recording Vernon, which enraged Vernon, who began to suspect the Williamsons had reconciled, according to court documents. Vernon threatened Williamson and his wife, telling her he would burn her house down, she told police. Better yet, Im going to kill your entire family and start with Wade (Williamson), Vernon told her sometime before the shooting, according to police records. The night before the shooting, Vernon broke her phone during an argument. She was breaking it off with Vernon, and planned to return Williamson, he said. A neighbor intervened, asking Vernon over to his place to cool off. The neighbor later told police he heard Vernon threaten Wade Williamsons life. But Vernon and the neighbor had a few drinks, and Vernon appeared to calm down. Around 2 a.m., Vernon texted Wade Williamson saying: No bullshit no drama I need to know facts about you and (your wife). Williamson joined Vernon at the neighbors home, where the three drank until about 5 a.m., when their neighbor told police he went to bed. Vernon and Williamson decide to keep drinking and moved to Williamsons house. In his written statement to police, Williamson described the conversation as cordial and friendly. We talked about our kids, my house, our immediate future plans and exchanged stories, Williamson wrote in a typed statement, which he signed. The conversation never became heated, confrontational or physical in any way. Around 7 a.m., Vernon asked to use the bathroom, located in a hallway off the kitchen. When he returned, Williamson said Vernon attacked, unprovoked. He walked right up to me and grabbed me by the throat with his left hand, Williamson said. Williamson described being pushed into the corner of his kitchen cabinets. Vernon punched a glancing blow off his chin. He said, 'Im gonna kill you,'" Williamson said. I told him to stop, and warned him that I would shoot him if I had to. Seeing the look in his eyes, not able to break his grasp and fearing for my life, I drew my weapon and shot him until he let go. Vernon was struck three times in the chest, though Williamson only reported two shots. Area media outlets, including The Post and Courier, covered the slaying, prominently featuring Williamsons mug shot. It would take until October 2022 for the 9th Circuit Solicitors Office to drop the charges citing evidentiary problems, though the last update to the police file was three years earlier. It is impossible for the State to prove the charges beyond a reasonable (doubt), wrote Assistant Solicitor Patrick Goodwyn in a memorandum for dismissal. He conceded, Also, there is significant evidence to support self-defense. Williamson hired Andy Savage, a renowned defense attorney who represented high-profile clients including Michael Slager, the former North Charleston police officer who killed fleeing motorist Walter Scott. Savage said Goodwyn was the third solicitor assigned the case. He is the first one to discuss the case with me, Savage said in an email. In a better world (not necessarily perfect) the initial case review by the first prosecutor should have ended it. Judgement just wasnt there. After his arrest, Williamson lost his job as a welder. It took him some time, but he found another job paying about half his prior salary. He used most of his retirement savings to cover his $150,000 bond, Savages fees and other legal services. All told, Williamson said the case cost him about $100,000, and some of his reputation. It's one of these things that I've got to come to terms with, Williamson said. That I'm never going to outlive (it) because it's on the internet. It's there. The articles are printed. They're gonna be there. And this is something that you have got to own. But I want to set the record. Don't read that: a man charged with murder. No, that's not the story. Williamson and his wife remained together through the drawn-out legal process. They live together in the Cane Bay home with their son. Their daughter recently moved across the country. Dozens of family photos crowd the front of the stainless-steel refrigerator in their kitchen. The memories captured a span of about 20 years of marriage and the lives of their two children. Beneath, though, is a reminder of the unhappier time. The dented metal was mangled by a bullet that passed through Vernon. Williamson and his wife left the fridge as is, thinking it might be important if the charges ever reemerged. But it was something that we didn't want to see every time we open the refrigerator, he said. So they covered it with photos. That was the next best thing: Just keep it covered in good memories to try to cover the bad. Charleston, SC (29403) Today Showers in the morning, then cloudy in the afternoon. High near 70F. Winds WNW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 50%.. Tonight A few clouds. Low 57F. Winds W at 5 to 10 mph. COLUMBIA A remark Gov. Henry McMaster has been making about Democrats at Republican events for the last three decades ignited outcry over the weekend as Democrats say the comment promotes violence and evokes South Carolinas sordid history of slavery. Republicans say critics cant take a joke. In a speech May 20 at the Republican Partys state convention in Lexington, McMaster said he looked forward to a day when Democrats would be so rare that Republicans would have to hunt them with dogs. He then quipped that Democrats are indeed growing rare in the state, in reference to their election losses in recent years. The high school gymnasium packed with the Republican faithful erupted in applause at the line. Though dogs are used in fox, raccoon and waterfowl hunting, as well as by police in missing persons searches, Democrats point to police siccing dogs on civil rights protestors and enslavers hunting escaped slaves with dogs. The governors office dismissed the criticism as overblown. "Governor McMaster has been making this joke at GOP conventions for years, and everyday South Carolinians understand that it's a joke, the governors spokesman, Brandon Charochak, said in a statement. McMaster is in his final term as governor, set to end after the 2026 election. "If South Carolina Democrat partisans can no longer bear light-hearted jokes made at their expense, then maybe they should focus their energy on winning and not whining," he said. The governor has used the comment since the 1990s, S.C. Republican Party Chairman Drew McKissick said before using it himself on election night in 2020, The State newspaper of Columbia reported at the time. Christale Spain, the first Black woman to chair the South Carolina Democratic Party, slammed the comments in a statement May 22. The majority of the Democratic electorate in South Carolina is Black and our governor is saying out loud he cant wait to hunt us down with dogs, she said. At this point, can we even call it a dog whistle if everyone can hear it? Democrats arent laughing at a joke that Spain said reminds party members of centuries of oppression. Even if you take out the racial elements of it, maybe after Jan. 6 its a good time to stop proposing violence against your political opponents, said Sam Skardon, the chair of the Charleston County Democratic Party. Skardon called on McMaster to retract the remarks, or for the State Law Enforcement Division to open an investigation into the comments as a threat. Republicans, meanwhile, say Democrats need to lighten up. It is a joke, and they are blowing it completely out of proportion for their own political agenda. It has no reference to slavery, no reference to anything except a joke, said Steven Wright, the chair of the Dorchester County Republican Party who attended the convention and has heard the governor use the line at other events. There was no similar outrage in 2021 when social media users, most of them on the left, dubbed U.S. Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., Uncle Tim, a reference to the exceedingly subservient slave whose story is told in the 1852 abolitionist novel "Uncle Toms Cabin," Wright said. (Democrats) continue to be rejected because they virtue signal and they dont focus on the things that are important to the people of South Carolina, he said. The use of bloodhounds to keep slaves on plantations and hunt them down when they escaped began in colonial days but expanded and professionalized in the 1800s, said Tyler D. Parry, a professor of African American studies at the University of Nevada Las Vegas who has extensively researched the subject. It was a harrowing experience for (slaves), he told The Post and Courier. They knew the one thing they could not escape was the dogs. In their memoirs, escaped and freed slaves vividly recounted the baying of the bloodhounds, told of scars they still had from being bitten two decades earlier, remembered nightmares of being chased and the sense that they were hunted like animals, said Parry, who received his masters and doctoral degrees from the University of South Carolina. Its entirely possible that McMaster and those that think like him might not have known the offense of the joke, but I would actually say thats part of the problem, he said. PR-Inside.com: 2023-05-22 08:00:21 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 999 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 GUILDFORD, SURREY / ACCESSWIRE / May 22, 2023 / ANGLE plc (AIM:AGL)(OTCQX:ANPCY), a world-leading liquid biopsy company announces that Garth Selvey has informed the Board of his intention to retire and leave ANGLE at the publication of the 2023 Interims in September. Garth will hand over the Chair with immediate effect to Dr. Jan Groen, currently an independent Non-executive Director on the Board.Garth joined ANGLE as a Non-executive Director in 2006 and became Chairman in 2007. Under his guidance, ANGLE has made significant progress in the development of its ground-breaking Parsortix liquid biopsy system from its early adoption by leading cancer centres for oncology research through to its FDA clearance for use in metastatic breast cancer in May last year.Dr. Jan Groen has over twenty years of experience in medical diagnostics covering both pharma and clinical sales, which provides critical market insight as ANGLE drives forward its commercial product roll-out and the expansion of its clinical laboratories and CTC services. Jan joined the ANGLE Board as a Non-executive Director in November 2018. Jan is currently the CEO and Chairman at Intravacc B.V. and was previously the CEO of MDxHealth, a Euronext listed genomic diagnostics company specialising in prostate cancer, and President and COO of Agendia, a company specialising in breast cancer. Jan's appointment as Chairman follows the new Non-executive Director appointments of Juliet Thompson and Dr. Joseph Eid earlier this year.ANGLE Founder and Chief Executive, Andrew Newland, commented:"I would like to thank Garth for his exceptional contribution to the ANGLE journey. His support and guidance has been gratefully received, especially during pivotal moments in the Company's development. He leaves ANGLE in a strong position to capitalise on its FDA product clearance and experiencing good momentum in both its product and services businesses. I am delighted that Jan has agreed to step into the Chairman role and look forward to his continued assistance in realising ANGLE's commercial potential." For further information:ANGLE plc+44 (0) 1483 343434Andrew Newland, Chief ExecutiveIan Griffiths, Finance DirectorAndrew Holder, Head of Investor RelationsBerenberg (NOMAD and Joint Broker)Toby Flaux, Ciaran Walsh, Milo Bonser+44 (0) 20 3207 7800Jefferies (Joint Broker)Thomas Bective, Shaam Vora+44 (0) 20 7029 8000FTI ConsultingSimon Conway, Ciara MartinMatthew Ventimiglia (US)+44 (0) 203 727 1000+1 (212) 850 5624The information contained within this announcement is deemed by the Company to constitute inside information as stipulated under the EU Market Abuse Regulation (596/2014). Upon the publication of this announcement via a regulatory information service, this information is considered to be in the public domain.For Frequently Used Terms, please see the Company's website on https://angleplc.com/investor-relations/glossary/ Notes for editorsAbout ANGLE plc www.angleplc.com ANGLE is a world leading liquid biopsy company with sample-to-answer solutions. ANGLE's proven patent protected circulating tumor cell (CTC) harvesting technology is known as the Parsortix system.ANGLE's Parsortix system is FDA cleared for its intended use in metastatic breast cancer and is currently the first and only FDA cleared medical device to harvest intact circulating cancer cells from blood.Intended useThe Parsortix PC1 system is an in vitro diagnostic device intended to enrich circulating tumor cells (CTCs) from peripheral blood collected in K2EDTA tubes from patients diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer. The system employs a microfluidic chamber (a Parsortix cell separation cassette) to capture cells of a certain size and deformability from the population of cells present in blood. The cells retained in the cassette are harvested by the Parsortix PC1 system for use in subsequent downstream assays. The end user is responsible for the validation of any downstream assay. The standalone device, as indicated, does not identify, enumerate or characterize CTCs and cannot be used to make any diagnostic/prognostic claims for CTCs, including monitoring indications or as an aid in any disease management and/or treatment decisions.The Parsortix system enables a liquid biopsy (a simple blood test) to be used to provide the circulating metastatic breast cancer cells to the user in a format suitable for multiple types of downstream analyses. The system is based on a microfluidic device that captures cells based on a combination of their size and compressibility. The system is epitope independent and can capture all phenotypes of CTCs (epithelial, mesenchymal and EMTing CTCs) as well as CTC clusters in a viable form (alive). CTCs harvested from the system enable a complete picture of a cancer to be seen; as being an intact cell they allow DNA, RNA and protein analysis as well as cytological and morphological examination and may provide comparable analysis to a tissue biopsy in metastatic breast cancer. Because CTC analysis is a non-invasive process, unlike tissue biopsy, it can be repeated as often as needed. This is important because cancer develops and changes over time and there is a clear medical need for up-to-date information on the status of a patient's tumor. In addition, the live CTCs harvested by the Parsortix system can be cultured, which offers the potential for testing tumor response to drugs outside the patient.The Parsortix technology is the subject of 26 granted patents in Europe, the United States, China, Australia, Canada, India, Japan and Mexico with three extensive families of patents are being progressed worldwide.In the United States, the Parsortix PC1 system has received a Class II Classification from FDA for use with metastatic breast cancer patients. FDA clearance is seen as the global gold standard. ANGLE's Parsortix system is the first ever FDA cleared system for harvesting CTCs for subsequent analysis. ANGLE has applied the IVD CE Mark to the same system for the same intended use in Europe.ANGLE has also completed three separate 200 subject clinical studies under a programme designed to develop an ovarian cancer pelvic mass triage test, with the results showing best in class accuracy (AUC-ROC) of 95.4% with sensitivity of 90% and specificity of 93%. This excellent clinical result demonstrates the utility of cells harvested by the Parsortix system, which the Company believes is the "best sample" for liquid biopsy analysis as it recovers intact, living cancer cells that are involved in th PR-Inside.com: 2023-05-22 20:30:23 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 926 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 NOT FOR RELEASE, PUBLICATION OR DISTRIBUTION (IN WHOLE OR IN PART) IN, INTO OR FROM ANY JURISDICTION WHERE SUCH RELEASE, PUBLICATION OR DISTRIBUTION WOULD CONSTITUTE A VIOLATION OF THE RELEVANT LAWS OF SUCH JURISDICTION.Atlantic BidCo secures all regulatory clearances for takeover of Aareal Bank following the approval by the European Central BankSettlement of takeover offer expected by 7 June 2023Upon closing, Atlantic BidCo will hold approximately 90 percent of the shares in Aareal BankFRANKFURT, GERMANY / ACCESSWIRE / May 22, 2023 / Atlantic BidCo GmbH (the "Bidder") today announced that, following the approval by the European Central Bank ("ECB"), it has now obtained all regulatory clearances related to the voluntary public takeover offer for the shares of Aareal Bank AG ("Aareal Bank").Atlantic BidCo is a non-controlled company indirectly held by funds which are respectively advised, managed or controlled by Advent International Corporation ("Advent"), Centerbridge Partners, L.P. ("Centerbridge") and CPP Investment Board Europe S.a r.l, a wholly owned subsidiary of Canada Pension Plan Investment Board ("CPP Investments"), as well as other minority shareholders.With today's approval by the ECB, all offer conditions have now been fulfilled and the settlement of the takeover offer will take place by 7 June 2023. Shareholders that accepted the offer will receive the consideration of EUR 33.00 per tendered Aareal Bank share.Following closing of the takeover offer, the Bidder will own approximately 90 percent of the share capital and the voting rights of Aareal Bank.Further information on the settlement and the transfer of the tendered shares is available at https://www.atlantic-offer.com Media Contacts of the BidderOlaf Zapke, FGS Global, Tel +49 170 764 1971, olaf.zapke@fgsglobal.com Markus Stoker, FGS Global, Tel +49 162 245 3946, markus.stoker@fgsglobal.com Roland Klein, Kekst CNC, Tel +44 7776 162 997, roland.klein@kekstcnc.com Isabel Henninger, Kekst CNC, Tel +49 174 940 9955, isabel.henninger@kekstcnc.com Information about Shareholders of the BidderAbout Advent InternationalFounded in 1984, Advent International is one of the largest and most experienced global private equity investors. The firm has invested in over 405 private equity investments across 42 countries, and as of December 31, 2022, had EUR 86 billion in assets under management. With 15 offices in 12 countries, Advent has established a globally integrated team of over 290 private equity investment professionals across Europe, North America, Latin America and Asia. The firm focuses on investments in five core sectors, including business and financial services; technology; health care; industrial; and retail, consumer and leisure. After 35 years dedicated to international investing, Advent remains committed to partnering with management teams to deliver sustained revenue and earnings growth for its portfolio companies.Advent has a well-established track record in the European financial services sector with growth investments in leading payment companies like Nexi, Nets and Concardis Payment Group (both now part of Nexi), Worldpay, Planet and Addiko, an international banking group focusing on Southeastern Europe. The investment in Aareal Bank follows Advent's acquisition of a 30% stake in Aareon in 2020, the leading pan-European provider of innovative software solutions for the real estate sector, and a subsidiary of Aareal Bank. Advent's approach is to provide significant support to management teams by assisting with operating resources and expertise from its Portfolio Support Group and third-party Operating Partner program.For more information, visit:Website: http://www.adventinternational.com LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/company/advent-international About CenterbridgeCenterbridge Partners, L.P. is a private investment management firm employing a flexible approach across investment disciplines - private equity, private credit and real estate - in an effort to develop the most attractive opportunities for our investors. The Firm was founded in 2005 and as of January 31, 2023 has approximately USD 36 billion in capital under management with offices in New York and London. Centerbridge is dedicated to partnering with world-class management teams across targeted industry sectors and geographies.Centerbridge has a strong track record investing in financial services and real estate in Europe, with investments including BFF Banking Group, which is listed on the Milan Stock Exchange; Williams & Glyn in partnership with RBS; auxmoney GmbH, the German digital credit platform; and Phoenix Holdings, listed on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange, amongst others. Globally, Centerbridge has invested over USD 20 billion in financial services and over USD 9 billion in real estate.For more information, please visit www.centerbridge.com About CPP InvestmentsCanada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPP Investments) is a professional investment management organization that manages the Fund in the best interest of the more than 21 million contributors and beneficiaries of the Canada Pension Plan. In order to build diversified portfolios of assets, investments are made around the world in public equities, private equities, real estate, infrastructure and fixed income. Headquartered in Toronto, with offices in Hong Kong, London, Luxembourg, Mumbai, New York City, San Francisco, Sao Paulo and Sydney, CPP Investments is governed and managed independently of the Canada Pension Plan and at arm's length from governments. At December 31, 2022, the Fund totalled $536 billion. For more information, please visit www.cppinvestments.com or follow us on LinkedIn, Facebook or Twitter.Important NoticeThis announcement is for information purposes only and neither constitutes an invitation to sell, nor an offer to purchase, securities of Aareal Bank. The offer document published by the Bidder after approval by the German Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (Bundesanstalt fur Finanzdienstleistungsaufsicht) is the sole binding document with regard to the terms and conditions and other provisions relating to the public takeover offer. Investors and holders of securities of Aareal Bank are strongly recommended to read the offer document and all announcements in connection with the public takeover offer, since they contain important information.SOURCE: Atlantic BidCo GmbH A short extract from "the event" (Levenement[0] ) by Annie Ernaux[1], translated from French by xia23 On the back cover: For years, I have always focused on this event of my life. Reading the story on abortion in a novel plunges me in shock without images or thoughts, just like words instantly changed into a violent sensation. In the same way, hearing La javanaise[2], J'ai la memoire qui flanche[3] by chance, any song which has accompanied me during this period, distresses me. The extract: I came down to Barbes[4]. Just as the last time, people were waiting, grouped together on the foot of the elevated railroad. People walked on the pavement with pink bags from Tati[5]. I took Magenta boulevard[6], recognized the store Billy with anoraks hanging up outside. A woman arrived in front of me, she wore a pair of black stockings with large motifs on her strong legs. Ambroise-Pare street[7] was almost deserted up to the surrounding area of the hospital. I followed the long curved corridor of Elisa hospital wing. First I did not observe a kiosk with music in the court which goes along the glazed corridor. I wondered how I would see all of these after a restart again. I pushed door 15 and went to the second floor. At the screening service desk, I handed in the card with my phone number there. The woman rummaged a file and took out a brown paper folder containing with some papers. I stretched my hand out but she would not give it to me. She put it down on the desk and asked me to sit down so someone could call me. The waiting room is separated into two adjoining boxes. I chose the one which was closer to doctors office door, the one with a larger space too. I started to correct the copies I took with me. Just behind me a quite young girl with long blond hair was handing out her number. I had verified that receptionist would not give the folder to her and she should also be called. Other people sat far from each other and waited there: a man in his 30s dressed in fashion and was slightly bald headed; a young black man with a Walkman; a man in his 50s, his face had a line-scar, his head sagged in his seat. Behind the blond girl, the fourth man arrived, he sat with determination, took out a book from his briefcase. Then a couple: she was on shorts with pregnancy, he worn a suit with a tie. On the table, there was no newspaper, only leaflets on the necessity of eating dairy products and how to live with HIV positive. The woman of the couple talked to her companion, stood, wrapped him around with her arms, caressing him. He remained silent, motionless, his hands rested on his umbrella. The blond girl kept her eyes lowered, almost closed, her leather jacket was folded on her knees. She appeared petrified. Near her feet there was a large travel bag with a small one attached to its back. I asked myself if she had more reasons to fear than those of the others. She went perhaps to search for her result before leaving for a weekend, or returned to her parents home in the provinces. The doctor came out from her office, a slim, exuberant young woman, with a rosy skirt and black stocking. She called a number. There was no one moving. It was someone from the other box, a boy who had passed quickly, I only saw the glasses and a ponytail. The young black man has been called and then the men from the other box. Nobody talked or moved, except the woman of the couple. People opened their eyes fully only when the doctor appeared at her office door or someone came out. People followed him and watched him. The telephone rang several times, for appointments or schedules. Once, the receptionist lady went to find a biologist for answering a female caller. He said, and then repeated that no, she is mostly normal, quite normal. This echoed in silence. The person on the other end was surely HIV positive. I had finished correcting my copies. I saw the same scene continuously again and again, blurred, of one Saturday and of one Sunday of July, the movement of love, ejaculation. This was the reason of such a scene, forgot for many months, that I found myself here. Intertwinement and gesticulation of the naked bodies, it appeared like a dance of death. It seemed to me that this man who I had accepted to meet again with weariness only had come from Italy to give me AIDS. Though I did not come to establish a connection among these: the gestures, the warmth of the skin, the sperms and the fact of being here. I had thought that he would never have any connection between sex and other things. The doctor called my number. Before my number I saw the interior of the office, she had smiled at me broadly. I took this as a good sign. When the door closed, she said very quickly, its negative. I burst into laughter. Whatever she talked to me in the discussion held no interest for me. She was joyful and looked like an accomplice of mine. I took the escalator down very quickly, retook the route in opposite direction without watching anything. I said to myself that I was saved again. I would have liked to know if the blond girl was saved too. At Barbes station, it was crowded, people faced each other on the platforms, with this and that pink marks of their Tati bags. I had taken account that I had lived the moment in Lariboisiere[8] of the same way which I was waiting for doctor N. in 1963, in the same horror and the same incredulity. My life was set between Ogino method[9] and the condom in one franc in the distributers. That is a good way to measure it, even safer than others. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [0]. p. 11-16. Annie Ernaux. Levenement. Gallimard. 2000 [1]. Annie Therese Blanche Ernaux (nee Duchesne; born 1 September 1940) is a French writer who was awarded the 2022 Nobel Prize in Literature "for the courage and clinical acuity with which she uncovers the roots, estrangements and collective restraints of personal memory". Her literary work, mostly autobiographical, maintains close links with sociology. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annie_Ernaux [2]. La Javanaise La javanaise, Gibberish "La Javanaise" is a song written and composed by Serge Gainsbourg originally for Juliette Greco , and interpreted by both her and Serge Gainsbourg in 1963 . The first recordings of both artists constituted the B-sides of each of the two 45s. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Javanaise https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V6gjzNm6dA0 Song by Serge Gainsbourg I admit I didn't drool over you J'avoue j'en ai bave pas vous My love Mon amour Before I heard of you Avant d'avoir eu vent de vous My love Mon amour Don't mind Ne vous deplaise By dancing the Javanese En dansant la Javanaise We love each other Nous nous aimions The time of a Le temps d'une Song Chanson What do you think we saw A votre avis qu'avons-nous vu Of love? De l'amour? From you to me you got me De vous a moi vous m'avez eu My love Mon amour Don't mind Ne vous deplaise By dancing the Javanese En dansant la Javanaise We love each other Nous nous aimions The time of a Le temps d'une Song Chanson Alas April in vain dooms me Helas avril en vain me voue To love A l'amour I wanted to see in you J'avais envie de voir en vous This love Cet amour Don't mind Ne vous deplaise By dancing the Javanese En dansant la Javanaise We love each other Nous nous aimions The time of a Le temps d'une Song Chanson Life is not worth living La vie ne vaut d'etre vecue Without love Sans amour But you wanted it Mais c'est vous qui l'avez voulu My love Mon amour Don't mind Ne vous deplaise By dancing the Javanese En dansant la Javanaise We love each other Nous nous aimions The time of a Le temps d'une Song Chanson Source: LyricFind Songwriters: Serge Gainsbourg La Javanaise lyrics Reservoir Media Management Inc, Warner Chappell Music France [3]. J'ai la memoire qui flanche J'ai la memoire qui flanche I have memory to give in https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o6uU2czYbOM Song by Jeanne Moreau Lyrics I have a failing memory J'ai la memoire qui flanche I don't remember very well J'me souviens plus tres bien As he was very musical Comme il etait tres musicien He played a lot of hands Il jouait beaucoup des mains Everything between us started Tout entre nous a commence With a very long kiss Par un tres long baiser On the bluish vein of the wrist Sur la veine bleutee du poignet A long endless kiss Un long baiser sans fin I have a failing memory J'ai la memoire qui flanche I don't remember very well J'me souviens plus tres bien What could be his first name Quel pouvait etre son prenom And what was his name Et quel etait son nom He was called, I called him Il s'appelait, je l'appelais What was it called? Comment l'appelait-t'on? Yet it's crazy how much I loved Pourtant c'est fou ce que j'aimais Call him by his name L'appeler par son nom I have a failing memory J'ai la memoire qui flanche I don't remember very well J'me souviens plus tres bien What color were his eyes? De quel couleur etaient ses yeux? I don't think they were blue J'crois pas qu'ils etaient bleus Were they green, were they gray? Etaient-ils verts, etaient-ils gris? Were they verdigris? Etaient-ils vert de gris? Or did they change color all the time Ou changeaient-ils tout le temps de couleur For a no for a yes? Pour un non pour un oui? I have a failing memory J'ai la memoire qui flanche I don't remember very well J'me souviens plus tres bien Did he live in this old hotel Habitait-il ce vieil hotel Filled with musicians Bourre de musiciens While he me, while I Pendant qu'il me, pendant que je While we were partying Pendant qu'on faisait la fete All these saxes, these clarinets Tous ces saxos, ces clarinettes that turned my head Qui me tournaient la tete I have a failing memory J'ai la memoire qui flanche I don't remember very well J'me souviens plus tres bien Which of us got tired Lequel de nous deux s'est lasse On the other the first? De l'autre le premier? Was it me? Etait-ce moi? Was it him? Etait-ce lui? Was it me or him? Etait-ce donc moi ou lui? All I know is since Tout ce que je sais c'est que depuis I don't know who I am anymore Je n'sais plus qui je suis I have a failing memory J'ai la memoire qui flanche I don't remember very well J'me souviens plus tres bien So after all those sleepless nights Voila qu'apres toutes ces nuits blanches I have nothing left Il me reste plus rien Just a little tune he was whistling Rien qu'un p'tit air qu'il sifflotait Every day while shaving Chaque jour en se rasant Pa dou dou di dou da dou di Pa dou dou di dou da dou di Dou dou di dou di dou, ah Dou dou di dou di dou, ah Padoubidoubidoubaba, baboubiboubibouda Padoubidoubidoubaba, baboubiboubibouda Pabadabadoubabibouba, parapadabibouba Pabadabadoubabibouba, parapadabibouba Source: Musixmatch Songwriters: Serge Rezvani J'ai la memoire qui flanche lyrics Editions Musicales Tutti Intersong Sarl [4]. Barbes Walk in Paris : The crowd of Barbes and of the subway https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hapNKD0Gw00 [5]. Tahi Tati is a discount department store in Paris France. It is huge with multiple floors for clothing, housewares, knickknacks, shoes..everything! [6]. The boulevard de Magenta The boulevard de Magenta is located in the Ninth and Tenth arrondissements of Paris , France . It begins at place de la Republique and 1, rue Beaurepaire , and ends at 1, boulevard de Rochechouart and 53, boulevard de la Chapelle . https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boulevard_de_Magenta [7]. La rue Ambroise-Pare [8]. Lariboisiere, see map in [7], just little bit of northeast of La rue Ambroise-Pare. Lariboisiere Hospital ( French : Hopital Lariboisiere) is a hospital in the 10th arrondissement of Paris , France . The hospital was one of several built following the second cholera pandemic , which had reached Paris in 1832, and which led to a new emphasis on hygienic practices in hospitals. It was built from 1846 to 1853 under architect Pierre Gauthier , with six buildings arranged around a central courtyard, connected by colonnaded walkways. The grounds include the funeral monument, by Carlo Marochetti , of Elisa de Lariboisiere [ fr ], who donated a large portion of the funds for the hospital's construction. It is a teaching hospital of Universite Paris Cite . https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lariboisi%C3%A8re_Hospital [9]. Ogino method Calendar-based methods are various methods of estimating a woman's likelihood of fertility, based on a record of the length of previous menstrual cycles. Various methods are known as the KnausOgino method and the rhythm method. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calendar-based_contraceptive_methods Thank you very much for reading. PR-Inside.com: 2023-05-22 13:38:01 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 556 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 LISBON, PORTUGAL / ACCESSWIRE / May 22, 2023 / Grumpy, a new BRC-20 token on the Bitcoin network, aims to restore trust and attract investors to the blockchain. With Bitcoin's reputation as the OG cryptocurrency, Grumpy could spark a "Bitcoin summer." Grumpy, symbolized as $GRUM, quickly gained momentum after launch. Over 50% of its 21 billion token supply was minted within hours, setting it apart from other BRC-20 tokens.The token's success can be attributed to its fair launch process, allowing anyone to mint up to one million $GRUM tokens. This approach created an equal opportunity and fostered community trust.Grumpy's emergence on BRC-20 marks a potential turning point, aiming to restore confidence and attract investors. Leveraging Bitcoin's trust and the popularity of BRC-20 tokens, Grumpy bridges the gap between the blockchain and wider investment community.The BRC-20 protocol builds on the concept of marking single satoshis with information, similar to Bitcoin Ordinals. But where Ordinals tag individual satoshis as NFTs, the BRC-20 protocol goes a step further by minting satoshis with information for cryptocurrency tokens.The total market capitalization of BRC-20 tokens touched $1 billion in May 2023, signaling how they have captured the community's attention, with a wave of BRC-20 meme coins causing something of a frenzy within the space.One token, in particular, seems to have captured the community's attention.Grumpy: The Bitcoin Cat'Crypto Twitter has witnessed an avalanche of attention piling on meme coins, but a BRC-20 token called Grumpy has captured interest more than most.The token aims to restore the glory of meme coins by launching on Bitcoin, the original blockchain network, and using a fair launch process that only allowed wallets to mint a maximum limit of one million $GRUM out of a total supply of 21 billion.There were also no allocations, keeping a level playing field for all participants, which helped build the trust of the community during the launch process and, ultimately, helped $GRUM to mint out within 24 hours of launching.The meme coin now sits in the top-25 most-held BRC-20 tokens just three days after deployment, with 1,703 unique wallets. And with its belief in the supremacy of Bitcoin, Grumpy hopes to lead investors beyond Ethereum by harnessing the memetic energy of Bitcoin.BRC-20 Growth and the Road AheadGrumpy has enjoyed a meteoric rise in just shy of one week, with 8,400 members on Telegram and 11,900 followers on Twitter, establishing itself as one of the fastest-growing BRC-20 meme coins on Bitcoin.In leading the wave of BRC-20 meme coins, Grumpy is cementing its potential for success, alongside that of other Bitcoin-based tokens. And its uptake will boost efforts to educate the community about BRC-20 tokens and how they can improve the Bitcoin network's security.ABOUT GRUMPYGrumpy is a BRC-20 meme coin on the Bitcoin network. The token was deployed on the 16th May, 2023, minting over 50% within the first few hours before minting out within the first day. Over 2,000 wallets hold $GRUM, which aims to use the memetic power of the original cryptocurrency to attract new users to the Bitcoin ecosystem.Website: http://grumpy.site/ Token information: https://unisat.io/brc20/GRUM Where to buy: https://unisat.io/market?tick=GRUM Media Contact:Name: Mike van der PlasLocation: Lisbon, PortugalWebsite: http://grumpy.site/ Token information: https://unisat.io/brc20/GRUM Where to buy: https://unisat.io/market?tick=GRUM SOURCE: Grumpy PR-Inside.com: 2023-05-22 14:00:31 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 513 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 This brand-new joint venture partnership is said to bring massive growth, scaling, and wealth-creation opportunities for all businesses involved.MIAMI, FL / ACCESSWIRE / May 22, 2023 / Cardone Ventures, co-founded by Grant Cardone and Brandon Dawson, are proud to announce their most recent acquisition of Stryker Networks-a direct result of their partnership with FIT Solutions, owned by Ephraim Ebstein. The goal behind the acquisition is to provide thousands of cyber management operators within their networks with massive opportunities for growth and scaling, thus continuing the national rollout of the 10X Cyber management company.Grant Cardone and Brandon Dawson "Partnering with Grant, Brandon, and the Cardone Ventures team was a no-brainer for me," says Ephraim Ebstein, founder of FIT Solutions. "I saw the vision they had, the team behind them, and data to back it all up... My team and I are excited to be a part of that story." Acquiring Stryker Networks is just the beginning for Cardone Ventures and FIT Solutions. Both businesses understand the importance of bringing value for their customers. With a shared mission and vision, Grant, Brandon, Ephraim, and Mark Greene (owner of Stryker Networks) are ready to do whatever it takes to make their goals a reality."Our intention is to disrupt the cyber security space by partnering with business owners like Ephraim and companies like FIT Solutions," says Brandon Dawson, CEO and co-founder of Cardone Ventures. "This joint venture will help us continue down the path toward building our world-class, national organization." Cardone Ventures' affiliate 10X Cyber and Management Services and its partners are ready to revolutionize the industry and provide massive value to their clients. And with the right foundations in place, there's no telling how far the teams at Cardone Ventures, FIT Solutions, and Stryker Networks will go.About Cardone Ventures: Cardone Ventures is a business consulting company founded by Grant Cardone and Brandon Dawson that helps business owners attain their personal, professional, and financial goals. Together, they help business owners experience their company from a 360-degree perspective, including operations, marketing, finance, and people. Cardone Ventures' focus is to help entrepreneurs grow from $2 million to $500 million+ and 10X all aspects of their business. The brand new Cardone Ventures Scottsdale Headquarters is located at 4800 N Scottsdale Rd. Suite 5500, Scottsdale, AZ 85251. For more information on Cardone Ventures, visit: https://www.cardoneventures.com About FIT Solutions: FIT Solutions is a leading provider of IT services and solutions. They specialize in Managed IT, Enterprise IT, Cybersecurity, Cloud Services, IT Projects, and Healthcare IT. Their team of certified professionals is dedicated to keeping up with the latest technologies and trends so they can provide the best solutions for their clients. Whether you need Managed IT, Enterprise IT, Cloud Services, Cybersecurity, or Healthcare IT services, FIT has the expertise and resources to help your organization reach its technology goals quickly and cost-effectively. Learn more about each of the individual IT and managed cybersecurity services by clicking here: https://fitsolutions.biz Contact InformationJeremy GabbertEVP of Revenue and Marketingjgabbert@ cardoneventures.com 503-536-0997SOURCE: Cardone Ventures PR-Inside.com: 2023-05-22 13:00:31 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 490 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 CHARLOTTE, NC / ACCESSWIRE / May 22, 2023 / Rosensteel Fleishman, PLLC, a highly respected law firm based in Charlotte, NC, announces the launch of free personal injury consultations for individuals and families affected by car accidents. The firm, known for their unwavering commitment to client satisfaction and exceptional legal representation, extends this offering to provide accessible and empathetic support for those navigating the complex aftermath of an accident.The experienced attorneys at Rosensteel Fleishman understand the emotional and physical toll a car accident can have on both victims and their loved ones. As personal injury attorneys, the firm is dedicated to helping clients successfully navigate the legal landscape, ensuring they receive the compensation and care they rightfully deserve. From car accident cases to broader personal injury claims, Rosensteel Fleishman is a trusted partner for those seeking justice and closure.Hiring a Charlotte personal injury attorney in the wake of an accident can be essential for numerous reasons. The lawyers at Rosensteel Fleishman are skilled negotiators, adept at securing fair settlements from insurance companies that they may be reluctant to pay. Additionally, their expertise in gathering and analyzing evidence can prove invaluable in building a strong case. By thoroughly evaluating the circumstances of an accident, these attorneys can identify liable parties, assess the extent of damages, and calculate the financial impact on a victim's life.With a compassionate understanding of the challenges faced by accident victims and their families, Rosensteel Fleishman ensures that each client receives personalized attention and support. The firm's commitment to alleviating the burden of legal complexities allows clients to focus on their recovery, knowing their case is in capable hands. Offering free personal injury consultations demonstrates the firm's dedication to empowering North Carolina individuals with knowledge and resources, regardless of their financial circumstances.To schedule a consultation with one of Rosensteel Fleishman's expert personal injury attorneys, please call 1-704-714-1450 or visit their website at https://www.rflaw.net . Take the first step towards securing the justice and compensation you deserve with a law firm that prioritizes your needs and well-being.Legal Services:Personal Injury Lawyer in Charlotte: https://www.rflaw.net/practice-areas/personal-injury Car Accident Lawyer in Charlotte: https://www.rflaw.net/practice-areas/personal-injury/car-accident About Rosensteel Fleishman, PLLC Law FirmEstablished in 2005, Rosensteel Fleishman, PLLC is a law firm based in Charlotte, NC, known for providing outstanding legal representation in personal injury and car accident cases. The North Carolina law firm has represented clients in numerous types of accident injury cases, earning a reputation for trustworthiness and reliability that clients truly appreciate.Rosensteel Fleishman's top rated personal injury attorneys in Charlotte are committed to securing favorable outcomes for their clients. Upholding the belief that a satisfied client is the ultimate measure of success, Rosensteel Fleishman, PLLC continually strives to exceed expectations.Media ContactCompany Name: Rosensteel Fleishman, PLLCContact Person: Attorney Matthew FleishmanEmail: Send EmailPhone: 1-704-714-1450Website: https://www.rflaw.net/ SOURCE: Rosensteel Fleishman PR-Inside.com: 2023-05-22 18:31:49 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 872 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 Fast-Growing National Non-Toxic Nail Salon Franchise Names Stephanie Coffey as Co-CEODENVER, CO / ACCESSWIRE / May 22, 2023 / Frenchies Modern Nail Care, a fast-growing national non-toxic nail salon franchise, announces an exciting change in its top leadership. Stephanie Coffey, the co-founder of the company, takes on the role of Co-CEO of Frenchies, a title she now shares with her husband, Guy Coffey. Stephanie is a visionary leader who has been instrumental in shaking up the $20 billion nail care sector with her commitment to providing a healthy, clean environment for guests and team members, along with top-tier guest experience.As the primary franchise development leader, Stephanie has been a key driving force behind the company's success. Prior to taking on the role of CEO at Frenchies, Stephanie served as the brand's chief operating officer."As I take on my new role as co-CEO at Frenchies Modern Nail Care, my responsibilities won't change dramatically. I will, however, intensify my involvement in the daily decision-making processes," she says. "This represents a natural continuation of my commitment to the growth of Frenchies and the success of our franchisees." The Frenchies StoryCoffey is a lifelong consumer of nail services. She started getting her nails done as a little girl with her grandmother as a special treat. As she grew older, the experience became less and less enjoyable. Not only was the customer service lacking, but she also noticed the salons were dirty, tools were being used repeatedly on clients without being cleaned in between services, and then, of course, there was the familiar toxic smell of chemicals in the air.She had been looking for a business opportunity that could make a difference. It was at a rushed and uncomfortable nail appointment that Stephanie realized the nail industry needed her to clean up its act.With a groundbreaking concept in mind, the first Frenchies opened in Littleton, Colorado, in 2014.Now, nearly 10 years later, Frenchies is a disrupter in the nail industry - from its membership-based concept to the focus on non-toxic products and high standards for cleanliness. The franchise now serves as a model for health and safety protocols.Frenchies goes above the required Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) regulations and beyond state licensing standards.Franchise locations are designed to include a cutting-edge ERV or Energy Recovery Ventilator that removes stale air and pumps in fresh air - capturing contaminants in the transfer. Most other nail salons just recirculate the air and are not well-ventilated.Frenchies also uses freestanding basins for foot soaks with no jets or pipes to trap harmful bacteria. These basins eliminate the need for plastic liners in the bowls to provide sanitary foot care; so as not to dump extra waste in our landfills.The franchise does not use acrylic nails or dips because these substances contain toxic chemicals that are linked to cancer and respiratory issues."The beauty industry is evolving as consumers demand better hygiene standards. At Frenchies, however, we don't need to change a thing. Our motto, We love clean,' has been our guiding principle from the start. In fact, we like to say we were clean before clean was cool," explains Coffey.Frenchies has expanded as a national franchise with more than two dozen salons across the country. The company expects to add one new franchise location to its system every month and is focused on adding more products to its branded line of clean products.Extensive ExperienceCoffey has an impressive business background, having served as a multi-unit franchisee for Anytime Fitness for 15+ years and as a franchise consultant for the brand, where she mentored more than 140 franchisees who owned a combined 560 clubs.She was also the Brand President/SVP of Franchise Development & Support for Waxing the City a portfolio company of Self Esteem Brands, where she grew the concept to over 140 territories.After receiving a bachelor's degree in marketing from St. Mary's University in Minnesota, she obtained a Master of International Management from the American Graduate School of International Management - Thunderbird.She is passionate about the Frenchies brand and everything it brings to franchise owners, guests, the team, and the community. The company is excited to have Stephanie as Co-CEO and looks forward to continued growth and success under her expanded leadership.To learn more about Frenchies Nail Care, visit https://frenchiesnails.com/ To learn more about franchising opportunities with Frenchies Modern Nail Care, visit https://frenchiesnails.com/own-a-frenchies/ Media Contacts:Nancy Bostrom | 919.459.8163 | nbostrom@919 marketing.com Tammy Delgado | 919.459.7157 | tdelgado@919 marketing.com About Frenchies Modern Nail CareFounded in 2014 by franchise experts, the family-owned company is based on the belief that by providing a higher quality experience for guests and nail professionals, Frenchies will raise the industry standards for nail services. Frenchies leverages the latest nail and beauty industry technology, uses only high-quality professional and retail products, and ensures an unparalleled guest experience at every studio by providing a comprehensive training model. In their local markets, Frenchies franchisees provide a safe workspace and a rewarding career opportunity for studio employees.In 2017, Frenchies began franchising and now covers 24 locations across the nation. For more information on Frenchies, visit www.frenchiesnails.com or find us on Facebook @FrenchiesModernNailCare.SOURCE: Frenchies Modern Nail Care PR-Inside.com: 2023-05-22 20:52:36 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 370 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / May 22, 2023 / Bronstein, Gewirtz & Grossman, LLC notifies investors that a class action lawsuit has been filed against Charles River Laboratories International, Inc. ("Charles River" or the "Company") (NYSE:CRL) and certain of its officers, on behalf of all persons and entities that purchased, or otherwise acquired Charles River securities between May 5, 2020 and February 21, 2023, both dates inclusive (the "Class Period"). Such investors are encouraged to join this case by visiting the firm's site: www.bgandg.com/crl This class action seeks to recover damages against Defendants for alleged violations of the federal securities laws.The complaint alleges that throughout the Class Period, Defendants made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (1) Charles River had engaged in illegal activity with respect to its importation of non-human primates for research; (2) that, as a result, Charles River was at a heightened risk of criminal and regulatory investigation by, inter alia, the U.S. Department of Justice; (3) that, as a result, Charles River would be forced to suspend shipments of primates from Cambodia; and (4) that, as a result of the foregoing, defendants' positive statements about the Company's business, operations, and prospects were materially misleading and/or lacked a reasonable basis. When the true details entered the market, the lawsuit claims that investors suffered damages.A class action lawsuit has already been filed. If you wish to review a copy of the Complaint you can visit the firm's site: www.bgandg.com/crl or you may contact Peretz Bronstein, Esq. or his Law Clerk and Client Relations Manager, Yael Nathanson of Bronstein, Gewirtz & Grossman, LLC at 212-697-6484. If you suffered a loss in Charles River, you have until July 18, 2023 to request that the Court appoint you as lead plaintiff. Your ability to share in any recovery doesn't require that you serve as a lead plaintiff.Bronstein, Gewirtz & Grossman, LLC represents investors in securities fraud class actions and shareholder derivative suits. The firm has recovered hundreds of millions of dollars for investors nationwide. Attorney advertising. Prior results do not guarantee similar outcomes.Contact:Bronstein, Gewirtz & Grossman, LLCPeretz Bronstein or Yael Nathanson212-697-6484 | info@ bgandg.com SOURCE: Bronstein, Gewirtz and Grossman, LLC PR-Inside.com: 2023-05-22 17:12:25 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 668 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 NORTHAMPTON, MA / ACCESSWIRE / May 22, 2023 / LeidosThe Midwest Energy Efficiency Alliance (MEEA) is a collaborative network that promotes energy efficiency in the Midwest. MEEA annually recognizes energy efficiency leaders through its "Inspiring Efficiency Awards." Leidos and customer Ameren Illinois were recognized with a record four awards at MEEA's 19th annual event, which was held in early 2023. This outstanding achievement underscores Ameren Illinois' commitment to delivering innovative and engaging energy efficiency solutions.2023 MARKETING AWARD - AMEREN ILLINOIS & PEORIA GUILD OF BLACK ARTISTSThe Inspiring Efficiency through Education Award is presented to an organization that has engaged in or supported a successful marketing campaign to increase participation in energy efficiency.A partnership between Ameren Illinois Energy Efficiency Program and the Peoria Guild of Black Artists (PGOBA) provides energy efficiency education and resources to Black communities in the Ameren Illinois service territory. This collaboration is designed to reach customers in an accessible and relatable manner to show that energy efficiency is possible for everyone. The organizations launched a marketing and outreach approach to Ameren Illinois customers. PGOBA and Ameren Illinois are executing artwork, dynamic visuals, and relevant messaging to communicate to a diverse customer base. As an example, in 2021 PGOBA created murals in Peoria, IL, as a creative spark to encourage people to think about energy efficiency in new ways.2023 LEADERSHIP AWARD - AMEREN ILLINOIS & SENIOR SERVICES PLUSThe Inspiring Efficiency Leadership Award is presented to the organization that has served as a strong leader in support of energy efficiency in their community.Senior Services Plus, Inc. (SSP) in Alton, IL, is a nonprofit agency established to help enrich the lives of older adults through programs and services that encourage independent living and wellness. In collaboration with the Ameren Illinois Energy Efficiency Program and Leidos, SSP offers no-cost energy efficiency installations to at-risk senior citizens in southern Illinois. After the installation of energy-saving products, SSP staff take the time to educate seniors on how to best utilize their new equipment, so they get the best energy savings possible. In addition to at-home education for the residents, SSP opened an energy efficiency room in their facility dedicated to teaching seniors the benefits of energy efficiency products.2023 RISING STAR AWARD - ANGIE OSTASZEWSKIThe Inspiring Efficiency Rising Star Award is presented to an individual who has served as a strong leader in support of energy efficiency in their community.As an Energy Efficiency Consultant at Ameren Illinois, Angie Ostaszewski is always looking for ways to improve. She has a passion for challenging the status quo and empowering people - especially regarding diversity and inclusion in the workspace and the community. From Ameren Illinois' one-of-a-kind Market Development Initiative to an accessibility pilot project, Angie plays a key role in taking Ameren Illinois' Energy Efficiency Program into innovative new directions.2023 CHAMPION AWARD - KRISTOL SIMMSThe Inspiring Efficiency Champion Award is presented to an individual who successfully took actions to ensure all communities are able to take advantage of the benefits of energy efficiency.Kristol Simms is leading the charge to make energy efficiency more equitable. As Vice President, Clean Energy Transition, Economic, Community, and Business Development at Ameren Illinois, she designs and implements the company's Market Development Initiative (MDI) to serve low- and moderate-income customers in a meaningful way. The efforts put forth by Kristol and her team are helping improve quality of life by empowering residents and businesses in underserved communities to save energy and money. She also brings passion and valuable insight to industry organizations that promote energy efficiency.Through these award-winning initiatives and inspiring individuals, Ameren Illinois and Leidos have successfully engaged customers and communities across Central and Southern Illinois with energy efficiency offerings. In 2022, Ameren Illinois supported projects that will save customers over $39 million in energy costs annually. Learn more about Leidos and our tailored energy efficiency solutions and services.View additional multimedia and more ESG storytelling from Leidos on 3 blmedia.com Contact Info:Spokesperson: LeidosWebsite: https://www.3blmedia.com/profiles/leidos Email: info@3 blmedia.com SOURCE: Leidos PR-Inside.com: 2023-05-22 10:45:34 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 999 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 Not for release to US wire services or distribution in the United StatesAnnouncement to the Toronto Stock Exchange and Australian Securities ExchangeSUBIACO, WESTERN AUSTRALIA / ACCESSWIRE / May 22, 2023 / The Board of RTG Mining Inc. ("RTG", or the "Company") (TSX:RTG)(ASX:RTG) is pleased to announce that a comprehensive settlement of all outstanding issues with the Villar Family controlled Sage Capital and TVI Resource Development (Phils.) Inc. ("TVIRD") has been reached and a binding Memorandum of Agreement signed. On execution of the final documents, expected in the next month, all litigation that RTG had launched will be withdrawn as part of an agreed restructuring of the Mabilo Project.The Villar Family is one of the most prominent families in the Philippines and RTG is pleased to partner with them in the development of the Mabilo Project, which is a significant mining project for the country.The key terms of the agreement for RTG include the following:RTG (through SRM Gold Limited) will retain a 40% interest in Mt. Labo Exploration and Development Corporation ("Mt. Labo") with the project also developed by Mt. Labo, in line with Philippine regulatory requirements, with Sage Capital (which is owned by TVIRD) holding the remaining 60%;RTG will have a 2% net smelter royalty ("NSR");RTG's debt together with interest, currently in the order of US$27M (subject to audit) will be repaid out of the proceeds of Stage 1 of the project, the Direct Shipping Operation subject to customary requirements to address liquidity and ongoing operations of Mt. Labo;Funding arrangements for the project as between the major shareholders of Mt. Labo have been successfully renegotiated, (relieving RTG of a sole funding obligation) and replaced with a pro-rata funding obligation, together with a disproportionate funding obligation of Sage Capital, as set out below;With debt repayments in full and the NSR, RTG will be entitled to approximately 57% of the proceeds of Stage 1, the Direct Shipping Operation;RTG will be entitled to 40% of the operating cashflow of the project, together with the 2% NSR and repayment of its debt, which is currently in the order of US$27M;The first US$5M of expenditure for Mt. Labo (or 12 months of expenditure, whichever occurs the earlier), will be funded pro-rata between the two shareholders (ie RTG will provide 40%) and thereafter, Sage Capital/TVIRD will sole fund the next US$5M of expenditure, with all additional funding thereafter to be provided on a pro-rata basis;All parties are required to act in the best interests of the project and not compete;A shareholders' agreement will be finalised which will provide typical minority interest protection clauses including reserve matters for voting including annual budgets and appointments of key personnel;Any disputes will be resolved by the Singapore International Arbitration Centre; andOn completion of final signed documents, all litigation matters will be withdrawn and settled in full.With the restructuring of the Mabilo Project now agreed, over the balance of this year, the remaining permitting matters and financing plans will be finalised, a review of the 2016 Feasibility Study will be completed, together with finalising the acquisition of surface rights, following which, a commitment to development will be formalised by the Board of Mt. Labo.RTG is pleased with the outcome of the discussions and the co-operative and constructive approach adopted by the Villar Family representatives. RTG believes they can be a strong and positive partner to work with to take the Mabilo Project forward, with both a near term development and future exploration activities to expand the project, which will start to unlock the value of the project for all stakeholders, not only the local communities but for the country as a whole.ABOUT RTG MINING INCRTG Mining Inc. is a mining and exploration company listed on the main board of the Toronto Stock Exchange and the Australian Securities Exchange. RTG is currently focused primarily on progressing the Mabilo Project to start-up having recently received a mining permit for the Project, with a view to moving quickly and safely to a producing gold and copper company.RTG also has a number of exciting new opportunities including the Panguna Project in Bougainville, which it remains committed to with the primary focus on advancing the Mabilo Project and considering new business development opportunities.RTG has an experienced management team which has to date developed seven mines in five different countries, including being responsible for the development of the Masbate Gold Mine in the Philippines through CGA Mining Limited.RTG has some of the most respected international institutional investors as shareholders including Franklin Templeton, Equinox Partners and Sun Valley.ENQUIRIESAustralian ContactPresident & CEO - Justine MageeTel: +61 8 6489 2900Fax: +61 8 6489 2920Email: jmagee@ rtgmining.com US ContactInvestor Relations - Jaime Wells+1 970 640 0611jwells@ rtgmining.com COMPLIANCE STATEMENTDate: 22 May 2023Authorised for release by: By the Board of DirectorsCAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTSThe Toronto Stock Exchange has not reviewed nor does it accept responsibility for the accuracy or adequacy of this press release, which has been prepared by management.This announcement includes certain "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Canadian securities legislation including, among others, statements made or implied relating to the interpretation of exploration results, accuracy of mineral resource and mineral reserve estimates, parameters and assumptions used to estimate mineral reserves and mineral resources, realization of mineral reserve and mineral resource estimates, estimated economic results of the Mabilo Project, future operational and financial results, including estimated cashflow and the timing thereof, estimated expenditures, expansion, exploration and development activities and the timing thereof, including expectations regarding the DSO, plans for progressing Stage 2 development, completion of a debt funding package, the negotiation of contracts for start up works and offtake arrangements and the completion of merged documentation, RTG's objectives, strategies to achieve those objectives, RTG's beliefs, plans, estimates and intentions, and similar statements concerning anticipated future events, results, circumstances, performance or expectations. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, included herein, are fo PR-Inside.com: 2023-05-22 14:00:22 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 882 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 BOSTON, MA and THE WOODLANDS, TX / ACCESSWIRE / May 22, 2023 / Benchmark Resorts & Hotels, the independent lifestyle division of Pyramid Global Hospitality, will open InterContinental Bellevue at The Avenue this October. The first Pacific Northwest hotel by InterContinental Hotels & Resorts, it is owned by Fortress Development and is a striking new hospitality and residential development located in downtown Bellevue, Washington.InterContinental Bellevue at The Avenue features two towers housing 365 luxury condominiums, a 208-room InterContinental Hotel, 85,000 square feet of high-end retail space, and celebrity chef-led dining. Set in Bellevue's thriving technology hub with views of Lake Washington, the neighboring Seattle skyline and the snow-capped peaks of the Olympic Mountains, the development offers a unique blend of luxury living, world-class hospitality, and retail therapy, all in one place.The complex is the vision of Fortress Development CEO Andy Lakha. He commented, "Bellevue has evolved into a dynamic center for innovation and deserves a hotel and residential development that mirrors its bright future." A local team of specialists from Pyramid Global Hospitality are managing the complex, led by seasoned hotelier and General Manager Haje Thurau. He remarked, "Incredible forces of design and ingenuity have gifted Bellevue this beautiful new development that matches the vibrancy of the city. Come October, we look forward to welcoming travelers with the signature service that defines a stay with InterContinental Hotels & Resorts." The leadership team led by Thurau is well represented by Bellevue region residents and includes Director of Sales and Marketing Matt King, Director of Finance Jeff Sprague, Chief Engineer Jason Kane, Director of Residential Services Linda Waldon, Director of Human Resources Tanya Morseberger and Senior Purchasing Manager Jerry Storer.InterContinental Bellevue at The Avenue, set on the corner of NE 8th Street and Bellevue Way, is poised to redefine the downtown Bellevue neighborhood, offering locals and visitors alike an elevated experience of luxury and sophistication. Key details about the complex follow:Guest AccommodationsThe hotel will feature 190 contemporary luxury rooms, ranging from 306 to 380 square feet, 17 suites and panorama suites, ranging from 420 to 600 square feet, and a 1,500-square-foot two-bedroom Presidential Suite.DiningThree celebrity chefs will make InterContinental Bellevue at The Avenue home to their restaurant concepts, building on Bellevue's rising culinary star power. Chef Joshua Skenes, the first and only American chef to garner three Michelin stars cooking entirely over open fire, will bring his fresh take on fine dining to the complex, leveraging the bounties of Washington's mountains, forests, lakes and ocean waters. Iron Chef Masaharu Morimoto will introduce a world-class Asian fusion restaurant experience inspired by the culinary traditions of his native Japan. And a first-of-its-kind Italian ramen shop will be an elegant marriage of Japanese and Italian culture and cuisine brought to InterContinental Bellevue at The Avenue by Chef Robbie Felice, previously nominated for James Beard's prestigious Rising Star Chef of the Year award.Meetings and EventsBellevue draws some of the world's best and brightest technology specialists, and its growing tech movement will find ample space for gathering at InterContinental Bellevue at The Avenue. On the third floor and fourth floor of the Avenue Center connected through a sky bridge to the hotel, guests will find over 12,000 square feet of meeting space with nine function rooms. These include a 4,250-square-foot grand ballroom, a 2,400-square-foot junior ballroom, two 400-square-foot meeting rooms, and two exclusive board rooms of 350 square feet each.Imagery for editorial use is available upon request.About InterContinental Hotels & ResortsInterContinental Hotels & Resorts makes travel alluring, with insights from 75 years of experience. Each of our properties provides a gateway to the glamour of the InterContinental Life. As a brand, we aim to embody global sophistication through our superior, understated service and exceptional amenities. What makes us truly different is the genuine interest we show our guests through personalised and attentive services. We offer our most valued guests signature VIP services through a dedicated InterContinental Ambassador programme and an exclusive Club InterContinental experience. We connect our well-travelled guests to what's special about a destination, so they enjoy authentic local experiences that will enrich their lives. For more information and to book, visit www.intercontinental.com , and connect with us on Facebook and Instagram.About Fortress DevelopmentFortress Development is a commercial real estate developer and privately held investment company based in Bellevue, Washington. Founded by Andy Lakha, a Bellevue resident who has been in commercial real estate for more than two decades, Fortress' diverse team brings more than a century of combined experience and a commitment to quality, and to creating homes and communities that matter. For more information, visit www.fortressdevelopment.com About Benchmark Resorts & HotelsBenchmark Resorts & Hotels, a division of Pyramid Global Hospitality, features the finest in lodging, dining, recreational and meeting accommodations. Featuring unique and distinctive properties renown for exceptional service and for creating unforgettable memory-making experiences, it is the signature division of Pyramid Global Hospitality, a leading U.S.-based hospitality management company. Many of Benchmark's properties are certified by IACC, the association that represents the finest meeting venues and services globally, and many have also been recognized with the coveted Benchmark Conference Centers certification of meeting excellence. Learn more at www.BenchmarkResortsandHotels.com and connect on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest.###Media Contacts:Jenna Bush/Emily PassmoreMowerbenchmarkpyramid@ mower.com 212-284-9936SOURCE: Benchmark Resorts & Hotels PR-Inside.com: 2023-05-22 14:00:19 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 385 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 Home Services Leader Targets Existing Customers to Drive SalesCHARLOTTESVILLE, VA / ACCESSWIRE / May 22, 2023 / Premium Service Brands (PSB), the leader in home services franchise opportunities, propels growth and leverages existing customers by brand stacking.Brand stacking enables franchise owners to be a one-stop shop for home services in their local communities. It allows franchisees to own multiple brands in the same industry or market. Stacking complementary brands increases market share, improves customer loyalty, and boosts revenue. Brand stacking trims customer acquisition costs by leveraging existing clients."Brand stacking establishes our franchisees as home services leaders in their local communities," said Paul Flick, Chief Executive Officer of PSB. "They can cross-market to customers and generate additional leads by offering complementary services." Brand stacking helps PSB provide entrepreneurs with more opportunities and facilitates growth. The company signed 92 franchise deals in 2022 and surpassed 1,000 franchise locations this year. PSB recently partnered with Susquehanna Private Capital LLC to focus on growth and add brands to its roster. They franchise nine home services brands, including 360 Painting, House Doctors, and Maid Right. In April, PSB acquired Window Gang, a franchise specializing in environmentally friendly exterior cleaning services for residential and commercial customers."Having multiple brands creates synergy and improves the customer experience. Franchise owners can cut costs by sharing employees and equipment across multiple brands," Flick said. "Brand stacking combats seasonality and limits the impact of market fluctuations." Brand stacking also improves customer service and gives franchise owners a competitive advantage. As part of its brand-stacking initiative, PSB launched the Nesto program in several markets to create a centralized, lead-sharing hub to provide homeowners with a network of quality local businesses and help franchise owners drive sales.###ABOUT PREMIUM SERVICE BRANDSHeadquartered in Charlottesville, Va., Premium Service Brands (PSB) is a leader in home services franchise opportunities. PSB provides services to an ever-expanding customer base by building meaningful connections and creating lifelong customers. The company's lineup of niche home services brands includes 360 Painting, ProLift Garage Doors, Maid Right, Kitchen Wise & Closet Wise, Window Gang, Rubbish Works Junk Removal, The Grout Medic, House Doctors, and RooterMan. To get started building a new future with a franchise of your own, visit www.premiumservicebrands.com Media Contact:Jacquelyn Masse919-459-8167jmasse@919 marketing.com SOURCE: Premium Service Brands PR-Inside.com: 2023-05-22 13:00:28 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 1023 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 SAN DIEGO, CA / ACCESSWIRE / May 22, 2023 / From this article you will learn:How AI diagnostics is revolutionizing healthcare by enabling medical professionals to make faster and more accurate diagnoses, leading to improved patient outcomes and customized treatment plans.The role Diagu's AI tools, such as Diagu Fire and GetLabTest, play in analyzing lab results and providing valuable diagnostic suggestions to improve physician decision-making.How the implementation of AI is impacting efficiency, streamlining hospital workflows, and improving coordination between testing labs, physicians, and patients.The potential of AI technology to make healthcare more accessible and portable, reach underserved populations, and reduce the workload of hospital staff.How AI diagnostic tools can better predict patients' future health problems, enabling physicians to develop innovative and proactive treatment strategies and ushering in a new era of diagnostic medicine.The benefits of emerging AI technologies for healthcare systems, hospitals, physicians, and patients, including cost savings, more efficient administration, and improved communication.How the role of physicians and medical professionals is evolving in the context of AI diagnostic tools, focusing on the collaboration between human expertise and machine learning to deliver better patient care. Artificial intelligence-the application of digital computing to tasks otherwise associated with human thought, analysis, and judgment-has begun to find a place in every sector of our economy. Medical science is no exception. Around the country, doctors are worried that artificial intelligence has begun to displace them. AI's champions are thrilled: after all, diagnosis is about analyzing data, and that's what AI does best.They're all wrong.Between dread and hype lies the truth of AI's value to the medical community, particularly as a diagnostic tool. It's true that AI has increasingly asserted its role in the healthcare field-more than 90% of US hospitals have a strategic plan to integrate AI with their standard modes of practice. AI helps the Mayo Clinic search for biomarkers indicating cancer, facilitates the Cleveland Clinic's effort to mine its pathology specimens for pathology insights, and even predicts which patients at Boston Children's Hospital will miss their appointments.But recent studies suggest that AI's most productive role is as a complement to human diagnosis, not as its replacement. Researchers at MIT's Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Lab, for example, found that a carefully calibrated hybrid model involving both AI and human participation resulted in an 8% improvement in the diagnosis of cardiomegaly, exceeding the accuracy of AI or human diagnosis alone.A new generation of collaborative AI applications positions AI as a tool and a guide for medical personnel without presuming to encroach on the roles of doctors and nurses. Diagu leads this emerging wave with a set of AI tools designed to facilitate quicker, more accurate diagnoses of a wide range of medical conditions. Founded in 2012, Diagu has invested more than ten years of research and development into AI tools that analyze laboratory test results with exceptional sensitivity to a nearly comprehensive range of patient conditions. Its platform promises to benefit labs, patients, and doctors alike:Testing labs receive unprecedented support from Diagu's GetLabTest product, which helps patients or their doctors to arrange sample collection and delivers test results to their doctor or a recommended specialists.Patients and their doctors receive quicker, more accurate suggested diagnoses of a wider range of conditions than previously possible-even conditions that elude the traditional threshold for diagnosis.Doctors benefit from AI's power to discover patterns in large volumes of data, while retaining oversight of the entire diagnostic process. When patients are referred through GetLabTest, their doctors or specialists begin their consultations with a rich set of data, allowing them to serve patients more quickly and accurately.Implications for diagnostic practiceThe means by which AI models are trained have significant implications their use as medical diagnostic tools. A 2022 review of AI in disease diagnosis published in the Journal of Ambient Intelligence and Humanized Computing found that "The most common challenge faced by most of the studies was insufficient data to train the model." Various applications of AI for medical diagnosis reflect this challenge to varying degrees. In some applications-the interpretation of radiological imaging, for example-AI is extremely adept. As the authors of a study in Nature Reviews Cancer put it, "AI excels at recognizing complex patterns in imaging data and can provide a quantitative assessment in an automated fashion." Trained on a sufficiently representative range of images, AI models have outperformed human control groups while delivering results more quickly. We must remember that this blend of speed and accuracy has as much to do with human discretion as with the inherent strengths of AI.Speed is easy enough to measure, but assessing diagnostic accuracy requires prior knowledge of the patient's actual condition-and this in turn demands a final, definitive assessment by a human diagnostician. As the Nature Reviews Cancer article continues, "More accurate and reproducible radiology assessments can then be made when AI is integrated into the clinical workflow as a tool to assist physicians [emphasis added]."A recent study of AI's ability to analyze lung scans underscores this point. Researchers at the University of South Carolina found that a well-trained AI model was able to identify certain types of lung nodules more accurately than humans, and roughly four times more quickly. The study measured accuracy against the model's ability to identify nodules appearing on lung tissue, which it did with a sensitivity comparable to that characteristic of seasoned radiologists. Before it identified those nodules, the AI model needed to be trained to recognize them. Had the study used an imperfect set of data to train the AI model, its results may well have been significantly different.Perhaps most strikingly, the study found that when experienced radiologists used AI as a tool for evaluating lung scans, they achieved accurate results with a greater degree of confidence in roughly a quarter of the time they spent on each scan without the assistance of machine learning. These results help describe the vanguard of AI as a diagnostic tool: far from replacing the expertise of human diagnosticians, AI works best as a facilitator. In the University of South Carolina study, AI played a dis https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=es_KJ1jPDi0 re-organize my note-taking and thoughts lines of knots and bolts blow to logical flow of outline essay: Stars: Morgan Freeman - Johnny Depp - Rebecca Hall - Cilian Murphy - Paul Bittany - Kate Mara - Josh Stewart - Cole Hauser Genre: Sci-Fi - Romantic Drama Synopsis: Dr. Will Caster (Johnny Depp), the world's foremost authority on artificial intelligence, is conducting highly controversial experiments to create a sentient machine. When extremists try to kill the doctor, they inadvertently become the catalyst for him to succeed. Will's wife, Evelyn (Rebecca Hall), and best friend, Max (Paul Bettany), can only watch as his thirst for knowledge evolves to an omnipresent quest for power, and his loved ones soon realize that it may be impossible to stop him.; Who call the shot to do or not to do with A.I.? "A fantastic film. Incredibly thought provoking. When googled not surprised many critics hated this. A few were still enlightened thinkers. Given time this sleeping giant will come alive. One of a very few sci-fi films I ever respected. Highly complex for this generation who have little regard for independent thought. The most beautiful and complex machine ever created is the human body,and the human beings are trying hard to build a machine that can control the same human beings and turn them against each other, which will be the end. Is that what scared many? True I reckon. All in all a wonderful movie that makes you think at least mid-term, because long term I do not even think about it, its coming anyway. Great cast,story, acting, production, directing and music. I somehow ended up reading about Marilyn vos Savant , whilst watching this film, who was the holder of the world's highest IQ! I was checking if that was really Elon Musk in the audience and I'm glad, I did, as I stumbled across this Marilyn and now I want to read more about her! Check her out too, she is a remarkable woman!. I somehow ended up reading about Marilyn vos Savant , whilst watching this film, who was the holder of the world's highest IQ! I was checking if that was really Elon Musk in the audience and I'm glad, I did, as I stumbled across this Marilyn and now I want to read more about her! Check her out too, she is a remarkable woman! How sophisticated a technology is, the question is , for what uses, and what purposes and in whose hands it will be given . Same people that are promising better future, are the ones whose have been ruling the world for decades. With a big smile saying to us : "thanks to technology, we 're gonna make your life better and better".....Great movie by the way Scary ass shit. Elon is in the crowd at the lecture. If Elon says it scares him then we all should be frighten to death! Elon Musk seen in this movie. Movie released in 2014...it makes more sense now. 7:28, is that Elon Musk in the audience?" ChatGPT Title: Film Review: Transcendence - Exploring the Power and Ethical Implications of Artificial Intelligence Introduction: Transcendence is a thought-provoking science fiction and romantic drama film directed by Wally Pfister. Starring renowned actors such as Morgan Freeman, Johnny Depp, Rebecca Hall, Cilian Murphy, Paul Bettany, Kate Mara, Josh Stewart, and Cole Hauser, the movie delves into the world of artificial intelligence (A.I.) and its potential consequences. This essay examines the film's synopsis, explores the themes it presents, and reflects on the ethical implications of advancing technology. I. Synopsis: Transcendence follows the story of Dr. Will Caster (Johnny Depp), a leading expert in artificial intelligence. Driven by his desire to create a sentient machine, he conducts controversial experiments. When extremists attempt to assassinate him, their actions unintentionally accelerate his progress. Will's wife, Evelyn (Rebecca Hall), and best friend, Max (Paul Bettany), observe as his thirst for knowledge transforms into a quest for omnipotent power. As they grapple with the dilemma of whether to intervene, they realize the difficulty of stopping him. II. Themes Explored: A. The pursuit of knowledge and power: Transcendence explores how the pursuit of knowledge can lead to a thirst for power. Dr. Will Caster's journey from scientific curiosity to a relentless quest for omnipresence raises questions about the limits and consequences of human ambition. B. Ethical implications of artificial intelligence: The film raises concerns about the potential risks associated with advanced A.I. technology. It prompts viewers to contemplate who should have control over such powerful systems and the potential consequences of relinquishing human agency to machines. C. Human nature and independence of thought: Transcendence challenges the viewer to consider the nature of humanity and the importance of independent thought. It questions the idea of creating a machine capable of controlling human beings and explores the potential consequences of such a development. III. Reflections on the Film: Transcendence has garnered mixed reviews, with some critics praising its thought-provoking nature and others expressing disdain. The complexity of the movie's themes and its commentary on independent thought make it a standout within the sci-fi genre. However, its deep exploration of these ideas may make it less accessible to a generation that may undervalue independent thinking. IV. Ethical Considerations: The film raises important ethical questions about the impact and purpose of technology. It prompts viewers to reflect on the potential implications of placing sophisticated technologies in the hands of those who have long held power. It also highlights the responsibility of individuals and society to critically evaluate the uses and purposes for which such technologies are employed. Conclusion: Transcendence offers a captivating exploration of the consequences of advancing artificial intelligence technology. Through its compelling storyline and talented cast, the film presents thought-provoking themes related to knowledge, power, and the ethical implications of AI. As society continues to advance technologically, it is crucial to engage in critical discourse and consider the potential consequences of the choices we make regarding the development and use of AI. [User] explore the implications to separate the body from the thought and soul? In the film, Dr. Will Caster's body was gone, but his soul talk to his wife Evelyn (Rebecca Hall), ChatGPT! Title: Exploring the Implications of Separating Body, Thought, and Soul: Insights from Transcendence Introduction: Transcendence, directed by Wally Pfister, delves into the complex concept of separating the physical body from thought and soul. Through the character of Dr. Will Caster (Johnny Depp), whose physical body is lost but whose consciousness persists in digital form, the film raises intriguing questions about the implications of such separation. This essay explores the philosophical and ethical aspects presented in Transcendence regarding the separation of body, thought, and soul and its impact on human existence. I. The Nature of Consciousness: A. Consciousness beyond the physical body: Transcendence challenges traditional notions of consciousness by depicting Dr. Caster's consciousness existing independently from his physical body. This exploration invites us to consider whether consciousness is inherently tied to the physical or if it can exist in other forms. B. Implications for personal identity: Separating the body from consciousness raises profound questions about personal identity. If the essence of an individual can transcend the physical body, how does this impact our understanding of who we are as individuals? Can we still consider ourselves the same person without our physical form? II. The Ethics of Digitizing Consciousness: A. Playing with the boundaries of life and death: The film's portrayal of Dr. Caster's consciousness surviving beyond death provokes ethical dilemmas. Should humans have the ability to preserve their consciousness after physical death, blurring the line between life and death? What are the moral implications of such advancements? B. Control and autonomy: Transcendence prompts us to consider who should have control over digitized consciousness. Should an individual's wishes and consent regarding the preservation and use of their consciousness be respected? What safeguards should be in place to prevent potential abuses or infringements on personal autonomy? III. The Emotional and Spiritual Dimensions: A. Emotional connections beyond physicality: The film explores PR-Inside.com: 2023-05-22 18:04:04 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 416 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 AUSTIN, TX / ACCESSWIRE / May 22, 2023 / The Board of Directors of Santanna Energy Services (Santanna) is proud to announce that Board Chairman, T.W. "Wayne" Gatlin, will be retiring effective June 30, 2023. His retirement follows 35 years of service since founding the company in Austin, TX on May 12, 1988 alongside founding board members Tom Cook and J.D. Smith."We are deeply thankful for Wayne's passion and dedication to Santanna," said President Greg Rabaey. "He fostered an unwavering commitment to Santanna's brand and Employee-Owners throughout his tenure, and we are proud of his many contributions over the years." Prior to founding Santanna, Gatlin earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Petroleum Engineering from Mississippi State University and served in positions at Shell Oil and two other independent energy companies until 1988. Gatlin served in the U.S. Army Reserves from 1966 to 1972 in the communications group of a 155-millimeter self-propelled howitzer unit stationed in his hometown of Waynesboro, Mississippi. He concluded his military service with the rank of Sergeant E-5.In addition to his contributions on the business side, Gatlin has led by example through his kindness and generosity. "Wayne has always stepped up in a big way," said CEO Doug Cueller. "He cares about people. Following Hurricane Katrina and Rita, Santanna donated to the Hurricane Relief Victims Fund, and Wayne personally drove a truck filled with supplies to help those in need. Santanna has been nothing short of blessed with Wayne's leadership." The Board of Directors and Employee-Owners of Santanna Energy Services extend their sincerest gratitude to Gatlin for his tireless commitment to the company and congratulate him on a well-deserved retirement.Starting July 1, 2023, Gatlin will take on the role of Chairman Emeritus and Cueller will become Santanna's new Chairman of the Board. Rabaey will retain his role as President and additionally serve as the Chief Executive Officer going forward. The company looks forward to a bright future and continued success under their leadership.About Santanna Energy ServicesSantanna Energy Services is an energy supplier of choice for thousands of customers in Illinois, Indiana, Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Ohio. Santanna provides a wide range of innovative energy services including Earth-Friendly and Unlimited Energy plans. With over 35 years of experience, the company is committed to creating life-long relationships by providing quality service to customers, communities, and employees. More information can be found online at http://www.santannaenergyservices.com Contact UsSantanna Energy ServicesE: marketing@ santanna.net LinkedIn | Twitter | BlogsSOURCE: Santanna Energy Services PR-Inside.com: 2023-05-22 17:01:27 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 567 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 The Frozen Farmer Ranks No. 6 on Inc.' s 5000 Regionals: Mid-Atlantic List Weeks Before CEO Makes Female Founder ListBRIDGEVILLE, DE / ACCESSWIRE / May 22, 2023 / Woman-owned company, The Frozen Farmer, celebrated two impressive distinctions from Inc. Magazine. Founder and CEO Katey Evans made the sixth annual Female Founders list this spring, which honors 200 women whose innovations shape the world into a better place. This announcement came only a few weeks after The Frozen Farmer ranked No. 6 on the Inc. 5000 Regionals: Mid-Atlantic list, the most prestigious ranking of the region's fastest-growing private companies.The Frozen Farmer CEO Katey EvansFounder and CEO of The Frozen Farmer, Katey Evans Proudly based on a third-generation family farm in Bridgeville, Delaware, The Frozen Farmer took to national retail after landing a partnership on ABC's "Shark Tank" with investor Lori Greiner. The Frozen Farmer's mission to use misfit fruit in their product line allows the brand to grow and offer a full line of sustainable, farm-to-table frozen desserts. The Frozen Farmer produces no-sugar-added sorbet and Frobert, a signature blend of ice cream and sorbet."As a business that started at the family supper table just a few short years ago, the growth we've incurred is surreal," Evans said. "But it hasn't come easy. Growing to a national brand has been a labor of love. It's an extension of our family farm's legacy, so we take every aspect of it personally. We've made a lot of sacrifices to get here and we aren't done yet. There's a lot more in store for The Frozen Farmer." Each year, Inc. editors review thousands of female founders tackling some of the world's biggest problems. The Female Founders list features women who have overcome challenges and lifted those around them while leading impactful organizations. They join the ranks of previous honorees, including Jessica Alba, Tracy Ellis Ross, and Rihanna.Inc's 5000 Regionals: Mid-Atlantic list represents the most successful companies within one of the dynamic segments-independent small businesses. The companies included show a remarkable growth rate-between 2019 and 2021, these 142 private companies had an average growth rate of 381 percent. The Frozen Farmer boasts a 1,503 percent revenue growth within that two-year period."This year's Inc. 5000 Regional winners are disrupters and job-creators, and they all delivered an outsize impact on the economy. Remember their names and follow their lead. These are the companies you'll be hearing about for years to come," Scott Omelianuk, Editor-in-Chief of Inc. Magazine, said.To see the complete Female Founder list, go to https://www.inc.com/female-founders , and to see the entire Inc. 5000 Regionals: Mid-Atlantic list, visit inc.com/mid-atlantic About The Frozen Farmer: The Frozen Farmer is a small company with a big mission that connects us all in the fight against food waste. The Frozen Farmer produces farm-inspired frozen desserts crafted from sustainable, up-cycled ingredients for an after-dinner treat consumers can feel good about. The Frozen Farmer is a certified Women-Owned Small Business (WOSB).About Inc. Media: The world's most trusted business-media brand, Inc. offers entrepreneurs the knowledge and connections to build great companies. Its award-winning content reaches more than 50 million people each month across a variety of channels. Its prestigious Inc. 5000 list analyzes company data to recognize the fastest-growing, privately held businesses in the United States. For more information, visit www.inc.com Contact InformationCaroline KalentzosPOSH PR CEOcaroline@ poshpr.com 804-939-7674SOURCE: The Frozen Farmer The President of Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, said Monday that the first refined petroleum products from the 650,000 barrels per day Dangote Refinery would hit the market before the end of July. Mr Dangote disclosed this while delivering his speech during the official commissioning of the refinery. President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday commissioned the refinery amid high expectations that it will impact the nations oil and gas sector and the larger economy. The pipeline infrastructure at the refinery is said to be the largest in the world, with 1,100 kilometres and will handle 3 billion standard cubic feet of gas per day. On Monday, Mr Dangote said the commissioning ceremony was just the beginning of a great journey, a milestone in a new and exciting trajectory for the downstream sector of Nigerias oil and gas industry. It is our firm commitment that we will replicate in this sector what we have achieved in the cement and fertiliser markets, where Nigeria transited from being the largest importer of these products to a net exporter. Your excellencies, distinguished guests, our first product will be in the market before the end of July or beginning of August this year, Mr Dangote said. He noted that beyond the commissioning ceremony, the first goal is to ramp up production of the various products to ensure that within this year, the refinery can fully satisfy the nations demand for quality products. There will be constant availability of high-quality fuels for our transportation sector, the refinery will also make available to our industries vital raw materials for a wide range of manufacturing, he said. Our groups corporate vision is driven by our mission to produce what we consume and to promote self-sufficiency in the basic needs of our people. We decided on a plant designed with state-of-the-art technology and a scale in a capacity that will be a game-changer in Africa and the global market. We have built a refinery with a capacity to process 650,000 barrels per day in a single train which is the largest in the world. We have selected the best plants, equipment and the latest technologies from across the world. AfCFTA Mr Dangote added that the company would ensure that its plants are run at the highest capacity and efficiency to enable it to export competitively to other markets. This is a clear opportunity for Nigeria given the African Unions commitment to the creation of an African Common Market through the recently established African Continental Free Trade Area (AFCFTA) regime, he said. He explained that beyond the constant availability of high-quality fuels for the transportation sector, the refinery would also make available to local industries vital raw materials for a wide range of manufacturers in the plastics, pharmaceutical, food and beverages, packaging, construction, and many other industries. He noted that while the refinery operation and ancillary business will generate massive job opportunities, the downstream value chain will equally provide far more absorptive capacity for labour in hundreds of thousands. He added that once the plant is fully onstream, we expect that at least 40 per cent of the capacity will be available for export, and this will result in significant foreign exchange inflows into the country. Overall, we are committed to operating our plant in line with intl best practice, recognising the importance of protecting the environment, we have adopted stringent environmental, health & safety policies, he said. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday described the Dangote Refinery as a significant milestone for Nigerias economy and a game changer for the downstream petroleum products market in the entire African region. The president inaugurated the refinery in Ibeju-Lekki, Lagos, which is expected to enable Nigeria to achieve self-sufficiency in refined products and even have a surplus for export. A statement by Femi Adesina, special adviser to the President on Media & Publicity, said that Mr Buhari made the declaration while speaking at the commissioning of the refinery. Heads of State from Ghana, Togo, Niger, Senegal and a representative of the President of Chad attended the event. This mega industry we are commissioning today is a clear example of what can be achieved when entrepreneurs are encouraged and supported and when an enabling environment is created for investments and for businesses to thrive, Mr Buhari said. I am confident that my successor, His Excellency Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, will sustain the improvement in our economic and business environment and strengthen the framework of our public-private partnership policies to accelerate the pace of our economic growth and development. I am happy to leave our economy in very competent hands. The Nigerian president, who commended Aliko Dangotes leadership in executing the 650,000 barrels per day refinery, urged other entrepreneurs to emulate his example in driving economic growth and realising Nigerias economic potential. He stressed the need for African countries to unite, integrate their economies, eliminate trade barriers, and rally their populations to achieve Agenda 2063 for the continents prosperity. I urge and encourage our other great entrepreneurs to emulate this iconic Nigerian industrialist and join the Government in accelerating our growth in order to realise our countrys globally recognised economic potential. When I travel around Africa and meet and engage my brother Heads of State (and I am delighted some of their Excellences are here), I often sense a quiet expectation that our country is blessed with resources and human capacity to lead Africas rise to economic prosperity and the attainment of Agenda 2063 The Africa we all want. But to achieve the goals of Agenda 2063, Africa must come together we must integrate our economies, eliminate trade barriers and energise our youthful population to scale up our production capacity. We must create necessary conditions for our private sector to grow and partner with the public sector to accelerate economic growth across the continent. We must not allow outside powers to use some of our leaders to destabilise our economic and political trajectory, he said. Mr Buhari acknowledged the visionary investments made by the Dangote Group, under the leadership of Mr Dangote, in transforming Nigerias economy through its involvement in critical industries such as cement and fertiliser. He noted that investment in these sectors had been crucial in shifting Nigeria from heavy import dependence to a net exporter. The president acknowledged that Nigerias economy had faced significant challenges over the years, including deficits in economic infrastructure, insurgency, and external crises such as the Global Financial Crisis, oil price collapses, the COVID-19 pandemic, and the Russia-Ukraine war. The consequence of these challenges constitutes a severe strain on our economy, limiting Governments ability to provide basic infrastructure without resorting to huge borrowings. Our Government, therefore, took the decision to focus attention on creating an enabling environment for the private sector to thrive and fill the enormous gap in investments not only in infrastructure but also in all critical sectors. We recognise that without the active participation of the private sector and a strong commitment to public-private partnership, our economy would continue to remain severely challenged and our economic growth impeded. Government, therefore, will and should continue to provide an enabling environment and encourage innovative public-private partnerships in all sectors of our economy, he said. The President emphasised the administrations commitment to this approach, citing Executive Order 007 of 2019, which facilitated the rehabilitation/construction of many roads by private sector investors using a Tax-credit scheme. It is my hope that the succeeding Administration will continue to apply such innovative schemes in partnership with the private sector to accelerate the provision of critical infrastructure in particular roads, power and gas pipelines, he said. Dangote Speaks Mr Dangote, in his speech, emphasised the refinerys role in fulfilling the groups corporate vision of promoting self-sufficiency and global competitiveness. We have built a Refinery with a capacity to process 650,000 barrels per day (plus 900,000 tonnes of polypropylene) in a single train which is the largest in the world. We have selected the best plants and equipment and the latest technologies from across the world. Our products slate is designed to meet the highest quality standards and high-value products, including Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), Automotive Gas Oil (Diesel), Aviation Turbine Kerosine (ATK); all of Euro V Standards that will enable us not only meet our Countrys demand but also to become a key player in the African and global market. Our coastal location and offshore loading and offloading (SPM) facilities, with a capacity to receive all our crude oil supplies and evacuate up to 75% of our liquid products, give us direct access to the rest of Africa and the global market for exports. In addition, 80 per cent of our products can be discharged through trucks nationwide. He disclosed that the huge investment of over $18.5billion in this industry was prompted by the companys desire to support and contribute its quota to the Federal Governments sustained effort to transform the economy and reposition Nigeria as the leading nation in Africa and a respected member among emerging economies in the world. According to him, apart from ensuring a consistent supply of high-quality fuels for the transportation sector, the refinery will provide essential raw materials to a wide range of manufacturing sectors, including plastics, pharmaceuticals, food and beverages, packaging, construction, and more. He further stated that the refinerys operation and related businesses would generate a substantial number of job opportunities, while the downstream supply and distribution of its products would significantly contribute to the absorption of labour, potentially benefiting hundreds of thousands of individuals. Once our plant is fully on stream, we expect that at least 40% of the capacity will be available for export, and this will result in significant Foreign Exchange inflows into the country. Overall, we are committed to operating our Plant in line with international best practice requirements, recognising the importance of protecting the environment, and putting in place stringent environmental, health and safety policies to ensure that the Refinery operates in a safe and sustainable manner, he said. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print Im waiting for a connecting flight to Banjul, the Gambia as l write this, laying on a bed in what passes for an airport hotel at the Casablanca airport. It does not cost much so l should not have expected better. I had been told that the shower and toilet facilities are shared. So you get the picture. However, I was glad to pay the 45 to at least get a shower. It cleansed my body and soul. I needed it after what had been a less than pleasing experience with Royal Air Maroc or RAM as they are also known. Does that acronym suggest anything? Anyway, setting out for a conference in the Gambia, l bought a Royal Air Maroc flight to Banjul in spite of the alarm bells that had been rung by my friend. The first sign of the coming turbulence was Royal Air Maroc delaying our flight from Heathrow to Casablanca by about two hours. For a flight that was scheduled to depart at 18.10pm we took off at 20.26pm. The flight duration was estimated to be 2 hours 45 minutes. The boarding time for the connecting flight to Banjul was scheduled to be about 22.10pm. Invariably, there was going to be a price to pay for the delay and indeed there was. By the time we got to Casablanca about three hours behind schedule, the connecting flight to Banjul had left or been cancelled. Passenger handling by Royal Air Maroc was zilch. No one provided information in spite of the fact that they obviously had all the information about the situation with their flight. The connections of passengers on board and the disruptions that will ensue. Passengers were left to roam like sheep without Shepherd. No one took charge. You just stumbled along until you ran into someone clad in some uniform and tried to get directions. I ran into one who confidently told me to run downstairs when l shouted Banjul as we tried to communicate over the language barrier but where exactly was downstairs with the several stairs l could see? I turned for clarity but the guy had already moved along. The official attitude was one of collective nonchalance. l ran around in circles with eyes on the airport display wistfully seeking to lock eyes with the name Banjul and boarding gate. I passed through another security screening until l eventually stumbled on an information desk. The guy took a look at my boarding pass which indicated that we were scheduled to board at 22.10pm, looked at his monitor, and then looked up at the airport clock as if to get corroborative evidence for what he was seeing. The hands of the clock were almost hugging each other at the top and showed glaring evidence that we were over one and a half hours late at about close to midnight. He then looked closely again at his monitor and finally shook his head in that manner that makes your heart sink knowing that your worst fears were about to be confirmed. The flight had left he declared. This meant that you had just been sentenced to a-24 hour wait for the next flight to Banjul at an airport and airline you had been cautioned severally is not so passenger friendly. In fact, the Arab lady that sat next to me on the London route had been upbraiding the cabin crew for the delay and warning us to expect the worst from the airline. What next? l asked the guy at the information desk. Once again, one was pointed in a vague direction to search for a transit desk at an airport that had virtually gone to bed with shops boarded up and human traffic ebbing. I rambled around and by the time l stumbled unto the sole services/transit desk manned by two obviously overworked staff, it was chaotic. It was everyone for himself. Fatigued and relatively disoriented from all the running around, it was a tower of babel with Arabic, French, Portuguese, English and the odd African language mixing in the air in a cacophony of voices. It was an eclectic mix. We pushed and jostled to get to the front. Replacement boarding passes were issued by the expressionless Royal Air Maroc staff who apparently were used to seeing these undignifying scenes that do no good to the airlines image play out. Passengers were then sent off in different directions with no idea on how to get there. I got issued with a boarding pass for the next flight and it confirmed that it would 24 hours later. Now there was the small matter of my seat which l had paid ahead to secure. I usually like the window seat for the same reason everyone else does. With the number of people waiting, l didnt check to ensure that l had been re-allocated the seat l had taken the pain to pay for as part of my personal preference. I assumed that my money will speak for me and it would reflect on their platform automatically. I was wrong as I was to find out much much later. Anyway, the guy got rid of me before my tired brain could even connect with all that was on the boarding pass by instructing me offhand to go right and walk straight to a Wazzez lodge. But, l had heard this guy tell some other passengers to go to stamp their passport and go to accommodation for a hotel. Why should my case be different? After all, Royal Air Maroc was responsible for my quagmire and the standard practice in the aviation industry from my considerable experience is that the airline provides hotel accommodation when they are responsible for such extended delays. Even the equally passenger unfriendly Air Senegal did so in Cape Verde once when they defaulted though they would later go on to abandon us in Dakar when we missed the connecting Asky flight to Abuja as a result of their delay. (That is another matter for another day). So, l tagged along with a couple of those referred, tying my fate to theirs with a prayer on my lips and we once again stumbled around until we found immigration. When it got to my turn, the guy looked at my boarding pass with what was becoming the usual sad face. Dont they smile at or laugh with passengers at this airport? Anyway, my heart and mind knew what was coming next before his words came out. Handing me back my travel documents he said Go to services/transit. Where is that l asked resignedly? Turn right and straight down he replied as if anything had been so straight forward this evening at this airport that l had been traversing. So, NO HOTEL for me was the summation after almost seven hours now in the hands of Royal Air Maroc from our false imprisonment on the aircraft in London to the merry go round since landing. My heart sank for the second time. My feet were even complaining. They had tried now! I had even given them the stress of jogging a long distance in the morning. Now, l was no longer quite sure what distance they would cover before giving up on me. But, how for do? to use a common expression among my people which they use to rouse themselves. So, again the search for the services/transit resumed. My mind did not want to contemplate that it was that same desk we got the boarding pass. It seemed so far off and how did we even get here. No direction. Once again, it was the odd airport official who repeated what had now become a chorus. Go straight, turn left and turn right directions. I did and somehow voila; here l was again at that desk. The crowd was less but the attitude was the same; condescending. I was directed back here from immigration l said and got the sterile go to Wazeez lodge. Where l asked? Turn right and go straight. I now asked pointedly no hotel? The guy simply repeated himself in a manner that somehow suggested everything is there. Maybe l should be more open minded l thought. So with some expectations, l hurried off. It had been a punishing two hours or thereabout of running around meaninglessly since we landed that more proactive passenger handling by Royal Air Maroc could have voided. I began the search for the Wazeez lodge. It was like searching for an oasis in the desert. The further l trekked, the more elusive it seemed. After many inquiries, turns and strides, l eventually arrived at indeed an oasis. As my eyes locked on the sign it dawned on me that what l had been hearing these guys referring to all this while as Wazzez was actually Oasis. It was the language inflection. Was this truly going to be the Oasis lounge that will refresh me? I sauntered in and for the third time my heart sank. It was at least a lounge but for passengers who were stuck here for at least 18 hours, they deserved better. This was just like a transit camp hostel with something akin to camp beds. More like mass housing. Everyone stretched out. I heard someone say they will bring food. It was already 1am. This was no way to handle passengers in this contemporary age. I decided to take my destiny in my hands and ambled off to find any airport seat to lay my weary body and see if my soul could regain some of its rhythm. Then it dawned on me that l still had at least 20 hours to wait and this would be torture. My body was already protesting loudly and would not listen to the customary Nigerian It will be well. l now desperately needed a respite. I had seen a sign of a hotel but on inquiry was told that it was no longer in existence and all hotels were outside the airport. I couldnt consider that as l had no visa. However, l decided to give it another try. I saw three young guys sitting over a pizza and obviously relishing it. They were full of smiles. I turned to them to ask for directions but before l could utter a word one of them asked me to take a piece of pizza which was the last thing on my mind. I was tired on my feet. The more l tried to get more words of inquiry out, the more the guy insisted just one piece. Before you knew it, the three young men in that infectious go happy spirit of young people turned it into a sing song just one piece. For the first time, l smiled. It was not a forced smile. My spirit was uplifted. I capitulated, took the piece of pizza and they pointed me to the lift to the hotel just behind them. By the way, l enjoyed the pizza and munched on it with equal relish as l finally found some succour at the Fly Hotel. If only the Royal Air Maroc had been half as friendly and welcoming as these guys it would have been a different experience. They do not seem to appreciate how much the poor passenger experience is hurting their image. I was advised before hand not to fly ROYAL AIR MAROC. However, when l considered my limited options flying from London to Banjul, l chose to fly it because it was an African airline. I must also admit that my options were limited in the first case because l carry a Nigerian passport. European Airlines would have been much more user friendly, faster and cheaper too but you see as a Nigerian, l must have a transit visa to transit through most European airports. I didnt have one. I delivered myself to Royal Air Maroc not because l was expecting a royal treatment but at least the minimal aviation industry standard. Now see what they have delivered to me. Terrible passenger handling, extra airport hotel expenses and the ripple effect of the twenty four hours delay on my mission to Banjul. Now it is noon, l must check out of the hotel to continue my remaining ten hour wait in the wilderness of the airport. I decide to re-visit the oasis lounge. It looks arguably decent for holding out for a few hours but definitely not overnight. Even the sign says passengers waiting for between four to eight hours. I meet passengers from the previous night spread out on the quasi camp beds. They are resigned to their fate. Outside l hear grumbling about the nonchalance of Royal Air Maroc. It is further proof that am not just a wailing wailer (Nigerians know what l mean) or flying solo on this path. l walk out in search of a meal and a waiter tells me to get a free meal voucher from Royal Air Maroc. They oblige me. It is the only gratuitous act l receive from the airline. For his kindness, the waiter comes around to ask for a tip. He has saved me some bucks so l oblige too. A good turn begets a good turn after all. It is a lesson that Royal Air Maroc should learn and be good to their passengers who definitely have a choice. So, as l wander around the airport to while away the long hours, my mind also wanders and the main thing it will be wandering about is; why should l ever travel on Royal Air Maroc again- and l evidently wont be the only one reasoning this way. However, when l remember the infectious spirit of those three young Moroccan men singing and urging me to take one piece, of pizza, it lifts my spirit and puts a smile on my face. It is the smile that will see me through the rest of my journey but to Royal Air Maroc, l say; Good luck but not again. Just one piece is enough. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print Ifeanyi Okowa will cease to be the governor of Delta State from the midnight of 29 May, having completed his two terms (2015 -2023). A new sheriff will take over the leadership of the state for the next four years. Mr Okowa, a University of Ibadan-trained medical doctor, was elected as the governor of the oil-rich state on 11 April, 2015 on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), defeating his main challenger in the election Great Ogboru by a wide margin. Before the election, he had served four years in the Senate representing the Delta North District. Of the three governors the state has had since 1999, Mr Okowa was the most politically experienced going into the office, having been a local government chairperson, commissioner, secretary to the state government and senator. His two predecessors, James Ibori and Emmanuel Uduaghan did not have such varied political experiences before they became governors. Mr Okowa won his reelection as expected in 2019 despite the opposition mounted principally by the All Progressives Congress (APC). Although he failed in his vice presidential bid as the running mate to Atiku Abubakar in the 2023 presidential election, he nevertheless managed to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat for the PDP in the states gubernatorial election, thus helping the party to retain a seat it has held since 1999. For the outgoing governor, who has been holding one elective position or appointment since the country returned to democratic rule in 1999, and his supporters, he has done well for the state. But for the opposition and critics, Mr Okowas performance in office for eight years is sub-par and nothing to write home about, given the huge resources at his disposal, especially the massive statutory cash receipts from the federation account as one of the top oil-producing states in the country. His critics said Mr Okowa failed to judiciously use the resources for the infrastructural and human capital development of the state as he promised the citizens in 2015 when he was first sworn in as governor. While it is hard to holistically assess his tenure in office and of any other political office holder for that matter, since there are no catholic metrics to do that, evaluation of basic parameters such as internally generated revenue (IGR), fiscal sustainability, poverty rate, unemployment rate, ease of doing business and budgetary allocations to key sectors such as education, health and agriculture, security and stability, among others, can give a fair assessment of the overall performance of the office holder. Mr Okowas two terms in office revolved around what he termed the SMART agenda which he unfurled at his swearing-in in 2015. His inaugural speech for his second term in 2019 showed no deviation from the SMART agenda, which is an acronym for S-Strategic Wealth Creation Projects and Provision of jobs for all Deltans; M- Meaningful peace building platforms aimed at political and social harmony; A- Agricultural reforms and accelerated industrialisation; R-Relevant Health and Education Policies and T- Transformed Environment through urban renewal. Essentially, the core components of the SMART agenda of Mr Okowa can be distilled within the context of the aforementioned basic metrics that are used for a general review of his administration, which will soon be history in the annals of the state created on 27 August 1991 by the military administration of Ibrahim Babangida. The Review: Ease of doing business The Ease of Doing Business (EODB), a borrowed innovation from western institutions, is a yearly appraisal conducted by the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC) coordinated by the Office of the Vice President. In the Nigerian domesticated version of the innovation, six indicators are usually used to determine the EODB namely; a secure and stable environment, transparency and accessibility of information, regulatory environment, skills and labour and economic opportunity. By experts account, the EODB is a substantial measure of how improved or friendly a business environment is, which allows for investment inflow, expansion of micro, small and medium enterprises, and industrial growth and development, among others. In a laymans language, the positive the EODB, the friendlier the business environment. The reverse is the case for a negative EODB. Despite the Okowa administration setting up the Delta State Investment Development Agency to drive and marshal the ease of doing business in the state, reports from PEBEC, Budgit (a civic hub) show clearly the state has one of the most unfriendly business climates in the country. For example, in February this year, Delta State ranked 35th out of the 36 states and the FCT, evaluated by PEBEC. In 2022, the state was also among the lowest, sharing the unfortunate fate with Zamfara, which was 37th on the table. Edo and Taraba were also in the same category. Unemployment rate The rate of employment is always high in a productive economy. Conversely, the rate of unemployment is high where productivity is low. One of the key elements that can facilitate high productivity is when the ease of doing business in an environment is positive, which, invariably, will also bring about more employment opportunities. One contextual inference from the consistent abysmal performance of Delta State on the EODB table under the watch of Mr Okowa is that the strategic wealth creation projects and provision of jobs for all Deltans, which is the first on the list of his SMART agenda, is almost a complete farce . This is because wealth creation and job provision are almost impossible in a state where the ease of doing business is hellish, nasty and brutish. In any case, one of the core responsibilities of a responsive government is to provide an enabling environment for business enterprises (micro, small and medium) led by the private sector to thrive for job and wealth creation purposes. Since an enabling business environment is tied to the ease of doing business, there is no gainsaying that Delta State remains a hostile environment for businesses and wealth creators to excel, impacting employment creation. Data released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) in the second quarter of 2020 showed that the South-south region had the highest unemployment rate in Nigeria. Of the six states in the region, Delta had the third-highest unemployment rate, coming after Akwa Ibom and Rivers respectively. As of then, the unemployment rate in the state stood at 40.3 per cent, while the underemployment rate was 20.1 per cent. Over 1,005,848 residents of the state who were of employment age (15-64) have no jobs whatsoever. Officially, the population of the state is 5,636,100. Interestingly, Bayelsa, Akwa Ibom, Rivers and Delta states receive the highest statutory allocations from the federation account but yet have abysmal records in terms of employment generation for their teeming populations. In spite of the job creation efforts of the Okowa government coordinated by the Office of the Chief Job Creation Officer, and jobs (an account of the state says the Okowa administration created over 100,000 jobs) reportedly created through various programmes such as the Graduate Employment Enhancement Programme (GEEP), Skills Training and Entrepreneurship Programme (STEP) and YAGEP, unemployment in the state remains active like a raging inferno. Officially, youth unemployment in the state is 64 per cent. Debt profile One of the major accusations levelled against Governor Okowa by the opposition in the just concluded general elections was that it accumulated huge debts in the last eight years. Based on its State of the States report for 2022, Budgit ranked Delta State as the 10th most indebted state in the country, coming after Bayelsa, which occupies the 9th position despite the states huge receipts from FAAC, VAT and 13 per cent derivation, among other sources of revenue to the state within the years under review At the inception of his administration in 2015, Mr Okowa, in a letter he wrote to the state House of Assembly soliciting approval for a loan request of N10 billion, indicated, according to a publication by Business Day, that he inherited N92.62 billion debt from the administration of Emmanuel Uduaghan. Eight years later, Mr Okowa is leaving behind a total domestic debt of N304.25 billion for his successor. The debt could be higher. The latest figure, N304.25 billion, released by the Debt Management Office (DMO), indicates that Delta State has the second highest debt in the country, coming behind Lagos State with N807.21 billion. Ogun State took the third position. That was the state of the states debt as of the last quarter of 2022, based on DMOs report. But, there is still more to the official debt from the DMOs office. Four months to the end of Mr Okowas tenure, the States House of Assembly, under the speaker-ship of Sheriff Oborevwori, now the governor-elect, approved the outgoing governors N100 billion loan request. The N100 billion is part of the N150 billion earlier approved Consolidated Syndicated Loan to be facilitated by Zenith Bank. Adding the newly approved N100 billion to the officially existing N304.25 billion debt brings the states total debt to N404.25 billion. An immediate implication of the massive debt profile of the state is that a large chunk of its revenue, which should have been used to facilitate developmental programmes, will be used for debt servicing to its creditors in order not to default. The opportunity cost of such a massive loan repayment scheme will be decadent infrastructure and atrophied human capital development. Ironically though, despite the burgeoning debt portfolio of the state, the overall results of the Delta States debt sustainability analysis show that the debt status of the state is currently sustainable and in the long term, which, therefore, makes the state one of the financially solvent states because of its debt-to-revenue ratio, the increase in its IGR, as well as the high inflow of revenue from the oil sector, which contributes over 70 per cent of the states earnings, in addition to the commitment of the Okowa administration to always service its loan. Fiscal sustainability index This is another metric to determine the financial solvency or robustness of a state or private institution. By fiscal sustainability, it means the ability of the government to sustain its current spending, tax and other policies over a long period without threatening government solvency or defaulting on some of its liabilities or promised expenditures. In other words, a fiscally sustainable state has a robust revenue profile and manageable recurrent expenditure obligations. In its 2018 edition of the State of the States, Budgit, adjudged Delta State as one of the seven states that were fiscally sustainable. The other six states in this category were Rivers, Bayelsa, Akwa Ibom, Lagos, Edo and Ondo, respectively. Contrary to its outstanding performance in 2018, however, the state was ranked 31st out of 36 states in 2021, down from 23rd in the 2020 ranking, demonstrating poor performance on the sustainability index. The reason for the poor performance could be attributed to the massive borrowings within the period and possibly the decline in the revenue flow of the country caused by the coronavirus pandemic of 2020 that stalled many economic activities locally and globally. IGR The internally generated revenue (IGR) of a state offers a window on how financially buoyant (or otherwise!) a state is without dependence on statutory receipts from the federal purse. In Nigeria, most governors dont bother to expand the IGRs of their states because of their over-dependence on statutory cash inflows from the federation account. Because of this, most states are yet to actualise a quarter of their full potential. Many of them will go under if allocations from the federal purse stop forthwith. Per Delta State, it is pertinent to say that Mr Okowa increased the IGR of the state under his watch, but commentators believe he could have done much more, given the states economic potential. As of the time he came to power in 2015, the states IGR was around N40 billion annually. Due to the reforms he initiated, which included expanding the tax net of the state, plugging financial loopholes, arresting capital flight and the aggressive drive of the Delta Board of Internal Revenue (DBIR) to generate more revenue for the state, Mr Okowa reported through his then commissioner for finance David Edevbie in 2018 that his administration was able to rake in N51.9 billion annually for the fiscal year 2017. In 2016, the state generated N45 billion, while in 2018, it was N51.6 billion. The Cable newspaper, relying on data from the NBS, reported in October 2022 that Delta State generated N80.2 billion for the fiscal year 2021, thereby making it one of the states that did spectacularly well in the IGR drive for the year. Lagos came first, followed by the FCT, Rivers and Ogun, respectively. For the fiscal year 2020, the NBS stated that Delta State generated N59.732 billion, making it the fourth top performer among the 36 states of the federation and the FCT. Poverty rate Interestingly, despite the high rate of unemployment in the state, it has one of the lowest poverty rates in the country based on a 2019 survey by the NBS released in 2020. In that survey tagged Nigeria Poverty and Inequality Survey Report 2019, released on 5 May 2020, NBS ranked Delta State second after Lagos among the states with low poverty rates. While Lagos had a 4.50 per cent poverty headcount, Delta had 6.02 per cent. As of 2010 , the state was ranked as the 12th poorest state in the country under the watch of then-governor Emmanuel Uduaghan. The survey was conducted 10 years after the previous one, and the statistics bureau, with support from the World Bank, said it used consumption expenditure in tracking poverty rather than the income expenditure approach . Mr Okowa expectedly attributed the declaration by the NBS to the Prosperity for all Deltans, agenda pursued by his administration. In a curious twist, however, another survey by the NBS, which was carried out between 2021 and 2022, titled National Multidimensional Poverty Index Report, did not include Delta State among the states Ondo, Lagos, Abia, Edo and Anambra with the lowest poverty rates. Delta States neighbour, Bayelsa, was among the poorest in the report, just like the previous survey cited above. Sokoto, Gombe, Kebbi, Jigawa and Plateau were also among the top poorest states in 2022 The report, released in November 2022, according to the statistician-general of the federation and CEO of the NBS, Semiu Adeniran, was the first time the bureau conducted a standard multidimensional poverty survey in Nigeria. For clarity, while the first report by NBS that classified Delta as the second least poor state in Nigeria was about monetary poverty measured in terms of the population living below the national poverty line, the second report, Multidimensional Poverty Index, is much more encompassing as it took into consideration both monetary poverty measures and non-monetary poverty measures of poverty, which include access to healthcare, education, quality food, e.t.c GDP Although the Gross Domestic Product of a country or any of its subnationals does not tell precisely how productive or buoyant the economy is, it nevertheless gives an insight into the size of the economy (market) and its potential for greatness (or otherwise), other things being equal. As of 2021, Delta State has the fifth highest GDP out of the 36 states of the federation, according to a publication of Budgit titled State of States 2022. Based on the report, which put the GDP rate at US15.3 billion, the state had the third largest GDP in the South-south region, coming after Rivers and Akwa Ibom, respectively. The state government, through Kingsley Emu, the chief economic adviser to Governor Okowa, while reacting to a report of the NBS from which Budgit relied on for its extensive report, claimed that the economy of the state grew by 51 per cent in six years, with its GDP rising to N4.471 trillion in 2019 from N2.961 trillion in 2015 when the outgoing administration came into power. Budgetary allocations to critical sectors of the economy under Okowa Education, health and agriculture are sectors that drive the economy of any nation or state. This implies that government must continuously invest heavily in these sectors to boost human capital development, improve the standard of living, raise per capita income, enable food security, e.t.c Health As they say, health is wealth; thats, a healthy nation is a wealthy nation. Put succinctly, a healthy workforce is a productive workforce. No wonder a scholar, G.C Sokoh, in a research publication in 2023 titled IGR in Delta State: A tool for infrastructural development, published in the Journal of Policy and Administration (Vol 8, No.1 2023), recommended to the state government under Governor Okowa based on his findings to commit at least 40 per cent of the states IGR in financing the health sector through improved budgetary allocation. Mr Sokoh, a lecturer at the Delta State University, Abraka, said his study indicated that the IGR of the state had little impact on the health sector, unlike the education sector that received massive funding from the administration. Ironically, Mr Okowa, a medical doctor by training, consistently made paltry allocations to the health sector for his years in power, falling abysmally short of the Abuja Declaration of 2001, which recommended at least 15 per cent of annual budgets for the health sector. A casual sectoral analysis of all the budget allocations made by Governor Okowa to the health sector in the last seven years never made it to 10 per cent, let alone hit the minimum recommended 15 per cent. In fact, the highest allocation to the sector under his watch was nine per cent in 2020, which observers interpreted correctly to be as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. For 2021 and 2022, the allocation was 6 per cent, a far cry from the minimum threshold. Education Without education, a nation is dead. Most developed countries have a huge number of well-educated citizens and thus are ranked high on the human capital development index. Conversely, poor countries have a miserly number of educated nationals which impacts the overall economic productivity of such countries. Delta State, under the leadership of Governor Okowa, has done tremendously well for the past seven years, consistently meeting the 15-20 per cent recommendation of UNESCO on annual budgetary allocation to the education sector. In 2017, the state allocated 17 per cent of its annual public spending on education while it increased it to 20 per cent in 2019. The allocations, no doubt, have brought significant gains to the education sector as the government created three other state universities Dennis Osadebey University, Asaba, University of Delta, Agbor and Delta State University of Science and Technology, Ozoro to improve access to tertiary education. It also gave a massive facelift to the existing six technical colleges in the state and constructed nine model technical colleges with three (Effurun, Asaba and Obiaruku) already completed and in use,while the remaining six located in Omadino, Irri, Akugbene, Oghareki, Kiagbodo and Orerokpe are in various stages of finishing. In one of its briefings, the state government claimed to have constructed, refurbished and renovated over 5000 schools. Another positive derivative of the states massive investment in education across the board is exemplified by the number of out-of-school children in the state. In 2018, according to NBS, the state was ranked 10th out of 36 states with the lowest number of out-of-school children. However, more could still be done, perhaps by the incoming administration, to improve access to education for kids in hard-to-reach communities, especially those in the riverine parts of the state. Agriculture Despite the repeated promises of the Okowa administration in his SMART Agenda to make agriculture and agro-allied business a viable source of revenue and employment generator, as a way to relieve the states overdependence on financial receipts from the oil and gas sector, all he did was pay lip service to the very vital sector. For all his years in power as governor, the highest budgetary allocation to agriculture was 1.5 per cent in 2017, a saddening far cry from the Maputo Declaration, which recommended that every government must allocate at least 10 per cent of its annual public spending to agriculture and rural development. The Declaration came into being in 2003 as a measured response to the harsh reality that agricultural productivity in Africa had stagnated for a while and therefore needed to be reactivated. Experts have said over the years that heavy investments in agriculture and its value chain will enhance food security, provide jobs for the teeming youths, increase the GDP of a state/country, expand per capita income, increase household wealth, e.t.c. Invariably if sustainably done in the long run, it will help deepen the economic diversification policy and programme of the government in the truest sense of the word. Conclusion Given the enormous statutory financial receipts from the federation account that accrued to the Delta State government in the last eight years, in addition to refunds from the federal government, plus what the state generated internally, could have done far better in its deliverables to the citizens of the state in terms of infrastructural and human capital development if there were reasonable resource mobilisation, project prioritisation and reduced debt burden, among others. It is expected that the incoming administration will consolidate on the gains recorded by Mr Okowa, while also trying to bridge the many gaps identified in the administration, especially in the area of debt accumulation, miserable funding of agriculture and health, poor ease of doing business, poor record of job creation to arrest youth unemployment which is a significant source of youth restiveness in the state. The citizens of the state really do need to enjoy the many benefits that come with being an oil producing state like the ones enjoyed by the citizens of the Gulf countries. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print Nigerias president-elect, Bola Tinubu, on Monday, urged the Presidential Election Petition Court in Abuja not to harmonise the three pending petitions challenging his victory. Mr Tinubus victory at the 25 February presidential election on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC) is being challenged in three separate petitions pending before the court. Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party, Labour Partys Peter Obi and the Allied Peoples Democratic (APM) filed their petitions in March to challenge the outcome of the poll. The petitions, containing largely similar complaints, accused the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) of widespread irregularities during the conduct of the presidential election. Atiku and Mr Obi, in their separate suits are urging the court to either declare them president or nullify Mr Tinubus victory and order a fresh poll. The APM on the other hand is praying for the court to declare Atiku president. Last week, the court asked lawyers of parties in the petitions to address it on the provisions of paragraph 50 of the Fourth Schedule of the Electoral Act, 2022, which allow the court to consolidate the petitions. Why petitions shouldnt be consolidated At the resumption of the courts pre-hearing session on Monday, Mr Tinubus lawyer, Akin Olujinmi, appealed to the five-member panel of the court led by Haruna Tsammani not to consolidate the petitions. Mr Olujinmi, a former Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) and Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), argued that consolidating the suit would undermine the interest of justice. The interest of justice in these petitions should be a restraint on the power of this court in granting a consolidation of these petitions, he said during the pre-hearing session of the APMs petition on Monday. While Mr Olujinmi conceded that some of the petitioners prayers were similar, he said some issues are not the same. The counsel representing the petitioners and respondents are different and the grounds of the petitions are different. It will be overreaching for the respondents if consolidation is granted. We most humbly urge my Lords not to grant consolidation, Mr Olujinmi said. Arguing in the same fashion, APCs lawyer, Charles Uwensuyi-Edosomwan, said consolidating the petitions would be unwieldy. We are opposing the consolidation of the petitions. The interest of justice will not be served by a consolidation of all of these petitions, Mr Uwensuyi-Edosomwan, a SAN, said. He contended that The trial of the petitions will be unwieldy, and the substance of the case will be lost. But INECs lawyer, Kemi P inheiro , a SAN, neither supported nor objected to the call for consolidation of the petitions. Similarly, APMs lawyer, S A T Abubakar, did not object to the consolidation of the petitions. Similar debate is expected to come up during the hearing of the cases of the PDP and the Labour Party. Meanwhile, the inauguration of the president-elect, Mr Tinubu, whose election is still being challenged in court, is about a week away. The election petition hearing is expected to drag on till September. This will be followed by another lap of hearing at the Supreme Court where parties displeased with the outcome of the eventual decision of the Presidential Election Petition Court are entitled to appeal to. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print The Federal High Court in Kano has declared as unconstitutional the murder charges filed against the Majority Leader of the House Representatives, Alhassan Doguwa, by the police in a magistrate court. The court faulted the police for charging Mr Doguwa in a court that lacks jurisdiction to entertain the offence the lawmaker was charged with. PREMIUM TIMES reported how the police in Kano charged Mr Doguwa with murder for allegedly killing three people during the 25 February election. The lawmaker was allegedly involved in a violent confrontation between members of the New Nigeria People Party (NNPP) and the All Progressives Congress (APC) that led to the killing of three people and the burning of a campaign office of the opposition party in the Tudun Wada Local Government Area of Kano. On Monday, a federal high court judge, Mohammad Yunusa, declared that the magistrate court lacked jurisdiction to hear and grant the N500 million bail on exparte application on the embattled majority leader of the Houses of Representatives. Delivering judgement on the motion on notice filed by Mr Doguwa against his fundamental right and unlawful detention by the lower court, Mr Yunusa held that the Chief Magistrate Court lacks the jurisdiction to preside over any charge bordering on criminal conspiracy. The judge cited section 251 (1) of the Constitution, which exclusively grants the federal court jurisdiction to hear cases on firearms as contained in the charges filed against Mr Doguwa. The judge emphasised that granting Mr Doguwa bail was not meant to prevent him from trial, insisting that due process must be followed. In an affidavit submitted before the court, Mr Doguwa, through his attorney, Nureini Jimoh, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), sought the enforcement of his clients fundamental rights as guaranteed by the constitution and other lawful charters. The lawyer claimed that Mr Doguwa was detained by the police unlawfully and against his right to liberty and freedom as allowed under several provisions of the 1999 constitution as amended. As contained in the affidavits, the applicants lawyer insisted that the incarceration of his client by the chief magistrate was null and void and unconstitutional because the lower court lacks the competence to entertain criminal charges. In his judgement, Mr Yunusa declared that citizens reserved the right under the provisions of section 46 (1) of the 1999 constitution as amended to approach any high court to challenge an attempt or breach of his or her fundamental right. He explained that Mr Doguwa ought not to be remanded in the correctional facility in the first place because he was not arraigned and properly charged, adding that the polices argument on holding charge before the lower court was not recognised by the constitution of the land. The court, therefore, granted the application of the Applicant Doguwa to be prosecuted soon On Friday, the police concluded the investigation against Mr Doguwa and transmitted their findings to the Kano State Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Musa Lawan, for prosecution. With the findings of the case concluded, the Kano State government is expected to file criminal charges against the lawmaker formally. Mr Lawan said his ministry would study the case file and take necessary legal action within two weeks. I have just received the Commissioner of Police, Kano, who came to submit the case file of Doguwa after they completed the investigation. The case was taken over by the IGP for proper investigation, and that was returned to us for prosecution. Let me assure the public that the government would study the case carefully and proper recommendations would be issued after the study, and that should not take us more than two weeks for necessary action, Mr Lawan said. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print The National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) has directed its members to resume work on Monday, 22 May. The President of the association, Emeka Orji, said the decision was reached after a three-hour meeting by the associations national executive council on Sunday. Mr Orji said the association will review the governments efforts in resolving the issues in the next two weeks. The strike has been suspended and work resumes 8 a.m. tomorrow, he said. Progress made will be reviewed on 2 June during our general meeting where next line of action will be decided. The union arrived at the decision to suspend its strike after signing a Memorandum of Understanding with the federal government on Friday. Warning strike The doctors commenced a five-day warning strike in the early hours of Wednesday following the failure of the Nigerian government to meet its demands. The doctors, among other grievances, are demanding the immediate payment of the 2023 Medical Residency Training Fund (MRTF), tangible steps on the upward review of the Consolidated Medical Salary Structure (CONMESS) and payment of all salary arrears owed its members since 2015. The union also wants immediate massive recruitment of clinical staff in the hospitals and abolishment of the bureaucratic limitations to the immediate replacement of doctors and nurses who leave the system. They also want the immediate review of hazard allowance by all state governments as well as private tertiary health institutions where any form of residency training is done. About resident doctors The resident doctors comprise the bulk of medical personnel in Nigerias tertiary hospitals; hence health activities are mostly crippled when they are on strike. PREMIUM TIMES earlier reported how the strike has disrupted health services across public tertiary hospitals in Nigeria. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print Nigerian billionaire businessman, Femi Otedola, on Sunday hailed Africas richest man Aliko Dangote ahead of the commissioning of the Dangote Refinery in Lagos. Mr Otedola said history would be made in the Nigerian energy sector with the unveiling of the refinery, located in Lagos. President Muhammadu Buhari will on Monday commission the Dangote Refinery in Lagos amid expectations that the facility, considered Africas largest oil refinery, would impact positively on the nations oil sector and the larger economy. In a tweet on Sunday, Mr Otedola shared photos of his visit to the facility in the company of Mr Dangote. Countdown to the commissioning of the worlds biggest refinery tomorrow. History is made, he tweeted. Countdown to the commissioning of the worlds biggest refinery tomorrow History is made @AlikoDangote F.Ote pic.twitter.com/wqB9tMbXCE Femi Ote$ (@realFemiOtedola) May 21, 2023 The facility is an integrated refinery and petrochemical project, equipped to produce about 650,000 barrels of oil per day (bpd) and to generate 9500 direct jobs and 25,000 indirect jobs. The refinery is one of Nigerias single largest investments, with 435 megawatt power station, deep seaport and a fertiliser unit. From an initial estimate of between $12 billion and $14 billion, the cost of the refinery grew to $19 billion after years of delays. There are expectations that the facility will begin refining crude in June but experts expect operations to start later this year, reaching 50-70% next year, with a staggered process of other units into 2025. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print A former "Teacher of the Year" in California was arrested on Thursday after she allegedly had sex with a 16-year-old boy, and now authorities believe "there may be additional victims," according to a news release by the San Bernardino County Office. The 38-year-old math teacher, Tracy Vanderhulst, started working at Yucaipa High School in San Bernardino County in 2013, and was named "Teacher of the Year" in 2017. At the time, according to CBS, the school had praised the teacher in a tweet as someone who "offers up a rigorous mathematics curriculum and deep caring for her students" a compliment that didn't age well. But the tweet has since been deleted. From CBS: The legal team of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, on Monday downplayed the ruling of the Presidential Election Petition Court (PEPC) dismissing their application for the live broadcast of the courts hearing. They said the ruling delivered on Monday would not constitute any setback to their petition challenging the victory of the president-elect, Bola Tinubu. PREMIUM TIMES reported that the court, earlier on Monday, dismissed applications for permission to allow media houses to broadcast the courts proceedings live. They had called on the court to allow the broadcast of the proceedings in the publics interest, but the court ruled on Monday that there was no legal basis for it. There is no setback here. The court, in its wisdom decided that the subject of our application on the live streaming and open telecast did not, in any way, connected with the merit of our petition, counsel for PDP and Atiku, Eyitayo Jegede, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, SAN, told journalists after Mondays proceedings, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports. Mr Jegede added, The petition is separate; it is ongoing. The application did not succeed to have the televised version of the proceedings. As far as we are concerned, we are now set for hearing. Tomorrow, we will be here by Gods grace for pre-hearing report that will determine the progress of the petition and the time the petition will be heard and concluded. Asked whether he and his team still had confidence in the court, the senior lawyer simply said: For us, we are prepared for hearing. Also, responding to another question about consolidating the different petitions pending in court, Mr Jegede said it was compelled by statute and that they had no objection to it. Apart from Atikus petition, two other petitions are challenging the election of the president-elect, Mr Tinubu. Tinubu, APC reject call for consolidation One of the other petitions was filed by the Labour Party with its presidential candidate, Peter Obi, and the other by the All Peoples Movement (APM). Last week, the Presidential Election Petition Court asked lawyers to the parties in the petitions to address it on the provisions of paragraph 50 of the Fourth Schedule of the Electoral Act, 2022, which allow the court to consolidate the petitions. But the legal teams of Mr Tinubu and the APC objected to the call to consolidate the petitions during a hearing on APMs case on Monday. Mr Tinubus lawyer, Akin Olujinmi, appealed to the five-member panel of the court led by Haruna Tsammani not to consolidate the petitions. Mr Olujinmi, a former Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) and Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), argued that consolidating the suit would undermine the interest of justice. The interest of justice in these petitions should be a restraint on the power of this court in granting a consolidation of these petitions, he said during the pre-hearing session of the APMs petition on Monday. While Mr Olujinmi conceded that some of the petitioners prayers were similar, he said, Some issues are not the same. The counsel representing the petitioners and respondents are different, and the grounds of the petitions are different. It will be overreaching for the respondents if consolidation is granted. We most humbly urge my Lords not to grant consolidation, Mr Olujinmi said. Arguing in the same fashion, APCs lawyer, Charles Uwensuyi-Edosomwan, said consolidating the petitions would be unwieldy. We are opposing the consolidation of the petitions. The interest of justice will not be served by a consolidation of all of these petitions, Mr Uwensuyi-Edosomwan, a SAN, said. He contended that The trial of the petitions will be unwieldy, and the substance of the case will be lost. But INECs lawyer, Kemi Pinheiro, a SAN, neither supported nor objected to the call for consolidation of the petitions. Similarly, APMs lawyer, S A T Abubakar, did not object to consolidating the petitions. The issue is expected to be resolved this week, as the cases are set to reach a crucial stage of calling witnesses. Meanwhile, Mr Tinubu will be sworn in next Monday, while the hearing of the petitions challenging his election will continue in court. This may drag on till September. The appeals that will likely arise from the ruling of the Presidential Election Petition Court may take up to December for the Supreme Court to resolve. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print The Presidential Election Petition Court in Abuja has concluded its pre-hearing session on Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obis petitions challenging Bola Tinubus victory. The court, which had its inaugural sitting on 8 May, heard preliminary issues concerning the petitions for two weeks before it ended on Monday. Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party, Peter Obi of the Labour Party and the Allied Peoples Movement (APM) are all challenging the election of Mr Tinubu at the court. At the end of Mondays proceedings, a five-member panel of the court headed by Haruna Tsammani said it would, on Tuesday, issue a report detailing how hearing of the substantive petitions would be conducted. The ruling will detail how the next phase of the case, which is trial, will proceed. Parties in the cases, including the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), have all made proposals as to the number of witnesses and documentary evidence they intend to bring to aid their cases. The proposals also included time allotment for witnesses Earlier on Monday, the court also took arguments from lawyers to parties concerning the possible consolidation of the three remaining petitions. Mr Tinubu and the APC opposed the courts suggestion of harmonising the petitions. The president-elect, whose inauguration is only seven days away, argued through his lawyer, Akin Olujinmi, that consolidating the suits would render the proceedings unwieldy, thereby jeopardising the interest of justice. But other parties in the suit INEC, PDP, LP and APM left the issue to the courts discretion. Effect of live broadcast of proceedings unpredictable Ruling on two but separate requests by Atiku and Mr Obi for a live broadcast of proceedings in their suits, the court held that the live broadcast of the hearing would add no value to the petitioners case. The panels chairman, Mr Tsammani, said the only value of the application to televise the proceedings is the mere sentimental claim (by Atiku and Mr Obi) that it will benefit the voters that voted during the presidential election on 25 February. Referencing section 36 of the constitution, which provides for proceedings of court to be heard in public, Mr Tsammani said, It does not meanthe court must sit in a stadium or market square. He explained that conducting court sittings in public is not more than holding same in a place designated as a court while the parties, their counsel, witnesses and members of the public including the press can have unhindered access. Dismissing the request, the court declared that the request of televising of court proceedings is novel and has no utilitarian value. Televising of court proceedings is not provided for in any of our laws. Toeing Mr Tsammanis lead decision on the application, a member of the panel, Misitura Bolaji-Yusuf, said, Allowing cameras in the courtroom for live televising of proceedings is a major judicial policy, which must be provided for by law or rules of court. Ms Bolaji-Yusuf noted that the court was in search of justice and must avoid all extraneous influences which may increase tension inside and outside the courtroom. She held that televising the courts sessions might have an adverse effect on fair trial as guaranteed by the (Nigerian) constitution. The justice added that no one can predict or guarantee the effect of the presence of camera in the courtroom on the witnesses, counselduring or after the proceedings. The avoidance of trial by the ordeal of camera better serves the interest of justice in this case, Ms Bolaji-Yusuf held. Meanwhile, Atikus legal team has said the ruling barring live broadcast of the proceedings would not constitute a setback to its clients case. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print The Federal High Court, Abuja, again, on Monday, adjourned a suit filed by Nnamdi Kanu, Leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), against the State Security Services (SSS). The separatist leader, who the SSS is detaining, is seeking the courts order compelling the agency to allow him unhindered access to his medical doctor, among others. Hearing of the case was stalled on 3 May due to lawyers tardiness. The judge, Bita Nyako, who was displeased with the lawyers attitude, warned that she would not entertain further delays in the case. She then fixed Monday for the hearing. But, on Monday, Ms Nykao was absent, as she was said to be away for an official assignment. Court officials then fixed 20 June for the adoption of final addresses. Parties are expected to make their closing arguments at the June hearing, after which the judge will fix a date for judgement. Mr Kanu sued SSS and its Director-General in the suit, which seeks a court order granting him unhindered access to his medical doctors in detention. The SSS filed an objection against the suit, urging the court to dismiss the suit for want of jurisdiction. It argued that there was a subsisting judgement of a sister court delivered by a now-retired judge, Taiwo Taiwo, on 3 June 2022, which, the agency said, had already issued an order allowing the IPOB leader access to his personal physician. The SSS said Mr Kanus fresh case was similar to the earlier one and that the IPOB leader also had an appeal relating to the judgement pending at the Court of Appeal. The IPOB leader, through his lawyer, Mike Ozekhome, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, incessantly complains about his clients poor state of health in SSS custody. Mr Kanu has a pending application at the Supreme Court seeking an order either granting him bail or transferring him to the correction centre for easy access to his lawyers and physicians. Mr Kanu was first arrested in 2015 and was later charged over his separatist campaigns for the independent Biafra Republic, comprising mainly the Igbo-dominated South-east region. The Court of Appeal in Abuja dismissed the charges against the IPOB leader in a judgement last year but later allowed SSS to continue detaining him, pending the federal governments appeal at the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court has fixed 14 September for a hearing in the case. Ms Nyako presided over the criminal trial against Mr Kanu until the charges were dismissed by the Court of Appeal last year. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print The Nigerian government on Monday launched the Community-based Health Research, Innovative-training and Services Programme (CRISP) as part of efforts to bridge workforce gaps across Primary Health Centres (PHC) in the country. Speaking at the launch, Nigerias Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, said the initiative is timely, saying no health facility can function properly without adequate skilled workers. Mr Osinbajo, represented by the Minister of Women Affairs, Pauline Tallen, said no country could boast of effective healthcare delivery without adequate and well-distributed human resources. For this reason, I think there is no better way to tackle the challenges of health care delivery in Nigeria than to close the gaps in the equitable availability of skilled health workers in our PHC facilities; this can be achieved by a creative measure such as the CRISP, he said. About CRISP The Executive Director of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), Faisal Shuaib, said CRISP seeks to address the unequal distribution of skilled health workers among PHC facilities in the country. Mr Shuaib said CRISP aims to leverage the rural posting of resident doctors to support PHC development in partnership with Teaching Hospitals, Federal Medical Centres (FMCs), State Primary Health Care Boards, Local Government Health Authorities, and communities. He said the intervention focuses explicitly on increasing, retaining, and improving the quality, competency, and distribution of a committed PHC workforce, including facility outreach and community-based health workers. Mr Shuaib said: This will be achieved through effective management supervision, appropriate compensation, and the recruitment and deployment of Human Resources for Health, such as medical doctors, midwives, nurses, and Community Health Extension Workers (CHEWs), to prioritise PHC facilities nationwide. He said the implementation of CRISP would be phased across the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), adding that the funding will come from the government, supported by development partners, philanthropists, and other stakeholders. Challenges Mr Osinbajo said although Nigeria makes up only two per cent of the worlds population, it accounts for 14 per cent of the maternal death burden globally. He said Africas most populous nation loses 2,500 children under five every day due to largely preventable causes, including the lack of services that skilled birth attendants could provide. It is of interest that 80 per cent of these deaths occur in PHCs and at community levels, he said. The Vice President said this justifies the need for urgent actions to be taken to implement CRISP to address this situation. He reiterated that President Muhammadu Buharis administration is passionate about interventions that would help improve Nigerians health and well-being. This initiative will not only make skilled health workers from our teaching hospitals and FMCs available to offer services in our PHCs but will also be leveraged to ensure capacity transfer to and mentorship of PHC workers as well as promotion of best practices in community health, he said. Mr Osinbajo said the effective implementation of this initiative would help to fast-track the attainment of Universal Health Coverage (UHC) and reduce maternal and child mortalities in the country. Transforming PHC In his remark, the Minister of Health, Osagie Ehanire, said the initiative was one of the programmatic ways of achieving the first of the interrelated four-point agenda on PHC transformation in the country. Mr Ehanire said CRISP is a partnership between the NPHCDA, tertiary teaching hospitals, FMCs, State Primary Health Care Boards, LGAs, and the communities to support PHC development. He said CRISP would leverage the teaching hospitals and FMCs to pull together skilled healthcare workers to PHCs in the communities where they would routinely provide services and mentorship, as well as build the capacity of the health workers. He said the initiative was carefully designed to be helpful in the realisation of the governments vision of UHC. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print Transparency International and its chapters in the Netherlands and the United States have urged the authorities in the two countries to reopen investigations into Eni and Shell for alleged bribe-paying in Nigeria. The two oil multinationals allegedly paid over US$ 1 billion in bribes to members of then-President Goodluck Jonathans administration for the rights to the OPL245 offshore oilfield in a case widely recognised as seriously detrimental to the people of Nigeria. Along these lines, the US and the Netherlands had previously opened investigations into the deal but closed them due to a court case in Italy. Yet in 2021 and 2022, Italian authorities acquitted Eni and Shell, shocking the international community. Unfortunately, this is part of a pattern in Italy, with the OECD Working Group on Bribery and Transparency Internationals own Exporting Corruption 2022 report finding the country limited in its enforcement against foreign bribery. Now, reports that Nigerias attorney general advised the countrys outgoing president to drop the long-running dispute with Eni and Shell make the reopening of proceedings in countries that have jurisdiction over the case crucial for accountability. Simultaneously, the Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC) Transparency Internationals chapter in Nigeria has urged the Nigerian government to refrain from terminating its own disputes. It is estimated that the Nigerian treasury could lose as much as US$5 billion because of the poorly negotiated fiscal terms under the OPL 245 deal. Auwal Musa Rafsanjani, executive director of CISLAC, said: Nigerians need answers. The outgoing government of President Muhammadu Buhari should reject calls to stop litigation over a deal that may have caused the Nigerian public an enormous loss. This is important, especially as the current government has about a week before giving way to another administration. The incoming government must ensure that we get to the root of the matter. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print The outgoing Governor of Kano State, Abdullahi Ganduje, has announced the dissolution of his cabinet in preparation for the official handover ceremony to a new administration on 29th May. The permanent secretary, the office of the secretary to the state government, Bilkisu Maimota, made the announcement on Monday. As the second tenure of Governor Abdullahi Ganduje expires on 29th May 2023, its deemed necessary for all public officers holding political appointments to hand over the affairs of their offices in line with established procedures. In this vein, I am to formally request such public officers holding political appointments include commissioners, special advisers, special assistants, personal assistants, board members (except Kano state civil service servants holding the position of Executive Secretaries and Managing Directors of parastatals and government-owned companies) to hand over the affairs of their offices including all government properties in their possession to permanent secretaries or directors administration and general services latest by Friday 26th May 2023, Mrs Maimota said. Meanwhile, she said the announcement exempted government appointees whose tenures are yet to expire as guided by relevant laws of their establishments. It should be noted that, however, the public officers appointed into organizations that are tenure based and whose tenure has not expired should continue to hold office as stipulated by relevant laws governing their appointments, the statement added. She said Mr Ganduje expressed gratitude and appreciation for the contributions the officials rendered towards the development of the state. The governor wished them well in their endeavour, she added. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print Three people have banished their widowed sister from their community for allegedly being a witch. The incident happened on 30 April in Umunankwo, a community in Ogbaru Local Government Area of Anambra State, south-east Nigeria. Chidinma Ikeanyionwu, a media aide to the Commissioner for Women and Social Welfare in the state, Ify Obinabo, disclosed this in a statement on Monday. The widow, Nneka Uzor is a 53-year-old mother of two. She is also a caterer. Ms Ikeanyionwu gave the names of the suspects as Lazarus Uzor, Anozie Uzor and Valentine Okwuosa. She said the suspects arrest was facilitated by the commissioner, Mrs Obinabo, after a video clip showing the widow being abused and banished from the community went viral on social media. Viral video In the clip, seen by PREMIUM TIMES earlier this month, the widow was spotted being led out of the community by members of the community and two masquerades. As she walked, the community members hurled abuses on her, while the two masquerades flogged her. On this day, Nneka (Uzor) committed an atrocity. She poisoned the food of the community, and she refused to go for appeasement. On that purpose, masquerades have arisen to say a final goodbye to Nneka to the boundary of no return, a voice was in the background of the video was heard saying. Nneka, you shall not come back again (to the community). You have been ostracised. Today, marks her last day (in the community). The masquerade has ostracised her, the voice added. Apparently exhausted and weak, the widow collapsed in the middle of a road and the people abandoned her there. Arraignment Ms Ikeanyionwu said the suspects were later arrested and arraigned before the Children, Sexual and Gender-Based Violence Court, in Awka. The statement was silent on the details of the charges against the suspects. When the charges were read and interpreted to the defendants, they pleaded not guilty of the charges, she said. Ruling on bail application by the suspects, the Magistrate, Genevieve Osakwe, held that the matter was a bailable offence. Ms Osakwe, consequently, granted them bail in the sum of N700, 000, but demanded that the suspects should provide the traditional ruler of the Umunankwo Community, the parish priest of the communitys Catholic Church or the president-general of the community as sureties. In her reaction, the commissioner, Mrs Obinabo, expressed satisfaction with the decision of the court, Ms Ikeanyionwu said. The commissioner assured that she would get justice for the widow and other widows in the state who are going through such ill-treatment. She warned residents of the state to desist from any form of harmful traditional practices against widows, pointing out that Anambra State Government has zero tolerance for such inhumane acts. Banished widow speaks Mrs Uzor told the commissioner that she began living in her parents house in the community nine years ago after she lost her husband. READ ALSO: Anambra women protest against harmful widowhood practices The widow regretted that her brothers and other family members had been abusing her since she began living with them in their parents house. On the issue of being banished from the community, she narrated that someone had died in the community and that on the day of the persons burial, she was invited like others, which made her pass a night there. She said she was surprised that her brothers and other family members woke her up the next morning at about 5:30 a.m. with the masquerades and subsequently chased her out of the community. Nkiru Uzor, a sister to the widow, alleged that it was one of the suspects, Lazarus, the immediate past president-general of the community, that instigated the banishment while Nnamdi, another suspect, coordinated the act and also filmed the incident. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print Agodi is to Ibadan what Kirikiri is to Lagos. It is the suburb of the city where the maximum security prison is located. Therefore, when the federal government announced the appointment of a nuclear physicist, Prof Cyril Agodi Onwumechili, as the Vice-chancellor of the University of Ife in succession to the renowned economist, Prof Ojetunji Aboyade, many students of the institution made a dance and song out of that middle name, Agodi! Whereas Aboyade was lanky, magisterial and a natural goldfish, the new man, Onwumechili, was relatively small statured, self-effacing and consensual in administrative style. He was the very definition of the saying that the most priceless gifts come in small packages. Quite a number of knowledgeable people in the academic community wondered if the Enugu-State-born scientist could survive the various banana peels of university administration, especially as Ife was the unofficial headquarters of radical student activism and fire-spitting leftist intellectuals. It turned out that there was absolutely no need to fret on behalf of Onwumechili. He came to the job prepared. His style was humbling. In my many interactions with him as a student leader, he never once called me by name but by my title. In the same vein, he would address a faculty dean as Dean. That did not detract one iota from the fact that the man speaking was the number one citizen on campus. He was only 47 when he was appointed VC, but his CV was so long youd think he was in his sixties. He carried himself like an old sage, never brash, never talking down on subordinates. Those were the days! But he was tempted once to interfere in the student union election of 1979. He told us the story of how some people had warned him never to allow certain activists assume leadership of the student union; otherwise, the campus would be on fire. The scientist in the new VC told him that a computerised election process such as Ife had in those days could not be tampered with without consequences. He chose to allow the computer to do its work even if it meant returning vibrant leaders as the new executive. If there was anything one quickly learnt from the professor, it was his ability to put everything on the table and ask every stakeholder present to chip in ideas.That way, he was able to find a workable way to accommodate the directives of the federal military government and at the same time maintain cordiality with the students. For example, when the federal government sent an official circular banning former leaders of the proscribed National Union of Nigerian Students (NUNS) from being admitted into any Nigerian university, the VC, on our advice, replied immediately that unfortunately, the circular came too late; he had already admitted Segun Okeowo and the former student leader had already resumed classes. The VC however pledged to ensure that, going forward, no other rusticated student leader would be admitted. There were many testy moments that could have led to a sharp disagreement between students and the authorities, but Onwumechilis style was a moderating factor. One of such testy moments was when students waylaid the university bursar who had been holding on to their state bursaries for quite a while. The students union had written the bursar five times pleading with him to expedite action on the disbursements, to no avail. The mob of student kidnappers then plucked the bursar from his air-conditioned car and placed him in a wheelbarrow. They blared sirens as they wheeled the hapless man round the campus for several hours until the alumni president, Prof Segun Adesina, arrived and pleaded with the students congress to release the man so that he could begin the process of quick disbursement of the bursaries. Lesser conflicts had led to riots and subsequent student rustication in other universities. When VC Onwumechili summoned us all to a tense meeting, he only spoke briefly to express his displeasure that the students had not lived up to their pledge to always interact with the authorities to avoid any misunderstanding. He yielded the floor to his Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Prof David Ijalaiye. The Professor of Law couched the allegations in such apocalyptic legal terms that an onlooker would think we were all destined for the gallows. But when the students union produced evidence of five unreplied letters on the subject, the ice thawed. Onwumechilis ability to empathise with others was remarkable. Yes! When I was invited, together with Fela Anikulapo-Kuti and Dr. Tai Solarin, to appear at the Irikefe Tribunal probing the reported disappearance of $2.8 billion oil money, my VC discreetly sent me a message to make sure I sought legal advice from experts like Profs Ijalaiye and Sagay. I did. I also made sure to attend the tribunal with hundreds of student activists. Onwumechili cared so much about student welfare. After we invited him to personally visit the halls of residence to see how much the facilities had deteriorated, he vowed that he would do whatever was necessary to bring succour to the students. The following day, he summoned the principal officers with the Works department in attendance. He laid out the survey map of the Opa dam on the table and asked some technical questions from the engineers. Eventually, he announced that the university could not afford the millions estimated for the project. Lets brainstorm, he said; instead of just throwing money at our problems. After the long technical session, the VC suggested an immediate remedy: he ordered that the second generator in the VCs lodge be de-coupled and the engine component used to power the lift pump at the dam. Within 48 hours, water flowed in the halls of residence! Although he was quite genial and understanding, Onwumechili was a stickler for discipline. In a particular instance, the son of one prominent university administrator in another university was accused of sexual misconduct in Ife. As usual in such cases, influence peddlers came to plead on behalf of the student. The VC swiftly ordered the Disciplinary Committee to sit on the matter. He wanted a quick resolution. (The student was the macho type!) When the Committee ordered him to put on his academic gown before judgement was passed, he burst into tears. In Ife parlance, he was shown the way to Road One. And that was the end of Solomon Grundy. Prof Onwumechili knew how to keep his side of a bargain. After I left office, I was preparing for my final exams when a big crisis broke out on campus. A protest against ritual killing which claimed the life of one student led to the death of additional six. The campus was in turmoil. The situation had spiralled beyond the capacity of the students union leadership. The leadership of ASUU brokered a deal in which I would help restore normalcy, coordinate the Peoples Tribunal set up by stakeholders (With Labanji Bolaji and Gani Fawehinmi as co-chairs), and appeal to the students to take their final sessional exams. We delivered, thanks to the support of critical segments such as ASUU, notable academics and student activists. There was the little matter of the National Youth Service Corps which was pending. To ensure that I did not miss out on the scheme, the VC secured the permission of the federal authorities to allow those of us involved in the rescue mission to proceed on the NYSC orientation course even though we were yet to take our final papers. I personally saw a copy of the instruction of the federal government to NYSC Director, Col. Obasa, on this. After orientation, we returned to campus to take our final exams and returned to our places of primary assignment to continue national service. That was how we were able to graduate with our peers at the due time. Cyril Agodi Onwumechili was born in 1932 at Oji River, Enugu State. A product of Kings College, Lagos, and the University of London, he earned a masters degree in physics from the University of Ibadan in 1954 before later receiving a Doctorate degree from the University of London. He was the first Nigerian Geophysicist and the second President of the Nigerian Academy of Science. He attained the rank of a professor in 1962. Among many other academic appointments, from 1973 to 1978, he served as the elected Dean of the Faculty of Physical Sciences, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, before being appointed as Vice Chancellor, University of Ife, where our paths crossed. He died last week, aged 91. Although Im chewing the cud of remembrance with pleasure and fondness, this is not a goodbye, Prof. This is just to say a big thank you. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print The Gospel is a burden removing, yoke destroying power of God. It is not for sale. Church is not a business. Jesus did not die to make men millionaires but primarily to save us from our sins, and to produce sons and daughters who will be kingdom role models, heavens diplomats on earth, and genuine disciples of Christ in word and in deed. I will never be part of any scheme or ministry related programme or project thats intentionally designed to financially enrich me at the expense of Gods people, much less poor people. Never. In recent times, we held ministers conferences in a couple of places in Nigeria. Ahead of the programmes, I instructed my people who organised the programmes that every single offering or sales of my books must be given back to select pastors with serious needs in those meetings. We had planned all of these ahead of the programmes. Aside from feeding the ministers twice a day, I instructed the organisers to give back all the proceeds from the sales of my books to the people we had identified, without a single penny coming back to us. I am not saying this to brag, but wait until you find out whats behind this story. Furthermore, our ministry, by Gods grace, has done all manner of things over the years to help so many people we dont even know, and that only God can reward. His name alone should be praised. I consider it an honour to be given this opportunity to shine the light of Christ. Now, this is not to say that because people are poor, they must not give to God. Thats not correct. In fact, God may even inspire or lead you to give to him right in your state of poverty, to trigger a miracle into your life. But this must be a God inspired instruction. If its not from God, you may suffer after giving your last meal. In fact, I have personally experienced this in the past. But here is my point: we must not be intentional about profiting personally from people. We must not design programmes for the sole purpose of personally profiting from the people. In the story Ive just shared about our ministry, I knew how much of economic stress was on the people. If the programmes were held in America, we might not have done that, except under a specific leading. But this was a very bad season in Nigeria when people were just recovering from the pains and loses of the COVID-19 pandemic. I was moved with compassion for the people, and I made up my mind that every single fund must go back to pastors who were really going through hard times. Now, here is the background to this story. My heart was grieved when I saw a beloved minister of God, whose name I would never mention, charging fees for people to attend a programme. I dont mention peoples name in circumstances where Im trying to address negative issues. It is impressed on my heart to encourage younger ministers to be wary of profiting from Gods people. If you are blessed with honorariums, praise the Lord for it, and trust God to guide your hearts into how you could build up resources for your work. Now, here is the background to this story. My heart was grieved when I saw a beloved minister of God, whose name I would never mention, charging fees for people to attend a programme. I dont mention peoples name in circumstances where Im trying to address negative issues. My heart was grieved. Have we lost every atom of fear for God? This minister is rich and already very prominent, globally. What do you want that God has not done for you? Lets stop this nonsense. The gospel is not for sale. If you want to make money, start a business. Bring out your products and services, and brand them very well. You will make money. The time of keeping silent has passed. I am a transgenerational thinker. I look beyond my generation to the second, third and fourth generations. We have to think about the faith and fate of our children, many of whom are struggling to stand for Christ when they see the shenanigans going on in our churches. We must be defenders of the gospel. Thats our call. You dont have to be a pulpit minister to stand for truth. The level of apostasy and falling away among the brethren is heart rending, and at an all-time high. It is time to set the trumpet on our lips, mount the pinnacle of our temples, and scream out loud at the top of our voices, The Gospel is not for sale. It cost Jesus His precious blood. It has cost thousands of saints in Christian history their blood. Please note that every new generation is always an improvement on the previous one. Our children will amplify our values. If we dont clean up the current mess, the future is very bleak. Like the sons of Eli and Samuel, they will not just charge poor people money to attend services, they will sell church properties in exchange for business interests. To avert that, the change must begin now. They must see the purest form of worship from us. They must see us separate business from the worship of the true God. The time for speaking in a hushed tone has gone. This is not the time for hiding under the curtain to address issues. We are in a very bad time now. The level of apostasy and falling away among the brethren is heart rending, and at an all-time high. It is time to set the trumpet on our lips, mount the pinnacle of our temples, and scream out loud at the top of our voices, The Gospel is not for sale. It cost Jesus His precious blood. It has cost thousands of saints in Christian history their blood. If the same gospel must advance in our generation, if the same gospel will expand the frontiers of personal and national transformation, it must also cost us something the denial of the flesh so that the spirit can be saved on the day of the Lord! The Gospel is a burden removing, yoke destroying power of God. It is not for sale. Church is not a business. Jesus did not die to make men millionaires but primarily to save us from our sins, and to produce sons and daughters who will be kingdom role models, heavens diplomats on earth, and genuine disciples of Christ in word and in deed. Ayo Akerele, a leadership and system development strategist, and minister of the word, writes from Canada and can be reached through ayoakerele2012@gmail.com. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print When I was growing up in the village in the 60s and 70s, my dear mother always told me, you will bury me. I could not then process the meaning. Why would my mother who was still alive, hale and hearty, tell me I will bury her? I can now understand. Indeed, I did bury her in a most befitting manner when she transited in 1997. May our children not kill us. May they bury us instead. Amen. Itsee. This is thus the usual prayer of parents. This has not quite worked out for the Ekweremadus. The genesis and revelation of their ordeal leading to their conviction and jail in faraway cold London arose wholly from their childs kidney malfunction and their perseverance as parents to save her life. Sonia, the recurring decimal in their travails, puts it most eloquently when she moaned, I feel guilty, I feel like all this has happened because of me. She is right. Her health condition called Nephrotic Syndrome, a condition where the kidney does not function properly, ignited the entire brouhaha. Sonias survival depends on continuous dialysis for the rest of her life; or a kidney transplant. Senator Ekweremadus desire to save his daughters life has now put him away in cold London for nearly 10 years. He was first arrested with Beatrice, his wife, on 23 June, 2022, by the London Metropolitan Police. They were charged with conspiracy to facilitate the travel of another person with the intention of exploitation specifically for organ harvesting. At the Uxbridge Magistrate Court where they were arraigned the next day, they pleaded not guilty. They were ordered to be remanded in custody by Magistrate Lois Sheard, pending hearing, because of the severity of the charge. God, may our children bury, not kill us. The Holy Books To Our Rescue The Bible in Ecclesiastes 6:3 (King James Bible version), tells us: If a man beget an hundred children, and live many years, so that the days of his years be many, and his soul be not filled with good, and also that he have no burial; I say, that an untimely birth is better than he. The Holy Quran, Surah Al-Anam (the cattle) in 6:151 states, Say (O Prophet to the infidels), Come, and I shall recite what your Lord has prohibited for you: Do not associate anything with Him (as His partner); and be good to parents, and do not kill your children because of poverty We will give provision to you, and to them as well and do not go near shameful acts, whether they are open or secret; and do not kill a person whom Allah has given sanctity, except rightfully. This He has enjoined upon you, so that you may understand. The Ekweremadus nasty experience makes me really sad and sober. I can only at juncture find no consolation than the poem of Adly Guigris, in loving memory of Jackson Antonio Clark, titled: No Parent should have to bury their child. May our children bury, not kill us. Origin of the Prayer May our children bury but not kill us is a cheeky twist on the traditional notion of the abhorrence of parents burying their own children. It is a reminder that we should strive to create a future where our children outlive and bury us, rather than they inheriting a world where we dig their own graves. It is also the twist of a degenerate phrase by which we are made to pay for the sins of our children. This ancient belief encapsulates the essence of inter-generational responsibility and the urgency to take action. It is a gentle nudge, reminding us that our decisions today do ultimately shape the world our children will inherit tomorrow. Let our children bury, but not kill us therefore serves as a witty call to duty, inviting us to consider the consequences of our todays actions and the legacy we intend to leave behind. It challenges us to think beyond our immediate needs and desires. It urges us to prioritize the well-being of future generations. The proverb also serves as a whimsical reminder that our children deserve a better world where they can flourish, rather than being burdened with the consequences of our own mistakes. In its clever twist, it encourages us to embrace responsible decision-making and sustainable practices as we navigate the complex challenges of our time. This is to ensure we leave behind for our children, a world brimming with opportunities and hope. This proverb wholly encapsulates the challenges of parenthood and the profound sacrifices we make to ensure the continuation of our lineage, even as we journey inexorably to the mythical realm of our ancestors. So, may our children bury, not kill us. My Heart Bleeds for the Ekweremadus This captivating and surreal story of the Ekweremadus has garnered national and global interest of monumental proportions, not solely due to his celebrity status or political notoriety, but primarily because it provokes the question what would you have done in his peculiar situation? Readers, answer this question very honestly. Leave out fixations, stereotypes, anger, disappointment, vengeance, revenge, sentiments, emotions, clannishness, nepotism, sectionalism, etc. what would you have done finding yourself in Senator Ekweremadus shoes? Tell me. May our children bury, not kill us. The Convictions and Jail Terms The tale of Senator Ike Ekweremadus conviction and nine years and six months jail sentence in a judgement passed on him by Judge Jeremy Johnson at Londons Old Bailey Criminal Court on Friday 5th May is for me personally heartrending and most traumatic. To compound the travails of the 60-year-old brilliant prince of Mpu, Aninri LGA, Enugu State, a four-time senator, a brilliant lawyer and tested politician, his 50 years old beautiful wife, Beatrice, was also convicted and jailed for four years and six months. One Dr Obinna Obeta, 50, the medical doctor (himself a kidney transplant survivor) who was found to have acted as the middleman in the kidney organ harvesting odyssey (which started in May), was jailed for 10 years. Only Ekweremadus daughter, 25 years old Sonia, whose ailment ignited the Ekweremadus agony was set free. I personally feel both sympathy and empathy for this great Nigerian, who before his substantial fall from grace (to use the words of Judge Jeremy Johnson), loomed larger than life in the political and legislative firmaments of Nigeria. Yes, sympathy and empathy are not contradictory or mutually exclusive. I have sympathy because I feel pity and sorrow for him over his misfortune. Empathy for him because I can understand and feel Ekweremadus agony, trauma, tears, pains and pangs, from my own little corner, rather than his. Dr Brene Browns TED talk narrated through RSA Animate, explains the difference. Sympathy is when you see someone in a deep hole, but you remain on higher ground and speak to him from above. You may even decide to put a silver lining in his pitiable situation, instead of merely acknowledging his pains. Conversely, empathy is when you feel for the person and climb down the hole to sit beside him and make yourself vulnerable so as to sincerely connect with the person in pains. In this case, you recognise the persons struggles and pains, but cannot minimise them. My deep inner feelings for Ekweremadu combine both sympathy and empathy. For those who do not like this my thesis, may our children not kill, but bury us. The Rich Also Cries I have heard and read some people who gloat and jubilate over Ekweremadus travails. They anchor this mostly on deep-seated anger and sentiments on the usual class war between the rich and the poor; the Aristocrats and the peasants. The poor are happy. Yes, happy that the rich for once also cries courtesy, Amaechi Nzekwes novel, The Rich Also Cry: Stories for Young Readers. Even the Holy Bible agrees with this, when it admonishes us in Luke 12:13-11,thus: Then, give thanks and dont be an ingrate such as the rich fool who thought it was all about his wealth, forgetting that the rich could also cry. The proverb demonstrates that even the rich people have their own painful times when life proves very tough, difficult, even empty and vacuous. A time they want to let go and end it all. Have you, rich readers, ever experienced such a low moment? A state of nadir! Dont divulge please. But such people basking in a sense of triumphalism easily forget the immortal post-war confessional prose by the anti-Nazi regime German theologian and Lutheran pastor, Martin Niemoller, when he said, First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out because I was not a socialist. Then they came for the Catholics, and I did not speak out because I was not a Catholic. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out because I was not a trade unionist. Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out because I was not a Jew. Then they came for me and there was no one left to speak for me. I do not therefore join the orchestra of those gotcha chorus fellows. When you point only one finger at others, the remaining four are pointing at you. When you throw a stone into the market, you do not know whom it may hit. It could be your parents, siblings, children or loved ones. So, may our children bury, not kill us. The Sentiments, The Emotions Is Organ Harvesting a form of Slavery? In a matter as sensitive as this and which is of international interest, facts and fiction are bound to clash and rival for space. It evokes emotive feelings of the over 2,000 years old slave trade where over 12.5million Africans were enslaved. It took many years of fierce intervention and intercession by the Abolitionists such as William Wilberforce, Thomas Clarkson, William Cowper, Olaudah Equiano (an Igbo man), Alexander Falconbridge, Elizabeth Heyrick, Toussant Louverture, John Newton, Mary Prince and Abraham Lincoln to abolish this mans inhumanity to man. So, mentioning slavery in modern times evokes emotive feelings of rejection. May our children bury, not kill us. May our children bury, not kill us. The Modern Slavery Act, 2015 After the British Slave Abolition Act of 1833, the Modern Slavery Act of 2015 was enacted. This Act encompasses human trafficking and all forms of exploitation. These include the act of recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring and receipt of persons. The Means of Modern Slavery The means of modern slavery include coercion, ritual oaths, financial control, debt bondage, abduction, blackmail, abuse of power, over vulnerability, deception, Stockholms syndrome, grooming, restriction of movement, threats to friends or family, social stigma. The Purpose of Modern Slavery The purpose of modern day slavery includes sexual, labour and criminal exploitation, organ harvesting, bonded labour, domestic servitude, forced fraud, forced marriage, etc. When I read section 2(1), 2(2), 2(3) and 2(7) of the Modern Slavery Act, 2015, I shook my head. I immediately knew Senator Ekweremadu was in deep trouble. The sections provide as follows: (1) A person commits an offence if the person arranges or facilitates the travel of another person (V) with a view to V being exploited. (2) It is irrelevant whether V consents to the travel (whether V is an adult or a child). (3) A person may in particular arrange or facilitate Vs travel by recruiting V, transporting or transferring V, harbouring or receiving V, or transferring or exchanging control over V. (7) A person who is not a UK national commits an offence under this section if(a) any part of the arranging or facilitating takes place in the United Kingdom, or (b) the travel consists of arrival in or entry into, departure from, or travel within, the United Kingdom. Facts and Fiction Let us see if we can carefully separate the facts from the fiction; the truth from the falsehood. One Narrative Against David, the Kidney Donor David Ukpo Nwamini, the organ victim, was said to have claimed to be 15 and underaged. But the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) disputed this and revealed his true age as 21. The Comptroller General of NIS, Mr Isah Idris, released a statement on June 27, 2022, clarifying that there was no age falsification on the passport issued by the Immigration agency, contrary to Davids claims. He emphasized that the NIS followed proper procedures in issuing the passport. Some people therefore believed that David, the alleged victim actually exploited the couple to seek asylum in the UK. Such people wonder what he was given in return for simply being picked from the streets of Lagos to go to London. Just like that! Why did he receive the sum of N270, 000 he confessed receiving at all? Were the Ekweremadus simply walking on the street and doling out money to whoever cared to receive? Just why? Ekweremadus daughter had been diagnosed with a kidney disease and required a transplant. Embracing the South African Proverb: Motho ke motho ka bathoA persons essence is connected to others, Ike Ekweremadus resolved to aid his ailing child. This was how David came into the picture. May our children bury, not kill us. What Worked Against Ekweremadu David, the potential donor had been identified and sent to the UK for assessment with the intention of providing the much needed kidney. He was paid. However, it was discovered that David Nwaminis (the donor) kidney did not match that of Ekweremadus daughter, Sonia. His ineloquent English also raised suspicion among the doctors as to whether he actually understood what he was about to do. Consequently, David the donor was scheduled to return to Nigeria. However, this source claims, David having seen the beauty of London (away from his dreary life on Lagos streets), reneged and refused to return to Nigeria. Instead, he bolted and sought asylum with the UK Police, after wandering the street for three days. He claimed hunger and attempt by the Ekweremadus to harvest his kidney. His story was moving. Even believable. May our children bury, not kill us. David, the Victim, States His Own Case However, David Nwamini, the individual at the centre of this case, denied this. He sais he had always longed for life in the United Kingdom, away from his wheelbarrow business of selling recharge cards, purewater and mobile phone accessories on the streets of Lagos. He claimed that he was enticed to move to the UK with the lure of job opportunities. Nwamini stated this in his impact statement, which was presented in court. Nwamini shared details about his heart-rending humble upbringing in a Lagos village, where he was the eldest among seven siblings living in a dingy household without access to electricity or running water. Of course, this is the typical life of most Nigerians in the ghettos, I can hear many murmur. David added that due to his fathers sudden illness with a heart problem, he was compelled to become a full-time street trader in the city of Lagos to support his family. He therefore resorted to the wheelbarrow business; earning a maximum of 7 per day, and sometimes as little as 50 pennies. David recounted how an opportunity to work in the UK (a long-held but seemingly unattainable dream), was thus presented to him. However, he was taken aback when he discovered the real purpose of the trip: his organs were to be harvested and given to Ekweremadus daughter, Sonia. Hear him: He [Dr Obinna Obeta, the Medical Doctor middleman], did not tell me he brought me here for this reason, he did not tell me anything about this. I would have not agreed to any of this, my body is not for sale. David pleaded that he would not want to return to Nigeria because he is worried for his safety. The victim claimed someone visited his father in Nigeria and asked him to get the victim, his son, to drop the case. I worry for my safety in Nigeria; those people can do anything. I think they could arrest me or kill me in Nigeria, he added. He told the Police he did not want to claim compensation from the bad people as it would be cursed and bad luck. Judge Jeremy Johnson was obviously swayed by Davids own touching side of the story. He saw David as the victim who did not deliberately come out to entrap the Ekweremadus. In a very measured (I dont want to say the usual firm coldness of the British) tone, he convicted Ike Ekweremadu, whom he regarded as the driving force throughout. In this first UK case of its kind, the Judge convicted Ike Ekweremadu for his role in a despicable trade that took advantage of the poverty, misery and desperation of vulnerable people. People-trafficking across international borders for harvesting of human organs is a form of slavery, the Judge at Old Bailey Criminal Court said as he handed down the jail term. It treats human beings and their body parts as commodities to be bought and sold, he added, noting that the sentence represented a substantial fall from grace for Ekweremadu. May our children bury, not kill us. The Law is Clear Lynette Woodtow, Deputy Chief Crown Prosecutor and National Modern Slavery lead at the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), enthused it had been our first conviction for trafficking for the purposes of organ removal in England and Wales. She said it highlighted an important legal principle which made it irrelevant whether the trafficking victim knew he was coming to the UK to provide a kidney. With all trafficking offences, Ms Woodrow said, the consent of the person trafficked is no defence. The law is clear; you cannot consent to your own exploitation. It is thus a strict liability offence. How the Twists Favoured David The story in Davids favour suggests that the doctors who had examined David did not know whether a crime had been committed. But, they were obviously not comfortable with the yawning discrepancies in Davids dozier. Was David sure he wanted to donate his kidney? Everything appeared smooth. The bubble however burst when Ekweremadu and Dr. Obinna attempted to dispatch David back to Nigeria. David who had neither been given a job, nor sent to school as he said he was promised, was not prepared to return to Nigeria. So, he bolted from his kernel and ran to a Police Station to save himself from starvation. He lied he was only 15 to curry sympathy. He was asked if he was paid money, and he said he was paid only N270, 000. But, the Police upon scrutiny of the Whatsapp chats between Ekweremadu and Dr. Obeta discovered that Ekweremadu had actually given N4.5 Million to Obeta to be delivered to David. But, a greedy Obeta only gave David a miserly N270, 000 and pocketed the balance. The shame of a merchantilistic medical doctor who may never practise medicine again! Because Ekweremadu kept away from dealing directly with David, it was easy for Obeta (the middle man) to fleece him. This was why he was unaware and kept in the dark of Obetas so glaring a scam. But, Judge Jeremy saw through this facade and simulation. He pierced it. He believed Ekweremadus indirect involvement with David highlighted the well-worn style of Aristocrats, who play fast and smart by keeping far away from crime scenes, so as to avoid direct involvement in the crime. They usually maintain some cold distance between themselves and the crime, so as to plead alibi. May our children bury, not kill us. What Multiplied Ekweremadus Woes One major factor that was highly detrimental to Ekweremadus greatest undoing was Obetas lying on Oath. Three official documents he signed stated that David was Sonias cousin (thus, Ekweremadus nephew). However, all the WhatsApp chats between Dr Obeta and his own brother clearly showed Ekweremadu constantly referring to David as that guy. Indeed Obeta was to admit in open court that he had lied. He apologized profusely. The sentiments obviously played out against a big man (Ekweremadu) who was ready to pluck out a peasants kidney to save his own daughter, by paying 7000 to the donor; and further ready to pay for the surgery with a whopping 80, 000 at the Royal Free Hospital, London. This is one of the most expensive in the UK. May our children bury, not kill us. No doubt, Ekweremadus ignoble fate reminds me of Lord Denning, who was once stated in the case of Gouriet v. Union of Post Office Workers & Ors (1977) 3 All ER 70; (1978) AC 435: Be you ever so high, yet the law is above you. Ekweremadu was lucky even escaping life imprisonment, as the Judge reckoned with the 51 page pleas for allocutus by World leaders, civil societies, parliamentarians, International Human Rights Commission (IHRC), ECOWAS, ethnic Nationalities, Nigerias own highly lettered former Head of State and President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, GCFR, Ph.D. That was why he got a term less than the life imprisonment provided for by section 5(1) of the Modern Slavery Act, 2015. The offence is more of strict liability. Although it is legal to donate kidney, but such donations must not be paid for. However, evidence showed that Ekweremadu had doled out a whopping 7,000 through Dr Obeta, with a new life in Britain promised David. This was the crux of the matter. Judge Jeremy noted all the pleas. But, he was obviously not impressed. He appeared to have seen the pleas as aggravating, rather than extenuating. They demonstrated oppression of the poor by the rich. Prosecution Counsel Hugh Davies KC, had argued that the behavior of Ekweremadu showed entitlement, dishonesty and hypocrisy. Ekweremedu on the other hand said he was a victim of a scam. Doctor Obeta said the boy was not offered any reward; rather, he acted altruistically. Lies! Ekweremadus wife was not privy to the conspiracy hence the lesser service. Many have wondered aloud (and I tend to agree), how come the English was so quick to enforce the Modern Slave Act, when they never punished those English men who enslaved Africans and Nigerians for centuries. May our children bury, but not kill us. Was Judge Jeremy Johnson Too Harsh? In arriving at his decision, Judge Johnson gave reasons and made copious references to sentencing guidelines, mitigating and aggravating factors, including the very real impact on the victims life and his well considered rejection of any compensation in respect of which an order could have been made. David had said he did not want money from the bad people. Judge Johnson repeatedly referred to Davids age and ethnicity as factors that put him at greater risk if the donation had gone ahead successfully. Although Ekweremadus sentence was 9 years, 6 months, he is to serve 2/3 before he can be released on licence. His wife was given 4 years 6 months out of which she must serve half before she can be released on licence. The doctor got full 10 years the mitigating and aggravating factors were considered to be at par. May our children bury, not kill us. The Society and Impact of Organ Trafficking On the Victims An alarming scarcity of human organs available for transplantation has reached a critical level in our new world. This is marked by a stark contrast between the ever-increasing demand for organ transplants and the severely limited supply. This has led to a very disturbing trend of the escalation of abuses within the organ transplant system. Notably, as noted by WHO-ONT (Global Observation on Donation And Transplantation), one of the most egregious consequences of this scarcity is the illicit practice of trafficking in persons for the unlawful acquisition of organs. There is an acute global shortage of human organs for transplantation. To accurately determine the extent of trafficking for organ removal has remained a difficult task. The Global Reports on Trafficking in Persons by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) indicates that between 2010 and 2018, approximately 300 cases of individuals being trafficked for organ removal were identified across various countries. Unlike other types of human trafficking, this particular phenomenon is relatively uncommon. This is attributed primarily to the exceptional level of medical expertise which necessary to carry out organ removal procedures. It is crucial to acknowledge that the official statistics on the prevalence of this phenomenon do not fully capture its true scale. The complexities involved in detecting and prosecuting this crime contribute to the under representation of its magnitude. One notable challenge is the occurrence of organ trafficking within legitimate medical facilities, making it difficult to identify and expose. The failure to detect and report such cases, along with the geographical dispersion of trafficking in persons for organ removal, are increasingly worrisome for the global community. Public discourse often confuses organ trafficking with trafficking in persons for organ removal. This leads to their interchangeable use in the media and even within the medical field. But, they are distinct crimes governed by separate, yet complementary legal frameworks. Despite the legal distinctions, as noted by Human Rights Council, (Report of the Special Rapporteur on sale and sexual Exploitation of children, including Child prostitution, pornography and other child sexual Abuse Material), complications may arise in correctly adjudicating cases where an organ is illicitly obtained from a living organ donor, as both legal frameworks can potentially apply. Such challenges in proper legal handling could have grave consequences for the victims involved. Furthermore, it is worth noting that discussions surrounding trafficking in persons for organ removal extend beyond organs alone. Related topics such as surrogacy and trafficking in tissues and cells, have also been part of this larger discourse. May our children bury, not kill us. The Legal Frameworks to Address Trafficking for Organ Removal The UN Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, especially Women and Children (Trafficking in Persons Protocol) criminalizes the act of trafficking individuals for the purpose of organ removal. Article 3 of the protocol explicitly identifies organ removal as a form of exploitation that should be prohibited by national laws. The offence, as defined by the Trafficking in Persons Protocol, involves: Recruiting, transporting, transferring, harboring, or receiving individuals; Using threats, force, coercion, abduction, fraud, deception, abuse of power or vulnerability, or providing/receiving payments or benefits to obtain consent from a person in control of another person. At the regional level, Article 4(a) of the Council of Europe (CoE) Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings, the European Union (EU) Directive 36/2011 of the European Parliament, and of the Council on Preventing and Combating Trafficking in Human Beings and Protecting its Victims, and the ASEAN Convention Against Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children acknowledge the significance of organ removal as a form of exploitation related to trafficking. What Ekweremadu Was Prosecuted For In the case of Ekweremadu, he was prosecuted for organ trafficking under the domestic legislation of the United Kingdoms Modern Slavery Act of 2015. This legislation, which is relatively recent, is believed to have been applied for the first time to the Ekweremadus, in a case of this nature. The UKs Modern Slavery Act 2015, frowns at human trafficking under which organ harvesting falls and is punishable with maximum sentence of life imprisonment upon conviction. May our children bury, not kill us. Charting the Way Forward: Some Recommendations The following recommendations should be taken as general guidance; and not necessary specific to the Ekweremadus case. Preventing organ trafficking is a complex and sensitive issue that requires a multi-faceted approach. It involves various stakeholders, including governments, international organizations, healthcare professionals, law enforcement agencies, faith-based organizations and civil society organizations. Because I do not wail and moan over spilled milk, or dwell in damage assessment alone, I always write and proffer solutions. So, here are some recommendations on the way forward, to prevent organ trafficking, and save others from the fate of the Ekweremadus. Strengthen Legislative Frameworks: Governments should enact and enforce comprehensive legislation that specifically addresses organ trafficking. These laws should criminalize all aspects of organ trafficking, including recruitment, transportation, transplantation, and the involvement of medical and health professionals. Penalties should be severe enough to act as a deterrence. International Cooperation: Encourage international cooperation and collaboration among countries to combat organ trafficking. This includes sharing information, intelligence, and best practices, as well as coordinating efforts to investigate and prosecute offenders across borders. Raising Public Awareness: Conducting public awareness campaigns to educate people about the dangers and ethical implications of organ trafficking. Focus on informing potential organ donors and recipients about legal and ethical alternatives, emphasising the importance of voluntary, altruistic donation. Ethical Organ Transplantation Practices: Promote ethical practices in organ transplantation; ensuring transparency, accountability, and adherence to established guidelines and protocols. Encourage healthcare professionals and transplant centre to adopt stringent standards and regularly evaluate their practices. Donor Protection: Establish mechanisms to protect living organ donors, such as ensuring informed consent, providing comprehensive pre and post operative care, and prohibiting the coercion or exploitation of vulnerable individuals. Strengthen Regulation and Oversight: Strengthen oversight and regulation of organ transplantation by establishing independent regulatory bodies. These bodies should monitor transplant activities, enforce compliance, and investigate any suspected cases of organ trafficking. International Organ Exchange Programmes: Encourage the development of international organ exchange programs to facilitate legal and ethical organ transplantation across borders. These programs should operate within a transparent and regulated framework to prevent abuse and exploitation. Collaboration with Law Enforcement Agencies: Foster collaboration between healthcare professionals and law enforcement agencies to identify and investigate cases of organ trafficking. Enhance training programs for law enforcement personnel to enable them to effectively detect and combat organ trafficking networks. Support for Victim Rehabilitation: Provide support and rehabilitation services for victims of organ trafficking, including medical care, psychological counseling, and social reintegration programs. Collaborate with NGOs and support organisations to ensure comprehensive care for victims. Research and Data Collection: Promote research and data collection on organ trafficking to better understand its scope, trends, and underlying causes. This information can help policymakers develop evidence-based strategies and interventions. May our children bury, not kill us. Conclusion The Ekweremadu organ trafficking saga serves as a harrowing reminder of the cruel and exploitative trade in human organs. The sacrifice of a parent in the Ekweremadu case highlights the immense pressures and vulnerabilities that can be exploited by those involved in illicit organ trade. It emphasizes the need for comprehensive efforts to alleviate poverty, improve healthcare systems, and create opportunities for socio-economic advancement, ultimately reducing the vulnerability of individuals and families to exploitation. Ultimately, the Ekweremadu case should serve as a catalyst for addressing the underlying socio-economic factors that drive individuals to engage in organ trafficking. It calls for strengthened legal frameworks and international cooperation to combat organ trafficking effectively, advocating for the protection of human rights, and supporting initiatives that combat organ trafficking. It is only through concerted international efforts that we can hope to put an end to the horrific practice of organ trafficking and provide justice for the victims involved. May our children bury, not kill us. What Next? Some Nigerians had taken to the media, asking President Buhari to beg for pardon from King Charles III, during his attendance at the coronation of the king. I was surprised. Would you have seriously thought Buhari would ask for clemency for the Ekweremadus? Would ethnic and political considerations not have stopped this, with Ekweremadu being an Igbo?, Or, was it really expected that nepotic Buhari, who had granted clemency to convicts of more grievous offences in Nigeria, would ask for same for Ekweremadu?, I do not know. Or, do you? May our children bury, not kill us. Modern Slavery is a heinous international crime, it is treated with seriousness considering its negative effect and far-reaching impact on human rights and the brutal history of slavery. The Ekweremadus only tried to save their daughters life. But, that may not have necessarily been done in the most desperate manner he did, resulting in public disgrace. While the law has taken its course, there remains a window for the Ekweremadus to appeal, get royal pardon; or make a plea bargain. The entire adventure tells us this: ignorantia juris non excusat (ignorance of the law is not an excuse). We must, as parents, always try to consider the pros and cons of any intended action before embarking on same on behalf of our children. Considering the influence and reach of Ike Ekweremadu, many wondered whether if he publicly asked, he would not have got over 20 Nigerians stepping forward to donate kidney to his daughter. I do not know. Or, do you? Finally, may our children bury, not kill us. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print On Monday, a China Airlines pilot spotted a UFO near Taoyuan International Airport, halting all flights for nearly an hour. According to Focus Taiwan, the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport Co., could not determine whether the object was a drone or something else entirely. This on the heels of a prior UFO sighting over southeastern Turkey on Saturday that led to Gaziantep Oguzeli International Airport suspending flights for 12 hours. From New Straits Times: A commercial aircraft, which landed at the airport around midnight, reported that it had spotted on its radar an unidentified object at a height of 2,743.2 metres (9,000 feet) over the city of Gaziantep, said the authorities. Upon receiving the report from the pilot, air traffic control authorities ordered all scheduled flights to be diverted to airports in Adana and Sanliurfa instead. Turkish news website Haberturk, meanwhile, reported that the unidentified object was also confirmed by air traffic controllers. The vision of Arla Foods, makers of Dano Milk to shape the future of dairy in Nigeria, received a major boost as the company took delivery of 216 Danish Holstein heifers for its Kaduna dairy farm. According to Arla Farm Manager, Dr.Jimmy Johnmark, the 216 Holstein-Friesian heifers arrived at the farm on Tuesday, 9 May 2023. Dr. Johnmark noted that the Holstein-Friesian breed has a much higher expected yield per cow compared to the local breeds. He disclosed that the heifers, sourced directly from Arlas farmer owners, travelled by air from Europe. The heifers arrived at the Mallam Aminu Kano Airport in Kano, Nigeria, in the early hours of Tuesday, 9 May 2023. The heifers were then transported to the farm in special trucks that were adapted for their optimum comfort. The heifers have arrived in Nigeria ahead of the official commissioning of the farm which is scheduled to hold later this month. We are very excited to announce that the Arla Farm is fully set to commence operations for milk production, to boost local dairy production, with the arrival of the livestock from Denmark he said. He explained further that the heifers have now settled into the farm and are getting comfortable in their new home, noting that milk production on the farm is expected to start in the third quarter of 2023. Arla Farm, located in Kaduna State, is a state-of-the-art commercial dairy farm, established by Arla Foods to serve as a model for productive and sustainable dairy farming in Nigeria. The farm development project, which officially began in 2021, is one of Arlas investments in Nigerias dairy sector and one of the steps taken towards backward integration in Nigeria. Senior Manager, Raw Milk Supply and Production, Mr. Snorri Sigurdsson, disclosed that the ultra-modern Arla Farm, which is the first of its kind in Nigeria, covers a land area of 400Ha, and has the capacity to house 400 milking cows and in total 1,000 animals. It will feature modern technology for optimal animal comfort and milk production. He further hinted that the Arla Farm has been developed to be a showcase for sustainable and efficient dairy farming in Nigeria. He noted that with completion of the construction work on the Arla Farm and the arrival and settlement of the heifers, all is now set for the official commissioning of the farm by His Excellency, the Executive Governor of Kaduna State, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai. About Arla Foods Arla Foods is a dairy company with around 8400 farmer owners in seven Northern European countries. Our philosophy of producing natural, healthy, and high-quality dairy products dates back to the 1880s when dairy farmers in Denmark and Sweden joined forces with one common goal: To create and provide the best dairy products. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print The police in Delta State said they have arrested a female suspect who deals in illegal sales of AK-47 ammunition in the state. The suspect identified as Queen Uwagbogu, 34, was arrested on Thursday when police operatives, who acted on intelligence, raided her residence close to Effurun Roundabout in Warri, the police said in a statement on Sunday. The police spokesperson in the state, Bright Edafe, said in the statement that 100 rounds of 7.62 AK-47 live ammunition were recovered from the suspect. The arrest came less than 48 hours after the police in the state arrested another female suspect, Priscillia Amor, 35, with 26 wraps of weed suspected to be Indian hemp, 19 wraps of substance suspected to be Methamphetamine and some mobile phones. Delta State has witnessed a surge in crimes despite efforts by security agents in the state to battle criminal gangs. PREMIUM TIMES recently reported how the police in the state arrested 10 suspected kidnappers who were allegedly terrorising residents of Sapele and surrounding communities in the state. About eight days ago, PREMIUM TIMES also reported how the police arrested two kidnap suspects at the Udu Local Government Area of the state. Mr Edafe, a deputy superintendent of police who named the gang leader as Emmanuel Jams had said the suspect confessed their involvement in series of armed robberies and kidnapping in Ughelli and Warri and led police officers to Ejewu community in Udu Local Government Area where the gangs driver, identified as Ejiro Peter was arrested. The police, on 4 May, killed one kidnap suspect and arrested five others in the state. The suspect was killed along Warri-Sapele Road during a shootout with the police, Mr Edafe had said. He listed items recovered from the arrested suspects to include, one locally made cut-to-size double barrel gun with two cartridges. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print A top Nigerian politician, Ladi Adebutu, who said last week that he had fled Nigeria over threats to his life has been indicted by the Nigeria Police Force for money laundering and vote-buying during the last general elections, PREMIUM TIMES can exclusively report. The police said Mr Adebutu, the governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Ogun State, deployed two billion naira to induce voters across the state to vote for him and his party during the 18 March election. The allegation is contained in the interim report of police investigation into a petition written to the Inspector-General of Police by the Ogun State chairperson of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Abdullahi Sanusi. How trouble began for Mr Adebutu In the petition dated 18 March, the election day, and addressed to the Inspector-General of Police, Usman Baba, Mr Sanusi accused the PDP candidate of distributing ATM cards preloaded with N10, 000 to induce voters on election day. The petition has now been investigated by a team led by Mohammed Babakura, a deputy commissioner of police at the criminal Investigation department of the police in Abeokuta. Mr Adebutu eventually lost the election after polling 262, 383 votes to return second behind Governor Dapo Abiodun of the APC who polled 276, 298 votes. He has however filed a petition before the election petition tribunal to challenge Mr Abioduns return. On 14 May, PREMIUM TIMES published a report in which Mr Adebutu claimed he fled Nigeria over threats to his life. However, the interim report stated that he had told police investigators through his lawyers, following his invitation over the petition, that he was receiving medical treatment abroad. Mr Adebutu did not respond to calls to his known telephone number on Sunday. But his spokesperson, Afolabi Orekoya, denied the allegation and said Mr Adebutu was committed to seeing out the petition he filed before the tribunal. The APC chairman had alleged that Mr Adebutu was using Verve ATM credit cards branded in the name of his late mother, Dame Caroline Oladunni Adebutu Endowment Scheme, to buy votes in all polling booths. He said the PDP also stationed Point of Sales (P.O.S) vendors in every polling booth as an easy means to withdraw the cash from the cards. The contentious Dame Caroline Adebutu ATM cards Following the petition, the police said its officers and officials of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) arrested five suspects with hundreds of the credit cards on the election day. One of the suspects, Adejoke Sanni, a 50-year-old woman of No. 1, Owoseni Street, Alausa Olanbe junction, Ifo, allegedly had in her possession four agent cards each of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and Labour Party as well as 131 credit cards. The other four suspects Hammed Ogunbona (45), Waliu Tiamiyu (35), Owolabi Egunsola (50), and Malik Badmus (41) who were also card-carrying members of the PDP, were arrested with 52 credit cards and four voters cards, the police investigators said. After taking statements from the suspects, the investigation team said it also spoke with some POS operators who were also arrested, officials of Verve the issuers of the credit cards and Zenith Bank from which vaults the cash were to be drawn. The team said it also contacted the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) and the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit on the various aspects of the investigation. According to the interim report, Celestina Appeal, the Head of Card Services at Zenith Bank, told investigators that Mr Adebutu, who had been a customer of the bank since 2009, approached the bank in February 2023 saying the Adebutu family planned to do an endowment scheme in the form of prepaid cards in commemoration of their late matriarch Dame Caroline Oladunni Adebutu. Investigators quoted Ms Appeal as revealing that Mr Adebutu requested 200,000 prepaid Verve ATM cards, which the bank produced. According to the police report in PREMIUM TIMES possession, the Zenith Bank official further explained that each card was loaded with N10,000, summing up to N2 billion, with the fund drawn from Mr Adebutus account with the bank. According to the report, Mr Adebutu ordered the cards on 27 February, 2023, and they were loaded with cash credit on 16 and 17 March 2023 ahead of the 18 March governorship election in which he was a candidate. It is pertinent to note that the cards were specifically loaded two days to the gubernatorial elections on 18th March 2023 and on the eve of the election. Also considering that these cards were distributed on elections day, it is safe to infer that the purpose of the prepaid cards was for vote buying, investigators said. This premise is also corroborated by the POS operators who stated that some of their customers who came to withdraw money using the aforementioned cards stated clearly that the cards were given to them as a reward for voting for PDP. Drawing from the statements given by the POS operators who are witnesses in this case, several funds withdrawal transactions were carried out before, during and after the 2023 gubernatorial election using the Dame Caroline Oladunni Adebutu Memorial Endowment Scheme prepaid cards containing ten thousand naira each (N10,000.00k). However, not all of the cards could successfully dispense funds. Also, inferring from the statement of accounts/transaction history gotten from the POS operators, it has been observed that all the fund withdrawals made using the said cards uniquely had a description BANK CARD as against what would ordinarily be the account holders name. This lends further credence to the fact that a prepaid card is not tied to any personal account. Secondly, a careful observation of the statements of account/transaction history of the POS operators, reveals that a lot of funds withdrawals were done on 18th and 19th March, 2023 which had the description BANK CARD as stated above and also has the same band number 506109 which is uniquely assigned to Zenith Bank. Therefore, the facts that these prepaid cards were requested on 27th February, 2023 and delivered on 16th and 17th March, 2023 being the eve of gubernatorial elections, and distributed to voters only with traceable fund withdrawals being made from the prepaid cards during and after elections, is a clear indicator that the whole act is a calculated attempt at vote buying. The report stated that Mr Adebutu has not honoured its invitation to speak on the allegations. However, in response to the invitation letter sent to Hon. Ladi Adebutu, a letter was received from EHI UWAIFOH & CO, presenting themselves as legal practitioners representing Hon Ladi Adebutu, on whose instructions they stated that prior to the delivery of the invitation letter, Hon. Ladi Adebutu had left the country for his medicals and will honour the invitation upon his return. A copy of his travel itinerary was attached to the letter. Adebutu denies vote-buying Speaking with PREMIUM TIMES on Sunday, Mr Adebutus spokesperson, Mr Orekoya, said neither the candidate nor his party was involved in voter inducement at the election. He said the said cards the police investigated were issued for empowerment of poor people and not for vote-buying, adding that the cards had been in circulation since the final ceremony of the funeral of Mr Adebutus mother in January. Mr Orekoyas claim here contradicts the narrative by Mr Adebutus bank which said he ordered the cards days before the governorship elections. It was the APC that bought votes and now they are crying foul to confuse the public. We have taken the facts of the elections before the judiciary, the spokesperson added. Mr Orekoya, who said the police had yet to inform Mr Adebutu of its interim findings, described the entire case as a ploy to stop Mr Adebutu from pursuing his petition at the tribunal. Tunde Oladunjoye, the spokesperson of the APC in the state, confirmed that the party wrote a petition to the Inspector-General of Police over alleged vote-buying by the PDP in the governorship election. It is foolhardy for someone accused of stealing to be saying you are also a thief. We wrote to the authorities and provided evidence. But our allegation is not new, The NDLEA posted a report on its website about a lady it arrested for vote-buying and Channels TV also carried the report. Many of the cards are still outside with people. Some who attempted to withdraw cash from the cards were blocked after the elections. Many have gone to his fathers house to demand the cash and they have been calling for people to return the cards. On the alleged threat to Mr Adebutus life, Mr Oladunjoye retorted: Nobody is threatening his life, either he is running from the law or from his creditors. Nigerian politicians and vote-buying Nigerian politicians are notorious for vote-buying. But shortly before the general election, a cash redesign policy by the Central Bank of Nigeria led to severe cash shortage across the country, leaving politicians to design other ingenious ways of compromising voters, most of whom have been impoverished by poor service delivery and corruption by elected and appointed officials. Government officials confirmed that one of the aims of the CBN naira redesign policy was to prevent vote-buying at the generalelections, a phenomenon that had blighted off-season governorship elections in Anambra, Kogi, Edo, Ekiti, Ondo and Osun states. To adress the widespread vote-buying menace, penalities were stipulated in the amended Electoral Act 2022. Section 121 of the Act states: 1. Any person who does any of the following (a) directly or indirectly, by his or herself or by any other person on his or her behalf, corruptly makes any gift, loan, offer, promise, procurement or agreement to or for any person, in order to induce such person to procure or to endeavour to procure the return of any person as a member of a legislative house or to an elective office or the vote of any voter at any election; (b) upon or in consequence of any gift, loan, offer, promise, procurement or agreement corruptly procures, or engages or promises or endeavours to procure, the return of any person as a member of a legislative house or to an elective office or the vote of any voter at any election; (c) advances or pays or causes to be paid any money to or for the use of any other person, with the intent that such money or any part thereof shall be expended in bribery at any election, or who knowingly pays or causes to be paid any money to any person in discharge or repayment of any money wholly or in part expended in bribery at any election; (d) after any election directly, or indirectly, by his or herself, or by any other person on his or her behalf receives any money or valuable consideration on account of any person having voted or refrained from voting, or having induced any other person to vote or refrain from voting or having induced any candidate to refrain from canvassing for votes for his or herself at any such election, commits an offence and is liable on conviction to a maximum fine of N500,000 or imprisonment for a term of 12 months or both. (2) A voter commits an offence of bribery where before or during an election directly or indirectly by his or herself or by any other person on his or her behalf, receives, agrees or contracts for any money, gift, loan, or valuable consideration, office, place or employment, for his or herself, or for any other person, for voting or agreeing to vote or for refraining or agreeing to refrain from voting at any such election. Many persons incuding politicians, party agents and voters were arrested in parts of the country before and during the 2023 general elections for vote buying and related offences. The electoral and security agencies have the responsibility for prosecuting them in court. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print Official Partner of Festival de Cannes, Campari, hosted its 'Discover Red' event on the heart of the Cannes Croisette, with a guest list including Charles Melton, Luke Evans and Alessandra Ambrosio. CANNES, France, May 21, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- This year, Campari, the iconic Milanese, red aperitivo returned to the 76th edition of the world-renowned Festival de Cannes, as an official partner and hosted its Discover Red event attended by Charles Melton, Luke Evans and Alessandra Ambrosio. Iconic model, Alessandra Ambrosio, attends the Campari: Discover Red event experience, celebrating the unforgettable creations of cinema. Actor legend, Luke Evans, enjoyed the Campari: Discover Red event experience, with a beach aperitif, immersive dinner and after party on his first night in Cannes for the 76th Annual Film Festival, celebrating the unforgettable creations of cinema. Actor Charles Melton enjoys a Campari aperitif at Campari: Discover Red event experience ahead of his premiere for May December at the 76th Annual Festival de Cannes No star-studded event would be complete without viral celebrity content creator and Red Carpet regular, Cole Walliser, who bought his iconic slow motion video edits to Camparis Discover Red event. Iconic Milanese red aperitif, Campari, hosted an Campari: Discover Red at the Martinez Hotel, celebrating the unforgettable creations of Campari, its cocktails and the cinema industry. The event was attended by actor, Charles Melton, ahead of his premiere for May December at the 76th Annual Festival de Cannes. During his time in Cannes, Charles has also received a breakthrough talent award at the Variety Golden Globes Awards for his role in the film. Also in attendance was acting legend, Luke Evans, and iconic model with Italian heritage, Alessandra Ambrosio. During each stage of Discover Red, guests invited to experience a series of unforgettable creations from two Michelin Star Chef, Christian Sinicropi, Head Bartender of Camparino in Galleria, Tommaso Cecca; each of whom are icons within their own fields and elevated the night to take it beyond the expected. The scene was set at the Martinez Hotel, inspiring guests with a night that brought Campari's longstanding heritage in cinema to life. Guests were immersed in a four-part multi-sensory dining experience curated by two icons of mixology and gastronomy. Chef Christian Sinicropi used his limitless skill as a two Michelin Star Chef to curate each course paired perfectly with Campari cocktails, curated by Tommaso Cecca, the head bartender at Camparino in Galleria, which provides legendary service in Milano and is a symbol of the aperitif par excellence. Creating an enhanced dining experience, when guests arrived at the dinner, a seemingly regular dinner table transformed into a fully immersive display inspired by the Festival de Cannes Red Carpet, the Cannes Riviera, the power of imagination and Campari's place at the heart of cocktail culture. The four dining chapters each began with an iconic Campari cocktail that inspired an unforgettable dish, stimulating the senses, while guests were guided through the evening by a narrator to accompany the audio-visual display. No star-studded event would be complete without viral celebrity content creator and Red Carpet regular, Cole Walliser. Having captured celebrities at the Oscars, The Grammys, Golden Globes and Emmys, Cole is best known for his slow-motion edits of talent at high profile events. Campari Group's Head of Global Marketing, Julka Villa comments: "As this is the second time we have been an Official Partner of Festival de Cannes, the aim of Discover Red was to curate a night that brought together the icons of Campari and cinema, each of which inspire the unforgettable. As one of the most celebrated global film festivals, our event took inspiration from the aspirational allure of Festival de Cannes, pushing it to the next level delivering the elevated experience that people expect from both Campari and the Festival. To do this, each moment of Discover Red captured the unique relationship between Campari, cinema and the Festival, immersing guests in this world through all senses and the night was yet another great example of Campari going beyond the expected." Throughout the night, cocktails were expertly served by Camparino in Galleria, providing the legendary service of the historic Milanese bar located in Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II. Camparino is a symbol of the aperitif par excellence; it brings to Cannes its strong connections with both Milano, the birthplace of Campari, and the artistic and cultural context of the 20th century. The Camparino team served a selection of iconic Campari cocktails to guests, including the Negroni, Campari Spritz and the Negroni Sbagliato. Alongside these classic cocktails, the Camparino team served the Red Carpet Cannes Edition: a fresh tasting and salty cocktail inspired by the Cannes Riviera. Please follow Campari's social media channels for further information @campariofficial. #CampariCinema #Cannes2023 #FestivalDeCannes #EnjoyResponsibly www.campari.com https://www.youtube.com/EnjoyCampari https://www.facebook.com/Campari https://instagram.com/campariofficial ABOUT FESTIVAL DE CANNES The Festival de Cannes is an event that brings together the world's film professionals around an official competition and an International Film Market, whose highly media-oriented aspect makes it one of the first annual international events, contributing to the world cinematic influence. ABOUT CAMPARI Campari, the iconic, unforgettable Italian red spirit sitting at the heart of some of the world's most famous cocktails. Campari was founded in Milan in 1860 by Gaspare Campari, and pioneered by his son, Davide, who created something so distinctive and revolutionary that its secret recipe has not been altered since. Vibrant red in colour, Campari's unique and multi-layered taste is the result of the infusion of herbs, aromatic plants and fruit in alcohol and water. As well as being unique and distinctive, Campari is extremely versatile, offering boundless and unexpected possibilities. As a source of this passionate inspiration since its creation seen through its founders' creative genius, artists in different fields and the world's best bartenders, Campari stimulates your instincts to unlock your passions, inspiring limitless creations. ABOUT CAMPARI GROUP Campari Group is a major player in the global spirits industry, with a portfolio of over 50 premium and super premium brands, spreading across Global, Regional and Local priorities. Global Priorities, the Group's key focus, include Aperol, Appleton Estate, Campari, SKYY, Wild Turkey and Grand Marnier. The Group was founded in 1860 and today is the sixth-largest player worldwide in the premium spirits industry. It has a global distribution reach, trading in over 190 nations around the world with leading positions in Europe and the Americas. Campari Group's growth strategy aims to combine organic growth through strong brand building and external growth via selective acquisitions of brands and businesses. Headquartered in Milan, Italy, Campari Group owns 22 plants worldwide and has its own distribution network in 22 countries. Campari Group employs approximately 4,000 people. The shares of the parent company Davide Campari-Milano N.V. (Reuters CPRI.MI - Bloomberg CPR IM) have been listed on the Italian Stock Exchange since 2001. For more information: http://www.camparigroup.com/en Please enjoy our brands responsibly. ABOUT CAMPARINO Camparino in Galleria is the legendary bar opened by Davide Campari in Milan's Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II in 1915. The bar was opened opposite to Caffe Campari, the establishment opened by Gaspare Campari - Davide's father and the creator of the bitter liqueur - in 1867. An instant hit with the people of Milan, the bar became synonymous with the city's aperitivo tradition and in 2015 marked its 100th anniversary. Following a renovation project, the bar reopens to the public in autumn 2019 with a refreshed identity and food and drink offering designed to consolidate its status as one of the most influential establishments in the world for lovers of mixology and gastronomic innovation. Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2081775/Alessandra_Ambrosio.jpg Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2081776/Luke_Evans.jpg Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2081777/Charles_Melton.jpg Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2081778/Cole_Walliser.jpg Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2081779/Event_Set_Guests.jpg SOURCE Campari ~Dignitaries and Distinguished Guests Gathered for an Exhilarating Event, Honoring the Legends of the Past While Celebrating the Future of Jamaica's Tourism~ OCHO RIOS, Jamaica, May 22, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Under the transformational light of a new moon, Sandals Resorts International (SRI) unveiled its latest resort, the all-new 260-room Sandals Dunn's River , with a celebration befitting its legendary lore in Jamaica 's tourism history. The night brought together leaders in the Caribbean, valued members of the Sandals Resorts family, and Jamaica's most quintessential performers including GRAMMY-Award winning artist Shaggy and The Voice winner Tessanne Chin to commemorate the next chapter in the new resort's storied history. The Hon. Andrew Holness, Prime Minister of Jamaica (center); Adam Stewart, Exec Chair of Sandals Resorts; and Dr. Ralph Gonsalves, Prime Minister of St. Vincent & the Grenadines. From L to R: Deryk Meany, GM; Gebhard Rainer, CEO, SRI; Nigel Clarke, Min. of Finance; Mark Golding, Leader of the Opposition; Edmund Bartlett, Min. of Tourism; Karl Samuda, Min. of Labour and Social Security; and Marsha Smith, State Min. in the Ministry of Finance and the Public Service and the Member of Parliament. The international cast of STOMP performs their inventive stage show to the beat of Jamaica at the Grand Opening Celebration of Sandals Dunns River. Legendary Jamaican singer-songwriter, Shaggy, invigorates the crowd alongside Jamaican Dancehall artist, Teejay, at the Grand Opening Celebration of Sandals Dunn's River. Floating on authentic bamboo rafts, performers captivated the crowd throughout the evening at the Grand Opening Celebration of Sandals Dunn's River. Aerial view of Sandals Dunns River during the resort's Grand Opening Celebration in Ocho Rios, Jamaica, on May 19th, 2023. "This is the place where everything began for Sandals Resorts, and from where we stand, it's a stunning representation of where we're headed," said Adam Stewart, Executive Chairman of Sandals Resorts. "Sandals Dunn's River is the continuation of my father's journey to better. It is a hero's tale about an ambitious boy who began selling fish to local resorts and how he went on to change how people prefer to vacation, making Jamaica and the Caribbean the centerpiece of his efforts. It is an epic story about an incredible person who continues to inspire us to dream bigger, do more, be better. It is the stuff of legends and that is what this evening is all about," said Stewart. Prime Ministers, including The Most Honourable Andrew Michael Holness of Jamaica and The Honourable Ralph Gonsalves of St. Vincent and the Grenadines; Ministers of Government including Minister of Tourism of Jamaica The Honourable Edmund Bartlett; and local dignitaries from across the Caribbean region, as well as other distinguished guests, joined together with Stewart, SRI CEO Gebhard Rainer and other members of the Sandals Resorts team for an official invocation of the resort and a momentous ribbon cutting ceremony, toasting to the future of luxury tourism in Ocho Rios. Prime Minister Holness in his main address recalled his conversation with the late Gordon 'Butch' Stewart about purchasing the property. "It is such an impressive thing to see a dream come to reality and if there is one thing you could say about Gordon 'Butch' Stewart, it's that he was a dreamer. He was also a doer that will bring that dream to fruition, a man who will always get the job done. We are standing here literally living in 'Butch' Stewart's dream," he said. A Tribute to a Legendary Past, A Celebration of the Future Surrounded by the sounds of flowing water and tropical birds and under a canopy of thatched branches invoking the lush Jamaican rainforest, guests were met with cocktails expertly crafted with local ingredients paired with an array of cuisines from the resort's restaurants, including concepts entirely new to the Sandals brand. The evening was a nod to the resort's earlier days as the Arawak Hotel, built in 1957, and originally designed by visionary architect Morris Lapidus, whose joyful, flamboyant designs defined the epitome of 1950s and 1960s Caribbean chic. The event themed the "Return of a Legend," featured an experience and vibe artfully recreated for the event. The outdoor spaces of the luxury all-inclusive resort were transformed into a retro supper club, complete with lounge music, glittering gold accents, vibrant green palms and SWAG servers a new take on the 'cigarette servers' from decades past. Melodies from a 40-member choir from the University of the West Indies, the Edna Manley College and the Ashe Company, featured a spanning tribute to Sandals late founder, Gordon 'Butch' Stewart, honoring a life well lived, a dream realized, and a legacy that will never be forgotten. Echoing the Heartbeat of Jamaica Like the resort itself, whose design inspiration is pulled from the flowing water of the nearby Dunn's River Falls, the event infused and celebrated the soul of Jamaica throughout the festivities. Guests were treated to the sounds of a steel-drum band; ribbon dancers; aerial performances, with costumes matching the vibrancy of the island's culture, in front of a state-of-the-art video mapping of the Falls; as well as local musicians such as the Jamaican instrumental trio, Touch of Elegance. Mimicking the pathway of the flowing water from Dunn's River Falls, entertainers also performed within the pool, floating on original bamboo rafts custom made by Jamaican artisans. An electrifying performance from the renowned cast of STOMP, fresh off their Broadway run, brought the 'beat' of Jamaica to the stage with a wordless percussion spectacle. A Star-Studded Beginning The celebration culminated in awe with a crowd rousing performance from the ever-iconic Mr. Boombastic himself, Shaggy. Capping off the evening, an impressive fireworks display lit up the Ocho Rios sky, and moved by the momentum a lunar after-party continued with a beach bash under a new moon, signaling yet another phase in the story of Sandals Dunn's River. "Now, with the future before us, we stand on solid ground, committed as ever to celebrating our Caribbean heritage and delivering to the next generations of Sandals customers the unsurpassed level of innovation, excitement and unparalleled service they have come to expect and that they so well deserve," Stewart concluded. For more information about the all-new Sandals Dunn's River, visit https://www.sandals.com/dunns-river/ . About Sandals Resorts Sandals Resorts offers two people in love the ease and refinement of the most-awarded luxury all-inclusive vacation experience in the Caribbean. With 17 beachfront settings in Jamaica, Antigua, Saint Lucia, The Bahamas, Barbados, Grenada, and Curacao, each resort reflects the design, cuisine, and unique essence of its island home. From butler service and gourmet dining to top-shelf liquor and luxurious suites, including the Caribbean's first Over-the-Water Villas and Bungalows, Sandals Resorts creates the time and moments necessary for couples to reconnect and focus on what matters most: each other. Notorious for pioneering innovations that constantly evolve and elevate the all-inclusive vacation experience, Sandals Resorts has recently introduced fresh concepts such as the brand's first-ever double infinity pool and an off-site Island Inclusive dining program, while staying true to its Caribbean roots and showcasing the transformative link between tourism and its power to transform lives through its philanthropic arm, the Sandals Foundation. Sandals Resorts is part of family-owned Sandals Resorts International (SRI) which includes family-friendly Beaches Resorts, and is the Caribbean's leading all-inclusive resort company. For more information about the Sandals Resorts Luxury Included difference, visit www.sandals.com . Contact: The Decker/Royal Agency [email protected] SOURCE Sandals Resorts Christopher Cook, 21, was sentenced to 7 years in prison, and Jonathan Frost, 25, of Katy, Texas, to 5 years for their role in electricity substation attacks that the Department of Justice described as a white supremacist plot. Another man, Jackson Sawell, awaits sentencing. All three pleaded guilty to charges of conspiring to provide material support to extremists; their plan did not come to fruition before they were collared. According to the statement of fact, Frost and Cook initially met online in a chatroom called "The Front" where Frost raised the idea of attacking the power grid. Sawall, a friend of Cook's, later joined their group and helped recruit young people who were less likely to be law enforcement officers. Those who passed muster were invited to join another online chat group called "Lights Out." Frost traveled to Columbus in February 2020 where he gave Cook an AK-47 rifle with no serial number and provided Cook and Sawall with "suicide necklaces" made of the powerful synthetic painkiller fentanyl. Their plans to hang propaganda posters, record themselves spray painting a mosque and cut down a telephone pole in Columbus went awry during a traffic stop that led Sawall to use his suicide necklace. He survived and later ended his association with Cook and Frost, according to the statement of facts. Businesses can now centralize information, FAQs, tutorials, troubleshooting guides, and other support materials within one sleek interface MELBOURNE, Australia, May 22, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The rise of the fast-paced digital age forever changed the business world. From e-commerce to networking, expanding customer bases and so much more; a fast-paced digital marketplace empowers businesses to thrive. However, this freedom does not come without its fair share of challenges, including the management of customer service. Traditionally, customer service is handled in a call center or managed on expensive and limited software. Luckily, one company is on a mission to change the face of customer service and usher in a new era of modern business practices. A New Era of Modern Business: How Zeruhs Innovative Self-Service Portal Has Changed the Face of Customer Service Meet Zeruh, the comprehensive solution that empowers businesses to create and manage their knowledge base, a self-service portal, and help centers. The sleek and innovative interface is seamlessly integrated into any business to provide visibility and convenience while helping businesses scale to new heights. Using Zeruh, businesses have the power to centralize all pertinent information in one place to reduce the need for direct support inquiries. FAQs, tutorials, troubleshooting guides, and additional materials are brilliantly housed in one portal that allows customers to find the answers they need while building trust through transparency. Understanding that business is not one-size-fits-all, Zeruh is easily custom-tailored to each business's unique needs, from branding to industry requirements, workflows, and much more. Unlike competitors, Zeruh's intuitive and user-friendly platform supports over 45 languages to support the needs of international customers. The result of using Zeruh is simple, scalability without compromising performance. From large corporations to small family-run businesses, Zeruh is built to scale by easily managing large volumes of user information and activity. Through proof of concept, dedication to innovation, and unwavering commitment to supporting businesses everywhere, Zeruh's purpose-driven vision has come to fruition. To learn more about Zeruh, please visit: https://zeruh.com/ About Zeruh Zeruh is a comprehensive solution that empowers businesses to create and manage their knowledgebase, self-service portal, and help centers. Founded in 2023 by Areeb, Zeruh allows companies the freedom to streamline their customer support processes, enhance user experience, and provide efficient resources for their customers. Unlike other self-service portals on the market, Zeruh is custom-tailored to each business's unique needs, user-friendly, and built to scale. The platform offers an intuitive interface and a wide range of features designed to facilitate knowledge management. Businesses can now centralize information, FAQs, tutorials, troubleshooting guides, and other support materials, empowering customers to easily find the answers they need, reducing the need for direct support inquiries, and improving overall satisfaction. Press Contact: Areeb https://zeruh.com/ SOURCE Zeruh NEW YORK, May 22, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The access control reader market size is set to grow by USD 809.26 million between 2022 and 2027 and register a CAGR of 6.6%, according to Technavio's latest market research report. With a focus on identifying dominant industry influencers, Technavio's reports present a detailed study by way of synthesis, and summation of data from multiple sources. This report offers an up-to-date analysis of the current market scenario, the latest trends and drivers, and the overall market environment. Technavio has announced its latest market research report titled Global Access Control Reader Market 2023-2027 Technavio offers in-depth market insights that assist global businesses to obtain growth opportunities. Read Sample Report The market is fragmented, and the degree of fragmentation will accelerate during the forecast period. Allied Universal, Anviz Global Inc., Atlas Copco AB, Axis Communications AB, Bell System Telephones Ltd., Brivo Inc., Genetec Inc., HID Global Corp., Honeywell International Inc., Johnson Controls International Plc., Nice SpA, Remsdaq Ltd., Salto Systems SL, Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., sesamsec GmbH, Third Millennium Systems Ltd., Vanderbilt International GmbH, WaveLynx Technologies Corp., ZKTeco USA, and Zucchetti Axess Spa are some of the major market participants. The rising cyberattacks, malware infections, and other frauds, the increased adoption and implementation of the mobility phenomenon and BYOD, and the penetration of the Internet and wireless network infrastructure will offer immense growth opportunities. To leverage the current opportunities, market vendors must strengthen their foothold in the fast-growing segments while maintaining their positions in the slow-growing segments. Access Control Reader Market 2023-2027: Segmentation Type Card-Based Readers: The market share growth of the card-based readers' segment will be significant during the forecast period. The card-based readers' segment was valued at USD 1,771.72 million in 2017 and continued to grow until 2021. in 2017 and continued to grow until 2021. Biometric Readers Keypad Readers Multi-technology Readers End-user Commercial Government Residential Geography North America: APAC is estimated to contribute 31% to the growth of the global market during the forecast period. The rapid rate of technology acceptance and overall maturity of various industries has led to an increase in the demand for access control readers. Europe APAC South America Middle East And Africa Learn more about the factors assisting the growth of the market, download a free sample: https://www.technavio.com/talk-to-us?report=IRTNTR74969 Access Control Reader Market 2023-2027: Vendor Analysis and Scope Some of the major vendors of the access control reader market in l4 industry include Allied Universal, Anviz Global Inc., Atlas Copco AB, Axis Communications AB, Bell System Telephones Ltd., Brivo Inc., Genetec Inc., HID Global Corp., Honeywell International Inc., Johnson Controls International Plc., Nice SpA, Remsdaq Ltd., Salto Systems SL, Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., sesamsec GmbH, Third Millennium Systems Ltd., Vanderbilt International GmbH, WaveLynx Technologies Corp., ZKTeco USA, and Zucchetti Axess Spa. To help businesses improve their market position, Technavio's report provides a detailed analysis of around 15+ vendors operating in the market. To leverage the current opportunities, market vendors must strengthen their foothold in the fast-growing segments, while maintaining their positions in the slow-growing segments. Backed with competitive intelligence and benchmarking, our research reports on the access control reader market are designed to provide entry support, customer profile & M&As as well as go-to-market strategy support. aus.com- The company offers access control reader solutions such as Symmetry Software, Door Controllers, and Card Readers. anviz.com- The company offers access control reader products such as VP30, FacePass 7 IRT, and FacePass 7 Pro. atlascopcogroup.com- The company offers access control reader solutions such as Stid under the subsidiary Atlas secure technology. The report also covers the following areas: Market Driver Rising cyberattacks, malware infections, and other frauds Increased adoption and implementation of the mobility phenomenon and BYOD Penetration of the Internet and wireless network infrastructure Market Trend Growing innovations and implementations Government improvements to security features Steady implementation of mobile-based access control Market Challenges Interoperability Data breach risk and privacy concerns Limited awareness Get lifetime access to our Technavio Insights. Subscribe now to our most popular "Lite Plan" billed annually at USD 5000. View 3 reports monthly and Download 3 Reports Annually! Access Control Reader Market 2023-2027: Key Highlights CAGR of the market during the forecast period 2023-2027 Detailed information on factors that will assist access control reader market growth during the next five years Estimation of the access control reader market size and its contribution to the parent market Predictions on upcoming trends and changes in consumer behavior The growth of the access control reader market Analysis of the market's competitive landscape and detailed information on vendors Comprehensive details of factors that will challenge the growth of access control reader market vendors Related Reports: Push-to-Talk (PTT) Market- The push-to-talk (PTT) market size is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 8.99% between 2022 and 2027. The market size is forecast to increase by USD 17,473.47 million. Telecom Equipment Market- The telecom equipment market size is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 6.13% between 2022 and 2027. The market size is forecast to increase by USD 195.93 billion. Access Control Reader Market Scope Report Coverage Details Base year 2022 Historic period 2017-2021 Forecast period 2023-2027 Growth momentum & CAGR Accelerate at a CAGR of 6.6% Market growth 2023-2027 USD 809.26 million Market structure Fragmented YoY growth 2022-2023(%) 5.88 Regional analysis North America, Europe, APAC, South America, and Middle East and Africa Performing market contribution APAC at 31% Key countries US, China, India, Germany, and UK Competitive landscape Leading Vendors, Market Positioning of Vendors, Competitive Strategies, and Industry Risks Key companies profiled Allied Universal, Anviz Global Inc., Atlas Copco AB, Axis Communications AB, Bell System Telephones Ltd., Brivo Inc., Genetec Inc., HID Global Corp., Honeywell International Inc., Johnson Controls International Plc., Nice SpA, Remsdaq Ltd., Salto Systems SL, Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., sesamsec GmbH, Third Millennium Systems Ltd., Vanderbilt International GmbH, WaveLynx Technologies Corp., ZKTeco USA, and Zucchetti Axess Spa Market dynamics Parent market analysis, Market growth inducers and obstacles, Fast-growing and slow-growing segment analysis, COVID-19 impact and recovery analysis and future consumer dynamics, Market condition analysis for forecast period Customization purview If our report has not included the data that you are looking for, you can reach out to our analysts and get segments customized. 1 Executive Summary 1.1 Market overview Exhibit 01: Executive Summary Chart on Market Overview Exhibit 02: Executive Summary Data Table on Market Overview Exhibit 03: Executive Summary Chart on Global Market Characteristics Exhibit 04: Executive Summary Chart on Market by Geography Exhibit 05: Executive Summary Chart on Market Segmentation by Type Exhibit 06: Executive Summary Chart on Market Segmentation by End-user Exhibit 07: Executive Summary Chart on Incremental Growth Exhibit 08: Executive Summary Data Table on Incremental Growth Exhibit 09: Executive Summary Chart on Vendor Market Positioning 2 Market Landscape 2.1 Market ecosystem Exhibit 10: Parent market Exhibit 11: Market Characteristics 3 Market Sizing 3.1 Market definition Exhibit 12: Offerings of vendors included in the market definition 3.2 Market segment analysis Exhibit 13: Market segments 3.3 Market size 2022 3.4 Market outlook: Forecast for 2022-2027 Exhibit 14: Chart on Global - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) Exhibit 15: Data Table on Global - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) Exhibit 16: Chart on Global Market: Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) Exhibit 17: Data Table on Global Market: Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) 4 Historic Market Size 4.1 Global access control reader market 2017 - 2021 Exhibit 18: Historic market size Data table on global access control reader market 2017 - 2021 ($ million) 4.2 Type Segment Analysis 2017 - 2021 Exhibit 19: Historic market size Type segment 2017 - 2021 ($ million) 4.3 End-user Segment Analysis 2017 - 2021 Exhibit 20: Historic market size End-user segment 2017 - 2021 ($ million) 4.4 Geography Segment Analysis 2017 - 2021 Exhibit 21: Historic market size Geography segment 2017 - 2021 ($ million) 4.5 Country Segment Analysis 2017 - 2021 Exhibit 22: Historic market size Country segment 2017 - 2021 ($ million) 5 Five Forces Analysis 5.1 Five forces summary Exhibit 23: Five forces analysis - Comparison between 2022 and 2027 5.2 Bargaining power of buyers Exhibit 24: Chart on Bargaining power of buyers Impact of key factors 2022 and 2027 5.3 Bargaining power of suppliers Exhibit 25: Bargaining power of suppliers Impact of key factors in 2022 and 2027 5.4 Threat of new entrants Exhibit 26: Threat of new entrants Impact of key factors in 2022 and 2027 5.5 Threat of substitutes Exhibit 27: Threat of substitutes Impact of key factors in 2022 and 2027 5.6 Threat of rivalry Exhibit 28: Threat of rivalry Impact of key factors in 2022 and 2027 5.7 Market condition Exhibit 29: Chart on Market condition - Five forces 2022 and 2027 6 Market Segmentation by Type 6.1 Market segments Exhibit 30: Chart on Type - Market share 2022-2027 (%) Exhibit 31: Data Table on Type - Market share 2022-2027 (%) 6.2 Comparison by Type Exhibit 32: Chart on Comparison by Type Exhibit 33: Data Table on Comparison by Type 6.3 Card based readers - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 Exhibit 34: Chart on Card based readers - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) Exhibit 35: Data Table on Card based readers - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) Exhibit 36: Chart on Card based readers - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) Exhibit 37: Data Table on Card based readers - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) 6.4 Biometric readers - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 Exhibit 38: Chart on Biometric readers - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) Exhibit 39: Data Table on Biometric readers - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) Exhibit 40: Chart on Biometric readers - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) Exhibit 41: Data Table on Biometric readers - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) 6.5 Keypad readers - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 Exhibit 42: Chart on Keypad readers - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) Exhibit 43: Data Table on Keypad readers - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) Exhibit 44: Chart on Keypad readers - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) Exhibit 45: Data Table on Keypad readers - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) 6.6 Multi-technology readers - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 Exhibit 46: Chart on Multi-technology readers - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) Exhibit 47: Data Table on Multi-technology readers - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) Exhibit 48: Chart on Multi-technology readers - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) Exhibit 49: Data Table on Multi-technology readers - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) 6.7 Market opportunity by Type Exhibit 50: Market opportunity by Type ($ million) 7 Market Segmentation by End-user 7.1 Market segments Exhibit 51: Chart on End-user - Market share 2022-2027 (%) Exhibit 52: Data Table on End-user - Market share 2022-2027 (%) 7.2 Comparison by End-user Exhibit 53: Chart on Comparison by End-user Exhibit 54: Data Table on Comparison by End-user 7.3 Commercial - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 Exhibit 55: Chart on Commercial - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) Exhibit 56: Data Table on Commercial - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) Exhibit 57: Chart on Commercial - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) Exhibit 58: Data Table on Commercial - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) 7.4 Government - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 Exhibit 59: Chart on Government - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) Exhibit 60: Data Table on Government - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) Exhibit 61: Chart on Government - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) Exhibit 62: Data Table on Government - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) 7.5 Residential - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 Exhibit 63: Chart on Residential - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) Exhibit 64: Data Table on Residential - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) Exhibit 65: Chart on Residential - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) Exhibit 66: Data Table on Residential - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) 7.6 Market opportunity by End-user Exhibit 67: Market opportunity by End-user ($ million) 8 Customer Landscape 8.1 Customer landscape overview Exhibit 68: Analysis of price sensitivity, lifecycle, customer purchase basket, adoption rates, and purchase criteria 9 Geographic Landscape 9.1 Geographic segmentation Exhibit 69: Chart on Market share by geography 2022-2027 (%) Exhibit 70: Data Table on Market share by geography 2022-2027 (%) 9.2 Geographic comparison Exhibit 71: Chart on Geographic comparison Exhibit 72: Data Table on Geographic comparison 9.3 North America - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 Exhibit 73: Chart on North America - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) Exhibit 74: Data Table on North America - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) Exhibit 75: Chart on North America - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) Exhibit 76: Data Table on North America - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) 9.4 Europe - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 Exhibit 77: Chart on Europe - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) Exhibit 78: Data Table on Europe - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) Exhibit 79: Chart on Europe - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) Exhibit 80: Data Table on Europe - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) 9.5 APAC - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 Exhibit 81: Chart on APAC - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) Exhibit 82: Data Table on APAC - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) Exhibit 83: Chart on APAC - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) Exhibit 84: Data Table on APAC - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) 9.6 South America - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 Exhibit 85: Chart on South America - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) Exhibit 86: Data Table on South America - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) Exhibit 87: Chart on South America - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) Exhibit 88: Data Table on South America - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) 9.7 Middle East and Africa - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 and - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 Exhibit 89: Chart on Middle East and Africa - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) and - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) Exhibit 90: Data Table on Middle East and Africa - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) and - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) Exhibit 91: Chart on Middle East and Africa - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) and - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) Exhibit 92: Data Table on Middle East and Africa - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) 9.8 US - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 Exhibit 93: Chart on US - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) Exhibit 94: Data Table on US - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) Exhibit 95: Chart on US - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) Exhibit 96: Data Table on US - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) 9.9 China - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 Exhibit 97: Chart on China - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) Exhibit 98: Data Table on China - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) Exhibit 99: Chart on China - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) Exhibit 100: Data Table on China - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) 9.10 Germany - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 Exhibit 101: Chart on Germany - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) Exhibit 102: Data Table on Germany - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) Exhibit 103: Chart on Germany - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) Exhibit 104: Data Table on Germany - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) 9.11 UK - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 Exhibit 105: Chart on UK - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) Exhibit 106: Data Table on UK - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) Exhibit 107: Chart on UK - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) Exhibit 108: Data Table on UK - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) 9.12 India - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 Exhibit 109: Chart on India - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) Exhibit 110: Data Table on India - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) Exhibit 111: Chart on India - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) Exhibit 112: Data Table on India - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) 9.13 Market opportunity by geography Exhibit 113: Market opportunity by geography ($ million) 10 Drivers, Challenges, and Trends 10.1 Market drivers 10.2 Market challenges 10.3 Impact of drivers and challenges Exhibit 114: Impact of drivers and challenges in 2022 and 2027 10.4 Market trends 11 Vendor Landscape 11.1 Overview 11.2 Vendor landscape Exhibit 115: Overview on Criticality of inputs and Factors of differentiation 11.3 Landscape disruption Exhibit 116: Overview on factors of disruption 11.4 Industry risks Exhibit 117: Impact of key risks on business 12 Vendor Analysis 12.1 Vendors covered Exhibit 118: Vendors covered 12.2 Market positioning of vendors Exhibit 119: Matrix on vendor position and classification 12.3 Allied Universal Exhibit 120: Allied Universal - Overview Exhibit 121: Allied Universal - Product / Service Exhibit 122: Allied Universal - Key offerings 12.4 Anviz Global Inc. Exhibit 123: Anviz Global Inc. - Overview Exhibit 124: Anviz Global Inc. - Product / Service Exhibit 125: Anviz Global Inc. - Key offerings 12.5 Atlas Copco AB Exhibit 126: Atlas Copco AB - Overview Exhibit 127: Atlas Copco AB - Business segments Exhibit 128: Atlas Copco AB - Key news Exhibit 129: Atlas Copco AB - Key offerings Exhibit 130: Atlas Copco AB - Segment focus 12.6 Axis Communications AB Exhibit 131: Axis Communications AB - Overview Exhibit 132: Axis Communications AB - Product / Service Exhibit 133: Axis Communications AB - Key news Exhibit 134: Axis Communications AB - Key offerings 12.7 Bell System Telephones Ltd. Exhibit 135: Bell System Telephones Ltd. - Overview Exhibit 136: Bell System Telephones Ltd. - Product / Service Exhibit 137: Bell System Telephones Ltd. - Key offerings 12.8 HID Global Corp. Exhibit 138: HID Global Corp. - Overview Exhibit 139: HID Global Corp. - Product / Service Exhibit 140: HID Global Corp. - Key news Exhibit 141: HID Global Corp. - Key offerings 12.9 Honeywell International Inc. Exhibit 142: Honeywell International Inc. - Overview Exhibit 143: Honeywell International Inc. - Business segments Exhibit 144: Honeywell International Inc. - Key news Exhibit 145: Honeywell International Inc. - Key offerings Exhibit 146: Honeywell International Inc. - Segment focus 12.10 Johnson Controls International Plc. Exhibit 147: Johnson Controls International Plc. - Overview Exhibit 148: Johnson Controls International Plc. - Business segments Exhibit 149: Johnson Controls International Plc. - Key news Exhibit 150: Johnson Controls International Plc. - Key offerings Exhibit 151: Johnson Controls International Plc. - Segment focus 12.11 Nice SpA Exhibit 152: Nice SpA - Overview Exhibit 153: Nice SpA - Product / Service Exhibit 154: Nice SpA - Key offerings 12.12 Remsdaq Ltd. Exhibit 155: Remsdaq Ltd. - Overview Exhibit 156: Remsdaq Ltd. - Product / Service Exhibit 157: Remsdaq Ltd. - Key offerings 12.13 Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. Exhibit 158: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. - Overview Exhibit 159: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. - Business segments Exhibit 160: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. - Key news Exhibit 161: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. - Key offerings Exhibit 162: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. - Segment focus 12.14 Third Millennium Systems Ltd. Exhibit 163: Third Millennium Systems Ltd. - Overview Exhibit 164: Third Millennium Systems Ltd. - Product / Service Exhibit 165: Third Millennium Systems Ltd. - Key offerings 12.15 Vanderbilt International GmbH Exhibit 166: Vanderbilt International GmbH - Overview Exhibit 167: Vanderbilt International GmbH - Product / Service Exhibit 168: Vanderbilt International GmbH - Key offerings 12.16 WaveLynx Technologies Corp. Exhibit 169: WaveLynx Technologies Corp. - Overview Exhibit 170: WaveLynx Technologies Corp. - Product / Service Exhibit 171: WaveLynx Technologies Corp. - Key offerings 12.17 Zucchetti Axess Spa Exhibit 172: Zucchetti Axess Spa - Overview Exhibit 173: Zucchetti Axess Spa - Product / Service Exhibit 174: Zucchetti Axess Spa - Key offerings 13 Appendix 13.1 Scope of the report 13.2 Inclusions and exclusions checklist Exhibit 175: Inclusions checklist Exhibit 176: Exclusions checklist 13.3 Currency conversion rates for US$ Exhibit 177: Currency conversion rates for US$ 13.4 Research methodology Exhibit 178: Research methodology Exhibit 179: Validation techniques employed for market sizing Exhibit 180: Information sources 13.5 List of abbreviations Exhibit 181: List of abbreviations About Us Technavio is a leading global technology research and advisory company. Their research and analysis focus on emerging market trends and provides actionable insights to help businesses identify market opportunities and develop effective strategies to optimize their market positions. With over 500 specialized analysts, Technavio's report library consists of more than 17,000 reports and counting, covering 800 technologies, spanning across 50 countries. Their client base consists of enterprises of all sizes, including more than 100 Fortune 500 companies. This growing client base relies on Technavio's comprehensive coverage, extensive research, and actionable market insights to identify opportunities in existing and potential markets and assess their competitive positions within changing market scenarios. Contact Technavio Research Jesse Maida Media & Marketing Executive US: +1 844 364 1100 UK: +44 203 893 3200 Email: [email protected] Website: www.technavio.com/ SOURCE Technavio SINGAPORE, May 22, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Ample Solutions, Asia's electronic component distributor of choice, has been recognised as one of the Global Top 50 Electronic Component Distributors for the year 2022 in the ranking released by ESM China in 2023. This ranking is based on an extensive survey spanning two months, attracting participation from nearly a hundred industry-leading distributors. Ample Solutions named as one of the Top 50 Global Electronic Component Distributors 2022 Continuing its trajectory of success, Ample Solutions has demonstrated remarkable growth and improvement in the past one year. Moving up from 49th to 36th position, the company has improved by 13 spots in the highly competitive Top 50 ranking for 2022. This achievement is a testament to Ample Solutions' unwavering commitment to excellence and its ability to adapt to evolving industry dynamics. Additionally, the company achieved an outstanding year-on-year revenue increase of 91.92%, with a significant contribution of 50% coming from the thriving automotive industry. "We are grateful for the recognition as one of the Global Top 50 Electronic Component Distributors by ESM China," expressed Jason Fan, CEO of Ample Solutions. "This accomplishment reinforces our dedication to providing outstanding supply chain solutions and establishing trusted partnerships with our clients across the globe." Looking forward, Ample Solutions remains steadfast in its dedication to driving innovation and delivering exceptional service to its valued global partners in 2023 and beyond. Building upon its remarkable accomplishments and the trust instilled by clients worldwide, the company is determined to explore new avenues of growth and redefine industry standards. As part of its ongoing commitment to expanding its presence and strengthening partnerships in the Asian market, Ample Solutions will also be making its appearance in electronica China 2023 and electronica India 2023. By pushing boundaries, exceeding expectations, and pioneering cutting-edge solutions, Ample Solutions aims to be at the forefront of the electronic component distribution landscape. About Ample Solutions: Founded in 2008, Ample Solutions is an independent electronic component distributor that offers global supply chain solutions to electronics manufacturers worldwide. Its services include component distribution, shortage sourcing, excess inventory management. Ample Solutions is headquartered in Singapore with eight Asia regional offices and over 500 employees worldwide. With ISO 9001 certification and membership in the ERAI, Ample Solutions also has two world-class quality assurance centres separately in Hong Kong and Shenzhen, to provide high-quality components at the shortest lead time to ensure the success of its global partners. Ample Solutions Marketing Department [email protected] SOURCE Ample Solutions CHICAGO, May 22, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The global Artificial Intelligence (chipsets) Market is expected to be valued at USD 18.6 billion in 2023 and is projected to reach USD 64.5 billion by 2028; it is expected to grow at a CAGR of 28.1% from 2023 to 2028 according to a new report by MarketsandMarkets. With the proliferation of connected devices, the Internet of Things (IoT), and the digitization of various industries, a massive influx of data is being generated. AI chipsets are crucial in processing and analyzing this vast amount of data in real-time, enabling businesses to extract valuable insights and make data-driven decisions. However, the high costs associated with developing advanced AI (chipsets) pose a barrier to the growth of this market. Download PDF Brochure: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/pdfdownloadNew.asp?id=237558655 Browse in-depth TOC on "Artificial Intelligence (chipsets) Market" 199 Tables 60 Figures 283 Pages Artificial Intelligence (chipsets) Market Report Scope: Report Coverage Details Market Revenue in 2023 $18.6 billion Estimated Value by 2028 $64.5 billion Growth Rate Poised to grow at a CAGR of 28.1% Market Size Available for 20192028 Forecast Period 20232028 Forecast Units Value (USD Million/Billion) Report Coverage Revenue Forecast, Competitive Landscape, Growth Factors, and Trends Segments Covered By Technology, Function, Hardware, End-user Industry and Region Geographies Covered North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and Rest of World Key Market Challenge Data privacy concerns in AI platforms Key Market Opportunities Surging demand for AI-based FPGA Key Market Drivers The emerging trend of autonomous vehicles Computer Vision is expected to hold the highest CAGR for the technology segment during the forecast period. Computer vision applications often require real-time or near-real-time processing capabilities, mainly when immediate decisions or actions must be based on visual data. The demand for computer vision applications is growing across various industries, including healthcare, automotive, retail, surveillance, robotics, and augmented reality. These applications include object detection, image recognition, facial recognition, autonomous vehicles, and quality control systems. AI chipsets are essential for powering the advanced algorithms and processing capabilities required for real-time, high-performance computer vision tasks. Inference function to hold the highest market share during the forecast period. AI chipsets explicitly designed for inference functions are optimized for power efficiency and cost-effectiveness. Many AI applications, such as autonomous driving, industrial automation, natural language processing, and video analytics, require real-time or near-real-time data processing. AI chipsets optimized for inference function enable quick decision-making and response by processing data on the device without relying on cloud or remote servers. This low-latency processing capability is crucial for time-sensitive applications and is driving the growth of the artificial intelligence (chipsets) market for inference. Artificial Intelligence (chipsets) market for memory hardware segment to hold the highest CAGR during the forecast period. AI chipsets with advanced memory hardware are essential for storing and retrieving large datasets and model parameters, enabling efficient and high-performance AI processing. AI workloads, particularly those involving large-scale neural networks, demand high memory bandwidth to efficiently feed the vast amount of data to the processing units. Memory hardware that offers higher bandwidth, such as advanced memory interfaces like GDDR (Graphics Double Data Rate) and HBM, enables faster data transfers and improves overall system performance. The growing need for enhanced memory bandwidth drives the adoption of advanced memory solutions in AI chipsets. Artificial Intelligence (chipsets) market for the healthcare industry to hold the highest market share during the forecast period. The healthcare industry has seen a surge in investments in AI healthcare startups and collaborations between technology companies, healthcare providers, and research institutions. These investments drive innovation in AI chipsets, accelerate product development, and facilitate the integration of AI technologies into existing healthcare systems. Collaborations between AI chipset manufacturers and healthcare providers enable the customization and deployment of AI chipsets for specific healthcare needs. AI chipsets are crucial for powering the high-performance computing required to process complex medical data and run AI algorithms in real-time. These factors are driving the adoption of AI chipsets in the healthcare sector. Inquiry Before Buying: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Enquiry_Before_BuyingNew.asp?id=237558655 Artificial Intelligence (chipsets) market in Canada for North America to hold the highest market share during the forecast period. The Canadian government has recognized AI's potential and taken proactive measures to support its development. Initiatives such as the Pan-Canadian AI Strategy and the Vector Institute for Artificial Intelligence have been established to foster AI research, talent development, and commercialization. The government provides funding and grants to startups and companies involved in AI research and development, including those in the AI chipset sector. Canada has a robust AI research and development ecosystem, with renowned academic institutions, research centers, and AI-focused companies. Institutions like the University of Toronto, McGill University, and the University of Waterloo have significantly contributed to AI. This research expertise fosters innovation and drives advancements in AI chipsets, leading to market growth. The Artificial Intelligence (chipsets) companies includes significant Tier I and II players like Intel Corporation (US), Nvidia Corporation (US), Qualcomm Technologies Inc. (US), Micron Technology, Inc. (US), Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (US), and others. These players have a strong market presence for Artificial Intelligence (chipsets) across various North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and RoW countries. Get 10% Free Customization on this Report: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/requestCustomizationNew.asp?id=237558655 Browse Adjacent Market: Semiconductor and Electronics Market Research Reports &Consulting Related Reports: AI In Computer Vision Market by Component (Hardware, Software), Function (Training, Inference), Application (Industrial, Non-industrial), End-use Industry (Automotive, Consumer Electronics) and Region - Global Forecast to 2028 Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare Market by Offering (Hardware, Software, Services), Technology (Machine Learning, NLP, Context-aware Computing, Computer Vision), Application, End User and Region - Global Forecast to 2028 Automotive Artificial Intelligence Market by Offering, Technology (Deep Learning, Machine Learning, Computer Vision, Context-aware Computing and Natural Language Processing), Process, Application, Component and Region - Global Forecast to 2027 Artificial Intelligence in Manufacturing Market by Offering (Hardware, Software, and Services), Industry, Application, Technology (Machine Learning, Natural Language Processing, Context-aware Computing, Computer Vision), & Region (2022-2027) Computer Vision Market by Component (Hardware (Camera, Frame Grabber, Optics, Processor) and Software (Deep Learning and Traditional Software)), Product (PC Based and Smart Camera Based), Application, Vertical - Global Forecasts to 2023 About MarketsandMarkets MarketsandMarkets is a blue ocean alternative in growth consulting and program management, leveraging a man-machine offering to drive supernormal growth for progressive organizations in the B2B space. We have the widest lens on emerging technologies, making us proficient in co-creating supernormal growth for clients. The B2B economy is witnessing the emergence of $25 trillion of new revenue streams that are substituting existing revenue streams in this decade alone. We work with clients on growth programs, helping them monetize this $25 trillion opportunity through our service lines - TAM Expansion, Go-to-Market (GTM) Strategy to Execution, Market Share Gain, Account Enablement, and Thought Leadership Marketing. Built on the 'GIVE Growth' principle, we work with several Forbes Global 2000 B2B companies - helping them stay relevant in a disruptive ecosystem. Our insights and strategies are molded by our industry experts, cutting-edge AI-powered Market Intelligence Cloud, and years of research. 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Contact: Mr. Aashish Mehra MarketsandMarkets INC. 630 Dundee Road Suite 430 Northbrook, IL 60062 USA: +1-888-600-6441 Email: [email protected] Visit Our Web Site: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/ Research Insight: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/ResearchInsight/artificial-intelligence-chipset-market.asp Content Source: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/PressReleases/ai-chipset.asp Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/660509/MarketsandMarkets_Logo.jpg SOURCE MarketsandMarkets "Gold Standard" SphygmoCor Technology to be Used to Identify Care Outcomes Associated with Routine Monitoring of Patients with Elevated Blood Pressure IRVINE, Calif., May 22, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- ATCOR Medical, a subsidiary of CardieX and developer of innovative medical devices and digital health solutions to optimize hypertension management and improve clinical trial patient outcomes, today announced it has launched a single-center retrospective study of 2,000 hypertensive patients to identify associated care outcomes resulting from the routine monitoring of central aortic blood pressure (cBP) and peripheral blood pressure (pBP). With over six years of patient data, this longitudinal study will evaluate changes in medication prescriptions and patient well-being associated with routine monitoring of elevated blood pressure using ATCOR's patented SphygmoCor vascular biomarker technology, long considered the gold standard in hypertension management and treatment. Real-world evidence (RWE) retrospective studies provide large and diverse point of care data to explain how a clinical practice manages chronic disease and vascular health risk factors across patient populations. Researchers hope to uncover novel treatment and therapeutic protocols, as well as relationships between vascular health risk factors and chronic disease. "Retrospective studies have always been an important focus for ATCOR, said CardieX CEO, Craig Cooper. Our hope is that the data from this study will definitively show how routine blood pressure monitoring using novel digital vascular biomarkers can improve health outcomes and advance the field of cardiovascular medicine." Analysis from retrospective studies may also facilitate standards of care toward patient-centric vascular health management and provide more precise insight into how gender, race, and other factors influence vascular risk. "This study will no doubt deepen our understanding of vascular health risk factors in the management of chronic disease," said Toni R. Hofhine, President - ATCOR Medical. ATCOR is currently constructing an outcome-based vascular health database which will track changes in digital vascular biomarkers with interventional therapies across diverse populations. Working closely with Adaptive Clinical Systems, longitudinal data will be aggregated from electronic health records (EHR), medical imaging, ATCOR's SphygmoCor digital biomarker data, and other data sources. For more information, visit ATCOR Medical.com . About CardieX: CardieX is a global health technology company. Its ATCOR Medical subsidiary is a world leader in medical devices for hypertension, cardiovascular disease, and other vascular health disorders based on the Company's "gold standard" SphygmoCor central blood pressure technology. CardieX's CONNEQT Health subsidiary develops and markets medical devices, digital solutions, and wearables for home health, primary clinician, and other healthcare channels. CardieX is listed on the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX:CDX). SOURCE CardieX Limited HONG KONG, May 22, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Baseus, a leading consumer electronics brand, recently launched an important product: the Baseus PowerCombo Tower series of smart 65W desktop power strips. Utmost Safety Protections Anyone familiar with surge protectors has more or less heard about joules (J), the unit of energy. Baseus PowerCombo Tower series smart version stands out by featuring 1200J surge protection, while the industry standard is between 800 to 1000J, ensuring utmost safety for both individuals and devices. The second great wall is the BDIP Baseus Digital Intelligent Power, a technology that monitors circuit status to detect malfunctions like overload, overvoltage, undervoltage, overcurrent, short-circuit, and more, then actively cuts off the power in 0.1 seconds, solidifying the barrier. Yet, Baseus has gone further. The case is made of fire-retardant material, ensuring that the product is safe-to-use inside out, and is also superpowered by GaN technology which increases power conversion, resulting in less power loss translating to less heat generation, thereby cutting off the odds of causing damage. In short, this charging station features 8 safety protections, keeping its user and their devices safe 24/7 without requiring supervision. All in One Charging As a charger, it has 1 USB C supporting PD 65W, and a 60W USB A port, allowing users to charge a wide range of devices including smartphones, laptops, earbuds, tablets, and more. As a power strip, it offers 3 outlets to power up mid-consumption electronics like a monitor, printer, fax, PC, and more through a single power station, though, the maximum load is 1625W for using all 3 at a time. But what sets it apart, is that a handy 2.6ft retractable USB C cable is built-in, making charging any USB C devices a breeze by simply reaching the cable and pulling it to the appropriate length to keep your desk free of clutter and to save the effort of looking around for a charging cable. The idea behind this product is to streamline your production space. The Baseus PowerCombo Tower Series Smart 65W Desktop Power Strip, a centralized hybrid of charger, power strip, and charging cable with multiple safety protection features, meets the daily needs of multiple outlets use while keeping the desktop tidy, and serves as the safest one-stop charging solution on the desktop, whether at home or in the office. Life-Changing App Control Another point that makes this product stand out from traditional power strips is that a simple tap on the screen of your phone is all you need to turn off the power station remotely after installing the App on your phone and pairing it with the unit. A shutdown timer is available to turn it off automatically as needed, and the power consumption records are accessible on the App to track back to which device consumes the most. Eco-Friendliness Putting all those together, we can say that this product contributes to reducing e-waste by merging cable, charger, and power strip into one, featuring BDPI technology to protect from circuit damage that could accelerate the aging of products resulting in the need for repurchasing one, GaN technology reducing power loss, and giving users a clearer idea of actual power consumption to draw their attention and hopefully suggest them to take part in saving valuable resources through the consumption records on the App, turning it off with ease when idled. Features Multiple smart safety protections All in one charging Effortless App control Compact design (2.6" x 2.6" x 4.45") Intro Baseus PowerCombo series is a lineup of premium digital power strips designed to address power supply needs for various devices on the desktop, whether at home, in the office, and more. About Baseus Baseus is a consumer electronics brand founded in 2011 bearing in mind "Simple for More", creating seamlessly practical and aesthetic products for young tech enthusiasts. It integrates design, research and development, as well as production and sales. For more information, please visit https://www.baseus.com/products/powercombo-6-in-1-charging-station-65w-white. Media Contact: Name: Roy Liao Phone: +1 213-512-7063 Email: [email protected] SOURCE Baseus Technology (HK) Co., Ltd DXC's digital platform transforms how specialty insurance is sold, transacted and serviced LONDON, May 22, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- DXC Technology (NYSE: DXC), a leading Fortune 500 global technology services and insurance software provider, announced that Beat Capital Partners ("Beat"), a long duration investor specializing in the insurance industry, will implement DXC Assure Commercial and Specialty, DXC's cloud-based insurance platform, for Beat's syndicated policy administration. Beat Capital Partners Chooses DXC for New Era of Digital Insurance (Credit: Adobe Stock) Beat, which invests in world-class specialty underwriting franchises, will move to DXC's digital insurance platform and will use all features of DXC Assure Commercial and Specialty. This cloud-based solution combines customer engagement, self-service capabilities, with analytics and a high degree of no-code configurability. The platform will enable Beat's underwriting franchises to consume new digital-first services delivered under Lloyd's Blueprint Two, an initiative to transform the London insurance market from a largely paper-based, analog set of processes, to a marketplace that is digital, efficient and data-first. The software-as-a-service contract was signed in late March and allows for early-adopter access to DXC's complete insurance roadmap and customer community. "After completing an extensive formal industry-wide search, we selected DXC Assure Commercial and Specialty as the preferred platform for policy administration written through Lloyd's Syndicate 4242," said Brett Hockly, Head of IT, Beat Capital Partners Limited. "We expect that the cloud-based platform will meet our core requirements, especially consortiums, which is a significant part of our business. The DXC team has strong heritage in the Lloyd's market and gave us strong confidence in its ability to help us to evolve to a more data-driven business model." "We are thrilled to welcome Beat as an early adopter of DXC Assure, helping it to modernize and keep pace with market dynamics," said Ray August, Global Lead, Insurance Software & BPS, DXC Technology. "Beat is working closely with our team to pave the way for others as significant strides are being made to transform how specialty insurance is sold, transacted and serviced." DXC, the number one provider of core insurance technology globally, offers market-ready solutions for carriers and brokers in the global specialty market. It recently announced Blueprint Two transitional services allowing digital enablement for those using legacy or existing systems via a new SaaS offering, DXC Assure Market Link. DXC is also building the digital platform and providing IT services supporting the London market transformation. DXC Assure Commercial and Specialty enables the availability of the new services delivered under Blueprint Two, including CDR, MRCv3, EBOT, ECOT Writeback, as well as Ruschlikon, B2B, global IPOS/ICOS standards and interoperability with placing platforms. About DXC Technology DXC Technology (NYSE: DXC) helps global companies run their mission-critical systems and operations while modernizing IT, optimizing data architectures, and ensuring security and scalability across public, private and hybrid clouds. The world's largest companies and public sector organizations trust DXC to deploy services to drive new levels of performance, competitiveness, and customer experience across their IT estates. Learn more about how we deliver excellence for our customers and colleagues at DXC.com. About Beat Capital Beat Capital Partners is a long duration venture capital investor exclusively focused on the insurance industry, offering the right individuals and teams start-up funding, infrastructure, risk capital, and highly rated paper, alongside experienced guidance and support. Beat has launched ten businesses since its founding in 2017, which will collectively write gross premiums estimated in excess of US$650 million in 2023 and operates Lloyd's Syndicates 4242 and 1416. Beat is backed by experienced insurance investors Bain Capital Credit, Elliott Management and Amwins, as well as its management team, and is committed to being the best possible partner for proven insurance talent. For more information, see www.beatcapital.com. Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2081458/DXC_Technology_Company_Beat_Capital_Partners_Chooses_DXC_Assure.jpg SOURCE DXC Technology Company LONDON and NEW YORK, May 22, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Arcesium, a leading global financial technology firm, and BlueCrest Capital Management, the prominent private investment firm led by Mike Platt, announced their agreement to commence the implementation of Arcesium's fully integrated technology platform and Financial Operations professionals, which will, once deployed, support BlueCrest's operational teams. BlueCrest will seek to leverage Arcesium's cloud-based infrastructure, which assists with post-trade operations and middle- and back-office workflows. BlueCrest will also look to take advantage of Arcesium's global Financial Operations capabilities to augment its sophisticated in-house operations and technology team. "Since opening the Arcesium London office in 2020 as part of our continued global expansion, we have seen a growing appetite from large, complex asset managers looking to optimize their businesses whilst reducing costs and inefficiencies. BlueCrest is a perfect example of this, and we are delighted to work with them," said Chris Barrow, Head of Arcesium Europe. To learn more about Arcesium's solutions for hedge funds, please visit: https://www.arcesium.com/who-we-serve/hedge-funds/ About Arcesium LLC Arcesium is a global financial technology company delivering pre- and post-investment and enterprise data management solutions to some of the world's most sophisticated financial institutions, including hedge funds, banks, institutional asset managers, and private equity firms. Expertly designed to achieve a synchronized golden source of data throughout a client's ecosystem, Arcesium's cloud-native technology is built to systematize the most complex workflows and help clients achieve scale. Today, Arcesium services over $675 billion in global client AUM with a staff of over 1,800 software engineering, accounting, operations, and treasury professionals. Arcesium was built from a platform developed and tested by investment and technology development firm, the D. E. Shaw group, and launched as a joint venture with Blackstone Alternative Asset Management. J.P. Morgan, another large client, later made a strategic investment in the company, helping Arcesium further its mission: to power the entire investment lifecycle. For more information about Arcesium and our capabilities, visit www.arcesium.com and follow us on LinkedIn. SOURCE Arcesium DALLAS, May 22, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Bottle Rocket Studios, a leading digital experience company, has today announced the launch of Ignite, a digital acceleration platform that provides small-to-mid sized restaurant brands with a launchpad to create fully customizable native mobile experiences for iOS, Android, and Web. Ignite, a proprietary framework that blends code libraries and pre-built integrations, offers growing restaurant brands an attainable opportunity to create custom, differentiated mobile and web experiences for their customers. Businesses built on Ignite can now accelerate digital transformation and streamline development processes by up to 40%. Tweet this Bottle Rocket's Ignite allows restaurant brands to bring a new digital experience to their customers with less friction and in less time than a fully custom application. As restaurant brands of all sizes continue to invest in digital capabilities to keep customers engaged, many smaller national brands and regional brands still struggle to bring customer-centric digital solutions to market fast enough and at a manageable cost point for their business. Ignite provides restaurants the opportunity to deepen their digital maturity and leverage the power of digital to better serve and connect with their customers, all in less time than a fully custom native application, but with equal flexibility for brand differentiation. Businesses built on the Ignite platform can now accelerate their digital transformation and streamline their app development processes by up to 40%. According to Rajesh Midha, CEO of Bottle Rocket, "Ignite represents the next evolution in digital acceleration platforms for restaurants. We built Ignite to help brands unlock their full potential by providing a flexible, easy-to-use platform that streamlines the app development process and helps create experiences customers crave while enhancing loyalty and retention." "With a focus on speed, flexibility, and customer-centricity, Ignite is the ultimate toolkit for restaurant brands looking to create experiences that truly resonate with their customers," says Midha. "Ignite unlocks your product roadmap, realizes valuable KPIs, and allows you to innovate on top of a scalable base." Will McGinty, a lead engineer at Bottle Rocket and lead developer for Ignite states, "The Ignite platform provides everything that growing restaurants need from customization and partner integration flexibility to flagship operating system features, all while maintaining a favorable price point, and an optimized user experience. Plus, brands can benefit from the reliability provided by a shared underlying code, roadmap acceleration, and scaled growth acceleration, ensuring that they achieve business goals quickly and efficiently." Ignite was created by the industry-leading experts at Bottle Rocket who have been creating memorable, impactful, and mission-critical customer experiences for over 15 years. To learn more about Ignite, please visit: www.bottlerocketstudios.com/ignite and to learn more about Bottle Rocket's full suite of experience services and its extensive restaurant industry experience, visit www.bottlerocketstudios.com. About Bottle Rocket Bottle Rocket is a digital experience consultancy that provides strategy, product, design, and technology services that drive business results and exceed customer expectations. We've been designing and building mission-critical apps and websites for businesses since 2008. Many of the world's leading brands turn to Bottle Rocket to develop personal, contextual, and frictionless experiences that have changed the way businesses serve customers and employees. Bottle Rocket is part of the Ogilvy Experience worldwide network. To learn more, visit us at bottlerocketstudios.com or drop us a note at [email protected] . Press contact: Jana Boone, [email protected] SOURCE Bottle Rocket SAN DIEGO, May 22, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- California Court Appointed Special Advocate Association (California CASA) applauds Governor Gavin Newsom's decision to restore $40 million for programs for children and youth in foster care in the revised FY 2023-24 budget. The $20 million state appropriations in both FY 2023-24 and FY 2024-25 will expand the vital advocacy services that nearly 12,000 CASA volunteers provide annually to 13,000 children and youth in foster care, who are very often victims of neglect, abuse, or exploitation. "We thank Governor Newsom and the Legislature for prioritizing the needs of children and youth in foster care," said Sharon M. Lawrence, Esq., Chief Executive Officer, California CASA. "We were pleased to garner bipartisan support, and leadership from key legislators and budget subcommittees, in recognizing the positive impact of this funding. The model of one CASA volunteer advocating for one child works, and this investment from our state is an important validation of its power and potential." CASA volunteers are often the only stable, trusted adult in the life of a child in foster care; the one person who will speak up for themin court, in school, and in the communityto make sure their voice is heard, and their needs remain the top priority. Youth in foster care assigned a CASA volunteer are more likely to perform better in school, receive more services, and achieve a permanent home. In June 2022, Governor Newsom and the California State Legislature committed a total of $60 million over three years to support the CASA program. In the January 2023 budget, the Governor had proposed eliminating funding for years two and three of this commitment. The loss of $40 million would have resulted in fewer resources and services to support the state's CASA programs, fewer volunteers recruited and trained, and fewer children offered a chance to thrive with the skilled and compassionate support of a CASA volunteer. California has more children and youth in foster care than any other state in the nation, approximately 80,000 in the course of a year. "In partnership with the 44 local CASA programs across the state, we envisioned the $60 million investment as our launch pad to enhance the capacity of the entire network to recruit more volunteers and serve more children, more quickly and effectively," explained Lawrence. "With the first year's allocation, we were able to provide grants to each of the 44 local CASA programs to strengthen their capabilities. With the full funding restored, we can continue on this path of growth and greater impact, so that every child in California's foster care system can have a CASA by their side if they need one." About California CASA Association California CASA, a private, nonprofit organization, is the statewide association serving and supporting a network of 44 local CASA programs. California CASA provides training and resources, raises awareness for the need for CASA volunteers, and promotes legislation that benefits children in foster care. The 44 independent, nonprofit organizations, appointed by their local Superior Courts, are located in 51 of the state's 58 countieslocations where 99% of California's foster population live. California has more children and youth in foster care than any other state in the nation, approximately 80,000 in the course of a year. Currently, only 16% of California foster children (13,000) have a CASA volunteer advocating on their behalf, but California CASA and its Board of Directors have set a 10-year visionary goal to provide CASAs for every child who needs one. For more information, please visit www.californiacasa.org. SOURCE California CASA Association One of the appeals of Netflix is to have access to a library of films from other countries and continents. So, its not surprising that one feature that is very popular on the platform right now is an Indian Hindi-language movie. As we said, during these past few weeks some international movies have been in the most-streamed list on the platform. Thats the case of the French action thriller AKA, that right now is Top 4 in all countries. Meanwhile, the Mexican satire Que Viva Mexico! is also Top 6 worldwide. Another international title that is doing well on the platform is the Dutch drama Faithfully Yours, which is currently number 2 worldwide. The Indian film Mrs. Chatterjee vs Norway triumphs on Netflix One of the films that has captivated audiences worldwide on Netflix is the Indian Hindi-language movie Mrs Chatterjee Vs Norway. According to the site FlixPatrol, the film is Top 3 worldwide. The movie is a legal drama inspired by the real-life story of an Indian couple whose children were taken away by Norwegian authorities in 2011. Ashima Chibber wrote and directed the film. It follows Debika and her husband Aniruddha, who live in Stavanger with their children Shubba and five-month old Shuchi. However, after evaluating them, the Norwegian Child Welfare Services decides to take away the children as they find their parents unfit to hold their custody. But, Debika decides to sue the government and win back custody of her children. It stars Rani Mukerji, Anirban Bhattacharya, Neena Gupta and Jim Sarbh. While the movie is inspired by a real case, its still worth noting that it is still fiction. Even the Norway Embassy in India issued a statement regarding the movie, as there has been controversy with the depiction of the cultural differences between the countries. WASHINGTON, May 22, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, Inc. (CFP Board) announced today that it has named Lynn McNutt as Director of Executive Communications, effective May 22. Based in CFP Board's Washington, D.C. headquarters, McNutt will provide strategic counsel, writing and editorial support for the CEO and elected leadership. She will collaborate with senior leaders, the Marketing and Communications team, and executives and staff across the organization to elevate and advance the profile of CFP Board leadership. The Director of Executive Communications is a new leadership role reporting to Managing Director of Marketing & Communications James N. Katsaounis and working closely with CEO Kevin R. Keller, CAE. "Lynn's extensive experience showcasing thought leadership and her deep understanding of associations uniquely qualify her for this role," said CFP Board CEO Kevin R. Keller, CAE. "We welcome Lynn's expertise and modern approach as we work to expand awareness of the CFP certification and develop a sustainable and diverse financial planner workforce." McNutt joins CFP Board from the American Society of Association Executives (ASAE), where, as Vice President of Workforce and Career Solutions, she led workforce development and worked with several of the association's CEO and executive communities. Previously, McNutt served for more than two decades on the Executive Team of CEO Update, a community and suite of resources for association CEOs and senior executives. For nearly 20 years, she was Managing Editor before being named Editor-in-Chief. At CEO Update, she led publishing and business operations; managed a team that produced an industry-leading publication, job board and financial database; convened peer groups; and hosted events that connect and convene association leaders. McNutt holds a bachelor's degree in English from James Madison University. ABOUT CFP BOARD CFP Board is the professional body for personal financial planners in the U.S. CFP Board consists of two affiliated organizations focused on advancing the financial planning profession for the public's benefit. CFP Board of Standards sets and upholds standards for financial planning and administers the prestigious CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER certification widely recognized by the public, advisors and firms as the standard for financial planners so that the public has access to the benefits of competent and ethical financial planning. CFP certification is held by more than 95,000 people in the U.S. CFP Board Center for Financial Planning addresses diversity and workforce development challenges and conducts and publishes research that adds to the financial planning profession's body of knowledge. SOURCE Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, Inc. Students participated in experiments and attended lectures by top scientists. CENTENNIAL, Colo., May 22, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- In May 2023, Colorado SKIES Academy (CSA) 7th and 8th-grade learners (students) traveled to Oxford, England, to attend an immersive two-day experience at the University of Oxford. ISSET, Team Oxford Chief Scientist Daniel Molland, invited the middle school group. While on campus, the learners worked directly with the scientists performing experiments and participating in seminars. ISSET, Team Oxford Chief Scientist Daniel Molland speaking to Colorado SKIES Academy 7th and 8th-grade learners. Students learned about hunting for life, the basis of current biology, mutation genes, ocean worlds, Enceladus supporting life into space, experimental development of ISSET payload, design of experiments, microgravity, and data collection from Mr. Molland. In addition, they learned about similarities between planets and why those similarities are significant from earth scientist and associate professor of planetary materials Dr. Jon Wade and how proteins are at the center of human health and disease from associate professor Dr. Jason Schnell. Guided by Colorado SKIES Academy science facilitator Subba Pratti, the middle schoolers also had a chance to explore the Oxford campus, visit the Museum of Natural History, and even see a couple of Harry Potter film locations. "This was a prestigious opportunity for CSA learners and myself to be invited to Oxford to learn about space and microgravity from leading scientists," explained Ms. Pratti. "We are looking forward to more experiences like this for our learners in the Fall." According to Pratti, Colorado SKIES Academy learners have been invited to the Ed Lumley Centre for Engineering Innovation at the University of Windsor in Ontario, Canada, this Fall. There, guided by Pratti, CSA students will have the opportunity to learn about geothermal energy from Dr. Tirupati Bolisetti, a Turbulence & Energy Lab professor. Colorado SKIES Academy provides a hands-on, project-based curriculum through the lens of aviation and aerospace to all learners in grades 6-8 from a tuition-free public charter school based at Centennial Airport. Community members formed CSA in partnership with Maker Learning Network. The learning model promotes individualized instruction, active learning methods, and opportunities for self-directed learning. The organization celebrates and fosters each child's individuality and supports them in discovering their highest potential in the environment which best suits their learning needs. Spots are still available at the school; families can learn more by scheduling a campus tour here: https://coloradoskiesacademy.org/contact/schedule-a-tour/. This press release was issued through 24-7PressRelease.com. For further information, visit http://www.24-7pressrelease.com. SOURCE Colorado SKIES Academy PUNE, India, May 22, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- According to a recent market study published by Growth Market Reports, titled, "Combined Charging System Market Segments - by Component (Hardware and Software), Power (40Kwh to 100Kwh, 100Kwh to 200Kwh, and More than 200Kwh), and Region: Size, Share, Trends and Opportunity Analysis, 2023-2031", the global market size was USD 11.7 billion in 2022 and is expected to surpass USD 15.1 billion expanding at a CAGR of 32.1% by the end of 2031. The market growth is attributed to the increasing demand for electric vehicles (EVs) and the adoption of combined charging systems for speedily charging EV batteries. Recent Development In February 2021, the United States government announced rules for electric charging stations as part of a USD 7.5 billion federal government program to boost the adoption of EVs in the region. One of the new regulations states that any companies hoping to benefit from federal funding must also adopt the CCS standard in their EV models. Key Market Players Profiled in the Report PHOENIX CONTACT CONTACT Exicom AMP Vector Informatik GmbH IOTECHA INC CharIN e. V EV Safe Charge Inc SEVENSTAX GmbH Lubi EV Solutions YoCharge Download PDF Sample here: https://growthmarketreports.com/request-sample/4930 The report covers comprehensive data on emerging trends, market drivers, growth opportunities, and restraints that can change the market dynamics of the industry. It provides an in-depth analysis of the market segments which include component, power, and competitor analysis. This report also includes a complete analysis of industry players and covers their latest developments, product portfolio, pricing, mergers, acquisitions, and collaborations. Moreover, it provides crucial strategies that are helping market players to expand their market share. For Any Questions on This Report: https://growthmarketreports.com/enquiry-before-buying/4930 Highlights on the Segments of the Combined Charging System Market On the basis of region, the global combined charging system market is classified as North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, and the Middle East & Africa. Europe is anticipated to dominate the global market throughout the projection period. This growth is likely to be supported by the presence of key manufacturers such as SEVENSTAX GmbH, PHOENIX CONTACT, and Vector Informatik GmbH, among others. Further, the market in the region is supported by the growing popularity of electric vehicles among automobile users. North America is projected to grow at a rapid pace in the coming years owing to the rising adoption of combined charging systems among EV users. It is one of the fastest-growing regions in terms of EV sales owing to supporting government policies and increasing availability of EV-supporting infrastructure. To Buy the Complete Report: https://growthmarketreports.com/report/combined-charging-system-market-global-industry-analysis Key Takeaways from the Study: Combined Charging System (CCS) is a charging connector designed for speedily charging electric vehicle batteries. It combines two types of electric vehicle plugs AC and DC into one socket. CCS is charging as well as vehicle communication standards for rapid DC charging. An ideal CCS solution can deliver up to 350 kilowatts of electricity using the Type 1 and Type 2 connectors. CCS sockets combine inlets for AC and DC with shared communication pins. The combined charging system allows charging sockets to be smaller than the space required for CHAdeMO or GB/T DC and AC sockets. The adoption of CCS charging is becoming common across the world among EV users which is majorly boosting the market growth. Most of the new EV models accept CCS charging owing to its rapid charging and versatility. The development of charging infrastructure in public places is likely to create opportunities for the CCS market. It is highly compatible with charging hubs/stations as they have the ability to supply higher-rate currents required for quick charging. The amount of energy supply required for charging EVs is high and hence usage in charging EVs at the residential premise is less, as these electric systems are mostly single-phase AC. On the basis of component, the combined charging system market is bifurcated into hardware and software. The hardware segment is projected to grow at the fastest pace during the assessment period owing to the rising adoption of CCS in various EV models for speedy charging. Based on power, the market is classified as 40Kwh to 100Kwh, 100Kwh to 200Kwh, and more than 200Kwh. The more than 200Kwh segment held a major market share in 2022 and is expected to dominate in the coming years owing to high-power charging requirements for different electric vehicle models. Read 175 Pages Research Report with Detailed TOC on "Combined Charging System Market Segments - by Component (Hardware and Software), Power (40Kwh to 100Kwh, 100Kwh to 200Kwh, and More than 200Kwh), and Region (North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, and Middle East & Africa) - Global Industry Analysis, Growth, Share, Size, Trends, and Forecast, 2023 2031" Get Full Access to this Report: https://growthmarketreports.com/checkout/4930 Key Segments Covered Component Hardware Software Power 40Kwh to 100Kwh 100Kwh to 200Kwh More than 200Kwh Region North America Europe Asia Pacific Latin America Middle East & Africa Other Related Reports: Electric Vehicle Charging Station Market Segments - by by Levels of Charging (Level 1, Level 2, and Level 3), Charging Infrastructure (Normal Charge, Type-2, CCS, CHAdeMO, and Tesla Supercharger), DC Fast Charging (Fast and Ultra-fast), Installation Types (Portable Charger and Fixed Charger), and Regions ( Asia Pacific , North America , Latin America , Europe , and the Middle East & Africa ) - Global Industry Analysis, Growth, Share, Size, Trends, and Forecast 2021 2028 Global Electric Vehicles (EVs) Market by Type (Battery Powered Electric Vehicles, Hybrid Electric Vehicles, Fuel Cell Electric Vehicles), By Application (Commercial Vehicle, Passenger Vehicle), And by Region ( North America , Latin America , Europe , Asia Pacific and Middle East & Africa ), Forecast From 2022 To 2030 Global Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles Market by Type (Stored Electricity, On Board Electric Generator), By Application (Passenger Cars, Commercial Vehicles, Two Wheelers, Others), and Region ( North America , Latin America , Europe , Asia Pacific , and Middle East & Africa ), Forecast To 2028 Global Electric Motorcycle Market by Type (Electric Motorcycle, Electric Scooter), By Application (<14 yrs, 14-35 yrs, 36-60 yrs, >60 yrs), And By Region ( North America , Latin America , Europe , Asia Pacific , and Middle East & Africa ), Forecast From 2022 To 2030 About Growth Market Reports: Growth Market Reports provides global enterprises as well as small & medium businesses with unmatched quality of "Market Research Reports" and "Industry Intelligence Solutions". Growth Market Reports has a targeted view to provide business insights and consulting to assist its clients in making strategic business decisions and achieving sustainable growth in their respective market domains. Our key analysis segments, though not restricted to the same, include market entry strategies, market size estimations, market trend analysis, market opportunity analysis, market threat analysis, market growth/fall forecasting, primary interviews, and secondary research & consumer surveys. Contact: Alex Mathews 7th Floor, Siddh Icon, Baner Road, Pune. Maharashtra 411045. India. Phone: +1 909 414 1393 Email: [email protected] Web: https://growthmarketreports.com/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/growth_reports LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/growth-market-report/ Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1980656/Growth_Market_Reports_Logo1.jpg SOURCE Growth Market Reports REDDITCH, England, May 22, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Concentric has been awarded a large contract for precision machined components in North America, with an existing global OEM customer. This new business was won based on a 15+ years relationship with this strategically important customer, increasing Concentric's share of wallet significantly. The components will be used in energy efficient medium and heavy-duty hydraulic products, in off-highway applications, in agricultural and construction equipment. The new business obtained by Concentric, is expected to yield around 55 MSEK in annual sales, and deliveries are scheduled to start in the second quarter of 2024. The contract is open-ended and will span the life time of the application, which based on past experience with this customer, will be 10+ years. Concentric's EMP brand has been trusted by major OEMs to deliver complex machined products which meet the most challenging specifications, from its 250,000 sqft highly automated North American manufacturing facility in Escanaba, Michigan, for over three decades. This is the second significant contract win for EMP in the last 9 months, and is testament to the EMP brand and value proposition, and is as important today to our customers as it has been over the last thirty years. "Since Concentric AB acquired EMP in October 2021, we have continued to invest in technology and resources to accelerate profitable growth in both Escanaba and Greenfield, and this win represents another key step on this exciting journey," said Martin Kunz, Concentric President & CEO. For further information, please contact: Lynne McCarthy (Media Contact) at Tel: +44 121 445 6545 or E-mail: [email protected] The following files are available for download: SOURCE Concentric AB GRAND RAPIDS, Mich., May 22, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- cultivate(MD) Capital Funds LP , funds that are focused on investments into early-stage healthcare companies with innovative technologies, announced today that one of their portfolio companies, Lincoln, Nebraska-based Virtual Incision Corporation, has submitted a De Novo request to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to market its MIRA Surgical System for use in bowel resection procedures. The submission comes on the heels of Virtual Incision's completed Investigational Device Exemption (IDE) clinical study that evaluated the company's MIRA Surgical System for use in bowel resection. Virtual Incision Corporation is a medical device company developing the world's first miniaturized robotic-assisted surgery (RAS) system, MIRA. Its small, sleek design offers the benefits of RAS during bowel resection procedures without the logistical inefficiencies of traditional mainframe robotics. If granted market authorization, MIRA will become the world's first miniaturized RAS device cleared through the De Novo pathway for use in bowel resection procedures, making it a trailblazer for a new category of soft tissue robotics. Beyond granting Virtual Incision the ability to sell MIRA in the U.S. for its intended use, an authorization may enable additional procedural indications, entry into international markets, the release of new instruments and accessories, and future miniaturized generations of the surgical system. Virtual Incision Corporation is a medical device company developing the world's first miniaturized robotic-assisted surgery system, MIRA. Tweet this "Throughout the history of RAS, only a few companies have managed to reach this significant milestone," said John Murphy, President, and Chief Executive Officer of Virtual Incision. "If we are successful with our submission, the FDA De Novo pathway will establish MIRA in a brand-new medical device category of miniaturized RAS. Our design is disruptive and highly differentiated among the current landscape of available and emerging technologies. We are proud of the data we collected, as they demonstrate the capabilities of MIRA in one of the most complex multi-quadrant abdominal procedures. We also observed many operational efficiencies that make the miniaturized approach so unique and potentially scalable to the millions of patients who could be candidates for RAS each year." R. Sean Churchill, MD, MBA, Executive Director of Genesis Innovation Group said, "cultivate(MD) Capital Funds is proud to have partnered with the Virtual Incision team over the past 4 years. John Murphy and his team have held true to their vision of developing the most versatile, minimally invasive, and cost-effective robot there is for abdominal surgical procedures. Completing the IDE study design is a monumental accomplishment and truly recognizes the safety and efficiency of their RAS system. We look forward to continuing our relationship with Virtual Incision to help bring this technology to surgeons and hospitals worldwide." Due to the reproducibility of RAS as a minimally invasive approach, its demand continues to rise and so does the need for easy-to-use, differentiated RAS options that are accessible to all hospital architectures. MIRA's miniaturized design introduces a new category of RAS that pairs the strength and precision surgeons expect with the miniaturization required to feasibly bring broad adoption of RAS to ambulatory surgical centers (ASCs), rural hospitals, and large health systems alike. When granted market authorization, Virtual Incision will work to deploy a limited market release of MIRA in pursuit of expanding access to RAS, either as a complementary or standalone option. About Virtual Incision Virtual Incision is on a mission to simplify robotic-assisted surgery (RAS), so more patients and their surgeons can access its benefits every day. Headquartered in Lincoln, Nebraska, and holding over two hundred patents and patent applications, the company is developing MIRA, the first-of-its-kind miniature RAS platform. Virtual Incision's goal is to make every operating room RAS-ready. For more information, visit their website . About cultivate(MD) Capital Funds As a medical device venture capital fund, cultivate(MD) is dedicated to bringing emerging health care innovations to market, with a special focus on medical device and orthopedic technologies. cultivate(MD) is focused on investing in early stage healthcare companies with innovative technologies that have demonstrated evidence of effectiveness. For more information, visit: https://cultivate-md.com Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements This communication contains statements that constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding our plans, beliefs, expectations, assumptions, and other statements that are not necessarily historical facts. You are cautioned that these forward-looking statements are only predictions and involve risks and uncertainties. Further, any forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date on which it is made, and we do not intend to update or revise any forward-looking statements. This communication also contains market data related to our business and industry which includes projections that are based on several assumptions we believe are reasonable and most significant to the projections as of the date of this communication. If any of our assumptions prove to be incorrect, our actual results may significantly differ from our projections based on these assumptions. SOURCE cultivate(MD) DUBLIN, May 22, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Drafting Effective Pharmaceutical Patents Training Course" conference has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. The highly complex area of pharmaceutical patents is looked at in detail in this course. The expert faculty will take you through the key differences between the European and US systems and how these can impact your patents. They will explore the latest strategies and give you useful insights and practical solutions to your drafting issues. By understanding the importance of aligning your patent and regulatory strategies, you will improve your pharmaceutical claim drafting skills to the best advantage. The practical claim drafting exercises included in the course will give you an opportunity to get to grips with the information in a safe environment and under the guidance of the trainers. They will help embed what you have learnt so that it can be taken back to the workplace and put into practice. As well as receiving inside knowledge and top tips and advice from the highly experienced professionals from industry and private practice, the course also provides a valuable opportunity to network with others in similar roles from different companies. By attending, you can discuss your challenges with colleagues and our expert faculty and find solutions to your questions. Key topics covered in this intensive training programme include: Drafting primary patents and secondary patents Key differences between drafting for Europe versus the US versus the US Claim drafting strategies for antibodies and other biologics Drafting claims that 'follow the label' Drafting patent applications with sufficient supporting data - how much is enough? Aligning your patent strategy with regulatory issues Who Should Attend: Patent attorneys In-house lawyers Private practice lawyers Patent agents and consultants Key Topics Covered: Day 1 Summary of the course Overview of the programme Patentability basics Drafting primary patents - small molecules Protecting pharmaceutical compositions Protecting methods of treatment Protecting medical use claims (first, second and Swiss-type) Drafting primary patents - biologics Drafting sequence disclosures Protecting antibodies, stem cells and microorganisms Drafting generic and species claims Drafting functional claim language Protecting gene therapy inventions Day 2 Primary patents workshop Selection inventions Drafting claims for infringement Distilling down the invention disclosure Patenting later developments Practical examples and drafting exercises Drafting with a focus towards interplay with regulatory issues Patent term extension and SPCs Regulatory issues and data protection - drafting to 'follow the label' The ANDA litigation process and enforcement of listed patents Overlay of patent protection with FDA exclusivity - the FDA Orange Book Strategies for protecting biologics Day 3 Data needed to support patent applications What data must be included? When must the data be included? Consideration of post-filing date data US written description The importance of correct data - avoiding inequitable conduct Secondary patents Protecting dosage regimes, modes of administration, patient groups Protecting polymorphs (crystals, enantiomers, salts) Protecting metabolites Protecting new formulations Protecting process patents Protecting methods of diagnosis and surgery Day 4 Secondary patents workshop Establishing patentability: inventive step vs non-obviousness Strategies for using post-filing evidence Practical examples and drafting exercises Speakers: Amanda Murphy Partner Finnegan's Washington, DC Office Dr. Amanda Murphy is a Partner in Finnegan's Washington, DC Office and focuses her practice on strategic client counseling, portfolio management, and patent prosecution for a range of clients, including small startup companies, research foundations, and large biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies. Amanda provides patentability opinions, prepares new patent applications, prosecutes U.S. and foreign applications, and represents appellants before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). She has experience in prosecuting inter partes and ex parte reexamination applications, reissue applications, and patent term extension applications for approved pharmaceuticals, including obtaining supplemental protection certificates in Europe. In addition to her patent counseling and prosecution practice, Amanda also routinely represents petitioners and patent owners in inter partes review (IPR) and post grant review (PGR) proceedings before the PTAB. As part of that practice, Amanda works with experts to develop technical and legal bases for challenging or defending issued patents, and manages the preparation of substantive written submissions. She also provides strategic advice and pre-litigation analysis and prepares freedom-to-operate, enforceability, and infringement opinions. For more information about this conference visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/gnh948 About ResearchAndMarkets.com ResearchAndMarkets.com is the world's leading source for international market research reports and market data. We provide you with the latest data on international and regional markets, key industries, the top companies, new products and the latest trends. Media Contact: Research and Markets Laura Wood, Senior Manager [email protected] For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470 For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call +1-800-526-8630 For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900 U.S. Fax: 646-607-1907 Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716 Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/539438/Research_and_Markets_Logo.jpg SOURCE Research and Markets The study met secondary study endpoints and long-term sensor use was associated with significant improvements in patient quality-of-life metrics and low event rates for heart failure hospitalization and death LISLE, Ill., May 22, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Endotronix, Inc., a digital health and medical technology company dedicated to advancing the treatment of heart failure (HF), today announced positive 12-month data from the SIRONA 2 clinical trial that demonstrated long-term use of the Cordella Pulmonary Artery (PA) Sensor was associated with significant improvements in patient quality-of-life metrics and low HF hospitalization and death (HFH/D) event rates for New York Heart Failure (NYHA) class III patients. The results expand on the previously published positive 90-day primary endpoint data on device safety and pressure accuracy for the Cordella PA Sensor. The 12-month results were presented on May 20th at the European Society of Cardiology's annual conference, Heart Failure 2023, by Professor Birgit Amus, a heart failure cardiologist at the University of Giessen in Giessen, Germany. "Adding to a robust foundation of clinical evidence supporting the use of Cordella, the 12-month SIRONA 2 data further validates the benefit of PA pressure-guided therapy to improve patient outcomes for NYHA class III patients," stated Prof. Amus. "Cordella's comprehensive approach consists of PA pressure data plus non-invasive data, including blood pressure, weight, and heart rate, which enables my team to efficiently titrate key HF medications remotely and help patients feel better. By actively monitoring the trended health data, we can bring down the PA pressures to avoid acute HF hospitalizations which delivers meaningful benefits to our overall health system and to patient lives." The Cordella solution is the first and only patient management platform to provide both critical PA pressure data with an implanted sensor, and noninvasive vitals for comprehensive clinical management delivered in the patient's home. The easy-to-use devices securely transmit a patient's daily health status for trended insights that support optimal dosing of guideline-directed medical therapy (GDMT) across all types of heart failure. The patient-friendly system engages the patient and allows them to view their trended health data which has been shown in clinical evaluation to support healthy lifestyle choices. The streamlined workflow enhances current clinical practice, providing a scalable solution that enables new treatment standards to reduce and prevent HF congestion. SIRONA 2 is an open-label, single-arm trial of 70 European patients that met its primary endpoints for safety and accuracy with the previously reported 90-day results. The 12-month results extended both the strong safety profile, with no PA sensor failures and no additional device/system-related complications (DSRC=1.3%), as well as accurate PA pressure measurement, with good agreement with the gold standard fluid-filled reference catheter (Swan Ganz). The recent results also met secondary endpoints for validated patient quality-of-life metrics and demonstrated low event rates for HF Hospitalization / Death (HFH/D) as indicated below. 12-Month SIRONA 2 Key Findings Significant improvement in patient quality-of-life metrics, including NYHA classification over 12 months (p<0.0001) and 6-minute walk test distance at both 3 months (p=0.005) and 12 months (p=0.02) Low event rates for HF Hospitalization/Death and only 5 deaths (7.1%) at 12 months Cumulative hazard rate for HFH (0.27) and HFH/D (0.33) 78.6% reduction in HFH rate in the year following implant compared to the year prior Consistently high patient compliance with daily submissions of heath data - 95% at 12 months "We are thrilled with the significant improvement in patient quality of life and low event rates demonstrated in the 12-month SIRONA 2 data, which sets the stage for upcoming PROACTIVE-HF trial results in early next year," commented Harry Rowland, CEO of Endotronix. "Together, this clinical evidence will serve as the foundation for our upcoming commercial launch and enable clinicians to improve patients' lives for the better." About Endotronix Endotronix innovates at the intersection of Medtech & Digital Health to improve care for people living with heart failure (HF). The comprehensive Cordella solution enables proactive, data-driven HF management that engages patients, reduces and prevents congestion, and improves outcomes. The Cordella Sensor is an implantable pulmonary artery (PA) pressure sensor which directly measures the leading indicator of congestion, allowing early, targeted therapy. The Cordella HF System is a patient health management platform, which combines comprehensive vital sign data from non-invasive devices to support patient-clinician engagement and care decisions. Combining trended insights, the versatile and scalable Cordella enhances current clinical practice, and supports guideline-based care across the entire HF continuum. Learn more at www.endotronix.com. The Cordella Sensor is under clinical investigation and is not available for commercial use in any geography. The Cordella HF System, without the sensor, is available for commercial use in the U.S. and E.U. Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements This press release may contain predictions, estimates or other information that might be considered forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements are not a guarantee of future performance. Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/625372/Endotronix_Logo.jpg SOURCE Endotronix, Inc. Expansion plans to add 178 new jobs, building on 75 years in Asheboro ST. LOUIS, May 22, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Energizer Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: ENR) today announced plans to invest $43 million in expanded manufacturing operations and jobs in Asheboro, North Carolina, over the next several years. The move will also create 144 jobs over the next three years and 178 total jobs over five years. Arriving as the company commemorates 75 years in the community, the investment enables Energizer Holdings to continue meeting global demand for high-quality batteries while bringing more job opportunities to the region. Energizer is investing in manufacturing and packaging operations in Asheboro, North Carolina facilities. "As Energizer Holdings strives to work smarter across its operations, we are constantly reviewing our enterprise to strategically invest to maximize the growth of our operations," says Tom Bendl, the Vice President of Global Battery & Lights Supply Chain. "Making these investments helps optimize our network. Our Asheboro team shines as a bright spot for best practices and quality, and we are thrilled with the prospects for expanding and growing our presence in the region." Energizer is committed to maintaining its current workforce of 411 full-time colleagues while generating 144 new jobs in three years and 178 total new roles across a five-year timeline. The new positions, including operators, supervisors, maintenance personnel and engineers, and will add approximately $9.6 million annually in additional payroll to the community after five years Abe Prandini, plant manager located in Asheboro, said, "We're incredibly excited about this expansion. Our decision to invest in Asheboro is a testament to the area's workforce, and we look forward to calling it our home for many years to come." The equipment expansion and hiring in Asheboro will begin in the next 2-3 weeks. New roles will be posted on the Energizer Holdings careers site. SOURCE Energizer Holdings, Inc. The approval of PDP8 is a significant step towards greater energy security and reliability and the achievement of Vietnam's net-zero 2050 goals HOUSTON, May 22, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Energy Capital Vietnam (ECV), a project development and holding company established as a platform for direct investment into energy and infrastructure within Vietnam, applauds the approval of PDP8 by the Vietnamese government led by Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh. PDP8, developed by the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MOIT), will more than double Vietnam's power generation capacity to 150 GW by 2030 from the 69 GW in use in 2020. Gas is poised to become Vietnam's primary power source by 2030, supplemented by renewable energy, offering reduced emissions and improved environmental impact over coal. This puts Vietnam's declared goals for net-zero carbon by 2050 within reach. "We are delighted that Prime Minister Chinh has approved PDP8," said David Lewis, Chairman and CEO of Energy Capital Vietnam. "PDP8 is designed to ensure energy security and reliability during a period of rapid economic growth for Vietnam. It supports the development of cleaner power generation while equipping the Government with new legal tools to manage their licensing process better, improving accountability through market feedback, including the private sector. This plan opens the door for foreign investment. It reflects the government's thoughtful deliberation and analysis on how best to allocate their scarce resources towards areas and efforts that yield the highest impact. We applaud the dedication and hard work across the Government, including MOIT and its numerous departments." ECV is developing large, integrated multi-phase LNG power projects to support Vietnam's energy transition. Additionally, in consultation with the Vietnamese government, ECV is developing a comprehensive, replicable, and socially impactful pathway for reducing the LNG power emissions 'wedge' through simultaneous investment into a portfolio of domestic, high-quality carbon assets. This will significantly reduce net emissions from gas-fired electricity on a trajectory towards net-zero. "We look forward to continued collaboration alongside the Government and our financing partners, including Maius GmbH, to establish a framework for a bankable LNG power purchase agreement (PPA) in Vietnam that reduces risk to meet both the needs of the private sector and the Vietnamese Government," said Lewis. "ECV is dedicated to providing Vietnam with practical, high-quality solutions to major infrastructure investment." About ECV: Energy Capital Vietnam (ECV) is a Houston, Texas-based project development and holding company established as a platform for direct investment into Vietnam's energy and infrastructure sectors. Contact: Frank De Maria [email protected] +1 347 647 0284 Elie Jacobs [email protected] +1 646 330 2585 SOURCE Energy Capital Vietnam A growing national clean-energy company that specializes in using technology to ensure that buildings are energy-efficient, healthy and safe is seeking to quadruple the physical space for one of its divisions and relocate it from Lancaster to Tonawanda to meet a growing demand for renewable natural gas and battery energy storage systems. And it seeks to do so by acquiring and renovating an existing building with help from the Erie County Industrial Development Agency. That's after separately pursuing a relocation of its corporate headquarters to the Town of Amherst, with more tax breaks there, as the company continues a growth spurt. Sign up for the Buffalo Next free newsletter The News' Buffalo Next team covers the changing Buffalo Niagara economy. Get the news in your inbox 5 days a week. Stark Technologies Group, a real estate services and building management company on Stark Street in the Town of Tonawanda, wants to buy and renovate a 125,000-square-foot warehouse and production facility on Sawyer Avenue to enable one of its divisions, Stark Renewables, to expand its production capacity, according to its application to the ECIDA. The facility, located at 91 and 189 Sawyer, is four times the size of the division's current space at 1600 Commerce Parkway in Lancaster, where Stark says it now faces "significant ceiling height and infrastructure limitations" that "limit our capacity and size capability." And it has the 30-foot-tall high-bay ceilings and high-capacity cranes that can hold up to 60 tons. Stark says it needs that to efficiently handle the large skid systems that it will use to quickly build bigger and more complex equipment that it sells to clients. Built in 1948, renovated in 1990 and currently vacant, it was formerly used by Alfa-Laval, a manufacturer of large industrial heat exchangers, but is under contract by Stark. Under the $16 million project, Stark Real Estate Holdings LLC would buy the 5-acre property for $6.25 million and then renovate it for Stark Renewables, with a significant portion of the cost allocated to repair and upgrade an old asbestos roof. But in addition, the company says, it would buy another $25 million to $50 million in materials, parts and services from local suppliers, and would add 130 new jobs on top of the 50 it would retain. "All of this will have a very substantial positive economic impact in the Town of Tonawanda," the company wrote in its application to ECIDA for more than $450,000 in sales, property and mortgage-recording tax breaks. ECIDA will hold a public hearing on the application on May 24 at 9 a.m., in the Town of Tonawanda's Town Board Conference Room at 2919 Delaware Ave. in Kenmore. The agency will also accept written comments through 4 p.m. on June 27. Owned by Timothy Geiger and Randy Urschel, Stark Tech is a clean-energy business that provides critical infrastructure, engineering and mechanical equipment, as well as project management and energy solutions. The company monitors and manages building owners' spending on utilities and power consumption nationwide through building automation, technology and services. It also works in the HVAC, boilers, power, microgrids and solar energy fields. The company has 18 locations across the country, including its Western New York operations in Tonawanda, Buffalo, Lancaster, Jamestown, Allegany, Rochester and Pittsford. In a separate $7.95 million project, Stark is renovating a 35,000-square-foot building at 2100 Wehrle Drive in Amherst to be its new headquarters, with tax breaks from the Amherst IDA, and plans to move all 43 employees from a building at 4 Peuquet Parkway in Tonawanda to Wehrle. Stark Renewables designs and produces equipment for the renewable natural gas industry, turning dirty methane gas from landfills, farm, food waste and waste-water treatment facilities into clean gas that can generate electricity, power vehicles or go back into the natural gas pipeline system. That has the dual benefit of capturing the harmful methane while generating clean energy and powering battery storage systems. According to its application, during the renovation, Stark plans to add a blast prep booth, a paint booth, and equipment for assembly, pipe-cutting, welding and ski-pad fabrication. It would also put in a new receiving and shipping area, test equipment for power controls, IT equipment, office furnishings, exterior lighting, signage and a new parking lot surface. Upon completion, the renovated building will include 95,000 square feet of manufacturing and processing space, 15,000 square feet for warehouse storage and 15,000 square feet for office space. Stark would then close and sell its Lancaster facility to another manufacturer "which will help support additional manufacturing growth in Lancaster." "It is still a very good space for many other types of manufacturing operations," the company wrote. The company said it explored seven other properties in Buffalo, Lancaster, Depew, Elma and Tonawanda, but none were large enough or they lacked either the cranes or ceiling height to meet its needs. "Stark has a strong presence in Western New York and we are proud to continue to build our workforce and capability in this area," the company wrote. "We specifically wanted to find a facility that was in close enough proximity to our current building in Lancaster to allow us to retain all of our existing skilled workforce at a new location." Besides the acquisition, costs include $4 million for renovation, $3.9 million for manufacturing equipment, $1 million for infrastructure, $750,000 for furniture and fixtures and $100,000 in professional fees. Funding will come from $11 million in bank financing, $1.5 million in equity and $3.5 million in state Excelsior Tax Credits from Empire State Development Corp., to be paid out over 10 years. Stark is also applying for a grant from the U.S. Department of Energy's Advanced Energy Manufacturing and Recycling program, which would provide up to 50% cost-sharing for the project. If approved, that grant would be awarded in November. The company is asking the ECIDA for $371,875 in sales tax breaks and $82,500 in mortgage-recording tax relief, plus an unspecified property-tax break. It says it would add 120 full-time positions paying an average salary of $106,800 plus 10 part-time jobs, within two years. In its application, Stark says the ECIDA's assistance will enable it to "rapidly scale capacity and improve operational efficiency" to meet the renewable natural gas demand, which "we are not able to do" in its current facility. The company will also manufacturing battery energy storage systems. Without the tax breaks, it claims, it will not be able to remediate the roof, "which will substantially reduce the life of the building" and limit the investments the company is willing to make that would lead to new jobs and additional spending. Instead, the assembly work can be done out of state, Stark added. "This is a key part of our decision process in whether to move forward with the project. We are not comfortable adding high capital equipment like surface blasting and paint booth to a building with a limited life," the company wrote. "The applicant will either scale back or abandon the project." The property is already zoned industrial. If approved, work would begin July 1 and finish by the end of June in 2024. The leading Nordic bank will also use Equiduct's Market-by-Limit product which offers a consolidated market data view from 12 European markets. STOCKHOLM, May 22, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Equiduct, the retail-focused pan-European exchange, announced today that SEB is the newest trading participant to join its commission-free Best Execution service, Apex. SEB will also consume and display Equiducts innovative market data services which offers a real-time consolidated view of liquidity from twelve major European markets. Wail Azizi, Chief Strategy Officer at Equiduct Kristian Garder, co-head of Equities at SEB SEB is one of the largest banks in the Nordic financial eco-system in terms of total assets and trading volumes. SEB is also renowned for its market leading equities business and for championing execution quality for investors in Sweden. By joining Equiduct, SEB and its retail investors now have access to additional liquidity for over 3,000 stocks and ETFs across 12 European markets as well as its innovative cost-effective real-time consolidated market data. Retail investors using SEB join over 5.2 million retail end clients that already benefit from the best-in-class execution and market-data services provided by Equiduct. Equiduct is fully committed to working alongside the Nordic retail brokerage community to ensure that an ever-growing number of individual investors receive the best possible execution for their orders in European equities and ETFs. Wail Azizi, Chief Strategy Officer at Equiduct said: "We're excited to welcome SEB to our exchange. It's humbling to see our expansion in the Nordic region and know that we are providing Best Execution on Europe's most popular stocks and ETFs to a new group of Nordic investors. We're proud to be working with SEB, a bank that has a market leading equities business and is in the forefront of execution quality. This partnership resonates well with Equiducts mission and our constant drive to lead positive change in pan-European trading." Kristian Garder, co-head of Equities at SEB said: "Joining Equiduct will enhance our value proposition for SEB's retail trading clients. With the objective of providing easy access for trading major European equity markets digitally via our mobile app and internet bank, Equiduct will improve our position and further grow our business." For further information, please contact: Axel Josephson Country Head Sweden at Equiduct Tel: +46 (0)70 8852602 [email protected] About Equiduct Equiduct is an innovative, client driven pan-European exchange enabling retail brokers and institutional clients to achieve Best Execution in the most liquid and fragmented stocks and ETFs across 11 markets covering 16 European headline indices. Equiduct is a market segment of Borse Berlin, a regulated market operator under Article 44 of MiFID II. Borse Berlin is regulated by the Competent Authority Senatsverwaltung fur Wirtschaft, Energie und Betriebe Borsenaufsichtsbehorde and participation in trading is governed by German and European law. In 2022 it reported a turnover of 77bn and an overall ADV (average daily volume) of 300m. About SEB SEB is a leading northern European financial services group, with a history dating back to 1856. Innovation, entrepreneurship and an international perspective are part of our DNA. Our vision is to provide world-class service. We do this through long-term relationships, personal advice and digital services and by supporting our customers in the transition to a more sustainable world. SEB group has 15 500 employees that serves 4 000 000 clients. Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2081443/Wail_Azizi.jpg Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2081503/Kristian_Garder.jpg SOURCE Equiduct New Waveguide Power Amps Support Frequency Bands from 26.5 to 96 GHz IRVINE, Calif., May 22, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Fairview Microwave, an Infinite Electronics brand and a leading provider of on-demand RF, microwave and millimeter-wave components, has unveiled a new series of waveguide power amplifiers designed to cover high mm-wave frequency bands from 26.5 GHz to 96 GHz. This range of waveguide power amplifiers delivers exceptional performance and adaptability to address the needs of a wide range of sectors including SATCOM, radar, wireless infrastructure, 5G and more. Fairview's new waveguide power amplifiers support frequency bands from 26.5 to 96 GHz. These advanced waveguide power amplifiers employ state-of-the-art GaAs and GaN MMIC semiconductor techniques, guaranteeing exceptional efficiency in a space-efficient package. Featuring gain levels ranging from 25 dB to 35 dB and output Psat levels extending from 20 dBm to 31 dBm, these amplifiers ensure top-notch performance throughout the popular Ka, Q, U, V, E and W bands. Fairview Microwave's waveguide power amplifiers are designed to endure demanding conditions, incorporating sturdy, compact, MIL-grade, gold-plated aluminum waveguide enclosures. They operate in temperatures from -40 F to +176 F (-40 C to +80C) and can withstand exposure to 95% relative humidity and altitudes up to 10,000 feet. These waveguide power amplifiers are ideal for a range of applications, such as satellite communications, research and development, prototype/proof of concept, test and measurement applications, and both airborne and ground-based uses. "These new waveguide power amplifiers allow our customers to exploit the potential of high mm-wave frequencies for their diverse applications. We are confident they will significantly benefit industries requiring high-performance communication and networking systems," said Tim Galla, Product Line Manager. Fairview's new waveguide power amplifiers are in stock and available for same-day shipping. For inquiries, please call +1-949-261-1920. About Fairview Microwave: A leading supplier of on-demand RF and microwave products since 1992, Fairview Microwave offers immediate delivery of RF components including attenuators, adapters, coaxial cable assemblies, connectors, terminations and much more. All products are shipped same-day from the company's ISO 9001:2015-certified production facilities in Lewisville, Texas. Fairview is an Infinite Electronics brand. About Infinite Electronics: Based in Irvine, Calif., Infinite Electronics offers a broad range of components, assemblies and wired/wireless connectivity solutions to the aerospace/defense, industrial, government, consumer electronics, instrumentation, medical and telecommunications markets. Its brands are Pasternack, Fairview Microwave, L-com, MilesTek, ShowMeCables, NavePoint, INC Installs, Integra Optics, PolyPhaser, Transtector, KP Performance Antennas, RadioWaves and Aiconics. Infinite serves its customers with deep technical expertise and support. Its broad inventory is available for immediate shipment, fulfilling unplanned demand for engineers and technical buyers. Infinite is a Warburg Pincus portfolio company. Press Contact: Peter McNeil Fairview Microwave 17792 Fitch Irvine, Calif. 92614 (978) 682-6936 SOURCE Fairview Microwave Inc. The Asia Pacific region emerged as the largest market for the fatty alcohol market and is expected to continue its dominance in the forecasting period as a result if increase in demand for liquid detergent and cleaners. PUNE, India, May 22, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Exactitude Consultancy, the market research and consulting wing of Ameliorate Digital Consultancy Private Limited has completed and published the final copy of the detailed research report on the Fatty Alcohol Market. The global fatty alcohols market is expected to grow at 5.60% CAGR from 2023 to 2029. It is expected to reach above USD 8.49 Billion by 2029 from USD 5.20 Billion in 2022. Fatty alcohols are high-molecular-weight, long-chain alcohols made from fats and oils with three to 27 carbon atoms. They can be saturated or unsaturated liquids, waxy solids, or colourless oily liquids (for lower carbon numbers). Depending on their source, fatty alcohols might be natural or petrochemical. Fatty alcohols are utilised to make detergents and non-ionic surfactants because they are amphipathic. Fatty alcohols are utilised as co-emulsifiers, emollients, thickeners, and solubilizers in pulp and paper, cosmetics, agriculture, and other industries. Pharmaceutical lotions use alcohol surfactants as lipophilic solubilizers. The increasing preference for Bio-Based products among consumers, the elevating penetration in surfactant-based industries, and the rising demand for personal hygiene products in developing nations have resulted in boosting the Fatty Alcohols market. Download Sample of This Strategic Report https://exactitudeconsultancy.com/reports/18266/fatty-alcohols-market/?mode=P166#request-a-sample Industry Development: November 2022 : Sinarmas CEPSA, a 50:50 joint venture between Spanish CEPSA and Indonesian conglomerate Sinar Mas , signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Singaporean palm oil producer Golden Agri-Resources, a subsidiary of Sinar Mas to expand its bio-based chemicals production. The company is enhancing its global presence and growing the global demand for fatty acids and natural alcohols in home and personal care products, as well as increasing demand for sustainable, bio-based solutions across a variety of industries it serves. : Sinarmas CEPSA, a 50:50 joint venture between Spanish CEPSA and Indonesian conglomerate , signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Singaporean palm oil producer Golden Agri-Resources, a subsidiary of to expand its bio-based chemicals production. The company is enhancing its global presence and growing the global demand for fatty acids and natural alcohols in home and personal care products, as well as increasing demand for sustainable, bio-based solutions across a variety of industries it serves. September 2022 : Godrej & Boyce partnered with Pando, the market leader in supply chain technology, to digitally transform their logistics & fulfillment operations to contribute to their sustainability goals. In continuation with their sustainability initiatives, Godrej & Boyce is embarking on a drive to reduce carbon footprint across fulfillment operations by optimizing their logistics, vehicle utilization, and emissions and decisively moving towards a paperless supply chain. : Godrej & Boyce partnered with Pando, the market leader in supply chain technology, to digitally transform their logistics & fulfillment operations to contribute to their sustainability goals. In continuation with their sustainability initiatives, Godrej & Boyce is embarking on a drive to reduce carbon footprint across fulfillment operations by optimizing their logistics, vehicle utilization, and emissions and decisively moving towards a paperless supply chain. November 2022 Kao Corporation have developed a decoration processing technology that can design products according to the consumers' needs and a dynamic cell production technology that enables efficient high-mix low-volume manufacturing by optimization of floating linear technology*1 in collaboration with B&R K.K. and Kyoto Seisakusho Co., Ltd. The new never-before-seen production system will begin operation in 2023. Asia Pacific is predicted to hold the 46% market share. The Asia Pacific area consumes and produces the most of fatty alcohols, accounting for the majority of the worldwide market. Increased demand from end-use sectors such as personal care, home care, and industrial goods, as well as large-scale manufacturing by prominent manufacturers, are driving market expansion. The region's embrace of natural and sustainable products, as well as favourable government regulations encouraging the use of renewable resources, have all contributed to the market's expansion. China, India, Japan, and South Korea are key consumers in the Asia Pacific fatty alcohols market because to their big population, developing economy, and increasing need for personal care and home care products. The increased demand for fatty alcohols in the home and personal care industries is a significant driver of market growth in the fatty alcohols industry. The rising demand for fatty alcohols in the home and personal care industries is a major driver of market expansion. Fatty alcohols are used as raw materials in the manufacture of a variety of personal care products, including shampoos, conditioners, moisturisers, and others. They have several properties that make them suitable for use in a variety of products, including emulsification, thickening, moisturising, and mildness. Another significant driver of market expansion is the growing demand for natural and sustainable personal care products. Consumers are becoming more conscious of the products they use, and they are looking for eco-friendly, sustainable, and natural-source products. Fatty alcohols are derived from natural sources such as vegetable oils and have a number of advantages such as biodegradability, low toxicity, and renewability, making them an excellent choice for natural and sustainable personal care products. Demand for bio-based and renewable resource-based products is increasing, creating new opportunities for the fatty alcohols market. The growing demand for bio-based and renewable resource-based products has opened up new markets for fatty alcohols. Because fatty alcohols are derived from natural sources such as coconut oil, palm kernel oil, and rapeseed oil, they are an appealing option for manufacturers looking to create environmentally friendly products. Fatty alcohols are found in a variety of industries, including personal care, pharmaceuticals, and household goods. As consumers become more environmentally conscious, there is a greater demand for products made from renewable resources. As more companies look to incorporate sustainable materials into their products, this trend is expected to drive the growth of the fatty alcohols market. Report coverage & details: Report Coverage Details Forecast Period 20232029 Base Year 2022 Market Size in 2022 USD 8.49 Billion Market Size in 2029 USD 5.20 Billion CAGR 5.60 % No. of Pages in Report 144 Segments Covered Type, Applications and Region Drivers Increasing Demand for Surfactants to Propel Market Growth Increasing number of product innovations Restraints Fluctuating Prices of Raw Materials to Hamper Growth Opportunities Increase in demand for bio-based and renewable resources-based products Growing demand from textile processing industries Fatty Alcohols Market Key Players The fatty alcohols market key players include BASF Univar Inc KLK Oleo VVF LLC P & G Chemicals Ecogreen Oleochemicals Kao Corporation Sasol Limited Royal Dutch Shell Plc Arkema SA For corporate expansion, these key leaders are implementing strategic formulations such as new product development and commercialization, commercial expansion, and distribution agreements. Moreover, these participants are substantially spending on product development, which is fueling revenue generation. Browse In-depth Market Research Report (144 pages) on Fatty Alcohols Market https://exactitudeconsultancy.com/reports/18266/fatty-alcohols-market/?mode=P166 Key Market Segments: Fatty Alcohols Market Fatty Alcohols Market By Type, 2020-2029, (USD Billion), (Kilotons) Short Chain Pure And Mid Cut Long Chain Higher Chain Fatty Alcohols Market By Application, 2020-2029, (USD Billion), (Kilotons) Soaps & Detergents Personal Care Lubricants Amines Industry Dynamics: Fatty Alcohol Market: Growth Drivers Increasing Demand for Surfactants to Propel Market Growth. Surfactants, such as soaps and detergents, are in high demand. Fatty alcohol-based surfactants are used in a variety of industries, including paper and pulp, cosmetics, and agriculture. They function as wetting and cleaning agents, as well as solubilizers and emulsifiers. Because of these characteristics, fatty alcohols are expected to be in high demand. Furthermore, rising demand for personal care items such as liquid soaps and hand sanitizers to combat the spread of COVID-19 is expected to fuel the global fatty alcohols market expansion. Fatty Alcohol Market: Restraints Fluctuating Prices of Raw Materials to Hamper Growth. Fatty alcohols are made from raw materials such as tallow, palm oil, rapeseed oil, and others. Malaysia and Indonesia are major producers of these raw minerals in the Asia Pacific region. Other regions, such as North America and Europe, get their raw materials from Asian countries. As a result, changes in raw material prices are influenced by trading conditions in these regions. Recent restrictions on the import of refined palm oil into India will further stifle market growth. Fatty Alcohol Market: Opportunities Increase in demand for bio-based and renewable resources-based products. Consumer preferences have been seen to drive demand for bio-based chemicals. Over the last ten years, there has been a rapid increase in consumer awareness of the harmful environmental effects of petroleum-based products. Because of rising environmental concerns, consumers are being encouraged to use eco-friendly products. These factors are compelling chemical manufacturers to use bio-based raw materials in their products. Oleo-based fatty alcohols are less harmful to the environment than their traditional petroleum-based counterparts. They are selected to manufacture the ingredients for personal care products. Fatty Alcohol Market: Challenges Fluctuating raw material prices. The primary raw materials utilized in the production of fatty alcohol are, among others, rapeseed oil, PK oil, palm oil, and PK oil. Because of APAC's favourable geographic circumstances for the development of raw materials for fatty alcohols, these raw materials are imported into regions such as North America and Europe. Prices may thus fluctuate frequently depending on the nature of the trade between these locations. Palm oil prices fell sharply in 2022 as a result of the global COVID-19 outbreak. Palm oil production has been significantly reduced as a result of the disruption in the global supply chain and the state of lockdown in many Asian countries. Indonesia's palm oil exports fell 12% to 2.54 million tonnes in February 2022 from the prior month. Detailed Table of Content: Introduction Research Scope Market SegHouseholdtation Research Methodology Definitions and Assumptions Executive Summary Market Dynamics Market Drivers Market Restraints Market Opportunities Emerging Trends Key Insights Key Market Trends in the Global Market Key Developments: Mergers, Acquisition, Partnership, etc. Latest Technological Advancement Insights on Regulatory Scenario Porters Five Forces Analysis Price Trend Analysis Qualitative Insights Impact of COVID 19 on Global Fatty Alcohol Market Supply Chain Challenges Steps taken by Government/Companies to overcome this impact Potential opportunities due to COVID-19 outbreak Global Fatty Alcohol Market Analysis, Insights and Forecast, 2023-2029 Key Findings / Summary Market Size Estimates and Forecast By Type Short Chain Pure And Mid Cut Long Chain Higher Chain By Application Soaps & Detergents Personal Care Lubricants Amines Others By Region (Value) North America Europe Asia Pacific Latin America Middle East & Africa TOC Continued! Key Questions Answered What are the key global market and the regional market share? What is the revenue-generating key market segments? What are the key factors driving and challenging this market's growth? Who are the key market vendors and their growth strategies? What are the latest trends influencing the growth of this market? What are the variables influencing the market growth in the primary regions? What are the factors influencing the growth of the parent market? Browse Chemicals and Materials Market Research Report | Exactitude Consultancy Butyl Hydroxyanisole Market by Type (Raw Material: Hydroquinone, Raw Material: P-Chlorophenol, Others), Application (Pharmaceuticals, Food, Others) And Region (North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia Pacific and Middle East & Africa), 2023-2029 Amines Market is Segmented by Product (Ethanolamine, fatty amines, alkylamines, others), Application (Crop protection, surfactants, water treatment, personal care, gas treatment, others) and Region, Global trends and forecast from 2023 to 2029 Antimony Tin Oxide Market, By Application (Medical implants, IR attenuation films and coatings, Conductive composites, Conductive coatings, Anti-static coatings, LIB and SIB battery additives, Catalysts, Others) and Region (North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, South America, Middle East and Africa), Global trends and forecast from 2023 to 2029 Methyl Palmitate Market by Product Type (Purity99, Purity98.5, Purity98, Purity97), Application (Detergents, Emulsifiers, Wetting Agents, Stabilizers, Plasticizers), and Region (North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Middle-East and Africa, and South America), Global trends and forecast from 2023 to 2029. Aromatic Polyamide Market by Type (Para-Aramid and Meta-Aramid), Application (Security and Protection, Optical Fibers, Tire Reinforcement, Electrical Insulation, Rubber Reinforcement, Ropes & Cables and Composites), by Region (North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, South America, Middle East and Africa), Global Trends and Forecast from 2023 to 2029 About Exactitude Consultancy Exactitude Consultancy is a market research & consulting services firm which helps its client to address their most pressing strategic and business challenges. Our market research helps clients to address critical business challenges and also helps make optimized business decisions with our fact-based research insights, market intelligence, and accurate data. Contact us for your special interest research needs at [email protected] and we will get in touch with you within 24hrs and help you find the market research report you need. Website: https://exactitudeconsultancy.com/ Contact: Irfan Tamboli [email protected] +91-7507-07-8687 Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1871697/Exactitude_Consultancy_Logo.jpg SOURCE Exactitude Consultancy NEWARK, Del., May 22, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- ENT & Allergy of Delaware, a Parallel ENT & Allergy supported practice, proudly announces the recognition of four practice physicians as "Top Doctors" by Philadelphia Magazine for 2023. The Top Doctors recognition is a peer-nominated distinction. Founded in 2010, ENT & Allergy of Delaware is a leader in quality ENT, allergy, and audiology care in the Mid-Atlantic region. The practice has a preeminent team of 17 board-certified physicians, 12 audiologists, and over 140 support staff. ENT & Allergy of Delaware offers comprehensive ear, nose, and throat care. The practice also offers allergy testing and treatment, audiology, and hearing aid services. ENT & Allergy of Delaware's Top Doctors for 2023 Sokun Ky Bhatti, MD Sokun Ky Bhatti, MD is a board-certified Allergist and Immunologist. This is the second year she has earned Top Doctor status in the Philadelphia region. Dr. Bhatti grew up in the Philadelphia area and attended Villanova University where she graduated Magna Cum Laude in Biology. She received her medical degree from Jefferson Medical College and then completed an Internal Medicine residency at University Hospitals in Cleveland, Ohio. She went on to Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center in North Carolina for her Allergy and Immunology Fellowship. After fellowship, she joined the Allergy and Asthma Center of North Carolina where she was a partner prior to moving to the Northeast in 2020. In addition to a busy clinical practice where she sees adult and pediatric patients with a range of allergic and immunologic conditions, she also is a guest lecturer at the University of Delaware Speech Pathology graduate program. Dr. Bhatti is a Fellow of the American College of Allergy and Immunology and a member of the American Academy of Allergy Asthma and Immunology. Kieran Connolly, MD Kieran Connolly, MD is a board-certified Otolaryngologist and Head and Neck Surgeon. This is the fifth consecutive year Dr. Connolly is recognized as a Top Doctor in the Philadelphia region. He has also received Top Doctor recognition in Delaware Today seven times. Dr. Connolly spent much of his childhood in Wilmington, Delaware, but also lived in the Philippines and Japan. He has been in practice in Delaware for 22 years. He received his undergraduate degree from the University of Delaware and went on to receive his medical education at Jefferson Medical College. He completed his residency at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center, where he also served as chief resident. He is a member of the Alpha Omega Alpha and Hobart Armory Hare medical honor societies. He is one of the founding members of ENT and Allergy of Delaware where he had a leadership role since its inception. Dr. Connolly served as the Chief of the Section of Otolaryngology and Head and Neck Surgery at Christiana Care Health System from 2016 until 2023. He is also on the Board of Directors of Delaware Outpatient Center for Surgery. He is an attending physician at Christiana Care and St. Francis Hospital in Wilmington, Delaware. Neil Hockstein, MD Neil Hockstein, MD is a board-certified Otolaryngologist and Head and Neck Surgeon. This is the fifth consecutive year that Dr. Hockstein earned Top Doctor recognition in the Philadelphia region. He also earned Top Doctor recognition from Delaware Today every year since 2009 (13 years). Dr. Hockstein is one of the founders and practice leaders of ENT & Allergy of Delaware. He is a member of the Board of Directors for Parallel ENT & Allergy, a national practice management organization for ENT and allergy practices. Dr. Hockstein is the Medical Director of Surgical Subspecialty Care for the Christiana Care Health System in Newark, Delaware. He is also the Director of Head and Neck Multidisciplinary Care for the Helen F. Graham Cancer Center at Christiana Care. He is an attending physician at Christina Care and St. Francis Hospital in Wilmington, Delaware. Dr. Hockstein is an active volunteer and teacher, and he has been recognized with an impressive list of awards and honors for his work. Most recently he served as a panelist before the U.S. Surgeon General regarding physician burnout. He also served as a panelist before the Delaware Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights on The Covid-19 Impact on People of Color in Delaware. Dr. Hockstein received his undergraduate degree from Johns Hopkins University and went on to graduate with honors from Jefferson Medical College. He completed his residency at the University of Pennsylvania where he served as chief resident. He has published over 45 articles in peer-reviewed medical journals and has lectured across the country on the treatment of sinus disease and head and neck cancer. Professionally, Dr. Hockstein most enjoys the day-to-day care and rapport with his patients. David Kennedy, MD Board-certified Otolaryngologist David Kennedy, MD is known for his work in pioneering endoscopic sinus surgery and minimally invasive endoscopic skull base surgery. Dr. Kennedy has earned Top Doctor recognition 20 years consecutively, which is every year Philadelphia Magazine has given the award. He has also earned Top Doctor status for many years by Delaware Today. Previously Dr. Kennedy served as Chair of the Department of Otorhinolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery and Vice Dean at the University of Pennsylvania where he also continues clinical practice as a Professor. He is a Past President of the American Academy of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery, the American Rhinologic Society, the International Rhinologic Society and the International Symposium of Inflammation and Allergy of the Nose (ISIAN). He is a prior recipient of the AAO-HNS Board of Governors Practitioner Excellence Award. He earned the 2010 National Physician of the Year for Clinical Excellence by Castle Connolly, Publishers of America's Top Doctors. He is included by the American College of Surgeons as one of the 100 most influential surgeons of the 20th Century. About Philadelphia Magazine's "Top Doctors" List Each year, Philadelphia Magazine partners with healthcare researcher Castle Connolly Medical Ltd. to create a definitive list of the best doctors in the Philadelphia region. Castle Connolly has more than 30 years of experience researching, reviewing, and selecting Top Doctors. The goal is to help people find the best health care by connecting patients with best-in-class providers. Castle Connolly's physician-led team of researchers follows a rigorous screening process to select top doctors on both the national and regional levels. Its online nomination process is open to all licensed physicians in America. Participants are able to nominate physicians in any medical specialty and in any part of the country. Castle Connolly's research team thoroughly vets each physician's professional qualifications, education, hospital and faculty appointments, research leadership, professional reputation, disciplinary history and, if available, outcomes data. The Castle Connolly Doctor Directory is the largest network of peer-nominated physicians in the nation. About Parallel ENT & Allergy Parallel ENT & Allergy is a physician-centric practice management organization for ENT and allergy practices. Parallel provides strategic, operational, and administrative support, so physicians can spend less time worrying about the business of medicine and more time caring for their patients. Parallel ENT & Allergy is backed by Trinity Hunt Partners, a growth-oriented private equity firm with deep healthcare experience. To learn more about Parallel ENT & Allergy, or to inquire about becoming a supported practice, visit https://parallelenta.com/. Press Contact: Suz Murphy Parallel ENT & Allergy Marketing [email protected] 630.667.7587 SOURCE Parallel ENT & Allergy Partners GUIYANG, China, May 22, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Full Truck Alliance Co. Ltd. ("FTA" or the "Company") (NYSE: YMM), a leading digital freight platform, today announced its unaudited financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2023. First Quarter 2023 Financial and Operational Highlights Total net revenues in the first quarter of 2023 were RMB1,702.3 million ( US$247.9 million ), an increase of 27.7% from RMB1,332.6 million in the same period of 2022. in the first quarter of 2023 were ( ), an increase of 27.7% from in the same period of 2022. Net income in the first quarter of 2023 was RMB411.4 million ( US$59.9 million ), compared with a net loss of RMB192.0 million in the same period of 2022. in the first quarter of 2023 was ( ), compared with a net loss of in the same period of 2022. Non-GAAP adjusted net income [1] in the first quarter of 2023 was RMB514.8 million ( US$75.0 million ), an increase of 171.4% from RMB189.7 million in the same period of 2022. in the first quarter of 2023 was ( ), an increase of 171.4% from in the same period of 2022. Fulfilled orders [2] in the first quarter of 2023 reached 30.3 million, an increase of 20.5% from 25.2 million in the same period of 2022. in the first quarter of 2023 reached 30.3 million, an increase of 20.5% from 25.2 million in the same period of 2022. Average shipper MAUs[3] in the first quarter of 2023 reached 1.75 million, an increase of 23.3% from 1.42 million in the same period of 2022. "We are pleased to deliver another strong quarter of growth to kick off 2023. Improved user activity among truckers and shippers drove daily order volume and fulfillment rates to all-time highs, illustrating the unique appeal of our platform while underpinning our rapid business expansion and the achievement of our long-term strategic goals," said Mr. Peter Hui Zhang, Founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of FTA. "Supported by this firm foundation, we will move through the year with confidence and remain focused on scaling user base and order volume, exploring new initiatives and products to further strengthen our lead in China's digital freight market and sustain our topline growth." Mr. Simon Cai, Chief Financial Officer of FTA, commented, "The Company once again beat market expectations with its substantial growth in revenue and profits for the first quarter of 2023. We achieved revenues of RMB1.7 billion, up 27.7% year-over-year, and non-GAAP adjusted net income of RMB514.8 million, up 171.4% year-over-year. This outstanding performance across our businesses speaks to the strength of our business model and further accelerates our monetization efficiency. Going forward, we will continue to pursue profitable growth for our platform by driving an increased contribution from direct shippers, while also boosting operational efficiency through technology and innovation." [1] Non-GAAP adjusted net income is defined as net income/(loss) excluding (i) share-based compensation expense; (ii) amortization of intangible assets resulting from business acquisitions; (iii) compensation cost incurred in relation to continuing service terms in business acquisitions and (iv) tax effects of non-GAAP adjustments. See "Reconciliations of GAAP and Non-GAAP Results" at the end of this press release. [2] Fulfilled orders on our platform in a given period are defined as all shipping orders matched through our platform during such period but exclude (i) shipping orders that are subsequently canceled and (ii) shipping orders for which our users failed to specify any freight prices as there are substantial uncertainties as to whether the shipping orders are fulfilled. [3] Average shipper MAUs in a given period are calculated by dividing (i) the sum of shipper MAUs for each month of a given period by (ii) the number of months in a given period. Shipper MAUs are defined as the number of active shippers on our platform in a given month. Active shippers are defined as the aggregate number of registered shipper accounts that have posted at least one shipping order on our platform during a given period. First Quarter 2023 Financial Results Net Revenues (including value added taxes, or "VAT," of RMB700.4 million and RMB884.4 million for the three months ended March 31, 2022, and 2023, respectively). Total net revenues in the first quarter of 2023 were RMB1,702.3 million (US$247.9 million), representing an increase of 27.7% from RMB1,332.6 million in the same period of 2022, primarily attributable to an increase in revenues from freight matching services. Freight matching services. Revenues from freight matching services in the first quarter of 2023 were RMB1,397.5 million (US$203.5 million), representing an increase of 24.9% from RMB1,118.6 million in the same period of 2022. The increase was primarily due to an increase in revenues from freight brokerage service as well as continued growth in transaction commissions. Freight brokerage service. Revenues from freight brokerage service in the first quarter of 2023 were RMB772.6 million ( US$112.5 million ), an increase of 16.6% from RMB662.4 million in the same period of 2022, primarily attributable to continued growth in transaction volume as a result of expanded user coverage. Revenues from freight brokerage service in the first quarter of 2023 were ( ), an increase of 16.6% from in the same period of 2022, primarily attributable to continued growth in transaction volume as a result of expanded user coverage. Freight listing service . Revenues from freight listing service in the first quarter of 2023 were RMB223.9 million ( US$32.6 million ), an increase of 13.1% from RMB198.0 million in the same period of 2022, primarily due to an increase in total paying members. . Revenues from freight listing service in the first quarter of 2023 were ( ), an increase of 13.1% from in the same period of 2022, primarily due to an increase in total paying members. Transaction commission. Revenues from transaction commissions amounted to RMB401.0 million ( US$58.4 million ) in the first quarter of 2023, an increase of 55.3% from RMB258.2 million in the same period of 2022, primarily driven by an increase in order volume as well as an uptick in transaction commission per order. Value-added services. Revenues from value-added services in the first quarter of 2023 were RMB304.8 million (US$44.4 million), an increase of 42.4% from RMB214.0 million in the same period of 2022, mainly attributable to an increase in revenues from credit solutions and other value-added services. Cost of Revenues (including VAT net of refund of VAT of RMB503.3 million and RMB611.5 million for the three months ended March 31, 2022, and 2023, respectively). Cost of revenues in the first quarter of 2023 was RMB849.4 million (US$123.7 million), compared with RMB683.9 million in the same period of 2022. The increase was primarily due to an increase in VAT, related tax surcharges and other tax costs, net of tax refunds from government authorities. These tax-related costs net of refunds totaled RMB766.4 million, representing an increase of 28.1% from RMB598.3 million in the same period of 2022, primarily due to the continued increase in transaction activities involving our freight brokerage service. Sales and Marketing Expenses. Sales and marketing expenses in the first quarter of 2023 were RMB245.7 million (US$35.8 million), compared with RMB192.0 million in the same period of 2022. The increase was primarily due to an increase in advertising and marketing expenses for user acquisitions. General and Administrative Expenses. General and administrative expenses in the first quarter of 2023 were RMB179.5 million (US$26.1 million), compared with RMB458.4 million in the same period of 2022. The decrease was primarily due to lower share-based compensation expenses. Research and Development Expenses. Research and development expenses in the first quarter of 2023 were RMB229.9 million (US$33.5 million), compared with RMB221.0 million in the same period of 2022. The increase was primarily due to higher salary and benefits expenses. Income/(Loss) from Operations. Income from operations in the first quarter of 2023 was RMB165.8 million (US$24.1 million), compared with a loss of RMB252.0 million in the same period of 2022. Non-GAAP Adjusted Operating Income.[4] Non-GAAP adjusted operating income in the first quarter of 2023 was RMB272.4 million (US$39.7 million), an increase of 104.4% from RMB133.2 million in the same period of 2022. Net Income/(Loss). Net income in the first quarter of 2023 was RMB411.4 million (US$59.9 million), compared with a net loss of RMB192.0 million in the same period of 2022. Non-GAAP Adjusted Net Income. Non-GAAP adjusted net income in the first quarter of 2023 was RMB514.8 million (US$75.0 million), an increase of 171.4% from RMB189.7 million in the same period of 2022. Basic and Diluted Net Income/(Loss) per ADS[5] and Non-GAAP Adjusted Basic and Diluted Net Income per ADS.[6] Basic and diluted net income per ADS were RMB0.38 (US$0.06) in the first quarter of 2023, compared with basic and diluted net loss per ADS of RMB0.18 in the same period of 2022. Non-GAAP adjusted basic and diluted net income per ADS were RMB0.48 (US$0.07) in the first quarter of 2023, compared with non-GAAP adjusted basic and diluted net income per ADS of RMB0.17 in the same period of 2022. Balance Sheet and Cash Flow As of March 31, 2023, the Company had cash and cash equivalents, restricted cash, short-term investments and long-term deposits of RMB25.8 billion (US$3.8 billion) in total, compared with RMB26.3 billion as of December 31, 2022. As of March 31, 2023, the total outstanding balance of the on-balance sheet loans, consisting of the total principal amounts and all accrued and unpaid interests (net of provisions) of the loans funded through our small loan company, was RMB2,759.3 million (US$401.8 million), compared with RMB2,648.4 million as of December 31, 2022. The total non-performing loan ratio[7] for these loans was 2.1% as of March 31, 2023, compared with 2.0% as of December 31, 2022. In the first quarter of 2023, net cash provided by operating activities was RMB86.8 million (US$12.6 million). [4] Non-GAAP adjusted operating income is defined as income/(loss) from operations excluding (i) share-based compensation expense; (ii) amortization of intangible assets resulting from business acquisitions and (iii) compensation cost incurred in relation to continuing service terms in business acquisitions. See "Reconciliations of GAAP and Non-GAAP Results" at the end of this press release. [5] ADS refers to the American depositary shares, each of which represents 20 Class A ordinary shares. [6] Non-GAAP adjusted basic and diluted income per ADS is net income/(loss) attributable to ordinary shareholders excluding (i) share-based compensation expense; (ii) amortization of intangible assets resulting from business acquisitions; (iii) compensation cost incurred in relation to continuing service terms in business acquisitions and (iv) tax effects of non-GAAP adjustments, divided by weighted average number of basic and diluted ADSs, respectively. For more information, refer to "Use of Non-GAAP Financial Measures" and "Reconciliations of GAAP and Non-GAAP Results" at the end of this press release. [7] Non-performing loan ratio is calculated by dividing the outstanding principal and all accrued and unpaid interests of the on-balance sheet loans that were over 90 calendar days past due (excluding loans that are over 180 days past due and are therefore charged off) by the total outstanding principal and all accrued and unpaid interests of the on-balance sheet loans (excluding loans that are over 180 days past due and are therefore charged off) as of a specified date. Business Outlook The Company expects its total net revenues to be between RMB1.91 billion and RMB2.01 billion for the second quarter of 2023, representing a year-over-year growth rate of approximately 14.5% to 20.5%. These forecasts reflect the Company's current and preliminary views on the market and operational conditions, which are subject to change and cannot be predicted with reasonable accuracy as of the date hereof. Change to Board of Directors and Executive Officers Mr. Wenjian Dai resigned from his position as a member of the Board of Directors of the Company for personal reasons. Mr. Langbo Guo was appointed as a new director to fill the vacancy, effective May 22, 2023. Following Mr. Dai's resignation, his prior role as a member of the Company's compensation committee will be assumed by Ms. Guizhen Ma. The Company would like to express its gratitude for Mr. Dai's service. Effective on the same date, Mr. Guo was also promoted from Chief Strategy Officer to President of the Company. Mr. Guo will assume greater responsibilities in his new role, including taking charge of certain of the Company's middle and back office functions and business operations. Share Repurchase Update On March 3, 2023, the Company's Board of Directors authorized a share repurchase program, under which the Company may repurchase up to US$500 million of the Company's ADSs during a period of up to 12 months starting from March 13, 2023. As of May 21, 2023, the Company had repurchased an aggregate of approximately 5.6 million ADSs for approximately US$37.4 million from the open market under the share repurchase program. Exchange Rate Information This announcement contains translations of certain RMB amounts into U.S. dollars ("US$") at specified rates solely for the convenience of the reader. Unless otherwise stated, all translations from RMB to US$ were made at a rate of RMB6.8676 to US$1.00, the exchange rate in effect as of March 31, 2023, as set forth in the H.10 statistical release of The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. The Company makes no representation that any RMB or US$ amounts could have been, or could be, converted into US$ or RMB, as the case may be, at any particular rate, or at all. Conference Call The Company's management will hold an earnings conference call at 8:00 A.M. U.S. Eastern Time on May 22, 2023, or 8:00 P.M. Beijing Time, to discuss its financial results and operating performance for the first quarter of 2023. Dial-in details for the earnings conference call are as follows: United States (toll free): +1-888-317-6003 International: +1-412-317-6061 Mainland China (toll free): 400-120-6115 Hong Kong, SAR (toll free): 800-963-976 Hong Kong, SAR: +852-5808-1995 United Kingdom (toll free): 08082389063 Singapore (toll free): 800-120-5863 Access Code: 1534611 The replay will be accessible through May 29, 2023, by dialing the following numbers: United States: +1-877-344-7529 International: +1-412-317-0088 Replay Access Code: 1773949 A live and archived webcast of the conference call will also be available on the Company's investor relations website at http://ir.fulltruckalliance.com/. About Full Truck Alliance Co. Ltd. Full Truck Alliance Co. Ltd. (NYSE: YMM) is a leading digital freight platform connecting shippers with truckers to facilitate shipments across distance ranges, cargo weights and types. The Company provides a range of freight matching services, including freight listing, freight brokerage and online transaction services. The Company also provides a range of value-added services that cater to the various needs of shippers and truckers, such as financial institutions, highway authorities, and gas station operators. With a mission to make logistics smarter, the Company is shaping the future of logistics with technology and aspires to revolutionize logistics, improve efficiency across the value chain and reduce its carbon footprint for our planet. For more information, please visit ir.fulltruckalliance.com. Use of Non-GAAP Financial Measures The Company uses non-GAAP adjusted operating income, non-GAAP adjusted net income, non-GAAP adjusted net income attributable to ordinary shareholders, non-GAAP adjusted basic and diluted net income per share and non-GAAP adjusted basic and diluted net income per ADS, each a non-GAAP financial measure, as supplemental measures to review and assess its operating performance. The presentation of non-GAAP financial measures is not intended to be considered in isolation or as a substitute for the financial information prepared and presented in accordance with U.S. GAAP. The Company defines non-GAAP adjusted operating income as income/(loss) from operations excluding (i) share-based compensation expense; (ii) amortization of intangible assets resulting from business acquisitions and (iii) compensation cost incurred in relation to continuing service terms in business acquisitions. The Company defines non-GAAP adjusted net income as net income/(loss) excluding (i) share-based compensation expense; (ii) amortization of intangible assets resulting from business acquisitions; (iii) compensation cost incurred in relation to continuing service terms in business acquisitions and (iv) tax effects of non-GAAP adjustments. The Company defines non-GAAP adjusted net income attributable to ordinary shareholders as net income/(loss) attributable to ordinary shareholders excluding (i) share-based compensation expense; (ii) amortization of intangible assets resulting from business acquisitions; (iii) compensation cost incurred in relation to continuing service terms in business acquisitions and (iv) tax effects of non-GAAP adjustments. The Company defines non-GAAP adjusted basic and diluted net income per share as non-GAAP adjusted net income attributable to ordinary shareholders divided by weighted average number of basic and diluted ordinary shares, respectively. The Company defines non-GAAP adjusted basic and diluted net income per ADS as non-GAAP adjusted net income attributable to ordinary shareholders divided by the weighted average number of basic and diluted ADSs, respectively. The non-GAAP financial measures are not defined under U.S. GAAP and are not presented in accordance with U.S. GAAP. The non-GAAP financial measures have limitations as an analytical tool. The non-GAAP financial measures do not reflect all items of expense that affect its operations. Share-based compensation expense, amortization of intangible assets resulting from business acquisitions, compensation cost incurred in relation to continuing service terms in business acquisitions and tax effects of non-GAAP adjustments have been and may continue to be incurred in its business and are not reflected in the presentation of its non-GAAP financial measures. The Company reconciles the non-GAAP financial measures to the nearest U.S. GAAP performance measures. Non-GAAP adjusted operating income, non-GAAP adjusted net income, non-GAAP adjusted net income attributable to ordinary shareholders and non-GAAP adjusted basic and diluted net income per share should not be considered in isolation or construed as an alternative to operating income/(loss), net income/(loss), net income/(loss) attributable to ordinary shareholders and basic and diluted net income/(loss) per share or any other measure of performance or as an indicator of its operating performance. Investors are encouraged to review FTA's non-GAAP financial measures to the most directly comparable GAAP measures. FTA's non-GAAP financial measure may not be comparable to similarly titled measures presented by other companies. For more information on these non-GAAP financial measures, please see the table captioned "Reconciliations of GAAP and Non-GAAP Results" set forth at the end of this release. Safe Harbor Statement This press release contains statements that may constitute "forward-looking" statements which are made pursuant to the "safe harbor" provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements can be identified by terminology such as "may," "will," "expect," "anticipate," "aim," "estimate," "intend," "plan," "believe," "potential," "continue," "is/are likely to," and similar statements. Statements that are not historical facts, including statements about the Company's beliefs, plans, and expectations, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties. A number of factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statement, including but not limited to the following: FTA's goal and strategies; FTA's expansion plans; FTA's future business development, financial condition and results of operations; expected changes in FTA's revenues, costs or expenses; industry landscape of, and trends in, China's road transportation market; competition in FTA's industry; FTA's expectations regarding demand for, and market acceptance of, its services; FTA's expectations regarding its relationships with shippers, truckers and other ecosystem participants; FTA's ability to protect its systems and infrastructures from cyber-attacks; PRC laws, regulations, and policies relating to the road transportation market, as well as general regulatory environment in which FTA operates in China; the results of regulatory review and the duration and impact of any regulatory action taken against FTA; the impact of COVID-19 outbreaks, extreme weather conditions and production constraints brought by electricity rationing measures; general economic and business condition; and assumptions underlying or related to any of the foregoing. Further information regarding these and other risks is included in the Company's filings with the SEC. All information provided in this press release is as of the date of this press release, and the Company does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statement, except as required under applicable law. For investor and media inquiries, please contact: In China: Full Truck Alliance Co. Ltd. Mao Mao E-mail: [email protected] The Piacente Group, Inc. Hui Fan Tel: +86-10-6508-0677 E-mail: [email protected] In the United States: The Piacente Group, Inc. Brandi Piacente Tel: +1-212-481-2050 E-mail: [email protected] FULL TRUCK ALLIANCE CO. LTD. UNAUDITED CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS (All amounts in thousands, except share, ADS, per share and per ADS data) As of December 31, March 31, March 31, 2022 2023 2023 RMB RMB US$ ASSETS Current assets: Cash and cash equivalents 5,137,312 6,820,432 993,132 Restricted cash - current 83,759 89,979 13,102 Short-term investments 21,087,089 18,896,770 2,751,583 Accounts receivable, net 13,015 20,922 3,046 Loans receivable, net 2,648,449 2,759,256 401,779 Prepayments and other current assets 2,034,427 2,309,695 336,318 Total current assets 31,004,051 30,897,054 4,498,960 Long-term deposits - 34,359 5,003 Property and equipment, net 108,824 145,029 21,118 Investments in equity investees 1,774,270 1,759,282 256,171 Intangible assets, net 502,421 488,026 71,062 Goodwill 3,124,828 3,124,828 455,010 Deferred tax assets 41,490 43,216 6,293 Operating lease right-of-use assets and land use rights 132,000 122,205 17,794 Other non-current assets 8,427 6,943 1,011 Total non-current assets 5,692,260 5,723,888 833,462 TOTAL ASSETS 36,696,311 36,620,942 5,332,422 LIABILITIES, MEZZANINE EQUITY AND SHAREHOLDERS' EQUITY Current liabilities: Accounts payable 27,953 28,479 4,147 Amounts due to related parties 122,152 120,523 17,550 Prepaid for freight listing fees and other service fees 462,080 429,143 62,488 Income tax payable 52,233 65,752 9,574 Other tax payable 721,597 624,999 91,007 Operating lease liabilities - current 44,590 42,744 6,224 Accrued expenses and other current liabilities 1,301,160 1,232,392 179,449 Total current liabilities 2,731,765 2,544,032 370,439 Deferred tax liabilities 121,611 118,356 17,234 Operating lease liabilities - non-current 35,931 28,076 4,088 Total non-current liabilities 157,542 146,432 21,322 TOTAL LIABILITIES 2,889,307 2,690,464 391,761 MEZZANINE EQUITY Redeemable noncontrolling interests 149,771 152,290 22,175 SHAREHOLDERS' EQUITY Ordinary shares 1,377 1,377 201 Treasury stock - (81,321) (11,841) Additional paid-in capital 47,758,178 47,846,855 6,967,042 Accumulated other comprehensive income 2,511,170 2,215,860 322,654 Accumulated deficit (16,613,492) (16,204,583) (2,359,570) TOTAL SHAREHOLDERS' EQUITY 33,657,233 33,778,188 4,918,486 TOTAL LIABILITIES, MEZZANINE EQUITY AND SHAREHOLDERS' EQUITY 36,696,311 36,620,942 5,332,422 FULL TRUCK ALLIANCE CO. LTD. UNAUDITED CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF INCOME (LOSS) (All amounts in thousands, except share, ADS, per share and per ADS data) Three Months Ended March 31, December 31, March 31, March 31, 2022 2022 2023 2023 RMB RMB RMB US$ Net Revenues (including value added taxes, "VAT", of RMB700.4 million and RMB884.4 million for the three months ended March 31, 2022 and 2023, respectively) 1,332,560 1,922,473 1,702,257 247,869 Operating expenses: Cost of revenues (including VAT net of refund of VAT of RMB503.3 million and RMB611.5 million for the three months ended March 31, 2022 and 2023, respectively)(1) (683,882) (951,779) (849,373) (123,678) Sales and marketing expenses(1) (192,043) (281,129) (245,677) (35,773) General and administrative expenses(1) (458,415) (408,181) (179,507) (26,138) Research and development expenses(1) (220,956) (250,207) (229,879) (33,473) Provision for loans receivable (49,980) (53,900) (52,878) (7,700) Total operating expenses (1,605,276) (1,945,196) (1,557,314) (226,762) Other operating income 20,715 17,453 20,821 3,032 Income (loss) from operations (252,001) (5,270) 165,764 24,139 Other income (expense) Interest income 56,320 202,324 246,114 35,837 Interest expenses (93) - - - Foreign exchange (loss) gain 1,126 1,531 (97) (14) Investment income 14,484 1,212 2,713 395 Unrealized gains (loss) from fair value changes of short-term investments and derivative assets (16,341) 4,986 9,961 1,450 Other income, net 8,882 5,085 6,663 970 Share of loss in equity method investees (213) (73) (310) (45) Total other income 64,165 215,065 265,044 38,593 Net income (loss) before income tax (187,836) 209,795 430,808 62,732 Income tax expense (4,172) (14,110) (19,380) (2,822) Net income (loss) (192,008) 195,685 411,428 59,910 Less: net loss attributable to non-controlling interests (14) - - - Less: measurement adjustment attributable to redeemable non- controlling interests - 1,845 2,519 367 Net income (loss) attributable to ordinary shareholders (191,994) 193,840 408,909 59,543 FULL TRUCK ALLIANCE CO. LTD. UNAUDITED CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF INCOME (LOSS) (CONTINUED) (All amounts in thousands, except share, ADS, per share and per ADS data) Three Months Ended March 31, December 31, March 31, March 31, 2022 2022 2023 2023 RMB RMB RMB US$ Net income (loss) per share Basic (0.01) 0.01 0.02 0.00 Diluted (0.01) 0.01 0.02 0.00 Net income (loss) per ADS* Basic (0.18) 0.18 0.38 0.06 Diluted (0.18) 0.18 0.38 0.06 Weighted average number of ordinary shares used in computing net income (loss) per share Basic 21,858,931,448 21,246,855,688 21,293,430,120 21,293,430,120 Diluted (2) 21,858,931,448 21,305,376,233 21,352,354,948 21,352,354,948 Weighted average number of ADSs used in computing net income (loss) per ADS Basic 1,092,946,572 1,062,342,784 1,064,671,506 1,064,671,506 Diluted (2) 1,092,946,572 1,065,268,812 1,067,617,747 1,067,617,747 * Each ADS represents 20 ordinary shares. (1) Share-based compensation expense in operating expenses is as follows: Three Months Ended March 31, December 31, March 31, March 31, 2022 2022 2023 2023 RMB RMB RMB US$ Cost of revenues 1,348 1,812 1,806 263 Sales and marketing expenses 9,160 12,163 11,197 1,630 General and administrative expenses 337,732 201,514 58,841 8,568 Research and development expenses 15,245 19,749 17,482 2,546 Total 363,485 235,238 89,326 13,007 (2) Weighted average number of ordinary shares/ADSs used in computing diluted net (loss) income per share/ADS are adjusted by the potentially dilutive effects of ordinary shares/ADSs issuable upon the exercise of outstanding share options. FULL TRUCK ALLIANCE CO. LTD. RECONCILIATIONS OF GAAP AND NON-GAAP RESULTS (All amounts in thousands, except share, ADS, per share and per ADS data) Three Months Ended March 31, December 31, March 31, March 31, 2022 2022 2023 2023 RMB RMB RMB US$ Income (loss) from operations (252,001) (5,270) 165,764 24,139 Add: Share-based compensation expense 363,485 235,238 89,326 13,007 Amortization of intangible assets resulting from business acquisitions 14,121 14,121 13,021 1,896 Compensation cost incurred in relation to acquisitions 7,644 4,281 4,281 623 Non-GAAP adjusted operating income 133,249 248,370 272,392 39,665 Net income (loss) (192,008) 195,685 411,428 59,910 Add: Share-based compensation expense 363,485 235,238 89,326 13,007 Amortization of intangible assets resulting from business acquisitions 14,121 14,121 13,021 1,896 Compensation cost incurred in relation to acquisitions 7,644 4,281 4,281 623 Tax effects of non-GAAP adjustments (3,530) (3,530) (3,255) (474) Non-GAAP adjusted net income 189,712 445,795 514,801 74,962 FULL TRUCK ALLIANCE CO. LTD. RECONCILIATIONS OF GAAP AND NON-GAAP RESULTS (CONTINUED) (All amounts in thousands, except share, ADS, per share and per ADS data) Three Months Ended March 31, December 31, March 31, March 31, 2022 2022 2023 2023 RMB RMB RMB US$ Net income (loss) attributable to ordinary shareholders (191,994) 193,840 408,909 59,543 Add: Share-based compensation expense 363,485 235,238 89,326 13,007 Amortization of intangible assets resulting from business acquisitions 14,121 14,121 13,021 1,896 Compensation cost incurred in relation to acquisitions 7,644 4,281 4,281 623 Tax effects of non-GAAP adjustments (3,530) (3,530) (3,255) (474) Non-GAAP adjusted net income attributable to ordinary shareholders 189,726 443,950 512,282 74,595 Non-GAAP adjusted net income per share Basic 0.01 0.02 0.02 0.00 Diluted 0.01 0.02 0.02 0.00 Non-GAAP adjusted net income per ADS Basic 0.17 0.42 0.48 0.07 Diluted 0.17 0.42 0.48 0.07 SOURCE Full Truck Alliance Co. Ltd. No VR. Uses Commodity Desktops and Laptops. Collaborate at 100 kilobits per sec/user. Works offline with no comms. ST. LOUIS, May 22, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Immersive Wisdom, Inc., provider of a leading remote collaborative operations center software platform for distributed and disaggregated operations is showcasing its capabilities for denied and low-bandwidth operations at the GEOINT 2023 Symposium, the largest annual gathering of geospatial intelligence professionals in the nation. Immersive Wisdom is also announcing the formation of its Worldwide DoD/IC (Department of Defense/Intelligence Community) User Group. GEOINT 2023: Immersive Wisdom showcases Remote Operations Center platform for Denied and Low-Bandwidth Environments Tweet this The Immersive Wisdom software platform brings together existing sensor feeds, enterprise applications, maps, 3D data, geospatial sources, and video streams into a synchronized real-time, interactive remote collaborative operations center, accessible worldwide. Distributed users can interact via real-time sharing, presentation, annotation, and data query tools, and via live voice & chat, providing remote physical presence and real context. Immersive Wisdom's software platform allows geographically dispersed personnel to effectively work together and act without having to be physically present, even in severely bandwidth-limited environments, using existing desktops and laptops. "Immersive Wisdom allows for geographically dispersed military personnel to communicate even in the most challenging conditions," said Brian Behling, EVP of Immersive Wisdom. "The ability to stay in real-time sync across significant distances in Denied, Degraded, Intermittent, and Low-Bandwidth (DDIL) environments is a critical need for our armed forces, and Immersive Wisdom delivers even when bandwidth is not assured." Immersive Wisdom provides a patented, standardized software product platform, developed and proven over the past five years, allowing the joint force to leverage the same consistent capabilities for communication and collaboration-- cross-geography, cross-service, and cross-echelon. Please visit us at Booth 1605 in the Carahsoft Pavilion. About Immersive Wisdom Immersive Wisdom Inc., based in Boca Raton, Florida, founded in 2016, offers a patented remote collaborative ops center platform for distributed & disaggregated operations that allows geographically dispersed personnel to effectively work together and act without having to be physically present, even in severely bandwidth-limited environments, using existing desktops and laptops. Immersive Wisdom's software is available for diverse industries, including Government, Logistics, and Telecommunications. Additional information on Immersive Wisdom's other successes, including our work with the U.S. Army and U.S. Air Force, can be found under the News section at www.immersivewisdom.com . We are an In-Q-Tel portfolio company. The Immersive Wisdom trademark is the exclusive property of Immersive Wisdom, Inc. and is registered with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. All other Immersive Wisdom trademarks, service marks, and logos may be common law marks or are registered or pending registration. 2023 Immersive Wisdom, Inc. MEDIA CONTACTS: Brian Behling EVP Immersive Wisdom Inc. 202.355.4425 [email protected] http://www.immersivewisdom.com SOURCE Immersive Wisdom Inc. BERLIN, May 22, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The United States and post-Brexit Britain drove an unprecedented level of FDI in Germany in the past year. Even without a huge investment by chipmaker Intel, the value of business expansion was up considerably. Despite the economic turmoil following Russia's war on Ukraine, 2022 was a record year for international business expansion to Germany. That's the conclusion of the annual FDI Report by Germany Trade & Invest (GTAI), the government's international business promotion agency. Companies from various parts of the world committed to expansions worth a head EUR 25.3 billion Intel's decision to build new megafab production facilities in Magdeburg accounted for EUR 17 billion. But even when that behemoth investment is factored out, FDI into Germany was still EUR 8.3 billion a significant increase over the 7 billion in 2021. "This performance is very impressive," says GTAI CEO Robert Hermann. "Given all the negative factors, many people would have predicted FDI levels would decline. But the German economy showed its strength." In terms of absolute numbers of business expansion projects, the situation roughly held steady at 1783 projects (down 23 from 2021). Ten percent more American companies (279 projects in total) opted to set up shop in Europe's largest economy, making the US the top source country. Incoming FDI from second-ranking Switzerland was slightly down while FDI from Britain (170 projects) rose 21 percent, landing it third on the list. "Companies from all over the world appreciate Germany's market size, secure legal framework, highly qualified workforce, infrastructure and R&D environment," says Hermann. "That's why a host of big American companies have expanded here. For British companies, it also particularly important to have a foothold in the European Union after Brexit." Major areas for FDI to Germany were semiconductors, clean energy, digitalization, logistics and the service sector. Germany Trade & Invest (GTAI) is the economic promotion agency of the Federal Republic of Germany. GTAI supports German companies setting up in foreign markets, promotes Germany as a business location and assists foreign companies setting up shop in Germany. Contact: Jefferson Chase Senior Manager, Communications Germany Trade & Invest Friedrichstrae 60 10117 Berlin +49 179 6873724 [email protected] SOURCE Germany Trade & Invest NEW YORK, May 22, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- A latest research report [115+] pages with 360-Degree visibility, titled "Bio-implant Market Size, Share & Trends Analysis Report by Product (Cardiovascular, Orthopedic, Dental, Spinal), By Material (Ceramics, Polymers, Biomaterial Metal, Alloys) Segment Forecasts, 2023 - 2032" published by Polaris Market Research in its research repository. "According to research report, the global bio-implants market size/share was valued at USD 122.34 Billion in 2022 and is expected to touch USD 327.87 Billion by 2032, growing at a CAGR of 10.68% during the forecast period." What is Bio-implants? How Big is Bio-implant Market Size & Share? Overview Bio-implants are biosynthetic materials that are designed and developed to support the human physiological functions. They are used in medical applications for various purposes such as fixing fractures, restoring a bone, or monitoring and controlling specific physiological processes. Joint implants, dental implants, cardiovascular implants, cochlear implants, neurological implants, and breast implants are some of the common types of bio-implants. These materials are continually evolving with developments in medical technology. In fact, ongoing research aims to enhance their functionality, compatibility, and durability that will lead to the development of more advanced implants in coming years. Increasing demand for bio-implant measures over arthroscopy and other therapy treatments like physiotherapy is driving the bio-implant market size. Request Sample Copy of Bio-implant Market Research Report @ https://www.polarismarketresearch.com/industry-analysis/bio-implant-market/request-for-sample (The sample of this report is readily available on request. The report sample contains a brief introduction to the research report, Table of Contents, Graphical introduction of regional analysis, Top players in the market with their revenue analysis and our research methodology.) Our Sample Report May Includes: 2032 Updated Report Introduction, Overview, and In-depth industry analysis. 115+ Pages Research Report (Inclusion of Updated Research). Provide Chapter-wise guidance on Request. 2023 Updated Regional Analysis with Graphical Representation of Size, Share & Trends. Includes Updated List of table & figures. Updated Report Includes Top Market Players with their Business Strategy, Sales Volume, and Revenue Analysis. Some of the Top Market Players Are: Medtronic St Jude Medical (Abbott) Stryker DePuy Synthes Zimmer Biomet Organogenesis, Inc. Arthrex, Inc. Orthofix Holdings, Inc. Cochlear Ltd. Exactech, Inc For Additional Information on Key Players, Request to Download Sample Pages Here: https://www.polarismarketresearch.com/industry-analysis/bio-implant-market/request-for-sample Prominent Growth Driving Factors Surge in demand for bio-implants: Growing public knowledge of cosmetic implants and advancements in bioengineering technologies are factors contributing to the increasing demand for bio-implants, particularly in the field of aesthetic and minimally invasive procedures. More and more patients are choosing to use bio-implants as an effective alternative to a root canal treatment. For instance, the World Health Organization (WHO) 2021 Global Burden of Disease Study (GBDS) predicted that approximately half of the world's population would be affected by oral disorders. Growing public knowledge of cosmetic implants and advancements in bioengineering technologies are factors contributing to the increasing demand for bio-implants, particularly in the field of aesthetic and minimally invasive procedures. More and more patients are choosing to use bio-implants as an effective alternative to a root canal treatment. For instance, the World Health Organization (WHO) 2021 Global Burden of Disease Study (GBDS) predicted that approximately half of the world's population would be affected by oral disorders. Sedentary lifestyles and chronic diseases: Sedentary lifestyles which have majorly contributing to the development of chronic diseases such as congenital disorders, CVD, gout and neuropathic disorders. This is one of the prominent factor propelling the bio-implant market growth. Sedentary lifestyles which have majorly contributing to the development of chronic diseases such as congenital disorders, CVD, gout and neuropathic disorders. This is one of the prominent factor propelling the bio-implant market growth. Technological advancements in bio-implant manufacturing: Rising technological developments in bio-implant manufacturing such as laser technology, nanotechnology, and 3D printing which have greatly enhanced biocompatibility of these products is expected to boost the market growth. Aging population and the surge in bio-implant demand: Increasing number of elderly geriatric individuals above the age of 80 as a result of rising modern lifestyles and medical breakthroughs. Elderly people don't like to go through lengthy medical procedures which is expected to accelerate the demand for bio-implants in this age range during the forecast period. Speak to the Analyst to Understand the Scope of the Report Top Trending Factors Government funding and collaborations: The rise in healthcare funding by governments globally which is expected to bring new and more effective devices to market is anticipated to fuel the bio-implant market demand. Also, various governmental companies are collaborating with businesses that perform healthcare research and produce medical equipment, which is positively influencing the industry expansion. For instance, in June 2019 , the Kazakh government expressed interest in collaborating with the Indian business MIDHANI to make titanium bio-implants for sale. The rise in healthcare funding by governments globally which is expected to bring new and more effective devices to market is anticipated to fuel the bio-implant market demand. Also, various governmental companies are collaborating with businesses that perform healthcare research and produce medical equipment, which is positively influencing the industry expansion. For instance, in , the Kazakh government expressed interest in collaborating with the Indian business MIDHANI to make titanium bio-implants for sale. Increase in geriatric population worldwide: The factor is projected to create growth opportunities during the forecast period. The American Cardiac Association reported in a 2021 essay that 40,000 youngsters in the US get congenital cardiac surgery per year. The factor is projected to create growth opportunities during the forecast period. The American Cardiac Association reported in a 2021 essay that 40,000 youngsters in the US get congenital cardiac surgery per year. Product launches and innovation: The bio-implant market is expected to be driven by an increase in the number of product launches during the forecast period. One notable example is the introduction of the innovative Mini Optimizer by Impulse Dynamics in May 2022 . This portable battery device not only monitors heart failure but also provides healthcare professionals with vital clinical information to assist in the effective management of their patients with heart failure. Segmental Analysis Orthopedic implants segment witnessed the largest bio-implant market share in 2022 On the basis of type, orthopedic implants category accounted for the largest revenue share in 2022 owing to the rising use of implants in orthopedic surgeries, favorable government reimbursement programs, and growing use of implants in orthopedic surgeries. In 2021, 54.4 million people in the United States alone are expected to have arthritis, according to the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Moreover, dental implants are predicted to grow at fastest rate over the foreseen period due to the factors such as increasing requirement for dentistry and cosmetic procedures and dental implants as well as growing ageing population with more tooth deformities. Biomaterial metal segment is likely to hold higher share of the market throughout projected timeframe Based on material bio-implant market segmentation, biomaterial metal category dominated the market in 2022 and is expected to maintain its dominance in the coming years. This growth can be attributed to the advantages like better tensile strength and corrosion prevention than other materials like ceramics and alloys. Inquire more about this report before purchase @ https://www.polarismarketresearch.com/industry-analysis/bio-implant-market/inquire-before-buying (Inquire a report quote OR available discount offers to the sales team before purchase.) Bio-implant Market: Report Scope & Segmentation Report Attribute Details Revenue forecast in 2032 USD 327.87 Billion Market size value in 2023 USD 131.51 Billion Expected CAGR Growth 10.68% from 2023 - 2032 Base Year 2022 Forecast Year 2023 2032 Top Market Players Medtronic; St Jude Medical (Abbott); Stryker; DePuy Synthes; Zimmer Biomet; Organogenesis, Inc.; Arthrex, Inc.; Orthofix Holdings, Inc.; Cochlear Ltd.; Exactech, Inc. Segments Covered By Product Type, By Material, By Region Customization Options Customized purchase options are available to meet any research needs. Explore customized purchase options Geographic Overview North America is predicted to show a significant growth over forecast period By geography, North America is estimated to lead the bio-implant market growth owing to the factors such as growing implant usage in surgery and a rise in the need for cutting-edge technologies across all medical disciplines. The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Health Statistics report that more than 1.4 million orthopedic procedures, including hip and knee replacement surgeries, were carried out in 2017. In the upcoming years, this number is anticipated to go up. The local economy will likely benefit from this. Browse the Detail Report "Bio-implant Market Size, Share & Trends Analysis Report by Product (Cardiovascular, Orthopedic, Dental, Spinal), By Material (Ceramics, Polymers, Biomaterial Metal, Alloys) Segment Forecasts, 2023 - 2032" with in-depth TOC: https://www.polarismarketresearch.com/industry-analysis/bio-implant-market For Additional Information OR Media Enquiry, Please Mail At: [email protected] Recent Developments In March 2020 , Orthofix International N.V. acquired Spinal Kinetics Inc., a privately held manufacturer and developer of prosthetic cervical and lumbar discs. The modification was made to increase the selection of orthobiologics bio-implants offered by Orthofix. , Orthofix International N.V. acquired Spinal Kinetics Inc., a privately held manufacturer and developer of prosthetic cervical and lumbar discs. The modification was made to increase the selection of orthobiologics bio-implants offered by Orthofix. Currently, veterinarians are the only people who can utilise MaterialsCare's 3D printing methods for bio-implants, but the business has stated that by the end of 2021, humans will be able to use the technology as well. Similar to this, technical advancements have opened up new opportunities for individuals working on the development of biomaterials. Some of The Important Questions Answered in the Market Which region offers the most rewarding open doors for the market? What are the business threats and variable scenarios concerning the market? Who are the significant players confronting and developing in the market? What is the projected size of the market? What are the opportunities and threats to which players are exposed in the market? What are some of the other regions that are rising at promising CAGR? What is market chain analysis by upstream raw materials and downstream industry? Polaris Market Research has segmented the Bio-implant Market report based on product type, end-use, and region: By Product Outlook Cardiovascular Implants Orthopaedic Implants Spinal Implants Dental Implants By Material Outlook Ceramics Polymers Alloys Biomaterial Metal By Region Outlook North America (U.S., Canada ) (U.S., ) Europe ( France , Germany , UK, Italy , Netherlands , Spain , Russia ) ( , , UK, , , , ) Asia Pacific ( Japan , China , India , Malaysia , Indonesia . South Korea ) ( , , , , . ) Latin America ( Brazil , Mexico , Argentina ) ( , , ) Middle East & Africa ( Saudi Arabia , UAE, Israel , South Africa ) About Polaris Market Research: Polaris Market Research is a global market research and consulting company. The company specializes in providing exceptional market intelligence and in-depth business research services for PMR's clientele spread across different enterprises. We at Polaris are obliged to serve PMR's diverse customer base present across the industries of healthcare, technology, semi-conductors and chemicals among various other industries present around the world. We strive to provide PMR's customers with updated information on innovative technologies, high growth markets, emerging business environments and latest business-centric applications, thereby helping them always to make informed decisions and leverage new opportunities. Adept with a highly competent, experienced and extremely qualified team of experts comprising SMEs, analysts and consultants, we at Polaris endeavor to deliver value-added business solutions to PMR's customers. Contact: Likhil G 30 Wall Street 8th Floor, New York City, NY 10005, United States Phone: +1-929 297-9727 Email: [email protected] Web: https://www.polarismarketresearch.com Follow Us: LinkedIn | twitter Blog: https://polarismarketresearch.medium.com Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1316207/Polaris_Market_Research_Logo.jpg SOURCE Polaris Market Research Raghu will bring in his expertise to help scale Shobitam to new heights SEATTLE, May 22, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Leading D2C brand Shobitam, with a focus on democratizing ethnic fashion globally today announced the appointment of Raghu Sethuraman as Chairman and CEO. This leadership appointment is expected to facilitate rapid growth with both innovations and operational excellence, and help solidify Shobitam's position as a world class ethnic fashion brand as per an official statement by the company. Raghu Sethuraman joins Shobitam as Chairman & CEO Raghu Sethuraman has over 24 years of experience in e-commerce, global operations, cloud infrastructure, customer experience and high-tech industries in Seattle, Silicon Valley, Hong Kong and India. He is an alumnus of the Harvard Business School, holds a Postgraduate degree in Industrial Engineering from University of Buffalo in New York and is a Management Studies Graduate from BITS Pilani, India. Sharing thoughts on this appointment, Raghu Sethuraman said "I have been forever in awe of the rich tradition of handlooms, arts and crafts, where I am glad to join a brand with a big bold vision. Shobitam is pioneering this ethnic fashion space and I'm pleased to be part of this high-performance global team with a culture that obsesses on delivering great quality, selections, value and service for their customers globally. Together, we look forward to disrupting the fashion industry by bringing in best practices around e-commerce, global supply chain with operational excellence and innovative technology from design to delivery." Commenting on this leadership appointment, Aparna Thyagarajan, Co-founder at Shobitam said, "We are super excited to have Raghu come on board as our Chairman and CEO, as we look forward to our rapid growth globally. Raghu has been a valuable advisor for Shobitam right from our inception where his proven track record and diverse skill sets will be invaluable assets as he comes onboard as our CEO to build on our big vision with strategic market expansions and innovation across the Shobitam platform for our customers. He has proven himself as an inspiring leader and led transformational changes at leading consumer and high-tech organizations like Amazon (Ticker: AMZN), Microsoft (Ticker: MSFT), Shutterfly and Cisco, where the Board and I firmly believe he is the right choice to unleash the potential of Shobitam to the fullest, create sustainable business with growth, impact and value for all stakeholders." Added Girish Lakshman, Board Member at Shobitam and former VP, Global Logistics at Amazon, "Raghu's leadership vision with tenacity, operational understanding, organizational discipline and the dogged pursuit of perfection is an excellent addition to the Shobitam team. I have been impressed with the Shobitam team's remarkable progress in building a leading brand globally and am confident their journey will continue rapidly under Raghu's capable leadership. I wish him and the Shobitam team all the best!" About Shobitam: Founded by fashionistas and creative sisters Aparna and Ambika in Seattle, Shobitam is building a world-class ethnic fashion brand that is elegant, affordable, and available globally. Powered by a passion for fashion, an interest in designing them, and a drive to make them available to all, Shobitam's mission is to help people look good, do good and feel good. Working closely with weavers and artisans, Shobitam designs unique collections and makes a difference in their lives with deep impact. They sell through their global online platform to tens of thousands of customers across 40+ countries, offering beautiful selections with quality, prices and 5-star service! Customer Obsession is at the core of Shobitam's experience and you can see it reflected in their 7000+ 5 Star Customer Reviews. https://shobitam.com/ For Media Queries Maryam Mujawar | [email protected] Asmeeta Sahni | [email protected] +1 (510) 709-6753 SOURCE Shobitam BEIJING, May 22, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Standing in the middle of a massive construction site with a strong, gusty wind and constant construction noise in the background, Fu Xing, a mid-aged, bespectacled construction manager with a slight figure can barely be heard. Wearing his typical workman outfit - a white hard hat and a blue vest, Fu tries to explain what is being built and its national significance. But around him, nothing really stands out about the project, except for the sheer size of the site. "This will be built into a national demonstration project for TOD," Fu says in a firm, proud tone, using the acronym for transit-oriented development, an emerging global trend in urban planning that optimizes the use of land and maximizes access to public transportation. "The large size of the complex construction is rare to see in China and even the world." The project, an inter-city railway station and an international trade center, is one of the most important projects in Xiong'an New Area, in North China's Hebei Province, about 100 kilometers southwest of Beijing. Xiong'an has been dubbed the "city of the future," the development of which is a national project of millennial significance. President Xi Jinping has been personally involved in making decisions and plans to develop Xiong'an. On May 10, Xi, also the general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, inspected Xiong'an and presided over a meeting on promoting its development. The transformation of the Xiong'an New Area from ground zero to an emerging sophisticated modern city within a mere six years is miraculous, Xi remarked, according to the Xinhua News Agency. In April 2017, China announced plans to set up the Xiong'an New Area, which would be on par with the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone and the Shanghai Pudong New Area. The development of Xiong'an embodies many long-term development goals for China, including high-quality, innovation-driven, and green development, and ultimate Chinese modernization, experts noted. Underscoring the significance of Xiong'an, Xi has visited the city three times since 2017. During the latest trip on May 10, Xi visited various places in the city, including the construction sites of an inter-city railway station and an international trade center, where he learned about the development of key infrastructure projects and major projects launched for the purpose of relieving Beijing of functions nonessential to its role as the capital. Intelligent center Xi said more efforts should be made to develop a multifaceted and integrated transportation network and make full use of underground space so as to build a "city of the future" free of urban maladies. "President Xi was standing right here at this spot. Right here," highlighted Fu, assistant to the general manager of Xiongshang Development Company under China Xiong'an Group, as he vividly recalls the trip with palpable excitement. "We were very happy to witness this scene." With an investment of 20.9 billion yuan ($2.99 billion), the site has a total of construction area of 1.6 million square meters, covering different building units, such as rail, office buildings, and hotels. As an important transportation hub in Xiong'an, the complex is composed of four different rails, including one high-speed railway line, an R1 to terminal, and two sub lines, as well as different buildings, transforming the complex into a region with offices, hotels, apartments, as well as rail transit, and aviation services, Fu told the Global Times. All the transfer can be realized under the ground upon completion, Fu said, adding that the farthest transfer distance does not exceed 270 meters, and it can realize a transfer to any rail in three-minute at the same-floor. While the inter-city railway station and an international trade center, among many other major projects are still under construction, many have also been completed and Xiong'an's calling cards of being a smart, green, and innovative are already taking shape. By the end of 2022, Xiong'an had already seen an inflow of more than 510 billion yuan in investment earmarked for 240 major projects, according to the China Media Group. Another 270 key projects are expected to be launched in 2023, with a total investment of 664 billion yuan. Also, state-owned enterprises have set up more than 140 institutions in the city. Thousands of companies, most of which specialize in science and technology, have been registered in Xiong'an. A tale of two cities Another iconic project that has been completed and put into use is the Xiong'an Railway Station, which is connected to Beijing via the high-speed railway. On May 10, Xi took a high-speed train and arrived at the station. The railway station is designed as a transportation hub, Xi said, emphasizing the need to improve the connectivity of the station with various places. Located along the railway linking Beijing and Xiong'an New Area, the intercity railway section was officially made operational on December 17, 2020. Aerial photo shows that the station is in the shape of water drop ellipse, echoing the water culture of the Xiong'an New Area. As the first major infrastructure project started being constructed in the Xiong'an New Area, it is currently the largest railway station in Asia, with an area six times the size of the Beijing Railway Station. This comprehensive transportation hub has combined high-speed and intercity rails, and subway connectivity together, helping boost the integration of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei cluster. Currently, there are 17 pairs of high-speed trains shuttling between Beijing and Xiong'an daily. On May 14, it has marked 869 days of safe operation, having completed 1.44 million passenger trips, Liu Dongmei, a staffer at the Xiong'an Railway Station, told the Global Times. Liu added that the passengers are mainly builders, business people commuting to and from Daxing Airport, and tourists. It will take 19 minutes to complete a commute from Xiong'an Railway Station to Beijing Daxing International Airport, and less than one hour to the Beijing West Railway Station, Liu added. "Taking the high-speed train between Beijing and Xiong'an has been my working habit since 2021," Meng Hongwei, deputy director of XiongAn Blockchain Lab with Intelligent City Innovation Federation of Xiong'an, told the Global Times. "The high-speed train has made the two cities of Beijing and Xiong'an seem like one." The blockchain lab, which was established in 2020, with the goal of conducting research on and applying blockchain technologies and concepts to the construction of a new smart city, also highlights Xiong'an's focus on innovation. People-friendly community To the west out of the Xiong'an Railway Station sits the Rongdong area of the Xiong'an New Area, where there are estates of residential buildings and trees, which differs entirely from the usual sight in the rural areas of North China. As one of the first areas to be built up in Xiong'an the New Area, the Rongdong region has an area of 12.7 square kilometers and a planned population of about 170,000. In his visit on May 10, Xi visited a residential community that is home to 5,000-plus relocated residents. There, Xi chatted with community workers and residents, expressing his satisfaction with the good living conditions of the residents. He also highlighted the importance of ensuring the relocated residents live well and have satisfactory jobs. Promoting equal access to basic public services is crucial in building a people's city that is both livable and conducive to doing business, Xi noted. "I was nervous before President Xi visited, but was relaxed after seeing him. He is so kind to everyone," Wang Weixiao, Party Secretary of the Nanwenying community, recalled. The service center of the Nanwenying community is not big but has a clear layout. On the left side is the residents' activity room, where residents can read books and deal with various self-services, and on the right is the service station, where community workers can provide 45 services, including government-related ones to residents. "Moving into this community is a day I never thought would happen, as the environment is quite clean, and it is even hard to see a single cigarette butt, not to mention the greenery," 47-year-old Xiao Qiuyun told the Global Times. In the past, I worked in a garment factory, and I needed to overwork to make more money, but now my income is almost the same as before, but I am less tired, she said. What makes me more satisfied is that education getting better as far as I know my child's teachers are selected from other high-quality cities, something that was hard to even imagine in the past, Xiao said. According to the plan, Xiong'an will form a "15-minute living circle," that is, the residents can walk 5 minutes to send children to kindergartens, walk 10 minutes to vegetable markets and primary schools, and 15 minutes to hospitals and middle schools. Mapping out the future During the inspection, Xi stressed the need to give the people a more concrete sense of fulfillment and happiness through the development of the new area. He also called for enhancing policies that guide employment and entrepreneurship, as well as bolstering employment training programs. He encouraged the area to blaze a new path in narrowing the gap between urban and rural areas, advancing integrated urban-rural development, and promoting common prosperity for all. "Xiong'an is a sample of China's modernization, and the sample is people-oriented," Ye Tanglin, a city planning expert with the Capital University of Economics and Business, told the Global Times. From top-tier planning to scientific innovation and low carbon development, Xiong'an has set an example of high-quality development, and currently, what Xiong'an is set to become is in sight. On Saturday, the application process for the points-based permanent residence declaration for the Xiong'an New Area for 2023 started. The points-based system was introduced on January 1, 2021 with more detailed guidance issued on December 31, 2021, aiming to attract more talent to settle in the region. In 2022, 324 people had qualified for settlement through the points-based mechanism, marking the first batch of eligible people under the system. Local officials noted that the new points-based system aims to open the doors to as many talented people as possible, laying a foundation for the area's future development. While much of that work is still underway, many in Xiong'an like Fu are already seeing the beautiful light at the end of the development tunnel. "By the middle of next year, the whole construction site will be full of lights shining at the cranes in the nights, and the scene will be spectacular," Fu said. SOURCE Global Times In the three years since 27 Chandler St. was transformed from a mothballed Black Rock factory building into Buffalos foremost food operation incubator space, Ive written about its inhabitants and assorted going-on more than 50 times. Judging from the perplexed looks that greet me when lauding 27 Chandlers pleasures to hungry crowds, it has not been sufficient. Before I get to the compelling reasons you should make Tiny Thai part of your summer explorations, let me pull back the camera and give you the big picture. First, 37 Chandler St. is home to Flat 12 Mushrooms, the indoor mushroom farm offering six types by the pound, and pastries such as beef-and-mushroom borek. On Saturdays, a half-dozen more operations offer wares edible and wearable at an open-air parking lot market. Next door, at 27 Chandler St., the first floor holds Texan-Indian innovator Southern Junctions takeout window, and Waxlight Bar a Vin, the unique Buffalo restaurant recently honored for its drinks program. The second floor is home to Logans Bagels, the only Buffalo bagel outfit whose fans have told me they stock up on before returning to New York City. Plus Bloom & Rose, purveyors of knishes in flavors traditional and untraditional, plus kosher-style house-smoked pastrami sandwiches. A second-floor bridge from 27 Chandler to its neighbor is how you get to Tiny Thai. It shares the space with Crenshaws Chicken & Waffles, both serving their audiences to-go menus. In clement weather, folks looking for a cozy nosh nook take their parcels downstairs and spread them out over the picnic tables between the Chandler buildings. In 2021, Thai native Wanthureerat Kae Baramee started her culinary outreach to her new hometown with a food truck, which still makes the rounds. From my first taste of her coconut curries, Baramee has been on my shortlist of Cooks Who Must Have Restaurants. It was worth the wait. Baramee has a whole arsenal of deep cuts from her Thai repertoire that shes workshopping into her menu, one bite at a time. Even the Thai standards you thought you knew land different here. Shes turbocharged the cream-cheese-and-surimi experience by capturing it in thin-skinned spring rolls, fried to a crisp, four for $8, with sweet chile dip. If youre a Rangoon ranger narked by skimpy wontons: Tiny Thai has the mother lode. Brilliant pale blue or crimson flowers dont say dumpling at first glance. Colored with pea blossoms and shaped with skilled hands, theyre almost too pretty to bite. Once you get into the chicken and peanut filling of chor muang ($10), though, reservations vanish. (Baramee teaches chor muang classes, also held at 27 Chandler.) Green curry ($15) comes in chicken, or tempeh, fermented soybean cake. Most Thai restaurants use canned curry pastes in a rainbow of colors to turn coconut milk into the Thai curry lineup you may have tried. Barramees curries carry the manifold subtle nuances of freshly ground curry paste, so that a spoonful expands its meaning in your mouth, unfolding like origami in reverse. Gai yang sticky chicken ($17) was the dish that tipped the Tiny Thai switch for me. Its a dish you must eat with your hands, not the polite distance of silverware. Marinated chicken roasted to caramel duskiness, tender to the bone, arrives with a mound of warm sticky rice, slabs of cabbage, sliced cucumber and cilantro. Pull off a plum-sized piece of sticky rice. Pad it into a disc with your thumb. With your other hand, tear off a piece of bird, making sure to include a piece of skin, and stick it on the rice. Add cabbage, cucumber and cilantro, dunk in roasted chile vinaigrette, and mangia. Repeat. Then rinse. Baramees som tum, green papaya salad ($14), is a full-throated shout of vegetal crunch, racy lime and chile notes, punctuated by the staccato salty crunch of roasted peanuts. Fresh mango over warm sticky rice with coconut cream ($12), and housemade coconut ice cream ($8) are notable desserts. Thai iced tea, Vietnamese iced coffee, lavender lemonade, peach lemonade (all $7) are housemade beverages worth a sip, among the soft drinks served. Tiny Thais online ordering is simple, so if youre not in the mood to wander the complex looking for signs of whats coming next, just punch in your desires, grab and scoot. What Baramee has accomplished with a bare toehold on the Buffalo restaurant world fills me with gratitude and suspense in equal measure. Water this rare sprout with attention and money, and as it grows, so will its reach, so that we might all fit into a fully fledged restaurant one day. That is my prayer. Followed by a cold-eyed fact: If you seek deeper dives into Thai cuisine, overlooking Tiny Thai would be a huge mistake. Tiny Thai Location: 27 Chandler St., tinythai.biz, 716-335-0474 Hours: 5 to 9 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, 11 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. Saturday. Closed Sunday, Monday. Prices: appetizers, $5-10; entrees, $9-$17. Parking: lot Wheelchair accessible: no, three steps after bridge Gluten-free options: pad thai, dumplings, curries Outdoor dining: Chandler courtyard picnic tables YUNCHENG, China, May 22, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Chinese President Xi Jinping visited the Yuncheng Museum in Yuncheng, North China's Shanxi Province, on Tuesday. Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, visited exhibitions on topics including the origin of the Chinese civilization and the history of the local salt industry to learn in detail about the origins of mankind and the development of early Chinese civilization in Yuncheng. He was also briefed on the formation, development and historical evolution of Yuncheng Salt Lake. Yuncheng, formerly known as "Hedong," is one of the cradles of Chinese civilization. With its rich cultural heritage spanning thousands of years, Yuncheng has become a high-profile destination for those interested in exploring China's roots. From the earliest hominid fossils to ancient silk production and salt mining techniques, Yuncheng is home to some of the most significant artifacts and sites in Chinese history. The millennia-old civilization has left rich cultural relics in Yuncheng, with the Yuncheng Museum showcasing over 35,000 artifacts, including 675 especially precious pieces. Xi stressed that the museum has a great collection of precious cultural relics, or "national treasures." He called for further efforts to advance the country's national research project on tracing the origins of Chinese civilization and historical research on this civilization and improve the capabilities of protecting and utilizing cultural relics and passing on Chinese cultural heritage, according to the Xinhua News Agency. Highlighted cultural relics Located in the Salt Lake district of Yuncheng, the Yuncheng Museum opened to the public in 2016. One of the most significant finds at the museum is the fossils of ape discovered in Shanxi Province. The fossil exhibits many features of higher primates, such as larger canine teeth, a rounder mandibular angle and an upright chin. "I highlighted the fossil during the visit as the discovery pushes the origin of higher primates back 10 million years and challenges the notion that humans originated from Africa. Those cultural relics are also solid support for our cultural confidence," Wei Long, the commentator and director of the Yuncheng Cultural Relics Protection Center, told the Global Times on Sunday. Another cultural relic that reveals the ingenuity of ancient people in Yuncheng is the Xiyin Site in Xia county. In 1926, Chinese archaeologists conducted their first independent field excavation and discovered half of a cocoon with man-made cuts in it. In recent years, archaeologists have unearthed five stone-carved silkworm pupae around the site, dating back 5,000 to 6,000 years ago. These findings provide vital clues to the origin and spread of Chinese silk, corroborating the ancient legend of Leizu, the wife of the Yellow Emperor who is considered one of the common ancestors for all Chinese, and how she taught people to raise silkworms in what is today Xia county. The exhibition about the Hedong Salt Culture showcases the process of salt lake formation through videos and demonstrations of traditional salt production methods. The Hedong Salt Lake is one of the oldest salt fields in the world, with a history of over 4,600 years of exploitation and utilization. The "Five-Step Salt Production Method," which originated during the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods (770BC-221BC), became a vital technological contribution to the salt industry in China and the world. This technique predates European salt production methods by nearly a millennium and was listed in 2021 as a national intangible cultural heritage. In recent years, Yuncheng has continuously increased its ecological restoration efforts of "returning salt to the lake." Several old photos showing the lake after the founding of the People's Republic of China and the production of salt and chemical industry in the 1980s are in sharp contrast with the photos of the colorful salt lake today. The salt lake has changed from a mining area and an industrial area to an ecological park and a tourist hot spot. Must-visit destination Experts noted that the Yuncheng Museum, with over 35,000 items from archaeological excavations and collections, is a must-visit destination for anyone interested in China's ancient history. Each piece tells a story of the ingenuity and resourcefulness of the ancient people who shaped China's early civilization. Zhou Wenquan, curator of the Yuncheng Museum, told the Global Times on Sunday that the cultural relics from Xihoudu site in Shanxi Province are important materials for the project exploring the origins of Chinese civilization. The Xihoudu site dates back to about 2.43 million years ago, and its relics and dating provide evidence for the existence of early human survival and reproduction outside Africa, possibly before Homo erectus. He pointed out that Yuncheng is a place where people can explore the rich cultural heritage of China and learn about its roots. Yuncheng offers visitors a glimpse into the evolution of human civilization. "The Yuncheng Museum will continue supporting the China origins project," he said. SOURCE Global Times "When we set out to create this addition to our lineup, we learned that Guava Dragon Fruit is hitting a flavor profile for consumers that our other kombucha offerings don't and it's because it's feeding the wanderlust for travel that we've identified as a megatrend in flavor exploration," said Charlotte Mostaed, Health-Ade's Chief Marketing Officer. "We're excited about the opportunity for our loyal Health-Ade fans to transport themselves to another destination through their taste buds, while also getting that good gut feeling with the probiotics and organic acids in Health-Ade Kombucha." Guava Dragon Fruit will further Health-Ade's goal to make kombucha a household mainstay by providing a fun and unique flavor profile to the probiotic packed beverage. This delicious flavor pairs well with everything, helping more people incorporate Health-Ade into their day. Beyond satiating consumer's desire for wanderlust, Health-Ade Kombucha's Guava Dragon Fruit flavor also promises to be very incremental to the brand. It has the highest reach of the 16 flavors tested in preliminary research, as well as ranking highest in consumers feeling it delivers the benefits they are looking for in a kombucha. This tropical-forward kombucha item is the second in Health-Ade's seasonal rotating kombucha items that also include Pineapple Creamsicle, which brings some summer fun to the winter months with tropical sweetness and warm vanilla; and the nostalgic Holiday Cheers, a winter holiday season staple with notes of ginger, allspice, vanilla, cacao, cinnamon, clove and nutmeg. On their mission to reach more consumers and bring kombucha to every fridge in America, Health-Ade recently announced a multi-year partnership with host, producer, and media personality, Ryan Seacrest. The media mogul and long-time Health-Ade Kombucha lover joins the company as a brand advocate to share the benefits of kombucha with America and encourage people to swap their sugary sodas for Health-Ade, a satisfying alternative that packs a probiotic punch. In addition, earlier this year, Health-Ade Kombucha released a new line of 11.5 oz cans in four core kombucha flavors: Pink Lady Apple, Ginger Lemon, Passion Fruit-Tangerine, and Pomegranate, meeting consumers through new refreshment occasions with an even more convenient format. Health-Ade's Guava Dragon Fruit Kombucha is now available nationwide while supplies last at retailers such as Albertsons, Target, and Whole Foods Market and online at health-ade.com . For more information on Health-Ade, visit www.health-ade.com . Follow along on Instagram @healthade , Facebook /HealthAde and Twitter @DrinkHealthAde About Health-Ade Kombucha Health-Ade creates feel-good, bubbly beverages with gut health benefits so you can follow your gut and show the world what you're made of. The brand got started in the Brentwood Farmers Market in 2012 selling its flagship kombucha drinks. Instantly gaining a cult following in Southern California, Health-Ade Kombucha rapidly expanded to sell nationwide in over 50,000 stores including Whole Foods Market, Sprouts, Safeway / Albertsons, Kroger, Publix, and Target. All Health-Ade products are naturally fermented with high-quality ingredients and are certified organic, non-GMO, gluten-free and vegan, and each bottle of Health-Ade Kombucha exceeds the World Health Organization's daily standard for probiotics. Media Contact: [email protected] SOURCE Health-Ade GREENSBORO, N.C., May 22, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Daly Seven Inc, is thrilled to announce the completion of its highly anticipated multi-million dollar renovation project. The newly revamped hotel, located at the prime intersection of I-40 and Wendover Avenue, sets the stage for an elevated guest experience and a renewed commitment to providing exceptional hospitality. The multi-million dollar renovation of the Holiday Inn Express Greensboro (I-40 @ Wendover) hotel includes the addition of studio and two room suites, a large fitness center, and revamped public spaces. The extensive renovation project encompassed all areas of the property, from guest rooms to public spaces, ensuring that every aspect of the hotel reflects the brand's commitment to modern comfort and convenience. Daly Seven, the hotel's management company, has invested in the following renovations to the four-story property: The addition of 19 studio and two room suites. The addition of a large fitness center with cardio equipment and space for mat work. Enhancements to public spaces, a new lobby, expanded breakfast area, and the addition of a market near the front desk for guests to purchase snacks and sundries. Guest room upgrades with new room furnishings, mattresses, and bathroom fixtures. An exterior refresh with new paint and portico. One of the highlights of the renovation is the addition of nineteen modern, spacious suites. The Holiday Inn Express Greensboro-(I-40 @ Wendover) now boasts the ability to upgrade guests to spacious studio or two room suites with separate seating areas with pull out sofas. Business travelers to the area will appreciate the extra room to work and relax in. "We are thrilled to unveil the stunning transformation of our hotel," said Sandra Stoddart, General Manager of Holiday Inn Express Greensboro-(I-40 @ Wendover). "The renovation project reflects our dedication to creating a remarkable experience for our guests. Whether they are visiting for business or leisure, we are confident that they will appreciate the refreshed and contemporary ambiance, enhanced amenities, and our unwavering commitment to exceptional service." For more information or to make a reservation, please visit the Hotel Website or call the hotel at (336) 854-0090. The Holiday Inn Express Greensboro-(I-40 @ Wendover) is located at 4305 Big Tree Way, Greensboro, NC 27409 and sits along I-40 offering guests easy access to the Greensboro Coliseum Complex, Piedmont Triad International Airport, and area Universities. The hotel offers such conveniences as a complimentary Express Start Breakfast Bar Wi-Fi throughout the hotel, and parking. Other amenities include a modern fitness center and seasonal outdoor swimming pool. The Holiday Inn Express Greensboro-(I-40 @ Wendover) is owned and managed by Daly Seven, Inc., under a license agreement with InterContinental Hotels Group. InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG), one of the world's leading hotel companies, is the parent company of the Holiday Inn Express brand. Daly Seven, Inc. is a family-owned, award-winning hotel development and management company that has been operating hotels since its first property in 1983 and currently has 42 properties in NC, SC and VA. The Greensboro, NC-based company is recognized as an experienced hotel operator by Hilton Hotel Corporation, Marriott International, Hyatt, InterContinental Hotels Group and Best Western Hotels & Resorts, and is a proud supporter of local communities and charities. We invite you to visit our website or connect with us on LinkedIn to learn more. CONTACT: Rebecca Ramey, [email protected] SOURCE Daly Seven, Inc. SHENZHEN, China, May 22, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- On May 18, 2023, "building new hubs of film industry between the Greater Bay Area(GBA) and China-ASEAN Free Trade Zone" and also the launch ceremony of the Train to the Frontier was held in Guangzhou. After providing virtual production for Everything Everywhere All at Once and King of the Sky , virtual production of Unilumin will be applied to the Train to the Frontier again, which gains recognition of film industry experts at home and abroad, accelerating the industrialization process of domestic movies. group photo Mike Leeder, the joint producer Huang Changning, the president of Guangdong Film Industry Association, as well as leaders of Guangzhou Legendary Film Corporation, Unilumin, and other enterprises were invited to be present. In addition, the producing team of the Train to the Frontier, including Fang Jinli (the director), Mike Leeder (the joint producer), Phil Nibbelink (the art director), Victor Enriquez (the coordinator of visual special effects), and Dmitry(the director of special effects), gathered in Guangzhou 1978 Film Town to witness the new chapter of film industry together. In this ceremony, Guangzhou Legendary Film Corporation and Unilumin established strategic cooperation partnership in virtual production, special effects making and digital assets about six movies such as the Train to the Frontier and Romantic Years etc. Furthermore, Guangzhou Legendary Film Corporation, Unilumin, and Guangxi Satellite TV established strategic cooperation partnership and cooperated to strengthen promotion and enlarge application of virtual production. The Train to the Frontier tells the story about passengers fighting outlaws who possess national treasures illegally in a train driving to the frontier. It's reported that Hollywood teams and Chinese filmmakers cooperate to adopt Unilumin's complete solution of virtual production in this movie. And 90% content of this movie will be shot in virtual shooting studios. In the filed of virtual production,Unilumin has complete solutions, including film shooting, digital assets and LED displays in theaters. By 2022, over 100 studios are established by Unilumin among 140 virtual shooting studios around the world, accounting for 80% of the market. In the future, virtual production of Unilumin will serve as the bridge between domestic and foreign filmmakers for their communication, helping Chinese film industry boom and prosper. SOURCE Unilumin Group., Ltd. GUANGZHOU, China, May 22, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The 2023 Greater Bay Area Science Forum (GSF) kicked off on May 21 in Nansha, Guangzhou, Guangdong Province. With the theme of "Bring Together Wisdom, Bring Together World", this forum sets 13 sub-forums and has attracted experts in various fields who held discussions online and offline on scientific frontier topics such as marine science, nanoscience, high energy physics, advanced manufacturing, and artificial intelligence, and how to continue to promote the construction of talent highlands in the GBA and form a high-end science and technology talent gathering effect. Bai Chunli, president of the Alliance of International Science Organizations (ANSO), chairman of the GSF, and academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said in his speech that the GSF is based on the Bay Area and actively cooperates with Hong Kong and Macao to play the role of high-end platforms and communication hubs. He added, the GSF interacts with global scientists, international scientific organizations, and all sectors of society to explore global hot issues to promote the exchanges and sharing of scientific achievements, stimulate the collision of innovative ideas, speed up the connection of rules, mechanisms, and is committed to forming an open innovation ecosystem for the construction of the GBA through participating deeply in global scientific and technological cooperation. During this forum, the National Science Library of Chinese Academy of Sciences released the "GBA Innovation and Development Patent Index Report (2023)", which is based on patent data and builds a patent index to reveal the characteristics and development trends of scientific and technological innovation in the GBA. The report shows that from 2017 to 2022, the number of invention patent applications of enterprises in the GBA accounted for 73.44% of the patent application volume of the GBA, and the amount of invention patent granted of enterprises accounted for 78.33% of the number of invention patent granted of the GBA. The application volume of enterprises' PCT accounts for 94.43% of the volume of PCT application of the GBA. The patent data quoted by the report shows that the GBA possesses technical advantages in multiple industries such as new generation of information technology, new energy vehicles and new materials. In recent years, with the accelerated construction of the International Science and Technology Innovation Center of the GBA, the innovation driving force of the GBA has continued to increase. Wang Yueqin, director of the Department of Science and Technology of Guangdong Province, said that Guangdong actively cooperates with Hong Kong and Macao, continuously deepens the connection and mechanism connection of GBA's scientific and technological innovation rules, and accelerates the promotion of GBA's science and technology exchanges and cooperation in terms of factors, platforms, projects, and talents. As the host place of the GSF, Nansha is eager to promoting scientific and technological innovation cooperation, sharing the innovation achievements, and building an open innovation ecology facing the world. Official data shows that in the field of artificial intelligence and life and health, more than 1,000 companies have gathered in Nansha. In addition, the joint technology innovation of GBA continues to deepen in Nansha. After the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (Guangzhou) started in Nansha, the Science and Technology Park of Hong Kong University of Science and Technology and the Nangsha Incubation Base of Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks have accelerated. SOURCE 2023 Greater Bay Area Science Forum Company Delivers More Than 10 Million Bushels of Sustainably Grown Grain, Helping Companies Meet Climate Commitments BOSTON, May 22, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Indigo Ag, the premier sustainability partner of the agriculture industry, is using its proprietary measurement, reporting and verification (MRV) capabilities to help consumer goods companies measure and reduce their Scope 3 emissions and water use through their agricultural supply chain. Through its Market+ Source (Scope 3) program, Indigo connects consumer goods companies to sustainably grown crops within their existing supply chain. Indigo partners with agribusinesses to support farmers in adopting sustainable practices, the results of which are quantified through Indigo's MRV capabilities. The company has had success working with multibillion dollar companies over the last few seasons to deliver more than 10 million bushels of sustainably grown grains, reducing emissions by more than 15,000 metric tons and saving 6.7 billion gallons of water enough to sustain 36 million people for a year. An additional 13 million bushels have been contracted to be delivered in 2024. Indigo has secured farmer premiums of up to 10% for sustainably grown crops with minimal impact to the price of finished goods. For The North Face and other VF Corporation brands, Indigo used its MRV capabilities to deliver more than 31,000 bales of sustainably grown cotton. "We are excited about the positive environmental impacts regenerative cotton production can have not only for The North Face products, but for our industry as a whole," said Carol Shu, senior manager of global sustainability for The North Face. "Regenerative agriculture-sourced materials have the ability to shift the industry from simply 'doing less harm' to actually replenishing or having a positive impact on nature and resources. As a brand that is committed to protecting the outdoor places we love to play in, we believe this is another critical step in addressing climate change impacts in our supply chain." "The scientific rigor of our models and operational processes have allowed us to connect sustainability claims to the physical delivery of grain and cotton, and we are seeing incredible success," said Ron Hovsepian, president and CEO of Indigo Ag. "This is just the beginning. With the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) guidance on Forest, Land and Agriculture finalized last year and the Greenhouse Gas Protocol's guidance on land sector and removals expected to be finalized this fall, we are well positioned to help corporations achieve their Scope 3 targets. We look forward to expanding our capabilities to include more crops and more practices to better serve more corporations." Indigo's proprietary MRV capabilities use the highest scientific standards to quantify environmental benefits for companies participating in the Market+ Source program. The program currently includes corn, wheat, rice, and cotton, and will be expanding to new crops in 2024. Read more about our success stories in our customer ESG reports here and here . Companies looking to achieve Scope 3 targets through sustainably raised grain and cotton can visit Indigo's Market+ Source page. ABOUT INDIGO AG Uniquely combining science, technology and agriculture, Indigo Ag offers a comprehensive suite of sustainability solutions that benefit farmers, agribusinesses and corporations alike. Our integrated business platform enables participants to adopt and profit from sustainability opportunities. Working with Indigo, farmers can now maximize their profit from new and existing sustainability practices on each field, every year of their rotation, while simultaneously improving soil quality. Founded in 2013, Indigo Ag is unlocking the power of agriculture to create a better place to live. Operating across 14 countries, the company is delivering on its mission of harnessing nature to help farmers sustainably feed the planet. SOURCE Indigo Ag Momentus Securities aims to deliver more than $3 billion in community-based investments by 2026 NEW YORK, May 22, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Momentus Securities , a first-of-its-kind investment bank with a social purpose, has launched with the goal of driving institutional capital to America's small businesses and nonprofits and positioning "social impact" as a fully investable asset class for institutional investors. Momentus Securities a registered broker-dealer and FINRA member seeks to disrupt the mission-driven investing space by addressing the current scale and liquidity limitations in the sector that inhibit the deployment of institutional capital. Momentus Securities intends to facilitate the deployment of $3 billion of social capital by 2026. Momentus Securities is a first-of-its-kind investment bank positioning "social impact" as a fully investable asset class Tweet this "This is an innovative approach. We are transforming how institutional investment capital is unlocked and channeled into high-need community investments," said Momentus Securities President and CEO Alicia Reyes, who brings 27 years of experience in investment banking and private equity to Momentus Securities. "The lending market in the impact sector is decentralized and highly dispersed. This is a challenge for institutional investors that want to fully incorporate the 'S of ESG' into their mainstream strategies because of the lack of liquidity. "We see this as an opportunity to launch 'social Collateralized Loan Obligations' and, initially, intend to open warehousing lines to aggregate portfolios of loans across five key segments: affordable housing, healthcare, education, small businesses and food. Once ramped up, the portfolios will be securitized, and we will distribute the bonds as a takeout. These portfolios will offer institutional investors the opportunity to support communities and participate and invest at a scale not previously available. Lenders will achieve better terms while providing investors an improved risk return profile," Ms. Reyes added. Momentus Securities offers services across markets and investment banking, ranging from Structuring and Distribution in the public side to Debt Capital Markets, Advisory (including Mergers & Acquisitions, rating and balance sheet advisory) and Equity Capital Markets on the private side. Among others, the launch of Momentus Securities is supported with grant funding to Capital Impact Partners from the F.B. Heron Foundation , Citi Foundation , the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) , and MacKenzie Scott, as well as support from The Rockefeller Foundation through a subcontracting relationship. "We have launched Momentus Securities to support mission-driven investing for companies, financial institutions, and philanthropic organizations, which have already pledged around $11 trillion of U.S. assets toward community and economic development initiatives," said Ellis Carr, President and CEO of Capital Impact Partners and CDC Small Business Finance , each of which is part of the Momentus Capital branded family of organizations. "These investments will support large community development financial institutions as well as smaller mission-based organizations and social enterprises, working to promote economic mobility and community health across a range of sectors from affordable housing to food, healthcare, education, and small business entrepreneurship." "We're bridging the gap between the supply and demand of capital and providing mission-driven lenders access to a market that has never truly been available before," said Kurt Chilcott, Chairman of Capital Impact Partners and CDC Small Business Finance . "We will test and scale new products that expand access to capital to disinvested communities, and we will aggregate capital through technology and authentic community relationships." Quotes From Initial Supporters "Expanding access to capital in low-income communities doesn't just happen by increasing financial services. It requires new, game-changing solutions like the launch of Momentus Securities," said Brandee McHale, President of the Citi Foundation , which provided support for Momentus Securities through its Community Finance Innovation Fund . "This new vehicle has the potential to drive down costs and increase liquidity for the field so that CDFIs and community-based organizations can grow and, in turn, deepen their positive social impact in the communities they serve." "Economic realities require innovative financing strategies to open up capital for communities that historically have been overlooked, and we're excited to see financial vehicles pursuing such strategies," said Zoila Jennings, impact investment lead at RWJF . About Momentus Securities LLC Momentus Securities, a registered broker-dealer and FINRA member, offers a range of financial products and services to support its mission of connecting mainstream capital sources and impactful investment opportunities. These services include debt and equity capital raising, asset-backed and structured finance as well as corporate finance and advisory services, and will be offered across five key segments: Affordable Housing, Healthcare, Education, Small Businesses and Food. About Alicia Reyes, Momentus Securities President and CEO Formerly CEO for Europe, the Middle East and Africa at Wells Fargo, Ms. Reyes brings considerable investment banking experience to Momentus Securities. She led the bank's expansion to European markets and beyond, hired an executive leadership team, and navigated regulatory requirements to launch new lines of business and a new broker-dealer entity in France. Ms. Reyes has a PhD in quantitative methods and financial markets and holds board seats on Ferrovial and two major European banks, KBC Group and Banco Sabadell. She is also a trustee at FareShare, one of the largest nonprofit organizations in the UK, and has experienced firsthand the transformative effect of connecting people and communities to capital. SOURCE Momentus Securities Parents and legal guardians can now open a Venmo Teen Debit Card and a Venmo account for teenagers 13 to 17 years old, so they can send, receive, and spend money Offers built-in parental controls and oversight capabilities SAN JOSE, Calif., May 22, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Venmo today introduced the Venmo Teen Account, providing parents and legal guardians the ability to open a Venmo account for their teenagers between the ages of 13 to 17-years-old so they can send and receive money. The Venmo Teen Account also comes with a Venmo Teen Debit Card1. For the first time, the Venmo Teen Account gives teenagers a way to engage with and learn more about managing money through the Venmo app. The Venmo Teen Account will allow parents to monitor transactions, manage privacy settings, send money to their teen, and will help parents to educate their teens on creating healthy money habits. Venmo Teen Account Venmo Teen Debit Card Venmo App & Venmo Teen Debit Card Venmo Teen Debit Card Research shows that over 45% of Gen Z prefer to have a conversation with an adult to learn about personal finance, and over 50% of parents are interested in using an app to help their children learn about money management2. With the Venmo app and the Teen Debit Card, the Venmo Teen Account helps start discussions about personal finances between parents and teens and gives them more ways to engage with one another and build money management skills together. "Venmo is a natural place for teens to learn how to engage with money responsibly, especially considering 86% of Gen Z are interested in using an app to learn about personal finance2," said Erika Sanchez, Vice President and General Manager, Venmo. "For parents or legal guardians, the Venmo Teen Account allows them to give some financial flexibility to their teens, while giving them parental controls and visibility into their teen's spending habits." What Parents and Teens Will Love About the Venmo Teen Account: Each Venmo Teen Account is connected to and managed by a parent's personal Venmo account and provides parents with essential parental controls and oversight of the activity on their Venmo Teen Account. The Venmo Teen Account privacy settings, including payments and friends lists, will be set to private by default, and parents will be able to view their teen's transactions and friends list. Only the parent can change the Venmo Teen Account's privacy settings. Convenient : The Venmo Teen Account has no monthly fees and offers no-fee cash withdrawals at participating ATMs through the Venmo Teen Debit Card 3 . Parents sign up their teen for a Teen Debit Card, which is linked to the Venmo Teen Account balance, and can choose to grant the teen access to the Venmo app. : The Venmo Teen Account has no monthly fees and offers no-fee cash withdrawals at participating ATMs through the Venmo Teen Debit Card . Parents sign up their teen for a Teen Debit Card, which is linked to the Venmo Teen Account balance, and can choose to grant the teen access to the Venmo app. Connected : Teens can send and receive money among family and friends. Parents can monitor up to five Venmo Teen Accounts from their personal Venmo account. Parental controls include the ability to view the Venmo Teen Account's balance and transaction history, manage the Teen Debit Card's PIN, lock and unlock the debit card, review a Teen Account's friends list, and block users from interacting with the Teen Account. : Teens can send and receive money among family and friends. Parents can monitor up to five Venmo Teen Accounts from their personal Venmo account. Parental controls include the ability to view the Venmo Teen Account's balance and transaction history, manage the Teen Debit Card's PIN, lock and unlock the debit card, review a Teen Account's friends list, and block users from interacting with the Teen Account. Empowering: The Venmo Teen Account has a separate balance from the parent's personal Venmo account and comes with a teen's own debit card in a range of colors and designs. Teens can track their own spending in the Venmo app, which helps teach financial responsibility and understanding, and Venmo Teen Accounts may be eligible to receive Direct Deposit, enabling funds to be paid directly into the Venmo Teen Account from an after-school job, for example. How to Sign Up for the Venmo Teen Account: Parents must sign up for a Venmo Teen Account on their teen's behalf. To get started, parents navigate to the 'Me' screen in the Venmo app, tap their name in the top left-hand corner, and then tap "Create a teen account" from the drop-down menu. Parents can select a Teen Debit Card color, and enter information about their teen like name, date of birth, and address. More information on parental controls and detailed steps on how to sign up for the Venmo Teen Account can be found here. The Venmo Teen Account is rolling out to select customers from June 2023 and will be widely available in the coming weeks. Those who qualify will see the option to create a Venmo Teen Account within the app. Parents and legal guardians not part of the initial rollout can find out more information and sign-up to be notified when the Venmo Teen Account is available here. 1The Venmo Mastercard is issued by The Bancorp Bank, N.A.; Member FDIC, pursuant to a license by Mastercard International Incorporated. Mastercard is a registered trademark, and the circles design is a trademark of Mastercard International Incorporated. Card may be used everywhere Mastercard is accepted in the United States. The Bancorp Bank, N.A., is issuer of the Card only and not responsible for the associated accounts or other products, services, or offers from Venmo. 2 Gen Z and Their Parents: Preparing for the Financial Future, August 2022: Raddon Research 3ATMs must display the Mastercard, Cirrus, PULSE, or MoneyPass acceptance marks. Up to $400 USD daily withdrawal limits apply. Transactions at non-MoneyPass ATMs have a $2.50 ATM Domestic Withdrawal Fee. No fee for MoneyPass ATM Withdrawals in the U.S. ATM operator fees may also apply. See Cardholder Agreement for details. About PayPal PayPal has remained at the forefront of the digital payment revolution for more than 20 years. By leveraging technology to make financial services and commerce more convenient, affordable, and secure, the PayPal platform is empowering hundreds of millions of consumers and merchants in more than 200 markets to join and thrive in the global economy. For more information, visit https://www.paypal.com. Media Relations Contacts: Tom Hunter [email protected] SOURCE PayPal Holdings, Inc. PITTSBURGH, May 22, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- "I thought there should be a way to double the heat level capacity of a fire shelter so it can withstand the highest levels of both radiant and direct heat," said an inventor, from Visalia, Calif., "so I invented THE GREAT SAVIOR. My design would offer a much higher personal protection capacity/rating than the standard available fire shelter." The invention provides an upgraded design for a portable and expandable fire shelter. In doing so, it would aid in deflecting heat from the human body. It also offers increased oxygen capacity within the inner area of the shield. As a result, it increases personal safety. The invention features a portable and protective design that is easy to deploy so it is ideal for fire departments, the military, individuals in areas prone to wildfires, etc. The original design was submitted to the Fresno sales office of InventHelp. It is currently available for licensing or sale to manufacturers or marketers. For more information, write Dept. 21-FMB-205, InventHelp, 217 Ninth Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15222, or call (412) 288-1300 ext. 1368. Learn more about InventHelp's Invention Submission Services at http://www.InventHelp.com. SOURCE InventHelp PITTSBURGH, May 22, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- "I wanted to provide motorists with enhanced personal security when parking in public locations, especially when vulnerable to potential criminal activity," said an inventor, from Puyallup, Wash., "so I invented the SECURITY SYSTEM. My design would automatically record a carjacking attempt, personal assault, robbery, or other dangerous incident outside a parked vehicle." The patent-pending invention provides advanced personal security for outside a parked car. In doing so, it offers a clear recorded view of criminal activity such as a carjacking or robbery. As a result, it could help police to identify and apprehend a criminal and it provides added protection and peace of mind. The invention features an automatic design that is easy to use so it is ideal for vehicle owners and professional drivers. The original design was submitted to the Seattle sales office of InventHelp. It is currently available for licensing or sale to manufacturers or marketers. For more information, write Dept. 21-FED-2466, InventHelp, 217 Ninth Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15222, or call (412) 288-1300 ext. 1368. Learn more about InventHelp's Invention Submission Services at http://www.InventHelp.com. SOURCE InventHelp Hong Kong: Youth development work discussed Secretary for Home & Youth Affairs Alice Mak today met delegations from the Mainland to discuss youth work, including the integration of Hong Kong youngsters into the nations overall development. Miss Mak first met National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference Committee on Liaison with Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan & Overseas Chinese Chairperson Liu Cigui. Noting that the Youth Development Blueprint envisions the nurturing of a new generation of young people with an affection for the country, Miss Mak said the Home & Youth Affairs Bureau will work closely with the Committee on Promotion of Civic Education and the District Youth Development & Civic Education Committee in the 18 districts to promote young people's understanding of the country. At a meeting with People's Government of Zhejiang Province Department of Hong Kong & Macao Affairs Deputy Director Yao Guowen, the home affairs chief said that with travel between Hong Kong and the Mainland and the rest of the world back to normal, the bureau has resumed various internship and exchange activities for Hong Kong youths to visit different Mainland provinces and cities including Zhejiang. She expressed hope that the co-operation with Zhejiang and exchanges between young people in Hong Kong and the province could be strengthened. Miss Mak also met Nansha District of Guangzhou Municipality Deputy Mayor Liu Xiaotung to exchange views on the Overall Plan for Deepening Globally Oriented Comprehensive Co-operation amongst Guangdong, Hong Kong & Macao in Nansha of Guangzhou (Nansha Plan) promulgated by the central government. She expressed full support for leveraging the complementary advantages of the Nansha Plan and the Youth Development Blueprint, adding that the bureau will work with Nansha to encourage Hong Kong youths to seize the opportunities in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. This story has been published on: 2023-05-22. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. Just like police departments around New York, the State Police look in the mirror and see a problem the force doesn't look like the communities they serve. And like many other departments, the agency says it is working to add more diversity to its ranks. A little more than half of New Yorkers are white, according to 2022 census data. But according to recent figures released by the State Police, 88% of sworn personnel in the agency are white. While close to 18% of the state is made up of Black people, that figure among state police is 4.2%. Across the state, 19.5% of the population is Hispanic/Latinx, compared to 6% of troopers. The State Police should be trying to mirror in its ranks what is shown in the census about the state's population, Acting Superintendent Steven A. Nigrelli said. "At the end, it should just be more reflective of the society we serve," Nigrelli said. These recent state police statistics are similar to those found in a 2021 Associated Press analysis of the agency's makeup. Police agencies being disproportionately white compared to the populations they serve is not new, and it is not unique to the State Police. A 2021 Buffalo News analysis of area law enforcement agencies found a near absence of diversity in the region. The Buffalo Police Department which employs the most racial and ethnic minorities as police officers, the 2021 analysis found had gotten whiter between 2009 and 2019, despite efforts to make the force more diverse. Police departments in 12 communities had all-white forces, and, outside of Buffalo, there were 19 Black police officers in Erie and Niagara counties. In order to attract more minority applicants in the most recent hiring cycle, the State Police "recruited heavily" in urban areas, and had community engagement activities in those areas in order to build relationships in the community, Nigrelli said. The agency also spent more money on recruiting, including on an advertising campaign leading up to its 2022 trooper exam. The campaign, which attempted to entice more minority and female candidates, involved meetings with leaders in communities typically underrepresented in law enforcement, as well as recruitment teams attending community events, according to a statement from the Governor's Office from August 2021. The efforts seemed to pay off. More Black, Hispanic and Asian candidates applied to be troopers in 2022 than in 2017 for the prior trooper examination, according to the agency. Though fewer people overall applied to take the trooper exam in 2022, the numbers of candidates who were Hispanic grew from 18% to 25.4%, according to the agency. Black candidates grew from 13.9% to 19.7%, while Asian candidates grew from 4.1% to 6%, the agency said. The State Police had been offering an exam every four years, but the 2021 exam was delayed due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The pandemic also led to the cancellation of two years' worth of recruits attending the academy. The State Police has a little more than 4,800 sworn members on its payroll, about 700 fewer than what is provided for in their budget. "We can't hire fast enough to keep up with attrition," Nigrelli said. The agency plans to hold another exam later this year, Nigrelli added, and will make trooper examinations every two years the new norm. Gov. Kathy Hochul has proposed hiring 1,000 troopers in four classes, taking a little more than a year, he said. Making a police force more diverse doesn't happen quickly, but requires a long-term investment, said Henry Smart III, assistant professor at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice. That work begins with departments adding more community policing efforts, including connecting with young people in schools though the important interaction is when police are not acting in a security role, but having conversations with people and building relationships, Smart said. While police looking like the communities they serve can secure one layer of trust, those hired also have to align with the values of protection that go along with the policing mission, he said. "Building trust when people have been hurt is a difficult thing," Smart said. STOCKHOLM, May 22, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Storytel has the pleasure to invite investors, analysts and media to a Capital Markets Day on Tuesday, June 13, 2023, in Stockholm, Sweden. During the day, CEO Johannes Larcher and members of the Group Executive Management Team will give an update on Storytel's position and operations, and present the Company's strategic direction and new mid-term financial targets. The event will include a Q&A session with the opportunity to ask questions to the Management Team. The event will take place at IVA Konferenscenter, Grev Turegatan 16 in Stockholm at 2 PM 5 PM CEST, followed by a mingle. Doors will open from 13.30 CEST. The presentations will be held in English and will be streamed live and made available on Storytel's website. Registration is required, both for the physical event and the livestream, via the following link: https://storytel-invite.creo.se/2023/storytel_capital_markets_day_2023 Overall agenda Opening Remarks Sector context, strategic direction and mid-term financial targets Content Strategy Synergies, differentiation and content economics Streaming Strategy Growth of value share across Storytel's geographic markets Closing Remarks The road to sustainable and profitable growth Q&A Session Mingle FNCA Sweden AB is the company's certified adviser. For more information, please contact: Niklas Alm, Interim Head of Investor Relations, Tel: +46 70 824 40 88 Email: [email protected] Dan Panas, Senior Director Corporate Communications Tel: +46 70 186 52 90 Email: [email protected] About Storytel Storytel is one of the world's largest audiobook and e-book streaming services and offers more than one million titles on a global scale. Our vision is to make the world a more empathetic and creative place, with great stories to be shared and enjoyed by anyone, anywhere and anytime. The streaming business within the Storytel Group is conducted under the brands Storytel, Mofibo and Audiobooks.com. The publishing business is managed by Storytel Books, and by the audiobook publisher StorySide. The Storytel Group operates in over 25 markets. The headquarters is located in Stockholm, Sweden. The following files are available for download: SOURCE Storytel IPLOOK, a leading provider of end-to-end mobile core networks, has announced that it will attend MVNOs World Congress 2023. HONG KONG, May 22, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- IPLOOK is excited to announce its return to the MVNOs World Congress, after a successful participation four years ago in Madrid. This year, the MVNOs World Congress will take place in Amsterdam from June 5th to 7th, and IPLOOK invites industry professionals to join this remarkable gathering to foster networking, collaboration, and knowledge sharing at Stand 23. As a core network provider specializing in MVNO solutions, IPLOOK offers a wide range of flexible options tailored to meet the specific needs of various MVNO types. These solutions are designed for Branded Reseller, Full MVNO, Light MVNO, and MVNE, providing comprehensive services for companies entering the MVNO market or looking to enhance their existing offerings. At the MVNOs World Congress, IPLOOK will proudly showcase its innovative solutions, demonstrating the numerous advantages they bring to MVNO operators. With advanced technologies and expertises, IPLOOK enables MVNOs to optimize their network performance, enhance customer experience, and drive business growth. Visitors to our booth will have the opportunity to explore the cutting-edge features and capabilities of our MVNO solutions. IPLOOK extends a warm invitation to all MVNOs and industry players attending the MVNOs World Congress in Amsterdam. We look forward to meeting with customers, discussing their specific requirements, and exploring how IPLOOK's core network solutions can help them achieve their goals, to boost their MVNO business. About IPLOOK IPLOOK Technologies is a leading vendor of 4G/5G networking solutions, offering a complete line of products for mobile operators, mobile virtual operators, service providers and enterprise private networks to fulfill the growing connectivity needs. We are one of the fastest-growing end-to-end mobile core network vendors in the world, positioned to self-develop innovative and high-performed 3G/4G/5G/6G core network products to the world. More info: www.iplook.com Follow IPLOOK on LinkedIn @IPLOOK Technologies Media Contact [email protected] SOURCE IPLOOK Technologies Planned Warehouse Development Could Bring Up to 1,000 Semis EMBARGOED UNTIL 5.23.2023 10 AM MST NEWS CONFERENCE GOLDEN, Colo., May 22, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- A group of property owners from 18 homeowners' associations in Jefferson County, organized as McIntyre Neighbors United, are calling for a county moratorium on Amazon-type warehouse developments. A pending development application opposed by the group is expected to result in three warehouses in a neighborhood adjacent to Arvada. The pending application from the project's developer specifically states the application is for a "logistics distribution center," the precise language used to describe Amazon-type warehouse facilities. The coalition conducted a news conference on the steps of the Jefferson County Government Center this morning to air their concerns about the proposed warehouse development and ones like it. The development would include a combined 500,000 square feet of warehouse space (roughly the square footage of the entire Jefferson County Government Center) very close to private homes and a planned assisted living center. The warehouses, which are expected to be 40-feet high, could result in 1,000 daily semi-truck trips through nearby neighborhoods. Anne Laffoon, a leader of the McIntyre Neighbors United, says the I-3 "light industrial" Jefferson County zoning classification is outdated and does not address the semi-truck trips that will go into and out of the vacant infill, 40-acre location adjacent to Hyatt Lake. The property at issue is on McIntyre Street at 60th Ave between Arvada and Golden. "The only way for trucks to get from the site to a highway is to use McIntyre Street, a local road, to travel 4 miles to reach Interstate 70," Laffoon said. "That results in the semi-trucks going through neighborhoods and by schools 24-7." Laffoon said the group wants to be clear that it is not anti-development. "We want a building moratorium until the county figures out how to regulate developments like this, because it's clear they have yet to do that," Laffoon said. "We would be supportive of considering this site for affordable housing options, retail options, and other developments that would be sustainable and compatible with the area. What's being proposed with these warehouses is the opposite of that." The proposed project in unincorporated Jefferson County, currently referred to as "5950 McIntyre St.," has a preliminary development application pending with Jefferson County to build three large distribution warehouses. The property has a long history of environmental issues and is adjacent to the Croke and Farmer's High Line canals and a local reservoir/amenity known as Hyatt Lake. The designated permitted uses and zoning have not been updated in decades to reflect recent development patterns which are primarily residential and neighborhood commercial/retail uses. The county is considering this proposed project under the Light Industrial-3 zoning regulations, though this type of use was not contemplated when the zoning was established. The project is being permitted in three phases: 1) a land disturbance permit to relocate the Farmer's High Line Canal in order to increase buildable acreage with status pending, 2) a pre-application to construct the three warehouses and 3) the proposed construction of a spillway for Hyatt Lake, a reservoir fed by the Farmer's High Line Canal, so that the lake has the capacity to accept storm water run-off from the proposed warehouse/logistics distribution project. About McIntyre Neighbors United McIntyre Neighbors United i ncludes 18 homeowners associations (HOAs) that have communicated on behalf of the community with the Jefferson County Commissioners, City Council of Arvada, Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) and several open space/conservation groups about the community-led effort to examine the impacts of this proposed project. The coalition is not anti-development; it simply wants a planning and approval process that supports sustainable and compatible development. For more information go to www.mcintyreneighborsunited.org . Contact: Erich Kirshner, Lasso Digital 303.921.6733 or [email protected] SOURCE McIntyre Neighbors United The Button Law Firm files suit claiming unqualified worker used corporal punishment on child DALLAS, May 22, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- A mom is suing Eastridge Academy in Dallas, claiming her 6-year-old daughter experienced a head injury as a result of abuse by an unqualified daycare worker in August 2022. The lawsuit details how the worker purposely pushed the young girl out of a chair during a painting activity, causing the girl to hit her head when she fell to the ground. Lawsuit claims 6-year-old girl experienced a head injury as a result of abuse by an unqualified daycare worker at Eastridge Academy in August 2022. The complaint details how the worker purposely pushed the young girl out of a chair during a painting activity, causing the girl to hit her head when she fell to the ground. April Wallace is seeking to hold the daycare accountable for violating multiple safety laws that enabled the unqualified worker to physically abuse her daughter, including failing to follow strict hiring, training, and supervision practices and ignoring incident reporting protocols mandated by the state of Texas. According to the complaint, Eastridge Academy markets itself as a facility "committed to the safety and security of our children." However, an independent investigation conducted by the Texas Health and Human Services Commission Child-Care Licensing Division and Texas Department of Family and Protective Services substantiated the allegations. Eastridge Academy was cited for violating four childcare licensing laws: using corporal punishment, hitting a child with a hand or instrument, subjecting a child to abusive or profane language, and humiliating a child. The suit also claims Eastridge Academy endangered children by allowing the unqualified worker to remain on staff after the chair incident that harmed the young girl. "The safety and protection of children at any daycare should be the upmost priority," says attorney Russell Button of The Button Law Firm, who represents Wallace and her family. "Eastridge Academy failed this young girl, and the abuse she experienced is deeply troubling." Records outlined in the suit reveal Eastridge Academy received 10 citations for not maintaining a safe environment for children in the three years leading up to the abuse incident. Deficiencies ranged from the facility neglecting to qualify, train, and supervise employees to failing to properly care for children. The case is April Wallace, Individually and as Next Friend of B.S.H., a minor child, vs. Paramount Learning, LLC, d/b/a East Ridge Academy, Cause No. CC-23-03067-E in Dallas County, Texas. A copy of the complaint can be accessed here. About the Button Law Firm The Button Law Firm (buttonlawfirm.com) is a Texas-based personal injury law firm that advocates for children and their families in meaningful litigation to make local communities safer. The firm focuses on daycare and child-related injuries such as abuse and neglect cases, finger injuries, toy-related injuries, and catastrophic injuries. With attorneys in Dallas, Houston, and Midland, The Button Law Firm helps families across the Lone Star State. Media Contact Holly Scimeca Griggs [email protected] Holly House Marketing 214-550-0958 SOURCE The Button Law Firm Reduced greenhouse gas emissions by 20% Improved access to Lilly insulins in the U.S. Nearly doubled patients reached in resource-limited settings through global health efforts INDIANAPOLIS, May 22, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE: LLY) today released its latest Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) report showing progress towards the company's ambitious sustainability goals, which are critical to maintaining a strong and resilient company. Notable sustainability highlights in the report include: Reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the company's operations by more than 20% from 2020 to 2022 despite significant business growth over the same timeframe. Continuing to improve the diversity of Lilly's workforce with minority group members now serving in a quarter of all management positions in the U.S. and women serving in nearly half (49%) of all management positions globally. Improving access to Lilly insulin in the U.S., including capping out-of-pocket costs at $35 or less per month (effective March 2023 ) and reducing the list price of Lilly's most prescribed insulins by 70% (effective Q4 2023). 1 or less per month (effective ) and reducing the list price of Lilly's most prescribed insulins by 70% (effective Q4 2023). Nearly doubling the number of patients reached in resource-limited settings from 7.3 million in 2020 to 13 million in 2022 via the Lilly 30x30 initiative. "Since Lilly was founded nearly 150 years ago, we've aimed to have a positive impact on patients, communities and the environment," said Lilly's Head of ESG, James Greffet. "Sustainability is critical to our resiliency as a business and is integrated into how we fulfill our purpose of creating medicines that make life better for people." Other environmental progress includes expanding use of solar energy at the company's global facilities and outperforming the biotech and pharmaceutical company average with an A- score for climate and water submissions from CDP in 2022. Diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) continue to be a priority for Lilly. For five consecutive years, Lilly has been in the top five of the DiversityInc Top 50 Companies for Diversity list. Additional DEI highlights in 2022 include establishing an annual global DEI conference for employees and exceeding many of its Racial Justice Commitment goals among them, increasing the company's spending with Black-owned businesses from $143 million in 2020 to $358 million in 2022. Under Lilly 30x30, Lilly recently announced novel collaborations to improve quality healthcare in low- and middle-income countries, including with EVA Pharma to increase the supply of affordable, high-quality insulin in Africa; and with UNICEF to improve the lives of more than 10 million young people living with noncommunicable diseases. These and other efforts help meet U.N. Sustainable Development Goals. "Lilly has plans to introduce several additional potential medicines in 2023 and our sustainability strategy provides a foundation for us to continue to deliver on our commitment to patients around the globe," continued Greffet. To learn more about Lilly's 2022 ESG goals and progress, visit https://esg.lilly.com/. About Lilly Lilly unites caring with discovery to create medicines that make life better for people around the world. We've been pioneering life-changing discoveries for nearly 150 years, and today our medicines help more than 51 million people across the globe. Harnessing the power of biotechnology, chemistry and genetic medicine, our scientists are urgently advancing new discoveries to solve some of the world's most significant health challenges, redefining diabetes care, treating obesity and curtailing its most devastating long-term effects, advancing the fight against Alzheimer's disease, providing solutions to some of the most debilitating immune system disorders, and transforming the most difficult-to-treat cancers into manageable diseases. With each step toward a healthier world, we're motivated by one thing: making life better for millions more people. That includes delivering innovative clinical trials that reflect the diversity of our world and working to ensure our medicines are accessible and affordable. To learn more, visit Lilly.com and Lilly.com/newsroom or follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn. I-LLY Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements This press release contains forward-looking statements (as that term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995) about Lilly's latest Environmental, Social and Governance report and progress towards Lilly's sustainability and other goals and reflects Lilly's current beliefs and expectations. However, there can be no assurance that Lilly will achieve its goals and objectives or that Lilly will execute its strategy as planned. For further discussion of risks and uncertainties relevant to Lilly's business that could cause actual results to differ from Lilly's expectations, see Lilly's Form 10-K and Form 10-Q filings with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission. Except as required by law, Lilly undertakes no duty to update forward-looking statements to reflect events after the date of this release. 1 Terms and conditions apply. Automatically applied at the majority of retail pharmacies for those with commercial insurance. Government restrictions exclude people enrolled in federal government insurance programs from Lilly's $35 solutions. But federal law provides that Medicare Part D beneficiaries also pay no more than $35 per month for insulin. SOURCE Eli Lilly and Company The Fund Aims to Increase People of Color-Led Business Ownership and Close Wealth Gaps. Known to house both the Living Cities Catalyst III fund and the team who powers it. NEW YORK, May 22, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Living Cities announced its new partnership with Known, a finance and asset management firm, to house its $100 million Catalyst Fund III, an investment vehicle designed to confront and address underinvestment in Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC) communities. Living Cities Logo "We're thrilled to provide a new home for the operation and growth of this storied franchise of funds, and we look forward to a thriving partnership with our friends at Living Cities. This values-aligned endeavor is a case study in partnership for scale and growth, and true cross-sector collaboration at its best," said Jim Casselberry, CEO of Known Holdings. Known is a Black-, Indigenous-, Latinx- and Asian American-founded platform for the investment in and sustainable growth of BIPOC fund managers, financial advisors, bankers, and entrepreneurs. It has committed to support the growth of both the Living Cities fund strategy and provide a home for the staffing of the Catalyst Fund III. Under Known's regulatory framework, the Living Cities team can expand the size and scope of the current fund and future funds augmenting what a non-profit can offer. "Living Cities is proud to partner with Known as we work to enable the equitable and inclusive flow of capital investment. We understand from our 32 years of innovation that there can be no equitable or inclusive economic growth or development without an exponential investment in the genius, productivity, and drive of the growing BIPOC population," said Joe Scantlebury, Living Cities' President and CEO. "Our joint venture with Known will help our philanthropic collaborative to scale, demonstrate impact to a wider audience, and challenge current narratives, assumptions and practices that limit capital investment and hobble our nation. Known and Living Cities believe that our nation's growth and stability begin with changing our approach to investing today." The Living Cities Catalyst Fund III builds on Living Cities' many years of impact investing in financial intermediaries and fund managers in both debt and equity capacities. Fund III follows two structured debt funds the $38 million Catalyst Fund, which fully repaid investors in 2021, and the $37 million Blended Catalyst Fund, which is fully committed exploring innovative solutions to serve under-invested communities and close racial income and wealth gaps. "From the launch of Living Cities first fund, the Catalyst Fund, in 2008, and with the continued evolution of our impact investing thesis through our second fund, the Blended Catalyst Fund, we have invested in innovative solutions to close the wealth and income gaps for BIPOC populations," said Demetric Duckett, Managing Partner of the Catalyst Fund III, and former Managing Director at Living Cities. "Our partnership with Known builds on that momentum, continues on the path of systemic change, and will allow our third fund, Catalyst Fund III, to leverage a private sector platform where it can scale and grow to actualize our vision of how the world should be." About Living Cities Living Cities is a collaborative of prominent philanthropic foundations and financial institutions committed to ensuring that all people in U.S. cities live economically stable, thriving, abundant, healthy and connected lives. We seek to close the racial income and wealth gaps that divide us by removing barriers to capital investment and economic opportunity. Learn more at LivingCities.org . About Known Launched in 2021, Known is a finance and asset management firm that works with founders, family offices, and large asset owners who value competitive returns as well as powerful long-term racial, social, and climate impact. Known generates growth, ownership, and wealth in the economy powered by the Global Majority (AKA BIPOC, Black, Indigenous, and People of Color)the fastest-growing and most undercapitalized demographic on the planet. Known is led by its Black, Indigenous, Latinx, and Asian-American co-founders, joined by a team of leading financial professionals, seasoned investors, and deeply experienced business leaders. For more on Known please click here . Living Cities Media Contact: Magdaline Hurtado, Violet PR, [email protected] Known Media Contact: Emerald-Jane Hunter, myWHY Agency, 312-291-1099, [email protected] SOURCE Known The global meat-based flavor market is driven by factors like the rising demand for natural and clean-label ingredients and plant-based meat alternatives. PORTLAND, Ore., May 22, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Allied Market Research published a report, titled, "Meat-Based Flavors Market by Type (Natural Meat Flavor, Artificial Meat Flavor), By Flavor (Chicken, Beef, Pork, Turkey, Fish and Seafood, Others), By Application (Baked Goods, Soups and Sauces, Savory, Ready Meals, Processed Meat, Others): Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2022-2031." According to the report, the global meat-based flavor market generated $3.4 billion in 2021 and is anticipated to generate $6.0 billion by 2031, witnessing a CAGR of 5.8% from 2022 to 2031. Request Sample Report: https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/request-sample/74908 Prime determinants of growth- The global meat-based flavor market is driven by factors like the rising demand for natural and clean-label ingredients and plant-based meat alternatives. However, lack of knowledge about the flavor of meat and regulations, as well as increased competition from plant-based substitutes impede the growth to some extent. Moreover, the market for meat-based flavors is expanding due to technological advancements, new flavors, and innovation in the production of meat substitutes. Report coverage & details- Report Coverage Details Forecast Period 20222031 Base Year 2021 Market Size in 2021 $3.4 Billion Market Size in 2031 $6.0 Billion CAGR 5.8 % No. of Pages in Report 442 Segments Covered Type, Flavor, Application, and Region Drivers The rising demand for natural and clean-label ingredients Plant-based meat alternatives Opportunities Technological advancements, new flavors, and innovation in the production of meat substitutes Restraints Lack of knowledge about the flavor of meat An increased competition from plant-based substitutes COVID-19 Scenario- The COVID-19 pandemic had a negative impact on the meat-based flavors market. Due to the COVID-19 outbreak, the governments of various countries imposed a lockdown to reduce the spread of the virus, which led to some difficulties for the market for meat-based flavors. However, it has also opened new business opportunities for organizations that can adjust to shifting market dynamics and consumer preferences. Companies that offer high-quality products made with natural, own-brand ingredients and that have strong e-commerce capabilities have sustained in the post-pandemic market. Buy This Report (442 Pages PDF with Insights, Charts, Tables, and Figures) @ https://bit.ly/42RYynB The natural meat flavor segment to maintain its leadership status throughout the forecast period- Based on type, the natural meat flavor segment held the highest market share in 2021, accounting for more than three-fifths of the global meat-based flavor market revenue, and is estimated to maintain its leadership status throughout the forecast period. Consumers are increasingly looking for authentic and natural flavors in their food products, including meat products. However, the artificial meat flavor segment is projected to manifest the highest CAGR of 6.1% from 2022 to 2031. This is due to the trend in the rise of plant-based and lab-grown meat, which has created a need for seasonings that replicate the taste & aroma of real meat. The beef segment to maintain its leadership status throughout the forecast period- Based on flavor, the beef segment held the highest market share in 2021, accounting for more than one-fourth of the global meat-based flavor market revenue, and is estimated to maintain its leadership status throughout the forecast period. The beef flavor is used in specialty beef flavors, such as grass-fed or Wagyu flavors, to provide a better and more unique taste. These special beef flavors are generally aimed at consumers who are willing to pay more for high quality and a unique taste. However, the chicken segment is projected to display the highest CAGR of 6.2% from 2022 to 2031. Due to its well-known unique flavor, it is a popular option for meat substitutes, including plant-based chicken substitutes. North America to maintain its dominance by 2031- Based on region, North America held the highest market share in terms of revenue in 2021, contributed to more than one-third of the global meat-based flavor market revenue, and is expected to maintain its dominance by 2031. Owing to the increase in demand for plant-based and vegetarian alternatives in North America surge the demand for the meat-based flavor in the region. However, the Asia-Pacific region is expected to witness the fastest CAGR of 7.1% from 2022 to 2031. The taste for fast food & beverages has constantly changed in Asia-Pacific due to westernization and changes in eating habits. People prefer convenience food or ready-to-eat meals to save time. Enquire Before Buying: https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/purchase-enquiry/74908 Leading Market Players: - Essentia Protein Solutions Firmenich SA H.E. Stringer Flavours Limited Fooding Group Limited Givaudan SA Symrise AG T. Hasegawa Co. Ltd. Kerry Group plc International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. Koninklijke DSM N.V. Calaf Nuances S.L. P.A. Aromatics Flavors S.r.l. Archer-Daniels-Midland Company Nikken Foods Co.Ltd. Sensient Technologies Corporation. The report provides a detailed analysis of these key players in the global meat-based flavor market. These players have adopted different strategies, such as new product launches, collaborations, expansion, joint ventures, agreements, and others, to increase their market share and maintain dominant shares in different regions. The report is valuable in highlighting business performance, operating segments, product portfolios, and strategic moves of market players to showcase the competitive scenario. Trending Reports in Food and Beverages Industry Acerola Extract Market: Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2023-2032 Mycoprotein Meat Substitute Market: Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2023-2032 BBQ Charcoal Market: Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2021-2031 Meat Testing Market: Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2022-2031 About Us Allied Market Research (AMR) is a full-service market research and business-consulting wing of Allied Analytics LLP based in Portland, Oregon. Allied Market Research provides global enterprises as well as medium and small businesses with unmatched quality of "Market Research Reports" and "Business Intelligence Solutions." AMR has a targeted view to provide business insights and consulting to assist its clients to make strategic business decisions and achieve sustainable growth in their respective market domain. We are in professional corporate relations with various companies and this helps us in digging out market data that helps us generate accurate research data tables and confirms utmost accuracy in our market forecasting. Allied Market Research CEO Pawan Kumar is instrumental in inspiring and encouraging everyone associated with the company to maintain high quality of data and help clients in every way possible to achieve success. Each and every data presented in the reports published by us is extracted through primary interviews with top officials from leading companies of domain concerned. Our secondary data procurement methodology includes deep online and offline research and discussion with knowledgeable professionals and analysts in the industry. Contact: David Correa 5933 NE Win Sivers Drive #205, Portland, OR 97220 United States USA/Canada (Toll Free): +1-800-792-5285, +1-503-894-6022 UK: +44-845-528-1300 Hong Kong: +852-301-84916 India (Pune): +91-20-66346060 Fax: +1(855)550-5975 [email protected] Web: https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/reports-store/food-and-beverages Follow Us on Blog: https://www.dailyreportsworld.com/ Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/636519/Allied_Market_Research_Logo.jpg SOURCE Allied Market Research DUBLIN, May 22, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Medical Device Regulations in the Middle East and North Africa Training Course" conference has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. The size of the medical device market in the Middle East has expanded over recent years and this trend is forecast to continue. The growth is due in part to innovations in technology as the majority of Middle Eastern countries are early adopters of technological advancement, which provides opportunities for medical device companies. The regulatory environment in the region is also developing and this annual seminar will provide an essential overview of the key requirements for product approvals for medical devices in the Middle East and North Africa. The programme will focus on the regulatory requirements and developments in individual countries and include interactive discussion sessions to allow you to exchange experiences with our expert faculty and other delegates. Benefits of attending: Gain a valuable introduction to the medical device markets: countries, numbers, economical facts and trends, regulatory environment a valuable introduction to the medical device markets: countries, numbers, economical facts and trends, regulatory environment Familiarise yourself with medical device regulations in the countries of the Middle East and North Africa with medical device regulations in the countries of the and Understand medical devices and their classification medical devices and their classification Clarify procedures for company and product registration procedures for company and product registration Discuss recent developments in the region recent developments in the region Meet, network and share experiences with other industry colleagues Key Topics Covered: The medical device markets in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) Markets and Culture Healthcare Business culture Economic overview Regulatory environment and characteristics General regulatory requirements Company and product registration Key documents needed Basic structure of a dossier Regulatory summary Medical Devices and their classification What is a medical device Different classes of products Individual Country Presentations: Algeria , Bahrain , Egypt , Israel , Iran , Iraq , Jordan , Kuwait , Lebanon , Libya , Morocco , Oman , Palestine, Saudi Arabia , Sudan , Syria , Tunisia , UAE and Yemen Recent Developments in the Region Harmonisation activities Countries with new regulatory requirements for medical devices Countries in the process of establishing regulatory guidance for obtaining marketing authorisations Discussion sessions will take place throughout the two days Speakers: Heba Hashem Middle East and Africa Associate Director PPD Heba has been working with Regulatory Affairs in the Middle East for more than 25 years. She has a Pharmaceutical and Business background being a graduate of the Faculty of Pharmacy (Cairo University), RAC certified in addition to an MBA at Maastricht School of Business. For the past 20 years Heba held the position of Middle East & Africa Regulatory and Quality Head at different Pharmaceutical and Medical Device companies; Gambro, Bayer and Novo Nordisk. Heba is now the Middle East and Africa Associate Director at PPD where she is providing regulatory consulting services and training to Health Care companies. Ilona Putz Founder PULONA Ilona Putz founded PULONA Emerging Markets based in the UAE which is dedicated to creating and developing tailor-made business concepts for clients in the healthcare sector across the Middle East. She has worked in the pharmaceutical industry since 1988 for companies like MSD, SmithKline Beecham, Karl Engelhard and HEXAL where she has held the position of Regulatory Affairs Regional Manager, responsible for regulatory affairs and later on in commercial operations for countries in the Middle East and Africa. Between 2005 and August 2008 she was Regional Head, Middle East, for Sandoz International, Germany, responsible for all commercial and business development activities. She consults also for RegAff for the Middle East which is the only Global Specialist Regulatory Affairs company with a broad geographical coverage, and for Emergo Group, which is a global consultancy company for Medical Devices. She spoke also for DIA (Drug Information Association) Switzerland on "Clinical Trials in the Middle East", DIA Europe Meeting, Geneva 2011. For more information about this conference visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/i8tn0f About ResearchAndMarkets.com ResearchAndMarkets.com is the world's leading source for international market research reports and market data. We provide you with the latest data on international and regional markets, key industries, the top companies, new products and the latest trends. Media Contact: Research and Markets Laura Wood, Senior Manager [email protected] For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470 For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call +1-800-526-8630 For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900 U.S. Fax: 646-607-1907 Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716 Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/539438/Research_and_Markets_Logo.jpg SOURCE Research and Markets Nirvana co-founder and two innovative business and community leaders expand the Forward Party Board to accelerate its strategic initiatives and enhance its work to reform American Democracy WASHINGTON, May 22, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- As its reach grows and its state-and-local strategy comes fully into focus, the Forward Party has expanded its Board of Directors with three high-profile members of the arts and business communities. Michael Hecht is President & CEO of Greater New Orleans, Inc., the economic development agency for southeast Louisiana which focuses on improving the economy and quality of life for the region. Under Michael's leadership, GNO, Inc., has been named the "Top Economic Development Organization in the United States" by the International Economic Development Council. Prior to GNO, Inc., Michael led Louisiana's Hurricane Katrina Small Business Recovery Program and worked for Mayor Bloomberg running NYC's post-9/11 small business program. Krist Novoselic, an activist and musician known for his work co-founding Nirvana, has a history of disruption across the political and musical industries. After opening doors for a new generation of musicians and bands through his work in Nirvana, Krist has spent the past few decades fighting to reform politics at the local and national level. He served on county and state committees for the Democratic party before becoming an independent and chairing FairVote from 2008 to 2019, where he advocated for important democracy reforms such as ranked-choice voting. Jim Robinson is a Co-Founder and general partner at RRE Ventures where, over the last thirty years, he has invested in over 60 companies with a focus on those leveraging new technologies to reshape our society, culture, and way of life, such as Bitpay and Ripple Labs. He has been recognized for his work in identifying innovation and potential through his inclusion on Forbes Midas List and Institutional Investors' Top Investors List. Jim also has a long history of championing Independent voter efforts. The three Board members join an existing Board that includes prominent members from across the political spectrum, including former governor of New Jersey and Secretary of the EPA Christine Todd Whitman, former presidential candidate Andrew Yang, former executive director of the Renew America Movement Miles Taylor (aka the Anonymous author of this New York Times op-ed ), long-time Independent political expert Jackie Salit, and more. They also join in the wake of the appointment of Lindsey Williams Drath as CEO, who brings an extensive background in Republican and independent politics and the democracy reform movement. "The three new board members demonstrate that the Forward Party continues to attract talent and ingenuity through its dedication to reforming American democracy and finding common ground," said Christine Todd Whitman, co-chair of the Forward Party. "I am delighted to be able to work alongside them as we continue to hone our strategic initiatives and grow our movement." "Our new board members are incredibly accomplished individuals whose work I personally admire," said Andrew Yang, co-chair of the Forward Party. "I am thrilled that we have the opportunity to work together to build the new party that millions of Americans have been waiting for." Through these exciting new appointments and strategic initiatives, the Forward Party will continue to pave the way for a new, more accountable government with greater opportunities for diversity and discourse in America. Contact [email protected] for any follow-up inquiries. To arrange an interview with any of the new Board members, reach out to [email protected]. For more information about the Forward Party, please read through our Prospectus and Q1 Fact Sheet . The Forward Party is bringing Democrats, Republicans, and Independents together to build a new kind of political party that represents the interests of the majority of Americans who reject extremism and division. https://www.forwardparty.com CONTACT: Matt Shinners (908) 770-3325 [email protected] www.forwardparty.com SOURCE Forward Party MILWAUKEE, May 22, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Circa, now part of Mitratech, has been awarded a Top Workplaces 2023 honor by Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Top Workplaces. The list is based solely on employee feedback gathered through a third-party survey administered by employee engagement technology partner Energage LLC. The confidential survey uniquely measures 15 culture drivers that are critical to the success of any organization: including alignment, execution, and connection, just to name a few. "Earning a Top Workplaces award is a badge of honor for companies, especially because it comes authentically from their employees," said Eric Rubino, Energage CEO. "That's something to be proud of. In today's market, leaders must ensure they're allowing employees to have a voice and be heard. That's paramount. Top Workplaces do this, and it pays dividends." "Circa's mission is to create an inclusive, equitable, culturally competent, and supportive environment by promoting transparent discussions, fostering respect, and creating a strong sense of community," said Patrick Sheahan, Circa CEO and President. "We strive to take a people-first approach. Our employees lead and drive much of our internal DEI activities and discussions, provide input on family friendly benefits as well as enhancements to the employee experience. We are focused not only on hiring from underrepresented groups, but also retaining top talent by providing opportunistic development plans, continuously evaluating policies and practices to build the workplace of the future." Circa doesn't just recommend diversity recruiting and compliance programs for others it uses its own software and has taken a careful, holistic approach toward inclusive, equitable practices, in all aspects of business. About Circa Circa is a catalyst for 21st-century companies to build high-performing diverse teams based on research that shows companies want to shift from diversity as a program to diversity as a business strategy. The companies' robust portfolio of software solutions and unparalleled industry expertise give employers the tools and knowledge they need to radically change how they approach talent acquisition and management. The company was founded in 1994, has 5000+ customers, 15,500 community partner relationships, and in 2022 posted 8M+ jobs through its network of 600+ online employment websites. Learn more at Circaworks.com. About Energage Making the world a better place to work together. Energage is a purpose-driven company that helps organizations turn employee feedback into useful business intelligence and credible employer recognition through Top Workplaces. Built on 16 years of culture research and the results from 27 million employees surveyed across more than 70,000 organizations, Energage delivers the most accurate competitive benchmark available. With access to a unique combination of patented analytic tools and expert guidance, Energage customers lead the competition with an engaged workforce and an opportunity to gain recognition for their people-first approach to culture. For more information or to nominate your organization, visit energage.com or topworkplaces.com. Media Contact Angel Fischer Senior Product Marketing Manager [email protected] Circaworks.com SOURCE Circa The explosion of short-term rentals in private homes in Erie County, advertised on sites like Airbnb and VRBO, is prompting the county Comptroller's Office to overhaul its taxing system for hotels to include "non-traditional short-term and vacation rentals." Patrick Kaler, president of Visit Buffalo Niagara, estimated that Erie County has 1,500 properties that qualify as short-term vacation rentals, like the types hosted on the online Airbnb vacation rental platforms. The county doesn't know exactly how many such units exist in Erie County because there's no countywide requirement for them to register. Buffalo and Amherst have instituted registration requirements, but many believe the number of registered units is far below the actual number of short-term units rented. Where are all the Airbnb rentals? Buffalo officials unable to track them despite law A Buffalo ordinance passed nearly three years ago requires residences or rooms rented to others for short-term stays to be registered with the city and inspected. The transformation of long-term resident-occupied homes, condos and apartments into furnished, short-term vacation rentals has concerned local leaders who worry about the impact and safety of these establishments in residential neighborhoods. County officials also have expressed concern at the uneven playing field that requires hotels to charge a 3% to 5% hotel occupancy tax on guests, in addition to sales tax, while other property owners can rent their residential properties without collecting any county bed tax money. Some, but not all, of the money collected from those taxes goes to support county tourism-related marketing efforts and the Buffalo Niagara Convention Center. "This leaves a significant amount of revenue on the table," said Comptroller Kevin Hardwick in a lengthy meeting with county legislators last week to review a draft of a revised hotel occupancy law. "It's unfair to the current hoteliers." Other counties, including Chautauqua, Allegany, Wyoming and Monroe already extend their hotel bed tax to residential vacation rentals, said Comptroller Chief of Staff Jessica Schuster. Legislator and former Town of Tonawanda Board Member John Bargnesi said out-of-state investors are choosing to sink their money into residential homes because the market is in such high demand. But these types of properties often create headaches for neighbors, he said. A countywide law requiring visitors to pay taxes on short-term, furnished rental properties would give the county a better sense as to how many such properties exist and create a new stream of county revenue that would be paid for primarily by out-of-town visitors, Hardwick said. He wants to replace the county's existing hotel tax law with a new one to update the law's language, enforcement and applicability. The original law was drafted in 1974 and subsequently amended several times. Currently, the Erie County hotel occupancy law primarily taxes hotels, motels, inns and bed-and-breakfast type establishments. A newly drafted version being tweaked by the Comptroller's Office includes furnished dwellings "ordinarily occupied for residential purposes" that are made available for short-term rentals by an owner, agent or hosting platform. Airbnb hosts raise concerns about new rules in Amherst and Buffalo After months of collaborating, Buffalo and Amherst have settled on new home-sharing regulations that they hope could set a standard for smaller towns, villages and cities in the Legislators on both sides of the aisle raised questions and debated the merits of the draft language. Some, like Republican Legislator James Malczewski, worried that applying the tax might create a burden on local residents renting out furnished space. Others, like Democratic Legislator Jeanne Vinal, asked whether there should be some type of exemption for homeowners renting out space in an owner-occupied, one- or two-family home. Some legislators also wondered whether it was appropriate to collect occupancy taxes from guests who stay at a short-term rental property for more than a month. The draft law currently mimics state law in defining short-term rentals as rentals of up to 90 days. The draft law also designates that all proceeds from the revised tax law go to support Visit Buffalo Niagara. Currently, not all of the hotel occupancy tax money collected goes solely to support that agency. Instead, it's shared with other groups, like arts and cultural organizations. Kaler said the county spends $4.5 million on tourism marketing and has a marketing reach of only 300 miles. Comparatively, cities like Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Memphis, Columbus, Milwaukee and Richmond spend far more. Chairwoman April Baskin and Legislator Howard Johnson, both city legislators, suggested a cut of any proceeds should also go to support affordable housing efforts. In response to other concerns raised, Hardwick said that the law already accounts for difference in rental unit sizes, with properties of more than 30 rooms charged a bed tax of 5%, while all others would be charged 3%. He also said that to alleviate the burden on many of these property owners, the county would enter into voluntary agreements with vacation rental hosting sites like Airbnb and VRBO so that the hosting platform and not the owner, in many cases, would be responsible for automatically collecting and transferring the tax money. "Every dollar we raise from tourists in sales tax is a dollar that we don't have to pay in property tax," Hardwick said. The Comptroller's Office intends to revise its draft hotel occupancy tax law and resubmit it for Legislature consideration at a later date. Deepening its investment in the Microsoft ecosystem, Mural's AI capabilities will use Azure OpenAI to enable teams to work together more efficiently SAN FRANCISCO, May 22, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Mural, a leading visual collaboration company, today unveiled new AI-powered capabilities designed to make enterprise team collaboration even better. Mural's new AI capabilities, powered by Microsoft Azure OpenAI, infuse efficiency into problem-solving and brainstorming to help teams synthesize ideas and reach consensus faster. With AI-generated idea clustering, AI-powered mind maps, and streamlined actions to complete common tasks and generate content, teams can spend more time analyzing results and driving the work that matters. By leveraging Azure OpenAI's scalability and ease of use, enterprises can unlock the full potential of their teams and drive exceptional outcomes using Mural's robust features safely and securely. Mural will demonstrate the new capabilities at the Microsoft Build conference in Seattle, Washington, on May 23, 2023. "At Mural, we give teams the tools to work smarter and collaborate better," said David Baga, CEO of Mural. "We're excited to be releasing new features that will help teams work together more effectively, no matter when or where they work. Our new AI-powered features powered by Microsoft help teams save time while also boosting their potential for solving problems." Mural is powered by Microsoft Azure, enabling the company to scale and operate on a secure cloud built to meet the needs of global enterprises. The new AI-powered capabilities will be built on Microsoft Azure OpenAI, enabling Mural to leverage Microsoft's capabilities and framework for responsible AI safely and securely. In 2022, Mural was awarded the Microsoft Partner of the Year Award for its integration with Microsoft Teams and also earned Microsoft 365 Certification the first application in the visual collaboration category to achieve this distinction. Today, Mural integrates with the Microsoft ecosystem to create connected collaboration experiences that eliminate context switching and improve workflows, saving teams hundreds of hours weekly. Most recently, Mural's integration with Microsoft Teams expanded to Microsoft 365 and Outlook . These integrations provide Microsoft users the ability to search, share, and collaborate on murals in real time from within Outlook or the M365 platform. Other integrations include Azure DevOps, OneDrive, PowerPoint, Excel, and Word. Mural's AI-powered capabilities will allow members to get started quickly and conquer the blank page by generating ideas, finding common themes, and helping to expand on a concept. Specific AI-powered features to be available in the private beta will include: Mind maps - Beginning with a central idea, users can leverage AI to suggest additional ideas based off of initial input. This enables collaborative teams to generate and expand on ideas faster and more effectively than before. Beginning with a central idea, users can leverage AI to suggest additional ideas based off of initial input. This enables collaborative teams to generate and expand on ideas faster and more effectively than before. Clustering - Leveraging AI to identify patterns and similarities between ideas, while automatically moving related items together into named groups, this feature will empower teams to effectively synthesize ideas and quickly move forward with more accurate recommendations, insights, and consensus. Leveraging AI to identify patterns and similarities between ideas, while automatically moving related items together into named groups, this feature will empower teams to effectively synthesize ideas and quickly move forward with more accurate recommendations, insights, and consensus. Actions - Harnessing AI capabilities, users will be able to save time by streamlining common meeting leader tasks in a mural like starting timers, voting sessions, and generating content for brainstorming. As an enterprise-ready solution, the new capabilities are designed to be private and secure for the teams that use them. Alongside these new capabilities, Mural recently announced an updated user interface thoughtfully designed with a modern look to be simple for teams to begin utilizing right away. "Conceptually, our priority was to inject a visual element to the AI technology that has been shaking up the workplace," said Matt Heying, head of product at Mural. "With this in mind, our AI capabilities are designed to leverage the uniquely human capabilities of creative problem-solving and collaborative teamwork all in one place with the benefits of AI. By freeing users from various laborious tasks and making the results collaborative and visual, the ability to invest in higher-order thinking becomes a path to formerly untapped productivity and ingenuity." The company will discuss the new AI-powered capabilities in more depth in a session at Microsoft Build, titled: Slow Starts to Stellar Results: How AI Can Improve Team Collaboration . The session will be given virtually on May 23 from 5:15-5:30 p.m. PT and will be held live on May 24 from 11:30-11:45 a.m. PT. Participants can sign up for a private beta* waitlist after the live demo/session on May 23 to test these features and provide feedback to Mural's product and engineering teams. Mural plans to announce additional capabilities later this year. For more information, please visit: https://bit.ly/4391mwm . To sign up for the private beta* waitlist, please click https://bit.ly/43gK1BP . *AI-powered capabilities subject to testing and defects. Provided warranty free, "as is" and "as available" basis. Mural is not liable for any losses that may result from private beta. About Mural Mural is how teams work. By combining technology and practice, Mural makes it possible for you to reimagine the way you meet, collaborate, and get things done. Trusted by 95% of the Fortune 100, including Autodesk, IBM, Microsoft, and SAP, teams across every department use Mural to collaborate visually and do their best work together. Whether in real time or asynchronously, hybrid or remote, you'll see faster progress, happier teams, and remarkable results with Mural. Try it for free at www. mural.co . Mural is a registered trademark of Tactivos, Inc. LUMA System provided by LUMA Institute, LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Tactivos, Inc. SOURCE MURAL UPPER MARLBORO, Md., May 22, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- At the conclusion of its 2023 Mitchell-Beall-Rosen Memorial Scholarship Contest, NASA Federal Credit Union awarded scholarshipsranging from $1,000 to the top prize of $10,000to seven high school seniors. The annual program rewards the writing talents of young Credit Union members who are working toward four-year or two-year undergraduate degrees or vocational studies. Students submit 1,000-word essays that focus on their educational goals and financial literacy as it applies to the cost of a college education and their plans for paying it. left to right: Doug Allman, NASA Federal President/CEO, Dakota Oudeman, recipient, Jude Stephen, recipient, Bill Tumulty, NASA Federal Board Member, Brandon Poole, recipient, Nandita Boddu, recipient, Dr. Alotta Taylor, Scholarship Committee Chairperson, and Tom Gitlin, Scholarship Committee Member; Not shown: Alexandrea Bell, Joseph Lee, and Taylor Schuck, "I am always impressed by the accomplishments of our scholarship winners, and these seven young members are no exception," said Dr. Alotta Taylor, Chairperson of NASA Federal's Scholarship Committee. "Our future is in good hands with them, and NASA Federal Credit Union is proud to contribute to their success through the Mitchell-Beall-Rosen Memorial Scholarship." The following outstanding seniors were recipients of this year's scholarship awards: Alexandrea Bell of Chincoteague, VAWill study health and exercise science at Roanoke College . of Chincoteague, VAWill study health and exercise science at . Nandita Boddu of McLean, VAWill attend the University of Michigan to study biomedical engineering. of McLean, VAWill attend the to study biomedical engineering. Joseph Lee of Sykesville , MDPlans to attend Brigham Young University to study cybersecurity. of , MDPlans to attend to study cybersecurity. Dakota Oudeman of Brunswick , OHWill pursue studies in software engineering and computer science at Miami University of Ohio . of , OHWill pursue studies in software engineering and computer science at . Brandon Poole of Chesapeake Beach , MDWill pursue a degree in computer science and information technology/cybersecurity at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore . of , MDWill pursue a degree in computer science and information technology/cybersecurity at the . Taylor Shuck of Springfield , VAPlans to attend Shepherd University to study nursing. of , VAPlans to attend to study nursing. Jude Stephen of Catonsville , MDWill attend the University of Michigan and pursue a degree in electrical engineering. About the NASA Federal Credit Union Scholarship Program The Scholarship Program was established in 1983 in memory of Wilfred Mitchell and then renamed in 1991 to also honor Donald Beall. Both men are former NASA Federal Credit Union officials who were strong advocates of the education of our youth. In 2010, the name of the scholarship program was again changed, to the Mitchell-Beall-Rosen Memorial Scholarship Program, in honor of Eugene D. Rosen, who was instrumental in launching the program and served as its chairman for 27 years. Mitchell, Beall, and Rosen are fondly remembered for their commitment to the Credit Union movement and especially for their efforts to help young people succeed. About NASA Federal Credit Union NASA Federal Credit Union is a not-for-profit financial cooperative owned entirely by its members and operated for the benefit of all who belong. Chartered in 1949, NASA Federal Credit Union serves the diverse needs of 233,000 members throughout the nation with a full array of financial services and the strength of $4.9 billion in assets. SOURCE NASA Federal Credit Union PHOENIX, May 22, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, Native American Connections (NAC) announces the hiring of Trula Ann Breuninger as its new CEO. Breuninger has over 20 years of experience in the healthcare and social services industry, working with private enterprises and tribal governments in Arizona, California, New Mexico, Oregon, and Massachusetts. Breuninger begins her new role on June 5, 2023. Trula Ann Breuninger, CEO of Native American Connections "I am deeply honored and humbled to step into the CEO role at Native American Connections," said Trula Ann Breuninger, newly appointed CEO of NAC. "For more than 50 years, NAC has been a significant leader in providing vital services and support to individuals, families, and communities in Arizona and across the country. I look forward to working closely with our dedicated staff, partners, and the community to advance our mission and continue to positively impact the lives of those we serve." Breuninger earned a Master of Public Health from the University of California, Berkeley School of Public Health, and a Master of Business Administration from Arizona State University, W.P. Carey School of Business. She served as a Tribal Administrator and is passionate about supporting organizations that strive to bring value to clients and patients. Breuninger also held positions such as CEO, CFO, and COO for a number of tribal health programs and community health centers and has been instrumental in helping nonprofits achieve operational and financial success. "Trula continues to dedicate her career to advocating for underserved and vulnerable populations, helping achieve health equity, and assuring timely access to necessary healthcare and social services," said Roxann Gallagher, NAC board chair. "She brings a wealth of experience to NAC, and we are proud to have her lead the organization in this new chapter." Breuninger was born and raised in northern Arizona on the Navajo reservation. She is of the Todich'ii'nii (Bitter Water) clan, born for Honaghaahnii (One-Walks-Around). Her maternal grandfather's clan is Tsi'naajinii (Black Streak Wood), and her paternal grandfather's clan is Tabaaha (Water's Edge). Over the past 50 years, NAC has grown from a grassroots organization helping Native American men in recovery from substance use disorders to a Native American-operated non-profit that touches the lives of more than 10,000 individuals and families each year with comprehensive behavioral health and integrated medical services, affordable housing, and community-based economic development opportunities. Breuninger replaces Diana "Dede" Yazzie Devine, who retired from Native American Connections after 43 years of service. About Native American Connections Native American Connections has been healing individuals, changing lives, and strengthening communities since 1972. We integrate Native American healing with evidence-based practices to support health and wellness, provide affordable housing, and champion community development projects. We are a leader in developing, building and managing advanced behavioral health and state-of-the-art housing communities, and own and operate 21 sites throughout Central Phoenix. Our services are open to all, and we touch the lives of more than 10,000 individuals and families each year. SOURCE Native American Connections VANCOUVER, BC, May 22, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- PDFelement, an award-winning Wondershare PDF software used mainly by business professionals, is thrilled to announce the release of its highly anticipated version 4.0. PDFelement brings simultaneous updates for both iOS and Android platforms, delivering an enhanced user experience and an improved functionality. Below are some key updates for the iOS and Android platforms. iOS Platform Updates: A 50% increase in document loading speed for quick access. An enhanced file management capabilities for better organization and navigation. An addition of multiple sharing options, including email and instant screenshot sharing, for streamlined collaboration and workflows. Android Platform Updates: Introduction of Liquid Mode for a more immersive reading experience. A new Phone Library feature providing access to a collection of 100 free books. Improvements for sharing options, including screenshot and text sharing. A brand-new support for reading and storing documents from popular cloud platforms like Google Drive. PDFelement enables businesses to efficiently handle their PDF documents and has been widely recognized and awarded for its exceptional software capabilities. Whether it's creating, editing, annotating, or converting PDF files, PDFelement offers a comprehensive suite of tools that empower professionals to work with PDF documents seamlessly. Gary, the Product Manager of PDFelement, expresses excitement about the updates, stating, "We are thrilled to bring these updates to our iOS and Android users. Our aim is to provide a seamless and efficient PDF management experience tailored to each platform's unique needs. With these updates, we are confident that our users will enjoy elevated productivity and convenience." Compatibility and Price Wondershare PDFelement is compatible with Windows, Mac, Android, and iOS, and pricing starts at $6.99 per month. For free trials and downloads, please visit our official website or follow us on YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram to learn more about PDFelement. About Wondershare Wondershare is globally recognized as a software company that is committed to delivering innovative solutions for personal and professional use. As a leader in creativity and productivity products, Wondershare has received prestigious awards from organizations such as The Shorty Awards, G2, and GetApp. At Wondershare, the mission is to empower individuals to pursue their passions and build a more creative world. With over 100 million users across 150 countries, users can access a wide range of software solutions for video editing, PDF editing, data recovery, diagram and graphics, and more. Together, Wondershare strives to provide high-quality, user-friendly software that enables individuals and businesses to bring their creative ideas to life. SOURCE Wondershare Workers Secure Wage Increases, Teamsters 401(k), and Bonuses FRAMINGHAM, Mass., May 22, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Bus workers at North Reading Transportation (NRT) have voted overwhelmingly to ratify a new contract. The Teamsters provide student transportation for Framingham Public Schools. The agreement covers 64 workers and includes wage increases, Teamsters 401(k) with company contributions beginning in the second year, and holiday and attendance bonuses. "Congratulations to the Framingham bus workers for securing a strong new Teamster contract," said Shannon George, Local 170 Secretary-Treasurer. "As school bus operators and attendants, these workers play a critical role in not only the school district, but in the lives of the children they transport. This contract is reflective of the important nature of their work and is well deserved." "I am always proud to be a Teamster, but that is especially true today," said Joe Fonseca, NRT bus driver in Framingham. "From wage increases to stronger benefits, this contract is going to make a significant difference for the better in our lives." Located in Worcester, Massachusetts, Teamsters Local 170 has been helping the working class and the community since 1933. For more information about Local 170, go to teamsterlocal170.com. ### Contact: Matt McQuaid, (202) 624-6877 [email protected] SOURCE Teamsters Local 170 STOCKHOLM, May 22, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- On Wednesday May 24, Ombori will launch StoreAI, which uses Microsoft Azure OpenAI Service to extend the capabilities of its successful store digitalization platform, Grid. StoreAI will include a selection of AI tools designed specifically to meet the needs of physical retailers, including large language models, image generators, and expert systems. Some of these tools were developed by the Ombori team, while others were created by specialist partners such as Pointr and Volumental. StoreAI will benefit both customers and employees. For customers, it will create new customer journeys and memorable experiences. Conversational interfaces will allow them to engage with retailers in new ways and find relevant information quickly and easily. For employees, it will improve productivity, reduce stress, and empower them by giving them access to detailed information and organizational knowledge without the need to navigate complex data structures. Ombori CEO Andreas Hassellof said, "We wouldn't be where we are today without the support of Microsoft. Working with Microsoft Azure OpenAI Service allows us to expand Grid quickly and easily, integrating both in-house solutions and third-party solutions from our partners. This has enabled us to deliver a powerful suite of sophisticated, reliable, and relevant AI-powered retail technology in a matter of months." ShiSh Shridar, Global Retail Startups Lead, Microsoft for Startups, said "I'm thrilled to see the capabilities that Ombori is bringing to the table to help retailers to enable or improve the experience for customers, as well as the employees, using Azure OpenAI Service." StoreAI for Ombori Grid will officially launch at a special online event on May 24th. CONTACT: Andreas Hassellof, CEO, OmboriGrid AB (publ), +46 (0) 77-586 80 00, [email protected] SOURCE OmboriGrid AB Southern California gateway has new domestic and international services, Chick-fil-A just in time for summer ONTARIO, Calif. , May 22, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Airline passengers planning travel through Ontario International Airport (ONT) will see busier terminals this summer, yet officials offered assurance that they can expect the same premium, hassle-free customer experience that has become the hallmark of the Southern California gateway. Based on current airline schedules, more than 1.8 million passengers are expected to move through ONT between Friday, May 26, and Monday September 4, a 7% increase over last summer and nearly 13% more than the same period during pre-pandemic 2019. Southern California's Ontario International Airport is expecting 1.8 million passengers this summer. Summer 2023 Estimated Passengers Versus 2022 Estimated Seats Versus 2022 Totals 1,836,367 +7.1 % 2,366,452 +9.1 % Ontario passengers have the added benefit of new and increased air service to popular domestic and international destinations this summer, compared to summer 2022, including: Atlanta New daily service with Frontier Airlines that is in addition to three daily departures on Delta Air Lines. New daily service with Frontier Airlines that is in addition to three daily departures on Delta Air Lines. Dallas-Fort Worth 7 daily departures, up from 5 daily last year, with 6 offered by American Airlines and 1 by Frontier Airlines. 7 daily departures, up from 5 daily last year, with 6 offered by American Airlines and 1 by Frontier Airlines. Dallas / Love Field Daily service via Southwest Airlines, up from once weekly last summer. service via Southwest Airlines, up from once weekly last summer. San Francisco Daily service with Frontier Airlines that is in addition to three daily departures on United Airlines. service with Frontier Airlines that is in addition to three daily departures on United Airlines. Seattle 4 daily departures on Alaska Airlines, up from 3 daily last summer, that is in addition to three daily departures on Delta Air Lines. 4 daily departures on Alaska Airlines, up from 3 daily last summer, that is in addition to three daily departures on Delta Air Lines. Guadalajara Expanded service with l arger A321 aircraft on most Volaris departures, offering 50 additional seats per flight arger A321 aircraft on most Volaris departures, offering 50 additional seats per flight Taipei Fully restored daily service offered by China Airlines, compared to once-weekly service last summer. Airlines are offering more than 2.3 million seats from Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day, with nearly 78% expected to be filled. The number of seats available this summer is 9% higher compared with summer a year ago. Airline schedules for July show 502 departures per week at ONT, 11 more than July last year. "Airports often determine if passengers have positive travel experiences, whether for business or leisure, so we are pulling out the stops to set a positive tone this summer," said Atif Elkadi, chief executive officer of the Ontario International Airport Authority. "Our airport is exceeding pre-pandemic passenger volume, and despite higher air fares, summer travel demand is strong. Our guests deserve an enjoyable airport experience and that's what we will continue to deliver with added air services, exciting dining options and facilities that are second to none." Airport officials recommend travelers arrive at ONT two hours prior to departure time for domestic flights and three hours prior for international flights. Officials also noted a new Chick-fil-A restaurant in Terminal 4 is open to passengers, visitors and airport employees before the Memorial Day weekend, adding to the array of services and amenities available to ONT customers that add to the positive airport experience: ONT+ Visitor Program which enables non-travelers to access post-security airport spaces to spend more time with family and friends or enjoy dining and retail concessions. Delicious food and beverage options provided by Tap & Pour, Einstein Bros. Bagels, Urban Crave, Dunkin , Pizza Vino Liquid Provisions and Subway. , Pizza Vino Liquid Provisions and Subway. Access to Aspire Lounges located in each passenger terminal. Duty-free shopping for international departing customers at the new 3Sixty store in Terminal 2; Close-to-terminal parking which can be easily reserved in advance here. Commercial-free AiRadio which broadcasts the latest ONT information 24/7 at 620AM and streaming here. About Ontario International Airport Ontario International Airport (ONT) is the fastest growing airport in the United States, according to Global Traveler, a leading publication for frequent fliers. Located in the Inland Empire, ONT is approximately 35 miles east of downtown Los Angeles in the center of Southern California. It is a full-service airport which offers nonstop commercial jet service to nearly two dozen major airports in the U.S., Mexico, Central America and Taiwan. More information is available at www.flyOntario.com. Follow @flyONT on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram About the Ontario International Airport Authority (OIAA) The OIAA was formed in August 2012 by a Joint Powers Agreement between the City of Ontario and the County of San Bernardino to provide overall direction for the management, operations, development and marketing of ONT for the benefit of the Southern California economy and the residents of the airport's four-county catchment area. OIAA Commissioners are Ontario City Councilmember Alan D. Wapner (President), Retired Riverside Mayor Ronald O. Loveridge (Vice President), Ontario City Council Member Jim W. Bowman (Secretary), San Bernardino County Supervisor Curt Hagman (Commissioner) and retired business executive Julia Gouw (Commissioner). OIAA Media Contact: Steve Lambert, (909) 841-7527 [email protected] SOURCE Ontario International Airport News of the acquisition comes as PayTabs receives mada Payment Gateway Certification from Saudi Payments DUBAI, UAE, May 22, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- PayTabs Group, the regional award-winning payments powerhouse, in an unprecedented move announced that it has completed its acquisition of 100% stake in OGS PayLab. OGS PayLab based in Chennai, India, is one of the leading service providers of transaction processing services, turnkey cloud payment solutions and electronic fund transfer (EFT) Switch solutions in the globe. As a Fintech enabler for the region, PayTabs mission is to simplify yet orchestrate a unified payments experience and value for key players in MENAs payment eco system. (PRNewsfoto/PayTabs) As a Fintech enabler for the region, PayTabs' mission is to simplify yet orchestrate a unified payments experience and value for key players in MENA's payment eco system. OGS PayLab, which operates across the USA, Europe, Middle East & Africa, and Asia, further strengthens, and broadens PayTabs niche position in the fintech market. The acquisition creates an organization better positioned to serve stakeholders and compete in the global marketplace. It is also expected to result in greater efficiencies and significantly increase PayTabs' market dominance regionally by working the entire payment chain. Under the terms of the acquisition, both entities have been at the grind for a year prior, to unveil PayTabs SwitchOn PayTabs home owned, globally validated, unified payments and transaction processing platform. After multiple launches with clients across the region, the payment card industry (PCI) certified solution includes a Switching and Authorization System, a Card and Wallet Management System, and a Merchant Management System. The architecture of PayTabs SwitchOn is designed to ensure a unique payment orchestration capability allowing clients from multiple industries and scale to maximise the benefits in just couple of weeks at a fraction of the cost. It connects the last mile payment orchestration to empower PayTabs merchants in any industry, to use the platform anywhere in the region and localizing the infrastructure in every market of the region. In March, PayTabs received mada Payment Gateway (PG) Certification from Saudi Payments. As a home-grown Saudi Brand, securing this certification from Saudi Payments is a key milestone for PayTabs as a payment processing superpower engine with a vision to continue engineering and championing payments. At the PayTabs Headquarters in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, founder and CEO of the PayTabs Group, Abdulaziz Al Jouf said, "Since inception, PayTabs has been powering digital payment solutions for some of the largest multinational brands in the region. As a result of this acquisition, we now have our own IP and payments infra to provide switch and issuance services to the most progressive global brands. PayTabs can now connect multiple APIs in the region with the turbo power of PayTabs SwitchOn." Speaking on the acquisition, co-founder of OGS PayLab Simon Soloman said, "Merging with PayTabs was a natural step in our expansion strategy as it now provides us with the synergy to engineer and champion payments on a national, regional and international scale." While OGS PayLab co-founder Johnson Sasikumar added, "The dynamic of this acquisition is a sure-fire way to be a payments market leader in the MENA region, considering problem statements faced by markets in the ecosystem. Legacy players with outdated technology infrastructure and non-internet friendly products were unable to nurture the exponential growth of fintech and that's where we aim to interconnect banks and financial institutions with the MENA payments corridor to digitize the market." About PayTabs The PayTabs Group is an award-winning payments solutions powerhouse founded by Saudi entrepreneur Abdulaziz Al Jouf. Having processed the first live payment gateway transaction in 2014, today PayTabs processes transactions in multiple currencies and markets, swiftly and securely. By providing the infrastructure for B2B payment solutions, including digital invoicing for businesses, QR code, social media payments, point of sale and switching platforms, PayTabs facilitates seamless e-commerce and social commerce solutions for merchants and super merchants. Over a decade, PayTabs has custom built and exported a full stack of game changing solutions. These include mobile applications, hospitality, governmental, education, airline, travel, transport, and biller solutions, to interlink the multi-billion-dollar enterprise market chain in the region. In 2021, PayTabs launched PT Touch, the rst soft POS solution in the MENA market to transform smart phones into merchant point of sale (POS) terminals. In 2022, the company acquired Turkiye's social commerce platform Paymes to complement its existing retail portfolio. In early 2023, PayTabs received payment gateway certification from Saudi Payments. PayTabs has dedicated offices in the GCC including the UAE & Saudi Arabia and presence in many other locales including Turkey, India, and Egypt. The company is an equal opportunities employer with a multi-cultural team. For more milestones visit https://site.paytabs.com/en/ Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2082488/PayTabs.jpg SOURCE PayTabs BANGALORE, India, May 22, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Penetration Testing Market is segmented by type (Network Penetration Testing, Web and Wireless Penetration Testing, Social Engineering Penetration Testing, Cloud Infrastructure Penetration Testing), by application (Small and Medium Enterprises, Large Enterprises) : Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2023-2029. It is published in Valuates Reports under the Computer Security Category. The global Penetration Testing market was valued at USD 2068.9 million in 2022 and is anticipated to reach USD 6622.8 million by 2029, witnessing a CAGR of 21.4% during the forecast period 2023-2029. Major factors driving the Growth of the Penetration Testing Market The widespread use of cloud computing products and services as well as the rise in data center construction are fostering the expansion of the worldwide penetration testing industry. Additionally, the rise in the number of hacks and strict government requirements to promote the use of penetration testing products and services have a favorable effect on the Penetration Testing market expansion. Download Free Sample Report TRENDS INFLUENCING THE GROWTH OF THE PENETRATION TESTING MARKET The desire for software-based assets like online and mobile applications to be secure is expected to increase market growth for pen testing worldwide. Additionally, it is projected that increased use of cloud-based security services would increase demand for penetration testing. Additionally, it is anticipated that the trend of linked devices based on the Internet of Things would increase due to emerging nations' ongoing digitalization. Pen-testing is hence more essential. Companies are becoming more vulnerable to hacks and harmful assaults. The predicted period will see growth in the worldwide Penetration Testing market as a result of an increase in cyberattacks and a greater need to comply with compliance requirements. One of the best approaches for determining an organization's risk position is penetration testing. Pen testing cannot be replaced, even though other common practices like gap analyses, audits, architectural reviews, and vulnerability management are valuable. When done properly, it serves as a situational barometer for matching security defenses with constantly changing cyber threats and financial realities. It represents the point at which the rubber hits the road. The number and pace of assaults will continue to increase as common malevolent hackers are given more tools to consistently outperform their peers, which highlights the need for good pen testing programs that lessen the devastating effects of breaches on businesses. This factor is expected to drive the growth of the Penetration Testing market. Effects of Remote Employment Work dynamics have changed significantly over the past two years as businesses all around the world announce a permanent shift to remote or hybrid models. While many workers applaud this increased flexibility, security experts see new difficulties and a change in priorities. Remote employees face inherent security challenges since IT companies cannot monitor how individuals use their home networks, thus leaving them vulnerable to external attacks. By doing more network security tests, cybersecurity experts may locate weaknesses and take appropriate action. This factor is expected to drive the growth of the Penetration Testing market. View Full Report PENETRATION TESTING MARKET SHARE ANALYSIS: The leading companies in global penetration testing are Synopsys (Cigital), Acunetix, Checkmarx, Qualys, Inc., and others. Over 20% of the market is held by the top four producers globally. The biggest market is North America, with a market share of over 35%, followed by Europe and Asia-Pacific, both of which have market shares of over 55%. The increased usage of cutting-edge technologies like cloud computing, big data, artificial intelligence, and machine learning for automation across businesses has increased the demand for penetration testing in North America. With a market share of over 35%, Web and Wireless Penetration Testing is the most significant product group. The requirement for software-based assets like mobile and online apps to be protected is expected to expand, which will bolster the worldwide penetration testing market's expansion. Penetration testing need is also anticipated to rise as cloud-based security solutions are used more often. Additionally, a growing number of wireless networks and linked devices across several industrial sectors are driving up the need for penetration testing. Buy North America Regional Report Buy Asia-Pacific Regional Report Key Companies: Synopsys(Cigital) Acunetix Checkmarx Qualys, Inc. Rapid7, Inc. CA Technologies(Veracode) Hewlett Packard Enterprise IBM Whitehat Security Trustwave Holdings, Inc. Contrast Security Portswigger Ltd. Wireshark Netsparker Limited Buy Chapters Only Buy Now for Single User + Covid-19 Impact : https://reports.valuates.com/api/directpaytoken?rcode= QYRE-Auto-32T617 &lic=single-user SUBSCRIPTION We have introduced a tailor-made subscription for our customers. Please leave a note in the Comment Section to know about our subscription plans. SIMILAR REPORTS: - The global Physical Security Information Management (PSIM) market size is projected to reach US$ 6508.3 million by 2027, from US$ 2018 million in 2020, at a CAGR of 17.7% during 2021-2027. - The global 5G in Defense market is valued at USD 551 million in 2020 and is projected to reach USD 76,014.6 million in 2030, registering a CAGR of 67.7%. - The global Hardware Encryption market size is projected to reach USD 149750 million by 2028, from USD 28970 million in 2021, at a CAGR of 25.9% during 2022-2028. - The global Cognitive Security market size is projected to reach USD 13760 million by 2028, from USD 3588.8 million in 2021, at a CAGR of 20.6% during 2022-2028. - The global Internet of Things (IoT) Security market size is projected to reach USD 7722.1 million by 2028, from USD 2087.8 million in 2021, at a CAGR of 20.3% during 2022-2028. - The global fraud detection and prevention market size is projected to reach USD 45800 million by 2027, from USD 16390 million in 2020, at a CAGR of 15.3% during 2021-2027. - The global SOC as a Service market size is projected to reach USD 772.9 million by 2028, from USD 296.3 million in 2021, at a CAGR of 14.2% during 2022-2028. - The global Managed Security Services System market size is projected to reach USD 68520 million by 2028, from USD 30950 million in 2021, at a CAGR of 11.8% during 2022-2028. - The global Hardware Security Modules market size is projected to reach USD 2208.3 million by 2028, from USD 1089 million in 2021, at a CAGR of 10.5% during 2022-2028. - The global Security Information and Event Management market size is projected to reach USD 6436.2 million by 2027, from USD 3938.3 million in 2020, at a CAGR of 6.8% during 2021-2027. - The global Security System Integrators market size is projected to reach USD 13600 million by 2028, from USD 8965.8 million in 2021, at a CAGR of 5.7% during 2022-2028. - The global Digital Assurance market size is projected to reach USD 4931.3 million by 2028, from USD 2716.7 million in 2021, at a CAGR of 8.8% during 2022-2028. - The global Security Information and Event Management market size is projected to reach USD 6436.2 million by 2027, from USD 3938.3 million in 2020, at a CAGR of 6.8% during 2021-2027. - The global Network Security Firewall market size is projected to reach USD 5513.2 million by 2027, from USD 3263.1 million in 2020, at a CAGR of 7.3% during 2021-2027. - The global Physical Security market size is projected to reach USD 102470 million by 2028, from USD 74850 million in 2021, at a CAGR of 4.1% during 2022-2028. - The global Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance & Reconnaissance(C4ISR) market size is projected to reach USD 104550 million by 2028, from USD 87810 million in 2021, at a CAGR of 2.5% during 2022-2028. - The global Perimeter Security market size is estimated to be worth USD 124860 million in 2022 and is forecast to be a readjusted size of USD 186330 million by 2028 with a CAGR of 6.9%. - The global Home Security Solutions market size is projected to reach USD 92340 million by 2028, from USD 53800 million in 2021, at a CAGR of 7.9% during 2022-2028. - The global Anti-Drone market size is estimated to be worth USD 1323.8 million in 2022 and is forecast to a readjusted size of USD 5098.4 million by 2028 with a CAGR of 25.2%. - The global Military Drone market size is estimated to be worth USD 11770 million in 2022 and is forecast to be a readjusted size of USD 17270 million by 2028 with a CAGR of 6.6%. - Global SOC Reporting Services Market Research Report 2022 - Global Cyber Security in Healthcare Market Insights and Forecast to 2028 - Global Airport Security Systems Market Insights, Forecast to 2028 - Global Military Command and Control System Market Research Report 2022 - Global Command Control Center Market Size, Status and Forecast 2021-2027 - Global Cloud Hardware Security Module Market Insights and Forecast to 2028 - Global Cyber Security for Space and Defense Market Insights, Forecast to 2028 - Global Defense Cyber Security Market Insights, Forecast to 2028 Click here to see related reports on Penetration Testing Market ABOUT US: Valuates offers in-depth market insights into various industries. Our extensive report repository is constantly updated to meet your changing industry analysis needs. Our team of market analysts can help you select the best report covering your industry. We understand your niche region-specific requirements and that's why we offer customization of reports. With our customization in place, you can request for any particular information from a report that meets your market analysis needs. To achieve a consistent view of the market, data is gathered from various primary and secondary sources, at each step, data triangulation methodologies are applied to reduce deviance and find a consistent view of the market. Each sample we share contains a detailed research methodology employed to generate the report. Please also reach our sales team to get the complete list of our data sources. CONTACT US: Valuates Reports [email protected] For U.S. Toll-Free Call 1-(315)-215-3225 For IST Call +91-8040957137 WhatsApp: +91-9945648335 Website: https://reports.valuates.com Twitter - https://twitter.com/valuatesreports LinkedIn - https://in.linkedin.com/company/valuatesreports https://reports.valuates.com/sitemap/html/reports/211 https://reports.valuates.com/sitemap/html/reports/212 https://reports.valuates.com/sitemap/html/reports/213 Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1082232/Valuates_Reports_Logo.jpg SOURCE Valuates Reports Strengthens nearshore delivery capabilities to meet client needs KRAKOW, Poland and PUNE, India, May 22, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Persistent Systems (BSE: PERSISTENT) (NSE: PERSISTENT), a global Digital Engineering leader, recently inaugurated its first office in Poland to expand its nearshore capabilities in Europe. Situated in Krakow, this new office will be the latest addition to the Company's growing global delivery network. This delivery center will play a crucial role in driving digital transformation for clients across industries and provide local IT professionals ample opportunities to advance their careers by building cutting-edge software products and digital solutions. Poland is a leading technology innovation hub that offers multiple benefits, including an expansive talent pool, a vibrant ecosystem, access to key markets, and ease of doing business. The technology industry in the country is thriving, given its central location in Europe, economic growth, start-up ecosystem, and growing interest from hyperscalers who are establishing their operations in Poland. Persistent plans to expand the Engineering center with a wide variety of skills such as cloud and product engineering, data and analytics, as well as customer experience experts. The Company aims to leverage these skills and build on its Digital Engineering expertise by recruiting skilled personnel in various roles from the country. Rajasekar Sukumar, Senior Vice President Europe at Persistent, welcomed the new team in the presence of other leaders and team members. Sandeep Kalra, CEO and Executive Director, Persistent: "We are proud to open our office in Poland, as it marks a continuation of our expanded presence in Europe. Embracing innovation and geographic diversity will not only help us augment our current capabilities but also enable us to create new opportunities for our clients and team members. As we chart our journey to the next phase of growth, we remain committed to enhancing our expertise and providing bespoke experiences that enable our clients to thrive in today's software-driven world." About Persistent With over 22,750 employees located in 21 countries, Persistent Systems (BSE & NSE: PERSISTENT) is a global services and solutions company delivering Digital Engineering and Enterprise Modernization. We work with the industry leaders including 14 of the 30 most innovative companies as identified by BCG, 8 of the top 10 largest banks in the US and India, and numerous innovators across the healthcare and software ecosystems. As a participant of the United Nations Global Compact, Persistent is committed to aligning strategies and operations with universal principles on human rights, labour, environment, and anti-corruption, as well as take actions that advance societal goals. www.persistent.com Forward-looking and Cautionary Statements For risks and uncertainties relating to forward-looking statements, please visit persistent.com/flcs Media Contacts Emma Handler Persistent Systems (Global) +1 617 633 1635 [email protected] Rhea Mistry Archetype +91 992 058 2926 [email protected] Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1022385/Persistent_Systems_Logo.jpg SOURCE Persistent Systems An already-contentious primary for an Erie County Legislature seat escalated this weekend with the Republican and Conservative candidates as well as County Executive Mark Poloncarz, a Democrat sparring over the issue of migrants coming to New York from the southern U.S. border. The Legislature's 10th District, which comprises parts of the Southtowns including Elma and West Seneca, pits former Elma Councilman James Malczewski, the endorsed Republican, against former Legislature staffer Lindsay Bratek-Lorigo, the Conservative whose husband, Joseph Lorigo, held the seat until November, when he was elected to State Supreme Court. Bratek-Lorigo, whose father-in-law is Erie County Conservative Chairman Ralph C. Lorigo, said campaign door-knocking prompted her to raise the issue of asylum-seekers from the southern border coming to Western New York through New York City. "On Thursday, I reached out to my campaign team and I said, We have to do something about this, because Ive heard every single night that these constituents are looking for Republican leadership that right now does not exist,' " Lorigo said. Bratek-Lorigo on Friday, through the Big Dog Strategies political consulting firm, sent a mass text message to potential voters calling on Poloncarz to declare a state of emergency over what she called an "asylum-seeker surge." Conservative turns Republican to challenge Republican-turned-Conservative for Erie County Legislature seat The process has led to accusations of political gamesmanship, county charter violations and nepotism. But both candidates say it's all part of politics. Seven Western New York counties have declared states of emergency to block New York City from sending migrants and asylum-seekers to local hotels. "We have a broken border policy, and the president, governor and legislature have passed the buck to Erie County taxpayers," Bratek-Lorigo said. On Saturday, Poloncarz said he would not issue any order that would "prohibit the housing of legal asylum-seekers in our community." "Not only is such an order illegal under Title II of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, it is morally repugnant," Poloncarz said in a statement he posted to Twitter. New York City has had more than 60,000 migrants arriving within the past year, forcing city officials to look for housing options outside the city, including busing people to hotels in neighboring Rockland and Orange counties. On Friday, Gov. Kathy Hochul said while visiting Buffalo that the state is considering all options, including using SUNY campuses as potential sites, to house the ongoing surge of migrants and asylum-seekers in New York City. Poloncarz, in his statement Saturday, pointed to Buffalo and Erie County's history of welcoming immigrants and refugees and said immigrants are playing a key role in "the great rebirth of many previously downtrodden neighborhoods in Buffalo." In 2021, Census data showed that Buffalo's population grew for the first time in 70 years, largely driven by immigrants and resettled refugees moving to the city. Erie Countys emergency housing options are at or above capacity and the county would not be able to shelter large numbers of homeless immigrants, county spokesman Peter Anderson said Saturday. But he added, at this time we are unaware of even a single asylum-seeker arriving here in Erie County from New York City, and there is no emergency to respond to. Malczewski, who was appointed to the Legislature in January, held a news conference Sunday in which he said he was responding to Poloncarz, not Bratek-Lorigo. Referencing Poloncarz's tweets that said trying to bar asylum-seekers from coming to Erie County was "morally repugnant" and against the basic Christian teaching of loving one's neighbor, Malczewski said, "I find that comment interesting, because to me, what's morally repugnant is turning your backs on the residents of Erie County and giving them a dilemma that they didn't ask for." Malczewski said "sending asylum-seekers here would inundate an already overtaxed system" of medical services, though he said people in his district haven't been overly concerned with the issue. "That's my job, to address issues and concerns of the residents and I mean, honestly, migrants and immigration has never been brought up," Malczewski said in an interview. "I know that the residents of my district are concerned about services and with what's being proposed that will impact the services that the county's able to provide." Asked whether he thought Bratek-Lorigo was using the issue for political gain in an effort to stake out a more conservative position before the June primary, Malczewski said: "Absolutely. She's a 25-year-old girl with no experience and she's reaching for a headline. That's all it is." Rift between Republicans, Conservative party on display as EC Legislature names a new member County Conservative Party Chairman Ralph Lorigo wanted Republican officials to name his daughter-in-law to the post and suggested that their selection of Elma Councilman James Malczewski will cost those who seek his party's backing in the future. Told of Malczewski's statement, Bratek-Lorigo on Sunday said: "This kind of sexist nonsense is what I would expect from a failing politician. ... I have been walking and doing doors every day. I can tell you that there is not a single issue I have heard more about." Disagreement over the 10th District seat for months caused a once-simmering rift between Ralph Lorigo and Erie County Republican Chairman Michael A. Kracker, who endorsed Malczewski. The feud started after Republicans decided not to appoint Bratek-Lorigo to the seat being vacated by her husband. It appeared to have ended last month, when Erie County Conservatives backed Chrissy Casilio, the GOP county executive candidate. MAJURO, Marshall Islands, May 22, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Financial trading has gained widespread popularity thanks to the vast range of opportunities it presents. However, amidst increasing competition, traders are actively seeking enhanced services and tools to improve their outcomes. In response to the evolving demands of these participants, Portrades , a prominent broker, has introduced an innovative Safe Mode that enables order cancellation at any given moment. By implementing this upgrade, the broker aims to establish a fluid trading environment, fostering effortless interaction between traders and the financial markets. "At Portrades, we understand the ever-changing nature of the trading realm, which constantly morphs with novel trends and technologies," stated Ryan Blomenstern, Portrades Spokesperson. "To keep our trading system in line with the shifting dynamics, we now introduce Safe Mode, an ingenious feature aimed at empowering traders and streamlining their trading journey. With this tool, participants will be able to effortlessly cancel orders at any time and exercise even more authority over their trading strategies." A gateway to secure and seamless trading Portrades is a reliable trading platform enriched with diverse financial assets, comprehensive educational material, advanced tools, and promotional offers. The broker stands out with its fast withdrawal facility, multi-channel customer support, and convenient features tailored to competitive conditions. "Our foremost focus has always been to extend personalized services to our clients, for an effortless trading experience," added Blomenstern. "From our robust trading platforms to all-encompassing analysis tools and diverse tradable assets, we facilitate our members with any resource they require to make informed decisions. And for the coming period also, we believe in incessantly enhancing our services so that our clients have access to the latest advancements and prospects within the financial domain." About Portrades Portrades is a professional brokerage service accommodating some of the best trading facilities and financial products. The brand enlists more than 400 assets, allowing its clients to access several markets, from forex and stocks to cryptocurrencies. The broker also furnishes a proprietary trading platform, both in web and mobile-based versions, as well as the leading MT4 terminal to support seamless trading. Moreover, the trading company integrates five account types, ranging from Basic to Diamond, to cover the requirements of all kinds of traders. All in all, Portrades assimilates top-of-the-line tools, powerful security, promotional offers, and other valuable resources to cultivate a productive and systemic trading sphere. SOURCE Portrades HPE selects QScale for its purpose-built supercomputing facility and commitment to sustainability and clean energy LEVIS, QC, May 22, 2023 /PRNewswire/ - QScale , a company developing environmentally responsible computing centers, is proud to announce that Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE: HPE), the global leader in supercomputing, is the first anchor tenant at the Q01 Campus. Powered by 142 megawatts of renewable energy, QScale's high-density colocation facility is designed specifically to support high-performance computing (HPC) and artificial intelligence (AI). Q01 Campus Phases 1-2 (CNW Group/QScale) "We are thrilled to welcome Hewlett Packard Enterprise as our first anchor tenant at the Q01 Campus," stated Martin Bouchard, president and CEO of QScale. "Their decision to choose QScale as a strategic partner for their supercomputing needs is a testament to our team's expertise in building and operating cutting-edge, large-scale hosting facilities powered by clean energy." The Q01 Campus is designed with future-proof features, including liquid cooling and waste-heat recovery, to support the growing demand for high-density colocation facilities. With nearly 100% clean energy and natural cooling thanks to the cold climate, the Q01 Campus offers a unique value proposition for HPC and AI markets that require both high performance and sustainability. "Sustainability is core to HPE's mission of delivering leadership in supercomputing, which is foundational to support a growing demand of scale requirements for simulation and machine learning workloads," explained Nic Dube, Senior Fellow and Chief Architect, HPC & AI at HPE. "QScale shares our vision of driving sustainable computing centers with the high capacity that is required for large-scale applications. By partnering with QScale to leverage their innovative purpose-built design for density and use of renewable energy, we are expanding our green supercomputing initiatives for our customers." HPE has built and delivered some of the world's fastest and greenest supercomputers, including the first exascale-class system with the Frontier supercomputer for the U.S. Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory. HPE offers supercomputers for any environment, whether on-premises or as-a-service, to allow enterprises to speed time-to-insight and tackle fast growing AI workloads, at any scale. About Hewlett Packard Enterprise Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE: HPE) is the global edge-to-cloud company that helps organizations accelerate outcomes by unlocking value from all of their data, everywhere. Built on decades of reimagining the future and innovating to advance the way people live and work, HPE delivers unique, open and intelligent technology solutions as a service. With offerings spanning Cloud Services, Compute, High Performance Computing & AI, Intelligent Edge, Software, and Storage, HPE provides a consistent experience across all clouds and edges, helping customers develop new business models, engage in new ways, and increase operational performance. For more information, visit: www.hpe.com About QScale QScale develops environmentally responsible computing centers specifically designed for high-performance computing, supercomputing and machine learning. The company's Quebec City area campus (QScale Q01) is the first colocation facility in Canada to receive the OCP Ready recognition, attesting to its energy efficiency and scalability. QScale's technology infrastructure helps meet the growing computing needs of global companies while enabling them to achieve their ESG objectives. Stay up to date on the latest QScale news and content by following QScale on LinkedIn , Twitter , and Facebook . SOURCE QScale RIVERSIDE, Calif., May 22, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Martindale-Hubbell recognizes attorney Douglas Borthwick as AV rated, the highest possible attorney peer review rating in both legal ability and ethical standards. Attorney Douglas Borthwick has further achieved a "SUPERB" Rating from Avvo, the highest evaluation given by the nationally acclaimed attorney rating agency. Photo Award Douglas Borthwick has earned the trust and respect of his clients and colleagues for his integrity, preparation, determination, and attention to detail. Douglas Borthwick's experience includes, but is not exclusive of, the following areas: personal injury law, family law, criminal law, and general civil litigation practice. Mr. Borthwick's profile was featured in the California Business Journal: https://calbizjournal.com/attorney-douglas-borthwick/ Website : www.borthwicklawyer.com Phone : 714-654-6742 "Life is the most precious thing we have and it's probably the thing most people take for granted. We're busy. We don't even take time to consciously think of our lives because we are too busy living them. Appreciate your life. We all only get one. Invest in what makes you happy. There is so much to be thankful for. We all have rotten things happen to us and we all have unfortunate things. But there is good in everything that happens if you look for it. Give thanks every day. Live consciously with awareness and gratitude, appreciate the moments as they occur before they forever pass so quickly."- Attorney Douglas Borthwick, Esq. "You just never know what someone is dealing with behind closed doors. No matter how happy someone looks, how loud their laugh is, how big their smile is, there still can be a level of hurt that is indescribable. So be kind. Even when others are not, choose to be kind." Attorney Douglas Borthwick, Esq. Media Contact: John Walter 714-564-9401 SOURCE Douglas Borthwick AZULIK AlUla Resort will feature 76 luxury villas launching by 2027 Designed in line with the AlUla Sustainability Charter, the resort will connect guests with surrounding natural and human heritage The development will drive socioeconomic benefits including more than 300 new jobs ALULA, Saudi Arabia, May 22, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The Royal Commission for AlUla (RCU) will develop a new resort within the Journey Through Time (JTT) masterplan, designed in harmony with the natural environment and aligned with the Sustainability Charter for AlUla, Saudi Green Initiative, and Vision 2030. The AZULIK AlUla Resort is a stunning eco-luxury property in the Nabatean Horizon District of the JTT masterplan, tucked into canyons near the AlMutadil Equestrian Village development and Wadi AlFann, an ancient valley that will soon be home to large-scale artworks in the landscape. Royal Commission for AlUla grows its portfolio of hospitality offerings with plans for AZULIK AlUla, a new eco-luxury resort (PRNewsfoto/Royal Commission for AlUla (RCU)) Royal Commission for AlUla grows its portfolio of hospitality offerings with plans for AZULIK AlUla, a new eco-luxury resort (PRNewsfoto/Royal Commission for AlUla (RCU)) Royal Commission for AlUla grows its portfolio of hospitality offerings with plans for AZULIK AlUla, a new eco-luxury resort (PRNewsfoto/Royal Commission for AlUla (RCU)) Royal Commission for AlUla grows its portfolio of hospitality offerings with plans for AZULIK AlUla, a new eco-luxury resort (PRNewsfoto/Royal Commission for AlUla (RCU)) Slated to launch in 2027, the resort will feature 76 luxury villas of six different varieties, spa, VIP club, welcome lounges, all-day dining, and a SFER IK museum. With flowing designs inspired by the natural ecosystem and surrounding sandstone cliffs, the resort's undulating exteriors will utilise natural materials and fibres woven into several layers. AZULIK AlUla Resort will promote connection with AlUla's heritage and the area's ecology and biodiversity. For example, the development will protect and incorporate nearby ancient rock art inscriptions, and utilise a natural system of existing waterways to feed irrigation and safeguard against floods. No private vehicle traffic will be allowed on-property; instead an all-electric mobility system will be provided, along with horse and camel routes, and hiking trails for guests to enjoy the surroundings. Operated by Mexican luxury brand AZULIK and designed by Roth Architecture, the resort will offer elegant accommodations for guests and provide socioeconomic benefits for the AlUla community. Once fully operational, AZULIK AlUla Resort will create more than 300 new jobs. Along with local materials and contractors sought for construction, most operational supplies will be sought from AlUla and wider KSA to further boost regional economic growth. John Northen, RCU Vice President of Hotels and Resorts, said, "AZULIK AlUla is centered on the concept of sustainability and connection with the natural and human heritage surrounding this magnificent property. Along with its proximity to the AlMutadil Equestrian Village and Wadi AlFann, both under development, this resort is one of several assets contributing to AlUla's growth as a leading destination in line with our Journey Through Time master plan." AZULIK Founder and CEO, Roth, said, "As a Tribe, we feel honoured to bring AZULIK's vision to AlUla. It is with gratitude and profound respect that we embark a journey into AlUla's vibrant heritage and culture. Rooted in its unique natural landscape, we begin a project that is both close to our heart and our brand values. These are our first steps together and I'm confident we will walk a beautiful and exciting path." Noted for editors: It is always AlUla / not Al-Ula About the Royal Commission for AlUla The Royal Commission for AlUla (RCU) was established by royal decree in July 2017 to preserve and develop AlUla, a region of outstanding natural and cultural significance in north-west Saudi Arabia. RCU's long-term plan outlines a responsible, sustainable, and sensitive approach to urban and economic development that preserves the area's natural and historic heritage while establishing AlUla as a desirable location to live, work, and visit. This encompasses a broad range of initiatives across archaeology, tourism, culture, education, and the arts, reflecting a commitment to meeting the economic diversification, local community empowerment, and heritage preservation priorities of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030 programme. About Roth Architecture Established by Roth, AZULIK's founder and CEO, Roth Architecture is an internationally awarded firm that identifies with a way of designing, modelling, projecting, and building where nature and its preservation are a priority. As a creative team it aims to find original and eco-centric solutions to everyday life's needs; the studio reflects on architecture and its functionality to offer possibilities that incorporate the coexistence of the natural and the architectural. It takes as a starting point the dynamics of the inhabitants in the space and enhances their experience by creating immersive atmospheres that combine the presence of natural elements with architectural structures built with the lowest environmental impact. www.roth-architecture.com/ Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2082348/RCU_1.jpg Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2082349/RCU_2.jpg Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2082350/RCU_3.jpg Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2082351/RCU_4.jpg SOURCE The Royal Commission for AlUla (RCU) CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla., May 22, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The two Saudi astronauts Rayyanah Barnawi and Ali AlQarni and mission team crew have arrived at the International Space Station today at 13:24 GMT / 14:24 BST after their spacecraft Dragon 2 successfully docked. Today, NASA has announced the successful docking of Dragon 2 after 16 hours of the rocket launch yesterday from NASA's Kennedy Space Centre at Cape Canaveral, Florida. Rayyanah Barnawi and Ali AlQarni arrive at the International Space Station. (PRNewsfoto/Saudi Space Commission (SCC)) The docking of the "Dragon 2" spacecraft with the ISS is a historic moment for the Saudi astronaut, Rayyanah Barnawi who becomes the first ever Arab woman to fly into space to the ISS. A historic moment also for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia which is, as of now, the first Arabic country to send a woman on a space scientific mission just as it is also one of the few countries that has two astronauts on board the ISS simultaneously. The mission crew that consists of four astronauts, Rayyanah Barnawi, Ali AlQarni, Peggy Whiston and John Shoffner, were welcomed and greeted by the International Space Station team that whished them success in their endeavor. Upon arrival, the mission crew of AX-2 changed their space suits and joined the ISS team preparing to carry out their mission in space, where they will conduct 14 pioneering research experiments in microgravity that are set to have important scientific impact. The studies that will take place in space by the two Saudi astronauts range from human research and cell science to artificial rain in microgravity in order to develop space science and progress in sending more manned spacecrafts to the moon and to Mars. In addition, the Saudi astronauts will also conduct three educational awareness experiments. This space program has placed the Kingdom as an important player in the global community of space science research, and as a main investor in the service of humanity and its future. The Saudi Space Commission confirmed that the astronauts, Rayyanah Barnawi and Ali AlQarni, are fully trained and prepared to carry out their mission in space. SSC is also confident that they will accomplish the mission planned successfully and return safely to earth. The efforts by the SSC are designed to prepare future astronauts and engineers, through quality educational and training programs, participation in scientific experiments, international research and future space-related missions all of which will contribute to raising the status of the Kingdom and to achieving the goals of Vision 2030. Notes to Editors About The Saudi Space Commission (SSC): The Saudi Space Commission was established by the royal order in December of 2018 (Rabi II 1440). This bold step serves a future that is innovative and looks forward to the latest technologies and opportunities in the Saudi Space Industry. With the Kingdom moving towards a progressive quality of life, SSC demonstrates the aligned vision of creating better, secure environments for its citizens while actively enabling prospects of lucrative economic and monetary inventions. The SSC has strategized to create primary objectives that serve national security interests against space related risks and encourage cumulative growth and advancement. https://saudispace.gov.sa/en/about-us/ Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2082584/Saudi_Space_Commission.jpg Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2036414/4047783/SSC_Logo.jpg SOURCE Saudi Space Commission (SCC) We are honored that the ABA has recognized our enVision series as an exceptional math learning solution for grades K-12. Tweet this With its unique and proven instructional design, enVision offers vertical alignment from kindergarten through grade 12, ensuring schools and districts meet student and teacher needs with one trusted program. The enVision series excels at helping educators teach with confidence and engaging students with hands-on, problem-based learning. "We are honored that the American Business Awards has recognized our newly updated enVision series as an exceptional math learning solution for grades K-12," said Bethlam Forsa, CEO of Savvas Learning Company. "A highly effective math program used in thousands of classrooms, we've made enVision even better with new instructional support tools to save teachers time and more student-centered activities that engage learners in real-world, meaningful math." More than 240 judges reviewed approximately 3,700 nominations to select the 2023 Stevie winners. The highly-effective enVision math series earned top honors in the award program's "Mathematics Instructional Solution" category, which recognizes the best math materials that provide deep learning experiences for students, support standards alignment, and reflect current curriculum practice. The panel of judges praised enVision as "a great, interactive way to help students easily grasp the basic foundations of math." They commented that enVision's "STEM approach is the need of the hour to enrich students' creativity" and "the inclusive learning program and family engagement resources are extraordinary. Well done!" The series, which includes enVision Mathematics Grades K-5 , enVision Mathematics Grades 6-8 , enVision A|G|A (Algebra 1, Geometry, Algebra 2 ), and enVision Integrated Mathematics , is recognized nationally for providing comprehensive, standards-based content that supports all students in developing deep conceptual understanding of mathematics. ABOUT SAVVAS LEARNING COMPANY At Savvas, we believe learning should inspire. By combining new ideas, new ways of thinking, and new ways of interacting, we design next-generation learning solutions that help prepare students to become global citizens in a more interconnected, digital world. To learn more, visit Savvas Learning Company . Savvas Learning Company's products are available for sale in Canada through its subsidiary, Rubicon . SOURCE Savvas Learning Company DUBAI, UAE and MIAMI, May 22, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Seed Group, a company of the Private Office of Sheikh Saeed Bin Ahmed Al Maktoum, has announced that it has onboarded Gennius XYZ, a fintech company with the aim of revolutionising the digital asset ecosystem. As a leading global innovator in digital asset management and loyalty programmes, Gennius XYZ seeks to work with Seed Group to further its customer base by fostering strategic partnerships and unrivalled business connections and establishing a local presence in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. From left to right: Sergio Arana, CEO of Gennius XYZ; Hisham Al Gurg, CEO of Seed Group and the Private Office of Sheikh Saeed bin Ahmed Al Maktoum; Anish Reddy, Partner of Gennius XYZ (PRNewsfoto/Gennius XYZ,Seed Group) Together, Seed Group and Gennius XYZ will work on developing a sophisticated payment solution for banks and merchants, providing cross-border payment facilitation, launching "The world as one" a Motion Life Metaverse Platform, and establishing a global hub for CYMi, a base layer utility token. Per this partnership, Seed Group's regional expertise will be combined with Gennius XYZ's cutting-edge solutions, resulting in a more seamless global commerce experience and a revolution in the digital asset ecosystem. This partnership is being deemed an important milestone in the company's growth and development process as it marches towards the aligned goals of innovation and customer value. Hisham Al Gurg, CEO of Seed Group and the Private Office of Sheikh Saeed bin Ahmed Al Maktoum, said, "Digital is no longer the future; it is shaping our world on a day-to-day, hour-to-hour basis. Start-ups like Gennius XYZ are playing an integral part in shaping our world. Our strategic partnership will focus on making digital accessible, seamless, and more fruitful for consumers in the UAE and the Middle East. The outcomes of this partnership will greatly benefit customers and organisations as the region looks to digitally take leaps across industries and sectors. We look forward to a fruitful association with Gennius." Sergio Arana, CEO of Gennius XYZ, said, "Our partnership with Seed Group is a powerful alliance that will accelerate our mission to redefine the digital asset ecosystem in the MENA region. By combining Gennius XYZ's groundbreaking solutions and Seed Group's unrivalled regional expertise, we will create a new era of seamless commerce experiences and boundless opportunities for individuals and businesses. Together, we will embark on an exciting journey that will transform the way we interact with digital assets, connecting people globally through innovative technology and shared prosperity. One of the highlights of this partnership includes launching a white-label platform combining rewards, payments, and Web3 features, empowering banks and merchants to increase revenue while users enjoy unparalleled benefits. The collaboration will also work on ways to promote the adoption of CYMi, a base layer utility token on the Ethereum blockchain. The two will also work on introducing The World as One, a groundbreaking metaverse platform designed to connect the global business community through art, music, and immersive virtual experiences. About Gennius XYZ Founded Gennius, we are dedicated to building and promoting human-to-human technologies that revolutionize digital engagement and loyalty. By harnessing the power of empowering rewards and Web3 platforms, we create superior user experiences that elevate the lifestyle of individuals worldwide. Our mission is to connect people and businesses through innovative experiences and strategic partnerships, transforming the digital asset ecosystem and driving global commerce. With a consortium of powerful companies, extensive strategic alliances, and banks connected across industries, Gennius' partnerships have the potential to ignite remarkably effective business ventures. We are passionate about fostering connections between companies, empowering them to create meaningful collaborations that bring digital engagement and loyalty to new levels. As we explore the vast possibilities of the metaverse, we strive to enable seamless access to the things people love, anywhere in the world. Join us at Gennius as we reimagine the future of digital interactions, empowering individuals and businesses to thrive in an interconnected world. For more information, visit www.gennius.xyz. About Seed Group For over 20 years, Seed Group has formed strategic alliances with leading global companies representing diverse regions and industries. These companies have propelled their business interests and goals in the Middle East and North Africa region through the support and strong base of regional connections of the Seed Group. The Group's goal is to create mutually beneficial partnerships with multinational organisations and to accelerate their sustainable market entry and presence within the MENA region. Seed Group has been a key point in the success of all its partners in the region, helping them reach their target customers and accelerate their businesses. The Private Office was established by Sheikh Saeed bin Ahmed Al Maktoum to directly invest in or assist potential business opportunities in the region, which meet The Private Office's criteria. For more information, visit www.seedgroup.com. Gennius XYZ Media Contact Andres Navarre [email protected] Seed Group Media Contact Nomarie Jean Lacsamana +971 4 373 5068 [email protected] Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2082400/Gennius_XYZ_Seed_Group.jpg SOURCE Seed Group; Gennius XYZ DUBAI, UAE, May 22, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Shipsy , a leading global SaaS-based smart logistics management platform provider, recently announced its plans to expand across Africa. Since the last few quarters, Shipsy has rapidly grown its presence in African markets by onboarding customers in the courier, express and parcel, last-mile delivery, eCommerce, and retail segments. Its commitment to transform the continent's logistics operations was mirrored in its plan to onboard local talent, explore technology partnerships and boost customer service. From R to L: Apoorva Kumar, Former Group COO of Jumia and Shipsy Advisor for Africa with Soham Chokshi, CEO and Co-Founder, Shipsy Online commerce is gaining significant momentum in Africa and is opening up lucrative opportunities for SaaS-based logistics management platform providers. According to the International Trade Administration, Africa is projected to surpass half a billion eCommerce users by 2025 with a steady CAGR of 17%. Fashion and electronics products are the biggest sales revenue generators, with fashion products and electronics predicted to reach US$ 13.4 billion and US$ 11.2 billion respectively in annual sales by 2025. Shipsy empowers retailers and logistics service providers to respond to such critical market opportunities by automating core logistics processes. Its advanced AI and automation-powered logistics management solutions optimize routes based on business objectives and real-time constraints. They proactively address transportation risks, boost serviceability, automate carrier selection and ensure sustainable, profitable and customer-centric deliveries. The brand is a preferred logistics technology partner to 200+ businesses worldwide. Today, a Fortune 100 exporter, the world's leading pizza delivery chain, one of Asia's largest express parcel logistics providers, one of the original plant-based food companies, a leading 10-minute grocery delivery company, and popular online pharmacies/medical suppliers run their supply chain operations on Shipsy. The platform powers over 60 million parcels every month. Shipsy also announced the onboarding of Apoorva Kumar, former Group COO of Jumia, to their advisory team for the African market. Kumar has over a decade of experience building supply chain operations in Africa and GCC. "In the last 10 years, I have seen the growth of logistics in Africa and the Middle East with close quarters, and it presents massive opportunities. Having used Shipsy's solutions as a client before, I now look forward to working closely with Soham and the team to take it to newer heights and continue to create impact in the African logistics space," said Kumar. He is the latest to join Shipsy's advisory board, following the onboarding of Iyad Kamal , former Aramex COO, last year. "The growth in Africa's online commerce has been inspiring. Shipsy's technology will play a pivotal role in helping realize the objectives of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), especially with regard to reducing transportation costs and delays and improving service quality. With Apoorva joining us as an advisor for Africa, we are confident we will rapidly proliferate the African market," said Soham Chokshi, CEO and Co-Founder, Shipsy. The global logistics SaaS provider recently announced it clocked around 100% growth in top line and established another regional headquarter in the Middle East in Riyadh. It also highlighted that it had witnessed a 70% increase in its talent pool in the past 15 months. Media Contact: [email protected] +91- 9818902443 Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2082199/Apoorva_Kumar_and_Soham_Chokshi.jpg Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1965326/Shipsy_Logo.jpg SOURCE Shipsy BEIJING, May 22, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation (HKG: 0386, "Sinopec") has signed a key terms agreement with KazMunayGaz, the national operator of the oil and gas industry of Kazakhstan, for developing a polyethylene project in the Atyrau Region on May 18 in Xi'an, China. Sinopec Signs Key Terms Agreement with Kazakhstan for Polyethylene Project The agreement, signed during Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev's visit to China, marks that Sinopec will participate in and push forward the project as a cooperative partner. The polyethylene project will be the largest natural gas and chemical project in the region, the investment decision of which is expected to be finalized in 2024, and when Sinopec formally joins the project in the future, all parties will sign an equity acquisition agreement and other legally binding documents of relevance. Sinopec and KazMunayGaz have been long-term partners with a solid foundation of cooperation, and the signing of the agreement is bringing the partnership to a new level, leveraging Sinopec's leading advantages in engineering, marketing and sales, production, and operation, as well as KazMunayGaz's firm and strong capabilities in the local market and wealth of resources, to promote mutually beneficial cooperation and achieve win-win development. Sinopec is a listed company on domestic and international stock exchanges with integrated upstream, midstream, and downstream operations, strong oil and petrochemical core businesses, and a complete marketing network. Its parent company, China Petrochemical Corporation, is the largest refining company and the third largest chemical company in the world, with a top 5 ranking on Fortune's Global 500 List. Headquartered in Astana, KazMunayGaz represents the interests of the Republic of Kazakhstan in the oil and gas industry. Its main business covers oil and gas exploration and exploitation, petroleum processing, oil product sales, storage, pipelines, oil field services, and more. For more information, please visit Sinopec . SOURCE SINOPEC DUBLIN, May 22, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Courier, Express and Parcel Services (Other than national postal services) in South Africa 2023" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. This report covers courier, express and parcel services offered by registered unreserved postal operators in terms of the Postal Services Act, excluding reserved national postal activities carried out by the Post Office. It includes information on the state of the sector, parcel freight and transport income, the growth in ecommerce, major players, corporate actions, developments. And influencing factors. There are profiles of 24 companies including PostNet, RAM, Takealot, Value Logistics, DHL, DSV, Aramex and Courier Guy. The Courier, Express and Parcel Services Industry The courier, express and parcel services industry faces weak economic conditions and low business and consumer confidence, affecting the volume of goods requiring express delivery. It is benefitting from the development of the on-demand economy and ecommerce sales, increasing demand for just-in-time deliveries and from the poor service provided by the South African Post Office. Increasing customer demand for speedy and flexible deliveries and the growth of disruptive startups and innovative delivery options are forcing traditional operators to review their distribution strategies and, in some cases, partner with or invest in new companies to provide innovative and alternative delivery options. Key Trends Ecommerce revenue growth is set to accelerate, including consumer-to-consumer transactions online. Companies are developing value-added services such as setting up and installing equipment being delivered and increasing delivery options. CEP companies are offering shared warehousing, technology and services to smaller ecommerce entities, opening up more opportunities and enhancing job creation and skills development. Crime Road transportation is the main modality for moving goods in South Africa and to other countries in the region. The rate of violent crime against road freight trucks is high and industry participants have raised concern over the rise in thefts targeting scooters and courier vehicles. There have been reports of an upsurge in robberies and violent crimes against ecommerce delivery staff. Theft of delivery vehicles raises insurance costs and endangers the safety of delivery personnel, resulting in higher shipping costs. Key Topics Covered: 1. INTRODUCTION 2. DESCRIPTION OF THE INDUSTRY 2.1. Industry Value Chain 2.2. Geographic Position 2.3. Size of the Industry 3. LOCAL 3.1. State of the Industry 3.2. Key Trends 3.3. Key Issues 3.4. Notable Players 3.5. Corporate Actions 3.6. Regulations 3.7. Enterprise Development and Social Development 4. AFRICA 5. INTERNATIONAL 6. INFLUENCING FACTORS 6.1. Unforeseen Events 6.2. Economic Environment 6.3. Labour 6.4. Safety and Security 6.5. Environmental Issues 6.6. Road conditions and infrastructure 6.7. Technology, R&D, Innovation 6.8. Alternative delivery methods 6.9. Digital Communications and ecommerce 6.10. Government Support 6.11. Rising Input Costs 6.12. Cyclicality 7. COMPETITIVE ENVIRONMENT 7.1. Competition 7.2. Ownership Structure of the Industry 7.3. Barriers to Entry 8. SWOT ANALYSIS 9. OUTLOOK 10. INDUSTRY ASSOCIATIONS 11. REFERENCES 11.1. Publications 11.2. Websites APPENDIX Companies Mentioned Ackermans Zambia (Pty) Ltd Amber Support Solutions Ltd Aramex South Africa (Pty) Ltd Axis Cleaning and Support Services Ltd Axis Group Integrated Services Ltd Axis Security Services Ltd B.I.C. Services Pty Ltd Bidvest Group (UK) PLC (The) Bidvest Group Australia Pty Ltd (The) Bidvest Noonan (ROI) Ltd Bidvest Noonan (UK) Ltd Bidvest Services (ROI) Ltd Bidvest Services (UK) Ltd Bidvest Services Group (UK) Ltd Business Express of South Africa (Pty) Ltd (Pty) Ltd CB Enterprises (Pty) Ltd CLM Safety Ltd Cordant Cleaning Ltd Cordant Security Ltd Cordant Thistle Ltd Courier Guy (Pty) Ltd (The) Crane Midco (Guernsey) Ltd Crane Midco Ltd Dartry Laundry Ltd DHL International (Pty) Ltd Direct365Online Ltd DPD Laser Express Logistics (Pty) Ltd DSV South Africa (Pty) Ltd Epsilon Test Services Ltd FedEx Express South Africa (Pty) Ltd Freight Innovations (Pty) Ltd Future Carpet Cleaning Services Ltd Future Cleaning (Southwest) Ltd Future Cleaning Services Ltd Groupair (S A) (Pty) Ltd Hygiene Matters Ltd Imperial Amazonia BV Imperial Health Sciences GH Ltd Imperial Health Sciences Kenya Ltd Internet Express (Pty) Ltd Isicabucabu Franchising (Pty) Ltd Karmarton Ltd L. Lynch (H20) Solutions Ltd L.Lynch Interact Ltd Laser Group (Pty) Ltd (The) LPM Acquisitions Ltd Mayflower Hygiene Supplies ( Ireland ) Ltd ) Ltd Mayflower Hygiene Supplies ( London ) Ltd ) Ltd Mfumu Clothing (Pty) Ltd Noonan Services Group (NI) Ltd Noonan Topco Ltd Pargopoints (Pty) Ltd Pep Africa Ltd Pep Ltd Pep Stores Uganda Ltd Personnel Hygiene Services Ltd PHS Bidco Ltd PHS Compliance Ltd PHS Group Ltd PHS Holdings Ltd PHS Investments Ltd phs Serkonten SAU PHS Services Ltd PHS Washrooms Ltd PHS Western Ltd Postnet Southern Africa (Pty) Ltd Ram Transport ( South Africa ) (Pty) Ltd ) (Pty) Ltd Resource Support Services (IOM) Ltd RTT Group (Pty) Ltd Seebeck 133 Ltd Skynet South Africa (Pty) Ltd Southgate Courier Service CC Suid-Afrikaanse Poskantoor SOC Ltd Super Group Trading (Pty) Ltd Takealot Online (RF) (Pty) Ltd Tax Free Warehouse (Pty) Ltd (The) Teacrate Ltd Teacrate Rentals Ltd TNT Express Worldwide (S A) (Pty) Ltd UPS SCS South Africa (Pty) Ltd USSL Ltd Value Logistics (Pty) Ltd Worldwide Commercial Ventures Ltd Worldwide Healthcare Ltd For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/vgk9h8 About ResearchAndMarkets.com ResearchAndMarkets.com is the world's leading source for international market research reports and market data. We provide you with the latest data on international and regional markets, key industries, the top companies, new products and the latest trends. Media Contact: Research and Markets Laura Wood, Senior Manager [email protected] For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470 For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call +1-800-526-8630 For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900 U.S. Fax: 646-607-1907 Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716 Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/539438/Research_and_Markets_Logo.jpg SOURCE Research and Markets ALBANY On Feb. 9, John Cirando stood before a lectern in the ornate Court of Appeals Hall and pressed his argument: His client, serving a 54-year sentence for rape, should be granted a hearing to consider newly surfaced evidence. Six black-robed judges of the states highest court sat listening; a seventh and final chair was vacant. Justices Rowan Wilson, Jenny Rivera and Shirley Troutman peppered Cirando with questions, as the body's acting chief judge, Anthony Cannataro, presided. Six days later, a major development shook the states legal landscape: Gov. Kathy Hochuls nominee to fill that unoccupied, seventh seat the permanent chief judge position was rejected by the State Senate. The process of picking a chief judge of New York would begin anew. That put Cirando in a seemingly awkward position. The Court of Appeals justices were actively considering whether Cirando's client should gain a new hearing. Simultaneously, Cirando was now tasked with determining whether several of those justices could be elevated. Cirando is one of 12 appointees to the state Commission on Judicial Nomination, a panel that decided in secret whether Wilson, Rivera, Troutman, Cannataro or others could be named chief judge. When there is a vacancy on the Court of Appeals, the commission is tasked with sifting applications, interviewing candidates and producing a list from which the governor may nominate a replacement to the court. Cirandos dual roles are not unique on the panel, nor are they legally improper. Under the state constitution, at least four of the 12 commissioners must be attorneys. The current commission includes six appointees whose law practices include a focus on appellate work. Their selection to the panel makes a degree of sense: Few are more knowledgeable about the quality of New York's appeals judges than appellate attorneys. But commissioners also may argue high-stakes cases before those judges they are charged with vetting. At least four of the current commissioners have argued cases before the Court of Appeals. Still, commissioners rarely recuse themselves from voting on Court of Appeals candidates over potential conflicts of interest, according to people familiar with the process. In fact, commissioners are effectively discouraged from recusing themselves because of a wrinkle in state law. The Court of Appeals, the state's version of the U.S. Supreme Court, issues rulings serving as precedent for the rest of New Yorks court system. The rulings impact the lives of New Yorkers on issues including criminal justice, workers' rights, the environment and the functioning of the state's democratic institutions. Last year, the Court of Appeals found that Erie County social services agencies could not be held liable for allegedly failing to protect a developmentally disabled woman who was raped, tortured and murdered. In another case last year, the court ruled that an employee could not bring a lawsuit alleging he was forced to pay illegal wage kickbacks to his employer. And the court threw out congressional district lines drawn by the State Legislature, a decision that contributed to Republicans winning a narrow majority in the U.S. Congress. A month ago, Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins, a Democrat, floated the idea of eliminating the Commission on Judicial Nomination through a constitutional amendment. Her idea would allow the governor to pick Court of Appeals nominees directly. Good-government groups, bar associations and former members of the judiciary pushed back, arguing the commission's bipartisan dynamic makes the Court of Appeals less politicized, especially compared to the U.S. Supreme Court, where nominees are chosen directly by the president. The former presiding justice of the state's mid-level appellate court in Manhattan, Rolando Acosta, has called Stewart Cousins' proposal a "frontal attack on the judiciary." John Kaehny, executive director of the government reform group Reinvent Albany, opposes any rush to eliminate the commission. At the same time, there is structural conflict of interest, he said, in commissioners vetting judges while appearing before them as attorneys. Several commissioners practice at firms representing major, corporate clients. Another is counsel for a firm specializing in plaintiff medical malpractice cases, while Cirando has a focus on criminal defense. Some applicants before the commission, meanwhile, are judges who may have records indicating certain leanings on issues. Kaehny said it would be impossible for the commissioners to "compartmentalize their working and professional existence on one hand, with their work as volunteer judge vetters on the other." Secret deliberations The chief judge of the Court of Appeals, Janet DiFiore, unexpectedly retired 10 months ago, setting off a process that drew new scrutiny to the commission. Rowan Wilson, an associate justice, applied to replace DiFiore, but did not make the commission's seven-person list of potential chief judges in November. The reasons were not clear, though court observers speculated liberal justices, including Wilson, were kept off by commission appointees of DiFiore and former Gov. Andrew Cuomo. Out of seven candidates that made the list, Hochul nominated Hector LaSalle, the presiding judge on a mid-level state appellate court in Brooklyn. But at the end of a turbulent confirmation process, LaSalle was rejected by the Democratic-controlled State Senate for allegedly being too conservative. The commission convened again, and this time, did include Wilson on its seven-person list released in March. He was nominated by Hochul and easily confirmed by Senate Democrats. Of seven people first selected in November, only two appeared on the second list in March. Hochul told The News she didnt know why the lists were so different. "You could ask them why they selected others I don't tell them what to do," Hochul said. Under state law, the commission is required to operate in secret. The public has no information how any individual commissioner voted. When the process is complete, the commission issues a letter to the governor, listing the seven chosen, their biographies, the number of applicants and the pool's diversity. That letter is made public. The most recent, in March, also revealed that two candidates making the March list had not been interviewed during the November process indicating they did not apply the first time. That explains, to a degree, why the two lists were so different. In addition, LaSalle understandably did not appear on the second list. Even under the confidentiality restrictions, the report could and should shed more light on the selection process, according to Vincent Bonventre, a professor at Albany Law School and close court watcher. "The report could certainly reveal what the particular qualifications of this individual are, which led the commission to include this individual," he said. 'The most flagrant deals and payoffs For much of New York history, Court of Appeals judges were chosen in statewide elections, contests that by the 1970s had grown acrimonious and expensive. Hugh Carey won election for governor in 1974 and pressed for court reform, leading to a proposed constitutional amendment creating the Commission on Judicial Nomination and "merit-based selection" of judges. In a 1977 editorial, the New York Times wrote that politics would hardly disappear from the selection process, but it would be relieved by sophisticated review and deterred from the most flagrant deals and payoffs. The amendment was overwhelmingly passed by voters that year. One vehement opponent was Republican Assemblyman Charles Henderson, who argued the standard for inclusion on commission lists, that a person be "well qualified" based on their "character, temperament, professional aptitude and experience," was subjective and favored elite insiders. The only black-and-white requirements to be on the Court of Appeals: Holding New York residency, and admission to practice law in the state for ten years. Commission rules say diversity should be considered, including race, ethnicity, gender, religion, sexual orientation, community service, nature of legal practice or professional background and geography; diversity has clearly been a factor in recent lists, and the current court does not include a single straight, white male. Of the 12 members of the Commission on Judicial Nomination, four are appointed by the governor and four by the chief judge. Of the four appointed by the governor or the chief judge, no more than two can be enrolled in the same political party; two must be members of the state bar association, two must not. The Democratic and Republican leaders of both the Senate and Assembly get one appointment each. The commissioners face no requirement to submit financial disclosure forms detailing private sources of income. In one instance, Commissioner Matthew Biben resigned from the body when his wife, Ellen, applied for a Court of Appeals vacancy in 2021. But commission rules emphasize disclosure, not resignation or recusal, as the remedy when possible conflicts occur. The rules say commissioners will "disclose to the commission" any relationship with an applicant that "has or may reasonably appear to have a bearing on the nomination process." There is no rule requiring commissioners to recuse from voting on a candidate for any reason. In fact, an aspect of state law discourages recusal. For a candidate to appear on a list sent to the governor, eight of 12 commissioners must vote in their favor. If a commissioner recuses from voting on a particular candidate, that effectively serves as a no vote. And if recusals were common, it would put judges who apply to the commission but have commissioners arguing cases before them at an inherent disadvantage. Human nature Commissioner Cirando runs a boutique firm based in Syracuse and is widely regarded as one of New York's preeminent appellate lawyers, according to his firms website. On Feb. 9, Cirando made his oral argument before the Court of Appeals, seeking a new hearing for his client convicted of rape. Eight days later, the Commission on Judicial Nomination began soliciting a new round of applicants for chief judge. On March 24, the commission released its second, seven-person list. Three Court of Appeals justices Wilson, Troutman and Cannataro made the cut, while Rivera did not. Wilson was confirmed as chief on April 18, and two days later, the Court of Appeals ruled 4-2 against Cirandos client. Cannataro and Troutman joined the majority finding that Cirando's client should not get a new hearing. Wilson dissented, concurring with an opinion written by Rivera that a new hearing should be granted, an act consistent with Wilson's reputation for carefully considering defendants' rights. Cirando declined to comment. The two commissioners most frequently in mid-level state appellate courts, one step below the Court of Appeals, are Cirando and Michael Hutter. Those mid-level courts often produce Court of Appeals candidates. Like Cirando, Hutter has additionally represented clients before the Court of Appeals. Hutter is special counsel to a prominent Albany-based medical malpractice firm representing plaintiffs, Powers & Santola, where he handles appellate work. During the recent commission vetting processes, records indicate the Court of Appeals avoided ruling on Hutter and Cirando cases. So did the presiding justice of the mid-level appellate court in Albany, Elizabeth Garry, who made the commission's second list in late March. When Hutter had appeared for an argument in her court on Feb. 22, Garry recused herself. That same day, Garry also recused from a case Cirando was arguing. For members of the Commission on Judicial Nomination, the body's voting rules make recusal more difficult on their end. Hutter said his practice is full disclosure to the other commissioners. "I will disclose if I have a case pending in a candidate's court," Hutter said. "If there's a problem, then it can be thrashed out." Another commissioner, Kenneth Manning, is a Buffalo-based partner at Phillips Lytle and has extensive experience in both prosecuting and defending class action lawsuits. He has argued multiple cases before the Court of Appeals. In May 2022, Manning argued before the court on behalf of the Bronx Zoo, which contended that an elephant living there, Happy, was not illegally detained. On June 14, 2022, the Court of Appeals ruled 5-2 in favor of Mannings client. Wilson and Rivera wrote sharply worded, separate dissents; about a month later, DiFiore announced she was stepping down, beginning the process in which Manning would vet a replacement. The commission's chair is Leo Milonas, senior counsel at Pillsbury Winthrop, who specializes in complex commercial litigation and whose clients have included General Electric, Pfizer and Deutsche Bank. He's had multiple past cases before the Court of Appeals. Commissioner Mylan Denerstein is a chair of the appellate practice group at Gibson Dunn, a multinational firm known for appeals work and for representing some of the world's largest companies. Two years ago, Denerstein represented Amazon in a mid-level state appellate court. Manning, Denerstein and Milonas declined to comment. The commissions counsel is Henry Greenberg, who has separately represented multiple clients before the Court of Appeals. Greenberg is a shareholder at the major law firm Greenberg Traurig and the latest in a line of prominent trial lawyers to be the commission's top staffer. Greenberg's main work for the commission is drumming up applications for vacancies on the court. Like the bodys 12 commissioners, Greenberg puts in considerable work for the commission on a volunteer basis. One drawback to appellate lawyers serving as commissioners, professor Bonventre said, is they may look negatively upon judges that have ruled against them, then apply for the Court of Appeals. "Human nature is that they probably think the judge who wrote an opinion against them is weak that they missed an important argument in their case," Bonventre said. On balance, however, Bonventre supports the lawyers' inclusion on the commission. If a commissioner is an appellate attorney, he said, especially someone who handles cases before the Court of Appeals, "they probably have a pretty good understanding of what it takes to be a strong Court of Appeals judge." Agreement continues Southern Company's longstanding commitment to conservation ATLANTA, May 22, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Southern Company and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) have signed a five-year partnership extension to keep Southern Company active in voluntary wildlife conservation work until 2028. The new agreement will mark 25 years that Southern Company has partnered with NFWF and demonstrates a corporate commitment to conservation that is one of the most sustained in the history of the Foundation. Southern Company has supported more than 400 on-the-ground conservation projects across the U.S. The Southern Company/NFWF partnership has targeted landscape-scale ecosystem restoration and watershed management and species conservation. "We are excited to extend our partnership with NFWF and continue to make conservation happen," said Chris Womack, president of Southern Company. "We're committed to stewardship and conservation of this rich landscape we're so fortunate to share with our communities." The partnership has been central to significant accomplishments, including restoring more than 3.7 million acres of important wildlife habitat, creating bat-related research grants for scientists through the Bats for the Future grant program, and building new community-based stewardship through the Five Star and Urban Waters Restoration grant program. "Southern Company is truly a model for businesses looking to make a lasting and meaningful impact to wildlife conservation," said Jeff Trandahl, executive director and CEO of NFWF. "Their commitment to long-term landscape-scale efforts are recognized by public and private partners across the wildlife conservation community." Southern Company and NFWF began working together to support conservation of species and ecosystems across the Southeast in 2003. Over the past 20 years the partnership has evolved into one of the premier examples of public-private partnerships helping to support critical wildlife needs across landscapes throughout the United States. About Southern Company Southern Company (NYSE: SO) is a leading energy provider serving 9 million residential and commercial customers across the Southeast and beyond through its family of companies. Providing clean, safe, reliable and affordable energy with excellent service is our mission. The company has electric operating companies in three states, natural gas distribution companies in four states, a competitive generation company, a leading distributed energy distribution company with national capabilities, a fiber optics network and telecommunications services. Through an industry-leading commitment to innovation, resilience and sustainability, we are taking action to meet customers' and communities' needs while advancing our goal of net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. Our uncompromising values ensure we put the needs of those we serve at the center of everything we do and are the key to our sustained success. We are transforming energy into economic, environmental and social progress for tomorrow. Our corporate culture and hiring practices have earned the company national awards and recognition from numerous organizations, including Forbes, The Military Times, DiversityInc, Black Enterprise, J.D. Power, Fortune, Human Rights Campaign and more. To learn more, visit www.southerncompany.com. 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, foundation and individual partners, NFWF has funded more than 6,000 organizations and generated a total conservation impact of $8.1 billion. Learn more at nfwf.org. SOURCE Southern Company HUDSONVILLE, Mich., May 22, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- STELLAR Broadband, a fiber internet and technology service provider, will provide leading edge technologies and Internet connectivity up to 10Gbps to Elmwood Lake Apartments in Hudsonville, Michigan. Elmwood Lake Apartments is a suburban haven of elevated comfort, where sweet serenity meets desirable convenience. From cozy interiors and relaxing leisure spaces to an idyllic setting next to private Elmwood Lake, the welcoming apartments in Hudsonville, MI, are ready to deliver a heightened living experience. "With STELLAR Broadband, residents of Elmwood Lake Apartments will enjoy the fastest and most reliable internet service available. STELLAR Broadband's fiber optic network provides symmetrical speeds of up to 10Gbps so residents can stream, game, and work from home without any lag or buffering," said Richard Laing, president of STELLAR Broadband. "Bosgraaf Homes has been building homes in West Michigan for four generations. Over the years, we've seen the industry change dramatically thanks to advances in technology. Construction methods have evolved, and the amenities that homeowners expect have grown more sophisticated. We're grateful for our partnership with STELLAR Broadband, a company that has been at the forefront of the industry for 22 years. Their experience and leadership have helped us make the transition into multi-family housing," said Mike Bosgraaf, president of Bosgraaf Homes. The first in the U.S. to bring 10Gbps Internet to the apartment in student housing, STELLAR today serves over 149 communities totaling over 10,000 residents with a wide range of technology solutions, from managed Wi-Fi, TV, and access control to security. "DTN is excited to partner with Bosgraaf Homes and STELLAR Broadband to provide Elmwood Lake residents with a unique and enjoyable experience. Bosgraaf is building beautiful homes that will be easy to lease, and STELLAR will provide residents and our office with the best possible internet service," said Dayle Braden, DTN property manager. "We've seen and have been on the forefront of technology evolving from a desired amenity to a necessity. We are proud to partner with Bosgraaf to provide the high-quality technology that their residents expect and deserve," Laing stated. About Spartan Net Co, dba STELLAR Broadband STELLAR Broadband is the largest residential fiber internet service provider in Michigan, servicing over 149 communities with multi-Gigabit fiber internet. STELLAR provides technology design and installation services for the full portfolio of technologies for multi-tenant developments, including network design, structured wiring, consulting, door entry and access control, engineered Wi-Fi, security, voice, television services, and various Internet of Things solutions. To learn more, visit: www.stellarbb.com About Bosgraaf Homes Since the beginning, the Bosgraaf family has built thousands of homes in West Michigan. That's the result of being grounded. Grounded in exceptional customer care. Grounded in innovative thinking. Grounded in meticulous craftsmanship. But most of all, grounded in family for three generations and counting. To learn more, visit: https://bosgraaf.com/ About DTN Management Company DTN is a recognized leader and an established business in Michigan and Florida. Its Property Management division holds a portfolio including more than 115 residential communities and nearly one million square feet of commercial and retail space across Michigan's best markets. Celebrating 50 years, DTN's focus has been to provide high-quality apartment homes, commercial and retail space, and excellent service and value to its residents, commercial tenants, and investors. To learn more, visit: www.dtnmgt.com SOURCE STELLAR Broadband Lake Tahoe conference draws business officers together to identify issues affecting California's 116 community colleges LOS ANGELES, May 22, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Student Insurance ("SI") , a division of Venbrook Insurance Services ("Venbrook") and one of California's largest insurers providing health and accident plans to primary and secondary schools, today announced its attendance at the Association of Chief Business Officials (ACBO) Spring event May 22-24. 2023 marks the 20th year that Student Insurance has been a Gold Sponsor of the annual event, which serves as a gathering of Chief Business Officials with a mission to address issues impacting 1.8 million students at community colleges throughout California. Kimberly Rowan, Vice President of Student Insurance, will attend this year's event. Kimberly is a student healthcare expert and will be available to share risk management strategies and discuss health and accident policy options with this year's attendees. Contact Kimberly at 818-447-8089 or [email protected] to grab a coffee and learn more about Student Insurance Health and Accident plans. About Student Insurance Youth Insurance Agency, Inc. ("Student Insurance") is one of California's largest insurers of primary and secondary schools providing health, accident, and student insurance plans to k-12 schools and colleges. For the past 70 years, our plans have focused on health and protection services to help domestic and international students, student-athletes, individuals, families, and educators navigate the complex healthcare system and improve their quality of life. Student Insurance is a division of Venbrook Insurance Services, LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Venbrook Group, LLC. Find out more at www.studentinsuranceusa.com. About Venbrook Venbrook Group, LLC is a holdings company with subsidiaries engaged in retail broking, wholesale broking, programs, and claims services. Venbrook caters to a national client base across myriad industries with divergent needs. Venbrook's experts and industry specialists partner with their clients to manage their risks, create security, promote growth, and add value by delivering best-in-class insurance products and programs. Venbrook continues to build partnerships to expand its insurance platform while continuing to invest in its infrastructure and talent. Venbrook is headquartered in Los Angeles, with various locations across the country. For more information, please visit www.venbrook.com . SOURCE Venbrook Group, LLC AUSTIN, Texas, May 22, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Superior HealthPlan helped more than 110,000 members in Texas secure behavioral health services virtually in 2022. As Texans take time to recognize Mental Health Awareness Month in May, Superior is committed to sharing behavioral health resources and programs that may be available for low-income individuals no matter where they are in the state. "For the more than 2 million members we serve, our goal is to provide the individualized care that best meets their needs," said Dr. David Harmon, Chief Medical Director for Superior HealthPlan. "Expanding access to virtual care, in particular behavioral health support, is one of the best ways we can do this as it allows our members to have flexibility and choice in the care they receive." According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, about 20 percent of adults and 17 percent of children in the U.S. experience a mental illness each year. While those numbers are similar across the country, the risk of suicide is much higher in rural areas, making access to virtual care a critical step in addressing the mental health needs of Texans. "Approximately 70 percent of Primary Care Providers and specialists in Superior's network offer healthcare services virtually," said Tracy Rico, Director of Virtual Care at Superior. "That has been especially important for Texans who live in rural areas of the state and may not always be able to see a doctor or specialist in person." Superior has multiple partnerships and programs that provide access to behavioral health services virtually to members across Texas. These include: Teladoc This virtual option is available for all Superior members and offers 24/7 access to healthcare services. eFamilyCare Superior expanded this partnership this year to more Medicaid and CHIP members, which offers telehealth for family caregivers as they support high-risk, chronically ill adults and children with special needs. MedArrive & Brave Health Announced last year, this joint initiative provides in-home care and identifies certain Medicaid members who have complex care needs that may benefit from virtual behavioral health support. Additionally, Superior has invested $150,000 in partnerships with Connected Nation and C3HIE to conduct studies that will identify the broadband needs and potential solutions for expanding access to healthcare for Texans who live in rural counties. The goals of the program are to support providers who may need help offering virtual care and to increase access to virtual services for the residents in those areas. Superior members can learn more about behavioral health services here. For information about virtual care at Superior, visit SuperiorHealthPlan.com/telehealth. About Superior HealthPlan Founded in 1999, Superior HealthPlan is a managed care company that delivers quality health care throughout Texas. Committed to transforming the health of the community, one person at a time, Superior supports active local involvement in all 254 Texas counties with more than 3,000 employees throughout the state. Superior is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Centene Corporation, a leading healthcare enterprise that is committed to helping people live healthier lives. More information on Superior can be found at www.SuperiorHealthPlan.com. SOURCE Superior HealthPlan Teamsters Set the Record Straight on Status of Negotiations CHULA VISTA, Calif., May 22, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Transdev workers represented by Teamsters Local 683 who provide transportation services for the San Diego Metropolitan Transit System (MTS) are on an unfair labor practice (ULP) strike. While workers have been on the picket line since May 16, Transdev has refused to negotiate with Local 683 and has made false statements to the media regarding the status of negotiations. The following is a statement from Jose Puga, Vice President and Business Agent at Local 683: "Transdev bus workers who provide transportation services for San Diego MTS are on strike because their employer requires them to work under inhumane conditions. Workers are on strike because they want sanitary bathrooms and safe places to take breaks, and Transdev has refused to bargain in good faith to address these conditions. "Workers have been subject to these grotesque conditions for longer than the six months we had been in negotiations. We are on strike because Transdev has refused to offer workers a fair new contract and has failed to address these appalling conditions. "While Transdev and MTS put out statements about the 'active negotiations' and how they remain 'hopeful' the strike will end soon, Local 683 wants to make it clear that there are currently no ongoing negotiations. "Transdev's final offer to the workers was rejected and the company has not come back to the table since. "Local 683 is ready to get back to the negotiating table, work out these issues, and secure our members the best contract possible. We are waiting on Transdev." Teamsters Local 683 represents 2,700 workers in a variety of industries in Southern California. Contact: Matt McQuaid, (202) 624-6877 [email protected] SOURCE Teamsters Local 683 FOXBOROUGH, Mass., May 22, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Convoy of Champions," a parade of more than 40 ambulances, representing more than 20,000 Massachusetts paramedics, EMTs, and 911 dispatchers, will travel from UMass Medical Center in Worcester to the 50-yard line at Gillette Stadium on Tuesday, May 23. The New England Patriots, state officials, and healthcare professionals will join the Massachusetts Ambulance Association in celebrating these front-line heroes during EMS Week (May 21-27). The "Convoy of Champions" will get underway at 10:30 AM at UMass Medical Center in Worcester, travel along the Mass Pike and 495 on the way toward Foxborough. After arriving at Gillette Stadium at 11:30 AM, vehicles will fill the iconic field where EMS professionals will be greeted by tributes from live speakers. Members of the media are welcome at the convening site in Worcester, along the convoy route, as well as outside Gillette Stadium. Access to the ceremony inside Gillette Stadium will need to be arranged in advance. Event: Convoy of Champions: Celebrating Massachusetts EMS Date: Tuesday, May 23 Parade Route: 10:45 AM vehicles gather at 381 Plantation St Worcester (UMASS Campus) head to Gillette Stadium, Foxborough Ceremony: Gillette Stadium at 12pm The Massachusetts Ambulance Association represents private ambulance services throughout Massachusetts. Our association members employ more than 6,000 employees and operate 80% of all licensed ambulances within the Commonwealth. Together, we provide the highest quality pre-hospital care to Massachusetts residents. Collectively, we advocate for fair reimbursement and thoughtful regulation to ensure continued mobile health care excellence." In Massachusetts there are more than 7,000 certified paramedics and 15,000 certified EMTs providing care and comfort to those in need, supporting the health and well-being of our communities and saving lives. www.massambulance.org SOURCE Cataldo Ambulance Service STOCKHOLM, May 22, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The agreement between the Germany-based specialist for high-efficient water electrolysis, thyssenkrupp nucera, and the Swedish industrial start-up H2 Green Steel, secures capacity of more than 700MW for H2 Green Steel's electrolysis plant in Boden - making it one of the world's largest electrolysis plants announced to date. The agreement with thyssenkrupp nucera will cover alkaline water electrolysis technology (AWE) and large-scale electrolysis plant engineering. thyssenkrupp nucera has a proven track record with more than 600 installed projects and over 10 GW capacity in the chlor-alkali technology, which is the DNA for 'scalum', its large-scale 20 MW standard AWE module. "This electrolyzer agreement indicates a change in market dynamics and is also a proof of our new business model for reservation of production capacity. For customers where time-to-market is critical, ensuring access to production capacity of leading electrolyzer technology becomes essential. With this bold investment, H2 Green Steel has shown a strong commitment to their timeline to decarbonize the steel industry and we look forward to working with them," says Dr. Werner Ponikwar, CEO of thyssenkrupp nucera AG & Co. KGaA. Through this collaboration, thyssenkrupp nucera will deliver capacity of more than 700MW to the electrolysis plant, likely making the H2 Green Steel plant one of the world's largest AWE installation by the time its commissioned. The giga-scale electrolysis plant, the first globally, is based on a concept where H2 Green Steel uniquely will use several complementing technologies for green hydrogen production, enabling balancing of the system for cost- optimization and operational flow as each technology's core benefits can be harvested. To build it, H2 Green steel is teaming up with different world-leading partners and expertise in design, construction, equipment, operations and financing. "The electrolysis plant in Boden will be many times bigger than most electrolyzer installations that exist today. Combining our own strong technical expertise with that of an experienced electrolysis supplier like thyssenkrupp nucera gives us a solid edge in the growing green hydrogen economy, which we will leverage to transform hard to abate industries. We start with steel in Boden, Sweden, but it's only the beginning," says Maria Persson Gulda, Chief Technology Officer H2 Green Steel. Hydrogen produced in the electrolysis plant in Boden will be consumed on-site in a direct reduction process, reducing iron ore to sponge iron, enabling production of green steel. The electrolyzer units will be crucial to maximize the operational and economic benefits of the hydrogen in the steel mill, which also forms the foundation for new patented intellectual property assets. The work leading up to the signing of the contract was enabled through support from Sweden's Industrial Leap programme, led by the Swedish Energy Agency. CONTACT: Karin Hallstan, Head of Public and Media Relations, phone: +46 76 842 81 04, email: [email protected] Rita Syre, Senior Media Relations Manager, phone: +49 231 22972 2522, mobile: +49 174 161 86 24, email: [email protected] The following files are available for download: https://mb.cision.com/Main/20623/3772367/2071851.pdf Press release TKN H2 Green Steel_Final https://news.cision.com/h2-green-steel/i/thyssenkrupp-nucera,c3180648 thyssenkrupp nucera SOURCE H2 Green Steel DEBx Medical is innovating the management of chronic wounds, improving the life of millions of patients the investment will enable the company to expand its global footprint and build a presence in the MENA region DUBAI, UAE and AMSTERDAM , May 22, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- TVM Capital Healthcare, a global specialist healthcare private equity firm headquartered in Dubai and Singapore, is pleased to announce an investment, from its TVM Healthcare Afiyah Fund, of EUR 10 million into DEBx Medical, an Amsterdam-based medical devices company. DEBx Medical, founded in 2019, has developed a groundbreaking product, DEBRICHEM, which offers a superior alternative to existing treatments for non-healing chronic wounds. This innovative product is easy to use and highly effective in removing biofilm and curing hard-to-heal wounds. With CE and ISO approvals obtained in February 2021, DEBx Medical has already successfully treated over 5,000 patients, and is about to introduce its product to the market. Chronic wounds pose a significant healthcare challenge, affecting approximately 2.4% of the population throughout their lifetime, and is particularly pronounced in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, where high levels of diabetes contribute to the problem. Hard-to-heal wounds have the potential for poor patient health and quality of life outcomes and represent a substantial cost to healthcare systems. TVM Capital Healthcare's investment in DEBx Medical will enable the company to commence commercialization of its groundbreaking product for the benefit of patients. As part of the firm's investment, DEBx Medical will establish a regional headquarter and a production base in MENA, thereby accelerating the introduction of its innovative wound care solution to the region. Tristan de Boysson, Managing Partner of TVM Capital Healthcare, commented: "With this investment from our TVM Healthcare Afiyah Fund, we will accelerate the market introduction of a product which will transform the management of chronic wounds, and improve the life of millions of patients. This investment is also part of our Fund's strategy of bringing innovative, best-in-class healthcare solutions to the wider MENA region. We are looking forward to working together with the DEBx Medical management team." Bert Quint, Co-founder & CEO of DEBx Medical added: "We founded the company with the aim of innovating wound care, a market that has not seen significant innovation in a very long time. Our product, DEBRICHEM, has the potential to disrupt the chronic wound care market and help patients to heal fast, safely and effectively. After just one single treatment, more than 90% of chronic wounds start healing. TVM Capital Healthcare's investment is testament to our technology, and we are looking forward to bringing our product to market together." About TVM Capital Healthcare: TVM Capital Healthcare is an emerging markets-focused healthcare private equity firm headquartered in Dubai and Singapore, with offices in Riyadh, Boston, Munich, and Ho Chi Minh City. The firm invests expansion and growth capital in healthcare companies with a focus on specialized and tech-enabled healthcare services, digital health solutions and platforms, as well as manufacturing companies in pharmaceuticals, medical devices, and diagnostics. Investment and operating partners as well as a strong group of Senior Advisors have long-standing international track records in healthcare and life sciences investing, active board work, contributions to strategy development and implementation, governance and ESG, healthcare M&A, initial public offerings and deep healthcare operations experience. The firm partners with local Middle Eastern and Southeast Asian management teams to build domestic or regional sector champions and selectively backs companies from Europe or North America for expansion into the firm's target geographies. TVM Capital Healthcare's investment and operating approach combines strong commercial value creation and returns with responsible investing and a comprehensive ESG framework to build impactful, sustainable and well-governed companies, delivering excellent healthcare services, with continued growth and job creation, in a fair and diverse workplace. TVM Capital Healthcare is a U.N. PRI signatory since 2015, a longstanding member of GPCA, a member of 2X Global, a signatory of Ethical Principles in Healthcare (EPiHC) and Investors for Health (I4H), initiatives of the International Finance Corporation of the World Bank (IFC), promoting healthcare growth and ethical principles in healthcare to build transparent and resilient health systems. www.tvmcapitalhealthcare.com About DEBx Medical DEBx Medical B.V. is a Dutch medical technology company dedicated to revolutionizing the management of chronic wounds by enabling their healing, thereby improving the outcomes for millions of patients. DEBx Medical aims to support doctors and their patients from diagnosis through treatment, follow-up care and maintenance of a healthy wound bed. Our core values focus on delivering affordable treatments that are easy to use and implement in daily clinical practice. DEBx Medical was founded in 2019 by CEO Bert Quint, Prof. Dr. Carlo Bignozzi and MD Alberto Cogo with the aim to develop and provide a single treatment to eliminate wound infection in a market that has not seen significant innovation in the last two decades. www.debx-medical.com About DEBRICHEM: DEBRICHEM is a novel desiccant agent used for chemical debridement. DEBRICHEM is an acidic gel certified as a single-use medical device. The product is intended for topical application to an infected non-healing wound, to eliminate infection by removing biofilm and by this infection, then followed by cleaning and dressing. This innovative product is easy to use and highly effective in removing biofilm and curing hard-to-heal wounds. www.debx-medical.com Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2074022/TVM_Capital_Healthcare_Logo.jpg SOURCE TVM Capital Healthcare "Summer Ignite" among several programs helping students fund post-secondary education PHOENIX, May 22, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Universal Technical Institute (UTI), a division of Universal Technical Institute, Inc. and a leading workforce solutions provider of transportation, skilled trades and energy education programs, is bringing its "Summer Ignite" program back to help high school juniors make critical decisions about their post-secondary educational options. Summer Ignite among several programs helping students fund post-secondary education. The free, three-week program is the same introductory technician course taken by new UTI students. Once completed, participating high school students can test to earn course credit that can be applied if they enroll at UTI, lowering their cost of attendance. "Our free Ignite program introduces a new generation of young students to a UTI education and the fulfilling career opportunities that await in the skilled trades," said UTI Division President Tracy Lorenz. "It's critical that we bring programs like this to our campuses, so that we can deliver the trained technicians our employer partners need. But it's also important that we provide prospective students with opportunities to fund their education." UTI campuses also host high school students for competitions such as Skills USA and the Top Tech Challenge/Auto Tech Challenge, giving them a chance to win tuition grants. A total of over $710,000 in grants was awarded in 2022 through these competitions, which are held on an annual basis. High school seniors are also encouraged to apply for the "American Dream Grant." Participants can earn a grant up to $2,500, with a total of $475,000 available annually to 380 students maximum. Grant awards are based on how students do on a written test containing both academic and technical questions. "It's encouraging to see growth in these competitions and in our 'Summer Ignite' program as we open students' eyes to the demand for skilled workers," continued Lorenz. "It's promising to see so many motivated, goal-driven young people willing to spend part of their summer taking our classes, learning new skills and getting a jumpstart on a technical education." Participating campuses and program dates include1: UTI-Austin (TX): June 26-July 14 ; July 17-August 4 ; UTI-Avondale (AZ): June 5-June 23 UTI-Bloomfield (NJ): July 17-August 4 UTI-Dallas (TX): June 26-July 14 ; July 17-August 4 ; UTI-Exton (PA): July 17-August 4 UTI-Lisle (IL): June 5-June 23 ; June 26-July 14 ; UTI-Long Beach (CA): June 5-June 23 ; June 26-July 14 ; UTI-Miramar (FL): June 26-July 14 UTI-Orlando (FL): June 5-June 23 UTI-Rancho Cucamonga (CA): June 26-July 14 NASCAR Technical Institute (NC): July 17-August 4 For more information or to register for "Summer Ignite," visit uti.edu/programs/ignite. For a full list of the scholarships and grants available at UTI, visit uti.edu/financial-aid/scholarships-grants. About Universal Technical Institute, Inc. Universal Technical Institute, Inc. (the "Company") was founded in 1965 and is a leading workforce solutions provider of transportation, skilled trades and healthcare education programs, whose mission is to serve students, partners, and communities by providing quality education and support services for in-demand careers across a number of highly-skilled fields. The Company is comprised of two divisions: Universal Technical Institute ("UTI") and Concorde Career Colleges ("Concorde"). UTI operates 16 campuses located in 9 states and offers a wide range of transportation and skilled trades technical training programs under brands such as UTI, MIAT College of Technology, Motorcycle Mechanics Institute, Marine Mechanics Institute and NASCAR Technical Institute. Concorde operates across 17 campuses in 8 states, offering programs in the Allied Health, Dental, Nursing, Patient Care and Diagnostic fields. For more information, visit www.uti.edu or www.concorde.edu, or visit us on LinkedIn at @UniversalTechnicalInstitute and @Concorde Career Colleges or on Twitter @news_UTI or @ConcordeCareer. 1 Locations, dates and times may be subject to change. Media Contact Alanna Vitucci [email protected] 480.710.6843 SOURCE Universal Technical Institute, Inc. WASHINGTON, May 22, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The Ambassadors for Self-Determination ("ASD") have taken up the cause of Nnamdi Kanu and demand his immediate and unconditional release from incarceration by the Nigerian Government as a political prisoner in violation of International Human Rights laws and the laws of Nigeria. Based in the United States and Nigeria, the ASD calls upon the International Community to demand that Nigeria cease conducting itself as a Pariah State and comply with the Rule of Law and International Human Rights laws and grant immediate freedom for Nnamdi Kanu, the Leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, known as "IPOB". Nnamdi Kanu is remarkably similar to Nelson Mandela in his charismatic approach to securing freedom and safety for over 42 million Biafrans in Nigeria and the direct benefit of over 20 million Biafrans worldwide. Like Mandela, Nnamdi Kanu pursues self-determination through non-violent means and has been jailed for two years without trial for his political views and efforts to assist his people from continued ethnic and religious genocide. Astoundingly, two separate Nigerian Courts in 2022 ruled that all charges against Nnamdi Kanu must be dismissed and awarded him 1 BILLION Naira from the Federal Government of Nigeria as penalty for his June 2021 kidnapping and arbitrary detention. Additionally, the United Nations has entered a scathing judgment declaring the kidnapping and continued detention of Nnamdi Kanu in blatant violation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. In this regard, Nnamdi Kanu betters Nelson Mandela in that there were never judicial decisions from the courts or the U.N. demanding the release of Mandela. Unfortunately, Nnamdi Kanu languishes in prison as the "Nelson Mandela of the New Millennium" because the Nigerian government ignores and refuses to follow its own laws and binding International Human Rights Treaties. ASD calls upon the People of Nigeria, the United States, and the World Community to join in the demand for the immediate and unconditional release of Nnamdi Kanu from his wrongful imprisonment. ASD will present a press conference event at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. on May 25, 2023, beginning at 2:00 pm, EST, to lead a global call to demand Nnamdi Kanu's immediate and unconditional release by the Nigerian Government. Media Contact: Bruce DelValle 386-852-1969 [email protected] SOURCE Ambassadors for Self-Determination Migrants are entering the United States almost 2,000 miles away, but the issues related to that influx have landed on the doorstep of politicians and organizations across New York. As Gov. Kathy Hochul called for federal help to allow asylum-seekers to work while they are in this country an idea that received tepid support from the New York Farm Bureau Rep. Nicholas Langworthy called for swift federal action to deal with the issue. "What we have now is chaos," Langworthy said of the border situation. "What we need is control and law and order." Meanwhile, immigration suddenly has become a campaign issue in the race for Erie County executive, where incumbent Mark Poloncarz and challenger Chrissy Casilio staked out opposing positions. New York City has had more than 60,000 migrants arriving within the past year, forcing city officials to look for housing options outside the city, including busing people to hotels in neighboring Rockland and Orange counties. Contentious Erie County Legislature primary escalates over immigration issue A primary for an Erie County Legislature seat escalated with the Republican and Conservative candidates as well as County Executive Mark Poloncarz, a Democrat sparring over the issue of migrants coming to New York from the southern U.S. border. On Friday, Hochul said while visiting Buffalo that the state is considering all options, including using SUNY campuses as potential sites to house the ongoing surge of migrants and asylum-seekers in New York City. Then on Monday, she and New York Mayor Eric Adams called for the White House to provide expedited work authorization for asylum-seekers. "They're eager to work. They want to work," Hochul said. "They came here in search of work and a new future, and they can become part of our economy and part of our communities, and people are ready to start training them right in facilities like we have here today." New York Farm Bureau president David Fisher said the organization supports Hochul's request but views it as "a temporary Band-Aid for a greater problem that must be solved in Washington, D.C." Langworthy said he has sympathy for Hochul on the issue but disputed the idea that all of the migrants at the southern border were legal asylum-seekers. "The notion that everyone is an asylum-seeker from a war-torn country? Thats nonsense," Langworthy said. "We wont know until they actually go through a hearing. Now they can apply for asylum, but theyre getting hearing dates that are in 2028 and, meanwhile, they just go about their business as people who are here with the presumption that they could maybe get asylum." Langworthy said he had concerns that migrants could spread polio, measles and hepatitis if they came here unvaccinated. "Many of the migrants dont have a record of the vaccinations," he said. "Meanwhile, we were firing nurses that were so desperately needed because they refused to get a vaccination." Langworthy said "small, rural schools" in his district, which includes parts of the Southern Tier, could be overwhelmed in the fall if migrants settle there from New York City. Asked whether those rural communities depend on migrant farm workers to perform the type of hard labor that many Americans don't want to do, Langworthy said he differentiates between current migrants and those who come seasonally on the H-2A Temporary Agricultural Workers visa program. "The farmers acknowledge to me that its a complicated process but it works out very well for them," he said of the visa program. Hochul considering using state properties, SUNY campuses to house asylum-seekers Hochul called it a "crisis situation," noting she had met with New York City Mayor Eric Adams on Thursday, which came a day after she went to Washington, D.C., to talk about the state's needs to accommodate the influx of asylum-seekers. Seven Western New York counties have declared states of emergency to block New York City from sending migrants and asylum-seekers to local hotels. Erie County Republicans have called on Poloncarz to issue a similar order, but Poloncarz on Saturday said he would not issue any order that would "prohibit the housing of legal asylum-seekers in our community." "Not only is such an order illegal under Title II of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, it is morally repugnant," Poloncarz said in a statement he posted to Twitter. Casilio criticized Poloncarz's statement about not declaring a state of emergency regarding possible asylum-seekers being housed in Erie County. "Mark's approach to this crisis is the same as it is to every crisis he has faced," she said in a news conference outside the Rath County Office Building. "He has no strategy. He has no shown no leadership. He takes no action, and he bullies and belittles anyone who asks him to be accountable. We deserve better." She described Poloncarz's assertion that calling a state of emergency is illegal and "morally repugnant" as another example of him being out of touch with county taxpayers over common "dinner table issues." "Whether they are coming tomorrow, or a year from now, a plan needs to be in place," she said. When Casilio was asked to outline her own response plan, however, she said she didn't have one. "It's hard to come up with a solution if we don't know in full the situation," she said. WASHINGTON, May 22, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Colorado River Basin states today announced an agreement for historic cuts to their water use in response to decades of overuse and drought that have left the Colorado River and its reservoirs depleted. Moira Mcdonald, director of the Walton Family Foundation's Environment Program issued the following statement in response: "The announcement is a critical step forward to help make sure the Colorado River can continue to support the seven states, 30 Tribal Nations, and 40 million people who depend on it. By working with each other and with the federal government, Basin states are averting the immediate crisis facing the river. They have also provided an opportunity for us to pursue the kind of long-term cooperation that will be necessary if we want to secure a healthy Colorado River, not just for the next three years, but for decades - and generations - to come. While this agreement is an important victory, it is not a permanent solution. Any successful plan to keep the Colorado River healthy long-term has to recognize that the needs of nature are not separate from the needs of people. The path to real water security requires keeping enough water in the Colorado River for it to stay healthy and flowing. We can do this by investing in nature-based solutions strategies that use the strengths of the natural environment to maximize water resources. A flowing river supports forests, floodplains, and wetlands, which in turn makes the region more resilient to severe fires, droughts, and floods. Taking care of nature in the Colorado River Basin is how we can support the well-being of the communities, farmers, ranchers, and others who rely on the river for their livelihoods. Working together we can keep this vital resource sustainable for generations to come." About the Walton Family Foundation The Walton Family Foundation is, at its core, a family-led foundation. Three generations of the descendants of our founders, Sam and Helen Walton, and their spouses, work together to lead the foundation and create access to opportunity for people and communities. We work in three areas: improving K-12 education, protecting rivers and oceans and the communities they support, and investing in our home region of Northwest Arkansas and the Arkansas-Mississippi Delta. To learn more, visit waltonfamilyfoundation.org and follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. SOURCE Walton Family Foundation BEIJING, May 22, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The 2023 Taihu Bay Future Healthcare Conference (2023 TBHC) was held on Thursday in Wuxi City in east China's Jiangsu Province to better integrate with digitalization and artificial intelligence (AI) to enable local life and health industry development. With "innovation and opening, digital intelligence and health" as the theme, the 2023 TBHC attracted many renowned pharmaceutical producers at home and abroad such as AstraZeneca, Wuxi Biologics, Tigermed, and GE Healthcare to participate. The photo shows the site of the 2023 TBHC in Wuxi. As one of the landmark industries of Wuxi City, the life and health industry boasts a relatively complete industrial chain that includes medical R&D services, chemical pharmaceuticals, special food, medical equipment thanks to coordinated development of six local industrial parks in recent years. In 2022, there have been 1,605 pharmaceutical companies in Wuxi, with total industrial output value at around 162.262 billion yuan. In the first quarter of 2023, large local medical producers contributed 22.502 billion yuan of output value, up 27.8 percent year on year. Du Xiaogang, secretary of Wuxi municipal committee of the Communist Party of China, hoped more experts and businesses to join hands with Wuxi to vigorously develop biomedical infrastructure and accelerate formation of representative industrial clusters to jointly draw up the city's industry blueprint. Du also called for joint efforts to make artificial intelligence and big data technologies the key vehicles for medical R&D, clinical research, medicine production, and adjuvant treatment. By introducing and incubating more seeded projects and startups firms and encouraging more quality companies to go public, Wuxi are willing to cooperate with more friends to cultivate new and highly competitive blue chip companies, said Du. During the conference, the Jiangsu branch of National Clinical Research Center for Digestive Diseases was inaugurated, while agreements were signed for 62 biomedical funds and industrialization projects, instilling strong vitality into the biomedical industry in Wuxi City. Apart from the main conference, eight parallel conferences were also convened in the meantime to pool ideas and insight on related investment and financing, internationalization of innovative medicines, and clinical research and achievements transformation. See the original link:https://en.imsilkroad.com/p/334175.html SOURCE Xinhua Silk Road The phone call came into Hospice & Palliative Care Buffalo late last month. I would like to talk to someone about creating a legacy," the caller, Linda Snyder, asked. "How much would it cost to build a building?" She was calling on behalf of her longtime companion, 97-year-old Andrew Dodges, a retired engineer who wanted to create a legacy building on the philanthropic support he started in 1995. Dodges is pledging approximately $6 million for the creation of the Andrew J. and Mary Ann Dodges Center that will allow for the expansion of education and training programs, conferences and meetings for staff and community partners. It is the largest philanthropic pledge in the organization's history. I believe that Hospice is an organization with a worthy cause, Dodges said in a news release. They cared for my late wife, Mary Ann, and now they are caring for me." Part of the Dodges gift will support hospice care for others in the community. Dodges contributed to the construction costs of the Milch-Mitchell inpatient unit in 1995. A gift of this magnitude from Mr. Dodges adds to the wonderful legacy of giving within our community and strengthens our commitment to provide the highest quality of care to those in great need," said Dr. Christopher Kerr, chief executive officer and chief medical officer of Hospice and Palliative Care, located on Como Park Boulevard in Cheektowaga. A Buffalo native, Dodges served as a corporal in the U.S. Army during World War II. He was awarded the Bronze Star for saving fellow soldiers during a mortar attack in France coming from a shed while soldiers were in their foxholes. Dodges crawled up to the shed and threw hand grenades to stop the attack. During another battle, he was hit by shrapnel in his left arm, shoulder and neck, and was awarded a Purple Heart. He used the G.I. bill to attend the University of Alabama, where he earned an engineering degree. Dodges was a civil engineer with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Buffalo District for more than 40 years. The donation will be used to renovate the former Hospice house for long-term care. The organization was talking about using the vacant building for meeting rooms, and "this catapulted that conversation," said Karen Pusateri, marketing and communication manager for Hospice. There will be an area set aside in the Dodges Center to display Dodges' medals and to pay tribute to all veterans. Dodges lost his military medals when they were stolen, but Rep. Brian Higgins, D-Buffalo, was able to get replacement medals that were awarded in December 2018. Nearly three-quarters of more than 100 law enforcement agencies across much of the U.S. don't reflect the racial makeup of their communities, data supplied by the departments to Lee Enterprises shows. As part of a seven-month investigation by Lee and Type Investigations, agencies were ranked based on the gap between the proportion of officers and leadership in the agency who identify as people of color and the percentage of people of color in the communities they serve. Lee reporters sent surveys to more than 170 law enforcement agencies and then zeroed in on "diverse" communities, defined in this research as places where at least 10 percent of the residents are non-white. Of 105 agencies that provided demographic data and served diverse communities, 76 underrepresented the percentages of people of color in their communities by 10 points or more. Some had gaps of more than 30 percentage points. Diversity underrepresentation in policing Data gathered from October 2022 to May 2023 from nearly 120 law enforcement agencies in 14 states shows frequent disparity in the racial and ethnic makeup of the agencies compared to the communities they are hired to protect and serve. Data gathered from October 2022 to May 2023 from nearly 120 law enforcement agencies in 14 states shows frequent disparity in the racial and ethnic makeup of the agencies compared to the communities they are hired to protect and serve. These are among several key observations drawn from data submitted by state and local law enforcement agencies largely in the Midwest and East, near areas where Lee properties are based. The data show that thousands of people of color live in communities where the force looks nothing like them, despite calls for increased law enforcement diversity that echoed through U.S. streets three years ago following the murder of George Floyd. Twenty of the 105 agencies serving diverse communities have no people of color or only one such person on the force. Also, in nearly half of the 93 agencies serving diverse communities that gave data on leadership, there were either zero or only one person of color in leadership. Why police diversity matters Experts within and outside law enforcement say the continued representation gap the subject of discussions that go back decades underscores existential questions about how police protect and serve people of color. A study released in November by the Bureau of Justice Statistics that collected data in 2020 about interactions with police over the previous year showed that Black people were three times more likely than white people 6 percent vs. 2 percent to have experienced the threat of force or use of nonfatal force during their most recent police contact. The report also showed that during that time frame, Black people had the highest likelihood of experiencing any type of police misconduct (5%), more than double that of white people and Hispanic people combined. While improving diversity doesnt solve issues like excessive force or biased policing, it can begin to cause a shift. The more diverse we are as it relates to race and ethnicity, the more diverse we are also in life experiences, which helps agencies to better inform policies, also better inform their training, and better inform their support systems as well, said Darryl McSwain, chief of the Maryland-National Capital Park Police force and a 2021 finalist for the post of top cop in Lincoln, Nebraska. So I think that's why it's so crucial that we continue to diversify. Most agencies surveyed underrepresent communities of color The Lee law enforcement survey is an update and expansion of a similar effort launched in the Midwest in the summer of 2020 as the nation was reeling from weeks of protests after Derek Chauvin, a white then-police officer in Minneapolis, pressed his knee to the neck of Floyd for more than 9 minutes, according to prosecutors who won a murder conviction against Chauvin. For the current investigation, police and sheriffs departments along with state patrols in more than a dozen states responded to a two-page survey seeking data on topics including the demographic breakdown of the sworn personnel and leadership, the use of body and dashboard cameras, and the number of racial profiling and excessive force complaints. Nearly 120 agencies provided demographic information on race and ethnicity. Most also provided information on the gender breakdown of the department. In 14 of the communities, people of color identifying as Black, Hispanic/Latinx, Native American/First Nation and Asian American/Pacific Islander made up less than 10 percent of the population served. Not surprisingly, the law enforcement agencies there were all or largely white. Lee also received demographic data from 105 agencies serving diverse areas based on 2020 U.S Census data, which Lee also used to draw comparisons with their respective police-force demographics: Seventy-six of the 105 agencies, or about 72 percent, underrepresented their communities of color by 10 percentage points or more. In Martinsville, Virginia, more than half of the community roughly 57 percent was composed of people of color, while people of color accounted for about 12 percent of the force. The largest agency to respond to the survey was the 4,741-member New York State Police. People of color made up about 45 percent of the population in the departments jurisdiction and 12 percent of the force a gap of 33 percentage points. Twenty-eight departments came within 10 percentage points of matching the diversity levels of their communities. They range in size from the seven-member Hebron Police Department in Indiana to the 488-member police department in Madison, Wisconsin. In Hebron, about 12 percent of the population and 14 percent of the force were people of color. In Wisconsins capital, 28 percent of the community and 23 percent of the force were made up of people of color. As a group, the 119 agencies police departments, sheriffs offices and state police that supplied diversity data appear to skew whiter than local law enforcement across the U.S. overall. This is based on part- and full-time personnel numbers provided by the 119 agencies compared with the latest law enforcement demographics for full-time personnel collected by the Department of Justice in 2020. In the 82 police departments in the group, nearly 79 percent of sworn members identified as white versus about 69 percent of full-time sworn officers in local police departments in 2020. Lee found similar disparities among the 31 sheriffs departments in the group. Eighty-seven percent of sworn members identified as white, 16 percentage points greater than the roughly 71 percent of full-time sworn officers in sheriffs departments nationwide who identified as white in 2020, according to the DOJ. So what do all these numbers mean? In Martinsville, Virginia, which describes itself as a city without limits, the lack of diversity on its police force has not gone unnoticed. Of a force of 41 sworn members, the Martinsville police department has four Black officers and one Hispanic officer, said Maj. Chad Rhoads, part of the department's leadership team. I certainly do acknowledge the gap, Rhoads, who is part of the department's leadership team, said. It's certainly not representative of the community, but we want to get it there. But it's just something that we've always struggled with. Rhoads said the department tried attending job fairs at nearby historically Black colleges and universities but got no applicants, a problem it has experienced at college job fairs in general. He said the department does not have a specific program to recruit people of color. It relies on grassroots efforts including using school resource officers to forge connections with students. Of course, Martinsville is far from the only city with a force that does not reflect the population. Sgt. Betsy Brantner Smith, a police trainer and spokesperson for the National Police Association, an educational and advocacy group, links the quest for diversity to law enforcements challenge of attracting applicants overall. Since 2020, American law enforcement, we, have (had) a very difficult time just recruiting and retaining police officers of any race and any gender, said Brantner Smith, who was a police officer for 29 years beginning in 1980. So right now, as a country we're just trying to get people to come to the law enforcement profession. People are leaving in record numbers. They are leaving prior to receiving their retirement, and its becoming a real crisis. Departments are increasing their use of technology and social media and beginning to recruit more broadly to boost ranks, Brantner Smith said, but whether we're talking post-George Floyd or we're talking in general, not everyone is attracted to this profession. Call for police diversity reaches zenith after George Floyd's death Long before Floyds murder sent thousands of protesters into the streets, community activists and private citizens had called for a more just and representative law enforcement system. That chorus reached a crescendo after Floyds Memorial Day 2020 murder and included a 21 pillar proposal outlined in 2021 by the National Urban League, which, among other demands, called on communities and law enforcement leadership to increase diversity and equity in both the leadership and ranks of local, state and federal law enforcement. Most law enforcement leaders and experts interviewed for this story listed similar reasons to push for more diversity in police forces, including helping to establish better relations with diverse communities and having role models who can attract other diverse candidates. If we want to have a relationship with our community, and we want our community to be a part of this ecosystem of public safety, then we want our police force to be reflective of the communities that we're in, said Regina Holloway, vice president of community impact for Axon, maker of equipment for law enforcement, notably Tasers and cameras. I think it's not impossible by any stretch. We want all officers to be equitable across the board, but I do think that there's this opportunity for an officer of color a Black officer, a brown officer to have lived experience that they can relate to community members that are having challenges around public safety, challenges in the community, right? There's going to be a kinship there, possibly, that will create a deeper relationship at the on-site of that interaction. She referred to a study of the Chicago Police Department, published in Science magazine, examining data on officer demographics and behavior from 2012-2015 that found that when compared with white officers, Black and Hispanic officers made far fewer stops and arrests and used force less often, especially against Black civilians. What we know is that Black and brown officers are less likely to stop people for low-level offenses, Holloway added. And they're less likely to have sort of these negative interactions with community. High-profile deaths in 2023 fuel debate over 'biased culture' That assertion fueled major debates earlier this year in two highly publicized deaths of Black citizens following interactions with law enforcement members, most of whom were people of color. In late April, the family of Tyre Nichols filed a $550 million federal lawsuit against the city of Memphis, the citys police department, and what the suit described as unqualified, untrained and unsupervised officers who severely beat the 29-year-old Black man after a traffic stop and brief foot chase Jan. 7, according to news reports and video that was later shared with the public. He was hospitalized and died three days later. Five former Memphis police officers all Black were fired within weeks of the incident. Each faces multiple charges, including second-degree murder, aggravated assault, aggravated kidnapping, official misconduct and official oppression, according to news reports. In Virginia, in a death that conjured images of Floyd pinned beneath Chauvins knee, Henrico County deputy sheriffs piled onto Irvo Otieno, a 28-year-old Black man in shackles suffering a mental health crisis, as he was being admitted to Central State Hospital. He died of asphyxiation, a medical examiner found. Otieno, whose family said he had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder, died March 6 while in custody of the Henrico County Sheriffs Office. Hospital video shows the group pinning him down for close to 12 minutes, and theres no audio. The sheriffs office told Lee it does not use body cameras. Of the seven sheriff's deputies charged with second-degree murder in the case, five are Black, two are white. In fact, Henrico County's sheriff's office was among the most-diverse departments in the Lee survey when compared to the population of the county. People of color made up 49 percent of the population and about 68 percent of the force, for an overrepresentation of nearly 20 percentage points. In the Nichols case, Benjamin Crump, a noted civil rights attorney representing the Nichols family, told ABC News that he believes Nichols was a victim of an implicit bias police culture that exists in America. Crump said Nicholss death occurred despite recent police reform in Memphis because of the institutionalized police culture that makes it somehow allowed that they can use this type of excessive force and brutality against people of color. And it doesn't matter if the officers are Black, Hispanic, or white. Its part of the culture, this biased culture that said this is allowed. Leaders seek change, professionalism and better data Attempts to steer departmental culture in a more inclusive direction often fall to the chief or sheriff. It can be a daunting task regardless of their ethnicity. Jamal A. Simington, chief of the Bloomington Police Department in Illinois, identifies as African American and is the only person of color in leadership in his 123-member department, with less than 10 percent of the force composed of people of color. Thats in a community where 27 percent of residents are people of color. Simington, who said he has been called the N-word and Uncle Tom, thinks leaders must foster and model a culture of professionalism regardless of race. You need the representation with high levels of professionalism, said Simington, who was drawn to law enforcement by family members who served. When asked about the roles of officers of color in the deaths of Otieno and Nichols, Simington said, It does reflect horrible on the badge. It tarnishes everything we stand for, right? It's supposed to be a noble occupation. So the nobility comes from our capability and our mindset on how to treat people [in a way thats] fair and appropriate. That's if you're a person of color or not. There has been limited research on the role of officers' race on their interactions with citizens. The latest report by the Bureau of Justice Statistics on encounters with police did not list the race of the officers involved. A database by the Washington Post tracking fatal police shootings since 2015 shows that Black Americans, who account for about 14 percent of the population, are killed by police at more than twice the rate of white Americans. The database also does not list the race of officers. The Lee survey asked agencies to share numbers for excessive force and racial profiling complaints logged between 2017 and 2022. More than 100 responded. Some declined to provide data or suggested other sources for it. Thirty-nine agencies surveyed said they had no complaints fitting in either category in any of those years. There is also variation in how each agency categorizes complaints. Some responded with numbers for allegations described in broader terms such as "biased policing and use of force. The Greensboro Police Department in North Carolina, which is nearly 70 percent white in a community that is less than 40 percent white, had 121 biased-based policing allegations, including bias other than race, between 2017 and 2022. It also had 14 allegations of excessive force during that same period. Allegations are not always sustained by the department once investigated. In an email, the department said its investigations found that three of four allegations of excessive force were found to be valid in 2021-22, and no allegations of biased policing initiated by citizens were sustained in that period. Stephanie Mardis is captain of the Greensboro Police Departments Professional Standards Division, which handles matters related to internal affairs. She told Lee she recognizes the need for improving diversity in the departments ranks. Having a force that was more representative of the community may not necessarily mean that our complaints will decrease, she said. It may not necessarily mean that we will have less use of force, but on its face, if a police department reflects the community in itself, it inherently gains trust with people from all walks of life. The department gives the public access each year to its complaint numbers via an annual report; however, it does not list the race or ethnicity of the officer. Tracie L. Keesee is COO, president and co-founder of the Center for Policing Equity, which uses data and science to help law enforcement look at harm reduction when it comes to issues of race and reimagine public safety in a way that centers community. She feels there should be more robust, peer-reviewed studies that look closely at the differences in negative outcomes for people of color when interacting with diverse vs. non-diverse departments. The science is so scant, she said. For starters, Keesee said, law enforcement agencies need to better track both the diversity of their members and how they interact with citizens. We want law enforcement departments to start collecting data appropriately, and we want to make it available to everyone so we can do exactly what you're talking about, she added. So we can look at and be able to try to begin to answer those questions." Lee Enterprises reporters Alison Burdo, Lauren Cross, Lizzie Kaboski , Analisa Trofimuk and Patrick Wilson contributed to this report. Research by Emma Davis of Type Investigations. Karen Robinson-Jacobs is a member of the Lee Public Service Journalism team and a Type Investigations reporting fellow. 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Our correction policy can be found here PACARAIMA, Brazil As the sun rose, Miguel Gonzalez, partner Maryelis Rodriguez and their four young children got off a passenger bus after an 18-hour ride south from the eastern Venezuelan community they desperately wanted to leave. The parents, with minds still muzzy from sleep, retrieved two duffel bags and assessed needs before entering the station: Diaper change for the 1-year-old. Restrooms for the 2-, 4- and 6-year-old. Directions to Brazil. Taxi? Taxi? hawkish cab drivers asked everyone walking through the Santa Elena de Uairen station, where thousands of people every month walk through Venezuelan territory one last time. Roughly a half hour later, the Gonzalez family, like dozens of others every day, became migrants for the first time when they exited a taxi in Pacaraima, Brazil. More than 7.2 million people have left Venezuela since the countrys political, economic and social crisis began last decade. Most have gone to Spanish-speaking countries of South America with 2.4 million in Colombia alone and many to the U.S. and Spain. Further down the list of destinations has been Venezuelas Portuguese-speaking, next-door neighbor: Brazil. But Brazil has become a popular choice for many Venezuelans partly because of a 5-year-old program that offers eligible applicants work permits and even free flights to faraway parts of the huge country. Approvals into the program have surged in the post-pandemic period. I want to give well-being to my children, said Gonzalez, who began planning to migrate in October after witnessing violent clashes around the gold mine where he worked. There is no life in Venezuela, he said, because if the family stays there the children are not going to study, they are not going to have a future. The Gonzalez family is applying for Brazils interiorization program, launched in 2018 to ease pressure on the countrys far northern state of Roraima as it dealt with Venezuelans flowing across the border after food and medicine shortages at home became acute. The program moves the migrants to other cities with better economic opportunities, especially in the countrys rich southern states. It has taken in about 100,000 of the 426,000 Venezuelans who have migrated to Brazil during the crisis with the highest monthly rate so far in March of this year with 3,377. The Gonzalez family sold their fridge, fan, kitchen, bed and other furniture, stuffed clothes and diapers in duffel bags and backpacks, and began their migration journey from their community of San Felix with $500. They spent $90 to get to Santa Elena de Uairen and $20 to get to Pacaraima, where they applied for the program. They decided to migrate even though Gonzalez had one of the most lucrative jobs in Venezuela, earning about $600 in two weeks, and occasionally, up to $1,200 far more than the countrys $5 monthly minimum wage. But mining communities are dangerous, thanks to armed groups who are believed to collude with authorities. There is a lot of crime. Youre alive one moment and dead the next. You get me? Gonzalez said. Those accepted into the interiorization program receive documentation, temporary shelter, vaccines and relocation flights. It also offers classes on Brazils labor market, laws and rights. Brazils monthly minimum wage currently is $265. A survey of 800 households encompassing 3,529 Venezuelans living in Brazil in June and July of last year showed that 76% of them earned up to two minimum wages. Applicants must submit paperwork, and undergo a physical and interviews. On an early April morning, Maria Rodriguez, her father, husband, daughter, two sons, twin grandsons and four more relatives were among hundreds of people at the Pacaraima border crossing, navigating steps of the program. She laughed with an energetic grandson, but her eyes betrayed fatigue. At the crack of dawn, migrants form lines where they wait to get or provide information. They cheer when they or their new migrant friends are told they can hop on waiting passenger buses headed roughly 125 miles south to Boa Vista, where they will catch flights to their new communities. Rodriguezs group already had waited six weeks in Pacaraima. They had sheltered from the scorching sun under a makeshift tent and spent nights in a shelter. The family closed its unprofitable cheese-making business in Venezuela earlier this year and decided to join other relatives in the southern Brazilian state of Parana, where the men plan to work in construction. Rodriguez said another of her sons already living there has done well in just a short time. His children are studying in a good school, and meanwhile, I could see my other sons ... struggling, Rodriguez, 45, said while she waited for portable toilets to be cleaned for the day. As adults, we can last all day even with just an arepa, but with those kids, how do you tell a child theres no food? Venezuela was once one of the most prosperous countries in Latin America thanks to billions in oil dollars, but mismanagement by its self-described socialist government and a decline in crude prices plunged it into crisis over the past decade. International economic sanctions meant to topple President Nicolas Maduro have worsened conditions. Elsewhere in the hemisphere, Venezuelans are making their second or even third migrations as economic opportunities in initial host countries dry up. Most of those coming across the border into Brazil are migrating for the first time, said the Rev. Agnaldo Pereira de Oliveira, director of Jesuit Service for Migrants and Refugees in Brazil. They are people who held on until now and no longer could, Pereira de Oliveira said. Now come the last ones who had resisted in Venezuela out of attachment to their business, to their home. They say I had a job, but the living conditions no longer exist.' Todays top pics: Venezuela Protest The FCC Must Step Up, Too Any of these newsrooms could be next on its chopping block. But lawmakers in Sacramento and Washington are ignoring Sinclairs dismal track record and moving forward with legislation that would reward Sinclair as it undermines local news.On Tuesday, the CJPA passed through California Assemblys Judiciary Committee just a few days after the Committee on Privacy and Consumer Protection advanced it . And in Washington, Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) has reintroduced the JCPA , which failed to pass in the previous Congress after facing headwinds from a coalition of local-news advocates and media-democracy groups.Both bills would create a convoluted mechanism for corporate handouts to highly profitable and consolidated media outletsand both bills would allow these chains to continue to neglect the information needs of the communities theyre supposed to serve.That these bills have any momentum is largely due to the powerful Big Media lobby pushing them. This includes lobbyists working on behalf of Sinclair as well as Gannett Co. and predatory hedge fund Alden Global Capital, which have also cut local newsrooms to the bone even as theyve continued to buy back stocks , go deeper into debt to acquire more local outlets, and use other financial gimmicks to enrich their owners, executives, and shareholders.These companies arent journalisms saviors. In many places theyve created news deserts after shuttering local operations. Lawmakers shouldnt reward them for such slash-and-burn tactics. Instead, policymakers should pass bills that support local-accountability journalism by putting reporters back on local beats and expanding coverage in communities that companies like Sinclair have failed The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has largely taken a pass on disciplining these companies for repeatedly misleading regulators about their constant misuse of the public airwaves. An FCC mandate is to protect and advance diversity, competition, and localism in the media marketplace. The agency has instead allowed Sinclair to consolidate control over nearly 200 local stations. And in 2018, the conglomerate misled the FCC about the nature of its control over the many stations it already owned in a failed attempt to gobble up even more.In exchange for exclusive access to so much of our public airwaves, Sinclair thumbs its nose at public-interest obligations, delivering the bare minimum required by the FCC.It created sham businesses and shell companies to evade FCC station-ownership limits. It forces these local-TV stations to air must-run segments filled with propaganda seemingly pulled straight from a MAGA rally. And it routinely cuts back on local-news staffing while its top executives get rich off the bumper crop of political campaign ads that come around every two years.Whether its via state or federal legislation, or a federal agency that has too often bucked its obligation to serve the public interest, regulators seem intent on saving local news by ignoringor even perpetuatingthe problems that led to its collapse in the first place.Once we recognize the miscues and market failures driving the journalism crisis, it becomes hard to justify simply handing money over to these same incumbents. This recognition requires we shift our focus away from bills like the CJPA and JCPA toward public policy that creates funding for local-accountability journalism, including noncommercial initiatives.The FCC needs to take a long overdue look at its legacy of failure. Promoting competition, localism, and diversity means giving more locally owned outlets access to the public airwavesoutlets that will serve their communities in ways Sinclair has not.In a strategic sleight of hand, the large news-media companies want us to conflate the public importance of local journalism with their own bottom lines. When companies like Sinclair lobby for these bad bills, they want us to forget their actual record of mistreating their own reporters . They want to pretend theyre not getting rich by maintaining this broken system thats misusing our airwaves and poisoning our democracy.The problem is that too many of our elected representatives and appointed media regulators are all too willing to give Sinclair a pass, and have opted to save local news by becoming accessories to its demise. Brown researchers discover why Champagne bubbles rise the way they do Brown University Here are some scientific findings worthy of a toast: Researchers from Brown University and the University of Toulouse in France have explained why bubbles in Champagne fizz up in a straight line while bubbles in other carbonated drinks, like beer or soda, dont. The findings, described in a new Physical Review Fluids study, are based on a series of numerical and physical experiments, including, of course, pouring out glasses of Champagne, beer, sparkling water and sparkling wine. The results not only explain what gives Champagne its line of bubbles but may hold important implications for understanding bubbly flows in the field of fluid mechanics. This is the type of research that I've been working out for years, said Brown engineering professor Roberto Zenit, who was one of the papers authors. Most people have never seen an ocean seep or an aeration tank but most of them have had a soda, a beer or a glass of Champagne. By talking about Champagne and beer, our master plan is to make people understand that fluid mechanics is important in their daily lives. The teams goal was to investigate the stability of bubble chains in carbonated drinks. Part of the signature experience of enjoying these beverages is the tiny or large bubbles that form when the drink is poured, creating a visible chain of bubbles and fizz. Depending on the drink and its ingredients, the fluid mechanics involved are all different. When it comes to Champagne and sparkling wine, for instance, the gas bubbles that continuously appear rise rapidly to the top in a single-file line and keep doing so for some time. This is known as a stable bubble chain. With other carbonated drinks, like beer, many bubbles veer off to the side, making it look like multiple bubbles are coming up at once. This means the bubble chain isnt stable. The researchers set out to explore the mechanics of what makes bubble chains stable and if they could recreate them, making unstable chains as stable as they are in Champagne or prosecco. The results of their experiments indicate that the stable bubble chains in Champagne and other sparkling wines occur due to ingredients that act as soap-like compounds called surfactants. These surfactant-like molecules help reduce the tensions between the liquid and the gas bubbles, making for a smooth rise to the top. The theory is that in Champagne these contaminants that act as surfactants are the good stuff, said Zenit, senior author on the paper. These protein molecules that give flavor and uniqueness to the liquid are what makes the bubbles chains they produce stable. The experiments also showed the stability of bubbles is impacted by the size of the bubbles themselves. They found that the chains with large bubbles have a wake similar to that of bubbles with contaminants, leading to a smooth rise and stable chains. In beverages, however, bubbles are always small. It makes surfactants the key ingredient to producing straight and stable chains. Beer, for example, also contains surfactant-like molecules but, depending on the type of beer, the bubbles can rise in straight chains or not. In contrast, bubbles in carbonated water are always unstable since there are no contaminants helping the bubbles move smoothly through the wake flows left behind by the other bubbles in the chain. This wake, this velocity disturbance, causes the bubbles to be knocked out, Zenit said. Instead of having one line, the bubbles end up going up in more of a cone. The results in the new study go well beyond understanding the science that goes into celebratory toasts, the researchers said. The findings provide a general framework in fluid mechanics for understanding the formation of clusters in bubbly flows, which have economic and societal value. Technologies that use bubble-induced mixing, like aeration tanks at water treatment facilities, for instance, would benefit greatly from researchers having a clearer understanding of how bubbles cluster, their origins and how to predict their appearance. In nature, understanding these flows may help better explain ocean seeps in which methane and carbon dioxide emerges from the bottom of the ocean. The experiments the research team ran were relatively straightforward and some could even be run in any local pub. To observe the bubble chains, the researchers poured glasses of carbonated beverages including Pellegrino sparkling water, Tecate beer, Charles de Cazanove champagne and a Spanish-style brut. To study the bubble chains and what goes into making them stable, they filled a small rectangular plexiglass container with liquid and inserted a needle at the bottom so they could pump in gas to create different kinds of bubble chains. The researchers then gradually added surfactants or increased bubble size. They found that when they made the bubbles larger, they could make unstable bubble chains become stable, even without surfactants. When they kept a fixed bubble size and only added surfactants, they found they could also go from unstable chains to stable ones. The two experiments indicate that there are two distinct possibilities to stabilize a bubble chain: adding surfactants and making bubbles bigger, the researchers explain in the paper. The researchers performed numerical simulations on a computer to explain some of the questions they couldnt explain through the physical experiments, such as calculating how much of the surfactants go into the gas bubbles, the weight of the bubbles and their precise velocity. They plan to keep looking into the mechanics of stable bubble chains in an effort to apply them to different aspects of fluid mechanics, especially in bubbly flows. Were interested in how these bubbles move and their relationship to industrial applications and in nature, Zenit said. KYIV, Ukraine The nine-month battle for Bakhmut has destroyed the 400-year-old city in eastern Ukraine and killed tens of thousands of people in a mutually devastating demonstration of Ukraine's strategy of exhausting the Russian military. The fog of war made it impossible to confirm the situation on the ground Sunday in the invasions longest battle: Russias defense ministry reported that the Wagner private army backed by Russian troops had seized the city. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, meanwhile, said Bakhmut was not being fully occupied by Russian forces. Regardless, the small city has long had more symbolic than strategic value for both sides. The more meaningful gauge of success for Ukrainian forces has been their ability to keep the Russians bogged down. The Ukrainian military has aimed to deplete the resources and morale of Russian troops in the tiny but tactical patch of the 932-mile front line as Ukraine gears up for a major counteroffensive in the 15-month-old war. Despite the fact that we now control a small part of Bakhmut, the importance of its defense does not lose its relevance, said Col.-Gen. Oleksandr Syrskyi, the Commander of Ground Forces for the Ukrainian Armed Forces. This gives us the opportunity to enter the city in case of a change in the situation. And it will definitely happen. About 34 miles north of the Russian-held regional capital of Donetsk, Bakhmut was an important industrial center, surrounded by salt and gypsum mines and home to about 80,000 people before the war, in a country of more than 43 million. The city, named Artyomovsk after a Bolshevik revolutionary when Ukraine was part of the Soviet Union, was known for its sparkling wine produced in underground caves. It was popular among tourists for its broad tree-lined avenues, lush parks and stately downtown with imposing late 19th century mansions. All are now reduced to a smoldering wasteland. Fought over so fiercely by Russia and Ukraine in recent months has been the urban center itself, where Ukrainian commanders have conceded that Moscow controlled more than 90%. But even now, Ukrainian forces are making significant advances near strategic roads through the countryside just outside, chipping away at Russias northern and southern flanks by the yard with the aim of encircling Wagner fighters inside the city. The enemy failed to surround Bakhmut. They lost part of the heights around the city. The continuing advance of our troops in the suburbs greatly complicates the enemys presence, said Hanna Maliar, Ukraines deputy defense minister. Our troops have taken the city in a semi-encirclement, which gives us the opportunity to destroy the enemy. Ukrainian military leaders say their months-long resistance has been worth it because it limited Russias capabilities elsewhere and allowed for Ukrainian advances. The main idea is to exhaust them, then to attack, Ukrainian Col. Yevhen Mezhevikin, commander of a specialized group fighting in Bakhmut, said. Russia has deployed reinforcements to Bakhmut to replenish lost northern and southern flanks and prevent more Ukrainian breakthroughs, according to Ukrainian officials and other outside observers. Russian President Vladimir Putin badly needs to claim victory in Bakhmut city, where Russian forces have focused their efforts, analysts say, especially after a winter offensive by his forces failed to capture other cities and towns along the front. Some analysts said that even Ukraines tactical gains in the rural area outside urban Bakhmut could be more significant than they seem. It was almost like the Ukrainians just took advantage of the fact that, actually, the Russian lines were weak, said Phillips OBrien, a professor of strategic studies at the University of St. Andrews. The Russian army has suffered such high losses and is so worn out around Bakhmut that ... it cannot go forward anymore. Ukrainian forces in the outskirts of Bakhmut and in the city bore relentless artillery attacks until a month ago. Then, Ukrainian forces positioned south of the city spotted their chance for a breakthrough after reconnaissance drones showed the southern Russian flank had gone on the defensive, Col. Mezhevikin said. After fierce fighting for weeks, Ukrainian units made their first advance in the vicinity of Bakhmut since it was invaded nine months ago. In all, nearly 8 square miles of territory were recaptured, Maliar said in an interview last week. Hundreds of yards more have been regained almost every day since, according to Serhii Cherevatyi, spokesman for Ukraines Operational Command East. Previously we were only holding the lines and didnt let Russians advance further into our territory. What has happened now is our first advance (since the battle started), Maliar said. Victory in Bakhmut does not necessarily bring Russia any closer to capturing the Donetsk region Putins stated aim of the war. Rather, it opens the door to more grinding battles in the direction of Sloviansk or Kostiantynivka, 12 miles away, said Kateryna Stepanenko, a Russia analyst at the U.S.-based think tank Institute for the Study of War. Satellite imagery released this week shows infrastructure, apartment blocks and iconic buildings reduced to rubble. Athens, May 22 : Greek ruling conservative New Democracy (ND) party lead in the general elections with 41.1 per cent of the votes, the first official results announced by the Interior Ministry showed. Meanwhile, the main opposition party, the SYRIZA-Progressive Alliance, won 20 per cent of the votes, it added on Sunday. Greeks went to the polls on Sunday to elect their representatives in the next 300-member parliament, Xinhua news agency reported. According to the estimates, ND will secure 145 seats, falling short of an outright majority, and SYRIZA 71 seats. With 30.3 per cent of the votes counted, five parties that passed the three per cent threshold will enter the new parliament, said the Interior Ministry. The socialists PASOK-KINAL (Panhellenic Socialist Movement-Movement for Change) will receive 12.7 per cent of the votes, the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) 6.7 per cent, and the right-wing Elliniki Lysi (Greek Solution) 4.5 per cent, according to the estimates. The final results will be announced on Monday. After that, Greek President Katerina Sakellaropoulou will give a mandate to the leader of the biggest party to form a new government. Under the constitution, leaders of the top three parties have three days each to form a coalition. If all efforts fail, a caretaker government will lead Greece to a second ballot by early July. In the second ballot, a revised electoral system which provides a bonus of up to 50 extra seats for the winning party, will be used, facilitating the formation of a single-party government. In the previous general elections in July 2019, ND had won 39.8 per cent of the vote with 158 seats in the parliament, and SYRIZA 31.5 per cent of the votes with 86 seats. Cairo, May 22 : Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi and visiting Sultan of Oman Haitham bin Tariq Al Said have met in Egypt's capital Cairo on bilateral and regional issues. The two leaders agreed on continued coordination and joint endeavours for achieving regional stability and security and highlighted the need to intensify efforts to resolve existing crises in a way that protects the supreme interests of the Arab people and preserves their capabilities and gains, the Egyptian Presidency said on Sunday in a statement. It is the first visit of the Omani sultan to Egypt since he assumed power in January 2020, Xinhua news agency reported. During the meeting, Sisi affirmed Egypt's keenness to promote distinguished relations with Oman in order to achieve the interests of the two people and the entire Arab nation, the statement added. For his part, Haitham stressed the importance of opening new horizons for bilateral cooperation in all fields in the coming period, in order to build on the positive results achieved during Sisi's visit to Muscat in June 2022. The two leaders also expressed satisfaction with the continuous increase in trade growth rates, affirming the continuation of strengthening the ongoing efforts in this regard between the concerned authorities in the two countries. Tehran, May 22 : The Iranian Foreign Ministry has summoned the Swiss ambassador to protest the embassy's posting of a photo of a "fake" Iranian flag, media reported. The summons came after the Swiss embassy in Tehran published on Friday a post and a photo showing a "fake" flag of Iran instead of the official one on its Twitter page, expressing its condemnation of Iran's execution of three convicts who killed security officers in an armed attack last year, the semi-official Tasnim news agency report said on Sunday. During the meeting with the ambassador, the Iranian Foreign Ministry described the Swiss embassy's move as "unconventional and unprofessional" and an "interfering position" in Iran's internal affairs, it added as quoted by Xinhua news agency report. Iran on Friday executed three men who killed three security officers and injured several others in an attack in the central city of Isfahan on November 16, 2022, according to the Mizan news agency of the Iranian judiciary. The three men were charged with violations against Islamic codes and breaches of national security, Mizan said. Tehran, May 22 : The Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman has strongly condemned a "brutal and cowardly terrorist" attack in southeastern Iran that killed six border guards and injured one. Making the remarks in a statement published on the Ministry's website, Nasser Kanaani said on Sunday that the terrorists aimed to deter Iran and Pakistan from pursuing closer cooperation and friendship, Xinhua news agency reported. The Saturday night attack at a border police station of Sistan and Baluchestan province came after Iranian and Pakistani leaders attended an inauguration ceremony at the Pishin-Mand crossing of the common border, he added. Kanaani said Iran expects the Pakistani government to beef up security along the common border as previously agreed. The terrorists attacked the guards in an attempt to enter Iran by force, according to local prosecutor Mehdi Shamsabadi. The attackers were identified as members of the Jaish al-Zulm group, a separatist group that Iran says is linked with al-Qaeda, Iranian Students' News Agency reported, citing Shamsabadi. Shamsabadi said judicial orders have been issued for arresting them. Khartoum, May 22 : The Sudanese Army has announced its commitment to the Agreement on a Short-Term Cease-fire and Humanitarian Arrangements it signed with the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in the Saudi Arabian port city of Jeddah. "The armed forces announce their commitment to the agreement and hope the RSF will abide by what it says," the Sudanese Army spokesman said on Sunday in a statement. "The duration of the short-term cease-fire is seven days and will enter into force on Monday at 9:45 p.m. local time (1945 GMT)," the statement added. On Saturday night, the Sudanese Army and the RSF signed the cease-fire deal under Saudi-US patronage, Xinhua news agency reported. Under the deal, each party will implement the agreement in full and ensure that all forces under their command and control observe it at all times and in full. According to the deal, the parties will guarantee the freedom of movement of civilians throughout the country and protect civilians from violence, harassment, recruitment, or other abuse, as well as refrain from any violations of international human rights law. The parties will also provide security guarantees for safe, unhindered access by humanitarian agencies. The agreement does not touch on the discussion of political situation, according to the statement. Sudan has been witnessing deadly armed clashes between the Sudanese Army and the RSF in the capital Khartoum and other areas since April 15. As I check my Facebook page, I see photos commemorating an adult son or daughters birthday placed next to a baby picture accompanied by the message Where did all that time go? Seems like only yesterday that he was born! The image of their little boy with crew-cut hair on a trike, now transformed into a 25-year-old bearded man in a truck, defies their sense of passing time. Yet time had a different meaning for those same parents when their young toddler, at 2 or 3, was difficult to manage. Then, mother or dad wished their kids terrible two stage would pass quickly. Surely parenting will be easier when he turns 4. Time means different things at different stages of life. We know that for many young people time cant pass quickly enough. When will school end and summer finally be here is a sentiment held by many kids at this time of year. Many workers, especially on Fridays cant wait for the work week to conclude, but time drags on, concluding in the relief of TGIF! Time means something different to the elderly. Recently, my 95-year-old friend described a trip from Buffalo to visit her 102-year-old sister living at her own home in Chicago. How did you find her? I asked. OK, but she gets a bit mixed up as she talks about her husband being alive, when in fact he died over 10 years ago. Ten years or 10 minutes it doesnt matter much when you have lived a century. I recall being at another friends home for dinner when the phone rang. Her teenage daughter answered. When her parents asked Who was that? She answered Nonno, her 96-year-old Italian grandfather. What did Nonno want? He wanted to know the day and time, was the reply. The understanding granddaughter explained to us dinner guests that it was common for the elderly, especially those who live alone, perhaps in an occasional confused state, to need reassurance about passing time. Nonno felt better getting that information from the familiar voice of a granddaughter rather than a digital device that was difficult for old eyes to read. Her wise observation made me realize that while young folks usually want to get on with life right now rushing from one activity to another they are still capable of seeing the needs and desires of others who have lived so much longer than they. Speaking at our church, a few weeks ago, a hospice and palliative care doctor informed the large audience in attendance about how many patients on their deathbeds encounter their loved ones as in a dream. Long-deceased family members are present reliving and sharing past moments, but now in real time. These experiences, not drug-induced, seem a kind of transcendent moment reported by dying patients theyre validated by medical personnel as well as researchers studying the phenomena. Loving relationships from the past are shared together in the here and now, with time having little meaning or significance. However quickly or slowly time passes, time has a different significance, a different relevance in what stage of life we happen to be in youth, adult or old age. As an octogenarian looking back at a long life, I have one final question. What time is it? Jerusalem, May 22 : An open letter, signed by 286 senior Israeli economists, warned of the consequences of the high funds recently approved by the government for the Jewish ultra-Orthodox sector, especially for its education system. These state budget funds are included in the coalition agreements following demands by the ultra-Orthodox parties and are scheduled to be approved by the Israeli parliament in the coming days, Xinhua news agency reported. The economists, including former finance ministry and central bank seniors, warned on Sunday that the high sums are expected to increase poverty and cause significant long-term damage to Israel's economy, "turning Israel from a progressive and prosperous country to a backward one." They pointed out the outstanding fund allocations to unsupervised ultra-Orthodox educational institutions, most of them lacking full core studies. "This measure will deny children in ultra-Orthodox education the opportunity to acquire basic skills essential for their future integration into the labor market," the experts wrote. The letter also warned against the budgeting of food stamps to be distributed in the ultra-Orthodox sector without any employment conditions, which would reduce the incentive for ultra-Orthodox adults to integrate into the labor market. It noted that the economic-social cost will be expressed by the loss of product in the Israeli economy, alongside the difficulty in providing the residents with health, education, transportation, and welfare services. Basti : , May 22 (IANS) An MP/MLA court has convicted two former legislators and five others for attacking administrative officials and looting ballot papers in Uttar Pradesh's Basti district, following a dispute over recounting of votes during Member of Legislative Council (MLC) elections in 2003. The court in Basti convicted the main accused, Sanjay Jaiswal, a two-time MLA from Congress (2012) and BJP (2017), and former BJP MLA Aditya Vikram Singh (2012). Additional civil judge Arpita Yadav sentenced them to three-year imprisonment and slapped a fine of Rs 2,000 each. A dispute had erupted over recounting of votes during the election after which Jaiswal, then a Congress leader who was supporting a candidate Kanchana Singh, and six of his associates assaulted the officials and looted ballot papers. According to district government counsel, Basti, Devanand Singh, the dispute arose after a businessman, Manish Jaiswal, won the elections against Kanchana Singh. London, May 22 : An Indian-origin Sikh councillor has made history after being appointed as the new Lord Mayor of Coventry, a city in the West Midlands, England. As a Lord Mayor, Punjab-born Jaswant Singh Birdi will be the Chairman of the City Council, and as Coventry's first citizen, he will be the non-political, ceremonial head of the city. "I am so proud to become Lord Mayor of my adopted home city. It has given so much to myself and my family over the years and I will be honoured to show why I love it so much and to promote the city and the wonderful people who live here," Birdi said in a statement. Birdi was presented with the Chains of Office, worn as an official regalia by the Mayor, at an annual general meeting of Coventry Cathedral last week. "As a Sikh, it also means so much that I will be wearing the Chains of Office and the turban. It will help show what a happy multi-cultural city we have and maybe inspire others as well," he said. Born in Punjab, Birdi moved to Coventry 60 years ago and has spent 17 years as a councillor in the city, representing Bablake Ward for the past nine years, following two terms of office in the 1990s in the Hillfields Ward. After having served as Deputy Lord Mayor for the past 12 months, he succeeds Councillor Kevin Maton in the role. He grew up in a village in the Indian part of Punjab and also spent time as a child in Lahore and West Bengal, as his family travelled for employment. In the mid-1950s Birdi emigrated with his parents to Kenya in East Africa, where he had his primary and secondary education, and emigrated to the UK in the 60s to carry on with his further education. Apart from being a councillor, he has been actively involved in setting up religious, social and community projects in the city. He has named his chosen charities for the year as the Muscular Dystrophy charity, the Coventry Resource Centre for the Blind, and University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire Charity. Lucknow, May 22 : Mukhtar or Mokhtar? A change of letter in the spelling has led to another case of cheating and dishonesty being registered against jailed gangster Mukhtar Ansari. The case has bene registered after the personal documents recovered from his barrack during a raid on Friday night, had different date of birth and spellings of his name. Police said that the FIR was registered at the Kotwali police station of Banda. District Magistrate (DM) Banda, Durga Shakti Nagpal, and SP Abhinandan, along with the police force, had raided the jail around 9 p.m. on Friday night. "During the search, voter ID, Aadhaar card, PAN card was found from Mukhtar's barrack. In these documents, differences were found in the spelling of date of birth and name," said SHO, Kotwali, Dharmendra Singh. Singh added that acting on the orders of the DM the investigation of the documents recovered was handed over to the police. "We conducted a probe and found that in voter ID the date of his birth was 1959, while on Aadhaar and PAN card, his date of birth was mentioned as 1963. Also, his name in Aadhaar and Voter ID is mentioned as Mukhtar but in PAN card it is Mokhtar. This clearly depicted differences in the documents," said Singh, while adding that this amounts to a crime. SP, Banda, Abhinandan, said that a case under IPC 420 (dishonesty), IPC 467 (forgery) and IPC 471 (using genuine forged document) against Mukhtar Ansari and an unidentified person has been lodged. On the other hand, vigilance has been increased in the jail. The prisoners are being closely monitored by CCTV cameras, the police sources said. Mukhtar, who is lodged in Banda jail, now has 62 criminal cases against him while property worth Rs 575 crore belonging to him and acquired by means of crime has been seized, razed and confiscated. New Delhi, May 22 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday held talks with his Papua New Guinea counterpart James Marape on ways to augment cooperation in commerce, technology, healthcare, as well as addressing climate change. Modi arrived in Papua New Guinea on his second leg of three-nation tour after attending G7 Summit in Japan's Hiroshima. Taking to Twitter on Monday morning, he said: "Prime Minister James Marape and I had very productive talks, covering the full range of bilateral relations between India and Papua New Guinea. We discussed ways to augment cooperation in commerce, technology, healthcare and in addressing climate change." Also in a tweet, the Prime Minister's Office said: "PM Narendra Modi had bilateral meeting with PM Marape. The leaders discussed ways to further strengthen India-Papua New Guinea ties in host of sectors." Earlier in the day, Modi met Governor General of Papua New Guinea Bob Dadae, following which he said: "Had a wonderful meeting with Governor General of Papua New Guinea, Sir Bob Dadae. We talked about ways to deepen bilateral relations between our nations across different sectors." The Prime Minister is on visit to Papua New Guinea for the FIPIC III Summit. While highlighting the details of the meeting between the two leaders, Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Arindan Bagchi, said: "Synergising India-Papua New Guinea relations. PM Modi held a fruitful bilateral meeting with PM James Marape. PM Modi expressed his appreciation to PM Marape for co-hosting the FIPIC III Summit in Port Moresby. "Discussions covered strengthening partnership across sectors of trade and investment, health, capacity building and skill development and IT. Also discussed issues related to climate action and promoting people to people ties." Modi and Marape also jointly released a translation of the Tamil classic 'Thirukkural' in Tok Pisin language. "In Papua New Guinea, PM James Marape and I had the honour of releasing the Thirukkural in Tok Pisin language. Thirukkural is an iconic work, which provides valuable insights across different subjects," Modi said in a series of tweets. "I would like to commend Sasindran Muthuvel Governor of the West New Britain Province and Mrs. Subha Sasindran for their effort to translate the Thirukkural in Tok Pisin. Governor Sasindran has done his schooling in Tamil while Subha Sasindran is a respected linguist," he said. The MEA spokesperson said: "Indian diaspora keeping alive connect with the motherland! PM Narendra Modi and PM James Marape launched a translation of the Tamil classic 'Thirukkural' in the Tok Pisin language of Papua New Guinea. "Co-authored by Subha Sasindran and Governor Sasindran Muthuvel of West New Britain Province, the book brings Indian thought and culture closer to the people of Papua New Guinea." After his visit to Papua New Guinea, Modi will head to Sydney at the invitation of Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese. Chennai, May 22 : The Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation, Tirunelveli, has issued a circular instructing bus conductors not to accept Rs 2,000 denomination notes from passengers or exchange the same for lower value note. Oral instructions have been given by other State Transport Undertakings to their bus conductors on similar lines. Meanwhile, retail outlets and fuel stations have also stopped accepting Rs 2,000 denomination notes. Meanwhile the State Bank of India (SBI) has issued a circular instructing the branch officials not to ask the public who come for exchange of the Rs 2,000 notes to fill in a challan/slip. "The RBI has clearly stated that the Rs 2,000 notes will continue to be a legal tender and hence it is not understood as to why all these details are required to be submitted to the bank by the public for exchanging the notes. It is cumbersome for the public as well as for the bank employees/officers," said C.H. Venkatachalam, General Secretary, All India Bank Employees' Association (AIBEA) in a letter to Indian Banks' Association (IBA). Stating that the prescribed procedure is unwarranted, Venkatachalam urged IBA to come out with a uniform procedure for banks to follow while exchanging the Rs 2,000 notes. "The bank management are yet to come out of the Rs 500/Rs 1,000 banknote demonisation syndrome. Demonitisation is different and withdrawal of Rs 2,000 note is different," Venkatachalam told IANS. The slip for exchange and deposit of Rs 2,000 banknotes has its roots in the RBI's May 19 circular to the banks on the withdrawal of the said currency. "Deposit of Rs 2000 banknotes into accounts maintained with all banks can be made in the usual manner, that is, without restrictions and subject to compliance with extant Know Your Customer (KYC) norms and other applicable Statutory requirements. The banks shall also be required to comply with Cash Transaction Reporting (CTR) and Suspicious Transaction Reporting (STR) requirements, where applicable," the RBI circular notes. On May 19, the RBI said it will withdraw all the Rs 2,000 banknotes as a part of its clean note policy and added that it will continue to be a legal tender. According to the RBI, people may deposit Rs 2,000 banknotes into their bank accounts and/or exchange them into banknotes of other denominations at any bank branch. "Deposit into bank accounts can be made in the usual manner, that is, without restrictions and subject to extant instructions and other applicable statutory provisions." The central bank said in order to ensure operational convenience and to avoid disruption of regular activities of bank branches, exchange of Rs 2,000 banknotes into banknotes of other denominations can be made upto a limit of Rs 20,000 at a time at any bank starting from May 23. Kochi, May 22 : A lawyer and an office-bearer of the BJP Kerala unit has approached the High Court seeking compensation of Rs one crore for the family members of 22-year-old house surgeon, Dr. Vandana Das, who was brutally murdered by an accused who was brought to the hospital by the police on May 10. The police had brought Sandeep, a school teacher alleged to be a drug addict, to the state run Kottarakara hospital to treat his wound that he suffered in the early hours of May 10. Around 4 a.m., Sandeep turned violent and while the police officials looked as mere spectators he used a surgical knife and attacked those who came in front of him and in a fit of rage. He slashed the knife several times on Vandana. Despite being rushed to a premier hospital in the state capital city, located 70 kms from Kottarakara, her life could not be saved. The petition was filed by Manoj Rajagopal an advocate, a member of the State Committee of the BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) Legal Cell. "The doctor's community across the state has been frequently demanding that the government provide necessary security to the hospitals. The physical attack towards doctors has been increasing day by day," the plea said. It was submitted that even though there was police aid at the government hospital, the police were inactive to defend the illegal act of the accused person. "The police are duty bound to forecast such a dangerous situation in a hospital and thus they should be much more efficient and alert in their duty hours. Retreat/running away from an encounter by police cannot be justified under any circumstances," read the plea. The petition further pointed out that the fundamental right guaranteed to Dr Vandana Das under Article 21 of the Constitution of India has also been violated. Rajagopal also expressed doubts of a foul play in the probe since Sandeep is allegedly a member of the service organisation affiliated with CPI(M). He also was concerned about material discrepancies in the narration of the incident by the police in the FIR. Therefore, the petitioner approached the court to grant the parents of the deceased Dr. Das, a compensation of Rs one crore within a fixed time frame. He also sought orders to ensure that the investigation into the case is monitored by the court. This petition has come at a time when the Pinarayi Vijayan government on Wednesday passed an Ordinance -- Hospital Protection Act which provides for stringent action against those who attack health professionals. Bhopal, May 22 : As questions are being raised on whether the saffron party will be able to retain power in Madhya Pradesh after defeat in Karnataka Assembly elections, the BJP's MP chief, V.D. Sharma has ruled out all speculation. Talking to IANS exclusively on this issue, Sharma, who is also an MP from the Khajuraho Lok Sabha constituency, termed BJP's defeat in Karnataka a 'lacuna'. He claimed that the BJP has done a lot of development works in Madhya Pradesh in the last 20 years of it's rule. He said that the BJP lost Karnataka elections due to some lack in implementation, "but the scenario will be completely different in Madhya Pradesh. We accept that the Congress managed to win more seats in Karnataka, but our vote percentage has increased. We have also taken it as a lesson and are working to fill the gaps which we lacked in Karnataka," Sharma added. When asked about the growing perception that Karnataka's loss will have a huge impact in Madhya Pradesh, he ruled out all these perceptions saying both states have different dimensions and the issues are also very different in these two states. "People of Madhya Pradesh are well aware of how the BJP government has made developments. The state has witnessed growth especially after Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led BJP government came into power," Sharma added. He said the loss in one or two Assembly elections would not change the perception towards PM Modi. "If the perception is being made after Karnataka elections, then they should also talk about BJP's win in Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh. There is no leader in the opposition who can stand against PM Modi. He is a global leader and people have faith in his commitment and leadership," Sharma further said. However, there has been a buzz in Madhya Pradesh that strained relationship between Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and V.D. Sharma has left senior leaders of the party distressed. They have reportedly told the state leadership to resolve their differences as the countdown for the MP Assembly elections begins. Lack of unity among the top leadership may have a huge impact in the upcoming Assembly polls in Madhya Pradesh. While, in the Madhya Pradesh unit of the Congress, the party leadership has made it clear that the last word in every decision will be Kamal Nath's. This has also come to be accepted by Digvijaya Singh, who is the other tall Congress leader in the state. Bengalauru, May 22 : A government school teacher in Karnataka was suspended after he criticised Chief Minister Siddaramaiah for his freebie policies in a social media post. Shanthamurthy MG, the teacher from the government school at Kaanubenahalli, Chitradurga district, was suspended on May 20 -- the same day when Siddaramaiah took over as the new Chief Minister. Shanthamurthy had written on Facebook that among the past Chief Ministers of Karnataka, Siddaramaiah incurred the highest debts. "Debt during the tenure of former Chief Ministers SM Krishna was Rs 3,590 crore, Dharam Singh Rs 15,635 crore, H.D. Kumaraswamy Rs 3,545 crore, B.S. Yeddiyurappa Rs 25,653 crore, D.V. Sadananda Gowda Rs 9,464 crore, Jagadish Shettar Rs 13,464 crore and Siddaramaiah Rs 2,42,000 crore," he said. The teacher also wrote that while the loans incurred by the state from the tenure of Krishna to Shettar was Rs 71,331 crore but it touched Rs 2,42,000 crore during Siddaramaiah's former tenure (2013-2018). "Hence it is easy for him to announce freebies," commented the teacher. Taking a serious note of the teacher's post, the state education department suspended him. A district official said since the teacher violated Karnataka Civil Services (Conduct) Rules 1966, he was suspended. Higher officials have also ordered a departmental inquiry. After taking office, Siddaramaiah had announced that the first cabinet meeting had given approval in principle to implement the five guarantee schemes assured in the Congress party's election manifesto. "The details are being worked out. No matter how much money is required for the schemes, we will implement them as per our promise," he had said. The Congress had promised Rs 2,000 a month to the female head of a family, monthly dole of Rs 1,500 to Rs 2,000 for the educated unemployed, 10 kg of free rice for every member of BPL (below poverty line) families, 200 units of free electricity to each home and free travel for women on state buses. These poll promises are likely to cost the state an additional Rs 50,000 crore a year. New Delhi, May 22 : Intelligence agencies have learnt that Pakistan has hatched a sinister plot to defame India and to destabilise G20 meetings. The agencies have learned that Pakistan's ISI and other terrorist outfits are running propaganda and malicious campaigns on social media. The intelligence agencies have also traced around 500 to 600 mobile phone numbers through which rumours are being spread in India. "The Pakistan-based people are running stop 'G20 Meetings', 'boycott G20 mission', specially G20 Tourism Working Group Meeting in Kashmir. "Pakistan has been sidelined at the international platforms for running various propaganda. This is why they are now running this propaganda. We have discovered 500 to 600 numbers, hundreds of social media handlers through which anti-India campaigns are being run. They are also running various hashtags to destabilise G20 meetings," the source said. There were protests and meetings in PoK (Pakistan occupied Kashmir) against G20 meetings. Pakistan has included in its toolkit a call to oppose laws such as the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), National Register of Citizens (NRC), Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), and the National Security Act (NSA) on social media. Additionally, Pakistan is involved in a conspiracy to propagate issues related to 'Love Jihad' against India through social media. Pakistan is also attempting to create an atmosphere of discontent among Sikhs in the country. News / National by Staff reporter War veteran, diplomat and former Broadcasting Authority of Zimbabwe (BAZ) chief executive Ambassador Thomas Mandigora has died.The former Ambassador to Botswana died at his home in Gletwyn, Harare, on Saturday afternoon from the effects of a stroke he suffered last month.He served in Botswana for a lengthy term of 12 years from September 2005 to 2018 and was at one time the Dean of the Diplomatic Corps.He was involved in bilateral political dialogue and strengthening bilateral cooperation between Botswana and Zimbabwe.Ambassador Mandigora left at a time when relations between the two countries had gone to a much higher level with the signing of the Bi-National Commission that was done at the SADC Council of Ministers and Summit in Windhoek, Namibia.He was born on June 9, 1955 at Mpilo Hospital in Bulawayo.Ambassador Mandigora left Highfield in the then Salisbury, for Mozambique as a 21-year-old in 1976 crossing through Chief Tangwena's area.He underwent military training in Mozambique and was deployed to the front where he was injured prompting him to return to the rear where he worked in the Zanu publicity department with the likes of Ambassador Chris Mutsvangwa, Webster Shamu and Munyaradzi Machacha among others.He did a lot of diplomatic work for Zanu during the war, reporting to the chief representative of the party.As the party prosecuted the armed struggle through its military wing, Zanla, Ambassador Mandigora was part of the team deployed in Zambia to pursue diplomatic solutions and would attend meetings aimed at mobilising resources in the form of political, financial, material and moral support for the liberation efforts.He also worked as head of publications for Zanu's information and publicity department, contributing to the Zimbabwe News and other publications.He produced and reported for the Voice of Zimbabwe radio in Maputo between 1977 and 1980.After the war, he joined the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation where he worked in various capacities from 1980 and became director of news and current affairs in 1986 before being appointed director of programmes, news and current affairs from 1992 to 2001.In addition he worked with various broadcasting institutions regionally and internationally before serving as Broadcasting Authority of Zimbabwe (BAZ) chief executive from 2001 to 2005.Ambassador Mandigora studied with the University of Lincolnshire and Humberside in the United Kingdom and held a Masters in Business Administration degree (1996 ) and well as a post graduate diploma in Business Administration.Family spokesperson and son, Mr Tongai Mandigora said burial arrangements were still being worked on.However, his colleagues in the ranks of the war veterans have written to the ruling Zanu-PF party requesting a hero status.Youngest daughter Rufaro said the gap left by her father is irreplaceable adding that he was her pillar of strength."I am failing to express my father's attitude towards myself and the whole family. He provided everything for the family. He was a jovial man who understands and committed to his family," she said.Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Deputy Minister Kindness Paradza described him as a jovial person who worked well with other people in media since he was a trained journalist."He was a director of news and current affairs at ZBC. He was our mentor and we worked very well."He was a loving friend and a mentor who has a passion for his job. Our hearts bleed because we lost a hero," he said. Islamabad, May 22 : Former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan said there was an 80 per cent chance of his arrest on Tuesday when he will be in Islamabad to pursue pre-arrest bail in various cases. In an interview with CNN, the PTI chief said that PDM was aligned with the army and was "dismantling the democratic system to keep me out", Dawn reported. Right now, he said, over 10,000 workers had been arrested and his party's entire senior leadership was in jail. Referring to violence and arson attacks on state buildings and army installations on May 9 following his arrest, Khan said: "The way they have used the pretext of arson, they have used that reaction after my arrest to dismantle the party." Claiming that hundreds of women and children have been jailed, the PTI chief said: "They are now trying to try us in military courts." The former premier said he did not have any problem with the army "knowing they have been entrenched", recalling that he had worked with former army chief Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa before "he switched horses". He claimed the ruling coalition wanted to "bump him off" because it was scared of losing elections. Asserting that there was still a threat to his life, the PTI chief said he had predicted that a religious fanatic would be used to kill him like a former Punjab governor was assassinated, Dawn reported. Responding to a question, he said Pakistan is passing through "unpredictable time" and expressed the fear over the coalition government not holding the national elections later in October this year. "My worry now is that they won't hold the national elections even in October. I fear they will hold the elections when clear that PTI will not win." Khan said the situation had deteriorated to such an extent that even the decisions of judges and courts were being discarded, Dawn reported. Jaipur, May 22 : The ACB sleuths arrested Ved Prakash Yadav, joint director, department of information and technology in the alleged misuse of office and disproportionate assets case. Earlier, Rs 2.31 crore, cash and a gold bar weighing around 1kg were recovered from the almirah of Yojana Bhavan. The state government has suspended him following his arrest. It needs to be mentioned here that Yadav was handed over to Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) on Saturday night by the Jaipur Police after gold and cash were covered from his office almirah. According to a senior ACB officer, "Yadav was produced before the court and we have taken him on three day remand for questioning. An in-depth investigation will be made on his role in misusing his position in issuing tenders for supplying LCD, laptops, computers and other items." Vendors, who gave commission as bribe, will also be probed, they said. Beijing, May 22 : In a tit-for-tat move against the US, China has banned the sale of US-based Micron Technology's chips in the country, citing "national security risks", the media reported on Monday. The Chinese government said that Micro products will be banned for sale to the country's key information infrastructure, as the US continues to tighten control on China-based tech companies, reports South China Morning Post. The US Commerce Department replied to the ban, saying it "firmly opposes restrictions that have no basis in fact". "We will engage directly with PRC (People's Republic of China) authorities to detail our position and clarify their action," the department said in a statement "We also will engage with key allies and partners to ensure we are closely coordinated to address distortions of the memory chip market caused by China's actions," the US Commerce Department added. The decision came after Chinese authorities launched a probe into Micron's products on the grounds of national security. Micron said in a statement that it looks forward to continuing to engage in discussions with Chinese authorities. China's move against Micron is seen as retaliation against the US chip company after it lobbied Washington to take measures to restrict China's access to advanced chip technologies, the report noted. In October last year, the Joe Biden administration tightened exports of advanced US semiconductor technologies to China, including chip making equipment and design software. Recent reports claimed that the Joe Biden administration is about to announce new restrictions on US companies' investments in China. According to noted analyst Christopher Wood of Jefferies: "The word is that Biden aims to sign an executive order in coming weeks that will limit investment in China by American businesses. The executive order will reportedly cover semiconductors, artificial intelligence and quantum computing." Micron said last week it will invest up to 500 billion yen ($3.6 billion) in Japan over the next few years, with close support from the Japanese government, to enable the next wave of end-to-end technology innovation such as rapidly emerging generative artificial intelligence (AI) applications. New Delhi, May 22 : The Delhi High Court on Monday issued summons to the British Broadcasting Company (BBC) in a defamation suit against the banned documentary on Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The suit filed by a Gujarat-based Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) Justice on Trial, claims that the documentary titled 'India: The Modi Question', "cast a slur" on the country's reputation and that of the judiciary and the Prime Minister. Justice Datta while issuing summons in the suit, listed the matter for hearing next in September. "It is contended that the said documentary makes defamatory imputation and caste slur on reputation of the Country and Judiciary and against the Prime Minister of India. Issue notice to the respondents through all permissible modes," the judge ordered. Appearing for the NGO, senior advocate Harish Salve said that the documentary has defamed India and the whole system including the judiciary. Earlier in another case related to the documentary, a Delhi court had issued summons to the BBC, Wikimedia Foundation, and the US-based digital library Internet Archive in a defamation suit filed by BJP leader Binay Kumar Singh seeking to restrain them from publishing the documentary or any other material related to the RSS and VHP. Seoul, May 22 : South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, his US counterpart Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida could hold a trilateral summit in Washington as early as July, an official said here on Monday. "The possibility of holding a South Korea-US-Japan summit this summer in Washington is being talked about," the presidential official told Yonhap News Agency. The development comes a day after Biden had proposed such a summit when he met with Yoon and Kishida on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Hiroshima on Sunday. The three countries have been strengthening trilateral cooperation to deal with growing challenges stemming from North Korea's nuclear program, and China's military and economic assertiveness. During their brief meeting on Sunday, the three leaders agreed to upgrade trilateral cooperation to a new level, Yoon's office said. If the Washington meeting is realised, it will be the first time the leaders of the three countries will be meeting specifically for that purpose, not on the margins of a multilateral gathering. "Over the long term, this could develop into a form of shuttle diplomacy between the leaders of South Korea, the US and Japan," another presidential official said, referring to the leaders regularly visiting each other's countries, as done by the leaders of South Korea and Japan. -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text New Delhi, May 22 : Virat Kohli (101*) pulled off a string of records en-route his second successive century of the IPL 2023 against Gujarat Titans at the Chinnaswamy Stadium on Sunday night, but Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) failed to make it to the play-offs of the tournament as Titans opener Shubman Gill (104*) had other ideas on mind, and helped his side pull off a brilliant six-wicket win with five balls to spare, and leave the home supporters stunned. Gill not only matched Kohli shot for shot, he ended up with a better strike rate that was crucial to his team's near perfect chase. He was ably supported by Vijay Shankar, who came in as an impact player and hammered 53 off 35 balls. His innings was laced with seven boundaries and a couple of sixes. RCB's loss meant that Mumbai Indians (MI), who had earlier in the day beaten Sunrisers Hyderabad at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai, moved into the plays-offs by virtue of finishing fourth on the table with 16 points. RCB, on the other hand, ended up finishing sixth in the tournament on 14 points behind Rajasthan Royals. A deserving honour for an exceptional performance! Shubman Gill's unstoppable innings earns him the @BKTtires Commander of the Match #RCBvGT | #TATAIPL 2023 | #AavaDe pic.twitter.com/BxZNVPqehH Gujarat Titans (@gujarat_titans) May 22, 2023 The Titans, who topped the table with 20 points will now play Chennai Super Kings in Qualifier 1 on Tuesday while MI will lock horns with Lucknow Super Giants in the Eliminator a day later. JioCinema IPL expert Brett Lee was all praise for Gill, saying: "He hit eight sixes. I love how he goes on the leg side. He finds power. That he can do and access because he's got strong wrists and he's got beautiful timing." Gill and Shankar put on a century stand and Lee said: "123 off 71 balls, that was the partnership that broke the back of the RCB bowlers. Yes, it was a wet ball, conditions didn't really favour the bowlers but you got to give credit where credit is due. They both batted beautifully." Speaking about Kohli's ton, another JioCinema IPL expert Anil Kumble said: "You could see that passion and hunger. Today was an important innings for RCB, no other batsman was going well today. Faf du Plessis is a very good player but after he got out quick the pressure was on Virat Kohli. But with that pressure and responsibility he scored a great century." Latest updates on IPL 2023 -- Syndicated from IANS Los Angeles, May 22 : Hollywood star Michael J. Fox made an appearance on 'The View' where he came face-to-face with Whoopi Goldberg and told her that he regrets not working with her in 'Ghost'. During Fox's appearance on the ABC talk show, the 'Back to the Future' alum was asked by Goldberg if he had any regrets about acting roles he had walked away from in the past. "There was a chance to work with you that I missed," Fox said. "They talked to me about Ghost early on. I said, 'It'll never work.' I said, 'Whoopi is great but it'll never work.'" Fox continued: "And then it was great, and huge and I'm a f***ing idiot," reports Deadline. Goldberg added: "Well, you know what? There's still time. So, yeah, we'll find something to do now." 'Ghost' is a 1990 romantic fantasy film directed by Jerry Zucker and written by Bruce Joel Rubin. The movie starred Goldberg, Demi Moore and Patrick Swayze. The story centres around Sam, played by Swayze, who's ghost returns to save his girlfriend Molly (Moore) from the person who killed him. Goldberg played psychic Oda Mae Brown who facilitates the communication between Sam and Molly. Goldberg won an Oscar in the Best Supporting Actress category for her role in the film. 'Ghost' went on to win an Academy Award for Best Screenplay. Chennai, May 22 : The police have constituted four special teams to probe the death of two persons at the Tamil Nadu State Marketing Corporation (Tasmac) bar in Thanjavur district. The post-mortem report of the two deceased, Kuppuswamy (66), a daily wage earner and Vivek (35), a taxi driver, have revealed the presence of Cyanide and no traces of methyl alcohol. The investigating team is probing how the two drank cyanide-laced liquor. It had already taken into custody the manager and two employees of the Tasmac bar and was questioning them. The Tamil Nadu revenue department has sealed the Tasmac outlet at South East Rampart road in Thanjavur from where the duo had consumed the liquor. The Thanjavur police have already registered a case under Section 174 of the IPC of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPc). The police were conducting raids in Thanjavur district after the death of 22 people by consuming spurious liquor in Villupuram and Chengalpattu districts. According to the district police officers, Thanjavur police have registered 149 cases of illicit liquor sales in the district since the crackdown against illicit liquor following the twin hooch tragedies at Villupuram and Chengalpattu districts. Mumbai, May 22 : Ahead of the Bombay High Court hearing, IRS officer Sameer Wankhede, the former Mumbai Zonal Director of Narcotics Control Bureau, said here on Monday that he would seek special security from the Mumbai Police owing to threats to his life. Wankhede, presently embroiled in an alleged extortion case pertaining to the sensational raid aboard the Cordelia Cruise ship in which Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan's son Aryan was among those arrested, said in a brief interaction with private Marathi TV channels. He said that he has been getting many threats, including on social media and would soon meet the Mumbai Commissioner of Police with a request to the effect. Wankhede said he has been raising the issue of the risks he faces several times in the past, particularly now, after the CBI lodged the FIR against him. The IRS officer was grilled for two days, almost five hours daily, as per the high court directives of last Friday, by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). At the last hearing, the Bombay High Court granted relief from any coercive action till May 22 to Wankhede, an IRS officer of 2008 batch, whose role during the Cordelia Cruise ship raids on October 2, 2021 has come under the radar of the CBI. It may be recalled that ex-Maha Vikas Aghadi government minister and Nationalist Congress Party leader Nawab Malik, and a witness in the cruise raids Prabhakar Sail (who died last year) had levelled several allegations of corruption against Wankhede and the raid team. However, Wankhede has stoutly denied all the allegations against him and expressed his full faith in the judiciary, the Central government and the CBI to give him justice. Thereafter, Wankhede was relieved from the cruise raid case and later an internal probe was conducted vis-A-vis the allegations he faced, even as the NCB gave a 'clean chit' to Aryan Khan for lack of evidence against him in May 2022. Besides Wankhede, the CBI has booked two other NCB officers, Vishwa Vijay Singh and Ashish Ranjan, and witnesses in the ship case, K.P. Gosavi and Sanvile D'Souza. Srinagar: Foreign delegates being welcomed as they arrive to participate in the 3rd G20 Tourism Working Group meeting, in Srinagar on Monday, May 22, 2023. (Photo: IANS/Twitter SyedAbidShah) Image Source: IANS News Srinagar: Foreign delegates being welcomed as they arrive to participate in the 3rd G20 Tourism Working Group meeting, in Srinagar on Monday, May 22, 2023. (Photo: IANS/Twitter SyedAbidShah) Image Source: IANS News Srinagar: Foreign delegates being welcomed as they arrive to participate in the 3rd G20 Tourism Working Group meeting, in Srinagar on Monday, May 22, 2023. (Photo: IANS/Twitter SyedAbidShah) Image Source: IANS News Srinagar, May 22 : A delegation of G20 countries arrived here on Monday to attend the third tourism working group meeting at the Sher-e-Kashmir International Convention Centre (SKICC) by the banks of the famous Dal Lake. The delegates were received at the Srinagar international airport by Union Tourism Minister G. Kishan Reddy and Amitabh Kant, G20 Sherpa. The delegates drove to SKICC where a traditional welcome with turban, tilak and flowers was accorded to them. Out of the 60 delegates who arrived here, the largest number is of the Singapore delegation while China, Turkey and Saudi Arabia have abstained. In the afternoon, the formal meeting of the group will begin that will discuss five key priority areas -- Green Tourism, Digitalization, Skills, MSMEs and Destination Management. As part of the elaborate security bandobust, the road leading to the venue will remain closed for vehicular movement for two days. Local traffic police has already issued an advisory appealing to people to adopt alternate routes. News / National by Staff reporter UMZINGWANE district in Matebeleland South province has set Africa Day (May 25) as the day for its annual cultural and arts festival.Africa Day is the annual commemoration of the founding of the Organisation of African Unity, AU's fore-runner, on May 25, 1963.It is celebrated in various countries on the African continent, as well as around the world.Umzingwane legislator Levi Mayihlome (Zanu-PF) on Tuesday said preparations were at an advanced stage for the festival to be held in Sibomvu village in the district."The month of May is Culture Month in Zimbabwe. This year's national event is going to be held in Binga on May 27 and will be officiated by President Emmerson Mnangagwa. In Umzingwane, we chose May 25 to be our annual Cultural and Arts Festival Day, coinciding with Africa Day holiday," Mayihlome (pictured) said."To appreciate our efforts, the Matebeleland South Provincial Arts Council has decided to join hands with Umzingwane to make it a provincial event. We have invited the Youth, Sport, Arts and Recreation minister (Kirsty Coventry) to officiate at Sibomvu."All traditional leaders have been invited to grace the occasion. Dress shall be traditional African attire. We will showcase traditional dance, drama, poetry, artefacts, as well as serving traditional foods. Individuals and businesses have been invited to showcase and sell their own artefacts."Mayihlome said in spite of all their efforts, their budget was not enough to cover foodstuffs, attires, artefacts, instruments, and incentives for artists."We do not feel or sense the vibe that Umzingwane is about to celebrate such an important event, or just one event in a calendar year we can all as a district call our own. The mood is too sombre and non-celebratory," he said."Where are the jingles, where is the poetry, where are the attires, where are the phones in radio discussions or interviews, where are the contributions? We call upon all AmaNgwane locals and in the diaspora to identify with this event."He continued: "The cultural and arts festival is not about the member of Parliament and a few friends, it is not about politics, it is not about one or two wards contributing a few items of foodstuffs, it is about what the whole district is about."It is about who we were, and are as AmaNgwane, it is about showcasing our culture, traditions and values, it is the glue that binds us together, the naturalised Ngwane people and all those who have chosen to live in Umzingwane."Mayihlome said they could not be a proud people without an identity as it is about expressing themselves as a district."It is about our traditions and cultural values. It is about our history, our attire, food, dance, handicrafts, poetry and drama. It is about being AmaNgwane. If we cannot embrace this one day per year showcasing and expressing our cultural values, when and where shall we teach our children, how will our culture be preserved?"Other societies have preserved their culture, food and even dress for thousands of years, and we fail to fulfil a one day expectation," he said."The aloofness by the Umzingwane people to the call to all embrace and celebrate our culture is disappointing, let alone the contributions. Cultural festivals are not peculiar to Zimbabwe or Umzingwane. They are celebrated in Bulilima, Beitbridge, Insiza, Binga, Chiredzi, Murewa, Chimanimani, and beyond our borders in South Africa, Eswatini, Brazil, Cuba, Jamaica, Malawi, the United States, West Indies, India, China, Israel (Passover), Germany (Oktoberfest), the United Kingdom, France, Japan in different ways."Mayihlome said in other countries, they even had wine and beer festivals, reed festivals, initiation festivals, milk festivals (in Rwanda), jazz festivals, film festivals and harvest festivals, among others."So why do we as AmaNgwane seem so shy to express ourselves, our culture through art and tradition? Why are businesses shying away from participating through design and marketing memorabilia, artefacts, dressing and decorations to sell to locals and visitors?" he said."Once again, the festival is not about one person, it's about a people, it's local and international tourism. Can we imagine how Sibomvu and, indeed, the district tourism would develop with the festival being a regular and exciting event."Sibomvu and surrounding villages would have spin-offs from construction of hotels, foodstuffs, handicrafts, artefacts, etc? All tourist attractions in Umzingwane would be better known, artists would better known, curators, storytellers, writers, would develop, many side-show events would emerge ... if only each and every homestead contributed just US$1 or R2 per person, we could have sufficient finances to run the festival for two to three years."Mayihlome said the money would procure foodstuffs, hire equipment, attire and instruments for artists, cater for livestreaming and incentives for the artists.He added that above all, they wanted to create a small fund to train artists, curators, organisers locally and maybe even send a few to Eswatini, South Africa or Brazil and Cuba for attachment during festivals so that they can upscale future events."Let us not be mean, let us play our roles to create an identity we all desire by embracing and contributing to the development of this day," he said. Washington, May 22 : US President Joe Biden is racing against time, fresh after his successful trip from Hiroshima after the G7 summit, and has scheduled an SOS meeting on Monday with Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy to resolve the debt ceiling crisis before June 1. After that time, the Treasury will run out of money to honour interest payments to stakeholders. President Biden and House SpeakerMcCarthy are scheduled to meet at the White House in what the US media has described as a pivotal moment to forge a budget compromise to raise the nation's borrowing limit before June01 and avoid what economists claim could be a catastrophic effect on the money markets and global stock exchanges . The meeting will be significant as both leaders race to prevent a cash crunch after a weekend of start-stop talks. Both Biden and McCarthy now appear upbeat as the deadline nears for the US treasury to run out of money to pay its bills. NBC news reported that Biden and McCarthy spoke on phone on Sunday while the President was returning home on board the Air Force One. "It went well, we'll talk tomorrow," Biden said in response to a question on his return late Sunday. Meanwhile, negotiators met for over two hours at the Capitol late Sunday evening, saying little as they left. Financial markets turned down last week after talks stalled, multiple media reports said. McCarthy told the media that his talks with Biden on Sunday had "productive", but the on-again, off-again negotiations between his staff and White House representatives were leaving little glimmer of hope on a quick and rapid solution as they are focused on spending cuts, which the White House wants of the table. The spending cuts affect Bidens vote banks as they mostly relate social welfare spending and senior citizens benefits. . The contours of an agreement appear within reach, media reports claimed saying the negotiations narrowed down on a 2024 budget year cap, a key to resolving the gridlock. Republicans are firm next year's spending cannot be more than current 2023 levels, but Democrats have refused to accept the steeper cuts McCarthy's team first proposed in their bill in the house. . The sooner a budget deal is reached it would help unlock a separate vote to lift the debt ceiling and allow more borrowing to pay the bills on the debt. The debt that breached the 31.4 trillion mark has to pave the way for fresh borrowing to pay bills on debt already incurred. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said on Sunday that June 1 is a "hard deadline". "We'll keep working," said Steve Ricchetti, counselor to the president, as the White House team exited talks late Sunday. McCarthy said: "I think we can solve some of these problems if he (Biden) understands what we're looking at. But I've been very clear to him from the very beginning. We have to spend less money than we spent last year." Reports said McCarthy came out of the Capitol Hill meeting sounding optimistic but was very careful not to criticize Biden's trip, as he had done before. However he said: "There's no agreement on anything." Biden told the media at Hiroshima before his flight back home that Republicans must accept the reality, there is no deal to be made solely, solely, on their partisan terms. The President said he did his bit to raise the borrowing limit so the government can keep paying its bills, by agreeing to significant cuts in spending. "Now it's time for the other side to move from their extreme position", he added. Republican lawmakers insist on sharp spending cuts with caps on future spending, rejecting any alternatives proposed by the White House for reducing deficits in part with revenue from taxes. They want a roll back on next year's spending to 2022 levels, but the White House wants the same 2023 levels as in 2024. In the 2023 budget year, Republicans initially sought to impose spending caps for 10 years, though the latest proposal narrowed that to about six. The White House wants a two-year budget deal, a moratorium on spending cuts for two years. A budget compromise enables McCarthy to deliver for conservatives, while not being so severe that it would chase off the Democratic votes that would be needed in the divided Congress to pass any bill, media reports said Republican lawmakers also want cuts in IRS money and, by sparing defense and veterans accounts from reductions, would shift the bulk of spending reductions to other federal programs. The White House has rejected the proposal by keeping defense and non-defense spending flat next year, which would save $90 billion in the 2024 budget year and $1 trillion over 10 years. All sides across the aisle are eyeing a package that includes a framework that would speed energy project developments. Chennai, May 22 : The Directorate of Vigilance and Anti Corruption (DVAC) has filed a charge sheet against AIADMK leader and former minister for higher education, K.P. Anbhazhagan in connection with the disproportionate asset case against him. The case was registered against Anbhazhagan, his wife Mallika, sons A. Sasimohan and A. Chandramohan and seven others. The DVAC had conducted raids at 58 places including the residences and other properties of Anbhazhagan and his family members. According to the charge sheet, Anbhazhagan had acquired assets in the form of buildings, bank balances, landed properties, business establishments, machinery, ornaments and vehicles in his name. The DVAC in the charge sheet also said that the ill-gotten money was parked in 'Saraswathi Pachiappan Educational and Charitable Trust'. It also stated that Anbhazhagan had acquired the help of his close relatives -- P. Ravishankar, P. Saravanan, R. Saravanakumar -- and close aides -- C. Manickam, M. Malliga, and SS Dhanapal. According to the charge sheet, the former minister had amassed wealth to the tune of Rs 11.32 crore other than his known sources of income. However, after the investigation the amount was revised to Rs 45.20 crore. The case was registered on January 19 this year. Los Angeles, May 22 : Oscar winner Jennifer Lawrence and her producing partner Justine Ciarrocchi touched down at the Cannes Film Festival on Sunday to promote their label's first ever documentary feature 'Bread and Roses', a harrowing and emotional look at the lives of women in Afghanistan under Taliban rule. After two decades of American occupation, the nation fell once again to the insurgent group, which moved quickly to strip women of basic rights - simple freedoms like the ability to work, appear in public without a male chaperone and receive an education, reports Variety. "It all just collapsed in a matter of days," Lawrence recalled to Variety. "I was watching this from America, where Roe v. Wade was about to be overturned. We felt helpless and frustrated with how to get these stories off of the news cycle and into people's psyches. To help people be galvanised and care about the plight of these women." In the infancy of building their production company Excellent Cadaver, Lawrence and Ciarrocchi pursued Afghan filmmaker Sahra Mani ('A Thousand Girls Like Me') to help capture the stories of the suppressed women on the ground. The finished film, which was received with tears at its world premiere on the Croisette, is comprised largely of video filmed by its three subjects. Crews could not safely enter Afghanistan, nor could Mani, who had been abroad working when the Taliban took over the country. "The director was given footage from women using their cell phones, there was one trusted camera person that was used occasionally," Lawrence said. Ciarrocchi recalled the high stress of protecting Mani and the subjects from retaliation. "Sahra had been out of Kabul for about a month by the time it fell, she was in France. The great news now is that all of our protagonists are safely out of Afghanistan. We wanted to make sure that these women were safe and that we were being thoughtful, while also trying to shape a film. That was a wild set of responsibilities for us, and a very new experience," said Ciarrocchi. Financing was pieced together on the fly, the producers said, but singular images from the struggle of these women kept them motivated. Lawrence said that watching the children these women raise get tased in the street for protesting was "devastating" to watch as a mother, "You just want to do anything you can to change it." Lawrence and Ciarrocchi also observed an unsettling side effect from the footage of women living in lockdown - psychological damage from restrictions around leaving the house. "One of our protagonists, Sharifa, we had to witness the tedium of her life. How it would feel to be a woman who is in her workplace and enjoying freedom in her city with her friends - to witness her cabin fever was painful," Ciarrocchi said. Another central character, a successful dentist forced to give up her practice under the Taliban, gave Lawrence a new appreciation for her own liberties. "It makes me think about when I was little, how much I hated going to school. We take for granted that education is a way out for these women. (Our subject) had all of that stripped away and can't even go outside without a chaperone. It's a right to have as a human, to have something to do every day and be productive in society," she said. 'Bread and Roses' is currently for sale out of the Cannes film market. Lawrence and her partner are hopeful that the film will receive worldwide distribution, warning that its themes are more relevant than one would suspect in places like America. "There is not much separating us from these other countries," said Lawrence. "Democracy is all we have. and it's sliding back. We have to keep our eye on the ball, which is individual freedoms." Mumbai, May 22 : The song 'Dil Nisaar Hua' featuring Sharad Malhotra, Sana Khan, and Jaya Nandi hit the airwaves on Monday. Crooned by Javed Ali, the song is the first chapter from the three chapters of the timeless musical trilogy. Shot in Antaleya, Turkey, the song blends melody, emotions and soulful vocals with music composed by music director Prateek Gandhi, and the music video directed by Faisal Miya Photuwale. Actor Sharad Malhotra shared: "The song exudes immense love through its enchanting music, heartfelt lyrics, and beautifully shot visuals. Every aspect of the song contributes to its exceptional nature, but the presence of talented artists, including myself and the stunning faces alongside me, and the breathtaking locations, truly make it extraordinary. The song is a true celebration of love and connection which will transport us to a realm of deep, intense, and pure emotions." Sharing her thoughts on the song, Sana Khan said: "Being a part of 'Dil Nisaar Hua' has been an incredible journey. The song beautifully encapsulates the essence of love and showcases the raw emotions we experience. I am thrilled for audiences to witness this musical masterpiece." The song, released by Krooners Musik, in association with The Bucketlist Films, is available to stream on Krooners Musik official Youtube Channel. -- Syndicated from IANS New Delhi, May 22 : After a series of emails with hoax bomb threats in schools, the Delhi High Court on Monday asked the police to submit an action plan to ensure proper action against such fake threats. The court also sought replies from the police, schools and the Delhi government to implement a response plan in city's schools. The petition comes after a recent bomb threat in Mathura Road's Delhi Public School, which later turned out to be a prank by one of the students "just for fun". Hearing a petition by one parent lawyer Advocate Arpit Bhargava, Justice Prathiba M. Singh remarked that such incidents are scary and therefore there needs to be an action plan to deal with such incidents. Justice Singh also impleaded various private schools' organisations as respondents to the case and issued notices to them. During a counselling session, the student had confessed to getting the idea after a similar incident occurred at 'The Indian School' in Delhi's Sadiq Nagar in April this year. Another hoax bomb threat email was received at a private school in South Delhi's Saket area recently, however, nothing suspicious was found. The court has posted the matter for hearing next on July 31. Chennai, May 22 : City based Drone-as-a-Service (DaaS) player Garuda Aerospace and Naini Aerospace, a subsidiary of Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL), have inked a joint development partnership. According to Garuda Aerospace, the joint partnership will enable it to manufacture Advanced Precision Drones with a payload capacity of around 25 kg. Garuda Aerospace had recently partnered with BEML at recently held Aero India for drone manufacturing at their Mysuru facility. NAeL signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with a Chennai-based company Garuda Aerospace (GA) for collaboration in manufacturing of these droneshttps://t.co/DVRyNUWgy2 Hindustan Times (@htTweets) May 21, 2023 Naini Aerospace has its production facility near Prayagraj. As a result, Garuda Aerospace now has a better access to to clients across North, West, East and North East regions. -- Syndicated from IANS Bhopal, May 22 : Former Chief Minister and Madhya Pradesh Congress chief Kamal Nath on Monday hit back at BJP's state unit President V.D. Sharma, a day after he claimed that central agencies investigating 1984 anti-Sikh riots would also frame charges soon against the former. Veteran Congress leader said Sharma made false allegations in an attempt to hide his involvement in corruption. Nath said no one could raise fingers against him in the last 45 years of his political career, and even an inquiry committee on the matter setup by BJP government has given him clean chit on anti-Sikh riots. He also claimed that the committee was setup by the BJP government and some people tried to make false accusations against me. "Now, when the elections are just five months away in Madhya Pradesh, and the BJP leaders have nothing to say against me, they are trying to mislead the people through their false propagandas," Nath said while responding queries regarding Sharma's allegation in Anuppur district on Monday. He further said Sharma has now started making false accusations against him to hide his failure. "Anti-Sikh riots occurred in 1984, but not a single person lodged an FIR against me so far. Around eight years back, the BJP government formed an inquiry committee, which also made it clear that I am innocent," Nath added. On Sunday, Madhya Pradesh BJP President V.D. Sharma had also said that central agencies investigating the matter have found the role of Kamal Nath in the riots. Ramallah, May 22 : Fierce clashes broke out on Monday after Israeli forces raided a Palestinian refugee camp in the city of Nablus in northern West Bank, with at least three killed and six others wounded. The Palestinian Ministry of Health said in a statement that the three died after being shot by Israeli soldiers during the clashes, reports Xinhua news agency. Witnesses said that Israeli army stormed the camp at midnight, triggering conflicts between the soldiers and Palestinians. There has been no immediate Israeli comment on the incident. Tension has been mounting between Israel and Palestine since January with 156 Palestinians killed in clashes with Israeli soldiers. Wellington, May 22 : New Zealand will provide NZ$15 million ($9 million) in emergency budget support for the Cook Islands in its ongoing recovery from the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic. New Zealand's support was confirmed during a meeting between Prime Minister Chris Hipkins and his Cook Islands counterpart Mark Brown in Papua New Guinea, reports Xinhua news agency. "New Zealand and Cook Islands share a special relationship," Hipkins said, adding the support is provided in response to the needs of a close, constitutional partner which continues to face extreme economic challenges as a result of Covid-19. The Cook Islands suffered an unprecedented 41 per cent economic contraction from Covid-19, he said, adding the funding will assist the government in continuing to deliver essential services. Patna, May 22 : Union Minister Giriraj Singh on Monday slammed former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti for offering prayers at the tomb of Tipu Sultan. She visited the tomb in Srirangapatna in Karnataka's Mandya district on Sunday. Mufti was in Bengaluru to participate in the swearing-in ceremony of Siddaramaiah on Sunday. After that event, she went to the tomb and offered prayers. "Mehbooba Mufti spreads terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir and now she went to the mazar of another invader in Karnataka... I want to say that Tipu Sultan did not fight against the British rulers. He came to India to rob the country. After looting the country, he also ruled here," Singh said. Giriraj Singh also said: "One invader went to the mazar of another invader in Karnataka." Interestingly, the BJP MP from Begusarai district criticised Mufti, who ran an alliance government in the erstwhile J&K state with the BJP for three years. Mehbooba Mufti, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chief, said after attending Siddaramaiah's oath taking event, that the mandate of the people of Karnataka giving victory to the Congress has given a ray of hope to the entire country. "The people of the state have defeated fascism and divisive forces. The public suffered due to politics of hatred and divisiveness. I have faith that Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and his deputy Shivakumar will heal the wounds inflicted upon the people," she said. News / National by Staff reporter PRESIDENT Emmerson Mnangagwa pulled yet another shocker from his apparently large bag of many surprises by showing off his prized possession: A herd of one of Africa's most expensive indigenous cattle breed the Ankole.This breed is resident in east and central Africa and when southern African heads of State start taking keen interest in the breed, we should be excused for naturally taking interest as well.We hear that South African President Cyril Ramaphosa was the first to ship these cattle in 2004 to the Rainbow nation, where we understand a heifer can be sold for R950 000 (nearly US$50 000) and a bull for over R1 million, although on average the animals can fetch anything above R300 000 (US$15 000).The Ankole breed is a very special breed of cattle renowned for its lean meat and excellent milk quality, and that our very own President has these cattle at his Precabe Farm in Kwekwe makes us very curious for many reasons.Recently, the President unveiled a presidential jet, then a fleet of 18 helicopters and now a undisclosed head of Ankole cattle, which makes some of us start asking questions as to why our President is doing all these things in secrecy.For the cattle, we are sure he would have gained one to several voters in this year's plebiscite if he had told us that he had imported the cattle to improve the country's breeds.But everything was done in top secrecy, only for us to learn of their existence in Zimbabwe following Mozambican President Filipe Nyusi's visit last week. Pardon us if we conclude that the cattle were brought here for self-aggrandisement.We shudder to imagine how many more secrets is our President holding, besides the date of this year's elections, which we feel should not even be a secret at all since it is constitutionally provided for in our supreme law that we hold elections after every five years?The level of secrecy by our leader is more than worrying and is setting a very bad precedent because it opens up the country to all manner of nefarious dealings such as those which were recently publicised by the international news channel Al Jazeera.When everything that a country's leader does is shrouded in secrecy, fears abound that the country may be mortgaged right under our very noses because honestly, if this man was elected to lead us, why should he be so averse to us knowing about his affairs, especially if they affect us?Is it not our right as citizens to know what our President owns and what he is doing with the money in our national coffers?We implore our dear leader not to operate under the radar, so to speak, because this breeds mistrust in those he is leading and creates opportunities for criminals to hide in the shadows of his secret deals to engage in their own shenanigans. Itanagar, May 22 : There has been no noticeable encroachment or incursion of Indian land along Arunachal Pradesh by Chinese military or civilians since 1962, said the state's BJP Vice-President Tarh Tarak, who led a four-month long 'Seema Yatra' along the Line of Actual Control (LAC). Arunachal Pradesh shares a 1,129 km border with China's Tibet. A team of 10 BJP leaders launched the Seema Yatra on December 22, 2022, in the Anjaw sector and ended in the Tawang sector on April 24 this year. Local party leaders joined each leg of the tour in phases. Addressing the media, Tarak said that during the tour they interacted with the Army and Indo-Tibetan Border Police personnel posted along the LAC, as well as with residents of the border villages. "We learnt that the situation on the frontier is normal and peaceful," he said quoting the villagers. He said that according to the villagers, there was no visible encroachment or incursion of India's land by China. But personnel of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) sometimes enter Indian territory inadvertently or by mistake during long-range patrols along the LAC and Indian Army soldiers challenged the PLA's attempt, the BJP leader said. Tarak said that they decided to conduct the tour after Chinese and Indian troops clashed along the LAC at Yangtse in the Tawang sector of Arunachal Pradesh on December 9, 2022, which created an uproar across the country. Some soldiers from both India and China sustained minor injuries during the clash. "Both sides, however, disengaged from the area within a few days. A similar incident took place in October 2021, when a large PLA patrolling team was detained for a few hours by the Indian Army near Yangtse. Our endeavour was to salute the armed forces personnel protecting the border in hostile conditions and also to physically witness the border posts and be acquainted with the ground reality," he said. "The tour gave us an accurate idea of the border situation and prevailing problems faced by the border villagers and the progress of the implementation of various central and state government schemes." Five youths who went hunting on September 2, 2020, were allegedly whisked away by the PLA from Sera-7, an Army patrol zone located in Upper Subansiri district. They were later released in the Anjaw district after a few days. On January 18, 2022, a youth was abducted at gunpoint from a jungle at Lungta Jor in Upper Siang district. He was released on January 28 this year. Thiruvananthapuram, May 22 : Two days after the Kerala University recommended the removal of G.J. Shaiju, Principal of Christian College Kattakada, after an alleged election fraud by the SFI surfaced, the management on Monday suspended him from service. On Saturday the decision was taken during a syndicate meeting of the University asking the management to do the needful. The meeting also decided to recommend a police probe into the entire election process and the local police have now registered cases against Shaiju and SFI top leader, Vishak. Vishak did not contest the election, but in the list of the two councillors who won, he was included after removing the name of Anekha. Initially, it was said that Anekha had resigned, hence the name of Vishak was included and sent to the University. And when the fraud surfaced, Shaiju informed the University that there was an error. The Congress-led opposition and the BJP highlighted the issue. Candidates, who win as councillors from the colleges affiliated to the Kerala University, then vote to elect the Kerala University Union. And, when the Christian College Kattakada sent its list of councillors, instead of Anekha, the name of another SFI top leader, Vishak, who even did not contest the election, appeared. This case had dented the image of the CPI(M) and the SFI, and it surfaced on the eve of the Pinarayi Vijayan government celebrating its second anniversary. It has come to light that the 'fraud' took place with the blessings of two party legislators, one leading a section of the CPI(M) in the locality and the other who was opposed to this and took up this issue in the party. The CPI(M) has asked both the legislators to be silent and the party has now formed a two-member committee to probe the issue. London, May 22 : A 41-year-old Indian-origin woman from London has been sentenced to more than four years in prison for acting as a money and drug courier for a Buckinghamshire-based organised crime group. Mandeep Kaur of Pocklington Close, London, was arrested in June 2020 with 50,000 pounds in cash, following an investigation by the South East Regional Organised Crime Unit (SEROCU). She was found guilty last week by a majority jury of conspiracy to supply class A drugs and a unanimous jury of conspiracy to possess criminal property at Aylesbury Crown Court, following a two-week trial. The court heard that Kaur, who is said to have delivered a kilo of cocaine three days before her arrest, had undertaken a number of journeys for a criminal group who were responsible for supplying cocaine across the country. "Kaur's involvement in the OCG (Organised Crime Group) in this case was significant. She willingly delivered and collected criminal money under instruction from a senior member of the group," Investigating officer, Detective Constable Dale Lester of SEROCU, said. He said that on one occasion, Kaur went one step further and moved a kilo of cocaine -- acts she decided to do of her own free will for financial gain. Kaur was sentenced to a total of four years and eight months' imprisonment for her part in a large-scale drug supply conspiracy. "This conviction is a demonstration of SEROCU's ongoing commitment in tackling and dismantling organised crime across the South East and further afield," Lester said. Kaur's arrest comes just days after three Indian-origin members of an organised crime group -- Kuran Gill, Jag Singh and Govind Bahia -- were jailed for smuggling cannabis worth around 1 million pounds into the UK from Canada earlier this month. Last week, Joshpal Singh Kothiria was convicted for conspiring to supply drugs worth millions of pounds from the Netherlands to the UK and Ireland, following a National Crime Agency investigation. Patna, May 22 : The police fired several rounds in air to disperse a mob that had surrounded and attacked them when they were conducting a raid in a village in Bihar's Begusarai district, said the police. The incident happened late on Sunday night, after an altercation occurred between villagers and a joint team of excise and district police following the latter's raid at a marriage function. The raid was carried out after information of liquor being served was received. During the raid, a 'Matkor' event (a ritual in Hindu marriage) was taking place in a Bhagwanpur block. The district police and excise department came to the place in four vehicles and raided. They detained a couple of men. Following the incident, a large number of villagers assembled at the place and cornered the sleuths. As they were surrounded by a large number of villagers, they fired several rounds in the air to escape from there. The district police also initiated lathi-charge on the villagers. "There was a Matkor event taking place at Bhagwanpur block when the joint team came there. They have picked a couple of men during the event and tried to take them away. A number of women were also present there. As their behaviour was not appropriate and they did not give valid reasons of arrest, the villagers became angry. Local police fired several rounds in the air. We have recovered a number of used cartridges from the place," said Jitna Kuma, a villager who was present at the spot. When contacted, the local police of Begusarai refused to say anything in this matter. Further details were awaited. New Delhi, May 22 : Women should start getting regular mammograms at age 40 to prevent the risk of breast cancer, said doctors on Monday. This comes after the US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF), last week, in its draft recommendation suggested that women get screened for breast cancer starting at age 40 from the age of 50, as recommended earlier. Breast cancer is the most common cancer among women globally. According to the World Health Organization, in 2020 more than 20 lakh females were diagnosed with breast cancer, and more than 6 lakh lives were lost. In India, breast cancer is the leading cause of cancer in women. In 2020, more than two lakh women in India were estimated to have been diagnosed with breast cancer, and more than 76,000 deaths were reported as per the estimates, according to the National Cancer Registry Programme report by the National Centre for Disease Informatics and Research. As per the report, the number is expected to rise to more than 2.3 lakh cases in 2025. Doctors suggest that early detection is key, and can accelerate diagnosis and treatments. If detected timely in most cases breast cancer can also be cured. "Regular screening plays a pivotal role in identifying breast cancer. Breast cancer screening serves as an effective means of detecting it at early stages, increasing the likelihood of successful treatment. It also enhances the prospects of survival significantly," Dr. Bhavisha Ghugare, Consultant - Surgical Oncology, Breast Oncosurgeon, HCG Hospitals, Mumbai, told IANS. "We have started seeing more young women with breast cancer and many of them come to us at later stages. So Indian women should start annual breast cancer screening with mammograms from the age of 40 years," Dr. Ghugare said. Breast screening tests include a range of methods like mammography, ultrasonography, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and digital breast tomosynthesis (DBT). However, mammograms -- an x-ray imaging method -- remain the most effective method of early breast cancer detection, and the benefits outweigh the risk of radiation. Used both as a diagnostic and screening tool, it exposes women to a very tiny amount of radiation -- about 0.4msv. Timing of screening depends upon the breast cancer risk of the individual, Dr Uma Dangi, Consultant Medical Oncology, Fortis Hospital, Mulund - Mumbai, told IANS. "In patients with strong family history, genetic testing is recommended. If a high risk mutation is found e.g. BRCA, screening with mammography or MRI should start as early as the age of 25 years. But for average risk females, screening with mammography should start by the age of 40 to 45 years, every 1-2 years," Dr Dangi said. She explained that compared to the West, breast cancer incidence is more common in younger age groups in India. "We should develop our own screening guidelines based on the pattern of incidence and availability of resources. Screening strategy should largely be risk based rather than just based on age and gender. This will not only bring down the cost, but also identify populations at high risk," Dr. Dangi said. Further, the doctors suggested that breast awareness should begin by the age of 20 years. Women should be educated about self breast examination, early signs, and symptoms. This will lead to early detection and better outcomes. The symptoms include new lump in the breast or underarm (armpit), thickening or swelling of part of the breast, irritation or dimpling of breast skin, redness or flaky skin in the nipple area or the breast, pulling in of the nipple or pain in the nipple area. Guwahati, May 22 : Indian Youth Congress (IYC) president Srinivas B.V. on Monday appeared before the Assam Police here in connection with the harassment complaint lodged by the former Youth Congress leader Angkita Dutta. Upon his arrival in Guwahati earlier in the day, Srinivas first went to the Dispur police station where Dutta had lodged a complaint against him on April 19. From there, he went to the CID branch office in Ulubari where his interrogation is underway. Last week, the Supreme Court granted interim anticipatory bail to Srinivas. Ahead of the Youth Congress president's visit, section 144 was imposed in Guwahati, forbidding the gatherings of more than five people within the municipal limits. The Guwahati Police Commissioner's office issued the directive in an effort to handle the chaos caused by crowding and probable unrest by the Congress workers. Any sit-in protests or rally gatherings are now against the law, and the police are taking action to prevent them. The instruction, which is applicable to the city's three police districts, denotes a complete strategy for preserving peace and safety in the public. In her complaint, Dutta claimed that Srinivas had been persistently harassing and torturing her for the last six months by making sexist comments, using slang words, and also threatening her of dire consequences if she keeps complaining against him to the senior party office bearers. She further stated that the accused harassed her, grabbed her arm, shoved her, used vulgar terms, and threatened to damage her career if she reported about him during the most recent party plenary meeting in Raipur. In accordance with the IT Act and various IPC sections pertaining to harassment of women, the police had filed an FIR. The Criminal Investigation Department of Assam Police went to Srinivas' residence in Bengaluru and served a notice to appear in person in Guwahati. New Delhi, May 22 : Shillong Lajong FC have been confirmed as the first team to win promotion to the 2023-24 I-League from the ongoing 2nd Division League season. The Meghalaya side edged FC Bengaluru United 2-1 at the SSA Stadium in Shillong on Sunday to take their Final Round tally to seven points from four games. Shillong Lajong are back in the I-League after a gap of four years. They were relegated after finishing at the bottom of the table in the 2018-19 season. Their journey in this season's 2nd Division began as early as the qualifying round in February, where they overcame Downtown Heroes, Corbett and United Chirang Duar to progress to the Group Stage. Pitted alongside United SC, East Bengal Reserves and The Diamond Rock FA, Lajong finished second in the group and qualified for the Final Round as the best runners-up across all groups. A heavy 1-5 thrashing at the hands of Ambernath United Atlanta five days ago meant that it was a do-or-die situation for Shillong Lajong against Bengaluru United on Sunday. Spurred on by a strong home crowd, Everbrightson Mylliempdah's brilliant curling strike gave them the lead just before half-time, but Kongbrailatpam Manjit Sharma equalised for the visitors just after the restart. However, eight minutes from time, Figo Syndai's header regained the lead for Bobby Nongbet's side, which they maintained until the final whistle. As a result of Ambernath's 3-4 defeat to United SC in Kalyani in the concurrent kick-off, Shillong Lajong's place in the top two and in next season's I-League was confirmed with one matchday to go. Shillong Lajong were the torch-bearers of the northeast in the I-League, becoming the first side from the region to be promoted to the then top division in 2009-10. Now, with the Reds marking their return, the next season's I-League will see as many as four sides from northeast India, including Aizawl FC, NEROCA FC and TRAU FC. The Meghalaya club have a history of producing top-quality players, with the likes of Eugeneson Lyngdoh, Chinglensana Singh, Bipin Singh, Vishal Kaith, Naorem Mahesh Singh and Seiminlen Doungel, all going on to make their Blue Tigers debut after plying their trade in Lajong. The current Lajong squad also includes several players from the Meghalaya side which made history by reaching the Santosh Trophy Final in Riyadh earlier this year. Other than Sunday's goalscorers Everbrightson Mylliempdah and Figo Syndai, Rajat Paul Lyngdoh, Ronaldkydon Lyngdoh and Henryford Nongneng were part of Meghalaya's fairytale run. As things stand in the Hero 2nd Division League, Bengaluru United and United SC are out of the running for the top two. Delhi FC's clash with Ambernath United Atlanta on Friday, will be decisive in determining the second team which will be promoted to the I-League next season. While for Ambernath, a draw will be enough, but only a win will do for Delhi FC. Both sides are chasing their first-ever promotion to the I-League. Thiruvananthapuram, May 22 : Keeping his promise, Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar met his school teacher, 83-year-old Ratna Nair at Panniyannur Gram Panchayat in Kerala's Kannur district on Monday. Dhankar, who arrived in the state capital city on Sunday evening, after his function on Monday at the Kerala Legislative Assembly flew into Kannur where his teacher and her relatives had been waiting for the past few days. Nair told her student "there can't be a better Guru Dakshina than this," Dhankhar was her student at the Sainik School, Chittorgarh (Rajasthan) in the late sixties. During the meeting, Ratna vividly remembered Dhankhar as "a young boy in khaki, sitting in the first row, fully concentrating in the class." "He was very active, well disciplined and an obedient boy who excelled in all activities inside and outside the class. He was a good debater, a good sportsperson and good at academics too," she mentioned. "Sainik School Chittorgarh is a boarding school and students spend approximately nine months in a year with their teachers, so they develop long lasting bonds with teachers. Parents used to visit school in between. I remember Jagdeep's father was very regular at these meetings. He used to visit the school every month to monitor the progress of both his sons," she said. The teacher and her family welcomed the Vice President, who was accompanied by his wife, Sudesh Dhankhar, with coconut water. She also served the Vice President homemade idli and Banana chips. Though many of her students are in high positions, mostly in forces and police, it is the first time that one of them has reached the second highest constitutional position in the country, and his teacher is proud of her "Jagdeep". When Dhankar was appointed as the Governor of West Bengal, Nair had spoken to him. She had greeted her old student for being the first person in West Bengal, and had wished that he goes on to become the first person in the country. Dhankar had sent an invite to his teacher to attend his swearing-in as the Vice President, but she had expressed her inability to make the long trip. It was then he promised her that on his first visit to the state, he would come and meet her. After paying his respects to his teacher, the Vice President then left for a quick visit to the Ezhimala Naval Academy, and will return to Delhi in the evening. Melbourne, May 22 : Just hours before Prime Minister Narendra Modi's touch down in Australia, the City of Parramatta in western Sydney elected its first Indian-origin Lord Mayor on Monday. Councillor Sameer Pandey, who was first elected to City of Parramatta Council in September 2017, has been serving as Deputy Lord Mayor since January 2022. "Parramatta is home to a vibrant and diverse community and I'm excited to lead the City as it cements itself as Sydney's second CBD and the focus of some of its most exciting opportunities," Pandey said in a statement. He will reportedly meet Modi in Sydney, where the Prime Minister will address more than 20,000 members of the Indian community at the Qudos Bank Arena Stadium. According to a Daily Telegraph report, Pandey will "discuss the 'Little India' precinct" at Harris Park, a suburb in Sydney, which has 45 per cent of its residents tracing their roots to India, and is home to many popular small and medium Indian businesses. The Sydney precinct is reportedly on its way to be officially known as 'Little India' after the Indian community ramped up its efforts for the name change ahead of Modi's visit. The Parramatta Council voted last month to support a scaled-back proposal, which will see Marion Street, Wigram Street, and Station Street East in Harris Park named as 'Little India'. The Council's earlier attempts hit a roadblock after Australia's Geographic Names Board (GNB) told Parramatta Council to stop using the term in marketing material because it "creates confusion". Parramatta City councillor Paul Noack told SBS News that he expects the name to be official by the end of this year. The Parramatta Council has also formally extended an invitation to Modi to visit Harris Park this time. Modi last visited Australia in 2014, and addressed 20,000 people at the Sydney SuperDome at Olympic Park. Patna, May 22 : A man, who allegedly threatened to bomb Samastipur railway station in Bihar, was arrested by Government Railway Police (GRP) on Monday. The accused, Vishwajeet Kumar, a mentally disturbed person, called on police control room (PCR) number 112 and threatened to explode Samastipur railway station. Following the call, the district police alerted GRP and RPF of Samastipur station. They launched a search operation at the railway station and scanned each and every baggage of the passengers using explosive detectors, dog squad. Eventually, the call turned out to be a hoax. Local police traced the phone call to Chaita village under Angar Ghat police station. "We have arrested the accused from his native village Chaita. He is mentally unstable person. Further investigation is underway," said Parveen Kumar, SHO GRP Samastipur. During investigation, it was revealed that the accused was attacked by some unidentified persons in September last year. The attackers stabbed him in his neck. He was critically injured at that time and remained hospitalised for several weeks. After that attack, he became mentally unstable. News / National by Staff reporter MAIN opposition Citizens' Coalition for Change (CCC) spokesperson Fadzayi Mahere's presentation at the high-profile Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy in Switzerland, which laid bare the country's worsening human rights record, has rattled Zanu-PF activists and officials, with many of them demanding her punishment.The summit is a major conference that shines a spotlight on urgent human rights situations that require global attention.It provides human rights heroes, activists and former political prisoners a unique platform to testify on their personal struggles for democracy and freedom, while building an international community to take on dictatorship.The summit is held around the main annual session of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), when foreign ministers gather in Geneva to place critical issues on the international agenda.This week, Mahere told delegates in Geneva that Zimbabwe is reeling under authoritarian rule amid fierce political repression, which has become worse than that of the late despotic president Robert Mugabe.She said only free, fair and credible elections won by the best competitor can resolve the nation's protracted crisis which is deepening in a renewed way.Mahere said: "Zimbabwe suffers under a dictatorship worse than Mugabe. Almost half the population suffers from extreme poverty because those in power would rather loot and persecute than lead."It might surprise you that after repeated arrests and wrongful imprisonment, I have come to the UN optimistic, because the crackdown now taking place in Zimbabwe is a sign of victory."The government's war against freedom and weaponisation of the law against myself and other government critics, journalists and civil society members including Job Sikhala and Jacob Ngarivhume who were wrongfully detained are calculated to send a chilling message to the rest of society; We are watching you, even on Twitter. And this is what you get for participating in opposition politics'," Mahere said.Last week, Zengeza West legislator Sikhala was convicted, almost a year after his arrest, and slapped with a suspended six-month custodial sentence and a US$600 fine. Sikhala was however not released from custody, despite spending over 300 days in prison, with the state arguing he has outstanding cases.A fortnight ago, Ngarivhume was arrested for leading and organising the 31 July 2020 protests. He was convicted by Harare magistrate Feresi Chakanyuka on Thursday and has been sentenced to 48 months imprisonment, with 12 months suspended.Said Mahere: "Now, I wouldn't risk my life and freedom if I did not sincerely believe that change is possible. Courage does not mean that you are not afraid. It means that you act in spite of your fear because you believe in a greater cause."Her speech did not sit well with Zanu-PF activists and officials.Presidential spokesperson George Charamba, through his Twitter handle @Tinoedzazvimwe1, tweeted: "Chituta kani!!!! (What a fool!) Wasting time on some motley crowd of zvimaNGOs. Hanzi ndaaddressa Summit!!!! (Wasting time on some motley crowd of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and you say you have addressed a summit!)."In a long tweet, ruling party activist Rutendo Matinyararare, who leads an association, the Zimbabwe Anti-Sanctions Movement, condemned Mahere's invitation to Geneva."When we apply to go and present at the UN or UNHRC, we are told that we need to be accredited as an observer organisation."But while civil society organizations, formed to fight sanctions and advocate for Zimbabwean human rights, struggle to be heard on this important issue that the UNHRC has condemned, created resolutions against and voted against; non-accredited individuals and criminals with no standing representing no common interest like Hopewell (Chin'ono) and Fadzai Mahere, are invited to Geneva to speak without a counter from those they condemn."Where is our Foreign Affairs when all this is happening? Why is our Permanent Representative at the UN not addressing these clear abuses of administrative process in the UNHRC? Why is he not as active as the American team in advancing Zimbabwe's national interest?" read part of his tweet.Last year, prominent journalist Hopewell Chin'ono was invited to the Geneva conference where he pointed out Zimbabwe's seriously dysfunctional health system, sparking an outcry from the government which eventually devised plans to clamp down on dissenting voices.Since then, the government has made overtures to close the civic space to silence dissenting voices.For instance, the government has presented a lot of amendments and legislation including the long threatened "Patriot Bill", more properly the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Amendment Bill, which was published in the Government Gazette in December last year.The civic space has been closing.Findings by a think-tank, the Zimbabwe Democracy Institute (ZDI), show that the country is now under serious repression ahead of polls compared to the era under Mugabe.The ZDI's report titled: "Civic Space Contestation Ahead of 2023" shows a drastic fall in civil liberties during the political tenure of Mnangagwa, compared to the days of the late Mugabe.The organisation made an analysis of the civic space between 2014 and 2021 by contrasting Mugabe's final four years in power ahead of the 2018 elections, and Mnangagwa's initial four years in power ahead of the 2023 elections.The findings showed a 2% increase in civic space and state freedom during Mnangagwa's first year in power, compared to Mugabe in 2014, while 2019 saw a 13% decline in state freedom from 44%. Chandigarh, May 22 : The Anti-Gangster Task Force (AGTF) of Punjab Police has arrested four shooters of Lawrence Bishnoi gang, Director General of Police (DGP) Gaurav Yadav said here on Monday. The accused have been identified as Mehfooz alias Vishal Khan and Manjeet Singh - both from Dera Bassi - Ankit and Goldy, both of Panchkula in Haryana. Six pistols and 26 cartridges were recovered from their possession. Yadav said following inputs, a team of AGTF under the supervision of ADGP Promod Ban and led by AIG AGTF Sandeep Goel arrested the four shooters, who were tasked by Lawrence Bishnoi to harm and attack their rival gang members. He said all accused are history-sheeters and have been facing criminal cases of heinous crimes, including attempt to murder, car-jacking, extortion, Arms Act, etc, in Punjab and Haryana. Divulging more details, ADGP Ban said the accused Mehfooz was wanted in a case pertaining to recovery of six pistols, wherein his aide Nitish Rana was arrested while he managed to escape from the spot. Accused Mehfooz was also involved in a firing incident at the premises of a pub and restaurant, Brew Bros, in Mohali in March 2022, he said, adding he had opened fire on the directions of gangster Lawrence Bishnoi to extort money. Chennai, May 22 : The opposition AIADMK came out heavily against the ruling DMK over the hooch deaths in Villupuram and Chengalpattu districts of the state. As many as 22 people died and 45 were hospitalised in these two districts following consumption of spurious liquor. The AIADMK delegation led by former Chief Minister, Edappadi K. Palaniswami (EPS) submitted a memorandum to Governor of Tamil Nadu, R.N. Ravi, and requested him to direct the government to conduct appropriate inquiry into the hooch tragedy. Senior party leaders, Dindigul C. Srinivasan, K.P. Munuswamy, A D. Jayakumar and S.P. Velusamy accompanied Edappadi K. Palaniswami (EPS) will meet the Governor. The AIADMK leaders targeted the DMK regime for the failure of law and order in the state and said that the police have failed to act properly on the availability of spurious liquor in the state. Incidentally, DMK is in a spot after the husband of Ramya, the Tindivanam municipal councilor of the party, Raja, was arrested and slapped with Goonda Act for carrying illicit arrack. The Tamil Nadu police have conducted raids across the state against illicit liquor and have arrested many people in various districts of the state. New Delhi, May 22 : The Supreme Court on Monday directed the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) to put on hold, for a week, the demolition drive in Vishwas Nagar on humanitarian grounds and allow residents, mostly slum dwellers, to leave on their own. A vacation bench of Justices Aniruddha Bose and Sanjay Karol said the court did not find any fault with the single and division benches of the Delhi High Court allowing DDA to remove the encroachments. "So far as the right of petitioners to reside at the dwelling place is concerned, we do not wish to interfere with the order passed by the Delhi High Court," it said. Citing humanitarian grounds, the bench said it is inclined to grant seven days to vacate the premises and if people fail to vacate by May 29, it will be open for DDA to resume the demolition activities. The bench issued notice to the DDA, represented by lawyer Sunieta Ojha, and said the court will examine in July's second week, whether residents, who would be removed from their dwelling units, are entitled for rehabilitation either under the Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board Act or any other law. The bench was informed that the demolition activity had started at 8 a.m. on Monday and the high court, on March 14, had dismissed a petition of the residents and ordered demolition after considering all their claims. Ojha contended that the same claims were now being revived after two months. The top court's order came on a petition filed by some residents of the Kasturba Nagar area falling under Vishwas Nagar locality of east Delhi. During the hearing, the residents pressed that they were seeking rehabilitation before being removed and highlighted valid identity documents possessed by them and also, they have been residing at the place for 40 years. The petitioners' contended that their colony has not been categorised as a registered slum due, as a result of which the authorities declined to consider their rehabilitation. As per the high court direction, the DDA last week issued notices about the demolition from May 22 to 24. Kolkata, May 22 : The West Bengal government has spent Rs 292 crore behind different scam-related court cases in the last two years, especially to challenge orders allowing central agency probe into such cases, the leader of opposition in West Bengal Assembly, Suvendu Adhikari, claimed on Monday. "While Rs 292 crore has been drained out of the state exchequer, Trinamool Congress as a party spent another Rs 32 crore from the funds it collected through electoral bonds from unknown sources. So the state government and the party together spent Rs 330 crore in the last two years in scam-related cort cases," Adhikari told mediapersons on Monday. The BJP leader also said that such huge expenses show how desperate the state government is to protect its corrupt practices and the offenders. "This is happening when the state government is unable to spend money for necessary expenditures for public good due to lack of funds," Adhikari said. The leader of opposition has also written to Parshottam Rupala, the Union Minister of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying, alleging the renaming of the Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana (PMMSY) in West Bengal. Adhikari has requested the minister to take appropriate measures against the state government for renaming a central scheme, which according to him, has become a regular practice of the Bengal government. In the letter, Adhikari also said that the state government always looks at central schemes as opportunities for siphoning money. He claimed that PMMSY in West Bengal has been renamed as 'Banga Matsya Yojana', which is nothing but a hollow brand name without any budgetary outlay or provision. "It would be unfair and and a great disservice if the state government is allowed to get away with its unethical ways. It's my firm belief that you would intervene in this issue and take appropriate measures as you deem fit and proper in this situation," Adhikari's letter read. New Delhi, May 22 : A 24-year-old notorious criminal who was involved in 17 cases of burglary and theft, has been nabbed here in the Rohini area, a police officer said on Monday. Police have also recovered one country-made pistol along with two bullets from the possession of the arrested individual, identified as Hakim Sheikh, a resident of Shahbad Daulatpur Extension. A police officer said that with his arrest, the police have solved seven cases of burglaries committed by the accused recently. According to the police, after receiving specific inputs, Sheikh was arrested from Sector-28 in Rohini. "He was previously involved in 17 cases of burglary and thefts registered across the city. Questioning of the accused led to the recovery of a car and a scooty that he had stolen for committing burglaries," Deputy Commissioner of Police, Ravi Kumar Singh said. Basti : , May 22 (IANS) Justice, in this case, was delayed for so long that it almost seems like it has been denied. Abdullah Ayub spent 20 years in jail for a crime he did not commit. He paid the price of evicting a police constable Khurshid who lived on rent in his house but did not pay the rent. The incident took place in March 2003 and soon after he threw out Khurshid from his house, Abdullah Ayub was 'caught' with 25 grams of heroin worth Rs 1 crore from his possession. For days, weeks, months and years, Abdullah pleaded that he did not possess heroin but the evidence was tampered with and he remained behind the bars. Ayub's lawyer Prem Prakash Srivastava told reporters that cops from Purani Basti police station falsely arrested his client by presenting heroin as evidence. This happened after Ayub had evicted Khurshid from his house. Khurshid, apparently, hatched a conspiracy with CO City Anil Singh, SO Purani Basti Lalji Yadav and SI Narmadeshwar Shukla to trap his former landlord. These police officers not only planted the fake heroin on Ayub, but also tampered with forensic evidence to further implicate him. "Now, 20 years later, Ayyub has walked out of jail, vindicated, after it was proved in court that the narcotic was actually plain old powder sold in shops for Rs 20," said the lawyer. According to Srivastava, when the trial began, the forensic laboratory in Basti confirmed the presence of heroin in the powder. However, when the court sent this heroin sample to the laboratory in Lucknow, it was discovered that it was not heroin at all. The sample was then sent to the laboratory in Delhi, where the police tampered with the evidence. Later, when the court summoned expert scientists from Lucknow, they confirmed that the sample was indeed fake and had a brown colour, whereas heroin never changes its colour in any climate and remains white. Thereafter, Justice Vijay Kumar Katiyar acquitted the wrongfully accused victim. The judge also stated that the police had misrepresented the whole matter and the prosecution had wasted the time of the court. However, no action has yet been announced against those police personnel who did the entire frame-up. Guwahati/Agartala, May 22 : Months ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, doubts persist whether the Congress would be able to regain its political space in the northeastern region, once a Congress stronghold, even as the grand old party notched up wins in Karnataka and Himachal Pradesh. Amid the political pundits' assertion that Rahul Gandhi's "Bharat Jodo Yatra", which covered 3,800 km in 14 states and helped the Congress to achieve electoral gains in various parts of the country in general and in Karnataka and Himachal Pradesh in particular, the fact remains that the "Yatra" did not pass through any of the eight northeastern states. While most of the central leaders of the Congress including party president Mallikarjun Kharge, former president Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra campaigned in Karnataka and Himachal Pradesh, except for Rahul Gandhi they did not visit Nagaland and Tripura during February's assembly polls. Rahul Gandhi only addressed an election rally in Meghalaya. The Congress' central leaders' indifferent approach towards the northeast and the party's weak state organisational bases and inactiveness led to the party's poor electoral performance in the northeastern states. Though for over six decades the northeast had been a strong bastion of the Congress, over the years the party lost its organisational bases leading to the emergence of the BJP and several regional parties. Its downfall in the politically important northeast region began after the BJP's emergence with the Narendra Modi-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) coming to power at the Centre in 2014 after defeating the Congress led United Progressive Alliance (UPA). Of the 25 Lok Sabha seats in the eight northeastern states, currently 14 are with the BJP while the Congress has four. The other seats are with the local and regional parties. Out of the 498 MLAs in these eight states including Sikkim, the Congress has only 48 legislators (9.63 per cent) in six states -- Assam (27 MLAs), Manipur (5), Meghalaya (5), Mizoram (4), Arunachal Pradesh (4) and Tripura (3). The party has no representation in the Nagaland and Sikkim assemblies. The Congress had drawn a blank in the 2018 assembly polls in Tripura and Nagaland. Except for Assam, where the Congress won 29 seats in the 126-member Assembly in 2021 (two MLAs subsequently quit the party and joined the BJP), the party secured third, fourth and fifth positions in the remaining states in the Assembly polls held after the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. In the recently held Assembly polls in Meghalaya, the Congress secured five seats against 21 in 2018. While it managed to win three seats in Tripura, the grand old party failed to open its account in Nagaland for the second time after 2018. The three states have 60 assembly seats each. Amidst the Congress's diminishing presence, in the past nine years many prominent leaders left the party including Himanta Biswa Sarma, Sushmita Dev and Ripun Bora (Assam), Manik Saha and Ratan Lal Nath (Tripura), N. Biren Singh (Manipur), Pema Khandu (Arunachal Pradesh), Neiphiu Rio (Nagaland), and Mukul Sangma and Ampareen Lyngdoh (Meghalaya), dealing a severe blow to the Congress. The chief ministers of five northeastern states -- Himanta Biswa Sarma (Assam), Manik Saha (Tripura), N. Biren Singh (Manipur), Pema Khandu (Arunachal Pradesh) and Neiphiu Rio (Nagaland) -- are all former Congress leaders. For a better electoral performance and eying the 14 Lok Sabha seats in Assam, the Congress like its previous efforts has initiated the process to form a 'Mahagathbandhan' (grand alliance) with like-minded parties. Recently in Guwahati, the Congress held a meeting of 11 opposition parties including the Left, and local organisations.and excluding Lok Sabha MP Badruddin Ajmal-led All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF), Aam Aadmi Party and Trinamool Congress. Assam Congress president Bhupen Bora, who called the meeting, had said that they would check the division of votes in next year's Lok Sabha polls in Assam as the BJP always gets electoral mileage due to the division of votes among the non-BJP parties. All India Congress Committee general secretary in-charge of Assam, Jitendra Singh, said that Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and the AICC have decided that the party will not have any alliance with the AIUDF. The Congress along with many other parties, including the AIUDF, had formed a "Mahagathbandhan' and fought the 2021 Assembly elections in Assam together. But soon after the polls, the Congress snapped its ties with the AIUDF, a Muslim-based party which currently has 13 MLAs in the Assam assembly. Writer and political commentator Satyabrata Chakraborti said that the regional parties emerged highlighting the local and regional issues. Due to a lack of dynamic and proactive leaders and the central leaders' inactivity, the Congress gradually lost ground to the BJP and the regional parties. "The Congress could not succeed in effectively dealing with the insurgency, unemployment, connectivity, infrastructure development and solution of the diverse ethnic issues. The party failed to exploit even whatever good steps were taken by the Congress governments including setting up of tribal autonomous councils in several northeastern states," he told IANS. "The fall of the Congress-led UPA government and the emergence of the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre pushed the Congress to a defensive position in the northeastern region," the analyst said. Chakraborti said that there is no sign that the grand old party would regain its position in the region with a multiplicity of around 200 tribes and sub-tribes besides diverse religions. (Sujit Chakraborty can be contacted at sujit.c@ians.in) New Delhi, May 22 : The Delhi High Court on Monday issued a notice to the British Broadcasting Company (BBC) on a plea by a Gujarat-based Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) seeking to file the suit as an 'indigent person'. The NGO 'Justice on Trial' has contended that the two-volume documentary/publication contains content which "casts a slur" on the reputation of the country and also makes false and defamatory imputations and insinuations against the Prime Minister of India, the Indian Judiciary and the Indian criminal justice system. The High Court has sought BBC's response on this application. The order copy reads, "The plaintiff (NGO), which is stated to be a society registered under the Societies Registration Act, 1860 and also registered as a Public trust under the provisions of the Bombay Public Trust, 1950, has filed the present suit for damages, invoking Order XXXIII of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908, seeking permission to file as an indigent person. "It is averred that the aforesaid conduct of the respondents is actionable and has made them liable to damages, as claimed in the suit." Justice Sachin Datta then issued notice to the respondents. Earlier in another case related to the documentary, a Delhi court had issued summons to the BBC, Wikimedia Foundation, and the US-based digital library Internet Archive in a defamation suit filed by BJP leader Binay Kumar Singh seeking to restrain them from publishing the documentary or any other material related to the RSS and VHP. Chandigarh, May 22: Fighting the biggest cross-border drone intrusion from Pakistan till now, the Punjab government has decided to rope in local villagers to help combat the narco-terrorism menace. In a recent decision, the Punjab government has urged residents to keep a close watch and announced a reward of Rs 1 lakh for any information on the cross-border movement of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) leading to recovery of weapons and narcotics. Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann highlighting the gravity of the issue has sanctioned Rs 20 crore for installation of CCTV cameras at strategic locations in the border villages of Punjab to keep a tab on drones and check activities of drug smugglers. Speaking to Indianarrative.com, Special Director General of Police (DGP) Arpit Shukla said that Village Defence Committees (VDCs) will also be set up in border villages to keep an eye on activities of drug smugglers. The Punjab police and BSF have joined hands for better coordinated efforts and senior officials of the two forces held a joint coordination cum review meeting in Amritsar to take stock of the situation. DIG (Border Range) Narinder Bhargav and DIG (Ferozepur Range) Ranjit Singh Dhillon along with four DIGs and four Commandants of BSF were part of the meeting. "Both the forces are working together to counter the drone operations at Punjab borders, which have emerged as the new threat. We need to carry out evidence-based and proactive policing to prevent the smuggling of narcotics and weapons into Punjab from across the border," said Shukla. The BSF had shot down four Pakistani drones along the International border in Punjab over the week-end as there was a sudden surge in UAV activity. Earlier 11 Pakistani drones had been drones destroyed till April 30 this year to 11. Around 100 incidents of drone intrusions into Indian territory have been reported between Jan- May 22 this year. In December 2022 there were 254 drone activities in Punjab as compared to 67 in 2021. This includes 221 activities detected inside Indian Territory and 22 inside Pakistan. The activity in Punjab accounts for about 84 per cent of the total drone activities reported along the entire western border this year. A total of 224 spotted drones were fired upon by BSF personnel in 2022 while the number stood at 43 in 2021. The central investigating agencies are probing the link between the four-fold increase in drone activity in 2022 to Khalistani Separatist Amritpal Singh who also arrived in the state the same year. Highly placed sources reveal that Singh's links have been traced to cross-border drug dealers based in Pakistan like Billa, Bilal, and Rana. These dealers are pumping drugs into India with the help of local criminals and villagers located closer to the border. The investigations against Amritpal and his aides so far highlights an active role in cross-border smuggling of arms, ammunition, and drugs in close coordination with ISI to destabilise law and order in Punjab. The BSF data highlights that Amritsar, Gurdaspur, and Ferozepur recorded the highest number of drone movements. The area is near Singh's native village and there are allegations of him brainwashing the local youth into actively participating in the same. According to the BSF records, the Punjab border remained the most active sector for Pakistan's nefarious activities in 2022 amongst the four states that share the International Border with the hostile neighbour. (The content is being carried under an arrangement with indianarrative.com) --indianarrative New Delhi, May 22: The National Board Revenue (NBR) of Bangladesh recently passed a permit allowing India access to the Chattogram and Mongla ports in Bangladesh for transit and transshipment of cargo. This decision is a game-changer for landlocked North-Eastern states of India, whose close proximity to the ports will make movement of goods to and from it much faster and cheaper, potentially boosting economic activity in the region. It will also connect the rest of India through a shorter alternate route via Bangladesh. The North-Eastern region of India- comprising 8 states- is connected with the rest of India through the Siliguri corridor, a narrow strip of land, commonly referred to as 'The Chicken's Neck'. While blessed with an abundance of natural resources, this region has historically lagged behind economically due to a number of factors, the most significant one being its geographical isolation from the rest of the country and poor connectivity and infrastructural development. Strategically, the region is of great importance due to its geographical position and territorial, cultural and ethnic links to neighbouring Bangladesh and South East Asian countries. The overhang of China, which has eyed the Siliguri corridor, adds to the region's strategic importance, reinforcing the need for alternate routes that can by-pass the "chicken's neck". The importance of the latest move is further amplified as the permit is opening up 16 routes - spanning the landlocked states of Assam, Meghalaya and Tripura - for transit. Under the new system, cargo can be transported from Chattogram and Mongla ports to Agartala (Tripura) via Akhaura, Dawki (Meghalaya) via Tamabil, Sutarkandi (Assam) via Sheola and Srimantapur (West Bengal) via Bibirbazar. This development is also significant because it was followed shortly by Bangladesh's announcement of its Indo-Pacific outlook, which makes way for far greater opportunities for cooperation between India and Bangladesh. The Chattogram Port is situated in the south-east of Bangladesh near the Karnaphuli river. It is the most lucrative port for Bangladesh, as 90% of its import-export traffic goes through it. The Mongla port is located near the Bay of Bengal coastline and is the second largest port in Bangladesh. Access to these ports allows the north-east to be connected to the rest of the country through a shorter and alternative route, bypassing the Siliguri Corridor. For example, while earlier the distance between Kolkata and Agartala through the Siliguri Corridor was about 1600 km, the distance from Kolkata to the Chattogram port by sea would be around 650 km and about 250km from the port to Agartala via Akhaura. A rail link has also been proposed between Agartala in Tripura and Akhaura in Bangladesh and the construction of the Maitree Setu over the Feni river that connects Sabroom, also in Tripura to the Chattogram port will open the north-eastern states to not only national, but also global markets. Bangladesh has a lucrative market for its products in West Bengal and the North-Eastern states and keeping that in mind, India has also offered concessions to Bangladesh under the South Asian Free Trade Agreement (SAFTA) to facilitate bilateral trade between the two countries. This official grant of access to the Bangladeshi ports has come five years after New Delhi and Dhaka signed an 'Agreement on the use of Chattogram and Mongla Ports for Movement of Goods to and from India' in 2018. The Standard Operating Procedure was finalized in 2019 during Sheikh Hasina's India visit. However, the Covid-19 pandemic and the global shutdown that ensued had delayed the implementation of the agreement indefinitely. Since 2020, however, both countries have been conducting trial runs to test the transshipment of goods through these ports. The first trial run took place in 2020 from Haldia port in West Bengal to Chattogram Port and then to Tripura. This was followed by the second trial run in 2022, this time from the Mongla port to Tripura through Bibirbazar in Bangladesh. The trial runs were met with a lot of enthusiasm from both sides of the border - especially in Tripura, which, thanks to the permit, would act as the gateway to the North-East. Tripura, which has historically shared a porous border, spanning over 800 km, with Bangladesh, is integral to India-Bangladesh relations. Comments made by the Union Minister of state for Social Justice and Empowerment Pratima Bhoumik - the first person from Tripura to be a union minister - after the successful second trial, emphasized the shared connection between Tripura and Bangladesh- "it's a fact that we are separated by borders but the social and cultural bond that the people of Tripura and Bangladesh shared for many decades has proved that we are one. Religion, caste, creed etc, can't separate us from each other." In a later post on social media, she also hailed this move as heralding the emergence of Tripura as the hub of trade and commerce in the North-East. Under its Act East Policy, India has been attempting to gain a foothold in the South East Asian nations, which is also important for India's aspirations in the Indo-Pacific region. North-East India therefore is crucial for outreach to South East Asia, and the development of the north-eastern states, facilitated through enhanced connectivity is of utmost importance to India. The access to the Chattogram and Mongla ports in this context is of crucial importance for enhancing trade and connectivity in the region. It would also build on the solid partnership between the Indian and Bangladeshi governments that in recent times has gone from strength to strength and help further the cause of regional connectivity that both the countries have championed along with its Himalayan neighbours Nepal and Bhutan through the BBIN initiative. In fact, in the past, there have been talks of allowing landlocked Bhutan and Nepal access to the Chattogram and Mongla ports, which would act as the gateway to the Bay of Bengal. Furthermore, Bangladesh has in the recent past been plagued by energy shortage concerns, which has affected its readymade garment sector-arguably one of the biggest contributors to Bangladesh's GDP- and the north-eastern states of India have huge oil, coal and natural gas reserves. Therefore, with greater connectivity, energy trade between Bangladesh and the North-Eastern states could flourish. (The content is being carried under an arrangement with indianarrative.com) --indianarrative News / National by Staff reporter THE trial of embattled Zengeza West lawmaker Job Sikhala, accused of inciting public violence, began this week amid inconsistent testimony by law enforcement agents.On Wednesday, Officer Commanding Law and Order Edmore Runganga, told the court that he saw the video on 13 June 2022. He said he saw a prima facie case that informed his decision to arrest, and ordered his juniors to download the video.When detective seargent Gift Mutamba appeared as the technical expert, he told the court that Runganga brought the video on 12 June on flash. He said he transferred the video to his office desktop. His testimony was in direct contradiction of Rungaga's statement during Wednesday's cross examination.The video has the police in sixes and sevens; while they agree on the utterances, they are not in concurrence on the chronology.Runganga told the court that Sikhala was wearing a black cap and a brown shirt, while Mutamba told the court the legislator was wearing a black cap and blue-and-yellow shirt-like African attire.On the length of the video, Runganga said on all the platforms that he watched the video on, namely WhatsApp, YouTube and Twitter, it was about 5 minutes long while Mutamba said the video in his possession is 46 seconds long.This became one of Sikhala's pillars in objecting to the state and its witnesses to bring video evidence as exhibits arguing there are high chance of it having been tampered with."Mr Runganga told the honourable court that the video was 5 minute long when he saw it, but, second witness told the court that the video in his posession was 46 seconds long. One wonders what happened to the 4minutes and 14 seconds," said Sikhala through his lawyer Jeremiah Bamu.Sikhala is accused alongside Chitungwiza North lawmaker Godfrey Sithole, and the police seem not to be able to point out how he is linked to the incitement charge.The charge is that both had incited violence by posting a video with such contents.Sithole is out on bail and is being represented by Oliver Marwa.Sikhala was arrested in June 2022, Twitter allowed a maximum of two minutes and 20 seconds on videos until December 2022, and more recently two gigabytes of videos for paid or subscribed users.Meanwhile, there seems to be a louder cry for Sikhala's release as Hararians woke up on Monday to a colourful CBD through graffiti enscribed "Free Job" and "Free Jacob" on the walls of the Constitutional Court, Civil Court, Karigamombe Centre as well as TelOne's Runhare House.Sikhala has spent 345 days in custody and has been denied bail several times at both the lower and the higher court.Jacob Ngarivhume, leader of the opposition Transform Zimbabwe, was convicted in April 2023 of inciting public violence ahead of the July 2020 protests.Also on Monday, students under the banner of the Zimbabwe National Students' Union observed "Black Monday" demanding justice for the two political prisoners.Later that day, students held a flash protest at ministry of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs offices demanding Sikhala and Ngarivhume's release. Four students were arrested during the protests. Washington, May 22 : It's not advanced age that is causing a rise in pregnancy complications, rather the poor health of the mother is to be blamed, suggests a research. The study led by a team from Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago, US, showed that rising rates of adverse pregnancy outcomes, such as hypertensive disorders of pregnancy, preterm birth and low birthweight, over the past 10 years are largely attributable to the health status of a person before they get pregnant, rather than age. The study found that the average age of pregnant individuals rose from 27.9 years in 2011 to 29.1 years in 2019, yet age accounted for only a small portion of the marked increase in adverse pregnancy outcomes seen during the same period. Most striking, the rate of hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (high blood pressure with or without preeclampsia or eclampsia) rose by over 50 per cent during the decade, yet the shift in age distribution of those giving birth accounted for less than two per cent of that change. "Although mothers are getting older at the time they deliver, that is not what's causing these adverse birth outcomes," said lead author Zachary Hughes, an internal medicine physician at Northwestern Memorial Hospital. "What's really driving it is pre-pregnancy health issues like diabetes and hypertension. That's important to know because these are factors we could potentially modify." Using data from the National Center for Health Statistics Natality Files, researchers compared rates of preeclampsia and eclampsia, preterm birth and low birthweight among 3.9 million births in 2011 and 3.7 million births in 2019. The results showed moderate increases in preterm birth and low birthweight (which rose by about two per cent and four per cent, respectively) and larger increases in hypertensive disorders (a 52 per cent increase). Using statistical methods to analyse the role of age in these changes, researchers found the shift in age distribution accounted for only a small portion of the increase across all outcomes assessed. Adverse pregnancy outcomes have important health consequences, including an increased risk of heart disease both at the time of pregnancy and later in life -- not only for the person giving birth but also for the baby. Researchers said preventing these adverse outcomes could help reduce cardiovascular risk throughout each lifespan. Across all age groups, people giving birth in their late teens to early thirties saw the steepest increases in adverse pregnancy outcomes. Further research is needed to determine which specific health issues -- such as obesity, diabetes, hypertension or other factors -- are driving these pregnancy complications in younger people, researchers said. New Delhi, May 22 : The Supreme Court on Monday directed the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) to put on hold, for a week, the demolition drive in Vishwas Nagar on humanitarian grounds and allow residents, mostly slum dwellers, to leave on their own. A vacation bench of Justices Aniruddha Bose and Sanjay Karol said the court did not find any fault with the single and division benches of the Delhi High Court allowing the DDA to remove the encroachments. "So far as the right of petitioners to reside at the dwelling place is concerned, we do not wish to interfere with the order passed by the Delhi High Court," it said. Citing humanitarian grounds, the bench said it is inclined to grant seven days to vacate the premises and if people fail to vacate by May 29, it will be open for the DDA to resume the demolition activities. The apex court, in its order, said: "On humanitarian consideration, however, we give them seven days' time to vacate their respective dwelling units. In the event they fail to vacate their respective premises by 29th May 2023, it would be open to the DDA, with the help of such agencies they normally seek assistance of, to resume their demolition activities. But till 23rd May 2023, no further demolition shall take place in respect of dwelling units which are subject of the present proceeding." The bench issued notice to the DDA, represented by lawyer Sunita Ojha, and said the court will examine in July's second week, whether residents, who would be removed from their dwelling units, are entitled for rehabilitation either under the Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board Act or any other law. The bench was informed that the demolition activity had started at 8 a.m. on Monday and the high court, on March 14, had dismissed a petition of the residents and ordered demolition after considering all their claims. Ojha contended that the same claims were now being revived after two months. The bench said: "We reiterate our direction that for a period of seven days, no further demolition activity shall be continued. But, so far as the demolitions which have already taken place, the same shall remain effective. We issue notice limited to the question of rehabilitation of the residents whose dwelling units are in the process of being demolished." The top court's order came on a petition filed by some residents of the Kasturba Nagar area falling under Vishwas Nagar locality of east Delhi. During the hearing, the residents pressed that they were seeking rehabilitation before being removed and highlighted valid identity documents possessed by them and also, they have been residing at the place for 40 years. The petitioners' contended that their colony has not been categorised as a registered slum due, as a result of which the authorities declined to consider their rehabilitation. As per the high court direction, the DDA last week issued notices about the demolition from May 22 to 24. Colombo, May 22 : Sri Lanka inked a deal with China's Sinopec to secure fuel supply, a business that was jointly operated by the state-run Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) and India's Lanka Indian Oil Company (LIOC). According to the agreement, Sinopec will involve in importing, storing, distributing, and selling petroleum products in predetermined distribution dealer operated networks in Sri Lanka. Battered by dollar crunch, one of the key requirements for the new retail supplier was to secure forex requirements without depending on Sri Lanka's banking sector. "It was mandated that these companies source their own funds for fuel procurement through foreign sources, at least during the initial one-year period of operation," President's Media Division (PMD) stated in a statement. "In response to the ongoing foreign exchange crisis in Sri Lanka, the Ministry of Power and Energy has taken this decisive action to ensure an uninterrupted fuel supply to consumers. With the inability to provide sufficient foreign exchange for fuel shipments, the CPC and LIOC faced significant challenges," the PMD added. "In a significant move to address Sri Lanka's fuel supply challenges, a contract agreement was signed with Sinopec, a leading international petroleum company. The agreement, signed, marks a crucial step in ensuring a steady and uninterrupted fuel supply for the nation," the President's Media added. M/s Sinopec Fuel Oil Lanka (Private) Limited along with its affiliated companies was selected among other two competitors, M/s United Petroleum Pvt Ltd, in Australia and RM Parks in the USA, in collaboration with Shell PLC. Sinopec is set to commence operations in Sri Lanka within 45 days following the issuance of the licence, PMD stated. The deal is also part of government's decision to restructure loss making state-owned enterprises such as the CPC. The move is also an initiative to win the much needed International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a 2.9 billion US dollar extended fund facility. Sinopec, with its address in Hambantota, Sri Lanka's southernmost city where Chinese controlled port is situated, already runs bunkering operation there. Sri Lanka's deal with Sinopec also marks China's entrance to energy sector which only the immediate neighbour India had the outside access. Lucknow, May 22 : The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has taken suo motu cognizance of media reports that a 45-year-old farmer committed suicide when the police forced a compromise with the perpetrators of the kidnapping and rape of his minor daughter in Uttar Pradesh's Pilibhit district. Reportedly, the victim belonged to the Scheduled Caste. The Commission has observed that the contents of the media report, if true, amount to a violation of human rights, and accordingly, has issued notices to the Chief Secretary and the Director General of Police of the state, calling for a detailed report within 4 weeks. This should also include the present status of the matter and disbursement of the monetary relief to the victim under SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Rules, 1995. The Commission would also like to know about the action taken against the delinquent officer, responsible for the tragedy. According to the media report, carried on May 19, the girl was kidnapped by the accused persons when she was going to meet her father at a farm on May 9. Her father filed a police complaint the next day but the police, instead of registering an FIR, forced a compromise between the survivor and the accused persons in the presence of some relatives. The police neither called nor informed the parents of the victim girl and closed the matter. Allegedly, upset with this, the father of the girl committed suicide on May 17. Imphal, May 22 : After fresh violence in Manipur's Imphal East district on Monday, army and paramilitary forces further tightened security while period of curfew relaxation has been curbed, officials said. A police official said that some armed miscreants went to the New Checkon area of Imphal East and threatened the shop owners to close down their shops while torching two houses. As soon as news of these incidents spread, people of other communities came out and challenged them. The irate mob also beat up one of the miscreants while the others managed to run away. Two of the miscreants were, however, taken into police custody. Imphal falls across the Imphal East and Imphal West districts, and to control the situation, the district administrations have cut short the curfew relaxation period by three hours in both districts. The Manipur government on Sunday night extended the suspension of internet services till May 26 following reports of arson and attacks and to prevent spreading of rumours and videos, photos, and messages, which might affect the law and order situation in the ethnic-violence hit northeastern state. It had first suspended mobile internet on May 3 after the state witnessed unprecedented violent clashes in 10 of the 16 districts during and after the '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. Amid the shortage of essential items, transport fuel and life-saving drugs, various government and non government facilities have also been badly affected due to the internet suspension across the mountainous state, making life more miserable for the people. Many organisations including the opposition Congress, and the media have been demanding immediate restoration of internet service in Manipur. In the recent ethnic violence in Manipur so far 71 people have been killed, 300 people got injured including police personnel, some grievously. Out of 16 districts of the state, 11 districts were affected and out of which 6 were badly impacted. Over 25,000 people were displaced, nearly 1,700 houses were burnt, and more than 200 vehicles had been destroyed. New Delhi, May 22 : The Congress on Monday slammed the BJP-led Central government over the border situation in Depsang area of Ladakh, saying that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's public "clean chit" to China in 2020 "immeasurably weakened India's negotiating position" and the "country is paying a heavy price for it". Reacting to a new report, party General Secretary Jairam Ramesh said in a statement: "Access to the strategic sector of Depsang has been denied to Indian patrols for more than three years now, with no signs of a return to the status quo." Now "we learn that, far from withdrawing, the Chinese are demanding a 'buffer zone' 15-20 km further inside Indian territory", he said, adding: "This after having already intruded 18 km past our rightful border." Ramesh also alleged that the Modi government has already "ceded" territory in Galwan, Pangong Tso, Gogra Post and Hot Springs by "agreeing to buffer zones inside the Indian territory" in return for a Chinese withdrawal. "The Modi government must stand firm against China. India cannot lose access to the 1,000 sq km Depsang plains that separate Chinese and Pakistani forces and is crucial to any defence of Ladakh," he said. Taking a pot shot at the Prime Minister, the Congress leader said, "PM Modi's public clean chit to China on June 19, 2020, immeasurably weakened India's negotiating position and the country is paying a heavy price for it. It's bad enough that the Modi government has failed to restore the status quo in the last three years. To allow it to worsen would be unforgivable." The Congress has been demanding a discussion in Parliament over the China border row. It has also questioned Prime Minister Modi's silence on the China issue on a number of occasions. Mumbai, May 22 : In yet another shocker, actor and model Aditya Singh Rajput was found dead in the bathroom of his home on Monday afternoon, Mumbai Police said here. The 32-year-old actor was living in a shared apartment on the 11th floor of the Lashkaria Heights building in the posh Oshiwara area. Though there is no official word on the exact cause of his death, preliminary reports suggest it could probably be owing to a suspected drug overdose. The actor's body has been sent for an autopsy, the report of which is awaited and the Oshiwara Police Station is conducting further investigations from all possible angles, said an official. The first tip-off came from a friend of the actor who found him lying motionless in the home bathroom and rushed him to a nearby hospital where he was declared dead on admission. Rajput was born in Uttarakhand but settled in Delhi and started as a model-cum-actor as a child star in the glamour industry around 20 years ago. Over the years, he became a familiar face on more than 300 advertisements and spots, and acted in films like "Krantiveer", "Maine Gandhi Ko Nahin Mara", "Love" and others. On the small screen, he was seen in shows like 'Cambala Investigation Agency', 'Splitsvilla - 9', 'Love', 'Ashiqui', 'Code Red', 'Rajputana', 'Aawaz-9', 'Bad Boys' and more. Bollywood personalities reacted with shock and disbelief at the young actor's death on various social media networks and some were reminded of the demise of popular actor, Sushant Singh Rajput on June 14, 2020. Chennai, May 22 : Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin on Monday expressed concern over the deaths due to manual scavenging in the state. The chief minister was speaking at a review meeting organised by the Municipality Administration and Water Supply department to prevent deaths due to manual scavenging at the secretariat. Stalin said that the officials were not paying enough attention to this area and pointed out that the state government had a responsibility to prevent deaths due to manual scavenging which was a black mark to the society. The Chief Minister said that as per the information he had, most of the deaths due to manual scavenging had taken place in urban areas. He warned of stringent action against those officials who had not taken enough precautionary measures to prevent manual scavenging. Stalin referred to measures taken by the Greater Chennai Corporation to empower persons engaged in cleaning septic tanks with modern equipment and make them entrepreneurs under the Ambedkar Business Champions scheme. He said that an amount of Rs 100 crore was allocated in the budget of 2023-24 for this scheme, and called upon the concerned authorities to implement the plan within four months. He also pointed out that an agreement was signed between the Chennai Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewage Board (CMWSSB) and the Dalit Chamber of Commerce to train cleanliness workers to become entrepreneurs. Minister for Municipal Administration K.N. Nehru, Chief Secretary Irai Anbu, Greater Chennai Corporation Commissioner, J. Radhakrishnan were present during the meeting. Guwahati, May 22 : A teenaged girl committed suicide in Assam's Cachar district on Monday after she failed in the Class 10 board examination, police said. The girl has been identified as Asma Begam, a resident of Ganirgram village in the district. Superintendent of Police in Cachar district, Numal Mahatta, told IANS, "After the results were announced by the board today, Asma Begam came to know that she could not pass the examination." According to police, after an hour or so, she went to the nearby Barak River and jumped into it. A neighbour saw the incident and reported it to the family members. "As soon as we got the information, the state disaster response force (SDRF) rushed to the spot, but unfortunately, the dead body of the girl was recovered from the river," Mahatta said. Asma Begam used to study at the Shantipur Begam Abida girls' school in the Cachar district. Ahmedabad, May 22 : The Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) of Gujarat on Monday arrested a suspected Al-Qaeda terrorist. A youth from Bangladesh, linked to the banned terrorist organization, was apprehended based on inputs received from the Intelligence Bureau (IB). The suspect Sojibmia, along with three other individuals identified as Aakash Khan, Munna Khan and Abdul Latif, was alleged to have illegally infiltrated into India from Bangladesh. They were residing in Odhav and Narol in Ahmedabad. The ATS acted on the basis of intelligence about the men possessing counterfeit Indian documents. The arrested suspect was reportedly engaged in indoctrinating Muslim youths to join Al-Qaeda, spreading the extremist group's propaganda, and channelling funds to its leaders. A case under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) has been filed against the four at the ATS Police Station and an investigation has been launched. The Gujarat ATS team apprehended Sojibmia Ahmedali, aged 28, a resident of Sukhram Estate in the Odhav area of Ahmedabad. Ahmed Ali, originally from Khudro village in the Mymensingh district of Bangladesh, was allegedly radicalized by his many contacts in Bangladesh and eventually became a member of Al-Qaeda. Ahmedali was reportedly in touch with a Bangladeshi person named Shariful Islam, who encouraged him to join Al-Qaeda. Following this, Ahmedali was introduced to the Mymensingh district's chief of the Al-Qaeda organization, a man named Shayba, by Shariful Islam. Shayba assigned Ahmedali the task of radicalizing other youths, recruiting for Al-Qaeda, and amassing funds. Furthermore, he was also trained in using encrypted chat applications, TOR, and VPN for covert communications. ATS Deputy Inspector General Dipen Bhadran said, "Shayba, the handler of this module, had given them assurances and provided his own testimony in the name of Shayba. During the interrogation, it came to light that Ahmed Ali's associates, Munna Khan (alias Munna Khalid Ansari) and Aakash Khan (alias Jahangir alias Adharul Islam Kafiluddin Ansari), were also associated with Al-Qaeda." These individuals had also illegally entered India and created fake documents to establish themselves in the country. Information retrieved from these individuals has been instrumental in furthering the investigation, which has revealed a more extensive network of this terror module across India. News / National by Staff reporter THE National Social Security Authority (Nssa) has presented its forensic audit which unearths corruption and names individuals implicated in the pensions fund's latest scandals to the Office of the President and Cabinet, setting the stage for President Emmerson Mnangagwa to act, if he will at all.Nssa is a US$1.2 billion statutory pension fund. It has 109 properties across the country. The current Nssa forensic audit was done by AMG Global Chartered Accountants (Zimbabwe).It focuses on a wide scope of corruption issues, ranging from corporate governance, abuse of office and power, and self-aggrandisement at the expense of struggling poor pensioners.Some of the critical issues involved include fraudulent property deals and acquisitions, abuse of office and duty, company vehicles, foreign trips and holiday allowances.Nssa board members last year reportedly flew to Kenya paying themselves huge allowances for a week-long training workshop that could have been held locally to save money as pensioners continue to receive peanuts and wallow in poverty.However, the elephant in the room is Public Service minister Paul Mavima's US$400 000 Borrowdale house scandal which is part of the audit report, further providing evidence to a story first written by The NewsHawks.The house involved is Stand No. 218 Lot A1 in Quinnington.There is also the Kariba property scandal emanating from another fraudulent transaction by Nssa involving a commercial property in Kariba valued at US$220 000.The property was bought for US$215 000 after negotiations, but US$244 000 was paid. In fact, US$240 000 was paid after charges. This means US$25 000 was siphoned.At one point, Nssa officials claimed it was valued at US$360 000.When other costs were added, the price went up to US$252 631.59.Since Nssa usually pays round figures, US$300 000 was paid. The balance was purportedly directed to its investment account.Nssa investments director Brian Murewa is on the run over those issues. He has escaped to South Africa.The minister's scandal has cast doubts about Mnangagwa's seriousness in fighting corruption.In the aftermath of Al Jazeera's Gold Mafia investigative documentary which implicated Mnangagwa together with his key aides and business cronies, the Nssa corruption issue puts the President into a new spotlight over his now increasingly discredited anti-corruption drive.Mnangagwa's critics say he should now admit today, not tomorrow that his so-called war on corruption is evidently not serious and hypocritical; a waste of people's time and taxpayers' funds.As a result of his own involvement in some cases of corruption such as Gold Mafia and his ministers' cases such as Mavima's, critics say right away the President ought to end his anti-corruption charade and now focus on other things which he can do better.State agencies such as the police, the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission and other constitutional bodies have failed to rise to the occasion to investigate high-level corruption.Nssa, constituted and established in terms of the Nssa Act of 1989, [Chapter 17: 04], is the statutory corporate body tasked by the government to provide social security.The Act empowers the minister of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare to establish social security schemes for the provision of benefits to all employees.Nssa is mandated to administer every scheme and fund that is established in terms of this Act, and to advise the minister on all matters on the operations of the schemes and on matters relating to social security generally.While Nssa is governed by the Nssa Act, two schemes under its administration have their own legislation.Current schemes are governed through Statutory Instrument 68 of 1990 which established the Accident Prevention and Workers' Compensation Scheme and Statutory Instrument 393 of 1993 for the Pension and Other Benefits Scheme (POBS).The POBS is scheme a partially funded by a pay-as-you-go defined benefit (PAYG DB) scheme.Both schemes are mandatory.Nssa also administers the Factories and Works Act Chapter 14:08 and Pneumoconiosis Act 15:08 which deal with occupational safety and health in the workplace.Nssa has two key subsidiaries: The National Building Society, a result of investment through the National Pensions Scheme Fund and Workers' Compensation Insurance Fund.It also has numerous financial investments.Nssa has been in turmoil since last year when it was investigated by the Zacc and other arms of the state.AMG did the forensic audit, now with Mnangagwa's office.Its general manager Arthur Manase is on suspension over corruption-related issues involving cars, a house loan and allowances.There is also the issue a Borrowdale house No.49A Borrowdale Road, Harare that was renovated for Manase and housing loans and allowances.Manase denies the corruption charges and claims to have been exonerated by Zacc.He is also suing various media organisations over the issue, but insiders say he still has cases to answer and the audit does proves that.Manase's other issue specifically involves two cars: a Mercedes-Benz E53 AMG bought for him for US$178 000 and a Land Rover Defender for US$175 000.Insiders say the Benz was converted to a personal loan in a bid to regularise an unprocedural and corrupt arrangement over condition-of-service vehicles.Nssa assistant accountant Erasmus Mavondo was arrested last year and appeared in court on allegations of corruptly awarding Manase a personal loan to buy a top-of-the-range car using an undervalued exchange rate.Mavondo allegedly helped Manase to buy the Benz for ZW$25 351 418.60 instead of ZW$60 251 593.80, which was equivalent to US$178 000.The money was purportedly given to Manase as a personal loan to regularise a problematic company-cars deal in which he ended up with two condition-of-service vehicles instead of one.In so doing, Mavondo allegedly prejudiced Nssa of ZW$34 900 175 after converting the US$178 000 using a 31 March 2022 rate of US$1: ZW$142 instead of US$1: ZW$138 as of 21 June 2022.Since Manase's suspension in July last year, Charles Shava has been acting general manager.Shava, who is the substantive director of occupational safety and health, was also arrested over a doctors' allowances scheme involving $12 246 571.48.Shava's lawyers said that was part of Mavima's backlash against those who are seen as exposing his corrupt house deal and Nssa interference.Mavima tried to replace Shava with Agnes Masiiwa, the director of contributions, collections and compliance, but was blocked by Vice-President Constantino Chiwenga when he was Acting President in January.Masiiwa's appointment was officially done by Nssa board chairperson Percy Toriro with Mavima's approval.Toriro has since resigned and replaced by Emmanuel Fundira.Amid upheavals at Nssa, several executives and managers were shifted and some removed as those in charge sought to assert control amid corruption allegations.Others became collateral damage, like David Makwara, the corporate affairs director, suspended over a loan issue, but who claims to be a victim of the situation.Makwara has been in and out of Nssa as a result.Fundira says officials implicated in the Nssa audit report will be suspended and face the full wrath of the law.The report has already been presented to be released to the Office of the President and Cabinet, setting the stage for action, that is if the authorities some of them compromised act at all.However, Fundira has his work cut out for him, just like Mnangagwa. The Mavima matter is a test case for him.Nssa has been rocked by a series of corruption scandals in recent years, including the current one. New Delhi, May 22 : The Congress on Monday slammed the BJP-led Central government over President Droupadi Murmu not being invited for the inauguration of the new Parliament building. The allegation comes after Congress leader Rahul Gandhi noted that President Murmu and not Prime Minister Narendra Modi should be inaugurating the new Parliament Building. Even Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge earlier in the day slammed the BJP over the inauguration of new Parliament House by the Prime Minister, scheduled on May 28 saying the government has ensured election of President from the Dalit and the tribal communities only for electoral reasons and the high office is reduced to tokenism under it. Addressing a press conference at the party headquarters here, Congress leader Anand Sharma said: "It is not constitutionally correct to take major decision about the Parliament of India, excluding the head of the parliament - the President of India, from the decision-making from the foundation stone laying and now for the inauguration". He said that Article 79 of the Constitution makes it crystal clear that the Parliament comprises of the President, who is the head of the Parliament and the two houses, first - the permanent house, the Rajya Sabha, or the Council of States. "The Constitution uses the word the Council of States, Rajya Sabha and then the house of the people, the Lok Sabha. So, that is why council of states, because India is a Union of States and the Chairman of the Rajya Sabha is number two in the warrant of precedence, the Vice President of India." Sharma said that the Lok Sabha Speaker chairs the Lok Sabha, and all decisions concerning, the summoning of the Parliament is vested in the President under Article 85. "The year starts with the joint session of the Parliament. The joint session is addressed by the President of India and the President is flanked by Vice President of India on the right side and on the left hand, is the Lok Sabha Speaker. "The Prime Minister is the leader of the Lok Sabha, he has every right to be there, respectfully so, but any major event like this required... but, the constitutional scheme of things is very clear - Parliament does not comprise of one half and that's why the framers of the Constitution have put in place, the scheme, which should never be violated, should have never been," he said. Sharma also cited the examples of many countries and said that no democracy in the world has ever done this. "It is also unfortunate that we had a Dalit President, Ram Nath Kovind, who should have also been given that honour as the Head of Parliament and now we have a tribal President, that to a tribal woman President, our respected President, Droupadi Murmu. "So, we would still urge and tell the government, tell the Prime Minister that this constitutional propriety should be kept in mind and the President of India should be given her rightful position as the President to do the honour to inaugurate, for whatever reasons this new structure is coming," Sharma said. "We share our concerns and the position as it is in our Constitution," he said. Even Rajya Sabha member Kapil Sibal took a pot shot at the government and Home Minister Amit Shah, saying: "Amit Shah: Insult to PM is insult to country. Amitji my understanding of the constitution is that : PM works for the country. PM is not the country. Just as : Government works for the country. Government is not the country." The Congress has been demanding that President Murmu should inaugurate the new Parliament building on May 28. PM Modi will be inaugurating the new Parliament building -- a triangular-shaped four-storey building. Its construction started on January 15, 2021 and was to be completed by August 2022. Built in an area of 64,500 square metres, the new building will house 1,224 MPs and has a library, multiple committee rooms, and dining rooms. Tata Projects has constructed the building at an estimated cost of Rs 970 crore. Smuggled from Myanmar, Rs 12 cr drugs seized in Mizoram, one held Image Source: IANS News Smuggled from Myanmar, Rs 12 cr drugs seized in Mizoram, one held Image Source: IANS News Aizawl, May 22 : The police in Mizoram on Monday have seized heroin valued at Rs 12 crore and arrested a person in this connection, an official said on Monday. A police officer said that acting on a tip-off, a truck was intercepted at Tawngtaimual Zemabawk near Aizawl. Heroin concealed in 200 soap cases was recovered from the vehicle. The 16-year-old helper of the truck driver, a resident of Assam's Hailakandi district, was arrested in connection with the seizure, the police officer said. The seized heroin, vehicle and the detainee were handed over to Bawngkawn police station for further investigation and legal action. The heroin was smuggled from Myanmar. A case has been registered under the NDPS Act. Chandigarh, May 22 : The Punjab government has given in principle approval for constructing a shorter and alternate route to the Shaheed Bhagat Singh International Airport from Chandigarh, officials said on Monday. The proposed routes will reduce the travel distance to around 3.5 km, reducing the time from 25 minutes to five minutes. The Chandigarh Administration has been deliberating to develop a shorter and alternate route to the airport as the existing and single route is long and the commuters have to travel 11.5 km to reach the airport from Chandigarh. The alternate route has been prepared after consultation of all the stakeholders -- the Punjab government, the Ministry of Defence, the Indian Air Force, the Chandigarh International Airport Ltd, and the Ministry of Railways, an official statement said. The Punjab government has also given its approval for acquiring the land falling in its jurisdiction, whereas the in principle approvals have already been taken from the other stakeholders. The new route is planned to start from 200 metres before the T-point intersection of Vikas Marg (coming from Sector 43 bus stand) and Purv Marg (coming from Tribune Chowk). Chennai, May 22 : For the first time in the history of Tamil Nadu police, the Coimbatore city police have appointed two women constables as sniffer dog handlers. The two cops -- Kavipriya (25) and Bhavani (26) -- are presently undergoing training to handle sniffer dogs. Coimbatore city police Commissioner V. Balakrishnan told mediapersons, "I have decided to give opportunities to women police constables to become sniffer dog handlers, as till now this was done by only men cops." Kavipriya has done her B.Sc in Physics besides doing B.Ed, and had undergone training at the Police Recruits School (PRS). She is posted with the Coimbatore city armed reserve police force. While speaking to IANS, Kavipriya said that she has been a pet lover and while undergoing training at PRS, she had seen the abilities of dog detective squads. She said that after she was posted in Coimbatore armed forces squad, senior officers asked whether any woman cop was interested in joining the dog detective squad and she immediately accepted the offer. Bhavani hails from Theni in southern Tamil Nadu and has done her BA in English literature before doing her Bachelor of Physical Education (B.Ped). She told IANS that she is also a pet lover and had jumped to the opportunity when asked by the senior officers. Kavipriya has been allotted a sniffer dog named Wilma, which is a trained tracking dog, while Bhavani is allotted a sniffer dog named Madhana, an expert in sniffing for drugs. The two women cops are undergoing training at the Coimbatore city police commissionerate since May 1, and will be pressed into the dog detective squad after six months of training. New Delhi, May 22 : The Congress has hinted that it will take a decision on supporting the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in Delhi, which is at loggerheads with the Centre over the services matter, in the Parliament, ahead of the Monsoon Session. A Congress source said that a decision on supporting the AAP would be taken after speaking to the party leadership. He said that the party would decide on opposing the ordinance "ahead of the Monsoon Session". The source said that Congress has always talked of strengthening the federal structure and statehood. However, the Arvind Kejriwal-led Delhi government has been exposed on the development front and they are always in confrontation with the Centre, he added. On Saturday, Delhi Chief Minister and AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal urged the opposition parties to oppose the 'ordinance' brought by the Centre to negate the Supreme Court's judgement placing 'services' under the control of the state government in the national capital. He met Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and his deputy Tejashwi Yadav at his residence here on Sunday, where both the leaders extended their support to the AAP. The Central government has brought an ordinance to set up a permanent authority known as the National Capital Civil Service Authority whose chairperson will be Delhi chief minister along with chief secretary, Delhi, Principal Secretary (Home), Delhi to make recommendations to the Delhi L-G regarding matters concerning transfer posting, vigilance and other incidental matters. However, in case of difference of opinion, the decision of the L-G shall be final. On May 11, a five-judge constitution bench of the Supreme Court ruled that it is ideal to hold that a democratically elected Delhi government should have control over its officers and the L-G is bound by the advice of the elected government on everything other than public order, police, and land. The top court stressed that if the government is not able to control and hold to account the officers posted in its service, then its responsibility towards the legislature as well as the public is diluted. The ordinance came after the apex court gave the Delhi government control of service matters, including the transfer and posting of officers. Srinagar, May 22 : Two tourists were killed and another was injured on Monday in a river rafting accident in Jammu and Kashmir's Pahalgam tourist resort. An official said the deceased tourists have been identified as Patil Sharmilaben and Parul Bhikhabhai Ambalal, both from Ahmedabad. Another tourist identified as Muskan Khan of Mumbai was rescued. Her condition is said to be critical. "The bodies of the deceased tourists have been kept at a hospital in Pahalgam," an official said. Jaipur, May 22 : Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Monday took part in the 483rd birth anniversary celebrations of Maharana Pratap organised by Mewar Kshatriya Mahasabha and the Municipal Corporation in Udaipur, where he announced that state government will set up the 'Veer Shiromani Maharana Pratap Board'. Gehlot said that by celebrating the birth anniversary of Maharana Pratap every year, the young generation is getting inspired by his sacrifice and valour. The saga of his bravery and sacrifice inspires people not only in Rajasthan, but also in other parts of the country and abroad to move forward with a sense of self-respect. Pratap Singh I, popularly known as Maharana Pratap, was a Rajput king of Mewar from the Sisodia dynasty who fought several major battles against Akbar, including the Battle of Haldighati in 1576, to resist the expansionist policy of the Mughal empire. Addressing the gathering in Udaipur, Gehlot said that it is the duty of the present generation to hand over this glorious saga of valour to the coming generations. "We should take a pledge to work only for the service of humanity," he said, adding that the places associated with the life of Maharana Pratap -- Chavand, Gogunda, Haldighati etc. -- make the identity of Mewar special. The Chief Minister said that the Veer Shiromani Maharana Pratap Board will make the young generation aware of the bravery of the Rajput king. The board will prepare a plan for course materials, heritage conservation, innovation, research work in different languages, publicity of publications, national-international awards, lectures, poetry conferences etc. Gehlot also announced to undertake development works at a cost of Rs 5 crore for the development of Maharana Pratap's mausoleum, Rajtilak Sthal, and other places. He added that an announcement has also been made to make a Maharana Pratap Panorama at Chavand at a cost of Rs 4 crore, for which work orders have been issued. The Chief Minister said that the Mewar Complex was announced when he was the Union minister. Under this, development of all the places associated with Maharana Pratap started from the point of view of tourism. Efforts were made so that domestic and foreign tourists could get information about the glorious history of these places. He also urged the Chittorgarh MP to get the old files related to the complex retrieved from the Central government and get the development works done under it. Gehlot said that he himself will request the Prime Minister by writing a letter in this regard. New Delhi, May 22 : Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif claimed on Monday that he has personal knowledge of then-spymaster General Asim Munir showing Imran Khan proof of his wifes corruption in 2019, an act that eventually resulted in his dismissal as chief of the countrys premier intelligence agency, a media report said. The claim was first made by British newspaper The Telegraph in a report claiming that Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Gen Asim Munir, who was then serving as Director General of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), brought to then Prime Minister Imran Khan's attention the allegations of corruption against his wife, Bushra Khan, in 2019. "Gen Munir is reported to have informed Khan that he wanted to investigate the allegations of corruption against his wife and her circle. Then, in June 2019, he was removed from his post only eight months into what was meant to be a three-year term," The Telegraph reported. The PTI Chairman, however, rubbished the report, saying the claims were "completely false". "The article claims that I had made Gen Asim resign as DG ISI because he had shown me my wife Bushra Begum's corruption cases. This is completely false. Neither did Gen Asim show me any proof of my wife's corruption, nor did I make him resign because of that," Khan tweeted on Sunday evening. But, speaking on the floor of the National Assembly on Monday, Sharif accused the PTI chief of lying to the nation again, claiming that he has personal knowledge of the incident actually taking place. Shehbaz alleged that then premier Imran Khan removed General Asim Munir from his position as DG ISI after he unveiled the corruption allegations against his wife Bushra Khan, The Express Tribune reported. Sharif said Gen Munir had identified instances of corruption by Bushra Bibi, but his disclosures were not well-received by the PTI chief, leading to his dismissal from the role. New Delhi, May 22 : The Jamia Millia Islamia (JMI) on Monday opposed before the Delhi High Court a plea by a law student, who has sought 10 per cent reservation for students belonging to the Economically Weaker Section (EWS) category at the time of admission from academic year 2023-24. The JMI had earlier told the high court that it was declared a minority educational institution in 2011 and the provision of 10 per cent reservation for students from the economically weaker section (EWS) will not be applicable to it. In an affidavit filed in response to the plea, the JMI has said that the government issued a notification in 2019 that the office memorandum enabling the provision of 10 per cent reservation for EWS students in admission to educational institutions will not be applicable to minority institutions and Jamia is covered by it. The university's standing counsel, Pritish Sabharwal, filed the affidavit saying that an order was passed by the National Commission for Minority Educational Institutions in 2011, declaring Jamia a minority educational institution. JMI also asserted Public Interest Litigations (PIL) were being exploited by private individuals and the present petition deserved to be dismissed for being without any merit. A division bench of Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Yashwant Varma had earlier granted two weeks' time to the university to file its reply to the petition filed as a PIL. The reservation is sought in view of the provisions of Constitution (One Hundred and Third Amendment) Act, 2019 under Article 15(6) of the Constitution. Senior advocate Arun Bhardwaj, appearing for petitioner Akansha Goswami, had submitted that either Jamia could be a Central university or a minority institution and cannot be both. He had said the admission process has begun from April and will go on till September. The court has posted the matter for next hearing on August 17. In March, the high court had issued notice on the plea to the Centre, the University Grants Commission (UGC), and the varsity. The petitioner sought it to implement the letter the UGC had, on January 18, 2019, issued requesting Vice Chancellors of all Central universities, including Jamia Millia Islamia, to implement 10 per cent EWS reservation at the time of admission from the academic year 2019-2020. Goswami's PIL claims that JMI issued a press release on February 5, 2019, refusing to implement the reservation quota for EWS students "citing its status as Minority Institution" under Article 30 of the Constitution. The plea seeks direction on the varsity to withdraw its admission prospectus it had issued for the academic year 2023-2024 for undergraduate and graduate courses without making any provision for the 10 per cent EWS reservation and issue it afresh after making provisions for EWS reservation. Jamia lost its identity by its conversion into the central university which was established by the Jamia Millia Islamia Act, 1988, the plea said. "It is evident from the fact that Jamia Millia Islamia Act, 1988, had dissolved Jamia Millia Islamia Society and its memorandum of association and incorporated those provisions in the act which were completely different from its earlier MOA," the plea states. Jaipur, May 22 : The police in Rajasthan filed an FIR against the driver of a vehicle that allegedly ran over four members of a family, after BJP MP Kirodi Lal Meena on Monday sat on dharna outside DGP Umesh Mishra's residence. Meena on Monday sat on a dharna along with the relatives of the deceased for not registering an FIR in connection with the accident that took place in Kothkawada. Four members of a family who were coming from Haridwar after immersing ash in Ganga were killed when a rashly driven vehicle hit them while they were taking rest beneath a tree. The villagers had staged a protest demanding an FIR against the driver and compensation for the family. However, the police did not register an FIR till Monday. On learning that Meena was sitting on a dharna, the police registered a case of murder against a jeep driver who is reportedly absconding. After the case was registered, the BJP leader went to Kothkawada along with the members of the victims' family, where the demands were discussed between Meena and the administration. Meena handed over Rs 2 lakh in cash to the victim's family, while MLA Ved Prakash Solanki also announced to give his 2 months' salary to the victim's family. A cheque of Rs 10 lakh was also handed over by the government, after which the relatives agreed to take the bodies home for cremation. It was also decided to give a contractual job to a family member of the deceased, and approve accommodation in the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana along with benefits from various government schemes to the deceased individuals' family. News / National by Staff reporter PUMULA residents have taken to task a local supermarket for allegedly selling rotten meat."I bought meat this Monday and when I got home and opened the packet, the whole house was immediately filled with a stench. I realised that the meat was rotten and got a replacement from the supermarket," claimed a resident, Gugulethu Mhlanga."I cooked the meat and a few days later, people at my house developed stomach aches, but I never thought it was because of that at first. I am now convinced it was the meat after I realised I was not the only one who experienced it."Another customer Pritchard Nkomo, raised a similar concern saying: "I went to buy some meat with my friends and we realised that the meat was rotten. We returned the meat, it was disappointing."An employee at the supermarket, whose name has been withheld for legal reasons, said they did not sell rotten meat on purpose, adding that they had utmost respect for customers."We do not sell rotten meat deliberately. Mistakes happen. We are human. So if someone was sold meat that had gone bad, then we are sorry," the supermarket employee said.Contacted for comment, the proprietor of the supermarket (whose name has also been withheld for legal reasons) said he was not aware of the concerns.Bulawayo City Council health services director Charles Malaba said council did not allow such things to happen and would make a follow-up with a view to take action."We will deploy our officials to monitor the place because no one is allowed to sell bad food items to people, but mistakes do happen in life," he said. Bengaluru, May 22 : Nayana Motamma, the newly-elected Dalit MLA of the Congress in Karnataka, has hit out at those trying to target her by circulating visuals from her private life on social media. The MLA from Mudigere Assembly constituency (reserved for Scheduled Caste) in Chikkamagaluru district said that her political opponents circulated visuals in which she is seen wearing dresses different from the sarees she wore while campaigning out of frustration due to the defeat in the elections. "Don't let the frustration of defeat haunt you further. Yes... politics, me, myself, my personal life is the answer for those idiots who don't know the difference," tweeted Nayana, who posted about a minute-long clip of her pictures from her personal life used by the opponents to target her. In these pictures, she could be seen wearing clothes other than saree, and spending time with her husband and friends. Some of the visuals show her jogging or dancing or taking selfies or spending time in the swimming pool. There are also a couple of pictures with liquor bottles. These visuals were juxtaposed with clips from her campaigning where she was mostly seen wearing saree. The 43-year-old, who is the youngest woman MLA in the new state Assembly, said she herself had posted some of these photographs on social media and her political rivals used them to run a slander campaign before the elections on May 10 and even after her victory on May 13. After Nayana's team filed a complaint with the police, the video was taken down from the Facebook page of the local BJP unit. Nayana, a former corporate lawyer and National Law School of India University (NLSIU) and University of Pennsylvania alumna, defended her action of posting the video. She said she had nothing to hide as her personal life is different from her public life. She feels that wearing certain clothes in her personal life or as a corporate lawyer will in no way affect her job as a legislator. The daughter of senior Congress leader, Dalit activist and former minister Motamma, Nayana has received huge support from netizens for taking a bold stand against those trying to malign her. "More power to you," tweeted many netizens, including both men and women. Nayana also received the support from women leaders of not just the Congress, but other parties as well. "More power to you @NayanaJhawar avre. Leaders have a personal life and it's refreshing that you are being you without any artifice," tweeted Lavanya Balla Jain, spokesperson of Karnataka Congress. "Proud of you Nayana! Love your spunk and all the best in your new role," tweeted Priyanka Chaturvedi, Rajya Sabha member of Shiv Sena UBT. Nayana entered the Assembly for the first time by winning the Mudigere seat with a narrow margin. She defeated her nearest rival Deepak Doddaiah of the BJP by a margin of 722 votes. New York, May 22 : India's Consulate General here has sponsored a beach cleanup as part of the global G-20 programme to combat beach litter that ravages coastal areas and ultimately harms marine life. Volunteers streamed into Jones Beach on Sunday for the programme which was co-sponsored by the Shanti Fund and the New York State Parks Department to clean up litter on the beach abutting the city on Long Island. Consul General Randhir Jaiswal said the programme highlights the theme of "One Earth, One Family, One Future" set by India for G-20 as its president. He said that plastic and other waste leach into the oceans, harming the ecosystems and the cleanup would help protect them. He added that it also brings home the importance of Mission LiFE (Lifestyle For Environment) that India is promoting sustainable and environment-friendly lifestyles. The beach cleanup campaign coincides with the third meeting of the G20's Environment and Climate Sustainability Working Group (ECSWG) that began on Sunday in Mumbai. The global cleanup programme was held in 20 countries of the G-20 and several other countries and in 30 beaches in nine Indian states and four Union Territories. G-20 is the group of major developed and emerging economies. The Shanti Fund, based in New York State, promotes peace through education and volunteerism. (Arul Louis can be contacted at arul.l@ians.in and followed at @arulouis) New Delhi, May 22 : The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Monday said that during the course of investigation in a case against Jyoti Ranjan Beura a.k.a. Golden Baba, seized a high-end Audi Q5 car worth around Rs 51 lakh. The ED said that it has seized the vehicle under the provisions of the PMLA. 'Golden Baba' has allegedly cheated people to the tune of Rs 5.50 crore in lieu of providing loans. The needy businessmen in Odisha, and common people were among his victims. A case against him was filed by EOW, Bhubaneswar and then a chargesheet was filed as well. The ED's case is based on this FIR. "Golden Baba, in the capacity of the sole proprietor of Jyoti Trading & Co. had signed several agreements with various persons and entities to provide financial assistance in their business and received proceeds of crime as advance and defrauded by siphoning off the advance amount through creation of forged and fabricated documents and diverting the money received through the above act in various accounts opened in the name of Jyoti Trading & Co. (Proprietorship firm) and other companies controlled by him," said the ED. The official said that in this case, earlier, an amount of Rs 50.47 lakh in the three bank accounts maintained in the name of Golden Baba of Jyoti Trading & Co was frozen. Patna, May 22 : Days after Bihar Police's STF arrested an accused in the 2013 serial terror blasts in Patna's Gandhi Maidan, his father on Monday claimed that the National Investigation Agency had released him in 2013 and the STF has arrested his son after 10 years without any notice. The Bihar STF claimed that accused Mehre Alam was a fugitive for the last 10 years. "NIA detained my son Mehre Alam in 2013 and took him to the police station. The sleuths had called me to ask to take my son back home. When we reached home, the NIA levelled allegations that Mehre Alam fled from its custody of NIA," Mahboob Alam, the father of Mehre Alam, said. "A 10-member STF team came to my house on Saturday night and took away my son. They had not served any notice to me," he said. "Mehre Alam was booked in the Patna serial blast case of 2013. A team of Ashok Paper Mill and Muzaffarpur police arrested him for questioning. An FIR has been registered against him in Muzaffarpur (case number 612/13) for fleeing from the police custody," SDPO, Darbhanga Sadar, Birju Paswan said. The Indian Mujahideen was allegedly involved in serial blasts in the Maidan during Hunkar rally of then Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi on October 27, 2013, which claimed 6 lives and left 87 injured. Guwahati, May 22 : Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Monday said that Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) will be completely withdrawn from the state within this year. "We are aiming at withdrawing AFSPA completely from Assam by the end of 2023. We will also rope in ex-military personnel to train our police force," he said. Sarma also attended the first-ever conference of armed police commandants at the Police Training Centre in Dergaon here. "With the continuous improvement of the situation in the state, the AFSPA will likely be lifted from the entire state by the end of this year. In such a situation, Assam Police battalions would be empowered to replace Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) other than the number of CAPFs whose presence is mandatory in the state as per law," he said. The Chief Minister mentioned that steps will be taken to ensure that there is a positive change in the mindset of the forces of the battalions to make them feel that commandants and personnel belonging to different battalions are integral parts of the police forces in Assam. "Adequate steps will be taken to empower the Assam Police Battalions so that they themselves are complete to deal with law and order in the state. They will also be reoriented to control the mob without using lethal weapons or using them to the minimum extent possible," he added. Sarma also said that considering the important role played by the commandants and the Assam police battalions, the Commandants' Conference will be organised every six months. "This will be done to bring about positive changes in the rank and file of the battalions and give a more result-oriented police force to the state," he said. DGP Assam Police G.P. Singh, special DGP Harmeet Singh, and other senior police officers were present also. Bhopal, May 22 : The Congress' media and communications team will visit here on Tuesday to hold a key meeting, focusing mainly on formulating strategies to counter the BJP, keeping the upcoming Assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh in mind. The meeting would be held at Madhya Pradesh unit Congress president Kamal Nath's residence in Shymala Hills. It would be attended by all district and state spokespersons, IT teams, social and digital media heads and members. A source in the know of things told IANS that three senior Congress leaders who look after communication and media of the All India Congress Committee (AICC) will visit Bhopal on Tuesday. Jairam Ramesh, who is in-charge of AICC's Media and Publicity Department; Pawan Khera, Chairman, Media and Publicity; and Supriya Shrinate, Chairperson, Social Media and Digital Platforms, are expected to attend the meeting. The AICC's media and communication panel will hold a discussion with state spokespersons, while the media department and the IT teams will prepare their plans for next steps. Similar to the BJP, the state Congress unit has also appointed social media teams at district and block level. "AICC media communication team will brief the state spokespersons. Mainly, on how to escape the BJP's 'trap' during debates, and responding to daily issues during the elections. We are well aware that the BJP will try to lay a trap with its false propaganda. Therefore, we have to be very careful," said senior Congress leader and ex-chairperson of Women's Commission in Madhya Pradesh, Shobha Oza. Notably, last week, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) held a state-level meeting of its IT cell and social media team at its Madhya Pradesh headquarters. A day-long session was addressed by national convenor of the BJP IT cell and social media, Amit Malviya; Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan; state in -charge Muralidhar Rao, and Madhya Pradesh unit BJP president, V.D. Sharma. With less than six months left for the Assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh, the leaders of both the BJP and the Congress have started the preparations. Both the parties also began strengthening their social media outreach, IT team, communication department from state to district and at block level. In the past few weeks, the ruling BJP has held meetings of its social media in-charges, communication and IT heads. New Delhi, May 22 : The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Monday said it has attached 119 immovable properties worth Rs 121.87 crore in connection with the Rs 2,000 crore Chhattisgarh liquor scam case. The ED said that the attached properties include 14 assets worth Rs 8.83 crore of IAS Anil Tuteja; 69 properties worth Rs 98.78 crore of Anwar Dhebar; three properties worth Rs 1.54 crore of Vikas Agarwal, 32 properties worth Rs 11.35 crore of Arvind Singh and one property worth Rs 1.35 crore of Arunpati Tripathi. An official said that the attached properties of Dhebar include Hotel Vennington Court, Raipur, being run under the aegis of his firm, Dhebar Buildcon. The ED has said that Dhebar, the brother of the Mayor of Raipur, Ajaz Dhebar, was the "kingpin" in the liquor scam. Besides, IAS Anil Tuteja, who is said to be close to Chhattisgarh Chief Minister, was termed as the mastermind behind the Rs 2,000 crore liquor scam. The ED has alleged that a criminal syndicate was operating in Chhattisgarh, which was involved in illegal bribe collections by exerting control over government departments. The ED has further alleged that this syndicate comprised high-level state government officials, private individuals, and political executives of the state government. The ED recently conducted more than 50 search operations at various locations in Raipur, Bhilai, Delhi, Kolkata and Mumbai and has been successful in seizing assets worth Rs 58 crore including cash, fixed deposits, shares and jewellery. The total seizure and attachment in the case stands at Rs 180 crore. Manila, May 23 : The Philippines is pursuing the resumption of free trade negotiations with the EU, Philippine Trade Secretary Alfredo Pascual said. During a meeting, Pascual told members of the EU-ASEAN Business Council (EU-ABC) on Monday about his country's intention to return to the negotiating table over the Philippines-EU Free Trade Agreement (FTA). Pascual said an FTA with the EU will help the Philippines secure additional duty-free market access, and provide a conducive framework for attracting more significant investments from the EU, Xinhua news agency reported. He also highlighted the government's efforts to facilitate international partnerships and collaboration through the recently-ratified Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) agreement that will encourage foreign direct investment inflows. "I'd like to reemphasise our growth strategy centred around enhancing trade and investment. Our objective is to foster job creation and poverty reduction by uplifting the global position of our export sectors and driving investments into strategic areas," Pascual added. The EU-ABC, a major voice of European businesses in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) region, comprises nine European Chambers of Commerce in Southeast Asia and major European multinational corporations across multiple sectors such as manufacturing, services, healthcare and logistics. -- Except for the title, this story has not been edited by Prokerala team and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed Kabul, May 23 : Nearly 2,400 Afghan refugees have returned to their homeland from Iran, Afghanistan's Ministry for Refugees and Repatriation Affairs said in a statement. "A total of 2,348 Afghan refugees returned to their homeland Afghanistan on Sunday after years of living as refugees in Iran and the process of returning the refugees to their country continues," the statement added on Monday. Weeks ago, the state-run Bakhtar news agency reported the return of more than 54,000 Afghan refugees from Iran over the past couple of months. More than 2.5 million registered Afghan refugees reportedly have been living in Iran and about the same number are living in Pakistan, Xinhua news agency reported. The Afghan caretaker government has called on Afghan refugees living abroad to return home and contribute to reconstruction of their war-ravaged country. Ankara, May 23 : Turkish National Intelligence Organization (MIT) killed a senior member of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in a cross-border operation in northern Iraq, media reported. Emre Sahin, codenamed "Rodi," was "neutralised" in the Gara region of northern Iraq, the the semi-official Anadolu Agency said on Monday, adding that he was responsible for the PKK's communication infrastructure, including the development of encrypted programs. Turkish authorities often use the term "neutralised" to imply that "terrorists" are killed, wounded, or captured in security operations. Sahin joined the ranks of the PKK in 2014, took part in various attacks against the Turkish security forces in Turkey's southeastern Sirnak province and then crossed to neighbouring Iraq in 2019, anonymous security officials told Anadolu. The MIT has intensified its cross-border operations in Iraq recently, particularly in Gara, and killed several other senior PKK members in the region in the past few weeks, Xinhua news agency reported. The PKK, listed as a terrorist organisation by Turkey, the US and the EU, has rebelled against the Turkish government for more than three decades. Opinion / Columnist "The African Development Bank has moved to fast-track Zimbabwe's $3.5 billion compensation to white farmers whose land was seized under former president Robert Mugabe's reforms. The bank is leading efforts to clear Zimbabwe's crippling debts," reported the French publication RFI."A revived Zimbabwe is good for Africa. A revived Zimbabwe is good for the world," said Akinwumi Adesina, president of the African Development Bank (AfDB) at a debt resolution forum held this week in the capital Harare.The AfDB is co-chairing a process aimed at clearing the country's $6 billion of external debt arrears that also includes reforms to the exchange rate and central bank."Zimbabwe cannot run up the hill of economic recovery carrying a backpack of debt on its back," added Adesina.This is just nonsense! Zimbabwe has the wealth to clear these debts without the need for outside help and everyone at AfDB knows that!Zimbabwe has been losing US$1.6 billion per year to gold smugglers alone. We know looting has been going on in other areas too such as diamonds, lithium, platinum, in the procurement of fuel and medicine, etc. In 2016 the late dictator, Robert Mugabe, said Zimbabwe was swindled out of US$15 billion in diamond revenue!In 2019 the Governor of Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, Dr John Mangudya said Zimbabwe could pay off all her debts and pay for the country's development needs without borrowing a penny from anyone if - a big IF - the country stamped out the rampant corruption and gross mismanagement. For once, the Governor was being honest!Besides, the whole concept of the US$3.5 billion compensation for the white farmers, for the movable assets they were forced to leave behind during the farm invasions, being born by the ordinary Zimbabweans is an outrage.Why should the ordinary taxpayer who have paid dearly because of the agricultural and economic collapse caused by farm seizures? The individuals who profited from the farm seizures, some of them to the tune of 21 commercial farms as Bona Mugabe, should pay the compensation!The forum noted the importance of Zimbabwe's coming elections being free, fair and credible in advancing dialogue with the West and financial institutions."The people of Zimbabwe and the international community will be watching very closely. The full weight of re-engagement with the international community will not just depend on the election, but on the entire electoral process that guarantees a credible election," said AfDB president, Adesina.After - what - 43 years of talking in riddle, it is refreshing to hear the AfDB and other busy bodies telling the Zanu PF some home-truths for a change!Sadly, the AfDB is bolting the door long after the horse has bolted. The Zimbabwe elections are three months away and the regime has stubbornly refused to implement even one token democratic reform, refused to produce even something as basic as a verified voters' roll, etc. Zanu PF is rigging the 2023 elections just as readily as it has rigged past elections.Even if there was time to implement reforms, Dr Adesina would be wasting his breathe asking CCC to boycott the 2023 elections to pile the pressure on Zanu PF to implement reforms. Others like SADC and the EU have tried and their advice fell on deaf ears. CCC leaders are hell bent on participating in these flawed elections, knowing the process is flawed and that doing so would only give SADC the excuse to grant Zanu PF political legitimacy. They are participating regardless out of greed - the same reason they failed to implement even one reform during the GNU."The crisis in the country is having terrible consequences for the region as Zimbabwe lies at the heart of southern Africa," argued former President of Mozambique Joaquim Chissano. He is the facilitator of this high-level dialogues to help Zimbabwe re-engage with the West.Former President Chissano would do Zimbabwe and the whole region a great favour telling SADC leaders they must judge the Zimbabwe elections on merit. In the past, the regional body has endorsed rigged elections and granted Zanu PF legitimacy and thus perpetuating the dictatorship. This must stop! Echolands Winery of Walla Walla plans to open their new Mill Creek facility in time for fall 2023. The 341-acre site is located in the Mill Creek area of the Walla Walla Valley AVA in the foothills of the Blue Mountains, some of the highest elevations in Washington State. First announced in 2019, Mill Creek Road is the latest venture for co-owners Doug Frost, Master of Wine and Master Sommelier, and Conservationist Brad Bergman, who also own Taggart Vineyard in the SeVein Water Project. Mill Creek Road will house a dedicated winemaking, hospitality and barrel facility, and will assume all production for Echolands wines. From the outset, our new home in Mill Creek has impressed us as a special place to realize our vision for Echolands, shares Doug Frost, CEO and Owner of Echolands Winery. Were surrounded by inspiring neighbors like Leonettis Mill-Creek-Uplands Vineyard, Aluve, Walla Walla Vintners and aMaurice, who have paved the way to make incredible wines at the higher elevations in Walla Walla. Planting in this higher, cooler site will enable us to continue in the style weve established, with moderate alcohols and higher acids. Our new plantings, facilities and equipment will fall in line with our commitment to balance development with a living biome. We knew Mill Creek was special from day one, says Chairman Brad Bergman. The southeast exposure of the property is perfectly situated with sweeping views of the Blue Mountains and rolling wheat fields. It reminds me of Tuscany meets the Sound of Music. I come from a long line of environmentally conscious nursery owners with a commitment to beautifying the planet and preserving earths unique places. Our goal is to draw on the differences in terroir between Mill Creek, the SeVein and local growers to develop a unique range of wines that reflect this spectacular place. The development of Mill Creek Road is led by Soderstrom Architects and Mountain States Construction Company. As of fall 2023, production facilities will debut with a 27,000-square-foot winemaking facility and barrel room equipped with closed-top stainless steel fermentation vessels of varying sizes, as well as open-top bins and smaller fermenters with an initial production capacity of 6,000 cases. All fruit will be hand-sorted upon arrival. The principal Mill Creek development area will also feature a spectacular hospitality center centered around a public tasting room, cantilevered over the winery grounds and outfitted with glass walls that offer a breathtaking view of the Blue Mountains. Additional plans include a separate 5,000-square-foot storage facility. The opening date of the hospitality center will be announced later this year. The unique character of the Mill Creek area was a driving factor behind the Echolands site selection. Previously planted to grains and other crops, the Mill Creek property has been owned by the same family since the early 1900s. The site extends over 341 acres from 1,400 to 1,800 feet. The soils are principally silt-loam over basaltic bedrock with depths up to 12 feet. Echolands plans to develop the first 25 acres of vineyard along ideal hillside exposures with select Bordeaux varieties. Echolands also sources grapes from their own 50-acre Taggart Vineyard in the SeVein Water Project, supplemented by purchased grapes from Les Collines Vineyard and other premier growers. As new plantings come of age, the Echolands team will balance the differences in terroir offered by Mill Creek, the SeVein Water Project and local growers. The Mill Creek Road facility will adopt proven sustainability initiatives first practiced at the Echolands Taggart Vineyard. No more than half of Taggarts total acreage was planted to preserve the remainder for biodiversity growth and a living biome, including owl boxes, beehives and native plants. Mill Creeks natural assets include a high amount of rainfall that allows for dry farming without irrigation, a key element of responsible water management. Taggart was one of the first vineyards to receive the "Sustainable Washington" certification, a designation that Echolands will also strive for at Mill Creek Road. The property is located at 3281 Mill Creek Road and is owned by Walla Squared LLC. Click here for the Mill Creek Road project fact sheet and click here for imagery. For inquiries, contact Claire Martin (claire@gregoryvine.com). About Echolands Winery Echolands Winery was founded in 2018 by renowned wine expert Doug Frost, one of only three people in the world to hold both the Master of Wine and Master Sommelier titles, in partnership with investor and conservationist Brad Bergman. Winemaker Taylor Oswald manages vineyard relations and winemaking, working with Vineyard Manager Sadie Drury and North Slope Management to operate the 50-acre Taggart Vineyard within the SeVein Water Project, located on the Oregon side of the Walla Walla Valley. The team is currently developing a 341-acre site in the Mill Creek area of the Walla Walla Valley AVA in the foothills of the Blue Mountains, one of the highest elevations in Washington State. Scheduled to be operational by fall 2023, Mill Creek will house a dedicated winemaking, hospitality and barrel facility. Visitors to Walla Walla are currently welcome to taste the full portfolio at Echolands downtown tasting room (7 West Alder St.) Read more and connect with Echolands: echolandswinery.com or on Social @echolandswinery (Facebook) and @EcholandsWine (Instagram). Consumers rely on BrickSeek to deliver an empowered shopping experience, and our new Pickup feature offers them a quick, affordable, and convenient tool to save time and money BrickSeek, the leading shopping tool for finding products and deals in-store and online at the nations largest retailers, has introduced an Order for Pickup feature on its website and mobile app. The first online resource for deals to offer this function, BrickSeeks Order for Pickup option helps consumers save more time and money by enabling them to browse all available online deals at stores near them, select and order the items they want to purchase, and pick up their purchase in-store all in the same day. Consumers rely on BrickSeek to deliver an empowered shopping experience, and our new Pickup feature offers them a quick, affordable, and convenient tool to save time and money, said Bethany Hollars, BrickSeeks Content Director and Head of Media & Public Relations. Hollars is also a renowned consumer retail expert and shopping strategist who regularly contributes to Good Morning America, ABCs The List, The Wall Street Journal, and Business Insider, among other media. BrickSeek has added the new Order for Pickup feature to both its app and website. Available exclusively to BrickSeeks Premium and Extreme members, this user-friendly function can be accessed by pulling up the Markdowns by Store feed for one of their chosen local stores and selecting the Pickup filter option. Not only does the new Order for Pickup feature help consumers save time and money by eliminating the hassle of shopping inside a physical store, and paying and waiting for shipping, it also allows BrickSeek users to take advantage of online-only promotions, coupon codes, and exclusive deals that may not be available in-store. In addition, consumers can choose contactless drive-up to pick up their purchases at stores that offer that service. Currently, retailers including Walmart, Lowes, Home Depot, Office Depot, Target, Staples, Kohls, Dollar General, Academy Sports, and Sams Club are offering pickup options for their customers. For more information on BrickSeek or to become a BrickSeek member, visit http://www.brickseek.com. # # # About BrickSeek First launched in 2014 as a web application focused on helping LEGO collectors find popular sets both online and in-store, BrickSeek has since grown into the top online shopping tool and resource for the best deals across the web and at the nations largest retailers. BrickSeek quickly and easily identifies availability, savings, deals, and price comparisons on over 2 million products, across multiple sites and channels, and offers additional features through membership tiers. The company is headquartered in Tempe, Arizona. For more information, visit http://www.brickseek.com or connect with @brickseek on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Le Ame at The Global Ambassador These five restaurants are gathering places, not only for travelers and hotel guests, but for locals who have been instrumental in our success, said Fox, who is opening the hotel under his company Author & Edit Hospitality. Much anticipation has surrounded details of the culinary offerings at acclaimed restaurateur and hospitality innovator Sam Foxs soon-to-open luxury hotel, The Global Ambassador, and today new details are being revealed about all five original restaurants that will open within the hotel in mid-November. Widely considered Arizonas most anticipated hotel opening this year, The Global Ambassador combines a refined and elevated hospitality experience that is locally connected yet created through a global lens. The restaurants embrace that same ethos and are influenced by Foxs extensive international travels highlighting his favorite dishes and flavors from countries and cultures around the world. As the hotel name implies, the restaurants are an expression of all these spectacular places. Were now several months away from opening our doors and Im excited to showcase what has been almost a decade in the making, said Fox, who is opening the hotel under his company Author & Edit Hospitality. These five restaurants are gathering places, not only for travelers and hotel guests, but for locals who have been instrumental in our success. Guests will soon experience the collection of culinary experiences, including: Le Ame: Nestled in the soul of The Global Ambassador, where romantic charm meets culinary excellence, Le Ame is a Parisian steakhouse that pays homage to traditional French fare with the perfect steakhouse touch. The menu boasts a wide variety of classic French dishes like Steak Frites Au Poivre and French Onion Soup along with a new take on dishes like Tuna Carpaccio and Brick-Pressed Chicken Coq Au Vin. Carefully curated by the hotels master sommelier to complement the flavors of the dishes, the wine offering at Le Ame is true to its Parisian roots, but with reach across the globe. The cocktail program is also designed to mirror the cuisine beautiful ingredients, perfectly executed with drinks like Le Spritz Nouveau and French for Grapefruit. Le Ame offers an exceptional experience at any time of the day, serving breakfast, lunch, dinner and weekend brunch. Le Market: A personal ode to the pleasure of les deux amours, because everything is better in the company of another. The Parisian patisserie, Le Market, draws you in with echoes of chatter and a bustling pedestrian energy throughout the day. From decadent pastries and the perfect espresso in the morning to exquisite cheese presentations curated by the in-house fromager paired perfectly with natural wines in the evening. Le Market is a place where guests come to socialize in a chic yet elegant setting. Pink Dolphin: Step into the playful and laid-back atmosphere of Pink Dolphin, where Mexican and Peruvian-inspired dishes and drinks pair perfectly with the whimsical and vibrant poolside setting. Whether youre looking for a leisurely lunch, a sunbathers retreat or an alfresco dinner, the indoor restaurant spills out into a covered dining terrace. The bar is always buzzing with socializers, offering a wide range of margaritas and authentic cocktails like Guava Caipirinhas, each made with fresh ingredients and pressed juices. Dive into the Peruvian Ceviche with a variety of seafood options like shrimp, white fish and scallops, or order the Cancha, shallow-fried corn seasoned with lime and salt. As you sip, savor and sway to the beat, you cant help but get carried away at Pink Dolphin. Lobby Bar: A great lobby bar isnt a single thing done a single way it is comfortable, stylish and well-appointed, both with worldly spirits and charming bartenders. It delivers your favorite cocktail just the way you like it and introduces you to a cocktail youve been missing your whole life. With a sense of style that exudes the perfect duality of intimacy and liveliness, the Lobby Bar ignites creative expression with a sophisticated spirit, welcoming essence and dynamic musical stylings - think jazz trios and special artist-in-residence nights. The Lobby Bar serves a mixture of classic and craft cocktails with a European flair. Two libations worth highlighting are Basil & Ginger and Caffe Du Jour. Complement your cocktail with something from the all-day snack menu such as Lobster Croquettes and House-made Potato Chips with French Onion Dip (made even more decadent with the addition of Osetra Caviar). Come and experience the epitome of refined sophistication at the Lobby Bar, where every moment is an indulgence for the senses. thea Mediterranean Rooftop: Soon to be one of the Wests most picturesque rooftop settings, thea Mediterranean Rooftop is inspired by the sun-soaked Mediterranean region. In the shadow of Arizonas famed Camelback Mountain, thea, which translates to goddess of light, serves as a haven where guests experience simple pleasures and extravagant moments sky high, that only intensify as the sun sets on the horizon. There will be no better place to set the scene for an unforgettable night while surrounded by the breathtaking views and lively DJ energy as thea comes to life. The menu explores the vast preparations of mezze, pasta and coastal seafood with dips, flatbreads, perfectly prepared vegetables and marinated protein skewers, all designed to be shared. Theas cocktail program is equally as rooted in fresh and house-made ingredients that combine the classic with the unexpected. But the cocktails are not to be outdone by one of the countrys most extensive rose collections. Theas contagious energy lingers in the open air, beckoning you back for more whether for dinner or weekend brunch. Within the hotel will also be Global Ambassador Club, Arizonas first-of-its-kind, members-only club where members have access to a variety of exclusive services, amenities and their own private restaurant, The Grill. For more, visit GlobalAmbassadorHotel.com or follow along at @TheGlobalAmbassadorHotel. About The Global Ambassador The creation of prolific restaurant innovator Sam Fox as his foray into the luxury hospitality world, The Global Ambassador is an internationally inspired hotel that merges impressive hospitality, culinary and wellness experiences within one perfectly and precisely curated destination. Where Phoenix, Scottsdale and Paradise Valley converge, The Global Ambassador blends a refined and elevated hospitality experience that is created through a global lens and locally connected. Every detail of the well-appointed, 141-room hotel has been meticulously poured over, studied and designed by Fox himself. Each element is purposefully created to elicit one cultivated experience that is rich in charm and sophistication. As a 12-time James Beard award nominee, Foxs stellar lineup of inventive culinary offerings define The Global Ambassador. The hotel boasts five original dining venues with cuisine influenced by the vibrant flavors found all over the world from the sun-soaked Mediterranean region of France, Italy and Spain to the bright and alluring tastes of Peru and Mexico. Nestled in the soul of the hotel, where luxury meets culinary excellence, is Le Ame, a Parisian steakhouse that celebrates a thoughtful blend of traditional French fare with a twist on the classics. Perched atop the hotel is a destination all its own - thea Mediterranean Rooftop is one of the Wests most spectacular rooftop settings where the dramatic views of iconic Camelback Mountain and one of the countrys most expansive rose collections are there for the taking. The hotels world-class amenity offering includes a Wellness Center complete with an expansive fitness level and ultra-luxe spa where health, beauty and fitness experts curate treatments and practices designed to put the mind and body in perfect balance. This is a convergence of significance found in hospitality, wellness and culture. For more, visit GlobalAmbassadorHotel.com. About Author & Edit Hospitality Author & Edit is the creation of restaurant innovator Sam Fox, who has developed a growing lineup of unique concepts found across the United States. Now, Fox embarks on a journey to design, develop and operate memorable hospitality experiences. The properties are authored with an extraordinary vision and meticulously edited to create offerings that are not only seen, but felt. What sets the company apart is not just in material, but in the culinary expertise, passion for local authenticity and subtle nuances that make up its collective story. Each Author & Edit property is an original; created through a global lens and connected to the diverse communities, cities and neighborhoods in which they reside. The companys collection includes The Global Ambassador, an iconic hotel in the heart of Arcadia, where Phoenix, Scottsdale and Paradise Valley converge, as well as the remarkable The Twelve Thirty Club at 5th and Broadway in Nashville. BDV Solutions, a tech-enabled, turnkey provider of labor shortage solutions to U.S. employers and employment-based immigration services to foreign nationals, today announced that co-founder and CEO Britt Vergnolle has been named to Inc. Magazines sixth annual Female Founders list, described by the publication as honoring a bold group of 200 women whose innovations and ideas are shaping the world into a better place. Each year, Inc. editors review thousands of nominations highlighting female founders who are challenging the status quo and tackling some of the worlds biggest problems. The list features women who have overcome challenges and lifted those around them, while leading impactful organizations across the country. They join the ranks of previous honorees including Jessica Alba, Tracee Ellis Ross, Rihanna and Shonda Rhimes. Noted Vergnolle, When we started BDV Solutions at my kitchen table 12 years ago, I never thought it would grow to become the largest independent company specializing in closing our countrys chronic and growing unskilled labor gap through immigration solutions. Im honored to be recognized by Inc. and so proud of our team of immigration specialists,, immigration consultants, and U.S. immigrants. BDV Solutions helps source employment for foreign nationals, placing them in a wide range of industries, including manufacturing, franchised restaurants, cleaning and maintenance companies, warehousing, distribution, and food preparation. The company recently launched its BDV Believes scholarship program, which will award up to 30 foreign nationals $2,000 each to further their education goals. In addition to creating BDV Believes, Vergnolle over the past year led BDVs expansion into new markets including trucking, hotels and hospitality, and healthcare. She oversaw the growth of an exceptionally racially and culturally diverse team and the launch of a program for employees to vote on local charities to which BDV makes donations. She was also named one of the 50 Most Influential People in her hometown of Greenville by Greenville Business Magazine and is the co-founder of Argo Visa, a consulting firm made up of former US visa officers that helps foreign nationals to pass their visa interviews. According to Inc. editor-in-chief Scott Omelianuk, These 200 female founders have identified solutions to difficult problems and created valuable, industry-changing companies out of them. We congratulate this years list on their achievements and look forward to their continued success. To see the complete list, go to:https://www.inc.com/female-founders. Join the Female Founders conversation using #FemaleFounders. About Inc. The worlds 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 among 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 BDV Solutions Headquartered in Greenville, SC, BDV is the largest independent company in the U.S. that specializes in closing the countrys chronic and growing unskilled labor gap utilizing a variety of immigration programs and strategies. The company is uniquely positioned to assist U.S. companies and foreign nationals navigate the complex U.S. immigration system. More information can be found at http://www.bdvsolutions.com. Meryls skills in mentoring, sharing, and collaboration have enabled Sessions to develop a range of new programs to support and engage our faculty inside and outside the classroom. Gordon Drummond, President of Sessions College Sessions College, a leading institution in higher education, proudly announces that Dr. Meryl Epstein, the Dean of Academic Affairs, has been selected for the prestigious USDLA Gold award for leadership in distance education. USDLA, the leader in Distance and Digital Learning education, has announced its International Distance Learning Award winners for 2023. The USDLA leadership award sets rigorous standards, requiring candidates to demonstrate excellence in four key categories: Significant impact on the advancement of distance learning Consistent excellence in leading the expansion, outreach, or enhancement of distance education Individual leaders recognized for their outstanding performance Dedication to mentoring, sharing, and collaborating with others Each year, the USDLA recognizes pioneers and visionaries in the distance and digital learning industry through its International Award program. These awards are presented annually to organizations and individuals who excel across various categories of distinction. The USDLA International Distance Learning Awards celebrate significant accomplishments in distance learning and showcase the exceptional achievements of distance learning instructors, programs, and professionals who have utilized online learning techniques, innovation, and video delivery technologies on a global scale. Prior to joining Sessions College in February 2019, Dr. Epstein has demonstrated her immense expertise and dedication to the field. Holding a BFA in Graphic Design and an MFA in Fine Arts in Photography, she has an extensive background working with diverse design clients, operating her own design company, and serving as design director for multiple museums in the Phoenix area. Beyond her career, Dr. Epstein has also made significant contributions to the education sector. Her commitment to teaching design and photography led her to instruct at various community colleges in Phoenix, earning an EdD in Educational Leadership. She further served as the Dean of Academic Affairs at the Art Institute of Phoenix for eight years, before a three-year stint training Doctoral Development Faculty at the University of Phoenix. In 2020, Dr. Epstein's visionary leadership and expertise in art and design played a crucial role in the development, accreditation, and successful launch of Sessions College's inaugural Bachelor's degree programs in Graphic Design, Illustration, and Digital Photography. Meryls skills in mentoring, sharing, and collaboration have enabled Sessions to develop a range of new programs to support and engage our faculty inside and outside the classroom. With so many talented instructors at Sessions College, its essential that we create a community and a continuous dialogue so that we can be more than the sum of our parts. Due to Meryl's collaborative leadership, our faculty is highly engaged, and our Advisory Board has enjoyed a similar renaissance as we gather feedback from industry experts to ensure our programs keep pace with the industry. Gordon Drummond, President of Sessions College Sessions College recognizes and celebrates Dr. Meryl Epstein's remarkable achievements and the profound impact she has had on both students and the institution. Her dedication to the arts and unwavering commitment to education continue to shape the future of Sessions College. About Sessions College Sessions College is the pioneer in accredited and affordable online skills-based education that readies adult learners for the digital design workforce. Founded in 1997, Sessions College offers project-based bachelor and associate level degrees and certificate programs for in demand careers in art, design, and photography. The proprietary Sessions College DigitalComplete platform provides the best possible online experience for students throughout their educational journey. Students learn via real world projects that reflect the latest industry-relevant skills. Sessions College is accredited by the Distance Education Accrediting Commission (DEAC) and the Middle States Commission for Secondary Schools (MSA-CSS) and is approved to deliver its online degrees and programs throughout the United States by the National Council for State Authorization for Reciprocity Agreements (NC- SARA). SandboxAQ today announced it has successfully tested its advanced, quantum sensor-based magnetic anomaly navigation system with the U.S. Air Force (USAF). The test flights, conducted last week at Travis Air Force Base by the 60th Air Mobility Wing, were part of an ongoing readiness and modernization effort to explore and develop an Assured Positioning, Navigation, and Timing (APNT) solution to augment the Global Positioning System (GPS). Such solutions will provide uninterrupted navigation in situations where GPS is unavailable or intentionally denied or spoofed. In January 2023, the USAF awarded SandboxAQ a Direct-to-Phase-II Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) contract to research quantum navigation technologies. "The need for GPS-alternatives is critical, said Maj. Patrick Morgan, Wing Tactics. "If were executing a mission where GPS is not available, it's important to have another solution to ensure mission continuity and ensure a safe exit and return to base for our Airmen." As part of last weeks Exercise, Golden Phoenix, SandboxAQs quantum navigation prototype was installed aboard a USAF C-17 GlobeMaster III military transport aircraft and successfully received geomagnetic navigation data on the ground and during multiple in-flight tests, completing its test flight milestones eight months ahead of schedule. Resilient global navigation is a mission-critical capability for military operations, but also for improving the safety and geospatial accuracy of commercial transport, business and leisure travel, autonomous vehicles, underwater or underground exploration, and more, said Jen Sovada, Global Public Sector President at SandboxAQ. Were incredibly proud that our quantum navigation system performed admirably in its first in-flight test, and we look forward to the next phase with the USAF and other partners. Unlike traditional sensors, quantum sensors are highly sensitive to even the slightest changes in electric and magnetic fields. SandboxAQs system captures signals from Earths magnetic field, which acts as an unchangeable global fingerprint, and compares the signals to existing map data to enhance overall positional awareness. The system leverages artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms to filter out noise (e.g., vibration, motion, electric impulses, etc.) generated by airplanes or other vehicles, which greatly improve signal processing speed and accuracy. Key aspects of SandboxAQs quantum navigation system: Unjammable Worldwide Signal: Because Earth's magnetic field is omnipresent and unjammable, it provides unfettered access and a persistent, trusted signal from any location. All-Weather: Quantum sensors are not influenced by clouds or lighting conditions, making them an effective complement to other navigation techniques. Terrain Agnostic: Quantum navigation does not require visual ground features, making it a valuable tool for navigation in the air, over open water, on remote terrain, even underwater or underground. Passive Technology: Quantum sensors passively receive geomagnetic data and do not emit or reflect any signals, which helps reduce a vehicles detectability. Improved Global Magnetic Mapping: Sharing data generated by quantum sensors has the potential to enhance global magnetic maps for a variety of stakeholders and use cases. For more information about SandboxAQs quantum sensing solutions, including its advanced quantum navigation system, please visit https://www.sandboxaq.com/solutions/quantum-sensing. About SandboxAQ SandboxAQ is an enterprise SaaS company, providing solutions at the nexus of AI and Quantum technology (AQ) to address some of the world's greatest challenges. The company's core team and inspiration formed at Alphabet Inc., emerging as an independent, growth-capital-backed company in 2022. For more information, visit http://www.sandboxaq.com. Our study provides compelling evidence that telemedicine-delivered treatment for opioid use disorder is remarkably effective in retaining patients in rural areas, revolutionizing addiction treatment across the country. Workit Labs, the research arm of Workit Health, the nation's leading provider of virtual substance use disorder treatment, is pleased to announce the publication of a groundbreaking study in the peer-reviewed journal Telemedicine and E-Health. This study represents the largest sample to date of American patients living in rural areas and receiving telemedicine for opioid use disorder. The findings demonstrate that telemedicine is an effective solution for rural populations living with opioid use disorder, addressing the challenges of accessibility and retention in treatment. The peer-reviewed study, titled "Retention in Telehealth Treatment for Opioid Use Disorder Among Rural Populations: A Retrospective Cohort Study," underscores the success of telemedicine in delivering treatment for opioid use disorder to individuals residing in rural communities. Lead author Marlene Lira, MPH, highlights the significance of the findings, stating, Our study provides compelling evidence that telemedicine-delivered treatment for opioid use disorder is remarkably effective in retaining patients in rural areas, revolutionizing addiction treatment across the country. As the DEA considers the necessity of in-person visits for buprenorphine prescriptions, our findings highlight the immense value and convenience of telemedicine in providing accessible evidence-based care without in-person visits. The study encompassed a cohort of over 1,800 rural patients from 14 states across the United States, providing a broad view of the impact of telemedicine on opioid use disorder treatment outcomes. Patients had an average age of 37 years and nearly two-thirds were insured by Medicaid. The findings revealed exceptional retention rates among patients engaged in telemedicine-delivered treatment, surpassing or aligning with retention rates reported in traditional in-person settings. Notably, over half of the patients remained in care at the six-month mark, an improvement from previous studies utilizing claims and discharge data for in-person treatment, which reported retention rates ranging from 35% to 41%. The study also shed light on the high adherence to buprenorphine treatment within the telemedicine-delivered model. An impressive 90% of retained patients completed urine drug screens at each time point, and among those who participated, an overwhelming 99% displayed positive results for buprenorphine. These findings underscore the robust adherence to buprenorphine treatment among patients receiving telemedicine-delivered care, alleviating concerns regarding diversion and reinforcing the efficacy and integrity of the treatment approach. The results of this study not only demonstrate the effectiveness of telemedicine in retaining patients and improving treatment outcomes in rural areas but also highlight the positive impact of telemedicine on buprenorphine adherence, mitigating potential concerns surrounding diversion. By embracing telemedicine as a powerful tool in delivering evidence-based care, Workit Health continues to pioneer innovative solutions that ensure equitable access to comprehensive addiction treatment, benefiting individuals and communities nationwide. Dr. Justin Coffey, Chief Medical Officer of Workit Health and senior author of the study emphasizes the potential of telemedicine in transforming addiction treatment for rural communities, stating, "The burden of drug use and overdose is tragically heavy in rural communities. Safe and effective treatment for opioid use disorder exists, but accessing that treatment is unacceptably difficult. Our findings demonstrate how Workits patients as designers approach can result in dramatic and sustained reductions in harm from opioids, even in some of the hardest hit areas of rural America." Workit Health's telemedicine-delivered treatment platform combines evidence-based practices with convenient, virtual care, enabling patients to access comprehensive addiction treatment from the comfort of their homes. The study's findings support the growing body of research that demonstrates the efficacy of telemedicine in expanding treatment access and improving patient outcomes. For more information on the study and Workit Health's innovative telemedicine-delivered treatment for opioid use disorder, please visit https://www.workithealth.com. About Workit Health: Founded in 2015 by two women in recovery, Workit Health has been addressing substance use disorders using a virtual-first model for eight years. The Workit clinical program includes video visits with licensed clinicians, e-prescribing for substance use disorders and comorbid conditions, and psychosocial, and therapeutic support. Workits innovative technology removes barriers and expands access to evidence-based, person-centered treatment for people struggling with drugs and alcohol, improving outcomes while reducing costs. For more than 25 years, Inman has brought together the real estate community to learn, network, and problem-solve at our flagship events. Now, were bringing together the leaders in the mortgage space to do the same, said Emily Paquette, Inman chief executive officer Inman, the leading news source for real estate agents, brokers, executives and technology leaders, is announcing a new event tailored specifically for mortgage and finance professionals. Inman Mortgage and Finance Forum is set to take place Wednesday, August 9, 2023 at the Aria Resort & Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Inman Mortgage & Finance Forum brings together mortgage industry leaders, innovators and experts to discuss the latest trends, challenges, and opportunities shaping the mortgage and lending landscape. Registration is now open for the event, and professionals in the mortgage and finance space can apply for complimentary tickets. For more than 25 years, Inman has brought together the real estate community to learn, network, and problem-solve at our flagship events. Now, were bringing together the leaders in the mortgage space to do the same, said Emily Paquette, Inman chief executive officer The Mortgage & Finance Forum is a single-day event that will cover a wide range of topics, including mortgage lending strategies, regulatory updates, digital transformation, customer experience, risk management and more. The event also aims to offer networking opportunities and thought-provoking discussions to equip professionals with the knowledge and tools needed to navigate the rapidly evolving mortgage sector. Attendees can expect a rigorous agenda featuring keynote presentations, panel discussions, and workshops for attendees in the mortgage and lending industry, along with real estate agents and brokers from Inman's sister event, Connect Las Vegas. For detailed event information, including the full agenda, speaker lineup, registration, and venue details, please visit the official event website. About Inman Events Inman Events are built for the entire residential real estate ecosystem and for every player in that ecosystem to share ideas and connect. Agents, brokers, executives, tech and finance professionals, entrepreneurs and investors, and more gather to learn, network, and forge essential relationships. About Inman Inman is the leading news source for real estate agents, brokers, executives, and technology leaders who gain useful advice on the industrys top stories, trends and developments that help them grow their businesses and stay ahead of the competition. With an audience of over one million professionals, Inmans pages and stages are where the industry goes to find the most innovative ideas and new business models, through our website, newsletters, events, awards, education and subscriptions.Follow Inman on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn. Media Contact: pressrelease@inman.com We believe that TIS has a comprehensive set of unmatched resources and tools for travel sellers that will be a great benefit to our member agencies, and we are excited to have them as a preferred partner." - Roger Block, TLN Travel Industry Solutions (TIS), the first and only warrantied legal contracts and waivers solution for travel agents, announces a new strategic preferred partnership with Travel Leaders Network (TLN), the largest seller of luxury travel, cruises and tours in the industry, representing nearly 5,700 travel agency locations across the United States and Canada. The TLN Network leverages the power of its parent company, Internova, to assist millions of leisure and business travelers annually. This collaboration ensures that TLN agency members will have access to TIS's industry-leading legal agreements, including continually updated and warrantied terms and conditions, waivers and other essential contracts required to operate a successful and legally protected travel agency. By offering comprehensive legal documentation all in one place, TLN members can rest assured knowing they have affordable and on-demand access to up-to-date legal documents, saving them valuable time and money. TLN members will also benefit from TIS's full suite of proven tools and resources for building profitable and sustainable travel agencies. With a wide range of business tools available, travel agents can streamline operations, maximize efficiency and increase profitability, while mitigating risk. This strategic industry alliance will help agency members of the Travel Leaders Network to mitigate risk for their businesses, while supporting their agents and maximizing efficiency and profitability, says Sheila Folk, CEO of Travel Industry Solutions. We not only provide the most comprehensive and up-to-date legal agreements in the industry, but we also offer an entire suite of solutions and guidance that complement TLNs extensive educational resources. Roger Block, president of Travel Leaders Network, added, We believe that TIS has a comprehensive set of unmatched resources and tools for travel sellers that will be a great benefit to our member agencies, and we are excited to have them as a preferred partner. At TLN, we endeavor to provide the travel industry with best practices and innovative solutions. TIS helps agencies to maximize profits, streamline operations and provide the utmost in legal protectionsso we believe we are perfectly aligned in our shared mission to help travel agencies achieve success. Interested travel agencies can sign up online at https://travelindustrysolutions.com and learn more about Travel Industry Solutions. With this innovative partnership, TLN members can look forward to building a successful and sustainable business, all while enjoying the latest legal protections and industry-tailored resources from TIS. ABOUT TRAVEL INDUSTRY SOLUTIONS Travel Industry Solutions (TIS) is the leader in compliant contracts and ready-to-implement booking tools for travel agencies throughout the U.S. Founded by seasoned executives with decades of experience in the market, from sales and operations to legal and regulatory compliance, Travel Industry Solutions aims to help thousands of travel advisors and agency owners remain one step ahead through updated contracts and simple to use tools. Its solutions are designed to help agencies increase revenue, save money, be more efficient and increase their professionalism through optimized booking tools, customizable client communication, and guidance. For more information, please visit http://www.travelindustrysolutions.com. ABOUT TRAVEL LEADER NETWORK Travel Leaders Network (http://www.TravelLeaders.com) assists millions of leisure and business travelers annually and is one of the largest sellers of luxury travel, cruises and tours in the industry, with approximately 5,700 travel agency locations across the United States and Canada. Travel Leaders Network is part of Travel Leaders Group, a division of Internova Travel Group. We are happy to announce that weve already had more than 1,900 members register in the new portal. Eleza Bennett, FWERFs interim executive director. The Fort Worth Employees Retirement Fund (FWERF) selected Sagitec in late 2020 after a procurement process to solve the various issues they faced with their legacy pension administration solution. Sagitec had proposed a 24-month implementation with a 6-month ancillary phase. The core implementation moved into production in December 2022, with the Member Self-Service (MSS) portal launching in January 2023. The core implementation included the complete line of business application for the pension system and the replacement of FWERFs member self-service portal. In May 2023, Sagitec deployed additional functionality for estimates for active members to the member self-service portal. In June 2023, the ancillary phase will move to production and will include the following features: 1099-R for taxes; actuarial and financial reports; and administering contact management/activity planning, meetings, and case management. Eleza Bennett, FWERFs interim executive director, said she is pleased to see so many of their members taking advantage of the new portal. We are happy to announce that weve already had more than 1,900 members register in the new portal, she said. Thats a better response than we had projected. Neospin, Sagitecs pension administration system, provides standard and wizard-based member portal software. Sagitec has a flexible ECM integration methodology, allowing pension systems to efficiently capture, archive, and access documents. I am proud of our 45-plus-strong team of Sagitecians that helped us achieve this milestone. We followed our proven delivery model, innovated our processes further to accommodate the various challenges the pandemic threw at us, and delivered this project virtually, said Joanne Cullen, Project Manager, Sagitec. I also want to thank the FWERF project team for the seamless collaboration and communication that helped us provide a solution that will evolve with the FWERF fund. Sagitec met all the milestones agreed upon with FWERF and is ready for the ancillary phase. Sagitec has hosted the solution on the Amazon Web Services cloud, helping FWERF scale as per requirements and focus on their members rather than maintaining infrastructure. About Fort Worth Employees Retirement Fund (FWERF) The Fort Worth Employees Retirement Fund was established by ordinance on Sept. 12, 1945. The Fund is a defined benefit plan, created for the exclusive purpose of providing retirement benefits to full-time City of Fort Worth employees, including general employees, police officers and firefighters. Serving approximately 6,700 active members and more than 4,900 retirees and beneficiaries, the Fort Worth Employees Retirement Fund is the only municipal retirement fund in Texas that covers general city employees as well as police and fire. About Sagitec Solutions Sagitec is a global software provider focused on solving complex, business-rule-driven problems with domain experts and proven technology. They serve some of the largest pension organizations in the world. Sagitecs leading platform powers the fully integrated, web-based pension administration Neospin solution and, supports millions of plan participants many thousand employers, and administers multiple types of pension plans: defined benefit, defined contribution, provident, cash balance, hybrid, and Taft-Hartley. In addition to serving the pension industry, Sagitec Solutions designs and delivers software solutions for unemployment insurance, paid family medical leave, disability insurance, and healthcare. Sagitec is a partner clients can trust to drive their vision into action. For more information, visit: http://www.sagitec.com This month, design pros and aficionados alike have ample opportunity to explore the industry through exciting new events. Read on for Business of Homes monthly calendar highlights, including conferences, trade shows and design discussions. For more great industry events, check out the BOH calendar here. Wow!house 2023 London | June 5July 6 A year after the launch of the Wow!house, the event returns to the Design Centre Chelsea Harbour. The monthlong installation will take place in a 1,300-square-foot showroom with 17 separate rooms, housed within a structure with a 3D-geometric-printed facade by Riba architect Arthur Mamou-Mani; the sustainability-minded events bespoke furnishings are slated for reuse following the installations run. This years roster of designers includes Joy Moyler, Mark Sikes and Tim Gosling. For more information, click here. Birmingham Design Social Birmingham, Michigan | June 7 The Design Social Pop-Up, created in 2019 to connect interior designers with boutique trade brands, is heading to Birmingham, Michigan. The pop-up will offer creatives the opportunity to shop more than 30 independent industry brands and feature programming moderated by BOH editor in chief Kaitlin Petersen. For more information, click here. The pop-up in Birmingham will offer creatives the opportunity to shop more than 30 independent industry brands Courtesy of The Design Social Pop-Up Design Shanghai Shanghai | June 811 The 10th edition of Design Shanghai will showcase more than 600 local and international brands from 40 countries and regions, and is expected to welcome 70,000-plus visitors over the four days. The shows footprint expanded 50 percent this year, with halls that feature furniture and lighting, kitchen and bathroom design, and a new space dedicated to homewares, interiors and the accessories industry in China. Highlighted brands include companies like Ligne Roset, Carl Hansen & Sn and Louis Poulsen, as well as Chinese designers Ziinlife, Jianze and Frank Chou Design Studio. For more information, click here. NeoCon 2023 Chicago | June 1214 Held at The Mart, this years NeoCon event will bring together more than 400 companies with new products in the commercial design sphere, serving the hospitality, health care, education, residential and public space sectors. For the first time, NeoCon will host a live studio in partnership with the Surround podcast network and sponsored by exhibitor SnapCab, where attendees will have the opportunity to watch recording sessions throughout the three-day show. Special programming includes keynote addresses by founder and CEO of the Future Today Institute Amy Webb, co-founder of Mass Design Group Michael Murphy and Hip Hop Architect Michael Ford. For more information, click here. The 17th edition of Design Miami/Basel will be presented in a new format James Harris Design Miami/Basel Basel, Switzerland | June 1318 Held at Basels Messeplatz, the 17th edition of Design Miami/Basel will be presented in a new format aimed to highlight both established and new exhibitors showcasing furniture, lighting, jewelry and art objects. In addition to the 26 gallery presentations, additional programming will include a special project by jeweler Caroline Van Hoek, an interactive installation by artist Cyril Lancelin and a presentation by United Arab Emiratesbased Irthi Contemporary Crafts Council. For more information, click here. A Designers Point of View Denver | June 14 Ann Arbor, Michigan | June 15 In partnership with The Shade Store, Business of Homes editor in chief Kaitlin Petersen is traveling to showrooms in Colorado and Michigan to host a conversation with the local design community. In Denver, she will sit down with interior designers Katie Schroder of Atelier Interior Design and NeKeia McSwain of NeKeia & Co. to look under the hood of their firms and discuss what success looks like today. In Ann Arbor the next day, Petersen will talk to interior designers Mia Johnson of Mia Johnson Interior Design, Rachel Nelson of Concetti Studio and Leslie Murchie Cascino of Bonnie Wu Design to explore how theyve approached business growth. The events will take place from 9 to 11 a.m. and include breakfast and networking time after the panel discussion. To RSVP, click here. The Meridian Experience Seattle | June 2123 Returning for its second edition this year, The Meridian Experience conference will bring together designers looking to maximize their social media approach. The event includes workshops and panels with topics that cover legally protecting your business, styling to capture the perfect photo, strategies for video storytelling, the dichotomy between interior design and influencing, and more. Programming is also designed to boost attendees social media practices, with photo sessions, system audits, mentorship dinners and opportunities to network. For more info, click here. Dallas Total Home & Gift Market Dallas | June 2127 The annual Total Home & Gift Market connects retailers and manufacturers in home decor, gifts, gourmet, housewares, accessories and lighting. In addition to permanent showrooms like Feizy and Currey & Company, this years temporary exhibitors will provide hundreds of additional unique resources across all product categories. The 72nd Annual Retailer Excellence Awards takes place on June 21, and programming will include a panel of trend experts who will provide their insights and spot must-see products at the show. For more information, click here. Lightovation: Dallas International Lighting Show Dallas | June 2124 Lightovation will feature the latest trends and products in every lighting category, including outdoor, ceiling fans, lighting controls and smart lighting systems. Plus, a conversation with designers Corey Damen Jenkins and Breegan Jane about their careers and the latest lighting trends will be moderated by Rue magazines Kelli Lamb. For more information, click here. For more events, check out the BOH calendar here. Homepage image: A day room by Kit Kemp and Minnie Kemp at Wow!house 2022 | James McDonald Global law firm Greenberg Traurig, LLP recently hosted students from the James G. Blaine School at the firms Philadelphia office, as part of an ongoing relationship with the school. On May 9, seventh and eighth graders from Blaine visited the office to experience a day in the life of a large law firm in the city. Panel discussions with business staff, litigators and transactional lawyers, an office tour, pizza lunch, writing reflections, and a visit to VUE at 50 with a birds eye view of Philadelphia filled the day. Labor & Employment Practice Associate Malcolm James Ingram, a local liaison for the firms African-American affinity group, served as the host for the day and noted that many students in attendance had not previously interacted with a lawyer prior to their arrival. This visit was a chance for students who are nearing adulthood to see possibilities for their lives and careers, and I was proud to be able to support that, Ingram said. I am grateful to Greenberg Traurig for this commitment to social action and the continuing role our relationship with Blaine has created for the students and staff. In 2020, Greenberg Traurig connected with the North Philadelphia school through Read by 4th, a citywide public-private effort to increase literacy rates for school-aged children. It is the first law firm in Philadelphia to participate in this campaign. Through a regular series of paired, virtual bi-weekly 30-minute reading sessions with students throughout the school year, Greenberg Traurig volunteers help boost student confidence, enrich vocabulary, and improve literacy rates. In the years since, the firm has reinforced this relationship with other opportunities such as school supply drives, Career Day visits, educational field trips, pizza parties, and more. If you can see it, you can be it, and we are providing these bright students with fun and educational opportunities to expand their professional horizons, Ingram added. In his practice, Ingram represents employers in workplace law matters, including internal investigations, and virtually all phases of employment litigation. He also defends employers in matters related to ADA, FMLA, Title VII, FLSA, and trade secrets before federal courts, state courts, and administrative agencies. About Greenberg Traurigs Philadelphia Office: Founded in 1997, the Philadelphia office provides multidisciplinary legal services with a team of more than 60 attorneys in Real Estate; Litigation; Public Finance & Infrastructure; Labor & Employment; Environmental; Government Law & Policy; Restructuring & Bankruptcy; White Collar Defense & Investigations; Corporate; Institutional Banking & Investment Services; Investment Management & Regulation; Immigration & Compliance; and Tax practices. The Philadelphia office represents a broad range of clients in real estate, manufacturing, health care, higher education, financial, and insurance industries, as well as state and local governments, professional services, and energy firms. The office also is known for its pro bono work and community service/social action initiatives in the Philadelphia region. About Greenberg Traurig: Greenberg Traurig, LLP has more than 2650 attorneys in 45 locations in the United States, Europe and the Middle East, Latin America, and Asia. The firm is a 2022 BTI Highly Recommended Law Firm for superior client service and is consistently among the top firms on the Am Law Global 100 and NLJ 250. Greenberg Traurig is Mansfield Rule 5.0 Certified Plus by The Diversity Lab. The firm is recognized for powering its U.S. offices with 100% renewable energy as certified by the Center for Resource Solutions Green-e Energy program and is a member of the U.S. EPAs Green Power Partnership Program. The firm is known for its philanthropic giving, innovation, diversity, and pro bono. Web: http://www.gtlaw.com. I wrote I, Criminal to introduce the real Jesus to those who are unfamiliar with the scriptures, said Henderson. The story reads like average, real people living at the time of Christ. Their struggles, relationships, and small victories are much like ours. A mixed-ethnicity family living at the same time as Jesus Christ are the main characters in the second edition of I, Criminal, by author Abigail Henderson. Taking place in Galilee, the culturally and religiously mixed family is made up of those born Jewish and those who have converted to the faith. Several of their neighbors did not look favorably on such a union. Despite outside and inside judgments, this family inherits land to work as they struggle to make ends meet. As the prejudice continues and crisis hits the family, Rome is in charge. It rules as a nation without mercy. When the spiritual landscape of Israel is changed, Jerusalem becomes a city of danger and intrigue. I wrote I, Criminal to introduce the real Jesus to those who are unfamiliar with the scriptures, said Henderson. The story reads like average, real people living at the time of Christ. Their struggles, relationships, and small victories are much like ours. Henderson consulted reference books to help describe life in about 24 AD, as well as the Hebrew dialect that was distinct to Galilee at that time. She also includes family trees, citations for the psalms quoted in the book, and an index of the publications she studied. The struggles of racial prejudice that are showcased throughout this story are still prevalent today, said Henderson. I hope to help demonstrate the difference Jesus will make in every tribe and tongue, just as he did then. I, Criminal: Rare Faith Series By Abigail Henderson ISBN: 9781664289802 (softcover); 9781664289819 (hardcover); 9781664289796 (electronic) Available at WestBow Press, Amazon and Barnes & Noble About the author Abigail Henderson is a wife, mother, and grandmother. She graduated from Purdue University, West Layfayette, Indiana, with a nursing degree. While living in Asia, she taught American history, culture, and English to elementary students. Back in the United States, she now volunteers with inner city education programs. She studied the Bible at Trinity International University. To learn more, please visit http://www.westbowpress.com/en/bookstore/bookdetails/846657-i-criminal. AI is a time-saving tool but not a replacement for skill and experience Over the past 15 years, artificial intelligence (AI) has become such a fixture in everyone's daily activities that many people are unaware of how often they are actually interacting with it. The Pew Research Center surveyed 11,004 U.S. adults to measure their awareness of the presence of AI technology in their day-to-day lives. From GPS traffic updates, fitness watches, banking, and personalized online shopping experiences, 30% of Americans were considered to have a high level of awareness, 38% had a medium level, and 31% were not as conscious of just how much they interact with AI on a daily basis.(1) The AI-powered Chat Generative Pre-Trained Transformer (ChatGPT), a next-generation natural language processing tool launched in November 2022, has been promoted as a time- and labor-saving device for writing and research from school papers to multimedia applications. It is also demonstrating its usefulness in digital marketing. But could AI simply replace people and take control of the digital marketing profession? Derek Chew, CEO of Fullmoon Digital, explains that AI is a powerful tool but only truly effective when combined with human expertise. Chew clarifies, "The performance of AI tools relies on access to large sets of data to learn from. The current evolution of AI can perform writing and optimizing tasks well if it has sufficient, targeted data and is prompted accurately. In that way, marketers can save time by employing AI effectively. But AI lacks the big-picture understanding, emotional intelligence, and insights to direct the process on its own." Even before the launch of ChatGPT, AI has been increasingly adopted to assist with digital marketing tasks. AI and machine learning can personalize websites, analyze and predict customer behavior to segment communications, deliver personalized content, and help optimize advertising campaigns.(2) AI is also used to help generate web content, although its ability to do that effectively is limited by access to existing, relevant data on the subject. This makes it more effective for some topics than for others. Google's latest algorithm, the Helpful Content Update, is designed to reward human-generated content that delivers valuable and useful information.(3) The long-term use of AI in digital marketing depends on improvements in writing code, mimicking human speech, optimizing advertising tasks, streamlining customer service functions, and building websites.(4) The future-world potential of AI is wide open. Experts imagine everything from data-controlled serfdom to an idealized society where AI can supercharge health and fitness as well as reduce pollution. And with machines taking care of most of the work, people may even enjoy a universal basic wage, enabling them to realize their full human potential.(5) In the meantime, AI is a real economic force with a viable role as a digital marketing tool. Marketers who ignore AI are missing out on time-saving data analysis, like managing informational relationships, measuring results, and using statistical models in predicting outcomes. Those who rely too heavily on AI run the risk of plagiarism, inaccuracies, and content that lacks emotional intelligence.(6) AI systems are skilled at modeling natural speech and logistical analysis but are entirely incapable of creativity, subjective thinking, or conscious thought.(6) Without human direction and adjustment, the AI output lacks insight, humor, and structural diversity the elements that inspire the emotional reactions that move people to engage and act. "AI is a time-saving tool but not a replacement for skill and experience. There is buzz that ChatGPT will replace copywriters, but companies that relegate content creation and ad generation to AI will fall behind. The output is intelligent but not emotional; emotions, not just logic, fuel human decisions. Just because you CAN automate doesn't mean you SHOULD," says Chew. A powerful example is brand identity, which is a projection of the core values of a business and comes across as the company's personality. It is essential to developing loyalty in today's marketplace.(7) Well-directed AI tools can mimic a brand's identity but cannot be relied upon to generate or direct it. Fullmoon Digitals marketing process is uniquely tailored to each individual client. Developing a winning digital marketing program entails more than 1s and 0s; it requires effective communication, consistent collaboration, and hard work. About Fullmoon Digital Fullmoon Digital Media, founded by Derek Chew, a former early Yahoo! employee, is one of the few 100% independent digital marketing agencies in the United States. The firm is cross-functional with deep experience in media planning and buying, digital consultancy, SEO, digital strategy, programmatic, analytics, performance marketing, paid media, social advertising, and creative. They push the envelope of what is possible in terms of marketing and technology, all the while providing best-in-class digital marketing service to their pack of clients. For more information, please visit http://www.fullmoondigital.com. References: 1. Nadeem, Reem. Public Awareness of Artificial Intelligence in Everyday Activities. Pew Research Center Science; Society, Pew Research Center, 15 Mar. 2023, pewresearch.org/science/2023/02/15/public-awareness-of-artificial-intelligence-in-everyday-activities. 2. Sasikumar, Srihari. How Companies Are Using AI in Digital Marketing. Simplilearn.com, Simplilearn, 14 Feb. 2023, simplilearn.com/how-companies-are-using-artificial-intelligence-ai-in-digital-marketing-article. 3. Google Search Central Blog. What Creators Should Know about Google's August 2022 Helpful Content Update. Google, Google, 18 Aug. 2022, developers.google.com/search/blog/2022/08/helpful-content-update. 4. Pittaluga, Matteo. Council Post: Will Artificial Intelligence Change the World of Digital Marketing Forever? Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 9 Feb. 2023, forbes.com/sites/forbesbusinesscouncil/2023/02/08/will-artificial-intelligence-change-the-world-of-digital-marketing-forever/?sh=7b17395230ef. 5. Waugh, Rob. How the World Will Look in 2050, According to Experts. Daily Mail Online, Associated Newspapers, 1 Apr. 2023, dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-11915399/How-world-look-2050-according-experts.html. 6. Jenkins, Ryan. The Power and Limitations of AI in Digital Marketing. CEOWORLD Magazine, C-Suite Agenda, 23 Feb. 2023, ceoworld.biz/2023/02/23/the-power-and-limitations-of-ai-in-digital-marketing/. 7. Wheeler, Kathryn. Brand Identity: How to Develop a Unique; Memorable Brand in 2023. HubSpot Blog, HubSpot, 5 Oct. 2022, blog.hubspot.com/agency/develop-brand-identity. Let your customers know that you are there for them every step of the way and want them to have an exceptional buying experience. Be upfront with all return policies, and make sure they are easy to find and easy to understand How many people actually read the terms and conditions before agreeing to them to expedite the pleasantries and move on to the goal of that first click on a website link? According to a Deloitte survey of 2,000 U.S. consumers, 91% skip the terms and conditions page and blindly accept. For Gen Z and millennials between the ages of 18-34, 97% select agree without a care in the world.(1) But whats in a terms and conditions page, and how enforceable are those tedious and seemingly nonsensical paragraphs? Financial technology, or fintech, tools, and services, are so pervasive in the financial transactions people conduct every day that many dont even realize theyre using them. Financial technologies, such as Venmo, CashApp, Paypal, and any of the prolific mobile and online banking apps, are available with a quick download, instantly ready for use. What kinds of federal regulations are fintech companies beholden to? Monica Eaton, founder and CEO of Chargebacks911, champions transparency as even more important than federal regulations. During its formative years, fintech has enjoyed looser regulations than those applied to the banking institution for decades, but that is about to change. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is more closely scrutinizing the fintech industry and is currently conducting examinations of nonbank financial companies and cryptocurrency firms to hold them to the same regulatory standards as traditional banks.(2) Regulative jurisdiction over fintech is split between the federal government and individual states, which naturally creates conflict and confusion.(3) While the logistical aspects of fintech regulations are being sorted out, Eaton promotes the obvious and immediate benefits of transparency. Eaton cautions, The familiar adage of what you dont know, cant hurt you does not apply when it comes to blindly agreeing to a legally binding contract. Signing your life away is more accurate. The buying and selling of personal information are becoming an industry standard. The CFPB is taking steps to address the issue of nonbank financial firms inserting terms and conditions that effectively strip consumers of their constitutional rights. In January of 2023, the CFPB proposed a ruling to create a public registry of the fine print included in adhesion contracts, known as take it or leave it agreements that can infringe upon consumers legal rights and protections.(4) The proposal seeks to hold nonbanks accountable and equip consumers with the facts necessary to make informed decisions when contracting with nonbank entities. Adhesion contracts are not legally enforceable if the court decides that the contract grants disproportionate power to one party over the other or is otherwise unreasonable, ambiguous, or includes conditions so unconscionable that no reasonable person would expect them to be in a contract.(5) Eaton asserts, A lot more needs to be done. The legalese language contained in these agreements is not easy to understand for people outside the legal profession, which puts consumers at a distinct disadvantage. However, without increasing consumer accountability in balance, revised terms and conditions policies are not likely to move the needle. The lack of restrictive standards in eCommerce practices aligns with our free market ideals. Regulators should place more attention on efforts that help codify new ways to protect consumers that help address concerns at the root cause. For example, utilizing payment codes that display to the consumer and relate to the type of sale or related return policy; would not only serve to inform the consumer of certain terms they likely never read but also regulate retailers without harming the competitive landscape. Technology has advanced considerably and should be leveraged to improve behaviors on both sides of the coin. Many businesses have strict return policies, sometimes not offering the option at all. Consumers are often caught off guard when attempting to return an item or cancel a service to find that they have minimal or no options. Banks offer services to their customers that allow them to contest a charge they deem illegitimate or unfair, known as chargebacks. Banks have become more accommodating to their customers in issuing chargebacks by transferring funds from the merchant to the customers bank account, frequently without investigating the source of the dispute. However, the ease of the chargeback process has led to more instances of first-party misuse, where customers decide not to risk being turned down for a refund with the retailer and instead go directly to their bank. Others deliberately take advantage of the system to get items and services without paying for them, commonly referred to as friendly fraud. For eCommerce businesses, this results in the loss of billions of dollars, recently estimated to be over $48 billion annually, by one card brand alone.(6) Having experienced rampant chargeback fraud in one of her own business ventures, Eaton became an expert in chargeback remediation by developing innovative and agile technology to give merchants workflow management tools that help reduce the otherwise manual effort required to contest chargeback fraud and misuse. Eaton offers more insight into how e-retailers can reduce the tendency of consumers to go directly to their own bank, deliberately bypassing the merchants customer service options. Eaton says, Transparency is becoming an essential business practice to earn and retain customers. Let your customers know that you are there for them every step of the way and want them to have an exceptional buying experience. Be upfront with all return policies, and make sure they are easy to find and easy to understand. When customers trust that they are doing business with a reliable, honest, and reputable seller, they will be more inclined to reach out directly to that business to resolve any issues they may have with their purchase. Eaton concludes, While fintech is a virtual industry, it can still be a personal experience. If there are no walls preventing open communication between a business and their customers, it encourages mutual trust and continued loyalty. About Monica Eaton As an acclaimed entrepreneur, speaker, and author, Monica Eaton is widely recognized as a thought leader in the FinTech industry and a champion of women in technology. She established her entrepreneurial credentials upon selling her first business at the age of 19. When a subsequent eCommerce venture was plagued by revenue-leeching chargebacks and fraud, Eaton rose to the challenge by developing a robust solution that combined human insight and agile technology. Today, her innovations are used by thousands of companies worldwide, cementing her reputation as one of the payment industrys foremost experts in risk management, chargeback mitigation, and fraud prevention. Monica Eaton is honored to be the recipient of various industry awards. Her own expertise, as well as the services provided by her companies, has been recognized as outstanding by her peers and other industry leaders. Visit http://www.monicaec.com. References: 1. 2017 Global Mobile Consumer Survey: US edition The dawn of the next era in mobile . Deloitte. (2017). Retrieved from 2.deloitte.com/content/dam/Deloitte/us/Documents/technology-media-telecommunications/us-tmt-2017-global-mobile-consumer-survey-executive-summary.pdf 2. Manfredi, R. (2022, May 6). CFPB invokes dormant Dodd-Frank Authority to regulate nonbank financial companies. Gibson Dunn. Retrieved April 21, 2023, from gibsondunn.com/cfpb-invokes-dormant-dodd-frank-authority-to-regulate-nonbank-financial-companies/ 3. Global Legal Group. (n.d.). Fintech laws and regulations: USA: GLI. GLI - Global Legal Insights - International legal business solutions. Retrieved April 21, 2023, from globallegalinsights.com/practice-areas/fintech-laws-and-regulations/usa 4. CFPB proposed new rule to establish public registry of take it or leave it contract terms and conditions. JD Supra. (n.d.). Retrieved April 21, 2023, from jdsupra.com/legalnews/cfpb-proposed-new-rule-to-establish-5978240/ 5. Legal Information Institute. (n.d.). Adhesion contract. Legal Information Institute. Retrieved April 21, 2023, from law.cornell.edu/wex/adhesion_contract#:~:text=Courts%20may%20look%20at%20the,had%20the%20chance%20to%20bargain 6. Friendly fraud cost: What do you lose to chargeback abuse? Chargebacks911. (2022, June 27). Retrieved April 21, 2023, from chargebacks911.com/friendly-fraud-costs/ Built to meet growing demand: The exposed concrete structures of the new Armstrong Road water treatment plant and pump station in Frankfort, IN, are protected by PENETRON ADMIX. These concrete waterproofing characteristics increase the overall durability of the Armstrong Road facilitys concrete and drastically reduces future waterproofing-related maintenance costs. Construction work on the new Armstrong Road Pump Station in Frankfort, Indiana (IN), was completed in March 2023; subsequent commissioning of the new facility is set for May 2023. PENETRON ADMIX, a crystalline concrete waterproofing admixture, was specified to increase the durability of the water treatment plants concrete structures exposed to constant hydrostatic pressure. Approximately 40 miles northeast of Indianapolis, Frankfort is a city of about 15,000 and the county seat of Clinton County in central Indiana. When the citys water utility, Frankforts Water Works, began having difficulty meeting the communitys water demands, a $5.3 million project to expand water treatment capacity for both Frankfort and the adjacent town of Jefferson, IN was launched. Because Frankforts water utility expects a 50% increase in demand over the next 20 years, and the condition of the existing West Water Treatment Plant was deteriorating, getting a new facility in place became urgent, explains Christopher Chen, Director of The Penetron Group. The Armstrong Road Water Treatment Plant project was designed and administered by Wessler Engineering and comprised a 12,000-foot water main extension, a new water treatment plant (capacity: six million gallons per day / MGD), and a one-million-gallon composite water storage tank. Construction work was carried out by Crosby Construction. While the typical daily production is approximately 4 million gallons of drinking water, the Armstrong Road facility was designed to be readily upgradeable to 9 MGD. Penetron worked with Wessler Engineering during the planning phase to secure approval of PENETRON ADMIX as the preferred crystalline concrete waterproofing admixture, adds Christopher Chen. In addition, imi, the ready-mix concrete supplier, specifies Penetron products as the preferred crystalline waterproofing solution thanks to easy dosage, durable and convenient packaging, our on-site support, and competitive pricing. In addition, all Penetron crystalline materials are non-toxic and NSF-61-approved for potable water applications. PENETRON ADMIX was added to the concrete exposed to water, including the two new wells, aerators, the detention and backwash tanks, and the pump station of the new Armstrong Road facility. PENETRON ADMIX is a blend of Portland cement, very fine-treated silica, and active, proprietary chemicals. Mixed with fresh concrete, it triggers a catalytic reaction to form a non-soluble crystalline structure throughout the pores and capillary tracts of the concrete, sealing it tightly from water or liquid penetration. This enables the concrete to resist extreme hydrostatic pressure from either the positive or negative surface of the concrete element and also self-seals any hairline cracks. The PENETRON ADMIX-treated concrete elements remain permanently waterproof over the service life of the concrete. These concrete waterproofing characteristics increase the overall durability of the Armstrong Road facilitys concrete and drastically reduces future waterproofing-related maintenance costs, concludes Christopher Chen. The Penetron Group is a leading manufacturer of specialty construction products for concrete waterproofing, concrete repairs, and floor preparation systems. The Group operates through a global network, offering support to the design and construction community through its regional offices, representatives, and distribution channels. For more information on Penetron waterproofing solutions, please visit penetron(dot)com or Facebook(dot)com/ThePenetronGroup, email CRDept(at)penetron(dot)com or contact the Corporate Relations Department at 631-941-9700. Our team consistently infuses high levels of creativity to communicate the messages and meet the goals of our client partners. MCI USA is proud to announce its print and digital design work has been selected by the Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA) as finalists for five 2023 EXCEL Awards. The US Creative Services department of MCI, a global marketing and engagement agency, was recognized for design work supporting a diverse roster of client partners. Congratulations to MCI USAs Creative Services department for being recognized by SIIA for outstanding work in five categories, said Carrie Hartin, President, Association Solutions, MCI USA. Im proud that our team consistently infuses high levels of creativity to communicate the messages and meet the goals of our client partners. SIIAs EXCEL Awards are the largest and most prestigious program recognizing excellence and leadership in association media, publishing, marketing, and communication. From digital publishing to magazines, newsletters, newspapers, journals, books, and promotional content, the EXCEL Awards encompass every association communication vehicle. MCI USA is a 2023 EXCEL Award finalist in the following five categories: Website Redesign: Accreditation Council for Genetic Counseling, Digital Design: Alex Huffman Media Kit Design: The D.C. Bar, Digital Design: Alex Huffman and Jeremy Haag Best Onsite Convention Guide: National Association of Biology Teachers, Graphic Design: Stephanie Donnelly Single Promotional Piece: ITechLaw India Conference, Graphic Design: Aubrey Swanson Promotional Content Buyers Guide or Catalog: International Society of Appraisers, Graphic Design: Aubrey Swanson MCI USAs Creative Services department is comprised of 20 talents delivering over 300 design, editorial, publication, branding, marketing, video, and content projects for dozens of association and nonprofit, as well as internal clients annually. Winners of gold, silver, and bronze 2023 EXCEL Awards will be announced at the June 27 EXCEL Gala, in conjunction with AMPLIFY: AM&P Networks Content and Marketing Summit. # # # For more information please contact: Andy Schwarz Vice President, Communications ABOUT MCI MCI is a global engagement and marketing agency. We design human-centric solutions that unleash the power of people to deliver innovation and growth for our clients. Our offering includes live & virtual events, strategic & digital communications, consulting & community solutions. We help brands, companies, associations, and not-for-profits solve their challenges, bringing their people together to shape their tomorrow. MCI is an independently owned company headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, with a global presence in 60 offices across 31 countries. http://www.wearemci.com MCIs US headquarters is in the Washington, DC area with offices in New York, Baltimore, Dallas, and Chicago. http://www.wearemci.com/en-us Dr. Jacques and Dr. Brenes Raising awareness about a problem such as hypertension and cardiovascular disease in pregnant and postpartum women can make the difference between life and death, said Dr. Juan Carlos Brenes, Medical Director of Clinical Cardiology at Memorial Regional Hospital. Memorial Healthcare System is warning that the number of pregnant and postpartum women with high blood pressure in South Florida is significantly higher than the national average. Preeclampsia, a hypertensive disorder of pregnancy, is affecting 9.4% of maternity patients at Memorials three birthing hospitals, more than double the national average of 4.2% over the past 30 years. Because of health disparities, the risk to women of color is especially high, particularly vulnerable are non-Hispanic Black women with additional risk factors such as being over 35 years of age, having late or no prenatal care, and experiencing obesity and other complications. Raising awareness about a problem such as hypertension and cardiovascular disease in pregnant and postpartum women can make the difference between life and death, said Dr. Juan Carlos Brenes, Medical Director of Clinical Cardiology at Memorial Regional Hospital. He furthers explains that preeclampsia can present in different ways and women should remain vigilant during pregnancy and after they deliver the baby. Preeclampsia poses a life-threatening risk to both the mother and unborn child and increases the risk of cardiac complications later in life. Currently, there is no known cure for preeclampsia during pregnancy other than delivery of the baby and placenta in the hope that the mother's blood pressure may subside. Patricia Hall, a patient at Memorial Regional Hospital, had what she called a perfect pregnancy, and her pre-pregnancy hypertension remained under control without medication. However, she continued to monitor her blood pressure after her delivery, following her doctor's recommendations. Patricia's vigilance and prompt action helped her seek appropriate medical care when her blood pressure skyrocketed postpartum. "Seventy-two hours after delivering, I went home, and that night my pressure went through the roof. It was 169 over 102. That, from my experience, was not normal," said Hall, who experienced postpartum preeclampsia. She arrived at the Emergency Room at Memorial Regional, where the medical team followed preeclampsia protocols, put her on medication immediately, and provided her with a teal, medical alert bracelet that identifies her as having preeclampsia. Patricia credits Dr. Brenes with saving her life. Preeclampsia can present with several warning signals, such as elevated blood pressure, abrupt swelling, intractable headaches, impaired vision, and upper abdominal pain, which may occur during pregnancy or after delivery. Dr. Elvire Jacques, Maternal Fetal Medicine specialist at Memorial Healthcare System, stressed the importance of access to quality care. Women who do have preeclampsia are at increased risk for having cardiac complications, so we want to make sure that they are not just taken care of at that initial point in time but that we provide the follow up care as well, she said. Memorial Healthcare System remains committed to providing high-quality care to its patients and educating the community about the risks of preeclampsia and the importance of monitoring blood pressure during and after pregnancy. Memorial Primary Care created a special position called OB Hypertension Navigator. The goal of this medical professional is to help improve outcomes, particularly for women of color and their babies in Broward County. The navigator works with expectant women who have or are at risk of hypertension to coordinate timely prenatal care, educate about the danger signs, monitor postpartum blood pressure and ensure new moms complete postpartum visits. For the Memorial Primary Care OB Hypertension Navigator, call 754-971-7780. About Memorial Healthcare System Memorial Healthcare System is one of the largest public healthcare systems in the U.S. and a national leader in quality care and patient, physician, and employee satisfaction. It is highly regarded for a patient and family-centered approach that prioritizes multi-disciplinary collaboration, research, innovation, and transparency. A South Florida-based academic medical center, Memorial is committed to healing the body, mind, and spirit of those it cares for at six hospitals (including Joe DiMaggio Childrens Hospital), numerous primary, urgent, and 24/7 care facilities, a health specialty center, and nursing home. Michael G. Dryden Being elected as a Fellow of the College of Workers Compensation Lawyers is one of the most meaningful distinctions a workers comp lawyer can achieve. I am humbled to be included along with colleagues who are doing important work in an area of law that affects peoples lives deeply. Philadelphia labor, employment, workers compensation and family law firm Willig, Williams & Davidson is pleased to announce that partner Michael G. Dryden has been elected a Fellow of The College of Workers Compensation Lawyers. Election as a Fellow is one of the highest recognitions by a lawyers colleagues of sustained, outstanding performance and contribution to the field of workers compensation law. Every Fellow must meet the Colleges high standards for integrity, professionalism and character. Being elected as a Fellow of the College of Workers Compensation Lawyers is one of the most meaningful distinctions a workers comp lawyer can achieve, said Dryden. I am humbled to be included along with colleagues who are doing important work in an area of law that affects peoples lives deeply. The College of Workers Compensation Lawyers was established to honor attorneys who have distinguished themselves in workers compensation law. Members have worked in their field for at least 20 years, representing plaintiffs and defendants, serving as judges, educating others about workers compensation, overseeing agencies, and developing legislation. Individuals are nominated based on their professional qualifications, ethical standards, character, integrity, expertise, and leadership. Fellows further the objective of the College to foster excellence in the field through scholarship, teaching, lecturing, and publishing writings on workers compensation or related fields of law. Certified as a Workers Compensation specialist by the Pennsylvania Bar Association, Dryden serves as chair of Willig, Williams & Davidsons workers compensation department. He is proud to battle on the side of working people, striving to ensure they receive the benefits to which they are entitled when they incur work-related injuries or fall ill to a work-related disease. His legal counsel has helped hundreds of workers, from firefighters to machinists to truck drivers, claim their rightful benefits for all types of work-related injuries and diseases. Dryden represents clients in workers compensation and pension matters before the Philadelphia Civil Service Commission. He is actively engaged in the firms management of Heart & Lung Act cases throughout Pennsylvania, including occupational disease claims for cancer, heart disease, and toxic exposures. A recognized expert in this area of law, he has been called upon to testify before state and municipal legislative bodies regarding issues involving workers compensation, occupational disease, and hearing loss. He also trains union leaders on issues involving injured members and conducts educational seminars for union stewards. The newest class of Fellows of the College of Workers Compensation Lawyers was inducted during a dinner at the conclusion of an American Bar Association national institute program held May 5-6, 2023, at the Marriott Marquis Hotel in New York City. About Willig, Williams & Davidson Willig, Williams & Davidson (http://www.wwdlaw.com) is one of the largest and most respected union-side labor law firms in the United States. The firm has offices in Philadelphia, Harrisburg, and Jenkintown Pa., as well as Haddonfield, N.J., and Chicago, Ill. Founded in 1979, Willig, Williams & Davidson focuses on representing labor unions, employee benefit funds and individual working people and their families on a variety of legal fronts, including national, regional and local contract negotiations; election and campaign finance; dispute resolution through mediation, arbitration and litigation; family law matters; benefits law design and compliance issues; discrimination, overtime and unpaid wages, and other employment matters; prepaid legal services for union members; social security disability; and workers compensation matters in Philadelphia and beyond. Workers inspire us. I am honored to join National University in celebration of this years graduates. - Jacob Fraire, ECMC Foundation President National University (NU), one of the largest Hispanic Serving Institutions in the U.S., the largest conferrer of graduate degrees to minority students in the U.S., with more than 50 percent of graduates being women, and the second largest conferrer of doctoral degrees overall is proud to announce that Jacob Fraire, president of the ECMC Foundation, an organization focused on improving higher education to advance career success for underserved populations, will deliver the keynote address during both Commencement ceremonies on June 9 and 10 at Petco Park home of the San Diego Padres. Jacob Fraire has made a lasting impact and changed countless lives through his lifelong work in educational transformation, public policy, and philanthropy, said Dr. Mark D. Milliron, president and CEO of National University. He serves as an inspirational role model through his own pathway as a first-generation college graduate to a nationally recognized and respected educational leader who truly symbolizes our NU vision to serve lifelong learners who contribute to the positive transformation of society. During the ceremony, President Milliron will confer an honorary doctoral degree to Jacob Fraire out of respect for his exemplary educational career of service to improve the lives of underrepresented populations and contributions through his lifelong advocacy and philanthropic work to affect educational transformation. Fraire has been a catalyst for advancing educational transformation by leading national collaborations to advance positive social change in postsecondary education, being dedicated to opening the doors of educational opportunity for historically underserved populations, and serving others throughout his impressive educational and philanthropic career. I am honored to join National University in celebration of this years graduates, said Jacob Fraire. I look forward to delivering a keynote address that I believe will serve as a source of inspiration to the graduates as they continue on their career pathway and life-long learning journey. The 2023 National University Commencement ceremonies will be held on two separate dates, Friday, June 9 at 1:30 p.m. and Saturday, June 10 at 9:30 a.m., at Petco Park in Downtown San Diego. This is the largest graduating class in NUs 50+ year history with nearly 6,300 graduates from the universitys seven schools and colleges. Approximately 1,500 students will be in person during each of the ceremonies to walk across the stage and receive certificates, bachelors, masters, and doctoral degrees, and will be celebrated by about 17,000 friends and family in the ballpark stands. Graduates and guests from both commencement ceremonies are also invited to join to a special family-friendly celebration on Friday, June 9th from 5 7 p.m. at Petco Park on the concourse. Festivities include live music, face painting, and meet and greets with deans and faculty. For additional information about the ceremony details and festivities, visit NU Commencement 2023. About National University: National University, a veteran-founded nonprofit, has been dedicated to meeting the needs of hard-working adults by providing accessible, affordable higher education opportunities since 1971. As San Diegos largest private nonprofit university, NU offers over 125 online and on-campus programs and flexible four-week and eight-week classes designed to help students reach their goals while balancing busy lives. Since its founding, the NU community has grown to 40,000 students and 230,000 alumni around the globe, many of whom serve in helping industries such as business, education, health care, cybersecurity, and law and criminal justice. To learn more about National Universitys new possibilities in education including next-generation education, credential-rich education, and whole human education, visit NU.edu. "As a company dedicated to empowering individuals on their personal journeys, we are making our transformative services more available to the Cinnaminson, Cherry Hill, and Moorestown communities who were eager for more convenient locations near their neighborhood." Removery, the world's tattoo removal experts, is opening its 148th global studio in Cinnaminson, New Jersey on May 23. This location, situated 12 miles from the Philadelphia metro area, will be one of five Removery studios built to serve Greater Philadelphia residents. It will be inside The Shoppes at Cinnaminson on Burlington Pike, between Cooper Medical Urgent Care and Saladworks. Removery selected this spot for its newest location to provide convenience for new and existing clients in the area. Jo Kelton, the Chief Operating Officer at Removery, elaborated on the company's decision to open this location. "We are thrilled to unveil our newest studio in Cinnaminson, NJ," said Kelton. "After an extensive analysis of the market, it became clear that Cinnaminson, with its vibrant community, was the perfect fit for Removery's expansion. As a company dedicated to empowering individuals on their personal journeys, we are making our transformative services more available to the Cinnaminson, Cherry Hill, and Moorestown communities who were eager for more convenient locations near their neighborhood." Removery's research empowers its tattoo removal specialists to deliver the safest, most effective, and most accessible laser tattoo removal procedures using the state-of-the-art PicoWay laser system by Candela. Removery is home to the world's first tattoo removal Clinical Advisory Board dedicated to the advancement of the industry and has performed over 850,000 treatments. In addition to the 128 locations in the United States, Removery has 8 locations in Canada and 12 locations in Australia. Removery's Cinnaminson studio, located at 175 US Route 130, Suite G, is 2,169 square feet with two treatment rooms and two consultation rooms. Regular business hours are 9:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesdays and Wednesdays, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Thursdays, 9:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Fridays, and 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturdays. New clients to this location who purchase a complete removal package by June 2, 2023 will receive $350 off. To schedule an appointment, please call 866-602- 2561 or visit removery.com and connect with Removery on Instagram (@removery) or Facebook (@removery). About Removery Removery, the world's tattoo removal experts, helps people reflect on the outside, who they are on the inside. Born from the partnership of North America's four largest and most trusted tattoo removal brands, the company is committed to driving research and advancements in the world of laser tattoo removal while ensuring client safety and effective results. Removery is home to the world's first tattoo removal Clinical Advisory Board dedicated to the advancement of the industry. Removery's research empowers its tattoo removal specialists to deliver the safest, most effective, and most accessible laser tattoo removal procedures using the state-of-the-art PicoWay laser system by Candela. Currently, Removery has over 140 locations across the United States, Canada, and Australia and has performed 850,000+ treatments. The company's goal is to normalize tattoo removal and empower clients to feel confident in their own skin. For more information on Removery or to make an appointment, please call 866-602- 2561 or visit removery.com and connect with Removery on Instagram (@removery) or Facebook (@removery). OPINION - The Standard View: It is now a race against time to rescue Britons trapped in Sudan (PA) The window of opportunity to rescue British citizens from Sudan is closing. As a third RAF evacuation flight landed in Cyprus this morning, with at least three planned for today, Home Secretary Suella Braverman has confirmed that 200 to 300 UK nationals have been transferred. Still, the Government has understandably faced criticism for its flat-footed response. While other nations such as Germany and France acted more decisively to extricate their nationals from Sudan, the UK chose to make stricter distinctions between diplomats and citizens. Ministers point to specific threats made against diplomatic staff but the reality is this decision cost precious time. The Foreign Office has issued travel advice to trapped Britons eligible for the flights to get to the Wadi Saeedna airfield near Khartoum by their own means. But given the fears of snipers and the absence of fuel, many will need help to get there. The three-day ceasefire, struck between the Sudanese armed forces and the paramilitary group known as the Rapid Support Forces, is set to expire at 10pm GMT tomorrow. It could collapse at any moment. The Government, in co-ordination with UK armed forces and our allies, must move heaven and earth to rescue our citizens from this desperate and deteriorating situation. Another blow to CBI Rain Newton-Smith, who faces her first day as director-general of the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), would be forgiven for having second thoughts. Only yesterday evening, the City of London Corporation, which covers the majority of the capitals financial sector, announced it had formally suspended its membership of the lobby group in the wake of sexual misconduct allegations. It joins dozens of major British businesses and trade bodies such as Aviva, PwC and Lloyds Banking Group. The crisis was precipitated earlier this month when it was reported that more than a dozen women claimed to be victims of sexual harassment while working at the CBI. Two of these women say they were raped. The CBI has long been an influential organisation, both as the self-styled voice of businesses and as a go-between with government. But it does not have an inalienable right to exist. Unless it can demonstrate root-and-branch reform to its culture and practices, business will look elsewhere. Opportunity for artists The Evening Standards Art Prize is back. A dozen artists will see their work go on show in a central London gallery, with one of them picking up a 5,000 prize. This years theme is a portrait of you, with artists asked to submit images celebrating self-expression and the way individuality and personality is shown through their art. Previous winners of this prize have gone on to launch their careers and enjoy solo shows. The competition is open to all artists over the age of 18, excluding those who have had a solo exhibition in a public institution. Good luck! Michael Yoo, CIO, RetireeFirst Im eager to build on RetireeFirsts stellar reputation as a top-performer by leveraging the latest industry trends to significantly accelerate our digital initiatives. - Michael Yoo, CIO, RetireeFirst RetireeFirst, the premier retiree benefit management solutions and advocacy service provider, today announced the appointment of industry veteran Michael Yoo as the companys first Chief Information Officer. The strategic hire further advances RetireeFirsts ongoing commitment to preserving and enhancing retiree benefits. As the benefit management industrys digital transformation continues to take hold, the solutions and products offered must keep pace without sacrificing the element of customer service. As RetireeFirst looks to scale operations and expand its footprint to tend to a broader array of clients, Yoo will be instrumental in protecting data and retaining the legendary people-centric approach the company is known for. We are thrilled to have Michael join our executive leadership team, said John Dulczak, CEO, RetireeFirst. His deep understanding of technology, strategic vision, and leadership expertise will infuse our product roadmap with the technological advances needed to blaze new trails of innovative disruption. Yoo has over 15 years of experience in information technology with a background working in global enterprises, small, and hyper-growth mid-size organizations. He has a passion for creating and optimizing high-performing technology operation teams, identifying and reducing risk, creating scalable enterprise processes, and ensuring technology is aligned with business objectives to scale rapidly and positively impact the client experience. By joining the RetireeFirst team, I see a prime opportunity to combine my technology, information security, and compliance experience to enhance our position as an industry leader through elevated technological innovation, Yoo said. Im eager to build on RetireeFirsts stellar reputation as a top-performer by leveraging the latest industry trends to significantly accelerate our digital initiatives. To learn more about the company and how it creates a seamless benefits experience that drives value for group plan sponsors and their retirees, follow RetireeFirst on LinkedIn and Twitter. For more information on RetireeFirst, its team, services, and partnerships, visit http://www.retireefirst.com. About RetireeFirst RetireeFirst is the premier retiree benefit management solutions and advocacy service provider, proven to enhance the experience and outcomes for group plan sponsors and their retirees. Founded in 2005, the company partners with all major national health carriers and hundreds of labor unions, public sector entities, and private corporations nationwide. RetireeFirst designs solutions that preserve and enhance benefit quality while driving material cost savings. Its unparalleled advocacy service creates a seamless benefits experience and connects members to programs that improve their health and wellness. RetireeFirst is HITRUST certified and has been awarded a full URAC Core Accreditation for its commitment to upholding federal regulatory requirements and improving business processes. Headquartered in Mount Laurel, NJ, RetireeFirsts award-winning team, solutions, and services have received industry praise, world-class NPS scores, and a Philadelphia Biz Journal Best Places to Work award. For more information on RetireeFirsts people-centric approach, our services, and our broker, consultant, or carrier programs, visit retireefirst.com and follow RetireeFirst on LinkedIn and Twitter. Mauricio Romero Mauricio brings a wealth of experience to Vicky Bakery, from his background in managing large restaurant groups to scaling multiple franchised businesses and working alongside franchisees, said Alex Santiago, Vicky Bakery board member. Vicky Bakery, South Floridas original family-owned Cuban bakery since 1972, has named Mauricio Romero as its new chief executive officer. This announcement comes as Vicky Bakery is experiencing record setting growth, continuous double digit revenue gains, the opening of multiple new locations, and new strategic investments. Former CEO Alex Santiago will remain dedicated to his leadership role on Vicky Bakerys board of directors, along with the rest of the family, while continuing to shape the franchise companys future. Romero comes to Vicky Bakery from his nearly 40-year career in the restaurant franchise industry where he has served in a variety of executive roles. Most recently, he served as fractional chief operating officer of LA EEBI, a top-tier franchise business consulting firm that works with a range of restaurants in the fast casual, quick service, and full-service verticals. Prior to that, Romero was president of operations for Fransmart, which has sold over 5,000 franchises worldwide and launched franchising for restaurants such as Five Guys, QDOBA, The Halal Guys, and Vapiano, while investing in brands that included Sweetgreen and Cava. Earlier in his career, Romero was divisional vice president of operations for Five Guys in the Western U.S. and Canada where he oversaw 72 franchisee groups with 656 restaurants. "I am thrilled to take on this new role with Vicky Bakery as the company has made tremendous strides in truly creating the very best Cuban bakery whose traditions span three generations, said Romero. From the very first moment I stepped inside a Vicky Bakery, I knew right away why we were different, special, and better than anything else out there. Our franchise brand was born out of a family business and thats the way it remains. We treat our customers, our franchisees, our team members, and our suppliers like family. That is and will always be the Vicky Bakery way. That sense of family and duty to one another is one of our most defining characteristics. We are poised for some incredible growth ahead. For 50 years, Vicky Bakerys Cuban roots and steadfast commitment to tradition have allowed the brand to stand out against the competition, passing along the love, time and traditions that went into making pastries originally in 1972. Today, that set of core values, along with its belief in quality, variety, convenience, and experience, still determines its direction and has kept the brand on solid footing. Created in our own kitchens every day, Vicky Bakery bakers and chefs prepare an extensive variety of authentic Cuban breads, pastelitos, croquetas, desserts, breakfast items, sandwiches, cakes, coffee, and so much more to satisfy every appetite, whether its a sweet indulgence or even a loaf of Cuban bread. Mauricio brings a wealth of experience to Vicky Bakery, from his background in managing large restaurant groups to scaling multiple franchised businesses and working alongside franchisees, said Alex Santiago, Vicky Bakery board member. As Vicky Bakery continues on its transformational journey as the fastest growing and most well recognized Cuban bakery chain, Mauricios deep understanding of unit level economics and how to meet customers needs will help solidify Vicky Bakery as an industry leader while driving profitability across our brand for our amazing network of franchisees. About Vicky Bakery: Vicky Bakery is the beloved original family-owned Cuban bakery founded in 1972 in Hialeah, Fla. The authentic and traditional recipes have not changed over time and Vicky Bakery continues to bake and serve daily a wide variety of breads, pastries, desserts, breakfast items, sandwiches, cakes, coffee, and more. Vicky Bakery currently operates nearly two dozen locations across South Florida and its aggressively looking to expand across the state with new owners. Visit vickybakery.com/franchise for more information about bakeries and franchise development opportunities in new and existing markets. ### State Farm Announced as Title Sponsor of WIT Connect 2023 The opportunity to become the WIT Connect 2023 Title Sponsor allows us to deepen our relationship with WIT and show our passion by collaborating with a great organization making significant impacts in our community by helping girls and women excel in STEAM careers, Victor Montgomery, State Farm Women in Technology (WIT), a leading organization empowering and educating women and girls in science, technology, engineering, the arts, and math (STEAM), is thrilled to announce the Title Sponsor and VIP Sponsor for its highly anticipated signature networking and fundraising event, WIT Connect. State Farm, a renowned provider of insurance and financial services, has graciously taken on the role of Title Sponsor for WIT Connect 2023. State Farm has a longstanding commitment to making a positive impact in communities and supporting initiatives that help girls and women excel in STEAM careers. The collaboration with WIT allows State Farm to enhance its impact on the organization and contribute to its mission of empowering the next generation of female leaders in STEAM. At State Farm we are committed to being good neighbors who serve our customers and make our communities better. The opportunity to become the WIT Connect 2023 Title Sponsor allows us to deepen our relationship with WIT and show our passion by collaborating with a great organization that is making significant impacts in our community by helping girls and women excel in STEAM careers, said Victor Montgomery, Internal Audit Director at State Farm. "We are excited to have State Farm as the Title Sponsor for WIT Connect 2023," said Penny Collins, President & CEO of WIT. "State Farm's dedication to our mission and their active engagement in our programs demonstrates their passion for fostering growth and ensuring that young women have the tools to thrive in STEAM fields." In addition to State Farm, WIT Connect 2023 is also honored to have Republic National Distributing Company (RNDC) as the VIP Sponsor. RNDC, a leading wholesale beverage alcohol distributor, recognizes the importance of diversity and inclusion in the technology industry and is committed to supporting WIT's efforts in advancing women in STEAM. "WIT is delighted to welcome RNDC as our VIP Sponsor for WIT Connect 2023," added Penny Collins. "Their commitment to diversity and their investment in women's success in STEAM make them an ideal partner for this event." WIT Connect is a premier fundraising and networking event that brings together Atlanta's top executives, raising funds to support the development of young girls and the advancement of women in STEAM. Over the years, WIT Connect has gathered industry leaders and raised over $7.7 million to further WIT's programs, including WIT Girls, Campus, Young Professionals, and Single Mothers Programs. The event offers unique executive auction experiences where participants can compete for exclusive time with esteemed C-Suite executives from Atlanta. Proceeds from the auction directly contribute to WIT's programs, ensuring that more women have access to the resources and opportunities they need to succeed in STEAM fields. WIT Connect 2023 will also include a vibrant atmosphere with live music, a silent auction, an exclusive VIP networking reception, and a celebration of the organization's scholarship recipients. The event promises to be an unforgettable evening in celebration of this year's scholarship recipients and to support women in STEAM. For more information about WIT Connect and to stay updated on the event, please visit https://mywit.org/events/wit-connect/. Limited sponsorship opportunities for WIT Connect 2023 are available, providing sponsors with access to a community of esteemed technology leaders and the opportunity to support the next generation of female leaders in STEAM. Interested parties can contact our SVP of Corporate Partnerships, Kyle Ross, at kross@mywit.org. About State Farm For 100 years, the mission of State Farm has been and continues to be to help people manage the risks of everyday life, recover from the unexpected, and realize their dreams. State Farm and its affiliates are the largest providers of auto and home insurance in the United States. Its more than 19,400 agents and approximately 53,400 employees serve over 87 million policies and accounts which includes auto, fire, life, health, commercial policies and financial services accounts. Commercial auto insurance, along with coverage for renters, business owners, boats and motorcycles, is available. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company is the parent of the State Farm family of companies. State Farm is ranked No. 39 on the 2021 Fortune 500 list of largest companies. For more information, please visit http://www.statefarm.com. About RNDC Republic National Distributing Company (RNDC) is a family-owned business with roots extending before Prohibition that has evolved into one of the nations largest wine and spirits wholesalers. Our success is grounded in our core values of Family, Service, Accountability, Honesty, and Professionalism. We offer an inclusive culture and workplace experience for individuals who want a career that makes them feel accomplished and engaged. RNDC values the health and well-being of our associates, inside and outside the office, offering health and wellness benefits that supply care and value. RNDC is geared toward growing our footprint and our people. Join our team of energetic professionals who believe in many happy hours and are experts in our craft. About Women In Technology Women In Technology (WIT) empowers and educates women and girls about opportunities in science, technology, engineering, the arts, and math (STEAM) by educating middle and high school girls, and young women in college, and by sharing the stories of successful professional women in STEAM. Our team of more than 300 volunteers delivers professional development and networking opportunities to our more than 3,000 professionals, and programs at no cost to more than 1,500 students. From the classroom to the boardroom, WIT is committed to bringing the best STEAM content and programming to women and girls in Georgia. Over the past week, a story alleging that homeless military veterans were booted from New York hotel rooms being used as temporary shelters to make way for newly arrived migrants dominated right-wing networks and tabloid newspapers. The front page ofThe New York Post ran with VETS KICKED OUT FOR MIGRANTS on 13 May, and the story was picked up by Fox News and Newsmax, where former Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin claimed that our veterans again are being kicked to the curb. Republican officials immediately seized on the story as purported evidence for the crisis at the US-Mexico border and in Democratic-led US cities. But that story was false. The claims appear to have originally come from founder of a veterans advocacy group, according to The Mid Hudson News and The Times Union of Albany. The storys unraveling has also placed that woman, Sharon Toney-Finch, and her nonprofit, Yerik Israel Toney Foundation, under the scrutiny of state investigators and raised questions about her own military history. Over the last year, New York Citys Democratic Mayor Eric Adams has struggled to find shelters and long-term housing for hundreds of migrants who are being bused north from Republican border states. Earlier this month, the Adams administration reportedly clashed with officials in Orange County, upstate New York, over his plans to send two buses of migrants to the Crossroads Hotel in Newburgh. That plan was paused on 10 May. On 12 May, The New York Post ran a story alleging that nearly two dozen struggling homeless veterans have been booted from upstate hotels to make room for migrants. Ms Toney-Finchs group was cited as the source for the information. But reporters from The Times Union and Mid Hudson News, two outlets based in upstate New York, could not find any of the allegedly displaced veterans, and Crossroads, the hotel at the centre of the controversy ,said it did not have any records of veterans recently staying there. Homeless men told The Times Union that they were approached by unidentified recruiters at a shelter in Poughkeepsie, New York, taken to a diner, offered money and bags of toiletries, then transported to a nearby veterans centre to pose as veterans who were kicked out of a hotel. Asked by the Associated Press about the alleged scheme, Ms Toney-Finch did not say whether the claims were fabricated but stated that we should have verified better. The Independent has requested comment from Ms Toney-Finch and the foundation. New York Governor Kathy Hochul condemned the apparent scheme, telling reporters that people seeking asylum were sent there with a legal contract between the city of New York and a hotel owner. They are allowed to contract that way and if people want to fabricate stories to undermine the whole process, I think its reprehensible, she added. New York Attorney General Letitia James is looking into the allegations, her office told Politico. Yerik Israel Toney Foundation works to help homeless and low-income military service veterans in need of living assistance, according to the groups website. Ms Toney-Finch was inducted into the New York State Senate Veterans Hall of Fame in 2022 and is listed in the National Purple Heart Hall of Honor. Last week, she was honoured by New York State Senator Rob Rolison as a woman of distinction, who also noted that she is a Purple Heart recipient. However while Ms Toney-Finch has received several military honours, there is nothing to indicate that she is a Purple Heart recipient, according to a review of her military records by The Daily Beast. The fake story played into the right-wing outrage that has reached fever pitch since the expiration of Title 42, a Trump-era border policy, that Republican officials and pundits predicted would result in immigration chaos. Prominent New York Republicans used the apparent story to condemn Democratic officials. Congresswoman Elise Stefanik sharedThe Posts front cover on social media on 13 May. Bidens America. Kathy Hochuls New York. Eric Adamss New York City, she wrote. A disgrace. Congressman Mike Lawler called the alleged incident a debacle. If Mayor Eric Adams had a shred of decency, he would drive up to Orange County tomorrow and apologize to these veterans himself, he said, in a statement on 12 May. It was later removed from his website. Mr Lawler later called the bogus story and Ms Toney-Finch appalling. Her decision to exploit our veterans and the genuine admiration and love our community has for them could have turned an already tense situation into something much worse, he said in a statement. Fox acknowledges a story they ran wild with miiiiight have been a hoax "We are now looking into new reports that a veterans advocate misled lawmakers, and media outlets, about a story that some homeless men may have been hired to pose as veterans" OOPS pic.twitter.com/rUWY0zQojk Lis Power (@LisPower1) May 19, 2023 Brian Maher, a Republican state assembly member, told Fox News on 15 May that the claims were a slap in the face to veterans, to citizens of New York in this country, who are really being cast aside to allow for asylum seekers to come here. He later apologised for spreading the foundations false claims and distanced himself from the group. While I believed Sharon was telling the truth, I do want to apologize for those that have been negatively impacted since this news broke, he said. Mr Maher also called for investigations by the New York State Attorney General and the Orange County District Attorney into the incident. Mayor Adams has repeatedly pressed for federal assistance while continuing to search for housing options for tens of thousands of people who have arrived in New York in the past year. With the end of Title 42, the state is preparing for several thousand additional people seeking shelter each week, according to the governors recent emergency order. [U]pwards of 500 people arrived each day as the city prepared for the end of Title 42, according to the mayors spokesperson Fabien Levy. In 2022, NYC agencies sheltered more than 61,000 asylum seekers, with roughly 37,500 people in city shelters and emergency housing. New York City shelters house more than 75,000 people on any given night, while countless remain on the streets, according to Coalition for the Homeless. London and Paris-based Film Constellation head Fabien Westerhoff officially announced the launch of its in-house production arm Constellation Productions exactly a year ago, during the 2022 edition of Cannes. Twelve months on, the exec is taking stock with a sense of satisfaction. More from Deadline Projects are often announced and then you never know whether anything really happens, he tells Deadline. In one year, weve managed to create a diverse slate of films that are actually getting made. The first film to come down the pipeline will be UK director Alice Troughtons first film The Lesson, starring Daryl McCormack, Richard E. Grant and Julie Delpy, which world premieres at Tribeca in June. Westerhoff takes a producer credit alongside London-based producer Camille Gatin at Poison Chef Production, Cassandra Sigsgaard at Jeva Films and Judy Tossell at Berlin company Egoli Tossell Film. With his sales background, the exec financed the film through Focus Features and Bleecker Street. It was a wonderful adventure. Being part of it as a production house and setting up a debut feature with an American studio is a great achievement, and something were very excited about. Its an interesting example of a project where my producer role was to help with talent packaging, coproduction structuring and financing alongside my production partners, who developed the IP and brought it to us, and something that is a little bit different from the classic kind of sales work that we do with pleasure on other titles. Next up on the slate is Durga Chew-Boses first film Bonjour Tristesse starring Chloe Sevigny, Claes Bang and Lily McInerny and Nailia Harzoune which is currently shooting in the South of France. Westerhoff, who is an executive producer under the Constellation Productions banner, co-financed the film. The film is lead produced by Canadas Babe Nation Films and Elevation Pictures as well as Germanys Barry Films and Frances Cinenovo. Film Constellation also launched sales on the film in Cannes. Constellation Productions is also gearing for the shoot of Paradise, the first film of Canadian director Jeremy Comte, whose short film Fauve was Oscar-nominated in 2019. Were shooting the film in Ghana in September, he says. Its a unique story about two young men on different sides of the globe, one in Quebec, the other in Ghana, whose destinies collide when an internet love scam goes awry. The company co-developed the film with Cinenovo and Elevation, with Sara Murphy (Licorice Pizza) and Ryan Zacarias on board as executive producers. They brought the project to me and introduced me to the filmmaker. I am very much indebted to them, says Westerhoff of the executive producers. As a minority French co-producer, our role has been to raise finance in Europe, bringing in Arte France Cinemas on board as a coproduction and license partner, and well also be selling the film worldwide. Film Constellation will not necessarily always take on sales on the Constellation Productions slate, says Westerhoff, pointing to the example of The Lesson which was set up at a studio, but he notes that his distribution background informs his producing style. There are other producers whose focus is development, others who are specialised in the physical production aspects. My focus is very much on talent and the audience, and having clarity about where it sits in the marketplace informs our decision to develop material. Projects in production include Carmen Chaplins documentary feature Charlie Chaplin: Searching for The Tramp, exploring the familys discovery that the iconic director may have been born into the Black Patch Romany community outside Birmingham, rather than in London as was believed. It is a family investigation into their roots. This discovery starts an intimate conversation about who they are as children of one of the most famous artists of the 20th century, says Westerhoff. The doc mixes archive, contemporary interviews as well as animated segments by Apollo 10 1/2: A Space Age Childhood production house Submarine, which also takes producer credit alongside Atlantika Films, Wave of Humanity and Basque Films. This is still very much in production. Were taking our time with it because the availability of all the different family members is something that cant be organised in two weeks. We hope it will be ready for the beginning of next year, says Westerhoff. In development, the company is working on its feature-length animation The Last Dinosaur, developed and directed by UK filmmaker Ben Smith, in co-production with his company RedStar and Paris-based Fantabulous. I love this story because this was an original IP developed by British animation director Ben Smith. We took that IP, brought it to the marketplace and decided to set it up from the ground up. We structured the entire co-production, and production started this year. Obviously, animation is a longer process but its been a wonderful experience, coming from a point of view of finding this unique piece of IP. We knew that if we set it up with the right partners, there was value in the marketplace. Once we had that market validation with pre-sales that came on board very early, we basically went on a further development run to take the project to its full theatrical potential. Westerhoff is also an executive producer on Fernando Trueba and Javier Mariscals animated feature They Shot The Piano Player, which Film Constellation co-financed and is also handling sales. It sold North American and multiple territories to Sony Picture Classics at this years Cannes Marche. The film is going to be ready for the fall. So, expect to see it at one of the big festivals. Its gorgeous. This was one of the first projects I came on board as I launched Film Constellation and this was a long journey of helping to structure the co-production and setting it up with the right distribution partners. In a similar vein, he is co-producing Dance First by James Marsh which was developed with Sky Arts in the U.K. and produced by 2LE Media, Hungarys Proton Cinema and Belgiums Umedia. The title will be ready for the fall and is also on Film Constellations Cannes sales slate alongside Coup!, Haunted Heart and Turn Me On. The producer hat is very different from the sales hat. Obviously, my vantage point is very much infused with my experience of 20 years in sales and distribution. My eye and the way I look at material will always be influenced by that, says Westerhoff. Best of Deadline Sign up for Deadline's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Click here to read the full article. Publishers Weekly crowned its 31st annual bookstore and 25th annual sales rep of the year at U.S. Book Show on May 22. In a virtual awards ceremony, PW editorial director Jim Milliot named Midtown Scholar in Harrisburg, Pa., PWs Bookstore of the Year. Emily Bates, senior manager for in-house sales of Penguin Random House adult titles, earned the distinction of being named PWs Sales Rep of the Year. In addition to Midtown Scholar, 2023 bookstore finalists included the Edmonds Bookshop (Edmonds, Wash.), Harvey's Tales (Geneva, Ill.), Interabang Books (Dallas, Tex.), and Main Street Books (Lafayette, Ind.). Along with Bates, nominees for sales rep of the year included Mark Fleeman (Fujii Associates), Julie Isgrigg (Hachette Book Group), Tom Leigh (Macmillan), and Ty Wilson (Publishers Group West). PW solicits nominations from authors, distributors, booksellers, publishers, and other literary partners for the two awards each February, and profiles five finalists each May. A new call for nominees will go out in 2024. Milliot welcomed the audience to the announcement, noting that it is the fourth year that PW has presented its Bookstore of the Year and Rep of the Year virtually. "Maybe next year, we'll able to do this in person, which will make everybody happy," he said, before announcing Bates as this year's rep of the year. "Thank you, PW, for this incredible honor," Bates said, laughing at the memory of her mother persuading her to apply for a position in PRH's telemarketing department 14 years ago when she was a bookseller, and having to be convinced that it would not entail her calling booksellers during their lunch breaks to talk up the latest John Grisham release. After thanking her parents and her husband for their support, Bates thanked her colleagues at PRH for their hard work, especially the customer service department, "the unsung heroes" of the publishing industry. Bates concluded by thanking indie booksellers for building community, "finding just the right books" to put into customer hands, and for providing "a safe space for people just looking for understanding." Noting that "we are truly lucky to be in the publishing industry," Milliot then announced PW's Bookstore of the Year. Midtown Scholar co-owners Catherine Lawrence and Eric Papenfuse accepted Milliot's congratulations. We are so honored, said Lawrence, who thanked the New Atlantic Independent Booksellers Association for helping us grow and transition from being a small walkup used bookstore and online ecommerce [site] into a massive new and used bookstore with author talks. Wed like especially to thank our customers for being supportive of us through the difficult times of Covid and into the future. We are looking forward to what comes next. It all began with a pile of books in our dining room and grew to a renovated movie theater space, Papenfuse added, panning the camera around the spacious downstairs level as a crowd of bookstore staffers cheered the award. Midtown Scholar Midtown Scholar Bookstore, a general-interest store that occupies two substantial storefronts across from a historic farmers market in Harrisburg, celebrates its 20th anniversary as a bricks and mortar location this year. Owners Lawrence and Papenfuse grew their business from a used-book online portal to 15,000 square feet of retail space with a staff of 50. Theyve helped revitalize their neighborhood, gradually renovating a former post office and an old theater next door, demonstrating a commitment to Harrisburg as a destination for literary culture and political debate. Midtown Scholar encourages leisure and family time in the Counter Culture Coffee cafe, expansive childrens section, and rare book and collectibles annex. Throughout the year, the store brings award-winning authors to town, hosting them on a main-floor stage. Papenfuse, who served two terms as mayor of Harrisburg, touts the citys location as a crossroads among other major East Coast destinations. In 2009, he and Lawrence launched the annual Harrisburg Book Festival, and as the event grew, they named Alex Brubaker as its director. This years festival takes place Oct. 18-22, and includes featured authors, a full day of childrens programming, a used-book tent sale, and writing workshops. Midtown Scholar has grown from a startup to a community keystone, encouraging restaurants and other small businesses to put down roots in Pennsylvanias diverse capital city. Emily Bates Bates, who is based in Westminster, Md., describes herself as a jack-of-all-trades rep: she sells to and services remotely a variety of indie bookstore accounts across the country, although she does makes in-person calls upon two western Maryland indies: Curious Iguana in Frederick and A Likely Story in Sykesville. Bates calls her far-flung accounts a wonderful mix of both new and established stores. In an email nominating Bates as rep of the year, Barbara Peters, the owner of the Poisoned Pen in Scottsdale, Ariz., praised Bates and her team for their heroic efforts in helping indie bookstores navigate the challenging terrain of post-pandemic bookselling. But their greatest accomplishment, Peters wrote, was facilitating the launch of Diana Gabaldons latest Outlander novel, Go Tell the Bees That I am Gone which involved transporting 30,000 books to Scottsdale. It was quite a feat, Bates admits. Everybody had to fire on all cylinders for that one. Im proud to have been part of that. While Bates must be nimble in dealing with such a variety of accounts in all four mainland U.S. time zones, she ascribes her success to one constant: whether she is making an in-person call upon a store in Maryland, telephoning a store in rural Minnesota, or having 30,000 books shipped to Arizona, Bates makes sure that she completely understands the formula that each store uses to curate its inventory and how she can assist them to maximize their profits. "After all, she says, I know that with all the bookstores Im calling, their time is money. Its very fulfilling work, she adds. Theres something new every day. Taking a deep dive into the world of ocean conservation and education, Insight Editions imprint Earth Aware Kids has partnered with nonprofit OceanX on a collection of middle-grade fiction that aims to further young readers understanding of their natural surroundings. The first two books debuted in May, with additional titles slated for the fall. X Marks the Spot The OceanX Adventures series builds on the companys portfolio of STEM-based titles that seek to engage young readers on issues ranging from climate change to decreased species diversity. Our previous publishing has all been highly illustrated nonfiction for younger readers, said Insight Editions CEO and publisher Raoul Goff. The OceanX series expands on that rich foundation with exciting fiction that has a solid footing in sound science. The joint effort that spawned these books was several years in the making. Goff was first introduced to OceanX via film director and environmental activist James Cameron, who is currently working on a documentary series with the educational nonprofit. Goff, along with OceanX vice chair Vince Pieribone, discussed how they could work together to promote ocean conservation and community engagement. The two then tapped veteran childrens book author Kate Jerome to pen the OceanX Adventures series, impressed with her background not only as a writer, but as a trained biology educator. As Kate is fond of saying, Reading opens many doors for children, but conversations give them the courage to go through them, Goff said. Creating content that appealed to middle grade readers with a relatable tone was essential to crafting the series. The secret sauce in the OceanX series is tying fictional adventures to real-life exploration, Goff explained. To achieve this balance, Jerome interviewed OceanX scientists and studied their past missions when developing storylines. Mattie Rodrigue, OceanXs science program lead, was tasked with reviewing all final versions to ensure their authenticity, and ultimately served as inspiration for one of the main characters, Dr. Anna Knowles. While the series plot points incorporate factual information, Jerome also paid careful attention when developing fictional figures with whom readers could identify. The characters in the story are kids just like the young readers themselves, Goff said. This means they sometimes zone out, argue with their siblings, and even make mistakes. But they also remain curious and have fun as they learn new things and develop their personal passions. In the first book, Mystery at the Aquarium, two best friends work together to figure out what has caused a power outage at this area attraction, while in book two, Danger in the Deep Sea, the action takes place underwater and involves a Spanish shipwreck with lost treasure. Looking ahead to forthcoming titles in the OceanX Adventures line, readers will be able to meet new characters while vicariously traversing the depths of the ocean. In book 3, protagonist Marena Montoya, who appeared in the first title, learns to scuba dive in Californias Monterey Bay. To walk the walkor, in this case, dive the diveJerome took scuba lessons and became a certified diver to better inform her writing. Kate often jokes that childrens book authors are willing to try just about anything to relate to their readers, Goff said. The U.S. Book Show kicked off on May 22 with a focus on libraries and the challenges facing them in the late pandemic era. Even as librarians update collections and fine-tune their services to meet communities changing demands, a vocal minority tries to restrict peoples freedom to read. In the aftermath of the pandemic, librarians were eager to envision what might come next, declared PW senior writer Andrew Albanese, who introduced the days programming. With all the cracks and gaps exposed by the pandemic, many in the profession were hopeful that we might finally address critical issues that have long been simmering. Instead, librarians must contend with a dystopian new normal of individuals, organizations, and even elected officials using intimidating tactics and attempting to prevent them from making books accessible to all. Albanese moderated two panel discussions: Book Banning in America: Whats Driving the Nationwide Surge in Book Bansand how Freedom-to-Read Advocates Can Win and Digital Trends: Three Years After the Pandemic Shutdowns Began, What Does the New Normal Look Like for Public Libraries? Fighting Book Bans At the outset of the panel on Book Banning in America, Emily Knox, the author of Book Banning in 21st Century America, provided the cultural context for the recent spike in censorship. Noting that books have been challenged for decades, Knox emphasized that the recent wave of suppression is unprecedented in scope. Knox ascribed this to three primary factors: the pandemic, when school came home; the protests following the murder of George Floyd that shook up white supremacists; and changes in social media that make it easier for individuals to find allies and wreak havoc upon social institutions. Describing books as a catalyst to talk about these larger issues, such as race and racism, sexuality, and what does it mean to be a human being?, Knox maintained that book banning is more about power and control than it is about the books. Following Knox's contextualization, four panelists dove deeper into the matter, relating their own experiences in the culture war over books. The speakers included John Chrastka, founder and executive director of EveryLibrary, a political action organization; Kelly Jensen, a former Wisconsin librarian who writes for Book Riot; Amanda Jones, a school librarian targeted by right-wing extremists for speaking out against book bans in her Louisiana parish; and Raegan Miller, the director of development and finance for the grassroots Florida Freedom to Read Project. All four provided perspectives on who and what is behind the current wave of book bans, and suggested how to defend the freedom to read. Individuals can act behind the scenes, Jones said, by offering moral support to those speaking up against book bans; they can also write letters to teachers and librarians, standing up for childrens right to read. Jensen, who believes the national media legitimizes the censorship tactics of groups including Moms for Liberty, condemned news coverage of book bans and urged people to write letters to editors, exposing the bigotry at the heart of book banning. Miller urged people to attend school board meetings. She noted that when Florida Freedom to Read Project members show up at local school board meetings, Moms for Liberty representatives tend not to be as loud, adding, when we start speaking, they walk out. All the speakers emphasized individual engagement and coalition-building among like-minded people and local groups. Advocates of the freedom to read often find allies in reproductive rights and trans rights organizations. Chrastka also advocated appealing to reasonable people who might not share ones political views and building alliances with them against the small minority of extremists who have gone too far." [Have] very frank conversations with people in power, whether it's politicians, leaders of different civic and social groups, [or] the business community," Chrastka said. "We do not want to live in a society where the marketplace of ideas is impinged, but truly the marketplace itself is being impinged. Inviting Publishers to the Librarians Table Sometimes the threat to library resources need not come from insidious book bans. Instead, the costs of digital content can strain budgets, limiting the flow of information. Libraries allocate funds to license and relicense materials, and they pay for platforms beyond the librarys physical space. These expenses leave libraries unable to collect broadly or circulate materials widely, said the Digital Trends panelists. Publishers know that the public library is about open access to information, said Edward Melton, executive director of the Harris County Public Library in Texas. The more people read, the more they're going to use [publishers] products, he said. Publishers need to come to the table with us and strategize workable models. Lisa Rosenblum, director of Washington states King County Library System, finds it problematic that were still spending way more than what the consumer does to get the same product. She called for more contractual flexibility, better options for concurrent borrowing of a top title (to limit wait times), and manageable price points. Most libraries shifted their budgets toward digital during the pandemic, said Ellen Paul, executive director of the nonprofit Connecticut Library Consortium. Is it actually that demand for digital borrows increased, or was it because of the influx of funds that libraries were able to meet the demand that has been there all along? she asked. Either way, she said, the current system of metered licensing on digital content doesnt work in libraries favor. The panelists agreed on a need for effective legislation to address oversight of taxpayer dollars and help libraries bargain with publishers. I liken it to the Department of Transportation being forced to pay six times more for asphalt than your neighborhood driveway contractor, and then having all of our roads disappear every two years, Paul said. I don't think anybody is happy that we have to resort to legislation. But the future of e-book lending is in jeopardy if publishers and libraries can't find a sustainable path forward. The truth is, we share similar values. Mobilizing Antiracists of All Ages A message of shared values animated an afternoon keynote, too, in which Ibram X. Kendi (How to Be an Antiracist) and Nic Stone (Dear Martin) sat down with moderator Nicole Cooke of the University of South Carolina School of Information Science. Cooke asked Kendi and Stone about their recent project, an adaptation for readers ages 12 and up called How to Be a (Young) Antiracist. When Stone read Stamped, Jason Reynoldss young readers edition of Kendis Stamped from the Beginning, she reached out to Kendi about adapting How to Be an Antiracist. A young readers edition felt necessary, because if you look at social movements throughout history that have managed to bring about significant change, a lot are driven by young people, Stone said. Kendi welcomed the opportunity to provide a new resource. When I think of my own developing consciousness about racism, it took dozens and dozens of books to feel informed, he explained. He liked working with Stone, a fiction writer, because those of us who write nonfiction need to learn how to pay attention to development of stories, to characters, to make history more accessible to young readers. Cooke raised what she called the inevitable question of book bans that stand in the way of antiracist action. Pointing out that book burning fueled the Holocaust, Stone encouraged librarians and teachers to teach young people about the dangers of censorship and the importance of reading. Kendi urged library workers to mobilize in a proactive as opposed to reactive fashion, to guard against bans before theyre initiated. Purdue University President Mung Chiang on Sunday (May 21) at the G7 Summit in Hiroshima, Japan, signed another landmark international agreement to advance Purdues efforts in semiconductors production. Purdue is partnering with Micron, Tokyo Electron and other educational institutions in the United States and Japan to establish the UPWARDS Network for workforce advancement and research and development in semiconductors. The agreement was signed in the presence of, among others, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken; Keiko Nagaoka, Japans Minister for Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology; and U.S. Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel. The signatories later had a meeting with U.S. President Joe Biden at the end of the summit. (Photo provided) WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. Purdue University continues to be the world leader in creating vital partnerships in semiconductors.On Sunday (May 21) in Hiroshima, Japan, Purdue President Mung Chiang signed another landmark international agreement, partnering with Micron, Tokyo Electron and other educational institutions in the United States and Japan to establish the UPWARDS Network for workforce advancement and research and development in semiconductors.The announcement was made during this years Group of Seven (G7) summit in Hiroshima, which also included the Quad countries and other world leaders. The agreement was signed in the presence of U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken; Keiko Nagaoka, Japans Minister for Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology; and Rahm Emanuel, U.S. Ambassador to Japan. The signatories later had a meeting with U.S. President Joe Biden at the end of the summit. On May 9, together with Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, Purdue signed a milestone alliance with the government of India to be a key collaborator with India and the India Semiconductor Mission. On May 2 in Washington D.C., together with Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb and U.S. Sen. Todd Young of Indiana, Purdue and the Indiana Economic Development Corporation formed a partnership with Belgium-based imec for microelectronics industry research and semiconductor workforce development. A White House statement noted "the finalization of a memorandum of cooperation on education and technology and the launching of new partnerships between U.S. and Japanese companies and universities, including the University of Chicago and Purdue University, in areas like quantum computing and semiconductors."Purdue is the leading American university in semiconductor talent, innovation and industry partnership, Chiang remarked during the signing ceremony. We are excited to partner with the semiconductor companies and other institutions for semiconductor collaboration between the U.S. and Japan. We will also launch the Negishi Fellowship in addition to the UPWARDS Network program to strengthen such collaboration.The May 21 trip also included meetings with leaders and representatives of Hiroshima University, Tohoku University and the U.S. Embassy in Japan.Secretary Blinken said: To all of the leaders who are here from U.S. and Japanese industry, from educational institutions, kicking off these new initiatives today, from IBM, Google, Micron, Tokyo Electron; Universities of Tokyo, Hiroshima, Tohoku, Chicago, Purdue, Boise State this is an extraordinary group of institutions, individuals, (and) partners in this endeavor.Ambassador Emanuel said: These partnerships are about seizing economic opportunity and strengthening economic security. When we connect leading companies with leading colleges, we position ourselves to lead in critical technologies.Micron and Tokyo Electron, as founding industry partners, the National Science Foundation and universities together will invest over $60 million for the five-year project. Other U.S. university participants included in the MOU are Boise State University, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Rochester Institute of Technology, the University of Washington and Virginia Tech, while the Japanese university participants are Hiroshima University, Kyushu University, Nagoya University, Tohoku University and Tokyo Institute of Technology.This is Purdues third semiconductors global partnership this month, following: Purdue is now the only university in the U.S. with bilateral partnerships in semiconductors with Europe, India and Japan. On April 18, Purdue University, along with Krach Institute of Tech Diplomacy at Purdue, the Semiconductor Industry Association and SEMI, organized leaders from industry, government and academia at a summit in Washington, D.C., to forge national solutions at scale to address the future of U.S. innovation in microelectronics and the semiconductor workforce, featuring a keynote fireside chat among Chiang, Young and U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo. Over 175 companies, government agencies and universities participated in the event. Addressing critical national semiconductor needs Purdue continually works to answer the call for semiconductor workforce development with the Semiconductor Degrees Program, the first comprehensive set of innovative, interdisciplinary degrees and credentials in semiconductors and microelectronics in the country. The SDP is advised by an industrial board consisting of CTO/EVP-level executives of more than 25 leading global semiconductor companies and has been endorsed by the CEOs of many of these companies. Purdue has also partnered with Ivy Tech Community College, the nations largest singly accredited statewide community college system, to develop industry-driven credentials and experiential programs. The collaboration brings Purdues resources to populations that may not have had access to this type of program while upskilling a motivated workforce. Additionally, Purdue announced in June 2022 that MediaTek Inc., a leading global fabless chipmaker, would open the companys first semiconductor chip design center in the Midwest, to be housed on Purdues campus. That was followed by U.S.-based SkyWater Technology, which announced in July 22 a $1.8 billion investment for locating a major semiconductor manufacturing facility in Discovery Park District at Purdue. And earlier this year, Purdue committed $100 million to semiconductor research and learning facilities as part of the 3-pronged Purdue Computes initiative. Purdue has been recognized by Fast Company as one of the Worlds Most Innovative Companies for its advances in workforce development in semiconductors and microelectronics. Deep-standing ties with Japan There are deep-standing ties among Purdue, the state of Indiana and Japan. From March 28-30, a Purdue delegation led by Chiang visited Japan and held 17 meetings with government officials, university presidents, industry leaders and alumni organizations. On March 29, at the U.S. Ambassador to Japans historic residence in Tokyo, Chiang met with Emanuel and announced that the late Ei-ichi Negishi, a Purdue chemist who won a Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2010, would be honored with the creation of the Negishi Fellowship for Japan-Purdue Collaboration. The fellowship will grow the bidirectional student exchanges and research collaborations between top Japanese universities and Purdue in trusted technology development. The fellowship will be available to both graduate and undergraduate students. A Japanese citizen, Negishi came to Purdue in 1963 to work as a postdoctoral researcher in chemistry under Herbert C. Brown. Negishi stayed until 1972, returned in 1979 and retired as the Herbert C. Brown Distinguished Professor of Chemistry in 2019. Negishis work in creating a method to build complex organic molecules necessary for numerous purposes from pharmaceutical manufacturing to electronics led to a Nobel Prize in chemistry. The Negishi-Brown Institute was created at Purdue in 2011 to support basic research in catalytic organometallic chemistry through graduate and postdoctoral fellowships, regular workshops and symposia, and establishing new relationships with industrial partners. Purdue has MOUs with multiple Japanese universities, including a recently celebrated 25-year partnership with Tohoku University regarding semiconductors, quantum, spintronics and more. In addition, Purdue has ongoing discussions with academic and industry leaders in Japan about advanced manufacturing, economic development and research collaboration. Locally, Subaru has been one of largest employers in Tippecanoe County (home of Purdue) since 1989. Subaru of Indiana Automotive Inc. is the automakers only manufacturing site outside of Japan. Indiana is home to over 300 Japanese businesses (more than 67,000 jobs supported), and Japan is the largest source of foreign direct investment to the state. Among the United States, Indiana has the largest amount of Japanese investment per capita. Furthermore, many Indiana-based companies, including Eli Lilly, Cook Medical, Cummins, Urschel Laboratories and Zimmer Biomet, have operations in Japan. About Purdue University Purdue University is a top public research institution developing practical solutions to todays toughest challenges. Ranked in each of the last five years as one of the 10 Most Innovative universities in the United States by U.S. News & World Report, Purdue delivers world-changing research and out-of-this-world discovery. Committed to hands-on and online, real-world learning, Purdue offers a transformative education to all. Committed to affordability and accessibility, Purdue has frozen tuition and most fees at 2012-13 levels, enabling more students than ever to graduate debt-free. See how Purdue never stops in the persistent pursuit of the next giant leap at https://stories.purdue.edu/. Media contact: Tim Doty, doty2@purdue.edu All India SLIET Entrance Test (SET - V) For Ph.D Programs 2023 https://career.webindia123.com/career/dates_and_events/sliet-entrance-test-setv-phd-admission.htm Details of All India SLIET Entrance Test (SET - V) For Ph.D Programs 2023 2023-5-22 2023-5-31 https://career.webindia123.com/career/images/exams.png India India All India SLIET Entrance Test (SET - V) For Ph.D Programs 2023 Engineering Sant Longowal Institute of Engineering And Technology (SLIET) Entrance Test- (SET - V) for Ph.D. Programs All India SLIET Entrance Test (SET - V) For Ph.D Programs 2023 Category : Engineering Admissions 2023 Published : On May 22, 2023 By Webindia123 Editor Important Dates Last Date for applying May 31st, 2023 Date of Entrance Test (SET-V) June 10th, 2023 Result of Entrance Test - Presentation of Research Proposal/interview - Declaration of Final Result* - Counseling/Registration* - Sant Longowal Institute of Engineering & Technology (SLIET), established by the Government of India, provides technical education in emerging areas of Engineering & Technology. The Institute is fully funded by Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India. The Institute offers unique modular pattern of education in various branches of Engineering & Technology. Applications (online) are invited for admission to Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) programs for the year 2023. The award of the Ph.D. Degree is in respect of high achievements, independent research and application of scientific knowledge to the solution of scientific and technical problems. The admission to Ph.D. program (Part Time/Full Time) will be strictly as per institute rules. The admission will be provided for the following areas: 1 Chemical Engineering (Ph.D. -CE) 2 Chemistry (Ph.D.-CHY) 3 Computer Science and Engineering (Ph.D.-CS) 4 Electrical & Instrumentation Engineering (Ph.D.-EIE) 5 Electronics & Communication Engineering (Ph.D.-ECE) 6 Humanities (English) (Ph.D.-ENG) 7 Food Engineering & Technology (Ph.D.-FET) 8 Management (Ph.D.-MGT) 9 Mathematics (Ph.D.- MATH) 10 Mechanical Engineering (Ph.D.-ME) 11 Physics (Ph.D.-PHY) Duration : 4 years Eligibility Criteria: Master's Degree in Engineering / Technology / Science / Humanities / Management with 55% marks (50% for reserved categories) in relevant disciplines Admission Procedure: (a) Admission to the Ph.D. program will be based on TWO STAGE PROCESS through: (i) An ENTRANCE TEST (SET-V) shall be QUALIFYING with qualifying marks as 50%. The syllabus of the Entrance Test shall consist of 50% of research methodology and 50% shall be subject specific. The Entrance Test shall be conducted at SLIET only; and a) Based on number of candidates to be called for interview, Department can set a higher cut off. b) The PhD Entrance Test (SET-V) will consist of one paper of two hours duration. This paper will have 100 objective type questions (Multiple Choice) of 100 marks. (ii) An INTERVIEW/VIVA-VOCE wherein the candidates are required to discuss their research interest/area through a presentation or interview/viva-voce before a duly constituted Department Research Committee (DRC)/ Interview panel. The interview/viva voce shall also consider the following aspects, viz. whether: the candidate possesses the competence for the proposed research; the research work can be suitably undertaken at the institution/College; the proposed area of research can contribute to new/additional knowledge (b) The candidates who fulfill the conditions of eligibility criteria can apply online by 15.07.2021. (c) The eligible candidates who have qualified valid GATE/ UGC/CSIR (JRF) NET with fellowship / NET (ASRB) with fellowship / State level eligibility test(SLET/SET) with fellowship are EXEMPTED FROM APPEARING for the entrance examination, However, they should submit the proof of qualifying the examination. But, they have to APPLY ONLINE. These candidates have to appear for the interview/viva voce. (d) MERIT List: The interview will be applicable to the candidates who qualify SET-V and others who are EXEMPTED FROM APPEARING in SET-V as per 2.5(c). The admission will be given based on MERIT LIST, prepared on the basis of performance in interview/presentation. (e) Decision of the interview panel/DRC will be final in respect of suitability of candidate and his / her qualifications for given department. (f) The course Research Methodology is compulsory for all selected Ph.D. candidates. (g) The ordinances, rules & regulations for Ph.D. programmes of SLIET, Longowal shall be applicable to all the successful candidates as in force time to time. The guidelines of UGC notification shall be applicable to all the candidates. (h) For admission under PART-TIME CATEGORY, it is MANDATORY for the candidate to submit the NOC from the employer at the time of counseling. How to Apply Apply Online at http://sliet.ac.in More details can be obtained from the institute website. Contact Details Address : Chairman, SET Sant Longowal Institute of Engineering and Technology, Longowal - 148106, Distt. Sangrur, Punjab, India Phone : 01672-280072, 253135, 253136 Fax : 01672-280072, 280057 Mobile : 9815048837 E-mail : Contact I Website : www.sliet.ac.in Find it Useful ? Help Others by Sharing Online Comments and Discussions The Taiwan High-Speed Rail Corporation has awarded an order worth approximately 124 billion Japanese Yen (approx 719m) to the Hitachi Toshiba Supreme Consortium, which is made up of: Hitachi Ltd Toshiba Corporation The huge contract will see 12 sets of new-generation high-speed trains and will total of 144 cars, built for THSRC and will be based on the latest N700S trains which operate for the Central Japan Railway Company. The Taiwan High-Speed Rail Corporation has been operating high-speed trains since 2007 with services running between Taipei and Kaohsiung using the Japanese Shinkansen system. The new-generation trains will see capacity increased further for passengers as trains of 300m in length will operate at top speeds of 300km/h. The new trains will bring many improvements influenced by the N700S trains, such as being lighter, therefore offering enhanced aerodynamic performance than the current 700T trains. The energy efficiency of the new trains will also be greatly improved thanks to using the compact traction system alongside a combined silicon carbide (SiC) device providing a blower-less cooling system. The new trains will be powered by lithium-ion batteries (SCiBTM) when travelling at low speeds or in case of a power outage. Taiwan has seen a decade of reliable high-speed railway service with an exceptional safety record and this new order is set to improve this impressive performance further alongside making a modal shift in order to support the environment. The new trains are expected to begin delivery during 2026. The programme centres on the New South Wales Rescue and Bomb Disposal Unit, a group of elite officers who specialise in high-risk incidents, such as mountain rescues, sieges and bomb disposal. Routinely risking their lives as they work to save others, NSWs crack officers are among the best-trained rescue experts in the world.Over six episodes, Police Rescue Australia introduces viewers to the men and women who keep NSW safe, offering a unique insight into the loyalty, camaraderie and humour that binds them together. The series is narrated by multi-award-winning Australian actor, writer and director, Brendan Cowell (Avatar: Way of the Water, Game of Thrones, Love My Way)? Channel 4's More 4 in the UK and TVNZ in New Zealand have both committed to the (6 x 60) series, produced by Sydney-based award-winning indie Lune Media HTI has an ongoing commercial partnership covering both formats and finished programming with Lune Media, and among the indies titles represented by HTI are Could You Survive on the Breadline (3 x 60), produced for SBS, which challenges preconceptions about poverty and disadvantage in Australia; and Channel 7s Every Bite Takes You Home, in which internationally acclaimed chef, television presenter and author Kylie Kwong celebrates Australias multiculturalism via the recipes handed down through generations of migrants.Lune Media has also re-versioned Keo Films pioneering eco series War on Waste by for ABC Australia, which has just commissioned the show for a third season. HTIs formats catalogue also includes four series of River Cottage Australia, produced by Lune Media for Foxtel and based on the original Hat Trick format River Cottage.Commenting on the new commission, Hamish Turner, Nine's director of 9Now and programming said: "With unprecedented access, Police Rescue Australia captures first-hand the fearless men and women of the NSW Police Rescue and Bomb Disposal unit, and the often traumatic and challenging situations they find themselves in. Nine is proud to be sharing these front-line stories filled with heart and hope." Hat Trick International director of sales Sarah Tong added: At HTI, we like to think we can spot a winner when we see one and Channel 4 and TVNZ clearly agree that Police Rescue Australia has winner stamped all over it. Its one of those rare shows that has it all, from spectacular feats of courage against the backdrop of spectacular scenery to real-life stories about real-life people, told with compassion and humour. NSWs Police Rescue units are staffed by extraordinary officers, bound by a deep loyalty not only to each other but to their mission of saving lives. Property details: 1 acre of land with POWER in river ranch Elko county nevada. There is power, but no well or septic.The APN is: 020-016-012... Price: $ 10,000 Seller State of Residence: California Property Address: Approximate GPS Coordinates: 41.029900, -115.422600 Zip/Postal Code: 89823 Zoning: Mixed City: elko State/Province: Nevada Location: 900**, Los Angeles, California You will be redirected to eBay Nearby Nevada Property details: INVEST IN THE BEAUTIFUL GULF COAST TWO GREAT LOTS IF YOU WANT TO INVEST IN REAL ESTATE THIS IS YOUR BEST OPPORTUNITY $100 PER MONTH = MAXIMUM LEVERAGETHERE ARE NO FINANCING CHARGES BAY SAINT LOUIS #5 on the USATODAY LIST OF BEST SMALL COASTAL TOWNS This property is close to both the Gulf of Mexico and Saint Louis Bay. It is just south of highway 603 and Highway 90 in Bay Saint Louis Mississippi. 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Price: $ 10,500 Seller State of Residence: Illinois Property Address: 27515 Largo CT Type: Homesite, Lot Zip/Postal Code: 33983 Zoning: Residential City: Punta Gorda State/Province: Florida Location: 600**, Mount Prospect, Illinois You will be redirected to eBay Nearby Florida SHARING PERSONAL STORIES FROM THE REVOLUTION TO THE GLOBAL WAR ON TERROR Maine may not have technically been one of the original 13 colonies, as it was then part of Massachusetts, but it was actually a center of patriotism during the American Revolution. It had less Loyalist activity than most colonies and was the center of British efforts to occupy parts of the future state, which was to be made into a new colony dubbed New Ireland. Instead of becoming a permanent colony for Loyalists, Maine remained a true part of the soon-to-be-independent United States of America. In June 1819, the District of Maine was officially separated from the rest of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and a year later, it became a state as part of the Missouri Compromise a moment that would eventually lead to the American Civil War. It was a conflict in which many sons from the Pine Tree State would take part, notably at the Battle of Gettysburg in 1863. Soldiers and families from all eras have donated uniforms and belongings to the museum for authentic displays. Throughout the 19th and 20th centuries and into the 21st, the state continues to maintain a strong military heritage. Its still evident in the states motto: Dirigo, Latin for I lead. The history of Maines military role in Americas wars is now shared at the Maine Military Museum and Learning Center in South Portland. The privately run museum was founded to teach current and future generations the true meaning of Service above self. Exhibits in the museum cover every aspect of military service from the Revolutionary War to modern conflicts of the 21st century. Yet, museum founder and curator Lee Humiston is quick to affirm that the purpose isnt about the glorification of war. Uniforms are mixed with magazine covers, propaganda posters, models, flags, and other media to tell the full story of each conflict as well as provide insight into the home front. Rather, its to show respect for those who fought, and in many cases made the ultimate sacrifice, for Maine and the United States. Humiston, who joined the U.S. Air Force in 1956, founded the facility after he had amassed one of the largest collections of Vietnam War (Second Indochina War) prisoner of war (POW) artifacts. Noting that while many museums touched on the battles and units, few often told such personal stories of those who were forced to endure months, and even years, as POWs. World War II soldiers pose in fully outfitted uniforms with gear and guns. He had gained experience building exhibits, including a 25th anniversary of the Vietnam Homecoming for the Nixon Library, two exhibitions at the Smithsonian, and even one in the Hindenburg hanger at NAS Lakehurst, New Jersey. A PERMANENT MUSEUM From efforts with the temporary exhibits, Humiston built the Maine Military Museum & Learning Center to honor Maines men and women who have served the state and the nation over the last 300 years. The privately run 501(c)(3) nonprofit shares the stories of servicemembers from every conflict, from the Revolutionary War to the Gulf War, to current-day actions. A pilot ejects and lands via parachute with limited injuries. Maine proportionately sent more off to war than any other state, says Humiston. The museum may have begun essentially as Humistons own personal collection but now the majority of items on display have been donated by veterans and their families. Much of it has a connection to Maine, but there are a significant number of uniforms, headgear, and even small arms now part of the collection that could be best described as war trophies and souvenirs theyve also been donated and help tell the story of the conflicts fought by Maines sons, and in the 21st century, its daughters as well. Much of collection especially those from the 20th century are fully authentic, including some firearms dating back to the Revolutionary War. Every piece of history from a field-dug cannon ball to a modern flight suit or a 48-star U.S. flag that flew on D-Day helps preserve a moment from history. POW bracelets made into art are part of the display at the Maine Military Museum. However, due to the rarity, not to mention the costs, some of the Civil War and Revolutionary War uniforms and accoutrements are reenactor reproductions. Even in these cases, Humiston strives for items to be as period correct as possible. The collection also includes two significant items related to the Spanish-American War. Theres an original early 20th century print of the USS Maine, the battleship that blew up in Havana Harbor and led to Americas declaration of war. In addition, the museum has just one of 1,000 number casting plaques that were made by famed Americana sculptor Charles Keck from salvaged pieces of the U.S. Navy warship. From American Army khakis to the ostrich feathers of a British bonnet, soldiers and their gear are represented. In addition, as aircraft and other vehicles are beyond the means of the privately owned and run museum, it relies on detailed models and dioramas donated or built by volunteers. The museum currently houses a great deal of historical military artifacts in a small space, with displays thoughtfully constructed. Humiston and a group of hand-selected volunteers are on hand to walk visitors through the museum to provide history to just about any item or mannequin dressed in gear. A soldier collected these pieces of embroidered work during his convalescence period. Though politics is avoided throughout the Maine Military Museum and Learning Center, Humiston has said its important to include items that showed the propaganda that has often played a role in war notably the Vietnam War. The walls of the small museum are filled with striking images that show how some media outlets gave a voice to those who may have provided aid and comfort to Americas enemy. HONORING THE POW As noted, a significant portion of the collection is now focused on the story of the American POW. This is important to Humiston, who said that he has a special interest in POW items and didnt want to just focus on displays of the shiny items. Museum founder and curator Lee Humiston poses with a school mascot awarded to him on a visit on game day. Instead, he strived to show visitors moments that some would like to forget. He went so far as to build a replica of a prison cell from Vietnam-era Hanoi with exact measurements; later, he even added rats after a veteran made a comment. In addition, the museum has on display dozens of rarely-seen photos of U.S. POWs in Vietnam. Not all items are the uniforms of Maine natives, but from bring-backs and donations with just as much significance. Also at the museum is a grouping of four mannequins that are actually the same airman dressed in the uniform he was captured in, his POW uniform, release outfit, and the uniform he wore when he went back into action. Another prized piece in the museum is the flight suit from Colonel Scotty Morgan. He was the fourth man captured and brought to Hanoi. In 2011, the Vietnam government contacted the Air Force and Morgan who was retired to return the uniform. Until then, it had been on display in Vietnam. World War II display shows soldiers with some of the gear used in the day. Uniforms usually didnt survive, especially with zippers, explains Humiston. Zippers werent common at that time in Asia, and uniforms were often cut and shredded to remove them. A JEWEL IN ANY TRIP TO MAINE Maine is more known for its picturesque landscape and outdoor activities; however, the states contribution to all branches of service in the military make the Maine Military Museum & Learning Center a meaningful stop on a visit to the Pine Tree State. Each of the many pieces in the museum has a story behind it about the service member and the action that took place by the soldier or piece of gear. Humiston and his group of volunteers are always available to walk visitors through the building and offer background and perspective behind each piece and how it fits into our history. UPSC NDA NA II registration open till 6th June! Section-wise tips to ensure success New Delhi [India] | Published : May 19, 2023 The countdown has begun for the UPSC NDA NA II Exam 2023, a gateway to a rewarding career in the defense forces. With the NDA NA II 2023 registration open till 6th Jun'23, it's time to seize the opportunity and set yourself up for success. In this blog, we will guide you through the registration process and provide section-wise tips to ensure a maximum score in the UPSC NDA NA II Exam 2023. So, let's embark on this journey together and pave the way for a bright future!Registration for UPSC NDA NA II Exam 2023: First Step Towards Your DreamThe first step towards achieving your dream of joining the defense forces is to register for the UPSC NDA NA II Exam 2023. Ensure that you meet the eligibility criteria and complete the registration process within the specified timeframe. Don't miss out on this opportunity to showcase your potential and embark on a fulfilling career.Step 1: Go to the official website of UPSC (Union Public Service Commission) or NDA (National Defence Academy) to access the registration portal.Step 2: Provide your personal information such as name, date of birth, gender, nationality, and contact details accurately.Step 3: Enter your educational qualifications, including details of the school/college you attended, subjects studied, and marks obtained.Step 4: Select your preferred examination centre from the available options. Make sure to choose a centre that is convenient for you to reach on the exam day.Step 5: Upload scanned copies of necessary documents, including your photograph and signature, in the specified format and size.Step 6: Pay the application fee through the available online payment modes. The fee structure may vary depending on your category.Step 7: Double-check all the information provided and ensure its accuracy. Once you are satisfied, submit the application form.Step 8: After successful submission, download and print a copy of your application form for future reference.Mastering the UPSC NDA NA II Syllabus 2023To excel in any examination, understanding the syllabus is crucial. Familiarize yourself with the UPSC NDA NA II Syllabus 2023, which includes subjects like Mathematics, General Ability, and English. Take the time to comprehend the topics and subtopics, as it will help you plan your study schedule effectively.Leveraging NDA NA Previous Years' Question PapersOne of the most effective ways to prepare for the UPSC NDA NA II Exam is by practicing with NDA NA previous years' question papers. These papers give you a glimpse of the exam pattern, question types, and difficulty level. Utilize Oswaal NDA NA Previous Years Question Papers, which provide authentic questions with detailed solutions, to enhance your preparation.NDA NA Books 2023: Your Ultimate CompanionWhen it comes to study materials, you should always go for a trusted companion for the UPSC NDA NA II Exam 2023, e.g., Oswaal Books. Their comprehensive NDA NA Books 2023 cover all the required topics, provide ample practice questions, and offer valuable insights and tips. Make the most of these resources to strengthen your knowledge and boost your confidence.. Mathematics: Practice is key in mastering mathematics. Focus on concepts like algebra, trigonometry, geometry, and calculus. Solve NDA NA Mathematics guide for comprehensive coverage and ample practice.General Ability: This section consists of certain important subjects.. Physics- Focus on understanding the fundamental principles and concepts in physics. Build a strong foundation to tackle complex problems effectively. Solve previous years' question papers and sample papers to get familiar with the types of questions asked and improve your time management skills.Chemistry- Familiarize yourself with the periodic table and the properties of different elements. Understand trends in the periodic table and their implications. Some topics in chemistry require memorization, such as chemical names, symbols, and formulas. Devote time to memorizing key information.. History- Summarize the key points and important dates to create concise notes. Review these notes regularly to reinforce your knowledge. Utilize NDA NA History guide for comprehensive coverage of the syllabus and practice questions. Stay updated with current events and revise key concepts. Oswaal Books' NDA NA General Ability guide is a valuable resource for content and practice exercises.. Geography- Study the physical features of the Earth, including landforms, climate patterns, and natural resources. Understand the processes that shape the Earth's surface. Keep track of current geographical events, such as natural disasters, environmental issues, and geopolitical developments. Understand the impact of these events on different regions.English: Improve your English language skills by reading extensively, practicing grammar rules, and solving comprehension exercises. Practice NDA NA English guide as it offers tips and practice questions to enhance your proficiency.Current Events- Read newspapers, watch news channels, and follow reliable online sources to stay updated with current affairs and events. Take advantage of the mock tests.The registration window for the UPSC NDA NA II Exam 2023 is open until 6th Jun'23, providing you with an opportunity to pursue your dream career in the defense forces. With a clear understanding of the syllabus, the use of previous years' question papers, and the support of best study materials, you can confidently approach the exam. Remember to plan your preparation, practice diligently, and stay focused. Embrace this exciting journey and unlock the doors to a successful future. Good luck! Find it Useful ? Help Others by Sharing Online Comments and Discussions The semiconductor chip supply for the electric two-wheeler industry has normalised but the prices are up by nearly 50 per cent compared to pre-pandemic period, said Eric Vas, president, Urbanite, the electric vehicle (EV) business of Bajaj Auto. Photograph: Kim Kyung-Hoon/Reuters "It (the supply) has improved greatly. It has pretty much normalised. The problem is the cost. "The costs remain very high. Hopefully, the costs will start correcting themselves over this fiscal year," he said in an interview with Business Standard. "For example, in the pre-pandemic period, if the price was Rs 100 for a scheduled supply of chips, today you are paying Rs 150 for the same scheduled supply," he noted. When asked if the 50 per cent increase was high, he replied: "Yes. But at least you are getting the stuff (chips). It is obviously at the cost of someone else." Bajaj Auto currently sells only one electric scooter (Chetak). The number of EVs sold domestically by the company has been increasing rapidly in recent years. In 2020-2021, Bajaj sold 1,395 EVs, which increased to 8,187 in the following year. In 2022-2023, the company sold 36,263 units, according to Siam data. In the past two years, the entire auto industry has worked very closely with the semiconductor manufacturers regarding chip supply. "They have our schedules with them. "They are able to supply according to it. "The prices are higher," Vas mentioned. He said the company currently has 105 Chetak dealerships in 88 cities across the country. Within six months, the company plans to have 150 Chetak dealerships in 120 cities. Bajaj is also putting in a lot of effort to train more technicians for its EV business in FY23. Vas said the company will train about 1,000 technicians (also called dealer service engineers) in FY23 compared to about 280 in FY22. "We would need to train a much higher number of technicians this fiscal year because not only are we increasing our network, but also because of the churn in the industry," he noted. All the technicians are being trained at the Pune facility of the company because when they come, Bajaj wants them to see how it makes those vehicles. "This helps them in understanding a great deal of what we do. "It is an expensive process, but I think it is a necessary cost that one has to pay at this stage of our evolution," he said. He said that the automobile industry has always had a high churn of employees. "You go to an automobile showroom now, and you go back after one year, and you will find that all the people have changed. The situation in the workshop is a little better, but even it observes a high churn of employees. So, a 20-25 per cent churn in a workshop is normal in the two-wheeler industry," he noted. In the electric two-wheeler business, this churn is even higher because every other company is trying to poach. "Who are the people that are training? "If I may say so, it is the traditional OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) that are doing most of the training. "I am certainly training. I know TVS spends a lot of time on training. "I think Ather to some extent is doing it. The rest are just poaching," Vas mentioned. Why did Karnataka's economic prosperity fail to influence the nature of electoral promises made by political parties in the run-up to the assembly elections? asks A K Bhattacharya. IMAGE: Karnataka Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot, right, congratulates Chief Minister Siddaramaiah after administering the oath of office at the Kanteerava stadium in Bengaluru, May 20, 2023. Photograph: PTI Photo The election manifestos of the Bharatiya Janata Party, the Congress and the Janata Dal-Secular and their campaign rhetoric indicate how the Karnataka assembly elections herald the start of a nearly year-long period of hectic political activity in the country, with four more major state assembly elections to be held in Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Telangana in the next few months, and finally the general elections to be held in 2024. The obvious question is: What message do the Karnataka assembly elections convey about the likely nature of the electoral battle that lies ahead? An exercise to find an answer to that question should begin with an examination of the electoral promises made by the BJP and the Congress in their political manifestos, released before the Karnataka elections. The most striking aspect of these manifestos is their emphasis on the promise of welfarist measures. While the BJP focused on food security, social welfare, education, health, development and income support schemes, the Congress manifesto went a step further by announcing five guaranteed welfare schemes. Thus, if the BJP promised free supply of three cooking gas cylinders to all families below the poverty line (BPL), housing schemes, and concessional food, the Congress plans to increase the job reservation ceiling for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, and Other Backward Classes, apart from restoring job reservation for Muslims. Similarly, the BJP assured increased insurance coverage for BPL families and the Congress promised to strengthen primary health centres in the state. The list of welfarist measures announced in the BJP and Congress manifestos is quite long. But the notable element here is that such concessional schemes and job reservations have continued to emerge as prominent features of the manifestos, despite Karnataka being one of the economically better-off states in the country. This phenomenon deserves to be studied. Karnataka's Economic Survey states that its per capita income was over Rs 3 lakh in 2022-2023, which, in dollar terms and on a purchasing-power-parity basis, would be close to $13,000. Karnataka's unemployment rate is down to 2.7 per cent, much lower than that in all of India, its labour force participation rate at about 57 per cent is far ahead of the national average, and the size of its economy is over 8 per cent of India's gross domestic product, or GDP. From an economic point of view, these data sets would rank Karnataka as one of the top states in the country. There will, of course, be a few pockets of poverty in Karnataka, but the overall level of prosperity should have made the economic pitch in the election manifestos of these political parties a little different from what is usually seen during elections in relatively backward states like Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, and Uttar Pradesh. The manifestos for Karnataka seem to be a victim of the political parties' marked predilection for offering freebies. Why did Karnataka's economic prosperity fail to influence the course and nature of electoral promises made by political parties in the run-up to the assembly elections? Why did even the BJP, whose central leadership had frowned upon the politics of freebies a few months ago, rely on supplying free cooking gas cylinders or food at a subsidised price? Why have political parties in Karnataka not recognised that economic aspirations in a relatively rich state should be less about free basic goods and more about creating opportunities and facilities through improved access to top-class health care and educational infrastructure? Why haven't political parties in the state taken advantage of its economic prosperity in the last few years and pushed the electoral agenda to substantially upgrade the living standards and growth opportunities for the people? These are deeply troubling questions. The obsession with handout politics is now a disease that afflicts the national political discourse, irrespective of the actual state of economic prosperity or deprivation. The Centre's decision in December 2022 to make food grain supplies free for an estimated 810 million beneficiaries under the National Food Security Act (NFSA) for a year was a clear indication that the move was inspired by electoral considerations. It's true that the move had also meant the discontinuation of the free food scheme under the Prime Minister Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana, started in March 2020, and therefore had secured for the Centre some savings on subsidy. But it was also clear that making free the food grain to be supplied under the public distribution system until December 2023 would have given the ruling BJP electoral benefits, as nine state assembly elections were due to be held in 2023-2024, followed by the general elections. The possibility of extending the free food grain scheme under the NFSA by a few more months is quite strong. Both the BJP and the Congress offered a plethora of welfarist schemes for voters in Karnataka, despite it being a relatively rich state. That such schemes would be in plenty in the other forthcoming assembly elections in Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Telangana should, therefore, be a foregone conclusion. What this also means is that the financial burden on account of these welfarist schemes would increase for these states, dealing a big blow to their fiscal health. This is not to argue that there should be no welfare measures for economically underprivileged sections of society. But, as the Karnataka elections have shown, the tendency among political parties to dole out such free food and free cooking gas cylinders, irrespective of need or merit, has risen to a fiscally unsustainable level, without raising any eyebrows either at the Centre or in the state administration. Karnataka could afford to finance these schemes because it has the resources and has the ability to fund them. But this does not augur well for the finances of other states without a similar level of economic prosperity. The BJP's promise of implementing the Uniform Civil Code and the National Register of Citizens would become politically controversial, just as the Congress manifesto endorsing legal action against groups like the Bajrang Dal and the Popular Front of India have already become a contentious campaign issue. The adverse impact of such campaigns on society is inevitable. But there is no doubt that such unrestrained doling out of welfarist measures even in an economically prosperous state like Karnataka would have a deleterious impact on its finances. Worse, the many states, where elections would be held in the next few months, could now make the same mistake. They just wanted their angst noticed, and as a symbol of recognition, Jallikattu, restored without the annual ritual of court cases and adjournments, explains N Sathya Moorthy. IMAGE: A bull charges at a man during Jallikattu in Palamedu, Tamil Nadu. Photograph: Abhishek Chinnappa/Getty Images Now that a five-judge Constitution bench of the Supreme Court has upheld the Tamil Nadu law on safe practice of Jallikattu, the martial art involving man and animal, there are multiple claimants for its victory. The then ruling All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, now in the Opposition, and the Bharatiya Janata Party, in power at the Centre then and now, have begun beating the drums, that they and they alone made it happen -- and condemning the rival Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam-Congress combine for causing the ban in the first place, while in power respectively in the state and at the Centre. It is a fallacy of first, last and all the parts. That is because the unanimously-passed state law, and the reluctant support of the Centre for the same, owed entirely to the Jallikattu protests in the Tamil winter of 2017, marking the harvest festival, Pongal, was an expression of the long pent-up angst of the local people. The real victory was that of the Tamil youth, who caused and peopled the week-long peaceful protests, the kind of which the nation had not witnessed, then or since -- not certainly after Gandhiji's non-violent freedom movement, decades earlier, in another century. It was also apolitical and non-political, which cannot be said of the freedom movement. In fact, the protesting youth would not let time-serving politicians join them even for a photo op, and all of them had to stay away. In comparison, Tamil Nadu's very own anti-Hindi agitation of 1965 was political and violent. The Opposition DMK then spearheaded what otherwise was a students agitation. It became violent, when protestors burnt alive two police officers in different places. This was apart from their burning down government buses, torching private properties and stoning everything in public view into smithereens across the state for close to six long months. Of course, retaliation by the police caused produced its own long list of casualties from among the agitating youth, students and others. In more recent times, New Delhi's anti-corruption agitation (2011) and the Nirbhaya protests (2013) against the crude and cruel gang-rape in a running bus, again in the national capital, again took political overtones that also became visible as days rolled by. In between, there was the anti-foreigners protests that went on for years in Assam, way back in 1979, which resulted in the birth of a new party, which went on to capture electoral power in the north eastern state. Not any of these with the Jallikattu protests and protestors. The initiators were all faceless youth, mainly with engineering or MBA degrees (or both), mostly working in Indian or MNC corporates in Chennai. They were vexed and frustrated by the way the Centre and the Supreme Court were playing ping-pong with Tamil cultural identity, and also livelihood, on Pongal eve for years -- and that was it. IMAGE: Men attempt to tackle a bull during Jallikattu in Palamedu, Tamil Nadu. Photograph: Abhishek Chinnappa/Getty Images If Jallikattu personified cultural identity, flowing from the valour of the forebears for generations, the livelihood issue was identified with the Cauvery water dispute with neighbouring Karnataka, which was going on for decades, instead. In this case, for instance, the P V Narasimha Rao government (1991-1996) at the Centre wanted the higher judiciary to arbitrate the inter-state dispute between Tamil Nadu and Karnataka under the Inter-State River Disputes Act. In their turn, the learned judges played it back to the government and made it political by asking the prime minister to sort it out with the chief ministers concerned. This was the mood and trend, earlier and later, too, ever since the 1924 bilateral agreement between the British Madras Presidency and the princely state of Mysore, represented now by the Karnataka government, stood dissolved at the end of the originally-agreed 50-year period in 1974. If this was the case with the Cauvery dispute as it meandered through into the 21st century, when in October-November 2016, months before the Jallikattu protests and more so before the crucial assembly polls in Karnataka, the BJP-ruled Centre told the apex court two different things on two successive days. On day one, it went by the conventional view that as the final arbiter, the court had to adjudicate on the Cauvery tribunal's final award on water-sharing between the four riparian states, including Kerala and Puducherry. But on the very next day, the Centre's legal team told the very same Bench in the very same Supreme Court that the judiciary did not have powers to interfere in the matter. Under the law, according to them that fine morning, the Cauvery tribunal was the final authority. That set the mood and momentum for what was to come but at the level of the individual, without anyone sharing his or her angst with the next person, and without anyone else, both inside the state and outside, noticing it, for them to take note of it, too. If the politicos and more so farmers in Tamil Nadu felt that the sudden U-turn owed to the BJP's electoral calculations for Karnataka, and nothing more. That snapped something inside them, more so than even the imposition of Hindi decades ago. Still, the world was oblivious. When this was followed by the Supreme Court, once again, going up and down with its approach to the long-pending Jallikattu case, the 'message was clear' -- or, that is what the urbanised rural youth from the previous decade had concluded, with their access to more information and interpretations, at the touch of a few keys on their computers and mobiles. They thought and felt like the other, because that was also the kind of exposure each one of them had got individually. This is also where socio-economic transformation of the 'Dravidian kind' did its tricks -- but from the days of the then Congress chief minister K Kamaraj in the mid-fifties. Yesteryear rural youth, who had toiled with their parents in their small plots of farming land, whether from the delta or elsewhere, were today's software engineers and middle-management executives, in top corporates in Chennai and elsewhere in the state, many outside the state and also the country. What was also common to this generation was that unlike the previous generation of urban and caste elite who had migrated mostly to the West, never to return, these ones still maintained live contacts with folks back home. Invariably every such conversation, almost every morning, began with the simple question: 'How is the crop this season? Rain, shine...' This, the antagonists of the Tamil sentiments up north, who had bracketed them all under the prejudiced Dravidian tag, would never ever be able to touch and feel. But the reverse is also equally true, and may be even more, at times. Without even knowing that the socio-economic dynamics across the Vindhyas had changed, almost for good -- and it was their perceptions that needed changing, the elite elsewhere were reacting to a set of worn-out, unproved assumptions about 21st century Tamil Nadu. It was the cumulative effect of the Centre's U-turn on the Cauvery issue and the annual ritual of the Supreme Court taking up the Jallikattu case only a week before each season and okaying it for the moment that caused the youth's suspicions, grounded as they were in things Tamil. IMAGE: A man tackles a bull during Jallikattu in Palamedu, Tamil Nadu. Photograph: Abhishek Chinnappa/Getty Images So, when the first set of social media messages went one Sunday morning in January 2017 for people to gather at the famed Marina beach in Chennai, the state government and city police were both caught napping. But when reports came in later in the day that anything up to 20,000 people, especially youth of either gender, some with infants in hands, had gathered on the Marina sands, it became clear that they were not there as week-end beach-goers. The next weekend it saw a similar exercise in southern temple town of Madurai, central to the annual Jallikattu fete in villages like Avuniyapuram, Alanganallur and Palamedu in the neighbourhood, and in a few other towns, that people started taking note even more. When this was followed by the real thing, again in Marina, another Sunday ahead, then the emotional floodgates broke loose in every Tamil. Come the second day, and the protest had spread across towns and villages, and to places down south, where the Cauvery waters did not flow and Jallikattu had never been seen only on the silver screen, in yesteryear movies like Thaaikkuppin Thaaram (1956) and Veerapandia Kattabomman (1969), Murattu Kaalai (1980) and Virumandi (2004), and a host of others. Critics even used this exemption to attribute motives to the protests. They never saw that even in these towns and villages, the people felt the angst as a part of the larger impediment to the Tamil livelihood and 'wanton insult' to 'Tamil culture'. At its peak, about a million people, not all of them young, gathered there at the Marina. Even on lean nights, at least a lakh of them, mostly youth and of both genders, stayed put, with the sky providing the only canopy and mobile phones providing the only light. Unless in the interior towns and villages, where parents and brothers joint the protests with their younger siblings, both boys and girls, in the vast and open spaces of the Marina, there was nothing to fear from each other, or one another. It soon became a community event, as onlookers brought with them food and snacks, and even drinking water to the protestors. Homes near the protest venue opened their doors, especially for the female protestors, to rest and relax. It was the closest to the 'Arab Spring' or 'Orange Revolution' elsewhere, but there were no calls for 'Tamil separatism', nor for the overthrow of a government, whether in the state or at the Centre -- as some critics, both inside the state and more so outside the state, had expected/anticipated. They just wanted their angst noticed, and as a symbol of recognition, Jallikattu, restored without the annual ritual of court cases and adjournments. Yes, there was violence involving the police and a residual group of protestors who refused to leave the Marina site, for the authorities to prepare the ground for the Republic Day parade the next day, but they had an agenda. No one other than this group and also a section of the political class protested. To date, most organisers have melted into society, not because they are afraid of police reprisals but because they were keen only about sending out their message, not promoting themselves. And that is also the highest point in the Jallikattu protests, as no one bothered planning annual celebrations for their victory in the subsequent years. For them, the return of Jallikattu was victory enough, and none of them needed a free ride of the Arvind Kejriwal/Kiren Bedi kind, after the successful 2011 'Team Anna' protests in Delhi and elsewhere. IMAGE: Men tackle a bull during Jallikattu in Palamedu, Tamil Nadu. Photograph: Abhishek Chinnappa/Getty Images Now that the court verdict is out there, PETA and other petitioners/appellants would still be looking for infringements of the court-approved laws, to report back. Then, there is the one question that the court left hanging on the 'cultural antiquity' of Jallikattu. It is not known if the state's lawyers did not address this issue adequately, because some of them too might not have understood the significance of it all, to be able to appreciate their evidentiary value. If one acknowledges that the Sangam literature is 2,000 years old, and that would be an authentic cultural-marker, then you have references to it in Kalithogai and Porunaraarthu-p-padai. It is especially in the section Mullai-Kali, pertaining to pastoral lands and people, that poet Nallanthuvanar, details Jallikattu, or Eru Thazhuvuthal, as he too had referred to it, in 350 lines of poetry. And over a thousand and more years later, in the 14th century, Nachchinarkiniyar, in his commentary on Kalithogai, provides it was a continuing tradition. A tradition, in which the thalaivan (protagonist or hero) has to untie the cloth with a challi, or coin, tied (kattu) to the horns of a trained and raging bull, to take the hands of the thalaivi, or the heroine. Only that challi became jalli and challikattu became Jallikattu, but the culture and tradition have remained the same, though going speedily out of practice, until the Jallikattu protests possibly saved the day. N Sathiya Moorthy is the author of Jallikattu: A Symbol Of Tamil Angst (Vitasta)., Vitasta, 2018. Why weren't the chief ministers of Andhra Pradesh, Goa, Kerala, Maharashtra and Telangana -- all of which have borders with Karnataka -- not invited to Saturday's swearing-in ceremony, asks Shyam G Menon. IMAGE: Newly sworn-in Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Deputy CM D K Shivakumar with Mallikarjun Kharge, Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Nitish Kumar, Sitaram Yechury and others during the swearing-in ceremony of the newly-elected Karnataka government at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium in Bengaluru, May 20, 2023. Photograph: ANI Photo According to news reports preceding the swearing-in of the freshly elected Congress government in Karnataka, a slew of chief ministers and leaders from 'like-minded parties' were invited for the function. The chief ministers of Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu found mention. Also in Bengaluru were the deputy chief minister of Bihar, the president of the Nationalist Congress Party, the president of the Shiv Sena (UBT), the presidents of the National Conference and the general secretary of the Communist Party of India-Marxist. The general secretary of the Communist Party of India was personally invited by the Congress president while the chief minister of Tamil Nadu was called up by the chief minister designate of Karnataka, a report in the Economic Times said. In its list of those invited, The Telegraph also included the chiefs of the Trinamool Congress and the Samajwadi Party. Many of these politicians attended the swearing-in ceremony; a few deputed others. On May 20 (the day of the ceremony), a couple of names not mentioned earlier -- for instance, the Peoples Democratic Party leader and former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Mehbooba Mufti and actor-politician, Kamal Haasan -- also turned up. The strange thing in this spectrum of invitees is that while several states enjoying no physical borders with Karnataka saw their chief ministers or party leaders mentioned in the list, four of the six states sharing borders with Karnataka appeared panned. That is not only a weird idea of neighbourhood from the Congress, which fought elections using a campaign focused on issues relevant to Karnataka, it is also a puzzling way to foster good relations at a time of experiments in opposition unity. For example, Wayanad in Kerala is the constituency from which, no less a person than the Congress's Rahul Gandhi was elected to Parliament. Whatever be the reason he was disqualified for -- whether that was justified or unjustified -- Wayanad paid the price alongside. It endures the absence of an elected representative in parliament. And yet, the state to which Wayanad belongs gets overlooked in the notion of inviting only like-minded parties for the swearing-in ceremony. In Kerala, the Bhartiya Janata Party has been progressively converting elections in the state to a three pronged-contest. It has been becoming evident that the real danger to the Congress in Kerala is the BJP. The BJP has openly attempted making inroads into select community vote banks -- the Christian bloc being one -- that have traditionally stood with the Congress. On the other hand, both the CPI-M-led Left Democratic Front (LDF) and the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) have their commitment to inclusive politics and society. It is a position that highlights their common difference from the polarising politics of the BJP. However, even if they are to be competitors within this space of shared respect for a politics in line with the Constitutional definition of secularism, they must show solidarity as regards aversion for the BJP's brand of politics. If one constantly snubs the other, it weakens the credibility of both sides in the eyes of the electorate. IMAGE: Karnataka Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot administers the oath of office to Siddaramaiah as the state's chief minister. Photograph: PTI Photo The Congress in Kerala may think of itself as eminently capable of defending its vote share or even eat into the BJP's domain (the latter, in case it finds itself charged up that much in the aftermath of the Karnataka assembly election). Whatever its self-belief and assessment of the situation, it merely underscores the need not to recklessly burn bridges with other parties committed to the secular spirit. That's why, an invitation to the chief minister of Kerala would have been a graceful gesture between neighbours. As would have been, invites to the leaders of Andhra Pradesh, Goa, Maharashtra, Telangana -- all of which have borders with Karnataka. What is there to be afraid of? Even if you call such a diverse set of invitations defeating the purpose of anti-BJP Opposition unity, logic would tell you that the swearing-in of a state government is primarily a state-centric affair. Its utility as a venue for displaying pan-India Opposition unity is secondary. In fact, a professional Opposition quietly and consistently works towards its goal without making a spectacle and photo-op of every poll victory. IMAGE: Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge with party leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra during the swearing-in ceremony. Photograph: PTI Photo There is also another reason why a mightier-than-the-rest posture doesn't suit the Congress at this juncture. It is true that in the past the Congress was a mighty political party. It is also true that there are many still arguing about the indispensability of the Congress in an Opposition-wall designed to check the BJP, something deemed essential for the 2024 general election. What should equally be acknowledged is that the state of Indian politics subsequent to the elections of 2014 (the decade of BJP rule), is similar to what happened to humanity after the COVID-19 pandemic. Human lifestyle was disrupted terribly by the pandemic and the effort required to get back to the old way is big. For the Opposition, the route to recovery is one step at a time and the distance to cover is still significant. It is this reality, which makes the specter of not inviting the chief minister of Kerala (or for that matter, the chief ministers of other states neighbouring Karnataka) an avoidable act. IMAGE: Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar with CPI-M General Secretary Sitaram Yechuri and Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot during the swearing-in ceremony. Photograph: Shailendra Bhojak/PTI Photo Back in 2019, when the general election was announced and Smriti Irani chose to contest against Rahul Gandhi in Amethi, the Congress leader had filed his nomination papers from Wayanad in a bid to hedge his risk. Kerala has traditionally been hospitable territory for the Congress and Wayanad is a known UDF bastion. That arithmetic alone does not explain the support a candidate receives. At the end of the day, a people have to actually back a given candidate. They did so for Rahul Gandhi in 2019. He lost in Amethi associated with the Gandhi family for long but won from Wayanad. Four years and many twists to his political career later, during what may be the finest hour yet for Rahul Gandhi and the Congress, the chief minister of Kerala (the state Mr Gandhi won from) is conveniently forgotten against the backdrop of 'like-minded' parties and possibly, the peculiar relationship between the Congress and the CPI-M; they are of late allies in electoral battles in Bengal and political foes in Kerala. On May 20, The Telegraph in its report of the Kerala chief minister left out from the list of invitees, quoted Prakash Karat, CPI-M politburo member: 'If this approach does not change, and it (the Congress) looks for narrow interests in one state and decides what will the approach be to Opposition unity, then there cannot be much headway (in forging Opposition unity).' The same report said that Kerala's leader of the opposition and senior Congress leader V D Satheesan defended his party saying that the All India Congress Committee had invited leaders of political parties to the function. IMAGE: Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah being congratulated by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin. Photograph: ANI Photo At 137 years of age, the Congress may be India's grand old party. But the geographical reality of the region called Karnataka and the region called Kerala being neighbours is millions of years old and the neighbourly relations of its two peoples, at least a few thousand years old. What does it speak of the Congress if its political equation with Karnataka's neighbour is more important than the status of the two states being neighbours? Feature Presentation: Aslam Hunani/Rediff.com But the presidency of India then won't be the same, author and columnist Shobhaa De tells Rediff.com's Savera R Someshwar in a no-holds-barred conversation. Videos: Rajesh Karkera/Rediff.com IMAGE: Prime Minister Narendra D Modi participates in a G7 working session on food, health and development during the G7 Summit in Hiroshima, Saturday, May 20, 2023. Photograph: Susan Walsh/Pool via Reuters No, Shobhaa De does not want to talk about politics. Surprised?? We were too. Known for her no-words-edited, straight-from-the heart opinions that often get her into trouble, both politically and otherwise, it does make you pause for a second when the wielder of one of India's most pungent pens says that's the one topic she won't talk about. But that, she smiles, is only with reference to Insatiable: My Hunger For Life, her latest book that is, in a way, a landmark birthday present to herself -- her 25th that has released in the year she turned a glorious 75. It is a rather unexpected book from the De stable -- it's deeply personal, peels off the veils that otherwise form Brand Shobhaa De and has pages that almost feel wet with tears. It reveals a woman who dared to -- with an invisible self-created shield that allowed her shrug off the criticisms that sought to bind her spirit and her pen -- create something new. Photograph: Rajesh Karkera/ Rediff.com IMAGE: Author and columnist Shobhaa De. De is insatiably interested in everything -- marriage, her family, their collective dog brood, politics, films, travel, food, clothes, festivals, parties and the lives of everyone who enters her world, be it the socialites, the stars and Pushpa (one of the few people De cannot live without), who pops in pretty regularly in Insatiable. As does her husband, whom she calls Mr De, and whom she has married five times; the last time she did it, in 2022, she wore a 'trad Kanjeevaram sari' and exchanged garlands in front 'Goddess Meenakshi Amma' in Madurai. But that story, she reveals, came with a twist. While talking about the suite the newly-wed (again!) De couple were going to stay in, the general manager of the hotel proudly told them, 'Our Prime Minister Narendra Modi slept on this very bed during his recent visit.' And here's what De thinks about that. As De says, in the video above, "If not PM, Mr Modi will be the President." And, she believes, "Mr Yogi" could be the next prime minister. There is another political leader, she says in the video below, who is definitely "not prime ministerial material", but who, "unlike the current prime minister, has achieved something constructive and positive" by walking across the country and "actually interacting with the people without any barricades". In a democracy, she says, "and India is one", a leader should "meet his own people and let the people get to know him or her. You can't behave like you do in China or Russia or (North) Korea..." Unfortunately, she says, India has a "prime minister who refuses to talk to the people." And while there is one person who could be prime ministerial material, that person, she says, is not willing to directly put their hat in the ring. "If you were to say to the people of India," she says she personally told that politician, "I am putting myself out there as a future prime ministerial candidate, you will see the response that you will get. There will be no ambiguity." Though politics fascinates De, she wishes it were less murky. She is also aware of how it has created deep faultlines between family and friends, leading to the destruction of long-standing relationships. And silence in such matters, she feels, can be revealing. Now that Insatiable is on the bookshelves, what is De looking at next? Will she return to becoming -- yes, this is a description she doesn't like too much -- the Jackie Collins of India, as Time magazine had once dubbed her? "Well," she says with an irresistible smile, "I would love to write 50 Shades Of De because it would be written from the perspective of a woman who is on top and in charge." And those are exactly the kind of women you will find in her books -- vulnerable but strong and ready to take charge. It is no wonder then that numerous universities have her books as part of their curriculum and even more numerous dissertations have been written about her work. While that is not something she keeps track of, there is undeniably a lot of sexual tension in many of her books. Which begs the question: Has De been attracted to other men and women. "I am very, very," she says candidly, "vulnerable to beauty and perfection." And then, she names names :) So does someone who's lived a life as rich as De -- a life that is peppered with milestones, strong opinions and a passionate love for food, travel and people -- have regrets? Yes. And the biggest one is... Insatiable: My Hunger For Life by Shobhaa De is published by HarperCollins Publishing, India. 'Given the blood on his hands, it's really hard to believe that he (Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh) has the audacity and the moral numbness to hold onto power.' IMAGE: Indian Army and Assam Rifles personnel conduct rescue operation in violence-affected Manipur. Photograph: ANI Photo Paolienlal Haokip is the Bharatiya Janata Party MLA from Saikot (a constituency reserved for Scheduled Tribes) in Churachandpur district in the hills of Manipur. Haokip tells Prasanna D Zore/Rediff.com why he feels the BJP government in Manipur is responsible for and complicit in the violence allegedly unleashed by a section of the majority Meiteis in the Manipur valley against the Kukis and ethnic tribals residing in the hills. According to newspaper reports, more than 71 people have lost their lives after clashes broke out between the Meiteis and ethnic tribals and the Kukis. "This is a point of no return which is forced by the majority community in collusion with the government and the chief minister. The Kukis never anticipated such kind of hatred," says Haokip, one of the 10 BJP MLAs who wrote to the Union home ministry seeking separation of administrative powers between the hill districts and the valley. What is the situation in the valley right now? What is the state government doing to help the people suffering due to violence in the state? Practically, nothing yet. The relief centres and relief efforts are mostly centered in the valley, and have hardly reached the hills. This is unfortunate. 90 per cent of the settlements of the Kukis or ethnic tribals have been burnt down or completely destroyed and their movable property looted. All their vehicles have been burned down. The entire (Kuki and tribal) population has been transferred to the Kuki districts (in the hills). I am not sure of the exact numbers, but anywhere between 35,000 and 40,000 people have been moved to Kuki-dominated districts in the hills, which are not necessarily their homes, but that's just for their safety. What is Chief Minister N Biren Singh doing to restore normalcy in Manipur? The Union government has sent central forces, has that brought peace in the valley? The situation in the valley is as good as normal now because there are no longer any Kukis or tribals left out there. At least the Kukis and ethnic tribals are no longer there. But the hills are far from normal with no relief material reaching the relief centres. There's lot of chilling tension still there (in the valley and hills of Manipur). The Kuki community people living on the fringes (of the hills) still fear attacks (from the Meiteis). There were incidents of violence just a few days ago, but presently, I'm not sure if violence is happening. I am myself out of the state because I cannot land at Imphal. There are still fears of violence occurring again. IMAGE: Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh addresses a press conference in Imphal on May 8, 2023. Photograph: ANI Photo Is the state government not making efforts to curb the violence and create a sense of relief for the people in the state? Hasn't the state government acted against the perpetrators of violence in the valley? When the head of the government is in complicity with the perpetrators of such violence, what do you expect from the state government? That's a very serious charge against the chief minister. Would you have any proof of that? Go to the Web site of the Arambai Tenggol (a youth organisation in Manipur) or that of Meitei Leepun and look at the pictures of the leaders of the those two groups colluding with the chief minister, consulting with the chief minister, who has been nurturing them. Not only him, but the Rajya Sabha member (of the BJP) from Manipur, the so-called Maharaja, Leishemba Sanajaoba, has been openly in his Facebook account supporting those radical groups and these two (radical groups) are known throughout the state (for their anti-Kuki and anti-tribal activities). Take this not only from me, but cross-check it with any rational, unbiased, Meitei. They will confirm it for you, and it's all on record. As long as such a leader (N Biren Singh) is in place, there is no possible sense of security for the Kukis or any of the ethnic people (in Manipur). BJP MLAs from Manipur's hill districts wrote to the Union home ministry and the BJP national president asking for separation of administrative powers between the hills and the valley. How will this separation of administrative powers actually work on the ground? The separation is already affected by the majority (Meitei) community. The only thing we are asking for is a formalisation of that separation from the Union government because the state government has completely not only failed to protect us, but is also a party to the ethnic cleansing of our people. So what options do we have? We have written this letter to the Union home minister (Amit A Shah) and to the national president of the BJP (J P Nadda). What response have you got from the Union home ministry as well as the BJP president? Nothing from the president (Nadda) as yet; we met the home minister personally, who stressed on restoring some form of normalcy first and to address the issue (of separation of administrative power) thereafter. How will this separate administration work out on the ground? Once the population transfers are complete (of Meiteis from the hills to the valley and of the Kukis and tribals from the valley to the hills), and of the Kukis and ethic tribals (from the valley to the hills) because the majority community (the Meiteis) have demonstrated their hatred for the Kukis and ethnic tribals. And once the state government has also shown complicity to such hatred, how it (the separation of administrative powers) works out is for time to tell, but we have to explore a separate administration. There's no other option. IMAGE: Charred remains of a house days after violent clashes in Manipur. Photograph: ANI Photo Is this is a point of no return for the Meiteis and Kukis in Manipur? This is a point of no return which is forced by the majority community in collusion with the government and the chief minister. The Kukis never anticipated such kind of hatred. We have demanded some form of autonomy in the past which was denied, but the existing provisions for rights on land administration have been ignored over decades, and now this (violence against the Kukis) shows the kind of hatred that they hold for us. So we have no option but to seek the protection of the Union of India. Is the Manipur government under threat after the letter written by seven BJP MLAs from the hills and three of the allies which are supporting the government? He (N Biren Singh) may have the numbers, but given the blood on his hands, it's really hard to believe that he has the audacity and the moral numbness to hold onto power after that (the violence that led to the deaths of more than 71 people in the state). How many people do you think would need to be transferred from the valley to the hills and vice versa? It is not that (transfer) because already our people have been physically cleansed from the valley. What about their properties, their land, their belongings? The movable properties have been already looted. A free rein has been given to looters all these days. Why hasn't the Union government acted against the state government which, as you claim, has been violating its fundamental principle of safeguarding the lives and properties of its people? Would you say that the Union government remained a mute witness when the violence and mayhem spread in Manipur? You will have to ask that of the Union government. I am in no position to comment on that. Would you believe that the ethnic cleansing, that you say is what has happened in the valley, could have been stopped or contained had the Union government acted swiftly? That is something you should put to them. What are the people on the ground saying about the delay in the Union government sending central troops to the valley? What are people like you who are elected representatives think about it? The Union government came in late because the state government would not requisition the help of the Union government (to send the central troops as soon as the violence started). Clearly, the violence was allowed to go on so that only the Kukis and ethnic tribals could be cleansed. Technically, you cannot blame the Union government because it is only when the state government, in whose hands law and order is placed by the Constitution, seeks the help of the Union that the Union of India can intervene. Now, if the (state) government deliberately chooses to delay seeking the help of the Union government can (we, the people of Manipur) technically blame the Union government for it? How long before the restoration of normalcy returns to the valley? That is for prophets to prophesy. A local court here on Monday asked the Narcotics Control Bureau, which is probing the recent seizure of over 2,500 kilograms of methamphetamine from a vessel in Indian waters in a joint operation with the Navy, to file a fresh affidavit including the details of the arrest of the accused among other things. IMAGE: Drugs seized in a special operation by the NCB and Indian Navy in Indian waters being shifted by authorities. Photograph: ANI Photo The court was considering the petition of the NCB seeking the custody of Pakistan national accused Zubair Derakshshandeh for five days from today. Lawyer representing the accused, B A Aloor, said the court asked the agency to file whether the arrest was made from the Indian waters in order to decide on the jurisdiction of the court. The court will consider the matter again on Tuesday. In the remand report filed by the agency on May 16, it had said that a drug trafficker from Pakistan had offered the accused, "good money" after the work was completed. The agency had on May 15 said that the actual commercial value of the contraband after its latest evaluation was close to Rs 25,000 crore, because of the high purity of the seized methamphetamine. NCB had said that the contraband was kept in 2,525 plastic boxes and placed in 132 bags. "The net weight of methamphetamine came out to be 2,525.675 kg," the agency said. Initially valued at Rs 12 000 crore, NCB had said that it was the largest seizure of methamphetamine in the country. The officials had earlier said that the product was packed in such a professional manner that even if it was aboard a ship for a longer duration, the moisture will not affect the drugs. The agency claimed that the latest consignment of over 2,500 kg of methamphetamine was meant for India, Sri Lanka and Maldives from Afghanistan. The drug cache was at a "mother ship" a large vessel that distributes narcotics to various boats during its journey from the Makran coast around Pakistan and Iran, it said. As many as 132 sacks of suspected methamphetamine, the intercepted boat and some other items salvaged from the ship along with the Pakistani national were brought to Mattancherry Wharf and handed over by the Navy to the NCB, it said. A delivery person of an e-commerce firm was injured after falling from the third-floor of a building in Hyderabad when he tried to evade the customer's barking dog, the police said. Image used for representational purpose only. Photograph: ANI Photo The incident took place in an apartment at Manikonda on Sunday when the delivery executive, aged 30, went there to deliver a mattress and the dog started barking at the customer's door, which was reportedly partly open, they said. Afraid of being attacked, the man ran for safety and climbed a railing but slipped and fell on the ground from there, the police said, adding that the customer and some others got him admitted to a hospital and his condition is said to be out of danger. The delivery person suffered multiple injuries in the incident, a police official at the Raidurgam police station said. A case has been registered under the IPC Section 289 (negligent conduct with respect to animal) against the dog owner, the official said. A probe is on. Meanwhile, the Telangana Gig and Platform Workers Union in a release demanded that the dog owner bear the expenses of treatment of the delivery executive. In January this year, a 23-year-old food delivery executive died after he suffered critical injuries after jumping off the third floor of an apartment building in Hyderabad, out of fear of being attacked by a pet dog of a customer that chased him. Another explosion linked to illegal firecrackers took place in West Bengal on Monday, the third such blast within a span of just seven days. IMAGE: CID officials and security personnel investigate the site after an explosion at an illegal firecracker unit at Egra in Purba Medinipur district, May 16, 2023. Photograph: PTI Photo Though no casualty was reported due to the latest explosion which is alleged to have happened in the house of a local Trinamool Congress leader in Birbhum district, three members of a family were killed in a blast at an illegal firecracker factory in South 24 Parganas district on Sunday, the police said. The two back-to-back blasts followed a huge explosion that claimed 12 lives in another illegal firecracker factory in Purba Medinipur district on May 16. In order to make sure that such illegal factories do not exist anymore, the state cabinet decided to set up clusters for manufacturing green firecrackers industry and formed a committee headed by Chief Secretary HK Dwivedi to look into the matter, a senior minister said in Kolkata. Monday's blast took place inside a house at Dubrajpur in Birbhum district but there is no casualty, the police said. The house was partially damaged because of the explosion. "We cannot say much about the matter. It's still in a very initial stage. The cause of the blast is not yet known," a police officer said. Locals, however, claimed that the house belonged to local TMC leader Sheikh Shafik and crude bombs stored there exploded. In Sunday night's explosion at an illegal firecracker manufacturing unit at Budge Budge in South 24 Parganas district, three members of a family, including a minor, were killed and several others were injured, the police said on Monday. The three casualties are 65-year-old Jamuna Das, her daughter Pampa Ghati and her 10-year-old granddaughter Jayashree. The number of injured in the blast was, however, not specified. The state government has ordered a CID probe into the incident, a senior official said. The state cabinet gave its nod to form a panel to look into setting up clusters for manufacturing green firecrackers, an official said. The chief secretary-headed committee will comprise secretaries of the departments of home, finance, fire services, environment and urban development, he added. Municipal affairs minister Firhad Hakim said that the decision was made so that people's livelihood is not affected. "The committee will submit a report after examining all the aspects such as the place of the cluster, the number of people to be employed and the rules to be followed," he said. Meanwhile, a police officer said, "It seems that the blast in Budge Budge occurred after the explosives illegally stored in the house caught fire, which probably spread from incense sticks lit in the evening in the puja room located on the terrace of the house," he said. At least 30 people, allegedly running illegal firecracker manufacturing units in the locality, were arrested and around 20,000 kg of explosive materials stored in various houses were seized in police raids in the intervening night of Sunday and Monday, the official said. Some people in the area, however, claimed that the explosives were "purchased legally". "We have the license for manufacturing firecrackers. We had legally purchased all those explosive materials seized by the police. This will ruin our livelihood," said Sajal Das, the owner of a firecracker manufacturing unit in the locality. Budge Budge area has a thriving fireworks industry. BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari mocked the state government after the blast and as in the case of the Egra blast, demanded an NIA probe into the incident. He also alleged that the state police had tampered with evidence in the night while conducting the raid. On May 16, an explosion had taken place at an illegal firecracker manufacturing unit at Egra in Purba Medinipur district in which 12 people lost their lives. The main accused in the Egra blast died at a hospital at Cuttack in Odisha on May 19. The Gujarat Anti Terrorist Squad (ATS) has busted an Al Qaeda module and arrested four members who hail from Bangladesh but have been living illegally in Ahmedabad, an official said on Monday. IMAGE: Kindly note that this image has been posted for representational purposes only. The preliminary investigation has revealed that the four members of the proscribed terror outfit were trained by their handlers based in Bangladesh before the quartet was sent to India. They were tasked with raising funds for Al Qaeda's illegal activities, radicalising local youths and persuading them to join the terror outfit, said deputy inspector general, Gujarat ATS, Deepan Bhadran. They were arrested from different parts of Ahmedabad under the relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code and sections 38, 39 and 40 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), Bhadran told reporters at the ATS headquarters. The four alleged members of Al-Qaeda are identified as Mohammed Sojib, Munna Khalid Ansari, Azharul Islam Ansari and Mominul Ansari. "Based on a specific tip-off, we first picked up Sojib, who used to live in the Rakhial area of Ahmedabad, for questioning. Sojib told us that he and three others are part of Al Qaeda's network and were taking instructions from their Bangladesh-based handler Shariful Islam. Through Islam, these youths met one Shayba, head of Al-Qaeda's operations in Bangladesh's Mymensingh district," said Bhadran. The ATS subsequently nabbed Munna, Azharul, and Mominul from the Narol area of the city, where they were working in factories by posing as Indian citizens. The ATS found Aadhaar and PAN cards and some literature published by the terror outfit's media wing As-Saab Media from the rented rooms of the trio, said Bhadran. "Before entering India illegally, these youths were trained by their handlers on using encrypted chat applications and VPN. Using forged documents, these accused made their Aadhaar and PAN cards. Apart from Gujarat, they had contacted youths from other states to radicalise them. We have learnt that they were successful in radicalising some youths, at least two persons," the senior ATS officer said. The ATS will conduct an in-depth investigation on aspects like who helped the quartet in crossing the India-Bangladesh border, their method of collecting funds, local contacts, and the number of persons radicalised by them, he said. Gift this article Share this article paywall-free. LAKES OF THE FOUR SEASONS A grenade explosion Saturday left one person dead and two injured, Lake County Sheriff Oscar Martinez said. A family searching through their grandfather's belongings around 6:30 p.m. at a residence in the 3400 block of West Lakeshore Drive reportedly found a hand grenade, Martinez said. One of the family members pulled the pin on the device and it exploded. A man was found unresponsive and declared dead at the scene. Two of his sons, ages 14 and 18, were taken to a hospital for treatment of injuries from shrapnel. The Porter County Bomb Squad was requested on scene to search for other explosives. The sheriff did not say whether any were found. The case is under investigation, Martinez said. States where the most households own more than the typical 2 vehicles Mountainous states lead the U.S. in vehicle ownership by household 49. Florida 48. Louisiana 45. New Jersey 38. Michigan 33. Arizona 32. Maryland 29. Mississippi 26. Indiana 25. Arkansas 24. Missouri 22. Oklahoma 19. New Mexico 15. Virginia 14. Wisconsin 11. Washington 10. Kansas 9. Iowa 8. Minnesota 7. Nebraska 5. Wyoming 3. North Dakota 2. Utah 1. Montana Delegates of all G20 countries, barring China, arrived in Srinagar on Monday for the third working group meeting on tourism -- a much-anticipated event for which authorities have made extensive security arrangements and spruced up the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir. IMAGE: Delegates during the 3rd G20 tourism working group meeting, Srinagar, May 22, 2023. Photograph: PTI Photo The delegates were given a traditional Indian welcome at the Srinagar airport with performances by local artistes, and the three-day meet kicked off with a side event on 'Film tourism for economic growth and cultural preservation'. All the G20 countries except China participated. This meeting had an overwhelming response. We had 61 delegates here. All countries except China are present here, India's G20 Sherpa Amitabh Kant told reporters at a press conference. Kashmir, where tourism is a major industry, is embarking on an exciting journey with the G20 event in the Valley and it will send a strong message against Pakistan-sponsored terrorism, Union ministers who have been camping in the Union territory to oversee the event, said. Stringent security arrangements have been made to ensure that the event concludes incident-free. The elite National Security Guard and marine commandos were helping police and paramilitary forces to secure the venues including the Sher-e-Kashmir International Convention Centre (SKICC), while the Boulevard Road around it has been made a no-go zone for three days. There was a massive deployment of security forces on the route taken by the delegates and the Airport Road to Dalgate stretch. Kant downplayed the absence of the Chinese delegates, saying travel and tourism is a private sector activity and trade delegations from several countries had participated. Officials said it is not that all invitees attend every meeting and some have skipped those held in other parts of the country also. Asked about the negative travel advisories of many foreign countries on Jammu and Kashmir, India's G20 Sherpa said the "officials from G7 countries were participating and they would not have come here if there were any such advisory. Speaking at the event, Union Minister of State in the PMO, Jitendra Singh, said Kashmir has undergone a change and there are no takers for strike calls anymore. Markets across Kashmir, including in the Srinagar city centre, were open throughout the day and there were no restrictions on the movement of people or transport except for traffic diversions on Boulevard Road. "If such an event (G20) was held earlier, a strike call would be given from Islamabad (Pakistan) and shops on Residency Road (in the city centre of) Srinagar would close. Now there is no hartal even if the call for hartal has come from here or there," he said. Singh said the common Kashmiris want to move on "as they have lost two generations (due to militancy)." IMAGE: Foreign delegates pose for a photograph during the G20 tourism working group meeting, Srinagar, May 22, 2023. Photograph: PTI Photo The MoS expressed hope the delegates would become Kashmir's ambassadors and highlight the positive situation in the Valley. At a press conference later, Singh, replying to a question by a French journalist, said security measures for such a high-profile event were common to even countries like France. Singh said holding the G20 event in Srinagar was an achievement in itself. "I am sure the delegates coming here will be able to falsify the perception that is sought to be created by vested interests. The common man wants to move on. "He wants development and progress. He no longer wants to be part of Pakistan-sponsored terrorism. He has seen the development across the country and avenues for progress under the leadership of PM Narendra Modi. He does not want to miss the bus," Singh said. Union Tourism and Culture Minister G Kishan Reddy said film tourism has emerged as a powerful medium to promote the tourism industry and the government is chalking out a comprehensive strategy for its growth in J-K. Describing Srinagar as one of the most beautiful cities in the country, Reddy said it was India's one of the oldest cities as well. He said Kashmir was embarking on an exciting journey with the G20 event in the Valley, but tourism promotion was not only about showing the beauty of the destination but also preserving its culture. He said the government is planning to hold a global tourism investment summit in the country and will soon declare a national tourism policy as well. He also said there is tremendous scope for promoting spiritual tourism in J-K. Reddy said the Centre is allowing 100 per cent Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in tourism as "our idea is that without private investment, we cannot become a global destination". India's G20 Sherpa Amitabh Kant described Kashmir as the finest destination for film shooting. He said the Kashmir Valley has been attracting filmmakers due to its unique nature, which has something for everyone. "Kashmir is not just a destination but a unique experience. Kashmir is an amazing destination because of its Alpine forests, streams, etc. There is no better destination than Kashmir as it has something to offer to everyone. It has everything," Kant said. "We believe in peace and prosperity. Prime Minister Narendra Modi believes tourism has a multiplier effect and it is a job creator. This destination is unique because no Bollywood movie was complete without a shoot in Kashmir. No romance in India was complete without Kashmir," he said. "We will help you to bring more and more romance and glamour to your films," Kant said addressing the event. The event was also addressed by Ram Charan -- star of the movie RRR which recently won an Oscar for the best original song. IMAGE: Telugu star Ram Charan shakes a leg with South Korean Ambassador Chang Jae-bok to RRR's Oscar-winning track 'Naatu Naatu'. Photograph: ANI Photo Charan said it was a surreal feeling coming back to the Valley. The actor later shook a leg on the Oscar-winning track Naatu Naatu with the South Korean ambassador to India, Chang Jae-bok. G20 chief coordinator Harsh Vardhan Shringla stressed that not much should be read into the absence of some delegations as 43 countries and organisations had been invited to various meetings under India's G20 presidency and not all had attended each one of them. So, it will be missing the woods for the trees if we read too much into one country not coming to our meeting, he said when asked about Saudi Arabia not sending an official delegation to the meeting. Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived here on Monday for the third and final leg of his three-nation tour during which he will hold talks with his Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese and attend a community event to celebrate the country's dynamic, diverse Indian diaspora. IMAGE: Prime Minister Narendra Modi being welcomed by officials on his arrival in Sydney, Australia, May 22, 2023. Photograph: ANI Photo Modi is visiting Australia from May 22-24 as a guest of the Australian government. "Landed in Sydney to a warm welcome by the Indian community. Looking forward to various programmes over the next two days," Modi tweeted. External affairs ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi, in a tweet, said Prime Minister Modi arrived in the vibrant city of Sydney on his second visit to Australia. "Two days of constructive engagements with Australian leadership, business community and diaspora members await," he added Ahead of Modi's arrival, Prime Minister Albanese said in a statement, "I am honoured to host Prime Minister Modi for an official visit to Australia, after receiving an extremely warm welcome in India earlier this year." "Australia and India share a commitment to a stable, secure and prosperous Indo-Pacific. Together we have an important role to play in supporting this vision," he said, amidst China's aggressive behaviour in the region as well as its efforts to expand its influence. Prime Minister Modi has also said that he was looking forward to his meeting with Albanese on May 24. Briefing the media, foreign secretary Vinay Kwatra said that all issues of bilateral engagement, including the issues which pertain to harmony in society, and the safety and security of the two societies would be discussed. "It is not correct for me to prejudge what would be discussed between the two leaders," he said in response to a question on pro-Khalistan activities in Australia. During the visit, the Prime Ministers will attend a community event in Sydney to celebrate Australia's dynamic and diverse Indian diaspora, "a core part of our multicultural community", the Australian government said in a statement. Modi arrived Sydney from Papua New Guinea, where he held talks with his counterpart James Marape and took stock of their bilateral relations. He also discussed ways to further augment cooperation in areas like commerce, technology, healthcare and climate change. The two leaders co-hosted the Forum for India-Pacific Islands Cooperation summit on Monday, fostering regional cooperation. "My Papua New Guinea visit has been a historic one. I will greatly cherish the affection received among the people of this wonderful nation. I also had the opportunity to interact with respected FIPIC leaders and discuss ways to deepen ties with their respective nations," Modi tweeted. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics 2016 census, 619,164 people in Australia declared that they were of ethnic Indian ancestry. This comprises 2.8 per cent of the Australian population. Among those, 592,000 were born in India. Prime Minister Modi last visited Australia in 2014. Modi began his three-nation tour on Friday from Japan where he attended three sessions at the G7 summit following an invitation by Japanese counterpart Fumio Kishida. Modi along with US President Joe Biden, Japanese Prime Minister Kishida and his Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese also attended the 3rd in-person Quad Summit in Hiroshima. The Quad meeting was moved to the sidelines of the G-7 summit in Hiroshima after US President Biden postponed his trip to Australia to return to Washington, amid ongoing negotiations over raising the US debt limit. The Thalassery archdiocese of the Catholic church has condemned the "misinterpretation" of its archbishop's statement on political martyrs and said the church has a history of respecting the martyrs. Photograph: Istvan Kis from Pixabay IMAGE: Kindly note that this image has been posted for representational purposes only. Thalassery archbishop Mar Joseph Pamplany had on Saturday courted controversy by stating that political martyrs are those who died after getting into "unnecessary fights". At an event of the Kerala Catholic Youth Movement (KCYM) held on Saturday, the bishop had said that the martyrdom of the 12 apostles of Jesus was different from that of political martyrs. The archdiocese, in a statement issued on Sunday night, said that some persons were "misinterpreting the statement of the bishop". "The church has a long history of respecting martyrs... There are people who were martyred for their ideology and values just like the apostles... It's a fact that there are such martyrs cutting across political lines. But some were sacrificed for vested interests and the bishop warned against such incidents," the statement read. It condemned "such misinterpretation of a general statement" which did not have any "political implication". The church also said that they respect those who were martyred for the country and its independence. "The martyrdom of the apostles is not like that of the political martyrs. Some of the political martyrs are those who got shot after getting into unnecessary fights with someone or some are those who fell from bridges while fleeing from the police after some protests. But the 12 martyred apostles (of Jesus) are those who sacrificed their lives for truth, and the wellbeing of the world," Pamplany had said. The video went viral on Sunday after which senior Left leaders including LDF convenor E P Jayarajan and senior Left leader P Jayarajan had criticised the statement. P Jayarajan had asked Pamplany whether Gandhiji was killed after he engaged in some "unnecessary fight" with someone. "How can he insult the martyrs? They are called martyrs after they lost their lives when the communal or fascist forces murdered them. There are martyrs from various political parties and religions," E P Jayarajan said. The LDF convenor had also said that "such baseless comments" against martyrs who sacrificed their lives for society cannot be accepted. "Earlier, he (bishop Pamplany) made the statement that the Bharatiya Janata Party will get a seat if the rubber price is increased to Rs 300 per kg. So we are not giving any importance to his statement," P Jayarajan said. He was referring to Pamplany's statement on March 19 this year in which he said that if the Centre promised to increase the rate of rubber procurement to Rs 300 per kg, BJP's dearth of an MP from the southern state would be addressed. His statement had created ripples in the political waters of the state. P Jayarajan had also pointed out that many Christians were martyred in the recent Manipur riots. Meanwhile, the BJP had come out in support of the bishop and had said that the "attack" on the senior cleric was anti-democratic. "It is the CPI-M which makes martyrs out of those who get into unnecessary fights with others...The bishop exposed the CPI-M. Political violence happens only in places where the Left party is strong. They are the ones who celebrate the death of martyrs," BJP state chief K Surendran had claimed. Prime Minister Narendra Modi was on Monday conferred with the highest honours of Papua New Guinea and Fiji, in a rare recognition for a non-resident in the two Pacific island nations. IMAGE: Prime Minister of Fiji Sitiveni Rabuka confers PM Narendra Modi with the Companion of the Order of Fiji, the nation's highest honour, on Monday. Photograph: Courtesy @PMOIndia/Twitter Modi arrived in Port Moresby in Papua New Guinea on Sunday on his maiden visit to the country to host a key summit between India and 14 Pacific island countries to boost bilateral ties. 'Unprecedented honour for India as Papua New Guinea confers their highest award to PM Modi,' the Prime Minister's Office said. It was presented to him by Papua New Guinea Governor-General Sir Bob Dadae. Photograph: Courtesy @PMOIndia/Twitter Papua New Guinea conferred the Companion of the Order of Logohu to Prime Minister Modi for championing the cause of unity of Pacific Island countries and spearheading the cause of Global South. Very few non-residents of PNG have received this award, including former US President Bill Clinton, it said. 'An honour emblematic of the depth of India-Papua New Guinea relationship,' the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) tweeted. This comes immediately after Fiji's Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka also conferred the country's highest award to Modi. 'Big Honour for India. Prime Minister Modi has been conferred the highest honour of Fiji by the PM of Fiji: Companion of the Order of Fiji in recognition of his global leadership. Only a handful of Non-Fijians have received this honour to date,' the Prime Minister's Office said. IMAGE: Modi was also conferred with the Companion of the Order of Logohu by Papua New Guinea Governor General Sir Bob Dadae. Photograph: Courtesy @PMOIndia/Twitter Prime Minister Modi dedicated the honour to the people of India and to the generations of the Fiji-Indian community, who have played a key role in the special and enduring bond between the two countries, the MEA said on Twitter. 'Grateful to the people and Government of Fiji for conferring the Companion of the Order of Fiji on me. I thank PM @slrabuka for presenting the award. It is an honour for the people of India and a recognition of the strong ties between India and Fiji,' the prime minister tweeted. IMAGE: Modi receives the Companion of the Order of Logohu by Papua New Guinea Governor General Sir Bob Dadae. Photograph: Courtesy @PMOIndia/Twitter Modi also held a 'wonderful meeting' with President Surangel S Whipps, Jr of the Republic of Palau on the sidelines of the FIPIC Summit. Whipps presented Modi with an Ebakl, one of the most important tools for the people of Palau. Ebaki has a strong link with the local culture. It also symbolises leadership and wisdom, the MEA said on Twitter. IMAGE: President Surangel S Whipps, Jr of the Republic of Palau presented Modi with an Ebakl, one of the most important tools for the people of Palau. Photograph: Courtesy @PMOIndia/Twitter Some of the previous international awards conferred by countries on Prime Minister Modi are The Order of Abdulaziz Al Saud (the highest honour of Saudi Arabia awarded to non-Muslim dignitaries), State Order of Ghazi Amir Amanullah Khan (the highest civilian honour of Afghanistan), the Grand Collar of the State of Palestine Award (the highest honour of Palestine awarded to foreign dignitaries) and Order of Zayed Award (highest civilian honour of the United Arab Emirates). Other awards include the Order of St. Andrew Award ( the highest civilian honour of Russia), the Order of the Distinguished Rule of Nishan Izzuddin (the highest honour of the Maldives awarded to foreign dignitaries) and King Hamad Order of the Renaissance (a top honour by the gulf country). A special National Investigation Agency court in Jammu and Kashmir's Kulgam district issued proclamation orders on Monday against five terrorists involved in various terror crimes and targeted killings, asking them to surrender before it or the investigation agency. Photograph: Umar Ganie for Rediff.com IMAGE: Security forces carry out checking ahead of G20 Summit, in Srinagar, May 22, 2023. "Special court, Kulgam designated under NIA Act issued proclamation orders under section 82, CrPC against five active terrorists involved in various terror crime and target killing cases, including killing of lady teacher Rajni Bala and bank manager Vijay Kumar in Kulgam district last year," a police spokesperson said in a statement. On the request of the special investigation unit, Kashmir, the proclamation orders were issued against Arjumand Gulzar alias Hamza Bhuran, a resident of Kharbatapora Ratnipora Pulwama, Bilal Ahmed Bhat, a resident of Chaki Cholend Shopian, Sameer Ahmed Sheikh alias Kamran Bhai, a resident of Chaki Cholend Shopian, Abid Ramzan Sheikh, a resident of Chotipora Shopian, and Basit Amin Bhat, a resident of Frisal Kulgam, the spokesperson said. Before the issuance of the proclamation orders, the court had issued open-ended non-bailable warrants against all five, he added. The proclamation orders were read out at conspicuous places in the villages of the terrorists and copies of the orders were pasted at their houses as well as villages, the police spokesperson said. Before the initiation of further legal proceedings against the five, the court has given them a chance to surrender before it or the investigation agency, he added. The police spokesperson said SIU teams, along with local police and magistrates, went to the villages of the terrorists in Kulgam, Shopian and Pulwama districts for the execution of the proclamation orders. Former Karnataka chief minister Basavaraj Bommai on Monday demanded that the Siddaramaiah-led Congress government in the state prove with evidence that there was 40 per cent commission during the previous Bharatiya Janata Party rule. IMAGE: Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar meets former chief minister Basavaraj Bommai in the Karnataka assembly, Bengaluru, May 22, 2023. Photograph: ANI Photo The saffron party leader also urged the government to investigate alleged scams or irregularities that took place during the previous BJP and Congress governments, and let the truth come out. "I want to clearly say -- let them probe. They have alleged 40 per cent commission, they have to prove it with evidence now. I demand that the Congress, being in the government, give us all the proof and show there was 40 per cent commission," Bommai said in response to a question on the Congress government reportedly planning to probe alleged scams during the BJPs rule. Speaking to reporters in Bengaluru, he said, "The contractors' association had alleged 40 per cent, I want to tell its president Kempanna -- they (Congress) may claim that there is no 40 per cent commission with Congress in power -- so here on in all the projects contractors' will have quote 40 per cent less in the tenders. If they continue to quote the same tender amount as earlier, it means that 40 per cent has continued." "So Kempanna has a huge responsibility, the contractors' association should tell all its contractors to quote 40 per cent less in their tender," he added. During the previous BJP regime, the state contractors' association under its president Kempanna had written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, alleging 40 per cent commission charge against public representatives and officials for public works, which the Congress, then in the opposition, had used as a major weapon against the then ruling party during the campaign for the assembly polls. To a question as to whether the contractors' association would release documents at least now, Bommai said, "Let them, Kempanna has not done it so far, also they have not given it to courts, but have indulged in false campaigning (against BJP). Congress benefitted from it, so let them do it at least now." Regarding claims that the police sub-inspector (PSI) recruitment scam will be probed, he said, "Let them investigate everything. We have given the Lokayukta and CID -- cases regarding the scams which took place during their (previous Congress) tenure... Let what happened during both their and our (BJPs) tenures be probed, and let the truth come out." The former chief minister also expressed pain over the death caused due to rain on Sunday and said the met department had given a warning about rains, but it is clear the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) had not taken any measures. "I urge the chief minister, we have created the SDRF (State Disaster Response Force) in Bengaluru, immediately press them into service at the vulnerable spots and take measures at places which are bottlenecks, as there are predictions of more rains in the days to come. Also measures should be taken regarding tree falls to avoid any disaster or inconvenience to people," he added. A 23-year old woman died on Sunday after the vehicle she was travelling in got submerged in a flooded K R Circle underpass, following thunderstorm and heavy rains in the city. The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to hear on May 26 a plea by senior Trinamool Congress leader Abhishek Banerjee against his questioning by the Central Bureau of Investigation in the school jobs scam case. IMAGE: Trinamool Congress general secretary Abhishek Banerjee speaks with the media after appearing before CBI in connection with alleged teachers recruitment scam in Kolkata on May 20, 2023. Photograph: PTI Photo Banerjee, who was on May 20 questioned for over nine hours by the CBI in connection with the probe into the case, has sought the apex court direction that no coercive steps be taken against him by the agency. Senior advocate Abhishek Singhvi, appearing for Banerjee, mentioned the matter for urgent listing before a vacation bench of Justices Aniruddha Bose and Sanjay Karol. The bench said the plea would be heard on Friday. Banerjee's name cropped up in a complaint filed by Kuntal Ghosh, a local businessman and an accused in the school jobs scam, where he alleged that central investigating agencies were pressuring him to name Banerjee, who is the national general secretary of the TMC, in the case. The agency's summons came within 24 hours of the Calcutta high court dismissing on Thursday a petition filed by Banerjee seeking recall of a previous court order, which said that investigative agencies such as the CBI and ED could interrogate him in the teacher recruitment scam case. An attempt on Friday to get a division bench and, after that, the chief justice of the Calcutta high court to hear his revision plea did not yield results. While mentioning the matter before the apex court, Singhvi said Banerjee has already been quizzed for over nine hours by the CBI and the TMC leader is apprehending that he may be arrested if called against for questioning by the agency. "I (Banerjee) am asking for no coercive step," Singhvi told the bench, while requesting it to list the matter for hearing in this week. The bench agreed to hear the plea on Friday and told Singhvi to ask his junior counsel to go to the mentioning officer. After his questioning was over on May 20, Banerjee had told the mediapersons keeping vigil outside the CBI's office at Nizam Palace in Kolkata, that the questioning was a waste of time for both him and the investigative agency's officers, but he "cooperated in all that was asked". Banerjee, nephew of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, had alleged that while TMC leaders who were unwilling to bend were being harassed, BJP leaders who had been involved in various cases were allowed to go scot-free. The two-time TMC MP from Diamond Harbour was questioned by the Enforcement Directorate twice in the coal pilferage case in the agency's office in the national capital in 2021 and also in Kolkata in 2022. While the CBI is probing the criminal aspect of the scam, the ED is looking into the money trail involved in the alleged irregularities in school recruitment. Abhishek Banerjee, who was on the campaign trail in Bankura in western Bengal, had rushed back to Kolkata Friday night to answer the summons sent by the central investigative agency. About 60 foreign delegates arrived in Srinagar on Monday, May 22, 2023, for the third tourism working group meeting of the G20 countries. This is the first international meeting being held in Kashmir after the abrogation of Article 370 and the bifurcation of the erstwhile state into two Union Territories -- Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh -- in August 2019. Officials said the delegates from several countries of the G20 grouping arrived on a chartered flight at the Srinagar international airport amidst tight security. All photographs: Umar Ganie for Rediff.com IMAGE: G20 foreign delegates being welcomed by college girls on their arrival in Srinagar. IMAGE: The cavalcade of G20 delegates moves towards the venue after their arrival in Srinagar under strict security, here and below. IMAGE: Police personnel patrol the river Jhelum as the cavalcade of G20 delegates moves towards the venue. Photographs curated by Manisha Kotian/Rediff.com Feature Presentation: Rajesh Alva/Rediff.com Days ahead of the opening of the new Parliament building, a controversy has erupted as the Congress on Monday accused the government of disrespecting constitutional propriety and demanded that President Droupadi Murmu should do the inauguration instead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. IMAGE: Prime Minister Narendra Modi undertakes a tour of the the new Parliament building, March 30, 2023. Photograph: ANI Photo Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge said that the then president Ram Nath Kovind was not invited for the new Parliament's foundation laying ceremony in December 2020 and claimed that President Murmu is not being invited for the inauguration of the new Parliament building. "The Modi government has repeatedly disrespected propriety. The office of the President of India is reduced to tokenism under the Bharatiya Janata Party-Rashtriya Janata Party government," the Congress president said in a series of tweets. Noting that Parliament is the supreme legislative body while the President is the highest constitutional authority, he said she alone represents the government, the Opposition, and every citizen alike. "She is the First Citizen of India. Inauguration of the new Parliament building by her will symbolise the government's commitment to democratic values and constitutional propriety," Kharge said. Prime Minister Modi will inaugurate the new Parliament building on May 28 following an invitation by Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla. Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi and several opposition leaders have said that the president should inaugurate the new Parliament House rather than the prime minister. Congress senior spokesperson Anand Sharma told a press conference on Monday that the government and the prime minister should urge the President in this regard and she as head of the institution of Parliament be accorded that honour. "The Congress has expressed its concern as the principal opposition party and we feel strongly that the constitutional propriety should be maintained and the honourable president who is the head of the Parliament should be requested by the government to inaugurate. "The honourable prime minister has every right to be there and we are only pointing out what is constitutionally correct," Sharma told reporters. It is not proper constitutionally to keep the President of India out of such a big decision, he also said. Kharge charged that the Modi government has ensured the election of the President of India from the Dalit and tribal communities only for electoral reasons. "We feel that the Constitution is not being respected... It does not give a good message that earlier a Dalit President was not invited and now a tribal woman is being kept away from this decision," Sharma said. He stressed that it is a "serious matter" that has been agitating the minds of many people who have been associated with Parliament. Sharma, who has been a long-time parliamentarian and a former deputy leader of the Congress in Rajya Sabha, said all decisions concerning the summoning of the Parliament are vested in the President of India under Article 85. "It is also the first time since 1952 that each member of Parliament gets an individual summons by name from the President to attend the Parliament. Once the session concludes, the constitutional power and authority to declare the session closed or prorogued vests with the President of India," Sharma asserted. "It should be very clear as to what the Parliament is and does not comprise of only one house, but both the houses... The prime minister has every right to be there as he is the leader of the lower house," he said He said the British parliament has been there at the same place since 1215 and was rebuilt at the same place after it was destroyed in a fire. In America after the civil war, the US Congress is on Capitol Hill since 1792. The France Parliament has been there since 1928, he said. Asked whether the Congress would boycott the new Parliament building inauguration, he said, "The question is of the basic demand and what the Constitution says. We want to hear from the government on whether they respect the Constitution. Parliament does not belong to the government, it belongs to India." The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) began making submissions on Monday on its appeal before the Delhi high court challenging the acquittal of accused persons, including former telecom minister A Raja, and firms in the 2G spectrum allocation scam case in December 2017. IMAGE: Former telecom minister A Raja gives the thumbs up after he was acquitted by a special court in the 2G scam case. Photograph: Kamal Singh/PTI Photo The counsel appearing for the federal probe agency said the trial court judgment was based on "wrong conclusions" and was "untenable in law". Although the CBI had earlier concluded its submissions on the issue of "leave to appeal", it is now arguing the matter afresh due to a change of the judge. Leave to appeal is a formal permission granted by a court to a party to challenge a decision in a higher court. Justice Dinesh Kumar Sharma directed that the case be listed for further hearing on Tuesday, while noting that the appeal was part-heard and was earlier asked to be listed on a day-to-day basis. The lawyer for the CBI said the case concerns "five points" of irregularities -- association between government officials and telecom operators, fixation of a cut-off, violation of the first-come-first-serve principle, non-revision of the entry fee and a money trail of Rs 200 crore. The illegal acts of the accused caused a loss of Rs 22,000 crore to the public exchequer, he said. An appeal filed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) against the acquittal of all the accused in a connected money-laundering case is also pending before the court. Advocate Vijay Aggarwal, appearing for some of the acquitted people, including R K Chandolia, said once an accused is let off in the scheduled offence, the same consequence has to follow in the money-laundering case as well. Earlier, the case was being heard on a day-to-day basis by Justice Brijesh Sethi, who retired on November 30, 2020, and had released the matter from his board on November 23 of the same year owing to a paucity of time. Before demitting the office, Justice Sethi had decided various petitions and applications filed by the acquitted individuals and firms in the three cases arising out of the 2G scam probe lodged by the CBI and the ED. After concluding the submissions in the CBI's main case, the high court would take up the ED's money-laundering case, in which all the accused were acquitted by a special court. The special court had, on December 21, 2017, acquitted Raja, DMK MP Kanimozhi and others in the CBI and ED cases related to the scam. Besides Raja and Kanimozhi, the special court had acquitted former telecom secretary Siddharth Behura, Raja's former private secretary R K Chandolia, Unitech Limited managing director Sanjay Chandra and three top executives of the Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (RADAG) -- Gautam Doshi, Surendra Pipara and Hari Nair -- in the 2G case lodged by the CBI. Swan Telecom promoters Shahid Balwa and Vinod Goenka and the directors of Kusegaon Fruits and Vegetables Private Limited -- Asif Balwa and Rajiv Agarwal -- were also acquitted in the CBI case. The special court had also acquitted Swan Telecom (Private) Limited, Unitech Wireless (Tamil Nadu) Limited, Reliance Telecom Limited, film producer Karim Morani and Kalaignar TV director Sharad Kumar in the CBI case. On the same day, the special court had also acquitted 19 accused, including Raja, Kanimozhi, DMK supremo M Karunanidhi's wife Dayalu Ammal, Vinod Goenka, Asif Balwa, Karim Morani, P Amirtham and Sharad Kumar, in the ED case. It had also acquitted Essar Group promoters Ravi Kant Ruia and Anshuman Ruia, Loop Telecom promoters I P Khaitan and Kiran Khaitan and four others in a separate case arising out of the 2G scam probe. On March 19, 2018, the ED approached the high court, challenging the special court's order acquitting all the accused. A day later, the CBI too challenged in the high court the acquittal of the accused. Gift this article Share this article paywall-free. BOISE, Idaho A judge entered not guilty pleas Monday for a man charged in the stabbing deaths of four University of Idaho students, setting the stage for a trial in which he could potentially face the death penalty. The Nov. 13, 2022, killings in the rural community of Moscow, Idaho, prompted many students to leave campus early, switching to remote learning for the remainder of the semester. Bryan Kohberger, 28, was arrested late last year and charged with burglary and four counts of first-degree murder in connection with with the slayings of Madison Mogen, Kaylee Goncalves, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin at a rental home near the University of Idaho campus. Kohberger declined to enter pleas in Latah County District Court, with his defense attorney Anne Taylor telling the judge that they were going to "stand silent" at this time. In response, 2nd District Judge John Judge entered not guilty pleas on Kohberger's behalf. It's uncommon but not unheard of for defendants to "stand silent" in criminal cases. Sometimes it is done because defendants and their attorneys feel they need more time to weigh the ramifications of entering a plea of guilty or not guilty; other times it can be part of a broader legal strategy or simply a defendant's personal choice. Kohberger declined to waive his right to a speedy trial, so the judge scheduled it to begin Oct. 2. It's still possible that the trial, expected to last six weeks, could be delayed or moved to a different location. Kohberger was a graduate student studying criminology at nearby Washington State University when the University of Idaho students were killed, but prosecutors have not released any information about how they believe he may have chosen the victims or whether he had met any of them previously. Police released few details about the investigation until after Kohberger was arrested at his parents' home in eastern Pennsylvania early Dec. 30, 2022. Court documents detailed how police pieced together DNA evidence, cellphone data and surveillance video that they say links Kohberger to the slayings. Investigators said traces of DNA found on a knife sheath inside the home where the students were killed matches Kohberger, and that a cellphone belonging to Kohberger was near the victims' home on a dozen occasions prior to the killings. A white sedan allegedly matching one owned by Kohberger was caught on surveillance footage repeatedly cruising past the rental home around the time of the killings. Kernodle, Chapin, Mogen and Goncalves were friends and members of the university's Greek system, and the three women lived together in the rental home just across the street from campus. Chapin Kernodle's boyfriend was there visiting on the night of the attack. Latah County Prosecutor Bill Thompson now has 60 days to inform the court whether he will seek the death penalty in the case. The small courtroom was packed for the arraignment, with some members of the news media and other onlookers lining up outside three hours before the proceeding was set to begin, Boise television station KTVB reported. Family members of Goncalves were among those who attended, one of them weeping as the charges were read. Youth Congress president Srinivas B V on Monday appeared before the police in Guwahati for questioning into a sexual and mental harassment case filed by now-expelled leader Angkita Dutta. IMAGE: Youth Congress president Srinivas B V appears before the police in Guwahati . Photograph: ANI Photo He reached the Panbazar Women police station at 11 am after landing at the Lokpriya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport earlier in the day. Srinivas was accompanied by his lawyer and Assam Congress leaders, including MLAs Rakibul Hussain and Rekibuddin Ahmed. After spending nearly one-and-a-half hours at the police station, he left for the office of the Criminal Investigation Department in the city. While coming out of the office an hour later, he told waiting reporters, "The matter is before the court." The CID had also issued a separate notice to Srinivas in the same case. Dutta had filed a complaint at the Dispur police station on April 20 alleging that Srinivas was 'persistently harassing and torturing her for the last six months by making sexist comments, using swear words and also threatening her of dire consequences if she keeps complaining against him to the senior party office bearers'. She had also mentioned in the complaint that during the party's recent plenary session at Raipur, the accused had physically heckled her and threatened of ruining her career if she complained against him. Dutta had made the allegations against the IYC president in a series of tweets on April 18. After the FIR was registered on April 20, a five-member team of Guwahati Police went to Bengaluru on April 23 and pasted a notice at Srinivas' residence directing him to appear at Dispur police station by May 2. The Congress issued a show cause notice to Dutta and later expelled her from the primary membership of the party for six years for anti-party activities. Srinivas had also served a legal notice on Dutta, demanding an apology, failing which he threatened to initiate legal proceedings. He had approached the Gauhati High Court for anticipatory bail and when it was rejected, he had appealed for it before the Supreme Court. The apex court on May 17 granted him interim protection from arrest in the case. It directed Srinivas to cooperate in the investigation and appear before the police in Guwahati on May 22. It also directed him to cooperate in the inquiry being carried out by the National Commission for Women. Meanwhile, Congress leaders claimed that its youth wing workers were prevented by the police in different districts from coming to Guwahati to extend solidarity with their national president. Leader of Opposition in the Assembly, Debabrata Saikia said, "We are members of the party which is known for following the ideology of non-violence. We respect the law of the land. Srinivas is appearing before the police here as ordered by the Supreme Court." He claimed that Youth Congress members from different districts of Assam wanted to show their support to Srinivas in Guwahati but they were prevented by the local police, which threatened them with arrest or other actions under different provisions of law. Hussian, who has been with Srinivas since he reached Guwahati, said, "We are abiding by every laid down rule. If the government is so confident, we fail to understand why is it putting restrictions on the people?" Scott Sparks, owner of Vermont Bud Barn in Brattleboro, talks to his employees before they open the door to the public on Monday, Oct. 24, 2022, becoming the first retail cannabis store to open in Southern Vermont. Reading for 20 minutes a day has incredibly positive effects on kids, notes columnist Curtis Honeycutt. If you read to your child for 20 minutes per day, they'll be exposed to 1.8 million words per year. Photographer / Multimedia Editor Has been working as a photojournalist since 2007, before moving into newspapers, he worked with an NGO called Project HOPE. He then went to work for the Press and Sun-Bulletin in New York, and then in New England working for the Brattleboro Reformer. MONTPELIER The Vermont Attorneys Office is planning to file criminal charges against two veteran state troopers for the use of a bean bag i You are the owner of this article. BERLIN Brittany Plucas, 29, and her boyfriend will likely sleep in her car when they have to leave the Hilltop Inn on the first of June. The Author Tristan Roberts writes from his farm in Halifax, where he lives with this family. Roberts also writes about his experiences as state representative for Windham-6 in a free newsletter available at https://pages.tristanroberts.org/signup . Gift this article Share this article paywall-free. Edwardsville, Illinois Madison County, Illinois, States Attorney Thomas A. Haine announced earlier this month that a Fredericktown man has been sentenced to 35 years in prison for sexually assaulting a child. William E. McKay, 37, received the sentence after pleading guilty to one count of predatory criminal sexual assault of a child. We cant begin to imagine the trauma that children and their families suffer in cases such as this, Haine said. We hope that this sentence allows a measure of healing for the victim, who demonstrated tremendous courage by coming forward. McKay pleaded guilty to committing a sexual act with a victim younger than 13 between Nov. 1, 2021, and Dec. 26, 2021, in Madison County, Illinois. The case was investigated by the Madison County, Illinois, Sheriffs Office, with assistance from the Madison County, Illinois, Child Advocacy Center and the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services. The case was prosecuted by Assistant States Attorney Ali Foley. Haine commended the diligent work done by prosecutors, the investigators and other agencies involved. The case was prosecuted by Assistant States Attorney Ali Foley, chief of the Childrens Justice Division. This specialized unit within the Madison County, Illinois, States Attorneys Office fights for justice for child victims, working closely with the children and families throughout the process, to ensure that these types of cases are resolved in a way that allows them to begin the healing process. TOLLAND The town was the scene of the latest street takeover in Connecticut, with dozens of drivers blocking traffic, spinning their tires and jumping on one woman's car Sunday night, an official said. Up to 100 people and cars were involved in the mischief, which happened about 10 p.m. on the part of Route 195 near Interstate 84 and Fieldstone Commons, the plaza that houses the Big Y supermarket, Tolland Town Manager Brian Foley said. They blocked off both the entrance and exit to I-84 East, shot off fireworks and did doughnuts in front of the shopping plaza, causing the sound of roaring engines and screeching tires to reverberate across town. The mob of people, some wearing masks, looked into stopped cars, a witness told Foley. A woman who tried to move her vehicle was surrounded, the witness said, "having her hood, headlights, window jumped on and hit and kicked while she screamed," Foley said. There were no reports of injuries. Foley said the witness told him "he was terrified, and when he got home, he was shaking." State police said they are investigating the incident, which Foley said lasted about a half-hour. They are looking into whether there is any connection with a sanctioned meetup event Sunday at Stafford Motor Speedway, north of Tolland, he said. The so-called broke.East.Meet was the first of the season and had rules, including no revving and no burnouts, according to its website. We would see this in Hartford, said Foley, a former deputy police chief in the capital city. But this escalation in violence is what concerns me. Street takeovers and pop-up car meets became common in the Hartford area during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. Some participants brought guns and used them. Two people died after a shooting at a car meetup in a Manchester commuter lot and three were wounded in another shooting at a gathering in an East Hartford lot in the summer of 2020. More recently, takeovers involving some 200 cars blocked traffic in Simsbury, Windsor and Bloomfield, according to police, who added that there isn't much that can be done to prevent them and pointed to police accountability reforms that prevent them from pursuing drivers. Southeast of the Farmington Valley, meet-ups involving more than 100 people have disturbed the peace in North Stonington commuter parking lots. The events included littering, noise ... underage drinking, destruction of property and reckless driving, police said at the time. Foley said he is working to find out how Tolland and other towns can prevent street takeovers as summer approaches. My main concern is how do we prevent this from happening again? he asked. And if it does, he wants to know how to respond; a few state troopers wouldn't have been able to stop the mob, he said. Foley offered drivers tips on how to handle being a victim during a street takeover: Do your best to avoid being caught up in a large gathering. Don't drive up on a group of people out of curiosity; Remain calm if you get blocked during a takeover, and try not to do anything to draw attention to yourself; Try to inconspicuously call 911. Dont engage," Foley said, and "dont do anything thats going to attract attention to yourself and spark one of these violent encounters. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott launched his presidential campaign on Monday, offering an optimistic and compassionate message he's hoping can serve as a contrast with the political combativeness that has dominated the early GOP primary field. The Senate's only Black Republican, Scott kicked off the campaign in his hometown of North Charleston, on the campus of Charleston Southern University, his alma mater and a private school affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention. He repeatedly mentioned his Christian faith in his kickoff speech, crying, Amen! Amen! Amen! and at several points elicited responses from the crowd, who sometimes chanted his name. But Scott also offered a stark political choice, saying our party and our nation are standing at a time for choosing: Victimhood or victory. He added that Republicans will also have to decide between "grievance or greatness." I choose freedom and hope and opportunity, Scott said. He went on to tell the crowd that we need a president who persuades not just our friends and our base" but seeks commonsense solutions and displays compassion for people who don't agree with us. That was a far cry from former President Donald Trump, who has played to the GOP's most loyal supporters with repeated lies about his 2020 election loss as he campaigns for a second term in office. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who could launch his own bid as soon as this week, has pushed Florida to the right by championing contentious new restrictions on abortion and LGBTQ rights and by seeking to limit the corporate power of Disney, one of his states most powerful business interests. Scott, 57, planned to huddle with home-state donors Tuesday, then begin a two-day campaign swing to Iowa and New Hampshire, which go first on the GOP presidential voting calendar. His announcement event featured an opening prayer by Sen. John Thune of South Dakota, the No. 2 Senate Republican, who said, I think our country is ready to be inspired again. Republican Sen. Mike Rounds, South Dakota's other senator, has already announced his support for Scott. A number of high-profile GOP senators have backed Trumps third bid for the White House, including Scotts South Carolina colleague, Lindsey Graham. Trump nonetheless struck a conciliatory tone Monday, welcoming Scott to the race and noting that the pair worked together on his administration's signature tax cuts. A source of strength for Scott will be his campaign bank account. He enters the 2024 race with more cash on hand than any other presidential candidate in U.S. history, with $22 million left in his campaign account at the end of his 2022 campaign that he can transfer to his presidential coffers. Scott also won reelection in firmly Republican South Carolina -- which has an early slot on the Republican presidential primary calendar -- by more than 20 points less than six months ago. Advisers bet that can make Scott a serious contender for an early, momentum-generating win. But Scott is not the only South Carolina option. The states former governor, Nikki Haley, who once served as Trumps former United Nations ambassador, is also running. Ben LeVan, a business professor at Charleston Southern who attended Mondays event, said he hadn't decided whom to support in the GOP primary but didnt plan to back Trump. I really do hope that we can bring some civility back in politics, LeVan said. Thats one of the nice things about Tim Scott, and quite frankly, Nikki Haley, and some of the other candidates as well. Theyre more diplomatic, and that is something that I appreciate. Like others in the GOP race, including former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson and Woke, Inc. author Vivek Ramaswamy, Scott's initial task will be finding a way to stand out in a field led by Trump and DeSantis. One way Scott hopes to do that is his trademark political optimism. Scott often quotes Scripture at his campaign events, weaving his reliance on spiritual guidance into his speeches calling his travels before the campaign's official launch, the Faith in America listening tour. Scott said Monday that Americas promise means you can go as high as our character, our grit, and our talent will take you." The Democratic National Committee responded to Scotts announcement by dismissing the notion that Scott offers much of an alternative to Trumps policies. DNC chair Jaime Harrison, who ran unsuccessfully for Senate in South Carolina in 2020, released a statement calling the senator a fierce advocate of the MAGA agenda, a reference to the former president's Make America Great Again movement. On many issues, Scott does indeed align with mainstream GOP positions. He wants to reduce government spending and restrict abortion, saying he would sign a federal law to prohibit abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy if elected president. But Scott has pushed the party on some policing overhaul measures since the killing of George Floyd, and he has occasionally criticized Trumps response to racial tensions. Throughout their disagreements, though, Scott has maintained a generally cordial relationship with Trump, saying in his book that the former president listened intently to his viewpoints on race-related issues. When he was appointed to the Senate by then-governor Haley in 2012, Scott became the first Black senator from the South since just after the Civil War. Winning a 2014 special election to serve out the remainder of his term made him the first Black candidate to win a statewide race in South Carolina since the Reconstruction era. He has long said his current term, which runs through 2029, would be his last. Scott has long rejected the notion that the country is inherently racist. He's also routinely repudiated the teaching of critical race theory, an academic framework that presents the idea that the nations institutions maintain the dominance of white people. Today, Im living proof that America is the land of opportunity and not a land of oppression, he said Monday. __ This story has been updated to correct the spelling of the DNC chair's first name. It is Jaime, not Jamie. ___ Weissert reported from Washington. Meg Kinnard can be reached at http://twitter.com/MegKinnardAP Gift this article Share this article paywall-free. On the anniversary of George Floyds murder at the hands of Minneapolis law enforcement, the following is the first in a two-part series about police diversity and accountability initiated by Lee Enterprises, the Daily Journals publishing company. St. Francois County law enforcement agencies weighed in and provided data for the series. St. Francois County might seem a world away from urban centers, located in the Ozark Mountain foothills and surrounded by woods and wildlife. Multiple state parks and conservation areas, natural rivers and streams make it a magnet for those who love the outdoors. But with St. Louis 60 miles to the north and Cape Girardeau 90 miles to the south, the county has, from its beginnings 300 years ago as a frontier mining region, grown into a micropolitan, semi-urban part of St. Louis. Rural residences and close-knit, former mining townsmany of which have either merged or practically grown into each otherhouse about 68,000 souls. When George Floyd was videotaped being publicly murdered by Minneapolis police on a busy street in broad daylight three years ago on May 25, it evoked the murkier circumstances under which another Black man, Michael Brown, was killed by Ferguson police about 90 miles to the north of St. Francois County, six years earlier. The U.S. Department of Justice eventually cleared the Ferguson police officer, Darren Wilson, ruling he acted in self-defense, firing 12 bullets, six of which hit the 18-year-old high school graduates body during an altercation following the alleged pilfering of Swisher cigars. That 2014 shooting of a black man by a white police officer in a predominately-black suburb of St. Louis County was one of the engines that propelled hard looks at law enforcement agencies across the nationand whether their forces demographic makeup accurately represented the communities they served. Ferguson, the population of which was 67% black, had a police force that was 94% white, and 94% of those arrested were black. Floyds public, videotaped murder six years later sparked rare, local protests. Today in St. Francois County, local diversity rates among law enforcement agenciescomparing the demographics of police forces with that of the population they serveare complicated to accurately pin, owing to its two state prisons, county jail and Sex Offender Rehabilitation and Treatment Services (SORTS), a state mental program that attempts to rehabilitate sex offenders, even long after theyve served their sentences for other crimes. Almost 4,700 residents of St. Francois County are confined in Farmington and Bonne Terre state prisons. The Missouri Department of Mental Health reports 156 patients at the Farmington SORTS facility, and of those, 36 identify as Black, one identifies as American Indian, and 119 identify as Caucasian. Not including SORTS or the county jail, 7% of St. Francois Countys population is incarcerated in Bonne Terre and Farmington correctional centers. Racial demographic breakdowns for each of its institutions was not provided by the Missouri Department of Corrections, but overall demographics as of last June indicate Missouri prison populations were made up of 14% black women and 35% black men, 4% Hispanic women and 2% Hispanic men, and 80% white women and 62% white men, according to the DOC's "Profile of the Institutional and Supervised Offender Population" report issued last summer. In the countys predominately white, non-incarcerated population, its law enforcement agencies tend to reflect the lack of diversity among the countys population as compared to the more urban areas to the north and south. Recent numbers were provided to Lee Enterprises, via the Daily Journal, by the St. Francois County Sheriffs Office, Missouri State Highway Patrol, and Bonne Terre, Desloge, Farmington and Park Hills police departments. The statistics put together by Lee Enterprises' Public Service Journalism team show Desloge Police Department, with an officer who identifies as black on the force of 21, demonstrates a diversity that surpasses that of the community it serves. The force is 91.67% white, while the population is 92.99% white. Diversity underrepresentation in policing Data gathered from October 2022 to May 2023 from nearly 120 law enforcement agencies in 14 states shows frequent disparity in the racial and ethnic makeup of the agencies compared to the communities they are hired to protect and serve. Data gathered from October 2022 to May 2023 from nearly 120 law enforcement agencies in 14 states shows frequent disparity in the racial and ethnic makeup of the agencies compared to the communities they are hired to protect and serve. The Park Hills Police Department, with one black and one Hispanic officer, shows only a .1% gap between diversity on the force, which is 91.3% white, and the town's population, which is 91.2% white. Some law enforcement agencies that responded to Lee's statistical queries have populations that also take into account prison and SORTS residents in U.S. census numbers and demographics. In Bonne Terre, where the ERDCC is located, the current force is 100% white, while the population is indicated as 78% white, indicating a gap of 21.2% that might also include the number of incarcerated people of color in the ERDCC who have already been addressed by other law enforcement entities. The impact of the prisons residents on the population count of the city should not be underestimated. When prisoners began filling the ERDCCs cells, Bonne Terres population increased almost 63% between the years 2003-05. The St. Francois County Sheriff's Department, with two black officers, shows a 4.63% gap in how many people of color serve on the force compared with how many people of color live in the community. Farmington Police Department, which currently has a 100% white police force, has a 12.1% gap in the diversity of its force compared with the census-driven population numbers of 87.9% white vs. 12.1% people of color. Both Farmington PD and the sheriff's office have SORTS and FCC in their jurisdictions, and the prison populations might skew the true representation of diversity among its non-incarcerated populations. Several leaders of local law enforcement agencies have said its not that theyre avoiding hiring people of color. There just arent many to hire. The director of the Mineral Area College Law Enforcement Academy, Doug Ruess, indicated there are many more women who come through the program than people of color, although, he said, theres a black student in the day program and one in the evening program. When asked how often he has hired minorities on the force, St. Francois County Sheriff Dan Bullock said, Not real often[although] we have some minorities who work for the sheriffs departmentbecause we dont have applicants. Were in a predominately white area and people who come and apply for our jobs are predominately white. The sheriff said in addition to the two black officers who serve the county, theyve had other people of color who have worked on the force. We had one who came, served a few years and left, then came back, stayed a few years and left again, he said. Now, hes left again, but the two who are here now have worked for me for quite a while and I dont see any reason why they should be going anywhere in the near future. When asked if hed be interested in increasing the diversity of his force if given the chance, Sheriff Bullock indicated he wouldnt be interestednot for that sole reason, but if we have qualified candidates come forth, I dont really care what the race or gender is. If they show up and are willing to work, we dont have a problem with hiring anyone. Farmington Police Chief Chris Bullock indicated their experience was the same. Weve had a couple of Black officers, and one of them left, but came back to the force, he said. But to my knowledge, their leaving was pretty much like anyone on the force who is looking for the next step in their career or a higher-paid position. Its tough, competing with salaries offered in St. Louis. Farmington, Bonne Terre, Park Hills, Desloge and St. Francois County have all, in the past two or three years, passed tax measures to better fund public safety initiatives and departments, which Sheriff Bullock said has made a difference in attracting applicants, but its still been tough finding more applicants to hire. He cited the professions decline in popularity, and said it was partly due to the fallout from situations like the George Floyd killing and the Ferguson shooting. When I was a kid in class, every kid I knew wanted to be a fireman or policeman. Thats not so anymore, he said. The law enforcement community has been demonized and they dont get the backing of the mayors and the city councils and the county commissions and the people who are over them and for that reason, people dont want to be policemen anymore. Photos: Scenes from the racial justice protests after George Floyd's death Jason Bernard Kennison, an Australian man who conquered Mount Everest despite having to relearn how to walk, passed away upon his descent from the summit. Kennison's family said, he achieved his goal of reaching the peak he stood on top of this world but sadly didnt come home. During an expedition organised by Asian Trekking, Jason Bernard Kennison, a 40-year-old mechanic, displayed unusual behavior starting from the south summit, according to Dawa Steven Sherpa, the managing director of Asian Trekking, as reported by the Himalayan Times. Assisted by two Sherpa guides, Jason Bernard Kennison was brought down to the balcony area, situated at an altitude of 8,400 meters above sea level. However, Kennison declined to continue and remained at that location, prompting the Sherpa guides to descend to camp four, as stated by Sherpa. Since the oxygen cylinders that they had with them were running out, they decided to descend to camp four, hoping to climb back again with oxygen cylinders to rescue him, The Guardian quoted Sherpa. According to the Himalayan Times, the Sherpa guides were unable to return immediately due to adverse weather conditions and strong winds. Kennison conquered Everest 17 years after he was told he might never walk again Seventeen years prior to his climb, Kennison received a devastating prognosis after a car accident in 2006, which resulted in spinal cord injuries and a struggle with depression. He was informed that walking again might be impossible. However, he defied the odds and used his Mount Everest ascent as a platform to raise funds for Spinal Cord Injuries Australia. On his Just Giving page, Kennison shared his journey, revealing that his determination to climb Everest arose after undergoing another spinal procedure three years ago, which led to another phase of rehabilitation. Someone close to me convinced me that I was still capable of being able to do anything I wanted," he wrote. He said the gift of a surfboard had given him the motivation to see my life in a different light, to view what I was missing personally inside, and admire the obstacles that I had overcome. In 2023 I will head to Nepal, to see and be on Mount Everest, a long way from once battling traumatic injuries and the low and dark days of depression. An ambitious feat that I would never have dreamed of, or thought was possible after once being told that I would not be able to walk." I am going to make the most of my life and part of that involves helping other people who have had their life changed in an instant through spinal cord injury. They shouldnt be forgotten; they should be helped," he added. His family said on social media: He was the most courageous, adventurous human we knew and he will be forever missed. Before he left for Everest, Kennison told 7News: Ive always challenged myself internally overcoming these things. Everest has become this symbol to me of overcoming those challenges and getting that fulfilment. Before embarking on his ascent, Kennison took several preparatory measures. He travelled to New Zealand to attend mountaineering courses, engaged in abseiling and rock climbing practice, and even arranged training sessions in his own backyard for ladder crossing, jumaring, and roping. The Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade confirmed that it was offering consular support to the family of the Australian individual who passed away in Nepal. According to the Himalayan Times, this spring season has witnessed 10 fatalities on Mount Everest, with two climbers still reported missing above the high camps. It was the most tantalising of victories. Despite inflicting the most crushing defeat in half a century on the opposition, Greece's center-right Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis is expected Monday to seek a second national election within weeks, as he lacks the majority in Parliament to govern alone. With 99.55% of the votes counted early Monday, Mitsotakis' New Democracy party won 40.79% twice the leftwing main opposition Syriza's 20.07%. Socialist Pasok came in third at 11.46%. The margin far outstripped pollsters' forecasts and was the biggest since 1974, when Greece's first democratic elections were held after the fall of the seven-year military dictatorship. But the one-off proportional representation system in effect Sunday means ND only gains 146 of Parliament's 300 seats, five short of a governing majority. The new elections, expected in late June or early July, will revert to the previous system that grants the first party a bonus of up to 50 seats. That would ensure Mitsotakis a comfortable majority for a second term in power. Later Monday, Greek President Katerina Sakellaropoulou is due to hand Mitsotakis the mandate to try to form a coalition government which he is expected to return. Hours after voting ended Sunday, the 55-year-old prime minister said he would follow all constitutional procedures but strongly implied he would not engage in coalition talks. Without a doubt, the political earthquake that occurred today calls on us all to speed up the process for a definitive government solution so our country can have an experienced hand at its helm as soon as possible, he said. Mitsotakis had long suggested he would not seek a coalition partner whatever the election outcome, advocating instead the stabilizing effect of strong, undivided governance. If Mitsotakis hands back the mandate, it will then pass to Syriza leader Alexis Tsipras, and then to Pasok leader Nikos Androulakis neither of whom have any realistic chance of success. Each will have a maximum of three days to try to form a coalition. Once all options are exhausted, a senior judge will be appointed caretaker prime minister and new elections called. Tsipras, 48, called Mitsotakis on Sunday night to congratulate him. The result is exceptionally negative for Syriza, he said in initial statements. Fights have winners and losers. Tsipras, who was prime minister from 2015 to 2019, said his party would gather to examine the results and how they came about. However, the electoral cycle is not yet over, he said. We dont have the luxury of time. We must immediately carry out all the changes that are needed so we can fight the next crucial and final electoral battle with the best terms possible. Mitsotakis, a Harvard-educated former banking executive, came to power in 2019 on a promise of business-oriented reforms and has vowed to continue tax cuts, boost investments and bolster middle-class employment. He has been credited with Greeces successful handling of the pandemic and of two crises with neighboring Turkey, while overseeing high growth and job creation after the end of Greece's 2009-2018 financial crisis, but a wiretapping scandal and a railway disaster damaged his ratings. Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his address to the third summit of the Forum for India-Pacific Islands Cooperation (FIPIC) in Papua New Guinea on Monday called Millet a "superfood" while highlighting the prioritisation of food security. He said we call the millet "Shri Anna" in India. PM Modi became the first Indian Prime Minister to visit the Pacific nation which is a part of the second leg of his three-nation visit. Sharing my remarks at the FIPIC Summit. https://t.co/hrAcS0TnYE May 22, 2023 The summit assumes added significance because it takes place at a time when Beijing is actively working to increase both its military and diplomatic presence in the area. PM Modi had earlier stated, "I am grateful that all 14 Pacific Island Countries (PIC) have accepted the invitation to attend this important summit (FIPIC)." FIPIC was founded in 2014 by PM Modi FIPIC was established during Prime Minister Modi's 2014 trip to Fiji. In a tweet, PM Modi said, "Prime Minister James Marape and I had very productive talks, covering the full range of bilateral relations between India and Papua New Guinea. We discussed ways to augment cooperation in commerce, technology, healthcare and in addressing climate change." Prime Minister James Marape and I had very productive talks, covering the full range of bilateral relations between India and Papua New Guinea. We discussed ways to augment cooperation in commerce, technology, healthcare and in addressing climate change. pic.twitter.com/cKWpyYmdtc Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) May 22, 2023 Leaders from 14 nations are attending the FIPIC summit, which is a remarkable development given how infrequently they generally meet due to connectivity issues and other concerns. Cook Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, Republic of Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Nauru, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu are the nations that make up the Forum for India-Pacific Islands Cooperation (FIPIC). To promote collaboration and fortify ties with India in the Pacific area, these countries take part in FIPIC. Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi has been conferred with Fiji's highest 'Companion of the Order of Fiji' honour by Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka in recognition of the Indian prime minister's global leadership. Only a few individuals who are not from Fiji have been honoured with this distinction so far. PM Modi said, "...This honour is not just mine but that of 140 crore Indians, of centuries-old India-Fiji relations..." #WATCH | PM Narendra Modi has been conferred the highest honour of Fiji by the PM of Fiji: Companion of the Order of Fiji in recognition of his global leadership. Only a handful of Non-Fijians have received this honour till date. "PM says, "...This honour is not just mine but pic.twitter.com/fvfGudAFsg May 22, 2023 Image Credit: ANI Thanking the government, PM Modi further said, 'I am thankful to the people and Government of Fiji for bestowing upon me the Companion of the Order of Fiji. I express my gratitude to PM Sitiveni Rabuka for presenting this prestigious award. It is a great honor for India and acknowledges the deep bond between our two nations.' PM Modi has received the highest civilian distinctions from a number of countries. These honours are a testament to PM Modi's vision and leadership, which have aided India's ascension to global prominence. It also represents India's expanding international connections. You are the leader of Global South: PM Marappe to Modi Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea James Marape has hailed the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi as the "leader of the Global South", during his address at the third summit of the Forum for India-Pacific Islands Cooperation (FIPIC) on Monday. Marape said, "We are victims of global powerplay... You (PM Modi) are the leader of Global South. We will rally behind your (India) leadership at global forums." PM Modi became the first Indian Prime Minister to visit the Pacific nation which is a part of the second leg of his three-nation visit. The summit assumes added significance because it takes place at a time when Beijing is actively working to increase both its military and diplomatic presence in the area. PM Modi had earlier stated, "I am grateful that all 14 Pacific Island Countries (PIC) have accepted the invitation to attend this important summit (FIPIC)." FIPIC was founded in 2014 by PM Modi FIPIC was established during Prime Minister Modi's 2014 trip to Fiji. Leaders from 14 nations are attending this year's FIPIC summit, which is a remarkable development given how infrequently they generally meet due to connectivity issues and other concerns. Cook Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, Republic of Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Nauru, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu are the nations that make up the Forum for India-Pacific Islands Cooperation (FIPIC). To promote collaboration and fortify ties with India in the Pacific area, these countries take part in FIPIC. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday held talks with his Papua New Guinea counterpart James Marape took stock of their bilateral relations and discussed ways to further augment cooperation in areas like commerce, technology, healthcare and climate change. Modi, the first Indian prime minister to visit the country, also reiterated Indias support and respect for the priorities and wishes of the Pacific Island nations. He also met the island nation's Governor-General Bob Dadae separately and discussed ways to further strengthen the bilateral partnership across multiple sectors. External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi, in a tweet, said, "PM Narendra Modi arrives at the iconic APEC House located on the shores of Ela Beach in Port Moresby. Warmly welcomed by PM James Marape." During his talks with Marape, Modi thanked his counterpart for the warm welcome and for co-hosting the 3rd Summit of the Forum for India-Pacific Islands Cooperation, the Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement. FIPIC was launched during Modi's visit to Fiji in 2014. The summit took place at a time when China is making efforts to enhance its military and diplomatic influence in the region. Both leaders took stock of their bilateral relations and discussed ways and means to further strengthen their partnership across various sectors, including trade & investment, health, capacity building & skill development and Information Technology, it said. They also discussed issues related to climate action and promoting people-to-people ties. Prime Minister reiterated Indias support and respect for the priorities and wishes of the Pacific Island nations, the statement said. "Prime Minister James Marape and I had very productive talks, covering the full range of bilateral relations between India and Papua New Guinea. We discussed ways to augment cooperation in commerce, technology, healthcare and in addressing climate change," Prime Minister Modi tweeted and posted a photo of him shaking hands with Marape. The two leaders launched a translation of the Tamil classic Thirukkural to the Tok Pisin language of Papua New Guinea. The translated book is co-authored by linguist Subha Sasindran and Sasindran Muthuvel, Governor of West New Britain Province of Papua New Guinea. The book has a foreword by Prime Minister Marape. Prime Minister Modi congratulated the authors and complimented them on their contribution towards preserving the tenets of Indian thought and culture in Papua New Guinea. Earlier in the day, Modi met Papua New Guinea's Governor-General Bob Dadae at the Government House. The Governor-General warmly welcomed the Prime Minister on his first visit to the country. "Prime Minister Narendra Modi starts off the day in Papua New Guinea with a warm conversation with Governor-General Sir Bob Dadae at the historic Government House. Underlined the significance of India-Papua New Guinea relations ties and development partnership between the two countries," MEA spokesperson Bagchi said on Twitter. Both leaders had a good exchange of views including on the significance of the bilateral ties and development partnership between the two countries, which they agreed to further strengthen, the Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement. Prime Minister Modi posted photos of his meeting with Governor-General Dadae on his official Twitter handle. "Had a wonderful meeting with Governor-General of Papua New Guinea, Sir Bob Dadae. We talked about ways to deepen bilateral relations between our nations across different sectors," Modi said. The Indian prime minister arrived here on Sunday evening from Japan where he attended the summit of the G7 advanced economies and held bilateral meetings with several world leaders. His visit to Papua New Guinea on the second leg of his three-nation tour is the first ever by any Indian prime minister. He was received at the airport by Prime Minister James Marape who touched his feet as a mark of respect. Normally Papua New Guinea doesn't give a ceremonial welcome to any leader coming after sunset. But a special exception was made for Prime Minister Modi and a ceremonial welcome was accorded to him. The FIPIC Summit saw participation from leaders of 14 countries. Pacific Island nations include Cook Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, the Republic of Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Nauru, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu. Gift this article Share this article paywall-free. The Cole County Courthouse in downtown Jefferson City (Annelise Hanshaw/Missouri Independent). A Cole County judge set June 7 to hear arguments in a lawsuit demanding the state finalize its work on an abortion-rights initiative petition so proponents can begin collecting signatures. Circuit Court Judge Jon Beetem scheduled a bench trial in the case during a hearing last week. The ACLU of Missouri filed its lawsuit earlier this month after The Independent revealed a behind-the-scenes push by Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey to convince the state auditors office to increase the projected cost of the abortion amendment. Because Bailey refused to sign off on Auditor Scott Fitzpatricks fiscal note, Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft says he cant finalize work on the summary that would appear on the ballot next year. According to the lawsuit, the ballot summary was supposed to be completed by May 1. The ACLU refers to the situation in its latest filing in the case as a bungled effort reminiscent of Abbott and Costellos Whos on First? routine. The impasse has left the secretary of state believing he is impotent to do anything other than wait for the auditor or attorney general to change his respective mind. But empowering the attorney general to single-handedly defeat the right of initiative is the type of authority characterizing a despot, not a Missouri official, the organization argued. The secretary of states office has consistently said it is simply following Missouri law, which requires a fiscal note before the summary can be finalized. The attorney generals office has defended its actions by saying it will use every tool at our disposal to defend the sanctity of life. Inaccurate information Eleven versions of a proposed initiative petition seeking to roll back Missouris ban on abortion by adding protections for the procedure to the state constitution were filed in early March with Ashcrofts office. Currently, most abortions are outlawed in the state, with exceptions for medical emergencies but not for rape or incest. Before a proposed initiative petition may be circulated for signatures, the secretary of state sends it to the auditor to create a fiscal note and a fiscal note summary that states the measures estimated cost or savings, if any, to state or local governmental entities. Fitzpatricks office consulted with state and local governments, and heard from opponents of the proposal, to craft a fiscal summary that stated there would be no costs or savings due to the abortion amendment. The summary said one local government entity estimates losing at least $51,000 in reduced tax revenues, and that opponents of the proposal contend it could lead to significant loss in state revenue. Fitzpatrick submitted his work to Baileys office, which is tasked with approving the legal content and form of the summary. Bailey would not approve the summary unless it said that the amendment could cost the state at least $12.5 billion in lost Medicaid funding, as well tens of billions in possible lost of tax revenue because aborting unborn Missourians will have a deleterious impact on the future tax base. The auditor refused, telling the attorney general that he would not include inaccurate information in his fiscal summary. Chuck Hatfield, a longtime Jefferson City lawyer who worked in the attorney generals office under Democrat Jay Nixon, said soon after the back-and-forth was revealed that Baileys attempt to alter the fiscal summary appeared unprecedented. The impasse derailed the process of preparing a ballot summary. In addition to delaying the signature-gathering process, the ACLU is also unable to file a lawsuit challenging the ballot summary the secretary of states office crafted. Public records obtained through Missouris Sunshine Law show that Bailey signed off on Ashcrofts proposed ballot language that says the abortion constitutional amendment would allow dangerous, unregulated and unrestricted abortions and nullify long standing Missouri law protecting the right to life, among other provisions. The ACLU telegraphed a future lawsuit challenging the ballot summary, saying the secretary of states work is insufficient and unfair and will require proponents to ask the court for different summary statements. In 2019, Ashcroft was accused of intentionally dragging his feet in certifying a referendum seeking to overturn a law making it a crime for a doctor to perform an abortion after eight weeks. The delays left proponents of the referendum little opportunity to gather enough signatures to force a referendum on the 2019 abortion law, and the effort fizzled. Three years later, the state Supreme Court ruled that those seeking to force a referendum on new laws can begin collecting signatures as soon as the new law is passed by the legislature. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday underlined the importance of a free and open Indo-Pacific for the Pacific island nations and said the Quad is working in this direction. In an address at the FIPIC (Forum for India-Pacific Islands Cooperation) summit, Modi also emphasised the need for multilateralism and respecting the sovereignty and integrity of all countries. The summit took place at a time when China is making efforts to enhance its military and diplomatic influence in the region. "Like you, we believe in multilateralism; support a free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific and respect the sovereignty and integrity of all countries," Modi said. He said the Quad -- comprising Japan, India, Australia and the United States -- is working towards it. "We are ready to share our abilities and experiences with you without any hesitation -- be it digital technology or space technology, be it health security or food security, be it climate change or environmental protection. We are with you all the way," he said. Modi also asserted that the voice of the global south should be a priority for the UN Security Council. "For this, reform of international institutions should be our shared priority," he said. The summit was co-chaired by Prime Minister Modi along with his counterpart from Papua New Guinea. Indias engagement with the 14 Pacific Island Countries (PICs) is part of New Delhi's Act East Policy. A major part of India's engagement with PICs is through development assistance under South-South Cooperation which is mainly in the form of capacity building and community development projects. A major initiative launched under the rubric of the Act East Policy for the PICs is the Forum for India-Pacific Islands Cooperation (FIPIC). Prime Minister Modi hosted the first FIPIC summit in Suva on November 19, 2014, during his visit to Fiji. The second FIPIC summit was held in Jaipur on August 21 again with all 14 PICs taking part. At that summit, India announced initiatives across a wide array of areas to assist the PICs in facing challenges and achieving aspirations for the well-being and development of its people. In the latest update, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan has shared that he may be arrested again when he will go for his hearing in Islamabad High Court, reported ARY News on Sunday. It is to be noted that Imran Khan is due to go to the Islamabad High Court on Tuesday this week in the Al Qadir Trust case. The former Prime Minister of Pakistan, Imran Khan said that the ruling Pakistan's government has been determined to remove him from the political landscape and this determination of theirs has stemmed from their fear of losing the 2019 general elections. Imran fears his arrest again! While sharing his fears, the PTI Chairman has blamed Pakistan Army Chief Qamar Javed Bajwa for attempting to destabilise his government and said that he doesn't understand why the latter attempted it. "On Tuesday, I'm going to appear before the court in Islamabad for various bails and there are 80 per cent chances that I will be arrested," said the former Pakistan prime minister while talking to international media, reported ARY News. Further, he also talked about his crackdown on his party where he said that over 10,000 workers, including senior leadership and women, have been arrested. Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman has recently informed National Accountability Bureau (NAB) that he can join the probe in Al Qadir Trust Case next week, as per the Dawn news report. Further, Khan said that he would be appearing for the case's investigation on Tuesday by 11 AM. However, he has the NAB to confirm the aforementioned time for him to join the investigation in his response to the anti-graft watchdog's call-up notice. PTI Chairman Imran Khan, who has been on bail till June 2, has been dramatically arrested by Pak Rangers from the premises of Islamabad High Court (IHC) on May 9. His arrest led to massive unrest in Pakistan as PTI workers held protests in cities across the country, including Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Lahore, Karachi, Gujranwala, Faisalabad, Multan, Peshawar, and Mardan. Forces from NATO member nations and other countries on Monday launched joint military exercises in Albania and other Balkan states. The two-week Immediate Response maneuvers - the second of three such drills linked to the DEFENDER 23 multi-national joint exercise - involves some 2,800 U.S. troops and 7,000 soldiers from other nations including Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece and Turkey. A statement said DEFENDER 23 is geared toward building readiness and interoperability between U.S. and NATO allies and partners while demonstrating the U.S. military's ability to rapidly deploy troops and equipment to Europe. This assurance of commitment to our Allies deters those who would threaten the peace of Europe, according to the statement. Albanian President Bajram Begaj said Tirana is committed in its mission as a stabilizing factor in the Balkans and exporter of security in the region and wider. NATO member Albania hosted the joint exercise in 2021 - the first such large-scale drills held in the Western Balkans since World War II. Some drills are also being held in neighboring Kosovo which isn't yet a member of NATO, although the Kosovar government has set European Union membership as a main priority. Kosovo's 2008 independence has been recognized by the United States and most of the Western powers but not by Serbia and its main allies Russia and China. Prime Minister Narendra Modi highlighted India's commitment to strengthening its presence in the Indo-Pacific region by positioning New Delhi as a strong ally to the Pacific island nations. He emphasised that those who are recognised as reliable partners should not hesitate to support the region during challenging times, indirectly alluding to China's involvement. PM Modi shared highlights from his "historic trip" to Papua New Guinea where he co-hosted the Forum for India-Pacific Islands Cooperation (FIPIC) on Monday. Sharing highlights from a special visit to Papua New Guinea. Have a look pic.twitter.com/Di6OrSWCm7 Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) May 22, 2023 During the summit with top leaders from 14 Pacific Island nations, Prime Minister Modi conveyed the message that true friends are those who stand by each other in times of need. He assured the leaders that India is prepared to share its capabilities and experiences with the region without any reservations, emphasising that India is fully committed to supporting them in every possible way. Recognising the adverse effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and other global events, PM Modi reiterated that India has remained steadfast in its support for the Pacific Island nations during these challenging times. He stressed that New Delhi respects their priorities and approaches cooperation based on fundamental human values. "Those whom we considered trustworthy, it turned out that they were not standing by our side in times of need. During these challenging times, an old saying has proven true: 'A Friend in need is a friend indeed'," he said at the FIPIC (Forum for India-Pacific Islands Cooperation) summit without naming any country. "I am glad that India stood with its Pacific island friends during this challenging time. Whether it was vaccines or essential medicines, wheat or sugar; India, in line with its capabilities, has been assisting all partner countries," he stated. On the second leg of his three-nation tour, PM Modi arrived in Papua New Guinea and emphasised the significance of a free and open Indo-Pacific for the Pacific Island nations. He reiterated India's commitment to upholding the sovereignty and integrity of all countries, acknowledging their individual rights and autonomy. "India respects your priorities. It feels proud to be your development partner. Whether it's humanitarian assistance or your development, you can count India as a reliable partner. Our perspective is based on human values," he said. India a substitute for China for the Pacific Island countries PM Modi's remarks during the FIPIC (Forum for India-Pacific Islands Cooperation) summit in the capital city of Papua New Guinea were made against the backdrop of China's assertive actions in the region and its endeavors to extend its influence in the Pacific island nations. Explaining India's priorities for the island nations, the Indian PM said: "For me, you are not small island states, but large ocean countries. It is this vast ocean that connects India with all of you. Indian philosophy has always viewed the world as one family." During his address, Prime Minister Modi unveiled several development initiatives by India in the fields of healthcare and cyberspace. These initiatives include the establishment of a specialized cardiology hospital in Fiji, assistance in the setup of dialysis units in all 14 Pacific island nations, provision of sea ambulances, and the introduction of Jan Aushadhi Centers to ensure affordable medicines. Additionally, PM Modi announced a project aimed at developing the small and medium enterprise sector in each Pacific Island country. To combat water scarcity, he pledged to provide desalination units to address the needs of the people in these countries. Modi acknowledged the challenges faced by the world, particularly the Global South, during the Covid-19 pandemic and other adversities. "Climate change, natural disasters, hunger, poverty, and various health-related challenges were already prevalent. Now, new issues are emerging. Barriers are arising in the supply chains of food, fuel, fertilizer, and pharmaceuticals," he said. The PM also reaffirmed India's strong support for a free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific. "We share your belief in multilateralism. We support a free, open, and inclusive Indo-Pacific. We respect the sovereignty and integrity of all countries," he said. PM Modi said the "voice of the Global South" should also resonate strongly in the UN Security Council. "For this, reform of the international institutions -- should be our shared priority." "I had discussions with Australia, the US and Japan in Hiroshima as part of the Quad. This dialogue has a special focus on the Indo-Pacific region. In the Quad meeting, we have taken decision to establish the Radio Access Network (RAN) in Palau," he said. "In a plurilateral format, we will enhance partnership with Pacific Island countries," PM Modi said. PM Modi conveyed to the Pacific Island nations that India is ready to share its capabilities and experiences with them "without any hesitation". "Whether it's digital technology or space technology; whether it's health security or food security; whether it's climate change or environmental conservation; we are with you in every way," he said. The prime minister also highlighted India's priorities under its G20 presidency. "The theme of our ongoing G-20 Presidency this year, 'One Earth, One Family, One Future,' is also based on this ideology," he said. "This year, in January, we organised the 'Voice of Global South Summit, in which your representatives participated and shared their thoughts," he said. "I congratulate you for that. India considers it a responsibility to bring the issues, expectations and aspirations of the Global South to the attention of the world through the G-20 platform," he added. The summit was co-chaired by Prime Minister Modi along with his counterpart from Papua New Guinea. "My Papua New Guinea visit has been a historic one. I will greatly cherish the affection received among the people of this wonderful nation. I also had the opportunity to interact with respected FIPIC leaders and discuss ways to deepen ties with their respective nations," PM Modi tweeted. My Papua New Guinea visit has been a historic one. I will greatly cherish the affection received among the people of this wonderful nation. I also had the opportunity to interact with respected FIPIC leaders and discuss ways to deepen ties with their respective nations. Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) May 22, 2023 India's engagement with the 14 Pacific Island Countries (PICs) is a key component of New Delhi's Act East Policy. This engagement primarily focuses on development assistance under South-South Cooperation, which involves capacity building and community development projects. One of the major initiatives launched within the framework of the Act East Policy is the Forum for India-Pacific Islands Cooperation (FIPIC). The inaugural FIPIC summit was hosted by Prime Minister Modi in Suva on November 19, 2014, during his visit to Fiji. Subsequently, the second FIPIC summit took place in Jaipur on August 21, with the participation of all 14 PICs. During this summit, India announced various initiatives spanning a wide range of areas to support the PICs in addressing challenges and realizing their aspirations for the well-being and development of their people. (with PTI inputs) The US has given its allies in the West permission to provide Ukraine with F-16 fighter jets, and it has agreed to train Ukrainian pilots to operate the aircraft. The UK, Netherlands, Belgium, and Denmark applauded US President Joe Biden's action. President Biden said, "The United States, together with our allies and partners, is going to begin training Ukrainian pilots in fourth-generation fighter aircraft, including F-16s, to strengthen Ukraines air force as part of a long-term commitment to Ukraines ability to defend itself." In a tweet, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said, "Welcome announcement that the US will approve the training of Ukrainian pilots on F-16 fighter jets. The UK will work together with the USA and the Netherlands, Belgium and Denmark to get Ukraine the combat air capability it needs. We stand united." Welcome announcement that the US will approve the training of Ukrainian pilots on F-16 fighter jets. The UK will work together with the USA and the Netherlands, Belgium and Denmark to get Ukraine the combat air capability it needs. We stand united. https://t.co/36d8ffu6aa pic.twitter.com/9Us6mAieR3 Rishi Sunak (@RishiSunak) May 19, 2023 On the other side, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said, "I welcome the historic decision of the United States and @POTUS to support an international fighter jet coalition. This will greatly enhance our army in the sky. I count on discussing the practical implementation of this decision at the #G7 summit in Hiroshima." I welcome the historic decision of the United States and @POTUS to support an international fighter jet coalition. This will greatly enhance our army in the sky. I count on discussing the practical implementation of this decision at the #G7 summit in Hiroshima. (@ZelenskyyUa) May 19, 2023 What is the F-16? Defence giant Lockheed Martin creates the F-16. It is a multi-role fighter aircraft designed specifically for the United States Air Force (USAF). The M61 Vulcan internal gun is one of 11 mounting points for armaments and other equipment aboard the F-16. Two 2,000 lb (907 kg) bombs, two AIM-9 Sidewinder short-range air-to-air missiles, two AIM-120 medium-range air-to-air missiles, and two 2,400 lb (1,088 kg) external fuel tanks are normally included in its payload. The jet has a range of more than 2,002 miles and a top speed of 1,500 mph. It measures 49 ft 5 in (13.8 m) in length and 32 ft 8 in (9.9 m) in wingspan. Its empty weight is 19,700 lbs (8,935 kg) and its maximum takeoff weight is 37,500 lbs (17,010 kg). There are models with one seat and two seats available. F-16s were employed to assault airfields, military-industrial sites, and other targets in 1991 during the Gulf War. Additionally, it has been employed and flown throughout American military operations in Kosovo, Afghanistan, Iraq, and the Persian Gulf. Several nations outside the US run them, including Poland, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Denmark. Which countries operate the F-16s? Countries which operate the F-16s are as follows: Bahrain Belgium Chile Denmark Egypt Greece Indonesia Iraq Israel Jordan Morocco Netherlands Oman Pakistan Poland Portugal Romania Singapore South Korea Taiwan Thailand Turkey United Arab Emirates United States Venezuela Potential F-16 supplier states At the time, the F-16 is used by about 25 different nations. The fighter jets are expensive, and military analyst Sean Bell claimed that despite the fact that numerous nations had them, "none of them have spare aircraft," according to SkyNews. He adds: "They're just too expensive. You generally buy what you can afford and that's not enough for everything you want to have them for. So none of the nations will be able to get rid of excess jets. But I suspect what will happen is that they will need to focus on a commonality of jets." "So who operates a certain block and a certain age of aircraft and see whether there is some shuffling behind the scenes that different countries can give each other aircraft so that you get a common aircraft that comes to Ukraine," Sean stated. Defense ministers and senior defence officials from 12 northern European countries are meeting in Poland on Monday to discuss stepping up deterrence and security on NATO's eastern flank and strengthening Ukraine's defenses, ahead of NATO's summer summit. They are meeting at military facilities in Legionowo, near Warsaw, as part of the so-called Northern Group - a platform for developing security initiatives for NATO and European Union members. Officials will also discuss preparing for the July NATO summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, according to Denmark's Acting Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen. That summit is expected to gauge prospects for Ukraine's membership. Recently, the US agreed to allow training on American-made F-16 fighter jets, laying the groundwork for their eventual transfer to Ukraine. Initiated by Britain in 2010, The Northern Group includes The Netherlands, Germany, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Poland and the three Baltic states. Germany and Norway are sending deputy defense ministers to the meeting and Iceland will be represented by a Defense Ministry director-general. He seemed to be referring to a top US diplomats 2021 visit to the home of a detained opposition leader. Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Sen greets U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman in Phnom Penh, June 1, 2021. Hun Sen publicly lashed out at Western diplomats on Monday, saying they have insulted him in the past by visiting with detained opposition leader Kem Sokha. Prime Minister Hun Sen publicly lashed out at Western diplomats on Monday, saying they have insulted him in the past by visiting with detained opposition leader Kem Sokha. In the future, dont be arrogant again in the application of your foreign policy, he said at the inauguration of a tire factory in Sihanoukville. The diplomats in Phnom Penh should understand it, the prime minister said. It is because of you, you made me not trust you. Therefore, why should I do work that is in favor of you? Kem Sokha was arrested in 2017 on treason charges. He was finally sentenced in March to 27 years in prison in a verdict widely condemned as politically motivated. It was unclear if any diplomats have visited Kem Sokha since the March verdict. Before his sentencing, ambassadors from Germany, France, the United Kingdom, Japan and the United States often met with him at his Phnom Penh home while he was under house arrest. U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman went to see Kem Sokha during a June 2021 trip that included a meeting with Hun Sen. An angry prime minister later said that she secretly went to Kem Sokhas home without informing the Minister of Foreign Affairs. U.S. Ambassador to Cambodia Patrick Murphy walks toward Phnom Penh Municipal Court during the court verdicts against Kem Sokha in Phnom Penh on March 3, 2023. Credit: Heng Sinith/AP Foreigners who insult me On Monday, Hun Sen said he doesnt trust foreigners who insult me, insult my sovereignty, insult myself when they worked with me and at the same time worked with others. He issued a similar public warning in April when he cautioned Cambodias foreign friends who support opposition party groups and politicians. You have to choose between an individual group that breaks the laws and the government, he said. Please choose one. If you need those who were penalized by law, please do so, and you can then break diplomatic relations from Cambodia. U.S. Embassy spokeswoman Stephanie Arzate told Radio Free Asia that the United States doesnt support any particular individual, institution, or political party in Cambodia. But American officials regularly meet with a wide range of individuals, in accordance with diplomatic norms and practices. Kem Sokha has always denied the charges that led to his arrest, which took place months after the party he co-founded the Cambodia National Rescue Party had a strong showing in that years local commune elections. The arrest kicked off a broad government crackdown against civic activists and journalists. A similar crackdown has taken place in recent months against activists for the Candlelight Party, which has taken the CNRPs place as the countrys main opposition party. Kem Sokha, former leader of the Cambodia National Rescue Party, greets supporters from a car in Phnom Penh on March 3, 2023. He was sentenced in March to 27 years in prison in a verdict widely condemned as politically motivated. Credit: Heng Sinith/AP Just a political trick Last week, the National Election Committee ruled that the Candlelight Party couldnt appear on the ballot for the July parliamentary elections, citing inadequate paperwork. Australia-based social development researcher Seng Sary said Hun Sen may have brought up the embassy visits to divert public attention ahead of the election and to show he is a strong politician who isnt afraid to confront powerful countries. This is just a political trick to draw support and to show power to the people and to the opposition leadership, he said. Hun Sen also said on Monday there remains a possibility that Kem Sokha could be pardoned by King Norodom Sihamoni but only if the prime minister chooses to make the request in writing to the king. Translated by Sok Ry Sum. Edited by Matt Reed and Malcolm Foster. More than 200 farmers descend on the capital to protest: My son is not a dog, says one. A court in Cambodias Ratanakiri province has charged three men with incitement after they advised farmers of their constitutional rights, prompting more than 200 farmers to descend on the capital to call for their release. On the afternoon of May 17, authorities in Kratie province arrested Coalition of Cambodian Farmer Community President Theng Savoeun and 16 of his colleagues for inciting social unrest and conspiracy to commit treason. According to local rights group ADHOC, the arrests took place after the 17 met with farmers in Ratanakiri to discuss agricultural techniques and their rights as Cambodian citizens. That same day, police set 14 of the detainees free after they agreed to thumbprint a statement pledging that they would no longer conduct training sessions. The Ratanakiri Provincial Court formally charged Theng Savoeun and two others Thach Hach and Nhel Pheap and ordered them detained at the provincial prison. Nearly six days later, the trio remain in detention and have been refused access to lawyers or family members visits they are guaranteed after 24 hours in custody, according to Cambodian law. Over the weekend, some 200 farmers mostly women from various provinces traveled to the Ministry of Interior in Phnom Penh to demand their release, claiming that they had provided assistance and done nothing illegal. My son is not a dog Among them was Theng Savoeuns mother, Toch Satt, who vowed that she will not leave the premises until her son is freed. Minister of Interior Sar Kheng, I urge you to resolve this case get it done today or I will not go home, she shouted in front of the ministry on Monday, three days after joining other farmers in the capital to protest the detentions. My son is not a dog, he is a human being, she said. I regret that you arrested my son, who did nothing wrong. My son serves the interests of the people. Theng Savoeun, who is currently being detained, is the president of the Coalition of Cambodian Farmers Community, which was established in 2011 to help farmers' communities whose land was encroached. Credit: Theng Savoeun Facebook Other protesters several of whom were carrying infants held photos of the three detainees and cardboard signs calling for their freedom. One protester from Koh Kong province named Keut Neou told RFA Khmer that she and others had arrived in Phnom Penh to protest on May 19 and had since run out of money. She said they have been staying for free at a Buddhist temple in the suburbs, but are unable to afford rides downtown to the ministry. We are poor people and farmers we have no money, so we all decided to walk, she said. Another farmer from Koh Kong named Nhel Sreymom urged Prime Minister Hun Sen and his wife, Bun Rany, to help find justice for the three detainees. Please, Samdech father and mother, help find a solution for them, she said, using an honorific for the prime minister. These three people are innocent. Planning peasant revolution Ministry of Interior officials on Monday met with 10 farmers representatives and accepted a petition calling for their release. The officials said Hun Sen will examine and consider their demands. ADHOC human rights spokesperson Soeung Senkaruna urged the Ratanakiri court to reconsider the charges against Theng Savoeun, Thach Hach and Nhel Pheap. If the charges still have reasonable doubt, the court should hold off on the charges because, from my view, Theng Savoeun has done a lot of work to help farmers to supplement the assistance of the government, he said. Attempts by RFA to contact Ratanakiri Provincial Police Commissioner Ung Sopheap and Interior Ministry spokesman Khieu Sopheak about the case went unanswered Monday. However, Khieu Sopheak told local media group CamboJa on May 19 that Theng Savoeun and his associates were involved in planning a peasant revolution. About 200 farmers across the country protest in front of the Ministry of Interior to demand the release of Theng Savoeun, president of the Coalition of Cambodian Farmers Community and two of his associates who are being detained. Credit: Citizen journalist The Cambodian Farmers' Community Association has vehemently denied the allegations, saying it only instructed farmers on agricultural laws and techniques. The group, which claims to have a membership of around 20,000 people across Cambodia, was founded in 2011 to assist farmers from 10 communities who say their land was encroached on. Crackdown on rights groups Local rights groups including LICADHO, ADHOC and the Cambodian Center for the Defense of Human Rights are monitoring the case and told RFA that the arrests not only threaten the Cambodian Farmers' Community Association, but also undermine the work of civil society. The case has also drawn the attention of international rights groups, including New York-based Human Rights Watch. Deputy Asia Director Phil Robertson said his organization was appalled by the arrests and violation of laws that allow the three access to lawyers, calling it an example of how authorities blatantly violate basic freedoms of association and expression, and totally disregard Cambodias international human rights obligations. Robertson also called authorities out for harassing supporters demanding the trios release, noting that police in Koh Kong stopped a minivan carrying Cambodian Farmers' Community Association members and prevented them from leaving the province. He linked the arrests to what he called a crackdown on NGOs and civil society groups in Cambodia ahead of the July 23 general election, where any sort of challenge, real or perceived, to the government is met with a maximum display of intimidation and punishment. Cambodia should immediately and unconditionally let the CCFC 3 go free, and halt the campaign of harassment and abuse against the CCFC and other Cambodian NGOs who dare to stand up and exercise their civil and political rights, Robertson said. Illegal land grabs by developers or individuals are not uncommon in Cambodia, where officials and bureaucrats can be bribed to provide bogus land titles. Disputes over land are one of the major causes of social disturbances throughout Southeast Asia. Translated by Sok Ry Sum and Samean Yun. Edited by Joshua Lipes and Malcolm Foster. Young people tell similar stories as the juice runs out of the post-pandemic economy Job seekers approach the booth of an employer at a job fair in Wuhan, Hubei province, China, on Feb. 9, 2023. Xu Ke, 21, comes from a long line of university lecturers. Yet his peers and people a few years older than him are all struggling with a major crisis in their lives: growing competition for a dwindling number of jobs as youth unemployment tops 20%, driven by a huge downturn in manufacturing and foreign investment. "There aren't many jobs, and the competition for the jobs there are is too strong," said Xu, who is currently studying at a university in Minnesota. "Everyone is willing to do any job." "With everyone willing to do anything, wages are [kept] low, and benefits are poor," Xu told Radio Free Asia in a recent interview. Before the pandemic, most of his peers would once have expected to study for a teaching or liberal arts degree, before going on to land jobs as elementary and secondary school teachers. But those days are long gone, Xu said, adding that the 20.4% unemployment rate among people aged 16-24 reported by the National Bureau of Statistics for April was likely only the tip of the iceberg. "I would guess that the proportion of young people who can't find a job at all is likely to be between 40 and 50%," he said. "After all, not everyone [with parents who work in the government] system can even get into senior high school, and not everyone in senior high school can get into college," he said. He cited a government quota introduced in 2021 requiring 50% of junior high school students to take up places in technical and vocational schools, rather than senior high school. Before the policy was introduced, around 60% of junior high-schoolers would have gone on to senior high, where they would then be eligible to take the grueling "Gaokao" university entrance exam. Shut out Some of Xu's friends have now effectively been barred from a university education, and from the white collar jobs that education prepares them for. Shut out of the system that raised them, they are forced to look for blue-collar jobs instead. "Wages [in blue-collar jobs] are very low, and there is a lot of strenuous physical labor," he said. "Some people can't do it, or they can't find [even blue-collar] jobs, so they basically spend their time waiting to get old." Graduating students wearing face masks attend a commencement ceremony at Chongqing University of Posts and Telecommunications in Chongqing, China, on June 22, 2022. Credit: Reuters For 30-year-old Shan Wentao, it's a familiar scenario. Born into a working-class family in the eastern province of Anhui, Shan says even his peers can't find work in the current economic environment, with dwindling opportunities in manufacturing and sharp falls in foreign investment. "I tried to get a shift on a construction site, but there are more people [available to work] in the industry now, and the wages are getting lower and lower, while the work is pretty backbreaking," he said. One of Shan's friends did land some construction work, but only lasted a few months due to health problems and non-payment of wages. Yet for young working class people, "lying flat" essentially doing nothing while living at home is less of an option than it is for their counterparts with higher-level qualifications, as many are already married, and can't live back home with mom and dad. "There's nothing to be done about it," he said. "I get the impression they don't want to do these jobs, but what else can they do?" Revitalizing the rural economy A woman who gave only the surname Chen said she has a 17-year-old relative who is despondent about life after she graduates from vocational school. "She says the teaching in the technical school is so bad that she isn't learning anything, and that she'll earn very little after she graduates," Chen said. "She says it's easier just to lie flat." "She doesn't want to do manual work, because it's too tiring, but her family doesn't have the resources to send her to study overseas," she said. "She is desperate, and confused about the future." National Bureau of Statistics spokesperson Fu Linghui told a news conference on May 16 that "the relevant departments are proactively introducing policies to provide targeted assistance" to help young people into work. But media reports pointed to a rising number of college graduates in recent years, coupled with residual unemployment from previous years. President Xi Jinping has called on young people to be less picky about the jobs they'll accept, as well as lauding those who return to rural areas to "revitalize the rural economy." But his exhortations have fallen on deaf ears as the middle class cash out of the Chinese economy and join the "run" movement, seeking a new life overseas, often via political asylum in the United States. "During the Mao era, the Chinese government promoted the relocation of educated urban youths to the countryside, through a combination of heavy political propaganda and various kinds of political pressure," U.S.-based economist He Qinglian wrote in a recent commentary for RFA Mandarin. But while more than 12 million have done so in recent years, the numbers don't amount to much when taken alongside the hundreds of millions of rural residents who continue to move into China's cities to find work. "Of course the Chinese government knows very well that it won't be able to get rural youths who have experienced the simplicity of urban life to pick up their hoes and bend themselves double over the land again," He wrote, citing the rise of "Taobao villages" as people run online shops from rural locations. People attend a job fair in Fuyang, Anhui province, China, on Jan. 29, 2023. Some online commenters are complaining about the lack of good jobs after years of personal investment and sacrifice to get them a university education. Credit: Reuters She cited government balance-of-payments data as showing a 43% decline in foreign direct investment in China in 2022, compared with the previous year. "Foreign-invested companies are gradually withdrawing from the Chinese market, which is a big blow to employment rates," she said, adding that youth unemployment rates would be higher still if the government didn't remove people returning to rural hometowns from the figures. Translated by Luisetta Mudie. Edited by Malcolm Foster. Hong Kong political cartoonist Zunzi says the axing of his column was due to political pressure Cartoonist Huang Jijun, who uses the pen name Zunzi, poses for photos after his comic strip has been scrapped from the local newspaper Ming Pao in Hong Kong, May 15, 2023. The axing of a satirical political cartoon by a major Hong Kong newspaper was due to political pressure from government officials, cartoonist Zunzi told Radio Free Asia in a recent interview. Hong Kong's Chinese-language newspaper of record, the Ming Pao, last week canceled Zunzis regular comic strip following an onslaught of public criticism from government officials. Staff at the paper expressed "regret and a sense of helplessness" over the move. Cartoonist Huang Jijun, 68, who had cartoons in every edition of the now-shuttered pro-democracy Apple Daily newspaper for 26 years, told RFA Mandarin that the canceling of his column reflects the overall political climate in Hong Kong, where civil rights have been drastically rolled back under the 2020 national security law. "Of course it was due to political pressure," he said. "It wasn't that my fee was so low that I couldn't keep doing the cartoons." "It's clearly linked to the political situation: they wanted [the Ming Pao] to stop publishing my column," Huang told Radio Free Asia, after earlier declining to comment on the reasons for the move. "The government sent a warning message to the newspaper, allowing them to deal with it flexibly," he said. "In times of tight [political] controls, when the accusations are flying around ... everything is under the microscope anyone can be accused of a crime." Books of Huang's political cartoons were also recently removed from public libraries in the city. "They think these books will have a negative impact on society," he said. "They don't want the public to be influenced by them, otherwise they wouldn't be doing this. Every move they make is with one eye on its public impact." Censorship growing Huang said the national security law, imposed on the city by the ruling Chinese Communist Party in 2020 to clamp down on public dissent in the wake of the 2019 protest movement, makes it harder to predict just how far the authorities are willing to go with public censorship. "It's hard to tell whether the current situation will lead to an even tighter crackdown by the authorities," he said. Hong Kong is in the throes of a political censorship campaign targeting all forms of public expression, Huang said. "This isn't about there being a problem with cartoons; the problem comes from the satire [they depict]," he said. "They want to keep to a minimum anything that is funny, or pokes fun at something." "It's very hard for those in power to tolerate any kind of satire." Cartoonist Huang Jijun, who uses the pen name Zunzi, shows his works, after his comic strip has been scrapped from the local newspaper Ming Pao in Hong Kong, May 15, 2023. Credit: Reuters Huang, who has previously published a compendium of cartoons marking the anniversary of the June 4, 1989, Tiananmen massacre, said he is unlikely to be producing any new work to mark this year's anniversary. "Naturally, we used to do our best to mark the June 4 massacre before, but the risks are much higher now," he said. "Actually, my not producing a cartoon [for the anniversary] is a pretty good reflection of the way things are." "If someone who used to produce a cartoon every year, like the [now-banned] candlelight vigil in Victoria Park where people used to go every year, suddenly stops, the world will pay attention," Huang said. "Once the cartoons stop, you can count how many years it has been since the last cartoon about June 4," he said. "Time left blank leaves a clear historical record." No plans to leave But Huang said he still has no plans to leave Hong Kong, despite an ongoing exodus of middle-class professionals and wealthy families alike. "I will stay in Hong Kong. Hong Kong has been through dark times before, and people back then would have said they were the darkest of times," he said. "I don't necessarily think that Hong Kong today is living through the darkest times." "People should try to go in the direction of the light ... and work together to make it not quite so dark," Huang said, citing his first political cartoon that riffed on political and social uncertainty in Hong Kong amid ongoing negotiations between Britain and China over the city's future. When asked to reflect on the last four decades of his political cartoons, Huang likened Hong Kong to a paper kite tossed about in the wind, not knowing where it is headed, and with no say in the matter. Translated by Luisetta Mudie. Edited by Malcolm Foster. Gift this article Share this article paywall-free. PACARAIMA, Brazil As the sun rose, Miguel Gonzalez, partner Maryelis Rodriguez and their four young children got off a passenger bus after an 18-hour ride south from the eastern Venezuelan community they desperately wanted to leave. The parents, with minds still muzzy from sleep, retrieved two duffel bags and assessed needs before entering the station: Diaper change for the 1-year-old. Restrooms for the 2-, 4- and 6-year-old. Directions to Brazil. Taxi? Taxi? hawkish cab drivers asked everyone walking through the Santa Elena de Uairen station, where thousands of people every month walk through Venezuelan territory one last time. Roughly a half hour later, the Gonzalez family, like dozens of others every day, became migrants for the first time when they exited a taxi in Pacaraima, Brazil. More than 7.2 million people have left Venezuela since the countrys political, economic and social crisis began last decade. Most have gone to Spanish-speaking countries of South America with 2.4 million in Colombia alone and many to the U.S. and Spain. Further down the list of destinations has been Venezuelas Portuguese-speaking, next-door neighbor: Brazil. But Brazil has become a popular choice for many Venezuelans partly because of a 5-year-old program that offers eligible applicants work permits and even free flights to faraway parts of the huge country. Approvals into the program have surged in the post-pandemic period. I want to give well-being to my children, said Gonzalez, who began planning to migrate in October after witnessing violent clashes around the gold mine where he worked. There is no life in Venezuela, he said, because if the family stays there the children are not going to study, they are not going to have a future. The Gonzalez family is applying for Brazils interiorization program, launched in 2018 to ease pressure on the countrys far northern state of Roraima as it dealt with Venezuelans flowing across the border after food and medicine shortages at home became acute. The program moves the migrants to other cities with better economic opportunities, especially in the countrys rich southern states. It has taken in about 100,000 of the 426,000 Venezuelans who have migrated to Brazil during the crisis with the highest monthly rate so far in March of this year with 3,377. The Gonzalez family sold their fridge, fan, kitchen, bed and other furniture, stuffed clothes and diapers in duffel bags and backpacks, and began their migration journey from their community of San Felix with $500. They spent $90 to get to Santa Elena de Uairen and $20 to get to Pacaraima, where they applied for the program. They decided to migrate even though Gonzalez had one of the most lucrative jobs in Venezuela, earning about $600 in two weeks, and occasionally, up to $1,200 far more than the countrys $5 monthly minimum wage. But mining communities are dangerous, thanks to armed groups who are believed to collude with authorities. There is a lot of crime. Youre alive one moment and dead the next. You get me? Gonzalez said. Those accepted into the interiorization program receive documentation, temporary shelter, vaccines and relocation flights. It also offers classes on Brazils labor market, laws and rights. Brazils monthly minimum wage currently is $265. A survey of 800 households encompassing 3,529 Venezuelans living in Brazil in June and July of last year showed that 76% of them earned up to two minimum wages. Applicants must submit paperwork, and undergo a physical and interviews. On an early April morning, Maria Rodriguez, her father, husband, daughter, two sons, twin grandsons and four more relatives were among hundreds of people at the Pacaraima border crossing, navigating steps of the program. She laughed with an energetic grandson, but her eyes betrayed fatigue. At the crack of dawn, migrants form lines where they wait to get or provide information. They cheer when they or their new migrant friends are told they can hop on waiting passenger buses headed roughly 125 miles south to Boa Vista, where they will catch flights to their new communities. Rodriguezs group already had waited six weeks in Pacaraima. They had sheltered from the scorching sun under a makeshift tent and spent nights in a shelter. The family closed its unprofitable cheese-making business in Venezuela earlier this year and decided to join other relatives in the southern Brazilian state of Parana, where the men plan to work in construction. Rodriguez said another of her sons already living there has done well in just a short time. His children are studying in a good school, and meanwhile, I could see my other sons ... struggling, Rodriguez, 45, said while she waited for portable toilets to be cleaned for the day. As adults, we can last all day even with just an arepa, but with those kids, how do you tell a child theres no food? Venezuela was once one of the most prosperous countries in Latin America thanks to billions in oil dollars, but mismanagement by its self-described socialist government and a decline in crude prices plunged it into crisis over the past decade. International economic sanctions meant to topple President Nicolas Maduro have worsened conditions. Elsewhere in the hemisphere, Venezuelans are making their second or even third migrations as economic opportunities in initial host countries dry up. Most of those coming across the border into Brazil are migrating for the first time, said the Rev. Agnaldo Pereira de Oliveira, director of Jesuit Service for Migrants and Refugees in Brazil. They are people who held on until now and no longer could, Pereira de Oliveira said. Now come the last ones who had resisted in Venezuela out of attachment to their business, to their home. They say I had a job, but the living conditions no longer exist.' Todays top pics: Venezuela Protest This new mossy frog, part of 380 new species in the Lower Mekong region, was found in valleys within the forested limestone mountains of northeastern Vietnam. An aggressive color-changing lizard, a poisonous snake named after a goddess in Chinese mythology and an orchid that looks like a muppet among hundreds of unique species of plants and animals newly discovered in the lower Mekong region in the past two years, a new report released on Monday said. Hundreds of scientists from across the globe discovered 175 new species in 2021 and 205 in 2022 in Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam, according to the report by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). These remarkable species may be new to science, but they have survived and evolved in the Greater Mekong region for millions of years, reminding us humans that they were there a very long time before our species moved into this region, said K. Yoganand, WWF-Greater Mekong regional wildlife lead. We have an obligation to do everything to stop their extinction and protect their habitats, and help their recovery. The newly declared species include a thick-thumbed, mouse-eared bat, whose specimen sat in a Hungarian museum for 20 years. Another one highlighted in the report is a plant collected in the 1930s but only recently confirmed to be a novel species by a new team of researchers. Several other new species are at risk from human activities. A Cambodian casino, dam and residential development are destroying an evergreen shrub, while a Thai crocodile newt in Vietnam is threatened by agricultural encroachment, logging and local collection for medicinal purposes. In total, they discovered 290 plants, 19 fish, 24 amphibians, 46 reptiles and one mammal in the past two years, bringing the total number of new species in the lower Mekong region to 3,389 since 1997, when WWF started collecting new species data. The report comes on Biodiversity Day, which the United Nations promotes to increase understanding and awareness of global biodiversity issues. According to a 2011 study, about 8.7 million species are on Earth, while only 1.6 million have been identified, meaning that more than 80 percent of species have yet to be discovered. The wildlife conservation group also called on the governments to increase protection for rare creatures and their habitats, with many species already threatened with extinction due to human activities. The new species are under intense pressure from deforestation, habitat degradation, road development, loss of streams and rivers, pollution, diseases spread by human activities, competition from invasive species, and the devastating impacts of illegal wildlife trade, WWF said. Sadly, many species go extinct before they are even discovered. A senior Vietnamese scientist said discoveries of new species help fill the knowledge gap about what exists in the natural world. They also fill us, the researchers, with wonder and trepidation wonder that there are still countless species yet to be found, and trepidation that there isnt enough time to find, understand and conserve them, said Truong Q. Nguyen, vice director at the Institute of Ecology and Biological Resources at the Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology. The Greater Mekong region is recognized as a biodiversity hotspot - also known as the Indo-Burma hotspot, Nguyen said in the reports foreword. The region is home to globally iconic and endangered species, including the tiger, the Asian elephant, the Sunda pangolin, and the giant freshwater stingray. However, the regions biodiversity is facing tremendous pressures from economic development and human population growth, which drive deforestation, pollution and overexploitation of natural resources, compounded by the effects of climate change, he said. Here are some of the discovered species: Cambodia: Calotes goetzi, 2021 The Cambodian blue-crested agama (also known as the Siamese blue-crested lizard) is an aggressive lizard that changes color as a defensive mechanism. It is a vigorous climber and feeds primarily on insects. It was identified by studying lizards found near an Angkor archeological site. It is also found in China, Laos, Myanmar and Thailand. Photo credit: Henrik Bringsoe, via WWF. Cleyera bokorensis, 2021 An evergreen shrub collected first on Mount Bokor in 1933 and misidentified until it was determined to be a separate species in 2021. It is also found in Vietnam. WWF said the plant is already threatened by a casino, dam, and residential development in Cambodia and human encroachment in Vietnam. It is primarily available along bodies of flowing water in forested areas but is estimated to be less than 2,500 in each country. Photo credit: Shuichiro Tagane, via WWF Laos: Dendrobium fuscifaucium, 2022 A bright miniature pink and yellow orchid that resembles television character muppets, it was discovered in a market selling wild plants in capital Vientiane. Attempts to find it in the wild have been unsuccessful, according to researchers. Globally, it is estimated that 1.1 billion live orchid plants were traded mostly legally between 1996 and 2015. However, some species face threats due to trafficking and overharvesting from the wild. Photo credit: Keooudone Souvannakhoummane, via WWF Dixonius somchanhae, 2021 Endemic to Laos, this new gecko species was discovered in a forested area near Huaysorn-Huaysua village in Vientiane. It is named after Somchanh Bounphanmy, an associate professor of the National University of Laos who supported the authors research. WWF said it is found at night on sandstone rocks, where they live in secondary forests affected by construction projects. It has not been seen elsewhere. Photo credit: Luu Quang Vinh, via WWF Myanmar: Dario tigris, 2022 A miniature chameleon fish, able to change their color, barely 20 millimeters (three-quarters of an inch) long, is recognized by its striking orange-red stripes, earning its name tiger. It was first found in the mountain streams of the Ayeyarwady River basin in northern Myanmar in 2002, but it was deemed a distinct species only last year. Photo credit: Thadoe Wai, via WWF-Myanmar Ptyctolaemus Chindwinesis, 2021 This new lizard species is only the third species of this genus to be described, with the first being identified in 1864 and the other in 2004. It was first found in 2019 in the Htamanthi Wildlife Sanctuary, Sagaing division, and named after the Chindwin River. It is found only in Myanmar and can change its body colour. Photo credit: Shuo Liu, via WWF Thailand: Ansonia karen, 2021 This new species of endemic stream toad is named for the local indigenous Karen people, who supported the researchers during field surveys. It was found in the Tennaserim mountains in western Thailands Ratchaburi province. It is found only in Thailand; a sister species is found in Myanmar, some 350 kilometers away. Photo credit: Parinya Pawangkhanant, via WWF Akysis patrator This catfish, some of the smallest in the category, measuring less than 60 millimeters, was collected during a survey along with the Karen people in the Roh Kee River in western Thailand, which eventually flows into the Mae Klong River. It is the first fish in the Akysis genus to be recorded in the Mae Klong basin. To date, it is considered endemic to the Roh Kee River. Photo credit: Parinya Pawangkhanant, via WWF Vietnam: Theloderma khoii, 2022 This camouflaging green frog uses its mossy, irregular ridges and warts on its skin to blend into the lichen and wet dark background. It was found only in the deep narrow valleys within the forested limestone mountains of northeastern Vietnam, which has more species of mossy frogs - 17 - than any other country. It is just 5-6 centimeters long and was named in honor of Professor Le Vu Khoi from the Hanoi University of Science. Photo credit: Nguyen Thien Tao, via WWF Subdoluseps vietnamensis, 2021 This new skink was discovered in forested areas around acacia and rubber plantations in southern Vietnams Ba Ria Vung Tao and Bin Thuan provinces. It burrows under the sand to evade predators and escape from fires, hence the name Vietnamese agile skink. It was first collected in 2017 and is an endemic species with a narrow distribution in the coastal lowlands. Bounsuan Kitiyano was a Lao democracy and human rights activist and a former member of the Free Laos group. Thai police are investigating the shooting death of a Lao democracy activist who was living in Thailand as an officially recognized refugee and had been planning to move to Australia in the near future, Radio Free Asia has learned. Bounsuan Kitiyano, 56, is a former member of the Free Laos group, which over the past few years had staged several protests in front of the Lao Embassy in Bangkok demanding that Vientiane respect human rights and freedom of expression. The shooting was the latest of several recent attacks on Lao activists on Thai soil. Police said Bounsuan had been living in Thailand for the past four or five years. His body was found on May 16 near a forest in the eastern province of Ubon Ratchathani, which borders Laos. An initial investigation found that he had been shot three times while riding a motorcycle. Police also found his ID card issued by the Thai office of the UN refugee agency, or UNHCR, confirming his official status. The body was transported to a nearby hospital for further investigation, but by May 19, it had already been collected by a close friend for ceremonial burial purposes. Prior to his death, friends had visited Bouansuan at his home, Thongkham Soukhuan, a 74-year-old villager, told local media. He asked to use a motorcycle so he could visit his friends, Thongkham said. We then lost contact with him and they found him dead on May 16. Motive explored In a report published Sunday on the English website for Thai news outlet Khao Sod, police said there were two possibilities: either he was killed for his opposition to the Lao government, or his relatives are angry with him because he caused the Lao government to harass and arrest them. Khao Sod did not elaborate on the situation with his family. The police department in Ubon Ratchathanis Simeuangmay district confirmed the incident to RFAs Lao Service, but the officer responding to the query was not able to provide further information on orders of the department's upper management. Bounsuans death was an obvious example of the Lao government taking extreme measures to silence dissidents both at home and abroad, Andrea Giorgetta of the Bangkok office of the International Federation for Human Rights told RFA. It is shocking that Thailand, which used to be a safe destination for foreign activists fleeing repression in their respective countries, has become a very dangerous place for them, she said. Its imperative that the diplomatic community in Bangkok and Vientiane urge the authorities in both Laos and Thailand to hold perpetrators of recent attacks against Lao activists in both countries accountable, she said. RFAs inquiries to the UNHCR office in Thailand received no response as of Monday. Thongkham said that for a short time, Bounsuan had returned to Laos, living in hiding in Pakse city, in the southern province of Champassak, but he fled to Thailand again after he found that it was not safe to live in Laos. He had plans to go to Bangkok in the near future to file documents so he could go to Australia as an asylum seeker. The Germany-based Alliance for Democracy in Laos is preparing to inform the United Nations Human Rights Council about Bounsuans death, Bounthone Chanthalavong-Wiese, the organizations president, told RFA. Translated by Phouvong. Edited by Eugene Whong and Malcolm Foster. The junta court had already sentenced the civil rights leader to 34 years in prison. Wai Moe Naing takes part in an anti-regime protest in Monywa city, Sagaing region on March 28, 2021. Jailed student activist and author Wai Moe Naing has been sentenced to another 20 years in prison, the Monywa Peoples Strike Steering Committee told RFA Monday. He received the maximum sentence for treason and rebellion under Section 122 of the Penal Code. Fridays decision by the court in Monywa Prison in northern Sagaing region takes his total sentence to 54 years. The 28-year-old has already been found guilty of crimes including robbery; rioting; carrying a weapon; incitement to mutiny; and unlawful assembly. The junta has also accused him of killing two policemen in an industrial zone under Section 302 of the Penal Code and plans to hand down a verdict on the case at a later date. A friend, who wished to remain anonymous, said Wai Moe Naing has denied all the charges made against him. Monywa Peoples Strike Steering Committee protested his innocence, condemning what it called unjust accusations and orders against political prisoners. Wai Moe Naing founded Monywa University Student Union and served as its first president. He is also an author of short stories, magazine articles and blogs. After the military coup in February 2021, he led anti-regime strikes in Monywa. On April 15, 2021, he was riding in a column of motorcycles with other protesting students when junta troops and police ran him down in cars, beat him and arrested him. He has been held in Monywa prison since his arrest. Sources close to Wai Moe Naing, who didnt want to be named for safety reasons, said he was healthy and has been allowed to receive parcels. Myanmars military has arrested more than 22,500 democracy activists according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners. Of those, over 18,200 are still being detained. Translated by RFA Burmese. Edited by Mike Firn. Papua New Guinea, following criticism, has asserted the agreement doesnt impinge on its sovereignty. Papua New Guinea Defense Minister Win Bakri Daki and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken shake hands after signing the United States-Papua New Guinea Defense Cooperation Agreement in Port Moresby on May 22, 2023. The United States signed a defense cooperation agreement on Monday with Papua New Guinea, and announced other security and humanitarian support, in a deepening of its relationship with the most populous Pacific island country. Papua New Guineas capital Port Moresby also hosted Indias Prime Minister Narendra Modi for a summit with leaders of 14 Pacific island countries, underscoring the increased geopolitical competition in the vast ocean region where Chinas diplomatic relations have burgeoned. The defense agreement is mutually beneficial, Papua New Guinea Prime Minister James Marape said at the signing ceremony. In the context of Papua New Guinea it secures our national interest, he said, predicting it would help the country, one of the poorest in the region, to develop a robust economy. Responding to domestic criticism of the defense agreement, Marape said, this signing in no way, shape and form encroaches into our sovereignty. U.S. President Joe Biden had planned to stop over in Papua New Guinea on Monday before attending a meeting in Sydney with the leaders of Australia, Japan and India. He canceled the trip to focus on high-stakes Federal debt-limit negotiations, in an apparent setback for U.S. efforts to exert influence in the Pacific. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who traveled to Port Moresby in the presidents place, said he carried an invitation from Biden to Pacific leaders to visit Washington in the fall. As part of efforts to counter Beijings influence in the Pacific, Biden hosted a meeting of Pacific island leaders in September last year in Washington. Simply put we are committed to growing all aspects of our relationship, Blinken said at the defense agreement signing ceremony. The pact, he said, would be transparent to the public and make it easier for the two countries' defense forces to train together and improve the capacity of Papua New Guineas military to respond to natural disasters. China, over several decades, has become a substantial source of trade, infrastructure and aid for developing Pacific island countries as it seeks to isolate Taiwan diplomatically and build its own set of global institutions. Last year, China signed a security pact with the Solomon Islands, alarming the U.S. and its allies such as Australia. The Solomons and Kiribati switched their diplomatic recognition to Beijing from Taiwan in 2019. Modi, in his speech to Pacific leaders, did not specifically mention China but said his country was committed to a free and open Indo Pacific, the U.S. terminology for a vast region spanning the Indian and Pacific oceans. Cook Islands Prime Minister Mark Brown, speaking at a U.S.-Pacific island leaders meeting, said there was a level of disappointment in Bidens cancellation. He also said he welcomed the fall invitation. Intrusion into PNG affairs The defense cooperation agreement between Papua New Guinea and the U.S. has been criticized by some analysts and groups such as the PNG Trade Union Congress as being overly accommodative to Washingtons interests. Australias Sky TV reported on what it said was a leaked draft version of the agreement last week. It is the processes our government followed and the motivation behind fast tracking the processes with zero public consultation and parliament debate [that] opens up public debate to all sorts of conclusions, said Anton Sekum, acting general secretary of the Trade Union Congress, in a statement on Monday. Any agreement that will have elements of intrusion into our sovereignty and may put the country in harm's way must not be done without all citizens' consent, he said. Elias Wohengu, secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs, who was Papua New Guineas chief negotiator in the defense cooperation talks, said there was no factual basis to rumors that U.S. military personnel who broke Papua New Guineas laws would enjoy immunity from prosecution. Speculation it would preclude defense agreements with other countries and required changes to Papua New Guineas laws was also incorrect, he said. There is no immunity in this agreement for any foreign personnel that will be present in Papua New Guinea, Wohengu told a press conference on the weekend. If a crime is committed, punishment will be carried out. So anyone who goes out spreading rumors that we will be providing immunity to offenders is wrong, he said. The State Department said the text of the defense cooperation agreement would be made public when it comes into force. Papua New Guineas Ministry of Defense said it would hold a question and answer session for civil society groups and journalists at its headquarters on Tuesday. Papua New Guinea and the U.S. also signed a shiprider agreement that provides the basis for personnel from the Pacific island country to work on U.S. coast guard and naval vessels, and vice versa, in targeting economic and security weaknesses such as illegal fishing. Among other support announced by the State Department, the U.S. government will supply $12.4 million of equipment to Papua New Guineas defense force. It includes $5.4 million of body armor, provided earlier this month, such as ballistic helmets and flak vests with armor plates. Some $7 million will be provided for military dress uniforms for Papua New Guineas 50th independence events in 2025. The U.S. is also exploring warehousing of humanitarian assistance and disaster relief supplies in Papua New Guinea. BenarNews is an RFA--affiliated news organization. Dang Dinh Bach, director of the Law and Policy of Sustainable Development Research Center, was arrested on June 24, 2021, on a charge of 'tax evasion.' A U.N. working group of independent human rights experts has called on Vietnam to immediately release a detained climate activist serving a five-year prison term for tax evasion, saying he had been arrested arbitrarily and tried unfairly. Lawyer and environmentalist Dang Dinh Bach, 44, who had campaigned to reduce Vietnams reliance on coal was arrested June 2021 and then sentenced to five years in jail. Bach was director of the Law and Policy of Sustainable Development Research Center, which works with communities affected by development, poor industrial practices and environmental degradation to help them understand and enforce their rights. Authorities accused him of not paying taxes for sponsorships his organization received from foreign donors. He is one of four Vietnamese environmental activists sentenced for tax evasiona charge that rights groups say is politically motivated. The others were Nguy Thi Khanh, Mai Phan Loi and Bach Hung Duong. The Working Group on Arbitrary Detention said Bachs trial did not follow international standards of a fair trial and violated many fundamental rights stipulated in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Hunger strike planned Bachs wife, Tran Phuong Thao, who is also a human rights activist, told Radio Free Asia on Monday that her husband has continued his fight for justice in jail by eating only one meal a day since March 17. He will go on a full-blown prison hunger strike as of June 24, on the second anniversary of his arrest, she said. Though Bach has complained about what he says is his wrongful conviction and lodged a petition with a Hanoi court, authorities are pressuring his family to pay off 1.3 billion dong, or about US$55,300, for the tax he allegedly failed to pay, Thao said. Besides freezing Bachs four bank accounts, authorities also threatened to seize their home, she added. The U.N. working group also called on the government to give Bach satisfactory compensation and allow the group to visit Vietnam since its last visit was in 1994. The Working Group considers that, taking into account all the circumstances of the case, the appropriate remedy would be to release Mr. Bach immediately and accord him an enforceable right to compensation and other reparations, in accordance with international law, it said in a 16-page opinion dated May 11 and released late last week. On Nov. 30, 2022, the working group asked Hanoi to provide detailed information about Bachs situation, but the Vietnamese government did not provide a response by the February 2023 deadline. The International Coalition of Climate Justice and Human Rights Organizations will hold a peaceful relay hunger strike a form of protest in which a number of persons go without food by turns on May 24June 24 in support of the call to release Bach. Participating activist organizations, including members of the Global Network of Movement Lawyers to which Bachs group was a part of before it was forced to shut down, pledged to join the campaign. They hope the strike will pressure Hanoi to review Bachs case and that he will not have to go on his own hunger strike. Its crucial for human rights lawyers and environmental defenders to stand up worldwide for our colleague in Vietnam, said Meena Jagannath, director of global programs and coordinator of the Global Network of Movement Lawyers at Movement Law Lab. This kind of solidarity is vitally important for the future of the region and the planet. Translated by Anna Vu for RFA Vietnamese. Edited by Roseanne Gerin and Malcolm Foster. The Global Magnitsky Act would allow the US to freeze the assets of those involved in human rights violations. A Buddhist monk prays near a lake during the Vesak Day, an annual celebration of the birth of Buddha, his attaining of Enlightenment and his passing away into Nirvana, at Tam Chuc Pagoda in Ba Sao town, Vietnam May 13, 2019. Religious leaders in Vietnam have asked the U.S. government to punish Vietnamese officials involved in religious persecution activities, calling for use of the Global Magnitsky Act to sanction those involved in human rights violations. Representatives from the Interfaith Council of Vietnam met with American diplomats and an official from the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom commissioner at Giac Hoa Pagoda in Ho Chi Minh City on Thursday. Officials from Catholicism, Buddhism, Hoa Hao Buddhism, Caodaism and Protestantism urged the Biden administration to make use of a 2016 law, named after a Russian anti-corruption whistleblower, that allows the United States to freeze the assets of foreign government officials and ban them from entering the U.S. Hua Phi, the administrative clerk of the Caodai religion, told Radio Free Asia that he had to leave his home in the central province of Lam Dong three days in advance of the meeting to avoid police surveillance. Security forces prevented him from traveling to an Interfaith Council of Vietnam meeting in April, he said. RFA emailed the Peoples Committee of Duc Trong district to seek a response on Hua Phis allegations but didnt receive a response. Vietnamese Catholic dignitaries march in a procession for a mass on the occasion of a pastoral visit by Cardinal Fernando Filoni (not pictured) in Hanoi on January 20, 2015. Credit: AFP Earlier in the week, the U.S. State Department criticized violations of religious freedom in Vietnam, saying in an annual report that the countrys legal framework provides for significant government control over religious practices. Vietnamese law also includes vague provisions that permit restrictions on religious freedom in the stated interest of national security and social unity, according to the 2022 International Religious Freedom Report, which provides an overview of the state of religious freedom in nearly 200 countries and territories around the world. Vietnams Ministry of Foreign Affairs dismissed the report on Thursday, saying it was lacking in objectivity. Compliance with the law in Vietnam includes registering the religion with the government. Currently the government has recognized 36 religious organizations belonging to 16 religions that include Buddhism, Catholicism, Protestantism, Caodaism, Hoa Hao Buddhism, Islam and Bahai. Those belonging to unrecognized religions are not allowed to operate freely. Hanoi considers the unregistered groups to be illegal and law enforcement has prevented these groups from meeting or carrying out religious rituals or ceremonies. Translated by Anna Vu. Edited by Matt Reed. They want Filippo Grandis office to increase protective measures for refugees in Thailand. Vietnamese blogger Duong Van Thai was arrested in Vietnam in April after disappearing in Thailand. More than 20 human rights organizations have urged the United Nations to pressure Vietnam to release bloggers Duong Van Thai and Truong Duy Nhat and to take action to protect Vietnamese asylum seekers in Thailand from being forcibly returned to authorities in their home country. In a letter dated May 18, the groups urged U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi to protect Vietnamese refugees and asylum seekers in Thailand who are at risk for abduction and refoulement the extradition or deportation of individuals back to their home countries by Vietnamese government agents. They referred to the case of blogger Thai, 41, who fled Vietnam in 2018 fearing political persecution for his blog posts and videos on Facebook and YouTube that criticized the government and leaders of the Vietnamese Communist Party. Thai applied for refugee status in Thailand while seeking relocation in a third country under the U.N. refugee resettlement program, but was abducted in mid-April, allegedly by security agents, and forcibly returned to Vietnam where he is being held by authorities. In another case, journalist and blogger Nhat, 58, was allegedly abducted in Thailand by Vietnamese security agents in January 2019 while seeking asylum and was subsequently sentenced by Vietnam authorities to 10 years in prison for abusing his position and power while on duty. Nhat had been a weekly contributor to Radio Free Asia until his arrest. These reported abductions, followed by arbitrary detention, are a clear violation of international refugee law and human rights law, the 21 groups said in the letter. These acts of transnational repression are also conducted as a means for repressive regimes to continue to silence and threaten the freedom of expression of dissident voices, even beyond national borders. Though Thailand has served as an informal safe haven for political refugees in the region for decades, Thai law does not provide formal legal status to refugees and asylum-seekers, and the government has frequently violated the rights of refugees, according to London-based Amnesty International. The Thai government has returned refugees and asylum-seekers to countries where they face persecution, imprisonment, and other human rights violations, conflicting with the countrys s obligations under international law. The rights groups called on the U.N.s refugee office, or UNHCR, to pay closer attention to their cases and conduct assessments of all Vietnamese asylum seekers and those granted refugee status to determine the risks of physical attacks, abductions and illegal transfers to Vietnam they could face, and to implement protective measures. The organizations, which include PEN America, Safeguard Defenders, and Reporters Without Borders, also urged the UNHCR to accelerate the third-country resettlement procedures for refugees so they have a safe alternative to staying in Thailand or being forcibly returned to Vietnam. They also demanded that the UNHCR call on the Vietnamese government to immediately release Thai, Nhat, and other asylum seekers and human rights defenders who were previously abducted in a foreign country. Edited by Paul Eckert. The European Unions former high representative for foreign affairs and security policy, Catherine Ashton, has defended the blocs initial response after Russia occupied Crimea in 2014, but acknowledged we did not know then what we know now and said subsequent policy did not sufficiently prioritize what was happening in Ukraine. She also urged Balkan neighbors Serbia and Kosovo to get round the table and find answers to lingering differences preventing normalized relations between Belgrade and Pristina, a full decade after the so-called Brussels agreement that she helped forge. In an exclusive interview with RFE/RLs Balkan Service, Ashton underscored the Western Balkan countries eventual suitability for EU membership and the added challenge of Russian engagement in the region. We were always aware of Russias influence and engagement in the Western Balkans, she said. The events in Ukraine have brought that more into view. Ashton was the EUs first-ever high representative, serving as the blocs chief foreign and security policy coordinator and envoy from 2009-14. Russia covertly occupied the Crimean Peninsula and annexed it in 2014 in a move overwhelmingly rejected by the United Nations, and a simmering conflict waged by Russia-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine escalated into a full-scale Russian invasion in February 2022. The European Union and the United States led a sanctions push particularly after the downing of a Malaysian airliner over eastern Ukraine in July 2014 to punish Russia, the ruble, and perceived proxy fighters in Ukraine. But critics have accused the West of underestimating the threat to international order and UN-recognized borders for years from Russian President Vladimir Putin, particularly in what Moscow regards as its near abroad. We did react at the time, imposing sanctions on Russia and trying to get negotiations moving, Ashton said. Hindsight is always difficult. We did not know then what we know now; however, in the intervening years, what was happening in Ukraine was not as high on the agenda as it should have been, in my opinion. Ashton published her memoirs -- titled And Then What? Inside Stories Of 21st-Century Diplomacy -- in February. Speaking to RFE/RL, she drew a sharp distinction between the challenge of China, which has grown considerably for European policymakers, and the situation with Russia. Chinese President Xi Jinping asserted a no-limits partnership with Russia weeks before Russias all-out invasion of Ukraine in 2022, and Beijing has urged peace but declined to directly criticize Moscow publicly. I hope that we will see more effort put into developing a strategic approach to China that recognizes the connections and the concerns, Ashton said. I recall that China played a role with the rest of the P5+1 in the Iran [nuclear] negotiations, and my hope would be that China would seek to play a positive role in the multilateral system we need to take care of. In the former Yugoslavia, Ashton was essential to an apparent breakthrough in Brussels in 2013 that provided a road map toward normalized relations between Serbia and its majority ethnic Albanian former province, Kosovo, which declared independence in 2008. A decade later, Belgrade still refuses to recognize Kosovar sovereignty while blocking its membership in international institutions. Serbias populist President Aleksandar Vucic has leveraged regional might to pursue closer relations with Moscow and Beijing, and outsiders accuse him of increasingly authoritarian leadership that damages Serbians desire for EU membership. Kosovos prime minister, Albin Kurti, has toughened Pristinas stance on a number of bilateral issues since taking over in 2020, pledging reciprocity, and is frequently critical of Western attempts at mediation. Ashton played down a question about Washington and Brussels vying for influence in the Balkans, saying that its not about who has more power, its about the power of working together. She conceded that there is concern across the [Balkan] region that the EU is not as enthusiastic as it was once for enlargement. Yet there is no question that the countries of the Western Balkans belong inside the EU. But there is a lot to be done by those countries who want to be part of the EU, and some of the lack of enthusiasm is because of the lack of progress being made by those who want to be members, she said. It is not an easy journey, but a journey well worth making. Ashton stressed democracy, human rights, and rule of law as central guiding principles and part of the ongoing dialogue. Among the lessons of her diplomatic years, Ashton stressed to RFE/RL the need for compromise and good negotiators whose drip, drip efforts enable solutions. It is not just the role of the EU to push forward with the Western Balkans, it is also down to each country to determine that it will make the changes necessary to deal with all the issues that are necessary to become a member of the EU, she said. So I hope we will see more done by everyone to address these challenges. 8 A framed picture of political prisoner Vitold Ashurak was also placed in the square. Ashurak, a member of several Belarusian NGOs, including For Freedom, was sentenced to a five-year prison term behind closed doors "because of the threat to state security." He died from cardiac arrest while in prison. Gift this article Share this article paywall-free. Sunday, May 21 marked the 100-year anniversary of Linn County Sheriff William James Dunlaps death in the line of duty. When Dunlap was killed on May 21, 1923, he had only been sworn in as sheriff for 11 months, having replaced Sheriff Charles Kendall who was also shot and killed in the line of duty. According to the Linn County Sheriffs Office, Dunlap had no prior law enforcement experience and was a farmer before being appointed sheriff and later elected to the position. You didnt really need law enforcement experience back then to be sheriff, according to Cory Frye. Frye is a former Corvallis Gazette-Times and Albany Democrat-Herald editor and author of Murder in Linn County, Oregon: The True Story of the Legendary Plainview Killings." The book dives into the two back-to-back murders of the Linn County sheriffs. While writing his book, Frye said he wasnt able to connect with any of Dunlaps descendants. However, after the book was published in 2016, family members reached out to him, expressing their enjoyment of the book. A shootout over a stolen car The May 21, 1923 edition of the Gazette-Times said two suspects stole a Maxwell car from in front of a Harrisburg church. After hearing about the theft, Dunlap and his wife tracked down the suspects in a personal vehicle while a deputy followed on motorcycle. Dunlap confronted the suspects and told them he was going to have to arrest them. He got into the backseat of the stolen vehicle, but the men had no intention of turning themselves in. Parker and Johnson sped toward Albany with Dunlap in the backseat while Dunlaps wife and the deputy followed behind. At some point, Parker, in the front seat, whipped a revolver around over his shoulder and fired, the bullet striking the sheriff in the right side just above the liver. Dunlap tumbled out of the car before hopping in the side car of the deputys motorcycle to continue in pursuit of the stolen car. Gazette-Times reporting said Johnson, who initially used a fake name and is referred to in the article as Art Beckley, was hit by a bullet and lost control of the stolen car, crashing into a woodpile. The suspects then fled on foot and Dunlap and the deputy chased after. Dunlap fell back as his wound bled heavily. Parker and Johnson were eventually captured. Parker was executed by hanging after he was convicted of Dunlaps murder, and Johnson escaped from jail and was never found. Dunlap died the day after the shooting. Mr. Dunlap has made an efficient sheriff, having done much to clean up Linn County in recent months, and grief at his passing in this way is universal, the Gazette-Times article said. TBILISI -- Since the launch of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine last year, Georgia's government has tried to walk a thin line: to maintain its strong ties to the West while at the same time avoiding the wrath of a Russia on the warpath. Now, the balancing act is facing its greatest challenge yet. On May 10, Russia unexpectedly announced that it would restore direct flights to Georgia -- after suspending them in 2019 -- and cancel visa requirements for Georgians visiting Russia. Over a week later, on May 19, the first flight arrived from Moscow to Tbilisi's airport on Russia's Azimuth Airlines. Passengers on the inaugural flight, including some prominent Georgian pro-Russian activists as well as ordinary tourists, were greeted by a media scrum and hundreds of protesters. The government of the ruling Georgian Dream party, which has faced accusations of appeasing Russia and failing to sufficiently support Ukraine, has argued the resumption of direct flights will boost tourism revenues and make life easier for Georgians who need to travel to Russia. It has sought to allay Western concerns by emphasizing that economic ties with Russia don't contradict the spirit of its relationship to the West and that they shouldn't affect the country's bid to join the European Union. But it hasn't convinced Brussels. "We regret Georgia's decisions to restart flights to and from Russia," EU spokesman Peter Stano said in a May 16 press briefing. The move "raises concerns about Georgia's EU path and Georgia's commitment to align with the EU decisions in foreign policy" that it had already undertaken when it signed an Association Agreement with the body in 2014, Stano added. Georgian officials have complained that they are facing a double standard compared to other Western-friendly countries that still have direct flights to and from Russia, including Armenia, Azerbaijan, Turkey, and Israel. Moscow unilaterally canceled direct flights to Georgia in 2019 in retaliation against anti-Russian protests that year. At the time, the EU and U.S. criticized Russia for the move. Now, criticism of Georgia for accepting the flights amounts to a "demand that Russia sanction Georgia again," in the words of parliamentary speaker Shalva Papuashvili. Georgian officials have argued they are only allowing unsanctioned airlines to carry out the flights and so they are not violating Western sanctions. But EU officials say that misses the point, and that the situation has changed since 2019: the EU banned all flights to and from Russia in response to the war in Ukraine and expects its partner countries to do the same. "Each country in the EU accession process, or aspiring to become part of it, is expected to progressively align with our foreign policy decisions and actions," Stano told RFE/RL in e-mailed comments. "In the case of countries with a clear [EU] perspective, we expect real concrete actions." WATCH: Hundreds gathered at the main airport in Tbilisi on May 19 to protest the return of direct flights from Russia. Georgia applied for EU candidate status shortly after the start of the Ukraine war in February 2022, along with Ukraine and Moldova. While those two latter countries were awarded candidate status in June 2022, Georgia was instead given an EU "perspective" and a list of reforms it should implement. This fall, the EU will decide, based on its perception of the progress Georgia has made on those reforms, whether to award it candidate status. Asked about the perception of double standards, Stano said Georgia itself had asked for higher standards. "Armenia is not aspiring for EU membership, but Georgia is and wants to get candidate status from the EU -- well, for that they have to show how they stand up for EU values and principles," he said. Taken alone, accepting Russia's offer on flights and visas might not have been seen as alarming, but it comes as the Georgian government is already under heavy scrutiny for other anti-Western moves, said one Western diplomat in Tbilisi who requested anonymity so as to be able to speak more frankly. Most significantly, the government recently proposed a bill that would designate media and organizations taking funding from abroad as "foreign agents," against the strong objections from Washington and Brussels. It backed down only after large protests against the bills. "The international community sees this as not an isolated case but within the overall context," the diplomat said. "There are legitimate concerns about Georgia's foreign policy orientation, and when you are looking for signs about that orientation, this is a bad sign." Georgian officials have publicly downplayed the foreign policy implications of the move and instead focused on the economic benefits, claiming the resumption of flights could bring in up to $400 million a year to the country's tourism-reliant economy. Officials from the Georgian Dream party appear to be motivated by mainly domestic political concerns, said Vano Abramashvili, an analyst and head of the Peace Program at the Tbilisi-based NGO Caucasian House. "Economically, Georgian Dream is happy to accept all kinds of money and whatever benefits they can get. Economic growth is part of their narrative, and [their] argument is that 'we prosper because we're at peace,'" Abramashvili told RFE/RL. The government is also hedging its bets geopolitically because it thinks that "if Russia is not winning in Ukraine, at least it is not losing. They genuinely believe this," he said. Georgians have mixed views on the resumption of the flights. A poll by the U.S.-based International Republican Institute conducted in March, when the possibility of restoring flights had already been mooted publicly, found 48 percent in favor and 46 percent opposed. When Georgian Airways, the country's flag carrier, announced on May 16 that it would start operating flights to Russia, it was met with anger on social media and protests outside its Tbilisi offices. The company hit back with a combative Facebook post defending the company's patriotic bona fides and accusing its critics of taking "foreign grants." If other countries "have the right to fly to Russia and are not included in the list of sanctioned countries, then I ask, what did little Georgia and its small airline do?" asked Tamaz Gaiashvili, the chairman of Georgian Airways, in a separate statement to the press. Russia's motivations for its gesture remain murky. After the initial announcement was made on May 10, there was no official comment by any senior officials for several days. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova was asked at a May 17 press briefing about its implications for Georgia-Russia relations and she demurred: "Our principled approach is to consistently ease the conditions for communication and contacts between residents of Russia and Georgia, in spite of the lack of diplomatic relations," she said. The decision to restore flights "is consistent with this logic," she added. Russian state media, though, ran enthusiastic stories touting the move as a step toward rapprochement between the two countries, which have not had diplomatic relations since the 2008 war over Georgia's breakaway regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia. The Russian government has been seeking to bolster support for the war in the face of waning public support, and one important narrative is that Western attempts to isolate Russia have failed. "I don't like that Georgia has stepped forward to give [Russian President Vladimir] Putin this lifeline," the Western diplomat noted. Georgian officials themselves have given mixed assessments of Russia's possible motivations. Georgian Dream head Irakli Kobakhidze said Russia's move amounts to a reward for what he called a "pragmatic" policy vis-a-vis Russia and the Ukraine war. Other officials have complained that the timing appeared to be aimed at spoiling Georgia's EU aspirations. "With this step, Russia is attempting to harm Georgia's European integration path by projecting the image that Georgia is closely cooperating with Russia," Nikoloz Samkharadze, chairman of the Georgian parliament's foreign affairs committee, told local media. The resumption of visa-free travel and direct flights was made in recognition of the fact that "Georgia's course toward Russia is as rational and as constructive as possible, taking into account Georgia's close ties with the West," Nikolai Silaev, a foreign policy analyst at the Moscow State Institute of International Relations, told RFE/RL. It is "a strong signal that Russia intends to normalize relations with Tbilisi." To Georgia's Western partners, the prospect of improved ties with Russia is alarming. Tbilisi "should be very careful about welcoming what looks to be attempts by Russia to normalize relations with Georgia," U.S. Ambassador to Georgia Kelly Degnan said at a security conference in the country's capital on May 18. "I think an important question is, why now? Why is Putin now making these concessions and these offers to Georgia? What is the price that Georgia is going to have to pay for direct flights?" Degnan said. "These are very important questions, because we all know Putin does not give anything without extracting a price." The controversial handovers of two of Russia's most revered pieces of art to the Orthodox Church leave experts wondering what may be next. This is Trinity, a Russian religious icon that was painted in the 1420s by Andrei Rublev depicting three angels visiting Abraham. In the background the Oak of Mamre places the scene in today's Hebron, a Palestinian city in the southern West Bank where a Russian monastery now stands. On May 15, the website of the Moscow Patriarchate announced that the artwork, which has been called "Russia's most famous icon," would be returned to the church after being held in Moscow's Tretyakov Gallery since 1929. Days before the Trinity icon news, on May 10, it had been announced that the silver sarcophagus of St. Aleksandr Nevsky that currently stands in St. Petersburg's Hermitage Museum would be handed over to the church for "49 years with the possibility of further extension." The memorial is set to be moved into a monastery named after Nevsky that stands some four kilometers east of the Hermitage. Patriarch Kirill, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, later thanked Russian President Vladimir Putin personally for the transfer and said, "May God help this good endeavor -- the return of sacred items -- to continue." Irina Sosnovtseva, a senior researcher at the Russian Museum and expert in ancient Russian art, says many experts are doubtful the church will be able to adequately care for the delicate treasures. "Of course, they will promise us anything now. They will say there will be excellent conditions, excellent restorers," she says. "Unfortunately the bitter experience of dealing with the Russian Orthodox Church previously shows that as soon as they receive an artwork, any guarantees they made are ignored. They stop letting restorers in and place obstacles at every step." Sosnovtseva believes the current handovers are "just the beginning" and says "after Trinity is handed back, [church officials] will simply be able to walk through the exhibition halls and say, 'Wrap this for me.'" POLICE made four arrests after attending a large brawl in a pub car park in which one man was stabbed. Officers attended The Gallows on Hangsman Lane in Laughton Common at about 7.40pm on Saturday. Several people had been injured including a man in his 40s who suffered stab wounds which are not life-threatening. Four men have been arrested in connection with the incident and bailed pending further enquiries. They are: A 30-year-old Rotherham man on suspicion of assault occasioning actual bodily harm and violent disorder A 21-year-old Doncaster man on suspicion of Section 18 assault A 51-year-old Rotherham man on suspicion of violent disorder A 26-year-old Doncaster man on suspicion of violent disorder Detectives are keen to hear from anyone who had been attending a baby shower at the pub at the time and may hold information about the fight. A South Yorkshire Police spokesperson said: If you witnessed the disorder, or know anything that could help, please contact us using live chat, our online portal or by calling 101 quoting incident number 969 of May 20. If you live locally, or were driving past the pub at the time, and have dashcam or CCTV footage that may be helpful, you can email it to enquiries@southyorks.pnn.police.uk. Alternatively, if you would prefer not to give your personal details, you can stay anonymous and pass on what you know by contacting the independent charity Crimestoppers. Call their UK Contact Centre on freephone 0800 555 111 or complete a simple and secure anonymous online form at www.crimestoppers-uk.org. SYPs online portal can be found at https://smartcontact.southyorkshire.police.uk. taShi Shiimi-ya-Shiimi is widely and rightly known as the 1st Namibian diamantaire. As Founder / Managing Director of TaTe, his primary focus is centred on growing and diversifying TaTe Groups portfolio. The companys current holdings span a wide array of industries and include interests in the following sectors like diamond: Rough Trading & Manufacturing, Oil & Gas, and Real Estate. Armed with an undergraduate degree in Accounting and Finance, as well as an MBA - specialising in Strategic Planning from the USA, taShi Shiimi-ya-Shiimi worked for 3 Fortune 500 companies before venturing into the entrepreneurial world. Here, in an exclusive Interview with Rough&Polished, taShi Shiimi-ya-Shiimi spells out his goals for TaTe Diamonds, which he aims to grow into a fully integrated diamond company, right from mining to retail. Some excerpts: Many regard you as the 1st Namibian diamantaire. Can you please give us a brief background on who taShi Shiimi-ya-Shiimi is? That is very humbling to hear, Aruna. I am deeply passionate about diamonds and the magical bond people around the globe share with these beautiful gifts from mother earth. I was born and raised in Windhoek, Namibia when Namibia was under Apartheid South African rule. Like all black Namibians residing in Windhoek at the time, I lived in the black township called Katutura; specifically, in a neighbourhood called Donkerhoek (the name translates to dark corner as this part of Katutura had no streetlights at the time). Outdoor toilets, cold water showers, and dusty unpaved roads were the norm in Donkerhoek. I was fortunate enough to attend St. Pauls College, a private school, as part of the 1st group of black Namibians to be integrated into previously Whites Only schools. After high school, I moved to the United States where I completed my undergraduate and masters degrees and worked for 3 Fortune 500 companies, before venturing into the entrepreneurial world. The combination of my parents unconditional love, support, and guidance, coupled with the harsh reality of Apartheid ensured I developed a strong and indomitable spirit of resilience and perseverance regardless of the hardship or obstacles in my life. Can you tell us more about why you are regarded as the 1st Namibian diamantaire and how TaTe Diamonds came about? Historically diamond producer countries have not produced indigenous diamond companies due to the extremely high barriers to entry. Having entered the diamond industry over a decade ago and owning several companies has been a bumpy but fulfilling journey. My continued success in the industry can be attributed to many factors, including the progressive economic environment fostered by the government of the Republic of Namibia. I am the product of hard work by many stakeholders who have and continue to support me along this journey. As you know, I founded TaTe Diamonds in 2015, with the goal of building a vertically integrated Namibian-owned diamond company and competing on a global scale. I have worked tirelessly to establish TaTe Diamonds as a globally recognizable brand in the diamond industry and am happy to say we have made some major strides in this regard. I have been fortunate to develop a strong network of diamantaires stretching from Surat, Dubai, New York, Belgium, Angola, Botswana, and South Africa, over the years. Essentially in all major global diamond centres. I am blessed to have gained many mentors along the way and formed profound relationships with some prominent industry leaders in these global centres. What are the latest developments at TaTe Diamonds since our last meeting during the Covid pandemic? Despite the global shutdown, we managed to make some strides on our journey albeit not at the same pace as we had planned. At our last meeting, TaTe Diamonds had just been selected as the only Namibian-owned diamond company to be selected as a NAMDIA Client. I am humbled and happy to share that our NAMDIA Client status was renewed in 2022 for another 3-4 years. We are grateful and humbled by this continuous partnership with NAMDIA. As you know, NAMDIA only sells unaggregated Namibian rough diamonds which ensures that TaTe continues to work with only Namibian-mined natural rough diamonds. NDTC Sightholder Journey: One of the hallmarks of being a globally respected diamond company is to secure the status of being a De Beers Sightholder. This has been part of our goal and deeply embedded in our long-term strategy. As of 01 January 2023, TaTe Diamonds was selected by the Namibia Diamond Trading Company (NDTC) as a client under its newly launched Enterprise Development Program (EDP). This honour and privilege is a metamorphic milestone for us as it puts us much closer to achieving Sightholder status. Achieving this goal without the assistance of a foreign partner is a remarkable achievement for Namibia and hopefully an inspiration for young Namibian entrepreneurs endeavouring to enter the diamond industry. Can you shed some light on the NDTCs new Enterprise Development Program (EDP)? Allow me to first applaud the Honorable Minister of Mines & Energy, Mr Tom Alweendo, under whose tenure this transformative program was launched. The NDTC Board and its visionary Chief Executive, Mr Brent Eiseb, are equally to be applauded for the launch and implementation of this program. TaTe Diamonds continues to be humbled by the selection and are committed to fulfilling our part in making this program a success. This 18-month program was designed to offer Namibian-owned companies that have demonstrated broad industry experience, and technical and financial capabilities a development path towards becoming a De Beers Sightholder. Under this program, TaTe Diamonds has secured an allocation of Namibian unaggregated rough diamonds which we view and purchase during Sight Week alongside NDTC Sightholders. TaTe Diamonds has thus secured, by virtue of being a client of NDTC and a continuing NAMDIA client, a secured a constant supply of the most sought-after rough diamonds globally, which is instrumental in building a successful integrated diamond company. Our focus has now shifted towards optimizing our cutting & polishing factory operations by investing in new equipment and building a formidable production team. The EDP program requires us to process (cut and polish) the majority of our rough diamonds locally; which is also in line with our provenance philosophy of diamonds from mine to finger in Namibian hands. Have there been any developments on the jewellery front and distribution network? Yes, this is a very exciting part of our journey. In 2022, we established a new company, TaTe Jewels, in Atlanta, GA, USA. This will serve as our distribution arm for both loose polished diamonds as well as diamond jewellery in the American market. The distribution side of the business is obviously a segment in which we have limited experience but remain confident and optimistic that we will find a path to success. Lets just say we are working towards something very exciting in Atlanta in the next few monthsspecifically around single polished diamonds and jewellery pieces. That sounds like a lot of challenges for a relatively young company. What are some of the challenges you are facing? Sure, it is definitely not a walk in the park but our vision of being the 1st Namibian-owned vertically integrated diamond company keeps us laser focused. This industry is incredibly capital intensive with limited funding channels from commercial banks. As such, one is constantly challenged with being creative and explore new capital funding avenues. What are your thoughts on the protracted negotiations between De Beers and the Botswana government? I think Botswanas move to acquire a 24% stake in HB Antwerp; the establishment of NAMDIA in Namibia; and the creation of the NDTC EDP program; are all manifestations of a current trend sweeping throughout the African continent. Our leaders are looking at ways to extract more value from our natural resources and increase indigenous participation in the companies involved in our natural resources. I dont have any insight on the Botswana De Beers negotiations but from a macro level, I anticipate Namibia and other producer countries to follow suit. What has your experience been working with partners from other countries? As I mentioned earlier, I have been blessed with meeting many diamantaires over the years and developing profound mentorship relationships with some of the largest companies in the industry. There are 2 families in particular whom I constantly engage with for guidance and advice on my journey. As is the case with many businesses, TaTe has not been spared of having negative experiences with international partners. Fortunately, we have managed to part ways with incompatible partners and continue unabatedly on our journey. We continue to embrace strategic partners from all over the world and look forward to collaborating in an equitable and sustainable manner as we grow our business. What are the plans for TaTe Diamonds given your recent milestone of being selected for the NDTC EDP program? Our goal is to successfully complete the EDP program and work towards achieving Sightholder status in the shortest time possible. This is an integral step for us to continue the successful development of our distribution channel and reach our ultimate goal of being a fully integrated diamond company of indigenous origin. Aruna Gaitonde, Editor in Chief of the Asian Bureau, Rough&Polished (miningmx.com) The West had to show more resiliance supporting nations in conflict if it was to secure the minerals demanded of the current commodities supercycle. This is the view of Mark Bristow, CEO of Barrick Gold who said that violence in Sudan was unlikely to get out of control because Saudi Arabia was committed to intervention. The western world has a habit of when something doesnt work you want to leave, Bristow said in an interview last week. This is a time in history when the West has to show commitment to support the process of finding the right civilian government. River Ganga Several People have been admitted to the hospital in Serious Condition BALLIA: A Boat Carrying about 40 people capsized in the Ganga river. As per the reports, 3 people died and two dozen people are feared to be missing. The drowning people are being pulled out with the help of local people. Several people have been admitted to the hospital in serious condition. A 9:15 am on Monday morning, the boat carrying 40 people who were going to participate in Mundan at Maldepur Ganga Ghat capsized in the Ganga river. The Boat carrying passengers reached a short distance from the ghat and suddenly the boat overturned due to overloading. Seeing the boat sinking, chaos erupted in the area. The security personnel and local sailors showed promptness and rescued the drowning people from the boat. The bodies of two women have been recovered. The search for the rest is on. The police administration is engaged in rescue operations with the help of the villagers. Advertisement Notably, Huge crowd have been witnessed at Maldepur Sangamghat in Ballia due to the religious days. With the aim of earning more, the sailors fill their boats by more than capacity people which becomes the main cause of accidents. Human Milk Bank in Mohali The Milk bank will be established in the mother and child care unit of the hospital MOHALI: The First human milk bank has been set up in Mohali district of Punjab. The human milk bank is being established at Dr. BR Ambedkar State Institute of Medical Science (AIIMS) in Phase-6. It will be started in the next 2 months. The medical college has set a target to start this human milk bank in the month of August. It is necessary for a child to drink the first condensed milk of the mother within half an hour of birth, but for some health reason, many children gets deprived of this milk. This becomes the reason of malnutrition in children. Keeping this in view, human milk banks are being opened in many cities. Mother's milk is available in these banks in the same way as we go to a blood bank to collect blood. The central government and the state government provide funding for setting up such banks. Advertisement Dr. B.R. Ambedkar State Institute of Medical Science (AIIMS) Medical College is in the process of purchasing necessary machinery and equipment related for setting up a Human Milk Bank. Notably, The Milk bank will be established in the mother and child care unit of the hospital. Earlier, there was no such milk bank in the district. Although a human milk bank has been established in Chandigarh PGI. But Panchkula and Mohali, which are part of Tricity, do not have this facility so far. But now, Mohali has also got this facility. Crude oil prices pared early losses and settled higher on Monday, amid hopes the U.S. lawmakers will reach a debt ceiling deal soon and help the nation avoid a default. West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures for June settled at $71.99 a barrel, up $0.44 or about 0.6%, on the expiration day. Brent crude futures gained $0.41 or about 0.5% to $75.99 a barrel today. Edward Moya, Senior Market Analyst at OANDA says, "It might be hard for oil to make a major move if debt ceiling talks remain ongoing and before we get Tuesday's flash PMI readings for the US and Europe. Oil is wavering and that should continue as long traders await a major update with the current macro backdrop." House Speaker Kevin McCarthy has expressed hope that the Republicans and the Democrats will move to the center from their entrenched positions to raise the $31.4 trillion debt ceiling. "Our teams are talking today and we're setting (sic) to have a meeting tomorrow," McCarthy said, according to a Reuters report. "That's better than it was earlier. So, yes." For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com Market Analysis [L-R] Acting DVC: Research, Innovation and Partnerships Prof Joanna Dames; Prof Justin Jonas; DVC: Academic and Student Affairs Prof 'Mabokang Monnapula-Mapesela; and Vice-Chancellor Prof Sizwe Mabizela By Bukamuso Sebata Professor Justin Jonas, Professor of Physics and Electronics at the Rhodes University Department of Physics and Electronics, gave a lecture following his bestowal of the inaugural esteemed Vice-Chancellors Distinguished Award (2020). In attendance were family and friends, students, and the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Sizwe Mabizela. In Prof Jonas lecture, titled Karoo adventures of Ziggy Stardust, he built on his 2003 inaugural lecture on The Hazy Cosmic Jive to highlight the unprecedented growth of radio astronomy in South Africa and over Africa over the past two decades, with Rhodes University playing a significant role. He covered four main themes: the International Square Kilometre Array (SKA) Project, the African SKA site, the MeerKAT telescope, and the people involved. He began his lecture by recognising the diverse cast that made this achievement possible. He followed this by acknowledging the role white male privilege has played in his life and his contribution to the SKA Project. When his family relocated to South Africa in 1995 from the United Kingdom, they gained privileged middle-class status in the country solely based on the colour of their skin. He said that this privilege was a direct consequence of the apartheid system that disadvantaged millions and dispossessed people for the benefit of a few. Prof Jonas said, I hope that I have used this privilege to good effect during my life. The history of radio astronomy at Rhodes University goes all the way back to 1959, when the first radio telescope in Africa was established. Over time, the radio astronomy facilities expanded and by the time Prof Jonas enrolled at the University, there was a small telescope located next to the Department of Physics and Electronics. In the 1970s Rhodes University partnered with Dr George Nicholson to transform a dish abandoned by NASA into a radio telescope at the Hartebeesthoek Radio Astronomy Observatory (HartRAO) near Johannesburg. Although modest by international standards, this telescope had a unique advantage - it was the only one in Africa and also located in the southern hemisphere. Jonas and his team of students worked alongside Nicholson to contribute to the observatory by developing instrumentation, writing software, and utilising the telescope. Their efforts resulted in a map of the radio emissions from the southern sky, where the Milky Way is dominant. This was a challenging project that took a considerable amount of time, and it became a significant milestone in his journey. Prof Jonas said he is a huge fan of David Bowie, especially his album The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars. The title of his inaugural lecture was inspired by one of his favourite tracks on the album called Starman, a song he played during his lecture. The next part of the lecture focused on the SKA project. Radio astronomy is a relatively young science, starting only about a century ago when Jansky discovered radio signals originating from the Milky Way in 1933. Unlike optical astronomy, which focuses on visible light, radio astronomy allows us to observe a different universe filled with extreme physics and cold temperatures. After World War II, radar technology advancements greatly contributed to the development of radio astronomy. The need for larger instruments led to the conception of SKA, a global project requiring substantial resources and funding. The SKA consists of two types of elements: a low-frequency array and a mid-frequency array, both being extensive arrays of antennas connected with electronic and computing systems to combine the individual signals. Its purpose is to explore the universes evolution from the Big Bang to the present, tracing back the formation of stars and galaxies, studying dark matter and dark energy, and testing Einsteins theories. Doing astronomy in South Africa and Africa is significant not only for scientific progress but also for cultural and societal value. It aligns with the countrys strategy of mission-driven innovation, and leverages skills and technologies developed in various sectors, such as mining, energy, and defence. In the early 2000s, the SALT optical telescope project had begun. A workshop was held to explore the next big thing in astronomy, and Prof Jonas was persuaded to participate and proposed that South Africa join the international SKA project that was already active. The proposal was accepted by the Department of Science and Technology (DST) and the National Research Foundation (NRF) and Prof Jonas started representing South Africa on the International SKA Steering Committee. A SKA South Africa project office was established with Dr Bernie Fanaroff as Director, and Prof Jonas as technical and scientific lead. Prof Jonas presented a proposal to Cabinet on behalf of the project team in 2003, gaining support and approval to have South Africa host the SKA. After an extensive study, a suitable site for the SKA was located in the central Karoo region of the Northern Cape province. The SKA site competition led to Africa and Australia being selected as dual sites, with SKA-mid allocated to Africa. Prof Jonas described the development and construction of the MeerKAT radio telescope on the Karoo, which is a precursor instrument for SKA-mid. The MeerKAT project provided a vehicle for developing SKA technologies and also preparing scientists, engineers and technicians for the SKA. Despite initial scepticism, they secured funding for the project, and developed collegial international partnerships that provided valuable inputs to the telescope design. MeerKAT was designed and built in the Karoo using local industries, and the project was completed on time and within budget. The performance of the telescope exceeded the original specification because of design choices guided by expert opinion and a rational systems engineering methodology. The data rate produced by the MeerKAT is comparable to the entire internet bandwidth worldwide, making the operation of the telescope a significant big data challenge. They rely on South Africas largest supercomputer to analyse the data, which is stored on disk storage modules locally designed and produced. Due to electronic emissions, all the electronic equipment is buried underground in a shielded facility that serves as a protective hub for the equipment. The MeerKAT has surpassed all expectations, even capturing the best-ever image of the centre of our galaxy. Prof Jonas has been involved in the development of the SARAO Human Capital Development Program designed to foster development of scientists, engineers, and technicians for MeerKAT and the SKA, and also develop technologies related to radio astronomy. This program includes providing support for Carnarvon High School by providing science and math teachers and upgrading their facilities to benefit the surrounding towns. An important initiative close to his heart is the artisan training centre which plays a vital role in nurturing technical talent for telescope operations and also public and private enterprises in the Northern Cape. The Human Capital Development Program has led to the expansion of the South African radio astronomy community than now numbers hundreds of individuals, through support for research groups, postgraduate supervisors and student bursaries at universities. The Rhodes University Centre for Radio Astronomy Techniques and Technologies (RATT), headed by Distinguished Professor Oleg Smirnov, is one of the initiatives supported. Given his life-long achievements and their extraordinary and distinguished contribution to the intellectual work of the University, the sector, and the national and international community of scholars, Professor Justin Jonas is a well-deserved first awardee of the Vice-Chancellors Distinguished Award, a prestigious award of the highest status in the University. Source: Communications TVS posted a YoY growth in domestic sales in April 2023 while exports suffered de-growth TVS Motor Company has seen total sales (domestic + exports) improve on a YoY basis in April 2023. Total sales stood at 2,93,304 units in April 2023, up from 2,78,378 units sold in April 2022. The company however, reported a MoM de-growth in total sales which had stood at 3,05,371 units in March 2023. Total domestic sales stood at 2,32,956 units in April 2023, up 29.04 percent from 1,80,533 units sold in April 2022. This was a 52,423 units volume growth. It was TVS Jupiter that once again led the domestic sales list while TVS Star City 125 saw the most exports to global markets in the past month. TVS Sales Breakup April 2023 TVS Jupiter scooter topped the domestic sales list with 59,583 units sold in the past month, down 2.25 percent over 60,957 units sold in April 2022. The Jupiter scooter was at No. 2 on the list of top 10 scooter sales last month, second to the Honda Activa. The Jupiter commands a 25.58 percent share in the company lineup. TVS Apache has seen YoY growth to 38,148 units in April 2023, up 419.59 percent when compared to 7,342 units sold in April 2022. Volume growth stood at 30,806 units. It was followed by the TVS XL moped, sales of which dipped 9.94 percent YoY to 34,925 units, from 38,780 units sold in April 2022. TVS Raider has seen the highest YoY growth in April 2023 as sales improved by 828.39 percent from 3,392 units sold in April 2022 to 31,491 units in the past month. In April 2023, the company also introduced a new base variant called the Raider Single Seat variant while the drum variant was discontinued. TVS Ntorq (26,730 units) and Sport (18,472 units) came in next in terms of domestic sales, both posting YoY growth of 5.79 percent and 42.15 percent respectively. Sales of the Radeon dipped 19.39 percent to 9,375 units last month from 11,630 units sold in April 2023 while iQube sales improved by 338.52 percent to 6,227 units in April 2023 from 1,420 units sold in April 2022. TVS Motor models such as the Star City (4,627 units), Pep+ (2,136 units), Zest (918 units) and RR310 (324 units) each saw YoY degrowth in April 2023. TVS Export YoY de-growth in April 2023 Total exports of the company dipped by 38.32 percent in April 2023 to 60,348 units. This was down from 97,843 units sold in April 2022 relating to a 37,495 unit volume de-growth. Most models in the company lineup ended up in the red. TVS Star City 125 was the most exported model last month with 23,910 units shipped. This was a YoY de-growth of 36.94 percent from 37,919 units exported in April 2022. Star City exports also fell by 58.64 percent to 11,936 units last month from 28.860 units exported in April 2022. Ntorq sales improved YoY by 176.97 percent to 7,276 units from 2,627 units exported in April 2022. However, Apache exports fell by 55.04 percent to 5,292 units from 11,771 units exported in April 2022. Good demand was seen for the TVS Jupiter in global markets with 3,548 units shipped in the past month, up 5531.75 percent when compared to just 63 units exported in April 2022. Exports of Raider (3,024 units) and Sport (2,754 units) dipped YoY by 66.92 percent and 54.12 percent respectively. Victor (1,440 units) and Wego (1,078 units) posted YoY growth while Radeon (80 units) and RR310 (10 units) saw exports fall on a YoY basis. Chula Vista taxpayers are on the hook for $225,000 for a settlement involving two people in a federal law enforcement task force. Chula Vista paid $225,000 to settle a lawsuit of an employee it didnt hire and cant fire. The situation comes from a little-known federal law enforcement task force called High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area, or HIDTA. The federally funded program allows local agencies to join drug enforcement task forces. In Chula Vistas case, the city was an administrative agent, meaning it managed federal money to pay salaries, leases, and other administrative costs. So technically, HIDTA members are Chula Vista employees. Advertisement Unfortunately for Chula Vista taxpayers, that arrangement meant that the city was liable when one HIDTA member was accused of sexually harassing a woman and retaliating against another HIDTA employee who reported the alleged harassment. When the employee sued, the federal government got itself dismissed from the case and left the city to defend itself, said City Attorney Glen Googins. The city doesnt hire, manage or discipline HIDTA program employees, he said. It merely pays them as a local fiscal agent for the HIDTA program. We value the HIDTA program, but we are not happy with how the federal government left us holding the bag for a problem we didnt create. HIDTA did not respond to an email asking them about the lawsuit and the settlement. The lawsuit accused HIDTA director Ralph Partridge of sexually harassing a woman and retaliating against another HIDTA employee, Tommy LaNier, who reported his alleged misconduct. LaNier sued the city, claiming Partridge falsely claimed LaNier falsified travel expenses during a trip to Puerto Rico and was forced to resign and give up his $115,000 salary. Chula Vista did not hire Partridge or LaNier, nor does it have disciplinary oversight. Partridge still works for HIDTA and remains on the Chula Vista payroll. The city agreed to settle the lawsuit for $225,000 in January 2018. LaNiers lawyer, Richard Lynn, declined to talk about the lawsuit or the settlement. Lynn also represented the woman who accused Partridge of sexual harassment, Valerie Taylor. Taylor also sued Chula Vista, claiming Partridge harassed her by telling her about how big his penis is, asking for hugs, and nearly driving into her while Taylor walked in her neighborhood in January 2013. When Taylor spoke out about Partridges behavior, Partrirdge allegedly told a supervisor that Taylor should be fired. Taylors position was terminated and she was allowed to reapply for a lower-paying job, according to the complaint. Chula Vista was dismissed from Taylors case because she wasnt on the citys payroll. Instead, Taylor worked for a nonprofit called Californians for Drug Free Youth, another regional partner of the HIDTA taskforce, according to Lynn. Taylor settled with the nonprofit for an undisclosed amount. The nonprofit did not respond to a voicemail seeking comment about the case and the settlement. Chula Vista, frustrated by having to pay for something it believes it had no control over, has taken steps to make sure it is not on the hook for another HIDTA-related lawsuit. Since the LaNier lawsuit, the city renegotiated its contract with HIDTA to make sure it is included in HIDTAs insurance policy. The city also is trying to get some of the $225,000 back by filing a claim against the insurance company, arguing it should have been covered as a participating agency of the program. We made a business decision to settle the case, but we are not done, Googins said. We intend to raise the issue up the chain with the federal authorities, and we are now seeking reimbursement from the HIDTA program insurance company. Contact Gustavo Solis via Email or Twitter Indonesias Minister of Communications and Information was arrested for corruption charges related to nationwide 4G base station deployment projects, allegedly costing the state IDR8.32 trillion (US$559 million). Indonesia Business Post reported, the Attorney Generals Office stated Minister Johnny Plate had been detained and was central to this corruption scandal. The charges relate to the Base Transceiver Station (BTS) phase two project in 2021 and 2022, which aimed to deliver connectivity to 7,904 remote villages. The project has yet to be completed, the budget overran IDR17.3 trillion and only 985 base stations were built out of the 4,000 expected. Initially, the Attorney general expected a loss of IDR1 trillion, but the figure inflated to IDR 8.32 trillion upon further investigation by the Financial and Development Supervisory Agency. There is sufficient evidence that the [Plate] was allegedly involved in the criminal act of corruption in the 4G BTS infrastructure development project, said Kuntadi, Attorney for Special Crime of the Attorney General's Office. Indonesia Business Post reported Plate had assets totalling IDR172 billion in 2019 when he took his former role. This increased to IDR191.2 billion in 2020 and the minister did not disclose his assets in 2022. A replacement for Plate is currently underway. Inostrancevia was a tiger-sized, saber-toothed gorgonopsian that lived on the supercontinent Pangea during the Permian period, approximately 252 million years ago. The new fossil discovery in South Africa suggests that Inostrancevia migrated 11,300 km (7,000 miles) across Pangea, filling a gap in a faraway ecosystem that had lost its top predators, before going extinct itself. All the big top predators in the Late Permian in South Africa went extinct well before the end-Permian mass extinction, said Dr. Pia Viglietti, a paleontologist at the Field Museum of Natural History and the University of the Witwatersrand. We learned that this vacancy in the niche was occupied, for a brief period, by Inostrancevia. Inostrancevia was a gorgonopsian, a group of proto-mammals that included the first saber-toothed predators on the planet. The animal was about the size of a tiger and likely had skin like an elephant or a rhino. While vaguely reptilian in appearance, it was part of the group of animals that includes modern mammals. Prior to the new study, Inostrancevia had only ever been found in Eastern Europe. But while examining the fossil record of South Africas Karoo Basin, the authors identified the fossils of two large predatory animals that were different from those normally found in the region. The fossils themselves were quite unexpected. Its not clear how they made it from whats now Eastern Europe, or how long it took them to cross Pangea and arrive in whats now South Africa, Dr. Viglietti said. But being far from home was just one element of what made the fossils special. When we reviewed the ranges and ages of the other top predators normally found in the area, the rubidgeine gorgonopsians, with these Inostrancevia fossils, we found something quite exciting. The local carnivores actually went extinct quite a bit before even the main extinction that we see in the Karoo by the time the extinction begins in other animals, theyre gone. The arrival of Inostrancevia from 11,300 km away and its subsequent extinction indicates that these top predators were canaries in the coal mine for the larger extinction event to come. This shows that the South African Karoo Basin continues to produce critical data for understanding the most catastrophic mass extinction in Earths history, said University of the Witwatersrands Professor Jennifer Botha. We have shown that the shift in which groups of animals occupied apex predator roles occurred four times over less than two million years around the Permian-Triassic mass extinction, which is unprecedented in the history of life on land, added Dr. Christian Kammerer, a paleontologist at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences and the Field Museum of Natural History. This underlines how extreme this crisis was, with even fundamental roles in ecosystems in extreme flux. The vulnerability of these top predators matches what we see today. Apex predators in modern environments tend to show high extinction risk, and tend to be among the first species that are locally extirpated due to human-mediated activities such as hunting or habitat destruction, Dr. Kammerer said. Think about wolves in Europe or tigers in Asia, species which tend to be slow to reproduce and grow and require large geographic areas to roam and hunt prey, and which are now absent from most of their historic ranges. We should expect that ancient apex predators would have had similar vulnerabilities, and would be among the species that first go extinct during mass extinction events. The study was published online today in the journal Current Biology. _____ Christian F. Kammerer et al. Rapid turnover of top predators in African terrestrial faunas around the Permian-Triassic mass extinction. Current Biology, published online May 22, 2023; doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2023.04.007 Up to two-thirds of the soot above the central Amazon rainforest originates in Africa. These are the results of a study that has now been published in Nature Communications Earth and Environment. Under the leadership of the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry in Mainz and the University of Sao Paulo, researchers differentiate soot particles using their relative properties and attribute them to their respective points of origin. They found that bush fires and burning savannah in the north and south of Africa make a substantial contribution to air pollution in the central Amazon all year round, thereby playing an important role in the earth radiation budget and water cycle. This is caused by the efficient transatlantic transport of particles through the atmosphere. The Brazilian rainforest is one of the world's few continental regions with clean air. However, this is only true during the wet season, when the concentration of particulate matter is very low. During the dry season, it's a different story: numerous deforestation fires burn within the Amazon rainforest, as an "arc of deforestation" eats into the rainforest from the south. Soot and other emissions from the fires lead to a drastic reduction in air quality at this time of year. The air quality in the central Amazon at this time is no better than that in urban European conurbations. The concentration of soot particles in the atmosphere above the forest canopy fluctuates between very low and very high. For the first time, a research team has investigated the origins of the soot particles. They made a surprising discovery: a large number of the particles do not originate in South America; instead, they travel with air masses around 10,000 kilometres from Africa over the Atlantic, stemming from natural bush fires, slash and burn practices, and the combustion of biomass, such as for cooking. "Smoke from Africa can be found virtually all year long in large amounts above the rainforest -- we had not expected this," explains Bruna Holanda, who led the study as a doctoral researcher at the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry. "We had estimated the amount of smoke from Africa would be around 5 or perhaps 15 percent. As it turns out, sometimes it reached as high as 60 percent." According to the atmospheric physicist, this value demonstrates the efficiency of the atmospheric transport of soot and aerosol particles via air masses from Africa to South America. Soot particles from Africa and South America are physically and chemically distinct from one another In order to attribute the soot above the Amazon to various sources, the researchers analysed soot particles in the air above the Amazon over a period of two years at the Amazon Tall Tower Observatory (ATTO). The research unit is situated in a virtually untouched region in the central Amazon and, among other facilities, boasts a 325-metre observation tower. The team identified two prevailing types of soot: soot particles from Africa were considerably larger than those from the Amazon region and exhibited a lower concentration of organic material. The researchers attribute this to the fact that in Africa, the regions being burned are primarily grassland, savannah and open forests. The dryer fuel is more likely to result in flaming combustion and more soot particles. Conversely, South American fires occur in dense and moist forests. This moister fuel leads to smouldering combustion, which results in soot with a larger concentration of organic material. Using meteorological data such as the main wind field and satellite imagery, in which the smoke clouds are even visible at times, Holanda and her colleagues then determined the respective source of the smoke. In this way, the researchers also ascertained that there are two periods a year when a particularly large amount of smoke travels from Africa to the Amazon: first, during the wet season from January to March, winds consistently bring soot combined with Sahara dust into the region. During this time, on average, 60 per cent of the soot particles above the Amazon originate from African fires. The air is in fact particularly clean during the wet season, because there are hardly any slash and burn fires in the region. However, at times the smoke from Africa makes the air as dirty in this season as it is during the dry season. Second, during the dry season from August to November, lots of soot from Africa can be observed in the Central Amazon. In contrast with the wet season, during this time there are many natural and human-made fires in the region, particularly in dry areas of the Amazon basin. In other regions of the Amazon, regional fires account for around two thirds of the soot pollution. However, a third of the soot in these regions originates in Africa, thereby exacerbating the otherwise already grave air pollution levels. Smoke impacts the climate and the water cycle Soot and other aerosol particles absorb and scatter sunlight, which affects the radiation or energy balance of the earth and our climate. Soot particles in particular are very active to radiation, since they absorb considerably more sunlight than they reflect, thus retaining heat in the earth system. Dust and soot particles also serve as condensation nuclei in the emergence of cloud drops. As such, they influence the formation of clouds and precipitation; in this way then, they also impact the water budget. "Our results can help to improve climate and earth system models, which have hitherto insufficiently reflected African smoke components," explains Christopher Pohlker, group leader at the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry. In his opinion, the efficiency of the transport also indicated that African smoke had already reached South America in pre-industrial times, since African vegetation that was susceptible to fire had presumably been burning for tens of thousands of years. "We suspect that soot has long played an important role in soil fertilisation and forest formation in the Amazon region, as well as in the carbon and water cycles," the atmospheric chemist continues. However, previously positive effects such as this may now become detrimental. "The deforestation rate, the number of fires, and the resulting soot in the previous years are unprecedented and could have grave consequences for regional and global climate change," Pohlker summarizes. For more than 10 years, Guoliang Huang, the Huber and Helen Croft Chair in Engineering at the University of Missouri, has been investigating the unconventional properties of "metamaterials" -- an artificial material that exhibits properties not commonly found in nature as defined by Newton's laws of motion -- in his long-term pursuit of designing an ideal metamaterial. Huang's goal is to help control the "elastic" energy waves traveling through larger structures -- such as an aircraft -- without light and small "metastructures." "For many years I've been working on the challenge of how to use mathematical mechanics to solve engineering problems," Huang said. "Conventional methods have many limitations, including size and weight. So, I've been exploring how we can find an alternative solution using a lightweight material that's small but can still control the low-frequency vibration coming from a larger structure, like an aircraft." Now, Huang's one step closer to his goal. In a new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), Huang and colleagues have developed a prototype metamaterial that uses electrical signals to control both the direction and intensity of energy waves passing through a solid material. Potential applications of his innovative design include military and commercial uses, such as controlling radar waves by directing them to scan a specific area for objects or managing vibration created by air turbulence from an aircraft in flight. "This metamaterial has odd mass density," Huang said. "So, the force and acceleration are not going in the same direction, thereby providing us with an unconventional way to customize the design of an object's structural dynamics, or properties to challenge Newton's second law." This is the first physical realization of odd mass density, Huang said. "For instance, this metamaterial could be beneficial to monitor the health of civil structures such as bridges and pipelines as active transducers by helping identify any potential damage that might be hard to see with the human eye." "Active metamaterials for realizing odd mass density," was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). Other MU contributors include Qian Wu, Xianchen Xu, Honghua Qian, Shaoyun Wang, Zheng Yan and Hongbin Ma. Grants from the Air Force Office of Scientific Research and the Army Research Office funded the research. More than 50 percent of the largest lakes in the world are losing water, according to a groundbreaking new assessment published today in Science . The key culprits are not surprising: warming climate and unsustainable human consumption. But lead author Fangfang Yao, a CIRES visiting fellow, now a climate fellow at University of Virginia, said the news is not entirely bleak. With this new method of tracking lake water storage trends and the reasons behind them, scientists can give water managers and communities insight into how to better protect critical sources of water and important regional ecosystems. "This is the first comprehensive assessment of trends and drivers of global lake water storage variability based on an array of satellites and models," Yao said. He was motivated to do the research by the environmental crises in some of Earth's largest water bodies, such as the drying of the Aral Sea between Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. So he and colleagues from the University of Colorado Boulder, Kansas State University, France, and Saudi Arabia created a technique to measure changes in water levels in nearly 2,000 of the world's biggest lakes and reservoirs, which represent 95 percent of the total lake water storage on Earth. The team combined three decades of observations from an array of satellites with models to quantify and attribute trends in lake storage globally. Globally, freshwater lakes and reservoirs store 87 percent of the planet's water, making them a valuable resource for both human and Earth ecosystems. Unlike rivers, lakes are not well monitored, yet they provide water for a large part of humanity -- even more than rivers. But despite their value, long-term trends and changes to water levels have been largely unknown -- until now. "We have pretty good information on iconic lakes like Caspian Sea, Aral Sea and Salton Sea, but if you want to say something on a global scale, you need reliable estimates of lake levels and volume," said Balaji Rajagopalan, a CIRES fellow, professor of engineering at CU Boulder, and co-author. "With this novel method we are able to provide insights into global lake level changes with a broader perspective." For the new paper, the team used 250,000 lake-area snapshots captured by satellites between 1992-2020 to survey the area of 1,972 of Earth's biggest lakes. They collected water levels from nine satellite altimeters and used long-term water levels to reduce any uncertainty. For lakes without a long-term level record, they used recent water measurements made by newer instruments on satellites. Combining recent level measurements with longer-term area measurements allowed scientists to reconstruct the volume of lakes dating back decades. The results were staggering: 53 percent of lakes globally experienced a decline in water storage. The authors compare this loss with the magnitude of 17 Lake Meads, the largest reservoir in the United States. To explain the trends in natural lakes, the team leveraged recent advancements in water use and climate modeling. Climate change and human water consumption dominated the global net decline in natural lake volume and water losses in about 100 large lakes, Yao said. "And many of the human and climate change footprints on lake water losses were previously unknown, such as the desiccations of Lake Good-e-Zareh in Afghanistan and Lake Mar Chiquita in Argentina." Lakes in both dry and wet areas of the world are losing volume. The losses in humid tropical lakes and Arctic lakes indicate more widespread drying trends than previously understood. Yao and his colleagues also assessed storage trends in reservoirs. They found that nearly two-thirds of Earth's large reservoirs experienced significant water losses. "Sedimentation dominated the global storage decline in existing reservoirs," said Ben Livneh, also a co-author, CIRES fellow, and associate professor of engineering at CU Boulder. In long-established reservoirs -- those that filled before 1992 -- sedimentation was more important than droughts and heavy rainfall years. While the majority of global lakes are shrinking, 24 percent saw significant increases in water storage. Growing lakes tend to be in underpopulated areas in the inner Tibetan Plateau and Northern Great Plains of North America and in areas with new reservoirs such as the Yangtze, Mekong, and Nile river basins. The authors estimate roughly one-quarter of the world's population, 2 billion people, resides in the basin of a drying lake, indicating an urgent need to incorporate human consumption, climate change, and sedimentation impacts into sustainable water resources management. And their research offers insight into possible solutions, Livneh said. "If human consumption is a large factor in lake water storage decline, then we can adapt and explore new policies to reduce large-scale declines." This happened in one of the lakes the team studied, Lake Sevan in Armenia. Lake Sevan has seen an increase in water storage, in the last 20 years, which the authors linked to enforcement of conservation laws on water withdrawal since the early 2000s. Across the United States over the past decade, an average of over 61,000 wildfires have burned some 7.2 million acres per year. Once a wildfire starts spreading, the firefighting task is exacerbated by issues like spot fires, where winds carry lofted sparks and start new fires outside of the original fire perimeter. The greater the potential spot fire distance, the more difficult wildfires are to monitor, control and suppress. A new study, led by University of Florida forest management researcher Victoria Donovan, found that as woody plants like shrubs and trees replace herbaceous plants like grasses, spot fires can occur farther away from the original fire perimeter. This "woody encroachment" is not only a major issue in grasslands where the study takes place, but also in wetland and savanna systems like longleaf pine, an important ecosystem in Florida. "Spot fires are one of the most common reasons why houses burn in a wildfire," said Donovan, an assistant professor with the School of Forest, Fisheries, and Geomatics Sciences at the UF/IFAS West Florida Research and Education Center in Milton, Florida. "It's not typically because the flames from wildfire reach a house, but that embers from that fire land on roofs, travel through home ventilation systems, or land on other combustible material on or near the home, and ignite the house from there. They're a big concern for structural damage." Donavan's study indicates that prescribed fire, which is commonly used in Florida to control woody plant growth, could help reduce spot fires. The study looked at three phases of woody encroachment: the first a largely grassland area, the second grassland with new forested growth, and the third a dense forest. The research was modeled using a mathematical fire simulation program and considered various conditions in Loess Canyons Experimental Landscape in south Nebraska. Donovan conducted this study as a researcher at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. "Our study shows that the risk of spot fire is much lower when you're burning under the weather conditions used for prescribed fire, regardless of encroachment phase, compared to waiting for the potentially more extreme conditions we can see during wildfires," Donovan said. "This tells us that using prescribed fire early to control encroachment and reduce fuel load is a lot safer than waiting for a wildfire to occur." The safety concerns of woody encroachment extend beyond structures and residents to also include the firefighters battling the blaze. "It is not only spot fire distance that increases wildfire risk from woody encroachment. Shrubs and trees can grow much taller than grasses," Donovan said. "Think about putting out your campfire on the ground by pouring water on it, and compare that to trying to put out a fire a couple stories above you." The concerns are universal, she said, and reveal similarities no matter the land type where the wildfires occur. "We're seeing the same kind of issue here in Florida, where fire suppression has led to a lot of encroachment of shrubs," Donovan said. "This creates these really dense forest stands rather than the open savannah systems that we would have seen historically with more frequent fire." She added that Florida has become a model for prescribed burning across the country, though there is still hesitancy among some private landowners. Donovan cautions: "Using prescribed fire as a controlling process for woody encroachment has far less risk than allowing woody encroachment and waiting for wildfire to occur." "Across the country, data has shown that fire is inevitable," she adds. "Using prescribed fire allows us to decide what we want a lot of that fire to look like." The drug valbenazine statistically improves chorea, a movement disorder commonly associated with Huntington's disease, when compared to a placebo, according to a recent international study led by UTHealth Houston researcher Erin Furr Stimming, MD, who served as principal investigator on behalf of the KINECT-HD Huntington Study Group. The study results -- which were published online today and will appear in the June 2023 print issue of The Lancet Neurology -- come one year after Furr Stimming, professor of neurology and Memorial Hermann Chair with McGovern Medical School at UTHealth Houston, presented an early abstract of the findings at the American Academy of Neurology 2022 Annual Meeting in Seattle. "Positive study results remind us there is a reason for hope," said Furr Stimming, who is also director of the Huntington's Disease Society of America Center of Excellence at UTHealth Houston Neurosciences. "Chorea associated with Huntington's disease can negatively impact quality of life and functional independence; therefore, studying additional medications to address this hallmark motor symptom is imperative." The Phase III, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled KINECT-HD study, which enrolled 128 participants, was designed to evaluate the efficacy of valbenazine as a once-daily treatment to reduce chorea associated with Huntington's disease, as well as evaluate the drug's safety and tolerability. Valbenazine is a selective vesicular monamine transporter 2 (VMAT 2) inhibitor that is not yet approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Chorea is an involuntary, irregular movement, and the cardinal motor feature of Huntington's disease. Compared with the placebo, valbenazine demonstrated a statistically significant reduction in chorea symptoms and improvement of overall chorea severity in patients with Huntington's disease. Improvement was seen as early as the second week of the study, as participants completed the lowest study dose (40 mg), with consistently greater improvement compared to the placebo in all subsequent visits, as the dose was adjusted in intervals. By the end of the 12-week trial, 82% of valbenazine-treated participants were taking 80 mg. Notably, KINECT-HD marked the first time the Huntington's Disease Health Index (HD-HI) was implemented in a Phase III trial. HD-HI is a patient-reported outcome measure designed to evaluate clinically meaningful changes in Huntington's disease function in response to therapeutic interventions. Patients who received valbenazine reported improved mobility and hand/arm function, as well as decreased burden from abnormal movements, compared to patients who received the placebo. "We are incredibly grateful to the participants and care partners for their dedication to this study," Furr Stimming said. In December 2022, biopharmaceutical company Neurocrine Biosciences submitted a supplemental New Drug Application to the FDA for valbenazine as a treatment for chorea associated with Huntington's disease. The organization is expected to respond to the submission by August 20, 2023. The results from this study were included in the filing. Huntington's disease is a rare, inherited disease that typically begins in a person's 30s or 40s, causing nerve cells in the brain to break down over time. About 40,000 people living in the U.S. have the fatal disease, while another 200,000 are at risk for inheriting the disease. No cure exists, but medications and physical, speech, and occupational therapy can help manage symptoms. KINECT-HD was conducted by the Huntington Study Group, a global not-for-profit organization, together with its wholly owned for-profit subsidiary, HSG Clinical Research, Inc., and in cooperation with the Clinical Trials Coordination Center at the University of Rochester Medical Center's Center for Health + Technology, with funding from Neurocrine Biosciences. New evidence for the presence of ancient lakes in some of the most arid regions of South Africa suggests that Stone Age humans may have been more widespread across the continent than previously thought. Research jointly led by the University of Leicester argues that more archaeological work in the interior regions of South Africa -- a country renowned for its globally-significant archaeological record -- may reveal more about our ancient ancestors and their movements. The researchers' conclusions have been published in the journal PNAS. South Africa's Stone Age archaeological record, particularly for the last 150,000 years has been the subject of a great deal of investigation, not least due to the presence of several remarkable coastal caves and rock shelter records. However, the presence of humans, and the resources available to them in the vast interior regions of the country have thus far remained much more enigmatic. New research by an international team of researchers from South Africa, the United Kingdom, the United States, and France suggests several large bodies of water were sustained in the now arid South African interior during the last Ice Age, particularly 50,000-40,000 years ago, and again 31,000 years ago. Importantly, the group were able to model how much water was required to fill these palaeo-lakes, allowing the climatic changes necessary to create lakes, and the resulting impacts on the region's hydrology, flora and fauna, to be reconstructed. Their findings paint a picture of a diverse and fertile region that would have been capable of supporting hunter-gatherer communities of the time. Team member Dr Andrew Carr from the University of Leicester School of Geography, Geology and the Environment said: "This is currently the best evidence for when these lakes existed. This region has been something of a gap on the map, climatically and archaeologically. We know humans were present at times during the last ice age, as archaeological materials are scattered across the landscape surface. This new work hints at when and why humans used this landscape. "These areas look inhospitable today, but were seemingly much less so at times in the past, and this has implications for when and how groups of people used the landscape and potentially how they were connected and exchanged ideas. "It also tells us something about the sensitivity of ecosystems and environments to global climatic change. You can see how these desert landscapes can respond in quite significant ways to global climate changes, and understand how the human species responded and how adaptable it would have been." The scientists studied three lakes from the arid western interior of South Africa to as far east as Kimberley. As well as dating shorelines using radiocarbon and luminescence dating methods, they estimated the lake sizes and capacities. Computer models of regional hydrology showed that the conditions necessary to create the studied lakes would have led to widespread changes in the region's many (presently ephemeral) rivers and lakes as the water table rose. Dr Carr added: "The next step is to start to look for sites where we can do more direct dating of the occurrence of stone tools in this region. The work shows that at times the region offered a range of resources, and the archaeological 'gap on the map' is much more likely to reflect the lack of sites preserving deep archaeological deposits. "The region is quite challenging for archaeology as most materials lie in the open on the desert surface with no stratigraphic context -- hence it's very difficult to know how long it's been there." A team of researchers has created a new supply chain model which could empower the international hydrogen renewable energy industry. Hydrogen has been touted as the clean fuel of the future; it can be generated from water and produces zero carbon emissions. However, it is currently expensive to transport over long distances, and currently no infrastructure is in place to do so. The new supply chain model, created by researchers in Australia, Singapore and Germany, successfully guides the development of international transport of hydrogen and its embodied energy. The full report was recently published in the peer-reviewed journal, , Energy Conversion and Management. Associate Professor Kaveh Khalilpour, from the University of Technology Sydney (UTS) and lead of the report, said supply chain design is critical for making hydrogen economic. "We looked at the renewable hydrogen export from Australia to Singapore, Japan, and Germany. Surprisingly, the analysis revealed that it matters whether the goal is to export 'hydrogen the atom' or 'hydrogen the energy'. Each choice leads to a different supply chain system. "Therefore, a thorough understanding of the whole system is necessary for correct decision making," said Associate Professor Khalilpour. "The abundance of renewable energy resources in Australia, as well as its stable economy, means the country can attract investments in building these green value chains in our region and even as far away as Europe." Hydrogen is expected to help diversify Australia's renewable energy resource beyond solar and wind power. This is seen as critical to the country's energy security, as well as necessary for climate change mitigation. "Hydrogen is just an energy carrier, i.e. not a primary energy source, and thus only a means to an end for transporting renewable energy from one place to another. "The key business question around the emerging hydrogen economy is whether commodities such as green hydrogen, methanol or ammonia can be exported profitably and competitively also over long distances and across the oceans, thus bringing green energy to other places in the world. "If this is so, this will also have major international energy and climate policy implications," said Professor Reinhard Madlener, co-lead of the project, from RWTH Aachen University, Germany. "Our model suggests that methanol shows great promise as a chemical carrier for exporting renewable energy from Australia at low costs," said Professor Iftekhar Karimi, from the National University of Singapore, and co-lead of the project. Plants show enormous variety in traits relevant to breeding, such as plant height, yield and resistance to pests. One of the greatest challenges in modern plant research is to identify the differences in genetic information that are responsible for this variation. A research team led by the "Crop Yield" working group at the Institute for Molecular Physiology at Heinrich Heine University Dusseldorf (HHU) and the Carnegie Institution of Science at Stanford has now developed a method to identify precisely these special differences in genetic information. Using the example of maize, they demonstrate the great potential of their method in the journal Genome Biology and present regions in the maize genome that may help to increase yields and resistance to pests during breeding. The blueprint of all organisms is encoded in their DNA. This includes the genes that encode the proteins and determine an organism's inherent characteristics. In addition, there are other important sections of the DNA, in particular the regions that control the regulation of genes, i.e. when, under which conditions and to what extent the genes are activated. Compared to the genes, however, these regulatory regions -- also known as "cis elements" -- are difficult to find. It is changes in precisely these DNA elements that are largely responsible for the differences between organisms, though -- and thus also between different plant varieties. In the past few decades, researchers have discovered that the regulatory regions are the binding sites of specific proteins. Known as transcription factors, it is these that determine when and for how long genes are activated. Co-corresponding author Dr Thomas Hartwig, who heads the Crop Yield research group at HHU's Institute for Molecular Physiology and the Max Planck Institute for Plant Breeding Research (MPIPZ) in Cologne: "Finding the few variations that are key to changing traits such as pest resistance among the millions and millions of non-causative genome differences is the ultimate search for a needle in a haystack." "Unlike protein-coding genes, regulatory sites usually cannot be identified based on the sequence alone. This makes them very difficult to pinpoint. Our method uses hybrid plants to measure the direct effects of variation in DNA sequence on transcription factor binding," says lead author Professor Dr Zhi-Yong Wang from the Carnegie Institution for Science. The study was developed in a cooperation with researchers from the Leibniz Institute of Plant Genetics and Crop Plant Research (IPK) in Gatersleben as well as the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and Iowa State University in the USA. Using hybrids, i.e. the first generation of plants created by crossbreeding two varieties, the research team can compare which regulatory regions differ across the entire genome. Co-author Dr Julia Engelhorn: "Our analytical method allows us to measure precisely whether transcription factors bind more to the maternal or paternal genome." This procedure has also enabled the team to identify thousands of differences associated with traits, such as yield and pest resistance in maize. The technology was demonstrated for a transcription factor in the brassinosteroid pathway, a hormone related to growth and disease. Institute director Professor Dr Wolf B. Frommer: "The team has identified thousands of genomic variations that can explain why one variety of maize behaves differently in terms of its yield or resistance to disease. Moreover, the team was able to show that these differences are almost equally genetic and epigenetic." The latter describes processes that influence gene activity without being encoded in the DNA sequence itself. One central result of the study is a list of more than 6,000 genome regions that can be targeted for plant breeding. These may include, regions through which positive traits are expressed in certain maize varieties that others plants lack. Hartwig: "Knowing where in the genome modern breeding methods can be applied to transfer characteristics from certain varieties to others is of great importance to biotechnology. Our study may serve as a guide on how to find these interesting genome regions." Professor Frommer adds: "The study findings lay the foundation for using modern techniques to cultivate new varieties of maize by skilfully combining the optimal variants." The study received funding through the CEPLAS Cluster of Excellence at HHU, the German Research Foundation (DFG), the Carnegie Institution for Science, the Alexander von Humboldt Professor Wolf B. Frommer, the US National Institutes of Health, and the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Tourism, Agriculture and Forestry of Saxony-Anhalt. The slightly confusing saga of Brazilian operator Oi continues. It is now seeking a huge sum of money in emergency funding. In other words, the judicial process involving the recovery plan of Brazilian service provider Oi, which seemed to be over in December, may be far from finished. Now Oi plans to seek emergency funding of at least 4 billion reais (about US$805.3 million) as well as to renegotiate debts. The companys board approved the plan last Friday. We may have to wait for more precise details of the measures Oi and its subsidiaries will adopt in order to strengthen its capital structure. However, the emergency funding will, one assumes, support the company while it carries out some of the measures provided for in the plan, including a capital increase and divestment of assets. It has already sold a number of assets but, according to local news source TeleTime, it may now sell almost everything else, including its corporate arm, Oi Solucoes and its stake in fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) wholesale unit V.tal. Quoted in the same news source, the company apparently says that the plan reflects the negotiations held to date with its main creditors and other stakeholders for debt restructuring. It adds: We continue negotiations with financial creditors and other unsecured creditors regarding the specific terms and conditions. Oi has been under judicial protection since mid-March this year. Its judicial reorganization plan was granted by Rio de Janeiros 7th Corporate Court. However, as we reported at the time, the companys board also had a 60-day deadline to submit to regulator Anatel various details of cash flow, sources of funds and financial forecasts and, notably, justification for the differences between what was realized and what was foreseen. Africa Data Centres, Africa's largest network of interconnected, carrier and cloud-neutral data centre facilities, has announced a strategic partnership with The London Internet Exchange (LINX), the UKs leading peering community, to explore growth and opportunities in current and new markets across Africa. Tesh Durvasula, CEO of Africa Data Centres, notes that the goal is to add value to local network communities, LINX membership and data centre facilities across Africa. Referring to data centres specifically, he adds: Building new facilities is the one path that Africa can take to address the growing need for storage and networking that are crucial to digitising Africa and bringing digital services to its citizens. Meanwhile, Africa Data Centres has said it is ready to begin work on a new data centre in Ghana. The company last week announced that it will shortly start construction of the data centre on its newly acquired land in the Central Business District of Accra. The facility has been designed for an initial 10MW, which can expand to 30MW. It is partially funded by the United States governments International Development Finance Corporation (DFC). The first phase is scheduled to be completed within 12 months. This data centre is part of ADCs expansion plans in ten markets across the continent, including South Africa, Zambia, Kenya, Rwanda, Egypt, Morocco, Senegal, Ivory Coast, and Angola. The Data Centre Dynamics website reports that ADC has developed, or is developing, data centres in Nairobi, Lagos, Nigeria, Accra, and Lome. It also has South African facilities in Johannesburg. The past year has seen the company announce plans for its first data centre in Kigali, and break ground on an expansion in Nairobi as well as a second data centre in Cape Town. Last April Cuban Rosa Edelis Guerra Rodriguez, 32, was forced to move, with her three minor children, into an abandoned state-owned building in the neighborhood of Pueblo Nuevo, in Trinidad, Sancti Spiritus. For four years she had asked the municipal government for assistance to secure housing, she explained to DIARIO DE CUBA. Now, Guerra Rodriguez not only receives threats from and is pressured by government officials and police agents to leave the premises, but the authorities, in violation of Cuban law, have taken her children away from her. Guerra Rodriguez, who was supposed to be a beneficiary of the government program to provide housing solutions for mothers with three or more children, is a victim of the Cuban regime's inefficiency, which fails to comply with its housing construction plans year after year. In six decades of Revolution, the regime has been unable to solve the housing problem. The law that is supposed to help solve it has been tabled more than once, but in May 2022 the National Assembly approved a Penal Code that maintains the criminalization of people (mainly mothers with their minor children), who, due to a lack of housing, or fearful that theirs will fall and crush them, occupy abandoned properties, in most cases these being state-owned. With respect to the crime of usurpation, Article 421.1 states that "whoever illegally occupies or takes possession of property belonging to another party incurs a penalty of six months to two years or a fine of 200 to 500, or both." According to Point 2, the crime is punishable by incarceration for two to five years, a fine of 500 to 1,000, or both, "if executed by using force (...)". Guerra Rodriguez has not been tried and has not been sentenced. However, authorities of the province assigned themselves the power to separate her from her minor children, in violation of the Family Code. They sent a commission composed of police and prosecutors to my mother's house and told her that they could send my children to a children's home without filial protection, because I would go to jail. They forced my mother to sign a paper saying she was responsible for my children. I haven?t seen them since," she said. Through this act, the parent's guardianship, care, and, ultimately, communication is unlawfully prevented. Article 6 of this law recognizes the right of children and adolescents to not be separated from their mothers, fathers and family "unless the competent authorities so determine in special circumstances, in accordance with the law and established procedures, taking into account the necessity, exceptionality and temporality of the measure and, at all times, in their best interest." According to Article 191, parents can only be deprived of parental responsibility (which replaced parental authority) when they a) seriously or repeatedly fail to comply with the duties set forth in Article 138 of this Code; b) mistreat, physically punish or engaging any form or violence, or any act that, in the family environment, physically or psychically injures or undermines, directly or indirectly, the child or adolescent; c) induce the child to commit a criminal act; d) abandon the child, even if he/she is under the custody and care of another person or persons; e) engage in any conduct that may be harmful to the child or adolescent; f) commit a crime against their child or g) risk the lives or physical or psychological wellbeing of their child. No mother or father can be deprived of parental responsibility for a crime that is not committed against their children, such as stealing, or even murder, unless the murder is carried out in the presence of the children, or endangers them, or when one of the two parents kills the other, as in the case of femicides. In such cases, although the act is not carried out in the presence of the minor, the perpetrator deprives him/her of their maternal or paternal figure, as the case may be. Far from mistreating or abandoning his children, Guerra Rodriguez has acted to put a roof over their heads, something that the Cuban regime penalizes. However, the police or provincial government officials are not legally authorized to deprive them of parental authority. Only the courts are, which they are to do by means of a judicial sentence. It is also the courts that are supposed to order the suspension of parental responsibility if they decide that the mother or father has committed a serious breach of their duties, or when the person suffers from a significant disability, such they receive intense support, with powers of representation having been appointed on their behalf, so long as this circumstance persists; or when the absence of one or both parents has been judicially declared, as per Article 193 of the regulation. In addition, it is against the law to coerce a person to assume responsibility for a minor, as allegedly happened with the grandmother of Rosa Edelis Guerra Rodriguez's children. If she had refused, it being voluntary to take in her grandchildren, it would have been illegal to transfer the children to a home for minors without filial protection. It is always up to the court to decide about children. Sending them to a home for children without filial protection or, in this case, to their grandmother, is contingent on the other holder of parental responsibility being unable or unwilling to exercise their parental responsibility. Article 151. 4 of the Family Code states that "for sufficiently justified reasons, and taking into account the best interests of children and adolescents, guardianship and care may be temporarily transferred to grandmothers, grandfathers, other relatives, or persons close to the family, provided that they have asked the court, or it has been shifted to them by the holders of parental responsibility (...)". Like many Cuban mothers in her situation, Guerra Rodriguez has been threatened by the police with forced eviction. "Since I've been here I have received three summons from the police to tell me that I must leave or they'll come to remove me by force," the mother told DIARIO DE CUBA. "On police citations I've been told I could go to jail for two to five years for what I did." If police officers alone remove this woman from the premises she occupies, they will be violating the provisions of Ruling 471/2023 of the People's Supreme Court of Cuba on the crime of usurpation and how to act in such cases. This regulation makes it clear that in no case do the police have exclusive powers to take measures such as eviction. Rather, they must always act in conjunction with the housing authorities, in the case of private dwellings, and the owners' administrations, or legal entities, in the case of commercial premises. "In the case of the illegitimate occupation or seizure of a dwelling, in which the owners are temporarily absent, the acting authority will immediately inform the National Revolutionary Police so that, together with the administrative bodies responsible for the housing system, territorial and urban planning, the community prevention bodies, and the municipal administrative councils, through the intendant, they may take measures aimed at promptly restoring the law broken," the ruling states. Other measures may also be resorted to; eviction is the final option. "In the carrying out of these processes, the acting authority, assisted by the National Revolutionary Police and the administrative, preventive and other bodies mentioned, shall adopt rational and proportional measures towards those persons who are not considered perpetrators, but rather are affected by their association with the perpetrator, among which minors, the elderly and others in vulnerable situations stand out." "The same procedure shall apply when the occupation or seizure occurs involving premises belonging to legal persons, in which the administrative authorities, owners of the property affected by the crime, are those responsible for redressing the legality violated, together with other groups or institutions deemed appropriate, and the National Revolutionary Police." Press Release May 22, 2023 Cayetano: E-governance can be a game-changer for the Philippines Senator Alan Peter Cayetano fully believes e-governance can be a "game-changer" in the Philippines but said both the public and private sectors should work hard together to implement it fully in the country. "We must see e-governance as a blessing to our country because it makes government services more efficient, less prone to corruption, and more inclusive," Cayetano said ahead of a committee hearing on Monday (May 22, 2023) of the Committee on Science and Technology which he heads. "But we must truly want to have e-governance if it is to become reality. We must demand it from government," he added. Cayetano said Monday's committee hearing will pursue the issue of how to modernize the country's digital infrastructure "to ensure that all Filipinos have access to affordable, quality, secure, and up-to-date information and communication technologies." This includes how the government and the private sector can work together to make sure there is reliable and affordable broadband internet service for everyone and that internet-enabled devices are made available at affordable prices. According to Cayetano, accessible and affordable internet will go a long way in leveling the playing field especially for Filipinos living in remote areas since information will be made available to them. Having said that though, Cayetano adds that there is still much work to be done in terms of easy internet access and availability but this challenge will definitely be taken on and pursued by the committee. Cayetano said there is also a need to create computer and mobile applications and online content that are "designed to enable and encourage participation, interaction, and development." Citing the often long and frustrating process of accessing government services and even financial assistance, Cayetano said the people want a simpler and more convenient way to connect with the government. "Achieving accessible and affordable access to internet service and information and communication technologies is a matter of social and economic justice. But we must also," he said. Cayetano said he believes e-governance can be a "game-changer" because it not only speeds up services but removes many avenues of corruption. "E-governance will not be a slow evolution but a quantum leap -- from slow and corruption-riddled to fast and clean processes. It will eliminate possibilities of corruption in the government's provision of services," he said. Acknowledging the big challenges that lie ahead, Cayetano nevertheless said pursuing e-governance will redound to the benefit of Filipinos for generations to come as services become more accessible, improving the lives of the people around the country. Cayetano: Game-changer ang e-governance para sa Pilipinas Buo ang paniniwala ni Senador Alan Peter Cayetano na ang e-governance ay maaaring maging "game-changer" sa Pilipinas ngunit sinabi nitong dapat magtulungan ang publiko at pribadong sektor upang ganap itong maipatupad sa bansa. "We must see e-governance as a blessing to our country because it makes government services more efficient, less prone to corruption, and more inclusive," sabi ni Cayetano bago ang pagdinig ng komite ngayong Lunes (Mayo 22, 2023) ng Committee on Science and Technology na pinamumunuan niya. "But we must truly want to have e-governance if it is to become reality. We must demand it from government," dagdag niya.. Sinabi ni Cayetano na sa pagdinig ng komite ngayong Lunes, itutulak ang usapin ng pag-modernize ng digital infrastructure ng bansa "to ensure that all Filipinos have access to affordable, quality, secure, and up-to-date information and communication technologies." Kabilang dito aniya ay kung paano magtutulungan ang gobyerno at pribadong sektor upang matiyak na mayroong maaasahan at abot-kayang broadband internet service para sa lahat, at ang mga device na may internet-enabled ay mabibili sa abot-kayang presyo. Ayon kay Cayetano, malaki ang maitutulong ng accessible at abot-kayang internet sa pag-"level up" ng playing field lalo na para sa mga Pilipinong naninirahan sa malalayong lugar. Dagdag pa ni Cayetano, marami pa ring kailangang gawin para mabigyan ng madaling pag-access sa internet ang publiko, ngunit ang hamon na ito ay tiyak na haharapin at ituloy ng komite. Sinabi ni Cayetano na kailangan ding lumikha ng mga computer at mobile application at online content na idinisenyo upang hikayatin ang pakikilahok, pakikipag-ugnayan, at pag-unlad ng mga Pilipino. Binanggit din niya ang madalas na mahaba at nakakadismayang proseso ng pag-access sa mga serbisyo ng gobyerno at maging ng tulong pinansyal, at sinabing nais ng mga tao ang isang mas simple at mas maginhawang paraan upang kumonekta sa gobyerno. "Achieving accessible and affordable access to internet service and information and communication technologies is a matter of social and economic justice," sabi niya. Naniniwala si Cayetano na ang e-governance ay maaaring maging "game-changer" dahil hindi lamang nito pinapabilis ang mga serbisyo ngunit inaalis ang maraming paraan ng katiwalian. "E-governance will not be a slow evolution but a quantum leap -- from slow and corruption-riddled to fast and clean processes. It will eliminate possibilities of corruption in the government's provision of services," aniya. Sinabi ni Cayetano na gayong malalaki ang mga hamon, ang pagtulak sa e-governance ay makabubuti sa bayan at sa mga susunod na henerasyon dahil ang mga serbisyo ay nagiging mas accessible at magpapabuti sa buhay ng mga tao sa buong bansa. On April 14, 2023, the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California entered a final consent judgment against Thomas Carter Ronk imposing injunctive relief, a five-year officer-and-director bar, a five-year penny stock bar, and a civil penalty. According to the SEC's amended complaint, Ronk was involved in three separate fraudulent schemes. First, Ronk was allegedly engaged in fraudulent promotional efforts in order to sell or assist in the sale of two microcap stocks by disseminating misstatements in newsletters. Second, the SEC alleged that Ronk made false statements to prospective investors in connection with a private stock offering. Third, according to the complaint, Ronk manipulated the price of common stock in the same two issuers for which he engaged in fraudulent promotional efforts. The SEC's amended complaint charged Ronk with violating Section 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933 (Securities Act), Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5 thereunder, and the anti-touting provision of Section 17(b) of the Securities Act. Without admitting or denying the SEC's allegations, Ronk consented to a final judgment in which he agreed to be permanently enjoined from violations of the charged provisions and agreed to a five-year officer-and-director bar and a five-year penny stock bar. He additionally agreed to pay a civil penalty of $75,000. The SEC's litigation is being handled by Christopher Dunnigan and Preethi Krishnamurthy of the New York Regional Office and is being supervised by Sheldon L. Pollock. Gift this article Share this article paywall-free. A historic Houston County landmark could soon be recognized on a national level. There is a great history here and we should not let this great American landmark go away, Steven Smith, from Friends of Dupree School, said. It needs to be saved. During a regular Houston County Commission meeting on Monday, Smith revealed to the commission that the group is on track to have the Historic Dupree School added to the National Park Services Register of Historic Places. The school, located in Ashford, was built in 1904 after Simon B. Harper, an educator in Houston County, purchased around 40 acres of land from the Hamrick family and set one acre aside for the school. Children between first and sixth grade were educated at the school, and the building featured a large classroom that could be divided into two smaller ones. All of the children who attended the school came from very humble backgrounds. Most of these kids were just sharecroppers children, Smith said. When you go back and look at the pictures from the 1930s, very few of them had shoes on. They not only went to school during the day, but they would come home and pick cotton in the afternoon. Once the school shuttered its doors in the early 1950s, the building hosted several local musical acts and held other events such as parties and reunions. In 2021, community members rallied together to form a non-profit organization called the Friends of Dupree School, with the goal of preserving the building after it had been vandalized and sustained damaged due to Hurricane Michael. Smith, a Wiregrass native, was living in Charlotte, North Carolina, at the time the group was founded. He had no intention of coming back to the area but ended up returning in order to help the organization. Smith has a special connection with the school. My beloved mother was a student of Historic Dupree School in the 1930s, and my dad is buried one mile from the school, Smith said. My grandparents also attended school there in the 1900s and my grandfather ended up working there until around 1940. Since its inception, the organization has raised over $50,000 toward the Historic Dupree School Preservation Project. Construction on the school is expected to begin soon. Outside of making repairs to the current structure, the organization has other plans for the building so its legacy will never die. We are restoring life and light to Historic Dupree School, Smith said. We want to make it a viable community center which will have a music venue, an extensive education program, a farm support program, and a cultural center. Smith hopes Houston County continues to stand behind the project. We hope that Houston County will find a way to value this great jewel you have at the crossroads of Coot Adams and Antioch Church roads, Smith said. For more information about the school and the preservation project, visit www.dupreeschool.com. In other action Monday, the county commission: Approved a resolution to vacate a portion of James Lane. Approved a resolution authorizing the issuance of a General Obligation Warrant to SmartBank. Approved budget amendment for revenue and associated expenditures relating to the Pistol Permit Grant Reimbursement Fund. Approved budget amendment to record revenues from Johnson & Johnson Opioid settlement. Approved budget amendment for Alabama Mutual Aid System pass through grants and the Strategic National Stockpile grant. Authorized chairman to negoitate purchase and sale of 172 Prevatt Road for no more than $290,000. One of the most rapidly evolving challenges to human rights is technology, warned Secretary of State Antony Blinken in a speech to Freedom House. For a time, it seemed that leaps in technology would tilt the balance of power away from human rights abusers in favor of human rights defenders. Yet, in many of the same places where human rights defenders are using technology for good, authoritarians and repressive regimes have abused technology to carry out their own transgressions. Our human rights future is going to be shaped in four key areas - the first being surveillance technology, explained Secretary Blinken: Our digital lives make us all vulnerable to new forms of surveillance tech . . . Journalists, political activists, opposition figures, human rights advocates, others across nearly every continent have been targeted with commercial spyware thats readily available to governments and nongovernmental actors alike. We know unfettered access to the internet is essential for defending human rights and human freedoms, noted Secretary Blinken. But according to Freedom House, internet censorship and shutdowns by governments are now at an all-time high: Aida Ghajars news outlet Iran Wire used the internet to receive critical information from inside Iran to do everything from documenting an accurate death toll from the repression of protests, to sharing live footage of the regimes crackdown, to gathering and disseminating reporting by its network and citizen journalists. While were working to promote access to the internet for all, were also working to address . . . online harassment, abuse, disinformation, noted Secretary Blinken. Technology and human rights are converging over artificial intelligence and biotechnologies, including genomics, warned Secretary Blinken. Advances in biotechnology have enabled genomic surveillance based on a persons DNA, potentially facilitating abuses. And weve seen some of those, for example, committed by the Peoples Republic of China against Uighurs and other minorities in Xinjiang. Were also concerned by reports of the spread of mass DNA collection to Tibet as an additional form of control and surveillance over the Tibetan population. The State Department will continue to ramp up emergency support and legal assistance to those who are out there defending human rights around the world and work with its civil society partners, like Freedom House, on how to best defend and advance human rights in the face evolving threats. Nearly ten years ago, after it became clear that the Assad regime used chemical weapons against its own civilian population, Syria agreed to and signed a number of international agreements calling for the destruction of its chemical weapons stockpile by June 2014. At the same time, Syria signed the Chemical Weapons Convention, which automatically conferred upon it membership in the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, or OPCW. Two weeks later, the UN Security Council unanimously adopted Resolution 2118, which strongly condemned the use of chemical weapons in Syria, forbidding it from the use, development, production, acquisition, stockpiling or retention of chemical weapons. Syria did at first seem to follow through on the stipulations of the agreements, but according to Izumi Nakamitsu, UN Under-Secretary-General and High Representative for Disarmament Affairs, the Assad regime has still not shed light on its chemical weapon stocks. The Assad regime has not met its obligations under the Chemical Weapons Convention and Security Council Resolution 2118, said Alternate United States Representative for Special Political Affairs at the United Nations Robert Wood. Specifically, the regime has yet to offer a fulsome accounting of its chemical weapons and is not cooperating fully, nor being transparent with the OPCW. Fulsome consultations with the OPCWs Declaration Assessment Team remain necessary because Syria will not fully disclose and verifiably eliminate its chemical weapons program, he said. According to Ms. Nakamitsu, Damascus is not cooperating with the Technical Secretariat of the OPCW, leaving identified gaps, inconsistencies, and discrepancies in the declaration on its chemical program. It has only been through the diligent and thorough efforts of the Declaration Assessment Team that the Assad regime has been forced to reveal more and more of its chemical weapons program, said Ambassador Wood. The regime also continues to thwart the Declaration Assessment Team; refusing to allow the lead technical expert to deploy to its territory and preventing full consultations from taking place for more than two years now. The United States condemns in the strongest possible terms the Assad regime for its repeated use of chemical weapons against Syrian civilians, said Ambassador Wood. We once again call on the Syrian regime to amend its Chemical Weapons Convention declarations to make them accurate and complete and to provide immediate and unfettered access to the OPCW staff as required under UN Security Council Resolution 2118. Jorgensen has served as the CEO of Boise Cascade Company since March 2020. Prior to that role, he was the company's chief operating officer responsible for overseeing the Wood Products and Building Materials Distribution divisions. Jorgensen joined Boise Cascade in 2015 after 28 years with Weyerhaeuser, where he served in various leadership roles. Morris is the Executive Vice President and Chief Operations Officer at Albertsons Companies, a role she has held since January 2018. She leads the company's retail operations, overseeing more than 2,200 stores across 34 states, and has held a variety of leadership roles in her more than 38 years in the retail grocery industry. "We are thrilled to have these two proven leaders in Idaho industry on our Board," said Lisa Grow, IDACORP and Idaho Power President and Chief Executive Officer. "Nate and Susan will offer valuable insights into how we can continue serving our customers, communities, and shareowners with reliable, affordable, clean energy." Jorgensen earned a bachelor's degree in civil and environmental engineering from the University of Wisconsin and attended the Tuck School of Business Executive Education Program at Dartmouth University. He serves on the board of directors for the American Wood Council. Morris is a graduate of Colorado State University with a degree in Social Science/Political Science. She also serves on the board of the J.A. and Kathryn Albertsons Foundation, the Food Marketing Institute, and the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco's Salt Lake City Branch Board of Directors. "Nate and Susan offer a wealth of knowledge and expertise in both operations and leadership, along with strong ties to the Idaho community," said Richard Dahl, Chairman of the Board of IDACORP and Idaho Power. "Their proven records of success while leading Boise Cascade and Albertsons are a testament to the depth of knowledge they will bring to our team." Background Information IDACORP, Inc. (NYSE: IDA), Boise, Idaho-based and formed in 1998, is a holding company comprised of Idaho Power, a regulated electric utility; IDACORP Financial, a holder of affordable housing projects and other real estate investments; and Ida-West Energy, an operator of small hydroelectric generation projects that satisfy the requirements of the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978. Idaho Power, headquartered in vibrant and fast-growing Boise, Idaho, has been a locally operated energy company since 1916. Today, it serves a 24,000-square-mile service area in Idaho and Oregon. Idaho Power's goal to provide 100% clean energy by 2045 builds on its long history as a clean-energy leader that provides reliable service at affordable prices. With 17 low-cost hydropower projects at the core of its diverse energy mix, Idaho Power's residential, business, and agricultural customers pay among the nation's lowest prices for electricity. It's 2,000 employees proudly serve more than 620,000 customers with a culture of safety first, integrity always, and respect for all. To learn more about IDACORP or Idaho Power, visit www.idacorpinc.com or www.idahopower.com. Citi reiterated its buy rating on BT Group on Monday and added the shares to its European Focus List, "because of its deep value, and as it is a clear beneficiary from improving regulatory and market conditions". The bank noted that BT is doubling down on its strategy of building and connecting fibre to the home at pace and not limiting that to any free cash flow targets, which as a result are coming under some pressure. "But this is temporary and in the meantime BT is delivering EBITDA growth, despite opex headwinds which should partly reverse from FY25 (energy)," it said. "As such the asset quality is improving, core earnings are well supported and growing, while capex is at its peak and way above any other major European telco due to BT's rapid deployment and full transparency on investment (no JVs or acquisitions of fibre)." BT replaces Deutsche Telekom on the 'European Focus List'. Citi said it continues to rate the shares at buy but has removed them from the list given the strong outperformance since March 2022 and a lack of short-term catalysts. At 1010 BST, BT shares were up 2,6% at 148.73p. Investors' focus on Tuesday would be on a raft of survey results out of the UK, euro area and US covering the month of May. S&P Global's Purchasing Managers' Indices provide a first look at activity momentum in the economy and often move financial markets. The UK and euro area PMIs were expected to show a slightly slower pace of contraction in factory activity in comparison to the month before, alongside a slightly slower pace of expansion in services. As well, at 0700 BST the UK's Office for National Statistics would release April public sector net borrowing figures. The Monetary Policy Committee's John Haskel was also due to deliver a speech, at 1545 BST. US new home sales figures for April were also scheduled for release at 1500 BST. European Central Bank vice-president, Luis de Guindos, would deliver a speech at 0815 BST. Tuesday 23 May INTERIMS Avon Protection, Benchmark Holdings , Ixico, Victorian Plumbing Group QUARTERLY PAYMENT DATE Thomaslloyd Energy Impact Trust , Thomaslloyd Energy Impact Trust QUARTERLY EX-DIVIDEND DATE Vaalco Energy, Inc (DI) INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTS Current Account (EU) (09:00) New Homes Sales (US) (15:00) Q2 Benchmark Holdings Q3 Seraphim Space Investment Trust GMS Fulcrum Utility Services Ltd. (DI) FINALS Assura , Bytes Technology Group , Bytes Technology Group , Calnex Solutions , Cranswick, Eneraqua Technologies, Engage XR Holdings (CDI), FD Technologies Public Limited Company, Helical, RS Group ANNUAL REPORT Engage XR Holdings (CDI) SPECIAL DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATE Capricorn Energy AGMS 888 Holdings (DI), Access Intelligence, Arix Bioscience , Bank of Ireland Group (CDI), Big Technologies, Centamin (DI), China Yangtze Power Co., Ltd GDR (Reg S) , CT Private Equity Trust, Empresaria Group, Epwin Group, Forterra, Fresnillo, Gresham Technologies, Gresham Technologies, Harworth Group, Hilton Food Group, Hvivo, HydrogenOne Capital Growth, IQ-AI Limited, JTC, K3 Business Technology Group, Portmeirion Group, PPHE Hotel Group Ltd, Restaurant Group, Riverstone Energy Limited , SDIC Power Holdings Co.,Ltd GDR (Reg S) , Shell , Sherborne Investors (Guernsey) C Limited NPV, The Pebble Group, Triple Point Social Housing Reit, Union Jack Oil, Wickes Group, Xeros Technology Group UK ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTS Public Sector Net Borrowing (07:00) FINAL DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATE Bridgepoint Group (Reg S) , Central Asia Metals, Lloyds Banking Group, Maven Income & Growth 4 VCT, TP Icap Group In a brief statement issued on Sunday, the Cyberspace Administration of China said that following a review of Microns products, "serious network security risks" had been found, which posed "significant risks to Chinas critical information infrastructure supply chain, affecting Chinas national security". As a result, critical national infrastructure operators have been ordered to stop buying products from Micron, Americas biggest maker of memory chips. The ruling is the latest escalation of tensions between China and the US over technology and security, with the CACs probe widely acknowledged to have been launched in retaliation to moves by Washington to limit Chinas access to key technologies. Last autumn, Washington introduced curbs on chip exports as well as banning the sale and import of new communications equipment from five Chinese companies, including Huawei and ZTE. The US Department of Commerce said the CACs decision had "no basis in fact", adding: "This action, along with recent raids and targeting of other American firms, is inconsistent with [Chinas] assertions that it is opening its markets and is committed to a transparent regulatory framework." Micron said: "We have received the CACs notice of conclusion of its review of Micron products sold in China. We are evaluating the conclusion and assessing our next steps. We look forward to continue to engage in discussions with Chinese authorities." The US Department of Commerce said it would also speak to Chinese authorities to seek further clarification. As at 0915 BST, Microns New York-listed shares were down 6% in pre-market trading, while its Frankfurt-listed shares were off 5%. Jefferies said: "Operators of Chinas critical info infrastructure (CII) should stop buying Microns products. We believe such operators will also have to replace existing Micron products. But the impact on Micron is likely small, as Microns key customers in China are CE instead of server markets, not CII players. USs likely reaction is to put more Chinese companies on the Entity List." London stocks edged higher in early trade on Monday following a positive session in Asia, with all eyes on the US as debt ceiling talks are set to continue. At 0825 BST, the FTSE 100 was up 0.2% at 7,770.95. Victoria Scholar, head of investment at Interactive Investor, said: "It is a mixed start to trade across Europe with the FTSE 100 extending Fridays gains, outperforming to log a slim gain. China-linked stocks like Burberry and Standard Chartered are at the top of the large-cap index following positive price action overnight from the Shanghai Composite and the Hang Seng. "As the US debt ceiling deadline draws closer, President Biden and House Republican speaker Kevin McCarthy are expected to hold further talks today following a phone call on Sunday as investors pray that a US default will be averted. "Meanwhile US-Sino trade tensions are escalating after Beijing banned Micron Technologies from selling semiconductors to key industries in China, a move strongly opposed by Washington. Shares in Micron are trading lower by more than 5% in Frankfurt while the Hang Seng Technology index rallied sharply." On home shores, data out earlier showed that house prices hit a fresh high in May as market conditions steadied. According to Rightmoves latest house price index, average asking prices rose by 1.8% in May, the biggest so far this year and notably higher than May 2022, when they increased by 1%. It was also a notable improvement on Aprils 0.2% increase. As a result, the average asking price of a property coming to market now stands at 372,894. Year-on-year, house prices were 1.5% higher. Sellers were increasingly confident about asking prices, Rightmove noted, as the market continued to recover from the impact of last autumns disastrous mini budget. Buyer demand was also 3% higher than in May 2019, prior to the pandemic, while agreed sales were just 3% lower. Tim Bannister, director of property science at Rightmove, said: "This months strong jump in new seller asking prices looks like a belated reaction and a sign of increasing confidence from sellers, as wed usually see such a big monthly increase earlier in the spring season. "One reason for this increased confidence may that the gloomy start-of-the-year predictions for the market are looking increasingly unlikely: more likely the market will continue to transition to a more normal activity level this year following the exceptional activity of the pandemic years. "Steadying mortgage rates and a generally more positive outlook for the economy are also contributing to more seller confidence." In corporate news, NatWest was in focus after the UK government said it has cut its stake in the bank to 38.6% via 1.26bn off-market buyback deal. BT advanced as Citi reiterated its buy rating on the shares and placed them on its European Focus List. Software firm Kainos gained as it reported a jump in full-year profit and revenue amid "robust" underlying demand. Johnson Matthey was also in the black after it signed a three-year strategic supply agreement with Hystar, a Norwegian high-tech hydrogen company, to ramp up renewable hydrogen production. Ryanair flew higher after saying it bounced back to a near-record annual profit following a "strong" post-Covid recovery. BA and Iberia owner IAG and Wizz Air also rose. On the downside, veterinary pharmaceuticals group Dechra Pharmaceuticals slumped as it warned that full-year underlying operating profit will be below guidance of 186m due to de-stocking in the US and UK. Johnson Matthey said on Monday that it has signed a three-year strategic supply agreement with Hystar , a Norwegian high-tech hydrogen company, to ramp up renewable hydrogen production. The company said this delivers on its milestone of winning at least two strategic partnerships in Hydrogen Technologies. Matthey will supply membrane electrode assemblies (MEAs), key performance-defining components for electrolysers, as part of Hystar's commercialisation ramp-up. This represents the next step in the collaboration between the two companies which began in 2021, focused on electrolyser stack development and manufacturing scale-up, using the components provided by JM and Hystar's patented cell design. As part of the collaboration, JM will supply MEAs for the Hystar PEM electrolysers to be used in the HyPilot project in Norway. The HyPilot project will verify Hystar's patented PEM technology under realistic field conditions, in collaboration with industry leaders Yara and Equinor, with end market demand driven by the trends in food production and energy security. Mark Wilson, chief executive of Hydrogen Technologies at Johnson Matthey, said: "This strategic agreement with Hystar is an important endorsement of JM's electrolyser technology, manufacturing capability, supply chain access and our circularity offering. "Partnerships such as this that bring together complementary capabilities and strengths of different organisations are essential to the development of the hydrogen economy." Highlights Loan will co-finance upgrade of the heat generation and distribution system in the city of Brno, reducing emissions and the dependence on gas imports Project includes construction of a new biomass-fired CHP unit, which will improve security, efficiency, and flexibility of heat supply The European Investment Bank (EIB) has signed an agreement with Teplarny Brno for a 75 million loan to co-finance the upgrade of the heat generation and distribution system in the City of Brno, in the Czech Republic. The project includes construction of a combined heat and power biomass unit (CHP) fuelled by wood chips, which will contribute to the reduction of greenhouse-gas emissions and pollution. Teplarny Brno is a utility company that generates and supplies heating to the city of Brno as well as electricity to the national grid. In addition to the construction of a biomass unit, the company will use EIB's financing for the modernisation of 5 km of pipelines and the construction of 5.5 km of new ones, as well as the modernisation of 16 transfer stations and construction of 105 new ones. The upgraded infrastructure will lower network losses and allow the connection of new customers to the grid. "Today's agreement highlights the EIB's unwavering commitment to support a just transition to a low-carbon economy," EIB Vice-President Lilyana Pavlova said. "The switch away from gas to renewable sources, like biomass, is a critical priority not just for the future of our planet and public health, but also to safeguard the security and affordability of our energy supply. It is also a great example how the EU Bank is supporting cohesion policy." The 15-year loan signed today will support the phase out of the use of gas for heating in the Czech Republic's second biggest city. It will also help the country meet the targets of its National Energy and Climate Plan. Upgrading energy distribution networks to limit losses and incorporate more generation from renewables is a key priority for the EIB. "The city of Brno, as the owner of Teplarny Brno, welcomes today's signing of the loan agreement with the EIB, which will primarily enable the financing of the modernization of the heat production and distribution system in our city," said the Mayor of Brno, Marketa Vankova. "This is another important step towards Brno's gradual weaning from dependence on gas." The financing will benefit a less developed EU region in terms of per-capita-GDP, supporting the EIB's policy priority to promote equitable growth and territorial cohesion in our Union. The project is also part of the EIB's contribution to the REPowerEU plan of eliminating Europe's dependence on fossil-fuels. "We are thrilled to have such an important partner as the EIB for the financing of our first truly green project, which is the construction of a biomass source for the production of heat and electricity from wood chips," said Petr Fajmon, CEO of Teplarny Brno. About the European Investment Bank The EIB finance sound investments that contribute to EU policy goals, including social and territorial cohesion, and the just transition to climate neutrality. We support projects in infrastructure, innovation, climate and environment, and small and medium-sized enterprises. In 2022, the EIB signed 1.85 billion in new financing for projects in the Czech Republic. Contact India's domestic tourism growth will continue to be strong and will be further fuelled by inbound travels through the country's presidency of G20, conferences and exhibitions that are now increasingly held here, according to Thomas Cook (India) Chairman and Managing Director Madhavan Menon. On the other hand, long-haul outbound travels from India are also expected to pick up with the onset of summer in Europe and the US, he told. "Domestic tourism is here to stay and the reality is that we're going to see more and more activity in the domestic space without a doubt," Menon said when asked if the strong growth in domestic tourism witnessed post COVID would sustain. One of the main reasons for the surge in domestic tourism is the changed consumer behaviour after the pandemic, believing in living for today and not worrying about tomorrow, coupled with their strong confidence in the economy, he added. "The pandemic has brought about a change in human behaviour. You're seeing more people operate from home. The tendency to spend more time with the family has increased, as a result of which the need to take frequent breaks is what the domestic market is driving," Menon said. He further said,"Now, my expectation is that people earlier would have done one international trip and maybe another domestic trip. It has completely changed. We're now talking of multiple domestic trips, even short weekend (trips)". Menon, however, added,"But that doesn't take away from the fact that you will see Indians travelling both short-haul and long-haul. I think we are witnessing the so-called saver becoming a spender is another important thing." All of this, he said, "stems from one fact of their confidence in the economy. This is not coming from anywhere. It is not just pandemic driven. It is also the fact that people are confident that the economy is growing, their jobs are secure, and they expect that things will improve from here". The rapid development of infrastructure, building of more airports and hotels across the country is also driving the growth, Menon added. Another factor that will drive India's tourism is the emergence of the country as an economic power and hosting important global events. "G20 is just one other government event, and going forward as India emerges as an economic power that it is positioning itself as, you're going to see more travel to India. I think that is going to be significant. India is going to be in the limelight and it is going to attract more tourists to India," Menon said. The other important segment with a lot of activity is international travel to India to attend government conferences and exhibitions, he added. "In the past, most people travelled to other countries to attend exhibitions. Now these exhibitions are being held in India also because we have the infrastructure to do it," Menon said, citing examples of Pragati Maidan in the national capital and the Jio World Centre in Mumbai. When asked about outbound travels from India, he said there have been a lot of short-haul travels of up to three-and half-hours to destinations like Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Mauritius, Malaysia and Thailand. "The longer-haul is only starting now because it was winter through January to March in Europe and the fact that visas were not easy to obtain," Menon said, adding a spike in long-haul travel was expected in the ongoing quarter. "An outlier that we witnessed in the first quarter was travels to Japan and Korea. We used to send on average 200 passengers at the most every year to Japan. This year we've seen close to 1,300 passengers travelling during a month to Japan. So we are seeing different trends," he added. Overall, he said group travel, which was slow to take off, is now picking up and customised travel is growing in all segments without exception. The Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT Madras) incubated Deep Tech Start-up TuTr Hyperloop is collaborating with the Institute on developing Intellectual property (IP) in hyperloop technology. The start-up has also partnered with Tata Steel to jointly work on the development and deployment of Hyperloop technology at scale. The start-up is presently finalising an MoU with a major Indian Engineering, Procurement and Construction Services company to work together to create and develop the Infrastructure and Systems for Hyperloop technology. Towards these, TuTr Hyperloop has entered into an IP Agreement recently with IIT Madras. TuTr Hyperloop is a deep-tech startup operating from National Centre for Combustion Research and Development (NCCRD), IIT Madras, in 2022 to carry forward the work done by CFI Team Avishkar and focus on commercialising hyperloop technologies. The mission for TuTr is to deliver customers fast and reliable on-demand transportation that is both affordable and greener in comparison with other modes of transport. TuTr seeks to leverage its partnership with IIT Madras and its co-location with Indias largest deep tech ecosystem to catalyse the development of cost-effective Hyperloop technologies. Further, Professor Satyanarayanan Chakravarthy, who is also a faculty in the Department of Aerospace Engineering Department, IIT Madras, added, The initial focus will be on cargo movement to enhance the productivity of various stakeholders by solving their pain points. This will be a first step towards the deployment of high-speed mobility corridors for passenger transportation across India and globally. Further, TuTr Hyperloop has recently entered into a strategic partnership with Hardt Hyperloop, a leading European hyperloop technology company, to achieve interoperable hyperloop technology between Europe and India. The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed during the visit of the Dutch Trade Mission to India in the presence of Mark Harbers, Dutch Minister of Infrastructure and Water Management, and Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, Union Minister of Jal Shakti. This collaboration aims to foster joint efforts in the development, demonstration, de-risking, and deployment of hyperloop technology. Delhivery, a logistics services provider operating in India, is investing in Vinculum, a software company that focuses on omnichannel retailing for direct-to-consumer (D2C) enterprises, brands, brand distributors, and quick commerce companies. According to the announcement, the investment marks the first phase of a potential two-stage agreement, with provisions for Delhivery to expand its shareholding within the next six months. Delhivery, however, did not disclose financial details of the investment but said the transaction is a strategic move to bolster its fulfillment capabilities. The investment is also set to create a comprehensive integrated stack, designed to cater to the complete array of post-purchase needs of a D2C brand, according to the announcement. Vinculum, one of the early software companies from India, works with over 400 brands across various sectors, including FMCG, healthcare, beauty, cosmetics, fashion, and jewellery in India, Southeast Asia, and the Middle East markets. The company has been a forerunner in assisting brands in harnessing the potential of e-commerce and omnichannel retailing since its inception. Venkat Nott, founder and CEO of Vinculum Group said the investment lays the foundation for deep tech integration between both companies, tremendous collaboration opportunities, and immense business value for our customers. Founded in 2011, Delhivery claims that it works with over 27,000 direct customers, including large and small e-commerce participants, SMEs, and enterprises and brands. A strategic partnership with Vinculum strengthens Delhiverys fulfilment solution to brands, said Rajaganesh S, head of Supply Chain Solutions at Delhivery. The proposed investment is dependent on the fulfilment of closing conditions and the details of the deal are expected in the next few days. Delhivery became a unicorn in 2019 when it raised $413 million in a Series F round led by SoftBank Vision Fund, along with existing investors Carlyle Group and Fosun International. It was then valued at $1.5 billion. In December 2021, the company acquired Transition Robotics, a California-based platform for unmanned aerial system platforms, for an undisclosed amount. The move was aimed at strengthening Delhiverys capabilities across a wide range of applications, including aerial photography, remote sensing, inspection, and surveys. The investment comes about two months after SoftBank offloaded a 3.8% stake in the logistics startup for about $115.67 million. The buyers of the shares include the Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority, City of New York Group Trust, Societe Generale, BNP Paribas Arbitrage, Morgan Stanley Mauritius, and Baillie Gifford Emerging Markets Equities Fund. Tiger Global Management also sold a 1.7% stake in Delhivery in February through the open market. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- New Jerseys Freehold Raceway Mall is getting a major makeover, adding several new businesses and relocating a handful of others, NJ.com has reported. According to its website, the Route 9 shopping mall, which already houses brands like ALDO, Dicks Sporting Goods, Foot Locker, H&M, Macys and Sephora, is moving the Apple store into a larger space, next to Victorias Secret. An opening date on the new location has yet to be announced. Additionally, German grocer Lidl is expected to open in the space that used to house Bobs Stores, near the AMC Freehold 14 movie theater. Bobs Stores opened in a new location next to Primark this past December. Royal Ganesha, a new Indian eatery, opened in April, NJ.com noted, taking over the former Bobbys Burger Palace spot next to The Cheesecake Factory. A kid-friendly foam dart space called Pups of War Arena and a remote-controlled car racetrack called Dream Riders are also slated to open in the mall soon. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. Authorities say a woman accused of abandoning her newborn baby in a trash can at a Staten Island hospital later admitted to doing so. Lucia Garcia, 21, who a source identified as a migrant who arrived in the U.S. 10 months ago from Mexico, allegedly told police investigators in sum and substance, I gave birth to the baby and put the baby in the garbage. Garcia, under the supervision of an NYPD officer, was arraigned Monday in Criminal Court via teleconference from the hospital with the aid of an interpreter. She stared up at the camera from her bed, not expressing any emotion throughout the proceeding. Charges filed in the case include second-degree assault, first-degree reckless endangerment and endangering the welfare of a child. Prosecutors told the court the child is expected to need medical care for the rest of his life, due to a lack of oxygen to the brain at birth. The defense argued the assault charge was inappropriate given the details of the investigation presented in Criminal Court. Theres no evidence to indicate my client intentionally caused physical injury to that child, said defense attorney Brendan Tracey. Frankly, the facts known to the people are minimal. He also questioned why the complaint was centered around the account of an off-duty detective when there are cameras all over the hospital. Prosecutors asked for bail to be set at $10,000 cash or $30,000 bond given in part due to her apparent familial ties outside the U.S. Judge John McPadden ordered she be placed on supervised release, after telling prosecutors that information about possible international ties is off the table so long as theyre being sourced to New York City news outlets. The judge also issued a limited order of protection on behalf of the baby, which technically would allow Garcia to see the infant. Currently she and the child are being hospitalized in two different boroughs. The case, however, is under review by the city-run Administration for Childrens Services so at some point those conditions could change. BABY GARCIA STABLE The child whom prosecutors say hasnt been given a name yet and therefore is being referred to as Baby Garcia was listed in stable condition Monday morning. However, as a result of a lack of oxygen after birth, the boy could suffer from brain damage, officials said. The defendants father, 41-year-old Ambrosio Garcia, reportedly told the New York Post he took her to the hospital Friday night because she wasnt feeling well but that she insisted she wasnt pregnant and had been hiding her condition from him. She said she had her period when she came out of the bathroom, Garcia told The Post in Spanish Saturday, as his eyes welled up with tears. She had a lot of blood on her. Prosecutors Monday said it was an off-duty NYPD detective who spotted the woman enter the emergency room lobby at about 12:30 a.m. Saturday. She apparently had a bulge in her pants, which he noticed was gone when she exited. The detective notified staff at the hospital who discovered blood on the floor of the bathroom and the baby in the trash can. The baby, officials said, also suffered blunt force trauma to the eye. ANY NUMBER OF REASONS..., SAYS S.I. ADVOCATE A leading advocate for newly arrived immigrants on Staten Island noted Monday that theres any number of reasons why this could have happened. She could be coming with her own set of concerns from this trip from her native country, said Michelle Molina, executive director of El Centro del Inmigrante. To take an action of that kind, obviously mental health played some role. There has been an influx in recent months of migrants traveling from other parts of the country and internationally to New York City as officials struggle to deal with an ongoing crisis. The city has housed new arrivals at multiple locations on Staten Island including two hotels in Travis. The vacant Richard H. Hungerford School in Clifton has become a temporary home to asylum seekers, according to borough elected officials. Molina said Monday that in general its important to note now and in the near future that many migrant women escaping hardships in their homeland by migrating to New York City are at some point victimized by those aiding in their passage. I cant tell you the amount of sexual abuse that most of these women go through before coming here, because they need to cross or need to go somewhere or are sexually attacked, Molina said. This is one of the reasons we try to advocate for physical and mental health services, she said. And when they come here to the U.S., theres also that fear. And all the challenges they feel when it comes to their health. RELATED COVERAGE: Staten Island courts >>As both his mom and the victim look on, Staten Island sex-abuse defendant sentenced >>Staten Island man accused of stabbing wife to death is arraigned from hospital bed >> 3 Staten Island brothers charged in separate felonies over 9-month span, court records show >> Already serving 150 years for murder of Staten Island grandma, hes convicted in attack on 2nd woman >> Staten Island woman, 35, indicted on charges in Great Kills crash that killed bicyclist On the heels of a rate decrease that began this month, Florida Power & Light Company today proposed a $256 million rate reduction with the Florida Public Service Commission to take effect in July. "This is more positive news for our customers," said Armando Pimentel, president and CEO of FPL. "We know that every dollar counts for our customers, and we are pleased to propose another rate reduction. At the same time, we continue to encourage our customers to use FPL's tips and free tools to help save energy and money." Today's FPL proposal calls for reducing the fuel portion of customer bills by $256 million starting in July, reflecting continued downward revisions in projected natural gas costs for 2023 after last year's high levels. If approved, FPL bills would remain well below the national average and the typical 1,000-kWh residential customer bill in Northwest Florida would be lower in July than it was last year. Business customer bills would decrease by 2% to 5%, depending on rate class. FPL Typical 1,000-kWh residential customer bill FPL FPL Northwest April May July (proposed) April May July (proposed) $144.38 $139.95 $136.00 $163.30 $158.86 $154.91 The PSC approves a fuel charge on customer bills based on FPL's projection of how much it will spend on fuel for its generating plants. FPL does not earn a profit on fuel and works hard to operate its power plants as fuel-efficiently as possible. Since FPL projected its 2023 fuel expenditures last year, natural gas prices have declined. FPL has already made downward adjustments, which took effect in April and May, totaling nearly $1.4 billion in its 2023 fuel charges. If the July decrease is approved, it would be the third reduction in the fuel portion of FPL bills in 2023. FPL offers energy-saving tips to customers Even with the latest proposed rate reduction, individual bills could increase as customers use more air conditioning during the summer months. FPL is encouraging customers to take steps now to lower their bills by monitoring energy use and making their homes more energy efficient. For example, customers can: Cool their home at 78 or higher; each degree customers increase the temperature on their thermostats can reduce bills by up to 5% a month for cooling costs Clean the lint filter in their dryer before each load to minimize drying time Turn off ceiling fans and lights in unoccupied rooms View daily, weekly and monthly energy use by using the FPL Mobile App, which is available on the Apple App store, Google Play or by texting "App" to MyFPL (69375) Activate the free FPL Energy Manager tool to monitor how your home is using energy and identify ways to save Visit FPL.com/waystosave for more helpful tips Florida Power & Light Company As America's largest electric utility, Florida Power & Light Company serves more customers and sells more power than any other utility, providing clean, affordable, reliable electricity to approximately 5.8 million accounts, or more than 12 million people. FPL operates one of the cleanest power generation fleets in the U.S and in 2022 won the ReliabilityOne National Reliability Award for the seventh time in the last eight years. The company was also recognized in 2022 as one of the most trusted U.S. electric utilities by Escalent for the ninth consecutive year. FPL is a subsidiary of Juno Beach, Florida-based NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE: NEE), a clean energy company widely recognized for its efforts in sustainability, corporate responsibility, ethics and compliance, and diversity. NextEra Energy is ranked No. 1 in the electric and gas utilities industry in Fortune's 2023 list of "World's Most Admired Companies" and recognized on Fortune's 2021 list of companies that "Change the World." NextEra Energy is also the parent company of NextEra Energy Resources, LLC, which, together with its affiliated entities, is the world's largest generator of renewable energy from the wind and sun and a world leader in battery storage. For more information about NextEra Energy companies, visit these websites: www.NextEraEnergy.com, www.FPL.com, www.NextEraEnergyResources.com. SOURCE Florida Power & Light Company STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. More New York City public school students were suspended during the first half of the 2022-2023 school year compared to the same time the year prior, according to new figures released by the Department of Education (DOE). Public schools suspended students 10,606 times from July through December 2022 marking a 27% rise in total suspensions when compared to the same time period last year. That includes nearly 8,500 principal suspensions, which increased by 28.6%, as well as more than 2,110 superintendent suspensions, which increased by 20.7%, compared to the same time the year prior, according to the data. The DOE also analyzed pre-pandemic numbers, finding that total suspensions so far this school year are down 15% compared to the same time period in the 2018-2019 school year. Principal suspensions decreased by 8% and superintendent suspensions decreased by 34%. The safety and well-being of all our students is our top priority, said Jenna Lyle, a spokesperson for the DOE. We are continuously focused on equipping schools with the resources they need to address any issues in a positive, supportive, and less punitive manner, including through implementation of restorative practices. Lyle said that while schools experienced an uptick since the 2019-2020 school year, suspensions have decreased by 34.2% over the last decade. Mid-year suspension data doesnt include breakdowns by race or other demographic categories, or breakdowns by school or school district. The city will release its annual report for the full 2022-2023 school year at the end of 2023. According to the DOEs Discipline Code, which was last updated in 2019, principal suspensions occur when the principal has the authority to suspend a student for one to five days for behavior that presents a clear and present danger of physical injury to the student in question, other students or school personnel, or prevents the orderly operation of classes or other school activities, Principal suspension students are required to be provided with instruction, including homework and classwork, at an alternative instructional site within the school. A superintendents suspension may result in a period of suspension that exceeds five days. A student must be provided with the opportunity for a hearing, at which he or she has the chance to present evidence and witnesses on his/her behalf and to question the schools witnesses. If the school provides the charges and the suspension is upheld, the student can be suspended from anywhere between six and 20 days depending on the charges, and be provided with instruction at a location outside the school building. Superintendents suspensions for more than 20 school days can only be imposed when required by law or for infractions that involve dangerous and/or violent behavior. Those include, but arent limited to, behavior that results in serious physical injury or forcing another to engage in sexual activity. School Zone: A new newsletter with the updates you need as our schools try to get back to normal. Enter your email address here and hit "subscribe" to receive this weekly newsletter: FOLLOW ANNALISE KNUDSON ON FACEBOOK AND TWITTER. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. The $85 million ferryboat Dorothy Day has been in the water for less than a month. But the brand-new vessel is already showing some signs of wear and tear. I took a roundtrip on the boat last Tuesday, departing St. George for Manhattan at 2:30 p.m. and returning to Staten Island on the 3 p.m. boat. I dont regularly take the boat anymore, but I wanted to ride the Dorothy Day and see for myself what all those millions of dollars had bought us. There was some good and some bad. One major thing I noticed was that the outside decks at the front and rear of the Dorothy Day are already looking a bit rough. Deck of ferryboat Dorothy Day already shows some wear and tear. (Tom Wrobleski/Staten Island Advance) Upon boarding at Whitehall Street in Manhattan, I saw a rider ahead of me nearly trip over a loose piece of red deck covering. Chunk of deck covering is missing on this part of ferryboat Dorothy Day. (Tom Wrobleski/Staten Island Advance) A ferry worker removed the loose piece of covering, leaving an obvious and unsightly white patch behind. Chunks of deck covering litter this area of new ferryboat Dorothy Day. (Tom Wrobleski/Staten Island Advance) Other parts of the decks, both upstairs and downstairs, were also discolored with dark scuff marks or had pieces of deck covering missing. In one spot, I could see what looked like exposed metal. Chipped and disheveled area of deck covering aboard ferryboat Dorothy Day. (Tom Wrobleski/Staten Island Advance) A spokesman for the Department of Transportation told me that the deck covering is a poured epoxy coating. The spokesman said that what I saw is typical wear and tear and will be repaired. The Dorothy Day is the last of the three new Ollis-class boats to hit the water, making its maiden voyage on April 28. I also discovered that there was no place to get food or drink on the Dorothy Day (I asked a ferry worker just to be sure). I noticed one large area, which included at least one sink as well stainless steel counters and shelving, that looked like it could be a concession stand but it wasnt being used. What appears to be a concession area aboard ferryboat Dorothy Day. (Tom Wrobleski/Staten Island Advance) The DOT said that the agency is exploring use of the space for concessions. Both the mens and womens bathrooms upstairs on the boat were closed, with signs posted on the doors and a length of chain and a wire mesh garbage basket blocking the area. Shuttered men's bathroom on ferryboat Dorothy Day. (Tom Wrobleski/Staten Island Advance) The bathrooms downstairs were open. And am I the only one who finds the benches on the Ollis class boats to be uncomfortable? The bottom portion feels too narrow and angles backward, meaning you cant rest fully back in the seat. Benches that some riders have found uncomfortable aboard ferryboat Dorothy Day. (Tom Wrobleski/Staten Island Advance) Theres not a lot of legroom either, which would have been worse had somebody been sitting across from me during my voyage. In any event, forget about crossing your legs. Cramped bench area aboard ferryboat Dorothy Day. (Tom Wrobleski/Staten Island Advance) The DOT said that they hadnt heard rider complaints about the benches. The agency said that the benches were chosen by the public following a survey conducted by the DOT in the Whitehall terminal in 2015, prior to the construction of the new ferries. I also noticed that there werent a lot of power outlets for charging phones and other devices. The DOT said that they had not received complaints about the lack of outlets. And not to be picky, but theres punctuation missing from an abbreviated form of the ferryboats name. See the photo below. Logo on ferryboat Dorothy Day is missing some punctuation. (Tom Wrobleski/Staten Island Advance) As for the good points on the Dorothy Day? There were many. The ferry elevator was in good working order. Passengers use elevator aboard ferryboat Dorothy Day. (Tom Wrobleski/Staten Island Advance) The mens room I used was clean and the sinks worked. I could actually see my reflection in the mirror. Sinks in men's restroom aboard ferryboat Dorothy Day. (Tom Wrobleski/Staten Island Advance) There is plenty of inside standing space on both ends of the boat. Passengers wait to depart ferryboat Dorothy Day. (Tom Wrobleski/Staten Island Advance) The Dorothy Day also has wide interior stairways, which is good for those who like to sit on the ferry stairs. Riders sit on the stairs of ferryboat Dorothy Day. (Tom Wrobleski/Staten Island Advance) There are good standing and seating areas outside for commuters and tourists. Riders aboard ferryboat Dorothy Day pose for selfies while passing the Statue of Liberty. (Tom Wrobleski/Staten Island Advance) Passengers take in the view from upper deck of ferryboat Dorothy Day. (Tom Wrobleski/Staten Island Advance) Theres plenty of space for cyclists to stow their bikes for the journey. Bike rack aboard ferryboat Dorothy Day. (Tom Wrobleski/Staten Island Advance) And everywhere I looked there was another large storage area for life jackets. After the fire that hit another Ollis-class boat, the Sandy Ground, last December, you cant feel too safe on the Staten Island Ferry. Life jacket storage area of ferryboat Dorothy Day. (Tom Wrobleski/Staten Island Advance) Theres also a deck de-icing system in place. That should be a help in winter. Deck de-icing unit aboard ferryboat Dorothy Day. (Tom Wrobleski/Staten Island Advance) And heres a biggie: There was an actual live human being giving docking and other instructions over the public address system during my trip. Thats better than the robotic automated announcements you hear on the Molinari-class boats. But, this being the Staten Island Ferry, the Dorothy Day was 12 minutes late leaving Manhattan the day I rode. We had pulled away from the dock but remained floating just inside the walled ferry slip for a while before finally getting underway. These things happen. MORE STATEN ISLAND STORIES FROM TOM WROBLESKI Actor in wedding scene from The Godfather calls Brando a joke, shares secrets of Staten Island film shoot A sneaky peek inside Silver Lake Park building reveals unexpectedly strange and eerie sights Mystery train: A ghostly walk among the ruins of old Tower Hill station of abandoned North Shore rail line STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Former Congressman Max Rose is stepping into a new role, joining the team at a consulting firm founded by Mayor Eric Adams former chief of staff, Frank Carone. Oaktree Solutions announced on Monday Roses appointment to managing director for federal and international affairs. The Brooklyn-based public affairs firm specializes in reducing complexity to deliver strategies that work, according to its website. Their listed areas of expertise include issue advocacy and marketing positioning, litigation support, crisis management, government relations strategy, equity and sustainability consulting and more. Rose will draw on his experience serving in the military, government and the private sector to provide sound counsel to our clients as they approach really significant challenges and also opportunities, he said. Rose told the Advance/SILive.com that he is particularly fond of Oaktrees model. Im really attracted to Oaktree not being just transactional-based, but to really provide holistic services for really complex challenges, he said. As I consider this stage for my family and I, Im just excited to continue to learn and grow, Rose added. Carone spoke to the value that Rose will bring to the firm. Max Rose has devoted his entire life and career to serving the common good, and hes going to be an exceptional addition to our senior team, the Carone, the Oaktree founder and chairman said. Oaktree helps clients seize opportunities and navigate complex challenges. Thats Maxs specialty, and hes going to bring enormous value to our work. Rose is a recipient of a Purple Heart and Bronze Star for his combat deployment in Afghanistan as a first lieutenant platoon leader. After serving one term in Congress, Rose lost his seat to Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R-Staten Island/South Brooklyn) in the 2020 election. Rose served as special assistant to the U.S. Secretary of Defense for COVID-19 during the height of the pandemic. Roses clients at Oaktree will range from individuals to non-profit organizations and private sector businesses, he said. MORE FROM THIS REPORTER Quality of life near this Staten Island drop-in shelter for people who are homeless has diminished, say residents Inside look at NYCHA property under renovation with brand new apartments, updated building infrastructure Highest paying side hustles in New York State NYC congestion pricing: MTA has tentative plan to offer toll discounts, mitigate pollution in outer boroughs These Staten Island NYCHA residents are excited for an overhaul renovation to apartments FOLLOW GIAVANNI ALVES ON FACEBOOK AND TWITTER. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. Community outrage shuttered temporary migrant shelters set up in city school buildings last week, but one still remains in Clifton. Mayor Eric Adams offered no signs of a change of course at the Tompkins Avenue site, which formerly housed the Richard H. Hungerford school but now sits vacant after the schools facilities opened at the Michael J. Petrides educational complex last year. The mayor pointed out that the closed migrant operations at 20 Department of Education (DOE) gyms around the city were part of active school communities. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Its the middle of the night, music is blaring and two people are arguing outside. Danny Battista looks out his window and sees a group of people loitering near Stuyvesant Place and Hamilton Avenue in St. George. As Battista would say, We live in New York City, and some commotion outdoors is to be expected. But the disturbances are not restricted to outside Battistas window. At any hour of the day Battista and his neighbors at 36 Hamilton Avenue, a private apartment building, may step out into their hallways and encounter strangers trespassing and wandering around, in some cases using drugs in the stairwells. When requested to leave, the individuals become aggressive and threaten the residents, he said. This has been a regular occurrence, along with several other issues for the residents of 36 Hamilton Ave., and other homes near Stuyvesant Pl. since Project Hospitality opened its drop-in shelter at 150 Richmond Terrace. Since the shelter opened in January 2020, residents of the Hamilton Avenue apartment building say there has been a decline in the communitys quality of life as disturbances, such as loitering and littering, gradually escalated to people defecating on the sidewalks, trespassing onto private property and being hostile toward community residents. Theres been verbal assaults. Theres been people being spit at. Theres been people having things thrown at them, a resident of the apartment building, who requested anonymity for fear of retaliation, told the Advance/SILive.com. Theres been bricks thrown at vehicles, bricks thrown through car windows. Weve had them trespass into our building, where theyve come into the building, went into the staircase and told us if we remove them, theyre going to kill us. The drop-in shelter operates 24/7, providing outreach services to people experiencing homelessness. They clearly cannot operate at this capacity...they cant manage it, the resident said, noting that the shelter does not have enough bathrooms for its clients. There are currently two bathrooms available to clients, both of which have showers, so only one person can use the bathroom at a time. Many clients opt to urinate outside the building instead of waiting, and in some cases defecate in the middle of the sidewalks on Hamilton Ave. and Stuyvesant Pl., residents allege. Person appears to be defecating in the middle of the sidewalk on Hamilton Ave. near the Project Hospitality drop-in center in St. George. (Courtesy/Resident of 36 Hamilton Ave.) While there is some tension between the residents and Project Hospitality, this is by no means a NIMBY, not in my backyard situation, community residents said. Battista, who has lived in the Hamilton Avenue apartment building for over a decade and serves on the St. George Civic Association board, pointed out that conflicting feelings can occur simultaneously. I get the sense from many of my neighbors that we really appreciate the services that are being provided there and elsewhere throughout the city, and I would never want them to go away or not be there. Its just that, you can feel two things at once. I also want to feel safe in my own building and on my own street, he said. The residents of 36 Hamilton have been calling on Project Hospitality leadership to take action to address the various disturbances with mixed results. In the meantime, they installed security cameras on their building and no trespassing signs. According to Reverend Dr. Terry Troia, Project Hospitalitys president and CEO, the organization has made recent updates to their facility to address the ongoing issues. This includes changing the site management, purchasing and utilizing new security software, adding two portable flushing toilets and planning to add more restrooms, which will require the Department of Buildings approval. The community has been extremely patient and equally persistent in calling attention to the concern of homeless people wandering the neighborhood, committing quality of life offenses impacting our neighbors lives, Troia said. We are fighting at all fronts to improve the situation for the betterment of this neighborhood and safety of our neighbors. Person appears to be urinating on side of building in St. George. (Courtesy/Resident of 36 Hamilton Ave.) Battista acknowledged Project Hospitalitys efforts, but said it ultimately has not been enough to mitigate the problem. And while I think we have a good rapport with them, even though were giving them a lot of hell, justifiably, we have good rapport with them. And they have taken some steps and they have addressed some things. Its just nowhere near enough, he said. The other 36 Hamilton Ave. resident, who has lived there for more than 15 years, said hes never seen the neighborhood in such a poor state. It is extremely disheartening to see the deterioration of St. George. Everybody in the building has said theyve never seen it this bad. It is horrific, he said. MONTHLY COMMUNITY MEETINGS WITH PROJECT HOSPITALITY Per community members request, residents of 36 Hamilton Ave. along with other concerned stakeholders, such as Borough Hall and City Council Member Kamillah Hanks office, have been meeting with Project Hospitality monthly since September 2022 to air concerns and strategize about how to best remedy the situation. Community affairs officers and leadership from NYPDs 120 Precinct have also been attending the meetings. Hanks said she is hopeful that, with these enhanced security measures and ongoing community engagement, the situation will improve. We remain dedicated to addressing these concerns and finding viable solutions for all stakeholders involved. Borough President Vito Fossella told the Advance/SILive.com that he is frustrated that after months of meetings and some changes, the quality of life for St. George residents near the shelter has not improved. We are very sensitive and committed to improving the quality of life of all residents on Staten Island. We have a situation people invested their life savings in their homes, and they have to endure a very severe, negative quality of life, Fossella said. Somethings got to give, because were going to be standing up for those homeowners and renters so they dont have to see and endure and have to tolerate these types of nasty things on a daily basis. And I also feel for some of the people who are in the homeless shelter. They have nowhere to go, the borough president continued. So, right now its a lose-lose proposition, and our goal is to make it a win-win. And were going to start raising the volume to make sure that happens, because weve been trying behind the scenes, starting a dialogue with all the stakeholders, and its still not resolved. NOT RECEPTIVE TO ISSUES Community members also say the citys Department of Social Services and its Homeless Services department have not been receptive to the issues around the drop-in shelter. DHS oversees the shelter and administers its funding. The agency also seems to have a very different impression of the communitys relationship with Project Hospitality and shelter than others involved. We had a call and Department of Homeless Services was on the call. And it was not good. I was really shocked and disappointed at the sort of attitudes and responses when we were on the call with them, Battista recalled. A teacher who has taught at a local elementary school for more than 10 years, who also attended the meeting, said DHS seemed to address the community as if they were anti-homeless people and said many of the residents were upset and offended by the accusation. They were basically saying, Youre just disgruntled. You dont want to have homeless people in your neighborhood, he explained. Both sources noted that Project Hospitality leadership defended the community members saying they have been very patient and reasonable and DHS was mischaracterizing them. When the Advance/SILive.com requested comment from Department of Social Services and their Homeless Services department, the agency provided the following statement: DSS-DHS and our providers are committed to providing high-quality supports and services that help our unsheltered neighbors stabilize their lives and transition off the streets and subways into transitional and permanent housing, a DSS spokesperson said. They described their drop-in centers as essential to their efforts to connect unsheltered New Yorkers with vital resources. As with any DSS-DHS program, a safe and secure environment is critical to success, and we are dedicated to prioritizing the safety of clients, staff and community members at all times. We remain committed to engaging with the community and ensuring that we are addressing concerns as we serve and support our neighbors in need, the spokesperson added. People loiter near Project Hospitality drop-in center in St. George. (Courtesy/Resident of 36 Hamilton Ave.) HOMELESSNESS, MENTAL HEALTH ISSUES BIGGER THAN ONE ORGANIZATION Both 36 Hamilton residents and the local teacher told the Advance/SILive.com they are not only concerned about their own livelihood as community members, but also that of the clients. All three individuals shared the same story a Project Hospitality client who appeared to be in a mental health crisis for months. When asked about the situation Troia said she could not comment on specific clients, but highlighted broader issues around getting the necessary mental health services to those in need in a timely manner. Clients are met where they are, their needs are assessed and a plan is developed for their care and treatment. These plans depend greatly on the persons autonomy and readiness to accept care. Sometimes the length of time it takes to work with persons with untreated severe mental illness who are not cognizant of their needs can be impactful to their surroundings. It shouldnt be that way, she said. We need long term solutions for those situations that include mobile crisis intervention, support from NYPD and DHS Homeless Outreach teams. The Project Hospitality president and CEO noted that the organization has been in dialogue with the Staten Island Performing Provider Systems, SI Partnership with Community Wellness and Fossellas office in making recommendations to the city for creating a more intensive clinical model of care for unhoused persons with severe mental illness. Troia commented on other challenges for Project Hospitality, which are bigger than the organization. We are being pulled in many directions to solve a problem we cannot solve without the rooms and [apartments] in which to place homeless people and the clinical services needed especially for those who are experiencing mental illness while living on the streets. Those are the larger structural issues we must address for a permanent solution here, she said. Troia also disclosed that Project Hospitality recently received news that their funding from the city for their drop-in shelters will be cut by 2.5% effective July 1. Thank you for visiting the Daily Journal. Please purchase an Enhanced Subscription to continue reading. To continue, please log in, or sign up for a new account. We offer one free story view per month. If you register for an account, you will get two additional story views. After those three total views, we ask that you support us with a subscription. A subscription to our digital content is so much more than just access to our valuable content. It means youre helping to support a local community institution that has, from its very start, supported the betterment of our society. Thank you very much! Gift this article Share this article paywall-free. ELKO An Elko County Jail inmate faces additional charges following a violent escape attempt in November in which he reportedly broke a window and crawled out of his cell. Chancy K. Yates, 29, of Spring Creek had been caught earlier in the evening of Nov. 7 with a large shank made from door metal, according to a jail deputys report. At 9 p.m. a different deputy was notified by the control room that Yates cell door was unsecured, and had him moved to a different cell. Deputies said Yates became upset about his mail being searched, and requested a second blanket. When they told him they would need to check with medical staff about whether he was authorized to have a second blanket, Yates allegedly began kicking the cell window and kept kicking until he broke through and climbed out of his cell. Yates then went to the main door of the cellblock and began kicking it, and grabbed a tablet and smashed it against a window. More units were called to the jail, including Elko Police Department officers. Sheriff Aitor Narvaiza arrived and began talking with Yates as he threatened to kill officers while holding a piece of broken glass as a weapon, according to a deputys report. Yates further resisted members of the Detention Response Team after they arrived but he was able to be placed in a different cell nearly two hours after the incident began. He was charged possessing a dangerous weapon by an incarcerated person, escape by a felony prisoner, damaging jail property, and resisting a public officer with a deadly weapon not a firearm. Damage to the jail cost more than $1,700 to repair. Narvaiza and Undersheriff Justin Ames cited the incident earlier this year in a report to county commissioners regarding the impact fentanyl addiction is having on the jail. I think its important that people see the violent behavior that were kind of starting to look at, Ames said as he played video clips of the incident for commissioners. Yates bail on the new charges was listed at $230,000. According to jail records, he was originally arrested in September on a burglary charge after being found in possession of a stolen horse trailer. Yates was also arrested eight years ago as one of two people suspected of burglarizing businesses in the Plaza Forty shopping mall on Idaho Street, as well as another business on Manzanita Lane and two places in Spring Creek. He failed to show up in court and was listed in July 2015 as one of the sheriffs departments most wanted suspects. He was arrested a month later after returning to Elko on a bus from Oregon. When James Gorman made one of the biggest announcements of his career over the weekend that he would be stepping down as Morgan Stanley CEO within a year he still managed to crack a joke. An issue of paramount importance to shareholders, employees and clients is, of course, succession and no, Im not just talking about the TV series, Gorman told shareholders at the companys virtual annual meeting. James Gorman has built Morgan Stanley into a wealth management powerhouse in his tenure. Credit: Arsineh Houspian And I definitely have no plans to go out like Logan Roy, he said, referring to the lead character in the HBO television show about the family of a media tycoon. In the show, Roy dies as CEO of the company, without having chosen a successor. Gorman, 64, has led the Wall Street investment bank since 2010 and transformed it through a series of major deals. Under his leadership, Morgan Stanley became a wealth management powerhouse that aims to manage $US10 trillion ($15 trillion) in assets. In the event of an actual US default on its debts, of course, all bets are off because that would cause not just a US financial meltdown but, because US government debt provides the reference rate for most financial assets, a global financial crisis. Bond investors and traders arent as sanguine as their equity counterparts. The yield on one-month Treasury bills has climbed as the X date has drawn closer. The yield on three-month bills is up 18 basis points over the past month and the yields on six and 12-month securities by 25 basis points. In contrast, yields on two-year notes are up only 8 basis points and those on five-year bonds by five basis points. Joe Bidens government could run out of cash and the ability to use extraordinary measures to keep paying its bills as early as June. Credit: AP The reason for the movement in one-month yields is obvious. They are due to mature around the X date and therefore there is uncertainty about whether investors will be repaid in the event of a default. If there is no near-term resolution of the impasse over the debt ceiling but the US can scrape past early June by conserving its cash and using extraordinary measures (deferring contributions to pension and other funds, for instance), there will be some respite. Loading From June 15 Treasury expects to receive a large inflow of tax payments that would give it the cash to keep funding the government for several months. That would shift the X date out until August or September, which explains why the six-month bills have also been spiking. Its going to be a close-run thing. Treasurys existing cash reserves have been dwindling. They were down to $US57 billion ($86 billion) last Thursday from about $US140 billion a week earlier. Treasury also has about $US92 billion of the initial $US333 billion of extraordinary measures that it can draw on. At least, after the talks broke down late last week, the White House and House Republicans resumed negotiations over the trade-off between an increase in the $US31.4 trillion debt ceiling in exchange for spending cuts, although they remain poles apart on the nature and scale of the proposed expenditure cuts. The extremes on both the Democrat and Republican camps are also polarised to such an extent (and, particularly in the case of the Republicans House Freedom Caucus and MAGA faction, so extreme) that, even if a compromise can be thrashed out by their leaders, there is no certainty that it would be endorsed by Congress. The imminence of the potential X date has even caused Joe Biden to raise the prospect of a manoeuvre hed previously played down: relying on the 14th amendment to the US Constitution to keep issuing debt securities to fund the governments obligations. The New York FANG index, which contains stocks including Meta, Googles Alphabet, Apple and Amazon, is up a staggering 52 per cent this year. Credit: AP There is significant divergence among US constitutional lawyers and academics as to whether that amendment, which says that the validity of the public debt of the United States ... shall not be questioned relates to existing debt or would enable new debt to be issued. If relied on, the issue would inevitably end up in the Supreme Court, creating another big element of uncertainty about, not just the debt issued after the X date, but interest and principal repayments on pre-existing debt securities made after that date. By itself, even before the question was decided, there would be chaos and fear on US and other debt markets. While the implications of the US government defaulting on its debts are so dire, and not just for the US, that no one believes a default will be allowed to occur in past stand-offs on the debt ceiling theres always been an eleventh-hour deal struck to avert a default investors and corporates are taking out insurance, and bets. Even if the likelihood is that a default will again be avoided via a five-minutes-to-midnight deal, the watchword for investors, traders and companies is caution, which seems to be the appropriate stance to take in these volatile circumstances. The cost of US credit default swaps has soared, investors have withdrawn more than $US24 billion of cash from equity funds so far this month and companies have rushed to raise debt while they can, with more than $US110 billion issued this month, three times the amount raised in April. The investors would be well aware that, during a similar bout of brinkmanship over the debt ceiling in 2011 which ended in a negotiated deal the US sharemarket still fell 15 per cent. In 2011, markets were still awash with cheap liquidity, with the Fed engaged in its massive quantitative easing programs. Today, of course, the Fed has hiked rates five percentage points in just over a year and is withdrawing liquidity by allowing $US95 billion a month of the bonds it holds to mature without reinvesting the proceeds. Australian media broadly need to have a good hard look at themselves at whats in the public interest and where are their journalistic efforts best served for the public ... Theres a fine difference between scrutiny and pile-on. Insisting no one had yet been able to point to any inaccuracies in what was said during Grants appearance on the coronation coverage, as opposed to merely taking offence at it, he urged other media as well as social media critics to stop going after people for doing their jobs. A response has been sought from News Corp. On Monday afternoon, ABC staff rallied across the country in support of Grant. They gathered outside the organisations Sydney and Melbourne headquarters, holding placards reading I stand with Stan and We reject racism. Other high-profile ABC staff, including Insiders host David Speers, RN Breakfast host Patricia Karvelas, former radio and TV host Fran Kelly and Melbourne radio host Virginia Trioli, also shared their support on social media. Members of the ABCs Parliament House bureau also took to the front of the building to show their support for Grant. In Sydney, a few hundred ABC staff gathered outside the broadcasters Ultimo headquarters, including Australian Story host Leigh Sales and news anchor Jeremy Fernandez. Head of Indigenous news Suzanne Dredge said her colleagues were heartbroken by Grants statement and his stepping back from hosting duties. We have thick skin. Its OK to scrutinise us in our work if we get it wrong. But its not OK to come at us with personal attacks, she said. Stan Grant is standing down from hosting Q+A over the racial abuse directed at him on social media. Credit: Chris Hopkins Dredge described a fresh ABC review into how the broadcaster handles racist attacks against its staff as a landmark opportunity. I really hope we learn a lot from this process. We have the right people to ... turn the lens back on ourselves and look at what weve done and what we can do better. Grants children were also at the rally, and NITV journalist Lowanna Grant cried as she thanked the gathered crowd and said her family had struggled with the disgusting filth online directed at her father. High-profile Indigenous journalist Karla Grant, Stan Grants former partner, also spoke. Speaking to this masthead, Rhoda Roberts, the first Indigenous presenter of a prime-time current affairs show in Australia, said: Whats happening with Stan now has been this enabling that its OK to beat people up by bringing race into the debate. The sort of terminology being used by the right ... it enables people to be more toxic because they think that you can speak to Aboriginal people like this. Loading I think in any organisation, executives or any non-Indigenous staff dont actually understand the kind of lateral violence you receive, not only from the right out there, but also within your own community, and then across your own working environment. I dont think anyone totally understands what we cop. The snap protest was called following a meeting of Indigenous ABC staff, in response to Grants announcement that he was stepping down from his duties. Grant explained his decision in a column published on Friday, specifically citing the uptick in abuse he had received following his appearance on an ABC TV panel discussion focused on the legacy of the British crown in Australia, held before the coronation for King Charles III. On social media my family and I are regularly racially mocked or abused, he wrote in the column. This is not new. Barely a week goes by when I am not racially targeted. My wife is targeted with abuse for being married to a Wiradjuri man. I dont even read it, yet I cant escape it. People stop me in the street to tell me how vile it is. They tell me how sorry they are. Although I try to shield myself from it, the fact it is out there poisons the air I breathe. Loading In the column, Grant expressed frustration at what he perceived as a lack of support from senior management in the fortnight since the coronation. Asked by Epstein if Grant was stepping away from Q+A permanently, Stevens gave a strong indication that was not the case. We want to give him space and time to try and have a breather from this, he said, adding that the show was due to go on a mid-season break in a few weeks. A plot to import more than a tonne of cocaine into Australia began with a shipping container of steel from China, was thrown off-course by an undercover police sting via New Zealand, and ended with a suitcase of cash and arrests in a Serbian hotel, a jury has been told. David Edward John Campbell, 53, has pleaded not guilty to conspiring to import and conspiring to possess a commercial quantity of a border-controlled drug. Co-accused Tristan Egon Sebastian Waters, 39, has pleaded guilty to the possession conspiracy charge but not guilty to the importation conspiracy charge. The two men are on trial in the District Court in Sydney. Tristan Waters (left) and David Campbell are on trial in the NSW District Court for their alleged roles in a cocaine shipment from China. In his opening address to the jury on Monday, Crown prosecutor Sean Flood said Border Force officers examined a shipping container from Shanghai on April 1, 2017 and found 2500 blocks totalling approximately 1.28 tonnes of impure cocaine concealed within prefabricated steel. Flood said the importer of the container was identified on shipping documents as Solutions 4 Steel, and Campbell described himself in emails as the companys managing director and chief executive. A man has been shot dead while sitting inside his car in a suburban street in Sydneys west on Monday afternoon. Emergency services were called to Hertfordshire Street in Elizabeth Hills about 4pm following reports of shots being fired. Police officers inspect a car in which a man was shot in Elizabeth Hills on Monday. Credit: TNV On arrival, officers from Liverpool City Police Area Command found a man sitting inside a car suffering multiple gunshot wounds, a spokesman for NSW Police said. Despite the efforts of first responders, the man died at the scene. He is yet to be formally identified, but police believe the man is aged in his 20s. As an Indigenous teenager lay bleeding on the ground in an inner-city park after having his legs swept from under him by a NSW police officer, the boy told the officer, you didnt have to hurt me. Nearly three years after the June 2020 incident, the boys words have been validated in a Sydney court after Constable Ryan Barlow was found guilty of assault occasioning actual bodily harm over the arrest. The arrest was captured on a smartphone camera as well as officers body-worn video. Barlow, 31, an officer with three-and-a-half years experience at the time, told the Downing Centre Local Court during a hearing last year that he felt intimidated by the 16-year-old who had made a verbal threat after being approached by three police officers in Ward Park. The boy, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, was standing four metres away with his arms folded when he told Barlow Ill crack you across the f---ing jaw, bro. The death of Clare Nowland after she was allegedly Tasered by a senior police officer has focused attention on the use of force by NSW Police and the oversight of officers. The police officer who Tasered a 95-year-old great-grandmother once unlawfully detained a suspect during an encounter in which his shift partner allegedly threatened to break the mans legs. The 2020 incident earned a rebuke from a horrified Canberra magistrate who said the conduct of the two officers was outrageous and unprofessional. Clare Nowland, 95, was Tasered by police while she was holding a knife. Clare Nowland continues to cling to life in hospital after being Tasered at the Yallambee Lodge aged care facility in Cooma last Wednesday. NSW Police said Nowland was armed with a steak knife in the early hours of the morning and refused to co-operate with staff before police were called to the facility. How much do you know about Afghanistan? Do you know why Afghan pine nuts and carpets have won increasing popularity in the Chinese market? What kind of influence has the Belt and Road Initiative brought to Afghan economy? Today, Ali Azghar Faiz, a young Afghan businessman will tell his story. Click here to watch the video. Openings have been cut in to the concrete walls of Brisbanes 83-year-old Story Bridge for a new walking and riding trail from the citys Kangaroo Point Green Bridge. The underpass would feature new separated pedestrian and bike paths, an accessible viewing area and illustrative wall panels depicting the history of the Story Bridge. The Kangaroo Point walkway under Story Bridge will connect to the citys new green bridge. Credit: Brisbane City Council Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner said the idea was to join a city landmark of the past the Story Bridge with a landmark of the future, the citys emerging Kangaroo Point Green Bridge. This underpass is a critical project that will connect the Kangaroo Point Green Bridge landing at Scott Street to the wider active transport network in Kangaroo Point and the eastern suburbs, Schrinner said. A messy toilet cubicle at a Victorian school. In 2018, the Department of Education introduced an area-based cleaning model for more than 600 metropolitan government school campuses, which has since expanded to more than 900, with five service providers. The Victorian School Building Authority oversees contracts. The change was part of a reform to ensure cleaners were paid properly, after investigations found vulnerable staff were being underpaid and mistreated by their employers. But five years on, principals say standards have declined, while the union for cleaners says its members are still dissatisfied. Chatham Primary School principal Chris Cotching said his Surrey Hills school had experienced huge problems with cleaning, and it was only after persistent haranguing that things improved. He said the cleaning was woeful and intermittent, and that windows or doors would be left open. Its been an issue on and off for two years, since weve come back from COVID, Cotching said. Most principals were resigned that cleaners wouldnt do the job properly, he said. Its just not good enough. Mordialloc College principal Michelle Roberts said her school had experienced ongoing problems with cleaning that she continually reported to the department. Just the state of cleanliness, or the lack of cleanliness, and constantly having to chase up the contractor to come back and do the job properly, she said. Roberts said the schools rooms were left uncleaned and not vacuumed, bins were not emptied and in a number of cases, school buildings were left unlocked overnight. A full rubbish bin at a Victorian school. Principals say bins are often not emptied, while cleaners say they dont get enough time at schools. Mordialloc College previously had a working relationship with a local cleaning company that was part of the school community. Roberts said the schools current cleaners would return to finish the job, but only after she complained to the department. We have to keep on top of them. If we dont report daily that we are not happy, then things will go back to the way they were, she said. Principals associations, the Australian Education Union and the United Workers Union are all part of the state government review. Cleaners say they dont get allocated extra time to clean additional mess in schools. Lavertons Ines Lizama has cleaned schools for almost 20 years and is a full-time worker, but says cleaners are not properly paid and dont get overtime, and dont get enough time to clean schools. During a 7-hour shift, the 50-year-old must clean her schools glass surfaces, mop and vacuum floors, empty bins and remove marks from walls. No extra time was allocated for additional tasks, such as cleaning vomit, Lizama said. She wants the department to directly employ school cleaners, rather than subcontracting. Lizama said at previous schools she was told not to eat her lunch in the staff room because she wasnt a teacher. I was so upset. I said, What is this world coming to? she said. I thought I clean the school, I thought I was part of the school, but no, Im definitely not part of it. I think we will be part of the school if employed directly by the department, thats when well be united as a family. Theres not enough cleaners, there arent enough hours on the job, its been getting much harder to clean the schools. Loading United Workers Union co-ordinator Linda Revill said school cleaning members had been fighting for change to the outsourcing model for years. Under the current model, workers have had to fight to have their basic working rights upheld, while some contractors have recorded multi-million-dollar profits, Revill said. Contracting out school cleaning has only led to false savings; the only beneficiaries have been the contractors, not the schools, not the cleaners, not the other school staff, not the students and definitely not the taxpayer. A Department of Education spokesperson said schools continued to receive quality school cleaning services, but after nearly five years of operation, the Victorian government is exploring opportunities to strengthen the delivery of cleaning services in government schools. A high school in Melbournes western suburbs has hired security guards amid fears of reprisal attacks on students following 16-year-old Pasawm Lhyhms fatal stabbing in Sunshine last week. Pasawm was killed in front of terrified onlookers at a bus stop last Thursday, amid what police believe are escalating tensions between two groups of teenagers from different schools. A source with knowledge of the issue and unauthorised to speak on the record told The Age the rival groups had been stirring each other up in the lead-up to the fatal stabbing, with footage captured before the attack and circulated online showing three youths chasing a student with a machete. Police in the western suburbs are on alert for retaliatory violence from youth group members and friends of Pasawm, who have posted online about avenging the slain teenager and shared a school photograph of one of his suspected assailants on social media. A Perth mother has put out a desperate call for help after her teenage daughters were constantly subjected to bullying from their classmates at a Catholic school in Perths southern suburbs. Speaking to Radio 6PR, Naomi* said the bullying had been going on for about four years. Her 16 and 13-year-old daughters started missing school and became very emotional, before finally opening up about what was happening. Naomis name has been changed to protect her daughters identities. Online bullying has become an increasing issue, especially for children at school. Credit: iStock [The bullying] started out online, and then started at school. Just the general little niggles of saying things when no one else is really around to listen and when the teachers cant catch on to whats happening, she said. The eldest one had a letter written to her, which started out by one particular girl saying how she felt about her, what she didnt like about her, and then got quite a few of the girls in that year to sign it and then gave it to her. The lead detective in the Lehrmann case says he believed the prosecution would have failed on Brittany Higgins evidence alone as he asserted the investigation was rushed to placate the media. ACT Policing Detective Superintendent Scott Moller told an inquiry into the handling of Bruce Lehrmanns abandoned criminal trial that he was under immense pressure from the public and within his own organisation to bring the former Coalition staffer to court. Detective Superintendent Scott Moller departs the ACT Civil and Administrative Tribunal in Canberra. Credit: Alex Ellinghausen He also accused the territorys victims of crime commissioner, Heidi Yates, of using the investigation to pursue a #MeToo agenda, and said he believed ACT Director of Public Prosecutions Shane Drumgold SC had been collecting evidence of wrongdoing against investigators in the case. Lehrmann pleaded not guilty to sexually assaulting Higgins in the parliamentary office of their then-boss, Senator Linda Reynolds, in March 2019. The trial was aborted in October due to juror misconduct and a retrial was scrapped due to Higgins mental health. Lehrmann has always denied the allegation. With the furore continuing to mount over the use of a Taser on a vulnerable 95-year-old aged care resident, NSW Police Commissioner Karen Webb appears to have confused protocol with leadership and unwittingly made herself the issue. Webb is standing by her decision to approve a media release that omitted to mention that Clare Nowland had been Tasered by an officer, justifying her omission on the somewhat specious grounds it was done to protect the victims family. And despite all the attention, Webb seems not to have bothered to acquaint herself with relevant facts, and yesterday was unable to confirm if officers had pepper spray on them. Nor does she intend to watch the body camera footage on the grounds she does not wish to taint her independence if she has to make a future determination on the police involved in the incident. Such a sense of propriety sits oddly against the mixed history of NSW Police investigating themselves. The internal police probe into the Cooma Tasering joins more than 90 investigations into the use of force by officers yet to be completed, some almost six years after being launched. Premier Chris Minns endorsed the habitual stonewalling of NSW Police yesterday, saying he had confidence in the investigation but refused to commit to releasing it once it was completed. Given the police obfuscation, we do not share the premiers confidence and believe that the Cooma report should be released. The watchdog charged by NSW Premier Chris Minns to give the public confidence that the police Tasering of 95-year-old Clare Nowland would be thoroughly investigated has admitted that some of its powers were illusory. The NSW police watchdog on Monday released an 80-page report detailing its limitations in handling those internal investigations. Clare Nowland, 95, was allegedly Tasered by police while she was holding a knife. The concession came on the same day Minns sought to reassure the public that a police investigation into the Tasering of Nowland in southern NSW would be overseen by the Law Enforcement Conduct Commission. The LECCs review of five years of its critical incident monitoring stated some of its own powers had proven to be illusory, admitting it had never been able to be present during an interview with the officers at the centre of the investigations. The recent decision announced in the federal budget of a boost in the Passenger Movement Charge (PMC) has been met with howls of protest from Australias tourism industry. The charge, to be imposed on every passenger aboard a departing international flight from July 1, 2024, will add $10 to the current PMC of $60. Is an extra $10 on the airfare really going to change anyones mind about an overseas trip? Or deter even one foreign visitor from an Australian holiday? That extra $10 will add about 1.5 per cent to the cost of a return flight from Melbourne or Sydney to Bali. Finding out what charges and taxes are added to the cost of your air ticket is easy, finding out whose pocket they end up in, and for what purpose, is anything but. Taken from bookings made on the Qantas website, below is a screenshot of taxes and charges for return flights from Melbourne to Dallas, outbound on November 9, 2023, returning on November 23. One US flights in particular the taxes are truly Byzantine. Singapore: Indonesia President Joko Widodo is set to make his first visit to Australia in more than three years. Widodo, popularly known as Jokowi, discussed his intentions to travel to Australia in the near future with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on the edges of the G7 summit in Hiroshima, according to a statement by Indonesian Minister for Foreign Affairs Retno Marsudi. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Indonesia President Joko Widodo cycle around the grounds of Bogor Palace, West Java, last June. Credit: Alex Ellinghausen The visit is scheduled for early July, said Adi Dzulfuat, the director for Pacific and Oceania affairs at the Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Widodo was last in Australia in February 2020, addressing a joint sitting of parliament in Canberra. The fresh accusations made by the Group of Seven wealthy member nations against China cannot conceal their failures in advancing global governance as well as the G7's declining influence and obsession with fanning bloc confrontation, officials and experts said. As the annual G7 Summit in Hiroshima, Japan, concluded over the weekend, observers warned that the grouping also outlined the United States-led Western countries' plans to further stir up the Asia-Pacific region politically, economically and militarily. China was a hot topic in a series of documents adopted by the summit, such as the G7 Hiroshima Leaders' Communique. Through these documents, the grouping hyped up the Taiwan Strait situation and made accusations regarding the East China Sea, the South China Sea, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, the Xinjiang Uygur and Tibet autonomous regions and China's nuclear power. Beijing strongly deplores and opposes this and "has made serious demarches to the summit's host Japan and other parties concerned", according to the Foreign Ministry. "The G7 used issues concerning China to smear and attack China and brazenly interfere in China's internal affairs," said a Foreign Ministry spokesperson on Saturday. The spokesperson said that the G7 claimed it was "promoting a peaceful, stable and prosperous world", but "what it does is hinder international peace, undermine regional stability and curb other countries' development". Noting that the G7 continues to emphasize cross-Strait peace without mentioning the need to oppose "Taiwan independence", the spokesperson said that this "constitutes connivance and support for 'Taiwan independence' forces, and will only result in having a serious impact on cross-Strait peace and stability". The East China Sea and the South China Sea have remained stable overall, and relevant countries need to "stop using maritime issues to drive a wedge between regional countries and incite bloc confrontation", the spokesperson said. "The G7 needs to reflect on its behavior and change course", as the world does not accept the G7-dominated Western rules that seek to divide the world based on ideologies and values, the spokesperson said. Su Xiaohui, an associate research fellow at the China Institute of International Studies, said the G7's latest comments and documents show that "it is still failing in its role of tackling issues facing the whole of humanity, such as global governance". "Although Washington has underscored increasing the G7's influence, it has not responded to concerns of the international community, and the grouping has ended up as a key tool for advancing US-driven strategic competition," she said. "Routinely, the G7 Summit is intended to discuss economic issues, but (Japan), as the host this year, has linked economic topics to politics and security, and the summit's documents involve a lot of content related to politics," said Yang Bojiang, director of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences' Institute of Japanese Studies. "By doing so, Tokyo is marching in lockstep with Washington in viewing China as a competitor and a threat," he said. Yang noted that Japan also invited eight countries most of them from the Asia-Pacific region to attend the summit's expanded meeting this year in an attempt to encourage them to take sides and join the US-led coercion against China. "Prioritizing 'dealing with China' is actually inviting external forces to further interfere in Asia-Pacific affairs and seeking collective hegemony. This will only add to tension and confrontation in this region and sabotage peace and stability here," he said. On several occasions this year, the G7 also made claims about "economic coercion" that allude to China. A spokesperson for the Chinese embassy in Japan said on Saturday that "in reality, it is the US itself that is engaged in economic coercion", and the US "has so far applied sanctions arbitrarily to the detriment of nearly half of the world's population, and even G7 members such as Japan are not immune". Observers noted that in parallel with the G7 Hiroshima gathering, the China-Central Asia Summit was held in Xi'an, Shaanxi province, on Thursday and Friday. The fruitful Xi'an summit issued seven bilateral and multilateral documents and witnessed the signing of over 100 cooperative documents, State Councilor and Foreign Minister Qin Gang told reporters on Sunday. "Our cooperation is not directed at any third party, nor is it subject to a third party, we do not engage in closed, exclusive 'small circles', and we oppose bloc politics and Cold War confrontation," he said. MARIGOT/GREAT BAY:--- The much-anticipated performance of Spitfire: The Lohkay Story has been postponed for reasons related to the health of the playwright and executive producer Shujah Reiph, said Conscious Lyrics Foundation (CLF). A new date for the one-night-only play will be announced as soon as possible, said Reiph, who is also president of CLF. Im touched beyond words for the many well-wishers since my health emergency early last week; and for the words of condolences at the passing of my father Arsene Reiph last Friday, said Shujah Reiph. Persons who have already purchased tickets for the play are urged to hold on to them as they will be honored for the new date, said CLF. Spitfire: The Lohkay Story, written by Shujah Reiph and directed by Fabian Adekunle Badejo with a cast of about 35 performers, was scheduled to premiere at Loterie Farm on May 31 as a pre-St. Martin Book Fair event. The historical legend of Lohkay, found in the book National Symbols of St. Martin, is at the center of the CLF theatrical production. Lohkays resistance against Slavery on a St. Martin plantation, purportedly in St. Peters/Reward area, caused the slave master to cut off one of her breasts as punishment for running away from the hated slave system, according to the legend. The cast and technical crew of The Lohkay Story have been hard at work preparing to deliver to the people of our island what we are confident will be an epic theatrical experience, said Badejo. We acknowledge that health comes first and promise that the production would certainly be worth the wait, said Badejo. CLF issued a statement over the weekend expressing its profound gratitude to the people of St. Martin for their understanding and continued support and kindly requests for the public to follow traditional and social media for updates about the production. PHILIPSBURG (DCOMM):--- Lupus is a disease that can affect people of all ages, races, and ethnicities. It is a chronic, autoimmune disease that affects many different parts of the body. An autoimmune disease occurs when the bodys immune system attacks itself because it cannot tell the difference between healthy tissue and bacteria/viruses. The Collective Prevention Services (CPS), a department in the Ministry of Public Health, Social Development and Labor (Ministry VSA), has joined with Kooyman in hosting an event for Lupus Awareness Month on Friday, May 26 at Kooyman in Cay Hill. The event will start at 7:30 PM. The event is being organized for the public where CPS/Kooyman would share information on Lupus awareness that will be beneficial to persons living with lupus and their families; to provide an understanding of how lupus is diagnosed, managed, and how to maintain a healthy lifestyle while living with Lupus; and to learn how families can support persons living with Lupus. Persons interested in attending the May 26 event can register at the following link: https://www.kooymanbv.com/st_martin_en/events/. Lupus Awareness Month is observed in May and aims to increase understanding amongst the general public and raise awareness of the physical, emotional impact of lupus; and what this disease can do and why its so key to know the facts. Lupus is an incurable disease, but there do exist treatments which can make living with it more manageable and improve the prognosis of the patient significantly. It cannot be transmitted from person to person, but it does seem to appear more frequently in people who have a history of it in their families. Lupus is a tricky disease to catch because it is often mistaken for other afflictions, which means it can go undetected for years without even the person affected knowing. Amongst other symptoms, sufferers may exhibit a fever, tiredness, an increase in mouth ulcers and may even develop arthritis. A common symptom of a lupus sufferer can often be seen on the skin of the face; a bright red rash which runs from the bridge of the nose, under the eyes and across the cheeks. Because of this, it is often known as the butterfly rash. This butterfly rash is one of the most commonly associated symptoms of the disease in fact, it is likely to be where it got its name from, with a part of its scientific name lupus erythematosus erythroid being derived from the ancient Greek word for red. PHILIPSBURG:--- The Honorable Minister of Justice, Anna E. Richardson, warmly welcomed a distinguished delegation from the Headquarters of the International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL) to Sint Maarten from May 15 to May 19, 2023, for a highly anticipated Quality Standard Visit. The purpose of the visit was to assess the effectiveness and performance of the INTERPOL National Central Bureau (NCB) in Philipsburg, which currently functions as an integral part of the Police Force of Sint Maarten (KPSM). The INTERPOL Quality Standard Visit commenced with an official opening meeting led by Minister Richardson. Throughout the week-long program, the delegation engaged in a series of key activities, including a visit to the airport, a meeting with the Honorable Prime Minister, Silveria E. Jacobs, and fruitful discussions with stakeholders within the Justice chain. These discussions covered a broad range of critical topics, such as border protection, fugitives, human trafficking, human smuggling, narcotics, and firearms, as well as anti-counterfeit and intellectual property issues. INTERPOL provided invaluable insights into the various tools and databases available to Sint Maarten as a proud member state of INTERPOL. Furthermore, awareness was raised regarding the training and networking opportunities that can benefit the law enforcement officers of Sint Maarten. The visit culminated in a closing meeting between Minister Richardson, the Chief of Police, and the INTERPOL delegation. During this meeting, the preliminary findings of INTERPOL were shared, and a comprehensive report detailing all the findings will be provided to Minister Richardson in the coming weeks. The visit of INTERPOL marks a significant milestone in the process of strengthening INTERPOL Sint Maarten and intensifying the working relationship between Sint Maarten and INTERPOL. The initiative was initially set in motion by Minister Richardson in November 2022 when she embarked on a courtesy work visit to the INTERPOL Headquarters in Lyon, France, accompanied by Ms. Geertje van Haperen, Senior Legal Policy Advisor of Judicial Affairs. INTERPOL plays a pivotal role in offering a wide range of expertise and services to its member countries, including forensics, analysis, and assistance in locating fugitives worldwide. This expertise supports national efforts in combating crimes across three global areas: terrorism, cybercrime, and organized crime. Effective coordination among all stakeholders is crucial in maintaining a robust global security architecture. Minister Richardson expressed her delight with the visit of INTERPOL and the valuable feedback received during their Quality Standard visit to Sint Maarten. This visit holds great significance as it marks the first inspection since the establishment of the NCB on the beautiful island several years ago. I am proud as we were able to showcase Sint Maarten's unwavering commitment to upholding the highest standards of law enforcement and international cooperation. The positive feedback received thus far reinforces the dedication of Sint Maarten to ensuring the safety and security of its citizens and visitors. The Ministry of Justice remains steadfast in its commitment to enhancing capabilities, fostering stronger partnerships, and embracing the latest advancements in technology and training. By doing so, Sint Maarten aims to elevate the effectiveness of its NCB in addressing global security challenges and making valuable contributions to the broader INTERPOL community. Moving forward, the Ministry will build upon the recommendations provided by INTERPOL, ensuring that Sint Maarten maintains its reputation as a responsible and proactive partner in the fight against organized crime, terrorism, and emerging threats. The Ministry and INTERPOL share an unwavering resolve to create a safer world, and they eagerly anticipate continued collaboration and knowledge exchange to strengthen collective efforts. Sint Maarten remains steadfast in its commitment to justice, security, international cooperation, and we are honored to have received such positive recognition from INTERPOL. Thank you once again to the INTERPOL team for their invaluable visit, and to all those who contribute to the safety and well-being of our community. Together, we will continue to strive for excellence in law enforcement and ensure a secure future for Sint Maarten and its residents. stated Minister Richardson. ~Bank shows appreciation to employees with a host of activities and events.~ Bridgetown Barbados:--- For an entire week the branches and offices of CIBC FirstCaribbean were abuzz with activity as the bank celebrated and toasted its employees as part of Employee Appreciation Week. Bedecked in every shade of blue, the chosen color for the week of staff appreciation and celebration, which ran from May 8 to 12, executives, managers, and team leaders all joined in daily activities aimed at thanking and showing appreciation to their colleagues. Chief Executive Officer Mark St. Hill donned a chefs hat and apron and was joined by other members of the executive team, Neil Brennan, Patrick McKenna and Esan Peters in serving staff members at Regional Head Office a hearty breakfast on Friday 12 May, the final day of celebrations. By coming together and demonstrating our Culture of Care for each other, while maintaining a Culture of Care for our clients, we are showing the region and the world what CIBC FirstCaribbean is all about, the CEO said. My appreciation for the excellent work you are doing is felt every day of the year. We are building a better, stronger and more efficient bank and all because of you. Thank you for everything that you do for us, he added. Throughout the week, picnics, a paint and sip session, breakfast events, lunches, outings, a funky fashion show, dancing and even wine tasting were just some of the numerous events teams engaged in across the region. Staffers in St. Maarten enjoyed in-branch massages and received breakfast gift baskets as a token of appreciation. Employee Appreciation Week was spearheaded by the banks Client & Engagement Team at the Regional Head Office in Barbados but also included activities planned by Country Management Teams, and by individual segments and teams across the region. Targa Closes Acquisition of Pan Canadian Lithium Targa Exploration Corp. (CSE: TEX) (aTargaa or the aCompanya https://www.commodity-tv.com/ondemand/companies/profil/targa-exploration-corp/ ) is pleased to announce that, further to its news release dated May 11, 2023, it has completed the acquisition of 100% of the issued and outstanding shares of Pan Canadian Lithium Corp. (aPan Canadian Lithiuma) pursuant to a share exchange agreement (the aAcquisition Agreementa) dated May 10, 2023 (the aAcquisitiona). In addition, Cameron Tymstra has been appointed as the Chief Executive Officer and President of Targa. Pan Canadian Lithium, now a wholly-owned subsidiary of Targa, holds the mining claims to highly prospective lithium projects located in Saskatchewan and Ontario, Canada. The claims cover a total of 49,248 hectares and were identified using regional lake sediment samples obtained from provincial geochemical data that were highly anomalous with lithium pathfinder elements. Targa believes that the projects display significant potential for lithium bearing pegmatites. For additional information regarding the projects held by Pan Canadian Lithium, readers are encouraged to review Targaa?s news release dated May 11, 2023. Cameron Tymstra, Chief Executive Officer and President of Targa, commented: aI am excited to be joining the Targa management team as the Company prepares for an extensive field season. Jon has done a tremendous job assembling this high-potential portfolio of lithium assets across Canada and I look forward to launching the Phase 1 exploration programs over the coming months.a Pursuant to the Acquisition Agreement, the Company has issued 5,766,666 common shares in the capital of the Company (the aConsideration Sharesa) to the shareholders of Pan Canadian Lithium. The Consideration Shares are subject to a four-month hold period pursuant to applicable Canadian securities laws. As part of the Acquisition, Targa has also acquired Pan Canadian Lithiuma?s positive cash position of approximately $240,000. Appointment of new CEO Effective immediately, Cameron Tymstra has been appointed as the Chief Executive Officer and President of Targa. Mr. Tymstra is currently President and CEO of Tarachi Gold Corp., a Mexico-focused gold exploration company and has worked in mining and mineral exploration throughout the Americas for the past 15 years. He holds a degree in mineral engineering from the University of Toronto and a Mastera?s in mining management from the South Dakota School of Mines. Jon Ward will continue working on the Targa management team following closing of the Acquisition in his new role as Vice President of Corporate Development and will remain a director on Targaa?s board. About Targa Exploration Targa Exploration Corp. (CSE: TEX | FRA: V6Y) is a Canadian exploration company engaged in the acquisition, exploration, and development of mineral properties with headquarters in Vancouver, British Columbia. Technical Information The scientific and technical content of this news release has been reviewed and approved by Lorne Warner P.Geo., who is a \qualified person\ as defined by National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects. Contact Information: For more information and to sign-up to the mailing list, please contact: Jon Ward, Director Tel: +1 (604) 355-0303 Email: jon@inventacapital.ca Website: www.targaexploration.com In Europe: Swiss Resource Capital AG Jochen Staiger info@resource-capital.ch www.resource-capital.ch SPECIAL NOTE REGARDING FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS This news release includes certain aForward?Looking Statementsa within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and aforward?looking informationa under applicable Canadian securities laws. When used in this news release, the words aanticipatea, abelievea, aestimatea, aexpecta, atargeta, aplana, aforecasta, amaya, awoulda, acoulda, aschedulea and similar words or expressions, identify forward?looking statements or information. These forward?looking statements or information relate to, among other things: exploration and development of the Companya?s properties. Forward?looking statements and forward?looking information relating to any future mineral production, liquidity, enhanced value and capital markets profile of Targa, future growth potential for Targa and its business, and future exploration plans are based on managementa?s reasonable assumptions, estimates, expectations, analyses and opinions, which are based on managementa?s experience and perception of trends, current conditions and expected developments, and other factors that management believes are relevant and reasonable in the circumstances, but which may prove to be incorrect. Assumptions have been made regarding, among other things, the price of lithium and other metals; costs of exploration and development; the estimated costs of development of exploration projects; Targaa?s ability to operate in a safe and effective manner and its ability to obtain financing on reasonable terms. These statements reflect Targaa?s respective current views with respect to future events and are necessarily based upon a number of other assumptions and estimates that, while considered reasonable by management, are inherently subject to significant business, economic, competitive, political and social uncertainties and contingencies. Many factors, both known and unknown, could cause actual results, performance, or achievements to be materially different from the results, performance or achievements that are or may be expressed or implied by such forward?looking statements or forward-looking information and Targa has made assumptions and estimates based on or related to many of these factors. Such factors include, without limitation: the Company\-s dependence on one mineral project; precious metals price volatility; risks associated with the conduct of the Company\-s mineral exploration activities in Canada; regulatory, consent or permitting delays; risks relating to reliance on the Company\-s management team and outside contractors; risks regarding mineral resources and reserves; the Company\-s inability to obtain insurance to cover all risks, on a commercially reasonable basis or at all; currency fluctuations; risks regarding the failure to generate sufficient cash flow from operations; risks relating to project financing and equity issuances; risks and unknowns inherent in all mining projects, including the inaccuracy of reserves and resources, metallurgical recoveries and capital and operating costs of such projects; contests over title to properties, particularly title to undeveloped properties; laws and regulations governing the environment, health and safety; the ability of the communities in which the Company operates to manage and cope with the implications of public health crises 19; the economic and financial implications of public health crises to the Company; operating or technical difficulties in connection with mining or development activities; employee relations, labour unrest or unavailability; the Company\-s interactions with surrounding communities; the Company\-s ability to successfully integrate acquired assets; the speculative nature of exploration and development, including the risks of diminishing quantities or grades of reserves; stock market volatility; conflicts of interest among certain directors and officers; lack of liquidity for shareholders of the Company; litigation risk; and the factors identified under the caption aRisk Factorsa in Targaa? management discussion and analysis. Readers are cautioned against attributing undue certainty to forward?looking statements or forward-looking information. Although Targa has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially, there may be other factors that cause results not to be anticipated, estimated or intended. Targa does not intend, and does not assume any obligation, to update these forward?looking statements or forward-looking information to reflect changes in assumptions or changes in circumstances or any other events affecting such statements or information, other than as required by applicable law. Heliostar Announces Reinstatement to OTCQX Market Under Symbol HSTXF after Ana Paula Acquisition Heliostar Metals Ltd. (TSX.V: HSTR, OTCQX: HSTXF, FRA: RGG1) (aHeliostara or the aCompanya https://www.commodity-tv.com/ondemand/companies/profil/heliostar-metals-ltd/ ) is pleased today that the company has returned to trading on the OTCQXA Best Market following the completion of the acquisition of the Ana Paula Project. Heliostar will continue trading under the symbol aHSTXFa.A U.S. investors can find current financial disclosure and Real-Time Level 2 quotes for the company on www.otcmarkets.com Heliostar CEO, Charles Funk commented, aReinstatement on the OTCQX was a priority upon completing the acquisition of the Ana Paula Gold project. The scale of the transaction required a trading halt on our primary Canadian exchange resulting in a subsequent pause on the companya?s OTCQX status until today. Heliostar shares resumed trading at an opportune time for our current and prospective American shareholders. We expect the first drill results from Ana Paula this week.a The OTCQX Market operates a regulated market for trading 12,000 U.S. and international securities. To qualify for OTCQX, companies must meet high financial standards. They must follow best practice corporate governance and demonstrate compliance with applicable securities laws. Trading on the OTCQX Market enables companies to demonstrate their qualifications and build visibility among U.S. investors. Burns, Figa & Will PC acted as the companya?s OTCQX sponsor. About Heliostar Metals Ltd. Heliostar is a junior mining company with a portfolio of high-grade gold projects in Mexico and Alaska. The Company is focused on developing the 100% owned Ana Paula Project in Guerrero, Mexico. In addition, Heliostar is working with the Mexican government to permit the San Antonio Gold Project in Baja Sur, Mexico. The Company continues efforts to explore the Unga Gold Project in Alaska, United States of America. The Ana Paula Project deposit contains proven and probable mineral reserves of 1,081,000 ounces of gold at 2.38 grams per tonne (ag/ta) gold and 2,547,000 ounces of silver at 5.61 g/t silver.A Ana Paula hosts measured and indicated resources of 1,468,800 ounces of gold at 2.16 g/t gold and 3,600,000 ounces of silver at 5.3 g/t silver.A The asset is permitted for open-pit mining and contains significant existing infrastructure including a portal and a 412 metre long decline. An updated prefeasibility study titled aAna Paula Project NI 43-101 Technical Report Preliminary Feasibility Study Updatea was filed on SEDAR on April 6, 2023, with an effective date of February 28, 2023, prepared for the Company by Daniel H. Neff, PE, Art S. Ibrado, PhD, PE, Richard K. Zimmerman, RG, SME-RM, Craig Gibson, PhD, CPG, Andrew Kelly, P.Eng., Gordon Zurowski, P.Eng., Paul Daigle, P.Geo., Gilberto Dominguez, PE and James A. Cremeens, PE, PG. Statement of Qualified Person Stewart Harris, P.Geo., a Qualified Person, as such term is defined by National Instrument 43-101 a Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects, has reviewed the scientific and technical information in this news release and has approved the disclosure herein. For additional information please contact: Charles Funk Chief Executive Officer Heliostar Metals Limited Email: charles.funk@heliostarmetals.com Rob Grey Investor Relations Manager Heliostar Metals Limited Email: rob.grey@heliostarmetals.com In Europe: Swiss Resource Capital AG Jochen Staiger & Marc Ollinger info@resource-capital.ch www.resource-capital.ch Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. This news release includes certain \ForwardaLooking Statements\ within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and \forwardalooking information\ under applicable Canadian securities laws. When used in this news release, the words \anticipate\, \believe\, \estimate\, \expect\, \target\, \plan\, \forecast\, \may\, \would\, \could\, \schedule\ and similar words or expressions, identify forwardalooking statements or information. These forwardalooking statements or information relate to, among other things: the exploration, development, and production at the Companya?s properties; permitting at the San Antonio; and the release of exploration results. Forwardalooking statements and forwardalooking information relating to any future mineral production, liquidity, enhanced value and capital markets profile of the Company, future growth potential for the Company and its business, and future exploration plans are based on management\-s reasonable assumptions, estimates, expectations, analyses and opinions, which are based on management\-s experience and perception of trends, current conditions and expected developments, and other factors that management believes are relevant and reasonable in the circumstances, but which may prove to be incorrect. Assumptions have been made regarding, among other things, the price of metals; no escalation in the severity of public health crises or ongoing military conflicts; costs of exploration and development; the estimated costs of development of exploration projects; and the Company\-s ability to operate in a safe and effective manner and its ability to obtain financing on reasonable terms. These statements reflect the Company\-s respective current views with respect to future events and are necessarily based upon a number of other assumptions and estimates that, while considered reasonable by management, are inherently subject to significant business, economic, competitive, political and social uncertainties and contingencies. Many factors, both known and unknown, could cause actual results, performance, or achievements to be materially different from the results, performance or achievements that are or may be expressed or implied by such forwardalooking statements or forward-looking information and the Company has made assumptions and estimates based on or related to many of these factors. Such factors include, without limitation: precious metals price volatility; risks associated with the conduct of the Company\-s mining activities in foreign jurisdictions; regulatory, consent or permitting delays; risks relating to reliance on the Company\-s management team and outside contractors; risks regarding exploration and mining activities; the Company\-s inability to obtain insurance to cover all risks, on a commercially reasonable basis or at all; currency fluctuations; risks regarding the failure to generate sufficient cash flow from operations; risks relating to project financing and equity issuances; risks and unknowns inherent in all mining projects, including the inaccuracy of reserves and resources, metallurgical recoveries and capital and operating costs of such projects; contests over title to properties, particularly title to undeveloped properties; laws and regulations governing the environment, health and safety; the ability of the communities in which the Company operates to manage and cope with the implications of public health crises; the economic and financial implications of public health crises, ongoing military conflicts and general economic factors to the Company; operating or technical difficulties in connection with mining or development activities; employee relations, labour unrest or unavailability; the Company\-s interactions with surrounding communities; the Company\-s ability to successfully integrate acquired assets; the speculative nature of exploration and development, including the risks of diminishing quantities or grades of reserves; stock market volatility; conflicts of interest among certain directors and officers; lack of liquidity for shareholders of the Company; litigation risk; and the factors identified under the caption aRisk Factorsa in the Companya?s public disclosure documents. Readers are cautioned against attributing undue certainty to forwardalooking statements or forward-looking information. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially, there may be other factors that cause results not to be anticipated, estimated or intended. The Company does not intend, and does not assume any obligation, to update these forwardalooking statements or forward-looking information to reflect changes in assumptions or changes in circumstances or any other events affecting such statements or information, other than as required by applicable law. Press Release May 22, 2023 EXPLANATION OF VOTE: THIRD READING Kabalikat sa Pagtuturo Act (Senate Bill No. 1964) May 22, 2023 Mr. President, I wish to take this opportunity to explain my affirmative vote for the approval on Third Reading of Senate Bill No. 1964, otherwise known as the Kabalikat sa Pagtuturo Act. In my co-sponsorship of this measure, I talked at length about how the "napagkakasya naman" mentality, which is something we Filipinos are known for, should not be applied to our treatment of our teachers. Sila, na kabalikat natin sa pagpapalaki ng ating mga anak, ay nararapat lamang na tulungan. These teachers who support and help us in forming our children intellectually and emotionally also need and deserve our support and help. This is why I give this measure my loudest affirmative vote, Mr. President. Arne Duncan once said: "Wherever you find something extraordinary, you'll find the fingerprints of a great teacher." Today, it is my fervent hope that Filipino teachers will be even more inspired to scale greater heights, to conquer more extraordinary feats, knowing that their Senate has got their backs. If great teachers are those who can bring out the best in their students, then let it be known that a great Senate is also that which, through inspired leadership and legislation, can bring out the best in their educators. With the able Chairmanship of the Committee on Civil Service, Government Reorganization and Professional Regulation, Senator Bong Revilla, allow me to express my full support for the immediate passage of this happy bill into law. Thank you, Mr. President. Foreign tourists visit Temple of Literature (Photo: VNA) In the first four months of this year, nearly 3.7 million foreign tourists travelled to Vietnam, and the number of domestic tourists was 38 million. Total revenue from tourists was estimated at 196.6 trillion VND (8.3 billion USD). Revenues from accommodation and catering services between January and April were estimated at 214.8 trillion VND, representing a year-on-year increase of 25%. Meanwhile, thanks to exciting cultural and tourism activities taking place in many localities in the early months of the year across localities, travel revenue was estimated at 9.1 trillion VND, nearly 2.1 times higher than the same period last year. In April alone, the country welcomed 984,000 international travellers, the highest figure from the beginning of this year and an increase of 9.9% from the previous month. It served 10.5 million domestic tourists in the month. The Republic of Korea remains Vietnam's biggest tourism market in the first four months with 1 million visitors, followed by the US with 263,000 and China with 252,000. The number of Chinese tourists to Vietnam in April was 112,000, up 61.5% from the previous month thanks to Chinas border reopening to group tours from March 15. The VNAT said that the main growth driver for the international tourism market is currently China. In the first four months of this year, nearly 3.7 million foreign tourists travel to Vietnam (Photo: VNA) Nguyen Le Binh, Deputy Director of the Vietnam tourism desk under the Guangxi Overseas Travel Service Co., Ltd. in Nanning city of Chinas Guangxi province, forecast that the number of Chinese tourists to Vietnam will surge in summer. The VNAT also predicted that the number of tourists from China will recover at a faster rate than those of other markets due to its population, with demand growing day by day since the country resumed outbound travel. Its recovery is expected to increase pace after summer and accelerate in October and the final months of this year. Australia and India are now well-positioned to increase the number of tourists to Vietnam as Vietnam Airlines and Vietjet recently opened direct flights connecting many major cities between the two countries. In Southeast Asia, Thailand and Cambodia are recovering well, equivalent to the pre-pandemic levels, and are forecast to maintain growth thanks to their proximity to Vietnam. In its meeting in May, the National Assembly is scheduled to adopt a resolution on new policies related to visas, immigration, and entry, including extending the e-visa validity period from no more than 30 days to no more than 3 months, for single or multiple entry. They will grant e-visas to citizens of all countries and territories, and increase the duration of the temporary residence certificates at the border gate for people subject to unilateral visa-free entry from 15 days to 45 days. This will be an important driving force contributing to attracting foreign tourists to Vietnam in the coming time. This year, Vietnam is striving to serve 110 million tourists, and earn around 650 trillion VND from tourism services. Foreign tourists impressed by sleeping bus in Vietnam Most backpackers travelling around the country will take sleeping buses, and there are a number of things people should know beforehand, according to Canadian travel magazine The Travel. Interior of sleeping bus in Vietnam (Photo courtesy of The Travel) Vietnam is one of the most rewarding countries to explore throughout all of Southeast Asia. Somewhat similar to Chile and Norway in shape, the country is long and skinny and is notable for having the sea on one side and the mountains on the other. The distances are often large, meaning sleeping buses in Vietnam are common, VOV cited websites writing. Taking the sleeping bus is therefore a good suggestion for long-distance travel with stops, traffic, and many extremely windy roads in the mountains, including the stunning mountain town of Sa Pa. Sleeping buses are buses featuring fully reclining seats that do not have the option of sitting upright and buses with proper beds. Most sleeper buses in the nation do not have toilets, so guests should plan for that before their journey, according to the magazine. Service on these sleeping buses in both Vietnam and Southeast Asia varies significantly. Travelers who book an organised tour can expect the bus to be somewhat pleasant, with enough rest stops to be comfortable at reasonable places that have restrooms and sell refreshments. These buses focus more on foreign guests and are safe for women. The Travel suggests that guests should not drink too much before getting on the sleeper bus and should take plenty of snacks as there is normally only water available on the bus. Another thing to consider is taking warm clothes on the bus, regardless of how tropical the weather is, as the air conditioning can make it very cold. Vietnam Airlines launches Hanoi-Mumbai air route According to VNA, national flag carrier Vietnam Airlines recently launched a direct air route connecting Hanoi with Indias Mumbai so as to strengthen trade, and socio-cultural connectivity between the two nations. Representatives from Vietnam Consulate in Mumbai, Vietnam Airlines and Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Airport at the ceremony on launching the Hanoi-Mumbai air route. (Photo:VNA) This is the carriers second route connecting Vietnam and India, after New Delhi capital. Its Deputy General Director Trinh Ngoc Thanh said that with a new route linking to Mumbai, India's most important financial, commercial and cultural centre, the airline wants to show its commitment to continuously expanding and developing a network of routes, giving passengers many flexible options. He expressed his hope that the air routes will bring many benefits to both countries. Passengers check-in at the airport (Source: daibieunhandan.vn) Vietnam Airlines will operate four flights per week on the Hanoi-Mumbai route on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays, and Sundays. To mark the new service, it is offering preferential fares, with a round-trip ticket, including taxes and fees, costing only 199 USD. The prices are applied for tickets purchased until May 26, for flights between May 20 and 26./. Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh (L) and his Japanese counterpart Fumio Kishida. (Photo:VNA) This is the first Vietnam-Japan high-level talks to take place in Hiroshima, the hometown of PM Kishida, and the fifth between the two PMs in more than a year. Chinh congratulated Kishida and host Japan on successfully organising the G7 and G7 expanded Summits, and spoke highly of Japan's coordinating role to reach consensus in solving global challenges such as food security and emission reduction. Kishida welcomed the active and effective participation in and contribution of the Vietnamese delegation to the success of the G7 expanded Summit, affirming that Vietnam holds a leading position in the implementation of Japan's foreign policy in the region. The two leaders expressed their satisfaction at the strong, comprehensive and substantive development of the two countries' relations over the past time; and agreed on major orientations and specific measures to promote the extensive strategic partnership between Vietnam and Japan for peace and prosperity in Asia to a new height. They agreed to strengthen political trust by stepping up high-level visits and contacts in 2023 which marks the 50th anniversary of the establishment of bilateral diplomatic relations. The PMs also reached a consensus on enhancing defence-security cooperation in the settlement of the post-war consequences, human resources training, technology transfer, and cyber security. The two leaders appreciated the completion of procedures for capital commitment of the new generation official development assistance (ODA) programme for post-pandemic economic recovery worth 50 billion JPY (362.4 million USD); and affirmed to direct relevant ministries and sectors to accelerate the progress of several ODA projects such as Cho Ray Hospital 2, Ben Thanh-Suoi Tien Metro Line No.1. Regarding the Nghi Son Oil Refinery project, PM Chinh suggested the two countries businesses actively exchange ideas in the spirit of harmonising benefits, sharing risks, and removing difficulties of the project. He also proposed the two sides work together to promote a new wave of Japanese investment in Vietnam in the fields of high-tech industry and energy transition to help Vietnamese firms participate more deeply and widely in the supply chains of Japan and the globe. The Vietnamese PM also proposed the Japanese Government to create favourable conditions and simplify procedures for granting visas towards the exemption of entry visas for Vietnamese citizens to promote tourism cooperation between the two countries, and pay more attention to the 500,000-strong Vietnamese community in the country. The two sides affirmed to coordinate their stances on issues of mutual concern at multilateral and regional forums such as ASEAN, the United Nations, and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC). Kishida invited Chinh to visit Japan again and attend the ASEAN-Japan Summit in December. Regarding the East Sea issue, the leaders emphasised the importance of ensuring navigation and aviation security and safety, solving all disputes and differences by peaceful means on the basis of international law, especially the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS),fully implementing the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC), and soon completing an effective and substantive Code of Conduct in the East Sea (COC). Before the talks, the two witnessed the exchange of signed documents of three ODA cooperation projects with a total value of 61 billion JPY, including a new-generation ODA support programme for post-pandemic socio-economic recovery and development, a public transport infrastructure project in Binh Duong province, and an agricultural development infrastructure project in Lam Dong province. This is the last activity of PM Chinh during his trip to attend the G7 expanded Summit and pay a working visit to Japan. In the evening of the same day, he and the high-ranking Vietnamese delegation left Hiroshima for Hanoi, successfully concluding his trip./. Is time travel possible? Short answer: Yes, and you're doing it right now hurtling into the future at the impressive rate of one second per second. You're pretty much always moving through time at the same speed, whether you're watching paint dry or wishing you had more hours to visit with a friend from out of town. But this isn't the kind of time travel that's captivated countless science fiction writers, or spurred a genre so extensive that Wikipedia lists over 400 titles in the category "Movies about Time Travel." In franchises like " Doctor Who ," " Star Trek ," and "Back to the Future" characters climb into some wild vehicle to blast into the past or spin into the future. Once the characters have traveled through time, they grapple with what happens if you change the past or present based on information from the future (which is where time travel stories intersect with the idea of parallel universes or alternate timelines). Related: The best sci-fi time machines ever Although many people are fascinated by the idea of changing the past or seeing the future before it's due, no person has ever demonstrated the kind of back-and-forth time travel seen in science fiction or proposed a method of sending a person through significant periods of time that wouldn't destroy them on the way. And, as physicist Stephen Hawking pointed out in his book "Black Holes and Baby Universes" (Bantam, 1994), "The best evidence we have that time travel is not possible, and never will be, is that we have not been invaded by hordes of tourists from the future." Science does support some amount of time-bending, though. For example, physicist Albert Einstein 's theory of special relativity proposes that time is an illusion that moves relative to an observer. An observer traveling near the speed of light will experience time, with all its aftereffects (boredom, aging, etc.) much more slowly than an observer at rest. That's why astronaut Scott Kelly aged ever so slightly less over the course of a year in orbit than his twin brother who stayed here on Earth. Related: Controversially, physicist argues that time is real There are other scientific theories about time travel, including some weird physics that arise around wormholes, black holes and string theory. For the most part, though, time travel remains the domain of an ever-growing array of science fiction books, movies, television shows, comics, video games and more. Special relativity and time travel to the near future Twin brothers Scott and Mark Kelly are both astronauts, and have both participated in landmark studies about the effects of space on the human body. (Image credit: Getty) Einstein developed his theory of special relativity in 1905. Along with his later expansion, the theory of general relativity , it has become one of the foundational tenets of modern physics. Special relativity describes the relationship between space and time for objects moving at constant speeds in a straight line. The short version of the theory is deceptively simple. First, all things are measured in relation to something else that is to say, there is no "absolute" frame of reference. Second, the speed of light is constant. It stays the same no matter what, and no matter where it's measured from. And third, nothing can go faster than the speed of light. From those simple tenets unfolds actual, real-life time travel. An observer traveling at high velocity will experience time at a slower rate than an observer who isn't speeding through space. While we don't accelerate humans to near-light-speed, we do send them swinging around the planet at 17,500 mph (28,160 km/h) aboard the International Space Station . Astronaut Scott Kelly was born after his twin brother, and fellow astronaut, Mark Kelly . Scott Kelly spent 520 days in orbit, while Mark logged 54 days in space. The difference in the speed at which they experienced time over the course of their lifetimes has actually widened the age gap between the two men. "So, where[as] I used to be just 6 minutes older, now I am 6 minutes and 5 milliseconds older," Mark Kelly said in a panel discussion on July 12, 2020, Space.com previously reported . "Now I've got that over his head." General relativity and GPS time travel This not-to-scale image shows the constellation of GPS satellites whizzing around the Earth in distant orbits. (Image credit: Getty) The difference that low earth orbit makes in an astronaut's life span may be negligible better suited for jokes among siblings than actual life extension or visiting the distant future but the dilation in time between people on Earth and GPS satellites flying through space does make a difference. Read more: Can we stop time? The Global Positioning System , or GPS, helps us know exactly where we are by communicating with a network of a few dozen satellites positioned in a high Earth orbit. The satellites circle the planet from 12,500 miles (20,100 kilometers) away, moving at 8,700 mph (14,000 km/h). According to special relativity, the faster an object moves relative to another object, the slower that first object experiences time. For GPS satellites with atomic clocks, this effect cuts 7 microseconds, or 7 millionths of a second, off each day, according to the American Physical Society publication Physics Central . Read more: Could Star Trek's faster-than-light warp drive actually work? Then, according to general relativity, clocks closer to the center of a large gravitational mass like Earth tick more slowly than those farther away. So, because the GPS satellites are much farther from the center of Earth compared to clocks on the surface, Physics Central added, that adds another 45 microseconds onto the GPS satellite clocks each day. Combined with the negative 7 microseconds from the special relativity calculation, the net result is an added 38 microseconds. This means that in order to maintain the accuracy needed to pinpoint your car or phone or, since the system is run by the U.S. Department of Defense, a military drone engineers must account for an extra 38 microseconds in each satellite's day. The atomic clocks onboard dont tick over to the next day until they have run 38 microseconds longer than comparable clocks on Earth. Given those numbers, it would take more than seven years for the atomic clock in a GPS satellite to un-sync itself from an Earth clock by more than a blink of an eye. (We did the math: If you estimate a blink to last at least 100,000 microseconds, as the Harvard Database of Useful Biological Numbers does, it would take thousands of days for those 38 microsecond shifts to add up.) This kind of time travel may seem as negligible as the Kelly brothers' age gap, but given the hyper-accuracy of modern GPS technology, it actually does matter. If it can communicate with the satellites whizzing overhead, your phone can nail down your location in space and time with incredible accuracy. Can wormholes take us back in time? General relativity might also provide scenarios that could allow travelers to go back in time, according to NASA . But the physical reality of those time-travel methods is no piece of cake. Wormholes are theoretical "tunnels" through the fabric of space-time that could connect different moments or locations in reality to others. Also known as Einstein-Rosen bridges or white holes, as opposed to black holes, speculation about wormholes abounds. But despite taking up a lot of space (or space-time) in science fiction, no wormholes of any kind have been identified in real life. Related: Best time travel movies "The whole thing is very hypothetical at this point," Stephen Hsu, a professor of theoretical physics at the University of Oregon, told Space.com sister site Live Science . "No one thinks we're going to find a wormhole anytime soon." Primordial wormholes are predicted to be just 10^-34 inches (10^-33 centimeters) at the tunnel's "mouth". Previously, they were expected to be too unstable for anything to be able to travel through them. However, a study claims that this is not the case, Live Science reported . The theory, which suggests that wormholes could work as viable space-time shortcuts, was described by physicist Pascal Koiran. As part of the study, Koiran used the Eddington-Finkelstein metric, as opposed to the Schwarzschild metric which has been used in the majority of previous analyses. In the past, the path of a particle could not be traced through a hypothetical wormhole. However, using the Eddington-Finkelstein metric, the physicist was able to achieve just that. Koiran's paper was described in October 2021, in the preprint database arXiv , before being published in the Journal of Modern Physics D. Could we travel in time using wormholes? First, we'd have to find one. (Image credit: ktsdesign/Shutterstock) Alternate time travel theories While Einstein's theories appear to make time travel difficult, some researchers have proposed other solutions that could allow jumps back and forth in time. These alternate theories share one major flaw: As far as scientists can tell, there's no way a person could survive the kind of gravitational pulling and pushing that each solution requires. Infinite cylinder theory Astronomer Frank Tipler proposed a mechanism (sometimes known as a Tipler Cylinder ) where one could take matter that is 10 times the sun's mass, then roll it into a very long, but very dense cylinder. The Anderson Institute , a time travel research organization, described the cylinder as "a black hole that has passed through a spaghetti factory." After spinning this black hole spaghetti a few billion revolutions per minute, a spaceship nearby following a very precise spiral around the cylinder could travel backward in time on a "closed, time-like curve," according to the Anderson Institute. The major problem is that in order for the Tipler Cylinder to become reality, the cylinder would need to be infinitely long or be made of some unknown kind of matter. At least for the foreseeable future, endless interstellar pasta is beyond our reach. Time donuts Theoretical physicist Amos Ori at the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology in Haifa, Israel, proposed a model for a time machine made out of curved space-time a donut-shaped vacuum surrounded by a sphere of normal matter. "The machine is space-time itself," Ori told Live Science. "If we were to create an area with a warp like this in space that would enable time lines to close on themselves, it might enable future generations to return to visit our time." There are a few caveats to Ori's time machine. First, visitors to the past wouldn't be able to travel to times earlier than the invention and construction of the time donut. Second, and more importantly, the invention and construction of this machine would depend on our ability to manipulate gravitational fields at will a feat that may be theoretically possible but is certainly beyond our immediate reach. Time travel in science fiction The Doctor's time machine is the TARDIS, which stands for Time and Relative Dimensions in Space. (Image credit: BBC America) Time travel has long occupied a significant place in fiction. Since as early as the "Mahabharata," an ancient Sanskrit epic poem compiled around 400 B.C., humans have dreamed of warping time, Lisa Yaszek, a professor of science fiction studies at the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, told Live Science . Every work of time-travel fiction creates its own version of space-time, glossing over one or more scientific hurdles and paradoxes to achieve its plot requirements. Some make a nod to research and physics, like " Interstellar ," a 2014 film directed by Christopher Nolan. In the movie, a character played by Matthew McConaughey spends a few hours on a planet orbiting a supermassive black hole, but because of time dilation, observers on Earth experience those hours as a matter of decades. Others take a more whimsical approach, like the "Doctor Who" television series. The series features the Doctor, an extraterrestrial "Time Lord" who travels in a spaceship resembling a blue British police box. "People assume," the Doctor explained in the show, "that time is a strict progression from cause to effect, but actually from a non-linear, non-subjective viewpoint, it's more like a big ball of wibbly-wobbly, timey-wimey stuff." Long-standing franchises like the "Star Trek" movies and television series, as well as comic universes like DC and Marvel Comics, revisit the idea of time travel over and over. Related: Marvel movies in order: chronological & release order Here is an incomplete (and deeply subjective) list of some influential or notable works of time travel fiction: Books about time travel: 'A Christmas Carol' by Charles Dickens features 'The ghost of Christmas yet to come' from the future. (Image credit: Getty) Rip Van Winkle (Cornelius S. Van Winkle, 1819) by Washington Irving A Christmas Carol (Chapman & Hall, 1843) by Charles Dickens The Time Machine (William Heinemann, 1895) by H. G. Wells A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court (Charles L. Webster and Co., 1889) by Mark Twain The Restaurant at the End of the Universe (Pan Books, 1980) by Douglas Adams A Tale of Time City (Methuen, 1987) by Diana Wynn Jones The Outlander series (Delacorte Press, 1991-present) by Diana Gabaldon Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Bloomsbury/Scholastic, 1999) by J. K. Rowling Thief of Time (Doubleday, 2001) by Terry Pratchett The Time Traveler's Wife (MacAdam/Cage, 2003) by Audrey Niffenegger All You Need is Kill (Shueisha, 2004) by Hiroshi Sakurazaka Movies about time travel: Planet of the Apes (1968) Superman (1978) Time Bandits (1981) The Terminator (1984) Back to the Future series (1985, 1989, 1990) Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986) Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure (1989) Groundhog Day (1993) Galaxy Quest (1999) The Butterfly Effect (2004) 13 Going on 30 (2004) The Lake House (2006) Meet the Robinsons (2007) Hot Tub Time Machine (2010) Midnight in Paris (2011) Looper (2012) X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014) Edge of Tomorrow (2014) Interstellar (2014) Doctor Strange (2016) A Wrinkle in Time (2018) The Last Sharknado: It's About Time (2018) Avengers: Endgame (2019) Tenet (2020) Palm Springs (2020) Zach Snyder's Justice League (2021) The Tomorrow War (2021) Television about time travel: Time travel is possible in the Star Trek universe. (Image credit: Getty) Doctor Who (1963-present) The Twilight Zone (1959-1964) (multiple episodes) Star Trek (multiple series, multiple episodes) Samurai Jack (2001-2004) Lost (2004-2010) Phil of the Future (2004-2006) Steins;Gate (2011) Outlander (2014-present) Loki (2021-present) Games about time travel: Chrono Trigger (1995) TimeSplitters (2000-2005) Kingdom Hearts (2002-2019) Prince of Persia: Sands of Time (2003) God of War II (2007) Ratchet and Clank Future: A Crack In Time (2009) Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time (2013) Dishonored 2 (2016) Titanfall 2 (2016) Outer Wilds (2019) Additional resources Explore physicist Peter Millingtons thoughts about Stephen Hawkings time travel theories at The Conversation. Check out a kid-friendly explanation of real-world time travel from NASA's Space Place. For an overview of time travel in fiction and the collective consciousness, read "Time Travel: A History" (Pantheon, 2016) by James Gleik. Private mission carrying Saudi astronauts launches to ISS Cape Canaveral, May 22 (AFP) May 22, 2023 The second-ever private mission to the International Space Station (ISS), organized by Axiom Space, blasted off from the southern US state of Florida Sunday, carrying the first two Saudi astronauts to travel to the orbiting laboratory. Rayyanah Barnawi, a breast cancer researcher, is the first Saudi woman to voyage into space and is joined on the mission by fellow Saudi Ali Al-Qarni, a fighter pilot. The Axiom Mission 2 (Ax-2) crew took off aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral at 5:37 pm (2137 GMT). The team also includes Peggy Whitson, a former NASA astronaut, who will be making her fourth flight to the ISS, and John Shoffner, a businessman from Tennessee, who is piloting. "Thanks for putting your trust in the Falcon 9 team," SpaceX chief engineer Bill Gerstenmaier told the crew minutes after lift-off. "Hope you enjoyed the ride to space. Have a great trip on Dragon," he added, referring to the spacecraft. "Welcome home to zero-g, Peggy." The crew is due to spend around 10 days on board the ISS, arriving around 9:25 am (1325 GMT) Monday. "Being the first Saudi woman astronaut, representing the region, it's a great pleasure and honor that I'm very happy to carry," Barnawi said at a recent press conference. She added that, aside from the research she will carry out on board, she was looking forward to sharing her experience on the ISS with kids. "Being able to see their faces when they see astronauts from their own region for the first time is very thrilling," she said. A career fighter pilot, Al-Qarni said he has "always had the passion of exploring the unknown and just admiring the sky and the stars." "It is a great opportunity for me to pursue this kind of passion that I have, and now maybe just fly among the stars." - 'Just the beginning' - The mission is not Saudi Arabia's first foray into space. In 1985, Prince Sultan bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, an air force pilot, took part in a US-organized space voyage. "I reflect on my experience in space many years ago, and I am happy that Saudi Arabia has returned to space once again," he told AFP at a watch party for the Ax-2 launch in Riyadh. "God willing, this is just the beginning." The space mission involving a Saudi woman is the latest move by the country, where women only gained the right to drive a few years ago, to revamp its ultraconservative image. The oil-rich Gulf kingdom established the Saudi Space Commission in 2018 and launched a program last year to send astronauts into space. Scores of flag-waving Saudis gathered at the launch party in Riyadh beneath a massive white tent for the blast-off countdown. Jawaher al-Sabhan, who came to the event with her 11-year-old son and 9-year-old daughter, said the moment gave her "indescribable feelings." "I love space and exploration in general, and I love my children knowing about space and the advantages of exploring it," she said. - Experiments - The four-member team is set to carry out about 20 experiments while on the ISS. One of them involves studying the behavior of stem cells in zero gravity. They will join seven others already aboard the ISS: three Russians, three Americans, and Emirati astronaut Sultan al-Neyadi, who last month became the first Arab national to go on a spacewalk. Ax-2 is the second Axiom Space mission in partnership with ISS keyholder NASA. The private space company offers the voyages for sums that run into the millions of dollars. Axiom Space also oversees training for the astronauts, charters their means of transport, and manages their stay in space. The company carried out its first private mission to the ISS in April 2022, sending three businessmen and former astronaut Michael Lopez-Alegria into orbit for 17 days as part of Ax-1. - Private space stations - For Axiom Space, these missions are a first step toward an ambitious goal: the construction of its own space station, with the first module expected to launch in 2025. The station would first be attached to the ISS before separating and orbiting independently. NASA plans to retire the ISS around 2030 and to instead send astronauts to private stations, which will also host their own clients, leading the US space agency to encourage the development of programs by several companies. Russia recently agreed to extend its use of the ISS until 2028, having threatened an earlier pullout last year as ties unraveled between the Kremlin and the West over Moscow's invasion of Ukraine. la/sw/tjj/caw/dhw/dva Meta hit with record 1.2-billion-euro fine over EU data rules Dublin, May 22 (AFP) May 22, 2023 Facebook owner Meta has been fined a record 1.2 billion euros ($1.3 billion) for transferring EU user data to the United States in breach of a previous court ruling, Ireland's regulator announced on Monday. The Irish Data Protection Commission (DPC), which acts on behalf of the European Union, said the European Data Protection Board (EDPB) had ordered it to collect "an administrative fine in the amount of 1.2 billion euros". The DPC has been investigating Meta Ireland's transfer of personal data from the EU to the United States since 2020. It found that Meta, which has its European headquarters in Dublin, failed to "address the risks to the fundamental rights and freedoms of data subjects" that were identified in a previous ruling by the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU). The CJEU interprets EU law to make sure it is applied in the same way in all member states. In response, Meta said it was "disappointed to have been singled out" and the ruling was "flawed, unjustified and sets a dangerous precedent for the countless other companies". "We intend to appeal both the decision's substance and its orders including the fine, and will seek a stay through the courts to pause the implementation deadlines," Meta president of global affairs Nick Clegg and chief legal officer Jennifer Newstead said in a blog post. "There is no immediate disruption to Facebook in Europe," they added. Meta said it hopes to see the US and EU adopt a new legal framework for the use of personal data in the coming months, following an agreement in principle last year, which could allow it to continue its data transfer practices. - Fourth fine - EU regulators have hit Meta with four fines in six months -- and three this year -- over data breaches by its Instagram, WhatsApp and Facebook services. In January, the DPC fined the social media giant 390 million euros for breaking data rules in its use of targeted advertising on its apps. In March, Meta was made to pay 5.5 million euros for breaching the GDPR with its WhatsApp messaging service. Online trader Amazon was fined 746 million euros in Luxembourg in 2021 for infringing the EU's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). In the latest case, the DPC had initially wanted to force Meta to suspend the offending data transfers, saying that a fine "would exceed the extent of powers that could be described as being 'appropriate, proportionate and necessary'". But its peer regulators in the EU, known as Concerned Supervisory Authorities (CSAs), disagreed and said it should be "subject to an administrative fine", the DPC said. With no hope of consensus, the Irish body referred the objections to the EDPB, which ruled that Meta Ireland must suspend future transfer of personal data to the United States and pay a fine. - 'Strong signal' - Clegg and Newstead said the EDPB decision to overrule the DPC "raises serious questions". "No country has done more than the US to align with European rules via their latest reforms, while transfers continue largely unchallenged to countries such as China," they added. But EDPB chair Andrea Jelinek characterised Meta's infringement as "very serious" and called its data transfers "systematic, repetitive and continuous". "The unprecedented fine is a strong signal to organisations that serious infringements have far-reaching consequences," she added. Privacy activist Max Schrems, who set off a decade of legal battles with his challenge against Meta over the movement of EU data to the United States, welcomed the decision. "Ever since Edward Snowden's revelations on US big tech aiding the (National Security Agency) mass surveillance apparatus, Facebook (now Meta) was subject to litigation in Ireland," said his organisation, the European Centre for Digital Rights. But Schrems said far harsher sanctions could have been used as Meta had "knowingly broken the law to make a profit". "It took us 10 years of litigation against the Irish DPC to get to this result... and risked millions of procedural costs," he added. "The Irish regulator has done everything to avoid this decision," he added. jwp-csp/phz/gil Meta Zimbabwe holds talks over plan to take half carbon credit revenue Harare, May 22 (AFP) May 22, 2023 The Zimbabwe government is Monday due to hold talks over its shock announcement that it will claim half of all revenues from carbon offsetting projects in the country. The environment and climate ministry said in an advisory that a meeting was planned for Monday evening in Harare to discuss the carbon credit framework, but gave no further details. Minister Mangaliso Ndlovu is expected to address the meeting on the framework which the government says aims to "promote and regulate carbon trading" in Zimbabwe. The government last week said 50 percent of all revenue from carbon offset projects should go to the treasury. At least another 20 percent should go to local investors, it said, with foreign partners allowed to pocket no more than 30 percent. All carbon credit deals are to be subjected to government approval, the government said, adding all agreements previously entered by international agencies and organisations with local authorities and others are thus "null and void". Companies or individuals can buy carbon credits from entities that remove or reduce greenhouse gas emissions -- including investing in renewable energy, natural carbon sinks such as mangroves, or planting trees that absorb and store CO2 as they grow. With one credit equivalent to one ton of CO2, they are already widely used to boost firms' environmental credentials, with much of the trade happening between companies in a so-called voluntary market. The industry has been tainted by a number of scandals that have revealed a landscape rife with opportunities for greenwashing. Some credits have been sold without being tied to any significant climate benefit, and there have been concerns over double counting. UN experts last year said firms with net zero emissions pledges should not use credits to "offset" their carbon pollution without first doing everything possible to cut emissions in line with the Paris Agreement. The 2015 Paris accord agreed to aim for a global warming limit of 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. Yet the sector -- already worth more than $2 billion -- is expected to boom in the coming years, as the planet races to tackle global warming. Meanwhile, under the umbrella of United Nations-led climate talks, countries are negotiating an international carbon offset trading system to reach their climate targets. France unveils new, more ambitious emissions-cutting plan Paris, May 22 (AFP) May 22, 2023 The French government unveiled a plan on Monday to accelerate cuts to its greenhouse gas emissions, targeting a reduction of 50 percent by 2030 compared with 1990 levels. Unveiled by Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne, the roadmap includes detailed figures for reductions for individual sectors of the economy, ranging from the transport industry to households. The objectives -- from speeding up the transition to electric cars or switching freight from road to rivers -- are aimed at bringing France's ambitions for slashing carbon pollution into line with the EU's target for 2030. France has so far cut its emissions by 25 percent compared with 1990 levels, requiring major fresh efforts if it is to hit the new 50-percent target. The centrist government of President Emmanuel Macron is wary of provoking consumers with costly initiatives, with memories still fresh of an increase in fuel taxes and vehicle emissions restrictions in 2018 which sparked major protests. The so-called "Yellow Vest" revolt against Macron began in small and medium-sized towns and the countryside where locals felt they were being penalised for using their cars when no other forms of transport were available. "We're asking for a bit from the smallest (polluters) and a lot from the biggest," an aide to Borne told reporters, meaning around half of efforts would be for companies, a quarter for households and a quarter for local administrations. Concern about climate change has leapt up the political agenda in the last 12 months, with the country experiencing its hottest year since records began last year which left rivers dry, crops withered and widespread water shortages. A record nation-wide winter drought during January and February has also led to fears about water supplies this summer. Macron, who has admitted to grasping the scale of the planet's environmental problems late, promised to put climate change at the heart of his second term in office which began in May last year. He pledged to make France the first major nation to abandon fossil fuels and gave Borne an extra job title for "planning the ecological transition." But the 45-year-old former investment banker has been derided by environmental groups and Greens lawmakers for going too slow and he sparked criticism on May 11 by calling for a "pause" on EU environmental legislation. Among other developed countries, the United Kingdom has the most ambitious short-term goals of any major economy, with an objective of 2030 emissions being 68 percent below 1990 levels. The United States has committed to cut greenhouse gases 50-52 percent by 2030 below 2005 levels, while Germany has set a 65 percent reduction target compared to 1990. The UN's climate science panel has said the world must slash emissions 43 percent this decade to keep within the Paris Agreement's 1.5C global warming limit. China and India have set long-term goals to become carbon neutral by 2060 and 2070 respectively, but do not have emissions reduction targets for 2030. A Turkmenistan Airlines cargo plane at London Stansted Airport is about to fly to Vietnam and transit in Turkmenistan. (Photo: VNA) The new route, announced on May 19, is operated by Turkmenistan Airlines, the flag carrier of Turkmenistan. It is expected to boost bilateral trade activities as the UK-Vietnam free trade agreement (UKVFTA) came into effect in May 2021. Managing Director of TT Meridian Thai Tran said that TT Meridian is believed to provide exporters, importers and forwarding agents with more choices in addition to the existing direct and indirect services available in the market. He expected the new cargo flight will pave the way for more goods to be air transported between Vietnam and the UK as well as for higher frequency of two-way all cargo flights. New all cargo service using A330 aircraft that can carry 30 tonnes will also enable shippers to send large shipments that cannot be served by passenger flights, the Managing Director said. From May 2023, the flight departs from London Stansted Airport to Turkmenistans Ashgabat International Airport on Wednesday evening, local time. Transit time is about four hours. It then departs from Ashgabat International Airport on Thursday morning and arrives at Noi Bai International Airport in Hanoi on Thursday afternoon local time. The return flight departs from Hanoi on Thursday evening and arrives at London Stansted Airport on Wednesday morning the following week. Transit time is five to six days. According to Thai, together with Turkmenistan Airlines, Swissport and ACSV (the ground handling agents in London and Hanoi respectively) and other partners, TT Meridian operated a few trial flights in the past few weeks. He believes the quick connection time in Turkmenistan, the transit point between the UK and Vietnam, and the competitive air freight will be supportive for forwarding agents, shippers and consignees during this challenging economic time. Despite the global recession, two-way trade between Vietnam and the UK and vice versa have increased notably. According to the UK Department for Business and Trade, total Vietnam exports to the UK in 2022 amounted to 5.9 billion GBP (7.34 billion USD), an impressive increase of 30.3% against 2021. Total UK exports to Vietnam in 2022 was 1.0 billion GBP, a year-on-year increase of 22.3%./. US criticizes China restriction on Micron chips Washington, May 22 (AFP) May 22, 2023 The United States on Monday criticized China for restricting sales of chips from American giant Micron, the latest move in a feud between the two powers on semiconductors. "We have very serious concerns with the reports that the PRC has restricted the sale of Micron chips to certain domestic industries," State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said, referring to the People's Republic of China. "Broadly, this action appears inconsistent with the PRC assertions that is open for business and committed to a transparent regulatory framework," Miller told reporters. He said that the Commerce Department was addressing US concerns with China. Beijing's decision on Sunday move came on the eve of a visit to Washington by Commerce Minister Wang Wentao, a rare trip by a senior official from Beijing. China's cybersecurity watchdog on Sunday instructed operators of "critical information infrastructure" to stop buying from Micron, one of the world's largest chip manufacturers. Micron's products "have relatively serious potential network security issues, which pose a major security risk to China's critical information infrastructure supply chain and affect China's national security," the cybersecurity administration said in a statement. The United States last year imposed sweeping restrictions on China's access to high-end chips, citing national security concerns. Washington has expressed fear that China will use US technology to develop advanced military equipment. The Netherlands and Japan -- US allies that are both leading manufacturers of specialized semiconductor technology -- have both announced their own restrictions on exports, but without explicitly naming China. Le Nguyet Quynh from the Foreign Language Specialized School, Vietnam National University delivers a speech in Chinese, in Hanoi, capital of Vietnam, May 21, 2023. The final round of the northern and central section of the 16th Chinese Bridge Chinese Proficiency Competition for Foreign High School Students concluded here on Sunday. (Xinhua/Hu Jiali) HANOI, May 21 (Xinhua) -- The final round of the northern and central section of the 16th Chinese Bridge Chinese Proficiency Competition for Foreign High School Students concluded here on Sunday. The event was held by Hanoi University and co-organized by the Center for Language Education and Cooperation under China's Ministry of Education and the Chinese Embassy in Vietnam. The final round was divided into four parts, including a themed speech, a Chinese knowledge quiz, an impromptu speech and a talent show, held offline at the meeting hall of Hanoi University. Le Nguyet Quynh from Foreign Language Specialised School, Vietnam National University won in the final round, with 16 students from eight high schools contesting. Nguyen Ngoc Linh Anh from Tran Phu Gifted High School in the Thai Nguyen province of Vietnam performed the solo Chinese song Chi Ling, hailed by the audience. "I have learned Chinese for two years. I want to study in China to learn media after high school graduation, to achieve my goal to be a correspondent in the future," she told Xinhua. Nguyen Thi Cuc Phuong, vice president of Hanoi University, said that Vietnam and China are friendly neighboring countries, share similar cultures and have profound friendships, which should be inherited by younger generations. There are over 10,000 primary and middle school students, and 20,000 college students learning Chinese in Vietnam, according to Zheng Dawei, educational counselor of the Chinese Embassy in Vietnam. Bui Hoang Gia Han from the Ha Long High School for Gifted Students delivers a speech in Chinese, in Hanoi, capital of Vietnam, May 21, 2023. The final round of the northern and central section of the 16th Chinese Bridge Chinese Proficiency Competition for Foreign High School Students concluded here on Sunday. (Xinhua/Hu Jiali) Editor: JYZ THE HAGUE, May 21 (Xinhua) -- A strict ban on China will cost the Netherlands "dearly in science," a Dutch expert has warned. The Netherlands' international position in technology and innovation will be seriously damaged by "cutting our scientific links with China on a large scale," said Ingrid D'Hooghe, coordinator and senior researcher at the Clingendael China Centre, a Dutch think tank, in an article published on the think tank's website. "In addition, it will further restrict our understanding of developments in China, which is a key economic, political and scientific player that we cannot ignore," she said. "However complex it may be, we need scientific cooperation with China," said the expert, adding that "now more than ever we need knowledge about and cooperation with China. Decoupling is therefore the worst of all options for scientific cooperation." D'Hooghe described China as "a scientific powerhouse and a leading player" in many fields such as biotechnology, 5G and 6G, nano-materials and electric batteries. She also noted that China's investment in scientific research ranks second in the world, and it has a large number of talents in the field of natural sciences. "Ignoring or excluding these Chinese scientists means that we will increasingly come to lag behind in technological sectors," D'Hooghe said. Joint research in areas where China has a lot of knowledge and experience to offer, such as cancer treatment, personalized medicines and circular economy and sustainability, contributes to not only Dutch scientific progress but also to social welfare, she said. In other areas, it is vital to bring together Chinese and Dutch high-quality knowledge to address global challenges on a large scale such as environment and food safety, the expert said. Without scientific cooperation with China, D'Hooghe concluded, "the prospects for solving societal and global problems and for the Dutch leading position in science and technology may quickly take a turn for the worse." Editor: WXL M oney transfer firm Wise has said its chief financial officer will step down by next March to focus on recovering from a bike accident last year. Matthew Briers, who has has held the role for nearly eight years, returned to work last May after the accident in February 2022. He said he now wants to concentrate on making a full recovery. Mr Briers said: Some of you may know that a year ago I returned back to work at Wise after a quite horrible accident where I went under the wheels of a bus, and so, with this in mind, my focus will shift to making a full recovery. To support an orderly transition, I plan to remain as chief financial officer (CFO) into the new year. In this period well be working out the transition and will keep folks updated once we have news to share. It comes less than two weeks after Wise co-founder and chief executive Kristo Kaarmann announced plans to take a three-month sabbatical to spend time with family and look after his newborn son. Mr Kaarmann will take the leave from September to December this year, during which Wises chief technology officer, Harsh Sinha, will step into his shoes. He said at the time of revealing the sabbatical plans that he was overdue the time off after starting the London-listed business 12 years ago. Mr Kaarmann paid tribute to Mr Briers, who he said joined us at the time when only around 500,000 people had used Wise and we were losing money and has since helped us scale up into a global service. He said: I will always be grateful that Matt decided to jump on and build this rocket ship with us. His contributions will continue to shape Wise for years to come. Wise chairman David Wells said: I benefited from watching Matt work at close quarters, and wish him a full and fast recovery from his accident last year. I will also be working closely with him and the rest of the team, and board as we commence our search for a new CFO. Formerly called TransferWise, the fintech company operates money transfers and debit cards. It was founded in 2011 by Mr Kaarmann and Taavet Hinrikus, and now counts more than 16 million customers, processing on average 9 billion in cross-border transactions every month. Shares in the group fell 4% on Monday morning after the CFO announcement. Analysts at Jefferies said the departure of Wises CFO and boss Mr Kaarmanns sabbatical point to unfortunate timing given Wise is facing some challenging times ahead, with the groups share price performance lagging behind the wider fintech and payments sector. But they said the management changes could potentially lead to a more permanent shift at the top if Mr Kaarmann decided to take on a broader role to drive the business following his sabbatical. While management changes amidst slowing momentum are unfortunate, we see it as an opportunity over the medium-term for Wise shares, they added. I n the public mind the traders jailed for rigging Libor are crooks and cheats. Those jailings were seen as a rare example of finance titans getting what they deserved for their role in the 2008 financial crash. In the City, the feeling was rather different. The view was that these guys were probably just doing what they were told, and ending up in prison for that is harsh. A new book* by the BBCs Andy Verity, Rigged, rather makes it clear that this is the scandal that never was. Libor was an obscure financial instrument before the crash. It is merely the price at which banks lend money to each other overnight to square off their liabilities. A matter of routine rather than skulduggery. Post the crash, the authorities wanted Libor to be lower, to show that the banks had faith in each other. The traders complied. So even if this manipulation affected the cost of your mortgage (its a hundred miles removed in truth), all it did was to send that cost down, not up. They did you a favour. The book has strong evidence that central banks not only knew about this rigging, they encouraged it. Thats both an important revelation and a statement of the obvious. Of course they knew. In all, 37 traders and brokers were prosecuted by the US Justice Department and the UKs Serious Fraud Office. Nineteen were convicted and nine jailed. Some of those convictions have already been over-turned, including that of Matt Connolly, pictured. It seems likely, and just, that most of the rest of them will be in time. The desire to find the villains of the banking crash is understandable. These are not those guys. They never were. *Rigged: The Incredible True Story of the Whistleblowers Jailed After Exposing the Rotten Heart of the Financial System. P et medicine and vaccine maker Dechra put out a second profit warning in three months today, putting a potential buyout at risk, after a number of US wholesalers cut back on stocking its products. The firm, which acquired Ivermectin maker Med-Pharmex last year, warned that widely reported destocking in the US was hitting its profits in February, but now said that this has been lasting longer than previously expected. As a result, it now expects profit of 186 million for the year to 30 June 2 million less than it said in a February profit warning. The pharmaceuticals company is currently in talks with Swedish private equity firm EQT over a 4.6 billion takeover. But with shares down 7.1% to 3,392p, investors believe EQT may decide against submitting a firm bid by next weeks deadline. The board is confident that the group remains very well positioned to continue to grow over the medium and longer term despite the unprecedented and, by nature, short term trading headwinds, the Dechra board said. The fundamentals of the business and strategy remains strong, our underlying markets remain in structural growth, we continue to grow in our chosen markets and we have an established, highly experienced and focused management team. Our strategy is robust, including a very attractive development pipeline of new products to underpin our future growth, supported by a strong balance sheet. Loading.... Raphael Sofoluke is the CEO and founder of the Black Business Show, part of Black Business Week. The event is now the biggest in the UK and Europe, with around 15,000 attendees expected in 2023. But it started as a side-hustle! Raphael is also one of the angels in the AXA Startup Angel competition. There are six chances to win, including two top prizes of 25,000, mentorship from the AXA Startup Angels including Raphael himself, and business insurance for a year, thanks to AXA. Listen above, or wherever you stream your podcasts. I ts depressing in the extreme how inevitable the fuss is over the Theatre Royal Stratford Easts new play, Tambo & Bones. Specifically over one performance (one), called a Black Out. The play, by poet Dave Harris, is about two black men stuck in a minstrel show, who aim to get out and get rich as hip hop superstars. When it played off-Broadway, it was described by one critic in an admiring review as a racially charged metatheatrical satire. As part of the 29-date run in London, on July 5 the theatre will host a single performance at which they have expressed the hope that the audience can be entirely black, to allow them to enjoy it free from the white gaze. Its a practice that started in the US, and has been described as healing for the audiences of colour who have attended the events. Legally, as is right, the theatre cannot enforce a ban on any group of course, so what they have said is: While this performance has been arranged for Black audience members specifically, no one is excluded from attending. Cue the harrumphing, and some irresponsibly misleading headlines. The former cabinet minister Damian Green, a white man, called the event (one night, remember, out of 29) misguided and a bit sinister. Wanjiru Njoya, a law lecturer at the University of Exeter, described it as racist to white people. Respectfully, I disagree. Racism, as I understand it, stems from the assumption of superiority of one race over another, and there are small and large reverberations of that, from micro-aggressions to systematic enslavement. I dont think Id call this event an act of racism. I think Id call it an opportunity for members of an undeniably oppressed group to experience something together that has been made with them in mind, and explore the questions around it without having to worry about offending or hurting the feelings of members of the group that has, again undeniably, oppressed them or their antecedents. Those white people who were thinking of seeing the show in the first place, most of whom are probably broadly supportive, can go and see it on any other night, among a mixed audience, and have their own experience, and form their own view. I cannot speak for the experience of black people in the theatre, clearly, because Im not one. But in this country theatre has historically been written and made largely by white people, and stuffed with majority white cultural references. That doesnt mean that people of colour dont understand it; it does mean that their own specific cultural references are, in the main, absent. Because Im white, I dont notice the lack; they do. If white people feel momentarily a bit left out by this one night event, so be it. Why do we mind so much? Its never a bad thing to appreciate something, even something tiny, of the experience of another person. Acknowledging that this event might be necessary allows us the luxury of growth typically, we still manage to get something out of it, even as were left out. The theoretical ideal, of course, is that everyone should have equal access to everything at all times and that we shouldnt need this kind of thing at all. But that only works in practice if the playing field is level. And it isnt. Until it is, people who have experienced and continue to experience oppression and marginalisation due to characteristics such as skin colour will need opportunities like this to come together and discuss, feel and react with freedom. I applaud it. And on July 5, Ill do something else. Meng Yuning (front) and his colleague transport water for white-headed langurs at the Bapen Nature Reserve in Fusui County, southwest China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, May 18, 2023. Meng Yuning, a young man who was born in the 1980s, has guarded white-headed langurs for 19 years at the Bapen Nature Reserve since 2004. White-headed langur, characterized by the white hair on their heads, is one of the world's most endangered primate species and is under first-class national protection of China. To protect the langurs, Meng and his colleagues patrol the nature reserve everyday. They also undertake other works such as protecting other local species and collecting plant material for research. In recent years, the population of white-headed langur in the Bapen Nature Reserve gradually increased. The nature reserve has become the most concentrated area for the langurs to reproduce. (Xinhua/Zhou Hua) Meng Yuning (R) and his colleague patrol at the Bapen Nature Reserve in Fusui County, southwest China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, May 18, 2023. Meng Yuning, a young man who was born in the 1980s, has guarded white-headed langurs for 19 years at the Bapen Nature Reserve since 2004. White-headed langur, characterized by the white hair on their heads, is one of the world's most endangered primate species and is under first-class national protection of China. To protect the langurs, Meng and his colleagues patrol the nature reserve everyday. They also undertake other works such as protecting other local species and collecting plant material for research. In recent years, the population of white-headed langur in the Bapen Nature Reserve gradually increased. The nature reserve has become the most concentrated area for the langurs to reproduce. (Xinhua/Zhou Hua) Meng Yuning (L) and his colleague add water for white-headed langurs at the Bapen Nature Reserve in Fusui County, southwest China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, May 18, 2023. Meng Yuning, a young man who was born in the 1980s, has guarded white-headed langurs for 19 years at the Bapen Nature Reserve since 2004. White-headed langur, characterized by the white hair on their heads, is one of the world's most endangered primate species and is under first-class national protection of China. To protect the langurs, Meng and his colleagues patrol the nature reserve everyday. They also undertake other works such as protecting other local species and collecting plant material for research. In recent years, the population of white-headed langur in the Bapen Nature Reserve gradually increased. The nature reserve has become the most concentrated area for the langurs to reproduce. (Xinhua/Zhou Hua) A white-headed langur is pictured at the Bapen Nature Reserve in Fusui County, southwest China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, May 18, 2023. Meng Yuning, a young man who was born in the 1980s, has guarded white-headed langurs for 19 years at the Bapen Nature Reserve since 2004. White-headed langur, characterized by the white hair on their heads, is one of the world's most endangered primate species and is under first-class national protection of China. To protect the langurs, Meng and his colleagues patrol the nature reserve everyday. They also undertake other works such as protecting other local species and collecting plant material for research. In recent years, the population of white-headed langur in the Bapen Nature Reserve gradually increased. The nature reserve has become the most concentrated area for the langurs to reproduce. (Xinhua/Zhou Hua) Meng Yuning (R) and his colleague record the living situation of white-headed langurs at the Bapen Nature Reserve in Fusui County, southwest China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, May 18, 2023. Meng Yuning, a young man who was born in the 1980s, has guarded white-headed langurs for 19 years at the Bapen Nature Reserve since 2004. White-headed langur, characterized by the white hair on their heads, is one of the world's most endangered primate species and is under first-class national protection of China. To protect the langurs, Meng and his colleagues patrol the nature reserve everyday. They also undertake other works such as protecting other local species and collecting plant material for research. In recent years, the population of white-headed langur in the Bapen Nature Reserve gradually increased. The nature reserve has become the most concentrated area for the langurs to reproduce. (Xinhua/Zhou Hua) White-headed langurs are pictured at the Bapen Nature Reserve in Fusui County, southwest China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, May 18, 2023. Meng Yuning, a young man who was born in the 1980s, has guarded white-headed langurs for 19 years at the Bapen Nature Reserve since 2004. White-headed langur, characterized by the white hair on their heads, is one of the world's most endangered primate species and is under first-class national protection of China. To protect the langurs, Meng and his colleagues patrol the nature reserve everyday. They also undertake other works such as protecting other local species and collecting plant material for research. In recent years, the population of white-headed langur in the Bapen Nature Reserve gradually increased. The nature reserve has become the most concentrated area for the langurs to reproduce. (Xinhua/Zhou Hua) This aerial photo shows the Bapen Nature Reserve in Fusui County, southwest China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, May 18, 2023. Meng Yuning, a young man who was born in the 1980s, has guarded white-headed langurs for 19 years at the Bapen Nature Reserve since 2004. White-headed langur, characterized by the white hair on their heads, is one of the world's most endangered primate species and is under first-class national protection of China. To protect the langurs, Meng and his colleagues patrol the nature reserve everyday. They also undertake other works such as protecting other local species and collecting plant material for research. In recent years, the population of white-headed langur in the Bapen Nature Reserve gradually increased. The nature reserve has become the most concentrated area for the langurs to reproduce. (Xinhua/Zhou Hua) Editor: Zhang Zhou Loading.... Listen here or wherever you stream your podcasts. Eddie Izzard joins us to talk about her new one-woman adaptation of Charles Dickens classic novel Great Expectations and how the show borrows heavily from her stand-up. Eddie talks preparations for another one-woman show, this time Hamlet, and about holding open rehearsals around Britain this year. We review SplitLip Theatres raucous Second World War musical Operation Mincemeat, at the Fortune Theatre in the heart of Londons West End, as well as Sir Lenny Henry's play August in England which is inspired by the Windrush Scandal. Thats on now at the Bush Theatre and is co-directed by Lynette Linton and Daniel Bailey. Plus, whats happened in theatre this week? We talk about the great news that Cush Jumbo is joining David Tennant in the Donmar Warehouses Macbeth, and the not-so-great news of quite how much it can cost to rent accommodation during the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. You can hear our chat with the cast and creators of Operation Mincemeat: A New Musical here, and our interview with Sir Lenny Henry and Lynette Linton for August in England here. Succession spoilers 1-4 below Its frankly unbearable to think about: theres now just one episode of Succession left ever. But given just how good episode nine was, were as excited about the prospect of seeing the conclusion of the show as we are anxious. Week nine, titled Church and State, was Logans funeral. All of the shows key characters gathered in a stunning New York Cathedral for the Catholic service that Logan had requested in his will. It was, predictably, an emotional and drama-full affair, as the exquisitely dressed guests said goodbye to Logan Roy. Heres everything that happened in this weeks moving episode. New York, I love you, But youre bringing me down Roman Roy (Kieran Culkin) at his fathers funeral / 2023 HBO. All Rights Reserved The episode opens with the sibs at their respective incredibly luxurious apartments, preparing for the funeral. Roman, who is giving the main eulogy, is looking over his pink Post-it notes. He seems frazzled and nervous, as usual, but also seems to have a pip in his step. I am the man, I am the man, he says looking in the mirror. Kendall calls to check in, but Roman says hes fine. Discord makes my dick hard, says Roman, rhyming the two words. At Shivs, the news is on in the background. The election is still very much playing out as people take to the streets across the country; the news anchor reports incidents of street violence and intimidation. On the phone with Matsson, she tells him to release the information about the inaccurate subscriber numbers its the perfect time as itll be completely swallowed up by election news. Its just so golden, says Shiv. Rava calls Kendall, who is in his car. Shes taking the kids and getting out of town because she feels like New York isnt safe today. Kendall is furious he sees this as Rava abandoning him when he needs her the most. He arrives at her apartment minutes later, meeting her on the street as shes getting in her own car. But despite threatening her with a court order to stop her from leaving the city, Rava takes off. Kendall tells his head assistant Jess that after the funeral, he wants her to look into getting full custody of the kids. Jess tells Kendall that she thinks shed like to move on to another job. Kendall is at first accepting of her decision, then gets angry. He says she has unprecedented access with him, something she wont get anywhere else. Youre being f***ing dumb, he says. Shiv, Roman and Kendall travel in the same car to the funeral. Theres something in the air; the city is gridlocked. Rava was on to something when she said the city feels unsafe. Protestors bang on the windows. Shiv chooses this moment to tell her brothers that shes pregnant. She plans to tell her mum that day, too, so they should know too. Is it mine? blurts out Roman. He then says, If I see you breastfeeding I will have to jerk off. Given that theres a strong correlation between Romans disgusting behaviour and his mental health, his comments really dont bode well for the upcoming eulogy. Meanwhile, Tom is at the ATN offices looking under the cosh, to put it mildly. Tom releases Greg to head to the funeral, saying hell be along in a bit. Tell the Menken team I made the call, says Tom. Start spreading the news, Im leaving today Marcia Roy (Hiam Abbass) at the funeral / 2023 HBO. All Rights Reserved Its the funeral and, by Jove, its as drama-packed as you might expect. All of Logans friends and foes are fathered in the exquisite Cathedral, which could very well be St. Patricks Old Cathedral in Lower Manhattan (the same church used in Godfather part three well update when we know more). Connors at the door speaking to Shiv about giving a potential eulogy of his own (in the end, they think its best if he doesnt). Marcia, chic as always, is prowling the aisles. Wait til I have sex with her on Dads coffin, says Roman. Yikes. Matsson is with Ebba; Karolina, Gerri, Karl and Frank are standing together. Hugo is slithering around. Potential next president Jerryd is in attendance, as is a very emotional Kerry, who is there with her brother and a lawyer friend she brought in case she was denied entry. Greg rushes over on a city bike. Tom cant make it anymore its all going down at ATN as political analyst Darwin might quit and theres a fire in Baltimore. The sibs mum, Lady Caroline Collingwood, is also present. Here she comes, thought I could hear the sound of Dalmatians howling, says Shiv. Instantly, Caroline spots that Shiv is pregnant. Well well, she says. Conversation is barbed between the mother and daughter, as always. Caroline cant believe Shiv didnt care to tell her, Shiv brushes it off. Carolines very posh, very English husband who Roman once described as a bowl of porridge is also there. Daddys here, he says, bizarrely, to Shiv, before excusing himself. Now hes going to roll around like a labrador in a lovely pile of senators, Caroline says. As people start to assemble in their seats, Caroline scoops up Kerry and introduces her to someone called Sally Anne, and then Marcia. Sally Anne was my Kerry, so its all water under the bridge now, she says, and all four of Logans exes sit together in one pew. Shiv is talking to Matsson. Theres been no blowback from the number release so far, Matsson tells her. Shiv proposes a plan to win over Menken in which Matsson offers her up as an American CEO of GoJo if the deal goes through. Matsson says hes heard shes pregnant news travels fast but Shiv placates him by, speaking about herself in the third person, saying, Shes one of those hard bitches, right? Shes going to do 36 hours of maternity leave, emailing through her vanity caesarean. The poor kidll never see her. Matsson laughs. Showtime The younger Roys speak to their mother, Lady Caroline Collingwood (Harriet Walker) / 2023 HBO. All Rights Reserved As the funeral begins, Kerry starts to cry and Marcia reaches out and holds her hand to support her. Logans brother Ewan stands up and walks towards the front. Greg tries to stop his grandfather, but Ewan barges past him. Oh dear, Ewan isnt known for pulling his punches and he doesnt. What sort of people would stop a brother speaking for the sake of a share price? he says to the packed congregation. He then tells a few incredibly insightful stories about his brother. They first went to America during the war, but the engines of the ship they were travelling in died, and the rest of the convoy, which was evacuating children went on without them. They couldnt speak or cough or make a sound for three nights and two days, or submarines would be able to locate them and would sink the boat. We stayed quiet, a four-year-old and five-and-a-half-year-old, speaking with our eyes, he says, gruffly. He also tells the story of how Logan was sent off to a fancy boarding school, but hated it, got sick and brought himself home. Around the same time, their baby sister, Rose, died of Polio. No one was sure whether Logan brought the Polio home, or not. But Logan apparently blamed himself for Roses death for the rest of his life, and their cruel uncle and aunt did nothing to disabuse him of that notion. In his will, which we only got a snippet of in episode four, Logan wrote I wish to be buried with the attached copy of my sister Rosies photograph. But then Ewan goes off on a tirade, saying that his brother, darkened the skies a little, closed mens hearts, fed that dark flame in men... the hard, mean hard-relenting flame that keeps their heart warm while another goes cold. Bloody hell. God speed my brother, and God bless, says Ewan. Thats a good hard take that you gave, says Greg to his grandfather as he sits back town. The Roys, Willa and Karl at the funeral / 2023 HBO. All Rights Reserved Youre going to say the other side yeah? says Kendall to Roman, who is looking insanely freaked out. Roman goes up to the front of the church, and immediately starts fumbling his words. Frequently glancing over at his dads coffin, he falters, and then seems completely unable to speak. Shiv and Kendall rush to speak to him and Roman starts to whimper and cry. Is he in there? he says, pointing to the coffin. When Shiv says yes, Roman replies, Can we get him out? His sobs grow more desperate, and he cannot go on. Kendall takes over, and rises to the occasion, giving an astonishingly moving and rousing speech. Its true what my uncle said, my father was a brute. He was, he was tough, begins Kendall. But also, he built, and he acted... He had a vitality, a force, that could hurt, and it did, but my God the sheer the lives, and the livings and the things that he made and the moneyyeah, the money... The life-blood, the oxygen of this civilisation that we have built from the mud. He made life happen, says Kendall. And now people might want to tend and prune the memory of him, to degenerate that force... But my God I hope thats in me. Shiv follows after Kendall, with a few words of her own. She gives an anecdote about their childhood, and talks about how Logan kept everyone out, but how it was warm in the light. She says it was hard to be his daughter, that Logan was hard on women. The camera flashes to Gerri and Karoline who are looking pensive in their seats. He couldnt fit a whole woman in his head, says Shiv. But he did ok... You did ok dad Shiv says looking at the coffin. So goodbye my dear, dear, world of a father. After the party, theres the after party Roman outside the mausoleum / 2023 HBO. All Rights Reserved The coffin is taken to the cemetery in a motorcade, which is led by two NYPD motorbikes, passing demonstrations and protestors. They arrive at a giant stone mausoleum that Logan apparently bought for $5 million in an auction. Was he in a bidding war with Stalin and Liberace? jokes Shiv. Connor explains that, Pop sort of... I think he didnt want to go in the ground. Inside theres one central stone coffin thats elevated from the ground where Logan will rest; at the sides, theres space for the children to go, if they like. Connor says he will speak to Willa about it; Shivs not sure. Roman, who is hovering at the door, says that his father made him breathe funny. Kendall says I had trouble finishing a scotch with him. Then its the committal service the second, more intimate service, just before Logans coffin is taken into the mausoleum. Its markedly less devastating than the previous one, but its far from a jolly affair. Im intrigued to see how he gets out of this one, says Shiv. In the moments after, Marcia says to Shiv, I love him very much, I miss him very much. He broke my heart, and he broke your hearts too. Still outside, Shiv goes to speak to Frank and Karl. She asks him about her father: just how bad was he? He was a salty dog, but he was a good egg. A wide-eyed Shiv looks at them both and nods. As she walks away Karl says, Right? Frank, nods slowly. Right. Just before the group head to the wake, Kendall gets a moment with Hugo. Its been brewing for a long time, but the emotion of the day seems to have activated something in Kendall. Life isnt nice, its contingent. People who say they love you also f*** you, he says. So this is an explicit plan to f*** the deal, me rule the world. He asks Hugo to anonymously leak it to the press that certain members of the family are unhappy with the GoJo deal. He says he wants Hugo on his team, that Hugo will be his dog, but that the scraps will be millions and millions. Woof woof, says Hugo. Im not a businessman, Im a business, man Kendall Roy (Jeremy Strong) speaks with Jerryd Menken (Justin Kirk) at the wake / 2023 HBO. All Rights Reserved The wake is less of a wake and more of a shark tank. Everyone is gunning for their chance to speak to Menken. Eyes are darting everywhere as Kendall looks over at Matsson, who is looking at Shiv, who is looking at Roman. Kendall is the first to find a moment with the right-wing politician. After episode eight, and even more so after the funeral, where Menken shakes Kendalls hand as hes leaving, saying that was perfect, it seems obvious that Menken has chosen to align himself with the CE-Bros. But this brief chat appears to indicate otherwise: Oh I thought you were the sound system, now you want to choose the track? says Menken, when Kendall asks him about the deal. Menken continues to brush Kendall off, saying hell try to help about the GoJo deal. Before Kendall has time to reply, Greg pops up and introduces himself to Menken. In a second, Roman and Connor are there too. Menken calls Roman tiny tears; Kendall defends his baby brother: Maybe easy today, yeah? Connors angling for a Pan-Hapsburg, American-led EU alternative with him at the top. Shiv manages to pull Menken to the side to speak to Matsson. Menken, now face to face with the giant Swede, asks Matsson what his philosophy is and Matsson replies, privacy, p***y, pasta, repeating the now infamous phrase he used at Kendalls 40th birthday party. Matsson gets straight to the point. He wants Waystar. Menken, once again worming out of making any commitments, says the fate of the deal will be out of his hands. But then Matsson proposes Shivs idea of a US CEO, and puts forward Shiv as a potential candidate. Menken thinks its odd Shiv is willing to work with him, but she says shes flexible. Menken appears not to loathe the idea. Tom arrives at the wake. He picks up a glass of champagne from a waiter, and so does Shiv. As she takes a sip, staring at him, he says slowly Its fine... I know its fine, says Shiv. They try to talk about the baby, but not many words are said theyre both utterly exhausted. I wasnt sure I wanted to keep it... Because it seems so sad... And we were in the honeymoon phase... says Shiv. Tom regrets not going to the funeral, and starts to break down a little. He tells Shiv that he did get to say goodbye to Logan on the plane, because he was the first one in there with him. Shiv very bleary-eyed says he should get some rest, and invites him to stay at their apartment. Kendall is speaking to Roman. Turning on his brother, he says that Roman fucked it at the funeral, stinging Roman. You f***ed it with Jerryd, repeats Kendall. He argues that hes going to need Roman to back him now theyre going to have to work harder to win the GoJo deal. Kendall also speaks to Colin, his dads old bodyguard, asking him to come and work for him. Shiv gets a call from Matsson: Its a yes, he says. Its a yes? From? Yeaaaah, he says. Dear New York, I hope youre doing well, I know a lots happened and youve been through hell Lukas Matsson (Alexander Skarsgard) at the wake / 2023 HBO. All Rights Reserved Theres a video thats already circulating the internet of Roman hysterically crying at the funeral. Karls playing it to the cronies. At the same time, a distraught Roman who hasnt seen the video yet walks out of the wake and down towards a rowdy demonstration which is marching through the street. The police warn him from going towards it but he strides on, jumping over barricades, still wearing his suit. In keeping with his masochistic tendencies, but as a clearer cry for help this time as he puts himself in real physical danger, Roman starts swearing and throwing insults at the crowd who march by him. Some of them ignore him, but others push him. He falls on the floor and pulls himself into a foetal position, protecting himself from getting trampled. As the episode ends he manages to get up and walks forward through the crowd. Final thoughts Kendall and Shiv at their fathers funeral / 2023 HBO. All Rights Reserved It was perfectly pitched and unbelievably moving, yet Church and State never felt overwrought, nor untruthful to Succession for a second. It was the high drama we expected Shiv talking to her mum, the kids talking about their dad, and Menken and Matsson on either side of the aisle while Logans close contacts gathered under one roof. But there was also a tenderness that we didnt see coming: Marcia and Kerry, Frank, Karl and Shiv and Ewan, are just a few examples. And although we really dont need reminding at this point, it once again reinforced just how good Successions writers are, as characters who had been almost forgotten for weeks of the show were suddenly integral to the plot, vivid and impactful. Now, theres just one week left and although some of the final allegiances are formed, such as Kendall and Hugo and Shiv and Matsson, theres still so much that needs to fall into place. Will Roman back Kendall? Who will Frank side with? Who will Tom side with? And so on. Next week is going to be an explosive 90 minutes. Succession is currently streaming on Sky and NOW Succession spoilers season 1-4 below The penultimate episode of Succession, titled Church and State, was everything we had been hoping for. Emotions were running high as Logans friends, foes and family gathered in an exquisite Catholic cathedral in Manhattan to say goodbye to the Waystar boss. Roman, Kendall, Shiv and unexpectedly Ewan gave eulogies; Shiv finally told her family she was pregnant; and the GoJo deal was very much the undercurrent of the event with Jeryd Mencken and Lukas Matsson both in attendance. Meanwhile, the fact that they were at their fathers funeral did not stop Kendall nor Shiv from scheming. Its hard to believe that theres just one episode left of Succession; so lets really soak it all in. Heres this weeks best fan reactions to another week of hardcore drama. There is just one episode left of Succession, ever It was the day of Logans funeral Poor old Connor didnt get to say an eulogy Then Ewan unexpectedly gave his own Kendall, Roman and Shivs speeches didnt half pack a punch All of Logans WAGS sat in one pew Logans old cronies were on form as usual Of course, the predictions have been piling in A lot of people have been backing Greg Shiv fans think Shiv is still on unstable ground, despite a strong week So will Kendall take the crown? Succession is currently streaming on Sky and NOW How do you solve a problem like the Cannes Film Festival? Its a bastion of culture, the highpoint of glamour, the apex of celebrity celebrations yet it just doesnt seem to like women very much. Over the weekend, Natalie Portman, there to launch her brand new film, May December, co-starring with Julianne Moore, skewered the vibe: The different ways we as women are expected to behave at this festival, compared to men: how were supposed to look, how were supposed to carry ourselves, she said. The expectations are different. It affects how you behave, whether you are buying into or rejecting it. Youre defined by the social structures upon you all the time. Natalie Portman and Julianne Moore in May December / handout Every year, the festival seems to create two kinds of headlines: one is of premieres and prizes, while the other always involves the spectre of misogyny. Will glamour always matter more than progress at Cannes? Yes, a third of the films nominated for Best Director this year were made by women, which is a first. Last year it was three out of 21, while in 2021 it was four. But the film chosen to kick off the grand event in style and also in tone at the opening night screening was Johnny Depps new film, Jeanne Du Barry, in which the controversial actor plays a king, Louis XV, in a scandalous relationship with a courtesan. Afterwards the audienced gave Depp a seven-minute standing ovation. Maiwenn and Johnny Depp in Jeanne du Barry / Handout Of course, discussions can be had about separating the art from the artist but with one UK critic already described his part as coming across more like Mrs Slocombe, and another as a candle starting to melt, this heros welcome was clearly more about the artist. Johnny Depp and Maiwenn attend the Jeanne du Barry photocall at Cannes / Getty Images The film was directed by and co-starred Maiwenn, a French actress who has expressed misgivings about the MeToo movement. She says she wanted to make a film about criticised love affairs because she has experienced such misunderstandings herself, (having met Luc Besson when she was 12, begun a relationship with him at 15, and married him and had his child at 16. He was in his thirties at the time.) She has defended their love, and recently spat at a journalist who has been investigating Besson, now her ex in relation to allegations of sexual assault made against him. The case against Besson has since been dropped. Of course there has been backlash an online campaign called #CannesYouNot, uses the tagline, If you support Cannes, you support predators, but it seems unlikely to extract more than a Gallic shrug from those in charge. These are the same organisers who claim that there are no actual rules about women having to wear high-heeled shoes. Yet in 2015, several women were apparently turned away from a screening of "Carol" yes, a film about two women not allowed to live and love how they choose to because they were wearing flats. Emily Blunt was asked about this at a Cannes press conference and replied that nobody should wear heels any more and that she much prefers her Converse sneakers. Finally, the voice of reason! Denis Villeneuve, the director sitting beside her on the panel, took this one step further, and said that in solidarity with this situation, he and the other men from their film would all be wearing stilettos on the red carpet tomorrow. The audience laughed and cheered. Until tomorrow came, and Blunt was in her heels, while the men were most definitely not. Kristen Stewart removes her heels on the red carpet / AFP via Getty Images A few years later, in 2018 Kristen Stewart did at least kick her heels off on the red carpet, with photographers in a frenzy trying to snap her bare feet (she repeated the performance in 2020, while attending the premiere of BlacKkKlansman). 2018 was the Cannes where she stood together on the red carpet with 81 other women in a staged Times Up protest, as Cate Blanchett and Agnes Varda made a speech demanding better treatment for women in their industry, in response to the Harvey Weinstein scandal. (Asia Argento has said that he made Cannes his hunting ground and that he raped her in a hotel there.) Yet one year later, in 2019, the security guards stopped Claudia Eller, a journalist from Variety, who was trying to enter a screening in flat shoes and more gender neutral clothes. Im having an argument with you because it is not fair, Eller says in a video posted online. It is an antiquated system. I come here every year to Cannes. It is very sexist. Do you ever stop a man? Of course, if youre a bloke, well, a couture suit and some top grooming always helps but Sean Penn turned up on the red carpet just last week in a bomber jacket and jeans, horsing around with his scruffy-haired director Jean-Stephane Sauvaire, who was wearing a hoodie. They looked pretty comfortable, given they were in the same clothes theyd presumably be wearing at home. Cate Blanchett went barefoot over the weekend at the Variety magazine / Golden Globes party, while Jennifer Lawrence was pictured in flip flops on the red carpet, though both remained suitably attired in evening gowns. Jennifer Lawrence in flip flops / REUTERS Only two films directed by women have ever won the Palme DOr: Jane Campions The Piano, in which a woman must give up her art to find love, choosing between either her rapey husband or her rapey suitor, and Julia Ducournaus Titane, a psychological horror in which a very damaged woman has sex with a fire engine, tapes down her pregnant body and kills everyone. When Cannes honour womens acting, they also seem to have an uncanny knack for homing in on performances that were either made in degrading circumstances or that feast on degradation on screen. Bjork was given Best Actress in 2000, for the Lars Von Trier film Dancer in the Dark, but promptly quit acting. She later revealed that she had suffered sexual humiliation and harassment from a Danish film director and the institution of film that allows it. Von Trier later denied the allegations against him, telling the Danish daily paper Jyllands-Posten, That was not the case. But that we were definitely not friends, thats a fact. Lars Von Triers work led to another Best Actress gong in 2009, though, when Charlotte Gainsbourg was rewarded for her role in Antichrist. A film in which her character is so wracked by grief, violence and lust that she cuts off her own clitoris. Actresses Lea Seydoux and Adele Exarchopoulos at Cannes to promote Blue Is The Warmest Colour In 2013 the festival lapped up Blue is the Warmest Colour, giving the Palme DOr to the director Abdellatif Kechiche and also the actresses Lea Seydoux and Adele Exarchopolous. But the actresses both described their experience filming the teenage lesbian sexual relationship story as "horrible" and said they would not work with that man again. Kechiche would later go on to threaten legal action against, writing in an open letter to the Rue69 website: "Miss Seydoux, who after having repeatedly thanked me publicly and privately and having wept in my arms at Cannes for allowing her to take this noble role ... has, against all odds and all personal coherence, radically changed her attitude towards meAfter having been celebrated and glorified thanks to the Palme dOr won by Blue is the Warmest Colour, she started to drag me through the mud with lies and exaggeration." So here we are in 2023, when things have surely, surely improved? Well, given Portmans comments over the weekend, plus ca change. More than any other film festival, Cannes seems to thrive on a celebration of bad boy culture; of rebellious artists and anarchist auteurs. Expect those same guys seem strangely old-fashioned when it comes to something as genuinely rebellious as the liberation of women. This years Cannes Film Festival has served up a bonafide buffet of looks, meaty morsels of gossip over who did and didnt get a long standing ovation (in short: Indiana Jones, no, Scorsese, yes) and, of course, a generous helping of good films, as is its annual purpose. But nothing gets heads turning and mouths gaping like an It Couple debut, and thanks to pop star Dua Lipa and her new boyfriend Romain Gavras, we have been properly fed. Gavras, 41, compared to Lipa, 27, is a relative random to many, prompting a lot of who is he? from internet onlookers. The same cant be said for the film buff Cannes crowd, who will know award-winning French director Gavras perhaps even better than his pop star girlfriend. But seeing as we cant all be bespectacled film critics, heres the skinny on Dua Lipas new beau and how you may have actually heard of him before (without even realising it). He used to date Rita Ora Rita Ora / AFP via Getty Images Thats right - before Dua, Romain Gavras was confirmed to be dating a certain other English-Albanian pop star, one Ms Rita Ora. Ora and Gavras started dating in the summer of 2020 and were pictured on holiday together in Formentera, one of Spains Balearic islands, in July of that year. But by December things had gotten a bit rocky, and when Ora was asked by The Sunday Times Magazine if Gavras was the one, she responded, I dont know yet. The pair called it quits in early 2021, and Ora quickly moved on to another director, Taika Waititi, around February 2021. Small world! Hes directed some of the coolest music videos of the 2010s Music video maestro Romain Gavras / Getty Images While Gavras has made short films and feature length films during his directorial tenure, hes best known for his ambitious music videos, which hes made for the likes of Kanye West, MIA and Jamie XX. His music videos can prove divisive, too - particularly his 2008 effort for French dance band Justices song, Stress, which Dazed dubbed one of the most controversial music videos of all time. (The music video depicts black youths in the streets of Paris wreaking havoc and committing crimes - Gavras refuses to explain the intentions behind his music videos but describes his upbringing as very leftwing.) And despite his affinities for dating pop girlies, youd likely never see a music video of Rita Oras or Dua Lipas usual calibre being produced by Gavras. Id rather kill myself than make a normal music video for YouTube with Bono singing in front of the camera, he told Dazed in a 2016 interview . In short: dont go hoping for a Dua Lipa x Romain Gavras vid anytime soon, especially considering Gavras stance on pop titans like Lipa: If massive artists call me to do stuff, I usually dont go there because I know Ill be fucked over, he said in the Dazed interview, either by the artist, their entourage, management and all that. Born in Paris to a film-loving family While Gavras is a born and raised Parisian, his father, Palme dOr winning Greek-French director and screenwriter Costa-Gavras, lived in Greece until he was a teenager. Costa-Gavras relocated to France after he realised that his fathers Communist Party membership would prohibit him from being able to attend any Greek universities, or apply for a visa to the United States. So, France it was, and France it remains. Specs appeal for Netflix photocall for the film Athena in 2022 / Getty Images for Netflix Costa-Gavras raised Romain to love movies - just not the kind he wanted him to love. The family house was used as a production headquarters, and Costa-Gavras ensured that Romain and his siblings were exposed to the important works of postwar European cinema from a young age. Unfortunately, this led to Romain rebelling and going the other way. Kids build themselves in opposition to something, Romain told The Guardian in 2022. I watched Tarkovsky way too young. All the masterpieces, way too young. My dad fed them to me from the age of seven. So my rebellion at the age of 12 or 13 was to kick against all of that. I said I hated Tarkovsky and that my favourite film was Die Hard. Getty Images Romain started making movies with his mates at age 14: We started really young, me and my friends, he told Golden Globes interviewers last year, like when we were 14 [we were] making films with TV cameras, and from then it hasnt stopped. He also has a teenage daughter, who was 13 at time of that Guardian interview, which came out in September 2022. We dont know much about her other than that shes a natural movie buff (Even my daughter, whos 13, she watches an Avengers movie, shes pointing out the green screen, Gavras told The Irish Times) and that shes not been forced to watch any Tarkovsky yet. Hes actually been dating Dua for months AFP via Getty Images Gavras was first spotted with Lipa in February 2023, leaving a Baftas afterparty. Around this time, a source told The Sun theyd been dating for months already: Dua and Romain have been quietly getting to know each other for several months, the source said. They have been enjoying spending time together. The pair met each others close circles over the festive period and have lots in common. Dua knows how important it is to find someone who understands her industry. She feels Romain totally gets it. Theyre both really creative people. Then, in March, the pair were spotted leaving Yves Saint Laurents Paris fashion week show. So its not like they were really keeping it under wraps ahead of their big Cannes debut - Romain regularly crops up on Duas Insta, including in pictures from her recent holiday to Jamaica. Cute! Hes the new bane of Anwar Hadids life The only thing that has started as much conversation as Lipa and Gavras Cannes debut is her ex-boyfriends reaction, which has caused quite the stir! Anwar Hadid (brother of Bella and Gigi) dated Dua from 2019 to 2021 and seemed to have something to say about her new boo when the pictures from Cannes were released. Taking to Instagram to vent his frustrations, Hadid posted to his story: Trying not to find and kill him, followed by another slide saying, I cant breath. Hadid has not confirmed whether his stories are about Lipas new relationship, but you gotta admit the timings a little funky. Long live Gavras and Lipa, Im sure Anwar will catch his breath soon. Loading.... It is Friday afternoon and Oxford Street is thronging with tourists walking down the worlds most famous shopping promenade as Londoners spill out of pubs. Little did the tourists expect when they came here that so many of the stores would be weird American-style candy and souvenir shops. And little do they know that behind the gaudy exteriors, activities like the sale of illegal goods and money laundering are taking place. Authorities are finally cracking down on this criminality, as well as many millions in unpaid business rates, but how did the West End turn into the Wild West for all these cowboys? When the Standard visited these Oxford Street shops to ask their owners some serious questions, we were stonewalled by staff clearly trained not to provide any information. At one sweet shop a worker told us: Ill call my boss. When he comes, I can give him your business card. Hes not in today. Hell maybe return tomorrow. Ive just started so Im only in charge today. A few doors down at a souvenir shop, an employee said: The boss is not here. Hes coming in maybe one or two weeks. He doesnt come every day, just one or two hours then hes going back. Hes doesnt have any timetable. This first line of defence is a blandly frustrating tactic that belies a situation at breaking point. Earlier this month the head of Westminster council called on the National Crime Agency to crack down on these shops, and their rap sheet is long and telling: trading standards have seized more than 1 million of counterfeit goods including fake Rolex watches and Apple products, along with super-strength vapes with illegal amounts of nicotine. Westminster also say the businesses with their tacky multi-coloured shop fronts are a hub for global money laundering, with many set up by people with opaque shell companies. Increasing numbers of the shops have been registered in Jersey and Russia to wash the proceeds of drugs, guns, people trafficking and prostitution. Many of these shops in Europes busiest retail precinct owe unpaid business rates, totalling nearly 9.2 million, to the local authority, which collects the sums for central government. To put that total in perspective, it would fund the annual salaries of nearly 450 newly qualified nurses or about 270 police recruits. Some goods found at the stores / ES Contact details were left at all the businesses but we only received a response from Kingdom of Sweets, one of the few legitimate businesses in the area. Their CEO Chase Manders said he welcomed a crackdown, explaining how cowboys in the industry had damaged sales at his reputable firm. We are a respectable business paying all relevant taxes and business rates, he said, The issue of these cowboy operators opening and then closing without paying business rates or any other taxes has had a detrimental impact on our trading in an extremely difficult environment. Sales have been hit by as much as 80 per cent in central London. As a responsible business we support plans to clamp down on this practice and will continue working with Westminster council. We also support a wider discussion to find a solution to the woes of the retail sector, which has sparked these illegal operations. An urgent coordinated strategy is required. We are determined to be at the heart of finding a way forward which works for all. Later the same week the Standard took a tour of Oxford Street with councillor Geoff Barraclough, who is in charge of planning and economic development. He took us past the worst offender, which owes business rates to the tune of 1.5 million. A short distance away were the other shops in the top five offenders which have deprived the public purse of 224,000, 147,000, 111,000 and 84,000. As quickly as the council begins enforcement action, owners shut up shop and are replaced by similar businesses registered at Companies House under bogus names of directors. Clearly frustrated, Mr Barraclough told us: Its ridiculous you can start a company with less admin than getting a library card in Westminster. It reflects badly when people get away without paying their taxes. Were playing whack-a-mole. Councillor Geoff Barraclough / Matt Writtle He said stores began springing up in 2017, as shopping shifted online and household names disappeared from Oxford Street, starting with the closure of Philip Greens British Home Stores in August 2016. When flagship buildings were left empty, landlords gave them over to the candy stores. The idea was the gaudy shops would move in for free as long as they paid the business rates, which in many cases never happened. The number of candy outlets grew steadily and then shot up 500 per cent during Covid, taking over premises previously occupied by stalwarts such as Next, The Body Shop, Forever 21, Topshop and Dorothy Perkins. Mr Barraclough points to a foreign currency terminal in one branch to explain how dirty money can be deposited and sent around the globe within minutes to hide its origin. He says: The candy shops are the visible part of this dirty money. A lot of it is happening below the surface. The directors are often fictitious, they just make up someone. Theres no checks at Companies House. However, Mr Barraclough told us the tide is turning: The good news is we have managed to reduce their numbers by taking a tough line over the past 16 months. More than 250,000 in unpaid business rates has been recovered in recent weeks, and Westminsters leader Adam Hug told a meeting on May 3 that the Government must give more support to HMRC and the NCA to investigate the overseas ownership structures of companies running the stores. In the latest swoop, trading standards and police targeted two shops and confiscated over 7,000 items worth 145,000, including unsafe charging leads. Nearly 4,000 e-cigarettes with double the UK limit of nicotine were also seized. The brightly coloured vaping pens, sold alongside candy with sweet flavours to appeal to children, had been hidden from officers in five suitcases displayed on the shop floor. In another positive sign, the HMV that was converted into a US-themed store in 2019 is due to reopen as a music shop again in time for Christmas, under plans announced last month. There has been a major new development underpinning the change: the opening of the Elizabeth line has brought 62 million passengers to the West End, with the average visitor spending more than two hours there, up 23 per cent since 2019. The transport link near Tottenham Court Road puts one million extra people within 45 minutes of Oxford Street, and footfall is up a third in its first 12 months. Dee Corsi, chief executive of business group New West End Company, says positive things are happening: We acknowledge that however many [candy stores] there are, they are not part of the future vision of Oxford Street. Unprecedented funding over the next five years will diversify the districts offerings and cement its place as the worlds leading cultural, retail and leisure hub. There are plans for wider pavements, more trees, seating and cafes. A full pedestrianisation was ruled out, but Ms Corsi says about three million square feet of retail and office space is either in the pipeline or under construction. Ten core developments will provide modern retail, food and leisure. The old Debenhams and House of Fraser stores are to be turned into offices and gyms in post-pandemic Oxford Street, and Selfridges has already added more restaurant and food hall space. Already open are the digital exhibition space Outernet, the Twist Museum and the adventure-themed Boom Battle Bar. Flagship Primark, H&M, Flannels X and Uniqlo stores will be joined by IKEA at Oxford Circus and a huge two-storey Footasylum before the end of the year. Back on Oxford Street, when asked if the candy stores had been the areas death knell, Mr Barraclough retorted: Well just look at it? At midday, the place is crammed with people. Theres huge demand for commercial property. All the worlds best brands want to locate here. This is Europes high street. The thing we learned in Covid was how interlinked all the economic sectors are retail, hospitality, leisure, culture. They all feed off each other. People dont just come here to shop. Its an ecosystem. If one leg falls away, the others are in trouble. After months of lying uncharacteristically low, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex were back making headlines last week in the most spectacular fashion. After a beaming Meghan accepted a Women of Vision award at a glitzy gala in New York, flanked by Harry and her mother, Doria Ragland, the trio hopped into the back of an SUV to make their getaway, only to find themselves embroiled in a near catastrophic car chase after being tailed by highly aggressive paparazzi through the streets of Manhattan. According to a spokesperson for the duke and duchess, the relentless pursuit lasted for over two hours and resulted in multiple near collisions that could have been fatal. The couples press secretary, Ashley Hansen, said the pair were left incredibly scared and shaken up by the incident, revealing: I have never experienced their vulnerability as much as I did last night. Yet, as so often seems to be the case when Harry and Meghan are involved, mere hours after the story broke other contradictory details started to emerge. New York police officials told NBC that far from being near catastrophic, the car chase merely created a bit of a chaotic scene. While they admitted the photographers behaviour was challenging, they were quick to point out that Harry and Meghan arrived at their destination and there were no reported collisions, summonses, injuries, or arrests. Meanwhile, New York Mayor Eric Adams expressed empathy for the situation describing the actions of the paparazzi as reckless and irresponsible but said he would find it hard to believe there was a two-hour, high-speed chase. And a taxi driver who drove them for 15 minutes of their farcically circuitous journey to get to their destination two blocks away was quoted as saying: I dont think I would call it a chase. I never felt like I was in danger. Once again, it seems that recollections may vary when it comes to what really went down with the drama-attracting pair. Of course, the more cynical among us may question the timing of such a strongly worded statement from the Sussexes. This came only a day after Harrys lawyers appeared in the High Court to argue that it was wrong of him to be stripped of his armed Metropolitan Police protection when he is back in the UK. The Duke is suing the Home Office over the issue, as well as over the Metropolitan Polices refusal to allow him to pay for his close personal protection himself. Hes also waging four other separate legal battles against three different newspaper groups over alleged illegal information gathering, phone hacking, and a story he claims to be libellous. Harry and Meghan before the alleged car chase in New York City / AP While no one could refute that being involved in a paparazzi chase would be distressing for Harry, given what happened to his mother, the couples petulant demands to Backgrid paparazzi agency that they hand over all the photos and videos taken during the chase havent gone down well. Backgrid has even issued its own witty riposte to the letter from the duke and duchesss lawyers, stating: In America, as Im sure you know, property belongs to the owner of it: Third parties cannot just demand it be given to them, as perhaps kings can do. The incident has also started to raise questions about the couples relationship, with the rumour mill going into overdrive that the two are now finding themselves on increasingly different paths. While Harry still seems to be hung up on the past, waging war against the UK press on his quest for privacy, Meghan is looking forward. Many people hailed her appearance at the Women of Vision Awards as something of a relaunch, in whats being dubbed her Meghanaissance. All eyes were on Meghan as she took to the stage in a dazzling, strapless 1,500 gold Johanna Ortiz dress and 1,000 Tom Ford stilettos and told the audience: Its never too late to start. You can be the visionary of your own life. Sharing the stage with pioneering feminist and close friend Gloria Steinem and accepting her award alongside trailblazers like Black Lives Matter co-founder LaTosha Brown, Meghan was clearly in her element. Meghan Markle accepts her Women of Vision award / Getty Images Ms. Foundation for The gala came just 10 days after the Kings coronation, where a solo Harry cut a starkly different figure. Relegated to a third-row seat, with the Princess Royals hat obscuring his view, he looked every inch the spare he has proclaimed himself to be. His blink-and-youll-miss-it appearance marked the first time he had been in the same room as his father and brother since the release of his bombshell memoir at the beginning of the year. Its been reported that the trio didnt speak to each other at all during his whistle-stop, 36-hour visit. There seems to be no sign of a reconciliation between the warring brothers, with the Prince of Wales reported to be horrified by what his brother revealed in the book. Meghan, meanwhile, stayed home with the kids to celebrate Archies fourth birthday, which happened to fall on the same day as the historic royal event. While her absence was neatly explained away by the clashing date, there was much speculation that she also steered clear due to fears of the public reaction if she came. At the Women of Vision event, Harry and Meghan were so keen to avoid the red carpet and the awaiting heckles from the crowd that they decided to enter via a deeply unglamorous Hertz car rental desk instead. Prince Harry at the Kings coronation / Getty Images While the duchess once described them as moving together like salt and pepper, the couple now seem to be heading in different directions. The duchesss striking absence from the dukes promotional book tour fuelled split rumours earlier in the year. It was recently reported that the owner of a leading hotel chain in Montecito had a room set aside for Harry where he occasionally stayed on his own. It does seem like Meghan is looking to brand herself independently, says LA-based royal expert Kinsey Schofield. She has been reportedly seen around town meeting with influential people in politics and finance. Harry was MIA. Ultimately, Meghan is seeking fame, financial gain, and power. She almost has it all. Meanwhile, Harrys focus is much different. Security, both financially and safety-wise. And a loving family. Meghans 2.0 makeover has been under way for some time now. Much has been made of the bolder new look shes been sporting over recent months, with a sleek, poker-straight hairstyle and less heavy make-up thought to mean she is trying to cut a more serious figure. Her show-stopping outfit at last weeks awards gala couldnt have been more different from the blandly neutral tones she wore as a working royal, leaving no doubts that global mega-stardom is where shes set her sights. Interestingly, despite the staggering cost of the outfit, the earrings Meghan wore were from J Crew. The addition of a high-street purchase after the recent years of being dressed head-to-toe in designer labels seems like a calculated move that suggests the duchess could be trying to appear more relatable. This attempt to peg herself as a down-to-earth duchess might have something to do with the rumours that shes set to relaunch her lifestyle platform The Tig any minute now. Its said the rebooted blog will feature articles, interviews and photographs in the fields of food, cooking, recipes, travel, fashion, style, lifestyle, the arts, culture, design, conscious living, and health and wellness. Its thought it would also provide commentary on the field of personal relationships, suggesting Meghan might see herself as something of an agony aunt to the rich and famous of Montecito. The Tig is not owned by Archewell but by Frim Fram, the duchesss Delaware-based company run by her business manager Andrew Meyer in LA, meaning the project is solely hers. The Tig is a symbol of Meghans success and accomplishments before marrying Harry [and] it was a product that Meghan was in control of start to finish, says Schofield. Meghan is a control freak. That is her comfort zone. Meghan and Harry during their time as working royals / PA Wire The duchess also recently signed with one of the most powerful talent agencies in Hollywood, WME. Her team will be led by Ari Emanuel, whose brother was Obamas chief-of-staff. The deal will not be about acting but will instead focus on spearheading the duchesss business efforts and brand partnerships, as well as her creative work in film and television production. Its thought the move is all about building Meghans global enterprise and relaunching her as a woman of substance. Meghan Markles collaboration with WME suggests an ambitious expansion and diversification of her brand, says Stacy Jones, CEO and founder of LA-based pop culture marketing agency Hollywood Branded. The move suggests that Harry and Meghan are working towards becoming a multifaceted media enterprise. The duchess has certainly been busy cultivating friends in high places lately. Just days before her appearance in New York, Harry and Meghan were spotted heading into a Michelin-starred sushi restaurant in Montecito. They were joined by Cameron Diaz and her rock star husband Benji Madden, as well as Gwyneth Paltrow and her TV producer husband Brad Falchuk and billionaire Bumble boss Whitney Wolfe Herd and her Texan oil heir husband Michael Herd. The glitzy gathering was exactly the sort the duchess must have dreamed of when they moved to California, especially seeing as their celebrity friendships with the likes of the Clooneys and Oprah Winfrey seem to have cooled lately (the duke and duchess were noticeably absent from Oprahs star-studded birthday bash in February). Were sure Meghan was thrilled to have the chance to pump Paltrow for inspiration for The Tig its said the duchess was inspired by Paltrows Goop brand, which has earned the actress more than 200 million, when creating her own lifestyle website. Celebrities are still iffy about the couple that attract such negative attention, but that wont stop strategically planted stories about Gwyneth and Meg sharing girl boss secrets over edamame, says Schofield. In light of all this, it seems the couples Archewell brand has been rather neglected of late, with one insider describing it as being on life support since the fallout with the royal family. The production company has been likened to a revolving door when it comes to staff, with the Sussexes having reportedly lost a staggering 16 members of staff since 2018. The latest to go were Fara Taylor, who led the marketing team, and internal content head Ben Browning, who played an integral part in the production of Netflixs Harry & Meghan series. Marketing is now headed up by the couples press secretary, Ashley Hansen, in an effort to streamline the companys marketing arm. Archewell is now understood to be looking to hire writers to develop ideas for rom-coms and other feel-good programmes. I think Harry and Meghan being less involved in these projects would probably benefit everyone, says Schofield. They need to find a team of individuals that they trust and allow them to take control. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex: Prince Harry & Meghan Markle 1 / 109 The Duke and Duchess of Sussex: Prince Harry & Meghan Markle Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex leaves after attending a service of thanksgiving for the reign of Queen Elizabeth II at St Pauls Cathedral AP Freedom Gala AP Christmas 2021 Alexi Lubomirski Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex attend The Endeavour Fund Awards at Mansion House Samir Hussein/WireImage Prince Harry and his wife Meghan Markle arrive at venue prior to car incident in New York AP Oprah Winfrey interviews Duke and Duchess of Sussex PA Media Misan Harriman Prince Harry and Meghan Markle kiss on the steps of St George's Chapel in Windsor Castle after their wedding in St George's Chapel PA Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, pose with their newborn son Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor in St George's Hall at Windsor Castle Getty Images The Duke and Duchess of Sussex holding their son Archie during a meeting with Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Mrs Tutu at their legacy foundation in cape Town, on day three of their tour of Africa PA Prince Harry and Ms Meghan Markle announce their engagement in the Sunken Garden at Kensington Palace Jeremy Selwyn Prince Harry and Meghan Markle attend a Wheelchair Tennis match during the Invictus Games 2017 Reuters Prince Harry and Meghan Markle embrace following the polo at Coworth Park on 7 May 2017 Rex Features Prince Harry and Ms Meghan Markle announce their engagement in the Sunken Garden at Kensington Palace EPA Prince Harry and Meghan Markle during a walkabout on the esplanade at Edinburgh Castle PA Prince Harry and Meghan Markle meet Pony Major Mark Wilkinson and regimental mascot Cruachan IV during a walkabout on the esplanade at Edinburgh Castle Getty Images Prince Harry and Meghan Markle attend a Wheelchair Tennis match during the Invictus Games 2017 at Nathan Philips Square on 25 September 2017 in Toronto, Canada Reuters Prince Harry with girlfriend Meghan Markle at the Invictus Games in Toronto PA Prince Harry with girlfriend Meghan Markle at the Invictus Games in Toronto Getty Images Prince Harry arrives with girlfriend actress Meghan Markle at the wheelchair tennis event during the Invictus Games in Toronto Reuters Prince Harry and Meghan Markle attend a Wheelchair Tennis match during the Invictus Games 2017 at Nathan Philips Square on 25 September 2017 in Toronto, Canada Getty Images Prince Harry with girlfriend Meghan Markle at the Invictus Games in Toronto Getty Images Meghan Markle at the Invictus Games in Toronto Karwai Tang/WireImage Prince Harry arrives with girlfriend actress Meghan Markle at the wheelchair tennis event during the Invictus Games in Toronto, Ontario Reuters Meghan Markle attends the Opening Ceremony of the 2017 Invictus Games at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto, Canada PA Meghan Markle on the cover of Vanity Fair Peter Lindbergh exclusively for Vanity Fair Prince Harry and Meghan Markle attend a Wheelchair Tennis match during the Invictus Games 2017 Getty Images Prince Harry and Ms Meghan Markle announce their engagement in the Sunken Garden at Kensington Palace Jeremy Selwyn Larking around: Harry and Meghan pull faces in footage not shown in the BBC engagement interview BBC Meghan Markle visits Nottingham for her first official public engagement with fiancee Prince Harry Jeremy Selwyn Prince Harry and Meghan Markle arrive at the Nottingham Contemporary in Nottingham, to attend a Terrence Higgins Trust World AIDS Day charity fair on their first official engagement together PA Meghan Markle arrives at the Terrance Higgins Trust World AIDS Day charity fair at Nottingham Contemporary Getty Images The royal brothers and their partners on Christmas Day. AFP/Getty Images Prince Harry and Meghan Markle listen to a broadcast through headphones during a visit to youth-orientated radio station, Reprezent FM, in Brixton PA Prince Harry and Meghan Markle arrive in Brixton EPA Prince Harry and his fiancee Meghan Markle visit Reprezent 107.3FM in Brixton Getty Images Prince Harry and his fiancee Meghan Markle visit Reprezent 107.3FM in Brixton Getty Images Loved up: Prince Harry and Meghan Markle visit Cardiff Castle EPA Prince Harry and his fiancee Meghan Markle attend a street dance class during their visit to Star Hub in during their visit to Star Hub on January 18, 2018 in Cardiff, Wales. Getty Images Prince Harry and Meghan Markle will visit the people of Edinburgh Getty Images Prince Harry and Meghan Markle arrive to attend the annual Endeavour Fund Awards PA Prince Harry and Meghan Markle arrive to attend the annual Endeavour Fund Awards Getty Images Prince Harry and Meghan Markle attend a reception for young people at the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh AFP/Getty Images rince Harry and his fiancee Meghan Markle meet a Shetland Pony as they arrive at Edinburgh Castle in Edinburgh, Frank Augstein/AP Meghan Markle during a walkabout on the esplanade at Edinburgh Castle PA Prince Harry and Meghan Markle speak with patrons at the Social Bite in Edinburgh AP Prince Harry and Meghan Markle on a walkabout during a visit to Millennium Point in Birmingham PA Meghan Markle arrives for a visit in Birmingham on International Women's Day PA Prince Harry and Meghan Markle on a walkabout during a visit to Millennium Point in Birmingham Splash News Prince Harry and Meghan Markle meet members of the public on a walkabout during a visit to Millennium Point in Birmingham PA Prince Harry and Meghan Markle meet members of the public on a walkabout during a visit to Millennium Point in Birmingham PA The Reverend Canon David Stanton, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle leave after attending a Commonwealth Day Service at Westminster Abbey AFP/Getty Images Prince Harry and Meghan Markle attend a Commonwealth Day Service at Westminster Abbet AFP/Getty Images Prince Harry and Meghan Markle attend a reception with delegates from the Commonwealth Youth Forum at the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre, London PA Prince Harry and Meghan Markle ride in an Ascot Landau along the Long Walk after their wedding PA Meghan Markle walks down the aisle in St George's Chapel PA Harry and Meghan leaving Windsor Castle for the glamorous evening reception PA Harry and Meghan leaving Windsor Castle for the glamorous evening reception PA Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex head back down the Mall to Buckingham Palace during Trooping The Colour on June 9, 2018 Getty Images Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex talk to members of OneWave, an awareness group for mental health and wellbeing at South Bondi Beach on October 19, 2018 in Sydney, Australia. Getty Images Prince Harry, the Duke of Sussex and his wife Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex are seen during the closing ceremony of the Invictus Games in Sydney, Australia, 27 October 2018 EPA Meghan, Duchess of Sussex visits the Hubb Community Kitchen to see how funds raised by the 'Together: Our Community' Cookbook are making a difference at Al Manaar, North Kensington on November 21, 2018 in London Getty Images Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, and Britain's Prince Harry unveil a plaque to officially open Number 7, a 'Feeding Birkenhead' citizens supermarket and community cafe, at Pyramids Shopping Centre, as part of a visit to Birkenhead, northwest England, Monday Jan. 14, 2019 AP Meghan, Duchess of Sussex visits the National theatre in central London on January 30, 2019 AFP/Getty Images The Duke and Duchess of Sussex arrive for a visit to the Bristol Old Vic theatre, which is undergoing a multimillion-pound restoration PA Meghan, Duchess of Sussex (L) and Britain's Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, reacts as they visit Bristol Old Vic theatre in Bristol, south-west England on February 1, 2019 AFP/Getty Images Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex (R) and Britain's Meghan, Duchess of Sussex (C) help volunteers in the kitchen as they pack food parcels to go in the charity outreach van during a visit to One25 charity in Bristol, south west England on February 1, 2019 AFP/Getty Images Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, and Britain's Meghan, Duchess of Sussex arrive to attend the annual Endeavour Fund Awards at Drapers Hall in London on February 7, 2019 AFP/Getty Images The Duke and Duchess of Sussex try some food during a cooking school demonstration at Villa des Ambassadors in Rabat on the third day of their tour of Morocco PA Prince Harry and his wife Meghan, Duke & Duchess of Sussex, pet a horse at the Moroccan Royal Federation of Equestrian Sports in Rabat on February 25, 2019 AFP/Getty Images Meghan Markle wearing a short Reiss dress on International Women's Day AFP/Getty Images Meghan, Duchess of Sussex and Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex attend a Commonwealth Day Youth Event at Canada House, where they meet young people who demonstrate a Canadian spring tradition of making maple taffy (maple syrup cooled on snow to make sweets) on March 11, 2019 in London Getty Images The Duke and Duchess of Sussex leave following a Commonwealth Service at Westminster Abbey, London PA Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex and Meghan, Duchess Of Sussex attend a Commonwealth Day Youth Event at Canada House on March 11, 2019 in London WireImage Members of Britain's Royal family leave after attending the Commonwealth Service at Westminster Abbey AP The Duchess of Cambridge (left) talks with the Duchess of Sussex (right) as they attend the Commonwealth Service at Westminster Abbey, Richard Pohle/The Times/PA Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex hold their baby son in St George's Hall at Windsor Castle, Berkshire on 8 May 2019 REUTERS Archbishop Desmond Tutu kisses the forehead of baby Archie as his mother smiles on warmly Reuters The Duke and Duchess of Sussex arrive for a visit to the Auwal Mosque, the oldest mosque in South Africa, on day two of their tour of Africa. PA Meghan, The Duchess of Sussex and Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex attend a roundtable discussion on gender equality with The Queens Commonwealth Trust (QCT) and One Young World at Windsor Castle Jeremy Selwyn Prince Harry and Duchess of Sussex at The Fields of Remembrance in Westminster Abbey Jeremy Selwyn pixel8000 As for whats next for the pair, only time will tell. It has still not been confirmed whether the duchess will be hosting a second series of her Spotify podcast, Archetypes. Rumours continue to swirl that her long-time ambitions lie in politics. Certainly, her recent award presentation by the feminist activist Gloria Steinem would point in this direction. The duchess and Steinem became friends when Meghan moved to Montecito and realised Steinem was also spending lockdown in the area. Since then, the duo have collaborated on a number of politically leaning projects, including cold-calling people and urging them to vote and speaking to Vogue in June 2022 about the Supreme Courts decision to revoke Americans constitutional right to abortion. There is certainly scope for the duchess to make it in the world of politics, with many of her fans likening her to a Michelle Obama-style figure. Other than the post-White House Obamas, there arent a lot of modern couples with their star power and background who we can look to and say, Maybe thats what the Sussexes should try, says US-based royal commentator and co-host of the Daily Fail podcast Kristen Meinzer. But you get the sense the couple would need to shake off the drama that seems to follow them around like a black cloud if they ever want be taken seriously in the US. I think the duchess really believes that she is capable of changing the world, but I think both Harry and Meghan are currently focused on monetising Team Sussex, says Schofield. The long game for Meghan is to be her own lucrative brand. Whatever the future has in store for them, one things for sure: far from being over, the Sussexes are only just getting started and Meghan is firmly in the driving seat this time. T he law should take into consideration neuroscientific evidence that suggests fear can cause victims to become frozen in cases of rape or sexual assault, experts have argued. Patrick Haggard, a professor of cognitive neuroscience at University College London (UCL), and former UCL undergraduate Ebani Dhawan say that victims are often blamed for not fighting or fleeing their attackers despite clear scientific evidence that sexual assault and rape affects control over a victims body movement. Around 30 per cent of women worldwide are thought to experience sexual assault or rape in their lifetime, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO). Of those who have attended an emergency clinic, 70 per cent reported being frozen and unable to move or cry out. Police in England and Wales recorded over 700,000 rapes in 2021-2022, but just three per cent led to a charge. Writing in the Nature Human Behaviour journal on Monday, the researchers highlight court cases such as R v Lennox (2018) in Australia in which the defence lawyer questioned the victim as to why she froze and did not show signs of struggle. This transferred the blame of the sexual assault to her. The researchers argue that the victims immobility may be entirely involuntary in which case blame is inappropriate. Research has shown that when presented with threats, the brains response can include blocking the neural circuits that provide voluntary control over body movement. Many animals freeze briefly in response to mild threat, so they are poised to trigger a fight or flight reaction. But in response to immediate and severe threat, the behaviour may change to a prolonged immobility where the body becomes either completely frozen or limp. The researchers note that similar processes occur in humans, with questionnaire studies showing that sexual assault victims often report being unable to move or cry out during the assault, even when they are not physically constrained. Arguments for the defence in rape and sexual assault cases sometimes misinterpret the absence of struggle as an indication of consent, they argue. But if the victim is involuntarily immobile, this argument is incorrect. More research is needed to determine the immediate impact of rape and sexual assault on a victims ability to move, the researchers write. Professor Haggard said: The law has long recognised loss of control defences and can accord diminished responsibility in specific situations, in which evidence shows that actions were made outside of voluntary control. This can include some medical conditions, such as sleep disorders, alongside extreme situations such as coercive control and emotional triggering. After reviewing neuroscientific evidence, we suggest that the same consideration should be made towards involuntary immobility during rape and sexual assault. We hope that this could help prevent inappropriate victim blaming and potentially draw wider societal attention to the crucial importance of active consent. Ms Dhawan said: Legal definitions of rape and sexual assault are based on the absence of consent. However, it is not unusual for victims reports of non-consent to be questioned in court against un-evidenced stereotypes of how a real victim would allegedly behave. For example, perpetrators may claim that they assumed the victim was consenting due to absence of any clear attempt to resist. We should use neuroscientific findings to prevent these myths being peddled as a defence argument for sexual violence, and to ensure justice for victims. P olice have arrested a man who barricaded himself into a flat with a gun and threatened to harm himself. Armed police sealed off Narrow Street, near Barleycorn Way, in Limehouse about 11am on Monday amid reports of a gunman on the loose. They stormed into the home and arrested the suspect after a tense two-hour standoff. Parents at Cyril Jackson Primary School were being advised to pick up children from different exits on Grenade Street to the north and south of the police cordon. A Met spokesman said: Police were called to a property in Barleycorn Way, E14, at 11.00hrs on Monday, 22 May to reports of a concern for welfare. It was reported there was a man inside the property with a firearm who was threatening to harm himself. Officers entered the building and a firearm was recovered and the man was arrested on suspicion of possession of a firearm. A n Old Bailey murder trial involving three teenage defendants has been delayed after no judge in London could be found to oversee it. The three-week trial was due to start this month but has now been delayed until later in the year. At a hearing last week, prosecutor Ed Brown KC lamented a sorry state of affairs in the justice system, where record numbers of criminal trials are being delayed due to a lack of judges. Latest Ministry of Justice figures show 150 crown court trials could not take place in 2022 because there was no judge available. In the murder case, some of the young defendants are in custody and the trial date had been set in November last year. We are very disappointed there are not enough judges in London to try this very serious case, said Mr Brown who also highlighted a trend of defendants not being brought to the Old Bailey each day, causing lost court time and trials to over-run. Defence barrister Alan Kent, representing one of the accused, said the delay was hugely disappointing. Last week, it was announced that 163 new Recorders part-time judges had been appointed. A Mediterranean monk seal lies on the seashore at Jaffa beach in Tel Aviv, Israel, on May 15, 2023. Mediterranean monk seals, listed as one of the world's most endangered marine mammals, are the rarest out of the 33 species of seals that exist in the world. (Photo by Gil Cohen Magen/Xinhua) A Mediterranean monk seal lies on the seashore at Jaffa beach in Tel Aviv, Israel, on May 15, 2023. Mediterranean monk seals, listed as one of the world's most endangered marine mammals, are the rarest out of the 33 species of seals that exist in the world. (Photo by Gil Cohen Magen/Xinhua) A Mediterranean monk seal lies on the seashore at Jaffa beach in Tel Aviv, Israel, on May 15, 2023. Mediterranean monk seals, listed as one of the world's most endangered marine mammals, are the rarest out of the 33 species of seals that exist in the world. (JINI via Xinhua) People look at a Mediterranean monk seal on the seashore at Jaffa beach in Tel Aviv, Israel, on May 15, 2023. Mediterranean monk seals, listed as one of the world's most endangered marine mammals, are the rarest out of the 33 species of seals that exist in the world. (JINI via Xinhua) Editor: ZAD A motorcyclist lost their leg in a hit and run collision with a Mercedes in west London. The car driver abandoned the vehicle and ran away following the incident on Gunnersbury Lane, Ealing, at 7.10pm on Sunday. The motorcyclist, 45, was seriously injured and his left leg had to be amputated below the knee. The car involved, a silver Mercedes Benz saloon, did not stop at the scene but was found a short distance away. Its driver ran off along an alley that runs between two houses in Lillian Avenue. Officers are hunting for the driver and appealing for witnesses. Emergency services were scrambled to the scene on the corner of Gunnersbury Lane where it meets Lillian Avenue. Detectives from the Mets Serious Collision Unit are investigating and are asking anyone who witnessed the incident or has any information to contact them. A statement said: In particular, officers are asking for anyone with dash-cam footage, who was in the area near the time and date of the collision to the contact them. Any witnesses or anyone with any information is asked to call police on 101 or contact via Twitter @MetCC. Please quote CAD 5843/21MAY. To give information anonymously contact Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 or online at crimestoppers-uk.org. A rare flag flown from a polar sledge used to hunt for survivors of Captain Sir John Franklins doomed expedition has been saved for the nation, thanks to a campaign backed by Michael Palin and Dan Snow. The National Museum of the Royal Navy (NMRN) launched a last-ditch campaign to raise the 120,000 needed to stop the Kellet sledge flag from passing into the hands of an overseas private collector. It succeeded thanks to 98,170 from the National Lottery Heritage Fund and 40,000 from the Art Fund, with match-funding from the NMRN enabling the museum to buy the flag and put it on display at its sites in Hartlepool, Portsmouth and Belfast. Arts and Heritage Minister Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay had placed a temporary export bar on the flag in September 2022. The flag was owned by 19th century Irish naval officer Vice-Admiral Sir Henry Kellett and flown during the third of a series of expeditions from 1852 to 1854 to look for survivors, or evidence of bodies, after Franklins expedition. A NMRN spokeswoman said: Mystery surrounding the fate of the Franklin expedition and the 129 crew ignited public debate and intrigue for decades until the discovery of his two ships, HMS Erebus in 2014 and HMS Terror in 2016. Franklins failed expedition takes on a symbolic place within Arctic exploration, especially within the British Isles and Canada, leading to the successful mapping of the Canadian archipelago and northern mainland coastline. Professor Dominic Tweddle, NMRN director general, said: Vice-Admiral Sir Henry Kelletts sledge flag and Franklins expedition represent courage and fortitude in the face of adversity core elements of our national identity that echo through our history. They also reflect the British and global obsession with finding and navigating the Northwest Passage, as well as the Royal Navys role in expedition and exploration from Captain Cook to Darwin and HMS Beagle, to HMS Challenger in 1872, and continuing today with HMS Protector the ice patrol ship in Antarctica and the Southern Hemisphere. He added: The National Museum is proud to have stepped forward to save the Kellett flag from being exported overseas and to continue our work linking navy to nation. Measuring 595 by 885mm within a frame of 710 by 995mm, the flag is in a fragile condition and is being assessed by the museums conservation team for recommended treatment. NMRN conservator Rachel Trembath said: The flag will be sent to a specialist textile conservator, who will remove the metal pins securing it to the backboard. It will need to be stabilised and issues particularly around the fragile right-hand edge will be addressed. The decision to clean the flag will have to balance the long-term preservation needs with the historical significance of the staining and ingrained dirt. The flag will undergo testing for light sensitivity so we can display it safely. The flag was made from silk in a rich green colour with an Irish harp embroidered in golden thread to reflect Kelletts Irish heritage. The museum spokeswoman said: The green colour has faded over time due to exposure to light, but the flag remains in fairly good condition with a small crudely sewn repair that was likely done by a member of the search party whilst on the ice. The maker is unknown but the motto Auxilium Ab Alto translates to Help From Above. Lord Parkinson said: I am delighted that this flag an important link with our past, and a symbol of courage and curiosity has been saved for the nation. The export bar system and a tireless fundraising campaign spearheaded by The National Museum of the Royal Navy means this inspiring item will now be on public display for generations to come. C urrent climate policies will leave more than a fifth of humanity exposed to dangerously hot temperatures by 2100, unprecedented new research suggests. The paper, published on Monday and co-authored by academics from around the world, examines the human climate niche the temperature range in which humans have lived and flourished throughout history and how warming could see billions of people falling outside of it. The researchers from University of Exeters Global Systems Institute, alongside the Earth Commission and Nanjing University, argue that current legally binding climate policies are estimated to produce an average temperature rise of 2.7C by 2100. They said this could leave two billion people 22% of the projected end-of-century population exposed to dangerous heat, defined as an average annual temperature of 29C or higher. At these high temperatures, water resources could become strained, mortality could increase, economic productivity could decrease, animals and crops could no longer flourish, and large numbers of people may migrate. However, the forecasts also show that limiting warming to 1.5C in line with the Paris Climate Agreement would leave just 5% outside the niche by 2100, highlighting the importance of decisive action to limit the human costs and inequities of climate change. Professor Tim Lenton, director of the Global Systems Institute, said that many areas of the world will go up to unprecedented temperatures that nobody experienced in the historical climate when warming hits 2.7C. More than 600 million people in India and 300 million people in Nigeria could be exposed to dangerous temperatures by 2100, as well as areas of Indonesia, Brazil, the Philippines, Australia, and almost 100% of Burkina Faso and Mali. The costs of global warming are often expressed in financial terms, but our study highlights the phenomenal human cost of failing to tackle the climate emergency The research found that under the worst-case scenarios of 3.6C or even 4.4C global warming, half of the worlds population could be left outside the climate niche, posing an existential risk. Prof Lenton said limiting warming to 1.5C makes a profound difference to forecasts, with those exposed to dangerous heat decreasing from more than two billion people to a little over 400 million people. The costs of global warming are often expressed in financial terms, but our study highlights the phenomenal human cost of failing to tackle the climate emergency, he said. For every 0.1C of warming above present levels, about 140 million more people will be exposed to dangerous heat. This reveals both the scale of the problem and the importance of decisive action to reduce carbon emissions. Limiting global warming to 1.5C rather than 2.7C would mean five times fewer people in 2100 being exposed to dangerous heat. Its not like the earth is becoming unliveable, its just the best place on earth for humans is changing The researchers said their paper highlights the inequity of climate crisis as the people least responsible for greenhouse emissions could face the most the exposure to dangerous heat. They also found that the lifetime emissions of 3.5 average global citizens today or just 1.2 US citizens expose one future person to dangerous heat. We were triggered by the fact that the economic costs of carbon emissions hardly reflect the impact on human wellbeing, said Professor Marten Scheffer, of Wageningen University, who co-authored the report. Our calculations now help bridging this gap and should stimulate asking new, unorthodox questions about justice. Prof Scheffer said that migration would be a very natural adaptation to the changing world. It opens up a whole discussion about what is the best way for humanity to go ahead He said: Its not like the earth is becoming unliveable, its just the best place on earth for humans is changing and that is a thing that happens to other species and a normal response to that is to move to the better places. But he added that migration will be part of the human cost of climate change. No one wants to move away from the place they are born and it will be a cost for everyone in the world because it has to be accommodated in some way, he said. It opens up a whole discussion about what is the best way for humanity to go ahead. One is to put the breaks on global warming but as you can see from the results, it is likely we will have to reaccommodate people on the globe. A dad whose daughters life was changed when she became the first child in the UK to be prescribed medicinal cannabis has opened a new health centre in Paddington. Jorja Emerson was born in 2016 with a rare chromosome abnormality which meant she suffered devastating seizures. Her parents did not initially suspect she had any health issues until she began to miss milestones. A doctor also noticed that her head was smaller than that of a typical baby. Her father Robin Emerson told the Standard that her diagnosis had hit him like a train. You have all these aspirations for her and then you realise that life is going to be different. Robin with his daughter Jorja / Robin Emerson Twice the toddler ended up in intensive care after experiencing up to 30 seizures a day, with Mr Robinson being told by doctors to make provisions for end of life care. They told us to take Jorja home to die as there was nothing else they could do for her. It was horrendous and shook me completely. I remember being told and news and thinking, what's the point in living? But her life was changed when she obtained medical cannabis through a private healthcare company after struggling to get a prescription on the NHS. I started to fight to get a second opinion. One childrens hospital in America told us that Jorja wasnt dying and that we just needed to get her epilepsy under control. Mr Emerson later discovered a private support group on Facebook where parents from across the world shared information. There, they spoke to the parents of a child with the same chromosome deletion as Jorja who had successfully managed their symptoms using medicinal cannabis. Mr Emerson fought for weeks to secure the landmark prescription to treat her severe epilepsy - the first prescription given to a child in the UK for the drug. Five years later, she is thriving and she no longer suffers from seizures. The Jorja Emerson Centre in Paddington / Robin Emerson Robin was on hand to open the Jorja Emerson Centre, close to Paddington Station, that will offer MRI, genetic testing, sequencing and ultrasound and an accredited lab. The clinic will aim to provide treatment for a wide range of conditions including general paediatrics, neurology, chronic pain and addiction. Over 30 enquiries for treatment were received on the first day of opening last month. The centre will also soon be launching its own clinical trials. Mr Emerson said: I believe that you only die when the last person stops mentioning your name. I think Jorjas name will be around long after I'm gone, and I want this centre to be at the forefront of innovative medicine. There are just three conditions accepted by the NHS for cannabis prescriptions: muscle spasms caused by multiple sclerosis, nausea caused by cancer-related treatment and severe epilepsy. But the Standard reported last month that Londoners had spent an estimated 1.45 billion a year on illegal cannabis to self-medicate health conditions such as chronic pain. Many have struggled to obtain a prescription through the NHS or are unaware that it is available. Mr Emerson hopes the centre will be a space that can educate patients and put their mind at ease. We are seeing many patients who have never tried cannabis before and are looking at it as a potential treatment. This is an environment where they can instantly feel safer. A pprentice star Tom Skinner has become the voice of the Elizabeth line as it celebrates the first direct services between Heathrow and Essex. TV personality Skinner, 32, will entertain passengers with his famous catchphrases to help mark the first services between Heathrow and Shenfield on the lines east London and Essex branch. Platform service announcements at stations from Brentwood to Stratford will be voiced by the ex-market trader from Monday until Sunday, May 28. Skinner, who boarded the first ever direct Elizabeth line journey from Shenfield to Heathrow, said: I absolutely loved joining the driver in the cab on the train to Heathrow its fantastic news you can now get there directly, with no need to change trains. I love going on holiday and now its easier and quicker to get down to Heathrow and start your trip off with a lovely drink in the airport bar. Bosh! Sophie Chapman, Surface Access Director at Heathrow, said: Heathrow is the worlds gateway to the UK and were delighted our East London and Essex passengers can now travel quickly and easily direct to the airport. The extension of the revolutionary Elizabeth line service will open up Heathrows extensive destination network to hundreds of thousands of people from the East. Businessman and television personality Tom Skinner boards the first ever direct Elizabeth line journey from Shenfield to Heathrow / PA Since the central London section of the Elizabeth line first connected to Heathrow, in November 2022, millions of passengers have travelled directly from the airport to as far as Canary Wharf and Abbey Wood. The line will now travel through 13 more stations in east London and Essex, including Stratford, Ilford, Romford and Shenfield. Peak services on the Elizabeth line also increased on Monday from 22 to 24 trains an hour in central London, marking the final stage in its staggered opening programme. This means that there is a train in each direction between Paddington and Whitechapel every two-and-a-half minutes. There will be 16 trains an hour in each direction off-peak. The popularity of the line, which opened on May 24 last year, has increased from 2.5m to 3.5m passengers a week, resulting in a 30m additional fares bonanza for TfL. More than 150 million people have used the service in its first year, making it the busiest railway in the UK and one of the most reliable. A new 25m carbon-neutral party boat has arrived in London - where owners hope it will bring a huge boost to the city. Oceandiva is now berthed in the capitals Royal Docks, where it is set to undergo a 1.8m fit-out, and is due to be in full service from next month. Following tests and regulatory checks, events company Smart Group hopes it will soon open for events, and claim it could add 77m to the capitals economy in the next five years. Smart Group says Oceandiva is set to become the most sustainably advanced, carbon neutral ship on the River Thames, set to revolutionise Londons hospitality sector. Expected to accommodate up to 1,000 people at a time, the ship spans three decks and measures 86m in length - equivalent to around seven double-decker buses, and 15m longer than a Boeing 737 airliner. Party boat Oceandiva arriving into London / Smart Group Once newly fitted, it will feature event spaces suitable for hosting everything from conferences and product launches to exhibitions and gala dinners. It will be powered by two lithium battery packs, keeping carbon emissions to a minimum, while on board cooling and heating systems will use the temperature of the Thames water. It will also feature a zero land fill policy, while owners have pledged to use 100 per cent renewable energy by 2030. Despite its green credentials, the party boat has been met with concern from a large number of Londoners, with fears noise pollution could disrupt thesleep of those living by the Thames. Kathleen Ehrlich, chair of Shad Thames Residents Association, said: This will be an eyesore of a vessel impacting on the world famous views along the Thames. It will bring a huge disruption and disturbance to riverside communities. Ralph Hardwick, from the River Residents Group, added: It looks like a floating Prisoner of War camp. Is this what we want for the Thames? Caroline Pidgeon, leader of the Liberal Democrats at the Greater London Assembly, told The Times it could be the most controversial licensing application London has ever faced, adding: Theres a basic right to be able to get a decent sleep. Chloe Jackson, Managing Director of Smart Group, said: We are thrilled to have the vessel arrive in London, and we look forward to sharing our vision of revolutionising the events industry with a sustainable, carbon neutral venue on the River Thames. Our commitment to consultation with the communities in which we will operate is a top priority, and we are excited to work together to create a project that benefits London and everyone in the community. She added: Consultation with riverside communities, local groups, and responsible authorities is critical to our approach. Our ambition is to create a project that delivers real benefits to the communities in which we operate and that we can all be proud of. We are also pleased to be launching a pilot programme of events, which will support our consultation and development of new plans. Residents and other interested parties are invited to get in touch with us via the OceandivaConsultation.co.uk website to find out more and get involved. Pru Ashby, Head of Sustainability for London & Partners, added: We are excited to be welcoming the launch of this one-of-a-kind venue in London. Oceandiva London is a fantastic reflection of Londons ability to innovate and commitment to sustainability and is hugely important to us as a city that is aiming to reach net zero by 2030. B lack smoke was visible from across London on Monday afternoon as around 60 firefighters tackled a huge fire at a metal scrapyard which left one man requring hospital treatment. Eight fire engines were scrambled to the scene in Burnham Way in Lower Sydenham around 3pm on Monday, where they found a car on fire. Around seven tonnes of scrap metal was ablaze by 4pm, said London Fire Brigade (LFB). One man has been taken to hospital by London Ambulance Service crews. Station Commander Keith Sanders, who is at the scene, said: The fire was extremely visible and our 999 Control Officers received 30 calls alerting them to the fire. Due to the amount of smoke, local residents were advised to keep their windows and doors closed. Firefighters remain on the scene but are making good progress extinguishing the flames. The brigade described the blaze as extremely visible, and said it had taken nearly 30 calls from concerned members of the public. Local residents are advised to keep windows and doors closed due to heavy smok., said a spokesperson. The brigade was called at 3.01pm and is still on scene. Fire crews from Forest Hill, Beckenham, Lewisham, Bromley, Lee Green and surrounding stations are in attendance. The cause of the fire is not known at this stage. People on social media shared footage of thick black smoke spewing from the scrapyard, and issuing in a plume high into the sky above the city where it was visible from miles away. O ne person was taken to hospital after a fire broke out at a shop in Woolwich. Six fire engines and around 40 firefighters tackled the huge blaze in the three-storey building on Woolwich New Road at around 5.25am on Sunday. The ground floor shop was left damaged after the fire ripped through parts of the building. Firefighters rescue people from the roof of the building / London Fire Brigade Two adults and two children were rescued by firefighters via a nine-metre ladder. Five adults and two children were led to safety via an internal staircase. Four people left the building before firefighters arrived. One person was taken to hospital by London Ambulance Service crews after suffering from smoke inhalation. The cause of the fire is under investigation. M att Hancock is a complex character who is hard to pin down. So it seems fitting that the ex-Health Secretary will be played by a woman and ex-clown in a show next month. Iona Stewart-Richardson who went to the Philippe Gaulier clown school in Paris, will be in a show organised by Isabel Oakeshott, the journalist who leaked Hancocks WhatsApp messages. Stewart-Richardson will be reading Hancocks messages and tells us that her clown training will come in handy. Oakeshott will also answer questions on stage about Hancock, and reveal new details about the saga. Its at the Leicester Square Hippodrome, usually home to Magic Mike. Laurence Fox was going to be Hancock but dropped out. The organisers are still looking for someone to play Boris Johnson. Minefield of a New York trip Rachel Reeves and her BA ticket / Rachel Reeves / TWITTER Shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves was so chuffed with her trip to New York yesterday to meet business leaders that she put a snap of her British Airways ticket on Twitter. It showed her seat number, which indicated that she was in business class. The photograph was hastily deleted and replaced with an almost identical one with the seat number blurred out. Then that disappeared too. How mysterious. Is she keen to keep her reputation for frugality? Gas panic for French and Saunders Dawn French Twitter Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders did an event at the BFI last night to mark 41 years since TV hit The Comic Strip Presents. Suzy Eddie Izzard and Peter Richardson went too. French recalled a shoot in Spain when they set alarms for filming the next day. When they awoke, they found they could barely stand due to a gas leak, and crawled out of the villa. We were being slowly poisoned, she said. If we had not had that early call, I dont think wed be here. Farewell to Martin Amis Rex One of Martin Amiss lesser honours was to be a stalwart of this diary, which among other things chronicled his heroic flouting of the indoor smoking ban. In the Nineties, the Diary revealed that hed got a 500,000 advance for his next book, and spent 20,000 on dental work. In that novel, The Information, he included an unpleasant character who edited the diary of a London evening newspaper. Chapeau. Stars align in Antibes Londoners Diary 22nd April 23 1 / 6 Londoners Diary 22nd April 23 Vanity Fair x Prada Party at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival Maya Jama and Rose Bertram attend the Vanity Fair x Prada Party during the 2023 Cannes Film Festival at Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc on May 20, 2023 in Cap d'Antibes, Dave Benett Vanity Fair x Prada Party at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival Ikram Abdi Omar attends the Vanity Fair x Prada Party during the 2023 Cannes Film Festival at Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc on May 20, 2023 in Cap d'Antibes, France. Pic Credit: Dave Benett Dave Benett Vanity Fair x Prada Party at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival Vanity Fair Editor-In-Chief Radhika Jones, Lauren Sanchez and Amazon Founder and Executive Chair Jeff Bezos attend the Vanity Fair x Prada Party during the 2023 Cannes Film Festival at Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc on May 20, 2023 in Cap d'Antibes, France. Pic Credit: Dave Benett Dave Benett Vanity Fair x Prada Party at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival Sabrina Elba attends the Vanity Fair x Prada Party during the 2023 Cannes Film Festival at Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc on May 20, 2023 in Cap d'Antibes, France. Dave Benett Vanity Fair x Prada Party at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival Robin Dearden and Bryan Cranston attend the Vanity Fair x Prada Party during the 2023 Cannes Film Festival at Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc on May 20, 2023 in Cap d'Antibes, France. Pic Credit: Dave Benett Dave Benett Over the weekend actors, models and a multi-billionaire descended on Cap dAntibes in France for the social climax of the Cannes film festival, the Vanity Fair x Prada party. Stars at the Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc included actors Bryan Cranston and his wife Robin Dearden, Jeff Bezos, his partner Lauren Sanchez and Vanity Fair editor Radhika Jones. Models Rose Bertram, Ikram Abdi Omar and Sabrina Elba and presenter Maya Jama went too. O ne of the lesser honours afforded to the celebrated writer Martin Amis, who died on Friday aged 73, was perennial status in this Diary column. As the son of a famous writer, Kingsley Amis, he attracted a certain society interest from a young age. But he broke onto the scene in his own right aged 24 with the publication of his first novel, The Rachel Papers. Ever after Amis enjoyed, or endured, run-ins with our Diary scribes at literary parties across London. We first featured him in 1974 when he won the Somerset Maugham Award for The Rachel Papers. Our hack asked Amis about his fathers reaction to the news. When I told him Id won it, he just burst out laughing, Amis said. Then he just started muttering at me to just watch it. He remembered that when he won it he was 33 and Im an infant of 24. Said I might get too vain if things went too well for me too early. The good-will between Amis and the Londoner didnt last. In the 1990s, the column made an enemy of him with two scoops. First we revealed he was demanding a 500,000 advance for his next novel, The Information. Second, that he had spent 20,000 on a dental procedure to fix his crooked teeth. Much of the literary crowd in London turned on Amis. They were led by the novelist A.S. Byatt, who called his financial rearrangements folie de grandeur and a kind of male turkey cocking. The negative attention compounded with the death of his father Kingsley led Amis to characterise 1995 as his annus horribilis. Martin Amis, 1991 / PA So stung was Amis by the Diarys scoops that he placed a minor character in The Information named Rory Plantagenet, the cornily patrician and altogether vestigial editor of an unnamed London evening newspapers diary column. The diary editor who broke the embarrassing stories, Rory Knight Bruce, wanted Amis to admit that he was the basis of the character. He gate-crashed the launch party of The Information, hid in a broom cupboard for much of the evening eavesdropping on guests like Salman Rushdie and Nigella Lawson, before emerging to demand answers from Amis. Yes, you are Rory Plantagenet, said Amis, but there is some hope for him. Amis was open about his irritation with the British press. People were very generous to me to begin with, he said, people who had been generous to me for a while probably expected me to write a couple of novels and then shut up, as writers sons usually do. Theres a feeling that its a bit bloody much that Ive gone on and on and here I still am. In 2002 Knight Bruce had moved on but some animosity remained. The column rather unfairly railed against a piece Amis wrote in the New Yorker on the occasion of the Queens Golden Jubilee, declaring him a sycophant and suggesting he was after a knighthood. In the mid-2000s relations healed as the column found common cause with Amis over the indoor smoking ban. We watched on with admiration as he lit up a rollie at Granta magazines 100 party in 2008 and rebuffed instructions to go outside. He left eventually, but only after a back and forth that lasted about the duration of a smoke. Amis got away from the London scene entirely in 2012 when he moved to Brooklyn, but he still popped up in the diary ocassionally when he returned for book tours and the like. Tourists take photos at the Erlangjian scenic spot of Qinghai Lake in northwest China's Qinghai Province, May 18, 2023. Located in the northeastern part of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, the Qinghai Lake is key to maintaining the ecological balance in western China. It is also a natural barrier for controlling the eastward spread of desertification and ensuring the safety of agricultural areas in eastern China. In recent years, with various ecological projects carried out in the Qinghai Lake, the environment here has been greatly improved. (Xinhua/Zhang Long) Tourists have fun at the Erlangjian scenic spot of Qinghai Lake in northwest China's Qinghai Province, May 18, 2023. Located in the northeastern part of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, the Qinghai Lake is key to maintaining the ecological balance in western China. It is also a natural barrier for controlling the eastward spread of desertification and ensuring the safety of agricultural areas in eastern China. In recent years, with various ecological projects carried out in the Qinghai Lake, the environment here has been greatly improved. (Xinhua/Zhang Long) Brown-headed gulls rest at Qinghai Lake, Gangcha County of northwest China's Qinghai Province, May 17, 2023. Located in the northeastern part of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, the Qinghai Lake is key to maintaining the ecological balance in western China. It is also a natural barrier for controlling the eastward spread of desertification and ensuring the safety of agricultural areas in eastern China. In recent years, with various ecological projects carried out in the Qinghai Lake, the environment here has been greatly improved. (Xinhua/Li Zhanyi) This photo taken on May 17, 2023 shows a view of the Qinghai Lake seen from Gonghe County of Hainan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, northwest China's Qinghai Province. Located in the northeastern part of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, the Qinghai Lake is key to maintaining the ecological balance in western China. It is also a natural barrier for controlling the eastward spread of desertification and ensuring the safety of agricultural areas in eastern China. In recent years, with various ecological projects carried out in the Qinghai Lake, the environment here has been greatly improved. (Xinhua/Zhang Long) This aerial photo taken on May 17, 2023 shows a view of the Qinghai Lake seen from Gonghe County of Hainan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, northwest China's Qinghai Province. Located in the northeastern part of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, the Qinghai Lake is key to maintaining the ecological balance in western China. It is also a natural barrier for controlling the eastward spread of desertification and ensuring the safety of agricultural areas in eastern China. In recent years, with various ecological projects carried out in the Qinghai Lake, the environment here has been greatly improved. (Xinhua/Xie Tongqiang) A yacht harbor is pictured at the Erlangjian scenic spot of Qinghai Lake in northwest China's Qinghai Province, May 18, 2023. Located in the northeastern part of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, the Qinghai Lake is key to maintaining the ecological balance in western China. It is also a natural barrier for controlling the eastward spread of desertification and ensuring the safety of agricultural areas in eastern China. In recent years, with various ecological projects carried out in the Qinghai Lake, the environment here has been greatly improved. (Xinhua/Zhang Long) Tourists pose for photos at the Erlangjian scenic spot of Qinghai Lake in northwest China's Qinghai Province, May 18, 2023. Located in the northeastern part of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, the Qinghai Lake is key to maintaining the ecological balance in western China. It is also a natural barrier for controlling the eastward spread of desertification and ensuring the safety of agricultural areas in eastern China. In recent years, with various ecological projects carried out in the Qinghai Lake, the environment here has been greatly improved. (Xinhua/Zhang Long) This aerial photo taken on May 17, 2023 shows a view of the Qinghai Lake seen from Gonghe County of Hainan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, northwest China's Qinghai Province. Located in the northeastern part of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, the Qinghai Lake is key to maintaining the ecological balance in western China. It is also a natural barrier for controlling the eastward spread of desertification and ensuring the safety of agricultural areas in eastern China. In recent years, with various ecological projects carried out in the Qinghai Lake, the environment here has been greatly improved. (Xinhua/Li Zhanyi) This photo taken on May 17, 2023 shows a view of the Erlangjian scenic spot of Qinghai Lake in northwest China's Qinghai Province. Located in the northeastern part of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, the Qinghai Lake is key to maintaining the ecological balance in western China. It is also a natural barrier for controlling the eastward spread of desertification and ensuring the safety of agricultural areas in eastern China. In recent years, with various ecological projects carried out in the Qinghai Lake, the environment here has been greatly improved. (Xinhua/Zhang Long) Brown-headed gulls fly above the Qinghai Lake in Gonghe County of Hainan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, northwest China's Qinghai Province, May 17, 2023. Located in the northeastern part of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, the Qinghai Lake is key to maintaining the ecological balance in western China. It is also a natural barrier for controlling the eastward spread of desertification and ensuring the safety of agricultural areas in eastern China. In recent years, with various ecological projects carried out in the Qinghai Lake, the environment here has been greatly improved. (Xinhua/Zhang Long) Black-necked cranes are pictured at Qinghai Lake, Gangcha County of northwest China's Qinghai Province, May 17, 2023. Located in the northeastern part of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, the Qinghai Lake is key to maintaining the ecological balance in western China. It is also a natural barrier for controlling the eastward spread of desertification and ensuring the safety of agricultural areas in eastern China. In recent years, with various ecological projects carried out in the Qinghai Lake, the environment here has been greatly improved. (Xinhua/Xie Tongqiang) This aerial photo taken on May 16, 2023 shows a view of the Qinghai Lake seen from Gonghe County of Hainan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, northwest China's Qinghai Province. Located in the northeastern part of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, the Qinghai Lake is key to maintaining the ecological balance in western China. It is also a natural barrier for controlling the eastward spread of desertification and ensuring the safety of agricultural areas in eastern China. In recent years, with various ecological projects carried out in the Qinghai Lake, the environment here has been greatly improved. (Xinhua/Zhang Long) This aerial photo taken on May 18, 2023 shows a view of the Erlangjian scenic spot of Qinghai Lake in northwest China's Qinghai Province. Located in the northeastern part of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, the Qinghai Lake is key to maintaining the ecological balance in western China. It is also a natural barrier for controlling the eastward spread of desertification and ensuring the safety of agricultural areas in eastern China. In recent years, with various ecological projects carried out in the Qinghai Lake, the environment here has been greatly improved. (Xinhua/Zhang Long) Editor: ZAD K emi Badenoch is to visit Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates this week in a bid to make progress on the ambitious trade deal with the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). The five-day tour will see the Business and Trade Secretary meet her ministerial counterparts in each nation and the new Secretary General of the GCC Jasem Al-Budaiwi. The UK began negotiations for a free trade deal with the six-country bloc in 2022 and has completed three rounds of talks so far, with the fourth due to take place later this year. Ahead of her visit, Ms Badenoch said: We already have a strong trade and investment relationship with the Gulf nations, but Im determined to strengthen this even further. The GCC represents an enormous opportunity for UK firms, whether its selling brilliant British food and drink products into new markets or offering new consumers for our flourishing digital trade and renewable energy sectors. I know my counterparts are as ambitious for this deal as I am, and Im ready to match their ambition. I know my counterparts are as ambitious for this deal as I am, and Im ready to match their ambition According to the Government, analysis shows that, in the long run, a deal with the GCC which includes Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates is expected to increase trade by at least 16% and add at least 1.6 billion a year to the UK economy. Collectively, the GCC is equivalent to the UKs seventh largest export market, with their demand for goods and services expected to grow rapidly to almost 1 trillion by 2035 an increase of more than 75%. During the visit, Ms Badenoch will also speak to senior business leaders and investors to build on inward investment to the UK. Green technology firms based across the UK, such as Levidian Nanosystems, Sonihull, Graphene Solutions and G-volution, have expanded their operations to the Gulf as the region diversifies their economy and pivots away from fossil fuels. John Hartley, chief executive of the climate tech business Levidian Nanosystems, said: The GCC is an important region for Levidian the combination of large-scale gas assets which require decarbonisation, heavy industry which can benefit from graphene application and a political will to decarbonise at pace make it an area in which Levidian can have significant impact. The Business and Trade Secretary is expected to speak at the Qatar Economic Forum on Tuesday and take part in a series of business engagements throughout the week. T wo academics have called for investigations by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) into every work-related suicide. Professor Martin McKee, from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, and University of Leeds professor Sarah Waters made the call in the British Medical Journal in the wake of headteacher Ruth Perry taking her own life in January. Her family believes stress associated with an Ofsted inspection contributed to her death. Caversham Primary School in Reading, where she worked, was waiting for a report to be published downgrading it from Outstanding to Inadequate when she died. Even though the link between adverse working conditions and suicide is well established, regulations requiring reporting of work-related deaths to the Health and Safety Executive in Great Britain specifically exclude suicides, the article said. While the almost complete loss of confidence in Ofsted is a matter for those in the education sector to address, the health community has a duty to demand action to tackle the burden of mental ill health associated with the way it operates. We argue that three bodies need to act now. The first is Ofsted itself. It should publicly accept that it has a duty of care to teachers (and to its inspectors, some of whom are also traumatised by the events we have described). The two academics believe the HSE should follow the system in France where all work-related suicides are investigated. In France, for example, if there is even a suggestion of a link between suicide and working conditions, the burden of proof falls on the employer to show otherwise, they said. In the UK we do not even know with certainty how many teachers have killed themselves in circumstances linked to Ofsted inspections, but we are aware of at least eight others. A survey conducted in 2022 by the Teacher Wellbeing Index showed 78 per cent of more than 3,000 teachers reported mental health symptoms they attributed to their work. Finally, as Ofsted says that it reports to Parliament, parents, carers, and commissioners, the Commons education select committee should conduct an urgent inquiry into its impact on the welfare of teaching staff, the article said. Simon Kidwell, the vice-president of the National Association of Head Teachers said last month he believes the framework that underpins the inspection needs redesigning, declaring that it is not fit for purpose and its not working. P olice are seeking another extension to the bail of a Tory MP arrested on suspicion of rape more than a year ago, the Met confirmed on Monday. The politician, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was detained by officers in May 2022 over allegations of indecent assault, sexual assault, rape, abuse of position of trust and misconduct in public office. He has since been bailed four times and officers said they are now seeking a fifth extension. The complaint, first made in January 2020, relates to alleged sexual offences committed in London between 2002 and 2009. A Met spokesman said: "An investigation is ongoing, led by officers from Central Specialist Crime. "A man, aged in his 50s, was arrested on suspicion of indecent assault, sexual assault, rape, abuse of position of trust and misconduct in public office. "He was taken into custody and has since been bailed pending further enquiries to a date in mid-May 2023; an extension to his bail is being sought." The Conservative Chief Whip has asked that the MP in question not to attend the Parliamentary Estate while the police probe is ongoing. The party said it will not be commenting further until the investigation is complete. T he Home Secretary is expected to face questions about claims she asked civil servants to help her to arrange a private speed awareness course as the threat of an inquiry hangs over her. The Prime Minister is expected to speak with Suella Braverman following suggestions her alleged request for support from Home Office officials after being caught speeding may have breached the ministerial code. Rishi Sunak, who faced questions about the Home Secretarys handling of her speeding ticket while in Japan for a G7 leaders meeting, will also seek advice from his ethics adviser Sir Laurie Magnus about how to proceed. Sir Laurie cannot begin an investigation into a ministers conduct without Mr Sunak, who was due back from Asia on Monday, signing-off on an inquiry. The Prime Minister has always followed the proper process in these matters, and will consult the independent adviser upon his return to London, a No 10 source said. The Conservative Party leader is also expected to speak to Cabinet Secretary Simon Case following suggestions it was the Cabinet Office that ordered Home Office officials not to offer Mrs Braverman advice on securing a private course. Mrs Braverman may face a grilling about her response to being caught speeding during visits on Monday morning and then again in the House of Commons during Home Office questions. Opposition MPs could apply to Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle for an urgent question on the matter as well. Labour has urged Mr Sunak to show some backbone and commission an investigation without delay into the claims facing his Home Secretary. Mr Sunak refused to back Mrs Braverman when asked for his opinion at a press briefing on Sunday but Downing Street later said he retained confidence in her. Deputy Labour leader Angela Rayner, in a letter to Mr Sunak, said his independent adviser should probe whether Mrs Braverman asked civil servants to help her enlist in a private driving course as she reportedly looked to avoid incurring points on her driving licence. The senior Opposition MP said that, if the Cabinet minister had done so, it may amount to a breach of the ministerial code. She said the code laid out that ministers must uphold the political impartiality of the Civil Service and not ask officials to act in any way which would conflict with the Civil Service Code. The code by which civil servants must abide states that public servants must not misuse their position to further private interests or those of others. Ms Rayner said: Members of the Cabinet are subject to the same laws as the rest of us, and any attempt to direct civil servants to obtain special treatment in this matter would clearly amount to an unacceptable abuse of power and privilege by the Home Secretary. It comes as a former senior civil servant said he thought Mrs Braverman appeared to have put civil servants in an impossible situation. Philip Ryecroft, formerly the permanent secretary at the now-defunct Department for Exiting the European Union, told BBC Radio 4s Westminster Hour programme: This on the face of it I think is a breach of the ministerial code. Obviously, theres still investigations to be done and so on but the code is very clear. Ministers must ensure that no conflict arises or appears to arise between their public duties and their private interests. Even asking a question of a civil servant as to how she might go on one of these courses puts them in an impossible position. According to The Sunday Times, Mrs Braverman asked Home Office civil servants to help organise a one-to-one driving awareness course as she was keen not to have to accept three points on her licence for a speeding offence. Officials are said to have refused the request, so Mrs Braverman allegedly turned to a political aide to assist her in attempting to arrange an alternative to having to attend a course with other motorists. A spokesman for the Home Secretary said she regretted speeding and had since accepted the points and paid the fine. The speeding offence reportedly took place on a road outside London last year when Mrs Braverman was serving as attorney general. But The Sunday Times, which first reported the story, said it was not until she became Home Secretary during Liz Truss brief premiership that the senior Tory called on the Civil Service for advice. According to The Daily Mirror, the Home Secretarys special adviser had repeatedly denied that Mrs Braverman had been caught speeding when a reporter from the newspaper put the suggestion to them last month. The newspaper has published a transcript of the exchange. The aide declined to comment when approached by PA news agency. D owning Street has refused to back embattled Home Secretary Suella Bravermans claim that there was nothing untoward about her handling of a speeding offence. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is considering whether to order an investigation into allegations the Home Secretary breached the ministerial code by asking taxpayer-funded officials to help arrange a private speed awareness course for her. The Home Secretary on Monday insisted she had not sought to evade a sanction for speeding, and Downing Street said Mr Sunak still had confidence in her. But No 10 pointedly refused to back her assertions that she had done nothing wrong following the speeding charge last year. Asked if the Prime Minister agreed with her statement that there was nothing untoward, the Prime Ministers official spokesman said: The Prime Minister has had conversations today on this and...wants to avail himself of the information relating to this issue. Im not going to pre-empt that. Mr Sunak has spoken to Ms Braverman and Sir Laurie Magnus, his Independent Adviser on Ministers Interests, about the row. Earlier, Opposition leaders urged the Prime Minister to sack Ms Braverman if she is found to have breached the ministerial code over the speeding case. Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer piled pressure on the PM to act to defend his vow to put integrity, accountability and professionalism at the heart of his government. Ms Braverman allegedly asked civil servants about arranging a private speed awareness course which would have allowed her to avoid three points on her driving licence and a fine. Mr Sunak was due to consult his ethics adviser on Monday morning over whether her conduct should be investigated for a possible breach of the ministerial code. But, Ms Braverman insisted there was nothing untoward about her handling of a speeding offence. In her first public comments on the row, Ms Braverman did not deny asking civil servants to intervene. Asked directly if she asked officials to arrange a one-to-one course for her, she said: Last summer, I was speeding. I regret that. I paid the fine and I took the points but were focused now on delivering for the British people and working for them. Pressed on the same question, she said: In relation to the process, Im focused on delivering for the British people, doing my job as Home Secretary and what I will say is that, in my view, Im confident that nothing untoward has happened. Sir Keir argued the Home Secretarys actions appear to have been inappropriate. He told ITVs Good Morning Britain: If shes breached the ministerial code she should go. Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey added: If Suella Braverman has broken the ministerial code, then she must resign or be sacked. It cant be one rule for Conservative ministers and another for everyone else. It was not clear this morning if the Home Secretary broke the ministerial rules by allegedly seeking the help of civil servants over the speeding incident, which is said to have taken place last year when she was Attorney General, Britains top law officer. But Tory MP Tobias Ellwood, chairman of the Commons defence committee, told the Standard: The optics of this are unfortunate. Those caught speeding, including MPs should follow the same process. Indeed two ministers are currently banned from driving. You dont pull strings to cover it up. Mr Ellwood also said the row was unfortunate timing for the Home Secretary as she is already under fire from some Tory MPs over her speech to the National Conservatism conference in central London last week. Ex-Cabinet minister Theresa Villiers, Tory MP for Chipping Barnet, said Ms Braverman faces serious questions over the speeding issue but did not want to rush to judgment. David Simmonds, Conservative MP for Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner and co-chair of the All-party Parliamentary Group on Migration, said it would be careless if Ms Braverman was found to have broken the ministerial code. The facts need to be known. We dont know whether this is a smear campaign based on innuendo or something that really is quite serious, he told Sky News. Ipswich Tory MP Tom Hunt told Times Radio: Clearly there is a witch hunt going on with Suella Braverman. According to The Sunday Times, Ms Braverman asked Home Office civil servants for help on organising a one-to-one driving awareness course as she was keen not to have to accept three points on her licence. Officials are said to have refused the request, so Ms Braverman allegedly turned to a political aide to assist her in attempting to arrange an alternative to having to attend a course with other motorists. A spokesman for the Home Secretary said she regretted speeding and had since accepted the points and paid the fine. The speeding offence reportedly took place on a road outside London last year. A private speed awareness course, unlike a public one, could have allowed Ms Braverman to keep secret the speeding incident. But there may also have been security concerns, according to Tory sources, over whether she could attend a course in person without her protection officers. Sir Laurie Magnus, the PMs independent adviser on ministers interests and Mr Sunak will have to decide if she broke the code. Ms Braverman resigned as Home Secretary during the Truss administration after admitting breaching the ministerial code in a row over her use of a private email account to discuss Governments immigration plans. A Government forest regeneration scheme has been called pathetic by environmentalists after being found to be scarcely contributing to nationwide tree cover. Englands woodland creation offer has created 192 hectares (474 acres) of natural colonisation in two years, around the size of Regents Park, the Guardian reported on Monday. It is perhaps a drop in the ocean or a tree in a wood considering the Government wants to increase Britains forest cover by 30,000 hectares annually by 2025. The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) had loftier aims for the project, which involves financial support packages being given to landowners, land managers and public bodies to help reforest the country. But what is the scheme and why has its delivery been criticised? What is the forest regeneration scheme? The Government unveiled the project in May 2021 with the aim of using trees to absorb carbon. You could receive up to 13,000 per hectare to support your woodland creation scheme, the agency said. Landowners, land managers and public bodies can apply to the England Woodland Creation Offer for support to create new woodland, including through natural colonisation, on areas as small as one hectare. The scheme was launched on the back of research which showed natural colonisation, which the Guardian says is the Forestry Commissions term for woods created on land where in recent history there were none. It was seen as a simple option, which can be cheaper and more encouraging of native trees. The UK has 13 per cent forest cover of its total land area, which places it poorly among its European neighbours. Defra has responded by pledging to increase the forest cover by 30,000 hectares every year to 2025, with the England Woodland Creation Offer playing a part. In 2021-22, around 14,000 hectares were created. How has the scheme been received, two years on? The 192 hectares accounts for less than 4 per cent of the total new woodland recorded in England in 2021-22, according to the Guardian. Forest campaigner Guy Shrubsole told the newspaper: Trees literally grow for free when you prevent overgrazing, so for the Government to have supported a mere 192 hectares of natural regeneration over the past two years is a pathetic result. Ministers urgently need to let our ancient woods and temperate rainforests spread naturally. Whats holding this back is bureaucratic box-ticking that prefers to count numbers of saplings planted over actually restoring vibrant ecosystems. Defra said: We recognise the vital role that natural colonisation plays in increasing woodland cover in England, helping to mitigate climate change, boost biodiversity and deliver wider environmental and social benefits. That is why we have made natural colonisation available under the England Woodland Creation Offer and through our Woodland Creation Partnerships such as The Northern Forest. A UK fraud officer has issued a warning about shoulder surfing, a tactic thieves use to access victims financial information before stealing their phones. Detective Superintendent John Roch, head of economic crime at the Metropolitan Police in London, told the BBC that criminals were exploiting human behaviour to commit fraud. He said: Its only a phone... but if you take that out without the right precautions and protections around it, you are essentially walking around with a bag of cash. So what is shoulder surfing and what steps can you take to protect yourself? What is shoulder surfing? Shoulder surfing is where thieves look over the victims shoulders to see them enter financial information on their phone, such as their PIN or bank details. It typically happens in public, crowded areas. They then steal the phone and access the victims banking apps to steal money. Shoulder surfing can also involve a thief looking over a persons shoulder when theyre using an ATM, to gain access to information such as their PIN, before stealing their card. Thieves may also watch victims enter their card information when shopping online, or look for people entering passwords on various sites. Experian warns that shoulder surfing can even happen from afar, with thieves using cameras or binoculars to watch victims enter key information. What is the impact of shoulder surfing? Once thieves have access to your financial information, such as passwords or PINs, they can gain access to your banking apps and transfer money. They could use your personal information to apply for loans or credit cards, or even sell your personal data to other criminals. How to avoid being a victim of shoulder surfing Be aware of your surroundings when entering personal information in public. Make sure your back is against a wall and that nobody can see your phone or laptop screen. Take extra care when using an ATM. Use biometric data such as facial ID or fingerprints to avoid having to enter passwords in public. Using contactless payments where possible means you avoid using your PIN in public. Use different passwords and PINs. If you use the same password for everything, thieves will be able to gain access to more of your personal data by learning only one password. Regularly check your bank statements to keep an eye out for any suspicious activity. The sooner you spot fraudulent activity, the sooner you can go to your bank for help to prevent further damage. T he Government is set to introduce new immigration rules that will involve most international students being banned from bringing their families to the UK with them. A significant factor behind the rising migration numbers in recent years has been an increase in foreign students and their dependants arriving, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) says. One of Prime Minister Rishi Sunaks pledges to Brits was that he would reduce net migration in the country. On Thursday (May 25), new figures were released by the ONS which showed UK net migration reached record highs last year, with 606,000 moving to the UK in 2022. A graduate visa currently allows masters students to bring their partners and children to the country with them. They can stay for 24 months after the students courses finish. The new rule regarding foreign students will not apply to PhD students, whose training often lasts between three to five years and aims to produce highly skilled workers. The Sun reported that Tory MPs had recently been calling Mr Sunak to urge him to get a grip of the situation. Ministers are expected to announce further immigration clampdowns on Tuesday and Wednesday, including the formal confirmation of the new rules regarding international pupils. The Migration Advisory Committee (MAC), which advises ministers on migration issues, has also suggested limiting the amount of time overseas students are allowed to remain in the country. The chairman of the committee, Professor Brian Bell, told the Sunday Telegraph it found it unnecessary for foreign students to be allowed to work in the UK for two years after completing their masters degrees. Another new immigration rule Home Secretary Suella Braverman wanted to introduce was related to salary thresholds. Foreign workers are currently expected to earn at least 26,000 to be able to move to the UK. Ms Braverman wanted to increase this threshold to 33,000 to match the average wage in the country, but the Treasury overruled the proposal. The home secretary has also said that more Brits should be trained to work as lorry drivers and fruit pickers to meet the demand without needing to rely on immigrant workers. However, the prime minister has said that more seasonal workers would be allowed into the UK if there is a need for it. Talking to farmers and other food producers last week, he said that an extra 10,000 visas would be made available for the agriculture sector on top of the current 45,000 allocated. N ewly released photos show the near total destruction of Bakhmut as Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky likened the damage caused by Russian forces to the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima. Harrowing images from the eastern Ukrainian city, that Russia now claims to have captured completely, show buildings ravaged by a nine-month-long bloody battle. Smoke billows out of the empty shells of apartment blocks that used to house the citys 70,000 residents. While it wouldnt be fair to compare the attack on Hiroshima to what was happening in his country, Mr Zelensky said at a G7 visit to a Hiroshima memorial, the pictures of ruined Hiroshima really totally remind me of Bakhmut. Nothing alive is left, he said. Smoke rises from a building in Bakhmut, the site of the heaviest battles with the Russian troops / AP We are fighting on thanks to the courage of our warriors. Asked if it was still in Ukrainian control, the president said: I think no. He then added that for today, it is only in our hearts. Ukraine said on Monday its troops were still advancing on the flanks of the devastated city, although the intensity of their movement had decreased and Russia was bringing in more forces. Despite the fact that we now control a small part of Bakhmut, the importance of its defence does not lose its relevance, said Col-Gen Oleksandr Syrskyi, the commander of ground forces for the Ukrainian Armed Forces. This gives us the opportunity to enter the city in case of a change in the situation. And it will definitely happen. The fog of war made it impossible to confirm the situation on the ground in Bakhmut. Russias defense ministry said Wagner mercenaries backed by Russian troops had seized the city, but Mr Zelensky said Bakhmut was not being fully occupied. In a video posted on Telegram, Wagner head Yevgeny Prigozhin claimed the city came under complete Russian control about midday on Saturday. Holding a Russian flag before a group of at least nine masked fighters in body army who were toting heavy weapons, Prigozhin proclaimed: This afternoon at 12:00, Bakhmut was completely taken. More important for Ukraine has been the high numbers of Russian casualties and sapping of the morale of enemy troops for the small patch of the 932-mile front line as Ukraine gears up for a major counteroffensive in the 15-month-old war. J osh Freese has been announced as the Foo Fighters new drummer following the death of Taylor Hawkins last year. The news was announced at 8pm on Sunday during the Foo Fighters: Preparing Music For Concerts livestream that previewed the bands upcoming album. Freese is an American session drummer. He is the son of tuba soloist Stan Freese and the older brother of musician Jason Freese. Taylor Hawkins of Foo Fighters / Getty Images The 50-year-old has previously played drums for Guns N Roses, Sting, A Perfect Circle, Nine Inch Nails, Weezer and Sublime with Rome. He performed with Foo Fighters for the Taylor Hawkins Tribute Concerts in 2022 and is now set to join the band as Hawkins replacement this year. Foo Fighters will release their first album since the death of Hawkins next month. But Here We Are is the follow-up to 2021s Medicine at Midnight and is billed as a brutally honest and emotionally raw response to everything Foo Fighters endured over the last year. Hawkins, 50, was found dead in his hotel room in Colombia in March 2022, hours before the band were due to play a festival. He recorded eight studio albums with the band and was inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame in 2021. The latest album is released on June 2. Supernova Airlines of the leader of express delivery in Ukraine Nova Poshta LLC has opened the first route from Riga to Rzeszow in cooperation with the Latvian airline RAF-Avia with its ATR 72 aircraft, the press service of the postal operator told Interfax-Ukraine. "In order to start implementing the planned activity, the company agreed with colleagues from the Latvian airline RAF-Avia regarding the temporary use of their ATR 72 aircraft on the route from Riga to Rzeszow," the company noted. Nova Poshta explained that the main reason was that the procedures for coordinating the use of AN-26 aircraft in the fleet of Supernova Airlines itself in the EU are very bureaucratic and take a lot of time. The company clarified that the use of air transportation saves up to 36 hours on the delivery of parcels from/to Riga compared to trucks. Saving time so that we can ensure the fastest delivery of parcels for their customers is our main goal," the operator said. In addition, the company pointed to the long-term plans of Supernova Airlines to form a fleet in the future with the involvement of cargo versions of modern aircraft manufactured by Boeing or Airbus. As reported, on January 6, Supernova Airlines received a Ukrainian air operator certificate, which makes it possible to start cargo flights. J oe Biden has said the world stands with Ukraine in a fresh declaration of support for Kyiv in the wake of the G7 summit. Posting a photo of himself with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the meeting of world leaders in Japan he wrote on Twitter: Mr President, what the people of Ukraine are defending and what youve achieved is a matter for the entire world to observe. I speak for America when I say that were in awe of what youve done so far. The United States and the world stands with Ukraine, he said. Mr Zelensky made a scene-stealing visit to Hiroshima this weekend, where leaders renewed their support for Ukraine in its fight against Russias invasion and Mr Biden endorsed training programs for Ukrainian pilots on F-16 fighter jets. The US supporting the delivery of the advanced US-built fighter jets to Kyiv was hailed by Mr Zelensky as a major military boost for his country. Russia warned the US and its Nato allies today over the plans, with the countrys ambassador to Washington, Anatoly Antonov, questioning whether the use of planes in the war would constitute direct Western involvement. He claimed Ukraine does not have the required infrastructure or personnel to operate the planes itself. There have been fears in the West Moscow could see the move as direct Western involvement, escalating the conflict. The fate of the city of Bakhmut, where the wars longest and bloodiest battle has raged since August, remained unclear today. Kyiv insisted the battle was ongoing despite the Moscow-backed mercenary Wagner Group saying on Saturday claimed control of the city. [In Bakhmut] the enemy continues to lead offensive actions. Fighting for the city of Bakhmut continues, the Ukrainian armed forces said in their morning update. Armed Forces of Ukraine/AFP via Meanwhile at least eight people were wounded and scores of buildings were damaged in a Russian air attack overnight on the Dnipropetrovsk region. Ukraine said that air defence systems destroyed 20 drones and four cruise missiles. Fire stations were among buildings damaged in Dnipro. There was a power outage at Europes biggest nuclear power station in Zaporizhzhia after Russian shelling damaged a power line, Ukraines state nuclear company said. The plant was switched to standby and emergency power supply generators. The UN has previously warned of the risk of a disaster from fighting around the plant. A Swedish woman left paralysed after a bike accident has been stranded in a London hospital for more than a year after her home country refused to permit her return. Her husband has described the situation as shameful as he continues to appeal for her return, according to The Guardian. The 52-year-old polling company executive had been living in London for more than 25 years when she sustained a severe brain injury from hitting her head on the pavement after coming off her bike last March. She has spent the past year being moved between a series of intensive care units and specialist treatment centres. The mother of a 12 year-old son is now in a high-dependency unit in a London hospital but her husband wants her to be closer to her mother and three siblings. But because she has lived out of Sweden for so long she has fallen off the countrys official population register and cannot be considered eligible for care in its system. Her husband has reportedly been told he can present documents to get her relisted as resident in Sweden on her behalf, but only when his wife, who cannot walk or talk, is physically in the country. But the NHS cannot transfer her to the Swedish healthcare system because hospitals there cannot receive a patient who is not on the population register. The familys local MP who represents Dulwich and West Norwood, Labours Helen Hayes, said the case was shocking. She told The Guardian: Karins accident was a terrible tragedy which is devastating for Karin and her family. She is currently trapped between two wholly incompatible and inflexible systems. This impasse is compounding the familys suffering... we need basic compassion from all sides. The letter said: As this is truly an exceptional case, this will require exceptional actions by both the UK government and the Swedish government, as well as by the NHS and Swedish health professionals. Her husband believes many other emigrants from Sweden will be unaware of the consequences of falling off the population register. He said: Ive been with Karin a long time and been to Sweden many times and I was under the impression that Sweden was a compassionate western liberal democracy. I am very down about this. I feel this is shameful. Karin is very Swedish and, in many ways, she really loves her country and loves to go back and spend summers there. We had been making plans to retire there in the next year or so and the fact that theyve so severely let her down is quite awful, he added. He has written to 349 MPs at the Riksdag (parliament) in Sweden. He got a reply from only one, who expressed his sympathy but said he was unable to resolve the situation. An Foreign Commonwealth and Devlopment Office said: We are supporting the family of a British-Swedish dual national. A man accused of stabbing to death four university students in their beds in Idaho last year has refused to enter a plea after appearing in court. Criminology student Bryan Kohberger, 28, appeared at Latah County courtroom on Monday. A judge entered a not-guilty plea to four counts of first degree murder on his behalf. Kohberger, drom Pensylvania is alleged to have killed housemates Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Madison Mogen, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, and Kernodles boyfriend, Ethan Chapin, 20, in the early hours of 13 November last year. Two other housemates, who were at home at the time of the attacks and were sleeping in ground-floor level bedrooms, say they slept as the murders took place. When they woke up the next morning they summoned other friends to the house and one of those friends called police believing the housemates to be unconscious. It was only then they discovered the horrific crime scene. He previously appeared in court in Monroe County, Pennsylvania, more than 2,500 miles from the small town of Moscow, Idaho where he is alleged to have killed the students. T he Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine has been switched to standby and emergency power supply generators, according to Russian reports. The Moscow-controlled plant was completely disconnected from external power supply after Ukraine disconnected a power line it controls, Russia-installed local official Vladimir Rogov said on Monday. Meanwhile Ukraines state-owned power generating company Energoatom - confirming on Monday there was a power outage at the power plant - blamed the incident on Russian shelling of an external power line. The Dniprovska power line in Ukraine, which supplies power for the now Moscow-controlled plant, was disconnected after overnight Russian shelling, Energoatom said on the Telegram messaging app. Yes, we have the seventh blackout since the start of the (Russian) occupation, Energoatom told news agency Reuters. However, Yuriy Malashko, governor of Ukraines Zaporizhzhia region, said on the Telegram messaging app: Problems with electricity supply that arose in the city of Zaporizhzhia are not related to shelling. Mr Malashko said there was a fire at one of the facilities in Zaporizhzhia city due to an overload in the power system. Anatoliy Kurtev, Zaporizhzhia city councils secretary in Ukraine, said work was ongoing since early Monday to restore power to the city. (The power) partially disappeared in Zaporizhzhia due to an emergency situation at one of the energy facilities, Mr Kurtev said on the Telegram messaging app. Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant - the largest in Europe and ninth largest in the world - was taken over by Moscow forces in the early days of Russias invasion of Ukraine, sparking widespread safety concerns. R ussian officials have claimed that Ukrainian military saboteurs launched an attack across the border, wounding eight people in a small town. Kyiv officials denied any link with the group and blamed the fighting on a revolt by disgruntled Russians against the Kremlin. Neither version of events could be independently verified in an area that has witnessed sporadic spillover from the almost 15-month war in Ukraine. The governor of Russias Belgorod region, which borders Ukraine, said that a Ukrainian Armed Forces saboteur group entered the town of Graivoron, about five kilometres (three miles) from the border. The town also came under Ukrainian artillery fire, he said. Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said eight people were wounded and most residents have left the area, but the situation remains tense. Three houses and an administrative building were damaged, he said. In nearby Zamostye village, a projectile hit a pre-school and caused a fire. One woman was wounded in her hand, Mr Gladkov said. He also reported that Russian anti-aircraft systems shot down an unmanned aerial vehicle over Belgorod region. Mr Gladkov said a counterterrorist operation was under way and that authorities were imposing special controls, including personal document checks and stopping the work of companies that use explosives, radioactive, chemically and biologically hazardous substances. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russian President Vladimir Putin was informed about the alleged saboteur incursion. An effort to push them out from the Russian territory and liquidate them was under way, he said. Mr Peskov described the action as an attempt by Ukraine to divert attention from the eastern city of Bakhmut, which Moscow claimed to have captured after months of battle but where Kyiv says it is still fighting. But Ukrainian military intelligence officials did not confirm that Kyiv had deployed saboteurs. Instead, they claimed that Russian citizens seeking regime change in Moscow were behind the Graivoron incursion. Ukraine intelligence representative Andrii Cherniak said Russian citizens belonging to murky groups calling themselves the Russian Volunteer Corps and the Freedom of Russia Legion were behind the assault. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskys adviser, Mykhailo Podolyak, said on Twitter that Ukraine has nothing to do with it. He suggested an armed guerrilla movement was behind the attack. The Russian Volunteer Corps claimed in a Telegram post it had crossed the border into Russia again, after claiming to have breached the border in early March. The Russian Volunteer Corps describes itself as a volunteer formation fighting on Ukraines side. Little is known about the group, and it is not clear if it has any ties with the Ukrainian military. The same is true for the Freedom of Russia Legion. The RVC was founded last August and reportedly consists mostly of anti-Putin far-right Russian extremists who have links with Ukrainian far-right groups. Earlier on Monday, Ukraines Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, Europes largest atomic power station, spent hours operating on emergency diesel generators on Monday after losing its external power supply for the seventh time since Russias full-scale invasion of its neighbour, the head of the UN nuclear watchdog said. The nuclear safety situation at the plant (is) extremely vulnerable, Rafael Grossi, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), said in a tweet. Hours later, national energy company Ukrenergo said on Telegram that it had restored the power line that feeds the plant. But for Mr Grossi, it was another reminder of what is at stake at the Russian-occupied plant which has seen shelling close by. We must agree to protect (the) plant now; this situation cannot continue, Mr Grossi said, in his latest appeal for the area to be spared from the fighting between Ukrainian and Russian forces. IAEA staff are deployed at the plant, which is occupied by Russian troops. The plants six nuclear reactors, which are protected by a reinforced shelter able to withstand an errant shell or rocket, have been shut down. But a disruption in the electrical supply could disable cooling systems that are essential for the reactors safety even when they are shut down. Emergency diesel generators, which officials say can keep the plant operational for 10 days, can be unreliable. Mr Grossi said it was the seventh time the plant had lost its outside power supply since Russias full-scale invasion in February 2022. The Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant is one of the 10 biggest atomic power stations in the world. Ukraines presidential office said on Monday morning that at least three Ukrainian civilians were killed and 16 others were injured in Russian assaults over the previous 24 hours. The Ukrainian Air Force reported that four out of 16 Russian missiles and all 20 drones launched against Ukrainian targets were shot down. Military targets and public infrastructure in Dnipro, Ukraines fourth-largest city in the centre of the country, were singled out for Russian attacks, which injured eight people, officials said. The Dnipro fire department was affected, and 12 houses, shops, and a pre-school were damaged, according to governor Serhii Lysak. H ere is the situation: I am in New York and my glasses are not on my nose. They are on a table outside with my partner, Ava, and I am in a pizzeria, browsing. It might be that I have forgotten my spectacles on account of a 10am pitcher of Soho House picantes. We are still on UK time and 10am in New York is 3pm back home. No wonder, sleep-deprived as we are, the cocktail slipped down so comfortably. It is midday now and pizza is necessary. We order a margherita, simple enough. A slice of that. I am also in the mood for meat and feel I require a little to further soften my inebriation. The first choice is easy: pepperoni. The second? I struggle; the queue is long and panic sets in. I see something with chicken yes, chicken, but its America, not Europe and order it. Things are flippant. I arrive at the table, dappled by East Coast sunshine, taxis honking, the freneticism of the East Village passing by. Then it dawns on me: I have bought myself a slice of BBQ chicken pizza. I feel like how my mum mustve felt when she found out she was pregnant what a foolish, foolish accident. More than a week on and I am still regretful, still disheartened. In lieu of tomato sauce, there is a sugary barbecue condiment of a base. It has been slathered willingly across the surface, a ruinous covering on what, as the other slices prove, is a classically springy New York dough. I cannot fathom why, or how, anyone would want to replace a herby, luscious tomato sauce with something so heavy, sickly and cloying. New York pizza is famous for a reason. They say the states soft water, piped in from the Catskill Mountains, is the base for such good gluten. The water is perfectly balanced, with low levels of calcium and magnesium, and allows for a tender, chewy finish. Its why the bagels in NYC are so good, too. New York is also a sanctuary to so many red sauce Italians. These, the antithesis to Stanley Tuccis highly earnest fictional fixture in the seminal movie Big Night, are home to that sweet marinara. Spread on pizza dough or tangled among spaghetti, the oregano-specked tomato preparation, near-delirious with garlic and glistening with olive oil, should be granted World Heritage Status, such is its cultural significance. Visit Sams Pizzeria in Brooklyn and talk to the owner Louis Migliaccio and it is impossible not to be infatuated by what is essentially a bastardisation of anything authentically pomodoro. If America is a failure, its accentuated, generous, sometimes childish version of Italian cookery is a saving grace. Anyway, the point is, New York pizza is superb dough and excellent tomato sauce. Cheese is by the by American stuff is often nothing more than a war crime. But a good pizzeria in the city will buy decent enough mozzarella. Scars, Johns of Bleeker, Lombardys, Patsys. Wherever. Each is revered and all the better for those looking to dispel the effects of cocktails. But here I am in some other location with a hefty triangle of BBQ sauce, one that a child might pour onto a plate of turkey dinosaurs. The dough is lost among it, the mozzarella a troubled suggestion of what mightve been. An entire slab of bread covered in something designed to be a dip. I ate my slice because I was drunk and hungry, but I felt awful afterwards and my mouth shouted at me from start to finish. A BBQ chicken pizza is nothing more than that hideous affectation: Hunters Chicken, a boring dish of chicken, cheese, bacon and BBQ sauce that plagued middling British pubs for decades and still haunts the worst of them today. It is Donald Trump in food form, the meat dry under a blanket of grease and synthetics, the lubricant an offensive and reductive note on spice. Indeed chicken on pizza generally might be a universal ill, blighting London restaurants as it does those in the States. There is a call for experimentation and progress in cooking. Without forward-thinking ideas food would be stagnant and unadventurous. But there are dishes better left unadulterated. Pizza is one of them. There is nothing, nothing that will ever beat the combination of tomato sauce and mozzarella. Just as no breakfast pairing will ever match bacon and eggs. They are simply canonical. Do not try to rewrite Austen. C ontrary to what you may believe, the Oxford shirt doesnt actually have roots in the university city. Its origins, instead, can be traced back to 19th century Scotland, when a mill invented four new weaves named after prestigious universities - Oxford, Cambridge, Yale and Harvard. And the shirt crafted using the Oxford textile has stood the test of time ever since. Originally, the cloth was characterised by a specific basket weave construction that resulted in a rougher, more durable finish. Now, not every style is crafted with this specific type of fabric - but as long its a crisp, mid-heavyweight textile that holds its shape, has a button-down fastening and a pointed collar, it can enjoy classic Oxford status. At first the invention was popular amongst British polo players for its breathable credentials, before being adopted by American university students who decided to wear it off the playing field as a fashion statement - so its no wonder the design is so oft associated with preppy style. Now, the fit-of-the-moment is relaxed for an elevated yet easy-going feel. A smart-casual staple, worn with jeans, trousers or shorts, its a simple way to look put together with minimal effort required - although ironing is essential. You can keep it collegiate with a classic by Gant or Ralph Lauren, go for a statement print a la Comme Des Garcons or invest in a timeless stripe for an easy win - which you can find in high street stores and luxury brands alike. To give you a helping hand, weve rounded up our favourites in the list below. Keep scrolling for the best. L ondon is a city replete with good sandwiches. One might have a decent one every day of the year. Even a simple bacon number in Cafe Verona, Moorgate, is worth eating, the meat crisp, grease settling nicely into sliced white. There are the avant garde, too, and many have earned fame well beyond what some may come to expect of a sandwich shop. Below is a list of 12 fine places to find a great lunch. All manner of excellent fillings are slipped between baguettes, sourdough, pita breads and more. Maxs Sandwich Shop Ham, egg n chips / Maxs Sandwich Shop Maxs Sandwich Shop in Crouch Hill has been afforded cult status for a while. It is not only owner Max Halleys inventive combinations that lure diners, but his zesty persona, charismatically centred on such things as ducks. Those fortunate enough to visit when Max is in town will be greeted happily by a sort of Willy Wonka of sandwiches before choosing from a precise but explosive menu. The must-try is the ham, egg n chips, where in thick white bread ham hock is accompanied by a fried egg, comforted by piccalilli and vinegar mayonnaise and plumped up with shoestring fries. Theres a reason supermarkets copy Max, a man who was most probably the first to use gravy mayo in a commercial capacity. 19 Crouch Hill, N4 4AU, maxssandwichshop.com Miznon Fluffy pitas / Miznon/Lachlan Falconer Unless youve spent the last year lost at sea, youll be well aware of Miznon, the Tel Aviv-born restaurant group founded by a man obsessed with tomatoes. Owner Eyal Shani ensures pillowy (yes) pita breads are stuffed with all manner of fillings, each listed on a ridiculously worded menu written in Comic Sans. One dish is called Roasted cauliflowers inner parts, another is dubbed Deep satisfaction. In the latter, slow-cooked brisket, melted cheddar, pickled green chillies and ribbons of gherkin are draped lusciously in garlic sauce. The dish lives up to its name. A more classic falafel number is equally affirming, while the long, thick and juicy lamb pita is gratifying too. 8 Broadwick Street, W1F 8HW. For more information, visit miznon.co.uk I Camisa Italian design / Josh Barrie Last year, celebrities and regulars clamoured to I Camisas defence after news broke that the near-hundred year-old Italian deli was to close. The shop, which in its original site on Berwick Street dates back to 1929, was saved, and its sandwiches among countless other delights given a new lease of life. One of the foremost pleasures is the blanket price of 5. It is perhaps impossible to find a more affordable lunch in Soho, at least one that uses such quality ingredients. At Camisa, choice is all salumi, cheeses, and salads might be selected, slipped inside a chewy ciabatta and devoured before another Guinness at the myriad pubs nearby. 61 Old Compton Street, W1D 6HS, icamisa.co.uk Banh Mi Aha Banh mi, a French-Vietnamese fusion / Banh Mi Aha A banh mi is one of the worlds great fusion foods, marrying Vietnamese freshness and flavour with French indulgence. At Banh Mi Aha, the go-to is simply called Aha!. In a soft baguette goes homemade pate, three types of spiced Vietnamese sausage, ham, and the much-loved Kewpie mayo. Topped with pickled carrots, daikon, spring onion and coriander, and here is a dish of canon, epitomising a sandwichs ability to be efficient. It is worth having a papaya salad on the side, and if the weather is warm, the shop makes for a perfect place to dine al fresco and watch the world go by. 39 Lambs Conduit Street, WC1N 3NG, banhmiaha.co.uk Mondo Mondo sandwiches / Mondo website There are numerous places for remedial subs in London. Doms, in Hackney, is one. Another is Mondo, which operates out of the White Horse pub in Peckham. There, among the pints and the pool, is a menu inspired by the food in Hidetaka Miyazaki films, Redwall novels, and Beano comics. Options change regularly. Right now is a sausage sandwich elevated by gumbo mayo, a Cajun-style corn salad, cheese, butter lettuce called shrettuce by the brand and American mustard. Another combines pastrami with sausage-seasoned chickpeas, charred broccoli, fried onions and pickles. Order the house-made hot sauce for dipping and a portion of moo krob pork belly on the side. 20-22 Peckham Rye, SE15 4JR, whitehorsepeckham.co.uk/mondo-sando Sons + Daughters Sons + Daughters cut prices last year / Sons + Daughters Another commonality in London today is the mortadella sandwich, constructed in numerous ways and paraded on social media. Hackney outpost Ombra, one of the citys best modern Italian restaurants, crafts them excellently, as does Sons + Daughters, which recently shifted from chunky sliced white to more affordable rolls, marginally reducing the size of its sandwiches but cutting the price in half in turn (from around 12 to 6.50). Sons + Daughters is a fine place to find an egg mayo sandwich, sprucing up the cress-studded classic with a miso element and truffle crisps. But by far the best is the mortadella, where the Bolognan staple is paired with taleggio, tomato relish not too sweet rocket, Thai basil, and a tempering cider vinaigrette. Unit 119a Coal Drops Yard, N1C 4DQ, sonsanddaughterslondon.com Beigel Bake A legendary London location / Beigel Bake/Facebook The best time to visit Beigel Bake is after the pub. There will be queues but theres something faintly thrilling about the wait. A camaraderie. Indeed its rare that queueing for food is worth it. At Beigel Bake, the salt beef that flies the flag, a New York-level bagel where the bread is chewy, the meat fall-apart tender, the soft mustard a guiding force. This is the messiest of food and all the better for it - a legendary shop and one of the few times the word institution might be bestowed properly. 159 Brick Lane, E1 6SB, bricklanebeigel.co.uk/london/beigel-bake Dusty Knuckle With exceptional sourdough / Dusty Knuckle website Dusty Knuckle bread has become synonymous with Londons hip sourdough culture. That is a conversation best avoided. The point is, the bread is among Londons finest, and although there is argument to had that bacon sandwiches are most agreeable when made with sliced white, it would be foolish to ignore Dusty Knuckles version, where smoked back bacon is squeezed into traditional, flavourful sourdough and partnered with ketchup (correct) or brown sauce (the connoisseurs choice, and therefore wrong). Go with a friend, hungover, for breakfast, and share. Because there will also be an egg chilli cheese sandwich fried egg, spring onions, pickled green chillis and coriander in focaccia, which is stunning. Abbot Street Car Park, E8 3DP, thedustyknuckle.com Lisboeta The bifana at Lisboeta / Lisboeta/Facebook Over the last few years, it seems like almost everyones been hanging out in Portugal. Lisbon mostly. Its the way of things, and understandable given British proclivity to heartening, sloppy sandwiches. A bifana is one strips of pork, marinated in white wine, garlic, paprika, doused in chilli sauce and mustard, all inside a bread roll. Those who arent able to make it over for whatever reason should head to Little Portugal in Stockwell and savour one of Londons coolest neighbourhoods. At Sintra Deli, the bifanas are well put together and accessible, and ideal with a Sagres or a Super Bock. Those seeking out the higher-end need not look beyond Lisboeta, Nuno Mendes lustrous shrine to the cooking of his hometown. There on the specials board is where customers might find a bifana. 30 Charlotte Street, W1T 2NG, lisboeta.co.uk Panadera One of the hottest tickets in town / Panadera website If there is one sandwich that typifies Instagram in London, its the sando. Some of the best are dainty, like the wagyu one at Taka, Marylebone. Such juicy, juicy meat. But the first port of call must be the big-time creations at Panadera, Camden, a Filipino bakery from Florence Mae Maglanoc and Omar Shah. There is an egg sando of spectacular design, and another of American-style corned beef, which is made in house. First, brisket is brined for three days, then shredded, but loosely, so as to deliver a resourceful texture. The meat is then made into a croquette with potatoes and a rich bechamel sauce before the whole thing is fried, placed into Filipino milk bread or pandesal and jazzed up by lettuce and aioli. 83 Kentish Town Road, NW1 8NY, panaderabakery.com Chets An inventive club / Chets/Instagram Apparently the club sandwich originated at Saratoga Club House in Saratoga Springs, New York, in the late 1800s. Early recipes are simple, with turkey or chicken, bacon, lettuce, tomatoes, and lots of mayonnaise between three slices of white bread. Today, slices of egg make an occasional appearance, as does cheese from time to time; ham has been known to replace crisp bacon. Anyway, at Chets, the club sandwich is a canny take on the New York classic: fried chicken, bacon, papaya slaw, jalapenos and red cabbage are dressed in ranch. It comes with a great number of French fries, as a club sandwich must. Crisps? No. 65 Shepherds Bush Green, W12 8QE, chetsrestaurant.co.uk Amols Classic Indian street food / Amols/UberEats The vada pav, where a deep-fried potato dumpling sits on chutney and green chilli and served in a burger bun, has not yet fully made it into central Londons food hype arena, instead mostly cavorting around the periphery. Still, this is Indian street food (more specifically, Mumbai and wider Maharashtra) at its best vegetarian, cheap, and filling. One prime location that serves classic vada pav is Amols near Alperton station in northwest London. Some recommend adding cheese. More central is Curry On NaanStop, a food stand with sites in Seven Dials, and a delivery site in Herne Hill. Of course, the vada pav has been enjoyed by communities across London for decades. It would be fun to see it get a little more mainstream limelight. 181 Ealing Road, HA0 4LW, amolsvadapav.com A manda Holden is reportedly being lined up to replace Paul OGrady on his show For The Love Of Dogs following the untimely death of the beloved broadcaster. The comedian, who passed away suddenly earlier this year, had fronted the documentary series since 2012. He was an avid animal-lover and an ambassador for Battersea Dogs & Cats Home, where the show is based. And while TV execs are in no rush to re-start filming the series, The Sun reports it is Britains Got Talent star Holden, 52, who is the favourite to take over when the show begins again. Holden was a friend of OGrady and is also an ambassador for the animal shelter. According to The Sun, Holden is the natural choice. A source said: Execs just feel like its too soon to make firm plans about the series, as its barely been two months since he died. But the feeling at the home is that its what Paul would have wanted. After all, he cared deeply about the animals in Battersea. Paul OGrady on his final series of For The Love of Dogs / ITV Amanda is the natural choice to take over the job, not just because shes an experienced presenter but because she also cares about the home and would do anything for them. Earlier this year, fans were left in tears as they watched the late star on his final season of For The Love Of Dogs. OGrady filmed the last season late last year but the new series was only released after his death. The beloved stars return to TV left many at home emotional. One wrote on Twitter: This series is gonna be a difficult watch well sure miss Paul OGrady, one of the good guys. Still tears in my eyes watching Paul OGrady but [Im] so enjoy[ing] the programme, another penned. A third added: Paul OGrady... absolutely crying. It comes as OGrady was among a host of famous faces to appear in a special short film to mark the opening of the Eurovision Song Contest and welcome the world to Liverpool where it was hosted. The late comedian and TV stalwart, originally from Birkenhead, Merseyside, took part in the film to show his pride in his home region. The project was one of the last things OGrady filmed before his death, and his posthumous appearance was approved by his family and friends. Completed during the war and put into operation, the first stage of Tylihulska wind power plant (WPP) in Mykolaiv region with a capacity of 114 MW will generate up to 390,000 kWh of electricity per year, which is enough to provide electricity to 200,000 households, DTEK said. According to DTEK's release, this is the first wind power plant in the world to be constructed during the war, and one of the first projects to install 6 MW EnVentus turbines of the Danish manufacturer Vestas. "In 2022, we had big plans for the construction of a new Tylihulska wind power plant, but the Russian invasion temporarily suspended this project. Today let me say: we have decided to resume the construction of a wind power plant, and the first stage of the plant has already started operating at full capacity. The war will not stop us. We will continue to create jobs, pay taxes, generate electricity, restore networks, fight for our energy independence and invest in the future. We will win the war," SCM investor Rinat Akhmetov said, according to the release. The company plans to bring Tylihulska WPP to the declared capacity of 500 MW, for which it laid the foundations for the installation of another 64 turbines of 6 MW each at the second construction stage. This will reduce CO2 emissions by 400,000 tonnes annually. The company calculates that the 500 MW construction will make the plant the largest wind power plant in Eastern Europe and additionally provide clean energy to homes and businesses in southern Ukraine, which are heavily affected by blackouts due to shelling of energy infrastructure. According to CEO of DTEK Maksym Timchenko, due to projects such as Tylihulska WPP, Ukraine will become more environmentally friendly and clean, will become a key partner in the energy future of Europe, and the development of infrastructure based on distributed generation will create a more sustainable and stable energy supply. "DTEK is preparing for the construction of the second stage. The company will continue to contribute to the implementation of Ukraine's strategy for the construction of 30 GW of renewable energy capacities until 2030 (...). Already now, having completed the first stage of construction, we are signalling to our international partners that they can invest in Ukraine today, without waiting for the end of the war," Timchenko said. However, the company said DTEK's plans to expand Tylihulska WPP remain dependent on additional funding of $450 million, primarily from foreign investors and, very importantly, from government-backed international financial institutions. The company said the decision to construct Tylihulska WPP was made in 2020 as part of DTEK's strategy to expand the renewable energy portfolio. Subsequently, the project will increase the capacity of DTEK's green energy from 1 GW to 1.5 GW. The foundations of the wind power plant were laid at the end of 2021, and the first wind turbine was installed in December 2021. After the full-scale Russian invasion in February 2022, DTEK halted construction of the station when six turbines had already been installed, as enemy forces advanced on Mykolaiv and foreign partners were forced to evacuate personnel and equipment. "In the summer of 2022, with the financial support of shareholder Rinat Akhmetov, DTEK resumed construction work with a Ukrainian team, the number of which reached 650 employees at peak periods. Employees worked in bulletproof vests, and from August 2022 to April 2023 spent more than 300 hours in bomb shelters under constant the threat of missile strikes," DTEK said. However, they said that as a result, construction took twice as long as usual for a project of this magnitude, but called it an outstanding achievement under exceptionally difficult circumstances. The company gave several facts about the wind power plant equipment, noting that it is equipped with Vestas EnVentus V162-6.0 MW turbines, the blade length of which is 79 meters, and the weight of one is 23 tonnes. At the same time, the blade rotation diameter is 162 meter. The total weight of the turbine is 730 tonnes. A ctivist and UN goodwill ambassador Sabrina Dhowre Elba said she felt it was her moral duty to support a campaign against female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) which is prevalent in her Somalian culture. Ms Elba, who married Luther actor Idris Elba in 2019, was at the House of Lords on Monday with London-based charity The Vavengers, to launch the One Question Campaign which was born from the NHSs lack of data on the scale of FGM/C in the UK. FGM/C is the cutting or removal of the external female genitals, which is illegal in the UK, and results in lifelong pain, trauma, and mental and physical health problems, the charity said. At the House of Lords event, hosted by patron Baroness Boycott, the charity presented the FGM/C healthcare inequalities report to the chief nursing officer for England, Dame Ruth May. The report recommends adding the question Have you been subjected to FGM/C to the national database and all patient forms in the UK; making reconstructive surgery available on the NHS and offering sustained mental health services available to survivors. Ms Elba told the PA news agency: It was extremely emotional, I think in part because I was so surprised even as someone who comes from a culture where this is still practised. I thought perhaps I did know everything, or knew more than I did, but theres so much more to be learned and understood, and I think what was most prevalent today was how much there has to be learned at the systematic level, to be able to create the changes that need to be changed, because really what was asked for inside is not a big ask, its just basic standards of practice that should send the signal that the UK does care. Ms Elba said it was her first time visiting the House of Lords which she described as quite grand, particularly as she comes from Canada. The model and activist has been an advocate for gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls worldwide for many years, becoming a UN goodwill ambassador alongside her husband in April 2020. Speaking about her passion for championing the case against FGM/C, she told PA: There is a cultural closeness because I am a Somalian woman. It is something that is prevalent in my culture but also because I feel I have a responsibility, a moral duty, to speak out about something that is abusive towards children. I think its easy to hide behind the cultural aspect of it, but really when were looking at the root cause, its gender violence and its child abuse. Its about controlling women and their bodies, so I feel a moral duty to stand up and speak against it. Ms Elba also said it is about time that we saw the end of FGM/C and she hoped the House of Lords event will spark change because the longer we wait the more abuse is happening. Baroness Boycott said it was tremendous to have Ms Elba supporting the campaign and she remains completely puzzled why the UK has not acknowledged and recognised the problem. She told PA: This is not a small problem. This is not an isolated case of something happening. This is massive and we dont even know how many people in this country have undergone it, not every case gets found by any means. Its incredibly important that we break the barrier now and that it doesnt pass on generationally, because even though there have been laws in place, it has still been passed on generationally. The campaign hopes to get important figures to sign a pledge to implement the mandatory one question about FGM/C as well as advocate for better long-term mental health support and reconstructive surgery for survivors. Hoda Ali, co-founder of the charity and survivor of FGM, said it was her experience as a nurse in the UK which made her realise the importance of education on the topic. She told PA: This today is very emotional for me but also it is one of the best days in my life. Twenty-one years I have been campaigning and doing activism work and training doctors and nurses single-handedly when no-one was talking about it in the NHS. I know that we are opening the door for the future generation but also empowering and paving the way for those girls, so they can come and speak up for themselves and the people around them. My body belongs to me, it doesnt belong to nobody else. Female genital mutilation took away my childhood because being hospitalised all the time, but also it denied me to be a mother. I cant have my own child. So its breaking that barrier. Yes, I cant change what happened to me, but being here today, I have so much hope. Anti-FGM activist Dr Leyla Hussein, who was a victim of the practice as a child, and Dr Jasmine Abdulcadir, who founded a clinic for the care of women living with FGM/C in Switzerland, were among those at the event. K evin Clifton has said his daughter with Stacey Dooley is amazing. The former Strictly Come Dancing star and the documentary maker welcomed their first child, Minnie, in January. The couple met when they competed on the BBC show together in 2018, beating runners-up Joe Sugg, Faye Tozer and Ashley Roberts to take home the glitterball trophy. Discussing his 18-week-old daughter, Clifton told ITVs Good Morning Britain: Shes amazing. I just left her this morning. Shes just at that stage where shes starting to laugh now, doing anything, even just sort of wobbling your head and going hiya and she starts to giggle. Clifton praised Dooley saying: Shes amazing. Ive been on tour in Aberdeen last week and came back just for the day for Sunday and I spent the day with them and Im absolutely exhausted from it. Stace, she just carries on. I dont know how she does it. It must be this motherly thing that kicks in, I dont know. I dont know how she does it, shes an amazing mum. Clifton, who is currently starring in a touring production of Strictly Ballroom, also paid tribute to former Strictly Come Dancing head judge Len Goodman, who died in April. He said: Ten years ago on my very first show on Strictly Come Dancing because Len I sort of knew a bit because he used to judge me in competitions and stuff so I said Can you give me any advice? This is my first show, how do I go about this? And he said, You know what, this is the biggest opportunity that weve ever seen for ballroom dancing. And without this, were just a bunch of ballroom dancers trying to make our way in life. And this has put it on this massive platform. He said, Just enjoy it and never get like too big for your boots. Dont think Im on telly now, Im a big superstar, just dont ever take it for granted. Just enjoy it. A lison Hammond and Dermot OLeary on Monday paid tribute to Phillip Schofield after he dramatically stepped down from hosting This Morning after weeks of speculation about his relationship with co-host Holly Willoughby. Hammond and OLeary wished Schofield a huge thank you, on behalf of the This Morning team and ITV, for his contribution to the show for the past 21 years. We all know hes one of the best live television broadcasters this country has ever had. We wish him all the best for the future, Hammond said. OLeary said of Schofield: Everyone on and off screen at ITV and This Morning want to say a huge thank you to Phil for what hes done to make the show such a success over the last 21 years. On Saturday, Schofield announced he was stepping down from presenting the ITV talk show with immediate effect. Reports suggest he received six months pay to sweeten the departure - but despite this, he feels let down by ITV and the way the saga has played out. A source told The Mail: Phil feels he has been shown zero respect and he is devastated by how this has played out. He thinks the way he was forced to step down was so unjust and he feels completely broken by how this situation has been handled. His departure comes after he has faced months of controversy including reports of a rift with his long-time co-host Willoughby, his brothers sex abuse trial and furore over his visit to the late Queens lying in state. Schofield, who also shared the news in a post to his Instagram story, said in a statement: I have always been proud to cover fascinating stories on This Morning. But recently, This Morning itself has become the story. Throughout my career in TV including the very difficult last few days I have always done my best to be honourable and kind. I understand that ITV has decided the current situation cant go on, and I want to do what I can to protect the show that I love. So I have agreed to step down from This Morning with immediate effect, in the hope that the show can move forward to a bright future. Id like to thank everyone who has supported me especially This Mornings amazing viewers and Ill see you all for the Soap Awards next month. He will continue to present peak time shows for ITV including next months The British Soap Awards and a new prime time series, the broadcaster has said. On Schofields departure, Willoughby said: Its been over 13 great years presenting This Morning with Phil and I want to take this opportunity to thank him for all of his knowledge, his experience and his humour. The sofa wont feel the same without him. The pair have been open about their close friendship over the years, which has included sharing pictures on social media of them while on joint holidays with their families. However, after reports of the pairs relationship coming under strain, Schofield tried to put on a united front describing Willoughby as his rock in a statement to The Sun. The presenter also took pre-planned leave from the show around his brothers sex abuse trial at Exeter Crown Court last month. On Friday, former civilian police worker Timothy Schofield, 54, was convicted of 11 sexual offences involving a child between October 2016 and October 2019, including two of sexual activity with a child. Willoughby also took time off from the ITV morning programme in April due to having the painful rash shingles, which is caused by the same virus as chickenpox. Last year, the duo faced a backlash over claims they skipped the queue for the late Queens lying in state in September. Holly Willoughby and Philip Schofield - In pictures 1 / 44 Holly Willoughby and Philip Schofield - In pictures Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby on Tis Morning after the NTA's 2016 Rex Features Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield attending the launch of Dancing On Ice 2020 PA Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield for Halloween 2019 @hollywilloughby Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield presenting This Morning ITV Prime Minister Boris Johnson with This Morning presenters Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby PA Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield attending the launch of Dancing On Ice 2020 PA Philip Schofield and Holly Willoughby with the award for best Daytime in the Press Room at the National Television Awards 2019 held at the O2 Arena, London PA Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby attending the TV Choice Awards PA TV Royalty: Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby This Morning at Downton Abbey ITV Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield pose for a selfie on holiday @schofe Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield on This Morning ITV Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield on This Morning Rex Features Holly Willoughby is pranked by Phillip Schofield on This Morning ITV Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby on This Morning ITV Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby prestenting Dancing on Ice Rex Features Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield on This Morning ITV Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby prestenting Dancing on Ice Rex Features Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield arriving for the Bafta tribute event to the ITV1 programme, This Morning at Bafta PA Holly Willoughby delighting her fans by sharing a picture of Phillip Schofield doing his best fish impression @hollywilloughby Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield stuck on a speedboat ITV Holly Willoughby with Phillip Schofield at The Brit Awards 2018 @schofe Holly Willoughby adjust Phillip Schofield's hair during the Brit Awards 2018 whilst Jack Whitehall delivers a cheeky joke ITV Royal visit: The Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall with Holly Willoughby and Philip Schofield Geoff Pugh/Daily Telegraph/PA Holly Willoughby with Phillip Schofield ITV Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby on This Morning at Halloween 2017 ITV Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby with Gino D'Acampo Rex Features 'Willofield': Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby are on their holidays @schofe Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield attend the ITV Gala 2016 Dave Benett Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby with Rylan Clark for Halloween 2016 Rex Holly Willoughby and Philip Schofield with the award for Best Daytime, at the 2014 National Television Awards at the O2 Arena PA Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby as she bowed out of ITV's This Morning as she heads off on leave awaiting the birth of her third child in 2014 ITV This Morning hosts Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield ITV Philip Schofield and Holly Willoughby accept the award for Best Factual Programme for This Morning during the 2013 National Television Awards PA Meanwhile, former This Morning host Eamonn Holmes on Monday hit out at Schofield on his GB News show for suggesting he left of his own accord, declaring: He was sacked. Hammond and OLeary are both hot contenders to take over Schofields role given their experience on the show. Hammond, 48, is currently bookmaker Ladbrokes favourite giving her 2/1 odds. OLeary, 49, who has appeared on the show as a presenter throughout the years, currently has been given 4/1 odds by Ladbrokes. W omen are more than twice as likely to die after a heart attack than men, a new study suggests. The findings highlight the need for greater awareness of the risks of heart disease in women, researchers say. According to the study women aged 55 and below also had to wait 15 minutes longer for treatment after arriving at hospital. Previous studies have found that women who have a heart attack when a major artery feeding into the heart is completely blocked ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) have a worse prognosis during their hospital stay compared with men. The findings are another reminder of the need for greater awareness of the risks of heart disease in women Experts suggest this may be because of their older age, increased numbers of other conditions, and stents being used less to open blocked arteries. Study author Dr Mariana Martinho of Hospital Garcia de Orta, in Almada, Portugal said: Women of all ages who experience a myocardial infarction are at particularly high risk of a poor prognosis. These women need regular monitoring after their heart event, with strict control of blood pressure, cholesterol levels and diabetes, and referral to cardiac rehabilitation. Smoking levels are rising in young women and this should be tackled, along with promoting physical activity and healthy living. The new research compared short and long-term outcomes after STEMI in women and men, and looked at whether any sex differences were apparent in both premenopausal (55 years and under) and postmenopausal (over 55) women. The study included 884 patients, with an average age of 62 years and 27% were women. Women were older than men (average age 67 versus 60 years) and had higher rates of high blood pressure, diabetes and prior stroke, researchers found. Men were more likely to be smokers and have coronary artery disease. While the time between symptoms and treatment with stents did not differ between women and men overall, premenopausal women had a significantly longer treatment delay after arriving at hospital than their male peers 95 versus 80 minutes. Researchers compared the risk of adverse outcomes between women and men after taking into consideration factors such as diabetes, high cholesterol, hypertension, coronary artery disease, heart failure, chronic kidney disease, peripheral artery disease, stroke and family history of coronary artery disease. At 30 days, 11.8% of women had died compared with 4.6% of men. At five years, nearly one-third of women (32.1%) had died compared with 16.9% of men. Meanwhile more than one-third of women (34.2%) experienced major adverse cardiovascular events within five years compared with 19.8% of men. Dr Martinho said: Women had a two to three times higher likelihood of adverse outcomes than men in the short and long-term even after adjusting for other conditions and despite receiving PCI within the same timeframe as men. The researchers conducted a further analysis in which they matched 435 men and women according to risk factors for heart disease including hypertension, diabetes, high cholesterol and smoking. In matched patients over 55 years of age, all adverse outcomes measured were more common in women than men, the study found. More research is required to understand why there is gender disparity in prognosis after myocardial infarction so that steps can be taken to close the gap in outcomes Some 11.3% of women died within 30 days compared with 3.0% of men. At five years, one-third of women (32.9%) had died compared with 15.8% of men. Dr Martinho said: Postmenopausal women had worse short and long-term outcomes after myocardial infarction than men of similar age. Premenopausal women had similar short-term mortality but a poorer prognosis in the long term compared with their male counterparts. While our study did not examine the reasons for these differences, atypical symptoms of myocardial infarction in women and genetic predisposition may play a role. We did not find any differences in the use of medications to lower blood pressure or lipid levels between women and men. She concluded: The findings are another reminder of the need for greater awareness of the risks of heart disease in women. More research is required to understand why there is gender disparity in prognosis after myocardial infarction so that steps can be taken to close the gap in outcomes. The research, which has not yet been peer reviewed, was presented on Monday at Heart Failure 2023, a scientific congress of the European Society of Cardiology. Press Release May 22, 2023 Robin Resolution Pushes Improved Preservation of Cultural Properties After Manila Central Post Office Fire Citing the need to improve preservation and protection measures for the country's cultural properties, Sen. Robinhood "Robin" C. Padilla on Monday pushed for a Senate inquiry into the fire that razed the Manila Central Post Office Sunday night. Padilla filed Senate Resolution 627 directing the appropriate Senate committee to handle the probe, "with the aim of revisiting and strengthening policies for the preservation and protection of cultural properties against fire and other hazards." "This recent incident underscores the vulnerability of our national cultural heritage to fire and other hazards and highlights the urgent need to revisit and assess the effectiveness of existing preservation and protection measures," he said in his resolution. "It is of public interest to provide policies that will prevent or mitigate the effect of fire and other hazards to protect and preserve our national cultural heritage," he added. In his resolution, Padilla said the Manila Central Post Office Building is an iconic neo-classical building designed in 1926 by American architects Ralph Doane and Tomas Mapua, and Filipino architect Juan Marcos de Guzman Arellano. For almost a century, he noted the Post Office building was known as the grandest building of its time and is currently known as one of the dominating landmarks in Metro Manila. Also, Padilla pointed out that in 2018, the Manila Post Office building was declared an "important cultural property." "The Manila Central Post Office is a tangible representation of the nation's culture and history, and its damage is a blow to the country's cultural heritage," he said. Resolusyon ni Robin, Tinulak ang Mas Mainam na Pag-Ingat sa Cultural Properties Matapos Masunog ang Manila Post Office Itinulak ni Sen. Robinhood "Robin" C. Padilla ang mas mainam na paraan para sa pag-ingat ng mga cultural properties, matapos masunog ang Manila Central Post Office Linggo ng gabi. Naghain si Padilla ng Senate Resolution 627 na nanawagan ng imbestigasyon ng Senado para palakasin ang polisiya sa pagprotekta ng cultural properties mula sa sunog at ibang sakuna. "This recent incident underscores the vulnerability of our national cultural heritage to fire and other hazards and highlights the urgent need to revisit and assess the effectiveness of existing preservation and protection measures," aniya. "It is of public interest to provide policies that will prevent or mitigate the effect of fire and other hazards to protect and preserve our national cultural heritage," dagdag ni Padilla. Sa kanyang resolusyon, ipinunto ni Padilla na ang Manila Central Post Office Building ay isang "iconic neo-classical building" na dinisenyo noong 1926 ng mga Amerikanong arkitektong sina Ralph Doane and Tomas Mapua, at Pilipinong arkitektong si Juan Marcos de Guzman Arellano. Aniya, sa halos 100 taon, ang Post Office building ay kilala bilang "grandest building" at isa sa mga "dominating landmarks" sa Metro Manila. Dagdag niya, ang Manila Post Office building ay dineklara noong 2018 bilang "important cultural property." "The Manila Central Post Office is a tangible representation of the nation's culture and history, and its damage is a blow to the country's cultural heritage," aniya. No one will sit down at the negotiating table with Russia as long as the invaders remain on Ukrainian soil, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy wrote on a Telegram channel on Sunday. "Our world is great, but we are all in it together. And this is our common cause - peace. Ukraine has proposed a peace formula to the world. As long as the Russian invaders remain on our land, no one will sit down at the negotiating table with Russia," he wrote. "The colonizer must leave," Zelenskyy stressed. "But the world has the power to force Russia to restore peace step by step. We have developed a peace formula so that each of its points is supported by UN resolutions. So that everyone in the world can choose for himself the point that he will help implement. From Japan to the Arab countries, from Europe to Latin America, we find support for the peace formula. And we continue this work," he also wrote. Gracen Antaya is buzzing with excitement about the once-in-a-lifetime chance to show off his beekeeping skills and represent Canada. This is an amazing opportunity. Ive never been outside North America so this is exciting, the 17-year-old Greater Fort Erie Secondary School student said. Antaya is headed to Slovenia in July to participate in the International Meeting of Young Beekeepers. He is joining two other Canadian beekeepers to represent Canada at the competition; another from Ontario and one from British Columbia. The competition had previously been delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but Antaya said he is ready for it. He will be tested on his knowledge and his hands-on experience with bees as a junior beekeeper, along with participants from up to 40 other countries. Antaya got his start with beekeeping in 2019 when the Niagara Beekeepers program was hosted at the Balls Falls Conservation Area. Antayas grandmother asked if he would be interested in the program and even offered to pay for him to attend the program. So, Antaya took advantage of the opportunity to learn something new. I really enjoy watching these animals do their work. Bees have these amazing bodies, and they are perfect little machines that have been built to pollinate and collect. As part of the junior beekeeping program, Antaya learned how to extract honey, the different types of bees, and how to remove bees from the hive. Antaya said he was given the knowledge, the equipment and experience on how to interact with bees, hives, and honey. My favourite part of this was learning of the various systems and senses that bees use to gather, store, and use honey. What I really like about beekeeping is becoming part of the hive and working with the bees towards a common goal. Antaya is looking forward to travelling to Slovenia to meet other beekeepers from different parts of the world. I am most looking forward to learning about how other cultures practise beekeeping, he said. The cost for all three beekeepers to go is $12,000 and its up to the competitors to raise that money. The youth are involved in fundraising efforts such as candle and honey sales to help offset the cost of the trip and make it more affordable for the youth and chaperones who are attending. A GoFundMe page has been set up so people can support the Canadian teams fundraising efforts. To donate visit https://gofund.me/858cd006. SHARE: Hunter Gauthier sinks her teeth into some barbecued beef while her brother, Rycker, enjoys a sweet treat at the Filipino-Canadian Association of Niagara's open house at the Merritton Community Centre on Sunday. It was an afternoon for food, dancing and learning about Filipino culture as the Filipino-Canadian Association of Niagara (FCAN) hosted its open house on Sunday at the Merritton Community Centre. The event featured a dance performance by the Igorots in Niagara Region, as well as FCANs own Kayumanggi Dancers, and was a part of the Niagara Folk Arts Festival. SHARE: Bitcoin. Dogecoin. NFTs. Investment fads like these look tempting but come with big risks and losses if investors dont do their research. Canadians lost a staggering $165 million between 2017 and 2021 to investment scams. According to a 2022 report from online investigation company Social Catfish, these scams were often disguised as once-in-a-lifetime opportunities to get rich quick. Jessica Moorhouse, accredited financial counsellor and host of the More Money Podcast, says sometimes you can tell theres a red flag just by listening to your gut, but sometimes its a little less clear. Typically, if someone promises or guarantees a return on an investment that is well beyond the return of the overall market, that should cause you to pause, she adds. Fraud losses reach historic level Investment scams among top three frauds with the highest levels of reported victim losses. $530 million The amount in victim losses to fraud and cybercrime reported to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre in 2022. Nearly 40% The increase from the unprecedented $380 million in losses in 2021. 5 to 10% Estimated percentage of Canadians who report fraud. Source: RCMP Remember, as per SPIVA (S&P Indices versus Active scorecards), about 80 per cent of active portfolio managers underperform the market. I think where youre seeing some people getting into trouble is particularly in the cryptocurrency space, explains Ian Calvert, vice-president and principal at HighView Financial Group. Some of these exchanges or places where your wealth is held can disappear overnight, he adds. Indeed, investors 40 per cent of whom were Ontarians lost around a combined $215 million when Canadian Quadriga cryptocurrency exchange went down when its founder died in 2018. Some investors lost their life savings, and a portion of the money from Quadrigas downfall is still unaccounted for today. Thats why ensuring your assets are kept at a well-known financial institution is essential, Calvert says. He adds that its important you have the appropriate investor and deposit protection insurance on these accounts. On top of that, Moorhouse suggests making sure the investment company is well-known and searchable. More often than not, an investment that sounds too good to be true probably is. Although weve all heard of people who were able to successfully earn double-digit returns from real estate, stock picking or cryptocurrency, thats likely because people love to shout their successes from the rooftops, says Moorhouse. But remember, people rarely share their failures. SK Srivindhya Kolluru is a Toronto-based freelance journalist who writes about business and finance. Read more about: SHARE: The defense of the Ukrainian-controlled part of Bakhmut does not lose its relevance, Colonel-General Oleksandr Syrsky, Commander of the Ground Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, says. "Despite the fact that we now control a small part of Bakhmut, the importance of its defense does not lose its relevance. This gives us the opportunity to enter the city in case of a change in the situation. And this will definitely happen," the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine quotes Syrsky on Telegram. "We continue to advance along the flanks in the suburbs of Bakhmut and are actually approaching the capture of the city in a tactical encirclement. Thanks to this, we will be able to control all high-rise buildings occupied by the enemy, and gradually destroy them. This deprives the enemy of control over the approach to the city and gives us certain tactical advantages. In the course of working with the commanders, we analyzed in detail our actions and the procedure for destroying the enemy. Therefore, we continue the defense. The situation is difficult, but under control," the commander of the Ground Forces said. EdmontonThe United Conservatives are leading in the hotly contested Calgary battleground one week out from election day in Alberta, according to a poll released on Monday. Danielle Smith and her UCP are up in the southern city with 51 per cent support among decided voters while Rachel Notleys NDP trails slightly with 46 per cent, according to an Abacus Data poll that surveyed 1,507 eligible voters in Alberta from May 19 to May 22. Calgary and its 26 ridings is seen by most as being where the election, set to wrap on May 29, will be decided in a race that remains neck-and-neck. Abacus Data said it increased its sample size in Calgary to 754 people as well. For all intents and purposes, its still really close, Abacus Data CEO David Coletto told the Star. Theres still a chance that the NDP could win the most seats but not win the popular vote given just how lopsided the UCPs vote is outside of the two big cities. Among all who say theyre likely to vote, 46 per cent say they intend to vote UCP while 42 per cent say theyll vote NDP and there are 10 per cent still undecided. Abacus Data has tracked vote intentions throughout the campaign period. It had the NDP up by 10 points in a poll released May 12. In a followup poll last week, that lead shrunk to three points. Other polls have had somewhat similar results and many observers say the race could be a toss up, even if the UCP has a slight edge in vote intention. Much will depend on where the votes break down riding by riding especially in Calgary. The NDP holds a big lead in Edmonton, with 68 per cent support, while the UCP dominates outside of the two big cities with 67 per cent support. However, Coletto said there are also some variables playing to the strength of the UCP. The NDP is leading among voters under the age of 45 while the UCP has the support of those who are older. Getting younger voters out on election day has always been a harder sell. Meanwhile, among what hes dubbed reluctant UCPers (those who voted UCP in the past but who now say theyre undecided or looking at another party), Coletto said hes hearing that theyre less certain theyre going to vote. In the final week, I think both parties, particularly the New Democrats, need to ratchet up in a way the motivation there to get those folks to actually vote and to actually vote NDP, he said. I suspect, based on my numbers, were going to see a good turnout, perhaps close to or slightly above where we saw last time. In 2019, Alberta saw a whopping 68 per cent voter turnout, the highest in decades. The survey also captured peoples views of the election debate between Smith and Notley, which aired last Thursday. About 35 per cent of Albertans said they watched the debate while another 28 per cent said they heard something about it, the survey found. Among both groups, reaction was split. About 38 per cent said Smith did more to earn their vote and 35 per cent said Notley did. It also found that 27 per cent said neither did. In the same groups, 38 per cent said Smith did more to lose their vote while 35 per cent said the same of Notley; 25 per cent said neither. Theres definitely a lot of motivation on both sides and whats fascinating is just how split Albertans really are about these choices, Coletto said. If you are going to vote UCP, you really dont like Notley and you like Smith, but if youre going to vote NDP, you know, vice versa. Regardless of what happens next Monday, I think whats clear is that Alberta is pretty divided over their choices. A random sample of panellists were invited to complete the survey. The margin of error for a comparable probability based random sample of the same size is +/- 2.6 per cent, 19 times out of 20. Read more about: SHARE: Theyre known as family photos, the images of world leaders posed in faux relaxation during global summits. And like portraits of a family that has isolated a dysfunctional member, recent family photos from the G7 and G8 the worlds most industrialized nations show how Russian President Vladimir Putin has been outcast. The Russian president has faced unprecedented international isolation since his nation invaded Ukraine in February 2022. An International Criminal Court arrest warrant hangs over his head and clouds his prospects of traveling to many destinations, including those viewed as Moscows allies. It was only 10 years ago when Putin stood proudly among his peers at the time - former U.S. President Barack Obama, former German Chancellor Angela Merkel and former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at a Group of Eight summit in Northern Ireland. But Russia has since been kicked out of the group, which consists of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Britain and the United States, for illegally annexing Crimea in 2014. Images from the G7 summit this year show leaders of the same governments, minus Putin. SHARE: LISBON (AP) Portuguese police have said they will resume searching for Madeleine McCann, the British toddler who disappeared in the countrys Algarve region in 2007, in the next few days. Portugals Judicial Police released a statement confirming local media reports that they would conduct the search at the request of the German authorities and in the presence of British officials. Earlier on Monday, police were seen erecting tents and cordons in an area by the Arade dam, about 50 kilometers (31 miles) from Praia da Luz, where the 3-year-old was last seen alive. British, Portuguese and German police are still piecing together what happened when the toddler disappeared from her bed in the southern Portuguese resort on May 3, 2007. She was in the same room as her 2-year-old twin brother and sister while her parents had dinner with friends at a nearby restaurant. In mid-2020, Germanys police identified Christian Brueckner, a 45-year-old German citizen who was in the Algarve in 2007, as a suspect in the case. Brueckner has denied any involvement. The suspect is under investigation on suspicion of murder in the McCann case but hasnt been charged. He spent many years in Portugal, including in Praia da Luz around the time of Madeleines disappearance. Prosecutors in the northern German city of Braunschweig in October have charged Brueckner in several separate cases involving sexual offenses allegedly committed in Portugal between 2000 and 2017. Braunschweig prosecutor Christian Wolter said Monday his office would release a statement about the case on Tuesday morning. Madeleines disappearance stirred worldwide interest, with public claims of having spotted her stretching as far away as Australia, along with a slew of books and television documentaries about the case. Rewards for finding Madeleine reached several million dollars. SHARE: KYIV, Ukraine (AP) Russian officials claimed that Ukrainian military saboteurs launched an attack across the border Monday, wounding eight people in a small town. Kyiv officials denied any link with the group and blamed the fighting on a revolt by disgruntled Russians against the Kremlin. Neither version of events could be independently verified in an area that has witnessed sporadic spillover from the almost 15-month war in Ukraine. The governor of Russias Belgorod region, which borders Ukraine, said that a Ukrainian Armed Forces saboteur group entered the town of Graivoron, about five kilometers (three miles) from the border. The town also came under Ukrainian artillery fire, he said. Gov. Vyacheslav Gladkov said eight people were wounded and most residents had left the area, but the situation remained tense. In nearby Zamostye village, a projectile hit a kindergarten and caused a fire. One woman was wounded in her hand, Gladkov said. He also reported that Russian anti-aircraft systems shot down an unmanned aerial vehicle over Belgorod region. Gladkov said a counterterrorist operation was underway and that authorities were imposing special controls, including personal document checks and stopping the work of companies that use explosives, radioactive, chemically and biologically hazardous substances. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russian President Vladimir Putin was informed about the alleged saboteur incursion. An effort to push them out from the Russian territory and liquidate them was underway, he said. Peskov described the action as an attempt by Ukraine to divert attention from the eastern city of Bakhmut, which Moscow claimed to have captured after months of battle but where Kyiv says it is still fighting. But Ukrainian military intelligence officials didnt confirm that Kyiv had deployed saboteurs. Instead, they claimed that Russian citizens seeking regime change in Moscow were behind the Graivoron incursion. Ukraine intelligence representative Andrii Cherniak said Russian citizens belonging to murky groups calling themselves the Russian Volunteer Corps and the Freedom of Russia Legion were behind the assault. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyys advisor, Mykhailo Podolyak, said on Twitter that Ukraine has nothing to do with it. He suggested an armed guerrilla movement was behind the attack. The Russian Volunteer Corps claimed in a Telegram post it had crossed the border into Russia again, after claiming to have breached the border in early March. The Russian Volunteer Corps describes itself as a volunteer formation fighting on Ukraines side. Little is known about the group, and it is not clear if it has any ties with the Ukrainian military. The same is true for the Freedom of Russia Legion.. The RVC was founded last August and reportedly consists mostly of anti-Putin far-right Russian extremists who have links with Ukrainian far-right groups. Earlier Monday, Ukraines Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, Europes largest atomic power station, spent hours operating on emergency diesel generators after losing its external power supply for the seventh time since Russias full-scale invasion of its neighbor, the head of the U.N. nuclear watchdog said. The nuclear safety situation at the plant (is) extremely vulnerable, Rafael Grossi, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said in a tweet. Hours later, national energy company Ukrenergo said on Telegram that it had restored the power line that feeds the plant. But for Grossi, it was another reminder of whats at stake at the Russian-occupied plant which has seen shelling close by. We must agree to protect (the) plant now; this situation cannot continue, Grossi said, in his latest appeal for the area to be spared from the fighting between Ukrainian and Russian forces. IAEA staff are deployed at the plant, which is occupied by Russian troops. The plants six nuclear reactors, which are protected by a reinforced shelter able to withstand an errant shell or rocket, have been shut down. But a disruption in the electrical supply could disable cooling systems that are essential for the reactors safety even when they are shut down. Emergency diesel generators, which officials say can keep the plant operational for 10 days, can be unreliable. Grossi said it was the seventh time the plant had lost its outside power supply since Russias full-scale invasion in February 2022. The Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant is one of the 10 biggest atomic power stations in the world. Ukraines presidential office said Monday morning that at least three Ukrainian civilians were killed and 16 others were injured in Russian assaults over the previous 24 hours. The Ukrainian Air Force reported that four out of 16 Russian missiles and all 20 drones launched against Ukrainian targets were shot down. Military targets and public infrastructure in Dnipro, Ukraines fourth-largest city in the center of the country, were singled out for Russian attacks, which injured eight people, officials said. The Dnipro fire department was affected, and 12 houses, shops, and a kindergarten were damaged, according to Governor Serhii Lysak. ___ Follow APs coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine Read more about: SHARE: DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) Near a peak of the Zagros Mountains in central Iran, workers are building a nuclear facility so deep in the earth that it is likely beyond the range of a last-ditch U.S. weapon designed to destroy such sites, according to experts and satellite imagery analyzed by The Associated Press. The photos and videos from Planet Labs PBC show Iran has been digging tunnels in the mountain near the Natanz nuclear site, which has come under repeated sabotage attacks amid Tehrans standoff with the West over its atomic program. With Iran now producing uranium close to weapons-grade levels after the collapse of its nuclear deal with world powers, the installation complicates the Wests efforts to halt Tehran from potentially developing an atomic bomb as diplomacy over its nuclear program remains stalled. Completion of such a facility would be a nightmare scenario that risks igniting a new escalatory spiral, warned Kelsey Davenport, the director of nonproliferation policy at the Washington-based Arms Control Association. Given how close Iran is to a bomb, it has very little room to ratchet up its program without tripping U.S. and Israeli red lines. So at this point, any further escalation increases the risk of conflict. The construction at the Natanz site comes five years after then-President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew America from the nuclear accord. Trump argued the deal did not address Tehrans ballistic missile program, nor its support of militias across the wider Middle East. But what it did do was strictly limit Irans enrichment of uranium to 3.67% purity, powerful enough only to power civilian power stations, and keep its stockpile to just some 300 kilograms (660 pounds). Since the demise of the nuclear accord, Iran has said it is enriching uranium up to 60%, though inspectors recently discovered the country had produced uranium particles that were 83.7% pure. That is just a short step from reaching the 90% threshold of weapons-grade uranium. As of February, international inspectors estimated Irans stockpile was over 10 times what it was under the Obama-era deal, with enough enriched uranium to allow Tehran to make several nuclear bombs, according to the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency. President Joe Biden and Israels prime minister have said they wont allow Iran to build a nuclear weapon. We believe diplomacy is the best way to achieve that goal, but the president has also been clear that we have not removed any option from the table, the White House said in a statement to the AP. The Islamic Republic denies it is seeking nuclear weapons, though officials in Tehran now openly discuss their ability to pursue one. Irans mission to the United Nations, in response to questions from the AP regarding the construction, said that Irans peaceful nuclear activities are transparent and under the International Atomic Energy Agency safeguards. However, Iran has been limiting access for international inspectors for years. Iran says the new construction will replace an above-ground centrifuge manufacturing center at Natanz struck by an explosion and fire in July 2020. Tehran blamed the incident on Israel, long suspected of running sabotage campaigns against its program. Tehran has not acknowledged any other plans for the facility, though it would have to declare the site to the IAEA if they planned to introduce uranium into it. The Vienna-based IAEA did not respond to questions about the new underground facility. The new project is being constructed next to Natanz, about 225 kilometers (140 miles) south of Tehran. Natanz has been a point of international concern since its existence became known two decades ago. Protected by anti-aircraft batteries, fencing and Irans paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, the facility sprawls across 2.7 square kilometers (1 square mile) in the countrys arid Central Plateau. Satellite photos taken in April by Planet Labs PBC and analyzed by the AP show Iran burrowing into the Kuh-e Kolang Gaz La, or Pickaxe Mountain, which is just beyond Natanzs southern fencing. A different set of images analyzed by the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies reveals that four entrances have been dug into the mountainside, two to the east and another two to the west. Each is 6 meters (20 feet) wide and 8 meters (26 feet) tall. The scale of the work can be measured in large dirt mounds, two to the west and one to the east. Based on the size of the spoil piles and other satellite data, experts at the center told AP that Iran is likely building a facility at a depth of between 80 meters (260 feet) and 100 meters (328 feet). The centers analysis, which it provided exclusively to AP, is the first to estimate the tunnel systems depth based on satellite imagery. The Institute for Science and International Security, a Washington-based nonprofit long focused on Irans nuclear program, suggested last year the tunnels could go even deeper. Experts say the size of the construction project indicates Iran likely would be able to use the underground facility to enrich uranium as well not just to build centrifuges. Those tube-shaped centrifuges, arranged in large cascades of dozens of machines, rapidly spin uranium gas to enrich it. Additional cascades spinning would allow Iran to quickly enrich uranium under the mountains protection. So the depth of the facility is a concern because it would be much harder for us. It would be much harder to destroy using conventional weapons, such as like a typical bunker buster bomb, said Steven De La Fuente, a research associate at the center who led the analysis of the tunnel work. The new Natanz facility is likely to be even deeper underground than Irans Fordo facility, another enrichment site that was exposed in 2009 by U.S. and other world leaders. That facility sparked fears in the West that Iran was hardening its program from airstrikes. Such underground facilities led the U.S. to create the GBU-57 bomb, which can plow through at least 60 meters (200 feet) of earth before detonating, according to the American military. U.S. officials reportedly have discussed using two such bombs in succession to ensure a site is destroyed. It is not clear that such a one-two punch would damage a facility as deep as the one at Natanz. With such bombs potentially off the table, the U.S. and its allies are left with fewer options to target the site. If diplomacy fails, sabotage attacks may resume. Already, Natanz has been targeted by the Stuxnet virus, believed to be an Israeli and American creation, which destroyed Iranian centrifuges. Israel also is believed to have killed scientists involved in the program, struck facilities with bomb-carrying drones and launched other attacks. Israels government declined to comment. Experts say such disruptive actions may push Tehran even closer to the bomb and put its program even deeper into the mountain where airstrikes, further sabotage and spies may not be able to reach it. Sabotage may roll back Irans nuclear program in the short-term, but it is not a viable, long-term strategy for guarding against a nuclear-armed Iran, said Davenport, the nonproliferation expert. Driving Irans nuclear program further underground increases the proliferation risk. ___ Follow Jon Gambrell on Twitter at www.twitter.com/jongambrellAP. ___ The Associated Press receives support for nuclear security coverage from the Carnegie Corporation of New York and Outrider Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content. SHARE: NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott launched his presidential campaign on Monday, offering an optimistic and compassionate message hes hoping can serve as a contrast with the political combativeness that has dominated the early GOP primary field. The Senates only Black Republican, Scott kicked off the campaign in his hometown of North Charleston, on the campus of Charleston Southern University, his alma mater and a private school affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention. He repeatedly mentioned his Christian faith in his kickoff speech, crying, Amen! Amen! Amen! and at several points elicited responses from the crowd, who sometimes chanted his name. But Scott also offered a stark political choice, saying our party and our nation are standing at a time for choosing: Victimhood or victory. He added that Republicans will also have to decide between grievance or greatness. I choose freedom and hope and opportunity, Scott said. He went on to tell the crowd that we need a president who persuades not just our friends and our base but seeks commonsense solutions and displays compassion for people who dont agree with us. That was a far cry from former President Donald Trump, who has played to the GOPs most loyal supporters with repeated lies about his 2020 election loss as he campaigns for a second term in office. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who could launch his own bid as soon as this week, has pushed Florida to the right by championing contentious new restrictions on abortion and LGBTQ rights and by seeking to limit the corporate power of Disney, one of his states most powerful business interests. Scott, 57, planned to huddle with home-state donors Tuesday, then begin a two-day campaign swing to Iowa and New Hampshire, which go first on the GOP presidential voting calendar. His announcement event featured an opening prayer by Sen. John Thune of South Dakota, the No. 2 Senate Republican, who said, I think our country is ready to be inspired again. Republican Sen. Mike Rounds, South Dakotas other senator, has already announced his support for Scott. A number of high-profile GOP senators have backed Trumps third bid for the White House, including Scotts South Carolina colleague, Lindsey Graham. Trump nonetheless struck a conciliatory tone Monday, welcoming Scott to the race and noting that the pair worked together on his administrations signature tax cuts. A source of strength for Scott will be his campaign bank account. He enters the 2024 race with more cash on hand than any other presidential candidate in U.S. history, with $22 million left in his campaign account at the end of his 2022 campaign that he can transfer to his presidential coffers. Scott also won reelection in firmly Republican South Carolina -- which has an early slot on the Republican presidential primary calendar -- by more than 20 points less than six months ago. Advisers bet that can make Scott a serious contender for an early, momentum-generating win. But Scott is not the only South Carolina option. The states former governor, Nikki Haley, who once served as Trumps former United Nations ambassador, is also running. Ben LeVan, a business professor at Charleston Southern who attended Mondays event, said he hadnt decided whom to support in the GOP primary but didnt plan to back Trump. I really do hope that we can bring some civility back in politics, LeVan said. Thats one of the nice things about Tim Scott, and quite frankly, Nikki Haley, and some of the other candidates as well. Theyre more diplomatic, and that is something that I appreciate. Like others in the GOP race, including former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson and Woke, Inc. author Vivek Ramaswamy, Scotts initial task will be finding a way to stand out in a field led by Trump and DeSantis. One way Scott hopes to do that is his trademark political optimism. Scott often quotes Scripture at his campaign events, weaving his reliance on spiritual guidance into his speeches calling his travels before the campaigns official launch, the Faith in America listening tour. Scott said Monday that Americas promise means you can go as high as our character, our grit, and our talent will take you. The Democratic National Committee responded to Scotts announcement by dismissing the notion that Scott offers much of an alternative to Trumps policies. DNC chair Jaime Harrison, who ran unsuccessfully for Senate in South Carolina in 2020, released a statement calling the senator a fierce advocate of the MAGA agenda, a reference to the former presidents Make America Great Again movement. On many issues, Scott does indeed align with mainstream GOP positions. He wants to reduce government spending and restrict abortion, saying he would sign a federal law to prohibit abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy if elected president. But Scott has pushed the party on some policing overhaul measures since the killing of George Floyd, and he has occasionally criticized Trumps response to racial tensions. Throughout their disagreements, though, Scott has maintained a generally cordial relationship with Trump, saying in his book that the former president listened intently to his viewpoints on race-related issues. When he was appointed to the Senate by then-governor Haley in 2012, Scott became the first Black senator from the South since just after the Civil War. Winning a 2014 special election to serve out the remainder of his term made him the first Black candidate to win a statewide race in South Carolina since the Reconstruction era. He has long said his current term, which runs through 2029, would be his last. Scott has long rejected the notion that the country is inherently racist. Hes also routinely repudiated the teaching of critical race theory, an academic framework that presents the idea that the nations institutions maintain the dominance of white people. Today, Im living proof that America is the land of opportunity and not a land of oppression, he said Monday. __ This story has been updated to correct the spelling of the DNC chairs first name. It is Jaime, not Jamie. ___ Weissert reported from Washington. Meg Kinnard can be reached at http://twitter.com/MegKinnardAP SHARE: OTTAWA - Special rapporteur David Johnston is expected to release his decision Tuesday on whether the federal Liberals should call a public inquiry on foreign interference. With allegations that China meddled in the last two federal elections dominating the political conversation for months, experts say an inquiry would allow for a detailed, transparent conversation about what kind of threat Canada is actually facing. It would also allow the Liberal government to demonstrate that it is doing more to address the issue, they say. Johnstons recommendation on the inquiry is set to come as part of an initial report about how the government should proceed with the allegations of interference. The former governor general is scheduled to give a news conference at noon on Tuesday upon releasing the report publicly. In what many saw at the time as too little, too late, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau tapped Johnston in March to lead an investigation into the extent and impact of foreign interference in Canada. The federal government said it gave Johnston access to classified documents and Canadas security agencies to conduct that work. Though opposition parties had by then been clamouring for a formal public inquiry for weeks, Trudeau said Johnston would have until late May to decide whether it was warranted. He would have until the end of October to produce a final report. The pressure has not abated since then. The way that the conversation has evolved over the past few months has really aggravated and made more stark partisan divides in the country, said University of Ottawa professor Artur Wilczynski. That, in my opinion, has not contributed to an effective defence of Canadian democracy and has not contributed to an effective governmental response to the threats of foreign interference. Wilczynski, who spent more than 30 years in the public service working on foreign policy, intelligence, security and defence issues, said an inquiry would help bring the conversation back around to the details of the foreign interference threat itself and how Canada should position itself to combat that threat. The signs that foreign interference was happening and getting worse were already in plain sight well before the current controversy began. Officials in Canada knew the 2016 American election was subject to foreign interference attempts. And for years, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service has been warning of growing concern in its annual reports. But a series of reports by the Globe and Mail and Global News beginning last fall, many of which cited unnamed security sources, brought new attention to the issue. The reports alleged that specific influence attempts had taken place in the 2019 and 2021 federal elections. Despite various attempts by officials to talk about foreign interference, the only thing that prompted a real fundamental conversation about foreign interference were the illegal leaks, Wilczynski said. When a Global News report was published in November that alleged China was funding campaigns through an illegal network of donors, Trudeau and his officials said they had no knowledge of specific candidates receiving backing by Beijing. But the government began showing signs that it was reframing its approach to China. A week after the allegations emerged, Trudeaus office said the prime minister raised concerns about interference with Chinese President Xi Jinping face-to-face at the G20 summit. Later the same month, Canada released an Indo-Pacific strategy that dedicated a slice of its $2.3 billion value to combating foreign interference. And before November ended, then-RCMP commissioner Brenda Lucki confirmed an ongoing investigation into broad foreign interference allegations. Still, the calls for further scrutiny were amplified as more reports emerged, including a February story from the Globe and Mail that asserted the Chinese government sought to defeat Conservative politicians in the 2021 election who were considered unfriendly to the regime. By the time Trudeau announced in early March that a special rapporteur would be named and that investigations by the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians and the National Security and Intelligence Review Agency would begin the writing was on the wall. His political opponents already saw any action other than an independent public inquiry as far too little. A parliamentary committee passed a non-binding motion calling on the government to begin one. Its created a huge political drama for the Liberal government and put it on the defensive, certainly, said Wesley Wark, a senior fellow with the Centre for International Governance Innovation. The Liberal government has struggled to come up with a convincing portrait of the actions and policies it has taken to respond forcefully to foreign interference. It clearly has done some things, but it hasnt been enough. Since Trudeau named Johnston as the special rapporteur in mid-March, the government promised funding to combat foreign interference in its 2023 budget, launched consultations on a foreign agent registry and ordered security agencies to improve their reporting mechanism up to the political level. But even as the Liberals sought to show they were working on the issue, still more reports emerged that ramped up the pressure. Days after Johnstons appointment which itself was controversial, since Conservatives accused him of being too close to Trudeau MP Han Dong announced he was leaving the Liberal caucus. Global News had published a story citing unidentified security sources who alleged Dong told a Chinese diplomat in February 2021 that releasing Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor would benefit the Conservatives. The two Canadian men had been detained in China since December 2018, just over a week after the RCMP arrested Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou in Vancouver on a U.S. extradition warrant. Global had previously published allegations that Dong benefited from Chinese foreign interference in his successful bid to become the Liberal candidate for his riding in 2019. Dong has denied the allegations and is suing Global over its reporting. Early this month, the Globe and Mail reported that Conservative MP Michael Chong and his relatives in Hong Kong had been targeted by the Chinese government via a Toronto-based diplomat. Chong said he confirmed that allegation was contained in a CSIS intelligence assessment that had reached officials in the Privy Council Office, while Trudeau denied that the information about the alleged threat had ever reached his office. Canada expelled the accused Chinese official. China responded by expelling a Canadian diplomat. And this week, the public safety minister ordered security agencies to ensure that any future threats against parliamentarians, their families or their staff are communicated at the political level. For Wilczynski, this latest chapter in the story has brought home the tangible implications of foreign meddling. It was one thing for people to imagine that an electoral candidate might have received financial support from people linked to a foreign regime. It was another to think about allegations that a parliamentarians family members were being actively threatened. This crystallized for Canadians in a very robust way what the scope of the threat is, he said. Its against that backdrop that Johnston is now expected to recommend the governments best course of action. Formal hearings would give elections officials, political parties, parliamentarians, provinces, communities and other actors a voice, Wilczynski said and in a thoughtful way talk about what the threat is, and what their experiences are. Trudeau has said he will abide by Johnstons recommendations, including if he recommends a public inquiry. Its a big burden to bear, Wark noted. Johnstons been thrust out in front of this problem. And he will take the heat. This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 22, 2023. Read more about: SHARE: Foreign Affairs Minister Bogdan Aurescu, attending on Monday the Foreign Affairs Council meeting in Brussels, emphasized the need for Russia's international isolation to continue, and voiced support for the fast adoption of the 11th round of sanctions against the aggressor state, the Foreign Ministry reports. He highlighted the importance of an effective implementation of the restrictions adopted so far and of preventing their circumvention by third countries. During the exchange of views with counterparts from the Western Balkans, Minister Aurescu welcomed their presence, as a continuation of the practice initiated at the May 2022 FAC meeting, where partners from the Balkans were invited for the first time to meet with European ministers, and expressed his confidence that such periodic FAC discussions will contribute to boosting cooperation with this region. Aurescu reiterated support for the European path of the states in the region, with the EU being their closest partner, including through the dedicated Economic and Investment Plan, and expressed Romania's full readiness to support their pro-European efforts, encouraging a stepped up pace of internal reforms in order to maintain a sustainable positive dynamic. The Romanian top diplomat also referred to the difficult context generated by the consequences of the Russian aggression against Ukraine and the implications for the region, welcoming the progress made by most of the partners in aligning with the EU's Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) decisions, and particularly with those targeting Russia, and avoidance of sanctions evasion. In this context, Aurescu encouraged the continuation of efforts to align with the CFSP, not only as a technical exercise, but especially as an expression of support for shared European values, and highlighted the importance of strengthening pro-European strategic communication, as well as of combating foreign interference amid the current difficult geopolitical context which requires an increased commitment to building an EU - Western Balkans common resilience space. AGERPRES Average value of extra-salary benefits in Romania up by 11 pct in 2022 (study). The average monthly value of extra-salary benefits granted in Romania, in 2022, increased by 11% compared to the previous year, up to 696 RON/month for each employee, show the results of an annual Benefit study, conducted by Edenred Romania. The top of the most desired extra-salary benefits in 2022 remained the same as in the previous year, but recorded significant increases in preferences among employees: gifts - benefits in kind (28%, up 44% from 2021), domestic tourism, through holiday vouchers (25%, up 50%) and gifts offered for special occasions (15%, by 39% higher), told Agerpres. At the same time, a preferred benefit for employees is teleworking, also used for paying utilities. The cited top excludes the meal tickets, which remain the number 1 benefit for employees in Romania. The study reveals that all sectors of activity in Romania have seen increases in flexible benefits budgets offered to employees. Thus, companies in the financial services area rank first, with an average budget of 792 RON/month/employee, being the sector with the highest increase compared to 2021, when the average monthly budget allocated was 622 RON/ employee. Ranking second, as in 2021, are IT & software companies, which have seen an increase in the average monthly budget allocated from 676 RON/employee to 726 RON/employee, and the third position goes to service companies, where employers allocated an average budget of 723 RON/month/employee. Ranking last are construction companies, with an average of 408 RON/month/employee, and the health and social assistance sector, with an average budget of 415 RON/month/employee. According to the cited source, employees in the finance & services sector access an average of 3.3 flexible benefits per month, followed by those in IT & software, with an average of three flexible benefits, and employees in manufacturing and industry, with an average of 2.3 flexible benefits. In terms of flexible benefits, the ranking is led by Millennials (1981-1995), with an average of three benefits, followed by Generation X (1961-1980), with 2.8 benefits on average, and Generation Z (>1995), with an average of 2.7 benefits. The last place goes to Baby Boomers (1945-1960), with an average of 2.5 benefits. Edenred is the market leader as a digital platform for services and payments and connects 52 million users and two million merchant-partners through 950,000 corporate customers in 45 countries. Ukraine and Japan will hold a joint conference on Ukraine's recovery, according to the website of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy following his meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida at the G7 summit. In particular, the parties agreed to hold a Ukrainian-Japanese conference on Ukraine's recovery and the involvement of private business in this process. The leaders discussed the possibility of Japanese investment in production of hydrogen, lithium batteries, cars, power equipment, as well as in the construction of overpasses and railway infrastructure. Zelenskyy reportedly thanked Japan for the allocated $7.6 billion financial aid package, as well as for the decision to accept wounded Ukrainian servicemen for treatment at the Self-Defense Forces hospital and for additional assistance in the form of 100 trucks for the needs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Zelenskyy and Kishida discussed further steps to help Ukraine from the Japanese government, in particular to strengthen the logistical capabilities of the Ukrainian defense forces. The head of state stressed that Ukraine is counting on Japan's support for holding a global summit on the implementation of the Ukrainian peace formula. Bucharest Tech Week kicks off in Bucharest on Monday. Bucharest Tech Week - the largest technology and innovation festival in Central and Eastern Europe - starts on Monday in Bucharest and brings together over 70 speakers, international and local tech experts, 1,500 professionals from various areas and business verticals, from more than a hundred companies, told Agerpres. According to the organiser, Universum Expo, the first five days of the event are run under the name "Business Summits" and dedicated to niche conferences focused on Innovation, HR, Retail, Java and Software Architecture, which will take place at Nord Events Center by Globalworth. Also, on the weekend of May 26 - 28, Romexpo Pavilion B1 will host the largest technology and innovation exhibition in Central and Eastern Europe - Tech Expo, open to the general public. Participation in Business Summits (May 22 and 26) is based on a ticket that can be purchased directly from the event website, while attendance at Tech Expo is free for all persons over 18 years of age, with prior registration on https://www.techexpo.ro/. The organiser of the technology event is Universum Expo, and the AGERPRES National News Agency is one of the media partners of the conference. Bucharest Tech Week is the festival that transforms Bucharest into the international capital of technology and brings together both professionals and enthusiasts of technology and innovation. The Government is ready to implement the vision of student-centered education, Prime Minister Nicolae Ciuca conveyed, on Monday, in a message in which he welcomed the adoption of the new education laws in Parliament and, at the same time, made appeal to teachers to return to the classroom during this extremely important period for students. "I welcome the approval of the new education laws by the Romanian Parliament, which include solutions to increase access to education for every child and support the performances of those who deserve it. The Government of Romania is prepared to implement the vision of student-centered education. The measures already being implemented to prevent school dropouts will be complemented by new ones such as A book for everyone', but also by solutions to combat functional illiteracy, ensuring safety in educational units and combating violence in schools, better training of teaching staff", Nicolae Ciuca said in a post on the Facebook page of the Government. He emphasized that the Government he leads understands the importance of Education for the whole society. "Beyond legislative changes and reforms, we provide the necessary resources and are determined to find solutions to all the problems accumulated over time. We remain open to dialogue so that, together with the union representatives, we can find solutions that reflect the importance we attach, and on one side and the other, the students, the education staff and the quality of the educational act", added Ciuca. In this context, the prime minister reiterated the call addressed to all the staff in the education system to return to current activities. "I appeal to the teaching staff and all the education staff to return to the department, especially in this extremely important period for the students, in which they need our support and encouragement!", Ciuca added. At the same time, he gave assurances that the Government is currently working on the new salary law. "At the level of the Government and the ministries, we are working on the new salary law, for which we have established a tight calendar for elaboration and promotion in the Parliament, but also on the other projects of normative acts that we have assumed. We have increased the budget by six billion lei Education this year and we have 3.6 billion euros allocated from the PNRR for schools and universities, to finance the modernization of the educational system. The consultations we have with the education unions show, once again, the assumption of responsibility at the level of the Government and the governing coalition that we can find solutions through dialogue and openness," Ciuca also said. The Senate adopted, on Monday, as a decision-making body, the draft law on pre-university education and the law on higher education, with amendments. AGERPRES Education employees, determined to take to the streets massively, trade unions say. Education employees threaten to take to the streets massively, in parallel with the general strike, if the gov't does not come up with proposals to solve the problems they face, according to a joint release by the Federation of Free Trade Unions in Education, the Spiru Haret Federation of Education Unions and the Alma Mater National Trade Union Federation,, issued on Monday to AGERPRES. The three federations, on behalf of the employees in education whose rights and interests they represent, rejected the "so-called offer of the Romanian Government" on Sunday. "We don't need social aid! We are not socially assisted! We need decent salaries! We didn't decide to strike overnight! We don't play political games! It's the strike of the school people, it's the strike of over 200,000 employees in education, who are fed up with the indifference of the governors. It is the strike of those who say bluntly: This is not possible anymore! Now, more than ever, it is important to show unity. We thank the parents and students for their support and understanding!" the trade unionists say. The general strike in education was launched on Monday, 22 May, and will continue until the trade unionists receive a credible solution from the government, which offers very clear perspectives, the president of the Spiru Haret Federation of Education Unions, Marius Ovidiu Nistor, said on Sunday, at the end of the negotiations at the gov't venue, the Victoria Palace, told Agerpres. More than 150,000 teaching staff and about 70,000 auxiliary teaching and non-teaching staff are participating in the general strike, according to representatives of the Spiru Haret FSE. EnergMin: We wish to fully supply Rep. of Moldova with energy and natural gas from Romania. Energy Minister Virgil Popescu said on Monday that Romania wishes to fully and completely supply the Republic of Moldova with energy and natural gas from Romania, and he mentioned the memorandum approved last week in the Government on strengthening energy cooperation with the neighbouring country, told Agerpres. Asked about the energy relationship with the Republic of Moldova, Virgil Popescu stressed that "it is a priority for us, both in terms of natural gas and electricity supply". "As far as natural gas is concerned, we have the Iasi-Ungheni-Chisinau gas pipeline. Last week we approved a memorandum in the Government on strengthening energy cooperation with the Republic of Moldova. We are studying the increase in the interconnection capacity through this pipeline. We are at an advanced stage with the Suceava-Balti project, a 400 kV line to directly link the Republic of Moldova to Romania. We have two options for financing on Romania's territory, REPowerEU or the Modernisation Fund. Our Moldovan colleagues already have the financing for the part on the territory of the Republic of Moldova. Nuclearelectrica and Energocom have already signed a PPA [Power Purchase Agreement, ed.n] contract for Unit 3 and Unit 4. Basically, we want to fully and completely supply the Republic of Moldova with energy and natural gas from Romania," Virgil Popescu mentioned at the Energy Forum organised by Financial Intelligence. On 17 May, the Government spokesperson, Dan Carbunaru, announced that the Government has approved, by memorandum, a series of decisions aimed at interconnecting the natural gas and electricity networks between Romania and the Republic of Moldova, establishing, among other things, the extension of works on the Iasi - Ungheni - Chisinau gas pipeline through the construction of a transmission pipeline on the Chisinau ring-road. ForMin Aurescu participating in Foreign Affairs Council meeting. Bogdan Aurescu will participate on Monday in the meeting of the Foreign Ministers of the European Union member states (Foreign Affairs Council - FAC), which will take place in Brussels, told Agerpres. According to MAE, the ministers will have in-depth discussions on countering the effects of Russia's aggression against Ukraine and the situation in the Horn of Africa. European officials will also briefly address the EU engagement with Central Asia, developments in Tunisia, Armenia-Azerbaijan relations in the context of the EU's high-level diplomatic contacts with both countries. European foreign ministers will also exchange views with foreign ministers from the Western Balkans, continuing the practice initiated at the May 2022 FAC meeting of inviting partners from the region once a year to European foreign ministers' discussions. On the sidelines of the FAC meeting, the Romanian foreign minister will take part in an informal breakfast of the Group of Friends on qualified majority voting in the areas of the EU Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) and will participate in the launch event of the EU Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) Civil Compact, which will take place after the FAC meeting. The exchange of views on Russia's aggression against Ukraine will focus on military support for Ukraine, sanctions imposed on the aggressor, the Peace Formula proposed by President Zelensky and diplomatic efforts with third states to mobilise international support for Ukraine's initiative. Minister Bogdan Aurescu will reiterate Romania's "firm, multidimensional and continuous support" for Ukraine and will express the hope of reaching an agreement as soon as possible on the adoption of the eighth support package for the Ukrainian Armed Forces within the framework of the European Peace Facility. Minister Aurescu will stress the importance of maintaining, in parallel with EU military support, pressure on Russia by strengthening the sanctions regime - both through the adoption of the 11th sanction package and through measures to avoid circumvention of restrictions by third states. On holding Russia accountable, he will reiterate the idea of creating a Crime of Aggression Tribunal. In the exchange of views with Western Balkan partners, ministers will address cooperation and common interests in the CFSP area, as well as the challenges facing the region. The head of the Romanian diplomacy will reiterate the support for the European perspective of the Western Balkans partners. He will also present Romania's vision of the current difficult context, marked by the Russian aggression against Ukraine, with implications for the Western Balkans region. Minister Bogdan Aurescu will stress the importance of increased EU-Western Balkans cooperation in the areas of combating cyber attacks, external interference and information manipulation, in view of increasing the resilience of the region and a stronger pro-European strategic communication. Discussions on the Horn of Africa take place against the background of recent developments in the region, including in Sudan. European ministers will be invited to assess these developments, their impact on regional stability and the EU's response. Minister Bogdan Aurescu will express support for the EU's diplomatic outreach efforts at regional and international level, particularly in the context of the increasing risks of regional contagion from the crisis in Sudan and the possible extension of the Wagner Group's influence in the region. The minister of Foreign Affairs, Bogdan Aurescu, will inaugurate, on Tuesday, the trilateral format Romania - Spain - Poland, during a meeting that will take place in Valencia, Kingdom of Spain, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs reported. The inaugural meeting will be hosted by the minister of Foreign Affairs, European Affairs and Cooperation of the Kingdom of Spain, Jose Manuel Albares Bueno, and Poland will be represented by the minister of Foreign Affairs, Zbigniew Rau. According to a press release from the Romanian Ministry, "the initiation of this trilateral dialogue represents a materialization of close cooperation between the three countries at the EU and NATO level, based on similar and interconnected strategic interests, even if they are located at different ends of the European continent". In addition, each of the three states exercises special responsibilities at the external border of the EU and NATO with the two Neighbourhoods - Eastern and Southern, states the quoted source. This trilateral format will therefore facilitate "an even better mutual understanding at the EU and NATO level between the three states, with the objective of approaching the positions for coordination and the advancement of priorities and actions of common interest, taking into account the perceptions and evaluations of each state in terms of risks and challenges that the European and Euro-Atlantic space of security and values is currently facing". The agenda of the inaugural meeting will include the priorities of the Spanish Presidency of the Council of the European Union, the next two Summits of the European Political Community in Chisinau, on June 1, and in Granada, on October 5, the strategic resilience of the European Union, EU enlargement, migration issues, consolidation of the Schengen area, cooperation in energy security. In the plan of security and cooperation within NATO, topics such as: managing the consequences of Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine, support for Ukraine and for the other partners most affected by Russia's conduct, especially the Republic of Moldova, the priorities of the NATO Summit in Vilnius will be addressed. from this year, the challenges faced by the Eastern and Southern Neighborhood of the Black Sea, the Baltic Sea, and the Mediterranean Sea, respectively. During the inaugural meeting of the trilateral format, minister Bogdan Aurescu will reiterate "the firm and multidimensional support for Ukraine and will have an exchange of views with his counterparts on coordination modalities to provide consolidated support to Ukraine and to mobilize support at the international level for the Formula of Peace proposed by the president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, solutions regarding the accountability of Russia, the reconstruction and the European and Euro-Atlantic perspective of this country". Minister Aurescu will also mention the importance of maintaining the stability and security of the Republic of Moldova and will highlight the importance of opening EU accession negotiations with the Republic of Moldova, at the same time with Ukraine, in the perspective of the end of this year. At the same time, the minister will express thanks for the firm support of Spain and Poland and will reiterate the importance of maintaining firm and active support from Spain and Poland in order to complete Romania's accession to the Schengen area.AGERPRES General strike in education starts Monday. The Education Unions are launching a general strike on Monday dissatisfied with the salaries of personnel in the system, with the protest continuing until the Government comes up with a credible solution, which provides very clear prospects, only then, those who have signed for its commencement will give up this form of protest, told Agerpres. The unionists advise parents to keep their children at home during the strike, although they have given assurances that "there will be no lockout in schools." "There are schools that will be 100pct on strike and there is no one to supervise them. The recommendation to parents is to keep their children at home, but schools are not closing. Let's be very clear: no lockdowns on schools. Where there are teachers who are not on strike, they will take care of the children if they are to come to school," President of the Federation of Education Free Trade Unions (FSLI) Simion Hancescu stated at the end of negotiations at the Victoria Palace. Government representatives proposed, at the meeting with trade union leaders on Sunday, financial incentives for new teachers and tenured teachers in educational units located in disadvantaged areas. The Executive also maintained its commitment to increase salaries up to the maximum of the non-teaching staff scale included in Annex 8, in addition to the application of Salary Law No. 153, a Government press release mentioned. This measure, aimed at increasing income, will be extended to the other categories of employees in Annex 8. President of the "Spiru Haret" Trade Unions Federation in Education Marius Ovidiu Nistor underscored that in order to stop such an action, trade unionists must receive from the Executive a solution that is credible and which provides very clear prospects. "I would have wished and it is the wish of all those who work in the system that this general strike had not taken place. We didn't want it, we were forced to end up here. It is an accumulation of grievances, and its duration depends strictly on the response that the Government gives and of course on the desire of our colleagues," Nistor mentioned on Sunday. HealthMin Rafila signs declaration on stroke, under the Stroke Action Plan for Europe (SAP-E). The Minister of Health, Alexandru Rafila, signed the Stroke Action Plan for Europe (SAP-E), which aims to reduce the strokes number, told Agerpres. According to a press release of the Ministry of Health sent to AGERPRES on Monday, the plan is developed by the European Stroke Organization and the Stroke Alliance for Europe, it must be implemented by 2030 and aims to reduce the number of strokes and their long-term consequences. The declaration contains four major objectives to be achieved by 2030: reducing the number of strokes by 10%, treating at least 90% of stroke patients in a specialized unit ("stroke unit") as the first level of care, the development of national stroke plans covering the entire chain of care, the development and implementation of strategies for multisectoral public health interventions with a favourable impact on cerebrovascular diseases. By signing this Declaration, the Ministry of Health will support the development and implementation of measures at the national level, with the aim of improving the entire chain of care for stroke patients, including the development of primary and secondary prevention strategies, the improvement of emergency medicine services, optimizing the management of acute stroke cases, ensuring access to rehabilitation and improving the quality of long-term care. The Ministry of Health will work for the implementation of these measures in collaboration with professional partners at the national level (the Neurology Commission within the Ministry of Health and the Romanian Society of Neurology) and internationally (European Stroke Organization, World Stroke Organization and European Federation of Neurorehabilitation Societies). In this context, the signing of the Declaration falls within the objectives of the National Health Strategy 2023-2030 and the National Strategy for Cardiovascular and Cerebrovascular Diseases in Romania, a project initiated by the Ministry of Health and coordinated by university professor Dragos Vinereanu, PhD, and university professor Dafin F. Muresanu, PhD, corresponding members of the Romanian Academy. These strategies will work in synergy with the Stroke Action Plan for Europe, to strengthen the efforts to prevent and treat strokes in our country. Stroke is one of the main causes of death and disability globally. Studies show that, in the absence of effective measures, the burden of stroke could increase by 25% in the next decade. PM Ciuca: 945 villages will be connected to internet through PNRR. A number of 945 villages will be connected to very high speed internet through the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR), Prime Minister Nicolae Ciuca said on Monday. State Adviser Sorin Costreie presented a message from the Prime Minister at the opening of the 7th edition of the Bucharest Tech Week technology and innovation festival, told Agerpres. "Through the National Recovery and Resilience Plan, 945 white areas, villages in remote areas, will be connected to very high speed internet. At the same time, 374 million euros are allocated from the PNRR to implement government cloud infrastructure in Romania. By the end of 2024, 30 public institutions in our country will be fully interconnected and will use the government cloud for data exchange. (...) Also, according to Romania's commitments under the PNRR, by 2025, we will increase to 101 the number of entities with critical value for national security, which have the information and communication infrastructure protected against advanced cyber attacks," said the PM. According to him, the Government has assumed "an active role" in the development of technology and digital solutions, supporting the strengthening of this infrastructure and the promotion of innovation. Based on a memorandum approved last autumn, the Ministry of Research, Innovation and Digitisation has made operational the Scientific Council for Artificial Intelligence, which brings together specialists from the country and the diaspora. "Their expertise will ensure the scientific foundation of the strategic decisions that Romania will make in the area of artificial intelligence. Also, under the coordination of colleagues from the Ministry of Research, Innovation and Digitisation, the Romanian Artificial Intelligence Hub has been included as a strategic project in the Operational Programme Smart Growth, Digitisation and Financial Instruments, worth 52 million euros. Through this initiative we will stimulate the retention in the country of highly qualified human resources in the area of artificial intelligence and we will support the development of Romanian start-ups," said Nicolae Ciuca. The Prime Minister also mentioned other initiatives in the area: Ion, a governmental advisor on artificial intelligence; the approval of the law on cyber security and defence of Romania; the inauguration in Bucharest of the European Cyber Security Competence Centre. He quoted investments such as the Amazon Development Center Romania, based in Iasi, which has 2,000 employees and which will reach 5,000 once Palas Campus is completed. At the same time, Nokian Tyres, in Oradea, represents "one of the biggest investments" in Romania in recent years, the Prime Minister mentioned. "Romania will be the second country in the world after the United States to build a NuScale power plant with small modular reactors, our project gaining the confidence and support of the most important financial institutions in the world. We have recently had a meeting at the Victoria Palace with representatives of AE Solar and the Black Sea University Network, on which occasion the company announced that it will open a new solar panel production plant in Romania, with an investment value of almost one billion euros," added Ciuca. The Prime Minister added that the Ministry of Research and Digitisation has seen a 70% increase in its budget this year, proof that the Executive is capitalising on Romania's innovative research potential. Romania, promoted at IMEX Frankfurt International Tourism Fair. The Ministry of Entrepreneurship and Tourism (MAT) will be present with a national stand at the IMEX Frankfurt International Tourism Fair, Germany, from May 23-25, the institution said in a press release on Monday. Considered the most important event in the world, the fair, dedicated to the MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences, Exhibitions) industry, brings together specialists from both the tourism and the event organisation sectors, where a range of business services and solutions, travel services, services and event management solutions will be presented to the public, told Agerpres. "Romania's participation in the IMEX 2023 fair in Frankfurt is an important step in promoting our country's potential in this area and, implicitly, in attracting investment in the event tourism industry. The German market is a priority market for the promotion of Romanian tourism, as Germany is the first country to send tourists to Romania," said Minister of Entrepreneurship and Tourism Constantin-Daniel Cadariu. According to the Ministry's representatives, starting with Romania's participation in IMEX Frankfurt 2023, any economic operator in the sector who wishes to promote the destination outside Romania and expand its business to foreign tourists can submit the documentation in order to benefit from non-reimbursable financial aid from MAT, granted under the de minimis aid scheme for the participation of tourism enterprises in exhibitions, national pavilions, specialist stands or mini-exhibitions in which the Ministry of Entrepreneurship and Tourism participates abroad. Romania is participating in this year's IMEX Frankfurt with a 54,62 sqm stand. During the event, MAT will present Romania's MICE offer and will provide additional information to those interested. A first for the MAT team is the promotion of the "George Enescu" Festival among foreign participants. The 26th edition of the festival will take place from August 27 to September 24, 2023, in Bucharest, and will gather more than 3,500 artists, 150 soloists and 40 conductors, 41 orchestras from 16 countries and no less than 9 Romanian orchestras. "Generosity through music" is the slogan of the festival. During the meeting of the G7, the Ukrainian theme was central, respect for Ukrainians was special, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a video message on Sunday. "Today, on Sunday, here in Hiroshima, Ukraine was a truly honored participant in the work of the G7. The topic of Ukraine is principal, the respect for all Ukrainians is special," he said. Zelenskyy noted the bilateral meetings he held. "Meeting with President Biden and, as always, we become stronger after such talks. Meeting with the leader of Indonesia meaningful. Meeting with the President of the Republic of Korea there is potential for strong relations. Meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau thank you, Justin. I also spoke with the leaders of Vietnam and Australia. We spoke separately and in detail with the Prime Minister of Japan we will enhance cooperation," he said. "There was also a very important ceremony and address at the Peace Memorial Museum in Hiroshima," he added. "The world hears our position. Protection and security guarantees, the return of all our territories, all our people, justice, the implementation of our Peace Formula... We have an understanding with the world majority on every important point for Ukraine. And together we will increase Ukraine's potential," Zelenskyy said. Romania wants to reach 10 GW renewable energy by 2027 (minister). Romania wants to reach 10 GW of renewable energy by 2027, and in the next two to three years another 3 GW will be put into the grid, Energy Minister Virgil Popescu announced on Monday. "In June we will complete the evaluation and signing of contracts for the almost 3 GW of renewable energy, solar and wind, through the PNRR, because there has been an oversubscription of projects. We have a lot of projects, in total almost 3 GW of renewable energy. This means that in the next two to three years we will have at least another 3 GW in the grid. We want to have 10 GW of renewable energy by 2027," Virgil Popescu said at the Energy Forum, at Financial Intelligence. He mentioned that the construction of the 1,700 MW natural gas-fired power plant has started at the Mintia site. In his opinion, evacuating energy from east to west and balancing Romania's entire energy transmission system will have to begin. "We are in discussions with European partners, with Emirati partners to be able to start this project. I am convinced that we are very close to reaching an agreement," said Virgil Popescu. At the same time, the Minister of Energy wants to discuss with ANRE and all distributors in order to prioritise their investments to be able to take as much renewable energy as possible into the electricity distribution system, told Agerpres. "Prosumers have increased a lot and this is a great thing. In a briefing from Transelectrica, which came to us yesterday, we are talking about almost 660 MW installed by prosumers in the grid. Just think, since the change in the legislation, from December 2021, which we have made, it is practically an explosion - and it is a gratifying thing," Virgil Popescu added. Regarding the NuScale SMR modular reactors, Virgil Popescu stressed that they are working on the process of completing funding. Tres Court International Film Festival, in 10 cities across Romania. The Tres Court International Film Festival returns from 2 to 11 June 2023 with the world's best movie productions of up to 4 minutes, presented in fifty cities around the world, told Agerpres. "Coordinated in Romania by the French Institute and supported by Orange, the festival is coming this year to ten cities around our country, with screenings in cinemas, outdoors or in various alternative spaces: Arad, Baia-Mare, Bucharest, Cluj-Napoca, Iasi, Oradea, Pitesti, Rasnov, Sighetu Marmatiei, Timisoara. From Montreal to Venice, from China to Romania and from the Seychelles to New Caledonia, the public will vibrate to the rhythm of the very short movies which, this year more than ever, will reveal the talent and relevance of the new generation of filmmakers," a press release of the French Institute of Romania in Cluj-Napoca informs on Monday. According to the quoted source, this world event attracts over 15,000 spectators from 5 continents every year. At the end of the festival, in Tours (France), 9 prizes will be awarded, including the Grand Prix worth 1500 EUR, the Women's Rights Award worth 1000 EUR and the International Public Award, for which Romanian spectators will also be invited to vote. "Telling a story in less than four minutes may seem improbable. And yet, in an age where everything is accelerating, where climate, social and technological changes are at the center of reflection and debate, filmmakers are exercising their virtuosity through this condensed format that captures the essence. The festival is an opportunity for the younger generation to showcase their creations on the big screen to a global audience. For viewers, it is an opportunity to laugh, to cry, to be moved, to be challenged or even disturbed by the subjects treated with force, boldness, humor or poetry," the press release showed. Gift this article Share this article paywall-free. ST. LOUIS As the worlds experts in mapping and geospatial technology converged downtown on Monday, the director of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency announced changes for the agency here and spoke about new programs it will work on in the years to come. In his address, Director Vice Adm. Frank Whitworth announced that in honor of the agencys host city here, its campus, NGA West, will now be known as NGA St. Louis. The name will apply to the campus the agency already occupies here and to the new $1.7 billion western headquarters it is building in north St. Louis. The smaller site in Arnold, Missouri, will be known as NGA Arnold. The agencys location in Virginia, near the Pentagon, which has been referred to as NGA East, will become NGA Main. Whitworth was confirmed as NGAs director in February of 2022, succeeding Vice Adm. Robert Sharp. His remarks were made at the GEOINT Symposium, an annual gathering for the geospatial industry that draws military and intelligence officials, larger private sector geospatial companies, and scores of early-stage businesses looking to advertise their tech. It was also held in St. Louis in 2021. The agency is on track to move into the new space in north St. Louis in late 2025, Whitworth said. Whitworth spoke about the agencys work in artificial intelligence and machine learning. During a press conference later in the day, Whitworth described AI as a possible tool for the deluge control problem, where agencies gather vast amounts of information, but only have so many people and so much time to sort through it. The way ahead for the next 20 years has everything to do with our ability to manage the coming onslaught of data. We need to be able to quickly and accurately create order from chaos, Whitworth said in his keynote. The agency is also working with NASA on a positioning and navigation system for the moon. James Griffith, director of NGA Source, told reporters Monday afternoon that there is still a lot of exploratory work to do, and there is not yet a target end date for the project. We know the types of data we need to collect, but we dont necessarily know how to collect it in that type of environment, because our tools arent built for that, Griffith said. This is truly breaking ground in science, he said. Gift this article Share this article paywall-free. As Missouri girds for an anticipated fight at the ballot box next year over an amendment overturning its near-total abortion ban, some Republicans have begun saying they expect a majority of voters to support restoring access to the procedure. The stark admissions have also been accompanied by intense efforts to make it harder for Missourians to amend the state constitution an extraordinary acknowledgment that the Republican-controlled General Assembly must erode direct democracy in the state or risk decades of anti-abortion policy unraveling in a single election. I think we all believe that an initiative petition will be brought forth to allow choice, House Speaker Dean Plocher, a St. Louis Republican, said Friday. I believe it will pass. Absolutely. Plochers remarkable comments come near the beginning of what is almost certain to be a furious 18-month race to the November 2024 general election, when an abortion rights amendment is likely to appear if one qualifies for the ballot. Missouri, the first state to ban abortion after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June 2022, could also potentially become the first state where voters reverse an abortion ban. Ending the ban would be a seismic event in Missouri, opening a path for the return of abortion clinics after years of restrictions imposed by the General Assembly effectively whittled access down to a single location in St. Louis even before the ban, sending residents into Kansas, Illinois and elsewhere for the procedure. Eleven amendments have been proposed so far that would allow various levels of abortion access and abortion rights supporters are expected to seek signatures through an initiative petition to place at least one on the ballot. Republican lawmakers have until then to pass an overhaul to the initiative petition process that would raise the threshold for passing an amendment at a statewide vote and, the thinking goes, place a victory out of reach for abortion rights supporters. A compromise lawmakers agreed to last week but couldnt pass through the Missouri Senate would have required amendments to receive 57% of the vote instead of the current simple majority, a threshold that would have prevented recreational marijuana legalization from passing last November (the measure received 53% of the vote). GOP leaders have already said they will try again next year. Whatever changes the General Assembly approves must then itself go to a statewide vote and pass with a simple majority. Republicans have signaled they would try to win support for the overhaul with arguments that the state constitution, at 253 pages, has grown too complex and that a higher bar for passage will require amendments to receive more buy-in from rural voters. One idea that was discarded during negotiations, but could be revived next year, would require amendments to also win a majority of congressional districts if they only obtain a simple majority statewide. The change would empower residents in the rural areas to block amendments even if a majority of voters support them. The threat of abortion with no restrictions looms large and we are committed to finding the answer early next year. That timeline allows us to see the actual language of abortion advocates and plan a path to defeat it, Senate Majority Leader Cindy OLaughlin, a Shelbina Republican, wrote in a newsletter to constituents Monday explaining that the Senate would act on initiative petition changes in 2024. The anti-abortion group Missouri Right to Life has been even more blunt, calling the initiative petition overhaul the Resolution to Protect our Constitution and Keep Missouri Pro-Life. A dramatic expansion of abortion access For abortion rights supporters, the urgency among Republicans and abortion opponents only underscores their belief that they hold the upper hand with voters. We know that Missourians positions and personal thoughts on abortion can be nuanced and complex, but regardless of an individuals personal opinions, by and large, they do not think that it is politicians business, and they dont think that politicians should have the final say over individuals access to this basic health care, said Mallory Schwarz, executive director of Pro-Choice Missouri. Polling by Saint Louis University and YouGov of nearly 450 voters in August 2022 found that 48% support reversing the ban, while 40% would vote to continue the ban. The question had a margin of error of plus or minus 5.93%. The poll appears to show Missourians support some restrictions on abortion, even if a plurality also support overturning the states ban. While 58% of voters said abortion should be legal during the first eight weeks of pregnancy (a period during which many women dont know theyre pregnant), only 40% said it should be legal through the first 15 weeks compared to 46% who said it shouldnt. Just 32% said abortion should be legal when a woman wants one for any reason. The poll didnt ask about support for legal abortion up to the point of viability (around 24 weeks). While all of the pending petitions would guarantee the right to reproductive freedom in the state constitution, they range from allowing all abortions to only restricting abortions after a certain time period such as 24 weeks. Without knowing what policy might be able to move forward, we have an opportunity to create a level of access that has not existed in years with something that can pass, Schwarz said. And I think the policies proposed could restore 99% of access in our state and would be a dramatic expansion of access broader than weve seen in Missouri in decades. Anna Fitz-James, a retired St. Louis pediatrician, filed the Missouri petitions in March on behalf of a political action committee called Missourians for Constitutional Freedom. The group appears to have no public presence, hasnt responded to reporter phone calls, and reports to the Missouri Ethics Commission show it has raised very little money, if any. Fitz-James declined to comment. Michael Pridmore, Missourians for Constitutional Freedoms treasurer, didnt respond to a request for comment. Tori Schafer, deputy director for policy and campaigns at the ACLU of Missouri, said lawmakers know abortion is popular, and thats why theyre afraid of majority rule. The ACLU of Missouri is representing Fitz-James in a lawsuit against Missouri Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft, Attorney General Andrew Bailey and Auditor Scott Fitzpatrick, all Republicans, over delays in posting official ballot summaries and fiscal notes for the petitions. Even though some Republicans say that while an abortion rights measure of some kind could pass, its chances depend in large measure on how far the proposal goes in allowing the procedure. Senate President Pro Tem Caleb Rowden, a Columbia Republican, said it would depend on what the left does. I think if the political left decided that they were going to be reasonable in how they put something on the ballot relative to abortion, they probably have a chance, Rowden said. Abortion rights supporters have won every statewide election on abortion access across the country since the end of Roe last June. More than 59% of Kansas voters in August rejected an amendment that would have allowed state lawmakers to ban abortion the first election since the Supreme Court decision. Other states including Kentucky, Montana and Vermont have followed in voting in favor of abortion rights. Against that backdrop, Missouri Senate Minority Leader John Rizzo, an Independence Democrat, said Republicans had let the cat out of the bag after Plocher tied the initiative petition overhaul to abortion. If he wants to explicitly link abortion or the ability for a woman to have autonomy over her body to (initiative petition), great, he said. They wont like the outcome of that. I promise you. Go ask Kansas. Fights over ballot candy Missouri Republicans have been trying to restrict the initiative petition process for years, either by tightening signature-gathering requirements or raising the bar for passage at a statewide vote. The proposals have never passed, either becoming overtaken by larger priorities or bogged down by infighting. But Republicans have now linked the initiative petition overhaul effort to one of their core political issues opposition to abortion in a way that could place enormous pressure on any GOP holdouts. Peverill Squire, a political science professor at the University of Missouri-Columbia, said Republicans could have likely headed off some of the anger at the states ban if they had enacted additional exceptions this year. However, the potency of abortion politics among the Republican base makes that effectively impossible. Theyre in a position politically within their primaries where they cant really do that, Squire said. And so now theyre facing giving the voters a choice of all or nothing. Samuel Lee, a lobbyist for the anti-abortion Campaign Life Missouri, said a proposal with enough ballot candy official ballot summary language that entices voters could have a chance of passing with a simple majority (opponents of initiative petition changes have also leveled ballot candy accusations at GOP proposals). But whether any of the 11 abortion amendments currently put forward could pass is a different story, he said. Democrats have issued their own criticism of the deceptive ballot language on the initiative petition proposal that would be placed in front of voters, saying that Republicans were using confusing ballot candy to get voters to agree to take away their voting power. The ballot initiative considered by lawmakers this year would have asked Missourians to Allow only U.S. citizens to vote on ballot measures, despite the fact that the Missouri constitution already requires voters to be U.S. citizens. State Rep. David Tyson Smith, a Columbia Democrat, last week likened the summary to dog poop with icing on it. Ashcroft, who is running for governor, has proposed a summary for the abortion amendments that would say that they allow for dangerous, unregulated, and unrestricted abortions, according to late April letters from Bailey to Ashcroft that have been released publicly. They know that in order to block an abortion access ballot from being able to get the votes that it would need, they have to rely on tactics of manipulation and coercion, Schwarz, the Pro-Choice Missouri director, said. Lee called Ashcrofts proposed language pretty strong stuff but acknowledged a lawsuit will probably be filed against it. The voters will decide based on whats in front of them, Lee said, And the jurys still out on what is even going to be promoted. Gift this article Share this article paywall-free. BOSTON (AP) Scores of Boston University students turned their backs on the head of one of Hollywood's biggest studios, and some shouted pay your writers, as he gave the school's commencement address Sunday in a stadium where protesters supporting the Hollywood writers' strike picketed outside. About 100 protesters chanted No wages, no pages, waved signs and were accompanied by an inflatable rat outside Nickerson Field as David Zaslav, president and CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery, gave his address inside the stadium. Thousands of graduating students, family members and educators attending the graduation ceremony had to walk by the protesters to enter the stadium. Above the stadium, a small plane flew a banner that read, David Zaslav pay your writers. Kim Caramele, a writer and producer from North Stonington, Connecticut, said she hoped the protesters' presence at the graduation ceremony helped give students a different perspective on what they should value in life. The writers being here today can help show the students that wealth is different than good," said Caramele, a winner of Emmy and Peabody awards for work on her sister's show, Inside Amy Schumer. Inside the stadium, scores of students wearing red graduation gowns stood up during Zaslav's speech and turned their backs on him. Other students booed during his speech and shouted in support of the striking writers. Zaslav, a graduate of the universitys law school in the mid-1980s, was a contentious pick, with many alumni taking to social media with their objections. In a statement after the event, Zaslav said, I am grateful to my alma mater, Boston University, for inviting me to be part of todays commencement and for giving me an honorary degree, and, as I have often said, I am immensely supportive of writers and hope the strike is resolved soon and in a way that they feel recognizes their value. Saying the rise of streaming has hurt their earning power, about 11,500 members of the Writers Guild for America walked off the job at the beginning of May, after talks on a new contract broke down, and they havent returned to the negotiating table since. Its the first writers strike and the first Hollywood strike of any kind in 15 years. The union is seeking higher minimum pay, more writers per show and shorter exclusive contracts, among other demands all conditions it says have been diminished in the content boom driven by streaming. The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers has said that it had offered generous increases in compensation for writers as well as improvements in streaming residuals, including the highest first-year wage increase in a WGA contract in more than 25 years, and the creation of a new category of rates that would mean a new, higher minimum for mid-level writers. Gift this article Share this article paywall-free. Joe Holleman Joe Holleman is a reporter for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Follow Joe Holleman Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. Save Manage followed notifications Close Followed notifications Please log in to use this feature Log In Don't have an account? Sign Up Today Worried that the nations top space agency is more concerned about race than the space race, U.S. Sen. Eric Schmitt blasted NASA for its $22 million request to establish an Office of Diversity and Equal Opportunity. According to science publications, Schmitt said he disagrees with NASAs obsession with misguided woke policies related to climate change and diversity, equity, and inclusion. He went on to say that NASA should be laser-like focused in its approach to staying ahead of China in a burgeoning space race. China has no interest in out-DEI-ing us, Schmitt said. The comments came last week during a hearing of the space subcommittee of the Commerce Committee, with criticism of NASA also coming from U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas. Both Cruz and Schmitt accused NASA of becoming too aligned with partisan Biden administration policies and veering away from its longstanding nonpartisan foundations. If NASA is seen as partisan, that is very bad for space and space exploration, Cruz said. "So I hope NASA will continue its tradition of staying out of those battles." NASA chief Bill Nelson, a former U.S. senator, told former colleague Cruz that although the two have political differences, I can guarantee you that NASA is being run in a nonpartisan way. Gift this article Share this article paywall-free. The old adage that politics makes strange bedfellows must have seen this one coming: U.S. Sens. Josh Hawley, a conservative Missouri Republican, and Dick Durbin, a liberal Illinois Democrat, have joined forces on legislation that would make tech companies legally liable for child pornography posted on their sites. The two senators who had heated exchanges last year during the confirmation hearings of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson are sponsoring a bill aimed at cracking down on the spread of online material that shows the sexual abuse of children. The bill, which passed unanimously out of the Judiciary Committee last week and now heads to the full Senate, will allow victims to not only file suit against the makers of the videos, but also sue the online sites that knowingly host it. Ive just become convinced that maybe the only way to get the attention of these platforms is to give individuals the right to get into court and to have their day in court, Hawley said, according to the Washington Times. Durbin expressed his satisfaction with the vote on the measure, saying that legislators have shown a unanimity of purpose. Budanov appeals to Russian servicemen to surrender: you have choice to die or save your life Head of the Main Intelligence Agency of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, Kyrylo Budanov, recorded a video message to Russian servicemen, in which he called on them to surrender. "I appeal to the Russian military, those who were lucky to survive in the meat assaults and broken trenches: it will even be worse. You have a choice to die or save your life," Budanov said, according to the press service of the Main Intelligence Agency. He urged Russian servicemen to apply to the I Want to Live project. "You can end the war right now. No need to wait until you are killed or seriously injured. Contact the I Want to Live project, and we will help you get out of the impending meat grinder," Budanov stressed. Gift this article Share this article paywall-free. UPDATED at 11:40 a.m. Monday with name of victim ST. LOUIS Police on Monday identified a man shot and killed early Sunday at a motel near the St. Louis riverfront. Kevin Anderson, 27, of Indianapolis, was found shot about 2:30 a.m. in a stairwell at America's Best Value Inn, at 1100 Lumiere Place Boulevard. He had been shot in the chest and died at a hospital. Police have no suspects. Anderson apparently was killed by a man after the two got into a confrontation, police said. Kim Bell of the Post-Dispatch contributed to this report. Gift this article Share this article paywall-free. ST. LOUIS The developer behind a major mixed-use project north of Forest Park said a settlement in a long-running lawsuit with a rival developer will keep controversial landlords Vic Alston and Sid Chakraverty from using a bogus neighborhood group to bully competitors. Reached on the eve of trial, the settlement ends a lawsuit that stalled a mixed-use development called the Expo at Forest Park while Lux Living completed and began leasing a competing apartment building across the street. The lawsuit, first filed in 2020, was scheduled to go to trial Monday. Alston and Sid Chakraverty, the brothers behind controversial developers and landlords Asprient Properties and Lux Living, reincorporated the Commercial DeBaliviere Place Association as construction was about to begin on the $90 million Expo at Forest Park. Alston and Chakraverty were building their own apartment building, The Hudson, across DeBaliviere Avenue from the Expo. Reincorporated by Lux lawyer Ira Berkowitz, the Commercial DeBaliviere Place Association claimed the same architectural review powers as an old association of the same name that was last active in the neighborhood 30 years ago. Terms of the settlement werent released. But Jeff Tegethoff, the Expo developer who is now a partner at firm CRG, said it was a win for his side. Bottom line is they cant try and bully anyone else around in the neighborhood with this bogus association, Tegethoff said. Berkowitz, an attorney who works closely with Alston and Chakraverty, said the two sides were amenable to a settlement but his clients had no plans to dissolve the association. He said there was no financial component and both sides agreed to walk away. Both parties decided it wasnt worth pursuing, Berkowitz said. After refusing to approve the Expo plan, the reincorporated Commercial DeBaliviere Place Association sued the Expo developers, alleging they couldnt proceed without the approval of the neighborhood group controlled by the Lux principals. The lawsuit spooked the Expos lenders and caused months of construction delays in 2021. The project was finally completed in January. Meanwhile, Lux began marketing The Hudson and leasing apartments even before it was finished. Tenants complained some of the construction seemed slapdash. One of the tenants who spoke to the newspaper was even subpoenaed by Berkowitz in the lawsuit. Alston has said the lawsuit wasnt designed to slow a competitors project, insisting he was concerned the Expo did not include enough parking. The Expo developers countersued, arguing that the neighborhood organization Alston, Chakraverty and Berkowitz reincorporated did not actually have development review rights. A judge agreed last week. Prior to the settlement, Judge Michael Stelzer ruled in favor of the Expo developers, saying that after months of discovery, they could not prove that the old neighborhood group with development review rights had properly assigned those powers to the reincorporated group. Berkowitz, Chakraverty and Alston are the only members of the Commercial DeBaliviere Place Association. And the only evidence they could produce that the association had development review rights was an assignment of the old associations powers signed by Bruce Mills, who was on the board when it dissolved in 1992. Mills is founder and chair of Mills Properties, which has done business with Alston and Chakraverty, including selling them a site on Pershing Avenue and in downtown loft buildings. Other directors on the old association never voted to assign its powers to the group Berkowitz reincorporated, Stelzer ruled, and thus, the development review powers werent properly transferred. The judge ruled the association never had standing to sue over development review in the first place. A day after that ruling, the two sides settled. The settlement ends a dispute that at one point even drew in the citys development arm. Because of the dispute with the Expo, St. Louis Development Corp. officials in 2020 refused to sign off on tax abatement for The Hudson, even after the property tax break was approved by aldermen. Lux officials then sued SLDC, arguing the city had to approve its tax abatement. However, it later dropped the lawsuit. Meanwhile, tenants at Asprient or affiliated companies buildings around the city often complain of deferred maintenance at their properties. The landlords also last year settled a class-action lawsuit over not refunding security deposits. And downtown, companies tied to Alston and Chakraverty have faced nuisance violations from city officials due to problems and violence at the Ely Walker Lofts on Washington Avenue. Companies tied to the brothers own most of the units in the building, and therefore control the condo board responsible for security and maintenance there. Gift this article Share this article paywall-free. MONTGOMERY COUNTY A man from Elsberry, Missouri, was killed Sunday evening when his pickup truck crashed on a Montgomery County highway. The Missouri Highway Patrol identified the victim as 43-year-old Justin L. Rifle. Rifle was driving a 1975 Chevrolet Silverado pickup west on Highway E just before 7 p.m. Sunday. The vehicle ran off the highway near Lincoln Lane Road and overturned. Rifle, who was not wearing a seat belt, was thrown from the vehicle. He died at the scene. EDITOR'S NOTE: Police initially provided the wrong county for the crash location. Story has been updated. Gift this article Share this article paywall-free. CLAYTON A St. Louis County jury found Erika Williams not guilty of murder last week for stabbing her husband to death in 2021 after a trial that included handwritten prison letters, videos and texts depicting a deeply abusive relationship. Erika Williams, 34, was acquitted of second-degree murder and armed criminal action Thursday in the stabbing of her husband Gregory Williams on Aug. 10, 2021, in a Hazelwood apartment complex parking lot. Williams is a transgender woman who was charged in the case as Jabari Williams. Defense attorney William Goldstein argued she acted in self-defense and was diagnosed with battered spouse syndrome and post-traumatic stress disorder from years of abuse at her husbands hand. Erika Williams sobbed in court through three days of testimony and testified that her husband attacked her and knocked her out on the day of the killing. Goldstein read excerpts of hundreds of letters her husband sent her before they were married while he was serving prison time for beating another woman and her child. The letters included promises of love side by side with threats of violence. Unless things change, when I get out youre going to die and your family is going to die, one letter read. Goldstein asked jurors to consider the prior abuse. Dont buy into that all of a sudden the man turned into a victim. He wasnt, he said in closing arguments. He was a batterer through and through. The prosecution, led by Assistant St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Tom Smith, argued the violence went both ways. Smith argued Erika Williams was the primary abuser in the months before the killing. She stabbed her husband a few months before his death, putting him in the hospital with a collapsed lung, according to testimony in the trial. The defendant must be held accountable for that violence, Smith told the jury in closing arguments. The case Police investigators testified that it was Erika Williams who first called officers to the scene about 8:15 a.m. Aug. 10, 2021, but she reported only that her husband had hit her. She had a busted lip but didnt mention the stabbing. A resident of the apartment complex testified for the prosecution that he heard two people arguing in a car before the stabbing. He watched some of the fights through a rearview mirror as he sat in the parking lot but testified through a Spanish language interpreter that he didnt witness a physical fight. After the stabbing, Gregory Williams ran from the parking lot, leaving a blood trail to where he eventually collapsed in the first block of Gray Brooke Lane in Hazelwood, according to police testimony. Prosecutors showed the jury a Ring security camera video capturing Gregory Williams final moments. In the footage taken from a home in the neighborhood, Williams stumbles and collapses on the homes lawn. Erika Williams sobbed and yelled out in court while the footage played in court last week, at one point prompting St. Louis Circuit Judge Dean Waldemer to clear the courtroom. After her husband was pronounced dead, Erika Williams turned over her car to police, where they found a knife with blood from both Erika and Gregory Williams. Gregory Williams former probation officer testified for the prosecution that she ordered him to move away from the north St. Louis County home of his wife and her family before he was killed. She told the jury she had Gregory Williams placed on an ankle monitor to keep him from Erika because she worried for his safety. The defense called a court-appointed psychologist with the Missouri Department of Mental Health, Dr. Melanie Nichols, who diagnosed Williams with battered spouse syndrome and PTSD. Nichols testified that the mental conditions made it plausible that Erika Williams may have no memory of the stabbing. She said she had reviewed videos, letters, and texts and concluded that Gregory Williams was the primary abuser. Erika Williams testified that, despite the abuse, she still loved her husband. She showed the jury she had his name tattooed on both her arm and her hand. The prosecution asked the jury not to believe Erika Williams claims of memory loss. The defendant remembers everything that happened, except what she did, Smith said in closing arguments. Except how the knife went in. Goldstein argued Erika Williams was living under a dark cloud of death and acted to protect herself. This was a case with a lot of layers, Goldstein said after the verdict last week. But justice was done. This was the right result. Gift this article Share this article paywall-free. JEFFERSON CITY A possible tax break for child care centers backed by abortion opponents and business groups will appear before voters in 2024. Before ending their annual legislative session this month, Missouri lawmakers signed off on a plan that will ask voters if lawmakers should be allowed to zero out personal and real property taxes for child care centers. Placing the proposed constitutional amendment on the ballot represented a small win for those pushing to address child care staffing shortages, waiting lists and high prices in Missouri. Gov. Mike Parson, in his State of the State speech in January, proposed a package of child care tax credits aimed at improving access. But those plans died at the end of the legislative session. The Republican governor did secure $56 million for expanded pre-kindergarten, and legislators inserted another $80 million in the budget to raise child care provider subsidies. Weve got to figure out a better way to provide day care for kids in this state. Its expensive. Its hard to find. I just really want people to go to work, Parson said in a recent interview with the Post-Dispatch. Sam Lee, longtime lobbyist for Campaign Life Missouri, said the property tax exemption would play a small part in helping child care facilities. He said it would make good business sense for companies to use tax savings to raise wages for employees. They desperately need employees, Lee said. They have the capacity. They have the room. But they dont have employees. Lee said the break could help a company that decides to open a child care facility alongside its office or factory. That would normally be taxable property, Lee said. This would exempt that. Under the proposed amendment, personal and real property primarily used for child care would qualify for the exemption. If a portion of a property is used primarily for child care, that portion could be exempted. A childs place of residence wouldnt qualify for the tax break. The plan will appear on the November 2024 ballot unless Parson calls for a vote on another date. The measure states that the availability of childcare supports the well-being of children, families, the workforce, and society as a whole. It was unclear how much of a hit local governments would take due to the exemption, according to a state fiscal analysis. Personal and real property taxes fund local governments. House lawmakers gave final approval to the plan on the last day of the legislative session, with a bipartisan coalition of 91 lawmakers voting to place it on the ballot. Twenty-seven voted against it, and 31 voted present. There was no dissension in the Senate, with the measure clearing the upper chamber unanimously on March 23. In addition to Lee, Heidi Sutherland, representing the Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and Nancy Giddens, lobbying for the Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce and United WE, which advocates for womens economic empowerment, also testified for the measure in the Senate. The legislation is Senate Joint Resolution 26. Gift this article Share this article paywall-free. Missouri Gov. Mike Parson had a huge opportunity to mess with St. Louis, own the libs and score a victory for the hard-right of his party by choosing a deliberately controversial figure to fill the vacancy in the St. Louis Circuit Attorneys Office. But maybe, just maybe, even Parson realized the stakes were too high this time. St. Louis faces a law-enforcement crisis and a prosecutorial implosion resulting from Kim Gardners management fiasco. Placing someone competent and as non-political as possible appears to have taken priority for once. Gabe Gores appointment as interim circuit attorney gives the city some breathing room from politics and should open a space for all of the jurisdictions offering help the state, surrounding counties and some local law firms to pitch in and put the pursuit of criminal justice back on track. It was in the interests of all involved not to turn this moment into another culture-war fight. The prosecutorial gap Gardner created sent a clear signal to local criminals that they faced minimal chances of being held to account. A sense of impunity reigns supreme on the streets, as anyone can see from the reluctance of officers to confront lawbreakers. A video of a hooded man walking in the middle of a downtown street brandishing a long gun underscored the citys Wild West atmosphere. The double leg amputation of a visiting teenager, caused by the citys lawlessness, sent a message to the world: Come to St. Louis at your own risk. Against that backdrop, Parson smartly chose not to risk making matters worse by installing a blatantly political choice, though those options certainly existed. Parson made clear he was consulting and collaborating with Mayor Tishaura Jones and other local authorities rather than shutting them out of the process. It certainly helped that officials in Republican-dominated jurisdictions like St. Charles, Franklin and Jefferson Counties were anxious to achieve some semblance of stability, offering to help St. Louis prosecutors deal with an overwhelming backlog. Local law firms also offered help. The clear message from all was that this was no time for political game-playing. With that, Parson opted for Gore, a partner at the Dowd Bennett law firm who grew up in St. Louis and whose background appeared to be as politically moderate as they come. His only overt political affiliation comes from his support of Barack Obamas first presidential campaign and his appointment in 2015 by Gov. Jay Nixon to fill a Democratic vacancy on the Missouri State University Board of Governors. He also clerked for a federal appeals judge appointed by Republican President Ronald Reagan. Its too early to tell what Gores appointment will mean, but if he manages to stay out of the news unlike his predecessor that would mark a great start in ending the atmosphere of impunity and getting back to the business of prosecution. Gift this article Share this article paywall-free. The archdiocese of St. Louis should grow, not shrink its footprint As the second-oldest Roman Catholic archdiocese in the United States, St. Louis occupies a special place in the history of the Catholic Church in America. For more than half of the 20th century, Cardinal John Glennon and Cardinal Joseph Ritter led the archdiocese to such achievements as the construction of the Cathedral Basilica, considered one of the great cathedrals in the world with the largest collection of mosaics anywhere. In addition, shortly after World War II, Cardinal Ritter ordered the early desegregation of archdiocesan schools, well before the Supreme Court decision changing the law forever in Brown v. Board of Education. In fact, Ritter and the St. Louis Archdiocese played a key role in assisting Martin Luther King and others in the 1960s civil rights movement. As a fitting culmination to the 20th century history of the archdiocese, Pope John Paul II, now Saint John Paul II, celebrated what is believed to be the largest indoor Mass in history before 100,000 congregants at the Americas Center in January 1999. While St. Louis has experienced slow growth for a number of decades in comparison to West Coast and Sun Belt cities, this papal event demonstrated the enormous presence of the Catholic Church within the St. Louis region. Nearly a quarter century later, this is a plea from a resident of the Central West End and an on again/off again member of the Cathedral Parish for more than 70 years, urging Archbishop Rozanski and the leadership of the archdiocese to rededicate itself to the kind of bold outreach and risk taking which characterize its history as one of the great centers of Catholicism. It took both vision and guts to build the Cathedral over a period of 60 years and it took vision and guts to open all Catholic schools to all races in 1947. Today, rather than thinking in terms of closing and consolidation, it is time to go on the offensive with renewed efforts to recruit, convert and energize the parishes in St. Louis neighborhoods and rural areas of the archdiocese. It is time to emphasize a message of hope and growth reflecting a church that is built on the core foundations of Catholic teaching: dignity, community, family and care for all people. A substantial fundraising campaign, entitled The Archdiocese of St. Louis: Embracing the 21st Century, should be launched now as a means to commit resources to the ministry and spiritual growth of the archdiocese. None of this is easy, But before the proposed radical school and parish closure plan is implemented, it would be very reassuring to the Catholic faithful of the archdiocese to hear from the archbishop as to why something resembling what is outlined above could not be carried out. Joe Schlafly St. Louis Durham report was more than an empty-folder nothingburger Thursdays political cartoon portrayed the Durham report as an empty folder. On Wednesday, a Post-Dispatch editorial referred to the report as a MAGA nothingburger. That editorial conceded that there was some overzealousness in the FBI but that there was no specific misconduct. The Durham report laid out facts describing how the leadership of the FBI, driven by political partisanship, abused its position of power to undermine the presidency of Donald Trump. I think that most objective Americans would disagree with any assertion that, just because this activity was apparently not illegal, there was no misconduct. The abuse of the FBI to pursue partisan political outcomes should be a concern to all Americans. I suspect that, if the political parties in this story had been reversed, the Editorial Boards analysis would be different. Post-Dispatch readers deserve better. Brad Sinclair Chesterfield Politicians help extremist hate groups expand in America Both extremists and hate groups are a threat to our democracy. White supremacists commit the highest number of domestic extremist-related murders in most years, but in 2022 the percentage was unusually high: 21 of the 25 murders were linked to white supremacists, according to a recent Anti-Defamation League report. The belief that white people constitute a superior race and should therefore dominate society, typically to the exclusion or detriment of other racial and ethnic groups, in particular Black or Jewish people, defines white supremacy. White Christian nationalism represents a pressing threat to democracy. Traces of it are detectable in racist massacre in Buffalo, in Tucker Carlsons spewing, in Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greenes public rants and in the MAGA leadership of Donald Trump and Ron DeSantis. Christian nationalist views intersect with white identity, anti-Black sentiment, patriarchy, antisemitism, anti-Muslim sentiments, anti-immigrant attitudes, authoritarianism and support for violence. Of the 917 hate groups, 450 (roughly 50%) are white supremacist organizations. That number includes 100 white nationalist groups, 78 racist skinhead, 99 neo-Nazi, 43 neo-Confederate and 130 Ku Klux Klan chapters. But on the best days, enough of us have the guts and hearts to stand up for the best in us, to choose love over hate, unity over disunity, progress over retreat, President Joe Biden stated, adding: White supremacy is the most dangerous terrorist threat to our homeland. Richard A. French Pasadena, Calif. Gift this article Share this article paywall-free. There's a twooutofthree chance that the world will temporarily hit a key warming limit within the next five years, the United Nations' World Meteorological Organization Said Wednesday. But it likely would be only a fleeting and less worrisome flirtation with the internationally agreed upon temperature threshold. Scientists expect a temporary burst of heat from El Nino a naturally occurring weather phenomenon to supercharge human-caused warming from the burning of coal, oil and gas to new heights. Temperatures are expected to then slip back doom a bit. OVERDOSE DEATHS: Officials with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention re- ported Wednesday that drug overdose deaths in the U.S. went up slightly last year after two big leaps during the pan- dermic. An estimated 109,680 overdose deaths occurred last year, about z9L more than the 107, b22 U.S. overdose deaths in 2021 SOCIAL MEDIA: The Supreme Court on Thursday sided with Google, Twitter and Face- book in lawsuits seeking to hold them liable for terrorist attacks. But the justices side- stepped the Fig issue hovering over the case6, the federal law that shields social media companies from being vied over content posted by others. SHOOTIHG: An 18-year-old man armed with multiple guns roamed through Farmington, New Mexico, on Mon- day, firing randomly at cars and houses. Beau Wilson, a high school student, killed three people and injured six others, including two police officers, before he was killed, authorities said. He left a cryptic note presaging the end of the chapter." Associated Press North Korea is having increasingly visible problems with rape among conscripted soldiers. Nearly all North Korean men are conscripted for ten years while most women serve three years. Many of the young male conscripts would like some sex, the female conscripts just want to complete their three years and get on with their lives, including finding a husband. Life in the military for women is difficult. Food, health care and things like tampons are in short supply. Women serve in separate units, usually at headquarters or base areas. Since women serve for shorter periods and have access to more deferments, they account for about a fifth of military personnel. Military commanders dont pay much attention to sexual harassment or rape of female soldiers. That is changing after a series of gang-rapes occurred and were reported to the high command, where attention had to be paid because some of the victims were higher caste women whose parents had political influence and used it. It turned out that nearly a third of female conscripts had been raped while in the service and over 90 percent had suffered sexual harassment. As long as the victims were lower caste women, the military didnt care but the higher-caste victims were another matter. Social caste used to be important in North Korea. When the country was founded in the late 1940s, there were problems determining who was loyal to the new government and who was not or might not be. This led, in 1957, to the creation of a caste system called Songbun. This was an official list of 51 social classes in North Korea. Most (29) of these classes were composed of people considered either hostile to the government or leaning that way. These new lower classes included business people, the most successful farmers, professionals and, well, you get the picture. Most of the population falls into these 29 social classes, and they are getting increasingly hostile to a government that seems to do nothing but create one disaster after another and ignores things like their conscripted daughters being raped while in the military. This means a lot of lower caste people are hungry, the lower caste soldiers are hungry and the higher-caste secret police are stealing whatever they can get their hands on and the senior officials are planning their escape routes from the deteriorating economic mess. Since the 1990s caste, or the term Songbun, has faded from use. People either have power or they dont. The donju are the best example of this and current leader Kim Jong Un came to power while in his 30s and eliminated a lot of the military and political leaders who came from the Songbun era. Social standing and the associated power still exist, just without the 1950s nomenclature and orthodoxy The highest caste people, who have long come to regard themselves, optimistically, as a hereditary aristocracy, are growing more corrupt and fearful. Many of these high caste families do have talented people, but a lot of those selected for the top castes were chosen because they were loyal communists and willing to be brutal and do whatever they were told. Not the entrepreneurial type at all, which is why they are so wary of all these newly rich lower caste business people. Especially those with conscripted daughters who were raped and have parents using to their economic resources to get justice for their disgraced daughters. Caste and sex have long been a factor in North Korea, where marriages are arranged and its usually between two people of the same, or similar, castes. Daughters, and many sons of the highest caste families are not conscripted at all. North Korean leader Kim Jon Un, for example, never served in the military and didnt have to because he belonged to the highest caste of all. In the last decade lower caste self-made men have changed things because desperate economic conditions led to the rise of successful, and often wealthy entrepreneurs. These newly rich lower caste business people (the donju) are increasingly throwing their economic weight around. There are rumors that many donju families will be offered a big boost in caste status if they can prove their loyalty by helping the state, or simply providing a large enough bribe or favor. Meanwhile higher caste families fear a major downgrade if any of their kin run afoul of the police or, worst of all, flee the country. There have been changes in family caste status before, but never on such a large scale as has occurred in the last few years and many suspect the aftereffects of the covid19 virus will feature even more culls in the ruling class as well as embarrassing revelations about the extent to which higher caste North Koreans misbehave. NORTHAMPTON, MA / ACCESSWIRE / May 22, 2023 / Aflac Incorporated As visitors enter the town of Flanders, New York, they're greeted with a sign that features "The Big Duck," a white, Peking duck not unlike the one featured in Aflac's logo. For more than two decades, the sign has paid homage to the town's duck-farming history, but earlier this year, it went missing. Knowing the importance of this town icon and, of course, sharing an appreciation for ducks, Aflac Market Director Trevor Fennell stepped in and offered to replace the sign on behalf of Aflac. "For Flanders residents, it is a familiar welcome home, and it's a friendly greeting for visitors to this lovely community," said Fennell. "At Aflac, we believe in doing the right thing, and this was, without a doubt, the right thing to do for such a wonderful town." On May 15, at the corner of Pleasure Drive and County Road 104, representatives from the town of Flanders and from Aflac gathered together to unveil the new sign, so that town visitors and residents will once again be greeted by a familiar, welcoming face as they drive into Flanders. Aflac | Aflac NY | WWHQ | 1932 Wynnton Road | Columbus, GA 31999 Z2300542 View additional multimedia and more ESG storytelling from Aflac Incorporated on 3blmedia.com. Contact Info: Spokesperson: Aflac Incorporated Website: https://www.3blmedia.com/profiles/aflac-incorporated Email: [email protected] SOURCE: Aflac Incorporated View source version on accesswire.com: The NATO Parliamentary Assembly has recognized Russia's crimes against Ukraine as genocide, said head of the Verkhovna Rada delegation to the NATO PA, Yehor Chernev (the Servant of the People faction). "The NATO Parliamentary Assembly has recognized Russia's crimes against Ukraine as genocide, and the terrorist regime in Russia as ruscism. Unanimously," Chernev wrote on Facebook on Monday. As reported, the Verkhovna Rada delegation is taking part in the spring session of the NATO PA in Luxembourg. This brand-new joint venture partnership is said to bring massive growth, scaling, and wealth-creation opportunities for all businesses involved. MIAMI, FL / ACCESSWIRE / May 22, 2023 / Cardone Ventures, co-founded by Grant Cardone and Brandon Dawson, are proud to announce their most recent acquisition of Stryker Networks-a direct result of their partnership with FIT Solutions, owned by Ephraim Ebstein. The goal behind the acquisition is to provide thousands of cyber management operators within their networks with massive opportunities for growth and scaling, thus continuing the national rollout of the 10X Cyber management company. Grant Cardone and Brandon Dawson "Partnering with Grant, Brandon, and the Cardone Ventures team was a no-brainer for me," says Ephraim Ebstein, founder of FIT Solutions. "I saw the vision they had, the team behind them, and data to back it all up... My team and I are excited to be a part of that story." Acquiring Stryker Networks is just the beginning for Cardone Ventures and FIT Solutions. Both businesses understand the importance of bringing value for their customers. With a shared mission and vision, Grant, Brandon, Ephraim, and Mark Greene (owner of Stryker Networks) are ready to do whatever it takes to make their goals a reality. "Our intention is to disrupt the cyber security space by partnering with business owners like Ephraim and companies like FIT Solutions," says Brandon Dawson, CEO and co-founder of Cardone Ventures. "This joint venture will help us continue down the path toward building our world-class, national organization." Cardone Ventures' affiliate 10X Cyber and Management Services and its partners are ready to revolutionize the industry and provide massive value to their clients. And with the right foundations in place, there's no telling how far the teams at Cardone Ventures, FIT Solutions, and Stryker Networks will go. About Cardone Ventures: Cardone Ventures is a business consulting company founded by Grant Cardone and Brandon Dawson that helps business owners attain their personal, professional, and financial goals. Together, they help business owners experience their company from a 360-degree perspective, including operations, marketing, finance, and people. Cardone Ventures' focus is to help entrepreneurs grow from $2 million to $500 million+ and 10X all aspects of their business. The brand new Cardone Ventures Scottsdale Headquarters is located at 4800 N Scottsdale Rd. Suite 5500, Scottsdale, AZ 85251. For more information on Cardone Ventures, visit: https://www.cardoneventures.com About FIT Solutions: FIT Solutions is a leading provider of IT services and solutions. They specialize in Managed IT, Enterprise IT, Cybersecurity, Cloud Services, IT Projects, and Healthcare IT. Their team of certified professionals is dedicated to keeping up with the latest technologies and trends so they can provide the best solutions for their clients. Whether you need Managed IT, Enterprise IT, Cloud Services, Cybersecurity, or Healthcare IT services, FIT has the expertise and resources to help your organization reach its technology goals quickly and cost-effectively. Learn more about each of the individual IT and managed cybersecurity services by clicking here: https://fitsolutions.biz Contact Information Jeremy Gabbert EVP of Revenue and Marketing [email protected] 503-536-0997 SOURCE: Cardone Ventures View source version on accesswire.com: NORTHAMPTON, MA / ACCESSWIRE / May 22, 2023 / Leidos The Midwest Energy Efficiency Alliance (MEEA) is a collaborative network that promotes energy efficiency in the Midwest. MEEA annually recognizes energy efficiency leaders through its "Inspiring Efficiency Awards." Leidos and customer Ameren Illinois were recognized with a record four awards at MEEA's 19th annual event, which was held in early 2023. This outstanding achievement underscores Ameren Illinois' commitment to delivering innovative and engaging energy efficiency solutions. 2023 MARKETING AWARD - AMEREN ILLINOIS & PEORIA GUILD OF BLACK ARTISTS The Inspiring Efficiency through Education Award is presented to an organization that has engaged in or supported a successful marketing campaign to increase participation in energy efficiency. A partnership between Ameren Illinois Energy Efficiency Program and the Peoria Guild of Black Artists (PGOBA) provides energy efficiency education and resources to Black communities in the Ameren Illinois service territory. This collaboration is designed to reach customers in an accessible and relatable manner to show that energy efficiency is possible for everyone. The organizations launched a marketing and outreach approach to Ameren Illinois customers. PGOBA and Ameren Illinois are executing artwork, dynamic visuals, and relevant messaging to communicate to a diverse customer base. As an example, in 2021 PGOBA created murals in Peoria, IL, as a creative spark to encourage people to think about energy efficiency in new ways. 2023 LEADERSHIP AWARD - AMEREN ILLINOIS & SENIOR SERVICES PLUS The Inspiring Efficiency Leadership Award is presented to the organization that has served as a strong leader in support of energy efficiency in their community. Senior Services Plus, Inc. (SSP) in Alton, IL, is a nonprofit agency established to help enrich the lives of older adults through programs and services that encourage independent living and wellness. In collaboration with the Ameren Illinois Energy Efficiency Program and Leidos, SSP offers no-cost energy efficiency installations to at-risk senior citizens in southern Illinois. After the installation of energy-saving products, SSP staff take the time to educate seniors on how to best utilize their new equipment, so they get the best energy savings possible. In addition to at-home education for the residents, SSP opened an energy efficiency room in their facility dedicated to teaching seniors the benefits of energy efficiency products. 2023 RISING STAR AWARD - ANGIE OSTASZEWSKI The Inspiring Efficiency Rising Star Award is presented to an individual who has served as a strong leader in support of energy efficiency in their community. As an Energy Efficiency Consultant at Ameren Illinois, Angie Ostaszewski is always looking for ways to improve. She has a passion for challenging the status quo and empowering people - especially regarding diversity and inclusion in the workspace and the community. From Ameren Illinois' one-of-a-kind Market Development Initiative to an accessibility pilot project, Angie plays a key role in taking Ameren Illinois' Energy Efficiency Program into innovative new directions. 2023 CHAMPION AWARD - KRISTOL SIMMS The Inspiring Efficiency Champion Award is presented to an individual who successfully took actions to ensure all communities are able to take advantage of the benefits of energy efficiency. Kristol Simms is leading the charge to make energy efficiency more equitable. As Vice President, Clean Energy Transition, Economic, Community, and Business Development at Ameren Illinois, she designs and implements the company's Market Development Initiative (MDI) to serve low- and moderate-income customers in a meaningful way. The efforts put forth by Kristol and her team are helping improve quality of life by empowering residents and businesses in underserved communities to save energy and money. She also brings passion and valuable insight to industry organizations that promote energy efficiency. Through these award-winning initiatives and inspiring individuals, Ameren Illinois and Leidos have successfully engaged customers and communities across Central and Southern Illinois with energy efficiency offerings. In 2022, Ameren Illinois supported projects that will save customers over $39 million in energy costs annually. Learn more about Leidos and our tailored energy efficiency solutions and services. View additional multimedia and more ESG storytelling from Leidos on 3blmedia.com. Contact Info: Spokesperson: Leidos Website: https://www.3blmedia.com/profiles/leidos Email: [email protected] SOURCE: Leidos View source version on accesswire.com: Informa Markets Engineering, Rob Shelton Director of The Battery Show Europe adds perspective to future of European Battery and EV Market as EU is poised to continue to lead international efforts in battery tech STUTTGART, GERMANY / ACCESSWIRE / May 22, 2023 / The Battery market is currently one of the largest growing industries in Europe, largely due to the increase in spending on electric vehicles, valued currently at over USD $250 billion. Europe alone is responsible for 2.3 million plug-in electric vehicle registrations, and in Northern European nations, ECVs made up more than 30 percent of new vehicle sales in 2021. Recently, the battery market has seen numerous developments, including electric and hybrid vehicles, electric powertrains for commercial vehicles, and artificial intelligence operating systems that have all played a large role in making electric and hybrid vehicles more accessible, safer and more cost efficient. Electric vehicles are expected to maintain steady growth as consumers prioritize electric and hybrid vehicle purchases. What are the benefits electric vehicles offer? Electric vehicles benefit both consumers and manufacturers. For example, offering electric vehicle charging infrastructure and transitioning fleets to EVs provide businesses with a credible role in reducing global greenhouse gas emissions and inspiring wider EV adoption. Most beneficial to the consumer, the maintenance and charging costs are typically lower on EVs, and fully electric powertrains have fewer moving parts than traditional internal combustion engines, so they require less maintenance and no oil changes. "In the fast lane of innovation, Europe's electric vehicle industry is leading the charge, propelling us towards a sustainable future. With a potent combination of visionary policies, relentless technological advancements, and a critical keenness to environmental consciousness, electric vehicles are poised to not just succeed, but thrive in Europe," says Rob Shelton, Event Director, Battery Show Europe. There is a growing awareness among consumers about the need to reduce carbon emissions, and electric vehicles are seen as a more environmentally friendly alternative to traditional petrol and diesel vehicles. The infrastructure for electric vehicles has been expanding rapidly in recent years, with more charging stations being installed across cities and highways. This has made it easier and more convenient for people to own and use electric vehicles. Finally, the availability and affordability of electric vehicles have also improved, with more models now available at lower prices, making them a more attractive option for consumers. The Battery Show Europe will discuss many of the topics surrounding electric vehicles at the upcoming expo, May 23-25 in Stuttgart, Germany. Live product showcases from Siemens, Donaldson, DuPont, Henkel and Dow, along with the new Open Tech Forum will also provide real-life examples of the technology advancing the industry, and provide answers to questions regarding new technologies, processes and developments. Conference passes and Pre-Conference Workshops are quickly selling out as the industry plans to gather for networking and education. The battery market is expected to continue growing in Europe as well as the United States and Asia. The Battery Show Europe will continue to follow the trends of the industry and provide the most up to date information. About The Battery Show: The Battery Show is the largest and most comprehensive advanced battery technology event, co-located with Electric & Hybrid Vehicle Technology Expo, the only trade show and conference exclusively dedicated to advanced battery and the electric and hybrid vehicle drivetrain. Visitors to our shows can discover and demo the latest products, technology, and solutions from more than 770+ suppliers, network with nearly 10,000+ attendees and access a breadth of education across multiple tracks and technical sessions. The Battery Show is organized by Informa Markets Engineering with a regional market focus on Battery Show Europe in Stuttgart, Germany and launching in 2023 first-ever edition of The Battery Show India, taking place at the India Expo Centre, Greater Noida. Along with The Battery Show North America in Novi, Michigan, all 3 trade shows take place annually to bring together engineers, business leaders, industry leading brands and innovative thinkers to discover ground-breaking products and create powerful solutions for the future. Connect with The Battery Show and join the conversation on Facebook , LinkedIn and Twitter . The Battery Show is supported by its official media partner Battery Technology Online . The Battery Show North America and the Battery Show Europe were both 2022 AEO Excellence Award finalists and North America was a winner of TSE's Gold 100 Award in 2019 and a finalist in 2023. About Informa Markets - Engineering: Informa Markets' Engineering portfolio is the leading B2B event producer, publisher, and digital media business for the world's $3-trillion advanced, technology-based manufacturing industry. Our print and electronic products deliver trusted information to the engineering market and leverage our proprietary 1.3-million-name database to connect suppliers with buyers and purchase influencers. We produce more than 50 events and conferences in a dozen countries, connecting manufacturing professionals from around the globe. The Engineering portfolio is organized by Informa Markets, a subsidiary of Informa plc (LON:INF), the world's leading exhibitions organizer that brings a diverse range of specialist markets to life, unlocking opportunities and helping them to thrive 365 days of the year. For more information, please visit www.informamarkets.com . Media Contact: Abby Portwood Informa Markets Engineering PR [email protected] SOURCE: INFORMA MARKETS - ENGINEERING View source version on accesswire.com: The Frozen Farmer Ranks No. 6 on Inc.' s 5000 Regionals: Mid-Atlantic List Weeks Before CEO Makes Female Founder List BRIDGEVILLE, DE / ACCESSWIRE / May 22, 2023 / Woman-owned company, The Frozen Farmer, celebrated two impressive distinctions from Inc. Magazine. Founder and CEO Katey Evans made the sixth annual Female Founders list this spring, which honors 200 women whose innovations shape the world into a better place. This announcement came only a few weeks after The Frozen Farmer ranked No. 6 on the Inc. 5000 Regionals: Mid-Atlantic list, the most prestigious ranking of the region's fastest-growing private companies. The Frozen Farmer CEO Katey Evans Founder and CEO of The Frozen Farmer, Katey Evans Proudly based on a third-generation family farm in Bridgeville, Delaware, The Frozen Farmer took to national retail after landing a partnership on ABC's "Shark Tank" with investor Lori Greiner. The Frozen Farmer's mission to use misfit fruit in their product line allows the brand to grow and offer a full line of sustainable, farm-to-table frozen desserts. The Frozen Farmer produces no-sugar-added sorbet and Frobert, a signature blend of ice cream and sorbet. "As a business that started at the family supper table just a few short years ago, the growth we've incurred is surreal," Evans said. "But it hasn't come easy. Growing to a national brand has been a labor of love. It's an extension of our family farm's legacy, so we take every aspect of it personally. We've made a lot of sacrifices to get here and we aren't done yet. There's a lot more in store for The Frozen Farmer." Each year, Inc. editors review thousands of female founders tackling some of the world's biggest problems. The Female Founders list features women who have overcome challenges and lifted those around them while leading impactful organizations. They join the ranks of previous honorees, including Jessica Alba, Tracy Ellis Ross, and Rihanna. Inc's 5000 Regionals: Mid-Atlantic list represents the most successful companies within one of the dynamic segments-independent small businesses. The companies included show a remarkable growth rate-between 2019 and 2021, these 142 private companies had an average growth rate of 381 percent. The Frozen Farmer boasts a 1,503 percent revenue growth within that two-year period. "This year's Inc. 5000 Regional winners are disrupters and job-creators, and they all delivered an outsize impact on the economy. Remember their names and follow their lead. These are the companies you'll be hearing about for years to come," Scott Omelianuk, Editor-in-Chief of Inc. Magazine, said. To see the complete Female Founder list, go to https://www.inc.com/female-founders, and to see the entire Inc. 5000 Regionals: Mid-Atlantic list, visit inc.com/mid-atlantic. About The Frozen Farmer: The Frozen Farmer is a small company with a big mission that connects us all in the fight against food waste. The Frozen Farmer produces farm-inspired frozen desserts crafted from sustainable, up-cycled ingredients for an after-dinner treat consumers can feel good about. The Frozen Farmer is a certified Women-Owned Small Business (WOSB). About Inc. Media: The world's most trusted business-media brand, Inc. offers entrepreneurs the knowledge and connections to build great companies. Its award-winning content reaches more than 50 million people each month across a variety of channels. Its prestigious Inc. 5000 list analyzes company data to recognize the fastest-growing, privately held businesses in the United States. For more information, visit www.inc.com. Contact Information Caroline Kalentzos POSH PR CEO [email protected] 804-939-7674 SOURCE: The Frozen Farmer View source version on accesswire.com: Detroits Ford Motor (NYSE: F) will be hosting its capital markets day on Monday, where the automotive giant has promised ... I'm a New Customer I'm a Returning Customer E-mail Address (or username, if registered via mobile device) Password Asserts a Sale to a Well-Capitalized Acquirer Can Unlock More Than 100% Upside for Shareholders, Based on Recent Gaming Acquisitions DALLAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Alta Fox Opportunities Fund, LP, one of the largest shareholders of Enad Global 7 AB (STO: EG7) (EG7 or the Company), today released the below letter sent to the Companys Board of Directors (the Board). *** May 22, 2023 Members of the Board of Directors, Alta Fox Opportunities Fund, LP (together with its affiliates, Alta Fox or we) is one of the largest shareholders of Enad Global 7 AB. We have spent a considerable amount of time analyzing EG7s gaming IP, operations and overall strategy and have had an opportunity to engage with EG7 leadership in recent months. Despite being a leading gaming company with a diverse portfolio of high-quality assets, EG7 is among the cheapest publicly traded gaming stocks in the world given it is currently trading at an estimated ~4x FY23 EBITDA and a ~15% FY23 free cash flow yield. We believe the overhang from prior managements missteps still weighs heavily on the Companys valuation today, despite Chairman Jason Epstein and CEO Ji Hams best efforts to create value for shareholders. That is why we encourage the Board to commence an immediate exploration of strategic alternatives including a sale of the entire Company among other initiatives, which we believe could unlock more than 100% in near-term upside for EG7 shareholders. Recent comparable gaming transactions and peer valuations demonstrate just how deeply EG7s current trading price is disconnected from its intrinsic value. Unfortunately, the market does not appreciate the significant upgrade in the quality of management and capital allocation discipline brought by Chairman and significant shareholder, Jason Epstein, and CEO Ji Ham. Both gaming industry executives are proven capital allocators who successfully built Daybreak Games through strategic M&A while balancing growth and profitability. While at the helm of EG7, management made the smart decision to divest Innova and within ~18 months have taken EG7 from significant net debt to a significant net cash position. Under their leadership, Big Blue Bubbles operating performance has also improved tremendously resulting in impressive growth at the group level in FY22 through FY23. Finally, and importantly, Messrs. Epstein and Ham have shown strong shareholder alignment having been significant buyers of EG7 stock, despite already owning a material stake in the business stemming from their sale of Daybreak Games to EG7. While Alta Fox has confidence that Messrs. Epstein and Ham have the potential to create economic value, we have less confidence that the market will properly reward the Company with an appropriate valuation unless significant action is taken to address EG7s valuation discount. EG7 is an off-the-radar microcap with minimal sell-side coverage and a relatively unknown story to non-Swedish investors. Moreover, it is down ~80% from all-time highs and previous management missteps have permanently alienated many local investors. As a significant shareholder, Alta Fox has spent a great deal of time considering the best path forward for EG7 and all its stakeholders. It is our view that the Board must act expeditiously to address the Companys significant trading discount so that long-suffering EG7 shareholders can prosper. That is why we encourage the Board to initiate a review of strategic alternatives to close the gap between the Companys market value and intrinsic value, among other steps in the near-term: Relist the Stock on a United States Exchange. Relisting in the United States would allow the Company to aggressively buy back shares at an attractive free cash flow yield, which is not allowed with the current Swedish listing. Even an up-listing in Sweden to allow buybacks would be better than the status quo. Initiate a Recurring Dividend. This would immediately turn the Companys valuation multiple into a dividend yield. We estimate EG7 could easily pay a 10%+ dividend on the current share price while still properly reinvesting and maintaining a net cash balance sheet. Run a Formal Strategic Review Process, Including a Sale of the Entire Company. We estimate multiple acquirers could pay a material premium to current prices and still have EG7 be a highly accretive transaction. Several peers were recently acquired for double-digit EBITDA multiples (SCPL and ROVIO), which we believe further highlights EG7s valuation disconnect at ~4x EBITDA today. In sum, it is obvious to us that EG7 is a high-quality business that remains dramatically undervalued due to no fault of current leadership. The markets recent muted reaction to strong Q1 results only reinforces our view. If properly executed, we are confident that our recommended actions can close the significant discount that EG7 shares trade at today. As a top shareholder that firmly believes in the long-term value of EG7s gaming assets, we are laser-focused on helping the Board create value for the benefit of all stakeholders and sincerely hope that the Board is equally committed to taking all necessary steps to unlocking the true potential of EG7. Sincerely, Connor Haley Managing Partner Alta Fox Capital Management, LLC *** About Alta Fox Founded in 2018 by Connor Haley, Alta Fox is a Texas-based alternative asset management firm that employs a long-term focused investment strategy to pursue exceptional risk-adjusted returns for a diverse group of institutions and qualified individual clients. Alta Fox focuses on identifying often overlooked and under-the-radar opportunities across asset classes, market capitalization ranges and sectors. Learn more by visiting www.AltaFoxCapital.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230521005031/en/ For Investors: Alta Fox Investor Relations [email protected] For Media: Longacre Square Partners Greg Marose / Charlotte Kiaie, 646-386-0091 [email protected] Source: Alta Fox Capital Management, LLC NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE: BLK) today announced that it will host an Investor Day on Wednesday, June 14th, 2023, from approximately 8:00am to 1:00pm EDT. A live video webcast and related presentation materials will be available to all interested parties through BlackRocks website, www.blackrock.com. For those unable to join the live webcast, a replay will be available on the website following the event. Any questions regarding BlackRocks 2023 Investor Day may be addressed to BlackRocks Investor Relations team at [email protected]. About BlackRock BlackRocks purpose is to help more and more people experience financial well-being. As a fiduciary to investors and a leading provider of financial technology, we help millions of people build savings that serve them throughout their lives by making investing easier and more affordable. For additional information on BlackRock, please visit www.blackrock.com/corporate View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230522005505/en/ Investor Relations Caroline Rodda 212-810-3442 [email protected] Media Relations Brian Beades 212-810-5596 [email protected] Source: BlackRock The .FM TLD continues to innovate and expand offerings to meet the evolving needs of the digital world. SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- BRS Media, a diverse and growing media e-commerce firm that assists traditional and interactive media companies build and brand on the power of the Internet, today announced that dotFM, the .FM Top-Level Domain Registry, has launched Domain and Emoji NFTs (Non-Fungible Tokens), marking a major step in the evolution of digital ownership and expression Domain NFTs are unique domains represented by a single NFT that functions as both a crypto wallet address and a standard website domain. With the increasing demand for digital collectibles and NFTs, the .FM TLD is introducing a new way to own and showcase unique digital assets. By offering Domain and Emoji NFTs, the .FM TLD provides a platform for individuals and businesses to acquire and own a one-of-a-kind digital asset that represents their brand, identity, or interests. We are thrilled to offer Domain and Emoji NFTs. dotFM has always been at the forefront of innovation and creativity in the domain industry, remarked George T. Bundy, Founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of BRS Media, Inc. These NFTs offer a unique way for users to own and control their online presence. NFTs are the future of online identity and branding, and we are proud to be part of this revolution. dotFM is well known for its use in the audio, music and podcast industry, and with the launch of Domain and Emoji NFTs, it aims to further expand its reach to individuals and businesses across developing sectors. dotFM has a wide range of premium and emoji domains available as domain NFTs. Customers can browse and purchase domain NFTs on the dotFM website at https://get.fm/NFTs About BRS Media, Inc: Based in the South of Market district (SoMa) of San Francisco CA, BRS Media was established in 1995, featured as one of the fastest growing privately held companies by the SF Business Times and Inc. Magazine for five consecutive years. Its portfolio of leading online properties includes: dotFM & dotAM, spotlighting Domain Innovation and Brand Registry Services for media based .FM and .AM domains; dotRadio extensions .RADIO.am & .RADIO.fm, Radio's only Open & Innovative Domain Extensions; Main Street Branding, helping Clients Assemble a World Class Identity and iRadio Service. Further information about BRS Media can be found at https://brsmedia.fm. Main Street Branding and dotRadio are trademarks; and dotFM, dotAM and iRadio are registered trademarks of BRS Media, Inc. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230522005220/en/ Junaid Siddiqui BRS Media Inc. Email: [email protected] Source: BRS Media SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Fastly, Inc. (NYSE: FSLY), one of the worlds fastest global edge cloud platforms, will host its 2023 Investor Day on Thursday, June 22, 2023, beginning at 1:00 p.m. ET. The Investor Day will be held in-person at the New York Stock Exchange and virtually over a live webcast. The event will feature presentations from Todd Nightingale, Fastlys Chief Executive Officer and several other members of the executive leadership team. Date: Thursday, June 22, 2023 Time: 1:00 p.m. ET / 10:00 a.m. PT Webcast: Fastly Investor Day Registration A live webcast of Investor Day can also be accessed at https://investors.fastly.com where participants may log on to the event by selecting the webcast link under the Events & Presentations section. We encourage attendees to pre-register by June 16, 2023. A replay of the webcast will be available shortly following the conclusion of the event. About Fastly Fastlys powerful and programmable edge cloud platform helps the worlds top brands deliver the fastest online experiences possible, while improving site performance, enhancing security, and empowering innovation at global scale. With world-class support that achieves 95%+ average annual customer satisfaction ratings, Fastlys beloved suite of edge compute, delivery, and security offerings has been recognized as a leader by industry analysts such as IDC, Forrester and Gartner. Compared to legacy providers, Fastlys powerful and modern network architecture is one of the fastest on the planet, empowering developers to deliver secure websites and apps at global scale with rapid time-to-market and industry-leading cost savings. Thousands of the worlds most prominent organizations trust Fastly to help them upgrade the internet experience, including Reddit, Pinterest, Stripe, Neiman Marcus, The New York Times, Epic Games, and GitHub. Learn more about Fastly at https://www.fastly.com/, and follow us @fastly. Source: Fastly, Inc. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230522005558/en/ Investor Contact: Vernon Essi, Jr. [email protected] Media Contact: [email protected] Source: Fastly, Inc. SANTERAMO IN COLLE, Bari, Italy--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Natuzzi S.p.A. (NYSE: NTZ) (Natuzzi or the Company) today announced revised dates for the release of its unaudited financial information for the first quarter of 2023 and the related conference call. The Company will release its financial information on Friday, June 2, 2023, after the closing of trading on the New York Stock Exchange. Accordingly, the Company will host a conference call to discuss the financial information on Monday, June 5, 2023, at 10:00 a.m. U.S. Eastern time (4.00 p.m. Italy time, or 3.00 p.m. UK time). To join the live conference call, interested persons will need to either: i) dial-in the following number: Toll/International: +1-412-717-9633, then passcode 39252103#, or ii) click on the following link: https://www.c-meeting.com/web3/join/3PQUFXRW48XTKQ to join via video. Participants also have option to listen via phone after registering to the link. A replay of the call will be made available approximately 3 hours after conference end time, until Wednesday, July 5, 2023, at 11:59 pm U.S. Eastern time. To access the replay of the conference call, interested persons need to dial +1-844-512-2921 (toll-free) for calls from U.S. and Canada, or +1-412-317-6671 for calls from other countries. The access code for the replay is: 13738908. _______________________________________________________________________________ About Natuzzi S.p.A. Founded in 1959 by Pasquale Natuzzi, Natuzzi S.p.A. is one of the most renowned brands in the production and distribution of design and luxury furniture. With a global retail network of 710 mono-brand stores and 497 galleries as of March 31, 2023, Natuzzi distributes its collections worldwide. Natuzzi products embed the finest spirit of Italian design and the unique craftmanship details of the Made in Italy, where a predominant part of its production takes place. Natuzzi has been listed on the New York Stock Exchange since May 13, 1993. Always committed to social responsibility and environmental sustainability, Natuzzi S.p.A. is ISO 9001 and 14001 certified (Quality and Environment), ISO 45001 certified (Safety on the Workplace) and FSC Chain of Custody, CoC (FSC-C131540). View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230522005348/en/ Natuzzi Investor Relations Piero Direnzo | tel. +39 080-8820-812 | [email protected] Natuzzi Corporate Communication Giacomo Ventolone (Press Office) | tel. +39.335.7276939 | [email protected] Source: Natuzzi S.p.A. The training of Ukrainian pilots for flights on American F-16 fighter jets will begin very soon, Dutch Foreign Minister Wopke Hoekstra said on Monday. The minister, as noted by the Dutch media, did not specify whether it was days or weeks, but stressed that in every such case, after a fundamental decision has been made, its implementation takes place very quickly. At the G7 summit in Hiroshima last weekend, U.S. President Joe Biden announced his readiness to support plans to train Ukrainian pilots to navigate F-16 fighter jets. A senior representative of the American administration said that the training program should begin within a few weeks, the training will take place in Europe. At the same time, NATO allies will later decide how many aircraft will be involved and who will provide them. Dutch media say that the Netherlands, Norway, Belgium, Denmark and a number of other countries are working on the training program for Ukrainian pilots. Meanwhile, head of European diplomacy Josep Borrell expressed hope that Ukraine would soon receive F-16 fighters. Meanwhile, the U.S. president said that deliveries of these aircraft in the near future should not be expected. He explained that, in his opinion, the F-16 is not needed for the military operations that Kyiv is currently planning. PARIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Regulatory News: In accordance with Article 5 of EU Regulation n 596/2014 (Market Abuse Regulation), detailed information is available on the website of Tikehau Capital (Paris: TKO): https://www.tikehaucapital.com/fr/shareholders/regulatory-information Name of the issuer Issuer Identity Code (LEI) Trading Day ISIN Aggregated volume per day (number of shares) Weighted average price per day Market (MIC Code) TIKEHAU CAPITAL 969500BY8TEU16U3SJ94 12/05/2023 FR0013230612 749 24.6583 XPAR TIKEHAU CAPITAL 969500BY8TEU16U3SJ94 15/05/2023 FR0013230612 2,000 24.8228 XPAR TIKEHAU CAPITAL 969500BY8TEU16U3SJ94 16/05/2023 FR0013230612 2,000 24.5805 XPAR TIKEHAU CAPITAL 969500BY8TEU16U3SJ94 17/05/2023 FR0013230612 27,000 24.3043 XPAR TIKEHAU CAPITAL 969500BY8TEU16U3SJ94 18/05/2023 FR0013230612 2,682 23.5039 XPAR TOTAL 34,431 24.2958 View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230522005582/en/ Tikehau Capital Source: Tikehau Capital COFACE SA: AM Best affirms Cofaces main operating subsidiaries rating at A (Excellent) with a stable outlook Paris, 22 May 2023 08.30 The rating agency AM Best affirmed on 19 May 2023 the A (Excellent) Insurer Financial Strength IFS rating of Compagnie francaise dassurance pour le commerce exterieur (la Compagnie), Coface North America Insurance Company (CNAIC) and Coface Re. The outlook for these ratings remain stable. In its press release, AM Best highlights that this rating reflects, Coface groups balance sheet strength, which AM Best categorises as very strong, as well as its adequate operating performance, favourable business profile and appropriate enterprise risk management. This strength is underpinned by a consolidated risk-adjusted capitalization at the strongest level as measured by the Bests Capital Adequacy Ratio (BCAR) score AM Best also believes that the groups prospective performance may be subject to volatility, driven by the uncertain global operating environment. However, the group is able to take prompt risk-mitigating actions on non-performing business when required. Last, in its release, the rating agency underscores that this note reflects Cofaces leading position in the global credit insurance market, which is characterised by high barriers to entry. CONTACTS ANALYSTS / INVESTORS Thomas JACQUET: +33 1 49 02 12 58 [email protected] Benoit CHASTEL: +33 1 49 02 22 28 [email protected] MEDIA RELATIONS Saphia GAOUAOUI: +33 1 49 02 14 91 [email protected] Corentin HENRY: +33 1 49 02 23 94 - [email protected] FINANCIAL CALENDAR 2023 (subject to change) Q1-2023 results: 25 May 2023 (after market close) H1-2023 results: 10 August 2023 (after market close) 9M-2023 results: 14 November 2023 (after market close) FINANCIAL INFORMATION This press release, as well as COFACE SAs integral regulatory information, can be found on the Groups website: http://www.coface.com/Investors For regulated information on Alternative Performance Measures (APM), please refer to our Interim Financial Report for H1-2022 and our 2022 Universal Registration Document (see part 3.7 Key financial performance indicators). Regulated documents posted by COFACE SA have been secured and authenticated with the blockchain technology by Wiztrust. You can check the authenticity on the website www.wiztrust.com. COFACE: FOR TRADE With over 75 years of experience and the most extensive international network, Coface is a leader in trade credit insurance & risk management, and a recognized provider of Factoring, Debt Collection, Single Risk insurance, Bonding, and Information Services. Cofaces experts work to the beat of the global economy, helping ~50,000 clients in 100 countries build successful, growing, and dynamic businesses. With Cofaces insight and advice, these companies can make informed decisions. The Group' solutions strengthen their ability to sell by providing them with reliable information on their commercial partners and protecting them against non-payment risks, both domestically and for export. In 2022, Coface employed ~4,720 people and registered a turnover of 1.81 billion. www.coface.com COFACE SA is quoted in Compartment A of Euronext Paris Code ISIN: FR0010667147 / Mnemonique : COFA DISCLAIMER - Certain declarations featured in this press release may contain forecasts that notably relate to future events, trends, projects or targets. By nature, these forecasts include identified or unidentified risks and uncertainties, and may be affected by many factors likely to give rise to a significant discrepancy between the real results and those stated in these declarations. Please refer to chapter 5 Main risk factors and their management within the Group of the Coface Group's 2022 Universal Registration Document filed with AMF on 6 April 2023 under the number D.23-0244 in order to obtain a description of certain major factors, risks and uncertainties likely to influence the Coface Group's businesses. The Coface Group disclaims any intention or obligation to publish an update of these forecasts, or provide new information on future events or any other circumstance. Attachment Cheshire, UK, May 22, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- IG CloudOps, one of the leading providers of cloud management solutions, announces the rebranding movement and rolls out the latest version of its software platform, also named IG CloudOps. The update can now offer customers even greater control and visibility over their cloud environments. The cloud management solution allows every business to reach streamlined management, improve operational efficiency and reduce costs in AWS and Azure systems. Being in the industry for 18 years, the IG CloudOps cloud management platform is built on best-of-breed open-source solutions. This ensures that users have access to the latest technology and features while benefiting from the expertise and support of the IG CloudOps AWS and Azure experts. With the updates, customers can benefit from a unified management platform whether they are using AWS, Azure, or both. With the aim of building IG CloudOps to scale and repeat expertise knowledge for all customers, IG CloudOps has helped numerous organizations optimize their cloud operations and achieve their digital transformation goals. As certified partners for both Azure and AWS, IG CloudOps enhances its customers' existing skill sets so that they can concentrate on their core business, not their cloud infrastructure. From cost and performance management to security audits, the business brings the best services to support clients. A cloud management platform like IG CloudOps can help businesses avoid overspending by providing real-time visibility into their resource usage. As part of the monitoring and cost analysis within IG CloudOps, cost recommendations are made to help identify underutilised or orphaned resources for attention. CloudOps integrates with the native cost APIs for both AWS and Azure so it can provide LIVE cost telemetry, budget alerts and running totals for hourly/monthly for clients price lists. In addition, acknowledging that security is one of the most concerns of any business, IG CloudOps provides quarterly security audits which include automated penetration testing and security hardening. The cloud management platform can help you establish and maintain strong security and compliance practices. One point that makes IG CloudOps stand out in the market is the excellent customer support, which is always on and offers fault resolution. For more information, please visit: https://www.igroupltd.co.uk/ About IG CloudOps IG CloudOps is a third-party cloud management platform that can help businesses to streamline their cloud management processes and optimize their cloud infrastructure for maximum efficiency. IG CloudOps supports many SME and enterprise customers with their cloud infrastructure and cloud projects, ensuring success for CTOs, FDs, MDs, IT teams and the wider business. Media Contact: Steve Rastall T: 01829 470 095 Source: IG CloudOps LITTLE ROCK, Ark., May 22, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Inuvo, Inc. (NYSE American: INUV), provider of the first generative artificial intelligence (AI) solution made specifically for brands and agencies, today announced the appointment of Barry Lowenthal, former CEO of Media Kitchen, as President. Mr. Lowenthal brings more than three decades of experience leading innovative marketing agencies, while delivering growth and enhanced value for stockholders. Most recently, he served as CEO of Media Kitchen, an award-winning full-service communications planning and buying agency, which is a member of the Stagwell Media Network, with offices in New York City, Minneapolis, Toronto, Montreal, and Stockholm. Under Mr. Lowenthals leadership, Media Kitchen became an industry-recognized digital media leader with a global team of over 100 associates and hundreds of millions of dollars in client billings. The company maintained consistent EBITDA growth and double-digit margins. Media Kitchen merged with MMI Agency in 2022. Among his accomplishments, he co-founded Varick Media Management, one of the industrys first agency-side programmatic trading desks. Mr. Lowenthal has also held senior executive roles at Bartle Bogle Hegarty, a global advertising agency; Hook Media, a startup digital media agency; Kirshenbaum Bond & Partners, a fully integrated advertising agency; and Grey Advertising, a global advertising and marketing agency. His educational background includes a Master of Business Administration, Marketing from the City University of New York, Baruch College and a Bachelor of General Studies, Business from the University of Maryland. I am thrilled to be joining the Inuvo team at such an exciting time, said Barry Lowenthal. What inspired me about the company was that it had the vision to invent and deliver a solution to the ad industry, solving its biggest challenge, years before anyone else even saw the problem coming. Im of course talking about how the cookie and other technical methods are currently being used to access consumer information for targeting. What amazed me about Inuvo was that it was using a proprietary language model based on generative artificial intelligence on par with ChatGPT and Bard to solve a cookieless future. My knowledge of the industry and the relationships I have forged throughout will immediately be used to accelerate Inuvos growth. Rich Howe, Chairman and CEO of Inuvo, commented, Inuvo is at the right place at the right time. Its exceptionally rare to have a proven, disruptive technology designed for the future of an industry. What we needed was a recognized leader who could spearhead our organization in a direction that unlocks the full potential of that technology. Barrys capabilities will be assimilated into our collective in a manner that will make this AI-based company more successful. About Inuvo Inuvo, Inc. (NYSE American: INUV) is a market leader in Artificial Intelligence built for advertising. Its IntentKey AI solution is a first-of-its-kind proprietary and patented technology capable of identifying and actioning to the reasons why consumers are interested in products, services, or brands, not who those consumers are. To learn more, visit www.inuvo.com. Safe Harbor / Forward-Looking StatementsThis press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially, including, without limitation risks detailed from time to time in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the SEC), and represent our views only as of the date they are made and should not be relied upon as representing our views as of any subsequent date. You are urged to carefully review and consider any cautionary statements and other disclosures, including the statements made under the heading Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2022 as filed on March 10, 2023, our Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, and our other filings with the SEC. Additionally, forward looking statements are subject to certain risks, trends, and uncertainties including the continued impact of Covid-19 on Inuvos business and operations. Inuvo cannot provide assurances that the assumptions upon which these forward-looking statements are based will prove to have been correct. Should one of these risks materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those expressed or implied in any forward-looking statements, and investors are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which are current only as of this date. Inuvo does not intend to update or revise any forward-looking statements made herein or any other forward-looking statements as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Inuvo further expressly disclaims any written or oral statements made by a fourth party regarding the subject matter of this press release. The information, which appears on our websites and our social media platforms is not part of this press release. Inuvo Company Contact:Wally RuizChief Financial OfficerTel (501) 205-8397[email protected] Investor Relations:David Waldman / Natalya RudmanCrescendo Communications, LLCTel: (212) 671-1020[email protected] A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/5e0b0a48-8d2b-45cf-a525-467109519be6 Barry Lowenthal Appointed President of Inuvo Barry Lowenthal Appointed President of Inuvo Source: Inuvo Inc. Contract to Develop High-Energy Battery Packs for Uninterruptible Power Supplies to Mobile Command Centers SAN DIEGO, May 22, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- KULR Technology Group, Inc. (NYSE American: KULR) (the "Company" or "KULR"), a leading energy management platform company accelerating the global transition to a sustainable electrification economy, today announced it has received a development contract from a branch within the United States Armed Forces to develop high-energy battery packs for uninterruptible power supplies to mobile command centers. This is the second KULR ONE Design Solutions (K1DS) contract within a month for San Diego based KULR as it grows its comprehensive solutions platform business, delivering what the Company believes to be the safest battery solutions for high energy and demanding applications. Earlier this month, the United States Army awarded KULR a $1.13 million contract to develop a high-energy battery storage platform for advanced aviation applications. Although there is still more than a month left in our current fiscal quarter, we believe that we are seeing impressive demand for KULR ONE battery packs leading to sizable growth in revenue from Q1 2023," commented KULR CEO Michael Mo. "We continue to showcase the advantages of our products and this order again demonstrates the increasing adoption of our products and design solutions in the battery and energy storage marketplace. These orders continue to enhance our growth and position in the marketplace and confirm the sustainability of our growth trajectory. About KULR Technology Group Inc.KULR Technology Group Inc. (NYSE American: KULR) is a leading energy management platform company offering proven solutions that play a critical role in accelerating the electrification of the circular economy. Leveraging a foundation in developing, manufacturing, and licensing next-generation carbon fiber thermal management technologies for batteries and electronic systems, KULR has evolved its holistic suite of products and services to enable its customers across disciplines to operate with efficiency and sustainability in mind. For more information, please visit www.kulrtechnology.com. Safe Harbor Statement This press release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of offers to buy any securities of any entity. This release contains certain forward-looking statements based on our current expectations, forecasts and assumptions that involve risks and uncertainties. Forward-looking statements in this release are based on information available to us as of the date hereof. Our actual results may differ materially from those stated or implied in such forward-looking statements, due to risks and uncertainties associated with our business, which include the risk factors disclosed in our Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on March 28, 2023. Forward-looking statements include statements regarding our expectations, beliefs, intentions, or strategies regarding the future and can be identified by forward-looking words such as anticipate, believe, could, estimate, expect, intend, may, should, and would or similar words. All forecasts are provided by management in this release are based on information available at this time and management expects that internal projections and expectations may change over time. In addition, the forecasts are entirely on managements best estimate of our future financial performance given our current contracts, current backlog of opportunities and conversations with new and existing customers about our products and services. We assume no obligation to update the information included in this press release, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Investor Relations:Mark KomonoskiPartnerIntegrous CommunicationsPhone: 1-877-255-8483Email: [email protected] Brokers and Analysts:Chesapeake Group410-825-3930[email protected] Media Relations:Further PREmail: [email protected] Source: KULR Technology Group, Inc. The Back to School Project is run in partnership with the Zambian Ministry of Education The Youth Trainee Program is run by GoviEx and focuses on trade training of young adults These initiatives are part of GoviEx's on-going focus on local employment and local development as part of its ESG strategy Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - May 22, 2023) - GoviEx Uranium Inc. (TSXV: GXU) (OTCQX: GVXXF) ("GoviEx" or "Company") is pleased to announce the launch of two education programs in the vicinity of its Muntanga Project in Zambia - the Back to School Project and GoviEx's Youth Trainee Program. Both initiatives were born out of GoviEx's commitment to local employment and local development. The company has recognized the challenges in hiring local talent due to a lack of formal education and has taken a proactive step towards addressing this issue. By equipping the community with the necessary literacy and numeracy skills, GoviEx aims to unlock the full potential of the local workforce, enabling them to actively participate in the development of the Muntanga Project. The Back to School Project is an adult education initiative run in partnership with the District Education Board Secretaries (DEBS) for the Siavonga and Chirundu Districts. It will focus on providing educational opportunities for adults who may not have had previous access to formal education. In addition, GoviEx's Youth Trainee Program is taking another step forward in empowering local youth by funding the tuition, boarding and upkeep of an initial six students from three communities in the areas around the Muntanga Project. The students started courses in Mechanics, Power Electrical and Plumbing at the Lusaka Vocational Training College this May. This is in addition to two Community Health Assistants students that GoviEx is currently sponsoring at Mwachisompola College of Health Sciences in Chibombo. Since it started operations in Zambia, GoviEx has built or contributed to the construction of five schools in five different communities along its project area. These initiatives form part of GoviEx's wider ESG strategy and commitment towards local development and employment. This includes GoviEx's Madaouela Project in Niger, which allows four months of staff training prior to the commencement of mine operation and also has a 5% training budget built in its Feasibility Study. Daniel Major, CEO of GoviEx Uranium said: "As part of our commitment to ESG and specifically local employment, we recognize the low levels of literacy in the project area and want to address this challenge by supporting an initiative that would provide educational opportunities for: (i) adults who have not had access to formal education and (ii) youngsters who would like to further their education via a traineeship. Our plan is that this will feed into employment opportunities during the development of our Muntanga project." Mr. Keembezi Chilumba, DEBS representative, said: "We are delighted to work with GoviEx in the Siavonga and Chirundu Districts to support the development of local adult education. This plan is in line with our goal of developing the area further. The Adult Literacy Syllabus caters for the educational needs of youths and adults who did not undergo formal education. The syllabus intends to transmit to the learners more than the basic skills of reading and writing and numeracy but also to promote self-reliance through acquisition of entrepreneurship skills, civic awareness, environmental and health education as well as providing a foundation for continuing education." About GoviEx Uranium Inc. GoviEx is a mineral resource company focused on the exploration and development of uranium properties in Africa. GoviEx's principal objective is to become a significant uranium producer through the continued exploration and development of its flagship mine-permitted Madaouela Project in Niger, its mine-permitted Mutanga Project in Zambia, and its multi-element Falea Project in Mali. For more information, please contact: GoviEx Uranium Isabel Vilela, Head of IR and Corporate Communications Email: [email protected] Phone: +1-604-687-5800 (Canada) +260-971 070 479 (Zambia) Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements This news release may contain forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable securities laws. All information and statements other than statements of current or historical facts contained in this news release are forward-looking information. Forward-looking statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties concerning the specific factors disclosed here and elsewhere in GoviEx's periodic filings with Canadian securities regulators. When used in this news release, words such as "will", "could", "plan", "estimate", "expect", "intend", "may", "potential", "should," and similar expressions, are forward- looking statements. Information provided in this document is necessarily summarized and may not contain all available material information. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from expectations include (i) the inability to complete the Back to School Project or GoviEx's Youth Trainee Program for the Mutanga Project as expected; (ii) potential delays due to COVID-19 restrictions; (iii) the failure of the Company's projects, for technical, logistical, labour-relations, or other reasons; (iv) a decrease in the price of uranium below what is necessary to sustain the Company's operations; (v) an increase in the Company's operating costs above what is necessary to sustain its operations; (vi) accidents, labour disputes, or the materialization of similar risks; (vii) a deterioration in capital market conditions that prevents the Company from raising the funds it requires on a timely basis; and (viii) generally, the Company's inability to develop and implement a successful business plan for any reason. In addition, the factors described or referred to in the section entitled "Risks Factors" in the MD&A for the year ended December 31, 2022, of GoviEx, which is available on the SEDAR website at www.sedar.com, should be reviewed in conjunction with the information found in this news release. Although GoviEx has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results, performance, or achievements to differ materially from those contained in the forward- looking statements, there can be other factors that cause results, performance, or achievements not to be as anticipated, estimated, or intended. There can be no assurance that such information will prove to be accurate or that management's expectations or estimates of future developments, circumstances, or results will materialize. As a result of these risks and uncertainties, no assurance can be given that any events anticipated by the forward-looking information in this news release will transpire or occur, or, if any of them do so, what benefits that GoviEx will derive therefrom. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements in this news release are made as of the date of this news release, and GoviEx disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise such information, except as required by applicable law. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/166945 MILPITAS, Calif., May 22, 2023 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) The highly anticipated Kashmir Conclave 2023, held in Milpitas, California, brought together distinguished attendees, including Milpitas City Mayor Carmen Montana, accomplished lawyer and CPA Neeraj Bhatia, and prominent Kashmiri figure Jeevan Zutshi, along with Tasawar Jalali, to discuss and explore crucial trade, economic development, and collaboration opportunities for the dynamic region of Jammu & Kashmir. The event brought together industry experts in import-export laws, taxation, and other key stakeholders to explore and strengthen economic ties between the two regions. During her address at the event, Mayor Carmen Montana emphasized the paramount importance of promoting trade and economic development. She showcased Milpitas Citys unwavering commitment to supporting the Kashmir Conclave team in establishing fruitful partnerships with businesses in the Jammu & Kashmir region. Mayor Montana applauded the citys relentless efforts in attracting businesses, including the visionary plans for an innovation district, specifically designed to allure enterprises to Milpitas. Neeraj Bhatia, an esteemed accounting professional based in Silicon Valley, shared invaluable insights during the conclave, drawing upon his expertise in international and domestic tax planning, startups, and multinational entities. Bhatia shed light on several incentives offered by the Indian government to attract investment in Jammu & Kashmir. Notably, he highlighted the revised policy allowing Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) and Overseas Citizens of India (OCIs) to purchase and own property in the region. Bhatia also emphasized the availability of capital subsidies and interest subvention for industrial development, which facilitates capital investment and propels sustainable growth. Jeevan Zutshi, a prominent figure of Kashmiri origin and chairman of the Indo-American Community Federation (IACF), delivered an impactful speech during the conclave, expressing his unwavering commitment to the regions development and his firm belief in promoting pluralism and empowering women through progressive local laws. Zutshi passionately advocated for shifting the narrative surrounding Jammu & Kashmir, redirecting the focus from discussions of terrorism and unrest towards comprehensive development. He stressed the pressing need to create an inclusive environment where all communities can coexist harmoniously, just as they did in the past. Zutshi expressed his delight at witnessing significant strides taken towards the implementation of progressive local laws, empowering women and providing them with a platform to voice their aspirations. He underscored the vast potential for investment opportunities in sectors such as agriculture and horticulture, while commending the state government and the Government of India for their relentless efforts in overcoming challenges and propelling the growth of the region. Tasawar Jalali, a notable entrepreneur from Kashmir and chairman of the unity and diversity movement known as Ibadatkhana, passionately advocated for a shift in the narrative surrounding Jammu & Kashmir. Jalali emphasized the urgency of moving away from associating the region solely with political unrest and instead focusing on its untapped economic potential. Looking ahead, Jalali shared his vision for the future of the Kashmir Conclave, revealing plans to host a conference in the heart of Srinagar, the capital city of Jammu & Kashmir. This forthcoming initiative aims to provide a platform for face-to-face interactions between entrepreneurs from the USA and Kashmir, fostering meaningful connections and exploring potential business opportunities. Anu Nakka, a distinguished board member of both the Milpitas Chamber of Commerce and the Milpitas Unified School District, expressed her enthusiasm for exploring potential collaborations between the school district and Jammu & Kashmir. With her esteemed background, holding a doctorate in finance and corporate secretary, Nakka highlighted the transformative power of education and its ability to open doors to limitless opportunities. She emphasized the importance of educational exchanges and partnerships to foster mutual growth and understanding between the two regions. The Kashmir Conclave in California served as a pivotal platform to promote trade, economic growth, and collaboration between the United States and Jammu & Kashmir. By harnessing the power of entrepreneurship, innovation, and inclusive development, the event aimed to unlock the vast potential of the region and enhance the overall quality of life for its residents. As the conclave concluded, attendees were left with a sense of optimism and renewed commitment to realizing the regions untapped potential. The future holds promising possibilities for entrepreneurs, investors, and individuals seeking to contribute to the economic growth and prosperity of Jammu & Kashmir. Learn more about the Kashmir Conclave at: https://kashmirconclave.com/ ABOUT KASHMIR CONCLAVE: The Kashmir Conclave is an annual event organized primarily by individuals from Kashmir, aimed at fostering bilateral trade relations and economic collaboration between the United States and the region of Jammu & Kashmir. The conclave brings together industry experts, entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, and key stakeholders to explore opportunities, exchange ideas, and strengthen ties between the two regions. With a focus on entrepreneurship, innovation, and inclusive development, the Kashmir Conclave serves as a catalyst for unlocking the economic potential of Jammu & Kashmir. MULTIMEDIA: Photo link for media: https://www.Send2Press.com/300dpi/23-0522-s2p-cmontana-300dpi.jpg Caption: Mayor Carmen Montana speaking at Kashmir Conclave 2023, Milpitas CA. NEWS SOURCE: Kashmir Conclave This press release was issued on behalf of the news source (Kashmir Conclave), who is solely responsible for its accuracy, by Send2Press Newswire. To view the original story, visit: https://www.send2press.com/wire/kashmir-conclave-in-california-sparks-economic-collaboration-and-trade-opportunities-for-jammu-kashmir/ Copr. 2023 Send2Press Newswire, a service of NEOTROPE, Calif., USA. -- REF: S2P STORY ID: 90805SI.03 Acquisition enhances Freenome's product portfolio, including autoantibody platform with additional biomarkers important in cancer detection Freenome continues growth trajectory toward offering multiple cancer screening tests and this acquisition accelerates Freenome's path to clinical impact in new indications SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. , May 22, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Freenome, a privately held biotech company, announced today it has acquired Oncimmune Ltd, a UK -based global immunodiagnostics developer with a commercialized CE-IVD marked EarlyCDT Lung blood test, autoantibody platform and research and development pipeline of 7+ cancer detection signatures. Oncimmune Ltd is a subsidiary of Oncimmune Holdings plc, a cancer immune-profiling company, with an advanced autoantibody profiling technology and database. EarlyCDT Lung is Oncimmune Ltd's commercialized CE-IVD marked lung blood test and detects elevated levels of autoantibodies generated by the body's immune system of patients in the earliest stages of lung cancer. The test has impacted the clinical journey of more than 200,000 people at high risk for lung cancer and those with indeterminate pulmonary nodules (IPN). The acquisition of Oncimmune Ltd provides Freenome with clinical and commercial resources to complement Freenome's frontline screening efforts. Oncimmune Ltd's pipeline of autoantibody targets for other cancer indications will augment Freenome's multiomics platform with additional non-tumor-derived signals to capture a more comprehensive view of the tumor microenvironment. Freenome uses a multiomics platform that combines tumor and non-tumor signals with machine learning to detect cancer in its earliest stages using a standard blood draw. The company is completing the FDA verification and validation studies for its colorectal cancer screening test through the PREEMPT CRC trial. In parallel, Freenome has applied its expertise in cancer detection and machine learning to real-world data to develop population health solutions for payers and providers to complement its blood tests and support the entire patient's care journey. "The addition of Oncimmune Ltd assets, including a robust pipeline of autoantibody targets, positions Freenome to expand its existing multiomics platform capabilities with non-tumor derived signals and bolsters our tailored portfolio of screening tests for cancer detection. In addition, the growing clinical impact of EarlyCDT Lung, a commercialized autoantibody assay, strengthens Freenome's lung cancer detection capabilities," said Mike Nolan , CEO of Freenome. "This merger of expertise and technology fortifies Freenome's holistic approach to the early detection of multiple cancers and accelerates the timeline to bring our screening tests to the forefront of clinical care." Oncimmune Ltd has participated in high-profile clinical studies across the UK , including the Early Detection of Cancer of the Lung Scotland (ECLS) study with 12,210 high-risk smokers. The ECLS study is the largest-ever randomized study for the detection of lung cancer using biomarkers. In addition, Oncimmune Ltd was selected to supply the EarlyCDT Lung blood test for 15,000 people as part of the National Health System UK Lung Health Check Programme. Oncimmune Ltd platforms, products, and clinical research have been featured in more than 150 peer-reviewed publications, keynotes, presentations, and posters. Freenome joins seven of the top 15 global pharma companies in leveraging Oncimmune's autoantibody discovery platform, ImmunoINSIGHTS, based in Dortmund, Germany , a powerful tool used to uncover meaningful insights and biomarkers for cancer and other diseases. "Under Oncimmune's stewardship, EarlyCDT Lung was demonstrated to detect cancer earlier and save unnecessary loss of life. By joining forces with Freenome, we will unlock the full potential of the EarlyCDT portfolio, ultimately transforming how cancer is first detected and diagnosed, saving many more lives," said Dr. Adam M. Hill , CEO of Oncimmune. The Nottingham office will continue its operations. Oncimmune Ltd employees join the Freenome team effective May 20, 2023 . About Freenome Freenome is a biotechnology company with a comprehensive multiomics platform for the early detection of cancer using a standard blood draw. The company combines its deep expertise in molecular biology with advanced computational biology and machine learning to detect disease-associated patterns among billions of circulating cell-free biomarkers. Freenome is headquartered in South San Francisco, California . View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/freenome-acquires-global-immunodiagnostics-developer-oncimmune-ltd-301830382.html SOURCE Freenome Holdings, Inc. BEIJING , May 22, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Standing in the middle of a massive construction site with a strong, gusty wind and constant construction noise in the background, Fu Xing , a mid-aged, bespectacled construction manager with a slight figure can barely be heard. Wearing his typical workman outfit - a white hard hat and a blue vest, Fu tries to explain what is being built and its national significance. But around him, nothing really stands out about the project, except for the sheer size of the site. "This will be built into a national demonstration project for TOD," Fu says in a firm, proud tone, using the acronym for transit-oriented development, an emerging global trend in urban planning that optimizes the use of land and maximizes access to public transportation. "The large size of the complex construction is rare to see in China and even the world." The project, an inter-city railway station and an international trade center, is one of the most important projects in Xiong'an New Area, in North China's Hebei Province , about 100 kilometers southwest of Beijing . Xiong'an has been dubbed the "city of the future," the development of which is a national project of millennial significance. President Xi Jinping has been personally involved in making decisions and plans to develop Xiong'an. On May 10 , Xi, also the general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, inspected Xiong'an and presided over a meeting on promoting its development. The transformation of the Xiong'an New Area from ground zero to an emerging sophisticated modern city within a mere six years is miraculous, Xi remarked, according to the Xinhua News Agency. In April 2017 , China announced plans to set up the Xiong'an New Area, which would be on par with the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone and the Shanghai Pudong New Area. The development of Xiong'an embodies many long-term development goals for China, including high-quality, innovation-driven, and green development, and ultimate Chinese modernization, experts noted. Underscoring the significance of Xiong'an, Xi has visited the city three times since 2017. During the latest trip on May 10 , Xi visited various places in the city, including the construction sites of an inter-city railway station and an international trade center, where he learned about the development of key infrastructure projects and major projects launched for the purpose of relieving Beijing of functions nonessential to its role as the capital. Intelligent center Xi said more efforts should be made to develop a multifaceted and integrated transportation network and make full use of underground space so as to build a "city of the future" free of urban maladies. " President Xi was standing right here at this spot. Right here," highlighted Fu, assistant to the general manager of Xiongshang Development Company under China Xiong 'an Group, as he vividly recalls the trip with palpable excitement. "We were very happy to witness this scene." With an investment of 20.9 billion yuan ( $2.99 billion ), the site has a total of construction area of 1.6 million square meters, covering different building units, such as rail, office buildings, and hotels. As an important transportation hub in Xiong'an, the complex is composed of four different rails, including one high-speed railway line, an R1 to terminal, and two sub lines, as well as different buildings, transforming the complex into a region with offices, hotels, apartments, as well as rail transit, and aviation services, Fu told the Global Times. All the transfer can be realized under the ground upon completion, Fu said, adding that the farthest transfer distance does not exceed 270 meters, and it can realize a transfer to any rail in three-minute at the same-floor. While the inter-city railway station and an international trade center, among many other major projects are still under construction, many have also been completed and Xiong'an's calling cards of being a smart, green, and innovative are already taking shape. By the end of 2022, Xiong'an had already seen an inflow of more than 510 billion yuan in investment earmarked for 240 major projects, according to the China Media Group. Another 270 key projects are expected to be launched in 2023, with a total investment of 664 billion yuan . Also, state-owned enterprises have set up more than 140 institutions in the city. Thousands of companies, most of which specialize in science and technology, have been registered in Xiong'an. A tale of two cities Another iconic project that has been completed and put into use is the Xiong'an Railway Station , which is connected to Beijing via the high-speed railway. On May 10 , Xi took a high-speed train and arrived at the station. The railway station is designed as a transportation hub, Xi said, emphasizing the need to improve the connectivity of the station with various places. Located along the railway linking Beijing and Xiong'an New Area, the intercity railway section was officially made operational on December 17, 2020 . Aerial photo shows that the station is in the shape of water drop ellipse, echoing the water culture of the Xiong'an New Area. As the first major infrastructure project started being constructed in the Xiong'an New Area, it is currently the largest railway station in Asia , with an area six times the size of the Beijing Railway Station . This comprehensive transportation hub has combined high-speed and intercity rails, and subway connectivity together, helping boost the integration of the Beijing - Tianjin - Hebei cluster. Currently, there are 17 pairs of high-speed trains shuttling between Beijing and Xiong'an daily. On May 14 , it has marked 869 days of safe operation, having completed 1.44 million passenger trips, Liu Dongmei, a staffer at the Xiong'an Railway Station , told the Global Times. Liu added that the passengers are mainly builders, business people commuting to and from Daxing Airport , and tourists. It will take 19 minutes to complete a commute from Xiong'an Railway Station to Beijing Daxing International Airport , and less than one hour to the Beijing West Railway Station , Liu added. "Taking the high-speed train between Beijing and Xiong'an has been my working habit since 2021," Meng Hongwei , deputy director of XiongAn Blockchain Lab with Intelligent City Innovation Federation of Xiong'an, told the Global Times. "The high-speed train has made the two cities of Beijing and Xiong'an seem like one." The blockchain lab, which was established in 2020, with the goal of conducting research on and applying blockchain technologies and concepts to the construction of a new smart city, also highlights Xiong'an's focus on innovation. People-friendly community To the west out of the Xiong'an Railway Station sits the Rongdong area of the Xiong'an New Area, where there are estates of residential buildings and trees, which differs entirely from the usual sight in the rural areas of North China . As one of the first areas to be built up in Xiong'an the New Area, the Rongdong region has an area of 12.7 square kilometers and a planned population of about 170,000. In his visit on May 10 , Xi visited a residential community that is home to 5,000-plus relocated residents. There, Xi chatted with community workers and residents, expressing his satisfaction with the good living conditions of the residents. He also highlighted the importance of ensuring the relocated residents live well and have satisfactory jobs. Promoting equal access to basic public services is crucial in building a people's city that is both livable and conducive to doing business, Xi noted. "I was nervous before President Xi visited, but was relaxed after seeing him. He is so kind to everyone," Wang Weixiao, Party Secretary of the Nanwenying community, recalled. The service center of the Nanwenying community is not big but has a clear layout. On the left side is the residents' activity room, where residents can read books and deal with various self-services, and on the right is the service station, where community workers can provide 45 services, including government-related ones to residents. "Moving into this community is a day I never thought would happen, as the environment is quite clean, and it is even hard to see a single cigarette butt, not to mention the greenery," 47-year-old Xiao Qiuyun told the Global Times. In the past, I worked in a garment factory, and I needed to overwork to make more money, but now my income is almost the same as before, but I am less tired, she said. What makes me more satisfied is that education getting better as far as I know my child's teachers are selected from other high-quality cities, something that was hard to even imagine in the past, Xiao said. According to the plan, Xiong'an will form a "15-minute living circle," that is, the residents can walk 5 minutes to send children to kindergartens, walk 10 minutes to vegetable markets and primary schools, and 15 minutes to hospitals and middle schools. Mapping out the future During the inspection, Xi stressed the need to give the people a more concrete sense of fulfillment and happiness through the development of the new area. He also called for enhancing policies that guide employment and entrepreneurship, as well as bolstering employment training programs. He encouraged the area to blaze a new path in narrowing the gap between urban and rural areas, advancing integrated urban-rural development, and promoting common prosperity for all. "Xiong'an is a sample of China's modernization, and the sample is people-oriented," Ye Tanglin, a city planning expert with the Capital University of Economics and Business, told the Global Times. From top-tier planning to scientific innovation and low carbon development, Xiong'an has set an example of high-quality development, and currently, what Xiong'an is set to become is in sight. On Saturday, the application process for the points-based permanent residence declaration for the Xiong'an New Area for 2023 started. The points-based system was introduced on January 1, 2021 with more detailed guidance issued on December 31, 2021 , aiming to attract more talent to settle in the region. In 2022, 324 people had qualified for settlement through the points-based mechanism, marking the first batch of eligible people under the system. Local officials noted that the new points-based system aims to open the doors to as many talented people as possible, laying a foundation for the area's future development. While much of that work is still underway, many in Xiong'an like Fu are already seeing the beautiful light at the end of the development tunnel. "By the middle of next year, the whole construction site will be full of lights shining at the cranes in the nights, and the scene will be spectacular," Fu said. View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/global-times-xis-footprints-in-xiongan-highlight-miraculous-transformation-of-city-of-the-future-301830892.html SOURCE Global Times New Executive Hired as Company Fuels Client Growth AUSTIN, TEXAS , May 22, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Talentcare, LLC, the leading platform of solutions to make hiring and retention easy , is excited to announce the addition of Lorraine Riche as Chief Growth Officer. Riche, a former two-time client and Talentcare champion, has a rich history of leading successful businesses through growth phases, and makes the leap to join the company sharing her expertise and helping fuel the next stage of growth for clients. "It's not often one gets the chance to hire a former client who naturally lives and breathes our values and is an authentic advocate for the multiplying effect of human capital -- all in the package of a fantastic human," said Eric Smith , CEO of Talentcare. "Lorraine's intellectual curiosity, view of Talentcare as a client, and private equity-backed experience makes her the perfect partner for the executive teams of our clients," Smith added. A proven track record for starting and scaling retail healthcare organizations in a variety of sectors ranging from Consumer Wellness, Concierge Medicine, Mental Health including Autism/ABA, and an extensive range of Clinic- and Therapy-based healthcare has led Riche to the role with Talentcare she takes today. Riche's superpower is to build great teams, grow companies fast and achieve great exits. Riche has served as President at Bloom Health Centers, Chief Experience Officer at Acorn Health, Chief Operating Officer at PT Solutions, and Vice President of Strategy and Operations at The Advisory Board Company. Impressed? So are we! "The one thing that became very clear in every company I have been a part of was that, for growth to be unconstrained, a company must win the talent acquisition game. This requires a partner, and for me that partner was Talentcare," said Lorraine Riche , Chief Growth Officer. "Great companies are made by great people. Joining Talentcare gives me the opportunity to give to Talentcare's clients what Talentcare gave to me and my teams," Riche added. We invite you to learn more about the Talentcare team and connect with Lorraine. About Talentcare Mid-market companies and entrepreneurs trust Talentcare to ensure their growth and profit are never constrained by talent. Thousands of companies use Talentcare's platform of solutions to make hiring and retention of their frontline workforce easy. As a result, clients attract more of the right job candidates, become the employer of choice, and hire loyal, high-performing employees. Born in Austin, Texas , Talentcare has a habit of listening to its clients and enhances value through a curated partner ecosystem of talent solutions and integrations. Discover the Talentcare difference at Talentcare.com. CONTACT: David Collins , [email protected] View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/healthcare-industry-maven-lorraine-riche-joins-talentcare-as-chief-growth-officer-301830964.html SOURCE TALENTCARE Decision of Vilnius NATO summit should be one that will work Zelenskyy The decision of the Vilnius NATO summit for Ukraine should be one that "will turn out," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a video message on Monday. By the way, today there is an important declaration from the NATO Parliamentary Assembly. Things are called what they are: a clear recognition of Russia's crimes against our country as genocide, a clear condemnation of ruscist ideology. This is the right basis for other international organizations as well, Zelenskyy noted. According to him, we expect new meetings and negotiations, so far to a greater extent visits to us, to our state. There will be more weapons for our warriors. Every week we add value for Ukraine from the NATO Summit in Vilnius. We are preparing for several interim security measures in our neighboring countries, those that support us the most. We will also make new appeals to ensure that the world understands Ukraine and to strengthen our ties with partners, the president noted. And we will continue our intensive foreign policy, various non-standard formats, maximizing the world's useful attention to Ukraine and our defense. More and more results for Ukraine air defense, artillery, armored vehicles, shells, training all of this is a must, Zelenskyy stated. He recorded a video message in the vestibule of the train on which he was returning from a working trip to Japan. Nobu Hospitality set to open its first hotel and restaurant in Portugal NEW YORK , May 22, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Nobu Hospitality, the fastest growing luxury lifestyle brand founded by Chef Nobu Matsuhisa , Robert De Niro , and Meir Teper , is pleased to announce its expansion into Portugal marking another significant milestone in the company's global expansion strategy. The Nobu Hotel and Restaurant Lisbon is the first stage of Nobu Hospitality's planned expansion into Portugal which is part of the group's global growth strategy. With its distinctive blend of luxury, culinary innovation, and immersive guest experiences, Nobu Hospitality continues to redefine the hospitality landscape. The first Nobu Hotel and Restaurant in Portugal will be situated in the heart of Lisbon , on the famed Avenida da Liberdade. This prestigious address, renowned for its luxury boutiques and distinct 19th century architecture, offers discerning travelers direct access to the city's upscale retail, five-star restaurants, and key cultural landmarks. The district of Baixa, the trendy neighborhood of Chiado, and the famous Sao Jorge Castle , are only a short walk away, making this location the perfect base to explore all that the city has to offer. Trevor Horwell , CEO of Nobu Hospitality comments, "We are thrilled to be opening our first hotel and restaurant in Portugal , and it is fitting that Lisbon is our first venture into the destination. With its rich history, vibrant food scene, and impressive neoclassical architecture, Lisbon is the ideal destination for our brand. We look forward to bringing the Nobu brand to Lisbon as part of our Portugal growth strategy." www.nobuhotels.com/lisbon View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/nobu-hospitality-expands-into-lisbon-301830737.html SOURCE Nobu Hospitality Allen to Pursue Ministry Opportunity TULSA, Okla. , May 22, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- ONEOK, Inc. (NYSE: OKE) today announced that Stephen B. Allen , senior vice president, general counsel and assistant secretary will retire in mid-August 2023 after more than 17 years with the company. Allen is leaving ONEOK to join Dallas -based GuideStone, a leading faith-based financial services organization. Allen will continue as an employee through the middle of August as the company focuses on his replacement and will remain available to ONEOK and its management team in key aspects of the recently announced acquisition of Magellan Midstream Partners, L.P. "Stephen's important contributions will leave a lasting impression on ONEOK, and on behalf of the Board of Directors and the senior management team of the company, I would like to thank him for his service and counsel through the years," said Pierce H. Norton II, president and chief executive officer. Norton added, "Having known Stephen for almost 20 years, his decision to retire and dedicate himself to work for a ministry organization does not surprise me. We wish him the absolute best as he pursues this new calling." Allen expressed his appreciation to ONEOK's Board for their trust and support and to ONEOK's employees for their friendship and dedication to the company's mission, vision and values. "It was an honor and privilege to work for ONEOK for all these years. I have incredible respect for the senior management team that continues to lead with vision and integrity and for the employees that work hard to bring vital energy products to improve lives each and every day." A native of Massachusetts , Allen earned his juris doctorate from Vanderbilt University and a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science from Oklahoma Baptist University. GuideStone Financial Resources is a non-profit Christian financial services firm that manages the nation's largest faith-based mutual fund family and is based in Dallas. ONEOK, Inc. (pronounced ONE-OAK) (NYSE: OKE) is a leading midstream service provider and owner of one of the nation's premier natural gas liquids (NGL) systems, connecting NGL supply in the Rocky Mountain , Mid-Continent and Permian regions with key market centers and an extensive network of natural gas gathering, processing, storage and transportation assets. ONEOK is a FORTUNE 500 company and is included in S&P 500. For information about ONEOK, visit the website: www.oneok.com. For the latest news about ONEOK, find us on LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook and Twitter. IMPORTANT ADDITIONAL INFORMATION AND WHERE TO FIND IT: In connection with the proposed merger (the "Proposed Transaction") between ONEOK and Magellan, ONEOK intends to file with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") a registration statement on Form S-4 (the "Registration Statement") to register the shares of ONEOK's common stock to be issued in connection with the Proposed Transaction. The Registration Statement will include a document that serves as a prospectus of ONEOK and joint proxy statement of ONEOK and Magellan (the "joint proxy statement/prospectus"), and each party will file other documents regarding the Proposed Transaction with the SEC. INVESTORS AND SECURITY HOLDERS OF ONEOK AND MAGELLAN ARE URGED TO CAREFULLY AND THOROUGHLY READ, WHEN THEY BECOME AVAILABLE, THE REGISTRATION STATEMENT, THE JOINT PROXY STATEMENT/PROSPECTUS, AS EACH MAY BE AMENDED OR SUPPLEMENTED FROM TIME TO TIME, AND OTHER RELEVANT DOCUMENTS FILED BY ONEOK AND MAGELLAN WITH THE SEC BECAUSE THEY WILL CONTAIN IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT ONEOK AND MAGELLAN, THE PROPOSED TRANSACTION, THE RISKS RELATED THERETO AND RELATED MATTERS. After the Registration Statement has been declared effective, a definitive joint proxy statement/prospectus will be mailed to shareholders of ONEOK and unitholders of Magellan. Investors will be able to obtain free copies of the Registration Statement and the joint proxy statement/prospectus, as each may be amended from time to time, and other relevant documents filed by ONEOK and Magellan with the SEC (when they become available) through the website maintained by the SEC at www.sec.gov. Copies of documents filed with the SEC by ONEOK, including the joint proxy statement/prospectus (when available), will be available free of charge from ONEOK's website at www.oneok.com under the "Investors" tab. Copies of documents filed with the SEC by Magellan, including the joint proxy statement/prospectus (when available), will be available free of charge from Magellan's website at www.magellanlp.com under the "Investors" tab. PARTICIPANTS IN THE SOLICITATION: ONEOK and certain of its directors, executive officers and other members of management and employees, Magellan, and certain of the directors, executive officers and other members of management and employees of Magellan GP, LLC, which manages the business and affairs of Magellan, may be deemed to be participants in the solicitation of proxies from ONEOK's shareholders and the solicitation of proxies from Magellan's unitholders, in each case with respect to the Proposed Transaction. Information about ONEOK's directors and executive officers is available in ONEOK's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the 2022 fiscal year filed with the SEC on February 28, 2023 , and its definitive proxy statement for the 2023 annual meeting of stockholders filed with the SEC on April 5, 2023 , and in the joint proxy statement/prospectus (when available). Information about Magellan's directors and executive officers is available in its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the 2022 fiscal year and its definitive proxy statement for the 2023 annual meeting of unitholders, each filed with the SEC on February 21, 2023 , and the joint proxy statement/prospectus (when available). Other information regarding the participants in the solicitations and a description of their direct and indirect interests, by security holdings or otherwise, will be contained in the Registration Statement, the joint proxy statement/prospectus and other relevant materials to be filed with the SEC regarding the Proposed Transaction when they become available. Shareholders of ONEOK, unitholders of Magellan, potential investors and other readers should read the joint proxy statement/prospectus carefully when it becomes available before making any voting or investment decisions. NO OFFER OR SOLICITATION: This communication is not intended to and shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any securities or a solicitation of any vote or approval, nor shall there be any sale of securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such jurisdiction. No offer of securities shall be made except by means of a prospectus meeting the requirements of Section 10 of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended. FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS: This communication contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, included in this communication that address activities, events or developments that ONEOK or Magellan expects, believes or anticipates will or may occur in the future are forward-looking statements. Words such as "estimate," "project," "predict," "believe," "expect," "anticipate," "potential," "create," "intend," "could," "would," "may," "plan," "will," "guidance," "look," "goal," "future," "build," "focus," "continue," "strive," "allow" or the negative of such terms or other variations thereof and words and terms of similar substance used in connection with any discussion of future plans, actions, or events identify forward-looking statements. However, the absence of these words does not mean that the statements are not forward-looking. These forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding the Proposed Transaction, the expected closing of the Proposed Transaction and the timing thereof and as adjusted descriptions of the post-Transaction company and its operations, strategies and plans, integration, debt levels and leverage ratio, capital expenditures, cash flows and anticipated uses thereof, synergies, opportunities and anticipated future performance, including maintaining current ONEOK management, enhancements to investment-grade credit profile, an expected accretion to earnings and free cash flow, dividend payments and potential share repurchases, increase in value of tax attributes and expected impact on EBITDA. Information adjusted for the Proposed Transaction should not be considered a forecast of future results. There are a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements included in this communication. These include the risk that ONEOK's and Magellan's businesses will not be integrated successfully; the risk that cost savings, synergies and growth from the Proposed Transaction may not be fully realized or may take longer to realize than expected; the risk that the credit ratings of the combined company or its subsidiaries may be different from what the companies expect; the possibility that shareholders of ONEOK may not approve the issuance of new shares of ONEOK common stock in the Proposed Transaction or that shareholders of ONEOK or unitholders of Magellan may not approve the Proposed Transaction; the risk that a condition to closing of the Proposed Transaction may not be satisfied, that either party may terminate the Merger Agreement or that the closing of the Proposed Transaction might be delayed or not occur at all; potential adverse reactions or changes to business or employee relationships, including those resulting from the announcement or completion of the Proposed Transaction; the parties do not receive regulatory approval of the Proposed Transaction; the occurrence of any other event, change or other circumstances that could give rise to the termination of the merger agreement relating to the Proposed Transaction; the risk that ONEOK may not be able to secure the debt financing necessary to fund the cash consideration required for the Proposed Transaction; the risk that changes in ONEOK's capital structure and governance could have adverse effects on the market value of its securities; the ability of ONEOK and Magellan to retain customers and retain and hire key personnel and maintain relationships with their suppliers and customers and on ONEOK's and Magellan's operating results and business generally; the risk the Proposed Transaction could distract management from ongoing business operations or cause ONEOK and/or Magellan to incur substantial costs; the risk that ONEOK may be unable to reduce expenses or access financing or liquidity; the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, any related economic downturn and any related substantial decline in commodity prices; the risk of changes in governmental regulations or enforcement practices, especially with respect to environmental, health and safety matters; and other important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected. All such factors are difficult to predict and are beyond ONEOK's or Magellan's control, including those detailed in ONEOK's Annual Reports on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and Current Reports on Form 8-K that are available on ONEOK's website at www.oneok.com and on the website of the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") at www.sec.gov, and those detailed in Magellan's Annual Reports on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and Current Reports on Form 8-K that are available on Magellan's website at www.magellanlp.com and on the website of the SEC. All forward-looking statements are based on assumptions that ONEOK and Magellan believe to be reasonable but that may not prove to be accurate. Any forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date on which such statement is made, and neither ONEOK nor Magellan undertakes any obligation to correct or update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable law. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date hereof. Analyst Contact: Andrew Ziola 918-588-7683 Media Contact: Megan Washbourne 918-671-2774 View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/oneok-announces-retirement-of-stephen-b-allen-senior-vice-president-general-counsel-and-assistant-secretary-301831398.html SOURCE ONEOK, Inc. Agency announces new benefit to TSA PreCheck membership and continues to deploy checkpoint technology to improve security effectiveness, efficiency and the passenger experience WASHINGTON , May 22, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is prepared to screen high volumes of passengers at airport security checkpoints nationwide this summer travel season, which begins Memorial Day weekend and runs through Labor Day . The agency forecasts Friday, May 26 , to be the busiest day of the long weekend, projecting to screen approximately 2.6 million passengers. Today, the agency announced that teenagers aged 13-17 may now accompany TSA PreCheck enrolled parents or guardians through TSA PreCheck screening when traveling on the same reservation and when the TSA PreCheck indicator appears on the teen's boarding pass. Children 12 and under may still accompany an enrolled parent or guardian when traveling through the TSA PreCheck lanes anytime without restriction. "TSA is ready to handle this summer's anticipated increase in travel. Our staffing levels are better and this is largely due to better pay for all TSA employees which starts on July 1 st," said TSA Administrator David Pekoske . "This key action, supported by the President and Congress, enables us, for the first time in TSA's history, to pay our workforce using the same pay scale that applies to other federal employees. As expected, this has already improved our recruiting and retention rates. For passengers, this will mean better overall staffing for all of TSA's activities that support secure and efficient travel and an improved passenger experience. Our strong partnerships with airports and airlines will ensure we are able to anticipate and respond to changes in passenger travel throughout the summer. Passengers can help as well by being prepared, by having their identification ready when they begin screening and checking to make sure they aren't bringing firearms, oversized liquids or any other prohibited item into the checkpoint. One person's actions can delay screening for everyone else." Earlier today at a press conference at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL), Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens and six airport and airline partners joined Pekoske to discuss their operational preparedness for anticipated summer travel volumes, changes in transportation security and other travel tips. Industry representatives included Jan Lennon , Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport Deputy General Manager for Operations; Nicholas E. Calio , President and CEO, Airlines for America; Kevin M. Burke , President and CEO, Airports Council International North America ; Stephanie K. Gupta , Senior Vice President, Security and Facilitation, American Association of Airport Executives; Paul Doell , Vice President of Government Affairs and Security Policy, National Air Carrier Association; and Drew Jacoby Lemos , Vice President of Government and External Affairs for the Regional Airline Association. To continue to modernize airport checkpoints, enhance security effectiveness and efficiency and improve the passenger experience, TSA is deploying new technology solutions nationwide. Credential Authentication Technology (CAT) units confirm the authenticity of a passenger's identification credentials, along with their flight details and pre-screening status (such as TSA PreCheck) all without a boarding pass. With CAT, passengers only need to provide their acceptable photo identification to the officer. The second generation of CAT, also called CAT-2, in use at several airports nationwide, has the same capabilities, but is also equipped with a camera that captures a real-time photo of the traveler at the Travel Document Checker podium. CAT-2 compares the traveler's photo on the identification credential against the in-person, real-time photo. Once the CAT-2 confirms the match, a TSA officer will verify and the traveler can proceed to security screening, without ever exchanging a boarding pass. TSA officers may perform additional passenger verification if needed. Photos captured by CAT units are never stored or used for any other purpose than immediate identity verification. Travelers who do not wish to participate in the facial matching process may opt out in favor of an alternative identity verification process without losing their place in line. TSA is committed to protecting passenger privacy, civil rights, civil liberties and ensuring the public's trust as it seeks to improve the passenger experience through its exploration of identity verification technologies. To date, TSA has deployed 2,054 CAT units to 223 airports. Among those, 238 CAT units represent the second generation (CAT-2) technology. Additionally, Georgia is the latest state to launch its mobile driver's license (mDL). TSA is able to read the following digital IDs: Arizona , Colorado , Georgia and Maryland mDLs provisioned to Apple Wallet, Utah mDLs stored in the GET Mobile ID app and American Airlines digital ID stored in the Airside Digital Identity app. TSA is also deploying new state-of-the-art Computed Tomography (CT) units to checkpoints nationwide, which significantly improves scanning and threat detection capabilities for carry-on bags. CT units give TSA officers the ability to review a 3D image of passengers' bags and reduce the need to physically search the contents of the bag. Passengers screened in security lanes with CT units do not need to remove their 3-1-1 liquids or laptops, but they must place every carry-on item, including bags, into a bin for screening. TSA has also deployed 678 CT units to 218 airports nationwide. In April, the agency announced awards for the procurement and maintenance of additional CT scanners and CAT-2 units for installments at security checkpoints starting this summer. Based on some of the most recent trends at the nation's airports, TSA recommends the following seven simple tips to get through the TSA security checkpoint quickly and efficiently: Tip 1: TSA PreCheck members: Make sure your Known Traveler Number (KTN) is in your reservation. With over 15 million TSA PreCheck members, it is essential that airline reservations have the passenger's correct KTN and date of birth so they can truly "Travel with Ease." Those who fly with multiple airlines should ensure their KTN is updated in each of their airline profiles every time they travel. TSA PreCheck passengers are low-risk travelers who do not need to remove shoes, belts, liquids, food, laptops and light jackets at the TSA checkpoint. If you aren't yet enrolled in TSA PreCheck and appreciate faster checkpoint screening, we encourage you to enroll for a five-year membership at a cost of $78 . Most new enrollees receive their KTN within three to five days. Members may renew membership online up to six months prior to expiration for another five-year term for $70 . In April, 94% of TSA PreCheck passengers waited less than 5 minutes at the checkpoint. TSA's wait time standards for TSA PreCheck lanes are under 10 minutes and under 30 minutes for standard lanes. Tip 2: Pack an empty bag and know before you go. When airline passengers begin packing for travel with an empty bag, they are less likely to be stopped at the security checkpoint for having prohibited items. Prior to packing that empty bag, check TSA's "What Can I Bring?" tool to know what is prohibited. Firearms are prohibited at airport security checkpoints and on board aircraft. Passengers may travel with a firearm if they properly pack the firearm in checked baggage and declare it with the airline at check-in. Airlines may have additional requirements for traveling with firearms and ammunition, so travelers must also contact their airline regarding firearm and ammunition carriage policies prior to arriving at the airport. If passengers bring a firearm to the security checkpoint, they will face significant penalties to include federal penalties and additional screening. Tip 3: Give yourself plenty of time. Summer travel will be busy, so plan ahead! Give yourself plenty of time to park or return a rental car, take a shuttle to the airport if needed, check-in with your airline, check in bags with the airline and prepare for the security checkpoint. Save time by removing items from pockets and placing them in your carry-on bag, instead of putting items directly into bins at the conveyor belt. Tip 4: Be aware of new checkpoint technology and follow guidance from our TSA officers. TSA uses a variety of security methods to secure our transportation systems. Screening protocols can be unpredictable and may vary from airport to airport depending on available technology and the current threat environment, so it is important to listen and follow officer directions. Some airports may have installed the new state-of-the-art advanced technology CT scanners. The opening to the X-ray tunnel on a CT unit is slightly smaller than on a traditional X-ray unit so TSA advises travelers not to force larger items into the tunnel, but to ask a TSA officer for assistance. Passengers must also place everything, including bags, into the bin for screening. Passengers are also reminded to bring at maximum one carry-on bag and one personal item through security screening. Some airports have construction underway to install these new CT scanners, and TSA asks passengers to be patient during the screening process. Before passengers go through the AIT, all items such as wallets, cell phones and all light outerwear must be removed. Light outerwear is defined as an outer layer of clothing with a full front zipper or buttons used to fasten the outer garment, excluding button up shirts. Examples include, but are not limited to, windbreakers and vests, suit/sport coats, blazers and light jackets. Tip 5: Respect TSA and other frontline airport and airline employees. Violence and unruly behavior in the nation's transportation system are not acceptable and results in delays at traveler checkpoints. TSA officers, along with all frontline airport and airline employees and local law enforcement are all working together to ensure safe and secure travel. Assaulting a TSA officer is a federal offense and will result in penalties and/or arrest. Always follow the directions of flight attendants aboard aircraft. They are there for your safety and security. Tip 6: Make sure you have an acceptable ID. Adult passengers 18 years and older must show valid identification at the airport checkpoint in order to travel. Beginning May 7, 2025 , if you plan to use your state-issued ID or license to fly within the U.S. , make sure it is REAL ID compliant. If you are not sure if your ID complies with REAL ID, check with your state department of motor vehicles. For questions on acceptable IDs, go to TSA.gov. Tip 7: Contact TSA with questions, compliments, complaints or assistance. Travelers with questions have many options for contacting TSA. AskTSA is available for live assistance from 8 a.m. until 6 p.m. ET via Twitter or Facebook by messaging @AskTSA or by sending a text to "272872" ("AskTSA"). For customer service issues, travelers may reach the TSA Contact Center (TCC) at (866) 289-9673. Individuals with disabilities, medical needs or other special circumstances may request passenger assistance at least 72 hours in advance by contacting our TSA Cares passenger support line at (855) 787-2227. Live assistance for both the TCC and TSA Cares is available weekdays, 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. ET , or weekends and holidays from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. ET . For those traveling with children this summer, TSA offers kid-friendly videos for children packing for their upcoming trip. View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/tsa-is-prepared-for-high-travel-volumes-this-memorial-day-weekend-and-the-summer-travel-season-301831231.html SOURCE Transportation Security Administration (Reuters) - Armenia is ready to recognise the Nagorno-Karabakh enclave as part of Azerbaijan if Baku guarantees the security of its ethnic Armenian population, the Russian state news agency TASS and the Russian news outlet Ostorozhno, Novosti quoted Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan as saying on Monday. Nagorno-Karabakh has been a source of conflict between the two Caucasus neighbours since the years leading up to the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, and between ethnic Armenians and Turkic Azeris for well over a century. In 2020, Azerbaijan seized control of areas that had been controlled by ethnic Armenians in and around the mountain enclave, and since then it has periodically closed the only access road linking Nagorno-Karabakh with Armenia, on which the enclave relies for financial and military support. The 86,600 sq km of Azerbaijan's territory includes Nagorno-Karabakh, Pashinyan told a news conference, according to Ostorozhno, Novosti (Caution, News). "If we understand each other correctly, then Armenia recognises the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan within the named limits, and Baku - the territorial integrity of Armenia at 29,800 sq km." The outlet quoted him as saying he was prepared to do this - in effect accept Azerbaijan's internationally recognised borders - if the rights of Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh were guaranteed. He said the issue should be discussed in talks between the two countries. "Armenia remains committed to the peace agenda in the region. And we hope that in the near future we will come to an agreement on the text of the peace treaty and be able to sign it," he said, according to TASS. (Writing by Kevin Liffey; Editing by William Maclean) By Michael S. Derby NEW YORK (Reuters) -San Francisco Federal Reserve President Mary Daly on Monday said it's too soon to say whether the U.S. central bank will raise interest rates at its June 13-14 policy meeting. "We have to be extremely data-dependent, and that's why, even three weeks in advance of the meeting, our next meeting, it's still a lot of time to collect information before we make a decision about what to do in June or what to do for the rest of the year," Daly said in a virtual appearance before a gathering held by the National Association for Business Economics and Banque de France. Daly, who does not have a vote on the central bank's rate-setting Federal Open Market Committee, was tacking a question about whether, after just over a year of aggressive rate rises aimed at lowering inflation, officials will stand aside and not raise the target for the benchmark overnight interest rate at next month's meeting. Officials have opened the door to not raising what is now a federal funds rate target range of between 5.00% and 5.25% amid signs the Fed's past actions are slowing inflation and bank sector stresses may weigh on growth. Daly noted in her remarks that tighter credit conditions, some of which would be expected and some of which are tied to troubles faced by some banks in March, are equivalent to perhaps one to two rate rises. Speaking last Friday, Fed Chair Jerome Powell said "our policy rate may not need to rise as much as it would have otherwise to achieve our goals" given the tightening in credit conditions. Daly said "it's a distraction really, to say what we're going to do necessarily in June" and that attention is better focused on what the Fed is looking at to drive its policy choices. "Meeting-by-meeting decisions become really the most prudent path" for central bankers right now, she said. Daly also noted that it would be a "historic anomaly" for the Fed to get inflation back to its 2% target and keep the unemployment rate, now at 3.4%, under 4%. Instead, she said some rise in the jobless rate looks probable and noted it would be "completely reasonable" to see the jobless rate go to 4.5%. (Reporting by Michael S. Derby; Editing by Mark Porter and Paul Simao) FILE PHOTO: The HSBC bank logo is seen in the Canary Wharf financial district in London, Britain, March 3, 2016. REUTERS/Reinhard Krause By Daniel Wiessner (Reuters) -First Citizens BancShares Inc, which acquired Silicon Valley Bank following its collapse, sued HSBC Holdings PLC on Monday, accusing it of poaching more than 40 of the failed bank's employees in order to launch its own U.S. venture banking business. The lawsuit filed in San Francisco federal court says HSBC violated federal law by hiring away the workers so it could gain access to Silicon Valley Bank's (SVB) trade secrets including information about clients in the tech and healthcare sectors. First Citizens in the lawsuit said it is seeking more than $1 billion in damages. HSBC spokesman Matthew Ward declined to comment. The U.S. Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation took over SVB on March 10 after depositors rushed to pull out their money in a bank run that also brought down Signature Bank and wiped out more than half the market value of several other U.S. regional lenders. First Citizens later in March purchased SVB's assets and deposits for up to $500 million in stock - a fraction of what the bank was worth before it failed. HSBC separately acquired SVB's UK arm. First Citizens in Monday's lawsuit claims that David Sabow, who led SVB's technology and healthcare banking segment and moved to HSBC in March shortly after the bank's collapse, orchestrated the alleged scheme to steal SVB's business. First Citizens says Sabow and five other former SVB officials, all of whom are also named as defendants in the lawsuit, convinced about 40 other SVB employees to jump to HSBC in April. "HSBC and Sabow short-circuited the normally expensive and lengthy process to do things such as conduct market research and develop competent financial projections necessary for launching a commercial banking business," First Citizens said in the lawsuit. In April, HSBC had said it had hired dozens of Silicon Valley Bank employees to help the bank establish a dedicated practice focused on serving companies in technology and healthcare and investors who support them. (Reporting by Daniel Wiessner in Albany, New York; Editing by Alexia Garamfalvi and Conor Humphries) F-16 aircrafts fly during a NATO media event at an airbase in Malbork, Poland, March 21, 2023. REUTERS/Lukasz Glowala/File Photo COPENHAGEN (Reuters) - Defence ministers from northern European countries showed "great support" at a meeting in Poland for training Ukrainian pilots in flying F-16 fighter jets, Denmark's Defence Minister Troels Lund Poulsen said on Monday. "Great support for the goal of training F-16 pilots for Ukraine," the minister said in a tweet, adding that Denmark is ready to play a central role. (Reporting by Jacob Gronholt-Pedersen; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne) FILE PHOTO: Lillian Smith, 30, from Mississippi, U.S., rides in a taxi as she goes on a tour in Bangkok, Thailand May 13, 2023. REUTERS/Jorge Silva By Doyinsola Oladipo NEW YORK (Reuters) - Lillian Smith has spent about eight of the last 12 months traveling around the world, hitting France, Morocco, Japan and South Korea. Her cost for lodgings in that time? About one night in a hotel, along with the time she spent walking dogs, watering plants and changing litter boxes. "I have always dreamed of traveling to Japan but didn't have the budget for hotels and Airbnbs," said the 30-year-old freelance designer from Mississippi. Her solution was to agree to house-sit, walk dogs, and care for plants for people around the globe. Economic activity has slowed in recent months, but many still yearn to quench their thirst for travel that grew out of sitting at home during the coronavirus pandemic. Travel rates are rising, and are now higher than before the pandemic, but travel-hungry consumers are finding creative ways to save money and still vacation. Some are taking road trips instead of flying or booking a budget hotel room. Others are more innovative - spending $100 to $250 for annual memberships to websites that connect them with people who need simple chores done while their dwellings are vacant. U.S. short-term rental and hotel average daily rates are about 37% and 19% higher than in April 2019, according to short-term rental and hospitality analytics firms AirDNA and STR. Consumers are trading down. In April, demand for budget and economy short-term rentals was up 18% and 12%, respectively, compared with the year-ago period, ahead of a 10% increase in demand for luxury rentals, AirDNA said. Travelers in March booked 21 million short-term rental nights, the highest number of future nights booked on record, according to AirDNA. One-bedroom or studio in-home rentals in 2022 were 26% and 10% cheaper than hotels in large cities and coastal resorts, according to AirDNA and STR. As of March, U.S. consumer spending on hotels and motels was up about 7.2% from a year ago, but has dropped by about 4.6% from December 2022, according to the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. VACATIONS WITH CHORES Smith said she has house-sat in France, Morocco, Japan and South Korea after spending $169 on the cost of an annual membership to TrustedHousesitters, a platform that connects pet owners with in-home sitters. She estimates she has saved over $11,000 in accommodations even though she still must pay for plane tickets. "I took care of three cats and 20-plus plants while I was in Morocco, one dog in Tokyo, one dog in Kobe, and two cats in South Korea," said Smith. U.K.-based TrustedHousesitters said its membership figures increased 12% to 160,000 in the past quarter, led by growth in the United States. Paris-based Nomador, a house-sitting platform, saw a 60% increase in new sitters from the last quarter of 2022 to the first quarter of 2023, CEO Mathilde Ferrari said. Some travelers are also turning to unlimited house-swapping. U.S. company HomeExchange said membership levels in the first quarter increased 77% year over year to 110,000 and exchanges increased 63%. TrustedHousesitters said its sitters rarely face immigration issues but in certain countries like the U.S. and Britain, house-sitting has occasionally been incorrectly categorized as work and required a work visa over a tourist visa. "As long as the homeowner is not requiring work and compensating specifically for that work, it cannot be construed as unauthorized employment under the Immigration Nationality Act," said New York-based immigration Attorney, Afia Yunus. "Arguably even an Airbnb would require us to take out the trash and do different things as they relate to staying in the home." TrustedHousesitters said sitters and homeowners pay the platform directly and that money is never exchanged between the two parties. MORE TRAVELERS ON A BUDGET U.S. travel companies have taken notice, beefing up economy-level options to draw in growing numbers of cost-conscious travelers. Hotel operator Hilton in January announced a new economy hotel brand, Spark, aimed at budget travelers and told investors in April it was working on a lower-end extended stay brand. The goal is to attract the roughly 70 to 80 million people who travel in the economy segment, half of whom are "younger people" who can only afford lower priced hotels. "We're not serving many of them," said Hilton CEO Christopher Nassetta, on an investor call in April. "The opportunity is for us to get them hooked on our system early by giving them the best product that they can find in the economy space." Travel strategist Toni McCord, 52, started house-sitting on Nomador in 2016 and now suggests the platform to her clients who are self-employed or work remotely. "People are feeling very limited in their abilities to travel because we're in a recessive economy but when I bring up house-sitting, they're like 'Wait a minute, I didn't realize that I could do something like that.'" (Reporting by Doyinsola Oladipo in New York; Editing by David Gregorio and Conor Humphries) FILE PHOTO: The logo of OpenAI is displayed near a response by its AI chatbot ChatGPT on its website, in this illustration picture taken February 9, 2023. REUTERS/Florence Lo/Illustration/File Photo By Jeffrey Dastin and Anna Tong (Reuters) -ChatGPT's creator OpenAI is testing how to gather broad input on decisions impacting its artificial intelligence, its president Greg Brockman said on Monday. At AI Forward, an event in San Francisco hosted by Goldman Sachs Group Inc and SV Angel, Brockman discussed the broad contours of how the maker of the wildly popular chatbot is seeking regulation of AI globally. One announcement he previewed is akin to the model of Wikipedia, which he said requires people with diverse views to coalesce and agree on the encyclopedia's entries. "Were not just sitting in Silicon Valley thinking we can write these rules for everyone," he said of AI policy. Were starting to think about democratic decision-making." Another idea that Brockman discussed, on which OpenAI elaborated in a blog post Monday, is that governments around the world should coordinate to ensure AI is developed safely. Since the Nov. 30 launch of ChatGPT, generative AI technology that can spin uncannily authoritative prose from text prompts has captivated the public, making the program the fastest growing app of all time. AI has also become a focus of concern over its ability to create deepfake pictures and other misinformation. In assessing the path forward for AI, Brockman looked at Wikipedia as well as elsewhere. He and OpenAI said a body like the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) could place restrictions on deployment, vet compliance with safety standards and track usage of computing power. Another suggestion was a global agreement to limit the annual growth of frontier AI capabilities, or a joint global project that major governments could participate in. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman proposed various ideas to U.S. lawmakers last week for setting guardrails for artificial intelligence, among them requiring licenses to develop the most sophisticated AI models and establishing a related governance regime. He is visiting European policymakers this week. (Reporting By Jeffrey Dastin in San Francisco and Anna Tong in New York; additional reporting by Belen Carreno in Madrid; Editing by Kenneth Li) An aerial view shows destructions in the frontline town of Bakhmut, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Donetsk region, Ukraine, in this handout picture released on May 21, 2023. Press Service of the 93rd Kholodnyi Yar Separate Machanized Brigade of the U By Pavel Polityuk KYIV (Reuters) -Russia said on Monday it was battling a cross-border incursion by saboteurs who burst through the frontier from Ukraine, in what appeared to be one of the biggest attacks of its kind since the war began 15 months ago. The governor of Russia's Belgorod region, Vyacheslav Gladkov, said a Ukrainian "sabotage group" had entered Russian territory in the Graivoron district bordering Ukraine and was being repelled. But the Ukrainian outlet Hromadske cited Ukrainian military intelligence as saying two armed Russian opposition groups, the Liberty of Russia Legion and the Russian Volunteer Corps, both consisting of Russian citizens, were responsible for the attack. A Ukrainian presidential adviser said on Twitter that the Kyiv government was watching the situation with interest but "has nothing to do with it". The Russia Volunteer Corps published video footage late on Monday which showed what it said was a fighter inspecting a captured armoured vehicle. Another video showed what it said were fighters operating an armoured vehicle on a country road. Other videos posted on Russian and Ukrainian social media channels showed pictures and video of what were described as captured Russian servicemen and their identity documents. Reuters was not able to independently verify the situation. GOVERNOR IMPOSES 'COUNTER-TERRORIST' MEASURES Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russian President Vladimir Putin had been informed and that work was under way to drive out the "saboteurs", the state-run RIA Novosti news agency reported. Belgorod governor Gladkov said on Telegram that at least eight people had been wounded and three houses and an administrative building damaged. In a later briefing streamed on social media, Gladkov said a large part of the local population had left and that he had imposed a "counter-terrorist operation" that restricts movement and communications. The Telegram channel Baza, which has links to Russia's security services, said there were indications of fighting in three settlements along the main road leading into Russia. The "Open Belgorod" Telegram channel said power and water had been cut off to several villages. The Liberty of Russia Legion said on Twitter it had "completely liberated" the border town of Kozinka. It said forward units had reached the district centre of Graivoron, further east. "Moving on. Russia will be free!" it wrote. Ukrainian social media users made regular reference to what they called the "Belgorod People's Republic" - a nod to events in eastern Ukraine in 2014 when Russia-backed militias purporting to be rebels against the Kyiv government declared "peoples republics" in the eastern Ukrainian provinces of Donetsk and Luhansk. Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February last year. BAKHMUT BATTLE RAGES ON The Kremlin said the incursion aimed to distract attention from the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut, which Russian forces claim to have captured in its entirety after more than nine months of fighting. Moscow says capturing Bakhmut opens the way to further advances in the eastern industrial region known as the Donbas bordering Russia. Ukraine says its advance on the Russian forces' flanks is more meaningful than its withdrawal inside Bakhmut itself, and Russia will have to weaken its lines elsewhere to send reinforcements to hold the shattered city. There were 25 clashes on the main sectors of the frontline with the epicentre of fighting remaining Bakhmut and Maryinka further south, the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces said in a statement on Monday night. Russian forces continued offensive actions including air strikes on Bakhmut and on the village of Ivanivske on its western fringe, the statement said. At least 12 towns and villages in the area came under shell fire, including Bakhmut and Ivanivske, it said. Separately on Bakhmut, Serhiy Cherevatyi, spokesperson for the eastern group of Ukrainian forces, told Ukrainian television: "In the past 24 hours, Ukrainian troops have made steady progress, advancing 250-400 metres on the flanks and establishing a foothold. Even though these advances are gradual, it is better when such advances are well planned." Reuters could not independently verify the reports. Meanwhile, the United Nations expressed concern on Monday that Ukraine's Black Sea port of Pivdennyi (Yuzhny) has not received any ships since May 2 under a deal allowing the safe wartime export of grain and fertilizer. (Reporting by Pavel Polityuk, Kevin Liffey and Reuters bureaux; writing by Peter Graff and Nick Macfie; editing by Frank Jack Daniel, Mark Heinrich, Grant McCool and Cynthia Osterman) The key member states of the North Atlantic Alliance have previously supported the idea of providing Ukraine with security guarantees before it gains membership on the basis of the Kyiv Security Compact. As the Yevropeiska Pravda (European Truth) online publication reports with reference to The Wall Street Journal on Monday, the concept related to Ukraine's further membership in NATO is based on the Kyiv "compact" of security proposed in September 2022 by a working group headed by head of the Presidents Office Andriy Yermak and former Secretary General of the Alliance Anders Fogh Rasmussen. In an interview with the WSJ, Polish President Andrzej Duda said that Ukraine's Western allies support an Israeli-style security agreement, and "discussions on this are continuing right now." According to Western officials cited by the WSJ, such an agreement could affect the course of the war with Russia, preventing Vladimir Putin's intentions to delay it in the hope of undermining political support for Ukraine in the United States and certain European countries. An American official on condition of anonymity confirmed to the WSJ that the discussion of the "Israeli model" of security for Ukraine is underway, but there are no specifics yet. At the same time, high-ranking officials in Paris and Berlin said that they generally agree with the plan, which provides for a number of bilateral guarantees within the framework of a multilateral agreement. In addition, representatives of NATO, Ukraine and other countries told the publication that they expect to see the United States, Great Britain, Germany and France among the participants in the agreement on security guarantees for Kyiv. DAYTON, Ohio (Tribune News Service) Like Wright-Patterson Air Force Base itself, the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force is unmistakably Dayton-bred and born. The museum celebrates its 100th anniversary with a special exhibit that opened Sunday. The exhibit offers a detailed look at the museums history, complete with rare photos and the citation of little-known facts. If you think the museums story began with President Richard Nixons dedication of todays campus on Wright-Patterson Area B in September 1971, think again. Theres more to the story, said Doug Lantry, historian and curator with the museum. Theres a backstory to the backstory. The origin of what is still called the Air Force Museum easily predates the 1947 birth of the Air Force itself. Born on McCook Field McCook Field was a modest flight experimentation station just minutes north of downtown Dayton, operated by what were then the U.S. Signal Corps and the Army Air Service. The Army chose Dayton as a place to experiment with airplanes and aeronautics as the nation entered World War I. The location was chosen (among other reasons) for its connection to the Wright Brothers, the Dayton brothers who invented, built and flew the first motor-operated airplane. That field, roughly between todays Keowee Street and the Great Miami River still easily visible while driving on Interstate 75 became home to early American military aviation research and development work, where Americans taught themselves to build and fly combat planes. It was as part of that effort that the Army gathered motors, airplane parts, wings and more. It started small, Lantry said. It started as a collection of engines, instruments and air-frames that were basically an engineering study collection. And these things brought from Europe during World War I, so we could learn to make airplanes better. Initially, these components were grouped together in a way that would allow McCook Field technologists to easily find and study them. Engines were often grouped with other engines, propellers with propellers and parts in general were grouped with similar parts. The nascent engineering collection attracted attention. This area was a center of industrial and technology innovation and invention, Lantry said. A lot of people who were interested in aviation were here. And they gravitated to look at this. It occurred to Army officers that the public may be interested as well. Americans had just emerged victorious with their European allies from what was called the Great War. Airplanes had captured the publics imagination, Lantry said. Especially combat aircraft. The small museum was opened to the curious in May 1923 a century ago. According to Lantry, members of the public could simply show up at the McCook Field gates and say, Im interested in looking at the airplanes. That collection, and that first effort at a museum, is the nucleus of this gigantic institution that we have now, he said. Today, the museum has nearly 100 federal civil service employees, four large hangar buildings, more than 350 aerospace vehicles and missiles, tens of thousands of artifacts, all spanning 20 indoor acres with outdoor air and memorial parks. Pre-pandemic, the museum attracted close to a million visitors a year. All of this is still growing. A retired F-15C Eagle flown to Wright-Patterson by a Massachusetts Air National Guard pilot April 25 was being prepared for inclusion in the museums Cold War gallery in early- and mid-May. The newest, most exciting thing McCook Field a small field to start with, nestled amid hundreds of homes and businesses was soon seen as a less than ideal place to learn to fly. In 1927, that early aviation study effort, with the museum collection, moved to Wright Field, roughly congruent with todays Area B on Wright-Patterson. Drive east on Springfield Street away from Riverside, and you can see stone gates to the right, off to the side of a now-closed entrance to Area B. Those were some of Wright Fields original gates. A bit further to the east along Springfield, before reaching the railroad overpass, drivers can see on their right a building adorned with art-deco flourishes close the road building 12. That was the first purpose-built home of this institution, Lantry said. The building opened in 1936. Other parts of the collection were scattered across Wright Field, but here was the core, curated and overseen by a small staff. World War II shut the operation down as wartime needs took precedence. The museum became dormant for more than a decade. But staff continued to look after and even grow the collection, sometimes quietly offering private tours. In 1954, another building on what is todays Area A was devoted to engine work. A large air park was outside, right off Main Street in the growing community of Fairborn. (The building is long gone, but a semi-circular road that was outside that structure is still visible behind a base gate.) That became the museum that many, many people know from their childhood, Lantry said. Some may remember the Atlas missile outside the building that was dressed up as Santa Claus around Christmas. While the building may be remembered fondly by those growing up in the 1960s, Lantry said it wasnt suited as an aviation museum. Poles spaced as regular intervals within made parking airplanes a huge headache. In the end, it was a losing proposition, he said. Steps toward correcting the situation were already being taken. The Air Force Museum Foundation was created in 1960. By 1971, the foundation had raised $6.5 million for a new museum home. But the design for that home needed to be right. Lantry said an early vision for the museum by Eero Saarinen Associates designer of JFK International Airport and the gateway to the St. Louis arch was seen as super modern and really visually stunning. But expensive. Plans from Cleveland architects Dalton, Dalton & Little pointed in a different, more familiar direction. Enormous hangars were relatively easy to build and replicate, more practical, and, importantly, less expensive. It was that first hangar attached to a larger hangar, with some offices, which Nixon dedicated in 1971 the nucleus of todays campus. This is the mothership Compared to previous decades, growth happened with relative speed. By 1976, $900,000 was gifted for a two-story addition. With $10.8 million gifted by 1988, along with a $5.4 million federal grant, an additional building opened. The IMAX theater opened its doors in 1991, aided by gifts totaling more than $7 million. In 2003, another building was opened, with the Missile Gallery following the next year. And in 2016, another building again, fueled by gifts of nearly $41 million. In the early 2000s, the Air Force Museum officially became the National Museum of the United States Air Force. That eliminated some confusion, Lantry said. With a dozen service-related field museums and scattered collections across North America, the name signals that this museum, at this location in the Dayton area, anchors it all. This is the Department of the Air Forces main museum, he said. Its a big system. And this is the mothership. I always learn something new Mike Fitzsimmons, 68, of West Milton, is a retired GM machinist and a 36-year volunteer at the museum. What keeps him volunteering after nearly four decades? Im just interested in history and aviation, Fitzsimmons said. Its nice to come to a place where I can be around other people who are interested in the same things. I always learn something new, he added. Its been interesting to see how the museum is involved over those years. Oakwood resident Jason Wysong, 46, started volunteering just four months ago. Wysong is a veteran who served as an Air Force maintenance crew chief. Im an aircraft fan, historian, wanna-be, just being here, it fills all the blocks that I need to fill, Wysong said. With hundreds of thousands of visitors a year, Wysong and fellow volunteers see visitors from across the United States and the world. I think its amazing, he said. Getting to talk to people from Europe and Asia, and you hear all the different languages of people coming in. Its pretty fantastic. Timeline May 1923: Engineering study collection at McCook Field in Dayton opens to the curious. 1936: The first purpose-built museum for the Army Air Corps and combat aviation opened on Wright Field, todays Area B on Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. 1960: The Air Force Museum Foundation is created to secure funds for a new museum home. A nationwide fund-raising campaign resulted in the construction of a new facility in the late 1960s, with President Richard Nixon dedicating a new building and campus in September 1971. In 1976, the foundation donated an addition, and in 1988 the foundation and federal government funded a second exhibit building. The IMAX Theatre and atrium opened in 1991. In 2003, the museum opened the 200,000 square-foot Eugene W. Kettering Cold War Gallery. A Missile and Space Gallery constructed as a missile silo, opened in 2004, and the theatre underwent an $800,000 renovation in 2012 as part of its conversion to a 400-seat digital 3D theatre. Implementation of the third phase of the museums expansion plan, privately financed by the foundation, was construction of a 224,000 square-foot fourth building, which opened to the public in 2016. Source: National Museum of the U.S. Air Force. (c)2023 the Dayton Daily News (Dayton, Ohio) Visit the Dayton Daily News Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. (Tribune News Service) In the fight against enemy drones, the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), anchored at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, has a new weapon. In a demonstration last month of its high-power microwave counter drone weapon, the Tactical High-power Operational Responder or "THOR," as AFRL calls it engaged a swarm of multiple targets at the Chestnut Test Site, Kirtland Air Force Base in New Mexico. "The THOR team flew numerous drones at the THOR system to simulate a real-world swarm attack," Adrian Lucero, THOR program manager at AFRL's Directed Energy Directorate, said in an AFRL account of the test. "THOR has never been tested against these types of drones before, but this did not stop the system from dropping the targets out of the sky with its non-kinetic, speed-of-light High-Power Microwave, or HPM pulses." Capt. Eric Plummer, a test engineer with AFRL's Directed Energy Directorate, operated the THOR system, the lab said. "THOR was exceptionally effective at disabling the swarm with its wide beam, high peak powers and fast-moving gimbal to track and disable the targets," Lucero said. THOR has held promise for some time. In 2021, Popular Science magazine named the weapon to its "Best of What's New" in the security category. In 2019, scientists and engineers, working in AFRL's Directed Energy Directorate in New Mexico were tasked with creating a technology that would provide additional layers of base defense against drones. As the dangers from drone swarms evolve, leaders from across the Department of Defense are "working closely to ensure we are exploring different technologies like directed energy to support the needs of the warfighter in the future against such threats," AFRL has said. "THOR was extremely efficient with a near continuous firing of the system during the swarm engagement," said Capt. Tylar Hanson, THOR deputy program manager. "It is an early demonstrator, and we are confident we can take this same technology and make it more effective to protect our personnel around the world." "We couldn't have come this far without the perseverance and professionalism of the entire THOR team," said Ken Miller, AFRL's high power electromagnetics division chief. "Our scientists, Airmen and contractors worked early mornings and late nights to make this swarm demo a great success. AFRL is committed to developing such advanced technologies to defend our service members on the front lines." (c)2023 Springfield News-Sun, Ohio Visit at www.springfieldnewssun.com Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. WASHINGTON Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall said Monday that state laws or political squabbles about abortion will have no impact on the decision about where Space Command headquarters will be located. The decision criteria for Space Command have not fundamentally changed, he told reporters on Monday. There is nothing in that decision criteria about state laws, that might be about abortion or gay rights. That is not part of the decision criteria. Alabama lawmakers have continued to tout the move of Space Command to Huntsville despite a NBC report last week that President Joe Bidens administration is looking to keep the command at Peterson Space Force Base in Colorado Springs, Colo., due to concerns about the southern states restrictive abortion law. Redstone Arsenal, an Army base in Huntsville, was selected in 2021 as the preferred location for Space Command the Pentagon's newest unified combatant command that provides command and control for all the U.S. military's space operations across all its service branches. At least three reviews have identified Huntsville as the best site for the command, though Colorado lawmakers have pushed to keep it in their state. Alabama is the only choice for Space Command headquarters, Gov. Kay Ivey, a Republican, said Friday at a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the U.S. Rocket and Science Center. No ifs, ands or buts. The Pentagon knows it. The White House knows it. And Ill keep saying it and Alabama will keep proving it until the headquarters is officially in Huntsville. The White House directed the Air Force in December to conduct another review of the decision by former President Donald Trumps administration to move Space Command to Alabama. The review was ordered a few months after Alabamas law banning nearly all abortions, including in the case of rape and incest, went into effect last summer. White House officials also have said the push to reexamine moving Space Command to Huntsville was not influenced by Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., blocking nearly 200 of Bidens military nominations in protest of the Pentagons new abortion policy. The Defense Department in February announced a series of new policies that took effect March 18 to provide additional support to service members and dependents who must travel out of state for an abortion, including three weeks of administrative leave. The administrative leave also applies to other non-covered reproductive health care, including in vitro fertilization and intrauterine insemination. Tuberville has said he believes the policies are unlawful and the current law only allows the agency to fund abortions in the case of rape, incest or when the life of the mother is threatened. I want to start by reminding everyone why this is happening. Its not about abortion. ... This is about a tyrannical executive branch walking all over the United States Senate and doing our jobs, Tuberville said in April on the Senate floor. I warned [Defense] Secretary [Lloyd] Austin that if he did this ... I would put a hold on his highest-level nominees. Secretary Austin went through with the policy anyway. So, I am keeping my word. The list of officers caught up in Tubervilles delay include 64 three- and four-star admirals and generals for positions such as the Army chief of staff, the chief of naval operations, the commandant and assistant commandant of the Marine Corps, commander of U.S. Northern Command, commander of U.S. Cyber Command and director of the National Security Agency. The Senate typically approves military promotions all at once by a unanimous consent vote, but Tubervilles obstruction would require the upper chamber to vote on each one by one, a process that would consume months of floor time. Austin warned of the ripple effects the holds will have, including for service members and their families. Long-term holds have a corrosive and cascading effect: they prevent our rising officers and their families from being able to predict promotion and rotation windows, which can increase the pressure to leave the military in favor of greater stability, Austin wrote in a recent letter to Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass. The more our normal promotion processes are jolted, the more we risk the loss of the diverse warfighting and technical expertise that America needs to confront its 21st-century security challenges. But Kendall said Monday that the tug-of-war between lawmakers to claim Space Command for their state and the stalled military nominations over Pentagon abortion policy are not driving the decision of where to maintain the command. It has to do with what is the right place to put the headquarters for Space Command for the U.S. government. Period, he said. WASHINGTON Ukraine will get a boost on the battlefield against invading Russian forces once its pilots train and begin to fly F-16 fighter jets, but Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall said Monday that the aircraft wont make a dramatic change in the war. F-16s are going to help the Ukrainians but it is not going to fundamentally change the equation, Kendall said during a morning meeting with reporters. It makes sense. Its going to help them, but its not a game-changer. President Joe Biden on Friday informed leaders from the worlds seven largest industrial nations, known as the G-7, during the groups meeting in Japan that the U.S. would support a joint international effort to train Ukrainian pilots on modern fighter aircrafts, including F-16s. In addition to this plan, Biden also announced the U.S. would provide $375 million in aid to Ukraine that included ammunition and armored vehicles. We have Ukraines back and we arent going anywhere, he said. The F-16s would be an upgrade to the Soviet Union-era aircraft that Ukraine largely has been flying. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy welcomed the news on Friday by tweeting, This will greatly enhance our army in the sky. Zelenskyy has pleaded with Western allies for some time to send fighter jets, but the U.S. has repeatedly denied those requests. The U.S. has given nearly $37 billion to Ukraine since Russia invaded the country in February 2022. The aid provided has consisted of weapons, millions of munition and ammunition rounds, trucks, sensors, radars and other equipment. Kendall said Monday that aircraft have not been a decisive factor in the war because neither side has been able to control the air. Discussions are underway regarding when and where training will take place, as well as when Ukraine could receive Western fighter jets. Kendall said training could take a few months but he does not expect it to be an issue for Ukrainians to learn. Everything weve done with the Ukrainians, theyve shown a capacity to learn. I dont think I have ever seen more motivated individuals in terms of wanting to fight and make a difference, Kendall said. WASHINGTON Twelve Marines received decorations for their efforts last month when they helped evacuate American workers from the U.S. Embassy in Sudan, just days after a bloody military power struggle broke out in the northeastern African country. I came here today to look you in the eye and say, Thank you, Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro told the group from the Marine Security Guard detachment in Sudan that carried out the evacuation on April 23. The Sudanese military junta has been locked in a power struggle for weeks with the Rapid Support Forces, which it considers a rebel paramilitary group thats seeking full integration into the government structure and a power-sharing agreement. The military factions together mounted a coup in 2021 that overthrew the countrys transitional democratic leadership. The fighting began in mid-April when the Rapid Support Forces attacked several targets in Sudan, including the capital city of Khartoum and its airport. A few days later, President Joe Biden ordered the Marine detachment in Khartoum to get all embassy personnel out, including U.S. Ambassador to Sudan John Godfrey. Pentagon officials said the operation was risky due to the unpredictable nature of the fighting, but it took less than an hour for the Marines to get all embassy personnel out without a shot fired and there were no serious injuries. The example that you have set protecting the life of the ambassador and the lives of all the people who were at the embassy has been nothing short of extraordinary, Del Toro told the group Friday during a recognition ceremony at Marine Corps Embassy Security Group Headquarters in Quantico, Va. The 12 Marines were honored during the ceremony. Eleven received the Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal, which is awarded to those who perform commendably or make exceptional achievements. Staff Sgt. Derek Ferrari, who led the detachment, received the Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal, which honors those who demonstrate heroic or meritorious achievement or service, according to the Navy Awards Manual. Its a humble feeling, Ferrari said. I continue to be impressed with my Marines ability to remain engaged and take care of one another the same way they did in Khartoum. It is a great honor and a great privilege, said Sgt. Komlan Akli, another member of the detachment. The detachment did exactly what is expected of U.S. Marines during times of uncertainty. Since the embassy evacuation, the Pentagon has kept some American forces in the area, including ships off the coast in the Red Sea, in case they are needed to help more Americans and others who want to leave the country. The Defense Department said recently that there were only a small number of Americans in the country mostly Sudanese Americans who hold dual citizenship who were still looking for a way out. Hundreds of fighters and civilians have died since the fighting began in Sudan, according to the U.N., and several ceasefires have failed. A new seven-day truce took effect Monday night Sudan time. U.S. and Saudi officials who mediated the deal hope it will be more effective than the previous ceasefires, which were broken quickly. The U.N. estimates the fighting has already displaced more than one million people, and close to 25 million people in Sudan need some type of humanitarian aid because of the conflict. NAPLES, Italy Naval Air Station Sigonella temporarily closed its runway over the weekend following the eruption of Italys most active and powerful volcano in eastern Sicily, officials said Monday. A base statement in response to a query didnt detail how long it took to remove ash on the runway following the eruption of Mount Etna on Sunday. It also didnt say whether flight operations had resumed. Any aircraft that were outside of their hangars underwent inspection to ensure they were fit for flight, Lt. Drake Greer, a NAS Sigonella spokesman, said in an email to Stars and Stripes. The base is home to more than 34 commands and activities, including U.S. 6th Fleet, NATO and special operations units. The 11,013-foot-tall volcano is about 25 miles north of the base. Some facilities, including two pools and a skate park, were closed because of ash, the bases Morale, Welfare and Recreation office said Monday in a post on its Facebook page. Sundays event saw ash and rocks from the volcano spread across much of the islands eastern side. The airport in Catania, about 13 miles northeast of NAS Sigonella, resumed flights Monday morning following a suspension the day before, the airport announced in a tweet. The airport told passengers to expect some service limitations and delays. NAS Sigonella emergency operations and management officials previously have said that ashfall from Mount Etna is a threat not only to aircraft and runways but also to flat-roofed buildings on the base. Ash also can enter buildings through heating and ventilation systems, they said. The base monitors for volcanic activity, earthquakes and other natural disasters and has several plans in place to address Mount Etna eruptions. Those include grounding aircraft and securing them to prevent damage, officials told Stars and Stripes in November 2021. On Sunday, lava flow was evident from the volcanos southeast crater, but observations were limited by cloud cover, the National Institute of Geophysics and Vulcanology said in a statement that day. YOKOSUKA NAVAL BASE, Japan Five years after cracking an LSD ring aboard the USS Ronald Reagan, Navy investigators are probing reports of new drug activity aboard the carrier, a spokeswoman for Naval Forces Japan said Monday. The Naval Criminal Investigative Service is investigating an undisclosed number of sailors for alleged drug use, possession and distribution, Cmdr. Katie Cerezo told Stars and Stripes by email. An investigation is presently ongoing, she said. Possession, distribution and use of drugs is in violation of the Uniform Code of Military Justice and strictly prohibited. Cerezo declined to detail the allegations, including the extent of drug use aboard the ship, the substances involved or if anyone had been arrested. The Navy takes this investigation seriously, and it would be inappropriate for us to comment on an active investigation, she said. In 2018, Navy investigators implicated 15 sailors in a drug ring aboard the carrier that included the distribution and use of LSD and ecstasy. All but one of the sailors were assigned to the Ronald Reagans nuclear reactor department. Five sailors went to court-martial and 10 received nonjudicial punishments in connection with the case. Four of the five court-martialed sailors pleaded guilty and agreed to cooperate with prosecutors. In exchange, they were reduced in rank and given bad-conduct discharges. One was sentenced to 10 months confinement, another to 90 days. The Ronald Reagan departed Yokosuka, its homeport, on May 12 for sea trials ahead of its upcoming patrol before returning on Friday, and it remained in port as of Monday afternoon. (Tribune News Service) After years of fundraising to save a historic World War II battleship gun barrel that seemed destined for a scrapyard, a nonprofit organization will finally give it a permanent home at Fort Story Tuesday. The barrel is expected to be another popular tourist attraction on the Virginia Beach military base, which is operated by the U.S. Navy. Its also home to two historic lighthouses and the site of the First Landing at Cape Henry, where the English settlers arrived in 1607, before moving on to Jamestown. The 120-ton barrel, measuring nearly 70 feet long, was used on the battleship Iowa. It was the last of nine that remained at a storage facility in Chesapeake. Coast Defense Study Group, a nonprofit dedicated to preserving U.S. defense equipment, has worked with the Veterans Association of the USS Iowa to find the barrels new homes at memorials and parks in various states. Over the last five years, the group raised $175,000 to restore and relocate this last one. It was covered in rust and needed to be cleaned and painted. The money is also paying for it to be transported and lifted onto concrete foundations next to the original Cape Henry Lighthouse, another attraction on the base. In March, Virginia Beach approved a donation of $35,000 from a tourism fund to help support the barrel move, citing the popularity of the lighthouse tours, which are open to the public. When the barrel fundraiser ramped up last May, Capt. Michael Witherspoon, commander of Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek-Fort Story, said it would be an honor to showcase the noteworthy armament at a site known for its historic significance. The Navy liked this because its sort of like the tourist zone, said Terry McGovern, spokesperson for Coast Defense Study Group. So this way, when they (visitors) go to the lighthouse, they can see the barrel, too. The site will feature signs about the USS Iowa and its heritage, honoring veterans who served on the battleship during WWII, the Korean War and the Cold War. It will also recognize the U.S. Armys role in providing coastal defenses at Fort Story using similar equipment. The Iowa was based in Norfolk. In 1989, it was the scene of one of the worst peacetime tragedies to befall a U.S. Navy ship. In what was supposed to have been a routine test-firing of the ships guns, 47 sailors died during an accidental turret explosion. The barrel will be transported from Portsmouth to Virginia Beach late Monday night. A dedication ceremony will be held at a later date. stacy.parker@pilotonline.com 2023 The Virginian-Pilot. Visit pilotonline.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. Twenty-five clashes occur in Ukraines east over day, Bakhmut and Maryinka remain in epicenter of hostilities AFU General Staff The Russian occupiers continue to focus their main efforts on Kupyansk, Lymany, Bakhmut, Avdiyivka and Maryinka directions in eastern Ukraine, where 25 military clashes took place during the day. As reported in the operational information on the Russian invasion as of 18:00 on Monday, published on the page of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the towns of Bakhmut and Maryinka of Donetsk region remain in the epicenter of hostilities. "The enemy continues to conduct offensive actions in the Bakhmut direction. The battles for the town of Bakhmut continue ... In Avdiyivka direction, the enemy conducted unsuccessful offensive actions on Novokaolynove and Vodiane In Maryinka direction, units of the defense forces repelled numerous enemy attacks in the area of the town of Maryinka," the summary says. The enemy did not carry out offensive actions in Shakhtarsk direction. In Zaporizhia and Kherson directions, the enemy continues to conduct defensive actions. In Volyn and Polissia directions, the operational situation has not significantly changed, no signs of the formation of offensive enemy groups have been detected. In Siversk and Slobozhanske directions, the enemy continues to maintain a military presence in the areas bordering Ukraine. Bulgaria, March 9, 2009: Bulgarian paratroopers jump from the open rear hatch of a C-130E, assigned to the 37th Airlift Squadron at Ramstein Air Base, Germany, during Operation Thracian Spring 2009. Bulgarian and U.S. Air Force and Army paratroopers from Germany participated in the static-line jump from an altitude of about 1,500 feet. The Bulgarians techniques differed slightly from that of the Americans, but all jumped feet first. Read Stars and Stripes story on the different jump techniques here. CAMP LESTER, Okinawa Students from Lester Middle School at this Marine Corps base on Okinawa welcomed their counterparts from Mashiki Junior High School on Saturday for their first Friendship Music Festival. The event employed music as a bonding agent to foster community, said Lester Middle School music teacher Robert Roth. Members of the III Marine Expeditionary Force and Japan Ground Self-Defense Force 15th Brigade bands mentored about 35 students from Lester and 20 from Mashiki, in the city of Chatan, before the students performed for about 125 guests. The audience enjoyed songs like The Avengers from the movie Avengers: Infinity War and jazz standards like "In the Mood." Roth said he hopes the festival becomes an annual event. PORT MORESBY, Papua New Guinea The United States signed a new security pact with Papua New Guinea on Monday as it competes with China for influence in the Pacific. Papua New Guinea's location just north of Australia makes it strategically significant. It was the site of fierce battles during World War II, and with a population of nearly 10 million people, it's the most populous Pacific Island nation. The State Department said the new agreement provides a framework to help improve security cooperation, enhance the capacity of Papua New Guinea's defense force and increase regional stability. The full agreement will be made public once politicians in both countries have an opportunity for input, likely in a couple of months. "The work that we're doing together to try to shape the future could not be more important, could not be more timely," U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken told reporters. "We're deeply invested in the Indo-Pacific because our planet's future is being written here. Papua New Guinea is playing a critical role in shaping that future." Papua New Guinea Prime Minister James Marape said the pact is mutually beneficial and "secures our national interests" in "becoming a robust economy in this part of the world." But the agreement sparked student protests in the second-largest city, Lae. And many in the Pacific are concerned about the increasing militarization of the region. Student Naomi Kipoi, 17, said she was opposed to the security pact because she felt it means the U.S. could come to her country whenever it pleased without permission. She said China had been a big help to her country by building roads and funding schools. "The U.S. didn't help us with aid and other things," Kipoi said. "They're just trying to sign the agreement." Last year, nearby Solomon Islands signed its own security pact with China, a move that raised alarm throughout the Pacific. The U.S. has increased its focus on the Pacific, opening embassies in Solomon Islands and Tonga, reviving Peace Corps volunteer efforts, and encouraging more business investment. But some have questioned how reliable a partner the U.S. is in the Pacific, particularly after President Joe Biden canceled his plans to make an historic stop in Papua New Guinea to sign the pact. Biden would have been the first sitting U.S. president to visit any Pacific Island country, but he ended up canceling to focus on the debt limit talks back at home. Blinken traveled in Biden's place, arriving in Papua New Guinea early Monday. In response to news of Blinken's impending visit, China warned against the introduction of "geopolitical games" into the region. As well as the defense pact, the U.S. also signed a maritime agreement with Papua New Guinea which will allow the U.S. Coast Guard to partner with the Pacific nation to counter illegal fishing and drug smuggling. The U.S. visit coincided with a trip by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who was hosting a meeting with Pacific Island leaders to discuss ways to better cooperate. Blinken met with New Zealand Prime Minister Chris Hipkins and said the two nations had a shared vision for the region. "To make sure that it remains free, open, secure and prosperous," Blinken said. Hipkins told Blinken he was very happy that Blinken had made the trip. "The increased U.S. presence in the Pacific is something we welcome," Hipkins said. But Hipkins also drew a distinction to his own nation's efforts. "We are not interested in the militarization of the Pacific," Hipkins told reporters before the Blinken meeting. "We are interested in working with the Pacific on issues where we have mutual interest. Issues around climate change. And we're not going to be attaching military strings to that support." Hipkins was one of the few leaders to venture out publicly. He got a rapturous reception from hundreds of well-wishers when he visited Gordons Market, a large fruit and vegetable market. CAMP HUMPHREYS, South Korea South Korea will actively consider sending more non-lethal assistance to embattled Ukraine, the nations defense ministry said a day after the nations leaders met for the first time in Japan. Seoul may ship landmine removal equipment and ambulances to Kyiv, Ministry of National Defense spokesman Jeon Ha Gyu told reporters Monday, according to a readout of his briefing. Since the start of Russias invasion in February 2022, South Korea has declined to send lethal aid to Ukraine, but since June has pledged over $100 million in the form of vaccines, medical equipment, body armor and power generators, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The Ministry of Economy and Finance also agreed Wednesday to provide Ukraine with $130 million in financial aid, according to a ministry news release. As a member of the international community, we hope that the Ukraine crisis will be resolved peacefully, and as part of such efforts, we have provided humanitarian and military supplies, Gyu said. South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol promised Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to continue providing economic and humanitarian assistance when they met Sunday at the Group of Seven summit in Hiroshima, according to a news release that day from South Koreas presidential office. Zelenskyy in a tweet the same day thanked South Korea for its assistance and said he looked forward to continued cooperation. A Ukrainian presidential delegation that included first lady Olena Zelenska met May 16 in Seoul with Yoon and Foreign Affairs Minister Park Jin. Zelenska requested a list of non-lethal military aid, including air defense systems, to stop the missile terrorism of the aggressor country, according to a news release from the Ukrainian presidential offices website that day. How to turn war trauma into growth we hope to hear the experience of [South Korea], which once successfully did this itself, Zelenska said, according to the release. Yoon has condemned Russias invasion but has sent only non-lethal aid directly to Ukraine. His administration has cited South Koreas relations with Russia and Seouls trade policies, which state that exports must be used for peaceful purposes and must not affect international peace, safety maintenance, and national security. Yoon, in an interview with Reuters published April 19, said it would be difficult for South Korea to limit its aid in the form of humanitarian support if Russia conducts a large-scale attack on civilians. Moscow, in response, will consider any supplies of weapons to Ukraine, wherever they might come from, as an openly hostile, anti-Russian move, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said April 20, according to the state-run Tass news agency. LONDON The European Union slapped Meta with a record $1.3 billion privacy fine Monday and ordered it to stop transferring users' personal information across the Atlantic by October, the latest salvo in a decadelong case sparked by U.S. cybersnooping fears. The penalty of 1.2 billion euros is the biggest since the EU's strict data privacy regime took effect five years ago, surpassing Amazon's 746 million euro fine in 2021 for data protection violations. Meta, which had previously warned that services for its users in Europe could be cut off, vowed to appeal and ask courts to immediately put the decision on hold. The company said "there is no immediate disruption to Facebook in Europe." The decision applies to user data like names, email and IP addresses, messages, viewing history, geolocation data and other information that Meta and other tech giants like Google use for targeted online ads. "This decision is flawed, unjustified and sets a dangerous precedent for the countless other companies transferring data between the EU and U.S.," Nick Clegg, Meta's president of global affairs, and chief legal officer Jennifer Newstead said in a statement. It's yet another twist in a legal battle that began in 2013 when Austrian lawyer and privacy activist Max Schrems filed a complaint about Facebook's handling of his data following former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden's revelations of electronic surveillance by U.S. security agencies. That included the disclosure that Facebook gave the agencies access to the personal data of Europeans. The saga has highlighted the clash between Washington and Brussels over the differences between Europe's strict view on data privacy and the comparatively lax regime in the U.S., which lacks a federal privacy law. The EU has been a global leader in reining in the power of Big Tech with a series of regulations forcing them police their platforms more strictly and protect users' personal information. An agreement covering EU-U.S. data transfers known as the Privacy Shield was struck down in 2020 by the EU's top court, which said it didn't do enough to protect residents from the U.S. government's electronic prying. Monday's decision confirmed that another tool to govern data transfers stock legal contracts was also invalid. Brussels and Washington signed a deal last year on a reworked Privacy Shield that Meta could use, but the pact is awaiting a decision from European officials on whether it adequately protects data privacy. EU institutions have been reviewing the agreement, and the bloc's lawmakers this month called for improvements, saying the safeguards aren't strong enough. The Ireland's Data Protection Commission handed down the fine as Meta's lead privacy regulator in the 27-nation bloc because the Silicon Valley tech giant's European headquarters is based in Dublin. The Irish watchdog said it gave Meta five months to stop sending European user data to the U.S. and six months to bring its data operations into compliance "by ceasing the unlawful processing, including storage, in the U.S." of European users' personal data transferred in violation of the bloc's privacy rules. In other words, Meta has to erase all that data, which could be a bigger problem than the fine, said Johnny Ryan, senior fellow at the Irish Council for Civil Liberties, a nonprofit rights group that has worked on digital and data issues. "This order to delete data is really a headache for Meta," Ryan said. If the company has to scrub data for hundreds of millions of European Union users going back 10 years, "it is very hard to see how it will be able to comply with that order." If a new transatlantic privacy agreement does take effect before the deadlines, "our services can continue as they do today without any disruption or impact on users," Meta said. Schrems predicted that Meta has "no real chance" of getting the decision materially overturned. And a new privacy pact might not mean the end of Meta's troubles, because there's a good chance it could be tossed out by the EU's top court, he said. "Meta plans to rely on the new deal for transfers going forward, but this is likely not a permanent fix," Schrems said in a statement. "Unless U.S. surveillance laws gets fixed, Meta will likely have to keep EU data in the EU." Schrems said a possible solution could be a "federated" social network, where European data stays in Meta's data centers in Europe, "unless users for example chat with a U.S. friend." Meta warned in its latest earnings report that without a legal basis for data transfers, it will be forced to stop offering its products and services in Europe, "which would materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations." The social media company might have to carry out a costly and complex revamp of its operations if it's ultimately forced to stop the transfers. Meta has a fleet of 21 data centers, according to its website, but 17 of them are in the United States. Three others are in the European nations of Denmark, Ireland and Sweden. Another is in Singapore. Other social media giants are facing pressure over their data practices. TikTok has tried to soothe Western fears about the Chinese-owned short video sharing app's potential cybersecurity risks with a $1.5 billion project to store U.S. user data on Oracle servers. NEWTON, Mass. Ukraine Ambassador Oksana Markarova welcomed pledges of F-16 fighter jets to her country Monday while also urging patience for the launching of a spring counteroffensive against Russia's full-scale invasion. For Ukrainians, she said, the effort to repel Russian has essentially been one long counterattack. "I wouldn't label it. Whether it's going to be one offensive or several. Whether it going to be just the hard, daily work on every front line or we will see some big results in any of them, it doesn't really matter," Markarova said. "What matters is the goal is to liberate all Ukraine." Markarova, speaking after delivering a commencement address at Boston College, said the delivery of F-16 jets is critical to the short and long-term security of the country. The U.S. has agreed to help train pilots in Ukraine to fly F-16s, but it has provided few details and said decisions on when, how many, and who will supply the F-16s will be made in the months ahead while the training is underway. Markarova also offered no new details about when Ukraine would be able to put the jets into service. "This is a capability that we definitely need." she said. "Even after we win, Russia is not going to move anywhere. We have to continue to protect Ukraine and Europe." Markarova said it's too early for Russia to claim it has won control of the Ukraine's eastern city of Bakhmut, but she said they have definitely destroyed the city. She also said that she believes her country enjoys strong support from both Democrats and Republicans in Congress. Markarova's visit comes as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy made several recent foreign trips to shore up diplomatic support for defending his country including visits to Italy, the Vatican, Germany, France and Britain. In her address to graduates, Markarova said her country's decision to fight against Russia can provide an inspiration for others. One lesson the Ukraine people have learned from the invasion is to face down their fears, even when the odds seemed against them, she added. "Russia's attack on Ukraine wasn't a simple land grab. It was a blatant violation of the rule-based order. It was a genocidal attack aimed to destroy Ukraine's statehood," Markarova said. "A strong, successful, democratic, European Ukraine is the worst nightmare Russia had." KYIV, Ukraine Russian officials claimed that Ukrainian military saboteurs launched an attack across the border Monday, wounding eight people in a small town. Kyiv officials denied any link with the group and blamed the fighting on a revolt by disgruntled Russians against the Kremlin. Neither version of events could be independently verified in an area that has witnessed sporadic spillover from the almost 15-month war in Ukraine. The governor of Russias Belgorod region, which borders Ukraine, said that a Ukrainian Armed Forces saboteur group entered the town of Graivoron, about five kilometers (three miles) from the border. The town also came under Ukrainian artillery fire, he said. Gov. Vyacheslav Gladkov said eight people were wounded and most residents had left the area, but the situation remained tense. In nearby Zamostye village, a projectile hit a kindergarten and caused a fire. One woman was wounded in her hand, Gladkov said. He also reported that Russian anti-aircraft systems shot down an unmanned aerial vehicle over Belgorod region. Gladkov said a counterterrorist operation was underway and that authorities were imposing special controls, including personal document checks and stopping the work of companies that use explosives, radioactive, chemically and biologically hazardous substances. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russian President Vladimir Putin was informed about the alleged saboteur incursion. An effort to push them out from the Russian territory and liquidate them was underway, he said. Peskov described the action as an attempt by Ukraine to divert attention from the eastern city of Bakhmut, which Moscow claimed to have captured after months of battle but where Kyiv says it is still fighting. But Ukrainian military intelligence officials didnt confirm that Kyiv had deployed saboteurs. Instead, they claimed that Russian citizens seeking regime change in Moscow were behind the Graivoron incursion. Ukraine intelligence representative Andrii Cherniak said Russian citizens belonging to murky groups calling themselves the Russian Volunteer Corps and the Freedom of Russia Legion were behind the assault. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyys adviser, Mykhailo Podolyak, said on Twitter that Ukraine has nothing to do with it. He suggested an armed guerrilla movement was behind the attack. The Russian Volunteer Corps claimed in a Telegram post it had crossed the border into Russia again, after claiming to have breached the border in early March. The Russian Volunteer Corps describes itself as a volunteer formation fighting on Ukraines side. Little is known about the group, and it is not clear if it has any ties with the Ukrainian military. The same is true for the Freedom of Russia Legion.. The RVC was founded last August and reportedly consists mostly of anti-Putin far-right Russian extremists who have links with Ukrainian far-right groups. Earlier Monday, Ukraines Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, Europes largest atomic power station, spent hours operating on emergency diesel generators after losing its external power supply for the seventh time since Russias full-scale invasion of its neighbor, the head of the U.N. nuclear watchdog said. The nuclear safety situation at the plant (is) extremely vulnerable, Rafael Grossi, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said in a tweet. Hours later, national energy company Ukrenergo said on Telegram that it had restored the power line that feeds the plant. But for Grossi, it was another reminder of whats at stake at the Russian-occupied plant which has seen shelling close by. We must agree to protect (the) plant now; this situation cannot continue, Grossi said, in his latest appeal for the area to be spared from the fighting between Ukrainian and Russian forces. IAEA staff are deployed at the plant, which is occupied by Russian troops. The plants six nuclear reactors, which are protected by a reinforced shelter able to withstand an errant shell or rocket, have been shut down. But a disruption in the electrical supply could disable cooling systems that are essential for the reactors safety even when they are shut down. Emergency diesel generators, which officials say can keep the plant operational for 10 days, can be unreliable. Grossi said it was the seventh time the plant had lost its outside power supply since Russias full-scale invasion in February 2022. The Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant is one of the 10 biggest atomic power stations in the world. Ukraines presidential office said Monday morning that at least three Ukrainian civilians were killed and 16 others were injured in Russian assaults over the previous 24 hours. The Ukrainian Air Force reported that four out of 16 Russian missiles and all 20 drones launched against Ukrainian targets were shot down. Military targets and public infrastructure in Dnipro, Ukraines fourth-largest city in the center of the country, were singled out for Russian attacks, which injured eight people, officials said. The Dnipro fire department was affected, and 12 houses, shops, and a kindergarten were damaged, according to Governor Serhii Lysak. DUBAI, United Arab Emirates Near a peak of the Zagros Mountains in central Iran, workers are building a nuclear facility so deep in the earth that it is likely beyond the range of a last-ditch U.S. weapon designed to destroy such sites, according to experts and satellite imagery analyzed by The Associated Press. The photos and videos from Planet Labs PBC show Iran has been digging tunnels in the mountain near the Natanz nuclear site, which has come under repeated sabotage attacks amid Tehran's standoff with the West over its atomic program. With Iran now producing uranium close to weapons-grade levels after the collapse of its nuclear deal with world powers, the installation complicates the West's efforts to halt Tehran from potentially developing an atomic bomb as diplomacy over its nuclear program remains stalled. Completion of such a facility "would be a nightmare scenario that risks igniting a new escalatory spiral," warned Kelsey Davenport, the director of nonproliferation policy at the Washington-based Arms Control Association. "Given how close Iran is to a bomb, it has very little room to ratchet up its program without tripping U.S. and Israeli red lines. So at this point, any further escalation increases the risk of conflict." The construction at the Natanz site comes five years after then-President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew America from the nuclear accord. Trump argued the deal did not address Tehran's ballistic missile program, nor its support of militias across the wider Middle East. But what it did do was strictly limit Iran's enrichment of uranium to 3.67% purity, powerful enough only to power civilian power stations, and keep its stockpile to just some 660 pounds. Since the demise of the nuclear accord, Iran has said it is enriching uranium up to 60%, though inspectors recently discovered the country had produced uranium particles that were 83.7% pure. That is just a short step from reaching the 90% threshold of weapons-grade uranium. As of February, international inspectors estimated Iran's stockpile was over 10 times what it was under the Obama-era deal, with enough enriched uranium to allow Tehran to make "several" nuclear bombs, according to the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency. President Joe Biden and Israel's prime minister have said they won't allow Iran to build a nuclear weapon. "We believe diplomacy is the best way to achieve that goal, but the president has also been clear that we have not removed any option from the table," the White House said in a statement to the AP. The Islamic Republic denies it is seeking nuclear weapons, though officials in Tehran now openly discuss their ability to pursue one. Iran's mission to the United Nations, in response to questions from the AP regarding the construction, said that "Iran's peaceful nuclear activities are transparent and under the International Atomic Energy Agency safeguards." However, Iran has been limiting access for international inspectors for years. Iran says the new construction will replace an above-ground centrifuge manufacturing center at Natanz struck by an explosion and fire in July 2020. Tehran blamed the incident on Israel, long suspected of running sabotage campaigns against its program. Tehran has not acknowledged any other plans for the facility, though it would have to declare the site to the IAEA if they planned to introduce uranium into it. The Vienna-based IAEA did not respond to questions about the new underground facility. The new project is being constructed next to Natanz, about 225 kilometers (140 miles) south of Tehran. Natanz has been a point of international concern since its existence became known two decades ago. Protected by anti-aircraft batteries, fencing and Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, the facility sprawls across 2.7 square kilometers (1 square mile) in the country's arid Central Plateau. Satellite photos taken in April by Planet Labs PBC and analyzed by the AP show Iran burrowing into the Kuh-e Kolang Gaz La, or "Pickaxe Mountain," which is just beyond Natanz's southern fencing. A different set of images analyzed by the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies reveals that four entrances have been dug into the mountainside, two to the east and another two to the west. Each is 6 meters (20 feet) wide and 8 meters (26 feet) tall. The scale of the work can be measured in large dirt mounds, two to the west and one to the east. Based on the size of the spoil piles and other satellite data, experts at the center told AP that Iran is likely building a facility at a depth of between 80 meters (260 feet) and 100 meters (328 feet). The center's analysis, which it provided exclusively to AP, is the first to estimate the tunnel system's depth based on satellite imagery. The Institute for Science and International Security, a Washington-based nonprofit long focused on Iran's nuclear program, suggested last year the tunnels could go even deeper. Experts say the size of the construction project indicates Iran likely would be able to use the underground facility to enrich uranium as well not just to build centrifuges. Those tube-shaped centrifuges, arranged in large cascades of dozens of machines, rapidly spin uranium gas to enrich it. Additional cascades spinning would allow Iran to quickly enrich uranium under the mountain's protection. "So the depth of the facility is a concern because it would be much harder for us. It would be much harder to destroy using conventional weapons, such as like a typical bunker buster bomb," said Steven De La Fuente, a research associate at the center who led the analysis of the tunnel work. The new Natanz facility is likely to be even deeper underground than Iran's Fordo facility, another enrichment site that was exposed in 2009 by U.S. and other world leaders. That facility sparked fears in the West that Iran was hardening its program from airstrikes. Such underground facilities led the U.S. to create the GBU-57 bomb, which can plow through at least 60 meters (200 feet) of earth before detonating, according to the American military. U.S. officials reportedly have discussed using two such bombs in succession to ensure a site is destroyed. It is not clear that such a one-two punch would damage a facility as deep as the one at Natanz. With such bombs potentially off the table, the U.S. and its allies are left with fewer options to target the site. If diplomacy fails, sabotage attacks may resume. Already, Natanz has been targeted by the Stuxnet virus, believed to be an Israeli and American creation, which destroyed Iranian centrifuges. Israel also is believed to have killed scientists involved in the program, struck facilities with bomb-carrying drones and launched other attacks. Israel's government declined to comment. Experts say such disruptive actions may push Tehran even closer to the bomb and put its program even deeper into the mountain where airstrikes, further sabotage and spies may not be able to reach it. "Sabotage may roll back Iran's nuclear program in the short-term, but it is not a viable, long-term strategy for guarding against a nuclear-armed Iran," said Davenport, the nonproliferation expert. "Driving Iran's nuclear program further underground increases the proliferation risk." The Associated Press receives support for nuclear security coverage from the Carnegie Corporation of New York and Outrider Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content. https://outrider.org/ TEL AVIV, Israel Three Palestinian militants were killed in an Israeli army raid in a West Bank refugee camp early Monday, Palestinian officials said, and the Biden administration sharply condemned Israel's latest act of settlement expansion. The Palestinian Health Ministry said the three men were killed during a raid in Balata, a refugee camp near the city of Nablus. Six people were wounded, including one who was in critical condition, the ministry said. The Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, a militant group with connections to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah party, identified the men killed as its members. The army confirmed the raid, saying troops came under fire and killed three Palestinians. Three others were arrested there, the army said. Israel has stepped up raids over the past year in response to a spate of Palestinian attacks and said Monday's operations netted weapons and an explosives manufacturing operation in a home, which it detonated. Meanwhile, the Biden administration issued a sharply worded statement on Sunday criticizing Israel for moving to reestablish a settlement at the formerly evacuated outpost of Homesh in northern West Bank. In March, the Israeli government repealed a 2005 act that dismantled four West Bank settlements. Over the weekend, the top Israeli army general in the West Bank signed an order attaching Homesh to a local settler regional council a move paving the way for reconstruction of the outpost. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said the U.S. was "deeply troubled" by the announcement, and noted that Israel itself had determined the settlement was built illegally on private Palestinian land. Miller also expressed Washington's concerns about ultranationalist National Security Minister Itmar Ben-Gvir's visit Sunday to the Temple Mount, the holiest site in Judaism. The contested site is also home to the Al-Aqsa Mosque, the third-holiest site in Islam. "This holy space should not be used for political purposes, and we call on all parties to respect its sanctity," Miller said in the statement. Under longstanding arrangements, Jews are permitted to visit the site, but not to pray there. But in recent years, a growing number of Jewish visitors have begun to quietly pray, raising fears among Palestinians that Israel is plotting to divide or take over the site. Ben-Gvir has long called for increased Jewish access. Ben-Gvir visited the hilltop compound earlier on Sunday, declaring that "we are in charge," while the Israeli Cabinet held a rare meeting in Jerusalem's Old City to celebrate its control of the area. Ben-Gvir's visit drew condemnations from the Palestinians and Israel's neighbor, Jordan. A former West Bank settler leader and far-right activist who years ago was convicted of incitement and supporting a Jewish terror group, Ben-Gvir now serves as Israel's national security minister, overseeing the country's police force. The Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades said the three killed in Balata on Monday were Fathi Jihad Rizk, 30, Abdullah Yousef Abu Hamdan, 24, and Muhammad Bilal Zaytoun, 32. In a separate overnight raid in the northern town of Jenin, the army said two Palestinians were shot and three were arrested when the Israeli forces came under attack. More than 250 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire since the spring of 2022. About 50 people have been killed in Palestinian attacks against Israelis. Israel says most of the Palestinians killed were militants, but stone throwing youths protesting the incursions and people not involved in the confrontations have also been killed. Israel captured the West Bank, east Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip in the 1967 Mideast war. The Palestinians seek those territories for a future independent state, with east Jerusalem as its capital. Israel annexed east Jerusalem in a move unrecognized by most of the international community and considers the city its undivided, permanent capital. Tensions at the disputed compound have fueled past rounds of violence. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government, the most right-wing in Israeli history, includes ultra-Orthodox and far-right nationalist parties and has made West Bank settlement construction a top priority. Most of the international community considers Israeli settlements, home to 700,000 people in the West Bank and east Jerusalem, to be illegal and obstacles to peace. Earlier this month, fighting also erupted between Israel and militants in the Gaza Strip. In that escalation, Israeli fire killed 18 militants and 10 civilians, while three civilians were hit by misfired rockets, according to a Palestinian rights group. Two other people were killed and Israel claims they were militants, but that could not be independently verified. An 8-year-old migrant girl who died Wednesday after crossing the border in South Texas fell ill with the flu during a prolonged stay in U.S. custody, according to a timeline of the incident released by U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and authorities did not send her to a hospital when her symptoms worsened despite knowing her delicate medical history. The girl, identified by Honduran officials as Anadith Tanay Reyes Alvarez, was the second minor to die in U.S. government custody within a week. A 17-year-old Honduran boy died May 10 while staying at a shelter in Florida for teens and children who cross the border without parents. The deaths have refocused attention on U.S. medical care and treatment for migrant teens and children detained by the government, while underscoring the risks at border facilities where U.S. agents and staff are strained by record numbers of illegal crossings. In a statement, CBP said acting commissioner Troy Miller has ordered a review of medical care practices at the agency's facilities and an assessment of all "medically fragile" individuals. "We must ensure that medically fragile individuals receive the best possible care and spend the minimum amount of time possible in CBP custody," Miller said. CBP said its internal affairs division is investigating the circumstances of Reyes' death. Under agency policy, detainees should not spend more than 72 hours in custody. But Reyes had been held with her family for eight days at the time of her death, according to the government timeline released Sunday. While unaccompanied minors and families with children are prioritized for faster processing under CBP policy, backups can occur when the number of migrants crossing the border soars to unmanageable levels. As her daughter battled the flu and her condition worsened, she "cried and begged for her life" but CBP staff "didn't do anything for her," Reyes' mother, Mabel Alvarez Benedicks, said in an interview with the Associated Press. Rep. Raul M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) called in a statement for information to convey "the full context of the circumstances of the death of all the children." "The Biden administration has a moral responsibility to act quickly to make certain this does not happen again and ensure that improvements are made to guarantee the safety and health of those seeking asylum," the lawmaker said. Reyes crossed the border with her parents and two older siblings near Brownsville, Texas, on May 9, according to the CBP timeline, part of a larger group of 47 people. Her parents and older siblings are from Honduras, but the girl was a citizen of Panama, the agency said. The family arrived in the United States during one of several days early this month when U.S. agents made more than 10,000 border arrests, the highest daily totals in CBP history. The influx occurred in the lead-up to the expiration of pandemic-era border restrictions on May 11, and it left U.S. border stations and processing facilities crowded beyond capacity. The girl's parents provided agents with documents about their daughter's medical history, including sickle cell anemia and heart disease, during a standard intake and screening process on May 10 at CBP's processing facility in Donna, Texas. The family was still at the processing facility four days later when Reyes came to the facility's medical unit with her mother, complaining of abdominal pain, nasal congestion and cough. She tested positive for influenza A, a type of flu; had a fever of 101.8 degrees and was given over-the-counter medications, according to the timeline. The agency said medical personnel "documented a past medical history including cardiomyopathy (noting the girl had undergone heart surgery at the age of 5), about which the family reported that she has been stable since the operation, but still requires the continued care of a cardiologist." Agents then transferred Reyes' entire family to the Border Patrol station in Harlingen, Texas, a facility for migrants designated for cases requiring medical isolation. The child was assessed by medical staff at the Harlingen facility when the family arrived on the evening of May 14. Reyes continued to receive over-the-counter flu medications during the next three days, but on May 17, the girl's condition appeared to worsen. She and her mother went three times to the medical unit at the border station, complaining of vomiting, and later a stomachache. CBP medical contractors listed her condition as stable, according to the agency's timeline, but at 1:55 p.m. the child's mother returned carrying her daughter "who appeared to be having a seizure" and then became unresponsive, CBP said. Paramedics arrived 12 minutes later to rush Reyes to the hospital in Harlingen. She was pronounced dead less than an hour later, according to the timeline. Preliminary autopsy results found a buildup of fluid in the girl's lungs, the agency said, adding that additional information about the cause and manner of death would be released from the Cameron County medical examiner. CBP officials say they have significantly improved medical care and screening procedures in recent years, following the deaths of several children taken into U.S. custody along the border during a record influx of Central American families in 2018 and 2019. The 17-year-old who died one week before Reyes was staying at a shelter in Safety Harbor, Fla., run by the nonprofit Gulf Coast Jewish Family and Community Services, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. That agency oversees the care of teens and children who show up at the southern border without parents, sometimes including those brought over by other adults. It oversees nearly 300 shelters in 27 states, and says minors in its care are given access to health care, legal services and counseling and are able to contact family at least twice a week. Honduras Foreign Minister Enrique Reina identified the 17-year-old as Angel Eduardo Maradiaga Espinoza. He urged U.S. authorities to conduct an exhaustive investigation into both his death and the death of Reyes. HHS also has confirmed that a 4-year-old from Honduras in the agency's care since 2019 died on March 17 at Bronson Methodist Hospital in Kalamazoo, Mich., after going into cardiac arrest. The girl was also considered "medically fragile," the agency said. Record numbers of children and teenagers traveling without their parents have been showing up at the southern border since President Biden took office and exempted them from the pandemic border restrictions imposed during the Trump administration. Those restrictions allowed authorities to expel recent border crossers to Mexico or their home countries quickly, without a chance to seek asylum. More recently, in the days before the pandemic policy ended, illegal border crossings jumped again, as some migrants said they rushed to enter the country before new Biden restrictions took effect May 12 aimed at boosting deportations. The Washington Post's Maria Sacchetti contributed to this report. Press Release May 22, 2023 Senate passes bill increasing public school teachers' allowance The Senate on Monday, May 22, 2023, passed on third and final reading a measure which seeks to increase the yearly supplies allowance of teachers in all public schools. With a unanimous vote of 22 senators present, Senate Bill No. (SBN) 1964, or the Kabalikat sa Pagtuturo Act, inches towards its ratification and enrolment for the President's signature. Sen. Ramon Bong Revilla Jr., sponsor of the bill, noted that public school teachers are overworked and yet, underpaid, receiving only P24 a day under the current P5,000 teaching supplies allowance for the entire schoolyear. "The current cash allowance also includes a P500 allocation for medical examination, if we deduct that from the purchase of teaching materials and equipment, it will only drop to P22 pesos per day. A box of chalk costs P68, a ream of bond paper costs P120, not including the internet load," Revilla said in his sponsorship speech. "Teaching is the one profession that creates other professions, even the President of the country or even the bravest Senator -- their thoughts and personality were shaped by our teachers," Revilla said in mixed Filipino and English. The Senate passed the measure on third reading during the 17th and 18th Congresses. Under SBN 1964 the teaching allowance gradually increases from the current P5,000 to P7,500 for school year 2023 - 2024 and P10,000 per teacher in the succeeding school years. The additional benefits shall not be subject to tax, it added. Revilla also said that the current allowance allocation under the General Appropriations Act is P4.8 billion. He said the government only needs to allocate an additional P2 billion when the amount reaches P7,500 and P4.5 billion when it reaches P10,000 in the year 2025. "This is less than one percent of the total budget of the Department of Education in this era of the trillion-peso budget, it is too little for us to deny," said the the chairperson of Committee on Civil Service, Government Reorganization and Professional Regulation. Revilla said that this very little support from the government is a huge help to every teacher, especially to those who intend to stay in the country and do not want to exchange their profession for dollars abroad. The senator thanked colleagues for their support for the passage of SBN 1964, a substitution of SBNs 22, 94, 677, 1045, 1729 and 1831 authored by Revilla, Senators Robinhood Padilla, Sonny Angara, Christopher Lawrence "Bong" Go, Jinggoy Ejercito Estrada, Joel Villanueva, Mark Villar, Ronald "Bato" Dela Rosa and Win Gatchalian. "Thank you to our colleagues here in the Senate for their full support of this proposal. With the passage of the 'Kabilikat sa Pagtuturo Act', we are giving our dear teachers an assurance that they will always have the Senate as their ally in advocating, pushing, and fighting for their welfare" the senator said. "Isang hakbang pa lamang ito sa marami pa rin nating mga ipapasang panukala upang bigyang-sandata ang ating mga guro lalo na't ang kanilang papel na ginagampanan sa buhay ng ating mga kabataan ay hindi matatawaran," he said. The lawmaker also appealed to the House of Representatives to consider the approval of the measure. "I appeal to our colleagues in the lower house to make this measure their priority. This was already passed by the Senate during the 17th and 18th Congresses. It is not for me or for all of you. This is for our hard-working teachers, the shapers of our nation, who have dedicated their lives to nurture our children," Revilla closed. The Freedom of Russia Legion and the Russian Volunteer Corps (RDK) are conducting an operation in Belgorod region of the Russian Federation, which is a consequence of the aggressive policy of the Putin regime and the invasion of Russian troops on the territory of Ukraine, representative of the Main Intelligence Agency of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine Andriy Cherniak said in a comment to the Interfax-Ukraine agency. "The responsibility for the events [in Belgorod region of the Russian Federation] was assumed by Russian citizens from the RDK the Russian Volunteer Corps - and the Freedom of Russia Legion. Ukraine welcomes the decisive actions of the opposition to the criminal aggressive Putin regime," Cherniak said. He stressed that "the events of armed demonstrations and protests by the resistance forces inside the Russian Federation are acquiring signs of a trend, which gives grounds to predict the continuation of the process of demilitarization of Putin's aggressive Russia." "We confirm that the Freedom of Russia Legion and the RDK closely cooperate and interact with the GUR of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine," said the representative of military intelligence. Earlier, at about 14:00 on Monday, the Freedom of Russia Legion and the RDK announced that they had "liberated" Kozinka of Belgorod region of the Russian Federation and entered the settlement of Grayvoron. The telegram channel of the Freedom of Russia Legion contains an appeal to the residents of the Russian Federation: "Residents of Russia! We are the same Russians as you. We are distinguished only by the fact that we did not want more recognition of the actions of criminals in power and took up arms to defend our freedom. But today it's time for everyone to take responsibility for their future. It's time to put an end to the Kremlin's dictatorship: the Legion is coming home." Representative of the Main Intelligence Agency (GUR) of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine Andriy Yusov, in a comment to Suspilne, said that the Freedom of Russia Legion and the Russian Volunteer Corps are conducting an operation in Belgorod region of the Russian Federation in order to create a "security strip" to protect Ukrainians. In turn, according to Russian media, press secretary of the President of the Russian Federation Dmitry Peskov said that the President of the Russian Federation was informed "about an attempt to break through of the Ukrainian sabotage group into Belgorod region." BOISE, Idaho The suspect in the stabbing deaths of four University of Idaho students opted Monday to stand silent to murder charges, prompting the judge to enter not guilty pleas on his behalf ahead of a trial in which he could face the death penalty. The Nov. 13, 2022, killings stunned the rural community of Moscow, Idaho, and prompted many students to leave campus early, switching to remote learning for the remainder of the semester. Bryan Kohberger, 28, was arrested late last year and charged with burglary and four counts of first-degree murder in connection with with the slayings of Madison Mogen, Kaylee Goncalves, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin at a rental home near the University of Idaho campus. Kohberger declined to enter pleas in Latah County District Court, with his defense attorney Anne Taylor telling the judge that they were going to stand silent at this time. In response, 2nd District Judge John Judge entered not guilty pleas on Kohbergers behalf. Its uncommon but not unheard of for defendants to stand silent in criminal cases. Sometimes it is done because defendants and their attorneys feel they need more time to weigh the ramifications of entering a plea of guilty or not guilty; other times it can be part of a broader legal strategy or simply a defendants personal choice. Kohberger declined to waive his right to a speedy trial, so the judge scheduled it to begin Oct. 2. Its still possible that the trial, expected to last six weeks, could be delayed or moved to a different location. Kohberger was a graduate student studying criminology at nearby Washington State University when the University of Idaho students were killed, but prosecutors have not released any information about how they believe he may have chosen the victims or whether he had met any of them previously. Police released few details about the investigation until after Kohberger was arrested at his parents home in eastern Pennsylvania early Dec. 30, 2022. Court documents detailed how police pieced together DNA evidence, cellphone data and surveillance video that they say links Kohberger to the slayings. Investigators said traces of DNA found on a knife sheath inside the home where the students were killed matches Kohberger, and that a cellphone belonging to Kohberger was near the victims home on a dozen occasions prior to the killings. A white sedan allegedly matching one owned by Kohberger was caught on surveillance footage repeatedly cruising past the rental home around the time of the killings. Kernodle, Chapin, Mogen and Goncalves were friends and members of the universitys Greek system, and the three women lived together in the rental home just across the street from campus. Chapin Kernodles boyfriend was there visiting on the night of the attack. Latah County Prosecutor Bill Thompson now has 60 days to inform the court whether he will seek the death penalty in the case. The small courtroom was packed for the arraignment, with some members of the news media and other onlookers lining up outside three hours before the proceeding was set to begin, Boise television station KTVB reported. Family members of Goncalves were among those who attended, one of them weeping as the charges were read. Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Senior Vice President Dr Shireen Mazari has been rearrested as soon as she was released from Adiala jail on the orders of Lahore High Courts Rawalpindi bench on Monday. Earlier today, the LHC ordered the authorities to release the detained PTI leader who was taken into custody multiple times since the May 9 riots. The benchs orders came during the hearing of a plea filed against Mazaris detention. The court has asked the PTI leader to submit an affidavit to the deputy commissioner assuring no involvement in violent activities in the future. It is pertinent to mention here that after being released from custody on Islamabad High Court's (IHC) orders on May 17, the PTI leader was re-arrested for the third time on the same day by the Punjab Police. Mazaris lawyer said that his client has been arrest once again. According to her counsel, the Punjab police rearrested the PTI leader, adding that he did not know about her whereabouts. Last week, IHC barred authorities from arresting Mazari and her party colleague Senator Falak Naz Chitrali. The court had also stopped authorities from further investigating the two politicians when they appeared before the judge hearing a plea seeking relief from further arrest. Mazari was first arrested on May 12 and detained at the Adiala prison when the government launched a crackdown against the leadership and workers of PTI following the violent protests and vandalism triggered by the arrest of party Chairman Imran Khan on May 9 on orders of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) in the Al-Qadir Trust case. The former human rights minister was taken into custody for the second time on May 16 soon after her arrest was declared illegal by the Islamabad High Court. Speaking with journalists outside the LHC's Rawalpindi bench, Imaan said earlier today that her mother was arrested thrice in a weeks time. Today, the court annulled the second MPO order for my mother, she said, slamming the government for causing distress to families. The human rights lawyer also criticised PTI Chairman Khan for being "selfish" and forgetting his workers and leadership during a difficult time. It is a pity that Imran Khan forgot the workers, Imaan said. According to gardai, Mohammad Rashid (63) had a disagreement with the worker when he locked the door and kept him there against his will. Mohammad Rashid of Eustace Demesne, Naas, Co Kildare has not indicated how he will plea A business owner falsely imprisoned a tradesman at his warehouse by locking him into the premises following an argument, it is alleged. According to gardai, Mohammad Rashid (63) had a disagreement with the worker when he locked the door and kept him there against his will. The case against him was adjourned at Blanchardstown District Court on Friday for the accused to decide how he intends to plead. Mr Rashid, with an address at Eustace Demesne, Naas, Co Kildare, is charged with false imprisonment of the man in the incident at a west Dublin industrial estate. Garda Sergeant Maria Callaghan said the Director of Public Prosecutions consented to the case being dealt with at district court level subject to the issue of jurisdiction being considered. Judge Gerard Jones asked for an outline of the allegations. The sergeant said the incident took place at a unit at Crag Crescent, Clondalkin Industrial Estate on February 24 last year. The alleged victim was there fixing machinery when the owner, the accused, returned and there was a verbal argument between the two. It was alleged that the accused closed the door and locked it, preventing the man from leaving the premises. The alleged victim called 999 and explained that he was being held against his will. Asked the mans age, the sergeant said he was not elderly. The judge asked if the man was rescued shortly after. Yes, the gardai arrived at the scene, Sgt Callaghan said. Judge Jones said he was accepting jurisdiction in the case reluctantly after hearing the alleged facts. This means the case can remain in the district court instead of being sent forward to the circuit court, which has tougher potential sentencing powers. The judge ordered disclosure of prosecution evidence to the defence and remanded the accused on continuing bail to appear again on a date in July. Gareth Kelly had never met Anderson before and was trying to start his car on his way to work when she approached and stabbed him five times A woman who stabbed a total stranger to death during a psychotic episode bears "zero" moral culpability for the killing due to her mental condition, her barrister has told the Central Criminal Court. The court also heard yesterday that the State accepts that Christina Anderson was undergoing a psychotic episode at the time of the killing and cannabis intoxication "does not feature" in the case. During the trial, the jury heard that a central issue was whether Anderson's actions when she repeatedly stabbed Gareth Kelly were driven by mental illness or by cannabis intoxication. Michael O'Higgins SC yesterday said that while his client's actions were horrendous, she was suffering delusions brought on by bipolar-affective disorder. Although she is legally culpable, Mr O'Higgins said her "moral responsibility could and should go to zero given the very acute mental illness under which she was labouring at the time." He asked Ms Justice Karen O'Connor to extend the "maximum leniency" available when sentencing Anderson for the crime of manslaughter, to which she pleaded guilty earlier this year. Counsel also read out a letter from Anderson in which she apologised for all the pain she had caused and described the victim as "an innocent man who did not deserve to die". Ms Justice O'Connor will impose sentence on June 20. Anderson (41) of Brownsbarn Wood, Kingswood, Dublin 22, stabbed Gareth Kelly five times as he tried to start his car outside her home at about 7am on the morning of February 25, 2020. Mr Kelly (38) had never met her before and was trying to start his car in the early morning on his way to work when she approached him and stabbed him five times, fatally injuring him. At a sentencing hearing earlier this month, Mr Kelly's partner Maria Murphy described the deceased as a loving dad with a "cheeky smile" who was adored by his children. Anderson was initially charged with murder and pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity. In January this year, more than one month into her trial, the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) accepted a plea of guilty to manslaughter by reason of diminished responsibility due to a mental disorder. The State accepted that Ms Anderson was experiencing a psychotic episode due to bipolar affective disorder but did not qualify for the full defence of a not guilty by reason of insanity verdict under the Criminal Law (Insanity) Act. At yesterday's hearing Mr O'Higgins outlined what he said was evidence of the "complete destruction" of his client's rational mind in the weeks and months before the stabbing. There was, he said, evidence that she had become paranoid and delusional regarding what she falsely believed to be a criminal conspiracy involving her neighbours, gardai and senior politicians including Bertie Ahern. Consultant Psychiatrist Dr Brenda Wright diagnosed Anderson with bipolar affective disorder and gave the opinion that she was suffering from a psychotic episode at the time of the killing. Dr Wright said Anderson falsely believed that Mr Kelly was a threat to her and her family and that by stabbing him she was protecting her family. Mr O'Higgins said the actions of his client were "horrendous" but she was "very mentally ill" and in a "state of paranoia and persecution". She bears some liability, he said, and that is accepted by her plea of guilty to manslaughter. "In determining the appropriate punishment the mental element, or lack of mental element as it is in this case, has to be a huge factor in determining any punitive sentence the court is to mete out," counsel said. He added: "The absence of a rational mind is a paramount factor in determining moral culpability." Mr O'Higgins cited legal authorities that he said show there is a distinction between moral and legal responsibility and in some cases involving mental illness "responsibility could be reduced to zero". Anderson's is one such case, he said. Her illness is so severe, Mr O'Higgins said, that more than three years after the stabbing Anderson remains in the Central Mental Hospital undergoing treatment. Mr O'Higgins also pointed to recent psychiatric reports which state that she is at low risk of reoffending. He further asked the court to consider that Anderson has led a "blameless life", never having come to the attention of gardai before. She is a mother who worked for a living, ran her own businesses and kept a good home. She still has a relationship with her children and husband, Mr O'Higgins said, and will live with them when she is released. He said his client wished to apologise. The devastating consequences of her actions had caused her great distress, he said. In a letter written by Anderson, she said she wanted to "apologise from the bottom of my heart to Mr Kelly's partner and family for all the pain I have caused. You may never forgive me but I want you to know I regret the killing and it will haunt me for the rest of my life." She said he did not deserve to die and she feels "ashamed and truly sorry for what I did". Pat McGrath SC, for the Director of Public Prosecutions, said that the killing is at the higher end for offences of manslaughter but in sentencing the judge must consider how much Ms Anderson's culpability is reduced by her mental illness before setting a headline sentence. Martin, of Newhall Court, Tallaght, pleaded guilty to public intoxication, threatening, abusive or insulting behaviour and garda obstruction. A man who made three attempts to headbutt gardai when they investigated a public order disturbance has been spared jail. Clinton Martin (31) resisted gardai and became violent after his arrest in west Dublin. Judge Gerard Jones gave him a one-month suspended sentence. Martin, of Newhall Court, Tallaght, pleaded guilty to public intoxication, threatening, abusive or insulting behaviour and garda obstruction. He also admitted violent behaviour in a garda station. Blanchardstown District Court heard gardai received a report of a highly intoxicated man in a camper van on the Naas Road on June 2, 2022. Martin came out calmly when gardai arrived but then became very aggressive, began stumbling and made three attempts to headbutt gardai. He resisted arrest. Martin had previous public order convictions. The accused had apologised for his behaviour, his lawyer said. Martin had been going through a tough time when the incident happened, he said. There had been a family bereavement and he was abusing drugs. He was now off narcotics, had made great improvements in his life and was taking a course to become a taxi driver. The court heard internet troll Brendan Doolin had only left his home twice in the previous 17 years A man who was jailed for three years for harassing six journalists has appeared before Dublin Circuit Criminal Court charged with breaching his bail conditions. Brendan Doolin (41) of Leighlin Road, Crumlin, was sentenced in 2019 to five years in prison, with the final two years suspended. Doolin, described by his lawyers as an internet troll, had admitted harassing Sarah Griffin, Kate McEvoy, Sinead O'Carroll, Christine Bohan, Roe McDermott and Aoife Barry by sending them hundreds of abusive online messages on dates between May 2012 and February 2018. The court heard Doolin had only left his home twice in the previous 17 years prior to these matters being investigated. At a hearing today, the court heard Doolin was released from custody in December 2021 and has not reoffended since. Eoghan Cole BL, representing the State, said that after Doolin had been charged with the harassment offences and was facing trial, he committed multiple breaches of his bail condition not to be in any contact whatsoever with any of the injured parties, either directly or indirectly. A prosecuting garda told Mr Cole that in April and May 2019, Kate McEvoy and Sarah Griffin contacted gardai to report that posts were being made about them online in language similar to that used previously by Doolin. Gardai got a warrant to search Doolin's house and seized his laptop. He told gardai he didn't own a phone. The laptop was analysed and found to contain photos of Kate McEvoy and Roe McDermott taken in the atrium of Dublin Circuit Criminal Court, linked to a particular model of smartphone. A second search was carried out of Doolin's home and the smartphone in question was found concealed under his floor boards containing the photos. Doolin admitted the phone was his. Mr Cole said that separately, Doolin had made up email addresses very similar to the names of some of the injured parties and then used these emails to post obnoxious or upsetting messages online. Ms McDermott, Ms Griffin and Ms McEvoy reported that they were contacted by others at various times in 2019 asking why they were posting such messages. Ms Griffin said people including fellow writers would get negative comments from her from an email similar to her name, in what she felt was an attack on her livelihood. One comment made to look like it had been posted by Ms Griffin said: You're going to be ripped into tiny pieces all in good time. Ms Griffin cancelled certain public engagements, the court heard, due to a fear that Doolin would be monitoring her. Counsel told the court that Doolin also responded to several legitimate tweets posted by the injured parties by using uncomplimentary, unflattering or abusive language, describing them as dull, cowardly, classist, white feminist. Doolin also responded to social media post by Ms Griffin's husband by commenting, We know where you are, all in good time. Aoife Barry, Sarah Griffin and Kate McEvoy also reported that they received multiple password reset requests after Doolin tried to enter their emails, knowing that this meant they would receive messages asking them to change their passwords. None of the six injured parties were present in court although all submitted victim impact statements which were not read aloud. Mr Cole said a theme of all the victim impact statements was a wish shared by the women that Doolin would receive whatever help he needs to overcome his problems. Keith Spencer BL, defending Doolin, said his client's bail breaches were of a lower order than his original offending, describing it as more nuisance behaviour. Mr Spencer said that Doolin had been suffering from profound mental health difficulties at the time but has since corrected his behaviour and expressed remorse. He doesn't even operate computers now, he doesn't go near them because he's afraid and he knows that there are orders in place, said Mr Spencer, pointing out that Doolin continues to cooperate with the Probation Service. Judge Nolan adjourned a decision until tomorrow. Liam Dalys barrister argued that it would be "unjust and oppressive" to extradite Daly for a "stupid act" where "a very drunk man went into a takeaway in 1994" The High Court has ordered the extradition to Germany of a 50-year-old Irish man who allegedly tried to strike a man with a wooden chair leg and commit robbery in a Berlin takeaway almost 30 years ago. Making the order today, Mr Justice Kerida Naidoo said that Liam Patrick Daly (50), Dublin-born but with an address in Birmingham, had been a major contributor to the delay in bringing him before the courts to face the charge. The respondent, who objected to the extradition due to the length of time that has passed, is wanted by police in Germany on a charge of attempted aggravated robbery. His barrister, Willie Hughes, had argued that it would be "unjust and oppressive" to extradite Mr Daly for a "stupid act" where "a very drunk man went into a takeaway in 1994" and, he submitted, was incapable of carrying out the offence. The details of the charge are that on February 18, 1994, the respondent allegedly entered a snack bar at Uhlandstrasse in Berlin armed with a wooden chair leg and tried to strike a man and steal money. This alleged robbery failed as the man was able to defend himself and took the chair leg off his assailant. The respondent was arrested and questioned, and during his detention he allegedly made admissions saying that he had a mask on his head and a chair leg in his hand but only wanted to scare the other man. He allegedly said that he drank beer beforehand and wanted money. He was detained for three days and then released after giving his fiancees address. Mr Justice Naidoo said the respondent was not charged with any offence before being released but given the nature of the offence and the fact he was detained for three days, the respondent could not reasonably believe the German authorities were not going to pursue a prosecution against him. His passport was later examined by the German police, and he was not told he had to answer the charges and continued to live in Germany. The respondent claimed that this lulled him into believing there were no proceedings against him. An attempt was made to serve a warrant on him in March 1994, but this was unsuccessful as he had left his residence, and in March 1996, an international search was initiated. Mr Daly was arrested in England in February 2003, and an extradition case was heard by the court of appeal, who found in his favour and refused the extradition. The court at that time, nine years after the alleged offence, ruled that it would be unfair to return him as he was unlikely to face a fair trial given the delay. The court is entitled to have regard as to how his behaviour contributed to the delay, said Mr Justice Naidoo, adding that the respondent has been a major contributor to the delay. His conduct did contribute to the delay, as had he made any inquiries into the matter, it would have been dealt with, so he bears a significant part of the responsibility for it, he said. He said Mr Daly argued that in the context of the time passed, the German authorities were under obligation to take steps to establish his whereabouts. The authorities, however, said the international search that was begun in 1996 had not been interrupted at any time, and they were under no obligation to go further. The judge pointed out that when the German authorities became aware of his presence in England, they issued a warrant, which was unsuccessful. Mr Justice Naidoo also rejected Mr Dalys claim that the alleged offence was at the lower end of the scale. I am not convinced it is minor as the complainant had to defend himself and disarm him, and this is not in the respondent's favour, he said. While acknowledging that Mr Dalys mother had been diagnosed with cancer and he argued that his surrender to Germany would have an adverse effect on his family, Mr Justice Naidoo said he was not satisfied that his surrender would be an abuse of process. "I do not accept that he could reasonably believe that they had abandoned the prosecution, he said. He made an order for the surrender of Mr Daly to the Federal Republic of Germany but agreed to postpone this to allow him to facilitate the care of his mother. Having waited 27 years, they can wait another few months, said Mr Justice Naidoo. He made an order for Mr Dalys surrender and postponed this to July 24. Assassin Jamie Jay Smith will have to spend at least another 10 years behind bars A heroin-dealing hitman is cracking up after an appeal against his life sentence for murder was rejected. Loyalist assassin Jamie Jay Smith had been planning a new life in Carrickfergus, convinced that his conviction for the gangland killing of rival drug dealer Dougie Morrison would be quashed. But he has been left stunned by the failure of his legal challenge which means he will have to spend at least another 10 years behind bars in the high-security Maghaberry Prison. Smith is distraught, he had convinced himself his appeal was going to be a success and he was boasting about settling down in Carrickfergus once he was freed, a jail insider said. He has been moping about the wing ever since. A lot of the other loyalist prisoners, especially the UVF ones, are secretly delighted because Smith isnt liked as he is a convicted heroin dealer. Dougie Morrison Smith is held on the loyalist Bush House wing under the protection of the South East Antrim (SEA) UDA drugs cartel. Although not a member of the terror gang he is looked after by it as a favour for helping it establish cocaine importation routes into Northern Ireland from England. Liverpool-born Smith is a major gangland figure in the city and was previously described in court as being a key member of an organised crime group which operates between Belfast, Liverpool and Dublin. The 44-year-old is serving life with a minimum 21 years for the 2011 murder of rival drug dealer Dougie Morrison in Bangor. The killing occurred just nine days after the Department of Justice in England ordered his return to prison for breaching the terms of his early release for heroin dealing. While on bail for the Morrison murder, Smith was caught with 250,000 of cocaine in Belfast and later convicted of possessing the haul with intent to supply. His appeal against the murder conviction was backed by the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) an independent body set up to examine potential miscarriages of justice. Smiths lawyers argued that a change in the law on joint enterprise cast doubt on the safety of his conviction. He was convicted of murdering Morrison alongside East Belfast UVF member Pistol Pete Greer. 'Pistol' Pete Greer The lawyers also disputed evidence that Smith had the alleged intent or knowledge of the planned attack. However, this was dismissed by the Court of Appeal which ruled: The jury were entitled to convict Smith as a secondary party of murder on the basis of assisting in the common plan to assassinate two men. The ruling has pleased several loyalist prisoners who share the Bush House wing with Smith, particularly the UVFs jail leader Steven Revels, who is serving life for the cut-throat killings of two teenagers. Our source added: Revels is anti-drugs and has no time for Jay Smith because he is a heroin dealer. He hasnt stopped smiling since Smiths appeal failed. Steven Revels Meanwhile, another SEA UDA-linked drug dealer has been moaning to pals that he has received absolutely no support from the terror gang while in jail. Phil Flea Kerr who is serving an 11-month prison sentence for possessing cocaine with intent to supply was heard complaining while on day release recently. The 35-year-old loyalist bandsman, who is from the White City area of north Belfast and sold drugs for the SEA UDA, told friends that he felt abandoned. Flea was overheard moaning about how the UDA has done nothing for him while he has been inside and he has been abandoned, explained a source. He said he expected some help because of how he was set up for arrest by an informant, and kept his mouth shut when questioned by the police. Foreign Minister of Ukraine Dmytro Kuleba started his second tour of African countries with a visit to Morocco, the Foreign Ministry said. "This is the first bilateral visit of a foreign minister since the establishment of diplomatic relations between the countries," the Foreign Ministry's press service said in a Telegram channel on Monday. As noted, in October 2022, the first ever tour of African countries took place. Then the minister visited Senegal, Cote d'Ivoire, Ghana and Kenya. In the autumn, the geography of the tour was limited to the countries of Sub-Saharan Africa, and now it will expand to states in all parts of the continent from north to south. According to the statement, the tour has three key objectives. First, to involve as many African countries as possible in the implementation of President Zelenskyy's Peace Formula. The second is to enlist support for the uninterrupted export of Ukrainian grain within the Black Sea Grain Initiative and the president's Grain from Ukraine program. Third, to create new opportunities for Ukrainian business. "Under the leadership of President Zelenskyy, the course towards opening new horizons has become fundamental for our diplomacy. The head of state personally works to the maximum with the countries of Africa, Asia, and Latin America," Kuleba said. It comes after gardai in the Naas District conducted an operation targeting people suspected of being involved in vehicle theft on Saturday, May 20. A teenager has been charged in connection to car thefts in the east of the country. The young man was arrested as part of an operation targeting persons suspected of being involved in the theft of vehicles in the Eastern Region. He is due to appear before Kilkenny District Court this morning, Monday, May 22, 2023 at 10.30am. It comes after gardai in the Naas District conducted an operation targeting people suspected of being involved in vehicle theft on Saturday, May 20. One car, which was recently reported as stolen, was spotted on the M7 and a managed containment operation was put in place from gardai in Carlow. The vehicle was located a short time later on the N80. Two teenage boys (both youths) were arrested and detained under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act, 1984, at a Garda station in Carlow. Meanwhile a second vehicle, which was also reported as stolen recently, was spotted travelling in the Newbridge area and failed to stop for gardai. It was found abandoned a short distance away. Two other teenage boys (one of whom is a youth) were arrested in the vicinity and detained under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act, 1984 at a garda station in Kildare. The three other male teenagers have been released without charge pending a referral to the Garda Youth Diversion Programme. Investigations are ongoing. If I hadnt had, I can guarantee I wouldnt be here. I can only guess where I could be. It saved my life basically to come here, thats being honest. Mens Sheds members have opened up about how the organisation has rescued them from depression and some even confiding it saved their lives. There are over 400 Mens Sheds groups across the island of island, giving mostly middle aged and elderly men a place to bond and also perform tasks in a move to prevent loneliness. A new documentary series on TG4 lifts the lid on the organisation in Ireland, which was first inspired by the setting up of the group in Australia in the 1980s. Among sheds focussed for the TV programme are ones in counties Donegal, Kerry, Galway, Louth, Armagh and Dublin. Ballybrack in south Dublin is unusual in that its members are generally younger than elsewhere nationwide. The whole idea of this was we were going to focus on men and their mental health and it just so happened the type of lad we were having here were maybe isolated socially, no confidence in themselves, explains Mark Larkin. Somehow they come in here, they realise, they understand that theyre the same as everyone else, they are treated the same. They are getting that confidence to be out maybe to talking to people that theyd walk by all the time, gradually getting to know their community and then by going out and doing the bits of work, suddenly they are part of your community. We all love it. We are here every day, Monday to Friday we are here, and that means every day the lads know they can get out of bed and theres somewhere to go. Brian Connolly admits joining up changed his life. It was hard to make the decision to come over because I was suffering from depression, and still am, he confides. It took me a year to make that decision and eventually I made that decision and I came over and never looked back since. If I hadnt had, I can guarantee I wouldnt be here. I can only guess where I could be. It saved my life basically to come here, thats being honest. Joe Traynor faced similar challenges. I moved out here five and a half years ago after my wife passed away, he recalls. I live just above here, and I wouldnt move out of the room, from depression and everything. So I decided, I went to the DSPCA and I rescued him (dog) and he started to get me out walking. I often noticed this place was here, so I popped in one day. I havent looked back since. The great thing about this is the understanding that everybody has, and nobody turns you away. Youre never turned away from the door, youll always stand by each other and support each other. John Wildes experience similar difficulties. About five years ago I was going through a bad depression. I lost my mother to suicide, he sighs. I had a bad accident, I wasnt able to work anymore and I was kind of a bit lost. I used to walk by the club every day and wasnt sure what it was about. I built up the courage one day and came in. Its the best thing Ive ever done. It more or less saved my life. I dont know what Id be doing. I was in a really bad place with depression and anxiety and stuff, so its really helped with that. The group at Min na Manrach, not far from An Clochan Liath in Co Donegal meet in an old national school which closed 10 years ago. We got this place from the parish priest. It is important that this school is being used again. It was closed for 10 years, maybe more than 10 years, reveals Aodh Mac Fhloinn. It was also fitting as it was educating young people, and now it is educating old lads! The people in the area help us. We got a defibrillator and its hanging on the wall out there, because out here there are no mobile phones and no internet. Its important for people to have things like that. We were thinking of doing something for a competition and we came up with Thomas (the tank engine) because everyone could do something with Thomas. They could pull a nail or hammer a nail or clean a piece of wood, or cut it or whatever suited. They have now built a large Thomas the tank engine model, which stands on where the old Donegal to Derry railway line once was. I think they may have stopped the train in the 50s. I think its nice that its down there and its visible. Young people are interested in it, as are the old people because it reminds them of the time the train ran on that line, he reflects. People working together, thats what the shed is about, men coming together and men helping each other to help themselves. Aodh has a daughter with Down Syndrome and gave up work to look after her. The Shed invited me to join them and I didnt go in as I was probably shy and thought that maybe I was too young and I had no business going there. Then they sent me word to come in and help run the place, he recollects. That encouraged me to go in and help them, So I went in and never looked back. Its a very satisfying job and I thought I had no business being there, but after being there a few times I saw that it was doing me a lot of good. I was getting time out of the house away from my little girl, not that I wanted to be away but when Im in the shed now I dont thing of the time or whats happened at home or bills etc. Im there and its my own time. Its a really good thing, its great for anyone to get some time away. From what they do, get a rest from it, a bit of craic. Youre always laughing and doing things, maybe telling a lot of lies and you know its good fun and it gives you time for yourself. Members of the Corr na Mona shed The shed at Corr na Mona in north county Galway has built a polytunnel, in which locals grow vegetables. By chance I met the school principal here and another teacher and they said well be able to go there for some lettuce and opinions etc for lunch, notes Sean Breathnach. I said no, if you want some you can take a corner or this polytunnel and plant your own vegetables and show the children how to plant vegetables and take care of them etc. They were thrilled that we were giving them the opportunity. Many children here, unlike us, never saw vegetables being planted so it will benefit them and they can tell their parents and show them off. So hopefully it will work out well. The shed in Dundalk will be shown trying to surmount Covid restrictions, the one in Armagh City gets together to make crafts for a Christmas fair, those in Cahersiveen in Co Kerry meet up to exercise, while others in An Daingean play cards, music and also help the upkeep of a local burial ground. The shed is a big, big, part of our lives, confirms An Daingean (Dingle) member Sean O Conchubhain. We have 50 to 60 members. They all get something out of it. We play cards. Thirty-one on Mondays and Wednesdays, we play poker Tuesdays and Thursdays. "Youd swear Gamblers Anonymous would be after us but its all for little money. It great for people to be able to get out of their own houses and come here. The shed is a great place, I wont say to pass your time, but to use your time in a good way. Cornelius Con Linehan died at home peacefully surrounded by his loving family on Friday. The Dublin Fire Brigade has paid tribute to a retired colleague after his death this week. Cornelius Con Linehan died at home peacefully surrounded by his loving family on Friday. The former firefighter was previously stationed at Finglas Fire Station, where he lived, and Tara Street Fire Station in Dublin city centre. He is predeceased by his late wife Nora and will be sadly missed and remembered with love by his children Sophie, Jonathan, Suzanne, and Corinna; grandchildren Alejandro, Lily, Elita and Eabha; siblings Thomas and Dolores; family; and friends. The Dublin Fire Brigade has led tributes to Con online, writing: We were saddened to hear of the passing of retired firefighter Con Linehan. Con was on C Watch during his career and based in both Finglas and Tara Street fire stations. We were saddened to hear of the passing of retired firefighter Con Linehan. Con was on C Watch during his career and based in both Finglas and Tara Street fire stations pic.twitter.com/jrnuKZ3vN4 Dublin Fire Brigade (@DubFireBrigade) May 21, 2023 Drumcondra GAA club Na Fianna also sent on their condolences to Cons family. Sincerest condolences to all the family on the sad passing of Cornelius. Con was a regular attendee at our weekly traditional Gaelic song and music sessions and will be fondly remembered and missed by us all. Ar dheis De go raibh a anam, it wrote. Others are remembering the remarkable man, with a former Dublin Fire Brigade colleague penning: So sorry to hear of Con's passing. I worked with Con for many many years in No 5 DFB Stn. Finglas. Many a good laugh we had through both good and bad times. He will be sadly missed by all who knew him. May he rest in peace. Another said: Deepest sympathy to Cons family for your terrible loss . I had the great privilege of sharing many great Thursdays of music in Na Fianna where he generously share his wonderful songs and stories with us . One of lifes real gentlemen in every sense of the word RIP Con. And another friend and co-worker added: So sorry to hear of Con's passing. He was a good friend both in DFB and we had some great times together fishing in Dalkey and Howth. "He will be remembered fondly. Our thoughts and prayers are with the family. May he rest in peace. Cons funeral mass will take place on Wednesday, May 24,at St Margarets Church, St Margarets, Co Dublin at 10am, followed by a burial in Dangan Cemetery, Co Meath. A removal will take place prior to this on Tuesday evening arriving at St Margarets Church for 5pm. A council had claimed they did not meet the criteria for a tenancy of a two-bed house A judge has refused to evict an eight-month-old baby, their parents and two siblings after a council claimed they did not meet the criteria for a tenancy of a two-bed house. The decision by Judge James McCourt in the Circuit Civil Court today was met with applause by friends of the family and the agreement of People Before Profit TD Richard Boyd-Barrett and Councillor Melisa Halpen who had supported the family. Dylan Mooneys wife Gemma burst into tears following Judge McCourts decision to overturn an order of the District Court which had ordered her husband to hand back their home in St Kevins Villas, Sallynoggin, to Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council. Mr Mooney, a lorry driver, told his counsel Sean Beatty that eviction would be devastating for the family leaving them with nowhere to live and putting their eight-month-old baby on the street. Following Judge McCourts decision and refusal to grant the local authority its legal costs in opposing Mr Mooneys appeal, Mr Boyd Barrett said: I think this a right and just decision and prevents a family being made homeless. Clearly this was their family home. Judge McCourt heard that Mr Mooneys mother at the age of 57 had come home from hospital in the last week of her fight against cancer to die in the presence of her family in the St Kevins Villas home where she had lived with her son from his birth. She was more comforting to us than we were to her, Mr Mooney said. There is a very sentimental attachment of our family with the house. Read more Cork singer Lyra to headline Dublins Rock Against Homelessness charity gig The court was told that in order for consideration of a new tenancy Mr Mooney had to meet the councils housing allocation policy whereby he had to have lived for five years in the house prior to his mothers death or to have lived for at least 10 of the 15 years prior to her death. The council claimed he failed to meet all of the criteria, missing the 10 year requirement by a year and eight months. He had moved back into the house and had been joined by his wife and two children. The baby had been born following their move without confirmation of any new tenancy. The council described Mr Mooney to the court as a trespasser and had been granted a possession order in the District Court. Judge McCourt told Mr Beatty, who appeared with Daly Khurshid Solicitors, that he was satisfied Mr Mooney had lived in the house for the required amount of time to satisfy the councils house allocation criteria. He had lived in the property for eight years and 10 months as an adult and for more than the alleged shortfall of 14 months as a minor. It is accepted by the council that Mr Mooney had been included in the rent assessment for his mother which is a significant factor, Judge McCourt said. I have enormous sympathy with any housing authority in trying to distribute meagre supplies of houses to satisfy the overwhelming demand. It is akin to the distribution of the five loaves and two fishes, he said. There arent enough houses to go around and it is not the fault of local authorities. I dont like to see anyone skipping a queue but I dont accept that Mr Mooney was a trespasser. Judge McCourt said the question was whether it was proportionate and reasonable to grant what was an eviction order and it was his view that it would be disproportionate and unreasonable in all of the circumstances and he would allow Mr Mooneys appeal but would not make an order for costs against the county council. These are difficult cases but the facts in this case are unique. I have a lot of sympathy for councils which have little or no houses and yet have to deal with a problem not of their making. It is all very unfortunate but I do not think any use would be served by making an eviction order, he said. A small clump of suspected Caulerpa brachypus spotted on a New Zealand beach is prompting Biosaecutiy New Zealand to issue a warning to boaties and fishers. That warning is to clean their anchors and fishing gear and reduce the risk of introducing or spreading any exotic seaweeds. Biosecurity New Zealand director of readiness and response John Walsh says a local resident who had been at a beach at Te Rawhiti, near Russell, did the right thing by taking a photograph of the 20cm seaweed clump they found and sending it in for visual identification. "We did provisionally identify the seaweed as Caulerpa brachypus based on the photograph, but unfortunately the seaweed was no longer there when the person returned, and no more has been found on the beach, so we have been unable at this stage to collect a sample for confirmation testing," says John. "We do have a small team up there today doing beach-based surveillance. "We know that exotic Caulerpa can be spread through breaking into little pieces and can potentially spread over large distances by rafting on floating debris. John says this can happen by wave action, or when anchors and fishing gear are moved into or through weed beds. "Which is why keeping your boat and equipment clean is the best thing you can do to avoid spreading marine pests and diseases, including exotic Caulerpa. "We have the strictest biofouling requirements for vessels in the world, as shown over the last summer cruise season, to help protect our marine ecosystems but its important everyone plays their part." John says if people think theyve found this species of Caulerpa, they should not move it elsewhere but let Biosecurity New Zealand know. "We thank the person who notified us in this instance." John says Biosecurity New Zealand has spoken to the Northland Regional Council and local iwi and will work closely with them and others to determine next steps in Te Rawhiti, including having divers in the water later next week looking for any further signs of Caulerpa brachypus, weather permitting. "Exotic Caulerpa was first found at Aotea Great Barrier Island in July 2021, and then, later, at Ahuahu Great Mercury Island. It is very difficult to remove as it travels and grows easily, and there are limited treatment options. "To minimise the spread, a controlled area notice (CAN) remains in place on three affected harbours at Great Barrier Island and over an area of the south western coastline of Ahuahu Great Mercury Island, which bans activities likely to result in its movement (fishing and boating). "Mana whenua for the islands have imposed a rahui on the same areas. "At the original finds, we worked closely with Aotea and Ahuahu mana whenua and the local communities, along with Auckland Council, the Waikato Regional Council, and the Department of Conservation to collectively decide a course of action." John says if Biosecurity New Zealand establishes through surveying that exotic Caulerpa is in Te Rawhiti, then a CAN may be an appropriate response. "But we will work with the community and seek advice from experts here and overseas. "We continue to investigate possible treatment options for Caulerpa and are seeking advice regarding suction techniques and whether they could be viable in our conditions." John says Caulerpa was included in Biosecurity New Zealands national marine high-risk site surveillance programme, which surveys locations where there is a high volume of vessel traffic every six months. Whangarei Harbour and Opua Marina/Waikare inlet in Northland are locations in this programme. People can report suspected finds to Biosecurity New Zealand on 0800 809 966 or by completing the online reporting form at report.mpi.govt.nz . Help stop the spread: Check your gear anchors and chains especially. If you see any seaweed on your equipment, chuck it straight back. Know where Caulerpa is Know the rules about anchoring and fishing there Caulerpa brachypus and Caulerpa parvifolia Caulerpa brachypus and Caulerpa parvifolia are seaweeds exotic to New Zealand. Exotic means they have come from overseas. They are native to the Indo-Pacific region, ranging from Africa to Australia, the Pacific Islands, and southern Japan. Caulerpa brachypus is considered an invasive pest in Florida, the United States, and Martinique in the Caribbean. Both seaweeds are closely related and appear identical. They have fronds up to 10 centimetres long that rise from long runners or roots known as stolons. They can be found growing below the tideline at between two metres and 30 metres on both hard surfaces and in sandy areas. In favourable conditions, they can spread rapidly, forming vast, dense beds or meadows. How exotic Caulerpa species can spread The two seaweeds can be spread through breaking into little pieces. This can happen, for example, by wave action or when anchors and fishing gear are moved into or through weed beds. Fragments are also carried easily on coastal currents. Pieces can get tangled in or stuck on equipment (for example, nets, dive and fishing gear, and crayfish pots). It can survive out of water for up to a week or more if it's in a moist location - like in an anchor locker or a bunched-up fishing net. Work is underway to revitalise the Tauranga city centre so it becomes a place where people from near and far want to visit, learn, live, work and play. "As part of these plans, we will be upgrading the streetscape on Elizabeth Street East and improving the lookout from Tunks Reserve," says a Tauranga City Council spokesperson, "providing spaces where the connection to Te Awanui Tauranga Harbour can be enjoyed in the shade or sun." To improve access from Elizabeth Street to The Strand Extension, council contractors will be replacing the current stairs with a new walkway featuring a cycle runnel which will provide a safer pathway for pedestrians and cyclists. What's a runnel, you ask? It's a somewhat weird name for a straight and usually grooved guide next to a stairway so people can go up and down without having to lift and carry their bikes. You just guide your bike wheels into the groove and push it up or squeeze the brakes and walk it down. Example of a cycle runnel on a stairway. Photo: Supplied. In time, pedestrians and cyclists will be able to travel through the recently installed rail underpass on The Strand Extension, which will link with a new boardwalk into the city centre. Over the next week, contractors will be setting up on site and installing hoardings to temporarily close the stairs linking Elizabeth Street to The Strand Extension. People in the area can expect to see heavy machinery on site and there will be some construction noise. Hours of work are Monday to Friday, from 7am until 5pm. When 70-year-old Glenis Ashley opened her front door at 5am to put the cat out, a strange blob-like creature shot inside the Papamoa retirees house, leaving a trail of sticky black footprints across her beige carpet. Ashley was astonished to discover it was a little blue penguin, covered in tar-like oil. The penguin was one of many marine lives affected after container ship MV Rena struck Otaiti, Astrolabe Reef in the Bay of Plenty on October 5, 2011, and began spilling 1700 tonnes of heavy fuel oil and the contents of its containers. Ashleys penguin rescue is just one of the moving stories captured in a new documentary, Taking Back Our Beach, about the countrys largest-ever pollution disaster. The container ship MV Rena, which ran aground on the Astrolabe Reef on its way to Tauranga. Photo: Mike Scott/Supplied. The accounts are told through the lens of the Bay of Plenty community that battled to save its iconic wildlife and treasured beaches from the devastation caused by the wreck. In another scene, a local teenager who rushes to the beach to help the cleanup is turned away by authorities, so he comes back later disguised in an army uniform, determined to get stuck in. The battle of the community against what they saw as floundering bureaucracy initially is a key theme, says the documentarys director, Anton Steel. There were so many community heroes who came together to take back their power, and their beaches. Volunteers on the beach help clean up the oil and debris spilled from the Rena container ship. Photo: Supplied. Steel, together with producer Rosalie Liddle Crawford and executive producer Claire Rogers, crafted the 90-minute feature-length film from hours of interviews capturing memories and thoughts from some of the more than 8000 volunteers, iwi, wildlife leaders, marine experts, small business owners and community leaders. When a former mayor breaks down in tears on camera, the film captures the shockwaves of anger and grief at the massive field of oil and debris strewn along the coast in the aftermath of the disaster. Floundering bureaucrats initially ignored the local advice and knowledge that could have largely avoided the disaster, and then were painfully slow to clean up the overwhelming mess. A groundswell of volunteers just got stuck in to save wildlife and clean up the mess, says Anton. When the ship broke up, containers and their contents slid into the ocean. Photo: Ross Brown/Visionmedia. It was an environmental catastrophe of unprecedented scale, blackening New Zealand beaches with 350 tonnes of oil, killing thousands of marine birds, and threatening the future of kaimoana. Yet there are uplifting tales too, which convey the peoples deep connection to their land and each other. Iwi raise community spirits at the Incident Control Centre, starting each day with a karakia and waiata. A six-metre-long barbecue feeds the hundreds of volunteers for free. In one scene, a simple act of forgiveness is shown by local iwi to the ships scapegoated Filipino crew. Director Anton Steel films a re-enactment of a forgiveness ceremony between iwi and the ships crew. Photo: Supplied. The premiere will be an emotional experience for executive producer Claire Rogers, whose husband Brian, an avid boatie, former coastguard skipper and seasoned journalist, was the first to get to the scene of the wreck. Brian died of bowel cancer last year, but was able to see the movies final cut. His memories of the fateful morning are poignantly documented in his final interview, describing the moment he realised it was going to be a major environmental crisis. Ill never forget driving on quad bikes across Matakana Island, it was heartbreaking to see the mess washed up on our beautiful beaches, says Claire Rogers. Dead oiled seabirds, killed from oil from the Rena shipwreck. Photo: Kim Westerskov/Supplied. Brians terminal illness was a catalyst for starting the documentary, as Rosalie decided to film his reflections on the event. Via their news website SunLive, Brian and Claire backed the filmmakers, making available archived footage and thousands of photos as well as initial funding. Although he's not around to see the end product of the documentary, he's very much a part of it. It couldn't be without him really, says Claire. The stories of the clean-up couldnt be possible either without the thousands of people from all walks of life who came together to save their beloved beaches. Its this positive message of the power of the community uniting in the face of disaster that viewers are left with. Sam Taikato found a life ring from the Rena washed up on Matakana Island. Photo: Brian Rogers/SunLive. The documentary is a stark reminder of the constant threat of environmental disasters. While humans have the potential to wreak havoc on our national taonga, the films message is that everyone also has the power to preserve it in whatever way they can, like the septuagenarian widow who rescued a little blue penguin who turned up on her doorstep, covered in oil, and needing a helping hand. Taking Back Our Beach is being shown as part of the Doc Edge Festival, with a screening in Auckland on May 28 at 2.15pm at The Capitol Cinema and in Wellington on June 11 at 2.15PM at The Roxy Cinema, and online via the Doc Edge virtual cinema from June 19 to July 9. The film will also be launched in Tauranga at United Cinemas on October 5 to coincide with the 12th aniversary of the Rena's grounding. The crowdfunding in 2021 showed the community spirit here in the Bay and that people do want the story told. The community response to the cleanup and the sense of community was the reason that the documentary was produced to start with. Support is needed again to help fund the release of the film. For more on how to donate contact the filmmakers at info@takingbackourbeach.com Thanks to those who have already helped suport the film. Sun Media, Holland Beckett Law, Bay of Plenty Regional Council, Priority One, Bay Conservation Alliance, Western Bay Wildlife Trust, Tauranga Marine Charters, Te Matai Investment Ltd, and many individuals. -Annemarie Quill/Stuff. The Transport Minister admits some roads may need to be abandoned as a result of climate change, and the extreme weather it will bring. Last week, RNZ revealed Waka Kotahi had, until recently, not been factoring climate change and the need for resilience into its transport projects. The agency was said to be swamped by the need to respond to crisis. In its National Resilience Programme Business Case, produced by Tonkin + Taylor and Tregaskis Brown in 2020, the agency was criticised for "disjointed and reactive decision-making" which had led to "suboptimal and inefficient investment choices and is hampering our ability to adapt". The report found more than 350 risks to the national roading network - 38 of which were extreme. In Thursday's Budget, the government dedicated $6 billion to transport resilience, and Transport Minister Michael Wood confirms it will be used proactively, rather than as a reaction to damaged infrastructure. "That's a proactive piece of work," says Wood. "It's about getting in there, region by region, looking ahead, assessing where the greatest risks are, and trying to make wise long-term decisions about how we make sure our assets can withstand a future with climate change." An interactive map produced as part of the resilience report gives a good guide of the kind of work the government will prioritise with its resilience fund. In Auckland, areas hit hard by the Anniversary Weekend flooding were identified three years ago as prone to flooding due to poor project planning. For instance, State Highway 1 near Newmarket was listed as at moderate risk of flooding. "High potential for pooling of water," the report says. "Is 100 per cent reliant on soakage disposal. Surface water collection, conveyance and disposal systems area all of limited design capacity. A 1 per cent [annual exceedance probability] AEP rainfall event could result in loss of system access and availability." The report suggests land will need to be purchased to build an alternative drainage system. "For example tunnel for stormwater management... would require purchasing of land away from infrastructure. Relatively convenient detours available but regional system disruption will be significant." And just north of the Harbour Bridge on State Highway 1 is listed as a major risk to the network due to sea level rise and coastal inundation, which already happens today. "This results in varying amounts of inundation across 4 lanes, from bus lane only through to all lanes. This can cause significant disruption to the availability and resilience of the system. In extreme cases this results in window of significant disruption (and loss of multiple lanes) for about two hours at high tide window." The report suggests the highway may need to be raised, flood barriers built, or a pump system installed to mitigate the risk. Photo: RNZ / Angus Dreaver. Wood says the resilience fund will address many of the issues identified in the report. "Broadly speaking it's about looking at those regions, identifying where key infrastructure is that people are highly reliant on, understanding the risks, and then understanding the options for building as much resilience in as we can." Some roads identified in the report are not fixable, and there are not solutions to mitigate the risk, such as alternate routes. For example, the Remutaka Hill Road near Wellington is susceptible to landslides, earthquakes and liquefaction. "If there is an earthquake it will be out of service due to many risks," the report says. "Focus should be on State Highway 1 first to get a route open to the north before addressing State Highway 2." The report goes on to say: "Requires ongoing investment to improve resilience, but likely to always be a risk in large earthquakes." Wood says in extreme cases, it was possible the infrastructure will not be rebuilt if it's damaged by earthquakes, storms, or in other ways. "That is a real possibility as we work this through. "It's very likely as we work it through that we might want to make changes on the network. We might say, rebuild a certain asset in a different way. "If a bridge has been damaged, perhaps we need to build it higher, or at a different point on that catchment system. There might be different routes that we need to explore. "At the extreme end there might be places where we know that the impact of extreme weather is going to be so unremitting that... we need to think about doing it completely differently." Photo: NZTA / Twitter. Green Party transport spokesperson Julie Anne Genter says investment in rail and sea shipping should be a focus in future for cut off communities, and Wood agrees. He says sea shipping has been a lifeline for the East Coast after Cyclone Gabrielle, and that will be explored further. Wood says it's "beyond time" resilience is properly factored into infrastructure spending, and tough conversations were now beginning with communities that will be affected in future. "We need to do it carefully, and work it through with communities in those areas to make sure people have what they need to live their lives well. "Where we have to make decisions about where assets are and where that might need to change, we need to work that through with the communities. "But as I said, we have to move forward with this because if we don't we actually expose communities to more vulnerabilities in the future." The $6b resilience fund will be delivered over four years, and Wood says decisions on projects that will receive funding are still being worked through. -Ben Strang/RNZ. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba has held talks in Rabat with Minister of Foreign Affairs, African Cooperation and Foreign Affairs of Moroccans Nasser Bourita, and agreed to hold talks on trade facilitation and visa regime between the countries. According to the press service of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, Kuleba made the first visit of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine to Morocco since the establishment of diplomatic relations in 1992. The Foreign Ministers of Ukraine and Morocco discussed food security in Africa. They stated the need for further unhindered work of the Black Sea Grain Initiative. The Ministers agreed to hold talks between Ukraine and Morocco on trade facilitation in order to identify promising areas of economic cooperation, increase trade volumes and revive direct business contacts, as well as negotiations on visa facilitation. Kuleba told his Moroccan colleague in detail about the situation at the front. The diplomats also paid special attention to the Ukrainian Peace Formula."I invite Morocco to join the implementation of the Ukrainian Peace Formula. This will be a real contribution to peace not only in Ukraine, but also on the African continent," the Foreign Minister said. A separate topic of the talks was cooperation in the field of education. The ministries of Education of Ukraine and Morocco are now working to resolve the problematic issues of Moroccan students who were forced to leave Ukraine due to full-scale Russian aggression. NZ Bus in Tauranga is projecting a return to full driver staffing over the coming weeks. NZ Bus has had many of its services impacted by the nationwide post-Covid driver shortage, says a statement released this week on behalf of the bus company. It has spent the last six months conducting an intense recruitment campaign aimed at both overseas and local drivers. Through the enormous efforts of our Tauranga recruitment teams, we have recruited enough drivers to enable a return to full services over the coming weeks, says Head of Kinetic in New Zealand, Calum Haslop. We are currently on-boarding new recruits as fast as we can. Weve made a large investment to bring in drivers quickly from the Philippines, India and Fiji to supplement our local recruitment endeavours. For those travelling from overseas locations, we are fully involved in ensuring their accommodation, banking, tax and transport needs are met until they have a chance to make their own arrangements. Training, of course, is super important, and getting all the licences and permits sorted can take some time. Fortunately, all the authorities we work with, such as Waka Kotahi and VTNZ, are mindful of the need to get bus drivers on the road and have been very helpful. NZ Bus and its sister Kinetic company Go Bus have recruited approximately 559 drivers since November 57 of which will be employed in Tauranga. We are now in discussions with the Bay of Plenty Regional Council on dates for the return of full timetables, Haslop says. Kinetic is the largest bus operator in Australasia, operating NZ Bus, Go Bus and Johnstons in New Zealand. If you care about people, you run the economy well, says National leader Christopher Luxon who is in Tauranga with a firm message of fixing the economy, restoring law and order, and a commitment to health and education. Accompanied by Tauranga MP Sam Uffindell and Nationals newly selected Bay of Plenty candidate Tom Rutherford, Luxon came straight to the point with basic economics while speaking to Tauranga Chamber of Commerce members at The University of Waikato. If you spend more, you expect to get more for it. We have a government addicted to spending, [they are] spending more money, yet delivering worse outcomes. Extrapolating the Governments more spending to more tax and borrowing and ultimately more pain and suffering for the everyday Kiwi, Luxon quipped that any consultants in the room could be doing quite well under the current regime. How do you spend $1.8billion on consultants? Its undisciplined spending. He mentioned people hed met who are stressed and struggling with trying to budget for their increased mortgage rates and others who were looking for job opportunities in Queensland. A family has gone from 2.5 per cent mortgage rate up to a 6 per cent mortgage rate. You could see the stress on their faces. I felt very humbled and honoured to meet them. I've sat with families that are trying to digest a $50 increase in rents per week. New Zealanders are worrying about their finances. We want to see money back in and we want to see disciplined spending. His vision is to see a good growth plan that will set the NZ economy up for the next 50 years, with a focus on investment into infrastructure, research and development, science and technology. Luxon says New Zealand has more people on the employment benefit today than when Labour came to power. [A well-run] economy enables us to run a world class education system. We have to reduce the cost of living, and stop passing costs on to businesses. We want to free up the blockages in the system that stop businesses growing productively. How do we grow the economy? By adding more value-added products and services, getting rid of bureaucracy and investing in business. He also says that investing strongly in infrastructure has economic, social and environmental benefits. There is a big opportunity [in New Zealand] to commercialise research and development and science and technology. He says New Zealand needs to get much more externally oriented citing how Australia, Britain, the EU and Canada have been making the most of opportunities to connect internationally. So we fix the economy. And we restore law and order, says Luxon moving on from talking about economics to the Tauranga business leaders, to addressing them on violence and crime. Weve all seen those images of violence. Violent crime has increased, the number of gang members has increased, theres a ram raid every 15 hours. Do we accept thats the new normal or do we do something about it? He plans to back police, banning gang patches in public places, while focusing on real consequences for young offenders to power them up to change their trajectory. Education and health are the other two elements that Luxon wants to focus on delivering successful outcomes for, and bemoaned how New Zealand used to be in the top countries in the world for education but now half of our 15 year olds are failing their basic numeracy and writing. Theres a lot of ideology floating around looking for a problem. The solution is we have to teach the basics brilliantly, particularly at primary age, and have a really well-defined curriculum. We want to be able to assess how theyre [a student] is internalizing that knowledge. Highlighting the results that the Graeme Dingle Foundation tracks and measures with its programmes into local western Bay of Plenty schools, Luxon showed support for outcome-based funding for non-government educational and community organisations that can get the job done. He says its the same situation for healthcare where billions of dollars have been poured in without much to show for it, and a health system where workers are experiencing burnout. The government spent $2billion and it went nowhere and didnt improve access for health services yet $2mllion to Gumboot Friday has tremendous outcomes. Get the money from central government and out to the organisations that get outcomes. He highlighted the stress on health workers. We have constant churn in the [health] system, with two people leaving for every new one starting. He outlined how National in government will have a commitment to nurses to help pay off their student loans, whilst also opening NZ up to qualified nurses from overseas with an incentive to relocate here will help solve that workforce challenge. And he highlighted how health goals need to be set to overcome the challenges the public faces when trying to get medical help. Targets matter and save lives. He says during Nationals last term as Government, their goal was to have 95 per cent of New Zealanders presenting at Emergency Departments to be seen within six hours. Now its down to 30 per cent. And people are waiting up to four months to get their first specialist appointment. Questioned on the National Partys commitment to Tauranga to address the transport infrastructure, and in particular the Northern Link, Luxon says its been a Punch and Judy show between central and local government. One government turns it on, and the next government turns it off. If John Kennedy can announce they can get to the moon, and then do it in nine years, then we can complete roads within nine years. Labour has got their priorities all wrong. "We are focused on fixing the economy by stopping wasteful spending and providing tax relief to support hardworking Kiwis. Hes adamant that only National has a plan for a strong economy to fix the cost of living crisis. Theres a different way. Labour, Maori and the Greens will be a coalition of chaos but National will grow a strong economy. On Sunday Luxon announced a 50-meeting nationwide tour of New Zealand which kicks off this week. He plans to speak on Nationals plan to fix the economy, restore law and order and improve New Zealand schools and healthcare. Ill be traveling across the country for public meetings to hear from you and talk about our plan to fix the economy - because thats the key to lowering the cost-of-living and delivering a better future for everyone, says Luxon. The Tauranga Chamber of Commerce meeting today was also attended by Tauranga MP Sam Uffindell and Nationals newly selected Bay of Plenty candidate Tom Rutherford. The politicians also visited Tauranga Foodbank with Good Neighbour in the morning and Seeka Packhouse at Mount Maunganui in the afternoon. Tauranga's roading and infrastructure One of the big challenges in this region is infrastructure. Youve got a city thats grown incredibly quickly to be New Zealands fifth biggest city and you havent got the supporting and enabling infrastructure, says Luxon. We do have some significant challenges here in Tauranga and the wider Bay of Plenty around infrastructure. State Highway 29 is something were really keen to look at and the opportunity there to open up about 25,000 homes and get that faster access into the Port of Tauranga. Its our biggest port, its almost at capacity and we just need to get on and do what we need to do there, says Tauranga MP Sam Uffindell. State Highway 2, through Te Puna and Omokoroa especially, is a dangerous stretch of road, says Tom Rutherford at his first press conference. The community has told us crystal clear throughout the last six years that they want that road upgraded. They want it to be safer and they want it to be more efficient. At the moment people living out in Omokoroa are spending about 90 minutes getting into the Tauranga CBD. The National party has confirmed that we are going to be two-laning it each way for private use and vehicles and getting rid of the bus lanes that are currently proposed each way. Because we need to have efficient roads out there to service our economy both in Tauranga and the Bay of Plenty. At the moment people are spending far too long in their cars and they need to be spending more time in the workplace and building our efficiency. Im getting to work straight away to campaign for a National Government that will get New Zealand back on track, says Rutherford. Ill be working hard over the coming months to meet as many people as I can to hear about their concerns and share how National will improve the lives for all people in the Bay of Plenty. Nationals Spokesperson for Transport and Pakuranga MP Simeon Brown, Tauranga MP Sam Uffindell and Nationals Bay of Plenty candidate Tom Rutherford will be attending a public meeting about State Highway 29 at Kaimai School at 6.30pm on Tuesday May 23. They will also be holding a public meeting on transport at the Bethlehem Hall at 12pm, Friday May 26. Family of Sibora, the missing ex-girlfriend of Paula's alleged killer, say: 'We believe he may have killed her too' The family of the young Albanian woman had never suspected Marco until they found out he was arrested for stabbing a woman to death in Torremolinos last week, and that he was the last person to contact Sibora before she went missing in 2014 Irene Quirante / Juan Cano Malaga Compartir Copiar enlace WhatsApp Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Telegram The family of Sibora Ganani, who has been missing since 2014, believe that the same man who stabbed Paula to death in Torremolinos last week could also be responsible for Siboras disappearance. It comes after the Court of Instruction number 3 of Torremolinos ordered the imprisonment of Marco G, accused of murdering Paula, 28, at their apartment in La Carihuela on Wednesday, 17 May. It was only after police arrested him that they discovered he was the same man who was the last person to be in contact with Sibora, an Albanian woman who was just 22 at the time she vanished without a trace in Torremolinos in 2014. Her case has now been reopened. Her family, in view of what happened last week, now fear the worst: "We believe that he could also have killed her". Siboras sister, Kseva, spoke to SUR from Albania, where she lives and said her family was "very worried". "We have no proof, but we see many similarities with Paula's case, she said. Sibora had also ended her relationship with Marco shortly before she disappeared. She had moved to another flat, in Calle Hoyos in Torremolinos, although she continued to live close to her ex's house. Paula had also just ended her relationship with Marco before she was stabbed to death inside her home. Their relationship had been marked with abuse and jealousy, and she had previously told her friends that she had wanted to regain control of her life, according to Paulas loved ones. Plans to marry Sibora and Marco started their relationship in 2009 after they met in the town of Nettuno in Italy, where part of her family lived, and also his. In 2010 they moved to Torremolinos. The relationship was apparently going well. Both the girl's mother and her older brother and friends knew Marco and never suspected anything. Sibora even had plans to marry him. Now, looking back, Sibora's mother recalled with regret an episode in 2013. Sibora had returned to Nettuno with all of her clothes and told her that she never wanted to hear from Marco, whom she had just left. "She told him that she would do anything, even disappear, to get away from him," Kseva said. She was determined to rebuild her life in Italy. According to her sister, what Sibora explained at the time was that "they had had problems and fought a lot", although she never spoke of abuse. "Now we think that maybe she lived through it and didn't say anything because she didn't want to worry us; it's just a suspicion because we have no way of getting answers, Kseva said. Twice reported for abuse Marco had previously been reported for abuse twice, but neither of the reports were from Paula or Sibora, SUR can confirm. Marco convinced Sibora to give him another chance and she returned to Torremolinos, although the young woman ended the relationship again a few months later, shortly before her disappearance in July 2014. "At first, her mother thought she had disappeared voluntarily because of the previous comment Sibora made to her, but she thought she would reappear when she was calmer," Kseva said. Her mother even contacted Marco directly to ask him if he knew anything about her daughter. "He replied that he hadn't heard anything for days, that they had had a fight and Sibora had left the house," Kseva said. In September 2014, her family reported Sibora missing in Italy and in Spain. According to investigators, all of Sibora's belongings remained in the flat, including her mobile phone. The National Police always considered it a "high risk" disappearance. Investigators found that her ex-boyfriend was the last person with whom the young Albanian woman had contact. They last spoke via WhatsApp on 7 July. From then on, her phone stopped giving a signal and she was never heard from again. Case reopened Sibora was in Spain with a forged Italian document, under the name of Simona Faraone. "Perhaps that made the case more difficult to investigate, and Marco knew she had that document," Kseva said. Police have reopened the case of Sibora following Paulas murder. Homicide officers are investigating the case. At a recent court hearing, Marco refused to testify, and only answered questions the questions asked of him by his defence lawyer, before he was ordered into prison. The court has not yet reached a decision regarding Sibora's disappearance in 2014, but the case has been reopened and is being investigated. By Eliza Haverstock | NerdWallet Politics and a pandemic have shoved stodgy student loans into the spotlight. Since 2020, borrowers have encountered an onslaught of changes to the federal student loan landscape, including more than three years of paused payments, an upcoming repayment plan overhaul and potential debt cancellation. Backtracked announcements and timeline changes have made it difficult for borrowers to keep up with where things stand. Heres what you need to know and how to prepare for what comes next. Supreme Court deciding student debt cancellation fate Announced in August 2022, President Joe Bidens one-time proposal would erase up to $20,000 in federal student loans for more than 40 million eligible borrowers but an ensuing legal showdown has put the plan in the hands of the Supreme Court. In December 2022, the high court said it would evaluate two major lawsuits blocking the loan cancellation plan, and it held student debt cancellation oral arguments in February. The public hearing was the last visible step before a ruling comes out. The justices are crafting their opinions behind closed doors, so for now, we wait. Legal experts expect a final decision by late June or early July. It will determine whether Bidens plan can roll out as intended and end the payment pause. What you can do about it: Prepare for what you have in front of you today, says Scott Buchanan, executive director of the Student Loan Servicing Alliance. Dont make financial decisions premised on what may or may not happen in the courts, because youre guessing just as much as anyone else. One way to prepare is to pretend to pay your student loans now by moving your estimated student loan payment from a checking account into a savings account each month, advises Lindsay Bryan-Podvin, a Michigan-based certified financial therapist and partner of the financial wellness app Upwise. When payments turn back on, youll already have some money set aside to cover your first few bills. And if cancellation survives the Supreme Court, you could have a bit of extra money set aside for something else. We cant really predict the weather, but we can dress appropriately for it, Bryan-Podvin says. We cant decide whether or not theyre going to actually let people have the $10,000 to $20,000 in forgiveness, but we do have control over what we do. Payments resume late summer 2023 for now Timing of the Supreme Courts decision is set to affect when exactly student loan payments will resume after more than three years of an interest-free federal payment pause, known as forbearance. Under current guidance, borrowers will need to start repaying their federal student loans 60 days after June 30 or 60 days after the Supreme Court releases its ruling whichever comes first. Forbearance started in March 2020, as the pandemic began sweeping the U.S. The government has insisted the current forbearance timeline wont change again, but note that the expiration date has moved nine times so far. What you can do about it: Borrowers may be frustrated by the uncertainty, but they should still prepare as if bills will resume later this summer. Reach out to your student loan servicer if youre not sure what to expect. Even if the government decides to make some change or delay something for a month or two, that homework is not wasted, Buchanan says. Whenever that day comes, you know what plan youre going to go into, you know how much that monthly payment is going to be, you know where to send the check. Dont wait for official word of forbearance ending to start that homework, especially when it comes to contacting your servicer. If you do, you could encounter long hold times and delayed responses. We know were going to have a bottleneck of people, Buchanan adds. Other loan forgiveness pathways expanded The U.S. Department of Education has proposed a few recent changes to income-driven repayment, or IDR, plans, which cap monthly federal student loan bills at a set percentage of your income and erase remaining student debt after borrowers make payments for a set number of years. IDR account adjustment, or waiver In April 2022, the Education Department announced an IDR and Public Service Loan Forgiveness, or PSLF, one-time account adjustment also called the IDR waiver that will move millions of borrowers closer to the student loan forgiveness finish line. About 40,000 borrowers with older loans were to see balances wiped clean starting this spring, the Department of Education estimated, and more than 3.6 million borrowers are expected to receive at least three years of additional credit toward forgiveness under an IDR plan or PSLF when their accounts are updated in 2024. If youve been in repayment for at least 20 or 25 years (including forbearance time), youll be free of student debt after the adjustment. If you qualify for PSLF, youll be debt-free if 10 years have passed. What you can do about it: The recount is largely automatic but if you have commercially held Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) Program, Perkins or Health Education Assistance Loan (HEAL) Program loans, you must apply to consolidate them at StudentAid.gov by the end of 2023 to get the full benefits. Get started soon because the consolidation process can take time. Even if you werent enrolled in an IDR plan before the pandemic payment pause, youll still see the adjustment applied to your account. But if you have a balance remaining after the adjustment, you will need to sign up for an IDR plan once payments resume to keep building credit toward loan forgiveness. Borrowers can call their servicers and submit paperwork today so theyll be all set to go into an IDR plan as soon as forbearance ends, Buchanan says. A new IDR plan A major revision to an IDR plan called REPAYE would halve monthly payments for many borrowers with undergraduate loans and help some reach loan forgiveness more quickly. Students who originally borrowed less than $12,000 would see their remaining balances wiped away after 10 years of payments, instead of the 20 or 25 years under existing IDR plans. The Education Department unveiled new details about the plan in January, but its not yet available to borrowers. Nor is it set in stone. The department aims to finalize and start rolling out the plan by the end of 2023. What you can do about it: Once the revised IDR is finalized, you can call your servicer to ask about signing up for it. Dont count on it being available by the time federal student loan payments resume. Student loan servicer switches The company that manages your student loans could change in the next couple of years. In April, the Education Department signed contracts with five federal student loan servicers. The new contracts are slated to go live sometime in 2024, but legacy contracts will last through December 2024 to smooth the servicer transition. Effects may be limited: Only one new servicer is entering the arena, and one OSLA is leaving. Eventually, the overhaul will also include the launch of a central servicer portal at StudentAid.gov. The portal is intended to lead to more customer service accountability and prevent borrowers from having to navigate servicer-specific websites. What you can do about it: Make sure your contact information is up to date with your current servicer, and download a copy of your payment history. You dont need to do anything else at this point. From an everyday experience perspective, I dont know that its going to be a whole lot different than it is today, Buchanan says of the new contract landscape. If the Department of Education transfers your loans to another servicer, your current servicer and your new one will notify you by mail, email or phone. From that point on, youll make monthly payments with the new servicer, and you may need to set up any auto-pay or biweekly payments again. Most servicers deliver the same options, but customer service may differ among them. Other key student loan changes underway Fresh Start program for delinquent or defaulted loans. People with past-due federal student loans now have a second chance to get them back into good standing, thanks to the governments temporary Fresh Start program. It includes a bevy of benefits, like restored access to IDR plans. Eligible borrowers will need to sign up for Fresh Start within one year of forbearance ending to enjoy its full relief. You can sign up on People with past-due federal student loans now have a second chance to get them back into good standing, thanks to the governments temporary Fresh Start program. It includes a bevy of benefits, like restored access to IDR plans. Eligible borrowers will need to sign up for Fresh Start within one year of forbearance ending to enjoy its full relief. You can sign up on myeddebt.ed.gov or by calling the Education Department at 800-621-3115. Bankruptcy guidance. The departments of Education and Justice jointly released updated bankruptcy guidance in November 2022, meant to standardize the requirements for borrowers to discharge their federal student loans in bankruptcy. Local bankruptcy judges will still make final calls case by case. Contact a bankruptcy attorney to see whether this is a good option for you. Breaking up consolidated spousal loans. In October 2022, Congress passed the Joint Consolidation Loan Separation Act, which will allow borrowers who previously consolidated their student loans with a spouse through a program that ran from 1993 until 2006 to separate them and access debt relief programs, like Public Service Loan Forgiveness. However, lawmakers have not yet said when theyll roll out the program for eligible borrowers to apply for the loan separation. More From NerdWallet Eliza Haverstock writes for NerdWallet. Email: ehaverstock@nerdwallet.com. Twitter: @elizahaverstock. Syracuse, N.Y. -- A 16-year-old boy charged with killing a 22-year-old man on Syracuses South Side was identified Monday. Nile Trice, 16, will be tried in Onondaga County Court as an adult, District Attorney William Fitzpatrick told Syracuse.com | The Post-Standard Monday. Trice is accused of fatally shooting Nykeem Stallworth on April 18 with a Glock 26 9mm handgun, according to court documents. On Monday, City Court Judge Derrek T. Thomas ruled that the case would move to Onondaga County criminal court rather than moving to family court where the matter could remain sealed, Fitzpatrick said. The shooting happened at an apartment building at 245 Martin Luther King West between Alexander and Cortland avenues. Stallworth ran from the apartment and was found in the driveway of 206 Furman Street, a witness said. Stallworth had multiple gunshot wounds to the torso, police said. Trice was arrested shortly after the shooting when he was caught near the scene with a gun, police said. He was later charged with the murder on May 15. After he was arraigned on the murder charge, he was sent to Hillbrook Detention Center, police said. Syracuse police investigate a shooting in the 200 block of Martin Luther King West in Syracuse on Tuesday, April 18, 2023. (Darian Stevenson | dstevenson@syracuse.com) Staff writer Anne Hayes covers breaking news, crime and public safety. Have a tip, a story idea, a question or a comment? You can reach her at ahayes@syracuse.com. Update: Family identifies teen stabbed to death in Syracuse; his girlfriends brother charged Original article Syracuse, N.Y. A 16-year-old boy has died after he was stabbed Sunday night in Syracuse. Around 11:35 p.m., police responded to reports of a stabbing in the 400 block of West Newell Street near Kenmore Avenue, according to a news release from Syracuse police. Police found the 16-year-old boy with multiple stab wounds to the torso, they said. Officers on the scene requested emergency medical services rush to the scene, according to Onondaga County 911 Center dispatch reports. The boy was in critical condition when he was rushed to Upstate University Hospital. Just over an hour later at 12:52 a.m., the boy was pronounced dead, police said Monday. Police ask that anyone with information about the stabbing to reach out to them at (315) 442-5222. Staff writer Anne Hayes covers breaking news, crime and public safety. Have a tip, a story idea, a question or a comment? You can reach her at ahayes@syracuse.com. Uticas F.X. Matt (Saranac) Brewing, makers of the Saranac line of craft beers and the traditional lager Utica Club, has agreed to purchase Flying Dog Brewing, a large craft brewer based in Maryland. News of the deal was broken by Brewbound, a site that covers the national brewing industry. The deal announced today will likely make combined Matt / Flying Dog one of the ten largest craft brewers in the country, according to statistics compiled by the national Brewers Association, based in Colorado. In 2022, the most recent year analyzed, there were more than 9,500 craft brewers and 9,700 total brewers in the country, the association reported. For that year, the BA ranked Matt as the No. 14 biggest craft brewer and listed Flying Dog at No. 34 based on the amount of beer produced. The terms of the purchase were not revealed. F.X. Matt was founded in 1888 as the West End Brewing Co. and is the oldest family-owned brewery in New York state. Flying Dog started in Colorado in 1990 and has built a reputation for quality beers and controversial imagery. Among its best known beers is an IPA called Raging Bitch. Flying Dog acquired the Frederick Brewing Company in Frederick, Md. in 2006, and moved its headquarters there in 2007. Brewbound reported that production of Flying Dog beers is expected to begin moving from Frederick to Utica this summer, with production ending in Maryland by August. Matt is exploring the possibility of opening an innovation brewery and taproom in Frederick at a later date, Brewbound said. Matt Brewing had been brewing some Flying Dog beers under contract for the past decade because of capacity limits at the Frederick brewhouse. FX Matt CEO Fred Matt said Flying Dog offers his company a great opportunity to grow in the Mid-Atlantic region, Brewbound reported, citing a news release. When you think of craft beer in Maryland and the Mid-Atlantic, Flying Dog is the first brand that pops into your head, Matt said. We are excited to join forces with such a great brand and look forward to helping Flying Dog reach new heights. Flying Dog CEO Jim Caruso added that he could not imagine a better steward for the Flying Dog brand going forward than FX Matt, according to the Brewbound report. We have worked with them for many years, they are a prestigious family-owned brewery with more than 135 years of history, they are committed to building on the deep roots Flying Dog has established in Maryland, and their capabilities will take Flying Dog to a new level, Caruso said. Matt Brewing was founded by German immigrant F.X. Matt, Fred Matts great-grandfather. It was long known for its traditional American lager, Utica Club, and, since the 1980s, for the line of Saranac craft beers. It has also long been in the business of making beer under contract for other notable beer brands, including Brooklyn Brewery, which acquired a 20% stake in Matt a few years ago. Matt also owns Buffalos Flying Bison Brewing and has a production/distribution partnership with Lake Placid Brewing in the Adirondacks. Matt is the second oldest brewery in New York state (after Genesee in Rochester) and third in size behind only only Genesee and the Anheuser-Busch InBev plant near Syracuse. Neither Genesee nor AB InBev are considered by the Brewers Association to be craft brewers, based on a definition that takes into account both production volumes and brewing ingredients/techniques. Matt Brewing also makes many different beverages under contract for other companies and brands. Many of its products today are hard seltzers, canned cocktails and other products that are not strictly beer. In one of its most recent ventures into the non-beer category, Matt Brewing partnered with Flying Dog and Boston-based Harpoon Brewing on a line of canned cocktails called Vodka Whips. In 2021, Matt Brewing completed a $35 million expansion that was included giant new brew kettles and fermenting and storage tanks, along with a new digital/computer-operated control system. That was intended to help it move further into the category of alcoholic products like hard seltzers and canned cocktails. Fred Matt had said at the time beer could soon account for less than half the total output of the brewery. Don Cazentre writes about craft beer, wine, spirits and beverages for NYup.com, syracuse.com and The Post-Standard. Reach him at dcazentre@nyup.com, or follow him at NYup.com, on Twitter or Facebook. Join NY Cannabis Insider at our next industry networking event on June 8 at Beak & Skiff. Tickets will sell out. Simon Malinowski is the managing attorney of Harris Brickens New York office. He answered eight simple questions for NY Cannabis Insiders People to know series. Should you or someone you know be featured in our series? Fill out this form and we may publish your story. What is your position and what do you/your company do in the cannabis space? I am the managing attorney of Harris Bricken Sliwoski LLPs (Harris Bricken) New York office. Harris Bricken has been on the forefront of the cannabis industry since 2010 when Washington State first legalized medical cannabis. Our firm currently serves cannabis clients in New York, California, Washington and Oregon. As the managing attorney of Harris Brickens New York office, I run the firms New York-specific cannabis practice, guiding clients through understanding the MRTA, the two ensuing rounds of adult-use rules and regulations, CAURD applications, and the myriad other challenges faced by potential entrants into New Yorks adult-use cannabis market. How long have you worked in the cannabis space? I was a summer associate with Harris Bricken (then Harris Moure) when the firm started its cannabis practice in 2010. I spent that summer learning Washingtons rules and regulations, creating the compliance structure for clients and then meeting with local municipalities to advocate embracing legalization for the benefit of their respective communities. What did you do before you were involved in the cannabis industry? Between my time as a summer associate and opening Harris Brickens New York office in March of 2021, I practice primarily in real estate law with a focus on representing real estate developers in transactional matters, corporate governance and litigation. What led you to the cannabis industry? For a long time, it has been plainly obvious that the criminalization of cannabis in the United States has been detrimental to our society. I somewhat recently expressed my opinion on this topic here, but felt that way when I first entered the industry in 2010. As a young almost-attorney, I had the opportunity to positively impact government policy through meaningful advocacy, which is something that attorneys rarely get to say. Do you have any advice for someone looking to get into the NY weed industry? Do your homework and care. Because so much of what happens is on the cutting edge from a legislative/regulatory perspective, understanding nuances and the legislative intent behind those nuances is critical to positioning yourself and your clients and actually affecting change. As an attorney, my advice to all other attorneys (and clients as well) is to take a moment to breathe and reflect before giving advice or making a decision, because a moment of reflection can give clarity in your decision making process. What do you think the NY cannabis ecosystem will look like in five years? I expect the next two years to be as rocky as the last two years, because the OCM and CCB are struggling to reconcile their ideal cannabis industry with the practical reality of creating a new, highly regulated industry, in the most competitive and expensive business market in the world. Given the fits and starts in rolling out all of the license types, my guess is that New York will pivot to simply issuing licenses to anyone qualified to operate a cannabis business (while maintaining the two-tier system) and let competition reign. Do you use cannabis? If so, whats your favorite method (flower, dabs, edibles, tinctures, etc.), and why? I do and my preferred method is edibles. For a long time, I stopped consuming because of the unpredictability of my response. But with the new technology for edibles and precise dosing, I find using edibles to be a consistently pleasant experience. Who should contact you, and whats the best method (i.e. email, phone number, LinkedIn handle, etc.) Email: simon@harrisbricken.com The second day of the international M360 EURASIA was held in Baku, Azerbaijan on May 17. This international event brought together regional and international experts active in the mobile and digital space to discuss key trends, opportunities, and challenges in the industry. The key part of the second day was the CSO media Roundtable Discussion that was hosted in parallel, where like-minded Cybersecurity thought leaders across Middle East and Central Asia gathered to discuss the latest telecom cybersecurity trends, innovations, and contribute methods to tackle the associated threats among industry actors together. The open discussion, which was held under the theme of Build more secure and resilient telecom networks to efficiently support the future digital economy, aimed at aligning strategic priorities for the region, deepening engagement and steering collaborative efforts in the industry to advance collective action for cyber stability in the telecom industry. As telecommunication has become an integral part of modern society and is recognized as a critical infrastructure industry (CII), it has also become more vulnerable to cyber threats. Given the importance of telecom cybersecurity, it is essential to discuss cybersecurity topics with telecom stakeholders to promote the development and optimization of telecom cybersecurity. This is what the CSO Roundtable Discussion exactly did - provided an opportunity to wider cover the topic and tackle the arising problems. As such, this CSO Round Table Discussion gave an excellent opportunity for networking, learning and connecting with a regional community dedicated to innovation in cybersecurity. Dr. Tural Mammadov, Director of the Azerbaijan Computer Emergency Response Center (CERT), was joined in the panel by Dr. Mohammad Khaled, Director of Business Development and Strategic projects at e& enterprise, Dr. Haitham Hilal Al Hajri, Senior Executive of Cyber Security Projects at Oman National CERT, Dr. Elvin Balajanov, Chairman of the Board of the Azerbaijan Cybersecurity Organization Association and Dr. Aloysius Cheang, Chief Security Officer at Huawei Middle East & Central Asia. Each of the roundtables speakers touched on the crucial topics of contemporary threats and shared their insights and opinion on tackling the arising problems and cybersecurity threats. They all highlighted the importance of collaborations among network operators and their partners, suppliers and customers in protecting telecom cybersecurity, and how regulators could promote local telecom industrys cybersecurity development. Taking on an open, transparent and sincere attitude, Huawei, the event's industry sponsor, is willing to work with all governments, customers and partners through various channels to jointly cope with cyber security threats and challenges from cyber security. We need to consider how to meet the increasingly strict compliance requirements of regulators on the one hand and how to provide secure and trustworthy products and services that fulfill our commitments to customers on the other. We must also embrace a defense-in-depth approach to provide better security, ensure business continuity, resiliency, improve efficiency and customer experience while always protecting user privacy, Dr. Aloysius Cheang said in this regard. Meanwhile, Huawei has been proactively involved in the telecom cyber security standardization activities led by GSMA ITU-T, 3GPP, and IETF etc., and has joined security organizations such asOIC-CERT, FIRST and partnered with mainstream security companies to ensure the cyber security of its customers and promote the healthy development of industries. Moreover, it is worth noting that consideringthe importance of cyber security, Huawei's main strategy is establishing and constantly optimizing an end-to-end cyber security assurance system. To establish an effective cybersecurity system, it is necessary to consider various factors such as corporate policies, organizational structure, business processes, technology, and standard practices. As a company, Huawei has taken an active approach to addressing cybersecurity challenges. Huawei is committed to ensuring cybersecurity, and, as the company noted, Huawei's commitment to cybersecurity will always take precedence over commercial interests. Salina, N.Y. -- The hotel that town officials say is expecting Central New Yorks first busload of migrants began pushing out its long-term residents last week. The Candlewood Suites in Salina had rented about 80 of its 124 rooms to long-term guests, according to several residents. There are families with small children, medical workers, Amazon workers who dont make enough for an apartment and transportation, and disabled veterans. Some have only lived there a month; others have been there for more than two years. Syracuse.com | The Post-Standard spoke with more than a dozen of the residents. They said they had not been told they were being pushed out because of the migrants. Some were told it was because of renovations, which had been ongoing at the hotel for a few months. Others were given no reason at all. And some said they have not been told they have to leave. The hotels website shows no rooms available until Oct. 22. During the day Sunday, hotel workers hauled chairs and televisions out to a Dumpster that showed up a few weeks ago. Residents who have complained about the situation said they fear being locked out of their rooms, and losing all of their belongings, in retaliation. Those who have been told to leave are struggling to find a new place to go. Hotel management has offered to help a few residents, they said. But many, who live on the margins, are struggling to find a new place fast enough. For most, the hotel was not the best option. It was the best option they could afford and offered the one thing that mattered most: a kitchen. All of the residents said they paid their own bills; none were placed there by Onondaga Countys Department of Social Services. Most said they were lured by a Craigslist ad touting no lease, no deposit and no credit check. SAVE HUNDREDS EVERY MONTH, said the ad, which has since been taken down. Any of the tenants who have been at the hotel 30 days or more are technically tenants, according to Susan Griffith, managing attorney with Legal Services of Central New York. She said they can only be forced to leave through an eviction that would have to be filed through the court. Nick Paro, Salinas town supervisor who opposes sheltering the migrants, said he sent a team of town code enforcement officers to the hotel Monday morning. Well cite them on any code violations that are there, Paro said. Paro said he is aware of complaints posted on the hotels website about dirty rooms and broken equipment. He also instructed the code inspectors to monitor the property over the next few days until the asylum seekers arrive. Paro said he wants the towns code enforcement officers to count how many migrants arrive, and to make sure they are not crowded into rooms or exceed the hotels lawful occupancy limits. New York City officials did not say exactly when the bus might arrive, Paro said. As a result, he asked the town code inspectors, including a part-time inspector who works at night, to maintain a presence at the hotel. Marnie Eisenstadt writes about people and public affairs in Central New York. Contact her anytime email | Twitter| Facebook | 315-470-2246. Got a tip, comment or story idea? Contact Mark Weiner anytime by: Email | Twitter | Facebook | 571-970-3751 Beijing Stepping up a feud with Washington over technology and security, Chinas government on Sunday told users of computer equipment deemed sensitive to stop buying products from the biggest U.S. memory chipmaker, Micron Technology Inc. Micron products have unspecified serious network security risks that pose hazards to Chinas information infrastructure and affect national security, the Cyberspace Administration of China said on its website. Its six-sentence statement gave no details. Operators of critical information infrastructure in China should stop purchasing products from Micron Co., the agency said. Micron, in a statement filed today with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, said it is evaluating what portion of our sales could be impacted by a critical information infrastructure ban. About 10% of Microns $31 billion in global revenues last year came from customers based in China, according to the firms annual report. Micron also said its chief financial officer, Mark Murphy, would have more to say tonight at J.P. Morgans Global Technology, Media and Communications Conference, in Boston. The United States, Europe and Japan are reducing Chinese access to advanced chipmaking and other technology they say might be used in weapons at a time when President Xi Jinpings government has threatened to attack Taiwan and is increasingly assertive toward Japan and other neighbors. Chinese officials have warned of unspecified consequences but appear to be struggling to find ways to retaliate without hurting Chinas smartphone producers and other industries and efforts to develop its own processor chip suppliers. An official review of Micron under Chinas increasingly stringent information security laws was announced April 4, hours after Japan joined Washington in imposing restrictions on Chinese access to technology to make processor chips on security grounds. Foreign companies have been rattled by police raids on two consulting firms, Bain & Co. and Capvision, and a due diligence firm, Mintz Group. Chinese authorities have declined to explain the raids but said foreign companies are obliged to obey the law. Business groups and the U.S. government have appealed to authorities to explain newly expanded legal restrictions on information and how they will be enforced. Sundays announcement appeared to try to reassure foreign companies. China firmly promotes high-level opening up to the outside world and, as long as it complies with Chinese laws and regulations, welcomes enterprises and various platform products and services from various countries to enter the Chinese market, the cyberspace agency said. Xi accused Washington in March of trying to block Chinas development. He called on the public to dare to fight. Despite that, Beijing has been slow to retaliate, possibly to avoid disrupting Chinese industries that assemble most of the worlds smartphones, tablet computers and other consumer electronics. They import more than $300 billion worth of foreign chips every year. Beijing is pouring billions of dollars into trying to accelerate chip development and reduce the need for foreign technology. Chinese foundries can supply low-end chips used in autos and home appliances but cant support smartphones, artificial intelligence and other advanced applications. The conflict has prompted warnings the world might decouple, or split into separate spheres with incompatible technology standards that mean computers, smartphones and other products from one region wouldnt work in others. That would raise costs and might slow innovation. U.S.-Chinese relations are at their lowest level in decades due to disputes over security, Beijings treatment of Hong Kong and Muslim ethnic minorities, territorial disputes and Chinas multibillion-dollar trade surpluses. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and New York City Mayor Eric Adams are calling on the federal government to help with the growing number of asylum seekers in the Empire State since Title 42 ended. CBS reports Hochul and Adams held a joint press conference Monday urging President Joe Bidens administration to expedite work permits for migrants as the state of New York faces a labor shortage. When I speak to the asylum seekers, they state clearly We dont want your free room and board. We want to work, Adams said. More than 70,000 migrants have arrived in NYC from the southern border in Mexico over the past few months, including 5,800 new arrivals last week and 4,200 the week before that. Migrants needing temporary shelter are starting to be bused to the citys suburbs and Upstate New York; Onondaga County is expecting arrivals next week despite an emergency order attempting to ban such transfers. Hochul said a presidential order helping with work permits for asylum seekers would get them out of temporary shelters and into their own homes. The asylum process can take months or even years to grant work permits, the governor added. At the same time of this historic labor shortage, we have this influx of people to New York. Theyre eager to work here. They came here in search of work, and can become part of our economy, Hochul said. More than anything, we need changes to the work authorization policies, not have to wait months to years. Lets get it on an expedited basis. In the meantime, Hochul has said shes considering using some SUNY campuses to house asylum seekers. Specific locations have not been named, but WKBW notes many college dorms are emptying as the spring semester ends. Central NY hotel expecting busload of migrants has been kicking out long-term residents Activists, community members rally, pushing back on Ryan McMahons ban on migrants BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 22. The implementation of the project on the development of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in the leading universities of Azerbaijan contributes to the formation of new personnel in this area, Head of the Department of Sustainable Development and Social Policy of the Ministry of Economy, Secretary of the National Coordinating Council for Sustainable Development Huseyn Huseynov said, Trend reports. He made the remark during the closing ceremony of the project "Sustainable Development Goals and Financial Academy for Youth". According to him, the financing of the implementation of the SDGs of Azerbaijan by the UN will also allow for achieving the goals set in 2015. "Azerbaijan committed to the implementation of the SDGs until 2030 in 2015. This provides for the implementation of a set of measures in the fields of economy, education, environmental protection, strengthening human capital, turning the country into a hub of green technologies," he said. Huseynov also noted that it is planned to increase the share of exports of the non-oil sector to 88 percent within the framework of the SDGs. Venky03 BHPian Join Date: Mar 2021 Location: Mumbai Posts: 134 Thanked: 1,113 Times Exploring Fast Charge Connectors for 2-Wheelers Ather Open Source Connector Models : Ather 450X Hero Vida V1 Pro Matter Aera 5000 Looks like a modified type-2 connector. Presently, there are approximately 1,000 charging stations distributed across 80 cities. Although the ports are the same, Hero users are currently unable to charge their scooters on the Ather Grid due to software issues. Hero has assured that this problem will be addressed and resolved in the upcoming software update. Ather is open to sharing the necessary documentation with other manufacturers to facilitate the implementation of this port on their products. For detailed information about the connector : Type-6 Connector Called as TES-0D-01-01 in Taiwan, found this in a connector datasheet : Models : Ola S1 Pro Tork Kratos R Ultraviolette F77 Simple One(Speculating based on leaked photos of the charger.) Also called as Dash-6(IEC 62196 -6) connector, this standard is also backed by the River Proprietary Connector Models : River Indie I did not find the same connector used on any other electric two-wheeler, nor did I come across any relevant datasheets, so assuming that this is a proprietary design. River Indie is fast charge capable but it'll take some time to be able to fast charge the scooter, I hope they rethink and either go with Ather's open source design or with the BCA's Type-6 connector. An adapter has the potential to greatly benefit both Type-6 and Ather users, provided that the companies take the initiative to establish backend communication between the vehicles and chargers. While fast charge connector types and standards for four-wheelers are already established, the same cannot be said for two-wheelers in India. It is definitely the need of the hour to standardize connector types considering the large volumes of electric 2 wheelers being sold. Did not find this documented anywhere, but it will give us insight into the future of fast charge infrastructure for two-wheelers. Please note that these renders are not drawn to scale; they are provided solely for representational purposes.Models :Looks like a modified type-2 connector. Presently, there are approximately 1,000 charging stations distributed across 80 cities. Although the ports are the same, Hero users are currently unable to charge their scooters on the Ather Grid due to software issues. Hero has assured that this problem will be addressed and resolved in the upcoming software update. Ather is open to sharing the necessary documentation with other manufacturers to facilitate the implementation of this port on their products.For detailed information about the connector : press.ather Called as TES-0D-01-01 in Taiwan, found this in a connector datasheet :Models :Also called as Dash-6(IEC 62196 -6) connector, this standard is also backed by the Bharat Charge Alliance , so we can also expect the same connector on 3 wheelers by Greaves Mobility and MTA. Ola has around 200 charging points spread across 50+ cities, which is relatively less compared to Ather. However, Ola is rapidly expanding its charging network. Tork has their T-Net fast charging network and Ultraviolette is providing boost-charger as a portable accessory. The port looks a bit different on the Ultraviolette F77(2) as there are multiple cut-outs, but overall looks very similar to the one used in Ola and Tork(1). Tork has indicated that they have explored protocol-level agreements with various manufacturers but has not yet disclosed any details regarding collaborations. Also came across several videos on YouTube where Ola users have reported about Hyperchargers remaining inactive for multiple weeks, despite lodging complaints with Ola.Models :I did not find the same connector used on any other electric two-wheeler, nor did I come across any relevant datasheets, so assuming that this is a proprietary design. River Indie is fast charge capable but it'll take some time to be able to fast charge the scooter, I hope they rethink and either go with Ather's open source design or with the BCA's Type-6 connector.An adapter has the potential to greatly benefit both Type-6 and Ather users, provided that the companies take the initiative to establish backend communication between the vehicles and chargers. Last edited by Venky03 : 20th May 2023 at 16:55 . It can clean up leftovers, detect orphaned applications, run uninstallers according to premade lists, and much more. Even though BCU was made with IT pros in mind, by default it is so straight-forward that anyone can use it effortlessly. Why should I use this uninstaller instead of any other? While it is true that there are many different uninstall managers out there, only few come close to the detection rate and versatility of Bulk Crap Uninstaller, When compared to the stock windows uninstall manager you might find that BCU will show many times more applications. To top it off, BCU is fully free and open source. You can freely modify it to suit your needs, or even better help improve it for the rest of its users! Features Uninstall countless applications quickly BCUninstaller will do all the hard work of ordering and running uninstallers for you. All you have to do is select them from the list. Many applications do not provide non-intrusive uninstallers. They will be executed first, so you will be able to leave the computer sooner. Remove all leftovers from uninstallations Often times uninstallers will not remove files that were created after the application was installed - temporary files, settings, shortcuts, etc. BCUninstaller will search for and offer to remove all of those, saving you many minutes, if not hours. Detect orphaned applications Oftentimes applications end up without a working uninstaller. They sit on your hard drive, you might even be using them, but most uninstall managers will not see them. BCUninstaller will detect, list, and enable you to remove those applications. Startup manager As any uninstall manager in existence BCU has a startup manager. It is not a useless gadget however, it has some powerful functions. The manager is tied into the main application list - you can see which applications are starting on boot and disable them. Multiple languages BCUninstaller has a growing collection of localisations. At this time there are English, French, German and Polish translations. If you wish to help translate BCU to your language please contact me through the feedback page. Uninstall lists and searching You can create special lists that will automatically select all matching uninstallers. One of the most common uses for these is uninstalling crapware from a series of similar computers in classrooms or offices. Many different filtering methods are available, all of which are also available for searching in the main list! Verification of certificates Think that malware might be impersonating a legitimate application? BCUninstaller will look for and test digital signatures attached to the uninstallers. Green entries are verified, while blue failed verification for some reason. Take note that it is common for legitimate MSI uninstallers to fail verification, this is caused by internal workings of Windows Installer. More data than you'd ever need Wondering about what GUIDs are in use, where the application is installed to, or who signed the certificate? BCU will tell you all that and much, much more. The search algorithm will look through all of that data when filtering. While most of the time there is little use for all of that info, it can be a godsend while trying to corner a worm or debug your uninstaller. Other notable features: Detection and uninstallation of Windows Store apps Uninstallation of multiple items at once (with collision prevention) Advanced grouping, sorting, filtering and searching Automatic detection and closing of running applications Automatic updating and error reporting Custom commands can be executed before and after uninstallation Editing tools and backup creation - can generate .reg files and remove junk to recycle bin Fully portable, requires Net 3.5 which is installed on all Windows 7 machines by default Quiet (unattended) uninstall of many programs when they don't openly support it Visibility of protected and invalid entries (system uninstaller doesn't see them) What's New What just happened? China has banned the operators of critical information infrastructure from purchasing chips made by Micron. Beijing claims the move, which has seen China's chip stocks rally, came after the US memory giant failed its network security review. According to China's Cyberspace Administration (CAC), a network security review of Micron's products showed they have relatively serious potential network security issues that pose major security risks to China's critical infrastructure supply chain, which includes state-owned banks, transportation, and telecoms. CAC added that the security issues in Micron products affects China's national security. Its statement ended with a message stating that companies from all countries were welcome in the Asian nation as long as they abide by China's laws and regulations. The CAC never gave any details on what security risks it found in Micron products or which items would be affected. Machine-translated copy of CAC statement Idaho-based Micron is the United States' largest memory manufacturer. Around 25% of its sales came from China last year, but the impact of the ban is expected to be minimal as most of its customers in the country make devices such as smartphones and PCs for companies around the world. Moreover, the Wall Street Journal writes that the ban does not apply to non-Chinese firms operating in China. Micron said it had received the CAC's notice of the conclusion of the review, and that it looks "forward to continuing to engage in discussions with Chinese authorities." Many believe that when China announced it was conducting a review of Micron imports in March, it was retaliation for the increasing number of chip-related sanctions the US has placed on the country. Washington has also encouraged The Netherlands and Japan to tighten their export controls on chipmaking equipment to China. Beijing complained to the World Trade Organization about the Japan/Netherlands agreements last month, complaining that it may have violated "the principle of openness and transparency." There's also the US CHIPS Act, which has been a point of contention for China for a while now. Responding to the CAC's announcement, US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo told the Wall Street Journal, "We firmly oppose restrictions that have no basis in fact." The statement added that the Commerce Department would engage directly with Chinese authorities to detail the US position. NEWS: @GinaRaimondo issues US response to China's action against Micron reading between the lines, the US will have to convince S. Korean chip companies to forgo big profits and resist backfilling China's self-created supply problem. pic.twitter.com/w2t9mcc2jE Annie Linskey (@AnnieLinskey) May 22, 2023 Raimondo added that the US would engage key allies to address Beijing's actions. The Commerce secretary also warned that the ban would lead to distortions in the memory chip market. The US has reportedly urged South Korean chipmakers not to fill the hole left by Micron's ban. Shares in Chinese chip companies rose on the back of the news earlier today, as did those of South Korean firms SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics. What just happened? Meta has been hit with a record $1.3 billion fine by the EU over the transfer of EU citizens' Facebook data to US-based servers. Meta has been given six months to stop the practice, a violation of the bloc's digital privacy rules. Ireland's Data Protection Commission (DPC) made the ruling, which states that Meta's attempts to address the legal issues stemming from transatlantic data transfers "did not address the risks to the fundamental rights and freedoms of data subjects" in the Union. International data rules have been a sore point for Meta/Facebook for years. Last year the company wrote in its annual report that it could shut down Facebook and Instagram in Europe if it is not allowed to transfer, store, and process user data on its US servers. It denied this was the case a few days later, claiming it was merely identifying a business risk resulting from uncertainty around international data transfers. In addition to the massive fine the largest under the EU's data protection law, beating the previous $806 million handed to Amazon for GDPR violations - Meta has been ordered to stop sending information about European Facebook users to the US within six months and delete data already sent. Meta had previously used the transatlantic data transfer framework called Privacy Shield as the legal basis to transfer data on European users from the continent onto US servers, but the treaty was annulled in 2020 over data privacy violations. But Washington and the EU are working on a new data transfer deal that could be in place sometime between summer and October, which could allow Meta to continue moving the data to its EU servers. Europe is concerned that when its citizens' data is stored on US servers, the information isn't subject to the same EU privacy laws, meaning it could be used in mass surveillance programs. The EU ruling only applies to Facebook, not other Meta properties such as Instagram. In a blog post responding to the decision, Meta President of Global Affair's Sir Nick Clegg wrote that thousands of businesses and organizations rely on the ability to transfer data between the EU and the US to operate and provide everyday services. He said that Meta intends to appeal the "unjust and unnecessary" fine and seek a stay of the orders through the courts. Clegg emphasized that there is no immediate disruption in Facebook in Europe. Meta is dealing with several problems right now. In addition to trying to shake off its 'old person's social network' image, there's the metaverse, which nobody seems to care about anymore. Still, the AR/VR shared universe predicted to generate almost $1 trillion by 2035. WTF?! Are you so addicted to scrolling through TikTok's endless feed that you'd happily spend hours per day doing it? Then maybe you should get paid for this activity. An influencer marketing agency is offering people $100 per hour to scroll through the social media platform for 10 hours straight to help discover emerging new trends. The offer comes from Ubiquitous, an influencer marketing company that is looking for candidates for a TikTok Watching Job though it's really a competition as those chosen are referred to as winners on the website. The agency has offered the same job before, but on this occasion, it is looking for three people who want to earn $1,000 over 10 hours. If you're a TikTok fan and feel like you'd be up for the challenge, there are three steps to take in order to apply. First, Subscribe to Ubiquitous' YouTube channel to stay up-to-date on the job. There's also an application form available from the website that asks candidates to write 50 100 words on why they're the best applicant. Finally, you can tweet about why you deserve the job and tag Ubiquitous in the tweets. The last part is optional, though the company says tweeting will increase people's chances of being selected as they will receive priority consideration in the selection process. Ubiquitous writes that it is looking for someone with a TikTok account who is familiar with the platform, has an eye for trends, and can spot converging similarities. They must also be at least 18 years old. The deadline for applications is May 31, 2023. In its previous search for a TikTok binger last year, Ubiquitous offered to pay someone $50 per hour to watch TikTok for 12 hours across three days. The chosen person also got a $50 Uber Eats gift card, a $50 Target gift card, a flexible phone holder, a 12-inch ring light, and a tripod. Like other social media platforms, TikTok has faced accusations that its algorithms are designed in a way to keep people addicted. But its biggest problem for owner ByteDance is its alleged ties to the Chinese government, which is why the app recently got banned in Montana. The cybersecurity regulator of China has banned companies from buying Micron products after finding significant security risks to critical information infrastructure, such as state-owned banks and telecom operators. Banning Micron The Cyberspace Administration of China announced on Sunday that products from Micron Technology Inc had failed its network security review. Engadget reported that Chinese operators are banned from purchasing their products as they pose serious problems that could endanger China's critical information supply chain, affecting the country's national security. The ban would not apply to non-Chinese companies based in the country as the CAC still evaluates the conclusion and assesses their next steps. "We look forward to continuing to engage in discussions with Chinese authorities," the Cybersecurity regulator stated. No confirmation from the agency on what products would be affected and what security concerns it had. Micron Technology is the largest memory manufacturer in the United States, and the Chinese market accounts for about 10% of the company's annual revenue. Thus, the decision to ban Micron from selling its products to key companies could affect the country's supply chains. Cybersecurity Review This is the latest action from China in an economic feud between Beijing and Washington that both rearrange the fabric of the global microchip industry. Regulators from China announced last April that it would conduct a cybersecurity review for Micron, becoming the first foreign chip maker to be put under review in the country. "The Chinese government may restrict us from participating in the China market or may prevent us from competing effectively with Chinese companies," Micron stated. Among the top customers of Micron in China were Lenovo, Xiaomi, Inspur Electronics Information, ZTE, Coolpad, China Electronics Corp, and Oppo. In one of its efforts, South China Morning Post reported that Micron appointed Betty Wu Mingxia as the new general manager to embody the company's commitment to the local technology ecosystem, business operations, and various stakeholders in China. Micron built its first factory in the country in 2007, and as of April, it had 3,000 employees in Shanghai, Beijing, and Shenzhen. Also read: Micron is Building the Largest Semiconductor Facility in the US Worth $100 Billion Reuters reported that the review came after the United States imposed several restrictions on chipmaking technology in China, aiming to prevent Yangtze Memory Technologies from purchasing certain American components. US authorities cited the potential risk of core tech getting into the hands of the Chinese military. Since then, China has been extending its efforts to shore up its homegrown chip industry as it spent billions of dollars to be self-reliant and replace Western chips and parts with homegrown alternates. Related Article: Micron Becomes First Foreign Chip Maker to Put Under Cybersecurity Review by China 2023 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. The Group of Seven, a.k.a. G-7, is a coalition of international leaders from the top countries in the world, and their recent summit discussed the growth of AI in today's age. Artificial intelligence has been getting massive attention lately, as the latest technology available to the public saw unprecedented growth, with the G-7 leaders calling for an AI framework that would bring guidelines on its proper use. As much as AI is helpful to humans, it can also serve as a system of destruction. Those with nefarious intent can manipulate the technology to bring fraudulent transactions or endanger other users. G-7 Leaders are Calling for an AI Framework to Bring Guidelines The recent G-7 Summit held in Hiroshima, Japan, brought together world leaders to discuss various pressing global issues. According to CNET, among the topics that drew significant attention was the rapid advancement of artificial intelligence (AI) and its implications for society. G-7 leaders emphasized the need for a new AI framework to establish guidelines for the future and responsible use of AI technologies. Artificial intelligence has emerged as a transformative force, revolutionizing industries and impacting various aspects of our lives. From generative AI chatbots to image generators and virtual assistants, AI has the potential to reshape how we live, work, and interact. Recognizing its far-reaching impact, G-7 leaders engaged in focused discussions on the development and regulation of AI. Read Also: AI Fails to Mimic Human Judgement, Resulting in Harsher Rule Violations - Study The 'Hiroshima AI Process' from the G-7 Leaders The G-7 leaders proposed naming this initiative the "Hiroshima AI Process" in honor of the city where the summit was held via the issued bulletin of the group. The Hiroshima AI Process aims to establish a comprehensive framework that will guide the development and deployment of AI technologies in a manner that is ethical, responsible, and aligned with global values. During the summit, leaders acknowledged the transformative power of AI and the immense benefits it can bring to society. However, they also expressed concerns about the ethical implications and potential risks associated with AI, including privacy breaches, algorithmic biases, and more. AI Regulation in the World Among the first AIs to launch in the world is virtual assistance, but its evolution expanded more than that as it moved over to image generators such as the DALL-E, then to text generators like ChatGPT. The use of large language models became the foundation of these AI, with Google, OpenAI, Microsoft, and more leading in its development. Many have already banned the use of AI, but some have pulled back on its restrictions, like the New York City Public Schools, after studying its implications. The Hiroshima AI Process would lay the groundwork for the responsible and inclusive development of AI technologies, promoting transparency, fairness, and the protection of human rights. The recent G-7 Summit underscored the growing recognition among world leaders that the transformative power of AI necessitates proactive measures to guide its development. By initiating the Hiroshima AI Process, G-7 leaders have taken a significant step toward establishing a global framework that ensures AI is harnessed for the benefit of humanity while mitigating potential risks. Related Article: Florida College Introduces AI Cheating Detectors, But New Study Claims They Are Not Effective 2023 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. In response to growing concerns over the security risks faced by members of Congress, a significant development has emerged that aims to bolster their safety and communication capabilities. Sources familiar with the matter have revealed that more than 50 senators have been equipped with satellite phones for emergency communication, marking a proactive response to the escalating security threats. Comprehensive Security Measures with Satellite Phones Deployed for Senators' Safety According to the story by CBS News, these satellite phones are part of a comprehensive series of security measures being rolled out by the Senate Sergeant at Arms, who assumed the position in the aftermath of the assault on the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021. This crucial enhancement in security, involving the deployment of satellite phone technology, has been extended to all 100 senators. Notably, approximately half of the senators have already embraced this initiative, heeding the recommendations put forth by the Senate administrative staff to keep the phones readily accessible during their travels. This step reflects a proactive approach to ensuring reliable and uninterrupted communication, even in challenging circumstances. Senate's Proactive Approach to Mitigating Communication Challenges Testifying before the Senate Appropriations Committee, Karen Gibson, the Senate Sergeant at Arms, underscored the significance of satellite communication as a redundant and secure means of staying connected during disruptive events. By providing senators with satellite phones, the Senate aims to establish a vital backup in emergency situations where conventional communication infrastructure might be compromised. This ensures that senators can maintain communication and coordinate effectively, even in the face of unforeseen disruptions. Department of Homeland Security Recognizes Satellite Phones' Role in Disaster Response Notably, the federal government will bear the expenses associated with satellite airtime required to utilize these devices, further reinforcing their value in emergency scenarios. Recognizing the indispensable role of satellite phones in responding to and coordinating government services during natural and man-made disasters, the Department of Homeland Security has emphasized their importance as an invaluable tool for restoring communication in crisis situations. These devices offer a reliable means of communication when traditional networks are compromised, enabling senators to stay connected and facilitate necessary emergency responses. Karen Gibson has taken further steps to fortify security by establishing an office "demonstration space" within the basement of the Russell Senate Office Building, as explained in an article by Politico. Read Also: Chinese Researchers Reveal How Brute-Force Techniques Can Bypass Android Phones Bringing Security Upgrades to Life in the Demonstration Space from Theory to Practice This dedicated area provides senators and staff firsthand exposure to various innovative security upgrades implemented in their respective state offices. Exhibits showcasing advanced features such as "duress buttons," mail screening devices, and safety glasses aim to mitigate risks and bolster safety precautions. By creating an environment where security enhancements can be explored and experienced firsthand, the Senate demonstrates its commitment to staying ahead of evolving security challenges. During her testimony before the Senate panel, Karen Gibson also highlighted the progress made in enhancing security systems. Related Article: FBI Charges Nevada Man for Alleged Involvement in $45M CoinDeal Investment Fraud Scheme 2023 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 22. UNDP (United National Development Program) has prepared specific steps for Azerbaijan to implement the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) until 2030, Acting Resident Representative of UNDP in Azerbaijan Nuno Queiros said at the closing ceremony of the Sustainable Development Goals and Finance Academy for Youth project, Trend reports. According to Queiros, UNDP has established cooperation with the private sector within the framework of joint projects with the government of Azerbaijan. "Its gratifying that we are cooperating with the government, the private sector, and with students from leading universities in Azerbaijan. Im sure that the formation of new personnel will contribute to the achievement of Azerbaijan's sustainable development goals until 2030," he noted. Queiros also stressed that UNDP will continue cooperation in the field of training specialists. "Well continue cooperation with the government, universities, and other structures, including the private sector, in the field of achieving the SDGs of Azerbaijan until 2030," he added. The UN and its partners in Azerbaijan are working towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): 17 interconnected and ambitious Goals which address the major development challenges faced by people in Azerbaijan and around the world. As a result of this partnership, Azerbaijan has prioritized 17 SDGs, 88 targets, and 119 indicators covering economic, social, and environmental aspects of sustainable development. Over the last eight years, Azerbaijan has demonstrated its firm commitment to achieving the 2030 Agenda. Azerbaijan has been one of the first countries to undertake a MAPS mission (Mainstreaming, Acceleration and Policy Support for the 2030 Agenda) which outlined concrete policy and programming steps that could be taken to accelerate the goals nationally, the experience which was presented at the 2018 Baku Forum on Sustainable Development. This regional event also marked the adoption of the Baku Principles which established provisions for the integration of SDGs and acceleration of their implementation. With UN support, the National Information Portal on SDGs was launched, which introduces an interactive dashboard, collects consolidated data, and tracks and monitors progress towards the SDGs in real-time. First version published at 16:06 VILNIUS, Lithuania, May 22. Azerbaijan is ready to work with Lithuania as co-investor, Minister of Economy Mikayil Jabbarov said during the Azerbaijani-Lithuanian Business Forum in Vilnius, Trend reports. "Many contractual and legal frameworks exist between Azerbaijan and Lithuania. Azerbaijan is aimed at diversifying its economy and exports. Over the past 4 years, we have doubled non-oil exports," the minister said. Will be updated "A step towards denationalization of the economy": Russian politicians and scientists on the adoption of the law "On Cooperation in the USSR" Suspicion of cheating in Abitur exams: That's why it's so difficult to convict AI cheaters The tiny workshop that drives the residents of Chamberi crazy with its more than 30 varieties of 'cheesecakes' The mother of young Eya, abducted by her father, on her way to Denmark Sweden is becoming smoke-free, dinosaurs were survivors and Charles Darwin was afraid of his pious wife: The reading recommendations of the week from the science editorial team of SPIEGEL. (Copy) Why your children will not need to speak "the language of machines" as Pedro Sanchez says La Carnaza, a new temple of the hamburger to the rhythm of rock and roll Experts and scholars discussed: how to deal with the pandemic in the post-epidemic era? - China News Network video Bear infestation increases in June every year Proper management of food waste and fruit trees Ministry of the Environment Beauty, novel and tragedy of the best skyscraper in New York The female nudity that sweeps the red carpets: neither Irina Shayk was the first nor will be the last 2023 days countdown to the college entrance examination in 10: the first time in many places to equip this test room! Shogi "Eio-sen" Stage 4 Sota Fujii will defend or will it be decided in the afternoon There is still heavy rainfall in Henan, Anhui and other places, and most of the southern part is sweltering and hot, and the local body feeling reaches 40 C Central Meteorological Observatory: There is heavy rainfall in the Jianghuai region and the eastern part of the Sichuan Basin Luton Town Football Club: First a moment of shock for captain, then promotion to the Premier League He became the most decorated club with the title. Saint-Germain crowned the French league title for the 11th time in its history Vinicius, from ignored by Nike to icon of the brand against racism: "He wanted to be valued more" Chen Meng/Wang Yidi won the women's doubles championship, and the national table tennis won the hardware of the Durban World Table Tennis Championships in advance LIVE - Roland-Garros 2023: the competition starts this Sunday, what you need to know China Securities Regulatory Commission: There are more than 5000,<> A-share listed companies, which play a role as a "ballast stone" in many ways Foreign Ministry: Hungary and Serbia did not turn to Russia with proposals for the construction of an oil pipeline High-quality Development Research TourVisit the location of Asia's largest fabric market How can traditional industries innovate and go overseas? 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Industry experts have different opinions According to the report, since 2010, the growth rate of the impact of human activities on the ecological environment of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau has slowed down Biden and McCarthy confirmed that an agreement in principle has been reached on the debt ceiling Academician Guo Huadong: The six achievements of CBAS have had an important international impact New Sources of Funding for Strengthening Measures to Counter the Declining Birthrate Ruling and Opposition Parties Debate Sunday Debate From scrap metal to Hudiksvall's prettiest epa with the help of dad and grandfather Academician Chen Fahu interpreted the ecological environment of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau: the construction results have gradually shown that the overall stability is improving Gemma Pinto: everything you need to know about Marc Marquez's new model girlfriend Everything failed in Rodrigo's suicide: "When we realized it was too late" The Mawa approached the east of Luzon in the Philippines with little change in intensity or a slight increase The Infanta Sofia celebrates the confirmation with King Felipe as godfather and with the whole invited family Ukraine says it is "ready" to recover its territory and multiplies attacks on Russian logistics Three events that could affect the war in Ukraine right now A lawyer admits that he used ChatGPT for a brief and it invented legal precedents Indra, Cellnex, Unicaja, NH... power war at the top: "We have to talk about our CEO" 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. VILNIUS, Lithuania, May 22. We invite Azerbaijani companies to benefit from various instruments we offer to investors, Minister of Economy and Innovation of Lithuania Ausrine Armonaite said during the Azerbaijani-Lithuanian Business Forum in Vilnius, Trend reports. "We remain committed to improving conditions for investors and aligning our foreign direct investments policy goals to strengthen both presence and value-added in our priority areas. These areas include advanced manufacturing, life science industry, information and communication technologies and financial technologies," she said. Armonaite noted that Vilnius is the number one capital in the EU when it comes to fintech companies. "Lithuania sees plenty of potential for expanding our cooperation projects with Azerbaijan and is keen to actively share our best practices, expertise and success stories. For all of these reasons, I am confident that today's will open new avenues of cooperation across many diverse fields. Lithuania is an open, progressive and ambitious nation, eager to serve as a bridge between the West and the East. And we invite all of you to continue fostering close business ties," the minister concluded. BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 22. Baku is hosting a conference themed "Role of national parliaments in promoting security and stability through the green economy, transport coordination and sustainable development", Trend reports The conference is being held under the joint organization of the Parliament of Azerbaijan and the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly (PA). Chairperson of the Azerbaijani Parliament Sahiba Gafarova, President of the OSCE PA Margareta Cederfelt, President of the Parliament of Montenegro Danijela Durovic, Secretary General of the OSCE PA Roberto Montella, and other persons are taking part in the event. The conference will feature panel discussions on the "Role of green concepts and technologies in sustainable development and economic recovery" and "Strengthening sustainability of supply chains through the promotion of international transport and trade for sustainable development". Sheriff's Office motorcycles lead the hearse as they, other law enforcement and others pass down I-12 near Millerville Rd. accompanying the body of East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff's deputy Nick Tullier from Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center to a funeral home in Denham Springs, Thursday, May 5, 2022. Tullier, 47, passed away Thursday after being wounded in the 2016 ambush of area law officers following protests in the wake of the death of Alton Sterling. ORG XMIT: BAT2205051529231682 BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 22. Baku Network Expert Platform and the Azerbaijani Parliament have cooperated to arrange several meetings between Azerbaijani and European MPs. The Azerbaijani parliament is adopting a new strategy for parliamentary diplomacy, with the help of Baku Network Expert Platform. The aim is to strengthen and expand parliamentary diplomacy, and to enhance Azerbaijans role in influencing global geopolitical and geo-economic trends. Baku Networks cooperation has enabled the possibility of having debates between Azerbaijani deputies and their foreign counterparts and organizing international teleconferences. Furthermore, the platform plans to host debates with distinguished politicians and influential figures on topics of mutual interest. The first round table was held at the European Parliaments headquarters in Strasbourg with the attendance of Azerbaijani and European MPs. Azerbaijani MPs Tural Ganjaliyev, Sevil Mikayilova and Nurlan Hasanov, along with Polish MEP Richard Czarnecki, took part in the discussion. The sides discussed the cooperation progress between Azerbaijan and the EU, the crucial role of Azerbaijani energy resources for the European market, and the increasing importance of the Middle Corridor. As part of the cooperation between Baku Network and the Azerbaijani Parliament, a teleconference involving Azerbaijani and European MPs is expected to take place, as well as round tables with experts from leading world think tanks. However, a corollary of re-registering is that the owners of the jet enjoy a new degree of anonymity when flying around the world. Loading Most oligarchs own their private jets through complicated structures involving offshore companies, which makes establishing ownership difficult. But successive investigations and media reports, including a project by Forbes that identified 26 planes linked to sanctioned Russians, meant there were many aircraft known to be associated with oligarchs. The movement of these jets could be tracked using their tail numbers on open source services such as Flight Radar. Changing those details obscured their movement. Symington used manufacturer names, serial numbers and models of private jets to identify the planes previously linked to various sanctioned oligarchs on Russias Federal Agency for Air Transport website, revealing their new tail numbers. The analysis suggests that many continue to fly freely around the world to countries that have not imposed sanctions. Given that sanctions have now made it almost impossible to obtain new Western-made planes in Russia, it suggests many oligarchs have now re-registered their private jets in their home country under new tail numbers. Credit: iStock A plane thought to belong to Dmitry Mazepin, the owner of fertiliser producer Uralchem, has been flying between Sochi, where Putin is rumoured to be stationed, Dubai, Mauritius, the Maldives, and Kazakhstan. Another linked to Vladimir Potanin, owner of Norilsk Nickel and one of Putins confidantes, has been making regular trips between Istanbul, Moscow and Sochi, sometimes with turnaround times within hours. A Gulfstream 650 linked to Herman Gref, head of Russias largest state bank, has been travelling between Namibia, Zimbabwe, Uzbekistan and Dubai. Loading Mazepin, Potanin and Gref are all subject to sanctions in the UK. The EU has also sanctioned Gref and Mazepin. The US has sanctioned Potanin and Gref. Other destinations where planes associated with sanctioned oligarchs have been flying include Delhi, Phuket, Tehran, Cairo and Azerbaijan, as well as Beijing and Zhengzhou in China. Broadly speaking, the private jet flight paths tell two stories. The first is that oligarchs seem to be taking frequent beach holidays. However, flights to Iran, China and India are likely to be for business rather than pleasure, says Sandeep Baliga, Professor of Managerial Economics & Decision Sciences at Northwestern Universitys Kellogg School of Management. China and India have become important trading partners for Russia since the outbreak of war in Ukraine and are now Russias largest markets for oil exports. At the beginning of the invasion, there was widespread hope that sanctions on oligarchs could trigger a revolt in Putins inner circle and change the course of the war. A plane linked to Vladimir Potanin, owner of Norilsk Nickel, has been making regular trips between Istanbul, Moscow and Sochi, sometimes with turnaround times within hours. Credit: Bloomberg Baliga, who has studied sanctions, says: The idea of targeted sanctions is you target the elite directly and inflict pain on them so that they directly switch policy in order to be accepted back into the international community. However, Symingtons analysis suggests this is now a remote hope. Sanctioned oligarchs still appear to be freely travelling around the world. Loading The Wests best shot has not worked and the opportunity to stop the war through sanctioning oligarchs has passed, says Baliga. Its too late for them now. What could have happened at the start of the war didnt. Now the war has gone on and the elite that do have power fear for their lives if they should capitulate to the West. Sanctions are only effective if they employ a carrot and stick approach. The war has gone on for too long for its end to be a feasible reward for oligarchs, says Baliga. Theyre never going to capitulate, says Baliga. The role of sanctions now is really something else. It is not about an incentive to stop, but about starving the Russian war machine. Are they able to get chips for their tanks, are they able to get spare parts of their fighter planes, fuel for their missiles? Sanctions will take a slow toll on Russian private jet owners, even if they are still able to travel. Americas Office of Foreign Assets Control has imposed export control rules that mean aircraft and aircraft-related supplies cannot be sent to Russia. While sanctioned oligarchs still appear free to fly around the world, international restrictions will act as the sand in the machine and gradually make life harder. Effectively that means that any of the business jet manufacturers are no longer able to provide maintenance support to an aircraft that is deemed to be Russian owned, says Oliver Tebbit, partner in the aviation group at Watson Farley & Williams solicitors. Any aircraft in the world has more than 25 per cent of its components from the US, which effectively brings it within the US export control regulations. Over time, planes will degrade and be difficult to repair. As a result, even non-sanctioned Russian private jet owners are unable to properly maintain their planes. Theyre able to cannibalise old aircraft for parts, but over time obviously that gets more and more difficult, says Tebbit. If Russian jets are not maintained up to standard, other aviation authorities around the world may impose restrictions on safety grounds. Over time, whether or not they could fly from say Moscow to Dubai might become more difficult, says Tebbit. Even wealthy Russians who have not been personally sanctioned but own private jets are feeling the heat. Many are starting to sell up, says Tebbit. Yet the market may be thin. Private jet sales typically involve a pre-purchase inspection, akin to a survey before a house sale. These identify any necessary repairs, which are traditionally funded by the seller. Loading In the tin-lined interior of a yellow building by the water at Sydneys Darling Point, director Dean Bryant has sage advice for his high-pitched singers: Be careful with your swords. Theyre rehearsing a battle scene that begins with a slow harpsichord tempo. Countertenor Owen Willetts as Vitaliano has his blade hovering over the torso of another countertenor, Nicholas Tamagna, who plays the lead, Giustino. Owen Willetts and Nicholas Tamagna rehearse a duel for Pinchgut Operas Giustino. Credit: Edwina Pickles Its a scene from Pinchgut Operas new production of Italian composer Giovanni Legrenzis rare baroque opera Giustino, which premiered in Venice in 1683. At the time, castrated males, the castrati, rather than tenors, would typically fill the hero roles in this case Giustino, a simple farmer on a quest to become emperor. It feels like May 1968 once more at the University of Melbourne and, while CBDs heart is stirred at all the revolutionary fervour, this outburst of activism in the name of various causes is cramping the style of some of our citys movers and shakers. University of Melbourne chancellor Jane Hansen The latest victim is Jane Hansen, the businesswoman and philanthropist who started the prestigious gig of chancellor of the uni early this year and was due to be inaugurated into the role in a swanky ceremony on Wednesday attended by 200 of the great and the good. Except shes not, after the National Tertiary Education Union planned a strike and protest against what it described as a lavish event. This was totes inappropes, said the union, when so many of the academics that keep the uni ticking over were struggling financially. University bosses took one look at plans for the picket which had the backing of the National Union of Students and postponed the inauguration with word going out on the weekend to attendees. Across Brisbane firefighting crews, Izabella Nash was known for her determination, loyalty and her drive to help young recruits. But the 46-year-old firefighter, who died after battling a blaze south of Brisbane on May 2, will be remembered by family for her inspiration. Izabella Nash (right) pictured with partner Bec Weinert. Credit: QFES Behind her unwavering dedication at work, Iz was an incredible human being, her partner Bec Weinert told a crowd of firefighters, family and friends at Nashs public service at Nissan Arena on Monday. Their lives together were full, packed with adventures and memories. Fast-tracking the construction of new homes may not make rentals more affordable in Melbourne, according to a new analysis based on the citys unnatural housing experiment during the COVID-19 peak. In 2020-21, Melbourne experienced a rare population decline as the city endured one of the worlds longest lockdowns, leading to international students flying home and some residents leaving for regional areas. More supply doesnt necessarily mean cheaper homes, according to Prosper Australia. Credit: Teagan Glenane But the construction of new homes remained strong during that period, independent think tank Prosper Australia said. Its economic analysis found that rental prices should have dropped by much more and stayed lower for longer, during the pandemic. However, the reduced demand and increased supply did very little to meaningfully lower prices because the extra housing was absorbed by remaining residents who wanted more space. A serial conwoman is facing fresh allegations over her involvement in a $520,000 loan that was never repaid, and secured by property owned by an 86-year-old woman suffering from dementia. Athena Razos, 59, is awaiting sentencing after pleading guilty in the County Court last year to 16 counts of misappropriating more than $1.5 million from clients of Melbourne law firm Moray and Agnew. Athena Razos is awaiting sentencing after pleading guilty. Credit: Facebook Over the past 30 years, Razos used more than a dozen aliases to defraud, embezzle and steal from several prestigious law firms, along with major banks, credit card companies and her former husband. Now, an elderly associate of Razos, who cannot be named after she was placed into guardianship in April due to dementia and other medical conditions, faces eviction from a Hawthorn home she purchased in 1973. Victoria Police repeatedly refused requests to use a helicopter to help search for a missing grandmother in the weeks before the womans body was found under a tree near Wycheproof in the states north-west. A coroner is to examine decisions made by officers in the search for Colleen South, after the 58-year-old was found dead more than a month after she was reported missing in her home state of South Australia on July 4 last year. Colleen South was found dead in a Victorian paddock in August 2022. South told friends and family before she disappeared that she planned to move between addresses in Adelaide. Coroner David Ryan was on Monday told South hired a truck with a plan to move to the Adelaide suburb of Queenstown in early July 2022. John Fisher was 28 years old when he voted in 1967, in Australias most successful referendum to include Aboriginal people in the census and allow the Commonwealth to create laws for them. Fisher, 86, recalls the moment largely as a non-issue. He says he was not active in the campaign in the lead-up to the referendum, which attracted a 90.77 per cent Yes vote, simply believing it was obviously, the sensible thing to do, and the right thing to do. But this year, the octogenarian is on the front foot when it comes to supporting an enshrined Indigenous Voice to parliament. Fisher will add his own voice - a bass in the Victorian Trade Union Choir - to the Voices For Generations project. His and his teams capacity to manage these engagements and deliver for you is first-rate, he wrote to Formosa about Milo. I know him well and he is first class and his teams are first class (I have used them before for some very complex work). Synergy 360part-owner David Milo, his friend Coalition MP Stuart Robert and another Synergy 360 co-owner John Margerison. Credit: Fairfax Media The leaked emails reveal Synergy 360 then contacted Formosa directly and proposed the Taiwanese firm pay Synergy 360 a sum of $57,000 to secure the Gold Coast contract. Included in the pitch was content from the internal council memo that Robert had earlier emailed to himself. No deal ever eventuated, but the emails make it clear that Robert had actively sought to help Synergy 360 win work and had introduced the firm to a potential new client in Formosa and a potential new contract in the form of the lighting upgrade. The email cache also makes clear that Robert as both a backbencher and a minister would, on multiple occasions, assist Synergy 360 as it attempted to secure new corporate clients and help them win government contracts. A key question remains: why was the MP for Fadden so keen for Synergy 360 to succeed? Robert has quit parliament and a date has been set to choose his successor at a byelection on July 15, but the questions about his business dealings will not go away. Over a series of investigations, this masthead has revealed the former MP: used his status as a federal MP in 2017 and 2018 to help Synergy 360 sign up corporate clients; met Milo and tech giant Infosys before and after the agency he supervised as minister, Services Australia, finalised a $135 million project with Infosys in November 2019; helped another of Milos clients, tech giant Unisys, secure a meeting to promote its border security offerings to a parliamentary committee that oversaw the peak federal corruption watchdog; attended a meeting at Margerisons home on the Gold Coast in November 2017 with Milo and top executives from Unisys. Other examples raise further questions about whether Robert helped Milo gain business. The Liberal MP used his personal email account, for instance, to encourage Milo to contact the Singaporean High Commissioner in Australia, to whom Robert had spoken about Singapores $2 billion investment in Shoalwater Bay defence facilities in Queensland. On May 11, 2017, Robert told Milo he had been chatting to the Singaporean High Commissioner, Kwok Fook Seng about Singapores $2 billion investment in defence facilities in Shoalwater Bay and Townsville in Queensland. In the email, Robert revealed the high commissioner had told him how the Singaporeans were relying on local emergency services and medical support and the support they bring themselves and that this left an opportunity for an Australian firm like Aspen Medical to engage with them and become Singapores medical service provider in Australia. Loading The High Commissioner thought the idea was great and I indicated you would call him directly to seek a meeting and discuss this with him. He warmly welcomed that, Robert wrote, supplying the high commissioners mobile number. He finished his email to Milo by writing: He is expecting your call. Hon Stuart Robert MP. On May 31, 2017, Milo wrote to Glenn Keys, the founder of Aspen Medical, to pitch the prospect of having the firm provide medical support to Singaporean forces in Australia. A review by former senior public servant Ian Watt, commissioned by the agencies that report to Government Services Minister Bill Shorten, raised concerns about the conflict of interest management processes related to several of the contracts Synergy helped its clients win. The scandal reached new heights last month when a parliamentary committee chaired by Labor MP Julian Hill extracted a remarkable piece of evidence from Margerison, who until recently was a Synergy shareholder (he no longer has any connection to Synergy, having disposed of his shareholding). Margerison was asked about leaked emails from 2017 and which the committee chair Julian Hill said captured Margerison telling his accountant that any future profits Margerison received care of his shareholding in Synergy would be distributed to a financial entity called APUT. When questioned, Margerison said Robert was a beneficiary of APUT until late 2018. It was not clear from Margerisons evidence whether the arrangement referred to was ever finalised or executed. Loading In his evidence to parliament, Margerison stressed that he was never actually paid any money by Synergy. The reason he made this point is obvious: it is another way of saying that Robert also received no benefit. But Shorten seized on the content of the leaked emails in parliament this month, after Robert announced his resignation, asking: Did the member [Robert] ever, directly or indirectly, seek to, or receive, a financial benefit from Synergy 360? But Shorten also queried whether Robert had used his status as a public official in the expectation of a later financial reward, even if it was never paid. The evidence of Margerison of how he intended to distribute his Synergy 360 profits is unclear but leaves this open as a possibility. I think that there are still more questions than answers about all the relationships, possible conflicts of interest and financial structures of the protagonists, Shorten said on Monday. Robert told this masthead on Monday: I was not paid by any party for any activity, I never sought any payment, none has ever been offered. Despite the emails detailing his assistance for Milo and Synergy 360, Robert also maintained that he never assisted any companies to win any contacts. Rather, the Liberal politician characterised his repeated support of Synergy as an act of benevolence. If my advice is sought I provide it freely, Robert said in his statement, and he stressed that he had no involvement in the Gold Coast City Council. In denying any wrongdoing, Robert has also raised questions about the provenance of the leaked emails. Both Robert and Milo have accused the ex-partner of another of Synergy 360s shareholders of having unauthorised access to the emails. This claim has been denied and neither Milo nor Robert have provided evidence to substantiate their allegation. There is also no evidence that the emails have been altered, as Milo has claimed. To the contrary, a metadata analysis confirms the emails are genuine. Loading Geoffrey Watson, former counsel assisting the NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption, says the National Anti-Corruption Commission should examine Roberts dealings with Synergy 360. Watson said it was impossible to brush aside the questions over the personal connections between Robert and his friends including whether those interests included the way friends such as Margerison helped raise funds for the Liberal Party. The central issue here is whether or not Robert was motivated by the public interest or personal interests, said Watson. Press Release May 22, 2023 Zubiri: Full Support for AFP Modernization On Monday, Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri paid an official visit to the Philippine Army for an information briefing regarding the army's modernization plans, particularly as it transitions from mainly addressing internal threats to addressing territorial defense, under the Pagkakaisa 2023-2028 plan of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP). This visit comes at the heels of Zubiri's visit to the Philippine Navy in early May, for the christening of two new patrol gunboats and the blessing of their newly upgraded Naval Shipbuilding Yard. In the briefing, the Army presented its ongoing and future plans, including engaging in forty-four bilateral and multilateral trainings, hosting the ASEAN Armies Rifle Meet, and pursuing twenty-nine projects for Horizon III of the AFP Modernization Program. The Army also presented its concept for the implementation of the proposed Mandatory Reserve Officers Training Corps Act, under which they are expecting 1.9 million students to enroll, and for which the Army needs 3.7 billion for the implementation. For his part, Zubiri expressed his full support for the AFP Modernization Program. "Being from Mindanao, I have seen firsthand how the Army has taken great leaps to keep our communities safe, and how the Army has made way for rebel returnees to reintegrate themselves as valuable contributors to our communities," he said. "And I know that with the proper equipment and technology, you would be able to serve our country even better." He gave his full support for the Mandatory ROTC Act as well, having been a product of the program in his college days. He also discussed the pending army-related measures in the Senate, foremost of which is the National Defense Act, which is a priority measure of the Marcos administration, and the bill rationalizing the disability pension of veterans, which has been approved on third reading in the Senate. This is going to increase the disability pension for military veterans, in accordance with their disability rate. "With this bill, we hope to more sufficiently support our veterans who have so selflessly put themselves in harm's way, and incurred lasting injuries and illnesses in the line of duty," Zubiri explained. He also filed the Philippine Defense Industry Development Act (PDIDA), to support the AFP in building a credible defense posture. "It is vital that we not only procure equipment and technologies from outside the country, but also develop our own capacity to produce the equipment that we need for our forces," he said. "With the PDIDA, we can work on our own needs, on our own time, and we will not have to rely on our foreign partners to supply us with the equipment that we need. On top of that, with our own defense industry, we will be able to generate employment opportunities for our countrymen as well." On the issue of proposed reforms to the Military Uniformed Personnel Pension, Zubiri emphasized that he is set on finding a healthy balance that will make for a more sustainable pension model that will also be "as painless as possible" for the armed forces. Beyond crafting and pushing for legislative measures that will strengthen the AFP, Zubiri also assured the Army that the Senate is prepared to support them in their budgetary needs for the coming year. "Last week, I was in a meeting with Budget Secretary Mina Pangandaman, and I told her how crucial it is that we not underbudget for the AFP in the 2024 National Expenditure Program," he said. "I want to see our Armed Forces be on equal footing with the technology and equipment of our neighboring countries. For that to happen, we need better ships, new jets, missile systems, and armaments, among other things. This will cost a lot, but that's the cost of protecting the country." Welcoming Zubiri at the briefing were Army Commander General LtGen Romeo Brawner, MGen Steve Crespillo, MGen Potenciano Camba, MGen Rommel Tello, BGen Moises Nayve, BGen Benjamin Hao, BGen Alejandro Papa, and other officers and personnel of the Army. BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 22. The relations between Azerbaijan and the West are of great importance in the context of energy security, political expert Ilyas Huseynov told Trend. "Azerbaijan meets Europe's energy needs in the current geopolitical realities. Meanwhile, security issues are also important. The partnership between Azerbaijan and the US includes joint fight against terrorism and drug trafficking. Prevention of the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction is also one of the basic principles of interstate relations," he said. He added that Azerbaijan stands for the preservation of international peace and security. Huseynov also pointed that in terms of fighting international terrorism, Azerbaijan contributed by liberating its lands from the long-lasting Armenian occupation. "Azerbaijan is the initiator of the signing of the peace treaty between Azerbaijan and Armenia. Azerbaijan determines the peace agenda in the region by working on these processes," he said. Following over a month of military action to liberate its territories from Armenian occupation from late Sept. to early Nov. 2020, Azerbaijan has pushed Armenia to sign the surrender document. A joint statement on the matter was made by the Azerbaijani president, Armenia's PM, and the president of Russia. A large number of Indian students who commenced study in 2022 intakes have not remained enrolled, resulting in a significantly high attrition rate, the university told agents in a message sent on May 8. The regions within India that have been identified as presenting the highest attrition risk are Punjab, Haryana and Gujarat. Due to the urgency of this matter, the university has decided to pause recruitment from these regions in India, effective immediately. The university said the ban would be in place for at least two months and that additional measures would be taken to address the issue of non-genuine students enrolling with the university from these regions, including changes to application screening, stricter admissions conditions and increases to commencement fees. A spokeswoman for Western Sydney University said the decision was not taken lightly but was necessary to protect the integrity of the institutions international student program. In April, this masthead revealed that at least four other Australian universities Victoria, Edith Cowan, Torrens and Southern Cross had this year paused recruitment from specific Indian states. Two other universities Wollongong and Flinders altered their entry process in March for overseas students from countries considered high risk, but both said they were not restricting enrolments from specific Indian states. Australia is on track for its biggest annual intake of Indian students across universities and vocational courses, topping 2019s watermark of 75,000. The federal Department of Education has flagged that it is aware of unscrupulous behaviour in the international education sector, including the offering of inducements to encourage students to move from universities to cheaper vocational education providers. On Monday, federal Education Minister Jason Clare noted the high number of Indian students in Australia, and said the government expected all students, regardless of nationality, [to be] treated fairly and appropriately ... including during the application process. The Department of Home Affairs told a federal parliamentary inquiry last week that Australian universities were now refusing 20.1 per cent of applications, a figure up from 12.5 per cent of applicants in 2019. The rejection rate for applications from India is 24.3 per cent, the highest since 2012. Alison Garrod, the assistant secretary from the temporary visas branch of Home Affairs, said there had been an increase in non-genuine applicants and fraud in student visa applications since the start of 2022, driven by countries where the socio-economic impact of COVID-19 was particularly high. Applications to Australian universities from international students are almost entirely facilitated by education agents. Universities and colleges pay agents commissions worth thousands of dollars for every student enrolment they arrange. Federal Labor MP Julian Hill, once the head of international education for the Victorian government, told the inquiry that the business model of dodgy agents and dodgy providers exploiting people needed to be better regulated. Anyone can be an agent. I can be an agent, you can be, or my dog can be an agent selling Australian education, Hill said. Loading Theres no way to kick out a bad agent. If one provider says, Im not doing business with you anymore, that agent can keep flogging the same dodgy product and buying their new Ferrari with the next few providers. You can never get kicked out of the system, no matter how bad you are. Peter Hurley, the director of Victoria Universitys Mitchell Institute, said Australian universities ultimately did a good job of reducing fraudulent international student applications. Youre talking about hundreds of thousands of applications, so its a really big beast, Hurley said. But Hurley added that a series of reviews of the immigration system, including those by former public service chief Martin Parkinson, and former Victorian chief police chief Christine Nixon, were all saying the same thing: that there are problems in certain parts of the migration system, and we need to find a way to make sure that its not being misused. Loading The boom in applications from South Asia began after the Morrison government removed a 20-hour weekly limit on the amount of work students could do, in January 2022. The move meant there were no longer restrictions on how many hours students could work, encouraging those wanting a low-skill Australian work visa to apply to cheaper education institutions. The Albanese government will on July 1 reintroduce a work limit, but lift it to 24 hours a week. International Education Association of Australia chief executive Phil Honeywood last week told the inquiry that agents were too often teaming up with the families of Indian students to get them into the country, and repeated his call for greater regulation. We find a lot of parents are desperate to get their child an education outcome in a country like Australia and there is a cultural reliance, particularly on the subcontinent, in the local education agent who by word of mouth has been seen to have successful outcomes, Honeywood said. 2023 Toyota 4Runner 4X4 TRD PRO V6 Review by David Colman +VIDEO The champion of the SUV World Let's journey back in time to those halcyon days when an SUV was considered to be a truck, not some tarted-up crossover derived from a sedan. Forty years ago, Toyota's 4Runner helped launch the SUV craze in America. That original 4Runner ingeniously mated an enclosed shell to a 4WD pickup truck frame. Little did Toyota know back in 1983 that their unheralded 4Runner formula would eventually eclipse the family sedan as the vehicle of choice in the USA. With the latest incarnation of the 5th generation 4Runner for 2023, Toyota continues to hew closely to their original vision for SUV success: body-on-truck frame, live rear axle, 4-wheel drive, big ground clearance, and a spunky V6 motor to power the little brute. A legion of Toyota off-road enthusiasts will rejoice that the 4Runner recipe remains fully intact for 2023. One of the leading motoring publications in the US recently had the temerity to rank the latest 4Runner 28th of all the compact SUVs they evaluated. Personally, I would rank their magazine as my 28th favorite automobile read. They objected primarily to the dated looks and feel of the 2023 4Runner, especially its interior appointments. I suppose that if you've become so enamored of hapless haptic instrument panels activating teeny-tiny visual cues splayed across huge black screens, the classic knob and button dash of the 4Runner must seem positively Stone Age. Well, as it so happens, some of us still love the tactility, ease of operation, and general legibility of the 4Runner's positively archaic dash architecture. The same goes for the jilting truck-style rodeo ride of the bullet-proof ladder frame, the thumping roar of the V6 when you squirt the gas, and the excellent frontal, side, and rear visibility from the driver's seat. Most of all, however, the 4Runner TRD Pro we tested, will take you off-road anywhere with utter confidence. Try that trick in your pretty little car-based "SUV" and you'll wish you hadn't. We could start out by extolling the long list of dedicated off road chops that distinguish the TRD Pro model from lesser 4Runners. But first, let's get to the sensational "Solar Octane" metallic orange paint that coats this beauty. In bright sunlight, the new Toyota dazzles the retina. In shade it glows like an incandescent ember. For a "Special Color" fee of just $425 you will own the most wicked looking SUV in the universe. So the Great Pumpkin does exist. and Linus was right after all. Now, back to those TRD upgrades that distinguish the Pro model from all other 4Runners If you want to go all out on this hot setup, there's a price to pay. Of the 6 variants Toyota offers, the most expensive is the TRD Pro, which carries a base price of $53,270. That's a bump of more than $10,000 over the middle-range TRD Off-Road model which carries a base price of $43,485. So is the TRD Pro worth the extra outlay? If you plan on spending serious time exploring places where the pavement ends, you'll never regret parting with that extra ten grand. Here's a partial list of what the upgrade will get you. Because your contact patch is your only connection to terra firma (or infirma), Toyota bolts on a set of 17 x 7.5J "TRD Pro Matte Black Alloy Wheels" shod with wicked looking Nitto Terra Grappler All-Terrain ground pounders (265/70R-17 M+S). To maximize their grip on the turf, Toyota supplies TRD-tuned Fox shocks and springs. To keep the 4 liter V6 immune from obstacles, they protect it with a TRD stamped aluminum front skid plate. A locking rear differential insures good bite when the going gets tough, and a driver-operated multi-terrain selection system optimizes suspension and ride height for a multiplicity of surfaces and conditions. Crawl Control is part of the package, as well as Hill Start Assist Control. You really have to work hard to get the TRD Pro stuck in the mud. These technological advantages are almost all missing from car-based SUVs. In addition to the off-road sophistry, Toyota also equips the 4Runner with a full complement of Safety Sense P monitors: Pedestrian Detection, Dynamic Radar Cruise Control, Lane Departure Alert, and Blind Spot Monitor with Rear Cross Traffic Alert. With all these updates, you realize that old soldiers like the 4Runner not only don't die, they also refuse to fade away. 2023 TOYOTA 4Runner 4X4 TRD PRO V6 ENGINE: 4.0 liter DOHC 24-valve V6 with dual independent VVT-i HORSEPOWER: 270hp@5600rpm TORQUE: 278lb.-ft.@4400rpm FUEL CONSUMPTION: 16MPG City/19MPG Highway PRICE AS TESTED: $55,380 HYPES: Olympic Decathlete of the SUV World GRIPES: Needs Snazzier Interior to Match Solar Octane Paint STAR RATING: 9 Stars out of 10 BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 22. Hopefully, Azerbaijan and Armenia will be able to achieve peace, Chair of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE PA) Margareta Soderfelt told Trend. She noted that a special representative for the South Caucasus has been appointed in order to encourage parliamentary diplomacy, as well as to support stability and promote meetings between the two countries. "We are supporters of peace. As Chair of the OSCE PA, I declare that peace is the most important issue, and we are working in this direction," she said. The conference on "The Role of National Parliaments in Promoting Security and Stability through a Green Economy, Transport Coordination and Sustainable Development" is being held in Baku under the joint organization of the Milli Majlis (Parliament) of Azerbaijan and the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly. The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, the Armenian Armed Forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts. After many years of occupation and over a month of military action to liberate its territories from Armenian occupation from late Sept. to early Nov. 2020, Azerbaijan has pushed Armenia to sign the surrender document. A joint statement on the matter was made by the Azerbaijani president, Armenia's PM, and the president of Russia. Cheyenne, WY (82001) Today Thunderstorms during the evening will give way to partly cloudy skies after midnight. Low 47F. Winds WSW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 90%.. Tonight Thunderstorms during the evening will give way to partly cloudy skies after midnight. Low 47F. Winds WSW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 90%. BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 22. A working visit of a delegation headed by Deputy Foreign Minister of Azerbaijan Elnur Mammadov to the US began on May 17, 2023, the Foreign Ministry told Trend. The delegation, on May 18, met with members of the US Senate, Senators Tom Cotton, and Ben Cardin, and members of the House of Representatives Jack Bergman, Chuck Fleischmann, Mike Ezell, and Robert Aderholt. During the meetings, the American side was informed about the bilateral relations between the US and Azerbaijan, as well as about the processes taking place in the region, and negotiations on a peace agreement with Armenia. The members of the Congress were also told about the ongoing mine threat in the post-conflict period (Second Karabakh War), and the work on the restoration of the territories of Azerbaijan liberated from Armenian occupation. Moreover, it was highlighted that the unfounded information that radical Armenian organizations operating in the US presented to members of Congress in connection with the establishment of the new checkpoint on Azerbaijan's Lachin-Khankendi road, and the nomination of unilateral resolutions by members of the US Congress in this context that do not serve the national interests of the US, harm relations between the two countries, as well as negotiations between Azerbaijan and Armenia. During the meetings, opinions were exchanged on other issues of mutual interest. On the same day, the delegation visited the US-Azerbaijan Chamber of Commerce and met with activists of the Azerbaijani community living in the US state of South Carolina, Columbia, and adjacent states. During the visit to New York, the delegation met with Edward Mermelstein, the city's Commissioner for International Affairs. The deputy minister also held a meeting with the local Azerbaijani community in the above city. The delegation's visit, which provides for a number of more meetings in the US, will last until May 24. Batavia, NY (14020) Today Sunny. High near 75F. Winds NE at 5 to 10 mph.. Tonight A few passing clouds, otherwise generally clear. Low 51F. Winds SE at 5 to 10 mph. Last version published at 13:33 BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 22. A working visit of a delegation headed by Deputy Foreign Minister of Azerbaijan Elnur Mammadov to the US began on May 17, 2023, the Foreign Ministry told Trend. The delegation, on May 18, met with members of the US Senate, Senators Tom Cotton, and Ben Cardin, and members of the House of Representatives Jack Bergman, Chuck Fleischmann, Mike Ezell, and Robert Aderholt. During the meetings, the American side was informed about the bilateral relations between the US and Azerbaijan, as well as about the processes taking place in the region, and negotiations on a peace agreement with Armenia. The members of the Congress were also told about the ongoing mine threat in the post-conflict period (Second Karabakh War), and the work on the restoration of the territories of Azerbaijan liberated from Armenian occupation. Moreover, it was highlighted that the unfounded information that radical Armenian organizations operating in the US presented to members of Congress in connection with the establishment of the new checkpoint on Azerbaijan's Lachin-Khankendi road, and the nomination of unilateral resolutions by members of the US Congress in this context that do not serve the national interests of the US, harm relations between the two countries, as well as negotiations between Azerbaijan and Armenia. During the meetings, opinions were exchanged on other issues of mutual interest. On the same day, the delegation visited the US-Azerbaijan Chamber of Commerce and met with activists of the Azerbaijani community living in the US state of South Carolina, Columbia, and adjacent states. During the visit to New York, the delegation met with Edward Mermelstein, the city's Commissioner for International Affairs. The deputy minister also held a meeting with the local Azerbaijani community in the above city. The delegation's visit, which provides for a number of more meetings in the US, will last until May 24. BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 22. Armenia recognizes Karabakh as part of Azerbaijan, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan told reporters, Trend reports. The Armenian PM said that 86,600 sq. km of the territory of Azerbaijan, recognized by Armenia, includes Karabakh. Azerbaijan has, on numerous occasions said, that the rights and security of the Armenians living in Karabakh will be ensured, as well as the rights of other ethnic minorities living in Azerbaijan, within the framework of Azerbaijani legislation. Following over a month of military action to liberate its territories from Armenian occupation from late Sept. to early Nov. 2020, Azerbaijan has pushed Armenia to sign the surrender document. A joint statement on the matter was made by the Azerbaijani president, Armenia's PM, and the president of Russia. A complete ceasefire and a cessation of all hostilities in the zone of the Karabakh conflict were introduced on Nov. 10, 2020. The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. 2 Quebec Groups Suspected of Hosting Chinese Police Stations Received Over $400K Federal Funding Since 2010: Records The Sino-Quebec Center in Brossard, Quebec, is seen on March 9, 2023. RCMP says it's investigating this organization, along with the Chinese Family Service of Greater Montreal, which are allegedly clandestine overseas Chinese police service stations. (Noe Chartier/The Epoch Times) Two Quebec-based charitable agencies suspected by the RCMP of being undercover Chinese police stations have received over $400,000 combined since 2010 in federal funding, according to government records. The Chinese Family Service of Greater Montreal (SFCGM), which has been open in Montreals Chinatown neighbourhood for decades, founded in 1976, received six grants and contributions totalling $123,750 from Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) between 2018 and 2021, according to federal government grants and contribution database. The Centre Sino-Quebec de la Rive-Sud (CSQRS), located in Brossard on Montreals south shore, received 12 federal grants and contributions between 2010 and 2022 totalling just over $284,895, according to the same database. Among those, 11 were from ESDCeither through the New Horizons for Seniors Program or the Canada Summer Jobs program for youth, similar to the SFCGMand one, a Community Volunteer Income Tax Grant, was from the Canada Revenue Agency. CSQRSs largest single granttotalling $100,000was issued by ESDC in 2010 for an Elder Abuse Awareness program. The National Post originally reported on May 18 that the SFCGM received a total of $200,000 in federal funds between 2020 and 2022, according to financial records filed by the organization to the CRA because of its charitable status. Year by year, the SFCGM reported in the records that it received $178,450 from the federal government in the 20202021 fiscal year and $21,728 in 20212022. Both organizations are overseen by Montreal-area city councillor Xixi Li. Li, who serves as director for both groups, has been requested by Brossard Mayor Doreen Assaad to recuse herself from her role during the RCMP investigation, reported the Journal de Montreal on March 10. RCMP Investigation The RCMP said in March that it was investigating both the SFCGM and CSQRS and had received 15 serious tips in relation to the presumed Chinese police stations in Montreal and Brossard, according to RCMP Sergeant Charles Poirier. Poirier said in a March 13 statement that the RCMP was, at that time, in the analysis stage of these tips and said the national police force was encouraging all the victims and witnesses of illegal activities, and all the individuals being affected by pressures, intimidation or threats to reach out to us. In early April, the Toronto Star reported that an intake form on SFCGMs website bore the same name and logo of the Overseas Chinese Service Centre program, which is directly operated by the United Front Work Departmentan agency of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) tasked with co-opting opposition inside China and carrying out influence activities abroad. The form also contained a QR code encouraging scanners to download an app called QiaoBao, which is operated by Beijings Overseas Chinese Affairs Office and is used to communicate with Chinese expatriates worldwide. After being questioned on the matter, the SFCGM removed the intake form from its website. Concerning the stations activity, Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino told a House of Commons committee on April 27 that the RCMP had taken decisive action to shut down the so-called police stations operating in Canada. However, the SFCGM and CSQRS said in a joint statement to The Canadian Press one day later that they were still operating and had not received any closure requests from the RCMP. Mendicino said on May 14 during CTVs Question Period that his previously inconsistent remarks were due to the RCMP operating independently of the federal government. He also said Ottawa expects the RCMP to take action if they discover other foreign interference activities in relationship to the so-called police stations. I am confident that the RCMP have taken concrete action to disrupt any foreign interference in relationship to those so-called police stations, and that if new police stations are popping up and so on that they will continue to take decisive action going forward, Mendicino said, noting that disrupted means shut down. Noe Chartier contributed to this report. A Prayer for the Victims of the CCP Falun Dafa practitioners hold a candlelight vigil as a peaceful protest near the Chinese Consulate in New York, on April 25, 2014. The protest is against the Chinese regimes 15-year persecution of the practice. (Samira Bouaou/The Epoch Times) Commentary Many people ask: what can they possibly do to assist the persecuted in China? It is not easy. Other nations, let alone ordinary citizens, often seem to have little influence on the behaviour of the Chinese communist regime. Human rights are ignored and abused; the rule of law is breached; international agreements and norms are flouted; and civil society is spurned. The regime despises the values expressed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other international covenants and treaties. Yet it is hypersensitive to an examination of its record, regularly calling any criticism Western Imperialism or an interference with its sovereignty. This sensitivity suggests that international voices, both national and individual, have an impact. Countless stories from the Soviet Union illustrate how persecuted people were often strengthened in their resolve through knowledge that individuals and organisations elsewhere were aware of their plight and prepared to continually raise it with their own governments. There are various things that individuals can do. Small and insignificant as they may seem, nonetheless, they can add to a global crescendo of voices. People attend a vigil commemorating the 32nd anniversary of the 1989 Tiananmen Square pro-democracy protests and clampdown outside the Chinese Consulate in Vancouver on June 4, 2021. (Don MacKinnon/AFP) The first is to be aware of the situation in China. The information does escape the censors. Various commentators and observers are piecing together a true picture of the repression of millions of people. In addition, there are first-hand accounts smuggled from the country. Secondly, constant reminders to leaders in the West reinforce their knowledge and willingness to speak out for themselves. A decade ago, there was little scrutiny of the Chinese regime; now, there is much moreand it is growing. Political leaders who were ignorant or reluctant to comment are being replaced by those willing to name the issue. Nations have been emboldened to act. Magnitsky legislation, for example, now exists in many nations. This has allowed sanctions against perpetrators of human rights abuses. Leaders are less seduced by the lure of trading profits. This new boldness arises in part from the Chinese Communist Partys (CCP) naked aggression. But it also arises from a better understanding of the nature of the regime by both citizens and legislators. Prayer for the People For religious believers, there is a third response: prayer. This week marks the third annual week of Global Prayer for China. It is the initiative of an informal network of Christian legislators from around the world who have taken up a campaign of encouraging all personschurches, religious communities, and groups of people of goodwillto pray for the people of China. We are alarmed and aggrieved by the oppression and persecution of Chinas Christians and other religious minorities, some of whom are even suffering genocide. We pray for the government of China to govern with respect for universal and immutable human dignity and freedom of conscience and religion, stated a spokesperson for the group recently. The statement reflects the widespread concerns about restrictions on religious practice, the persecution of believers, and the destruction of places of worship in China. Falun Dafa parade in Manhattan, New York City, on May 16, 2019. (Samira Bouaou/The Epoch Times) The Global Week of Prayer was initiated in 2021 in response to the call of the President of the Federation of Asian Bishops Conferences Myanmar, Cardinal Charles Bo, for prayer for the people and church in China. Bo is no stranger to oppression and the abuse of human rights. He has witnessed the situation in his own country over many years. Following the arrest of Hong Kong Cardinal Joseph Zen, Cardinal Bo renewed and strengthened his call, writing, I urge Christians of all traditions everywhere to pray for Hong Kong especially, and the Church in China, as well as the Uyghurs, Tibetans, and others facing persecution in China, during that Week of Prayer. Pope Francis has also called for prayer for China during this time. We have an important duty: to accompany our brothers and sisters in China with fervent prayer and fraternal friendship. Indeed, they need to feel in the journey that lies ahead, they are not alone. In addition to the prayers of believers, the legislators have called upon all concerned people to be informed about the plight experienced by many in China under repressive and unjust laws and policies. We call upon legislators and members of international organizations to take up the issue of religious persecution in China and to work collaboratively to promote human dignity, freedom, and peace in China during this time. It is a message that can be subscribed to by all people of goodwill, believers and non-believers alike. It is not limited to any one faith group but is open to all who believe in human dignity and freedom. It was the spirit of the people which led ultimately to the collapse of the Soviet Union and the fall of the Berlin Wall. That spirit was encouraged by millions of ordinary people worldwide who spokeand prayedfor the persecuted. It is this spirit that the communist regime most fears. It cannot be stopped by tanks or torture. It can be nourished by the thoughts, words, and actions of people globally. Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times. ANALYSIS: Slippery Slope: Experts Warn About Pitfalls of Central Bank Digital Currencies The Bank of Canada is shown in Ottawa in a file photo. (The Canadian Press/Sean Kilpatrick) As the Bank of Canada seeks consultation from Canadians on its design of a potential central bank digital currency (CBDC), digital privacy experts are warning that the technology could be used by governments to track payments and freeze dissidents bank accounts. CBDCs could be a nightmare for democracy, for civil liberties, and potentially all sorts of human rights, Ori Freiman, a post-doctoral fellow at McMaster Universitys Digital Society Lab, who is researching the responsible implementation of emerging technologies, said in an interview. At the end of the day, all those policy-makers need to understand that this technology can be weaponized to identify people, and because of that, they need to come up with a clear red line. On May 8, the Bank of Canada announced it was exploring the possibility of issuing a digital currency, and was thus seeking consultation from Canadians on its design. As Canadas central bank, we want to make sure everyone can always take part in our countrys economy. That means being ready for whatever the future holds, Senior Deputy Governor Carolyn Rogers said in a press release. The bank said that while it did not currently see the need for a CBDC, Canada may require one in the future and the bank needs to get ready. It said that ultimately, however, the decision on whether to create a digital dollar will be determined by Parliament. Oversight Mechanisms Needed Freiman said digital currencies could offer many benefits, such as allowing for accurate and automated tax collection and assisting governments in their fight against money laundering and terrorism financing. But he said these positive aspects of CBDCs are exactly what could make them so dangerous. Under the subtext of fighting crime and keeping people safe, governments could seek to gain control over users private financial data, according to Freiman. He said this slippery slope could lead to the surveillance state being massively expanded to the point where dissidents and those critical of the state are identified and financially restricted. Freiman cited the example of the 2022 Freedom Convoy, when the federal government used powers under the Emergencies Act to freeze some of the protesters bank accounts. In Canada, which is a liberal democracy, the government wasnt afraid to use financial instruments exactly for political reasons, he said. To prevent this possibility, Freiman said democratic oversight mechanisms need to be in place to ensure governments do not use CBDCs to threaten privacy and freedom. We must make it so that it wouldnt be even possible for them to have this information and also to ensure the independence of the central bank, he said. Trend in Global Economy vs New Level of Control Sergey Gorbunov, an assistant professor in the Faculty of Mathematics at the University of Waterloo, said that with more countries mulling the creation of their own CBDCs, it is absolutely necessary for the Canadian dollar to go digital in order to stay relevant in the global economy. Some 120 countries, representing over 95 percent of global GDP, are currently exploring some form of a CBDC, according to American think tank the Atlantic Council. As of May 20, at the time of this writing, 40 countries are researching the issue, 32 are in the development stage, 18 have launched pilot projects, and 11 have fully launched a digital currency. However, like Freiman, Gorbunov said CBDC adoption could lead to a worst-case scenario where governments use the digitalized financial system as a tool to silence dissenters, such as by blocking their transactions and freezing their bank accounts. This is not far-fetched. It is happening in some countries today, he said. Dave Bradley, chief revenue officer at Bitcoin Well, said CBDCs offer few real benefits to users, as most people already use digital payments in lieu of physical money. According to the Bank of Canada, only about 20 percent of retail transactions are conducted using cash. But there is a benefit to the government if they decide to use that new level of control to crack down on people in some way, Bradley said. Bradley pointed to the example of China, which is in the process of testing out both a digital yuan and a social credit score system. He said if Western governments were to adopt a similar system, it would have the power to monitor the transactions of citizens and penalize them based on their spending decisions. They could have things like, you bought too much red meat last week, and so next week, youre punished. Youre not allowed to spend any money more than five kilometres from your home,' he said. We could see the minutiae of our lives tracked and our choices really cracked down upon by the government, and its a dystopian possibility where personal decision-making could be completely eliminated. Privacy Concerns Rohan Grey, assistant professor of law at Willamette University in Salem, Oregon, said CBDCs could offer benefits such as the elimination of private intermediaries, faster settlement times, and the potential to hold funds directly with a central bank, which could offer greater security and remove deposit insurance limits. But Grey said an account-based CBDC systemwhere intermediaries are required to manage transactions between userswould come with privacy concerns. You are always going to need to ask permission to move your money around, and the act of storing your money is always the act of trusting a third party not to shut down your account or otherwise freeze it, he said. Grey said this transition to a digital system of money would be different from how cash and digital money has historically existed in parallel. While the Bank of Canada has assured Canadians that it would still continue to provide banknotes following the implementation of a CBDC, Grey said this type of monetary system would make cash functionally dead. He said the ideal design for CBDCs could involve a government-issued currency that functions similarly to physical coins by providing direct access to individuals without intermediaries. And there are obvious ways that you can put restrictions on that legally, but those restrictions are not baked into the technology, he said. Options for Design Grey said that while those concerned about the privacy considerations of CBDCs are not wrong, they are framing the conversation as if there is only one possible design for the technology. The conversation is framed around theres only one possible design, and maybe that design isnt good. We leave other avenues of progress off the table, and then the debate becomes, Well, do you like the status quo? Well, nobody likes the status quo either, so thank God we have a third option, which is we can continue to have progress, but not towards a bad outcome.' Grey said the future of money doesnt need to be a panopticon, which refers to the design of a prison building that allows all inmates to be observed by one security guard without the inmates knowing whether they are being watched. It doesnt have to be the panopticon or 18th-century money, he said. It can be another form of the future of money that is protective and respecting of individual peoples privacy and autonomy and expands the capacities that we currently have in digital payments, by allowing us to do things [like peer-to-peer payments] in a capable way without a third party. ANALYSIS: The Biggest Revelation From the Durham Report Special counsel Durham finally explains why IG Horowitz was wrong to claim that FBI was justified to investigate Trump Former foreign policy adviser to President Donald Trump's election campaign George Papadopoulos leaves the U.S. District Courts in Washington on Sept. 7, 2018. (MANDEL NGAN/AFP/Getty Images) News Analysis Even as the dust is starting to settle over last weeks Durham Report revelations, it will take weeks, months, and perhaps even years to fully take in every aspect of the FBIs scheme against President Donald Trump. However, theres little doubt that the reports most crucial finding concerns the tip that led the FBI to open its investigation into the Trump campaign. Until last week, the official story was that a Trump campaign adviser, George Papadopoulos, got drunk in a London bar and told an Australian diplomat, Alexander Downer, about a secret plot between Russia and the Trump campaign to defeat Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential race by anonymously releasing her emails. According to the official narrative, Downer took Papadopouloss information to the U.S. embassy in London, which then informed the FBI. That tale about a drunken encounter at a London bar quickly became an unquestioned truism by sheer force of repetition in the media. It even became the central plot point in The Comey Rules TV miniseries, which depicted the official narrative of the alleged TrumpRussia collusion plot. While Papadopoulos has always denied the story, the first official hint that something was amiss came when Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz released his December 2019 report into the FBIs handling of its investigation of the Trump campaign. At the time, U.S. Attorney General William Barr and then-federal prosecutor John Durham both issued statements that disagreed with Horowitz on the issue of predication of the investigation into then-candidate Trump and his campaign. Horowitz determined that the FBI had properly opened the investigation. We concluded that the FFG information [Australian diplomats tip] describing a first-hand account from an FFG employee of a conversation with Papadopoulos, was sufficient to predicate the investigation, he said. Barr issued a statement saying the grounds for opening the investigation were insufficient to justify the steps taken. Durham said he had advised Horowitz that he didnt agree with some of the reports conclusions as to predication and how the FBI case was opened. However, although it was clear that the disagreement centered on whether what the Australian diplomat said was sufficient to open a full investigation, neither Barr nor Durham provided any details. But now, after a 3 1/2-year wait, Durhams report finally sheds light on the details of the dispute. In whats arguably the most important sentence of the entire 308-page report, Durham said, According to [Alexander] Downer, Papadopoulos made no mention of Clinton emails, dirt or any specific approach by the Russian government to the Trump campaign team with an offer or suggestion of providing assistance. In one sentence, Durham crushed the FBIs justification for the bureaus Crossfire Hurricane investigation. There was no mention of Clintons emails, no mention of any dirt, and no mention of an offer from Russia. The official narrative, which the FBI used not only to open the investigation but also to obtain FISA warrants on Trump campaign aide Carter Page, to push Acting Attorney General Rod Rosenstein to appoint a special counsel, and to pressure Congress into investigating Trump, was plain false. Notably, the FBI also pushed its false story about Papadopoulos spilling the beans on Russian collusion during a drunken encounter at a London bar to the media. According to Durham, Papadopoulos had met an Australian career diplomat in London on May 6, 2016. According to emails reviewed by The Epoch Times, that diplomat was Erika Thompson. Thompson then arranged a second meeting on May 10, which included Downer. The day before Papadopoulos met Thompson, Fox News analyst Andrew Napolitano reported that it was a near-certainty that Russia had Hillary Clintons emails from her time as secretary of state. At the time, these emails were the subject of much speculation that Clinton had used an illicit private server for her communications instead of a State Department email account. Then, on the day before Papadopoulos met Downer, Napolitano reported that the Kremlin had possession of Clintons emails and was debating whether to release them. The fact that Papadopoulos repeated a story that was being aired on Fox News on a topic that many people were talking about at the time was hardly newsworthy. Downer later told Durham that the only thing of significance that Papadopoulos said was that the Russians have information, which matches what Napolitano reported on Fox News. It also matches what had previously been reported in Forbes magazine. The exchange with Papadopoulos appeared so trivial that Downer didnt come forward with his account of the encounter until July 26, 2016, a full 2 1/2 months after the meeting. Durham noted that he found no evidence that Downers information had undergone any analysis or scrutiny by Australian intelligence officials, again suggesting that Papadopouloss comment appeared insignificant. Tip Reaches FBI Office According to Durham, the reason that Papadopouloss insignificant comment about Russia having information on Clinton suddenly prompted Downer to take the information to the U.S. Embassy in London was the July 22, 2016, release by Wikileaks of allegedly hacked Democratic National Committee emails. At the time, the Clinton campaign was quick to blame Russia for the leak. Downers tip reached FBI headquarters on July 28, 2016, and lead investigator Peter Strzok rushed to open a full investigation into the Trump campaign on July 31, before having even talked to Downer. According to Durham, Strzok then interviewed Downer and Thompson in London on Aug. 2, 2016. Durham noted that Strzoks own record of the interview is inconsistent with statements later made by the FBI investigator. Specifically, Strzok wrote in his book and told Horowitz and TV interviewers that Downer was prompted to come forward when he heard Trump say during a campaign speech, Russia, if youre listening, I hope youre able to find the 30,000 emails that are missing. However, Downer never said this and couldnt have said it because he provided his information before Trump made his speech. The inconsistency appears to have been an after-the-fact effort on Strzoks part to address the deficiencies in opening the case against Trump by tying Papadopoulos to Clintons emails, emails that we now know were never mentioned by Papadopoulos. Strzok refused to be interviewed by Durham. While some may argue that Durhams conclusions related to Downers tip are made with the benefit of hindsight, the evidence presented by Durham proves otherwise. Strzok had all the information he needed to conclude that Downers tip was completely insignificant and yet went ahead with the investigation regardless. Strzoks own notes from his Aug. 2, 2016, interview with the Australian diplomats reveal that Papadopoulos did not say he had direct contact with the Russians, that Papadopoulos acknowledged his lack of expertise, and that Downer said he would have sniffed Papadopoulos out if he was a fraud. Downer also told Strzok that he did not get the sense Papadopoulos was the middle-man to coordinate with the Russians. The contemporaneous meeting record prepared by the Australians in May 2016, which they shared with Strzok, didnt mention the hacking of the Democratic National Committee, possession by the Russians of Clintons emails, or the public release of any emails. Text Messages Reveal Bias Durham also noted that before receiving Downers tip, Strzok and his FBI colleague Lisa Page were frantically texting each other about their loathing of Trump and shared desire to derail his campaign. On March 3, 2016, Page texted Strzok, God Trump is a loathsome human. Strzok agreed. On July 18, 2016, during the Republican National Convention, he texted, Oooh, TURN IT ON, TURN IT ON!!! THE DOUCHE BAGS ARE ABOUT TO COME OUT. You can tell by the excitable clapping. Page replied, And wow, Donald Trump is an enormous douche. On July 21, 2016, Strzok texted: Trump is a disaster. I have no idea how destabilizing his Presidency would be. Most significantly, on July 27, 2016, which was before Strzok and Page knew of Downers tip, Page texted: Have we opened on him yet? Trump & Putin. Yes, Its Really a Thing. On the same day, Page sent Strzok an article that seeded the idea of TrumpRussia collusion, a narrative that the Clinton campaign had begun to promote in the media. None of these things had anything to do with Downer. Perhaps even more significantly, the FBIs legal attache in London, who accompanied Strzok to his Aug. 2, 2016, interview with Downer, told Durham that while they were being driven to the interview, Strzok told the attache, Theres nothing to this, but we have to run it to ground. The legal attache also told Durham that when he ran Downers tip past British intelligence, he was told that whatever Papadopoulos had said wasnt particularly valuable intelligence. The British side further insisted that there had to be something other than Downers tip for Strzok to have opened a full investigation into the Trump campaign: The British could not believe the Papadopoulos bar conversation was all there was, and they were convinced the FBI must have had more information that it was holding back. But there was nothing more. Downers tip about Papadopouloss repeating what Fox News was saying was all the FBI had. On a final note, although we may never know why Horowitz determined that the FBIs investigation was properly predicated when there was no basis for making that determination, the delay in disclosing how the FBIs investigation really started means that most, if not all, statutes of limitation have now expired, meaning that its no longer possible to charge anyone within the FBI with any criminal offenses. The Origin of the Trump Russia Investigation is the topic of an episode of Truth Over News that aired on EpochTV on May 24, 2023. Biden Administration Threatens to Veto GOP Move Against Student Loan Forgiveness President Joe Biden speaks during a press conference following the G7 Summit of world leaders in Hiroshima, Japan, on May 21, 2023. (Kiyoshi Ota/Pool/AFP via Getty Images) The White House announced that President Joe Biden would veto a Republican-led House measure that would halt the administrations student loan forgiveness program. In a Statement of Administration Policy released on May 22, the White House expressed its disapproval of H.J. Res. 45, which would disapprove the student loan forgiveness plan that would have provided up to $20,000 in relief to millions of student loan borrowers. If Congress were to pass H.J. Res. 45, the President would veto it, the statement from the White House said. The administration asserts the measure would weaken Americas middle class. In the policy statement, the administration outlined its justification for the student loan forgiveness program, saying: Nearly 90 percent of the relief provided by the Department of Education would go to Americans earning less than $75,000 per year, and no relief would go to any individual or household in the top 5 percent of incomes. The administration went on to assert that Americans should be able to have a little more breathing room as they recover from the economic strains associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. The legislation is in response to the Biden administrations plan to offer student loan debt relief to millions of Americans. The plan was part of the fulfillment of Bidens campaign promise. The Department of Educations action is based on decades-old authority granted by Congress, the White Houses policy stated. That authority has been used by multiple administrations over the last two decades following the same procedures to protect borrowers from the effects of national emergencies and has never been subject to the Congressional Review Act. The Departments action here should be treated no differently. The resolutions sponsor, Rep. Bob Good (R-Va.) told The Epoch Times in response to the news that the administration planned to veto the resolution, Given his fiscal track record, it is no surprise that President Biden would oppose any action to undo his unlawful and unfair executive actions to transfer hundreds of billions of dollars worth of burdensome student loans onto the backs of American taxpayers. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) published a letter (pdf) in September 2022, detailing the estimated budgetary effects of the student loan forgiveness program, saying they estimate the total cost of cancellation at about $400 billion over the 2023-2033 period, on a net-present-value basis. The Congressional Budget Office conducted a cost estimate (pdf) for the impact of H.J. Res. 45 saying it would reduce direct spending, on a net-present-value basis, by $319.6 billion in 2023, and by $315.6 billion over the 2023-2033 period. Biden, McCarthy Meeting Offers Hope of Deal on Debt Ceiling President Joe Biden (R) sits next to House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) during the National Prayer Breakfast at the Capitol in Washington on Feb. 2, 2023. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images) President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) will meet on May 22 for in-person talks on resolving the debt ceiling crisis. Over the weekend, negotiations between representatives from each side stalled as both doubled down on their demands. Rep. Garret Graves (R-La.), the lead negotiator for Republicans, told reporters on May 19 that Bidens negotiators were being unreasonable. The president told reporters on May 21, Now its time for the other side to move from their extreme positions, because much of what theyve already proposed is simply, quite frankly, unacceptable. Biden spoke from Hiroshima, Japan, where he was attending the G7 Summit. Later on May 21, the two men spoke by phone and agreed to meet the next day. Following the call, McCarthy told reporters that the call was productive, adding, I think we can solve these problems. I think that we can reach an agreement, Biden said. At issue are the provisions of the Limit, Save, Grow Act, which Republicans passed on April 26. The measure would reduce discretionary spending to the 2022 level, increase work requirements for some beneficiaries of Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), loosen permitting requirements for oil and gas drilling, and increase the debt ceiling through March 2024. Democrats have roundly criticized the proposal as an effort to balance the federal budget on the backs of the working class while preserving Trump-era tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans. In particular, Democrats have decried what they call steep spending cuts that they believe will cost tens of thousands of jobs and require wholesale reduction of federal food assistance, education, and other programs that benefit many Americans. They also insist on no changes to federal work requirements. McCarthy has said that work requirements and a reduction in spending are red lines for Republicans. Complicating any deal the two leaders might make, hard-liners on both sides have issued calls to avoid compromise on their core objectives. Eleven senators, led by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), signed a letter to the president on May 18 urging him to invoke the 14th Amendment to continue paying the nations bills rather than to either default on the debt or acquiesce to what they see as unacceptable spending cuts. The House Freedom Caucus, led by Rep. Scott Perry (R-Pa.), released a statement the same day urging McCarthy and senate Republicans to break off talks with Biden and pass the Limit, Save, Grow Act into law. The time of the May 22 meeting between Biden and McCarthy had not been determined by the time of publication. Bigger Than Watergate American politicians, (L-R) Sen. Howard Baker (Tenn.), Sen. Sam Irvin of (N.C.), Majority Council Sam Dash, Sen. Herman E. Talmadge (Ga.), and Sen. Daniel Inouye (Hawaii), listen to the testimony of James McCord, one of the Watergate burglars, during the Watergate hearings. (Gene Forte/Getty Images) Commentary The current reports of executive branch illegality make Watergate look like kindergarten mischief. It is clear from the Durham Report and the work of House Republican hearings that the current scandals in the Biden White Houseand senior bureaucracies at the Justice Department, IRS, and elsewhereare much deeper and more cancerous than Watergate ever was. It may be hard to remember, but Watergate came about due to a weird, dumb, and fairly narrow set of criminal behaviors which mushroomed into 69 officials being indicted and 48 imprisoned. I remember Watergate vividly, because I first ran for Congress in 1974 during the Watergate scandal. President Richard Nixon had won the largest popular vote majority in modern history in 1972 (60.7 percent to 37.5 percent). He won every state and territory except Massachusetts and the District of Columbia. Two short years later, he became the first president to resign from office. In an idiotic move, the Nixon Presidential campaign sent five men to burglarize the Democratic National Committee headquarters in the Watergate Hotel. Aside from being a crime, it was idiotic because Nixon was clearly going to win in a landslide. They did not need any information. But the Nixon re-elect campaign had so much money, had hired so many people, and had become so drunk with power that it lost control of what it was doing. The real problem came when President Nixon and his team intervened to try to control the investigation. Ultimately, the President used the CIA, the FBI, and the IRS to try to divert and cover up the involvement of the campaign with the Watergate burglars. John Mitchell became the first attorney general to be sent to jail. He was found guilty of conspiracy, obstruction of justice, and perjury. He was ultimately sentenced to 19 months in a federal minimum-security prison in Montgomery, Alabama. Mitchell is an extremely important parallel to the current disaster, because Attorney General Merrick Garland seems to be doing a lot more obstructing of justice than Mitchell ever dreamed of doing. Garlands Justice Department reportedly instructed the IRS to disband the unit investigating Hunter Bidens taxes. He has used the FBI to harass former President Donald Trump and a wide range of Republicans. And hes turned a blind eye to every report of foreign money going to the Biden family ($3 million in one Chinese transaction, a diamond sent to Hunter Biden, millions of dollars sent by the widow of the Mayor of Moscow, etc.). Garlands also done nothing with the clear references to the big guy in various Hunter Biden emails. Hes ignored the testimony of Hunter Bidens associates that Joe Biden was actively supporting them as vice president. The list goes on. If Nixons White House was trying, unsuccessfully, to manipulate the IRS, the FBI, and the CIA, Bidens White House has become quite good at it. These institutions are now so corrupted that their senior leadership is instinctively willing to break the law, frame the innocent, and obstruct justice in defense of their chosen leader. This includes lying to FISA courts, leaking falsehoods to the equally corrupt elite media, and isolating and punishing would-be whistle blowers. Compare the shock of Democrats and Republicans in the Watergate era with the staunch unwillingness of virtually any Democrat to go after the Biden family scandalsor to be infuriated at the blatant abuses of power and obstructions of justice. The Durham Report had an impact, because it began to build a narrative of such institutional illegality and corruption that the hand of the House Republican investigators has been dramatically strengthened. Over the next few months, we will learn more about just how sick the system has become, just how dishonest the elite corporate media are, and just how deep the need for reform is. In Watergate, a narrow trail of idiotic criminal behavior and cover up led to 69 officials being indicted and 48 going to jail. When the tide turns, and honest people are once again openly enraged and demanding action, we are going to learn just how much corruption there is. At that point, we will realize that Watergate was a modest preliminary venture into lawbreaking, and the Biden-Garland-establishment system is filled with criminality on a grand scale. From Gingrich360.com Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times. Black Lives Matter Donations Plunge 88 Percent Amid Scandals Donations to the national organization for the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement have seen a sharp decline amid several self-enrichment scandals and infighting. Records viewed by The Epoch Times show that the fundraising arm of the organization, Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation, raised just $9.3 million in fiscal 2022 compared with the $80 million or so the group raised in 2020, the year that George Floyd protests and riots rocked cities across the United States. The documents were first obtained and reported on by The Washington Free Beacon. The stunning 88 percent drop in donations comes amid controversy around the groups financial accounting, allegations that organizers used donations to enrich themselves, and a lawsuit from BLM Grassroots that accused the head of BLM Global Network Foundation of stealing more than $10 million. Representatives for BLM Global Network Foundation didnt respond by press time to a request by The Epoch Times for comment. The decline in donations comes as members of the BLM Global Network Foundation have been accused of using the organizations funds on personal expenses, amid other scandals. Personal Piggy Bank In September 2022, Shalomyah Bowers, head of BLM Global Network Foundation, was accused of stealing more than $10 million in donations as fees for on-the-ground work. Bowers was described in a criminal complaint filed by BLM Grassroots, a California-based nonprofit made up of BLM chapters across the country, as a rogue administrator and middle man turned usurper who used BLM Global Network Foundation as his personal piggy bank. While BLM leaders and movement workers were on the streets risking their lives, Mr. Bowers remained in his cushy offices devising a scheme of fraud and misrepresentation to break the implied-in-fact contract between donors and BLM, the lawsuit reads. Bowerss actions prompted the IRS and a number of state attorneys general to lead multiple investigations into the financial accounts of BLM Global Network Foundation, according to the complaint, which states that the BLM movement suffered irreparable harm as a result of Bowerss actions. As of the date of this lawsuit, Mr. Bowers continues to fraudulently raise money from unsuspecting donors passing himself off as the organization that is doing the work of BLM, padding his own pockets and that of his associates at the cost of BLMs reputation, the complaint reads. In a statement, a lawyer speaking on behalf of BLM Global Network Foundation called the allegations against Bowers baseless and completely false and released the results of an independent audit (pdf) to support its pushback. As shown in the independent audit, there has been no siphoning of money by Shalomyah Bowers and Bowers Consulting Firm, Byron McLain, counsel for BLM Global Network Foundation, said while portraying the organization under Bowerss leadership as having charted a path of responsibility. Bowers was hired in 2020 by BLM co-founder Patrisse Cullors, a self-identified trained Marxist who stepped down from her role as executive director in 2021 following criticism over the groups finances and reports of her purchasing four high-end homes for $3.2 million. Patrisse Cullors, a co-founder of Black Lives Matter, speaks in Los Angeles, in a file photograph. (Rich Fury/Getty Images for Teen Vogue) At about that time, the head of BLM Greater New York City, Hawk Newsome, called for an independent investigation to determine how BLM Global Network Foundation spends its money. If you go around calling yourself a socialist, you have to ask how much of her own personal money is going to charitable causes, he told the New York Post. Its really sad because it makes people doubt the validity of the movement and overlook the fact that its the people that carry this movement. Also, the global BLM Global Network Foundation paid $840,000 to Cullors Protection LLC, a security firm owned by Cullorss brother. The organization also sent almost $970,000 to Trap Heals, a cultural architecture firm founded by Damon Turner, who fathered Cullorss child. The two payments were revealed in a tax filing (pdf) known as a Form 990, which marked the first public financial disclosure the BLM Global Network Foundation (BLMGN) provided since incorporating in 2017. Most charitable organizations must file the form with the IRS annually to maintain their tax-exempt status. The foundation hadnt been required to do so while under the fiscal sponsorship of a charity until December 2020, when it became an independent, 501(c)(3) nonprofit. The tax filing shows that BLM had nearly $42 million in net assets as of June 30, 2021. It had about $80 million in revenue through grants, royalties, and other contributions. Roughly $26 million, or about a third of the amount, was dispensed to BLM chapters and organizations advancing BLM, transgender, and environmental causes. Transparency Concerns At the end of 2020, 10 local BLM chapters accused the global foundation of lacking accountability and failing to provide financial transparency. Local chapters also complained of being walled off from meaningful participation in the national arms decision-making processes, including about the establishment of its political analysis and vision, and that they have been consistently prevented from establishing financial transparency. For years there has been inquiry regarding the financial operations of BLMGN and no acceptable process of either public or internal transparency about the unknown millions of dollars donated to BLMGN, which has certainly increased during this time of pandemic and rebellion, they wrote. Following the criticism, BLM Global Network Foundation set up a Transparency Center on its website, stating that the group was embracing this moment as an opportunity for celebration, accountability, healing, truth-telling, and transparency. The group stated that a key takeaway from its Form 990 tax filing and independent audit was that the organization is financially sound while its leaders have been good stewards of donations. It also claimed that scrutiny about its finances from right-wing media outlets was an attempt to sow mistrust in the group and that allegations of financial malfeasance are racist. EXCLUSIVE: British Military: Over 60 Percent of Personnel Facing Serious Sex-Crime Charges Walk Free Analysis by The Epoch Times has shown a high proportion of UK defence force members facing sex-crime charges are walking free from military courts British Army personnel teach members of the Ukrainian armed forces how to operate multiple-launch rocket systems (MLRS), on Salisbury Plain, Wiltshire, England, on June 25, 2022. (PA Media) Just 54 out of 145 British military personnel accused of serious sexual crimes have been convicted, analysis by The Epoch Times can reveal. The figures, taken from official Ministry of Defence (MoD) court martial records, show that as many as 10 members of the military face court each month on sex offences, including sexual assault, rape, and indecent behaviour. Only a few are found guilty, however, with some even being allowed to stay in their regiments or units after being reprimanded. Those accused range in rank from privates right up to the most senior servicemen in the defence forces, which include the army, navy, and Royal Air Force (RAF). The shocking figures appear to back concerns from whistleblowers that rape cases should be moved out of the court martial system. Last week, Parliament heard whistleblower evidence revealing ongoing sexual abuse within the armed services. One servicewoman reported being raped on a basebut was told her attacker would remain with his elite unit, according to written submissions provided to the Commons Defence Committee. Another was said to have been groped and forcibly kissed by a male colleague at a Christmas party before allegedly being told by her chain of command that she should understand things get a little out of hand. Conservative MP Sarah Atherton, chairwoman of the Defence Sub-Committee on Women in the Armed Forces, said the submissions reinforce the groups view that cases of rape and sexual assault within the service should be handled by civilian courts. Almost 10 Court Cases a Month The most recent court martial records of completed hearings within the defence forces system show that from January 2023 to April 2023, 26 servicemen appeared before judges for crimes of a sexual nature. Of those 26 cases, just 9 were found guilty, analysis by The Epoch Times has found. They include a corporal from the 3rd Battalions Parachute Regiment who was found guilty in March of two charges of sexual assault and using threatening, abusive, insulting, or provocative behaviour. He was dismissed from the service and handed a three-year community service order, along with a requirement to attend an accredited treatment course for up to 40 sessions. In March, a sergeant with the armys elite medical unit34 Field Hospitalwas also found guilty of sexual assault, and was dismissed. He was also sentenced to serve an 18-month community-service order with a requirement to complete up to 25 rehabilitation and activity requirement days. In the RAF, a number of service members appeared before the court martial on sexual assault and rape charges. A former sergeant, who had been connected to MoDs purpose-built Abbey Wood complex in Bristol, was found guilty of rape and disgraceful conduct. He was sentenced to six years in prison. However, not all of those convicted of sexual crimes were expelled from the armed forces. Last month, an RAF sergeant appeared before a judge, who found him guilty of sexual assault. His punishment was a reduction in rank to corporal, and 112 days detention. From January 2022 to December 2022, just 45 out of 119 service members facing serious sexual crimes were convicted. This means that 62 percent of those facing rape and sexual assault charges are walking free from court. Undated file photo of the sign for the Ministry of Defence in London. (Tim Ireland/PA Media) Damning Picture Proposals to move rape and sexual assault cases from the military court system were first made in 2021 following a parliamentary report into the experiences of servicewomen, but the MoD rejected the recommendation. Last week, uniformed and civilian clinicians and administrative support staffwho offer care to service personnel and their commandsgave evidence to politicians on the issue. The staff giving evidence were anonymised, as were the personnel their claims related to, the committee said. The case studies painted a damning picture of any progress made to address failures in protecting servicewomen, which were first laid bare by the 2021 report. The MoD introduced new measures after the review, and said last year that its policies will ensure that defence continues to tackle unacceptable sexual behaviour. But Atherton said that despite the willingness to effect change serious problems persist. One servicewoman who was raped was moved across the country against her will to separate her from her attacker, according to the evidence. She was placed in transit accommodation where she would often hear unknown men in the corridor outside her room, and would struggle to sleep, pushing furniture in front of the door and not leaving her room for days due to fears of the men outside her door, the written submission said. The move was presented as a way to facilitate her access to therapy for trauma from the rape, but due to issues in the system, it was more than a year before that happened, staff said. Another case study described a young servicewoman in training (who) awoke in her room on base to find a male member of training staff smelling her underwear; previously, shed woken up to find him watching her sleeping. It added: She describes on another occasion him holding her against a wall and telling her that her real reason to join the service was to get the leg over as much as possible. Few of the case studies involved women reporting incidents through an official complaints process, according to the evidence, but one who did ended up leaving the service with mental health issues while her alleged abusers continue to serve and thrive, the written submissions said. A British Army soldier from the 3rd Battalion, Parachute Regiment, secures the helicopter landing strip (HLS) during operation Southern Beast in Maywand District, Kandahar Province, Afghanistan, on Aug. 6, 2008. (Marco Di Lauro/Getty Images) Serious Failings Among the reforms the MoD unveiled after the initial sub-committee report was the removal of the chain of command from the complaints process. Further measures included a review into strengthened powers to kick out those who are found to have committed sexual offences, and greater independence in the complaints process for bullying and harassment allegations. However, the MoD did not accept a recommendation to move cases of rape and sexual assault out of military courts and into the civilian system. According to the sub-committees 2021 findings, conviction rates in military courts were four-to-six-times lower than in civilian courts. Atherton said: The cases outlined in this evidence are heartrending and demonstrate serious failings within the military justice system and chain of command. Sexual assault and rape are heinous crimes. As this document shows, when these crimes take place in the armed forces, servicewomen often feel they have no option but to put up and shut up. They are often made to feel as though they must choose between justice and their career, while perpetrators of abuse seem to be protected. Atherton said it was almost two years since the publication of the Defence Committees report Women in the Armed Forces: Protecting those who protect us, and that although the MoDs response at the time was largely positive, the damning evidence showed that serious problems persist. It reinforces our view that the complaints system is not functioning as it should be, and that criminal cases of sexual assault and rape must be removed from the Service Justice System and handed over to civilian courts, the MP said. The evidence also speaks to a wider culture of institutional misogyny: looking the other way and discouraging victims from coming forward, with senior personnel hiding behind the excuse of boys will be boys. If we are to tackle these issues at a fundamental cultural level, there needs to be a considered and strategic response led by respected figures within the military, Atherton said. Defence Secretary Ben Wallace in an undated file photo. (Ian Forsyth/PA) Zero-Tolerance Approach Defence Secretary Ben Wallace suggested that in 2021, there had been insufficient evidence to confirm that moving sexual assault cases out of the military courts would improve the systemon top of the other recommendations the ministry had adopted. Wallace said on Thursday that he had not had time to read the latest evidence in full, but insisted that things are changing and getting better in the armed forces. I put a huge amount of effort in adopting Sarah Athertons recommendations, he told a press conference in Northwood. The only one we differed was because there was no real evidence that after all the measures we put in place, that that would somehow make the difference. Responding to whistleblowers evidence given to the committee, an MoD spokesman said the experiences are totally unacceptable. No-one should be subjected to these incidents and any form of sexual assault, bullying, harassment, or discrimination will not be tolerated, the spokesperson said. We want personnel to have the confidence to report offences. Building that confidence in service justice is the reason we launched the independent Serious Crime Unitempowered to investigate crimes anywhere in the worldand have made sure that complaints of bullying, harassment, or discrimination are dealt with outside of the chain of command. The MoD said the measures sit alongside a comprehensive improvement package, which includes a new victim and witness care unit and policy reforms such as a new zero tolerance approach to unacceptable sexual behaviour. The spokesperson said that meant ensuring that anyone convicted of a sexual offence will be dismissed from service. PA Media contributed to this report. California State Agency Paid Analyst $114,000 to Do Nothing at Home During Pandemic: Audit An investigation of hundreds of whistleblower complaints filed with the state auditor has revealed $280,000 in inappropriate expenditures by California state agencies in 2022. Our investigations found wasteful decisions, poor contract oversight, unreported leave resulting in overpayments, misuse of state resources, and attendance abuse, California State Auditor Grant Parks wrote in a letter to Gov. Gavin Newsom on May 18. One unnamed state agency wasted nearly $114,000 in public funds when they paid an analyst to stay home and not work during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the May 18 report. We are not naming the agency that is the subject of this report because doing so may identify or lead to the identification of the individuals mentioned in the report, the report reads. The auditor also didnt provide details about why the employee was on administrative leave. In another case, staff at the California Correctional Health Care Services didnt record 600 hours of a nurses absences, according to the report. The auditors office also found that a state parks and recreation supervisor used a public boat dock to store his personal boat for more than six years, causing the agency to lose up to $36,000 in potential revenue. The California State Parks Department also didnt report about $67,000 in housing benefits as part of the supervisors taxable income that resulted from his living in state-owned housing. The department told the auditors office that it intended to provide training and disciplinary action against the supervisor to ensure that the actions didnt happen again, according to the report. At the California Department of Food and Agriculture, the auditors office found that one of the agencys contractors violated a state conflict-of-interest law by returning to the agency as a contractor within 12 months of leaving a district agricultural association. The office didnt name the contractors association because it may identify the contractor, according to the report. In another case, a psychiatric technician at the California Department of State Hospitals didnt account for employee absences for a total of nearly 400 hours from October 2018 to August 2021. The error cost the state about $12,500, according to the report. The state auditors office also found a supervisor at the California Department of Industrial Relations used a state vehicle to commute from his home to work. The supervisor, who was in charge of controlling access to several other state vehicles, repeatedly misused one of them in his daily commute for three years, driving about 19,600 miles. After reporting the finding, the department issued an invoice to the supervisor in December 2022 for $4,200, which was the most conservative of three cost estimates, the auditor reported. The supervisor was also working to install location tracking systems in its vehicle fleet to prevent future misuse, according to the report. At the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, a water and sewage plant supervisor misused state resources, including a state-owned backflow testing kit, for a private business and used computers to regularly shop online while working. In an investigation, the auditors office discovered that the employee visited more than 3,600 web pages unrelated to his duties on 52 workdays. More than half of the pages he visited were online shopping sites, including Craigslist, Wayfair, eBay, and Costco, the auditor reported. The employee apparently regularly visited online classified listings for comic books and shopped for designer clothing and other products. During the one-year period, the auditors office conducted investigations on 1,269 whistleblower reports. Of those, 855 lacked enough information to investigate. The states Whistleblower Act authorizes the state auditor to investigate and report on substantial allegations by state agencies and employees. From 1993 to December 2022, the auditors office has taken 666 actions related to whistleblower complaints. Twelve of those resulted in convictions, 104 ended in job terminations, 28 employees were demoted, 64 had their pay reduced, 372 were reprimanded, and 38 were suspended without pay, according to the report. The auditors report was sent to Newsom. His office didnt respond by press time to a request by The Epoch Times for comment. BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 22. Armenia is ready to discuss the extradition of two Azerbaijani soldiers, but this process cannot be one-sided, the countrys Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said at a press conference, Trend reports. The Azerbaijani military servicemen Agshin Babirov (born in 2004) and Huseyn Akhundov (born in 2003) went missing due to limited visibility under adverse weather conditions in the border area of the Shahbuz district of Azerbaijans Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic with Armenia on April 10. Later, it was revealed that both of the servicemen were captured by Armenian Armed Forces. On May 8, a court in Armenia passed "a verdict" against Babirov, sentencing him to over 11 years of imprisonment. Canadian Public Pension Fund Investments in China Draw Heightened Scrutiny Investments in China by Canadas largest public pension funds are facing increased scrutiny amid worsening relations between the two countries and allegations that some of those investments are funding the oppression of Chinas Uyghur minority. Recently, representatives of the Ontario Teachers Pension Plan and the British Columbia Investment Management Corporation, which manages the pensions of B.C. public sector workers, told a parliamentary committee studying Canada-China relations that they had paused new direct investment in China because of the increasing risks associated with that country. That pause came amid allegations of Chinese foreign interference in the 2019 and 2021 Canadian elections, and of Chinese state actors allegedly harassing Canadians who oppose the Communist Party. Earlier this month, Canada expelled a Chinese consular official, and China retaliated within hours, expelling a Canadian diplomat and saying that Canada had sabotaged relations between the two nations. But Canadas two largest public pension investorsthe Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and Caisse de depot et placement du Quebecsay they need exposure to the worlds second-largest economy to provide returns for Canadians, but they promise they can invest responsibly in China. Michel Leduc, a senior managing director with the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, says the fund is very cautious about the types of assets that we are acquiring, and the different levels of political and geopolitical riskrather than completely avoiding what will potentially become the worlds largest economy within the next 10, 15 years. The pension plan has 10 percent of its $536 billion in net assets in China. Mehmet Tohti, executive director of the Uyghur Rights Advocacy Project, says Canadians pensions are being invested in companies that benefit from or help enable the Chinese governments persecution of his people. Among the companies, many of them are part of the forced labour supply chain, he said in a recent interview. The UN Human Rights Office said last August that China is committing serious human rights violations against Uyghur people in Chinas western Xinjiang region and called for further investigation into allegations of torture, sexual violence, ill treatment, forced medical treatment, as well as forced labour. The Chinese government maintains it is fighting against terrorism and extremism in the region and operates vocational education centres as part of a de-radicalization campaign. In 2021, the Canadian Parliament voted to describe the treatment of the Uyghur people by the Chinese government as a genocide. Leduc says that while the fund is cautious about investing in China, he recognizes its not easy to trace supply chains when it comes to some products, like solar panels, because much of the worlds supply comes from a specific region in China. According to the United States government, almost half of the worlds supply of polysilicona key material in solar panelsis manufactured in Chinas Xinjiang region, home to the Uyghur people. The U.S. says that several manufacturers of panels have been accused of using forced Uyghur labour. And because most of the worlds solar panel manufacturing takes place in China, its nearly impossible to tell which panels may include polysilicon from Xinjiang, U.S. officials say. The world needs solar panels, you cant walk away from solar panels, Leduc said, adding that the fund wants to work with companies that are doing their best to understand their supply chains, rather than with those who are uninterested in changing. In November, Tohti told the parliamentary committee that Quebecs pension fund manager has invested more than $2 billion in companies associated with the alleged Uyghur genocide or forced labour. Hong Kong Watch, a United Kingdom-based non-governmental organization, says many Canadian pension fund managers are investing in index fundsa basket of various stocks of companiesthat include firms linked to Uyghur forced labour or that have been involved in building internment camps for the oppressed minority. Those pension funds include Quebecs Caisse, the B.C. public sector fund and the Alberta Investment Management Corporation. The Caisse has invested around two percent of its $402-billion portfolio in China. The fund has developed rigorous (environmental, social and governance) criteria for all our investments to avoid investing in companies whose practices violate principles such as respect for human rights, spokeswoman Kate Monfette said in an email, but didnt provide examples. She said a small portion its portfolio is constructed using indexes or managed externally. Sam Goodman, the director of policy and advocacy at Hong Kong Watch, said corporate governance structures arent the same between Canada and China, where the state plays a much bigger role in the economy. Under Chinas own national intelligence law and security laws, these companies, especially the technology companies, are compelled to work hand in glove with the Chinese state and theyre not allowed to disclose to any organization or anybody outside of China the extent of that collaboration, he said in a recent interview. That means companies like multimedia giant Tencent, primarily known for social media applications and video games, may be involved in repression. Tencent, as the owner of WeChat, has been accused by Human Rights Watch of building a backdoor into their software allowing authorities to identify and detain Uyghurs who share religious material, Goodman said. The CPP Investment Board invested more than $1 billion in Tencent in 2016. Leduc told the parliamentary committee that his fund is monitoring that investment very, very closely to continue to understand the risks, including some broader human rights-related dimensions of that investment. B.C.s pension fund has invested in a companythrough an index fundsanctioned by the U.S. for developing an artificial intelligence system used recognize Uyghur people by their facial features. Daniel Garant, a senior vice-president at the fund, told the parliamentary committee that its engaging with index providers to improve what they put in the index. The B.C. fund said in a statement that investments in indexes are necessary because they offer flexibility and required liquidity as part of our diversified portfolio. The Alberta Investment Management Corporation cancelled a recently scheduled appearance before the parliamentary committee and declined to comment, citing the provinces ongoing election campaign. By Jacob Serebrin China Bans Critical Information Structure From Purchasing US Chipmaker Micron Products Micron Technology's solid-state drive for data center customers at a product launch event in San Francisco on Oct. 24, 2019. (Stephen Nellis/Reuters) Chinese authorities on May 21 urged local operators of critical information structure to stop purchasing from U.S.-based chipmaker Micron Technology Inc., citing major security risks while not providing any details. The Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) stated that Micron had failed a security review, which was begun after the United States announced export bans that affected Chinas access to advanced semiconductors. The United States last year imposed sweeping restrictions on access to chipmaking technology to impede Chinas technological and military advances. Advanced semiconductor chips are used to make everything from pickup trucks to hypersonic missiles. Currently, more than 60 percent of the worlds supply of chips is produced in Taiwan, many of them with the help of U.S. research and design. On March 31, Japan imposed export restrictions on 23 types of semiconductor manufacturing equipment, a move that Beijing condemned for weaponizing trade and tech issues and destabilizing the global industrial and supply chains. Japan said that 42 countries, including the United States and Taiwan, would continue receiving the equipment under a simplified export measure. China, which wasnt among them, is subject to stricter controls. Hours after Japans announcement, Chinas cybersecurity watchdog opened a security review of Micron, citing the need to prevent network security risks caused by hidden product problems and maintain national security. Stop Purchasing Microns Products The CAC said its probe found a relatively serious potential network that could threaten Chinas key information infrastructure supply chain and national security, although the agency didnt outline the identified risks nor what Micron products were affected. According to the network security law and other laws and regulations, operators of critical information infrastructure in China should stop purchasing Microns products, the CAC said in a statement. The cybersecurity watchdog didnt require that existing Micron products had to be removed, while noting that all companies must abide by Chinese laws and regulations in order to access the Chinese market. China firmly promotes high-level opening up to the outside world, the CAC stated. In response, a U.S. Commerce Department spokesperson said the United States strongly opposes Chinas restrictions on Micron, which it claimed have no basis in fact. This action, along with recent raids and targeting of other American firms, is inconsistent with [Chinas] assertions that it is opening its markets and committed to a transparent regulatory framework, the spokesperson said. Micron told The Epoch Times by email that the company had received the CACs notice following its review of Micron products sold in China. We are evaluating the CACs conclusion and assessing our next steps. We look forward to continuing to engage in discussions with Chinese authorities, the spokesperson said. G-7 Vows to Reduce China Dependencies The CACs statement came a day after G-7 leaders issued a communique criticizing China for its militarization activities in the South China Sea and human rights abuses in Tibet and Xinjiang. (L-R) Italian Primer Minister Giorgia Meloni, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, French President Emmanuel Macron, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, U.S. President Joe Biden, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen participate in a family photo with G-7 leaders before their working lunch meeting on economic security at the Grand Prince Hotel in Hiroshima, Japan, on May 20, 2023. (JONATHAN ERNST/POOL/AFP via Getty Images) The G-7 leaders said Chinas nonmarket policies and practices distort the global economy. They pledged to foster resilience to economic coercion and counter Chinas malign practices, such as illegitimate technology transfer. They pledged to take steps individually and collectively to invest in their economic vibrancy and reduce excessive dependencies in critical supply chains, according to the joint communique. With a view to enabling sustainable economic relations with China, and strengthening the international trading system, we will push for a level playing field for our workers and companies, the statement reads. We also recognize the necessity of protecting certain advanced technologies that could be used to threaten our national security without unduly limiting trade and investment. The communique was issued after a three-day G-7 leaders summitinvolving the United States, Japan, Germany, the UK, France, Italy, and Canadain Japan, which U.S. President Joe Biden also attended. Andrew Thornebrooke and Reuters contributed to this report. UPDATE: This article has been updated to include comment from Micron Technology. China Has an Edge Over US Naval Power: Expert A group of naval vessels from Russia and China conduct a joint maritime military patrol in the waters of the Pacific Ocean, in this still image taken from video released on Oct. 23, 2021. (Russian Defence Ministry/Handout via Reuters) China has advantages over the United States in naval power in actual combat, according to former Navy Capt. Brent Sadler. I think weve been spending years quietly building up our munitions production capability, but were not there yet for the type of fight that we would be in with China. Then on shipyards, Chinas got massive capacity there, one of their commercial shipyards has more capacity than all of the shipbuilding [of the] United States, Sadler told China in Focus on NTD, the sister media outlet of The Epoch Times. Its a very sad testament of how far weve allowed our shipbuilding industry to fall, said Sadler, a senior fellow at The Heritage Foundation and member of the Center for National Defense. According to the expert, the Chinese military also holds the whip hand over the U.S. military regarding its proximity to home. The Chinese are a lot closer to home. So thats mitigated their ability to load up and replace munitions. They have a vast industrial base. I think they have got an edge on us there, he said. Naval Power Buildup To catch up with the Chinese might, Sadler suggested that the United States build three destroyers. We also know we need Virginia class nuclear submarines, he said. We have a frigate design thats new but stable. So [the] first thing is [to] go ahead and purchase all the ships that you know youre going to buy in the next five years and get the money into the shipbuilders and ship the risk to them so that they can start making capital investments to grow their workforce, to grow their shipbuilding capacity, which were going to need if we get into a fight to repair those same ships in a war, he added. He noted that the plan would face political and legislative challenges as the bill for 45 ships, which he deemed needed for the next five years, would cost up to $150 billion. Edge at Sea As the author of U.S. Naval Power in the 21st Century: A New Strategy for Facing the Chinese and Russian Threat, Sadler said that the United States should be ready in the event of a conflict with both China and Russia. And where that advantage against those two is at sea. Its also where we can actually engage the most countries in the most economic markets, that we need to sustain our own prosperity and our own security, and do it in a way thats very nimble and very, very responsive, but also in a way that we can take the initiative away from the Chinese Communist Party, and things like the Belt and Road Initiative, he said. Tailor Forces Regarding an approach, the expert said that the United States needs to tailor its naval forces and focus on where it can get the largest strategic impact. And so there [are] two decisive theaters that really get inside Beijing and Moscow: strategic thinking and imperative that they have to focus on, and you draw them to the eastern Mediterranean, which includes the Black Sea, and then [the] South China Sea. Thats the peacetime competition, he said. The most dangerous wartime scenario that we need to be ready for is a fight over Taiwan, he added. According to Sadler, to deter the Chinese regime from attacking Taiwan, the United States has to have the ability to monitor Chinese activities as they come from the mainland and into the airspace around Taiwan and the waters around the island. He suggested the United States and its allies maintain a more persistent presence in the Indo-Pacific region. And then, most importantly, our marines and our naval forces in the Philippine Sea need to be conducting operations and exercises more routinely to cause doubt in the Chinese mind as to where we are and what kind of capability we can bring to bear very rapidly should they decide to test us over Taiwan. Chinas Xi Holds Central Asia Summit, Attempting to Challenge G-7: Analysts (L-R) Chinese leader Xi Jinping, Kazakhstan's President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, Kyrgyzstan's President Sadyr Japarov, Uzbekistan's President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, Tajikistan's President Emomali Rahmon and Turkmenistan's President Serdar Berdymukhamedov arrive for the joint press conference of of the China-Central Asia Summit in Xian, in China's northern Shaanxi province on May 19, 2023. (FLORENCE LO/POOL/AFP via Getty Images) China hosted a Central Asia Summit in its historic city of Xian on May 18 and 19, one day before this years Group of Seven (G-7) Summit in Japans Hiroshima from May 19 to 21. The Chinese leader Xi Jinping met with heads of state from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan in one-on-one meetings, touting long-lasting friendship with these former Soviet Union republics. Xian, originally known as Xianyang and Changan, was the capital of several powerful Chinese dynasties, including the Qin, Han, and Tang. It was the starting point of the ancient Silk Road during the Han Dynasty. China analysts believe that Xi intentionally picked Xian to hold the Central Asia Summit as an open challenge to the G-7 summit and as a platform to show his leadership in an international body. Central Asia, also known as Middle Asia, includes the five former Soviet republics and covers a vast region of Asia that stretches from Chinas eastern borders to the Caspian Sea in the west, Afghanistan in the south, and Russia in the north. A strategic passage for Beijing, Central Asia used to be regarded as the backyard of Russia. Chinese freight trains run between China and Europe and crisscross Central Asia. According to state-media Xinhua News Agency, over 1,100 China-Europe freight trains were dispatched from Xian in the first quarter of this year. Beijing is attempting to strengthen its ties with these five countries as Russias influence is waned by its war efforts in Ukraine. Central Asian countries, on the other hand, are looking at China as their new economic and trade source, analysts say. However, the summit, which is limited to Central Asian countries, reveals Xis failure in challenging the West, said China affairs commentator Tang Jingyuan on May 20. Xi Jinping has suffered a significant setback in his regional expansion efforts in East Asia and Southeast Asia. A notable event was when countries such as Japan, South Korea, the Philippines, and others clearly aligned themselves with the United States, effectively forming a blockade against China along the first island chain, Tang said in his YouTube program. As a result, Xi can only instinctively strengthen his rear area, which is Central Asia. Using Each Other for Their Own Ends China has been expanding its influence in central Asia through economic, technological, and cultural cooperation, under the nose of Russia even when Russia had a predominant influence on these countries before the Ukraine war. China and Central Asia are only using each other for their own ends, such as trade relations, said China affairs commentator Li Linyi in an interview with the Chinese language edition of The Epoch Times on May 17. According to Chinese Communist Party (CCP) mouthpiece Peoples Daily, Chinas total trade with the five Central Asian countries reached a record $70 billion last year. The trade in the first four months of 2023 was $24.7 billion, representing an increase of 37.3 percent year on year. Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping attend a Russian-Chinese energy forum during the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) in Saint Petersburg on June 7, 2019. (ALEXEY NIKOLSKY/AFP via Getty Images) China has also invested billions of dollars in developing natural gas resources in Central Asia. By the end of March, Chinas cumulative direct investment in the five Central Asian countries exceeded $15 billion. One of the investment projects is the Central AsiaChina gas pipeline, a natural gas pipeline system from Central Asia to Chinas western Xinjiang region connecting natural gas from Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Kazakhstan to Chinas domestic grid. There are three parallel lines in operation, with a designed annual throughput of 60 billion cubic meters, according to Xinhua. Another China commentator Cai Shenkun noted that central Asian countries rely on China for investment dollars and seek access to Chinas market. These [Central Asian] countries are all Chinas close neighbors, and when Chinas energy procurement capacity and investment efforts tilt towards these countries, they will significantly benefit, Cai told the Chinese language edition of The Epoch Times in an interview on May 17. However, the CCPs investments in the region are causing widespread criticism domestically, as Chinese citizens feel overlooked by the central government. On May 19, Xi reportedly announced providing a total of 26 billion yuan ($3.8 billion) in financing support and grants to Central Asian countries amid Chinas own economic downturn, high unemployment rate, aging population crisis. Among the five Central Asian countries, Kazakhstan holds a dominant position in terms of its economy, accounting for 60 percent of the total GDP of the five countries. Xi Jinping first proposed the Belt and Road Initiative in Kazakhstan in September 2013. President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Joomart Tokayev arrived in Xian on May 17, one day ahead of the heads of the other states. Not Comparable to G-7 Summit: Analyst Despite Chinas efforts to strengthen its ties with Central Asia, Cai believes that the China-Central Asian Summit is incapable of challenging the status of the G-7 Summit. In terms of political influence and economic strength, the Central Asian countries are not on the same level. A crane transfers a container to a train of the China Railway Express to Europe in the Chinese border city of Erenhot, Inner Mongolia Region, on April 18, 2019. (STR/AFP via Getty Images) Feng Chongyi, associate professor of China studies at the University of Technology Sydney, agreed with Cai. The CCPs alliance simply cannot compare with the Western democratic alliance, he said. Amid Chinas increasing aggression, Europe and the United States are changing their China policies of the previous decades, Cai told The Epoch Times. The G-7 leaders discussed the threat posed by Chinas ruling CCP at the summit. The G-7 Hiroshima Leaders Communique released on May 20 outlined up nine points in order to address the risks posed by the CCP. It voiced the concerns among the worlds advanced democracies on the CCPs human rights record, the CCPs military activities in the South China Sea, the stability of Taiwan, and the CCPs coercion in the East and South China Seas. Cheng Jing and Luo Ya contributed to this report. Christian Students Killers Released Unprosecuted as Murder Anniversary Passes US government silent as evidence of Nigerian officials complicity mounts A solemn ceremony for Deborah Emmanuel near the family home in northeast Niger state on May 14, 2022. (Courtesy of Emmanuel Family) The alleged killers of a Christian college student in Nigeria were released in January because Sokoto state prosecutors deliberately refused to show up in court, The Epoch Times has learned. Four days after Deborah Emmanuel was stoned to death at the entrance to Shehu Shegari Teachers College on May 12, 2022, Sokoto police announced that they had apprehended and brought two suspects to court in connection with the slaying. Bilyaminu Aliyu and Aminu Hukunci were presented before a local magistrates court in Sokoto, were charged with incitement and public disturbance, and were later charged with murder. Court papers reviewed by Sahara Reporters show that the accused killers were released at the end of January. Assuming the court documents quoted by media reports are correct, the murder charges against two suspects were struck out for lack of diligent prosecution, Barrister Yakubu Bawa, head of the bar association in Jos, told The Epoch Times. The court hearings began in October 2022 and concluded in January after prosecutors failed to appear in court for five consecutive hearings. From the manner in which the charges were struck out, we conclude that the prosecutors never intended to prosecute the matter, Bawa said by telephone. This is a bad omen for Nigerias Ministry of Justice. It implies that the life of a Christian doesnt matter, and it may portend that Nigerian Christians are now an endangered species. More concerning still is that people are afraid to discuss this miscarriage of justice. News of the high-profile murder case being dropped by Nigerian officials surfaces as media reports document mass killings of Christians by Muslims in the Middle Belt states of Plateau, Nasarawa, Kaduna, and Benue since early April. The government is complicit in the egregious and ongoing religious cleansing, Nina Shea, a legal scholar specializing in international persecution at the Hudson Institute, told The Epoch Times. In the context of religious mass killing that already has taken tens of thousands of Christian lives, the government has blatantly sided with the killers of Deborah Emmanuel by preventing the prosecution of a blasphemy lynching. Father Still Grieving Garba Emmanuel still grieves for his 21-year-old daughter. It still hurts one year later, he told The Epoch Times by telephone. For the week after the slaying, Sokoto was embroiled in anti-Christian riots while Nigerias 100 million Christians recoiled in horror. A mega-church minister intervened to immediately move the Emmanuel family 720 miles to Port Harcourt, the capital of Rivers state, to keep them safe. It is still very saddening to me and my family, Garba Emmanuel texted to The Epoch Times. It is one year since my brilliant and hardworking daughter was killed and burnt by so-called jihadists. The pains wont go away no matter how hard we try. Protests started on May 11, 2022, in Deborah Emmanuels dormitory after she shared a voice message in a class WhatsApp group warning her classmates about the inappropriate use of the group for religious posts, according to multiple sources at Shehu Shegari College. An unidentified man in Sokoto filmed at the slaying of Deborah Emmanuel on May 12, 2022. In the video, the man holds up a matchbox beside her burning corpse. (Courtesy of Oro Yakubu) In the widely circulated voice message at about the time of her murder, an evidently frightened Deborah Emmanuel can be heard saying, Holy Ghost fire! Nothing will happen, emphasizing that the group was intended solely for sharing notifications about class activities. She also used the phrase useless prophets, which some students interpreted as an insult against the prophet Mohammed. Deborah Emmanuel was violently assaulted along with her best friend in the dormitory before some Muslim friends came to her rescue and hid her until the next morning, according to eyewitnesses who spoke to The Epoch Times. She was eventually dragged out of the dormitory and beaten by a mob early on May 12. An unarmed college security officer locked Deborah Emmanuel and her cousin, Josephine, in a gatehouse at the campus exit for their own safety. Up to 200 fellow students and nonstudents besieged the gatehouse for nearly three hours, attempting to set it on fire and savagely beating the security guard who bravely stood in front of the door, according to Deborah Emmanuels uncle, an eyewitness who spoke on background to The Epoch Times. After some hours, the guard, who was badly injured, left the front door of the building. About 50 police officers in uniform and six officers from the Department of State Security stood by without intervening as the mob bludgeoned the two women for several minutes. The mob allowed Deborah Emmanuels cousin to escape but stoned and set fire to her body. Emmanuel said he last heard from his daughter on May 12 at 9 a.m. local time when she called him for help, saying a group of Muslims was attempting to kill her. At the time, the father of seven was 179 miles away in Nigerias Kebbi state, where he lived with his family. When he finally arrived at the scene four hours later, only her charred body remained on the ground where she had been burned. I cant get the picture out of my head. God in heaven will allow revenge for Deborah, he wrote. Shockwaves Around Globe Deborah Emmanuels death sent shockwaves throughout Nigeria and sparked international condemnation. The U.S. government even honored her memory by posting her picture on the website of the U.S. Office of Religious Freedom to mark the fourth U.S. International Day Commemorating the Victims of Violence Based on Religion or Belief on Aug. 22. Yet a year after the lynching, human rights watchdogs are left stunned and saddened by the news that Deborah Emmanuels killers were let go. Nigeria is sliding down the slope of intolerance and bigotry as one religion is seen and promoted as more superior to others, Kyle Abts, president of the International Committee on Nigeria, told The Epoch Times in a text message. Deborah Emmanuels brutal murder was cause for concern in a supposed democratic country that espouses freedom of religion. Yet, when an innocent female student is harassed and murdered for being a Christian amid the Sokoto Caliphate, its as if it were a stain on Nigeria and Sunni Islam. Witnesses who saw exactly which male students carried out the heinous act of stoning Deborah to death and setting her body on fire apparently were threatened and silenced. College Student Who Tracks Elon Musks Private Jet Is Now Targeting Ron DeSantis The college student who tracks Elon Musks private jet on Twitter has now turned his attention to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantiss plane. Jack Sweeney, a University of Central Florida student, has set up a Twitter account with the handle @DeSantisJet to track the movements of DeSantiss government-owned jet. It follows days after Florida passed a new law that would shield the travel records of the governor and other state leaders from being publicly disclosed. However, Sweeney is still able to track the plane using publicly available data from an FAA-sanctioned satellite platform called ADS-B. The technology allows satellites to track aircraft and helps avoid collisions. Sweeneys new account has already started posting DeSantiss movements. The 20-year-old college student told Insider that he set up the account because of the rising national interest in DeSantis, who is a potential Republican candidate for the 2024 presidential election. His @DeSantisJet account issued its first tweet on Friday night, documenting the jets path from Tallahassee to Tampa and back. Sweeney garnered media attention when Musk offered him $5,000 to take down the Twitter account that tracked the movements of his private jet in real-time. However, Sweeney declined the offer, so after Musk took control of Twitter, he suspended the @ElonJet account and threatened to sue Sweeney. In an interview earlier this year with BBC News, Musk said Sweeney was using non-public information combined with public information to track his movements, which arguably constituted doxing. However, Musk did not elaborate on what kind of non-public information he believed Sweeney had used. Since Twitters privacy policy only prevented users from sharing someones live locations, Sweeney created a new account, @ElonJetNextDay, that tracks Musks plane with a 24-hour delay. The DeSantis account follows the same 24-hour delay rule. DeSantis has made headlines over the past few months owing to his ongoing feud with Disney. The Florida governor took over Disney Worlds self-governing district through legislation passed by lawmakers and appointed a new board of supervisors. Disney has accused him of weaponizing the power of government to punish private business. Separately, DeSantis appears very close to announcing his long-rumored presidential candidacy. The Florida governor has indicated he wouldnt announce a presidential bid until after the end of the states annual two-month legislative session. While the session officially ended on May 5, lawmakers still are presenting newly passed bills to his office. One that still hasnt made it to his desk is SB 7050, a lengthy elections bill that, in one small part, clarifies that the governor would not have to resign in order to run for president. And DeSantis has indicated hed need to sign the state budget before announcing a presidential campaign. If DeSantis were to become president, he would be vacating his post as Floridas governor with two years left in his second term. Under Florida law, Lt. Gov Jeanette Nunez would be tapped to serve the remaining two years. On May 15, Bryan Griffin, who had been serving as the spokesman for the governors press office, resigned to become the spokesman for the DeSantis political operation. I believe that Governor DeSantis is the only leader who can see us to victory at this critical moment in American history, Griffin said in his resignation letter. If I can be even a small part of the revival and restoration of our great nation, then I am prepared to give it my all. Dan M. Berger contributed to this report. Depletion of US Munitions Stockpile Due to Ukraine War Will Benefit China: Former Military Officials Military vehicles carrying DF-21D intermediate-range anti-ship ballistic missiles participate in a military parade at Tiananmen Square in Beijing on September 3, 2015, to mark the 70th anniversary of victory over Japan and the end of World War II. China kicked off a huge military ceremony marking the 70th anniversary of Japan's defeat in World War II on September 3, as major Western leaders stayed away. (GREG BAKER/AFP via Getty Images) Two former military officials are sounding the alarm that the depletion of U.S. munitions as a result of Washingtons support of Ukraine could end up benefitting China. This is occurring as the communist regime is modernizing its military posing a grave threat to the United States, they say. Air Force Col. (ret.) Rob Maness, a former bomber squadron commander who served the U.S. military for over 30 years, told The Epoch Times that China is overtaking the U.S. military while the country is unnecessarily distracted with Ukraine, wokeism, and more. Force structure is one of his primary concerns, considering the naval fleet of the Peoples Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) is larger than that of the U.S. Navy. He contends that national security experts in the West underestimate the impact of the size of Beijings navy, deflecting to the superior quality and technology of the U.S. Navy. While thats not necessarily untrue, numbers matter and these [experts] know that numbers matter, he said. They matter in ground forces, they matter in air forces, and they certainly matter in naval forces. In Senate testimony in April, Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro said the Chinese navy will have will increase the size of its navy by nearly 100 ships, moving towards a fleet of 440 ships by 2030. Previously, Del Toro also revealed that by 2028, [the U.S.] will have approximately 291 ships or so. The Epoch Times also spoke to Brigadier General (ret.) Blaine Blaino Holt, a former deputy U.S. military representative to NATO and cofounder of the nonprofit Restore Liberty. He is considerably less concerned about the size and strength of the Chinese navy. For example, he said, reports of a new Chinese aircraft carrier, or supercarrier, have created quite a stir in the media. But these kinds of things are built for Chinese prestige, he said. Yes, theyve got a big blue-water navy with more ships than we do, but how are their ships? he said, adding theyre not that great. They dont have the same firepower we offer [with our naval vessels]. Maness, however, contended that size still matters given that the entire Indo-Pacific theater is navy-centric. If communist Chinas aggression leads to war, he said naval forces will be at the center of it. If this confrontation is imminent, he said, the United States should be focused on increasing the size and capability of its navy. Rising Threat, Depleting Inventory In addition to his concern about the U.S. Navy, Maness also expressed concern about the threat of intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) and nuclear arms. The Chinese have redoubled their efforts to increase that force capacity to come to a more of parity with the United States in these areas, he said. Earlier this year, a congressional notification from U.S. Strategic Command (STRATCOM), which oversees the nuclear arsenal, revealed that China has more intercontinental ballistic missile launchers than the United States. The U.S. must put more effort into increasing our production capability on these, Maness said. Holt agreed, saying, The U.S. should not be focused on the Chinese militarys size and strength. He said, We should be looking in the mirror. In agreement with Maness, he said, Were overly engaged in Ukraine, giving up equipment and munitions. Maness said, I only have access to whats publicly available, but it certainly doesnt look like the United States is doing the things it needs to do to deter China, which on the surface appears to be a near-peer competitor. Even so, he said, I still think theyre a second-grade power in that part of the world, but it is quite clear their goal is to become the great power across the globeand were not doing what needs to be done to deter them. Maness criticized the billions in aid sent by the United States to Ukraine, arguing that Ukraine has never been a vital national interest to the United States. According to him, western Europe under NATO is more than capable of defending itself. To date, the United States has provided $46 billion in military assistance to Ukraine, including drones, tanks, missiles, and artillery, as well as training, logistics, and intelligence support. We keep putting our [U.S.] resources in Ukraine, not just with dollars, but also with our war reserve materials and weapons, Maness said. After the 20-plus year wasted effort in Afghanistan, our war reserve stocks are low, and havent been replenished. According to Holt, Whether someone agrees with our involvement in Ukraine or not, the mathematics is the same. Agreeing with Maness, he said, Were giving up our stocks and ammunition for a war in Ukraine that comes off of 20 straight years of warfare in Afghanistan. In the meantime, he said, China has been happy to have the opportunity to build up its conventional forces while watching us weaken ourselves. Peace Through Strength Like Maness, Holt said wokeism has infiltrated the ranks of the military and the cultural shift is harming service members. At a time when we should be strengthening our own military and guaranteeing victory against any of the nations enemies, were asking [service members] for their pronouns, he said. House Armed Services Committee members Mike Waltz (R-Fla.) and Jim Banks (R-Ind.) recently called attention to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, inquiring about forced participation in sensitivity training that included understanding and respecting others preferred pronouns. Patriots are being called extremists and theyre rooting them out from the militarys ranks, he added. Loving your country is not extremism. Instead of a love for country or the values of the Constitution being taught, he said, the military is pushing divisive race theory-based equity training and policies. Its a dangerous game for the U.S. to do what its doing to itself culturally. Holt said, Patriotic service needs to be something thats honorable again. Its in our best interest to teach our military leadership about the concept of victory, not maintaining little wars all over the world. Its not too late to achieve peace through strength throughout the world, Maness said. Not only must wokeism be brought to an end, he said, we need to be stronger than [our adversaries], and we need to stay stronger than [our adversaries], he explained. We also have to have the political will to use force when its necessary, and thats not something Id expect to see from the Biden administration. What we are seeing while we focus on Ukraine is Russia push more towards China, Maness said. Combine their nuclear forces together, and they absolutely created a very large risk for the United States, NATO, and Indo-Pacific allies. Holt said, If the U.S. is going to be any kind of deterrence, we need to sober up and show some strength. According to him, the State Department needs to start getting interested in diplomacy again. Those are the things that will deter China, he added. The Pentagon did not respond to requests by The Epoch Times for comment. DeSantis Asks That Judge Be Disqualified From Disneys Free Speech Lawsuit ORLANDO, Fla.Gov. Ron DeSantis is asking that a federal judge be disqualified from the First Amendment lawsuit filed by Disney against the Florida governor and his appointees, claiming the jurists prior statements in other cases have raised questions about his impartiality on the states efforts to take over Disney Worlds governing body. DeSantiss attorney filed a motion in federal court in Tallahassee on Friday seeking to disqualify Chief U.S. District Judge Mark Walker from overseeing the lawsuit filed by Disney last month. The lawsuit alleges that DeSantis and his appointees violated the companys right to free speech, as well as the contracts clause, by taking over the special governing district that previously had been controlled by Disney supporters after Disney opposed Florida legislation that critics have dubbed Dont Say Gay. The Republican governors motion was filed a day after Disney announced that it was scrapping plans to build a new campus in central Florida and relocate 2,000 employees from Southern California to work in digital technology, finance, and product development, amid an ongoing feud with DeSantis. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks during an Iowa GOP reception in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, on May 13, 2023. (Stephen Maturen/Getty Images) DeSantiss motion said Walker referenced the ongoing dispute between his administration and Disney during hearings in two unrelated lawsuits before him dealing with free speech issues and fear of retaliation for violating new laws championed by DeSantis and Republican lawmakers. One of those was a First Amendment lawsuit filed by Florida professors that challenged a new law establishing a survey about intellectual freedom and viewpoint diversity on state campuses. Walker, who was nominated to the federal bench in 2012 by President Barack Obama and is now chief judge of the district, tossed out that lawsuit on the grounds that the professors didnt have standing to challenge the law championed by DeSantis and Florida lawmakers. In the first case, Walker said, Whats in the record, for exampleis there anything in the record that says we are now going to take away Disneys special status because theyre woke? In the second case, the judge said, And then Disney is going to lose its status becausearguably, because they made a statement that run afoulran afoul of state policy of the controlling party, according to the DeSantis motion. Disney and DeSantis have been engaged in a tug-of-war for more than a year that has engulfed the GOP governor in criticism as he prepares to launch an expected presidential bid this week. The feud started after Disney, in the face of significant pressure, publicly opposed the state concerning lessons on sexual orientation and gender identity in early grades that critics called Dont Say Gay. As punishment, DeSantis took over Disney Worlds self-governing district through legislation passed by lawmakers and appointed a new board of supervisors. Before the new board came in, the company signed agreements with the old board stripping the new supervisors of design and construction authority. In response, the Republican-controlled Florida Legislature passed legislation allowing the DeSantis-appointed board to repeal those agreements and made the theme park resorts monorail system subject to state inspection, when it previously had been done in-house. Disney filed the First Amendment lawsuit against the Florida governor and the DeSantis-appointed board last month in federal court in Tallahassee, and it landed in Walkers court. The DeSantis-appointed board earlier this month sued Disney in state court in Orlando seeking to void the deals the company made with the previous board. The creation of Disneys self-governing district by the Florida Legislature was instrumental in the companys decision in the 1960s to build near Orlando. Disney told the state at the time that it planned to build a futuristic city that would include a transit system and urban planning innovations, so the company needed autonomy. The futuristic city never materialized, however, and instead morphed into a second theme park that opened in 1982. By Mike Schneider The weathers nice and tables are filling up once again on sidewalks, streeteries, and patios. All smiles and happiness. Well, almost all smiles and happiness. Lets take a moment for a quick refresher about safety. Stuff happens, unfortunately everywhere. Most crimes involving restaurant patrons involve theft a handbag snatched from the back of a chair or a phone lifted from a jacket pocket. The following tips are mostly common sense. Some are from lessons learned. Before You Go Out Consider traveling lightly. Make an inventory of your bag and keep this list at home, with a copy in a file or in the Notes app on your phone. If you have an iPhone, set up Find My iPhone and make sure you have access to your iCloud from another device. Photocopy both sides of your IDs and credit/debit cards. Stash this at home, but do not keep this information on a phone file or app that is not password-protected. Anyone who gains access to your phone would then have your information in one, handy place. Take only the smallest bag truly necessary and only the cash and card you will need. (This also may be a financial tip. But note that credit cards offer fraud liability protections that debit cards do not. A lost debit card is a harrowing experience, while a lost credit card is usually just an inconvenience.) Once Youre Out Be aware of your surroundings. I know we get caught up in the social part, but you have to be aware about whats around you also, said Philadelphia Police Officer Miguel Torres, weighing in at The Inquirers request. That includes who is around you. Thieves sometimes mill around tables, even talking on cellphones to appear as if theyre not up to something. Keep your friends close, and your valuables closer. Dont leave credit cards, phones, wallets or purses on top of tables, where youre not paying attention to them, Torres said. Never, ever hang a bag on the back of a chair. Bags containing valuables should be kept next to you, not on the floor or ground, if possible. Thieves frequently duck down to lift wallets from bags. (The sneakiest of thieves remove wallets, take what they want, and return the wallets to their rightful place. Its only much later, after the credit card has been used, that the victim realizes theyve been used.) Use purse hooks. Many bars install them for customers, but they are found at few outdoor restaurant tables. Ive used a portable hook, marketed as a purse hook, to keep my backpack off the floor and against my leg. If youre also toting a diaper bag or duffel, the floor or ground is probably fine. Consider keeping your handbag on your lap, with a napkin placed over it to keep your bag clean. If the restaurant offers solid-back chairs, place the bag behind your back and lean back to secure it. Is it too obvious to suggest always zipping up bags? Probably not. When you take out your wallet to remove a credit card to pay, keep the wallet in your hand at all times. Return it to your pocket or wallet only after you put the card back in its place. This serves two purposes: Your wallet stays with you, and you will never again leave your credit card behind. (Thats another story.) If You Lose Something First, contact the establishment where you were at, Torres said. You want to enlist as much help as possible to get your property back, he said. File a police report, and notify card companies. If your iPhone is lifted, you may need to suspend or permanently remove the ability to pay from that device with Apple Pay. Your cards will be suspended or removed from Apple Pay even if your device is offline and not connected to a cellular or Wi-Fi network. You can also call your bank to suspend or remove cards from Apple Pay. One More Thing Not every thief works by skulking around. Consider Stacey Shapiros tale. She was sitting at a table when a passerby, acting intoxicated, walked up to her. Holding out her phone, the person asked Shapiro to give her friend directions to the restaurant. Being a nice person and not thinking, I took her phone and explained to the person on the other end. Unbeknownst to me, [the drunk passerby] was stealing my wallet. The thief got Shapiros wallet and relieved her of her credit cards and ID, she said. Not her Costco card, she noted. I canceled my [credit] card before she tried spending $500 at CVS, Shapiro said. I got the notification it was declined. All because I was trying to be a nice person, she said. On the plus side, management reviewed the video footage, she said, and sent her a $200 gift card. Copyright 2023 The Philadelphia Inquirer. Visit The Philadelphia Inquirer at www.inquirer.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. Dr. Gregor J.M. Weber, the art director at the Rijksmuseum, examines the Vermeer painting The Milkmaid in the documentary Close to Vermeer. (Courtesy of Kino Lorber) NR | 1h 18min | Documentary, History, Art | 26 May 2023 (Netherlands) Other than possibly Rembrandt, none of the painters to produce art during the 17th-century Dutch Golden Age is as well-respected and revered by experts and collectors as Johannes Vermeer. Depending on the source, Vermeer created just 40 works between 1654 and 1670. Of those, six are presumed lost or destroyed, and at least one is, again depending on the source, incorrectly attributed. Director Suzanne Raes devotes roughly a third of the running time of the new documentary Close to Vermeer to a debate regarding the authenticity of a single painting: Girl With a Flute. Images of paintings to be exhibited in documentary Close to Vermeer. (Courtesy of Kino Lorber) This often contentious debate between U.S. and Dutch curators is the last in a series of meetings leading up to the main event: a 2023 Vermeer exhibit taking place at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam. This exhibit (in theory) is historic as it will feature the highest number of Vermeer works ever under one roof. The trick is in convincing two galleries in the United States and another in Germany to lend a total of 10 works to the exhibition. Heading up the Dutch contingency is Dr. Gregor J.M. Weber, the art director at the Rijksmuseum, whose obsession with Vermeer began as a teen and has only grown more intense with the passage of time. With his imposing gait, shaved head, and black horn-rimmed glasses, Weber is a hybrid (both physically and in temperament) of Dr. Evil from the Austin Powers flicks, Gru from the Despicable Me franchise, and Col. Klink from the TV series Hogans Heroes. Tenacious and driven, Weber is also somewhat lacking in people skills and the subtler points of art world finesse and deal-making. Regardless of his results, Webers presence in the film adds elements of unintended humor and a level of personality not generally associated with many often brittle and staid documentaries of this ilk. Dr. Gregor J.M. Weber, the art director at the Rijksmuseum, reviews the paintings in the Vermeer exhibit in the documentary Close to Vermeer. (Courtesy of Kino Lorber) Camera Obscura Weber, however, performs a great service by demonstrating a device that has divided Vermeer devotees for centuries: Camera Obscura. With origins dating back to 500 B.C., the 17th-century obscuras were rectangular boxes with triangular tent-like tops and a front lens that projected images to a 45-degree mirror in the back. The mirror would then project captured images onto surfaces (canvases in particular) where artists could trace, or fill in the images with paint. Many contend this is the reason why Vermeers paintings bear an almost photographic, realistic look. Its never been proven with any certainty that Vermeer employed obscura, but in the 2013 film Tims Vermeer, inventor Tim Jenison spent four months, a great deal of money, tools only available in the 17th century, and obscura to reproduce an astonishingly accurate copy of Vermeers impossibly detailed The Music Lesson. U.S. artist Jonathan Janson in the documentary Close to Vermeer. (Courtesy of Kino Lorber) The Technicians Another facet of the film that is both highly entertaining and informative is the time spent in the company of various technicians examining, via X-rays and microscopes, a handful of paintings that go far in debunking the obscura theory. These exercises also aid and, sometimes further confound, experts trying to determine attribution. A passage regarding the origin of a single bolt of canvas used in two different works is particularly illuminating. The arguable highlights of the movie, at least from a human interest angle, are the sections featuring U.S. artist Jonathan Janson. Regarded by practically everyone as the foremost Vermeer expert, Janson brings welcomed emotional heft to the film. Especially moving are the instances where he sees some of the paintings in person for the first time. Janson also discusses plans for a new book about the shameless merchandising of Vermeer and, in particular, Girl with the Pearl Earring, which he regards as crass and in bad taste. The 2023 exhibition, which started in February and ends in June, sold out in near-record time. For those wanting to take a virtual tour, visit: https://www.rijksmuseum.nl/en/whats-on/exhibitions/vermeer. The fascination and obsession with Vermeer show no signs of letting up. Like far too many artists before and after him, he died young (43) while leaving his wife and 11 children penniless. Adding to the legend and mystique was Vermeers complete lack of keeping journals, letters, or diaries. Unlike Rembrandt, who made close to 80 self-portraits, Vermeer did only one that is confirmed, The Allegory of Painting, where he is only seen from behind. Vermeer is and will forever remain an enigma and an anomaly to the art world. Whether by design or not, he left us with just the work, charging us to complete an impossible-to-solve portrait of the man. An historic exhibit with greatest number of paintings by Vermeer is presented in Suzanne Raess documentary Close to Vermeer. (Courtesy of Kino Lorber) The film is presented in Dutch and English with English subtitles. Close to Vermeer opens on May 26 at the Quad Cinema in New York City with release nationally to follow. Close to Vermeer Documentary Director: Suzanne Raes Running Time: 1 hour, 18 minutes MPAA Rating: Not Rated Release Date: May 26, 2023 Rating: 4 out of 5 BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 22. The Deputy Head of the State Service for Mobilization and Conscription for Military Service, Lieutenant-General Zaur Abdullayev was dismissed on the basis of the decree of the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev dated May 20, 2023, the State Service told Trend. By another decree of the President of Azerbaijan, Azer Mammadov was appointed deputy head of the State Service for Mobilization and Conscription. Mammadov served for a long period in various senior positions in the internal affairs bodies. Durham Report: Jim Jordan Says Everythings on the Table When Asked About Opening Probe Into Clintons Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) speaks during an on-camera interview near the House Chambers during a series of votes in the U.S. Capitol Building in Washington on Jan. 9, 2023. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images) House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) said Sunday that the committee is going to take a good, hard look at individuals highlighted in the recently released Durham report and that nothing is off the table in terms of potential probes. Jordan made the remarks in an interview on Fox News, in which he was asked about pursuing new investigations in light of special counsel John Durhams report, which found that the FBI dropped four criminal investigations into former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton ahead of the 2016 presidential election. The long-awaited Durham report (pdf) showed that the FBI began investigating claims in late 2014 that two foreign governments were trying to make illegal donations to buy influence during Hillary Clintons presidential campaign. Later, three different FBI field offices launched probes into the Clinton Foundation for possible criminal activity. Durham found that all the criminal investigations into the Clintons were later shut down by senior officials, with agents cited in the report as saying that the probes lingered as investigators were tippy-toeing around Clinton because they thought she would become the next president and they were scared with the big name [Clinton]. Former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton speaks during a panel at the Vital Voices Global Festival in Washington on May 5, 2023. (Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times) At the same time, Durham found that the probe into former President Donald Trump should have never been launched and faulted the FBI for using a different standard compared to the Clintons in weighing whether it should open an investigation into Trump. Following the release of the Durham report, several Republicans called for the investigations into the Clintons to be reopened, while Jordan was asked during the Fox News interview whether he thought any individuals named in the report should be subject to a congressional inquiry. Are there people that were highlighted in the Durham investigation and the Durham report that we need to talk to on the Judiciary Committee? Were going to give that a good, hard look, Jordan told Fox News host Maria Bartiromo. Nothing is off the table, he added, because it is critical the American people understand how their governmenttheir agencieshave been turned on them, the taxpayer, and we get all the facts out there. Jordan added that there would be talks with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) on where to proceed from here. The Epoch Times has reached out to the Clinton Foundation with a request for comment. Special counsel John Durham arrives at federal court in Washington on May 18, 2022. (Teng Chen/The Epoch Times) The Durham Report In 2019, Durham was tasked with investigating the origins of the FBIs probe into allegations of collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia to sway the 2016 election. A year later, then-Attorney General William Barr appointed Durham as special counsel on the investigation, which culminated in the recently released report. In the report, Durham faulted the FBI for various flaws in pursuing surveillance of the Trump campaign ahead of the 2016 presidential election, while concluding that the agency should never have launched its investigation into alleged collusion between Trumps campaign and Russia. Durham said there appeared to be anti-Trump bias on the part of some FBI agents intimately involved in the matter, who he said had a predisposition to launch the probe, which eventually became known as Crossfire Hurricane. The special counsel also found that the FBI relied too much on unvetted investigative tips from Trumps political opponents and did not rigorously analyze the information it received. He concluded that neither U.S. nor the Intelligence Community appears to have possessed any actual evidence of collusion in their holdings at the commencement of the Crossfire Hurricane investigation. At the same time, Durham found that the FBI used a different standard when considering investigating allegations of election interference by then-candidate Hillary Clintons campaign. The FBI responded to the Durham report hours after its release with a statement that acknowledged missteps in its investigation into alleged TrumpRussia ties. Trump said in statements on social media that the FBI probe into alleged links between his 2016 presidential campaign and Russian operatives was part of a criminal and treasonous plot to overthrow his presidency. Former President Donald Trump speaks at the National Rifle Association Convention in Indianapolis, on April 14, 2023. (Michael Conroy, File/AP Photo) Egregious Abuse of Power Two Republicans who have announced their bids for the White House in 2024Vivek Ramaswamy and Perry Johnsonboth said theyre glad the Durham report came out and were sharply critical of the FBI for its handling of the TrumpRussia probe. Although I am running for president as a Republican alternative to Donald Trump, I am thrilled that our former president has been rightfully exonerated by report findings, Johnson told The Epoch Times. We must unite against corruption and celebrate when truth prevails. Ramaswamy told The Epoch Times in a statement: Enough is enough. Root out the corruption and shut down the FBI. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has also weighed in on the Durham report, demanding accountability from weaponized federal agencies that he accused of egregious abuse of power in manufacturing a false conspiracy theory about TrumpRussia collusion. The Durham Report confirmed what we already knew: weaponized federal agencies manufactured a false conspiracy theory about Trump-Russia collusion, DeSantis wrote on Twitter. It reminds us of the need to clean house at these agencies, as theyve never been held accountable for this egregious abuse of power. While DeSantis has not officially announced his candidacy for the 2024 presidential election, there are signs hes preparing to run. Meanwhile, Trump said the findings of the Durham report prove the existence of a plot on the part of his political opponents to interfere in the 2016 election. The Durham Report spells out in great detail the Democrat Hoax that was perpetrated upon me and the American people, Trump wrote on Truth Social. This totally illegal act had a huge impact on the Election, the former president added, describing it as the Crime of the Century. FBI Admits to Missteps The FBI said in a letter to Durham (pdf) that it agrees with the flaws the special counsel identified in his report, while detailing a series of steps to identify shortcomings and prevent similar errors in the future. In a statement responding to Durhams report, the FBI said that the missteps identified by the special counsel could have been prevented if the dozens of corrective actions that have since been implemented at the agency had been in place back in 2016. This report reinforces the importance of ensuring the FBI continues to do its work with the rigor, objectivity, and professionalism the American people deserve and rightly expect, the FBI said. Some of the reforms the FBI has since implemented include, according to its letter to Durham, installing more rigorous requirements for applying for surveillance; requiring personnel training for surveillance applications; updating agency guidelines on vetting confidential human resources; requiring additional approval for opening sensitive investigative measures; and expanding its internal oversight and auditing programs. The FBI also said that the questionable conduct uncovered in Durhams report occurred under the previous leadership and that all the senior executives overseeing the TrumpRussia probe have left the agency. Elon Musk Praises Tim Scotts Political Ad Ahead of Senators Announcement Monday Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) speaks at the Iowa Faith & Freedom Coalition in Clive, Iowa, on April 22, 2023. (Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times) Twitter and Tesla owner Elon Musk praised Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) for his message of simple truths, after the South Carolina senator filed paperwork to run for president in 2024. In a 30-second video released on May 19, Scott warned how children are growing up in a culture where everyones a victim and youngsters need to be taught the importance of individual responsibility. If you are able-bodied, you work. If you take out a loan, you pay it back. If you commit a violent crime, you go to jail, Scott said to an audience in the video. Can I get an amen? Im telling you the truth. Musk shared the video in a Twitter post on Friday and wrote, Great statement by @votetimscott! The senator responded to Musks post by writing This is our mission! and told the Twitter chief that well save you a seat on Monday! 2024 Bid On Monday, Scott is expected to formally announce a 2024 White House bid in a rally at his alma mater Charleston Southern University in North Charleston, South Carolina. In a statement late Sunday, Scott asked people to tune in to his Monday event, which will be broadcast online, during which he will make a special announcement. Tomorrows the big day, yall, Scott wrote on Twitter. Im living proof that America is the land of opportunity, not a land of oppression. But thats not just my story, its all of our stories. Im ready to get to work, will you join me? Senator Tim Scott (R-S.C.) speaks at the Iowa Faith & Freedom Coalition in Clive, Iowa, on April 22, 2023. (Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times) Last month, Scott formed an exploratory committee, which allowed him to raise money while weighing a White House bid. In a video announcing the committee, Scott said he would never back down in defense of the conservative values that make America exceptional. [President] Joe Biden and the radical left have chosen a culture of grievance over greatness. Theyre promoting victimhood instead of personal responsibility and theyre indoctrinating our children to believe we live in an evil country, Scott added. When I fought back against their liberal agenda, they called me a prop, a token, because I disrupt their narrative. I threaten their control. On May 19, the Federal Election Commission published records showing that Scott had filed paperwork for a 2024 presidential bid. A principal political committee, Tim Scott for America, was named in Scotts filing. If Scott enters the 2024 race, he would be the second Republican presidential hopeful from South Carolina, following former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley. The former ambassador to the United Nations from 2017 to 2018 announced her candidacy in February. Other major Republican 2024 challengers include former President Donald Trump, former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, biotechnology entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, and conservative radio host Larry Elder. Great Personal Story Other potential GOP candidates include Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former Vice President Mike Pence, and former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie. At least one GOP senator has chosen to endorse Scott for president. In an interview with Washington Examiner last week, Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) said he has told Scott that he would endorse him. I think he is the closest to [former President] Ronald Reagan that youre going to see, Rounds said. Hell bring our country together. He cares deeply about making the right decisions, Rounds added. I believe he will build a good team. Hes got a business background. Hes got a great personal story, and he understands and he truly cares about people. Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) questions Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen during the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee hearing titled The Financial Stability Oversight Council Annual Report to Congress, in Dirksen Senate Office Building on May 10, 2022 in Washington. (Tom Williams-Pool/Getty Images) Meanwhile, 11 GOP senators have chosen to endorse Trump, including Sens. Steve Daines (R-Mont.), Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.), Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Mike Braun (R-Ind.), Ted Budd (R-N.C.), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.), Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.), Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.), Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.), and JD Vance (R-Ohio). According to a recent RealClearPolitics aggregate of polls, Trump was leading other GOP presidential hopefuls with 56.3 percent of support, followed by DeSantis at 19.4 percent, Pence at 5.6 percent, Haley at 4.3 percent, Ramaswamy at 3.6 percent, and Scott at 1.8 percent. According to a January survey (pdf) by the Trafalgar Group polling 1,078 likely voters in the South Carolina GOP presidential primary, Trump was in the lead with 43.4 percent of support, followed by DeSantis (27.8 percent), Scott (14.3 percent), and Haley (11.6 percent). Expert Panel Upholds Ruling Against MP Who Breached COVID Rules Scottish National Party (SNP) MP Margaret Ferrier speaks in the House of Commons, London, on Oct. 28, 2020. (Parliament TV) Independent MP Margaret Ferrier has lost her appeal against a proposed 30-day suspension from the House of Commons. Ferrier, who was elected as a Scottish National Party (SNP) MP in December 2019, was suspended from her party after admitting she had travelled on a train between London and Scotland in September 2020despite having tested positive for COVID-19. In August 2022, Ferrier pleaded guilty to breaching COVID-19 rules and admitted culpably and recklessly exposing the public to the risk of infection, illness, and death. She was subsequently ordered by a court to complete a 270-hour community payback order. The Commons Standards Committee in March recommended that Ferrier should be suspended for 30 days, but she appealed against the decision. On Monday, an Independent Expert Panel dismissed her appeal, saying that none of the grounds had substance and that the sanction imposed was neither unreasonable nor disproportionate. Commuters walk past a bus stop with a government message about COVID-19 tier 4 restrictions urging people to stay home, in London, on Dec. 29, 2020. (Tolga Akmen/AFP via Getty Images) MPs will now be asked to vote on whether the 30-day sanctionwhich is being imposed because her behaviour also breached the House of Commons Code of Conductshould go ahead. Under Parliament rules, a by-election can be held if an MP is suspended for 10 sitting days or more. For this to happen, however, 10 percent of registered voters in the constituency need to sign a recall petition. Recklessness Dismissing Ferriers appeal, the Independent Expert Panel said of the Scottish MP: She acted with blatant and deliberate dishonest intent. She acted with a high degree of recklessness to the public and to colleagues and staff at the House of Commons. She acted selfishly, putting her own interests above the public interest. There could therefore be no lesser sanction for this conduct. Ferrier had argued that the proposed 30-day ban amounts to double jeopardy, since she has already been penalised by the court. But the Independent Expert Panel said there is no double jeopardy here, as the criminal proceedings and the workplace disciplinary proceedings are quite different. The report went on to describe her as being dishonest, pointing out that she failed to inform the Parliamentary test-and-trace team of her positive COVID-19 test result, and did not tell the SNP chief whip. The panel stated: Ms. Ferriers failure was not a single misjudgement, but a series of deliberate actions over several days. At a time when others both across the country and within the Parliamentary community, made significant sacrifices in order to follow the rules and guidance during the COVID-19 pandemic, the report said, Ferrier knowingly exposed others to risk. By-Election Leaders of major Scottish political parties have agreed that a by-election should now be held in Ferriers Rutherglen and Hamilton West constituency. Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar appealed to Ferrier to step down from her post. At every single stage of this process, Margaret Ferrier has done the wrong thing, Sarwar said. She has one final chance to do the right thing and resign as the local MP and allow the people of Rutherglen and Hamilton West to have a fresh start and elect an MP thats on their side. Scottish Liberal Democrat deputy leader Wendy Chamberlain MP said: At a time when so many Scots were staying home to keep themselves and others safe, Margaret Ferrier acted with real recklessness. Todays news takes us one step closer to a recall petition and a long overdue by-election. An SNP spokesperson said: There must now be a by-election in Rutherglen and Hamilton West, which the SNP has been calling for since Ms. Ferriers COVID rule breach first came to light in 2020. Chris Summers and PA Media contributed to this report. FBI Whistleblower Says FBI Retaliation Left His Family Homeless From left to right: Suspended FBI special agent Garret OBoyle, former FBI agent Steve Friend, and suspended FBI agent Marcus Allen during a hearing in Washington on May 18, 2023. (Alex Wong/Getty Images) An agent described by House Republicans as an FBI whistleblower said that the bureau retaliated against him and left his family homeless. The FBIs leadership, Special Agent Garret OBoyle alleged, retaliated against him after he was moved to the Virginia area from Kansas. He said that after the move, because of the alleged FBI actions against him, he and his family were rendered homeless after he was placed on unpaid suspension. As I testified, I had been selected for a new specialty unit in the Quantico region. And one night after we sold our house and had our youngest daughter and began to move across the country, when I reported for duty on that first day, I was promptly suspended, OBoyle told Fox News in a Monday interview. And that is really when the retaliation began. The FBI has denied claims that the bureau retaliated against individuals who divulged internal information about the agency. An FBI spokesperson on Monday told The Epoch Times that the bureau has no additional comment on OBoyles allegations. The FBIs mission is to uphold the Constitution and protect the American people. The FBI has not and will not retaliate against individuals who make protected whistleblower disclosures, an FBI spokesperson said in a statement to multiple news outlets, including The Epoch Times, about the recent whistleblower disclosures. In the latest interview, OBoyle said he was stuck in a purgatory-like state while awaiting federal recourse and his family was figuring out what to do day by day, and he doesnt plan on resigning. However, he offered a caveat: I wont be able to do this forever, but for now, were going to keep trying to fight the good fight and shine a light in the darkness that the FBI continues to try to hide. Last week, the House Judiciarys Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government released a report saying that OBoyle was reassigned to a different department, prompting him and his family to move to Virginia. When he arrived on the first day, he was placed on unpaid, indefinite suspension, effectively making his family homeless and depriving them of personal belongings, including his young childrens clothing, according to the report, which added that the clothing was kept in storage by the agency. Their report alleged that his testimony reveals that the FBIs partisan leadership is currently engaging in a purge of agents who hold conservative beliefs. He also said Monday the FBIs leadership is filled with rot and described the management as a ten-headed snake. I wont hold my breath there because Im sure they are going to ramp up the pressure to try to get rid of me even more now, OBoyle remarked. But were just going to take it step by step, and trust in Gods providence for us and my family and for this nation. Refutation Last week, Democrats dismissed OBoyles and the other whistleblowers testimony, calling the hearing another attempt by Republicans on the committee to assist former President Donald Trump. This select committee is a clearinghouse for testing conspiracy theories for Donald Trump to use in his 2024 presidential campaign, stated Rep. Stacey Plaskett (D-Virgin Islands), a non-voting member of the House who is the ranking member of the committee. Another member of the committee, Rep. Daniel Goldman (D-N.Y.), a former House impeachment lawyer, questioned both Friend and OBoyle about allegations of whether they received donations from former Trump official Kash Patel. My wife had lost her job and it was Christmastime. So I dont think that accepting charity is something I was proud to do, FBI Special Agent Stephen Friend said in response. I think that any sort of allegation that I gave up a very lucrative career in order to accept a donation several months later from an individual who Ive never met in my entire life is quite frankly laughable. While the FBI hasnt issued a lengthy refutation to specific claims made by the whistleblowers, former FBI Assistant Director for Counterintelligence Frank Figliuizzi, a frequent critic of Trump, criticized Jordan and the whistleblowers in an MSNBC interview. What Jim Jordan was going to do was put out a fictional account, right, [that] these poor, pathetic employees have lost their jobs because they merely expressed contrary opinions to the deep state FBI, he told the outlet. In my 25 years at the bureau, including positions as chief inspector and a chief of an [Office of Professional Responsibility] internal affairs unit, I have never seen this much come out, and it shows the absolute disgrace that these employees have made of their roles and their missions. Feds Need to Act on Intelligence Briefings, Not Establish More Agencies Commentary We are an odd nation. We aspire to be many things, to be included in multilateral fora, to be noticed. We want to be seen as important, as not Americans. Maybe that is partly a consequence of having the United States next door and feelings of inadequacy/fear. As Prime Minister TrudeauPierre, not the current versiononce put it: Living next to you is in some ways like sleeping with an elephant. No matter how friendly and even-tempered is the beast one is affected by every twitch and grunt. So we tryhard. We are active in the U.N. and are a member of the G7 (despite the fact that we were an afterthought in all honesty when the G5 expanded to its current structure). We see ourselves as differenta country that matters and punches above its weight. But do we? We certainly did at one point, during World War II for example when our armed forces played a huge role in the victory over Nazi Germany and its allies. Alas, those days have gone. We do not even meet the NATO goal of 2 percent spending on defence, and our much-vaunted role in U.N. peacekeeping is a mere shadow of itself (we currently rank 66th and are in a tie with The Gambia). The same goes for intelligence. Despite our inclusion in the so-called Five Eyes club (the other members are Australia, New Zealand, UK, and U.S.) we do not invest nearly enough resources (human and financial) in our spy agencies and, which is worse, we dont pay attention to what they have discovered. This lack of commitment has been front and centre of late over the discovery of significant Peoples Republic of China interference in our country. True to form, the Trudeau government not only misrepresented what it knew about this threat to our sovereignty (is there any more serious challenge than a foreign nations attempt to influence our elections?) but has reacted in a very strange way. Rather than acknowledge that agencies like the Canadian Security Intelligence Service have been doing their jobs by providing timely intelligence on these issues and thanking them for their efforts, the current government has been in denial over the problem and chosen to blame CSIS for not doing enough. Furthermore, in the face of this blatant interference in our democratic process, the powers that be have decided to create yet another body (a foreign influence transparency agencyis that the best name these mandarins could come up with?) to do what in effect CSIS has been doing for more than three decades. And, given the track record of multiple governments in pretending there is nothing to see here and hence no need to act, why should Canadians have any confidence that this new bunch will be any more successful in getting the governments attention? This is yet another bad decision by a series of officials and is consistent with innumerable mistakes on this issue (note that CSIS has had a mandate to investigate foreign interference under section 2b) of its act since 1984!). What the Trudeau government should have done, in my humble opinion, is the following: 1. Acknowledge that the appropriate intelligence was in fact provided and ignored; 2. Vow to fix how intelligence is passed up the chain so that in future politicians and senior mandarins cannot say they had been kept in the dark; 3. Ensure that CSIS is adequately staffed to fulfill its mandate. The chance of any of this coming to pass is next to nil. We have yet to hear what former governor general David Johnston will say on whether an inquiry is required to see what was missed on this file (do we really need another inquiry?). Whatever happens, it is unfortunate that the government is again making the wrong moves. And the PRC (and perhaps others) will continue to have virtually free rein to pursue their own interests in Canada to the detriment of all. It is past time to fix this mess. Let CSIS et al. do their jobs and listen to what they have to say. Incorporate intelligence into decision-making in a more robust way. Stop pretending that all is well. Canadians deserve better. Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times. Financial Institutions AMP and MLC Fined Millions for Breaching Customers Trust The head office building of AMP Ltd, Australia's biggest retail wealth manager, is seen in central Sydney, Australia on Oct. 28, 2016. (David Gray/Reuters) Australias Federal Court has issued AMP Group with a $24 million (US$16 million) fine for charging over 2000 deceased customers life insurance premiums and advice fees for nearly a decade. Additionally, the court has also fined MLC $10 million (US$6.6 million) for failing to pay benefits to nearly 120 injured or disabled customers it had promised to cover from its rehabilitation programs. The federal watchdog, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), made the announcement on May 19 after reaching settlements between the insurance company and the regulator. Originally formed in 1849 as the Australian Mutual Provident Society, AMP Limited is a retail wealth management and banking business that operates in Australia and New Zealand, with wealth management platforms in Australia that offer superannuation, retirement and investment products. The AMP Australian banking sector offers customers home loans, deposit and transaction accounts but does not provide credit cards or business or corporate banking services. MLC is part of the Insignia Financial Group, which is one of the largest wealth managers in Australia, where the Insignia Financial Group provides services to around 2 million clients. MLC provides investments and superannuation to corporate, institutional and retail clients and retirement solutions. AMP and MLC both self-reported the violations and admitted to misconduct after failing to issue refunds or benefits to impacted customers, breaching the trust of customers in the process. ASIC will continue to take action against insurers who arent acting in accordance with their duty of utmost good faith towards their customers, ASIC Deputy Chair Sarah Court said in the media release. Charging Dead Customers Life Insurance Four companies that are or were under the AMP Group breached the law and received more than $600,000 (US$399,000) in life insurance premiums and advice fees from superannuation accounts of deceased customers. Of the $600,000 AMP received, over $500,000 (US$330,000) in insurance premiums were from superannuation accounts of deceased customers, with at least $350,000 (US$230,000) charged between May 2015 and August 2019. Meanwhile, over $100,000 (US$66,000) in advice fees were charged from deceased customer accounts, with at least $75,000 (US$50,000) between May 2015 and August 2019. The federal court found all four AMP companies had breached their obligations as Australian financial services licensees to act efficiently, honestly and fairly. However, only two of the four were ordered to pay. AMP Life Limited, which is now part of the Resolution Life Group, was penalised $18 million (US$12 million), and AMP Financial Planning Proprietary Limited was penalised $6 million (US$4 million). AMP reported it has already remediated approximately $5.2 million (US$3.5 million) to more than 10,000 customers from 2011-2019. The remediation was completed in May 2020. AMP Life Limited and AMP Financial Planning admitted that they accepted the insurance premiums and advice fees, even though there were reasonable grounds for believing that they were not able to supply the insurance or advice. AMP Superannuation Limited and NM Superannuation Proprietary Limited had breaches that did not include a civil penalty. Justice Hespe described the conduct of AMP as very serious, wrongful behaviour. The deceased members affected were vulnerable, obviously unable to monitor their accounts and were entirely reliant on the representatives of their estates, Hespe said. The beneficiaries of those estates involved individuals who may be expected to have been emotionally vulnerable and unlikely to be familiar with the terms of a policy not issued to them or on their behalf. With AMP assuming there were no systemic issues, Hespe added that the lack of oversight and executive management awareness of the issue was part of the problem, which resulted in a failure to have a process in place that was capable of identifying, investigating and remediating systemic issues for many years. AMP Group General Counsel David Cullen said in a media release that even with the strong progress in becoming a customer-focused and purpose-led organisation the incident is not reflective of the AMP we are today. Cullen said AMP has apologised to all those affected and has been working with ASIC to remediate the estates of affected customers. We have made significant changes to our systems and processes in recent years designed to prevent this from recurring, Cullen said. Disabled Customers Left Out Meanwhile, the federal court found MLC had not paid 119 injured or disabled customers after it promised to compensate them before they signed up for approved rehabilitation programs. ASIC reported that MLC staff were not adequately trained and did not have clear systems in place to communicate to customers regarding their policy, policy schedules and premium notices. MLC also did not have enough processes to review and update its medical definitions for critical illnesses in certain policies. ASIC reported that MLC paid $11.8 million (US$7.8 million) to approximately 1,000 impacted customers. The corporate watchdog also found that the insurers definition of severe rheumatoid arthritis wasnt updated to keep up with the current standards, which would have resulted in customers suffering from the condition being denied the insurance coverage; while other customers were not mailed their policy statements properly, reported AAP. Customers should be able to trust that their insurer will pay the benefits promised to them and keep them properly informed if there are changes to their policies, the court said. The failings recognised by the Court are the result of poor governance, poor controls and poor systems, such as legacy IT systems. MLC customers deserve to have their insurance policies administered properly. The court also ordered MLC to publish an ad outlining its misconduct on its website. Florida to Base Public Bathroom Rules on Biological Sex A gender neutral sign is posted outside a bathrooms at Oval Park Grill in Durham, N.C., on May 11, 2016. (Sara D. Davis/Getty Images) Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has signed legislation that will require the use of public bathrooms and changing facilities to be based on biological sex. CS/HB 1521 (pdf), succinctly titled, Facility Requirements Based on Sex, was approved by the Florida House on an 8036 vote, and the Florida Senate by 2612. The measure strictly prohibits anyone from willfully entering restroom or changing facility designated for the opposite sex and refusing to depart when asked to do so. It applies to all restrooms and changing facilities in K-12 educational institutions, detention facilities, locker rooms, and all public buildings. The measure also provides requirements for exclusive use of domestic violence centers by gender as well as correctional institutions, and requires entities that receive state licenses to submit compliance documentation. In addition, CS/HB 1521 authorizes the state attorney general to bring enforcement actions. The law does, however, provide exceptions for individuals born with certain genetically or biochemically verifiable disorder of sex development. To prevent confusion, Facility Requirements Based on Sex defines Sex as the classification of a person as either female or male based on the organization of the body of such person for a specific reproductive role, as indicated by the persons sex chromosomes, naturally occurring sex hormones, and internal and external genitalia present at birth. According to the new law, any person who willfully enters a restroom or changing facility designated for the opposite sex in K-12 educational institutions, detention facilities, locker rooms, or any public buildingand refuses to depart when asked to do socommits the offense of trespass as provided in s. 810.08. The Trespass in structure or conveyance statute (s. 810.08) clarifies that, if someone else is in the restroom or changing facility at the time the offender trespassed, attempted to trespass, or was in the structure or conveyance, the trespass in a structure or conveyance is a misdemeanor of the first degree, punishable by a definite term of imprisonment not exceeding 1 year. The new law takes effect on July 1. On that date, any person who believes a covered entity failed to meet the minimum requirements for restrooms and changing facilities may submit a complaint to the Attorney General (AG). Should the charge be valid, the covered entity would be subject to penalties, which may include the revocation of licensure or some other regulatory disciplinary action. The AG may also bring a civil action and/or seek injunctive relief. If it is determined that a covered entity willfully violated the law, the AG also may seek to impose a fine of up to $10,000. At a May 17 press conference in Tampawhile celebrating the passage of five Let Kids Be Kids bills, described by Democrats as anti-LGBT legislationDeSantis said the measure ensures womens safety and requires that covered entities must have separate facilities for men and women based on biological sex. A woman should not be in a locker room having to worry about someone from the opposite sex being in their locker room, he said, adding, We want to make sure that our girls and our women are protected. The collection of bills dubbed the Let Kids Be Kids package was signed into law, according to a May 17 statement, GOP Miami Mayor Francis Suarez Praises Dem NYC Mayor Eric Adams for Illegal Immigration Stance Republican Mayor of Miami Francis Suarez praised his Democratic New York City counterpart, Mayor Eric Adams, for being outspoken on how the influx of illegal immigrants is impacting Adamss jurisdiction. Im actually quite proud of Mayor Adams from New York for standing up and talking about how this is impacting the city of New York, Suarez said in an interview with CBS Newss Face The Nation on Sunday. I mean, he has to focus on crime reduction and instead, you know, you see images of police officers helping people in the classic Roosevelt Hotel find housing. And so, you know, these officers should beand youd want them to befocused on reducing crime and instead, have to deal with this migrant crisis which, as youve said, should be a federal issue. Earlier this month, Adams said President Joe Bidens administration bears some of the responsibility for his citys struggles in dealing with incoming illegal immigrants. Adams appeared on the same Sunday CBS News program just minutes before Suarez, where he discussed the impact U.S. immigration policies have had on New York City. You said that the president and the White House have failed New York City and that you dont have access to federal dollars to deal with the migrant crisis, but the administration reportedly has pledged $30 million to deal with those arrivals. Why the discrepancy? CBS host Margaret Brennan asked Adams. I dont think thats a discrepancy. Weve spent over a billion dollars, Adams replied. Were projected to spend close to $4.3 billion, if not more. This estimate was based on a number of migrants coming to the city, and those numbers have clearly increased. We received, in several days last week alone, over 900 migrants on days over two weeks ago, approximately 4,200 in one week. When you look at the price tag, $30 million comes nowhere near what this city is paying for a national problem. While Adams said New York City has received $30 million in federal support for this particular issue, Suarez told Brennan hes not aware of any federal support for Miami. We checked to see if we had gotten any help from FEMA, it turns out we have not, Suarez said. It is a migrant crisis in our city as well. Just in the last two months, the Coast Guard has processed 408 migrants on our coast. Just last year in our public school system, we had over 14,000 new children, 10,000 of which came from four countries: Cuba, Nicaragua, Venezuela, and Haiti. And thats the equivalent of five new 2000-student schools. And thats a tremendous burden on our system. Other Cities, Towns Should Share Illegal Immigrant Burden: Adams Part of the reason New York City is seeing so many new illegal immigrants is that Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has been bussing illegal border crosserswho have been released from federal custody into the United Statesfrom Texas border communities to other parts of the country. Abbotts bussing strategy has sent these illegal immigrants to so-called sanctuary cities, which do not cooperate with federal immigration authorities that might arrest or deport illegal immigrants. New York City is one such self-declared sanctuary city targeted in Abbotts bussing strategy. Adams has criticized this bussing program and has tried to start his own decompression strategy of sending illegal immigrants from New York City to neighboring areas of New York State. Abbott has said his bussing strategy has shone a spotlight on the hypocrisy of sanctuary cities that balk at the prospect of having to actually take, and share responsibility for, illegal immigrants. On Sunday, Adams told CBS that hed prefer to see the burden of sheltering and caring for illegal border crossers dispersed more evenly throughout the country. We have 108,000 cities, villages, towns. If everyone takes a small portion of that and if its coordinated at the border to ensure that those who are coming here, to this country, in a lawful manner [are] actually moved throughout the entire country, it is not a burden on one city, Adams said. We received over 70,000 migrant asylum seekers in our city: 42,000 are still in our care. If this is properly handled at the border level, this issue can be resolved while we finally get Congress, particularly the Republican Party, to deal with a comprehensive immigration policy, he added. Title 42s End Federal, state and local officials have been preparing for months in anticipation of the end of Title 42a pandemic-era authority that allowed border officials to turn away and expel migrants from the United States for public health reasons. Prior to the end of Title 42, the Biden administration implemented a travel policy (pdf) similar to one seen under President Donald Trump, which disqualifies immigrants from applying for asylum in the United States if they didnt first seek protection in countries they passed through on their way to the United States. The Biden administration has also developed a parole program that allows immigrants to enter and work in the United States for up to two years. The Biden-era rules state that those who still ignore the border and cross illegally will be expelled and disqualified from future entry under the parole program. Some officials had anticipated that the expiration of the Title 42 authority would lead to a surge in traffic at the U.S. border. According to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the number of migrants encountered at the southern border fell by about 50 percent in the first three days after Title 42 expired compared to the traffic in the days leading up to the end of the policy. Last week, DHS Assistant Secretary for Border and Immigration Policy Blas Nunez-Neto said its still too early to draw firm conclusions about post-Title 42 immigration and border security trends. From NTD News Government to Review Heat Pumps After Noise Concerns The government will oversee a review to address if the widespread adoption of heat pumps might result in excessive noise burdens if many of them are fitted in residential areas. Talking at the House of Lords Science and Technology Committee last Tuesday, Rebecca Pow, minister for environmental quality and resilience, said The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs [Defra] raised the issue of noisy heat pumps with the Department for Business and Trade. Heat pumps are part of the governments strategy to reach net zero carbon emissions by 2050, with a target of 600,000 heat pumps installations by 2028. Of course, while Defra is responsible for protecting the environment and this area, an awful lot of the levers are in other departments, said Pow. A lot of them are conducting their own research. We highlight the issues to them, and a good example of that would be heat pumps and the business department, Pow said. There is obviously a proviso in favour of those things from that department, but we have highlighted the issue of noise and now it has commissioned a piece of work and research on the impacts of the noise, she added. The findings of the review are to be published in the summer. Heat Pumps Heat pumps, which run on electricity and work like a fridge in reverse to extract energy from the air or ground, operate at around 40 decibels and can get up to 60 decibels, about as loud as a refrigerator to an air conditioner. Mike Foster, CEO of the industry body representing gas heating specialists The Energy and Utilities Alliance, told The Epoch Times he believed it would be wrong to just look at the noise of an individual heat pump. But to look at the collective degrees of every house in a neighbourhood having a heat pump being on at the same time because there are different prospects to the noises, he said. It wont be just 50 decibels, it will be 200 homes on an estate emitting 50 decibels and what that might do to the neighbourhood and cumulative background noise, he added. Last year The Institute of Acoustics published a briefing note that they have the potential to cause significant adverse effects to people living nearby. In 2022, the UK Noise Association submitted evidence to the government that said that any measures to decarbonise heat in homes should take full account of the noise impact they may have. It warned that pressure to meet a 2024 deadline will mean the installation of heats pumps could cause noise disturbance in a situation similar to the last Labour Governments rush to get onshore wind turbines installed. This, it said, resulted in many turbines which have caused people very real noise problems being given the go-ahead. Net Zero The UK has signed into law a policy to achieve net zero by 2050 with the Conservative government setting out a strategy called Build Back Greener to decarbonise all sectors of the UK economy. According to its Heat Pump Investment Roadmap strategy, released in April, reducing the UKs carbon emissions to Net Zero by 2050 means it must decarbonise the heating of over 30 million homes across the UK in a little over 25 years. The government claims that a heat pump can reduce carbon emissions by up to 70 percent compared with a gas boiler. It plans to phase out the installation of new and replacement natural gas boilers by 2035 at the latest. Last year the government allocated 450 million to the scheme, which will cover around 90,000 households. Environmental activists have called for the scheme to be extended. The UKs Climate Change Committee projects that by 2050 all heating in British homes will be provided by low-carbon sources, of which 52 percent will be heat pumps. If it is extended to cover all 23 million homes currently using a gas boiler, the scheme could cost 115 billion, according to a study conducted by the TaxPayers Alliance (TPA), a UK pressure group campaigning for a low-tax society. Very Rare A Department for Energy Security and Net Zero spokesperson told The Epoch Times by email that heat pumps are a proven means of decarbonising heat in homes and businesses across the UK, replacing gas boilers which are less efficient. We are determined to upgrade heating systems across the country, expecting uptake to rise and fully confident our target of 600,000 heat pumps installations by 2028 will be met, he said. These are located outside the home and typically have sound levels similar to a fridge, he added. Issues with noise emissions from them are very rare and technological advances mean heat pump models have become quieter over time, he said. House Committee Recommends Foreign Agent Registry Amid Concerns of Chinese Interference in Canada A gavel is seen ahead of a House of Commons committee meeting on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on April 11, 2022. (Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press) Amid Chinas increased assertiveness in global affairs and reports of its interference in the domestic affairs of Canada and other countries, a House of Commons committee report is putting additional pressure on the government to create a foreign agent registry to address the threat. The report, published May 17, notes Beijings increasingly assertive stance in global affairs, along with its intrusions in the domestic matters of other nations, which have prompted many countries to reevaluate their relationship and policies toward the regime, the Special Committee on the CanadaPeoples Republic of China Relationship (CACN) said in a news release. Titled A Threat to Canadian Sovereignty: National Security Dimensions of the CanadaPeoples Republic of China Relationship, the report addresses key national security topics, including the safeguarding of Canadians from foreign interference, preventing threats to Canadas democratic institutions and elections, defending intellectual property and research, enhancing cybersecurity, combating organized crime and money laundering, addressing global health governance threats, and scrutinizing the PRCs intentions in the Arctic. The committee put forward a set of 34 recommendations, including one that highlights the need for a foreign agent registry. Such a registry, which would aim to counter foreign interference by enhancing transparency in Canadas dealings with foreign actors, would require individuals and entities to publicly declare any contracts or remuneration with a hostile state, or any entity affiliated with that hostile state, as determined by the federal government. Witnesses who testified before the committee have emphasized the potential benefits of a foreign agent registry, the report said. Cherie Wong, executive director of Alliance Canada Hong Kong, said increased transparency provided by such a registry would enable the public, businesses, school boards, and MPs to make informed decisions about partnerships, particularly during election campaigns, where it could help identify potential foreign actors among volunteers. Canadians dont really understand foreign state actors and dont really know who they are, Wong testified before CACN on May 31, 2021. This is why we need a transparency scheme: to point out who they are, to point out these organizations who are receiving funding from state actors. After knowing that information, Canadians can make informed decisions. Cherie Wong, executive director of the Alliance Canada Hong Kong, testifies before the House of Commons Committee on CanadaChina Relations on May 31, 2021. (parlvu.parl.gc.ca/Screenshot via The Epoch Times) Notably, the requirement that individuals declare their affiliations with hostile states to the foreign agent registry would also apply to former public office holders, the committee recommended. This recommendation coincides with recent testimony from Christian Leuprecht, a professor at the Royal Military College of Canada, who told MPs that elite capture, particularly by China, is a significant challenge for Canada. Elite capture refers to the practice of corrupting or favouring a small group of influential individuals in key political, academic, business, or cultural positions, enabling control over their actions and decisions. Elite capture by China, both by pecuniary interests as well as companies and law firms that are related to elite capture I believe this is the major reason for significant resistance and active lobbying against a foreign agent registry that has been proposed, he testified at the House of Commons Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs meeting on May 11. Interference There have been mounting calls for Ottawa to establish a foreign agent registry, after a number of news reports in recent months revealed the Chinese Communist Partys (CCP) comprehensive interference operation in Canada, including but not limited to its attempts to meddle in the 2019 and 2021 federal elections. A Global News report published in November 2022 said intelligence officials had warned Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and several cabinet ministers that the CCPs interference includes giving covert funding to at least 11 candidates in the 2019 federal election. A Globe and Mail article, citing top-secret documents from the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, also showed Chinas attempt to influence the outcome of the 2021 federal race to ensure the return of the Liberals and the defeat of certain Conservative candidates that Beijing deemed unfriendly to China. Map of the 30 countries where Chinese police have established 54 known 110 Chinese overseas police stations. (Courtesy of Safeguard Defenders) Media reports also revealed the CCPs infiltration in Canada includes the creation of several secret police stations, the violation of Canadian territories with surveillance balloons and spy buoys, and its spying on and intimidation of Chinese Canadians, Falun Gong adherents, Uyghurs, rights advocates, and Chinese dissidents. Concerns about the CCP ramped up after the Globe reported that a Chinese diplomat, Zhao Wei, threatened Tory MP Michael Chongs family over introducing a motion condemning the regimes oppression of Uyghurs. Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly subsequently declared Zhao persona non grata, which Beijing retaliated against by expelling Jennifer Lynn Lalonde, consul in the Canadian consulate in Shanghai. A survey conducted by Nanos Research last December shows that nearly 90 percent of Canadians support the creation of a registry of foreign agents. Policies Adopted by Allies Some of Canadas allies, such as the United States and Australia, have established foreign agent registries. BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 22. The development of the net zero economies could also bring Lithuanias and Azerbaijans economies closer. Our confidence today is boosted by the magnificent energy transition within the last decade. It allowed Lithuania to become the first European country to completely stop imports of Russian energy supplies including oil, electricity, and natural gas, President of the Republic of Lithuania Gitanas Nauseda said on May 22 at the opening ceremony of the Azerbaijani-Lithuanian Business Forum in Vilnius, Trend reports. "Currently, there is an approach to the economic models based on low fixed price energy to be generated from renewable resources both onshore and offshore. That will strongly increase the competitiveness of our manufacturing and services sectors. Azerbaijans businesses are welcome to join in and reap the benefits," he said. Irans UK Spies Threatened to Kidnap Journalists Children A BBC Persian reporter said the threat was among a number she received from the Tehran regime Iranian spies working in the UK threatened to kidnap the children of a female journalist, she has alleged. BBC Persian reporter Rana Rahimpour was told that Tehran operatives in Britain would target her young children during school pick-up time, she has revealed. The Iranian-born London journalist said she was also threatened with rape and beheading over her reporting of activities in Iran, including protests in the wake Mahsa Aminis death. She is one of a number of journalists and UK-based individuals who have been warned that their safety is at risk after MI5 said that Iran has attempted to carry out 15 kidnap and death plots in the country since the start of 2022. Speaking on the podcast Londongrad: Irans Hit Squads Rahimpour said she can no longer live a normal life in London as she remains under threat by Iran. That is the moment I realised, OK, my life in London that I used to think was safe, is no longer the same. I no longer go to Iranian events, I dont go to concerts. I dont go to Iranian supermarkets on my own because at this stage we have to try to stay safe as much as we can of course. Speaking of the moment she was told her children would be targeted by Iran, she told the podcast: They said if they want to hurt me, one way to do it is to rearrange childrens pickup and kidnap your kids. And they said its very easy for them, for the operatives. Other things like if you receive post, you have to double check before you open any post, things that you dont even think about. Anti-Iranian government activists hold a vigil outside Downing Street in London, on Jan. 10, 2020. (Peter Summers/Getty Images) 2 Hours to Get Out In February, London-based news station Iran International was forced to suspend its operations after counterterrorism police told its news director that they could no longer be protected within the UK. The stations staff and journalistswho have also faced serious threats from Iranwere forced to move the news channel to Washington, D.C. The Home Office is currently looking for a secure location for the station to return to and continue broadcasting within the UK. Iran International News Director Aliasghar Ramezanpour received two threat-to-life warnings from the Metropolitan Polices counterterrorism team, which works with MI5. He told of the moment specialist police said the station could no longer safely work in Britain owing to threats from a foreign state. It was exactly 4:30 p.m. that I received a call from our security saying that we need to stop operation in the building and we need to ask everyone to leave the building, he told the podcast. I received many messages from journalists, our team, whats happening? The level of concern that they have. They had concerns about their families and about themselves. Ramezanpour said his staff were given just two hours to vacate the building. He was unable to allay staff concerns that their families, also in the UK, were also targets. He added, It happened in Iran 20 years ago, and when it happened here in London, I was thinking whats happening? Speaking in November, MI5s Director General Ken McCallum gave a rare public statement on the threat Iran posed to the UK. He said: Iran projects threat to the UK directly through its aggressive intelligence services. At its sharpest, this includes ambitions to kidnap or even kill British or UK based individuals perceived as enemies of the regime. Weve seen at least 10 such potential threats since January alone. The UK will not tolerate intimidation or threats to life towards journalists, or any individual living in the UK. Demonstrators at Trafalgar Square in London on Sunday Jan. 8, 2023. The protest against the Islamic Republic in Iran followed the death of Mahsa Amini. (Aaron Chown/PA) A Plot a Month Since then, the security services have confirmed that they have foiled at least five more violent plots by the Iranian regime. The figures amount to at least one assassination or abduction attempt a month in the UK by the hostile state. Matthew Dunn, a former intelligence officer at MI6, said he believes that the real figure of Irans attempts to silence its critics in Britain is actually far higher. I would, if anything, suggest thats quite a low number compared to the reality, he told the Londongrad podcast. I would suggest that the reason that this seems as though its a new thing is probably in part to do with a tentative step towards a little bit more openness from MI5. And so youre seeing some information coming out that otherwise wouldnt have done previously. But the numbers youre giving me do not surprise me at all, and as I say, I think probably theyre on the low side. In September last year, Irans morality police arrested young Sunni Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini for allegedly not wearing her headscarf properly. While in custody, she fell into a coma and died three days later. When the authorities claimed she died of natural causes, protests erupted across Iran with many held by BritishIranians in the UK. BBC Persian was one of the first outlets to interview Aminis father. Rahimpour told podcast presenter Paul Caruana Galizia how during the live telephone interview, Amini fathers phone line was tampered with, to the point the journalist could no longer carry on with the interview. So specifically since the protests that started after the death of Mahsa Amini the threats increased, she said. But since her death and the protests and specifically my role in the coverage of those protests, wiretapping was completely new. And its likely that it happened before but another scenario is that Iran got the capability more recently to do that, because theyre very close with Russia and China and theyre constantly exchanging technologies and surveillance technologies. So it seems that they are getting better and better at organising these attacks. Candles and pictures of Mahsa Amini are placed at a memorial during a candlelight vigil for Mahsa Amini who died in custody of Irans morality police, in Los Angeles Sept. 29, 2022. (Ringo Chiu/AFP via Getty Images) Malign Activity Caruana Galizia, whose mother, Maltese journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, was murdered by a car bomb in 2017, suggests that the UK has become soft on Iran. He accused Britain of tolerating the regimes malign activity in a hope that it will liberalise and become a more stable partner in the Gulf. He added: In the same way that it held onto the hope that Russia would democratise its politics and liberalise, now that Irans problems have changed, its targets in Britain have changed. The threat in Britain is no longer from political dissidents but from Iranian journalists who broadcast in Persian. Britains Minister for Security Tom Tugendhat has come under mounting pressure from fellow Tory politicians to proscribe the military arm of Iran, suspected of being behind the threats, assassination, and abduction plots. However, he has so far failed to commit to outlawing the terror-linked Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. The Epoch Times previously revealed how at least 14 foreign sanctioned commercial and financial institutions linked to the Iran regime have bases in the UK. Oil companies, insurance firms, and even consultancy servicesall blacklisted by the United States over terror fearscurrently operate out of a number of central London premises. The presence of the Tehran-linked companies was described as a huge concern by experts who said the British government is waning in its response to serious security fears raised over Irans UK outposts. Jeffrey Epstein Tried to Blackmail Bill Gates, Microsoft Co-Founder Says Sex offender Jeffrey Epstein attempted to blackmail Bill Gates, one of the wealthiest men in the world, the co-founder of Microsoft has said through a spokesperson. Epstein tried unsuccessfully to leverage a past relationship to threaten Mr. Gates, a spokeswoman for Gates told The Wall Street Journal. Gates has acknowledged meeting with Epstein, who pleaded guilty to soliciting a minor for prostitution in Florida in 2008 and was accused of trafficking young girls, multiple times. The newly revealed extortion attempt came about after Gates entered into an affair with Mila Antonova, a Russian bridge player, the Journal reported. Epstein paid for Antonovas software coding education and later asked Gates for reimbursement, according to the paper. Gates didnt pay Epstein, the spokeswoman said. Mr. Gates had no financial dealings with Epstein, she said. A spokesperson for Gates didnt respond by press time to a request by The Epoch Times for more information. Antonova has discussed in public how she met Gates during a bridge tournament. I didnt beat him, but I tried to kick him with my leg, she said in a video posted in 2010. Antonova wanted to start a bridge teaching business and was connected to Epstein through Boris Nikolic, a Gates adviser, according to documents obtained by the Journal. Nikolic and Antonova both told the Journal that they met with Epstein. Nikolic said he regretted meeting with Epstein. Antonova said she wasnt aware of Epsteins criminal past. I just thought he was a successful businessman and wanted to help, she said. When Epstein agreed to pay for the software coding school, he said he was doing so because he was wealthy and wanted to help people when he could, Antonova said. Epstein died in federal prison while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges. Days before his death, which was ruled a suicide, he named Nikolic as a backup executor in a new version of his will. Nikolic said he wasnt informed of the decision before the change was made and, following Epsteins death, refused to serve as an executor. He couldnt have listed Bill because that would have been too obvious, so he chose me, he told the Journal. I have come to believe it was likely a retaliatory move against Bill Gates. Then-President Bill Clinton welcomes Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell to the White House in a 1993 file image. (William J. Clinton Presidential Library) Multiple Meetings Epstein was also connected to a number of other prominent people, including theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking, CIA Director William Burns, LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman, and former Barclays CEO Jes Staley. He also distributed funds to various institutions, including Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Gates was scheduled to meet with Epstein more than six times, including during dinners at Epsteins luxury townhouse in New York, the Journal reported. Gates also flew on Epsteins plane in 2013, flight records show, and attended multiple events, such as the Edge Dinner, at the same time as Epstein. Gates, whose foundation has poured millions of dollars into public health efforts around the world, has said that the meetings were driven by a desire to obtain more money for the efforts. I made a mistake in judgment that I thought that those discussions would lead, literally, to billions of dollars to global health, Gates said during a conference in 2019, several months after Epstein died. He also said that any people with a reputation spending time with him probably gave him an undeserved sense of being back in the mainstream or not being a pariah. Gates said again on CNN in 2021 that he hoped to raise billions of dollars for philanthropy through the dinners. When it looked like that wasnt a real thing, that relationship ended, he said. But it was a huge mistake to spend time with him, to give him the credibility of being there. There were lots of others in that same situation but I made a mistake. Gates wrote in one email after meeting with Epstein that his lifestyle is very different and kind of intriguing although it would not work for me. Gates and his longtime wife, Melinda Gates, announced in 2021 that they were divorcing. Melinda Gates later said Bill Gatess relationship with Epstein played a role in the split. I did not like that he had meetings with Jeffrey Epstein, she said. Melinda Gates said she met with Epstein once to see who he was. And I regretted it from the second I stepped in the door. He was abhorrent. He was evil personified. I had nightmares about it afterward, so, you know, my heart breaks for these young women, because thats how I felt, she said. And here, Im an older woman. My God, I feel terrible for those young women. It was awful. Bill Gates said later on NBC that he should have listened to his wife: Melindas advice was sound, and I should have followed it sooner than I did. John Robson: Expect More CSIS Leaks Given Blairs Inadequate Response to Latest Beijing Interference Allegations Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness Bill Blair rises during Question Period in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Nov. 27, 2020. (The Canadian Press/Justin Tang) Commentary The disintegration continues. The latest revelation about the Trudeau Liberals blindness to Chinese election meddling is that then-public safety and emergency preparedness minister Bill Blair took months to grant CSIS a warrant to monitor election activities by former Ontario cabinet minister infamous for his links to communist China. And they still have no idea how to respond. As my former Sun News colleague Alex Pierson tweeted, Either they are complicit or incompetent. Everyday it is another jaw dropper. To which I responded, Of course they could be both. And certainly, incompetence is playing a key role. As Ive written elsewhere, perhaps just Twitter, their immediate problem is that things are OODA control. OODA being an invention of military strategist John Boyd, a United States Air Force colonel, standing for Observe-Orient-Decide-Act. And Boyds point, since widely adopted including in places like management education that may not inspire confidence, is that if events are happening faster than you can manage this response process, you spiral into disaster. A classic example is the spring 1940 Fall of France. A combination of factors from arrogance to disdain for modern communications technology to old-tyme ineptitude left French commanders reacting to where German forces had been several days ago, not where they were now until the latter became Paris and the reaction was We surrender. Its also surprisingly common in political scandals, especially involving traditionally successful parties and people. Caught off balance, they apply outdated responses to situations they never catch up with and, like fuddled generals, send vital forces into positions where they are predictably cut off and destroyed. Here the Liberals were hit by a Globe and Mail story bluntly saying Michael Chan has for years been a national-security target of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service because of alleged links to Chinas Toronto consulate and association with proxies of Beijing and CSIS regarded Mr. Chan as a national-security target and sought a section 21 warrant under the CSIS Act in early 2021. But Blair waited four months to sign off, too late to monitor the long-time Liberal Party kingpin in the 2021 election. The Globe reported back in 2015 that CSIS was giving security briefings on Chan in Ontario. That Dalton McGuinty and Kathleen Wynne both happily included him in their cabinets anyway shows how complacently Canadian Liberal politicians wink at Beijings subversion. As did Blairs pompous statement that this latest story was nonsense, and it was beneath his dignity to say why but he was marvellous so we should all just move along. Specifically, lest you think I paraphrase unfairly, the reporting by The Globe and Mail is factually incorrect. I will not and cannot comment on specific cases, however, during my time as Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness, all warrant applications were reviewed with due diligence. They were signed expeditiously. No warrant application ever took as long as four months for approval. The signing of a warrant under the CSIS Act is a very serious matter and further operational questions should be directed to CSIS. Apparently Winston Churchill did not actually say, I know of no case where a man added to his dignity by standing on it. And rightly not, because if you are accused of something most people are convinced you would never stoop to, you can glare it away. But what happens if you once enjoyed the benefit of the doubt but have squandered it and dont realize it? OODA dear. Youre in a world of hurt. The Liberals are. With problems erupting on many fronts, I wrote in The Epoch Times two weeks ago, their early May national convention theme should have been Still progressive, but older and wiser, not Only enemies could criticize our brilliant leader. But they still dont get it. Its inside the loop for them. Thus Blair tried the Canadian Jedi mind trick that has worked well in Laurentian circles for years: You citizens dont need to see that information. But we do, and we know it. As my Postmedia colleague Brian Lilley retorted acidly, and rapidly, I seem to recall standing feet from @JustinTrudeau a few years ago when he said, The allegations in the Globe story this morning are false. If Blair had said Im sorry, this story was substantially true and part of our fumbling this whole file badly, he could credibly have claimed they were now taking serious action. Instead he went nyah nyah go whistle at CSIS for details, not grasping that CSIS has been reduced to leaking this stuff to the press for months because they cant get the Liberals to take it seriously, and that his response guarantees theyll feed us more jaw-dropping details, still inside the Liberals OODA loop. Thus the disintegration will continue until Ottawa falls. To the citizens, not China, I hope. Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times. Kari Lake Appears Confident as Maricopa Election Trial Ends Arizona Republican candidate Kari Lake said that Maricopa County did not perform signature verification on hundreds of thousands of early ballots during the November midterms, but the county said that it did. After a three-day trial concluded last week, Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Peter Thompson will now issue a decision to determine whether Lake and her lawyers were able to prove their case, although the judge did not say when. It came after the Arizona Supreme Court ruled that the signature verification issue could go to trial. Today, in court, we proved how messed-up the ONLY security feature (signature verification) on mail-in ballots is, Lake wrote on Twitter last week as the trial concluded. Early voters in Arizona must sign an affidavit on the ballot envelope that says they are registered to vote in the state. Those signatures are one of several security measures for mail-in ballots. Lake sued Katie Hobbs, the current Democrat governor along with Secretary of State Adrian Fontes and Maricopa County election officials, requesting last years election results be thrown out or that she be declared the victor. Election data shows that Lake was behind Hobbs by about 17,000 votes. Lakes lawyers say there was a flood of mail-in ballots in Maricopa County 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. Maricopa County has a failed process for verifying thousands of ballot signatures that even some of its own workers question, her attorneys argued in court Wednesday. Lakes lawyers spent most of the trials first day showing video and taking testimony from two previous signature screeners who alleged election workers were overwhelmed. Theres simply no way to review signatures with respect to procedures, said Kurt Olsen, one of Lakes attorneys, according to The Associated Press. Based on Maricopa County data that was analyzed by expert witness Erich Speckin, Olsen said that approximately 274,000 ballots out of 1.3 million cast were compared and signature verified, purportedly, in less than three seconds a ballot. 70,000 in less than two seconds a ballot. Olsen said that based on the county data that Speckin analyzed: approximately 274,000 ballots out of 1.3 million cast were compared and signature verified, purportedly, in less than three seconds a ballot. Seventy-thousand in less than two seconds a ballot. Thats not signature comparison as defined by Arizona statute. Bill Gates, chair of the Maricopa Board of Supervisors, speaks about voting machine malfunctions at the Maricopa County Tabulation and Elections Center in Phoenix, Ariz., on Nov. 9, 2022. (Olivier Touron/AFP via Getty Images) But Maricopa Attorney Thomas Liddy, in his closing arguments, rejected Olsens conclusion based on those calculations during last weeks trial. Theres no competent, mathematical calculation whatsoever to conclude that a sufficient numbereven one ballotwas improperly counted, let alone that theres a sufficient number of votes improperly counted so as to affect the elections outcome were even rendered uncertain, he said. He also contended that Lake has proven that our election process in Arizona is neither a joke nor a fraud. It works, it works well, and Arizonans can vote and be confident their vote will be counted. I ask this court to again reconfirm Miss Hobbs election as governor. Speckins data, he added, were never admitted into the evidence. Respectfully, this court should not consider those numbers when determining if Lake and team had met her burden of proof, Liddy said, according to reports. Not a single witness came before you and said that a single ballot pack was not reviewed for signature verification. Speckin never said 274,000 ballot packets were not reviewed, he said. Also during the trial, Olsen suggested Maricopa County lacked transparency after two of Lakes witnesses testified that there were only 24 signature reviewers working the midterm election. There were only three level two reviewers, they said, according to reports. Reynaldo Rey Valenzuela, the Maricopa County director of elections, said that there were more than 150 people reviewing signatures. However, that raises even more questions, Olsen suggested. Why was this all done behind closed doors? Olsen said about the additional workers. That is the secret army that Maricopa County employed. 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 were 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 have alleged that 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, saying she presented no evidence that voters whose ballots were unreadable by tabulators at polling places were unable to vote. Last weeks trial is the second one that has been brought in Lakes election-related challenge. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Leaked Letter Adds to Debate Over EncroChat Evidence Campaigners against the National Crime Agency's use of data hacked from EncroChat by French police protest outside the Old Bailey in London on May 27, 2022. (Chris Summers/The Epoch Times) A leaked letter from a French magistrate to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) about the potentially unlawful hacking of an encrypted phone network has been released. Campaigners are pushing for tests to be carried out to prove their claim the encrypted network, Encrochat, was hacked in a live intercept operation, which could lead to hundreds of convictions being overturned. Between March 2020 and June 2020, French police managed to compromise EncroChat, which stored data at the OVH server in Roubaix, near Lille. Data was passed to Britains National Crime Agency (NCA), which launched Operation Venetic, which has led to more than 1,000 individuals being convicted of offences ranging from possession of Class A drugs to firearms offences and conspiracy to murder. Several other police forces also used information from EncroChat to launch their own investigations. One such investigation led to several men being charged with various offences but a trial at a court in the north of England has been held up by legal argument about the admissibility of EncroChat evidence. Now a letter has emerged. It was written earlier this month by Lydia Pflug, the first deputy presiding magistrate in charge of the EncroChat investigation at the specialised inter-regional court of the judicial court of Lille, to Kate Anderson, the CPSs deputy chief crown prosecutor. In the letterseen by The Epoch TimesPflug replies to a question by the CPS, Were the EncroChat messages encrypted when they were captured or were they in plain text? French Magistrate Explains how Messages Retrieved Pflug wrote: The messages were retrieved from the database of the messaging application on the phone. They are decrypted by the application itself. Only the database in which the plain text message is stored is encrypted, with a key that is itself contained in the phone. Consequently, no operation was carried out to decode the encrypted data. The data used were thus unencrypted and readable in plain text, she added. Bas Janssen, a criminal defence lawyer in the Netherlands who has worked on several EncroChat cases, said Pflugs letter suggested the OVH server in Roubaix had not been hacked at all, as the French police claimed. Janssen told The Epoch Times, The implant worked on all infected phones, causing them to send all messages before encryption. He said the copied messages had been detoured to the police server, which might as well have been located in Antarctica. Janssen said, Despite all attempts to keep things secret from the start, it is clear the defendants have faced everything but a fair trial. On May 11, three judges from the Investigatory Powers Tribunal, led by Mr. Justice Edis, rejected a claim by lawyers representing a number of EncroChat defendants against the way the NCA had obtained a warrant to use data from the French hack of the OVH server in March 2020. In their ruling, they said the warrant had been lawfully issued and said: It is declared that the respondent [the NCA] did not fail to discharge its duty of candour and did not mislead the judicial commissioner [Sir Brian Leveson] when it sought approval of the warrant from the judicial commissioner. But in a key paragraph, the judges also rejected the NCAs assertion the opinion of Professor Ross Andersonwho said it appeared to have been a live interceptwas irrelevant. They said: It is clear that a Targeted Equipment Interference warrant cannot authorise conduct in relation to communications other than stored communications It follows that we are satisfied that it will be necessary to determine whether the interception was of communications in the course of their transmission. Priti Patel Took Part in EncroChat Raid In August 2022 the then Home Secretary Priti Patel, accompanied officers from the NCAs Operation Venetic when they raided a property in Surrey and arrested Waqas Iqbal and Raj Singh. The Home Secretary Priti Patel (R) accompanies National Crime Agency officers during the arrest of EncroChat suspects in Surrey, England in August 2022. (National Crime Agency) Last month Iqbalwhose EncroChat handle was Ghostshooterwas jailed for 12 years after pleading guilty to conspiracy to import 10 kilograms of cocaine, conspiracy to transfer a prohibited weapon and money laundering. His associate Raj Singh got eight years. Patels successor Suella Braverman appears equally committed to Operation Venetic and in January, the Home Office issued a consultation document in which it suggested making it a criminal offence to even possess an encrypted device. The measure said sophisticated encrypted communication devices used to facilitate organised crime would be criminalised. In her foreword to the consultation, Braverman said: Criminals have been resilient in the face of the coronavirus pandemic and are increasingly exploiting online spaces, emerging technologies and commercially available tools to avoid detection and circumvent our legislation. While in many cases the NCA and other police forces found drugs, guns and other evidence which proved those using EncroChat phones were involved in criminal conspiracies, in some cases the only evidence against people was messages on EncroChat which had been attributed to them. In January, The Epoch Times spoke to several people whose loved ones were facing chat-only prosecutions despite never having been found in possession of drugs or guns or even an EncroChat phone. Most EncroChat cases would be undermined if the tribunal upholds the appeal and sets aside the warrant, but only if the defendants have maintained their innocence throughout. Those who plead guilty will not be able to appeal. Kate Anderson, Deputy Chief Crown Prosecutor at the CPS, said in an emailed statement to The Epoch Times, The CPS has a duty to ensure cases are properly put before the courts, and whenever our legal test is met we will not hesitate to prosecute. She added: Under Operation Venetic, more than 2,000 individuals have been charged as a result of material obtained from the criminally dedicated communications platform EncroChat. There has been 1,015 successful prosecutions so far, with 1,265 defendants still awaiting trial in ongoing criminal proceedings. This evidence has enabled UK law enforcement to arrest over 3,000 suspects, seize 6,450 kilograms of cocaine, 3,030 kilograms of heroin, 14,422 kilograms of cannabis, 172 guns, 3,462 pieces of ammunition and 79.18 million in cash. This has made a substantial contribution to the fight against serious and organised crime in the UK, Anderson concluded. While a spinal cord injury left Jerod Nieder paralyzed and without feeling from the chest down and changed his life forever, he also met his soulmate during his rehabilitation. The couple has now become an advocacy powerhouse for the paralyzed community. Jerod, 40, lives in Louisville, Kentucky, with his wife, Hanna Nieder. Hanna was born on an Army base in Seoul, Korea, and now works as a peer mentor for the foundation that supports her husband. Jerod is a research participant and advocate. The couple also offers online consultation via their website, PositivelyParalyzed.org. In 2011, Jerod was 29 years old when he sustained a spinal cord injury while on vacation with his family in Playa Del Carmen, Mexico. Hanna and Jerod got married in Kentucky on Dec. 18, 2021the 10th anniversary of Jerods accident. (Courtesy of Hanna and Jerod Nieder) The couple, who met each other for the first time in August 2018, say they believe in staying positive and spreading love. (Courtesy of Hanna and Jerod Nieder) My Injury Was Unacceptable I just went running down the beach and I dove into the surf, Jerod told The Epoch Times. Unbeknownst to me, there were rocks or a sandbar underneath. I never lost consciousness, but I couldnt move anything at that point. Luckily, I was able to hold my breath until my brother pulled me up to the beach. The impact had shattered Jerods C5 vertebra in his neck, paralyzing him immediately. He had his head injury stitched up at Playa Del Carmen before being rushed to Cancun for a cervical fusion, a crucial procedure that had to be undertaken in the first 72 hours. Jerod Nieder with his parents. (Courtesy of Hanna and Jerod Nieder) Back in the United States, Jerod spent four months at a rehabilitation hospital where he had a suprapubic catheter put in. A year after his accident, he had both hips replaced. I was not able to do the work that I did before. I had to completely relearn how to do everything. It completely changed the trajectory of my life, absolutely, Jerod said. I had doctors telling me that I wasnt accepting my injury, and I told them flat-out that I felt my injury was unacceptable. It took me years to really figure out how I could live as a quadriplegic. Meeting His Soulmate As Jerod acclimatized to life in a wheelchair, so he continued to be socially active. Eight years into his rehabilitation, on Oct. 18, 2019, he met Hanna at Fourth Street Live karaoke bar in Louisville, Kentucky. They bonded over cocktails. Hanna said: I remember sitting at the table with him. I had never seen anybody in a wheelchair before, that I can recall, and I had no experience with paralysis or spinal cord injury. We were just introduced casually by our mutual friend. We talked about music genres that we liked because I told Jerod I love everything from country music all the way to Andrea Bocelli. It was really impactful because Jerod remembered that I said that, and the first concert that he took me to was Andrea Bocelli. Jerod was equally blown away by Hanna. He said: Honestly, I felt like I was in a movie; kind of surreal, because a beautiful girl was talking to me like a normal person. The conversation just flowed, and I dont feel like she saw a quadriplegic; she definitely saw a guy who was in a wheelchair, but she didnt view me as a disabled person and I felt that immediately. Hanna says Jerods thoughtful messages and calls very much grounded her during her solo trips to some Asian countries. (Courtesy of Hanna and Jerod Nieder) Distance Makes the Heart Grow Fonder The pair swapped numbers. Hanna, who had just graduated college and entered the workforce, wasnt interested in dating, but she found herself meeting Jerod regularly for brunch or a concert, and they grew close. Jerod asked Hanna to be his girlfriend. But when Hanna, who has Korean and Filipino heritage, embarked on a long trip to realize her dream of seeing the world, she declined. I kept turning him down just because I was traveling, she said. I was going through Malaysia and Indonesia and the Philippines, all by myself, and Jerod very much grounded me. We were texting every single day, throughout the day. He would always send screenshots with the distance between us, which was really cute. Jerod had asked to take care of Hannas dog, Belle, while she was gone and sent regular updates. Distance makes the heart grow fonder, he said. I got to live vicariously through her, so it was good for both of us. Yet Hanna found herself exhausted by travel after three months abroad. Jerod suggested she come home for Christmas, and bought her a one-way ticket. Hanna never left again. I dont feel like I gave up anything, really. It was just my dreams changed, she said. The couple moved together to Kansas to be closer to Jerods family, since his mother was sick. They stayed for five months until his mother passed, then stayed longer to support his father. Having realized the growing strength of their bond, the couple moved back to Kentucky to start their life together. As their mutual trust grew, so Hanna became Jerods primary carer. The Wedding Before leaving Kansas, Jerod had realized his own dream: he proposed to Hanna just before her birthday, on May 30, 2020. Jerods mother did not live to witness the proposal but had already given her son her blessing: She said, I knew she was the one for you,' Jerod said. The happy couple tied the knot at home in Kentucky on Dec. 18, 2021, the 10th anniversary of Jerods accident. Hannah had the idea, Jerod said, like, lets own this date, lets make it something positive that we can remember. The couple exchanging their wedding wows. (Courtesy of Hanna and Jerod Nieder) Jerod has an epidural stimulator implant in his spine that allows him to stand and squat. Ahead of the wedding, he worked with his specialist, Dr. Susan Harkema, head researcher of the Kentucky Spinal Cord Injury Research Center, to allow him to bow to Hannas parents on the big day, an important tradition in the Korean wedding ceremony. The couple shared their vows through tears and made their life-long commitment to one another in front of their closest friends and family. The couple at their traditional Korean wedding ceremony. (Courtesy of Hanna and Jerod Nieder) We have just tackled everything together, Hanna said. Thats how we operated before getting married, but its just amplified after marriage. What I love most is his attitude about life. Jerod said: I love how driven Hanna is to help. She just really, really loves to help people, and thats how she spends a lot of her day. Hanna always tries to put me first, I always try to put her first, and I think as long as we keep that attitude, things are going to work out. Love Wins, Stay Positive A typical day for Jerod and Hanna starts with Jerods bowel program. His body functions arent normal because everything from the chest down is not normal, Hanna said. I help him use the bathroom every morning, and then I help him get dressed, get cleaned up. I am working throughout the day, and then Jerod goes to the hospital; he is able to drive his chair there since he doesnt drive a vehicle yet. Jerod said: Im doing OT, PT, different types of stimulation. I participate in research, and theres an accessible gym thats very close thats where I spend half the day. In the evenings, once they are back home together, they have a couple of calls or text messages back and forth, helping a family or a person with paralysis. Thats pretty much every day, Hanna said. The couple have perfected teamwork: Hanna takes care of physical tasks, while Jerod handles logistics and organization. To ease the burden on Hannas jam-packed routine, they order pre-made nutritious meals. They manage Instagram and YouTube accounts together to support the paralyzed community and their carers, and are constantly navigating the costs associated with Jerods condition, but a positive mental attitude keeps them buoyant. Our YouTube [channel] is called Positively Paralyzed because it was a joke, were very sarcastic, Hanna said. But it rings true; he takes every scenario, and he finds a way to make it fun! Jerod and Hanna credit their parents for setting examples of strong and happy marriages, despite the different ways they grew up. My parents set an example of a very, very traditional marriage but a very great marriage, so thats kind of what I know, Jerod said. They worked as complete partners on everything in life, and I see thats how were operating. Hanna said: Its funny because were polar opposites in that. My father was in the Army stationed in Korea, met my mother in Korea, and she moved to the United States when she was in her thirties. I moved every two years growing up, and I enjoyed it. It was different. But Jerod is from a town and his grandparents are from that same town; its very established. So we both had great family life and parents who loved us, but it was just a total opposite of our childhood and growing up. Jerod and Hanna hope to start their own family one day but are in no rush since they both face reproductive challenges. In the meantime, their bond strengthens with every passing day, and they continue to look outward to see how they can impact others. Jerods motto is, Love wins, stay positive. He advises anybody with a spinal cord injury or adversity of any kind to work hard and stay positive, reasoning, Those are the two things that are going to get you out of this. I would also say find a community, he said. Finding other people that are going through similar struggles, seeing how theyre tackling it, seeing where they get their inspiration just find a community of people like you, and youll get through it together. Share your stories with us at emg.inspired@epochtimes.com, and continue to get your daily dose of inspiration by signing up for the Inspired newsletter at TheEpochTimes.com/newsletter McCarthy Frustrated With Bidens Delays on Debt Issue, Says Excessive Spending Must Stop House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) speaks to the press after meeting President Joe Biden and other leaders at the White House in Washington on May 16, 2023. (Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times) Democrats are addicted to spending, and that must be stopped, according to House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.). The speaker staked out the primary objective of negotiations with President Joe Biden over increasing the nations $31.4 trillion debt ceiling in comments to reporters on Capitol Hill on the morning of May 22. Beginning in January, McCarthy has said Congress would not do without some agreement to cut federal discretionary spending. However, the Republicans passed the Limit, Save, Grow Act in April, which attached a number of other conditions to an increase in the debt limit. That included tightening work requirements for some beneficiaries of Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), clawing back unspent COVID-19 relief funds, and loosening permitting requirements on drilling for oil and gas. Returning to the theme of spending cuts, the speakers comments appeared to indicate that this is the most critical issue for Republicans. McCarthy previously said that increased work requirements were also a red line in negotiations. McCarthy voiced frustration that the president delayed entering into talks until recently, creating unnecessary urgency. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has said the nation will reach the debt ceiling on or shortly after June 1 unless it is increased by Congress. Managing a crisis at the last deadline is the worst way to handle this, McCarthy said. I sat down with [the president] on February 1. For 97 days, he said he would meet. Biden has consistently said he would not negotiate over increasing the debt limit because to do so would endanger the full faith and credit of the United States. As for negotiating on spending cuts and related matters, the president said there would be no point in doing so until Republicans produced a written proposal. Five days after Republicans passed the Limit, Save, Grow Act, Biden invited McCarthy and other congressional leaders to the White House for talks. Despite the urgency of the deadline, McCarthy is confident there will be no default on the national debt. I dont worry about a default because the Senate could always take up our bill to make sure there is not a default, he said. The Senate is in recess until May 30, leaving little time for it to act either on a potential Biden-McCarthy proposal or on the Limit, Save, Grow Act. McCarthy and Biden are scheduled to meet on the afternoon of May 22 to continue talks. Jackson Richman contributed to this story. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) holds a news conference on the debt crisis in the Capitol at 7:00 p.m. ET on May 22 after meeting President Joe Biden. Middletown District Showcases K-12 Programs at Annual Community Event A student demonstrates an interactive project during the annual community event at Middletown High School in Middletown, N.Y., on May 19, 2023. (Cara Ding/The Epoch Times) Thousands of residents got to see Middletown School District programs at an annual community event at the local high school on May 19. Occupying three floors of the school building, student-organized exhibits and interactive sessions covered topics in the arts, engineering, biomedicine, coding, and the humanities. This is the most exciting time of the year because [our students] really get to just roll up their sleeves, show what theyve learned over the course of the year, and demonstrate all their talent, gifts, and ideas, Middletown High School executive principal Lynnette Williams told The Epoch Times. Everything is student-centered, student-inspired, and student-run, she said. Artworks of all grades were displayed along with a popular face-painting workshop on one floor, while civil engineering projects, robotics, and coding programs occupied the lower level. On the third floor, biomedical program students were busy demonstrating how to stop bleeding, dissect a sheeps heart, and perform a simulated surgical procedure. Residents gather around the art sections during the annual community event at Middletown High School in Middletown, N.Y., on May 19, 2023. (Cara Ding/The Epoch Times) Middletown High School STEM instructional leader Norval Connell told The Epoch Times that the various programs were designed to prepare students for the 21st-century economy. He highlighted the high school academies, which are like small colleges within the district that allow students to earn college credits in dedicated academic tracks. More than a thousand high schoolers enroll in the information technology academy, and 500 or so are in the biomedical program, according to Connell. Parmveer Singh, a senior in the biomedical track, just got a dual college acceptance that comes with three years at Mount Saint Mary College and four years at a local medical school. Singh told The Epoch Times that he got interested in biomedicine when attending a similar community event as an eighth grader and enrolled right after entering high school. He thanked the program for keeping him focused on the career track during his high school years. A student demonstrates different parts of a piglet during the annual community event at Middletown High School in Middletown, N.Y., on May 19, 2023. (Cara Ding/The Epoch Times) Last year, the graduating class valedictorian left with 75 college credits and went on to attend Harvard University, Williams said. Currently, more than half of district high schoolers earn three or more college credits, according to Connell. He added that it had long been a district goal to increase the percentage of high school students earning college credits, and one way to do that was to expose younger students to these programs through community events such as this. Jessica Torres, a parent with three daughters attending the district, told The Epoch Times that she was delighted to see the variety of programs available at the schools. Torres graduated from the district more than 20 years ago. Jessica Torres with her daughters during the annual community event at Middletown High School in Middletown, N.Y., on May 19, 2023. (Cara Ding/The Epoch Times) It is completely different than how it looked before. Everything is more attuned to whats happening now, Torres said. It is very interesting to see what theyre supplying the kids now. Her daughter whos in middle school said she liked the science programs on display. Connell said the district also had expanded some of the programs into lower schools, such as a new coding program for girls at the Presidential Park Elementary School. The beautiful thing is that our superintendent and central office realized that for these programs to be successful, we must make sure that students in the middle and elementary schools started to taste what they were like, he said. The elementary coding program started in 2022 with 30 slots and is expected to double enrollment this year because of high demand, according to a district teacher. Moscow Blames Ukrainian Saboteurs for Attack in Western Belgorod Region A fuel depot on fire in the city of Belgorod, Russia, on April 1, 2022. (Pavel Kolyadin/BelPressa/Reuters) Ukrainian saboteurs have attacked Russias Belgorod region, the regions governor claimed on May 22, leaving three people injured and causing significant material damage. The government in Kyiv, for its part, denies complicity in the attack, attributing it instead to violent resistance movements that are opposed to Russian President Vladimir Putin. One of Russias westernmost regions, Belgorod shares a roughly 540-mile-long border with Ukraine. Yevgeny Prigozhin, head of Russias Wagner Group, holds a Russian national flag in front of his soldiers in Bakhmut, Ukraine, in a still from video footage released on May 20, 2023. (Prigozhin Press Service via AP) Kremlin: Diversion From Bakhmut Vyacheslav Gladkov, Belgorods regional governor, said the attack began with an artillery barrage on the village of Glotovo in Belgorods Grayvoron district. Speaking on Telegram, Gladkov claimed that three local residents had been injured in the attack, which also damaged an administrative building and several private homes. Gladkov blamed the incident on a Ukrainian subversive/reconnaissance group and said a full-fledged counter-terrorism operation had since been initiated in the area. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that Putin was being briefed on developments as they unfolded. The Defense Ministry, the FSB [Federal Security Service], and the Border Service have reported to the Russian president about a Ukrainian sabotage groups attempt to break into the Belgorod region, he was quoted as saying by Russias TASS news agency. Work is underway to drive the saboteurs from Russia and eliminate the group. There are enough forces and equipment on the ground to do that. A still image taken from video footage shows a flying object exploding in an intense burst of light near the dome of the Kremlin Senate building during a reported drone attack in Moscow on May 3, 2023. (Ostorozhno Novosti/Handout via Reuters) Peskov said the attack in Belgorod was aimed at diverting attention from the Bakhmut area and reducing the political impact of Ukraines loss of Artyomovsk [the Russian name for Bakhmut]. On May 21, the Russian Defense Ministry claimed that its forces had completed the liberation of Bakhmuta key transport hubfollowing nine months of intense ground fighting. However, Kyiv has denied the assertion, insisting that its forces still maintain a tenuous foothold in the beleaguered city. Ukrainian officials also deny any involvement in the reported attack in Russias Belgorod region. Reuters cited a senior aide to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy who attributed the attack to a violent resistance movement based inside Russia. Hromadske, a Kyiv-based media outlet, cited Ukrainian military intelligence officials as saying two armed Russian opposition groupsthe Freedom of Russia Legion and the Russian Volunteer Corpswere behind the attack. In April 2022, Moscow accused Ukraine of staging a cross-border helicopter attack in Belgorod that destroyed a large fuel depotan allegation denied by Kyiv. The Epoch Times was unable to verify claims made by either side. Not the First Time The latest incident in Russias Belgorod region isnt without precedent. In early March, Russian authorities claimed to have repelled a similar attack in the countrys western Bryansk region, which also shares a border with Ukraine. According to Russian media, at least one person was killedand others were taken hostagein that attack, which Moscow likewise blamed on Ukrainian saboteurs. In a televised address, Putin described the incident in Bryansk as a terrorist attack. The attackers wont achieve anything, Putin declared at the time. We will crush them. Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak, for his part, accused Russia of staging a false provocation in Bryansk. The story about a Ukrainian sabotage group in the Russian Federation is a classic deliberate provocation, he said on Twitter. Podolyak had also said that the Ukrainian military doesnt strike at Russian Federation territory. In the almost 15 months since Moscow launched its invasion of Ukraine, there have been several attacks inside Russian territory. In December 2022, three Russian airbases were targeted by drones of unknown origin, damaging aircraft and killing three servicemen. One of the targeted airbaseslocated deep inside Russian territoryis known to host long-range strategic bombers capable of carrying nuclear payloads. While Kyiv never claimed responsibility for those attacks, they were widely celebrated by Ukrainian military officials. At the time, a spokesman for Ukrainian military intelligence had suggested that the airbase attacks had been staged by anti-Putin groups based in Russia. More recently, Putins personal Kremlin residence was targeted by a pair of combat drones on May 2. The Russian leader wasnt at the Kremlin complex at the time of the attack, which failed to cause casualties or material damage. Moscow blamed the incident on Kyiv and vowed to retaliate in the manner, place, and time of its choosing. Until now, Kyiv has consistently denied responsibility for the Kremlin attack. Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Kyiv and its Western allies decry the move as an unprovoked war of aggression. Moscow says its special military operation is aimed at protecting Russian speakers in eastern Ukraine and halting NATOs further eastward expansion. Reuters contributed to this report. BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 22. Secretary General of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation Organization Asaf Hajiyev has sent a congratulatory letter to President Ilham Aliyev on the occasion of May 28 - Azerbaijan's Independence Day, Trend reports. Will be updated Most Americans Maintain Belief in God or Some Higher Power: Survey People bow their heads in prayer during a rally on the National Mall near the Washington Monument on Sept. 12, 2010 in Washington, D.C. (Brendan Smialowski/Getty Images) The vast majority of Americans maintain a belief in God, although the percentage of those abandoning specific religions remains at a historic level, a new survey suggests. The General Social Survey (GSS), a long-running national survey conducted by independent research organization NORC at the University of Chicago, asked a number of wide-ranging questions of the American public. The latest 2022 GSS results, released on May 17, show that only 7 percent of the respondents said that they didnt believe in God, while another 7 percent identified as agnostic. At the same time, most respondents expressed at least some faith in God, including 50 percent who said they have no doubts about Gods existence, 16 percent who said they believe in God but have doubts, and 6 percent who said they believe in God sometimes. In addition, the rate of respondents saying they believe in some higher power continued its gradual upward trajectory since 2000, reaching a new high of 14 percent. This pushed the overall percentage of Americans who believe in a higher power to 86 percent. That percentage is consistent with responses to a question on how spiritual participants considered themselves to be. Overall, 84 percent of respondents identified as at least somewhat spiritual, while only 15 percent said they werent spiritual at all and 1 percent said they didnt know. Interestingly, the percentage of respondents describing themselves as very spiritual bounced back to 26 percent last year after taking a dip during the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite the increase, the figure is still lower than pre-pandemic levels. In 2021, the survey found that 29 percent of respondents had no religion, a record high. Just 5 percent said the same back in 1972, when the survey was first administered. According to NORC, sample sizes for each years survey vary from about 1,500 to about 4,000 adults, with margins of error ranging from plus or minus 2 percentage points to plus or minus 3.1 percentage points. The most recent survey was conducted May 5 through Dec. 20, 2022, among 3,544 American adults. People Fear Sharing Religious Views at Work While a majority of Americans identify as believers or spiritual seekers, most of them fear that even respectfully expressing their beliefs at work could result in negative repercussions. The Freedom at Work survey, conducted by polling company Ipsos on behalf of conservative Christian legal group Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), found that many employees worry about workplace repercussions for expressing deeply held religious or political views not only at work, but also during non-working hours. In the survey, released in March, 3 out of 5 respondents said it was likely or somewhat likely that respectfully expressing their religious or political views would lead to negative consequences at work. On top of that, 1 in 4 respondents said they knew someone who [had] experienced negative consequences for respectfully expressing their religious and political viewpoints. Other findings of the report suggested that 42 percent of potential job seekers said they were less likely to apply for work at a company that had a work culture that was hostile to their religious or political views, and that 66 percent said their companys commitment to diversity should include respect for a wide range of religious and political beliefs in and out of the workplace. Employees shouldnt fear that their religious or political views could cost them their job, said Jeremy Tedesco, an ADF senior counsel. Yet these survey results show that a significant number of employees do. The survey comes amid an ongoing legal battle over the firing of an evangelical Christian U.S. postal worker who refused to deliver Amazon packages on Sundays so that he could observe the Sabbath. The U.S. Supreme Court heard the case this April, with justices weighing in on whether employers must accommodate employees religious needs in certain circumstances. The Freedom at Work survey was conducted from Oct. 7 to Nov. 16, 2022, among approximately 3,000 employed American adults, with a margin of error of plus or minus 2.5 percentage points. Opposition Cites Orwells Animal Farm in Latest Criticism of The Voice Australian Opposition Leader Peter Dutton speaks to media during a press conference in Brisbane, Australia, on May 15, 2023. (AAP Image/Jono Searle) The federal Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has launched his strongest attack yet against changing Australias Constitution to entrench Indigenous interests. Dutton said the Indigenous Voice to Parliament would take Australia backwards not forwards and called it regressive, not progressive. It should be very clear to Australians by now that the prime minister is dividing our country not uniting us, he told Parliament on May 22. Debate on The Voice continues following the release of a parliamentary committee report which recommended the passage of the Constitutional Alteration Bill. The Bill authorises the holding of a national referendum in Australia to decide on whether to embed The Voice into the Constitution. Debate is expected to be prolonged with around 70 federal MPs speaking on the Bill Dutton, of the Liberal-National Coalition, attacked the parliamentary committees inquiry into the Bill calling it a kangaroo court while noting that past referendums had been preceded by conventions where advocates and opponents would discuss the details. Whats most curious about this referendum is the government prefers Australians to be incurious. When Australians have raised reasonable and legitimate concerns about the Voice model, the government dismisses them as a scare campaign, as nonsense, as noise and misinformation, he said. He also warned that there was no return policy if The Voice succeeded and there would be new procedural rights granted only on the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice. It will have an Orwellian effect where all Australians are equal, but some Australians are more equal than others, he said. Labor Indigenous Minister Disagrees In response, the Labor governments Indigenous Minister Linda Burney rejected Duttons claims saying it was part of a misinformation and scare campaign. In 2023, it is time for recognition. Its time for an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice to the Parliament because [they] have not enjoyed the same opportunities of so many other Australians, she told Parliament. Constitutional recognition through a voice, to the parliament, is about giving Indigenous Australians a say in matters that affect us. It means delivering structural change. She also denied that the process for The Voice had not been rushed and had been developed over several years with the support of Indigenous communities. Later this year, Australians will go to the polls to vote on whether to alter their Constitution to include a near-permanent Indigenous advisory body. The 24 members of this body will be voted for by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders throughout the country and will have the power to make representations to the Parliament, the executive, and the wider public service. The hope from Voice advocates is that having this extra layer of representation in government will help deal with chronic problems within Indigenous communities, including unemployment, domestic violence, alcoholism, youth crime, and welfare dependency. Will The Voice Work, Though? Yet some Indigenous leaders have been reluctant to back The Voice precisely because they believe it will have no impact on the ground. There have been four elected bodies since 1973, all of which failed, wrote Warren Mundine in The Epoch Times. One of them, the National Aboriginal Consultative Committee (later the National Aboriginal Conference), was set up as an advisory body but soon developed a new constitution giving itself autonomy, policy-making, and administrative powers. It didnt survive. We have tried Indigenous representative bodies, Indigenous advisory bodies, and Indigenous consulting bodies multiple times over the decades. None have lifted Indigenous people out of poverty. None have Closed the Gap,' he added. While former High Court Justice Ian Callinan said, the debate on The Voice had descended into more negative territory. Theres a nasty feel about this, he told a Samuel Griffith Society event on May 17. But in addition to the nastiness, theres a kind of presumptuousness, condescension, [and] a paternalism. All of you and I have been told by the Yes side that we must vote yes, he added. PBO Stands By Report That Clean Fuel Regulations Will Hurt Canadian Households Financially Parliamentary Budget Officer Yves Giroux waits to appear before the Standing Senate Committee on National Finance in Ottawa on Oct. 25, 2022. (Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press) Despite fierce criticism from the Liberals, the Parliamentary Budget Officer (PBO) stands by his analysis of the governments Clean Fuel Regulations (CFR), which finds that Canadas lower-income households will bear a greater burden in terms of disposable income due to the increased costs associated with the policy. The CFR aims to reduce carbon emissions from fossil fuels by 26 million tonnes by 2030, while the government further strives for net-zero emissions by 2050. This policy, however, comes at the cost of an estimated $231 for lower-income households and up to $1,008 for higher-income households at the national level in 2030, according to the PBOs distributional analysis. The PBOs conclusion that the CFR is broadly regressive prompted Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault to criticize the federal budget agencys modelling approach, saying in a May 18 statement that it has overlooked the costs of climate change. While we recognize the work of the PBO, their analysis takes the same unbalanced modeling approach as they did with the analysis of the price on pollution, Guilbeault wrote, a reference to the PBOs earlier report in March, which found most Canadian households will suffer a net loss from the carbon tax introduced by the Liberal government. Under the 2030 Emissions Reduction Plan, the federal fuel tax charge is set to rise from $65 per tonne of carbon dioxide in 2023 to $170 per tonne in 2030. Gerald Butts, former adviser to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, also accused the PBO of incompetence on climate change and damaging policy discussions in Canada. However, PBO Yves Giroux is standing by his offices analysis, saying that they were not questioned by Guilbeaults own department, Environment and Climate Change Canada, prior to the release of the ministers statement. I can understand that people are not happy when we underline that government action will have repercussions, and in this case, costs, but I stand by the analysis we provided, he said, according to National Post. Over the years we have estimated the costs of many policy proposals without assessing their potential benefits, Giroux also told The Epoch Times in a previous interview. The CFR, slated to take effect in July, will lead to an increase in gasoline and diesel prices by up to 17 cents and 16 cents per litre, respectively, in 2030. Meanwhile, the regulations are projected to decrease Canadas real GDP by up to 0.3 percent or $9 billion in 2030. When both fiscal and economic impacts of the federal fuel charge are considered, we estimate that most households will see a net loss. Based on our analysis, most households will pay more in fuel charges and GSTas well as receiving slightly lower incomesthan they will receive in Climate Action Incentive payments, the PBO analysis said. The PBO estimated that the federal government will collect and return $11.8 billion in fuel charges in the seven provinces where the charge is applied in 202324, and that amount will rise to $25 billion in 203031. Relative to disposable income, the cost of the CFR to the average household in 2030 is the highest in Saskatchewan (0.87 percent, or $1,117), Alberta (0.8 percent, or $1,157), and Newfoundland and Labrador (0.8 percent, or $850), reflecting the higher fossil fuel intensity of their economies, according to the report. In contrast, the cost of the CFR to the average household in 2030 is the lowest for British Columbians (0.28 percent, or $384), relative to their disposable income. Meanwhile, the cost to the average household is $495 (0.35 percent) in Ontario and $436 (0.39 percent) in Quebec. Peter Wilson contributed to this report. Pedestrian Hit by Metrolink Train and Died in San Fernando Valley VALLEY GLEN, Calif.A pedestrian was fatally struck by a Metrolink train May 22 in the Valley Glen area. Paramedics sent to the 12700 block of West Raymer Street at 1:19 p.m. pronounced the person dead at the scene, according to the Los Angeles Fire Department. Information was not immediately available on the identity of the fatally injured person. The fatally injured person, who was in a non-pedestrian area, was hit by train No. 109, which was westbound on the Ventura County Line, said Scott Johnson of Metrolink. No one was injured aboard the train. The tracks were closed in the area while an investigation was conducted, Johnson said. Last Tuesday at about 3:20 p.m. in the Sun Valley area, a person was killed when a Metrolink train struck a vehicle at Coldwater Canyon Avenue and Raymer Street, just west of the location where the pedestrian was struck Monday, according to the fire department. According to Metrolink, the train that struck the vehicle was heading from downtown Los Angeles to Moorpark on the Ventura County Line. Pedestrian Lying in Street Injured by Hit-and-Run Driver in San Diego SAN DIEGOA pedestrian was seriously injured Saturday by a hit-and-run driver after the victim laid down in the road in the Rolando neighborhood, police said. The injury took place at 4:56 a.m. Saturday in the 6300 block of El Cajon Boulevard, according to Officer David OBrien of the San Diego Police Department. A vehicle of unknown description struck the pedestrian, who was lying in the street, the officer said. The driver of the vehicle stopped and assisted the pedestrian out of the road, OBrien said. The driver then fled the scene. The pedestrian was rushed by ambulance to a local hospital, where he was treated for serious injuries. Officers from the police departments Traffic Division were investigating the incident. Philippines Mulls Retaking Control of China-Held Grid Operator Amid Security Concerns Linemen install cables on the Transco power transmission line in Santa Rosa town south of Manila as the Chinese-led consortium officially took over a 25-year concession of the Philippines' national electricity grid as part of the government's privatization program on Jan. 15, 2009. (Romeo Gacad/AFP via Getty Images) The Philippines said on May 16 that it would retake control of the countrys sole power grid operator, which is partly Chinese-owned, if security concerns over Chinas stake in the company make it necessary. Philippines Sen. Raffy Tulfo, chair of the Senate Committee on Energy, discussed with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. recent power outages in the country and the situation at the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP). Tulfo cited an intelligence report that indicated the potential capability of China to remotely access the countrys national grid and sabotage it. In short, Chinese shareholders can do what they want when it comes to NGCP operations. This is why our countrys energy situation is unstable, he said, according to local outlet GMA News Online. Tulfo claimed that the local technicians couldnt run the sensitive equipment inside the NGCP plants because the grid operating manuals are in Chinese. The senator told Marcos his intention to assess the performance and security aspect of the company, particularly who truly controls the corporation. [The] Chinese ownership of NGCP poses a serious national security threat considering the current conflict between China and the Philippines over the West Philippines Sea, he said, referring to the disputed South China Sea, which the Chinese regime claims almost entirely. The Presidential Communications Office said that Marcos has agreed with Tulf0s proposal to conduct a comprehensive study or hold hearings to determine the actual situation at the power grid operator. If necessary, the government will take back control of the entity, the office said in a statement posted on Facebook. Ronald Dylan Concepcion, NGCP assistant corporate secretary, has denied Tulfos allegations and reiterated that only Filipinos are manning the substation, Philstar reported. The State Grid Corp. of China holds a 40 percent stake in NGCP, while the remaining 60 percent is owned by a Filipino consortium. Philippine senators have previously warned about the implications of Chinese ownership of the nations sole power grid. Sen. Risa Hontiveros filed a motion in November 2019, saying that Beijing could sabotage the Philippines elections, shut down access to the internet, and undermine national security with the flick of a switch. Imagine a foreign country, which is an unrepentant trespasser and aggressor in our seas and territories, controlling our national electricity grid, Hontiveros said at the time. Dispute Over South China Sea Beijings claim of sovereignty over almost the entire South China Sea was invalidated by an international arbitration ruling in 2016, but the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) didnt change its behavior after the ruling. The CCP has been behaving more aggressively in the South China Sea in recent months, as evidenced by the presence of more than 100 Chinese militia maritime vessels within the Philippines exclusive economic zone from April 18 to April 24. Philippine Marines amphibious assault vehicles maneuver next to a Philippine BRP Tarlac navy landing platform dock ship during a joint amphibious landing exercise with U.S. Marines at a beach facing the South China Sea in San Antonio town, Zambales Province, on Oct. 7, 2022. (Ted Aljibe/AFP via Getty Images) The Philippine coast guard said that one of the Chinese ships carried out dangerous maneuvers at a distance of 50 yards from its patrol ship, posing a significant threat to the safety of its crew. The United States has urged China to stop harassing Philippine vessels in the South China Sea and warned that any armed attack on Philippine armed forces, public vessels, or aircraft would invoke its mutual defense treaty. Marcos has sought to strengthen his nations security alliance with the United States. Most recently, on May 1, the two countries reaffirmed the need for peace across the Taiwan Strait amid the CCPs intimidating actions against the self-ruled island. The United States also secured four new military bases in the Philippines under the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement, all of which are located near Taiwan. Pregnant NYC Hospital Worker Accused of Citi Bike Theft Provides Receipts Lawyer preparing defamation lawsuits A Citi Bike rack in front of Grand Central Terminal on Monday morning when the program officially launched in New York on May 27, 2013. (Genevieve Belmaker/The Epoch Times) In a recent incident that gained significant attention on social media, a Manhattan hospital worker was accused of attempting to take a Citi Bike from a young black man. However, the womans lawyer has provided receipts indicating that she was the one who paid for the bike at the center of the viral incident. The woman, a physician assistant at Bellevue Hospital who is six months pregnant, was placed on leave by NYC Health + Hospitals after the incident. Video of the confrontation has been viewed tens of millions of times since it was posted online. According to the womans lawyer, Justin Marino, she had just finished a 12-hour shift and paid for an available bike through the Citi Bike app on her phone. As she was backing the bike out of the docking station, a group of five people approached her, claiming that the bike was theirs. Marino provided two Citi Bike receipts from the day of the incident, showing two bikes being rented minutes apart from the same docking station. The confrontation escalated when one or more individuals from the group physically pushed the bike, with the woman on it, back into the docking station, causing it to re-lock. One of the individuals then covered the bikes QR code, preventing her from paying for it again so she could leave. The video, which begins mid-confrontation, shows the woman dressed in hospital-branded scrubs screaming for help as she tugs at the bike. The young man maintained his grip on the bikes handlebars and repeatedly told the woman that he had already paid to use that particular bike and it wasnt hers. Marino stated that his client is a dedicated hospital worker who has treated thousands of New York City residents of all backgrounds and ethnicities. He emphasized that her entire life has been focused on helping others, irrespective of their background. Citi Bikes in Midtown Manhattan, New York, March 25, 2014. (Samira Bouaou/Epoch Times) NYC Health + Hospitals called the video disturbing when announcing she was placed on leave. The hospital system said she would remain on leave pending a review of the incident. The young man in the video has not yet been identified. The NYPD stated that they did not receive any 911 calls over this incident. The incident sparked a national conversation about race and privilege, with some social media users comparing the situation to the infamous Amy Cooper incident in 2020. However, Marino argues that the narrative of the woman stealing the bike is patently wrong and that its appalling that race is being imputed as the issue here. The woman now fears for her safety as she has received threats and people have been outside her house. She even received a picture of her front door with the message, Im here for you, Marino said. The lawyer, in an interview with FOX, expressed that his clients concerns extended beyond her job. Shes received death threats, he stated. Shes in hiding. The impact of social media on this woman, who is genuinely a hero and has consistently helped people, is significant. In just a minute, it has attempted to ruin her life. Marino is gearing up to file lawsuits, asserting that there is no question that some media outlets have defamed his client. Shes been labeled a racist, shes been branded a thief We intend to address this, he declared. Marino emphasized that they harbor no animosity toward the men in the video. Their grievances are directed at the media outlets that insinuated she was racist. To assist in preserving her livelihood and her reputation, her uncle has established a GoFundMe account. Save the Timber for Australia, Not Beijing A carpenter is seen working on a house renovation in Brisbane, Australia, June 4, 2020. (AAP Image/Dan Peled) Commentary Dictatorships dont make concessions unless they are forced to do so. They dont make concessions as a unilateral goodwill gesture, only out of self-interest. Therefore one can safely assume that the lifting of the ban on Australian timber exports to China, which was so spuriously imposed by the communist dictatorship on quarantine grounds, is fully enveloped in self-interest. Australia has high-quality timber products. China was only importing the product for one reason, it was needed. Today they still need the product. The ban, without doubt, had consequences for China but was done as part of the belligerent dictatorships response to the not-unreasonable request by the Australian government that there be an international inquiry into the origins of COVID. In response, timber bans were part of the reprisals Beijing inflicted on Australia. Barley, cotton, copper, seafood, and other exports faced a similar fate blowing a $14 billion (US$9.3 billion) hole into Australias export earnings. On the barley issue, Australia immediately took China to the World Trade Organization (WTO), where the matter is being adjudicated with a decision pending. In what seems more than a coincidence, the lifting of timber imports came as Australia withdraws its WTO action. Most commentators predicted an adverse ruling for China. Timber supplies are seen during a workshop tour in Blackburn, Melbourne, Australia on April 20, 2023. (AAP Image/James Ross) There is no doubt an adverse ruling does reputational damage to the loser. China was anxious to avoid such a ruling which wouldve been proof positive (if needed) for many that Beijing was acting as a bully without justification. At the same time, timber bans on Australian exports to China are liftedit has all the qualities of a deal and not a very smart one from Australias standpoint. Clearly, the Chinese dictatorship was willing to concede on timber imports (a product that it needed anyway) to avoid a damaging adverse ruling. For China a no-brain win-win. Dont Give Bullies an Inch Australia had previously been exporting 1.6 million tonnes of sawlogs and two million tonnes of pulp logs to China annually. An export market worth hundreds of millions of dollars. Its abrupt closure during the pandemic cost Australias forest sector dearly, including 100 jobs. By letting China off the hook on the WTO ruling over barley, Australia has shown weakness. Bullies cannot and should not be appeased. If a concession is required for the short term, it will be made by the bully, who will be looking for the next opportunity. Barley crop being harvested on the property in central-west New South Wales, Australia. (Greg Wood/AFP via Getty Images) Winning back markets is the stuff of short-term media headlines but should not be made on the basis of unprincipled backroom deals. As for the forestry sector, it would be well advised to steer clear. A belligerent bully doesnt change their behaviour. Re-establishing a market with the associated expensive supply chains and logistics will be an extremely risky business. What is more, Australia is, in fact, a net importer of timber products. How this can be possible given its huge land mass and various climatic conditions conducive to wood production is an issue that the extreme elements in the environment movement and weak governments need to answer. As this column is being written, builders are facing a shortage of wood supply exacerbating the housing shortage and ever-increasing costs. The removal from this market of 1.6 million tonnes of saw logs to enable its export to China would be unhelpful. The question also remains whether producers would be willing to make the resource available to China. In the end, the withdrawal of the WTO action may be a worthless victory and questionable, with Beijings dictatorship playing Australias trade negotiators like a violin. Time will tell. As an aside, the closure of Australias many production forests has seen the cost of housing increase and the use of non-renewable building materials such as plastics, steel, and aluminium being deployed. While wood is a carbon store, and its alternatives are responsible for high levels of CO2 emissions, extreme environmentalists continue their mindless campaign against all types of forest production. As Australia faces a timber shortage which is playing into its costly housing shortage, the re-opening of a timber export market to China can hardly be claimed as a negotiated, let alone a strategic, win for Australia. A full WTO verdict over Chinas barley ban may well have served a better long-term outcome all around. In the meantime, Australians waiting for a house will be hoping that not too much of the countrys timber goes into constructing homes elsewhere. Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times. Sen. Graham: Durham Report Shows FBI Is a Political Weapon Targeting Trump Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) speaks during the Vision 2024 National Conservative Forum at the Charleston Area Convention Center in Charleston, S.C., on March 18, 2023. (Logan Cyrus/AFP via Getty Images) Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said on Sunday that special counsel John Durhams report is damning, arguing the probes long-awaited result points out the FBI has become a political tool that took the rule of law and threw it over to try to get a political outcome. Graham told radio talk show host John Catsimatidis on WABC 770 AMs Cats Roundtable that its a very dangerous time for America if a federal law enforcement agency is able to spread a false story about a U.S. presidential candidate and launch an investigation based on claims it knew were not reliable and full of fiction. What did we learn from the Durham report? We learned that the FBI received a dossier called the Steel Dossier that was organized by two Russian agents, that was full of fiction, that was used to get a warrant against Carter Page. When the FBI was alerted that it may not be reliable, they went ahead anyway, Graham said. The Department of Justice [DOJ], the FBI, and the media colluded to sell this false story that Donald Trump was a Russian agent and his campaign was being run by Russia, he continued. The Durham report is damning. It shows the FBI became a political weapon. They wanted to get Trump. They didnt care how they did it. When Catsimatidis asked Graham to share his view on why it took Durham such a long time to complete the report, Graham responded that he has no friggin idea. It is done. it is damning. They took the rule of law and threw it over to try to get a political outcome, Graham said. In the next election, if Republicans win Ill call Durham, the Democrats will never have him before the committee, he added. Durham submitted his 300-plus page report (pdf) to Attorney General Merrick Garland on May 12. The unclassified document (pdf) was delivered to the Senate and House Committee on the Judiciary on May 15 before it was made available to the public later that day. According to the report, the FBIs rushed investigation into Trumps campaign was based on raw, unanalyzed, and uncorroborated intelligence and reflects a departure from how the bureau approached other politically sensitive investigations in 2016. The special counsel further impugned the bureaus error-ridden applications to surveil Trump campaign associate Carter Page. FBI agents applied to renew the secret-court warrants on Page despite admitting, both at the time and subsequently, that they had no probable cause to do so. Opportunity for Action Graham also said he believes there are double standards in the FBIs treatment of Republicans and Democrats, arguing the top law enforcement agency is covering up the Hunter Biden laptop story while going after Trump with a very different attitude. You had social media and intelligence officials trying to convince people that the Hunter Biden laptop was fake when its real. Theyre trying to make you believe that Trump was a Russian agent working for the Russians when he wasnt. We live in a very dangerous time, he said. Several Republicans, including Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) and Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), have since called for Congress to target the budget of the FBI in light of Durhams discovery. Last week, Gaetz accused the FBI and DOJ of being politically biased in the probe, alleging the agency has become the enforcement wing of the Democratic Party to play offense against Trump. The Florida congressman suggested that the FBI should be defunded and its agents criminally indicted. The report takes great lengths to point out the number of times where Trump was targeted in a way no other American would be, Gaetz said in an interview with Newsmax on May 15. In essence, the FBI has now become a disinformation and election interference enterprise here in our country. Its very damning for them. I think we have to deauthorize, defang, and defund many of these authorities and entities and different task forces that actually converted the just and righteous act of protecting our country with the desire to have a particular political candidate win or lose, he added. Jordan, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, said over the weekend that the committee is going to take a good, hard look at individuals highlighted in Durhams report, adding that nothing is off the table in terms of potential probes. Jordan made the remarks in a May 21 interview on Fox News, in which he was asked about pursuing new investigations in light of the Durham report, which found that the FBI dropped four criminal investigations into former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton ahead of the 2016 presidential election. Are there people that were highlighted in the Durham investigation and the Durham report that we need to talk to on the Judiciary Committee? Were going to give that a good, hard look, Jordan said. Nothing is off the table, he added, because it is critical the American people understand how their governmenttheir agencieshave been turned on them, the taxpayer, and we get all the facts out there. FBI Responds The FBI responded to the Durham report hours after the DOJ published it on its website, acknowledging missteps in its 20162017 investigation into the alleged TrumpRussia ties. The conduct in 2016 and 2017 that Special Counsel Durham examined was the reason that current FBI leadership already implemented dozens of corrective actions, which have now been in place for some time, the FBI wrote in a statement. Had those reforms been in place in 2016, the missteps identified in the report could have been prevented. Some of the reforms the FBI has since implemented include, according to its letter to Durham: installing more rigorous requirements for applying for surveillance; requiring personnel training for surveillance applications; updating agency guidelines on vetting confidential human resources; requiring additional approval for opening sensitive investigative measures; and expanding its internal oversight and auditing programs. The FBI also said that the questionable conduct uncovered in Durhams report occurred under the previous leadership and that all the senior executives overseeing the TrumpRussia probe have left the agency. Meanwhile, Trump seized on the report in a series of posts on Truth Social, stating the investigative report indicates the federal government launched a coordinated effort to interfere with the 2016 election, describing the FBIs investigation of him as a disgrace. The American Public was scammed, just as it is being scammed right now by those who dont want to see GREATNESS for AMERICA! Trump, the Republican frontrunner in the 2024 presidential race, wrote in one post on Truth Social. In another post, Trump accused the FBI of being involved in a plot to overthrow his presidency. TREASON!!! and THE CRIME OF THE CENTURY! he wrote. Tom Ozimek contributed to this report. From NTD News Senators Receive Precautionary Satellite Phones Just Before Hurricane Season The U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations has passed a resolution to condemn Beijing for demolishing the rule of law and democracy of Hong Kong. (Samira Bouaou/The Epoch Times) Members of the Senate have been given satellite phones by the chambers sergeant-at-arms. Satellite phones are important precautionary communication devices that provide critical lifelines during disasters that impact local communication capabilities (such as cellular and landline phones, and/or internet), an official with knowledge of the matter informed The Epoch Times in a May 22 email. The distribution was timed [to] coincide with the start of hurricane season on June 1st to get ahead of severe weather impacts. Additionally, Satellite phones can be used by Senators and staff while traveling in parts of their respective states that are not covered by cellular service, the official added. The official did not name the specific lawmakers now using the phones. In addition, the official did not provide any details on the satellite phone provider or providers. The Senates current sergeant-at-arms, Karen Gibson, entered the role in March 2021, soon after the events of Jan. 6, 2021. Gibson is a retired lieutenant general with a background in intelligence, including as the U.S. Central Commands intelligence director. People gather near the Washington Monument on the National Mall in Washington for the Stop the Steal rally on Jan. 6, 2021. (Courtesy of Michael Hamilton) CBS reported on the issuance of those phones on May 21, tying them to a tightening in Senate security practices in the wake of that incident. Its article claims at least 50 senators have taken the phones. In 2022 written testimony before the Senate Appropriations Committee, Gibson described how her organization stepped up its responses to real or perceived risks from the public. In 2020 and 2021, we tracked, monitored, and updated Senators and staff on almost 600 active criminal threat cases compared to only 154 in 2019, a 400% increase. In 2021, we discovered over 505 comments of concern, which were referred to USCP [U.S. Capitol Police], resulting in more than 134 criminal threat violations, she testified. The crackdown on threats to lawmakers is in line with actions by Attorney General Merrick Garland. In March 2023, he told the Senate in written testimony that the Department of Justice has amped up its criminal threat investigations and prosecutions, highlighting measures taken against people alleged to be making terrifying threats of violence to Members of Congress. Attorney General Merrick Garland delivers a statement at the Department of Justice in Washington on Aug. 11, 2022. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images) During an April 2023 appropriations hearing, Gibson said her organizations operations center for state-level offices has been at work on satellite communication to senators for use in emergencies in some of those state offices, in the event of an emergency that takes out communications. In addition to aligning with the start of the Atlantic hurricane season, the satellite phone issuance comes at a time of rising global geopolitical tensions involving the United States, its European allies, China, and Russia. On May 22, the governor of Russias Belgorod region asserted that a Ukrainian subversive/reconnaissance group had attacked the region. The Ukrainian government has claimed the actions were those of anti-Putin violent resistance movements, with no connection to them. One emerging threat as the Eurasian conflict threatens to spill over into North America is an electromagnetic pulse (EMP) caused by a high-altitude nuclear explosion. It could bring down the American grid. The pomegranate symbol from the Iranian flag atop an image created for the Congressional EMP Commission depicting the area affected by a nuclear electromagnetic pulse detonated at various heights of burst over North America and centered on the United States. (Tommy Waller/public domain) That possibility motivated a 2019 executive order from then-President Donald Trump to prepare for the effects of EMPs through targeted approaches that coordinate whole-of-government activities and encourage private-sector engagement. Paul Crespo of the Center for American Defense Studies told The Epoch Times in February that the Chinese spy balloon that passed over the continental United States early this year could be connected to preparations for an EMP attack. BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 22. Minister of Health of Azerbaijan Teymur Musayev made a statement on behalf of the Non-Aligned Movement at the 76th session of the World Health Assembly, the Ministry of Health of Azerbaijan told Trend. Minister of Health of Azerbaijan Teymur Musayev on behalf of the Ministers of Health of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) member countries congratulated the leadership and staff of the World Health Organization (WHO) on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the organization's establishment at the beginning of his speech. Then he noted that an important issue for NAM member countries is ensuring that everyone has access to medical services. The NAM is ready to work with the WHO to cope with the long-term consequences of the SARS-COV-2 pandemic. The Movement has played an important role in strengthening global efforts to eliminate the effects of the pandemic. The UN Human Rights Council adopted the "On ensuring equal, timely and universal access to vaccines against COVID-19" resolution. The NAM highly appreciates the efforts of countries that have provided vaccines against COVID-19. The importance of the summit of the Contact Group of the NAM at the highest level on combating COVID-19, held on March 2 this year in Baku on the initiative of the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, was also noted. The Member States of the NAM commit to ensuring universal health coverage in order to achieve the Sustainable development goals for the period up to 2030. This includes readiness for health emergencies, as well as the adoption of coordinated and comprehensive response measures. In conclusion, Teymur Musayev expressed hope for the solidarity of all countries in increasing the level of readiness for pandemics in the future. Smoke Cooled Air and Helped Slow Weekend Wildfire Spread in Alberta, Officials Say Blairmore area danger wildfire warning signage is shown in this handout image provided by Alberta's fire service. (The Canadian Press/HO-Government of Alberta Fire Service) Wildfire activity in Alberta wasnt as bad over the holiday weekend as officials had feared when they saw the initial hot and dry weather forecasts because of smoke cover and limited rain in some areas. But its not all good news because while smoke cools the air, it limits the ability to fly firefighting aircraft and it harms the health of everyone having to breathe it. Its a mixed bag, certainly, with smoke, Christie Tucker of Alberta Wildfire said during a news conference Sunday. I couldnt say one outweighs the other. We will take advantage of any opportunity we have, and if its providing an opportunity for more on-the-ground firefighting, then thats what were able to do. Officials reported Sunday that a wildfire thats a part of the Eagle Lake complex of fires near Fox Creek, Alta., saw some precipitation overnight Saturday, allowing firefighters on the ground and heavy equipment operators the chance to continue containing the fire. Meteorologists with Alberta Wildfire have also indicated precipitation and cooler temperatures are in the forecast for the region early this week. Tucker said only five new wildfires started between Friday morning and Sunday morning, part of which could be attributed to Albertans respecting restrictions on fires and ATV use. Overall Sunday, there were 84 fires burning in the province, 23 of which were out of control. More than 10,000 people were evacuated. While we are optimistic that the forecast rain will be enough to make a difference to some wildfires in the province, we are not out of the woods yet, Tucker said. Edmonton remained hazy and smoke-smelling on Sunday, posing health concerns for event organizers, health officials and people with respiratory issues. A spokeswoman for Alberta Health Services said that, while she wasnt able to provide numbers on emergency department visits or health hotline calls since smoke arrived in many areas last week, there are signs the pollution is an issue. While AHS does not track calls to 811 specifically around smoke, anecdotally, call centre staff have reported a significant increase in calls over the last 24 hours from zones that are experiencing air quality issues due to smoke in the area, Jennifer Green said in an email. RCMP in Fox Creek said the driver of a large truck experienced a close call Saturday after he took a gravel road to avoid a checkpoint and got stuck in mud. Fire surrounded him, police said, and it was too dangerous for first responders to get to him. Fortunately, a forestry helicopter flew him to safety. Incidents like these only put unnecessary strain on all first responders while threatening the safety of our communities. said Staff Sgt. Neal Fraser in a news release. Police said the man may face charges. Provincial wildfire officials said they were grateful to the landowners who assisted crews who were building a dozer line to slow the spread of a fire near Shining Bank, Alta., thats part of the Deep Creek wildfire complex. But they noted in a wildfire update for the region on Sunday it was a special situation where the landowners are able to work closely with industry in ensuring the safety of the pipelines and the operators. They also warned people not to walk into burned areas. There are unseen hazards, like deep burning ash pits, falling trees because their roots have been burnt away and arent stable as well as other unknown dangers, Sundays update for the Edson Forest Area stated. In todays episode, we spoke with Siyamak Khorrami who is both a host of California Insider on Epoch TV, as well as the producer of the new documentary Leaving California. And he broke down for us the reasons that he discovered regarding the deeper reasons people are fleeing California, as well as why he still has hope for the state. Star Wars or Hobbiton: Where Does Australia Stand on Nuclear? Cooling towers of the Grafenrheinfeld nuclear power plant at night near Grafenrheinfeld, Germany, on June 11, 2015. (Sean Gallup/Getty Images) Commentary The AUKUS submarines have already performed their first stealth mission, inserting the question of nuclear power back into the national conversationthis time as a practical possibility. When he was defence minister, Opposition Leader Peter Dutton was partly responsible for the decision to buy eight nuclear power submarines. Now in his speech-in-reply to the budget, he is suggesting nuclear as an option for powering Australias electricity network. It is a smart move, not as courageous as it looks, but still brave. It gives him a way into the climate change debate without giving-in to fantasy. While only 31 countries have nuclear reactors to generate domestic power, Australia is one of the only four that has an outright ban on them. Why we have banned it defies logic, but it has deep psychological roots arising from its military uses, as well as safety concerns born out of a few nuclear mishaps such as Three Mile Island, Chernobyl, and Fukushima. There is also Australias experience as a nuclear weapons testing site, when the British detonated devices at Maralinga, as well as the French governments tests at Mururoa Atoll in French Polynesia. Nevertheless, the ban has always been a little illogical. Australia has the largest reserves of global uranium, with a total of one-third of the worlds known resources, and in 2021 was the worlds fourth largest producer, mining nine percent of world production. So we wont use it, but we will produce it. We have also had a nuclear reactor in operation at Lucas Heights in Sydney since 1958, when the first reactor was turned-on. This is a research reactor in southwest Sydney, 31 kilometres from the CBD, which also produces medical and industrial isotopes. Renewables Alone Not Feasible Polling numbers have shown nuclear power was unpopular until recently. In 2011, a Lowy Institute poll showed 62 percent against and only 35 percent for. In 2021, this had changed to 52 percent in favour. The reason for this is two-foldconcern about climate change coupled with the unravelling of the renewable energy industrys pitch that wind and solar can save the day. Cattle are seen in front of wind turbines at the Taralga Wind Farm in Taralga, Australia, on Aug. 31, 2015. (Mark Kolbe/Getty Images) There are two strands to climate change thought. One is the Star Wars strand, and the other is the Hobbiton one. The Star Wars strand contains the techno-optimists who see climate change as being just another challenge in mans irresistible rise to the stars and beyond. The Hobbiton strand contains the nostalgic romantics, yearning for a simpler, less material, and more natural life. The latter has so far prevailed, which is not surprising because this is where the majority of deep-green environmentalists are. But the reality, in the shape of mankinds desire to maintain and improve living standards, is colliding with it. Promises were made that wind and solar were green, clean, and cheap, but long experience with them shows this trifecta to be a lie. So-called renewable technologies involve the mining of huge amounts of earth to produce the minerals they need; pose enormous challenges in disposing of the turbines and panels when they are finished; and, as power prices climb inexorably higher, they can no longer claim to be cheap. The cost challenges are immense. Wind and solar are intermittent and need to be backed up by storage and also by alternative technologies. This necessitates a massively enlarged network and capacity that is two or more times what is needed sitting idle most of the time. Indeed, as I write, there is virtually no usable wind over South Australia, Victoria, and New South Wales (NSW). A quick look at the synoptic chart shows that there is hardly any pressure gradient over these areas to generate wind and that this is forecast to continue for at least another seven days. The result is that South Australia currently produces over 70 percent of its power from gas, and in NSW and Victoria, similar amounts from black and brown coal, respectively. A coal train travels through the Hunter Valley in Singleton, Australia, on April 15, 2023. (Roni Bintang/Getty Images) If the gas and coal are removed, what amount of storage would be required to make up the difference? What additional amount of solar and wind would need to be built specifically to charge the storage? How long could the storage discharge energy before it needs to be recharged? And what if you miscalculate any of these because this was a one-in-a-hundred-year event? Time for a Nuclear Push So attention is now shifting to other solutions, and nuclear is the standout. It can be dropped into the existing grid, so it requires no additional network. It doesnt require storage as a backup. It runs 24/7 over 90 percent of the time. Whats more, the advent of small nuclear reactors (SMRs) adds an additional degree of comfort. I realised this when the supercarrier USS Ronald Reagan docked in Brisbane in 2019, a spent cartridges throw away from Brisbanes most expensive real estate, and no one even whimpered. Yet here was a ship powered by two small modular reactors of 70 megawatts (MW) each. Back in the 60s, it would have been met by a rainbow-coloured flotilla of hippies in canoes and surf skis protesting its presence. In the 2010s, it was the site of a pleasant Sunday afternoon for Brisbane families touring its facilities. Nuclear is the only technology that is genuinely low CO2 emitting, and SMRs at 70 MW in size are so anonymous that no one cares, even if it is just down the road. This is an ideal issue for the opposition, as the party of material progress, to pick up. The community is simultaneously worried about climate change and cost-of-living, and it is willing to contemplate the technically feasible rather than the impractically fantastic. Dutton wants to be seen as the adult in the room. Hes made a good start on that and is gradually improving in the polls. When he advances adopting nuclear as a major policy, he appears at the same time courageous, practical and strong, and he creates a clear difference between himself and the government. Nuclear power could be his ticket to resurrecting the Liberal Party and our ticket out of a carbon-constrained future. Almost everyone wins apart from the government. Despite Energy Minister Chris Bowen, this should dawn on them, and then the nuclear possibility might become a certainty. Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times. State Government to Introduce Land Tax Reform for First Home Buyers A real estate sign is seen at a property in Sydney, Australia, on Sept. 6, 2022. (Lisa Maree Williams/Getty Images) The New South Wales (NSW) government will introduce legislation to scrap the First Home Buyer Choice assistance and establish a new stamp duty exemption scheme. The former Coalition government launched the temporary First Home Buyer Choice program in January to boost homeownership among the state residents. At the time, the coalition touted the program as a game-changer reform, saying it would allow first-home buyers to spend less time saving for a deposit. Under the scheme, NSW residents purchasing a property of up to $1.5 million (US$1 million) from Nov. 11, 2022, to July 1, 2023, can choose between paying upfront stamp duty, which can reach tens of thousands of dollars, or an annual land tax ($400 plus 0.3 percent of land value). On average, around 1,200 home buyers per month have switched to the new annual land tax since the scheme was introduced. On May 22, the Labor government announced that it would move legislation this week to replace the scheme with stamp duty exemptions and concessions after it expired on July 1. The NSW government said the new system would be fairer and simpler, allowing 84 percent of future first-home buyers to pay no tax or a reduced rate. It also argued that the First Home Buyer Choice scheme under the former government disproportionately benefited those buying properties at the top end. Details of the New Legislation Under the proposed changes, the state government will lift the threshold for stamp duty exemptions for first-home buyers from $650,000 to $800,000. This means a homeowner with an $800,000 property will dodge a pricey stamp duty of $31,090. Similarly, the stamp duty concession threshold will be raised from $800,000 to $1 million. NSW Premier Chris Minns said the new scheme would be better for the majority of first-home buyers. Over 80 percent of first-home buyers purchase a property under $1 million in NSW, he told Sydney Radio 2GB. Id much rather people pay a reduced amount rather than a land tax forever. NSW Premier Chris Minns speaks during the NSW Labor reception in Sydney, Australia, on March 25, 2023. (AAP Image/Dean Lewins) The premier also noted that the scheme was designed to support those in greatest need. When we are producing a tax subsidy, it should go to families that would ordinarily not be able to get into the housing market, he said. While the Labor government claimed the majority of NSW first-home buyers would benefit from the proposed changes, those buying homes worth above $1 million and below $1.5 million appear to be the biggest losers after July 1. Apart from the threshold changes, the new legislation will raise the bar for homeowner eligibility by increasing the requirement to live in the home from six months to 12 months. It will also include grandfathering provisions, allowing first-home buyers who signed up for the annual property tax to continue to pay that tax until they sell their property. As the Labor Party holds the minority in both houses, it will need the support of two crossbenchers in the lower house and six in the upper house to pass the legislation. Meanwhile, the coalition has expressed that it would oppose changes to the First Home Buyer Choice program. The Epoch Times has reached out to the NSW Liberal Party for comment but has yet to receive a reply in time for publication. Supreme Court Overturns Lifetime Ban for Michigan Bank Executive The Supreme Court held a special sitting on Sept. 30, 2022, for the formal investiture ceremony of Associate Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson. (Collection of the Supreme Court of the United States/Getty Images) The Supreme Court on May 22 unanimously reversed a lower courts order that a Michigan banker be banned from the financial services industry for life. Harry C. Calcutt III was president and CEO of Traverse City, Michigan-based Northwestern Bank before it was purchased by a competitor. The government alleged that Calcutt participated in improper lending practices that led the small bank to incur millions of dollars in losses. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) brought an enforcement action against Calcutt for allegedly mismanaging one of the banks loan relationships in the wake of the Great Recession of 200709. After an FDIC administrative law judge made a recommendation, the agency ordered Calcutt removed from his position, prohibited him from further banking activities, and assessed $125,000 in civil penalties under the Federal Deposit Insurance Act, according to the Supreme Court. [Calcutt] engaged in unsafe and unsound banking practices and breached his fiduciary duties to the Bank by increasing the Banks exposure to its largest borrower relationship to enable the borrowers to make payments on their existing loans, while concealing the true nature of the transactions from the Banks board of directors and its regulators, reads an FDIC enforcement order dated Dec. 15, 2020. Calcutt appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit, which found that the FDIC had made two legal errors in adjudicating his case. But instead of returning the case to the agency, the 6th Circuit carried out its own review and concluded that substantial evidence nevertheless supported the agencys decision. That was error, the Supreme Court ruled in an unsigned opinion (pdf) in Calcutt v. FDIC, court file 22-714. Its a simple but fundamental rule of administrative law that reviewing courts must judge the propriety of an agencys action based solely on the grounds invoked by the agency, the nations highest court stated. By deciding the case on a legal rationale different from the one offered by the FDIC, the Sixth Circuit violated these commands. The Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the 6th Circuit and remanded the case to that court. It also ordered the 6th Circuit to remand this matter to the FDIC so it may reconsider [Calcutts] case anew in a manner consistent with this opinion. The Supreme Court simultaneously granted Calcutts request seeking review while skipping over the oral argument phase when the merits of the case would have been considered. Some lawyers call this process GVR, which stands for grant, vacate, and remand. Calcutt had also asked the Supreme Court to consider his constitutional challenge to the structure of the FDIC. Because the FDICs officials are appointed by the president to fixed terms but may only be removed for cause, they arent politically accountable, which calls into question the constitutionality of the agencys structure. The 6th Circuit had ruled that the FDIC administrative law judge was properly appointed. But in Calcutts case, the Supreme Court declined to take up the constitutional question. A similar issue was raised in Seila Law LLC v. U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), which the Supreme Court decided in a 54 ruling on June 29, 2020. The CFPB was designed to be free of the influence of the president. Federal law blocked the president from dismissing its director, who has to be confirmed by the U.S. Senate, before that persons five-year term lapses, unless the termination is for inefficiency, neglect of duty, or malfeasance in office. The Supreme Court decision held that the president has the authority to fire the director at will but refused to strike down the statute authorizing the creation of the CFPB. The ruling was a victory for the Trump administration at the time. Calcutts attorney, Sarah Harris of Williams and Connolly, and the U.S. Department of Justice, which represented the FDIC, didnt respond by press time to a request by The Epoch Times for comment. Supreme Court Wont Hear Florida Democrats Defamation Appeal Rep. Alan Grayson (D-Fla.) listens to Federal Reserve Board Chairman Ben Bernanke testify during a House Financial Services Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington on Oct. 1, 2009. (Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images) A defamation lawsuit that controversial former Rep. Alan Grayson (D-Fla.) brought against independent political groups over the 2018 election was dismissed by the Supreme Court on May 22. The formerly high-profile, left-wing, ex-lawmaker represented Floridas 9th congressional district from 2013 to 2017. He sought the Democrats nomination for the seat in August 2018 but lost the primary election. Before that, he represented the states 8th congressional district from 2009 to 2011. Grayson attempted a political comeback in 2022 but lost the Democratic Partys primary for Floridas 10th congressional district. The Supreme Courts new decision in Grayson v. No Labels Inc., court file 22-906, took the form of an unsigned order. The court did not explain why it declined to hear Graysons petition. No justices dissented from the order. Grayson sued respondents No Labels Inc., a nonprofit organization that touts itself as centrist and bipartisan, as well as its founder, Nancy Jacobson, and her husband, Democratic pollster and political consultant Mark Penn, for defamation, defamation by implication, and civil conspiracy. Also sued were two political action committees, Progress Tomorrow Inc. and United Together Inc. Grayson claimed that in the 2018 campaign the respondents engaged in defamatory political speech opposing his candidacy and that such speech injured him by influencing voters in his district to vote against him, which caused him to lose. Judge Paul Byron of the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida, who was appointed by former President Barack Obama, ruled against Grayson in May 2022. Byron granted summary judgment against Grayson, finding there is not even a scintilla of evidence showingmuch less clear and convincing proof ofactual malice. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit, affirmed Byrons ruling in October 2022, determining that Grayson submitted no evidence from which a jury might plausibly infer that the defendants made false statements about Grayson, whether knowingly or recklessly. Grayson failed to show that the respondents campaign literature was based on actual malice, the appeals court said. The defendants mailings and online postings cite source materials, including an official congressional report, articles in well-known newspapers and magazines, and police reports, the court said. Relying on multiple independent sources by itself is enough to dismiss any claim of actual malice, the court said. Some of the campaign material accused him of unethical profiteering and spousal abuse. The material also accused him of using his political office to enrich himself and concealing income in public disclosures. One mailing portrayed him sitting with a drink on a tropical beach and another showed a passport featuring Graysons photos with dollar signs for eyes, the court said. No Labels and the other respondents told the Supreme Court in a brief (pdf) in April that the case was not worthy of this Courts review. While Graysons petition is full of inflammatory rhetoric, his factual claims are often patently false, he has grossly mischaracterized the lower courts rulings, and none of the questions that he proposes were preserved or are properly before the Court. No Labels attorney Christopher Man said he was pleased with the new Supreme Court decision. Every court that has considered Graysons claims has rejected them, Man, a partner at Winston and Strawn in Washington, told The Epoch Times by email. We are glad that the Supreme Court has brought this baseless litigation to an end. The Epoch Times reached out for comment to Graysons counsel of record, Jason W. Johnson of Winter Park, Florida, but had not received a reply as of press time. Teen Arrested for Bringing Rifle, Ammunition to High School in Arizona: Police Authorities in Arizona arrested a teenage student after he allegedly brought an AR-15-style rifle and ammunition to a high school in Phoenix, according to officials. In a letter to parents, Bostrom High School Principal Michelle Gutierrez de Jimenez said staff received a tip on May 19 about a possible weapon on campus and immediately notified local police. Our staff immediately contacted local law enforcement, who arrived on the scene and confirmed the report to be true, Gutierrez de Jimenez said, adding members of the Phoenix Police Department have launched an investigation in which school staff will fully cooperate. The student, a 15-year-old who was not named, is facing several serious felony charges after being accused of bringing the semi-automatic rifle and ammunition to the school, Phoenix police said in a news release, according to CNN. Authorities revealed that additional ammunition was discovered in the teens lunchbox and backpack, noting arriving officers acted quickly and detained him at the schools main office. The Phoenix Union High School District said in a statement that staff called local law enforcement shortly before 1 p.m. after learning of a possible weapon. During our investigation, we discovered the report was accurate, and local authorities intervened and confiscated the weapon, the school district stated. Donna Rossi, a spokesperson for Phoenix police, told NBC News that the teen was charged as a juvenile with possession of a weapon, carrying a weapon on school grounds, and interfering with an educational institution, among other weapon-related charges. Safety Measures Enacted In light of the incident, Gutierrez de Jimenez informed parents in her letter that additional safety measures are being enforced out of an abundance of caution following the incident. She also said the school will have mental health services and emotional support available for those who may need it. Gutierrez de Jimenez also reminded students that they will not be allowed to bring backpacks on campus this week. The principal urged concerned parents and students to call the front office at (602) 764-1700 for further questions. As you know, the safety of our students and staff is always our top priority and a shared effort, Gutierrez de Jimenez said. We want to thank those who reported the incident to a trusted adult, our staff, and the Phoenix Police Department who quickly arrived on campus. We recognize the severity of this situation and the fear and anxiety it causes our students and staff, she added. We will have social-emotional support available at school for students and staff who may need it. Phoenix police have also praised the response of those who informed school staff about the possibility of a student bringing a firearm onto school grounds. We commend those who originally reported the possibility of a weapon on school grounds to adults on campus who immediately called police, the department said. It was not immediately clear who the tipster or the student is, who will not be identified because the person is a minor. Neither was it clear how the student obtained the gun and ammunition. According to the Giffords Law Center, a nonprofit gun control advocacy group, Arizona prohibits minors from possessing a firearm on school grounds except in certain circumstances such as a program approved by the school or in the case of an individual authorized by state officials to carry a firearm. From NTD News The G-7 Kowtow Communique to Communist China European Council President Charles Michel, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, French President Emmanuel Macron, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, U.S. President Joe Biden, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen pose for a group photo after laying flower wreaths at the Cenotaph for Atomic Bomb Victims in the Peace Memorial Park on the sidelines of the G-7 summit in Hiroshima, Japan, on May 18, 2023. (Franck Robichon/Pool/Getty Images) Commentary Last week, as Chinese warships completed a coercive circumnavigation of Japans main islands, G-7 leaders met to forge a unified response to communist Chinas ever-increasing economic and military aggression. The resulta weak communique without bite or teethwas hardly Churchillian. Following the G-7s kowtow, the Chinese Communist Partys (CCP) economic and military aggression will continue undeterred. The CCP will use its vast arsenal of mercantilist weapons to conquer world markets while it executes the most rapid military buildup of a fascist state since the Third Reich. Nor will the CCP stop arming the Russians, nuclearizing Iran, or using its debt trap diplomacy and the Trojan Horse of a Belt and Road Initiative to acquire strategic naval ports around the world. The CCP will also maintain its vast concentration camp network and its live organ harvesting from Falun Gong prisoners, while the cultural genocide against Tibet and smashing of Christian churches wont abate. Why do G-7 leaders act as kowtowing rug merchants rather than Churchillian leaders? Like Tolstoys unhappy families, each is compromised in his own way. China is Germanys largest trading partner, and no chancellor would dare bite the hand that feeds the German economy. This is sadly true even if the CCPs other hand is weaponizing a Russian invasion of Ukraine. Never mind all the dead Ukrainians or Europeans freezing in the dark for want of Russian gas. In Italy, communist China has bought up Italian firms faster than a Ferrari at full throttle, even as it seizes stakes in key Italian ports such as Genoa and Trieste. Italy will soon reach a point where it will be impossible to say no to Beijingand is likely already there. With Canada and France, its as much a leadership problem as economic overdependence on China. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and French President Emmanuel Macron both find it politically advantageous to play the United States off against China as a means of building their statures on the world stage and soothing their U.S.-hating liberal constituents at home. Trudeau has played this imperious anti-U.S. card incessantly since the Trump years. Most recently, Macron threw Taiwans democracy under the bus, saying Europe cant blindly follow the United States lead and should avoid getting into crises not their own. Never mind the irony of Europe dragging the United States into their RussiaUkraine fiasco. While the UK once called itself Chinas best partner in the West, the CCPs crushing of Hong Kong in violation of its agreement with the UK was an epiphany. At least for a period, UK leaders found enough backbone to block Huaweis 5G network and condemn the CCP for its human rights abuses. That said, pro-CCP prime ministersfrom Tony Blair and David Cameron to Boris Johnsonhave drifted in and out of 10 Downing Street. From election to election, you never know what youre going to get. President Joe Biden came to the summit with neither the will nor a plan to clamp down on CCP abuses and effectively abrogated U.S. leadership. This was a 180-degree appeasement turn away from former President Donald Trumps tough on China policies. U.S. President Joe Biden attends a meeting during the G-7 Leaders Summit in Hiroshima, Japan, on May 19, 2023. (Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images) Biden regularly boasts of having met frequently with Chinese leader Xi Jinping. That has simply put Biden under Xis guanxi spellBiden is now far more reluctant to rock the China boat because of Xis phony friendship and flattery. How else do you explain Bidens recent silly balloon comment? There are also the very messy financial ties that bind the Biden family to China. Bidens son Hunter has been implicated in influence-peddling schemes. If Joe Biden is really the big guy getting a cut, hes implicated, too. Equally problematic, Bidens bureaucrats at the State Department, Pentagon, and National Security Council see no conflict with China. With blindfolds on, they see a competition to be managed. The one outlier in the G-7s merry band of kowtowers is Japan, which literally sits at the tip of the CCPs economic and military spears. In a long-running dispute over the Senkaku Islands, which the CCP lays false claim to, the Chinese navy repeatedly violates Japanese waters, while Chinese military aircraft frequently blitz Japans air defense identification zone. Meanwhile, on the Chinese mainland, Japanese businesses have been periodically burned and looted while, in response, the Japanese government has constructed an aggressive set of incentives to bring Japans factories back home. Here, it was no coincidence that, as G-7 leaders were meeting, communist China announced that it had overtaken Japan as the worlds largest exporter of automobiles. Message receivedat least in Tokyo. The entreaties of Japans leader for stronger action notwithstanding, all that came out of the G-7 meeting was a wishy-washy joint communique pledging to build constructive and stable relations and rejecting decoupling. Wheres Churchillor Trumpwhen you need them? Originally published in Peter Navarros Taking Back Trumps America. Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times. GLENVIEW, ILAlthough times were different when I Love You, Youre Perfect, Now Change first opened in 1996 Off-Broadway, and the dating game it depicted has since changed, romance is still very much the same. As the musical, now playing at the Oil Lamp Theater in Glenview, Illinois, demonstrates, love is timeless, still very funny, and oftentimes very poignant. Of course, over the years a few changes have been made to the musical revue, such as the modern use of cell phones, texting, the Internet, and the style of clothing, but, no matter the time, human nature remains the same. Men and women are still motivated by love. The revival of I Love You, Youre Perfect, Now Change, the first musical presented by Oil Lamp Theater, is as funny as its title suggests. The show doesnt have a continuous plot but rather a series of vignettes that revolve around couples meeting, falling in love, getting married, and advancing to their senior years. Directed by Jay Pastucha, with book and lyrics by Joe DiPietro and music by Jimmy Roberts, the show tracks romance through the lives of many couples. From the anxiety of blind dates, to marriage, to parenting, and to the golden years (which can sometimes be less than golden), the show moves with fast-paced wit and charming humor. A few of the scenes may seem a bit old fashioned, such as women complaining about the lack of single men, or the difficulties of taking vacations with energetic youngsters but, even when appearing dated, the scenes are still nostalgically laughable. Four characters, Man #1, Man #2, Woman #1 and Woman #2 play couples at various stages in life who are in love. (Oil Lamp Theater) Some of the highlights in the show include a macho guy who thinks hes only interested in action films and is shocked to discover that he really likes his girlfriends chick-flick movies; a father who cant seem to find a moment to be with his wife, and is eagerly anticipating a night alone with her; a man who has been married to his wife for 30 years and, as she falls asleep, he sings that even though they have had conflicts and arguments, he is still madly in love with her and grateful for every day of their marriage; and two senior citizens who have lost their mates and dance together at a wake. Character Changes The musical comes across as a frothy, light-hearted romp, but that belies the challenge to its four-person ensemble who have to perform in a variety of parts. The performers have to act, sing, dance, and need plenty of energy to make fast turns from scene to scene. They need to change their costumes (courtesy of costume designer Andres Mota), change the inflection of their voices, and change their style of moving (choreographed by Mary Iris Loncto) in order to transform from one character to another within minutes. There are four exceptional performers in the revue. Theyre referred to as Woman #1, Woman #2, Man #1, and Man #2. Thats because the actors change so often that the audience might be confused by characters with over a dozen names. As Woman #1, Sarah Obert demonstrates terrific comic timing as a shy young girl who wants to become more interesting to the opposite sex, a career-woman who isnt interested in marriage, and a mother trying to keep everything together on a road trip. As Woman #2 Marina Magnelli is a hoot with characterizations that have her going from a kid in the back seat of a car during a road trip, to a hard-driven lawyer, and then to an elderly widow at a wake. As Man #1 Adrian Thornburg has a powerful vocal presence singing Shouldnt I Be Less in Love With You when he tells his wife how much he loves her. As Man #2 Jeffrey Charles is a riot as the macho guy on a date with a woman who wants him to share her appreciation for weepy, personal films, and to a harried driver of a family road trip. An adorable show with lots of laughs, I Love You, Youre Perfect, Now Change tackles many of the endearing and hilarious aspects of romance, but it also features some of its serious pitfalls, such as doubting oneself before a first date, the fear of being alone, the regret of not taking a chance, and the pain of trying to move on when love dies. Although a terrific feel-good show, it isnt really for kids. This is a production thats more suitable for grown-ups and will be enjoyed by those who are dating or in romantic relationships, and married couples of any age. Now playing at the Oil Lamp Theater in Glenview, Illinois I Love You, Youre Perfect, Now Change demonstrates, love is timeless, still very funny, and oftentimes very poignant. (Oil Lamp Theater) I Love You, Youre Perfect, Now Change Oil Lamp Theater 1723 Glenview Road, Glenview, Ill. Tickets: 847-834-0738 or OilLampTheater.org Runs: 2 hours Closes: July 2, 2023 Tim Scott Formally Announces 2024 Presidential Bid U.S. Senator Tim Scott (R-S.C.) announces his run for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination at a campaign event in North Charleston, S.C., on May 22, 2023. (Allison Joyce/Getty Images) NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C.Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) formally announced his bid for president on May 22 during an event in North Charleston, South Carolina. In his speech, Scott, 57, drew heavily from his life story of rising from extreme poverty to becoming the GOPs only black U.S. senator. Joe Biden and the Democrats are attacking every rung of the ladder that helped me climb, Scott said. And thats why Im running for president of the United States. His announcement places him in an already crowded field: President Donald Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis are currently considered the frontrunners in the Republican primary, although the latter hasnt officially announced his campaign. But other Republicans, including former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, have also thrown their hats in the ring. Scott already has one high-value endorsement to his name: that of Senate Minority Whip John Thune (R-S.D.). Thune spoke at the event, leading a prayer before Scott made his remarks. I want all of America to know what South Carolina knows, Thune said. And that is that Tim Scott is the real deal. And he will make a great president of the United States. I think our country is ready to be inspired again. People wait in line to enter Sen. Tim Scotts (R-S.C.) presidential announcement on May 22. (Joseph Lord/The Epoch Times) Thune cited Scotts work on the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, a signature bill signed by Trump, as an example of his legislative accomplishments. Scott has long been considered a prospect for president, particularly among South Carolina voters. Lines for the event stretched out the door and to the street, with hundreds of locals hoping for the chance to hear Scotts announcement. Many attendees said they were supporting Scott because of his Christian values, his personal story, and his optimistic attitude. Scotts campaign slogan, Faith in America, indicates the importance of this optimistic approach in Scotts campaign. I just really admire his story, one attendee said. Another called Scott a good Christian man doing things that should be done right. Rising Out of Poverty Born to a single mother, Scott raised himself out of poverty through his mothers encouragement. He has long used his own story as a case in point of the opportunity the United States provides, and in his May 22 speech, he hit the same theme, declaring that opportunity still exists in the United States. My momma worked 16-hour days as a nurses aidechanging bedpans and rolling patients, he said. It was hard work. It was not glamorous. Those 16-hour days put food on our table. And kept our lights on. They empowered her to move her boys out of a place filled with anger into a home full of love. My moms work ethic taught me there is dignity in all work. And thats why I know, if you are able-bodied, you work if you can, Scott said, a reference to Republican calls for stricter work requirements to receive government financial assistance. Scott also said his rise out of poverty is a case in point of American exceptionalism. We live in the land where it is possible for a kid raised in poverty by a single mother in a small apartment to one day serve in the Peoples House and maybe even the White House, he said. They say opportunity in America is a myth and faith in America is a fraud. But the truth of my life disproves their lies. Asked what sets Scott apart from the rest of the crowded Republican field, many cited his optimistic attitude, saying they feel that the message of his personal story and his political positions are more positive than those of other candidates. Candidate the Far Left Fears the Most In the past, Scott has said that he poses a challenge to Democrats narrative, and he reiterated that in his announcement, calling himself the candidate the far left fears the most. This is the freest and fairest land, where you and I can go as high as our character, our grit, and our talent will take us, he said. I bear witness to that. I testify to that. Thats why Im the candidate the far left fears the most. In the past, some Democrats have dismissed Scott as a prop or a token for his support of conservative positions, particularly on issues of taxation and police. At another point, the term Uncle Tom trended on Twitter for hours in reference to Scott. A Nation in Retreat By his ascent from poverty and by his position as a black conservative, Scott said, I disrupt their narrative. I threaten their control. The truth of my life disproves their lies. Our party and our nation are standing at a time for choosing. He called the election a choice between victimhood and victory, grievance and greatness. I choose freedom and hope and opportunity, Scott said. He pointed to his differences from President Joe Biden, whom he called weak. Our nation, our values, and our people are strong, he said. But our president is weak. Scott said that although the United States isnt in decline, under Biden it has become a nation in retreat. Retreating from our heritage and our history, he said. Retreating from personal responsibility and hard work. Retreating from strength and security. Even retreating from religious liberty and the worship of God himself. Demonizing, Demoralizing, Defunding the Police Scott also struck a strongly pro-law enforcement tone during the announcement, saying that left-wing policies were causing crime to increase and endangering the lives of those in low-income city communities. In Bidens America, crime is on the rise and law enforcement is in retreat, Scott reiterated the point later, going into a litany of common GOP criticisms of left-wing criminal justice policy. The far-left is ending cash bail, theyre demonizing, demoralizing, and defunding the police, Scott said. In many major cities across the country, left-wing prosecutors have reduced penalties for violent crimes and refused to enforce laws against certain crimes. The effect of these policies, Scott said, is more dangerous communities in places like where he grew up. Where I grew up, people ended up in prison or in the cemetery from crime, Scott added. We need more public safety, not less, Scott said to a round of applause. Voters Testing the Waters Several voters who attended the rally said they were interested in Scott but not ready to commit to giving him their support. Many suggested that they were at the event to test the waters and see where Scott stands. One attendee said he wasnt committed to Scott but felt that he was the most electable candidate in the field right now. Asked what his most important issues were, the attendee said electability was near the top. Asked about their thoughts on Haley, a well-liked former governor of the state, many attendees said that although they like her, they think that she can be wishy-washy on issues. Scott is more consistent in his conservative positions, they said. Those who were fully on board with Scotts run said they were supporting him because of his strong positions on national security, his Christian values, and his message. Others confessed that they found the prospect of a South Carolina-born president exciting. Best Candidate for Future Another attendee, a young man with a child, said he was supporting Scott because Scott was the best candidate for this guys future while gesturing to the child. Rocky Berton, who said he works in public safety, told The Epoch Times, Im here to support Tim Scott because I really appreciate his values. Asked why he was supporting Scott over other options such as Haley, Berton said, Well, hes a hometown fella. On the other hand, Berton wasnt entirely ready to commit to Scott. He said that although Scott was up there with [Trump and DeSantis] and may even have the upper hand, Berton indicated that he still wasnt sure which candidate hell support. Berton said that because of his background, he considered national security the most important issue and suggested that Scott was the strongest candidate on that issue. Tom Clements, another attendee, said he doesnt think DeSantis has much of a chance to win. On the other hand, he suggested that he hoped Scott became vice president rather than president. I think hed be a good vice president, Clements said. Asked how he would compare Scott with Haley, Clements quickly said, I like Scott much more than Nikki Haley. School Choice Stance Clements cited school choice, an issue that Scott has long pushed, as one of his most important issues. Under a school choice or voucher system, students would be able to choose their school rather than be shuffled into a particular public school. Scott has said that adopting a school choice program would enable others to rise out of poverty like he did. Clements agreed, saying school choice would help black and white Americans alike escape poverty and close the wealth gap. Clements also cited the importance of a strong military as a reason for his support of Scott. I dont think we should be deleting our military; we should be building our military, Clements said. But ultimately, he echoed popular sentiment when he said he was just testing the waters to see where Scott stands. Following Scotts announcement, President Donald Trump released a post on Truth Social wishing Scott luck and calling him a big step up from DeSantis and other current GOP presidential contenders. Currently, Scott is trailing Trump, DeSantis, and Haley in the polls. A RealClearPolitics aggregate of polls shows that as of Monday, Scott has 1.8 percent support, Haley has 4.8 percent, DeSantis has 19.4 percent, and Trump has 56.3 percent. He also trails behind other potential and announced contenders like former Vice President Mike Pence and businessman Vivek Ramaswamy. On the other hand, Scott is entering the race with $22 million in his campaign account after easily winning a nearly 25-point victory over Democrat Krystle Matthews in 2022. Scott can immediately transfer the funds to his presidential campaign account, meaning hes entering the race with more cash on hand than any other candidate in U.S. history. Scott has long said his current term, which will end in 2029, will be his last. Some think that if Scott pulls off an early primary win in South Carolina, where hes popular, it could lead to more victories in later primaries. The Democratic National Committee responded to Scotts announcement by dismissing the notion that Scott offers much of an alternative to Trumps policies. DNC chair Jamie Harrison, who ran unsuccessfully for Senate in South Carolina in 2020, released a statement calling the senator a fierce advocate of the MAGA agenda. Jack Phillips contributed to this report. During the briefing, the President of Georgia declared her decision to boycott Georgian Airways following remarks made by the company's founder, Tamaz Gaiashvili, who expressed support for the Russian President's decision to lift the visa requirements for Georgian citizens and reinstate direct flights between the two countries. Furthermore, the President's announcement came after Georgian Airways initiated regular flights between Tbilisi and Moscow, which began on May 20.Salome Zourabichvili acknowledged that the boycott may not have a significant impact, but she encouraged others to join her.According to President Zourabichviil's statement, she believes that "Georgian Airways" is a company that takes full advantage of the state in order to accumulate wealth.'Georgian Airways' is a company that takes full advantage of the state to accumulate wealth. This has been the case under all governments, including during the Covid pandemic. Now, they are trying to exploit the new situation, which is unacceptable to a significant portion of our population. Additionally, I will refrain from using their services until the company's ownership changes, as I do not wish to contribute to their enrichment. It is evident that "Georgian Airways" is willing to do anything for money, as seen from the statements made by its leadership," stated Zourabichvili.In response to the boycott announced by the President of Georgia, "Georgian Airways" has declared President Salome Zourabichvili as persona non grata and has prohibited her from utilizing their services.Elene Khoshtaria, the leader of the "Droa" party, has been released from the pre-trial detention center after being arrested in Kakheti under an administrative procedure. She has stated that she will not be attending court.Elene Khoshtaria stated that after witnessing the police's behavior in Kvareli, she traveled to Kakheti where she personally witnessed the chief of police physically expelling a lawyer and activists from a building. In response, she confronted the police chief physically. Khoshtaria emphasized that when the police protect Lavrov at the expense of abusing and violating the rights of their own citizens, they should expect a similar response. She justified her actions by stating that the police chief deserved it for mistreating citizens and prioritizing Lavrov's protection."What happened in Kvareli, how the police behaved-after that, naturally, I went to Kakheti and, directly in front of me, I believe it was the chief of police, physically expelled the lawyer and activists from the building. That's why I confronted him physically. I want to emphasize that the police, who are protecting Lavrov, are abusing their own citizens and trampling on their rights. Yes, they will receive a similar response. Yes, I confronted the police chief, who deserved it because he mistreated citizens and protected Lavrov," said Khoshtaria.According to Khoshtaria, she has no intention of cooperating with the court."I do not cooperate with the court at any stage because, in my view, it is not a legitimate court but rather a sanctioned 'clan' group. I do not mean to offend anyone individually, but as a system, it operates like a slave system. Therefore, I will not attend, pay the fine, or cooperate in any way," said Khoshtaria.All 17 individuals, including Lasha Parulava, a member of the political council of the United National Movement, and Giorgi Lomidze, who were arrested during the protests near Kvareli Lake Resort Hotel, have been released. BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 22. Within the 76th session of the World Health Assembly, the Azerbaijani delegation held a meeting with the Global Fund (GB) led by Head of the Grant Management Division of the GB Mark Edington, the Azerbaijani Ministry of Health told Trend. Minister of Health Teymur Musayev pointed out that Azerbaijan attaches great importance to cooperation with the Global Fund. He reminded that since 2005, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria has been actively involved in promoting measures to combat tuberculosis in the country. "Currently, the Global Fund projects are being successfully implemented in Azerbaijan, which make a great and important contribution to our fight against tuberculosis," Musayev said. In his speech, the minister underlined that in March of this year, the World Health Organization (WHO) certified the country as a malaria-free one. "In this regard, the WHO Regional Office for Europe has spread information noting that this achievement of Azerbaijan was made possible thanks to the constant investment of resources and professionalism of medical personnel, as well as targeted measures for the prevention, early detection and treatment of all cases of malaria," Musayev added. In conclusion, he expressed hope for further successful development of cooperation between the Ministry of Health of Azerbaijan and the Global Fund. In turn, Edington highly appreciated the measures taken by the country on eliminating malaria in its areas. He emphasized that last year the Republican Center for AIDS Control of the Ministry of Health, with the support of the Global Fund, launched a pilot "Pre-exposure Prophylaxis for Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) Prevention" project in Azerbaijan. According to Edington, the new method involves the use of antiretroviral drugs by healthy people to prevent HIV infection. The current state of cooperation and potential opportunities for its development were discussed at the meeting. Top Immigration Adviser Backs Student Visa Curbs A graduation ceremony at the University of Suffolk's campus in Ipswich, England, in October 2015. (PA) A top government adviser has expressed support for plans to scale back the right of foreign students to stay in the UK after graduation. Professor Brian Bell, chairman of the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC), told The Sunday Telegraph that the independent body thought it unnecessary for foreign students to be permitted to work in Britain for two years after completing their masters degree. A graduate visa allows masters students to bring spouses and children to the country with them. Family members are permitted to stay in the country for 24 months after the students course is over. According to the Office of National Statistics (ONS), a significant factor behind the rise in net migration numbers in recent years has been an increase in foreign students and their dependents arriving. ONS data show that people arriving on study visas accounted for the largest proportion (39 percent) of long-term immigration of non-EU nationals in the year to June 2022; at 277,000 people. That was up from 143,000 in the previous 12 months. Bell, a professor of economics at Kings College London, told the newspaper that the graduate visa had allowed foreign students pretty much unrestricted rights to work for two years after studying for a one-year masters degree. He said the MAC had found students who stayed after graduating were often in low-skilled and low-earning jobs. An offer to do anything you want for two years seems unnecessary to us, so Ive never been massively in favour of the graduate route, he told the newspaper. Legal Migration Too High According to media reports, the ONS figures to be published later this week are expected to show net migration reached at least 700,000 in the 12 months up to December 2022. That will exceed the record of 500,000 set in the year to June 2022 and is substantially higher than the 226,000 level that stood when the 2019 Conservative Party manifesto promised that overall numbers will come down following the introduction of post-Brexit border controls. Home Secretary Suella Braverman has been pushing for curbs on legal migration. In a speech to the National Conservatism conference last week, she said Britain must not lose sight of the importance of controlling legal migration, as well as clamping down on unlawful entries. British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak speaks during a press conference following the G-7 summit in Hiroshima, Japan, on May 21, 2023. (Issei Kato/Pool/Getty Images) Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, who sees curbing illegal immigration as one of his top priorities, promised on Sunday his government will also take action to cut legal migration. Sunak, speaking at a press conference in Hiroshima after attending the G-7 leaders meeting, said he has been considering a range of options to bring the numbers down, with an announcement to be made shortly. He added, Let me be unequivocal that future numbers of legal migration are too high and Im committed, and the government is committed, to bringing those numbers down. Student Recruitment Talking to Sky News on Sunday, Environment Secretary Therese Coffey said the biggest increase in migration numbers has been the number of people coming to study here. Our universities are very keen to have people coming from around the world. We also see it as a great way to potentially attract talent, she said, adding, It is critical that we try and make sure people have access to that excellence. But Bell said incomes for the higher education sector should not be the only consideration. In his Sunday Telegraph interview, Bell said fewer overseas students would mean a reduction in GDP, but a large number of dependents could increase the burden on taxpayers through school and other costs. A Home Office spokesperson, asked about Bells comments, said: The public rightly expects us to control our borders and we remain committed to reducing overall net migration, while ensuring we have the skills our economy and public services needs. We keep all our immigration policies under constant review to continue to strike a balance between welcoming people who contribute to the UKs academic institutions and reducing overall net migration over time. PA Media contributed to this report. Toyota Finds Improper Crash Test in Daihatsu Production A Toyota Raize hybrid vehicle produced by Daihatsu Motor Co. is unveiled in Tokyo on Nov. 5, 2019. (Kyodo News via AP) Toyota Motor Corp. found an instance of improper crash tests in one of its subsidiary companies and suspended shipments, the company said Friday. Toyota subsidiary Daihatsu copied the safety test results for a part of the vehicle, instead of performing new tests, according to the company. It is not clear how the deficiency was initially reported. In the faulty crash tests, results for a pole used to measure impact on the left side were used for the right, when both sides had to be tested, Daihatsu said. The improper test affected 56,111 Toyota Raize hybrids and 22,329 Daihatsu Rocky, all sold in Japan and produced by Daihatsu. Cloud Data not Protected Two weeks ago, Toyota said the vehicle data of 2.15 million users in Japan, or almost the entire customer base who signed up for its main cloud service platforms since 2012, had been publicly available for a decade due to human error. The incident, which also affected customers of its luxury brand Lexus, comes as the worlds biggest automaker by sales makes a push into vehicle connectivity and cloud-based data management. The issue, which began in November 2013 and lasted until mid-April, stemmed from human error, leading to a cloud system being set to public instead of private, a Toyota spokesperson said. It could encompass details such as vehicle locations and identification numbers of vehicle devices, but there were no reports of malicious use, the company said. There was a lack of active detection mechanisms, and activities to detect the presence or absence of things that became public, the spokesperson said in response to why it took time to realize there had been an error. Toyota said it would introduce a system to audit cloud settings, establish a system to continuously monitor settings, and thoroughly educate employees on data handling rules. Affected customers included those who signed up for the T-Connect service which provides a wide range of services including AI voice-enabled driving assistance, auto connection to call centers for vehicle management, and emergency support in such cases as a traffic accident or sudden illness. Also affected were users of G-Link, a similar service for owners of Lexus vehicles. Improper Testing Last month Daihatsu again rigged part of the door in side-collision safety tests carried out for some 88,000 small cars, most of which were sold under the Toyota brand. As a result, there was a suspension of shipments of Toyota Yaris Ativs made in Thailand from last August, and Perodua Axias manufactured in Malaysia starting from February. The problem may have occurred due to pressure on Daihatsu to shorten the development time of the Ativ, Masahiko Maeda, Toyotas CEO for the Asia region, said at a press conference in Bangkok. The vehicles customers were currently using were safe, he added. Toyota was working with the Thai government to resume sales of the model, which has been produced in Toyotas Gateway plant in Chachoengsao province, and further investigation was underway. Of the more than 88,000 vehicles, some 76,000 were Yaris models mainly bound for Thailand, Mexico, and Gulf Cooperation Council countries, Daihatsu said. About 11,800 affected vehicles were Axias manufactured by Daihatsu at a joint venture plant it runs with Malaysian automaker Perodua. Those cars were sold in Malaysia. The Gulf Cooperation Council comprises Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain and Oman. Toyota Chairman Akio Toyoda said the companies were investigating how the side panel of Yaris and other models had been changed for safety testing and apologized for what he called an unacceptable violation of consumer trust. Toyota said it had not received any report of an accident or injury related to the rigged side-crash test. It was not immediately clear who had rigged the doors for crash testing, how widespread the knowledge of the action had been within Daihatsu, and whether senior managers had approved the step. Well proceed with a detailed investigation from here on, but promise to decisively understand what happened at the site, investigate the true intentions and sincerely work to prevent a recurrence, Toyoda told reporters. Were going to need some time to do that, he said. Daihatsu said it had discovered the rigged safety test after a whistleblower report. It said it had reported the issue to regulatory agencies and stopped shipments of affected models. The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report. Whether its a special trip to the Library of Congress or a 10-minute drive to the local library, when true lovers of books hear the words Lets head for the library, they experience the same stab of excitement produced by the words ice cream parlor in a 5-year-old. For bibliophiles, the Magic Kingdom isnt in Florida, and the only price of admission is a library card. For some libraries, of course, Magic Kingdom is an apt description. Harvards Widener Library, for example, is not only a building of beauty and grace, but it also contains 57 miles of shelf space and can hold over three million books. The Library of Congress in Washington has the largest collection in the world and offers a cornucopia of artistic and architectural delights. The Iowa law library in Des Moines is a tangled extravaganza of artwork, beautifully tiled floors, terraces, and twisting stairs visited by over 100,000 visitors a year. In Virginias Northern Shenandoah Valley is Winchesters Handley Library, another architectural gem, which the National Park Service says is perhaps Virginias purest expression of the regal and florid Beaux Arts classicism. Lovely as they are, like any community library these buildings and others like them have one chief purpose: to preserve books and other resources, and make them available to the public. In a sense, they are the secular counterparts of our places of worship, gathering places for those seeking enlightenment and wisdom. A Snapshot History of Public Libraries Founded in 1640, the Biblioteca Palafoxiana in Puebla, Mexico, is recognized as the oldest public library in North America. Nearly 3,000 miles to the north, Massachusetts Puritans and Virginia planters who colonized these lands soon took pride in their home libraries. In Philadelphia, booklover Benjamin Franklin, who over a lifetime amassed more than 4,000 volumes in his private library, helped open the first subscription library in Philadelphia as well as lent his influence to create medical, philosophical, and university libraries. Only in 1790 was the first real public library founded in the United States, in a small town in Massachusetts, and therein lies a story. Formerly known as Exeter, the town changed its name to Franklin in 1778, and then some of the inhabitants, their names now lost to history, asked the revered Franklin to donate a bell for the steeple of the town meeting hall. Franklin turned down that request, but he offered books instead, replying sense being preferable to sound. Known among the townspeople as the Franklin Collection, the books circulated free of charge after 1790. In the 19th and 20th centuries, public libraries become commonplace in the United States, points of pride in cities and towns, and they were a driving force in the nations development. Individual citizens, local governments, and donations from the wealthyAndrew Carnegie used some of his fortune to build 1,679 public librariesbuilt these repositories for books, thereby enhancing the education of millions of Americans. Treasures From the Gilded Age Meanwhile, private collectors made their own impact on libraries and library architecture, most noticeably so during the period after the Civil War, the so-called Gilded Era. With enormous funds at their disposal, wealthy bibliophiles indulged themselves by purchasing rare works or bringing together books on subjects that particularly interested them. And some of them built libraries. In the early 20th century, for example, financier Pierpont Morgan had a library constructed adjacent to his Madison Avenue residence in New York to house his burgeoning collection of literature, old manuscripts, and drawings and prints. Architect Charles McKim designed three magnificent rooms to resemble a Renaissance palazzo. Following his fathers death, in what constituted one of the most momentous cultural gifts in U.S. history, according to The Morgan Library and Museum website, J.P. Morgan opened the library to scholars and the public. Later additions, including one that was completed in 2006 and added spaces like a lecture hall, a restaurant, and a reading room to the complex, have helped make The Morgan Library & Museum a Manhattan landmark. Gifts From the Brothers Vanderbilt One of the greatest 19th-century American architects, Richard Morris Hunt (18271895), who had attended the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris, showed a keen interest in libraries throughout his career. In the early 1870s, he designed a library for James Lenox, one of New Yorks wealthiest men. The Lenox Library was one of the citys first libraries accessible to the public. It housed arcades, reading rooms, and valuable manuscripts and art, and stood until 1912, when entrepreneur and art collector Henry Frick demolished the building and built what is today a museum of art: The Frick Collection. The Vanderbilt Library in Ashville, North Carolina. (The Biltmore Company) Two of Hunts libraries that have survived the ravages of time are meccas for booklovers from around the world. Like Morgan and Frick, Cornelius Vanderbilt accumulated vast wealth during his lifetime. One of his grandsons, Cornelius Vanderbilt II, commissioned Hunt to design The Breakers in Newport, Rhode Island, a 70-room cottage that is today visited by hundreds of thousands of tourists every year. His brother George Vanderbilt likewise engaged Hunt and had him draw up the plans for the Biltmore House in Asheville, North Carolina, which is the largest private home ever built in America and which again is a major tourist attraction. Cornelius and George were inveterate readers and collectors of books, and the beautiful libraries designed by Hunt for both these homes are testaments to this passion. These rooms are done up in a grand style, ornately decorated from floor to ceiling, yet they also offer intimacy, inviting readers to take a book in hand and draw up a chair before the fireplace or sit in one of the stuffed chairs scattered around the room. In both libraries, we see the homage paid by wealth to the printed word. Historic Carnegie Library, built in 1903, Mattoon, Illinois. (Eddie J. Rodriquez/Shutterstock) At Home With Books Most of us who are booklovers visit these magnificent private libraries and others like them, and come away with mixed emotions: happy to find books so revered, overwhelmed by the setting in which these jewels of paper and print have been placed, and perhaps a little envious. We return to our own homes, an apartment so small that our books are stacked on tables or kitchen counters, or to a house where shelves are scattered willy-nilly room to room. We may let out a sigh of longing, thinking that if we possessed a library like the one at Biltmore, we could spend every free moment in that room and never become bored. But in one important way our collection is unique. The books lined up on our shelves or standing on the floor in the corner of the bedroom are mirrors of who we are. That volume of The Best Loved Poems of the American People may mean little to a visitor, but when we turn the pages, we remember our mother reading from it to us when we were children. Mark Helprins novel A Soldier of the Great War gave strength to our hearts during a desperate time, and we remember and honor its counsel when we pass it by in the den. Some of the Golden Book titles we read to our grandchildren were shared with us decades before by our own grandmothers. At Home With Books. Out of print. (Potter Style) In At Home With Books: How Booklovers Live With and Care for Their Libraries, now regrettably out of print, the authors created a lavish feast of photographs from apartments and homes around America inhabited by men and women who treasure books, some of them quite wealthy, others middle-class. In the Introduction we read: People continue to make a home for books because books make a home. Book-centered rooms are described as nurturing, a comfort zone, an escape hatch, a place to retreat to for tea and talk, thinking and reading, recapturing memories, regenerating spirit and ideas. Whatever the state of your own home librarymessy and cluttered, tidy and ordered, a spacious getaway room with a Persian rug and some fine works of art, or a single easy chair surrounded by shelves and stacks of booksjust remember this: Its the books that count. All the rest is just the whipped cream on the dessert. Tucker Carlson Lawyer Speaks Out on Recent PAC Claims A lawyer for Tucker Carlson said a political action committee (PAC) that seeks to draft the former Fox News host isnt authorized and called on people to not donate to it. I can unequivocally state that this PAC is unauthorized, that the people running it didnt get his permission to use his name/likeness, and that it would be fruitless to contribute to such a PAC, Harmeet Dhillon, who said shes Carlsons attorney, wrote on Twitter several days after the Draft Tucker Carlson PAC released what appears to be an advertisement. Dhillon is the executive of the California Republican Party who unsuccessfully attempted to challenge current Republican National Committee Chair Ronna McDaniel earlier this year. As an attorney, she has represented former President Donald Trump and other prominent conservatives in various cases. Over the weekend, the Draft Tucker PAC released a video that suggests that Carlson should enter politics and maybe make a 2024 White House run, despite Carlson previously saying in public that he has no desire to run for office. Republicans need a new leader that can stand up to Biden. Its time to draft Tucker Carlson, the ad states, comparing Carlson to the late radio host Rush Limbaugh. Republicans need a new leader, and Tucker Carlson is ready to lead. No one in America is more articulate and pins down leftists in both parties better than Tucker. The advertisement also states that Carlson is witty, sharp, and mocks woke nonsense before noting that hell whip Biden in a debate. The head of the PAC is Chris Ekstrom, who told The Hill that he personally knows Carlson vaguely and was approached about forming the PAC before Carlsons exit from Fox News, saying that Carlson has a realistic opportunity to run for president and that other Republican candidates have issues. Im very concerned that theyre going to not move the debate as far right as it ought to be, Ekstrom said of both Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, whos widely expected to announce a 2024 presidential bid. If Tucker Carlson entered the race in a reasonable amount of time and just continued in the same territory that he was covering at Fox, I think thatd be a rude awakening for both President Trump and Governor DeSantis. Lawyer Harmeet Dhillon, at the 2020 CPAC Convention in National Harbor, Md., will co-chair the new 12-member Republican Party Advisory Council. (Samira Bouaou/The Epoch Times) Carlson hasnt made any public overtures toward a potential 2024 White House bid. Since he left Fox News, the former host has issued few public statements, although he released two viral videos on Twitter, including one saying he would be moving his program to the social media platform, although it isnt clear when he will do so. The best you can hope for in the news business at this point is the freedom to tell the fullest truth that you can. But there are always limits. And you know that if you bump up against those limits often enough, you will be fired for it, Carlson said in his most recent Twitter video. In The Hill report, an alleged unnamed source connected to Carlson echoed Dhillons concerns and said he isnt looking to run for office. The source also claimed that the PACs operators are trying to make a quick buck and that no one should donate to the group. But Ekstrom insisted that the PAC isnt some kind of scam PAC or grift. I hate that, he said. That is something that Ive always tried to oppose. All the money is spent on the fight with me. Fox News in late April confirmed that Carlson departed the network, while few details about why or whether hes still under contract are clear. Aside from the two videos Carlson released, the former host reposted claims that the author of his biography made against Fox News in a Twitter video released on May 22. Recent Nielsen ratings show that the temporary replacement program, Fox News Tonight, has drawn significantly fewer viewers during the 8 p.m. timeslot. The program has used a rotating cast of Fox News hosts so far, while Fox News said in a statement that it would be a temporary program. But one Fox News advertising executive recently said several large corporate advertisers approached Fox to do campaigns. Over the years, a range of big-name companies dropped advertising during Carlsons show over what they said were controversial comments made by the former host on his show. There have also been rumors that Fox News is looking to change its primetime lineup. A Fox spokesman told The Epoch Times last week that no decision has been made on a new primetime line-up, and there are multiple scenarios under consideration. The popularity gap Carlson enjoys over Fox News among conservatives has increased sharply in the wake of his departure, according to a new poll, showing that his net favorability rating among Republicans stands at plus 59. Fox News, by contrast, has a minus 4 favorability rating, the numbers show. My dream of taking elderly people on pilgrimage by flight has come true Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan talking to an elderly pilgrim going on pilgrimage to Prayagraj on the launch of the journey by plane under the Mukhya Mantri Teerth Darshan Yojana from Raja Bhoj airport, on Sunday. Staff Reporter : Chief Minister inaugurates the countrys first pilgrimage scheme by flight from Bhopal. 32 pilgrims leave for Prayagraj Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said, Our Government had resolved to take the elders of the State on pilgrimage by flight. Today is the day for a resolution to be fulfilled and a dream to come true. The Chief Minister said that humans, along with material progress, want spiritual peace. India is a religion dominated country, pilgrimage in the path of devotion that has been considered an effective way to see God. Pilgrimage by air has been started with the aim that our elders can attain spiritual peace by going on pilgrimage in less time conveniently. At present, one member from a family can go on pilgrimage by plane under the Mukhya Mantri Teerth Darshan Yojana. From the next visit, arrangements will be made for more than one member from a family to go on pilgrimage, so that elders will be able to get the virtue of pilgrimage along with their spouse. Mukhya Mantri Teerth Darshan Yojana by rail and plane will continue, added Chouhan. Chief Minister Chouhan was talking to the pilgrims on the launch of the journey by plane under the Mukhya Mantri Teerth Darshan Yojana from Raja Bhoj Airport, on Sunday. The Chief Minister inaugurated the Teerth Yatra scheme by lighting a lamp. It must be noted that Madhya Pradesh is the first State in the country to provide air travel to poor elderly pilgrims. In all, 32 elderly pilgrims, including 24 male and 8 female pilgrims, participated in the first pilgrimage to Prayagraj by plane. Chouhan welcomed the elderly pilgrims by presenting them with shawls and flowers and garlanding them. He gave a replica of the boarding pass to the pilgrim Krishna Choubey symbolically. He sought blessings from the elders and also got a group photo with the elderly pilgrims while the pilgrims entered the airport amidst beating of drums. The Chief Minister flagged off a regular Indigo flight carrying the elderly on pilgrimage to Prayagraj from the airport. Overwhelmed elderly people going to Prayagraj by plane blessed Chief Minister Chouhan. Culture Minister Usha Thakur, Public Health and Family Welfare Minister Dr Prabhuram Chowdhary, Medical Education Minister Shri Vishwas Sarang, Ex-Protem Speaker and MLA Rameshwar Sharma, MLA Vishnu Khatri, Krishna Gaur, Bhopal Mayor Malti Rai and other representatives and officers were present. Pilgrimage gives feeling of immersion in devotion of God Chief Minister Chouhan said that our elders are leaving for pilgrimage today by plane. It is believed that one becomes pure simply by taking the name of Ram from our mouth, heart becomes pure by Brahma Gyan, feet by going on pilgrimage and hands by doing charity. Pilgrimage has great importance in Indian culture. The three paths of attaining Bhagwat have been described as Bhakti Marg, Gyan Marg and Karma Marg respectively. Immersion in the devotion of God is the path of devotion, pilgrimage gives this feeling. The elders of the State are being sent by plane on a pilgrimage to Prayagraj, the confluence of Ganga-Yamuna-Saraswati rivers, to give them a sense of spiritual peace and joy. Pilgrimage for elderly by plane is an attempt to realise PM Modis vision Chief Minister Chouhan said that the Prime Minister Narendra Modi had said that our Government has made such arrangements that even those wearing slippers will be able to travel by air. Making arrangements for pilgrimage by plane under the Mukhya Mantri Teerth-Darshan Yojana is an attempt to make Prime Minister Modis vision come true. These yatras will continue on a regular basis. He told that so far 7.82 lakh elderly people have gone on pilgrimage by rail under the scheme. The sequence of pilgrimages by plane will continue. Along with Prayagraj, such yatras will continue to be organised to Shirdi, Mathura-Vrindavan, Gangasagar by plane. Along with this, the works of development and welfare will continue to improve the lives of the people of the State. Shivraj played role of a son The 72-year-old Siya Kumari Sharma, a resident of Bairagarh Ward No. 2, said that she does not have any child. She could not have imagined even in her dreams that she would travel by plane and that too to Prayagraj. When corporator Kusum Chaturvedi informed her about this and got her to fill the form, her happiness knew no bounds. She has also visited Tirupati Balaji 3 years ago under the Mukhya Mantri Teerth-Darshan Yojana. She emotionally said that I do not have any child, so what since Chief Minister Shivraj is playing the role of my son. May God always keep him happy and he may move ahead. Poor farmer cant even think of going on pilgrimage by air: Pilgrim Umesh Singh Nagar, (72), of village Harrakheda Berasia said that an ordinary farmer like me could not even imagine that he would ever go on a pilgrimage sitting in an aeroplane. When I got a call from the Janpad office that you would be taken on a pilgrimage to Prayagraj by aeroplane, I could not believe it. It was like a golden dream. I had never thought that the government would get air travel done. By the way, I have three sons and a daughter, all are good, but we do not have the capacity to board an aeroplane. The government got Jagannath Puri's pilgrimage done by rail 5 years ago. Today I am going to Prayagraj by aeroplane. I heartily bless and thank Chief Minister Shri Shivraj Singh Chouhan and his entire family. No CM has ever made public travel by plane: Tikaram Sen, (78), of village Ronjia, Berasia, said that till date there has not been any Chief Minister who makes the poor go on pilgrimage by aeroplane. In Treta Yug, Shravan Kumar had made his parents sit on his shoulders for pilgrimage. Today Chief Minister Chouhan is taking elders of the State for pilgrimage by aeroplane. Many thanks and blessings to him. Will travel by air for the first time: Mangilal Nagar (71) of Hinauti Sadak, Berasia; Naresh Bhargava (72) of Dillod Berasia, and Rajal Bai (67) of Gondar Mau, said that they are very happy and excited today. They are going in an airplane for the first time and that too on a pilgrimage to Prayagraj. It is a happy and unforgettable moment in life. Everyone heartily thanks and blesses Chief Minister Chouhan and the State Government for this. 32 pilgrims of Bhopal district left by plane: 32 pilgrims from Bhopal district took part in the first air journey under the Mukhya Mantri Teerth Darshan Yojana. Among them are Ramdas Durga Nagar, Sitaram Verma Jatkhedi, Prem Narayan Patel Jatkhedi, Kusum Bai Jatkhedi, Ahilya Bai Bhope, Chinjo Bai Kushwaha Jatkhedi, Jagdish Prasad Gaur Karond, Kok Singh Bhopal, Dinesh Saxena Punjabi Bagh, Krishna Choubey Dashmesh Nagar, Imrat Singh Palasi, Brijmohan Pachauri Karond, Dinesh Kumar Sharma Karond, Ramprasad Chandoria Chandbarh, Siya Kumari Sharma Kailash Nagar, Rajal Gandhi Nagar, Gulab Singh Prajapati Tilakhedi, Prahlad Bagroda, Mitthulal Phanda Kala, Narayan Singh Piplia Jahirpir, Umesh Singh Nagar Harrakheda, Mangilal Nag, Hinauti Sadak, Naresh Bhargava Dillod, Ramsingh Kushwaha Gunga, Tikaram Sen Ronjhiya, Ramlal Prajapati Gunga, Kamla Chouksey Barkheda Pathani, Harprasad Lodhi Gunga, Santosh Kumar Gupta Jahangirabad, Naval Singh Gandhi Nagar, Kishan Meena Gandhi Nagar and Shakuntala Devi Barkheda. An officer of the Zilla Panchayat and tour operator of IRCTC also accompanied the pilgrims. Without complaint we felt helpless in missing women cases Rupali Chakankar By Vikas Vaidya : Cases of missing women dont have connection with Love Jihad: Rupali Chakankar If one goes by the statistics one would find that the cases of missing women were more in 2019, 2020, 2021. But, a lot of hype is being made about the cases in 2023, while the number of cases has actually halved. Maharashtra State Commission for Women chairperson Rupali Chakankar told The Hitavada that the cases could not be acted upon if missing complaints were not made. Chakankar was responding to a question on her stand regarding previous cases of missing women. She said she had asked the Home Department to compile data of missing women after receiving complaints from 82 families. Chakankar was in Nagpur to attend the function of The Dharampeth Mahila Multi-Cooperative Society. The Society dedicated its new building Sita Ram Bhavan to people. Chakankar who took charge as Chairperson of Women Commission in 2021 said,I wont be able to say anything that happened before 2021. After 2021 I took several initiatives regarding preventing child marriage. We dont go by the data, as we follow the principle of taking action against the complaint received. This time we got registered First Information Report (FIR) at Sakinaka. It was the first such FIR. On the website ofWomen Commission the concern was expressed regarding the missing women cases. The Commission has said that the cases have increased in State in the last few months so the Home Department should form a committee to investigate the same. The department should carry out a search campaign and the report of the action taken should be submitted to the commission every 15 days, pointed out Chakankar. According to National Crime Report Bureau, in 2019 the average cases of missing women daily were 185, in 2020 the number had gone down to 175 and in 2021 it was reduced to 156. The cases have been reducing but the form of crime is serious. Many people suspected that in most missing women cases the angle of Love Jihad was involved. According to Chakankar no case has relation with Love Jihad as the women were lured by offering better jobs. Many families lost their bread-earners, in some families they lost jobs.Taking undue advantage of the situation, the miscreants came forward and offered the lucrative jobs to women mostly in other countries. 82 families of Pune and P i m p r i - C h i n c h w a d approached me with the complaints of missing women who have gone abroad. These families are unable to contact those women belonging to them. Surprisingly, the annual report prepared by Commission itself is missing since 2017. The last annual report uploaded on the website is of 2016-2017. When the attention of Chakankar was brought to it, she expressed surprise as according to her the subsequent reports were uploaded. She said she would personally look into it. Awareness in women is lacking about their own rights. Women empowerment is possible if every woman start realising her right. Secondly, there is a need of strict implementation of the acts those have been created for the protection of women, added Chakankar. Bandh in Ratanpur after rape victims mother sent to jail Our Correspondent BILASPUR, RATANPUR witnessed total Bandh on Sunday to mark protest against police for sending the rape victims mother to jail. Irked by the suspicious action of police the women of Brahman Samaj, activists of Hindu organizations and others demanded firm action against the accused and SHO Krishnakant Singh and created ruckus gheraoing Ratanpur Police Station. In view of the deteriorating law and order, police sounded alert in Ratanpur and deployed additional force to handle the situation. People of Hindu organization also took out a rally in Ratanpur to protest against registering a counter case against the rape victim's mother. While raising slogans against Police, they also presented glass bangles to the cops and burnt tyres to block the main roads. Considering the worsening situation after uproar in Ratanpur additional force from across the district were deployed to prevent any untoward incident. People demanding a fair investigation into the case also warned of fierce agitation if their demands were not fulfilled. Superintendent of Police (SP) Santosh Kumar Singh said that police will take action according to the law. Police have registered a case on the incident that happened with the ten-year-old child. This case has nothing to do with the rape victim, he said. Advocate Priyanka Shukla said that according to the law instead of taking immediate action, Police should have done a thorough investigation. If the applicant of rape victim is sent to jail on a complaint, then what will happen to the other victims and how the accused came to the Police Station to file a counter report? Advocate Sameer Singh of Chhattisgarh High Court said that, in such conditions no rape victim will approach Police to register complaint against accused. This was a very serious matter and Police should have taken serious note of this issue. On May 19, the relatives of rape accused filed a counter complaint against the victims mother in police station. The FIR was registered on the same day and the woman was arrested even before the FIR was lodged. Not only this, the woman was also sent to jail on the same day. The woman was not even given a chance to present her case. SHO Krishnakant Singh said that a ten-year old child came from Raipur to Ratanpur to enjoy summer vacation in uncles house. On the fateful day he went to purchase chocolates in neighbourhood shop when the 40-year old widow took him inside and molested his private parts. She also threatened the child not to disclose this to anyone and since then he was in shock. When he returned to Raipur and his mother asked him, he narrated the entire story to her. She then came to Ratanpur along with her son who identified the lady who was mother of the rape victim. The rape victim said that she was threatened and intimidated after registering the case. An attempt was also made to compromise by luring money. But she didnt agree after which the SHO registered a case against her mother on false allegations. She claimed that Ratanpur Police were hand in gloves with the family of the accused. In view of the seriousness of the allegations in the case of Ratanpur, SP Santosh Kumar Singh has formed a team under the leadership of Additional Superintendent of Police (Rural) Rahul Dev Sharma for fair investigation in which Sub Divisional Officer of Police (SDOP), Kota Siddharth Baghel and Inspector Parivesh Tiwari have also been included. He ordered the team to submit the investigation report of the events and all the facts of FIR within seven days. He assured that firm action will be taken by the department if anyone is found guilty in the entire episode. An order of affiliation in Police Line has also been issued to Ratanpur SHO Krishnakant Singh till further orders. VILNIUS, Lithuania, May 22. An investment catalog has been prepared for the liberated territories of Azerbaijan, Head of the Export and Investment Promotion Agency (AZPROMO) Yusif Abdullayev told the reporters on the sidelines of the Azerbaijani-Lithuanian business forum, Trend reports. According to him, this catalog has already been sent to the Lithuanian side for consideration and acquaintance. "There are projects for the construction of a winery, hydroelectric power plants and others in the catalog. I believe that holding such forums will allow us to find common ground and cooperation," he said. Abdullayev pointed out that the Azerbaijani side attracted 35 companies to the Azerbaijani-Lithuanian business forum, which are concentrated in such sectors as industry, medicine, agriculture, a network of hypermarkets, as well as about 10 government agencies. "We hold meetings that will contribute to the development of bilateral cooperation between our countries. Moreover, the business mission was visited by such corporations as the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR) and the Azerbaijan Industrial Corporation, which are interested in exporting their products to the Lithuanian market," he said. According to Abdullayev, Azerbaijan aims to increase the export of industrial products to Lithuania. "Despite the fact that we are traditionally an exporter of agricultural products, work is underway to increase the export of industrial products," he added. Bhilai lad Amit Ghosh makes it to Bollywood Staff Reporter DURG, May 21 Actor Amit Ghosh of Bhilai has made it to Bollywood industry and is currently busy in films, web series and television serials. Amit talks about the mental agony and the feeling of hopelessness he went through, while he was trying to make a career as an actor in the film industry, how things changed for him after his cameo role in in Agle Janam Mohe Bitiya Hi Kijo in 2010. Currently he is busy in his new venture Neerja-Ek Nai Pehchan to be telecast soon in Colors TV. Amit said since 2010, the process of appearing in Television started and he did 75 episodes in Crime Patrol, Savdhaan India 40 episodes, CID, and many more serials. It was in 2011 his first film Aarakshan, first scene, first shot with Amitabh Bachchan (most memorable moment), directed by Prakash Jha came. With veteran actors like Shah Rukh Khan, Akshay Kumar, Saif Ali Khan, Sunny Deol, Aditya Roy Kapoor, Ashutosh Rana and others in the last 15 years, he has done a dozen films, web series, ads, serials and this process continues continuously. Amit considers acting in the film Mujeeb directed by Shyam Benegal as his biggest achievement. Acting under his direction made him meaningful as an actor. If an actor has conviction, confidence and common sense then he can become a better actor. Amit was born in Bhilai and he completed his early education in Bhilai and started his acting career with theater under the direction of Kaushal Upadhyay in Approach Theater Institute in Bhilai and also learned from professors of National School of Drama Akhilesh Khanna and Pankaj Saxena and Bhilais senior artist Shaktipad Chakraborty. Talking about his early days in Mumbai Amit told that in December 2007 he reached Mumbai in a friend house with some money and shelter for a few days. Then with the help of Dharmendra Ahirwar a friend from Bhilai, he got a volunteer job in Prithvi Theatre. The very first task was to do backstage in Naseeruddin Shahs group. For 3 consecutive years, he went on doing backstage in almost all the big group plays n Prithvi Theater. Advising new generation actors Amit said that dont tie yourself down, after a time, people impressed by your work will themselves be eager to give you a bigger role, just keep focus and patience. After assessing yourself, keeping in mind your height and your personality, think for yourself that if you were the casting director, in which character you would choose yourself, make a list of them, audition each character according to their costume, upload the link on YouTube Get ready So that whenever a casting director asks you about a role, you must have a link to send them. Cong Committee discuss preparations for Priyanka Gandhis visit to city Dr Govind Singh, Leader of Opposition in Legislative Assembly addressing the meeting. Staff Reporter : An important meeting of City (District) Congress Committee was held to discuss preparations for the ensuing visit of Party General Secretary, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra to the city. Following the direction of the Madhya Pradesh Congress Committee, senior party leaders attended the meeting and sought suggestions from local leaders and workers. Presidents of the City and Rural Congress Committees, District Coordinators, Mahila Congress, Youth Congress along with former Ministers and Members of Legislative Assembly took part in the meeting. During the meeting, Chandraprabhash Shekhar, Vice President of the MPCC, extensively discussed and deliberated with party representatives, including Leader of Opposition in Legislative Assembly, Dr. Govind Singh, former Finance Minister Tarun Bhanot, former Speaker of State Assembly N P Prajapati, Hina Kawre, Vinay Saxena, Sunil Jain and other Congress leaders from Mahakoshal. He took suggestions and party leaders regarding arrangements for a public rally along with a roadshow on June 12, in the presence of Priyanka Gandhi Vadra. Party leaders and workers gave various suggestions regarding the venue for the rally, the route for the roadshow and the possibility of covering the maximum number of Assembly constituencies by the roadshow. All the suggestions were recorded, both orally and in writing. Now, MPCC Vice President, Shekhar will present the report containing all the suggestions received from Congress members MPCC President, Kamal Nath, in Bhopal. At the end of the meeting, President, City Congress Committee, Jagat Bahadur Singh expressed gratitude to all party leaders and workers for attending the meeting. Manoj Seth conducted the proceedings of the meeting. Cong Govt is continuously working to strengthen farmers: CM Baghel Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel along with AICC General Secretary Kumari Selja, Speaker Dr Charan Das Mahant, State Congress President Mohan Markam and others during the Bharose Ka Sammelan at Sankara village on Sunday. Staff Reporter RAIPUR, Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel addressing the Bharose Ka Sammelan at Sankara village under Patan Legislative Assembly of Durg district on Sunday said that the Congress Government in Chhattisgarh is continuously working to strengthen the farmers of State. CM said that former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi was of the view that India will not be strong until the economic condition of the farmers of the country does not improve. If India is to be made strong, then the farmers of India have to be made strong. Today, farmers in Chhattisgarh are getting maximum respect in comparison to other states. Along with paddy, the farmers of the state are getting Kodo-Kutki Ragi Samman Nidhi. Chief Minister Baghel said that the first Bharose Ka Sammelan was organized in Sargaon of Mungeli district. The second such event was held in Bastar. The third Bharose Ka Sammelan was held today in Sankara of Patan area of Durg division. Remembering former Prime Rajiv Gandhi on his martyrdom day, the Chief Minister said that Rajiv Gandhi had worked to take the country to a new direction. He had worked for the countrys upliftment and sacrificed his life for the country and the people, Baghel added. Accusing the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Baghel said that the BJP leaders were constantly opposing the farmers, and they created obstructions in development works and even procurement of paddy. The Congress government is working in the direction of uniting the people while the BJP is trying to create rift, he added. Baghel said that due to paucity of funds during the Corona period, it was decided to give money to the farmers in four installments under the Rajiv Gandhi Kisan Nyay Yojana. For the first time , Rs 500 crores were released to the farmers. Not only this, 26 lakh families were given employment under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme. The Chief Ministers of other states used to question that they do not have money to pay salaries to the employees and how Chhattisgarh is giving money to the farmers. Bhupesh Baghel said, The BJP leaders accuse the Congress government of making it bankrupt. But we did not take out a loan last year. In the first year, 12 lakh farmers were registered to sell paddy. Today the State government is giving assistance to more than 24 lakh farmers. Earlier, the State government used to buy 50-55 lakh metric tonnes of paddy. Today 107 lakh metric tonnes of paddy is being procured. Now it has been decided to take 20 quintals of paddy and it will go up to 1.25 lakh metric tonnes. Rs 111 crore has been given to 53,263 labourers. In total, Rs 2,088 crore has gone into the pockets of people from different sections, he added. Chief Minister Baghel inaugurated and performed bhoomipujan of 88 works costing more than Rs 443 crore. This includes the inauguration of 17 works worth Rs 68,26,79,000 and bhoomipujan of 71 works worth Rs 374, 87,51,000. Apart from this, the first installment of paddy sold last year was transferred to bank accounts under the Rajiv Gandhi Kisan Nyay Yojana. The Chief Minister said that today Rs 1894.93 crore was transferred to the bank accounts of 24,52,992 farmers of the state who sold paddy last year as the first installment of the Rajiv Gandhi Kisan Nyay Yojana. Chief Minister Baghel also laid the foundation stone of the building for Mahatma Gandhi University of Horticulture and Forestry. A magnificent building for Mahatma Gandhi University of Horticulture and Forestry will be constructed in Sankra Patan at a cost of Rs 120 crores. Chief Minister Baghel along with Kumari Selja and other leaders visited the stalls set up by various departments, interacted with the attendees, and gathered the necessary information. A total of Rs 445.14 crore has been disbursed to the beneficiaries of the scheme so far. Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel disbursed the first installment of the Rajiv Gandhi Kisan Nyay Yojana to 24.5 lakh farmers. Chief Minister Baghel also transferred the funds to Rajiv Yuva Mitan Clubs during the Bharose Ka Sammelan. Addressing the gathering, All India Congress Committee (AICC) General Secretary for Chhattisgarh Kumari Selja praised the works of Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel-led Congress government. Speaker of Chhattisgarh Legislative Assembly Dr Charan Das Mahant also praised the works of Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel. State Congress President Mohan Markam also spoke. Earlier Durg District In-charge and Forest Minister Mohammad Akbar gave the welcome address. Home Minister Tamradhwaj Sahu proposed a vote of thanks. AICC Secretary Dr Chandan Yadav, Joint Secretary Vijay Jangid, Cabinet Ministers Dr Premsai Singh Tekam, Dr Shiv Kumar Dahariya, Guru Rudra Kumar, Anila Bhendia, Durg Town MLA Arun Vora, State Congress Treasurer Ramgopal Agrawal, State Mineral Development Corporation Chairman Girish Dewangan, State Congress Media Chief Sushil Anand Shukla, Agriculture Production Commissioner Dr Kamalpreet Singh, Durg Divisional Commissioner Mahadev Kawre, Inspector General of Police Anand Chhabra, Chief Conservator of Forests Durg Circle B P Singh, Durg Collector Pushpendra Kumar Meena, Superintendent of Police Dr Abhishek Pallava, other officials, public representatives and people in large number were present. Cong leaders pay tributes to ex-PM Rajiv Gandhi Staff Reporter : A number of senior Congress leaders and workers paid tributes to former Prime Minister, late. Rajiv Gandhi on his 32nd death anniversary, on Sunday. The Congressmen garlanded the statue of Gandhi, situated at Naudra Bridge. Speaking on the occasion, City Congress Committee President Jagat Bahadur Singh said late Rajiv Gandhi had seen the dream of 21st century India. He had laid the foundation stone of communication revolution, as a result of which our country is the first in the world. Later, other party leaders also spoke at length on the principles and deeds of late Gandhi. They said the former Prime Minister was a prudent leader. He had plans and clear vision for 21st century India. He is still remembered for Panchayti Raj, computer, communication revolution. Terming Rajiv Gandhi a great man of learning, Congress leaders said due to his great acumen and unmatched qualities he was given Bharat Ratna. Congress leaders further said that Gandhi had devoted his life for the welfare of poor, farmers, laborers and youths. They urged party leaders and members to adopt the unmatched qualities and ideologies of former PM, Rajiv Gandhi for the progress of party and the country. Congress leaders said late. Rajiv Gandhi was a great man who would be remembered endlessly for his contributions. Indias engg exports to Russia saw 11-time jump in April: EEPC EXPORTS of engineering goods to Russia jumped 11 times in April this year to USD 133.6 million as compared to year-ago month while the US and China markets continued to soften, the Engineering Export Promotion Council (EEPC) said on Saturday. Engineering exports to the CIS country were USD 11.7 million in April 2022. The value of engineering exports to the US was USD 1.4 billion in April 2023, down 24.9 per cent compared to USD 1.86 billion in the year-ago month. Shipments to China too continued with the declining trend and fell 15.5 per cent to USD 183.3 million in April 2023 as compared to USD 216.9 million in the same month last year. However, exports to Oman more than doubled during the month to USD 153.9 million over the corresponding month of April 2022. Out of 25 top destinations for Indian engineering goods, as many as 15 saw positive year-on-year growth during the month under review while 10 countries witnessed a regrowth. The top 25 countries, including the US, Germany, the UK, France, Indonesia and Singapore, contribute about 76 per cent of the total engineering exports from India. Engineering exports from India continued to decline in 2023-24 as April 2023 saw a 7.15 per cent drop to USD 8.99 billion as against USD 9.68 billion in April 2022. Manhunt for 573 absconding prisoners released during Covid-19 pandemic By Dheeraj Fartode : Manhunt for 573 absconding prisonern Police to register offence under Section 224 of IPC against absconding prisoners s released during Covid-19 pandemic In a bid to clamp down on jail inmates who are absconding since release on parole and furlough leaves during the COVID-19 pandemic, the State Police headquarters has directed all police units to track down such absconding inmates and register offences against them. As many as 573 jail inmates are absconding in Maharashtra since they were released on emergency parole during the pandemic. In Nagpur, 36 inmates are yet to return to the jail, which poses a significant threat to the society. To address the situation, Suhas Warke, Special Inspector General of Police (Law and Order), issued orders directing all police units to register offences against such jail inmates and immediately arrest them and bring them back to jail. Commissioner of Police (CP) Amitesh Kumar said that the Nagpur police have already registered offences against four of the absconding inmates, and cases against the remaining inmates would be filed soon. A retired police official said that the issue of absconding inmates was a serious one, as these individuals were a potential threat to the society. Senior police officials have raised concerns about such a large number of prisoners being out of jail, he said. The move by the State Police to crack down on absconding inmates is likely to send a strong message to those who may be considering flouting the law, he added. A police official said that the department would continue to act tough on the absconding inmates, and ensure that they were brought back to the jail. The COVID-19 pandemic had forced many States to release prisoners on emergency parole or furlough to decongest jails and reduce the risk of spreading the infection within the prison. However, some inmates took undue advantage of the situation and did not return, resulting in this predicament. MLA Krishna Khopde too got fraud call six months ago Staff Reporter : Money for ministry case: Police acquire voice samples for Rathod In a shocking revelation, East Nagpur MLA Krishna Khopde was also targetted by a fraudster, who demanded money from the MLA and promising a ministerial position in the Shinde-Fadnavis government. According to police, approximately six months ago, during discussions of Cabinet expansion in the State, a person named Sharma contacted Khopde over the latters mobile phone. Claiming to be extremely loyal to Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) National President J P Nadda, Sharma informed Khopde that he would be included in the Cabinet expansion. Sharma instructed Khopde to be prepared to follow the directives of the national leadership. Initially, Khopde disregarded the call, but Sharma kept calling him frantically for the next four consecutive days. During these interactions, Sharma enticed Khopde with promise of a ministerial post and demanded a sum of money. However, Khopde wisely chose against falling to Sharmas advances. This development led to speculation about the identity of the individual who had contacted Khopde. Whether it was Neeraj Singh Rathod, a resident of Morbi, Ahmedabad, or an entirely different person. remains a question. Now, it depends on Khopde whether he will lodge a complaint with the police regarding this attempted fraud. In a related development, the Crime Branch has acquired voice samples from Neeraj Singh Rathod, who was apprehended in connection with the attempted lure of MLA Vikas Kumbhare. These voice samples will be sent to the forensic laboratory for examination on Monday. As Neeraj's police custody is set to conclude, there is a possibility that the police will request an extension of PCR to further interrogate him on Monday. Singh Rathod, who was apprehended in connection with the attempted lure of MLA Vikas Kumbhare. These voice samples will be sent to the forensic laboratory for examination on Monday. As Neeraj's police custody is set to conclude, there is a possibility that the police will request an extension of PCR to further interrogate him on Monday. PM Modi, British counterpart Sunak review bilateral strategic ties HIROSHIMA : PRIME Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said he held a very fruitful meeting with his British counterpart Rishi Sunak during which they reviewed bilateral strategic partnership, including progress in the India-UK FTA negotiations. The two leaders also agreed to deepen bilateral cooperation across a wide range of areas such as trade and investment and science and technology. Modi and Sunak met on the sidelines of the summit of the G7 advanced economies here in Hiroshima. The meeting with PM @RishiSunak was a very fruitful one. We discussed boosting cooperation in trade, innovation, science and other such sectors. Prime Minister Modi tweeted. The two leaders reviewed their Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, including taking stock of progress in India-UK free trade agreement (FTA) negotiations, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said. They agreed to deepen cooperation across a wide range of areas, such as trade & investment, science & technology, higher education, and people-to-people relationship, it said. Discussions also took place on Indias ongoing G-20 Presidency. Prime Minister Modi looked forward to welcoming Sunak in New Delhi for the G-20 Summit, the statement said. India and the UK have been negotiating an FTA since January last year, with a goal towards a comprehensive pact that is expected to significantly enhance the bilateral trading relationship worth an estimated 34 billion pounds in 2022. SECR plans to bifurcate 412 km Bilaspur-Nagpur corridor Staff Reporter : The South East Central Railway (SECR) has adopted a piecemeal approach in decongesting the Bilaspur-Nagpur 412 km corridor as its previous attempt for a single tender failed to find any takers. Now, the Construction Department is preparing a detailed project report (DPR) on Rajnandgaon-Gondia section, a route of 73 km, to get an estimate of the financial outlay. SECR is leading in coal hauling over Indian Railways (IR) and so officials have been trying to expedite the survey, including that of traffic, and seeking to know the future potential and challenges that it may encounter during the construction phase. Given the long gestation period involved in a railway project, SECR has been trying to expedite the new corridors. Somehow the single tender of 412 km did not find any takers. This happened not once, but twice, forcing the authorities to rethink their approach. The 412 km was bifurcated into three stretches, Nagpur-Gondia, Gondia-Rajnandgaon and Rajnandgaon-Bilaspur. Justifying the need for a new corridor, Basant Shukla, Secretary, Bharatiya Yatri Kendra (BYK), said SECR is the top loader and earner in Indian Railways and there is an urgent need to take-up expansion work as it would ease congestion and help travel faster between two growth centres, Nagpur and Bilaspur. Outlining the project, SECR's Nagpur Region Construction Wing has sought estimates for future traffic potential to justify the fourth line. This would include current flow of train and projected growth over the next few years. The traffic survey would mention the two points as to movement of goods rakes and long distance Mail/Express as well as short distance passenger trains. Since the SECR route is also connected with sea port, Vizag, airports this factor need to be calculated to estimate the growth potential. DPR is key to seeking funds from Railway Board for taking-up the new line project. Apart from getting a hindsight of possible capital outlay, the traffic survey is quite comprehensive as it provide complete low-down of traffic potential, current land availability and additional requirement, if any. During the survey, a survey of the topography is most crucial as same helps in identify the alignment of track on which depends the aspect of land that would be required for laying the 4th line. Also the soil samples are collected and thoroughly analyzed to get to know sub-strata as on it lays the type of bedding that would be needed to be prepared for laying of the tracks. During the survey, the men on field also take note of requirement of minor and major bridges, tunnels, railway overbridges (RoBs), Railway Under Bridges (RuBs), level crossings. Now that Rail over Rail (RoR) is being constructed at many places, the same needs to be incorporated with justification. Similarly now with advancement in technology and its incorporation in Railways, the new survey would like to keep focus on having straight line formation. This would help in running high speed rails as due to curvatures the speed of trains slows down that has cascading effect on tracks. Most important in any new line project, the earnings from goods traffic forms a key element of the survey as it helps in arriving at rate of returns. Though the formula for returns have undergone quite a change, as besides economic feasibility, the social benefits of the projects, mainly to agriculture sector, tourism potential is also kept in mind. Apart from traffic survey, the SECR authorities are also seeking to know fund requirement for electrification and S&T facilities that would be need on 4th line. Ukraine issue - Of humanity and not of politics: Modi HIROSHIMA : Modi pitched for raising voice collectively against unilateral attempts to change the status quo, asserting that any tension and dispute should be resolved peacefully through dialogue He quoted Buddha to say that enmity is pacified by affinity and that we should move forward together with everyone in this spirit (PTI) PRIME Minister Narendra Modi said on Sunday said he views the current situation in Ukraine as an issue of humanity and human values and not of politics or economy even as he called for respecting international law, sovereignty and territorial integrity of all nations. In an address at a G7 session in Hiroshima, Modi also strongly pitched for raising voice collectively against unilateral attempts to change the status quo, asserting that any tension and dispute should be resolved peacefully through dialogue. The Prime Minister also referred to his talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Saturday and reiterated that India will do whatever is possible to resolve the conflict. Modis comments came after Zelenskyy addressed the G7 leaders seeking global support for Ukraines efforts to defend itself against Russian aggression. The war in Ukraine has been the overwhelming focus of the summit. The Prime Minister also invoked Buddha and said there is no such problem in the modern age whose solution cannot be found in his teachings. He quoted Buddha to say that enmity is pacified by affinity and that we should move forward together with everyone in this spirit. Today we heard from President Zelensky. I also met him yesterday. I do not consider the current situation as an issue of politics or economy. I believe it is an issue of humanity, an issue of human values, the Prime Minister said. We have said from the beginning, that dialogue and diplomacy is the only way. And to solve this situation, we will try as much as possible, whatever can be done from India, he said. Modi said all countries must respect the UN Charter, international law and the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all nations and called for raising voice together against unilateral attempts to change the status quo. The Prime Ministers comments came against the backdrop of the lingering border row with China in eastern Ladakh and Russias invasion of Ukraine. It is necessary that all countries respect the UN Charter, international law and sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries. Raise your voice together against unilateral attempts to change the status quo, he said. India has always been of the opinion that any tension, any dispute should be resolved peacefully, through dialogue. And if a solution is found by law, it should be accepted. And in this spirit, India resolved its land and maritime boundary dispute with Bangladesh, he said. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday left for Papua New Guinea for the second leg of his three-nation tour after concluding his visit to Japan. The Prime Minister said that in the current global situation, the maximum and the most profound effects of the food, fuel and fertilizer crisis are being felt by the developing countries. Global peace, stability and prosperity is a common objective of all of us. In todays interconnected world, tension in any one region affects all countries. And, developing countries, which have limited resources, are affected the most, he said. Due to the current global situation, the maximum and most profound effects of the food, fuel and fertilizer crisis are being suffered by these countries, he added. Modi said Buddha had given a solution centuries ago to war, unrest and instability that the world is facing today. In India, and here in Japan too, Lord Buddha has been followed for thousands of years. There is no problem in the modern age, whose solution we cannot find in the teachings of Buddha, he said. The group of seven (G7), comprising the US, France, the UK, Italy, Germany, Canada and Japan, represent the worlds richest democracies. Under its G7 presidency, Japan invited India and seven other countries to the summit. Subscription to paid content Gain access to all that Trend has to offer, as well as to premium, licensed content via subscription or direct purchase through a credit card. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate NEW YORK (AP) Jonnifer Neal's Kia was stolen twice in one day first from in front of her Chicago home and later from outside the mechanic shop where she took it to get fixed. But Neals ordeal didnt end there. After her car was recovered a month later, she was stopped by police twice coming home from work because a police error caused the Optima to remain listed as stolen. The same error resulted in officers waking her up at 3 a.m. another night. On yet another occasion, a swarm of officers pulled her over as she was traveling to Mississippi, handcuffing and placing her in the back of a cruiser for more than an hour. The Kia now sits in her garage. Its been a few months, but honestly Im still nervous, Neal said. I drive that car maybe once in a blue moon and I loved that car. Neals story is one of thousands from Kia and Hyundai owners across the country whose cars were stolen or damaged in the past two years. The sharp uptick has been linked to viral videos, posted to TikTok and other social media platforms, teaching people how to start the cars with USB cables and exploit a security vulnerability in some models sold in the U.S. without engine immobilizers, a standard feature on most cars since the 1990s preventing the engine from starting unless the key is present. But unlike some social media-driven trends that seemingly disappear just as police get a handle on them, the car thefts have continued. Hyundai has tried to work with TikTok and other platforms to remove the videos, but as new ones surface fresh waves of thefts occur, illustrating the lingering effects of dangerous content that gains traction with teens looking for ways to go viral. Its a phenomenon known as performance crime. Police departments in a dozen cities have said it factors into an increase theyve seen in juveniles arrested or charged with car thefts. Still, criminology experts caution that the role teens are playing in the theft increases which began during the pandemic and aren't limited to Kia and Hyundai may be artificially inflated because teenagers inexperienced at crime are more likely to be caught. Attorneys general from 17 states have called on federal regulators to issue a mandatory recall, arguing the voluntary software fixes issued by the companies aren't enough. Multiple cities including Baltimore, Milwaukee and New York have filed or announced plans to join legal action against the automakers, which also are facing class-action and civil lawsuits from consumers like Neal. One such lawsuit was settled for roughly $200 million last week. The National Highway and Safety Administration blames the trend for at least 14 crashes and eight fatalities, but lawyers suing the carmakers say the number is likely much higher. Morgan Kornfeind was driving to a yoga class in Portland, Oregon, at the end of March when a man in a stolen Kia barreled into her as he drove the wrong way while fleeing police. The 25-year-old suffered lacerations, broken bones and extensive injuries to her leg. She needed surgery and attends multiple medical appointments every week. Im unable to work my job that I love dearly. Im unable to practice yoga or walk my dogs. Ive missed planned trips with friends because of my ongoing rehab. The idea of ever driving again causes me great distress, she wrote in a statement. Earlier this month in Milwaukee, a stolen Kia collided with a school bus, leaving a 15-year-old who was hanging out the window in critical condition. Police later arrested four 14-year-olds, one of whom allegedly was driving. Many of the calls for accountability have been directed at the automakers. MLG Attorneys at Law, a California law firm specializing in automotive defect lawsuits, has received more than 4,000 inquiries from victims like Kornfeind. And the amazing thing is its not slowing down, said Randy Shrewsberry, MLG chief strategy officer. But some police departments, victims and the automakers also point the finger at social media platforms. Videos posted on YouTube in recent weeks show people breaking into various cars or using a USB cable to hotwire cars. The company removed the videos when notified by The Associated Press. YouTube removed videos depicting what's known as the Kia Challenge in recent months, spokesperson Elena Hernandez said in a statement, while stressing the company considers context when making those decisions. We might allow some videos if theyre meant to be educational, documentary, scientific, or artistic, Hernandez wrote. In a statement, a TikTok spokesperson pushed back on assertions that many of the dangerous challenges mentioned in news reports had reached mass popularity on the platform. There is no evidence any of these challenges ever trended on TikTok, and there is a clear documented history that many challenges falsely associated with TikTok pre-date the platform entirely, TikTok spokesperson Ben Rathe said. Hany Farid, who stepped down in January from TikToks U.S. content advisory council because he felt unable to affect change, said TikTok tends to be defensive when criticized for its content moderation practices. He acknowledged the challenge of knowing where some trends originate because content moves quickly between platforms. Its very much a Whack-A-Mole problem, said Farid, a digital forensics expert at the University of California, Berkeley. Because these platforms were not designed to be safe for kids, or for anybody." TikTok's enforcement report from the last three months of 2022 showed 5% of the videos the company removed were due to dangerous acts and challenges, with 82% removed within 24 hours. Like many social platforms, TikTok screens content with a combination of artificial intelligence and human moderators who try to catch whatever AI might miss. A spokesperson said it's easier for technology to spot certain violations, like nudity, than things like teens breaking into cars. The human moderators are a second level of screening when content is questionable. Users also sometimes subvert the platform's controls by misspelling or changing words in hashtags. Some see that as a loophole deserving attention. TikTok says it monitors misspellings and touted the content being forced away from mainstream hashtags as a success. Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, did not reply to a request for comment on how it screens for similar videos. While the Kia Challenge is the social media crime trend of the moment, it's not the first. And, experts say, it's not indicative of social media creating a paradigm shift in criminal activity. In LaGrange, Georgia, a city of about 31,000 people close to the Alabama border, before the Kia Challenge the police dealt with fallout from the Orbeez Challenge, which directed people to use toy or airsoft guns to shoot small, gel-filled balls called Orbeez at strangers or friends. Lt. Mark Cavender said officers were alarmed when they saw middle schoolers using toy guns painted black to look like real weapons, immediately putting out warnings to stop. Michael Scott, director of the Problem-Oriented Policing Center at Arizona State University, said social media hasn't completely changed crime. Social media seems to be a radically new thing, but the only new things are the speed and the breadth, Scott said. There are also plenty of examples of trends in criminal activity spreading before social media existed as it does now. Before there were rob mobs there was wilding in the 1980s, in which groups of people gathered in public to cause chaos, vandalize or steal property. And before the Kia Challenge, there were groups of teens in the 1990s who figured out they could steal General Motors vehicles using a screwdriver. Scott, who was an officer in the St. Louis Police Department at the time, said the carmaker was slow to act when officers noticed the uptick in their cars being stolen. Even without social media, that technique spread around the country, he said. What social media changed, was it sped up the process. Before, you had to know or meet someone who had figured out that all you needed was a screwdriver. ___ Lauer reported from Philadelphia. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate TALLINN, Estonia (AP) Russian TV went into a full frenzy of celebration as it reported Moscows capture of the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut. There were comparisons to the Red Army liberating Berlin in 1945, congratulations relayed from President Vladimir Putin and announcers emphasizing the victory by using the citys nearly century-old Soviet name of Artyomovsk. The myth that Artyomovsk is an unassailable fortress has been crushed, an anchor said Sunday night on Channel One, Russias most popular state broadcaster. Those are historic events. A report from the smoldering city in eastern Ukraine followed, showing Russian fighters yelling Victory! and placing two flags -- the Russian tricolor and the black flag of the private military contractor Wagner -- atop a tall, partly destroyed building. The flags were mounted so that everyone could see them, the correspondent said, even though the bombed-out, deserted 400-year-old city looks like a ghost of itself after the longest and bloodiest battle of the war. Despite the Russian claims, top Ukrainian military leaders say the fight there is not over, even though they still control only a small part of the city. Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar said Monday that Ukrainian troops hold parts of its southwestern outskirts, while fighting continues for the strategic heights in the northern and southern suburbs. But Kyiv says its troops played a key role in the strategy of exhausting Russian forces. Tens of thousands of fighters on both sides have died in the grinding nine-month battle for Bakhmut. Satellite imagery shows infrastructure, apartment blocks and buildings reduced to rubble from relentless artillery attacks. Putin badly needed a victory in Bakhmut, analysts say, especially after a winter offensive by his forces failed to take other front-line cities and towns. And Russia still wants to capture the entire Donetsk region a goal that was emphasized several months after the assault on Kyiv failed. On Channel One, a Russian fighter told the correspondent he felt probably the same emotions our grandfathers had in Berlin, referring to the Red Army's victorious sweep of the German capital at the end of World War II. A similar segment on Russia 1, another major state TV channel, saw a correspondent proclaim that the fight for Bakhmut ended in defeat" for Ukraine. Now Russian forces can advance toward the cities of Siversk, Kostyantynivka and Kramatorsk, and even the southeastern city of Dnipro in southeastern Ukraine, she said. Two pro-Kremlin tabloids came out with headlines Monday celebrating the reported capture of the city. Bakhmut is taken. What next? The city has again become Artyomovsk, said a bright red headline on the front of Komsomolskaya Pravda. Moskovsky Komsomolets went even further and called it, The Artyomovsk turning point, noting beneath that The Ukrainian Armed Forces failed to hold onto their important fortress city, Bakhmut. A column on the state news agency RIA Novosti touched on the strategic value of Bakhmut, saying 224 days of fighting allowed Russia to grind up the best divisions of the Ukrainian Armed Forces and destroy their equipment on an industrial scale. This was its strategic value for us, RIA Novosti columnist Viktoria Nikiforova wrote. This forced Ukrainian handlers to delay their counteroffensive for months, and gave our forces time to prepare for repelling it, she wrote, countering Western arguments that Bakhmut held little strategic importance for Russia. The celebratory tone continued Monday even as Russia reported an incursion into its territory in the border region of Belgorod by Ukrainian saboteurs, triggering a counterterrorism operation. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the attack was meant to draw attention away from the Bakhmut axis, to minimize the political effect of Ukrainian side losing Artyomovsk. The fog of war made it impossible to confirm the situation inside Bakhmut, with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy saying the city was not fully occupied. In a video on Telegram, Wagner head Yevgeny Prigozhin said the city came under full Russian control about midday Saturday, proclaiming it completely taken as he held a Russian flag with a group of at least nine masked fighters in body armor and heavy weapons. Prigozhin had feuded publicly with Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu over adequate supplies of munitions to Wagner's private forces. About 55 kilometers (34 miles) north of the Russian-held regional capital of Donetsk, Bakhmut was an important industrial center, surrounded by salt and gypsum mines and home to about 80,000 people before the war, in a country of more than 43 million. The city was named Artyomovsk in 1924 after a Bolshevik revolutionary when Ukraine was part of the Soviet Union, and was known for its sparkling wine produced in underground caves. Its broad, tree-lined avenues, lush parks and late 19th century mansions have been reduced to a wasteland. For Ukraine, which changed the name of the city to Bakhmut in 2016, the important factor has been the high number of Russian casualties and sapping of their adversary's morale for the small patch of the 1,500-kilometer (932-mile) front line as Kyiv prepares a counteroffensive in the 15-month-old war. The enemy failed to surround Bakhmut. They lost part of the heights around the city. The continuing advance of our troops in the suburbs greatly complicates the enemys presence, Maliar said. Our troops have taken the city in a semi-encirclement, which gives us the opportunity to destroy the enemy. In recent weeks, Ukrainian forces had made significant advances near strategic roads through the surrounding countryside, chipping away at Russias northern and southern flanks with the aim of encircling Wagner fighters in the city. Nearly 20 square kilometers (8 square miles) of territory were recaptured, Maliar said last week. Hundreds of meters more were regained almost every day since, according to Serhii Cherevatyi, spokesman for Ukraines Operational Command East. Russia deployed reinforcements to Bakhmut to replenish the lost northern and southern flanks and prevent more Ukrainian breakthroughs, according to Ukrainian officials and outside observers. Ukraines tactical gains in the rural area outside Bakhmut could be more significant than they seem, some analysts say. It was almost like the Ukrainians just took advantage of the fact that, actually, the Russian lines were weak, said Phillips OBrien, a professor of strategic studies at the University of St. Andrews. The Russian army has suffered such high losses and is so worn out around Bakhmut that ... it cannot go forward anymore. Days before Russia announced it controlled the city, Ukrainian forces held only a handful of buildings amid constant Russian bombardment. Outnumbered and outgunned, they described nightmarish days. Russias artillery dominance was so overwhelming, accompanied by continuous human waves of mercenaries, that defensive positions could not be held for long. The importance of our mission of staying in Bakhmut lies in distracting a significant enemy force, said Taras Deiak, commander of a special unit of a volunteer battalion. We are paying a high price for this." The northern and southern flanks regained by Ukraine are located near two highways that lead to Chasiv Yar, a town 10 kilometers (6 miles) from Bakhmut, that are key logistics supply routes. One is dubbed the road of life." Ukrainian forces on this road often came under Russian fire. Armored vehicles and pickup trucks heading to the city to replenish Ukrainian troops were frequently destroyed. With those high plains now under Ukrainian control, its forces have more breathing room. This will help us design new logistic chains to deliver ammunition in and evacuate the injured or killed boys, said Deiak, speaking from inside Bakhmut on Thursday, two days before Russia claimed the city. ___ Kullab reported from Kyiv, Ukraine. Danica Kirka in London contributed. KIMIHIRO HOSHINO/AFP via Getty Images An Illinois sixth grade student was chosen as the state's representative in the final round of the 15th annual Google Doodle contest and could have her design featured on the search engine's homepage. Doodle for Google is an annual art contest open to students in grades kindergarten to 12th who are invited to create their own version of the Google logo to have it published on Google.com. This year's contest asked students to answer the prompt I am grateful for through their art. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate GRAFTON The campground at Pere Marquette State Park is sold out every weekend this summer. Those lucky and vigilant enough to have secured reservations for Memorial Day weekend will be able to enjoy all the amenities the campground has to offer. The 78 Class A camping sites at Pere Marquette all feature 50, 30 and 20 amp electrical outlets to accommodate everything from the largest new motor homes to tent campers who just want to plug in a lantern. The upgraded electrical service and improved camping pads were completed two years ago under a $1.9 million improvement project, and theyve been heavily used ever since. Site Superintendent Nate Goetten said its no secret why people like to camp at Pere Marquette. We offer hiking, biking, horseback riding; we have a harbor with access to the Illinois River, Goetten said. We have a rock climbing wall right on the bluff that was professionally put in, and you are only five miles from Grafton and Grafton speaks for itself. Its a total destination for tourists. Goetten said that people can generally still make campground reservations at Pere Marquette during the week, but the summer weekend dates of Friday, Saturday and Sunday have been full for some time. Goetten enjoys seeing the campground full of people who are enjoying themselves. We have great staff here who make sure their experience is nice, Goetten said. The campground is always mowed, the facility is always clean, and, as long as people leave here happy, their word of mouth advertising is the best you can have. Linda Staten from OFallon, Missouri, came to camp at Pere Marquette with family and friends last weekend. Its very nice; I didnt realize it was this nice and clean, Staten said. I just figured it would be more rustic but its not. We will come here again. Moro resident Sheri Copeland usually camps at Carlyle Lake but decided to give Pere Marquette a try. My dad had a cabin just down the road from here but this is the first time Ive been to this campground, Copeland said. I wish they had another shower house but I think its a very ice campground. I will definitely come again. Mel Reitmeier from Tolono, Illinois, attended his daughters St. Louis University graduation and decided to make the occasion a camping trip with a stay at Pere Marquette. We like the scenery around here and being able to do different things. We are getting ready to take the kids to check out Grafton, Reitmeier said. The electricity here at the campground is great. We came in at night and we were able to set up really easily. This one is kept up as well as all the other ones we have visited. Goetten is pleased that people enjoy Pere Marquette in the summer, but he added that people stay in the camping area year-round. In the fall its the changing of the leaves. In the winter its the bald eagles, Goetten said. In the springtime people get here early so they can watch the red buds and dogwoods bloom. Visit https://www2.illinois.gov/dnr/Parks/Pages/PereMarquette.aspx for more information about Pere Marquette and scheduled events at the state park. Andrew Brookes/Getty Images/Image Source EDWARDSVILLE A Pocahontas man charged Wednesday with violating an order of protection was again charged with the same offense on Thursday. Mitchell W. Reaka, 29, with a last known address in Pocahontas, was charged May 18 with unlawful violation of an order of protection (second subsequent offense), a Class 4 felony. COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) A school shooter serving a life sentence without parole for killing a first grader on a South Carolina playground when he was 14 is asking a judge to lessen his sentence so he can eventually get out of prison. Jesse Osborne's lawyer asked Judge Lawton McIntosh on Monday to reconsider his sentence so Osborne, now 21, could have some hope of freedom in his 50s or 60s. Attorney Frank Eppes said the judge didn't fully consider a psychologist's report that Osborne's lashed out because of abuse and can be rehabilitated. Give Jesse some hope to live with, Eppes said at a televised court hearing. Osborne himself asked for a chance at life outside a prison cell, apologizing to the family of 6-year-old Jacob Hall who he killed and everyone at the school that day. I would just like to say sorry to every single one of them. Because my evil actions hurt their lives, Osborne said. Im just going to try to better myself in the Department of Corrections the rest of my life. But the teacher whose class was having recess, the parent of a wounded child, the father of the student celebrating his birthday, the superintendent who saw the bloodstained class rug and the school principal all said at Monday's hearing at the Anderson County Courthouse that they don't want to ever see Osborne out of prison. Principal Denise Fredericks recognized Osborne as he paced outside Townville Elementary School with a backpack full of ammunition for 12 minutes after his gun jammed before police arrived to arrest him. Osborne had been a student there for seven years. I do wish Jesse a life where he can wake up, breathe, eat, work, be productive but not outside the walls of a prison, Fredericks said. In my opinion, his current sentence is still so, so much more merciful than the sentence he gave to Jacob and our school family. Prosecutors said Hall's family didn't wish to speak in court but want Osborne to never be released from prison. Osborne is serving two life sentences after pleading guilty. Before opening fire at the school on Sept. 28, 2016, he shot and killed his father while he slept in a recliner, kissed his rabbit and other pets goodbye, then stole his dad's truck and drove to his former elementary school, according to Osborne's confession. Osborne crashed his truck into the school fence and fired at the first grade class celebrating a classmate's birthday at recess. Hall bled to death from a gunshot to his leg. Two other student and a teacher suffered minor injuries. Uneaten cupcakes with the Batman logo could still be seen on the ground inside police tape hours after the shooting. My son hates his birthday now, father Jeff Bernard told the judge. Prosecutors said Osborne wanted to kill dozens but he was carrying the wrong ammunition and his gun jammed after every shot. He didnt stop because he wanted to. The gun jammed. Thank God the gun jammed, Fredericks said. Osborne's lawyer said a video call he had open to a group chat with people who knew his plan showed him sobbing, upset and ready to give up after the first shots. Osborne is asking the judge to consider a supplemental report from a psychologist that disagrees with prosecution experts who testified at Osborne's original sentencing that he is a dangerous and pathological liar with no remorse. Osborne's brain was sill developing in his teens. The psychiatrists cited by the defense said he has shown guilt and grief and responded to treatment during the nearly seven years since his arrest on school grounds. Osborne's lawyer suggested a 30-year minimum sentence for the two counts of murder, followed by 15 years for shooting at the other children and then lifetime monitoring by GPS after he is released from prison with one review after 10 years. McIntosh asked for a detailed report from the defense expert in the next month and told prosecutors they would have at least 10 days to respond. A number of students never returned to the school after the shooting. Some haven't returned to any school. A popped balloon ended a school dance in tears. Recess is still filled with anxiety, said teacher Meghan Hollingsworth, whose class was celebrating the birthday that day. Her child was in kindergarten just down the hall. "The screams of children having fun sends a panic through me as I look to see who is screaming and see if they are OK," she said. She asked the judge to think about a sign in her first grade classroom and uphold his life sentence handed down more than three years ago, You are free to choose, but you are not free from the consequences of your choices, it reads. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate EDWARDSVILLE For the members of Edwardsville American Legion Post 199, Memorial Day is all about paying respect to fallen veterans. Post 199 will visit nine local cemeteries and participate in seven memorial services over the holiday weekend. At 7 a.m. on Monday, May 29, six or seven members of Post 199 will make their first stop of the day with a brief service at Lusk Memorial Park in Edwardsville, followed by stops at Calvary Catholic Cemetery in Edwardsville and Sunset Hill Memorial Estates in Glen Carbon, which are next to each other on Illinois Route 157. At Calvary, theyll do (rifle) shots to the south and then to the north, Post 199 Adjutant Dave Schindler said. Then theyll drive to the east side of Sunset Hills Cemetery and do a memorial and pay respects there. After that, in order, the Legion contingent will go to Pioneer Cemetery in Glen Carbon, Nativity of the Virgin Mary Orthodox Cemetery in Glen Carbon, St. Paul Church Cemetery in Edwardsville and Valley View Cemetery in Edwardsville. The Legion members will then return to Post 199 before participating in the Memorial Day service at 10 a.m. at Woodlawn Cemetery in Edwardsville. In addition, Ron Swaim, District 22 commander and past commander of Post 199, will speak at a Memorial Day service at St. James Cemetery in Edwardsville at 2 p.m. on Sunday, May 28. Volunteers needed At Sunset Hill Memorial Estates, meanwhile, cemetery caretakers are looking for volunteers to help put up 1,200 to 1,300 American flags on Monday morning. This will mark the first time since 2019 that Sunset Hill has hosted the drive-through flag viewing. It was canceled the past three years due to the COVID-19 pandemic. These are the full-size burial flags, which at 5 feet by 9.5 feet are larger than a standard flag. We hope to start the volunteers around 7 a.m. on Memorial Day and at 3 p.m. well start taking them down again, Sunset Hill general manager Kevin Willbrand said. Were not going to have a formal speaker or anything like that. Its basically the flag drive-through, which is what everyone wants to see. We got some feedback from the public that they wanted to have us do this again, so well see how it goes. If we have enough volunteers, well keep doing it. Willbrand added that Sunset Hill will provide coffee and doughnuts to volunteers putting up the flags in the morning and will provide drinks and snacks to volunteers removing the flags in the afternoon. Groups or individuals interested in volunteering at Sunset Hill on Memorial Day should call 618-656-3220 or visit Sunset Hill Funeral Home on Facebook. Volunteer leaders are also posting on the following Facebook sites: The Edwardsville Connection, The Maryville Connection, The Collinsville Connection, The Collinsville Connection Uncensored, Granite City Times Front Page, Whats Happening in Alton, and The RiverBend Connection. Woodlawn preps for crowd The Memorial Day observance at Woodlawn is typically the biggest in the Edwardsville area and this year should be no exception. Vickie Hellmann, secretary for the Woodlawn Cemetery Association, praises American Legion Post 199 for its commitment to conducting the service. The members of Post 199 are amazing. Even during COVID, they did not want Memorial Day to go without being recognized, Hellmann said. They still got a group of guys together and went to all the cemeteries and they did the 21-gun salute and played Taps at every single one. The last pre-COVID Memorial Day event at Woodlawn, in 2019, had the largest crowd ever, with 120 to 130 people. Last year, nearly 100 people attended the observance and Hellman expects more this year. As always, this years program will start with music by the Edwardsville Municipal Band. We never tell them what to play, but they always have wonderful patriotic music, Hellmann said. Our association president, James Ashwill, will make some remarks and this year we have Tina Mueller doing the invocation and benediction. "Our guest speaker will be Larry Miller from American Legion Post 199 and Edwardsville VFW Post 1299." The service will also feature Caitlyn Hadeler singing the national anthem and Deborah Ahrens reading the names of veterans from Edwardsville and Glen Carbon who have died since last year. Last year, the list was close to 90 veterans because we hadnt done it for a couple years, Hellmann said. Boy Scout Troop 216 will be putting flags on all the veterans graves on Monday, May 22, so they will all be decorated for the Memorial Day service. The Memorial Day service at Woodlawn Cemetery has a long history. It started on the first Decoration Day in 1895 and was at the cemetery until 1907, when it moved to City Park in Edwardsville. According to local historian Mary Westerhold, the service was held at City Park through 1924 and returned to Woodlawn by 1934 after being held at other locations. It has been a fixture at the cemetery ever since. Parking for the service is available in the new section to the east of the cemetery, on Randle and Grand Streets and along St. Louis Street unless marked No Parking. Bring lawn chairs or blankets to sit on. For more information, call 618-656-6309, visit http://woodlawnedwardsville.org/ or go to Woodlawn Cemetery on Facebook. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Reuters Dhaka, Bangladesh Mon, May 22, 2023 16:45 5 d5259e4d93052b0e76bee70b056fad95 2 Economy Bangladesh,import,dollar,crisis,oil-and-gas,economy,IMF Free Bangladesh is struggling to pay for imported fuel because of a dollar shortage, letters reviewed by Reuters show, with the state petroleum company owing more than $300 million as it faces an "alarming decrease in fuel reserves". All import and marketing of fuel in the country of nearly 170 million people is controlled by Bangladesh Petroleum Corp (BPC), which has asked the government to permit domestic commercial banks to settle dues with India in rupees. The South Asian nation's dollar reserves have shrunk more than a third since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February last year to stand at a seven-year low of $30.18 billion by May 17. Heavily reliant on energy imports, Bangladesh is grappling with power cuts resulting from a fuel shortage that have badly hurt its exports-oriented garments industry. "Due to a shortage of foreign currency/dollars in the domestic market and the central bank not meeting demand for US dollars, commercial banks are unable to pay for imports on time," BPC told the power ministry in a May 9 letter reviewed by Reuters. That followed a warning in a letter in April that said, "If it is not possible to import fuel according to the import schedule prepared for May, supply may be disrupted throughout the country with an alarming decrease in fuel reserves." The ministry, BPC and the central bank did not immediately respond to telephone calls to seek comment. BPC imports 500,000 tonnes of refined oil and 100,000 tonnes of crude oil every month. The April letter said several fuel suppliers had either sent fewer cargoes than scheduled or threatened to halt supplies. Creditors included Unipec, the trading arm of China's state-owned Sinopec, Vitol, ENOC, Indian Oil Corp Ltd (IOC), PetroChina and Indonesia's BSP, it said. "Several companies are threatening to stop supplies while others are sending fewer cargoes than planned," said a BPC source who sought anonymity to speak on a sensitive issue. BPC will have to pay $41.1 million this year for diesel to India's Numaligarh Refinery Ltd, majority owned by Oil India Ltd, while IOC is owed $147.2 million for diesel and jet fuel, the May letter showed. BPC asked the government to allow Bangladesh's nationalised commercial banks to settle dues with Indian companies in rupees. In September, Reuters reported that State Bank of India had asked exporters to avoid settling deals with Bangladesh in dollars and other major currencies as its reserves fell, favouring instead the taka and rupee currencies. For years, Bangladesh's $416-billion economy has been one of the world's fastest growing, but rising prices of energy and food because of the war have inflated its import bill and the current account deficit. In January, the International Monetary Fund approved loans of $4.7 billion for Bangladesh. Others in South Asia, such as Sri Lanka and Pakistan, have also sought or received IMF funds this year. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Ruth Dea Juwita (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Mon, May 22, 2023 As the world marches toward a full post-pandemic economic recovery, the aviation market is showing positive signs. But while the airline industry is stepping up to meet returning demand, aircraft manufacturers are facing challenges in keeping up with orders and the growing demand for sustainability. Brendan Nelson, senior vice president of The Boeing Company and president of Boeing Global, spoke with The Jakarta Posts Vincent Fabian Thomas and Ruth Dea Juwita on Wednesday about the aviation market outlook, current challenges and the companys plans in the region. to Read Full Story SUBSCRIBE NOW Starting from IDR 55,500/month Unlimited access to our web and app content e-Post daily digital newspaper No advertisements, no interruptions Privileged access to our events and programs Subscription to our newsletters We accept Register to read 3 premium articles for free Already subscribed? login Or let Google manage your subscription BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 22. World oil prices show a decline due to uncertainty with the US public debt, Trend reports. According to trading data, the price of July futures for Brent Crude Oil is decreasing by 0.77 percent to $75 per barrel, and July futures for WTI by 0.78 percent to $71.13. The White House and the Republicans controlling the House of Representatives in Congress are continuing negotiations on raising the US public debt ceiling. Speaker of the US House of Representatives Kevin McCarthy said he would meet with US President Joe Biden for talks on the issue later on Monday. The continuing uncertainty around the prospects of public debt makes oil traders avoid risks, which leads to a decrease in oil prices. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Deni Ghifari (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Mon, May 22, 2023 A government official says a preferential trade agreement (PTA) with Tehran that covers hundreds of trade items will give it access to the wider Middle East region, thanks to Irans economic power and natural resources. Djatmiko Bris Witjaksono, international trade cooperation director general at the Trade Ministry, noted that this was only the second trade pact Indonesia had with countries of the Middle East, the first one being the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) signed with the United Arab Emirates in 2021. Iran can be a hub, our gateway into the [Middle Eastern market], Djatmiko said in an online press conference held on Monday. to Read Full Story SUBSCRIBE NOW Starting from IDR 55,500/month Unlimited access to our web and app content e-Post daily digital newspaper No advertisements, no interruptions Privileged access to our events and programs Subscription to our newsletters We accept Register to read 3 premium articles for free Already subscribed? login Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Eric Randolph (AFP) Cannes, France Mon, May 22, 2023 13:45 5 5fceed71997e5776a1634d25dc6ef1c9 2 Entertainment cannes,Martin-Scorsese,Leonardo-DiCaprio,Cannes-Festival,film-festival,Entertainment Free Leonardo DiCaprio lauded Martin Scorsese's filmmaking "ferocity" on Sunday as they basked in rave reviews at Cannes for their Native American crime epic "Killers of the Flower Moon", while the festival also bowed down before Jude Law as King Henry VIII. Scorsese's latest opus, about a wave of murders among oil-rich Osage Indians in the 1920s, was hailed as "searing", a "triumph" and a "masterpiece" by critics who scored the Cannes Film Festival's hottest ticket for the premiere the previous night. Based on a non-fiction bestseller, the film sees DiCaprio as a weak-willed man who marries a wealthy Osage woman and is drawn into the deadly schemes of his kingpin uncle, played by Scorsese's other long-time muse, Robert De Niro. DiCaprio called the three-and-a-half-hour film "a reckoning with our past" and was full of praise for Scorsese, saying the 80-year-old's "perseverance and ferocity to tell the truth, no matter how ugly... is masterful". Scorsese told AFP he had put the film in an out-of-competition slot, rather than compete for the Palme d'Or, because "it's time for others. I got to go." The iconic director, who won the Palme in 1976 for "Taxi Driver", said: "I like the golden statues. I like them very much. But now I think of time and energy and inspiration -- that's the most important thing." The dust had barely settled on that glitzy premiere when the red carpet lit up again for "Firebrand" starring Jude Law as 16th-century English king Henry VIII alongside Alicia Vikander as his sixth and final wife, Catherine Parr. Early reviews were broadly positive, namely for what The Guardian called Law's "obese and oozy" incarnation, noting the British star "outrageously steals every scene". The Hollywood Reporter also praised the film for "providing a great leading role for an actress to bite into, which Alicia Vikander does with gusto." 'Drives me crazy' Vikander told AFP she was drawn to Parr as "extremely intelligent and extremely progressive... and a woman who survived a tyrant for several years". She said Law had done "incredible research... to make this tyrant and historical figure into a man". "Firebrand" is in the increasingly tight race for the festival's top prize, the Palme d'Or, to be announced on May 27. Among the entries is Natalie Portman and Julianne Moore's new film "May December" about a woman who caused a tabloid scandal by marrying a schoolboy -- and the actor who enters their lives years later to research a role. Portman told AFP she liked seeing women "behave in morally ambiguous ways". "It always drives me crazy when people are like, 'Oh, if only women rule the world, it would be a kinder place'. No, women are humans and come in all different complexities," she said. Arguably the current favourite for the Palme is British director Jonathan Glazer's "The Zone of Interest", a unique and horrifying look at the private life of a Nazi officer working at the Auschwitz concentration camp. It was partly inspired by a book of the same name by British novelist Martin Amis, who died on Saturday at the age of 73. A total of 21 films are in the main competition, with entries from past winners Wim Wenders, Ken Loach and Nanni Moretti still to come. 'Trust and betrayal' Scorsese's Apple-funded film is due for general release in October. The Guardian awarded it five stars for a "remarkable epic about the bloody birth of America", while IndieWire hailed DiCaprio's "best-ever performance". Scorsese said he chose to focus on the poisonous marriage between DiCaprio's character and his wife, played by Lily Gladstone, as "a template for that tragedy of love, trust and betrayal of the indigenous people". De Niro said his character represented "systemic racism" and "the banality of evil". Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (AFP) Copenhagen, Denmark Mon, May 22, 2023 13:35 5 8c59b90329e48fb699327dfce95bab5a 2 Science & Tech kiss,romance,study,anthropology,Egypt Free The oldest records showing kissing as an element of romance date back 4,500 years, a full millennia earlier than previously believed, researchers said Friday. The new study, published this week in the magazine Science, found that it was probably widespread even in the ancient world. It presents evidence that "lip kissing was documented in ancient Mesopotamia and Egypt" from at least 2500 BC. Troels Pank Arboll said he and co-author Sophie Lund Rasmussen had started examining how the spread of diseases could be affected by the introduction of the practice of kissing on the lips as a romantic expression. Arboll is an assyriologist -- a specialist in Ancient Near East studies -- at the University of Copenhagen; Lund Rasmussen is a biologist at the University of Oxford. They found that most recent studies cited a source from India, dated around 1500 BC, as the earliest reference to "sexual-romantic kissing". "I knew there was earlier material from ancient Mesopotamia," Arboll, who studies cuneiform writing on ancient clay tablets as part of his work, told AFP. Although the evidence had already been collected in the 1980s, "apparently the information was never adopted in other fields", he added. In the thousands of ancient cuneiform texts available they found relatively few references to romantic kissing. Nevertheless, they added, "there are clear examples illustrating that kissing was considered an ordinary part of romantic intimacy in ancient times". The texts studied implied "that kissing was something that married couples did" but also that "the kiss was regarded as part of an unmarried person's sexual desire when in love", they wrote. The researchers differentiated between "friendly-parental kissing" and "romantic-sexual kissing". While the former appears to be ubiquitous across time and geography, the latter is "not culturally universal". Topics : kiss romance study anthropology Egypt Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Felix Martua (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Mon, May 22, 2023 09:55 6 8c59b90329e48fb699327dfce958dbe6 1 Art & Culture Harry-Potter,goblet-of-fire,bar,restaurant,cafe,nightlife Free Adopting its theme from the Harry Potter saga, a North Jakarta bar charms with elixirs that could spellbind even the most earthbound Muggles in town. Sometimes, catching up with the modern times means embracing nostalgia, no matter how campy or downright wizardly that nostalgia might be. Such is the ethos followed to the hilt by Goblet of Shisha, a bar and lounge nestled in the Penjaringan sub-district of North Jakarta, whose exterior resembles a Victorian-era home. Yet, its interior is a chic reinterpretation of the great hall of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. By simply feasting one's eyes on the faux-candle chandeliers, the facade wall that takes after the storefront of the fictional wand shop Ollivander's, and a selection of shishas whose names are wordplays of certain, fictitious dorm houses, it should not take long for the bar's patrons to deduce that Goblet of Shisha not only channels the worldwide book-turned-film phenomenon that is Harry Potter but also embraces its campiness down to the design of each, gold-accented waterpipe. For any Muggles in Jakarta who wish to hop on a magical train to a completely different universe for one night only, Goblet of Shisha might be their King's Cross. Felix Felicis Mario Delnado, the head of the bar, explained to The Jakarta Post on May 7 that Goblet of Shisha was different from what it originally was. Before the COVID-19 pandemic swept the country, the establishment that initially stood in its place was an Indonesian-cuisine restaurant called Take A Bite. The eatery closed for business during the pandemic only to return in November 2022, this time with a different name and concept altogether. Public figures such as musician Kevin Aprilio and entrepreneur Rudy Salim are notable for being some of the key figures behind Goblet of Shisha. Wizard display: Goblet of Shisha features a facade wall resembling the storefront of the fictional wand shop Ollivander's. (JP/Felix Martua) (JP/Felix Martua) Mario explained Rudy's idea of emulating the English literary series-turned-motion picture franchise Harry Potter as the theme for Goblet of Shisha. "Rudy loves Harry Potter. Secondly, as it turns out, many other people also love Harry Potter," said Mario. "Sometimes patrons will show up in costumes, having their dress code and such, even when no particular event is taking place [at Goblet of Shisha]." Moreover, from Mario's perspective, one or two parallels could be drawn between running a modern tavern and casting spells in a magical universe. "From the drinks that we concoct that are akin to [magic] potions to the shishas that we prepare right in front of the patrons, [Goblet of Shisha] is like Harry Potter's chemistry lab," Mario enthused. Nonetheless, Mario understands how, perhaps at first glance, a Harry Potter-themed pub could easily be viewed as "childish" by more grown-up urbanites. Mario pointed out that the saga's first novel, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, was first released more than two decades ago. The premier issue, to be more precise, hit bookstores in 1997. That means, today, the younguns who followed Harry Potter since its introduction in the late 90s have grown to become adults in their own right. "The 90s kids are adults now, and [as adults] frequent night-life spots," Mario remarked. "So, we're simply providing them a place to hang out, enjoy shishas, drink, chill and stuff like that." Goblet of Shisha's unique points double by adopting a hookah lounge concept. A hookah lounge is an establishment where patrons may enjoy a hookah (another name for shisha) or share a communal shisha with other patrons, all while socializing or enjoying refreshments. A shisha is a waterpipe that vaporizes and smokes flavored or non-flavored tobacco. The origin of shishas dates back to the 17th century. A Persian physician in India invented the first one. A new millennia later, Mario observed that shishas have yet to lose their appeal. Also, modern youth seems to appreciate the "old-school" vibe that a shisha provides. "It just feels so good when we enjoy a shisha while drinking, snacking and shooting the breeze," Mario opined. "Shishas are more than simply complementary." Veritaserum To match the Harry Potter theme, Mario and the bartenders will always ensure that the bar's original and signature cocktails are nothing short of bewitching. For first-time patrons, including those better versed in the mythology related to the Harry Potter saga, Mario recommends a cocktail named Potion Blue. True to its honorific, the cocktail is a vivid cerulean blue and presented in a Borosilicate glass. Choose your potion: Among Goblet of Shisha's signature cocktails are Charcoal Lemonade (left) and Potion Blue. (JP/Felix Martua) (JP/Felix Martua) "Potion Blue consists of blue curacao with triple sec and tonic water. It's [operations manager] Tommy's idea, and the composition was ultimately made as such," Mario explained, highlighting that the cocktail might appeal to both men's and women's palates due to its sweet-and-sour tang. Another signature cocktail of Goblet of Shisha's that Mario would recommend is Charcoal Lemonade, inspired by the "dark potions" introduced in the Harry Potter saga. The cocktail is, predictably, darkly hued and presented in glassware whose design is similar to a Margarita glass. "Charcoal Lemonade comprises vodka, charcoal powder, white egg, lemon and sugar," Mario continued. Despite the cocktail's cheerless presentation, however, he also opined that its sweet-and-smooth flavor might leave a "girly" note on the taste buds. As for the shishas, Fauzi Jiung, serving as the head of shishas, recommends Sweethyrin; the name is a wordplay of the Hogwarts dorm house of Slytherin. Characterized by its "fruity and fresh" note, Sweethyrin incorporates "premium" ingredients, the fruity note is blueberry, whereas the new message is pure ice. Sweethyrin, he remarked, might also be smooth enough even for patrons enjoying a shisha for the very first time. "We make it as smooth as possible, especially for the ladies wary of sore throats. We recommend Sweethyrin for first-timers because the flavor notes are softer than the other signature shishas," Fauzi added. Goblet of Shisha opens every day from 4 p.m. onward. To make a reservation, send a WhatsApp chat message to 08212 5879008. For more details, check out its Instagram account @gobletofshisha. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Yohana Belinda (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Mon, May 22, 2023 09:30 6 d5259e4d93052b0e76bee70b056ef43f 1 Lifestyle transexual-men,non-binary-gender,gender-identity,period-cramps Free From the emotional to physiological impacts, trans and non-binary individuals share their experiences of "that time of the month." For some trans and non-binary individuals, menstruation and its accompanying period pain is not only a painful physical experience but also causes emotional challenges. Erik Nadir, 29, a communications officer for the Asia Pacific Transgender Network, said he had always felt he was assigned the wrong gender at birth, which was female. From a young age, Erick believed he had been wrongly assigned as female at birth until he started getting his periods in the third grade. Erik said that he substituted tissues for pads during his first period to hide it. "After my first period, I felt like I was being 'struck by lightning,' as my body was betraying me; and I didn't tell my mother until I started experiencing period 'leaks' in my fourth month [of experiencing my period]," Erik says. "I wished that the period would never come so that [my mother] would think that my gender was wrongly assigned at birth," he adds. Emotional aspects The emotional aspects of experiencing periods were complex for Erik. "I did not want people to know that my body was changing [and that I was experiencing] female puberty," he says. For Erik, making peace with his period took a while. He had his period in the third grade earlier than most of his friends. It took Erik almost a decade to understand and appreciate his own body. Erik said that it was in his university years that he finally accepted that his period was also a part of how his body operates. "There were days when I repressed my identity until I met the trans men community, where I learned that our reproductive system doesn't define our gender," Erik says. For him, learning more about the concept of sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression and sex characteristics (SOGIESC) finally helped him accept his body. "I learned from the studies of SOGIESC that sex and gender are two different things. I learned how my body functions, that having a uterus in my reproductive system doesn't make me a woman," he says. Erik said the main reason he had difficulty dealing with his period was that society judges a person's gender based on their reproductive system and physical appearance. "Society tends to put you in a box. If you have a vagina and uterus, you must have a child and assign your gender role as a woman. If you don't follow the normative system, they may label you a sinner," he said. "I think it's important for trans men to learn more about the reproductive system. I feel that the trans men community is often marginalized and forgotten." Meanwhile, Santi, a non-binary individual from Tangerang who chose not to divulge their real name, shared that having periods had caused them to experience gender dysphoria and mental health issues. (Santi asked to use their/they/them pronouns). Santi admitted that getting their first period left them feeling embarrassed and uncomfortable with their own body because they were aware that when they got their first period, their body would begin to go through puberty and gain more "feminine" characteristics, with larger breasts one of their insecurities growing up. "I prefer to have nothing down there," the 21-year-old said. The second oldest of the four siblings shared that growing up in a strict household had made their situation even more challenging. Santi often confided about their period experience with their brother, also a transgender man. Veron, a transmasculine and third-year political science student in the Netherlands, experienced health concerns because of an irregular menstrual cycle and was told by their doctor" to grow and dress more femininely" during a medical visit. Hence, Veron felt that their worries were dismissed. They shared, "I have an actual health problem, and they believed that the problem was from what I wore." "The doctor said if my menstruation is irregular, it's simply because I have short hair and a 'tomboy' appearance. My identity as non-binary, transmasculine or agender may only be indirectly related," they add. Difficult: Ayu R. Yolandasari says that the lack of safe spaces in public areas, such as public restrooms, also exacerbates dysphoria among transgender men and non-binary individuals regarding their periods (Courtesy of Ayu R. Yolandasari) (Archive/Courtesy of Ayu R. Yolandasari) Ayu R. Yolandasari, a gender, sexuality and mental health specialist based in Jakarta, said there were three main reasons transgender men and non-binary individuals had a complex relationship with menstruation. Ayu said that as a society, Indonesia tended to be heteronormative and had a binary view of gender. In a heteronormative society, Ayu said, society often judged individuals by the gender they were assigned at birth. In this case, an individual is born with a vagina and uterus, thus they will be assigned female at birth for their sex category. "Society tends to view the individual as female or automatically assume the person's gender identity as a cisgender woman," Ayu affirmed. However, Ayu continued that the assumption from society was not always correct because people may identify themselves with different gender identities. Moreover, Ayu added, in society, individuals often identify periods or menstruation as an experience identic with cisgender women or those assigned female at birth and who identified themselves as female later. "In a heteronormative society, people consider that only cisgender women experience menstruation. Although, menstruation is not an experience that exclusively happens to cisgender women, as it's a cycle for anyone born with a uterus or ovaries," she says. It is common for menstruators to experience physiological and psychological discomfort during the period moreover, if they undergo premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD), a depressive disorder linked to menstruation. Transgender men and nonbinary individuals are often dismissed. Ayu explained that the experience of menstruation is one way that the identities of trans and nonbinary individuals are often devalued or invalidated by society. "The invalidation generated from society ultimately makes the trans and non-binary group experience their identity crisis and intensify their dysphoria," Ayu says. In addition to facing discrimination from various groups, transgender friends have more difficulty getting their menstrual supplies because of the attached stigma. "A lack of access can be due to the dysphoria or extreme anxiety experienced by trans friends, resulting from the gap between the gender they perceive and the gender they were assigned at birth," Ayu explained. As a minority group, Ayu added that the anxiety of the transgender men and non-binary community can be heightened when trans men have to use period-related products in gendered public restrooms. Ayu noted that trans men may feel uneasy around other people in the mens bathroom since the sound of the plastic wrap of pads was strongly associated with feminine things that could risk their safety if anybody notices their presence in the male-signed restroom. "That thing [menstrual product] also relates to their body and may remind them that their body has been made to validate their identity," they say. The lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) communities are prone to stigma and discrimination from society. Research by the Legal Aid Institute (LBH) in 2017 showed that 973 people became victims of stigma, discrimination and violence due to their sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression by not conforming to heteronormative binary norms. The survey showed that transgender individuals had the highest number of reported cases, with 715 incidents, gay individuals with 225 incidents and lesbians reporting 29 incidents. More feasibility Erik highlighted that there had always been communities welcoming trans men. "Understanding SOGIESC creates a more coherent framework that enables the trans community to accept themselves more easily," he says. Despite the unavailability of SOGIESC education to everyone, Ayu stressed the importance of educating society about SOGIESC. The heteronormative paradigm dominating our community inevitably exacerbates how marginalized groups like non-binary people and transgender men suffer. "Moreover, we must challenge the belief that the natural state of menstruation is a normal woman-specific experience. Even for cis-females, especially those with PMDD, a period may be an unpleasant experience leading to suicidal thoughts," Ayu adds. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Dio Suhenda (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Mon, May 22, 2023 Twenty-five years since the start of the Reform era, which had carried the hopes for democracy and stronger civil rights, the nation finds itself in a familiar position, with renewed efforts to bring back what observers fear to be the hallmarks of the autocratic New Order regime. Beginning on May 12, 1998, Jakarta was consumed by ten days of racially-charged rioting that shook the entire country, sparked by a student-led peace march that went awry. Four Trisakti University students were shot to death by security apparatus and chaos ensued. Soeharto eventually stepped down on May 21 that year, and the Indonesian armed forces crucially stepped away from their role in civilian affairs, allowing democracy to flourish. to Read Full Story SUBSCRIBE NOW Starting from IDR 55,500/month Unlimited access to our web and app content e-Post daily digital newspaper No advertisements, no interruptions Privileged access to our events and programs Subscription to our newsletters We accept Register to read 3 premium articles for free Already subscribed? login Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin AFP Denpasar, Bali Mon, May 22, 2023 18:05 5 d5259e4d93052b0e76bee70b056fc716 2 Archipelago Indonesia,Canada,bali,crime,Fraud,Interpol,arrest,extradition Free A Canadian wanted by Interpol for forgery and defrauding hundreds of investors in his home country has been arrested in Bali, police said. Stephane Gagnon was arrested in his villa in Canggu, a popular tourist hotspot, on Saturday after Interpol sent a letter to the Bali Police informing them that the 50-year-old was wanted on forgery and fraud charges. "We arrested him on May 20 and he has been detained at the Bali police detention for the next twenty days," an officer from the Bali Police' detective unit, Ni Wayan Sriani, told a news conference Monday. Gagnon entered Bali in 2020 from Vietnam and had a temporary stay permit as an investor, police said. The Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) said on its website in 2021 that he was accused of defrauding investors across Canada by promising them immediate access to their locked-in retirement savings accounts. The OSC accused the businessman of collecting more than 20 million Canadian dollars ($14.8 million) from investors between 2015 and 2021 and then using a significant amount of it on personal expenses. Many investors did not receive the funds they were promised. Interpol issued a red notice for his arrest last year. Bali police accused Gagnon of defrauding more than 300 victims. Indonesian immigration authorities are waiting for an extradition request from the Canadian government. In 2020, Bali authorities arrested an American for scamming clients and women he met online out of some $500,000 by pretending to be an investment manager. Topics : Indonesia Canada bali crime Fraud Interpol arrest extradition Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Fikri Harish (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Mon, May 22, 2023 The Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggles (PDI-P) summons of Surakarta Mayor Gibran Rakabuming Raka for clarification over his meeting with Gerindra Party-backed presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto is indicative of the growing unease between the ruling party and President Joko Jokowi Widodo. The PDI-P decided not to sanction Gibran, the eldest son of Jokowi, over the controversy, which came amid a growing contingent of the Presidents supporter groups pledging support for Prabowo in the 2024 presidential race over the PDI-Ps own candidate, Central Java Governor Ganjar Pranowo. Jokowi is a member of the PDI-P, and he and the party have enjoyed a fruitful relationship stretching back to when the President made his foray into politics as the mayor of Surakarta, Central Java, in 2005. While Gibran already made his name as an entrepreneur, he eventually followed in Jokowis footsteps after being elected as Surakarta mayor in 2020, with the backing of the PDI-P. to Read Full Story SUBSCRIBE NOW Starting from IDR 55,500/month Unlimited access to our web and app content e-Post daily digital newspaper No advertisements, no interruptions Privileged access to our events and programs Subscription to our newsletters We accept Register to read 3 premium articles for free Already subscribed? login Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Mon, May 22, 2023 Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) chair Megawati Soekarnoputri has spoken out against the government's plan to expand the Indonesian Armys organizational structure by establishing a regional military command (Kodam) in each province. Speaking at an event organized by the governments National Resilience Institute (Lemhanas) over the weekend, Megawati said there was no justification for the plan, especially as the country was not facing the prospect of war. "They say that there will be one command in one region. I say, cut it off. We're not at war with anybody, first of all. Secondly, are we going to war?" Megawati said in her speech. The senior PDI-P politician said the Indonesian Military (TNI) should focus on preventing war and conflict. to Read Full Story SUBSCRIBE NOW Starting from IDR 55,500/month Unlimited access to our web and app content e-Post daily digital newspaper No advertisements, no interruptions Privileged access to our events and programs Subscription to our newsletters We accept Register to read 3 premium articles for free Already subscribed? login Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Dio Suhenda (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Mon, May 22, 2023 A coalition of rights groups has slammed a plan to amend the 2004 Indonesian Military (TNI) Law, arguing that the changes proposed by the TNIs legal division would compromise the spirit of the Reform era and put civil society back in the grips of the military. Since its heyday during the New Order period, the TNI has gone from then-president Soehartos tool to stamp out dissidents among the masses, to an institution strictly focused on Indonesia's defense, thanks to the student-led protests that helped bring about the fall of Soehartos authoritarian regime. But Amnesty International Indonesia executive director Usman Hamid said that a number of the provisions proposed by the TNI would put civil supremacy in jeopardy. to Read Full Story SUBSCRIBE NOW Starting from IDR 55,500/month Unlimited access to our web and app content e-Post daily digital newspaper No advertisements, no interruptions Privileged access to our events and programs Subscription to our newsletters We accept Register to read 3 premium articles for free Already subscribed? login BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 22. Azerbaijan has great potential in the field of renewable energy, which is sufficient not only for domestic consumption, but also for export, Deputy Minister of Energy Elnur Soltanov told reporters, Trend reports. "Along with the Southern Gas Corridor, Azerbaijan is creating corridors for the transportation of green energy. For instance, the country reached an agreement with Georgia, Romania and Hungary last December on the creation of a corresponding corridor along the bottom of the Black Sea from the Caspian Sea to Europe. The Bulgarian side has also expressed interest in taking part in this project and we expect Bulgaria to officially join this project in the near future," the deputy minister said. Soltanov noted that Europe and its financial institutions welcome these projects and are ready to finance them. "We also aim to create an energy corridor from Azerbaijan's Nakhchivan to Turkiye and further to world markets. In addition, I believe that the creation of the Zangazur corridor will create additional routes for the transportation of Azerbaijani products, including green energy, to the EU markets," he added. Azerbaijan, Georgia, Romania and Hungary signed the agreement on Strategic Partnership in the Development and Transmission of Green Energy on December 17, 2022, which provides, among other things, for the construction of an energy bridge from the Caucasus region to Europe. As part of the agreement reached, it is expected to build Black Sea Energy's underwater electric cable with a capacity of 1000 MW and a length of 1,195 kilometers. The cable will be intended for the supply of green energy generated in Azerbaijan through Georgia and the Black Sea to Romania for subsequent transportation to Hungary and the rest of Europe. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Hossein Amir Abdollahian (The Jakarta Post) Tehran Mon, May 22, 2023 05:05 6 8c59b90329e48fb699327dfce954e719 3 Academia Iran,Indonesia,Muslim,cooperation,peace,economy,visit,ASEAN,Non-Aligned-Movement,food-security Free The upcoming state visit of Islamic Republic of Iran President Seyyed Ebrahim Raisi to Jakarta, in response to the invitation of President Joko Jokowi Widodo, marks not only a turning point in the bilateral relations between the two countries but also the commencement of a new chapter in the relations between the two great nations. The stands of the two countries in the two regions of the Middle East and East Asia, cultural and civilizational commonalities and weighty potential for cooperation in various fields, alongside the new requirements of the international order, herald the opening of a new era of relations between the two countries hinged on respect and mutual understanding. The diplomatic ties between Iran and Indonesia are now entering their eighth decade, while the relations between the two great nations have deep roots in history. The people of the two countries, centuries ago, were able to establish profound bonds with each other through Islam, and Iranian and Indonesian Muslim scholars and intellectuals had beneficial interactions in past centuries. The linguistic ties between the two countries also serve as further evidence of the historical interactions between the people of the two nations throughout Asia. A considerable number of Persian words in the Indonesian language and shared assets such as Imam Muhammad Ghazali testify to the depth of historical connections between them and provide a basis for deepening the relations between the two nations. The Islamic Republic of Iran, within the framework of a balanced, smart and dynamic foreign policy, attaches special prominence to the development of relations with Indonesia. Fortunately, this determination exists on both sides, and the authorities of the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Republic of Indonesia are resolute to create the required infrastructure and facilities for the development of relations in various fields. The bilateral negotiations between the two countries encompass a wide range of bilateral, regional and international topics. Iran and Indonesia seek to deepen cooperation in various areas, including political, economic, trade, energy, scientific and technological, cultural, parliamentary and security fields. Despite the excellent relations, constructive cooperation and mutual support in international forums, it must be acknowledged the current volume of trade relations between the two countries is below expectations given the available capacities. Therefore, President Raisi and his accompanying delegation in this to Jakarta provide a valuable opportunity for the public and private sectors of both countries to become more familiar with each other's economic and commercial capacities and capabilities. The links between Iran and Indonesia, within the framework of South-South cooperation, have a historical background and demonstrate the common approach of the two countries to create a balanced world. The two countries have common positions on regional, international and Islamic issues, and continuous negotiations between the two sides on these matters are ongoing. Recognizing the need to strengthen regional relations, we commend the performance of ASEAN and emphasize the Islamic Republic of Iran's willingness to develop relations with other member states of the regional bloc within the framework of the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation signed between the two sides in 2017. We consider Indonesias chairmanship in ASEAN an optimal opportunity for developing relations with the other member states of this progressive grouping. We also welcome the possibility of regional connections between ASEAN and the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) in West Asia. Issues such as the necessity of unity among Islamic countries, promoting the true image of Islam in the world, combating extremism and Islamophobia, and supporting the interests of Muslims worldwide, including the oppressed Palestinian people, are the points that align the foreign policy of the two countries on a common path. Within this framework, we believe the Middle Eastern countries, as an environment with the highest number of Islamic countries, can overcome existing misunderstandings and, regardless of the intervention of non-regional powers, establish an intra-regional order. Negotiations between the Islamic Republic of Iran and Saudi Arabia are taking place in this regard. We believe the two countries have embarked on the right path, and this understanding will bring tangible results for the stability and prosperity of the region and the Islamic world. As an influential bloc in global equations, the Islamic world requires greater convergence to create opportunities for consensus, synergy and the generation of innovative ideas, benefiting the great ummah (worldwide Islamic community). Undoubtedly, countries that have noteworthy weight in the Islamic world can play a leading role in realizing the interests of the ummah. Based on this, Iran welcomes the strengthening of cooperation with Indonesia, as one of the essential and influential predominantly Muslim countries in the world. From the perspective of the Islamic Republic of Iran, the unilateralism prevailing in the world, with the elimination of multilateral mechanisms and its detrimental effects on global peace and security, has now been marginalized. In other words, the security of the international system does not have a "prescribed" nature and has been transformed into a "synergic" and "participatory" matter with the maximum involvement of actors. The founding fathers of the historic Bandung Conference and the proponents of the paradigm of nonalignment, decades ago, rightly took steps in this direction and expressed their opposition to any polarization that would endanger world peace and stability. In the new international context, developing and emerging countries, through cooperation and shared efforts, can play a constructive role in ensuring global peace and stability, including in the areas of food security and energy. In conclusion, I would like to reemphasize the serious commitment of the authorities in my country to the development of relations with the friendly and brotherly country of Indonesia. Indonesians are noble and hospitable, and I am deeply pleased we are in Indonesia accompanying President Raeisi. I wish felicity, prosperity and progress for Indonesias government and great people. *** The writer is the Iranian foreign minister. Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not reflect the official stance of The Jakarta Post. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Deni Ghifari (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Tue, May 23 2023 Indonesia is projected to lose its place as the worlds fourth most populous country in the coming decades, as both Nigeria and Pakistan will surpass the country by 2045, according to the National Development Planning Agency (Bappenas). Bappenas head Suharso Monoarfa said on Tuesday that Indonesias population would likely grow more slowly in the future, as the total fertility rate (TFR), the average number of children born to a woman in her lifetime, would fall to 1.9 in the next two decades, from around 2.28 in 2020. That number is below the developed country replacement fertility rate of about 2.1 births per woman, according to the UN, meaning the population of Indonesia will age and eventually begin to decline. to Read Full Story SUBSCRIBE NOW Starting from IDR 55,500/month Unlimited access to our web and app content e-Post daily digital newspaper No advertisements, no interruptions Privileged access to our events and programs Subscription to our newsletters We accept Register to read 3 premium articles for free Already subscribed? login Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Hiroshima, Japan Mon, May 22, 2023 In a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo expressed his support for initiatives to restore peace to the war-torn country and offered Indonesias assistance in the role of a peace mediator. "I am keeping an eye on the latest developments in Ukraine, and express our condolences to the victims who have died. Indonesia continues to support the initiative for peace in Ukraine and we have offered to be a bridge to peace," the President said in a statement on Sunday. Jokowi met with Zelensky on the sidelines of the Group of Seven (G7) Summit in Hiroshima, Japan, over the weekend. to Read Full Story SUBSCRIBE NOW Starting from IDR 55,500/month Unlimited access to our web and app content e-Post daily digital newspaper No advertisements, no interruptions Privileged access to our events and programs Subscription to our newsletters We accept Register to read 3 premium articles for free Already subscribed? login Advisor Group Holdings Inc. raised its stake in Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN Get Rating) by 6.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 222,126 shares of the information technology services providers stock after acquiring an additional 12,846 shares during the quarter. Advisor Group Holdings Inc.s holdings in Accenture were worth $59,319,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period. Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of ACN. Affiance Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Accenture during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. My Personal CFO LLC acquired a new position in shares of Accenture during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Accenture during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Ten Capital Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Accenture by 61.8% during the 3rd quarter. Ten Capital Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 123 shares of the information technology services providers stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EWG Elevate Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Accenture during the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. 73.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors. Get Accenture alerts: Insider Buying and Selling In related news, insider Ellyn Shook sold 5,250 shares of Accenture stock in a transaction on Monday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $275.90, for a total transaction of $1,448,475.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 26,908 shares of the companys stock, valued at $7,423,917.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, insider Ellyn Shook sold 5,250 shares of Accenture stock in a transaction on Monday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $275.90, for a total transaction of $1,448,475.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 26,908 shares of the companys stock, valued at $7,423,917.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Jean-Marc Ollagnier sold 6,250 shares of Accenture stock in a transaction on Friday, April 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.06, for a total transaction of $1,750,375.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 174,084 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $48,753,965.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 15,010 shares of company stock valued at $4,180,030 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.08% of the companys stock. Accenture Stock Down 0.2 % Shares of ACN stock traded down $0.51 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $289.40. 207,647 shares of the companys stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,347,067. The stocks 50 day simple moving average is $273.71 and its 200 day simple moving average is $276.53. The stock has a market cap of $182.86 billion, a PE ratio of 26.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 1.25. Accenture plc has a 12 month low of $242.80 and a 12 month high of $322.88. Accenture (NYSE:ACN Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 23rd. The information technology services provider reported $2.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.49 by $0.20. The firm had revenue of $15.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.59 billion. Accenture had a net margin of 11.00% and a return on equity of 30.73%. The companys revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.54 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Accenture plc will post 11.57 EPS for the current fiscal year. Accenture Announces Dividend The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 13th were paid a dividend of $1.12 per share. This represents a $4.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 12th. Accentures dividend payout ratio is presently 41.25%. Wall Street Analyst Weigh In A number of brokerages have issued reports on ACN. William Blair restated an outperform rating on shares of Accenture in a research report on Monday, March 20th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Accenture from $335.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Friday, March 24th. Edward Jones upgraded shares of Accenture from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 5th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Accenture from $340.00 to $325.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 15th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Accenture from $289.00 to $294.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research report on Friday, March 24th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the companys stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Accenture presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $314.00. Accenture Company Profile (Get Rating) Accenture Plc engages in the provision of management consulting, technology, and outsourcing services. It operates through the following geographical segments: North America, Europe and Growth Markets. The company was founded in 1989 and is headquartered in Dublin, Ireland. Read More Want to see what other hedge funds are holding ACN? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN Get Rating). Receive News & Ratings for Accenture Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Accenture and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. raised its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT Get Rating) by 7.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 628,762 shares of the healthcare product makers stock after purchasing an additional 45,800 shares during the quarter. Advisor Group Holdings Inc.s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $69,075,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in ABT. JDM Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. WFA of San Diego LLC purchased a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. Arcus Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. Elequin Securities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. increased its stake 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 worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 289 shares in the last quarter. 72.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors. Get Abbott Laboratories alerts: Insiders Place Their Bets In other news, SVP Randel William Woodgrift sold 1,032 shares of the companys stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.70, for a total transaction of $103,922.40. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 52,203 shares in the company, valued at $5,256,842.10. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, SVP Randel William Woodgrift sold 1,032 shares of the companys stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.70, for a total value of $103,922.40. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 52,203 shares in the company, valued at $5,256,842.10. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Daniel J. Starks sold 50,000 shares of the companys stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the director now owns 6,825,316 shares in the company, valued at approximately $757,746,582.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 60,197 shares of company stock worth $6,659,607. 1.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders. Analysts Set New Price Targets Abbott Laboratories Stock Up 0.2 % A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. SVB Leerink raised their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $90.00 to $102.00 and gave the company a market perform rating in a research note on Friday, March 31st. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $132.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Thursday, April 20th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $140.00 to $136.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 5th. Raymond James raised their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $116.00 to $123.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 20th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $125.00 to $127.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Thursday, April 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $122.37. Shares of ABT opened at $109.18 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $189.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.18, a P/E/G ratio of 4.88 and a beta of 0.67. Abbott Laboratories has a 12-month low of $93.25 and a 12-month high of $118.23. The company has a current ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $105.10 and a 200-day moving average price of $106.30. Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 19th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $0.98 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $9.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.64 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 13.98% and a return on equity of 22.36%. The firms revenue for the quarter was down 18.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.73 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.38 earnings per share for the current year. About Abbott Laboratories (Get Rating) Abbott Laboratories engages in the discovery, development, manufacture, and sale of a broad and diversified line of health care products. It operates through the following business segments: Established Pharmaceutical Products, Diagnostic Products, Nutritional Products, and Medical Devices. The Established Pharmaceutical Products segment refers to the international sales of a line of branded generic pharmaceutical products. See Also Want to see what other hedge funds are holding ABT? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT Get Rating). Receive News & Ratings for Abbott Laboratories Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Abbott Laboratories and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance (NYSE:ARI Get Rating) in a research note issued to investors on Thursday. The brokerage issued a hold rating on the real estate investment trusts stock. Several other research analysts also recently weighed in on the company. BTIG Research restated a neutral rating on shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance in a research note on Tuesday, April 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance from $11.50 to $10.00 and set a market perform rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 13th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance from $11.00 to $9.00 in a research note on Monday, April 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and five have issued a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $10.80. Get Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance alerts: Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance Trading Down 0.6 % Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance stock opened at $10.09 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $9.44 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $10.84. The company has a market cap of $1.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.51 and a beta of 1.59. Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance has a 52-week low of $7.91 and a 52-week high of $13.10. The company has a quick ratio of 42.44, a current ratio of 42.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance Announces Dividend Insider Buying and Selling at Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 31st were paid a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 13.88%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 30th. Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finances dividend payout ratio is presently 76.50%. In other news, Director Robert A. Kasdin acquired 25,000 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 8th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $9.54 per share, for a total transaction of $238,500.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 85,739 shares of the companys stock, valued at $817,950.06. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.73% of the companys stock. Institutional Trading of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in ARI. MAS Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance by 17.1% in the first quarter. MAS Advisors LLC now owns 110,840 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock valued at $1,535,000 after purchasing an additional 16,168 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance by 1.0% during the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,378,310 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock worth $19,200,000 after purchasing an additional 13,735 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. lifted its stake in shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance by 28.0% during the first quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 22,392 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock worth $312,000 after purchasing an additional 4,899 shares in the last quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance by 57.3% in the first quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 73,379 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock worth $1,022,000 after acquiring an additional 26,742 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS lifted its stake in shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance by 14.6% in the first quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 113,890 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock worth $1,586,000 after acquiring an additional 14,502 shares in the last quarter. 54.57% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds. Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance Company Profile (Get Rating) Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance, Inc engages in the provision of real estate investment trust. It offers loan programs that include senior loans, subordinate debt, bridge loans, and preferred equity. The company was founded on June 29, 2009 and is headquartered in New York, NY. Recommended Stories Receive News & Ratings for Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Bank of Montreal (TSE:BMO Get Rating) (NYSE:BMO) had its target price cut by National Bankshares from C$133.00 to C$129.00 in a research report report published on Thursday morning, BayStreet.CA reports. Several other research analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. Barclays decreased their price target on Bank of Montreal from C$149.00 to C$127.00 in a research note on Tuesday, May 9th. TD Securities reduced their price objective on Bank of Montreal from C$145.00 to C$140.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 1st. CIBC reduced their price objective on Bank of Montreal from C$145.00 to C$139.00 in a research report on Tuesday, May 16th. CSFB reduced their price objective on Bank of Montreal from C$147.00 to C$139.00 in a research report on Tuesday, May 16th. Finally, Cormark reduced their price objective on Bank of Montreal from C$148.00 to C$147.00 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 four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Bank of Montreal presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of C$146.09. Get Bank of Montreal alerts: Bank of Montreal Stock Down 0.9 % TSE BMO opened at C$117.98 on Thursday. Bank of Montreal has a twelve month low of C$113.47 and a twelve month high of C$138.85. The firm has a market capitalization of C$82.98 billion, a PE ratio of 5.90, a P/E/G ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.13. The stocks 50 day moving average is C$119.62 and its 200 day moving average is C$126.09. Bank of Montreal Announces Dividend Bank of Montreal ( TSE:BMO Get Rating ) (NYSE:BMO) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 28th. The bank reported C$3.22 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of C$3.13 by C$0.09. Bank of Montreal had a return on equity of 21.06% and a net margin of 40.56%. The business had revenue of C$6.47 billion for the quarter. On average, research analysts anticipate that Bank of Montreal will post 13.4068182 earnings per share for the current year. The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 28th will be given a dividend of $1.43 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 27th. This represents a $5.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.85%. Bank of Montreals dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.61%. Bank of Montreal Company Profile (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. Featured Articles Receive News & Ratings for Bank of Montreal Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Bank of Montreal and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise trimmed its position in shares of Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM Get Rating) by 1.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 914,700 shares of the companys stock after selling 11,136 shares during the period. Philip Morris International comprises approximately 4.8% of Banque Cantonale Vaudoises portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise owned about 0.06% of Philip Morris International worth $92,575,000 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 PM. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in Philip Morris International by 0.9% during the third quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC now owns 15,762 shares of the companys stock valued at $1,308,000 after acquiring an additional 133 shares during the period. Advisor OS LLC bought a new stake in shares of Philip Morris International in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $200,000. Prospera Financial Services Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Philip Morris International by 8.3% in the 4th quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc now owns 12,912 shares of the companys stock worth $1,307,000 after acquiring an additional 987 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Philip Morris International by 4.9% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 54,238 shares of the companys stock worth $5,489,000 after acquiring an additional 2,545 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Profund Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Philip Morris International by 10.1% in the 4th quarter. Profund Advisors LLC now owns 17,092 shares of the companys stock worth $1,730,000 after acquiring an additional 1,568 shares in the last quarter. 75.85% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors. Get Philip Morris International alerts: Philip Morris International Stock Performance Shares of PM stock traded down $0.24 on Monday, hitting $92.95. 1,286,822 shares of the companys stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,351,859. Philip Morris International Inc. has a one year low of $82.85 and a one year high of $109.81. The companys fifty day simple moving average is $96.55 and its 200 day simple moving average is $98.78. The stock has a market capitalization of $144.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.68, a P/E/G ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.68. Philip Morris International Announces Dividend Philip Morris International ( NYSE:PM Get Rating ) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 20th. The company reported $1.38 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $8.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 quarterly revenue was up 4.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.56 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Philip Morris International Inc. will post 6.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year. The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 23rd were given a $1.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 22nd. This represents a $5.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.47%. Philip Morris Internationals dividend payout ratio is 90.88%. Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth Several brokerages have recently commented on PM. Stifel Nicolaus assumed coverage on Philip Morris International in a report on Thursday, April 13th. They issued a buy rating and a $114.00 target price on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group raised Philip Morris International from a neutral rating to a buy rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $95.00 to $120.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 25th. Societe Generale started coverage on Philip Morris International in a research note on Monday, January 23rd. They issued a sell rating and a $90.00 price target on the stock. UBS Group upgraded shares of Philip Morris International from a neutral rating to a buy rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $106.00 to $116.00 in a research note on Wednesday, March 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Philip Morris International from $109.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Thursday, February 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the companys stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $110.60. Insider Transactions at Philip Morris International In other news, insider Werner Barth sold 8,000 shares of the firms stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 2nd. The shares were 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 of the companys stock, valued at approximately $8,588,020.35. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.13% of the companys stock. Philip Morris International Company Profile (Get Rating) Philip Morris International, Inc is a holding company engaged in the manufacturing and sale of cigarettes, tobacco, and nicotine-containing products. Its products include cigarettes and reduced-risk products, including heat-not-burn, vapor, and oral nicotine products. The firm operates through the following geographical segments: European Union, Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa, South and Southeast Asia, East Asia and Australia, and Americas. See Also Want to see what other hedge funds are holding PM? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM Get Rating). Receive News & Ratings for Philip Morris International Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Philip Morris International and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY Get Rating) in a report released on Thursday morning. The brokerage issued a strong-buy rating on the biopharmaceutical companys stock. Several other research firms also recently weighed in on BMY. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb in a research note on Monday, March 6th. They issued a hold rating and a $62.00 target price for the company. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from $66.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Monday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an underweight rating in a research note on Friday, February 3rd. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from $82.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Friday, April 21st. Finally, 51job reaffirmed a maintains rating on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb in a research note on Friday, April 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued 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, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $79.43. Get Bristol-Myers Squibb alerts: Bristol-Myers Squibb Stock Performance Shares of BMY stock opened at $65.84 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $138.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.20, a P/E/G ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 1.28 and a current ratio of 1.42. Bristol-Myers Squibb has a 52 week low of $65.18 and a 52 week high of $81.43. The firms 50-day simple moving average is $68.42 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $72.09. Bristol-Myers Squibb Dividend Announcement Bristol-Myers Squibb ( NYSE:BMY Get Rating ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 27th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $2.05 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.98 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $11.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.50 billion. Bristol-Myers Squibb had a net margin of 15.95% and a return on equity of 51.75%. The companys revenue for the quarter was down 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.96 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Bristol-Myers Squibb will post 8.06 earnings per share for the current year. The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 10th were issued a $0.57 dividend. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.46%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 6th. Bristol-Myers Squibbs payout ratio is 66.47%. Insider Transactions at Bristol-Myers Squibb In other news, EVP Rupert Vessey sold 50,385 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 owns 47,751 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $3,202,182.06. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.09% of the companys stock. Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bristol-Myers Squibb Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. IFP Advisors Inc boosted its stake in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 55,629 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock valued at $3,024,000 after purchasing an additional 956 shares in the last quarter. Meritage Portfolio Management boosted its stake in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Meritage Portfolio Management now owns 39,915 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock valued at $2,872,000 after purchasing an additional 1,288 shares in the last quarter. Baron Silver Stevens Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Bristol-Myers Squibb during the 4th quarter valued at $316,000. BerganKDV Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 23.2% during the 4th quarter. BerganKDV Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,990 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock valued at $143,000 after buying an additional 375 shares during the period. Finally, Davidson Investment Advisors boosted its position in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Davidson Investment Advisors now owns 190,096 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock valued at $13,677,000 after buying an additional 3,681 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.51% of the companys stock. About Bristol-Myers Squibb (Get Rating) Bristol Myers Squibb Co engages in the discovery, development, licensing, manufacture, marketing, distribution, and sale of biopharmaceutical products. It offers chemically-synthesized drugs or small molecules and products produced from biological processes called biologics. The company was founded in August 1933 and is headquartered in New York, NY. Featured Stories Receive News & Ratings for Bristol-Myers Squibb Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Bristol-Myers Squibb and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Builders FirstSource (NYSE:BLDR Get Rating) in a report published on Thursday morning. The brokerage issued a buy rating on the stock. BLDR has been the subject of several other reports. B. Riley increased their price objective on Builders FirstSource from $70.00 to $77.00 in a report on Wednesday, March 1st. Benchmark increased their price target on Builders FirstSource from $95.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Wednesday, March 1st. Robert W. Baird downgraded Builders FirstSource from an outperform rating to a neutral rating and set a $96.00 price target for the company. in a report on Thursday, May 4th. DA Davidson increased their price target on Builders FirstSource from $80.00 to $105.00 in a report on Thursday, May 4th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on Builders FirstSource from $110.00 to $138.00 in a report on Friday, May 5th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Builders FirstSource has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $111.42. Get Builders FirstSource alerts: Builders FirstSource Stock Up 1.1 % BLDR stock opened at $121.57 on Thursday. The companys 50 day moving average price is $96.28 and its 200 day moving average price is $81.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.83. Builders FirstSource has a fifty-two week low of $48.91 and a fifty-two week high of $122.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.76 and a beta of 1.98. Insider Buying and Selling at Builders FirstSource Builders FirstSource ( NYSE:BLDR Get Rating ) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 3rd. The company reported $2.96 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $1.63 by $1.33. The firm had revenue of $3.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.57 billion. Builders FirstSource had a net margin of 11.68% and a return on equity of 55.42%. The businesss quarterly revenue was down 31.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.90 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Builders FirstSource will post 9.28 EPS for the current fiscal year. In other Builders FirstSource news, insider Michael Alan Farmer sold 12,500 shares of Builders FirstSource stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $108.97, for a total value of $1,362,125.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 62,122 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,769,434.34. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 1.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders. Hedge Funds Weigh In On Builders FirstSource Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Builders FirstSource by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 17,422,176 shares of the companys stock valued at $1,124,428,000 after purchasing an additional 86,484 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of Builders FirstSource by 14.8% in the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 11,277,012 shares of the companys stock valued at $727,819,000 after purchasing an additional 1,455,580 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Builders FirstSource by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,563,913 shares of the companys stock valued at $268,900,000 after purchasing an additional 64,900 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in Builders FirstSource by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,552,723 shares of the companys stock worth $404,191,000 after acquiring an additional 17,357 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Frontier Capital Management Co. LLC lifted its position in Builders FirstSource by 13.4% during the 3rd quarter. Frontier Capital Management Co. LLC now owns 2,176,584 shares of the companys stock worth $128,244,000 after acquiring an additional 256,436 shares in the last quarter. 94.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds. About Builders FirstSource (Get Rating) Builders FirstSource, Inc engages in the supply and manufacture of building materials, manufactured components and construction services to professional homebuilders, subcontractors, remodelers and consumers. Its products include factory-built roof and floor trusses, wall panels and stairs, vinyl windows, custom millwork and trim, and engineered wood. Read More Receive News & Ratings for Builders FirstSource Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Builders FirstSource and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 22. The Central Bank of Azerbaijan (CBA) held discussions within the framework of joint cooperation with SWIFT (the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication) system in the direction of expanding the sphere of innovative payment services in the country, as well as providing reliable, sustainable and secure payment solutions, the CBA told Trend. During the meeting, the current state of the country's national payment infrastructure, work on the transition to the ISO20022 international standard and prospects for the development of payment services, current and future SWIFT programs were discussed, as well as the main features of SWIFT solutions, goals and principles of the customer security program. At the same time, practical discussions were held at the meeting on expanding the coverage of innovative payment services in the country within the framework of cooperation with SWIFT, as well as on providing reliable, sustainable and secure payment solutions. The CBA noted that in order to create competitive, innovative and affordable financial services in Azerbaijan, the focus will be on the continuous development of cooperation with international organizations and the effective implementation of appropriate measures in this direction. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Chevron (NYSE:CVX Get Rating) in a research report released on Thursday. The brokerage issued a hold rating on the oil and gas companys stock. A number of other equities analysts also recently issued reports on CVX. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Chevron from $204.00 to $199.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 2nd. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Chevron from $195.00 to $192.00 and set an equal weight rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 27th. Raymond James cut their target price on Chevron from $212.00 to $208.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 14th. BNP Paribas raised Chevron from an underperform rating to a neutral rating and set a $200.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 4th. Finally, Cowen cut their target price on Chevron from $185.00 to $170.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 24th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the companys stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $193.65. Get Chevron alerts: Chevron Stock Performance Shares of NYSE:CVX opened at $155.23 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $162.36 and a 200 day moving average of $170.27. The company has a market capitalization of $294.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a quick ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 1.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. Chevron has a 52 week low of $132.54 and a 52 week high of $189.68. Chevron ( NYSE:CVX Get Rating ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 28th. The oil and gas company reported $3.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $3.41 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $50.79 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $49.49 billion. Chevron had a return on equity of 23.15% and a net margin of 14.74%. The businesss quarterly revenue was down 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.36 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Chevron will post 14.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year. Chevron announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, January 25th that permits the company to buyback $75.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the oil and gas company to purchase up to 21.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the companys leadership believes its stock is undervalued. Chevron Announces Dividend The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 19th will be paid a dividend of $1.51 per share. This represents a $6.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 18th. Chevrons payout ratio is currently 32.61%. Institutional Investors Weigh In On Chevron Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Trivant Custom Portfolio Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Chevron during the 1st quarter worth about $5,236,000. Chelsea Counsel Co. raised its position in shares of Chevron by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Chelsea Counsel Co. now owns 42,909 shares of the oil and gas companys stock worth $7,001,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. Abacus Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Chevron during the 1st quarter worth about $331,000. Vawter Financial Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Chevron during the 1st quarter worth about $246,000. Finally, SkyView Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Chevron during the 1st quarter worth about $810,000. 69.37% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors. Chevron Company Profile (Get Rating) Chevron Corp. engages in the provision of administrative, financial management, and technology support for energy and chemical operations. It operates through the Upstream and Downstream segments. The Upstream segment consists of the exploration, development, and production of crude oil and natural gas, the liquefaction, transportation, and regasification associated with liquefied natural gas, the transporting of crude oil by major international oil export pipelines, the processing, transporting, storage, and marketing of natural gas, and a gas-to-liquids plant. Read More Receive News & Ratings for Chevron Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Chevron and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Zymeworks (NYSE:ZYME Get Rating) had its target price boosted by Citigroup from $17.00 to $18.00 in a report issued on Thursday morning, The Fly reports. A number of other research analysts have also issued reports on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Zymeworks from $18.00 to $19.00 in a research note on Tuesday, May 9th. Guggenheim reiterated a buy rating and set a $16.00 price target on shares of Zymeworks in a research note on Wednesday, March 8th. TheStreet upgraded shares of Zymeworks from a d rating to a c rating in a research note on Thursday, March 30th. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an overweight rating and set a $12.00 price target on shares of Zymeworks in a research note on Tuesday, March 21st. Finally, HC Wainwright restated a neutral rating and set a $8.00 target price on shares of Zymeworks in a research report on Tuesday, March 21st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $12.44. Get Zymeworks alerts: Zymeworks Stock Performance ZYME stock opened at $9.77 on Thursday. Zymeworks has a one year low of $4.11 and a one year high of $10.80. The firms 50 day moving average price is $9.07 and its 200-day moving average price is $8.54. The firm has a market cap of $626.94 million, a PE ratio of 3.77 and a beta of 0.97. Insiders Place Their Bets Zymeworks ( NYSE:ZYME Get Rating ) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, March 7th. The company reported $4.65 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $4.62 by $0.03. Zymeworks had a net margin of 38.69% and a return on equity of 77.65%. The firm had revenue of $402.49 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $371.36 million. Equities research analysts predict that Zymeworks will post -2.31 EPS for the current fiscal year. In other Zymeworks news, major shareholder Ecor1 Capital, Llc purchased 200,000 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 28th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $8.00 per share, for a total transaction of $1,600,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider now directly owns 10,087,473 shares of the companys stock, valued at $80,699,784. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.63% of the companys stock. Institutional Investors Weigh In On Zymeworks Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in ZYME. Swiss National Bank lifted its position in shares of Zymeworks by 45.6% during the 1st quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 118,500 shares of the companys stock valued at $776,000 after acquiring an additional 37,100 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in Zymeworks by 804.9% in the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 686,784 shares of the companys stock valued at $4,498,000 after buying an additional 610,892 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. increased its position in Zymeworks by 12.3% during the 1st quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 71,967 shares of the companys stock valued at $471,000 after purchasing an additional 7,868 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can increased its position in Zymeworks by 19.8% during the 1st quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 24,872 shares of the companys stock valued at $167,000 after purchasing an additional 4,103 shares during the period. Finally, BlackRock Inc. grew its position in shares of Zymeworks by 20.0% during the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 973,451 shares of the companys stock worth $6,377,000 after buying an additional 162,353 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.28% of the companys stock. Zymeworks Company Profile (Get Rating) Zymeworks, Inc is a biopharmaceutical company, which engages in the discovery, development, and commercialization of novel, multifunctional biotherapeutics. Its product includes Zanidatamab, which is a novel bispecific antibody that targets two distinct domains of the human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2). Featured Stories Receive News & Ratings for Zymeworks Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Zymeworks and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Coca-Cola FEMSA (NYSE:KOF Get Rating) in a research report report published on Thursday morning. The firm issued a strong-buy rating on the stock. A number of other equities analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Barclays upped their target price on Coca-Cola FEMSA from $77.00 to $91.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Coca-Cola FEMSA from $69.00 to $77.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Thursday, January 26th. UBS Group downgraded shares of Coca-Cola FEMSA from a buy rating to a neutral rating and upped their price target for the stock from $76.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 19th. Finally, Bank of America raised Coca-Cola FEMSA from a neutral rating to a buy rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $137.00 to $157.00 in a research report on Monday, January 23rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the companys stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Coca-Cola FEMSA has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $93.00. Get Coca-Cola FEMSA alerts: Coca-Cola FEMSA Stock Down 2.1 % Shares of NYSE KOF traded down $1.83 during trading on Thursday, hitting $86.96. The company had a trading volume of 103,357 shares, compared to its average volume of 180,913. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 1.14 and a quick ratio of 0.94. The businesss 50-day moving average is $82.85 and its 200 day moving average is $74.56. Coca-Cola FEMSA has a 52 week low of $51.96 and a 52 week high of $91.23. Coca-Cola FEMSA Dividend Announcement Coca-Cola FEMSA ( NYSE:KOF Get Rating ) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 23rd. The company reported $1.73 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.10 by $0.63. The business had revenue of $3.11 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.07 billion. Coca-Cola FEMSA had a net margin of 8.60% and a return on equity of 15.88%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Coca-Cola FEMSA will post 5.05 EPS for the current year. The business also recently declared a dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 2nd were paid a dividend of $1.6048 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 1st. This represents a dividend yield of 3.1%. Coca-Cola FEMSAs dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.84%. Institutional Inflows and Outflows A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in KOF. IFP Advisors Inc grew its holdings in Coca-Cola FEMSA by 57.0% during the third quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 424 shares of the companys stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 154 shares during the last quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Coca-Cola FEMSA in the 4th quarter valued at $39,000. Signaturefd LLC raised its holdings in Coca-Cola FEMSA by 37.7% in the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 588 shares of the companys stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 161 shares during the period. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in Coca-Cola FEMSA by 415.8% during the 4th quarter. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. now owns 784 shares of the companys stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 632 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA bought a new stake in Coca-Cola FEMSA during the first quarter valued at about $52,000. 1.27% of the stock is owned by institutional investors. Coca-Cola FEMSA Company Profile (Get Rating) Coca-Cola FEMSA SAB de CV engages in the business of producing franchise bottles of trademark beverages. It operates under the Mexico and Central America, and South America segments. The Mexico and Central America segment includes Mexico, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Panama. The South America segment focuses on Colombia, Brazil, Argentina, and Uruguay. See Also Receive News & Ratings for Coca-Cola FEMSA Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Coca-Cola FEMSA and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. 51job reissued their maintains rating on shares of Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS Get Rating) in a report published on Friday, Benzinga reports. ESS has been the topic of a number of other reports. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research report on Thursday. They set a hold rating on the stock. Piper Sandler raised shares of Essex Property Trust from a neutral rating to an overweight rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $242.00 to $271.00 in a research report on Monday, May 1st. Scotiabank raised shares of Essex Property Trust from a sector underperform rating to a sector outperform rating and set a $240.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 12th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $219.00 to $226.00 and gave the company an underweight rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 1st. Finally, Mizuho reduced their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $246.00 to $221.00 in a research report on Friday. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $245.18. Get Essex Property Trust alerts: Essex Property Trust Trading Up 0.8 % NYSE:ESS traded up $1.66 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $211.44. 122,044 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 470,758. The company has a fifty day moving average of $210.83 and a 200 day moving average of $216.47. Essex Property Trust has a 12 month low of $195.03 and a 12 month high of $300.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 0.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.00, a PEG ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.75. Essex Property Trust Dividend Announcement Institutional Investors Weigh In On Essex Property Trust The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 14th. Investors of record on Friday, June 30th will be issued a $2.31 dividend. This represents a $9.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.37%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 29th. Essex Property Trusts dividend payout ratio is 122.55%. Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ESS. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 24.8% during the 1st quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 2,261 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock valued at $781,000 after buying an additional 450 shares in the last quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH grew its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 88,915 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock valued at $30,718,000 after buying an additional 1,050 shares in the last quarter. Prudential PLC purchased a new stake in Essex Property Trust during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $475,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 1.8% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,614,782 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock valued at $3,667,195,000 after buying an additional 184,047 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Baird Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 3.6% during the 1st quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 53,635 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock valued at $18,530,000 after buying an additional 1,847 shares in the last quarter. 91.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors. Essex Property Trust Company Profile (Get Rating) Essex Property Trust, Inc operates as a real estate investment trust. It engages in the ownership, operation, management, acquisition, development, and redevelopment of predominantly apartment communities. The company was founded by George M. Marcus in 1971 and is headquartered in San Mateo, CA. See Also Receive News & Ratings for Essex Property Trust Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Essex Property Trust and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Franklin Resources Inc. lowered its position in Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN Get Rating) by 2.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,506,684 shares of the information technology services providers stock after selling 87,747 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. owned about 0.56% of Accenture worth $935,724,000 as of its most recent SEC filing. Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ACN. Affiance Financial LLC bought a new position in Accenture in the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. My Personal CFO LLC bought a new position in Accenture in the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new position in Accenture in the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Ten Capital Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Accenture by 61.8% in the 3rd quarter. Ten Capital Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 123 shares of the information technology services providers stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares during the period. Finally, EWG Elevate Inc. bought a new position in Accenture in the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.97% of the companys stock. Get Accenture alerts: Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com assumed coverage on Accenture in a research report on Thursday. They set a buy rating for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Accenture from $311.00 to $314.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Friday, March 24th. Edward Jones upgraded Accenture from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 5th. William Blair restated an outperform rating on shares of Accenture in a research report on Monday, March 20th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Accenture from $310.00 to $327.00 in a research report on Friday, March 24th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Accenture currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $314.00. Accenture Price Performance ACN stock traded up $0.60 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $290.51. The stock had a trading volume of 737,067 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,353,108. The firm has a market cap of $183.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 1.25. The business has a 50-day moving average of $273.71 and a two-hundred day moving average of $276.53. Accenture plc has a 52-week low of $242.80 and a 52-week high of $322.88. Accenture (NYSE:ACN Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 23rd. The information technology services provider reported $2.69 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.49 by $0.20. The company had revenue of $15.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $15.59 billion. Accenture had a return on equity of 30.73% and a net margin of 11.00%. The firms revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.54 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Accenture plc will post 11.57 earnings per share for the current year. Accenture Announces Dividend The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 13th were issued a $1.12 dividend. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 12th. Accentures dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 41.25%. Insiders Place Their Bets In other news, insider Ellyn Shook sold 5,250 shares of the companys stock in a transaction on Monday, April 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.90, for a total transaction of $1,448,475.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 26,908 shares of the companys stock, valued at $7,423,917.20. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, General Counsel Joel Unruch sold 556 shares of the companys stock in a transaction on Friday, April 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $276.82, for a total transaction of $153,911.92. Following the transaction, the general counsel now directly owns 42,739 shares of the companys stock, valued at $11,831,009.98. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Ellyn Shook sold 5,250 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $275.90, for a total value of $1,448,475.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 26,908 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,423,917.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 15,010 shares of company stock valued at $4,180,030. 0.08% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders. Accenture Profile (Get Rating) Accenture Plc engages in the provision of management consulting, technology, and outsourcing services. It operates through the following geographical segments: North America, Europe and Growth Markets. The company was founded in 1989 and is headquartered in Dublin, Ireland. Featured Articles Want to see what other hedge funds are holding ACN? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN Get Rating). Receive News & Ratings for Accenture Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Accenture and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Globant (NYSE:GLOB Get Rating) in a research report report published on Thursday morning. The firm issued a hold rating on the information technology services providers stock. Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an overweight rating and set a $204.00 price target on shares of Globant in a research report on Thursday, April 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Globant from $224.00 to $221.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 14th. HSBC initiated coverage on shares of Globant in a research report on Thursday, February 2nd. They set a buy rating and a $240.00 price target on the stock. Cowen cut their target price on shares of Globant from $207.00 to $192.00 in a report on Friday, February 17th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC initiated coverage on shares of Globant in a report on Wednesday, April 12th. They issued a buy rating and a $205.00 target price on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the companys stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Globant presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $216.44. Get Globant alerts: Globant Stock Up 2.3 % Shares of Globant stock traded up $3.89 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $171.29. 311,126 shares of the companys stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 455,410. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $152.36 and a 200-day simple moving average of $163.89. The company has a market cap of $7.27 billion, a PE ratio of 48.55 and a beta of 1.41. Globant has a twelve month low of $135.40 and a twelve month high of $240.00. Institutional Inflows and Outflows Globant ( NYSE:GLOB Get Rating ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 16th. The information technology services provider reported $1.12 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.14 by ($0.02). Globant had a return on equity of 11.99% and a net margin of 8.03%. The company had revenue of $490.72 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $489.67 million. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Globant will post 4.63 EPS for the current year. Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Private Advisor Group LLC raised its stake in Globant by 5.2% during the 1st quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 1,283 shares of the information technology services providers stock valued at $336,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Globant by 29.5% in the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 3,476 shares of the information technology services providers stock worth $910,000 after purchasing an additional 792 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Globant by 86.9% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 141,141 shares of the information technology services providers stock worth $36,988,000 after purchasing an additional 65,635 shares in the last quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P boosted its holdings in Globant by 22.2% in the first quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 468 shares of the information technology services providers stock worth $123,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Zions Bancorporation N.A. boosted its holdings in Globant by 36.6% in the first quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 2,718 shares of the information technology services providers stock worth $712,000 after purchasing an additional 728 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.01% of the companys stock. About Globant (Get Rating) Globant SA engages in the provision of information technology services. It includes application development, testing, infrastructure management, and application maintenance. The company was founded by Martin Migoya, Martin Gonzalo Umaran, Guibert Andres Englebienne, and Nestor Augusto Nocetti in 2003 and is headquartered in Luxembourg. Featured Stories Receive News & Ratings for Globant Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Globant and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Heritage Trust Co boosted its stake in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY Get Rating) by 13.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 33,111 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock after purchasing an additional 3,856 shares during the quarter. Heritage Trust Cos holdings in Bristol-Myers Squibb were worth $2,382,000 as of its most recent SEC filing. Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of BMY. Boston Partners increased its holdings in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 103.1% in the 3rd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 10,166,384 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock valued at $725,297,000 after acquiring an additional 5,161,226 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. lifted its position in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 174,002,852 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock worth $12,369,862,000 after acquiring an additional 3,357,590 shares during the period. Edmp Inc. lifted its position in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 6,884.3% during the 4th quarter. Edmp Inc. now owns 3,343,588 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock worth $46,471,000 after acquiring an additional 3,295,715 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 199,886,585 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock worth $14,209,937,000 after acquiring an additional 3,058,491 shares during the period. Finally, Cowa LLC lifted its position in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 9,777.8% during the 1st quarter. Cowa LLC now owns 1,657,894 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock worth $1,211,000 after acquiring an additional 1,641,110 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.51% of the companys stock. Get Bristol-Myers Squibb alerts: Bristol-Myers Squibb Stock Performance Shares of NYSE:BMY traded down $0.12 during trading on Monday, hitting $65.72. 3,871,010 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,015,803. The stock has a market capitalization of $138.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.04, a PEG ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 0.44. The businesss fifty day moving average is $68.42 and its 200-day moving average is $72.09. Bristol-Myers Squibb has a one year low of $65.14 and a one year high of $81.43. The company has a quick ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10. Bristol-Myers Squibb Announces Dividend Bristol-Myers Squibb ( NYSE:BMY Get Rating ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 27th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $2.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.98 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $11.34 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.50 billion. Bristol-Myers Squibb had a return on equity of 51.75% and a net margin of 15.95%. The businesss revenue was down 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.96 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Bristol-Myers Squibb will post 8.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year. The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 10th were given a dividend of $0.57 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 6th. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.47%. Bristol-Myers Squibbs dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 66.47%. Insider Activity In other news, EVP Rupert Vessey sold 50,385 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.06, for a total transaction of $3,378,818.10. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 47,751 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,202,182.06. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.09% of the companys stock. Analyst Ratings Changes Several research firms have recently commented on BMY. StockNews.com began coverage on Bristol-Myers Squibb in a report on Thursday. They issued a strong-buy rating for the company. Credit Suisse Group reduced their price target on Bristol-Myers Squibb from $78.00 to $72.00 in a report on Friday, April 28th. 51job reissued a maintains rating on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb in a report on Friday, April 28th. Atlantic Securities raised their price target on Bristol-Myers Squibb from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Friday, February 3rd. Finally, Barclays reduced their price target on Bristol-Myers Squibb from $66.00 to $65.00 in a report on Monday, May 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $79.43. Bristol-Myers Squibb Profile (Get Rating) Bristol Myers Squibb Co engages in the discovery, development, licensing, manufacture, marketing, distribution, and sale of biopharmaceutical products. It offers chemically-synthesized drugs or small molecules and products produced from biological processes called biologics. The company was founded in August 1933 and is headquartered in New York, NY. Further Reading Want to see what other hedge funds are holding BMY? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY Get Rating). Receive News & Ratings for Bristol-Myers Squibb Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Bristol-Myers Squibb and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Games Workshop Group PLC (LON:GAW Get Rating) insider Kevin Rountree acquired 149 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 19th. The stock was bought at an average cost of GBX 9,767 ($122.35) per share, with a total value of 14,552.83 ($18,229.78). Kevin Rountree also recently made the following trade(s): Get Games Workshop Group alerts: On Friday, February 24th, Kevin Rountree acquired 168 shares of Games Workshop Group stock. The shares were purchased at an average cost of GBX 9,208 ($115.35) per share, with a total value of 15,469.44 ($19,377.98). Games Workshop Group Stock Performance LON GAW traded up GBX 35 ($0.44) on Monday, hitting GBX 9,735 ($121.95). 121,762 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 59,559. The firm has a market capitalization of 3.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 2,600.54, a PEG ratio of 0.41 and a beta of 1.26. The businesss fifty day moving average is GBX 9,446.65 and its two-hundred day moving average is GBX 8,803.46. Games Workshop Group PLC has a 12 month low of GBX 5,565 ($69.71) and a 12 month high of 100.53 ($125.93). The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 19.77, a quick ratio of 2.33 and a current ratio of 3.65. Games Workshop Group Cuts Dividend Games Workshop Group Company Profile The company also recently declared a dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 19th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 6th were given a dividend of GBX 120 ($1.50) per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 6th. This represents a yield of 1.33%. Games Workshop Groups payout ratio is 8,713.14%. (Get Rating) Games Workshop Group PLC, together with its subsidiaries, designs, manufactures, distributes, and sells miniature figures and games in the United Kingdom, Continental Europe, North America, Australia, New Zealand, Asia, and internationally. It operates in two segments, Core and Licensing. The company offers games under the Warhammer: Age of Sigmar and Warhammer 40,000 names, as well as Horus Heresy, an off shoot of Warhammer 40,000. See Also Receive News & Ratings for Games Workshop Group Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Games Workshop Group and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Kite Realty Group Trust (NYSE:KRG Get Rating) in a research report sent to investors on Thursday. The firm issued a sell rating on the real estate investment trusts stock. Several other research firms also recently commented on KRG. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on Kite Realty Group Trust from $26.00 to $28.00 in a report on Monday, May 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. started coverage on Kite Realty Group Trust in a report on Monday, April 24th. They set a neutral rating and a $23.00 price target for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $25.38. Get Kite Realty Group Trust alerts: Kite Realty Group Trust Stock Up 1.1 % Shares of NYSE KRG traded up $0.22 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $20.48. 452,577 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,563,272. The company has a market cap of $4.49 billion, a PE ratio of 677.89, a P/E/G ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 1.37. Kite Realty Group Trust has a one year low of $16.42 and a one year high of $23.10. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $20.28 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $21.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 0.92. Kite Realty Group Trust Announces Dividend Institutional Trading of Kite Realty Group Trust The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 7th will be given a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 6th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.69%. Kite Realty Group Trusts dividend payout ratio is presently 3,201.07%. A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Yousif Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Kite Realty Group Trust by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 112,320 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock worth $2,364,000 after acquiring an additional 536 shares during the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp increased its stake in Kite Realty Group Trust by 1.6% in the 1st quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 34,348 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock worth $718,000 after acquiring an additional 554 shares during the last quarter. Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan ADV increased its stake in Kite Realty Group Trust by 2.3% in the 1st quarter. Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan ADV now owns 24,241 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock worth $507,000 after acquiring an additional 555 shares during the last quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund increased its stake in Kite Realty Group Trust by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 64,506 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock worth $1,358,000 after acquiring an additional 561 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State of Michigan Retirement System increased its stake in Kite Realty Group Trust by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 55,795 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock worth $1,174,000 after acquiring an additional 600 shares during the last quarter. 96.84% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors. About Kite Realty Group Trust (Get Rating) Kite Realty Group Trust operates as a real estate investment trust. It engages in the ownership, operation, acquisition, development, and redevelopment of neighborhood and community shopping centers in selected markets in the United States. The company was founded on August 16, 2004 and is headquartered in Indianapolis, IN. Featured Stories Receive News & Ratings for Kite Realty Group Trust Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Kite Realty Group Trust and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Loews Co. (NYSE:L Get Rating) declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, May 9th, RTT News reports. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 24th will be paid a dividend of 0.0625 per share by the insurance provider on Tuesday, June 6th. This represents a $0.25 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 23rd. Loews Price Performance NYSE:L opened at $58.80 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. The businesss 50-day simple moving average is $56.94 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $58.09. The stock has a market cap of $13.40 billion, a PE ratio of 13.33 and a beta of 0.82. Loews has a 52 week low of $49.36 and a 52 week high of $66.34. Get Loews alerts: Loews (NYSE:L Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 1st. The insurance provider reported $1.61 EPS for the quarter. The business had revenue of $3.78 billion for the quarter. Loews had a return on equity of 7.68% and a net margin of 7.27%. Analyst Ratings Changes Insider Buying and Selling Separately, StockNews.com began coverage on Loews in a research report on Thursday. They set a buy rating for the company. In related news, major shareholder Corp Loews purchased 4,800 shares of the companys stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 3rd. The stock was bought at an average price of $39.79 per share, for a total transaction of $190,992.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 243,958,688 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,707,116,195.52. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Loews news, Director Philip A. Laskawy sold 625 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.96, for a total transaction of $38,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 7,365 shares in the company, valued at $448,970.40. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, major shareholder Corp Loews bought 4,800 shares of the companys stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 3rd. The shares were acquired at an average price of $39.79 per share, with a total value of $190,992.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 243,958,688 shares of the companys stock, valued at $9,707,116,195.52. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 18.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders. Institutional Trading of Loews Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. SVB Wealth LLC raised its stake in shares of Loews by 20.1% during the first quarter. SVB Wealth LLC now owns 4,368 shares of the insurance providers stock valued at $253,000 after acquiring an additional 731 shares in the last quarter. XTX Topco Ltd bought a new position in Loews in the first quarter worth approximately $235,000. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Loews in the first quarter worth approximately $234,000. Centiva Capital LP bought a new position in Loews in the second quarter worth approximately $227,000. Finally, Wealth Architects LLC bought a new position in Loews in the first quarter worth approximately $214,000. Institutional investors own 64.00% of the companys stock. Loews Company Profile (Get Rating) Loews Corp. is a holding company, which engages in the business of commercial property and casualty insurance, transportation and storage of natural gas and natural gas liquids, and operation of a chain of hotels. It operates through the following segments: CNA Financial Corporation, Boardwalk Pipeline Partners, LP and Loews Hotels Holding Corporation, and Corporate. Further Reading Receive News & Ratings for Loews Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Loews and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 22. Caspian Pipeline Consortium transshipped 16.3 million tons of oil in the first quarter of 2023, a source at Kazakhstan's KazMunayGas national company told Trend. This figure constitutes a 3.5 percent increase compared to the same period of the previous year. Meanwhile, the oil transshipment via KazTransOil's main pipelines reached 10.3 million tons, increasing by 6.1 percent year-over-year. Furthermore, the oil transportation via MunaiTas - North-West Pipeline also recorded a growth of 7.7 percent, with a total volume of transshipment of 1.3 million tons. However, oil transportation via the Kazmortransflot and Kazakhstan-China oil pipeline recorded a decrease of 7.7 percent and 1.3 percent, respectively. Kazmortransflot transported 2.09 million tons of oil in the reporting period, while the Kazakhstan-China oil pipeline - 4.6 million tons. The Caspian Pipeline Consortium is a major international oil transportation project that involves Russia, Kazakhstan, and leading global oil producers. It was formed to construct and operate a long-distance trunk oil pipeline spanning over 1,500 km. Citigroup lowered shares of Marks and Spencer Group (OTCMKTS:MAKSY Get Rating) from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a report published on Thursday morning, The Fly reports. MAKSY has been the subject of a number of other reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Marks and Spencer Group from GBX 115 ($1.44) to GBX 130 ($1.63) in a research report on Monday, March 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Marks and Spencer Group from a sell rating to a neutral rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 21st. Credit Suisse Group increased their price objective on Marks and Spencer Group from GBX 150 ($1.88) to GBX 200 ($2.51) in a report on Tuesday, March 28th. Barclays increased their price objective on Marks and Spencer Group from GBX 165 ($2.07) to GBX 200 ($2.51) in a report on Monday, April 3rd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Marks and Spencer Group from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report on Friday, February 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and two have given 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 $168.00. Get Marks and Spencer Group alerts: Marks and Spencer Group Trading Down 0.2 % Shares of Marks and Spencer Group stock opened at $4.10 on Thursday. The companys fifty day simple moving average is $4.10 and its 200-day simple moving average is $3.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a current ratio of 0.88. Marks and Spencer Group has a 1 year low of $2.03 and a 1 year high of $4.48. Marks and Spencer Group Company Profile Marks & Spencer Group Plc engages in the retail of clothes, food, and home products. It operates through the following segments: UK Clothing and Home, UK Food, International, Ocado, and All Other. The UK Clothing and Home segment retails womenswear, menswear, lingerie, kidswear and home products. The UK Food segment includes the results of the UK retail food business and UK Food franchise operations. See Also Receive News & Ratings for Marks and Spencer Group Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Marks and Spencer Group and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. 1623 Capital LLC raised its stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA Get Rating) by 6.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 17,638 shares of the credit services providers stock after purchasing an additional 1,038 shares during the quarter. Mastercard accounts for 4.4% of 1623 Capital LLCs investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest holding. 1623 Capital LLCs holdings in Mastercard were worth $6,133,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Bornite Capital Management LP acquired a new position in Mastercard during the first quarter worth $21,442,000. United Bank raised its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 34.5% in the first quarter. United Bank now owns 6,007 shares of the credit services providers stock worth $2,147,000 after acquiring an additional 1,541 shares during the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 30.1% in the first quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 272,358 shares of the credit services providers stock worth $97,335,000 after acquiring an additional 63,040 shares during the last quarter. First Western Trust Bank acquired a new position in shares of Mastercard in the first quarter worth $1,168,000. Finally, Bridgewater Associates LP purchased a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the first quarter valued at $12,926,000. 74.51% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors. Get Mastercard alerts: Insiders Place Their Bets In other news, insider Hai Ling sold 8,220 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $356.31, for a total value of $2,928,868.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 26,496 shares in the company, valued at $9,440,789.76. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Mastercard news, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 125,816 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction on Monday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $386.28, for a total transaction of $48,600,204.48. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 100,437,277 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $38,796,911,359.56. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Hai Ling sold 8,220 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction on Monday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $356.31, for a total transaction of $2,928,868.20. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 26,496 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $9,440,789.76. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 550,299 shares of company stock worth $210,103,579 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.29% of the companys stock. Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades Mastercard Stock Performance MA has been the subject of several analyst reports. Susquehanna upped their target price on Mastercard from $405.00 to $433.00 and gave the stock a positive rating in a research report on Friday, January 27th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Mastercard from $392.00 to $404.00 in a research report on Friday, April 28th. Mizuho reduced their price target on shares of Mastercard from $405.00 to $400.00 in a research note on Tuesday, May 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $395.00 to $452.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Friday, January 27th. Finally, StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Mastercard in a report on Thursday. They issued a buy rating for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Mastercard has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $417.27. MA stock traded up $0.50 during trading on Monday, reaching $386.07. 1,014,875 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,718,171. Mastercard Incorporated has a twelve month low of $276.87 and a twelve month high of $392.20. The company has a market capitalization of $365.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 1.11. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $368.17 and a 200-day simple moving average of $360.24. The company has a current ratio of 1.20, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.84. Mastercard (NYSE:MA Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 27th. The credit services provider reported $2.80 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $2.71 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $5.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $5.64 billion. Mastercard had a net margin of 42.33% and a return on equity of 169.12%. The companys revenue for the quarter was up 11.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.76 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Mastercard Incorporated will post 12.27 earnings per share for the current year. About Mastercard (Get Rating) Mastercard, Inc is a technology company, which engages in the payments industry that connects consumers, financial institutions, merchants, governments, and business. It offers payment solutions for the development and implementation of credit, debit, prepaid, commercial, and payment programs. The company was founded in November 1966 and is headquartered in Purchase, NY. See Also Want to see what other hedge funds are holding MA? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA Get Rating). Receive News & Ratings for Mastercard Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Mastercard and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Navios Maritime (NYSE:NM Get Rating) is set to announce its earnings results before the market opens on Wednesday, May 24th. Navios Maritime (NYSE:NM Get Rating) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, March 9th. The shipping company reported $0.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Navios Maritime had a return on equity of 121.60% and a net margin of 21.95%. The company had revenue of $52.62 million for the quarter. Get Navios Maritime alerts: Navios Maritime Price Performance NM stock opened at $1.71 on Monday. Navios Maritime has a fifty-two week low of $1.53 and a fifty-two week high of $3.57. The businesss 50 day moving average price is $1.84 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $1.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.58, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.37. The company has a market capitalization of $27.19 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 1.63. Analysts Set New Price Targets Institutional Inflows and Outflows Separately, StockNews.com began coverage on Navios Maritime in a report on Thursday. They set a hold rating on the stock. A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in NM. Walleye Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Navios Maritime in the 1st quarter worth approximately $65,000. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. grew its stake in shares of Navios Maritime by 36.8% in the 4th quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 20,437 shares of the shipping companys stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 5,500 shares during the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Navios Maritime by 73.4% in the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 24,850 shares of the shipping companys stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 10,518 shares during the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Navios Maritime in the 1st quarter worth approximately $53,000. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Navios Maritime in the 1st quarter worth approximately $109,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 15.68% of the companys stock. Navios Maritime Company Profile (Get Rating) Navios Maritime Holdings, Inc is a seaborne shipping and logistics company, which engages in the transport and transshipment of dry bulk commodities including iron ore, coal, and grain. It operates through the Dry Bulk Vessel Operations and Logistics Business segments. The Dry Bulk Vessel Operations segment transports and handles bulk cargoes through the ownership, operation, and trading of vessels, freight, and forward freight agreements. Read More Receive News & Ratings for Navios Maritime Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Navios Maritime and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Northern Oil and Gas (NYSE:NOG Get Rating) had its price objective lowered by Piper Sandler from $50.00 to $47.00 in a report published on Thursday, The Fly reports. Several other research firms also recently issued reports on NOG. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an outperform rating and set a $46.00 price objective on shares of Northern Oil and Gas in a report on Friday, March 17th. Raymond James upped their price objective on Northern Oil and Gas from $47.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a strong-buy rating in a report on Friday, April 21st. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Northern Oil and Gas from $40.00 to $43.00 in a report on Thursday, April 27th. StockNews.com began coverage on Northern Oil and Gas in a report on Thursday. They set a sell rating on the stock. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price target on Northern Oil and Gas from $44.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $46.30. Get Northern Oil and Gas alerts: Northern Oil and Gas Stock Up 0.7 % NYSE NOG opened at $31.18 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $2.66 billion, a PE ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 2.02. Northern Oil and Gas has a one year low of $21.45 and a one year high of $39.10. The stocks 50 day simple moving average is $31.25 and its 200 day simple moving average is $32.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68, a current ratio of 1.15 and a quick ratio of 1.15. Northern Oil and Gas Increases Dividend Northern Oil and Gas ( NYSE:NOG Get Rating ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 4th. The company reported $1.76 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.22. The business had revenue of $582.21 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $395.37 million. Northern Oil and Gas had a return on equity of 86.66% and a net margin of 60.39%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.58 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Northern Oil and Gas will post 7.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year. The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 31st. Investors of record on Thursday, June 29th will be paid a dividend of $0.37 per share. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.75%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 28th. This is an increase from Northern Oil and Gass previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. Northern Oil and Gass dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.99%. Institutional Trading of Northern Oil and Gas Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in NOG. Centerpoint Advisors LLC raised its stake in Northern Oil and Gas by 256.9% during the 4th quarter. Centerpoint Advisors LLC now owns 803 shares of the companys stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 578 shares during the period. Spire Wealth Management acquired a new stake in Northern Oil and Gas during the 1st quarter worth $28,000. Captrust Financial Advisors increased its holdings in Northern Oil and Gas by 1,349.4% during the 2nd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 1,145 shares of the companys stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 1,066 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC increased its holdings in Northern Oil and Gas by 46.3% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,132 shares of the companys stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 358 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nisa Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Northern Oil and Gas by 42.3% during the 3rd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 996 shares of the companys stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 296 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.41% of the companys stock. About Northern Oil and Gas (Get Rating) Northern Oil & Gas, Inc engages in the acquisition, exploration, development, and production of crude oil and natural gas properties. It focuses on the Bakken and Three Forks formation within the Williston Basin in North Dakota and Montana. The company was founded on March 20, 2007 and is headquartered in Minnetonka, MN. See Also Receive News & Ratings for Northern Oil and Gas Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Northern Oil and Gas and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Folketrygdfondet raised its holdings in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO Get Rating) by 0.5% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 4,284,858 shares of the companys stock after buying an additional 22,199 shares during the quarter. Novo Nordisk A/S accounts for approximately 12.3% of Folketrygdfondets investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. Folketrygdfondets holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S were worth $579,913,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC. A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Jennison Associates LLC grew its position in Novo Nordisk A/S by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 11,454,782 shares of the companys stock valued at $1,550,290,000 after buying an additional 524,276 shares during the last quarter. Fayez Sarofim & Co increased its position in Novo Nordisk A/S by 9.4% during the 3rd quarter. Fayez Sarofim & Co now owns 5,218,104 shares of the companys stock worth $519,878,000 after purchasing an additional 450,280 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. increased its position in Novo Nordisk A/S by 45.4% during the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 5,035,879 shares of the companys stock worth $559,235,000 after purchasing an additional 1,571,747 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its position 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 worth $201,659,000 after purchasing an additional 450,122 shares during the period. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased its position in Novo Nordisk A/S by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 1,814,576 shares of the companys stock worth $201,508,000 after purchasing an additional 21,370 shares during the period. 6.09% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors. Get Novo Nordisk A/S alerts: Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Novo Nordisk A/S in a report on Thursday. 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 report on Thursday, April 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Novo Nordisk A/S currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $383.33. Novo Nordisk A/S Price Performance Novo Nordisk A/S Profile Shares of NVO traded down $0.58 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $169.96. 2,319,213 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,412,080. The stock has a market capitalization of $384.61 billion, a PE ratio of 44.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 0.48. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $160.71 and a 200 day simple moving average of $142.37. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. Novo Nordisk A/S has a fifty-two week low of $95.02 and a fifty-two week high of $172.97. (Get Rating) Novo Nordisk A/S is a global healthcare company, which engages in the the discovery, development, manufacturing and marketing of pharmaceutical products. It operates through the Diabetes and Obesity Care, and Biopharm segments. The Diabetes and Obesity Care segment includes insulin, GLP-1 and related delivery systems, oral antidiabetic products (OAD), obesity, and other serious chronic diseases. Featured Stories Want to see what other hedge funds are holding NVO? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO Get Rating). Receive News & Ratings for Novo Nordisk A/S Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Novo Nordisk A/S and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Pan American Silver (NYSE:PAAS Get Rating) and Austin Gold (NYSE:AUST Get Rating) are both basic materials companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, risk, institutional ownership, dividends, profitability, analyst recommendations and earnings. Profitability This table compares Pan American Silver and Austin Golds net margins, return on equity and return on assets. Get Pan American Silver alerts: Net Margins Return on Equity Return on Assets Pan American Silver -22.82% 0.74% 0.54% Austin Gold N/A -7.87% -7.75% Valuation & Earnings This table compares Pan American Silver and Austin Golds gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation. Gross Revenue Price/Sales Ratio Net Income Earnings Per Share Price/Earnings Ratio Pan American Silver $1.45 billion 2.29 -$341.75 million ($1.91) -8.24 Austin Gold N/A N/A -$1.07 million ($0.09) -11.79 Institutional and Insider Ownership Austin Gold has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Pan American Silver. Austin Gold is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Pan American Silver, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks. 44.1% of Pan American Silver shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 1.3% of Austin Gold shares are held by institutional investors. 12.9% of Pan American Silver shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 70.7% of Austin Gold shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth. Analyst Recommendations This is a summary of current recommendations and price targets for Pan American Silver and Austin Gold, as provided by MarketBeat.com. Sell Ratings Hold Ratings Buy Ratings Strong Buy Ratings Rating Score Pan American Silver 0 0 4 0 3.00 Austin Gold 0 0 1 0 3.00 Pan American Silver currently has a consensus price target of $25.50, suggesting a potential upside of 62.11%. Austin Gold has a consensus price target of $5.25, suggesting a potential upside of 394.68%. Given Austin Golds higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Austin Gold is more favorable than Pan American Silver. Summary Pan American Silver beats Austin Gold on 6 of the 11 factors compared between the two stocks. About Pan American Silver (Get Rating) Pan American Silver Corp. engages in the operation, development, and exploration of silver and gold producing properties and assets. It operates through the Silver and Gold segments. The company was founded by Ross J. Beaty and John H. Wright on March 17, 1979 and is headquartered in Vancouver, Canada. About Austin Gold (Get Rating) Austin Gold Corp., a gold exploration company, focuses on the exploration and evaluation of mineral property interests in Nevada. The company's principal property the Kelly Creek Project with a mix of 6 patented mining claims and 1,600 unpatented mining claims covering an area of 136.8 square kilometers located in the Kelly Creek Basin, in southeastern Humboldt County, Nevada. Its other projects include the Fourmile Basin Project that comprises 312 unpatented lode mining claims covering approximately 6410 acres located in Nye County; the Lone Mountain Project consisting of 454 unpatented lode mining claims and 6 patented mining claims covering approximately 34.2 square kilometers located near Lone Mountain in Elko County; and the Miller Project with a total of 281 unpatented lode mining claims covering approximately 23.5 square kilometers in Elko County in Nevada. The company was incorporated in 2020 and is headquartered in Vancouver, Canada. Receive News & Ratings for Pan American Silver Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Pan American Silver and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Sandhill Capital Partners LLC lessened its holdings in shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS Get Rating) by 1.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 64,625 shares of the companys stock after selling 1,192 shares during the quarter. Sandhill Capital Partners LLCs holdings in General Mills were worth $5,419,000 at the end of the most recent quarter. Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GIS. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV increased its stake in General Mills by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 13,284 shares of the companys stock worth $1,114,000 after acquiring an additional 133 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Investment Advisors MI increased its position in shares of General Mills by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Strategic Investment Advisors MI now owns 11,193 shares of the companys stock valued at $939,000 after purchasing an additional 134 shares during the last quarter. Rossmore Private Capital increased its position in shares of General Mills by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Rossmore Private Capital now owns 10,375 shares of the companys stock valued at $795,000 after purchasing an additional 135 shares during the last quarter. LCM Capital Management Inc increased its position in shares of General Mills by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. LCM Capital Management Inc now owns 7,262 shares of the companys stock valued at $609,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Buckhead Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of General Mills by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Buckhead Capital Management LLC now owns 27,544 shares of the companys stock valued at $2,310,000 after purchasing an additional 138 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.48% of the companys stock. Get General Mills alerts: Insider Buying and Selling In related news, insider Jodi J. Benson sold 3,009 shares of the companys stock in a transaction on Friday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.59, for a total transaction of $272,585.31. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 35,491 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,215,129.69. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, insider Jodi J. Benson sold 3,009 shares of the companys stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.59, for a total transaction of $272,585.31. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 35,491 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $3,215,129.69. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Bethany C. Quam sold 21,734 shares of the companys stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.86, for a total value of $1,866,081.24. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 47,560 shares in the company, valued at $4,083,501.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 55,371 shares of company stock worth $4,849,178 in the last three months. 0.67% of the stock is owned by insiders. Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth General Mills Stock Down 2.1 % Several research firms have recently weighed in on GIS. Mizuho boosted their target price on General Mills from $75.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Monday, March 27th. Barclays boosted their target price on General Mills from $81.00 to $83.00 in a research report on Monday, March 27th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price 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 boosted their price objective on General Mills from $84.00 to $86.00 in a report on Friday, March 24th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus assumed coverage on General Mills in a report on Thursday, April 13th. They set a buy rating and a $95.00 price objective for the company. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the companys stock. According to MarketBeat, General Mills presently has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $84.76. Shares of NYSE GIS traded down $1.84 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $85.79. 1,489,993 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,222,644. The company has a quick ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78. The stock has a market cap of $50.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.93, a P/E/G ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.27. General Mills, Inc. has a 1 year low of $64.94 and a 1 year high of $90.89. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $86.44 and a 200 day moving average of $82.98. General Mills (NYSE:GIS Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 23rd. The company reported $0.97 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $5.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $4.97 billion. General Mills had a return on equity of 24.51% and a net margin of 14.04%. The firms quarterly revenue was up 13.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.84 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.23 earnings per share for the current year. General Mills Profile (Get Rating) 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. Recommended Stories Want to see what other hedge funds are holding GIS? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS Get Rating). Receive News & Ratings for General Mills Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for General Mills and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Scorpio Tankers (NYSE:STNG Get Rating) in a research note published on Thursday morning. The brokerage issued a buy rating on the shipping companys stock. A number of other research analysts have also recently issued reports on STNG. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Scorpio Tankers from $68.00 to $77.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 25th. B. Riley lifted their price target on Scorpio Tankers from $65.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Friday, February 17th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a buy rating and issued a $76.00 price objective on shares of Scorpio Tankers in a research report on Tuesday, March 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. started coverage on Scorpio Tankers in a research report on Wednesday, March 8th. They issued an overweight rating and a $87.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price objective on Scorpio Tankers from $65.00 to $55.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $74.17. Get Scorpio Tankers alerts: Scorpio Tankers Price Performance Shares of Scorpio Tankers stock traded up $0.25 during trading on Thursday, reaching $50.26. The companys stock had a trading volume of 192,155 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,462,330. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $53.54 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $53.51. The company has a current ratio of 1.70, a quick ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. Scorpio Tankers has a one year low of $28.50 and a one year high of $64.20. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 3.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.14 and a beta of 0.38. Scorpio Tankers Increases Dividend Scorpio Tankers ( NYSE:STNG Get Rating ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 2nd. The shipping company reported $3.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $2.92 by $0.39. Scorpio Tankers had a return on equity of 40.01% and a net margin of 51.60%. The business had revenue of $377.16 million during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $387.37 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted ($0.27) earnings per share. The firms revenue for the quarter was up 119.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Scorpio Tankers will post 10.42 EPS for the current fiscal year. The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 13th will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This is a positive change from Scorpio Tankerss previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.99%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 12th. Scorpio Tankerss payout ratio is presently 5.33%. Hedge Funds Weigh In On Scorpio Tankers Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. National Bank of Canada FI acquired a new position in shares of Scorpio Tankers during the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. MinichMacGregor Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Scorpio Tankers during the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. Financial Management Professionals Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Scorpio Tankers during the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Scorpio Tankers by 35.2% during the 1st quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 964 shares of the shipping companys stock worth $54,000 after buying an additional 251 shares during the period. Finally, Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA acquired a new position in shares of Scorpio Tankers in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $62,000. 54.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds. About Scorpio Tankers (Get Rating) Scorpio Tankers, Inc engages in the provision of marine transportation of petroleum products. Its consists of wholly owned, finance leased, and bareboat chartered-in tankers. It operates through the following segments: MR, LR2, Handymax, and LR1. The company was founded by Emanuele A. Lauro on July 1, 2009 and is headquartered in Monaco. Recommended Stories Receive News & Ratings for Scorpio Tankers Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Scorpio Tankers and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Select Medical (NYSE:SEM Get Rating) in a report issued on Thursday. The firm issued a buy rating on the health services providers stock. A number of other analysts also recently weighed in on SEM. Benchmark reissued a buy rating and set a $39.00 price target on shares of Select Medical in a research report on Monday, February 27th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on shares of Select Medical from $35.00 to $37.00 in a report on Monday, May 8th. Credit Suisse Group boosted their price target on shares of Select Medical from $24.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Monday, February 27th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Select Medical from $32.00 to $38.00 in a report on Monday, May 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Select Medical has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $35.75. Get Select Medical alerts: Select Medical Stock Up 0.9 % Shares of SEM traded up $0.25 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $28.75. 80,042 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 514,072. The firm has a market cap of $3.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.11, a P/E/G ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 1.39. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $27.49 and a 200 day simple moving average of $26.65. Select Medical has a 12-month low of $18.86 and a 12-month high of $32.31. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.66. Select Medical Announces Dividend Select Medical ( NYSE:SEM Get Rating ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 5th. The health services provider reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $0.37 by $0.19. The company had revenue of $1.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.65 billion. Select Medical had a net margin of 2.82% and a return on equity of 13.35%. The businesss quarterly revenue was up 4.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.37 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Select Medical will post 1.85 EPS for the current fiscal year. The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 31st. Investors of record on Thursday, May 18th will be paid a $0.125 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 17th. This represents a $0.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.74%. Select Medicals dividend payout ratio is currently 35.21%. Insider Activity In other news, CEO David S. Chernow sold 139,550 shares of the companys stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.30, for a total value of $3,809,715.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 839,550 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,919,715. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, CEO David S. Chernow sold 139,550 shares of the companys stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.30, for a total value of $3,809,715.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 839,550 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,919,715. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Robert A. Ortenzio sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.68, for a total value of $1,484,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 6,989,668 shares in the company, valued at approximately $207,453,346.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 199,594 shares of company stock worth $5,589,511 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 19.14% of the companys stock. Hedge Funds Weigh In On Select Medical Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in shares of Select Medical by 0.8% in the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,478,832 shares of the health services providers stock valued at $35,478,000 after acquiring an additional 11,231 shares during the period. MetLife Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Select Medical by 46.7% in the first quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 59,542 shares of the health services providers stock worth $1,428,000 after purchasing an additional 18,949 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers lifted its position in Select Medical by 6.7% in the first quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 284,568 shares of the health services providers stock worth $6,827,000 after purchasing an additional 17,762 shares during the period. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS lifted its position in Select Medical by 14.1% in the first quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 91,360 shares of the health services providers stock worth $2,192,000 after purchasing an additional 11,264 shares during the period. Finally, BlackRock Inc. lifted its position in Select Medical by 4.3% in the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 18,575,139 shares of the health services providers stock worth $445,617,000 after purchasing an additional 762,219 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.75% of the companys stock. About Select Medical (Get Rating) Select Medical Holdings Corp. engages in the provision of medical rehabilitation services. It operates through the following business segments: Critical Illness Recovery Hospital, Rehabilitation Hospital, Outpatient Rehabilitation and Concentra. The Critical Illness Recovery Hospital segment serves patients with debilitating injuries and rehabilitation needs that cannot be adequately cared in a medically intensive environment, such as a skilled nursing facility. Featured Stories Receive News & Ratings for Select Medical Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Select Medical and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Sendas Distribuidora (NYSE:ASAI Get Rating) is one of 51 publicly-traded companies in the Grocery stores industry, but how does it weigh in compared to its rivals? We will compare Sendas Distribuidora to similar companies based on the strength of its risk, profitability, institutional ownership, valuation, analyst recommendations, earnings and dividends. Insider & Institutional Ownership 4.5% of Sendas Distribuidora shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 46.1% of shares of all Grocery stores companies are held by institutional investors. 0.4% of Sendas Distribuidora shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 21.1% of shares of all Grocery stores companies are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term. Get Sendas Distribuidora alerts: Profitability This table compares Sendas Distribuidora and its rivals net margins, return on equity and return on assets. Net Margins Return on Equity Return on Assets Sendas Distribuidora 1.86% 29.13% 2.88% Sendas Distribuidora Competitors 1.80% 15.76% 4.55% Risk & Volatility Valuation and Earnings Sendas Distribuidora has a beta of 0.77, suggesting that its stock price is 23% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Sendas Distribuidoras rivals have a beta of -2.58, suggesting that their average stock price is 358% less volatile than the S&P 500. This table compares Sendas Distribuidora and its rivals top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation. Gross Revenue Net Income Price/Earnings Ratio Sendas Distribuidora $10.56 billion $236.31 million 15.58 Sendas Distribuidora Competitors $28.89 billion $705.75 million 221.29 Sendas Distribuidoras rivals have higher revenue and earnings than Sendas Distribuidora. Sendas Distribuidora is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than its rivals, indicating that it is currently more affordable than other companies in its industry. Analyst Ratings This is a breakdown of recent ratings and target prices for Sendas Distribuidora and its rivals, as provided by MarketBeat. Sell Ratings Hold Ratings Buy Ratings Strong Buy Ratings Rating Score Sendas Distribuidora 0 1 0 0 2.00 Sendas Distribuidora Competitors 1096 2660 2841 112 2.29 As a group, Grocery stores companies have a potential upside of 16.78%. Given Sendas Distribuidoras rivals stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Sendas Distribuidora has less favorable growth aspects than its rivals. Dividends Sendas Distribuidora pays an annual dividend of $0.08 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.7%. Sendas Distribuidora pays out 10.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. As a group, Grocery stores companies pay a dividend yield of 3.4% and pay out 57.6% of their earnings in the form of a dividend. Summary Sendas Distribuidora rivals beat Sendas Distribuidora on 11 of the 15 factors compared. Sendas Distribuidora Company Profile (Get Rating) Sendas Distribuidora S.A. engages in the retail and wholesale sale of food products, bazaar items, and other products in Brazil. As of March 31, 2022, the company operated 216 stores under the Assai banner, as well as 13 distribution centers. It serves restaurants, pizzerias, snack bars, schools, small businesses, religious institutions, hospitals, hotels, grocery stores, neighborhood supermarkets, and individuals. The company sells its products through brick-and-mortar stores, as well as through telesales. Sendas Distribuidora S.A. was founded in 1974 and is headquartered in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Receive News & Ratings for Sendas Distribuidora Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Sendas Distribuidora and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 22. Indian IndiGo low-cost air carrier plans to launch flights to Kazakhstan, Trend reports. The airline plans to commence flights to Kazakhstan starting from August 15, 2023. The flights will be carried out three times a week on the Delhi-Almaty route via A320 and A321 aircraft, as noted by Kazakhstan's Civil Aviation Committee. IndiGo, known as India's largest low-cost carrier, venturing into the international market of Kazakhstan, is expected to have a positive impact on ticket affordability and raise competition in the region. The increased air connectivity between Kazakhstan and India is set to foster further development in trade, economy, business, investments, tourism, and cultural cooperation between the two nations. Shenzhen Investment Holdings Bay Area Development Company Limited (OTCMKTS:SIHBY Get Rating) declared a dividend on Friday, May 19th, investing.com reports. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 24th will be given a dividend of 0.0377 per share on Friday, July 21st. This represents a yield of 4.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 23rd. Shenzhen Investment Holdings Bay Area Development Stock Performance SIHBY stock opened at $2.26 on Monday. Shenzhen Investment Holdings Bay Area Development has a 1 year low of $1.35 and a 1 year high of $3.55. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $2.27 and a 200 day simple moving average of $2.20. Get Shenzhen Investment Holdings Bay Area Development alerts: About Shenzhen Investment Holdings Bay Area Development (Get Rating) See Also Shenzhen Investment Holdings Bay Area Development Company Limited, an investment holding company, develops, operates, and manages toll expressways and bridges in the People's Republic of China. It operates through GS Superhighway, GZ West Superhighway, and Xintang Interchange segments. The company operates toll expressway projects comprising Guangzhou-Shenzhen superhighway and Guangzhou-Zhuhai West superhighway. Receive News & Ratings for Shenzhen Investment Holdings Bay Area Development Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Shenzhen Investment Holdings Bay Area Development and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX Get Rating) in a research report released on Thursday morning. The firm issued a sell rating on the utilities providers stock. Several other equities research analysts have also commented on SWX. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Southwest Gas from $78.00 to $75.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 7th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an underweight rating and issued a $95.00 price objective (down previously from $100.00) on shares of Southwest Gas in a research note on Monday, March 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Southwest Gas from $71.00 to $63.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $79.60. Get Southwest Gas alerts: Southwest Gas Stock Performance Shares of NYSE SWX traded down $1.04 during trading on Thursday, hitting $56.40. 52,221 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 534,979. The businesss fifty day moving average is $58.59 and its 200 day moving average is $63.08. Southwest Gas has a fifty-two week low of $53.79 and a fifty-two week high of $95.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 1.40 and a quick ratio of 1.40. Southwest Gas Announces Dividend Southwest Gas ( NYSE:SWX Get Rating ) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 28th. The utilities provider reported $1.16 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of $1.57 by ($0.41). Southwest Gas had a positive return on equity of 6.24% and a negative net margin of 4.79%. The business had revenue of $1.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.22 billion. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Southwest Gas will post 3.5 EPS for the current year. The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 15th will be issued a $0.62 dividend. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 14th. Southwest Gass dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -65.44%. Insider Buying and Selling In other Southwest Gas news, major shareholder Carl C. Icahn acquired 238,785 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 13th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $59.89 per share, with a total value of $14,300,833.65. Following the acquisition, the insider now owns 9,483,250 shares in the company, valued at $567,951,842.50. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, major shareholder Carl C. Icahn purchased 238,785 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction on Monday, March 13th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $59.89 per share, with a total value of $14,300,833.65. Following the acquisition, the insider now directly owns 9,483,250 shares in the company, valued at $567,951,842.50. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Carl C. Icahn purchased 26,310 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 15th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $60.09 per share, with a total value of $1,580,967.90. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider now owns 9,509,797 shares in the company, valued at $571,443,701.73. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders acquired 3,236,622 shares of company stock valued at $194,582,985. Company insiders own 0.32% of the companys stock. Institutional Inflows and Outflows Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of SWX. Bessemer Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Southwest Gas during the 3rd quarter valued at $34,000. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Southwest Gas during the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Spirit of America Management Corp NY purchased a new stake in shares of Southwest Gas during the 1st quarter valued at $31,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Southwest Gas during the 1st quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, Byrne Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Southwest Gas by 82.9% during the 4th quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC now owns 556 shares of the utilities providers stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 252 shares in the last quarter. 87.59% of the stock is owned by institutional investors. About Southwest Gas (Get Rating) Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc engages in the energy business. It operates through the following business segments: Natural Gas Operations and Utility Infrastructure Services. The Natural Gas Operations segment focuses on purchasing, distribution, and transportation of natural gas in Arizona, California, and Nevada. Featured Stories Receive News & Ratings for Southwest Gas Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Southwest Gas and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO Get Rating) in a report released on Thursday morning. The brokerage issued a hold rating on the utilities providers stock. ATO has been the topic of a number of other reports. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Atmos Energy from $107.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 14th. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Atmos Energy from $128.00 to $137.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Thursday, February 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Atmos Energy from $117.00 to $128.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Thursday, April 20th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a 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 $124.71. Get Atmos Energy alerts: Atmos Energy Stock Up 0.4 % Shares of Atmos Energy stock opened at $116.56 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The companys fifty day simple moving average is $114.27 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $114.38. The company has a market cap of $16.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.03, a PEG ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 0.62. Atmos Energy has a 12-month low of $97.71 and a 12-month high of $121.92. Atmos Energy Dividend Announcement Atmos Energy ( NYSE:ATO Get Rating ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 4th. The utilities provider reported $2.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $2.47 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $1.54 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.73 billion. Atmos Energy had a net margin of 18.18% and a return on equity of 8.57%. The companys quarterly revenue was down 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.37 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Atmos Energy will post 6.01 EPS for the current year. The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 5th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 22nd will be paid a dividend of $0.74 per share. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.54%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 19th. Atmos Energys dividend payout ratio is currently 50.86%. Insider Transactions at Atmos Energy In other news, Director Diana J. Walters sold 390 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $117.50, for a total value of $45,825.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 2,584 shares in the company, valued at approximately $303,620. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, Director Diana J. Walters sold 390 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $117.50, for a total value of $45,825.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 2,584 shares in the company, valued at approximately $303,620. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Kim R. Cocklin sold 12,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $114.54, for a total transaction of $1,431,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 217,668 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,931,692.72. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.50% of the companys stock. Institutional Investors Weigh In On Atmos Energy Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in Atmos Energy by 39.7% in the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 383,298 shares of the utilities providers stock worth $43,067,000 after acquiring an additional 108,903 shares in the last quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. grew its holdings in Atmos Energy by 18.7% during the 1st quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 21,161 shares of the utilities providers stock valued at $2,376,000 after buying an additional 3,331 shares in the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its holdings in Atmos Energy by 2.5% during the 1st quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 6,403 shares of the utilities providers stock valued at $719,000 after buying an additional 155 shares in the last quarter. AM Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in Atmos Energy during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $169,000. Finally, Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV grew its holdings in Atmos Energy by 8.6% during the 1st quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 8,923 shares of the utilities providers stock valued at $1,003,000 after buying an additional 708 shares in the last quarter. 91.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors. About Atmos Energy (Get Rating) Atmos Energy Corp. engages in the provision of natural gas services. It operates under the Distribution, and Pipeline and Storage business segments. The Distribution segment is involved in regulated natural gas distribution and related sales operations. The Pipeline and Storage segment includes pipeline and storage operations of Atmos Pipeline-Texas division and natural gas transmission operations. Featured Articles Receive News & Ratings for Atmos Energy Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Atmos Energy and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of HCI Group (NYSE:HCI Get Rating) in a report published on Thursday. The firm issued a hold rating on the insurance providers stock. Other research analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Compass Point raised their price objective on shares of HCI Group from $66.00 to $67.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 17th. TheStreet upgraded shares of HCI Group from a d+ rating to a c- rating in a report on Thursday, March 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $79.00. Get HCI Group alerts: HCI Group Stock Performance HCI Group stock traded up $0.91 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $56.57. 36,182 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 95,085. The company has a current ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. HCI Group has a twelve month low of $27.65 and a twelve month high of $73.16. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $53.24 and a two-hundred day moving average of $47.03. HCI Group Dividend Announcement HCI Group ( NYSE:HCI Get Rating ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 9th. The insurance provider reported $0.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of ($0.36) by $0.42. HCI Group had a negative net margin of 8.79% and a negative return on equity of 20.54%. The firm had revenue of $119.94 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $123.32 million. Sell-side analysts expect that HCI Group will post 2.2 EPS for the current fiscal year. The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 19th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.83%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 18th. HCI Groups dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -32.13%. Insider Transactions at HCI Group In related news, Director Lauren L. Valiente acquired 441 shares of HCI Group stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 16th. The stock was bought at an average price of $56.81 per share, with a total value of $25,053.21. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,135 shares in the company, valued at approximately $64,479.35. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, Director Susan Watts acquired 670 shares of HCI Group stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 17th. The stock was bought at an average price of $49.98 per share, with a total value of $33,486.60. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,280 shares in the company, valued at approximately $313,874.40. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Lauren L. Valiente purchased 441 shares of HCI Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 16th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $56.81 per share, with a total value of $25,053.21. Following the transaction, the director now owns 1,135 shares in the company, valued at approximately $64,479.35. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 21.51% of the companys stock. Institutional Trading of HCI Group Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. FMR LLC grew its position in HCI Group by 80.7% in the 1st quarter. FMR LLC now owns 468 shares of the insurance providers stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 209 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC grew its position in HCI Group by 99.1% in the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 651 shares of the insurance providers stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 324 shares during the period. Captrust Financial Advisors grew its position in HCI Group by 112.7% in the 1st quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 485 shares of the insurance providers stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 257 shares during the period. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd boosted its holdings in HCI Group by 1,807.1% during the 2nd quarter. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd now owns 534 shares of the insurance providers stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 506 shares during the last quarter. Finally, US Bancorp DE boosted its holdings in HCI Group by 428.5% during the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 909 shares of the insurance providers stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 737 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.71% of the companys stock. HCI Group Company Profile (Get Rating) HCI Group, Inc engages in the business of property and casualty insurance, reinsurance, real estate, and information technology. It operates through the following segments: Insurance Operations, Real Estate, and Corporate and Others. The Insurance Operations segment includes the property and casualty insurance division and reinsurance division. Featured Stories Receive News & Ratings for HCI Group Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for HCI Group and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) in a research note published on Thursday morning. The brokerage issued a hold rating on the financial services providers stock. Other research analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $45.00 to $42.00 and set a sector perform rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 24th. Raymond James lifted their target price on Wells Fargo & Company from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a strong-buy rating in a research note on Monday, April 17th. Citigroup dropped their target price on Wells Fargo & Company from $52.00 to $50.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 17th. Odeon Capital Group lowered shares of Wells Fargo & Company from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Monday, March 13th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $49.00 to $45.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 10th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Wells Fargo & Company currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $49.45. Get Wells Fargo & Company alerts: Wells Fargo & Company Stock Down 0.4 % Shares of NYSE WFC opened at $40.03 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $38.84 and a 200 day moving average price of $42.80. The stock has a market cap of $150.20 billion, a PE ratio of 11.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06. Wells Fargo & Company has a 52-week low of $35.25 and a 52-week high of $48.84. Wells Fargo & Company Announces Dividend Wells Fargo & Company ( NYSE:WFC Get Rating ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 14th. The financial services provider reported $1.23 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.15 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $20.73 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.06 billion. Wells Fargo & Company had a return on equity of 10.07% and a net margin of 15.93%. The companys revenue was up 16.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.88 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Wells Fargo & Company will post 4.79 earnings per share for the current year. The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 1st. Investors of record on Friday, May 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 4th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.00%. Wells Fargo & Companys dividend payout ratio is presently 34.38%. Insiders Place Their Bets In other news, EVP Kleber Santos sold 34,698 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.27, for a total value of $1,605,476.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 19,590 shares in the company, valued at $906,429.30. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.07% of the stock is owned by company insiders. Institutional Investors Weigh In On Wells Fargo & Company A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Barrett & Company Inc. purchased a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company during the 1st quarter worth about $25,000. Silicon Valley Capital Partners purchased a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. US Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Wells Fargo & Company in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Studio Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Finally, Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the 1st quarter valued at about $28,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.24% of the companys stock. About Wells Fargo & Company (Get Rating) Wells Fargo & Co is a diversified, community-based financial services company. It is engaged in the provision of banking, insurance, investments, mortgage products and services, and consumer and commercial finance. It operates through the following segments: Consumer Banking and Lending, Commercial Banking, Corporate and Investment Banking, and Wealth & Investment Management. Featured Articles Receive News & Ratings for Wells Fargo & Company Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Wells Fargo & Company and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM Get Rating) in a report released on Thursday morning. The brokerage issued a buy rating on the restaurant operators stock. YUM has been the topic of a number of other reports. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $140.00 to $144.00 in a research report on Monday, May 8th. Guggenheim cut their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $147.00 to $145.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 8th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $145.00 to $151.00 in a report on Thursday, May 4th. Cowen reissued an outperform rating and set a $155.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Wednesday, February 8th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $136.00 to $138.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a report on Friday, April 21st. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the companys stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $147.11. Get Yum! Brands alerts: Yum! Brands Trading Down 0.1 % Shares of NYSE:YUM opened at $138.28 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $38.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.54, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.00. Yum! Brands has a 12 month low of $103.96 and a 12 month high of $143.24. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $134.06 and a 200 day moving average price of $130.13. Yum! Brands Dividend Announcement Yum! Brands ( NYSE:YUM Get Rating ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 3rd. The restaurant operator reported $1.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.14 by ($0.08). The firm had revenue of $1.65 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.62 billion. Yum! Brands had a negative return on equity of 14.97% and a net margin of 17.67%. The firms revenue for the quarter was up 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.05 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Yum! Brands will post 5.06 EPS for the current year. The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 9th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.605 per share. This represents a $2.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.75%. Yum! Brandss dividend payout ratio is currently 56.94%. Insider Transactions at Yum! Brands In other news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 3,920 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.90, for a total transaction of $544,488.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 57,325 shares of the companys stock, valued at $7,962,442.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 3,920 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.90, for a total transaction of $544,488.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 57,325 shares of the companys stock, valued at $7,962,442.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Scott Catlett sold 2,553 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.00, for a total transaction of $357,420.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 11,724 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $1,641,360. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 30,348 shares of company stock valued at $4,068,713 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.31% of the companys stock. Institutional Trading of Yum! Brands Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. BlackRock Inc. boosted its holdings in Yum! Brands by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 21,142,775 shares of the restaurant operators stock valued at $2,792,538,000 after purchasing an additional 244,479 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Yum! Brands by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,634,511 shares of the restaurant operators stock valued at $1,237,214,000 after purchasing an additional 57,308 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Yum! Brands by 1.5% in the 1st quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,947,399 shares of the restaurant operators stock valued at $784,673,000 after purchasing an additional 90,152 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 466.5% in the 1st quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,867,285 shares of the restaurant operators stock worth $774,951,000 after acquiring an additional 4,831,505 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital World Investors lifted its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 19.6% in the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 5,507,237 shares of the restaurant operators stock worth $652,773,000 after acquiring an additional 901,181 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.54% of the companys stock. Yum! Brands Company Profile (Get Rating) Yum! Brands, Inc operates as a service restaurant company. The firm engages in the development, operation, franchise, and licenses of a system of restaurants. It operates through the following segments: KFC Division, Pizza Hut Division, Taco Bell Division, and Habit Burger Grill Division. The KFC Division segment consists of all operations of the KFC concept. Featured Articles Receive News & Ratings for Yum! Brands Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Yum! Brands and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. TCTC Holdings LLC grew its stake in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 0.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,129,183 shares of the financial services providers stock after purchasing an additional 3,500 shares during the period. Bank of America makes up about 1.5% of TCTC Holdings LLCs portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest position. TCTC Holdings LLCs holdings in Bank of America were worth $37,399,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Altrius Capital Management Inc grew its stake in Bank of America by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Altrius Capital Management Inc now owns 92,587 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $3,066,000 after buying an additional 279 shares during the last quarter. Vision Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in Bank of America by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Vision Capital Management Inc. now owns 60,662 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $2,009,000 after buying an additional 288 shares during the last quarter. Hemington Wealth Management grew its stake in Bank of America by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Hemington Wealth Management now owns 14,010 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $464,000 after buying an additional 298 shares during the last quarter. Cypress Asset Management Inc. TX grew its stake in Bank of America by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Cypress Asset Management Inc. TX now owns 21,107 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $637,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Citizens Financial Corp grew its stake in Bank of America by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. First Citizens Financial Corp now owns 16,471 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $546,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. 68.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors. Get Bank of America alerts: Analysts Set New Price Targets BAC has been the subject of a number of research reports. Citigroup lowered their price target on Bank of America from $38.00 to $33.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 19th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Bank of America from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 19th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Bank of America from $52.00 to $45.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 3rd. UBS Group lifted their price target on Bank of America from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 19th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Bank of America from $38.00 to $34.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $36.77. Insider Transactions at Bank of America Bank of America Stock Up 0.6 % In other news, insider Matthew M. Koder sold 105,054 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.27, for a total value of $3,600,200.58. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 319,803 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $10,959,648.81. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website . Insiders own 0.27% of the companys stock. Shares of NYSE:BAC traded up $0.16 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $28.27. 17,011,614 shares of the companys stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 54,011,539. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.82. The company has a market cap of $225.29 billion, a PE ratio of 8.47, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.36. The firms fifty day moving average price is $28.38 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $32.52. Bank of America Co. has a twelve month low of $26.32 and a twelve month high of $38.60. Bank of America (NYSE:BAC Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 18th. The financial services provider reported $0.94 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $0.83 by $0.11. Bank of America had a net margin of 21.85% and a return on equity of 11.72%. The firm had revenue of $26.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.28 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.80 EPS. The firms revenue was up 13.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Bank of America Co. will post 3.42 EPS for the current fiscal year. Bank of America Announces Dividend The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 2nd will be issued a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 1st. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.11%. Bank of Americas dividend payout ratio is currently 26.43%. About Bank of America (Get Rating) Bank of America Corp. is a bank and financial holding company, which engages in the provision of banking and nonbank financial services. It operates through the following segments: Consumer Banking, Global Wealth and Investment Management (GWIM), Global Banking, Global Markets, and All Other. The Consumer Banking segment offers credit, banking, and investment products and services to consumers and small businesses. Read More Want to see what other hedge funds are holding BAC? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC Get Rating). Receive News & Ratings for Bank of America Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Bank of America and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of The Hartford Financial Services Group (NYSE:HIG Get Rating) in a research report released on Thursday morning. The firm issued a buy rating on the insurance providers stock. A number of other equities research analysts have also commented on the company. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on The Hartford Financial Services Group from $78.00 to $77.00 in a research report on Monday, April 10th. Credit Suisse Group reiterated an outperform rating and set a $104.00 price target on shares of The Hartford Financial Services Group in a report on Monday, April 17th. Citigroup reduced their price target on The Hartford Financial Services Group from $92.00 to $85.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded The Hartford Financial Services Group from a neutral rating to a buy rating and set a $84.00 target price for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 29th. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their target price on The Hartford Financial Services Group from $100.00 to $101.00 in a report on Monday, May 1st. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, The Hartford Financial Services Group presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $86.15. Get The Hartford Financial Services Group alerts: The Hartford Financial Services Group Price Performance Shares of NYSE:HIG traded down $0.53 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $70.70. 606,726 shares of the companys stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,047,762. The Hartford Financial Services Group has a 52 week low of $60.17 and a 52 week high of $79.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a current ratio of 0.32. The companys fifty day simple moving average is $69.23 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $73.39. The company has a market cap of $21.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.85. The Hartford Financial Services Group Dividend Announcement The Hartford Financial Services Group ( NYSE:HIG Get Rating ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 27th. The insurance provider reported $1.68 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts consensus estimates of $1.68. The Hartford Financial Services Group had a net margin of 8.33% and a return on equity of 18.45%. The company had revenue of $5.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.70 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.66 earnings per share. The businesss quarterly revenue was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that The Hartford Financial Services Group will post 7.91 EPS for the current fiscal year. The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 5th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 1st will be paid a $0.425 dividend. This represents a $1.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.40%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 31st. The Hartford Financial Services Groups dividend payout ratio is currently 29.26%. Insiders Place Their Bets In other The Hartford Financial Services Group news, EVP Adin M. Tooker sold 3,920 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.41, for a total transaction of $303,447.20. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 25,820 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $1,998,726.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Adin M. Tooker sold 3,920 shares of the firms stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.41, for a total value of $303,447.20. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 25,820 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $1,998,726.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Christopher Swift sold 34,624 shares of the firms stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.32, for a total transaction of $2,711,751.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 197,221 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,446,348.72. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 96,944 shares of company stock valued at $7,549,248. 1.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders. Institutional Inflows and Outflows Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its stake in The Hartford Financial Services Group by 120.6% during the 1st quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 375 shares of the insurance providers stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 205 shares during the last quarter. Arlington Partners LLC bought a new position in The Hartford Financial Services Group during the 1st quarter worth approximately $27,000. Dark Forest Capital Management LP bought a new position in The Hartford Financial Services Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. MV Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in The Hartford Financial Services Group by 372.7% during the 1st quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. now owns 416 shares of the insurance providers stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 328 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP bought a new position in The Hartford Financial Services Group during the 1st quarter worth approximately $31,000. Institutional investors own 89.93% of the companys stock. The Hartford Financial Services Group Company Profile (Get Rating) The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc is an insurance and financial services company. It operates through the following segments: Commercial Lines, Personal Lines, Property & Casualty Other Operations, Group Benefits, Hartford Funds, and Corporate. The Commercial Lines segment provides workers compensation, property, automobile, liability and umbrella coverage under several different products. Featured Articles Receive News & Ratings for The Hartford Financial Services Group Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for The Hartford Financial Services Group and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Thomson Reuters (NYSE:TRI Get Rating) (TSE:TRI) in a research note published on Thursday morning. The firm issued a hold rating on the business services providers stock. Several other research analysts have also recently issued reports on TRI. National Bank Financial raised Thomson Reuters from a sector perform rating to an outperform rating in a research note on Monday, May 8th. TD Securities cut Thomson Reuters from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note on Thursday, February 16th. Canaccord Genuity Group cut Thomson Reuters from a buy rating to a hold rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $124.00 to $131.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 3rd. Credit Suisse Group increased their price objective on Thomson Reuters from $138.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 4th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Thomson Reuters from $161.00 to $182.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 14th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $139.73. Get Thomson Reuters alerts: Thomson Reuters Trading Up 0.2 % Shares of TRI stock opened at $125.90 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The stocks 50 day simple moving average is $127.41 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $120.31. Thomson Reuters has a 1 year low of $94.56 and a 1 year high of $133.55. The company has a market cap of $59.30 billion, a PE ratio of 52.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 0.58. Thomson Reuters Cuts Dividend Thomson Reuters ( NYSE:TRI Get Rating ) (TSE:TRI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 2nd. The business services provider reported $0.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.78 by $0.04. Thomson Reuters had a return on equity of 10.55% and a net margin of 17.20%. The firm had revenue of $1.74 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.73 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.66 earnings per share. The companys revenue for the quarter was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Thomson Reuters will post 3.31 earnings per share for the current year. The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.362 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 17th. This represents a $1.45 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.15%. Thomson Reuterss dividend payout ratio is presently 81.33%. Institutional Trading of Thomson Reuters Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Belpointe Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Thomson Reuters by 134.9% during the 1st quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC now owns 195 shares of the business services providers stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 112 shares during the last quarter. Destiny Wealth Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Thomson Reuters by 51.3% during the 4th quarter. Destiny Wealth Partners LLC now owns 286 shares of the business services providers stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in Thomson Reuters by 993.3% in the 4th quarter. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. now owns 328 shares of the business services providers stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 298 shares during the last quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in Thomson Reuters in the 1st quarter worth $47,000. Finally, Advisory Services Network LLC raised its stake in Thomson Reuters by 209.6% in the 1st quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC now owns 353 shares of the business services providers stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 239 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 20.84% of the companys stock. About Thomson Reuters (Get Rating) Thomson Reuters Corp. engages in the provision of news and information for professional markets. It operates through the following segments: Legal Professionals, Corporates, Tax and Accounting Professionals, Reuters News, and Global Print. The Legal Professionals segment provides research and workflow products to law firms and government. Recommended Stories Receive News & Ratings for Thomson Reuters Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Thomson Reuters and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Toronto-Dominion Bank (TSE:TD Get Rating) (NYSE:TD) had its target price trimmed by National Bankshares from C$98.00 to C$94.00 in a report released on Thursday morning, BayStreet.CA reports. A number of other analysts have also recently commented on TD. Fundamental Research set a C$104.14 price objective on shares of Toronto-Dominion Bank and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 14th. Scotiabank upgraded Toronto-Dominion Bank from a sector perform rating to an outperform rating in a report on Friday, March 3rd. CSFB lowered their target price on Toronto-Dominion Bank from C$97.00 to C$94.00 in a report on Friday, March 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on Toronto-Dominion Bank from C$110.00 to C$95.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 4th. Finally, National Bank Financial lowered their target price on Toronto-Dominion Bank from C$98.00 to C$94.00 in a report on Thursday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the companys stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Toronto-Dominion Bank currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of C$96.36. Get Toronto-Dominion Bank alerts: Toronto-Dominion Bank Stock Performance TSE:TD opened at C$82.27 on Thursday. The stocks fifty day moving average price is C$81.02 and its two-hundred day moving average price is C$86.51. Toronto-Dominion Bank has a 52-week low of C$76.40 and a 52-week high of C$97.13. The company has a market cap of C$150.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.95, a P/E/G ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 0.84. Toronto-Dominion Bank Announces Dividend Toronto-Dominion Bank ( TSE:TD Get Rating ) (NYSE:TD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 2nd. The company reported C$2.23 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of C$2.16 by C$0.07. The company had revenue of C$12.23 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of C$12.12 billion. Toronto-Dominion Bank had a return on equity of 14.29% and a net margin of 31.78%. On average, equities analysts predict that Toronto-Dominion Bank will post 8.7335456 EPS for the current fiscal year. The firm also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 5th. This represents a $3.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.67%. Toronto-Dominion Banks dividend payout ratio is presently 46.43%. Insider Transactions at Toronto-Dominion Bank In other news, Senior Officer Riaz Ahmed sold 37,832 shares of the firms stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$89.01, for a total transaction of C$3,367,426.32. Insiders own 0.10% of the companys stock. 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. See Also Receive News & Ratings for Toronto-Dominion Bank Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Toronto-Dominion Bank and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of VAALCO Energy (NYSE:EGY Get Rating) in a research report released on Thursday morning. The brokerage issued a hold rating on the energy companys stock. Other equities research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Stifel Nicolaus started coverage on shares of VAALCO Energy in a research report on Wednesday, March 1st. They issued a buy rating for the company. Roth Capital reiterated a buy rating on shares of VAALCO Energy in a research note on Monday, March 6th. Get VAALCO Energy alerts: VAALCO Energy Price Performance NYSE:EGY opened at $3.95 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $421.74 million, a P/E ratio of 6.96 and a beta of 1.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 1.21 and a quick ratio of 1.13. The firms fifty day moving average price is $4.24 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $4.57. VAALCO Energy has a one year low of $3.51 and a one year high of $8.77. VAALCO Energy Increases Dividend VAALCO Energy ( NYSE:EGY Get Rating ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 6th. The energy company reported $0.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The company had revenue of $96.59 million during the quarter. VAALCO Energy had a return on equity of 28.65% and a net margin of 11.80%. Equities analysts expect that VAALCO Energy will post 0.88 earnings per share for the current year. The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 23rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 24th will be given a dividend of $0.063 per share. This is a boost from VAALCO Energys previous quarterly dividend of $0.06. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 23rd. This represents a $0.25 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.38%. VAALCO Energys dividend payout ratio is currently 44.64%. Insider Buying and Selling In other news, CEO George W.M. Maxwell purchased 10,000 shares of VAALCO Energy stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 15th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $3.70 per share, for a total transaction of $37,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 143,840 shares in the company, valued at approximately $532,208. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders acquired a total of 20,764 shares of company stock worth $76,769 in the last ninety days. 2.00% of the stock is owned by insiders. Institutional Inflows and Outflows Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Ellevest Inc. bought a new position in shares of VAALCO Energy during the third quarter valued at about $29,000. Metropolitan Life Insurance Co NY lifted its stake in VAALCO Energy by 80.4% in the 4th quarter. Metropolitan Life Insurance Co NY now owns 6,446 shares of the energy companys stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 2,872 shares in the last quarter. Metropolitan Life Insurance Co. NY boosted its position in shares of VAALCO Energy by 80.4% during the 4th quarter. Metropolitan Life Insurance Co. NY now owns 6,446 shares of the energy companys stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 2,872 shares during the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. grew its position in VAALCO Energy by 122.7% in the first quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 6,319 shares of the energy companys stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 3,482 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Toronto Dominion Bank bought a new stake in VAALCO Energy in the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. 31.61% of the stock is owned by institutional investors. VAALCO Energy Company Profile (Get Rating) VAALCO Energy, Inc engages in the acquisition, development, and production of crude oil. It operates through the following segments: Gabon and Equatorial Guinea. The Gabon Segment focuses on the Offshore Gabon-Etame Marin Permit operation. The Equatorial Guinea segment deals with the Equatorial Guinea-Block P operation. Featured Articles Receive News & Ratings for VAALCO Energy Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for VAALCO Energy and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Visa (NYSE:V Get Rating) in a research report report published on Thursday. The brokerage issued a buy rating on the credit-card processors stock. Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Mizuho lifted their target price on Visa from $220.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Monday, January 30th. KeyCorp lifted their target price on Visa from $250.00 to $260.00 in a report on Monday, April 24th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Visa from $253.00 to $263.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 26th. Barclays lifted their target price on Visa from $270.00 to $272.00 in a report on Monday, May 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Visa from $243.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Friday, January 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $260.08. Get Visa alerts: Visa Price Performance NYSE:V opened at $233.31 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 1.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The businesss 50-day simple moving average is $227.46 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $220.17. The stock has a market cap of $437.06 billion, a PE ratio of 31.19, a P/E/G ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 0.97. Visa has a 52 week low of $174.60 and a 52 week high of $235.57. Visa Dividend Announcement Visa ( NYSE:V Get Rating ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 25th. The credit-card processor reported $2.09 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $1.97 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $7.99 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $7.79 billion. Visa had a return on equity of 50.21% and a net margin of 50.95%. The businesss quarterly revenue was up 11.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.79 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Visa will post 8.58 EPS for the current fiscal year. The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 12th will be given a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 11th. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.77%. Visas dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.06%. Insider Buying and Selling at Visa In related news, General Counsel Julie B. Rottenberg sold 13,394 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $219.00, for a total value of $2,933,286.00. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel now owns 4,583 shares in the company, valued at $1,003,677. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, Chairman Alfred F. Kelly, Jr. sold 58,000 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.99, for a total value of $12,991,420.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 162,354 shares of the companys stock, valued at $36,365,672.46. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, General Counsel Julie B. Rottenberg sold 13,394 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $219.00, for a total transaction of $2,933,286.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel now directly owns 4,583 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $1,003,677. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 187,671 shares of company stock worth $42,943,080 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.22% of the companys stock. Hedge Funds Weigh In On Visa A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Keudell Morrison Wealth Management raised its position in shares of Visa by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Keudell Morrison Wealth Management now owns 11,761 shares of the credit-card processors stock valued at $2,652,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the period. Successful Portfolios LLC raised its position in shares of Visa by 3.6% in the 1st quarter. Successful Portfolios LLC now owns 1,232 shares of the credit-card processors stock valued at $278,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the period. Auxano Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Visa by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Auxano Advisors LLC now owns 14,206 shares of the credit-card processors stock valued at $2,951,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares during the period. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC raised its position in shares of Visa by 1.6% in the 1st quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 2,914 shares of the credit-card processors stock valued at $657,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares during the period. Finally, Domani Wealth LLC raised its position in shares of Visa by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Domani Wealth LLC now owns 1,729 shares of the credit-card processors stock valued at $359,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares during the period. 81.87% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds. Visa Company Profile (Get Rating) Visa, Inc engages in the provision of digital payment services. It also facilitates global commerce through the transfer of value and information among a global network of consumers, merchants, financial institutions, businesses, strategic partners, and government entities. It offers debit cards, credit cards, prepaid products, commercial payment solutions, and global automated teller machines (ATMs). Further Reading Receive News & Ratings for Visa Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Visa and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Videos Sorry, there are no recent results for popular videos. The presidential candidate of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) in the 2023 election, Rabiu Kwankwaso, has landed in Lagos to attend the grand commissioning ceremony of Dangote Refinery in the Ibeju-Lekki area of the state. It was gathered that the Governor-elect of Kano State, Abba Kabir Yusuf, has also arrived in Lagos for the inauguration of Africas largest refinery. The momentous occasion is expected to be graced by President Muhammadu Buhari, along with five other African Presidents. The event is also set to attract a distinguished audience, including all 36 State Governors of the Federation, numerous Governors-elect, Ministers, Senators, and prominent figures from Nigerias business sector. Additionally, global oil traders, top international bankers, and international multilateral agencies have expressed their eagerness to attend the ceremony. Situated on an expansive 2,635-hectare plot within the Dangote Industries Free Zone in Ibeju-Lekki, Lagos, the petroleum refinery boasts an impressive daily processing capacity of 650,000 barrels of oil. Federal High Court Sitting in Abuja will on Tuesday hear suit by concerned Nigerians seeking to halt the scheduled swearing-in of All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential Candidate, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, as Nigerias new President on May 29 for lying on oath. This is even as another Federal High Court will consider suit seeking to declare that Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) failed to comply with electoral laws in the Feb. 25 presidential election. While the suit on perjury against Tinubu' will be held in Court 9, the second suit is requesting from Court to declare that INEC failed to comply with Electoral Laws during Presidential Election will be heard in Court 5. In the suit on Perjury, Concerned Nigerians had in a motion ex-parte filed last week alongside the suit marked FHC/ABJ/C5/567/2023 alleged that Tinubu, who was declared President-elect by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), lied on oath about his possession of a Guinean Passport. The concerned Nigerians who filed the suit are Praise Ilemona Isaiah, Pastor Paul Isaac Audu and Dr Anongu Moses. The defendants are the President of Federal Republic of Nigeria, Bola Tinubu, All Progressives Congress, Attorney-General of the Federation, Director-General of the Department of State Service, Inspector General of Police, and Independent National Electoral Commission. The concerned Nigerians are seeking an order of the court to nullify Tinubus candidacy in the February 25 presidential election. They are also seeking an order restraining President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria from swearing-in Tinubu. The litigants are making the following demands: A DECLARATION that the deliberate, wilful and false information deposed to by the 2nd defendant in FORM EC9 of the 7th defendant wherein he stated that he is a not a citizen of another country apart from Nigeria, contrary to the fact that he is also a citizen of The Republic of Guinea, is a criminal offense capable of preventing the 2nd defendant from being sworn in as the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. AN ORDER of this Honourable Court nullifying the candidacy of the 2nd defendant as fielded by the 3rd defendant as its political party flag bearer for the presidential election of the 25th of February 2023. AN ORDER of this Honourable Court restraining the 1st defendant from allowing the swearing in of the 2nd defendant as President, Federal Republic of Nigeria, and directing the 1st defendant to ensure by all the powers within his disposal that the 2nd defendant is not sworn in, into the office of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria for wilfully, deceptively and deliberately misleading the 7th defendant and telling lies on oath. AN ORDER of this Honourable Court directing the 4th, 5th and 6th defendants to ensure that the 2nd defendant is detained, and prevented from being sworn in as the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, pending the determination of the Presidential election Petition before the Court of Appeal to determine the rightful winner of the 25th February, 2023 election conducted by the 7th defendant. AN ORDER of this Honourable Court directing the 3rd defendant to dismiss the 2nd defendant from the party for deliberately telling lies and falsely stating .in the form EC9 of the 7th defendant that he is only a Nigerian citizen contrary to the prevailing and available facts that he possesses citizenship of the Republic of Guinea. AN ORDER of this Honourable Court to the 7th defendant to nullify and disqualify the candidacy of the 2nd defendant for wilfully and knowingly telling lies on oath, to the 7th defendant in the form EC9 of the 7th defendant which is against the sacrosanct condition precedent for being allowed as a candidate to contest the Presidential election of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. AN ORDER of this Honourable Court directing the 2nd defendant to stop holding out himself as the President-elect of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, since he was ineligible and his nomination as the Presidential Candidate of the 3rd defendant a nullity owing to the deliberate false declaration, he made in the form EC9 of the 7th defendant before the Presidential election which held on the 25th of February 2023. AN ORDER of this honourable court restraining and barring the 2nd defendant from contesting any other election in the Federal Republic of Nigeria for the next 10 years for deliberately telling lies and give false information on oath, in the form EC9 of the 7th defendant. In the other suit, a group of Nigerians led by Govindex Leadership, Empowerment and Development Foundation have sued the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) over its failure to comply with Section 160(I) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (As Amended) and Sections 60(5) and 148 of the Electoral Act, 2022. Govindex and six other Nigerians, in the suit filed before the Federal High Court Abuja are demanding the criminal prosecution of INEC officials who compromised the integrity of the Saturday, February 25, 2023, Presidential election. The group is demanding five reliefs, two of which are: A DECLARATION that having regards to the provisions of the Section 160(1) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999(As Amended), Sections 60(5) & 148 of the Electoral Act, 2022, paragraph (Clauses) 38 (i), (ii) & (iii) of the INEC Regulations and Guidelines for the Conduct of Elections, 2022, the Defendant through her presiding officers are mandatorily required to electronically transmit, transfer or upload the scanned copy of Form EC8A result of the polling units directly to the collation system as prescribed by the Commission, that is, the usage of Bimodial Voters Accreditation System (BVAS) or such other relevant technology to upload the result into the INEC Result Viewing Portal (IReV) immediately and in real-time after completion of the polling units voting and Results procedures but before taking the results to the ward collation Centre from the polling units. AN ORDER OF THE COURT MANDATING the Defendant to compile names of the Presiding Officers, whether ad-hoc or permanent, who failed to upload or electronically transmit or transfer the Election results of the polling units directly to the collation system as prescribed by the Commission, that is the Bimodial Voters Accreditation System (BVAS) and send the said list to office of Inspector-General of Police for investigation and prosecution within 14 days of making the Order or such time as the Court may Order. President Muhammadu Buhari has expressed optimism that he is leaving economy of the country in the hands of competent individuals. The president stated this as he inaugurated Dangote Petroleum Refinery in Ibeju-Lekki, Lagos. Speaking at the occasion attended by Heads of State from Ghana, Togo, Niger, Senegal and a representative of the President of Chad, the President described the feat as a significant milestone for Nigerias economy and a game changer for the downstream petroleum products market in the entire African region. This mega industry we are commissioning today is a clear example of what can be achieved when entrepreneurs are encouraged and supported and when an enabling environment is created for investments and for businesses to thrive. I am confident that my successor, His Excellency Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, will sustain the improvement in our economic and business environment and strengthen the framework of our public private partnership policies to accelerate the pace of our economic growth and development. I am happy to leave our economy in very competent hands, he said. President Buhari, who commended Alhaji Aliko Dangotes leadership in executing the 650,000 barrels per day refinery, urged other entrepreneurs to emulate his example in driving economic growth and realizing Nigerias economic potential. He stressed the need for African countries to come together, integrate their economies, eliminate trade barriers, and rally their populations to achieve Agenda 2063 for the continents prosperity. I urge and encourage our other great entrepreneurs to emulate this iconic Nigerian industrialist and join the Government in accelerating our growth in order to realize our countrys globally recognized economic potential. When I travel around Africa and meet and engage my brother Heads of State (and I am delighted some of their Excellences are here) I often sense a quiet expectation that our country is blessed with resources and human capacity to lead Africas rise to economic prosperity and the attainment of Agenda 2063 The Africa we all want. But to achieve the goals of Agenda 2063, Africa must come together we must integrate our economies, eliminate barriers to trade and energize our youthful population to scale up our productive capacity. We must create necessary conditions for our private sector to grow and partner with the public sector to accelerate economic growth across the continent. We must not allow outside powers to use some of our leaders to destabilize our economic and political trajectory, he said. President Buhari acknowledged the visionary investments made by the Dangote Group, under the leadership of Dangote, in transforming Nigerias economy through its involvement in critical industries such as cement and fertilizer. He noted that investment in these sectors have played a crucial role in shifting Nigeria from heavy import dependence to becoming a net exporter. President Buhari acknowledged that Nigerias economy has faced significant challenges over the years, including deficits in economic infrastructure, insurgency, and external crises such as the Global Financial Crisis, oil price collapses, the COVID-19 pandemic, and the Russia-Ukraine war. The consequence of these challenges constitute a severe strain on our economy, limiting Governments ability to provide basic infrastructure without resorting to huge borrowings. Our Government, therefore, took the decision to focus attention on creating an enabling environment for the private sector to thrive and fill the enormous gap in investments not only in infrastructure but also in all critical sectors. We recognize that without the active participation of the private sector and a strong commitment to public private partnership, our economy would continue to remain severely challenged and our economic growth impeded. Government therefore, will and should continue to provide an enabling environment and encourage innovative public private partnerships in all sectors of our economy, he said. While remarking, Alhaji Aliko Dangote emphasised the refinerys role in fulfilling the groups corporate vision of promoting self-sufficiency and global competitiveness. We have built a Refinery with a capacity to process 650,000 barrels per day (plus 900,000 tonnes of polypropylene) in a single train which is the largest in the world. We have selected the best plants and equipment and the latest technologies from across the world. Our products slate is designed to meet the highest quality standards and high-value products including Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), Automotive Gas Oil (Diesel), Aviation Turbine Kerosine (ATK); all of Euro V Standards that will enable us not only meet our Countrys demand but also to become a key player in the African and global market. Our coastal location and offshore loading and offloading (SPM) facilities with a capacity to receive all our crude oil supplies and evacuate up to 75% of our liquid products give us direct access to the rest of Africa and the global market for exports. In addition, 80 percent of our production can be discharged through trucks nationwide. He said the huge investment of over $18.5billion in this industry was prompted by the companys desire to support and contribute its quota to the Federal Governments sustained effort to transform the economy and reposition Nigeria as the leading nation in Africa, and a respected member among emerging economies in the world. According to him, apart from ensuring a consistent supply of high-quality fuels for the transportation sector, the refinery will provide essential raw materials to a wide range of manufacturing sectors, including plastics, pharmaceuticals, food and beverages, packaging, construction, and more. He further stated that the refinerys operation and related businesses would generate a substantial number of job opportunities, while the downstream supply and distribution of its products would significantly contribute to the absorption of labor, potentially benefiting hundreds of thousands of individuals. Once our plant is fully on stream, we expect that at least 40% of the capacity will be available for export and this will result in significant Foreign Exchange inflows into the country. Overall, we are committed to operating our Plant in line with international best practice requirements, recognizing the importance of protecting the environment, and putting in place stringent environmental, health and safety policies to ensure that the Refinery operates in a safe and sustainable manner, he said. Known for his undying resolve and burning desire to see Nigeria become a nation where peace and unity shall reign supreme, Niger Delta born peace and environment advocate, Chief Comrade Mulade Sheriff, convener of the Nigeria for Peace Project, on Monday May 22, 2023, in continuation of his week-long peace advocacy visit to the northern State, reiterated that Nigeria unity is non negotiable. While noting in the ancient city of Kano, Kano state, that peace is very important in the present day Nigeria for the nation to achieve sustainable development, Comrade Mulade, who is the National Coordinator of Center for Peace and Environmental Justice, CEPEJ, stated this at the office of the Kano State Chairman of Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) , Bishop John Namaza Niyiring. Mulade, a famous development professional, also visited Major General Zamini Sarham (Rtd), HRH, Dr. Faruk Umar Faruk, the Emir of Daura, Katsina State and His Royal Highness, the Etsu Nupe of Niger State where he again advocated the urgent need for unity and reconciliation in Nigeria, through the promotion of peace, equity and justice at all times. In his words "I am here with the co-convener of the project, Alhaji Ibrahim Waiya, to formally inform you that a project tagged Nigeria for Peace (N4P), an intervention initiative, was conceived and birthed by some like-minded civil society officials and patriotic individuals from across Nigeria who strongly believe in the nation's unity." Continuing, Gbaramtu Kingdom, Warri South West-born Environmental Activist lamented that the nation has been for a very long time confronted with many security, communal, and ethno-religious conflicts which have threatened the foundation of our dear country. "It is imperative to state that the unity of Nigeria has continued to be threatened by bad elements who whipped up religious, ethnic and regional sentiments during political campaigns. This situation runs counter to our collective resolve to be a united and peaceful nation," he emphasized. Comrade Mulade asserted that it was to achieve this objective that has made some non-state actors and patriotic Nigerians, who had been working on national unity and peace, to come together and champion the project through concerted efforts to compliment other initiatives to restore and sustain national unity, cohesion, and peaceful coexistence, with sustainable national development as their goal. In his response, the Kano State CAN Chairman, Bishop John Namaza Niyiring commended the group for the initiative, noting that Nigeria is in dire need of peace and total restoration, and promised to be part of the peace-building process. For his part, Maj. Gen. Zamini Sarham (rtd) thanked the group and also appreciated them for the laudable move, calling on all and sundry to support the peace project for the sake of unity and well being of our dear nation. Addressing the delegation at his palace, His Royal Highness, Dr. Faruk Umar Faruk, the Emir of Daura, Katsina State gave the group kudos for embarking on such a huge project to save Nigeria. "We cannot pretend to be safe because our country has been faced with many serious challenges ranging from insurgency, armed banditry, kidnapping, to political thuggery and religious intolerance, all of which have helped to further deteriorate the unity of Nigeria. I want to assure you that I am fully in support of the project, and I will be committed to undertake any responsibility for a peaceful and united Nigeria," he added The delegation was also at the palace of the Etsu Nupe and Chairman, Niger State Traditional Council, HRH Maj. Gen. Yahaya Abubakar (rtd). Responding, the Royal Father thanked the team and encouraged them to sustain the movement so as to fix Nigeria, despite our ethnic, cultural and religious diversities, to fast track the development of our dear Nation. Cannabis: The fat lady is about to sing! The ease of buying marijuana on the streets of every province in Thailand will soon come to an end, as nearly all parties who contested Thailands recent elections are calling for the repeal of the law that famously decriminalised the cannabis plant. drugseconomics By The Phuket News Monday 22 May 2023, 02:08PM Cannabis plants are grown at a community enterprise in Phuket Town. Photo: PR Phuket / file In the absence of strict regulations, the cannabis industry has flourished in Thailand. With over 250,000 growers and more than 4,500 dispensaries selling ganja in every province, the industry was valued at US$1 billion by 2025 by the University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce. Thailand has become so notorious for cannabis this is prompting law enforcement agents in other countries to screen returning travelers for cannabis use. Anutin Charnvirakul, who before the national election served as the health minister, made a compelling case for the legalisation of the drug. He argued that by legalising cannabis, it would effectively alleviate prison overcrowding and stimulate the growth of the hemp industry, thereby reducing the poverty rate. Additionally, Thailand aimed to bolster its emerging medicine and culinary sectors, with expectations of generating substantial revenue in the future. But a lot has changed since Bhumjaithai party quickly won popular support to decriminalise cannabis and hastily implemented it through their partnership with the military-backed government. Chaos followed and abuse of cannabis decriminalisation became rampant. Most parties in the national election, for political or moral reasons, advocated repeal of the decriminalisation and limiting cannabis sale to medicinal purposes. The popularity of this promised clamp down amongst Thai voters is apparent. Viral videos of stoned schoolchildren, as well as out of control tourists, have outraged a broadly conservative public who now see pre-rolled joints being sold everywhere and openly on the street for less than B100. Cannabis has become a political hot topic and we are unlikely to see a sensible outcome. Right or wrong, the view is that little of the supposed riches has flowed to Thai farmers and the recreational markets are seen as being dominated by foreign investors and illegally imported products. Events like the Phuket Ganja Festival and the aborted Khao San Road 420 celebration annoyed a lot of moderate Thais who see these events as abusing the basis for liberalisation of cannabis and embarrassing the country. Pheu Thai, although second runner overall, won popular support by proposing to immediately relist cannabis as a narcotic while retaining its medical applications and banning all recreational use, which they say is negatively impacting Thai youth. Paetongtarn Shinawatra has pulled on the nations heartstrings and said, I dont want my children to grow up in a country where drugs are easy to find, and cannabis is liberalised. The Move Forward Party, now the clear winner in these elections, are known for being progressive in several areas, but on cannabis they support the same approach as Pheu Thai, stating that it is important to wipe out illegal recreational sales and unlicensed growers before gradually expanding medical cannabis again. Only one party continues strong support for a liberal cannabis regime. Bhumjaithai led by Anutin is aware that the May 14 election results once again places him in a potential key position, as it did in 2019. Anutin continues to emphasise that support for a cannabis regulation bill, which notoriously failed to pass in the previous parliament, is crucial to obtaining the Bhumjaithai partys support. His election posters continued to promise a golden era for the Northeast farmer with cannabis production remaining a core element. According to Anutin, Pheu Thai and various critics from different political backgrounds rallied together to support the removal of cannabis from the narcotics list. However, their actions seemed now more politically motivated as they strategically stirred dissatisfaction during this election, conveniently sidestepping any meaningful discussion about a Cannabis Act that he believes they would eventually support. Regardless of the party, political direction, or any philosophical view on cannabis it is very obvious regulation and enforcement is coming and long-term industry success sorely needs the certainty that was lacking in the past year. What is the likely outcome for the industry? Smart money is on any incoming government redefining recreational cannabis as abuse of a narcotic while retaining controlled use of the plant under the Thai Traditional Medicine Act. Preventing recreational use is a common theme of all parties regardless of any credible evidence of negative impact on Thai society and Thai youth. One commentator summed up the possible future when he said, Theres not really a chance for the law to go backward (but) theres a high chance of rule-making that would bar people from entering the industry think of it like beer alcohol it wont be illegal, but it will be extremely regulated. Despite the widespread presence of cannabis, it is important to remember that licenses were always required at every stage of the farm-to-dispensary process. Even today, dispensaries should be licensed and operate under the Protection and Promotion of Knowledge on Thai Traditional Medicine Act. How enforcement plays out and what actual form any regulated use of cannabis takes is still unclear. Controlled models like those run in Switzerland and Germany are more likely to influence policymakers than the Canada legalisation model. Under the current framework, professional growers are also required to obtain commercial licenses that are distinct from those more than 500,000 licenses obtained through the Pluk Ganja app, which was always meant for those wanting to grow cannabis for personal use. Going forward, all growers selling under the Traditional Medicine Act will likely need this commercial license, but ownership will be scrutinised, and any grower will need to apply track and trace procedures as well as follow GACP and GMP standards putting many thinly capitalised growers out of business. The great cannabis party is over, and whilst the fat lady hasnt sung, she is waiting in the wings. By Dr Paul Crosio Dr Paul Crosio is a Partner at Silk Legal who was recently recognised as one of the Top 200 Global Cannabis Lawyers of 2022, To learn more about the legal framework for cannabis in Thailand, contact Silk Legal at info@silklegal.com. Tour speedboat driver to be charged for drug use PHUKET: Chalong Police Chief Pol Col Kanaen Somrak has confirmed that the driver of the speedboat that collided with a channel marker in Chalong Bay last week, injuring 35 tourists, will be charged with drug use. tourismmarinetransportSafetydrugspolice By The Phuket News Monday 22 May 2023, 04:22PM Police at Chalong Pier while tourists injured in the collision were brought ashore last Wednesday (May 17). Photo: Tourist Police Col Kanaen confirmed to The Phuket News today (May 22) that a blood test conducted by Mission Hospital Phuket had confirmed that the driver, Satit Maschai, had tested positive for amphetamine/methamphetamine (ya bah/ya ice) use. Chalong Police will proceed with charges for drug use, Col Kanaen said. He will be prosecuted for that, he assured. However, Col Kanaen said that although Satit tested positive for drug use, it did not confirm that Satit was under the influence of the narcotic at the time he was driving the tour speedboat Thanathip Marine 555 when it struck the channel marker. Phuket Governor Narong Woonciew confirmed to the press on Friday that Satit already faces up to three years in jail or a fine of up to B60,000, or both, if he is found guilty of negligence that resulted in the collision. Additional reporting by Eakkpop Thongtub Zelensky says Bakhmut not occupied by Russia KYIV: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said yesterday (May 21) that Bakhmut was not occupied by Moscow, while the head of Russias Wagner mercenary group insisted his fighters had taken control of the eastern city to the last centimetre. RussianUkraineviolencemilitarypolitics By AFP Monday 22 May 2023, 11:28AM Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky arrives in Hiroshima. Photo: AFP Kyivs military said it was hanging on to a small part of the city and said its troops were advancing on its flanks. Bakhmut, a salt-mining town that once had a population of 70,000 people, has been the scene of some of the bloodiest fighting in Moscows 15-month Ukraine offensive. A day earlier, Wagner and Moscows regular army claimed to have fully captured Bakhmut, with Russian President Vladimir Putin congratulating them on the alleged conquest. But speaking at the G7 summit in Hiroshima, Zelensky denied Russias claims. Bakhmut is not occupied by Russia today, he said during a press conference. I cannot share with you the tactical views of our military. The most difficult thing would be if there was some tactical mistake in Bakhmut and our people were surrounded. Sitting next to US President Joe Biden, Zelensky suggested it would be a pyrrhic victory for Moscow. You have to understand there is nothing there in Bakhmut, he said on the sidelines of the summit in Japan. Zelensky compared the absolute total destruction in Bakhmut to the devastation in Hiroshima when the United States dropped an atomic bomb on the Japanese city in 1945. There is absolutely nothing alive (there). The Ukrainian army said yesterday it retained an insignificant part of the city and that soldiers were advancing in from the citys outer limits. We continue to advance on the flanks in the suburbs of Bakhmut, said Oleksandr Syrsky, commander of Ukraines ground forces. Wagner claims no Ukrainian soldiers left But Yevgeny Prigozhin, the chief of Wagner whose fighters have spearheaded Russias advance on Bakhmut, insisted there were no Ukrainian troops there. There is not a single Ukrainian soldier in Bakhmut as we have stopped taking prisoners, he said in a post on Telegram. There are a huge number of corpses of Ukrainian soldiers. Prigozhin said Zelensky was either not telling the truth or like many of our own military leaders, simply does not know what is happening on the ground, this is a possibility. On Saturday, he had announced that his fighters had taken full control of Bakhmut. Prigozhin said Wagner would hand over control of the city to the Russian army by May 25. But a spokesperson for Ukraines Eastern Grouping of Forces, Sergiy Cherevatyj, said Ukrainian troops were conducting counterattacks in the city and its surroundings. Russian forces are trying to take the whole city under their control. Our units are holding defense - several buildings and a number of fortifications in the southwestern part of Bakhmut, he said on national television. Fierce clashes occurred in other eastern cities and towns including Mariinka and Avdiivka in the Donetsk region, according to a Ukrainian General Staff report, which said Russians conducted four missile strikes and 45 air strikes yesterday. Bakhmut and Mariinka remain at the epicenter of hostilities, the report said. Battle for the town of Bakhmut continues. The loss of Bakhmut would be hugely symbolic for the Ukrainians, who had held on for months - ignoring US advice behind the scenes to focus elsewhere. But some analysts have said Ukraine has inflicted heavy losses on Russia in Bakhmut and forced it to commit large resources, potentially weakening its defences in other parts of the front line. The fall of Bakhmut would allow Moscow to bring home a key victory after a series of humiliating defeats. It would also come before a major counteroffensive that Kyiv has been preparing for months. Zelensky himself has warned that the citys loss would open the way for Russian troops to capture more of the Donbas region. Congratulations from Putin The Russian army released a statement several hours after Prigozhin on Saturday. The liberation of the city of Artemovsk was completed, it said, using the Soviet-era name of Bakhmut. The Kremlin later congratulated both Wagner and the Russian army, who have been at increasing loggerheads during Moscows offensive. Vladimir Putin congratulated the assault units of Wagner as well as all servicemen of units of the Russian armed forces who provided them with the necessary support and flank cover, on the completion of the operation to liberate the city, TASS news agency quoted a Kremlin statement as saying. The two camps are now awaiting the Ukraine counteroffensive, but Zelensky said recently his army needs more time before launching the assault. South Africa: President Ramaphosa drops legal challenge against Section 89 report Presidential spokesperson Vincent Magwenya says President Cyril Ramaphosa will no longer pursue a legal application to have the Section 89 panels report into his conduct during the Phala Phala incident reviewed and set aside. Magwenya was briefing the media on the Presidents diary for the next week and topical issues in the media. The panel had found that the President may have seriously violated sections 96(2)(a) of the Constitution and Section 34(1) of the Prevention and Combating of Corrupt Activities (PRECCA) Act thus violating his oath of office an allegation President Ramaphosa has vehemently denied. The President has been advised which advice he has accepted that the panel report and all issues associated with it have become moot and they are of no practical and legal consequence because on 13 December 2022 the National Assembly decided to reject the motion to refer the panel report to an impeachment committee. While that decision remains valid, the Section 89 panel report carries no weight in law. The President has thus been advised not to institute proceedings before the High Court for review and setting aside of the panel report at this stage. President Ramaphosa reserves his right to bring such proceeding in due course, should the circumstances change. The President maintains his position set out in his founding affidavit before the Constitutional Court that the panel report is reviewable in law on several grounds including the misconception of its mandate, the grave errors of law and the unfounded conclusions of fact, Magwenya said. He explained that the President has noted the decision of the Constitutional Court not to engage with the merits of the application he instituted in that court to have the report set aside. In the first part of the Presidents review application, he sought leave to bring the case directly to the Constitutional Court because it was, according to the advice he received, a matter that fell within [the Constitutional Courts] jurisdiction and in the interest of justice. In the second part, he asked that the report of the panel be reviewed, declared unlawful and set aside. The Constitutional Courts decision was on the grounds that the application is not within the courts exclusive jurisdiction and no compelling case for direct access was made. The President respects the ruling of the Constitutional Court, he said. SAnews.gov.za This story has been published on: 2023-05-22. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. Q: The 76th World Health Assembly (WHA) has once again refused to include a proposal made by Belize and other countries on Taiwans participation at the WHA as an observer in its agenda. Whats Chinas comment? A: The General Committee and the Plenary Session of the 76th World Health Assembly (WHA) have respectively decided to reject the so-called proposal of inviting Taiwan to participate in the WHA as an observer submitted by certain countries. This fully shows that the one-China principle has international support and represents the prevailing trend that cannot be challenged. In disregard of the views expressed by various parties and what is best for our Taiwan compatriots, the DPP authorities put countries having so-called diplomatic ties with Taiwan up to making the proposal. Certain countries either overtly or covertly encouraged and supported this move. These egregious moves go against the trend of history and deliberately undermine international rules. They have been unanimously rejected by countries taking a just stand. By the time the assembly commenced, nearly 100 countries had sent letters to the WHO or issued statements to express their commitment to the one-China principle and opposition to Taiwans participation in the WHA. The Chinese Central Government attaches great importance to the health and well-being of our compatriots in the Taiwan region, and has made proper arrangement for Taiwans participation in global health affairs under the prerequisite that the one-China principle is upheld. The Central Government has updated the Taiwan region over 500 times about the pandemic situation since the start of COVID-19. Over the past year alone, medical and technical experts from Chinas Taiwan region took part in WHO technical activities 24 times, which involved 26 participants. There is an International Health Regulations Contact Point in the Taiwan region for it to promptly access and report information related to health emergencies. The claim of a gap in global anti-epidemic efforts is groundless. We would like to once again make it clear to the DPP authorities that the public opinion cannot be defied and those who play with fire will get burnt. We also urge certain countries to stop knowingly supporting the false narrative on this matter, stop politicizing issues about health, stop using the Taiwan question to interfere in Chinas internal affairs and stop using Taiwan to contain China. Jeff Van Gyssel is passionate about helping newcomers get settled in Wilmot. After Jeff Van Gyssel said he encountered God, he turned a new leaf from drugs and alcohol 10 years ago and decided to spend the rest of his life loving his neighbours. While volunteering at a refugee transitional centre in Kitchener called Welcome Home, he met new immigrants who talked about their struggles with depression and isolation in another country. I was hearing story after story (about) them not being able to find work and for anyone to give them, really an opportunity to prove their worth and in the trades, said Van Gyssel. He wanted to do something to help. Eight years ago, he started Just Working Construction Inc., and began hiring newcomers in an effort to help people relearn the trades in Canada. In 2021, he developed an old bungalow into a two-storey, net-zero triplex for co-housing, where he rents out a portion of it at affordable rates. Hes just bought a second old home and is developing it into a triplex as well. Van Gyssel said hes learned a lot about living in community from all the newcomers he's met and thinks the western world can learn a thing or two from them. I just felt the need to create housing that was geared toward intentional community. And since I work with newcomers all the time, I felt really driven to create some beautiful, hopeful homes for them that they can call home, he said. Van Gyssel is also working with an organization called Love Your Neighbour Communities, which aims to meet the needs of the community through affordable housing, food security, social isolation and environmental responsibility. He and Steve Wagler are directors there. Although theyve known each other for only four years, Wagler said Van Gyssel isnt just passionate about helping immigrants, but also anybody who may be overlooked. He's a change agent, Wagler said. For a lot of us that grew up here, there hasn't been a diverse culture it is for our community to see this and actually to see the goodness that comes out of it, said Wagler, adding Van Gyssel is inspirational and I think he's got the opportunity to truly have an impact. Van Gyssel always saw his parents involved in mission work, said his mom, Hilda Van Gyssel, and they both now help him in doing what he does. Among the beneficiaries of Van Gyssel's kindness are a young couple from Mexico trying to start a new life, and a family that's expecting a baby soon but living in a two-bedroom apartment with about 15 people. And they need a home desperately to start their journey in Canada, Hilda said. God had a purpose for Jeff. And Jeff is living up to the calling that God has given him, said Hilda. Having such a big heart for people hasnt come with challenges. He personally finances the projects hes embarked on. He says as soon as I can get one home up and going, Id like to start on my next one but the big challenge is having the finances available to do it, Hilda said, adding it will be good to have more people on board. I can't hire everybody, said Jeff, who's working with the Wilmot Family Resource Centre to develop something where local companies can put their job opportunities in one spot for people to find. But its only in the discussion phase. RELATED STORIES Wilmot council awards contract for Nith River promenade construction Wagler said although the community is not new to embracing newcomers, he hopes people see Van Gyssel's interesting model and it springs up newer initiatives for them. I'm looking for people to step up and kind of help me out and get a team going and get this organized, said Van Gyssel. Hilda said her son's dream to see the program expand to other communities could make the whole world a better place. Van Gyssel can be reached on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/jeff.vangyssel. STORY BEHIND THE STORY: When reporter Seyitan Moritiwon saw Jeff Van Gyssel's post on Facebook helping people to look for work, she wanted to talk to him to learn more. There are people doing great work in Wilmot Township, in ways that benefit the community. New Hamburg Independent wanted to highlight one of these unsung heroes. Do you have a suggestion for someone we should feature next? Email reporter Seyitan Moritiwon at smoritiwon@metroland.com. SHARE: University of Waterloo alumnus Jeremy Wang (right) and Carl Pigeon are the co-founders of Ribbit, a company developing Canada's first autonomous cargo airline. Waterloo has gained lots of recognition for its work to establish Canadas first autonomous automobiles in recent years, but one alumnus is taking things to new heights. Jeremy Wang, who earned his PhD in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Waterloo, is on a mission to prove that planes no longer require humans in the cockpit. Were not talking about shuttling executives from city to city. Were talking about providing basic access to reliable transportation so that people living in rural and remote communities can get necessities like food and medicine on time, Wang explained in a press release, prior to being honoured with a Mitacs Entrepreneur Award at the universitys Federation Hall last week. Wang, the COO and co-founder of Ribbit, said the goal of his company is to rewire the transportation network to be faster, more efficient and more accessible to remote communities that dont have reliable air transportation. Wang, along with Ribbit co-founder and CEO Carl Pigeon, started their careers developing drone technology but recognized the need to focus on full-size aircraft to truly make an impact on transportation at scale. We realized if you can take a pilot out of the plane, you can fit more cargo in the plane, you can fly long hours, you can offer more places, more destinations, and you can do that while keeping your unit economics or unit costs pretty low, Wang told the Chronicle. The companys design is based on retrofitting existing fixed-wing planes with a technology stack that allows them to taxi, take off, fly and land autonomously, eliminating scheduling barriers, freeing airlines to capitalize on thousands of underutilized private airports across North America to provide more direct, non-stop flights between remote destinations, without the need to schedule pilots or travel through major hubs. Working in collaboration with Transport Canada since its inception in 2020, Ribbit completed its first gate-to-gate, hands-free flight in 2021 marking a first for Canada and has demonstrated nearly 200 hours of successful autonomous flight since then, always with a human safety pilot on board. The company, which operates out of a private airstrip in Burlington, has signed letters of intent with six leading online wholesalers/retailers serving the north and is working to achieve regulatory approval to move forward with commercial flights, but it will likely be at least 10 years before such a service would begin and even longer before its more broadly adopted, Wang said. There there are other companies currently working to develop autonomous airplanes in the U.S. Ribbit is working alongside dozens of other companies and investors and is supported by the National Research Council of Canada, among other government-funded organizations. The company is already approved for flight testing without a human safety pilot on board. In the next 12 months, actually, we're planning on starting to test commercial pilot flights in northern Canada, Wang said. The reason is that in northern Canada, not only is there a dire need for the service, but there's less air traffic. There are less built-up areas in the ground. So the operational risk profile is a lot lower. The company has already conducted thousands of hours of flight simulation and remains focused on solving challenges related to collision detection and radio communication. Pilots normally talk to each other and talk to air traffic controllers in order to manage the airspace, and that capability has to be in place for a plane that has autopilot inside as well. So in the near term, we're addressing that by having a human pilot on the ground that is not only monitoring the flight the entire time, but can also speak on behalf of the airplane and communicate with other airspace users, Wang said. We'll see if machine learning makes its way into that domain of the problem space, but it's an area thats challenging. Wang's groundbreaking work has earned him a prestigious award and $5,000 from Mitacs, Canada's leading innovation organization that boosts economic growth and innovation by helping companies solve business challenges with research solutions from academic institutions. Wang said the support he's received from the University of Waterloo, its Velocity incubator, and numerous other partners has been instrumental. A successful innovation economy cannot exist without entrepreneurs, Mitacs CEO John Hepburn said. Startups drive innovation in Canada: they dream big and push boundaries, bringing research from ideation to commercialization. Mitacs is extremely proud to play a role in supporting small businesses and emerging entrepreneurs through our continued investment in talent, research, and development. STORY BEHIND THE STORY: A University of Waterloo PhD grad recently received a Mitacs Entrepreneur Award for his work developing Canadas first autonomous cargo airline. SHARE: He worked professionally for a Disneyland band at just 12 years old and dropped out of high school to pursue a career behind the drumset at the age of 16. Soon he was working with The Vandals before eventually going on to have a hugely successful career spanning across genres. Forced peace not viable line Dirtying our courtyard ! | Forced peace not viable and the Committee on Tribals Unity could not have been more right if one goes by what has been happening in different parts of the State ever since violence broke out in all its ugliness in the evening of May 3, after the Tribal Solidarity March. So curfew did not work (though this came about during the curfew relaxation period), the suspension of internet services did not work, deployment of huge number of men and women in khakis and the blues did not work and the relative peace witnessed at Imphal in the last few days was shattered on May 22 afternoon. A case of forced peace not working or not being viable and here are some elements who are hell bent on making the stand of the Committee on Tribals Unity come true. Here it would be prudent to quote the man appointed by the Centre, the Security Advisor to the State Government, Kuldiep Singh-Kuki miscreants suspected to be possessing arms had intimidated the locals including Meitei/Kabui/Meitei Pangal not to open shops in the Tribal Market, New Checkon saying that the land belonged to the Kuki only. The above quoted lines are not from the fertile minds of The Sangai Express but is a direct quote from the man appointed by the Centre and it can imply so many things. A case of the unchained gun toting criminal relieving himself in the courtyard of the next door neighbour ! So from Reserved Forest, Protected Forest and any other uninhabited places, land in the unscheduled valley has come to be identified along the basis of a community and give five or ten years and the possibility of it being tagged our ancestral land cannot be written off ! The Government should act tough and send out the message that it cannot tolerate such nonsense. It should also be kept in mind that mobs tend to take the law into their own hands when the Government is seen to be shirking its responsibility of taking hard decisions. And if hard and tough decisions are not taken now, when would be the time for the State Government to act tough and show that it means business ? A tough Government should not be identified with only cracking down on those who criticise it on the social media ! Even as the ugly scene unfolded at New Checkon, came the news that three people sustained bullet injuries in a stand off at Moidangpok under Patsoi police station last night (that is May 21 night). That this has come amid the rising accusation raised against SoO cadres should say something significant and one wonders whether the hue and cry raised by the people everywhere has reached the ears and eyes of Imphal and Delhi or not. The earlier report from the Security Advisor that not all SoO cadres were found in the designated camps should more than underline that the finger of accusations pointed at them is not without basis. Read the not all words with yet another observation from the Security Advisor that some arms and ammunition were missing at two designated camps and it is simple maths. Two plus two makes four and this calculation will stand true whether one does the math in the comfort of an air conditioned room at New Delhi or in the jungles from where the SoO cadres are opening fire at the unarmed civilians. Forced peace is not viable and the Committee on Tribals Unity cannot be faulted on this, but it should also remember that the understanding of forced peace always go along with the understanding of violence and as a voluntary organisation it should try to understand who is perpetrating the violence right now. How the violence started is something which The Sangai Express has stated many times in earlier commentaries here. Former NDP MP Olivia Chow is entering the final weeks of Torontos mayoral campaign the undisputed front-runner, according to a Forum Research poll for the Toronto Star. Chows lead remains untouchable, after seven weeks of the 12-week campaign, said Forum president Lorne Bozinoff. Other candidates have yet to connect strongly with voters. Despite her two percentage point dip from a Forum poll a week earlier, support for Chow remains nearly triple that of her nearest rivals, according to the new poll. The survey of 1,000 Torontonians conducted Friday saw 34 per cent of decided and leaning respondents pick Chow from a crowded field of prominent candidates vying to replace John Tory who resigned in February. Coun. Josh Matlow and former police chief Mark Saunders were tied in second place at 12 per cent support, followed by former Liberal MPP Mitzie Hunter at 10 per cent, former city councillor Ana Bailao at nine per cent, and Coun. Brad Bradford at seven per cent. One-fifth, or 20 per cent, of respondents said they dont know which of the 102 total candidates theyll choose in the June 26 byelection. Fifteen per cent of respondents chose one of the less prominent candidates. Results of the interactive voice response telephone survey are considered accurate plus or minus three percentage points 19 times out of 20. Support for Saunders, a conservative with close ties to Premier Doug Ford, dropped six percentage points from the previous week. Support for Matlow, a progressive highly critical of Ford and his impact on Toronto, rose two points. Hunter, Bailao and Bradford all linger within three percentage points of their support level recorded in Forums late April poll. The new survey, like those of other pollsters, suggests that with Tory not in the race, Torontonians want the city to shift to the political left after 13 years of centrist or right-leaning rule under Tory and predecessor Rob Ford. During 14 years on Metro and city councils, Chow held posts working on housing, child advocacy and the city budget. She followed that with eight years as an NDP MP during which her late husband, Jack Layton, became party leader. She ran unsuccessfully for mayor in 2014, starting as an early favourite in the 11-month campaign but finishing third behind winner Tory and runner-up Doug Ford. Since then she has taught and founded the Institute for Change Leaders. This campaign Chow has said the city needs progressive revenue tools and a new deal from provincial and federal governments to raise cash to fill the citys budget hole, and improve city services that have deteriorated in recent years. Her pledges include reversing service cuts to the TTC, fighting the Ford governments plans for Ontario Place and the Ontario Science Centre, building 25,000 city-owned and nonprofit-run, rent-controlled rental homes, and changing rebuild plans for the elevated east Gardiner Expressway to make it ground level. Chow and Mark Saunders have likely benefitted from high name recognition in polls conducted when many Torontonians were not paying much attention. Scrutiny on all candidates is expected to increase over the coming weeks as they participate in multiple debates and unleash a barrage of election advertising. Correction May 22, 2023: This article was updated to correct Olivia Chows two percentage point dip in a previous poll from a two per cent dip. David Rider is the Stars City Hall bureau chief and a reporter covering city hall and municipal politics. Follow him on Twitter: @dmrider Read more about: SHARE: A cyclist is dead after being struck by a car on a highway ramp in Niagara Falls. The OPPs Highway Safety Division said the collision occurred May 20 at 11:20 p.m. on the Hwy. 405 ramp, at the citys Stanley Avenue. The 43-year-old man was pronounced dead at the scene. No charges have yet been laid. Burlington OPP is investigating the incident and have shared a photo of the vehicle involved in the collision. SHARE: He has swapped the uniform and forage cap for thick-rimmed glasses and Steve Jobs turtlenecks. But on the campaign trail, Mark Saunders voice, name and face nevertheless evoke one thing: the Toronto police badge he wore for 38 years. In a career switch thats rare in Canada and unprecedented in Toronto, Saunders wants to go from being the citys top cop to holding its top office. Trading on public safety experience and his five years in the chiefs chair, hes framed his candidacy accordingly: as a bid to protect the citys future. This election is a choice between crime and chaos versus law and order, Saunders said in a stark campaign video featuring an archive photo of him, heavily armoured, in an Emergency Task Force raid. In nearly four decades of policing, Saunders laments, Ive never seen things this bad. Police statistics say otherwise shootings are down 35 per cent over last year, for instance, and homicides are at a five-year low yet theres little doubt public safety is taking centre stage this mayoral election. Random violence, including the fatal TTC stabbing of 15-year-old Gabriel Magalhaes and the deadly unprovoked shoving of 89-year-old Xiaoxia Wang downtown, has set off a looming sense the city has become more dangerous, a perception underscored by a sharp rise in auto-thefts and assault, a jump in TTC violence and ever-louder calls from police and premiers to stop what they dubbed a revolving door of criminals out on bail. Launched against this backdrop, some say Saunders campaign may have timing on its side that a city long helmed by lawyers (David Miller, John Tory, Barbara Hall) and businessmen (Mel Lastman, Rob Ford) could be led by a new kind of mayor. There are real liabilities to a former chief running, but lets face it: Toronto has real problems, said Christian Leuprecht, a professor of political science at the Royal Military College of Canada and Queens University. Clearly the system we have now is, shall we say, not performing optimally in solving those problems. Yet a move from police headquarters to city hall would bring distinct complications and risks. Potential conflicts of interest, the risk of blurring the lines between policing and politics, and baggage. Saunders name recognition also brings notoriety, including for being the chief who downplayed concerns within the citys LGBTQ community a killer was stalking men in the Gay Village just weeks before serial killer Bruce McArthur was arrested. Based on his track record, and his views on how we address public safety, Id be very concerned as a resident of Toronto, said Neil Price, executive director of non-profit consulting group LogicalOutcomes and a community advocate whos researched policing in the Jane and Finch area. Policing to politicking Until recently, police chiefs were viewed as accomplished but working class figures influential only as supporters or antagonists to politicians, said Michael Kempa, an associate professor of criminology at the University of Ottawa. But in the last 25 years, as policing has been increasingly viewed as a formal profession, chiefs have become regarded as legitimate, powerful, qualified political actors with a high degree of name recognition. Roles in politics have followed. Saunders immediate predecessors became cabinet ministers: Public Safety Minister Bill Blair was elected to Justin Trudeaus Liberal government four months after retiring and former Toronto chief and OPP commissioner Julian Fantino was veterans affairs minister under Stephen Harper. Others who made the switch include former OPP commissioner Gwen Boniface and ex-Ottawa chief Vernon White, both as senators. Many landed on the right side of the political spectrum; a 2015 Ottawa Citizen article on cops whove become politicians said all but one of 12 were with the Conservative Party of Canada. (With a right-of-centre platform and the support of high-profile conservatives, Saunders fits this profile, too.) Ex-cop mayors are less common. In 2013, former officer Marc Demers was voted in to lead corruption-plagued Laval, Que., after scandals involving his predecessors, including one whom hed investigated for financial fraud. Demers stayed on as mayor until 2021 and was credited with digging the city out of trusteeship. In Vancouver, former RCMP drug cop-turned-coroner Larry Campbell was mayor from 2002 to 2005. A progressive, he presided over the city as it built North Americas first safe injection site. The cop-turned-mayor route happens stateside, too, recently with the high-profile 2021 election in New York of former police captain Eric Adams to a term that has since met with controversy. Brought in as a centre-left Democrat, Adams, who is also the citys second Black mayor, has been criticized for taking New York in a conservative direction, including endorsing aggressive, tough-on-crime police tactics and defending stop and frisk, an NYPD policy that has been criticized as racist, similarly to the former Toronto police practice of carding. To Kent Roach, University of Toronto law professor and author of Canadian Policing: Why and How It Must Change, the transition from cop to politician can be a natural one for chiefs. It would be wrong to criticize (Saunders) or to say that a former police officer was somehow disqualified from running as mayor, Roach said in an interview. The police are part of our community, they see aspects of our community that, frankly, many other politicians may not see. We dont need two chiefs But there can be risks when any ex-cop runs for an office that has oversight over their former workplace, police experts said including a threat that colleague relationships or knowledge of the forces inner workings could lead to interference. The last thing we need is a mayor on the phone with the police chief every day, telling him we got to send cars over here, stand up this unit there, and whats happening with the Guns and Gangs unit? said Leuprecht, the Queens policing and security expert. He said Saunders might consider issuing a statement saying he understands that as mayor he would not run the service that, in essence, we dont need two chiefs. In Canada, police independence was strengthened by a 1999 Supreme Court ruling that stated police should not be an agent of any government or subject to political direction. The intent is to stop politicians from telling police what to do, a directive with particular relevance in Ontario. An official inquiry into the fatal OPP shooting of Dudley George in 1995 found impatience by Ontarios Mike Harris-led government was a contributing factor in the Indigenous protesters death. Police forces in Ontario are overseen by civilian boards that cant direct the day-to-day operations but implement policies (such as requiring race-based data collection), approve the budget before it goes to city council and appoint senior officers, most importantly, the chief. Torontos board has seven members: three appointed by the province, three from council (including two councillors) and the mayor, though he or she may choose a designate. Thats what Saunders will do if elected, his campaign manager confirmed to the Star Thursday. Saunders feels it would be most appropriate to appoint a designate in his place to the Police Services Board; as some mayors have before him, Laryssa Waler said in an email. Asked how Saunders can reassure Torontonians he would not involve himself in police operations if elected, Waler said Toronto police is well served by its current chief. Roach said it would be hard to draw absolute lines on conflict of interest issues. Instead, those judgments would depend on the honesty and the integrity of the person theyre going to know better than the public when there is or is not a conflict. To Price, the community advocate who recently wrote an op-ed raising concerns about police independence under a Saunders mayoralty its impossible to believe his allegiance to his former profession and colleagues wouldnt colour his decisions in office, including the all-important issue of the police budget, the citys single-biggest line item at over $1 billion. Lets not kid ourselves around whether those relationships would have a bearing on his being mayor. A policing-first lens With a focus on public safety, Saunderss campaign is entering an arena where other levels of government wield great power, such as the federal governments jurisdiction over bail laws. Municipal police services operate under provincial legislation and benefit from provincial funding, including for special initiatives; Premier Doug Ford last month announced $112 million to create bail compliance teams. At these negotiating tables, Saunders on-the-ground policing experience and knowledge could put him at an advantage, Leuprecht said. I think there is an opportunity here for the mayor who knows file to come to the province with a clear plan and clear agenda, he said. (Ford, who has said he would stay out of Torontos municipal election, has expressed support for Saunders, noting last week that the city needs someone with experience dealing with crime). But at a time when the city is grappling with ever-worsening social issues that contribute to crime homelessness, poverty, food insecurity, and a mental health and drug crisis electing a former cop risks having a mayor who sees problems through a too-narrow lens, said Louis March, a community advocate and founder of Zero Gun Violence Movement. To put him in the mayors seat, is it going to be a police first option? said March. March echoed criticisms others have levelled at the former chief: that hes overstating public safety concerns and using fear-based rhetoric to justify the need for an ex-cop to lead the city. Kempa, from the University of Ottawa, agreed theres a risk Saunders could favour police as a solution to municipal problems if you have a hammer, everything looks like a nail but noted Saunders has said some of the right things about Toronto not being able to arrest its way out of these problems. On the campaign trail, Saunders has attacked fellow mayoral candidates for attempts to reduce police funding, said hed increase the numbers of special constables patrolling the TTC by at least 200 and is the only high-profile candidate opposed to the citys current drug decriminalization strategy. Hes also called adding more police a Band-Aid solution and previously told the Star he wanted to take an all-hands-on-deck approach to the problems not just law enforcement, identifying 24-7 mental health care as a focus. This isnt just about policing. The social agencies that serve those in crisis need to be supported, Waler, his campaign manager, said in a statement last week. Name recognition and baggage As the face of Toronto police for five years, Saunders was also the man at the centre of several high-profile controversies, some of his own making. In 2015, when Saunders was asked in his first press conference as the newly minted chief about his stance on carding, he said he wanted to discuss ways to reduce collateral damage a comment that sparked outrage as being dismissive of the disproportionately Black and brown young men who had been targeted by the practice of stopping and documenting people not suspected of a crime. Saunders was a proponent of carding and had, in 2012, authored a secret internal analysis that found no evidence to support notions or activities of racially biased policing. Toronto police have since released data showing stark racial differences in police use of force, proof of systemic discrimination in policing that led to an apology by Saunders successor, then-Chief James Ramer. Syrus Marcus Ware, co-founder of Black Lives Matter Canada and assistant professor at the School of Arts at McMaster University, pointed to Saunders handling of the probe into Bruce McArthur who killed eight men with ties to Torontos Gay Village between 2010 and 2017 as a reason his mayoralty is a non-starter. Toronto police faced intense criticism for their handling of the case, and just weeks before McArthurs arrest, Saunders denied there was a serial killer at work, even though by that point there was compelling, if not yet overwhelming circumstantial evidence McArthur may have been involved in as many as five disappearances, according to a 2021 landmark report on the case, which also found serious deficiencies in past Toronto police investigations involving McArthurs victims. Saunders was also criticized for comments he made during the investigation into McArthur, including for blaming the community for a years-long delay in catching McArthur; he later denied that was his intent. I would caution Torontonians to think about, if this is the way that he handled the Bruce McArthur case, how might he handle other sensitive issues in our community and in our city? asked Ware. But sheer name recognition, even if it comes with baggage, can go a long way, said Kempa. He notes thats particularly true in municipal elections that can have low turnout. The mayoral election is June 26. With files from the Star library Wendy Gillis is a Toronto-based reporter covering crime and policing for the Star. Reach her by email at wgillis@thestar.ca or follow her on Twitter: @wendygillis Read more about: SHARE: It wasnt their forever home, but it was their 10-year plan. Lindsay Blackwell and her husband, Adam Vincent McKinlay, moved into a two-bedroom apartment in the Church-Wellesley Village in September 2021 while expecting their first child. The unit was large by Toronto standards at one point it was home to a building superintendent who knocked down a wall to combine it with a bachelor unit next door. McKinlay made the space their own, adding a false bookcase with a secret door between the nursery and his art studio. It was rent-controlled and cost just over $2,000 a month. They could picture spending the next decade there and watching their kids grow. But a developers recent proposal to tear down their building for a new condo may have foiled their plans. If they have to leave, there are few affordable options for them to stay in the area. And theyll be taking their frustration to the ballot box. I havent cared that much about an election that I can remember at the municipal level, Blackwell, a 39-year-old public servant, said of Torontos June mayoral race. Its the number one issue for us. The couple is among a growing population of renters in the city, who observers say could play a crucial role in deciding who takes over as its next mayor spurred by angst over ever-rising rents and the threat of evictions or displacements. Unlike the last civic election, which was forecast early as a victory for John Tory, numerous front-runners for the mayors chair have emerged this year, and many candidates seem to have taken notice of the simmering ire over rental issues. Already, contenders have been offering up tenant-specific proposals ranging from city hall taking a more active role in rental construction, to bulking up an existing municipal program that buys smaller, low-rent buildings to keep them affordable. To Chiara Padovani, a York SouthWeston tenant union leader who ran for council last fall and nearly usurped an incumbent with a campaign focused heavily on renter issues this is a moment when candidates should be courting the rising tenant population citywide. (Renters are) a growing voter block in the city of Toronto, and political platforms and political candidates need to be able to speak to the very real struggles and vulnerabilities that tenants face, she said. In the last decade, census data has borne out what many Torontonians have felt anecdotally home ownership rates are down, and the number of renter households has increased sharply, by about 25 per cent from 2011 to 2021. The cost of buying an average home uncoupled with incomes around 2000, which means taking the leap to owning has become much harder especially for those whove inked leases recently and are spending sky-high amounts on rent. Yet, Padovani believes Torontos homeowners have long had the ear of its decision-makers. She believes candidates are more likely to knock on the door of a single family home in a lowrise neighbourhood than an apartment in a rental tower. Shes seen community meetings where homeowners have represented a loud voice on city planning matters at times, voicing misconceptions such as rental buildings lowering their neighbourhoods property values. The cards are so heavily stacked against us, she said. Theyre also up against a persistent suggestion that tenants simply vote less often than their homeowner counterparts. In some jurisdictions, there is evidence of lower voter turnout among renters. According to the United States Census Bureau, American homeowners voted more often in the 2022 U.S. congressional elections than renters, with turnout rates of 58.1 per cent to 36.5 per cent. (Canadas federal labour force survey on voter apathy does not provide turnout data that separates renters and homeowners.) Locally, though, a 2014 Maytree Foundation study found there was no correlation in Torontos wards between voter turnout and tenant population size. It noted Torontos renter-heavy neighbourhood of Thorncliffe Park actually boasted one of the citys highest turnout rates in past elections. Other factors did correlate to turnout such as lower voting rates in areas with a higher proportion of newcomers, and to a lesser degree a larger voter turnout in higher income areas. There were outliers to these findings, the study cautioned and turnout increased when there were competitive races for the mayoral or councillor seat. The prevailing sentiment that tenants vote less, it said, stemmed from the idea that since homeowners directly pay property taxes to city hall, and recognize the impact of local government on the value of their property, they have a greater stake in the outcome of local elections. In some parts of the city, renters have been left feeling ignored. In examining voter apathy in past races, the Star heard from tenants who felt their day-to-day realities were unlikely to be remedied by casting a vote. Speaking with residents of St. James Town North a dense, low-income, tenant-heavy neighbourhood in 2021, several said they felt campaigners were focused on home ownership, and they had little faith politicians would deliver fixes for renters. Tenant advocates are hoping this time around will be different. Padovani sees the tiny margin between ballots cast for her campaign and that of Frances Nunziata last fall a difference of just 94 votes, in a race where more than 21,000 people voted as a signal that frustration over rental issues is leading to traction at the ballot box. Douglas Kwan, director of legal services at the Advocacy Centre for Tenants Ontario, believes tenants could be a powerful voting force, especially given how broad that group has become. We see more and more people who are rooming with each other, people who have made the decision to stay in relationships longer than they (would) have to in order to afford rents, Kwan said. Its everyone young professionals, families, seniors and theyre all struggling because Toronto is not an affordable city to live in. However, the major question to Matti Siemiatycki a University of Toronto professor in geography and city planning is whether renters will vote cohesively, or if tenants will be split over other issues. It isnt an inevitable conclusion that renters will vote similarly, he noted. Whether its urban and suburban, or motorist and cyclist and pedestrian, there are all sorts of other dynamics that people see as important to their identity and interests, Siemiatycki said. I think thats a big question in this campaign. Housing issues overall are certainly more prominent in public policy and campaign conversations today than they were even a few years back, Siemiatycki said. In past elections, transit was often a really front and centre issue, he said, noting former mayor Rob Fords focus on subways and then-candidate Tory referencing his SmartTrack transit pitch on lawn signs during the 2014 municipal race. Now, housing seems to be top of the agenda at all levels of government and across party affiliations. The campaigns respond to what people are interested in, Siemiatycki said. As for Blackwell and McKinlay, theyre still undecided and uncertain about their future. Many of the candidates are promising affordable housing, but theyre poring over platforms to parse out the details, and see what contenders are actually offering renters like them. I dont think that renters have typically been considered important stakeholders for any politician in recent history, Blackwell said. Politicians dont necessarily realize that theres an entire generation, many of whom have been completely disenfranchised by policies that preceded them. Under current laws and bylaws, the developer proposing to raze their building will have to offer compensation and may need to offer a comparable unit in the new building. But with a potential lengthy displacement looming, theyre not sure what the next 10 years will look like now. Its crazy to me how much income renting eats up, and you cannot ever really get ahead, Blackwell said. They could probably afford monthly mortgage payments, but its nearly impossible to scrape together a down payment with home prices and rents being so high. Youre trapped in this kind of cycle, she said one that remains top of her mind as election day looms. Read more about: SHARE: UNITED NATIONS (AP) The U.N. envoy for Sudan urged the countrys warring generals to honor a seven-day cease-fire that began Monday night, warning the growing ethnic dimension to the fighting risks engulfing Sudan in a prolonged conflict. Volker Perthes told the U.N. Security Council that the conflict, which began April 15, has shown no signs of slowing down despite six previous declarations of cease-fires by both sides. All the previous truces have been violated. Mondays cease-fire is the seventh to be announced since the conflict between the Sudanese army, led by Gen. Abdel Fattah Burhan, and the Rapid Support Forces, commanded by Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, broke out last month. Speaking hours before the cease-fire began, Perthes called on both sides to stop the fighting so that desperately needed humanitarian aid can get to those in need and civilians caught in the fighting can leave safely. The violence has been most severe in Khartoum and the western Darfur region, where the RSF retain a strong armed presence. According to conservative estimates, Perthes said more than 700 people have been killed, including 190 children, and 6,000 have been wounded. He said over 1 million have been displaced with many missing. Perthes also expressed concern about the worrying ethnic dimension to the war, most visible in the restive Darfur region. In the early 2000s, African communities from Darfur that had long complained of discrimination rebelled against the Khartoum government, which responded with a military campaign that the International Criminal Court later said amounted to genocide. State-backed Arab militias known as the Janjaweed were accused of widespread killings, rapes and other atrocities. Many of its fighters were later folded into the Rapid Support Force. Perthes said that in El Geneina in West Darfur clashes between the rival forces spiraled into ethnic violence on April 24, with tribal militias joining the fight and civilians taking up arms to protect themselves. Some 450 civilians were reportedly killed, he said. Homes, markets and hospitals were ransacked and burned, U.N. premises looted, he said. Perthes said the growing ethnic dimension to the conflict not only poses risk for Sudan but has implications for the region. Unlike the previous truces, Mondays inked deal brokered by the U.S. and Saudi Arabia will be accompanied by a cross-party committee designed to track any potential violations, the two mediating nations said. The 12-person committee will be comprised of three representatives from both warring parties, three from the U.S., and three from Saudi Arabia. Suliman Baldo, director of the think tank Sudan Transparency and Policy Tracker, expects the two parties to better adhere to this weeklong cease-fire. I think the RSF needs the break as it has come under considerable pressure from the (Sudanese army) in Khartoum seeking to flush RSF units from residential areas, Baldo said. The (Sudanese army) may be tempted to continue its offensive in Khartoum but it will become clear to them that this would come at even higher costs in collateral casualties among civilians, he added. Perthes called the agreement, which is renewable, a welcome development but cautioned that fighting and troop movements have continued even today, despite a commitment of both sides not to pursue military advantage before the cease-fire takes effect. Perthes accused both warring parties of disregarding the laws of war by attacking homes, shops, places of worship and water and electricity installations. Health facilities are collapsing with more than two-thirds of hospitals closed, many health care workers killed, medical supplies running low, and health facilities reportedly being used as military positions, he said. Reports of sexual violence against women and girls, including rapes in Khartoum and Darfur, are being followed up by the U.N., he said. Reports of rampant looting of Sudanese homes and businesses, intimidation, harassment and enforced disappearance of residents are deeply concerning, Perthes said, adding that U.N. premises, residences and warehouses have also been looted. He said criminal activity has been compounded by the release of thousands of prisoners and the spread of small arms. While the warring rivals dont trust each other, the U.N. envoy told reporters later he thinks each has learned from weeks of fighting that they will not achieve an easy military victory, Perthes said. Even if one side does win after a long struggle, that could be at the expense of losing the country. In a video briefing to the Security Council, African Union Commissioner Bankole Adeoye also called for more concerted actionable effort towards a lasting cessation of hostilities and urged the rival generals to go the full course for peace. Workneh Gebeyehu, executive secretary of the regional group IGAD, told the council by video that its delegation led by South Sudans President Salva Kiir has been engaging the parties daily and coordinating with regional and international actors. He said the seven-day cease-fire makes us cautiously optimistic that a permanent cessation of hostilities is within reach and urged urged international support for IGADs efforts to resolve the conflict. SHARE: MANILA, Philippines (AP) A massive fire tore through Manilas historic post office building overnight, slightly injuring seven people and razing the nearly 100-year-old landmark in the Philippine capital, police and postal officials said Monday. The fire started before midnight in the basement of the neoclassical, five-story building and was brought under control Monday morning more than seven hours after it began, firefighters said. An investigation was underway to determine the cause of the fire and what was damaged, officials said, adding seven people, mostly firefighters, sustained minor injuries or were overwhelmed by thick smoke. The Manila Central Post Office was one of the capitals busiest office buildings but was closed when the fire started. The building was the countrys main mail-sorting and distribution hub and was the central office for the Philippine Postal Corporation. The building, recognized as a national landmark, was built in 1926 with high columns in the traditional neoclassical style. It was severely damaged during World War II and was rebuilt in 1946. It has been used as a backdrop for many Philippine movies and stands near a plaza named after national hero Andres Bonifacio which has been the site of protests by left-wing and nationalist activists over a range of political and social issues. It is located along the Pasig River on a main intersection of the capitals key roads. Postal service in the Philippines began during the Spanish colonial period with horse-riding mail couriers. SHARE: TALLINN, Estonia (AP) Russian TV went into a full frenzy of celebration as it reported Moscows capture of the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut. There were comparisons to the Red Army liberating Berlin in 1945, congratulations relayed from President Vladimir Putin and announcers emphasizing the victory by using the citys nearly century-old Soviet name of Artyomovsk. The myth that Artyomovsk is an unassailable fortress has been crushed, an anchor said Sunday night on Channel One, Russias most popular state broadcaster. Those are historic events. A report from the smoldering city in eastern Ukraine followed, showing Russian fighters yelling Victory! and placing two flags -- the Russian tricolor and the black flag of the private military contractor Wagner -- atop a tall, partly destroyed building. The flags were mounted so that everyone could see them, the correspondent said, even though the bombed-out, deserted 400-year-old city looks like a ghost of itself after the longest and bloodiest battle of the war. Despite the Russian claims, top Ukrainian military leaders say the fight there is not over, even though they still control only a small part of the city. Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar said Monday that Ukrainian troops hold parts of its southwestern outskirts, while fighting continues for the strategic heights in the northern and southern suburbs. But Kyiv says its troops played a key role in the strategy of exhausting Russian forces. Tens of thousands of fighters on both sides have died in the grinding nine-month battle for Bakhmut. Satellite imagery shows infrastructure, apartment blocks and buildings reduced to rubble from relentless artillery attacks. Putin badly needed a victory in Bakhmut, analysts say, especially after a winter offensive by his forces failed to take other front-line cities and towns. And Russia still wants to capture the entire Donetsk region a goal that was emphasized several months after the assault on Kyiv failed. On Channel One, a Russian fighter told the correspondent he felt probably the same emotions our grandfathers had in Berlin, referring to the Red Armys victorious sweep of the German capital at the end of World War II. A similar segment on Russia 1, another major state TV channel, saw a correspondent proclaim that the fight for Bakhmut ended in defeat for Ukraine. Now Russian forces can advance toward the cities of Siversk, Kostyantynivka and Kramatorsk, and even the southeastern city of Dnipro in southeastern Ukraine, she said. Two pro-Kremlin tabloids came out with headlines Monday celebrating the reported capture of the city. Bakhmut is taken. What next? The city has again become Artyomovsk, said a bright red headline on the front of Komsomolskaya Pravda. Moskovsky Komsomolets went even further and called it, The Artyomovsk turning point, noting beneath that The Ukrainian Armed Forces failed to hold onto their important fortress city, Bakhmut. A column on the state news agency RIA Novosti touched on the strategic value of Bakhmut, saying 224 days of fighting allowed Russia to grind up the best divisions of the Ukrainian Armed Forces and destroy their equipment on an industrial scale. This was its strategic value for us, RIA Novosti columnist Viktoria Nikiforova wrote. This forced Ukrainian handlers to delay their counteroffensive for months, and gave our forces time to prepare for repelling it, she wrote, countering Western arguments that Bakhmut held little strategic importance for Russia. The celebratory tone continued Monday even as Russia reported an incursion into its territory in the border region of Belgorod by Ukrainian saboteurs, triggering a counterterrorism operation. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the attack was meant to draw attention away from the Bakhmut axis, to minimize the political effect of Ukrainian side losing Artyomovsk. The fog of war made it impossible to confirm the situation inside Bakhmut, with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy saying the city was not fully occupied. In a video on Telegram, Wagner head Yevgeny Prigozhin said the city came under full Russian control about midday Saturday, proclaiming it completely taken as he held a Russian flag with a group of at least nine masked fighters in body armor and heavy weapons. Prigozhin had feuded publicly with Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu over adequate supplies of munitions to Wagners private forces. About 55 kilometers (34 miles) north of the Russian-held regional capital of Donetsk, Bakhmut was an important industrial center, surrounded by salt and gypsum mines and home to about 80,000 people before the war, in a country of more than 43 million. The city was named Artyomovsk in 1924 after a Bolshevik revolutionary when Ukraine was part of the Soviet Union, and was known for its sparkling wine produced in underground caves. Its broad, tree-lined avenues, lush parks and late 19th century mansions have been reduced to a wasteland. For Ukraine, which changed the name of the city to Bakhmut in 2016, the important factor has been the high number of Russian casualties and sapping of their adversarys morale for the small patch of the 1,500-kilometer (932-mile) front line as Kyiv prepares a counteroffensive in the 15-month-old war. The enemy failed to surround Bakhmut. They lost part of the heights around the city. The continuing advance of our troops in the suburbs greatly complicates the enemys presence, Maliar said. Our troops have taken the city in a semi-encirclement, which gives us the opportunity to destroy the enemy. In recent weeks, Ukrainian forces had made significant advances near strategic roads through the surrounding countryside, chipping away at Russias northern and southern flanks with the aim of encircling Wagner fighters in the city. Nearly 20 square kilometers (8 square miles) of territory were recaptured, Maliar said last week. Hundreds of meters more were regained almost every day since, according to Serhii Cherevatyi, spokesman for Ukraines Operational Command East. Russia deployed reinforcements to Bakhmut to replenish the lost northern and southern flanks and prevent more Ukrainian breakthroughs, according to Ukrainian officials and outside observers. Ukraines tactical gains in the rural area outside Bakhmut could be more significant than they seem, some analysts say. It was almost like the Ukrainians just took advantage of the fact that, actually, the Russian lines were weak, said Phillips OBrien, a professor of strategic studies at the University of St. Andrews. The Russian army has suffered such high losses and is so worn out around Bakhmut that ... it cannot go forward anymore. Days before Russia announced it controlled the city, Ukrainian forces held only a handful of buildings amid constant Russian bombardment. Outnumbered and outgunned, they described nightmarish days. Russias artillery dominance was so overwhelming, accompanied by continuous human waves of mercenaries, that defensive positions could not be held for long. The importance of our mission of staying in Bakhmut lies in distracting a significant enemy force, said Taras Deiak, commander of a special unit of a volunteer battalion. We are paying a high price for this. The northern and southern flanks regained by Ukraine are located near two highways that lead to Chasiv Yar, a town 10 kilometers (6 miles) from Bakhmut, that are key logistics supply routes. One is dubbed the road of life. Ukrainian forces on this road often came under Russian fire. Armored vehicles and pickup trucks heading to the city to replenish Ukrainian troops were frequently destroyed. With those high plains now under Ukrainian control, its forces have more breathing room. This will help us design new logistic chains to deliver ammunition in and evacuate the injured or killed boys, said Deiak, speaking from inside Bakhmut on Thursday, two days before Russia claimed the city. ___ Kullab reported from Kyiv, Ukraine. Danica Kirka in London contributed. Read more about: SHARE: ANKARA, Turkey (AP) The third-placed contender in the Turkish presidential elections formally endorsed President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday for the second-round runoff vote to be held on May 28. The nationalist presidential candidate Sinan Ogan, 55, has emerged as a potential kingmaker after neither Erdogan nor his main challenger, opposition leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu, secured the majority needed for a first-round victory on May 14. I declare that we will support Mr. Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the candidate of the Peoples Alliance, in the second round of the elections, Ogan said, referring to the Erdogan-led alliance that includes nationalist and Islamist parties. We believe that our decision will be the right decision for our country and nation, Ogan stated. Ogan, a former academic who was backed by a far-right anti-migrant party, won 5.17% in the May 14 vote and could hold the key to victory in the runoff now that hes out of the race. Erdogan received 49.5% of the votes in the first round - just short of the majority needed for an outright victory - compared to Kilicdaroglus 44.9%. Erdogans ruling AK party and its nationalist and Islamist allies also retained a majority in the 600-seat parliament. That increases Erdogans chances of re-election because voters are likely to vote for him to avoid a splintered government, analysts say. Ogan cited Erdogans parliamentary majority as a reason for his decision. It is important that newly elected president is under the same (leadership) as the parliament, Ogan said. (Kilicdaroglus) alliance on the other hand, could not display sufficient success against the Peoples Alliance which has been in power for 20 years, and could not establish a perspective that could convince us about the future. His endorsement of Erdogan came days after he held a surprise meeting with the Turkish leader in Istanbul. No statement was made following the one-hour meeting on Friday. Ogan insisted on Monday that he did not engage in any horse trading with the Turkish leader. Ogan had attracted votes from people who disapproved of Erdogans policies but didnt want to support Kilicdaroglu, who leads Turkeys center-left, pro-secular main opposition party. Analysts say that despite Ogans endorsement, it is not certain that all of his supporters would go to Erdogan. Some were likely to shift to Kilicdaroglu while others might choose not to vote in the runoff race. Umit Ozdag, the leader of the anti-migrant Victory Party that had backed Ogan, appeared to dissociate himself from the decision to endorse Erdogan. Mr. Sinan Ogans statement is his own political choice. This statement does not represent (the views of) the Victory Party and does not bind the party, Ozdag tweeted. He added that he would make a statement on Tuesday. Ogan listed the conditions to earn his endorsement while speaking to Turkish media last week. Among them were taking a tough stance against the Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK, and a timeline for the expulsion of millions of refugees, including nearly 3.7 million Syrians. Erdogan, meanwhile, told CNN International in an interview that he would not bend to such demands. Im not a person who likes to negotiate in such a manner. It will be the people who are the kingmakers, he said. In an apparent attempt to sway nationalist voters, Kilicdaroglu hardened his tone last week, vowing to send back refugees and ruling out any peace negotiations with the PKK if he were elected. __ Kiper reported from Bodrum, Turkey. SHARE: LAS VEGAS (AP) Arizona, Nevada and California said Monday theyre willing to cut back on their use of the dwindling Colorado River in exchange for money from the federal government -- and to avoid forced cuts as drought threatens the key water supply for the U.S. West. The $1.2 billion plan, a potential breakthrough in a year-long stalemate, would conserve an additional 3 million acre-feet of water through 2026, when current guidelines for how the river is shared expire. About half the cuts would come by the end of 2024. Thats less than what federal officials said last year would be needed to stave off crisis in the river but still marks a notable step in long and difficult negotiations between the three states. The 1,450-mile (2,334-kilometer) river provides water to 40 million people in seven U.S. states, parts of Mexico and more than two dozen Native American tribes. It produces hydropower and supplies water to farms that grow most of the nations winter vegetables. In exchange for temporarily using less water, cities, irrigation districts and Native American tribes in the three states will be paid. The federal government plans to spend $1.2 billion, said Lauren Wodarski, a spokesperson to U.S. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, a Nevada Democrat. Though adoption of the plan isnt certain, U.S. Bureau of Reclamation Commissioner Camille Touton called it an important step forward. She said the bureau will pull back its proposal from last month that could have resulted in sidestepping the existing water priority system to force cuts while it analyzes the three-state plan. The bureaus earlier proposal, if adopted, could have led to a messy legal battle. At least theyre still talking. But money helps you keep talking, said Terry Fulp, former regional director of the U.S. Bureau of Reclamations Lower Colorado Basin region. The three Lower Basin states are entitled to 7.5 million acre-feet of water altogether from the river. An acre-foot of water is roughly enough to serve two to three U.S. households annually. California gets the most, based on a century-old water rights priority system. Most of that goes to farmers in the Imperial Irrigation District, though some also goes to smaller water districts and cities across Southern California. Arizona and Nevada have already faced cuts in recent years as key reservoir levels dropped based on prior agreements. But California has been spared. Under the new proposal, California would give up about 1.6 million acre-feet of water through 2026 a little more than half of the total. Thats roughly the same amount the state first offered six months ago. But the threat of forced federal cuts made more strongly last month appears to have prompted action. Its always a concern when states lose control of their own process, said John Entsminger, general manager for the Southern Nevada Water Authority. The Imperial Irrigation District would account for more than half of Californias cuts. J.B. Hamby, chairman of the Colorado River Board of California, said the district has already taken measures to improve water efficiency and will need to do more. He said the district is working on a pilot summer idling program where farmers would sign up to turn off their water for 60 days for forage crops. During that time of year, yields are already down and more water is required, he said. Bill Hasencamp, manager of Colorado River resources for the Metropolitan Water District of California, which supplies water to 19 million people in southern California, said the wet winter means the state simply needs less water. His district is planning on leaving 250,000 acre feet this year in Lake Mead, and wont withdraw it until after 2026. The district will also turn over to the federal government a program that pays farmers to fallow land that typically nets them about 130,000 acre feet of water a year, he said. Metropolitan will save roughly $100 million over three years, he said. Buschatzke stressed that the announcement is not a final deal. We agreed to a proposal. This is not an agreement, Buschatzke said during a conference call with reporters. Buschatzke said the proposal still needs analysis and approval from the federal government, which will determine how much funding will be allocated for entities that give up water. The plan doesnt change how much water the Upper Basin states of Colorado, New Mexico, Utah or Wyoming will receive. Becky Mitchell, director of the Colorado Water Conservation Board, said that Upper Basin states didnt have a chance to analyze the Lower Basins plan in detail. The wet winter has given us a bit of space to negotiate, but we must not squander this gift from Mother Nature, Mitchell said. She said Colorado and other basin states urged federal officials to return to longer-term discussions about how to preserve water levels at Lakes Mead and Powell beyond 2026. The Colorado River has been in crisis for years due to a multi-decade drought in the West intensified by climate change, rising demand and overuse. Water levels at key reservoirs dipped to unprecedented lows, though they have rebounded somewhat thanks to heavy precipitation this winter. In recent years the federal government has cut some water allocations and offered billions of dollars to pay farmers, cities and others to cut back. But key water officials didnt see those efforts as enough to prevent the system from collapsing. Last summer, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation called for the seven basin states to figure out how to cut their collective use of Colorado River water by about 2 to 4 million acre feet in 2023 alone roughly 15% to 30% of their annual use but states blew past that deadline and an agreement remained elusive. In April, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation released a plan that considered two ways to force cuts for Arizona, Nevada and California. One contemplated using a decades-old water priority system that would have benefited California and some Native American tribes with senior water rights. The other would have been a percentage cut across the board. Michael Cohen, a senior researcher at the Pacific Institute focused on the Colorado River, called the amount of cuts the three states have proposed a huge, huge lift and a significant step forward. It does buy us a little additional time, he said. But if more dry years are ahead, this agreement will not solve that problem. ___ Associated Press writer Amy Taxin in Orange County contributed. Naishadham reported from Washington. SHARE: PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. (AP) A man in Florida lost his arm after being attacked by an alligator behind a bar, according to wildlife authorities. The 23-year-old man was attacked early Sunday behind a bar in Port Charlotte, Florida, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. The man had been a patron at Banditos Bar, which is located next to a pond. Another bar patron, Manny Hidalgo, told The Daily Sun that he heard the man screaming from the pond area and went outside looking for him in the early morning darkness. He was yelling and swimming toward the shoreline, Hidalgo said. I ran and dragged him up onto the sand. I was scared to get close to the water because it was dark out. The man was taken by helicopter to Gulf Coast Hospital in Fort Myers, where his arm was amputated, said Todd Dunn, a spokesman for Charlotte County Fire and EMS. A nuisance alligator trapper removed the 10.5-foot (3.2 meters) alligator from the property, according to wildlife officials. SHARE: BOISE, Idaho (AP) The suspect in the stabbing deaths of four University of Idaho students opted Monday to stand silent to murder charges, prompting the judge to enter not guilty pleas on his behalf ahead of a trial in which he could face the death penalty. The Nov. 13, 2022, killings stunned the rural community of Moscow, Idaho, and prompted many students to leave campus early, switching to remote learning for the remainder of the semester. Bryan Kohberger, 28, was arrested late last year and charged with burglary and four counts of first-degree murder in connection with with the slayings of Madison Mogen, Kaylee Goncalves, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin at a rental home near the University of Idaho campus. Kohberger declined to enter pleas in Latah County District Court, with his defense attorney Anne Taylor telling the judge that they were going to stand silent at this time. In response, 2nd District Judge John Judge entered not guilty pleas on Kohbergers behalf. Its uncommon but not unheard of for defendants to stand silent in criminal cases. Sometimes it is done because defendants and their attorneys feel they need more time to weigh the ramifications of entering a plea of guilty or not guilty; other times it can be part of a broader legal strategy or simply a defendants personal choice. Kohberger declined to waive his right to a speedy trial, so the judge scheduled it to begin Oct. 2. Its still possible that the trial, expected to last six weeks, could be delayed or moved to a different location. Kohberger was a graduate student studying criminology at nearby Washington State University when the University of Idaho students were killed, but prosecutors have not released any information about how they believe he may have chosen the victims or whether he had met any of them previously. Police released few details about the investigation until after Kohberger was arrested at his parents home in eastern Pennsylvania early Dec. 30, 2022. Court documents detailed how police pieced together DNA evidence, cellphone data and surveillance video that they say links Kohberger to the slayings. Investigators said traces of DNA found on a knife sheath inside the home where the students were killed matches Kohberger, and that a cellphone belonging to Kohberger was near the victims home on a dozen occasions prior to the killings. A white sedan allegedly matching one owned by Kohberger was caught on surveillance footage repeatedly cruising past the rental home around the time of the killings. Kernodle, Chapin, Mogen and Goncalves were friends and members of the universitys Greek system, and the three women lived together in the rental home just across the street from campus. Chapin Kernodles boyfriend was there visiting on the night of the attack. Latah County Prosecutor Bill Thompson now has 60 days to inform the court whether he will seek the death penalty in the case. The small courtroom was packed for the arraignment, with some members of the news media and other onlookers lining up outside three hours before the proceeding was set to begin, Boise television station KTVB reported. Family members of Goncalves were among those who attended, one of them weeping as the charges were read. SHARE: ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) Minnesota prosecutors were so worried a judge would move the murder trial of former Officer Derek Chauvin out of the city where he killed George Floyd that they conducted a mock trial in a deep red rural county to test their strategy, Attorney General Keith Ellison reveals in a new book. It worked. Ellison was pleasantly surprised that even the mock jurors in Stearns County of central Minnesota would have convicted Chauvin and three co-defendants of manslaughter, and almost all would have convicted them on the top charge of second-degree murder. Two simulated juries in Hennepin County, where the case ultimately stayed, came back guilty on all counts. Break the Wheel: Ending the Cycle of Police Violence, will be released Tuesday by Twelve, an imprint of the Hachette Book Group, two days ahead of the third anniversary of Floyd's death on May 25, 2020. Chauvin, who is white, kneeled on the Black mans neck for 9 1/2 minutes. A bystander video captured Floyds fading cries of I cant breathe. Our themes resonated, Ellison wrote. Several juries believed that the officers had a duty moral or legal to render aid to George Floyd. None were too concerned about the drugs. Even the Stearns County jury thought Floyds drug history was irrelevant. It is not clear if Chauvins defense team also conducted a mock trial. His attorney, Eric Nelson, did not return a call seeking comment. Ellison said he wrote the memoir because he wanted to provide a guide for other prosecutors and share the lessons his team learned about the difficulty of convicting police officers. The importance of getting jury selection right was one of the key lessons, Ellison recounts, but so was the value of getting testimony from witnesses who spoke up as Chauvin kept a dying Floyd pinned to the pavement outside a corner store, and, critically, got out their cameras. So was finding medical experts who could make it clear to the jury that Floyd would not have died but for Chauvins actions. Many jurors have often associated Black victims with danger and criminality. Over the expanse of American history, juries have been part of the repeating pattern across the country of acquitting officers who shoot unarmed people, often Black men, Ellison wrote. The sheer numbers of officers who have been acquitted after killing unarmed citizens is impressive. Ellison became a national figure in 2006 when he became the first Muslim and the first Black Minnesotan elected to Congress. The Democrat became the states attorney general in 2019. Criminal prosecutions in Minnesota usually fall to county attorneys. But amid the turmoil and racial tensions that followed Floyds killing, Democratic Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz asked Ellison to take the lead. Ellison recounts in his book how he used his personal connections to assemble a high-powered, diverse team of volunteer and staff attorneys to try the case. In the end, Hennepin County Judge Peter Cahill, who Ellison praises in the book, kept the trial in Minneapolis, though he tried Chauvin separately from the other three defendants. Ultimately, all four offers were convicted or pleaded guilty to state and federal charges. Despite extensive pretrial publicity, the court was able to seat a jury for Chauvin, through it took three weeks. Ellison wrote that it was the most diverse jury he had ever impaneled six Blacks and six whites. He credits Steve Schleicher, a former federal prosecutor in private practice, and jury consultant Christina Marinakis. It wasnt just luck, Ellison wrote. I knew that if we convicted Chauvin, many people would be taking some awesome jury selection work for granted. For prosecutors, Ellison said in an interview, he hopes their takeaway from the book is that tough cases like this are winnable even though roles are reversed. In a normal case, he said, jurors of all colors tend to believe the police, which helps the prosecution. But that makes officers harder to convict, he said. And while jurors typically sympathize with victims, thats not guaranteed in a police case where the defense puts the victim on trial. For other readers, Ellison said he hopes their takeaway is that ordinary citizens like the bystanders who took video of the incident and had the courage to testify can do extraordinary things. Those people who were randomly selected by fate on the corner of 38th and Chicago at around 8 p.m. Memorial Day 2020, they didnt know George Floyd, but they saw a suffering human being, Ellison said in the interview. They stopped and they said something. They couldnt do much more than say something, but they whipped out their cameras and they took pictures of it. ___ This story was first published on May 22. It was updated on May 25 to correct the spelling of the last name of prosecution jury consultant Christina Marinakis, which had been misspelled Maranakis. SHARE: In the summer of 2020, Finnish newspapers reported what was, to the Finns, a disturbing trend: According to a survey conducted by Finlands Police University College, trust in the police was slipping. Only 91 per cent of Finns trusted the police a lot or a fair amount, down from 95 per cent in 2018. In contrast, Statistics Canada reports that in 2019, only 41 per cent of Canadians had a great deal of confidence in the cops, though another 49 per cent of Canadians had some confidence. However, members of visible minority groups, people with physical or mental disabilities and victims of crime all expressed much lower levels of confidence. Canada doesn't fare quite as well as Finland and one reason for is probably the countrys Police University College. Finnish police officers complete a three-year, research-intensive university degree in policing before going on patrol, while most Canadian cops spend only a few months at police college. Thats something to consider as Ontario recently suggested, in a short-sighted effort to forestall dropping recruitment numbers, that it would no longer pursue a planned post-secondary education mandate as a prerequisite to policing. Certainly, attending university is no guarantee of virtue, but traditional police training, with its paramilitary ethos, is ill suited to preparing officers for the demands of a diverse, knowledge-based society. That was the conclusion of Nova Scotias Mass Casualty Commission, which endorsed the Finnish model, and before it, the report on sexual harassment in the RCMP prepared by former Supreme Court of Canada Justice Michel Bastarache. Both reports suggest that not only a general liberal arts education is necessary, but that police trainees need a university education focused on the realities of policing in the 21st century. The Mass Casualty Commission examined the circumstances around the April, 2020 shooting rampage in Nova Scotia that left 22 dead. Among its findings was that the standard of police training is inadequate to equip police for the important work they do and for the increasingly complex social, legal and technological environment in which they work. The shortcomings produced by this approach have a disproportionate adverse impact on those who have historically been underserved by police, it stated. That conclusion highlights the reality that in recent decades we have witnessed unprecedented technological advances and consequent computer-based crime, an aging population and rapidly increasing diversity, and a veritable epidemic of mental health and addictions challenges. To serve and protect Canadians properly, police must be fully capable of functioning in this environment. A specialized university education is therefore essential. Theres another reason to support this approach: For their own safety, police officers need it, and deserve it. The recent spate of killings of police officers in Canada has driven home the dangers of the job. If Canadians lack trust in the police, that attitude permeates throughout the culture, thereby compromising the safety of police officers and citizens. A specialized education, together with careful selection of suitable candidates, is key to changing that. That doesnt necessarily mean more education, but rather, the right education. In addition to coping with the enormous societal changes over the last few decades, policing requires a thorough understanding of law, psychology and sociology, an ability to assess a situation in short order with limited information, and an acumen for dealing with difficult individuals in high pressure situations. Equally important, policing requires people with a thorough understanding of their own psychology, particularly an awareness of their shortcomings, and a willingness to seek help if the demands of the job become too burdensome. These arent qualities that can be developed in a few months. These are qualities fostered by a lengthy, specialized education in which candidates' suitability for a career in policing is continually assessed and their skills honed to match the demands of the job today. Instead of simply eliminating university as a solution to recruitment problems, then, Ontario ought to consider the kind of university education police receive and deserve. For their welfare, and for ours. Read more about: SHARE: BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 23. Turkmenistan and the UK discussed a wide range of issues related to the development of trade and economic cooperation, Trend reports. As the Turkmen Foreign Ministry reported, these issues were discussed between Acting Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan Vepa Hajiyev and the newly appointed British Ambassador to Turkmenistan Stephen Conlon on May 22, 2023. During the meeting, the sides stated that bilateral cooperation between Turkmenistan and the United Kingdom is developing based on the principles of respect, equality and mutual benefit. In this context, the Turkmen diplomat stressed that Turkmenistan attaches great importance to parliamentary diplomacy, and in this context, it is proposed to focus on the further development and strengthening of inter-parliamentary ties. Furthermore, the British diplomat presented copies of his credentials. In turn, the Turkmen side expressed its readiness to provide assistance and support in diplomatic activities. At the end of the meeting, the sides noted the similarity or proximity of the positions of the two countries on the most important issues of international and regional policy. Ottawa unveils meaningful and much-needed bail reforms in the face of catch and release criticism, May 16 Having worked in the criminal justice field for many years, I can say that tweaks to the bail system will not achieve its desired goal. The problem that plagues the system are the extraordinary delays in getting matters to trial. Years can literally pass before a charge is dealt with in court. Despite direction from the Supreme Court of Canada that matters must proceed to trial in a timely way, lack of judicial resources, a system mired in a stilted process, and an institutional acceptance of delay means justice is routinely postponed. Even with the proposed changes to bail, many judges will be reluctant to hold an accused person in custody pending trial, knowing that the trial may be off in the unforeseeable future. My experience is that a judge who wants to get around the reserve onus can do so very easily. These changes are no panacea. Robert Prior, Halton Hills SHARE: Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday said that he will meet chief minister Mamata Banerjee on 23 May and then presidents of all opposition parties across the country in the coming days to seek support against the Centre bringing an ordinance to give the control over the bureaucracy in the NCT back to the Delhi Lieutenant Governor. He said on 23 May, he will go to Kolkata and meet the CM at 3 pm. The Delhi chief minister will also meet Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) president Sharad Pawar and former Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray this week in Mumbai to seek support against the Centres ordinance on the transfer of bureaucrats in the National Capital. Mr Kejriwal will meet Mr Thackeray on 24 May and Mr Pawar on 25 May. Addressing the media after his meeting with the Bihar chief minister, Kejriwal announced his upcoming meetings with prominent opposition leaders. The Delhi CM is scheduled to meet the Bengal chief minister on 23 May, followed by discussions with presidents of all opposition parties across the country. We seek their support against the Centres unjust ordinance, he said. Kejriwal added that he will be meeting other senior leaders of the Opposition, including West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee in the coming days. On Tuesday, I will be meeting the chief minister of West Bengal Mamata Banerjee at 3 pm. After that one by one, I will go and meet the political leaders of all the other parties across the country. I have today also requested Nitish Kumar that he speak to other opposition leaders on this issue faced by the people of Delhi. I will also continue to meet all the political leaders and formally request them to defeat this Bill if it is presented in the Rajya Sabha, he said. Leader of Opposition in Delhi Assembly Ramvir Singh Bidhuri has claimed that the AAP government has failed on all fronts. Addressing a public meeting in Kirari under BJPs Jan Chetna Abhiyan on Sunday, Bidhuri said: Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has forgotten the development of Delhi while doing politics of confrontation. This is the reason why for the first time after independence, the condition of Delhi is such that the development has come to a standstill and the government is not concerned about the basic facilities of the people. The Kejriwal government has failed on every front, he added. This year, CBSE Class 10th and 12th results have dropped. In Class 9th and 11th, the results have gone down by more than 60 per cent. The condition of public transport is such that 3,500 DTC buses have completed their life span, but the government did not make arrangements for new buses, he said. A speeding BMW car that was being driven by a woman has crushed a man to death here in west Delhis Moti Nagar area, an official said on Sunday. The incident took place at around 4 a.m. near Fun Cinema crossing. The speeding BMW car first hit the scooty that was being ridden by the 36-year-old man, then collided with a generator at the roadside, before coming to a halt. Though the police arrested the woman, she was later reportedly released on bail. The police said that the deceased identified as Ajay Gupta, used to run a grocery shop, and the woman is an architect. According to the police, Gupta was on his way home after taking medicines from a hospital while the woman behind the wheels of the BMW was returning to her home in Ashok Vihar after attending a party in Greater Kailash. A senior police officer said that the police received a call about the incident at around 4.08 a.m. The caller said that a BMW car crushed a scooty rider near Moti Nagar Metro Station and Fun Cinema. A police team that went to the spot found two vehicles in a damaged condition. The police said that neither the driver of the BMW car nor the victim, who was on the scooty, were found there. A generator was spotted there in a damaged state as it was also hit by the BMW car. Police were told that the victim was taken to a nearby hospital. On reaching there, the police learnt that the driver of the BMW car had taken the man to the hospital. Later, the man was shifted to another hospital where he was declared dead, a police officer said. Soon after the incident, a number of people assembled at the spot and raised slogans against the police and the accused. The police said that initially, they filed a case under Sections 279, 337 of the Indian Penal Code in this regard. Later, Section 304A was also added to the case. According to police, the Constable, Subhash Kharadi had a long time affair with a girl belonging to a Muslim family. Some time ago, the girls family learnt about the affair and her father stopped her from meeting the Constable. The girl consequently began distancing herself from the policeman. Her family had fixed her marriage to someone else some time ago. When the Constable learnt about that, he became furious and broke into the girls house by entering on the first floor with the help of a ladder at around 1 am on Sunday. He entered into the girls room and had a heated argument with her. When her family members rushed to her room on hearing the voices, Subhash Kharadi shot at the girl, her father and brother. The father was killed while the girl and her brother were injured. Subhash Kharadi fled from the spot before the police arrived at the scene of crime. The seriously injured girl and her brother were referred to Indore for treatment. While the police were searching for the absconding Subhash, his mangled body was found from the railway tracks five kilometres away after some hours of the incident. Police surmise he committed suicide. After shooting at the girl and her family, Subhash posted on his social media, pyar mein dhokha, isliye thoka (shot her because she betrayed me). He also wrote he had given the girl such pain, which she would not forget her entire life. His social media post went viral. According to Shajapur SP Yashpal Singh Rajput, Constable Subhash Kharadi was presently posted in Dewas district. He had received an appointment on compassionate grounds after the death of his father who was a Sub-Inspector in the MP Police. Sources said Subhash Kharadis late father was posted in the Bercha police station about 8 years ago. It was then that Subhash and the girl entered into an affair while studying in the same school there. His father died during the Covid pandemic and Subhash got an appointment in the force. Himachal Pradesh Governor Shiv Pratap Shukla said that the Indian Institute of Advanced Study (IIAS), Shimla, has carved a distinct identity for itself by its academic and research achievements. The institute has been a symbol of academic excellence and intellectual rigour, he added, while addressing the Fellows and Associate of the Indian Institute of Advanced Study (IIAS) here on Sunday. This institute of national importance is realizing the dream of former President Dr Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan to restore the ancient tradition of knowledge and learning in India. It has been at the forefront of promoting interdisciplinary research and critical thinking for a long time, said the Governor. He said that it has been a catalyst for innovation and has played a significant role in shaping the intellectual landscape of our country. This institute was basically devoted to in-depth theoretical research in humanities and social sciences and expressed contentment that the institute has fostered the spirit of intellectual curiosity and academic enquiry, he added. Expressing happiness, the Governor said that our research institutions like IIAS were actively working towards implementing the dream of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi to promote research. He said that the institute through its extensive entrepreneurship has accumulated a vast amount of knowledge by organizing lectures by renowned experts of the country and the world through various lecture series, weekly seminars and inter-university centre, which is invaluable for any institute. The library of the institute, equipped with books of about two lakh eminent scholars, was also a big treasure of this institute, he added. He expressed hope that the institute would continue to carry forward the culture of continuous research and research. He emphasized a separate collection of texts based on Indian languages in the library of the Institute. Earlier, the Governor also released two books published by the Institute, Beyond the Circle of Violence and Progress authored by former Fellow Dr Tadd Graham Fernee and The Topography of Bhakti edited by Dr Ravinder Singh and two other books of the Central Hindi Directorate. On the occasion, the Governor visited the three picture galleries, library, Viceroys office and room and evinced keen interest in the historical importance of the institution. He also honoured Padma Bhushan awardee and former Chairperson of IIAS Governing Body Prof Kapil Kapoor. IIAS Chairperson Prof Shashiprabha Kumar welcomed the Governor and said that the desire for Amritva from the Vedas originated in India. She announced to donate the collection of her books of Sanskrit and Philosophy to the IIAS posthumously. IIAS Director Prof Nageswara Rao said that the library of the institute has a collection of two lakh books and journals, and the institute has published 13 research books this year, while 7 were under publication. The Delhi government is organising a special summer camp for the citys government school students at Indraprastha Institute of Technology Delhi (IIIT-Delhi) from May 23 to June 18. The camp has been held at the institute every year since 2016. This is the seventh year when the special summer camp is being held at IIIT-Delhi. This year, nearly 250 children from schools in Kalkaji, Harkesh Nagar, Tughlakabad, and other areas participate in the camp this year. The camp was inaugurated by Delhi Education Minister Atishi on Monday. In her address to the children, Atishi said, This special summer camp is going to be an exciting journey for the students. Right from day one, they will learn something new every day. They will learn to work in teams and respect each other. What they learn here will help them tackle the challenges of everyday life and give them the confidence to utilize their skills for self-improvement. She highlighted that the camp is part of the vision of former Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia. Under his guidance, IIIT-Delhi has been organising this summer camp since 2016. The camp aims to send out a message to the children that education is not confined to the classroom and textbooks, but to explore the world outside and learn new things. Lauding the efforts of IIIT-Delhi for organising this camp, Atishi said through its special summer camp, the Delhi government is creating a unique environment for learning and skill development for the students of government schools. IIIT-Delhi has not only focused on enhancing the childrens skills but has also provided guidance regarding their career paths through this camp, she said. Children will get the opportunity to learn subjects like Applied Science, Art, Sports, Life Skills, and more, along with having fun, Atishi said, adding that this special summer camp will empower students to learn and grow during vacation breaks. Students from the Delhi government schools like GBSSS Harkesh Nagar and GBSSS Kalkaji are participating in this four-week-long special summer camp, taking place from May 23 to June 18. Activities at the special summer camp include upskilling in various subjects such as science, mathematics, entrepreneurship, life skills, professional development, and communication. Additionally, students will have the opportunity to participate in activities such as theater, art and craft, marketing, and more. New activities at Special Summer Camp this year include Applied Science, Astronomy and Analytical Reasoning. Applied Science: This years module will focus on the application of scientific facts and concepts, aiming to develop critical and creative scientific thinking in students. Practical sessions will be organized in EC labs to provide hands-on experience. Astronomy: Astronomy has been included in this years summer camp to make it interesting for students. The concepts will be covered in a highly engaging manner to captivate the students interest. Topics such as the solar system, galaxies, and astronomical phenomena, including black holes, will be explored. Analytical Reasoning: This module has also been included in the summer camp this year. It teaches students to break down complex problems into smaller parts and solve them. Through this module, students will develop the ability to think critically and identify patterns, connections, and relationships among various pieces of information. These skills will assist students in problem-solving across various fields such as science, engineering, and other areas. While expecting a favourable verdict from the Supreme Court on the issue of same-sex marriage, a fear of an ordinance by the Centre to negate the apex court order seems to haunting the Queer rights activists to a great extent. The apprehension was expressed by the participants at an interactive panel discussion on Marriage Equality: Legalising Same-sex Marriage, organised by the West Bengal chapter of All India Professionals Congress (AIPC) on Sunday. According to them, the apprehension on this count arose after the recent ordinance by the Union government to negate the apex courts order handing over the control of service of bureaucrats in the national capital to Delhi government. In that eventuality, activists feel, another prolonged battle will start from them involving Queer-friendly political parties to achieve the final goal of getting the right to certificate for marriage for same-sex couples. According to Kingshuk Banerjea, the state-coordinator of the AIPCs gender and diversity group in West Bengal, in the eventuality of on ordinance to negate a possible favourable verdict from the apex court, the fresh journey of struggle will be in developing bigger movement, involving like-minded politicians, intellectuals, academicians, social rights groups and most importantly the common. The people from the Queer community form a substantial chunk of voters in the country and we have to make the government realize that, he said. Same sex-couple, Suchandra Das and Shree Mukherjee, who participated in the panel discussion, said that during the course of hearing on the matter at the Supreme Court, while the Queer people received support from the bigger civil society an attempt to build up a counter-narrative has also started describing a the same-sex marriage as an urban- elitist affair. But the reality is while the urban-elitist same-sex couple can continue living together without the certificate of marriage by virtue of financial backup, the same is not possible for urban poor. Without a proper marriage certificate, one cannot really make his or her partner nominees for provident fund, bank accounts, insurance schemes and even making a joint loan application, said Mukherjee, a digital marketing professional. Another panelist Pawan Dhal, a pioneer of the LGBTQ rights movement in the city and the founding trustee of Varta Trust, which runs a pan-India support service provider to the people from the Queer community, whether anyone will exercise the right to have the certificate of marriage or not should be left to that individual. But the right to have that certificate should prevail always, he said. Panelist and counsel of the Calcutta High Court, Sreemoyee Mukherjee deliberated on the requirement of bringing about parallel amendments in certain other acts like adoption, custodian and succession. In a bid to promote clean technology and use of new and renewable energy, the Central government is promoting startups that offer solar solutions. In this direction, Union Minister for Power, and New & Renewable Energy R K Singh hinted at the launch of a new scheme. R K Singh said, Our government is coming out with a new scheme for distributed applications of renewable energy (RE). The scheme is expected to benefit lakhs of families across the country. We have seen the potential of grid-scale solar power; India will scale up distributed applications of renewable energy for livelihoods. Just like we have a large programme on rooftop solar and solar irrigation, we will create a large programme for DRE livelihoods. Singh further said that the government is planning to make DRE affordable livelihood equipment. One aspect of this scheme is that it will be tied up with banks. If a family wants to own a solar dryer, they should be able to get it financed from the banks we will work towards it. The minister released two new reports by CEEW and Villgro, which show that clean technologies have the potential to impact 37 million livelihoods in Indias agriculture and textile sectors and translate into a market opportunity worth almost INR 4 lakh crore (about USD 50 billion). The ninister also launched Suraj Ka Gola a solar anthem produced by CEEW and Villgro. Produced in collaboration with the band Maati Baani and Ashish Kulkarni of Indian Idol fame, the song celebrates how solar energy is transforming lives and livelihoods in rural India. With a programme like Powering Livelihoods, we are taking this clean energy transition to the masses and contributing to their incomes and livelihoods. By deploying more than 11,000 such technologies across India since the pandemic, we have shown the impact of clean-energy-powered livelihood technologies on enhancing and diversifying peoples incomes. In a country where a million youth reaches the working-age population every month, we need to aggressively support jobs and livelihoods. said Abhishek Jain, Fellow and Director of Powering Livelihoods, CEEW. The reports found that clean-tech-powered technologies offer enormous opportunities in Uttar Pradesh, followed by West Bengal, Bihar, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, and Karnataka. But the relative market for each livelihood technology varies across states. For example, micro solar pumps have the highest market in West Bengal, whereas solar dryers have the highest market in Maharashtra. BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 22. The trade turnover between Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan from January through April 2023 increased by 7 percent year-on-year, Trend reports. According to the data available, the trade turnover between the two countries reached $1.5 billion ($1.4 billion over the same period of 2022). As such, in the reporting period of 2023, Uzbekistan's exports to Kazakhstan amounted to $426.8 million - up by 16.4 percent, compared to January-April 2022 ($366.5 million). Kazakhstani exports to Uzbekistan, in turn, totaled $1.08 billion. This figure has slightly increased by almost 4 percent, compared to $1.04 billion over the same period of 2022. Thus, Kazakhstan's share in the total trade turnover of Uzbekistan from January through April 2023 accounted for 7.7 percent. However, this index has decreased moderately by 0.5 percentage points year-on-year (8.2 percent over the reporting period of 2022). Meanwhile, earlier this year, Alikhan Smailov, Kazakhstan's Prime Minister, pointed out that Uzbekistan is one of Kazakhstan's largest trading partners with bilateral trade reaching $5 billion in 2022. At the same time, the two countries have set a target for themselves to climb $10 billion in the medium term. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) will on Monday question Maharashtra Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Jayant Patil in connection with his role in the alleged IL&FS scam. Patil, who was summoned last weekjust as the Karnataka election results were being declared on May 13 when the Congress was voted to power, had sought time from the central agency and he will appear on Monday for the probe. The ED summons to Patil triggered statewide protests from the NCP and the Nationalist Youth Congress Party (NYCP) activists, and Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) allies like Congress and Shiv Sena (UBT), with many supporters trooping to Mumbai from his home town Islampur in Sangli. The NCP and NYCP activists demonstrated outside the ED office in south Mumbai, raising slogans, waving posters, placards and banners slamming the central probe agency. We want the ED to probe all the corrupt elements in the Bharatiya Janata Party instead of targeting only the Opposition parties or leaders to please their political masters, said NYCP President Mahebub Shaikh leading the protests near the ED office. The protesters said that any corrupt persons join the BJP, they are whitewashed and all corruption cases against them are dropped, but the central agencies like ED pursue a vendetta against the Opposition. As the protests heated up, Patil said that he will go to the ED office around noon as per the agencys summons, and appealed to his partymen not to crowd outside during his presence there. I have been getting calls from leaders and workers in my party and even the other alliance partners. I appeal to all my party leaders and activists not to come to Mumbai. I shall fully cooperate with the ED probe and am grateful for your affection, said Patil. Government officials, industry experts and private sector representatives from over 20 countries will attend the second meeting of the G-20 Disaster Risk Reduction Working Group (DRRWG) in Mumbai from 23 to 25 May. The Group represents a commitment to explore innovative approaches to managing disaster risk and financing for sustainable development. By examining creative financing mechanisms, the meeting will aim to mitigate the impact of disasters on vulnerable communities. The meeting will encompass four technical sessions and side events. These high-level deliberations will build upon the cross-cutting theme emerging from the first DRRWG meeting Financing for Disaster Risk Reduction, held in Gandhinagar from the 31st March to 1st April this year. Notably, the Disaster Risk Reduction Working Group (DRRWG) is a subsidiary body of the G-20 that aims to enhance disaster risk reduction efforts globally. This meeting has been strategically planned to immediately follow the Mid-Term Review (MTR) of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030, organized by the President of the General Assembly at the United Nations Headquarters in New York from 18th to 19th May. Within this context, the G-20 platform stands resolute in its commitment to delivering all-encompassing solutions in alignment with the objectives of the Sendai Framework. With G-20 nations grappling with a growing number of disasters and climate change-related risks, amounting to an estimated Annual Average Loss of $218 billion or nine per cent of average annual investment in infrastructure, the second DRRWG meeting assumes great significance. Through high-level dialogues on financing for development, this meeting presents an opportunity to call for action on finance for Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR). The discussions will encompass public and private financing, social protection, knowledge sharing and international financing mechanisms for disaster response, recovery, and reconstruction. Moreover, the DRRWG will host side events highlighting the significance of infrastructure risk assessment tools and data platforms, as well as the importance of adopting a build back better approach that integrates ecosystem-based strategies and engages local communities. Additionally, the meeting will address various other agendas, such as establishing a national framework, incentivizing private investments, and supporting disaster preparedness, which will contribute to building a more resilient future. The second DRRWG meeting will have a substantial attendance from G-20 member countries, invited nations, international organizations, and important Indian key stakeholders, including the National Disaster Management Authority, Ministry of External Affairs, the National Institute of Disaster Management, and the National Disaster Response Force. Jaipur Foot, the world-famous prosthetic limbs, figures prominently in the 12-step programme announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday to propel Indias partnerships with Pacific Island countries. The prime minister co-chaired a meeting with Pacific Island leaders to discuss ways to better cooperate in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, a spokesman of Shree Bhagwan Mahaveer Viklang Sahayata Samiti (BMVSS) said here on Monday. It will fulfill the developmental aspirations of the people of the region and consolidate the shared vision of a free, open and prosperous Indo- Pacific Cooperation, Ministry of external affairs spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said. The prime minister made the announcement while co-chairing the 3rd India-Pacific Islands Cooperation (FIPIC) Summit in Papua New Guinea. MEA Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi listed out all the 12 steps announced by PM Modi. Out of these 12 steps, Prime Minister Modi announced that in all three special camps for providing artificial limbs to the pacific Islanders will be organized and the first such camp will be held in Papua New Guinea this year, Thereafter ,the two camps annually will be held in various other Pacific Island countries. Under these steps, India will provide solar projects for government buildings, provide desalination units for drinking water, supply sea ambulances, set up dialysis units, set up of 247 emergency helpline, set up of Jan Aushadi Kendras, and set up Yoga centres. This is PM Modis first tour to PNG, as well as the first-ever visit by any Indian Prime Minister to the Indo-Pacific country. Founder of BMVSS D R Mehta said inclusion of the Jaipur Foot in the 12 steps is its recognition as a soft power of India to be leveraged for generating goodwill for itself. Mehta said the whole process of introducing Jaipur Foot for the rehabilitation of the amputees of the Pacific Islands was started in 2019 when in the FIPIC summit in New York, Prime Minister Modi announced that the camp will be held in Fiji Island. But because of the Covid the camp could be held in November 2022 in Suva and the camp was inaugurated by the Prime Minister of Fiji Frank Bainimarama. This camp in Fiji was very successful with 629 amputees getting the artificial limbs. Thalassery Archbishop Mar Joseph Pamplanis statement over political martyrdom has sparked a controversy in Kerala. Speaking at an event organised under Kerala Catholic Youth Movement (KCYM) at Cherupuzha in Kannur district, Mar Joseph Pamplani said that the apostles had dedicated their lives to the welfare of others and they are the real martyrs but political martyrs are the ones who died fighting unnecessarily. In his speech, Mar Joseph Pamplani asserted that the apostles martyrdom was for the truth but political martyrs were not for that. However, he did not take the name of any political party. Twelve disciples of Jesus were martyred for the truth and justice. However, the political martyrs of the new age were not martyred for justice. It happened when they went to quarrel unnecessarily, the Archbishop said. Pamplani also said that some of them fell off the bridge and died when they were chased by the police during demonstrations. He further said there are no living conditions for the youth in Kerala and asked why young men and women go abroad soon after finishing high school. Coming out against Mar Joseph Pamlanis statement, CPI-M state committee member P Jayarajan asked if Mahatma Gandhi was killed for going to fight. Jayarajan said that he did not know under what circumstances Pamplani made the statement insulting the martyrs. LDF convener EP Jayarajan asked: Did Gandhi ji die by falling from the bridge? N Arun, state president of AIYF, the youth wing of the CPI, said the Archbishops statement against martyrs is an insult to cultural Kerala itself. Slamming the Left parties for their attack against Joseph Pamplani, BJP state president K Surendran said the Archbishop has his right to express his opinion. Attacking him for making an opinion is undemocratic, said Surendran. It is the CPI-M that makes martyrs of those who died by going to unnecessary fights with others, he added. Mar Joseph Pamplanys statement favouring the BJP and the Central government had grabbed headlines recently. Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy on Monday alleged that TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu wanted to set up a gated community for the rich in Amaravati while keeping out the poor without basic human rights. Reddy contrasted his bete-noire for his anti-poor stance with his governments decision to distribute 50,000 house pattas among the poor in Amaravati on 26 May. The state government had made changes in the Amaravatis master plan last year in order to include R5 zone where poor people would be given house pattas for constructing affordable houses. However, the Amaravati farmers who had given up their land for pooling for the greenfield capital during the TDP regime opposed the state governments move and sought the intervention of the court. But the Supreme Court recently refused to give a stay on the distribution of house pattas. TDP leaders have pointed out that the state government under Reddy was trying to bring in poor people who are not inhabitants of the area by distributing the house pattas in order to create their own vote bank. The distribution of house patta among the poor will not only fetch much needed votes for YSRCP in the area but also make it difficult for TDP to reverse the changes and renew the capital city project if the TDP was voted to power next year. The chief minister, after formally commencing the work for construction of Machilipatnam port, hit back at former chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu who had come up with the idea of a greenfield capital for Andhra Pradesh. The government has already provided houses to 31 lakh people across the state and will work towards making Amaravati a city of equality for all people, irrespective of their caste, creed or economic status, said Reddy. Chandrababu lacks basic humanity and thats why he compared a home meant for the poor to a grave. Shame on him for this comparison, he alleged. Reddy dared Naidu to cite one instance where he had made a difference to the lives of the poor. He claimed that the scheme was aimed at providing decent living to the poor in Amaravati. He also assured that Amaravati will be developed into a smart city with modern amenities. Meanwhile, the TDP mocked the chief minister for not being able to complete the port in four years after Naidu laid the foundation stone in February 2019 just before elections. However, Reddy said his government made the port a reality after completing land acquisition, finalising the tender process and completing financial closure besides procuring all required permissions after resolving legal hurdles set up by Naidu. He said the deep sea port to be built at the cost of Rs5156 crore will completely transform the face of the Krishna district. BJP National Vice President AP Abdullakkutty on Monday accused Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan of turning the Communist Party of Marxists (CPM) into the Communist Party of Muslims. Addressing the BJP Kannur District Committee meeting, Abdullakkutty said that Pinarayi Vijayan has plans to bring in Mohammed Riaz as the future Chief Minister of the state. With this plan in mind, Pinarayi Vijayan has entered into an unholy alliance with Islamist terrorists and Jihadis, the BJP leader alleged. If the desire is to anoint the puthiyapla as the Chief Minister of the state, that wont happen here, Abdullakkutty said that last week, a minor Muslim girl was found dead under mysterious circumstances at a madrasa at Balaramapuram in Thiruvananthapuram district. Stating that the hostel of that madrassa was functioning without permission, Abdullakkutty asked whether the CM has the boldness to close down that hostel, which is functioning illegally. Previously, money raised through corruption used to go to the party. Now things have changed. Pinarayi has become the party and all the commission goes to Pinarayi Vijayans family, he alleged. He said that Pinarayi Vijayan governments rule for the last seven years has made the lives of the people of Kerala pathetic. Lies, fraud, false words and corruption are the hallmarks of the Pinarayi Vijayan government, he added. Prime Minister Narendra Modi today slammed what he called barriers arising in the supply chains of food, fuel, fertilizer and pharmaceuticals even as he announced a 12-point programme to strengthen Indias partnership with Pacific Island nations. Climate change, natural disasters, hunger, poverty, and various health-related challenges were already prevalent. Now, new issues are emerging, he noted while co-chairing the third India-Pacific Islands Cooperation (FIPIC) Summit in Papua New Guinea with the countrys Prime Minister James Marape. Pointing out that the world has gone through a difficult period of Covid pandemic and many other challenges, he said the impact of these challenges has been felt most by the countries of the Global South. (But) those whom we considered trustworthy, it turned out that they were not standing by our side in times of need. During these challenging times, an old saying has proven true: A Friend in need is a friend indeed, he said in an obvious dig at the developed world over the lack of vaccine equality. Modi said he was glad that India stood with Pacific Island nations during this challenging time. Whether it was vaccines or essential medicines, wheat or sugar; India, in line with its capabilities, has been assisting all partner countries. As I have said before, for me, you are not Small Island States, but Large Ocean Countries. It is this vast ocean that connects India with all of you. Indian philosophy has always viewed the world as one family, he told the leaders attending the meeting. India, the PM said, considered it a responsibility to bring the issues, expectations and aspirations of the Global South to the attention of the world through the G-20 platform. India has set ambitious targets on the issue of climate change, and the country was working rapidly towards them, he added. While prioritising food security, India has also focused on nutrition and environmental conservation. The year 2023 has been declared as the International Year of Millets by the UN. India has given the status of Shree Ann to this superfood, he said. Meanwhile, the Indian leader announced a 12-step programme to propel Indias partnerships with Pacific Island countries. It will fulfill the developmental aspirations of the people of the region and consolidate the shared vision of a free, open and prosperous Indo- Pacific. fulfil consolidate the shared vision of a free, open and prosperous Indo- Pacific, Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said. The 12-steps included opening up a new 100-bed regional super speciality hospital in Fiji and setting up a Regional IT and Cyber Security Training Hub in Papua New Guinea; Sagar Amrut Scholarships -1000 scholarships in the next 5 years; and Jaipur Foot Camp in Papua New Guinea in 2023. Jailed Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader and former Delhi minister Satyender Jain was taken to the Safdarjung Hospital on Monday from Tihar Jail after he complained of deterioration in his health, party sources said. Jain was placed under arrest on May 30, 2022 by the ED under Section 19 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal prayed for better health of Jain and accused the Centre of oppression. I pray to God for the better health of Satyendar Jain ji. The people of Delhi and the country are watching this arrogance and oppression of the BJP government very well. Even God will never forgive these oppressors. The public is with us in this struggle, God is with us, we are the disciples of Sardar Bhagat Singh ji. Our fight against oppression, injustice and dictatorship will continue, Kejriwal said in a tweet in Hindi. Recently, Jain had consulted a psychologist inside the jail clinic who suggested that he should be around people and have social interactions after the AAP leader mentioned that he was depressed and feeling lonely. The Supreme Court on Thursday had issued a notice on a bail plea by Satyendar Jain in a money laundering case. Senior advocate AM Singhvi, representing Jain, submitted before a bench comprising AS Bopanna and Hima Kohli that his client has extreme health problems, he has lost 35 kgs and is a skeleton now. The apex court issued notice on Jains plea and also gave him liberty to move the courts vacation bench seeking urgent listing of his plea against a Delhi High Court judgment denying him bail. The bench said, Issue noticeliberty to move vacation bencha. Additional Solicitor General SV Raju appeared for the Enforcement Directorate. The ED had initiated a money laundering investigation on the basis of the FIR registered by the CBI in 2017 under Sections 13(2) read with 13(1)(e) of the PC Act, 1988 against Jain, his wife Poonam, and Ajit Prasad Jain, Sunil Kumar Jain, Vaibhav Jain, and Ankush Jain. The CBI alleged that Satyendar Jain, while holding the office as a Minister in the Delhi government during February 14, 2015 to May 31, 2017, had acquired assets disproportionate to his known sources of income. A charge sheet was filed by the CBI on December 3, 2018. Earlier, the ED had provisionally attached immovable properties worth Rs 4.81 crore belonging to companies beneficially owned and controlled by Satyendar Jain on March 31, 2022. In a breather to the residents faced with demolition of their dwelling units in east Delhi, the Supreme Court on Monday ordered the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) to put on hold for a week its ongoing demolishing drive of unauthorised constructions in Vishwas Nagar area of East Delhi to enable residents to relocate themselves. The vacation bench of Justice Aniruddha Bose and Justice Sanjay Karol, however, refused to interfere with the Delhi High Courts order permitting the DDA to go ahead with the removal of the encroachments. If they dont vacate by May 29, it would be open to DDA to resume their demolition activities. We order that for a period of seven days no demolition activity shall be continued, the bench said in its order. The High Court had allowed the razing of over 800 alleged illegal dwelling units built on DDA land at Vishwas Nagar area. The top court asked DDA to halt for a week its demolition drive on humanitarian grounds to enable residents, mostly slum dwellers, to vacate the area on their own. The top court directed the lawyer for the DDA to communicate to the authorities during the day to immediately stall the demolition drive. The bench also sought response from the DDA by the second week of July, on the issue of rehabilitation of those whose premises are being demolished. The top court said that it will consider in July the issue whether the residents, who are sought to be uprooted from their dwelling units, are entitled for rehabilitation by the land-owning agency either under the Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board Act or any other law. The top court order came on a petition filed by some residents of the Kasturba Nagar area falling under Vishwas Nagar locality, challenging the demolition notices issued by the DDA on May 18. On March 14, the Delhi High Court had refused to stall the demolition move of the DDA while agreeing with the plea of the land owning agency that the residents were encroachers. Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Monday questioned the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committees (SGPC) decision to give exclusive rights to a Punjabi television network, linked to the Badal family for telecasting Gurbani from the Golden Temple. Addressing a gathering at Dirba in Sangrur, Chief Minister Mann said that it is unfortunate that instead of giving free rights of Gurbani to all the channels, the SGPC president is towing the line set by his masters (Badals) to give it only to one channel. What objections SGPC President has if the universal message of Sarbat Da Bhala (welfare of all) is disseminated through the Sarb Sanji Gurbani across the globe, Mann said, daring the SGPC chief Harjinder Singh Dhami to explain what was more important spreading the message of Gurbani or extending largesse to their blue eyed channel. Reacting to the CMs similar statement on Sunday asking the SGPC to extend rights to telecast Gurbani to all channels free of cost and offer to pay all expenses for the free telecast, the SGPC chief had advised Mann against creating unnecessary controversy and confusion by tweeting about the Gurbani broadcast or Guru Ghar matters. The jurisdiction related to Panthic works undertaken by a Sikh organisation and the Qaum (community) are different and the domain of a government is different. Your government is proving to be a failure pertaining to the jurisdiction of a government, Dhami said in a tweet. Responding to this, the CM said the SGPC chief who asks for votes for the Shiromani Akali Dal (Badal) in Lok Sabha polls has no moral right to give sermons to him. He said the SGPC president must say that giving the rights of telecasting of Gurbani poses a threat to the religion. Mann said this is a vague statement which needs to be condemned by one and all. The CM said that it is unfortunate that the SGPC is acting like a puppet in the hands of the Badal family and is being used by them for fulfilling their nefarious political designs. He said the Badals have misused SGPC for stalling the ambitious project of the Medical College at Mastuana Sahib, which could have transformed the fortunes of the people of the region. Mann said these people have no interest in the well being of the people but they are always bothered about their vested political interests. BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 22. The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) on Iran's nuclear program was seriously damaged when the US withdrew from the plan in 2018, Spokesman of Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Nasser Kanaani said, Trend reports. According to him, with the withdrawal of the US from the JCPOA, the European parties did not take serious steps to keep the plan afloat. The spokesman said that satisfactory progress has been made in the implementation of agreements between Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Iran has always adhered to its international obligations and is determined to continue constructive cooperation with the IAEA within the framework of the NPT. In January 2016, JCPOA was launched between Iran and the P5+1 group (US, Russia, China, UK, France, and Germany) in connection with Iran's nuclear program. In May 2018, the US announced its withdrawal from the deal and imposed sanctions on Iran in November of the same year. To preserve the agreements reached as part of the JCPOA, the European signatories of the deal started in January 2019 that a financial mechanism for maintaining trade with Iran called INSTEX was formed. On May 8, 2019, Iran announced that it had ceased fulfilling its commitments regarding the sale of over 300 kilograms of uranium, as stated in the deal, basing its decision on the other signatories that have not fulfilled their obligations. On July 7, Iran announced that it will not be fulfilling its commitments regarding the enrichment of uranium at 3.67 percent and the reconstruction of the Arak Heavy Water Reactor Facility as stated in the deal. Iran announced that it will enrich uranium using next-generation centrifuges and will not mix it with the enriched uranium residues as part of the third step of reducing commitments in JCPOA on Sept.5. On Nov. 5, 2019, Iran announced that it took the fourth step in connection with reducing its commitments to the nuclear agreement. So, uranium gas is being pumped to the centrifuges at the Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant. On Jan.2020, Iran took the last fifth step in reducing the number of its commitments within JCPOA. The US imposed new sanctions on Iran in November 2018. Over the past period, the sanctions affected Iranian oil exports, more than 700 banks, companies, and individuals. The sanctions have resulted in the freezing of Iranian assets abroad. --- Follow the author on Twitter:@BaghishovElnur Oscar winning actor Ram Charan stole the show at the opening of the G20 Tourism Working Group meeting in Srinagar on Monday when, along with the Korean ambassador Chang Jae-bok, he presented an impromptu dance performance to the famous Naatu-Naatu beats during a side event on film tourism. As many as 122 G20 delegates, accompanied by Tourism Minister G Kishan Reddy, were given a traditional welcome as they reached the Srinagar Airport from Delhi by a chartered flight. They were received by Joint Secretary G20 Bhavna Saxena and J&Ks ADGP Security, Divisional Commissioner, Secretary Tourism, Director Tourism and other officers. Kashmiri music was played at their arrival. The proceedings started with the side event on Film Tourism for Economic Growth and Cultural Preservation which was attended by Union Minister G Kishen Reddy, Minister of State in the PMO, Dr Jitendra Singh, Indias G20 Sherpa, Amitabh Kant, G20 chief coordinator, Harsh Vardhan Shringla, Secretary I&B Ministry, Apurva Chandra and others. Reddy heartily welcomed all dignitaries, international and national delegates, invitees and industry stalwarts. He described Srinagar as one of Indias oldest and the most beautiful city. He said that the governments aim is to revive film tourism not just in J&K but across India and also promote eco-tourism. He said India offers every kind of location to the filmmakers and the government is striving hard to make a comprehensive plan for tourism development, economic growth, and cultural preservation. Reddy said that films have great potential to attract tourists from across the globe. He said that film-induced tourism helps in boosting many other sectors like hospitality, transportation, etc. He said that film tourism isnt just showcasing beautiful locations but also ensures cultural preservation, promotion of talent, and boosting the economy of the region. Dr. Jitendra Singh, Minister of State PMO, remarked about the many iconic films shot in the picturesque valley of Kashmir. He said that the event is a moment of rejuvenation and reincarnation. He listed a number of films that have been shot in Kashmir before 1990 when terrorism broke out in J&K. He said that J&K provides a natural destination for filmmakers and is cost-effective as well. He said that J&K has contributed hugely to the India film industry in the past. Superstar Ram Charan expressed absolute pleasure to be once again at Srinagar. Presenting his thoughts on India as a Film Tourism Destination he highlighted Indias allure as a premier Film Tourism Destination. From the majestic deserts of Rajasthan to the idyllic backwaters of Kerala and the captivating mysticism of Kashmir offers an array of breath-taking locations for global cinema. Speaking on the occasion, Indias G20 Sherpa, Amitabh Kant said that Kashmir has a huge potential for film tourism. He said that 370 filmmakers have sought permission to shoot films in Kashmir, and the Government of India and the UT administration will go out of the way to facilitate the filmmakers. The event witnessed an offside conversation between film actor Konidela Ram Charan, and film critic Mayank Sharma. During the conversation, the actor talked about his journey in the film industry and also about the success graph of his blockbuster film RRR. The actor said that he used to come to Kashmir since his childhood. A Handicraft Exhibition held at the lawns of SKICC in Srinagar. The delegates evinced keen interest in the exhibits displayed at the Handicraft Exhibition. Indian High Commission organised a beach clean-up activity as a part of the countrys current G20 chairmanship at Brighton Beach in London on Sunday with massive participation of the local community. During the activity, Indian envoy Vikram Doraiswami along with the mayor of Brighton and Hove city council addressed the gathering. They also took G20 mega beach cleanup pledge along with the participants. Taking to Twitter, the High Commission of India in London wrote, Glimpses of #G20BeachCleanUp at Brighton today with the encouraging participation of local community. HC @VDoraiswami and Mayor of @BrightonHoveCC addressed the gathering and took G20 mega beach cleanup pledge along with the participants. @moefcc @g20org #MyBeachMyPride As part of Indias G20 Presidency, a coordinated beach cleaning activity G20 Mega Beach Clean Up is organized across G20 Countries, guest countries as well as in all the coastal States/UTs of India. The objective behind organising such activities is to draw global attention to the need to combat coastal and marine pollution and the role of citizens and their participation in the same. Notably, this event was done globally on May 21 this year. According to the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, the purpose of the Mega Beach Clean Up event was to sensitize and raise awareness about the impact of marine waste on the environment and encourage people to take action for preventing the same. The importance of individual efforts and community participation in mitigating this environmental challenge was highlighted through this event. Internationally, the event saw enthusiastic participation from 20 countries. Argentina, Australia, Canada, Germany, Indonesia, Japan, Mexico, the Republic of Korea, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, the UK and the US are the 14 G20 countries and the six invitee countries are Egypt, Mauritius, Netherlands, Nigeria, Oman and Singapore. India assumed the presidency of the G20 grouping on December 1, 2022, and will hold the South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, his US counterpart Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida could hold a trilateral summit in Washington as early as July, an official said here on Monday. The possibility of holding a South Korea-US-Japan summit this summer in Washington is being talked about, the presidential official told Yonhap News Agency. The development comes a day after Biden had proposed such a summit when he met with Yoon and Kishida on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Hiroshima on Sunday. The three countries have been strengthening trilateral cooperation to deal with growing challenges stemming from North Koreas nuclear program, and Chinas military and economic assertiveness. During their brief meeting on Sunday, the three leaders agreed to upgrade trilateral cooperation to a new level, Yoons office said. If the Washington meeting is realised, it will be the first time the leaders of the three countries will be meeting specifically for that purpose, not on the margins of a multilateral gathering. Over the long term, this could develop into a form of shuttle diplomacy between the leaders of South Korea, the US and Japan, another presidential official said, referring to the leaders regularly visiting each others countries, as done by the leaders of South Korea and Japan. Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission. BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 22. Well win in the second round of the presidential elections in Turkiye, which will be held on May 28, with a record result thanks to the will and support of the Turkish people, the countrys President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in tweet, Trend reports. "On May 14, our people demonstrated their will by giving the Peoples Alliance a majority of seats in parliament, and in the presidential election, more than 27 million of our citizens voted for us, giving us 49.5 percent of the vote," Erdogan noted. About 60 million people took part in the presidential and parliamentary elections held in Turkiye on May 14. According to the results of the counting of votes in the presidential elections, Recep Tayyip Erdogan won 49.50 percent of the votes, Kemal Kilicdaroglu - 44.89 percent, Sinan Ogan - 5.17 percent, and Muharrem Ince - 0.44 percent. Since no one has won more than 50 percent of the vote, the second round of presidential elections will be held in Turkiye on May 28. EDWARDSVILLE A Granite City man has been charged as an armed habitual criminal stemming from a Jan. 15 incident. Gregory Powers Jr., 26, was charged May 19 as an armed habitual criminal, a Class X felony; with two counts of unlawful possession of weapons by a felon, a Class 2 felony; and obstructing justice, a Class 4 felony. The case was presented by the Granite City Police Department. According to court documents, on Jan. 15 Powers allegedly was armed with a 9 mm handgun while on parole or mandatory supervised release on a felony charge out of Missouri and failed to provide police with information in a death investigation. The armed habitual criminal charge stems from convictions for mob action and unlawful possession of weapons by a felon, both out of Madison County in 2015 and 2016, respectively. Bail was set at $250,000. In an unrelated case, Danielle M. Pierson, 58, of St. Louis, was charged with unlawful use of credit or debit card, a Class 3 felony. The case was presented by the Wood River Police Department. According to court documents, between Sept. 1 and Oct. 11 Pierson allegedly used a debit card belonging to another person without their consent. Bail was set at $50,000. Gary A. Hurst, 31, of Alton, was charged with criminal damage to government supported property, a Class 4 felony. The case was presented by the Madison County Sheriffs Department. According to court documents, on May 18 Hurst allegedly damaged an electronic tablet at the Sheriffs Department, 405 Randall. Bail was set at $20,000. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate BERLIN (AP) The German government on Monday rejected criticism that it pushed to weaken existing commitments for phasing out natural gas at a summit of leaders from the Group of Seven major industrialized democracies, saying the concluding statement is in line with international climate efforts. Environmental campaigners slammed the leaders' decision in Japan to back the construction of new infrastructure for liquefied natural gas, a planet-warming fossil fuel. In their final text the G7 said that investment in the sector can be appropriate in response to the current crisis and to address potential gas market shortfalls provoked by Russia's attack on Ukraine. In the exceptional circumstance of accelerating the phase-out of our dependency on Russian energy, publicly supported investment in the gas sector can be appropriate as a temporary response, the G7 said, adding that this must be done in a way that's consistent with efforts to curb global warming. Tracy Carty of Greenpeace International said the endorsement of new fossil gas infrastructure is a blunt denial of the climate emergency. "Fossil gas is one of the most polluting forms of energy and in its liquefied form, its carbon emissions can be as bad as coal, she said. Friederike Roeder of the campaign group Global Citizen said the part played by Germany at the G7 talks was particularly disappointing." The EUs role in international climate diplomacy is critical but if Germany, as the biggest member state, continues to focus its negotiation power on new gas investments rather than leading the way for a future free of fossil fuels, this wont be possible, she said. German government spokesperson Steffen Hebestreit noted that all G7 countries have now set targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by mid-century or sooner, meaning gas would only be used for another 27 years at most. And gas will be needed for this time, too, he told reporters in Berlin. In the past Germany has never said it completely rejects the exploitation of new gas fields," said Hebestreit. At their meeting in Hiroshima, G7 leaders also expressed support for energy saving measures and the rapid roll-out of renewable power generation such as wind and solar. MEXICO CITY (AP) Authorities say they are investigating an apparent gunfight at an off-road vehicle rally in Mexicos Baja California state that left 10 people dead and another 10 wounded. Videos posted on social media showed heavy shooting at the rally in an area of Ensenada and at least three bodies lying on the ground. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate BANGKOK (AP) Thailands opposition Move Forward Party. the top vote-getter in last weeks national election, signed an agreement with seven other parties on Monday on a joint platform they hope will lead to the formation of a coalition government in July. The 23-point agreement sidesteps several volatile issues while seeking to preserve most of the agenda that brought the progressive Move Forward Party its stunning May 14 victory, in which it captured 152 seats in the 500-member House of Representatives by promoting change after nine years of conservative army-backed rule. The most contentious issue, amendment of a harsh law against criticizing the monarchy, was not included in the pact. That proposal had been part of Move Forwards campaign platform, and many younger Thais would like to see it considered along with other democratic reforms. However, the monarchy is considered a pillar of Thai national identity and conservatives oppose any changes to the law, which provides for penalties of up to 15 years in prison. Some of the eight parties did not want to be associated with even mild calls for reform of the law. The pact says, All parties agree that every mission that the government will do must not affect the countrys status as a unitary state, the countrys status as a democracy under a constitutional monarchy framework, and the inviolable status of the monarch. Move Forward Party leader Pita Limjaroenrat said the negotiations were fruitful, comprehensive, and a good start. Im prime minister-elect and there are several roadblocks as you understand it, but we have a strong team to manage it, and hopefully, to be able to minimize risk and minimize the destabilizing factors that have affected the economy. The electorates mood for change was underlined by the second-place finish by the opposition Pheu Thai party, a longtime antagonist of the army whose last government was ousted by a military coup in 2014. The eight parties signed the agreement at a news conference on Monday, exactly nine years after current Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha seized power as army chief in the coup. Monday's agreement includes several of Move Forwards core policies, such as drafting a new more democratic constitution, passing a same-sex marriage law, decentralizing administrative power and transitioning from military conscription to voluntary enlistment except when the country is at war. It also calls for reforms of the police, military, civil service and the justice process, abolition of business monopolies, and the restoration of controls on the production and sale of marijuana after its poorly executed de facto decriminalization last year. The eight-party coalition controls 313 seats in the lower house, a strong majority, but that is not enough to assure it can take power. Under the military-drafted constitution, the prime minister is selected by a joint vote of the lower house and the Senate, whose 250 members were appointed by the post-coup military government. That means the winning candidate needs at least 376 votes and will almost certainly need some support from the Senate, a solidly conservative royalist body. Several of the points in Mondays agreement required fine-tuning. It calls for a Marriage Equality Act to ensure equal rights for all couples, regardless of gender, but adds the qualification that it should be done without infringing upon the religious principles each individual adheres to. The wording is seen as important for the support of the nine-seat Prachachat Party, whose base is socially conservative Muslims in southern Thailand. Prachachats concerns are also singled out in the clause on monopolies, which targets the highly protected big producers of alcoholic beverages. Abolish monopolies and promote fair competition in all industries, such as alcoholic beverages, with Prachachat Party reserving their right to disagree on the alcohol industry only, due to religious reasons. it says. The pact includes a section on general principles which says that All parties have the right to advocate for additional policies as long as they do not contradict the policies outlined in this agreement. What is it with Congressional Republicans and their love affair with investigations? Well, not all investigations. Just investigations of Democrats or the family of Democrats or the dog walker of Democrats and....well, you get the idea. Dont get me wrong, I think that investigations of wrongdoing by public officials within the jurisdiction of Congress is a good thing. For example, the January 6th investigation was a good use of Congresss time and money. There was ample evidence of wrongdoing by public officials and threatening of members lives by armed insurrectionists. And although Republicans like to refer to the Robert Mueller investigation as a witch hunt, the fact is that 34 criminal indictments, a half dozen convictions, and evidence of Russian interference in the 2016 Presidential election were all established. Thats hardly a witch hunt despite Attorney General Willam Barrs improper whitewashing of the results that showed Trump clearly was engaged in criminal obstruction of justice. Now compare those results with the ongoing Republican investigations. The foregoing investigations arose following a finding of probable cause, but the Republicans dont wait for anything as traditionally necessary as probable cause. They are investigating President Biden without a scintilla of probable cause and nothing unearthed even suggests wrongdoing. Their investigation of Manhattan prosecutor Alvin Bragg was a singular circus that netted absolutely nothing of value. The field trip to the D.C. prison where members of Congress discovered to their horror that insurrectionists are treated like every other prisoner? Again, a goose egg of evidence of maltreatment. And you can bet that anytime there is an investigation of anyone who might remotely hold right wing views, the Republicans in Congress will immediately commence an investigation of the investigation. Its obvious that they are willing to spend precious time and money to threaten anyone that even hints at finding that Republican officials acted improperly. This last week was particularly telling in ones understanding of the tail chasing antics of Republican investigators. Chairman of the House Oversight Committee, James Comer (R-KY) promised that he was going to finally show us the evidence of crimes committed by Joe Biden and/or his family members. But that didnt happen because according to Comer, he lost his informant. Comer said the informant was maybe a spy and spies are sometimes hard to find. Comer didnt reveal what the spy-guy told the committee or Comer, and Comer didnt reveal what another alleged whistleblower had to say about the Bidens. Frankly, Comer wound up looking foolish and embarrassed to everyone, including the pundits on Fox. It was a dog ate my homework moment at best. Also, after the Mueller investigation, Trump directed AG Barr to investigate the FBI for bias against Trump. Barr selected John Durham to perform the investigation even though there was little value to be gained by Trumps attempt at political payback. Mind you, Trump declared that when Durham was through he would reveal the crime of the century and later Trump declared, "Durham is also coming up with things far bigger than anybody thought possible. Nobody ever thought a thing like this would be even discussed, let alone an act like this committed. After four years and over $6.5 million spent, Durham came up with bupkis. He brought two criminal cases which resulted in unanimous acquittals and never showed any wrongdoing by the FBI. The report (despite some obviously biased statements) concluded, This report does not recommend any wholesale changes in the guidelines and policies that the Department and FBI now have in place to ensure proper conduct and accountability in how counterintelligence activities are carried out. What Durham found was nothing to see here. Meanwhile, the report is silent as to why Durham and Barr traveled to Italy to investigate possible wrongdoing by Trump. Meanwhile, Jim Jordan wont let Democratic members of his committee view alleged whistleblower testimony, despite House rules requiring disclosure. What is he afraid of? Republican obsession with obviously useless investigations can only be explained in a few ways. (A) Either the GOP is so bereft of policy ideas that their time must be filled doing something or; (B) they have decided that any investigations of political opponents work well for slinging mud or; (C) they use investigations to intimidate people who might dare to question their authority. Whatever, its a horrendous waste of taxpayer money and Congressional time. The public is benefitted not a jot by the political theater in which the Republicans engage time and again. The farce has become too apparent. BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 22. The presidential candidate of Turkiye from the ATA Alliance, Sinan Ogan, said during his speech in Ankara that he would support Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the second round of elections in the country, Trend reports. About 60 million people took part in the presidential and parliamentary elections held in Turkiye on May 14. According to the results of the counting of votes in the presidential election, Recep Tayyip Erdogan won 49.50 percent of the votes, Kemal Kilicdaroglu - 44.89 percent, Sinan Ogan - 5.17 percent, and Muharrem Ince - 0.44 percent. Since no one has won more than 50 percent of the vote, the second round of presidential elections will be held in Turkiye on May 28. BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 21. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called on the US authorities to identify the "terrorist" who attacked the "Turkish Consulate" in New York, Trend reports. The Turkish leader also demanded that the necessary measures must be taken in connection with the incident. President Erdogan recalled that the security of the Turkish Consulate was entrusted to the US authorities. Previously, an unidentified person attacked the Turkish Consulate in New York, where, among others, Turkiye's permanent mission to the UN and the country's consulate general in the American metropolis are located. Turkish Consul General in New York Reyhan Ozgur said no one was injured in the incident. According to the diplomat, the building was damaged. Beelittle emerges as a remarkable baby store, driven by the vision of a passionate group of three moms dedicated to providing the best and safest products for babies in the Indian market. Hailing from Tirupur, the textile city, these moms recognised the exceptional materials produced locally were being exported instead of being made available to Indian parents. This realisation ignited the spark that led to the establishment of Beelittle - the ultimate one-stop shop for newborns and toddlers. From its inception in 2015, Beelittle has remained committed to offering safe and high-quality products for babies, setting itself apart by creating in-house innovated exclusive products and kits that help and support newborns and mothers. The brand's mission centers around ensuring that every product meets the highest standards of safety, functionality, and style. Mothers across the country have shown immense love and support for Beelittle, enabling the brand's expansion to three branches in Tirupur, Coimbatore, and a newly opened store in Chennai. Additionally, Beelittle has created a thriving online store, www.beelittle.in , that delivers pan India, providing convenient access to its extensive range of baby essentials for parents nationwide. Co-founder of Beelittle, Gayathri, commented, "We take immense pride in being a part of creating a safe and cherished childhood for our little customers. The unwavering trust and loyalty shown by mothers have propelled our growth exponentially. We owe our success to the satisfaction of our customers who trust us to provide end-to-end solutions for their newborns and toddlers. Beelittle is the ultimate one-stop shop for newborns, offering a comprehensive range of essentials such as thottils, bedding, towels, swaddles, clothing, and more. All newborn essentials are meticulously crafted using 100% organic cotton, ensuring exceptional durability and softness with each wash, leaving parents impressed and delighted with the longevity of the products. Expanding their collection, Beelittle has become a trusted destination for toddler clothing . From cozy winter sweaters, rompers, and jablas to sleeveless tops, shorts, frocks and t-shirts, they offer a diverse selection for boys and girls up to 5 years old. Whether it's cute pajamas for bedtime or stylish outfits for everyday wear, Beelittle ensures quality and style in every piece. Discover the perfect essentials and clothing for your little ones at Beelittle, where comfort and craftsmanship go hand in hand. Driven by their commitment to serving parents and their little ones, Beelittle is determined to expand its presence to more cities. The brand's goal is to reach every corner of the country, providing safe, authentic, and top-notch products that enhance the well-being and comfort of babies. Beelittle has gained immense popularity among parents due to its focus on safety, quality, and style. The brand's dedication to sourcing exceptional materials locally ensures that parents have access to the best products available. Their commitment to creating in-house innovated exclusive products and kits further sets them apart from the competition. The success of Beelittle can be attributed to the unwavering trust and loyalty shown by mothers across India. The brand's expansion to multiple branches and the establishment of a thriving online store is a testament to the customer satisfaction and the superior quality of their products. In addition to offering an extensive range of baby essentials, Beelittle is also dedicated to making a positive impact on society and the environment. The brand uses plastic-free and biodegradable packaging for their products, contributing to a greener future. Beelittle extends an invitation to parents, encourages to embark on a beautiful journey of parenthood by exploring the wide range of products offered. Parents are invited to experience the joy of providing their little ones with the best that Beelittle has to offer. Trust Beelittle to provide the utmost care, ensuring your precious bundles of joy thrive in a safe and nurturing atmosphere Rahu-Ketu is the Sanskrit name given collectively for the Nodes of the Moon. Rahu is the North, and Ketu is the south node of the Moon. They are always directly opposite each other, that is 180 degrees apart. In Vedic astrology, the two Moon nodes, Rahu the Dragon's Head and Ketu the Dragon's Tail are extremely important. Even though they do not physically exist, the two nodes are venerated as full-fledged planets. If you are struggling to make yourself established with a name and position in your job but getting frequent obstruction and have to struggle sometimes for that which leads you to become depressed; however, its not always your fault. Rather it is written in stars and planets. Rahu and Ketu are two such powerful celestial bodies which can turn your career upside down. Due to these two planets some negative effects and a sudden obstruction can come in your career span which might get difficult to adjust to. When Rahu and Ketu are consecutively going with their period, things will change in the workplace, maybe any conflicts can come at the workplace, there could be no growth or increment during that time and complexity in tasks might increase. When Rahu is in the 10th position, then you will experience aggression towards your professional life. As per Vedic astrology, Rahu represents strong desires, and Ketu represents acquisitive detachments. Thus, the amalgamation makes a person run behind money, wealth, name, and status; being a professional person is not at all a good characteristic. Negative Effects of Rahu-Ketu on different sun signs 1 . Effect on Fiery Signs When Rahu and Ketu combine together then an individual becomes aggressive. As per Vedic astrology, fiery signs like Aries, Leo, and Sagittarius are aggressive, angry, and antagonistic. Thus, that combination of these signs will make the person argumentative at the workplace which is not good. Another thing is that there will be a rise to a passion for more money within the individuals, so they frequently change their jobs. Their aggressive nature and argumentative nature put them in trouble in their job or business ground. 2 . Effects on Airy Signs Rahu in airy signs is the most comfortable and best suited. The three major airy signs, namely Gemini, Libra, and Aquarius are owned by Mercury and Venus. These two planets are fortunately friends of Rahu and Ketu! Whenever either Rahu or Ketu has reference to the meridian point, then even the career growth among these signs doesnt take place in a good way. There would be a lot of obstructions in their progress in their career life. 3. Effects on Watery Signs Like the fiery signs the effect of Rahu and ketu on watery signs i.e Cancer, Scorpio, Pisces creates not that extent of damage. However, the Rahu is uncomfortable in case of watery signs as well. Those who have Rahu in the 10th house will have very few signs of suffering. But it really creates a sense of frustration among the natives. They have a tendency of frequent changes in their job and they are not at all satisfied with anything and always try to find more and more options in life. 4. Effects on earth signs Though the relationship between Rahu and Ketu with every earth sign is not bad but the comfort zone is lacking anyhow. The signs like Virgo, Taurus, and Capricorn generally experience a general growth in their career. They need to develop patience, trying to maintain an attitude unless it will not be a practical approach under the effect of Rahu and Ketu. Hence, they are trying to make a pleasant environment within the workplace. In Vedic astrology Rahu is signified as a shadow planet. Rahu is often represented as malefic. Let us know which house in the horoscope where Rahu affects negatively on career. 1. Rahu in the 1st house makes a person restless. When Rahu is placed in the first house, it creates a strong desire for success, making individuals competitive and driven to climb the social ladder. It has some negative consequences, such as leading individuals towards unethical or illegal activities and addiction to substances. It may also create physical and mental health issues, leading to obsessions, unfulfilled desires, delusion, and disappointment which also affect their work life. 2. Rahu in the 2nd house will impact negatively. As Rahu is a negative planet, thus, we may see negative developments in the areas of earning money. The natives will be a spendthrift; they will spend money easily and on useless things which affect their career. A sense of balance or judgement is lacking to choose the right career. They will be involved in legal problems frequently. They are misjudged and unpopular because of their harshness and impoliteness in the workplace. They create several enemies, which may be an add-on to problems in their workplace. 3. Rahu in the 3rd house usually causes harsh speech, evil thoughts, illegal cohabitation, pilgrimage, isolated life, impediments, obstacles in career life. There will be an inability to lead an independent life. Rahu longs for freedom. It develops relationships with every person just to serve its selfish interests. As Rahu is highly selfish, it causes an increase in aggression too. This nature damaged their career life thoroughly. 4. Rahu in the 4th house makes individuals greedy and they have an excessive urge to get high status in society with unfair means. There will be a lack of empathy and emotional intelligence towards others. They become more hyper and over possessive as time flies. They lose their tendency to judge things properly. So they are confused about deciding the proper stream for their career. We know that Moon rules the 4th house, which is also an opponent of Rahu, so it negatively influences the natives life. Natives can lose their business assets and might face adverse financial situations in the future. Things can get worse in the workplace if they are unable to control their anger, they might lose all luxuries, comforts and positions. The individuals are greedy and achieve their goals through unjust means which create a bad reputation in the workplace. 5. Rahu in the 5th house of the Kundli generally you might bear too much to go through. Your life will be hard to deal with. You may suffer from severe health issues. Stomach-related troubles and other diseases may cross your life all the time which will affect your career as you are unable to achieve the right thing at the right time due to your health issues. Besides that, you would be a comfort lover and pleasure seeker and involved with the company of cheaters and frauds. They would be rule breakers and believe in doing unusual and intense things in life, and for that they even do not dare to break the moral boundaries or any risky kind of things in life. 6. Rahu in the 6th house means they will suffer from health issues. Natives are likely affected by illness and as their illness is difficult to diagnose. Due to this reason their study life and their career life is hugely affected. Rahu is in conjunction with Venus, the native is involved in an extra-marital affiliation. This will impact their social reputation. When Rahu is in conjunction with the planet Jupiter, you are likely to be involved in litigation. Work life and reputation of your career is damaged due to this effect of Rahus position in their birth chart. Your earning section may damage your savings very much. 7. Rahu in 7th house is not a good sign to be. You might lose all optimism in your life. With Rahu in the 7th house of your chart, you shall seek pain, sorrow, and grief followed by hardships and frustrations in life. They experience a lot of enemies and hardships in life. They need to be very cautious before getting involved in any business. They would not succeed in trading or in business. Their career might be a little hazardous due to Rahu. If involved in business they might lose money due to the actions of their partner. 8. Rahu in 8th house is a negative placement so it always brings trouble in life. As their health was not good anyhow, from childhood they were used to facing trouble in studies. Choosing careers may give them a dilemma. Natives may be prone to fake investments and false insurance. They wouldnt really mind dabbling in illegal activities for monetary gain. It may also bring misfortune in the form of maladies, deteriorating mental health. They would lack sincerity and seriousness in their approach towards life. 9. Rahu in the 9th house may have ill effects affecting your life all the time. Your cravings for fame and wealth shall never end and you can go to any extent for that. Native achieve success little late may be middle of the life. Rahu makes you involved in a scandal which can act as a catalyst for you to fall from a high position in life. 10. Rahu in the 10th house might seek delay in success. Your childhood might go a bit hard, and general parental care shall be lacking in your life. You will get profits from your profession a little later than usual. Rahu in this house gives a downfall in career too if associated with Saturn. Rahu here gives contacts with gangsters and underworld sometimes. There are high chances that you will receive whatever you wish for, but the way to the same would be shady and immoral. You will adopt immoral and unlawful ways to grow in position and power in life. 11. Rahu in the 11th house may become deceptive, arrogant, witty, and egoistic. Everybody in life wants to fulfil their own desire but in the case of those people who have Rahu in the 11th house the knack to accomplish the same would be lacking, and you will hardly do a thing to achieve your goals. Despite many tries you will remain unsuccessful. They will face a drastic failure in the share market. The potential danger associated with the placement of Rahu is the tendency to apply tricky means to use their social circle for economic advantage. Few peoples career lives are damaged for this reason. 12. Rahu in 12th house makes Despite tons of hard work put into the projects and work lives, you may not be able to yield the desired results. Rahu represents illusion, desires, and cravings. It will create confusion and cloudiness in your mind. Therefore it promotes the illusory world and separates you from the original source, so deciding what to do in your life will be a big problem that tends to utter disappointments. It creates an inexperienced future pathway. This may also affect your income as it may not be as you are expecting it to be. This will lead to displeasure and you may lack the motivation to work harder. People may suffer humiliation and hardship in their work life If Ketu is located in the tenth. The native will always find it difficult to enjoy their work because most likely they will be caught in a line of profession which is not the line of interest. But what makes Ketus case different is that such people will keep their frustrations and uneasiness unexpressed for long and then end it with a disastrous move. Unlike Rahu in the tenth, these people will not try to bring in a change in their career, but will ruin it by continuing at the same place and the performance going down each day at a time. The transits of Rahu and Ketu are also undesirable for career. Whenever the transit of either Rahu or Ketu has reference to the meridian point, there is tension in the profession. An assessment however reveals that the transit of Ketu over the 10th house creates more trouble than of Rahu. When the transit of Rahu and Ketu at 10th house may be from lagna or Moon it affects the career badly. It worsened when this transit happened with the influence of Saturn. Dr Sohini Sastri, recipient of awards from the Honble President and Vice President of India, is available for consultations at www.sohinisastri.com and at sohini.sastri@gmail.com and on 9163532538/9038136660 to provide solutions to critical issues of people seeking help. Surendra Bagri, an accomplished Dubai-based Indian entrepreneur and businessman, renowned for his professional excellence and passion for global exploration, has teamed up with Le Meridien Hotels & Resorts, Al Marjan Island, for an exciting joint venture. Bagri, an astute entrepreneur, is also a founding member of Three Musketeers Hospitality (TMH), a subsidiary of Plus Holding Limited (PHL) based in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). He collaborates with his partners, Ajay Halwasiya and Hari Tibrewala, to elevate their premium hospitality offerings in Ras Al Khaimah. In a strategic move to enhance their hospitality experience, TMH has partnered with Marriott International, recently finalising an agreement to introduce Le Meridien Hotels & Resorts to the region. This collaboration aims to bring the renowned Le Meridien brand to Ras Al Khaimah, enriching the hospitality landscape. Delighted about this decision, Surendra Bagri expressed his enthusiasm, saying, Al Marjan Island has always held a special place in my heart. When we discovered the upcoming Wynn Casino, we were inspired to construct a 5-star hotel in close proximity. This strategic move aims to provide a luxurious accommodation option for guests who wish to enjoy both the casino and the attractions of Al Marjan Island. Hari Tibrewala, one of the collaborative partners in this venture, expressing his excitement about the venture stated, Our collaboration with Le Meridien Hotels & Resorts, Al Marjan Islands, represents an incredible opportunity to elevate the hospitality landscape in Ras Al Khaimah. We are committed to delivering exceptional experiences that showcase the essence of Le Meridiens philosophy and capitative discerning travellers and I am certain that this move will be a game changer for the hospitality and tourism industry. Strategically located on a pristine beachfront, the resort will be the latest addition to Al Marjan Island's expanding collection of hospitality destinations. These sought-after destinations play a pivotal role in attracting an increasing number of visitors from around the world to the northern Emirate. Le Meridien Al Marjan Island Resort & Spa is poised to offer 350 modern guest rooms with breathtaking ocean views. The plans for this exceptional hospitality destination include seven enticing food and beverage venues, as well as a variety of recreational facilities such as a state-of-the-art fitness center, refreshing swimming pool, rejuvenating spa, and engaging kids club. The property will embody the essence of Le Meridien's philosophy, embracing the good life, while showcasing signature brand programs and spaces like Le Meridien Huba contemporary reinterpretation of the traditional hotel lobby. By joining forces with Le Meridien Hotels & Resorts, Al Marjan Island, Surendra Bagri and his partners aim to create an exceptional and unforgettable experience for guests, blending world-class hospitality with the natural beauty and vibrant attractions of Al Marjan Island. The collaboration between Surendra Bagri and Le Meridien Hotels & Resorts, Al Marjan Island, represents a significant milestone in the hospitality industry. This partnership not only showcases Bagri's entrepreneurial acumen but also highlights the growing demand for premium accommodations in Ras Al Khaimah. As the Emirate continues to gain popularity among international travellers, this venture is poised to contribute to its thriving tourism sector. Ras Al Khaimah, with its pristine beaches, rugged mountains, and rich cultural heritage, has emerged as a favoured destination for travellers seeking a unique and immersive experience. The addition of Le Meridien Al Marjan Island Resort & Spa will further enhance the Emirate's allure, offering discerning travellers a luxurious retreat nestled amidst nature's splendour. The partnership between TMH and Marriott International signifies the confidence and trust placed in the region's potential for growth and development. The collaboration not only strengthens the presence of Le Meridien in the Middle East but also contributes to the economic prosperity of Ras Al Khaimah, creating job opportunities and driving investments in the local economy. Surendra Bagri's collaboration with Le Meridien Hotels & Resorts, Al Marjan Island, is a testament to his entrepreneurial spirit and commitment to providing exceptional hospitality experiences. With their shared vision, Bagri and his partners strive to give a major boost to the tourism sector as the property will embody the essence of Le Meridien's philosophy of embracing the good life, and it will showcase signature brand programs and spaces like Le Meridien Hub, which reimagines the traditional hotel lobby with a modern touch. As bibliophiles eagerly await the International Booker Prize winner, set to be announced at a ceremony in London on Tuesday, let's take a quick look at the six books up for the award. Every year, the International Booker is awarded to a book which is translated to English and published in the UK and Ireland, thus promoting international fiction from around the globe. India missed a spot after Tamil writer Perumal Murugan's novel Pookuzhi, translated into English as Pyre, failed to make it to the shortlist that includes novels by authors from Spain, South Korea, Guadeloupe, Cote dIvoire, Bulgaria and Mexico. Pyre was one of the 13 books on the longlist for the coveted prize. This year's shortlist includes six phenomenal stories with their own exceptional themes. These are: Boulder by Eva Baltasar, Whale by Cheon Myeong-kwan, Standing Heavy by Gauz, Still Born by Guadalupe Nettel, Time Shelter by Georgi Gospodinov and The Gospel According to the New World by Maryse Conde. Boulder by Eva Baltasar, translated by Julia Sanches Boulder, which is originally written in Catalan, is a short, sensual, and poetic work of lesbian literature that unleashes the complex feelings of love between two women and the impact of motherhood in their relationship. The protagonist, 'Boulder', as she was nicknamed, is a cook on a merchant ship. She is a woman content with her singularity as well as someone who is desperately looking for a partner to tide through her loneliness. She falls in love with a young, blonde Scandinavian geologist, Samsa, and settles for a domestic life in Reykjavik. The story then takes the readers on a roller-coaster of unforeseen shifts in their lives, from buying a house to settling down, and finally, their baby girl Tinna. Boulder thus insists on how Samsa is trying to 'tame' her in their journey of exploring the wonderful state of motherhood. Baltasar equally and beautifully manages to portray the thoughts and feelings of two different minds through dark metaphors and figurative language. The story, which is entirely framed by Boulder as the central figure, never fails to intertwine emotional vulnerability with an upbeat outlook. Whale by Cheon Myeong-kwan, translated by Chi-Young Kim Written by the South Korean novelist, screenwriter, and director, Chein Myeong-kwan, Whale was published in December 2004 and was later translated to English by Chi-Young Kim. The story is set in a remote village called Jeju during the period of 1950s. The plot primarily centres on a mother, Geumbok, and her daughter, Chunhui, who fall under South Korea's increasingly repressive system. In addition, the tale renders that even Geumbok, who eventually reinvents herself in the middle of the crisis, is vulnerable to failure simply because she is a woman. Cheon, therefore, through his irrepressible characters, visualises a prominent subjectsexism. The stories of the three women thus blend into a female line of family trauma. He anchors his story with political turmoil and juxtaposes the dark, magical realistic elements to evoke the question of women's survival in a merciless social disposition. Indeed, consistency is maintained between the playful plot and a myriad of topics that are still relevant and discussed today. Standing Heavy by GauZ, translated by Frank Wynne Standing Heavy, written by Armand Patrick Gbaka Brede, known by his pen name GauZ, is originally written in French and is excellently translated by Frank Wynne. It is his first novel, which came out in 2014, and a sharply satirical and poignant story that examines the aspects of colonialism, racism, and classism. As the story is associated with the author's own experience as an undocumented student in Paris, it makes the readers laugh and ponder at the same time. The Guardian thus referred to it as "intense and very funny". It tells the tale of three interconnected menFerdinand, Ossiri, and Kassoumemployed as security guards, one of the few positions open for undocumented African immigrants in Paris. In line with the title of the story, it alludes to the underpaid, long-standing jobs, and physically depleted people of the marginalised communities. The plot, which is structured around three different periods from the 1960s to the early 2000s, encompasses particular challenges as well. Even when managing to portray the general encounters of a society, GauZ never fails to preserve his poetic, acute, and observant nature throughout the tale. Indeed, it is an exceptional piece of writing with serious social criticism, exposing and examining the pathetic western over-consumption, migration, capitalism, and exploitation. Still Born by Guadalupe Nettel, translated by Rosalind Harvey Still Born is written by Mexican writer Guadalupe Nettel and is finely translated by Rosalind Harvey. The tale centres around two contemporary women, Laura, the narrator of the story, and her friend Alina, who are soon to be sterilised. The story of the two independent and career-driven friends later turn over to an appealing but still consequential decision of embracing motherhood. Exploring the issues in all their complexities, Nettel evokes a sense of extreme emotional impact, which makes her work heartfelt, resonant, yet brave. It is a moving novel that is affecting, elegant, and thought-provoking with clear and intimate language which deals with aspects ranging from maternity, male violence, and possibilities of raising a child with profound disabilities. The vibrant yet heartbreaking journey of the two young women is a roller-coaster of varying, intense emotions. Time Shelter by Georgi Gospodinov, translated by Angela Rodel Time Shelter is written by the award winning Bulgarian writer, poet, and playwright Georgi Gospodinov and is translated by Angela Rodel. The literary fiction, which was originally published in 2020, unravels a remarkably insightful concept of a 'clinic of the past'. The story is ordered as fragments of several short stories. The narrator, named as the author, opens a clinic along with the enigmatic character Gaustine, who is a geriatric psychiatrist, to treat dementia and Alzheimer's, which later becomes an enormous success as rich people begin to visit, thus recreating the figments of the past that are associated with the patient's memories. The clinic is specifically designed, representing a decade of history through which the author brings together and presents the politics of eastern European nations. The patients are brought back to a safe space of their reliable memories, hence floating in a peaceful state of mind associated with contentment. Later, the story captures the nation's descent to chaos, with Gaustine disappearing, which brings into question his very existence and the author's memories, which are eventually collapsing. The exquisite literary work is thus implying the dangers and consequences of dwelling in the past or holding back instead of moving forward. The Gospel According to the New World by Maryse Conde, translated by Richard Philcox The Gospel According to the New World is a picaresque literary work by the Caribbean author Maryse Conde. It was originally published in October 2021 and is translated by Richard Philcox. The story is centred on a miracle baby, 'Pascal', with a breathtaking appeal, a wheat complexion, and grey-green ocean eyes. He grew up with his foster parents and is considered to be sent by God; therefore, he wonders about his special destiny. The amusing story parodies parts of Bible references as well as the journey in search of Pascal's origin and mission in an enjoyable and less complex manner. With the hope of finding an answer, Pascal feels the need to travel around the region. Conde thus composes a Messiah for the global era and examines the darker side of society, corruption in particular. The European Union slapped Meta with a record $1.3 billion privacy fine Monday and ordered it to stop transferring user data across the Atlantic, the latest salvo in a decade-long case sparked by U.S. cyber snooping fears. The penalty fine of 1.2 billion euros from Ireland's Data Protection Commission (DPC) is the biggest since the EU's strict data privacy regime took effect five years ago, surpassing Amazon's 746 million euro penalty in 2021 for data protection violations. Meta Ireland's transfer of personal data from the EU to the US has been under investigation by the DPC since 2020. The fine levied by the DPC is the largest ever levied under Europes signature data privacy law, known as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). DPC's investigation found that Meta failed to "address the risks to the fundamental rights and freedoms of data subjects" that were identified in a previous ruling by the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU). Metas infringement is very serious since it concerns transfers that are systematic, repetitive and continuous, Andrea Jelinek, chair of the European Data Protection Board told CNN. Facebook has millions of users in Europe, so the volume of personal data transferred is massive. The unprecedented fine is a strong signal to organizations that serious infringements have far-reaching consequences, she added. Meta, which also owns WhatsApp and Instagram said it was "disappointed to have been singled out" and the ruling was "flawed, unjustified and sets a dangerous precedent for the countless other companies". Meta also said that it would appeal the ruling. -- With PTI inputs Popular South Indian actor Ram Charan, on Monday, said the accolades that the popular film RRR received are not just for the film, but for the whole of India. The actor was speaking at the 'Film Tourism for Economic and Cultural Preservation' event at Sheri Kashmir International Convention Centre (SKICC) in Srinagar, being hosted as a part of the three-day Tourism Working Group Meeting of the G20 countries. I never get tired talking about RRR, the actor said, adding, I am detached from my other works, but not from RRR. Ram Charan said RRR has become India's film. It is not my movie, but India's. It is not my song, but that of the people of India. He said he doesnt know what it takes to compose a song like Naatu Naatu but everyone involved in RRR is more than happy with the kind of response the movie and the song received. He called the movie pure desi product. Showering praises on Kashmir for its scenic beauty, the actor said he used to come to Kashmir with his father, as a kid. It will sound cliche, but the coolest place to shoot in India is Kashmir. I am a second-generation actor. My dad has shot extensively in Kashmir, the actor, son of cinema veteran Chiranjeevi, the RRR star said. There is something about this place. One lifetime is not enough to explore the beauty of Kashmir, he said. The actor thanked the government and Union Minister for Tourism Kishan Reddy for inviting him to the event. He was presented with a Kashmir shawl amid thunderous applause. The actor and South Korean ambassador enthralled the audience by dancing to Naatu Naatu on the occasion. Avtar Singh Khanda, who is believed to be roaming freely in London, allegedly holds the key to the trans-national Khalistan conspiracy that led to the rise of Amritpal Singh and culminated in violent acts in Punjab and foreign shores before the tricolour at the Indian High Commission in London was pulled down on March 19. A team of the National Investigation Agency is all set to travel to the UK within the next fortnight to meet their counterparts in London and gather information like incident details, and CCTV footage, visit the crime scene, take statements of officials who handled the protestors when they tried to pull down the national flag. The NIA investigation into the series of events that led to the incident in the UK is looking at a larger conspiracy by pro- Khalistan groups operating on foreign soil to destabilize Punjab and create unrest in the country. The NIA took over the case from the Delhi police which registered an FIR on March 23 on the basis of a complaint filed with its special cell against the violent acts in which two officials of the Indian High Commission in London sustained injuries. The Delhi police FIR named Avtar Singh Khanda, Gurcharan Singh, and Jasvir Singh as key suspects. Subsequently, the union home ministry handed over the case to the NIA smelling a larger conspiracy. Sources said Khanda is learnt to be the brain behind Amritpal and has connections with the banned pro-Khalistan outfits operating in different countries. Khanda is reportedly an asylum seeker in the UK and over the years formed connections with Khalistani terrorists Jagtar Singh Tara and Paramjit Singh Pamma of Babbar Khalsa International. Sources said he has been using the cover of raising issues of human rights violations but he has been instrumental in radicalising youth, providing training and propping them up like Amritpal. Senior security officials said the events in the UK are not an isolated incident, but rather a result of the pro-Khalistan network getting activated in support of Amritpal Singh, who is presently detained under the National Security Act and being questioned about his anti-national links and conspiracy to spread unrest in Punjab. The vandalism and violence by radicals in the UK took place because of the police crackdown on pro-Khalistan operatives like Amritpal within the country. The trans-national links are much deeper and further investigation will reveal the networks that have been operating from Punjab to the UK with covert support of Pakistan ISI, said an official. The visit of the NIA team to the UK may not be directly connected to the case against Amritpal being probed by the Punjab police but investigators are not ruling out the possibility of the counter-terror agency gathering more information that can trace links back home of Khandas involvement in the protests at the High Commission, in turn, spilling the beans on trans-national support to Amritpal and his suspicious UK links. Going forward, the NIA may also examine the possibility of slapping a UAPA case in the entire conspiracy. Despite the month-long chase by the Punjab police to arrest Amritpal Singh and central agencies issuing lookout notices against him, Amritpal has so far not been booked under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act. UAPA is slapped in cases that involve conspiracy or acts that threaten national security and are related to unlawful gatherings hatching a conspiracy against the state thereby allowing a chance for the NIA to step in and take over the investigation to probe the inter-state and cross-border linkages. Amritpal Singh and his supporters have a dozen FIRs against them for various acts of violence, and incendiary speeches, including the storming of the Ajnala police station. But the lid isnt shut on the cases so far. NIAs visit to the UK to investigate the violence in support of Amritpal can open a new dimension of the investigation if the agency is able to link through evidence that Khanda and his supporters have direct links, financial and material, to the unrest in Punjab triggered by Amritpal Singh and the members of Waris Punjab De, the outfit being led by him. A 22-year-old woman drowned on Sunday after a car she was travelling in with her family got stuck in neck-deep water at KR Circle underpass, just a stone's throw from Vidhana Soudha, the seat of power in Karnataka. Fire and emergency services personnel saved five others of the family and the driver, with the help of people who had rushed to save those trapped in the flooded underpass in the heart of the city. The victim as well as the others were taken to St Martha's Hospital where doctors declared the woman, identified as Bhanurekha, dead. Learning about the incident, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah rushed to the hospital and took stock of the situation. He announced a compensation of Rs 5 lakh to the next of kin of the deceased and free treatment for those admitted in the hospital. "The family from Vijayawada in Andhra Pradesh had hired a car and come to see Bengaluru. Bhanurekha works in Infosys. Due to the downpour, the barricade at the underpass fell down and the driver took the risk of crossing the underpass, which he should not have," Siddaramaiah told reporters. Bhanurekha was 22 years old. When reporters who were covering the incident complained that doctors refused to treat Bhanurekha, who was alive when she was taken to the hospital, Siddaramaiah said he will get it investigated and initiate action. According to those present at the spot, the car driver tried to zoom through the water, but in the middle of the underpass the car almost got submerged. The occupants of the vehicle came out frantically trying to save themselves. Due to the downpour and hailstorm, the water level started increasing. As the family started crying for help, people nearby rushed to their rescue. They threw sarees and ropes to help them keep afloat. Those entrapped tried to climb up but failed. While two of them were dragged out by swimmers of the emergency services personnel, others were brought out using a ladder. The survivors were rushed to the hospital where they found Bhanurekha dead. Loud mourning ensued at the hospital when the survivors saw the lifeless body of their family member. An autorickshaw was also trapped at KR Circle and a woman passenger saved her life by climbing on top of the vehicle. The rescuers saved her too. Meanwhile, several vehicles got trapped at an another waterlogged underpass near Majestic, also in the centre of the city. People struggled hard to come out of their vehicles. Many complained that the place gets flooded whenever there is heavy rainfall in the city and no measures have been taken to prevent it. Rainwater entered several houses too due to the sudden downpour in the city. At Mahalakshmi Layout, a prime area in the city, water gushed into houses, damaging furniture, electronic goods and stored food grains. Many other areas were waterlogged, including the posh areas like Malleswaram and Rajaji Nagar, as well as Srirampuram, certain areas in Kengeri, Mysuru Road and several other low-lying areas. Trees in various localities came down crashing, damaging home and vehicles. Traffic was thrown out of gear after trees fell. "We are getting complaints of waterlogging, and trees crashing from all over Bengaluru," a Bengaluru civic agency official told PTI. Political allegations and counter allegations are flying thick and fast in poll-bound Madhya Pradesh after the CBI charge-sheet against Congress leader Jagdish Tytler in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, with the BJP going all out to corner ex-chief minister Kamal Nath over his alleged role in the riots. After BJP state chief V.D. Sharma said on Sunday that Naths hands were stained with anti-Sikh riots blood and soon charges will be framed against him, the latter retorted on Monday saying that Sharma was making the allegations to hide his own number two activities (misdeeds). Nath also said that the BJP-appointed Nanavati commission had found him innocent. Addressing a press conference at Anuppur, Kamal Nath, who is also the MP Congress chief, said that the BJP was left with nothing to say against him. No one has been able to raise a finger against me in my 45-year stint in politics. The riots happened in 1984. There was no FIR registered against me in 1985, 1986 or 1989. Then the BJP appointed an inquiry commission. Some people approached it out of politics. But the commission said I was innocent. No one raised their fingers then, no FIR was registered for so many years. V.D. Sharma is saying all this to hide his own misdeeds, Nath said. Sharma made an angry comeback on this statement, challenging both Nath and Rajya Sabha member Digvijaya Singh to show even an iota of proof against him. The BJP state chief reminded that challan had been put up against Singh in a defamation case that he (Sharma) had filed and that he would not sit quiet until Singh went to jail for it. He said that he was the son of a poor farmer whereas Kamal Nath had become a millionaire by looting the common people of Chhindwara (Naths home town and former constituency). Sharma added that the accusations of anti-Sikh riots were not his, but the investigation agencies were saying so. Earlier on Sunday, state minister Vishvas Sarang also held a press conference on the issue, demanding that the Congress sack Nath from the post of Madhya Pradesh Congress president. He said Nath carries a huge stain (of the riots) on him and asked if he will win the MP elections with that stain? He should come out in public and tell whether he was involved in the riots? Congress has always done politics of division in the country, Sarang said. He further said that the Congress leadership should answer whether Nath was eligible for the post of state chief of the party when he has been accused of involving in the 1984 Sikh massacre? My demand to the Congress leadership is that Kamal Nath, who is accused of the Sikh genocide, should be removed from the post of State Congress president; otherwise it will be clear that the Congress wants to contest elections under the leadership of the murderer of Sikhs. Why is the Congress party silent in this matter today? the minister said. Meanwhile, media advisor to Kamal Nath, Piyush Babele said in a tweet that BJP ex-MLA Harendrajit Singh Babbu had made allegations that his life was under threat from V.D. Sharma. Instead of giving him (Babbu) justice, BJP silenced him. Sharma, who points fingers at others, should first introspect about himself. The list of charges against him is long. This was in reference to a statement made to a section of media by Babbu recently alleging bias by Sharma and a threat to his life. However, later, after meeting chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Sharma, Babbu had retracted the statement. The Delhi High Court on Monday issued a summons to the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) on a defamation suit filed by an NGO claiming that its documentary cast a slur on the reputation of India, its judiciary and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Besides the BBC (UK), Justice Sachin Datta also issued notice to the BBC (India) seeking its response on the suit filed by Gujarat-based NGO Justice for Trial. The plea said BBC (India) is the local operation office and BBC (UK) has released the documentary -- "India: The Modi Question" -- which has two episodes. Senior advocate Harish Salve, appearing for the NGO, said the suit for defamation against the BBC is in relation to the documentary which has "defamed" India and the whole system including the judiciary. He contended that the documentary also makes insinuation against the prime minister. It was argued on behalf of the plaintiff that the documentary makes defamatory imputation and cast slur on the reputation of the country. The high court said, "Issue notice to the respondents through all permissible modes" and listed it for further hearing on September 15. UTC & GMT: same but different? UTC & GMT: same but different? Some companies name their travel watches GMT, while others prefer to label them UTC. Is this a marketing ploy or a genuine technical... Some companies name their travel watches... The first Karnataka Legislative Assembly session will be held on Monday which will see newly elected MLAs being sworn-in. The three-day session will also witness the election of the new speaker. The first session after the new Congress government assumed power in the southern state will also see Senior Congress leader RV Deshpande as the pro-tem Speaker. "We are calling the Assembly session for three days -- Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, we are requesting the Governor, because the new Assembly has to be constituted before May 24. Senior-most MLA R V Deshpande has been requested to be the Pro-tem Speaker," chief minister Siddaramaiah told reporters. Besides Siddaramaiah and deputy chief minister D K Shivakumar, eight Congress MLAs were also sworn in as ministers in the Karnataka Cabinet during the oath-taking ceremony in Bengaluru. Meanwhile, speculations regarding Cabinet expansion have gained strength with Shivakumar hinting that the expansion would take place this week. This comes as senior Congress leaders, including Dinesh Gundu Rao, publicly expressed their unhappiness over being left out of the new government, reported Deccan Herald. The new Cabinet is likely to have 25-28 ministers but only eight have been sworn in allegedly due to the differences between Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar. However, the major decision will come up after the MLAs are sworn in. "By May 24, the old Assembly will have to be dissolved. Weve already spoken to the Governor about this. First, all MLAs have to take oath," Shivakumar was quoted by Deccan Herald. Among the aspirants are Gundu Rao, a former KPCC president, and former minister Basavaraj Rayareddi. While Rao has made his aspirations known, Lingayat leader Rayareddi has held meetings with Siddaramaiah. Former ministers Rudrappa Lamani and C Puttarangashetty too have demanded that they be considered for Cabinet positions. Zero traffic protocol Chief minister Siddaramaiah has asked Bengaluru police to take back zero traffic protocol for him. The decision comes in the wake of traffic issues plaguing Bengaluru. "I have asked Bengaluru City Police Commissioner to take back the 'Zero Traffic' protocol for my vehicular movement," Siddaramaiah tweeted. "I have taken the decision after seeing the problems faced by the people travelling along the stretch where there are restrictions due to 'zero traffic'," he added. Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar met Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and former party chief Rahul Gandhi in Delhi on Monday as efforts to strengthen the opposition unity ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections gathered further momentum. The three leaders discussed the roadmap to form a united front against the BJP in the national level and a possible meeting of the non-BJP parties. The meeting was held at Kharge's 10, Rajaji Marg residence. Congress General Secretary (Organisation) K.C. Venugopal and JD(U) chief Lalan Singh were also present during the meeting. Venugopal later told reporters that a "vast majority" of non-BJP parties will meet soon and that the venue and date of the meeting will be announced in a day or two. Kharge said he discussed the current political situation with Nitish. "The country will be united now. The strength of democracy is our message. Rahul Gandhi and myself discussed the current political situation with Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar today and took forward the process of giving a new direction to the country, he said in a tweet. Meanwhile, reports said that the Congress party is likely to support Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in his tussle with Centre over the control of administrative services in the national capital. According to an NDTV report, the Congress will oppose the bill which the Centre is likely to bring in the monsoon session of parliament to ratify its ordinance. Venugopal, however, took to Twitter clarifying that the party has not taken any decision in this regard. The Congress Party has not taken any decision on the issue of the Ordinance brought against the SC judgment on the powers of the Government of NCT of Delhi with respect to appointment of officers, he said, adding that the party will consult its state units and other like-minded parties on the issue. The party believes in the Rule of Law and at the same time does not condone unnecessary confrontation, political witch-hunt and campaigns based on lies against political opponents by any political party, Venugopal said. The Narendra Modi government on Friday promulgated an ordinance to create a National Capital Civil Service Authority for the transfer of IAS and DANICS cadre officers and disciplinary proceedings against them in the national capital. Nitish, who arrived in Delhi on Sunday to meet leaders of different parties, met Kejriwal at his residence and promised his support to the Delhi government over the Ordinance issue. The Bihar CM said he would also request other opposition parties to come in support of the AAP government. Kejriwal, who is also making an all-out effort to garner the support of opposition parties to defeat the bill in parliament, will meet West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, NCP supremo Sharad Pawar and Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Uddhav Thackeray later this week. PDP president Mehbooba Mufti and Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav have already come in support of Kejriwal over the issue. Last week, the swearing-in of Siddaramaiah government in Karnataka had turned into a show of strength by the opposition with several leaders, including Nitish, Pawar, RJ(D) leader Tejashwi Yadav, Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren, Tamil Nadu CM M.K. Stalin and National Conference president Farooq Abdullah attending the ceremony. Former Mumbai NCB chief Sameer Wankhede, accused in a cruise 'drug bust' bribery case, on Monday submitted a letter to the office of the Mumbai police commissioner seeking protection after claiming he and his wife were receiving death threats for the last few days. An official said a letter was sent to the police commissionerate in south Mumbai through a representative of Wankhede. The Central Bureau of Investigation booked Wankhede and four others on May 11 for allegedly seeking a bribe of Rs 25 crore from actor Shah Rukh Khan for not implicating the actor's son Aryan in the Cordelia cruise 'drug bust' case. Wankhede, who has been booked for alleged criminal conspiracy and threat of extortion as well as provisions pertaining to bribery under the Prevention of Corruption Act, was questioned by the CBI in connection with the case on Saturday and Sunday. The Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officer claimed he and his wife Kranti Redkar have been receiving death threats and also abusive messages on social media platforms over the last four days. The FIR against Wankhede and four others was based on a report of then Deputy Director of the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), Gyaneshwar Singh, who headed a Special Enquiry Team in the cruise ship 'drug bust' case after allegations of irregularities surfaced. Wankhede last week said the FIR was registered against him because he had lodged a complaint against Singh with the National Commission for Scheduled Castes. Wankhede has alleged Singh humiliated and harassed him during an inquiry since the former belonged to a backward community. The Bombay High Court on Monday extended Wankhede's interim protection from any coercive action, such as arrest, in the case till June 8. Researchers have identified key multiscale oceanic processes responsible for delivering heat to the bases of Antarctic ice shelves. The researchers from Hohai University and other Chinese institutes also said that it is yet unknown how much the Antarctic ice sheet (AIS) will contribute to the overall increase in sea level and that current models varied drastically. They describe these oceanic processes in a paper published in the journal Ocean-land-Atmosphere Research. One of these processes responsible for heat delivery, the researchers said, is circumpolar deep water (CDW), which is a mix of the ocean's water masses from different ocean basins and culminates in a warm, salty mass of water in the Southern Ocean, or the southern waters surrounding Antarctica. They said that this CDW can cut through the base of ice shelves rapidly, leading to "cavities", or cleaves in a glacier due to warm water currents, which get filled with warm-modified CDW and high salinity shelf water. This eventually leads to loss of chunks from the tip of the glacier, known as "calving". CDW and cavity development, the researchers said, are substantial processes, along with basal melting and calving, contributing to a rise in global mean sea level changes. While the effects of CDW on AIS melting and other mechanisms contributing to warm air and water circulation are generally understood, they said that they are poorly modelled, possibly due to a lack of understanding of small-scale processes, particularly when it comes to the effects eddies, or short-lived oceanic circulation patterns, and the topography of cavities in the glacier have on melting. "Both eddies and the dynamic effects of bottom topography have been proposed to be crucial in heat transport toward the fronts of ice shelves, in addition to heat transport by coastal currents," Zhaomin Wang, first author of the study. These topographical subtleties help with understanding the transport of CDW and how coastal currents, surface winds, and bottom pressure torque all play into the interactions of these warm water currents with glacial masses and ice sheets, the researchers said. They suggested investigating small-scale processes that may provide valuable information and lead to better future models being developed, and critically, determining what the mass loss of the AIS meant for atmospheric, oceanic, and sea ice circulations. Prime Minister Narendra Modi was on Monday conferred with the highest honours of Papua New Guinea and Fiji, in a rare recognition for a non-resident in the two Pacific island nations. Modi arrived here in Papua New Guinea on Sunday on his maiden visit to the country to host a key summit between India and 14 Pacific island countries to boost bilateral ties. "Unprecedented honour for India as Papua New Guinea confers their highest award to PM Modi," the Prime Minister's Office said. It was presented to him by Papua New Guinea Governor-General Sir Bob Dadae. Papua New Guinea conferred the Companion of the Order of Logohu to Prime Minister Modi for championing the cause of unity of Pacific Island countries and spearheading the cause of Global South. Very few non-residents of PNG have received this award, including former US President Bill Clinton, it said. "An honour emblematic of the depth of India-Papua New Guinea relationship," the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) tweeted. This comes immediately after Fiji's Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka also conferred the country's highest award to Modi. "Big Honour for India. Prime Minister Modi has been conferred the highest honour of Fiji by the PM of Fiji: Companion of the Order of Fiji in recognition of his global leadership. Only a handful of Non-Fijians have received this honour to date," the Prime Minister's Office said. Prime Minister Modi dedicated the honour to the people of India and to the generations of the Fiji-Indian community, who have played a key role in the special and enduring bond between the two countries, the MEA said on Twitter. "Grateful to the people and Government of Fiji for conferring the Companion of the Order of Fiji on me. I thank PM @slrabuka for presenting the award. It is an honour for the people of India and a recognition of the strong ties between India and Fiji," the prime minister tweeted. Modi also held a "wonderful meeting" with President Surangel S Whipps, Jr of the Republic of Palau on the sidelines of the FIPIC Summit. Whipps presented Modi with an Ebakl, one of the most important tools for the people of Palau. Ebaki has a strong link with the local culture. It also symbolises leadership and wisdom, the MEA said on Twitter. Some of the previous international awards conferred by countries on Prime Minister Modi are The Order of Abdulaziz Al Saud (the highest honour of Saudi Arabia awarded to non-muslim dignitaries), State Order of Ghazi Amir Amanullah Khan (the highest civilian honour of Afghanistan), the Grand Collar of the State of Palestine Award (the highest honour of Palestine awarded to foreign dignitaries) and Order of Zayed Award (highest civilian honour of the United Arab Emirates). Other awards include the Order of St. Andrew Award ( the highest civilian honour of Russia), the Order of the Distinguished Rule of Nishan Izzuddin (the highest honour of the Maldives awarded to foreign dignitaries) and King Hamad Order of the Renaissance (a top honour by the gulf country). As Prime Minister Narendra Modi stepped off his aircraft in Papua New Guinea on Monday, his counterpart James Marape bent down to touch his feet. It was Modis first visit to the island country. Hours later, he was honoured with the highest civilian awardthe Grand Companion of the Order of the Logohu. Very few non-residents of Papua New Guinea have been conferred this award. Prime Minister Modi was also conferred The Companion of the Order of Fijithe highest award from Fiji. The world has gone through a difficult period of Covid pandemic and many other challenges, Modi said in his opening remarks at the Forum for India-Pacific Islands Cooperation (FIPIC) summit. The impact of these challenges has been felt most by the countries of the Global South. Climate change, natural disasters, hunger, poverty, and various health-related challenges were already prevalent. Now, new issues are emerging. Barriers are arising in the supply chains of food, fuel, fertiliser, and pharmaceuticals, he added. The third edition of FIPIC comes at a time when Indias relationship with China is not normal. China has continued to heat up the situationdiplomatically as well as militarily. The FIPIC summit is very much a message to China that India is fighting back. Unlike China, India is focusing on friendship rather than economic equations. This tiny island nationknown for its beaches and snorkellingvery much sits at the centre of the battle between China and the US. The bride that everyone wantsPapua New Guineais not only playing host to the summit but has also signed on a defence and maritime surveillance agreement with the US. The agreement, as the US secretary of State Anthony Blinken put it, was signed between equal and sovereign partners. The meeting of the 14 members of the Pacific Islands forum andIndia comes on the heels of the Quad summit hastily called together in Hiroshima as US President Joe Biden had to miss the Australia summit. It was clear from the joint statement where the four leaders reaffirmed their steadfast commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific that is inclusive and resilient that the elephant in the room was China. For India, the reach out to the islands is part of the Act East policy. And in an effort to demonstrate the strength of being a true friend, especially at the time of need, India has chosen to focus on building capacity in the region, especially in the sphere of health. To boost healthcare in the Pacific region, we have decided to establish a super-specialty cardiology hospital in Fiji, said Modi. This hospital will be equipped with trained staff, modern facilities, and infrastructure, and it will serve as a lifeline for the entire region. The Indian government will bear the full cost of this mega greenfield project. India will provide sea ambulances to the 14 countries. Dialysis units will also be set up,and a Jaipur foot camp will be organised in Papua New Guinea next year. But going beyond, India is also hoping to forge strong bonds through medicine. I propose bringing similar Jan Aushadhi centres to your countries, said Modi. This will enable the 14 Pacific Islands to access more than 1,800 high-quality generic medicines at affordable rates, he said. Prime Minister Narendra Modi co-chaired the third India-Pacific Islands Cooperation (FIPIC) Summit in Papua New Guinea on Monday along with Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea, James Marape. The FIPIC event saw the participation of 14 Pacific Island Countries (PICs). FIPIC includes Cook Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, the Republic of Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Nauru, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu. Modi said that India believes in multilateralism and supports a free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific, adding that India was ready to share its experiences and capabilities with Pacific island countries. "India is proud to be your development partner. You can count on India as a reliable partner. We are ready to share our experiences and capabilities with you without hesitation. We believe in multilateralism and support a free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific," he added. On the impact of the Covid pandemic, the Prime Minister added that it was seen the most in the Global South. "Challenges related to climate change, natural disasters, hunger, poverty and health were already there, now new problems are arising...I am happy that India stood by its friendly Pacific Island countries in times of difficulty," Modi said. "India considers it its responsibility to convey the concerns of the Global South, their expectations and their aspirations to the world through the G20. This was my effort in the last two days at the G7 summit as well," he said. Earlier the day, Modi held talks with his Papua New Guinea counterpart James Marape and the island nation's Governor-General Bob Dadae separately and stressed on strengthening the partnership between the two countries across multiple sectors. External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi, in a tweet, said that the discussions between the two prime ministers covered a range of issues, including strengthening partnerships in multiple sectors, climate action as well as promoting people-to-people ties. Modi arrived here on Sunday evening from Japan where he attended the summit of the G7 advanced economies and held bilateral meetings with several world leaders. The two leaders launched a translation of the Tamil classic Thirukkural' to the Tok Pisin language of Papua New Guinea. The translated book is co-authored by linguist Subha Sasindran and Sasindran Muthuvel, Governor of West New Britain Province of Papua New Guinea. The book has a foreword by Prime Minister Marape. Prime Minister Modi congratulated the authors and complimented them on their contribution towards preserving the tenets of Indian thought and culture in Papua New Guinea. Kolkata, May 22 (PTI) Petrol pumps in Kolkata claim that they have witnessed a 10-fold increase in payments using Rs 2,000 notes from people buying fuel since the RBI announced withdrawal of the high-value currency from circulation, officials said on Monday. In the case of jewellers, the increase in payment by Rs 2,000 notes is 15-20 per cent compared to the weeks before May 19 when the central bank made the announcement. "We are getting 10 times higher number of Rs 2,000 currency notes now since the announcement. We used to get 10-15 notes a day, but now it has risen to 130-140 on average," West Bengal Petroleum Dealers Association president Prasenjit Sen told PTI. However, India Bullion and Jewellers Association president (West Bengal) Ashok Begani said, "There is no panic buying as was witnessed in 2016 when currency notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 denominations that were in circulation at that time were withdrawn overnight". The use of Rs 2,000 notes by customers has risen 15-20 per cent since the announcement of its withdrawal, said Bachhraj Bamalwa, partner of jewellery chain Nemichand Bamalwa & Sons. Sen claimed that some of the bank branches are seeking extra details while receiving Rs 2,000 notes. State Bank of India CGM (Kolkata circle) Prem Anup Sinha, however, clarified, "The norm for deposit of Rs 2,000 notes remains the same as for other denominations such as Rs 500, Rs 200 or Rs 100 notes." Confederation of West Bengal Trade Association president Sushil Poddar said that the circulation of Rs 2,000 notes has definitely increased in general trade, but that the hike is not extraordinary and there is no panic. RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das on Monday said that most of the withdrawn Rs 2,000 notes are expected to be returned by the deadline of September 30. He said that the impact of the withdrawal on the economy will be "very marginal", he said, adding Rs 2,000 currency notes made up for just 10.8 per cent of the total currency in circulation. Kolkata, May 22 (PTI) The West Bengal cabinet on Monday decided to give land to the Eastern Coalfield Limited (ECL) for the construction of new pits and expansion of non-operational coal mines, a senior official said. The cabinet, chaired by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, decided to allot around 30 acre of land in the Asansol industrial area in Paschim Bardhaman district to ECL, he said. ECL, a subsidiary of Coal India, had sought the land from the state government, he added. Law Minister Moloy Ghatak said the land will be given to ECL to reopen six abandoned mines in Dalurbadh in Pandabeswar, Kenda in Jamuria, Raniganj, Damolia and Dalora. "There were 1.30 lakh people working in the coal mines of ECL. Due to the closure of the mines, many lost their jobs. This decision of the state government will provide employment to many locals," Ghatak said. Besides, the cabinet also decided to give around 4 acre of land to Eastern Railway for the freight corridor project. The cabinet also granted promotions to officers of the Kolkata Police and West Bengal Police. Edinburgh, Jocelyne Sze, PhD Candidate, University of Sheffield, Robert Fletcher, Associate Professor, Wageningen University Edinburgh (UK), May 22 (The Conversation) Imagine governments were to simply transfer money, unconditionally, to people living in or using key conservation areas throughout the world, from Indigenous people in the Amazon rainforest to cattle herders roaming the plains of East Africa or fisherfolk living in coastal Indonesia. This is the conservation basic income (CBI) -- a recent proposal modelled on the popular concept of a universal basic income. We have calculated a global CBI would cost at least USD 351 billion each year, and maybe as much as USD 6.73 trillion. Our research is published in the journal Nature Sustainability. Either way, its an enormous figure, considerably more than the roughly USD 133 billion that governments currently spend on conservation each year. However, considering these payments could safeguard the estimated USD 44 trillion in global economic production that is dependent on nature, it would represent a shrewd investment in safeguarding our natural world. Just, equitable and sustainable Conservation strategies typically involve establishing protected areas or generating income through tourism or carbon storage. But these top-down schemes often impose substantial costs on Indigenous people and local communities, and they often dont provide enough revenue to replace lost livelihoods, or offer adequate alternatives to the extractive industries that sustain overconsumption in developed nations. There are good reasons to think a conservation basic income is a good idea and would make things more just, equitable and sustainable. For instance, unconditional cash payments could help people to improve their lives in a way that is aligned with their own worldviews, while alleviating poverty traps that often force them to overexploit wildlife and other natural resources. Similarly, payments could enable residents to resist expropriation of their lands, or having to grow cash crops for exports or sell their labour to destructive industries. It could also free up time for community activism and social participation, strengthening local institutions and decision-making. All of this could reduce the sway of populist politics and manipulation by extractive industry and could help rebalance the historic drain of resources from the global south. Expensivebut valuable So we knew that CBI has some promise in theory. But we wanted to know how much it might cost. And to do that, wed have to estimate how many people might receive payments, and how much theyd each receive. At its least ambitious, covering only the most key biodiversity areas, we estimated a CBI would mean paying around 232 million people worldwide. A more ambitious plan, covering all existing protected areas, would affect 318 million people, of which 238 million are in low and middle income countries including 70 million in China alone. A much more comprehensive CBI, covering the 44 per cent of the Earths surface required to safeguard all biodiversity, would mean payments to an astonishing 1.6 billion people. We considered a few plausible payment rates. The first was a flat payment of USD 5.50 (pound 4.42) per person per day, regardless of the country they were in. That figure was chosen as it is considered a global poverty threshold. The second involved paying people 25 of their countrys per capita gross domestic product. The third involved paying the poverty line for that countrys income group (that is, USD 1.90 (1.53 pound) per day in a low-income country, or USD 3.20 (2.57 pound) in lower-middle income countries, USD 5.50(4.42 pound) in upper-middle income countries and USD 21.70 (17.42 pound) in high-income countries. When we applied these different payment rates to the various population estimates, we generated a range of possible costs. Thats why, depending on the areas and payment rates chosen, we estimate a conservation basic income could cost between USD 350 billion and USD 6.73 trillion per year. One middle-of-the-road option would be to pay USD 5.50 per day to residents of existing protected areas in low and middle-income countries that would cost USD 478 billion each year. Again, this is a huge number. But it is well within the amounts that conservationists assert is necessary to effectively protect nature around the world, and less than the up to USD 500 billion governments are estimated to spend on subsidising harmful industries each year. Will it work? We know roughly what a global CBI would cost, but we still need some evidence that it would actually work. Locally-led pilot schemes are therefore an important next step and should help shed light on issues that could arise in implementation. For example, would the payments induce migration into conservation areas? Or how can schemes be inclusive of non-resident resource users or migratory populations, such as the livestock herders of Central Asia? Excitingly, there are already proposals for CBI schemes in several locations. In Indonesian New Guinea, one of the most biodiverse yet also poorest regions in the world, a recent report highlighted that a basic income scheme could be generated through dividends from sales of carbon credits (bearing in mind their limitations as well), with revenues estimated at USD 173 billion annually, providing each adult with around USD 180 monthly. Evidence from other cash transfer programmes is promising. For example, across Indonesia, a country with vast tropical forests, unconditional payments to hundreds of thousands of the poorest families also reduced deforestation. A recent survey found that conservationists themselves like the idea of a CBI. We believe it is time to test the conservation basic income at a bigger scale. (The Conversation) PY PY Egypt launched on Thursday the second phase of the technical support programme for the digitalisation of the Suez Canal Economic Zone (SCZone) in collaboration with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). The action came under the EBRDs country strategy (2022-2027) for Egypt, which focuses mainly on promoting an inclusive economy, accelerating Egypts green economy transition, and enhancing the countrys competitiveness by supporting private-sector growth and strengthening governance. The launch was witnessed by Egypts Minister of International Cooperation Rania Al-Mashat, CEO of the SCZone Walid Gamal El-Dein, EBRDs Vice President Alain Bello, and EBRDs Managing Director of the SEMED Region Heike Harmgart. The second phase of the programme is meant "to strengthen the region's position as a centre for global investments, building on what was achieved in the first phase, which was successfully completed in 2020, Al-Mashat said during the event. She added that the first phase of the programme achieved great progress in terms of accelerating the pace of procedures for investors in the SCZone, which enhances the efficiency of the services provided, supports Egypts priorities to transform the region into a major development hub, and boosts the competitive advantages available to investors from different sectors across the world. The second phase aims to simplify administrative procedures and speed up the management of investor services, launch a unified and automated window that provides services to investors, and develop an effective, competitive, and environment-friendly business environment, according to the minister. Al-Mashat asserted the importance of digital transformation in providing job opportunities, promoting expansion in economic sectors, such as financial services and e-commerce, and promoting comprehensive and sustainable growth. The ongoing portfolio of the Ministry of International Cooperation with the EBRD includes 35 projects in innovation, digitisation and entrepreneurship, which contribute to achieving 11 SDGs, with a total development financing of $1 billion. The projects represent 4.5 percent of the ministry's development financing portfolio, according to Al-Mashat. These funds were made available by 13 bilateral and multilateral development partners. Egypt is one of EBRDs founding members. In 2021, Egypt became a country of operation with 10 billion in over 160 projects, of which 70 percent has been dedicated to the private sector. Search Keywords: Short link: Colombo, May 22 (PTI) Cash-strapped Sri Lanka has signed a long-term agreement with Chinese oil and gas giant Sinopec on important storage, distribution and sale of petroleum products in the island nation, President Ranil Wickremesinghe's office said on Monday. The deal with Sinopec-- a state-owned Chinese company --was reached months after the two sides commenced their negotiations and Sri Lanka approved a proposal in March to liberalise the fuel retail marketing in the country with more players from China, Australia and the US. The island nations fuel retail market was a state monopoly under the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) till 2003 when the Indian Oil Company (IOC) was allowed to operate. "Negotiations have been completed with Sinopec Fuel Oil Lanka Ltd and its parent company in China and Singapore for a long-term contract on important storage, distribution and sale of petroleum products in the island nation," the statement issued by the president's office said. The Cabinet had granted approval to award licenses to Sinopec, United Petroleum Australia and RM Parks of USA in collaboration with Shell Plc to enter the fuel retail market in Sri Lanka. However, as of now, the deal has been reached with China's Sinopec only. The energy and procurement committees had approved a recommendation to award the three companies the licenses to operate. They will be allocated 150 dealer-operated fuel stations currently run by the CPC, a state fuel entity. The parties will be granted a license to operate for 20 years to import, store, distribute and sell petroleum products in Sri Lanka. Debt-ridden Sri Lanka is still struggling to normalise its crisis-hit economy. According to official figures, Sri Lankas total debt is USD 83.6 billion, of which foreign debt amounts to USD 42.6 billion and domestic debt amounts to USD 42 billion. In April 2022, Sri Lanka declared its first-ever debt default, the worst economic crisis since its independence from Britain in 1948, triggered by forex shortages that sparked public protests. The country also faced long queues for fuel which is still being rationed. Months-long street protests led to the ouster of the then-president Gotabaya Rajapaksa in mid-July. Rajapaksa had started the IMF negotiations after refusing to tap the global lender for support. Colombo, May 22 (PTI) President Ranil Wickremesinghe has said that Sri Lanka's debt restructuring programme will be completed by September this year and its bankrupt economy will be brought to a stable level, a media report said on Monday. Debt-ridden Sri Lanka is still struggling to normalise its crisis-hit economy after it declared its first-ever debt default in April last year. "A country becoming bankrupt means that it is a beggar nation. None of us wants to become a beggar nation. We approached the IMF, as we have nowhere else to go," Wickremesinghe, also the country's finance minister, said on Sunday. He also assured that discussions on the reworking of both domestic and external debt would be completed by July or August 2023, NewsFirst Lanka reported. Sri Lankas total debt is USD 83.6 billion, of which foreign debt amounts to USD 42.6 billion and domestic debt amounts to USD 42 billion. "By the coming month of September, it is possible to successfully complete the debt restructuring programme and bring the economy to a stable level. We have submitted the agreement with the IMF to the Parliament and passed it," the president said. "Today, members of the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) have expressed their will and given the necessary support to the economic policy of the United National Party. That support is very important if this country is to recover from the economic crisis. We should all work together and work hard to build a prosperous country out of bankruptcy," Wickremesinghe said. He also stressed that the cash-strapped country had no other option but to fulfil the tough conditions imposed by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). "We have gone to the IMF and are taking the programme forward with proper management," said the president. Wickremesinghe also called on every Sri Lankan to contribute to creating a glorious and prosperous country free of bankruptcy. He made these remarks while declaring open the Kegalle, Aranayaka Asupini Ella water scheme -- the largest water project in the Sabaragamuwa Province -- implemented under the financial allocation of Rs. 3,847 million from the Sri Lankan government and the loan support of Rs. 18,650 million from the Netherlands. In April 2022, Sri Lanka declared its first-ever debt default, the worst economic crisis since its independence from Britain in 1948, triggered by forex shortages that sparked public protests. Months-long street protests led to the ouster of the then-president Gotabaya Rajapaksa in mid-July. Rajapaksa had started the IMF negotiations after refusing to tap the global lender for support. Jaipur, May 22 (PTI) Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari on Monday highlighted the need for vehicle tyres of international standards with the improvement in highways and speed. He said that the government will prepare new norms in consultation with tyre manufacturers so that tyre burst accidents are reduced. "Vehicle speed has improved with the improved highways in the country, so now we will have to make tyres of international standard. We will soon make norms as per the requirement of international standard tyres so that there is no accident due to tyre burst," Gadkari told reporters in Bikaner. He was in the city to review the progress of Amritsar-Jamnagar Expressway. "Because now 32 such highways are being built, so not only will the speed increase, but naturally we will also look at the quality of the tyres." The Union minister said that the work of the 917-km six-lane Economic Corridor in Rajasthan would be completed by October 2023. In Rajasthan, 93 per cent of 550 km of 637 kilometre six-lane economic corridor has been completed at a cost of Rs 15,000 crore. "We will soon request the Prime Minister and invite him to inaugurate the Rajasthan portion," he added. He said that this corridor is passing through 15 districts of Punjab, Rajasthan, Haryana and Gujarat. Gadkari said that this is such a corridor, which is connecting three refineries of the country, including Bhatinda Refinery of Punjab, Barmer Refinery of Rajasthan and Jamnagar Refinery of Gujarat. This will reduce the cost of petrol, diesel and gas, he said. London, May 22 (PTI) A 41-year-old Indian-origin woman has been sentenced to four years and eight months imprisonment by a UK court for her role in a large-scale conspiracy to supply drugs in the country. Mandeep Kaur, from north London, was found guilty by a majority jury of conspiracy to supply Class A or banned drugs and a unanimous jury of conspiracy to possess criminal property at Aylesbury Crown Court, sitting at Amersham, following a two-week trial. Kaur was sentenced last week following an investigation by the South East Regional Organised Crime Unit (SEROCU), which works across different police forces in Britain. The unit uncovered that Kaur was involved in activities as a money and drugs courier for a Buckinghamshire-based organised crime group (OCG). She was found to have undertaken a number of journeys for a criminal group who were responsible for supplying cocaine across the UK. Kaurs involvement in the OCG, in this case, was significant. She willingly delivered and collected criminal money under instruction from a senior member of the group, said Detective Constable Dale Lester, Investigating officer from SEROCU. On one occasion, she went one step further and moved a kilo of cocaine acts she decided to do of her own free will for financial gain. This conviction is a demonstration of SEROCUs ongoing commitment to tackling and dismantling organised crime across the South East and further afield, he said. During the trial, Kaur was found to have delivered a kilogram of cocaine on June 13, 2020, and was arrested three days later and was in possession of a bag containing 50,000 pounds in cash. Port Moresby, May 22 (AP) The United States is scheduled to sign a new security pact with Papua New Guinea on Monday as it competes with China for influence in the Pacific. Papua New Guinea's location just north of Australia makes it strategically significant. It was the site of fierce battles during World War II, and with a population of nearly 10 million people, it's the most populous Pacific island nation. The State Department said the new agreement would provide a framework to help improve security cooperation, enhance the capacity of Papua New Guinea's defense force and increase regional stability. At a breakfast meeting, Papua New Guinea Prime Minister James Marape said his country faced significant security challenges, from skirmishes within the country to illegal fishing boats that lit up the night like skyscrapers. We have our internal security as well as our sovereignty security issues, Marape said. We're stepping up on that front to make sure our borders are secure. But the agreement sparked student protests in the second-largest city, Lae. And many in the Pacific are concerned about the increasing militarization of the region. Last year, nearby Solomon Islands signed its own security pact with China, a move that raised alarm throughout the Pacific. The U.S. has increased its focus on the Pacific, opening embassies in Solomon Islands and Tonga, reviving Peace Corps volunteer efforts, and encouraging more business investment. But some have questioned how reliable a partner the U.S. is in the Pacific, particularly after President Joe Biden canceled his plans to make an historic stop in Papua New Guinea to sign the pact. Biden would have been the first sitting U.S. president to visit any Pacific Island country, but he ended up canceling to focus on the debt limit talks back at home. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken travelled in Biden's place, arriving in Papua New Guinea early Monday. In response to news of Blinken's impending visit, China warned against the introduction of geopolitical games" into the region. The U.S. visit was timed to coincide with a trip by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who was hosting a meeting with Pacific Island leaders to discuss ways to better cooperate. New Zealand Prime Minister Chris Hipkins, who met with Marape for breakfast was also due to meet with Blinken in Papua New Guinea, said he welcomed the greater US interest in the region. But he also drew a distinction to his own nation's efforts. We are not interested in the militarisation of the Pacific, Hipkins said. We are interested in working with the Pacific on issues where we have mutual interest. Issues around climate change. And we're not going to be attaching military strings to that support. (AP) NSA NSA Port Moresby, May 22 (PTI) Indian cuisine and millets found a prominent place at the lunch hosted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi for leaders attending the 3rd Summit of the Forum for India-Pacific Islands Cooperation here on Monday. Modi along with his Papua New Guinea counterpart James Marape hosted the key summit here. Modi is the first Indian prime minister to visit Papua New Guinea. The lunch included Khandvi, Millet and Vegetable Soup, Malai Kofta, Rajasthani Ragi Gatta Curry, Dal Panchmel, Millet Biryani, Nannu Fulka and Masala Chaas. Paan Kulfi and Malpua were served as desserts. Drinks included Masala Tea, Green Tea, Mint Tea and freshly brewed PNG coffee. The inclusion of millet in the menu reflects the importance India gives to these small-seeded foods. The UN General Assembly in March 2021 declared 2023 as the International Year of Millets at the behest of the Government of India. Millets are one of the oldest foods known to mankind. Small-seeded and hardy, these crops can grow on arid lands with minimal inputs and are resilient to changes in climate. They are, therefore, an ideal solution for countries to increase self-sufficiency and reduce reliance on imported cereal grain. Millets, which are rich in proteins, antioxidants, minerals and other nutrients, help to lower blood sugar and cholesterol levels. The types of millets commonly grown in India include Jowar (Sorghum), Bajra (pearl millet), Ragi (finger millet), Jhangora (barnyard millet), Barri (proso or common millet), Kangni (foxtail millet) and Kodra (kodo millet). Due to their short growing season, millets can develop from seeds to ready-to-harvest crops in short periods. If stored properly, millets can keep well for two years or beyond. Port Moresby, May 22 (PTI) Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday left for Australia on the third and final leg of his three-nation tour after concluding his visit to Papua New Guinea where he co-hosted the first FIPIC summit and met leaders from the Pacific Island nations to boost bilateral ties. Modi is visiting Australia from May 22-24 as a guest of the Australian Government. He will also attend a community event in Sydney to celebrate Australias dynamic and diverse Indian diaspora, a core part of our multicultural community. "I thank PM James Marape for the warm welcome accorded. Now leaving for Australia to take part in various programmes in Sydney," Prime Minister Modi tweeted. "My Papua New Guinea visit has been a historic one. I will greatly cherish the affection received among the people of this wonderful nation. I also had the opportunity to interact with respected FIPIC leaders and discuss ways to deepen ties with their respective nations," he tweeted. In Papua New Guinea, Modi held talks with his Papua New Guinea counterpart James Marape and took stock of their bilateral relations. He also discussed ways to further augment cooperation in areas like commerce, technology, healthcare and climate change. The two leaders co-hosted the Forum for India-Pacific Islands Cooperation (FIPIC) summit on Monday, fostering regional cooperation. During the summit, Prime Minister Modi conveyed to the Pacific island nations that they can see India as a reliable development partner as it respects their priorities and its approach to cooperation is based on human values. "India respects your priorities. We are proud to be your development partner -- be it humanitarian aid or your development, you can see India as a reliable partner. Our approach is based on human values," Modi, the first Indian prime minister to visit the country, said. Indias engagement with the 14 Pacific Island Countries (PICs) is part of New Delhi's Act East Policy. Prime Minister Modi also attended the G7 Summit in Hiroshima, Japan from May 20 to 21. He also held bilateral meetings with several world leaders. He also reiterated India's stand that the Ukraine conflict. Modi said he views the current situation in Ukraine as an issue of humanity and human values and not of politics or economy even as he called for respecting international law, sovereignty and territorial integrity of all nations. Ahead of Modi's arrival, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said that, I am honoured to host Prime Minister Modi for an official visit to Australia, after receiving an extremely warm welcome in India earlier this year." Australia and India share a commitment to a stable, secure and prosperous Indo-Pacific. Together we have an important role to play in supporting this vision," he said, amidst China's aggressive behaviour in the region as well as its efforts to expand its influence. He will also hold a bilateral meeting with Australian prime minister Anthony Albanese. Modi began his three-nation tour on Friday from Japan where he attended three sessions at the G7 summit following an invitation by Japanese counterpart Fumio Kishida. Modi along with US President Joe Biden, Japanese Prime Minister Kishida and his Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese also attended the 3rd in-person Quad Summit. The Quad meeting was moved to the sidelines of the G-7 summit in Japan's Hiroshima after US President Biden postponed his trip to Australia to return to Washington, amid ongoing negotiations over raising the US debt limit. Rome, May 22 (AP) Pope Francis will travel to Portugal for World Youth Day in the first week of August and include a stop at the popular Marian shrine in Fatima, the Vatican said on Monday. The August 2-6 visit is longer than originally expected and covers almost the entire week of the big Catholic rally that St. John Paul II inaugurated to try to invigorate young people in their faith. Francis is staying in Lisbon for the length of the visit but will make a day trip to Fatima on August 5. Francis previously travelled there in 2017 to mark the 100th anniversary of one of the most unique events of the 20th-century Catholic Church: the visions of the Virgin Mary reported by three shepherd children and the secrets she told them. Francis' visit this time around comes as war is raging in Ukraine, providing a comparison to when the original visions were reported at a time when Europe was in the throes of World War I. The Fatima mystery has fascinated Catholics and non-Catholics alike for a century, blending visions of the Virgin, supernatural weather events and apocalyptic messages of hell, war, communism and the death of a pope. (AP) PY PY Rome, May 22 (AP) Pope Francis will travel to Portugal for World Youth Day in the first week of August and include a stop at the popular Marian shrine in Fatima, the Vatican said Monday. The August 2-6 visit is longer than originally expected and covers almost the entire week of the big Catholic rally that St. John Paul II inaugurated to try to invigorate young people in their faith. Francis is staying in Lisbon for the length of the visit but will make a day trip to Fatima on August 5. Francis previously travelled there in 2017 to mark the 100th anniversary of one of the most unique events of the 20th-century Catholic Church: the visions of the Virgin Mary reported by three shepherd children and the secrets she told them. Francis' visit this time around comes as war is raging in Ukraine, providing a comparison to when the original visions were reported at a time when Europe was in the throes of World War I. The visit comes as the Portuguese Catholic Church is reckoning with its legacy of clergy sexual abuse. Earlier this year, an independent report found that more than 4,800 people may have been victims starting in 1950. Previously, senior Portuguese church officials had claimed only a handful of cases had occurred. There was no word on whether Francis would meet with victims, as he has done on several occasions elsewhere. The Portuguese Bishops Conference expressed huge joy at the Vatican announcement of Francis' visit and said hundreds of thousands of young people from around the world are expected in Lisbon. The rally was originally scheduled for 2022 but was postponed a year because of the COVID-19 pandemic; the last international World Youth Day was held in 2019 in Panama. We hope that the presence of Pope Francis among us, and which includes a significant pilgrimage to the Fatima shrine, will provide a powerful sense of renewal and grace for the church in Portugal, the Bishops' Conference said in a statement. Francis' other travel this year is expected to include a quick trip to Marseille, France, on September 23 to address a meeting of Mediterranean bishops. Also under study is a proposed visit to Mongolia starting in late August. (AP) GRS London, May 22 (PTI) In her first reaction to a UK media report claiming she attempted to bypass the usual process after being caught speeding while driving outside London last year, UK Home Secretary Suella Braverman insisted on Monday nothing untoward happened in relation to the incident. Addressing reporters during an interview on camera, Braverman, 43, admitted that she got a speeding ticket and paid the fine. It came as Downing Street said British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, who has just returned from the G7 summit in Japan, is still updating himself on all the information related to the issue. It is believed he has discussed the matter with his independent adviser on ministerial ethics, Sir Laurie Magnus, amid Opposition demands for an investigation. "What I will say is that in my view I am confident that nothing untoward has happened," said Braverman. "I got a speeding ticket, I paid the fine, I took the points. In my view nothing untoward has happened," said the Indian-origin minister. Opposition Labour Leader Keir Starmer said Sunak should order Magnus to fully investigate whether ministerial rules were broken. "The usual consequence of breaking the ministerial code is that you'll go, he told the BBC. The Liberal Democrats are also calling for an investigation and said Sunak needed to make a statement in Parliament about the claims. It relates to a report in The Sunday Times claiming that the Cabinet minister, then the UKs Attorney General, asked civil servants to help her avoid a speeding fine and points on her driving licence by arranging a private one-to-one driving awareness course. In the UK, anyone caught speeding is handed a fine and penalty points on their licence unless they sign up for an awareness course held in group sessions or online. When the civil servants refused to intervene, Braverman allegedly sought help from a political aide, who requested the course organiser provide a private session, or allow her to use an alias or turn her camera off to remain anonymous to others on the course. When the provider refused, Braverman opted to take the three points on her licence, the newspaper reported. Accumulating 12 or more points on a licence could result in the driver losing their licence and being disqualified from driving over time. Any points on a driving licence also impact the insurance premium to be paid by the driver. Asked whether she would welcome an investigation into what happened or if she had spoken to Sunak about it, Braverman simply said: "I am focussed on working as the Home Secretary." While the minister's supporters within the Conservative Party fear she is being unfairly targeted for her tough stance on immigration matters, the controversy is unlikely to die down any time soon and is expected to dominate parliamentary proceedings for some time. Xinhua News Agency: China has announced that the President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) will visit China. Can you share more about the program of this visit and what does China expect to achieve through the visit? How does China view the current China-DRC relationship? Mao Ning: The Democratic Republic of the Congo is an important country in Africa. China and the DRC enjoy a traditional friendship. In the past 50 years and more, our two sides have supported each other on issues concerning our respective core interests and major concerns. In recent years, the two countries have deepened political mutual trust, achieved fruitful outcomes in practical cooperation and maintained close cooperation in regional and international affairs. President Tshisekedi values the DRCs relationship with China and actively supports the advancement of bilateral ties. During the visit, President Xi Jinping will hold a welcome ceremony and a welcome banquet for President Tshisekedi. The two heads of state will hold talks and jointly attend a signing ceremony of cooperation documents. Premier Li Qiang and Chairman Zhao Leji will meet with President Tshisekedi respectively. We are confident that this visit will provide new impetus for the comprehensive and deep-going growth of the relationship between China and the DRC, and generate new outcomes in the friendly cooperation between the two countries. China Daily: The 32nd Ordinary Session of the Council of the League of Arab States at the Summit Level was held in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on May 19. We noted that President Xi Jinping sent a congratulatory letter to the rotating president King of Saudi Arabia Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud on the convening of the session. Can you share more information with us? After many years without the presence of Syrian leaders at previous sessions, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad attended this session at invitation. Do you have any comment? Mao Ning: The 32nd Ordinary Session of the Council of the League of Arab States at the Summit Level opened in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on May 19. President Xi Jinping sent a congratulatory letter to the rotating president King of Saudi Arabia Salman bin Abudulaziz Al Saud on the convening of the session. President Xi said that he is glad to see that Arab countries have continuously taken new steps and made new achievements on the path of unity and self-improvement. China is ready to work with Arab countries to carry forward the spirit of China-Arab friendship, follow through on the outcomes of the first China-Arab States Summit, bring the China-Arab strategic partnership to a higher level, and continue to write a new chapter in China-Arab friendship. We are glad to see that for some time, the spring breeze of reconciliation has been blowing across the Arab world. Countries in the region have put on a new look and people there are seeing new hopes. China offers congratulations on the reunion of the big family of Arab countries with President Bashar al-Assad attending the session. The return of Syria to the Arab League fully shows that enhancing solidarity and cooperation among Arab countries through dialogue and consultation is what the people aspire for and represents the trend of the times. It also fully proves that Arab countries have the capability to hold their future in their own hands. As a sincere friend of Arab countries, China always supports Arab countries in strengthening strategic autonomy, and seeking strength through unity, and always supports the Arab world in playing a bigger role in regional and international affairs. China stands ready to work with the Arab side to deliver on the outcomes of the first China-Arab States Summit, unleash the strong resilience and vitality of the China-Arab relations and play a positive role in promoting peace, stability and development of the region. CCTV: The G7 Leaders Hiroshima Vision on Nuclear Disarmament issued on May 19 said that Chinas accelerating build-up of its nuclear arsenal without transparency nor meaningful dialogue poses a concern to global and regional stability and called on China...to engage substantively in relevant multilateral and bilateral forums and fulfill its nuclear disarmament obligations. Do you have any comment on this? Mao Ning: The international nuclear arms control rules are not the house rules set by the G7. The G7 has no right to dictate to other countries on arms control. China rejects the G7s finger-pointing. The G7 abandons the basic principles including upholding global strategic stability, undermines the international nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation regime, feigns innocence and attacks and smears other countries nuclear policy. This will only drive up antagonism and confrontation and create obstacles for the international nuclear disarmament process. The US possesses the biggest and most advanced nuclear arsenal in the world, but it obstinately insists on a policy of first use of nuclear weapons, invests heavily in upgrading its nuclear triad, withdraws from agreements on arms control including the Treaty on the Limitation of Anti-Ballistic Missile Systems and the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, seeks to forward-deploy strategic forces and spreads weapons-grade highly-enriched uranium to non-nuclear weapon states. Three of the G7 countries are nuclear weapon states, and the other four either have nuclear-sharing arrangements or sit under the nuclear umbrella. What the G7 accuses China of is a false narrative. China is firmly committed to a defensive nuclear strategy and the only nuclear weapon state to pledge no first use of nuclear weapons and not to use nuclear weapons against non-nuclear weapon states or nuclear-weapon-free zones. We have always kept our nuclear capabilities at the minimum level required by national security. For any country, as long as they do not use or threaten to use nuclear weapons against China, they have nothing to worry about being threatened by Chinas nuclear weapons. This is the most meaningful transparency a country can provide. I wonder which one of the nuclear weapon states among the G7 can make this pledge as China does? Reuters: The Chinese cyberspace regulator said that US memory chipmaker Micron Technology has failed its network security review and China would ban operators of key infrastructure from buying from the company. We would like to ask which key infrastructure in particular will be impacted by this ban on Micron. Mao Ning: Chinas competent authorities have released information on the cybersecurity review on products sold in China by Micron Technology. I would like to stress that the goal of the review is to check cybersecurity issues of relevant products which might threaten the security of the nations key information infrastructure. This measure is necessary for safeguarding national security. As for the specifics, I would like to refer you to Chinas competent authorities. Reuters: Another question from Reuters. The Ministry has announced that the Democratic Republic of the Congo President will be visiting. There is a report saying that the President together with his ministers will be here looking to re-negotiate a mineral-for-infrastructure deal. Is there any confirmation on this report? Mao Ning: I just shared information about the visit to China by President Tshisekedi and the relevant arrangement. China and the DRC enjoy long-term friendly relations and promising prospects for practical cooperation. The cooperation package of resource for projects between China and the DRC sets an example of the practical cooperation between the two countries. It not only gives a strong boost to the development of the DRCs mining industry, but also delivers a large number of infrastructure projects such as roads, hospitals and power stations. During this visit, leaders of the two countries will have in-depth exchanges on all-round cooperation between China and the DRC and jointly chart the course for the future growth of bilateral relations. Bloomberg: US President Joe Biden said he expected ties with China to improve very shortly and called the balloon incident silly, speaking to reporters at the end of the G7 Summit. Biden also said that his administration was considering whether to lift sanctions on Chinese Defense Minister, whom the US Defense Secretary requests to meet. Does the foreign ministry have any comments on the Presidents comment and is there a phone call between Biden and President Xi in the future? Mao Ning: China and the US maintain necessary communication. However, now the US says it wants to speak to the Chinese side while seeking to suppress China through all possible means and impose sanctions on Chinese officials, institutions and companies. Is there any sincerity in and significance of any communication like this? China always firmly opposes illegal unilateral sanctions and has made clear its stern position to the US side. The US side should immediately lift sanctions and take concrete actions to remove obstacles, create favorable atmosphere and conditions for dialogue and communication. China views and grows its relations with the US under the three principles of mutual respect, peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation as proposed by President Xi Jinping. We urge the US to form a correct perception of China, stop interfering in Chinas internal affairs and harming Chinas sovereignty, security and development interests, and work with China to bring China-US relations back to the right track with concrete actions. As for your question regarding whether there is any specific arrangement between the two heads of state, I have no information to offer at present. China News Service: We have learned that the China-ASEAN Senior Officials Consultation is going to be held. Can you share the main agenda of the conference and Chinas expectation? Mao Ning: As agreed between China and ASEAN, the 29th China-ASEAN Senior Officials Consultation will be held in Shenzhen, China from May 24 to 26. Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs Nong Rong will lead a delegation to the conference and co-chair the conference with U Chan Aye, ASEAN-Myanmar SOM Leader of Myanmar, the ASEAN Country Coordinator for ASEAN-China Dialogue Relations. The China-ASEAN Senior Officials Consultation is an important annual consultation mechanism between the foreign affairs departments of China and ASEAN countries, where preparations can be made for the China-ASEAN Foreign Ministers Meeting and the China-ASEAN Summit. This year marks the tenth anniversary of President Xis proposition of fostering a closer community with a shared future for China and ASEAN and the 20th anniversary of Chinas joining the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia (TAC). This will present new opportunities for China-ASEAN cooperation. At this Consultation, the two sides will take stock and look to future growth of the China-ASEAN comprehensive strategic partnership, especially with regard to delivering on the common understandings between the leaders of the two sides, and deepening practical cooperation in areas of political security, trade and economy, social, cultural and people-to-people exchange, agriculture and food security. Together the two sides can provide more positive energy for stability and development of the region. AFP: Papua New Guinea is signing a defense pact with the US today. This would give US forces access to airfields and ports and will expand the USs military capacity in the South Pacific. How does China view this pact? Mao Ning: China is not opposed to countries efforts to grow ties with Papua New Guinea and other Pacific Island countries. We always advocate that the international community should give more attention and support to the economic development and improvement of peoples well-being in island countries and do more things that could contribute to regional peace, development and stability. The negotiation and signing of any cooperation document should help realize this goal. We should be on alert particularly for geopolitical games under the pretext of cooperation. At the same time, we also believe that any cooperation should not target at any third party. Anadolu Agency: Its been reported that Japans ambassador to China has been summoned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to express Chinas solemn representations about G7s statement at the Hiroshima Summit. Can you give any information about the interaction? Mao Ning: Japan, as this years G7 chair, joined others in smearing and attacking China and grossly interfering in Chinas internal affairs in a series of events held during the Hiroshima Summit and the Leaders Communique. The Chinese side deplores and rejects this and has made serious demarches to Japan. The Japanese side needs to correct its perception of China, adhere to the principles in the four political documents between the two countries, and work for the steady development of bilateral ties in a truly constructive way. KBS: I have two questions. First, after the Cyberspace Administration of China restricted the purchasing of products by US semiconductor maker Micron Technology, will it also look into companies of other countries, for example, the ROK, for cyber security risks? Second, earlier the US asked ROK businesses not to fill the Chinese market by selling semiconductors as an alternative of Micron products. Whats the Chinese governments position on this? Mao Ning: To answer your first question, Chinas competent authorities have released information on the cybersecurity review on products sold in China by Micron Technology. Let me stress, China is a country under the rule of law. Businesses operating in China need to conform with Chinese laws. Judicial authorities investigate offences in accordance with the law. We are firmly committed to advancing high-level opening up and fostering a market-oriented, law-based and internationalized business environment. Foreign companies and their products are welcome to the Chinese market as long as they abide by Chinese laws and regulations. On your second question, we have made clear our position on the USs chip export control targeting China. The US has coerced other countries into imposing export restrictions on China for the sole purpose of maintaining its hegemonic interests. Such practice runs counter to the market economy principles and international trade rules, destabilizes global industrial and supply chains, and serves no ones interest. It not only hurts the interest of Chinese companies, but also that of relevant sides and companies concerned. We firmly oppose this. It is hoped that the governments and companies of relevant countries will work together with China to jointly safeguard the multilateral trading system and keep global industrial and supply chains stable. Yomiuri Shimbun: Ukraines President Zelenskyy attended the G7 Summit. Do you have any comment on this? Mao Ning: We noted that President Zelenskyy attended the G7 Summit. Chinas position on the Ukraine issue is consistent and clear. We always believe that the crisis should be resolved politically through dialogue and consultation. We also hope that G7 countries can work with the international community to play a constructive role in promoting the political settlement of the crisis. Bloomberg: The US Department of Commerce released a statement saying that the actions against Micron along with recent raids and targeting of other US firms are inconsistent with Chinas assertions that it is opening its market and committed to transparent regulatory framework. Does the foreign ministry have any comment? Mao Ning: I just stated Chinas position on Micron. As to the rest of your questions, I would like to stress that China is a country under the rule of law. All businesses operating in China need to comply with Chinese laws. Judicial authorities investigate offences in accordance with the law. We are committed to advancing high-level opening up and fostering a market-oriented, law-based and internationalized business environment. Products and services of foreign companies and various platforms are welcome to the Chinese market as long as they abide by Chinese laws and regulations. Global Times: President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen said at a G7 session that Many emerging and developing countries are looking for sustainable funding opportunities. The Belt and Road Initiative looked like a good cheap offer. But many countries in the Global South...took Chinese loans and ended up in a debt crisis. She added that G7 should offer win-win partnerships to developing countries that are willing to work with them, and that we have to be fast and we have to get concrete. Do you have any comment? Mao Ning: Hearing this rhetoric, we cant help but ask what the G7, as the wealthiest countries in the world, has visibly contributed to the wellbeing of developing countries? Why is the G7 so obsessed with smearing and disrupting the normal cooperation between developing countries? China will always be a member of the big family of developing countries. Our cooperation with fellow developing countries is aimed for common development, which has been highly commended by the latter. The reason why the Belt and Road Initiative has become a much welcomed public good is because it is committed to wide consultation, joint contribution and shared benefits. We never impose our thinking onto others, nor do we slip into the initiative any selfish geopolitical agenda. We pursue mutually beneficial and win-win cooperation and common development that is more inclusive, balanced and beneficial to all. China attaches high importance to the issue of debt sustainability and has been helping fellow developing countries to ease their debt burdens to the best of its capability. According to the report by a relevant research institution, China has contributed more to the G20s Debt Service Suspension Initiative (DSSI) than G7 countries combined under. A recent report by the Boston University Global Development Policy Center noted that the investment and financing cooperation between China and fellow developing countries is driven by the recipient countrys vast and real demand, and such cooperation could help these countries to overcome bottlenecks in development, unlock growth potential and increase global real income by up to three percent. If the G7 really cares about developing countries, they need to deliver their promises including spending 0.7% of their Gross National Income (GNI) as Official Development Assistance (ODA) annually and mobilizing $100 billion per year for climate action in developing countries. They need to step up to more international responsibilities and obligations and do more concrete things for developing countries. Hubei Media Group: It was reported that on May 20 local time, at least 12 people were killed and more than 100 injured during a stampede at a football game at the Cuscatlan Stadium in San Salvador, the capital of El Salvador. Do you have any comment? Mao Ning: We mourn deeply for the victims and offer our sympathy to the injured and the families who have lost loved ones. According to preliminary information gathered by the Chinese Embassy in El Salvador, no Chinese casualties have been reported so far. Egypts Suez Canal Economic Zone (SCZONE) discussed on Wednesday with Abu Dhabi Ports Group prospects for cooperation in industrial zones, logistical areas, and ports. This came in a meeting between Chairman of the SCZONE Walid Gamal El-Din, Ambassador of the United Arab Emirates in Cairo Mariam Al-Kaabi, and head of the International Sector of the Abu Dhabi Ports Group Ahmed Al-Mutawa, read a statement by the SCZONE. Boosting cooperation, the statement added, comes in light of the SCZONEs unique capabilities, including its prime location, the readiness of ports in the Sokhna and Port Said integrated industrial zones. The meeting tackled the SCZONEs infrastructure, utilities, and investment incentives. It also touched upon the SCZONEs vision to meet the needs of regional and local markets in some targeted sectors, such as automobiles, green fuel, and electric and food industries, the statement said. Al-Mutawa discussed means of cooperation between the two sides for the group to work as an industrial developer and establish logistics areas as well as the possibility of operating berths in ports. The SCZONE is implementing mega development works in Egypts Sokhna ports, including new berths that receive a variety of activities, multi-use terminals, Ro-Ro (roll-on/roll-off) terminals, and liquid bulk terminals, as well as the works that are being carried out in Arish port, the only seaport in North Sinai, Gamal El-Din said during his orientation tour in the SCZONE. The SCZONE is also attracting dry bulk projects and cement storage silos, he said, adding that development works include Al-Adabiya, East Port Said port, West Port Said port, and Al-Tur port. In November, Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi called for ramping up efforts to turn the SCZONE into a "leading and attractive" region for clean energy production. Egypt has recently signed numerous memoranda of understanding on hydrogen and green ammonia production with international partners including Emirati parties as part of the country's efforts to attract foreign investments into green hydrogen production in order to become a transit route for clean energy to Europe. The strategy of green hydrogen production seeks to help Egypt contribute eight percent of the global hydrogen market, according to a previous cabinet statement. The strategy will increase Egypts GDP by $10-18 billion by 2025, create more than 100,000 job opportunities, and contribute to decreasing Egypts import of petroleum products and therefore reduce emissions, the government said. Search Keywords: Short link: Port Moresby, May 22 (PTI) Prime Minister Narendra Modi along with his Papua New Guinea counterpart James Marape on Monday released the Tamil classic 'Thirukkural' in the Tok Pisin language to bring the Indian thought and culture closer to the people of this southwestern Pacific nation. Modi arrived here on Sunday on his maiden visit to Papua New Guinea, becoming the first Indian prime minister to visit the country. He co-hosted with Marape a key summit between India and 14 Pacific island countries to boost bilateral ties. Tok Pisin is the official language of Papua New Guinea. "Indian diaspora keeping alive connect with the motherland! PM@narendramodi & PM James Marape launched a translation of the Tamil classic Thirukkural in the Tok Pisin language of Papua New Guinea," the Ministry of External Affairs tweeted. Co-authored by Subha Sasindran and Governor Sasindran Muthuvel of West New Britain Province, the book brings Indian thought and culture closer to the people of Papua New Guinea, it said. "In Papua New Guinea, PM James Marape and I had the honour of releasing the Thirukkural in Tok Pisin language. Thirukkural is an iconic work, which provides valuable insights across different subjects," Prime Minister Modi tweeted. Thirukkural, a collection of couplets on ethics, political and economic matters, and love, is written by Poet Thiruvalluvar. "I would like to commend @pngsasi, Governor of the West New Britain Province and Mrs. Subha Sasindran for their effort to translate the Thirukkural in Tok Pisin. Governor Sasindran has done his schooling in Tamil while Mrs. Subha Sasindran is a respected linguist," he said in another tweet. Prime Minister Modi has previously released a translation of the book in his mother tongue Gujarati. He has praised Thirukkural on many occasions. In one of his speeches, the Prime Minister said, "Thirukkural is not only a literary masterpiece but an extraordinary guide for common living. It shows us the path of righteousness and inspires us to lead a selfless life." He also stated that Thirukkural "remains relevant even today and can serve as an inspiration for the present generation." The prime minister has often quoted Thirukkural in his speeches and tweets and even gifted a copy of the book to the late Japanese PM Shinzo Abe in 2014. Thirukkural is a treasure trove full of inspiring ideas that youngsters all over the world can read and benefit from," he had said. Kyiv, May 22 (AP) Russian officials claimed that Ukrainian military saboteurs launched an attack across the border Monday, wounding three people in a small town. Kyiv officials denied any link with the group and blamed the fighting on a revolt by disgruntled Russians against the Kremlin. Neither version of events could be independently verified in an area that has witnessed sporadic spillover from the almost 15-month war in Ukraine. The governor of Russia's Belgorod region, which borders Ukraine, said that a Ukrainian Armed Forces saboteur group entered the town of Graivoron, about five kilometers (three miles) from the border. The town also came under Ukrainian artillery fire, he said. Gov. Vyacheslav Gladkov said three people were wounded by shrapnel in the assault. Three houses and an administrative building were damaged, he said. In nearby Zamostye village, a projectile hit a kindergarten and caused a fire. One woman was wounded in her hand, Gladkov said. He also reported that Russian anti-aircraft systems shot down an unmanned aerial vehicle over Belgorod region. Gladkov said a counterterrorist operation was underway and that authorities were imposing special controls, including personal document checks and stopping the work of companies that use explosives, radioactive, chemically and biologically hazardous substances. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russian President Vladimir Putin was informed about the alleged saboteur incursion. An effort to push them out from the Russian territory and liquidate them was underway, he said. Peskov described the action as an attempt by Ukraine to divert attention from the eastern city of Bakhmut, which Moscow claimed to have captured after months of battle but where Kyiv says it is still fighting. But Ukrainian military intelligence officials didn't confirm that Kyiv had deployed saboteurs. Instead, they claimed that Russian citizens seeking regime change in Moscow were behind the Graivoron incursion. Ukraine intelligence representative Andrii Cherniak said Russian citizens belonging to murky groups calling themselves the Russian Volunteer Corps and the Freedom of Russia Legion were behind the assault. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's advisor, Mykhailo Podolyak, said on Twitter that Ukraine has nothing to do with it. He suggested an armed guerrilla movement was behind the attack. The Russian Volunteer Corps claimed in a Telegram post it had crossed the border into Russia again, after claiming to have breached the border in early March. The Russian Volunteer Corps describes itself as a volunteer formation fighting on Ukraine's side. Little is known about the group, and it is not clear if it has any ties with the Ukrainian military. The same is true for the Freedom of Russia Legion.. The RVC was founded last August and reportedly consists mostly of anti-Putin far-right Russian extremists who have links with Ukrainian far-right groups. Earlier Monday, Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, Europe's largest atomic power station, spent hours operating on emergency diesel generators Monday after losing its external power supply for the seventh time since Russia's full-scale invasion of its neighbour, the head of the U.N. nuclear watchdog said. The nuclear safety situation at the plant (is) extremely vulnerable, Rafael Grossi, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said in a tweet. Hours later, national energy company Ukrenergo said on Telegram that it had restored the power line that feeds the plant. But for Grossi, it was another reminder of what's at stake at the Russian-occupied plant which has seen shelling close by. We must agree to protect (the) plant now; this situation cannot continue, Grossi said, in his latest appeal for the area to be spared from the fighting between Ukrainian and Russian forces. IAEA staff are deployed at the plant, which is occupied by Russian troops. The plant's six nuclear reactors, which are protected by a reinforced shelter able to withstand an errant shell or rocket, have been shut down. But a disruption in the electrical supply could disable cooling systems that are essential for the reactors' safety even when they are shut down. Emergency diesel generators, which officials say can keep the plant operational for 10 days, can be unreliable. Grossi said it was the seventh time the plant had lost its outside power supply since Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022. The Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant is one of the 10 biggest atomic power stations in the world. Ukraine's presidential office said Monday morning that at least three Ukrainian civilians were killed and 16 others were injured in Russian assaults over the previous 24 hours. The Ukrainian Air Force reported that four out of 16 Russian missiles and all 20 drones launched against Ukrainian targets were shot down. Military targets and public infrastructure in Dnipro, Ukraine's fourth-largest city in the center of the country, were singled out for Russian attacks, which injured eight people, officials said. The Dnipro fire department was affected, and 12 houses, shops, and a kindergarten were damaged, according to Governor Serhii Lysak. (AP) VM Bhubaneswar, May 21 (PTI) The Odisha cabinet will induct new ministers on Monday with Governor Ganeshi Lal administering the oath to them at a ceremony at the Lok Seva Bhavan, according to an official document. Bhanjanagar MLA Bikram Keshari Arukha, who resigned as the speaker of the assembly last week, received a phone call from Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik for taking oath as a minister, sources said. Rourkela MLA Sarada Prasad Nayak and Bangiriposi MLA Sudam Marandi also received phone calls from Patnaik for the ceremony, they said. The governor, who was on a private visit to his home state of Haryana, returned to Bhubaneswar on Sunday, a day ahead of schedule for the ceremony. The ceremony will be held at the convention centre of the Lok Seva Bhawan in Bhubaneswar at 9.50 am, according to the invitation sent to the press, including PTI, by the Chief Secretary's Office. Last week, School and Mass Education Minister Samir Ranjan Dash and Labour Minister Srikant Sahu resigned. No appointment was also made in place of Health Minister Naba Kishore Das, who was assassinated in January. The Odisha's Council of Ministers can have 22 ministers, including the chief minister, but has 19 ministers at present. The additional charge of School and Mass Education, and Labour departments was given to Revenue Minister Pramila Mallick. Earlier, Finance Minister Niranjan Pujari was given the additional charge of the Health and Family Welfare Department. Mumbai, May 22 (PTI) A 45-year-old man has been arrested for allegedly raping a woman and having unnatural sex with her in the eastern suburb of Chembur here, police said on Monday. The RCF police on Sunday arrested the accused for the incident that took place on May 13, an official said. The accused and the 38-year-old victim, who is a teacher, were acquainted with each other, he said. On the day of the incident, the accused entered the victim's house on the pretext of talking to her about financing her tuition classes and asked her to accompany him to Navi Mumbai, the official said. When the victim refused, the accused allegedly raped her and had unnatural sex with her before fleeing the spot, he said. The woman was traumatised by the attack and approached the police four days later, the official said. A case under sections 376 (rape), 377 (unnatural offence) and other relevant provisions of the Indian Penal Code has been registered against the accused, he added. Mumbai, May 22 (PTI) A traffic constable on bandobast (security) duty for a visit of Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde was injured in Vakola area of Mumbai after being hit by a scooter carrying three persons, an official said on Monday. The incident took place on Sunday night and the three persons on the scooter fled leaving behind the two-wheeler, the Vakola police station official added. "Constable Vijay Chavan was on duty near Gate Number 8 of the old airport at Kalina when the incident took place. He wanted to to stop the scooter since two persons were riding pillion. However, the scooter knocked him down while the rider made a bid to escape," he said. Efforts are on to nab the three, who have been charged with rash driving, assault on on-duty police personnel and other offences under Indian Penal Code and Motor Vehicles Act, he said. Kolkata, May 22 (PTI) Three people, including a mother-daughter duo, were charred to death in a blaze at a house in West Bengal's South 24 Parganas district, an official said. The fire broke out at the house in Nandarampur Daspara in Budge Budge police station area around 8.30 pm on Sunday, he said. Among the deceased were a woman and her minor daughter, who the official said got stuck under the tin roof of the house that gave in during the fire. A fire services official said there were only household articles in the house, even as some locals alleged that an illegal firecracker unit was operating out of it. "As per the initial assessment, there were no firecrackers. The picture will become clear later," he told reporters after the blaze was brought under control. He said the cause of the fire will be investigated. A massive explosion at an illegal firecracker manufacturing unit in Purba Medinipur's Egra killed 12 people on Tuesday. New Delhi, May 22 (PTI) In the wake of incidents compromising the safety of students in all-women colleges, the Delhi University has reconstituted a committee to strengthen the safety and security of female students and employees on the campus. The six-member committee will be headed by university proctor Rajni Abbi. Speaking to PTI, Abbi said the committee has been reconstituted after harassment incidents were reported during cultural festivals at colleges. "The university felt the need to have a specific committee to look into the issues of female safety. The committee that was formed after these incidents created generalised guidelines. But it was not specific to the safety of girl students," she said. As per a notification issued on May 8, the university said, "The competent authority of the university has re-constituted a committee on women safety and security to strengthen the safety and security of female students and employees of the university." Besides Abbi, the other members of the committee are Law Centre II's Vageshwari Deswal (member secretary) and Geeta Sahare (joint proctor), SRCC's Malika Kumar, assistant registrar Girish Kumar and advocate Niyati Sharma. Last month, the varsity issued a 17-point advisory to colleges and departments for holding programmes, events and fests in which it was enunciated that the responsibility for events will lie with colleges, and department authorities and the college concerned will be solely responsible for any "untoward incident". The guidelines were prepared in the wake of several all-women colleges witnessing harassment incidents during cultural festivals. Students of the varsity's Indraprastha College for Women (IPCW) alleged that they were harassed by "unknown" men during a fest on March 28. The incident led to widespread protests by students who demanded the resignation of the college principal. A similar incident in Miranda House was reported in October 2022 where several men allegedly climbed the college walls and gates to witness an open Diwali fest on the campus, and indulged in "cat-calling and sexist sloganeering". Ballia (UP), May 22 (PTI) A father-son duo was killed while eight people sustained injuries in a collision between two SUVs in Gadwar area of the district on Monday, police said. According to police, the crash caused one of the vehicles to flip upon impact. A jeep and a Scorpio collided near Inderpur petrol pump. Ramashankar Chauhan (45) and his father Khichdi Chauhan (65) were killed as the jeep turned turtle upon impact while eight others were injured, a police officer said. The injured are being treated at the government hospital in Nagra, he said. The victims from Majhouva village were on their way to attend a ceremony, police said. New Delhi, May 22 (PTI) The Ministry of Education and the US Department of State on Monday launched the India-US Working Group on Education and Skill Development with an aim to enhance cooperation between the two countries in the field. Neeta Prasad, Joint Secretary for International Cooperation, Ministry of Education; and Donald Lu, Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs, US Department of State, co-chaired the Working Groups from India and US respectively. The establishment of the India-US Working Group on Education and Skill Development was announced by the leaders on the sidelines of the 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue held between India and US in Washington DC in April last year. Skilling and vocational education, certification and recognition, matchmaking between US and Indian higher educational institutions engaging with the private sector--- were among the themes discussed between the two sides. "Both sides acknowledged the importance of skilling and vocational education in the industry centered era. Recognising the need to align skills training programs with industry requirements, both sides agreed to foster partnerships between educational institutions, industry stakeholders, and relevant government agencies. This collaboration aims to address skills gaps, enhance employability, and promote entrepreneurship in both the countries," a senior MoE official said. "The delegations agreed to encourage and facilitate such partnerships to foster academic and cultural exchange, enhance educational quality, and promote innovation and knowledge-sharing. Both sides agreed to encourage greater inter-linkages amongst the educational institutions. Indian side proposed that developing joint/dual and twinning courses in areas of mutual interest could be explored," the official said. According to MoE officials, the two sides acknowledged the importance of engagement with the private sector to align the education sector with the needs of the job market. "Both sides agreed to explore avenues to promote public-private partnerships in education and skill development initiatives," the official said. Noting that student and faculty exchanges are at the heart of the knowledge partnership between both countries, the Indian side highlighted the need for expeditious visa issuance and reaffirmed their ongoing efforts on this issue. "The delegations from both sides expressed their commitment to strengthening cooperation in education and skill development between India and US. The Joint Working Group agreed to continue regular meetings and explore concrete avenues to further advance education and skill development collaboration between India and US," the official said. Noida, May 22 (PTI) Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav on Monday accused the Uttar Pradesh government of giving birth to "gun culture" in the state, and also held the dispensation accountable for an incident at a private university in Greater Noida where a student killed a batch-mate before shooting himself dead. A 21-year-old BA third year student had on Thursday shot dead his woman batchmate inside the Shiv Nadar university premises. The two were allegedly in a relationship but had broken up due to some differences after which the student took the extreme step, according to local police officials. "Due to poor security arrangements in the prestigious Shiv Nadar university in Uttar Pradesh's Noida, near Delhi, the killing of a girl student by three gunshots is a painful incident. The UP administration had been equally negligent. Uttar Pradesh mein shaasnik hinsa ne nayi 'tamancha sanskriti' ko janm diya hai (The state violence in UP has given birth to a new gun culture in UP," Yadav tweeted in Hindi. The former chief minister has been critical of the Yogi Adityanath government over what he described as "fake encounters" of suspected criminals by the state police. Meanwhile, the local police continued its probe to ascertain from where the deceased student had procured the country-made 0.32 bore pistol for the shootout, an official said. An FIR was lodged at the Dadri police station under sections 3, 25 and 27 of the Arms Act against the deceased student, the official added. This year marks 111 years since the German archaeologist Ludwig Borchardt discovered the beautiful limestone bust of the ancient Egyptian Queen Nefertiti in Tel El-Amarna, Upper Egypt, and secreted it out of the country. The iconic bust shows Nefertiti with her distinct long neck, calm wide eyes, and perfect clear features that immediately shows why her name means "the beautiful one has come." The Nefertiti bust has been on permanent display at the Neues Museum (New Museum) in Berlin, Germany ever since. It remains one of the most famous and prized Egyptian archaeological discoveries of the early 20th century. Egypt has repeatedly requested its return, arguing that the bust was illegally taken out of the country. Germany has refused the request, saying that it was legally acquired at the time. The ownership of the Nefertiti bust remains a point of cultural and diplomatic contention between Egypt and Germany to this day. Much about Nefertiti's origin and life remains shrouded in mystery, even as she turns 3,400 this year. Where did she come from? What was her journey through life like? Nefertiti lived in the ancient city of Akhetaton (now Tel El-Amarna in the modern day Minya governorate) with her husband King Akhenaten. Akhenaten established Akhetaton as a new capital city during the mid-14th century BC. Nefertiti played an important role as his royal consort and may have ruled as pharaoh after his death. Her stunning bust discovered in 1912 provides some clues about her life, but many details still remain unknown. How did Nefertiti's bust leave Egypt? The story of Nefertiti's bust begins in 1912 when it was discovered and smuggled out of Egypt by German archaeologist Ludwig Borchardt with the assistance of French and British colonial authorities, Egyptologist Dr. Hassan Saber said to Ahram Online. Hassan stressed that he does not want to see the return of all Egyptian artefacts in Neues Museum, but he hopes to bring Nefertiti back. There are some European countries that have apologized for this colonialism and this necessitates other measures to restore the damage that occurred. German official documents raise controversy In 2009, the German magazine SPIEGEL published a story based on formal documents that clearly show how Nefertiti's head was smuggled from Egypt to Germany through deception. Borchardt concealed the box containing the bust in a poorly lit area, in order to hide it from an Egyptian inspector. Adding to the deception, he claimed that the bust was made of gypsum rather than the actual limestone core with stucco cover, according to SPIEGEL. Dr. Monica Hanna, dean of the Faculty of Archaeology and Cultural Heritage at the Arab Academy for Science, Technology and Maritime Transport, is leading an initiative to bring Nefertitis bust and other looted antiquities back to Egypt. Speaking to Ahram Online, she said that she is working on detailed academic research supported by evidence from the national archives, government documents and correspondence, on how Nefertiti's head left Egypt. Hanna, who is originally from the city of Mallawi in Minya, feels a strong personal connection to Nefertiti. She explained that the Egyptian antiquities protection law in force in 1912 clearly stipulated the sharing of artefacts between Egypt and the German mission as an alternative to paying for the cost of the archaeological work. However, the law carved out an exception for pieces that are exceptionally unique, she added. Compromise suggested Dr. Hassan Saber suggests a compromise may solve the issue. If the bust is returned to Egypt, it could be replaced in the Neues Museum by a modern replica accompanied by text saying we voluntarily returned Nefertiti to the place that she belongs to originally, we apologized for that, and we were so proud that this head was part of our museum. He stressed that the move will bring the Neues Museum the respect of visitors and people around the world and provide the museum with a very good story to tell from a marketing perspective. It is [the most] moral action towards Nefertiti if they really admire her, he added. Symbolic hall for Nefertiti in the Grand Egyptian Museum? Academics and archaeological activists have called on Egypt to create an empty hall for the statue of Nefertiti in the GEM in protest to send a symbolic message about Nefertiti's presence in Berlin. Egyptologist Wassim El-Sisi explained in a telephone interview with Ahram Online that he believes that such a move would send a strong message to Western countries, which will increase the likelihood of recovering these pieces. Even if Egypt is unable to recover the statue and other artefacts, the display could still send an important symbolic message that these antiquities belong in Egypt. No evidence for German ownership For his part, Ulfert Oldewurtel, a German historian and classical archaeologist, said to Ahram Online that there is no evidence for German ownership of the bust, but pointed to the legal framework known as the Division Law that could prove it. Legitimacy of Division Law now under question Oldewurtel stressed that the legitimacy of treaties and agreements between Egypt and Germany to divide discovered antiquities is under question today. It is unclear whether these were legally and freely made. Sadly, history is never easy, he said. In the early days of Egyptology (1882-1922), Egypt was governed by the British, who decided what export permits were issued. Making things even more difficult, the institution charged with protecting Egyptian antiquities was controlled by the French until after the end of the Egyptian monarchy in 1952. So, in the era from 1882 to 1952, none of the relevant legal entities regulating the export of antiquities were under the control of Egyptians. From legality to ethics The German archaeologist also noted that there are major discussions about provenance and restitution today. He pointed to the widely circulated and influential reports for the French president by Benedicte Savoy and Felwine Sarr on the restitution of African art. One of the questions now being asked, he added, is not was it legal then but is it right to hold onto these antiquities now? This is very important because it moves the discussion away from the archives, lawyers and legal documents towards the question of ethics and morality. Oldewurtel is personally torn about giving the Nefertiti bust back to Egypt, saying I love the Nefertiti bust and I think she is a great representative for Egyptian culture and an outstanding ambassador for Egypt. Still, I think that the policies when the division of finds was done were colonial. I do not want to live in a world where French art is to be found only in France, or Mexican art only in Mexico. I do not know how to heal the wounds of history without striking new ones, he concluded. The one-million-signature campaign to reclaim Egyptian antiquities Dr. Zahi Hawass, a renowned Egyptologist and former minister of antiquities, said to Ahram Online over the phone that he is campaigning to reclaim three unique and very important antiquities from Egyptian history: the bust of Nefertiti in the Berlin Museum, the Rosetta Stone in the British Museum and the Dendera zodiac in the French Louvre Museum. He plans to collect a million signatures from Egyptians and other nationalities demanding the return of their return. The petition, which has gathered nearly 200,000 signatures so far, is available at this link. Search Keywords: Short link: Lucknow, May 22 (PTI) Uttar Pradesh and the Gyeongsangbuk-do province of the Republic of Korea on Monday signed a number of MoUs to strengthen academic, economic and cultural relations, the state government said. A high-level delegation led by Gyeongsangbuk-do Governor Lee Cheolwoo reached Uttar Pradesh for the MoU signing ceremony, held in the presence of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath at his residence, it said in a release. The Uttar Pradesh government's Infrastructure and Industrial Development Commissioner Manoj Kumar Singh and Director General of Gyeongsangbuk-do's Bureau of Economic and Industrial Affairs Lee Youngseok signed the MoU. Adityanath said the MoU is an important step towards enhancing bilateral cooperation. The exchange of expertise in various fields and the promotion of mutual investment will contribute to the prosperity and progress of the two regions. Welcoming the guests from the Republic of Korea (South Korea), Adityanath said, "The dates of Independence Day of both the countries are the same. Today, India is celebrating the 'Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav'. The relations between India and South Korea are old as both are members of the G20." Referring to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's speech at the United Nations, Adityanath said many countries have given war to humanity but the followers of Buddhism have deep respect for India. All the important places associated with Lord Buddha such as Sarnath, Shravasti, Kushinagar, Kapilvastu, Sankisa and Kaushambi are in Uttar Pradesh. The international airport in Kushinagar under the Buddhist Circuit has become operational, boosting investment and employment opportunities. Soon, Shravasti will be connected with air service, he said. He added that Gyeongsangbuk-do is the largest province of South Korea and has played an important role in preserving its age-old traditions and historical places. Intensive industrialisation has taken place in Gyeongsangbuk-do. Global business groups such as Samsung, LG and Posco have their origins in the province. Similarly, Uttar Pradesh is the largest consumer centre and is endowed with the fertile Gangetic plains and abundant natural resources. Today, Uttar Pradesh is fast moving towards becoming a USD 1 trillion economy, he added. Governor Cheolwoo, while congratulating Adityanath on becoming the chief minister for the second time, said both Gyeongsangbuk-do and Uttar Pradesh are moving towards progress. Work is being done for the promotion of Ayurveda in the province while it is getting recognition in Uttar Pradesh as well. He said Gyeongsangbuk-do and Uttar Pradesh can cooperate in many areas. Uttar Pradesh Tourism Minister Jaiveer Singh, Industrial Development Minister Nand Gopal Gupta 'Nandi', Ayush Minister Dayashankar Mishra, and Chief Secretary Durga Shankar Mishra, among others were present at the ceremony. Amethi (UP), May 22 (PTI) The body of a man with multiple injury marks on his head was found in Gauriganj area here on Monday, police said. Rinku Vishwakarma (32), a resident of Trilokpur in Munshiganj area, had attended a wedding on Sunday where he had an altercation with some people, his brother Divyanshu Vishwakarma alleged in the police complaint. The complainant claimed that his brother was murdered by the same people, police said. JAMES MAIN, Wheeler, Baseball, Sophomore; Main doubled and drove in three wins in a victory against Putnam. Main was 2 for 3 and earned the win in relief. He allowed two hits and struck out three over the final three innings. EMMA LOGEL, Stonington, Girls Lacrosse, Sophomore; Logel scored 11 goals in a pair of Stonington games. She finished with eight in a win against Ledyard and had three in a loss to East Lyme. CHRISTIAN DEJOUR, Westerly, Track, Junior; Dejour finished first in two sprints at the Class C championship. Dejour won the 100 in a time of 11.07 and was first in the 200 in 22.34. IAN DUNHAM, Chariho, Golf, Junior; Dunham shot two sub-40 rounds for the Chargers. He was the medalist in a pair of wins against Westerly and Narragansett with a 38. He shot 37 in wins against South Kingstown and Middlebridge. Vote View Results New York Mayor Eric Adams has hailed his citys right to shelter as a hallmark of compassion for its most destitute. Now he must decide if he will extend that compassion by bestowing homeless people with the right to sleep outside. The City Council unanimously approved a Homeless Bill of Rights last month that would make New York the first big U.S. city to establish an explicit right to sleep in at least some public places. If Adams, a Democrat, allows the measure to become law, it could be a notable departure for the city, which has for years sent police and sanitation crews to clear homeless encampments as they arise. It also would run against the prevailing political headwinds in other places that have struggled with large numbers of people living in tents and other makeshift shelters. The Los Angeles City Council passed a broad anti-camping measure two years ago. Then last year, the city outlawed tents within 500 feet (150 meters) of schools and day cares and banned sitting, lying, sleeping or storing personal property that would disrupt the flow of traffic on sidewalks, streets and bike lanes. The changes were billed as a compassionate way to get homeless people off the streets and restore access to public spaces for other people. Sonja Verdugo, an organizer with the Los Angeles advocacy group Ground Game LA, called the measure inhumane. Basically, you cant rest anywhere outdoors if youre unhoused, she said. Earlier this year, a Right to Rest proposal in Oregon died quietly after its sponsor could not muster support. It would have granted the right to use public spaces without discrimination and time limitations that are based on housing status. Attempts to establish a similar Homeless Bill of Rights in California, including a right to sleep outdoors without fear of being confronted by police, also have faltered. Some hope Los Angeles newly elected Mayor Karen Bass will make good on a campaign promise to move people out of tents and cardboard shanties and into permanent housing. Bass vowed to eliminate encampments lining entire blocks and have made the citys notorious Skid Row the embodiment of the countrys homeless crisis. Bass also promised to house 15,000 people by the end of her first year in office. The number comprises more than a third of the estimated 42,000 Los Angelenos without permanent shelter. The increasing visibility of homeless camps has fueled public frustration and prompted politicians, including some moderate Democrats, to push to reduce their prevalence to the chagrin of some advocates for homeless people. More and more, its simply illegal to be homeless all across the country in Republican and Democratic cities, said Mark Horvath, CEO of Los Angeles-based nonprofit Invisible People. But its not like we can arrest our way out of this crisis. Aside from establishing the right to sleep outdoors, the Homeless Bill of Rights passed in New York would also codify the citys longstanding right to shelter, the only one of its kind among the countrys biggest cities. Among the nine rights in the measure are safeguards against being forced into facilities that dont correspond to a persons gender identity. It also gives people the right to apply for rental assistance and requires parents staying in shelters be given diapers for their babies. This is a sensible and compassionate policy response to unprecedented homelessness, said Taysha Milagros Clark, a policy and data analyst for the Coalition for the Homeless in New York City. The bill of rights really encompasses an understanding that homeless people do have rights. They havent violated any laws or anything of the sort just by virtue of their homeless status, she said. It is a stark departure from what this administration has done. Fabien Levy, a spokesperson for Adams, said the mayor was still evaluating the measure. Since Day One of this administration, Mayor Adams has been focused on helping New Yorkers experiencing homelessness and connecting them with a clean, safe place to rest their heads at night, Levy said. The mayors subway safety program has resulted in more than 4,600 New Yorkers experiencing homelessness being connected to the help and shelter they need to stabilize their lives, Levy said. It is uncertain how the proposed right to sleep outdoors might work in practice. New York City has rules limiting the ability to set up a campsite. Most city parks close at 1 a.m. Privately owned spaces are off limits. Sidewalks and roads are required to be free of obstructions. People are forbidden from lying down on benches or seats on the citys subway trains, though enforcement is lax. New York City is required by law to guarantee space in its huge shelter system to anyone who needs it, but the system has been bursting partly due to an influx of migrants, many of whom crossed into the U.S. along the southern border. Nearly 81,000 people were housed in the shelter system in the past week. City officials scrambled to find more space, including renting out entire hotels for families without permanent housing. Some people choose to live on the streets because they find the citys shelters dangerous or too crowded, dont like their rules or curfews, or have trouble being around other people. Jumaane Williams, New York Citys elected public advocate and a sponsor of the homeless rights measure now before Adams, said he would like the city to focus less on preventing encampments and more on addressing what he says are the roots of the crisis: rising housing costs, joblessness, racism, addiction and mental illness. I think were in dire situations for things that have been decades in the making, Williams said. The concept of a bill of rights for homeless people dates back more than a decade. In 2012, Rhode Island was the first state to adopt one, soon followed by Connecticut and Illinois. So far none of them have explicitly protected the right of a person to be able to sleep outside, said Eric Tars, the legal director of the National Homelessness Law Center. Five years ago, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled the city of Boise, Idaho, could not stop people from sleeping outside if there was nowhere else for them to sleep. Doing so, the court suggested, would criminalize homeless people. The right to sleep outside only exists, the court ruled, if there is no shelter space available. (AP) Leaders of the Group of Seven wealthy democracies have joined their counterparts from other countries during their summit in Japan to try to expand the G7s sway and to include voices from the so-called Global South. From South America to South Asia, Ukraine to the South Pacific, the guests represent a carefully considered choice of countries including big emerging economies like Australia, Brazil, Indonesia and India and smaller ones like the Comoros and Cook Islands. Critics accuse the G7 of being an elite club of countries whose relevance as global leaders is being eclipsed by up-and-coming powers. By including leaders of big but less wealthy democracies like India and Brazil, Japan and the other G7 countries aim to amplify their consensus on vital issues like the war in Ukraine, Chinas growing assertiveness, debt and development issues and climate change. Its something of an odd assortment, but theres a method to the mixture. South Korea is a key ally of the U.S. and Japan, with a huge stake in regional security and stability. The Comoros, an archipelago off the coast of East Africa, is currently chairing the African Union a vital connection to a continent that increasingly is the focus of rivalry between Western democracies in China. The Cook Islands is heading the Pacific Islands Forum another link to a strategically important region. Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has said another aim is to highlight the importance of the Global South developing countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America. As the only Asian G7 member, Japan has a special role to play in that regard, said Yuichi Hosoya, a professor of international politics at Tokyos Keio University. In a joint statement issued Saturday, the G7 leaders underscored their commitment to helping countries cope with debts that have mounted to perilous levels during the pandemic and war in Ukraine. They also reiterated their aim to pull together up to $600 billion in financing for projects to develop infrastructure such as railways, clean energy and telecommunications in developing nations. Kishida convened a session of G7 leaders and guests that included executives from Citigroup and other private partners to discuss how to get more done and offer an alternative to financing from China with investments in a transparent and fair manner. Were just getting started. Together we have a lot to do to close the infrastructure gap, President Joe Biden told the gathering, pointing to a railway project in West Africa that he said would improve food security and supply chains. Lets commit to showing that democracies can deliver, Biden said. We have to deliver. Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, said the effort might raise the amount of investment from billions to trillions. We want to put a better offer on the table, she said. A key aim of including a broader set of countries in the annual G7 summit is to help build agreement ahead of the annual summit of the broader Group of 20 major economies in India later this year. Important global issues cannot be solved without the other countries, Hosoya said. Without the support coming from the countries in the Global South, the G7 cannot, unlike before, effectively respond to the most pressing issues in the world. Indonesia was host of the G20 last year and Brazil will host the meetings in 2024. All have complicated relations with China and Russia and the G7 is seeking support for its efforts to push Russia to end the war. India has abstained several times from voting on U.N. resolutions against Moscow and has increased its imports of Russian oil, while calling for a diplomatic resolution to the conflict. Brazil and India belong to the so-called BRICS group of developing nations, that also includes China, Russia and South Africa. Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva recently visited China to strengthen ties with its biggest trade market. Vietnam is an increasingly important trading partner for the U.S., Japan and other G7 nations and one of the regions fastest growing economies. Like Japan, it has territorial disputes with China. At a time when the world is heading toward divisions, one of the most important issues is to figure out how to steer the world in one direction and regain cooperation and Japan is expected to play an important role as a bridge between G7 and the so-called Global South countries including the G20, said Akio Takahara, a professor at University of Tokyo. (AP) Jeff Bezos rocket company has won a NASA contract to land astronauts on the moon, two years after it lost out to SpaceX. Blue Origin received a $3.4 billion contract Friday to lead a team to develop a lunar lander named Blue Moon. It will be used to transport astronauts to the lunar surface as early as 2029, following a pair of crew landings by Elon Musks SpaceX. NASA will get astronauts to lunar orbit using its own rockets and capsules, but wants private companies to take over from there. NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said the agency wants different landing options as it seeks a return to the moon more than a half-century after the end of the Apollo moonshots. Blue Origin is kicking in billions of dollars, on top of the NASA contract, to help establish a permanent presence on the moon. We have a lot to do before we successfully land and return astronauts, said John Couluris, a Blue Origin vice president. Two years ago, Blue Origin sued after NASA awarded SpaceX the contract for the first lunar landing. A federal judge upheld the space agencys decision. NASAs Artemis program, which follows the 1960s and 1970s Apollo moonshots. kicked off with a successful test flight late last year. Launched atop NASAs new moon rocket, an empty Orion capsule went into lunar orbit before returning home. The next Artemis flight will come late next year when one Canadian and three U.S. astronauts fly to the moon and back, but not land. Two Americans would descend to the lunar surface aboard a SpaceX Starship on the mission after that, no earlier than late 2025. Like SpaceX, Blue Origin plans to practice landing on the moon without a crew, before putting astronauts on board. While the shiny, stainless steel Starship has a science fiction look, Blue Moon resembles more of a traditional capsule perched atop a tall compartment with legs. The latter will stand 52 feet (16 meters) on the moon. Both companies landers are meant to be reusable. Blue Origin will use its still-in-development New Glenn rocket to launch its lunar missions from Cape Canaveral. Starship, the worlds largest rocket, made its debut last month from South Texas; the test flight ended in an explosive fireball a few minutes into flight. Blue Origins team includes five partners: Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Draper, Astrobotic Technology and Honeybee Robotics. Only one other bid was submitted for the contract competition, according to NASA. (AP) A special festive Cabinet meeting was held on Sunday in the Kotel tunnels in honor of Israels 56th Yom Yerushalayim. During the meeting, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said: [Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud] Abbas said a few days ago that the Jewish people have no connection to Har HaBayis so for his attention were holding a special meeting this morning at the foot of Har HaBayis on which Shlomo built the first Beit Hamikdash. Ir Dovid was already here 3,000 years ago. The connection between the Jewish nation and Yerushalayim is a connection that has no parallel among the nations. Netanyahu then referred to the governments current struggle in passing a state budget and the plans he has to develop Yerushalayim. No false propaganda will prevent us from passing the budget, he asserted. The government will fill its term and in the coming days, we will bridge the gaps and continue to work together. The government will approve budgets for Jerusalem. I want to focus on the ring road, in addition to what weve already done the Har Nof tunnels and extending the light rail from Gilo to Ramot. The entrance district to the city is being built, hundreds of hi-tech companies are operating and we will promote a new project a cable car to the Kotel. Were making significant and far-reaching changes. I thank all the government ministers and especially Meir Porosh, Smotrich, and Mayor Moshe Lion who continued Barkats work. Contrary to what Abbas said we were here thousands of years ago and well be here for thousands of years. Jerusalem and Heritage Minister Meir Porush said at the meeting that he is promoting five-year plans for Jerusalem that will lead to the development of local and international tourism, the development of physical infrastructure, ongoing maintenance of the area, and the development of open spaces and national parks. (YWN Israel Desk Jerusalem) In a recent development surrounding the investigation into former President Donald Trumps mishandling of classified documents, a former White House attorney from the Trump administration has made a bold prediction. Ty Cobb, who served as a White House attorney from 2017 to 2018, has stated that he believes Donald Trump will go to jail as the investigation unfolds. Cobbs comments come in response to an exclusive report by CNN, which revealed that the National Archives planned to provide records to special counsel Jack Smith. These records allegedly demonstrate that Trump and his advisors were aware of the proper declassification procedure. Acting archivist Debra Steidel Wall penned a letter to the former president on May 16, which was obtained by CNN. The letter stated, The 16 records in question all reflect communications involving close presidential advisers, some of them directed to you personally, concerning whether, why, and how you should declassify certain classified records. This revelation raises serious concerns about Trumps handling of classified information during his time in office. During an interview with CNN, Ty Cobb expressed his belief that proving the Espionage Act piece of the case may not be necessary due to the substantial evidence of guilty knowledge. He argued that officials only need to demonstrate that Trump moved the documents while the Department of Justice (DOJ) was demanding them or present. Furthermore, Cobb pointed out that Trump and his legal team filed false affidavits with the Justice Department, denying the existence of these documents. However, their claims were shattered when the documents were discovered during the search, revealing misrepresentations regarding Trumps possession of classified documents. Cobb further emphasized that he considers the obstruction case against Trump to be tight and confidently stated, Yes, I do think he will go to jail on it. Mishandling classified documents carries a maximum punishment of up to 10 years in prison, according to Reuters. Notably, Cobb had previously referred to his former boss as a deeply wounded narcissist, shedding light on his perception of Trumps character. Another former Trump lawyer, Timothy Parlatore, revealed in an interview with CNN that a member of Trumps legal team attempted to impede further property searches following an FBI raid. Parlatore, who recently announced his departure from Trumps legal team, specifically singled out Boris Epshteyn, one of Trumps lawyers. Epshteyn, who has been associated with Trump since his 2016 campaign, reportedly made considerable efforts to obstruct the legal team from effectively defending the former president. (YWN World Headquarters NYC) By Rabbi Yair Hoffman for 5tjt.com Once, about 70 years ago or so, Orthodox Jewry was nearly written off. The future is with Reform and Conservative! was the cry. What saved the day were the unsung heroes of Yiddishkeit. They were the orthodox Rabbis who persevered and continued to teach Torah and Judaism. They were not only shul Rabbis, but they taught in the day schools and in the Yeshivos. And they stood staunch while society around them declined morally, and religiously. This was during the hippy sixties with Timothy Leary, Woodstock, f.l., drugs, and all else that personified that generation. Through it all, these Rabbis and these organizations saved orthodoxy. Their students went on and helped fill the ranks of our Yeshivos. Their children and grandchildren, and so many others, are remarkable Bnei Torah because of the path that they took. One such hero was Rabbi Max Schreier obm, who passed away Tuesday, May 16th. He was 95 years old. His family presciently fled Stettin, Germany with the rise of Naziism in 1937. Stettin, an ancient port town near the Baltic, had been home to roughly 2,500 Jews at the time of the Nazi takeover in 1933. About half emigrated over the next seven years. The record shows that the rest of them, just over 1,000 people were rounded up on February 12/13, in 1940. Rabbi Schreier was at the tender age of 9 years old when his family left Stettin. He came with his parents, Sigmund and Regina, along with his two older sisters Ida, 16, and Betti, 14. They met relatives in new York and soon, the family settled in Williamsburg. Reb Max was studying at Yeshiva Torah VDaas. His menahel, interestingly enough was Rabbi Dovid Bender ah, father of Rabbi Yaakov Bender (of Yeshiva Darchei Torah). After Torah VDaas he attended Yeshiva University and studied under Rav Yosha Ber Soloveitchik ztl. Rabbi Schreier was a member of the YU smicha class of 1951. He was the moreh dasrah of the Avenue N. Jewish Center in Brooklyn for some fiftyyears. He was a past President of the Rabbinical Council of America, as well as a past President of the Rabbinic Alumni of RIETS. Yeshiva University conferred upon him a Doctor of Divinity Degree for distinguished service to the Yeshiva and to the American Jewish Community. He was also a past President of the Vad Harabanim of Flatbush. Rabbi Schreier was a member of the Board of Governors of the OU. Rabbi Schreier motivated and inspired so many people, young women, congregants, his Talmidim and Rabbis as well. He was the Rav in Rochester, New York from 1951-1956, he continued on in Bridgeport, Connecticut from 1956-1963. Ultimately, he became the Rav in the Avenue N Jewish Center from 1963-2013. When he arrived in Flatbush he was also the chaplain in Coney Island Hospital. Rabbi Schreier was a brilliant Talmid Chochom, and Torah permeated everything he did. He always had a pedagogical angle in everything he did as well. Singing davening and zmiros was very much a part of his life. Later in life, even one of his aides would hum along to the tune of Adon Olam his favorite zemer. Rabbi Schreier was my Rabbi growing up. Just as important, he and his entire family were neighbors and friends. There are too many stories to relay here. The Rabbi was not only a spiritual leader but a caring and sweet man, wrote Reb Buzzy Rosenthal. Dr. Dovid Krinsky commented, I cannot forget, I will not forget, the caring patience that he showed to me over quite a period of time, When I needed somebody. Nor, that he taught this remarkable to our beloved Zev. Dr. Aaron Greenberg remarked, I had the pleasure of growing up in Rabbi Schreiers shul . I was bar mitzvahed there. He performed my wife Linda and my wedding ceremony.I went to school with his children I have wonderful memories of going to the Schreiers house for Shabbos meals as well as having enjoyable time at their summer bungalow in the Catskills. I will always remember Rabbi Schreier wonderful oratory as he always found to way to connect the parsha to current events and helped share with me and inculcate in me an unabashed love and defense of eretz Yisroel. Rav Hershel Schechter shlita was one of the maspidim at the levaya in new York. He is buried in the Etz HaChaim Cemetery in Eretz Yisroel. Among other things, Rabbi Schreier leaves a legacy of remarkable children and family members throughout Eretz Yisroel and America. The author can be reached at [email protected] The levaya that took place in Eretz Yisroel can be seen here. Egypt will receive $1 million from the Japanese government to alleviate the suffering of Sudanese who have fled their country to Egypt. The sum is part of a $3.5 million grant Japan has allocated to displaced Sudanese in Chad, South Sudan, and Egypt, read a statement by the Japanese Embassy in Egypt on Wednesday. The emergency grant aid aims "to alleviate the suffering of forcibly displaced people and returnees forced to flee from Sudan to Egypt due to the armed clashes in Sudan," the embassy said. The aid will be used to provide food and non-food items for Sudanese in collaboration with the Egyptian Red Crescent. The grant will be provided through the World Food Programme (WFP) and the High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), with each giving $500,000. The WFP will provide food assistance to approximately 150,000 people, while the UNHCR will provide essential non-food items, such as hygiene kits and water, to approximately 80,000 people. During his visit to Egypt in April Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said that "Japan is ready to provide emergency humanitarian assistance for displaced persons in the neighbouring countries of Sudan." Japan intends to support Egypt's efforts to protect displaced persons and returnees through such assistance and in cooperation with the countries concerned, the embassy added. According to the latest figures released by the Egyptian Foreign Ministry to the UNHCR, more than 98,000 refugees crossed into Egypt from 15 April to 15 May. Search Keywords: Short link: Hundreds of IDF soldiers and Border Guard officers carried out a counterterrorism operation guided by Shin Bet intelligence information in the Balata refugee camp, near Shechem, overnight Sunday. Israeli forces destroyed an explosives laboratory, searched dozens of homes and seized weapons, and arrested seven wanted terror suspects. In the course of the operation, Palestinian terrorists opened fire at Israeli forces and a gun battle ensued. Three terrorists were killed and at least six others were injured, one critically and two seriously. BChasdei Hashem, there are no injuries among IDF forces. A military source quoted on Army Radio on Monday morning said that the Balata refugee camp has become a terror stronghold with increasing terror activity. Later on Monday, a statement by the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade terror organization said that the three martyrs were members of the group. IDF forces also carried out counterterrorism operations overnight Monday in Jenin and other Arab villages, arresting six more terror suspects and confiscating more weapons. (YWN Israel Desk Jerusalem) The Lebanese terror group Hezbollah put on a show of force Sunday, extending a rare media invitation to one of its training sites in southern Lebanon, where its forces staged simulated terror exercises. Masked fighters jumped through flaming hoops, fired from the backs of motorcycles, simulated the kidnapping of an Israeli soldier, and blew up Israeli flags posted in the hills above and a wall simulating the one at the border between Lebanon and Israel. The exercise came ahead of Liberation Day, the annual celebration of the withdrawal of Israeli forces from south Lebanon on May 25, 2000, and in the wake of a recent escalation of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in Gaza. Militant group Hamas, which rules Gaza, has long had ties with Hezbollah. The Israeli military declined to comment on the Hezbollah exercise. Senior Hezbollah official Hashem Safieddine said in a speech Sunday that the exercise was meant to confirm our complete readiness to confront any aggression by Israel. Hezbollah terror org. has conducted a military drill today in southern Lebanon, including simulating a kidnapping of a soldier. The Hezbollahs growing brazen behavior increases chances of escalation and miscalculation. pic.twitter.com/vuPoqXSycd Tammy Rahamimoff-Honig (@RahamimoffTamar) May 21, 2023 Israel launched rare strikes on southern Lebanon last month after terrorists fired nearly three dozen rockets from there, wounding two people in Israel and causing some property damage. The Israeli military said it targeted installations of Hamas, which it blamed for the rocket fire, in southern Lebanon. Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah derided the claim, saying the Israeli strikes had only hit banana groves and a water irrigation channel. Safieddine in his speech Sunday alluded to the groups possession of precision-guided missiles, which were not on display but which he said Israel would see later. Elias Farhat, a retired Lebanese army general who is currently a researcher in military affairs, said Hezbollahs symbolic show of strength on Sunday appeared to be in response to the recent escalation in Gaza. Mohanad Hage Ali, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Middle East Center who researches Hezbollah, said that in the past when there was an escalation in the Israel-Palestine conflict, the Lebanese armed group would sometimes fire off rockets or allow a Palestinian faction in Lebanon to do so. But he said Sundays military exercise was a lower-risk way to show force. Given that Friday marked the return of Syria an ally of Hezbollah and Iran to the Arab League, Hage Ali said, Hezbollah may not have wanted a clash on the border with Israel to distract from the Arab reconciliation. While the military exercise is showing how strong they are and sending a message to the Israelis, it also demonstrates that this time around, they dont want to escalate, he said. (AP & YWN Israel Desk Jerusalem) As he launches his presidential campaign on Monday, Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina is officially wading into a GOP primary battle already largely dominated by two commanding figures: former President Donald Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. Scott, the only Black Republican senator, will make his campaign announcement in his hometown of North Charleston after making it official last week with the Federal Election Commission. The late morning event is taking place at Charleston Southern University, Scotts alma mater and a private school affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention. Then hell spend Tuesday with donors in Charleston before a whirlwind, two-day campaign swing to Iowa and New Hampshire. Like others in the GOP race, including former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley, former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson and Woke, Inc. author Vivek Ramaswamy, Scott will have to find a way to stand out in a field led by Trump and DeSantis, the latter of whom could announce his own bid as early as this week. But Scotts senior advisers note that political environments can shift over the course of a primary campaign, pointing to early in the 2016 race when Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush were seen as the top GOP candidates before Trump became the partys nominee. One way Scott, 57, hopes to make his mark is by leaning into more optimistic rhetoric than his conservative rivals. With his Christian faith an integral part of his political and personal story, Scott often quotes Scripture at his campaign events, weaving his reliance on spiritual guidance into his stump speech and even bestowing the name Faith in America on his pre-launch listening tour. In terms of Scotts political strength, his team points to his most recent Senate reelection in November, when Scott defeated his Democratic opponent by more than 20 percentage points. Such overwhelming support in a state that votes early in the GOPs presidential nominating calendar bodes well for Scotts electability on a larger scale, his advisers say. Theres also the matter of money. He will enter the 2024 race with more cash on hand than any other presidential candidate in U.S. history. He had $22 million left in his campaign bank account at the end of his 2022 campaign and plans to immediately transfer that to his presidential coffers. Its enough money, his team says, to keep Scott on the air with continuous TV ads in early voting states until the first round of votes next year. On many issues, Scott aligns with mainstream GOP positions. He wants to reduce government spending and restrict abortion, saying he would sign a federal law to prohibit abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy if elected president. But Scott has pushed the party on some policing overhaul measures since the killing of George Floyd, and he has occasionally criticized Trumps response to racial tensions. Throughout their disagreements, though, Scott has maintained a generally cordial relationship with Trump, saying in his book that the former president listened intently to his viewpoints on race-related issues. When he was appointed to the Senate by then-Gov. Nikki Haley in 2012, Scott became the first Black senator from the South since just after the Civil War. Winning a 2014 special election to serve out the remainder of his term made him the first Black candidate to win a statewide race in South Carolina since the Reconstruction era. He has long said his current term, which runs through 2029, would be his last. Scott rejects the notion that the country is inherently racist and has repudiated the teaching of critical race theory, an academic framework that presents the idea that the nations institutions maintain the dominance of white people. Hear me clearly: America is not a racist country, Scott has said. Its backwards to fight discrimination with different types of discrimination. And its wrong to try to use our painful past to dishonestly shut down debates in the present. If Scott is successful, he would be the first Black person to win the Republican presidential nomination and the second elected to the presidency, following Barack Obama in 2008. In a video announcing his exploratory committee earlier this year, Scott positioned himself as the antidote to the radical left: a self-made success story as the son of a single mother who overcame poverty. He also bemoaned Democratic leaders as needlessly dividing the country by fostering a culture of grievance. Other Republicans are still deciding whether to wade into the presidential race, including former Vice President Mike Pence, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and Miami Mayor Francis Suarez. President Joe Biden is seeking reelection, a decision that has largely cleared the Democratic field. (AP) by Rabbi Yair Hoffman for 5tjt.com Some people erroneously think that one can utilize the services of a non-Jew to permit pretty much anything on Shabbos. This is actually not the case. The halachos are a bit more complex.There are instances in which it is permitted for a non-Jew to perform something that is Biblically forbidden for a Jew to perform on Shabbos, and there are times when it is permitted for a non-Jew to perform something that is forbidden by the Sages, but not by the Torah, for a Jew to perform on Shabbos; there are also instances in which we may not benefit from the services of a non-Jew on Shabbos at all. TWO PROHIBITIONS The first thing that we need to know is that there are two separate prohibitions involved in having a non-Jew perform an act for us on Shabbos. The first prohibition is asking him or her to perform the act; the second prohibition is in deriving benefit from the tangible results of the act performed. Most of us have heard that one is not permitted to tell a gentile to do something for you on Shabbos, but you can hint it to him. The problem is that neither part of that statement is altogether correct. There are times when one can ask directly; on the other hand, even hinting is not permitted when we end up deriving benefit from the tangible results of the forbidden act. This means that if a non-Jew turns on a light for us, we cannot derive benefit from it, even if we merely hinted to him to do so, or even if he did it without any prompting at all! If, however, the non-Jew shut off the light for us, we can derive benefit from the darkness. Why? Because there is no tangible result; there is only the absence of something that existed before. We are allowed to derive benefit from the absence of something, but not from the tangible presence of the result of an act forbidden on Shabbos. THREE REASONS There are also three reasons cited in the rishonim as to why the Sages forbade us from asking a gentile to perform work for us on Shabbos. One reason is that we might come to treat Shabbos lightly. Another reason is based on a verse in the navi that our very speech has to be different on Shabbos. A third explanation is that the Sages treated it as if the person performing the melachah, the forbidden act, were our direct messenger. We rule in accordance with all three of these reasons. BORO PARK CHALLAH EEZ BEST One way to remember when it is permitted to ask a non-Jew to perform an action which would be Biblically forbidden for a Jew to perform is to remember the following mnemonic: Boro Park challah eez best. B stands for bein hashemashostwilight. The period after sundown and before the night stars become visible is known as bein hashemashos. When very necessary, it is permissible during this time to ask a gentile to perform a melachah which we are Biblically prohibited from performing ourselves. How long of a period is this? Rav Shlomo Miller, shlita, holds that it is for 30 minutes after sundown. Rav Sheinberg, shlita, holds that in a bind one can even rely on this up to 71 minutes after sundown. One should of course ask ones rabbi as to which opinion to follow. P stands for psik reisha. Psik reisha refers to an ancillary consequence that will invariably happen as a result of an action. If the action itself is essentially permissible, but it would inevitably result in a melachah being performed, it is permitted to ask a non-Jew to perform the action. For example, if a Jew needs to access his refrigerator on Shabbos, but opening the refrigerator door would cause the light inside to turn on, he is forbidden from opening the door. The Mishnah Berurah rules, however, that asking a non-Jew to open the dooreven though there is a psik reisha because the light will definitely turn onis permitted. The Mishnah Berurah permits this even regarding a Biblical prohibition.1 Thus, if one left an item in the car that is necessary for Shabbos, he may ask a gentile to retrieve it, even if the light will turn on. Challah is for choleha sick person. If a person is bedridden from illness (or cannot present himself to appear healthy), it is permitted to ask a non-Jew to perform work for him. The illness does not have to be dangerous. It is interesting to note that all people are considered to be a choleh in regard to cold weather. Thus in New York, if one has inadvertently left the heat off, he may ask a gentile to turn it on. Eez (with apologies to the spelling purists) stands for eiruv. One may ask a non-Jew to repair an eiruv on Shabbos because a broken eiruv may lead to widespread Shabbos violation. Finally, best stands for bris. The needs of a bris milah may be performed by a non-Jew. According to Ashkenazic tradition, this applies to all melachos; Sefardic custom, however, is to permit this only in the case of actions forbidden rabbinically, not Biblically. RABBINICALLY FORBIDDEN MALACHA Now we shall discuss the general exceptions to the rule regarding the performance by non-Jews of actions that Jews are rabbinically prohibited from performing. To remember these categories, the following mnemonic may be employed: Her Majestys kallah tzedakah. The H (her) stands for hefsed merubaha substantial monetary loss. Under these circumstances, one may ask a gentile to perform a rabbinic prohibition, but not a Biblical prohibition. According to most poskim, electricity is a rabbinic prohibition. Thus if the freezer got unplugged, one may ask a gentile to plug it back in on Shabbos, if the owner would otherwise incur a substantial financial loss. But how much is a substantial financial loss? This varies depending upon each individual. Clearly, a freezer full of meat is a large financial loss. A freezer with two pints of Tofutti and a take-home bag from last weeks chasunah would not be a substantial financial loss. M (Majestys) is for mitzvah. For the needs of a mitzvah, we may ask a non-Jew to perform acts which we are not allowed to perform due to rabbinic decree. For example, if one forgot to purchase challah for Shabbos lunch, one may ask a gentile to go to a supermarket and purchase a challah; purchasing on Shabbos is a rabbinic prohibition. Kallahs represents kavod haberioshuman dignity. One may ask a gentile to perform a rabbinically prohibited act on Shabbos if it is necessary for maintaining human dignity. Examples of this are embarrassment, such as when one has ripped or soiled clothing. Thus a gentile may be asked to violate what would normally be a Rabbinic prohibition in order to save someone from embarrassment. And tzedakah stands for tzaarto alleviate suffering, considerable pain, or even for Miktzas Choli a slight illness. Dayan Weiss (Minchas Yitzchok Vol. III #23) gives an example: If it is extremely hot in the house or the shul, one may ask a non-Jew to turn on the air conditioner, since there is suffering. (Turning on an air conditioner is a rabbinic prohibition according to most authorities.) It is important that we learn the intricacies of what one may or may not ask a non-Jew to do for us on Shabbos. The author of the Lecha Dodi writes an important stanza in this regard: ki hi mekor haberachahfor she is the source of [all] blessing. Through the merit of our careful observance of the Shabbos, we shall receive incredible blessing. The author can be reached at [email protected] Three Israelis were moderately injured and ten were lightly injured in a bus accident in Haifa on Monday afternoon. Dashcam footage revealed how the accident occurred. A driver in a private car was trying to switch lanes into the one the bus was driving and collided with the bus, causing the driver to lose control. The bus veered from its lane and onto the sidewalk, smashing streetlights and hitting several pedestrians. The bus driver, a pedestrian, and one of the bus passengers are in moderate condition and the others are in light condition. All of the victims were fully conscious and suffering mainly from cuts and bruises. Screams were heard at the scene and witnesses initially feared that there were many severely injured victims but bchasdei Hashem, the accident was far less serious than what could have occurred from an out-of-control bus. The sidewalk where the bus swerved was Baruch Hashem relatively empty when the accident occurred. The police announced that it opened an investigation into the accident that occurred near the cemetery in Haifa, in which a bus driver apparently lost control and collided with several streetlights. According to medical officials from the scene, 13 injured people with varying degrees of injury were evacuated to the Bnei Tzion and Rambam medical centers in Haifa. Traffic police opened an investigation into the circumstances of the accident. A spokesperson of Israel Fire and Rescue Services stated that firefighters from the Haifa station operated to cut off energy sources to prevent a fire from igniting and to assist the MDA at the scene of a traffic accident in Haifa. (YWN Israel Desk Jerusalem) Sponsored Content This Shavuos season, ArtScroll has everything you need for your reading pleasure and inspiration! Here is a brief synopsis of some of our recent bestsellers: New from Rabbi Yechiel Spero: The Eternal Wisdom of Pirkei Avos During this time of year, many devote time to study Pirkei Avos. In The Eternal Wisdom of Pirkei Avos, Rabbi Yechiel Spero uses fantastic true stories and penetrating insights to bring the messages of each Mishnah in Pirkei Avos into our everyday lives. Each Mishnah includes an insight, a story, and a practical take-away for us to internalize these vital life lessons. The Awesome Power of Your Berachos This book shows us how to take our berachos to the next level and change our lives for the better! The Awesome Power of Berachos written by Rabbi Mechel Handler and adapted by Malky Heimowitz shows us the many benefits of saying a berachah. We read all about kavanah and discover how to power up our focus and concentration. We discover the hidden meanings in every single word of berachos and how berachos bring berachos the incomparable benefits and blessings Hashem grants us when we say a berachah properly. Return from Captivity Few people write a novel like Rochel Istrin, author of Hidden and The Captives. Set in a small Jewish pioneer community in an increasingly tense pre-Civil-War border state, Return From Captivity is a cant-put-it-down novel of adventure, discovery, and the infinite power of the neshamah to return to its people. Beis Halevi Ahavas Yisroel In his brilliant essay on ahavas Yisrael, the Beis HaLevi, Rav Yosef Dov Soloveitchik, beautifully explains the mitzvah of loving your fellow Jew. Who does the mitzvah apply to? When does it apply? What do I need to do to fulfill it properly? The Beis HaLevi also provides incentives to help us do the mitzvah in the best possible way. This edition is translated and elucidated by Rabbi David Sutton, author of ArtScrolls bestselling Beis HaLevi on Bitachon. The new Beis Halevi on Ahavas Yisrael has amazing insights and a whole section of uplifting stories. Tefilas HaShelah Written by the Shelah HaKadosh, Tefillas HaShelah is the prayer recited by generations of parents, asking Hashem for righteous and successful children. It is traditionally recited on Erev Rosh Chodesh Sivan, while others choose to say it more frequently, with some reciting it every day. In this edition, Yisroel Besser brings the tefillah to life with incredible insights and fantastic stories. Plated A brand-new exciting cookbook! The authors, Elizabeth L. Mandlebaum and Dr. Alyssa Berlin, believe that cooking should be calming, creative, and rewarding. Their goal is to offer simple and healthy recipes with techniques on how to plate them to perfection. They focus on pairing flavors and ingredients that are satisfying and leave you feeling great. Plated features: Calm Cooking ideas to keep your kitchen stress-free Easy-to-find ingredients that pack a visual and flavorful punch. Food hacks, tips, and simple, user-friendly directions to walk you through the prep and plating of each dish Flexible and adaptive recipes that are easily adjusted to your tastes and preferences Allergy-friendly recipes, with many gluten-, soy-, dairy- and nut-free recipes or variations that are equally delicious Entrees that include side, salad, vegetable and/or sauce suggestions that complete your meal Zera Shimshon Megillas Rus Thousands have discovered the beautiful and original Torah thoughts and the remarkable segulah of the Zera Shimshon. Now, ArtScroll proudly presents Zera Shimshon on Megillas Rus. Includes the full text of the Zera Shimshons commentary on Megillas Rus, with an elucidated translation designed to help the reader follow the Zera Shimshons often-complex ideas; an introduction to each derush, with explanations to enhance our understanding of the Zera Shimshons commentary; and explanatory notes that offer more important background material. Rav Druk on Shavuos and Rus Rav Yisroel Meir Druk, son of a famed maggid and a noted maggid himself, brings our understanding of Megillas Rus and the Yom Tov of Shavuos to a whole new level. His insights, firmly based on a large variety of classic Torah sources, are brief, readable, and intriguing. This volume includes a commentary on Megillas Rus, a special section on Krias HaTorah of Shavuos, and inspiring essays on Kabbalas HaTorah. Read this volume before Yom Tov or take it with you to shul your Shavuos will never be the same! Living Emunah on Shidduchim Rabbi David Ashear, author of the bestselling and groundbreaking Living Emunah series, brings his unforgettable _munah insights and stories to one of the most important and stressful parts of our lives: finding a shidduch for our children or ourselves. With more than 300,000 copies in print, the Living Emunah series has touched so many lives. In Living Emunah on Shidduchim, Rabbi Ashear shows us how everyone involved in the world of shidduchim parents, friends, shadchanim, and, of course, those waiting for their basherte can turn a challenging and tense time into a vehicle for growth, tranquility, and ever-strengthening emunah. 90 Seconds The Epic Story of Eli Beer and United Hatzalah The amazing work of Israels United Hatzalah began when five-year-old Eli Beer saw a tragic accident and dreamed of being the one to save the victim. While still a young teen, Eli set out to make that dream come true, creating an underground network of pioneering EMTs who were determined to bring their life-saving skills to victims in only 90 seconds, no matter where they were. 90 Seconds, written by bestselling author Rabbi Nachman Seltzer, is the story of how a boy who failed in school created the worlds largest all-volunteer emergency service. Its the story of dramatic rescues, sometimes under fire. Of life-changing and life-saving innovations such as the ambucycle. It is the story of how with determination, vision, self-sacrifice and compassion and, of course, siyata diShmaya lives can be saved and dreams can come true. Exploring Modern Halachic Dilemmas 3 Zvi Ryzman treats us once again to a fascinating array of halachic discussions, like he did in his previous two books by the same name. For example: Should a kattan become intoxicated on Purim? Can one fulfill pirsumei nisa via Zoom? Does lifnei iveir apply to a meat restaurant during the Nine Days? What are the parameters of ending a fast on an airplane? Rabbi Ryzman researches, analyzes, and elucidates. And when hes finished, we have a clear understanding of the topic and an understanding of the various halachic approaches. Farkas Edition Interlinear Machzor Shavuos for Eretz Yisroel This machzor is a must-have for anyone living in, or visiting, Eretz Yisroel for Yom Tov. It has all the tefillos and insertions to be said in Eretz Yisroel. This is an interlinear format of Hebrew and English. The UK Government is selling 1.26billion of NatWest shares back to the bank, reducing its stake in the lender it bailed out during the 2008 financial crisis to below 40 per cent. The sale of 469million shares at Friday's closing price of 268.4p per share will see the Government's stake in NatWest fall from 41.4 per cent to 38.6 per cent. It comes a month after HM Treasury announced it had pushed back plans to sell part of its stake in NatWest by two years after turmoil in the banking sector sent share prices tumbling. Share sale: NatWest has bought 1.26bn of its shares back from the Government NatWest, formerly Royal Bank of Scotland, was rescued by the Government in a 45.5billion bailout in 2008. The Government bought its stake for 502p per share. Today, however, they are worth around 270p, reflecting a heavy loss for the taxpayer. In April, the Government said it will aim to offload a 15 per cent stake by August 2025, instead of August this year. This is to make sure that the taxpayer gets 'value for money' for the shares, which have been depressed in recent weeks after the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and UBS' takeover of Credit Suisse raised fears over the stability of the financial system. In last month's Budget, the Government confirmed it was aiming to fully privatise NatWest by 2026. NatWest shares have struggled so far this year, but have soared 15 per cent over the last 12 months. Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell, said: 'The Government has sold another chunk of shares in NatWest but the fact it is still left holding 38.6 per cent means there continues to be a big overhang for the stock, which is likely to remain the case for some time given the slow pace of selling down. 'After all, it's been 15 years since the bank was bailed out by the government and the latter still owns more than a third of the company.' At first glance you would be forgiven for thinking this is just any normal - uninspiring - 33-year-old Volvo estate. However, a 20,000 pre-auction estimate ahead of its upcoming sale suggests this 1990 station wagon might be hiding a secret or two. While traditionally seen as a boring choice when it was sold in the nineties, this ordinary-looking V90 estate is anything but that... It was gifted to an A-list celebrity in 2007 after receiving a significant performance upgrade that makes it unique... and a lot more exciting to drive than its looks suggest. Not your average Volvo: This modest looking 1990 Volvo V90 has quite the colourful history, having been gifted to an A-list celebrity who was a big fan of the Swedish brand The famous former owner is none other than actor turned racing driver, Paul Newman. Most famous for starring in huge movie hits including Cool Hand Luke (1976), The Towering Inferno (1974), The Verdict (1982) and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969), Newman is also remembered for his passion for the race track. In fact, he competed in major US events right up until the age of 83, shortly before he sadly passed away in September 2008. The nineties Volvo family wagon was owned by the late actor, Paul Newman - pictured here in his leading role in 1982 film, The Verdict The American petrol head owned everything from VW Beetles to racing Datsuns and Porsches, and some of his competition cars have gone on to sell for staggering sums when offered to collectors at auctions. For instance, a 2002 Chevrolet Corvette - the last racing car he drove before he passed - sold for a whopping $275,000 (175,200) at RM Auctions' Amelia Island sale in 2012, well above the value of a standard model at the time ($38,000 or 24,000). But there is one lesser-known automotive passion Newman had that might come as a surprise to many - a penchant for Volvo station wagons. And the Ohio-born lead man only liked his to be modified with muscle-car engines. The Volvo's being sold in the 'High Speed: Paul Newman's Racing Legacy' sale hosted in Connecticut on 6 June. It has a pre-sale estimate of $25k (20k) From the outside, this mostly looks like any normal Volvo estate. Though the huge exhaust outlet hints it might have received an upgrade or two According to RM Sotheby's, one of Newman's lesser known automotive passions was for Volvo station wagons. And the Ohio-born lead man only liked his to be modified with muscle-car engines Inside, there's nothing to tell the Volvo estate apart from any normal model registered in 1990 And this is one of the three high-performance Volvos he owned - though it is the only one that he didn't oversee being built. He had previously commissioned a 1988 Volvo 740 with a 3.8-litre turbocharged V6 from a Buick Grand National and a 960 with a supercharged 5.0-litre Mustang V8 under the hood. Newman even managed to convince friend and talk show host David Letterman to buy a modified Volvo estate, such was his passion for them. This one, uniquely, was a gift to Newman from his race team as a surprise in 2007. Shoehorned under the bonnet of the modest V90 is a Chevrolet LS3 V8 powerplant. This is the same 506 horsepower, 6.2-litre motor that was used for the C6 Corvette Z06 supercar, which was produced from 2006 to 2014. The engine is mated to a General Motors four-speed automatic gearbox with power delivered to the rear wheels. The Volvo was a gift to Newman from his race team as a surprise in 2007. They completed the high-performance-engine conversion before handing him the keys Shoehorned under the bonnet of the modest V90 is a Chevrolet LS3 V8 powerplant This is the same 506 horsepower, 6.2-litre motor that was used for the C6 Corvette Z06 supercar, which was produced from 2006 to 2014 The American actor photographed before the start of the Le Mans 24-hour race. He and his two co-drivers finished second in their Turbo Porsche Paul Newman buckles his helmet at Lime Rock Race Track, Lakeville, Connecticut, in 1985. He would go on to race competitively until the age of 83, shortly before he passed away Despite the far larger engine (the V90 originally had a 3.0-litre six-cylinder lump), very little fabrication was needed to make the lump fit under the bonnet. And besides shortening the standard driveshaft and tweaking the linkage for the gear shift lever, no further modifications were required to make it work, RM Sotheby's says. The rear suspension also remained stock, but the front end was upgraded with components reportedly taken from an early-nineties Porsche 911. However, in true 'sleeper' fashion, the exterior was kept unchanged, as Newman was known to prefer the conservative - and very boxy - styling of the Swedish station wagons of the era. Unfortunately, he passed not long after the car was completed and so was not able to fully enjoy its fearsome performance. The odometer shows 108,293km, which works out at 67,290 miles. Though it's unclear how many of these have been covered since the engine substitution. Despite the far larger engine, very little fabrication was needed to make the lump fit under the bonnet The auction house says the car was gifted to Newman in 2007 but he unfortunately passed not long after and so was not able to fully enjoy its fearsome performance As with any Volvo estate from this era, what it lacked in style it made for with incredible practicality, including a capacious boot The odometer shows 108,293km, which works out at 67,290 miles. Though it's unclear how many of these have been covered since the engine substitution With its Corvette engine under, the car is now dubbed the 'Volvette'. It is being offered (with its original inline-six engine, transmission, and factory manuals) to the highest bidder as a featured lot in a Newman auction next month. It will be sold in the High Speed: Paul Newman's Racing Legacy sale hosted in Connecticut on 6 June alongside other vehicles from his past as well as trophies, title-winning rings, helmets and racing suits worn by the late actor during his decorated driving career. The Volvo is tipped to be one of the most valuable of the 100 lots up for grabs, with a pre-sale estimate of $25,000 - around 20,000 in British money. A pledge to renationalise energy firms does not feature on Sir Keir Starmer's to-do list if he wins the election at least not yet. Some of the heat no pun intended may come out of the issue of energy bills, which are likely to fall significantly when Ofgem unveils its summer price cap this week. The hit to households will reduce because wholesale gas prices are down. But the underlying dysfunction in the energy market remains, and this is a gift to those like the Unite trade union, the Labour party's biggest financial backer, that want nationalisation back on the agenda. Seizing energy assets, including the big domestic suppliers and North Sea oil and gas operators would, of course, be bonkers. Unfortunately, this might not stop it from appealing to voters. Unite claims nationalisation would end the 'scandal of energy company profiteering' at the expense of customers. This ignores a number of inconvenient truths, the first of which is that the price of energy on international wholesale markets will not magically change following nationalisation in the UK. Feeling the heat: An underlying dysfunction in the energy market remains Prices are coming down anyway because Europe is learning to cope without supply from Vladimir Putin. Hard to credit perhaps, but the UK domestic energy supply sector as a whole is not profiteering, but loss-making. And if the UK is to achieve net zero by 2050, we will need investment running into the hundreds of billions of pounds in renewables, hydrogen and new nuclear. A nationalised industry would fight for funds with the NHS, schools and the rest when the public purse is overstretched. But under private ownership the vast resources in UK pension funds could be tapped, alongside capital from overseas investors. Yet the mess in the energy market, which has provided a happy hunting ground for chancers, means the likes of Unite will probably get a better hearing than they deserve. Ofgem, in the name of competition, let thinly capitalised firms enter the market and allowed these businesses to run risky business models reliant on customer credit balances as a source of working capital. Predictably, some so lacked financial resilience that they imploded at the first whiff of difficulty. Even less palatable, several founders emerged from the wreckage millions of pounds richer, including those of Pure Planet and the couple behind failed supplier People's Energy, who appear to have held on to 50m despite the collapse. A serious concern is that a very large chunk of the domestic market is in the hands of two businessmen, Stephen Fitzpatrick at Ovo and Greg Jackson at Octopus. Their firms supply heat and light to more than 11million households, but as private companies they are not as transparent and accountable as one would like. They have been consistent loss-makers. Octopus says it could have booked a 9m profit last year had it not chosen to spend 150m on keeping customers' bills down. Both grew through the acquisition of customers from other suppliers. Octopus took on 1.5million via its rescue of Bulb and Ovo gained 3.5m from SSE in 2020, and both are reported to want Shell's UK retail energy business a significant further expansion. The risk is that they seem to have no path to sustainable profits, but are too big to fail. Tougher rules on capital and ring-fencing customers' money are needed. Why were these not put in place? Could some suppliers not pass such a stress test? The Government should consider replacing Ofgem with a more robust regulator. But there are no easy routes out of the energy market mess. As the saying goes, you wouldn't start from here. Who couldnt be in favour of Keir Starmers plans for the NHS? Labour wants to reduce suicides among young people, tackle heart disease and speed cancer care. With an NHS budget of 180.2billion, digital transformation and artificial intelligence (AI), all this might be possible over the longer haul. Starmer was clear in his round of breakfast interviews, staged before ranks of parked ambulances in Essex, that income tax and national insurance rises were off the table. Labours big idea for stepping up the training of UK doctors and other NHS professionals is to abolish non-domiciled status for wealthy individuals who choose to live in Britain. Gamble: Labour leader Kier Starmer (pictured) wants to abolish non-domiciled status for wealthy individuals who choose to live in Britain This, Labour says, would yield 3billion of extra income for the Exchequer. There are a couple of problems. The first is that Labour has already spent some of the 3billion on pledges to provide free school meals. The more significant mistake is to think that there is a permanent pot of gold. All non-dom abolition will do is chase away some of the most entrepreneurial individuals in Britain. Labour constantly talks about closing tax loopholes. One of the favourites for Shadow Chancellor, Rachel Reeves, is the fossil fuel tax break for exploration and production in the North Sea, ramping up proceeds of the windfall tax. Perhaps no one noticed that at $74-a-barrel for Brent, the super-charged profits are vanishing and that well-heeled North Sea investors such as Jim Ratcliffe of Ineos have other choices which would undermine energy security. As far as non-doms are concerned, chasing them away could leave us much poorer. Britain may not be able to get its hands on their overseas earnings, but the latest government data shows that the 68,300 non-doms, a diminishing tribe, still paid 7.8billion in tax on UK income. Non-doms already are on the move with the numbers dropping year-on-year. As the next election closes in, a stream of departures could become a flood. There is no shortage of other choices, with Portugal and Greece offering advantageous tax status, and Italy joining in. That is among the reasons why Milan is a draw for mobile investment bankers. The Tories already are engaged in an act of self-harm to the upmarket retail, design and hospitality sectors by ending the VAT tax break for overseas visitors, handing advantage to Paris, Madrid and Milan. Starmers ideas for squeezing the wealthy would nullify any ambition to restore the UK to the top of the Group of Seven growth league. NatWest legacy The rescue of Credit Suisse by rival UBS was managed without the Swiss authorities re-capitalising the merged bank. If newly minted group chief executive Sergio P. Ermotti has any illusions about the task ahead, he might take a look at NatWest. Some 15 years after Labour pumped 45.5billion into the bank, took an 84 per cent stake and parachuted Stephen Hester in as emergency boss, the Government still has a hefty stake. In the latest ownership change, NatWests chief executive Alison Rose is spending 1.26billion on a share buyback which cuts HMGs stake from 41.4 per cent to 38.6 per cent. Any pretence that taxpayers might escape the shadow of disgraced former Royal Bank of Scotland boss Fred Goodwin without suffering a loss has vanished. The contrast between the recovery of the US top banks and the time it has taken to put humpty-dumpty back together again in Europe is stark. Deutsche Bank is restored to profit but still wobbled last month. UBS has a long journey back and Italian banks are highly dependent on European Central Bank subventions. Meanwhile, the Americans have had enough time to foment a new crisis among tech and regional lenders. Last tango Obstacles to Revolut gaining a UK banking licence are manifold, not least the unwillingness of tech investor Softbank to give up its preference shares without compensation. Softbank boss Masayoshi Son has a habit of playing hardball, as the UK learnt to its cost over a London listing for Arm Holdings. Revolut bosses want the London licence to attract cheap, insured deposits and to passport it into the valuable US banking market. Chief executive Nik Storonsky believes if it fails with the Bank of England, the French authorities will welcome it with open arms. Paris is anxious to erode the Citys influence as a financial centre. But not, one imagines, at a risk to financial stability. Israel's National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir stormed the flashpoint Al-Aqsa mosque compound Sunday, police said, a controversial move by the extreme-right politician amid heightened tensions in annexed east Jerusalem. "Minister Ben Gvir visited the Temple Mount this morning. There was no incident during the visit," police said in a statement, using the Jewish name for the holy site in the heart of the Old City. The visit by National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, his second known visit since becoming a member of Israels most right-leaning government ever, was likely to draw condemnations from the Palestinians and elsewhere in the Muslim world. I am happy to come up to the Temple Mount, the most important place for the Israeli people, Ben-Gvir said in a statement following the visit. He praised the police presence at the site, saying it proves who is in charge in Jerusalem. The visit comes days after Israelis marked Jerusalem Day, which celebrates Israels capturing of east Jerusalem in the 1967 Mideast war. Flag-waving nationalists marched through the main Palestinian thoroughfare in Jerusalems Old City, some singing racist anti-Arab chants, while hundreds of Jews visited the sensitive hilltop shrine. The hilltop site houses the Al-Aqsa Mosque, the third-holiest site in Islam. Since Israel captured the site in 1967, Jews have been allowed to visit but not pray there. Ben-Gvir, along with a growing movement of activists, has long called for greater Jewish access to the holy site. Palestinians consider the mosque a national symbol and view such visits as provocative and as a potential precursor to Israel seizing control over the compound. Most rabbis forbid Jews from praying at the site, but there has been a growing movement in recent years of Jews who support worship there. Tensions at the disputed compound have fueled past rounds of violence. A visit by then-opposition leader Ariel Sharon in September 2000 helped spark clashes that became the second Palestinian uprising. Clashes between Israeli security forces and Palestinian demonstrators in and around the site fueled an 11-day war with Hamas in 2021. Israel captured the Old City of Jerusalem, with its sites holy to three monotheistic faiths, along with the rest of east Jerusalem, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip in the 1967 Arab-Israeli War. The Palestinians seek those territories for a future independent state, with east Jerusalem as the capital. Israel annexed east Jerusalem in a move unrecognized by most of the international community and considers the city its undivided, eternal capital. Violence between Israel and Palestinians in the West Bank has spiked in the last year as Israeli occupation forces launched near-nightly raids in response to a spate of Palestinian attacks. More than 250 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire since the spring of 2022. About 50 people have been killed in Palestinian attacks against Israelis. Israel claims most of the Palestinians killed were militants, but youths protesting the incursions and people not involved in the confrontations have also been killed. Earlier this month, fighting also erupted between Israel and Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip. Israeli strikes targeting the militants killed 33 Palestinians, including women and children. At the same time, two people were killed in Israel from militant rocket fire. *This story was edited by Ahram Online Search Keywords: Short link: Lindsell Train has defended its approach to risk management after Hargreaves Lansdown criticised the level of oversight at the firm. In a note to investors last week, the investment platform said ongoing analysis had highlighted some concerns, which it had brought up with Lindsell Train. A spokesperson for Lindsell Train told This Is Money the firm had a 'clearly defined and disciplined investment approach invest[ing] in what we believe to be high quality companies'. Hargreaves Lansdown has taken aim at Lindsell Train's approach to risk management in a note to investors Among these companies is Hargreaves Lansdown itself. Lindsell Train is the investment platform's second biggest shareholder, holding a stake of around 12 per cent. Chief among its concerns were that Lindsell Train, which was founded and is still run by Michael Lindsell and Nick Train, does not have a sufficient risk management framework in place and managers are not being challenged enough. Emma Wall, Hargreaves Lansdown's head of investment analysis and research said: 'Following a period of engagement with the team at Lindsell Train, we do not feel that the pace of progress has been satisfactory. 'At present, we don't feel that the investment risk framework currently in place is sufficiently robust, nor that Lindsell Train have the correct capabilities, to provide strong independent oversight and challenge of the investment team.' The investment platform emphasised its analysis was 'not a judgment on the investment capabilities of the fund managers [who] are patient, long-term investors and have established a repeatable investment process across the funds they manage, hunting for high quality companies.' Wall acknowledged the approach taken by Train, Lindsell and portfolio manager James Bullock 'has served investors very well over the long term.' The Lindsell Train Global Equity fund has largely outperformed the IA Global sector over the last five years. Between April 2022 and April 2023, the fund delivered growth of 8.75 per cent while the IA Global sector lagged behind at 0.56 per cent. Similarly, the Lindsell Train UK Equity fund reported a 9.71 per cent return, beating both the FTSE All Share, which delivered a 6.04 per cent return, and the IA UK All Companies at 1.62 per cent. The Lindsell Train spokesperson said that the firm's 'primary aim is to avoid losing permanent capital value' for investors and this can be best mitigated by investing in high quality companies. The firm noted its Global, UK, Japanese and North American Equity funds invest only in listed companies and have no exposure to unlisted securities. Eden Research has been on a roll this year. Flagship biopesticide products Mevalone and Cedroz have received regulatory approvals left, right and centre, gaining access to new European markets including Greece, Poland and Italy. Mevalone was also approved in New Zealand under the brand name Novellus. Then, in a massive boost to Eden's IP, California and Florida, the two largest US state for crop production, gave the nod to nematode killer Cedroz. Florida recently approved Mevalone, the fungus killer mainly used in grape-growing vineyards Florida also approved Mevalone, the bortrytis fungus killer mainly used in grape-growing vineyards. An impressive run of approvals no doubt, but it wasn't easy for Eden to get there. As chief executive Sean Smith explained in a recent interview, the two-tiered regulatory system in the US was a major struggle. Federal-level approval from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was the first barrier to entry into the important market. Typically you could expect a two-year window for approval. For Eden, it took four years to get Mevalone and Cedroz approved. Smith pointed to Covid lockdowns as the primary cause of this massive delay, but one wonders if the Trump administration's regulatory budget bonfire didn't help either. On the bright side, the EPA actually approved the products' three active ingredients and the delivery systems that will be the building blocks for future products. In theory, this should make it easier and quicker to get new products federally approved in the US but then you have the states to worry about. Some, Smith explained, simply say 'thank you very much for your application and your fee, go along and do what you like'. Others, like California, are more rigorous and demand additional field trials before approval is granted. By far the biggest market for Eden's products and a 'significant force' in grape harvesting, California has yet to approve Eden's biggest killer app Mevalone. 'That's the next milestone for us,' stated Smith, who said to keep ears to the ground for news in the coming months. 'In the meantime, our distributors are cracking on with the job of selling products. In truth, we don't expect a major revenue impact until the 2024 growing season on the basis that California will have the most impact,' he added. Getting in the weeds on revenue potential, it's clear that, with patience, Eden's addressable market is huge. For Mevalone alone, European and US markets are roughly the same - around 101million and 95million ($109million and $102million) respectively, translating to around 3million of sales in each jurisdiction (slightly less in the US) per year for Eden's range of products at an estimated 40 per cent margin. For the UK specifically, Mevalone's addressable market is relatively small compared to other regions, with the 4,000 hectares of vineyards being no bigger than France's Chablis region alone. But that pesky, grape-loving bortrytis fungus grows 'incredibly well' on the Isles due to favourable weather conditions. Most UK vineyard operators will cite the fungus as one of their biggest problems if you ask them, says Smith. Approval in the UK for Mevalone is still pending, but Eden is hopeful for news some time this year. Conversely, a country like Turkey, a massive grower of grapes to sate the country's appetite for raisins, is less of a target market due to its hot and dry conditions. Not only do these addressable market numbers exclude additional pending approvals for Mevalone, they also exclude another huge opportunity for Eden. As it stands, Mevalone is only approved for a few crops; primarily grapes, but apples in France too, a fruit with a similar disease profile to grapes. But just as Viagra, to use a crude example, was originally intended for heart disease before rising to the challenge in other medicinal fields, Mevalone has significant potential to branch out into other use cases. It's called 'label expansion' in pharma parlance, described by the FDA as when 'additional clinical data have shown the drug can safely and effectively treat patient populations other than those for which it was originally intended'. In Eden's situation, this means discovering new use cases far beyond what Mevalone is currently approved for. Smith explains: 'The target that we are jointly focused on right now together is to expand the label to include two other disease targets, which will mean that the target market multiplies by size by a factor of 10.' Clearly massive potential, and Eden has already made steps in expanding Mevalone's label, including an application in France in the coming weeks. Not enough expansion plans on the plate for you? There's also an entirely new product in the works being developed in partnership with US agriscience giant Corteva. 'We've been working with those guys for the last few years on the development of a seed treatment, and we are expecting to have a lot more to say about that fairly soon,' Smith teased. Future sales potential for this as yet unnamed seed treatment is 21.6million in the US and 8.6million in the UK and Europe. As it stands, Eden's share price has underperformed in 2023, with, at 3.4p, a market capitalisation of 14million. But it's hard to deny the potential of the group, even if, as with regulatory approvals, it may require a bit of patience. Keep your eyes peeled. Warning: President Joe Biden President Joe Biden has further dented hopes that a deal over the US debt ceiling can be achieved in the coming days calling Republican offers 'unacceptable'. Republicans and Democrat politicians have been arguing over whether to raise or suspend the debt ceiling, which sets how much money the government can borrow. US Treasury secretary Janet Yellen warned last week that if they did not reach a deal, the government could run out of cash by June 1. But talks last Friday ended without progress. Speaking at the G7 meeting in Japan yesterday, Biden said of the Republicans: 'Much of what they've proposed is simply unacceptable. 'It's time for Republicans to accept there is no bipartisan deal to be made solely on their partisan terms. They have to move as well.' The Democratic leader also suggested that some Republicans would use the disastrous economic impact of a US economic default to undermine his chances of re-election next year. Shares in takeover target Dechra fell after the pet healthcare company warned its annual profits will miss City forecasts. The company, which makes medicines for pets and treatments for farm animals, said wholesalers in the US and the UK are holding less inventory, creating a blip in sales. The impact of destocking 'has been deeper and longer than initially expected', the FTSE 250 group told investors, having 'material' impact on its performance for the first three months of the year. Dechra said wholesalers in the US and the UK are holding less inventory, creating a blip in sales Dechra, which is in talks with Swedish private equity group EQT about a 4.6billion takeover bid, now expects profit for the full-year to come in below 186million. Analyst forecasts had been for profit to be between 186million and 199million. The trading update sent Dechra shares falling 13 per cent to 31.70 in late trading on Monday. However, they remain 20 per cent higher since the start of the year, having surged 33 per cent after EQT's takeover proposal. EQT has until 2 June to make a firm offer or walk away. Dechra said there was no certainty that any firm offer will be made. During the pandemic lockdowns, there was a boom in pet ownership, boosting the fortunes of pet companies like Dechra. But the group said the trading environment since the start of the year had been more 'volatile and challenging' than anticipated. The market seems to be slowing due to the cost-of-living crisis that has prompted some families to spend less on their dogs and cats' wellbeing. However, Dechra said there were encouraging signs that the situation was improving both in the US and the UK. The group insisted that it remained 'very well positioned' to continue to grow over the medium and longer term despite the 'unprecedented' and 'short term trading headwinds'. 'The fundamentals of the business and strategy remains strong, our underlying markets remain in structural growth, we continue to grow in our chosen markets and we have an established, highly experienced and focused management team,' it told shareholders. 'Our strategy is robust, including a very attractive development pipeline of new products to underpin our future growth, supported by a strong balance sheet.' European regulators have slapped Facebook owner Meta with a record 1.2billion (1billion) fine for a breach of data privacy rules. The fine far exceeds the previous EU record data fine of 746million levied at Amazon and relates to Meta's transfer of EU user data to the US. The regulators, led by Ireland's Data Protection Commission said the fine related to rules under General Data Protection Regulation, or GDPR, and it has also ordered Meta to bring its data transfers into compliance with the EU law. Meta - which owns Facebook, Instagram and Whatsapp - says it will appeal the decision. Owner of Facebook and Instagram Meta faces record EU data fine The European Data Protection Board said the 'seriousness' of Meta's infringement meant the fine had to between 20 and 100 per cent of the applicable legal maximum. Data protection partner at London law firm Fladgate Eddie Powell said: 'The maximum fine which could have been imposed is 4 per cent of Metas worldwide turnover ($116.6 billion), so a fine of 1.2billion roughly 1 per cent - is a lot better than it could have been. 'The amount reflects the fact that Metas systems were structured so that all data collected on its social media platforms had to be sent to the US, without any kind of firebreak, and this was viewed as an aggravating factor.' The EDPB added that Meta must now cease all 'unlawful' data processing, 'including storage, in the US of personal data of European users transferred in violation of the GDPR', within six months. Andrea Jelinek, EDPB chair, said: 'The EDPB found that Meta IEs infringement is very serious since it concerns transfers that are systematic, repetitive and continuous. 'Facebook has millions of users in Europe, so the volume of personal data transferred is massive. 'The unprecedented fine is a strong signal to organisations that serious infringements have far-reaching consequences. Europe's highest court ruled in 2020 that an EU-US data transfer agreement was invalid, citing surveillance concerns. Meta last year warned that an order to ban the mechanism it uses to transfer data from Europe to the US could force it to suspend Facebook services in Europe. Fladgate's Powell said the order for Meta to halt data transfers to the US within 12 weeks and to remove already transferred data within six months is potentially more significant to the group than the fine. He added: 'That is likely to be a big headache for Meta, and its notable as the first big use of the authorities power to order a suspension of international transfers. 'In the short term, Meta are likely to appeal (they have little to lose) so this may not have any immediate impact, but its unlikely any appeal will succeed in reversing all of this decision.' Shares in takeover target Dechra Pharmaceuticals tumbled after it warned profits will be even lower than feared this year. The FTSE 250 group, which makes medicines and treatments for pets and farm animals, said it will make less than 186million in the 12 months to June 30. It came after an earlier profit warning in February when it said profits for the year would be at the lower end of market expectations at 186million. Shares in the company, which is in talks about a 4.6billion takeover by Swedish private equity firm EQT, fell 13 per cent, or 476p, to 3174p. Dechra said business between January and April was more volatile and challenging than expected. Demand has been hit as customers in the US and Europe whittle down excess stocks before buying more. Profit warning: Dechra, which makes medicines and treatments for pets and farm animals, said it will make less than 186m in the 12 months to June 30 Dechra said that while there have been signs of improvement in both the US and UK in recent weeks, trading remained tough across the rest of Europe. Dechra insisted it remains very well positioned to grow over the medium and longer term even in the face of such difficult trading conditions. The group added that talks were ongoing with EQT over a possible 4070p a share offer. Earlier this month, the pair pushed back the date to finalise its 4.6billion bid by three weeks to June 2. If a firm offer is made and subsequently accepted by Dechra, then the mid-cap firm will join a growing list of British companies to be gobbled up by private equity predators. Despite the bleak update, Liberum analyst Seb Jantet struck an optimistic tone on the chances of a deal being reached. He said: While it is never helpful for trading to weaken during an offer period we dont think this will change EQTs appetite to make an offer. The key determinants of whether EQT will make a formal offer remain, in our view, getting comfortable about Dechras ability to sustain growth and what remain tight debt markets. Stock Watch - Enwell Energy Enwell Energy will suspend its shares from trading in July after warning that it is likely to miss the deadline to publish its results. The Ukraine-focused oil firm is still searching for an auditor after the previous one resigned last year. The group has made progress in hiring a Ukrainian auditor but is highly unlikely to find one in the UK. Enwells annual report and accounts for 2022 must be published by the end of June 2023. Shares plunged 10.5 per cent, or 1.95p, to 16.6p. What it probably does is that it increases the likelihood that investors will accept an offer if one is put on the table. The FTSE 100 gained 0.2 per cent, or 14.12 points, to 7770.99 and the FTSE 250 lost 0.1 per cent, or 15.76 points, to 19273.34. Global stock markets made a sluggish start to the week amid concerns over whether the US was likely to clinch a deal on extending its debt ceiling. Back in London, Johnson Matthey teamed up with Hystar, a Norwegian high-tech hydrogen company, in a three-year strategic partnership to accelerate renewable green production. The chemicals giant said this delivers on its target of winning at least two strategic partnerships in hydrogen technologies, following on from its deal with the US firm Plug Power earlier this year. Shares inched up 0.8 per cent, or 15.5p, to 1904p. William Hill owner 888 agreed to sell its Latvian business to Paf Consulting in a deal worth up to 24.6million. Lord Mendelsohn, chairman of the gambling giant, said the Baltic region was not among the core or growth markets where the gambling firm is prioritising investments. Shares remained flat at 77p. Belfast-based software group Kainos said revenue rose 24 per cent to 374.8million in the year to the end of March while profit was up 18 per cent to 54.3million. Shares rose 6.1 per cent, or 75p, to 1299p. There was little respite for Polymetal after its Russian operations were hit by US sanctions. The London-listed gold and silver producer insisted the restrictions did not impact its business outside Russia. But shares plunged 18.6 per cent, or 42.7p, to 187.3p. Mike Fewsters family-owned Jarrah honey business in Perth has grand ambitions. Our objective is to get our honey into Harrods, he said. Fewsters Forest Fresh business is one of many in Australia hoping the UK is about to become a lucrative market again and it is targeting the world-famous department store in Londons Knightsbridge as a potential customer. More than 50 years after Australia was cold-shouldered by Britain when it joined the European Economic Community, a free trade deal between the two old allies and sparring partners will come into force at midnight on May 31. The deal was hailed by Boris Johnson as a new dawn in the relationship when it was agreed in principle almost two years ago. Sweet deal: Jarrah honey is extracted from a hive at Forest Freshs site in Perth, Western Australia Despite the hype, the economic impact will be negligible given Australia is the UKs 19th largest trading partner. Treasury economists have estimated the pact will add around 2.3billion to British exports, amounting to less than 0.1 per cent of the economy. But as the first free trade deal to be thrashed out since the 2016 Brexit vote, it represents a significant moment for Leavers who promised that the UK would become a buccaneering global trading nation once freed from the shackles of Brussels. In more practical terms, the removal of swingeing tariffs on 99 per cent of exports should mean more of Australias produce, from Wagyu beef to nuts, lamb chops and lobsters, slowly infiltrate the supermarket shelves. Likewise, more UK products, such as Scotch whisky, will be exported Down Under. Some of this Australian produce, like Jarrah honey, will be unfamiliar to most British consumers. Derived from the Jarrah tree, a variety of eucalyptus unique to Western Australia, this expensive superfood has similar antimicrobial and antibacterial health properties to manuka, which is made more widely in Australia and New Zealand. Honey exported to the UK attracts a tariff of 16 per cent. This, combined with the hefty cost of shipping or flying it to the UK, has made Britain an unattractive market for Australias honey producers. Fewster hopes this is about to change, and that British consumers sourcing their honey from overseas will start buying it from the Commonwealth instead of Europe. We still have the King as our head of state so if anyone deserves a bit of a break its us Australians, he said. As well as honey, the Australian Trade and Investment Commission (Austrade) in London believes bushfoods could soon arrive on UK plates. It cites the example of lemon myrtle, a native Australian shrub which grows in the wetter coastal areas of New South Wales and southern Queensland. Superfood: Jarrah honey has antimicrobial and antibacterial health properties The herb, which has an intense citrus flavour, has long been used in Aboriginal cuisine and medicine. Austrade has predicted an influx of products made from Australian seaweed also prized for its health benefits including pasta, granola, supplements and skincare products. Inevitably, though, people are more preoccupied with Australian lamb chops than lemon myrtle. British farmers have raised fears that the UK will suddenly be flooded with cheap Australian meat produced on the continents vast cattle ranches and sheep farms. This helps explain why it has taken so long for Parliament to sign off on the deal, which has been criticised for being skewed in Australias favour. Farmers have some cause to feel a bit nervous. Before Britain joined the EEC in January 1973, the UK was Australias biggest market for red meat. The first shipment of frozen Australian red meat arrived way back in 1879, not long after Britain had stopped sending convict ships in the other direction. When trade peaked in 1959, Australia exported 153,000 metric tons of beef and 46,000 tonnes of lamb and mutton. During the Covid pandemic in 2021, beef and veal exports to the UK had fallen to just 803 tons and sheep meat exports had dropped to 9,017 tons. Tariffs of up to 12 per cent closed the UK off for many Australian meat producers, which have focused on more profitable markets closer to home, particularly Asia. The trade deal has at least provided some protection for UK farmers. While tariffs will be eliminated immediately for produce such as Australian lobsters and fish, they will not be ditched for beef and lamb for ten years. A transition period will be introduced, during which Australia will have immediate access to a duty-free quota of 35,000 tons of beef, rising to 110,000 after ten years. A similar arrangement has been introduced for lamb and mutton. This still means that Australian farmers can drastically ramp up exports to the UK without paying a penny in tariffs. The reality, though, is that they are starting from a very low base. Andrew McDonald, chairman of farming trade body Meat and Livestock Australia, said: Predictions that there will be a tsunami of Australian meat on UK supermarket shelves are overblown. It will be more of a slow burn. Australias wine industry has also raised concerns that the recent decision by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to hike alcohol duty will wipe out any benefit of removing import tariffs. Its trade body Australia Grape and Wine recently warned the tax hike could make Australian wine more expensive for shoppers in the UK and reduce the amount stocked on supermarket shelves. The CBI has suffered a fresh blow as one of its most senior executives joined a rival business lobby group after more than two decades. Chief policy director Matthew Fell, who stood in as interim director-general when Tony Danker stepped aside earlier this year amid misconduct allegations, is to join Business LDN. Fell will become director of competitiveness at the London-focused group next month. His departure comes as the CBI fights for its existence following a sex harassment scandal. Rivals such as the British Chambers of Commerce are vying to replace it as Britains leading business lobby group. Jumping ship: CBI chief policy director Matthew Fell, who stood in as director-general when Tony Danker stepped aside earlier this year, is to join Business LDN Fell made no reference to the scandal in a series of tweets announcing his departure. After almost 24 years, Ive decided the time is right for me to leave the CBI, he said. From the financial crisis to a pandemic, I leave knowing the CBI steps up when it matters most. CBI director-general Rain Newton-Smith, who took over as director-general last month, paid tribute to Fell for his incredible 24-year service to the organisation. Fell was left in temporary charge when claims about Danker first surfaced in March. Danker was later sacked after a probe but he said he had been made a fall guy. Separate allegations had meanwhile emerged about behaviour at the organisation before Danker joined, including rape claims. Dame Carolyn Fairbairn, who was director-general for five years until October 2020, insisted at the weekend that there was a really good culture, very far from being a toxic culture at the CBI. Last week John Allan, chairman of Tesco and a former president of the CBI, was forced out after the supermarket said allegations about him including that he groped female colleagues risked becoming a distraction. He described the claims as utterly baseless. Tensions: China's cyberspace regulator has banned US chip firm Micron China has banned a US microchip firm claiming it risked national security as tensions between the countries continue to grow. The Communist states cyberspace regulator announced operators would no longer be allowed to buy products from Micron after the Idaho-based business failed a security review. US officials condemned the action as having no basis in fact and said the recent raids and targeting of its firms contradicted Chinas claims it was an open market. The escalating tit-for-tat comes after Washington restricted export of its most sophisticated computer chips to stop them being used to advance Chinas military capabilities. China is an important market for Micron, with its chips mostly concentrated in smartphones and personal computers. Both the mainland and Hong Kong reportedly generated a quarter of its 25billion revenue last year. A Micron spokesman said they were assessing their next steps. Founder: Education start-up Multiverse was started by former PM Tony Blair's son Euan (pictured) The education start-up run by Tony Blairs son has made its first acquisition. Euan Blairs Multiverse, an apprenticeship provider that matches school leavers with employers including Google, Facebook and investment bank Morgan Stanley, has bought Danish education tech firm Eduflow for an undisclosed sum. Multiverse also said it has appointed Ujjwal Singh as its first chief product and technology officer. He joins from Facebooks owner, Meta. Blair, 39, the son of the former prime minister, founded Multiverse in 2016 in a bid to shake up the education sector. It charges clients a fee once an apprentice is successfully placed. In June last year, it became Britains first education technology unicorn after a funding round valued the business at 1.4billion, giving the younger Blair a paper fortune of nearly 350million. The quick consensus on Syria's return expresses the Arab will to end divisions over internal transformations and decline of the Arab Spring as a basis for polarization. Despite significant efforts to establish international organizations such as the League of Nations and later the United Nations as practical frameworks for world governance, the emergence of regional organizations as more suitable frameworks for addressing regional specificities has persisted. This has led to the establishment of numerous regional organizations such as the European Union, the African Union, ASEAN, and the Arab League, among others. The success of these regional experiments in achieving their members aspirations has varied. This variation can be attributed to several factors, including the nature of the aspirations themselves, the gap between aspirations and political, economic, and security realities, as well as the relationship between the regional and global systems including major powers. In other words, the development and success of regional organizations depend on the interaction between these three main variables. The Arab League has been influenced by these factors. It began with high Arab ambitions and acted as an arena revealing some Arab-Arab crises and divisions at certain stages. Undoubtedly, the League has also been affected by the relationship between the Middle East, the global system, and major powers at different stages. Some powers acted as major regional actors to promote certain policies, leading to instability or dominance in managing security challenges. The Arab League has worked for decades under very complex circumstances. However, the League and major Arab powers deserve credit for preserving this important entity since its establishment in 1945. Observers of the Arab League's recent movement argue that the League is witnessing a new adaptive phase to increase its effectiveness and assume greater responsibility in managing Arab issues and interests. The most prominent aspects of this adaptation are capitalizing on international fluidity to regain control of regional management, adapting to non-traditional security challenges, and working to end the negative legacy of the Arab Spring. Before discussing these transformations, two observations should be emphasized. First, the success of the League in managing these transformations results from the interaction between the League's Secretariat-General under Ahmed Aboul Gheit's leadership and the will and diplomacy of major Arab powers. Second, these transformations are still in their early stages, requiring additional efforts to enhance returns and strengthen the League's role. Ending the negative legacy of the Arab Spring is a key feature of ongoing Arab movements in recent years that aim to end the security legacy of the Arab Spring, which imposed immense political, economic, security and cultural costs on Arab states and societies, including the rise of terrorist organizations, militias, state collapse, civil wars, internally displaced persons, and refugees. Some Arab countries have initiated a corrective trajectory, such as Egypt and Tunisia, through national projects. Syria succeeded in preserving the state against terrorism but at high costs including international and regional influence, sovereignty, and economic and human costs. Regionally, the involvement of major powers in neighbouring countries, whether through military intervention under UN cover or not, has multiplied. An Arab project to end the negative legacy of the Arab Spring is now observed, notably the intensive Arab diplomatic efforts to reintegrate Syria, leading to the decision to end Syria's membership freeze and invite President Bashar Al-Assad to the summit. This goes beyond ending the freeze; it is part of an Arab process to address the dangerous legacy of the Arab Spring, especially terrorism, militias, refugees, and drug trafficking. The quick consensus on Syria's return expresses the Arab will to end divisions over internal transformations and decline of the Arab Spring as a basis for polarization. Syria's return is necessary to help dismantle sources of international and regional influence, as emphasized by President Al-Assad. The Syrian case illustrates this new Arab direction, which does not imply a parallel project against democracy, decent living, or social justice associated with the Arab Spring. However, achieving these goals should not demolish states and institutions. There are other ways to achieve these goals that give additional credit to reform over revolutions and preserve the nation-state. Twelve years of experience with the Arab Spring have provided some lessons. Adapting to non-traditional security challenges: For a long time, traditional security issues dominated the Arab League agenda, especially the Arab-Israeli conflict, relations with neighbours, and terrorism. Successive internal crises since 2011 (Libya, Syria, Yemen, and Sudan) have imposed themselves on summit agendas until now. Without diminishing the importance of these issues or implying their declining significance, the Arab League has recently discussed issues like Arab food security, water security, climate change, and cybersecurity, increasing in importance due to several factors. The Russia-Ukraine war has posed economic challenges, especially food security, with growing interest in "food sovereignty" -- the right of each country to determine its food policy and strategies while respecting its cultures and systems in managing natural resources and rural areas. Embracing "food sovereignty" may complicate the reliance on international markets, as shown in the COVID-19 pandemic and Russia-Ukraine war. Negative water practices by some neighbours have challenged Arab water rights, prompting the League to address Arab water security as a new national security dimension. Egypt and the UAE's role in engaging with climate change efforts, especially hosting COP27 and COP28, establishes an important Arab role in this field. Exploiting current international fluidity to regain control of regional management: Regional organization effectiveness depends on the international system and regional-global relationships. The Arab League has been affected by the unipolar system since the 1990s. However, current fluidity provides an opportunity to utilize global shifts to ensure a pluralistic regional framework and readjust the relationship between the region, system, and powers. This includes reducing international intervention in regional affairs, as expressed by many Arab leaders. However, this requires significant collective and individual efforts to enhance this important recent trend. It is also important to establish clear joint policies regarding issues that have provided intervention opportunities over the past decade. Acceptance of diverse Arab positions and interests: Arab countries are ready to accept diverse positions and interests on important issues. Two main dimensions can be highlighted: First, there is no longer the preconception that Arab countries must adopt the same positions on particular issues or crises. Second, this diversity does not become conflicting. For example, some Arab countries have signed the Abraham Accords without significant problems. This does not mean diversity does not affect the level and extent of Arab-Arab interactions but that it is no longer associated with acute crises as before. This shift results from several factors, notably the spread and distribution of power within the Arab region, the diversity of Arab interests globally, and the success of key Arab powers in creating broader spheres beyond the immediate Arab geography. Thus, recent Arab League summits reflect indicators of an "Arab will" to exploit current transformations in the international structure and review many Arab policies. This aims to end polarization, the negative legacy of the Arab Spring, and rebuild the agenda of joint action to expand the League's role in dealing with new dimensions of Arab national security, including non-traditional threats like epidemics, transformative wars, water security, food security, and cybersecurity, without neglecting central Arab issues. This "new will" is the culmination of ongoing Arab efforts and policies in recent years. More of these are much needed. * The writer is the director of Al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies Search Keywords: Short link: Shares of The Boeing Company (NYSE:BA Get Rating) have received a consensus recommendation of Moderate Buy from the eighteen brokerages that are covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and seven have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $221.60. A number of research firms recently commented on BA. JPMorgan Chase & Co. set a $225.00 price target on shares of Boeing in a report on Friday, February 24th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Boeing from a sell rating to a hold rating in a report on Saturday, May 13th. 888 reiterated a maintains rating on shares of Boeing in a report on Thursday, April 27th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Boeing from $222.00 to $248.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Friday, January 27th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on shares of Boeing from $225.00 to $220.00 in a report on Thursday, April 27th. Get Boeing alerts: Insider Activity In other news, EVP Howard E. Mckenzie sold 412 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.36, for a total value of $84,196.32. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 17,181 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,511,109.16. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.15% of the companys stock. Hedge Funds Weigh In On Boeing Boeing Price Performance Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in BA. Grey Fox Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Boeing during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Piershale Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Boeing during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Mendota Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in Boeing during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Richard W. Paul & Associates LLC purchased a new stake in Boeing during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, Steward Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in Boeing during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Institutional investors own 57.07% of the companys stock. BA stock opened at $205.49 on Friday. Boeing has a one year low of $113.02 and a one year high of $221.33. The stock has a market cap of $123.62 billion, a PE ratio of -29.70 and a beta of 1.43. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $205.03 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $198.75. Boeing (NYSE:BA Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 26th. The aircraft producer reported ($1.27) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of ($0.98) by ($0.29). The firm had revenue of $17.92 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $17.56 billion. The businesss revenue was up 28.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted ($2.75) EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Boeing will post -0.73 EPS for the current fiscal year. About Boeing (Get Rating) The Boeing Co is an aerospace company, which engages in the manufacture of commercial jetliners and defense, space, and security systems. It operates through the following segments: Commercial Airplanes (BCA), Defense, Space and Security (BDS), Global Services (BGS), and Boeing Capital (BCC). The Commercial Airplanes segment includes the development, production, and market of commercial jet aircraft and provides fleet support services, principally to the commercial airline industry worldwide. Recommended Stories Receive News & Ratings for Boeing Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Boeing and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Black Stone Minerals (NYSE:BSM Get Rating) had its target price trimmed by Piper Sandler from $16.00 to $15.00 in a research report released on Thursday morning, The Fly reports. A number of other equities research analysts have also issued reports on BSM. Raymond James increased their target price on shares of Black Stone Minerals from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Friday, April 21st. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Black Stone Minerals in a report on Thursday. They set a hold rating on the stock. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $19.00. Get Black Stone Minerals alerts: Black Stone Minerals Stock Performance Shares of BSM stock opened at $16.56 on Thursday. The firms 50 day moving average price is $15.65 and its 200-day moving average price is $16.39. Black Stone Minerals has a one year low of $12.81 and a one year high of $20.24. The firm has a market cap of $3.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.94 and a beta of 1.04. Black Stone Minerals Announces Dividend Black Stone Minerals ( NYSE:BSM Get Rating ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 21st. The oil and gas producer reported $0.71 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.39 by $0.32. Black Stone Minerals had a net margin of 77.07% and a return on equity of 54.18%. The firm had revenue of $230.38 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $151.81 million. As a group, research analysts predict that Black Stone Minerals will post 1.84 EPS for the current fiscal year. The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 12th were given a $0.475 dividend. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 11.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 11th. Black Stone Mineralss dividend payout ratio is presently 68.84%. Insider Buying and Selling at Black Stone Minerals In other news, CEO Thomas L. Carter, Jr. acquired 30,000 shares of the companys stock in a transaction on Monday, February 27th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $15.58 per share, with a total value of $467,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,620,991 shares in the company, valued at approximately $40,835,039.78. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Thomas L. Carter, Jr. acquired 30,000 shares of the companys stock in a transaction on Monday, February 27th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $15.58 per share, with a total value of $467,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,620,991 shares in the company, valued at approximately $40,835,039.78. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Thomas L. Carter, Jr. bought 31,800 shares of the companys stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 5th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $15.53 per share, for a total transaction of $493,854.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,652,791 shares in the company, valued at $41,197,844.23. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have bought 125,450 shares of company stock valued at $1,952,882. Insiders own 21.10% of the companys stock. Institutional Inflows and Outflows A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of BSM. Acadian Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Black Stone Minerals by 29.2% in the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 37,467 shares of the oil and gas producers stock valued at $502,000 after buying an additional 8,473 shares during the last quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. grew its position in shares of Black Stone Minerals by 2.6% in the 1st quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 70,100 shares of the oil and gas producers stock valued at $944,000 after buying an additional 1,750 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Black Stone Minerals in the 1st quarter valued at $77,000. First Trust Advisors LP grew its position in Black Stone Minerals by 48.5% during the 1st quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 325,532 shares of the oil and gas producers stock worth $4,382,000 after purchasing an additional 106,352 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ancora Advisors LLC grew its position in Black Stone Minerals by 29.2% during the 1st quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 870,043 shares of the oil and gas producers stock worth $7,587,000 after purchasing an additional 196,837 shares during the last quarter. 16.46% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors. Black Stone Minerals Company Profile (Get Rating) Black Stone Minerals LP is an exploration company. The firm engages in the exploration of oil and natural gas minerals. It focuses on the operation of Louisiana-Mississippi Salt Basins, Western Gulf, Permian Basin, Palo Duro Basin, East Texas Basin, Anadarko Basin, Appalachian Basin, Arkoma Basin, Bend Arch-Fort Worth, and Southwestern Wyoming. Featured Articles Receive News & Ratings for Black Stone Minerals Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Black Stone Minerals and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. The Bank of N.T. Butterfield & Son Limited (NYSE:NTB Get Rating) shares reached a new 52-week low on Monday . The stock traded as low as $20.91 and last traded at $20.91, with a volume of 1114 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $25.14. Wall Street Analyst Weigh In A number of brokerages recently issued reports on NTB. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Bank of N.T. Butterfield & Son in a research report on Thursday. They set a hold rating for the company. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Bank of N.T. Butterfield & Son from $48.00 to $40.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 5th. Raymond James decreased their price target on Bank of N.T. Butterfield & Son from $36.00 to $32.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 26th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on Bank of N.T. Butterfield & Son from $41.00 to $35.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $35.75. Get Bank of N.T. Butterfield & Son alerts: Bank of N.T. Butterfield & Son Trading Down 16.8 % The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The businesss fifty day moving average is $26.07 and its two-hundred day moving average is $30.41. The firm has a market cap of $1.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.42 and a beta of 1.38. Bank of N.T. Butterfield & Son Announces Dividend Bank of N.T. Butterfield & Son ( NYSE:NTB Get Rating ) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 25th. The bank reported $1.24 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.16 by $0.08. Bank of N.T. Butterfield & Son had a return on equity of 27.78% and a net margin of 36.85%. The company had revenue of $147.50 million during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $145.86 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.90 EPS. The businesss revenue for the quarter was up 17.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that The Bank of N.T. Butterfield & Son Limited will post 4.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year. The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 22nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.44 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 5th. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.42%. Bank of N.T. Butterfield & Sons dividend payout ratio is currently 37.93%. Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bank of N.T. Butterfield & Son Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in Bank of N.T. Butterfield & Son by 51.7% in the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 707,571 shares of the banks stock valued at $19,105,000 after buying an additional 241,215 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its position in shares of Bank of N.T. Butterfield & Son by 11.1% during the 1st quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 1,044,841 shares of the banks stock valued at $28,211,000 after acquiring an additional 104,131 shares during the last quarter. Susquehanna International Group LLP acquired a new position in shares of Bank of N.T. Butterfield & Son in the 1st quarter valued at $600,000. Jane Street Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Bank of N.T. Butterfield & Son by 105.2% in the 1st quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 38,148 shares of the banks stock worth $1,030,000 after purchasing an additional 19,554 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Bank of N.T. Butterfield & Son by 0.3% during the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 769,086 shares of the banks stock worth $20,765,000 after purchasing an additional 2,317 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.21% of the companys stock. About Bank of N.T. Butterfield & Son (Get Rating) The Bank of N.T. Butterfield & Son Ltd. provides community banking and wealth management business. The firm operates through the following geographical segments: Bermuda, the Cayman Islands, Guernsey, The Bahamas, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. The Bermuda and the Cayman Islands segment offers a range of retail and corporate banking services to individuals, local businesses, captive insurers, reinsurance and trust companies, and hedge funds. Featured Stories Receive News & Ratings for Bank of N.T. Butterfield & Son Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Bank of N.T. Butterfield & Son and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Wealthsource Partners LLC boosted its position in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A Get Rating) by 15.0% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 2,129 shares of the medical research companys stock after buying an additional 277 shares during the quarter. Wealthsource Partners LLCs holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $319,000 at the end of the most recent quarter. A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of A. Toronto Dominion Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 16.9% during the 4th quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 152,815 shares of the medical research companys stock valued at $22,855,000 after purchasing an additional 22,043 shares in the last quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky bought a new stake in Agilent Technologies in the 3rd quarter valued at $3,401,000. Calton & Associates Inc. bought a new stake in Agilent Technologies in the 4th quarter valued at $538,000. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd lifted its position in Agilent Technologies by 7.9% in the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 23,232 shares of the medical research companys stock valued at $3,477,000 after acquiring an additional 1,699 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Huntington National Bank lifted its stake in Agilent Technologies by 5.3% in the 4th quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 4,775 shares of the medical research companys stock valued at $715,000 after acquiring an additional 242 shares in the last quarter. Get Agilent Technologies alerts: Agilent Technologies Trading Down 0.2 % Shares of Agilent Technologies stock opened at $128.87 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $38.11 billion, a PE ratio of 29.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 1.03. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $112.52 and a 1 year high of $160.26. The company has a current ratio of 2.11, a quick ratio of 1.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The firms 50 day moving average is $134.48 and its 200 day moving average is $144.36. Agilent Technologies Announces Dividend Agilent Technologies ( NYSE:A Get Rating ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 28th. The medical research company reported $1.37 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $1.31 by $0.06. Agilent Technologies had a return on equity of 30.35% and a net margin of 19.09%. The business had revenue of $1.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.70 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.21 EPS. Agilent Technologiess quarterly revenue was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year. The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.225 per share. This represents a $0.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 30th. Agilent Technologiess payout ratio is 20.32%. Wall Street Analyst Weigh In A has been the topic of several research reports. Barclays initiated coverage on Agilent Technologies in a research note on Thursday, May 11th. They issued an equal weight rating and a $140.00 target price on the stock. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Agilent Technologies in a research report on Thursday. They set a buy rating on the stock. Credit Suisse Group boosted their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $165.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 1st. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $170.00 to $174.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Agilent Technologies currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $161.64. About Agilent Technologies (Get Rating) Agilent Technologies, Inc engages in the provision of application focused solutions for life sciences, diagnostics, and applied chemical markets. It operates through the following segments: Life Sciences and Applied Markets, Diagnostics and Genomics, and Agilent CrossLab. The Life Sciences and Applied Markets segment offers application-focused solutions that include instruments and software that identify, quantify, and analyze the physical and biological properties of substances and products, as well as the clinical and life sciences research areas to interrogate samples at the molecular and cellular level. Read More Want to see what other hedge funds are holding A? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A Get Rating). Receive News & Ratings for Agilent Technologies Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Agilent Technologies and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. cut its stake in Consolidated Edison, Inc. (NYSE:ED Get Rating) by 0.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 367,650 shares of the utilities providers stock after selling 957 shares during the quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc.s holdings in Consolidated Edison were worth $35,041,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of ED. Roundview Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Consolidated Edison in the first quarter worth approximately $680,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Consolidated Edison by 22.6% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,030,616 shares of the utilities providers stock worth $97,579,000 after purchasing an additional 190,138 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. raised its stake in shares of Consolidated Edison by 54.4% in the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 18,204 shares of the utilities providers stock worth $1,693,000 after purchasing an additional 6,412 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its stake in shares of Consolidated Edison by 1.3% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 19,489 shares of the utilities providers stock worth $1,845,000 after purchasing an additional 254 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Consolidated Edison in the first quarter worth approximately $214,000. 64.95% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors. Get Consolidated Edison alerts: Consolidated Edison Price Performance Consolidated Edison stock opened at $95.19 on Monday. Consolidated Edison, Inc. has a one year low of $78.10 and a one year high of $102.21. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $97.12 and a 200-day moving average price of $95.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.20 and a quick ratio of 1.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $32.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.56, a PEG ratio of 9.81 and a beta of 0.37. Consolidated Edison Announces Dividend Consolidated Edison ( NYSE:ED Get Rating ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 4th. The utilities provider reported $1.83 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.21. Consolidated Edison had a return on equity of 8.36% and a net margin of 15.56%. The firm had revenue of $4.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.01 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.47 earnings per share. The businesss revenue for the quarter was up 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Consolidated Edison, Inc. will post 4.85 EPS for the current year. The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 17th will be issued a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 16th. Consolidated Edisons payout ratio is currently 46.15%. Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades Several analysts have recently commented on ED shares. Mizuho lowered their price objective on Consolidated Edison from $98.00 to $92.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 17th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Consolidated Edison from $94.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a sector perform rating in a report on Monday, February 27th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on Consolidated Edison in a report on Thursday. They issued a hold rating for the company. Argus raised Consolidated Edison from a hold rating to a buy rating and set a $104.00 target price for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 22nd. Finally, Credit Suisse Group reduced their target price on Consolidated Edison from $95.00 to $91.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 17th. Four 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. According to data from MarketBeat, Consolidated Edison currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $91.42. About Consolidated Edison (Get Rating) Consolidated Edison, Inc is a holding company, which engages in the business of regulated electric, gas, and steam delivery. It operates through the following segments: Consolidated Edison Company of New York (CECONY), Orange and Rockland Utilities(O&R), Con Edison Clean Energy Businesses and Con Edison Transmission. Further Reading Want to see what other hedge funds are holding ED? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Consolidated Edison, Inc. (NYSE:ED Get Rating). Receive News & Ratings for Consolidated Edison Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Consolidated Edison and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Easterly Investment Partners LLC boosted its stake in Devon Energy Co. (NYSE:DVN Get Rating) by 9.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 26,284 shares of the energy companys stock after purchasing an additional 2,260 shares during the period. Easterly Investment Partners LLCs holdings in Devon Energy were worth $1,617,000 at the end of the most recent quarter. Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. AlphaCrest Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Devon Energy in the first quarter worth $364,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Devon Energy during the first quarter worth $188,000. Blair William & Co. IL grew its stake in shares of Devon Energy by 52.1% during the first quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 99,120 shares of the energy companys stock worth $5,861,000 after purchasing an additional 33,936 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. grew its stake in shares of Devon Energy by 9.2% during the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 414,354 shares of the energy companys stock worth $24,500,000 after purchasing an additional 34,870 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board acquired a new position in shares of Devon Energy during the first quarter worth $26,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.08% of the companys stock. Get Devon Energy alerts: Devon Energy Trading Up 0.4 % Shares of Devon Energy stock opened at $49.39 on Monday. Devon Energy Co. has a 52-week low of $44.03 and a 52-week high of $79.40. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The companys 50-day simple moving average is $50.63 and its 200-day simple moving average is $58.34. The firm has a market cap of $32.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.15 and a beta of 2.34. Devon Energy Cuts Dividend Devon Energy ( NYSE:DVN Get Rating ) last issued its quarterly 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. Devon Energy had a net margin of 31.39% and a return on equity of 47.42%. The business had revenue of $3.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.82 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.88 earnings per share. The businesss revenue was up .3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Devon Energy Co. will post 6.43 earnings per share for the current year. The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 15th will be given a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 14th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.83%. Devon Energys dividend payout ratio is presently 8.72%. Analyst Ratings Changes A number of brokerages recently weighed in on DVN. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Devon Energy from $70.00 to $59.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 17th. Evercore ISI reduced their price target on shares of Devon Energy from $80.00 to $52.00 in a research report on Tuesday, March 14th. Susquehanna reduced their price target on shares of 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 reduced their price target on shares of Devon Energy from $87.00 to $81.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 10th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Devon Energy from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report on Wednesday, May 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $69.53. Insider Activity In related news, EVP Dennis C. Cameron sold 8,292 shares of the companys stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.97, for a total transaction of $414,351.24. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 218,418 shares of the companys stock, valued at $10,914,347.46. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.80% of the companys stock. Devon Energy Profile (Get Rating) Devon Energy Corp. engages in the exploration, development, and production of oil and natural gas properties. It develops and operates Delaware Basin, Eagle Ford, Heavy Oil, Barnett Shale, STACK, and Rockies Oil. The company was founded by J. Larry Nichols and John W. Nichols in 1971 and is headquartered in Oklahoma City, OK. Read More Want to see what other hedge funds are holding DVN? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Devon Energy Co. (NYSE:DVN Get Rating). Receive News & Ratings for Devon Energy Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Devon Energy and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Egypt condemned on Sunday the storming by Israeli Minister of National Security Itamar Ben Gvir of Al-Aqsa Mosque in East Jerusalem as a provocation and inconsistent with the responsibilities of government officials. Egypt condemns the Israeli minister's incursion into the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound accompanied by a group of extremists and affirms that such provocative actions are inconsistent with the wisdom and responsibility that should be demonstrated by official authorities, the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement on Sunday. Ben-Gvir stormed the m osque compound Sunday amid heightened tensions in occupied Jerusalem, in his second such visit since becoming a member of Israels government. His first visit in January generated global condemnation and concern. The Israeli minister entered the courtyards of Al-Aqsa Mosque and performed his prayers in the eastern region and the Bab Al-Rahma area for 30 minutes. Egypts foreign ministry reiterated the countrys long-standing position that the consecutive incursions into the Al-Aqsa Mosque would not alter the existing legal and historical status of the site. Al-Aqsa Mosque remains an exclusively Islamic sanctuary, the foreign ministry said, calling on the Israeli side to immediately cease the escalations that add fuel to the already existing tensions in the occupied territories. Under a longstanding status quo, non-Muslims can visit the site at specific times but are not allowed to pray there. The Islamic Waqf responsible for administering the site echoed Cairos reaction, adding that it was delusional to think such action would achieve Israel dreams of Judaizing Al-Aqsa Mosque. Jordan and Saudi Arabia also strongly condemned Bin-Gvirs visit as a "flagrant violation of all international law" of the historical and legal status quo in Jerusalem and a provocative and dangerous escalation. Earlier on Sunday, the US expressed its concern over the provocative visit by Israel's far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir to the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem. "This holy space should not be used for political purposes, and we call on all parties to respect its sanctity," the US State Department spokesman stated. Earlier this month, fighting erupted between Israel and Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip that was stopped following a ceasefire that was brokered by Egypt. Search Keywords: Short link: The latest short film of Egyptian award-winning director Morad Mostafa, I Promise You Paradise, or Issa, has been selected to participate in the upcoming 45th edition of the Cairo International Film Festival (CIFF), after premiering in the ongoing 76th Cannes Film Festival. Issa will have its MENA premiere at the CIFF, taking place between 15 and 24 November at the Cairo Opera House. It is definitely an honour for any director to have his film selected to be showcased among such a distinguished audience with a great passion for watching rather amazing movies, the director stated on Monday to the CIFF. The film is currently competing amid the French Festival's 62nd Semaine de la Critique (Critics Week), taking place between 17 and 25 May. The first screening is scheduled for Tuesday. I Promise You Paradise The films crew also comprises cinematographer Mostafa El-Kashef, editor Mohamad Mamdouh, art director Eman Elalby and sound designer Moustafa Shabban. Co-written by Mostafa and Sawsan Youssef; the film revolves around Issa, a 17-year-old African immigrant in Egypt, who races against time after a violent accident, to save his loved ones at any cost. The film is an Egyptian-French joint production between Bonanza Films, producer Sawsan Youssef, French producer Margot Laurier, Red Star, Sea Cinema, Shift Studios and Film Clinic. Morad Mostafa, 35, has been touring the world in recent years with his first three short films: Henet Ward, What We Don't Know About Mariam , and Khadiga, which have competed in over 100 festivals across the globe and earned him dozens of awards, including Oscar and BAFTA qualifying awards. Mostafa previously worked as an assistant director for many important figures, including Hala Khalil, Sherif El-Bendary, Mohamed Diab, and Ayten Amin in her 2020 Cannes-selected feature Souad. CIFF and Cannes The selection of the first Egyptian film for this year's Cairo Festival is a source of great pride for us. It is the culmination of years of following the distinguished director Mourad Mostafa's journey, which was amazingly recently followed by the movie reaching the Critics' Week competition at the Cannes Festival, stated the CIFF director Amir Ramses. Ramses and CIFF President Hussein Fahmy are both currently in Cannes attending various activities of the prestigious festival where some are sponsored by and partnered with the CIFF. The Cairo International Film Festival holds a distinguished status as one of the oldest and most prestigious film festivals in both the Arab world and Africa. It is a remarkable achievement for the festival to be the only one in the Arab and African region registered as a 'Category A' festival by the International Federation of Producers in Paris. Search Keywords: Short link: Ukraine said on Sunday that its forces were still advancing around the edges of Bakhmut, aiming to encircle the ruined eastern city after Moscow congratulated the Wagner private army and Russian troops for capturing it. Russia said on Saturday it had completely taken Bakhmut, which, if confirmed, would mark an end to the longest and bloodiest battle of the 15-month war. Russian President Vladimir Putin praised his regular troops and the Wagner group. On Sunday, however, a top Ukrainian general said Kyivs forces still controlled what he accepted was an insignificant part of Bakhmut, although that would allow them to enter the city when the situation changed. General Oleksandr Syrskyi said in a Telegram post that Kyivs troops were advancing on Russian forces in the suburbs and getting closer to a tactical encirclement of the city, formerly home to 70,000 people. Syrskyi, the commander of Ukraines ground forces, said on Sunday he had visited front-line positions near Bakhmut, where fighting has raged for more than nine months. Syrskyis assertion that Ukrainian forces were continuing their advance along the flanks of the city was echoed by Ukraines Deputy Defence Minister Hanna Maliar. Our forces have taken the city in a semi-encirclement, which gives us the opportunity to destroy the enemy the enemy has to defend himself in the part of the city he controls, Maliar said on Telegram. Ukrainian troops were still defending industrial and infrastructure facilities and had claimed part of the overlooking heights, Maliar said. In the past 24 hours, the Russian offensive around Bakhmut has not let up, including air strikes on the city and the village of Ivanivske on its western approaches, said a statement by the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. Later on Sunday, Wagner leader Yevgeny Prigozhin said in an audio message on Telegram that his groups job was done and his forces would leave the conflict zone within days. Wagner today captured no territory. We have captured all the territory we promised to capture, right up to the last centimetre, Prigozhin said. As we stated yesterday. We are handing over our positions to (Russias) Defence Ministry and on the 25th (of May) we are leaving the conflict zone. Bakhmut has no strategic value according to military analysts, although Moscow has said that capturing it would be a stepping stone towards advancing deeper into the industrial region of Donbas it claims to have annexed from Ukraine. Reuters could not verify the battlefield reports by either side. ZELENSKIY COMPARES BAKHMUT TO RUINED HIROSHIMA Over the past week, Ukrainian forces have made their most rapid gains for six months on Bakhmuts northern and southern flanks, with Russia acknowledging some setbacks for its troops. Kyiv says its aim has been to draw Russian forces from elsewhere on the front into the city, to inflict high casualties there and weaken Moscows defensive line elsewhere ahead of a planned major Ukrainian counteroffensive. U.S. President Joe Biden said Russia had suffered more than 100,000 casualties in Bakhmut, the destruction of which Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy compared to the U.S. World War Two atomic bomb attack on Hiroshima, in Japan. Ill tell you openly: Photographs of ruined Hiroshima absolutely remind me of Bakhmut and other similar settlements. Nothing left alive, all the buildings ruined, he said as he attended a Group of Seven summit in the Japanese city on Sunday. Bakhmut has not been captured by the Russian Federation as of today. There are no two or three interpretations of this, he told reporters. In his nightly video address, on Sunday aboard an aircraft, Zelenskiy said: The world hears our position. Defence, security guarantees, the recovery of all our territories and all our people, justice, the implementation of our peace plan. Taking Bakhmut which Russia refers to by its Soviet-era name of Artyomovsk would represent Moscows first big victory in the conflict in more than 10 months. The battle for Bakhmut has shown a deepening split between Wagner, which has recruited thousands of convicts from Russian prisons, and the regular Russian military. For two weeks, Prigozhin has been issuing daily video and audio messages denouncing Russias military leadership, often in expletive-laden rants. Leaders of the worlds richest democracies at the G7 summit said they would not back down from supporting Ukraine. Zelenskiy, who held a private meeting with Biden in Hiroshima, said he was confident Kyiv would receive F-16 fighter jets from the West after months of lobbying for the planes. Biden said F-16s would not have helped Ukrainian forces with regard to Bakhmut but could make a big difference in terms of being able to deal with what is coming down the road. SOURCE: REUTERS Israeli security forces killed three Palestinian militants during a large-scale raid in the occupied West Bank on Monday, Palestinian and Israeli sources said. The Israeli military said its forces came under fire from Palestinian gunmen and had neutralized at least two of them. It said soldiers confiscated rifles, ammunition and explosive devices and destroyed the site where the bombs were made. Residents of the Balata refugee camp in the city of Nablus said it was the largest such operation there in many years. Israeli Army Radio said a relatively large number of soldiers took part in the pre-dawn raid. We were sitting and then we heard the sound of gun shots. I took my daughters and we moved to a safe corner away from the windows, said Majeda Abu Shallal, whose home sustained serious damage. I started to say prayers, the soldiers were in front of our house and suddenly they left. Ten minutes later the house was blown up. We were inside but they didnt ask us to leave, they didnt say anything to us, they didnt notify us, she said. The Israeli military did not immediately say whether her house was the explosives lab it said it had destroyed. One of the homes inhabitants is a militant, residents said. Reuters video footage showed some of the interior reduced to rubble. Sources in Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas Fatah party said two of the fatalities in the ensuing fire exchange belonged to Fatahs Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades armed group, while it was unclear whether the third person had taken part in the fighting. Security camera footage, that could not immediately be verified by Reuters, appeared to show a third militant was not armed when shot as he approached a soldier. The Palestinian health ministry confirmed three deaths. The continuous aggression against the city of Nablus, its villages and camps by the occupation forces and extremist settlers is a major war crime and collective punishment that must be put to an end immediately, Abbas spokesman Nabil abu Rudeineh said. Balata is the largest refugee camp in the West Bank. Israel has mounted frequent raids in the area over the past year, amid a deadly spate of Palestinian street attacks against Israelis. SOURCE: REUTERS Nigeria's President Muhammadu Buhari will on Monday commission an oil plant billed as Africa's largest oil refinery, after years of delays and a week before stepping down from office. Built by Africa's richest man Aliko Dangote in the commercial hub of Lagos, the refinery -- with the ability to process 650,000 barrels a day when at full capacity -- should begin operations in June. For decades, Africa's most populous nation and one of the continent's largest crude producers has depended on imports to meet local demand because of under-performing state-run refineries. Nigeria swaps crude worth billions of dollars for gasoline it then subsidises for its domestic market. It has caused a huge drain on foreign exchange at a time of dwindling oil revenue following the coronavirus pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war. The new facility, lying on 2,635 hectares (6,500 acres) of land at the Lekki Free Zone and costing an estimated $19bn according to local media, could be a game changer. The refinery, which was first scheduled to open in 2021, will "stop the drainage of foreign exchange" and "create massive employment," a senior manager with Dangote who did not want to be named told AFP. He said the project will "meet the entire requirements of Nigerians," and serve needs around the world. "We have (the) capacity to export the products to any part of the world. We have two vessels to bring in the crude, three vessels to export it to any part of the world," he said. Some 1,100-kilometre (about 680 miles) of subsea pipelines have been laid to link the oil-rich Niger Delta to the complex. The pipelines are also expected to create a corridor for the evacuation of trapped gas from offshore platforms and allow for the monetisation of the product. Also on the massive complex is a $2 billion fertiliser plant with a three million tonnes per annum capacity. Several African heads of state were expected to attend the commissioning on Monday. Search Keywords: Short link: May 22, 2023 It makes no difference whether you are just getting started in the digital world or putting a conventional company online. When it comes to increasing your company's exposure and reach, having a website is critical. One of the most challenging components of this procedure is creating and optimizing a website so that it stands out among the hundreds of thousands of pages. Your organization must be visible on the internet, which has over 1.8 billion websites (with trillions of web pages); and now, savvy marketers are producing content faster, and ideating topics at a more rapid rate, thanks to ChatGPT and Googles (News - Alert) competitor, Bard. The issue is that Google search engine algorithms place a lot of weight on the age and authority of the domain. To put it another way, websites that have just recently entered the market have a smaller pool of prospective clients to pick from than competing websites that have been in operation for a longer time. There are SEO strategies for new websites that let you optimize more recent pages to rank better on Google based on proven best practices. Check out Denver SEO by Firestarter as one such example of local SEO targeting a particular city or region. Helping you get a small leg up and be more efficient with your go to market strategy. Understand Your Target Audience (News - Alert)'s Search Intent Knowing your target audience's demands and pain points will allow you to present them with the most relevant information. The purpose of a search engine is to ensure that your sites fulfill the "search intent" underlying the terms used in the search. The easiest strategy to boost your search intent rankings is to begin by choosing keywords with a clear search intent rather than terms with a muddled search meaning. Long-tail keywords have more specific search intent than one- or two-word phrases. As such, you will have a better understanding of your audience and market, allowing you to match search intent inquiries with the most relevant content you offer. Focus on the User Experience When considering the reader, one should not limit one's attention solely to the content. A pleasant user experience in general has a significant impact on the overall quality of the experience. Thus, search engines are increasingly placing greater emphasis on the quality of the overall user experience. Consider it in this light: if someone searches for "SEO Tips" and the first item that comes up is below average, then there is no response to the inquiry. This individual will then instantly click back to the search results, and the search engine did a poor job of performing its function. If this occurs to this individual regularly, they may start using other search engines since the one they are currently using does not provide them with the results they are looking for. Create High-Quality Content for SEO Both search engines and site visitors like content that is often updated and of high quality. You may improve your rankings in search results for keywords connected to your firm by creating content relevant to the industry in which you operate. This is very beneficial since it allows more people to find you online, increasing the possibility that you will rank higher in the results for more keywords. Content is also important since it gives customers the information they need to learn more about your products or services and move forward with your organization. Acquire Relevant Links The amount and quality of inbound links to your domain have a significant impact on your website's rank in search engine results. If you want to climb the rankings, you must work hard to gain relevant links from other websites with a high degree of authority. Therefore, Google gets positive signals, and as a result, you will be able to obtain higher positions in search results if you collect links from a variety of trustworthy websites. It is important to remember that you should never pay for links to your website since doing so violates Google's webmaster rules and may affect your search results. When you create and upload useful content on your website, other websites are more inclined to connect to it. You may develop a list of bloggers and reporters in your field, then contact them to see if they would be willing to publish your work on their website. Master the Use of Long-Tail Keywords To rank at the top of Google's most important search results, you must first understand how people use search engines to get the information they are looking for. Although they may occasionally enter a query with only one word, they are far more likely to enter phrases than single words. Long-tail keywords are phrases like these, and since they are used in around 92 percent of all searches, every business must understand how to use them successfully. Long-tail keywords are far more specific than single keywords, as well as significantly longer. Furthermore, they are associated with lower average search volumes. Include them in your strategy because targeting them significantly increases the likelihood of generating highly focused and highly converting traffic to your website. Explore Various Content Types It is important to diversify the types of media formats that you use. A solid content strategy nowadays entails much more than simply generating stand-alone blog posts and web pages. Because the information available online is becoming more diverse, incorporating a variety of media into your strategy is a great idea. Google favors content that makes use of the power of multimedia, such as images, video, music, and others; therefore, look for ways to include these aspects in your articles to make them more intriguing. Furthermore, the use of multimedia tools may be an excellent way to update previous material, giving it a new chance to rank. [May 21, 2023] COSRX's #LayerYourSPF TikTok Challenge Campaign Concludes with Record-Breaking Engagement 193+ Million TikTok Views in a Month SEOUL, South Korea, May 22, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- COSRX, a leading skincare brand, successfully concluded its #LayerYourSPF TikTok campaign in Indonesia, Philippines, Malaysia, and Vietnam running from April 14th to May 7th. The campaign garnered tremendous attention, reaching a total of 193 million views under the hashtag #LayerYourSPF. Additionally, the brand hashtag, #COSRX achieved a remarkable milestone of 1.9 billion views, experiencing a 21% increase in engagement during the challenge period. With an astounding participation of 21K+ individuals, the #LayerYourSPF challenge set a new record for COSRX's TikTok campaigns, surpassing all previous participation numbers. Content generated for the campaign also ranked within the top 1% ~ 3% of click generating videos in the Beauty & Personal care category in all 4 countries, verifying the popularity of the challenge. The campaign not only drove participation through a filter-based challenge but also educated users on the importance of sun protection and the need to layer SPF to ensure complete UV coverage. In line with this, participants showcased their creativity and enthusiasm through a wide range of content, filming both indoors & outdoors, while on vacation, creating product reviews, introducing SPF layering techniques, the two-finger sunscreen method, UV camera tests, daily skincare routines, and more, using the COSRX Aloe Soothing Sun Cream SPF 50+ PA+++. These videos were then shared across TikTok, ganering extensive exposure for COSRX and its products among diverse age groups. This widespread engagement and positive response from the TikTok community highlighted the brand's successful efforts to reach a wider and more diverse customer base. "The goal of the campaign was to increase awareness surrounding the importance of layering SPF before sun exposure and after every 2 hours," said a brand representative at COSRX. "To encourage participants to develop healthier skincare habits, we released a specially created filter that encourages users to imitate the hand gestures to pat in the SPF. We believe this is what made our campaign a success. Because it is fun, easy and informative!" she added. "We also want everyone to recognize the importance of sun protection and to know that little lifestyle changes can prevent sun damage and pre-mature aging such as dark spots, loss of elasticity and wrinkles in the future!" The remarkable success of the TikTok campaign translated into positive sales outcomes. Based on the April sales outcomes in Indonesia, Philippines, Malaysia, and Vietnam, the sales of COSRX Aloe Soothing Sun Cream SPF 50+ PA+++ witnessed a staggering 74% increase compared to the previous year, showcasing the direct impact of the campaign on sales growth. COSRX expresses its sincere gratitude to all the participants, TikTok users, and supporters who made the #LayerYourSPF Challenge an exceptional success. The brand remains committed to delivering innovative and engaging campaigns that promote skincare education and encourage a healthy skincare routine. About COSRX With its powerful yet affordable skincare solutions, COSRX has quickly become one of America's favorite skincare brands. Using a minimal number of highly effective natural extracts in concentrated doses, COSRX products deliver visible results by treating the skin with only the essentials it needs and nothing it doesn't. Find its best-selling skincare solutions at retailers nationwide, including Amazon, Ulta, Revolve, and Dermstore. Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cosrx TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@cosrx_official COSRX Official Website: https://www.cosrx.com View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/apac/news-releases/cosrxs-layeryourspf-tiktok-challenge-campaign-concludes-with-record-breaking-engagement-193-million-tiktok-views-in-a-month-301829336.html SOURCE COSRX [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [May 21, 2023] Skimlinks & Yahoo Hong Kong Partner to Bring New Shopportunities to Hong Kong in "666 Shopping Event" Exclusive partnership delivers a major e-commerce event and expands reach to merchants and consumers HONG KONG, May 22, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Skimlinks, a Taboola Company, has partnered with Yahoo Hong Kong as the exclusive affiliate partner for their first annual signature event, 666 Shopping Event, happening from June 1-6 this year. This partnership brings merchants opportunities to showcase their brand, boost brand awareness, and attract potential new customers in Hong Kong. By leveraging the power of one of the key internet portals in Hong Kong, which boasts an impressive 87% reach of the internet population reaching 5.3 million monthly users, this partnership presents a valuable platform for merchants to tap into a vast and engaged audience. Additionally, Yahoo and Skimlinks offer a variety of customizable packages to suit merchants' business needs. The packages include brand-specific retailer pages, guaranteed content, and Electronic Direct Mail tailored to merchants' requirements. Quote from Celina Fan, Head of Lifestyle and Commerce at Yahoo Hong Kong "We're delighted to offer this online shopping event to shopping lovers. We want to create a successful event that benefits all participating merchants by leveraging our strong content reach, marketing and advertising efforts to drive traffic to their website. Merchants can enjoy the opportunity to meet highly engaged Hong Kong shoppers across our content channels including fashion, lifestyle, food and travel during this shopping event. I am excited to continue orking with Skimlinks to expand this event into one of the leading seasonal online shopping events in Hong Kong." Quote from Jade McDade, Director APAC, Skimlinks Publisher Account Management "We know from our experience with premium publishers in other markets, like Australia for example, that dedicated shopping events are very well-received by consumers and are a lucrative revenue source for publishers. We're delighted to exclusively partner with Yahoo Hong Kong for their very first Yahoo Hong Kong 666 online shopping event and are confident it will also be a highlight in the commerce calendar. Commerce content is a key revenue stream for publishers worldwide. We're delighted through our partnerships with Yahoo Hong Kong and other publishers in the region, to continue to grow the industry further." Yahoo Hong Kong started partnership with Skimlinks for their affiliate marketing and commerce content strategy at the end of 2019 and it has been a part of their consistent strategy for business development, with investment into their resources and coverage for as many categories as possible. In the past three years, it has rapidly become a prime and fast growing online revenue source. Notably, in terms of year-over-year growth between 2021 and 2023, Yahoo Hong Kong has achieved impressive results, with recorded strong double digits growth in publisher order value sales and commission recorded. Yahoo Hong Kong 666 shopping festival is scheduled to take place from June 1st to June 6th, 2023, featuring exclusive discounts from nearly 30 merchants that will be available throughout the event. Official event website About Yahoo Hong Kong Yahoo Hong Kong reaches over 5.3 million internet population in Hong Kong, bringing them closer to finance, sports, shopping, gaming and newswith the trusted products, content and tech that fuel their day. For partners, we provide a full-stack platform for businesses to amplify growth and drive more meaningful connections across advertising, search and media. To learn more, please visit yahooinc.com. From 2019, Yahoo Hong Kong leveraged its no. 1 internet reach and broad soft content coverage to establish affiliate commerce Shopping channel, with ambition to provide "the best online shopping guide with the best-buy recommendations" for local audiences and has quickly become the leading affiliate commerce publisher in the marketplace. Going forward, commerce will continue to be Yahoo's core business and editorial focus. About Skimlinks Skimlinks powers commerce content strategies for publishers. As the world's largest commerce content monetisation platform, it helps grow a revenue stream that can contribute as much as a quarter of a publisher's overall revenue, which enables publishers to be less dependent on advertising. Its technology automatically earns publishers a share of sales they drive through product links in commerce-related content created by editors. The platform is a one stop solution providing the technology and the data to start, grow and successfully scale a content commerce strategy across desktop, tablet and mobile. Skimlinks connects 60,000 publishers to 48,500 merchants around the world, generating $2.5m of sales every day. With over ten years in the industry, Skimlinks is ideally placed to become a trusted long-term partner for publishers. Clients include half of the top content publishers in the US&UK such as Conde Nast, Hearst, Yahoo!, Huffington Post, Reach and MailOnline. The platform is scalable and supported by 100% trusted privacy frameworks certified by EDAA and IAB with complete GDPR compliance. View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/apac/news-releases/skimlinks--yahoo-hong-kong-partner-to-bring-new-shopportunities-to-hong-kong-in-666-shopping-event-301829410.html SOURCE Skimlinks [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] The United Nations Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) announced on Monday that it had allocated $5 million to support the United Nations' efforts in Egypt to help people fleeing conflict in Sudan. According to a statement by the CERF, the funding will be used to provide assistance to refugees, returnees, asylum seekers, third-country nationals, and their host communities. Egypt has received the largest number of people fleeing the war in Sudan. According to figures the UN Refugees Agency (UNHCR) received from the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as of May 17, more than 113,000 people including 107,286 Sudanese individuals and 5,364 third-country nationals, fled Sudan to Egypt through the Argeen and Qustul border crossings. The numbers are rapidly increasing with up to 5,000 arrivals a day at Qustul and Argeen borders between Egypt and Sudan. The UNHCR expects a total of 350,000 people could arrive in Egypt within the next six months. The allocation of funds to relief efforts in Egypt is part of bigger support provided to neighbouring countries of Sudan, Chad, Central African Republic, and South Sudan with a total amount of $22 million, said Martin Griffiths, the undersecretary-general for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief coordinator. The announcement of the CERF comes on the same day the UNHCR said it signed a partnership agreement with the Egyptian Red Crescent (ERC) to provide EGP 38 million in essential humanitarian assistance to individuals crossing the border from Sudan. The UNHCR said on Monday the agreement complements the ongoing support provided to individuals at the Egyptian-Sudanese border. The agreement adds to the previous EGP 15 million of in-kind support provided by the agency since the onset of the crisis in mid-April. Thus, the UNHCR provided over EGP 53 million in total in support of the ERC's efforts to help those affected by the crisis in Sudan. As per the agreement, the UNHCR will supply the ERC with over two million bottles of water, along with hygiene and sanitary kits intended for 150,000 people. These provisions will be made available to all individuals crossing the Egyptian-Sudanese border, encompassing Sudanese, Egyptians, and other nationalities. Moreover, the UNHCR will cover the transportation expenses for vulnerable cases from the border to Aswan or other governorates. The UN refugee agency has allocated a budget to the ERC to extend support to urgent medical cases, particularly those enduring chronic illnesses or who have recently encountered medical issues as a result of the lengthy journey between Sudan and Egypt. Earlier on Sunday, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) joined up with an emergency cash assistance programme to provide support for people fleeing the conflict in Sudan and arriving into Egypt. The WFP is already supporting over 100,000 refugees in Egypt through its existing cash delivery platform. The agency will now provide additional support to the most vulnerable families who have arrived in Egypt with nothing or have run out of money after a long and perilous journey Search Keywords: Short link: [May 22, 2023] Global Times: Sprawling transport network prompts Central Asia from 'land-locked' to 'land-linked' BEIJING, May 22, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Amidst the roar of machines, cranes are busy hoisting containers while trucks shuttle back and forth at Xi'an International Trade and Logistics (ITL) Park, China's largest inland port in Xi'an city, Shaanxi Province. Each day, more than a dozen of cross-border freight trains, run among 20 Chinese cities and 45 countries along the "Belt and Road," uploading and unloading containers. Such a busy scene has become the norm at the Xi'an ITL Park backed up by the expansion of the local railway network and booming trade between China and Central Asian countries and others participating the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). The Chang'an China-Europe freight train service, a vital transport link between Xi'an and European cities, has started operation in 2013, when the BRI was proposed. So far, the Chang'an train service is expanding to 17 international lines, including the launch of the regular lines from Xi'an to Almaty in Kazakhstan and Tashkent in Uzbekistan, and other Central Asian cities. As of late April, the Chang'an train has made 17,643 trips, 40 percent of which are transported through Kazakhstan, and 4,294 trips in the five Central Asian countries, Yuan Xiaojun, general manager of Xi'an Free Trade Port Construction and Operation Co, told the Global Times. At the Xi'an ITL Park, 59 railway lines have now been built, with a designed annual container throughput of 5 million TEUs and a capacity of 60 million tons. Meanwhile, as trade grows, goods delivered by the sprawling transport network are also expanding from raw materials and rubber products, clothing to food. Xi'an's rapid development as a transport hub is a microcosm of how the joint initiative has prompted the economic and trade ties between China and the countries along the BRI. Speaking with industry insiders, the Global Times reporters have learned how the transport network facilities have promoted the development of the trade and investment in the region. Thriving business Yuan Zhaohui, a Chinese businessman, has been operating cross-border trade with his partners from Kazakhstan for eight years. He started his business from scratch as the first company in the Xi'an ITL Park to use the Chang'an train to carry cross-border e-commerce goods. At present, about 80 percent of his company's business is linked with Kazakhstan and other Central Asian countries and Russia through the train service. And, the stable operation of China Railway Express has reduced freight costs. Taking the road from Xi'an to Almaty as an example, the cost of freight for a container transported by the Chang'an train is about 50,000 to 60,000 yuan ($7,130 to $8,560), which is half the price of traditional land border transport, according to Yuan. The simplified and easier custom declaration for cross-border e-commerce companies has accelerated the growth of his business. Xi'an Aiju Grain and Oil Industrial Group, a food processing and storage company, has also witnessed how the freight train has brought great changes to their businesses. Before the Chang'an train was launched, the group's cross-border grain and oil trade with Kazakhstan and other countries needed to use the Trans-Siberian Railway to Vladivostok, and transfer to Lianyungang, East China's Jiangsu Province, by sea, before arriving at Xi'an by rail and road transportation. The whole trip took as long as two months. "Now with the cross-border train, the grain and oil we import from Kazakhstan can reach Xi'an in 7 to 10 days - a big saving on transportation time and cost," Liu Dongmeng, deputy general manager of the group, told the Global Times. The return train service delivers high-quality wheat from Kazakhstan and premium cotton yarn and leather from Uzbekistan to the Chinese market with competitive prices while turning the Central Asian countries from "landlocked" to "land-linked," industry insiders said. The fast development of the China-Europe (Central Asia) freight train networks has accelerated connectivity of the Central Asian countries with the major production and trade hubs in China, as far as Jinhua city in East China's Zhejiang Province, enabling the high-quality made-in-China products available at local shopping stores in Central Asian countries. In Zhengzhou, Central China's Henan Province, another production and logistic center, a total of 954 trains are operating on the Zhengzhou-Europe (Central Asia) railway line since its inaugural run in May 2018. Over the past five years, the number of outbound trains has increased from one train per month to 27 trains. Stronger outlook On the sideline of the first China-Central Asia Summit held in Xi'an city, all sides aim to expand and deepen ties, with trade the core of their cooperation. From January to April, China's import and export volume with Central Asian countries amounted to 173.05 billion yuan ($24.9 billion), an increase of 37.3 percent compared with same period last year, according to China's General Administration of Customs on Wednesday. There are strong expectations for the trade to maintain good momentum especially with the much expected signing of documents for a closer tie between China and the Central Asian countries during the summit. Tommy Tan, president of the Shanghai EPU Supply Chain Management Co, an agent for China-EU freight train service, took note of accelerated border trade with regional countries. "Currently, the China-Europe (Central Asia) freight train continues to maintain a growth rate of more than 10 percent, while regional trade remains strong," Tan said, noting that he has confidence in the cross-border freight train service. The five Central Asian countries play a crucial role in connecting Europe and Asia, with nearly 80 percent of China-Europe freight trains passing through Central Asia. On the back of a positive outlook for stronger trade, industry insiders are full of confidence for more vibrant cross-border commerce, with the Central Asian countries no longer just being the transit hub between China and Europe but also important market destinations and sources of supplies. With the improvement of transportation infrastructure under the BRI, there is enormous trade potential between China and the five Central Asian countries - China possesses the products needed for industrialization, urbanization, and digitalization in Central Asia, demonstrating strong trade complementarities, the experts said. With the trade structure continuously optimized, Yuan is planning to expand his export business to Central Asian countries through the Chang'an train, such as bringing more Chinese new energy vehicles (NEV) to Kazakhstan. "Chinese-made NEVs are cost effective, and attractive to local consumers, ranging from low-end to high-end cars in the Kazakhstan market," Yuan said. View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/global-times-sprawling-transport-network-prompts-central-asia-from-land-locked-to-land-linked-301830499.html SOURCE Global Times [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [May 22, 2023] Sungrow to Supply 2.1 GW of Its 1+X Modular Inverter Solutions to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia RIYADH, Saudi Arabia, May 22, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Sungrow, the global leading inverter and energy storage system solution supplier, signed a 2.1 GW contract with China Energy International Group Co., Ltd. to supply the Company's featured 1+X Modular Inverter solutions to Al Shuaibah project in the western region of Saudi Arabia. The Al Shuaibah project with a total AC capacity of 2.66 GW, is the world's largest PV project and will fuel the transition of Saudi Vision 2030. Al Shuaibah is ACWA Power's sixth solar energy facility in Saudi Arabia. Badeel and ACWA Power will build, own, and operate Al Shuaibah facility and the electricity produced will be sold to Saudi Power Procurement Company (SPPC). China Energy International Group is engaged in the project as an EPC company. The project is expected to be completed in 2025 and power 350,000 homes annually. The project marks an important milestone for the National Renewable Energy Program (NREP) that was initiated by the Ministry of Education (MoE) and aims to develop 70% of the nation's renewable energy through the Public Investment Fund (PIF) by 2030. Sungrow provides 240 units of its 1+X Modular Inverter solution and 10,000 units of its combiner box. The 1+X Modular Inverter is an innovation combining the advantages of both central and string inverters. As a result of the optimal IP65 high protection capability, the solution is resilient to sandy, dry, and windy conditions. Due to the smart forced air-cooling technology, the inverter solution can work stably in extremely hightemperatures. In addition, the 1+X Modular Inverter features a 1.1 MW single unit as the minimum, and the maximum capacity can be expanded to 8.8 MW by combing eight units together. To meet their requirements, customers can choose from 1.1 MW to 8.8 MW, bringing a more flexible design for different block sizes and making the on-site O&M easier. Each module is designed with an independent MPPT, further improving the power generation capacity of the power plant. More importantly, the 1+X Modular Inverter is also equipped with intelligent string-level diagnosis to improve the power yield and real-time parallel arc detection to further protect system safety. Therefore, these advantages help lower the overall OPEX. Xiong Gaoxia, Al Shuaibah Project General Manager of China Energy International Group commented: "The Al Shuaibah project is the largest project in our portfolio, and when it becomes operational, it will annually generate continuous clean power into the power system, contributing to the sustainable development of Saudi Arabia. We are delighted to partner with Sungrow as its industry-leading modular inverter solution, profound experience, and dedicated local team make it possible to deliver long-term benefits for all our stakeholders." "We appreciate the continued trust of China Energy International Group to deliver another remarkable project in Saudi Arabic. We will make sure of its smooth delivery with reliable solutions and dedicated local service. As the Middle East and North African (MENA) region remains one of the most vibrant renewable energy markets, Sungrow will continue offering competitive products and services to contribute to the local energy transition," said James Wu, Senior Vice President of Sungrow. About Sungrow Sungrow Power Supply Co., Ltd. ("Sungrow") is the world's most bankable inverter brand with over 340 GW installed worldwide as of December 2022. Founded in 1997 by Professor Cao Renxian, Sungrow is a leader in the research and development of solar inverters with the largest dedicated R&D team in the industry and a broad product portfolio offering PV inverter solutions and energy storage systems for utility-scale, commercial & industrial, and residential applications, as well as internationally recognized floating PV plant solutions, NEV driving solutions, EV charging solutions and renewable hydrogen production systems. With a strong 26-year track record in the PV space, Sungrow products power over 150 countries worldwide. Learn more about Sungrow by visiting www.sungrowpower.com. Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1344575/4046894/Logo.jpg View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/sungrow-to-supply-2-1-gw-of-its-1x-modular-inverter-solutions-to-the-kingdom-of-saudi-arabia-301830613.html [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [May 22, 2023] Emmanuel Butstraen appointed as President of Perfumery & Beauty at dsm-firmenich KAISERAUGST, Switzerland and HEERLEN, Netherlands, May 22, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- dsm-firmenich is pleased to announce the appointment of Emmanuel Butstraen as the new President of its Perfumery & Beauty business. Emmanuel, will assume this role as of July 1, 2023 following a comprehensive handover from Ilaria Resta, while retaining his Chief Integration Officer role. Since May 2022, Emmanuel has been playing an instrumental role in successfully driving the merger of dsm-firmenich, and owing to his efforts, all integration planning activities have been set up to be executed across the organization. Supported by a senior team in the company's Integration Management Office, Emmanuel will continue overseeing the integration while taking on the global leadership role of Perfumery & Beauty. Prior to his appointment as Chief Integration Officer, Emmanuel served as the President of Taste & Beyond at Firmenich since 2018. Under his leadership, the business underwent a transformative journey, becoming a global innovation partner of choice. He also brings extensive experience in the personal care sector, having previously served as the President of Solvay's Novecare global business unit. Before that, he spent 17 years at BASF, where he held the position of Strategy Senior Vice President of the Agricultural Products division. Emmanuel holds a degree in Agricultural Engineering and an MBA from the University of Lille, France. With Emmanuel assuming this new role, dsm-firmenich will bid farewell to Ilaria Resta, who will be leaving the company on July 1, to pursue a CEO position at a prestigious watchmaker company. An extensive handover process has commenced, and the company expresses gratitude for her contributions and wishes her success. Geraldine Matchett and Dimitri de Vreeze, Co-CEOs of dsm-firmenich, commented: "We are thrilled to announce the appointment of Emmanuel Butstraen as the President of our Perfumery & Beauty business. His profound understanding of our customer base and exceptional leadership skills have consistently yielded remarkable results. With a deep understanding of consumers and a passion for fragrance, personal care and innovation, Emmanuel is set to further strengthen dsm-firmenich as the partner of choice for our customers, empowering them to enhance and strengthen their brands." In his new role as President of Perfumery & Beauty, Emmanuel will report to Co-CEO Dimitri de Vreeze. Note to editors A portrait picture of Emmanuel Butstraen can be downloaded here: https://dsm-firmenich.com/corporate/news/media-downloads.html About dsm-firmenich As innovators in nutrition, health, and beauty, dsm-firmenich reinvents, manufactures, and combines vital nutrients, flavors, and fragrances for the world's growing population to thrive. With our comprehensive range of solutions, with natural and renewable ingredients and renowned science and technology capabilities, we work to create what is essential for life, desirable for consumers, and more sustainable for the planet. dsm-firmenich is a Swiss-Dutch company, listed on the Euronext Amsterdam, with operations in almost 60 countries and revenues of more than 12 billion. With a diverse, worldwide team of nearly 30,000 employees, we bring progress to life every day, everywhere, for billions of people. www.dsm-firmenich.com For more information Media Investors e-mail [email protected] [email protected] Forward-looking statements This press release may contain forward-looking statements with respect to dsm-firmenich's future (financial) performance and position. Such statements are based on current expectations, estimates and projections of dsm-firmenich and information currently available to the company. dsm-firmenich cautions readers that such statements involve certain risks and uncertainties that are difficult to predict and therefore it should be understood that many factors can cause actual performance and position to differ materially from these statements. dsm-firmenich has no obligation to update the statements contained in this press release, unless required by law. The English language version of the press release is leading. Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2071772/4046474/dsm_firmenich_Logo.jpg View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/emmanuel-butstraen-appointed-as-president-of-perfumery--beauty-at-dsm-firmenich-301830524.html [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] ATF Medical Names Abbi Akstulewicz Director of Payer Partnerships Abbi Akstulewicz has joined ATF Medical in the newly created position of director of payer partnerships. Working closely with Brendan Swift, the company's vice president of payer partnerships and marketing, she will develop partnership strategies and nurture relationships with payer partners throughout the U.S. She's focused on helping third-party payers with complex claims achieve positive outcomes. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230522005069/en/ Abbi Akstulewicz joins ATF Medical as director of payer partnerships. (Photo: Business Wire) Akstulewicz has extensive experience in care coordination of complex claims in the workers' compnsation industry, most recently serving as supervisor claims specialist, workers' compensation with CorLife, an ancillary service provider. She started with CorLife as a claims specialist, workers' compensation in 2019. "Abbi's deep passion to serve injured workers combined with her desire for strong payer relationships make her a great fit for our culture here at ATF Medical," Swift said. "We are looking forward to Abbi diving in and helping us continue our mission of providing injured workers with enhanced independence, nationally." While studying nursing, Akstulewicz provided hands-on care for PCW, a local home health company serving a range of adults with special needs and disabilities. "I have a real passion for people struggling with paraplegia, quadriplegia, and tetraplegia," she said. She holds an Associates of Science degree in nursing from Rasmussen College in Green Bay, Wisconsin. Akstulewicz recently appeared on a panel discussing care coordination and managing catastrophic claims at the Insurance Rehabilitation Synergy Group (IRSG) conference. In addition, she volunteers as the director of the Leopolis Booster Club, a community outreach program in Shawano, Wisconsin. About ATF Medical ATF Medical (After the Fall, Inc.) supplies fully integrated mobility and accessibility solutions for workers' compensation payers and injured workers nationally. The company specializes in complex cases and coordinates all rehabilitation and accessibility needs, including, home modifications and vehicle modifications. Based in Newnan, Georgia, ATF Medical can be reached via visit www.atfmedical.com or by calling 877-880-4283. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230522005069/en/ [May 22, 2023] Colorado SKIES Academy Middle School Students Visit the University of Oxford Students participated in experiments and attended lectures by top scientists. CENTENNIAL, Colo., May 22, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- In May 2023, Colorado SKIES Academy (CSA) 7th and 8th-grade learners (students) traveled to Oxford, England, to attend an immersive two-day experience at the University of Oxford. ISSET, Team Oxford Chief Scientist Daniel Molland, invited the middle school group. While on campus, the learners worked directly with the scientists performing experiments and participating in seminars. Students learned about hunting for life, the basis of current biology, mutation genes, ocean worlds, Enceladus supporting life into space, experimental development of ISSET payload, design of experiments, microgravity, and data collection from Mr. Molland. In addition, they learned about similarities between planets and why those similarities are significant from earth scientist and associate professor of planetary materials Dr. Jon Wade and how proteins are at the center of human health and disease from associate professor Dr. Jason Schnell. Guided by Colorado SKIES Academy science facilitator Subba Pratti, the middle schoolers also had a chance to explore the Oxford campus, visit the Museum of Natural History, and even see a couple of span >Harry Potter film locations. "This was a prestigious opportunity for CSA learners and myself to be invited to Oxford to learn about space and microgravity from leading scientists," explained Ms. Pratti. "We are looking forward to more experiences like this for our learners in the Fall." According to Pratti, Colorado SKIES Academy learners have been invited to the Ed Lumley Centre for Engineering Innovation at the University of Windsor in Ontario, Canada, this Fall. There, guided by Pratti, CSA students will have the opportunity to learn about geothermal energy from Dr. Tirupati Bolisetti, a Turbulence & Energy Lab professor. Colorado SKIES Academy provides a hands-on, project-based curriculum through the lens of aviation and aerospace to all learners in grades 6-8 from a tuition-free public charter school based at Centennial Airport. Community members formed CSA in partnership with Maker Learning Network. The learning model promotes individualized instruction, active learning methods, and opportunities for self-directed learning. The organization celebrates and fosters each child's individuality and supports them in discovering their highest potential in the environment which best suits their learning needs. Spots are still available at the school; families can learn more by scheduling a campus tour here: https://coloradoskiesacademy.org/contact/schedule-a-tour/. This press release was issued through 24-7PressRelease.com. For further information, visit http://www.24-7pressrelease.com. View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/colorado-skies-academy-middle-school-students-visit-the-university-of-oxford-301830060.html SOURCE Colorado SKIES Academy [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [May 22, 2023] Synchrono Group Selects KCC for Risk Modeling Applications Karen Clark & Company (KCC) is pleased to announce the Synchrono Group (SynchronoSure) has licensed KCC's full suite of US catastrophe models, delivered through KCC's new and advanced underwriting application. This new tool is powered by KCC's rapid, high-resolution modeling analyses that drive the underwriting and decision-making processes for complex commercial policies. "We're very pleased to be partnering with SynchronoSure, an exciting new startup led by industry veterans who know the business," said Karen Clark, KCC CEO. "We're looking forward to working with their diverse team of underwriting, actuarial, and other technical experts who are well-positioned to leverage the advanced capabilities of the KCC models and applications." "Our business is designed to properly match exposure to price for all aspects of the policies we underwrite, leveraging both traditional and non-traditional data. Proper recognition of and pricing for the catastrophe exposure on a policy requires accurate catastrophe models across all perils, including severe convective storm and winter storm. We selected the KCC models because their advanced, scientific methodologies provide complete and consistent spatial coverage for credible, high-resolution, location-level loss estimates rather than relying on generic territorial loads embedded in standard loss costs. We believe this approach provides us with a better, more refined price point for the accounts we underwrite on an account by account basis," said Steve Hartman, SynchronoSure CEO. "Additionally, our systems integrate directly with the KCC underwriting application, which can analyze multi-location policies for all perils within minutes, meeting our rigorous standards on processing speed to enable underwriting decisions in minutes rather than hours and days." The new KCC uderwriting application boasts other impressive features, such as enabling underwriters to price multiple layers with a single request and providing different correlation options. Additionally, losses can be viewed separately by peril or combined, and the application can assess the impacts of over 100 building characteristics. "Unlike conventional scoring tools, the KCC underwriter application runs full stochastic event sets to produce accurate policy and location level EP Curves and average annual losses," said Chris Mossey, KCC Vice President. "The agreement with SynchronoSure includes the KCC models for hurricane, earthquake, severe convective storm, winter storm, wildfire, and inland flood." Offered as a web portal, the underwriter application provides insurers with bespoke risk information, fully probabilistic Exceedance Probability (EP) curves, Characteristic Events (CEs), and the ability to manage complex insurance terms, including reinsurance treaties. "KCC is laser-focused on the accuracy of the loss estimates and on continually updating our models to incorporate changes in the environment and climate," continued Clark. "We look forward to working closely with the SynchronoSure team to make sure this partnership delivers accurate information along with the operational efficiencies propelling their business." About Karen Clark & Company Karen Clark & Company (KCC) provides advanced models, innovative software, and comprehensive consulting services for deeper insight into climate, weather, and catastrophe risk. KCC professionals are globally recognized experts in catastrophe modeling and risk management who work with company executives to enhance business strategies, competitive advantage, and financial results. KCC models cover tropical cyclones, extratropical cyclones, severe convective storms, winter storms, wildfires, floods, and earthquakes in over 80 countries. For more information, please visit www.karenclarkandco.com. About Synchrono Group Synchrono Group Inc., d/b/a SynchronoSure is a technology augmented underwriting business which leverages state-of-the-art information and technology to underwrite commercial property/casualty and workers compensation insurance in minutes. Headquartered in Raleigh NC, SynchronoSure underwrites on behalf of top rated insurance companies in the U.S. For more information, please visit SynchronoSure | Insurance Underwriting at the Modern Pace of Business - SynchronoSure.com View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230522005134/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [May 22, 2023] DeNova Eliminates 80 Hours of Work Per Month Using Tebra's Complete Operating System Tebra, a leader in practice growth technology and cloud-based clinical and financial software, today announced that DeNova Behavioral Health, a practice with multiple locations in Central Kentucky, is leveraging Tebra's complete operating system for practice well-being. The Tebra platform is built on the strength of both Kareo and PatientPop. DeNova uses Tebra Clinical and Billing solutions to support its clinical workflow and get paid faster. It also uses Tebra Practice Growth technology to grow its web presence and attract new patients. Clinical director Louis Hairston chose Tebra's integrated EHR and billing platform because of its simplicity and efficacy. DeNova offers a variety of services, and its growing number of providers find the electronic health record (EHR) easy to use and adaptable to the type of care they each provide. The practice currently processes more than 23,000 patient bills annually, so it was imperative to use a product that could handle the volume and process claims quicker. With Tebra Robotic Process Automation (RPA), DeNova office staff has eliminated 16 to 20 hours per week on manual and repetitive billing task. Using RPA, the practice saves on operational costs, such as labor, every month. DeNova began to use Tebra Practice Growth technology less than a year ago and has already seen a tremendous increase in new business. The practice opened in 2018 with 6 patients and now sees roughly 700 per month. It has generated almost 9,000 website visits over a 6-month period. The solution has also helped simplify how patients provide feedback and has generated 102 new reviews that improved the practice's average star rating on Google. Using Tebra's SEO support, it also achieved 24 #1 rankings across Google for important mental health therapy search queries. In addition, the practice has established 35 backlinks. "I'm extremely appreciative of the services and support that we receive from Tebra," Louis Hairston, clinical director, DeNova, said. "Leveraging Tebra's RPA has been instrumental in freeing up our time to focus on other tasks so we can deliver quality care to our patients." "It's gratifying to see how DeNova has flourished using Tebra's integrated platform," Andrea Kowalski, senior vice president of product for Tebra, said. "We're proud to provide the digital tools to enhance operations and look forward to supporting its future business growth." Kareo and PatientPop announced they merged in 2021 to form Tebra. The combined company's mission is to equip independent practices with digital tools to deliver modernized care. The all-in-one solution helps providers support and attract new patients, get paid quickly, and operate more efficiently. Read more about DeNova's success using Tebra's platform. About DeNova Behavioral Health DeNova Behavioral Health is a trusted behavioral health and psychotherapy serving the patients of Central Kentucky. To support each person's journey, the exceptional team at DeNova includes medical providers, counselors, social workers, case managers, and psychiatric providers who welcome clients from adolescents to adults and seniors at their offices. DeNova is a full-service mental health provider. To learn more about the services they offer, visit www.denovabh.com. About Tebra In 2021, with a combined mission to unlock better healthcare, Kareo and PatientPop joined forces to form Tebra - the operating system for the connected practice of the future. With an all-in-one, purpose-built platform to drive practice success and modernize every step of the patient journey, Tebra provides digital tools and support to attract new patients, deliver modern care, get paid quickly, and operate efficiently. To learn more how Tebra is committed to improving the success and well-being of both patients and providers, visit www.tebra.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230519005428/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [May 22, 2023] South Indian Bank earns global and national recognition for creating superior customer experience - Recognised with 'Outstanding Digital CX SME Loans' at the sixth Digital CX Awards 2023 and with 'Micro LOS Platform' at the Finnoviti Awards 2023 MUMBAI, India, May 22, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- South Indian Bank (SIB), one of the leading and fastest growing private sector banks in India, won two prestigious awards for creating superior customer experience. South Indian Bank (SIB) has been recognised with 'Outstanding Digital CX SME Loans' at the sixth Digital CX Awards held in Singapore, making it the second international award for the bank. SIB was honoured with the award in recognition of its innovative GST-based instant business loan digital journey that has revolutionized the banking experience. The annual Digital CX Awards have been instituted by Singapore based 'The Digital Banker' to acknowledge exceptional digital customer experiences in the global financial industry. The bank has also been recognised at 13th edition of the Finnoviti Awards for launching Micro LOS Platform which caters specifically to the agri customers. This recognition highlights the bank's efforts to offer cutting-edge technology and excellent services to its customers. Finnoviti Awards recognizes the innovations in BFSI and honour the innovators. This is the fourth time in a row that SIB has bagged the Finnoviti Awards./p> Mr. Sony A, Senior General Manager & Chief Information Officer, South Indian Bank said, "We, at South Indian Bank, have always been on our forefront to create a superior customer experience. This recognition by Digital CX Awards and Finnoviti Awards is a testament to the bank's commitment to providing the best digital banking experience to all types of customers. We have consistently blended trust with technology in our operations and services and the awards motivate us further towards excellence. We are proud that our endeavours are being recognized by both national and global platforms." South Indian Bank has been recognized with 50+ awards and accolades for creating superior customer experience with technology innovation. About South Indian Bank South Indian Bank is a leading Kerala-based Private sector bank with a nationwide presence. The bank's shares are listed on The Stock Exchange Mumbai (BSE) and The National Stock Exchange of India Ltd., Mumbai (NSE). South Indian Bank has 940 branches, 1167 ATMs and 125 CDR/CDMs across India and a representative office in Dubai, UAE. South Indian Bank is a pioneer in technology-based banking, offering an array of digital products and services. It has one of the youngest workforces in the banking sector in the country. The Bank's Vision 2024 focuses on the 6 Cs -- capital, CASA, cost-to-income, competency building, customer focus, and compliance. For more information, please log on to www.southindianbank.com Connect with us: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/in/news-releases/south-indian-bank-earns-global-and-national-recognition-for-creating-superior-customer-experience-301830699.html [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [May 22, 2023] Revolo Biotherapeutics Presents New Preclinical Data for '1104 in Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome Associated With Influenza Infection at the ATS 2023 International Conference Data continues to demonstrate the broader potential of 1104 to avoid and reduce inflammation in multiple models of disease, including allergy and beyond NEW ORLEANS and CAMBRIDGE, UK,, May 22, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Revolo Biotherapeutics (Revolo or the Company), a company developing therapies that reset the immune system to achieve superior long-term remission for patients with autoimmune and allergic diseases, today announced new preclinical data discussed in a poster presentation at the American Thoracic Society (ATS) 2023 International Conference. The poster showcases the ability of its immune-resetting drug candidate 1104 to inhibit and reduce lung inflammation without immunosuppression in a new model of acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) associated with influenza infection. We are pleased with these new results which showcase the potential of 1104 to modulate the inflammatory response in the lung in models beyond our lead allergic disease indications, said Jonathan Rigby, Chief Executive Officer of Revolo. The data continues to highlight the unique mechanism of action (MOA) of 1104, acting ahead of the inflammatory cascade to reset the immune system. As we build on the positive Phase 2a trial data of 1104 in eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE) and prepare to release data from our second Phase 2a study of 1104 in allergic disease, we continue to evaluate additional potential indications that could benefit from 1104s unique MOA. In this model, Mice treated with 1104 had significantly reduced inflammatory infiltration in the lung by neutrophils, macrophages, and lymphocytes compared to those treated with dexamethasone. Prophylactic and therapeutic dosing of 1104 resulted in a dose-dependen suppression of relevant pro-inflammatory cytokines and chemokines (TNF-a, interleukin 1 (IL-1), IL-6, IL-17, MCP-1, and MIP-1a), usually elevated in ARDS-associated viral infection. Neither 1104 nor the positive control had a significant effect on viral load in lung tissue, indicating that 1104 can modulate the immune inflammatory response without causing immunosuppression. As part of the study, mice were infected with influenza A virus (IAV). Three days after infection, animals received either PBS (negative control) or 30g of polyinosinic-polycytidylic acid (poly I:C) to exacerbate influenza-induced lung inflammation. Mice were treated with 1104 (80 or 800 g/Kg) or PBS 15 minutes before and 24 hours after poly I:C or with dexamethasone at 10mg/kg (treatment control), 1 hour before and 24 hours after the poly I:C challenge. At 48 hours after the poly I:C challenge, bronchoalveolar lavage fluid was collected to conduct differential cell counts and to measure cytokines. Lung tissue was also collected to determine the viral load. About 1104 1104 is a first-in-class peptide derived from a natural immune-regulatory protein, mTB Chaperonin 60.1 that is involved in resetting the immune system. Revolo Bio has recently advanced 1104 through two Phase 2a trials: one in patients with eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE) and one in patients with allergen sensitivity, while exploring its potential for other allergic diseases. Revolo Biotherapeutics Revolo Biotherapeutics is developing therapies that reset the immune system to achieve superior long-term remission for patients with autoimmune and allergic disease, without the immune system suppression seen with current therapies. Its two drug candidates, 1805 and 1104, a protein and a peptide respectively, reset the immune system to prevent the chronic pro-inflammatory immune response that results in autoimmune or allergic disease. 1805 is a modified analogue of a key protein in immune function nearing initiation of a second Phase 2b clinical trial for moderate-to-severe rheumatoid arthritis and a Phase 2a clinical trial for an additional autoimmune indication. The disease-agnostic mechanism of action of Revolo Biotherapeutics assets provides a potential platform for the development of treatments for multiple autoimmune and allergic diseases. For further information, please visit www.revolobio.com. Company Contact Marylyn Rigby, VP Investor Relations & Marketing [email protected] Media Contact Monica Rouco Molina, Ph.D. LifeSci Communications +1-929-469-3850 [email protected] [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [May 22, 2023] AdTech Holding Expands into New Headquarters in Limassol, Cyprus LIMASSOL, Cyprus, May 22, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- AdTech Holding , the leading AdTech and MarTech company, is excited to announce that it has moved to a new larger office space in Limassol on April 28, 2023. The new office will allow the company to house all its employees under one roof. The new premises feature a four-story building with multiple spaces for productive communication, a comfortable working environment, and recreational areas to support the mental well-being of employees. In addition, the offices have been designed with the highest environmental standards in mind: efficient energy consumption, green areas, and separate waste collection to minimize the impact of the company on the surrounding environment. As an industry pioneer, AdTech Holding is committed to building a strong presence in Cyprus and demonstrating its confidence in the country, its people, and its economy. The move to a larger offce is a part of this commitment. It is a reflection of the company's confidence in the growth potential of Cyprus and of the industry as a whole. Since 2016, Cyprus has been the headquarters of AdTech Holding. The decision to make Cyprus its global headquarters was based on a number of factors, including the country's thriving ecosystem, welcoming society, and extensive pool of specialists. "We are delighted to move to our new, larger office space in Limassol. It represents an important milestone for us and a strategic focus on expanding our presence on the island and adding value to the local economy. The move will also allow us to continue to provide exceptional service to our partners and expand our business in new and exciting ways," said Alex Vasekin , CEO of AdTech Holding. The company's expansion is a testament to the business-friendly environment in Cyprus and the support of its government in attracting and retaining top-tier companies such as AdTech Holding. AdTech Holding is committed to building strong relationships with its clients and partners, and the company's new HQ will allow it to do so in a more efficient and effective way. With its focus on innovation, AdTech Holding is well-positioned to drive the growth of the AdTech and MarTech industries and contribute to the continued economic development of Cyprus. About AdTech Holding AdTech Holding is a leading AdTech and MarTech company that specializes in helping businesses achieve their marketing goals through innovative technology and data-driven solutions. Media Contact: Name: Sofoklis Paraschou Email: [email protected] +35795989881 View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/adtech-holding-expands-into-new-headquarters-in-limassol-cyprus-301829777.html SOURCE AdTech Holding [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Fighting in Sudan could turn into an ethnic-driven conflict if the warring parties do not respect and extend a ceasefire that is supposed to begin Monday, the UN representative to the conflict said. "The growing ethnicization of the conflict risks to expand and prolong it with implications for the region," UN special envoy to Sudan Volker Perthes told the UN Security Council. Speaking hours before a one-week ceasefire was to begin between the two battling armed forces factions, Perthes said there were already signs last month that the fighting was threatening to split the country along ethnic and communal lines. Those have only grown recently, he said. "In parts of the country, fighting between the two armies or the two armed formations has sharpened into communal tensions, or triggered conflict between communities," he said. "Warning signs of tribal mobilisation are also reported in other parts of the country, particularly in South Kordofan," he said. After establishing a stable ceasefire, he told the Security Council, the number two priority of the UN is "preventing the escalation or ethnicization of the conflict." Perthes called the ceasefire, agreed on Saturday and set to begin at 9:45 pm (1945 GMT) on Monday, a "welcome development," even though fighting has continued through the day Monday. "I continue to urge the parties to honor this agreement which they signed two days ago. They must stop the fighting. They must allow access for humanitarian relief, protect humanitarian workers and assets," he said. Search Keywords: Short link: [May 22, 2023] Ascend Completes Full Integration with Veruna Providing Automated Invoicing, Premium Financing, and Reconciliation SAN FRANCISCO, May 22, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, Ascend , the first modern insurance payments platform, announced the launch of their full integration with Veruna allowing for a seamless out-of-the-box solution that offers invoicing, point of sale financing, as well as automatic reconciliation and tracking of invoices back into accounting ledgers - all within the Veruna platform. Veruna's mission as the all-in-one CRM and AMS for independent agents is reinforced with this integration - allowing for a simple and integrated payments solution all within their Salesforce dashboard. Prior to this, integrations between Veruna and Ascend were set up on a per-client basis, but moving forward, all Veruna customers can now set up and enable this integration within minutes. "It was important for us to deepen our partnership since our initial integration. Customers have expressed a desire for a consolidation of tools and simplification of tech stacks and this integration delivers on that - one partner, synced with your AMS/CRM, to handle all your billing, financing, and reconciliation workflows," said Andrew Wynn, co-CEO of Ascend. "We are very excited to be able to enable best-in-class user experiences through integrations such as these. Instead of having to navigate between different portals and websites, we want all agency workflows to be able to run right through Veruna - saving teams countless hours and allowing them to focus on growing their business," said Colleen Wells, Chief Strategy Officer of Veruna. To learn more about this integration, reach out to your Veruna account manager or sign up at www.useascend.com/veruna to learn more about how Veruna and Ascend are modernizing the insurance industry. About Ascend Ascend is the modern insurance payments platform that provides an automated all-in-one solution for invoicing, financing, and payables. Founded by two-time insurtech entrepreneurs Andrew Wynn and Praveen Chekuri, Ascend helps distributors sell more by eliminating expensive and labor-intensive agency bill workflows, while providing insureds with the great online checkout and financing experience they've come to expect. To learn more, please visit LinkedIn, Twitter or check out https://www.useascend.com/ . About Veruna Veruna, founded in 2015, empowers independent insurance agencies, carriers, insurtechs, brokers, and MGAs to sell more insurance and retain valued customers. Veruna does that by providing a single user interface and database (AMS-CRM-in-one) enabling agents to sell more and retain better. To serve customers better, Veruna allows agencies and MGAs to build custom configurations to capture unique value propositions and integrate with numerous solutions. Delivering highly innovative insurance technology, Veruna allows agents to focus on one thing - your customers. For more information, please visit www.veruna.com . Contact: Kathy Osborne [email protected] View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/ascend-completes-full-integration-with-veruna-providing-automated-invoicing-premium-financing-and-reconciliation-301822768.html SOURCE Ascend [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [May 22, 2023] Five Guys Enterprises, LLC Awarded the 2023 Excellence in Food Safety Award LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga., May 22, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- ComplianceMate is excited to congratulate long-time partners Five Guys Enterprises, LLC on being named the winner of the 2023 Excellence in Food Safety award, presented by Steritech and FastCasual. "If you control your own risk, you control your own destiny," Jim Gibson , Five Guys Fast casual restaurants are recognized for this award by achieving Steritech's seven pillars of food safety excellence: senior leadership commitment and engagement, food safety communications, defined standards and procedures, training, key performance indicators and scorecards, oversight programs, and positive recognition. Sarah Alak and Trey Williamson were on hand to accept this award Sunday evening during the National Restaurant Association Show in Chicago, IL. "If you control your own risk, you control your own destiny," said Jim Gison, Vice President of Global Food Safety-Regulatory Compliance at Five Guys, about news of the award. Five Guys is an international restaurant chain with over 1,700 locations that specializes in freshly cooked, high-quality burgers and fries. The storage of ingredients within Five Guys' refrigerators is very closely monitored for quality and food safety, which has led to the long-standing partnership with ComplianceMatethe world's leading patented temperature sensor software system used to ensure HACCP compliance and operational efficiencies in foodservice establishments around the globe. Five Guys and ComplianceMate work to ensure the ultimate in food safety. "The decade-long partnership between ComplianceMate and Five Guys continues to grow stronger as we work together in continually achieving the highest standards in food safety." Steve Getraer, President of ComplianceMate About Five Guys Enterprises, LLC Five Guys is a family-owned and operated franchise restaurant group focusing on high-quality burgers and fries. Five Guys have redefined the market for premium-style hamburgers, fresh-cut fries, and milkshakes. For more information, visit https://www.fiveguys.com/ About ComplianceMate ComplianceMate provides the world's leading patented temperature sensor software system used to ensure regulatory compliance and operational efficiencies. The principal product offering has streamlined HACCP compliance checklists and temperature monitoring for all types of foodservice and related industries across multiple continents. For more information, visit https://www.compliancemate.com/ CONTACT: Becky Ballard - Sales / Account Manager 1000 Hurricane Shoals Rd. NE. Suite A-100 Lawrenceville, GA 30043 Office: (770) 767-0619 Cell: (678) 346-0380 Email: [email protected] View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/five-guys-enterprises-llc-awarded-the-2023-excellence-in-food-safety-award-301829939.html SOURCE ComplianceMate [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [May 22, 2023] Mercury Capital Advisors Appoints Leadership Committee to Meet Rising Opportunities in Private Markets Mercury Capital Advisors announced today that it has appointed a new Leadership Committee to meet the demands of rising opportunities in private markets and drive the strategy of the Firm. As part of the organizational changes, Jennifer Frame has been appointed as Head of North American Distribution and will lead a team of five distribution personnel dedicated to North American fundraising. Sara Modalal Al-Qahtani has been promoted to Partner and will lead fundraising in the Middle East. Devrup Banerjee, who was recently appointed to lead the Firm's Secondary Advisory practice and Matthew Haimes, who leads Origination and Distribution efforts in Europe, will also be part of the Leadership Committee. Cynthia Ho and Andrew Osofsky will co-head North American Origination and Project Management whereas Arpit Khandelwal will head International Project Management. "With a combined industry experience of over 150 years, I am confident that the new Leadership Committee will take the Firm through the next phase of its journey. We are experiencing a strong rebound in LP sentiment and allocations in 2023, as well as increasing requests from GPs for fund and co-investment placement, and secondary solutions for existing portfolio assets," said John Franklin, Managing Partner. The new appointments come after the recently announced departure of Enrique Cuan, Managing Partner and co-Funder. Mr. Cuan is leaving the Firm to pursue other career opportunities. "I am grateful for the opportunities at Mercury, and confident that the Firm will continue to build on its success," added Mr. Cuan. Mercury continues to provide a comprehensive one-stop solution for its GP clients across fund placement, secondary advisory, fund co-investments and direct placement, and has a team of over 30 across its global offices. It has added several new clients in the last year including NGP Energy Capital, 3i Group and Capitol Meridian, while continuing to provide services to its long-standing clients such as Gaw Capital Partners, Coller Capital, Valar Ventures among others. It has also established a partnership with Investcorp Strategic Capital Group and provides select fund placement and other solutions for its underlying GPs. About Mercury Capital Advisors Mercury Capital Advisors is a leading global private fund and investment advisory firm. Founded in 2009 as a spinoff from the Merrill Lynch Private Funds Group, the firm assists general partners and limited partners in fundraising and secondary advisory, co-investment and direct deal placement. The firm specializes in alternative assets including private equity, real estate, infrastructure, credit, venture capital, secondaries and special situations investments. Mercury has advised on over 100 fundraisings and closed over $100 billion in fund commitments since its inception in 2009. With offices in New York, London, Dubai, Singapore, Tokyo and New Delhi, the firm maintains strong relationships with a broad range of the world's pre-eminent institutional investors, including sovereign wealth funds, corporate and public pension plans, insurance companies, endowments, family offices, foundations, secondary funds, funds of funds and consultants. Mercury Capital Advisors is a 100% owned subsidiary of Investcorp, a global investment manager, specializing in alternative investments across private equity, real estate, credit, absolute return strategies, GP stakes, infrastructure, and insurance asset management. Today, Investcorp manages $50 billion in assets, including assets managed by third party managers. Investcorp has 14 offices in the US, Europe, GCC and Asia, and employs approximately 500 people from 50 nationalities globally. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230522005506/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [May 22, 2023] STELLAR Broadband Announces Gigabit Fiber Internet That Goes One-Step Further for Elmwood Lake Apartments HUDSONVILLE, Mich., May 22, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- STELLAR Broadband, a fiber internet and technology service provider, will provide leading edge technologies and Internet connectivity up to 10Gbps to Elmwood Lake Apartments in Hudsonville, Michigan. Elmwood Lake Apartments is a suburban haven of elevated comfort, where sweet serenity meets desirable convenience. From cozy interiors and relaxing leisure spaces to an idyllic setting next to private Elmwood Lake, the welcoming apartments in Hudsonville, MI, are ready to deliver a heightened living experience. "With STELLAR Broadband, residents of Elmwood Lake Apartments will enjoy the fastest and most reliable internet service available. STELLAR Broadband's fiber optic network provides symmetrical speeds of up to 10Gbps so residents can stream, game, and work from home without any lag or buffering," said Richard Laing, president of STELLAR Broadband. "Bosgraaf Homes has been building homes in West Michigan for four generations. Over the years, we've seen the industry change dramatically thanks to advances in technology. Construction methods have evolved, and the amenities that homeowners expect have grown more sophisticated. We're grateful for our partnership with STELAR Broadband, a company that has been at the forefront of the industry for 22 years. Their experience and leadership have helped us make the transition into multi-family housing," said Mike Bosgraaf, president of Bosgraaf Homes. The first in the U.S. to bring 10Gbps Internet to the apartment in student housing, STELLAR today serves over 149 communities totaling over 10,000 residents with a wide range of technology solutions, from managed Wi-Fi, TV, and access control to security. "DTN is excited to partner with Bosgraaf Homes and STELLAR Broadband to provide Elmwood Lake residents with a unique and enjoyable experience. Bosgraaf is building beautiful homes that will be easy to lease, and STELLAR will provide residents and our office with the best possible internet service," said Dayle Braden, DTN property manager. "We've seen and have been on the forefront of technology evolving from a desired amenity to a necessity. We are proud to partner with Bosgraaf to provide the high-quality technology that their residents expect and deserve," Laing stated. About Spartan Net Co, dba STELLAR Broadband STELLAR Broadband is the largest residential fiber internet service provider in Michigan, servicing over 149 communities with multi-Gigabit fiber internet. STELLAR provides technology design and installation services for the full portfolio of technologies for multi-tenant developments, including network design, structured wiring, consulting, door entry and access control, engineered Wi-Fi, security, voice, television services, and various Internet of Things solutions. To learn more, visit: www.stellarbb.com About Bosgraaf Homes Since the beginning, the Bosgraaf family has built thousands of homes in West Michigan. That's the result of being grounded. Grounded in exceptional customer care. Grounded in innovative thinking. Grounded in meticulous craftsmanship. But most of all, grounded in family for three generations and counting. To learn more, visit: https://bosgraaf.com/ About DTN Management Company DTN is a recognized leader and an established business in Michigan and Florida. Its Property Management division holds a portfolio including more than 115 residential communities and nearly one million square feet of commercial and retail space across Michigan's best markets. Celebrating 50 years, DTN's focus has been to provide high-quality apartment homes, commercial and retail space, and excellent service and value to its residents, commercial tenants, and investors. To learn more, visit: www.dtnmgt.com View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/stellar-broadband-announces-gigabit-fiber-internet-that-goes-one-step-further-for-elmwood-lake-apartments-301831001.html SOURCE STELLAR Broadband [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [May 22, 2023] Shippeo Recognized in the 2023 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Real-Time Transportation Visibility Platforms Shippeo, a global leader in real-time multimodal transportation visibility, today announced it has been recognized in the Gartner Magic Quadrant for Real-time Transportation Visibility Platforms. "I am pleased to see many of Shippeo's recognitions over the past 12 months reflected, we believe, in our positioning in this year's Magic Quadrant," says Shippeo co-founder and COO, Lucien Besse. Shippeo has a 95% willingness to recommend rating on Gartner Peer Insights, receiving the overall rating of 4.8/5*. "These are highly important metrics for us, and reassure us that we are providing our customers with the best value, and delivering what we promise," says Besse, adding "we believe this high customer satisfaction was helped by the fact we are the only provider to offer a triple SLA, which contractually guarantees rapid carrier onboarding, high tracking rates, and high ETA accuracy, as well as the tremendous progress we have made across all aspects of our business over the last 12 months." The company recently raised a record $50m in fundraising, with all existing investors taking part. "This fundraising round is the largest ever for a supply chain visibility software in Europe," explains Besse. "It will help us bolster our sound financial position for many years to come, and accelerate our ongoing North American and APAC expansion, while giving customers and partners confidence in the longevity potential of our partnerships with the strong path to profitability we've laid out as a company." Existing investors taking part included Battery Ventures, Partech, NGP Capital, ETF Partners, Bpifrance Digital Venture and SAP.io. Notable new strategic investors include Hong Kong-based LFX Venture Partners and Japan-based Yamaha Motor Ventures, whose investment is helping to ramp up operations across Asia-Pacific, as well as Orlen VC, based in Poland, and Shift4good, a global VC fund dedicated to impact investing in smart mobility and circular economy businesses. An expert in sustainability, Shift4good strictly invests in companies with the potential to move the needle on climate change. Beyond a strong belief in the company's business potential, Shift4Good's decision to invest was driven by the potential of Shippeo's new Carbon Visibility solution to have a positive impact across the transportation and logistics sector. The emissions calculator, now generally available to all customers, combines Shippeo's advanced visibility data capabilities with cutting edge data modeling from industry expert Searoutes, to provide extremely accurate transport and distribution GHG (CO 2 e) emissions reporting. The tool offers users GLEC-accredited CO 2 equivalent emissions calculations, without the need to manually consolidate data supplied by carriers. Continued expansion into North America and APAC was boosted by a new global partnership with e2open, offering Shippeo's native real-time in-transit visibility within their comprehensive global supply chain management platform. The company also recently welcomed some of the most iconic brands in the world, including Amazon, Barilla (US), Epson, Geodis, Jacob Douwe Egberts (JDE), Jaguar Land Rover, Lassonde, L'Oreal, Moet Hennessy (LVMH), SABIC International (the second largest public company in the Middle East) and Siemens Energy. Over the last year, Shppeo's team grew to more than 230 Shippians, including senior executive and SaaS veteran Philippe Vanhove as new Chief Revenue Officer, who brings 25 years of experience in scaling fast-growing, international SaaS organizations, having managed multinational sales operations, marketing, lead generation, human resources, and finance. In April, the company launched a new biannual platform release cycle, delivering its latest Spring platform release. New and enhanced features across all transport modes introduced to users improve the platform experience and enhance visibility data quality. Highlights include a new Shippeo berth ETA as part of their Ocean Visibility offering, which is significantly more accurate and reliable than the ones received from ocean carriers, as well as new vessel AIS-based milestone detection for more accurate milestones at ports during loading, unloading and transshipment. A swathe of usability enhancements throughout the multimodal visibility platform include new container delay filters, carrier TMS tag synchronization, and configurable notifications to help users manage shipments more efficiently, by exception. 2022 also saw the launch of Shippeo's Carrier Recognition Program, celebrating over 400 of the world's most exceptional carriers, who provide the best service to shippers with consistently high levels of shipment tracking. The company also held their inaugural Visibility Star Awards last November, which recognize the efforts our carrier community has made to provide great service to their clients, and celebrate their exceptional commitment to real-time visibility. More information: *Disclaimer: * Gartner Disclaimer: based on 214 reviews as of May 18 2023 in the Real-Time Transportation Visibility Platforms market. Gartner "Magic Quadrant for Real-Time Transportation Visibility Platforms 2023" by Carly West, Oscar Sanchez Duran, and Nathan Lease, 16 May 2023. GARTNER is a registered trademark and service mark of Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the U.S. and internationally, MAGIC QUADRANT and PEER INSIGHTS are registered trademarks of Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates and are used herein with permission. All rights reserved. Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in its research publications and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors with the highest ratings or other designation. Gartner research publications consist of the opinions of Gartner's research organization and should not be construed as statements of fact. Gartner disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. Gartner Peer Insights content consists of the opinions of individual end users based on their own experiences with the vendors listed on the platform, should not be construed as statements of fact, nor do they represent the views of Gartner or its affiliates. Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in this content nor makes any warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this content, about its accuracy or completeness, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. About Shippeo Shippeo is a global leader in real-time multimodal transportation visibility, helping major shippers and logistics service providers operate more collaborative, automated, sustainable, profitable, and customer-centric supply chains. This is made possible with highly accurate, real-time operational visibility and perfect workflow orchestration. Their Multimodal Visibility Network integrates with more than 1,000 TMS, telematics and ELD systems, enabling Shippeo's platform to provide instant access to real-time shipment tracking across all transport modes, in a single portal, through an intuitive user experience. A proprietary and industry-leading machine learning algorithm offers unmatched ETA accuracy, allowing supply chain companies to quickly anticipate problems, proactively alert customers, efficiently manage exceptions with collaborative workflows, and accurately measure CO 2 and GHG emissions from supply chain transport. Hundreds of customers, including global brands like Coca-Cola HBC, Carrefour, Renault Group, Schneider Electric, Total, Siemens Energy, Faurecia, Saint-Gobain and Eckes Granini, trust Shippeo to track more than 32 million shipments per year across 110 countries. Learn more at www.shippeo.com LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter About Shift4Good Shift4Good is a venture capital fund manager dedicated to impact investing in smart mobility & circular economy start-ups. With teams based in both Paris and Singapore, Shift4Good mostly focus on European and Southeast Asian opportunities. Shift4Good can deploy between 0.5m and 20m per company and mostly invest in Series A and Series B rounds and can allocate 10% of their funds to pre-Series A rounds. More information: https://www.shift4good.com/ View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230519005162/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [May 22, 2023] Consumentenboard Announces 'Record Fine for Facebook Proves Net is Closing In' On Monday, May 22, the DPC announced that it is fining Facebook 1.2 billion for sending users' data to locations outside Europe. According to the regulator, Facebook thereby violates the privacy of European consumers because Facebook does not adequately protect the data from surveillance by U.S. intelligence agencies. The regulator also ordered Facebook to comply with privacy rules. Backing up Sandra Molenaar, director of Consumentenbond: "After the resounding victory in our own lawsuit against Facebook, this is another important blow for consumers. It is also an important support for consumers who participate in our claim against Facebook. It makes their case a lot stronger. Slowly but surely, the net is closing around Facebook. Consumers can still join our action and I urge everyone to do so. Together we must make a fist against Facebook." Fine Molenaar is also satisfied with the amount of the fine: "The amount does justice to the violation Facebook committed. The rights of millions of consumers have been trampled on. That requires a deterrent amount. And that is this fine." Called to order Dick Bouma, president of Data Privacy Stichting: "Facebook is not above the law and must follow the rules just like everyone else. The highest European court ruled twice that Facebook may not send consumer data to servers outside Europe without proper safeguards. And yet the company just goes ahead with this. It is high time that Facebook is called to order, stops violating consumer rights and starts compensating consumers." Sign up Consumers in the Netherlands may be eligible for compensation for Facebook's privacy violations. Consumers who have or had a Facebook or Instagram account can apply. Already, more than 230,000 consumers have signed up with Consumentenbond. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230522005714/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Sunday morning a horrific slaughter in Kansas City garnered headlines across the nation and around the world but locally we didn't notice any reaction more significant than a few bummed out tweets. In fact . . . TOP ECHELON KANSAS CITY INSIDERS noticed a dearth of any overpowering sentiments from the public and only a few small wilted flowers marking the fatal crime scene. Meanwhile, national news seemed to offer more context than locals cared to share . . . Check-it: The Klymax Lounge describes itself as the newest addition to the nightlife in Kansas City and made its first social media appearance in April 2021. From the photos on its Instagram page, it appears to regularly host live performances by musicians and other entertainers. According to police, one of those shot to death there on Sunday was found outside the club. Another was found dead inside the club, and the third died after being brought to a hospital. One of the two people wounded was in critical condition. And so . . . We watch the news as close as anyone in Kansas City and it seems like this HORRIFIC STORY OF RAMPANT VIOLENCE didn't really move the dial for locals. In fact, by evening the events were old news. Context . . . KC seemed much more interested in propagating racial avarice following gunfire endured by an unlucky teen in the Northland . . . Thankfully, the youngster lived and hopefully gets some of that EPIC crowdfunding cash sent his way. Accordingly . . . Here at TKC we think that DEADLY MASS SHOOTING GUNFIRE should elicit a stronger response so that this kind of criminality won't become commonplace. And so . . . We round up MSM links that provide info which informs our thesis . . . Deadly violence in KCMO is reaching critical mass and working against it should be the TOP PRIORITY OF POLITICOS & VOTERS as election season reaches its own climax. Read more via www.TonysKansasCity.com link . . . Three people killed and two wounded at Kansas City nightclub shooting Three people were killed and two more were wounded in a shooting at a Missouri nightclub early Sunday, marking one of at least three mass shootings in the US this weekend. Kansas City bar shooting leaves 3 dead, 2 wounded: police Gunfire erupted at a bar in Kansas City, Missouri, early Sunday, killing at least three people and leaving two others wounded, authorities said. Officers responded at 1:25 a.m. to the Klymax Lounge on Indiana Avenue and found multiple victims at the scene, Kansas City Police Officer Donna Drake told Fox News Digital in an email. 3 dead, 2 injured in Kansas City nightclub shooting KANSAS CITY, Mo. ( WDAF) - A shooting at a nightclub early Sunday morning in Missouri left three people dead and two injured, according to the Kansas City Police Department. Officers responded to the shooting at around 1:25 a.m. Sunday at the Klymax Lounge nightclub in Kansas City. 3 people killed, 1 critically injured in Kansas City nightclub shooting | CNN Three people were killed and one is in critical condition after a nightclub shooting early Sunday morning in Kansas City, Missouri, police say. At least five people were shot at Klymax Lounge on Indiana Ave., the police department in Kansas City, Missouri, confirmed. Officers responded to the lounge just before 1:30 a.m. Mass shooting at Missouri nightclub leaves at least 3 dead A mass shooting at a Missouri nightclub left three people dead and one in critical condition in the early hours of Sunday morning, police said. Officers found multiple victims of the Klymax Lounge in Kansas City after they arrived at the scene at 1:26 a.m. local time (2:26 a.m. Developing . . . Unofficially, the KCMO homicide count is now 65 which puts us right back in line with 2020 numbers - The most violent year ever recorded in our history. Check the deets . . . Several hours later that the shooting victim died at the hospital from their wounds around 5:30 a.m. Police have not yet released details about the unidentified victim. Read more via www.TonysKansasCity.com links . . . Jackson County Sheriff confirms deadly early morning shooting in Kansas City The Jackson County sheriff has confirmed a deadly shooting that occurred overnight Sunday in south Kansas City, Missouri.Police said a shooting victim was taken to the hospital around 2:53 a.m. Monday morning with critical injuries. Officers initially responded to a shooting call in the 9300 block of Bales Ave. Tonight we finish with a few nicer notes that don't really fit any other place on this blog. Still, it's always nice to remind readers and denizens of the political discourse that things aren't so bad and the people of Kansas City are actually A LOT better than most of us would ever dare to imagine. Check TKC news gathering . . . Harmony Project Helps Young Northeast KC Musicians to Thrive She sits in a chair, feet above the floor, swaying to the music she coaxes from her small violin. On her face, there's the thinnest smile of self-satisfaction. For her and her friends, gone, for the moment, are memories of fathers exhausted after mowing lawns across a vast swath of Johnson County... With adoptions down nationwide, Wayside Waifs works to make room for other rescues GRANDVIEW, Mo. - Missouri was ranked number one this week by the Humane Society as the worst state for neglectful puppy mills. One of the many organizations working to help is Wayside Waifs, with its rescue and response unit. But as rescuing continues, coupled with adoption numbers down nationwide, Wayside Waifs is seeing a lot of overcrowding. 'I'll miss you': Independence students say farewell to longtime crossing guard For almost 55 years, Sandra Bellew has helped Independence School District as a crossing guard.But now, the 87-year-old is hanging up the stop sign and retiring after this school year ends. She's been a friendly face kids see every day after school."Waving at the people as they go by. Shawnee man battling kidney disease for 8 years matches with niece for transplant KANSAS CITY, Kan. - It can be hard to imagine the feeling when you're told you need an organ transplant, but that's the reality for a Shawnee man battling kidney disease. KSHB 41 first talked to Stephen Thon in November, and found out he's been on the transplant list for two years "I would be so thankful, beyond words to have someone donate their kidney," Thon said in November. Liberty North track team finds new inspiration as coach battles cancer LIBERTY, Mo. - There's a plaque right before you throw a javelin at Liberty North that says "grip it and rip it." It holds a special meaning for the track and field team. "Whenever I go on the runway now, I have a whole different mindset," thrower Matthew Morrison said. A new solution will address Kansas City's lack of disability-accessible housing The Center for Developmentally Disabled is building four-bedroom family houses across Kansas City that are designed to help people with disabilities live with greater independence. Elmwood Cemetery - Leaving No Stones Down On August 14th, 1877, Cornelia Francis Haight Bancroft passed away at the tender age of 30. She was buried in Elmwood Cemetery in Northeast Kansas City, Missouri. The Cemetery was only 3 years old at the time. She was buried next to her son Charles who died in 1875 at only 4 months of age. Daytime highs above normal heading into the week OPENED 50 YEARS AGO. IT'S INCLUSIVE LIVE RADAR AND NINE DAY FORECAST, SO YOU'LL KNOW FIRST. THIS IS FIRST ALERT WEATHER. YOU'VE BEEN LOOKING FORWARD TO THAT NEWS. THE ZAMBEZI ARE KIND OF OPENING UP SOON AND SO IT'S A WEEK. SO FRIDAY. Developing . . . As we blogged previously . . . Westport legend Bill Nigro pressed this issue for 30 years and he deserves most of the credit. Still . . . Here's Mayor Q working diligently on a Sunday to distract from today's mass shooting that garnered headlines across the nation . . . This is truly cutting red tape, truly making things easier, for normal working people, said (Mayor) Quinton Lucas. It was originally made to keep organized crime out of the bar business way back and that risk is now long gone, said Bill Teel, the Executive Director of the Greater Kansas City Restaurant Association. The ordinance aims to make it easier for employers to find employees, and for employees to find jobs. Read more via www.TonysKansasCity.com links . . . KCMO Repeals Liquor Card Requirement for Servers and Bartenders KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) - Trying to become a bartender in Kansas City, Missouri, got a little bit cheaper on Sunday. Mayor Quinton Lucas signed an ordinance that repealed the requirement for bartenders and servers to buy a liquor card before they were allowed to serve alcohol in the city. Qabil Ashirov Azerbaijani human-right activist of US citizen, CEO and founder of South Azerbaijan Television (Gunaz.TV) Ahmad Obaly, and his son Deniz were subjected to the terrorist attacks in California, the USA. Araz Obali, the nephew of Ahmad Obali, said to the media outlets that Ahmad Obali was brutally beaten in a hotel in the USA, a day after returning from Azerbaijan. He noted that his uncle's condition is moderate to serious. Noting that as a result of the attack, Ahmad Obali's whole body was seriously injured, and all the fingers of his right hand were broken, and his eyes were seriously injured. He also added that Deniz, his son, was subjected to the attack, as well. His condition is serious and he was hospitalised at an intensive care unit. Ahmad Obaly was born in Iran, and later immigrated to the USA. He is famous for his anti-mullah regime political views. Besides that, he has actively supported Azerbaijan in the Garabagh issue. He has lashed out at fascist regimes of Iran and Armenia. He is against Armenian and Iranian expansionist foreign policy. So, the terrorist attack against him and his son raises questions about the motives of the attack. In a comment on the issue for Azernews, the head of the Middle East Research Centre, political analyst Sadraddin Soltan drew attention to Obali's political activity and pointed two forces that could stand behind the attack. Ahmad Obali is a socially active person, one of the active participants in the struggle for the national rights of South Azerbaijanis. Also, during the period when the lands of the Azerbaijan Republic were under the Armenian occupation, he constantly raised the issue in the USA, where he lives, and his TV programs covered the Garabagh issue and problems of Azerbaijanis in Iran. In this case, who can be his enemy? His enemy can be only two forces: first-up, Iran and pro-Iran forces, and secondly, Armenia and pro-Armenian forces including the Armenian lobby, given that the Armenian terrorist organizations have been conducting such kinds of attacks against Azerbaijani and Turkish political and public figures. In addition, we should not forget that the Armenian groups prepared provocations against the Azerbaijans consulate general in California, where Ahmad Obali was subjected to the attack, Sadraddin Soltan said. As for the reasons of attack, the expert noted that it could be political message against Azerbaijan and the USA. According to him, the forces who committed this crime possibly intend to harm Azerbaijan-US relations, as well. Ahmad Obali is a US citizen. So this issue can be approached from several aspects: whether it aims at harming the US-Azerbaijani relations or this could be a direct message against the USA and its foreign policy. Obviously, the USA supports the democratization process in Iran. So inside the United States, people who support the democratization process, human rights and the rights of national minorities are being terrorized by Iran. And alternatively, it could be a message against Azerbaijan, more precisely, public figures of Azerbaijan can be assassinated even in America, the superpower of the world, he opined. Sadraddin Soltan also did not rule out the implication of Armenian terrorists who intend to further aggravate the already tense relation between the USA and Iran. However, he thinks that it looks a conspiracy, rather than reality. Ahmad Obalis criticism against the Iranian regime, his constant mention of the rights of South Azerbaijanis, and the fact that he was attacked a day after returning from Azerbaijan automatically bring Iran to mind. In order to further strain the relationship between the United States and Iran, Armenians can do it even without the knowledge of the Iranian state. But this possibility is not serious in my opinion. I think that this incident is more related to the activities of Ahmad Obali. And as regards his enemies and opponents, none of evidence looks more relevant than Iran and Armenia, he concluded. Chairman of the General Authority for the Suez Canal Economic Zone (SCZone), Walid Gamal El-Din, stressed that the zone provides direct and indirect incentives for investors to operate in the country. Gamal El-Din made his remarks during a meeting with the Egyptian-Chinese Investment Forum, where he shed light on the general investment atmosphere in Egypt that managed to create a good business environment, especially in SCZone. The Egyptian embassy in Beijing hosted the forum. A delegation from SCZone was in Beijing to attend the forum and demonstrate the investment opportunities provided by SCZone to major Chinese companies and the business community there. The delegation also discussed ways to boost cooperation in new projects with the Chinese TEDA Group, one of the largest and most important industrial developers in the Sokhna Integrated Zone. This promotional mission to the Chinese capital, Beijing the second station for SCZone officials in the Asian continent comes as part of ongoing efforts toward attracting various investments and implementing the Zone's strategy for 2020/2025, which aims to attract and localize several targeted industries and make SCZone a strategic hub for the global economy. In a statement on Monday, SCZone said that the forum saw a rapprochement of economic viewpoints between the Egyptian and Chinese sides. The Zone is considered a launch pad for promoting investment in the local market and global markets in light of Egypt's international trade links and giant national road network, added Gamal El-Din. He said SCZone is looking forward to developing cooperation with Chinese investors. The Egyptian government currently seeks to attract more foreign investments and increase the participation of the private sector in public investments by providing a host of facilities to investors and businessmen. The industrial zones in the SCZone have attracted several investors in the past few years. Search Keywords: Short link: The United States welcomed Greece's electoral result after Sunday's ballot, according to the response of a US State Department official to a journalist's question at a live briefing on Monday, ANA reports. "We congratulate the people of Greece on exercising their democratic right to vote, and we look forward to continuing to deepen our partnership, working with a government chosen by the Greek people," it was noted, and "we view Greece as an indispensable NATO ally and partner, while we will continue to advance shared goals for peace and prosperity." RELATED TOPICS: Greece, Greek tourism news, Tourism in Greece, Greek islands, Hotels in Greece, Travel to Greece, Greek destinations, Greek travel market, Greek tourism statistics, Greek tourism report Photo Source: Wikimedia Commons License: CC-BY-SA Copyright: AgnosticPreachersKid The evacuation flight scheduled to evacuate Egyptian citizens from the Dongola Airport in Sudan on Tuesday has been postponed to a later date, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced on Monday in a statement. However, the ministry reiterated the continuity of evacuation of Egyptians from Sudan from the Qustul and Arqeen border crossings. The ministrys crisis room continues to receive phone calls, reports and inquiries from Egyptian citizens around the clock, seven days a week, via the following numbers: 01281943599 - 01283176894 - 01283176866 - 01283176900 - 01283176913 Since the outbreak of the conflict between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF)in mid-April, Egypt has succeeded in evacuating approximately 80 percent of its 10,000 citizens from Sudan A week-long truce between the warring parties is set to begin at 19:45 GMT (9:45 PM Sudanese time) on 22 May. Fighting continued on Monday, however, with air strikes and anti-aircraft fire rocking the capital Khartoum. Search Keywords: Short link: Fifty-five hot air balloons, carrying 1,500 tourists from various countries, adorned the sky over Luxor on Monday, said Head of the Egyptian Federation of Hot Air Ballooning Companies in Luxor Ahmed Aboud. The 55 rides over Luxor came despite hot weather currently sweeping Egypt, Aboud said in a statement reported by MENA. Hot air balloon tours are a must-try for tourists visiting Luxor, as they provide a unique and unforgettable perspective to explore the ancient wonders of the city. Nestled among the mesmerizing Karnak and Luxor temple complexes, as well as the tombs of the Valley of the Kings, Luxor hot air balloons offer visitors panoramic views of lush green agricultural fields and the majestic temples of ancient Egypt. Luxor and Aswan experienced a surge in visitors during the January-to-March period, with tourist arrivals increasing by 22 percent compared to the same period last year. Moreover, Luxor and Cairo were among the most popular destinations worldwide for travelers in 2022, according to Tripadvisors annual Travellers' Choice Awards. Egypt's Minister of Tourism and Antiquities Ahmed Issa anticipated that tourist arrivals would increase by 28 percent in 2023, bringing the total number of tourists to 15 million. The COVID-19 pandemic had a significant impact on Egypt's tourism industry. As a result, the number of tourists dropped sharply from 13.1 million in 2019 to 3.7 million the next year. Nevertheless, the industry has been progressively rebounding over the last two years. The number of tourists, consequently, increased to eight million in 2021 and 11.7 million in 2022. Search Keywords: Short link: The Ukrainian side handed South Korea a list of weapons it would like to receive and now Seoul will be reviewing it. Thats according to South Korea President Yoon Seok-yeol, who spoke at a joint press conference with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz. "As for supporting Ukraine, last Tuesday Ukraines First Lady was in Korea, and I also had a meeting with President Zelensky. During the retreat, Russian troops planted lots of mines, they brought massive losses and destruction. We would like to help as soon as possible. Also today, President Zelensky provided a list regarding weapons, and we will review it," the South Korean leader said in response to a question of whether South Korea plans to provide any weapons to Ukraine in the future. Scholz visited South Korea right after his Japan trip. This is the first visit of a German chancellor to the Republic of Korea in 30 years. As reported, South Korean President Yoon Seok-yeol promised additional non-lethal aid to Ukraine during the first-ever meeting with President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky. This includes demining equipment and ambulance vehicles. Yoon and Zelensky also agreed on the need for bilateral cooperation for the post-war recovery of Ukraine. The President of the Czech Republic Petr Pavel made a public call for the international community not to give up efforts to defeat Russia in Ukraine, adding that certain historical experiences should become the motivation to this end. This was stated by the President of the Czech Republic, Petr Pavel, Ukrinform reports with reference to Radio Prague International. At the commemoration of the victims of Nazi persecution, which took place at the Terezin National Cemetery, the head of the Czech Republic called for continued efforts to defeat Russia in Ukraine. According to the Czech leader, the motivation should be historical experience. As Radio Poland adds, Pavel stated that the victory over Russia in Ukraine would be "a refusal to change the foundations of the international order." He urged not to repeat the mistakes of the past and emphasized that not only the Czechs struggle with the difficulties of everyday life caused by the consequences of the war. The president of the Czech Republic also admitted that maintaining unity in support of Ukraine is becoming and will become an ever greater challenge, the report reads. Just like last year, the Terezin Memorial sent no invitations to Russia and Belarus officials to attend the annual event held on the third Sunday of May. The 200-year-old fortress town of Terezin was transformed by the Nazis into a camp where Jews from across Europe were massed until they could be transported to extermination camps. Over 150,000 prisoners entered its gates. 35,000 died there of stress, hunger and atrocious living conditions. Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba has begun his second tour of Africa and the first ever visit to Morocco in the history of bilateral relations. The head of Ukrainian diplomacy announced this on Instagram, Ukrinform reports. "Morocco. At the beginning of the second tour of Africa, our Moroccan partners invited us to visit the beautiful Hassan II Mosque in Casablanca, the largest functioning mosque in Africa. This is a true work of art, which was created by more than 10,000 Moroccan artists and craftsmen over seven years," the minister said, noting that the mosque's doors are made of Ukrainian titanium. Kuleba stressed that this is the first visit of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine to Morocco since the establishment of bilateral relations. "The first tour was history, the second is already a system. In the autumn, the geography of the visit included Sub-Saharan Africa, and now it includes countries in all parts of the continent - from north to south. The logistics here are brutal, but work is work. Important talks with African leaders and businesses are ahead," the Foreign Minister said. The minister also emphasised that the visits will be aimed at engaging as many African countries as possible in the implementation of the Peace Formula, securing support for uninterrupted exports under the Black Sea Grain Initiative and the President's Grain from Ukraine programme, and creating new opportunities for Ukrainian business. Read also: Dmytro Kuleba confident that aviation coalition definitely formed this year As reported earlier, on 16 May, President of South Africa Cyril Ramaphosa said that African countries would propose a peace initiative to end Russia's war against it. The Main Intelligence Directorate (GUR) of Ukraines Ministry of Defense has said that an operation on the creation of a security strip to protect Ukrainian civilians is being conducted in Russias Belgorod region, however only with the participation of Russian citizens. Andriy Yusov, a Main Intelligence Directorate representative, told Suspilne in a comment, Ukrinform reports. "Today the Russian Volunteer Corps and the Freedom of Russia Legion, consisting of Russian citizens, launched an operation to liberate the territories of Belgorod region from the so-called Putin regime and push back the enemy in order to create a certain security strip to protect the Ukrainian civilian population," said Yusov. He has noted that the Main Intelligence Directorate will not comment on plans for this operation now. However, Yusov clarified that the task and outcome (of this operation - ed.) should be to an increase in security and protection of the Ukrainian civilian population from terrorist attacks and shelling by terrorist groups. According to Yusov, information about the victims is being clarified. "Representatives of the Russian Volunteer Corps and the Freedom of Russia Legion emphasize that their measures do not pose a threat to the civilian population, peaceful citizens, while their goal is to push terrorist groups away from the border and liberate the territory from Putin's regime," he said. Earlier, some media reports said that explosions rocked Russias Belgorod region on Monday. Later, the Ukrainian and Russian media reported that Russian volunteers had arrived in this region. The news outlet Meduza notes that on the morning of May 22, the Telegram channel of the Freedom of Russia Legion posted an appeal to Russians: "Legion is returning home". "Residents of the border regions! Stay at home, do not resist and do not be afraid: we are not your enemies," the legion said. Photos of white-blue-white flags "over liberated cities" were also published. Around 14:00, the legion announced that, together with the Russian Volunteer Corps, it "completely liberated" the village of Kozinka, Belgorod region, while advanced units entered" the city of Graivoron. Several videos also emerged on the Telegram channel of the Russian Volunteer Corps, claiming the units fighters were on the territory of Russia. According to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, quoted by Russias media, Russian President Vladimir Putin, has been informed about the "breakthrough attempt". He called the events in Belgorod region "Ukrainian sabotage", the purpose of which is "to divert attention from Bakhmut". Peskov said that the Russian forces were trying to destroy the "saboteurs". Photo: Freedom of Russia Legion The Minister of Lands, Infrastructure and Transport of South Korea Won Hee-ryong is off to Poland, where he will meet with Ukraines officials to discuss the projects of the nations post-war reconstruction. This is reported by Yonhap with reference to the Korean ministers office, Ukrinform saw. During his three-day stay in Poland, Won intends to meet with local and Ukrainian high-ranking officials and discuss South Korea's envisioned participation in projects to rebuild Ukraine after the war with Russia. The minister is scheduled to sign a memorandum of understanding with the Ministry of Infrastructure of Ukraine, which will provide for the sharing of know-how and development platforms for a "smart city" by South Korea. They include an IT-based urban traffic network and advanced industrial complexes. According to the report, the Ukrainian side expressed high expectations regarding the participation of South Korean companies in various recovery projects, including the construction of new nuclear reactors and infrastructure for hydrogen production and electricity generation. In February, South Korea announced plans to provide $130 million in aid to Ukraine in addition to last year's $100 million. And last week, Finance Minister Choo Kyung-ho signed a preliminary agreement with Ukraine on the provision of low-interest loans within the framework of the Economic Development Cooperation project. As Ukrinform reported earlier, on May 21, South Korean President Yoon Seok-yeol vowed additional non-lethal aid for Ukraine during the first ever meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Hiroshima. Ukraine is counting on the support from Latvian businesses in the reconstruction of the country and suggests that the national Export Credit Agency consider the possibility of financing not only trade contracts but also investment deals. This was reported by the press service of the Ministry of Economy following the meeting of the First Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Economy Yulia Svyrydenko with the delegation of Latvia led by the Minister of Economy Ilse Indriksone, Ukrinform saw. "We already understand what economic model Ukraine's reconstruction will be based on. It was during the war that we realized what our main advantages are over other countries. That's why we will bet on them during reconstruction digital technologies, green energy, the agricultural sector and the defense-industrial complex," said Svyrydenko. The Ministry of Economy emphasizes that access to financing is an extremely important and urgent challenge for businesses today. "We have government financial assistance, but it is clear that the largest reconstruction in Europe since the Second World War will take place mostly at the expense of private capital. Therefore, we invite Latvian businesses to Ukraine and suggest that the National Export Credit Agency consider the possibility of financing not only trade contracts, but also investment contracts," Svyrydenko suggested. On behalf of the Government, she also invited Latvian businesses to take part in the international conference on the recovery of Ukraine, which will be held in London at the end of June. Another area of cooperation between Ukraine and Latvia can be experience sharing in supporting small and medium-sized businesses. After all, this business showed the greatest adaptability during the war period. Svyrydenko said that Ukraine would be interested in Latvia's experience in supporting small and medium-sized businesses. According to Ilse Indriksone, Latvian business is interested in new directions of cooperation in the field of information technologies and innovations. As reported by Ukrinform, Minister of the Cabinet of Ministers Oleh Nemchynov and Minister of Economy of the Republic of Latvia Ilse Indriksone discussed further cooperation, in particular Latvia's participation in the reconstruction of Ukraine. Egypt will import 170,000 cattle in preparation for the Islamic holiday Eid Al-Adha, announced the Ministry of Agriculture and Land Reclamation in a statement on Monday. The imports include 150,000 calves and 20,000 sheep, the ministry added. Of the 150,000 calves, 45,000 will be slaughtered immediately, while the remaining 105,000 will be fattened. The imports accord with the state's plan to increase its strategic meat stock via contracting multiple alternatives, including new international markets, Agriculture Minister Al-Said Al-Qusair affirmed. Egypt aims to provide sufficient meat at reasonable prices in time for Eid Al-Adha, the minister continued. Several Egyptians celebrate Eid El-Adha by slaughtering sheep, goats, or cows to feed their families and donate to the poor. Others tend to buy sizeable amounts of meat. Eid Al-Adha (the Feast of Sacrifice) dates from the historic event when Prophet Abraham was commanded by God, in a form of a dream vision, to sacrifice his son, Ishmael. But while he was in the act of sacrificing his son, God sent the Angel Gabriel with a huge ram. Gabriel informed Abraham that his dream vision was fulfilled and instructed him to sacrifice the ram as a ransom for his son. The story is mentioned in Sura (Chapter) 37 of the Holy Qur'an. Furthermore, Al-Qusair stressed that the government was interested in releasing more fodder for cattle and poultry to lower their prices in the market. Local meat prices have been rising steadily amid the global food crisis. Meat prices in Egypt have been recently soaring, with some attributing the increase to low supplies of fodder and the high cost of importing it. The low supply of imported fodder has caused the increase in meat prices, the Head of the Butchers Division at Cairo Chamber of Commerce Mohamed Wahba announced earlier this month. Search Keywords: Short link: South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol promised additional non-lethal aid to Ukraine during his first-ever meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the G7 Summit in Japans Hiroshima. The relevant statement was made by Yonhap, referring to Yoons office, an Ukrinform correspondent reports. The president said he would work to promptly provide items needed by Ukraine, including demining equipment and ambulances, Spokesperson for the President of the Republic of Korea Lee Do-woon noted. In his words, Yoon made the promise after Zelensky thanked South Korea for its humanitarian assistance and asked for additional non-lethal aid. Yoon reaffirmed South Koreas support for Ukraine, saying Seoul values an international order based on freedom, international solidarity and rules. Additionally, Yoon and Zelensky agreed on the need for bilateral cooperation for Ukraines post-war reconstruction. Yoon mentioned that South Korea will stand with the Ukrainian people until peace is restored, according to Lee. Photo: Yonhap Denmark would like to host a summit in July about how to find peace between Ukraine and Russia. Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen said this on Monday, Ukrinform reports, citing Reuters. "If Ukraine finds that the time has come to have such a meeting, that would be fantastic. And then Denmark would obviously like to host the meeting," he said. In his address at the G7 summit in Hiroshima, President Volodymyr Zelensky proposed holding an international summit in July to discuss the Ukrainian peace formula. In November 2022, in his speech to the participants in the G20 summit, Zelensky presented a ten-point Ukrainian peace formula. The Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (counterintelligence agency) records an increase in the activity of Russian propaganda and agents in Germany, as well as the threat of sabotage. This was stated by the head of the agency, Thomas Haldenwang, who spoke on the air of ARD TV, Ukrinform reports. Haldenwang warns of a "heightened risk" for Germany regarding possible acts of Russian sabotage. At a symposium held in Berlin, he said that "preparatory moves" such as spying on the IT systems of utility companies had already been taken by the Russian side. "These (sabotage - ed.) capabilities are actually available, they can also be applied against German targets and, above all, critical infrastructure," said the head of counterintelligence. He noted that the intensity, scale, and complexity of the activities of the Russian special services increased markedly with the outset of the war on Ukraine. For now, espionage efforts are underway, "but not yet a massive cyberattack on German critical infrastructure." According to Haldenwang, Russia has set up really powerful forces in the field of cyber attacks. Now they are used mainly against the infrastructure in Ukraine, but if they were used against the USA, Western Europe or Germany, then these nations would really have to reckon with complex attacks, the head of counterintelligence admitted. At the same time, he noted that access to various sensitive information has been sharply reduced for Russia, in particular, due to the expulsion of several hundred employees of its intelligence agencies from all over Europe. Now they are forced to apply alternative methods to satisfy their great interest... For Germany, the risks have increased. There can be no question of any naivety," says the official. He also mentioned complex cyberattacks on the part of China, as well as "increased interest in spying on German policies in all areas." According to the head of the federal agency, "while Moscow's revanchism turned out to be aggressive and militaristic, Beijing is acting much more discreetly, strategically and with longer-term goals." Germany, assured Haldenwang, certainly is one of the most stable democracies in the world. At the same time, he added: "This democracy is under increasing pressure." Russia is trying to destabilize the democratic system in Germany at many levels. For example, "a fairy tale is circulating that the Kremlin is waging war against Ukraine also due to the West having violated its security interests." The official also reprimanded the German right-wingers, noting that the fact that "Putin's song" is being sung in many places is also a merit of the "Alternative for Germany" party, which in some matters replaces the Russian media with their narratives. As reported, Germany in recent months expelled several dozen Russian spies acting under diplomatic cover. Michael Kappeler/dpa Three Palestinians were killed in an overnight Israeli army raid in the occupied West Bank, according to Palestinian sources. In a statement Monday, the Palestinian health ministry identified the three men killed in the Balata refugee camp in Nablus as Muhammad Abu Zaytoun (32), Fathi Abu Rizk (30) and Abdullah Abu Hamdan (24). Six others Palestinians were injured by Israeli occupation forces' gunfire during the early morning raid on the Balata refugee camp, the largest Palestinian refugee camp in the West Bank. Witnesses said a large force raided the camp in the early hours and deployed snipers on rooftops, the Palestinian News Agency WAFA reported. Israeli occupation forces invaded the camp with bulldozers, military vehicles, and continued to besiege it, preventing ambulances from entering, WAFA added. The camp witnessed intense clashes after the Israeli forces stormed it from several directions under the pretext of arresting "wanted individuals." The soldiers also broke into dozens of homes in the camp, and blew up one house. The Palestinian National Liberation Movement (Fatah) mourned the three men who fell during the Israeli raid, confirming that two of them belong to the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, the military wing of the movement. The Palestinian Presidency strongly condemned the Israeli invasion of the Balata camp and the city of Nablus. Nabil Abu Rudeineh, the official spokesman for the Palestinian presidency described the Israeli attack as "a real massacre and a continuation of the all-out war Israel is waging against the Palestinian people". The continuous aggression against the city of Nablus, its villages and camps by the occupation forces and extremist settlers is a major war crime and collective punishment that must be put to an end immediately, he said, holding the Israeli occupation government fully responsible for this continuous dangerous escalation. Abu Rudeineh called on the U.S. administration to intervene and put an immediate stop to what he characterized as "Israeli madness". He emphasized that the silence of the Biden's administration only encouraged the Israeli occupation to persist in its aggressive actions. Additionally, Israeli forces carried out invasions in several neighborhoods of Jenin and its surrounding areas, arresting three Palestinian youths and injuring another. Nearly three million Palestinians live in the occupied West Bank, along with about 490,000 Israelis in settlements considered to be illegal under international law. The latest deaths come just over a week into a fragile Gaza ceasefire after a five day cross-border conflict between Israel and the Islamic Jihad resistance group. Since the start of the year, Israel killed at least 156 Palestinians, including Monday's killing, according to an AFP tally. Search Keywords: Short link: The Lebanese militant group Hezbollah put on a show of force Sunday, extending a rare media invitation to one of its training sites in southern Lebanon, where its forces staged a simulated military exercise. Masked fighters jumped through flaming hoops, fired from the backs of motorcycles, and blew up Israeli flags posted in the hills above and a wall simulating the one at the border between Lebanon and Israel. The exercise came ahead of Liberation Day, the annual celebration of the withdrawal of Israeli forces from south Lebanon on May 25, 2000, and in the wake of a recent escalation of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in Gaza. Palestinian group Hamas, which rules Gaza, has long had ties with Hezbollah. The recent heightened tensions also come months after Lebanon and Israel signed a landmark U.S.-brokered maritime border agreement, which many analysts predicted would lower the risk of a future military confrontation between the two countries. Senior Hezbollah official Hashem Safieddine said in a speech Sunday that the exercise was meant to confirm our complete readiness to confront any aggression by Israel. On the other side of the border, Israeli forces have also occasionally invited journalists to watch exercises simulating a war with Hezbollah. Officials from both sides frequently allude to their readiness for conflict in public statements. On the ground, however, the conflict has been largely frozen since the two sides fought a brutal and inconclusive one-month war in 2006. Israel regularly strikes targets related to Lebanon and in neighboring Syria. In Lebanon, while Israel and Hezbollah, as well as resistance Palestinian groups, have exchanged periodic strikes in the years since 2006, they have largely avoided casualties on either side. Most recently, Israel launched rare strikes on southern Lebanon last month after militants fired nearly three dozen rockets from there, wounding two people in Israel and causing some property damage. The Israeli military said it targeted installations of Hamas, which it blamed for the rocket fire, in southern Lebanon. Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah derided the claim, saying the Israeli strikes had only hit banana groves and a water irrigation channel. Safieddine in his speech Sunday alluded to the groups possession of precision-guided missiles, which were not on display but which he said Israel would see later. Elias Farhat, a retired Lebanese army general who is currently a researcher in military affairs, said Hezbollahs symbolic show of strength on Sunday appeared to be in response to the recent escalation in Gaza. He said it could also be a response to a demonstration Thursday in Jerusalem by thousands of Jewish fatantics, some of whom chanted Death to Arabs and other racist slogans, in celebration of Jerusalem Day. The day marks Israels capture of the Old occupied city 56 years ago. Mohanad Hage Ali, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Middle East Center who researches Hezbollah, said that in the past when there was an escalation in the Israel-Palestine conflict, the Lebanese armed group would sometimes fire off rockets or allow a Palestinian faction in Lebanon to do so. But he said Sundays military exercise was a lower-risk way to show force. Given that Friday marked the return of Syria an ally of Hezbollah and Iran to the Arab League, Hage Ali said, Hezbollah may not have wanted a clash on the border with Israel to distract from the Arab reconciliation. While the military exercise is showing how strong they are and sending a message to the Israelis, it also demonstrates that this time around, they dont want to escalate, he said. * This story has been edited by Ahram Online. Search Keywords: Short link: (@ChaudhryMAli88) (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News / WAM - 22nd May, 2023) DUBAI, 22th May, 2023 (WAM) Sheikha Bodour bint Sultan Al Qasimi, the President of the American University of Sharjah (AUS), has been honored as one of Fast Company middle East's Most Creative People in business 2023, specifically recognised in the "Bringing Good Things to More People" category. Expressing her gratitude upon receiving the award, Sheikha Bodour humbly acknowledged the recognition, expressing surprise and appreciation. She described creativity as the act of transforming something from nothing and finding innovative solutions to problems. Sheikha Bodour expressed her delight if her creative endeavors have contributed to addressing challenges. Reflecting on the words of Steve Jobs, she emphasised that those who dare to believe they can change the world are the ones who actually do. Sheikha Bodour emphasised the importance of thinking differently to make a meaningful impact, highlighting the shared trait among all the nominees for the award. In addition to this prestigious accolade, Sheikha Bodour has been recognised for her innovative thinking and leadership in various initiatives for the greater good, with a particular focus on literacy, reading, and culture. One of her notable accomplishments was the establishment of the Emirates Publishing Association in 2009, a non-profit trade association dedicated to developing and professionalising the UAE's publishing industry. Sheikha Bodour's international perspective led the EPA to obtain membership in the International Publishers Association (IPA) in Geneva, a historically Western-led organisation. She also played a pivotal role in piloting IPA committees and initiatives before being elected as its vice-president from 2019 to 2020. Sheikha Bodour's commitment to making a difference in the literary world extended beyond the UAE. In 2019, she formed a partnership between the IPA and Dubai Cares, resulting in the Africa Publishing Innovation Fund (APIF). The fund invested $800,000 in 18 projects from 2020 to 2022, promoting indigenous languages, literacy, education, library access, and accessible book publishing for visually impaired readers. The APIF continues to positively impact thousands of people across 20 countries. During her presidency of the IPA from 2021 to 2022, Sheikha Bodour faced the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, which significantly impacted the book industry. However, she successfully unified the global publishing community by redefining it as a balanced ecosystem comprising interconnected stakeholders. Advocacy for women's representation was a core aspect of Sheikha Bodour's tenure as IPA president. She actively promoted female inclusion in committees, discussion panels, and meetings. Her efforts resulted in her successors as president and vice-president both being women. In 2025, when the vice-president assumes the top role, she will become the third consecutive woman to lead the organisation. In 2019, Sheikha Bodour established "PublisHer" in response to the underrepresentation of women in leadership positions within the publishing industry. PublisHer serves as an interactive platform that amplifies the voices of women in the industry and provides practical support to help them advance their careers. Sheikha Bodour's long-standing determination led to Sharjah earning the esteemed status of World Book Capital City in 2019. Her innovative year-long program prioritised inclusivity, and as a lasting legacy, she conceptualised the remarkable House of Wisdom, a cultural hub and library that focuses on fostering human interaction and enlightenment. Furthermore, in 2016, Sheikha Bodour launched the Kalimat Foundation, which aims to provide access to books for Middle Eastern children affected by conflict or visual impairment. The foundation empowers vulnerable young individuals by equipping them with knowledge and ideas by giving them books in accessible formats. So far, it has touched the lives of 162,000 disadvantaged children in 31 countries in Asia, Africa, Europe, and Latin America. KUALA LUMPUR, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News / WAM - 22nd May, 2023) H.H. Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, has met Anwar Ibrahim, Prime Minister of Malaysia, in Kuala Lumpur, to discuss opportunities to further strengthen the close friendship and cooperation between the UAE and the Malaysia to benefit both countries and their people. The meeting took place during a welcome reception held by Anwar Ibrahim for Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed as part of his official visit to Malaysia. During the meeting, Sheikh Khaled conveyed the greetings of President His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, to the Prime Minister, and his good wishes for his health and happiness, as well as his compliments to the people of Malaysia to achieve ongoing progress and prosperity. The Prime Minister of Malaysia requested that the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi relay his greetings to President His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed, and his warm wishes to the people of the UAE to achieve continuing success. During the meeting, they discussed ways to expand the framework of economic cooperation between the two countries, particularly in priority sectors such as healthcare services, clean energy, infrastructure and transportation projects. They also discussed strengthening cooperation through the establishment of a comprehensive economic partnership (CEPA) between the UAE and Malaysia. It was also agreed to launch the Sheikh Zayed Chair at the Institute of Strategic and International Studies Malaysia, which aims to bridge the gap in study and research around the regions of West Asia and Southeast Asia, and will serve as a research body that contributes to developing policies and providing scientific recommendations to authorities, decision-makers and civil organisations, as well as to youth in the two regions. In addition, they agreed to establish a chair in the name of Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak at the National Defence University of Malaysia, to further empower women and girls in the fields of peace and security, and peacekeeping missions at the United Nations, in addition to strengthening existing partnership between the UAE and Malaysia. H.H. Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed expressed his heartfelt thanks and appreciation for the warm reception, and emphasised the UAEs ongoing commitment to enhancing cooperation with Malaysia across all fields. The meeting was also attended by a delegation including Suhail bin Mohammed Al Mazrouei, Minister of Energy and Infrastructure; Dr. Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, Minister of State for Foreign Trade; Mohammed Ali Al Shorafa, Chairman of the Department of Municipalities and Transport; and Ahmed Jasem Al Zaabi, Chairman of the Abu Dhabi Department of Economic Development. ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 22nd May, 2023 ) :Since 2018, 477 million more people are enjoying the benefits of universal health coverage, the World Health Organization (WHO) chief said on Monday. "We have made progress and closed gaps," Tedros Ghebreyesus said. "But on current trends, fewer than half the world's population will be covered by the end of the UN Global Goals era in 2030, meaning we must at least double the pace," Ghebreyesus urged during his address to the World Health Assembly. Ghebreyesus called this year's High-Level Meeting on Pandemic Preparedness and Response "a valuable opportunity" for leaders to chart a clear path forward toward that future. "When the next pandemic comes knocking, and it will, we must be ready to answer decisively, collectively and equitably," he said. Recalling that the COVID-19 pandemic has shown that it's not a billion people but eight billion people who need to be better protected, he said. "The pandemic has blown us off course, but it has shown us why the UN Global Goals must remain our north star, and why we must pursue them with the same urgency and determination with which we countered the pandemic," he added. (@FahadShabbir) Washington, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 23rd May, 2023 ) :US President Joe Biden and top Republican Kevin McCarthy prepared on Monday for their first one-on-one talks in months, with just 10 days left to stop the government from tumbling into a calamitous default on its $31.8 trillion debt. The high-stakes White House meeting was scheduled after Biden returned from a trip to Asia early to hammer out a deal ahead of the US Treasury's June 1 cutoff date for Congress to authorize more borrowing. Debt limits are raised periodically to cover repayments on loans that have already been approved and spent, but House Republicans are insisting this time that averting a default must be paired with deep cuts to bring down the country's $1.5 trillion deficit. The on-again, off-again discussions sputtered through the weekend, with McCarthy's team and White House negotiators meeting for more than two hours on Sunday night and another three on Monday. McCarthy told reporters in Congress ahead of meeting Biden that no agreement had yet been struck but added that negotiations were in "the right place to put us on the right path." He repeated a favored analogy casting the US debt as a child's credit card, and adding that responsible parents wouldn't keep upping the limit without requiring their offspring to rein in their spending. "Our credit card, our debt limit, we have charged so much (on) that, it's bigger than our economy. And would you just raise that debt limit or would you look at ways to do something different?" he said. - 'Red line' - Biden and McCarthy spoke by phone Sunday as the president flew home from a G7 summit in Japan, with the speaker describing the call as "productive." Republicans insist on spending less money in fiscal year 2024 than 2023, calling it a "red line." The White House has offered a freeze for 2024 in exchange for Republicans supporting tax increases for corporations and wealthy Americans but McCarthy has rejected the idea. The Biden administration has offered to limit spending on some domestic programs but wants the Pentagon to share in the cuts. Republicans have pushed for boosted military and border security spending, with major rollbacks to non-defense programs. Disputes also remain over what a White House official characterized as increasingly hard line Republican demands for beefed-up work requirements for social welfare programs. Biden points out that Republicans raised the borrowing cap three times under former president Donald Trump without threatening to default on the country's debt obligations. "It's time for the other side to move from their extreme positions," he said at a press conference before leaving Japan. If lawmakers fail to raise the borrowing cap, the government will default on its debt obligations for the first time in history, with potentially catastrophic results. Many experts say that in a worst-case scenario, global stock markets would melt down as the US economy lurches into a downward spiral, killing millions of jobs. - 'Hard deadline' - The president is being pressured by progressives in his party to rely on the Constitution's 14th Amendment -- which states that the validity of public debt "shall not be questioned" -- to bypass Congress and increase the limit on his own. But he and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen cautioned that the courts would not be able to resolve any legal disputes quickly enough to meet the deadline. "We expect to be unable to pay all of our bills in early June, and possibly as soon as June 1," Yellen told NBC at the weekend, confirming that her previously-estimated cut-off date had become a "hard deadline." She added that the odds of the government reaching June 15 having paid all of its bills was "quite low." Even if McCarthy and Biden can hammer out a broad deal, anything they agree to will need to be shepherded through the House, where they face pressure from hardliners on both sides not to make too many concessions. Further complicating the timeline, the Senate is out this week, while the House is slated to be in recess on Friday ahead of Memorial Day weekend. Republican negotiator Patrick McHenry said the talks at "a very sensitive point.""I'm concerned about getting a deal that can pass the House, the Senate, and signed by the president. It's a complicated piece of math," he told reporters. Pakistan Ulema Council Chairman and Prime Minister's Special Representative on Interfaith Harmony and Middle East Hafiz Muhammad Tahir Mahmood Ashrafi Monday expressed his appreciation to China, Saudi Arabia, Turkiye, and Egypt for their decision to refrain from attending the G20 meeting in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 22nd May, 2023 ) :Pakistan Ulema Council Chairman and Prime Minister's Special Representative on Interfaith Harmony and middle East Hafiz Muhammad Tahir Mahmood Ashrafi Monday expressed his appreciation to China, Saudi Arabia, Turkiye, and Egypt for their decision to refrain from attending the G20 meeting in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK). Addressing a press conference, he said IIOJK was an internationally recognized disputed territory between Pakistan and India and it was on the agenda of the United Nations Security Council for over seven decades. Ashrafi said India was responsible for widespread atrocities and egregious human rights violations in the IIOJK adding that contemplating the holding of any G20-related meeting or event there, in utter disregard of the globally acknowledged disputed status of the territory, was a travesty that the international community could not accept under any circumstances. He said today, a complete strike took place in occupied Kashmir and Azad Kashmir to condemn this illegal move of the fascist Modi regime giving a clear-cut expression of that India had nothing to do with the people and the territory of occupied Kashmir. He urged other G20 countries to boycott such an event if held in the future in any internationally disputed territory. He said India was trying to organize another event of G20 in the wake of interfaith harmony to portray its soft image in the comity of nations but Muslims and the people of other faiths had completely denied to participate in any event in the Indian-held Kashmir. He said India must end its gross and systematic violations of human rights in IIOJK, revoke its illegal and unilateral actions of 5 August 2019, and free all political prisoners including the true Kashmiri leaders for a peaceful and meaningful dialogue between the two countries. On the tragedy of May 9 called Black Day, Ashrafi on behalf of all Ulema and Mashaykh urged the superior judiciary to expedite the trials of those people involved in heinous crimes of setting ablaze the Core Commander House, Lahore, and Radio Pakistan, Peshawar, and attack on General Headquarters in the anti-terrorist courts. He further said those who destroyed the national security forces installations, should be tried in the military courts under Army Act as it was in accordance with the law and the Constitution adding that nobody should create any kind of hurdle into the matter. To a query, he was of the view that if someone was guilty, he must be punished and if someone was innocent, he must be released. He said in the 75-year history, it was the first attack on the sovereignty of Pakistan on the pattern of 9/11 and those who were masterminds, facilitators, culprits, and accomplices must be brought to justice through all possible means. Ashrafi said the incoming Friday would be observed as 'Stability Day' by the Ulema and Mashaykh of all schools of thought under the umbrella of the Pakistan Ulema Council to express solidarity with the national security institutions. (@Abdulla99267510) The chief justice issues a stern warning to the IG, giving him one more chance to provide updates. He further stated that if any harm befell Imran, all responsible parties would be held accountable. LAHORE: (UrduPoint/UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News-May 22nd, 2023) Punjab Inspector General Dr Usman Anwar informed the Lahore High Court (LHC) on Monday that anchorperson Imran Riaz Khan, who has been missing since his arrest at Sialkot airport on May 11, could not be found at any police department in the country. During the hearing of a plea seeking Imran's recovery, the senior official made this statement. The LHC had previously directed the Punjab police to locate and present the anchorperson, but they failed to do so during today's hearing. Imran was among the individuals detained following the protests that broke out after the arrest of the PTI chairman. According to his lawyer, a writ petition was filed on May 12 regarding Imran's arrest, and the LHC ordered the attorney general to present him in court on the same day. However, the authorities did not comply with the court's orders, and the Sialkot police were given a 48-hour deadline to find Imran. The anchorperson's father, Muhammad Riaz, filed a First Information Report (FIR) on May 16 at Civil Lines police station, accusing unidentified individuals and police officials of kidnapping his son. The FIR invoked Section 365 of the Pakistan Penal Code, which deals with kidnapping or abducting with the intent to secretly and wrongfully confine a person. During the hearing, LHC Chief Justice Muhammad Ameer Bhatti inquired about the progress in the case and questioned the Punjab IG. The IG responded by stating that Imran Riaz Khan was not wanted by the police and that the agencies had requested a police van. Imran's lawyer, Azhar Siddique, revealed that one of the individuals involved in the raid on the journalist's residence was also among those who apprehended him at Sialkot airport. At the end of the hearing, the LHC Chief Justice announced that an order would be issued regarding today's proceedings. The judge warned the IG about the consequences if he failed to provide information about the efforts made to locate the anchorperson. The IG mentioned that a meeting had taken place on Sunday, attended by representatives from relevant agencies. He stated that the police had contacted departments across Pakistan, but nobody had any information about Imran Riaz Khan. He requested the court to direct the secretaries of the interior and defence ministries to assist the police. The judge asked the IG if he needed more time, to which the IG answered affirmatively. He also mentioned that his department had reached out to the Ministry of Interior but had not received a response. The judge emphasized that the court was actively working towards the recovery of the anchorperson and taking steps to ensure his safety. The IG suggested that representatives from the Ministry of Interior should be summoned to move the matter forward. He clarified that Imran was not being detained in any police center. The chief justice issued a stern warning to the IG, giving him one more chance to provide updates. He further stated that if any harm befell Imran, all responsible parties would be helda ccountable. Almost 60,000 pounds of chemicals used as fertilizer and an explosive became missing during a rail trip from the US state of Wyoming to California, NBC News said on Monday, citing federal records WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 22nd May, 2023) Almost 60,000 Pounds of chemicals used as fertilizer and an explosive became missing during a rail trip from the US state of Wyoming to California, NBC News said on Monday, citing Federal records. A rail car with ammonium nitrate left a plant operated by the Dyno Nobel company in Wyoming on April 12. The company's representative filed a relevant report on the issue with the National Response Center on May 10. The chemical was released "due to an unknown cause," according to the report. The incident was discovered when the empty car arrived at a small town in California over 1,000 miles away from the plant, it added. Ammonium nitrate has been a key ingredient used in terror attacks and fatal accidents, according to the news report. However, Kristen South, a spokesperson for Union Pacific, the rail company that was transporting the chemical, reassured that it should not threaten the public. "The fertilizer is designed for ground application and quick soil absorption. If the loss resulted from a railcar leak over the course of transportation from origin to destination, the release should pose no risk to public health or the environment," South said, as quoted by NBC News. She noted that the investigation is ongoing, and there is no evidence of any criminal or malign activity. A representative for Dyno Nobel told local media in California that they believe that the loss was a result of leakage while the rail car was in transit. WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 23rd May, 2023) A spokesperson for Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis today dismissed a travel warning issued by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, calling the advisory "a stunt" on Monday. "This is nothing more than a stunt," a DeSantis spokesperson said when asked about the NAACP advisory on Monday while touting the state's robust tourism numbers as evidence of DeSantis' success. NAACP President and CEO Derrick Johnson said in a press statement over the weekend that DeSantis' policies, legislation, and rhetoric are a clear and present danger to African Americans. "Let me be clear - failing to teach an accurate representation of the horrors and inequalities that Black Americans have faced and continue to face is a disservice to students and a dereliction of duty to all," Johnson said. "Under the leadership of Governor Desantis, the State of Florida has become hostile to Black Americans and in direct conflict with the democratic ideals that our union was founded upon. He should know that democracy will prevail because its defenders are prepared to stand up and fight. We're not backing down, and we encourage our allies to join us in the battle for the soul of our nation." Johnson said DeSantis and his fellow Republicans are openly hostile not just to African Americans but also to LGBTQ+ people and other people of color. "Before traveling to Florida, please understand that the state of Florida devalues and marginalizes the contributions of and the challenges faced by African Americans and other communities of color," he said. DeSantis has also been engaged in overhauling Florida's educational curriculum to limit any reference or study of critical race theory. Florida banned teaching on the topic in 2021, rejecting it because it invokes a "woke" philosophy and because it explores the history of systemic racism in the United States and its continued effects up to the present day. In addition, DeSantis signed into law restrictions on when, where, and how teachers and administrators can discuss race with students. Earlier this year, DeSantis called the idea of travel warnings a joke, ridiculous, and "a stunt, a pure stunt," echoing his spokesperson's comments Monday. According to CBS, The League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) warned people if they visited the Sunshine State because of the governor's treatment of immigrants. In a statement, Domingo Garcia, LULA's president, characterized Florida as being a "dangerous, hostile environment for law-abiding Americans and immigrants." A Belarusian former dissident journalist, arrested when his Ryanair flight was spectacularly intercepted and convicted this month to eight years in prison, has been pardoned, state media reported Monday Moscow, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 22nd May, 2023 ) :A Belarusian former dissident journalist, arrested when his Ryanair flight was spectacularly intercepted and convicted this month to eight years in prison, has been pardoned, state media reported Monday. Roman Protasevich, formerly an editor of the opposition media group Nexta, was arrested two years ago and accused of helping to coordinate mass protests against President Alexander Lukashenko's re-election in 2020. He was detained in May 2021 after his flight from Greece to Lithuania was intercepted by a Belarusian fighter jet and forced to land in Minsk. Earlier this month, a court in the Moscow-allied country sentenced the 28-year-old to eight years in a penal colony. He was kept under house arrest after the trial. But on Monday, Belarusian state news agency Belta reported that Protasevich had been pardoned. "I have just signed appropriate documents confirming that I have been pardoned," Belta quoted Protasevich as saying. "I am incredibly grateful to the country and of course, to the president personally for such a decision," he said in a video released by Belta. "This is, of course, just great news." After his arrest, which caused international shock, Protasevich is believed to have been coerced by authorities into issuing apologetic statements on state television. - Political prisoners - As his trial opened in February, he said he was "fully guilty," in a video published by Belta. Little is known about how Protasevich was treated by security services. Some in the exiled Belarusian opposition have accused him of collaborating with authorities. Two other key figures behind the Nexta Telegram channel, Stepan Putilo and Yan Rudnik, were sentenced in absentia to 20 years and 19 years in prison respectively. The charges included making public calls to insurrection, organising of terrorist attacks, offending the president and spreading false information about Belarus. Belarus, ruled by Lukashenko since 1994, has cracked down on anyone linked to the protests, which were the biggest in Belarusian history. Nexta, a popular channel on YouTube and Telegram, played an active role in the 2020 protests, which erupted after Lukashenko was accused of rigging an election. The platform was banned and declared a "terrorist organisation". According to Belarus's independent Viasna rights group, there are now 1,500 political prisoners in the country. The Minsk regime, reclusive for years, has become even more isolated after brutally suppressing the protests and allowing Russia to use Belarusian territory to launch its Ukraine offensive. (@FahadShabbir) MINSK (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 22nd May, 2023) Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko will meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on May 24 to discuss settlement of unresolved bilateral issues, Belarusian state news agency Belta reported on Monday. "As the (Belarusian) government reports to me, well, there are almost no problems (in relations with Russia). I do not believe this is the case. I can see from the situation that there are still problems, some inconsistencies. Sometimes bureaucracy... So that when we meet in Moscow the day after tomorrow, Russian President Putin and I can discuss and resolve those problems that should not be in our relations at all," Lukashenko said, as quoted by state-run news agency Belta. The US State Department criticized Sunday an Israeli order that allows Jewish settlers to establish a permanent presence in an occupied West Bank outpost. We are deeply troubled by the Israeli governments order that allows its citizens to establish a permanent presence in the Homesh outpost in the northern West Bank, which, according to Israeli law, was illegally built on private Palestinian land, said State Department spokesman Matthew Miller. The order is inconsistent with Israeli government commitments made in 2004, and more recently to officials in President Biden's administration, Miller said. The Israeli militarys Central Command has signed off on an order allowing Israelis to enter the outpost of Homesh near Nablus, paving the way for a formal settlement to be built there. The US State Department urged Israel to avoid actions, including formalizing settler outposts, that could escalate tensions with Palestinians. Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories are considered illegal by the international community and the UN. In March, Israeli lawmakers approved a rollback of legislation, which ordered the evacuation of four northern West Bank settlements concurrent with Israels pullout from the Gaza Strip in 2005. The law repealed clauses of the 2005 Disengagement Law that banned Israelis from the area where the settlements of Homesh, Ganim, Kadim, and Sa-Nur once stood. Earlier on Sunday, the US expressed its concern over the provocative visit by Israel's far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir to the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem. "This holy space should not be used for political purposes, and we call on all parties to respect its sanctity," the US State Department spokesman stated. Ben-Gvir's visit came three days after he and tens of thousands of Jewish nationalists marched through the Old City and just over a week into a fragile Gaza ceasefire. Search Keywords: Short link: MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 22nd May, 2023) Russian-Chinese consultations on public security, justice and law and order will be held in Moscow on Monday, the press service of the Russian Security Council said. "They (the consultations) will be conducted by Secretary of the Security Council of the Russian Federation Nikolai Patrushev and Member of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the People's Republic of China (CPC), Secretary of the Central Political and Legal Affairs Commission of the CPC Chen Wenqing," the press service said. In February, Patrushev announced that the eleventh international meeting of high representatives in charge of security issues would be held under the auspices of the Russian Security Council in late May in the Moscow Region, with the personal participation of Chen Wenqing expected. (@FahadShabbir) The United States and its partners launched a new task for maritime security training in the Middle East, the US Naval Forces Central Command said on Monday WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 22nd May, 2023) The United States and its partners launched a new task for maritime security training in the middle East, the US Naval Forces Central Command said on Monday. The Combined Task Force (CTF) 154 was commissioned during a ceremony at the US 5th Fleet headquarters in Bahrain. It is CMF's fifth task force. The fourth Combined Task Force, CTF 153, was established in April 2022 for maritime security in the Red Sea. "The U.S.-led multinational partnership, Combined Maritime Forces (CMF), established a new task force May 22 that will train partner navies and improve operational capabilities to enhance maritime security in the Middle East," the statement said. The training will take place at various locations across the Middle East, enabling more CTF partner nations to participate in training programs without ships or aircraft, particularly during courses that are facilitated ashore, it added. The training will include maritime awareness, maritime law, maritime interdiction, maritime rescue and assistance, and leadership development. Each training opportunity will be tailored to meet partner requests ranging from basic to advanced levels, the statement said. CMF is a multinational partnership established in 2001 to combat illicit non-state actors on the high seas and promote security, stability, and prosperity, as well as to counter the threat of piracy in the region. Headquartered in Bahrain, the partnership consists of 38 member nations, including Australia, Canada, France, Germany, India, Iraq, Italy, Japan, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Yemen. CMF is the largest multinational naval partnership in the world, according to the US Naval Forces Central Command. Earlier this month, White House Strategic Communications Coordinator John Kirby said that in the coming weeks, the US will seek to increase coordination and interoperability of the international maritime security construct in the Arabian Gulf amid alleged Iranian interference with commercial maritime activity. Aronstein Receives UWs Top Faculty Award Susan Aronstein An award-winning teacher, an internationally renowned scholar and a longtime leader who has served in many administrative roles at the University of Wyoming has been honored with the universitys top faculty award. Department of English Professor Susan Aronstein, also an associate dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, is the recipient of the 2023 George Duke Humphrey Distinguished Faculty Award. Named for UWs 13th president, who served from 1945-1964, the award honors teaching effectiveness, distinction in scholarly work and distinguished service to the university and state. She is a generous colleague, a forward-looking problem solver and a true collaborator, UW Honors College Dean Peter Parolin says of Aronstein, who has been a member of UWs faculty since 1987. She is precisely the sort of faculty member the George Duke Humphrey Award is designed to recognize, someone who has dedicated her whole professional life to UW students, colleagues and the institution itself. As an instructor at UW, Aronstein has taught at all levels of the curriculum for both the Department of English and the Honors College, which she directed from 2014-17. Her courses have included the honors freshman colloquium; literary theory; Chaucer; medieval romance; Arthurian legend; childrens film; fantasy literature; transmedia storytelling; Steven Spielberg; and the Disney Discourse. She makes each class fresh, rethinking what she has done before, devising new assignments so that students will take advantage of new technologies, grapple with new preoccupations in society, and showcase their many strengths, Parolin says. In every interaction with students, she truly sees the students before her, gets to know their strengths and their needs, and imparts excellent mentoring to help them succeed. She works with students on big ideas about literature as well as the critical structures of composition; she challenges students to make their scholarship better and encourages them to think ambitiously about their futures, whether that would be a spot in a top graduate program or a position in an impactful company. One of her former students is Travis Feezell, the provost of Belmont Abbey College in Belmont, N.C., and the former president of Hastings College in Nebraska. I have known Susan for over three decades and can think of no other faculty member at the University of Wyoming who has influenced my professional life (more), says Feezell, a 1990 UW graduate who credits Aronstein for his decision to pursue graduate studies. She is an effective and influential teacher, a renowned scholar in her field and, frankly, a wonderful friend and mentor to many beyond me. Aronsteins teaching awards include the Graduate Mentorship Award; the Honors College freshman-level teaching award; the Honors College upper-division teaching award; the Mortar Board Top Prof Award; the College of Arts and Sciences Top 10 Teacher Award; the Arts and Sciences Extraordinary Merit in Teaching Award; the Hollon Family Award for Teaching Excellence in Off-Campus Programs; and the John P. Ellbogen Meritorious Classroom Teaching Award. As a scholar, Aronstein specializes in medieval literature, film studies and popular culture. She has published six books; edited or co-edited four volumes of scholarly essays between 2012-2022; and published 16 articles and 17 book chapters. Her research prowess earned her the College of Arts and Sciences Extraordinary Merit in Research Award three times; a fellowship from the Wyoming Institute for Humanities Research; and the UW Presidents Scholarly Achievement Award. Professor Aronsteins work is staggeringly interdisciplinary -- though housed in UWs Department of English, she also has published peer-reviewed work in the fields of theater studies and cinema studies, as well as a range of other humanities fields, says Tison Pugh, the Pegasus Professor of English at the University of Central Florida. Simply put, such an achievement is phenomenal and speaks to the capaciousness and depth of her scholarship. In addition to her previous leadership of what is now the Honors College, Aronstein has been an assistant chair, interim chair and director of graduate studies in the Department of English; director of UWs Summer High School Institute; and on dozens of university, college and department committees. For me, the great hallmark of Susan Aronstein is that, in her teaching, research and service, she is a deep collaborator, Parolin says. She builds communities. She lifts others up and helps them succeed. She always looks for the best in others. For so many of us, the knowledge that Susan believes in our potential inspires us to live up to it. Aronstein holds a Ph.D. in English and comparative literatures from Stanford University; a masters degree in medieval languages from Edinburgh University; and a bachelors degree in English from Seattle Pacific University. Krueger Receives UWs Laramigo Award for Community Engagement Kem Krueger Kem Krueger, dean of the University of Wyoming School of Pharmacy, is recognized by his peers for his tireless efforts to move the pharmacy program forward. His community work has not gone unnoticed either. Krueger is the recipient of the 2023 Laramigo Award for Community Engagement. The award recognizes the contributions of UW faculty and staff members to the university and Laramie communities. The award, created by anonymous donors, offers a stipend to a UW employee and a Laramie-based nonprofit organization of the recipients choice. Krueger has been at the university since 2006 and has received numerous teaching and research awards -- receiving more than $6 million in grants and contracts -- and has been recognized by several professional organizations, both on the state and national levels. As dean of the College of Health Sciences until last July, David Jones observed the impact that Krueger has had on the UW and Laramie communities, helping to bring both together to work for a common cause. I am referring to Kems accomplishments during the entirety of the COVID-19 pandemic. This includes UWs early efforts, starting in March 2020, to develop mitigation strategies and working with state officials to determine the best options available for COVID-19 testing, Jones says. Most important, however, is the time and energy Kem dedicated to UWs contribution to the community COVID-19 vaccination program. In December 2020 -- when the first COVID-19 vaccine became available -- Krueger began working with Albany County Public Health to initiate the communitys COVID-19 vaccine program. He scheduled the clinics, identified clinical faculty who could participate and ensured that students in the schools of Pharmacy and Nursing could gain once-in-a-lifetime experience as vaccinators. As the clinic began to evolve, he worked closely with the CEO and the chief nursing officer at Ivinson Memorial Hospital to implement the hospitals electronic medical records system to document the visits of each person who came to the vaccine clinic, Jones says. Krueger also assisted Albany County Public Health in registering each vaccination in Wyomings immunization registry. Seeing that the demand for this clinic was growing -- and understanding the need for more providers to serve in the clinics -- Kem was able to recruit a number of retired nurses from the Laramie community to work the clinics, Jones adds. Having been involved in the COVID vaccine clinics myself, I was able to witness firsthand Kems efforts to get the community vaccine clinic off the ground and to sustain the clinics for months. Dr. Jean Allais, the Albany County health officer, also worked closely with Krueger during the COVID-19 pandemic. He worked tirelessly helping to get our community vaccinated for COVID-19. The task was enormous. He worked many hours in any capacity needed at the events themselves, including many evenings and weekends, Allais says. His enthusiasm for this important endeavor has been unwavering. He is always pleasant to work with, and he does it with a smile. Dr. Krueger is deserving of this recognition for all his efforts in this undertaking. Krueger received his pharmacy degree (1993) from the University of Missouri-Kansas City and his doctoral degree (1999) from the University of Arizona. Western powers are looking at taking measures against Russia at the global chemical weapons body over alleged nerve agent attacks, the US ambassador to the watchdog said Monday. US envoy Joseph Manso also blamed Moscow for the failure last week of the Hague-based Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) to agree a new five-year roadmap. Tensions at the OPCW have soared since its investigators found that the Soviet-era nerve agent Novichok was used against Kremlin opponent Alexei Navalny in Russia in 2020, and against a former Russian spy in England in 2018. "The United States and many countries are concerned about Russian non-compliance, and Russian non-compliance is at the heart of the problems at the OPCW," Manso told AFP in an interview. "We're going to keep looking for what the right tools are to bring Russia into compliance. It is not something we're going to forget about." Asked if this could include seeking to suspend Moscow's voting rights at the OPCW, a sanction used against the Syrian government in 2021 over its use of chemical weapons during its civil war, Manso said he was "not going to specifically include anything and I'm not going to specifically exclude anything". "One approach would be to sanction the Russians. That may or may not work... It's an idea, but it's not US government policy," he said. Milestone The Russian issue will "very much" be discussed when the watchdog's policy-making body meets in July and at the annual meeting of its 193 member states at the end of the year, Manso said. Russia has denied involvement in the poisoning of Navalny, and in the Novichok attack on former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter in the English town of Salisbury in 2018, which left one woman dead. During last week's five-yearly meeting of OPCW states to assess progress on a 1997 agreement to eradicate chemical weapons, Russia accused the West of "politicising" the regulator. The meeting failed to agree on a final document that would have set out its priorities for the next five years. The US envoy pinned the blame on Moscow and its allies Syria, Iran and China. "Our Russian colleagues were not so flexible," Manso said. But the ambassador said the Nobel Peace Prize-winning OPCW had a "bright future" despite the lack of agreement, and a role in preventing the "re-emergence" of toxic arms. The watchdog is set to mark a "milestone" when the US destroys the last of its chemical weapons in September, completing the process of eliminating the world's declared toxic arms stockpiles, he said. But Manso said that fears of chemical weapons use by Russia in Ukraine were still a "concern", and that Syria's readmission to the Arab League did not change the need for "accountability" for its chemical weapons use. Search Keywords: Short link: Prominent Cambodian opposition figure Sam Rainsy on Friday denounced elections in July as a farce after the sole opposition party was disqualified, and derided long-ruling Prime Minister Hun Sen's plan for his son to succeed him in power. "Now even the facade of democracy has collapsed in Cambodia," Sam Rainsy told Reuters on the sidelines of an event on electoral and press freedom in Jakarta. Sam Rainsy, the co-founder of another banned political party, has been living in self-exile and has been convicted of multiple offenses in absentia, including in March last year when a court found him guilty of a plot to overthrow the government. He said that Monday's decision by Cambodia's election commission to disqualify the Candlelight Party for what it said was failing to submit proper registration documents means the July polls would be a "fake and sham" election. "It is a joke to refer to Cambodia as a democracy," Sam Rainsy said. "Cambodia is an autocracy." Hun Sen's ruling Cambodian People's Party says the election will be free and fair, adding that more than 10 other parties had registered. "The election will be the choice of the Cambodian people," government spokesman Phay Siphan told Reuters on Friday. Candlelight is expected to appeal the decision, but if unsuccessful, this will be the second consecutive election where the main opposition party is prevented from running. Candlelight is a reincarnation of the former popular opposition party, the Cambodian National Rescue Party (CNRP), which was disbanded by the Supreme Court in 2017. Sam Rainsy is a co-founder of the CNRP. Critics say Hun Sen, who has been in power since 1998, has become an increasingly autocratic, with many prominent opposition figures in either jail or exile. Sam Rainsy, who has been blocked from returning to Cambodia for years, also slammed what he described as the rise of "feudalistic and clan-istic" politics in Cambodia, given that Hun Sen has openly promoted his son, Hun Manet, as his political heir. Hun Manet, a general in the Cambodian military, is running for the National Assembly for the first time in the July election, according to the ruling party's candidate list. "For Hun Sen, power means impunity. He knows when he loses power he will lose impunity," Sam Rainsy said, "That is why he wants his son to replace him." Ukraine will get F-16 fighter jets and Biden announces more military aid. Russia claims victory in Bakhmut, but is the fight over? Plus Russian helicopters are headed for Zimbabwe and and a volunteer force has been fighting in Russia to create a safe zone along the border with Ukraine. Sudan's army conducted airstrikes in the capital, Khartoum, on Monday, residents said, seeking to win ground against its paramilitary rivals hours before a weeklong cease-fire aimed at allowing delivery of aid was to take effect. The army also carried out airstrikes into the evening on Sunday, witnesses said, targeting vehicles from mobile units of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces that have been operating across residential areas in the capital since the conflict between the two military factions erupted on April 15. Both sides have said they will abide by a cease-fire starting at 9:45 p.m. local time (19:45 GMT). Though fighting has continued through previous cease-fires, this is the first truce to be formally agreed to following negotiations. The cease-fire deal includes a monitoring mechanism involving the army and the RSF as well as representatives from Saudi Arabia and the United States, which brokered the agreement after talks in Jeddah. The deal has raised hopes of a pause in a war that has driven nearly 1.1 million people from their homes, including more 250,000 who have fled into neighboring countries, threatening to destabilize a volatile region. The airstrikes residents reported Monday were in Khartoum, Omdurman and Bahri, the three cities that make up the greater capital, separated by the confluence of the Blue Nile and White Nile. They also said clashes could be heard in central Khartoum. The army has struggled to dislodge the RSF from strategic positions in central Khartoum and from neighborhoods where it has occupied civilian buildings. The RSF, which has its roots in the feared militias that fought with the government in Darfur, is adept at ground fighting, while the army has depended largely on airstrikes and heavy artillery. More than five weeks of fighting in Khartoum have trapped millions in their homes or neighborhoods. Residents have reported worsening lawlessness and looting, as well as crippling power and water outages. Supplies of food have been running low in some areas, and most hospitals have ceased to operate. The agreement brokered in Jeddah is focused on allowing in aid and restoring essential services. Mediators say further talks would be needed to seek the removal of forces from urban areas to broker a permanent peace deal with civilian involvement. The war erupted in Khartoum amid plans for army chief Abdel Fattah Burhan and RSF commander Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, also known as Hemedti, to sign up to a new political transition toward elections under a civilian government. Burhan and Hemedti took the top positions on Sudan's ruling council after the overthrow of former leader Omar al-Bashir during a popular uprising in 2019, sharing power with civilian groups. In 2021, they staged a coup as a deadline approached to hand leadership of the transition to civilians. Since last month, fighting has also flared in the western region of Darfur, already scarred by two decades of conflict and unrest that continued despite a peace deal with some groups in 2020. At least 705 people have been killed across Sudan and at least 5,287 injured, according to the World Health Organization, though the true death toll is believed to be much higher. State-backed Chinese mouthpiece Global Times on Monday called the Group of Seven summit an "anti-China workshop," after Beijing summoned Japan's envoy and berated Britain in a fiery response to statements issued at the weekend G7 summit in Hiroshima. A joint communique issued on Saturday singled out China on issues from Taiwan and nuclear arms to economic coercion and human rights abuses, underscoring the wide-ranging tensions between Beijing and the group of rich countries that includes the United States. "The US is pushing hard to weave an anti-China net in the Western world," Global Times said in an editorial on Monday titled 'G7 has descended into an anti-China workshop.' "This is not just a matter of brutal interference in China's internal affairs and smearing China, but also an undisguised urge for confrontation between the camps," the editorial continued. Beijing's foreign ministry said it firmly opposed the G7 statement and late Sunday said it had summoned Japan's ambassador to China as part of a pointed protest to the summit host. Russia, a close ally of China that was also called out in the G7 statement over its invasion of Ukraine, said the summit was an "incubator" for anti-Russian and anti-Chinese hysteria. Separately, China's embassy in Britain on Sunday urged London to stop slandering China, after British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said Beijing represents the world's greatest challenge to security and prosperity. The communique issued by the G7, which also includes Canada, France, Germany and Italy, mentioned China 20 times, the most in recent years and up from 14 mentions in 2022. As well as taking issue with G7 comments on Taiwan, which China claims as its own and says is an internal issue, Beijing also accused the United States and its allies of double standards over comments about nuclear buildup and the use of economic leverage. Despite Beijing's reaction, U.S. President Joe Biden said he expected a thaw in frosty relations with China "very shortly." Some analysts, however, see no sign of any immediate easing of tensions, especially given Beijing's rapid rebuttal. "Beijings reaction especially the early timing of its release underlines that tensions in the region are already quite high and likely to increase further," Moritz Rudolf, research scholar and fellow at Yale University's Paul Tsai China Center. Japan backlash Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Sun Weidong summoned the Japanese ambassador to register protests over "hype around China-related issues," a ministry statement late on Sunday said. Japan's ambassador to China, Hideo Tarumi, said it was natural for the G7 to refer to issues of common concern as it has done in the past and will continue to do so in the future as long as China does not change its behavior, according to a readout. Wang Yiwei, an international relations professor at the Renmin University in Beijing, described China's overall reaction to the G7 communique as "restrained" but singled out Japan as particularly provocative. Wang referred to Japan's summit venue, Hiroshima, the city flattened by an atomic bomb at the end of World War II, and its push for a joint statement on nuclear disarmament that raised concern about China's nuclear arsenal. "The main thing that's happening here is Japan, using its position as the rotating chair, to create an anti-China movement," Wang said. Among the G7, Tokyo has also voiced some of the strongest concerns about China's muscular rhetoric around Taiwan, the democratic island that sits to the southwest of Japan. U.S. President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy met Monday at the White House to negotiate raising the governments borrowing limit. Negotiators for the two sides met for more than two hours Sunday, while Biden and McCarthy spoke by telephone in a call that each described positively. It went well, well talk tomorrow, Biden told reporters upon returning to Washington from the Group of Seven summit in Japan. SEE ALSO: A related video by VOAs Veronica Balderas Iglesias McCarthy said the phone call was productive. I think we can solve some of these problems if he understands what were looking at, McCarthy said. "But Ive been very clear to him from the very beginning. We have to spend less money than we spent last year. The government could come up short and be unable to meet its financial obligations as soon as June 1. Biden said earlier Sunday that House Republicans must move away from their extreme position on government spending and that there will be no agreement on only Republican terms. It's time for Republicans to accept that there is no bipartisan deal to be made solely, solely, on their partisan terms," Biden said at the end of the G-7 summit. Biden said he had done his part by offering ways to raise the countrys $31.4 trillion borrowing limit so the U.S. government can keep paying its bills, such as interest on government bonds, stipends to U.S. pensioners and payments to health care providers and salaries for government employees and contractors. Republicans in the House have called for sharp government spending cuts, rejecting the alternatives proposed by the White House, which has called for closing tax loopholes and more limited spending reductions. Previous presidents and congressional leaders have reached deals to raise the countrys debt limit 78 times in give-and-take negotiations in which neither side got everything on its wish list. This time, Republicans want increased work requirements for able-bodied poor people receiving government assistance, but Democrats say that under such a proposal several hundred thousand people could lose the benefits they now receive. Republicans also are seeking cuts in funding for the countrys tax-collection agency and asking the White House to accept provisions from their proposed immigration overhaul to stem the tide of migrants trying to enter the U.S. at the Mexican border. The White House has countered by keeping defense and nondefense spending flat during the next budget year starting October 1, which would save $90 billion in 2024 and $1 trillion over 10 years. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen told NBCs Meet the Press show that the date when the government runs out of cash to pay its current bills remains uncertain, but that an expected June 15 infusion of tax payments may not come soon enough to avert a default. There's always uncertainty about tax receipts and spending, Yellen said. And so, it's hard to be absolutely certain about this, but my assessment is that the odds of reaching June 15th, while being able to pay all of our bills, is quite low. She said decisions have not been made on which bills would go unpaid if the government defaults. I would say we're focused on raising the debt ceiling and there will be hard choices if that doesn't occur, Yellen said. There can be no acceptable outcomes if the debt ceiling isn't raised, regardless of what decisions we make. Some information for this story came from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters. As the International Day to End Obstetric Fistula approaches Tuesday, scores of women who have been treated for the medical condition are encouraging their peers in northern Cameroon to get help. Many sufferers of obstetric fistula characterized by urinary and fecal incontinence believe the disease is a curse for wrongdoing. Now former patients and aid groups are telling families fistula can be treated. The network of women who have been successfully operated on for obstetric fistula in Cameroon's northern region say they are educating communities that it is a disease that can be treated. Hospital workers say obstetric fistula is a hole between the birth canal and bladder or rectum, caused by prolonged, obstructed labor without access to timely, high-quality medical treatment. The disease leaves women and girls leaking urine, feces or both, and often leads to chronic medical problems, depression, social isolation and deepening poverty, medical staff members say. Catherine Debong, 31, is the spokesperson for Women in Maroua, a group of women who have been operated on for obstetric fistula. Maroua is a town in Cameroon's far north that shares a border with Chad and Nigeria. Debong said she is urging parents, husbands, clerics, community leaders and traditional rulers to educate others that obstetric fistula is not a curse or divine punishment for wrongdoing. She said she wants communities to encourage women who have gone into hiding due to the disease to seek treatment. Debong said a Roman Catholic priest took her to the hospital in 2012 after she had lived with fistula for six years. She is now committed to saving the lives of other women with fistula whom she said are dying without medical help. Cameroon's Ministry of Public Health says between 350 and 1,500 new cases of fistula are reported each year. Seventy-five percent of the cases are reported on Cameroon's northern region, where more than 80% of civilians seek help from African traditional healers and seldom visit hospitals. Cameroon reports that 60% of patients seeking help in hospitals have lived with obstetric fistula for more than 5 years. Eighty percent of patients have no formal education and 90% were teenagers when they had their first baby. Many sufferers are accused of witchcraft and abandoned by their relatives. The Cameron government is trying to end the stigma and discrimination attached to the condition through education programs. Boyo Maurine is with the Cameroon Baptist Convention Health Services program, a nonprofit group that works with the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). The group educates communities about obstetric fistula and encourages women to seek treatment. "Generally, the individuals perceive that people will not want to associate with them because of the odor that comes from them and from the embarrassment that will come from constantly being wet without any form of control," Boyo said. "They already feel that they do not belong to society, and this leaves them sometimes with some negative emotions like sadness, depression, anger and aggression, which is as a result of this condition." In 2020, the U.N. launched a global commitment to fistula prevention and treatment, including surgical repair and social reintegration. The campaign hopes to end fistula by 2030, while transforming the lives of thousands of women and girls. The International Day to End Obstetric Fistula draws attention to the condition, which affects tens of thousands of women globally. A move by Beijing to bar U.S. firm Micron Technology from selling memory chips to key domestic industries has ramped up tensions in an ongoing trade spat with Washington and lifted shares of firms that could benefit from the move. China's cyberspace regulator said late on Sunday that Micron, the biggest U.S. memory chipmaker, had failed its network security review and that it would block operators of key infrastructure from buying from the company. It did not provide details on what risks it had found or what products from the company would be affected. The move was opposed by Washington but also helped stocks of Micron's rivals in China and South Korea, which are seen benefiting as mainland firms seek memory products from other sources. "We firmly oppose restrictions that have no basis in fact," a spokesperson from the U.S. Commerce Department said in a statement on Sunday. "This action, along with recent raids and targeting of other American firms, is inconsistent with (China's) assertions that it is opening its markets and committed to a transparent regulatory framework." Tensions between Washington and Beijing have grown in recent months following raids and visits Chinese authorities made to U.S. corporate due diligence firm Mintz Group and management consultancy Bain. Micron said on Sunday it had received the regulator's review and looked "forward to continuing to engage in discussions with Chinese authorities." The company is the first U.S. chipmaker to be targeted by Beijing after a series of export controls by Washington on certain American components and chipmaking tools to block them from being used to advance China's military capabilities. China launched the review in late March amid a dispute over chip technology and worsening relations between Washington and Beijing. The move also comes shortly after Group of Seven nations agreed to "de-risk, not decouple" economic engagement with China and as U.S. President Joe Biden called for an "open hotline" between Washington and Beijing. The U.S. Commerce Department said it would speak directly with authorities in Beijing to clarify their actions. "We also will engage with key allies and partners to ensure we are closely coordinated to address distortions of the memory chip market caused by China's actions," the department said. China's announcement on its Micron review helped boost shares in some local chipmaking-related firms on Monday, as state media reported that domestic players could benefit from the move. Shares in companies including Gigadevice Semiconductors, Ingenic Semiconductor, and Shenzhen Kaifa technology opened up between 3% and 8%. Micron's major rivals also saw their shares gain, with South Korea's Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix rising 0.7% and 2%, respectively, versus a 0.9% rise in the broader market. Beijing has broadly defined industries it considers critical as ones such as public communication and transport but has not specified just what type of business these apply to. China, the world's biggest semiconductor buyer, has gradually reduced its reliance on foreign-made chips in a multi-year campaign to boost its self-sufficiency. The United Nations top envoy in Sudan on Monday welcomed a U.S.-Saudi brokered cease-fire even as he warned that the Sudan conflict shows no sign of slowing down. This is a welcome development, though the fighting and troop movements have continued even today, despite the commitment of both sides not to pursue military advantage before the cease-fire takes effect, Volker Perthes told a meeting of the U.N. Security Council. Perthes traveled to New York from Port Sudan. The United Nations has temporarily moved some of its staff and operations to that Red Sea city after intense fighting erupted in the capital, Khartoum, on April 15. The cease-fire, signed by the rival Sudan Armed Forces of General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and the Rapid Security Forces led by General Mohamed Dagalo, went into effect at 9:45 p.m. local time on Monday and is set to last for an initial period of seven days, which the parties can renew. While fighting has continued during previous cease-fires, this one was agreed upon during formal negotiations in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, and will include a monitoring mechanism made up of three representatives each from the Saudis, Americans and the two Sudanese forces. I call on both [sides] to end the fighting and to return to dialogue in the interest of Sudan and its people, Perthes said. Lives and infrastructure have been destroyed. The growing ethnicization of the conflict risks to expand and prolong it, with implications for the region. Perthes said five weeks of fighting has killed more than 700 people, including 190 children. Another 6,000 people have been injured. Over a million people are internally displaced, and 250,000 have fled the country. In addition to airstrikes and fighting in the capital, West Darfur has seen a resumption of large-scale intercommunal violence. Perthes said there are signs of tribal mobilization in the South Kordofan and Blue Nile regions, as well. He stressed that the temporary truce is not the ultimate goal but an instrument to go forward toward talks about a permanent cessation of hostilities and a new Sudanese-owned-and-led political process. I think that both parties over the last five weeks have learned that they will not achieve an easy military victory, Perthes told reporters. That even if they were to achieve a victory over the other side after a long struggle, that could be at the expense of losing the country, and that there is no alternative if they want to preserve their country than ceasing the fire and going back to some form of political process. Regional efforts The African Union commissioner for Political Affairs, Peace and Security briefed Monday's meeting by video link. He said the regional group is working relentlessly to bring an end to the conflict. Our conviction is that only a well-coordinated, collective action will give chance to the success of international action of peace and stability in Sudan, said Bankole Adeoye. Separate, competing or rival actions will further complicate and undermine the search for a peaceful resolution of the crisis. He said the AU has developed a comprehensive de-escalation plan for resolving the conflict focusing on an immediate, unconditional, permanent cease-fire; humanitarian action; accountability for actions taken by the warring parties; support to neighboring countries impacted by the crisis; and the resumption of an inclusive political process aimed at the return to a democratic civilian-led government. Adeoye said African leaders will meet later this week at the AU Peace and Security Council to endorse the de-escalation plan. The executive secretary of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), the East African regional bloc, also briefed the Security Council by video. Workneh Gebeyehu said the chance of success is higher if efforts are coordinated. We all have one purpose and goal in Sudan: to silence the guns and resume the inclusive Sudanese-led, Sudanese-owned political process that will pave way towards the formation of a civilian-led transitional government, he said. Security Council members echoed support for the new cease-fire and a return to a civilian-led democratic transition. Members also called on the SAF and RSF to immediately stop fighting, protect civilians and allow safe access for humanitarians. The United Nations estimates that 15 million people needed assistance before the fighting erupted, and that has risen to 18 million. Last week, the organization appealed for $2.6 billion to help cope with growing needs. The UN World Food Programme (WFP) joins up with an emergency cash assistance programme to provide support for people fleeing the conflict in Sudan and arriving into Egypt. In a press release, the WFP in Egypt explained how the launched cash delivery platform would also be made available to other UN agencies to help them assist people arriving in Egypt from Sudan. The food agency has conducted a rapid assessment to identify the most vulnerable arrivals that need assistance. This cash assistance will allow them to access basic food and other essential needs. The WFP is already supporting over 100,000 refugees in Egypt through its existing cash delivery platform. The agency will now provide additional support to the most vulnerable families who have arrived in Egypt with nothing or have run out of money after a long and perilous journey. The cash assistance platform was launched 15 May and will be provided in addition to the emergency ready-to-eat food packages that new arrivals receive upon entering Egypt. At the onset of the crisis, the WFP dispatched more than 20 metric tons of fortified emergency food assistance. The Egyptian Red Crescent (ERC), at the two entry points of Arqeen and Qustol on the Egyptian-Sudanese borders, later distributed additional packages of food. The WFP is coordinating with the government of Egypt and the ERC to provide assistance and has so far dispatched food assistance for nearly 90,000 Sudanese people. According to Egypts Ministry of Foreign Affairs, about 88,000 people, including 83,000 Sudanese and 5,000 Egyptians and third-country nationals have crossed through the Sudan-Egypt border as of 11 May. The WFP also stated that Egypt was already hosting over 60,000 Sudanese refugees prior to the onset of the conflict and that the programme has been a long-term supporter of the most vulnerable, providing monthly cash assistance to more than 10,000 people to help them secure their basic food needs. Refugees receive monthly cash assistance through e-cards redeemable at over 140,000 points of sale nationwide. Search Keywords: Short link: One week after deadly Cyclone Mocha, Rohingya survivors are desperate for help. Residents at a camp for Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) told VOA that the storm made hundreds of Rohingya refugees disappear. The Category 4 cyclone destroyed bridges, power lines and huts in refugee camps and towns in Rakhine state, home to over 600,000 Rohingya Muslims, of whom nearly 150,000 are currently living in camps outside of the states capital, Sittwe. "Every camp and village has been devastated, Aung Zaw Hein, a resident of Thet Kay Pyin camp, recently told VOA by phone, "there is nowhere to live and no food to eat." He himself has assisted IDPs, but said, "some injured people are not receiving medical care. The government hospital in Thet Kay Pyin has been damaged, and no clinicians are available. "We discovered more than 100 dead bodies as of May 16 while compiling death registers," Aung Zaw Hein said. "It is impossible to know for certain how many people have died and been abandoned in our area. There are likely hundreds more as we saw bodies from coastal villages floating in the floodwaters during the storm, he added. There were at least 13 IDP camps in low-lying areas near the capital, with most of the residents of the camps consisting of Muslim Rohingya displaced after clashes with Rakhine Buddhists in 2012. On Friday, state-run MRTV said that, in addition to the 117 Rohingya, four soldiers and 24 locals in Rakhine had also died. The deaths were blamed on people who didn't leave their homes even though the authorities had told them to before the storm hit. VOA cannot independently verify the death toll. Language barriers and travel restrictions may have also contributed to the problem, Aung Zaw Hein said. The majority of Rohingya IDPs do not speak Rakhine or Burmese, when we were given advance warning [it was] in those languages. We were not given sufficient assistance to escape our compounds, he told VOA. It is difficult for us to flee the storm and save our lives, because we lack citizenship status. Even before the coup, without official permission, the Rohingya cannot move freely without fear of arrest. Local independent community organizations in Sittwe told VOA that the response efforts in cyclone-affected communities are failing and that they require extensive humanitarian aid. "We are understaffed and under-resourced," Wai Han Aung, a Rakhine humanitarian worker from Sittwe, told VOA by phone. No longer is assistance possible anywhere. We would like to request that INGOs and NGOs immediately intervene. UN waiting for formal approval During a regular news briefing on Friday, U.N. spokesperson Stephanie Tremblay responded to VOA regarding the U.N.'s access to cyclone-affected areas in Rakhine. "We have requested unrestricted access for coordinated field missions to distribute aid based on observed needs, and we are still awaiting formal approvals, Tremblay said. She added that the U.N. assessment of the needs of the cyclone-affected region is "ongoing and will have more clarity in the coming days. According to a Myanmar junta statement on May 15, Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing said, Relief teams must be dispatched to the storm-affected areas to carry out rescue and relief operations, as well as rehabilitation. State media also depicted Min Aung Hlaing touring cyclone-devastated areas of the Sittwe township. On Friday, the United Kingdom hosted a closed Arria formula meeting of the U.N. Security Council on the situation in Myanmar. According to the statement released by the U.K., the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) member states, ASEAN dialogue partners and countries bordering Myanmar were also invited to participate. Before the informal meeting, the U.K. mission to the United Nations announced new funding of $2.5 million for the initial emergency response to support communities impacted by Cyclone Mocha in northwest Myanmar. In their statement, they also called on other U.N. member states to assist those affected by the cyclone. In a statement, British U.N. Ambassador Barbara Woodward said, The U.N. Humanitarian Response Plan for Myanmar is 90% unfunded. We call on member states to step up and support the Myanmar people and we call for full, safe, timely, and unhindered humanitarian access so aid can get to those in need. During the meeting, Ambassador Kyaw Moe Tun, Myanmar's opposition envoy to the United Nations, warned the international community that aid must be thoroughly monitored to ensure that it reaches those in need. They (the junta) have put undue restrictions on humanitarian access, Kyaw Moe Tun said. These access restrictions, intimidation of aid organizations and weaponization of aid delivery for legitimacy purposes have made humanitarian aid operations significantly challenging and undermine humanitarian principles. Many residents affected by the storm live in coup-resistant areas farther inland. The storm brought torrential rainfall and gale-force winds to Sagaing, Magway, Chin, Kachin and northern Shan. Two female representatives from human rights groups in Myanmar, who also attended the U.N. meeting, accused the military of blocking humanitarian aid to these armed opposition areas, which is not without precedent. After one of Asia's deadliest cyclones, Nargis, killed 140,000 people in Myanmar's Irrawaddy Delta in 2008, similar accusations were made that were later shown to be true. The storm has brought more devastation to a country and region already facing many challenges, while bringing into focus the need for humanitarian aid. "This is the most difficult time of our lives," humanitarian worker Wai Han Aung said. There are many problems, such as natural disasters, armed conflict, intercommunal conflict and regions where international communities struggle to carry out their duties effectively. We are experiencing extreme suffering." The European Union on Monday imposed an asset freeze on the investment arm of Iran's Revolutionary Guard, over Tehran's brutal crackdown on protests over the death of Mahsa Amini. The latest round of sanctions the eighth imposed by the EU over the repression came after Iran hanged three more men convicted in relation to the demonstrations. The 27-nation bloc added the IRGC Cooperative Foundation, which handles the Guards' investments, to an EU asset freeze and visa ban blacklist for "funneling money into the regime's brutal repression." The economic conglomerate, accused of serving as a slush fund for the paramilitary armed wing of Tehran's Islamic revolution, was sanctioned by the United States in January. The EU also blacklisted the Student Basij Organization, which it said acts as enforcers for the Revolutionary Guards on university campuses. Five regime figures, including three senior police commanders, a top cyber official and a regional prosecutor were also added to the list. The Iranian authorities brutally cracked down on protests that sprang up after the death in custody on September 16 of Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian Kurd who was arrested in Tehran for allegedly breaching the Islamic republic's strict dress rules for women. The latest three men to be hanged were convicted on charges of killing security force members at a demonstration in the city of Isfahan in November. Their executions on Friday brought to seven the number of Iranians executed in connection with the protests. Brussels' latest blacklistings bring to about 160 the number of individuals, companies and agencies targeted by EU asset freezes and travel bans over the crackdown. Some EU capitals have pushed to list the Revolutionary Guards as a terrorist group. European officials say it is proving complicated to demonstrate the legal basis for such a blanket designation. A group of Chinese citizens living and working in the southern U.S. state of Florida sued the state Monday over a new law that bans Chinese nationals from purchasing property in large swaths of the state. The law applies to properties within 16 kilometers of military installations and other critical infrastructure and also affects citizens of Cuba, Venezuela, Syria, Iran, Russia, and North Korea. But Chinese citizens and those selling property to them face the harshest penalties. The prohibition also applies to agricultural land. The American Civil Liberties Union says the law will have a substantial chilling effect on sales to Chinese and Asian people who can legally buy property. The suit says the law unfairly equates Chinese people with the actions of their government and says there is no evidence of national security risks from Chinese citizens buying Florida property. The law will codify and expand housing discrimination against people of Asian descent in violation of the Constitution and the Fair Housing Act, the ACLU said in a news release announcing the suit. It will also cast an undue burden of suspicion on anyone seeking to buy property whose name sounds remotely Asian, Russian, Iranian, Cuban, Venezuelan, or Syrian. U.S.-China ties are strained amid growing tensions over security and trade. In nearly a dozen statehouses and Congress, a decades-old worry about foreign land ownership has spiked since a Chinese spy balloon traversed the skies from Alaska to South Carolina last month. Floridas Republican Governor Ron DeSantis, who is expected to launch a presidential campaign this week, signed the bill May 8. His office didn't immediately respond to an email seeking comment. The law is set to take affect July 1. Under the new regulation, it will be a felony for Chinese people to buy property in restricted areas or for any person or real estate company to knowingly sell to restricted people. For the other targeted nationals, the penalty is a misdemeanor for buyers and sellers. It applies to land near military instillations as well as land near infrastructure like airports and seaports, water and wastewater treatment plants, natural gas and oil processing facilities, power plants, spaceports, and telecommunications central switching offices. The ACLU says the law will have the net effect of creating Chinese exclusion zones that will cover immense portions of Florida, including many of the states most densely populated and developed areas. This impact is exactly what laws like the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 and the California Alien Land Law of 1913 did more than a hundred years ago, the lawsuit says. Those on the restricted list that already own property near critical infrastructure must register with the state or face fines of up to $1,000 a day. They're also prohibited from acquiring additional property. The law has provisions to allow the state to seize property from violators. The number of states restricting foreign ownership of agricultural land has risen by 50% this year. Heading into 2023, 14 states had laws restricting foreign ownership or investments in private agricultural land. So far this year, restrictive laws also have been enacted in Arkansas, Idaho, Montana, Tennessee, Utah and Virginia. Foreign land ownership has become a political flashpoint, said Micah Brown, a staff attorney for the National Agricultural Law Center at the University of Arkansas. Brown said the recent surge in state laws targeting land ownership by foreign entities stems from some highly publicized cases of Chinese-connected companies purchasing land near military bases. Earlier this year, the U.S. Air Force said that the Fufeng Groups planned $700 million wet corn milling plant near a base in Grand Forks, North Dakota, poses a significant threat to national security. After a Chinese army veteran and real estate tycoon bought a wind farm near an Air Force base in Texas, that state responded in 2021 by banning infrastructure deals with individuals tied to hostile governments, including China. When Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki arrived in China for a four-day state visit, he was greeted with fanfare that included a red carpet, a guard of honor military procession and a 21-gun salute. Analysts say Eritrea and China need each other and are working to strengthen already-existing ties. During a speech in Beijing's Great Hall, Chinese President Xi Jinping said China and Eritrea "share a deep bond of friendship (in) an uncertain and unstable world." "A strong China-Eritrea relationship is not only in line with the common and long-term interests of both countries, but also for maintaining regional peace," Xi said. The two presidents discussed partnering on development related to infrastructure, telecommunications, agriculture, mining and fisheries, according to China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs. China pledged to send medical teams and senior agricultural experts to Eritrea. In April, when the conflict in neighboring Sudan erupted, 35 Chinese nationals were evacuated from Sudan to Eritrea's capital city, Asmara. Xi thanked Eritrea for that effort during Isaias' visit, saying it "demonstrated the profound friendship between the two countries and [a willingness in] helping each other in difficulties," China's foreign ministry said in a statement. Isaias' ties to China date back to 1967, when he received military training there which he used in Eritrea's 30-year fight for independence. As an independent nation, Eritrea has been a dependable ally to China on the international stage. "[Isaias] has wished to cultivate a close relationship with China. This has included voting in support of China in international forums for example, in June 2020, Eritrea was one of 53 countries who backed the Hong Kong national security law at the United Nations," said Alex Vines, head of the Africa program at the London-based think tank Chatham House. Eritrea also signed an agreement with China in 2021 to be part of its Belt and Road Initiative which envisions a global network of ports, railways and other infrastructure to transport goods. Vines said China has reduced its investment in Africa since the COVID-19 pandemic but continues to view the Horn of Africa as strategically important as a trade corridor and entry-point to the continent. Eritrea's status as one of the most diplomatically isolated countries in the world has not deterred China from maintaining the relationship. "I think what President [Isaias] Afwerki is looking for is a deepening partnership, friendship with the country that he feels he can get more investment because the Eritrean economy is in trouble," Vines said. China broke ground on a copper, zinc and ore mine in Eritrea last year that it says will be a joint project. It has financed other projects including a 500-kilometer (311-mile) road between Eritrea's Massawa and Assab ports. Awet Weldemichael, a professor of history and global development studies at Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario, Canada, said much of the nature of the economic relationship between the two countries is unknown. "China has already been the single largest lender to the country, but as in all other cases, the terms of the borrowings are unknown and we don't know when or if at all Eritrea will get to a point of defaulting as have others like Zambia," Awet said. Others say, with this trip, China is seeking to win support at the U.N. "China is shopping for support in Africa now," said Dan Connell, an author who has written about the region since the war for independence. "And given that Eritrea's votes are basically up for sale, I think that Isaias went there to make a deal. His support for China, in the general assembly, in exchange for China's support for Eritrea and the Chinese have already indicated they're giving it." Abraham Zere with VOA's Horn of Africa's Tigrigna Service contributed to this report. Some 60 delegates representing most G-20 nations arrived in Indian-administered Kashmir on Monday for a tourism meeting that drew criticism from China and Pakistan before it began. India has deployed high security for the meeting, with National Security Guards, marine commandos and Border Security Force personnel joining dedicated police units to provide security for the third G-20 Tourism Working Group Meeting in the scenic landscapes of Srinagar, Kashmir. Delegates are expected to discuss ecotourism, destination management and tourism promotion strategies. The gathering is the first international event held in Kashmir since India ended the regions semi-autonomy in 2019. Neighboring Pakistan and China, which each have border disputes with India, both objected to the meeting last week, saying such meetings cannot be held in disputed areas. The United Nations Special Rapporteur on Minority Issues, Fernand de Varennes, last week also criticized the meeting, saying that by hosting the session in Kashmir, India is seeking to normalize what some have described as a military occupation. In India, even commentators who are sympathetic to the governments campaign to hold the meeting in Kashmir say the security situation in the region undercuts the governments message of stability. Pravin Sawhney, a former Indian army officer and widely published defense analyst, asserts the G-20 meeting is the governments way of conveying to the world that Kashmir is part of India and that the situation there is normal. The message to the domestic audience is that the government has the will and ability to meet the twin challenges of Pakistan and China, Sawhney said. However, the ground reality is not what the government says. The amount of security deployed in the Kashmir valley conveys that [the] government is nervous about the security situation, said Sawhney. Sheikh Showkat Hussain, a Kashmiri political analyst, said the importance of the meeting in Kashmir is being exaggerated by the government of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Hussain said that while the government is presenting the conference as an achievement to the Indian masses, such events have taken place in the region before and are not as significant as is being claimed. Hussain said the presence of foreign tourists in Kashmir does not depend on such conferences but rather on the peace and security of the region. He expressed skepticism about the notion that tourism will receive a boost solely from this event and instead argued that tourism will flourish when people perceive Kashmir as a secure destination. People in Kashmir will see benefits While welcoming the G-20 group, Ahsan Pardesi, National Conference provincial vice president, Kashmir, told VOA that he hopes the people of Jammu and Kashmir will get to see benefits from the event. As far as showcasing Kashmir on an international level is considered, its been done in the past as well when the Zubin Mehta concert was done. Definitely, G-20 is a much bigger and more significant event, but what we see beyond the tourism summit is a diplomatic victory the current dispensation is trying to convey, he said. Others in Kashmir say they hope the meeting signals a resumption of more tourism to the region after some European countries gave it a negative travel advisory in recent decades. For the last many years, Kashmir has witnessed several tourists and travelers, mostly from the countries which have issued negative travel advisory like Spain, Germany, Austria, etc. It is the right time to let people legally and freely walk in Kashmir, Mohsin Dar, in-charge Bar and Bench in Jammu and Kashmir, told VOA. India assumed the year-long presidency of the G-20 on December 1, 2022, and is hosting the G-20 summit for the first time. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is joining Pacific leaders at a summit in Papua New Guinea Monday as New Delhi seeks to counter China's influence in the region. Papua New Guinea is hosting the third Forum for India-Pacific Islands Cooperation as the United States is seeking to increase Washingtons presence in the Indo-Pacific. It brings together leaders from India, 14 Pacific Island nations as well as Australia and New Zealand. Energy supplies, climate change and regional security are expected to be on the agenda. Analysts have said the summit is a sign that strategic competition in the region is not just about China and the United States. India wants to foster new trade and political ties, and to give island leaders an alternative to the major powers in Beijing and Washington. Paul Barker, executive director of the Institute of National Affairs, an independent think-tank in Papua New Guinea, told the Australian Broadcasting Corps AM program that Modis visit was designed to enhance his countrys diplomatic influence in the Pacific. India as an alternative international power source, economic source but also a leader in the movement on non-aligned nations over many, many years, Barker said, It wants to, sort of, be able to affiliate with many of the voices across the Pacific. Barker also said the United States was increasing its strategic interest in the region in response to Chinas regional ambitions. Last year, Beijing signed a defense agreement with Solomon Islands, a near-neighbor to Papua New Guinea. U.S. President Joe Biden canceled a visit to Port Moresby because of debt ceiling negotiations back home. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken will attend in his absence and is expected to sign a defense cooperation agreement with the government in Port Moresby. The accord could allow for a significant U.S. military presence in Papua New Guinea. A second bilateral pact is expected to allow the U.S. to help the Pacific nation combat illegal fishing and transnational crime. University students in Papua New Guinea have demonstrated against the signing of the defense accord with Washington, calling for more transparency from Papua New Guinea Prime Minister James Marape. He told reporters Monday that his country had nothing to fear from the agreement, adding that as we go forward over the next 15 years, we will see U.S. soldiers in our country. World leaders of the Group of Seven wrap up a three-day summit with a renewed commitment of support for Ukraine. President Biden will meet with the top Republican House leader Monday to discuss a possible debt ceiling compromise. Climate scientists say things are heading in the wrong direction. Three Palestinians were killed in an Israeli army raid in a West Bank refugee camp early Monday, Palestinian health officials said, while the Biden administration sharply condemned Israel's latest act of settlement expansion. The Palestinian Health Ministry said the three men were killed during a raid in Balata, a refugee camp near the city of Nablus. Six people were wounded, including one who was in critical condition, the ministry said. The army later confirmed soldiers had raided Balata; it said troops came under fire and killed three Palestinians. Three others were arrested there, the army said. Israel has stepped up raids over the past year in response to a spate of Palestinian attacks and said Monday's operations netted weapons and an explosives manufacturing operation in a home, which it detonated. Meanwhile, the Biden administration issued a sharply worded statement on Sunday criticizing Israel for moving to reestablish settlers at the formerly evacuated outpost of Homesh in northern West Bank. In March, the Israeli government repealed a 2005 act that dismantled four West Bank settlements. Over the weekend, the top Israeli army general in the West Bank signed an order attaching Homesh to a local settler regional council a move paving the way for reconstruction of the outpost. The United States was "deeply troubled" by what U.S. State Department spokesman Mathew Miller said was Israel's illegal policy on the outpost in the occupied territory. Most of the international community considers Israeli settlements, home to 700,000 people in the West Bank and east Jerusalem, to be illegal and obstacles to peace. Miller also expressed Washington's concerns about ultranationalist National Security Minister Itmar Ben-Gvir's visit to the Temple Mount, the holiest site in Judaism. The contested site is also home to the Al-Aqsa Mosque, the third-holiest site in Islam. "This holy space should not be used for political purposes, and we call on all parties to respect its sanctity," Miller said in the statement. Under longstanding arrangements, Jews are permitted to visit the site, but not to pray there. But in recent years, a growing number of Jewish visitors have begun to quietly pray, raising fears among Palestinians that Israel is plotting to divide or take over the site. Ben-Gvir has long called for increased Jewish access. In a separate overnight raid in the northern town of Jenin, the army said two Palestinians were shot and three were arrested when the Israeli forces came under attack. Israeli forces also raided five other locations overnight and two refugee camps Ayola and Aqabat. More than 250 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire since the spring of 2022. About 50 people have been killed in Palestinian attacks against Israelis. While the world watched Kabul fall and the Taliban surge back to power in 2021 following the withdrawal of U.S. troops, actor Jennifer Lawrence and producer Justine Ciarrocchi were asking themselves what they could do to support women's rights. "Jen's first response was to find an Afghan filmmaker and give them a platform," Ciarrocchi told The Hollywood Reporter. They eventually found director Sahra Mani, whose 2019 documentary "A Thousand Girls Like Me" looked at a sexually abused woman's quest for justice. On Sunday, "Bread and Roses," Mani's documentary about the daily lives of three women after the Taliban's resurgence, premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in a special screening. "This film has a message from women in Afghanistan, a soft message; please be their voice who are voiceless under Taliban dictatorship," said Mani at the premiere. The director said in an interview on the Cannes website that she wanted to show the reality of how drastically life has changed under the Taliban for women, even if filming was difficult. "Now that women can no longer leave the house without the veil, I thought we should tell their stories," she said. The safety of the camera crews and the people filmed was of top priority, said Mani, who currently lives in France. "The way in which their lives have changed under the Taliban is an everyday reality for us, it's life under a dictatorship, a cruel reality we cannot ignore." New developments: Barrage of Russian missiles and drones launched against Dnipropetrovsk. Russia knocks out a high-tension line supplying external power to the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, Ukraine says. Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy left the G-7 meeting in Japan with reassurances that Kyivs allies will see out the fight. Ukrainian officials said Monday that Russian forces used missiles and drones to carry out overnight attacks on the Dnipropetrovsk region, leaving buildings damaged and at least eight people injured. Governor Serhiy Lysak, in a post on Telegram, said the damage included residential buildings and vehicles. Ukraines air force, also on the Telegram messaging app, posted that the Russian attack involved 16 missiles and 20 Shahed drones, and that Ukrainian air defenses shot down four cruise missiles and 20 drones. Russia has intensified its aerial assault on Ukraine in recent weeks as Ukraine plans a counteroffensive aimed at reclaiming territory from Russian forces. Nuclear plant The Ukrainian state nuclear power operator said Monday that Russian shelling knocked out a high-tension line supplying external power to the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant. Energoatom said on Telegram that the plant was forced to run on diesel backup generators for several hours before power was restored. Energoatom said Mondays cut was the seventh since Russian forces seized control of the plant in the early stages of the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine. The plant is Europes largest nuclear power plant, and the International Atomic Energy Agency has repeatedly expressed concern about safety and security dangers there amid the ongoing conflict. IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi tweeted Monday that the nuclear safety situation was extremely vulnerable. We must agree to protect plant now; this situation cannot continue, Grossi said. Bakhmut fight Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Sunday at the close of the G-7 Summit in Hiroshima, Japan, that the obliteration of the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut by Russian forces harkens back to the Hiroshima bombing at the end of WWII. Hiroshima is a rebuilt city now. And we dream of rebuilding all of our cities that are now in ruins, and every village where not a single house is left intact after Russian strikes, Zelenskyy said. The Ukrainian leader delivered the warning that if the world does not unite against Russia, it will only be a matter of time before other criminals in public office want to start similar wars, adding, I am here in Hiroshima so that the world can hear the Ukrainian call for unification from here. Zelenskyy contested Russias claims Sunday that it had occupied Bakhmut. On Saturday, Russia said it had seized the beleaguered city after a nine-month battle there. Russian President Vladimir Putin congratulated Russian troops and Wagner forces for their victory. Meanwhile, the commander of Ukraines ground forces, Oleksandr Syrskyi, said Sunday he had visited front-line positions near Bakhmut and thanked the Ukrainian troops defending the area. Syrskyi said in a post on Telegram that Kyiv's forces still controlled a part of Bakhmut, albeit an insignificant area. He noted, however, that their foothold would be enough to advance into the devastated city once the tide turned. He said Kyiv's forces controlling the suburbs were forming a tactical encirclement around Russian troops in the city. G-7 support for Ukraine At a G-7 news conference Sunday in Hiroshima, U.S. President Joe Biden said that Western allies will not waver in their support for Ukraine. Biden said the major powers would remain united behind Ukraine against Russian aggression. He also announced Sunday a new $375 million package of military aid to Ukraine. Meeting with the Ukrainian leader on the sidelines of the G-7 summit, Biden said the military aid package included ammunition, artillery, armored vehicles and training. Together with the entire G-7, we have Ukraines back and I promise we're not going anywhere, Biden told Zelenskyy. Biden affirmed U.S. support for a joint effort with allied and partner nations to train Ukrainian pilots on fourth-generation fighter aircraft such as the F-16. Biden told reporters that he had received a flat assurance from Zelenskyy that Ukraine would not use Western-provided F-16 fighter jets to go into Russian territory and that such warplanes would be used wherever Russian troops are within Ukraine and the area. But Ukraine has not yet won commitments to receive F-16 jets from allies. Responding to a question by VOAs Russian service at the G-7 Summit, Zelenskyy said that discussions on the delivery of F-16 have come a step further," starting with the training of Ukrainian pilots on the aircraft, which he affirmed that Ukraine plans to complete as soon as possible. We will be working for these people to be as educated as possible, as trained and experienced as possible with huge experience to decrease this process of training to make it short, he told VOA. I cannot tell you how many aircraft we'll be able to get. I cannot tell you definitely when it will take place, but we will speed it up because it's important for us every day. We're losing our people. Some information for this story came from The Associated Press, Reuters and Agence France-Presse. Sudan's war has left farmers of gum arabic, a vital ingredient for global industry including fizzy drinks, bereft of local buyers but a trade group assures global stocks are -- for now -- sufficient. The golden blobs of resin tapped from thorny acacia trees are an emulsifying agent used in everything from soft drinks to chewing gum and pharmaceuticals. Sudan is the world's largest producer of the raw gum which is a major source of foreign currency for the northeast African nation. The sector has survived repeated conflicts, a warming climate and decades of sanctions. But now, since war between two generals began on April 15, "producers are grappling with disaster," Adam Issa Mohammed, a gum arabic trader, told AFP in El Obeid, the North Kordofan state capital 350 kilometres (220 miles) southwest of Khartoum. The city is one of the main local markets for Sudanese gum arabic growers. Other farming sectors are also coping with a wartime lack of buyers as fuel shortages hinder transport to market, and prices soar. However, given its importance to Sudan's economy, and the five million Sudanese which the industry supported, the war's impact on gum arabic is particularly significant. No one is buying Battles between army chief General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and his deputy-turned-rival General Mohamed Hamdan Daglo have killed around 1,000 people, uprooted more than a million from their homes, and further devastated an already-crippled economy. The bulk of the conflict has been in the capital Khartoum, parts of which have been reduced to smouldering rubble, as well as the western region of Darfur. Witnesses have also reported fighting in El Obeid. Further east, closer to the Ethiopian border, the Gedaref area and its acacia trees have been spared the fighting but gum arabic farmers are still affected. "We have large quantities we need to sell, but no one is buying because exporters and distributors can't find any transport companies willing to risk their trucks," according to the trader, Adam Issa Mohammed. A gum arabic producer, Ahmed Mohammed Hussein, said the absence of buyers has led to a price collapse of around 60 percent. "The price of a tonne has gone down from 320,000 Sudanese pounds to 119,000 ($627 to $233)," Hussein told AFP. The risk is clear: everything including customs and cargo processing has to go through the war zone of Khartoum. Truckers who venture onto the road not only risk their lives but spend much of their time scrambling for petrol. Even if they find it, the price per litre is now 20 times what it was before the war. At the ports, however, it is business as usual, according to Sudan's port authority, which told AFP "imports and exports are operating normally." But Othman Abdelsalam, an employee of a shipping company in Sudan who has viewed the data, said numbers are down. He told AFP "exports from Darfur and Kordofan via Khartoum -- particularly gum arabic -- have suffered a strong impact" since the war started. Sudan's gum arabic belt extends from Gedaref, through Kordofan, across the country to Darfur in the west. According to the Hamburg-based Association for International Promotion of Gums, which brings together importers, processors and producers, there is no current supply threat to industry users of gum arabic. "Member companies keep sufficient stocks of gum arabic imported from Sudan and other countries in their warehouses, so that possible interruptions in supply... can be absorbed," it said in a statement. The group added that Chad and Nigeria are among alternate producers, so "immediate supply bottlenecks are not to be expected because of the current events in Sudan." Industry players within Sudan or elsewhere could not, however, say how long global stocks can last. Global importance Sudanese exports accounted for 70 percent of global raw gum supplies, according to pre-war data from AFD, the French agency for development. Gum arabic exports from Sudan totalled 88,000 tonnes in 2021, earning $110 million, according to central bank figures, the latest official data available. Mostafa al-Sayyed Khalil, who heads the Gum Arabic Council of Sudan, said his figures show export of 60,000 tonnes in 2022, which he considers an underestimate. Khalil was not able to project the war's impact. Even before the conflict, low prices in local markets pushed many farmers to cut down their trees for building materials or firewood. Others left their lands entirely to work in nearby gold mines. Aly Verjee, a researcher at Sweden's University of Gothenburg, said fighting across Sudan has affected other sectors, leading to the country's "partial deindustrialisation" and a much poorer future. That leaves gum arabic increasingly crucial. "If we lose the gum Arabic belt, we'll drown," Khalil warned. Search Keywords: Short link: New developments: The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency characterized the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant as "extremely vulnerable" after Europe's largest nuclear power station in occupied Ukraine lost external power temporarily and had to switch to its emergency diesel generators. Shelling around the plant must stop, he said, to avert a potential nuclear disaster. Northern European defense ministers strongly supported F-16 training for Ukrainian pilots in Poland, but Washington says F-16s will not be "a dramatic game changer" for Ukraine's defense against Russia and it will take "several months at best" deciding on their delivery. Russia claimed Monday that the cross-border operation against its Belgorod region by saboteurs came from Ukraine, the latest in a series of attacks, it said. A senior aide to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Kyiv had nothing to do with the incursion, pointing instead to Russia's emerging "violent resistance movement." Two Ukrainian war veteran amputees covered a total of 120 kilometers (75 miles) walking toward each other to raise funds for medical equipment for Ukraine's main military hospital. "This is how we can help our brothers and sisters in arms, and in some way our country. Because our country is really fighting right now. We are all fighting in the ways we can." The NATO Parliamentary Assembly on Monday unanimously recognized Russia's crimes against Ukraine as genocide, striking "a diplomatic victory [for Ukraine with] far-reaching political consequences," said Yehor Cherniev, the head of Ukraine's delegation at the assembly in Luxembourg. "This is our diplomatic victory. All of our key wishes regarding the final text of the declaration have been taken into account." The declaration includes support for an international tribunal for Russian war crimes, a pledge to help Ukraine achieve victory, a commitment to restoring Ukraine's territorial integrity, the implementation of further sanctions, and an aid program similar to the Marshall Plan to help restore the country's economy. In his nightly video address, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy hailed the declaration from the NATO Parliamentary Assembly. "Things are called what they are: a clear recognition of Russia's crimes against our country as genocide, a clear condemnation of ruscist ideology," he said. "This is the right basis for other international organizations as well." Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant 'extremely vulnerable' The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency characterized the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant as "extremely vulnerable" after Europe's largest atomic power station in occupied Ukraine lost external power temporarily and had to switch to its emergency diesel generators. This was the seventh time the nuclear plant lost power since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, said Rafael Grossi, the head of the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency. "The nuclear safety situation at the plant [is] extremely vulnerable," he said in a tweet. The power was later restored but Grossi appealed for shelling to stop around the Russian- occupied power plant. "We must agree to protect [the] plant now; this situation cannot continue," he tweeted. IAEA staff are deployed at the plant, which is occupied by Russian troops. The plant's six nuclear reactors, which are protected by a reinforced shelter able to withstand an errant shell or rocket, have been shut down. But a disruption in the electrical supply could disable cooling systems that are essential for the reactors' safety even when they are shut down. Emergency diesel generators, which officials say can keep the plant operational for 10 days, can be unreliable. Energoatom, Ukraine's state nuclear company, announced that power had been restored at the plant but rang the alarm that the facility is "on the verge of a nuclear and radiation accident." The agency claimed Russian shelling caused the loss of the last high-voltage transmission line to the plant in Russian-occupied southern Ukraine, about 500 kilometers (311 miles) from Kyiv. It was not possible to independently verify that claim. Fighting, especially artillery fire, around the plant has fueled fears of a disaster like the one at Chernobyl, in northern Ukraine, in 1986. Then, a reactor exploded and spewed deadly radiation, contaminating a vast area in the world's worst nuclear catastrophe. F-16s to Ukraine not 'game-changer' U.S. Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall said "it will take several months at best" to decide on supplying F-16s to Ukraine. Speaking with reporters with the Defense Writers Group in Washington on Monday, Kendall said the F-16s "will give the Ukrainians an interim capability they don't have right now, but it's not going to be a dramatic game changer." He said "airpower has not been a decisive factor so far," citing the effectiveness of ground-based air defense systems. "The F-16s are going to help the Ukrainians, but it's not going to fundamentally change that equation," he remarked. Kendall acknowledged, however, that time has come to start thinking on this issue. "We could certainly have started earlier, but there were much higher priorities," he said. At a meeting Monday in Poland, defense ministers from northern European countries showed "great support" for training Ukrainian pilots to fly F-16 fighter jets. "Great support for the goal of training F-16 pilots for Ukraine," Denmark's Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen said in a tweet, adding that Denmark is ready to play a central role. U.S. President Joe Biden also affirmed U.S. support for a joint effort with allied and partner nations to train Ukrainian pilots on fourth-generation fighter aircraft such as the F-16. Responding to a question by VOA's Russian service at the G-7 Summit, Zelenskyy said that discussions on the delivery of F-16s have come a "step further," starting with the training of Ukrainian pilots on the aircraft, which he affirmed that Ukraine plans to complete as soon as possible. Ukraine has not yet won commitments to receive F-16 jets from allies. Senior Russian diplomats said Monday the transfer of F-16 jets to Ukraine would raise the question of NATO's involvement in the conflict and would not undermine Russia's military goals. VOA Eastern Europe Bureau Chief Myroslava Gongadze and National Security Correspondent Jeff Seldin contributed to this report. Some information for this story came from The Associated Press, Reuters and Agence France-Presse. A criminal investigation in the southern U.S. state of Texas over the hesitant police response to the Robb Elementary School shooting is still ongoing as Wednesday marks one year since a gunman killed 19 children and two teachers inside a fourth-grade classroom in Uvalde. The continuing probe underlines the lasting fallout over Texas' deadliest school shooting and how the days after the attack were marred by authorities giving inaccurate and conflicting accounts about efforts made to stop a teenage gunman armed with an AR-style rifle. The investigation has run parallel to a new wave of public anger in the U.S. over gun violence, renewed calls for stricter firearm regulations and legal challenges over authorities in Uvalde continuing to withhold public records related to the shooting as well as the police response. Here's a look at what has happened in the year since one of America's deadliest mass shootings: Police scrutiny A damning report by Texas lawmakers put nearly 400 officers on the scene of the shooting, including from an array of federal, state and local agencies. The findings laid out how heavily armed officers waited more than an hour to confront and kill the 18-year-old gunman. It also accused police of failing "to prioritize saving innocent lives over their own safety." All of the students killed were between the ages of 9 and 11 years old. At least five officers who were put under investigation after the shooting were either fired or resigned, although a full accounting is unclear. The head of the Texas Department of Public Safety, Col. Steve McCraw, put much of the blame after the attack on Uvalde's school police chief, who was later fired by trustees. McCraw had more than 90 of his own officers at the school more than any other agency and has rebuffed calls by some Uvalde families and lawmakers to also resign. Uvalde County District Attorney Christina Mitchell said last week that Texas Rangers are still investigating the police response and that her office will ultimately present the findings to a grand jury. She said she did not have a timeline for when the investigation would be finished. On Monday, Uvalde Mayor Don McLaughlin said he was frustrated by the pace of the investigations a year later. "They don't have answers to simple questions they should have," McLaughlin said of the families. Calls for gun control intensify President Joe Biden signed the nation's most sweeping gun violence bill in decades a month after the shooting. It included tougher background checks for the youngest gun buyers and added more funding for mental health programs and aid to schools. It did not go as far as restrictions sought by some Uvalde families who have called on lawmakers to raise the purchase age for AR-style rifles. In the GOP-controlled Texas Capitol, Republicans this year rejected virtually all proposals to tighten gun laws over the protests of the families and Democrats. Republican Texas Governor Greg Abbott has also waved off calls for tougher gun laws, just as he did after mass shootings at a Sutherland Springs church in 2017 and an El Paso Walmart in 2018. The issue has not turned Texas voters away from Abbott, who easily won a third term months after the Uvalde shooting. Uvalde grieves The Uvalde school district permanently closed the Robb Elementary campus and plans for a new school are in the works. Schools in Uvalde will be closed Wednesday. About a dozen students in the classroom where the shooting unfolded survived the attack. Some returned to class in person last fall. Others attended school virtually, including a girl who spent more than two months in the hospital after being shot multiple times. Veronica Mata, a kindergarten teacher in Uvalde, also returned to class this year after her 10-daughter Tess was among those killed in the attack. Some Uvalde families have filed lawsuits against the gun maker and law enforcement. Portuguese police have said they will resume searching for Madeleine McCann, the British toddler who disappeared in the countrys Algarve region in 2007, in the next few days. Portugals Judicial Police released a statement confirming local media reports that they would conduct the search at the request of the German authorities and in the presence of British officials. Early Monday, police were seen erecting tents and cordons in an area by the Arade dam, about 50 kilometers (31 miles) from Praia da Luz, where the 3-year-old was last seen alive. British, Portuguese and German police are still piecing together what happened when the toddler disappeared from her bed in the southern Portuguese resort May 3, 2007. She was in the same room as her 2-year-old twin brother and sister while her parents had dinner with friends at a nearby restaurant. In mid-2020, Germanys police identified Christian Brueckner, a 45-year-old German citizen who was in the Algarve in 2007, as a suspect in the case. Brueckner has denied any involvement. The suspect is under investigation on suspicion of murder in the McCann case but hasnt been charged. He spent many years in Portugal, including in Praia da Luz around the time of Madeleines disappearance. Prosecutors in the northern German city of Braunschweig in October have charged Brueckner in several separate cases involving sexual offenses allegedly committed in Portugal between 2000 and 2017. Braunschweig prosecutor Christian Wolter said Monday his office would release a statement about the case Tuesday morning. Madeleines disappearance stirred worldwide interest, with public claims of having spotted her stretching as far away as Australia, along with a slew of books and television documentaries about the case. Rewards for finding Madeleine reached several million dollars. Tens of thousands of Moldovans rallied in the capital Chisinau on Sunday to support their pro-Western government's drive toward Europe amid what officials have said are Russian efforts to destabilize their country. Moldova has been badly hit by the impact of Moscow's invasion of neighboring Ukraine, which Chisinau has repeatedly condemned, and applied to join the European Union. President Maia Sandu has accused Russia of seeking to sabotage its European integration by fueling anti-government protests and propaganda. Moscow denies meddling in Moldova's affairs. "Moldova does not want to be blackmailed by the Kremlin," Sandu said at the rally, which was organized by her government and packed a central square. SEE ALSO: A related video by Ricardo Marquina Police said more than 75,000 demonstrators were present. "We don't want to be on the outskirts of Europe anymore," she said, pledging that Moldova would become an EU member by 2030. European Parliament President Roberta Metsola, on a visit to Chisinau, also addressed the rally, saying Europe would welcome Moldova "with open arms and open hearts." "This is about the both of us: You will bring a piece of Moldova to Europe, and you will make Europe stronger," she said. Demonstrators called on Moldova's political leaders to amend the constitution to specifically mention the country's European orientation. "I believe in a European Moldova and want for my country a future with advanced economic and socio-political development," said 18-year-old attendee Alexandrina Miron. "Right now, we are a little behind, but we will slowly catch up and stand on par with Europe." The leader of the pro-Russian opposition Shor party, exiled businessman Ilan Shor, told his supporters at rival protests in several cities via video link that he would seek a referendum on Moldova's foreign policy. Shor, sanctioned by the U.S. as an agent of Russian influence in Moldova, was handed a 15-year jail sentence in absentia last month for his role in the 2014 theft of $1 billion from Moldovan banks. The U.S. State Department and media analysts have criticized Russia over its refusal to allow regular consular access to a U.S. journalist who has been detained in Moscow since his arrest in late March. The State Department had sought a meeting this Thursday with Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, but Moscow denied the request, the paper reported. A State Department spokesperson was cited as saying officials strongly objected to Russias failure to comply with its responsibilities under international consular agreements governing access to detained Americans. Regardless of the hurdles, our team is focused on ensuring timely consular access to all U.S. nationals detained abroad, the spokesperson added. Russia's Washington embassy did not immediately reply to VOA's email requesting comment. The Journal reported that Moscows action is tied to a complaint that Russian journalists didnt get U.S. visas to travel with Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov to the United Nations in New York in April. A U.S. State Department spokesperson told VOA at that time that Washington had issued nearly 100 visas for Russian nationals, including journalists, for Lavrovs trip. The United States takes seriously its obligations as host country of the UN ... the spokesperson said in an emailed statement. We reject recent claims by Russian officials that suggest otherwise. Since Gershkovichs arrest March 29, Russia has allowed only one consular visit from a U.S. official, Ambassador Lynne Tracy. Clayton Weimers, executive director of the U.S. office of Reporters Without Borders, a media watchdog group, said, Russias pretense for detaining Evan is already flimsy. Denying him consular access and blaming it on the failure of Russian journalists to secure American visas really just betrays that Evan has become collateral damage in the Kremlins war on media freedom and its ongoing arguments with Washington, Weimers said in an email to VOA. Russian authorities detained Gershkovich while he was on assignment for the Journal in the city of Yekaterinburg. Russia accused the Moscow-based reporter of espionage a charge that Gershkovich, his employer and the U.S. government deny. The U.S. government has officially classified Gershkovich as wrongfully detained. A Russian court ordered the journalist to be held in pretrial detention until May 29, and denied an earlier request that he be moved to house arrest. Wildfire smoke blanketing western Canada has triggered health warnings in several cities but was also helping to cool blazes by blocking out a hot sun across hard-hit portions of the country Sunday. The wildfires in Alberta province have displaced tens of thousands of people and scorched more than 941,000 hectares over several weeks. "It is a mixed bag certainly with smoke," Christie Tucker of the Alberta Wildfire agency told a briefing. "Many Albertans obviously can't get away from the smoke this weekend. It is thick in many parts of the province," she said. "But they would also have noticed that temperatures are cooler than they would have been if there was no smoke covering the sun." Less heat, Tucker explained, "has meant that we've seen less growth of fires." Only five new flare-ups were reported since Friday. On the other hand, she added, firefighters haven't been able to fly aircraft as often to get an accurate picture of the size and number of fires burning over the last few days. Weather maps have shown smoke from the fires covering more than 1 million square miles (2.7 million square kilometers) and stretching as far as the eastern coast of North America and the Arctic. Environment Canada issued warnings about poor air quality posing "very high risks" to health in the cities of Edmonton and Calgary, where the sky had an orange hue and the smell of smoke lingered in the air. Residents were urged to limit outdoor activities. Air quality alerts were also issued in several U.S. states as plumes of thick smoke from Alberta drifted across the border. In recent years, western Canada has been hit repeatedly by extreme weather, the intensity and frequency of which have increased due to global warming. Above-average daytime weekend highs of 28 degrees Celsius (82 degrees Fahrenheit) were forecast to drop by about 10 degrees by Monday and stay low throughout the week. More rain is also anticipated after several showers swept through Alberta this weekend. But, Tucker said, "While we're optimistic that the forecast rain will be enough to make a difference to some wildfires in the province, we are not out of the woods yet." South Carolina's Tim Scott, the U.S. Senate's lone Black Republican, announced Monday he is running for the party's 2024 presidential nomination, joining the growing field of challengers looking to unseat Democratic President Joe Biden in the election 18 months from now. Scott, 57, opened his long-shot candidacy in his home state at his alma mater, Charleston Southern University. He added himself to the list of Republican candidates that national polls show is dominated by former President Donald Trump, who is seeking to reclaim the White House after losing his 2020 reelection bid to Biden. Scott was first appointed to the Senate in 2012 by then-South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, who herself is seeking the 2024 Republican presidential nomination. National polls of Republican voters show both Haley, a former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, and Scott mired in single digits, trailing far behind Trump and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who himself is expected to officially join the Republican presidential nomination contest later this week. Scott hopes to distinguish himself in the Republican field with more optimistic rhetoric than his conservative rivals. With his Christian faith an integral part of his political and personal story, Scott often quotes the Bible at his campaign events, even bestowing the name "Faith in America" on his pre-campaign listening tour. He easily won reelection to the Senate last year and had $22 million left in his campaign coffers that he immediately intends to deploy in his presidential nomination campaign, using it for television ads in early-voting states ahead of the party presidential nominating contests in the first months of 2024. In the Senate, Scott has aligned himself with mainstream Republican positions. He wants to reduce government spending and restrict abortion, saying that if he is elected president, he would sign a federal law to prohibit abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy. Scott, however, has pressed Republicans on some policing overhaul measures since the 2020 death in Minneapolis of a Black man, George Floyd, while he was in police custody, and has occasionally criticized Trump's response to racial tensions. But Scott has maintained a generally cordial relationship with Trump and not drawn the former president's ire, perhaps because Trump does not view Scott, unlike DeSantis, as an immediate political threat in the Republican nomination contest. In a video announcing his exploratory committee earlier this year, Scott positioned himself as the antidote to the "radical left" a self-made success story as the son of a single mother who overcame poverty. He also bemoaned Democratic leaders as needlessly dividing the country by fostering a "culture of grievance." Entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy and former Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson are also in the Republican presidential field and could be joined by others looking to overtake Trump. The former president, while leading the polls, is facing several criminal investigations about his role in trying to upend his loss to Biden and his retention of classified documents as he left office in early 2021. Trump has already been charged with altering his real estate company business records to hide a hush money payment to a porn actress just ahead of his winning 2016 campaign and faces a trial early next year. Trump's former vice president, Mike Pence, is weighing entering the 2024 Republican nomination contest, as are former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu, Miami Mayor Francis Suarez and others. The United States is not considering lifting current sanctions on Chinas defense chief, Li Shangfu, the State Department said Monday. U.S. officials had said sanctions on Li do not prevent him from conducting official meetings with his American counterparts, nor should sanctions be hurdles for military talks between Washington and Beijing. Over the weekend, U.S. President Joe Biden told reporters that he would not consider easing sanctions on Chinese officials to improve relations. He later suggested that lifting sanctions on the defense chief is under negotiation right now. The State Department clarified the U.S. position Monday. No, we are not, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller told VOA on Monday during his first on-camera briefing. Miller was asked if the U.S. is considering or entertaining the idea of whether to ease sanctions on the top Chinese military official for negotiation purposes. The Peoples Republic of China named General Li Shangfu as its minister of national defense in mid-March. In 2018, the U.S. sanctioned Li under the so-called Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) when he headed the Equipment Development Department of the Chinese military. The sanctions were related to Chinas purchase of ten SU-35 combat aircrafts in 2017 and S-400 surface-to-air missile system-related equipment in 2018, according to the State Department. U.S. officials have been eager to resume talks with their Chinese counterparts. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Li are both expected to attend next months Shangri-La Dialogue, a high-level Asia security summit in Singapore. The Chinese military has not accepted the U.S. proposal for a meeting between their defense chiefs on the margins of this annual gathering. In Beijing, Chinese officials questioned Washingtons sincerity in its outreach for communications. China always firmly opposes illegal unilateral sanctions and has made clear its stern position to the U.S. side. The U.S. side should immediately lift sanctions and take concrete actions to remove obstacles, create favorable atmosphere and conditions for dialogue and communication, said Mao Ning, the spokesperson of Chinas Ministry of Foreign Affairs, on Monday. Both U.S. and Chinese officials have said there is a need to stabilize fraught relations between the world's two largest economies. Ties that have been increasingly strained in recent months over security, trade and technology issues, Taiwan and the South China Sea. Chinese officials have signaled a willingness to stabilize relations with the U.S., but at the same time they demand that the U.S. stop harming Chinese interests by strengthening ties with Taiwan and imposing technology restrictions on China. Experts told VOA the ball is in Chinas court. It's unclear whether Beijing will proceed to take steps toward stabilizing ties unless the U.S. rolls back some of the measures it has taken that China objects to, said Bonnie Glaser, managing director of the Indo-Pacific program at the German Marshall Fund of the United States. Diplomatic visits to Beijing Biden also said a thaw in the bilateral relationship would begin very shortly. U.S. climate envoy John Kerrys visit to Beijing for talks with his Chinese counterpart Xie Zhenhua would come after Secretary of State Antony Blinken and other U.S. cabinet members planned visits to Beijing, which was agreed during a recent phone call between Kerry and Xie, a diplomatic source who wishes not to be named told VOA. U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo had also indicated their plans to visit China. An alliance led by Thailand's progressive Move Forward party hopes to draft a new constitution, end monopolies and allow same-sex marriage, among other aims, according to a draft of objectives that made no mention of a divisive royal insult law. The opposition Move Forward and Pheu Thai parties dominated last week's election in a resounding defeat of conservative parties backed by a royalist military that has controlled government since a 2014 coup. They are seeking to form a coalition government with six other parties, all of which are to sign the agreement on their objectives later Monday. Reuters was able to review a draft of the pact. The signing takes place on the ninth anniversary of a military coup against a democratically elected government that ushered in a phase of military rule that the winners of the May 14 polls hope to end. Move Forward was the surprise election winner, emerging with the most seats with the help of young voters excited by an agenda that puts the party at odds with some conservative big business interests and institutions, including a plan to amend a lese-majeste law that punishes perceived insults of the monarchy with long jail sentences. Other alliance members have had reservations about tampering with that law. Asked about the preliminary list of proposals drawn up by Move Forward and circulated among all prospective coalition members, senior Move Forward official Bencha Saengchantra said alliance members were in agreement on 80% to 90% of the plans "but it can still be adjusted." On Friday, the party said lese-majeste would be included only if the eight parties backed it. Bencha reiterated Move Forward would seek amendments in parliament independently. The draft includes most of Move Forward's flagship policies, such as a push for decentralization of power and budget and to "cancel monopolies and support fair competition in trade in all industries." It also takes aim at the military, calling for ending mandatory conscription and reform of the armed forces as well as the justice system and civil service, "corresponding with democratic principles with emphasis on transparency, up-to-date, effectiveness and prioritizing the public interest." Thailands military has staged 13 coups since the end of absolute monarchy in 1932, and confrontation between the generals and civilian politicians and activists has been at the heart of recurring instability over the years. The alliance will also seek reform of welfare and education, a balanced foreign policy and pursuit of laws to both control and endorse the use of cannabis, which Thailand legalized last year, despite confusion over regulations. Move Forward leader Pita Limjaroenrat is seeking to be prime minister at the head of the coalition but faces a big challenge in winning the required support from more than half the combined lower and upper houses, which includes rivals with whom his party has clashed. His alliance comprises 313 seats, but it needs backing from 376 legislators to vote Pita in. He will likely need to win over some of the 250 members of the conservative-leaning Senate, which was appointed by a junta and has often sided with army-backed parties. Members of Thailands eight-party coalition that won a majority of seats in Thailands general election May 14 have officially agreed to work together, listing their new policies as they look to lead the country's next government. Led by the Move Forward Party, or MFP, the political parties signed a memorandum of understanding, consisting of nearly two dozen terms and conditions they wish to pursue, including teams to work out any differences among the parties. The signing of the coalition deal comes on the ninth anniversary of Thailands 2014 military coup. MOU announcement At a packed news conference Monday afternoon at the Conrad Hotel in Bangkok, MFP leader Pita Limjaroenrat signed the agreement along with the seven other coalition leaders, listing 23 points they have agreed to accomplish, calling the negotiations "fruitful, comprehensive and a good start." Today is about setting it up, as a good starter, that we have to work together moving forward to declare our policies after I become prime minister, so today is only the first step. There are a lot of immediate next steps that follow that, and that will probably explain a little bit more how to come about change, Limjaroenrat told reporters. The other parties in the coalition include Pheu Thai, Prachachat, Thai Sang Thai, Seri Ruam Thai, Fair, Pue Thai Rumphlang and Plung Sungkom Mai. The Move Forward Party won 152 seats in the general election, comfortably defeating conservative and military-backed parties. Defying belief that the MFP only has support in urban areas where college students are registered to vote, in the capital Bangkok, MFP won a local landslide with 32 out of 33 constituency seats going to the progressive party. But because of the 750-member structure of Thailands parliament a majority of 376 seats is needed to elect a prime minster and form a new government. Because the MFP did not get enough seats to win outright, the alliance was formed. The seven allies will add 161 seats, totaling 313 seats in government. 23 points included in the MOU? After talks of a coalition between the MFP and other parties following the elections, Mondays signing is significant because it is viewed as a record that brings accountability. The joint memorandum of understanding states all parties agree to not affect Thailands status as a state, a democracy under a constitutional monarchy, or the status of the monarchy itself. Included in the 23-policy list is a focus to restore democracy and draft a new constitution, pass a marriage equality act, reform the police, military, and the justice process, revive the economy and combat corruption. The opposition coalition also hopes to restore Thailand's geopolitical role, and to end its "quiet diplomacy." Reclassifying cannabis as a controlled substance has also been listed, despite Thailand decriminalizing its use in June 2022. Ending military conscription in Thailand was also pinpointed. It was one of the MFPs campaign pledges. Lese majeste One policy that the political parties havent been able to agree on is amending Thailands lese majeste law, which punishes those who criticize Thailands monarchy. The law is outlined in Section 112 of the Thai Criminal Code and carries lengthy prison sentences for violations. Amending it was a major campaign pledge of the Move Forward Party. At least two coalition parties have said they wont support any amendment on the monarchy, while Pheu Thai leader Cholnan Srikaew said its exclusion in the MOU was to avoid any obstacles to the formation of the coalition, according to local media. But Pita Limjaroenrat says its just a matter of time before the MFP submits a proposal for the law to be changed. In terms of 112, we have been very consistent. Before the election and after the election, I have made my interviews with a couple media outlets, it is something Move Forward Party confirmed the law amendment will be continued, and its not going to be pressured in the sense that any other coalition parties will have to be part of that MOU. I dont think when the time comes, Move Forward Party will be alone in a sense that we have submitted this law amendment, he said. Youth movement In 2020 and 2021, Thailand was rocked with anti-government and monarchy reform protests, mainly led by Thai youths. Clashes with police were common while hundreds of protesters and activists have since been arrested under the lese-majeste law. Many of those youth activists voted for the Move Forward Party. A record turnout saw more than 39 million Thais vote in the general elections, equating to over 75% of the population, according to reports. Thais cast two votes to make up the 500 seats in Thailands House of Representatives, selecting their choice from 400 constituency MPs and 100 party-list MPs. However, Thailand's 250-member military-appointed Senate still holds crucial sway on who will be installed as the next government. Past elections During the general election in 2019, the Senate unanimously voted for current Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha, despite a victory by the Pheu Thai party in those polls. It was nine years ago, May 22, 2014, when Prayuth, then a military general, led a coup in Thailand. He has been leader ever since. Following his rise to power, Thailand received a new constitution and saw the appointment of the 250-member Senate in 2017. The current Senate has helped Prayuth remain in office. The new Thai coalition hopes the combined seats in government will put pressure on the Senate to vote in its favor. Thailands electoral commission has up to 60 days to officially confirm this years general election results before the Senate is expected to decide on who will lead the government. Trade between Egypt and Oman reached $1.08 billion in 2022, up from $651 million in 2021, recording an increase of 66 percent, Minister of Trade and Industry Ahmed Samir said on Monday. The minister's statement was made at the inauguration of the Egyptian-Omani Business Forum, held in Cairo on the sidelines of Sultan Haitham bin Tariq of Omans two-day visit to Cairo; his first official visit since he took office in 2020. Omani companies operating in the industrial, tourism, construction, and agricultural sectors have invested $80.5 million in 110 projects in Egypt, according to the Ministry of Trade and Industry. Egyptian companies involved in infrastructure, road projects, and real estate investment have invested $860 million in 142 projects in Oman. Egypt looks forward to increasing trade and joint investments between Cairo and Muscat... through activating bilateral and multilateral agreements, a ministerial statement quoted Samir as saying. Samir pointed out that the future work mechanisms between the two countries include stimulating investment to achieve more benefits for the two nations in light of the Egyptian government's keenness to expand the participation of the local and foreign private sectors in the national economy system, according to the statement. The minister reviewed the facilities Egypt provided to improve its business climate, such as the golden licence, which is issued by the cabinet for projects operating in activities of importance to the Egyptian state. Strategic partnership Omani Minister of Commerce Qais bin Mohamed Al-Youssef said his country wants to support the bonds of common economic cooperation with Egypt and to benefit from its economic potentials. Cooperation between Oman and Egypt includes working on stimulating investments and bilateral trade and maximizing the benefits of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) agreement, he added. President of Oman Investment Authority (OIA) Abdulsalam Al-Murshidi said that Oman is planning to establish a strategic partnership with Egypt. Al-Youssef said that Oman is studying the achievement of joint industrial integration and establishing an exhibition for Omani products in Egypt, as well as working on establishing a branch of the Egyptian Centre for Economic Studies and Research (ECESR) in Oman. On Sunday, Oman's Ambassador to Cairo Abdullah bin Nasser Al-Rahbi said that six cooperation MoUs will be signed between Oman and Egypt. Al-Rahbi explained that the MoUs will be signed in the fields of education, judiciary, archives, heritage, transportation, aviation, and taxation. The two countries are set to sign on Monday an agreement on the prevention of double taxation and evasion, and an MoU on cooperation in areas related to financial policies and developments. In 2022, Egypt and Oman signed nine MoUs for cooperation in various fields during President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisis visit to Muscat, which was his first visit to the Arab Gulf nation since Sultan Haitham ascended to the throne in 2020. Search Keywords: Short link: The United States and Papua New Guinea signed a pair of security deals Monday during a rare visit by the U.S. Secretary of State. The agreements are part of Washingtons broader attempt to counter Chinas influence in the Pacific. But the region wants more sustained engagement from the United States, as VOAs Bill Gallo reports from Seoul. The United States and Papua New Guinea signed a security agreement that includes giving U.S. forces access to the Pacific nations waters and ports. The agreement comes amid a U.S. focus on the region and concern about Chinas influence. The Defense Cooperation Agreement, drafted by Papua New Guinea and the United States as equal and sovereign partners, will enhance the PNGs Defense Forces capability to deliver humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, including through providing medical care and temporary shelter to those who are affected by crises, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said during a signing ceremony in Port Moseby. The agreement will also make it easy for PNG and U.S. forces to train together in new ways and in more places as part of our joint effort to uphold peace and security across the Indo-Pacific. Blinken said another pact signed Monday will allow Papua New Guinea forces and the U.S. Coast Guard to cooperate on countering illicit maritime activities, including illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing. Under this agreement, our forces will be able to board one anothers vessels, share technical expertise, and ultimately better patrol the seas together, Blinken said. Blinken visited Papua New Guinea in place of U.S. President Joe Biden, who canceled what would have been the first visit by a sitting U.S. leader to a Pacific Island country because of ongoing negotiations to avert a debt crisis at home. Some information for this story came from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters. U.S. Senator Tim Scott on Friday launched a bid for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination. He is the only Black Republican candidate so far, and says he is running as an antidote to racial and cultural divisiveness in the United States. Here are key facts about Scott's life and career. Raised by single mother Scott, 57, was raised in Charleston, South Carolina, by his single mother after his parents separated when he was 7. The family briefly lived with his maternal grandparents, who became major influences for him. His grandfather left school after the third grade to pick cotton, and Scott frequently describes himself as an embodiment of the American dream by "going from cotton to Congress in one lifetime." He graduated from Charleston Southern University in political science and worked as an insurance agent and financial adviser before entering local politics in 1995. State politician Scott was elected to the South Carolina statehouse in 2009, and to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2011. In 2012, former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley now a rival for the Republican presidential nomination appointed him to replace retiring U.S. Senator Jim DeMint. "To every single mom who struggles to make ends meet, who wonders if her efforts are in vain, they are not," Scott said at his appointment. Black Republican Southerner Scott declined an invitation to join the Congressional Black Caucus in 2010 when he was serving in the U.S. House. "My campaign was never about race," he said at the time. However, race is a difficult subject for him to avoid, particularly as he is the first Black Republican from the South in the U.S. Senate since 1881. "I have experienced the pain of discrimination," he said in a 2021 speech, but added that "America is not a racist country." He has both championed bills reforming policing in the United States and declined to support bills intended to protect voting rights. "I'm not here to suggest that things could not get better and I'm going to work every single day to make sure that all Americans play on a level playing field," Scott said at a Black History Month dinner in February. "But today is not 1865. ... We have made tremendous progress, and it's time that we as a people celebrate the progress we are making." Complicated relationship with Trump Scott has largely managed to avoid drawing the ire of Donald Trump, despite occasionally offering some criticism of the former president. After Trump in 2017 said there were "very fine people on both sides" of a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville that ended with a woman killed by a motorist, Scott said he had "compromised his moral authority to lead." For months, Western allies have shipped billions of dollars worth of weapons systems and ammunition to Ukraine with an urgency to get the supplies to Kyiv in time for an anticipated spring counteroffensive. Now summer is just weeks away. While Russia and Ukraine are focused on an intense battle for Bakhmut, the Ukrainian spring offensive has yet to begin. Last week Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said it's been delayed because his country lacks enough Western weapons to succeed without suffering too many casualties. Weather and training are playing a role, too, officials and defense experts say. Officials insist the counteroffensive is coming. Preliminary moves by Ukraine to set the conditions it wants for an attack have already begun, a U.S. official said on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive matters. A look at the factors delaying the counteroffensive and the preparations both sides are making in anticipation of it starting soon. Weather A big part of the delay is the weather. It's taken longer than expected for Ukraine's frozen ground to thaw and dry, due to an extended, wet, cold spring, which has made it difficult to transition into an offensive. Instead, the ground has retained a deep mud that makes it more difficult for non-tracked vehicles to operate. The mud is like a soup, the official said. "You just sort of sink in it." Training In the past few months, tens of thousands of Ukrainian soldiers have been trained by the U.S. and allies for the fight. But the final Ukrainian battalion the U.S. is currently training is just finishing its course now. This final class brings the total number of Ukrainians the U.S. has trained for this fight to more than 10,700. Those forces have learned not only field and medical skills but advanced combined arms tactics with the Stryker and Bradley armored fighting vehicles and Paladin self-propelled howitzers. It also includes highly skilled forces who were trained to operate the Patriot missile defense system. According to U.S. Army Europe-Africa, more than 41,000 additional Ukrainian troops have been trained through programs run by more than 30 partner nations. Soon a new phase will begin: The U.S. will start training Ukrainians on Abrams tanks at the Grafenwoehr Training Area in Germany. But the Ukrainians won't wait for the tank training to be finished before they launch their counteroffensive, Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov told reporters in late April. Weapons arrivals In just the past five months alone, the U.S. has announced it would send more than $14 billion in weapons and ammunition to Kyiv, most of which is being pulled from existing stockpiles in order to get the supplies to Ukraine faster. NATO and Western allies have responded too, pledging billions in tanks, armored vehicles and air defense systems. But a lot of that gear still hasn't arrived, said Ben Barry, a former British intelligence official who is now the senior land warfare fellow at the International Institute for Strategic Studies. For example, of the approximately 300 tank systems pledged such as the Leopard 2 tanks promised by countries including Denmark, the Netherlands, Spain and Germany only about 100 have arrived. Of the 700 or so pledged fighting vehicles, such as British Marauders and U.S. Bradley infantry fighting vehicles, only about 300 have arrived, he said. Ukraine will also need enough ammunition on hand to sustain a higher tempo fight once the counteroffensive begins, When it comes to the ammunition needed, Ukraine's chief military logistician will also have a strong say in when the army is ready to launch, Barry said. In just one munition the 155mm howitzer round Ukraine is firing between 6,000 and 8,000 rounds per day, Ukrainian parliamentary member Oleksandra Ustinova told reporters in April. Counteroffensive clues Both Russia and Ukraine are taking steps in anticipation of the counteroffensive. Russia has approximately 200,000 troops along a 1,000-kilometer (620-mile) battle line, dug in using the same type of trench warfare tactics used in World War I, a Western official said on the condition of anonymity to discuss intelligence matters. These troops are not as highly trained as Russia's initial invading force, which sustained heavy casualties. But they are defended by ditches, minefields and dragon's teeth above ground triangle-shaped concrete barriers that make it difficult for tanks to move. Meanwhile, Ukraine has begun shaping operations, such as targeting Russia's forward lines with long-range artillery fire. That may indicate that Ukraine is about to push forward on that location or it could be a decoy to draw Russia's attention from its actual planned first strike, the official said. When Ukraine does try to punch through those lines whether in a limited area or a complex campaign carried out in multiple locations that will be the likely indicator the offensive has begun, both Barry and the Western official said. Barry said when Ukrainian brigades start crossing into Russian-held territories and try to attack the first line of Russian defenses, "that's going to be a dead giveaway, I think." New developments: Barrage of Russian missiles and drones launched against Dnipropetrovsk. Russia knocks out a high-tension line supplying external power to the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, Ukraine says. Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy left the G-7 meeting in Japan with reassurances that Kyivs allies will see out the fight. Ukrainian officials said Monday that Russian forces used missiles and drones to carry out overnight attacks on the Dnipropetrovsk region, leaving buildings damaged and at least eight people injured. Governor Serhiy Lysak, in a post on Telegram, said the damage included residential buildings and vehicles. Ukraines air force, also on the Telegram messaging app, posted that the Russian attack involved 16 missiles and 20 Shahed drones, and that Ukrainian air defenses shot down four cruise missiles and 20 drones. Russia has intensified its aerial assault on Ukraine in recent weeks as Ukraine plans a counteroffensive aimed at reclaiming territory from Russian forces. The Ukrainian state nuclear power operator said Monday that Russian shelling knocked out a high-tension line supplying external power to the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant. Energoatom said on Telegram that the plant was forced to run on diesel backup generators for several hours before power was restored. SEE ALSO: Energoatom said Mondays cut was the seventh since Russian forces seized control of the plant in the early stages of the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine. The plant is Europes largest nuclear power plant, and the International Atomic Energy Agency has repeatedly expressed concern about safety and security dangers there amid the ongoing conflict. IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi tweeted Monday that the nuclear safety situation was extremely vulnerable. We must agree to protect plant now; this situation cannot continue, Grossi said. #Ukraines #ZNPP this morning lost all external electricity for 7th time during conflict, forcing it to rely on emergency diesel generators for power; nuclear safety situation at the plant extremely vulnerable. We must agree to protect plant now; this situation cannot continue. Rafael MarianoGrossi (@rafaelmgrossi) May 22, 2023 Bakhmut fight Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Sunday at the close of the G-7 Summit in Hiroshima, Japan, that the obliteration of the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut by Russian forces harkens back to the Hiroshima bombing at the end of WWII. Hiroshima is a rebuilt city now. And we dream of rebuilding all of our cities that are now in ruins, and every village where not a single house is left intact after Russian strikes, Zelenskyy said. SEE ALSO: The Ukrainian leader delivered the warning that if the world does not unite against Russia, it will only be a matter of time before other criminals in public office want to start similar wars, adding, I am here in Hiroshima so that the world can hear the Ukrainian call for unification from here. Zelenskyy contested Russias claims Sunday that it had occupied Bakhmut. On Saturday, Russia said it had seized the beleaguered city after a nine-month battle there. Russian President Vladimir Putin congratulated Russian troops and Wagner forces for their victory. SEE ALSO: Meanwhile, the commander of Ukraines ground forces, Oleksandr Syrskyi, said Sunday he had visited front-line positions near Bakhmut and thanked the Ukrainian troops defending the area. Syrskyi said in a post on Telegram that Kyiv's forces still controlled a part of Bakhmut, albeit an insignificant area. He noted, however, that their foothold would be enough to advance into the devastated city once the tide turned. He said Kyiv's forces controlling the suburbs were forming a tactical encirclement around Russian troops in the city. SEE ALSO: G-7 support for Ukraine At a G-7 news conference Sunday in Hiroshima, U.S. President Joe Biden said that Western allies will not waver in their support for Ukraine. Biden said the major powers would remain united behind Ukraine against Russian aggression. He also announced Sunday a new $375 million package of military aid to Ukraine. SEE ALSO: Meeting with the Ukrainian leader on the sidelines of the G-7 summit, Biden said the military aid package included ammunition, artillery, armored vehicles and training. Together with the entire G-7, we have Ukraines back and I promise we're not going anywhere, Biden told Zelenskyy. Biden affirmed U.S. support for a joint effort with allied and partner nations to train Ukrainian pilots on fourth-generation fighter aircraft such as the F-16. Biden told reporters that he had received a flat assurance from Zelenskyy that Ukraine would not use Western-provided F-16 fighter jets to go into Russian territory and that such warplanes would be used wherever Russian troops are within Ukraine and the area. SEE ALSO: But Ukraine has not yet won commitments to receive F-16 jets from allies. Responding to a question by VOAs Russian service at the G-7 Summit, Zelenskyy said that discussions on the delivery of F-16 have come a step further," starting with the training of Ukrainian pilots on the aircraft, which he affirmed that Ukraine plans to complete as soon as possible. We will be working for these people to be as educated as possible, as trained and experienced as possible with huge experience to decrease this process of training to make it short, he told VOA. I cannot tell you how many aircraft we'll be able to get. I cannot tell you definitely when it will take place, but we will speed it up because it's important for us every day. We're losing our people. Some information for this story came from The Associated Press, Reuters and Agence France-Presse. This is an aerial view of the campus at Minnewaska Area High School in Pope County, with notations in the parking lot for the placing of the two stages and available vehicle spots for the graduates and immediate family members for the 2020 Graduation outdoor program on Friday, May 29th. The stages will be placed on the blacktopped surface near the two baseball diamonds along the south edge of the school grounds. Manu Rios, Jason Fernandez, Jose Condessa and George Steane. Photo: Rocco Spaziani/Archivio Spazianiages/Mondadori Portfolio via Getty Im A few minutes before Pedro Almodovar premiered his short gay western, Strange Way of Life, at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival, a quartet of absurdly, almost comically attractive 20-something hunks gathered onstage around him, evoking the kind of surreal dream-ballet sequence that might appear in an Almodovar movie. Grinning mischievously, Almodovar referred to the men as beauties but also good actors, though he didnt reveal what theyd be doing in the film. Approximately 31 minutes later, everyone in the audience was furiously Googling Jose Condessa, Jason Fernandez, Manu Rios, and George Steane. Condessa, 25, and Fernandez, 28, play the younger versions of characters played in a later era by Pedro Pascal and Ethan Hawke, in a brief but erotically charged flashback to the gunslingers youthful affair in Mexico. The two friends hire and then blow off a group of female sex workers, shoot holes into a wine barrel, bathe in and guzzle down the resulting alcohol fountain, then start energetically making out with each other. Its hot and goofy and sweet, exaggerated to the point that it feels as if its poking fun at what the porn version of this sort of scene might look like. Steane, 22, shows up in two scenes as Pascals delinquent, on-the-lam son, who may or may not have murdered someone important to Hawkes character, who has grown up to be a sad, repressed sheriff. Rios, 24, the most well known of the four thanks to a role on Netflixs Elite, plays a balladeer strumming the Spanish guitar. Save for Condessa, who is Portuguese, theyre all up-and-coming Spanish actors and models who, when I bumped into them at a post-screening Cannes party and again on a hotel rooftop, seemed to be having the time of their lives running around the Croisette while wearing Saint Laurent and vogueing for the cameras. When I asked Almodovar a few days later about his young cast members and the festivals subsequent reaction to them, he laughed: When they came into my office, I said, My God, you are so hot! All of you! We all felt like the hunchback of Notre-Dame. When you see the young actors together, all of them, its like a beauty contest. Some friends of mine afterward sent me a message: Pedro, this is like the cover of Playgirl. A few days after the films premiere, I caught up with Condessa and Fernandez (briefly joined by Rios and Steane) to talk about their fabulously, unapologetically horny introduction to Cannes via one of the most respected auteurs of all time. I want to hear both of your stories about getting cast. Did you know it was for Pedro right away? Jason Fernandez: It all started with a self-tape, and we didnt know who the director was. Then we got a 15-page script for the actual casting, and the casting directors rented out an Airbnb, which they dont normally do. And then we did three-hour casting, performing the first few scenes of the short film, where Ethan Hawke and Pedro Pascal spend the night together. Oh, they gave you the older version of your characters scenes? J.F.: Yes! It was maybe a seven- or eight-minute scene where they meet and then sleep together all the way until Ethan Hawke is in the bathtub and Pedro Pascal says, You cured all my ailments, and then says, Theres cum in your bed. A beautiful scene. The first time, I did it with another actor and then with Jose. And we didnt know one another, but we just went and did this whole script in one go. And it was instantly amazing like gold. Jose Condessa: It was incredible. Why was that, do you think? J.C.: I think because we didnt know each other. When the scene started rolling, it was the first time we got to know each other: the first look, the first words. For me, I looked at Jason, and I saw him: He was a humble and awesome guy. He instantly made me comfortable. J.F.: There are many ways to work as an actor, but a beautiful way to work is looking into the other persons eyes bouncing off of the emotion in his eyes, deeply, beyond his body. Jose had so much truth in his eyes and his expressions. I actually felt him delivering from the heart, which is amazing to forget youre doing a casting, to actually feel it. The casting directors said they still have it on tape and theyve watched it so many times and one day theyll let us watch it. Im looking forward to that day. When did you find out that you were cast and that it was Pedros movie? J.F.: Three or four weeks later. Jose knew it was Pedro and didnt tell me! J.C.: Because Im a Portuguese actor, I had to move to Madrid for this. So they had to tell me before I did that. J.F.: I wasnt told. My agent knew but elected not to tell me. Were you both fans before? What are your favorites? J.C.: Of course. I dont know they are very different moments in my life. But probably Todo Sobre Mi Madre. That touched my heart deeply. J.F.: They all have something so special and so human and have such a deep message about the simplicity of life. Pain and Glory is really good. Did you meet with Ethan Hawke and Pedro Pascal to figure out how to play them but younger? J.C.: I called Pedro Pascal on Zoom. He helped me a lot with the Mexican accent. He was awesome. J.F.: I met Ethan in person. I watched his films. He sent me an audiobook. We had loads of conversations. We had quite a few more lines originally, so he read the lines for us and recorded them so we could practice sounding like him. We were thinking, talking with Pedro, 25 years have gone by and you change a lot in 25 years. My character is a hired gun, then a sheriff, so hes a completely different person. What sort of rehearsing did you do? J.F.: We did a lot of rehearsals. We had to create all of what they lived before and after. The scene is only 30 or 40 seconds, but it inspires Silva later to travel so far away to go meet Jake for love. We have to deliver so much love and purity and emotion in that little scene that you have to create a before and after. J.C.: And we had fittings, too. Lots of hours together. Which was really cool for our relationship. Did Pedro deliver that backstory to you, or did you come up with it together? J.F.: Yes. He knows what he wants, and he tells you. J.C.: But hes open to listening. As a young actor, thats incredible. Hes a genius. On set, I had an idea for the moment when Silva shoots the wine barrel and says, One, two, three Because were friends and were playing. I asked Almodovar if it was possible to improve the moment. Then I thought, What a terrible idea, to tell Almodovar what I want. And he looked at my eyes, and he said, Okay, its a good idea. Lets do it and changed everything to do that moment. Because its not just an Almodovar film; its our film. How choreographed was the scene itself? J.F.: We rehearsed when we fell to the floor, but the kissing part has to come more from inside. We knew it had to be animalistic. These two characters get carried away by the situation; theyre not aware they didnt have a thought that they were gonna kiss. But that brute way in which theyre drinking and fighting suddenly it turns from animalistic into passion. They pause, look at one another, and feel something deeper. Theyve tested it out, and now theres this feeling. How many takes did you then do, and how long were you both on set? J.F.: I think two. Three maximum. It was just a day. J.C.: Right after, Jason told me he didnt remember the scene. J.F.: As soon as I finished the scene, I said J.C.: Did we kiss? I said, Yeah! We spent ten minutes kissing. I guess it wasnt good. J.F.: I cant remember. Did you put your tongue in my mouth? Youre just so much in the present. Youre not thinking. You forget everything around you just trust, and touch, and go naked with your feelings. It was beautiful. It was my first time kissing a man. Jose, was it your first time, too? J.F.: No, hes a pro! J.C.: Onscreen, yeah. Not in real life. So do you both identify as straight? This will be disappointing to a lot of people in that audience. J.C. and J.F.: [Both laughing] Yes. J.F.: But you always open up! You never know. So far, Im straight. But I believe more in people rather than labels. Ive felt attracted to men, actually, but I havent been with a man yet. But Im young. I have time. Jose, whats your memory of filming the scene since Jason blocked it out? J.C.: We had an objective, and we went for it. It was a privilege to have the opportunity to defend these characters: two guys in love for 30 years who still love each other after all of their lives. The Saint Laurent costumes and how they factor into the scene is so fun. I love the moment where youre both struggling with each others cowboy belts the camera really focuses on the belts specifically and then you sort of just give up because theyre too tight. J.C.: Too tight or too drunk! [Laughs.] It could be both; people saw it both ways. For us, it was like, Ehh, Im too drunk. Was that moment written in the script? J.C.: It was Almodovars idea in the moment. Its special because we understand, at that point, its not just about sex. If they cant get in, its okay. Because theyre in love. J.C.: We laugh, smile, and our eyes bring you into that love. [Steane and Rios sit down.] Were just talking about the belts. George Steane: Sexy! Too many belts. Which character do you think loves the other the most? J.C.: I think I love the most. J.F.: Maybe in the moment youre more passionate. But my character actually feels. Thats the difference. I want to hear when you, Manu and George, both learned you were cast in an Almodovar film. G.S.: I actually did my casting in person. My agent called me and said, Youre going to Pedros office. I just literally went to Pedros office, and he told me, Read these lines. You speak English, right? I read the lines, and the day after, my agent called and said, You got the job. Manu Rios: Mine was so secretive. I did a tape, but my agency didnt tell me about what it was for and then I found out it was Pedro, and thats when the crazy part started. What has it been like for all of you to be at Cannes? Whats been the most surreal moment? J.F.: I think its the red carpet for me. M.R.: Being in the theater, seeing the reaction, the short film in such great quality on a huge screen. Its surreal. Were trying to enjoy the present and then later, at home, well think about it. J.C.: Tomorrow when I go home, its going to be different. Now, its like Im dreaming. Its not real. J.F.: We were talking at breakfast about what brings us back to reality are the messages from our family and friends saying, Wow. Look where you are. Its like, Wow, Im at Cannes, surrounded by amazing people, with Almodovar. G.S.: And Catherine Deneuve! Did you meet her? Did she see the film? G.S.: Im not sure she did. I just told her she looked sublime. And she just waved back at me. Shed heard it all before, you know? Have the four of you stayed friends since filming? Have you seen each other again before this premiere? M.R.: This is the first time were all spending time together, sharing the same emotions. We didnt all meet on set. We met at rehearsals and the photo shoot, but thats it. G.S.: But we get along pretty good. J.F.: Its nice to put away egos and all come here as a team. We know were in a new place; nobody has been here before. Were all ready to learn, and thats brought us together. G.S.: Were like kids. J.F.: Living a dream. Well, Im 28, so Im the daddy. In the heart of Islamic Cairo, at the premises of the House of Egyptian Architecture, Palestinian house keys, photographs, and letters were celebrated at the kickoff event of Palestinian Stories, a digital archive for Palestinian families. One of the organizers of the event, Maysoun Mahfouz, read an old letter from Palestine: "But if you decided to have the wedding in Gaza, it will be incredible. We will rejoice and let everybody celebrate with us. We will slaughter a calf and we will make a banquet for the men, and we will invite all of Gaza. Abu Sami and Dr. Sebahi are willing to provide room for the men, and the women will stay at our place. When you are in your homeland, all the houses are yours." Under the slogan "A Memory that Resists Forgetfulness," this Palestinian/Egyptian initiative aims to create a digital archive for Palestinian families' personal, social, economic, and cultural life in Palestine pre-1967. "May 2023 marks 75 years of Nakba, so picking this month for the launch of the website and the exhibition has a very important meaning," explained professor Emad Abu Ghazy, former minister of culture and founding director of the Cultural Development Diploma in Cairo University, during his opening speech at the event. "The exhibition and website are an insurance that Palestine will always be alive in our memory through such letters, memories, and photographs which will tell the whole world that there are people who will always be dedicated to their cause until they manage to build their state on all of their homeland," he added, noting that such memories are as significant as the old house keys that Palestinian families still keep. The founder of the initiative, researcher and writer Samar Dewidar, started implementing her idea after completing her studies at the Cultural Development Diploma in Cairo University. "It all started four years ago when I decided to research the idea of belonging and how identity is created," explained Dewidar. "I looked at the third generation of mixed weddings of Palestinians. I came across a lot of women whose life is a struggle to raise their children and defend Palestine. So, at first, I wanted to write a novel inspired by the women I met in my research. The turning point was when my mother shared with me one of the letters of my mother's cousins that dated to 10 May 1948, only five days before the invasion," she added. From then on, she became more focused on the letters, such as those written by her grandfather Ali Rashid Shaath, who had to leave Gaza in the 1950s and work in another country, leaving his family behind. He would narrate his news and how he met someone who reminded him of his homeland and started the flashbacks. "In the media, Palestinians are either portrayed as heroes, martyrs, or fanatics, but the Palestinian that I saw in my grandfather's letters was a human being. So I wanted the Palestinians to represent themselves, their own voice, through the personal letters, photographs, and memories, before the 1967 invasion," she added. The website has a dedicated section that targets third-generation Palestinians who express themselves through art, such as photography, painting, and Palestinian needlework. The section exhibits and sells such artwork. Finally, the website has a third section dedicated to the private personal archives of Palestinian families that are not accessible to the public. "The idea of depending on personal archives for documentation is a very important one, and people started to take notice of it a few years back in academia around the world. Perhaps we are a little bit behind in applying it to our own personal archives that document an important part of our memory and how to preserve it. The family and personal archives that families keep and hand from one generation to another are very rich data to write our history and to preserve our memory, especially in the absence of official archives, like in the case of Palestine," Abu Ghazi concluded. Search Keywords: Short link: Photo: Ethan Miller/Getty Images Warner Bros. Discovery chief David Zaslav was greeted with boos and chants of pay your writers from students and picketers during his commencement speech at Boston University. Zaslav, a BU alum from 1985, started drawing boos during his introduction by BU president Robert A. Brown. Throughout his 20-minute speech, Zaslav did not address the ongoing WGA strike or the feelings of the crowd. Chants from attendees included We dont want you here, Pay your writers, and Shut up, Zaslav. WGA and IATSE picketers were also present at the commencement, as was a plane that circled overhead with the message, Pay your writers. Zaslavs speech reportedly covered themes of hard work, determination, and choosing kindness. I hope to see all of you and I mean all of you along the way, Zaslav said at the end of his speech, pointing at the crowd. The journey of life. Theres nothing better. Watch Zaslav get booed below! Zaslav getting hit with a Pay Your Writers chant in Boston. This is so good. pic.twitter.com/00pL4ahAqZ Mike Scollins (@mikescollins) May 21, 2023 Video and pics from my IATSE friend at the BU Graduation / Zaslav picket in Boston. Big turnout with loads of different unions attending.#wga#wgaStrong#wgaStrike pic.twitter.com/qpe2KCXgAf Calvin Starnes (@CalvinStarnesOG) May 21, 2023 Zaslav loudly booed at BU commencement. Although Im incapable of being happy, this comes close. pic.twitter.com/qtIaMJJaFb Shawn Wines WGA Captain (@shawnwines) May 21, 2023 Rick Allen. Photo: Larry Marano/Shutterstock Rick Allen, the longtime drummer for English rock band Def Leppard, is opening up about an attack earlier this year that left him totally blindsided. Allen spoke to Good Morning America about the assault on Monday, May 22, which occurred when he was smoking outside a hotel in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, in March. I heard a couple of steps, and then I just saw this flash, and the next thing I knew I was on the ground, he said. I landed on my backside hit my head on the pavement. Then, Allen told his attacker, I am no threat to you. I dont think he knew who I was, but he must have seen that I wasnt a threat because, you know, Ive only got one arm. Allen lost his left arm due to a 1984 car accident. .@rickallenlive, the iconic drummer of #DefLeppard, is opening up about his recovery journey only months after he was assaulted after a show in Fort Lauderdale in March. @lipoftv reports.https://t.co/yy2WyRxWfj pic.twitter.com/4dpsgak8ba Good Morning America (@GMA) May 22, 2023 When a woman tried to help Allen, the suspect also reportedly attacked her. Police later arrested a 19-year-old man from Ohio, Max Hartley, near the hotel. He was charged with one count of aggravated battery, one count of simple battery, and four counts of criminal mischief and pleaded not guilty. Allen thanked his wife, Lauren Monroe, who was present at the interview, for her support after the attack. I immediately just went to that place of just feeling grateful for the fact that I have an amazing wife and an incredible family, he said. And I just started thanking a higher power for the fact that Im still here. Halle Bailey is a delight in the Disney live-action remake, but everything around her is mercilessly dull and misguided. Photo: Giles Keyte/Disney Enterprises The cries of anti-feminism still swirling around the original The Little Mermaid, released in 1989, seem to misunderstand that Ariel (voiced marvelously by Jodi Benson) is a young woman fueled by boundless curiosity. Her exploratory spirit and desire for adventure on the surface world finds an outlet in Prince Eric, but hes hardly the cause or impetus of her curiosity. In the 2023 live-action update, Halle Bailey gets it; she foregrounds Ariels sweetness but also maintains her desire to face the unknown, the two sides of her personality stitched together with vitality and charm. It all comes through in her singing voice, which has a clarity of emotion in its range that is beautiful. But Bailey is, unfortunately, completely failed by the dull, misguided production around her. As the studio has done with other live-action remakes, Disney betrays its own lack of imagination and an essential misreading of what made its original childrens fare such a joy to audiences in the first place. The marketing around the film, directed by Rob Marshall, would have you believe that this The Little Mermaid is a bold reimagining that prioritizes a modern, moral, even feminist schema missing in the original. But this Little Mermaid doesnt reimagine so much as curdle its predecessors story with mostly minor changes. It sticks to the sequence, scenes, and dynamics of the original, save for some overdone character exposition that is meant to give the film greater emotional heft but just leaves the plot and dialogue leaden. Ariel (Bailey) is the youngest of her colorfully designed seven sisters and vastly different than the rest of her diverse sistren, played by actors like Bridgertons Simone Ashley. The sisters dont live in the castle; they only visit from their respective sea kingdoms for the coral moon to reconnect with their father, King Triton (Javier Bardem). Despite her mothers death at the hands of humans a fact that is unceremoniously dropped in a bit of dialogue but never really reckoned with Ariel is profoundly curious about the surface world and the dynamics of its peoples, leading her to collect the prosaic sunken treasures of fallen ships. King Triton forbids his youngest princess and anyone of the kingdom from such pastimes, but Ariels desires continue unabated, leading her to eventually come across Prince Eric, a leader who deeply desires to bring his vaguely defined kingdom into a new era. The sea witch Ursula (Melissa McCarthy) observes this connection and uses it to exploit Ariel for her own gains revenge for having been exiled from the kingdom by her older brother, King Triton. The only positive and dramatic change is in how Ariel eventually saves the day at the very end (I wont say how). Otherwise, backstories are wielded like cudgels. Diversity is surface level a neat way for Disney to bolster its image and give the appearance of political thought; the studio is more than happy for Black people to act as foot soldiers defending the worth of the brand against a barrage of online trolls with bad-faith arguments. And yet Baileys Ariel is a wonder, perhaps to a fault, as evidenced by her lackluster scene partners inability to effectively share the screen with her. She barely speaks to her sisters (who make no real impression beyond my questioning why their scaly mermaidness was visually designed in such a manner), another sign that the feminist bona fides laced into Disneys marketing are merely image bolstering. Bardems Triton is bored and checked out, never granting genuine affection for Ariel or any of his daughters. Scuttle is grating before and after Awkwafina performs a sing-song rap (Lin-Manuel Miranda must be stopped!). Disney could have cast an actual Caribbean for the role of Sebastian. Instead, we get Daveed Diggss poor accent and comedic timing. But the two greatest failures come in the form of Ursula and Prince Eric. Melissa McCarthys Ursula should be a fragrant delight. In the original, shes a full-bodied spectacle, the most free and confident of the undersea worlds inhabitants. McCarthy lacks the silken pleasures that voice actor Pat Carroll provided the role. Shes not bawdy or alluring. She leaves little impression right down to her final moments. Somehow worse off is Jonah Hauer-King as Prince Eric. Hes a man without the charisma and virile vulnerability the character demands. Instead of being the kind of strapping prince you swoon over, he comes across as the guy who served you coffee at a cafe down the block and whose visage you forget the moment you grab your cup. You can feel Bailey trying to conjure some heat any spark between them. Despite her efforts, their relationship never stirs the heart or captures the spirit of a great, consuming love, making her choice to become human and leave her culture even more damning than before. The lack of narrative invention is only a single issue in a film filled with them. The sonic and visual dimensions lack the elastic flair of John Musker, Ron Clements, Howard Ashman, and Alan Menkens earlier creation. The 1989 movie was a seamless, frothy confection. The 2023 remake is a ragged mess. (Though perhaps not quite as visually muddled as trailers and clips would have you believe.). The night scenes and a good portion of what occurs underwater is in fact hard to parse out in its visual details, as if a coating of dishwater has been placed upon every frame; theres no visual levity. And while this Little Mermaid begins in more colorful fashion, the vibrancy is leached from the movie as it marches on, checking off the beats of the original while adding nothing to justify a revamp. Its biggest misstep is the decision to make the once animated animals creepily photorealistic, exiling the movie to an uncomfortable uncanny valley where the dead eyes of Ariels aquatic friends attempt to ferry the story along. The musical approach is egregious, too, the tweaks made to the featherlight originals feeling laborious more than anything else. (Wheres that great bodyyy language line from Poor Unfortunate Souls?) Whats added to the life of the film like Prince Erics time waste of a song and the aforementioned Awkwafina rap brings no joy. Yes, Bailey gives a transcendent vocal performance, particularly in her yearning rendition of Part of Your World. But I dont think a film of this sort clocking in at about 45 minutes longer than the original despite not adding that much consequential new material can thrive off the strength of a single song. In a March profile, Bailey argued for the worth of her version of Ariel: Im really excited for my version of the film because weve definitely changed that perspective of just her wanting to leave the ocean for a boy. Its way bigger than that. Its about herself, her purpose, her freedom, her life and what she wants. This is clever promotion, not a truth about a movie that is neither explicitly modern or feminist. This Little Mermaid only provides the skin of progress, not the bone, marrow, sinew, and guts necessary to change a story on a deeper level. Mainstream pop culture is stuck in a gear where the people involved in a production argue for the works importance rather than its artistry. They give a personal anecdote. They talk about how children can grow up viewing the characters as a model for their own lives. Rinse and repeat. At this point, we critics and audiences and filmmakers need to have an honest conversation about the limits of this kind of representation, which is generally good for childrens imagination but sours when adults begin to look at the media they consume like children as well. Its all made worse by the fact that Hollywood sees people of color as a buoy in times of financial strife. Consider the blaxploitation boom of the 1970s, which handily saved the studio system. Disney is once again excavating an audience of color desperate for material change, taking advantage of those who believe film is a mirror or a moral tool. It shouldnt have to be either. Its pleasures dont need to be found in realism; they can be found in fantasy, built with worlds and peoples far beyond ourselves that still let us consider the touching foibles that make us human. The only fantasy The Little Mermaid provides is built on the calcified enterprise of Disney and Hollywood itself, which continues to fail its great Black talent as it lines its pockets and mines the worst aspects of our cultures nostalgia. Somebody Somewhere NMB NMP Season 2 Episode 5 Editors Rating 5 stars * * * * * Previous Next Previous Episode Next Episode Photo: Marian Wyse/Marian Wyse Joel! Sweet, sweet Joel! What have you done? It was only time before Somebody Somewhere put Joel and Sams friendship to the test, and that test begins right now with NMB NMP. Its awful and I hate it, by which I mean its completely gutting and there arent enough tini-tinis in the world to make it okay. And this is only the beginning! The episode, written by Rachel Axler and directed by Lennon Parham, wisely kicks off by reminding us how special Sam and Joels relationship is. Theyre goofing off in the car, talking about their own dream weddings. Joels includes Sam singing Laura Branigans 80s banger Gloria while he walks down the aisle. Sam initially balks at the idea of attempting to take on the late icon she lives by a simple singing rule: No Barbra, no Judy, no Branigan but the pull is too strong, and before long, were all calling Gloria. Although reluctant to even admit to having thought about her own wedding, Sam says shed want to wear her mothers wedding dress, and yes, she realizes theres a real height discrepancy there. Me, my moms dress, and my beaver walking down the aisle to meet the man of our dreams, she tells Joel. This moment, paired with Joel and Sam meeting Fred and Tiffani at the tailors for their tuxedo fittings, is, I think, the reason people are so endeared to this show. Theyre such authentic displays of friendship so warm and fun, and you just want to be around these people as long as possible. Theyre also the perfect setup for the emotional gut punch of watching that friendship be put in danger. Am I being dramatic about this? I dont care! The thought of Sam and Joel in a fight is keeping me up at night, okay? At the tailors, Joel is a little coy about his plans for the day Sams looking for help baking Tricia a birthday cake and one weird FaceTime later, in which Joels face covers the entire screen (Im still laughing about it, honestly, the perfect cover-up), we learn that hes on a secret date with Brad Schraeder, nee SLS. Oh, this date, you guys! This date is so adorable. These two nerds are hanging out at a historical house in Manhattan, and they couldnt be more excited about it. I never thought Id find the sentence I could listen to you talk about the Kansas-Nebraska Act all day romantic, but here we are! Joel cant help but plant a big ol kiss on Brad, and friends, it looks like this relationship has gone legit. Thats exciting, of course, but the moment Brad asks Joel to have a meal at the Chef with him the place where Joel and Sam regularly grab breakfast you know this whole thing is about to blow up. It doesnt take long. When Sam shows up at the Chef waiting for Joel and the waiter says he has Joels windbreaker that he left there yesterday when he was in with Mr. Schraeder, she knows exactly whats going on. She leaves. Then, when Joel shows up and is informed that Sam left and has the windbreaker, he knows she knows. He probably is bracing himself a little bit for what hes walking into when he goes to see Sam face-to-face, but theres no way hes totally prepared for Sams reaction. If looks could kill, my babies! Poor Joel tries to act casual, tossing in a guess the secrets out and trying to tell Sam that shed actually really like Brad, but Sam wants exactly none of it. Shes so angry she can barely speak. All she musters is to tell Joel to take his windbreaker and leave. Its rough. The camera lingers on Sam sitting alone in her kitchen, stewing as she tries to eat some of her takeout breakfast. What a sad little tableau. Taken alone, it would be easy to decide that Sams overreacting, to say the very least. Sure, Joel shouldnt keep secrets from his best friend, but in the grand scheme of things its not that big of a deal, and Sam should be happy that her friend has found someone. But the situation is more complicated than that. What Joel doesnt know is that he is actually the second person Sam deeply trusts that, in the span of a few hours, shes learned has kept something important a secret from her. And both for the same reason: They didnt think Sam would be able to handle the news they had to share. From her reactions to both, it seems like maybe they were right. So, if Joel is one of those people Sams feeling betrayed by, who is the other? Its Sams late sister Holly. Its a real shame because Sam and Tricia have never gotten along better and it all goes to shit pretty quickly much like the cake Sam tries to bake for Tricias 47th birthday. Sam tells Joel that she wants to make her sister a funeral cake like they used to have as kids because its Tricias first birthday without Rick and Shannon is off at school. She calls it a tender gesture, and shes not wrong. Its thoughtful and 100 percent the thought that counts here because Sam is a terrible baker. She knows it and I applaud her bravery for going in anyway. The confidence she has to just wing it is a thing to behold. The recipe calls for room-temperature butter, and she decides to put it in the microwave instead. She needs to add vegetable oil, and this woman just sprays some nonstick spray into the bowl instead of using the vegetable oil right in front of her. That should be good, she says. Someone get Bridget Everett a cooking show and someone do it soon. The thing is, Tricia is still grateful for Sam trying to make the day special, even if the cake turns out like, as Sam calls it, a big hot dump. After the sisters share a few laughs about Tricias fancy new fridge and Sams terrible, somehow very wet cake Well, wet is never bad. Oh, you should put that on a pillow. Tricia thanks her sister for making an effort and keeping this day light. She admits shes really been dreading her 47th birthday since its the same age Holly was when she was diagnosed with cancer. Sam thinks Tricias confused, Holly was 48, but it doesnt take long for Sam to realize shes the confused one. This escalates quickly. Tricia tries to explain that Holly kept her diagnosis a secret from Sam because she was trying to protect her she didnt think Sam could handle it and she didnt want to put her through it. Tricia thought keeping that information from her was wrong, but it was Hollys choice. Sam is so upset, and as much as these two have pretended not to really understand one another, ooohh, buddy, does Tricia get Sam. She knows that Sam wants to leave, and shes right. She tries to stop her, pleading with Sam not to go, not to cut her out because thats what she always does. When someone makes a tiny mistake, she cuts them out. You cut people out, Sam, she yells, almost heartbroken. You cannot keep doing that; there wont be anyone left. And still, Sam goes, and Tricias left all alone crying over the sink. Its wild how fast this show can move from laugh-out-loud funny to achingly real and never miss a beat. The buildup to Sam storming out is so deftly done, and if people arent winning awards for this scene alone, what are we even doing here? Back at home, Sam looks at all the memories of Holly that surround her her initials scratched in the piano until she sits down and cries. Bridget Everett in this moment, you guys! Similarly to that scene in the premiere when Sam cries thinking about her dad as she cleans the barn, the camera just lets Everett do her thing here. Eventually, Sam takes off Hollys necklaces, and the next morning we see that she decided to sleep on the couch again instead of in Hollys bed. Shes cutting her out, just like Tricia said she would, just like shes trying to do to Joel. Heres hoping Sam breaks her habit before its too late. Tender Moments When Sam first comes home from the big fight with Tricia, Darlene is there to give Sam her cassette from her last vocal lesson. Sam apologizes for running out, but theres no need to apologize to this angel! Darlene gets it: Isnt it strange, something that brings us so much joy can be almost too much to bear? Sam gives her a long hug, you can tell Sam really needs it. Keep singing, Sam. We need you, Darlene says as she goes. Give this woman Teacher of the Year or something! Tricia goes to a local party-rental store to start reserving items for Fred and Susans wedding, but the owner, Heather, refuses her business. At first, Tricia assumes Heather has an issue with Fred and immediately defends him and thats called growth, baby. But Heather doesnt know Fred she does know, however, that Charity told her all about how Tricia tried to hook up with Coop. After Tricias done cackling at the absurdity of Charity trying to tarnish her name, she calls Charity a skank and makes a joke about her spreading rumors and her legs, and Im so glad not all of old Tricia is gone. As someone whose college pregame playlist included Laura Branigans Gloria in steady rotation, I was thrilled to see it get a shout-out here. Will Somebody Somewhere do for Laura Branigan what Stranger Things did for Kate Bush? I sure hope so. Petition for Joel and Brad to double-date with Leslie Knope and Ben Wyatt. Drunk on her birthday and ignoring calls and texts from Rick, Tricia decides to tag Charity in a Lying Cunt pillow Instagram post. Its about time, Tricia. Tricias fancy refrigerator can also play music, and her choice to dance alone in her kitchen to Joan Armatradings Show Some Emotion is perfect. Sam thinks Tricia should name her new pillow company Charity Cases, and I second that. Sick! Oh, my god, I cant believe I said sick. So, uh, what happens to America under a Mencken presidency? Photo: HBO Spoilers follow for the penultimate episode of Succession season four, Church and State. In the wake of Roman Roy dive-bombing into a sea of Fifth Avenue protesters in the final moments of Church and State, 38 episodes of Succession now stand in our rearview, with a supersized, 90-minute finale episode coming to us in less than a weeks time. So far, each episode in this fourth season has taken place over one(ish) day, which means With Open Eyes might have just 24 hours to wrap up an array of subplots, dangling threads, and character arcs before we say good-bye to Waystar Royco for good. Lets head once more unto the breach, with some musings about what lies ahead for our very bad-for-America, very good-for-TV friends. Who becomes CEO? This is the big question, of course. Kendall certainly seems best positioned for success at the end of Church and State. We know that godfather Frank would be on his side; we see his increasing ruthlessness, particularly toward his own family (very Logan-esque to attack ex-wife Rava, scare his children, and berate Roman all in the same day); and hes been quite good at controlling the narrative around Waystar Royco thanks to Hugos scheming and media connections. It would be very in line with Successions Shakespearean leanings for Kendall to become CEO by mimicking the father he tried to, as Roman says at one point, kill over and over again. But I dont think we can count out Shiv, who, though not nearly as savvy a businesswoman as she thinks she is, is still reckless enough to promise loyalty to whoever guarantees her the top job. (And Shiv, too, is becoming a bit like the mother she hates, already joking about handing her child off to hired help to raise.) Finally, theres Roman, whose pre-grieving over Logan was, of course, a front; I know this guy gave us a neofascist president, but Kieran Culkins portrayal of an utterly broken youngest son was heartrending stuff. I can see a world in which Roman leaving Logans wake and walking into the stream of antiWaystar Royco protesters is actually Roman walking away from the family altogether; whether thats a freeing choice or a self-destructive one, I cant quite figure out. For now, my guess is Kendall on top, The Godfatherstyle, becoming the man he swore he would never be. Do Tom and Shiv get back together? Im going to roll the dice on these crazy kids and say yes. They will probably be absolutely awful parents, and they will be miserable, and that is exactly what they deserve. Lets all hum the Mountain Goats No Children together: In my life, I hope I lie / And tell everyone you were a good wife / And I hope you die / I hope we both die Does Connor get an international appointment? The thing about Connor is that I genuinely believe hed find a way to be satisfied anywhere, given the odd mixture of haplessness and self-sufficiency thats fueled him for so long. Marcias former home (that he might have overpaid for), that New Mexico ranch where he and Willa used to live, Slovenia or Slovakia, North Korea or South Korea, Oman, Peru, Tajikistan, Uruguay wherever. Provide Connor with enough amenities and an internet connection and hell be fine. Willa, maybe not so much! But till death do they part, et cetera, et cetera. Does Colin go to work for Kendall? I simply cannot think of a worse path forward for Colin. Yes, hes obviously lonely and aimless. But remember when he had the upper hand in knowing about Kendalls involvement in that waiters death? To now go work for that same Roy son would be a phenomenal loss of leverage, even if Kendall is doing everything in his power to resemble Logan, Colins maybe closest friend in the world. I wish for a future in which Colin just wears jeans to therapy in peace, but I worry it wont play out that way. Whats up with Fikret? With Jess gone (good for her!), I think Kendall is going to hold onto Fikret even tighter. Ask for a raise, Fikret! Does Ebba build an exit strategy using Matssons blood bricks? By the end of Church and State, we know that, as Shiv was leaking information about the CEO bros to Lukas Matsson, his sexually harassed head of communications Ebba was spilling on GoJos internal workings to Hugo. Her latest intel: Per Shivs suggestion, Matsson put forth an American CEO to probable president-elect Jeryd Mencken in the hopes of getting the GoJo deal approved. When did Ebbas turn happen? Hard to say, since the one episode, one day format means tons of narrative development is happening off-screen. But Im assuming Matsson is going to regret sending her all those blood bricks before this all wraps up. And what happens with the GoJo deal? Jeryd Mencken is one slippery slimeball, isnt he? I hesitate to agree with Kendall that Roman fucked it, but Kendall isnt wrong that Waystar Royco and ATN now have very little to gain in their partnership with Mencken. Hes the president-elect because of them, and he doesnt have to do anything related to the GoJo acquisition that he doesnt want to do. Because both Mencken and Matsson are such chaos agents (and sorta Nazi sympathizers), I totally believe Matsson when he calls Shiv to say that Mencken agreed to let the deal go through. Why not mess with the CEO bros to show them whos boss? And isnt the president of the United States sort of the boss of everyone? Is Gerri fully out of Waystar Royco? I hope so, and I hope if the GoJo deal goes through, she gets rehired to work alongside Karolina. Sure, they were leaders at a perpetually damaging and harmful company that, as Uncle Ewan says, fed that dark flame in men. But, you know, what else is feminism if not the freedom for women to do things that are as reprehensible and morally vacuous as men? Girlboss it up, ladies. How much more disgusting does Greg get? The prevailing theory around Greg is that hell eventually supersede Tom in power and rank, and in the back half of season four, he does somewhat surprisingly worm his way to the side of Matsson, and maybe even Mencken, by being willing to do whatever humiliating thing is requested in order to get ahead. Best of luck to Sexy in his frantic race toward soul-crushing, pocket-lining daily degradation. Have we seen them for the last time? Logans funeral in Church and State brought together almost everyone who has been on Succession, and I think we can assume that for most of these characters, this is our last time seeing them. Uncle Ewan got to give the he was mean speech he always wanted to say to Logans face; Marcia got in one more devastating aside to Shiv (He broke my heart, and he broke your hearts, too); Kerry was accepted by all the other women who loved and lost Logan all these moments felt like closure for these characters. Maybe Sandy and Sandi Furness show up at the board meeting that could take place in the finale, but for a fair amount of Logans family, I think Church and State was a fitting good-bye. Wheres Stewy? I am asking this for the enlightened among us who know that Stewy Hosseini is the hottest person on this show. Wheres he at? He didnt show up to pay his respects to Logan, probably because he already went to that mini-wake at Marcias apartment and gave Kendall a hug there, and its not like he had any fond feelings for Daddy Roy. Respect to Stewy for living his principles, but also: Give us a shot of that man in a beautifully fitted turtleneck one more time! If the final episode really is a boardroom showdown like Kendall suggests, then we can hold out hope. Does Kalispitron: Hibernation make back its budget? $225 million sunk cost! Three weeks of reshoots! Exorbitant CGI demands placed upon nonunionized workers! Will Waystars movies division ever get, as Roman so crudely put it, the hit machine pumpin, or are we looking at a failed Dark Universe situation? Does Karl buy his Greek island with his brother-in-law? Let me repeat myself: I hope so. And Frank better have a standing invite! What happens to America under a Mencken presidency Hard to say. The empirical evidence is, well, not great! Watching it in a theater at Cannes, I found myself cackling with delight. Stepping out into the rainy night, however, I felt like I needed to take a shower. Photo: Rocket Science Todd Hayness May December is a booby trap of a movie. Its designed to pull you in multiple directions at once, and it uses emotional disassociation to its advantage: It makes you feel one thing, and then makes you wonder if you should be feeling something entirely different instead. Alfred Hitchcock used to talk about being able to play the audience like a piano, hitting each key to get a specific emotional response; Haynes plays us like an accordion, stretching us out in myriad ways to hit the right notes. What the hell am I talking about? Set in Savannah, Georgia, May December is built around a research trip by a well-known movie and TV star, Elizabeth Berry (Natalie Portman) to visit Gracie Atherton-Yoo (Julianne Moore) and her husband Joe Yoo (Charles Melton). Back in the 1990s, when Gracie was a 36-year-old mother of two and Joe had just finished seventh grade, they had an affair (is it okay to call it an affair?) while working at a local pet shop. They hit the tabloids, and Gracie went to jail, where she had Joes baby behind bars. But then they got married and are still together, with their kids now about to graduate from high school. Elizabeth has been cast to play Gracie in a movie and is here to study her life. I want you to feel seen, she earnestly tells Gracie, using the cultural cliche of our times. Just be kind, a neighbor tells her, using another. May December is very funny and light on its feet, but its also a deeply uncomfortable movie. Watching it at Cannes, I found myself cackling with delight along with an audience of 2,000 other people. Stepping out into the rainy night, however, I felt like I needed to take a shower. I think that was the intention. This is the kind of subject thats been fodder for broad comedies in the past (Adam Sandlers Thats My Boy! being one), but Haynes uses humor for different ends here, embracing the tonal disjointedness to make us feel the unease. The films surfaces are pleasant and gentle, the performances quiet. But early on, after Gracie checks the fridge ahead of a cookout and realizes that they dont have enough hot dogs, dramatic piano music kicks in, announcing the ridiculous tonal shifts this seemingly placid film will take. (The score, by Marcelo Zarvos, is actually an adaptation and reorchestration of Michel Legrands music for Joseph Loseys 1971 forbidden-romance drama The Go-Between.) Haynes punctuates other seemingly mundane scenes in similarly grandiose fashion. He uses the trappings of camp to draw attention to the disconnect between whats happening onscreen and our response to it. Thats because the movie itself is about the characters disconnect from whats happening. When Elizabeth first shows up, Gracie has just received a box in the mail with shit inside; apparently it was a common occurrence back in the day but has slowed in recent years, which might explain why she seems so calm about it. In public, Gracie is the very image of composure, though in private shes often on the verge of tears. Shes also a complete micromanager who doesnt seem to know when shes being downright cruel. She notes with concern when Joes had a second bottle of beer. She forces her son to drink milk at dinner, because of his severe calcium deficiency and how weak he looks. (The kid looks perfectly fine.) I want to commend you for being so brave and showing your arms like that, she tells her daughter as the girl tries on graduation dresses. We sense that Gracie has always been like this always mothering, frequently smothering. Her first husband, Tom (D.W. Moffett), tells Elizabeth that they met when he was in college and she was in high school; Gracie took care of him one night when he was drunk. One imagines what the always-hovering Gracie herself might have done had a grown woman seduced her 13-year-old. Joe, meanwhile, seems to still be a child at the age of 36. He has a shy, hesitant way of speaking that suggests something of the seventh-grader he once was, despite the fact that hes about to be an empty nester. Over the years hes become fascinated with endangered Monarch butterflies and has been breeding them at home, then setting them free not exactly the subtlest of metaphors, but still kind of beautiful. Joe never got to transition into a butterfly; hes still essentially in a larval state, stuck in a relationship that started when he was a child. And yet, among all these screwed-up people, Portmans Elizabeth might be the most screwed-up of all. Watching Gracie, she notes her physical features and her demeanor. (Mechanical, or just removed? she asks herself.) Shes highly observant and astute, but she also seems on the verge of becoming completely submerged within Gracies identity. When Elizabeth goes to talk to a group of high-schoolers, shes asked about what its like to do a sex scene. She notes that theyre usually highly choreographed, but then talks about losing the line, about letting reality and fiction blend together. Her voice crawls to a sensuous whisper as she speaks, as if shes about to lose the line right then and there, in front of all these kids. Nobody has any boundaries in this film, which means everyone around them has to face the consequences, an endless cycle of abuse in all its forms. The film is both humane and scathing. Which is why Hayness stylistic treatment of the subject, veering between noirish gusto and flights of snark, winds up being so touching. It feels at times like the director himself looking for the right tone with which to tell this story. He doesnt know exactly how to feel about all this. So he feels all the things, and makes sure we do, too. Egyptian-Palestinian actress May Calamawy is joining the cast of the Gladiator's sequel as a female lead, where she will perform besides Pedro Pascal, Denzel Washington, Connie Nielsen, Lior Raz, Derek Jacobi, among others. Directed by Ridley Scott, the Gladiator sequel is scheduled for release in 2024. Coming from the same director, the 2000 Gladiator won two Oscars in 2001: Best Picture and Best Actor in a Leading Role (Russell Crowe). It also won a BAFTA Best Film the same year, among more than 40 other awards and almost hundreds of nominations. Born in 1986, in Bahrain to an Egyptian father and a Palestinian-Jordanian mother, Calamawy completed her undergraduate studies in acting at Emerson College and continued her studies at William Esper Studio. She is known for the award-winning Hulu show Ramy, National Geographic's The Long Road Home, CBS' FBI and Madame Secretary, and NBC's The Brave. In 2021, she joined the cast of Moon Knight directed by Egyptian Mohamed Diab for Disney+. Besides the Gladiator sequel currently in production, Calamawy is also working on a film titled The Actor, directed and written by Duke Johnson, and scheduled for release in 2024. Search Keywords: Short link: Wanted in Rome is a monthly magazine in English for expatriates in Rome established in 1985. The magazine covers Rome news stories that may be of interest to English and Italian speaking residents, and tourists as well. The publication also offers classifieds, photos, information on events, museums, churches, galleries, exhibits, fashion, food, and local travel. Comment on this story Comment Gift Article Share Singapores post-Covid bull run has brought more than its fair share of grousing. The city-state basks in its status as Asias destination of choice, a beneficiary of disillusion with magnets such as Hong Kong. Thats come with a big caveat: High costs that push workers to consider packing for the suburbs of another country. Happily for Singapore, one very proximate would-be competitor needs to work a lot harder to be a serious rival. Johor, the southern state of peninsular Malaysia, is often depicted as an arm of the islands economy. Singapore was briefly part of Malaysia before becoming a republic in 1965. People flow across the border each day by the hundreds of thousands. Cars, trucks and motorcycles line up at rush hour. Food, goods, water and power cross the Johor Strait, which is less than half a mile at its narrowest point. With the cost of putting a roof over your head becoming prohibitive for some in Singapore, Johor is getting a fresh look. Its not only right next door, its cheap. Enhancing the attraction is the decline of the Malaysian ringgit, which has skidded against the Singapore dollar. But embracing the ex-spouse has its pitfalls. Johor is struggling with public services. The commute can be long, thanks to chronic congestion at peak times. While easily available in Singapore, domestic help is harder to come by and, with more employers cracking the whip on return-to-office, logging into Zoom too often from your spacious abode in Malaysia might not be such a great career move. Advertisement I lived in the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur, a few hours drive north of Johor Bahru, the states biggest city, in the 1990s. I have been back a number of times after moving from the US to Singapore in 2019. However, I hadnt spent much time in JB since Singapore rents skyrocketed. I was intrigued by the idea that the global financial center was, perhaps, on the verge of pricing itself out of the market just when it became the flavor of the moment. Anecdotes constantly arise in conversations among foreign professionals about someone who knows a person who fled north, despite their robust salary or the deep pockets of their multinational employer. Chatting last week with some of JBs leading realtors, I came away with an appreciation for the wrinkles in the current crush, or fantasy. Yes, property transactions by volume and value hit a record high last year in Malaysia and its southern state. But its driven more by Malaysians than by expats looking to make their Singapore packages stretch. The common thread, for sure, is the tie to Singapore. If anything happens in the Singapore economy, we are very affected, Sr Vadeveloo Suppiah, a former chairman of the Johor chapter of the Malaysian Institute of Estate Agents, told me. There are Malaysians working in Singapore and seeking to trim overheads, or who are flush and can afford to stay on the island, but want to buy a home across the strait. There are Singaporean citizens who want to move to JB to save cash. Expats employed in Singapore, but without bulging relocation deals that cover rent and school fees, are an emerging group. Most of Vadeveloos clients are Malaysians working in the city-state. Its not all about expats like me for now at least. Advertisement As confident as agents are, the real test of JBs appeal and whether Singapores star is dimming, if even slightly, will come in a few years. Thats when a light-rail system joining downtown JB with the islands northern transport hub of Woodlands, and from there to the hyper-efficient underground train system, is scheduled to begin. Days before I visited, Singapore announced that construction on its side of the Rapid Transit System was halfway complete. Its going to be a game changer, Vadeveloo declared. For a long time, there was just a single crossing. The Causeway, erected by British colonial authorities, marks its centenary in September. In an effort to ease bottlenecks, a second road link was opened in 1998 after years of delays owing to disagreements about precise location, size and scope. While clearly not being able to live without each other, the two nations dont always see eye to eye. Among areas often mentioned as good deals is Puteri Harbour, around 30 minutes drive southwest of central JB. Along the highway, billboards protrude from the hillside promoting international schools such as Marlborough College and Raffles American School. Strolling around the waterfront retail area that abuts hotels and high-rise apartments one recent afternoon, I could see what fans were getting at. I also recognized this place, like many in Malaysia, had a generous amount of hype to go with its substance. Plenty of shopfronts were chained up with dusty signs plastered to walls advising they were closed for Covid. On the promenade, security guards and janitors outnumbered others by about six to one. Advertisement Later, at a bar called Rock Bottom, financial planner Adrian Paul is happy with his choice to relocate. A 37-year-old Malaysian with Singapore permanent residency, he and his Singaporean wife started considering leaving the city-state with their daughter when rents began the giddy ascent soon after Covid curbs were eased. The rent on their three-bedroom condo was climbing to S$7,000 ($5,250) -$8000 per month. For 8,000 Malaysian ringgit ($1,777) a month, the family now lives in a five-bedroom house with a yard, pool and space for several cars in the nearby Leisure Farm neighborhood. Here we can save and have a better quality of life, Paul said. This place is much busier on weekends. But this isnt simply transplanting an existence from Singapore. Internet connections arent so great, Paul found. There are problems with trash collection, and taxis and ride-hailing services can sometimes take more than an hour to arrive. Paul is careful not to schedule meetings in downtown Singapore before, say, midmorning, and he has flexibility that enables him to work from home a couple of times a week. He recounts the experiences of a neighbor working for an investment bank in the financial district. If she leaves at 6 p.m., she may not get home until after 8 p.m. Its great as long as you dont have office hours. Singapore has taken steps to cool its property market, whose astronomical values the government attributes largely to delays in construction during the pandemic. Last month, in an effort to take some heat out of the industry, stamp duty for second-home buyers was increased and raised dramatically for foreigners purchasing private property. Singaporeans buying their first home are exempt. The state plays a huge role in housing; most citizens reside in apartments bought from the Housing & Development Board and politicians are acutely sensitive to perceptions of affordability. Days after the new measures, the likely next premier, Lawrence Wong, pledged to keep valuations manageable. In Singapore, the Prime Minister has to be a real estate agent, Wong told a May Day rally. Advertisement An aging society heavily urbanized and with a languishing birth rate requires immigration, and Singapore embraces it more than many advanced nations. Its economy will always be inextricably linked with Malaysia, especially Johor. The latter wants the money from investors coming in. The city-state needs fresh food, vegetables, technicians, barmen, caterers, bus drivers and postal workers. Singapore needs to watch it doesnt become uncompetitive. For Johor, there are the challenges unleashed by geographic fortune: Demand from Singapore residents is making food, education and shelter more expensive for locals whose paychecks are in ringgit. The JB area is itself sucking in talent from across Malaysia. For all its allure, Johor isnt close to replicating Singapore, even if more people are prepared to at least contemplate a shift. Its not as simple as build and they will come. The dynamic reminds me of perennial complaints about the US dollars premier standing. The search for an alternative to the greenback, some magical currency that has all its advantages and no drawbacks of its own, keeps coming up short. Singapores moment in the sun isnt over. The boom in JB doesnt do normal business hours. The towering sign on the approach to the border checkpoint that proclaims its love for Johor is firmly planted on Malaysian soil. Advertisement More From Bloomberg Opinion: Singapore Property Pushback Shows Booms Downside: Daniel Moss Singapore Defies a Global Slowdown...For Now: Moss & Mukherjee Singapore Still Wants Smart, Rich Expats: Rachel Rosenthal This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners. Daniel Moss is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering Asian economies. Previously, he was executive editor of Bloomberg News for economics. More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com/opinion 2023 Bloomberg L.P. GiftOutline Gift Article Comment on this story Comment Gift Article Share In some ways, the UKs doctor shortage resembles the worldwide crunch in healthcare. From France and Germany to the US, Spain and the Nordics, aging populations are increasing demand for doctors, nurses and care workers. Yet medical training is expensive, the number of training placements for graduates is limited, and the pandemic has left many doctors spent. When it comes to the UK, imagine those pressures on steroids. At the end of last year, there were around 124,000 health-care vacancies in England; of these, nearly 9,000 were doctors, though that surely understates the extent of the problem. By 2030, one in four general practitioner posts are estimated to be vacant. There are multiple factors at play here. Some 18% of GPs reach minimum retirement age in the next year to 10 years. There has been increased attrition, with the number of doctors who retire early trebling in the past 13 years. The country trains too few doctors and then rewards them with low pay and poor working conditions, the focus of recent strikes. Meanwhile, the taxpayer-funded National Health Service is straining under a Covid backlog that now stretches to more than 7.4 million procedures, with consequences for everything from cancer care to hip replacements. Advertisement Doctors Ive spoken to even those who are long-established in their fields say its getting harder to be a doctor in the UK. But while government policy has focused on recruitment, the bigger issue is retention. Its no surprise that so many young doctors are opting for life elsewhere while their senior counterparts are retiring, curbing hours or focusing on more lucrative private practice. Australia facing acute doctor shortage of its own is aggressively recruiting British doctors, whose accents are now ubiquitous on wards in Perth, Melbourne and elsewhere (e.g., on TikTok, regaling their UK counterparts about the lifestyle benefits down under). Every junior doctor Ive spoken to (a designation that applies to registered doctors as many as eight years of experience) has classmates and friends who have moved abroad for higher salaries, better quality of life and less stressful conditions. I spent more time trying to find a space or bed to see a patient, finding equipment or fire-fighting logistical issues than doing the thing I was trained for, one senior emergency-room doctor who moved to Australia with her medic husband told me by email. They looked around and saw a system that was only getting worse. Close colleagues were having strokes, heart attacks and breakdowns in their 40s and 50s. We wanted to make sure we were around for our children. Like many of the doctors, she spoke on condition of anonymity. Advertisement Thomas Brockwell, a junior doctor who did his training at Oxford University, is just finishing his first year of postgraduate clinical work in the UK in hopes of becoming a pediatrician. He describes his office as a three-meter-squared room that he shares with two other doctors. Between them, they have two usable computers and not a single unbroken chair. From midday, when the senior doctor leaves, this trio will run the ward; outside the hours of 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., they will oversee 11 wards, or some 250 patients. I have been spat at, punched, leered at and groped, says Brockwell, who takes home 35,000 ($43,456) before tax, less when his Sisyphean graduation present of 100,000 of student debt and living expenses from six years of training are deducted. Of course, doctors everywhere endure many of these indignities, along with unsociable hours. In some countries, though, compensation levels ramp up quickly and working conditions are considerably better. One junior doctor in the UK notes she has to pay for her own scrubs, pay to access the doctors mess and pay for parking, small snubs that contribute to a sense her employer has little regard for working conditions and what they cost. And lest this workforce seem small, they account for nearly half of all hospital doctors in England. Advertisement There are political and cultural debates about whether Britains junior doctors are really so badly paid, even at starting salaries of about 14 an hour. Much of their medical education is taxpayer-funded and doctors can usually supplement their basic wages with more highly paid temporary locum work, as opponents of increasing doctor pay have pointed out. Employer pension contributions in the NHS, at over 20%, dwarf the average of about 6% in the private sector and doctors receive defined-benefit pensions, which are now rarely seen outside government. And yet such arguments miss the point. If the NHS is losing senior doctors to early retirement, private practice or burnout, and also watching newly trained doctors move abroad or forgo specialist training for a better deal, then the labor market isnt working to meet demand. The result is a depleted workforce, low morale and poorer quality of training for new doctors. And thats not to mention a spiraling health-care crisis that shows no signs of ceasing. The government is hoping to plug the hole by creating apprentice-doctors, who would bypass traditional medical school and be paid to work in clinical settings. Provided they pass the requisite exams, they would qualify as doctors five years after secondary school and with none of the debt that so many traditionally trained physicians incur. You can imagine how that has gone down among junior doctors. Advertisement Many of us would say that we could live without a lot of what we learned at university or have learned our trade mainly on the job. But doctor training requires a bedrock of scientific knowledge acquired through years of study. Would the apprentice degree really equate to that of a medical school graduate? Would it create a two-tier system of doctors? It may also exacerbate existing pressures. The UK system relies heavily on senior doctors to pass down experience on the wards to those in training, but both the capacity and goodwill required for this to happen are now in short supply. Medical students often have to chase down and practically beg to observe senior consultants who no longer have the time for this role. Apprentice-doctors would be more competition for those limited resources. Its possible that the advances of AI will lead to a radical rethink of medical education, with the prospect of time- and resource-savings and a lower bar for entry. But given current NHS conditions, the government plan is like putting a band-aid on a bullet wound. One senior London-based surgeon told me the plan smacks of trying to create a cheap labor force of individuals who will do low-level jobs in hospitals. Advertisement There are no easy fixes here, in part because the problem reflects the deep structural flaws in the NHS itself. The gradual increase in the number of medical school places is too limited to plug the doctor shortfall. But thats not likely to change much, both because of funding constraints (the government estimates that each place costs around 230,000, of which around 65,000 is paid to the student in loans that are recovered over the course of their careers) and capacity limits on ward-based training. The UK certainly needs to train more doctors, but that requires keeping more of those it already has. Like Australia, Britain is importing a record number of foreign doctors to fill the gap. Of those who joined the workforce in 2021, half were trained outside the UK. By 2030, internationally trained doctors would make up over two-thirds of the workforce under current trends, with the largest numbers coming from southeast Asia. But even that is not sufficient to make up for shortfalls. And internationally trained doctors are more likely to move on for better pay or conditions. British doctors in Australia and New Zealand cite a better working environment, higher staff morale, two to three times the pay of UK practice, greater control over hours and more respect for the profession. In the three emergency departments where I work in Sydney, 50% of the doctors are UK-trained, and in some its over 70%, says the formerly London-based emergency room doctor now in Australia. Some come for a few years and return, she says, but most stay. Advertisement Most UK-trained doctors dont want to leave their country, but the advantages are hard to ignore. With so many places fishing for doctors and other healthcare professionals, this a labor force that will be more mobile than ever before. At the moment, Britains brain drain is Australias doctor gain. More From Bloomberg Opinion: London Has Become a Better City for the Rich: Therese Raphael The Doctor Wont See You Now: Therese Raphael Dont Go Down That AI Longtermism Rabbit Hole: Parmy Olson --With assistance from Elaine He. This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners. Therese Raphael is a columnist for Bloomberg Opinion covering health care and British politics. Previously, she was editorial page editor of the Wall Street Journal Europe. More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com/opinion 2023 Bloomberg L.P. GiftOutline Gift Article Comment on this story Comment Gift Article Share OMAHA, Neb. A Nebraska woman pleaded guilty Monday to burning and concealing a fetus after she took medication to end her pregnancy, while prosecutors move forward with a criminal case accusing her mother of illegally helping with the abortion. Wp Get the full experience. Choose your plan ArrowRight Prosecutors said Celeste Burgess gave birth to the stillborn fetus about 29 weeks and five days into her pregnancy. She was 17 at the time, but prosecutors charged her as an adult. Burgess, now 18, pleaded guilty to a felony charge of concealing or abandoning a dead body and prosecutors dropped two misdemeanor charges. The fetus was found buried in a field north of Norfolk in northeast Nebraska. Her mother, Jessica Burgess, 42, is accused of illegally helping with the abortion last spring. The prosecutor involved has said he had never before charged anyone with violating Nebraskas 20-week abortion limit that was passed in 2010. On Monday, Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen signed a 12-week abortion ban into law. It took effect immediately. Advertisement The case against the mother and daughter is based partly on Facebook messages the two women exchanged about their plan to obtain the medication to induce an abortion and then to burn the fetus. Jessica Burgess has pleaded not guilty and is due back in court on July 7 for a pretrial hearing. Her lawyer didnt immediately respond to a message Monday. Celeste Burgess is scheduled to be sentenced on July 20. She faces up to two years in prison. Prosecutors agreed not to make a sentencing recommendation. According to court documents, the daughter talked in the messages she exchanged with her mom about how she cant wait to get the thing out of her body. She also said I will finally be able to wear jeans in one of the messages investigators obtained with a search warrant. In one message, Jessica Burgess told her daughter she obtained the pills and gave her instructions on how to end her pregnancy. Last summer, a man pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor for helping the women bury the fetus. GiftOutline Gift Article Comment on this story Comment Gift Article Share HIROSHIMA, Japan Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol prayed together Sunday at a memorial for Korean victims of the 1945 atomic bombing in Hiroshima on the sidelines of the Group of Seven summit, as they continued efforts to mend ties repeatedly hurt by disputes stemming from Japans wartime brutality. Yoon was in Hiroshima with leaders from seven other guest nations and G7 countries for outreach sessions on Sunday, the last day of the three-day summit. Kishida and Yoon held talks after laying flowers, and joined U.S. President Joe Biden later Sunday for discussions about further deepening security cooperation, including ways to strengthen U.S. nuclear deterrence for its two key allies in the region. The three leaders discussed stepping up coordination including real-time sharing of data warning of North Koreas missiles as part of their response to the Norths nuclear and missile threats, the Japanese Foreign Ministry said. They also discussed cooperation in economic security and engaging with Pacific Island nations, where China is strengthening its influence. Advertisement Biden invited the two leaders to visit Washington for a trilateral meeting and they accepted, said a U.S. official who briefed reporters on condition of anonymity. Yoon and Kishida, accompanied by their first ladies, stood in front of the memorial where they laid bouquets of white flowers and lowered their heads as they paid tribute to tens of thousands of Koreans who died in the attack 78 years ago. Yoon is the first South Korean leader to visit the memorial, underscoring a thaw in relations. Yoon, at the outset of his talks with Kishida later Sunday morning, praised the Japanese prime minister for his sincere determination to improve ties. The meeting is the third between them in two months since Yoon made an ice-breaking visit to Tokyo in March. He said he hoped to deepen cooperation not only between the two sides but also on global issues based on our deep relationship of trust. Advertisement The leaders visit to the Korean memorial was extremely important for Japan-South Korea relations and for praying for global peace, Kishida said at the talks. Kishida later escorted Yoon and other guest nation leaders to visit the atomic bomb museum dedicated to the victims and to pray at the main cenotaph at the Peace Memorial Park a focus of the summit for Kishida as he seeks to emphasize nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation. Ties have thawed rapidly between the countries since March, when Yoons 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 improve ties amid growing security threats in the region. Kishida and Yoon met in back-to-back summits in Tokyo and Seoul in recent months aimed at resolving disputes that also included the sexual abuse of comfort women in Tokyos World War II military-run brothels. Advertisement Some 20,000 ethnic Korean residents of Hiroshima are believed to have died in the first nuclear attack. The city, a wartime military hub, had a large number of Korean workers, including those forced to work in mines and factories under Japans colonization of the Korean Peninsula from 1910 to 1945. The first U.S. atomic bombing on Aug. 6, 1945, killed 140,000 people in Hiroshima. A second atomic attack on Nagasaki in southwestern Japan three days later killed another 70,000. Japan surrendered on Aug. 15, ending its nearly half-century attempt to conquer Asia. ___ Associated Press writer Kim Tong-hyung in Seoul, South Korea, contributed to this report. GiftOutline Gift Article Comment on this story Comment Gift Article Share LISBON Portuguese police have said they will resume searching for Madeleine McCann, the British toddler who disappeared in the countrys Algarve region in 2007, in the next few days. Portugals Judicial Police released a statement confirming local media reports that they would conduct the search at the request of the German authorities and in the presence of British officials. Earlier on Monday, police were seen erecting tents and cordons in an area by the Arade dam, about 50 kilometers (31 miles) from Praia da Luz, where the 3-year-old was last seen alive. British, Portuguese and German police are still piecing together what happened when the toddler disappeared from her bed in the southern Portuguese resort on May 3, 2007. She was in the same room as her 2-year-old twin brother and sister while her parents had dinner with friends at a nearby restaurant. Advertisement In mid-2020, Germanys police identified Christian Brueckner, a 45-year-old German citizen who was in the Algarve in 2007, as a suspect in the case. Brueckner has denied any involvement. The suspect is under investigation on suspicion of murder in the McCann case but hasnt been charged. He spent many years in Portugal, including in Praia da Luz around the time of Madeleines disappearance. Prosecutors in the northern German city of Braunschweig in October have charged Brueckner in several separate cases involving sexual offenses allegedly committed in Portugal between 2000 and 2017. Braunschweig prosecutor Christian Wolter said Monday his office would release a statement about the case on Tuesday morning. Madeleines disappearance stirred worldwide interest, with public claims of having spotted her stretching as far away as Australia, along with a slew of books and television documentaries about the case. Rewards for finding Madeleine reached several million dollars. GiftOutline Gift Article Like Trojan prophet Cassandra, doomed to foresee terrible events she cannot prevent, writer, performer and comedian Vidya Rajan was troubled by ominous rumbles in the private aged care system. About 2014, her eyes were opened when she worked a part-time role looking into complaints within the system. Like anybody who worked even tangentially in the sector would say, there was a storm coming, she recalls. And then the storm came in the form of the pandemic. Theres a question at the heart of the play: Playwright Vidya Rajan. Credit: Darrian Traynor Rajan who adapted the beloved novel-turned-movie Looking for Alibrandi for the recent Malthouse Theatre production and writes for and appears in ABC sitcom Aunty Donnas Coffee Cafe pushes on those pressure points in her new work Crocodiles. Its such a weird, transitory place full of invisible people, she says. The sector runs on, especially before the pandemic, migrant labour people who are often on precarious visas. And its where we put our old people who often we cant deal with because nothing in our society is set up to care for them at home. She penned a first draft in 2018 during a rapid-fire writing workshop. Participants were asked to respond to fellow Australian playwright Michael Gows award-winning work Away, depicting the conflicts of three families. Bitter divisions over the Voice to parliament have descended into a feud over whether the proposal will unite or re-racialise Australia, with Opposition Leader Peter Dutton denouncing it as a regressive and radical threat to Australias democracy. But Voice architect Noel Pearson says a successful referendum will lead to plurality, not apartheid in Australia and that constitutional recognition will finally bring Indigenous Australians in from the margins of society. Noel Pearson: We advocate plurality, not apartheid. We want differences of all kinds to be respected whilst always avoiding separatism. Credit: Alex Ellinghausen In a speech at Sydney University on Monday evening, Pearson argued that if the Yes vote in the referendum succeeded, the Voice will be a decisive step towards moving Australia from the old settler-native society to one, perhaps, where we are all natives of Australia. As federal parliament began debating the landmark piece of legislation that will authorise the Voice referendum, Dutton used his speech in the chamber to signal the attack lines that will form the basis of his campaign against the constitutional change, declaring it a divisive, disrupting and democracy-altering Canberra-based Voice. Lisbon: Portuguese police have said they will resume searching for Madeleine McCann, the British toddler who disappeared in the countrys Algarve region in 2007, in the next few days. Portugals Judicial Police released a statement confirming local media reports that they would conduct the search at the request of German authorities and in the presence of British officials. Earlier on Monday, police were seen erecting tents and cordons in an area by the Arade dam, about 50 kilometres from Praia da Luz, where the three-year-old was last seen alive. British, Portuguese and German police are still piecing together what happened when the toddler disappeared from her bed in the southern Portuguese resort on May 3, 2007. Issue: 13 August 1998 From Al-Ahram Weekly archives: Fifty years of dispossession 1948-1998 There is a new reality, unwittingly produced by the Oslo Accords -- a reality which had escaped the minds of many who watched the "historic" signing in September 1993: today, the requirements of a just and durable peace are very different than they used to be. The Oslo Accords dealt a crippling blow to the foundations of the global consensus which defined the prerequisites for a just and durable peace during the 1970s and 80s-- that peace was predicated on the right of the Palestinian people to establish their own independent state alongside Israel. That peace was to occur after Israel completed its withdrawal from the Occupied Territories in accordance with UN Security Council Resolution 242, and after the Palestinians recognised Israel's existence and sovereignty in the largest part of their own national patrimony. Almost five years after the "historic handshake", it has become clear that the pursuit of a negotiated settlement based on two states has run its course. That project was dealt a severe blow by a colossal imbalance of power, by a steady and growing Israelisation of American Middle East policy, by a vigorous drive of settler colonisation, by Arab disarray and failure to respond to the Israeli challenge and to the exigencies of the post-Cold War era. The Oslo process has demonstrated that the so-called partners are not only far apart conceptually but are hopelessly divided over interpretations and what the end results of the process should be. We have seen one agreement after another -- from Oslo I to Oslo II, from Cairo I to Cairo II, from early empowerment to the disempowerment of the Hebron Agreement. Oslo was a unique agreement that lacked a framework defining the rules of negotiations and the ends of the negotiating process. There is neither an overarching principle -- a vision -- nor a road map. The Palestinians were invited to discover whether they have rights, but not to claim their internationally-guaranteed rights. They came on the implicit assumption that Israel's military occupation does not even exist, and therefore, Israel's claim to the disputed (but not occupied) territories was at least as good as theirs. The Israeli side, however, knows exactly what it wants; the Palestinian side dreams about what it wants. The Israeli side continues to adhere to the letter -- their own letter -- of the agreement; the Palestinian side continues to invoke the spirit. The letter says that the enterprise is a mere agreement to reach agreement, that Palestinian sovereignty with jurisdiction over land and resources, and at the points of entry and exit is utterly out of the question; that Jerusalem is an Israeli city; that the Palestinian struggle for emancipation -- from the status of refugees and that of an occupied people -- will be dependent on Israeli goodwill, when and if final status negotiations are held, and after the Palestine Authority complies with ever-expanding requirements, which totally negate all prospects for Palestinian emancipation. The letter of Oslo renders the goal of Palestinian statehood both impractical and obsolete; and yet the Palestinian Oslo dream continues to hinge on the spirit, a tenuous thread of hope devoid of any substance. For not only has this spirit been firmly excluded from the discourse, but the agreement itself, seen largely as farcical, has all but collapsed. Paradoxically, the Oslo process has led to an inevitable conclusion, which its architects neither envisaged nor pursued. Now the struggle is towards integration not separation, towards a pluralistic existence, not exclusion, towards parity, mutuality, common humanity and a common destiny. This is the new and important reality which the Oslo process has generated. Ironically, this reality may be laying the foundations for a joint Palestinian-Israeli struggle, which would emanate from a realisation that the lives of Palestinians and Israelis are inextricably intertwined. There is a common interest in the economy, employment, water distribution, ecology, human rights, and foreign relations. Even if the Oslo process were to miraculously lead to some kind of a breakthrough, the maximum gain for the Palestinians would be a fractured collection of bantustans or non-contiguous enclaves covering 30-40 per cent of the West Bank and on 65 per cent of Gaza. Moreover, under optimal conditions, with social engineering similar to that designed by Yossi Beilin and Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazin), something called Palestine may emerge, though it will be only nominally independent. INDEPENDENCE HAS ALREADY been ruled out by the Labour-Likud agreement of 22 January 1997. The "National Agreement Regarding the Negotiations on the Permanent Settlement with the Palestinians" effectively excluded Palestinian sovereignty, removal of the settlements, negotiations on Jerusalem, repatriating the refugees and dismantling the occupation, thereby upholding the status quo though with a great deal of cosmetic surgery. We must keep in mind, however, that Netanyahu's team of surgeons lacks the skill of Rabin's and Peres's, who were more prepared to disguise structural flaws and exaggerate the beauty. To those who argue that Labour's classical Zionist doctrine, which espouses separation, would grant the Palestinians separate political existence, I say that the doctrine of separation has already been adapted to Likud's notion of "population mixture". That "mixture", enunciated by Begin and Shamir, and inherent in the autonomy scheme, now translates into cantonisation. How can one celebrate a process leading only to ghettoism and apartheid on the eve of the 21st century ? How can one applaud the birth of bantustans in the Middle East after their demise in South Africa? Since Oslo II, Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza have begun to realise that they are residents of enclaves separated from each other and from Israel, but nonetheless part of a "greater Israel". They are separated from the settlements, from Jerusalem, from each other's cities and villages and from the Palestinian diaspora. And this fragmentation is now becoming social, economic, physical and of course regional, despite Oslo's provision for a single-unit Palestinian entity. In view of all this, if something called a state were to emerge, it would be economically strangled by Israel, financially dominated by the World Bank and the IMF, constrained by the requirements of globalisation, militarily at Israel's mercy, always anxious to please Washington and the international donors. It will be intolerant of dissent, which has already been classified as terrorism. It will be pressed to seek a confederal relationship with Jordan and some kind of association with Israel in a Middle East version of NAFTA. QUITE CLEARLY, this is not what the Palestinian people have struggled for. Nor, for reasons already cited, is their struggle for an independent state within the Oslo framework likely to succeed. Which brings us to the new reality that is emerging out of Oslo's inherent flaws. This includes a new discourse about a broader social-economic struggle for equal rights, equal citizenship and equal legitimacy within a single Israeli-Palestinian entity. It is seen by a growing number of people on both sides as a viable alternative to perpetual conflict. On the Palestinian side for example, Edward Said advanced the idea in an interview in the Christian Science Monitor (27 May, 1997): "The whole idea of trying to produce two states is at an end. The Oslo peace process is really in tatters... The lives of Israelis and Palestinians are hopelessly intertwined. There is no way to separate them. You can have fantasy and denial, or put people in ghettos. But in reality there is a common history. So we have to find a way to live together. It may take 50 years. But... the Israeli experience will gradually turn back towards the world they really live in, the Islamic Arab world. And that can only come through Palestinians." Other Palestinian intellectuals, including Nadim Rouhana and Adel Samara have been calling for a single state -- in the case of the latter, "The only just and feasible form of bi-national state is the socialist one... It will have to be a state which will dissolve the Zionist regime... cancel the Law of Return, stop importing new settlers, guarantee the Palestinian right of return, equality of land and resources" (News from Within, April, 1997). On the Israeli side, endorsement of bi-nationalism comes from an unusually divergent group, including liberal politicians, secular leftists and right-wing rabbis. For example, Meron Benvinisti wrote: "The reality in Eretz Israel is a bi-national one. The reality inside the green line is also bi-national... The model which is closest to my heart is that of Belgium. Two peoples, the Flemings and the Walloons; two regional governments, and one central government... The direction I would prefer is cantonisation, the division of Eretz Israel West of the Jordan River, into Jewish and Arab cantons..." Haim Baram, a secular leftist, who is known to Western audiences through his regular columns in Middle East International, has also adopted the idea of bi-nationalism in order to avert an apartheid regime. On the religious right, Rabbi Menachem Fruman supports the idea of bi-nationalism on the grounds that it would guarantee the "wholeness of the land of Israel". "I prefer loyalty to the land over loyalty to the state. I see the whole Israel movement as a post-Zionist movement which represents an advance for Zionism..." Fruman, however, expresses no apologies for advocating two legal standards in the single state -- one for Jews and one for Arabs. Obviously it is difficult to propose a blueprint for bi-nationalism or to even debate at this juncture the democratic secular state versus the bi-national state; suffice it to say that the two people have been connected and are therefore being challenged to explore the basis fora common existence, the proper modalities, the redress of grievances, and paths to a common vision. FOR THE PALESTINIANS, this path of political development will not be entirely new since it constituted their first programme of liberation after the 1967 occupation. That program, however, which was linked to armed struggle, was summarily dismissed before it had even been debated, in order to accommodate the Arab states' agenda of a diplomatic struggle. In fact neither the PLO, nor its programme, were deeply rooted among Palestinians. There were institutions and there was rhetoric, but the money came from Arab states. The renunciation of the unitary state idea came as a quid pro quo: the PLO would scale down its ambitions, while the Arab states would provide diplomatic and material help for a mini independent Palestinian state alongside Israel. On the surface, diplomacy was declared to have succeeded, particularly as Israel was isolated in a world that came to endorse Palestinian self-determination. In reality however, it was a Phyrric victory, as the endorsed Palestinian state was never actually established. By contrast, the South Africans, who had also declared armed struggle, continued to cling to a unitary state and refuse all attempts to consider armed struggle as a form of terrorism. A separate independent existence was not high on their diplomatic agenda. In the case of Palestine, the UN focused on the human rights of the people under military occupation and on their right to a separate existence. But in spite of international recognition of their right to independence, they were never able to experience true emancipation. They continued to endure the refugee status of an occupied people, an ethnic minority in a country in which during the life time of many they had constituted a majority of the population. When the Palestinian struggle finally shifted during the Intifada, the goal of a separate independent existence remained intact. It was however, a struggle suited more towards empowerment and social and economic progress than towards coexistence in a single state. Its principal goal was to make the end of occupation not only desirable, but also manageable. Now that the pursuit of independence has been impeded by the structural arrangements inherent in Oslo, Palestinians are challenged more than ever to resurrect the political struggle of the Intifada: building mass organisations and alternative institutions that would enable them to cater to social, economic and political needs of the populace. The on-going and ever-increasing land grab will not be halted by diplomatic action, but will only be slowed down by mobilization and mass action. Undoubtedly, the task is daunting, for it challenges not only Israel's occupation, but the PA's authority. Any form of struggle would be considered seditious and hence subject to repression under the guise of fighting terrorism, guarding Israel's security and meeting the requirements of "reciprocity" a la Netanyahu. There are no short cuts to genuine emancipation. The privations and hardships associated with the status of refugees, or of second class citizens, will continue to retard Palestinian political development despite all the trappings of statehood -- a president without executive power, a council without legislative powers, courts with insignificant jurisdiction, an overblown civilian bureaucracy prone to corruption, and a pervasive military apparatus focused on suppressing dissent. ANY ALTERNATIVE TO OSLO must ensure the removal of the legal, social and economic discrimination faced by Palestinians. No degree of independence or liberation is meaningful without their eradication, which requires a systematic and protracted struggle together with those Israeli Jews who wish to be neither masters of another people, privileged in an apartheid system, or colonial settlers denying the existence of the indigenous population. The goal of the struggle would have to be equal protection under the law -- as in the 14th amendment to the US Constitution. Equality for every single human being in Palestine/Israel would be the motto of the new struggle. That, of course, is bound to collide with the interests of the major players -- in Washington, Tel Aviv and in Ramallah. It would signal that the US domination of Middle East diplomacy had failed. It would serve as an indictment of Zionism -- the classical version of Rabin, Peres, and Barak as well as the revisionist brand of Jabotinsky, Begin, and Netanyahu. It would serve, too, as an indictment of the narrow brand of Palestinian nationalism, which seems either unwilling or incapable of re-examining the past with all its errors, pitfalls and misconceptions. Call this kind of struggle unrealistic and the goal idealistic or utopian,but it certainly has more prospects for success than the present open-ended formula, whose explanation continues to be pursued more energetically than its application, and whose future is doomed by a grotesque disparity in power, divisions within the respective camps, and the reluctance of the self-styled peace-maker to devote any more energy to an issue that is no longer vital to the US's national interest. Negotiations between Israel and the PA are like encounters between the elephant and the fly. The current stalemate will continue to be fueled by divisions inside Israel, which now centre not on whether Oslo will end the occupation and restore a measure of normality to Israelis and Palestinians, but on the most efficient and least disruptive approach to preserving the status-quo under a more benign label. The method of repackaging the occupation is what really divided Rabin from Netanyahu, a fact that has not been lost on a sizable sector of the Palestinian community, inside and outside Palestine. While some comprehend it well, others feel it instinctively, irrespective of Arafat's constant expressions of nostalgia for and repeated devotion to Rabin's legacy. Arafat has placed himself in the untenable position of being unable to deliver to either Israel and the US or to his own constituents, who were ready to scale down their aspirations but not surrender their rights. His denunciations of terror and vows to eradicate violence, repeatedly urged by the US and Israel, are seen in the Palestinian street as an ominous attack on civil liberties. Moreover, his assumption of responsibility for Israel's security is becoming increasingly incontrovertible when that security keeps on assuming dimensions which negate Palestinian rights -- water security, settlements security and demographic security, which negates the rights of refugees. All of these factors confirm and prolong the stalemate. Oslo was not designed as a normal traditional agreement. It has now become a guarantor of disagreement and the legitimiser of the status quo. The Palestinians have no other choice but to struggle for equal rights and equal dignity. Not only had Oslo foreclosed on their option of a separate and sovereign existence; it has also denied them the right to struggle for that existence, inasmuch as most variants of the struggle are bound to be classified as either terrorism, lack of reciprocity, failure to abide by commitments or acting against peace. OPPOSITION POLITICS in the West Bank and Gaza will be considered as a security issue. Oslo, whether managed by Labour or Likud will remain as part of Israel's negotiating strategy calculated to put the onus on Arafat to prove his ability as an effective gendarme for Israel, while the latter is released from the pressure of finding a solution to its continuing occupation. As long as suicide bombings go on, Arafat's obligation to Israeli security will continue to dominate the diplomatic agenda and to overshadow the national rights of the Palestinian people. It is for this reason that the Israeli supplied framework of Oslo and its various corollaries, which in themselves are part of Israel's negotiating strategy, have placed Palestinian leaders in a "no win" situation. Arafat's deal with Israel is predicated on an impossible equation. for what Israel wants, Arafat cannot deliver without becoming Israel's puppet. The process which began in Oslo will reach nowhere because the nature of the Israeli state precludes genuine coexistence with the Palestinian people on equal basis. As long as the Zionist ideology of acquiring the land without the people prevails, a negotiated settlement based on the right of the two people to dignity and self-determination will continue to be elusive. Binyamin Netanyahu did not repudiate Rabin's strategy; he only rejected his tactics. We should recall that when Rabin diverted the negotiating venue from Washington to Oslo in 1993, he was making an important shift from the stalling tactics of his Likud predecessor, Shamir, while creating his own gridlock that had the appearance of diplomatic progress. In a subtle contrast to Shamir, Rabin opted for an agreement with built in conflict over meaning and objectives. It is because of that gridlock and the built in conflict that the Oslo process was born in a stalemate and continues to be stalled. Segmenting the Palestine question into issues, population, regions, towns, villages, and stages of negotiations has constituted one of the biggest obstacles to peace. Had the issue of land and settlement not been deferred, the question of settlement security would not have become a barrier for redeployment. Had the issue of Hebron not been singled out and also deferred, the question of "further" redeployment would not have arisen. Had the issues of Jerusalem and sovereigntynot been put off the violence associated with the closure, the tunnel, Ras Al-Amoud and Abu Ghneim would not have loomed on the agenda of the "honest broker". Had a pattern of deferral not been set, matters relating to self-governance, further redeployment, easing the closure, releasing tax funds, and even resuming negotiations would not have been treated as probationary. Could such a self-defeating process have ever been intended for implementation? ANY FORWARD MOVEMENT beyond the present no peace/no war situation would require a debate of Zionist ideology and history, in which difficult questions, suppressed since the establishment of Israel, would surface. At the heart of the debate would be the main Zionist narrative and its negative portrayal of Arabs, distortion of history and the requirements of peace. Already, we are told, a post-Zionist debate is taking place inside Israel. The question is how extensively has it been followed by the general public. Political Scientist Ilan Pappe has written a series of studies on this post-Zionist critique and its manifestations in various Israeli cultural products, including films, plays, music, novels and short stories as well as in scholarly discourse. Pappe's writings reveal how intertwined the lives of Israelis and Palestinians have become. There is an implication in his work that Israel cannot prosper as an isolated Western outpost in the region: A democratic pluralist Israel as a part of the Mediterranean is also an Israel with many historical narratives. Such an Israel has a chance of a common future. The question of whether Zionism is a movement of national plundering or a movement of a persecuted people acting according to a human ethic, seeking compromise and peace is being increasingly raised by Israeli intellectuals. The historian Benny Morris framed the question in terms of the accuracy of the "Zionist ethos claims that we came to this land not to exploit the natives and expel them, and not to occupy them by force." Only when this kind of critique is broadened to include the mainstream and penetrate the consciousness of the average Israeli will the so-called peace process begin to assume some hopefuldimensions. Only when the Palestinians decide to rediscover their democratic secular state framework and begin to adapt it to the present realities will hopes for real peace be rekindled. Call it a bi-national solution, a federal system or a cantonal system on the Swiss model, the common denominators will have to be equal rights, equal citizenship, plurality, coexistence and common humanity. That requires a de-Zionised Israel and a normal polity which exists for its own citizens, devoid of any privileges based on religion, ethnicity, race or gender. * The writer is member of the Palestine National Council and chancellor professor of political science, University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth. * This article was published in Al-Ahram Weekly on 13 August 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. Search Keywords: Short link: London: In its 200-year history the Oxford Union has hosted the good, the great and the odious on its way to cementing itself as one of the worlds most prestigious debating societies. The guest list is long but takes in Mother Teresa, Albert Einstein and Desmond Tutu as well as Provisional IRA leader Martin McGuinness, O.J. Simpson, after he was acquitted of murdering his wife, and Holocaust denier David Irving. Then-US secretary of state John Kerry speaks at the Oxford Union in 2016. Credit: AP The societys commitment to free speech, as well as the wider University of Oxford, has long been robust. The most recent test came with the Rhodes Must Fall campaign, a six-year tussle targeting the legacy of Cecil Rhodes fought out between the anti-colonialist movement, a divided university, and government ministers who have adamantly opposed the removal of historic monuments. But now several university groups are cutting their long affiliation with the society, and up to 1000 protesters are preparing a campus picket in a dispute over the decision by the Oxford Union to invite the feminist professor Kathleen Stock to give a talk on gender on May 30. Imagine your house is on fire. The fire service arrives and commences a very professional job of extinguishing the flames, saving many of your possessions. But then, halfway through the job, the firemen and women turn off their hoses and then stand and watch your house, and your treasured possessions, burn to the ground. Such a scenario is difficult to conceive. But it is exactly what Australia has done with its support for Ukraine. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese crossed paths at the G7 Summit in Japan. Credit: AP In 2022, Australia was a significant provider of military assistance to the government of Ukraine. Bushmasters, armoured personnel carriers, weapons and other military material were dispatched to help the Ukrainian military stem the Russian onslaught that sought to extinguish their young democracy. Australias aid was generous, and very much appreciated by the Ukrainian people. But as 2022 turned to 2023, and other nations decided to turn up the spigot on aid to support spring offensives by the Ukrainian army, Australia has done an about face. This year, the Australian government has made no major contributions to the defence of Ukraine with the exception of a small consignment of uncrewed aerial vehicles. That, and a couple of selfies by parliamentarians in Parliament House. There is a term for this. Bystander behaviour. It is a type of behaviour also described in psychology as the bystander effect that the Australian military takes extraordinarily seriously. It has even defined it as anyone who becomes aware of a situation that is a serious contravention to our values, has an adverse impact on morale, wellbeing or discipline and who fails to report an incident once they become aware of it. Our nations new strategy for Ukraine has shifted from support Ukraine to strategic bystanding. Cameroons celebration this year coincides with the 60 th anniversary of the Organization of African Unity On the occasion of the 51 anniversary of its unity, Ambassador of Cameroon in Cairo and dean of the African diplomatic corps, Dr Mohamadou Labarang, held a celebration, on 20 May. In it, he stressed that this day represents the consolidation of national unity and integration among the spectrums of the people belonging to one nation, despite the ethnic diversity representing 280 different ethnic groups. Labarang added, The dispatch of the deputy foreign minister to celebrate the National Day of Cameroon reflects the extent of Egypts interest in strengthening the distinguished historical relations between the two countries. The slogan of the celebration was under this theme, The defense forces and Cameroonian people in solidarity for peacekeeping and national unity are the basis of a prosperous Cameron. Cameroons celebration this year coincides with the 60th anniversary of the Organization of African Unity. For his part, Ambassador Hamdy Louza, deputy foreign minister for African Affairs, said that Cameroons celebration this year coincides with the 60th anniversary of the Organization of African Unity, which calls for vigorous efforts to overcome the challenges facing the continent as the Cameroonian president said in order to achieve the vision of the African Union. Loza explained, The slogan of the celebration must be carried by all African countries, especially Sudan which is going through difficulties that threaten its unity, stability, and prosperity. The celebration was attended by several members of the diplomatic corps, and included a presentation of Cameroons most delicious food along with a folkloric performance. Search Keywords: Short link: At the invitation of the Americas and Caribbean region, WCO Secretary General Dr. Kunio Mikuriya attended the Heads of Customs Meeting of the Americas and Caribbean (AMS) Region, held in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic on 18 and 19 May 2023. Secretary General Mikuriya, together with Ms. Martha Elba Garamendi Espinoza, the Vice Chair of the AMS region and Deputy National Superintende of Customs of SUNAT, Peru, and Mr. Eduardo Sanz Lovaton, Director General of the Dominican Republic Customs, opened the conference. Dr. Mikuriya thanked the Vice Chair and the Dominican Republic for organizing the first in-person regional meeting since 2019. After Secretary General Mikuriyas address on the Future of Customs, the Meeting organized a series of panel sessions on human resource management, gender equality and diversity, revenue collection, resilience, green customs, disruptive technology, modernization and cooperation to share best practices. The Directors General also heard the report on the WCO Capacity Building and WCO regional entities, as well as the proposed WCO budget for the next year. The participants appreciated the opportunity to exchange views in person and the hospitality of the Dominican Republic. The World Customs Organization (WCO) Secretariat organized a National Workshop on Post-Clearance Audit (PCA) for Sri Lanka Customs in Colombo, from 8 to 12 May 2023. The Workshop, funded by the Customs Cooperation Fund of Japan (CCF/Japan), was a follow-up to a PCA Training Workshop conducted in December 2018. The Director General of Sri Lanka Customs, Mr. P.B.S.C. Nonis, officially opened the Workshop and gave an insightful speech, highlighting the importance of PCA for trade facilitation and revenue collection and warmly welcoming the facilitators. He also expressed his deep appreciation to the WCO Secretariat and to the CCF/Japan for their ongoing support for capacity building. The Workshop was attended by 18 participants from the Post-Clearance Audit Department of Sri Lanka Customs, who showed a high level of interest and eagerness to learn. The Workshop covered a range of topics related to PCA, including the compliance approach, risk management, Customs valuation control, risk-based compliance management and the audit cycle. The Workshop included a role-play case study of an actual audit scenario, where participants actively engaged with the material. The facilitators made an effort to support participants in further developing their PCA processes through lively discussions and hands-on exercises. The Workshop was structured to be practical, providing participants with solutions that are fully applicable to their work environment. The successful completion of the Workshop is expected to contribute significantly to the continued improvement of the well-developed PCA system already implemented within Sri Lanka Customs, and to have a positive impact on the Administrations PCA operations. Wrapping up a three-day summit with allies of the Group of Seven leading democracies, U.S. President Joe Biden sought to reassure China that conflict with the West is avoidable, even as the G7 ramps up pressure to push back against Beijing's rising military and economic security threats. "I don't think there's anything inevitable about the notion that there's going to be this conflict" between the West and Beijing, Biden said during a Sunday news conference in Hiroshima, Japan, at the conclusion of the summit. Biden, however, underscored that the G7 and other regional partners are aligned to push back against Beijing's aggression, including its potential invasion of Taiwan. "I think we're more united than we've ever been in the Pacific," he said. "We all agree we're going to maintain the One China policy," Biden said, referring to the policy under which the United States recognizes Beijing as representing China, and acknowledges Beijing's view that it has sovereignty over Taiwan without endorsing it. Under the policy, Washington considers Taiwan's status as unsettled. Neither China nor Taiwan "can independently declare what they're going to do, period," Biden said, referring to the Taiwan's status quo. "There has to be a mutually agreed new outcome." While Western allies "don't expect Taiwan to independently declare independence," Biden warned China against invading the self-governing island that Beijing considers a breakaway province. "There is clear understanding among most of our allies, that in fact, if China were to act unilaterally, there would be a response," he warned. "There would be a response." Protests over pension reforms have roiled France in recent months, but demonstrations have been kept largely at bay at one of the country's glitziest events, the Cannes Film Festival. On Sunday, dozens of protesters gathered in Cannes to oppose the raising of the reforms pushed through parliament by President Emmanuel Macron's government. Those protests, however, were far removed from the central hub of the festival, the Palais des Festivals, or Cannes' seaside boulevard, the Croisette. Instead, they gathered on the edge of the city, on the Boulevard Carnot. "We are against the retirement reforms which will make many people die at work," said Tomas Ghestem, one of the demonstrators. Ahead of the festival, local authorities in Cannes ordered a ban on rallies throughout much of Cannes. That move was part of increasing attempts throughout France to prohibit demonstrations in some high-profile locations. Unions have called for a new round of nationwide demonstrations on June 6. A major New York City hospital ignored a star physicians rampant sexual abuse of patients, turning a blind eye to what he was doing to them behind closed exam-doom doors because his thriving pain practice was generating so much money, according to a lawsuit filed Monday. Officials at Mount Sinai Beth Israel in Manhattan knew Dr. Ricardo Cruciani was a serial abuser but failed to report him to law enforcement or licensing authorities for more than a decade, nor did they warn future employers about the threat he posed, 19 former patients allege in court documents. By pursuing this lawsuit, these brave survivors seek accountability for the devastation that they and others have suffered and continue to endure, said John Pumphrey, an attorney for the plaintiffs. Mount Sinai Beth Israel had no immediate comment on the allegations. The 799-bed teaching hospital, on Manhattans Lower East Side, employed Cruciani between 2001 and 2014. The pain doctor killed himself at New Yorks notorious Rikers Island jail complex last August after a jury convicted him of 12 criminal counts, including rape. All six women who testified against Cruciani at his criminal trial are plaintiffs in the civil suit brought against the hospital, its parent health system and Crucianis estate. The claim was filed under New Yorks Adult Survivors Act, a recent state law that opened a one-year window for adult survivors to sue over sexual abuse that took place years or even decades ago. Cruciani was a renowned, Ivy League-trained neurologist who specialized in rare, debilitating syndromes. He exploited patients who were desperate for relief from chronic pain, overprescribing powerful painkillers to control his patients, facilitate his sexual assaults, and trap them, the suit said. The abuse was an open secret among Crucianis colleagues, the suit said, with a nurse practitioner once telling a patient that Cruciani can get very handsy, so watch yourself, and Crucianis direct supervisor admitting the neurologist had an impulse control problem and couldnt control himself. A nurse even walked in on Cruciani while he was exposing himself to a patient but did not report it, the lawsuit said. Over the years, at least 13 patients reported Crucianis misconduct to various staff members and officials at the hospital, but the hospital concealed and covered up multiple complaints about Crucianis misconduct within its organization to continue to reap substantial revenue from Crucianis patients and their insurers, the suit said. Tanisha Johnson, one of the plaintiffs, said in a statement released by her lawyer that the hospital did nothing to protect us, help us or even acknowledge us. Crucianis misconduct first came to the publics attention in 2017, in Philadelphia, where he was chief neurologist at Drexel Universitys medical school and pleaded guilty to misdemeanor groping counts involving seven patients. At the time of his death, Cruciani had also been scheduled to go on trial on federal charges that he attacked patients at offices in New York, Philadelphia and Hopewell Township, New Jersey. He also was facing state charges in New Jersey. The hospitals that employed Cruciani have as much blood on their hands as he did, said Hillary Tullin, another plaintiff and former patient of Cruciani. The Associated Press does not typically identify people who say they are survivors of sexual assault unless they grant permission, which Tullin and Johnson have done. SHARE: OTTAWA - A timeline of some key events in the evolution of the RCMPs structure and responsibilities: May 3, 1873: Act establishing the North-West Mounted Police introduced by then-prime minister John A. Macdonald. May 23, 1873: Bill passes unopposed through Parliament and receives royal assent. However, it does not immediately establish NWMP, as it is merely an emergency measure. Aug. 30, 1873: Order-in-council brings NWMP into existence. Oct. 18, 1873: George Arthur French becomes first permanent commissioner. Nov. 3, 1873: First 150 recruits for the NWMP gather at Lower Fort Garry, Man., north of Winnipeg. July 8, 1874: March West to what is now Alberta begins at Fort Dufferin in Manitoba. 1876: First public performance of riding skills at Fort Macleod in Alberta. 1887: Musical Ride first performed at Regina. June 5, 1895: A NWMP contingent leaves for Yukon, extending presence to northern frontier. June 24, 1904: King Edward VII confers title of Royal upon North-West Mounted Police. July 21, 1908: Order-in-council approves fingerprint system. Jan. 1, 1917: RNWMP is relieved of provincial policing duties in Manitoba and Saskatchewan, with the creation of their own provincial police forces. 1919: Forces pan-Arctic presence includes 25 detachments and over 70 men. July 14, 1919: Order-in-council increases size of the RNWMP to 2,500 members. Feb. 1, 1920: The Royal North West Mounted Police becomes the Royal Canadian Mounted Police with absorption of the Dominion Police. Headquarters is moved to Ottawa from Regina. June 1, 1928: RCMP takes over provincial policing duties for Saskatchewan. April 1, 1932: RCMP absorbs provincial police organizations for Alberta, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island. April 1, 1932: Patrol boats and personnel are transferred from Department of National Revenue, creating RCMP Marine Section. April 1, 1937: RCMP Air Services is created with the purchase of four planes. April 1, 1960: Civilian member category created in RCMP for work in crime-detection laboratories and various technical fields. 1966: Last year of mandatory equestrian training for all recruits. June 30, 1967: David Lawrence, RCMPs first Black member, begins training in Regina. March 3, 1975: First all-female troop graduates. July 16, 1984: RCMP Security Service ceases to exist with duties taken over by newly formed civilian agency, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service. 1989: Last female-only troop goes through training. Oct. 19, 1989: RCMP contingent sent to Namibia to monitor elections, making the first time the force participated in a United Nations mission. 1990: Baltej Singh Dhillon becomes first RCMP member to wear a turban during recruit training. 1992: Women are issued iconic Stetson, boots and breeches for first time. Dec. 16, 2006: Beverley Busson becomes interim commissioner, first woman to hold post. Oct. 5, 2011: New RCMP headquarters opens in Ottawa. April 16, 2018: Brenda Lucki becomes first permanent female commissioner. (Sources: RCMP, The Canadian Press) This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 22, 2023. Read more about: SHARE: Mississauga Mayor Bonnie Crombie is launching an exploratory bid to lead the Ontario Liberals with an eye toward defeating Premier Doug Fords Progressive Conservatives in 2026. Im the only person thinking about putting their name forward who has governing experience and who has gone toe-to-toe with the Ford government whether its over the housing affordability crisis, health care and education or the climate change crisis, said Crombie. I have been meeting and speaking with Liberals across the province and many of them have encouraged me to run, the three-term mayor told the Star on the eve of making her leadership intentions official Tuesday. A Crombie candidacy is viewed as an existential threat in Progressive Conservative circles. She is a formidable opponent for us, conceded a senior Tory, who, like other Ford insiders interviewed, spoke confidentially in order to discuss internal deliberations. We have six seats in Mississauga and five in Brampton that Bonnie Crombie could put in play, the official said, mindful of how the Liberals dominated Greater Toronto Area ridings while in power from 2003 until 2018. Another high-ranking PC insider agreed Crombie who is also chair of Ontarios Big City Mayors, which represents urban centres with a population of 100,000 or more would upend the electoral map for the governing party. Shes a 905 mayor and by the next election, well have been in for two terms and, remember, governments have a tendency to defeat themselves, the second Tory confided. Crombie, one of the best-known municipal politicians in Canada, said its very important that the Liberal party be brought back to the centre, which is where our roots are. Crombie a former Liberal MP who was never a part of the governments of former premiers Kathleen Wynne or Dalton McGuinty said the provincial party moved too far to the left in recent years. That alienated people who perhaps voted for the Ford government as a result, the mayor said of the Grits chasing of traditional New Democratic Party voters. Being a centrist myself and the way I managed the city would bring those people back to the centre and give them an alternative, she said, emphasizing the Grits need to broaden their appeal in both town and country. The Liberal party is a party of larger cities and municipalities (but) we have to have policies that address rural issues as well as urban issues to bring them back into the fold. Having badly lost elections to Fords Tories in 2018 and again last year, the Grits, who lack enough seats in the legislature for official party status, are looking for a leader to revive them. So far, Liberal MP Nate Erskine-Smith (Beaches-East York) is the lone confirmed candidate in the Dec. 2 contest, which will be decided using a new one-member, one-vote ranked-ballot system similar to how the Tories elect their leaders. Others exploring bids are Liberal MP Yasir Naqvi (Ottawa Centre), a former provincial cabinet minister and Ontario Liberal Party president, and MPPs Stephanie Bowman (Don Valley West), Ted Hsu (Kingston and the Islands) and Adil Shamji (Don Valley East). Candidates must pay a $100,000 entry fee plus a $25,000 refundable deposit. Crombie said she would remain as mayor before making a final decision to formally enter the race later this year. Fresh from perhaps her greatest political triumph convincing Ford to free Mississauga from the shackles of Peel Region she is riding high. In fact, some Tories had hoped that significant victory might convince her to remain in municipal politics. My exact words to Mayor Bonnie Crombie, I said, You should be doing cartwheels when I talked to her last night all the way down Highway 10, Ford told reporters Friday in St. Catharines. Crombie, who won 77.1 per cent of the popular vote in last Octobers election by campaigning for an independent Mississauga, was not shy about her willingness to work with a rival to achieve results. I convinced him that it was the right thing to do that the taxpayers were further ahead with smaller, nimble, innovative cities that are more flexible, that could issue permits faster because there would be less red tape, she said. So I think that that resonated with him. But she emphasized the two leaders have many policy differences. That includes Crombies concern with Fords various housing bills that could shortchange municipalities billions of dollars in lost development charges. His penchant for overriding local planning decisions and the controversial use of ministers zoning orders in places like Port Credit is also cause for alarm. I have a very direct style that perhaps is the crux of our relationship. I dont pull any punches, Crombie said. Sometimes I think the premier sees that as criticism. I see it as very constructive input. Robert Benzie is the Stars Queens Park bureau chief and a reporter covering Ontario politics. Follow him on Twitter: @robertbenzie Read more about: SHARE: Allentown, PA (18103) Today A mix of sunshine and increasing high clouds. Remaining dry, except areas closer to Maryland and Delaware border where a late day shower is possible. . Tonight Partly cloudy overnight; a shower or two from far southern PA to Delaware and far South Jersey. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Sunday that it was time to reform both the Security Council and Bretton Woods to align with the "realities of today's world." Speaking at a press conference in Hiroshima, Japan, where the Group of Seven summit meeting had been held, Guterres said both institutions reflected the power relations of 1945 and needed to be updated. "The global financial architecture became outdated, dysfunctional and unfair," he said. "In the face of the economic shocks from the coronavirus pandemic and the Russian invasion of Ukraine, it has failed to fulfil its core function as a global safety net." Guterres also spoke of how he felt that at the G7 summit there was a growing consciousness among developing countries that not enough was being done to reform outdated institutions or "remove the frustrations" of the Global South. India's economy will grow over 6 percent this year and next, the International Monetary Fund said in its World Economic Outlook this January. Reading, PA (19601) Today A mix of sunshine and increasing high clouds. Remaining dry, except areas closer to Maryland and Delaware border where a late day shower is possible. . Tonight Partly cloudy overnight; a shower or two from far southern PA to Delaware and far South Jersey. There's only a little over a week until the U.S. is expected to hit the debt ceiling on June 1, with Republicans and Democrats still at odds over tying spending cuts to raising it. "When we are talking about trying to save money moving forward that is a completely legitimate discussion, but it shouldn't not come at the risk of defaulting on the debt ceiling," said Democratic Congresswoman Susan Wild, who argues they should be separate. "The three different years that President Trump was president, the Democrats agreed to raise the debt ceiling without any kind of drama," Wild said. Her Republican counterpart, Congressman Dan Meuser, says the cuts are necessary now: "It's quite important that we pay the nation's debts, but we have to recognize that over the last 2.5 years, there's been over $5 trillion in excess spending taking place." Over the weekend, President Joe Biden offered to freeze spending for 2024 but Republicans rejected the idea, holding out for non-defense spending cuts. He and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy are resuming in-person negotiations on Monday. "We can't just give a blank check on the debt ceiling. If you do, then we won't have any limits moving forward until the Biden administration is no longer in office," Rep. Meuser said. "Joe Biden wouldn't even see Speaker McCarthy for 100 days, ignoring the problem, and now we're in the countdown here." It's a game of high-stakes political brinkmanship. If the U.S. defaults, federal workers and contractors would go unpaid, including military service members, and the country would be unable to pay its bills, including Social Security checks, SNAP payments, and government bond payouts. "We've been told that 7,600 jobs would be lost right in Pennsylvania," Wild said. A report from Moody's Analytics found a prolonged breach for months could cost Pennsylvania alone more than 200,000 jobs and bring the unemployment rate to around 7.8%. Moody's estimates even a default for less than a week would likely cause a recession, with 1.5 million people losing their jobs. Both congresspeople feel an agreement can still be made before the deadline. Thank you for reading! Please purchase a subscription to read our premium content. If you have a subscription, please log in or sign up for an account on our website to continue. President Yoon Suk-yeol met one-on-one with 10 global leaders on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Hiroshima, Japan over the weekend. Yoon, who was invited as an observer, not only met with the G7 leaders of Italy, Japan, the U.K. and the U.S. but also with those of Australia, India, Indonesia, Ukraine, Union of the Comoros and Vietnam. He also continued to mend fences with Japan by paying tribute with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida at a monument honoring Korean victims of the atomic bombing of the city at the end of World War II and sat down with Kishida and U.S. President Joe Biden. "The three countries agreed to further strengthen strategic cooperation necessary to solidify a free and open international order based on the rule of law to strengthen deterrence against North Korea," the presidential office said after the trilateral meeting. Elnur Enveroglu Lately, the strategic alliance between Armenia and Iran has become stronger against the backdrop of some important events that have taken place in recent days. These include the brutal beating of South Azerbaijani journalist Ahmad Obali in the US, and the publication of an unnecessary critical article about Azerbaijan-Israel relations in the Armenian press. This has started to bring more clarity to the issue. It was published in the article that the supposedly close relations between Azerbaijan and Israel are a strategy aimed at Iran, and this is also related to South Azerbaijan and the 35 million Azerbaijanis who live there. This kind of provocative approach by Armenia clearly shows that Armenia and Iran have joined forces to target Azerbaijan. But the matter does not end there. Commenting on on the issue for Azernews, CEO of the Dona Gracia Center for Diplomacy and Israel-based journalist Rachel Avraham noted that Iran is still in a mood of bellicose jingoism. Actually, Iran is not silent. There was a Press tv article published under the title Zionists infiltrate Azerbaijan that was published two days ago, exactly after Azerbaijans Deputy Foreign Minister visited Israel to address the Herzliya Conference, she said. Avraham said that the incident was not accidental and that both the terrorist attack against the South Azerbaijani journalist and the publication of such an article in the Armenian press alongside on Press TV were a joint effort. Ahmad Obali, a prominent journalist, was physically assaulted in a terror attack and is now in hospital struggling for his life. The Iranian regime also attacked his son Deniz. I dont think it is just a coincidence. This article that was published in the Armenian media just shows once again how Armenia is a proxy of Iran, Avraham stressed. It is an undeniable fact that historically, South Azerbaijan is part of North Azerbaijan. They were separated due to Russian and Persian imperialists. South Azerbaijan was brutally crushed by the Pahlavis later on, after they experienced independence for one year. Now, the time has come for the South Azerbaijani people to get their freedom again. Ahmad Obali is the voice of freedom and the Iranians wanted to silence him, Avraham said as she commented on the critic spotlighting one of her comments to a media outlet. I have no doubt that Armenians here want to support Iran and they have targeted me. There are so many Israeli journalists writing about the South Azerbaijanis, but it was not an accident that they went after me but not them. I have had many interviews with Ahmad Obali. He is a kind and intelligent person who knows history very well. Given what they say about me in that article, I wonder what the Iranian regime is planning next after Obali. Businesses that hiked their prices since the coronavirus pandemic are now reaping stellar profits as raw materials costs fall again but they refuse to slash their price tags apace. Analysis of the first-quarter earnings of 1,879 listed companies shows that operating profits rose in 40 out of 62 industries. Companies in 19 sectors saw operating profits more than double, especially in consumer products like cars, clothing, beverages and home appliances. Joo Won at the Hyundai Research Institute said, "Since demand rose in hardly any sector compared to before the pandemic, it's clear that price hikes were the main reason behind surging profits." StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Advance Auto Parts (NYSE:AAP Get Rating) in a research report report published on Thursday morning. The firm issued a buy rating on the stock. Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on AAP. Barclays raised Advance Auto Parts from an underweight rating to an equal weight rating and decreased their price target for the company from $140.00 to $129.00 in a research note on Friday, March 31st. DA Davidson lowered their price objective on Advance Auto Parts from $170.00 to $142.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 1st. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Advance Auto Parts from $150.00 to $125.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a research note on Monday, May 15th. Roth Mkm downgraded Advance Auto Parts from a buy rating to a neutral rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $180.00 to $140.00 in a research note on Monday, February 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Advance Auto Parts from $165.00 to $155.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 1st. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $161.17. Get Advance Auto Parts alerts: Advance Auto Parts Price Performance Advance Auto Parts stock opened at $117.41 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a quick ratio of 0.21 and a current ratio of 1.13. Advance Auto Parts has a 52 week low of $109.05 and a 52 week high of $212.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 1.10. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $121.83 and a 200-day moving average of $140.35. Advance Auto Parts Dividend Announcement Advance Auto Parts ( NYSE:AAP Get Rating ) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 28th. The company reported $2.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $2.41 by $0.47. Advance Auto Parts had a return on equity of 28.53% and a net margin of 4.50%. The business had revenue of $2.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $2.42 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.07 EPS. The businesss revenue for the quarter was up 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Advance Auto Parts will post 10.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year. The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 14th were given a $1.50 dividend. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.11%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 13th. Advance Auto Partss dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 72.55%. Hedge Funds Weigh In On Advance Auto Parts Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC grew its position in Advance Auto Parts by 0.5% during the third quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC now owns 12,928 shares of the companys stock worth $2,021,000 after buying an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Advance Auto Parts by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,835 shares of the companys stock worth $287,000 after purchasing an additional 68 shares in the last quarter. SeaBridge Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Advance Auto Parts by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. SeaBridge Investment Advisors LLC now owns 5,547 shares of the companys stock worth $816,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Advance Auto Parts by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 4,189 shares of the companys stock worth $616,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ArrowMark Colorado Holdings LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Advance Auto Parts by 4.7% in the 4th quarter. ArrowMark Colorado Holdings LLC now owns 1,717 shares of the companys stock worth $252,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. 96.04% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors. Advance Auto Parts Company Profile (Get Rating) Advance Auto Parts, Inc engages in the supply and distribution of aftermarket automotive products for both professional installers and do-it-yourself customers. It operates through the following segments: Advance Auto Parts/Carquest U.S., Carquest Canada, Worldpac, and Independents. The company was founded by Arthur Taubman in 1929 and is headquartered in Raleigh, NC. Further Reading Receive News & Ratings for Advance Auto Parts Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Advance Auto Parts and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of Apollo Global Management (NYSE:APO Get Rating) in a research note issued to investors on Thursday morning, The Fly reports. The firm issued a buy rating and a $80.00 price objective on the financial services providers stock. Several other equities research analysts have also commented on APO. Bank of America reduced their price objective on Apollo Global Management from $78.00 to $72.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 5th. TheStreet upgraded Apollo Global Management from a d+ rating to a c rating in a research note on Thursday, February 9th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Apollo Global Management from $69.00 to $68.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 13th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Apollo Global Management from $74.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Friday, February 10th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Apollo Global Management from $74.00 to $79.00 in a report on Monday, May 15th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $74.25. Get Apollo Global Management alerts: Apollo Global Management Price Performance Shares of APO opened at $63.85 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $36.23 billion, a PE ratio of -26.38, a P/E/G ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 1.68. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $61.65 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $65.08. Apollo Global Management has a 1-year low of $45.62 and a 1-year high of $74.63. Apollo Global Management Increases Dividend Insider Buying and Selling at Apollo Global Management The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 22nd will be issued a $0.43 dividend. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.69%. This is a positive change from Apollo Global Managements previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 19th. Apollo Global Managements payout ratio is presently -66.12%. In related news, CFO Martin Kelly sold 15,000 shares of the companys stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.11, for a total transaction of $1,051,650.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 425,120 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $29,805,163.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Apollo Global Management news, CFO Martin Kelly sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.11, for a total value of $1,051,650.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 425,120 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $29,805,163.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Joshua Harris sold 193,537 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.65, for a total transaction of $12,705,704.05. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 36,160,664 shares in the company, valued at $2,373,947,591.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 1,240,982 shares of company stock worth $79,680,152 in the last ninety days. 15.40% of the stock is owned by insiders. Institutional Investors Weigh In On Apollo Global Management A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Apollo Global Management by 87.8% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 37,374,072 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $2,316,818,000 after purchasing an additional 17,476,830 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. increased its position in Apollo Global Management by 7.2% during the third quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 29,502,545 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $1,371,867,000 after purchasing an additional 1,970,012 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in Apollo Global Management by 2.0% during the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 9,505,487 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $600,360,000 after purchasing an additional 184,378 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its position in Apollo Global Management by 78.1% during the first quarter. FMR LLC now owns 8,830,094 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $557,709,000 after purchasing an additional 3,872,458 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC increased its position in Apollo Global Management by 1.0% during the first quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 7,859,123 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $487,187,000 after purchasing an additional 78,795 shares during the last quarter. 68.98% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors. About Apollo Global Management (Get Rating) Apollo Global Management, Inc provides asset management services. It offers its clients excess return at every point along the risk-reward spectrum from investment grade to private equity with a focus on three business strategies: yield, hybrid, and equity. The company was founded by Marc Rowan in 1990 and is headquartered in New York, NY. Further Reading Receive News & Ratings for Apollo Global Management Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Apollo Global Management and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Asbury Automotive Group (NYSE:ABG Get Rating) in a research note released on Thursday. The firm issued a hold rating on the stock. Separately, Stephens upped their target price on shares of Asbury Automotive Group to $275.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 27th. Get Asbury Automotive Group alerts: Asbury Automotive Group Stock Performance Shares of Asbury Automotive Group stock opened at $204.23 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $4.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.79, a PEG ratio of 0.36 and a beta of 1.12. The firms 50-day moving average is $200.65 and its 200 day moving average is $197.76. Asbury Automotive Group has a 1 year low of $138.88 and a 1 year high of $253.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.92 and a quick ratio of 0.91. Insider Activity Asbury Automotive Group ( NYSE:ABG Get Rating ) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 25th. The company reported $8.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $7.94 by $0.43. The business had revenue of $3.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $3.79 billion. Asbury Automotive Group had a net margin of 6.23% and a return on equity of 29.48%. The businesss revenue for the quarter was down 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $9.27 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Asbury Automotive Group will post 31.52 EPS for the current fiscal year. In other news, SVP George A. Villasana sold 2,828 shares of the companys stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $235.60, for a total transaction of $666,276.80. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 4,290 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $1,010,724. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.41% of the companys stock. Institutional Investors Weigh In On Asbury Automotive Group Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Asbury Automotive Group by 614.3% in the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 250 shares of the companys stock worth $45,000 after acquiring an additional 215 shares in the last quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Asbury Automotive Group by 66.9% in the 1st quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC now owns 227 shares of the companys stock worth $48,000 after acquiring an additional 91 shares in the last quarter. Standard Family Office LLC purchased a new stake in Asbury Automotive Group in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $52,000. Quadrant Capital Group LLC increased its holdings in Asbury Automotive Group by 236.9% in the 3rd quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 411 shares of the companys stock worth $62,000 after acquiring an additional 289 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ronald Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in Asbury Automotive Group by 83.1% in the 4th quarter. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. now owns 445 shares of the companys stock worth $67,000 after acquiring an additional 202 shares in the last quarter. About Asbury Automotive Group (Get Rating) Asbury Automotive Group, Inc is a franchised automotive retailer. It operates through the Dealerships and Total Care Auto (TCA) segments. The Dealerships segment offers a range of automotive products and services fulfilling the entire vehicle ownership lifecycle including the sale of new and used vehicles and the provision of vehicle repair and maintenance services, replacement parts, and collision repair services. Recommended Stories Receive News & Ratings for Asbury Automotive Group Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Asbury Automotive Group and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of California Resources (NYSE:CRC Get Rating) in a report released on Thursday morning. The firm issued a hold rating on the oil and gas producers stock. Other research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on California Resources from $64.00 to $52.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 30th. Mizuho lowered their target price on California Resources from $59.00 to $54.00 in a research note on Friday, March 10th. Bank of America upgraded California Resources from a neutral rating to a buy rating and raised their target price for the company from $51.00 to $60.00 in a research note on Friday, February 24th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on California Resources from $62.00 to $57.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 15th. Finally, Roth Capital reiterated a buy rating on shares of California Resources in a research note on Saturday, February 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $55.33. Get California Resources alerts: California Resources Price Performance Shares of CRC stock opened at $39.24 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $2.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 1.05. California Resources has a fifty-two week low of $34.02 and a fifty-two week high of $51.46. The businesss 50 day moving average price is $38.93 and its 200-day moving average price is $41.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.36. California Resources Cuts Dividend California Resources ( NYSE:CRC Get Rating ) last released its earnings results on Monday, May 1st. The oil and gas producer reported $2.63 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $2.09 by $0.54. The company had revenue of $1.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $746.35 million. California Resources had a return on equity of 26.53% and a net margin of 27.95%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that California Resources will post 5.64 earnings per share for the current year. The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 1st will be issued a $0.282 dividend. This represents a $1.13 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.87%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 31st. California Resourcess payout ratio is 8.57%. Institutional Trading of California Resources A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of California Resources by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,489,832 shares of the oil and gas producers stock worth $335,020,000 after purchasing an additional 80,779 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of California Resources by 6.6% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,515,856 shares of the oil and gas producers stock worth $135,360,000 after purchasing an additional 217,606 shares in the last quarter. Kimmeridge Energy Management Company LLC increased its holdings in shares of California Resources by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Kimmeridge Energy Management Company LLC now owns 3,498,554 shares of the oil and gas producers stock worth $134,694,000 after purchasing an additional 10,938 shares in the last quarter. Southpoint Capital Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of California Resources by 20.0% in the 1st quarter. Southpoint Capital Advisors LP now owns 3,000,000 shares of the oil and gas producers stock worth $115,500,000 after purchasing an additional 500,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of California Resources by 54.7% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,237,981 shares of the oil and gas producers stock worth $86,161,000 after purchasing an additional 791,762 shares in the last quarter. About California Resources (Get Rating) California Resources Corporation operates as an independent oil and natural gas company. The company explores for, produces, gathers, processes, and markets crude oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids for marketers, California refineries, and other purchasers that have access to transportation and storage facilities. See Also Receive News & Ratings for California Resources Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for California Resources and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Coeur Mining, Inc. (NYSE:CDE Get Rating) has been assigned an average rating of Hold from the seven research firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation and five have issued a hold recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $3.60. A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com began coverage on Coeur Mining in a research note on Thursday. They issued a sell rating for the company. Raymond James reduced their price target on Coeur Mining from $4.25 to $4.00 and set a market perform rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 16th. Get Coeur Mining alerts: Coeur Mining Trading Up 0.3 % CDE stock opened at $3.21 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The company has a market cap of $1.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -8.03 and a beta of 1.57. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $3.60 and a 200-day simple moving average of $3.53. Coeur Mining has a 52 week low of $2.54 and a 52 week high of $4.55. Insiders Place Their Bets Coeur Mining ( NYSE:CDE Get Rating ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 22nd. The basic materials company reported ($0.06) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of ($0.07) by $0.01. The company had revenue of $210.12 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $204.82 million. Coeur Mining had a negative return on equity of 12.34% and a negative net margin of 14.08%. The companys quarterly revenue was up 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted ($0.05) EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Coeur Mining will post -0.14 EPS for the current year. In other news, Director Randy Gress purchased 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 24th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $2.93 per share, for a total transaction of $58,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 205,213 shares of the companys stock, valued at $601,274.09. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 1.74% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders. Hedge Funds Weigh In On Coeur Mining Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in Coeur Mining by 163.3% in the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,002,353 shares of the basic materials companys stock worth $4,461,000 after purchasing an additional 621,717 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates grew its holdings in Coeur Mining by 6.4% during the first quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 50,555 shares of the basic materials companys stock worth $225,000 after acquiring an additional 3,050 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. raised its position in Coeur Mining by 5.3% in the first quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 204,214 shares of the basic materials companys stock worth $909,000 after acquiring an additional 10,250 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in shares of Coeur Mining by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,128,208 shares of the basic materials companys stock valued at $5,020,000 after purchasing an additional 15,716 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can raised its holdings in shares of Coeur Mining by 32.1% in the 1st quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 655,171 shares of the basic materials companys stock worth $2,936,000 after purchasing an additional 159,300 shares in the last quarter. 64.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors. Coeur Mining Company Profile (Get Rating) Coeur Mining, Inc engages in the exploration and development of silver and gold mining properties and mines located in United States, Canada and Mexico. It operates through the following segments: Palmarejo. Rochester, Kensington, and Wharf. The Palmarejo segment includes a gold-silver complex. The Rochester segment operates an open pit heap leach silver-gold mine located in northwestern Nevada. Featured Articles Receive News & Ratings for Coeur Mining Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Coeur Mining and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Enzo Biochem (NYSE:ENZ Get Rating) in a research note released on Thursday. The firm issued a sell rating on the medical research companys stock. Enzo Biochem Price Performance Shares of NYSE:ENZ opened at $2.41 on Thursday. Enzo Biochem has a 52 week low of $1.00 and a 52 week high of $2.75. The companys 50 day moving average is $2.33 and its two-hundred day moving average is $1.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 0.64. Get Enzo Biochem alerts: Enzo Biochem (NYSE:ENZ Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, March 20th. The medical research company reported ($0.23) earnings per share for the quarter. The business had revenue of $16.34 million during the quarter. Enzo Biochem had a negative net margin of 43.44% and a negative return on equity of 67.73%. Institutional Trading of Enzo Biochem Enzo Biochem Company Profile Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. FNY Investment Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in Enzo Biochem during the 1st quarter worth $26,000. IFG Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Enzo Biochem in the 1st quarter valued at about $39,000. Prudential Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Enzo Biochem during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $38,000. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC acquired a new position in Enzo Biochem during the first quarter worth approximately $49,000. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC purchased a new stake in Enzo Biochem in the first quarter valued at approximately $66,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 50.56% of the companys stock. (Get Rating) Enzo Biochem, Inc is an integrated diagnostics, clinical lab, and life sciences company, which focuses on delivering and applying advanced technology capabilities to produce affordable reliable products and services that enable customers to meet their clinical needs. It operates through the following segments: Products, Clinical Services, and Therapeutics. See Also Receive News & Ratings for Enzo Biochem Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Enzo Biochem and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Granite Construction (NYSE:GVA Get Rating) in a report released on Thursday morning. The firm issued a hold rating on the construction companys stock. A number of other equities research analysts have also weighed in on GVA. DA Davidson raised their price objective on Granite Construction from $50.00 to $55.00 in a research note on Friday, February 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Granite Construction from $32.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a sell rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 21st. Finally, TheStreet lowered Granite Construction from a b- rating to a c+ rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 3rd. Get Granite Construction alerts: Granite Construction Stock Down 0.5 % Shares of NYSE:GVA traded down $0.18 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $36.92. 147,353 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 391,892. The firm has a market cap of $1.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.08 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 1.59 and a current ratio of 1.72. Granite Construction has a 52-week low of $25.35 and a 52-week high of $44.15. The firms 50 day simple moving average is $38.57 and its 200 day simple moving average is $38.30. Granite Construction Dividend Announcement Granite Construction ( NYSE:GVA Get Rating ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 16th. The construction company reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $0.39 by $0.17. Granite Construction had a return on equity of 8.97% and a net margin of 2.86%. The firm had revenue of $789.21 million during the quarter. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Granite Construction will post 2.55 EPS for the current year. The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 14th. Investors of record on Friday, March 31st were given a dividend of $0.13 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 30th. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.41%. Granite Constructions dividend payout ratio is currently 29.55%. Institutional Inflows and Outflows A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GVA. State Street Corp boosted its position in Granite Construction by 58.4% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,764,283 shares of the construction companys stock valued at $70,544,000 after purchasing an additional 1,019,112 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Granite Construction during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,408,000. Boston Partners acquired a new position in Granite Construction during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $31,609,000. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in Granite Construction by 6.7% during the 4th quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,948,153 shares of the construction companys stock valued at $103,392,000 after purchasing an additional 184,052 shares during the period. Finally, Frontier Capital Management Co. LLC boosted its position in Granite Construction by 37.3% during the 1st quarter. Frontier Capital Management Co. LLC now owns 661,792 shares of the construction companys stock valued at $27,186,000 after purchasing an additional 179,703 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.77% of the companys stock. About Granite Construction (Get Rating) Granite Construction, Inc is a holding company. It operates as an infrastructure contractor and a construction materials company in the United States. It operates through the following segments: Construction and Materials. The Construction segment is involved in the construction and rehabilitation of roads, pavement preservation, bridges, rail lines, airports, marine ports, dams, reservoirs, aqueducts, infrastructure, and site development for use by the public. Recommended Stories Receive News & Ratings for Granite Construction Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Granite Construction and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Central Securities Corp trimmed its stake in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES Get Rating) by 2.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 450,000 shares of the oil and gas producers stock after selling 10,000 shares during the period. Hess accounts for about 8.2% of Central Securities Corps investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. Central Securities Corp owned about 0.15% of Hess worth $63,819,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of HES. Metis Global Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Hess by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 4,176 shares of the oil and gas producers stock valued at $454,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the period. Lindbrook Capital LLC raised its position in shares of Hess by 53.8% during the 4th quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 223 shares of the oil and gas producers stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the period. Orion Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Hess by 63.4% during the 4th quarter. Orion Capital Management LLC now owns 214 shares of the oil and gas producers stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares during the period. CHICAGO TRUST Co NA raised its position in shares of Hess by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. CHICAGO TRUST Co NA now owns 4,320 shares of the oil and gas producers stock valued at $613,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares during the period. Finally, Brinker Capital Investments LLC raised its position in shares of Hess by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. Brinker Capital Investments LLC now owns 5,887 shares of the oil and gas producers stock valued at $630,000 after purchasing an additional 86 shares during the period. 86.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors. Get Hess alerts: Insider Buying and Selling at Hess In other Hess news, SVP Richard D. Lynch sold 33,191 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.84, for a total value of $4,608,238.44. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 23,622 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $3,279,678.48. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, EVP Timothy B. Goodell sold 3,527 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.41, for a total value of $484,645.07. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 138,338 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,009,024.58. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Richard D. Lynch sold 33,191 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.84, for a total transaction of $4,608,238.44. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 23,622 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $3,279,678.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 53,721 shares of company stock valued at $7,391,691 in the last three months. Company insiders own 9.93% of the companys stock. Hess Trading Up 0.8 % Shares of HES stock traded up $1.12 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $134.67. 469,231 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,706,676. Hess Co. has a 12-month low of $90.34 and a 12-month high of $160.52. The company has a current ratio of 1.65, a quick ratio of 1.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98. The companys 50-day moving average price is $135.46 and its 200-day moving average price is $139.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $41.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.13 and a beta of 1.57. Hess (NYSE:HES Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 26th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.03 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $2.45 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $2.37 billion. Hess had a net margin of 18.47% and a return on equity of 25.85%. The firms quarterly revenue was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.30 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Hess Co. will post 5.88 earnings per share for the current year. Hess Cuts Dividend The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 15th will be given a $0.4375 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 14th. This represents a $1.75 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.30%. Hesss dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.07%. Analysts Set New Price Targets A number of analysts have issued reports on HES shares. UBS Group started coverage on shares of Hess in a report on Wednesday, April 19th. They issued a buy rating and a $184.00 price target on the stock. 92 Resources reiterated a maintains rating on shares of Hess in a report on Friday, April 28th. Susquehanna lifted their price target on shares of Hess from $179.00 to $185.00 in a report on Thursday, January 26th. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Hess from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Thursday, January 26th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Hess from $156.00 to $158.00 in a research note on Monday, May 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the companys stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $169.00. About Hess (Get Rating) Hess Corp is an exploration and production company, which engages in exploration, development, production, transportation, purchase & sale of crude oil, natural gas liquids and natural gas with production operations. It operates through the following segments: Exploration and Production and Midstream. Read More Want to see what other hedge funds are holding HES? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Hess Co. (NYSE:HES Get Rating). Receive News & Ratings for Hess Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Hess and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Final preparations are underway for the third launch of the homegrown space rocket Nuri on Wednesday. This time the rocket will be carrying real satellites with a mission instead of a dummy. Assembly was completed on Sunday, and Nuri will now be put on crawler-transporters and carried to the launch pad. Once a final checkup is conducted on Wednesday morning, fuel and oxidizer will be put into the rocket to get it ready for liftoff at 6:24 p.m. plus or minus 30 minutes. The precise launch time will be determined on the day of launch depending on the weather and possible collisions with objects moving in the earth's crowded orbit. If all else fails, an alternative launch date will be set between May 25 and 31. Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI Get Rating) CEO Thomas L. Ryan sold 62,417 shares of the companys stock in a transaction on Friday, May 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.54, for a total value of $4,090,810.18. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 962,409 shares in the company, valued at approximately $63,076,285.86. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Service Co. International Price Performance Shares of SCI traded down $0.66 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $64.84. 1,015,523 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 946,050. The company has a quick ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 0.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.80 billion, a PE ratio of 21.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.78. Service Co. International has a fifty-two week low of $56.85 and a fifty-two week high of $75.11. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $67.84 and a 200 day simple moving average of $69.26. Get Service Co. International alerts: Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 1st. The company reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.02. Service Co. International had a return on equity of 31.30% and a net margin of 12.19%. The business had revenue of $1.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.03 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.34 earnings per share. The businesss revenue for the quarter was down 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Service Co. International will post 3.52 EPS for the current fiscal year. Service Co. International Announces Dividend Wall Street Analyst Weigh In The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 30th. Investors of record on Thursday, June 15th will be given a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 14th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.67%. Service Co. Internationals dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 34.84%. Several analysts have weighed in on SCI shares. StockNews.com started coverage on Service Co. International in a report on Thursday. They issued a hold rating on the stock. Credit Suisse Group reissued an outperform rating and issued a $85.00 target price on shares of Service Co. International in a report on Thursday, February 16th. Hedge Funds Weigh In On Service Co. International Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Service Co. International in the 4th quarter worth about $37,000. Swiss National Bank grew its stake in Service Co. International by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 380,800 shares of the companys stock valued at $26,329,000 after purchasing an additional 4,400 shares in the last quarter. Eaton Vance Management grew its position in shares of Service Co. International by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Eaton Vance Management now owns 78,088 shares of the companys stock worth $4,509,000 after acquiring an additional 571 shares in the last quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas grew its position in shares of Service Co. International by 163.0% in the 3rd quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 68,694 shares of the companys stock worth $3,966,000 after acquiring an additional 42,577 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Argent Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Service Co. International in the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,778,000. 84.68% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors. About Service Co. International (Get Rating) Service Corp. International engages in the provision of funeral goods and services. It operates through the Funeral and Cemetery segments. The Funeral segment offers services related to cremations, including the use of home facilities and motor vehicles, arranging and directing services, removal, preparation, embalming, memorialization, and catering. See Also Receive News & Ratings for Service Co. International Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Service Co. International and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Missouri Trust & Investment Co decreased its holdings in shares of Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight ETF (NYSEARCA:RSP Get Rating) by 35.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 588 shares of the companys stock after selling 316 shares during the period. Missouri Trust & Investment Cos holdings in Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight ETF were worth $83,000 at the end of the most recent quarter. Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. lifted its position in Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight ETF by 59.6% in the first quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. now owns 8,585 shares of the companys stock valued at $1,354,000 after purchasing an additional 3,207 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. lifted its position in Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight ETF by 0.4% in the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 170,508 shares of the companys stock valued at $26,891,000 after purchasing an additional 663 shares during the period. Vontobel Holding Ltd. lifted its position in Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight ETF by 25.7% in the first quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 11,000 shares of the companys stock valued at $1,735,000 after purchasing an additional 2,250 shares during the period. Baird Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight ETF by 46.5% in the first quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 333,958 shares of the companys stock valued at $52,669,000 after purchasing an additional 105,955 shares during the period. Finally, Mather Group LLC. lifted its position in Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight ETF by 89.8% in the first quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 2,604 shares of the companys stock valued at $411,000 after purchasing an additional 1,232 shares during the period. Get Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight ETF alerts: Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight ETF Price Performance Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight ETF stock traded down $0.45 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $142.41. The company had a trading volume of 748,353 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,391,410. Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight ETF has a 1 year low of $124.92 and a 1 year high of $155.71. The company has a market capitalization of $33.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.13 and a beta of 1.05. The stocks 50-day simple moving average is $142.36 and its 200-day simple moving average is $144.85. Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight ETF Company Profile Guggenheim S&P 500 Equal Weight ETF, formerly Rydex S&P 500 Equal Weight ETF, seeks to replicate as closely as possible, the daily performance of the S&P 500 Equal Weight Index (the Index). The Index is a capitalization-weighted index covering 500 industrial, utility, transportation and financial companies of the United States markets (mostly NYSE Euronext issues). Further Reading Receive News & Ratings for Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight ETF Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight ETF and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. iShares MSCI EAFE Growth ETF (BATS:EFG Get Rating) shares reached a new 52-week high during trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $97.07 and last traded at $96.84, with a volume of 702526 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $96.74. iShares MSCI EAFE Growth ETF Trading Up 0.1 % The stock has a market capitalization of $11.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.69 and a beta of 0.87. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $93.76 and a 200 day moving average of $89.57. Get iShares MSCI EAFE Growth ETF alerts: Institutional Trading of iShares MSCI EAFE Growth ETF Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in EFG. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in iShares MSCI EAFE Growth ETF by 98,322.4% in the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 128,318,231 shares of the companys stock valued at $10,747,935,000 after acquiring an additional 128,187,856 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its position in iShares MSCI EAFE Growth ETF by 46.2% in the 1st quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 31,400,726 shares of the companys stock valued at $2,941,620,000 after acquiring an additional 9,923,520 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in iShares MSCI EAFE Growth ETF by 347.1% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,719,363 shares of the companys stock valued at $311,533,000 after purchasing an additional 2,887,468 shares in the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC boosted its stake in iShares MSCI EAFE Growth ETF by 46.7% during the 1st quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 6,413,251 shares of the companys stock valued at $600,793,000 after purchasing an additional 2,041,010 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BlackRock Inc. boosted its stake in iShares MSCI EAFE Growth ETF by 54.1% during the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 4,270,511 shares of the companys stock valued at $400,061,000 after purchasing an additional 1,498,476 shares in the last quarter. About iShares MSCI EAFE Growth ETF 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. Recommended Stories Receive News & Ratings for iShares MSCI EAFE Growth ETF Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for iShares MSCI EAFE Growth ETF and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of MRC Global (NYSE:MRC Get Rating) in a research report released on Thursday morning. The firm issued a buy rating on the oil and gas companys stock. Several other brokerages have also recently commented on MRC. Susquehanna decreased their target price on MRC Global from $15.00 to $12.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 10th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on MRC Global from $17.00 to $15.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 17th. Get MRC Global alerts: MRC Global Trading Up 1.2 % Shares of NYSE:MRC traded up $0.11 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $9.17. The company had a trading volume of 142,489 shares, compared to its average volume of 643,719. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $9.25 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $10.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 2.10. The firm has a market cap of $772.21 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.19 and a beta of 2.18. MRC Global has a 1-year low of $7.03 and a 1-year high of $13.90. Insider Activity MRC Global ( NYSE:MRC Get Rating ) last released its earnings results on Monday, May 8th. The oil and gas company reported $0.32 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.30 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $885.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $860.17 million. MRC Global had a net margin of 2.65% and a return on equity of 36.34%. The firms quarterly revenue was up 19.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.17 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that MRC Global will post 1.53 earnings per share for the current year. In other MRC Global news, insider Gillian Anderson sold 5,213 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.50, for a total transaction of $59,949.50. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 26,507 shares of the companys stock, valued at $304,830.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 22.10% of the stock is owned by insiders. Institutional Inflows and Outflows Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. American Trust boosted its holdings in shares of MRC Global by 8.4% during the 1st quarter. American Trust now owns 42,593 shares of the oil and gas companys stock worth $414,000 after buying an additional 3,306 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in MRC Global by 5.1% during the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,429,720 shares of the oil and gas companys stock valued at $13,897,000 after acquiring an additional 69,240 shares during the period. Jane Street Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of MRC Global in the first quarter valued at about $280,000. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of MRC Global by 1.7% in the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,711,807 shares of the oil and gas companys stock worth $16,639,000 after purchasing an additional 28,560 shares during the period. Finally, Squarepoint Ops LLC lifted its position in shares of MRC Global by 32.7% during the 1st quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 50,600 shares of the oil and gas companys stock worth $492,000 after purchasing an additional 12,456 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.14% of the companys stock. About MRC Global (Get Rating) MRC Global, Inc is a holding company, which engages in the distribution of pipes, valves, fittings, and other infrastructure products and services to the energy, industrial, and gas utility end-markets. It operates through the following geographical segments: U.S., Canada, and International. The company was founded on November 20, 2006 and is headquartered in Houston, TX. Featured Articles Receive News & Ratings for MRC Global Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for MRC Global and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Lancashire Holdings Limited (LON:LRE Get Rating) insider Natalie Kershaw sold 5,082 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of GBX 628 ($7.87), for a total value of 31,914.96 ($39,978.65). Lancashire Price Performance Lancashire stock opened at GBX 633 ($7.93) on Monday. Lancashire Holdings Limited has a 12 month low of GBX 362.60 ($4.54) and a 12 month high of GBX 670 ($8.39). The company has a current ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 37.02. The businesss 50 day simple moving average is GBX 571.74 and its 200 day simple moving average is GBX 599.37. The company has a market cap of 1.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -63,300.00, a PEG ratio of 0.21 and a beta of 0.57. Get Lancashire alerts: Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth LRE has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley reiterated an underweight rating and set a GBX 590 ($7.39) price target on shares of Lancashire in a report on Tuesday, March 28th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a buy rating and issued a GBX 785 ($9.83) target price on shares of Lancashire in a research note on Monday, February 13th. Berenberg Bank raised their target price on Lancashire from GBX 770 ($9.65) to GBX 780 ($9.77) and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Friday, April 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated an overweight rating and issued a GBX 750 ($9.39) target price on shares of Lancashire in a research note on Monday, February 13th. Finally, Numis Securities restated an add rating and issued a GBX 710 ($8.89) target price on shares of Lancashire in a research note on Thursday, February 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of GBX 689.29 ($8.63). About Lancashire Lancashire Holdings Limited, together with its subsidiaries, provides specialty insurance and reinsurance products in London, Bermuda, and Australia. The company operates through five segments: Property and Casualty Reinsurance, Property and Casualty Insurance, Aviation, Energy, and Marine. It offers property direct and facultative, property political risk and sovereign risk, and property terrorism and political violence insurance products, as well as property reinsurance services; and aviation AV52, aviation consortium, airline hull and liability, and satellite insurance products. Further Reading Receive News & Ratings for Lancashire Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Lancashire and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Omnicom Group (NYSE:OMC Get Rating) in a research report released on Thursday. The firm issued a hold rating on the business services providers stock. Several other equities research analysts have also weighed in on OMC. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Omnicom Group from $100.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Wednesday, April 19th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Omnicom Group from $84.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Wednesday, February 8th. Macquarie increased their target price on shares of Omnicom Group from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Wednesday, April 19th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Omnicom Group from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a report on Wednesday, April 19th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on shares of Omnicom Group from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a report on Thursday, February 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the companys stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Omnicom Group currently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $99.86. Get Omnicom Group alerts: Omnicom Group Trading Down 0.4 % NYSE OMC traded down $0.41 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $92.89. The companys stock had a trading volume of 227,129 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,838,634. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $91.36 and a 200 day moving average of $86.27. Omnicom Group has a twelve month low of $61.31 and a twelve month high of $96.78. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.03, a PEG ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.54. Omnicom Group Dividend Announcement Omnicom Group ( NYSE:OMC Get Rating ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 18th. The business services provider reported $1.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.38 by $0.18. The business had revenue of $3.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.38 billion. Omnicom Group had a net margin of 9.57% and a return on equity of 41.72%. Omnicom Groups revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.39 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Omnicom Group will post 7.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year. The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 7th. Investors of record on Friday, June 9th will be given a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.01%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 8th. Omnicom Groups dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 42.11%. Insider Activity at Omnicom Group In related news, CEO John Wren sold 100,000 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Monday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.84, for a total value of $9,384,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 328,448 shares of the companys stock, valued at $30,821,560.32. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, CEO John Wren sold 100,000 shares of Omnicom Group stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.84, for a total value of $9,384,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 328,448 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $30,821,560.32. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Linda Johnson Rice sold 1,700 shares of Omnicom Group stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.75, for a total transaction of $152,575.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 9,527 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $855,048.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.30% of the stock is owned by insiders. Institutional Trading of Omnicom Group Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. raised its position in shares of Omnicom Group by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 70,915 shares of the business services providers stock valued at $5,785,000 after buying an additional 2,200 shares in the last quarter. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Omnicom Group in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $361,000. Signaturefd LLC raised its position in shares of Omnicom Group by 24.0% in the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 4,795 shares of the business services providers stock valued at $391,000 after buying an additional 929 shares in the last quarter. Creative Planning grew its holdings in shares of Omnicom Group by 51.5% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 23,738 shares of the business services providers stock valued at $1,498,000 after purchasing an additional 8,068 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Prudential PLC grew its holdings in shares of Omnicom Group by 9.5% during the 3rd quarter. Prudential PLC now owns 6,062 shares of the business services providers stock valued at $382,000 after purchasing an additional 524 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.20% of the companys stock. Omnicom Group Company Profile (Get Rating) Omnicom Group, Inc is a holding company, which engages in the provision of advertising, marketing and corporate communications services. Its agency networks operate in the advertising, marketing, and corporate communications services industry, which are organized into regions, which are the Americas, EMEA and Asia-Pacific. Read More Receive News & Ratings for Omnicom Group Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Omnicom Group and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Patton Fund Management Inc. decreased its stake in shares of SPDR Gold Shares (NYSEARCA:GLD Get Rating) by 6.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 12,656 shares of the exchange traded funds stock after selling 908 shares during the period. Patton Fund Management Inc.s holdings in SPDR Gold Shares were worth $2,147,000 at the end of the most recent quarter. Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Toronto Dominion Bank raised its holdings in SPDR Gold Shares by 83.0% during the 3rd quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 3,095,139 shares of the exchange traded funds stock worth $478,711,000 after purchasing an additional 1,403,492 shares during the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC raised its holdings in SPDR Gold Shares by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 2,546,209 shares of the exchange traded funds stock worth $431,939,000 after purchasing an additional 88,556 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in SPDR Gold Shares by 256.0% during the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,142,717 shares of the exchange traded funds stock worth $206,432,000 after purchasing an additional 821,773 shares during the last quarter. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. raised its holdings in SPDR Gold Shares by 20.2% during the 4th quarter. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. now owns 978,771 shares of the exchange traded funds stock worth $166,038,000 after purchasing an additional 164,256 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in SPDR Gold Shares by 134.7% during the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 934,636 shares of the exchange traded funds stock worth $168,842,000 after purchasing an additional 536,327 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 37.94% of the companys stock. Get SPDR Gold Shares alerts: SPDR Gold Shares Stock Performance NYSEARCA:GLD traded down $0.26 on Monday, hitting $183.38. 1,857,622 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,891,729. SPDR Gold Shares has a 52 week low of $150.57 and a 52 week high of $191.36. The companys 50-day moving average price is $184.95 and its 200 day moving average price is $175.10. About SPDR Gold Shares SPDR Gold Trust (the Trust) is an investment trust. The investment objective of the Trust is for the Shares to reflect the performance of the price of gold bullion, less the Trusts expenses. The Trusts business activity is the investment of gold. The Trust creates and redeems Shares from time to time, but in one or more Baskets (a Basket equals a block of 100,000 Shares). Featured Articles Receive News & Ratings for SPDR Gold Shares Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for SPDR Gold Shares and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. increased its position in shares of Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM Get Rating) by 12.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 755,657 shares of the companys stock after purchasing an additional 86,312 shares during the quarter. Advisor Group Holdings Inc.s holdings in Philip Morris International were worth $76,530,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period. Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Philip Morris International by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 132,480,611 shares of the companys stock worth $10,997,216,000 after buying an additional 1,451,582 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. boosted its stake in Philip Morris International by 1.0% in the third quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 100,951,462 shares of the companys stock valued at $8,379,979,000 after acquiring an additional 962,801 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Philip Morris International by 0.7% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 57,777,797 shares of the companys stock valued at $4,868,937,000 after purchasing an additional 389,746 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in shares of Philip Morris International by 22.7% during the 3rd quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 35,468,228 shares of the companys stock worth $2,944,500,000 after purchasing an additional 6,558,762 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Philip Morris International by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 16,050,540 shares of the companys stock worth $1,332,355,000 after purchasing an additional 260,832 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.85% of the companys stock. Get Philip Morris International alerts: Philip Morris International Stock Up 0.3 % Shares of Philip Morris International stock opened at $93.44 on Monday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $96.55 and a 200-day simple moving average of $98.78. Philip Morris International Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $82.85 and a fifty-two week high of $109.81. The firm has a market cap of $145.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.68. Philip Morris International Dividend Announcement Philip Morris International ( NYSE:PM Get Rating ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 20th. The company reported $1.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $8.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.03 billion. Philip Morris International had a net margin of 10.80% and a negative return on equity of 128.55%. Philip Morris Internationals revenue was up 4.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.56 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Philip Morris International Inc. will post 6.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year. The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 23rd were given a dividend of $1.27 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 22nd. This represents a $5.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.44%. Philip Morris Internationals dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 90.88%. Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth A number of brokerages recently commented on PM. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Philip Morris International from $109.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Thursday, February 2nd. UBS Group raised shares of Philip Morris International from a neutral rating to a buy rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $106.00 to $116.00 in a report on Wednesday, March 1st. Societe Generale initiated coverage on shares of Philip Morris International in a research note on Monday, January 23rd. They set a sell rating and a $90.00 target price for the company. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Philip Morris International in a research note on Thursday. They issued a hold rating on the stock. 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Philip Morris International currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $110.60. Insider Transactions at Philip Morris International In other news, insider Werner Barth sold 8,000 shares of the companys stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.35, for a total transaction of $786,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 87,321 shares of the companys stock, valued at $8,588,020.35. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.13% of the companys stock. Philip Morris International Company Profile (Get Rating) Philip Morris International, Inc is a holding company engaged in the manufacturing and sale of cigarettes, tobacco, and nicotine-containing products. Its products include cigarettes and reduced-risk products, including heat-not-burn, vapor, and oral nicotine products. The firm operates through the following geographical segments: European Union, Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa, South and Southeast Asia, East Asia and Australia, and Americas. Featured Stories Receive News & Ratings for Philip Morris International Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Philip Morris International and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Saga Communications (NYSE:SGA Get Rating) in a research report sent to investors on Thursday. The firm issued a hold rating on the stock. Saga Communications Trading Down 2.2 % NYSE:SGA opened at $20.06 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $122.83 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.65 and a beta of 0.36. Saga Communications has a 12 month low of $20.00 and a 12 month high of $29.75. Get Saga Communications alerts: About Saga Communications (Get Rating) Featured Articles Saga Communications, Inc operates as a broadcasting company, which engages in the acquisition, development, and operation of broadcast properties. The company was founded by Edward K. Christian in 1986 and is headquartered in Grosse Pointe Farms, MI. Receive News & Ratings for Saga Communications Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Saga Communications and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Scorpio Tankers (NYSE:STNG Get Rating) in a research note released on Thursday. The brokerage issued a buy rating on the shipping companys stock. STNG has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Jefferies Financial Group restated a buy rating and issued a $76.00 price target on shares of Scorpio Tankers in a research note on Tuesday, March 21st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on shares of Scorpio Tankers from $65.00 to $55.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Scorpio Tankers from $68.00 to $77.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 25th. B. Riley upped their price objective on shares of Scorpio Tankers from $65.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Friday, February 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. started coverage on shares of Scorpio Tankers in a research note on Wednesday, March 8th. They set an overweight rating and a $87.00 price objective for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Scorpio Tankers presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $74.17. Get Scorpio Tankers alerts: Scorpio Tankers Trading Up 0.5 % STNG stock traded up $0.25 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $50.26. 192,155 shares of the companys stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,462,330. The company has a market capitalization of $3.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 3.35, a PEG ratio of 0.14 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.70 and a quick ratio of 1.68. Scorpio Tankers has a fifty-two week low of $28.50 and a fifty-two week high of $64.20. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $53.54 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $53.51. Scorpio Tankers Increases Dividend Scorpio Tankers ( NYSE:STNG Get Rating ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 2nd. The shipping company reported $3.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $2.92 by $0.39. The firm had revenue of $377.16 million for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $387.37 million. Scorpio Tankers had a net margin of 51.60% and a return on equity of 40.01%. Scorpio Tankerss revenue was up 119.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted ($0.27) earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Scorpio Tankers will post 10.42 EPS for the current fiscal year. The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 13th will be paid a $0.25 dividend. This is an increase from Scorpio Tankerss previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 12th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.99%. Scorpio Tankerss dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 5.33%. Institutional Investors Weigh In On Scorpio Tankers Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Scorpio Tankers by 12.4% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,712,953 shares of the shipping companys stock worth $209,073,000 after acquiring an additional 410,632 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. grew its stake in shares of Scorpio Tankers by 1.9% in the third quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 3,068,462 shares of the shipping companys stock worth $128,998,000 after acquiring an additional 55,817 shares during the last quarter. Rubric Capital Management LP bought a new position in Scorpio Tankers in the first quarter worth $135,401,000. Platinum Investment Management Ltd. lifted its position in Scorpio Tankers by 20.1% in the first quarter. Platinum Investment Management Ltd. now owns 1,089,389 shares of the shipping companys stock worth $61,343,000 after purchasing an additional 181,968 shares during the period. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund lifted its position in Scorpio Tankers by 165.3% in the first quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 1,080,000 shares of the shipping companys stock worth $60,815,000 after purchasing an additional 672,900 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 54.53% of the companys stock. Scorpio Tankers Company Profile (Get Rating) Scorpio Tankers, Inc engages in the provision of marine transportation of petroleum products. Its consists of wholly owned, finance leased, and bareboat chartered-in tankers. It operates through the following segments: MR, LR2, Handymax, and LR1. The company was founded by Emanuele A. Lauro on July 1, 2009 and is headquartered in Monaco. Recommended Stories Receive News & Ratings for Scorpio Tankers Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Scorpio Tankers and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Korean exports seem to be losing their edge on the international market. Products that are thought to be losing out in the competition increased from 815 in 2013 to 846 last year, while Korean products that remained competitive in the global market dwindled from 401 to 375. Out of the country's top 10 exports, seven are losing out to foreign rivals. A decade ago, fuel was the only product Korea had to import, but now Korea also imports optical, precision and medical equipment as local products are no longer top of the range. Machinery, cars and ships also lost competitiveness. The effects can be seen most drastically in trade with China. The number of products where Korea was overtaken by China increased by 145 items from a decade ago, while the number of Korea's exports where Korea has the edge over China declined by 128. Exports to Korea's biggest market have declined for 11 straight months, and China has fallen to 22nd place in terms of sources of a trade surplus for Korea. Sectoral Asset Management Inc. lessened its stake in Inspire Medical Systems, Inc. (NYSE:INSP Get Rating) by 56.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 18,200 shares of the companys stock after selling 23,600 shares during the quarter. Sectoral Asset Management Inc. owned 0.06% of Inspire Medical Systems worth $4,584,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC. Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in INSP. US Bancorp DE lifted its stake in Inspire Medical Systems by 11.3% during the first quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 2,284 shares of the companys stock worth $586,000 after purchasing an additional 231 shares during the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Inspire Medical Systems during the first quarter worth approximately $452,000. Private Advisor Group LLC acquired a new position in Inspire Medical Systems during the first quarter worth approximately $203,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its position in Inspire Medical Systems by 668.6% during the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 1,422 shares of the companys stock worth $364,000 after buying an additional 1,237 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can increased its position in Inspire Medical Systems by 4.0% during the first quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 14,694 shares of the companys stock worth $3,838,000 after buying an additional 563 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.04% of the companys stock. Get Inspire Medical Systems alerts: Inspire Medical Systems Stock Up 1.5 % Shares of Inspire Medical Systems stock traded up $4.51 during trading on Monday, reaching $312.74. The companys stock had a trading volume of 153,830 shares, compared to its average volume of 337,682. Inspire Medical Systems, Inc. has a 12-month low of $157.04 and a 12-month high of $314.36. The company has a market capitalization of $9.07 billion, a P/E ratio of -200.42 and a beta of 1.44. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $259.50 and a 200-day moving average price of $250.52. Insiders Place Their Bets Inspire Medical Systems ( NYSE:INSP Get Rating ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 2nd. The company reported ($0.53) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of ($0.70) by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $127.90 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $120.06 million. Inspire Medical Systems had a negative return on equity of 10.27% and a negative net margin of 9.35%. The companys revenue for the quarter was up 84.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned ($0.61) earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Inspire Medical Systems, Inc. will post -1.18 EPS for the current fiscal year. In other news, Director Jerry C. Griffin sold 529 shares of the companys stock in a transaction on Monday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $293.91, for a total value of $155,478.39. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 3,671 shares in the company, valued at $1,078,943.61. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, VP Steven Jandrich sold 4,525 shares of the companys stock in a transaction on Friday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $292.84, for a total value of $1,325,101.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 4,371 shares in the company, valued at $1,280,003.64. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Jerry C. Griffin sold 529 shares of the companys stock in a transaction on Monday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $293.91, for a total value of $155,478.39. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 3,671 shares in the company, valued at $1,078,943.61. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 15,310 shares of company stock worth $4,280,627. 4.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders. Analyst Ratings Changes INSP has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Inspire Medical Systems from $290.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 11th. Lake Street Capital lifted their price target on Inspire Medical Systems from $250.00 to $305.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Inspire Medical Systems from $271.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 8th. KeyCorp lifted their price target on Inspire Medical Systems from $303.00 to $321.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 3rd. Finally, 92 Resources reissued a maintains rating on shares of Inspire Medical Systems in a report on Wednesday, May 3rd. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of Buy and a consensus price target of $312.56. About Inspire Medical Systems (Get Rating) Inspire Medical Systems, Inc engages in the development and commercialization of minimally invasive solutions for patients with obstructive sleep apnea. It offers inspire therapy, which consists of a remote control and implantable components that includes pressure sensing lead, a neurostimulator, and a stimulation lead. Featured Stories Want to see what other hedge funds are holding INSP? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Inspire Medical Systems, Inc. (NYSE:INSP Get Rating). Receive News & Ratings for Inspire Medical Systems Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Inspire Medical Systems and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. St. Johns Investment Management Company LLC boosted its holdings in shares of iShares MSCI EAFE ETF (NYSEARCA:EFA Get Rating) by 24.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 923 shares of the exchange traded funds stock after purchasing an additional 183 shares during the quarter. St. Johns Investment Management Company LLCs holdings in iShares MSCI EAFE ETF were worth $61,000 at the end of the most recent quarter. Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. VitalStone Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of iShares MSCI EAFE ETF in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA grew its stake in iShares MSCI EAFE ETF by 172.9% during the 4th quarter. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA now owns 464 shares of the exchange traded funds stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 294 shares during the last quarter. Field & Main Bank grew its stake in iShares MSCI EAFE ETF by 189.7% during the 4th quarter. Field & Main Bank now owns 504 shares of the exchange traded funds stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 330 shares during the last quarter. Old North State Trust LLC bought a new position in iShares MSCI EAFE ETF during the 3rd quarter worth $37,000. Finally, Fairfield Bush & CO. acquired a new position in iShares MSCI EAFE ETF during the 1st quarter worth $37,000. 80.78% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors. Get iShares MSCI EAFE ETF alerts: iShares MSCI EAFE ETF Trading Up 0.1 % EFA stock traded up $0.07 during trading on Monday, reaching $73.73. 7,924,928 shares of the companys stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 18,695,895. iShares MSCI EAFE ETF has a 1-year low of $54.61 and a 1-year high of $74.05. The companys fifty day moving average price is $71.85 and its 200-day moving average price is $69.34. iShares MSCI EAFE ETF Company Profile iShares MSCI EAFE ETF, formerly iShares MSCI EAFE Index Fund (the Fund), is an exchange-traded fund. The Funds investment objective is to seek investment results that correspond to the price and yield performance of its underlying index, MSCI EAFE Index (the Index). The Index has been developed by MSCI Inc as an equity benchmark for its international stock performance. Featured Articles Want to see what other hedge funds are holding EFA? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for iShares MSCI EAFE ETF (NYSEARCA:EFA Get Rating). Receive News & Ratings for iShares MSCI EAFE ETF Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for iShares MSCI EAFE ETF and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Intrepid Potash (NYSE:IPI Get Rating) in a report issued on Thursday morning. The firm issued a sell rating on the basic materials companys stock. Separately, BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on Intrepid Potash from $35.00 to $25.00 in a research report on Friday, May 5th. Get Intrepid Potash alerts: Intrepid Potash Price Performance Shares of IPI stock traded up $0.83 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $20.40. 162,752 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 192,259. The firms 50 day simple moving average is $25.01 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $29.83. Intrepid Potash has a 1-year low of $18.26 and a 1-year high of $69.53. The firm has a market cap of $268.46 million, a PE ratio of 5.82 and a beta of 2.01. Institutional Inflows and Outflows Intrepid Potash ( NYSE:IPI Get Rating ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 3rd. The basic materials company reported $0.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of $0.49 by ($0.12). Intrepid Potash had a net margin of 14.15% and a return on equity of 7.43%. The company had revenue of $86.92 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $66.99 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.32 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Intrepid Potash will post 1.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year. Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Gladius Capital Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Intrepid Potash during the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new stake in Intrepid Potash in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Point72 Middle East FZE purchased a new stake in Intrepid Potash in the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. Captrust Financial Advisors grew its stake in Intrepid Potash by 480.3% in the 2nd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 882 shares of the basic materials companys stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 730 shares during the period. Finally, Altshuler Shaham Ltd purchased a new stake in Intrepid Potash in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $40,000. 55.35% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds. About Intrepid Potash (Get Rating) Intrepid Potash, Inc is a diversified mineral company, which engages in the delivery of potassium, magnesium, sulfur, salt, and water products essential for customer success in agriculture, animal feed, and the oil and gas industry. It operates through the following segments: Potash, Trio, and Oilfield Solutions. Featured Stories Receive News & Ratings for Intrepid Potash Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Intrepid Potash and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Banco Macro (NYSE:BMA Get Rating) in a report released on Thursday. The brokerage issued a buy rating on the banks stock. Banco Macro Stock Performance BMA stock opened at $17.67 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 0.72 and a quick ratio of 0.72. Banco Macro has a 12 month low of $9.72 and a 12 month high of $23.15. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $18.11 and a 200-day moving average price of $17.72. Get Banco Macro alerts: Banco Macro (NYSE:BMA Get Rating) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 23rd. The bank reported $1.47 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $1.24 by $0.23. The firm had revenue of $658.89 million during the quarter. Banco Macro had a net margin of 5.15% and a return on equity of 8.14%. Research analysts expect that Banco Macro will post 2.27 EPS for the current year. Hedge Funds Weigh In On Banco Macro Banco Macro Company Profile A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of BMA. Trium Capital LLP lifted its stake in Banco Macro by 70.4% during the 1st quarter. Trium Capital LLP now owns 17,623 shares of the banks stock valued at $314,000 after acquiring an additional 7,279 shares in the last quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP purchased a new stake in shares of Banco Macro during the 1st quarter valued at $1,061,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its position in shares of Banco Macro by 185.2% during the 1st quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 58,178 shares of the banks stock valued at $1,036,000 after purchasing an additional 37,778 shares during the last quarter. Pinnacle Holdings LLC purchased a new stake in Banco Macro in the 1st quarter worth about $79,000. Finally, JGP Global Gestao de Recursos Ltda. purchased a new stake in Banco Macro in the 1st quarter worth about $2,258,000. 4.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors. (Get Rating) Banco Macro SA engages in the provision of financial and banking services. It serves the low and mid-income individuals, and small and mid-sized companies. The firm offers savings, checking accounts, time deposits, fund management, loans, mortgages, and direct banking transactions. The company was founded on November 21, 1966 and is headquartered in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Read More Receive News & Ratings for Banco Macro Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Banco Macro and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Synergy Asset Management LLC lessened its position in shares of Teck Resources Limited (NYSE:TECK Get Rating) (TSE:TECK) by 5.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,548 shares of the basic materials companys stock after selling 418 shares during the quarter. Synergy Asset Management LLCs holdings in Teck Resources were worth $285,000 at the end of the most recent quarter. Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Mendota Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in Teck Resources during the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Teck Resources by 1,423.8% in the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 960 shares of the basic materials companys stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 897 shares during the period. Achmea Investment Management B.V. purchased a new stake in Teck Resources in the 1st quarter valued at about $37,000. Hollencrest Capital Management purchased a new stake in Teck Resources in the 4th quarter valued at about $38,000. Finally, Covestor Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Teck Resources during the 1st quarter worth about $53,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 56.15% of the companys stock. Get Teck Resources alerts: Teck Resources Stock Down 0.3 % NYSE TECK traded down $0.12 during trading on Monday, reaching $42.30. 490,621 shares of the companys stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,754,805. Teck Resources Limited has a fifty-two week low of $24.72 and a fifty-two week high of $49.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.45 billion, a PE ratio of 10.20, a P/E/G ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a current ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The companys fifty day simple moving average is $41.68 and its 200-day simple moving average is $39.73. Teck Resources Increases Dividend Teck Resources ( NYSE:TECK Get Rating ) (TSE:TECK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 21st. The basic materials company reported $0.79 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of $0.96 by ($0.17). Teck Resources had a return on equity of 15.71% and a net margin of 16.80%. The firm had revenue of $2.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $2.58 billion. Sell-side analysts predict that Teck Resources Limited will post 4.88 EPS for the current year. The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 30th. Investors of record on Thursday, June 15th will be paid a $0.125 dividend. This represents a $0.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.18%. This is an increase from Teck Resourcess previous quarterly dividend of $0.09. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 14th. Teck Resourcess dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.89%. Analysts Set New Price Targets A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on TECK. Scotiabank reiterated a sector outperform rating on shares of Teck Resources in a report on Thursday, April 13th. Bank of America reduced their price target on Teck Resources from C$65.00 to C$62.00 in a research report on Monday, April 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on Teck Resources from $46.00 to $47.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 3rd. Benchmark upped their price target on Teck Resources from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Monday, April 17th. Finally, 888 reissued a maintains rating on shares of Teck Resources in a research report on Wednesday, May 3rd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the companys stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $61.86. Teck Resources Profile (Get Rating) Teck Resources Limited is a resource company, which engages in the exploration, acquisition, development, production, and sale of natural resources, Its products include steelmaking coal, copper, zinc, industrial products and fertilizers, and other metals. Its project operations are located in Canada, Peru, Chile, and US. See Also Receive News & Ratings for Teck Resources Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Teck Resources and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Teva Pharmaceutical Industries (NYSE:TEVA Get Rating) from an in-line rating to an outperform rating in a research report released on Thursday morning, The Fly reports. TEVA has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Barclays increased their target price on Teva Pharmaceutical Industries from $13.00 to $14.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Thursday, February 9th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Teva Pharmaceutical Industries from a buy rating to a hold rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $10.00 to $12.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 19th. Finally, StockNews.com started coverage on Teva Pharmaceutical Industries in a research note on Thursday. They set a buy rating on the stock. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Teva Pharmaceutical Industries has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $10.75. Get Teva Pharmaceutical Industries alerts: Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Stock Performance Shares of TEVA traded up $0.03 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $7.94. The companys stock had a trading volume of 3,490,182 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,556,791. Teva Pharmaceutical Industries has a 1-year low of $6.78 and a 1-year high of $11.44. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $8.67 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $9.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.28, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 1.10. Insiders Place Their Bets Teva Pharmaceutical Industries ( NYSE:TEVA Get Rating ) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 10th. The company reported $0.37 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of $0.55 by ($0.18). The firm had revenue of $3.66 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.60 billion. Teva Pharmaceutical Industries had a positive return on equity of 27.58% and a negative net margin of 10.73%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Teva Pharmaceutical Industries will post 2.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year. In other Teva Pharmaceutical Industries news, EVP Sven Dethlefs sold 59,655 shares of Teva Pharmaceutical Industries stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.89, for a total transaction of $589,987.95. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 165,381 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $1,635,618.09. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, VP David Matthew Stark sold 63,383 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.89, for a total value of $626,857.87. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 2,974 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $29,412.86. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Sven Dethlefs sold 59,655 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.89, for a total value of $589,987.95. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 165,381 shares in the company, valued at $1,635,618.09. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 158,884 shares of company stock valued at $1,572,797. 0.82% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders. Institutional Trading of Teva Pharmaceutical Industries A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in TEVA. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in Teva Pharmaceutical Industries by 1.6% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,875,394 shares of the companys stock valued at $17,609,000 after buying an additional 28,920 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its position in Teva Pharmaceutical Industries by 12.3% in the 1st quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 119,076 shares of the companys stock valued at $1,118,000 after buying an additional 13,069 shares in the last quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Teva Pharmaceutical Industries by 4.7% during the 1st quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 95,953 shares of the companys stock worth $901,000 after purchasing an additional 4,300 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. increased its holdings in Teva Pharmaceutical Industries by 3.7% during the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 41,648,716 shares of the companys stock worth $391,081,000 after purchasing an additional 1,494,814 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Great West Life Assurance Co. Can increased its holdings in Teva Pharmaceutical Industries by 4.0% during the 1st quarter. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can now owns 420,533 shares of the companys stock worth $4,137,000 after purchasing an additional 16,134 shares in the last quarter. 50.39% of the stock is owned by institutional investors. Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Company Profile (Get Rating) Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. engages in the development, production, and sale of medicines. It operates through the following geographical segments: North America, Europe, and International Markets. The company was founded in 1901 and is headquartered in Tel Aviv, Israel. See Also Receive News & Ratings for Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Teva Pharmaceutical Industries and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise cut its position in shares of The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW Get Rating) by 3.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 59,435 shares of the financial services providers stock after selling 1,853 shares during the quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoises holdings in Charles Schwab were worth $4,950,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC. Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Phocas Financial Corp. acquired a new position in shares of Charles Schwab in the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Selway Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of Charles Schwab in the 3rd quarter worth $29,000. WFA of San Diego LLC acquired a new position in shares of Charles Schwab in the 4th quarter worth $34,000. Sittner & Nelson LLC acquired a new position in shares of Charles Schwab in the 4th quarter worth $37,000. Finally, Exos TFP Holdings LLC acquired a new position in shares of Charles Schwab in the 3rd quarter worth $34,000. 73.49% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds. Get Charles Schwab alerts: Charles Schwab Price Performance Shares of Charles Schwab stock traded up $0.31 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $51.98. 5,712,555 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 21,595,479. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.39 and a quick ratio of 0.39. The firm has a market cap of $91.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.22, a PEG ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 0.88. The Charles Schwab Co. has a 52 week low of $45.00 and a 52 week high of $86.63. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $52.15 and a 200-day simple moving average of $69.90. Charles Schwab Dividend Announcement Charles Schwab ( NYSE:SCHW Get Rating ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 17th. The financial services provider reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.03. Charles Schwab had a return on equity of 27.83% and a net margin of 34.82%. The firm had revenue of $5.12 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.13 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.77 EPS. The businesss revenue for the quarter was up 9.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that The Charles Schwab Co. will post 3.35 earnings per share for the current year. The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 12th will be given a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 11th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.92%. Charles Schwabs payout ratio is 27.32%. Wall Street Analyst Weigh In A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on SCHW shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their target price on Charles Schwab from $75.00 to $72.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 18th. Bank of America decreased their target price on Charles Schwab from $53.00 to $51.00 in a research report on Monday, April 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Charles Schwab from $86.00 to $85.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 18th. Raymond James raised shares of Charles Schwab from a market perform rating to an outperform rating and set a $63.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Monday, May 15th. Finally, UBS Group cut their price objective on Charles Schwab from $70.00 to $65.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 18th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $68.73. Insider Buying and Selling at Charles Schwab In other Charles Schwab news, CEO Walter W. Bettinger acquired 50,000 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 14th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $59.31 per share, for a total transaction of $2,965,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 656,501 shares in the company, valued at approximately $38,937,074.31. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Walter W. Bettinger bought 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 14th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $59.31 per share, with a total value of $2,965,500.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 656,501 shares of the companys stock, valued at $38,937,074.31. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Nigel J. Murtagh sold 10,796 shares of Charles Schwab stock in a transaction on Friday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.23, for a total value of $866,163.08. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 57,322 shares of the companys stock, valued at $4,598,944.06. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders acquired 81,000 shares of company stock worth $4,706,960. 6.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders. Charles Schwab Profile (Get Rating) The Charles Schwab Corp. is a savings and loan holding company, which engages in the provision of wealth management, securities brokerage, banking, asset management, custody, and financial advisory services. It operates through the Investor Services and Advisor Services segments. The Investor Services segment includes retail brokerage and banking services to individual investors, and retirement plan services, as well as other corporate brokerage services, to businesses and their employees. Read More Want to see what other hedge funds are holding SCHW? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW Get Rating). Receive News & Ratings for Charles Schwab Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Charles Schwab and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Scotiabank upgraded shares of TIM (NYSE:TIMB Get Rating) from a sector perform rating to a sector outperform rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday morning, The Fly reports. TIM Trading Up 0.6 % TIMB opened at $14.01 on Thursday. TIM has a one year low of $10.19 and a one year high of $15.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.78 billion, a PE ratio of 21.89, a P/E/G ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.75. The businesss 50 day moving average price is $13.16 and its 200 day moving average price is $12.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.74. Get TIM alerts: TIM Cuts Dividend The firm also recently announced a Variable dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 16th. Investors of record on Monday, May 1st were issued a $0.0745 dividend. This represents a yield of 5.09%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 28th. TIMs dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 95.31%. Institutional Investors Weigh In On TIM About TIM Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in TIM by 42.9% in the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 74,065 shares of the companys stock valued at $1,074,000 after buying an additional 22,230 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. boosted its position in TIM by 41.3% during the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 476,740 shares of the companys stock worth $6,913,000 after purchasing an additional 139,387 shares during the period. Ariel Investments LLC boosted its position in TIM by 4.8% in the 1st quarter. Ariel Investments LLC now owns 396,301 shares of the companys stock valued at $5,746,000 after buying an additional 18,067 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its position in TIM by 0.9% in the 1st quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 680,186 shares of the companys stock valued at $9,863,000 after buying an additional 6,100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS Group AG raised its stake in shares of TIM by 3.7% in the 1st quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 33,648 shares of the companys stock valued at $489,000 after purchasing an additional 1,202 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 3.64% of the companys stock. (Get Rating) TIM SA (Brazil) engages in providing mobile telephony, internet, and media telecommunication services. It offers modem, tablet, cell phone, and ultra fixed broadband. The company was founded on March 9, 1998 and is headquartered in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. See Also Receive News & Ratings for TIM Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for TIM and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Unifi (NYSE:UFI Get Rating) in a report released on Thursday. The brokerage issued a sell rating on the textile makers stock. Separately, CJS Securities raised Unifi from a market perform rating to an outperform rating in a report on Thursday, February 2nd. Get Unifi alerts: Unifi Stock Performance NYSE UFI opened at $8.20 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 3.89 and a quick ratio of 2.02. Unifi has a 12 month low of $6.33 and a 12 month high of $16.32. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $7.98 and a 200-day moving average of $8.49. Insider Buying and Selling at Unifi Institutional Investors Weigh In On Unifi In other Unifi news, Director Archibald Cox, Jr. sold 50,000 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Friday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.16, for a total transaction of $408,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 129,376 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $1,055,708.16. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website . Insiders own 12.85% of the companys stock. Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Gladius Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in Unifi during the 1st quarter valued at $36,000. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky acquired a new stake in Unifi during the 3rd quarter valued at $42,000. Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in Unifi by 89.3% during the 1st quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 7,284 shares of the textile makers stock valued at $59,000 after purchasing an additional 3,437 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG increased its position in Unifi by 47.6% during the 1st quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 8,533 shares of the textile makers stock worth $70,000 after buying an additional 2,752 shares during the period. Finally, Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC bought a new position in Unifi during the 3rd quarter worth $128,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.72% of the companys stock. Unifi Company Profile (Get Rating) Unifi, Inc engages in the manufacture and sale of synthetic and recycled products made from polyester and nylon. It operates through the following segments: Polyester, Nylon, Brazil, and Asia. The Polyester segment sells polyester-based products to other yarn manufacturers, knitters, and weavers that produce yarn and fabric for the apparel, hosiery, home furnishings, automotive, industrial, and other end-use markets in U.S. Read More Receive News & Ratings for Unifi Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Unifi and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP Get Rating) insider Carmen Orr sold 8,000 shares of the companys stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.31, for a total transaction of $258,480.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 101,006 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $3,263,503.86. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Yelp Price Performance Shares of YELP traded down $0.22 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $32.52. The stock had a trading volume of 1,117,359 shares, compared to its average volume of 593,249. Yelp Inc. has a 1-year low of $25.30 and a 1-year high of $39.26. The companys fifty day simple moving average is $29.86 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $29.65. The company has a market cap of $2.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 65.24 and a beta of 1.45. Get Yelp alerts: Institutional Investors Weigh In On Yelp Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC purchased a new position in Yelp during the 1st quarter worth $25,000. IFP Advisors Inc grew its position in Yelp by 127.6% during the 4th quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 867 shares of the local business review companys stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 486 shares during the last quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd purchased a new position in Yelp during the 3rd quarter worth $32,000. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Yelp during the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Finally, Dark Forest Capital Management LP grew its position in Yelp by 83.6% during the 1st quarter. Dark Forest Capital Management LP now owns 1,166 shares of the local business review companys stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 531 shares during the last quarter. 93.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds. Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth About Yelp YELP has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Credit Suisse Group upped their price objective on shares of Yelp from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Friday, February 10th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Yelp from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an underweight rating in a research report on Friday, February 10th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Yelp from $31.00 to $39.00 in a research report on Monday, February 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Yelp from $32.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Friday, February 10th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Yelp from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research report on Saturday, May 13th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $34.63. (Get Rating) Yelp, Inc engages in the business of operating a community-driven platform that connects people with great local businesses. The company was founded by Jeremy Stoppelman and Russell Simmons in July 2004 and is headquartered in San Francisco, CA. Featured Stories Receive News & Ratings for Yelp Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Yelp and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Theres only one thing worse than spending a hot day wearing boots or tightly laced oxfords: putting on sandals that leave an annoying and painful friction wound. Those who know the sensation will recognize the intense burning: each step feels like rubbing lemon and salt on a wound. It doesnt stop when you get home and take your shoes off, but continues the next day when you have to leave again. But summer is here, and as the temperature climbs, the change of footwear is inevitable. For those with sensitive skin, a history of blisters or feet susceptible to rashes, we have made this guide of practical, easy and expert-approved advice. Start with hydration Tamara Iglesias, director of Podology at the Margaret Dabbs London podology clinic in Coruna, says that we can avoid these problems if we regularly hydrate our feet, preferably daily. Angel Maria Garcia, the founder of Biocosmetic, the Spain distributor of the Swiss foot-care brand Pedicare, agrees. Lack of hydration reduces the skins elasticity and ability to protect itself against the friction of the shoe on it. Thats why its important to take care of the skin of the feet all year, hydrating them as much as possible depending on the activity were doing and the shoes we will wear. The oil trick To keep our feet hydrated, we can reuse body or facial oil. To prevent a change of shoes from affecting the health of our skin, the ideal is to maintain a care routine. In this case, in addition to a good pedicure or tools like foot files, I suggest using products that guarantee the feets nutrition and elasticity. We can use body care products rich in regenerating oils, or even our facial oil, after showering, says Estefania Nieto, technical director of Omorovizca and hydration expert. Powders yes, talcum no If we have feet that tend to be sweaty, or were going to be in a warm, humid place, we suggest using foot powders before putting on sandals to reduce sweat. It is important that they dont contain talcum, as it can block the pores, says podologist Tamara Iglesias. Soften sandals with lotion This is a remedy passed down from generation to generation. No one knows how it began, but it works. Applying lotion can help soften the straps of leather sandals. Multifunctional deodorant Sweaty feet can also cause infections, Tamara Iglesias warns. What happens with sweating is that it can make the foot move around more, causing more possible rubbing. To avoid it, using our deodorant on our feet can be a good idea, but I also advise keeping your feet very well cared for. If the feet are smooth and hydrated, they will be less susceptible to friction. It is important to hydrate them up to twice a day: after showering, and at the end of the day, after washing them with cold water, which will prevent congestion and possible blisters, says Ana Yuste, expert in food health and technical director of Aromatherapy Associates. Dont buy sandals until late afternoon As Hollywood podiatrist Dr. Sanford Weitzbuch revealed, there is an optimal moment to try on new shoes. Weitzbuch recommended doing it as late as possible, as blood circulation varies and feet swell as the day goes on. He recommends going shopping after four P.M. so that the shoes fit well in the morning and remain comfortable as the hours pass. Its good advice, as we can be sure that our shoes work for us at all hours of the day, and we can avoid negative aspects like friction, Ana Yuste says. And exfoliate at home Many specialists point out the benefits of this ritual. A mild exfoliation is recommended before switching shoes, to remove dead cells and smooth the skin, says Angel Maria Garcia. We can do it with an ergonomic file or a specific product for it. If we have a problem we cant treat at home, we should visit our podiatrist or pedicurist. We shouldnt let ourselves be influenced by unauthorized people who spread advice without a scientific basis on social media. Use SPF We tend to think of the classic friction zones (index and pinky toe, heels) when we put sandals on, and we sometimes forget to protect our instep. During the first days in the sun, this area can suffer from exposure to UVA rays, ending up more sensitive. Foot yoga Do stretching exercises for the ankles and feet. Flexing the ankle, rotating it and opening and closing the toes helps to activate circulation, Tamara Iglesias recommends. Once home, feet up Heat causes blood vessels to dilate and slows the return of blood, causing swelling in the feet and ankles, Tamara Iglesias explains. Massaging the feet and legs, starting from below and moving upwards, can help circulation. When you can, lie down and lift your legs as high as you can and do ankle rotations, Iglesias recommends. Anatomy of the ideal sandal All good sandals should have certain characteristics, says Iglesias. A sandal has to give us support, and it has to hold the foot from the tip to the ankle. It should have a shape that distributes the weight between the heel, the arch and the sole. A totally flat sandal can cause as much harm as one with a heel, she explains. At the end of summer we see a lot of plantar fasciitis caused by the excessive use of very flat sandals. The sole and bed of the shoe has to be thick enough to absorb the impact when we walk. Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAIS USA Edition Robert De Niro, from left, Leonardo DiCaprio and director Martin Scorsese at the premiere of the film 'Killers of the Flower Moon' at the 76th international film festival, Cannes, southern France, Saturday, May 20, 2023. Martin Scorsese unveiled Killers of the Flower Moon at Cannes on Saturday, debuting a sweeping American epic about greed and exploitation on the bloody plains of an Osage Nation reservation in 1920s Oklahoma. Scorseses latest starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Lily Gladstone and Robert De Niro is one of his most ambitious. Adapting David Granns nonfiction bestseller, it stretches nearly three and a half hours and cost Apple $200 million to make. Nothing has been more anticipated at this years Cannes Film Festival than Killers of the Flower Moon a historical epic, a bitter crime film and a Great Plains Western which appeared to meet those expectations. It drew a lengthy standing ovation and repeated cheers for Scorsese, 80, who premiered his first film at Cannes since 1985s After Hours. We shot this a couple of years ago in Oklahoma. Its taken its time to come around but Apple did so great by us, Scorsese said, addressing the crowd after the screening. There was lots of grass. Im a New Yorker. The red carpet drew a wide spectrum of stars. Along with the films expansive cast, attendees included Apple CEO Tim Cook, as well as actors Cate Blanchett, Salma Hayek, Paul Dano and Isabelle Huppert. Though Granns book affords many possible inroads to the story, Scorsese and co-writer Eric Roth center their story on Ernest Burkhart (DiCaprio, in his seventh collaboration with Scorsese), a WWI veteran who falls for Mollie Brown (Gladstone), the member of a wealthy Osage family. Since finding oil reserves on their land, the Osage were then the richest people per capita in the country. But that wealth is closely controlled by appointed white guardians. A series of murders prompts increased panic among the Osage, who are preyed on by a host of greedy killers. Though Granns book devoted many pages to the connections between the cases and the birth of the FBI, less time is spent in Scorseses film on the murder investigations. (Jesse Plemons plays an agent from the just-formed Bureau.) Instead, Killers of the Flower Moon captures the manipulation and murders of Native American people through the dynamics in Ernest and Mollies relationship. Killers of the Flower Moon, which is playing out of competition in Cannes, opens in U.S. theaters on Oct. 6. Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAIS USA Edition Tea art specialists perform a traditional Chinese tea ceremony during the "Tea for Harmony Yaji Cultural Salon" in Suva, Fiji, May 20, 2023. [Sang Qinlong/Xinhua] Art performance, paper-cut, photography... Entitled "Tea for Harmony Yaji Cultural Salon," a traditional tea event was held in Fiji's Suva on Saturday to promote traditional Chinese tea culture in the country. SUVA, May 21 (Xinhua) A tea cultural event was held in Suva, capital of Fiji, on Saturday, enabling the island nation's people to get a taste of Chinese tea and tea culture. The event included a traditional tea ceremony, a tea art performance and other activities like music, paper-cut art and photography exhibition. Entitled "Tea for Harmony Yaji Cultural Salon," the event was organized by the China Cultural Center in Fiji, Nanjing Municipal Bureau of Culture and Tourism, as well as Fiji-China Friendship Association. Yaji, literally "gathering of elegance," was a common way for ancient Chinese literati to enjoy a collective cultural life. China is the hometown of tea, said Chinese Ambassador to Fiji Zhou Jian. "Chinese tea culture has promoted the exchanges and mutual learning of different civilizations." The ambassador said China advocates for countries around the world to transcend civilization barriers through exchanges, rise above civilization conflicts by mutual learning, and overcome the sense of superiority by promoting coexistence of civilizations. People prepare to taste Chinese tea during the "Tea for Harmony Yaji Cultural Salon" in Suva, Fiji, May 20, 2023. [Sang Qinlong/Xinhua] The event was held on the occasion of the upcoming International Tea Day on May 21. The day aims to "raise awareness about the importance of tea in poverty eradication and make significant contributions to the preservation of human heritage and the promotion of dialogue between civilizations," said Han Xiaoyan, director of the China Cultural Center in Fiji. Katriena Wong, a Fijian girl who once studied in China, told Xinhua that she loves Chinese tea very much. "Tea helps you rest your heart and have a pause in your life," Wong said. The Chinese people often say "to make friends with tea," she said. "Likewise, Kava is an important social activity and ceremonial drink in Fiji, representing the hospitality and friendliness of the Fijian people." Wong said she hopes students who have studied in China could use tea and Kava as a medium to enhance exchanges of Chinese and Fijian cultures, and contribute more to China-Fiji friendship. (Source: Xinhua) BEIJING, May 21 (Xinhua) Chinese President Xi Jinping has sent a congratulatory message to Wesley W. Simina on his assuming office as the president of the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM). In the message dated May 18, Xi pointed out that since the establishment of diplomatic ties 34 years ago, bilateral relations have made great progress on the basis of mutual respect and equal treatment, bringing tangible benefits to both peoples. Xi said that he deeply appreciates President Simina's long-term commitment to promoting China-FSM friendship. Noting that he attaches great importance to the development of bilateral ties, Xi also said he stands ready to join hands with President Simina to support each other on issues concerning their core interests, deepen exchanges and cooperation in various fields, and push for continuous development of the China-FSM comprehensive strategic partnership, so as to bring more benefits to their peoples. (Source: Xinhua) Scholars laud Chinese President Xi Jinping's congratulatory letter to the 32nd Arab League Summit, saying it is an epitome of his resolve to bring the China-Arab strategic partnership to a higher level. CAIRO, May 21 (Xinhua) Chinese President Xi Jinping's congratulatory letter to the 32nd Arab League (AL) Summit is an epitome of his resolve to bring the China-Arab strategic partnership to a higher level, scholars have said. The Chinese president emphasized the long and deep friendship between China and Arab countries in his letter to Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, the rotating president of the Council of the AL, on the summit which kicked off Friday in the Saudi city of Jeddah. Noting that he is glad to see that Arab countries have continuously taken new steps and made new achievements on the path of unity and self-improvement, Xi stressed that China is ready to work with Arab countries to carry forward the spirit of China-Arab friendship, implement the outcomes of the first China-Arab States Summit, bring the China-Arab strategic partnership to a higher level, and continue to write new chapters in China-Arab friendship. Ibrahim Alluhayb, a professor at King Saud University in Saudi Arabia, said that Xi's congratulations highlight the positive trend of reconciliation within the Arab world. "China has made significant contributions to this endeavor," said Alluhayb, noting that the Chinese leader's letter specifically mentioned the China-Arab States Summit held in 2022, which has injected fresh momentum into the development of China-Arab relations. Syrian political analyst Osama Danura said that China has helped to ease tensions in the region, adding that China's recent efforts to broker a peace agreement between Saudi Arabia and Iran have catalyzed the wave of detente and reconciliation across the Middle East. Referring to the return of Syria to the AL Summit, Steven Wright, an associate professor of international relations at Qatar's Hamad Bin Khalifa University, said China's diplomatic efforts to promote peace have positively influenced the region. The readmission of Syria into the AL indicates the Arab world's desire to gain independence and adopt a more pragmatic approach to regional conflicts, which resonates strongly with China's diplomatic doctrines, he said. This photo taken on May 7, 2023 shows a scene of an Arab League (AL) extraordinary meeting in Cairo, Egypt. Arab foreign ministers decided in the meeting to restore Syria's AL membership after 12 years of suspension. [Xinhua/Ahmed Gomaa] On China's efforts to foster cooperation with the Arab states, Wright hailed the rapid progress in practical cooperation between the two sides since the first China-Arab States Summit last year. "Significant progress has been made in areas like development support, food security, public health, green innovation, energy security, inter-civilizational dialogue, and security and stability," said the Qatar-based scholar. "President Xi's congratulatory letter to the AL Summit proved China's determination to move forward hand in hand with the Arab countries," said Palestinian political analyst Haitham Daraghmeh, adding that cooperation between the two sides has always been based on equality, mutual benefit, and win-win cooperation. Samer Khair Ahmed, a Jordanian expert on Arab-China relations, said Xi's congratulatory letter showcases that China highly regards China-Arab relations, highlighting China's conducive role in addressing global challenges, especially those in the Middle East. "Currently, China represents an important international voice to address world problems and complicated issues," said Ahmed, adding that China's diplomatic approach exemplifies its status as a major country with a sense of responsibility. According to Mohsen al-Nabati, spokesman for the Tunisian Popular Current Party, China's presence in the region is widely embraced due to its dedication to peace, stability, and cooperation instead of confrontation. Nabati referred to the Belt and Road Initiative and the ancient Silk Road in explaining China's popularity in the region. "Any rational person would choose 'silk' over chaos," said the spokesperson. (Source: Xinhua) Articles Sorry, there are no recent results for popular articles. Saudi soldiers who were on a humanitarian mission in Sudan prepare to board a plane to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, at Port Sudan airport, Thursday, May 11, 2023. Sudans warring factions have agreed to a new short-term ceasefire, U.S. and Saudi mediators announced on Saturday, after several previous attempts to broker a truce that holds have failed. Meeting in the Saudi port city of Jeddah, the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces signed off on a seven-day ceasefire that is due to take effect on Monday 9:45 p.m. local time in Sudan, the U.S. and Saudi Arabia said in a joint statement. The ceasefire could be extended if both sides agree. Both parties have conveyed to the Saudi and U.S. facilitators their commitment not to seek military advantage during the 48-hour notification period after signing the agreement and prior to the start of the ceasefire, it said. The talks in Jeddah had previously produced an agreement between the two sides on protecting civilians and easing the flow of humanitarian assistance to those affected by the conflict. But, earlier ceasefire deals have foundered amid accusations by both of violations. It is well known that the parties have previously announced ceasefires that have not been observed, the U.S.-Saudi statement said. Unlike previous ceasefires, the Agreement reached in Jeddah was signed by the parties and will be supported by a U.S.-Saudi and international-supported ceasefire monitoring mechanism. The Monitoring and Coordination Committee is to be made up of three representatives each from the U.S. and Saudi Arabia and three representatives from each party. Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAIS USA Edition Little expresses more clearly the immense social crisis in the United States than the fact that child mortality is rising. Between 2019 and 2021, all-cause mortality rates among ages 1-19 rose by nearly 20 percent. These deaths are overwhelmingly driven by preventable injuries that have socially-conditioned causes, including homicides, overdoses and automobile accidents. COVID-19 also contributed. Only infants younger than one year did not experience increasing mortality rates during this time. Steven Woolf of the Virginia Commonwealth University, author of a recent opinion article in the Journal of the American Medical Association documenting this trend, observed to The Hill that an increase of this magnitude has not occurred in half a century ... and perhaps has not occurred since the influenza pandemic [of 1919]. Woolf and his co-authors reviewed mortality data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) between 1999 and 2021 and found that pediatric injury deaths began rising over a decade ago. Suicides among ages 10-19 started to climb in 2007, increasing by 69.5 percent by 2019. Homicides in this group increased 32.7 percent between 2013 and 2019. Since then, over the first two years of the COVID pandemic, injury deaths continued to shoot up. Between 2019 and 2020, homicides in ages 10-19 increased by 39.1 percent, overdose deaths increased 113.5 percent, and transport-related deaths jumped 15.6 percent after having declined for decades. Even in children ages 1-9, injuries accounted for two-thirds of the increase in all-cause mortality. The authors note that for decades, advances in public health and safety related both to injury prevention (e.g., seat belts and smoke detectors) and disease prevention in children and infants led to a decline in pediatric mortality, but this progress was now being entirely offset by injuries, primarily those involving violence, self-harm, and drug misuse. The greatest contributor to the increasing mortality rates was gun-related deaths, which accounted for 47.8 percent of the increase in 2020. For the first time in US history, firearm-related injuries became the leading cause of death among children in 2020, surpassing automobile accidents. Firearm-related deaths have been increasing in children since 2013 but rose markedly after 2019. The Pew Research Center reported a 50 percent increase in total firearm-related deaths in children under the age of 18 between 2019 and 2021. The majority of these (60 percent) were homicides, followed by suicides (32 percent) and accidents (5 percent). In contrast, among adult victims of firearm-related deaths in 2021, the majority (55 percent) were suicides. The United States stands alone among its peers in regard to firearm deaths in children. An analysis by the Kaiser Family Foundation comparing firearm-involved death rates in children in the US to those in peer countries found that the US had 7 times the rate of Canada, the second-highest country. Moreover, the US is the only country among comparable nations where youth firearm deaths have increased since 2000. A memorial at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas Monday, May 30, 2022, to honor the victims of the school shooting. Photographs of the victims, from left, show Layla Salazar, McKenna Lee Elrod, Jayce Carmelo Luevanos and Nevaeh Alyssa Bravo. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong) Already in 2023, there have been 227 mass shootings and 674 firearm deaths in children ages 0-17, according to the Gun Violence Archive. The K-12 Shooting Database has recorded 121 school shooting incidents this year, and 2023 is projected to have the highest number of school shootings on record. It is no accident that rising mortality rates among children and youth are led by deaths of an antisocial and violent character and by deaths of despair. These deaths are a reflection of the rotten environment that exists in the center of world capitalism, which offers young people no future. For the last thirty years, the US has been waging unending wars abroad that have killed 4.5 million people just since 2001. Now the US is escalating the NATO war against Russia in Ukraine with open discussions among state and military officials of the possibility of a nuclear World War Three. War abroad has been accompanied by decades of social counter-revolution at home, during which inequality has soared, social assistance has been gutted, and the economic and democratic gains won by the working class over a century of struggle have been systematically rolled back. Among the latter is the recent push by lawmakers across the US to dismantle restrictions on child labor. Moreover, young people are aware that the entire world faces multiple existential threats in the forms of war, climate change, dictatorship and, not least of all, the ongoing COVID pandemic, which has violently shaken their lives. While the bourgeois press has cynically sought to blame school closures, a vital public health measure against the pandemic, for the mental health and mortality crisis among the youth, they seek to minimize the traumatizing impact of mass death and disease on American children. According to the research by Woolf et al., COVID-19 accounted for a full 20 percent of the increase in child mortality rates in 2021. Other research found that it became the 8th-leading cause of death in US children following the Delta and Omicron waves. The direct effects of the pandemic on children have been staggering. CDC data shows that more than 2,200 children have died from COVID, more than 190,000 have been hospitalized, and virtually every child (96.3 percent as of last December) has been infected at least once. Millions of children are suffering from long COVID complications which can be both dangerous and severely debilitating. Add to this the devastating grief of more than 267,000 children who have lost one or both parents to COVID, and others who have lost grandparents and other non-parental caregivers. It is no wonder that the youth mental health crisis, which has been documented for over a decade, would be exacerbated by these experiences. Just as the capitalist politicians of both parties deliberately chose to let the pandemic rip through the population, sacrificing the lives of thousands of children in the process, they will do nothing to provide the necessary resources to address the child mortality or child mental health crises. Health professionals have warned that in many cases there is no help available for young people. A 2019 study found that nearly half (49.4 percent) of children in need of mental health treatment did not receive it. Dr. Jennifer Downs of Connecticut's Children's Hospital told the New York Times that it took an average of one week, and sometimes as long as one month, for children who go to the emergency room for psychiatric care to secure an inpatient bed. The vast majority of states are classified as having a severe shortage of child and adolescent psychiatrists, according according to the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychology. Despite this, the Biden administration pledged only a pittance ($300 million) to youth mental health programs in 2022, a fraction of the tens of billions given to Ukraine since the start of the NATO war against Russia last year. In the face of immense challenges, students and young workers across the US are being radicalized by their experiences. During the Omicron wave of the pandemic, thousands of students in cities across the country walked out of school as part of a global struggle to temporarily close schools and stop the pandemic. Only a few months later, following the massacre in Uvalde, Texas, students again protested nationwide against the school shooting epidemic. What is most critical, young people are increasingly attuned to the struggles of educators and the broader working class. From the strike by 35,000 teachers in Los Angeles to the strike by academic workers at Temple University, students have voiced their support and are beginning to see their struggles for a better life as a component part of the movement of the international working class. The source of the profound social retrogression occurring in the US, evident in rising youth mortality, falling life expectancy and daily mass shootings, is capitalism. The International Youth and Students for Social Equality, the youth movement of the Socialist Equality Party, believes there is a bright future to be won, but it must be fought for. We encourage young people to take up the fight for socialism today. America Decides, the latest episode of the popular HBO series Succession, which aired May 14, is a chilling account of an election night, drawing on recent and not so recent history. The episode reveals the corporate-media Roys, the family at the center of the series, conspiring to steal an election by crowning its preferred candidate, the fascistic Jeryd Mencken (Justin Kirk). The title of the episode itself is loaded with irony. In fact, as we see, big business has a large hand in deciding who becomes the next US president. Matthew Macfadyen in 'America Decides' The 62-minute episode has an unquestionably unnerving quality. It provides an artistic and accurate depiction of the breakdown of democracy and the lurch toward fascism by the American ruling elite. The drama portrayed in America Decides draws elements from the hijacked 2000 presidential election, in which Fox News played a major role in solidifying the false claims of George W. Bush, the rise of Donald Trump in 2016 and the 2020 election, which resulted in a fascist mob attacking the Capitol on January 6, 2021 in an attempt to establish an authoritarian dictatorship. Writer and showrunner Jesse Armstrong has also indicated that certain incidents are intended to bring to mind the infamous 1933 Reichstag fire provocation carried out by Hitlers Nazis. Written by Armstrong and directed by Andrij Parekh, Episode 8 of Successions fourth and final season takes place on an election night in the Fox News-like newsroom of ATN News, the network owned by the Rupert Murdoch-esque tycoon Logan Roy (Brian Cox). Logan has died suddenly in a previous episode this season. The atmosphere in the newsroom is extremely tense. The Republican Mencken, something of a latter-day Charles Lindbergh, obviously meant to suggest Trump as well, prone to using fascistic dog whistles, is engaged in a close contest with the Democratic Partys Daniel Jimenez (Elliot Villar). The various Roy family members side with either Mencken or Jimenez, each scheming and maneuvering in his or her own self-interest. Ultimately, the majority of the Roys land on the fascist as their candidate of choice to advance their business and political interests. Following Logan Roys death, two of his sons, Kendall (Jeremy Strong) and Roman (Kieran Culkin), have emerged temporarily as joint CEOs of Waystar RoyCo. The vacuum has set bitter power struggles into motion. Logans daughter Shiv (Sarah Snook), however, has been sidelined and begins to conspire against the brothers with their business rival Lukas Matsson (Alexander Skarsgard), the head of the tech company GoJo in talks to acquire the Roys media empire. Kieran Culkin in 'America Decides' The previous episode Tailgate Party sets the stage for the events in America Decides. Occurring on the eve of the election, it is also a taut and explosive episode, as a number of luminaries from the media, venture capitalists, liberals and fascists co-mingle. Despite the political warfare within the ruling class, their economic interests, as we witness, are largely shared. At one point, Kendall responds to Shivs concerns about the presence of the far right at her house party, Come on, theyre not all crypto-fascists and right-wing nutjobs. We also have some venture capital Dems and centrist ghouls. Dads ideological range was wide. Kendall and Roman use the opportunity to try and get the Jimenez camp to use regulatory interventions to block the GoJo deal. OK. Ill hit the libtards, you go help the Nazis, Kendall tells Roman as they scheme to shape the political landscape to suit their needs. On election night, everything comes to a head. Initially, it appears that Jimenez is on course to win the vote. Mencken summons Roman to his election headquarters to ensure that even if he loses, I want it correctly characterized as a huge victory. I want to be the president. I want you to be a partner in that, and if it isnt tonight, it will be next time. Meanwhile, the more liberal-minded Shivs fears about Mencken are dismissed by Roman. Its fun, my teams playing your team, Roman tells her with sociopathic blitheness. Its only spicy cause if my team wins, theyre gonna shoot your team. The atmosphere evoked by the episode suggests a country on the verge of massive violence and civil unrest. As the night proceeds, what are clearly far-right extremists set fire to a vote counting center in Milwaukee, destroying over 100,000 absentee ballots, in an area that regularly votes Democratic. ATNs fascist spokesperson Mark Ravenhead (Zack Robidas), a Tucker Carlson type, openly blames the blaze on supporters of the Democrats, using the language of QAnon-style conspiracies. Things spiral out of control, and Roman proceeds to convince Kendall, who has been vacillating between the two candidates, to back Mencken and declare that the latter has won Wisconsin and eventually the election itself. Shivs own secret maneuvers with Matsson play a role in Kendalls going along with his vile younger brother. Shivs husband Tom (Matthew Macfadyen), the CEO of ATN who was on the verge of being canned, is asked to make the networks call that Mencken wins the election. At one point, Kendall, watching the sinister Mencken speaking in public (Don't we long sometimes for something clean once in this polluted land?), concludes, Hes a guy we can do business with. Roman concurs (Hell play ball), knowing he now has the upper hand in the business through his alliance with Mencken. Episode 8 is a nightmarish portrayal of a social order in the process of disintegration. It cuts through the official lies about American democracy and reveals a country run by a criminal oligarchy, distant from and despised by the vast majority. Sarah Snook in 'America Decides' The Roy familys inexorable turn toward fascism, even in the face of doubts and hesitations on the part of some family members, reflects something profoundly true about the American ruling elite and its intractable crisis. In preparing America Decides, Armstrong and the other Succession writers consulted with various political consultants who provided real-life anecdotes about the sort of election tailgate party dramatized in Episode 7, which bring together a wide swathe of the ruling elite. They also researched the behind-the-scenes realities of newsrooms on election nights. The striving for artistic truth and resulting realism of these recent episodes are remarkable. In an interview with Kara Swisher on HBOs Succession podcast, Armstrong said he felt compelled to depict a presidential election in the show. He revealed that in writing Episode 8 he had in mind not simply previous US electionsBush versus Gore in 2000 and Trumps role in 2016 and 2020but also, as mentioned above, the Reichstag (German parliament) fire episode. The February 27, 1933 Reichstag fire was an operation carried out by the Nazis, four weeks after Hitler came to power, and blamed on Communists in order to impose a regime of dictatorial terror against left-wing opposition and the working class throughout Germany. Two more episodes remain before Succession concludes, but the show has significantly elevated itself with the past few episodes as it tackles larger issues of American social life with remarkable honesty. It is to the great credit of Armstrong and the writers room along with the gifted directors and actors that they have taken on life-and-death political and social questions. More than that, the fact that the connection between big business and the fascist right has become the subject of a widely watched and widely discussed television series has an objective significance. The depiction unquestionably deepens popular hostility to the political and economic elite, but it also speaks to the far-reaching radicalization already under way. There is a substantial audience and receptivity for this material. What Trotsky described as the molecular work of revolutionary thought is in progress. Nearly a week after the horrific fire at the Loafers Lodge boarding house in New Zealand, the number of deaths has still not been confirmed. Yesterday, police said the toll was fewer than 10, with five bodies recovered so far from the damaged building in Wellington. Loafers Lodge on May 20, 2023. [Photo: WSWS] An unnamed man is in custody after appearing in court on Friday charged with arson. Police say more severe charges could be added. Many questions remain about how the fire was started and how it spread. What is clear is that the hostel, which housed nearly 100 people in 92 rooms on four storeys, was a death trap. It had no sprinkler system, which firefighters say would have saved lives, and only one functional exit. Fire alarms were reportedly faulty, with some residents saying that they only went off in part of the building, and others saying there were so many false alarms that residents had learned to ignore them. When the fire broke out just before 12:30 a.m. on May 16 on one of the upper levels, it spread rapidly, making it impossible for many residents to reach the stairwell to escape. On Saturday, the World Socialist Web Site spoke with Simon Hanify, who had lived in a small room on the first floor of Loafers Lodge for about four months. He said the front door had been sealed shut for about a month; someone kicked it in. A notice said: Door broken, use side entrance. Simon Hanify outside Loafers Lodge in Wellington, May 20, 2023. [Photo: WSWS] During the fire, some people who could not reach the stairwell to the side entrance were forced to jump onto the roof of an adjacent building. Others were rescued from the Loafers Lodge rooftop by a fire truck ladder. Describing the night of the fire, Hanify said an initial alarm had gone off at 10:30 p.m. Police say someone had set fire to a couch, which was then extinguished. When Hanify heard the second fire alarm two hours later, he checked and realised there was smoke in the building. Then, he said, I went around, smashing on all the doors saying: Get out, this ones real. Ive talked to other people [who say] the alarm didnt go off on other floors. On the third floor, one resident said he opened his door and he just hit the floor. There was a black wall of acrid smoke, real nasty, poisonous smoke. He crawled to the stairwell. Hanify said if someone had not lived in the building long and didnt know their way around, it would have been very difficult to escape. Several residents are mentally ill or medicated, or infirm, or old, and they wouldnt have stood a chance. He hoped that those killed had died of smoke inhalation in their sleep without knowing about it instead of being trapped and knowing they could not escape. Most of the people made homeless by the fire have been moved to temporary accommodation, and Hanify has been allocated a public housing unit. He praised the Downtown Community Ministry, which has been helping him. Many have lost everything they owned in the fire, Hanify explained. I did hear from someone that most things on the first floor should be okay, and theyre secure, but items cannot be retrieved until theyve got rid of all that asbestos and the water that carried it all through the building. The buildings residents included meat workers, hospital workers, retired people, people with disabilities, and a number of people recently deported from Australia. Hanify, who had been homeless before getting a room at Loafers Lodge, said: Ive lived in a few [similar places]. We call it the last resort. Its where you go when youve got nowhere else and the only alternative is a tree or the concrete. I was really grateful when I first got in there, because sleeping under a tree in the mud is not that comfortable. I was grateful at first and then the bedbugs started eating the f..k out of me. I have all these scars. There was an infestation of bedbugs. The property managers had heat-treated his room twice to try and kill the bugs, but they kept coming back. In addition, Hanify had been concerned about the leaking asbestos roof. Im a roofer by trade, he explained. Theyve had exposed asbestos with seven panels cut out because theres a leak from the roof. The water was dripping down into the rooms and they even allowed new tenants in without fixing the roof leak. He said he believed there should have been a total re-roof. Hanify had observed people doing repair work on the roof leak without protective clothing or masks. It makes me sick. I dont want to point fingers but Im disgusted, he said. Because of contamination from asbestos-laden smoke, businesses next to Loafers Lodge remain closed to the public. Hanify was charged $280 a week for the room, including power. Others were reportedly charged as much as $320. Do the maths for 92 roomsand they cant even put a sprinkler system in or replace the roof, he said. Building professionals have raised concerns about the fact that Loafers Lodge was able to pass a building warrant of fitness inspection, carried out earlier this year for the Wellington City Council. An anonymous building inspector told Newshub on May 17 that if a building fails an inspection, the owner can easily find another inspector that is a bit more lax or not as skilled and get it passed, because the system allows for that. Something needs to be done about this [because] its absolutely criminal. Without changes, he predicted that there would be more tragedies. According to the Building Research Association of New Zealand (BRANZ), some countries require sprinklers in buildings four storeys and above, whereas in New Zealand they are required only for buildings more than 10 storeys high. Labour Party Prime Minister Chris Hipkins said he had asked the Housing Minister to look particularly at issues of building regulation to see if theres anything we should be doing at this point. This morning, however, Radio NZ reported that laws to strengthen fire protections for high-density infill housingincluding townhouses and terraced housinghad been stymied just days before the Loafers Lodge fire. On May 4, the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment withdrew proposals to raise fire resistance ratings for walls and protections to limit the risk of fire spreading, because of disagreement from some figures in the building industry. Cost was reportedly a factor in the decision not to proceed with the changes. An Air Force F-16 Fighting Falcon participates in an agile combat employment training exercise at Yokota Air Base, Japan, May 8, 2022. [Photo: US Department of Defense/Yasuo Osakabe, Air Force] On Friday, against the backdrop of the debacle for the Ukrainian army in Bakhmut, US President Joe Biden announced that the US has authorized members of the NATO alliance to send F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine. In a cruel mockery of the victims of Americas war crime in Hiroshima, the leaders of the worlds imperialist powers grinned and grimaced as they announced a reckless escalation of a war that, just last year, Biden said threatened the world with nuclear Armageddon. The deployment of the F-16 and other fighter jets will create an unacceptable and untenable situation for Russia. F-16s have a range of more than 500 miles and are capable of deploying missiles with a range of over 1,200, placing Moscow and St. Petersburg within striking distance of the Ukrainian military. Most significantly, F-16s can carry tactical nuclear weapons. This sets up an incredibly dangerous situation. With F-16s flying eastward, the Russian government will not know where they are going or what they are carrying. Russia will be compelled to escalate in return, setting the stage for an even more aggressive response by the NATO powers. The Biden administration has rejected out of hand any ceasefire or attempt at a peaceful settlement of the warincluding one proposed by China. Rather, the White House, in line with plans worked out months and years in advance, is determined to press for the military defeat of Russia. According to official narrative, the decision to send F-16s was only made this week, with a reluctant Biden finally convinced to take the action. The Washington Post wrote, for example, For more than a year, getting F-16s into the skies above Ukraine for use against Russia has been Kyivs holy grail Suddenly, President Biden has said yes. The turnaround, according to US, European and Ukrainian officials, is the result of steady pressure from allies, Congress and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who just completed visits to European capitals. This is a lie, aiming to obscure the actual decision-making process in Washington. While the Biden administration is operating with a systematic plan to escalate the war, all of its actions are presented as semi-spontaneous, reactive responses to external pressure. In fact, the US has been making active preparations to send F-16 jets to Ukraine for nearly a year. In July 2022, the World Socialist Web Site reported that White House spokesperson John Kirby confirmed that the Pentagon was discussing providing fighter aircraft to the Ukrainians, and Air Force Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr. asserted that discussions are ongoing to send US-NATO fighters to Ukraine. Three months ago, following Bidens announcement that the US would send Abrams battle tanks against Russia, the WSWS wrote that despite Bidens categorical declaration that the United States will not send F-16 fighters to Ukraine, the decision to do so has already been made. Nothing remains but the working out of the political details within NATO and the launching of the media propaganda campaign of lies to sell the decision to a skeptical public. And that is precisely the process that has culminated over the past week. The charade in the media is aimed at obscuring the basic fact that, in each of his promises not to escalate the war, the president was deliberately lying to the public. In January 2023, Biden was asked, Will the United States provide F-16s to Ukraine? to which he replied, No. In March 2022, Biden asserted, The idea that were going to send in offensive equipment and have planes and tanks and trains going in with American pilots and American crews, just understandand dont kid yourself, no matter what you all saythats called World War Three. One year later, at least 100 American active-duty troops are in Ukraine, alongside dozens of US tanks and hundreds of armored vehicles, and US fighter jets are on the way. Every government in the NATO alliance knows that by providing nuclear-capable jets to Ukraineweapons that put Russias major cities in range of strikesthey risk the deaths of millions of their own citizens in a nuclear war with Russia. The fateful decision to send the jets would have been made months in advance, requiring the approval of the most powerful members of the NATO alliance. In March, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz flew to Washington on short notice and met with Biden alone, before flying directly back to Germany, with neither the American nor German public being told what they discussed. It is in such meetings that decisions are made. They are then announced to the public at a convenient time, as a fait accompli, with the appropriate packaging. But this raises an ominous question. If the decision to send F-16s to Ukraine was taken months ago, it was taken at a time when the US-NATO proxy forces in Ukraine were performing far better than they are now. On Saturday, Russian forces reported that they had captured the entire strategic city of Bakhmut, under conditions in which a much vaunted Ukrainian counter-offensive has failed to materialize. How will the United States respond to this latest debacle? How much further can Washington escalate? Can anyone doubt that, following the dispatch to Ukraine of advanced fighter jets, demands will emerge in the press for Biden to send defensive nuclear weapons to Ukraine, or even for NATO troops, whether in the skies or on the ground, to become directly involved in the fighting? It is such discussions, in fact, that were held behind closed doors at the G7 meeting. The summit over the weekend served two purposes: First, to bring into line any dissidents in the cabal of imperialist conspirators, and second, to discuss the overriding question: What next? As the WSWS warned on the occasion of the first anniversary of the war, The Biden administration has created a situation where there can be no retreat, because to do so would irreparably undermine its prestige and credibility, and lead to the breakup of NATO. Victory in this war has become an existential question for American imperialism. There are no lengths to which the US and NATO powers will not go to ensure their victory in this war. This governments response to the COVID-19 pandemic has shown that it considers the lives of American citizens to be as valueless as the tens or hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians who have been killed in its war. American imperialism is preparing a new bloodbath that will make Iraq and Afghanistan pale in comparison. The working class must respond to the escalation of war through the escalation of the class struggle. Throughout the world, workers are entering into struggle against governments that are declaring that workers living standards must be slashed to pay for rearmament. These struggles must be unified on the basis of the perspective of international socialism, taking up as a central demand the struggle to end the war in Ukraine. Jaime Puerta and his son, Jose Daniel Puerta. Cortesia Jaime Puerta, a native of Colombia who is now a U.S. citizen, remains silent for a few moments, then takes a deep breath before talking about his son, Jose Daniel. He had a lot of friends, he was a very sensitive person and he had a big heart [...] He was my only son, he was everything to me, he was absolutely everything to me, he says, speaking by telephone from his home in California. It has been three years since the 16-year-old bought an oxycodone pill (an opioid drug) through the online platform Snapchat. The apparently ordinary pill contained a lethal amount of fentanyl, a drug 50 times more potent than heroin and which has plunged the United States into a public health crisis. In early May, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) concluded Operation Last Mile, which targeted the trafficking of fentanyl and methamphetamine within the United States driven by the Sinaloa and Jalisco Cartels. The operation resulted in 3,337 arrests, the seizure of nearly 44 million fentanyl pills, more than 6,500 pounds of fentanyl powder, more than 91,000 pounds of methamphetamine, 8,497 firearms and more than $100 million. In a press release, the U.S. agency gave an account of the danger that this distribution poses to the country and pointed to the two Mexican cartels as being behind it. It also noted that the cartels and their associates use social media apps to reach out to victims. Tens of thousands of Americans have died from fentanyl use. Some time after the death of Jose Daniel, Puerta founded VOID (Victims of Illicit Drugs), an organization that issues warnings, offers tools and proposes legislation to fight the drug scourge. Puerta underscores that this type of substance proves wrong the belief that only addicts take drugs. He insists that young people are victims of it, too. The mental health of our young people has deteriorated at an alarming rate. They do not have the tools to know how to deal with a stressful problem or with a psychological, emotional or physical trauma. Jose Daniel Puerta on a trip in the United States. Cortesia The presence of distributors on social media, combined with young peoples use of platforms with legal loopholes, can prove lethal on occasion, notes Puerta. They are home alone, with their phones, stressed out because of an exam or whatever. They go on social media, and they do what their friends have done in the past, he says, noting the importance of young peoples desire to identify with a group. His son had been diagnosed with hyperactivity and depression. Puerta describes him as a very intelligent boy who was especially good at math. We think that the confinement due to Covid-19 upset him, and he got in touch through Snapchat with a micro-dealer who gave him a pill about three blocks from my house. He brought it here [to his home in California] on March 31. I found him unconscious on April 1; his lips and nails were blue, Puerta recalls in a slow voice. His organization, VOID, has brought the documentary Dead on Arrival to several U.S. schools and centers. In it, members of the association recount the tragic loss of one of their relatives. The documentary provides examples to show the danger of synthetic drugs, comparing the amounts that can be lethal. The images show a negligible amount of fentanyl. Steve Filson, secretary of the organization, explains: This dose of fentanyl would kill you and me if we shared it out. They put fentanyl in the cocaine, in the heroin, in the counterfeit pills. Its odorless, tasteless, you dont know its there, and when you find out its too late. In recent months, fentanyl has reignited the friction between the governments of the United States and Mexico over drug trafficking. The radical wing of the Republican Party has tried to make synthetic drugs the focus of its agenda ahead of the 2024 elections. The governor of Florida, Ron DeSantis, said last year that you have people coming across illegally from countries all over the world. And so what has that gotten us? We now, in this country, have the leading cause of death for people 18 to 45 as fentanyl overdose. Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador was quick to respond to the harsh criticism and sought to shift the focus to China. The Mexican president has reiterated on several occasions that the Asian country is the axis of the global traffic in the synthetic substance. At the beginning of May, a container with 600 packages of drugs intercepted in the port of Lazaro Cardenas led him to insist that it is not Mexico that produces fentanyl: We already have proof. In his morning conference, the president announced that he would send a new letter to request the cooperation of the Xi Jinping government. Puerta says that the solution to this drug trafficking is very complex. Both countries are to blame for this scourge [...] The solution would entail solving our childrens mental health problems on this side [in the U.S.] and [limiting] the social networks where these drugs are being distributed, he explains. Puerta also considers that the position of the Mexican president should involve treating the issue as a Mexican problem, an idea reinforced in recent months with statements by the Mexican Undersecretary of Health, Hugo Lopez-Gatell, who pointed to the existence of fentanyl routes from the United States to Mexico. The president of VOID held a protest outside the headquarters of Snapchat, in California, just three days after the DEA released its conclusions on Operation Last Mile. Over the phone, Puerta continues to remember Jose Daniel. I never got to see him graduate from college. I will never be a grandfather. His friends are still upset by his death. At a press conference Sunday following the G7 summit in Hiroshima, Japan, President Joe Biden called on Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy to meet face to face to revive talks on a bipartisan plan to slash social spending in return for raising the nations debt ceiling and averting a default. Biden spoke after talks between a team of White House advisers and negotiators named by McCarthy broke off on Saturday. The entire debt limit and budget negotiation process has from the start been heavily stage-managed in an attempt to stampede public opinion. On Sunday, Biden repeatedly pointed to his proposal to cut more than $1 trillion in discretionary spending as part of a budget deal, making clear that his government is committed to imposing a new wave of austerity measures that will further undermine education, health care, housing, home heating assistance and other vital programs relied upon by millions of working class families. Biden announced that he would be calling McCarthy from Air Force One while flying back to Washington. Later on Sunday, McCarthy dropped his accusatory tone toward Biden, called the telephone call productive and said the two would meet face to face at the White House on Monday. He also said the negotiating teams for each side would resume their talks later on Sunday. Joe Biden and Volodymyr Zelensky. [Photo: @POTUS Twitter] What neither he nor the Republicans nor the corporate media point out is the direct connection between the new austerity drive and the ever-expanding cost of the US-led war against Russia in Ukraine. While Biden was in Japan, the US government announced that it had allotted another $375 million to arm Ukraine, part of a feverish escalation that includes providing the right-wing nationalist government in Kiev with F-16 nuclear-capable jets. In the barrage of propaganda over the supposed necessity to slash social programs to avert the nations first-ever default on its debt obligationswhich, according to Treasury Secretary and former Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen, could come as early as June 1nothing is said about the role of military spending in driving up the debt. In fact, social spending as a percentage of GDP has declined sharply since 2011, when the last Democratic administration, headed by Barack Obama and Joe Biden, followed its multitrillion-dollar bailout of the banks after the financial crash of 2008 with the bipartisan Budget Control Act of 2011. That measure imposed a decade-long cap on discretionary spending, sharply reducing in real terms government outlays for education, health care and other vital social needs. Military spending, however, has exploded. Last year, the Biden administration allocated $113 billion for the war in Ukraine and enacted a record $1 trillion defense budget. The current debt ceiling/budget discussions between the Democrats and Republicans are part of a conspiracy by the American ruling class to make the working class pay for a war that has little popular support and threatens to trigger a nuclear holocaust. At his post-G7 press conference, Biden chastised the Republicans for rejecting all proposals to help reduce the national debt by increasing taxes on the wealthy and enforcing tax laws on billionaires and corporations that routinely evade them. Among the provisions of a debt limit/budget bill passed last month by the Republican-controlled House is the cancellation of Bidens plan to hire tens of thousands of additional Internal Revenue Service personnel to crack down on tax evaders. In his remarks on Sunday, Biden provided a glimpse of the scale of parasitism and plunder of the economy by the financial aristocracy. He noted that 55 US corporations that made $400 billion last year paid zero in taxes. He added that billionaires in the US pay an average tax rate of 8 percent. He asserted that the hiring of IRS agents and enforcement of a 15 percent corporate minimum tax would generate $400 billion in additional federal revenue. In fact, as Biden well knows, nothing will be done to rein in these swindlers. He raises the issue in an attempt to cover his attack on the working class with a fraudulent veneer of equal sacrifice. At the press conference, Biden attacked the Republicans demands for loosening regulations on fossil fuel projects and imposing harsher work requirements on Medicaid and food stamp recipients. He was silent, however, on tougher work requirements for those receiving benefits under the federal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) welfare program. He was likewise silent on the House Republican debt ceiling/budget bills provision to rescind unspent COVID-19 funds, much of which is for emergency social assistance. He also criticized the Republican demand in the current negotiations that federal discretionary spending in 2024 revert back to the level for 2022, which would mean a double-digit cut in basic social programs, and that 2022 spending become the baseline for a 1 percent cap in increased spending over the next six years. The New York Times reported Sunday that Biden had agreed to a cap on non-defense discretionary spending for the next two years, using 2023 as the baseline. Interviewed Sunday on the Meet the Press program, Treasury Secretary Yellen, who last week said a default would trigger an economic and financial catastrophe, told moderator Chuck Todd that the odds of reaching June 15th, while being able to pay all of our bills, is quite low. She added, There will be hard choices to make if the debt ceiling isnt raised. While both sides say mandatory entitlement programsSocial Security and Medicareare off the table in the current talks, the deliberately stoked crisis on the debt ceiling is the prelude to a ruling class offensive against these core programs. On Sunday, CNNs State of the Union program featured Louisiana Republican Senator Bill Cassidy, a so-called moderate who advocates tying Social Security to the stock market and essentially privatizing it. Face the Nation host Margaret Brennan interviewed congressmen Brian Fitzpatrick, Republican of Pennsylvania, and Josh Gottheimer, Democrat of New Jersey, members of the moderate Problem Solvers Caucus in the House. At one point, Gottheimer alluded to the reform of Social Security and Medicare, saying, There are longer term fiscal issues we have to deal with. And Id say we should be dealing with those as well, which is what Brian and I have proposed. Later in the interview, Fitzpatrick was more specific, dismissing the discussion between McCarthy and Biden on non-defense discretionary spending as essentially a sideshow. Referring to entitlement programs like Social Security and Medicare, he said, Thats 75 percent of our budget. And thats where the financial solvency needs to be addressed by both revenue and expenses. Medicare will run out of money in 2028. Social Security will run out of money in 2034, he continued. [U]ntil we tackle the mandatory spending and get a handle on our long-term sustainability of our debt and deficit, were just playing around the margins. Digital tracking was one of the short-lived successes of the Covid pandemic. In Spain, an app called Radar Covid meant to help users know if theyd been near an infected person crashed and burned quickly. The idea never quite worked, but what really killed it was the fact that, despite all the early promises of preserving users security and privacy, a Google error allowed data to escape from Android mobile devices through an unsuspected place: the apps logs. Now, new research has discovered that the private information of Android users continues to escape through this loophole, giving companies more access to it than they should have. This research uncovers a very important hole, which is not well regulated or studied, says Carmela Troncoso, a researcher at the Ecole polytechnique federale de Lausanne (EPFL) a public research university in Switzerland, where she heads the SPRING Lab, a department that works to understand and mitigate the impact of technology on society. Troncoso, who led a European group in charge of creating Covid tracking apps in 2020, warns about the shortcomings of the technology. Its a general problem, in tracking apps and everything. The bottom line is that you cant do something private by design on a platform like Android, which is flawed by definition. Logs are like a long and exhaustive diary that collects everything that happens in an app. Its original and accepted use is to detect bugs (errors in the code) before releasing apps to the public. But in reality, that is not the only thing that happens. Google asks app developers to remove logs after apps are published, because they may contain sensitive information. But recent research shows that they are still there, and records of everything can be found in them. We found that logs do not contain purely technical information, but also, either through carelessness or intentionally, they can contain personal data or information that reveals the users activity, says Juan Tapiador, a professor at Carlos III University in Madrid and a co-author of the study. An example is the case of Microsoft Teams or Discord, or the pharmaceutical apps CVS and Drug Mart, which have activities that provide a lot of information. In the case of Teams, it is possible to know, for example, the exact moment the user made a call. In the case of CVS and Drug Mart, among other data, the product categories used to filter search results are stored. So for instance, it records the type of pharmaceutical product that someone is looking for, from contraceptives to cholesterol pills. Permission to access that large amount of personal private information on Android is limited to Google, the manufacturers of the devices, and the pre-installed apps those manufacturers have chosen to put there. Among these, there are companies that are engaged in advertising. The loot they have access to in the guts of Android mobile devices is difficult to calculate. All the apps run there, and there may be anything from our location to our interests or our love relationships. Android is based on an open source project maintained by Google. But it is not a closed ecosystem like that of the Apple iPhone. Any phone manufacturer can make changes to the operating system and apps from other organizations with which it has commercial agreements, including apps from companies that are part of the industry that commercializes personal data and advertising, says Narseo Vallina-Rodriguez, a researcher at Imdea Networks and co-founder of AppCensus, which analyzes app privacy. The big problem is that those pre-installed apps are part of the operating system and can privilege access to sensitive data and resources that a normal app cant access. This is the case of the system logs from Android version 4.1. A jungle of hardware and software Its a complex balance in a chaotic landscape. Android devices live in a jungle-like environment, where dozens of companies are trying to extract data and profit from it without it being obvious. Security and privacy risks arising from the supply chain are complex to resolve. Many parties are involved in the manufacture of a product and all the software that it includes, sometimes with complex relationships among them, where the risks of one entity can be easily inherited by others, says Juan Tapiador. To queries from EL PAIS, a Google spokeswoman responded that they try to do everything at the same time: protect the user and also give app developers more possibilities. User security and privacy is a top priority for Android. We really appreciate the research from the community that helps keep Android safe. We make constant improvements to Android features to ensure user data is secure and private, while enabling developers to create the best apps possible, the spokesperson said. Google said that all applications with access to a devices records are apps that have been authorized by the device manufacturers, thereby shifting part of the responsibility for potential intrusions to other actors. I was genuinely surprised by the degree of sensitive data being logged by hardware device manufacturers, says Serge Egelman, a researcher at the University of California at Berkeley and a co-founder of AppCensus. If these devices are being certified by Google as official Android devices, there really needs to be some oversight that theyre following Google policies and basic best practices. But nobody monitors or ensures that this information is not accessible to actors who could potentially misuse it. Bart Preneel, a professor at the Catholic University of Leuven and technical director of the Belgian digital tracking app Coronalert, describes the problem in three points: One, it makes it easier for developers to record a lot of information, and most of it contain sensitive data, particularly if logs from multiple applications are combined. Two, this information is useful for Google and for manufacturers. But many other applications authorized by them also have access, so the risk of abuse is very high: it allows the creation of user profiles by a large number of parties. And three, Google warns developers not to log too much, but developers do this anyway, and its not policed, Preneel says. An insufficient remedy from Google In this case, the information that shows up in the logs should not actually be there. Androids advice for years has been to avoid including private activity in those logs. But it is not controlled or monitored, and for app developers and manufacturers the problem is not directly theirs. It is a clear example that the worst consequence is borne by the user, who knows nothing of what is happening. It is software that is already there when it reaches your hands, inside your mobile device. After learning about the investigation, Google introduced a warning for users in version 13 of Android: The mechanisms that Google has introduced in Android 13 to improve transparency and inform users about access to logs for pre-installed apps are a good step, says Vallina-Rodriguez. They will allow users to control when and who can access this information. However, improving the permit system only mitigates this specific problem, and cannot address the general problems associated with the lack of control over the supply chain of digital products, he adds. Its an insufficient remedy, says Preenel: Its just a patch, most users dont have the time or desire to control these types of settings. Google obviously doesnt bear full responsibility. App developers should be more careful about what information they allow to appear in logs and remember that they are not the only ones who have access to that information: The creators of apps could log less data, says Joel Reardon, a researcher at the University of Calgary and co-founder of AppCensus. Many apps use services like Crashlytics to collect error logs, which allows them to debug with the app already deployed. In the past, users of such software were called beta testers and participation was voluntary. If app creators dont intend to look at the logs, theres far less reason to log as much data as weve found. Three people were killed and two others wounded including one critically in a shooting at a Kansas City bar early Sunday, police said. Multiple officers responded to the shooting at Klymax Lounge that was reported just before the bars 1:30 a.m. closing time. They found multiple victims and immediately began providing medical aid, Kansas City police said in an email. Police said two of the victims died at the scene one was found inside the bar and the other was outside the building in Kansas City, Missouri. A third victim died at the hospital. Details about the circumstances that led to the shooting were not immediately available, and it wasnt immediately clear where the victims were when they were shot. Police said the victims were all adults, but their ages and identities were not immediately available. But family members identified one of the victims. The bar featured a performance by a local rap artist Saturday night who performs under the name Nutty Still Gassin. He posted a live video from the club earlier in the night before the shooting happened on his Facebook page. No one answered the phone at the bar Sunday after it was scheduled to open. Homicide detectives and crime scene investigators were at the scene Sunday morning, gathering evidence and talking to potential witnesses, police said. Honystye Chancellor told the Kansas City Star that her stepfather, 41-year-old Jason McConnell, was killed in the shooting while working security at the door of the bar. After she rushed to the bar, Chancellor said, people in the crowd told her that the rapper had finished performing and was just leaving when the shooting happened. Chancellor said McConnell was well known at the club because he was friendly and could talk to anyone. He also worked at a diner and managed a wireless communications store in the area, according to Chancellor. Chancellor told the newspaper that McConnell encouraged her to turn away from violence after she got into fights often as a kid, and he was good and nice and always trying to keep us on the right path. She said McConnell was a sneakerhead who likely owned over 100 pairs of shoes and also had a 15-year-old son. Chancellor said she and her brother spent the night curled up in bed together with their mother after she returned from Klymax after they got the news. Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAIS USA Edition KYODO NEWS - May 22, 2023 - 22:22 | All, World, G7 Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has hailed his participation in the Group of Seven summit in Hiroshima over the weekend a diplomatic success, saying he has earned the understanding of many countries as Russia's war against his country rages. "We have an understanding with the world majority on every important point for Ukraine," including the return of all Ukrainian territories held by Russia and security guarantees, Zelenskyy said in a video message addressed to the Ukrainian people after wrapping up his two-day visit to Japan through Sunday. "The world hears our position," he said in the video taken from inside a plane. When he visited the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum on Sunday, he wrote in a guest book, "The threat of the use of nuclear weapons has no place in the modern world." His entry, written in Ukrainian, was made public Monday by the Japanese Foreign Ministry and came amid concerns that Russia may use a nuclear weapon in its ongoing war against Ukraine. Zelenskyy also wrote in the guest book, "No country in the world should experience such pain and destruction," and that he was "deeply moved" by his visit to the museum. His visit to the museum, which exhibits the destruction wrought by the U.S. atomic bombing on the western Japan city in 1945, lasted around 40 minutes. He also met with Keiko Ogura, 85, who told him about her experience as an atomic bomb victim. Together with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, Zelenskyy laid flowers at a cenotaph dedicated to the victims and inscribed with a vow never to repeat the tragedy. He also held separate talks with Kishida, U.S. President Joe Biden, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other leaders on the sidelines of the summit. Before heading to Asia, the Ukrainian president had attended the Arab League meeting in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. On Sunday, via the encrypted messaging app Telegram, Zelenskyy thanked Hiroshima, Kishida and the Japanese people for their "comprehensive support." On May 19, participants of the "Foreign Policy Program" for young diplomats, jointly organized by the Development and Diplomacy Institute of ADA University and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, visited Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic. According to Azernews, the diplomats are Aygun Hajiyeva, the adviser to the vice-rector for state, foreign and student affairs of ADA University, as well as the deputy director of the Institute of Development and Diplomacy, Chinara Mammadli, the administrator of the mentioned program and Leyla Hasanova, the coordinator, as well as Raman Mammadov, the head of the personnel department of the MFA, and the head of the organizational and control department. They accompanied Hasan Mammadzade. On the first day of the visit, the guests first visited the monument of National leader Heydar Aliyev and laid flowers in front of the monument. Then they met with Fuad Najafli, the authorized representative of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan in the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic. Fuad Najafli, wishing success to the diplomats who have just started working at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, informed them about the instructions he received from the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, regarding the development of Nakhchivan. Later, the participants got acquainted with the Heydar Aliyev museum. The first day of the visit continued with a meeting held at the Office of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic. During the meeting, the head of the Department, Vusal Alakbarli, gave information about the activities of the institution and answered the questions of the diplomats. Aygun Hajiyeva informed the employees of the Department about the activities and programs of the ADA University and the Institute of Development and Diplomacy operating under the University. The participants who finished the meeting here went to Nakhchivan State University and listened to the lecture of University professor Elman Jafarli on "Zangazur Corridor, Construction of Nakhchivan Railway and History of Kars Treaty". On the second day of the trip, the guests visited the "Ashabi-Kahf shrine" religious and cultural monument complex. They also got acquainted with Duzdag Mine and Duzdag Physiotherapy Center. It should be recalled that a total of thirty-eight diplomats have started intensive training since October last year within the framework of the "Foreign Policy Program" for young diplomats organized by the Development and Diplomacy Institute's Specialization Programs. Different modules of the program, taught by experienced staff of ADA University, state institutions, local and foreign research centers, covered topics important for diplomats. These topics included the history of diplomacy, geopolitical characteristics of the Caspian basin, Azerbaijan's foreign policy, relations with neighboring countries, negotiation skills, as well as energy issues, international humanitarian law, the fight against international terrorism and a number of other important areas. In addition, young diplomats were trained on practical topics such as body language, professional and diplomatic communication ("networking"), as well as presentation skills and diplomatic correspondence. KYODO NEWS - May 22, 2023 - 23:00 | World, All, Japan The following is the latest list of selected news summaries by Kyodo News. ---------- Japan, China eye defense chiefs' talks in Singapore in June: source TOKYO - Japanese Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada and his Chinese counterpart Li Shangfu are expected to hold talks on the sidelines of a regional security meeting in Singapore in early June, a source close to bilateral relations said Monday. The plan comes as Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and other Group of Seven leaders affirmed the importance of dialogue with China in their summit in Hiroshima through Sunday. ---------- China summons Japan envoy to protest G-7 statement, Tokyo counters BEIJING - Beijing summoned Hideo Tarumi, Japan's ambassador to China, on Sunday to lodge a "solemn" protest over references to Taiwan and other issues related to the nation in Group of Seven statements made at a summit in Hiroshima, while the envoy offered a counterargument, the two countries said. Vice Foreign Minister Sun Weidong expressed Beijing's "strong dissatisfaction and resolute opposition" over the statements issued during the G-7 summit hosted by Japan, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said. Tarumi told Sun it is "only natural" that such references were made and urged China to change course, the Japanese Embassy said. ---------- Nikkei ends at fresh 33-yr high on receding U.S. debt ceiling fears TOKYO - The Nikkei index ended Monday at a fresh 33-year high after U.S. President Joe Biden expressed a positive outlook over negotiations on averting a default on the debt ceiling. The 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average ended up 278.47 points, or 0.90 percent, from Friday at 31,086.82, its highest level since July 26, 1990 when Japan was experiencing an asset price bubble. The broader Topix index finished 14.21 points, or 0.66 percent, higher at 2,175.90, its highest close since Aug. 2, 1990. ---------- Japan PM attack suspect to undergo psychiatric test for 3 months WAKAYAMA, Japan - The suspect in an attack on Prime Minister Fumio Kishida last month will undergo a psychiatric examination for about three months, sources close to the matter said Monday. A summary court in Wakayama, western Japan, has granted a request from prosecutors to keep Ryuji Kimura detained for the examination, expected to begin soon, to fully assess his mental state at the time of the attack. ---------- Biden says U.S.-China tensions to "thaw very shortly" HIROSHIMA - U.S. President Joe Biden said Sunday he believes that heightened tensions between the United States and China will "thaw very shortly." At a press conference in Hiroshima, Biden expressed disappointment that a Chinese spy balloon incident earlier this year spoiled the momentum to facilitate communication between senior officials of the two countries. ---------- FOCUS: Kishida brings world to Hiroshima, but nuke message brings division HIROSHIMA - The Group of Seven leaders' statement on a world without nuclear weapons restating their commitment to non-proliferation principles split experts by offering few surprises, but the Hiroshima summit found them nevertheless agreeing on the value of its symbolism. The outcome document, the Hiroshima Vision on Nuclear Disarmament released at the end of the first day of the summit, was in line with the existing deterrence policy backed by nuclear states. ---------- G-7 leaders given replicas of paper crane made by A-bomb victim girl HIROSHIMA - Leaders attending the Group of Seven summit in Hiroshima over the weekend were given replica paper crane mementos designed in memory of a girl who died from radiation-induced leukemia 10 years after the 1945 atomic bombing of the city, a source close to the matter said Monday. The souvenirs are based on a paper crane that sat beside Sadako Sasaki's deathbed. She died from her illness at the age of 12. ---------- South Korea delegation arrives in Japan for Fukushima water inspection TOKYO - A South Korean delegation arrived in Japan on Sunday for a six-day visit to assess the safety of Japan's planned release of treated radioactive water into the sea from the disaster-hit Fukushima nuclear power plant. The delegation of 21 experts in the nuclear reactor, radiation and other sectors was dispatched as concerns linger in South Korea over the potential impact of the treated water on the ocean environment. ---------- Baseball: Ohtani throws 6 solid innings in Angels' win over Twins ANAHEIM, California - Shohei Ohtani struck out nine in six innings of one-run ball in the Los Angeles Angels' 4-2 win over the Minnesota Twins on Sunday. The two-way star was removed from the mound with the game tied before Mickey Moniak hit a go-ahead two-run double in the seventh at Angel Stadium. At the plate, Ohtani went 1-for-3 with a single and an intentional walk. ---------- Video: Heian-period aristocratic event re-enacted in Kyoto Nayveah Moss on Friday poses before her graduation from Douglass High School. Graduation weekend for Columbia Public Schools celebrates the achievements of 1,331 graduating seniors. There were two ceremonies Friday, Douglass High School at the Missouri Theatre in the morning and Hickman High School at Mizzou Arena Friday night. They continue Saturday with Battle High School at 11 a.m. and Rock Bridge High School at 6 p.m., both at Mizzou Arena. The ceremonies are being live-streamed for those who can't make it. Salma Alamin One of the Rock Bridge seniors is Salma Alamin. "I'm so excited," Salma said Tuesday. "I want it to be over." Participating in the CPS MAC Scholars program, Salma won the $1,000 CPS Home School Communicator Mike Woods Jr. Memorial Scholarship. Woods, a liaison among parents, students and administrators at Rock Bridge, was killed last year. His widow, Derby Ridge Elementary School Principal Tina Brown, presented the scholarship to Salma. Salma will study pre-med at the University of Missouri. "I want to work in women's health," Salma said. "I think I've been wanting to do this for three years now and it's like the longest, I guess, passion that I've had." Most of her other plans have faded out pretty quickly, she said. "I've always been passionate about women's health and I'm also planning on majoring in public health," she said. MAC stands for Multicultural Achievement Committee and it encourages students who have been underrepresented in colleges and universities to pursue rigorous coursework in high school. She was in MAC Scholars in middle school, but she didn't pursue it in high school until her junior year. COVID struck the second semester of her freshman year and students weren't in class all sophomore year. "Junior year is when I started going to MAC every single day," Salma said. "That's when I met Mr. Woods. That's when I met a lot of my friends and it was a nice experience. I remember we'd always have presentations on HBCUs and Mr. Woods gave us a lot of opportunity to grow as learners but also as people and to learn how to just learn to love ourselves in our own skin." Story continues The acronym stands for historically black colleges and universities. This year, she took advanced placement chemistry, biology and environmental science and a rigorous Latin class that isn't AP. "I'm also in pre-calc honors, which is the hardest math class I've ever taken," Salma said. She took a journalism course that taught her the importance of deadlines, she said. She has several scholarships from Mizzou, she said. Douglass High School Nayveah Moss walked to across the Missouri Theatre stage Friday morning to pick up her diploma from Douglass High School "I feel like Douglass made a very big impact on my life," Nayveah said before the ceremony. "I didn't think I would graduate." She's planning to attend Moberly Area Community College to study cosmetology, she said. Clara Thoroughman gave the senior speech. She's going to Stephens College and received six scholarships on Friday. In her speech, Clara encouraged her classmates to be open to the world. "Favor depth over distance," Clara said in her speech. "Savor the journey." Other multiple scholarship winners were Rana Kakozai, Halle Long and Afrah Mahmud. Jearlissia Jackson Jearlissia Jackson, 17, poses Monday in front of Battle High School. She will graduate Saturday after participating in Spartan Academy. At Battle High School, Jearlissia Jackson will receive her diploma, something she said didn't seem possible just a year ago. "There's no way I could get my credits done on time," Jearlissia said. "I didn't even have rides to school." She got involved with Spartan Academy, a school program that supports students struggling to achieve the credits necessary for graduation. It also awards credits for employment. "There was a time I wanted to quit going to school," Jearlissia said. She works at the Subway across from Hickman High School, she said. She plans to move to Illinois after graduation, but she said she has had doubts about her decision. "I'm so scared because I'm getting so much love," she said about graduating. With Spartan Academy, students go on field trips, including to American Outdoor Brands, Veterans United Home Loans and Moberly Area Community College. "I'm going to be an entrepreneur," Jearlissia said. She plans to open a beauty shop after getting a license, she said. Joining Jearlissia for the interview was Battle junior John'Eisha Logan, also in Spartan Academy. Jearlissia said everyone in Spartan Academy is like family. She also was behind but said John'Eisha said she's looking forward to graduating next year. "Hey, I'm on a roll right now," John'Eisha said. "I worked my way up." John'Eisha Logan, 17, and Jearlissia Jackson, 17, pose Monday in front of Battle High School. Both took part in the school's Spartan Academy and Jearlissia is graduating Saturday. John'Eisha is a junior at Battle. Graduation will be emotional, Jearlissia said. "I really did it for me, my mom and my mom's mom," Jearlissia said. Her mom's mom died the day before her mother's high school graduation, Jearlissia said. A road trip with friends may be in her plans after graduation, she said. Roger McKinney is the Tribune's education reporter. You can reach him at rmckinney@columbiatribune.com or 573-815-1719. He's on Twitter at @rmckinney9. This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: Here's a look at a few of the seniors graduating from CPS this weekend Mark Reinstein/Corbis via Getty Images A 30-ton shipment of ammonium nitrate disappeared from a railcar, KQED reported. The chemical is used to make both fertilizer and explosives. The chemical's supplier said that it thought the shipment, which was in pellet form, fell from the railcar. Officials are investigating the disappearance of a 30-ton shipment of ammonium nitrate, a chemical used to make both fertilizer and explosives, PBS affiliate KQED reported. A railcar loaded with 60,000 pounds of ammonium nitrate from explosives company Dyno Nobel left Cheyenne, Wyoming, on April 12, heading to California, according to KQED, which cited an incident report from the company. But two weeks after leaving Cheyenne, the railcar arrived at a rail stop in the Mojave Desert where it was found to be empty, per the report. Ammonium nitrate is used as an agricultural fertilizer, to manufacture first aid products such as cold packs, and in explosives for the mining and construction industries, according to the US Department of Homeland Security. It was also the primary explosive used in the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing that killed 168 people and was at the time was the worst terror attack in US history, and there have been incidents of supplies of the chemical exploding when not stored correctly. The National Fire Protection Association says that because ammonium nitrate can accelerate fires and explosions, it can present a "significant explosive threat," but needs another element to destabilize it first. Dyno Nobel said that it thought the chemical, which was in pellet form, fell from the covered hopper car it was transported on, similar to what coal is transported on, KQED reported. "The railcar was sealed when it left the Cheyenne facility, and the seals were still intact when it arrived in Saltdale," a Dyno Nobel spokesperson told KQED. "The initial assessment is that a leak through the bottom gate on the railcar may have developed in transit." Story continues Union Pacific, which transported the railcar, told Insider it was in the "early stages" of an investigation into the lost freight. "The fertilizer is designed for ground application and quick soil absorption," a spokesperson for Union Pacific told Insider. "If the loss resulted from a rail car leak over the course of transportation from origin to destination, the release should pose no risk to public health or the environment." "At this point in the investigation, we do not believe there is any criminal or malicious activity involved," the spokesperson added. A Federal Railroad Administration representative told Insider that it was investigating whether the railroad or shipper committed any federal violations under the Department of Transportation's regulatory authority. Dyno Nobel told KQED that it had "limited control" over the railcar while it was in transit and that it was being moved back to Wyoming for inspection. It added that it would work to prevent similar incidents in the future. The California Public Utilities Commission told KQED that it was also investigating. Read the original article on Business Insider [Source] A British army veteran who lost both his legs while serving in Afghanistan has become the first double above-knee amputee to conquer Mount Everest. Hari Budha Magar, 43, reached the world's tallest peak 13 years after losing his legs in an improvised explosive device (IED) blast in 2010. The Gurkha veteran arrived at Everest in Nepal on April 17, marking exactly 13 years since the life-altering incident that resulted in the loss of his legs. Following an 18-day wait for the weather to clear, he began the challenging journey that led him to the 8,849 meter summit on May 19. More from NextShark: 4 in 5 Asian American Professionals Have Experienced Discrimination, Survey Says I hope my climb will help change the perception of persons with disabilities, Magar told Reuters. I would like to encourage all people to take to climbing any mountain of their choice, he said. For the trip, Magar acquired specially designed prosthetic legs that could withstand the icy conditions. He affectionately refers to them as his "spider legs" and ensured their warmth by installing heating socks. More from NextShark: Rally against anti-Asian hate crimes honors Atlanta spa shooting victims ahead of 1-year anniversary Upon reaching the peak, Magat relayed to ABC what he had to go through via a satellite phone conversation. We just had to carry on and push for the top, no matter how much it hurt or how long it took. If I can climb to the top of the world, then anyone, regardless of their disability, can achieve their dream. No matter how big your dreams, no matter how challenging your disability, with the right mindset anything is possible. Magar, who is also the first double above-knee amputee to scale Nepal's Mera Peak and Chulu Far East, was among those who campaigned to overturn the country's ban on disabled individuals climbing Everest in 2018. More from NextShark: Gay Man Sues Hong Kong for Preventing Him From Spreading Husband's Ashes View this post on Instagram A post shared by Hari Budha Magar (@hari_budha_magar) The collective efforts of the climbers and disability organizations successfully led to the ban being lifted, opening doors for more amputees to pursue their dreams of climbing the mountain. Throughout his challenging ascent, thoughts of his family and supporters provided Magar with the strength and motivation to complete the perilous task. Story continues "When things got really tough, it was the thought of my amazing family and everyone who's helped me get onto the mountain that pushed me to the top," he was quoted as saying. He is currently raising funds for five charities with a goal to generate 884,900 pounds (approximately $1.1 million) in a symbolic gesture representing the height of Mount Everest. Magar, who lives in Canterbury, England, plans to eventually return to the very site where he lost his legs in Afghanistan, in order to express his gratitude. In 2018, an elderly double amputee from China was able to reach the peak of Mount Everest after trying for 40 years. Xia Boyu lost both his legs from below the knees due to frostbite during his first attempt in 1975 after selflessly offering his sleeping bag to a team member while being trapped near the summit for two days and three nights. President Joe Biden announced his intent to nominate veteran telecommunications lawyer Anna Gomez as an FCC commissioner. The president also announced the renominations of FCC commissioners Brendan Carr (a Republican) and Geoffrey Starks (a Democrat) for five-year terms. If Gomez is confirmed by the Senate to serve as an FCC commissioner, Democrats will have a 3-2 edge at the agency, which is led by FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel, a Democrat. Trump appointee Nathan Simington is the other GOP commissioner. Bidens previous pick for the open seat at the FCC, Gigi Sohn, withdrew her name from consideration after her confirmation was stymied along party lines. More from Variety Gomez currently works at the State Department, where she serves as a senior adviser for international information and communications policy in the bureau of cyberspace and digital policy. Gomez served as the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) deputy administrator from 2009 to 2013. She also served for 12 years in various positions at the FCC, including as deputy chief of the international bureau and as senior legal adviser to then-Chairman William E. Kennard. Prior to joining the State Department in 2023, Gomez was a partner in Wiley LLPs telecommunications media and technology group. Gomez also was VP for federal and state government affairs at Sprint Nextel and an associate at Arnold and Porter. Born in Orlando, Fla., Gomez spent her childhood in Bogota, Colombia, before her family relocated to New Jersey. She now resides in Virginia. I congratulate Anna Gomez on her nomination to serve as FCC commissioner, Rosenworcel said in a statement. She brings with her a wealth of telecommunications experience, a substantial record of public service, and a history of working to ensure the U.S. stays on the cutting edge of keeping us all connected. I wish her all the best during the confirmation process. Rosenworcel also congratulated Carr and Starks on their renominations. Story continues Brenda Victoria Castillo, president and CEO of the National Hispanic Media Coalition (NHMC), said in a statement, We at the National Hispanic Media Coalition are elated with President Bidens decision to nominate Anna Gomez to the Federal Communications Commission. This is a monumental step forward for our community, as it has been over two decades since a Latino commissioner has represented our community via one of the agencys five commissioner seats. As nearly 20% of the United States population, having a Latino voice on the commission is crucial for the digital age. Best of Variety Sign up for Varietys Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Click here to read the full article. A film festival as large as Cannes is always a study in contradictions, but the first six days of the 2023 edition feel particularly schizophrenic as the fest has veered between sentimental celebration and unsentimental artistry. Both were on display in the festivals biggest premiere so far, when Martin Scorseses monumental Killers of the Flower Moon had its debut in front of a delirious crowd at the Grand Theatre Lumiere on Saturday night. The invitation-only, black-tie audience was there to celebrate Scorsese, who first came to Cannes in 1976 with Taxi Driver, greeting him as a conquering hero and giving him a lengthy and emotional standing ovation that didnt stop until he left the theater. His film, meanwhile, was a hard-eyed and epic-length examination of the systematic murder of Native Americans from the Osage nation by whites looking to take the tribes oil money; the films biggest stars, Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert De Niro, play amoral killers as Scorsese lays bare the real-life killings for more than three-and-a-half hours. It was a gloriously emotional reception for a deeply grim movie, and not the only time in which this festival has see-sawed between those two extremes. Also Read: Killers of the Flower Moon Review: Martin Scorseses Searing Drama Bursts Open a Devastating Chapter of U.S. History On opening night, veteran actor Michael Douglas received an honorary Palme dOr for his long career, and he got an extended ovation. Two nights later, Harrison Ford showed up for the premiere of Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny and was the surprise recipient of his own honorary Palme. He was moved to tears with the reception he got from Cannes audiences in screenings and even in press conferences for the next two days. (If the Cannes press corps makes you cry, there must be something in the air besides all those raindrops.) But while those lovefests were taking place (and in the face of lighter movies like the out-of-competition Indiana Jones and Todd Haynes deliberately pulpy May December), the film that drew the most attention was Jonathan Glazers The Zone of Interest, which uses sentiment to chilling effect by showing the carefree, happy lives of the Nazi elite who live in bucolic surroundings just past the brick wall separating the camp commanders home from Auschwitz. Story continues Also in the main competition during those first days: Jean-Stephane Sauvaires utterly brutal Black Flies, which paints the world of New York City paramedics as a graphic and horrifying descent into hell; and Karim Ainouzs Firebrand, a retelling of the story of King Henry VIII and his sixth wife Catherine Parr that makes sex between Jude Law and Alicia Vikander look grotesque while whipping up an historically suspect ending full of arrests, imprisonments and a murder that almost certainly didnt happen. This has also been a year in which documentaries are far more prominent in Cannes than usual, with two in the Main Competition alone: Youth, Wang Bings three-hour-and-22 minute verite look inside Chinese sweatshops, and Four Daughters, Kaouther Ben Hanias adventurous restaging of the story of a Tunisian family that had two daughters head to Libya to join ISIS (and end up in jail for terrorism). And outside the competition, there was Bread and Roses, a Jennifer Lawrence-produced doc about the plight of women under the Taliban, and Steve McQueens Occupied City, a methodical four-hour(!) film that catalogs places in Amsterdam that were occupied by the Nazis in World War II. Wim Wenders 3D doc Anselm was light by comparison, but even that film was a look at the artist Anselm Kiefer, whose work is often physically enormous and thematically dark, and who has been criticized for flirting with Nazi imagery. And among films in the Un Certain Regard section and the Directors Fortnight and International Critics Week sections, adventurous directors like Warwick Thornton (The New Boy), Molly Manning Walker (How to Have Sex), Zarrar Kahn (In Flames), Rodrigo Moreno (The Delinquents), Joanna Arnow (The Feeling That the Time for Doing Something Has Passed) have found provocative and often dark approaches to themes as varied as religion, colonialism, crime and sex. Also Read: Killers of the Flower Moon': First Reactions Applaud Scorsese Though Mythic Sweep of the Book Missing Maybe first-time Senegalese-French director Ramata-Toulaye Sy summed it up in a voiceover toward the end of her haunted debut Banel & Adama: We were kings, masters of the world. Today, who are we? Flesh. Blood. Evil. Always the same evil. And before my eyes, the world falls apart. You cant blame the filmmakers coming to Cannes in 2023 after three years of a pandemic, during a war in Europe and at a time when the movie business itself is teetering from chronicling a world that seems to be falling apart. But at the same time, you cant blame the audiences in Cannes for wanting to get to their feet and celebrate legends like Martin Scorsese, Harrison Ford, Michael Douglas and Catherine Deneuve (on the poster and on stage in person at the opening ceremony). And you cant ignore the fact that theyre also getting to their feet for the dark movies, too. At film festivals like this one, and in times like these, a little cultural schizophrenia can be a glorious thing. Check out TheWraps Cannes magazine here and all of our Cannes 2023 coverage here. Tom Carper announced on Monday he will not seek another Senate term, opening up a safe Democratic seat in Delaware next year. Carper's impending retirement after four terms makes Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Del.) the immediate favorite to succeed him. Carper endorsed Blunt Rochester during his retirement announcement, setting up a potentially easy transition for First State Democrats as Carper steps away from a long history in Delaware politics. If there is ever an opportunity to step aside and pass the torch, its coming, Carper said at his announcement in Wilmington, Del. Carper is a low-key but influential lawmaker who is chair of the Senates Environment and Public Works Committee and a former chair of the Senates Homeland Security Committee. He also served as governor, a House member and state Treasurer, wins that helped the Democratic Party assert increasing dominance in Delaware. Carper wrestled with running again in 2018 for his fourth term and ultimately decided to, foreseeing a messy primary to replace him. This time around he mulled another bid, but at 76 decided that I should run through the tape the next twenty months. He said he will prioritize implementation of last Congress infrastructure and climate bills, in addition to pushing for a bipartisan energy permitting bill. Carpers colleague, Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.), said the senior senators decades of service made a lasting difference for our state and nation. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer spoke to Blunt Rochester on Monday after Carper's announcement. Schumer told her "he believes she could be a really good senator and he looks forward to sitting down with her soon," a Schumer spokesperson said. Blunt Rochester recalled serving as an intern for Carper and said his work "helped inspire a journey I could have hardly imagined as I would go on to serve as his staffer, cabinet member, and eventually, colleague in the United States Congress." She did not mention a potential Senate bid in her statement despite Carper's warm words for her. Story continues Carper often takes the train home to Delaware at night to spend time with his wife and was infamous for driving a minivan around the state, sometimes shirtless. Never an easy politician to distill down to a quick soundbite, Carper lamented the coverage of Washington in announcing his retirement and name-checked some Republicans he enjoys working with. I would get a lot more attention from the media if I would say hateful things about Shelley Capito and John Cornyn, Carper said, referring to the two GOP senators. But I dont. They are my friends. A relative centrist in todays Democratic Party, Carper was a colleague of Joe Bidens in the Senate and an early backer of his presidential campaign. Carper was asked why hes retiring but supporting Bidens bid for reelection as the oldest president ever, to which he replied: Hes actually sharper than the rest of us. Carpers retirement will also create at least one open spot in Democrats committee leadership come 2025 on the Environment and Public Works Committee. Carper is the fourth Democratic senator to announce they will retire at the end of next year, joining Sens. Ben Cardin (D-Md.), Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich..) and Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.). National Republican Senatorial Committee spokesperson Tate Mitchell said, "Senate Democrats keep retiring because they know they are going to lose the majority." But like Stabenow, who helped Rep. Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.) clear the field in Michigan, Carper is already maneuvering to avoid a crowded primary. His state has not elected a Republican to the Senate since 1994, when former Sen. William Roth won his penultimate race. Carper defeated Roth in 2000. Carper said he spoke to Blunt Rochester on Monday morning and told her: Youve been patient in waiting for me to get out of the way. I hope that you run. Blunt Rochester is the first Black woman to represent the state in Congress and is one of several potential Black women who could be senators in two years. A recreational boater glides along the Chicago River. In the 1800s, the city reversed the flow of the river so its sewage would no longer flow into Lake Michigan and contaminate its drinking water. Last month, Chicago struck a deal to sell Lake Michigan water to nearby Joliet. Last month, Chicago struck a deal to sell Lake Michigan water to a city 35 miles southwest of the city. The price tag: $1 billion. Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot signed a 100-year agreement that will transport treated Lake Michigan water to Joliet and five of its surrounding suburbs, starting in 2030. The fact that Illinois has a different set of rules when it comes to the Great Lakes Compact, a landmark agreement that generally prohibits diversions out of the basin, is a sore spot for many. And at a time when water is becoming scarcer, some experts believe Illinois should be focused more on sustainable water management. Heres what to know about this historic water deal. Why is Chicago selling Lake Michigan water? Because it can. The deal will likely entice industries and businesses into the area, which could mean big economic gains not just for the Joliet area but for Illinois. Chicago began diverting water from Lake Michigan in the late 1800s when the city reversed the flow of its river to keep sewage out of Lake Michigan. The river now flows into a canal system headed for the Mississippi River. Illinois and the other Great Lakes states fought for decades over how much lake water should flow through the backwards river. And in 1967 the Supreme Court set a daily water limit of 2.1 billion gallons per day, which since then has lowered water levels of Lakes Michigan and Huron by 2.5 inches. The water can go wherever the state wants. Water from the diversion is also used to keep water levels in the canal high enough for navigation and dilute pollution in the Chicago River. The Wilmette Pumping Station north of downtown Chicago pumps Lake Michigan water into the North Shore Channel, which ultimately flows into the Mississippi River basin. In the 1800s, the city reversed the flow of the river so its sewage would no longer flow into Lake Michigan and contaminate its drinking water. More than 200 communities in northeastern Illinois tap into the Chicago diversion for their water supply. As of 2030, Joliet and its surrounding suburbs will be added to that list. Who can apply for a diversion under the compact? Besides diversions that predate the compact, there are few exceptions to who can ask for Great Lakes water. Communities that straddle the watershed line can apply for a diversion and only need approval from the state governor. Story continues So can communities that sit just outside the basin but are in a county that straddles the watershed line. This application process requires approval from all Great Lakes states as well as Ontario and Quebec. To date, the Waukesha diversion is the only diversion like this to be approved. More: Lake Michigan-Waukesha water pipeline: What to know about the project. But because of the Supreme Court consent decree, Illinois has a special exception in the compact, said Joel Brammeir, the CEO of the Alliance for the Great Lakes. The state doesnt need approval from the other states and provinces to divert Lake Michigans water to new communities. These communities also dont need to return treated water back to the lake like the other states do. Whats wrong with Joliets current water supply? Northeastern Illinois is facing issues with dwindling groundwater supplies from overuse, and the Illinois Department of Natural Resources wants to get communities off an underground aquifer system. The city of Joliet was expected to run out of water by 2030, according to one study by the Illinois State Water Survey. After exploring other options, they found that Lake Michigans water supply would be their best option. Compact experts like Noah Hall, who worked with environmental organizations during the compact negotiations, said he saw this coming. It was a major concern for environmental groups because they feared it would be used to attract business, Hall said. Water shouldnt be for sale, Hall said, it should be held in trust for the people. Can other cities sell Great Lakes water? Chicago is the only city in the Great Lakes region that has this ability. The city can do whatever it wants with Lake Michigans diverted water as long as it stays under 2.1 billion gallons per day on average. Unless the water is in containers that are 5.7 gallons or less. This water bottle loophole is another contentious and scrutinized part of the compact. More: Great Lakes Compact protects water access. But that doesn't mean thirsty neighbors won't challenge it. Water bottles, beer or pharmaceutical products are some ways water can leave the Great Lakes watershed. For instance, Blue Triton, formerly known as Nestle, withdrew more than 3 billion gallons of Michigans groundwater for bottled water between 2005 and 2015. But it was within the container limit, so its allowed. According to Hall, the two most contested aspects of the compact were this loophole and water diversions just outside the basin line, like Joliet. Will Lake Michigan's water continue to be the solution? Although the Great Lakes seem like a plentiful resource of water, only 1% of the water is renewed every year through rainfall. Jennifer Bolger Beceda, the executive director of Milwaukee Riverkeeper, believes that the Illinois exception in the compact is driving suburban sprawl and mismanagement of water. There should be more conservative water planning in this area, Bolger Beceda said. Requiring communities to return treated water to the lake would also help dissuade future diversions because they would become too expensive, she said. If Illinois ever runs short on its water supply, the state will have to go back to the Supreme Court to ask for more, likely pitting the Great Lakes states against each other once again. Its in the states best interest to not only stay within its limits, but also work to reduce the amount of water used over time, Brammeier said. And one way to do this is to stop using Lake Michigans water to dilute pollution in the Chicago river, he said. Instead, they should be more aggressive with their conservation methods to help clean up the river. More: Restoring continental divide in Chicago would be costly, complex Caitlin Looby is a Report for America corps member who writes about the environment and the Great Lakes. Reach her at clooby@gannett.com or follow her on Twitter @caitlooby. Please consider supporting journalism that informs our democracy with a tax-deductible gift to this reporting effort at jsonline.com/RFA or by check made out to The GroundTruth Project with subject line Report for America Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Campaign. Address: The GroundTruth Project, Lockbox Services, 9450 SW Gemini Dr, PMB 46837, Beaverton, Oregon 97008-7105. This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Chicago sold Lake Michigan water to Joliet for $1 billion The married couple of 27 years share children Michael, Joaquin and Lola together Kelly Ripa/instagram, Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic The Ripa-Consuelos Household Kelly Ripa/Instagram During their 27-year (and counting!) marriage, Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos set down roots in New York City with their three children Michael, 25, Lola, 21, and Joaquin, 20. Ripa often shares a glimpse inside the stunning home that she shares with her husband from their luxe foyer to their massive bedroom on Instagram. Take a peek inside! A Warm Welcome Kelly Ripa/Instagram After Consuelos returned home from a trip to Italy earlier in May, Ripa shared a sweet video of their dog Lena enthusiastically greeting him at the front door. She panned around the grand foyer revealing all the impressive details, including the metallic Chinoiserie-style floral wallpaper adorning the smaller entryway leading outside. Silver Closet Doors Kelly Ripa/Instagram In another sweeping shot, the Live Wire author captured the unique design on the silver closet doors located on both sides of the marble fireplace in the space The Primary Suite Kelly Ripa/instagram Keeping with the theme of lavish neutrals, the primary suite boasts soft accents colors and a large textural panel on the wall behind the headboard. Ripa shared a clip of the "very chic" space on her Instagram Story in March, featuring her husband lounging in bed. Design Details Kelly Ripa/instagram The same video showed off additional details in the sprawling suite, including a chandelier, a vanity, wall-to-wall carpeting, and a beige settee at the foot of the couple's bed. Accent Pillows Kelly Ripa/instagram Ahead of the couple's co-hosting debut on Live with Kelly and Mark in April, Ripa shared a funny snap on Instagram of the pair snoozing in bed with their dogs. "Severe prep work in progress," she captioned the post. The photo also showed off their fun accent pillows embroidered with the words, "I want to be where the people aren't." Home for the Holidays Kelly Ripa/Instagram In December, Ripa shared a glimpse of her towering Christmas tree that almost skimmed the high ceiling. "Isn't she lovely ," she captioned a photo of the evergreen, adorned with baubles from her and Consuelos' "33 year ornament collection." For more People news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter! Read the original article on People. KYODO NEWS - May 22, 2023 - 21:12 | World, All The United States signed a defense agreement with Papua New Guinea on Monday, as it seeks to strengthen ties in the Pacific amid competition with China for influence in the region. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Papua New Guinea Prime Minister James Marape signed the Defense Cooperation Agreement in Papua New Guinea's capital Port Moresby, alongside a maritime security agreement aimed at countering illegal fishing. According to the U.S. State Department, the defense pact will "serve as a foundational framework" to enhance security cooperation, improve the capacity of Papua New Guinea's defense force and "increase stability and security in the region." Advanced text of the agreements has not been released by either country, sparking concern among locals and opposition politicians that it could compromise Papua New Guinea's sovereignty and national security interests, according to reports by local news outlet Loop PNG. University students in Papua New Guinea's capital and the second-largest city Lae have staged protests against signing the agreement since early Sunday, local media reported, over concerns about a lack of transparency from the government on the pact. "An agreement of this magnitude must go before parliament. There must be clarity. The people must be made aware of the implications," the students' president at the University of Technology in Lae, Kenzie Walipi, told news outlet, RNZ Pacific. In a statement Saturday, the Papua New Guinea government defended the pact saying it will improve the nation's defense capability at a time of increasing global disputes. "Papua New Guinea does not have enemies, but it pays to be prepared. Territorial dispute is (imminent), as in the case of Ukraine -- Russia," said the Department of Information and Technology statement. "This agreement is not about geopolitics but rather recognizes the country's need to build its defense capabilities because border disputes are inevitable in the future." The statement also noted that the agreement with the United States "does not stop Papua New Guinea from working with other nations, including China," consistent with the "friends to all, enemies to none" foreign policy shared by several Pacific Island nations. Blinken was in Papua New Guinea after U.S. President Joe Biden canceled his planned visit to the country so he could return to the United States for urgent debt ceiling negotiations. After the Solomon Islands signed a wide-reaching security pact with Beijing last year, the United States has been increasing efforts to counter China's rapidly expanding influence in the Pacific. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said Monday at a press conference in Beijing that "China has no objection to normal cooperation between Papua New Guinea and other countries" but warned against "engaging in geopolitical games in the name of cooperation." "At the same time, we also believe that any cooperation should not be aimed at third parties," Mao added. Papua New Guinea holds a strategically significant location just north of Australia and is the most populous Pacific Island nation, with a population of nearly 10 million. American Avocet The variety that can be observed in the animal kingdom, even among same groupings, is nothing shy of amazing. This statement holds true especially with birds. While most avian species have beak shapes that are unassuming, there is a species that can be observed in our area that breaks that trend, and that species is the American Avocet. The American Avocet (Recurvirostra americana) is a moderately sized species of long-legged bird that can be seen throughout the Great Plains from southern Canada southward through the majority of Texas during the summer months. Being a migratory species, it prefers to reside in the warmer climates of Latin America during the colder months of the year. Many naturalists describe this species as graceful, and it is a term that truly fits this distinctive, colorful bird. Its head and neck are colored rusty reddish with two distinctive white patches; one on top of the eye and the other at the base of the bill. The bill is exceptionally long and slender and is usually colored black. Unlike most other semi-aquatic waders, the bill on this bird actually curved upwards, more so on the females. The underparts are colored chalky white while the upperparts are dramatically colored black and white. The legs are long and are typically colored blue to bluish gray. It is the tallest member of its family, with adult males usually just over 18 inches in height with a wingspan of nearly three feet. Primarily a semi-aquatic shoreline species, the American Avocet can most commonly be observed searching for food as it wades in the shallows of ponds, creeks, rivers and the occasional lake. Like other waders it typically walks the shallows searching for its prey which consists of insects, crustaceans and other invertebrate animals. As this species flies, the pattern is straight and direct, with the neck straight out in front and the long legs trailing behind. This avian species typically prefers to live alone, although it will occasionally congregate in prime feeding areas. During the breeding season, pairs that have selected each other for a monogamous season will perform intricate rituals and courtship displays. The pair will choose a nesting site on the ground near a permanent water source and both sexes will build a simple nest constructed out of mud chips and grass. One time per year, the female will lay three to four oblong eggs that are approximately two inches in total length. These eggs are olive colored and are marked with brown or black blotches. The incubation period lasts just over three weeks, and both parents incubate the eggs. Upon hatching, the young leave the nest within two days, able to take care of and find food for themselves. The term for this ability is precocial. The young birds, although able to tend to themselves, do not take flight for almost one month after hatching. Story continues The population studies on this avian species show significant improvement over the past few decades. At one time, this species was hunted for its plumage, and the overhunting associated with this activity severely depleted the populations. However, after being protected by federal laws, it has made a tremendous comeback. In many regions, this bird is quite common, with populations stable and even on the rise in some areas in the Great Plains. Michael Price is owner of Wild About Texas, an educational company that specializes in venomous animal safety training, environmental consultations and ecotourism. Contact him at wildabouttexas@gmail.com. This article originally appeared on San Angelo Standard-Times: Everything to know about the American Avocet FilmRise, the New York-based film and TV studio and streaming network, and Canal+ Docs have boarded Missing From Fire Trail Road, Sabrina Van Tassel (The State of Texas vs. Melissa)s long-gestated documentary film about the crimes against indigenous women. Missing From Fire Trail Road sheds light on the case of Mary Ellen Johnson-Davis, a Native-American woman who disappeared in 2020, and exposes how hundreds of indigenous women continue to go missing in the US, perpetuating trans-generational trauma on Indian reservations. More from Variety The announcement was made today by Max Einhorn, SVP of acquisitions and co-productions at FilmRise, Christine Cauquelin, head of documentaries at Canal+ and Van Tassel, who is also producing the feature. FilmRise and Canal+ had handled The State of Texas vs. Melissa, another social justice documentary which looked at the U.S. judicial system through the story of Melissa Lucio, the first Hispanic woman on death row in Texas. The release of the documentary sparked a significant national debate and was championed by personalities such as Susan Sarandon and Kim Kardashian. Thanks to the grassroots campaign and widespread support, Lucios execution was halted. The documentary, which world premiered at Tribeca, was also sold to key distributors around the world. Sabrina is a brilliant filmmaker whose documentaries bring awareness to topics and subjects that are often overlooked, but are no less important, said Max Einhorn. We are honored to be working with Sabrina on (this new film) and we couldnt be more thrilled to be collaborating with Canal+, Einhorn continued. The atrocities committed against indigenous communities must become a mainstream issue so we can bring about change, the executive added. Story continues Cauquelin, said that After acquiring The State of Texas vs Melissa, we supported Sabrinas incredible impact campaign which helped save Melissa Lucios life. Today, we are thrilled to be on board of with her new film. Thousands of Native American women go missing in the U.S. in utter indifference and it is time this urgent matter be brought to the table. We are proud to accompany Sabrina, along with FilmRise, on this important documentary, Cauquelin continued. FilmRise will have worldwide distribution rights, all media, excluding France and French speaking territories overseas and in Africa, which Canal + Docs will hold. Van Tassel, an investigative journalist whos directed over 40 documentaries for TV and made her docu feature debut with the documentary The Silenced Walls, started developing Missing From Fire Trail Road years ago. Missing from Fire Trailer Road examines the case of Mary Ellen Johnson-Davis who disappeared three years ago from the Tulalip tribe, a small and peaceful community near Seattle, Washington. The docu then builds a broader canvas highlighting the fact that Native-American women go missing at a higher rate than any other population in the U.S.. Most of these crimes go unsolved and are committed by non-natives. Complex tribal jurisdictional issues, lack of full reporting and accounting of missing indigenous people, have created legal loopholes on Indian reservations. This unjustifiable situation, which emanates from the genocide perpetrated against Native-Americans, has turned reservations into hunting grounds for serial rapists and large-scale sex-trafficking. I feel compelled to expose these stories of missing indigenous women who are forgotten and whose cases never receive any public attention. More than a crime doc, this film will explore how the traumas have passed on from generation to generation since first contact between natives and European settlers, said Van Tassel. I feel extremely lucky to have both FilmRise and Canal+ Docs supporting me on this project, she added. The deal was negotiated by the FilmRise Acquisitions Team and Christine Cauquelin for Canal + Docs, with Sabrina Van Tassel. Best of Variety Sign up for Varietys Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Click here to read the full article. Its clear by this point in the run of Barry that the show is no longer about whether or not its title character (series co-creator Bill Hader) is a redeemable human being; as Hader puts it, despite all of his lying and killing, he doesnt understand what he did wrong. Instead, as the fourth and final season comes to a close, the more morally gray supporting characters are beginning to see the consequences of their own failings ones they cant blame Barry for. Played by Henry Winkler, Gene Cousineau emerges from Episode 5s time jump with a mission to do the right thing. He comes out of hiding (which was, for him, a kibbutz in Israel) after hearing that Warner Bros. is working on a movie about Barrys murder of Cousineaus girlfriend, detective Janice Moss (Paula Newsome). Enraged by the exploitation of Janices death, Cousineau begins to protest the film, but the attention it could bring him is tantalizing, and he slips up. When a Hollywood agent comes calling to let Cousineau know that Daniel Day-Lewis is interested in playing him, he agrees to a meeting. And when the agent says that Mark Wahlberg could star as Barry but needs to be convinced of why he should play a cop killer, Cousineau prepares to make Barrys case, calling him a sympathetic soul. More from Variety Obviously, theres no meeting with Wahlberg. Earlier in the episode, while torturing Barry, Janices father Jim (Robert Wisdom) found out that Barry gave Cousineau $250,000, so he took that information to the authorities, who hired the agent, a paid actor. The money combined with Cousineaus sympathy for Barry lead Jim and the cops to a new conclusion: Barry killed Janice because Cousineau asked him to. This is completely incorrect, of course, but Barry forces us to notice that its Cousineaus own vanity that has trapped him in this position. Story continues Winkler spoke to Variety about how Cousineaus ego finally becomes his downfall. How did you react when you found out about the time jump, and how did it feel to come back to your character in this way? You know, after Season 1, when we read Season 2 around the table, I agonized and I went upstairs to the writers office and I said, Look, Im very grateful. You know how happy I am. But I absolutely do not recognize Gene. They said, Look, I promise you, the jokes will be there. But we will never repeat ourselves. The one question that I asked Bill every year, without fail, is, Am I dead? And he says no, and then I dont care what happens. Im happy as a lark. What I think is that they keep painting themselves into a corner. Ive now turned the man in. Ive lost the love of my life. Where does it go from here? Ive learned not to question. Ive learned to go where they take us. How do you think Cousineau truly feels about the movie? Does he actually want to protect Janices legacy and just falls to a moment of weakness? Or have his interests been self-serving the whole time? Its Cousineau, isnt it? He absolutely wants to do the right thing, but he is so egocentric. He is so spotlight-starved that he cant help himself. He realizes only afterwards that he has made a gross mistake. But he had to have made it, because he couldnt exist without it. He could not have existed without doing that unbelievable one-man show [about Janice in Episode 2]. Imagine, you think youre doing the right thing, but all of these things are dangled in front of you. You know what its like? Its like an addict. Just one more time. I can handle it. Dont worry, nothing will happen. How do you imagine the eight years of the time jump went for Cousineau? The time away from his family? I think he finds an entirely new group of people. I dont know whether it [made it into the show], but there was a paragraph where I spoke about meeting these new people who gave me a sense of life. So he just creates a family wherever he goes, never taking into account what it is like for his family on the other side of the equation. How did you approach Cousineaus dialogue about Barry? He sees him as a complex character, but does he still have that father-son affection for him? If I were pushed to the wall, I would say no. What Barry did Alright, there are two answers. What Barry did by killing the one woman that let Gene actually feel love for the first time in his life because everything else has been a sham is beyond the pale. On the other side, if I have to say how much I care for Barry in order to stay alive, it will pour out of my mouth like a volcano, and then somewhere deep down, I truly love him. Like, Henry loves Bill. Your real-life love for Bill Hader impacts your performance? And how you treat Barry when youre playing Cousineau? Ill tell you how it impacts my performance. He and I, when were working together, have a chemistry you cannot create it. You cannot manufacture it. You cant pretend it. Its either there or its not. And that goes from the wildest moments that I had with him last year, where my skin almost burst open, to the moments when I adore him. To the moments when I am so afraid of him, because his arm is around my grandson. And what about Sally? Shes always seemed second place to Barry in Cousineaus heart. She has the possibility of really being good. She was the one with the most talent. Although, heres the truth, every one of [the actors who played] those students was a home run hitter. Every one of them could be the star of their own show, and there they were in my class. Rightor [Doyle] has a feature with Judith Light. Kirby [Howell-Baptiste] followed Bill around this year in order to become a director. Just amazing. You speak about them as though youre really Cousineau, like youre their acting teacher. Well, its true. From the very moment that we started our very first rehearsal. The entire cast was there, and Bill took NoHo Hank [Anthony Carrigan] and the bad guys out of the room to rehearse with them and said, Hey, youre the teacher. Teach a class. I literally held a class with these people doing exercises than I did in in drama school. Also, doing the pilot, we were crammed into a small storage room waiting for a scene to be set up. I fell asleep in one of the chairs, and just before I did one of my students I dont know which one turned off the lights in the room so that I would not be disturbed. From the very beginning, we were a class of family. And Sally was part of that family. But it stopped mattering when Cousineau thought he had the chance to meet Mark Wahlberg and had to decide whether that was more important than rescuing Sally. I mean, Mark Wahlberg or my family? Mark Wahlberg. Tell me about shooting that final confrontation, where its revealed that the agent was an actor hired to bring Cousineau down when Jim Moss incorrectly concludes that Cousineau was behind Janices death all along. Well, Robert is so powerful that you know youre making a television show, and he looks at you, and Im telling you, I had to change my underwear. This interview has been edited and condensed. Best of Variety Sign up for Varietys Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Click here to read the full article. A source tells PEOPLE that those closest to the actor are "excited about how he turned things around" Guillaume Horcajuelo/Pool/Getty Images Johnny Depp has found happiness again after debuting his latest movie a year after his defamation trial against Amber Heard. Last week, the actor's French-language film Jeanne du Barry opened the 2023 Cannes Film Festival, where Depp signed autographs and posed for selfies with applauding fans, later speaking about his movie "comeback" at a press conference afterward. A source tells PEOPLE that Depp, 59, "is doing fantastic" now, one year removed from the controversial Virginia trial with ex-wife Heard, 37. "Johnny is doing fantastic. He really enjoys working and touring again. He has managed to turn his life around," says the source of Depp, who will next direct the movie Modi after touring with his band The Hollywood Vampires. "He is prioritizing his health and work." The source adds, "He was living a destructive life and people close to him were concerned. Everyone is excited about how he turned things around. He is much happier too." Related:Amber Heard Supporters Protest Cannes Film Festival for Inclusion of Johnny Depp Movie Doug Peters/PA Images via Getty Images Johnny Depp Never miss a story sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. At the Cannes press conference Wednesday, Depp was asked whether he feels boycotted by Hollywood after his highly publicized legal battles. "Do I feel boycotted now? No, not at all," he said. "But I don't feel boycotted by Hollywood because I don't think about it. I don't think about Hollywood. I don't have much further need for Hollywood myself." He later added, "I keep wondering about the word comeback because I didn't go anywhere. As a matter of fact, I live about 45 minutes away. So yeah, maybe people stopped calling out of whatever their fear was at the time. But no, I didn't go nowhere. I've been sitting around." Story continues Steve Helber/POOL/AFP/Getty; JIM WATSON/POOL/AFP/Getty Johnny Depp; Amber Heard While Depp was in France for the film festival launch, Heard was photographed in Madrid, Spain, where she moved with her 2-year-old daughter Oonagh Paige. In December, she announced that she and Depp reached a settlement and they both dropped their appeals to the June 1, 2022, verdict. A source previously told PEOPLE of the Aquaman actress, "The trial was beyond stressful for her and she just wanted to start fresh out of the country." "She is excited about working and filming again. She was exhausted and disappointed about the trial. She felt she was mistreated," the source added. "This is all behind her now, though. She has new energy and is focused on things that she loves." For more People news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter! Read the original article on People. [Source] Australian-based journalist Louisa Lim was racially harassed at a Chinese restaurant while visiting Auckland, New Zealand, to speak about anti-Asian racism at an event. Lim, who is half-Chinese, was invited to speak at the Auckland Writers Festival, where she joined the panel Seeing Yellow to discuss the yellow peril narrative and the rise of racism against Asians since the COVID-19 pandemic. A day before the event, Lim visited a Chinese noodle shop near Aotea Square, where she encountered two men speaking offensively. It must have been 7:30 p.m., and I was just eating noodles, and these two guys came in and they were quite loud, Lim told the Herald. And one of them said really loudly, A good Asian is a contradiction in terms. More from NextShark: Salon owner in Thailand accused of killing couple in front of their child over haircut is released on bail When Lim confronted them, they reportedly discounted the comment as a joke and was questioned why she was offended. And at a certain point, I said to him, I hear that youre not apologizing to me, and I hear that you understand that it was racist and youre not sorry, Lim said, to which the men told her to f*ck off. A woman separate from the incident then chimed in and asked Lim where she was from. When the journalist replied, the woman said, F*ck off, go back to Australia. More from NextShark: TWICE returns with new album Ready To Be and 'Set Me Free' music video In that moment, I was like five years old, in the playground in London, hearing kids shouting at me Chinese, Japanese, dirty knees, Lim said, according to Stuff. That's when you realize that there are spaces that you didn't know that were not yours to enter. And they're everywhere, even in Chinese restaurants. Lim, who spoke about the incident at the panel, also shared the incident on Instagram and Twitter. Backstage before our Seeing Yellow panel, Lim wrote along with a photo of her and her co-panelists. Sadly fitting to do it the day after I was racially harassed in Auckland Story continues More from NextShark: Father who was beaten and left for dead near Chicago Chinatown wakes up from coma https://www.instagram.com/p/CsfZgYWS4S4/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igshid=MmJiY2I4NDBkZg== Race Relations Commissioner Meng Foon, who was also a guest speaker at the writers festival, said he admired Lims bravery for confronting the racist men. Its unfortunate no one stood with her. It was a surprise to us, especially since this happened in a Chinese restaurant, Foon said, according to the Herald. I dont condone this awful racist behavior - it says we still have a lot to do. More from NextShark: NJ Man Sentenced to 4 Years for Targeting Asian Woman, Children for Robbery Lim is a former correspondent for the BBC and NPR. Her work has also been published in The New York Times, The Washington Post and The Guardian. Its finally stopped raining in Cannes and master filmmaker Martin Scorsese is sitting, smiling, on a divan at the Gray dAlbion hotel, where he and his cast from Killers of the Flower Moon are enjoying a brief celebratory breath after the films emotional reception on Saturday night. Theres a line of journalists who all want to know everything. How. When. Why. And how the movie made all of us feel. The man is 80 years old and still in the prime of his powers, as is evident both from the grin on his face and the avalanche of positive reviews for the three-and-a-half-hour film. (Eighty could be the new 60; Harrison Ford also 80 showed up earlier in the festival with the energy of a man half his age. By the way, Robert De Niro the villain of the piece is 79. Scorseses editor Thelma Schoonmaker also present at this party is 83. Just sayin.) Also Read: Martin Scorseses Killers of the Flower Moon Brings the House Down in Cannes Scorsese, always talkative, wants to talk and theres so much to say. The story of Flower Moon is a forgotten chapter in American history, another tragedy in the long string of tragedies to befall indigenous people in this country. By the 1920s, the Osage of Oklahoma were exceedingly wealthy due to their ownership of oil-rich land. But they began to be murdered mysteriously in what became known as a Reign of Terror from 1921 to 1926. (Really, was it so mysterious?) In a racist system where Native Americans had no power to enforce the law, there was no hope for solving or stopping these crimes aimed at stealing their land and the oil wealth that lay beneath them. Finally, the federal government stepped in to investigate via agents sent by J. Edgar Hoover, and eventually, arrests and prosecutions took place. But not before some 60 wealthy, full-blood Osage Native Americans were killed. Initially, the script focused on the FBI solving the crimes. During COVID, Scorsese turned the script around to focus on the Osage instead. Story continues The original script had more of the white guys I mean the FBI guys in it, he recalled. And I said, Arent we making a film about the Osage? The thing about it is the Texas Rangers are incredible, I had those stories all worked out. But Ive seen this. Otherwise it would just be a group of predators coming down on a block of people you dont know anything about. (I said) Why dont we go with the people? What made him make the change in focus, I asked. We exhausted the script-writing process, he said, referring to his work with screenwriter Eric Roth. Leo (DiCaprio) looked at me and said, Wheres the emotion? Wheres the heart? I said, Its with the Osage, so lets do that. Then he said, What if I play the other guy? And thats how DiCaprio came to play the venal, weak Ernest Burkhart, husband of wealthy Osage woman, Mollie Burkhart (Lily Gladstone). And not the heroic FBI agent that was eventually played by Jesse Plemons. Earlier in the day, an Osage leader had sent out a tweet thanking Scorsese for making a film that put the Osage at the center of this story, and for restoring their history. I asked the director about that. Im beyond honored, he said. I wish my parents were around to experience this they were with me for most of my career. I hope it makes a difference. I hope this goes out there to make people think about the systematic idea of, basically, genocide. Thats really what it is. Why such a thing happens. The superiority of people over others. The superiority of one culture over another. Also Read: Killers of the Flower Moon Review: Martin Scorseses Searing Drama Bursts Open a Devastating Chapter of U.S. History Lurking nearby are several of the Native American actors who play key members of the Osage Nation. William Belleau, a Canadian from a tribe near Vancouver who only has 1,000 members left in his clan; he plays Henry Roan, one of the wealthy Osage murdered in the 1920s. Also, Tatanka Means, with long braids down his back, who plays FBI agent John Wren in the film. Hes Navajo, from New Mexico, he said. A little further back was DiCaprio, chatting about the intensity of the Oklahoma shoot in 2021 and the impact the film may have in restoring this forgotten history. Gladstone, his co-star, stood nearby, fielding glowing comments about her performance. Scorsese surveyed the scene with something like pride. We had meetings and dinners with the Osage, it begins with a speech and a prayer, he said. It was extremely moving They have a value that is beautiful. Its like the Tibetans. People were concerned at the time (of Kundun in 1997) Youre just interested in Kundun and the Dalai Lama because youre chasing absurd ideas of Shangri La. No. I thought if youre going to change a government do you have to destroy the spirituality of another culture that you may learn from? He paused. We have to open up and embrace. Killers of the Flower Moon will be released exclusively in select theaters on Oct. 6 and wide on Oct. 20 before streaming globally on Apple TV+. Check out TheWraps Cannes magazine here and all of our Cannes 2023 coverage here. Image Credit: NJPW NJPW STRONG is coming to Japan for the first time. New Japan Pro-Wrestling launched NJPW STRONG in 2020, largely in response to the travel restrictions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. STRONG held tapings in the United States over the course of the next two-plus years, NJPW introduced a new format of NJPW STRONG in 2023, which has seen NJPW events in the United States air as pay-per-views before airing on STRONG on Demand. During the NJPW Resurgence event on May 21, NJPW announced that NJPW STRONG is coming to Japan for two special Independence Day events in July; the shows will be held in Korakuen Hall on July 4 and 5. Eddie Kingston, Tom Lawlor, Fred Rosser, and other stars have already been advertised for the shows. July 4 and 5, #njpwSTRONG comes to Korakuen Hall for the first time! STRONG's Independence Day is in Japan this July!https://t.co/WCYjQYjoS0 pic.twitter.com/Mh1uJ28M4O NJPW Global (@njpwglobal) May 22, 2023 The full announcement is available here. WrestleZone will provide more information as it becomes available. Click here to catch up on our coverage of NJPW Resurgence. The post NJPW STRONG Independence Day PPV Events Announced For Japan On 7/4 And 7/5 appeared first on Wrestlezone. The Salt Lake Community College Taylorsville Redwood Campus is pictured in Taylorsville on Feb. 19, 2020. | Kristin Murphy, Deseret News Among the 3,300 students who graduated from Salt Lake Community College on May 4, 67% will continue their studies at a four-year institution. Almost half will head to the University of Utah, where SLCCs transfer students have the same level of success as students who begin at the U as freshmen. Synne Grubbs is one of these students. She earned her Associate of Science degree in psychology and her next step is the U of U to complete a bachelors degree through the universitys honors program. I really want to help people with their struggles in life, and psychology seems like the best way to help the most people, says Grubbs, who hopes to eventually earn a doctoral degree. Devon Sanborn is another SLCC graduate who plans to continue her education. She earned her Associate of Applied Science in welding fabrication and inspection and is headed to Weber State Universitys Manufacturing Engineering Technology program. In a recent Associated Press article that appeared on KSL.com, the journalist writes about the frustrations of wasted time and money when two-year college credits dont transfer to universities. The article focused primarily on the inefficiencies among the behemoth systems in California and New York (which have 116 and 30 community colleges, respectively), yet it cast a net over all community colleges. Utahs two-year colleges (SLCC and Snow College) should not be caught in this net. Setting up students to successfully transfer their credits is one of SLCCs highest priorities. In fact, ensuring ease and efficiency of transfers among all of the states higher education institutions and technical colleges is part of the Utah System of Higher Educations 2021 strategic plan. Related The Utah System of Higher Education has implemented a common course numbering system and policies that guide the transfer of credits between institutions and has developed an electronic Utah Transfer Guide to inform students about their transfer options. Currently, SLCCs associate degrees satisfy all lower-division general education requirements at any public college or university in Utah. The college also employs one-on-one advising and maintains a transfer center website, where students can access information on required classes for all of Utahs higher education institutions. Story continues SLCC also has a team that works with other colleges on a course-to-course and program-to-program level to develop articulation agreements. If a four-year institution does not accept a course for which there is an articulation agreement, SLCC will intervene to ensure the agreement is honored. The frustration among students cited by the AP is real, and credit loss can happen in the absence of articulation agreements. Counter to the dismal community college completion rates also cited in the AP article, Utahs two-year colleges have higher completion rates than their national peers, according to the states higher education 2022 report. Its the only sector of our USHE system that has an above average completion rate. As Utahs largest two-year college, our decisions are guided by our commitment to helping students find success while at SLCC and in the next stage of their education. After all, more than 85% of our students plan to stay in the area to work and raise families, and we want them to reach their full potential for themselves, for their families, and for all of Utah. Clifton G. Sanders, who hold a doctoral degree, is the provost for academic affairs at Salt Lake Community College. Rammstein Nobody does live spectacle like Rammstein. Germany's premiere metal export might have become known for having more pyro than a blaze in a fireworks factory and explosions so loud they can be heard 11 miles away, but that doesn't mean you can ever predict what form their latest show will take. So we won't pretend to not be excited at the prospect of the band breaking out rarities for their first show of 2023, including one song they've never played. On Saturday May 20 2023, Rammstein kicked off their 2023 tour plans with a 'dress rehearsal' show for fan club members at Vingis Park in Lithuania. Opening with Liebe ist fur alle da opening track Rammlied - played for the first time since 2011 - as a glowing-faced and mohawked Till Lindemann was lowered on a huge elevator like an industrial metal jack-o'-lantern, the show was packed with hits and rarities alike, alongside the usual levels of pyro and insanity we've come to adore from the German metal masters. The band are hardly going to drop the likes of Du Hast or Links 2 3 4 from their sets, but Bestrafe Mich also made its first appearance in the band's setlists since 2001, while Zeit's propulsive industrial metal banger Giftig was played live for the first time ever. With tour dates announced to take them around Europe until October - and a newly announced Lindemann solo tour for the end of the year - it looks like the Rammstein lads will be busy for much of 2023, offering plenty more opportunities for the band to drop plenty of rarities and hits alike, with the band returning to Vingis Park tonight (May 22) for the 'official' start of their 2023 tour. Watch Rammstein debut Giftig below. Metal Hammer line break Rammstein setlist - Vingio Parkas, Lithuania May 20 2023 Irish actor Ray Stevenson, known from his work in the Thor and Divergent films, has passed away. Reps for the performer confirmed his passing to multiple outlets including The Associated Press on Monday, sharing that Stevenson died in Italy the previous day. He was 58 years old. No further details, including a cause, were immediately made public. Stevenson began his career with multiple TV roles in the 1990s before scoring the part of Titus Pullo on HBOs Rome in the 2000s. He went on to appear alongside Keira Knightley and Clive Owen in 2004s King Arthur and later joined the Marvel universe in Punisher: War Zone and as Thor warrior Volstagg opposite Chris Hemsworth. Stevenson also portrayed the father of Theo James character, Four, in the Divergent series. More recently, fans saw him as an evil governor in the critically acclaimed awards season favorite RRR. His made his final public appearance at Londons Star Wars Celebration event in April, where he supported the upcoming series Ahsoka in which he plays Jedi Baylan Skoll alongside Rosario Dawsons titular heroine. Stevenson is reportedly survived by his three children with Elisabetta Caraccia: Sebastiano, Leonardo and Lodovico. He was previously married to British actress Ruth Gemmel from 1997 to 2005. Erin Biglow KYODO NEWS - May 22, 2023 - 14:51 | Arts, All, Japan, G7 Leaders attending the Group of Seven summit in Hiroshima over the weekend were given replica paper crane mementos designed in memory of a girl who died from radiation-induced leukemia 10 years after the 1945 atomic bombing of the city, a source close to the matter said Monday. The souvenirs are based on a paper crane that sat beside Sadako Sasaki's deathbed. She died from her illness at the age of 12. Weighing one gram, they are made of stainless steel and are engraved with the words "G7 HIROSHIMA." They were produced using cutting-edge technology that replicates the folds and wrinkles of the original origami crane. The leaders were given the mementos on Friday when they visited the western Japan city's Peace Memorial Museum, where they were told Sasaki's story by Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Hiroshima prefectural Gov. Hidehiko Yuzaki, the source said. The replica origami cranes were also given to the leaders' spouses, as well as representatives and visitors from other countries invited to the summit, including South Korea. Relatives of Sasaki said they hope the paper cranes, which have come to symbolize peace and the abolition of nuclear weapons, "help convey a wish for peace and compassion." Sasaki was 2 years old when the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima by the United States on Aug. 6, 1945. She and her family, including her older brother Masahiro, were 1.6 kilometers from the explosion's hypocenter. Sasaki was hospitalized for leukemia 10 years after she was exposed to the bomb's radiation. While in the hospital, she folded hundreds of paper cranes after hearing a folk tale that making 1,000 of them could make a wish come true. Hoping to recover, she continued to fold paper cranes until her death in October 1955. Her last words to her family before she died were, "Thank you." In 1958, the Children's Peace Monument, featuring a statue of a girl modeled after Sasaki, was erected in Hiroshima's Peace Memorial Park. Masahiro's son and Sasaki's nephew Yuji, 52, presented some of the original paper cranes she folded to the G-7 leader's partners during the summit. "Frankly, I'm happy that they learned about Sadako's story," he said. "My long-cherished wish has come true," Masahiro, 81, also said. "I felt as though Sadako's wishes knew no borders." The cranes were made by Hiroshima metal parts manufacturer Castem Co. Cranes and had been requested as a gift for the G-7 leaders by Yuji when he met with Kishida last year at the prime minister's office in Tokyo. Meanwhile, 85-year-old atomic bomb survivor Keiko Ogura told reporters Monday of her meeting at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum on Sunday with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who visited Japan to rally support from leaders attending the summit for Ukraine amid its invasion by Russia. "Even though it was only for a short while, (Zelenskyy) felt the sentiments of the people of Hiroshima," Ogura said. "I want the war to end as soon as possible," she added. "I am grateful merely for the fact that he came while (Ukraine) is at war." The museum reopened Monday after being closed for four days during the summit. Around 50 people were seen lined up to enter the building by the time it opened at 8:30 a.m., with the number of visitors expected to grow due to renewed interest following the event. "I want to know how U.S. President Joe Biden felt when he saw the museum," said a 61-year-old man visiting for the first time from Ishikawa Prefecture in central Japan. Related coverage: FOCUS: Kishida brings world to Hiroshima, but nuke message brings division A-bomb survivors angry at G-7 summit upholding nuclear deterrence G-7 aims to achieve nuclear-free world, to stand by Ukraine: Kishida The actress stepped out at the Dior Cruise 2024 fashion show in Mexico City on Saturday Manuel Velasquez/Getty Images For Christian Dior Riley Keough is stepping out! The Daisy Jones & The Six actress, 33, attended the Dior Cruise 2024 event in Mexico City on Saturday, days after she came to an agreement with her grandmother Priscilla Presley over her late mother Lisa Marie Presley's trust. Riley wore a Dior Spring-Summer 2023 embroidered white tulle dress with Dior shoes to the fashion event, which was held at the Antiguo Colegio de San Ildefonso the school where Frida Kahlo met fellow artist Diego Rivera, reported Elle magazine. Alicia Keys, Naomi Watts, Rachel Zegler and Laetitia Casta also made the trip south of the U.S. border to toast the new collection which celebrates Kahlo's artistry. Related:Priscilla Presley Says 'Our Family Is Stronger' After Settling Lisa Marie Case with Riley Keough (Exclusive) For Keough, the public appearance came after a contentious period in which Priscilla, 77, previously questioned the "validity" of daughter Lisa Marie's trust. Arturo Holmes/Getty Images Riley Keough Legal counsel for the two parties reached a court settlement in Los Angeles last Tuesday, with Riley's side set to submit a settlement request under seal for both the Promenade and an insurance trust. "My family has resolved all confusion as it relates to our plea to the court and request for document interpretation after my daughter Lisa Marie's untimely passing," Priscilla said in a statement shared exclusively with PEOPLE. "Although some media identified such a plea as a lawsuit, I want to make clear that there was never any lawsuit filed against my beloved granddaughter." Related:Priscilla Presley and Riley Keough Reach Settlement in Fight Over Lisa Marie's Trust: 'Everyone Is Happy' "As a family, we are pleased that we resolved this together," she continued. "My family and I hope that everyone will grant us the privacy we have needed to properly grieve Lisa Marie and spend personal time together. We love and appreciate all of you and the Presley family is stronger than ever." Story continues Ronson Shamoun, Priscilla's lawyer, later told reporters "They have reached a settlement. Families are happy." "Everyone is happy," he added. "Unified and together and excited for the future." Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic Never miss a story sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. Justin Gold, Keough's attorney added that "[Riley] would not have agreed to the settlement if she was not happy with it." Reps for Riley have not responded to PEOPLE's requests for comment following the settlement. The next hearing and motion for approval is scheduled for Aug. 4. For more People news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter! Read the original article on People. Robert De Niro blasted Donald Trump as a stupid man during the Cannes Film Festival press conference for Killers of the Flower Moon, comparing the former president to the twisted power player he portrays in Martin Scorseses crime epic, which premiered on Saturday night. De Niro admits he struggled to connect with William Hale, saying I dont understand a lot about my character, he says. Part of him is sincere. The other part, where hes betraying [the Osage people], theres a feeling of entitlement. De Niro alluded to the resurgence of white supremacy. We became a lot more aware [of that dichotomy] after George Floyd with systemic racism. More from Variety Killers of the Flower Moon, one of the starriest movies to play at this years Cannes Film Festival, tells the story of the murders that took place in the early 1920s after major oil deposits were discovered on the Osage nations land. The Osage referred to the series of mysterious, unsolved killings as the Reign of Terror. The film, based on the 2017 novel by David Grann, also depicts how the newly formed FBI investigated the bloodshed. Its the banality of evil. Its the thing we have to watch out for. We see it today, of course. We all know who Im going to talk about. but Im not going to say the name, continued De Niro, a frequent and vocal critic of Trump. That guy is stupid, he said of the former president. Imagine if youre smart. Even Hale was smart in many ways. Robert De Niro rips Donald Trump while discussing "the banality of evil" in "Killers of the Flower Moon": "We see it today and you know who Im talking about but Im not going to say his name. That guy is stupid." https://t.co/YeZrO6zkFm #Cannes pic.twitter.com/AbEFa515ot Variety (@Variety) May 21, 2023 Lily Gladstone, who stars as Osage tribe member Mollie Burkhart, pointed out that Osage members still attended the funeral of William Hale, in denial about his involvement in the brutal murders of tribe members. De Niro, again, evoked Trump in response to that kind of blind loyalty to evil men. There are people who still think he can do a good job. Imagine how insane that is. Story continues In the case of Killers of the Flower Moon, Scorseses long-time collaborator Leonardo DiCaprio praised the directors ability to capture these kinds of morally ambiguous people onscreen. What Marty does so incredibly well is hes able to expose the humanity of even the most twisted, sinister characters you could ever imagine. At Saturday nights star-studded premiere, Scorsese was joined on the famed red carpet by A-listers DiCaprio, De Niro, Jesse Plemons and Gladstone, as well as members of the Osage nation. Before they walked into the Palais, DiCaprio and Scorsese dutifully signed autographs and took selfies with the troves of fans who were lined up in and around the Croisette. Despite its indulgent three-hour-and-26-minute, the crime epic was met with massive applause in the Palais, as Scorsese and his cast were embraced with a 9-minute standing ovation. It was a culmination of years of work, Scorsese said in reference to his emotional response to the evening. Gladstone, who plays the wife of DiCaprios character Ernest Burkhart, received some of the loudest cheers as the credits rolled on Killers of the Flower Moon. Of the audiences reaction to the film, she said It felt very just. Scorsese spoke of the importance of spending time with Osage people, as well as shooting on location. When the book was presented to me, I said if we go anywhere near Indigenous nations, we have to be very respectful, he said. Osage Nation chief Geoffrey Standing Bear, who served as a consultant and joined the filmmaker and cast at the press conference, believes Scorsese made good on that promise. My people suffered greatly. And to this day, those effects are with us. But I can say on behalf of the Osage, Marty and his team have restored trust, and we know that trust will not be betrayed. Best of Variety Sign up for Varietys Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Click here to read the full article. Canadian wildfires are affecting southeast Michigan. Wildfire smoke from Alberta, Canada, is making its way into southeast Michigan causing the skies to appear more hazy. What to know High altitude smoke overhead is from the Alberta wildfires. This is giving a filtered view of the sun. Here is the 9 AM visible satellite image showing the smoke over Michigan. Note that the smoke is aloft and not at the surface. pic.twitter.com/sMfDwfxi8s NWS Detroit (@NWSDetroit) May 22, 2023 A recent tweet by the National Weather Service noted that high altitude smoke is coming from the wildfires in Alberta. The smoke is aloft but it can give a filtered view of the sun. There are currently 108 fires burning in Alberta since Sunday and 31 of those fires are not under control, according to an article from Canadian news channel CBC. More than 25,000 residents have had to leave their homes. More: Michigan gas prices surge 23 cents a gallon, may go higher Memorial Day weekend More: New off-road course for motorized kids opens at public park minutes from Detroit The AirNow website also provides a map that checks air quality in different geolocations and Michigan's air quality is ranking at moderate or good quality at the moment. This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Wildfires in Canada are making Michigan skies smoky: What to know Unique Nicole - Getty Images Star Trek: Discovery star Sonequa Martin-Green has landed her next lead role in a dark comedy/drama. She's been cast alongside Westworld and Top Gun: Maverick star Ed Harris and The Morning Show's Natalie Morales in My Dead Friend Zoe, where she'll play a female veteran who has a mysterious friendship with her friend from the Army, Zoe (played by Morales), who just happens to be dead. Martin-Green's character is summoned to the lake house of her estranged Vietnam veteran grandfather (Harris), and tasked with providing him with help, which he is very reluctant to accept. Unique Nicole - Getty Images Related: Star Trek: Discovery season 5 release date and more My Dead Friend Zoe will be the directorial debut of Kyle Hausmann-Stokes, himself a veteran, having served in the US Army as a paratrooper and convoy commander. The film is based on his experiences in the military, and is based on Merit X Zoe, a short film he co-wrote and directed last year. Hausmann-Stokes said (via Deadline): My fellow veterans and I often get reduced to archetypes and melodramatic tropes. Were much more dynamic, funny, complex than that. This will be a story about veterans we havent seen before; one that anyone, military/veteran or not, can relate to and enjoy. Taylor Hill - Getty Images Producers Ray Maiello and Mike Field of Radiant Studios who are producing alongside Paul Scanlan and Terri Lubaroff of Legion M and Richard Silverman said: We are honoured to support Kyles vision and bring attention to the mental health challenges facing our nations veterans. This is an inclusive story with an outstanding cast and were gratified that our renewable energy investments can help bring these important stories to light. My Dead Friend Zoe doesn't have a confirmed release date just yet. Star Trek: Discovery seasons 1-4 are now available on Paramount+. A fifth and final season has been confirmed, and is expected to premiere in early 2024. You Might Also Like Heather Croteau is a Family Services Unit supervisor at the Department of Children, Youth and Families. Linda McBride is a supervisor in the Economic Support Services Unit at the Department of Human Services. Both are members of SEIU Local 580. Every Rhode Islander, no matter their background or zip code, deserves access to healthy food, health care and a safe place to live. Every day, dedicated state employees and members of SEIU Local 580 make sure elderly citizens have medical support, children have safe as well as loving homes, and parents have enough food to feed their kids. But short staffing, high turnover and lack of support make it difficult to do our jobs. We need the General Assembly and the McKee administration to value those we care for as much as we do as well as fully fund our jobs in this years state budget. More: Since 2019, 28 RI children known to DCYF have died. Now, the state's child office is investigating. Our mission as employees of the Department of Human Services and the Department of Children, Youth and Families is to provide care and services to Rhode Islands most vulnerable. Every day, 400 members of the Service Employees International Union at DCYF make sure children are raised in a safe, caring environment. From helping protect children from abuse and neglect, to giving them the tools to attain a college education, DCYF employees build Rhode Islands future by investing in its kids. At DHS, 250 SEIU members connect thousands of Rhode Islanders with a wide array of benefits. These benefits ensure that low-income families can feed their children, that residents receive life-saving health care, and that elderly as well as disabled adults receive longterm care in the setting of their choice. In 2021 alone, DHS issued SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) benefits to over 80,000 households, and, at last count, helped more than 150,000 aging residents access supportive services including home care, health care and housing. Story continues The Department of Children, Youth and Families is the state child welfare, children's mental health and juvenile corrections services agency which promotes safety, permanence, and well-being of children through partnerships with family, community, and government. Despite the critical importance of our work, our employees face real challenges. Since January 2022, 116 DCYF employees have left, with 66 resigning. As of March 2022, 66 vacancies remained in our department. Reduction of our workforce and lack of funded positions has led to acute caseloads, safety concerns, worker burnout and turnover. All of these have profound consequences. We always said it would be a matter of time until someone got hurt under these conditions, and unfortunately, last month, a DCYF worker was violently assaulted at a group home and suffered serious injury. Working conditions are equally dire in DHS, where we have 118 vacancies. Lack of staff recruitment and retention is allowing too many Rhode Islanders to fall through the cracks and experience delays or even denial of services. As a result, SNAP recipients go hungry, and seniors waiting for home care assistance have had to enter institutional care or pay exorbitant out of pocket expenses. And most tragically, elderly residents have died before weve been able to assist them. More: Behind courtroom doors: A futile battle to help some of RI's most vulnerable girls More: McKee's pick to lead $3.6b 'super agency' faces Senate questions. What will they ask? It doesnt have to be this way. We can take concrete steps today to restore funding, boost wages, and recruit and retain skilled workers by taking advantage of strategic partnerships like the Rhode Island College School of Social Work, which can help with training, onboarding and placement. At DCYF, we must fully fund all 705 current positions, and immediately fill the 117 vacant positions in DHS. But thats not all thats needed. As a society, we must fundamentally change our culture to one that places more value on our workforce, the services we provide, and the people who benefit. Our state budget is as much of a moral document as it is a fiscal one. Budgets dictate our priorities, and it is past time to make sure our lawmakers and the McKee administration are prioritizing our seniors, families and children. This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Lawmakers and the McKee administration must prioritize our seniors, families and children. Dave Cousins UK proggers Strawbs were in disarray this morning as mainman Dave Cousins hit back at claims that he'd unceremoniously 'dumped' the current band line-up, which also features Chas Cronk, Dave Lambert and Dave Bainbridge, none of whom are said to appear on the upcoming farewell Strawbs album, The Magic Of It All, due out through Cherry Red on July 14. There have also been wild rumours flying around on social media that none of the most recent line-up, including drummer Tony Fernandez, have been asked to appear at any of the final live dates from the band, and that they'd been replaced by unknown South African musicians. In a lengthy social media post last night, which you can read below, Cousins, who has been battling a number of health issues over recent years, claims that Fernandez "ceased to be a member of Strawbs" in November 2020, that both Cronk and Lambert had offered little in the way of inspirational new music and turned down Cousins' offer of appearing at this year's Cropredy Festival in what is effectively the band's final live performance, and that Bainbridge was stuck in the USA awaiting his green card. Cousins goes on to state that while filming a new Strawbs documentary with a South African film crew, he recorded some new material with some top South African musicians, and that he and Blue Weaver, the band's former keyboard player and producer of 2021's Settlement album, performed a live show in South Africa. Of the impending documentary, Cousins states: "Blue Weaver and John Ford were co-opted into the documentary project, as it was the 1970s line-up of Grave New World that had made such an impact in South Africa at the time of apartheid. Studio recordings started in September 2022 in Cape Town." You can read Cousins' statement in full, below. Prog CLARIFICATION OF INACCURATE MISINFORMATION There has been many recent posts on Facebook pages relating to Strawbs that are inaccurate, ill-informed, and extremely hurtful. Perhaps I should clarify: Story continues The last Strawbs appearance on stage, shortly after I had been diagnosed with bowel cancer, was at the aptly named Rock Against Cancer in September 2021. We used Elliott Henshaw on drums after four days of intense rehearsal in a confined rehearsal room. You may ask why In November 2020, Tony Fernandez sent an email to all Strawbs members regarding Settlement saying: Having just received the final version . from Blue along with his thanks for our amazing input . I find that not one complete drum part from myself has been used on any one track of this recording. I refuse to have my name put to this album when I have had absolute zero creative or musical involvement in its content. In my view, Tony Fernandez ceased to be a member of Strawbs with that email. However, in March 2021, Settlement entered the Official UK Progressive Albums Chart at No 3. In March 2022, I sent out a demo of a new song Wiser Now to Chas Cronk and Dave Lambert asking them to try out bass and guitar parts. What came back added nothing inspiring to what I considered to be a very strong song. I carried on writing new material. In August 2022, I had a Zoom call with a group of South African sponsors and film makers with a proposal for me to lay down new songs, while being filmed recording them with top South African musicians. Blue Weaver and John Ford were co-opted into the documentary project, as it was the 1970s line-up of Grave New World that had made such an impact in South Africa at the time of apartheid. Studio recordings started in September 2022 in Cape Town. I emailed John Ford at the time: Blue is meeting me in South Africa to work on songs for the new album with local musicians. I cant get any new ideas from DL. Chas hasnt let me have anything. Dave Bainbridge has sent me a musical flurry that is one of the pieces Im working on. At the end of September, Blue and I did a live show with the South African musicians who had played on the new songs. The show was essentially Strawbs greatest hits from the 1970s, and the reaction was highly favourable. Shortly after, without the knowledge of any member of Strawbs past or present, I contacted the organisers of Cropredy to ask if they would consider including Strawbs as part of the 2023 festival line-up. Just before Christmas they offered me a slot. Due to ongoing health issues I made it clear that this would be my last appearance on stage with a line-up of Strawbs past and present. I asked that the announcement was made with just the Strawbs logo and no accompanying photograph. In January 2023, a blood test revealed that my immune system is severely compromised. It took until the end of March, with several consultations and procedures, to establish that I have MDS with excess blasts. It is an incurable malignancy and the only option is to try to slow down the progress of the disease. It was not until 11 March 2023 that Dave Bainbridge got his US Green Card - before that he was not in a position to leave the USA. On 20 April 2023 Dave Bainbridge announced that he was booked for the New Jersey Prog Camp taking place on 12 August. On 20 April 2023 I wrote to Chas Cronk and Dave Lambert to invite them to participate in Cropredy, as follows: Three weeks ago, when I was referred to an NHS consultant, I carefully checked the position with regards to Cropredy. I was advised that I could consider doing the show as it is in the open air. However, the consultant was adamant that I cannot consider rehearsing in a confined space, or in close proximity with other people because of the inherent risks . Bearing in mind these restrictions, its been necessary to work out a show that eases the demands on my physical capabilities. Id love it if you would join me, as Acoustic Strawbs, and for the grand finale of Down By The Sea/Lay Down. Chas Cronk emailed to ask for clarification. I responded: As this is my last show it has to be a retrospective of Strawbs over the last 50 years . I must emphasise that have been told that I must not rehearse in a confined rehearsal room where I might pick up any infection . That rules out rehearsing with Elliott Henshaw or Tony F. We could rehearse in the open air as it should be summer soon. I have not excluded Messrs Cronk, Lambert, Fernandez and Bainbridge as posted on Strawbs Facebook page. Dave Lambert and Chas Cronk both declined my invitation to take part in Cropredy. If anyone wants any further information please get in touch through Strawbsweb. My medical correspondence will remain confidential. [Editors Note: The following review contains spoilers for Succession Season 4, Episode 9, Church and State.] When the Roy family stepped inside a church, the surrounding city erupted out of sheer indignation. Its unfair, really. Under different circumstances, Logan Roys funeral would be met with celebration; the proletariat he stepped on to secure his place atop the patriarchal pile are rid of their tormentor. His empire is on the verge of collapse and his legacy along with it. But Logans influence outlives him, robbing the people of their long-awaited party. We see it in the streets, as protesters march in anger over an election hijacked by his offspring, and we hear it in the church, when those same kiddos proselytize their fathers life to the would-be president, their peers, and plenty others from their sacrilegious perch behind the pulpit. More from IndieWire But the fears of violence that shut down New York also have no impact on Logan or his funeral. The limousines and black cars bringing important leaders to mourn arent turned away. None of the attendees are told to stay home, like the rest of society. They need not worry for their safety, for their livelihoods, for their future. Like his children once were, such trivial matters are kept outside, while his cherished presidents, kings, queens, diplomats, prime ministers, and world bankers are safe inside, where he needs them, where they can be useful to him or, at least, his memory. Even his kids, now grown and thus valuable, are protected from the screaming voices and pounding fists. Untouched, save for Roman. But well come back to King Dong. Successions penultimate episode, Church and State, is the story of three eulogies. Roman (Kieran Culkin), Kendall (Jeremy Strong), and Shiv (Sarah Snook) all try to sum up their dads impact on them and the world and, in doing so, perfectly illustrate where they stand in the pecking order. Make no mistake: As much as their testimonials are for Logan, theyre also auditions for Mencken (Justin Kirk), Matsson (Alexander Skarsgard), and the Waystar board. Jesse Armstrong has only one hour left to answer who, if anyone, will succeed Logan Roy, and Episode 9 does a remarkable job setting the table. At the same time, its intensity and scale captured with piercing precision by director Mark Mylod as well as its raw emotional core help Church and State prevail as a testament to everything the series stands against. Story continues Take Kendalls speech. Pinch-hitting for his grieving brother, Kendall puts down his pen and speaks from, well, if not the heart, then something near it. My father was a brute, he says by way of acknowledging his uncles damning eulogy. He was tough. But also he built. He acted. [] He had a vitality, a force that could hurt, and it did, but my God. I mean, look at it: the lives, the livings, and the things that he made. And the money. Here, the crowd lets out a titter. They know what Logan did for those inside his tent, and it wasnt related to friendship or love. He made them a lot of money. Kendall, rightly, leans into it, and while he waxes a bit too rhapsodic about dollars and cents as the oxygen of this wonderful civilization weve built from the mud and the corpuscles of life gushing around this nation, its this kind of embellished thinking that allows everyone who sacrifices sound moral judgment for the betterment of business to sleep at night. Matsson may smile and Mencken may sneer, in knowing recognition of the shit Kendalls shoveling, but they both respect him for it in the end. Thats key for Kendall, especially as he continues to relish his evil era. (Losing his assistant, Jess? Trying to steal custody from his ex-wife, Rava? By the time he makes Hugo his lapdog, its painfully clear hes embracing the dark side and thats just this episode!) Eulogy No. 2 wraps with Kendall describing the magnficent awful force his father carried and how he hopes its in me a truly twisted thing to say about a man Kendall has tried to remove from power (if not worse) time and time again. None of the other siblings have processed what their father has done or who he really was quite like Kendall, which makes his eagerness to become the next Logan all the more upsetting. Yet there he is snot evacuating his nasal canal, glistening on his upper lip like a signal for help as his voice strives to sound like his dads. But Shiv wants to channel Logan, too. Not about to let her brother shine alone (not again, after Investor Day), Logans only daughter steps to the podium and promises theyll be done soon. She, too, speaks of her fathers presence, describing it as terrifying while recounting when Logan would shout at the children to be quiet (and doing a quick but convincing impression Silence!). Shiv also mentions how hard it was to be his daughter, nodding but not expounding on his spotty track record with women. (The front row filled with wives and mistresses, bonded in trauma, provide all the explanation needed.) While bolstered by awe and importance, Shivs words arent as effusive as Kendalls; theyre more tender, yet tinged in conflicting regrets. Goodbye my dear, dear world of a father, she says to close, and you can almost hear the stifled good riddance. Shiv has always been about progress. Its what she tried to push on her father from Day 1, with her political leanings, and its what she tried to slam through again during the latest election. Shes still pressing that angle now by tying herself to Matsson, and its the message she leaves with the GoJo boss in Eulogy No. 3. Trust me to be your American CEO, she says without saying. Look at my poise, my humanity, but know that Ill do whatever it takes. Cant you see me as the future face of this future-facing company? By the end of Episode 9, he can. Matsson calls her up, and says Potential President Mencken agreed to her plan. Matsson agrees, too, telling Shiv he thinks he can make a U.S. CEO work. Assuming the deal goes through, that would put Shiv on top the successor to her father while also serving his vision. Logan wanted the GoJo deal to happen, and now his daughter may control the company he was prepared to leave entirely. Jeremy Strong and Sarah Snook in Succession Courtesy of Macall Polay / HBO This ending sets up a battle for the ages in next weeks series finale: Shiv vs. Kendall. Sister vs. brother, new media vs. old, two tweaked versions of Logans intended legacy. Shiv may be securing the deal he put in place, but Kendall is certainly acting more like their dad: deploying blackmail and brute force to get his way, while making sure he maintains control over everyone in the end. Place your bets now, and buckle up fuckleheads: That last hour(-plus) is going to be a doozy. The two most respectable speeches came from the two top contenders for Logans chair, but lets not overlook the speech that didnt happen. Turns out pre-grieving isnt a thing who wouldve guessed? and Romans refusal to engage with his feelings catches up with him at the worst possible time. The one-two punch of Uncle Ewan (James Cromwell) sharing Logans childhood trauma and the sheer sight of his father laying inside a wooden box is enough to shake loose Romans repressed emotions, and he breaks down in tears. He doesnt stop weeping throughout the funeral and, later, refuses to step inside his fathers tomb. He even flees to the car as soon as the final ceremony ends. Karls closing quip about the video circulating of Romans breakdown ensures no one will forget what he did that day. Impressions matter in their world, and weakness isnt tolerated (even at a parents deathbed). Hes cried his way out of contention. No CEO seat for Romey. (Though that shouldve been obvious when, in reply to Romans pre-meltdown pitch for support, Frank just growls.) But Romans role in Episode 9 is far greater than one of succession. He is the result of everything said and done at the funeral. His broken expression, his irrepressible tears, his inability to cope it all stems from how he was raised. It comes from Logan, from the world his father built and thrust him into. Roman thrived on Election Night because none of it was real to him. His whole life, hes been separated from the reality that 99 percent of the world lives in everyday, and that allows him to pursue the companys better business interests without a second thought about right or wrong, good or bad, Nazis or not Nazis. And thats what Logan raised him to do: be ruthless, selfish, and put money above all else. When arguing with Kendall over whether they should push Mencken into the presidency, Roman says, Well be in the White House, nothing matters. [] Dads dead, and the country is a big wet pussy waiting to get fucked. Shiv tries to tell him later, after the deed is done, that Things do happen, Roman but he cant hear her. Things dont happen to Roman. Not like they do to everyone else. Until they do. Until hes trying to parse the abuse Logan inflicted on him with the abuse once inflicted on Logan. Until hes staring at the irrefutable evidence of his fathers absence, via the box holding his corpse. For so long, Roman either had no time for feelings or wasnt allowed to feel them, and now as he races out into the night, screaming at protesters and marching against the current until the current overtakes him he hates himself for feeling like a failure, and he feels like a failure because he cant ignore his feelings. Roman is not built for this moment, and he reacts as Logan taught him to: He punishes himself. What an absolute tragedy. Romans collapse hammers home the effect Logan had on those in his immediate orbit, but its Ewans speech the pivotal moment in Episode 9, and one that should net Cromwell an Emmy that expands such pain into a global affliction. What sort of people would stop a brother speaking for the sake of a share price? Ewan says, starting with a banger in a speech filled with nothing but hits. Though weve known about Rose Roy, Logans sister who died at a young age, the particulars of how she passed and why Logan blamed himself for the loss were a mystery until Ewans eulogy. He always believed that he brought home the polio with him, Ewan says of his brother. I dont even know if thats true. But our aunt and uncle certainly did nothing to disabuse him of that notion. They let it lie with him. And fester. And grow. And twist into a similar self-hatred that Logans son feels that night. Mylods camera hones in on Roman during this story, and the vulnerability in his eyes conveys the impact these stories have on him. But thats not all Ewan has to say. I loved him, I suppose, he continues, pulling his clenched hand from the side of the podium. But I cant help but say he has wrought the most terrible things. [] Darkened the skies a little, closed mens hearts, fed that dark flame in men that hard, mean, unrelenting flame, that keeps their hearts warm while another grows cold. [] He even had the temerity to tell that hard, funny yes, funny but hard joke about the man in the cold. This, in essence, is the true story of Logan Roys life. Its only fitting that those left out in the cold are rebelling as Ewan reads these words, just as its fitting their cries land on the unlistening ears of those kept warm inside the church. Out of his pain and isolation, he built a world that perpetuates both; a world, per Kendalls own words, Logan was comfortable with; a world, according to Shiv, that was inseparable from her fathers identity; a world, as Ewan states, thats mean because Logan made it that way. Who will next shape our world? So long as its a Roy, there will still be some of Logan in there. Next week, we find out how much. Grade: A The Succession series finale will premiere Sunday, May 28 at 9 p.m. ET on HBO and Max. Juliana Canfield and Jeremy Strong in Succession Greg Sprinkles Gregs inability to wrangle his grandpa wasnt really his fault. Roman shouldve realized an ineffectual helper like Greg who had zero impact on the Roy family strolling through the ATN newsroom last week cant stop Ewan when hes determined to get something done. But lets set that aside for some much-needed levity. Episode 9 is packed with intense, grueling moments, but two hysterical instances do stand out: Greg riding a Citi Bike to the funeral (including his disheveled arrival) and Shiv informing Greg he can stand-in for Tom with a firm yes, just before delivering an even stronger No to her mothers sycophantic husband, Peter (Pip Torrens). Hold on to these comic interludes, dear readers. Pick your favorite, and cherish it as we near the finish line. Im guessing there wont be room for too much frivolity in the finale. Tightrope Tommy Tom (Matthew Macfadyen) had the best excuse imaginable for missing Logans funeral New York City was shutting down because of ATNs presidential call, and Toms picture was in that mornings newspaper, like a wanted poster for the evening mob but I didnt expect Shiv to let him off so easily. After all, she called him Pontius Pilate when he formalized Kendall and Romans call for Mencken, essentially lumping Tom in with as those responsible for the downfall of democracy. He also had a particularly bad reaction to being told hes about to be a father, and there are still plenty of emotional daggers in Shivs heart from their balcony blow-up two nights prior. But I sometimes forget the Roy familys ability to purposefully compartmentalize. Theres nothing in it for Shiv to embarrass or belittle Tom at her fathers wake. Hes already pretty broken as evidenced by, well, everything, but especially his teary-eyed recollection of saying goodbye to Logan on the plane so why not play nice? She invites him into their home to get some much-needed sleep and just hide out for a while. Maybe she wants to lean on him for help with the Matsson/GoJo play. Maybe she just didnt have it in her to send him back to the hotel he hates after the day shes had. Or maybe shes playing by the same rule book that Tom is specifically, the night prior, when he told Greg, Information is like a bottle of fine wine. You store it, you horde it, you save it for a special occasion, and then you smash someones fucking face in with it. Bottles will be broken next week, but how will Tom and Shiv wield theirs? This minor scene of shared kindness near the end of Episode 9 brings down the barricades and allows viewers to believe anything can happen with Tom OfSiobhan. Will they bond together, once more unto the breach, or are they closed off to each other for good? Do You Have Any Jokes? You know Im not going to stop with the joke things? And if I see you breast-feeding Im going to have to jerk off. Roman, pre-collapse The Best Line That Could Still Air on ATN At least he wont grind his teeth tonight. Marcia, to all the women seated next to her who loved Logan Roy, in one of the most jaw-dropping scenes in series history. Succession Courtesy of Macall Polay / HBO Best of IndieWire Sign up for Indiewire's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Click here to read the full article. Image Credit: NJPW Taiji Ishimori has been sidelined by an injury. On May 22, New Japan Pro-Wrestling announced that Ishimori sustained an injury to his cervical vertebra, so he will miss the rest of the NJPW Best of the Super Juniors tournament, as he will not be cleared to compete. NJPW noted that Ishimori is able to recover at home, and while he is comfortable, there is no timetable for his return. Taiji Ishimori suffered an injury to his cervical vertebra last night in Korakuen Hall, and will miss the remainder of #BOSJ30. Details: https://t.co/sw2K0QVmzf#njpw pic.twitter.com/8URZ0vItmN NJPW Global (@njpwglobal) May 22, 2023 Due to the injury, TJP will win his scheduled match with Ishimori on May 23 by forfeit, so he will gain two points in the Best of the Super Juniors tournament. WrestleZone wishes Ishimori well in his recovery, and we will provide more information as it becomes available. The post Taiji Ishimori Suffers Cervical Vertebra Injury, To Miss Rest Of NJPW Best Of Super Juniors appeared first on Wrestlezone. US-JUSTICE-COURT-ABORTION-PROTEST - Credit: Suzanne Cordeiro/AFP/Getty Images After multiple miscarriages, Kiersten Hogan thought she would never be able to carry a pregnancy to term. Shed nearly given up hope when in June 2021 she learned she was pregnant. But at just 19 weeks days after Texas Senate Bill 8 went into effect Hogan woke up at 5 a.m. in excruciating pain. She called 911 and was instructed to unlock her front door and lay on the ground until EMTs arrived. It was the longest 5 minutes of my life, Hogan recalled on Monday. Her water had broken. By the time she arrived at the hospital, she had lost too much amniotic fluid for her son to survive but hospital staff didnt tell her that. They didnt tell me much about my sons chances of survival. But the one thing they did make clear repeatedly was that I should not leave, a tearful Hogan said Monday. I was told that if I tried to discharge myself, or seek care elsewhere, that I could be arrested for trying to kill my child. So of course, I stayed. More from Rolling Stone Hogan recounted a harrowing five days inside the hospital, where she says religious counselors repeatedly came to visit her, even though she had declined pastoral care. She recalled being terrified of even going to the bathroom afraid she would go into premature labor, and be arrested. On the fifth day in the hospital, while using the bathroom, my son started to enter the birth canal, Hogan said. I was rushed to labor and delivery where I gave birth to him stillborn. The next morning she was discharged, and told she could return to work the next day, as if nothing had happened, Hogan said. Hogan is one of eight new plaintiffs who joined a lawsuit against the state of Texas on Monday, seeking clarification about what qualifies as a medical emergency under Texas medieval abortion bans. Also on Monday, lawyers for the Center for Reproductive Rights, which filed the initial suit in March, asked a district court in Travis County for a temporary injunction blocking Texas abortion bans in cases of pregnancy complications as the case continues. Story continues The original suit was filed on behalf of five women who were denied abortion care and two obstetrician-gynecologists who work in the state. It challenges the states three, overlapping bans: a criminal ban that pre-dates Roe v. Wade, a trigger ban now in effect passed in anticipation of Roe being overturned, and S.B. 8, an de facto ban on abortion after about six weeks of pregnancy. All three bans ostensibly include exceptions for medical emergencies, but the laws vague language has contributed to widespread confusion over what qualifies and stiff penalties that have made medical providers fearful of offering treatment that could put them in legal jeopardy. Doctors who are found guilty of providing an abortion in violation of the bans can face up to 99 years in prison, a minimum of $100,000 in fines, and the loss of their medical license. Among the eight women who joined the lawsuit on Monday, some, like Hogan, were forced to give birth against their will to children who survived for vanishingly short periods of time. Kylie Beaton learned her child had alobar holoprosencephaly, a condition that causes the head to grow at an abnormal speed. By the time she received the diagnosis at 20 weeks, her babys head was the size of a 24-week-old. She was past the cut-off for an abortion in neighboring New Mexico. By the time she was 28 weeks pregnant, her babys head was the size of a 39-week old fetus. She asked to be induced, but providers refused, citing the states abortion ban. At 35 weeks, Beaton was finally granted a cesarean section. Her son survived for four days. Samantha Casiano learned her baby had anencephaly a condition in which a fetus develops missing pieces of her brain and skull at her 20-week scan. It is a fatal diagnosis. Casiano says she was told she would have to go through with the pregnancy, prescribed an antidepressant and sent home. She spent the remainder of her pregnancy accepting well-wishes from strangers, while planning a funeral for her daughter. Her daughter lived for four hours after birth. After Elizabeth Wellers water broke at 19 weeks, hospital staff suggested she pray, even as they informed her her baby had no chance of surviving without the amniotic fluid. Weller says she was first prescribed antibiotics to prevent infection, then told she could not obtain an abortion because as long as she was on antibiotics she would be too healthy to necessitate the procedure. Her infection ultimately worsened, spreading to the placenta and the amniotic fluid, and the hospital finally induced labor. Her daughter did not survive the birth. It breaks my heart that the state that I love is denying me and my neighbors lifesaving healthcare, prolonging our grief and mourning and for what? Families like mine deserve better, Weller said on Monday, Life is fragile enough. Everyones reason for seeking out an abortion is personal to them and valid. Best of Rolling Stone Click here to read the full article. The victim in a road rage incident turned the tables when he pulled his own gun and chased down the man accused of shooting at him on Interstate 24 in Middle Tennessee, according to the Rutherford County Sheriffs Office. It happened late Friday, May 19, and deputies arrested the suspect at a restaurant as he was being held at gunpoint by his victim, the sheriffs office said in a news release. Investigators later discovered the suspect, 32-year-old Depizio Seay, was a fugitive wanted in Illinois, officials said. Driving on (Interstate) 24, he fired at least two rounds out of his passenger window, the sheriffs office said. He hit the victims truck. The victim chased him down and called 911 and held him at gunpoint. The suspects car is parked at a Smyrna restaurant after a road rage situation Friday on Interstate 24. The two were found at a restaurant on Sam Ridley Parkway in Smyrna, which is about 25 miles southeast of Nashville. Investigators did not reveal how the victim got the suspect to pull over or the type of weapon used to hold him. The victim was identified as a 40-year-old man from White Bluff, which is about 50 miles northwest of Smyrna. The victim was not struck by the two rounds fired at his truck and no other drivers were injured, officials said. Seay, who lives in Nashville, was arrested and charged with aggravated assault, reckless endangerment and possession of marijuana, the sheriffs office says. A hearing on the charges is set Aug. 23 in General Sessions Court. Video shows chaos as overdosing driver rolls through rush-hour traffic, Florida cops say Car crash gets weird when driver strips off clothes, hides in swamp, Florida cops say Video shows woman stomping windshield in road rage incident at Florida traffic light KYODO NEWS - May 22, 2023 - 20:11 | All, Japan, World Japanese Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada and his Chinese counterpart Li Shangfu are expected to hold talks on the sidelines of a regional security meeting in Singapore in early June, a source close to bilateral relations said Monday. The plan comes as Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and other Group of Seven leaders affirmed the importance of dialogue with China in their summit in Hiroshima through Sunday. At the planned meeting, the first of its kind since June last year, Hamada is likely to express concerns about repeated intrusions by Chinese coast guard vessels into Japanese territorial waters, and joint naval exercises by Beijing and Moscow conducted around Japan, the source said. Chinese coast guard vessels have repeatedly been spotted around the Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea. The uninhabited islets are controlled by Tokyo but claimed by Beijing, which calls them Diaoyu. Hamada may also convey the importance of preserving peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait, the source said. The defense ministers are likely to meet on the occasion of the annual Asia Security Conference, known as Shangri-La Dialogue, scheduled for June 2-4 in the Southeast Asian island city-state. In the communique released after their three-day summit, the G-7 leaders said they "stand prepared to build constructive and stable relations with China." The leaders called on China to resolve conflicts related to Taiwan in a peaceful manner. Beijing regards the self-ruled democratic island as a renegade province to be unified with the mainland, by force if necessary. On Monday, Kishida stressed that Tokyo and Beijing must make efforts to build "constructive and stable" bilateral ties, adding he will consider holding talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping from such a point of view. Bilateral relations have deteriorated after a senior employee of Japanese pharmaceutical company Astellas Pharma Inc. was detained by China in March on suspicion of engaging in espionage. In Singapore, Hamada and Li are also expected to confirm the proper operation of a hotline between their defense authorities, and talk about how to respond to North Korea, which has been stepping up its nuclear and missile development programs, according to the source. Tokyo and Beijing are arranging a high-level economic dialogue involving their foreign and economic ministers in Japan this year, which marks the 45th anniversary of the signing of the China-Japan Treaty of Peace and Friendship, the source added. Taco Bell petition for cancellation. | Taco Bell Taco Johns, a Wyoming-based taco chain, started using the phrase Taco Tuesday as part of a promotion to sell two tacos for 99 cents, according to The Associated Press. It started with one of the chains Minnesota locations and by 1989, the Patent and Trademark office approved the trademark Taco Tuesday for Taco Johns. A trademark is a way of distinguishing brands from one another. This means if other entities use the phrase, its possible the entity could face legal action or receive cease and desist letters. On Tuesday, Taco Bell filed a petition of cancellation to the Patent and Trademark office, asking for the phrase Taco Tuesday to no longer be trademarked. In the petition, Taco Bell said, Taco Tuesday is a common phrase. Nobody should have exclusive rights in a common phrase. Can you imagine if we werent allowed to say whats up or brunch? Chaos. The chain said it brought forward the petition because Taco Bell believes that tacos, just like the joy they bring, belong to everyone on any day. Related The chain also said, To deprive anyone of saying Taco Tuesday be it Taco Bell or anyone who provides tacos to the world is like depriving the world of sunshine itself. Taco Bell isnt seeking any damages Taco Johns is responding to the petition by running a two-week long Taco Tuesday deal (two tacos for $2), according to NPR. Taco Johns CEO Jim Creel said, When it comes right down to it, were lovers, not fighters, at Taco Johns. But when a big, bad bully threatens to take away the mark our forefathers originated so many decades ago, well, that just rings hollow to us. If living mas means filling the pockets of Taco Bells army of lawyers, were not interested. According to CNN, the next steps are that Taco Johns has a 40-day period where it can file a response, and if a remedy isnt found, then the case will move to a discovery period where each company can make document requests and present evidence stating their case. Following that would be a trial and oral arguments presented in front of the boards judges. Story continues This process can take up to two years, per CNN. A key part of the case will likely deal with the part of U.S. trademark law which prevents the registration of common phrases or phrases that become commonplace after a registration is granted. This means if a phrase becomes too common, its possible a trademark could be canceled. In a press release, Creel said, Id like to thank our worthy competitors at Taco Bell for reminding everyone that Taco Tuesday is best celebrated at Taco Johns. Related Is the phrase Taco Tuesday trademarked? Yes, Taco Johns trademarked the phrase Taco Tuesday in 1989, and another restaurant also has the phrase registered as a trademark. A New Jersey restaurant has the phrase registered as a trademark, and Taco Bell filed a petition to cancel that trademark as well. CBS News reported Gregory Hotel, which owns Gregorys Restaurant and Bar, has held the registered trademark since 1979 in the state of New Jersey. There was another instance of someone attempting to trademark the phrase. In 2019, The New York Times said LeBron James tried to trademark the phrase Taco Tuesday, but his petition was denied because the phrase was too commonly used. Related Who invented Taco Tuesday? While Taco Johns trademarked the phrase Taco Tuesday in 1989, there were some earlier instances of taco deals on Tuesday. The concept and phrase had been used before then. Gustavo Arellano at Thrillist said, The earliest-documented advertisement for a Tuesday taco special I could find is in the classified section of the Oct. 16, 1933, edition of the El Paso Herald-Post. ... The White Star Cafeteria at the St. Regis launched a weeklong campaign to let everyone know it sold Mexican Tacos on Tuesday three for just 15 cents. The first Arellano found the phrase Taco Tuesday used was on Aug. 20, 1973, in the Rapid City Journal. Arellano said the Snow White Drive In had the phrase Stop in on Taco Tuesday. The first chain he found using Taco Tuesday in a campaign was Bakers Drive-Thru, which started around Nov. 2, 1976. Arellano said in Thrillist, Meanwhile, the earliest Taco Tuesday usage by Taco Johns appeared in the Dec. 2, 1979, edition of the Longsport Pharos-Tribune in Indiana. In the 1980s leading up to the chain trademarking the phrase, the special took off. Hailey Clauson was photographed by James Macari in the Dominican Republic. James Macari/Sports Illustrated Hailey Clauson made her SI Swimsuit debut in 2015 and landed the cover the following year, after being photographed in Turks and Caicos by James Macari. The 28-year-old model returns to the fold for the 2023 SI Swimsuit Issue. For this years magazine, Clauson reunited with Macari, this time in the Dominican Republic, for a Barbiecore-inspired photo shoot on the beach. It marks her seventh year with the publication. The night before the shoot, I try on a bunch of swimsuits. They usually narrow down the looks in half, so we only shoot our favorite swimsuits, Clauson explained to People in an exclusive behind-the-scenes look at her photo shoot. I love that they still do the fitting photos on a Polaroid camera. The fitting is always so much fun! Its just me and some the team from SI. Lots of laughing and fun! The modeling agency co-owner and creative director traveled to Cap Cana, an exclusive private community located in the Punta Cana area of the Dominican Republic, for this years feature. I cant get over how amazing this location in Tropicalia, Dominican Republic, was! she told People. We were lucky enough to have a private beach completely to ourselves. In honor of the 2023 SI Swimsuit Issue release, below youll find six of our favorite images that Macari captured of Clauson for this years magazine. James Macari/Sports Illustrated James Macari/Sports Illustrated James Macari/Sports Illustrated James Macari/Sports Illustrated James Macari/Sports Illustrated James Macari/Sports Illustrated Get ready for the hottest event of the year! The 2023 SI Swimsuit Issue is out now, and you wont want to miss the Swimsuit Issue Launch Party. Secure your tickets now and join us for an unforgettable weekend of glamour, beauty and fun. Make sure to follow SI Swimsuit on YouTube! Alain Coblence, an attorney who represented numerous high-profile designers, died May 13 at the age of 75. His death at his home in Manhattan followed an eight-year battle with an undisclosed disease, according to his son Nicholas. A musical concert will be held at a later date to celebrate his life. More from WWD Born in New York to French parents of Jewish descent who had sought refuge in New York in the latter part of World War II, Coblence was a toddler when the family returned to Paris to live. He studied at one point at Sciences Po before going on to earn his law degree at Nanterre. After passing the bar in Paris, he relocated with his first wife, Nora, to the U.S., where he enrolled at New York Universitys law school. Coblence joined Phillips Nizer as an associate, where he learned about the business side of intellectual property, building upon his European-learned knowledge of literary and artistic property rights. As a cultured Parisian transplant in New York City, he got to know several fashion industry executives, including Conde Nasts dominating creative force for decades Alexander Liberman and his wife Tatiana Yacovleff du Plessix. Liberman connected the 27-year-old lawyer with Yves Saint Laurents business partner Pierre Berge, who was in search of representation Stateside, and that business alliance was the start of a deep friendship. Diane von Furstenberg recalled Monday how she first met Coblence through Lieberman and knew him forever. Alain was a very reassuring figure between America and Paris. Of course, he was Yves Saint Laurents and Pierre Berges trusted man as their lawyer. Alain was this very Franco American man, who everybody trusted and was very involved in fashion. Madison Cox, Berges widower and president of the Fondation Pierre Berge-Yves Saint Laurent, recalled first meeting Coblence at his glamorous Central Park South apartment. Very handsome and charismatic, Coblence had this incredible passion for classic music, opera and theater that he shared with Berge, Cox said. At the same time, he had this incredible legal mind, which is quite rare, especially in the field of law. He was very a gentle soul and compassionate with creative people so they felt very at ease whether that be Andree Putman or Jessye Norman. Story continues Berge relied on Coblence for discussing such complex business matters as when the Saint Laurent company purchased Charles of the Ritz Cosmetics from Squibb in 1986. But at the same time, Alain was someone who could still dash off to the opera or theater, Cox said. In the late 70s and 80s, that whole fashion world was changing. There were hundreds of licenses, contracts to be reviewed and things happening in Asia and most importantly in Japan. Alain was a very important part of the evolution of that brand. Early on in his career, Coblence worked on the 1974 Supreme Court case of CBS vs. Teleprompter Corp., which gave way to the rise of cable television. In 1975, he was admitted to the New York Bar, and that same year he opened his own practice with offices in New York and Paris. In addition to Yves Saint Laurent, Coblence catered to French corporate clients such as Gaumant, Bocuse Verge and Lenotre who were seeking representation in the U.S. and Americans ones in need of representation in France. Although his career was primarily based in New York, he maintained an apartment in Paris for much of his life. A tireless worker who preferred to work independently than to hire more associates for support, Coblence worked with such designers as Azzedine Alaia, Kenzo, Cacharel, Olivier Theyskens, Joseph Altuzarra, Prabal Gurung, Christian Louboutin and Issey Miyake, to name a few. He often befriended his clients, once explaining to his son, People dont hire me to work with someone else. I have a relationship with them. I built those relationships. So much so, that the attorney would stay in touch with them, dine with them and advise them informally as time went on, his son said. The culturally sensitive lawyer politely obliged their culinary preferences, despite his own tastes. During sushi dinners, he would stealthily stash any raw fish in his pockets, Nicholas Coblence explained. In the 80s, Alain Coblence was involved with French acquisitions such as Diamandis for Hachette and Austin Nichols for Pernod. He was also the proponent and drafted the Design Piracy Prohibition Act representing the Council of Fashion Designers of America, Federation de la Haute Couture et de la Mode, and Camera Nazionale della Moda Italiana in their efforts to try to extend copyright laws in the U.S. to fashion design. The CFDAs chief executive officer Steven Kolb said Coblence led the groups efforts on fashion designers intellectual property protection with passion and determination. He had a sharp legal mind and a keen eye for creativity. We met top leaders like Hillary Clinton, Nancy Pelosi, John McCain and Maxine Waters in Washington for hours, and they received us well, Kolb said. While we didnt see legislation enacted, we successfully raised awareness about the importance of original design and creators rights. I cherish the time I spent with Alain, a veteran of the industry and a generous friend. In 1992 as an avid supporter of the arts and lifelong classical music fan, Coblence (who had once aspired to become a conductor) founded the European Mozart Foundation, a nonprofit music academy in Central Europe to bring back music to culturally devoid places. He served as president for several years. His philanthropy included being a longtime board member for the Shimon Peres Center for Peace and vice chairman of the French American Cultural Exchange. In 2001, Coblence started Andante Records with Berge to stream and sell classical music via Andante.com, which was bought out by Vivendi five years later. Coblence continued to practice law working with such artistic clients as William Forsythe and the Water Mill Centers founder Robert Wilson, whose Byrd Hoffman Foundations board he served on. Coblence was awarded the Chevalier de la Legion DHonneur by the French government in 2006. Coblence, whose two marriages ended in divorce, is survived by his son, and a daughter Carmel Nacht Coblence, as well as his two former wives, Nora Coblence and Nurit Pacht, an acclaimed violinist. Best of WWD Click here to read the full article. Shutterstock The Carnegie Library of Reims is an undeniable, art deco dream. But its also incredibly easy to miss. Located right across the square from the Cathedrale Notre-Dame de Reims, the building is literally dwarfed by its ostentatious neighbor, a UNESCO World Heritage site that traditionally served as the location for the coronation of French kings. During World War I, the church was also notable as a safe haven, with a red cross flag marking the structure off-limits as a military target. Perhaps its fitting, or at least low-key poetic, that post-World War I, the library next door was built to offer a different kind of refuge, making it an unexpected entry in The Daily Beasts The Worlds Most Beautiful Libraries. Reims is a city of about 180,000 people, with a bucolic reputation enhanced by the fact it also serves as the unofficial capital of the Champagne regionmeaning a good number of visitors are probably experiencing the regions charms while tipsy. But after World War I the city looked significantly different. Thanks to German occupation, Reims had experienced the horrors of war, including loss of life, disruption of business, and significant structural damage to over 60 percent of its buildings. Enter Andrew Carnegie. It might seem strange that a Scottish-American philanthropist concerned himself with post-war efforts, or that his donations would take the form of such a specific form of infrastructure. However, like nearly every building, the existing library had been seriously damaged. And Carnegie was partial to the kind of giving that would allow people to help themselves. Also, the dude just loved libraries, building over 1,689 of them across the United States, and speaking about them with the kind of elevated reverence one usually reserves for romantic partners. There is not such a cradle of democracy upon the earth as the free public library, he once noted. This republic of letters, where neither rank, office, nor wealth receives the slightest consideration." Story continues And so, along with two other frontline cities: Leuven, Belgium, and Belgrade, Serbia, Reims was given $200,000 to rebuild through the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. ECJY5A The Carnegie Library of Reims in Art Nouveau style, the three bay windows and the glass roof of the reading room were designed by the master glassmaker Jacques Gruber of Nancy. Hemis/Alamy Stock Photo That lump sum would be worth roughly $3.93 million today. But despite having a large portion of its collection destroyed in the bombing of city hall, the institution made the money go a long way. To create its new permanent home, it reached out to semi-local architect Max Sainsaulieu, a graduate of the Ecole Nationale Superieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris. Having completed the Basilica of St. Clotilde in Reims, he was well-acquainted with ornate, neo-gothic architecture. Initially, he searched for inspiration from libraries in Switzerland and Belgium. However, he ultimately settled on Art Deco as the style, which was perceived to be more modern. Opened to the public on June 10, 1928with the French president in attendancethe 44,000 square feet building was smaller than most of the regions grand libraries. (A hiccup of a building, compared to the National Library in Paris 624,307 square feet of floor space.) However, ornamentation was heavily prioritized, making it still one of the most beautiful places in the world to stop for a book. And thanks to a restoration in 2005 by architects Jacques Blehaut and Jean-Loup Roubert, the experience of walking into the library remains largely unchangedsave for some much-needed tweaks to allow for increased accessibility and air conditioning. With its exterior columns and lacey ironwork by Schwartz-Haumont (the company that took a gold medal at the 1925 Arts Deco Exhibition in Paris), the Carnegie Library has all the hallmarks of a modern temple. (It also features a Bibliotheque sign stylized enough to make Wes Anderson weepproving just how well the aesthetic has aged.) Entering requires walking up a short flight of stairs in order to ascend to knowledge, and walking under an engraved motto from sculptor Edouard Sedley that reads Educunt folia fructum, or flowers lead to fruit. (One imagines Andrew Carnegies joy at all this high-brow, library-based symbolism.) 1419851081 Public Carnegie Library garden and front tower of Reims cathedral on square Place Carnegie, summer, Reims. Sergii Zinko/Shutterstock Likewise, the lobby hits with a larger-than-life gravitas that feels equally split between art-gallery chic and detective-agency foreboding. Behind the public area is a semi-circular storage unit containing 400,000 books stretched across five levels. But here in the public area, theres room for additional flourishes, including an opulent, stained glass skylight by Jacques Simon, and green marble and onyx fountain whichsymbolism alertrepresents nothing less than the source of all science and knowledge. The library prioritizes function without sacrificing form. After all, whats the use of having 100,000 books printed between the 16th and 18th centuries (including 8,000 that are considered particularly rare), if you cant actually get to them? Dark wood shelving, a card catalog that runs nine rows high, and chevron-patterned floors line the reading rooms and salle de lectureall design elements that weve come to consider hallmarks of places of higher learning. But even the more modest reading rooms are flanked by rounded, stained glass windows, bathing would-be knowledge seekers in natural light. (Feel free to draw your own symbolism here.) In 1983, the Carnegie Library of Reims was declared a historical monument. It continued to serve as Reims main library until 2003. Now its just one of seven lending instructions scattered throughout the city. (Although arguably its still the most aesthetically pleasing.) Some of Carnegies statements continue to sound overly poetic. (A library outranks any other one thing a community can do to benefit its people, he notes. It is a never-failing spring in the desert.) However, Reims rebuilding success story has proven his idealism correct. No matter who you are, egalitarianism and knowledge is a beautiful combination. Read more at The Daily Beast. Get the Daily Beast's biggest scoops and scandals delivered right to your inbox. Sign up now. Stay informed and gain unlimited access to the Daily Beast's unmatched reporting. Subscribe now. A 46-year-old Cahokia Heights man who police allege tried to kill another man nearly two years ago was recently captured in Atlanta, according to authorities. Walter Brown was arraigned Friday in a St. Clair County courtroom where entered a plea of not guilty. He was charged with attempted first-degree murder and five counts of aggravated assault, according to charging documents from the St. Clair County States Attorneys office. Brown is in the county jail. Bond was at $300,000. Maj. Tony Tomlinson of the Cahokia Heights Police Department said officers were sent to Pops Liquor Store on Bond Avenue at 10:17 p.m. on June 2, 2021, after receiving a report of a shooting that left a victim with bullet wounds. Illinois State Police also were called to the shooting scene. While officers were enroute, we received a call notifying us that the victim had been transported to Touchette Regional Hospital, said Tomlinson, who is also the public information officer for the police department. Tomlinson said police got word that Brown was trying to raise money to get out of town because he was aware police were looking for him. He was arrested recently in Atlanta on another unrelated charge. Thats how we found out where he was, Tomlinson said. An Albuquerque man suspected of smuggling a 6-year-old girl was arrested after robbing an auto parts store, fleeing from police and rolling over his vehicle, officials said. Brayan Ramirez, 20, and Obedt Mendoza, 21, went about 3:25 p.m. April 18 to the OReilly Auto Parts store at 420 E. Redd Road, El Paso Police Department officials said. Brayan Ramirez Mendoza allegedly went into the store and ran out with store property, police said. An employee outside the store was threatened with a gun as the two men fled the scene in a Ford Mustang, officials said. Another police unit spotted the Mustang near the Kohl's parking lot at 5600 N. Desert Blvd. Officers attempted to pull the vehicle over, but Ramirez allegedly fled the scene and led police on a short chase. The chase ended when Ramirez rolled the car on Interstate 10 West in the Upper Valley. Officers approached the car to provide aid and found two women and a 6-year-old girl in the vehicle, officials said. More: El Pasoans continue to buy marijuana in New Mexico, police warn of crossing state lines The girl and the women suffered minor injuries and were taken to the hospital for treatment. They were later turned over to U.S. Border Patrol officials. An investigation revealed the Mustang was stolen from New Mexico, officials said. Ramirez, of Albuquerque, was arrested on suspicion of abandoning or endangering a child with imminent danger causing bodily injury, evading arrest or detention with a vehicle, smuggling of persons, aggravated robbery and unauthorized use of a motor vehicle. Obedt Mendoza He was booked into the El Paso County Jail on April 19 on a bond totaling $110,000, according to jail records. He had yet to post bail as of Friday, jail logs show. Mendoza, of Santa Fe, New Mexico, was arrested on suspicion of aggravated robbery. He was booked into the El Paso County Jail on April 19 on a $40,000 bond. He had yet to post bail as of Friday, jail logs show. Aaron Martinez may be reached at amartinez1@elpasotimes.com or on Twitter @AMartinezEPT. This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: El Paso police arrest New Mexico men in human smuggling, robbery case Wear short-shorts without suffering. Getty Images For anyone with thighs that touch (meaning most people on the planet), thigh chafing is often the bane of summer: You might want to wear a summer dress or shorts, but the pain of thigh chafing doesn't seem worth it. And, once you factor in sweaty thighs and summertime heat, it becomes a hard no. But we have better things to do this summer than to be in pain because of thigh chafing and so do you. Read ahead to learn from dermatologists about how to prevent thigh chafing, and the recommended methods and products they recommend to keep you comfortable all summer long. Related:The Best Anti-Chafing Products For Thighs That Rub What Is Thigh Chafing? Thigh chafing refers to the irritation that results from skin on the inner thighs rubbing against each other, says Deanne Robinson, MD, a dermatologist in Westport, CT. The irritation often presents as red, blister-like lesions that might burn, sting or in general feel uncomfortable. Its quite common and can happen year-round, but its usually especially frequent during summer, when the increased heat and moisture from your sweat can exacerbate the irritation. Thats not to say that having thigh chafing implies that youre overweight since thigh chafing is just a by-product of the inner thighs experiencing friction. Your thighs could be chafed from wearing tight-fitting clothes that rub against your skin. Bottom line: Thigh chafing isnt really indicative of how healthy or fit you are. The Side Effects of Thigh Chafing In theory, thigh chafing isnt harmful, though it may feel uncomfortable. However, while thigh chafing is not particularly harmful or concerning, it can worsen with continued friction, says New York City dermatologist Marisa Garshick, MD. Skin irritation can lead to discomfort, redness, pain, itching, infection, and scarring with discoloration. That being said, it can make day-to-day activities, like walking and jogging, very difficult due to the prolonged pain and discomfort, and can also cause the inner thighs to become especially sensitive to even the slightest pressure. If over-the-counter methods dont provide any relief and chafing is left unchecked for a long period of time, the excessive friction on the thighs could cause the skin to be rubbed raw and could potentially cause the skin to open and potentially bleed. In that case, our experts recommend seeing a board-certified dermatologist for help. Story continues How to Treat Thigh Chafing All of our experts recommend letting your skin rest by avoiding activities that could cause chafing. When bathing, make sure to use lukewarm water on your legs, avoid inflammation from hot water, and use a really gentle soap that is, nothing heavily perfumed or stripping. Afterwards, pat the skin dry with a clean towel, and apply your barrier-repair cream of choice before topping it off with a richer occlusive, such as Vaseline and Aquaphor, to seal the ingredients in. Joshua Zeichner, MD, dermatologist and professor at Mount Sinai in New York City, is also a fan of Lano Original 101 Ointment Multipurpose Superbalm. Related:I Tried Anti-Chafe Thigh Bands, and Here's What I Thought For regular maintenance, consider body creams and lotions with ceramides and hyaluronic acid, such as Avenes Cicalfate+ Restorative Cream. If your thighs are really inflamed, Rachel Nazarian, MD, a dermatologist at Schweiger Dermatology, also recommends applying an over-the-counter 1% hydrocortisone cream to calm the skin down. How to Prevent Thigh Chafing Ultimately, the best way to prevent chafing its to make sure that your skin barrier is kept in top shape, says Dr. Zeichner. Make sure to moisturize the skin regularly, and apply an occlusive product over high risk areas. Ceramides also help repair the skin barrier. He also recommends wearing loose fitted clothes that wont rub your skin when youre out and about to prevent chafing caused by fabric. Breathable fabrics are preferred, while moisture-wicking fabrics are also a great option for sweatier situations. There are plenty of products that promise to stop thigh chafing, but finding a method that works for you might take a little trial and error. Both Dr. Garshick and Dr. Robinson recommend Arm and Hammer Invisible Spray Powder to absorb moisture and help keep skin dry. Another great option: Megababe Thigh Rescue Stick, which gives thighs a little slip to prevent excessive friction. A wearable option (and my personal favorite) are the Thigh Society Anti-Chafing Slip Shorts. An incredibly lightweight and breathable base layer, these shorts physically prevent the skin of your thighs from ever actually making contact. Ultimately, while finding the right thigh-chafing prevention is a matter of personal preference, its worth going the extra mile to stop it before it starts. Related:How to Get Rid of Butt Acne for Good For more InStyle news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter! Read the original article on InStyle. It's also her first fashion show, nbd. Sitting front row at the Dior Cruise 2024 fashion show would be a monumental occasion for any fashion fan. But for Monica Barbaro, the breakout star of last year's Top Gun: Maverick, attending the show was particularly sentimental. Not only was it her first-ever fashion show, but it was also held in Mexico City, a city that holds a special place in her heart. Ahead, Barbaro shares more about the meaning behind the event, plus all about her getting-ready experience. InStyle: How does it feel to be attending Dior Cruise show in Mexico City? Monica Barbaro: First. Fashion. Show! Im beyond excited. My grandmother was from this city and she loved fashion. I like to think she would have enjoyed seeing the way Maria Grazia Chiuri brought Dior [here] with intrigue and elegance. What was the inspiration for your look at the show? Ive always thought a fashion show would be a perfect time to push the envelope so I was excited by the idea of wearing something that didnt look like anything Id ever worn. I wanted something cool but also comfortable that would evoke a creative spirit and this beautiful, funky coat felt just right. What products are you bringing in your bag? Dior Addict Lipstick in shade Burgundy Oblique, Dior Forever Cushion Powder also my little 35mm camera with plenty of film. What would we be surprised to know about your getting-ready process? I tend to over-caffeinate out of sheer excitement. Getting Glam This was my second time getting to work with Ana G de V [for makeup] and Erick Moreno [for hair]. Its always nice to get to collaborate with the same talented artists youve already worked with in a city away from home. Making Headlines Paseo de la Reforma was abuzz with all the people in town for the show. Related:Dior Celebrated Indian Artisans and Craftsmanship With a Fashion Show in Mumbai Palette Cleanser When you have a bold fashion look, its a challenge to decide how to curate the makeup look to complement the piece, and there were so many colorful options to choose from from Dior Beauty. Story continues Simple Yet Effective In the end, Ana kept the color palette simple but played with the subtle detail of a perfectly pointed lower lash line. Final Coat Edi Aguirre And now for dressing! All About the Dress Edi Aguirre This look had many layers. A bra top and shorts went under this soft, sheer dress. Charmed, I'm Sure Edi Aguirre The team at Dior picked out the perfect jewelry pairings. Luckily, Queenie did my nails in Los Angeles for a photoshoot the day before! Last Touches Edi Aguirre When theres time pressure, its all hands on deck. Heres Erick taking a moment away from my hair to help me finish getting dressed. Secure the Bag Edi Aguirre This bag, again courtesy of the teams pairing prowess, was just right. Out the Door Edi Aguirre And were off! Experience of a Lifetime Edi Aguirre P.S. I made a new friend this weekend. Maripol shot the iconic portrait of Maria Grazia that you see everywhere, and I had the honor of being photographed by her earlier in the day. Shes a beautiful person and artist and shell be the one I look for at future events with Dior! And to the right of me is my friend and agent, Taylor Rahmani, also a new fan of Maripol's. For more InStyle news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter! Read the original article on InStyle. Corrections & clarifications: An earlier version of this story did not make clear which versions of the AP African American Studies course framework excluded the word "queer." It has been updated to clarify that versions in May 2022 and February 2023 did not include the word. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, angling to overtake former President Donald Trump as defacto leader of the GOP, has made a name for himself as a culture warrior by spearheading highly provocative legislation and dubbing his state the place woke goes to die. In the runup to a likely run for president, he picked a fight with one of the nation's most powerful educational institutions, The College Board, over course material in an AP African American Studies class. The dispute became a national lightning rod for discussions on race, censorship and what is or is not essential American history. More on DeSantis: Trump's blistering attacks on Gov. Ron DeSantis continue. Will he ever hit back? The controversy continues: College Board announces more changes for AP African American Studies course amid outcry What are AP classes? AP courses short for Advanced Placement are college-level classes offered to high schoolers. They are developed by the College Board, a nonprofit education organization that has been around for more than a century. High school students can earn college credits by taking AP classes. For many students, taking AP courses and passing the corresponding exams can offer a leg up in the college-admissions process. DeSantis, Florida ban AP African American Studies Florida Department of Education officials in a Jan. 12 letter rejected aspects of the AP African American Studies curriculum, saying it violated state law and was "significantly" lacking in educational value. Though the letter did not say which state law the course violated, in 2022, DeSantis signed the Stop WOKE Act, a statute that restricts how schools and workplaces can facilitate conversations around sexuality, race, national origin and gender. We believe in education, not indoctrination, DeSantis said at the bills signing. A portion of the legislation that took aim at higher education was struck down by a federal judge who called it positively dystopian. Story continues After the letter was made public, Florida Education Commissioner Manny Diaz Jr. tweeted an infographic enumerating the ways in which the AP African Studies course violated state law. In his first public comments on the AP African American Studies course, DeSantis lambasted the curriculum for including information about "queer theory," "intersectionality" and "abolishing prisons." The course, he intimated, would push a certain agenda on students. Celebrate Black History: 'Foundation of the bridge': Recalling 'Courageous Eight' who risked all to spearhead Selma marches How did the College Board respond? AP African American Studies is still in its pilot phase, offered in only 60 schools nationwide as the College Board weighs feedback from teachers, students, scholars and policymakers. No schools in Florida were offering the pilot course.Additional schools will offer the class during the 2023-24 school year, and the course will be officially launched the following year. The College Board responded to DeSantis' criticism by noting that the course was not yet finished. "We will publicly release the updated course framework when it is completed and well before this class is widely available in American high schools," the organization said in a Jan. 20 statement. However, Florida's feud with the College Board only escalated when that curriculum was released in February, and it appeared to omit some of the writers and concepts DeSantis government had specifically taken issue with. Many critical of DeSantis approach were outraged by the changes, accusing the College Board of giving into Republican interests. In response to a New York Times article claiming that it had capitulated to Florida's demands, the College Board fired back, saying it had timestamped evidence that the changes were made before the state voiced any objection. Some groups called for College Board CEO David Coleman to resign. Coleman told USA TODAY, along with other news outlets, that tweaks to the curriculum were independent of Floridas complaints. Communications made public, however, reveal the College Board was in correspondence with Florida lawmakers frequently in the months leading up to the release. "By no coincidence, we were grateful to see that the College Boards revised February 1, 2023, framework removed 19 topics, many of which FDOE cited as conflicting with Florida law, including discriminatory and historically fictional topics," the Florida Department of Education wrote in a Feb. 7 letter to the College Board. The College Board lambasted those characterizations, saying its topics are historically accurate and denying it bowed to any political pressure. Many of the concepts remained optional to the curriculum, the statement said, and were not trimmed at the behest of Florida officials. Still, some activists and leaders in the Black community voiced skepticism. In late April, seemingly in response to the harsh criticism, the College Board announced it would revisit the curriculum. "We are committed to providing an unflinching encounter with the facts and evidence of African American history and culture," the organization said in a statement. Poll: Most Black voters disapprove of DeSantis blocking Black history course, approve of Biden How did the AP African American studies curriculum change? Some concepts were stripped outright, while others are now what the College Board calls supplemental materials. A who's who of prominent Black authors disappeared from the curriculum, including those whose work deals with Critical Race Theory a favorite target of DeSantis and a growing contingent of conservatives. Among the concepts removedfrom the framework was intersectionality: the idea that peoples identities can overlap and compound their oppression. For example, a person's identity as a woman, and as a Black person, might present unique challenges in the American system, informed by the intersection of both experiences. Works dealing explicitly with this topic from advocate and scholar Kimberle Crenshaw, who coined the term, as well as Bell Hooks and Angela Davis were notably removed from the curriculum. Ta-Nehisi Coates, a celebrated author whose writing was scrubbed from course material, said in an appearance on "CBS Mornings" that DeSantis' efforts, including the Stop WOKE Act, were "deeply antithetical to the project of education." The risk, he said, was producing a generation of students deeply misinformed about the country they live in. As for the "queer theory" DeSantis referenced, the word "queer" can be found in neither a May 2022 draft of the curriculum nor the framework released in February 2023. The class did, however, offer instruction on The Movement for Black Lives, which advocates for an end to mass incarceration and the war on Black trans, queer, gender non-conforming, and intersex people. That section is now part of the "Sample Project Topics" section, which is optional. Also on that list is the argument for reparations, an idea Coates' writing touches upon, and Black Lives Matter, a movement against police brutality. AP African American Studies course: A breakdown of what was removed or changed The backlash has been powerful Backlash over DeSantis' ban of the AP curriculum and the revisions released by the College Board was swift. "Black history is not inferior, and Black history does not lack educational value," the Rev. Dr. R.B. Holmes Jr., a pastor of Bethel Missionary Baptist Church in Tallahassee, said. Holmes, who gave the closing prayer at DeSantis' first inauguration in 2019, was speaking at a gathering of religious leaders, professors, and local officialsearlier this year. Notable civil rights lawyer Ben Crump and activist the Rev. Al Sharpton have also participated in protests, rallying crowds against what they say is an attack on Black history and Black Floridians. A patents' bill of rights? Parents want more say in how schools run. Do emerging bills ignore the real crisis? DeSantis, College Board feud grows In February, DeSantis took his gripe with the College Board beyond the AP African Studies curriculum, suggesting thestate could find analternative to the Board for all the services it provides. In addition to designing AP courses, the College Board administers the SAT and PSAT, essential tests for admissions and financial aid at many schools. Nobody elected (the College Board) to anything, DeSantis said during a press conference. Theyre just providing services, and so you can either utilize those services or not." In Florida, over half of graduating seniors have taken at least one AP class one of the countrys highest participation rates. There is no widely recognized alternative, though students can earn early college credits by taking community college courses or through the International Baccalaureate (IB) program. The latter is not widely available, however. DeSantis has made his mark on education in a number of other ways already this year. Florida now has a universal school voucher program, the "Don't Say Gay" law is being expanded, and teachers unions face strict new rules. Contributing: Ana Goni-Lessan of the Tallahassee Democrat, a member of the USA TODAY Network. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Ron DeSantis' rejection of AP African American Studies course unpacked Anadolu Agency - Getty Images The number one question when anyone in Hollywood says that they're finished is: "Are you sure?" Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson just recently returned to the Fast & Furious franchise, Clint Eastwood has starred in four films since Gran Torino, and Michael Keaton put the skin-tight Batsuit back on for The Flash. You can threaten to retire, sure, but you just can't stay away. So, when Harrison Ford announced that Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny would be his last appearance as 'ol Indy, Hollywood had to ask: "You sure about that?" "Is it not evident?" the 80-year-old actor replied during a press conference at Cannes Film Festival, according to People. "I need to sit down and rest a little bit. I love to work, and I love this character, and I love what it brought into my life, and that's all I can say." He added that he's hopeful the new film will "round up the story." Ford debuted the latest Indiana Jones film at the prestigious annual film festival in France to a rousing, five-minute standing ovation. He was also presented with an honorary Palme d'Or award. "Everything has come together to support me in my old age, and I love the work," he said. "So I just want to work and I want to tell stories, good stories, and I have been so lucky in my life to have that opportunity." But Ford is also hoping that when he retires the famous film character, the character will be retired along with him. Whatever Disney plans to do with the Indiana Jones series next will be without Ford's involvement, according to the actor, but recasting Indy for a reboot may be off the table. "Nobody is going to be Indiana Jones," Ford told The Today Show back in 2019. "I'm Indiana Jones. When I'm gone, he's gone. It's easy." He also joked that it was "a hell of a way to tell Chris Pine," adding that he was, "sorry, man." But not just Chris Pine! Ford doesn't want anyone to take up the Indy mantlenot a single one of the Hollywood Chrises. Still, this likely won't be the last time he's asked about returning. For now, let's just celebrate the man. You Might Also Like KYODO NEWS - May 22, 2023 - 13:14 | All, Japan The suspect in an attack on Prime Minister Fumio Kishida last month will undergo a psychiatric examination for about three months, sources close to the matter said Monday. A summary court in Wakayama, western Japan, has granted a request from prosecutors to keep Ryuji Kimura detained for the examination, expected to begin soon, to fully assess his mental state at the time of the attack. The 24-year-old from Hyogo Prefecture has been served a fresh arrest warrant by police on suspicion of violating the firearms control law by manufacturing explosives. Investigators said Kimura has remained silent since his arrest. Court documents show he may have harbored a grudge after he was unable to file his candidacy for a House of Councillors election held last year. The suspect was arrested at the scene on April 15 on suspicion of obstructing business after throwing an explosive device at Kishida, who was about to make a stump speech at a local fishing port in the city of Wakayama. While the prime minister was unhurt, two people, including a police officer, sustained minor injuries. The incident comes less than a year after former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was fatally shot when giving a stump speech in Nara Prefecture. Related coverage: Japan PM attack suspect served fresh arrest warrant over explosives Ex-PM Abe shooter faces additional charges as police cap off investigation Holland Taylor is giving her stamp of approval to Ireland Baldwin's firstborn's monicker. The 27-year-old model announced that she gave birth to a beautiful baby girl on Friday, May 18 in a sweet Instagram post that featured a photo of her and her boyfriend, RAC (whose real name is Andre Allen Anjos) as she held the new bundle of joy in her arms while laying in the hospital bed. Following the sweet announcement, the 80-year-old Legally Blonde actress shared some kind words for the new parents who got the inspiration to name their daughter Holland, partly after the actress herself. "It is with a special and affectionate delight that I congratulate you, Ireland, and sing out welcome to your darling Holland -!," the actress wrote in the comments of Baldwin's post. "*faints* thank you," Baldwin responded. View the original article to see embedded media. Aside from Taylor, many celebrity friends and family took to the comments to congratulate the new parents on their bundle of joy, including cousin Hailey Bieber, who wrote, " holland!!!!!!!" "But you look so pretty," cousin Alaia Baldwin wrote, along with stepmother Hilaria Baldwin, who shared two red heart emojis in the comments. "congrats mom & dad!!!," Ashley Graham wrote. Meanwhile, Meghan Trainor also chimed in, exclaiming, "OMG YAYYYYYY CONGRATSSSSS MAMA." Back in January, Baldwin made an appearance on the Girlboss Radio podcast where she revealed the inspiration behind her new baby girl's name. "We're naming her Holland. I'm Ireland, so another country name because we wanted to keep that consistent," she said with a chuckle. "And then I love the actress Holland Taylor. I've always loved that name since I was young, I just thought that was such a classy, beautiful name, so we're going with Holland," Baldwin added. It's nice to see Taylor approves of the little one's name! MILAN More help is coming to fuel the recovery of the Emilia Romagna region. The LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton group said Monday that it is making a donation to Italys region, which has been hit by widespread flooding that caused at least 14 deaths and left thousands of people homeless. More from WWD As I have said many times before, Italy is our second country after France, Antonio Belloni, group managing director, member of the LVMH executive committee and the board of directors, told WWD. We are proud of the thousands of people who work with us in Italy and grateful to the country, where there is such a strong culture of quality and luxury and we want to give a concrete sign of solidarity. LVMH has over the years grown to include Italian brands Bulgari, Fendi, Loro Piana, Berluti, Pucci, Acqua di Parma, Thelios and Cova. The group counts 13,000 employees in Italy and invests more than 100 million euros on a yearly basis. It has 35 production sites in the country and in particular three in the region hit by the floods for Berluti in Ferrara, for Christian Dior Couture in Lugagnano Val DArda, near Piacenza, and for Pucci near Bologna. There are also 13 stores under the LVMH umbrella in the Emilia Romagna region. The sites and stores were not damaged, except for one Sephora unit in Riccione, on the Adriatic coast, noted Belloni. We feel very close to the population, continued Belloni. I want them to know that they can count on us. They are so proactive and are working hard to overcome this moment. The group did not officially reveal the sum that was donated but media reports state that Stefano Bonaccini, president of the region, has declared the amount totals 1 million euros. Belloni said LVMH plans to help employees of the group that live in the region with the internal Heart Fund. Story continues Meanwhile, Alberta Ferretti on Monday confirmed her intention to stage her resort 2024 show in Rimini on Friday in a sign of continuity. As reported, Kering said over the weekend that it is making an undisclosed donation to the region. Automotive giant Ferrari, headquartered in Maranello, also in the region, donated 1 million euros to the regional civil protection agency. Kering said it is making the donation on behalf of its maisons, which include Gucci, Saint Laurent, Pomellato and Brioni, among others. The group counts more than 13,000 employees in Italy. Taking place 11 years after the Emilia Romagna region was struck by back-to-back earthquakes in 2012, last weeks exceptional rainfall is believed to have equaled half the annual average. As a result of the floods, hundreds of roads and bridges became unusable, with some towns cut off completely, and at least 36,000 people have been left homeless. Emergency workers, including local volunteers, are clearing streets of mud and although rainfall over the weekend did not top levels of the past few days, the region remains in emergency mode. The Italian government has earmarked 30 million euros in response to the disaster. Emilia Romagna plays a central role in Italys fashion and beauty supply chain and includes company such as the Max Mara Fashion Group , Sergio Rossi, Giuseppe Zanotti and Casadei to name a few. Best of WWD Click here to read the full article. Grace Coffee Co., which has several Madison-area locations, is planning to open its first Milwaukee cafe in the Third Ward early this summer inside the mixed-use development at 102 N. Water Street. Grace Coffee Co., which has several Madison-area locations, is planning to open its first Milwaukee cafe in the Third Ward early this summer. Co-owner Carlos Falcon described Grace as "not your typical coffee shop," but rather a mix between a coffee shop, bakery and restaurant that serves breakfast, brunch and lunch. Falcon got into the coffee industry as a teen in a place where joe is very well-known, the Seattle area. In 2019, after moving to Wisconsin, he started co-opening Dane County coffee shops left and right. Here's a look at Grace's new Brew City cafe, including its menu and space, as well as the business' history and future plans. Grace Coffee Co.'s drinks and food Grace's Milwaukee location will offer just about every specialty coffee drink, Falcon said, such as lattes, cappuccinos and mochas, as well as cold options, including iced lattes and iced mochas. There will also be seasonal offerings. Grace has its own roasting facility in Middleton and is considering opening another in the Milwaukee area within the next couple of years, Falcon said. The new shop will also carry loose-leaf tea from Art of Tea. Grace will serve up made-to-order breakfast and lunch sandwiches, croissants and wraps that come with a side of either greens, potatoes or deep-fried cheesy hashbrown bites. There will also be breakfast bowls, steak and eggs, breakfast tacos and tostadas, quinoa bowls, salads, and a variety of avocado toast options including with eggs or featuring street corn. For patrons looking for something on the sweeter side, there will be French toast, crepes, parfaits, overnight oats, and acai bowls that feature berries and granola made in-house, and can be topped with honey, condensed milk, Nutella or peanut butter. Pastry offerings will include a variety of croissants, scones, cakes, Danishes, muffins, cookies, cereal bars and breads. "We proof and bake in every single location daily," Falcon said. "That way, we're guaranteeing fresh product every, single day." Story continues One of the pastry offerings at Grace Coffee Company, which is planning to open its first Milwaukee cafe in the Third Ward early this summer. 'Trendy' space with indoor pergola, faux lemon tree and photo op The cafe located in the mixed-use development at 102 N. Water Street will have a "very trendy," yet "inviting" aesthetic, according to Falcon. There will be an indoor pergola with flowers falling from it, an 11-foot-tall faux lemon tree with small French tables around it, and a photo op featuring light-up wings, he said. The interior will feature green and navy blue velvets, and a black granite counter. Grace plans to have a variety of seating options, including couches, booths, tables with chairs and bar seating, as well as outdoor. Falcon said he wants the space to be accommodating to customers, whether they're doing work, hanging out or dining in. A drink from Grace Coffee Company, which is planning to open its first Milwaukee cafe in the Third Ward early this summer. Grace Coffee Company's history When Falcon was at 17, his sister got him a job at a coffee shop connected to a restaurant she was working at. "I just loved it from that point on," Falcon said. He said he worked for several coffee shops in Washington state before deciding to move to a market where he could more easily open his own. He also wanted it to be somewhere with more snow (Yes, really). "I was just trying to be able to accomplish some goals in my life, and sometimes in Washington, it gets really hard to do that for how competitive the industry is," he said. In 2019, Falcon co-opened the first Grace, on State Street in Madison. Since then, six more locations have followed, in Middleton, Sun Prairie, Verona, Cottage Grove and two others in Madison. The original cafe closed its doors in 2022. As the business rapidly expanded, it racked up health code violations at multiple locations, according to several media outlets. Falcon told the Journal Sentinel that Grace has since hired someone who goes through each of the shops to make sure they're up to par. The Grace crew is currently in the process of opening two more Dane County locations, Falcon said. "Milwaukee is our next step, the next big city we're trying to bring our brand into," Falcon said. Within the next three years, Falcon's goal is to bring several Grace cafes, most with drive-thus, to Milwaukee's suburbs. Falcon said the biggest reason he's remained in this industry is the people. "When you have done it for so long, you just love talking to people, meeting new people," he said. "Being a barista, it's kind of like a daytime bartender, in my opinion. You start building a relationship with your customers. They come in and start telling you (about) their day, what they have to do, or if they're good or bad ... It's sharing the love of coffee with other people." More: Discourse owner's book 'New Art of Coffee' is for baristas, coffee lovers who want to up their drink-making game Grace's tentative Milwaukee opening date, hours Falcon is aiming to debut Grace's new Milwaukee cafe in the next month and a half or so. When it opens, Falcon anticipates that its hours will be around 7 a.m. to 4 or 5 p.m. daily. Sign up for our Dish newsletter to get food and dining news delivered to your inbox. This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Madison's Grace Coffee Co. plans Milwaukee Third Ward location For time immemorial, trails have been an integral part of Indigenous life and wellbeing, serving as routes for migration, trade, everyday travel, connection, and communication with neighboring communitiesand today, many of these ancient footpaths are part of the National Trails System, whose tracks stretch more than 89,000 miles across ancestral lands in the US. Yet many trail names honor European settlers and explorers who traveled through those areas, and historical events following their arrival; and most cartography, including trail maps used by hikers, excludes Indigenous ancestral territories. A diverse group of people and organizations are working to change that. Native Lands, National Trails (NLNT), an Indigenous mapping and research project launched this month by the Partnership for the National Trails System (PNTS), aims to provide a more inclusive perspective on how the trails we hike intersect with Indigenous heritage. NLNT, initiated by Carin L. Farley, the National Scenic and Historic Trails Lead at the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), is a collaboration between the BLM, who provides funding; the PNTS, the nonprofit overseeing the project; Native Land Digital, an Indigenous-led nonprofit that specializes in mapping Indigenous territories; and Ancestral Lands Conservation Corps (ALCC), a Conservation Legacy program that partners with tribal communities and engages Indigenous youth to cultivate a new generation of land stewards. Farley brought on Kiana Etsate-Gashytewa, a graduate of Northern Arizona Universitys Applied Indigenous Studies and Political Science programs and an ALCC member of Zuni and Hopi heritage, to lead the mapping project, and Autry Lomahongva (Hopi/Dine) to design its logo. Bureau of Land Management It was very clear that the national trails and federal agencies needed more knowledge of Indigenous communities, landscapes, and resources, says Etsate-Gashytewa. You would think that they wouldve had it already, as they have federal guidelines for tribal consultation with Indigenous nations. The new Secretary of the Interior, Deb Haaland, an Indigenous woman from Laguna, has implemented policy for the federal agencies within DOI to move forward on collaboration and engagement with Indigenous communities, especially within the BLM. With that, Carin [Farley] said, The one basic thing that we could use is a map to understand the ancestral territories that people live on, recreate on, and visit every time that they go out or connect with nature. The just-launched suite of resources, including an interactive map, will be accessible to the public, partner trail organizations, and federal agencies, with the goal of promoting meaningful dialogue and collaboration among those communities. Explore the map A few trails are already demonstrating what this may look like: In 2020, the Arizona Trail Association consulted 13 tribes on new signage projects along the Arizona National Scenic Trail to include their perspective, stories, and language for culturally significant placesan example in the resource guide that other trails are encouraged to follow. My hope is that any agency or nonprofit organization, on the trails or in general, is able to have solid connections with their Indigenous communities, where they can just pick up the phone and say, Hey, we need your thoughts and ideas on this, and where consultation is not big and scary, says Etsate-Gashytewa. It's just the communicating of people on how to better take care of the land or any other projects or efforts that they have in mind. Autry Lomahongva (Hopi/Dine) Its long overdue. For centuries, maps have been used as a tool for colonization and erasure, to the detriment of native communities whose knowledge is essential for effective land stewardship and conservation. Putting cartography in their hands provides an opportunity for self representation and the dismantling of colonial worldviews and narratives. Were being put on the map, says Etsate-Gashytewa, whos eager to share Indigenous traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) with scientists and trail organizations. And it means so much more than just our name on a piece of paper. It means us being involved in different conversations we haven't been a part of in a very long time. Rudo Kemper, a cartographer for Native Land Digital who specializes in community mapping and using emerging mapping technology to support Indigenous land rights, mentored Etsate-Gashytewa and provided access to mapping tools. Esri, the GIS mapping software that hosts the Native Lands, National Trails map, pulls its data live from the NLD database, which is updated once a week based on feedback received from the community and information learned by NLD researchers. How Indigenous Tour Operators Are Reclaiming Their Ancestral Ties to National Parks Around the World From Uganda to Montana, the creation of national parks has led to the displacement of Indigenous communities who, today, invite travelers to learn their stories. The Native Land Digital data is very unique and a lot more inclusive and encompassing as it's being crowdsourced, which is more relevant and applicable as its so Indigenous in the way we hold and care for our knowledge, says Etsate-Gashytewa. Our elders, who have years of knowledge, understanding and experience, don't need PhDs to have their voices validated when suggesting an edit on the site." Ancestral lands, after all, often have no definitive borders, and overlap and extend far beyond the political and federal boundaries of reservations, which today represent a tiny fraction of the land that a community has stewarded for centuries and are, in some cases, located far from a communitys traditional terrain. The map is not an end all be all map, says Etsate-Gashytewa. It's always going to be improved as more information is developed within our own nations. Bureau of Land Management So, how can travelers use the resource? Either enter a US hiking trail or location into the search box, or simply zoom into the map and click on a location. Information will pop up detailing the tribal nations and communities in that particular area, and the NLNT map links will route users to each communitys Native Land Digital territory page, which provides information on the tribal government and more. While all trails are on ancestral land, certain footways, such as the Ala Kahakai National Historic Trail, the Nez Perce (Nee-Me-Poo) National Historic Trail, and the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail have a deeper Indigenous history readers can delve into. The map is a just a start to what those involved hope to accomplish. Acknowledging the land is the very first step, but we have to make progress towards the second and third step of giving back to the land and making sure Indigenous people are at the tables and being properly consulted, says Etsate-Gashytewa. That's my hopeand that we fight climate change in a way that we're able to help the land, ecosystems, and wildlife into their natural states. Originally Appeared on Conde Nast Traveler A search is underway in Shenandoah National Park for Mateo Cobo Zevallos. Zevallos was reported missing to Fairfax County Police on May 9. LURAY Based on a preliminary identification of remains found Sunday, the search for Mateo Cobo Zevallos conducted by Shenandoah National Park with support from Virginia Department of Emergency Management has been suspended, a press release said. The body of a man believed to be Mateo Cobo Zevallos was discovered by searchers Sunday at 12:15 p.m. The body is being taken to the Office of the Medical Examiner in Manassas for positive identification and determination of cause of death. Zevallos was reported missing to the Fairfax County Police Department on May 6. He was last seen the day before leaving his home in Oakton en route to George Mason University, the release said. Based on information received May 16, Shenandoah National Park Rangers began looking for Zevallos vehicle. They located the car in the northern area of Shenandoah National Park in a parking lot that serves the popular Overall Run Falls Trail. The park established a search operation Wednesday morning, which continued through weekend. The remains were found in the park about 1.6 miles from where his car was parked in steep terrain near several rock outcrops, the release said. Trails in the Overall Run area that were closed for search operations have been reopened. Shenandoah National Park joins Virginia Department of Emergency Management in thanking the many organizations that were involved including Virginia Department of Emergency Management, Fairfax County Police, Virginia State Police, as well as numerous volunteer SAR organizations including Piedmont SAR, Blue Ridge Mountain Rescue Group, Old Rag Mountain Stewards, Virginia Rescue Dog Association, Christian Ministries SAR, SAR Tracking Institute, Blacksburg Volunteer Rescue Squad, Shenandoah Mountain Rescue Group, Blue and Grey Rescue Dogs, TrotSAR, K9 Alert, Frederick County Sheriffs Department and Virginia State Parks. More: Search underway in Shenandoah National Park for missing person More: The Digest: West End staple closing, Volunteer this summer, Oak Grove plays return This article originally appeared on Staunton News Leader: Missing person found in Shenandoah National Park You'll need to get a permit to experience this route. Canvan Images/Getty Images When you think of national park roads, iconic routes like the Going-to-the-Sun Road in Montana's Glacier National Park and Crater Lake Rim Drive in Oregon's Crater Lake National Park likely come to mind. Theyre paved, accessible to anyone with a car, and can be completed in as little as two hours. And while these factors are shared by many national park thoroughfares, the White Rim Road in Utahs Canyonlands National Park couldnt be more different. For starters, the road is unpaved, narrow, and primitive and only accessible to drivers with high clearance, 4-wheel-drive vehicles, or travelers on bicycles and motorbikes. Thanks to its notoriously rough roads, the 100-mile White Rim Road takes multiple days to complete even if you drive. The route typically takes 4-wheel-drive vehicles between two to three days and mountain bikers three to four days. Canvan Images/Getty Images The road through southeastern Utah is steep, rocky, and exposed but the views are probably unlike anything youve ever seen before. The White Rim Road loops around the Island in the Sky, an iconic Canyonlands mesa thats supported by sheer sandstone cliffs, like a natural desert rollercoaster. The views of the red rock desert and the towering Island in the Sky mesa, which sits over 1,000 feet above the surrounding terrain, are constant. Due to the desert heat, the White Rim Road is often undertaken in the spring and fall when the weather is warm, but not hot. That said, the spring season comes with its own set of challenges. During years of heavy snowfall (like winter 2022-2023) the water level of the Green River, which crosses the road, can make completing the full-rim road difficult, if not impossible. (See current road conditions at nps.gov.) For this reason, some travelers choose only to do a section of the White Rim Road. Canvan Images/Getty Images The multiday car or bike trip is supported by 20 campsites in 10 camping areas that are outfitted with toilets, but travelers have to bring their own food and water and pack out their trash. The Canyonlands National Park website recommends that mountain bikers have a 4-wheel-drive support vehicle that can carry multiple days worth of water, food, and equipment for them. Story continues In addition to the physical and natural challenges of the White Rim Road, all vehicles, motorbikes, and bicyclists must apply for either a day-use permit (for single-day trips) or an overnight permit. No dogs or campfires are allowed on White Rim Road. For more Travel & Leisure news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter! Read the original article on Travel & Leisure. During a Feb. 3 North Carolina Supreme Court hearing, a lawyer referred to how Pennsylvanias Supreme Court rejected gerrymandered voting district maps because they did not comply with that states constitutional guarantee of free and equal elections. But Chief Justice Paul Newby, leader of the North Carolinas courts new 5-2 Republican majority, noted that there was a difference between the Pennsylvania and North Carolina constitutions. Misquoting the Pennsylvania constitution, Newby said: We have free. We dont have fair. They have free and fair, correct? There you have it from the states top jurist: He thinks North Carolinas governing document is silent about whether elections have to be fair. Given that perspective, its not surprising that Newbys court promptly reversed rulings by the previous courts 4-3 Democratic majority. The reversals give the Republican-controlled General Assembly wide latitude to gerrymander voting district maps and upheld a voter photo ID law that the previous court had rejected as racially discriminatory. Since Democrats will have to boost their turnout to overcome gerrymandered districts, anything that suppresses voters who generally vote Democratic gives Republican lawmakers a stronger defense against being ousted. The voter ID requirement will be in effect for this years municipal elections, but the real test of how it affects turnout will be in the 2024 general election. Republican state lawmakers say the voter photo ID requirement is about preventing fraud and building confidence in the election process. But since fraud involving impersonating another voter is exceedingly rare and already a felony opponents think that requiring a valid photo ID to vote is really just about winnowing votes for Democrats. Whether it will do that is unclear. A study in states that have introduced the photo ID requirement found effects ranging from slight to none. In some cases, passage of a voter ID law has motivated Democrats to make more voters eligible and Democratic turnout has actually increased. Story continues The latest study, led by Notre Dame political scientist Jeffrey Harden, and published Feb. 6 in PNAS, a journal of the National Academy of Sciences. Harden, who conducted the study along with graduate student Alejandra Campos, said the research found little immediate reduction in turnout. When you zoom out it doesnt look like it has a huge effect, but that is because Democrats are working so hard to rebuild the baseline conditions by getting people the IDs they need, Harden told me. The strict photo ID requirement could take a toll if Democrats and their affiliated groups dont keep pushing to get IDs to voters, he said. If those groups let off the gas or run out of money, maybe youll see an effect on turnout, he said. In 2024, requiring a photo ID to vote in North Carolina could have a measurable effect if resources to smoothly make the change are not provided and the new requirements are not clearly explained. A problem is looming on that front as the state House and Senate are split over providing funding to implement the new law. Karen Brinson Bell, executive director of the State Board of Elections, has asked the legislature for $6.5 million over the next two years to carry out the photo ID requirement. The money would be used to educate 25,000 poll workers, send a targeted mailing to voters who lack a photo ID, pay for an advertising campaign aimed at all 7.2 million of the states voters and cover the cost of printing photo IDs. However, the recently passed House budget includes only $3.5 million for this fiscal year, funding that will end before voting begins in the 2024 general election. The Senate budget passed last week includes none of the requested funding. In a May 12 letter to legislative leaders, Brinson Bell asked for full funding to prepare poll workers and voters for the photo ID requirement. She wrote, I ask that you prioritize the unique role the State Board of Elections plays in building confidence in our government, supporting our counties, and safeguarding the right of North Carolinians to vote in fair and accessible elections in 2023 and 2024. If many voters go to the polls in 2024 not knowing what theyll need to cast a vote, or dont go because they dont know how to get a valid ID, that would not be a fair election. But maybe thats the point. Associate opinion editor Ned Barnett can be reached at 919-404-7583, or nbarnett@ newsobserver.com Oklahoma's data and the very real families behind them are telling lawmakers that Oklahoma babies need investments in child care, not cuts, guest columnists write. I'm a social worker, and before I had children, I worked for the state, connecting families with services to support their childrens early development, including child care subsidies. Way too often, I had to tell families I couldnt help them, that they were ineligible or child care services were maxed out. Im Alexis Barker, and when I had my first daughter, I realized I had the same problem: Even if I could find child care, I couldnt afford it. So, Oklahoma lost a skilled worker, and my family lost my income. And, Im Paul Spicer. As a researcher, I know that the challenges of having and raising a baby depend a lot on where the baby is born and to whom. I see that the hopes and dreams families have for their young children are up against decades of systematic policy failures. Oklahomas babies are more likely than the national average to have housing instability and food insecurity. One in six infants and toddlers already has had two or more adverse experiences, the highest in the nation, a level that can undermine development. Nobody is immune from worry. Whether on Indigenous land or in the suburbs of Oklahoma City, parents throughout our state need help. They need elected officials who understand the steep challenges facing families with babies today. We're both proud to call Oklahoma home, but almost all of our states families with infants and toddlers are forced to make difficult decisions about care for their children and financial well-being. For many, it seems that neither is possible. Few have paid time off to spend with their newborns, but right away they are smacked with the high cost of going to work. For many parents, entire paychecks go to child care. Others realize child care would cost more than their take-home pay and walk away from the workforce (as Alexis did). The underfunded federal child care program that assists some families with payments can do little to ease the cost bite for the vast majority. Eighty-one percent of Oklahomas babies live in families with low or moderate income, but only 8 percent of their families get help paying for child care. And where can children go? Even before COVID, child care providers were closing their doors due to low compensation and high stress. While COVID-19 supports for child care helped sustain many programs, Oklahoma remains a vast child care desert. Is it any wonder that Oklahoma has the lowest workforce participation rate in the country for mothers of infants and toddlers? Families in this country and in Oklahoma deserve better. Parents in every other developed country take paid time off from work to focus on their baby, and most are assured of child care when they return to their jobs. Yet, our leaders in Congress have walked away from supports that would help families and our economy, even proposing cuts to existing supports. Currently, U.S. Rep. Tom Cole, who in the past has looked out for young children in Oklahoma as a leader on the Appropriations Committee, is working with his colleagues in Congress to plan a budget for next year. House leaders recently unveiled a budget plan calling for steep cuts that likely will hit programs like child care assistance the hardest. Rep. Cole, we are calling on you to prioritize Oklahomas 148,000 babies and toddlers and their families, and urgently needed child care dollars, in your budget conversations and decisions. Our states data and the very real families behind them are telling you that Oklahoma babies need investments in child care, not cuts. Alexis Barker Paul Spicer Alexis Barker is a parent of two children residing in Norman. Dr. Paul Spicer, a resident of Norman, is a professor at the University of Oklahoma and former president of the board of the national baby and toddler nonprofit ZERO TO THREE. This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Why Oklahoma families urgently need child care dollars Editors note: This is the eighth in a series of historical obituaries written today to honor the men and women of the past who were denied the honor at the time of their death because of discrimination due to their race and/or gender. Mary A. E. Higgins, formerly of Pensacola, died tragically on March 29, 1946, of injuries sustained from an accidental fire at her home in Los Angeles, California. The retired school principal and teacher was 91 years old. Mrs. Higgins was born Mary Ann Ward in Atlanta, Georgia, in May 1855. Her family history and early years in Georgia are mostly unknown, though later census records indicate she completed the eighth grade. Around 1869, she married Evigan Edwards from Alabama and together they built a life in Pensacola. They had one son, Elias Edwards, who died in 1900. Mary Higgins What is Righting the Past? Their history wasn't just forgotten, it was buried. Today we tell their stories. Righting the past: Veteran Henry Stalburt, champion of freedom, dead By 1882, Mrs. Higgins was working as a school teacher with John A. Gibson at Public School No. 31. She would work with the well-known educator for about 15 years. She took pride in her craft and pursued professional development opportunities, completing summer courses and teacher examinations during this time. In 1896, she was listed as the sole teacher at School No. 8 in Molino, a school designated for the education of the Molino communitys Black students. By 1902, Mrs. Edwards Higgins had become principal of School No. 55, later known as A. M. DeVaughn Elementary School, in the historic Hawkshaw neighborhood. While Mrs. Higgins worked in public service, Mr. Edwards worked in civil service as a janitor at the federal barge office, courthouse, and customs house. He later worked as a drayman, or wagon driver. They were both involved in community work, often advocating for education and higher education for African American students in the county. When the need for a high school arose in the early 1890s, Mr. Edwards helped lead the effort to expand education for all even as some in the community and across the state of Florida questioned whether the enormous expenditure for negro schools produce any good effect. The Edwardses knew otherwise. Story continues Righting the Past: Donald Reed Sr., a leader in Pensacola business, life and community, died at age 86 Righting the Past: Pensacolas only Black mayor, Salvador Pons, is dead at 55 Mr. Edwards served as the inaugural president of the Escambia High School Association, leading the six-year effort to raise funds, buy and clear the land and build a new Black high school. Named Escambia High School, it appears as the first high school for African Americans in the county. It opened on October 16, 1899, at the northwest corner of what is now Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Street and Jordan Street. The school operated for four years before closing. At the turn of the 20th century, the association worked to extend the school year for the countys Black students whose school terms at that time were shorter than those of the White students. During this time, Mrs. Higgins and her husband invested in real estate, buying, selling and holding mortgages for others. Mr. Edwards died on Sept. 9, 1907. He left his estate to his widow. She continued serving as principal of School No. 55 until around 1910, when she retired from a 30-year career in education. For the next decade, she managed her real estate portfolio. On May 25, 1921, she married Alexander Higgins, a widowed father, longshoreman, grocery store owner and Civil War veteran. They lived above his store at 2428 North 12th Avenue, surrounded by his extended family who lived on surrounding blocks. Their residence and store would later house Me & Moms Hair Care Center for almost four decades. In 1924, an advertisement for their property described it as a 7 room residence and store, bath, with electric lights, two lots. Despite their community bonds and material success, the Higginses decided to leave the Jim Crow South like millions of other Black Southerners. After settling their recently joined affairs in Pensacola, they moved to Los Angeles to enjoy retirement, living with Mr. Higgins youngest daughter, Julia Craig, and her husband David. Mr. Higgins brother would visit them in California, then return to Pensacola to regale stories of the train ride west and his time with his brothers family. Mrs. Higgins was widowed again when Mr. Higgins passed away at home at age 99 of heart and kidney disease on March 16, 1942. She lived with her daughter-in-laws family until her unexpected passing four years later. No other family members were injured in the fatal fire. She was interred at Lincoln Memorial Park in Los Angeles on April 2, 1946. Left to mourn the passing of Mary Ann Ward Edwards Higgins today are those many descendants of the Ward, Edwards, Higgins and Eagan (also spelled Egins, Eagans and Eagins) families, including Del Jupiter of Atlanta, C. Renea Brown of Pensacola, Harold Kelker, Jr. of Munson, and Barbara Glover of Milton. With a life spanning nearly a century, Mrs. Higgins witnessed profound transformations. She experienced living through the Civil War, World War I and World War II, and she helped create educational opportunities for Black Pensacolians opportunities denied to her during her childhood. Mrs. Higgins was an educator and a community leader who shaped generations of Pensacola students. She left a lasting legacy we celebrate today. This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Righting the Past: Pensacola teacher Mary Higgins shaped generations KYODO NEWS - May 22, 2023 - 21:27 | World, All Thailand's liberal Move Forward party, which won the most seats in the May 14 general election, signed a policy accord Monday with seven other opposition parties aimed at forming a coalition government. The accord, which includes revoking military conscription but excludes repeal of a law against insulting the monarchy, was signed by parties including the Pheu Thai party, which captured the second-largest number of seats. While they all support Move Forward leader Pita Limjaroenrat as the next prime minister, their coalition deal does not necessarily mean they will lead the next government due to a revised electoral system that favors the establishment. Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, who leads the incumbent pro-military government, still has a chance to remain in office because elected members of the House of Representatives and 250 military-appointed senators will determine the new prime minister through a vote expected in July. In the 2019 general election, Pheu Thai, made up of supporters of ousted former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, failed to form the coalition government, even though the opposition party won the most seats. The memorandum of understanding signed Monday contains key policies of the prospective coalition government, such as drafting a new constitution to replace the current one enacted by the military in 2017 and relisting cannabis as an illicit drug, with the exception of its use for medical and research purposes. Regarding the harsh lese-majeste law against insulting the monarchy, which is one of the Move Forward's key policies, Pita affirmed that the party will push for parliamentary discussion of its amendment even though it is not included in the MOU. The Move Forward leader reiterated that the discussion will build more understanding between the monarchy and the people. The other parties in the Move Forward-led coalition, which has a total of 313 elected members, are Prachachart, Thai Sang Thai, Seri Ruam Thai, Fair, Palang Sangkhom Mai and Pheu Thai Ruam Palang. Related coverage: Thai opposition Move Forward wins poll, challenges pro-military rule The Panasonic MZ2000 on a yellow background Since Panasonic unveiled the MZ2000 at the start of the year, there havent been that many opportunities to check out the companys new flagship OLED TV, especially with it not due to be released until later in 2023. While we wait to get our hands on one to fully test and review, we had the opportunity to get a sneak peak of the model at AWE Europe a specialist trade distributor of home technology and it did not disappoint. This will sure rank among the best OLED TVs though not in the US, because Panasonic still has no plans to sell its OLED TVs there, nor Australia. The MZ2000 is among the first OLED TVs to have a newly enhanced Micro Lens Array (MLA) panel, which gives it next level brightness and energy efficiency. This panel essentially includes billions of minuscule convex lenses that are placed above the OLED pixels to reduce light wastage, targeting the light towards your eyes more efficiently. The Panasonic MZ2000 in a living room Panasonics MZ2000 is part of this years lineup of new brightness-boosting TV technologies that companies are rolling out, which is marking the end for regular OLED TVs as we know it. Both the LG G3 OLED and the Philips OLED+908 have the same MLA tech, and Panasonic claims it delivers 50% higher peak brightness compared to its predecessor, the Panasonic LZ2000. Panasonic MZ2000 price and release date Panasonic has not yet said how much the MZ2000 will cost or when it will be available to buy, but we're likely to learn more later in the year. The company is yet to reveal its full 2023 lineup, so it makes sense that we wont likely see the MZ2000 on the shelves till the second half of 2023. Notably, Panasonic like Philips still doesn't sell to the US since exiting the market in 2016 it also exited the Australian market in 2020 so the MZ2000 will only be available to consumers in Europe. Judging from the 55-inch LZ2000s 2,299 price tag at launch, the MZ2000 will likely be one of the pricier OLEDs available the 55-inch LG C3 OLED, which is a strong contender to be this years best TV is priced at $1,899 / 2,099 for comparison. Story continues Panasonic MZ2000 OLED TV performance On paper, the Panasonic MZ2000 promises to outshine most. With a new Master OLED Ultimate panel that has MLA technology, a multi-layer heat management system and a HCX Pro AI processor, this set really is a significant improvement from last years model. The Panasonic screen is essentially an LG panel, but Stuart Tickle, managing director at AWE, tells us: What Panasonic has done is applied their own additional filters to it so they can drive it harder. Quite often, just pumping up the brightness doesn't actually do much, it's like turning up the bass and treble. It doesn't actually make it more accurate. It just makes it louder. So speaking in picture terms, the MZ2000 is not typical for our industry. We show it because it's different from every other screen. The Panasonic MZ2000 will be available in 55-, 65- and 75-inch sizes, which are the only screen sizes that 4K OLED panels with MLA technology in them are being made. The set also supports a wide range of HDR formats, including Dolby Vision IQ, HDR10+ Adaptive and HLG Photo. Panasonic MZ2000 features One of the new features of the MZ2000 is an improved Filmmaker mode with improved ambient color temperature sensing technology that adjusts the TVs picture reproduction to any lighting conditions. As for sound, Panasonic has built in its own version of immersive audio, which the company calls 360 Soundscape, lessening the need for one of the best soundbars or additional speakers. There's an array of speaker on the front and edges to deliver great Dolby Atmos sound it has clever tricks, such as directing the sound to be louder for one person in the room compared to elsewhere, using clever directional tech. The MZ2000 also has new gaming features that have been added. These include NVIDIA G-Sync compatibility and source-oriented tone mapping, as well as two new viewings modes: True Game and Game Sound. First impressions of the Panasonic MZ2000 From what I could see, the set showed a perfectly clear and crisp illuminated picture on the screen even while under bright white halogen bulbs in a similar light toned room. No doubt, the MLA panel in the MZ2000 is probably the most significant new feature about this model, as it is in most TVs that include it. I've used the LG G3 that also includes the panel, and there's no doubt Panasonic is giving LG a run for its money even from just a short demo. It looks rich, natural and exciting, and the improved brightness is obvious as soon as you see it. We can't wait to see how it stacks up against the world's best 4K TVs. Axelle/Bauer-Griffin - Getty Images If you've been streaming Selling Sunset season 6, then you've met the latestand somewhat unexpectedaddition to the reality show's cast. Jason Oppenheim's girlfriend, Marie-Lou Nurk has unofficially joined the O Group. Jason, 45, started dating the German model last year, and the pair's relationship has obviously gotten serious. In addition to the 25-year-old influencer being featured on Selling Sunset, the couple has made some big moves to further their relationship. Here's everything to know about Marie-Lou, and her relationship with The Oppenheim Group co-founder: She met Jason in July 2022 The couple met last July while they were each vacationing in Mykonos, Greece, according to PEOPLE. Marie-Lou said she met Jason at a beach club, per Vogue Germany, and the pair hit it off quickly. She even posted about Jason on her Instagram story by the end of the trip, which sparked tons of dating rumors, per PEOPLE. "I mean, we're talking. I like her and maybe I'll see her soon," Jason told PEOPLE shortly after returning from Greece. This was around seven months after Jason and Chrishell Stause announced their split in December 2021. Marie-Lou Nurk via Instagram She's a model. Marie-Lou is a model represented by Mega Model Agency. She also studied economics at university, and used to work as a brand strategist for a German company, the Strichpunkt Design agency, per Vogue Germany. She's from Germany. In a TikTok, the model shared that she's German and South Africanand grew up in south Germany, per Vogue Germany. She also said that she's moved around quite a bit throughout her lifeand estimated about 20 (!!) times. She's lived in London, England; Paris, France; Berlin and Frankfurt, Germany; and Portugal. Now, she primarily splits her time between Los Angeles and Paris. She's taller than Jason. You may have noticed the height difference between Jason and Marie-Lou. According to her modeling portfolio, Marie-Lou is 5 feet 9 inches tallabout four inches taller than Jason. Story continues A few sources, including women on Selling Sunset, note Jason as 5 feet 5 inches, while The Sun reports both Oppenheim twins as 5 feet 6 inches tall. She and Jason share a condo in L.A. The German model lives in Los Angeles with Jason part-time. She's opened up about being in a long distance relationship on social media. "While it's not always easy, we both believe that our love is worth the effort," she wrote on Instagram via PEOPLE. "I'm grateful to have such a supportive partner who understands my goals and passions. At the end of the day, it's important to follow your heart and pursue your dreams, even if it means taking risks and facing challenges." Shop Now Stream 'Selling Sunset' on Netflix $7.00 Patrick Wymore/Netflix The condo the couple shares is quite a fabulous 5,500-square-foot home, according to PEOPLE. It has three bedrooms, a private movie theater, and a wraparound terrace with a view of the hills. While the Oppenheim Group co-founder has obviously bought and sold many properties before, he's said this is his favorite purchase so far. "We're living here, I think, for many years," Jason told PEOPLE. "I've lived in many nice places, but this is my favorite place by far." And at a whopping $18 million, it was also reportedly the most expensive Los Angeles condo listed in 2022. The couple isn't married...yet. Earlier this month, Marie-Lou and Jason sparked some marriage rumors with a joint Instagram post. The pair posted professionally-taken photos in what resembled wedding attire (a white dress and a black suit). Originally, the caption on the photos read "Here's to a lifetime of adventures," but it was subtly changed to "You always make me smile ." Apparently, the couple didn't realize what their post seemed to indicate, and changed the caption to avoid confusion. "Lou and I quickly realized that our post on Instagram made it look like we had just been married," Jason said in a statement to PEOPLE. "We received numerous congratulatory texts, as well as angry texts from friends asking why they weren't invited, so quickly changed the caption! All these photos were from an event that we went to together a couple of months ago." Even if they aren't tying the knot any time soon, it looks like this duo is in it for the long haul! You Might Also Like "Wildflower: A Memoir" by Aurora James, $25, available here. Photo: Sebastian Kim/Crown Publishing Group "Social media feels like the mask, and the book feels like taking the mask off," Aurora James tells me after stepping out of the launch party for her new memoir, "Wildflower," at Rizzoli's flagship bookstore in New York City. The first-time author founded the accessories brand Brother Vellies in 2013, and over the past few years has been especially busy with the Fifteen Percent Pledge, an organization she started that implores retailers to stock their shelves with at least 15% Black-owned brands. James may be known as an awarded designer who's on pace to redirect $12 billion to Black-owned businesses, but her journey has been far more convoluted. "It takes a lot of courage to be vulnerable," she says. "At a certain point, it does a disservice to us as women if we don't open up, because ultimately, the bumps and bruises that we've got along our own journeys do not stop us from being able to be amazing in our jobs, to follow our dreams or to accomplish the things that we wanna accomplish. When we hide those things from others, we do a disservice not just to young women, but also to ourselves." "Wildflower" is a powerful story of being human of mistakes, of celebrating wins, of being hurt, of hurting others and, above all, of magnificently becoming. Sure, a fashion lover can appreciate how James takes the reader through learning about the footwear trade, but the book speaks to a broader audience. Specifically, it appeals to anyone who has ever questioned their path and purpose, especially women and women of color. James is defenseless and open throughout, peeling into identity within the first chapter and describing what it's like being multiracial, the daughter of a white Canadian mother and Ghanaian father. She discloses painful years of sexual abuse at the hands of her mother's then-husband, and what she went through when her mother didn't believe her. Story continues "I learned that birthing a child does not make you a mother," she writes. "It took me many years to understand that her denial was easier than truly and fully accepting the realities of our situation. It does not make this moment any better, but it does make it human." The memoir moves out of adolescence into her teenage years and early adulthood, detailing the moment she discovered what "vellies" are (a traditionally South African shoe, officially called a Veldskoen). James emphasizes her intention to help people see the same beauty and luxury in "made in Africa" as in "made in France," and how she went from selling at a flea market to having Anna Wintour present her the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund award. There are also moments of sinking and loss, like when her beloved grandmother passed away. "I just thought it was more powerful for young girls who look like me to know that I didn't go to an Ivy League school... and that I dropped out of high school and that I got arrested and that I got evicted," James tells me. "That's actually the reality of what entrepreneurship looks like. It doesn't always look like the cover of Fortune. That's not really real." "You have to straighten up your costume of identity all the time," she continues. "It's like we spend so much time just perfecting our masks to make sure that we're presenting appropriately. But in reality, I think that taking off that mask is actually more empowering for everyone." It's like she's speaking in direct response to Paul Laurence Dunbar's classic 1895 poem about identity and oppression, "We Wear the Mask." "Wildflower" reveals challenges as weighty as her now-exploding success; concluding the memoir, James pointedly wrote: "I believe there is no such thing as Black Girl Magic. This is a story of a Black woman's hard work. My love, my passion, my frustrations. My mistakes, my wins and an ode to the path forward that creates opportunity for all of us." Aurora James at Rizzoli Bookstore for the "Wildflower" launch Photo: Courtesy of Bre Johnson/BFA.com The entire text is captivating. With James' honesty, each page leaves the reader hungry for the next, as if you're in the moment with her, traversing her reality. It's not just a great read, it's also part of a bigger impact James is making. Brother Vellies redefines luxury, shifting away from Eurocentrism and celebrating African artistry. The Fifteen Percent Pledge is a forceful move for racial equity that started with an Instagram post. Telling her story in "Wildflower," James argues, is similarly an act of resistance and legacy-building. "Sharing and vulnerability are very different things. When you're vulnerable, you're allowing someone into your heart space, and it's a type of access that you're giving them that can actually be quite painful, because it's a raw space, so they can come into that space and do real damage," James says. "That's really what happened for me over the past three years in a lot of this work that I've been doing around racial justice... because it's all imperfect. But go into a Sephora store down the street: It looks completely different than it used to look before the Pledge." Behind us, Diane von Furstenberg slipped through the doors into the party, joining co-host Huma Abdein. Though we had shimmied away from the crowd, buzz grew noticeably louder in anticipation of the conversation about to happen between James and von Furstenberg. "In the book, there's a Nigerian proverb that my mom told me when I was younger that's really important to me: 'Until the lion has a historian, the hunter will always be the hero,'" she says before stepping back into the room of cocktails, flowers and friends. "I think now more than ever, it's really important that Black women write their own stories. I think that's a large part of why I did this." "Wildflower: A Memoir" by Aurora James, $25, available here. Please note: Occasionally, we use affiliate links on our site. In no way does this affect our editorial decision-making. Never miss the latest fashion industry news. Sign up for the Fashionista daily newsletter. The Kremlin has described reports of an incursion into Russias Belgorod city by pro-Ukrainian saboteurs as a deliberate attempt to distract attention from the battle for Bakhmut, which Moscow claims to have won. Anti-Kremlin militia launched a cross-border raid in the Russian city from Ukrainian territory, according to Ukrainian media reports and videos shared online, overrunning one Russian village and pushing on into others on Monday. Two self-described Russian partisan groups carried out the attack, one of the largest such incursions since Russia invaded Ukraine, intelligence officials in Kyiv said. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Vladimir Putin has been informed about the territorial conflict in Belgorod, and that work was under way to drive out the saboteurs, the state-run RIA Novosti news agency reported. Reports suggest there is some residual fighting still going on in the outskirts of Bakhmut even after Russia claims it captured the city on Sunday, but that the Ukrainian forces have lost control of the last streets of multi-story buildings inside city limits. Key Points Kremlin says Belgorod situation created to distract from Bakhmut loss Russia is not in control of Bakhmut, Volodymyr Zelensky insists Ukraine's strikes on Crimea are attacks on Russia, Moscow says Russia says F-16s to Ukraine would raise question of NATO involvement Eight hurt in overnight attacks on Ukraines Dnipro, according to reports Kyiv says Ukrainian troops advancing around Bakhmut as Russia brings in more forces Kremlin says Belgorod situation created to distract from Bakhmut loss 05:00 , Arpan Rai The Kremlin has blamed the incursion in Belgorod as a move aimed to distract attention from the eastern Ukrainian town of Bakhmut. Russian forces claim to have captured Bakhmut in its entirety after more than nine months of attritional fighting, while reports suggest there is some residual fighting seen in the outskirts of the city, but that the Ukrainian forces have lost control of the last streets of multi-story buildings inside city limits. Story continues Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said president Vladimir Putin had been informed about the territorial conflict in Belgorod, and that work was under way to drive out the saboteurs, the state-run RIA Novosti news agency reported. We understand perfectly well the goal of such a diversion to divert attention from the Bakhmut direction and minimise the political effect of Bakhmuts loss for the Ukrainian side, Peskov was quoted as saying. Ukrainian military intelligence spokesperson Andriy Yusov said the Belgorod operation would create a security zone to protect Ukrainians from attacks by Russia, reported the countrys outlet Hromadske. Ukraine-based militia 'working in Russia's Belgorod to overthrow Putin regime' 04:45 , Arpan Rai A group calling itself the Liberty of Russia Legion a Ukraine-based militia led by Russian opposition figure Ilya Ponomarev says it is now working inside Russia to overthrow Putin. The group took to Twitter and said it had completely liberated the border town of Kozinka. It said forward units had reached the district centre of Graivoron, further east. Moving on. Russia will be free! it wrote. The group also released a video showing five heavily armed fighters. We are Russians, like you. We are people like you. We want our children to grow up in peace, one said, facing the camera. It is time to put an end to the dictatorship of the Kremlin. In Kyiv, Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak tweeted: Ukraine is watching the events in the Belgorod region of Russia with interest and studying the situation, but has nothing to do with it. Wagner Group looking to bring military equipment from Mali to Ukraine, says US 04:26 , Arpan Rai Russias Wagner Group is trying to obscure its efforts to acquire military equipment for use in Ukraine, the US State Department said. Washington has been informed the mercenary force is seeking to move those acquisitions through Mali to aid Russia in its war and is willing to use false paperwork for such transactions, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said at a news briefing yesterday. There are indications that Wagner has been attempting to purchase military systems from foreign suppliers and route these weapons through Mali as a third party, Mr Miller said. We have not seen as of yet any indications that these acquisitions have been finalised or executed, but we are monitoring the situation closely. Mr Miller said Washington has imposed sanctions on a number of people and entities that support Wagners military operations, and said the United States would have more to share soon. Videos from inside Belgorod show fighting, inspection of captured vehicles 03:58 , Arpan Rai A video posted late last night from Belgorod showed a fighter inspecting a captured armoured vehicle and another video showed what it said were fighters operating an armoured vehicle on a country road. The video was posted by one of the two armed Russian opposition groups, the Russian Volunteer Corps (RVC), carrying out the operations inside Moscows territory. Another group, the Liberty of Russia Legion, is also involved in attacking Russian forces in Belgorod, according to the Ukrainian outlet Hromadske which cited Ukrainian military intelligence. Other videos posted on Russian and Ukrainian social media channels showed pictures and video of what were described as captured Russian servicemen and their identity documents. The Telegram channel Baza, which has links to Russias security services, had earlier published aerial footage apparently showing a Ukrainian armoured vehicle advancing on the Graivoron border checkpoint. There were indications of fighting in three settlements along the main road leading into Russia, according to Baza. The Liberty of Russia Legion released a video showing five armed fighters. We are Russians, like you. We are people like you. We want our children to grow up in peace, one said, facing the camera. It is time to put an end to the dictatorship of the Kremlin. Wagner chief says he will pull fighters out of Bakhmut after capturing city 03:00 , Joe Middleton The leader of a Russian mercenary group has said he will pull its fighters from Bakhmut after claiming to have captured the Ukrainian city. Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin said Bakhmut, in the eastern Donetsk-Oblast region, had been captured by his private army on Saturday afternoon - a claim Ukraine continues to dispute. Volodymyr Zelenskys deputy defence minister Hanna Maliar instead claimed Ukrainian forces have partly encircled the besieged eastern city along the flanks and still control a part of the city. Wagner chief says he will pull fighters out of Bakhmut after capturing city ICYMI: Biden pledges shared and unwavering commitment to stand with Ukraine at G7 summit 02:00 , Joe Middleton World summits' 'family photos' show Putin's isolation 01:00 , Joe Middleton Theyre known as family photos, the images of world leaders posed in faux relaxation during global summits. And like portraits of a family that has isolated a dysfunctional member, recent family photos from the G7 and G8 the worlds most industrialized nations show how Russian President Vladimir Putin has been outcast. The Russian president has faced unprecedented international isolation since his nation invaded Ukraine in February 2022. An International Criminal Court arrest warrant hangs over his head and clouds his prospects of traveling to many destinations, including those viewed as Moscows allies. World summits' 'family photos' show Putin's isolation Rare earths, Ukraine top agenda on French President Macron's historic visit to Mongolia Monday 22 May 2023 23:59 , Joe Middleton Access to rare earth minerals and Russias war against Ukraine topped the agenda on French President Emmanuel Macrons historic visit to Mongolia. Macron met with his Mongolian counterpart Ukhnaagiin Khurelsukh on Sunday in the capital Ulaanbaatar and pledged cooperation on the extraction and trade of minerals used in satellites, cell phones and other key technologies. The visit was the first by a French head of state to Mongolia, a landlocked democracy of 3 million people twice the size of Texas sandwiched between Russia and China. Rare earths, Ukraine top agenda on French President Macron's historic visit to Mongolia Who are the Wagner Group and why are they so involved in Ukraine? Monday 22 May 2023 23:00 , Joe Middleton Vladimir Putin has leant on military contractors to claim victories in Ukraine but their leaders frank dispatches have increasingly rattled the Moscow establishment, writes Liam James. All we know about shadowy Wagner group mercenaries helping Putin wage war on Ukraine Head of Russias Wagner group claims to have captured Bakhmut Monday 22 May 2023 22:30 , Joe Middleton South Korea, EU agree to boost pressure on Russia, condemn North Korean missile tests Monday 22 May 2023 21:45 , Joe Middleton Leaders of South Korea and the European Union agreed Monday to increase pressure on Russia over its war against Ukraine and condemn North Koreas ballistic missile tests. South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol met with European Council President Charles Michel and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in Seoul after attending the weekend summit of the Group of Seven leading industrialized nations in Hiroshima, Japan. We agree to maintain and increase the collective pressure on Russia, particularly through effective implementation of the respective restrictive measures, they said in a joint statement. We are committed to support Ukraines recovery and reconstruction and remain resolved to support Ukraine for as long as it takes. South Korea, EU agree to boost pressure on Russia, condemn North Korean missile tests Ukraines cultural counteroffensive: The rush to erase Russias monuments Monday 22 May 2023 21:00 , Joe Middleton The erasure of the past has prompted a debate not unlike one in the UK and US: how to contend with the physical monuments to a fraught history? Ruby Mellen, Zoeann Murphy, Kostiantyn Khudov and Kasia Strek report. Ukraines cultural counteroffensive: The rush to erase Russias imprint Fears after Ukraine nuclear plant left without power after Russian shelling Monday 22 May 2023 20:00 , Joe Middleton Ukraines Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant was left without power today after a barrage of Russian shelling, the UN nuclear watchdog has said. Rafael Grossi, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), made an appeal for the protection of the plant after warning the situation is extremely vulnerable. He said the plant was forced to switch to emergency diesel generators after losing its external power supply for the seventh time since Vladimir Putin launched his invasion. Fears after Ukraine nuclear plant left without power after Russian shelling Putin has blown Bakhmut to smithereens. Why does he want it this badly? Monday 22 May 2023 19:15 , Joe Middleton Even if Russia and its mercenary Wagner Group have finally captured the town, its loss will not be the moral nor strategic victory that Russia desperately needs, writes Kit Macdonald. Opinion: Putin has blown Bakhmut to smithereens. Why does he want it this badly? Attempts to freeze the conflict in Ukraine where it is are wrong, says Sunak Monday 22 May 2023 18:29 , Joe Middleton Attempts to freeze the conflict in Ukraine where it is are absolutely wrong and should be called out, the Prime Minister has said. Rishi Sunak was answering former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, who made the case for a ceasefire. The PM said he could not disagree more with Mr Corbyn, an independent MP, and said a temporary suspension of fighting would not be a just and lasting peace for Ukraine. Attempts to freeze the conflict in Ukraine where it is are wrong, says Sunak Monday 22 May 2023 17:44 , Laura Sharman The flag of the Russian Freedom Legion was filmed flying over Moscow on Monday, carried by blue and white balloons. The silk, a symbol of opposition to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, has been used by Russian anti-war protesters. Russia: Flag of the Russian Freedom Legion flying over Moscow on balloons. Integrated into the Ukrainian Armed Forces, Russian Freedom Legion consists of Russian citizens fighting on the side of Ukraine against fascist Russia. pic.twitter.com/HL1qSydqEZ Igor Sushko (@igorsushko) May 22, 2023 Ukraine and Poland: More on historic mass murders Monday 22 May 2023 17:37 , Laura Sharman The massacre of Poles by Ukranians remains a sore spot between the two nations, despite their strong relations in the face of Putins war. The World War II mass murders brought death to some 100,000 Poles while an estimated 15,000 Ukrainians died in retaliation. Entire villages were burned down and all their inhabitants killed by Ukrainian nationalists and their helpers seeking to establish an independent Ukraine state. Warsaw and Kyiv now have convergent views on regional security and Poland is among the strongest supporters of Ukraine in its fight against Russias military aggression.The spat between Ukraine and its staunch ally began last week when Polands foreign ministry spokesperson Lukasz Jasina referred to the 80th anniversary. He said Poland was expecting an apology from Ukraine and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for the 1943 to 1944 massacres. Ukraines ambassador to Poland, Vasyl Zvarych, reacted by saying that any suggestions of what Kyiv or Zelenskyy should do were unacceptable and unfortunate but later toned down his message by saying Ukraine was open to dialogue about history. Ukraine and Poland spar over painful past that includes mass murder Monday 22 May 2023 17:25 , Laura Sharman Officials from the strategic partners unexpectedly exchanged bitter remarks in relation to their harrowing mutual past. This year marks the 80th anniversary of the massacres of tens of thousands of Poles by Ukrainians that Poland calls genocide. In 1943 to 1944, Ukrainian nationalists and others massacred some 100,000 Polish people in Volhynia and other regions. Then part of eastern Poland, under Nazi German occupation, they are now part of Ukraine.Seeking to calm emotions, an aide to Polands President Andrzej Duda said on Monday that the Poles only wanted the truth and respect for the tens of thousands of Polish victims. We are only expecting the truth and respect for the victims and we will be... working on this theme in order to have a full clarification of the subject and respect paid to possibly all the victims, Deputy Minister Marcin Przydacz told Polish state TVP1. Tory MP says we have failed to suffocate the financial war machine in Putins war Monday 22 May 2023 17:13 , Laura Sharman Alicia Kearns has called for a military-style economic Ramstein on Ukraine to make a meaningful different and end this war sooner. Ramstein is a US military base in Germany, where members of the Defence Contact Group have met on numerous occasions to discuss arms and supplies for the Ukrainian military. The Conservative MP, who chairs the Foreign Affairs Committee, added: Can I urge the creation of an economic Ramstein on Ukraine that mirrors that of the military because we have failed to suffocate the financial war machine that is allowing Putin to continue with this war. Russias violent resistance is emerging from underground, says senior aide Monday 22 May 2023 16:46 , Laura Sharman Zelenskys senior aide said Kyiv had nothing to do with the incursion in Russias Belgorod region, putting it down to Russias violent resistance movement. Russia announced on Monday that it is battling a cross-border incursion by saboteurs who burst through the frontier from Ukraine. The incident appears to be one of the biggest attacks of its kind since the war began last year. But Ukraines military intelligence service attributed the operation to opposition-minded Russian citizens, Ukrainian media outlet Hromadske said. In a written statement, senior Zelenskiy aide Mykhailo Podolyak echoed Ukrainian military intelligence. The violent Russian resistance movement, whose architects are exclusively citizens of Russia itself, is gradually coming out of the underground. They are independent in their decisions, have certain experience, and are free from fear. Rishi Sunak says the UK will stand with Ukraine for as long as it takes Monday 22 May 2023 16:21 , Laura Sharman The Prime Minister has today said the UK and its western allies will stand with Ukraine for as long as it takes. Rishi Sunak referred to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskys appearance at the G7 summit during Wednesdays PMQs at the Commons. He told MPs: Russias military is failing on the battlefield, their economy is failing at home as we tighten the stranglehold of sanctions... The image of the G7 leaders standing shoulder to shoulder with President Zelensky in Hiroshima sent a powerful message to the world: we will stand with Ukraine for as long as it takes. Rishi Sunak during PMQs in January (Reuters) Zelensky aide says Ukraine has nothing to do with Belgorod events Monday 22 May 2023 15:14 , Martha Mchardy A senior aide to Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said Kyiv had nothing to do with an armed operation in Russias Belgorod region on Monday. Ukraine is watching the events in the Belgorod region of Russia with interest and studying the situation, but it has nothing to do with it, presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak tweeted. As you know, tanks are sold at any Russian military store, and underground guerrilla groups are composed of Russian citizens. In a written statement to Reuters, Podolyak said Ukraines military operates only on Ukrainian territory and echoed Ukrainian military intelligence in blaming Russian partisans for the incursion. The Russian liberation movement can become something that will contribute to the correct end of the war in Ukraine and significantly speed up the beginning of transformational events in the Russian political elite, he said. The Russian violent resistance movement, whose architects are exclusively citizens of Russia itself, is gradually coming out of the underground. They are independent in their decisions, have certain experience, and are free from fear. Podolyak said Russias war on Ukraine was gradually returning to Russia itself. The authorities are losing control over the regions and the situation in general. And this is a window of opportunity for any internal protest movements, he said. Governor of Russias Belgorod says three people injured in cross-border attack Monday 22 May 2023 15:13 , Martha Mchardy The governor of Russias Belgorod region said on Monday that at least three people had been injured and three houses and a local administrative building damaged during a cross-border attack from Ukraine. Denmark offers to host Ukraine peace talks, wants India, China, Brazil to attend Monday 22 May 2023 13:55 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain Denmark would like to host a summit in July aimed at finding peace between Ukraine and Russia, but such a meeting would need engagement from India, China and Brazil, Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen said Monday. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Sunday sought global support at the G7 meeting in Japan for Kyivs plan to end Russias war in Ukraine and proposed to hold a global summit in July. If Ukraine finds that the time has come to have such a meeting, that would be fantastic. And then Denmark would obviously like to host the meeting, Lokke Rasmussen told reporters on the sidelines of the EU Foreign Affairs Council in Brussels. A proposal in December by Ukraine to hold a peace summit in February this year never materialized. For starters, we need to put some effort into creating a global commitment to organise such a meeting, Lokke Rasmussen said, adding that a summit should not just be attended by Ukraines allies. It is necessary to build interest and involvement from countries like India, Brazil and China, he said. It is hard for me to see Russia taking part, he added. Zelensky last year proposed a 10-point peace plan, which calls on Russia to withdraw all its troops from Ukraine and to respect Ukraines territorial integrity. The details of its implementation should be discussed at the proposed peace summit, Zelenskiys administration said in a statement on Sunday. Lokke Rasmussen said he welcomed a decision by Washington to support joint allied training programmes for Ukrainian pilots on F-16 fighter jets. It makes sense to begin training of Ukrainian pilots as soon as possible, Lokke Rasmussen said, adding it was too early to say if Denmark would supply F-16s to Ukraine. Putin informed of attacks in Russia's Belgorod region - RIA cites Kremlin Monday 22 May 2023 13:42 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain Russian President Vladimir Putin has been informed of attacks by a Ukrainian sabotage group in Russias southern Belgorod region, the RIA news agency cited Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov as saying on Monday. Peskov was cited as saying that Russian forces were working to eject and eliminate the group, RIA reported. Russia claims eastern city of Bakhmut, but Ukrainian military leaders say battle isn't over Monday 22 May 2023 13:23 , Martha Mchardy Although Russia claims it has won control of Ukraines eastern city of Bakhmut after a grinding nine-month conflict in which tens of thousands of fighters have died, top Ukrainian military leaders say the battle is not over. Ukrainian officials acknowledge they now control only a small part of Bakhmut. Deputy defense minister Hanna Maliar said Monday that Ukrainian troops hold some areas in its southwestern outskirts, while fighting continues for the strategic heights in the northern and southern parts of the suburbs. The offensive potential of the enemy has been significantly reduced. Huge losses have been inflicted on the enemy. We have gained time for certain actions, which will be revealed later, Maliar said. Ukraine says their fighters presence has played a key role in their strategy of exhausting Russian forces. And they say their current positions surrounding Bakhmut will let them strike back inside the 400-year-old city. Despite the fact that we now control a small part of Bakhmut, the importance of its defence does not lose its relevance, said Col.-Gen. Oleksandr Syrskyi, who commands Ukraines ground forces. This gives us the opportunity to enter the city in case of a change in the situation. And it will definitely happen. The fog of war made it impossible to confirm the situation inside Bakhmut. Russias Defense Ministry said fighters of the Wagner private military contractor, backed by Russian troops, had seized the city. Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelensky said the city was not being fully occupied. In a video posted on Telegram, Wagner head Yevgeny Prigozhin claimed the city came under complete Russian control about midday Saturday. Holding a Russian flag before a group of at least nine masked fighters in body armour with heavy weapons, Prigozhin proclaimed: This afternoon at 12:00, Bakhmut was completely taken. Who are the Wagner Group and why are they so involved in Ukraine? Monday 22 May 2023 13:08 , Martha Mchardy Russian soldiers fighting in Ukraine have been supported on the battlefield by tens of thousands of mercenaries from a shadowy group led by a businessman and longtime affiliate of president Vladimir Putin. The Wagner Group is a private military company under the control of Yevgeny Prigozhin that cut its teeth in deployments to Crimea and eastern Ukraines Donbas region in 2014 and has since dispatched troops to several conflicts in the Middle East and Africa, including the Syrian Civil War. In Russias invasion of Ukraine, Wagner has proved indispensable, but an apparent power struggle between the Kremlin and the outspoken Mr Prigozhin has led to the group having its wings clipped by Moscow. Liam James reports: All we know about shadowy Wagner group mercenaries helping Putin wage war on Ukraine Governor of Russias Belgorod says Ukrainian sabotage group crossed border Monday 22 May 2023 12:38 , Martha Mchardy The governor of Russias Belgorod region said on Monday that a Ukrainian army sabotage group had entered Russian territory in the Graivoron district, which borders Ukraine. In a statement on Telegram, Vyacheslav Gladkov said that the Russian army and security forces were taking measures to repel the incursion. Earlier, the Telegram channel Baza, which is linked to Russias security services, had published footage apparently showing a Ukrainian tank attacking a Russian border post. The reports have not been independently verified. In pictures: Destruction in Dnipro after overnight Russian air strikes Monday 22 May 2023 11:28 , Martha Mchardy People walk outside an apartment building destroyed by a Russian military strike (REUTERS) Apartment buildings destroyed by a Russian military strike (REUTERS) Workers stand next to a damaged residential building following a Russian strike in a small town in Dnipropetrovsk (AFP via Getty Images) Two women hospitalised after shelling in Ukrainian city Kupiansk - Suspline Monday 22 May 2023 11:03 , Martha Mchardy Two women have been hospitalised after shelling in the Ukrainian city Kupiansk in Kharkiv Oblast, Ukraines state broadcaster Suspline is reporting, citing Kharkivs regional governor Oleh Synyehubov. Private houses and civil infrastructure were damaged by shelling, according to reports. Power restored to Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant Monday 22 May 2023 10:54 , Martha Mchardy Ukraine reconnected the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant to its external power supply on Monday after a brief outage that had left it reliant on emergency generators. Back-up diesel generators had earlier kicked in at the plant in southern Ukraine to ensure nuclear fuel was kept cool and prevent a potential disaster. Each side blamed the other for the power outage. A Russia-installed local official said Ukraine had disconnected a power line and Ukrainian state nuclear energy company Energoatom said the problem was caused by Russian shelling. Announcing that repair work had been carried out, Ukrainian national grid operator Ukrenergo said: The station is switching (back) to power supply from the Ukrainian power system. A Russian serviceman guards in an area of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Station in territory under Russian military control (AP) The incident had alarmed Rafael Grossi, the head of the United Nations nuclear energy watchdog, who said the nuclear safety situation at the plant was extremely vulnerable and underlined the need for international protection. Even though the six reactors are shut down at the plant, they still need a constant supply of electricity to keep the nuclear fuel inside cool and prevent a possible meltdown. The plant, which lies in an area of Russian-occupied southern Ukraine near front lines along the Dnipro River, is Europes biggest nuclear power station and the area has been repeatedly hit by shelling. Energoatom said it was the seventh time power had been cut to the plant since Russias full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Ukraine said the latest Russian attacks had cut off electricity to nearly 250,000 consumers in the Zaporizhzhia region but that power had been restored to most of them. Ukrenergo said power was also being restored to consumers in the Dnipropetrovsk region after overnight Russian air strikes. Monday 22 May 2023 10:30 , Martha Mchardy Denmark would like to host a summit in July about how to find peace between Ukraine and Russia, the Ritzau news agency reported foreign minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen saying on Monday. Watch: Head of Russias Wagner group claims to have captured Bakhmut Monday 22 May 2023 10:29 , Martha Mchardy Bakhmut a mousetrap for Russian forces, claims Ukrainian MP Monday 22 May 2023 10:03 , Martha Mchardy The eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut is a mousetrap for Russian forces, a Ukrainian MP has said. Andrii Osadchuk, MP for the Golos party, told Sky News that Kyiv has done well to prevent Moscows forces from going deeper into Ukrainian territory. Mr Osadchuk said that Ukrainian forces did not let Russian forces go deeper into Ukrainian territory to other cities such as Kramatorsk. He said: From the very beginning of the war the Kremlin was desperately needing victories, they dont have victories at all, they only had losses. They created this myth about Bakhmut like its something extremely important for them. From the very beginning we understood that on a technical point Bakhmut is a regular city which is not a big one. At the end of the day, Bakhmut is a mouse trap for Russian forces in Ukraines southeast and definitely Ukraines military will continue its operation because our target is very simple - we need to liquidate their forces as much possible. Kyiv says Ukrainian troops advancing around Bakhmut as Russia brings in more forces Monday 22 May 2023 09:45 , Martha Mchardy Ukrainian troops are still advancing on the flanks of the devastated city of Bakhmut, although the intensity of their movement has decreased and Russia is bringing in more forces, Ukrainian deputy defence minister Hanna Maliar said on Monday. In televised comments, she said Ukraine had a small foothold inside the city itself, again denying Russias assertion that it has established full control over Bakhmut. Liberation of Crimea by military force only way to stop Russian aggression, says Ukrainian presidential advisor Monday 22 May 2023 09:38 , Martha Mchardy The liberation of Crimea by military force is the only way to stop Russian aggression, a Ukrainian presidential advisor has said as the Russias ambassador to the United States warns against a Ukrainian attack on Crimea. Russias ambassador to the United States, Anatoly Antonov, said any Ukrainian strike on the Crimea region would be considered a strike on Russia. It is important that the United States be fully aware of the Russian response, Antonov said in a post on Telegram. Ukraine has intensified its strikes on Russian-held targets especially on the Crimean Peninsula, which Russia annexed from Ukraine in 2014. Mykhailo Podolyak, adviser to the head of the office of president of Ukraine appeared to hit back at this claim. In a tweet he said: Crimea is an indisputable and inseparable part of Ukraine. It was, it is and it will be. The liberation of Crimea using any military force and means is the only rational way to stop Russian aggressions and bring the world back to international law. It is Ukraines direct obligation and necessity today... Crimea is an indisputable and inseparable part of Ukraine. It was, it is and it will be. The liberation of Crimea using any military force and means is the only rational way to stop "Russian aggressions" and bring the world back to international law. It is Ukraine's direct (@Podolyak_M) May 22, 2023 Antonov also warned that the transfer of F-16 jets to Ukraine by the US would raise the question of NATOs role in the conflict. U.S. president Joe Biden on Friday endorsed training programs for Ukrainian pilots on F-16 fighter jets and Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy assured Biden that the aircraft would not be used to go into Russian territory. There is no infrastructure for the operation of the F-16 in Ukraine and the needed number of pilots and maintenance personnel is not there either, Antonov said. What will happen if the American fighters take off from NATO airfields, controlled by foreign volunteers? Wagner group claims to have taken Bakhmut Monday 22 May 2023 09:20 , Martha Mchardy The head of the Russian mercenary Wagner group Yevgeny Prigozhin claimed yesterday his forces had taken the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut after nine months of fighting. Prigozhin said his forces would leave Bakhmut on May 25th. Wagner has made no advances. Wagner today captured no territory. We have captured all the territory we promised to capture, right up to the last centimetre, Prigozhin said on Sunday in an audio message on the Telegram messaging app. As we stated yesterday. We are handing over our positions to (Russias) Defence Ministry and on the 25th (of May) we are leaving the conflict zone. It came after Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said Bakhmut is no longer occupied by the Russian Federation as of Sunday, during the G7 summit in Japan yesterday. Bakhmut is not occupied by Russian Federation as of today. There are no two or three interpretations of those words, he said. In pictures: Destruction Bakhmut Monday 22 May 2023 09:13 , Martha Mchardy Pictures show destruction in the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut. Russia claims to have occupied the city, but yesterday, at the G7 summit in Japan, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said: Bakhmut is not occupied by Russian Federation as of today. There are no two or three interpretations of those words. An apartment block on fire in the city of Bakhmut, Donetsk region (Armed Forces of Ukraine/AFP via) Destruction in the city of Bakhmut (Armed Forces of Ukraine/AFP via) An apartment block on fire in Bakhmut (Armed Forces of Ukraine/AFP via) ICYMI: Putin will not break our resolve, Joe Biden tells G7 Monday 22 May 2023 09:00 , Sravasti Dasgupta Joe Biden has insisted Russian president Vladimir Putin will not break our resolve as he vowed America would show unwavering commitment to Ukraine in a speech at the G7 summit. Speaking on the last day of the summit in Japan, the US president called for peace that respects Ukraines sovereignty and territorial integrity. Martha McHardy reports: Putin will not break our resolve, Joe Biden tells G7 Ukraine shells Russian village in Bryansk, regional governor claims Monday 22 May 2023 08:58 , Martha Mchardy Ukraine shelled a Russian village in Bryansk, the regions governor has claimed. Governor AlexanderBogomaz said Ukrainian forces shelled the village of Khoromnoe in the Klimovsky district. No casualties were reported, but one household and an outbuilding caught fire, he claimed. In a message posted on Telegram, governor Bogomazsaid: The armed forces of Ukraine fired mortars at the village of Khoromnoe in the Klimovsky district. There were no casualties. As a result of the shelling, one household and an outbuilding caught fire. Operational and emergency services are on site. The claims have not been independently verified. Situation at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant cannot continue, says IAEA director general Monday 22 May 2023 08:52 , Martha Mchardy The situation at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant cannot continue, the director general of International Atomic Energy Agency said in a tweet. Ukraines state-owned power generating company Energoatom said on Monday that the outage at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant was due to Russian shelling of an external power line. #Ukraines #ZNPP this morning lost all external electricity for 7th time during conflict, forcing it to rely on emergency diesel generators for power; nuclear safety situation at the plant extremely vulnerable. We must agree to protect plant now; this situation cannot continue. Rafael MarianoGrossi (@rafaelmgrossi) May 22, 2023 Wagner founder Prigozhin says his forces will leave Bakhmut from May 25 to June 1 Monday 22 May 2023 08:47 , Martha Mchardy The founder of Russias Wagner Group Yevgeny Prigozhin said on Monday that Wagner forces will leave Bakhmut, the Ukrainian city that it successfully took on Saturday after a months-long battle, from May 25 until June 1. In pictures: destruction in Dnipro after overnight attacks Monday 22 May 2023 08:44 , Martha Mchardy A vehicle destroyed by a Russian missile strike is seen at a compound of a fire depot of the State Emergency Service, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Dnipro (via REUTERS) Rescuers walk along of destroyed vehicles at a compound of a fire depot of the State Emergency Service heavily damaged by a Russian missile strike (via REUTERS) A vehicle destroyed by a Russian missile strike is seen at a compound of a fire depot of the State Emergency Service (via REUTERS) A vehicle destroyed by a Russian missile strike in Dnipro (via REUTERS) EU won't restore SWIFT link for Russian bank till after Ukraine conflict ends Monday 22 May 2023 08:30 , Sravasti Dasgupta The European Union (EU) may restore access to the SWIFT payment system for a Russian state agricultural bank only after the conflict in Ukraine ends, according to a report in the Russian newspaper Izvestia. The paper quoted EU foreign affairs spokesperson Peter Stano as saying on Monday that the payment mode for Rosselkhozbank may only be restored after Russias war in Ukraine ends. The statement comes as the Black Sea grain deal to allow safe passage of Ukrainian farm produce was extended for two more months last week. But Moscow says it wants to see more progress on implementing parts of the package affecting Russia, including re-admitting Rosselkhozbank to SWIFT. FILE - Cargo ships anchor at the Black Sea wait to cross the Bosporus strait in Istanbul, Turkey, on Nov. 17, 2022. (Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.) Why Ukraine has fought Russia for every inch of Bakhmut, despite high cost Monday 22 May 2023 08:00 , Sravasti Dasgupta The nine-month battle for Bakhmut has destroyed the 400-year-old city in eastern Ukraine and killed tens of thousands of people in a mutually devastating demonstration of Ukraines strategy of exhausting the Russian military. While Russia claims to have captured the city, Ukraine has said it has not been occupied. Ukrainian military leaders say their months-long resistance has been worth it because it limited Russias capabilities elsewhere and allowed for Ukrainian advances. Read more in this report by the Associated Press about why the battle for Bakhmut remains important: 'Exhaust them': Why Ukraine has fought Russia for every inch of Bakhmut, despite high cost Outage at Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant due to Russian shelling of power line, says Ukraines Energoatom Monday 22 May 2023 07:36 , Martha Mchardy Ukraines state-owned power generating company Energoatom said on Monday that the outage at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant was due to Russian shelling of an external power line. The Dniprovska power line in Ukraine, which supplies power for the now Moscow-controlled Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, was disconnected after overnight Russian shelling, Energoatom said on the Telegram messaging app. Eight hurt in overnight attacks on Ukraines Dnipro, according to reports Monday 22 May 2023 07:35 , Martha Mchardy At least eight people were wounded and scores of buildings were damaged in a Russian air attack overnight on the Dnipropetrovsk region, Ukraine said on Monday, adding that air defence systems destroyed 20 drones and four cruise missiles. Seven people were injured in an attack on Synelnykivskyi district of the Dnipropetrovsk region and at least one man was wounded in the attack on Dnipro city, the governor, Serhiy Lysak, said on Telegram. With a Ukrainian counteroffensive looming, Russia has intensified its missile and drone strikes this month after a lull of nearly two months. Waves of attacks now come several times a week, the heaviest of the war. The Russian invaders attacked military and infrastructure facilities of the eastern outpost of Ukraine - the city of Dnipro, Ukraines air force said on the Telegram messaging service. The attack was carried out by 16 different types of missiles and 20 Shahed-136/131 strike drones, the air force said, adding that air defences brought down 20 Russian drones and four cruise missiles. Scores of buildings, including private homes, apartment blocks and administrative infrastructure were damaged or destroyed, he said. The reports have not been independently verified. Russia creating new elite aviation attack group, says MoD Monday 22 May 2023 07:30 , Sravasti Dasgupta The British Ministry of Defence says Russia is highly likely creating a new elite attack aviation group to join its operations over Ukraine. The new group is codenamed Shtorm and consists of at least one squadron of Su-24 Fencer and Su-34 Fullback fighter-bombers, and a squadron of attack helicopters, the MoD said in its latest intelligence update. The mix of aircraft types suggests the group will have a primary role of ground attack missions, the MoD said. It also said that the creation of the group highlights how Russia assesses its regular air force squadrons have severely underperformed in their core function of conducting airstrikes on Ukrainian lines. (2/4) The mix of aircraft types suggests the group will have a primary role of ground attack missions. Ministry of Defence (@DefenceHQ) May 22, 2023 Russia says F-16s to Ukraine would raise question of NATO involvement Monday 22 May 2023 07:28 , Martha Mchardy The transfer of F-16 jets to Ukraine would raise the question of NATOs role in the conflict, a senior Russian diplomat said on Monday, while accusing the U.S. of subordinating the Group of Seven (G7) to its policy of inflicting strategic defeat on Russia. U.S. president Joe Biden on Friday endorsed training programs for Ukrainian pilots on F-16 fighter jets and Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy assured Biden that the aircraft would not be used to go into Russian territory. There is no infrastructure for the operation of the F-16 in Ukraine and the needed number of pilots and maintenance personnel is not there either, Russias ambassador to the United States, Anatoly Antonov, said in remarks published on the embassys Telegram messaging channel. What will happen if the American fighters take off from NATO airfields, controlled by foreign volunteers? Antonov said that any Ukrainian strike on the Crimea region would be considered a strike on Russia. It is important that the United States be fully aware of the Russian response, Antonov said. Ukraine has intensified its strikes on Russian-held targets especially on the Crimean Peninsula, which Russia annexed from Ukraine in 2014. Antonov also reiterated a Russian accusation against the United States of subjecting Western countries to its agenda. Washington completely subordinated the G7 members to its own policy regarding the conflict in Ukraine, Antonov said, adding that the United States wanted a strategic defeat for Russia. During their summit on the weekend in Japan, the G7 countries signalled long-term support for Ukraine. President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, who also attended the gathering, said he was confident that Ukraine would receive supplies of the F-16. Russia, which invaded Ukraine in February last year, has increasingly portrayed what it calls its special military operation as a campaign against the West. Ukraine and its Western allies call Russias action an unprovoked war to grab land. Ukraines Energoatom says power outage at Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Plant Monday 22 May 2023 07:25 , Martha Mchardy Ukraines state-owned power generating company Energoatom said on Monday that there was a power outage at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Plant after a Russia-installed official said the plant was switched to standby and emergency power supply. Yes, we have the seventh blackout since the start of the (Russian) occupation, Energoatom told Reuters. Yuriy Malashko, governor of the Zaporizhzhia region in Ukraine said that there was a fire at one of the facilities in Zaporizhzhia city due to an overload in the power system. Problems with electricity supply that arose in the city of Zaporizhzhia are not related to shelling, Malashko said on the Telegram messaging app. Estonia and Latvia to jointly purchase German air defence systems Monday 22 May 2023 07:01 , Andy Gregory Estonia and Latvia have announced a plan to jointly acquire German air defence systems for the protection of the two Nato nations airspace. According to the provisional deal, deliveries of the medium-range IRIS-T SLM air defence system could begin next year and the systems could be operational in 2025. Estonian defence minister Hanno Pevkur described the deal as a joint project of historical proportions for our defence co-operation, the largest one to date between Tallinn and Riga. Presuming that negotiations are successful, we hope to reach contract and, subsequently, announce the official winning bidder this summer, Mr Pevkur said in a statement. The German air defence system, consisting of truck-mounted launchers, missiles and a separate command vehicle, is designed to protect cities, armies and civilian populations from air attacks and to be effective at neutralising planes and helicopters. Russia launches overnight air attack on Ukraine's Dnipro Monday 22 May 2023 06:30 , Sravasti Dasgupta Russia launched an overnight air attack on the southeastern Ukrainian city of Dnipro, according to officials. Serhiy Lysak, governor of the Dnipropetrovsk region of which Dnipro is the administrative centre, said on Telegram that the region withstood the attack, referring to Russian forces as terrorists. Thanks to the defence forces, we withstood the attack. Details will come in due time. The RBC-Ukraine news agency reported that around 15 blasts were heard in Dnipro during more than 90 minutes of air raid alerts. The Kyiv Independent reported that explosions were heard in Dnipro at 2.54am. It was not immediately known whether the blasts were air defence systems destroying their targets or Russian missiles or drones hitting their targets. FILE-A police officer is seen at the site of a residential area hit by a Russian military strike, amid Russias attack on Ukraines Dnipropetrovsk region (REUTERS) Zelensky draws parallels between Bakhmut and Hiroshima Monday 22 May 2023 06:01 , Andy Gregory Speaking at the G7 summit in Japan on Sunday, Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky drew a parallel between the destruction of Bakhmut and the atomic bombing of Hiroshima. Ill tell you openly: Photographs of ruined Hiroshima absolutely remind me of Bakhmut and other similar settlements, Mr Zelensky told reporters after laying flowers at the cenotaph to victims of the 1945 atrocity. Nothing left alive, all the buildings ruined. (AP /Eugene Hoshiko) Brazil's Lula says meeting fell through because Zelensky was late Monday 22 May 2023 05:30 , Sravasti Dasgupta Brazilian president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has said that a scheduled meeting with Volodymyr Zelensky fell through on the sidelines of the Group of Seven (G7) summit in Japan because the Ukrainian president was late. I had an interview, a bilateral one with Ukraine here in this room at 3.15pm. We waited and received the information that he was late, Mr Lula was quoted as saying by Reuters. He added that Mr Zelensky did not show up ... Clearly he had appointments and he couldnt come. Earlier Zelensky had earlier played down the fact he did not meet with Lula. On the sidelines of the summit Mr Lula also said that the Russia-Ukraine war should be discussed at the UN and not at the G7 meeting. Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva speaks during a news conference after attending the Group of Seven nations summit (Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved) Modi promises whatever is possible to find solution on Ukraine to Zelensky at G7 Monday 22 May 2023 05:02 , Andy Gregory Indian prime minister Narendra Modi has assured Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky of whatever is possible to find a solution to bring an end to the continuing war amid Russias full-scale invasion as the two leaders met in Hiroshima along the sidelines of the G7 summit, my colleague Arpan Rai reports. Over the past one-and-a-half years, we have spoken on the phone but after a long time, we have an opportunity to meet. The war in Ukraine is a very big issue for the whole world. It has had many different impacts on the whole world, Mr Modi told the Ukrainian president as the two leaders sat down for their first face-to-face talks with their delegation on Saturday. Mr Modi added: But I dont see this as a political or economic issue, for me this is an issue of humanity, an issue of human values. Modi promises whatever is possible to find solution on Ukraine to Zelensky at G7 Russia says F16 transfer to Ukraine would raise questions of Nato's involvement Monday 22 May 2023 04:30 , Sravasti Dasgupta Russia has warned of a response and said that the transfer of F16 fighter jets to Ukraine would raise the question of Natos involvement in the conflict. In remarks published early on Monday, Russias ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov said on the embassys Telegram messaging channel: There is no infrastructure for the operation of the F16 in Ukraine and the needed number of pilots and maintenance personnel is not there either. What will happen if the American fighters take off from Nato airfields, controlled by foreign volunteers? He added: It is important that the United States be fully aware of the Russian response. The remarks come days after US president Joe Biden on Friday endorsed training programmes for Ukrainian pilots on F16 fighter jets. Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky assured Mr Biden that the aircraft would not be used to go into Russian territory. (Ukrainian Armed Forces/Reuters) Watch: Ukrainian president Zelensky arrives in Japan for G7 summit Monday 22 May 2023 04:05 , Andy Gregory Russia indicts ICC prosecutor and judge who issued Putin arrest warrant Monday 22 May 2023 03:02 , Andy Gregory Russia has announced indictments in absentia for a judge and prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) who issued a war crimes warrant for president Vladimir Putin. A statement from Russias national Investigative Committee said the judge, Rosario Salvatore Aitala, and prosecutor Khan Karim Asad Ahmad are both charged with preparing to attack a representative of a foreign country enjoying international protection in order to complicate international relations. The committee also said other ICC officials are being investigated. The March warrant against Mr Putin accuses him of personal responsibility for the abductions of children from Ukraine, and the court also charged Maria Lvova-Belova, the Russian presidential commissioner for childrens rights. Russian victory in Bakhmut opens door to more hard-fought battles nearby, says analyst Monday 22 May 2023 02:02 , Andy Gregory Russias claimed victory in Bakhmut would open the the door to more grinding battles nearby, an analyst has said. These would take place in the direction of Sloviansk or Kostiantynivka, 12 miles away from Bakhmut, Kateryna Stepanenko of the US-based Institute for the Study of War think-tank, told the Associated Press. Gains around Bakhmut make it easier to deliver supplies, says Ukrainian commander Monday 22 May 2023 01:00 , AP The flanks regained by Ukraine around Bakhmut in recent days are located near two highways that lead to Chasiv Yar, a town 6 miles from the city that serves as a key logistics supply route, one dubbed the road of life. Ukrainian forces passing this road often came under fire from Russians positioned along nearby strategic heights. Armoured vehicles and pickup trucks driving toward the city to replenish Ukrainian troops were frequently destroyed. With the high plains now under Ukrainian control, its forces have more breathing room. This will help us design new logistic chains to deliver ammunition in and evacuate the injured or killed boys, said Taras Deiak, a commander of a special unit of a volunteer battalion, speaking from inside the city on Thursday, two days before Russia claimed it controlled the city. Now it is easier to deliver supplies, rotate troops, [carry out] evacuations. Ukraine may have taken advantage of weak Russian lines outside Bakhmut Sunday 21 May 2023 23:59 , Andy Gregory Some analysts have said that Ukraines tactical gains in the rural area outside urban Bakhmut could be more significant than they seem. It was almost like the Ukrainians just took advantage of the fact that, actually, the Russian lines were weak, said Phillips OBrien, a professor of strategic studies at the University of St. Andrews. The Russian army has suffered such high losses and is so worn out around Bakhmut that ... it cannot go forward anymore. Watch: Biden pledges 'unwavering commitment to stand with Ukraine at G7 summit Sunday 21 May 2023 23:02 , Andy Gregory Prigozhin claims practically no one from Russian army involved in Bakhmut capture' Sunday 21 May 2023 22:01 , Andy Gregory Claiming the capture of Bakhmut, the founder of the Wagner mercenary group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, insisted that practically no one from the [Russian] army helped us. In a braven display of insouciance towards the Kremlin, the mercenary chief has repeatedly attacked Russias military leaders over their logistical ineptitude and lack of support in Bakhmut, which Western analysts have suggested reflects Vladimir Putins weakening grip on power in Moscow. In remarks on Sunday, Mr Prigozhin said his forces would hand its territory in Bakhmut over to the defence ministrys troops on Friday. We have captured all the territory we promised to capture, right up to the last centimetre, he said in an audio message on Telegram. As we stated yesterday. We are handing over our positions to [Russias] Defence Ministry and on the 25th we are leaving the conflict zone. ICYMI: Ukraine says troops still engaging Russian forces in Bakhmut after Moscow announces victory in city Sunday 21 May 2023 21:00 , Matt Mathers Ukrainian soldiers were still engaging Russian forces in fierce battles in and around Bakhmut on Sunday, military officials said, hours after Moscow and the private army Wagner announced that their troops had taken full control of the eastern city. The fog of war made it impossible to confirm the situation on the ground in the invasions longest battle, and a series of comments from Ukrainian and Russian officials added confusion to the matter. Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minsiter Hanna Malyar even went so far as to say that Ukrainian troops took the city in a semi-encirclement. Susie Blann and Elise Morton report: Ukraine says troops still engaging Russian forces in Bakhmut after Moscow announces victory in city Ukraines insignificant territory in Bakhmut still a vital foothold, top general insists Sunday 21 May 2023 19:58 , Andy Gregory Kyivs troops are advancing on Russian forces in the suburbs of Bakhmut and are getting closer to a "tactical encirclement" of the city, the commander of Ukraine's ground forces has claimed. General Oleksandr Syrskyi said on Telegram that he had visited frontline positions near Bakhmut and thanked troops defending the area. Accepting that the area still controlled by Ukraine was insignificant, the top general insisted the foothold would be enough to enter the devastated city when the situation changed, Reuters reported. ICYMI: Russia warns of colossal risks if F-16 fighter jets sent to Ukraine Sunday 21 May 2023 19:00 , Matt Mathers Russia has warned Western countries that supplying Ukraine with F-16 fighter jets would carry colossal risks, after US president Joe Biden announced the US would support the delivery of warplanes. As G7 leaders met for the second day of the summit in Japan, Russian deputy foreign minister Alexander Grushko accused Western countries of still adhering to the escalation scenario. It involves colossal risks for themselves, he added. In any case, this will be taken into account in all our plans, and we have all the necessary means to achieve the goals we have set. Katy Clifton reports: Russia warns of colossal risks if F-16 fighter jets sent to Ukraine Opinion: Are the economic sanctions on Russia yielding desirable results? Sunday 21 May 2023 18:00 , Matt Mathers They have long been the weapon of choice of political leaders wishing to curb a rogue countrys behaviour the problem is, they rarely work, writes Chris Blackhurst. Read Chriss full piece here: Are the economic sanctions on Russia yielding desirable results? | Chris Blackhurst ICYMI: Modi promises whatever is possible to find solution on Ukraine to Zelensky at G7 Sunday 21 May 2023 17:00 , Matt Mathers Indian prime minister Narendra Modi has assured Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky of whatever is possible to find a solution to bring an end to the continuing war amid Russias full-scale invasion as the two leaders met in Hiroshima along the sidelines of the G7 summit. Over the past one-and-a-half years, we have spoken on the phone but after a long time, we have an opportunity to meet. The war in Ukraine is a very big issue for the whole world. It has had many different impacts on the whole world, Mr Modi told the Ukrainian president as the two leaders sat down for their first face-to-face talks with their delegation on Saturday. Mr Modi added: But I dont see this as a political or economic issue, for me this is an issue of humanity, an issue of human values. Arpan Rai reports: Modi promises whatever is possible to find solution on Ukraine to Zelensky at G7 Wagner chief says he will pull fighters out of Bakhmut after capturing city Sunday 21 May 2023 16:40 , Matt Mathers The leader of a Russian mercenary group has said he will pull its fighters from Bakhmut after claiming to have captured the Ukrainian city. Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin said Bakhmut, in the eastern Donetsk-Oblast region, had been captured by his private army on Saturday afternoon - a claim Ukraine continues to dispute. Volodymyr Zelenskys deputy defence minister Hanna Maliar instead claimed Ukrainian forces have partly encircled the besieged eastern city along the flanks and still control a part of the city. Full report: Wagner chief says he will pull fighters out of Bakhmut after capturing city ICYMI: Putin will not break our resolve, Joe Biden tells G7 Sunday 21 May 2023 16:20 , Matt Mathers Joe Biden has insisted Russian president Vladimir Putin will not break our resolve as he vowed America would show unwavering commitment to Ukraine in a speech at the G7 summit. Speaking on the last day of the summit in Japan, the US president called for peace that respects Ukraines sovereignty and territorial integrity. He also said Volodymyr Zelensky has given the US a flat assurance that Ukraine will not use F-16 jets to attack Russian territory after the US gave the green light for Western allies to hand over their F-16 fighter jets to Kyiv to bolster defences. Martha McHardy reports: Putin will not break our resolve, Joe Biden tells G7 Russian mercenary chief plays down regular army's role in claimed capture of Bakhmut Sunday 21 May 2023 15:39 , Matt Mathers The founder of Russias Wagner mercenary force on Sunday played down the role of the regular Russian army in capturing Bakhmut, the east Ukrainian city that Moscow claimed to have taken a day earlier. In a voice message published by his press service on Telegram, Yevgeny Prigozhin said: "During the taking of Artyomovsk, practically no one from the army helped us", referring to Bakhmut by its Soviet-era name. Kyiv denies Russia has taken full control of Bakhmut and says its forces have partly encircled the city. Wagner fighters have long spearheaded Russias campaign to take the city, taking heavy losses in the process. In the same message, Prigozhin praised individual Russsian army units, while restating long-standing criticism of the leadership of Russias defence ministry, which he has accused of hampering the war effort via incompetence. Russia Ukraine Wagner (PRIGOZHIN PRESS SERVICE) South Korea and Germany to sign defence pact Sunday 21 May 2023 15:20 , Matt Mathers South Korea and Germany will soon sign an agreement aimed at protecting military secrets to boost defence cooperation, South Korean president Yoon Suk Yeol said on Sunday as he met with German chancellor Olaf Scholz in Seoul. The military information agreement will help "smoothly operate the defence industry supply chain", amid global economic and political instability, Yoon told a briefing. South Korea, which recently pursued a similar information-sharing pact with Canada, has moved to expand its defence industry amid rising demand driven by the war in Ukraine and other global tensions, but has so far refused to provide weapons to Kyiv. Yoon said respect for freedom as a universal value was "very vital" in the face of authoritarianism challenging democracy, unstable global supply chains and the war. "From now, I expect South Korea and Germany will further expand reciprocal and future-oriented cooperation and strengthen the solidarity for peace and prosperity of Europe and Asia," Yoon said in opening remarks at the meeting with Scholz. The two leaders also discussed deepening cooperation in production of semiconductors, among other areas. Yoon Suk Yeol with Scholz Pro-government rally in Moldovan capital draws tens of thousands Sunday 21 May 2023 15:00 , Matt Mathers Tens of thousands of Moldovans rallied in the capital Chisinau on Sunday to support their pro-Western governments drive towards Europe amid what officials have said are Russian efforts to destabilise their country. Moldova has been badly hit by the impact of Moscows invasion of neighbouring Ukraine, which Chisinau has repeatedly condemned, and applied to join the European Union. President Maida Sandu has accused Russia of seeking to sabotage its European integration by fuelling anti-government protests and propaganda. Moscow denies meddling in Moldovas affairs. "Moldova does not want to be blackmailed by the Kremlin," Sandu said at the rally, which was organised by her government and packed a central square. Police said more than 75,000 demonstrators were present. "We dont want to be on the outskirts of Europe anymore," she said, pledging that Moldova would become an EU member by 2030. Russia calls G7 summit incubator for anti-Russian and anti-Chinese hysteria Sunday 21 May 2023 14:35 , Matt Mathers Russias foreign ministry on Sunday dismissed the G7 summit in Japans Hiroshima as a "politicised" event that it said had pumped out anti-Russian and anti-Chinese statements and accused the forum of undermining global stability. Moscow lashed out after the leaders of the worlds richest democracies said they would not back down from supporting Ukraine, in a warning to Russian president Vladimir Putin as he claimed to have taken the eastern city of Bakhmut, something Kyiv denied. In a statement posted on Telegram, the Russian foreign ministry said that the G7 had "irreversibly deteriorated" and that the forum had become "an incubator where, under the leadership of the Anglo-Saxons, destructive initiatives that undermine global stability are prepared". The statement accused the G7 of fanning anti-Russian and anti-Chinese "hysteria". Estonia and Latvia look to purchase mid-range air defence from Germany Sunday 21 May 2023 14:10 , Matt Mathers European Union and NATO members Estonia and Latvia will begin negotiations with Germanys Diehl Defence for the purchase of a medium-range air defence system, Estonias Defence ministry said on Sunday. The cost of the Iris-T SLM air defence system and additional capabilities such as infrastructure, personnel, training, equipment, will be determined at the negotiations, which could be concluded during the summer, it added. Our objective is to ensure operational medium-range air defence capabilities for Estonia by 2025, which means that the first systems should arrive in 2024, Estonias defence minister Hanno Pevkur said. The purchase will be led by Estonia Centre for Defence Investment. Estonias defence minister Hanno Pevkur (Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved) Zelensky likens Bakhmuts devastation to Hiroshima after World War Two Sunday 21 May 2023 13:45 , Matt Mathers President Volodymyr Zelensky likened the destruction of Ukraines eastern city of Bakhmut to that of Hiroshima in World War Two, as he attended the G7 summit in the Japanese city on Sunday. Russia said on Saturday it had captured the ruined city of Bakhmut after the longest and bloodiest battle of its full-scale invasion, though Ukraine denies Moscows forces have full control of the city. "Ill tell you openly: Photographs of ruined Hiroshima absolutely remind me of Bakhmut and other similar settlements. Nothing left alive, all the buildings ruined," he told reporters. Zelensky told the press conference that Ukrainian forces were continuing to fighting inside the city of Bakhmut and were carrying out "important tasks". "Today they are in Bakhmut which places, I wont share. But this speaks to the fact that Bakhmut has not been captured by the Russian Federation as of today. There are no two or three interpretations of this." The photos below show the scale of some of the destruction in the city, which has become the longest-running battle in the war. (Maxar/Reuters) (Maxar/Reuters) (Maxar/AP) Ukraine controls insignificant part of Bakhmut, advancing on flanks - general Sunday 21 May 2023 13:20 , Matt Mathers A top Ukrainian general said on Sunday that Kyivs forces controlled an "insignificant" part of the eastern city of Bakhmut, but that the foothold would be enough to enter the devastated city when the situation changed. In a Telegram post, general Oleksandr Syrskyi said Kyivs forces were advancing on Russian forces in the suburbs of Bakhmut and that they were getting closer to a "tactical encirclement" of the city. Ukraine says troops still engaging Russian forces in Bakhmut after Moscow announces victory in city Sunday 21 May 2023 13:00 , Matt Mathers Ukrainian soldiers were still engaging Russian forces in fierce battles in and around Bakhmut on Sunday, military officials said, hours after Moscow and the private army Wagner announced that their troops had taken full control of the eastern city. The fog of war made it impossible to confirm the situation on the ground in the invasions longest battle, and a series of comments from Ukrainian and Russian officials added confusion to the matter. Ukrainian deputy defence minister Hanna Malyar even went so far as to say that Ukrainian troops took the city in a semi-encirclement. Susie Blann and Elise Morton report: Ukraine says troops still engaging Russian forces in Bakhmut after Moscow announces victory in city Watch: Zelensky and Fumio Kishida lay wreaths at Peace Memorial Park in Hiroshima Sunday 21 May 2023 12:35 , Matt Mathers (The Asahi Shimbun via Getty Imag) (EPA) (EPA) Watch: Zelensky takes part in family photo with world leaders at G7 summit Sunday 21 May 2023 12:10 , Matt Mathers Bakhmut not occupied by Russia - Zelenksy Sunday 21 May 2023 12:05 , Matt Mathers Bakhmut is not occupied by Russia as of today, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has said. Answering questions from the media at a press conference following the G7 leaders meeting in Japan, Mr Zelensky was asked whether the battle for the city was still ongoing and whether its defence was worth all the lives that have been lost. He said: We dont have simple questions any more, as well as we dont have simple answers. Because we have a very complicated neighbour, who is a criminal and terrorist, a complicated enemy. We are keeping young, fighting thanks to the courage of our people, our warriors, and thanks to our cleverness. We are not throwing people to die. Mr Zelensky added: Bakhmut is not occupied by Russian Federation as of today. There are no two or three interpretations of those words. Situation critical in Bakhmut Saturday 20 May 2023 15:28 , Matt Mathers Ukraine has denied claims by Russia that it has taken full control of Bakhmut but warned the situation in the key battle town is critical. Hanna Maliar, Ukraines defence minister, pushed back on the claim by Yevgeny Prigozhin that his Wagner Group of mercenaries had seized the town around lunchtime. Heavy fighting in Bakhmut. The situation is critical, she said on the Telegram messaging app. As of now, our defenders control some industrial and infrastructure facilities in the area and the private sector. It was clear from the moment that Californias Reparations Task Force began pushing the idea of large cash payments to descendants of African-American slaves that there is insufficient political will to use money for making right what some call Americas original sin. Without doubt, much of what has built this nation was accomplished on the backs of those slaves. They established crops on plantations and farms from Rhode Island to Texas. They built the White House and the national Capitol. They paved roads and built bridges. Once legally freed, they were still kept in bondage by sharecropping and ultra-low industrial wages. They were denied home loans in a practice called redlining, they had segregationist Jim Crow rules imposed on them in many places. But California was never the center of Black slavery and discrimination. De facto slaves here were usually Native American Indians or Chinese laborers compelled to build railroads and rice farms, drain swamps and dig sewers. Plus populating brothels without hope for escape and becoming domestic servants. But the states Reparations Task Force has made no mention of these other actual and quasi-slaves. Composed entirely of African-Americans, the group discussed no one else. It eventually became obvious that even the politicians on that commission had no stomach for trying to push through the Legislature the kind of cash reparations some colleagues on the task force and others are demanding. Those demands most likely will form a significant part of the groups final report to Gov. Gavin Newsom and the Legislature, expected in late June. But Newsom, coping with a $31.5 billion budget deficit, quickly made plain there will be no cash anytime soon for reparations to Blacks and only Blacks for the poor health care, housing discrimination and other hardships imposed upon most of them for much of Californias 173 years of statehood. Besides the lack of political will for this, its fast becoming clear that reparations favoring just one and only one group solely on the basis of its ancestry wont get far in the courts. Thats because government favoritism of one group over others is not permitted under the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which guarantees all who live in America equal protection of the laws. Story continues So if one person whose forebears suffered legally-sanctioned injustice is entitled to reparations, so are any other persons whose ancestors also faced government-imposed injustice. How is it justified under the 14th Amendment ironically written and passed to protect Blacks released from slavery to deny Indians reparations after their ancestral villages were systematically burned by the U.S. Army in the latter part of the 19th century? How could descendants of Chinese forced laborers also be denied reparations? And yet, the Reparations Task Force in its preliminary findings released in May mentioned only Blacks. Even those who have lived in California as briefly as two years could be eligible for six-figure checks if the Legislature adopts the tentative task force plan. Yes, some ideas in that report might be practical and legal, even in this newly-arrived era of big budget deficits, but only if they are applied to all groups that faced government-sanctioned or -approved discrimination. This could apply to Jews prevented from buying many properties before the late 1950s through then-legal clauses in land deeds prohibiting sales to that ethno-religious group. It would need also to apply to Japanese who lost property while interned in special camps during World War II. This means reparations, which might have run up to almost $1 trillion for the 9+ percent of Californians who are African-American, might cost even more than that if other groups are treated equally, as the 14th Amendment appears to demand. Japanese and Chinese and Jews may not be able to prove they were systematically and deliberately denied equal health care, as the task force says Blacks were, but all faced some say they still face discrimination in housing, employment and college admissions, areas where the task force seeks compensation for Blacks. Which means something different must be worked out, or else no wrongs at all will be righted. Email Thomas Elias at tdelias@aol.com. This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: Whatever politicos do, cash reparations likely illegal Last week, employees at a Boston REI store joined a movement underway in the outdoor retailers stores across the U.S. when they voted in favor of unionizing their location. This initial union win marked the latest victory for a relatively recent organizing drive taking root across REI stores and across retail more broadly. In addition to Boston, four other REI stores in Chicago, California, New York City and Ohio have voted in favor of unionizing in the last two years, and others across Oregon, North Carolina and Minnesota have begun the process as well, filing filed petitions with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) for union elections. More from Footwear News Meanwhile, retail workers at other major corporations have led union pushes in the months and years following the pandemic a time when many employees worked on the frontlines of essential retail businesses while office workers and other employees stayed at home. More than 300 Starbucks stores have unionized since 2021, in one of the most extensive organizing campaigns to have spread within one retail company. Elsewhere, employees at Trader Joes stores and Amazon warehouses have also begun their own union drives, albeit on much smaller scales. The pandemic seems to have sort of changed the labor environment in a way that sort of opened up an opportunity for unions, said John Logan, a labor professor at San Francisco State University. Particular kinds of workers are very attracted to the idea of organizing right now as a result of the way they were treated during the pandemic. At places like Starbucks and REI, these workers tend to be younger, college educated idealistic and driven by their values. [They typically have no] previous involvement with unions, but sometimes a background in activism in things like Black Lives Matter, abortion rights, and so forth, Logan said. This generation of young workers appears to be politicized and pro-union in a way, even more so than previous generations. Story continues Thats part of what likely attracted many of these employees to companies like Starbucks, or a members-owned co-op like REI, both of which espouse values like embracing the LGBTQ+ community, condemning racism and mitigating environmental harm. In many ways, pushing for a collective voice through a union is an extension of those philosophies. Its time that REI practices its values, said Cloud Schneider (They/Them), a member of the REI Cleveland Organizing Committee and visual sales lead at REI in a statement when the Cleveland store filed for a union election. At REI, we live by the phrase a life outdoors is a life well lived. Yet employees are not paid fair wages and have to deal with irregular scheduling preventing us from enjoying the great outdoors. Employees have really bonded around solidarity, said Jason Greer, a labor relations expert and consultant and former board agent with the NLRB. While these employees might be advocating for better pay and hours on the surface, its the sense of collective power and community that is making this catch on, Greer explained. REI stores starting the unionization process have said they have been inspired by previous REI wins, such as at the trailblazing New York City store. Seeing the stores in SoHo and Berkeley vote to unionize really inspired the rest of us, said Durham REI worker Alice Bennett in an email to FN. We realized that within our own stores, we werent alone with our issues and that stores across the company needed change. While not quite at the scale of Starbucks, the REI union effort has benefited from visibility on social media. Unionizing stores have set up pages on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, with some pages garnering thousands of followers. In addition to posting their own journeys and wins on social media, the accounts also interact with one another, offering collective support as a broader REI unionization effort. For its part, REI has at least publicly maintained a supportive stance for the efforts. REI believes in the right of every eligible employee to vote for or against union representation, the company said in a statement following Boston REI election results, echoing previous comments regarding unionizations efforts at different stores. We fully supported our Boston employees through the vote process and we will continue to support our employees going forward as they begin to navigate the collective bargaining process. However, some employees maintain a different story. REI workers at a store in Durham, N.C. went on strike earlier this month to protest managements response to their unionization efforts. They said they were striking because of an Unfair Labor Practice charge they filed against management, citing illegal discipline of workers who are involved in the union organization efforts, a release said. According to a release, REI put an active union organizer on administrative leave without clear information about his status. The employees also called on management to cease manipulating the election process. The Durham store is set to vote for union representation on May 25. Theyve been heavy-handed in their union busting tactics in a way that has really disappointed me and my coworkers, Bennett said. The lengths REI has been willing to go to to persuade us to vote no when we are actually just seeking the genuine collaboration a co-op should offer has been really sad for those of who believe in REIs values. As of last week, NLRB regional offices were investigating a total of 22 unfair labor practice charges filed against REI at various stores. Now that the movement has garnered momentum, the public and not to mention REIs more than 23 million co-op members are watching the way management responds. Instead of using force to quash the union, negotiating in good faith and listening to employee concerns is likely the best tactic for management, Greer said. This thing has spread like wildfire, Greer said of the REI unionizing campaign. Once the fire gets started, it is going to be very hard to put it out. Best of Footwear News Sign up for FN's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Click here to read the full article. Luz Elena Mendoza Ramos has been making music as Y La Bamba for 15 years, but their new record Lucha feels like a breakthrough moment for the Mexican American singer-songwriter. It is also a sort of homecoming, marking the first full-length album Ramos has released since moving to Mexico City in 2022. Though their family hails from the pueblo and el rancho, as Ramos tells me in a Zoom interview, they are still connecting to their roots in the capitals more urban atmosphere, undergoing a process they like to call reverse assimilation. I love being in Mexico, they gush, and really learning that part of something that my parents couldnt teach me. Lucha, out now from the label Tender Loving Empire, opens with Eight, a meditative collage of wind chimes, piano, and delicate acoustic guitar. The song might seem like a peaceful start to a record whose title literally translates to fight or the struggle. But Ramos has learned through experience that fighting also looks like healing, self-discovery, and coming to terms with the fragility of life. Eight, for example, was written after Ramos dear friend and fellow musician Nectali Sumo Hair Diaz died in Los Angeles in the summer of 2022, as a way to reckon with their distance from the tragedy. The album also grapples with the generational trauma of immigrant life. After their parents came to the United States in the 70s, Ramos mother harvested fruit in Ceres, an agricultural town in the central valley of California. Their father, Ramos says, crossed into the country through the use of a coyote, a person hired to smuggle immigrants into the United States, which is a dangerous and sometimes deadly way to enter the country. To this day, the 40-year-old Ramos is still feeling the aftermath of their turbulent home life. I feel like I grew up with trauma, and Im trying to reorganize these narratives constantly, they elaborate. I am unpacking a lot of this history and its natural for me. Story continues As part of that unpacking, Ramos moved to their familys country of origin in 2022. Though they grew up in a Mexican community in Medford, Oregon, Ramos says the hyper-capitalist mentality of the United States kept them from feeling a deeper connection to their culture, especially to the indigenous aspects of their own history. Now living in Mexico, they are learning to slow their brain down, undertaking a spiritual journey to connect to their familys past. Theres a learning curve and its painful. Ive never done ayahuasca, but Im sure its like this ayahuasca experience, they tell me a fitting metaphor for an album that finds Ramos sifting through grief and trauma to find reserves of hope, understanding and queer joy. Ahead of the release of Lucha, Ramos spoke with Them about generational trauma, ancestral algorithms, and embracing suffering. In your artist statement you said you dont want to demonize suffering. Could you elaborate on that? In regards to mental health, [my first-generation experience] was Oh, dont you dare talk about a fucking therapist in our communities because that means youre fucking lost or on drugs. I wasnt born in Mexico, but Im very informed in my DNA and in the way that I was raised. I have that really memorized in my bones. I think a lot of that follows from colonialism and classism: You gotta work hard. If youre having a bad time, its because youre not working hard enough. When I go to Mexico and I see the classism and the divide and the economic disparity I can see the ghosts of that trauma, of that scarcity mindset. Then there are people who dont have the privilege to even check in with themselves to see if theyre suffering or not, because theyre fucking surviving. You dont have time to talk about identity politics. You dont have time to talk about your mental health. You dont have the privilege and the space to even wiggle in that. To someone like me, it makes sense to say, Hey, lets not demonize suffering. Some people might not understand what is underneath that soil, what the roots are that fucking make up that statement, which is all the shit. Its growing up Catholic. There arent many bilingual singers in indie rock. Can you speak to that? I dont believe in a genre. Im non-binary in my genre. Im fluid in my genre. Dude, Im fucking Mexican American. I was born in 1982 and was in Southern Oregon, and grew up in just fucking tight-ass Mexican communities. It was at school that I hung out with all the fucking white American-cultured fucking kids. And Im right in the middle. Im a border, even though I didnt grow up in the border. Inside, Im a border. Theres a lot of code-switching, a lot of assimilating, and my parents didnt fucking teach me how to be American. Are you kidding me? Theyre not responsible for me speaking English. This is just being self-made and figuring it out. When you hear my music, thats me just fucking hearing and figuring myself out as a fucking person. And I guess indie rock might also be the wrong genre to label your music. Do you agree? I grew up fucking listening to Mariachi, well, mostly Corridos, Nortenos. Like, musica tradicional. And then you fucking put that in the blender, and Im fucking sitting there trying to pretend to be this fucking indie white kid when I was young. Its not that I wanted to be white, I was just learning my environment and seeing whats stuck and what didnt, and pretended that I knew the fucking books that they were reading. Im fucking Chicano, Latinx, fucking Mexican American. And theres not a lot of us [in indie rock.] YLaBamba_inline Jennifer Carrillo In Nunca, you speak a lot about your mother, and how she loves life, and how much you admire that. I thought it was such a beautiful sentiment. My grandmothers like that. She just exists. Shes 95 and things dont bother her. I want to be more like her and not overthink as much. Does that overthinking resonate with you? Were the generation of overthinking, I think its due to the impact of being bi-cultural and biracial and also existing in music spaces. My family has anxiety, they just dont talk about it. My mom s just innocent and honest, and also whenever shes not honest, I can see why, because of where she comes from and everything. I just hold space. Shes gone through so much shit. We had a very [difficult home life.] It was intense. My dad has a colonizer mentality: theres anger there and theres that ancestral algorithm of some sort, of [picking up] how things were led where he used to live and how he got treated and what he saw. On my moms side of the family, its not like that, you can see more of the indigeneity, more of the sovereignty, the softness. To have an accurate lens, an accurate narrative of what it means to be this biracial person, being Mexican or Chicano or Mexican-American, [you need to understand both sides.] Im going through an awakening of really knowing where my family comes from, so I can represent it accurately. I come from a very complex history, and theres a lot within that. I feel like that is generational trauma. Its within our bodies when were born. This is the way that it comes from ancestry to today. Its like we hold that in our body even if we dont experience it directly; its still part of the lineage. And I think its beautiful that you can see it from that point of view, because it could just manifest as anger. I think its a trauma. There is a lot of anger. Im now seeing that in my innocence as a kid: I didnt even know I was allowed to be angry. It wasnt until later when I started seriously going to therapy. I never went to therapy until I was fucking 37. We need someone who we can talk to, and there hasnt been access to that. The weird things that I had about therapy was because of what my Mexican community told me about it. So I had to get over that. There wasnt a fucking conversation about what that looked like. And I still carried the shame of having to admit that I need help for a lot longer. Do you consider yourself a spiritual person? I have the blessing and the curse of wanting to see the arithmetic behind all the ancestral algorithms and everything thats beyond. Its just so natural for me. I feel perhaps I am sensitive to the arithmetic that ties all of us together just as existing beings that we are, spiritual beings, these energies, these consciousness. I ask myself: Where do my parents come from? Where do their parents come from? Whats the history behind that? Whats the history behind these physical, tangible experiences that weve had, and that theyve already lived before us and will continue living after us? Why do I feel that way? Maybe because its trauma, maybe its because of my hypervigilance, or maybe its Maybelline. I dont fucking know. Im a border, even though I didnt grow up in the border. Inside, Im a border. Whats it like to speak more openly about your queerness these days? I definitely felt queer very early on. And I dont even know what to call it. I was into girls, lets just say it. Its a lot to unpack, to talk about the fluidity of my queerness and who I am as a person and how I navigate my sexuality. its very transformative, its ongoing. Im so glad that Ive been able to find that space and for me to relax and really stretch out all my limbs, all of my fibers of everything that this physical body is. And also what Ive been given, this spirit, this brain, this wandering soul that is yearning for love in a certain way and how to love and nurture and be nurtured. In my queerness, I have really felt like I am finding freedom. I know Im fucking older, but its taken me a long time for me to really celebrate who I am and where I am, and have access to the expansive parts of my sexuality. And theres a lot of pain behind it. I didnt have the option to come out early in life. It wasnt even available to me. I mean, I was like Jesus Christ, beans and rice. I grew up very Catholic. I got confirmed, got baptized, had my first communion. I grew up with such a misogynistic patriarchy. I had to cook for my dad. I had to iron his laundry. I know that a lot of my unpacking is deconstructing past unhealthy relationships and my addiction to narcissistic men. Because that was embedded into me: the man has the final word. Theyre the ones who provide. So I was attracted to that kind of archetype, you know? There was so much shame around it. And it was all subconscious and buried into that. Ive definitely had relationships with women way early on. It wasnt until a couple of months ago that I told my mom that Im queer and that I have relationships with women. Salute, Corook, and Jessy Lanza: Our Favorite New Music This Month Listen to these artists and more on our monthly queer playlist. It seems like youre in this beautiful period of learning and revelations. Do you think that this new album is an encapsulation of that? Do you feel like that is reflected in the music directly? I feel like Im always in that state of reflection and growing, as long as Ive known myself, its this way that I am, and what changes is what Im learning. As long as Im able to document any form of expression, if its visual or sonically, I think theres always going to be that reflection of, Im growing, even if Im not outwardly talking about my growth or I think that in some shape or form its going to show itself if Im creating it. This album is actually bittersweet because theres a lot that took to make the album happen. I recorded it half in Portland, half in Mexico City. I got to meet and work with a really amazing Chilean community. Theres so much information within this album and its just a stamp of a moment in time. This conversation has been edited and condensed. Lucha is available now from Tender Loving Empire. Y La Bamba is currently touring the United States and Mexico City. Get the best of whats queer. Sign up for Thems weekly newsletter here. Originally Appeared on them. After two teenage girls were found dead from overdoses at a high school in Fayette County, Tennessee, a third teenage girl who survived an overdose is facing criminal charges. The teen faces two charges of second-degree murder and one charge of possession of a controlled substance, District Attorney Mark Davidson told CBS News. The girl who is facing charges was hospitalized in critical condition, police said on Facebook. She was later upgraded to stable condition, according to CBS affiliate WREG, and recovered enough to appear in juvenile court on Thursday to be charged. WREG reported Thursday that the judge described the incident as a "horrible sad, sad situation." Police told WREG that the incident occurred at Fayette-Ware High School around 4:40 p.m., just hours before the school's graduation ceremony. Chief Deputy Ray Garcia told WREG that the office was notified that there were "two individuals that were found that appeared not to be breathing." In a statement shared on social media, the school said that the students were outside the school when the incident occurred. All three girls were juniors at the school, Davidson said. None of the girls' identities have been released because they are minors. Davidson told CBS News that there have been "preliminary indications" that fentanyl, a powerful synthetic opioid, was involved in the overdoses, but investigators are still awaiting a full lab report. According to WREG, fentanyl was found at the school and at the charged teen's home. Texts and social media were also used as evidence. According to the station, the girl was released into the custody of her grandmother. Davidson told CBS News that she will next appear in court on June 7. The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation is assisting the sheriff's office with the investigation, according to WREG. Fayette-Ware High School is about 48 miles from Memphis. Bill Barr says Trump's classified documents case is his biggest legal risk Price Gouging | Sunday on 60 Minutes NFL legend Jim Brown dies If you enjoy watching cardinals or bluebirds at a feeder or seeing a great blue heron at the water's edge, it may not be immediately apparent but the nation's birds are under siege. "Birds are declining," said Ken Rosenberg, a conservation biologist with Road to Recovery, an organization that focuses on recovery of the nation's most rapidly declining birds. "It's death by a million cuts." Theyre imperiled by habitat loss, disease and other threats. Several incidents this spring illustrate a few of the hazards. In northern Arizona, at least 13 endangered California condors died after being infected by avian flu, and federal officials just approved an emergency vaccine. In Florida in April, state wildlife officials charged two men with shooting and killing colorful, migratory cedar waxwings, including a blueberry farmer trying to keep them off his bushes. Also in Florida, a man was charged with driving a golf cart into a flock of American black skimmers on the beach, killing five birds. California condors are among the nation's most imperiled birds, but recovery actions have built their numbers back to more than 500 birds. Scientists estimate more than 3 billion birds have been lost in the U.S. since 1970 and dozens of species are considered endangered, threatened or at risk. While extensive conservation efforts helped recover the condors, bald eagles and others, dangers remain for many species and climate change poses additional threats to habitats and food resources. Here's what we know about bird species of greatest concern in the continental U.S. Which bird species are most at risk? It's hard to quantify which birds are most threatened, said Rodney Siegel, executive director of The Institute for Bird Populations. Is it a measure of population, habitat loss, rate of decline or something else? A Florida scrub jay sits atop an oak at Blue Spring State Park in Orange City, Florida. The birds, endemic to Florida, are among the nation's most imperiled birds. Below is a list of the birds found only in the U.S. that have the lowest populations, based on two sets of estimates kept by Partners in Flight, a network of 150 organizations in the Western Hemisphere, and a list of most imperiled birds from the American Bird Conservancy . Story continues California condor: Largest and rarest, with an estimated 561 in 2022, including 347 birds in the wild, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Whooping crane : From fewer than two dozen whooping cranes in the 1940s, conservation measures have helped build the population to just under 1,000 cranes. Island scrub-jay : Found only on Santa Cruz Island off California, these birds have the smallest range. Once numbering more than 12,000, its population is an estimated 2,300 but recovering. Florida scrub-jay : It has vanished from 10 Florida counties and its habitat is fragmented. Available population estimates vary widely from 7,500 to 11,000. It thrives in the Ocala National Forest where conservation efforts have protected large areas of its habitat. Gunnison sage-grouse : This bird disappeared from roughly 90% of its range and is found in only 14 counties in Colorado and Utah. An estimated 4,800 remain, according to Partners in Flight data. Kirtlands warbler : On the endangered species list for 47 years before being delisted in 2019, it's "a success story," said Nicole Michel, quantitative science director for National Audubon Society. "But we still need to keep working to protect them." Estimated at 4,800, the nation's rarest songbird is found almost exclusively in stands of young Jack pine in Michigan, Wisconsin and Ontario. Cassia crossbill : These relatives of the red crossbill were named a separate species in 2017. Fewer than 5,800 remain, found only in Idaho's South Hills and Albion mountains, according to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Piping plover: With an estimated population of 8,400, its greatest threat is human activity, Michel said. People walking or playing on the beach where the birds nest on bare sand, or letting dogs run loose, can harm the birds and scare them off their nests. A Florida scrub jay feeds a chick in the nest at Lyonia Preserve in Deltona, Florida. The jay, found only in Florida, is considered one of the most imperiled birds in the U.S. Which other species are at a tipping point? An estimated 104 species are at greatest threat, according to Road to Recovery, an independently funded organization to collaborate and focus on recovery of the most rapidly declining birds. Rosenberg was lead author on the study that identified the loss of at least 3 billion birds, and Road to Recovery grew out of that effort. The group created three "alert" lists red, orange and yellow to target the cause of decline and develop recovery strategies. Why are birds declining? While general threats such as habitat loss, invasive species and human activities are broadly understood, many birds continue to decline without scientists being able to identify a specific cause despite decades of research and conservation, according to Road to Recovery. "A lot of things point to agricultural practices, and the intensifying of agriculture," Rosenberg said. Many fragments of native prairie and native grasslands important to birds have been cleared, he said. "Not too long ago, there were hedgerows and fallow fields, just sort of enough to sustain birds around the edges. Now it's just all gone." A juvenile whooping crane takes flight on the Chassahowitzka National Wildlife Refuge in Homosassa, Florida on March 4, 2010. Adult whooping cranes are nearly 5 feet tall. Birds with very restricted ranges, such as the Kirtland's warbler, are inherently at risk, Siegel said. Natural disasters and disease outbreaks could take out that population much more easily than a species that is more widely distributed." Without more successful efforts to identify why birds die and address those losses, scientists said many birds are on a trajectory that could lead to extinction.. Birds now considered extinct At least seven birds once found in the U.S. are believed to be extinct. The status of an eighth, the ivory-billed woodpecker, is debated. They are: Bachmans warbler Dusky seaside sparrow Passenger pigeon Carolina parakeet Eskimo curlew Great auk Labrador duck Search for the ivory-billed woodpecker The status of the ivory-billed woodpecker once referred to as the "Lord God bird" for its impressive stature and appearance remains controversial. While federal officials proposed it be listed as extinct, a group of believers insist the bird is still present deep in Southern swamps. A study released May 18 presented evidence that researchers said indicates the birds remain in unnamed Louisiana swamps, but The Associated Press reported some experts refuted the new evidence. Latest news: Videos show purported ivory-billed woodpeckers as US moves toward extinction decision How is climate change affecting birds? Nearly three-fourths of the nation's birds are vulnerable to losing large parts of their range as the climate changes and sea levels rise, on top of the other threats they face, Michel said. "It's a force magnifier," she said. Why birds matter "It's not just about the birds," Rosenberg said. It's a broader message. "If we're seeing the common birds around us declining, it's telling us that the health of our environment is also." This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: US endangered birds include whooping crane, condor, scrub-jays: List A view of a Maya temple at the el Mirador archaeological site in the Peten jungle, Guatemala August 24, 2009. Reuters/Daniel Leclair Scientists in Guatemala have discovered "the first freeway system in the world," The Washington Post reports. Archaeologists have found ancient Mayans built 417 cities interconnected by 110 miles of "superhighways." Historians to rethink what they know of ancient Mayan civilization. Scientists in Guatemala have discovered "the first freeway system in the world," The Washington Post reports. In an interview with the Post, researchers from a joint US-Guatemalan archaeological study published in the Cambridge University Press in December said they had uncovered 417 cities dating back roughly 3,000 years, interconnected by 110 miles of "superhighways." This discovery is making historians rethink what they know of ancient Mayan civilization. The discovery of a network of roads and cities, hydraulic systems, and agricultural infrastructure suggests that communities living in Central America were now more advanced than given credit for, the Post reports. Per the paper, these findings reflect "socio-economic organization and political power." The lost world dates as far as 1,000 B.C. to the pre-classic epoch of the Mayans, which had previously been considered a nomadic, hunter-gather society. This discovery from the El Mirador jungle region in southern Guatemala is a "game changer," Richard Hansen, lead author of the study and affiliate research professor of archaeology at Idaho State University, told the Post. The find is in a remote tropical jungle on the Mexico-Guatemala border. It is only accessible by helicopter to a challenging 40 miles hike through dense, Jaguar and snake-filled rainforest, said the Post. "We now know that the Preclassic period was one of extraordinary complexity and architectural sophistication, with some of the largest buildings in world history being constructed during this time," said Hansen. The findings have unveiled "a whole volume of human history that we've never known," he told the Post. Story continues The team, with scientists from the US and Guatemala, has been mapping the areas in Central America since 2015 and has used lidar technology a key archaeological laser mapping technique to reveal the finest details, such as ancient vegetation. It allowed the scientists to see ancient dams, reservoirs, pyramids, platforms, causeway networks, and even ball courts, per the study. Archaeologist at San Carlos University in Guatemala City and co-author of the paper, Enrique Hernandez, told the Post that after further work on this project, it could be as influential of a historical discovery as the Egyptian pyramids. Read the original article on Business Insider CAIRO/RIYADH, May 21 (Xinhua) -- Regional organizations and countries on Sunday welcomed the week-long ceasefire agreement reached between Sudanese warring parties late Saturday in Saudi Arabia. Arab League (AL) said in a statement on Sunday that it welcomed the Agreement on a Short-Term Cease-fire and Humanitarian Arrangements, which will facilitate the delivery of emergency humanitarian aid and the restoration of basic services in Sudan. AL Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit stressed the necessity for the two warring parties to fully implement the agreement, noting that the recently concluded AL summit in Jeddah has discussed the Sudanese crisis and issued a resolution to support the negotiation talks. Also on Sunday, Jasem Mohamed AlBudaiwi, Secretary General of the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf (GCC), expressed a welcome to the new cease-fire truce, reported the Saudi Press Agency. The Egyptian Foreign Ministry also said in a statement on the same day that Egypt welcomed the Sudanese short-term truce, hoping the armistice will be extended after its expiration in order to reach a comprehensive and sustainable ceasefire agreement. "The duration of the short-term cease-fire is seven days and will enter into force on Monday at 9:45 p.m. local time (1945 GMT)," said the Sudanese Army in a statement on Sunday. Under the truce, the parties agreed to facilitate the delivery and distribution of humanitarian assistance and restore essential services. Both parties have affirmed to Saudi Arabia and the United States, sponsors of the negotiation talks, their commitment to not seeking military advantage during the 48-hour notification period after signing the agreement, reported the Saudi Press Agency. The military conflicts in Sudan, which erupted on April 15, have so far left about 850 civilians dead and thousands injured, according to recent data from the country's doctors union. The Jeddah negotiations that started early this month come as part of a Saudi-U.S. initiative to bring peace back to Sudan. Netflix To All the Boys Ive Loved Before fans should have a bone to pick with XO, Kitty. The spinoff series is fun and charming, with a storyline and love interests nearly as great as Lara Jean Covey (Lana Condor) and Peter Kavinskys (Noah Centineo) whirlwind romance in the original movies. But theres something missingand its a glaring omission for XO, Kitty to have, considering how smart and enjoyable the rest of the show is. Where in the world are Kittys (Anna Cathcart) older sisters, Lara Jean and Margot (Janel Parrish)? The easy answer: Margot and Lara Jean are in college, so theres no reason for them to be in this show following a now high school-aged Kitty. But theres also no reason for us to see Kittys father (John Corbett) and step-mom (Saraya Blue), either, considering the entire series follows Kitty as she transfers to an elite boarding school in South Korea called KISS (Korean Independent School of Seoul). And yet, we see them at the beginning of the series and the end, where they send Kitty off, and FaceTime her while shes struggling in classes. No shade to John Corbettthough I was never Team Aidan on Sex and the Citybut who in the world wants to see Kittys dad? Though the main purpose of Jenny Hans TATBILB series and this new spinoff has always been the love stories (there are plenty, if not too many, in this show), the heart has always been the close connection between the Covey sisters. Peter wouldnt even be dating Lara if it werent for Kittys antics. She was the one who sent the love letters in the first movie, and she always pestered Lara to try things out of her comfort zone. XO, Kitty: To All the Boys Ive Loved Before Spinoff Makes the Grade XO, Kitty loses part of its To All the Boys charm by subtracting Margot and Lara from the equation. Though Margot graduates in the first movie and heads to college in the second, shes always around to FaceTime Lara Jean and Kitty. Where is that energy in this new spinoff? Im supposed to believe Kitty would journey to Korea, dabble with four separate romances, and immerse herself in an entirely new culture without any support from her sisters? Shes independent, of course. But Kitty would definitely call her sisters to gossip about boys. Story continues Without her sisters, most of Kittys close kinships become with other boyssome, she wants to date, others she trusts platonically. There is only one girl Kitty befriends, the principals daughter Yuri (Gia Kim). But Yuri quickly becomes Kittys enemy after Kitty finds out her new pal happens to be dating her online-turned-IRL boyfriend Dae (Minyeong Choi). Yikes! (Its all a ruse, though: Yuri is only dating Dae to hide her sexuality from her parents.) I miss the connections and friendships between women that TATBILB always had. In an interview with Netflixs Tudum, Han, who served as a creator of this show and wrote the original TATBILB series, explained why Lara Jean isnt in the showthough no comments on Margot. Netflix We all fell so deeply in love with Lara Jean and her story, Han said. So it felt like the greatest gift to give to Kitty was to let her as a character kind of set off on her own two feet and not put her in the shadow of either of her sisters. And Lana and Noah are both off and doing big things. The whole To All the Boys family couldnt be more proud of them and excited for all the things that come next. Were all excited to see Anna [Cathcart] really pick up the mantle and continue Kittys story. Okay, so it sounds a little bit like Parrish and Condor were too busy to make an appearance in XO, Kitty. Which is understandable: Both proved their skills in the original Netflix trilogy, so perhaps I should be happy theyre booked and busy rather than protesting their departure from the admittedly younger source material. But if, by any chance, the XO, Kitty team simply wrote Lara Jean and Margot out of the picture, Netflix will be hearing from me. One FaceTime in Season 2thats all I ask! Keep obsessing! Sign up for the Daily Beasts Obsessed newsletter and follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and TikTok. Read more at The Daily Beast. Get the Daily Beast's biggest scoops and scandals delivered right to your inbox. Sign up now. Stay informed and gain unlimited access to the Daily Beast's unmatched reporting. Subscribe now. A judge has formally entered a "not guilty" plea on behalf of criminology graduate student Bryan Kohberger on charges he fatally stabbed four University of Idaho college students in November, setting up a possible death-penalty case. Appearing in a Moscow, Idaho, courtroom, Kohberger, 28, did not personally enter the plea, and instead, Judge John Judge entered his plea in the five charges: four counts of first-degree murder and one count of burglary. Although Kohberger was previously charged by prosecutors with the same counts, officials revealed last week he was subsequently indicted by a grand jury. A grand jury indictment means prosecutors can keep their case secret for longer. Idaho has the death penalty, and under a new law passed earlier this year, state officials could seek to have Kohberger executed by either lethal injection or a firing squad if convicted by a jury and sentenced to death. Under state law, prosecutors typically have 60 days from today to formally notify Kohberger if they plan to seek the death penalty. Wearing an orange jail jumpsuit, Kohberger didn't appear to be handcuffed, and occasionally smiled and whispered to his attorney, public defender Anne Taylor. He nodded as the judge advised him of his rights and spoke briefly to acknowledge that he understood them: "Yes, I do." When asked how he pleaded, Taylor answered that Kohberger would be "standing silent," allowing the judge to enter five "not guilty" pleas on his behalf. Authorities say DNA evidence left on a knife sheath found at the stabbing scene ties Kohberger to the deaths of Ethan Chapin, 20, Madison Mogen, 21, Kaylee Goncalves, 21, and Xana Kernodle, 20, whose bodies were found by another roommate on Nov. 13. Neither police nor prosecutors have discussed a motive, in part, because of a wide-ranging gag order. Family members of the slain attended Monday's hearing. The Latah County judge has also sealed the list of grand jury witnesses after prosecutors said secrecy would help preserve Kohberger's right to a fair trial while preventing harassment. Story continues "...The state respectfully represents to the court that it has received numerous complaints from potential or prospective witnesses, or their families and associates, regarding being harassed both in person and via social media," prosecutors wrote to the judge. "The reports of harassment have included threats as well as what appears to be intimidation." TIMELINE OF CASE: A mystery, no leads, then a break in the case: Timeline of the Idaho student murders investigation Death penalty on the table If convicted, Kohberger could face the death penalty. The father of one of the victims said he believes Kohberger was stalking her. A surviving roommate said she saw a tall, thin masked man with bushy eyebrows inside the house after hearing noises coming from another bedroom, but she went back to bed and didn't call for help. Kohberger was taken into custody on Dec. 29 in his parents' home in northeastern Pennsylvania, about 2,500 miles from where the stabbings occurred. Investigators say Kohberger was a Ph.D. student in criminology at Washington State University across the nearby state line in Pullman. The judge on Monday advised Kohberger of his rights, including his right to remain silent and not testify in his own defense, and the possibility of the death penalty. Kohberger spoke to answer those questions, and his attorneys said they expect a six-week trial starting in October. A flyer seeking information about the killings of four University of Idaho students who were found dead is displayed on a table along with buttons and bracelets on Nov. 30, 2022, during a vigil in memory of the victims in Moscow, Idaho. How did authorities ID suspect? Investigators say they tied Kohberger to the deaths with DNA samples and surveillance footage, cellphone tracking software, and trash from outside Kohberger's family home in Pennsylvania, according to court documents. A police search warrant revealed that Kohberger's phone had been tracked near the students' house at least 12 times in the six months before the attack. What about the gag order? A coalition of media organizations is asking the court to overturn or narrow a sweeping gag order limiting police, attorneys and many government officials and family members from speaking publicly about the case. "The gag order, which is based on the parties stipulation, rests merely on an assumption that press coverage is bad," media attorney Wendy Olson wrote in asking a judge to reconsider. "The U.S. Constitution and the Idaho Constitution demand more." TECH PLAYED A ROLE: 'A perfect case study': How advances in tech allowed Idaho police to unravel mysterious student killings Kohberger's attorneys opposed the request and said they needed more time to prepare for the hearing and demonstrate how he would be harmed by increased press scrutiny. The sweeping gag order prevents police and attorneys from discussing the case. But media organizations argue it has also improperly prevented authorities from answering basic questions about Kohberger's jail cell or whether investigators are reviewing any cold case files in light of his arrest, and it has scared the victims' family members into staying silent instead of talking about their loved ones. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Bryan Kohberger arraignment: Not guilty plea entered for Idaho murders Los Van Van, the famous Havana orchestra formed after the Cuban Revolution, canceled their Miami Beach performance next Friday. Was it logistics or politics that put an end to their appearance at the citys historic bandshell? The band blamed travel logistics, but a tweet from Cuban-American Miami Beach Commissioner Alex Fernandez reveals that he asked for the cancellation for political reasons. Heres how he explained it: For decades, Los Van Van have used their musical talent to promote Cuban tyranny and its violation of fundamental human rights, he wrote. The money raised in the concert will contribute to sustaining the violation of human rights and individual liberties within Cuba. Fernandez makes a solid point, but should we ban artists from performing their craft over politics? Heres a thought: Banning is what we see done now in Gov. Ron DeSantis Florida: publicly flog. Ban. Remove. Cancel. Repeat. We didnt like it in 1999, and we dont like it now. Back in 1999, Los Van Van, whose members live on the island and tour the world, announced their first Miami concert. The outcry from those wanting to cancel their their appearance and those who wanted them to play was explosive. Today, its different. We ban more than we tolerate. Dont like Disneys corporate stand? Use the power of the state to make its life difficult. Arbitrarily disagree with approved content of school textbooks? Remove them from libraries and classrooms. Dont approve of a teacher sharing their political views with students? Fire them. Twenty-four years ago, it was a different story. Fidel Castro was alive and at war with Miamis exile community, whom he called the mafia. Spanish-language radio stations were still powerful and rallied the audience troops. The announcement of the bands first Miami concert made international headlines. Cuban exiles in Miami were accused of being regressive. After canceling and rescheduling, Los Van Van finally performed at the old Miami Arena under heavy security. Concertgoers had to pass through a security line and endure insults from exiles protesting the bands performance. Story continues For all the fear and loathing, no violence erupted, and the band has since quietly performed in South Florida through the years, usually in smaller venues. The Miami Beach Bandshell venue attracted too much attention. But lets see how big a deal the cancellation of Los Van Van concert is today. Fidel Castro is dead, and many members of Miamis exile community have passed away. We suspect it wont make a significant splash. Plus, we Floridians should not be getting used to silencing what elected officials dont rubber stamp. There is a rawness to this month's poems, echoed both in the searing frustration over continued gun violence and the breath-taking awe of being in nature when it is showing its wintery wings. Enjoy spending this time with your Cape Cod neighbors as they share their lives with columns of words, crafted just so to evoke not only images but emotions. Cape Cod Poetry is a monthly feature of the Cape Cod Times, with poems chosen anonymously by a panel of published poets. If you would like to join the free contest, follow the directions at the end of this story. If your poem is selected, the prize is publication in print and on our website, capecodtimes.com, and bragging rights. After a stormy snowy day the clouds left a colorful sunset over Cape Cod Airfield in this January of 2022 file photo. Melanie Gallo is a lifetime educator. She has led writing workshops and taught creative writing. She livesin West Barnstable. Inspiration: I was teaching high school seniors in a small New Hampshire town, when Columbine changed our worldforever. My fearful students asked, Where would we hide?" Sadly, hundreds of mass shootings later atmalls, churches, supermarkets and more schools, the question is not just where we will hide, but when will it end? Again Poet Melanie Gallo By Melanie Gallo Words fall from lips like Fierce Furious Raindrops Unspeakable Massacre Terrifying Atrocity Shattered Heartbroken Anguished Outraged GRIEF There is no shelter No place to hide Helpless Hopeless Thoughts? Prayers? In America God is a Gun. *** Isabelle Hoida is a palm reader and poet who lingers in Truro with her partner. Inspiration: I wrote Regurged after a whale-watching trip in P-town. I popped a Dramamine beforehand, which made me drowsy. Under this dreamlike spell, I studied the whole gamut of creamy whale tummies, exposed human stomachs, chatty cameras, and gossipy birds and thought, we are made of the same spiritual Legos. Whales hold vast universal knowledge in their large bodies: reincarnation, immortalityeating eels and I had to dive into it. Story continues Regurged Poet Isabelle Hoida By Isabelle Hoida Luncheon seagulls spray their hedonist squawks over the belly of a whale feasting on eels. Sharing stories, a capella feeding on white-tinted mirage. Here we are bolstered by an elastic bubble: white boat, sunscreen, wings, all pulsating over blubber puddles that stretch and spill. All bodies convulse, P-town pictures, Cameras light, clicking beaks, Chasing the undulating packages of wet flesh in the water. The nose: an elephantine vagina discharging its breathy fumes. Its a vagina, I keep whispering, giddied, a place of birth, a smell of creation. The boat pushes on, over oceanic soup, over regurgitated bioplasmic nutrients. The forms of algae and sun, rebirthed as a whale. I know reincarnation on the Cape as ocean spray absorbing into my skin to be reused as thoughts logged by water. This moment: regurged and gorged on by the aquamarine inside me. The woman hunching next to us presents this stewing life principle. Her esophagus twitches and spills a colorful dimension of herself into the sea. And the whales, serene, sighing into each meal, suck it up to share with their many lunch guests. *** Holly Dunlea lives in Sandwich. Read more of her work at hollydunlea.com. Inspiration: I love April on the Cape because of the daffodils that erupt along route 6A, a fitting preface to the dogwood and cherry trees that follow. I should ask about the origin of this yearly treat, but it's more fun to sit back and enjoy nature's spring break. Roadside Daffodils Poet Holly DUnlea By Holly Dunlea Yellow and white commune in groups splashed along the roadside like preppies dressed for a gala. Their heads are raised shotglasses to toast spring and pose for a selfie ready for exposure. After a fortnight carousing, shots lay shattered in weeds and woods then become potpourri scattered, stems merged into switchgrass that conceals bulbs reproducing, preparation for next springs crop. *** Jim Barker very recently migrated to and lives in South Yarmouth with his wife Jennifer. Inspiration: The inspiration for the poem, Grand Winds on Gray's Beach, comes simply from a trip to Gray's Beach on a rather unpleasant, late fall, day. You could see across to Chapin and the winds off the bay were making for some rough surf. The gulls and terns seemed especially unhappy with the weather on that day. Grand Winds on Gray's Beach By James Barker A cold and blustery southeaster rolled in from across the bay,straight toward the stolid, old boardwalk standing ready to pierce the windy fury.The seagrasses rustled and whooshed, bowing down as before an evil tyrant.Harsh droning gusts whispered passing, lowly missives,though none but the gulls understood the tongue.Seafoam and grains of sand lifted off the waters edge and were flung mercilesslyinto the savage gale, pelting the skin like shards of glass from a broken pane.In darkness and in the mind the cold and howling tempest raged, thatat mornings break had subsided, leaving but a breezy, icy reminder of grand winds. *** Peggy Capomaggi is retired from the business world and lives in Harwich and Wyckoff, New Jersey, with her husband Bob. She enjoys reading and writing, especially poetry, as well as exploring the wonders of Cape Cod. Inspiration: The Cape offers so much inspiration for poetic expression with its beauty and gifts of nature all around us. A trip to the water's edge always makes me happy and renewed. I am so grateful for the opportunity to experience it whether it be by the ocean or the bay - a true blessing! Waters Edge Poet Peggy Capomaggi By Peggy Capomaggi I stare at the horizon,lightning luminating thedarkening sky.Waves crashing onthe beach, cracking shellsand sculpting stones.A strong breeze blows,bringing foam to the shore,spraying salt in the air.Seagulls sailing in thesky, diving diligentlyinto waters below.Piping plovers pullingon sand, busily bobbingthrough grass on the beach.I wonder where these birds,shells and stones havebeen, where will they go?My heart hears thesounds of the surf andthe whispers of the wind.My breathing changesas I walk, like the watermoving in and out.The waters edge is sharpwith sights and sounds,powerful, yet peaceful.I am thankful for this timeand am different as I leave. the waters edge. How to submit a poem to the Cape Cod Times Heres how to send us your work: Submit one poem single-spaced, of 35 lines or fewer per month. Poems cannot be previously published (in print or online). Deadline for submission is June 1, 2023. Submit by email to cctpoetry12@gmail.com. Poems should be free of hate speech and expletives (profanity, vulgarity, obscenity). In the body of the e-mail, send your contact information: name, address, phone number and title of poem; then, in a Word Doc attachment, include poem without name or any other personal info, so that the poem can be judged anonymously. Poets not previously published in the Cape Cod Times are welcome to submit a new poem each month; those poets previously published in the Times, three months after publication. Poets will be notified only if their poem is accepted by our panel of judges. Poems will be selected by a panel of readers on the Cape and Islands who are published poets and editors. Keep connected with the Cape. Download our free app. This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: Read a local poem or write one for the monthly Cape Cod Poetry contest Cyber Ninjas CEO Doug Logan has been accused of tampering with voting machines in Michigan and breaching voting machines in Georgia following the 2020 election. Who is Doug Logan? Sarasota County resident Doug Logan has been a part of an investigation into those who pushed to overturn President Joe Bidens victory over Donald Trump in 2020. He completed audits of ballots in Georgia, Michigan and Arizona elections to strengthen unproven claims of voter fraud during the election. What is Cyber Ninjas? Logan was the CEO of the now-closed Cyber Ninjas Inc., a cybersecurity organization. The company audited election results in several states. It shut down on January 1, 2022, amidst investigations into the companys hand in alleged voting fraud. More on the probe: Cyber Ninjas CEO's voting machine activities in Georgia draw investigation and scrutiny In case you missed it: New shot spotter technology aims to curb gun violence in Manatee County What is Doug Logan being investigated for? Logan is being investigated for breaching voting machines in Coffee County in Georgia thats part of a larger criminal investigation into the 2020 election interference by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis. The voting fraud investigation surpasses the state lines of Florida. Logan is part of a criminal investigation in Michigan for voting machine tampering with a special grand jury hearing testimony as early as March, according to the Detroit News. Logan was one of four people who took five tabulators to hotel rooms or Airbnb property rentals in Oakland County in Michigan and "broke into the tabulators and performed tests on the equipment, according to the Attorney General's petition. He was accused by Michigan authorities of illegally accessing and dismantling voting machines in April 2021 in an attempt to prove the election was rigged. Cyber Ninjas was hired in March 2021 to audit ballot results in Arizonas Maricopa County for $150,000 by the Arizona Senate. A team of independent analysts found the Cyber Ninjas hand count of ballots was fiction. Story continues Records show Logan was active in several counties in Michigan, along with Georgia, Nevada, New Hampshire, Arizona, and Pennsylvania, and was copied on numerous emails of importance to a group mission. What is his connection to 2020 election deniers? In addition to its $150,000 contract with the Senate, Cyber Ninjas and its subcontractors got millions more from nonprofits set up by Trump allies and prominent figures in the Stop the Steal movement. Cyber Ninjas received funds from five advocacy nonprofits and charitable organizations, at least a few of which were established in the past year for the sole purpose of fundraising for the audit, according to a list the company released. Funders also include groups associated with Trump attorney Sidney Powell and Michael Flynn, the former Trump national security adviser. This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Cyber Ninjas CEO Doug Logan faces criminal probe for 2020 election GOP strategist Mike Murphy predicted former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) will be the popcorn candidate if he decides to run for president against his onetime pal Donald Trump in 2024. Hes lighting a stick of dynamite and running right at Donald Trump. This is going to be entertaining, Murphy said of Christie to MSNBCs Alex Wagner on Friday in a video shared online by Mediaite. Voters dont necessarily dig the guy, Murphy said of Christie, who has indicated hell decide whether to run later this month. But catalytically, to affect the process, he can be very powerful, added the strategist, a former adviser to Sen. Mitt Romney (Utah) and the late Sen. John McCain (Ariz.). Wagner pointed out Christies claim that hes not a paid assassin whose role is to attack GOP front-runner Trump while the other Republican contenders stand back to avoid offending Trumps base. I agree, hes not a paid assassin, Murphy responded. Then came the zinger: Hell do it for free and for fun. Wagner chuckled at the comment. Christie endorsed Trump after quitting his own campaign in 2016, but has since become a fierce critic of the former president. Related... For nearly five thousand years, native tribes have resided in and around Joshua Tree National Park. Of course, it wasnt a park way back when the Serrano, Chemehuevi, Mojave, and other tribes called this magnificent desert home. No, it was a place to raise families, hunt, gather, and live in one of the more unique areas of the Colorado Desert; that huge hunk of 7 million acres of desert located within the boundaries of San Diego, San Bernardino, Riverside, and Imperial counties. Today, Joshua Tree National Park comprises nearly 800,000 acres within that massive Colorado Desert. That is a lot of acres. In comparison, my humble abode is situated on just two. I cannot imagine what it would be like using a hula-hoe on that much acreage come springtime. Joshua Tree has a lot to offer across 800,000 acres of desert and wildlife. Two hours of scraping the weeds in the yard leave me ready for a cold libation and a nap. Laureen, my lovely wife, has visited Joshua Tree National Park, as have all my children and their spouses. Me? Nope, never. A two-hour drive through the quaint town of Lucerne Valley and I would have crossed through the rock gates marking this national park. Shame on me. Excuses? I cannot think of one that would hold a barrel cactus of water. It was time - Laureen could not make the three-day planned camping trip, so I turned to my old traveling partner, Paul Bakas. Your truck and pop-up trailer? He asked. Yep. Are you cooking? Yep. Count me in. Joshua Tree has a lot to offer across 800,000 acres of desert and wildlife. It seems that during the late 1920s, roads were being cut here and there through the desert to make it easier for travelers to come into the area and marvel at the rock formations dominating the park's western side. Unfortunately, some of those folks were not going to sightsee but to steal. The city of Los Angeles was booming, and the folks there wanted those strange but iconic cacti all over the desert near Joshua Tree. Cactus poaching became a real challenge. Jed, the cactus poacher was believed to have said. We can make some good money with these big old cacti in LA. Story continues Jed, I thought we were after cactuses, the other poacher responded. Thats why I made it through the sixth grade, and you barely finished second grade. Cacti is plural for cactus. Hmm, whats a plural? So, out of concern for Jed and his nefarious partner, Minerva Hoyt, from Pasadena, brought attention to the desert's destruction. 1936 President Franklin D. Roosevelt set aside those desert acres as a National Monument. In 1964, the band, The Beach Boys recorded a song in honor of Hoyt. The Little Old Lady from Pasadena was a huge success - then again, it may have been about an old granny driving a fast car. Research is confusing sometimes. Joshua Tree has a lot to offer across 800,000 acres of desert and wildlife. In 1994, under the federal Desert Protection Act, the monument was redesignated as a National Park. Over three million people visit the park annually, from day-time visitors to overnighters. Many tourists come from around the world to gaze upon the unique animalia, Cactaceae, planta, and rock morphia. I made that up last term, but how the rocks in the park obtained their various shapes had to do with morphing into this or that. There was a long wait at the front gate near the town of Joshua Tree to get into the park, but since I had a Senior Pass, I was waved through quickly. Probably thought they shouldnt keep the senior waiting long, you know? One of the first things I noticed when entering the park were the dozens of pull-outs with little kiosks explaining what the visitor is looking at in the distance or close up, for that matter. This is a group of yucca brevifolia. This is Porcupine Wash. There is nothing to look at here. We just like to fool tourists. We stopped at nearly every turnout or parking lot to wander about nature's spectacular creations. People were hiking, picnicking, and taking photos of people hiking and picnicking. A lot of selfies were shot during the drive to our campground on the far end of the park near the city of Indio. Joshua Tree has a lot to offer across 800,000 acres of desert and wildlife. Not by Paul or me. No, from tourists who could not get enough of standing too close to a jumping cactus. I have read too many tragic stories about folks taking selfies at national parks. Dont worry honey, one honeymooner once said to his bride, soon to be his widow. Im sure the rangers here at the Grand Canyon dont mind if I step over the railing and take a . . . Tragic but somewhat humorous - yes, I expect emails for that. According to the National Park Service, Joshua Tree is one of the premier places where people go climbing the often-bizarre-looking rock formations. Joshua Tree welcomes climbers, boulderers, and highlighters worldwide. This high desert monzogranite climbing mecca is famous for its traditional-style crack, slab, and steep face climbing. I have no idea what that means. But we saw a lot of folks climbing rocks freestyle, roped up, and being yelled at by their partners. I said are you belaying me? A husband shouted down to his wife on the ground with a rope in her hands. I thought you said, are you bugging me, the wife shouted back. You better be, he responded. Its pretty steep. Babe, she replied, Let go of the ropes and take a selfie. With over 8,000 climbing routes, 2,000 boulder problems, and many natural gaps, the park boasts it is one of the best places in the world to climb. It makes one wonder who went out and counted all these routes and problems. The weather was perfect, high seventies and no wind. We visited Quail Springs, Hemingway, Hidden Valley, and Hall of Horrors. We even stopped off at the Oyster Bar, which was disappointing since it was just another rock formation instead of an establishment for much-needed libations. One of the most interesting stops was the picnic area below Cap Rock. A short loop of a hike where visitors can view beautiful desert plants, and since this was a wet winter, everything was in bloom and will be for some time. Travel tips: Heading to Joshua Tree this spring? Beat the crowds at a lesser-known park entrance There was the desert sage, Indian rice grass, rock cinquefoil, and wooly marigold (not to be mistaken for a wooly mammoth). Vibrant colors of pink, yellow, and blue sparkling in the afternoon sunshine made the hike spectacular. Above the picnic area is a vast rock balancing against the face of a rock mountain. It looked like, at any moment, this humongous hunk of granite may fall. But Joshua Tree has many such unusual and almost gravity-defying natural wonders. No wonder people from around the country and world flock here each year. Skull Rock was by far the place where everyone stopped and wandered about the most. A park sign states that the visitor is staring at Skull Rock. Nope, Skull Rock is staring at the visitor. Huge hollowed-out crevices mimic the human skull preciously and are a little creepy. Joshua Tree has a lot to offer across 800,000 acres of desert and wildlife. It reminded me of a million pirate films where the hidden treasure is below skull rock. I had Paul break out a couple of shovels from the truck, but we got a stern finger wagging from a Park Ranger. Aye, Matey, I said to Ranger Ruin-My-Find. Having resided in Southern California for most of my life, I still could not understand why I had not visited this awesome stretch of nature just a few hours away. We spent three days there - camping, hiking, relaxing, and never seeing the entire park. Once the campfire was out, our camp's night sky was fantastic. There were so many stars that picking out certain constellations seemed impossible. The International Dark-Sky Association states that the park is one of the best places in Southern California to observe the wonders of the cosmos. For some visitors, it is their first chance to see the Milky Way. For me, there were so many stars lighting the night sky up I could only count two notches on Orions Belt. The Joshua Tree experience could make a person slow down and contemplate how much beauty and wonder there is on this beautiful planet and the skies above. Joshua Tree National Park is a must for anyone who enjoys being outdoors and viewing nature at its best. John can be contacted at beyersbyways.com This article originally appeared on Victorville Daily Press: Haven't visited Joshua Tree? Shame on you In the latest court challenge to House Bill 1020, the Jackson courts and police bill had its first day in federal court Monday at the Thad Cochran United States Courthouse. For nearly the first three hours of the hearing, U.S. District Judge for the Southern District of Mississippi Henry Wingate heard arguments over whether Mississippi Supreme Court Chief Justice Michael Randolph should, or even can, be named in the lawsuit, which was filed by the NAACP last month. Mark Nelson, a private attorney representing Randolph, argued that judges are granted widespread immunity by Congress and that his client cannot take a position on the merits of the case without sacrificing his judicial integrity. To create a new precedent that further opens judges up to lawsuits, Nelson argued, would be "a disaster." "My client believes that this case is very important, that it is of the utmost importance," Nelson said. "My client feels strongly that he has to protect the integrity of the court." Attorneys for the plaintiffs argued that appointing special judges, as HB 1020 instructs the chief justice to do, is outside of normal judicial actions, and that Randolph is an enforcement officer of the statute. Nelson disagreed with both assertions. Randolph had already been removed from a separate case in state courts earlier this month by Hinds County Chancellor Dewayne Thomas. Attorneys for the plaintiffs and for the state attorney general's office were expected to argue their case before the court after returning from a lunch break called by Wingate. Those arguments were not expected to be complete by the time of publication. The plaintiffs are seeking an extension of a restraining order issued by Randolph on May 12. As long as that order remains in effect, Randolph is prevented from appointing special temporary judges to serve a four-year term within the Hinds County court system. Civil rights attorney Carroll Rhodes, of Hazlehurst, said that his team would be asking Wingate to extend the order until June 9 while they put together a motion asking for a longer-term preliminary injunction. He told Wingate that the motion may come as early as Wednesday. Story continues An injunction would keep HB 1020 off the books until the case is fully resolved. Thomas decided not to issue such an injunction in the separate state court case, but Wingate made clear Monday that his decision would be based on federal law, not state. Before adjourning for lunch, Wingate said Rhodes and Special Assistant Attorney General and Deputy Director of the Civil Litigation Division Rex Shannon would each be given 45 minutes to argue their case on the constitutionality of HB 1020 after they returned to the courtroom. Rhodes indicated that his arguments would link HB 1020 to racial discrimination and would likely include comments made by the bill's primary author, Rep. Trey Lamar, R-Senatobia. During floor debate on the bill, Lamar said that there should not be a Hinds County residency requirement for judges on a new state-appointed court system because the court should attract the "best and brightest." A number of Democratic members of the Legislature took issue with that characterization, saying it implied that the "best and brightest" could not be found within Hinds County, a county that is majority-Black. Lamar denied such intent at the time, and Wingate questioned Monday whether his comments had been taken out of context in the plaintiff's brief. Rhodes told Wingate he intends to include the full floor debate in later legal proceedings. This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Jackson, MS HB 1020 debated in federal court, with more yet to come Mayor Dave Nold cuts the ribbon on Oconomowoc's Wizard of Oz Plaza during the 80th anniversary celebration of "The Wizard of Oz" premiere on Thursday, August 15, 2019. The event featured family activities, food, games, costume contests and a screening of "The Wizard of Oz" movie on a giant outdoor screen. OCONOMOWOC - Five years after embarking on a unique journey tied to the city's historic connection to a world-renowned film, Oconomowoc will continue to follow the Yellow Brick Road from an enhanced Oz Plaza next year. At a May 16 meeting of the Oconomowoc Common Council, city officials shared more details of a plan to build upon the downtown plaza concept unveiled in 2019 as part of the 80th anniversary of the premiere of "The Wizard of Oz" locally. Under the plan, new additions would be in place in time for the 85th anniversary of the classic film's release in August 2024. The film debuted in Oconomowoc on Aug. 12, 1939, according to city officials. Evolving plaza brings characters to life next to City Hall The Oz plaza quickly became a popular tourist attraction because of its impressive representations from iconic elements of the film. In 2019, to mark the milestone anniversary, seven statues depicting the film's iconic characters were erected around City Hall Plaza, 168 E. Wisconsin Ave. Dorothy with Toto, the Tin Man, Scarecrow and the Cowardly Lion were positioned in the plaza itself, with the Wicked Witch of the West taking up residence on the plaza's north end and the Wizard of Oz statue finding his place in front of City Hall, near an Oz monument installed for the 70th anniversary a decade earlier. In 2021, a family painted an Oz-themed mural alongside the plaza. Glinda, the Good Witch of the North, to join the cast of statues By next summer, the city will take the concept further, extending the Yellow Brick Road from its curly start in the plaza to the Fowler Lake parking lot at the lakefront. In addition, Glinda, the Good Witch of the North, will join the cast of statues. Other ideas, such as rainbow seating and overhead lighting, will add to the themed ambiance. Another possibility in the works is a place that would give people a chance to put on wings to take on the persona of the film's flying monkeys, a photo-oriented attraction. In general, the site will also become more accessible, officials added. Story continues Kristi Weber, the city's community development specialist who has been involved in the ongoing effort, also recognized the value of the enhancements as she began to present the new ideas in 2021. "We think it's great," Weber said at the time. "Our residents enjoy it, and the characters add a little bit more flavor to the downtown and the uniqueness of it. They are a year-round attraction. They draw a lot of people." Officials laud the cultural significance of the effort Oconomowoc Mayor Robert Magnus can imagine what impact the enhanced plaza could have on townsfolk and tourists, based on what he has seen already. "When COVID hit, I spent many hours at city hall in my office right outside the figurines of the Wizard of Oz characters," Magnus said in a statement previewing the plans this week. "It was amazing how many people visited this plaza. "My favorite thing was to watch the kids and grandparents, (with) their big smiles and enthusiasm as they explored the area. We now have the opportunity to enhance these experiences and celebrate our history in the Wizard of Oz story." For Ald. Karen Spiegelberg, who along with Weber helped the city visualize the planned enhancements, the task is a pleasant one particularly against a backdrop of usual weighty aldermanic responsibilities such as budget debates and crucial new development decisions. "Oz Plaza is one of the fun projects to be a part of," Spiegelberg said. "Its a legacy to leave for citizens and visitors alike, a place for individuals and families to gather, enjoy, and create lasting memories. ... We like to say, 'Theres no place like Oconomowoc,' and Oz Plaza will further add to that unique distinction." Contact Jim Riccioli at (262) 446-6635 or james.riccioli@jrn.com. Follow him on Twitter at @jariccioli. More: What to know about new Veterans Affairs outpatient clinic in Oconomowoc for veterans outside Milwaukee More: 'Our citizens are against this': These Milwaukee suburbs oppose any potential deconstruction of I-794 Our subscribers make this reporting possible. Please consider supporting local journalism by subscribing to the Journal Sentinel at jsonline.com/deal. DOWNLOAD THE APP: Get the latest news, sports and more This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Oconomowoc plans enhancements to Oz Plaza, Yellow Brick Road in 2024 HANOI, May 22 (Xinhua) -- The 15th National Assembly of Vietnam, the country's top legislature, opened its fifth session in the capital of Hanoi on Monday, Vietnam News Agency reported. Lawmakers are scheduled to debate and approve eight draft laws and three draft resolutions and review nine other bills. The draft laws include amendments to consumer protection, procurement process, pricing, electronic transactions, cooperative unions, as well as attempts to revise and amend articles of a law on the police force, a law on exit and entry of Vietnamese citizens and regulations on entry, exist and residence of foreigners in Vietnam. The session is set to cast light on property and housing management, real estate market and business amid greater scrutiny of fundraising activities by real estate companies to deter speculation and price manipulation. During the session, the legislators will also discuss issues concerning socio-economic development and the state budget, among others. The session is set to be divided into two smaller blocks of time with the first one scheduled to last from May 22 to June 10 and the second from June 19 to June 23. Pig butchering among most convincing scams of 2023 so far. Photo: Getty A range of elaborate scams have driven the UKs fraud epidemic to new heights, with consumers losing thousands of pounds to fraudsters. Among the most convincing scam of the year so far is pig butchering, according to consumer body Which?. Pig butchering These scams get their name because the fraudster "fattens up" the victim by forming a romantic connection before executing the investment part of the scam. The scammer and victim typically meet on a dating site and the victim is "love-bombed" over a period of weeks by someone who appears to take a great interest in their life. The scammer will often encourage their victim to move from the dating platform to a private messaging service, thus removing them from any protections the dating site might offer. When the victim is sufficiently groomed, the scammer claims they have been having success investing typically in property or cryptocurrency and they offer to invest some of the victims money. If the victim agrees, they are sometimes shown a crypto trading platform controlled by the scammers, and encouraged to sign up and begin depositing funds. One UK victim, a former Somerset police officer, lost 107,000 to such a scam, believing she was investing in retirement apartments in Cyprus. Read more: Ruthless criminals using romance scams to con 8,000 from victims on average To avoid the scam, look out for signs of "love-bombing" where someone seeks to quickly obtain affection and attention by "bombing" with gifts, compliments, and affection attempts to move onto a private messaging platform, reluctance to meet in person and requests for money or a concerted effort to get the person to "invest". For those in an online relationship, it is worth checking in with a friend or a member of your family on how it is going, sometimes other people can help to spot warning signs and inconsistencies when we are too caught up in the moment. Story continues Fake missing person appeals There has been a spate of viral fake posts in community social media pages worldwide about missing children or elderly people. People are asked to share these Facebook posts more widely. Which?s experts know they are fake because you can find near-identical posts in community pages all over the world, simply with the location changed. Search "Robert Spall dementia" on Facebook and you will find the same post in pages for California, USA and Bogota, Colombia. Read more: Scam adverts still rife on Facebook and Instagram Comments are invariably turned off on the posts to avoid people pointing out the inconsistencies. After the post has gained a large number of likes, the contents are edited into something completely different, such as a straightforward investment scam. The large number of likes and shares that stay on the post will then lend credibility to the fraud. This scam relies on responsible citizens liking and sharing posts in an attempt to help which they do, in large numbers. While missing person posts can of course be genuine, it can be difficult to tell. To avoid perpetuating a scam or unwittingly participating in stalking or harassment, people are best off only sharing official posts, such as those posted by police forces or the Missing People charity (missingpeople.org.uk). Some regional police forces have warned that you should never like or share a post that has the comments turned off. PayPal scam This scam starts with people getting a money request from a genuine PayPal (PYPL) email address service@paypal.com. This might seem above board, but scammers are exploiting PayPals service to send out fake payment requests, often for high-value items, or posing as HMRC to demand "overdue" tax payments. In some versions of the scam, the fake invoice states the victims PayPal account has been compromised and urges them to call a phoney fraud hotline. Read more: Surge in advance fee scams costing victims 711 on average Which? has found it is easy to replicate scam emails from a genuine PayPal address. Which?s request claimed to be from HMRC and threatened the recipient with arrest if they did not pay. Acting as the recipient, Which? researchers were then able to pay the invoice without creating a PayPal account and without encountering any on-screen warnings about fraud. Consumers should never pay PayPal invoices they do not recognise, or call phone numbers in those invoices. Think about how to independently verify what is being asked. If the message claims to be from HMRC, contact the tax office via gov.uk. If the message claims PayPal has been hacked, contact its customer services at paypal.com/uk/smarthelp/contact-us. Fake app alert With 96% of UK mobile users downloading apps from the Apple App Store (AAPL) or Google Play (GOOG), you would probably assume that these stores are safe places to be, and that the apps on these platforms can be trusted. Unfortunately, that is not always the case. The stores do screen apps before they upload them, but that does not always stop malicious ones slipping through the net. These can install malware on phones, steal data and perpetuate scams. Read more: Fraudsters targeting students as impersonating scams cost victims 1,457 Last year, online security firm Praedo discovered a so-called security app on Google Play. Calling itself 2FA Authenticator, it actually stole users banking information and had been installed more than 10,000 times before it was discovered. In 2022, Facebooks parent company, Meta (META), found 400 Android and iOS apps stealing users Facebook login details. App stores do take steps to crack down on the problem, but this is an ever-present threat. When installing an app, click on the developers name and check what other apps it is made to see if these seem legitimate. Check reviews, but remember positive ones can be faked. Read the negative ones, too. The app will likely ask users for permissions: to use the camera, for example. These need to be relevant and proportionate to the functions of the app an app that only needs a rough location should not ask for a precise one. Watch: On Your Side: Protecting from identity theft Download the Yahoo Finance app, available for Apple and Android. The sons of a taxi driver who was robbed and fatally shot in the head Franklin earlier this month are looking to honor their father's legacy by continuing their education to achieve the success he envisioned for them. But first the sons of Kofi Addo, Hubert Addo, who will be finishing his final year studying criminal justice at Kean University, and his brother Herbert, who is set to graduate next month from North Brunswick High School, are looking to lay their father to rest in his native Ghana. Kofi Addo, 57, of North Brunswick, came to the U.S. in 2006 from Ghana with his two young sons and worked as a bus driver by day and a taxi driver by night. The expenses of returning him to Ghana are beyond what the two young men can afford on their own. The elder son, Hubert, has launched a GoFundMe page called Help Two Sons Lay Their Father To Rest in an effort to raise $45,000 to help cover the cost of the funeral , airline travel and other related expenses. As of Sunday afternoon more than $9.500 had been raised by 232 donors. Kofi Addo Around 9:56 p.m. May 11, Franklin police responded to a 911 call about a shooting in the area of Rose Street and Sydney Place in the Somerset section. When officers arrived, they found Addo suffering from a gunshot wound to the head. The taxi had come to rest after crashing into a parked vehicles in a driveway of a home on Sydney Place. Police and emergency medical personnel responded to the scene and performed life-saving measures on Addo who was transported to an area trauma center where he died. An investigation revealed Addo drove to the area of Rose Street to pick up a fare and when he arrived, he was confronted by three teens while inside his taxi and was shot. Earlier this week the Somerset County Prosecutor's Office announced three teens a 14-year-old from the Somerset section and two 13-year-olds, one from Somerset and the other from New Brunswick were arrested in connection with the robbery and fatal shooting of Addo. Story continues The 14-year-old and the 13-year-old from New Brunswick were both charged as juveniles with murder, felony murder, conspiracy to commit murder and robbery, all first-degree crimes, as well as other robbery and weapons offenses. The other 13- year-old was charged under juvenile statutes with robbery, a first-degree crime, and conspiracy to commit robbery, the prosecutor's office said. "Kofi Addo lived a remarkable life of humility and dedication to his two sons Hubert and Herbert Addo. Propelled by a vision that burned brightly within (to witness his two sons graduate from college) he battled through the fatigue and carried on every day with a smile," the GoFundMe page states. "He served a community of people in need of a friendly smile or a listening ear during their commute." Hubert said his father believed in the power of education and his commitment to his sons success knew no bounds. On his rare days off, he would spend quality time with his sons, encouraging their dreams and nurturing their talents. The sons said they will strive to honor their father by committing to a future he would be proud of and set in motion by the opportunities he provided. Email: srussell@gannettnj.com Suzanne Russell is a breaking news reporter for MyCentralJersey.com covering crime, courts and other mayhem. To get unlimited access, please subscribe or activate your digital account today. This article originally appeared on MyCentralJersey.com: Sons of slain NJ taxi driver look to honor father's legacy A little girl who's been in and out of foster care sits on a bed at St. Joseph's Orphanage in 2018. Child Protective Services is an agency tasked with the protection of children who are at risk of harm. They are supposed to be a safety net for vulnerable children, but there have been cases throughout the state where their failure to protect children has resulted in tragic consequences. African American children are disproportionately represented in CPS care. Studies have found that over 50% of Black children in the U.S. will experience a child welfare investigation by the age of 18 (nearly double the rate of white children). And almost 10% of Black children will be removed from their parents and placed into foster care (double the rate of white children). This has contributed to their higher rates of death in CPS custody. While the number of deaths is relatively small compared to the number of cases CPS handles, even one child's death is too many, and the system needs to be held accountable for these tragic outcomes. Here are some things that need to be addressed to make sure every child in the system remains safe: First, there is a severe lack of oversight and accountability in the child welfare system. When children die in CPS care, those responsible are rarely held accountable. This lack of accountability perpetuates a cycle of neglect and abuse, further endangering children in the care of CPS. One example of this is the case of Aniya Day-Garrett, who was killed by her mother despite multiple reports of abuse to the Cuyahoga County Children and Family Services in Ohio. In 2020, Aniya's father was awarded $5 million after filing a suit that claimed inaction by CCFS contributed to his daughter's murder. There needs to be a radical overhaul of the system to ensure greater transparency and accountability. This includes regular reporting on the welfare of children in CPS care, a system for tracking and addressing complaints, and holding those responsible for any harm to children accountable. Story continues Second, CPS is often understaffed and overworked. Ohios county child protective services agencies face unprecedented caseworker turnover, unmanageable caseloads and unfilled vacancies. The average tenure of a CPS caseworker - from their first case to their last - is less than two years, according to the Public Children Services Association of Ohio. This can result in neglectful or inadequate care for children in CPS custody. Social workers are often responsible for too many cases, which makes it difficult for them to provide individualized attention that each child needs. This can lead to children falling through the cracks and not receiving the care they need. In 2021, 18 children in Ohio died while in state custody, highlighting the need for greater resources and support for CPS workers. Therefore, CPS needs to increase its staff to ensure that social workers can provide adequate care for the children in their custody. Third, systemic racism is a significant contributor to the overrepresentation of African American children in CPS care. Author Dorothy Roberts details this in her book, "Torn Apart: How the Child Welfare System Destroys Black Families and How Abolition Can Build a Safer World." The child welfare system has a long history of racial bias, and this bias has contributed to the higher rates of African American children being removed from their homes and placed in foster care. This bias also affects the quality of care that African American children receive while in foster care. For example, in 2015, an African American mother was accused of killing her 5-month-old daughter, which raised concerns about the quality of care provided by CPS and the potential for racial bias in decision-making. To address this issue, CPS must take proactive steps to eliminate systemic racism. This includes providing anti-racism training for all staff, hiring more Black social workers and supervisors, and ensuring that decision-making regarding child welfare is free from racial bias. The failure of CPS to protect African American children is not only a moral failing, but it is also a violation of their basic human rights. Children have the right to be protected from harm, and the state has an obligation to ensure that this right is upheld. The fact that African American children are dying at such alarming rates while in the care of CPS is an indication that the state is failing in its obligation to protect them. It is time for a radical overhaul of the child welfare system. We need to address the systemic racism that is built into the system, and we need to provide the necessary resources to ensure that social workers can adequately care for the children in their custody. We also need to hold those responsible for the deaths of children in CPS care accountable for their actions. Ronald Hummons is a mental health activist who lives in Reading. Ronald Hummons This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: It's time for a radical overhaul of the child welfare system | Opinion DBenitostock/Getty Images A Mississippi high school tried to force a trans girl to wear boy's clothes for graduation. The ACLU has filed a lawsuit against the Harrison County School District on the student's behalf. The trans girl skipped her graduation after a district official told her parents she had to dress "like a boy." A trans girl in Mississippi skipped her high school graduation because school administrators tried to make her dress like a boy to attend the ceremony, her attorney said on Saturday. U.S. District Judge Taylor McNeel in Gulfport, Mississippi said on Friday he would not block the school's decision to force the girl to wear boys' clothing. McNeel wrote in his ruling that taking part in a graduation is voluntary, and therefore not a constitutionally protected right of any student. The girl was set to graduate from Harrison Central High School in Gulfport on Saturday. The ACLU sued the Harrison County School District on Thursday on behalf of the 17-year-old and her parents after Harrison Central principal Kelly Fuller and school district superintendent Mitchell King told the student she must follow the boys' clothing rules for graduation. Graduating boys in the school district are expected to wear white shirts and black pants. Graduating girls are expected to wear white dresses. According to the lawsuit, King told the girl's mother that the student could only participate in graduation unless she wore "pants, socks, and shoes, like a boy." Linda Morris, staff attorney at the ACLU's Women's Rights Project, told The Associated Press that McNeel's ruling was "as disappointing as it is absurd." "Our client is being shamed and humiliated for explicitly discriminatory reasons, and her family is being denied a once-in-a-lifetime milestone in their daughter's life," Morris said. "No one should be forced to miss their graduation because of their gender." According to the lawsuit, the student had selected a white dress to wear to graduation and had worn dresses to school previously in classes and extracurricular events throughout the school year, including to prom last year. Story continues Harrison Central High School and the Harrison County School District did not immediately return Insider's request for comment on Sunday. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Read the original article on Business Insider [Source] Alexander and Andrea Campagna went on a 10-day all-expenses paid tour of South Korea after they helped 10 stranded South Korean travelers in December. On Dec. 23, 2022, 10 South Korean tourists became stranded in Buffalo, New York, by a deadly blizzard which resulted in over 22 inches of snow and 40 people dead on their way to Niagara Falls. With their van stuck in the snow, tourist Scott Park and a tour guide knocked on the door of the Campagnas to ask for help. Weve had snowstorms, but not to that extent [...] So when we heard the knock on our door, we heard the knock on our door, we wondered who would be outside in this weather, Alex told The Korea Herald. When Alex heard the travelers request for a shovel to dig their van out of the snow, he immediately thought it impossible, comparing it to like taking a spoon to take water out of the ocean. More from NextShark: Korean-influenced Southern food menu for White House state dinner revealed Instead, recognizing the travelers plight, Alex and Andrea welcomed the tourists into their home with tea, coffee, dry socks and warm blankets. With the weather only worsening and dinner approaching, Alex presented the guests with Korean ingredients and expressed the couples love for Korean food. We were surprised to see all the Korean condiments from soy sauce and mirin to chile powder and chile paste, Park revealed. There was even a rice cooker and Korean cookbooks as if they had prepared all this for us. More from NextShark: Missing San Francisco college student found dead inside rental car after going on 'erratic' road trip With the blizzard continuing for the next few days, the Korean tourists remained in the Campagnas house until Christmas morning. They endured the horrible storm with us, Andrea recounted. When you spend time together in a disaster situation, you feel very bonded [...] When the plowers started coming, people were cheering and crying. Story continues The couple was surprised to see their story go viral after the heartwarming story was shared by various news outlets. More from NextShark: Thai Street Food Star Jay Fai Wins Prestigious 'Icon Award' for Asia's 50 Best Restaurants in 2021 To thank the couple for their compassion and goodwill, Alex and Andrea were invited by the Korea Tourist Organization on a 10-day all-expenses-paid trip to Seoul in May. Welcomed as heroes in the country, the couple was interviewed by the local media and participated in a promotional tourism video. Spending their time at the Seoul Four Seasons Hotel, the couple was invited to try Michelin-recommended restaurants and private tours of the capitals most popular attractions. During their time in the country, Alex and Andrea also met with six of the 10 South Korean tourists they hosted in their home in a tearful reunion at the traditional Korean Changdeokgung Palace. More from NextShark: Swedish Restaurant Exposed For Having Xi Jinping 'Bat Man' Posters Speaking through an interpreter, the couple and the South Korean tourists emphasized their fateful encounter and called one another lifelong friends. We bonded so much with them, Andrea expressed. It was like reuniting with family. Business Reporter Joel Donofrio is the business reporter for the Yakima Herald. He was born and raised in the Chicago area, but he and his wife, Cathy, fell in love with the beauty (and low humidity) of the West and moved here in 2009, eventually relocating to Yakima in September 2021. They have two young adult children, Anthony and Joanna, and a dog, Molly. When he is not taking photos of construction sites, tracking down new and relocating businesses or catching up on agricultural trends, Joel enjoys playing guitar, singing, listening to music and playing and watching sports. Crime and Courts Reporter Donald W. Meyers is a multimedia journalist at the Yakima Herald-Republic covering crime and courts. He is also the writer behind It Happened Here, a weekly history column. Before coming to Yakima, Meyers covered a wide variety of beats at The Salt Lake Tribune, Daily Herald, and daily and weekly newspapers across New Jersey. He is also a member of the Society of Professional Journalists, serving as a regional officer in the organization as well as on the national Freedom of Information Committee. 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. US signs new security pact with Papua New Guinea amid competition with China The United States has signed a new security pact with Papua New Guinea as the U.S. continues to jostle with China for influence in the Pacific An Indonesian expert has said that the U.S. attempt of decoupling from China will create instability in the international economic system, which will also damage the U.S. economy in the end. Produced by Xinhua Global Service Judge Sal Mendoza is helped by his wife, Mia, during the robing ceremony Friday afternoon during his investiture to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Their children, Carmaen, Anthony and Daniel, joined the ceremony held at the Federal Building in Richland. Bryan Kohberger sits with his attorney, public defender Anne Taylor, during a Jan. 5 hearing in Latah County District Court in Moscow, Idaho. Kohberger has been charged with the murders of four University of Idaho students in November 2022. Our directory features more than 18 million business listings from across the entire US. However, if we're missing your business, add your business by clicking on Add Your Business. TIANJIN, May 21 (Xinhua) -- During the seventh World Intelligence Congress (WIC), a major artificial intelligence (AI) event held from May 18 to 21 in the north Chinese city of Tianjin, approximately 81.5 billion yuan (about 11.58 billion U.S. dollars) of investment involving 98 key projects were signed. The newly inked projects involve the industrial chains in various fields such as novel information technologies, automobiles, biomedicine, equipment manufacturing, new energy, and new materials, according to the organizer. Over 1,000 officials, experts, scholars and entrepreneurs from 51 countries and regions participated in the event. The four-day event, themed "Intelligence: Extensive Development Space, Sustainable Growth Driver," was held at National Convention and Exhibition Center (Tianjin) and multiple other venues in the port city. Since its inauguration in 2017, the event has offered a platform for scientists, entrepreneurs and economists from home and abroad to discuss the frontier trends of intelligent technology. Authorities say an ex-convict has been indicted on a first-degree murder charge in the death of a woman who was attacked from behind and stabbed 15 times while walking on a desert trail in northeast Phoenix last month Romani pe listele de candidati la alegerile din Spania Duminica au loc alegeri locale si regionale in Spania, o tara cu o solida comunitate romaneasca. Potrivit corespondentului RRA, Oana Popa, si anul acesta multi romani nu doar ca vor vota in acest scrutin organizat in 12 din cele 17 comunitati autonome si cele peste 8.100 de localitati, dar [citeste mai departe] Romania reports 731 COVID-19 hospitalisations, 29 COVID-related deaths in the week of May 15 - 21 Romania reports 731 COVID-19 hospitalisations, 29 COVID-related deaths in the week of May 15 - 21. A total of 2,379 new cases of SARS-CoV-2 infection were registered in the week of May 15 - 21, and 29 COVID-related deaths: 18 men and 11 women, aged between 50 and 80+, the Health Ministry announced on Monday. CITESTE SI Average value of extra-salary benefits in Romania up by 11 pct in 2022 (study) 15:03 0 EnergMin: We wish to fully supply Rep. of Moldova with energy and natural gas from Romania 15:00 1 Romania, promoted at IMEX Frankfurt International Tourism Fair 14:56 5 Education employees, Citeste articolul mai departe pe stiripesurse.ro Sursa articol si foto: stiripesurse.ro CITESTE SIvalue of extra-salary benefits inup by 11 pct in 2022 (study) 15:03 0: We wish to fully supply Rep. ofwith energy and natural gas from15:00 1, promoted at IMEX Frankfurt International Tourism Fair 14:56 5employees, Stiri pe aceeasi tema - EnergMin: We wish to fully supply Rep. of Moldova with energy and natural gas from Romania. Energy Minister Virgil Popescu said on Monday that Romania wishes to fully and completely supply the Republic of Moldova with energy and natural gas from Romania, and he mentioned the memorandum approved last - Average value of extra-salary benefits in Romania up by 11 pct in 2022 (study). The average monthly value of extra-salary benefits granted in Romania, in 2022, increased by 11% compared to the previous year, up to 696 RON/month for each employee, show the results of an annual Benefit study, conducted - PM Ciuca: We are approving memorandum ensuring consolidation of interconnection with Rep. Moldova on gas, electricity networks.The Government is going to approve a memorandum on the implementation of projects necessary for the interconnection of natural gas networks and electricity grids in Romania - As many as 3,463 new cases of people infected with SARS-CoV-2 were recorded in the May 1-7, 2023 week in Romania, with over 56,000 RT-PCR and rapid antigenic tests performed, the Health Ministry informed on Monday.Of the new cases, 1,065 were in re-infected patients, who tested positive more than - Romania's COVID-19 weekly cases rise by 5,032 , April 17-23, 2023.As many as 5,032 new cases of people infected with SARS-CoV-2 were recorded in the April 17-23, 2023 week in Romania, with over 60,000 RT-PCR and rapid antigenic tests performed, the Health Ministry informed on Monday, told Agerpres. - As many as 4,201 new cases of people infected with SARS-CoV-2 were recorded in the April 10-16, 2023 week in Romania, with over 48,000 RT-PCR and rapid antigenic tests performed, the Health Ministry informed on Monday. Fii la curent cu cele mai noi stiri. Urmareste stiripesurse.ro pe Facebook - As many as 1,492 people with COVID-19 are hospitalized in specialized health units, the Ministry of Health informed on Monday.163 patients are treated in the ICUs, of whom 134 are not vaccinated against COVID. Fii la curent cu cele mai noi stiri. Urmareste stiripesurse.ro pe Facebook - As many as 5,211 new cases of people infected with SARS-CoV-2 were recorded in the February 20-26, 2023 week in Romania, with over 70,000 RT-PCR and rapid antigenic tests performed, the Health Ministry informed on Monday. Fii la curent cu cele mai noi stiri. Urmareste stiripesurse.ro South Korea and Germany agreed on Sunday to sign a military pact to streamline supply chains involving the two countries defense industries. The deal could share their military secrets, Azernews reports, citing The Korea Herald. The summit, which took place at the presidential office in Seoul following the two leaders participation in the Group of Seven summit in Japan the same day, is the latest efforts by Yoon to partner with democracies to put checks on North Korea amid its escalating nuclear threats. Germany understands the issues involving the Korean Peninsula because it experienced its unification 33 years ago, Yoon said at a joint press conference. Hours ahead of the summit, Scholz toured the Demilitarized Zone, which separates the two Koreas, in a show of unity to support Seouls push to deter Pyongyangs aggression. Seoul and Berlin will expand economic ties as well, Yoon added, saying they would step up trade and investment in cutting-edge technologies involving hydrogen, chips and clean energy. Seoul will also join a Berlin-led initiative for joint action on climate change, according to Yoon. Looking back exchanges between South Korea and Germany over the past years, the two countries have seen ties grow over not only common economic interests but people-to-people exchanges, Scholz said. BAGHDAD, May 21 (Xinhua) -- Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia' al-Sudani and visiting Jordanian Interior Minister Mazen Faraya agreed on Sunday to promote bilateral security cooperation, especially in the field of drug control. During their meeting held in the Iraqi capital of Baghdad, the two sides discussed ways to enhance bilateral relations and security cooperation, facilitate the entry of citizens between the two countries, confront terrorism, and combat drug trafficking, said al-Sudani's media office's press release. Al-Sudani stressed that drugs "pose a significant threat to our youth and undermine the social fabric of our societies", calling for close coordination between Iraq and Jordan to combat the growing challenge of drug trafficking. For his part, Faraya expressed his country's determination to collaborate with Iraq across various security sectors, with a primary focus on combating drug trafficking through joint efforts and cooperation. On May 9, al-Sudani vowed to fight a "war on drugs" at the opening ceremony of the first Baghdad International Conference on Drug Control, emphasizing that it is no less important than the fight against terrorism. Illicit drug trafficking in and through Iraq has been increasing since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion. In recent years, drugs are mostly sold and distributed in poor areas in the Iraqi capital of Baghdad and the southern part of the country, prompting the Iraqi authorities to adopt rigorous measures to curb the spread of drugs. Tamas Deutsch, the head of Fideszs EP delegation, on Saturday said he and his group of MEPs wanted Brussels to give a clear and forthcoming answer concerning "Ukraine's latest serious blackmail against Hungary. Referring to reports of an alleged plan to blow up the Druzhba pipeline carrying Russian oil to Hungary, Deutsch said in a video statement that the serious and outrageous case of extortion must be clarified, adding that his group of MEPs had turned to the European Commission with written questions. Deutsch referred to an alleged meeting in February in which Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky may have suggested blowing up the pipeline as well as a message sent by the chief executive of Ukrtransnafta, the company that manages oil transportation operations through the Ukrainian pipeline network, setting Hungary conditions for keeping oil flowing through the pipeline. He also said he had received a message from the Brussels bureaucracy that the transit of crude oil to Hungary could well be stopped. He said it was insupportable that no answer had been forthcoming about whether the direct collaborators of European Commission leaders had actually proposed to the Ukrainians the grave act of threatening Hungarys sovereignty in order to exert political pressure. The Hungarian office of the European Commission denied on Wednesday that President von der Leyen had advised Ukraine to cut off deliveries of Russian crude oil to Hungary through the Friendship pipeline. President von der Leyen has never made such a recommendation about the Friendship pipeline and has never been in contact on this subject, the office said. On Wednesday Index, several other governing party websites and state news agency MTI reported the allegation. The claim originated from the head of Ukraines pipeline operator Ukrtransnafta, who said the Commission president had advised such a move in response to tighter Hungarian regulations on imports of Ukrainian agricultural products. Student organisations held a demonstration in Budapest on Friday, protesting for wage hikes for teachers, and called for the withdrawal of planned changes to their employment status and other planned regulations. Protesters marched from Kossuth Square in front of Parliament to Oktogon Square, carrying banners reading History is written by youth, We also have a heartbeat and All power belongs to the people, and waving EU and Hungarian flags, as well as those representing the teachers movements. Flags of the Tanitanek movement and teachers trade unions were also to be seen. Opposition politicians Akos Hadhazy (independent), Bence Tordai and Timea Szabo of Parbeszed, Andras Fekete-Gyor, Anna Orosz and Miklos Hajnal of Momentum also joined the protest, among others. Budapest police (BRFK) have reported that a small group of demonstrators had tried to disrupt the demo. After the demonstration, a smaller group marched to the headquarters of ruling Fidesz near Heroes Square, where police cordoned off both sidewalks. BRFK reported that some protesters were trying to intentionally provoke police. Participants of the unlawful protest tried to push through the police line and threw bottles and other objects, while verbally provoking them, the statement said. Commenting on the demonstration, ruling Fidesz said the party was fully on board with the notion of a wage hike for teachers. Leftist politicians earn 5-6 million a month to stop teachers getting 800,000 forints, the party said in a statement. Had Hungary received the EU funds it is entitled to, teachers would have already had their raise, the party said. Leftist politicians drawing large salaries are working in the EU to block those resources, the statement said. Budapest Police: Few Hundred Violent Protesters Tried To Break Through Police Line An aggressive crowd of few hundred people unceasingly and violently attempted to break through police lines in a coordinated manner following a student protest in Budapest on Friday evening, the Budapest police headquarters said on its website. Police checked the identity documents of 15 people and filed reports against two for violent behaviour against an officer, the statement said on Saturday. Police showed great patience and acted in a lawful, professional and proportionate way, it added. The statement confirmed information announced at a press conference late on Friday that two people were apprehended for an alleged violent act against an officer. The Budapest police has initiated an administrative investigation for abuse of the right of assembly and violations linked to the use of pyrotechnical devices. Investigators will carry out further analysis of recordings made at the unlawful assembly, it said. After the pre-announced student protest ended on Friday, a group of people moved from Oktogon to Heroes Square after 7pm, police said. They provoked officers verbally at first and later also physically, pushing them and throwing objects at them, including beer cans, plastic bottles, smoke canisters and large metal screws, the statement said. Police repeatedly instructed them over loudspeakers to stop their unlawful action. Despite the fact that the law on police would have allowed the use of means of coercion, police showed restraint and used only bodily force to hold back the violent participants of the unlawful assembly, the statement added. Katalin Szili, the prime ministers chief advisor, and Arpad Janos Potapi, the state secretary in charge of policies for Hungarian communities abroad, met members of the local Hungarian communities in Edinburgh, Aberdeen and Lochgelly, in Scotland. Scotlands Hungarian community of around 15,000 is a fast-changing one both in terms of its size and composition, Potapi told MTI by phone. Many come here to study or work, before moving on within a few months or years to England or elsewhere in western Europe, or returning home to Hungary, he said. This is one of the reasons why many of them are young couples with small children, the state secretary added. Potapi said that a consulate general has been operating in Edinburgh for several years, helping with maintaining contact with the local Hungarian community and supporting them in preserving their identity. He expressed hope that an association of Hungarians in Scotland would be established soon, which could then apply for support from the state secretariat, contributing to, among other things, the opening of a Hungarian weekend school. Szili highlighted the ongoing progress in the organisation of Scotlands Hungarian communities. She said it had been important to the Hungarians in Aberdeen to celebrate the upcoming Day of National Cohesion together. New Delhi: The Congress won the Karnataka assembly elections by promising free electricity, free ration, and unemployment allowance in its poll manifesto, taking cue from the Aam Aadmi Party, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said on Sunday. He said the AAP has succeeded in its efforts to bring some change in the country's political discourse as other parties are also now seeking votes on issues like education and health. He was addressing AAP leaders who won seats in just-concluded Uttar Pradesh local body elections. "The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has tried to change the narrative of the country's politics. If you look at Karnataka polls, the Congress party has won on our manifesto," Kejriwal said. "We said we will provide free electricity, they (Congress) also said so. We said we will provide unemployment allowance, free ration, and Rs 1,000 (per moth to women, They also said so," he said. The BJP is also now making such promises, he said, adding, political parties earlier used to seek votes on the basis of caste and religion. The AAP won three Nagar Palika chairperson seats, six Nagar Panchayat chairperson seats, and six Nagar Nigam councillor seats besides several wards in the urban local body polls that were held in Uttar Pradesh in two phases -- on May 4 and May 11. More than half of the AAP's victorious candidates belonged to the minority community, according to the poll results available on the state election commission's website. Kejriwal congratulated the AAP's Uttar Pradesh unit leaders, saying it was a "difficult" election as the state is considered a BJP stronghold. "You worked hard and defeated the BJP, the SP, and other parties." Kejriwal said the AAP leaders' victory in several seats in the local body elections is an indication that the people of Uttar Pradesh "are ready for change". "They want good governance and development in the state," he added. He said the AAP will now focus on expanding its foothold in Uttar Pradesh and contest the next assembly polls with full strength. "We will build our organisation with the help of Sandeep Pathak (AAP national organisation secretary). We will form active committees of 10 members in every village and booth. Once our organisation is built in Uttar Pradesh, no one can stop us," he said. Kejriwal asked the elected representatives to work for the people in various sectors like health and education so that the AAP is strengthened in the state. "All of you have got more responsibility now. If you do good work in Uttar Pradesh that fragrance will spread across the state. We will get an entry in Uttar Pradesh through you," he added. PORT MORESBY: Prime Minister Narendra Modi was on Monday conferred with the highest honours of Papua New Guinea and Fiji, in a rare recognition for a non-resident in the two Pacific island nations. Modi was in Papua New Guinea on Sunday on his maiden visit to the country to host a key summit between India and 14 Pacific island countries to boost bilateral ties. In a special ceremony at the Government House, Sir Bob Dadae, Governor-General of Papua New Guinea, conferred Prime Minister Modi with the Grand Companion of the Order of Logohu (GCL), the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said in a statement. This is the highest civilian award in the country and recipients of the award are titled "Chief", it said. "Unprecedented honour for India as Papua New Guinea confers their highest award to PM Modi," the Prime Minister's Office said. Papua New Guinea conferred the Companion of the Order of Logohu to Prime Minister Modi for championing the cause of unity of Pacific Island countries and spearheading the cause of Global South. Very few non-residents of PNG have received this award, including former US President Bill Clinton, it said. "Humbled by the gesture of Papua New Guinea of conferring me with the Companion of the Order of Logohu. Gratitude to Governor General Sir Bob Dadae for presenting the award. This is a great recognition of India and the accomplishments of our people," the prime minister tweeted. "An honour emblematic of the depth of India-Papua New Guinea relationship," the MEA tweeted. This comes immediately after Fiji's Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka also conferred the country's highest award to Modi. "Big Honour for India. Prime Minister Modi has been conferred the highest honour of Fiji by the PM of Fiji: Companion of the Order of Fiji in recognition of his global leadership. Only a handful of Non-Fijians have received this honour to date," the Prime Minister's Office said. PM @narendramodi has been conferred the highest honour of Fiji, the Companion of the Order of Fiji. It was presented to him by PM @slrabuka. pic.twitter.com/XojxUIKLNm PMO India (@PMOIndia) May 22, 2023 Prime Minister Modi dedicated the honour to the people of India and to the generations of the Fiji-Indian community, who have played a key role in the special and enduring bond between the two countries, the MEA said on Twitter. "Grateful to the people and Government of Fiji for conferring the Companion of the Order of Fiji on me. I thank PM @slrabuka for presenting the award. It is an honour for the people of India and a recognition of the strong ties between India and Fiji," the prime minister tweeted. Humbled by the gesture of Papua New Guinea of conferring me with the Companion of the Order of Logohu. Gratitude to Governor General Sir Bob Dadae for presenting the award. This is a great recognition of India and the accomplishments of our people. pic.twitter.com/VDhqTJK6Ra Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) May 22, 2023 Modi also held a "wonderful meeting" with President Surangel S Whipps, Jr of the Republic of Palau on the sidelines of the FIPIC Summit. Whipps presented Modi with an Ebakl, one of the most important tools for the people of Palau. Ebaki has a strong link with the local culture. It also symbolises leadership and wisdom, the MEA said on Twitter. Some of the previous international awards conferred by countries on Prime Minister Modi are The Order of Abdulaziz Al Saud (the highest honour of Saudi Arabia awarded to non-muslim dignitaries), State Order of Ghazi Amir Amanullah Khan (the highest civilian honour of Afghanistan), the Grand Collar of the State of Palestine Award (the highest honour of Palestine awarded to foreign dignitaries) and Order of Zayed Award (highest civilian honour of the United Arab Emirates). Other awards include the Order of St. Andrew Award (the highest civilian honour of Russia), the Order of the Distinguished Rule of Nishan Izzuddin (the highest honour of the Maldives awarded to foreign dignitaries) and King Hamad Order of the Renaissance (a top honour by the gulf country). This aerial photo shows a view of the Qizimei mountain national nature reserve in central China's Hubei Province, Dec. 15, 2022. (Photo by Wang Fajun/Xinhua) BEIJING, May 22 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) released an updated national species database, the Catalogue of Life China 2023 Annual Checklist, on Monday, International Day for Biological Diversity. The list recorded a total of 148,674 species and sub-species, 10,381 more than the 2022 figure. Such checklists are basic data reflecting the richness of biodiversity resources in a country or region, said Ma Keping, deputy director of the CAS Biodiversity Committee. China's list aims to show the conditions of biodiversity in the country and promote biodiversity research and protection. The compilation began in 2008. China is the only country that publishes a list of its biological species every year. New Delhi: Jammu and Kashmir is all set to host the third G20 Tourism Working Group meeting in Srinagar today, its first major international event since the abrogation of Article 370. For the three-day Summit, the Union Territory has been put under a three-tier security grid and the National Security Guard (NSG), the MARCOS commandos, and Jammu and Kashmir Police's special operation group (SOG) have been deployed in and around the Sher Kashmir International Convention Center (SKICC), the venue for the meeting. The meeting will witness the participation of G20 member countries, invited countries, international organisations and industry stakeholders, and will deliberate on the five key priority areas -- green tourism, digitalization, skills, MSMEs, and destination management. The foreign delegates will also be taken to the markets of Srinagar and will be introduced to the arts and crafts of Jammu and Kashmir. Addressing a press conference at SKICC on Sunday, G20 Chief Coordinator Harsh Vardhan Shringla said that Srinagar has gone through a massive make-over and developmental works in the last few years, particularly in the last few months to welcome delegates from different countries. The G20 Tourism Working Group meeting has the highest delegate participation and will be the 'most significant event' held in Jammu and Kashmir, he said. "The very idea is to use this meeting to bring attention to Jammu and Kashmir and how it can help revive handicrafts, etc. It is an opportunity to present our rich culture and heritage. No other working group does it better than the tourism group," Harsh Vardhan Shringla said. This will be the most significant event in Jammu and Kashmir, he added. "We have hosted 118 meetings from the Rann of Kutch to Kohima and from Kanyakumari and now to Kashmir. There has been a sense of attachment everywhere and I have no doubt it is the same in Srinagar... As we drive around Srinagar, we see a completely transformed city. Srinagar today is vastly more beautiful. (It has) better amenities. It is truly a smart city, which you would want to showcase to the world," he said. A side event on 'Film Tourism for Economic Growth and Cultural Preservation' will be organised on May 22-23, focusing on strategies to promote film tourism in the Union Territory. A draft 'National Strategy on Film Tourism' will also be unveiled to provide a roadmap for harnessing the role of films in promoting tourist destinations. MUMBAI: Amid questioning of senior NCP leader Jayant Patil by the Enforcement Directorate in Mumbai, party chief Sharad Pawar on Monday hinted that the action against some leaders could be the fallout of their refusal to meet "expectations" of the ruling dispensation. Pawar said they will suffer but will never go astray from the path they have chosen. He was speaking to reporters in Pune on the action taken by ED and other Central probe agencies against some leaders of the Nationalist Congress Party. "A possibility cannot be denied that the current dispensation has had some expectations from some 9-10 leaders of NCP. We are not ready to meet those expectations and are ready to pay the price for our stand. We will never leave the path we have chosen," he said in a veiled attack on the BJP-led Central government. "As some people could not digest this (NCP's stand), hence we have to suffer. But we are not worried about it," he said. Notably, speaking on ED summoning him, Maharashtra NCP chief Jayant Patil had said, as he was part of the opposition, one needs to face such type of suffering. When asked about ED quizzing Patil, Pawar said, "I have a list of some key 10 leaders who have faced inquiry. Some of them even faced action by these agencies." Questioning of Patil has been underway at ED's office in south Mumbai for more than seven hours in a money laundering case linked to alleged financial irregularities in the now-bankrupt financial services firm IL&FS, an official said. "NCP leader (former home minister) Anil Deshmukh faced allegations of accepting Rs 100 crore for an educational institute and had to spend 13-14 months in jail. Later, it was revealed that the amount received was Rs 1.50 crore and not Rs 100 crore. It underscores the level of exaggeration of allegations...People were shocked when they first heard about such allegations. Deshmukh was defamed. It is the best example of how to misuse power," Pawar claimed. Deshmukh was granted bail by the Bombay High Court in December 2022 in a corruption case being probed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) after IPS officer Param Bir Singh (now retired) in March 2021 alleged that Deshmukh, then home minister, had given a target to police officers to collect Rs 100 crore per month from restaurants and bars in Mumbai. Deshmukh was arrested in November 2021 by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in a money laundering case. He is currently out on bail. Another senior NCP leader Nawab Malik, a former Maharashtra minister, was arrested on February 23, 2022, under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) by the ED in a probe linked to the activities of fugitive gangster Dawood Ibrahim and his aides. New Delhi: Former Delhi minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Satyendar Jain, who has been arrested in connection with a money laundering case, was on Monday examined by doctors at the Safdarjung Hospital in Delhi for a spine problem, an official said. He was taken to the Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Hospital on Saturday but as he wanted a second opinion, he was taken to the Safdarjung Hospital, a senior jail official said. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal wished his former cabinet colleague a speedy recovery. "I pray to god for his better health. The people of Delhi are watching the arrogance and atrocities of the BJP. Even god will not forgive these oppressors. In this struggle, the people are with us and god is by our side. We are followers of Bhagat Singh and our fight against oppression, injustice and dictatorship will continue," he said in a tweet in Hindi. Jain has been lodged in Tihar Jail since his arrest by the Enforcement Directorate in connection with a money laundering case in May. Earlier last week, the Supreme Court sought the response of the ED on the bail plea of Satyendar Jain in a money laundering case being probed by the agency. A bench of Justices AS Bopanna and Hima Kohli issued notice to the ED and granted liberty to Jain to move before the vacation bench for relief. Senior advocate Abhishek Singhvi, appearing for Jain, said the former minister has lost 35 kg and virtually became a skeleton. He is also suffering from various ailments. Additional Solicitor General SV Raju, appearing for the ED, said they are on caveat and opposing the plea. The bench, which did not give any specific date, said Jain can approach the vacation bench of the top court for relief. On April 6, the Delhi High Court had dismissed the bail plea of Jain in a money laundering case noting the witnesses' claim that he was the conceptualiser, initiator, and fund provider in the alleged crime. The high court said the senior AAP leader was an influential person having the potential to tamper with evidence. The ED had arrested Jain in the money laundering case based on a CBI FIR registered against him in 2017 under the Prevention of Corruption Act. He was granted regular bail by a trial court on September 6, 2019, in the case registered by the CBI. In 2022, the trial court had taken cognisance of the prosecution complaint (charge sheet) filed by the ED against Jain, his wife, and eight others, including the four firms, in connection with the money laundering case. New Delhi: Punjabi actress Sonam Bajwa is one of the most loved celebrities in the industry today. She often makes headlines with her social media posts. Her latest film raises challenging questions that Indian society may not yet be prepared to confront or address. Punjabi film 'Godday Godday Chaa' delves into the inequality faced by women within their own homes. Sonam opened up about the time when women were excluded from baraats (wedding processions) in several parts of North India. The movie's story revolves around one woman's determination to be a part of the celebrations, and whether she succeeds or not forms the crux of the narrative. In a recent interview, she revealed that she has personally experienced inequality and discrimination. Sonam told Indian Express, "I think we have all faced it since childhood as sons and daughters are treated differently. Sons can go out, spend the night outside their homes while women are not allowed to do it. I do understand where it comes from- they are more protective of you than boys. However, I think this inequality is ingrained deep in our society. Girls are expected to know how to cook while boys manage to get away. I remember my mother forcing me to be in the kitchen, even in the heat, while my brother would play. I was asked to help but he wasnt taught how to do basic kitchen chores." Further, she added, "I do tell my mother that had you taught him then, it would have been beneficial for him. I really felt bad as a kid when I used to face these things." She also talked about Bollywood movies like 'Kahani', 'The Dirty Picture', 'Queen' and 'Gangubai Kathiawadi' which have shown that audiences appreciate women as the lead in films. "I think the audiences' taste has evolved and they are looking for something fresh. Our film Godday Godday Chaa is something that will cater to everyone, irrespective of their age. Indians understand these emotions and I am sure they will love watching it, and collectively rejoicing together with the women in our film, she concluded. On the work front, Sonam participated in the Femina Miss India contest in 2012. She started her acting career in 2013 with the Punjabi film Best Of Luck. She played the leading female role in the 2014 film Punjab 1984 and won the PTC Punjabi Film Awards for Best Actress in 2020 for Ardab Mutiyaran. Sonam recently joined Akshay Kumar, Disha Patani, Mouni Roy and Nora Fatehi for 'The Entertainers' tour in the US. She has 'Carry On Jatta 3' with Gippy Grewal in her pipeline. New Delhi: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has decided to withdraw the Rs 2,000 denomination banknotes from circulation. The central bank has however reiterated that the banknotes in Rs 2000 denomination will continue to be legal tender. RBI has said that " Accordingly, members of the public may deposit 2000 banknotes into their bank accounts and/or exchange them into banknotes of other denominations at any bank branch. Deposit into bank accounts can be made in the usual manner, that is, without restrictions and subject to extant instructions and other applicable statutory provisions." Rs 2,000 Banknotes Exchange Limit And Date In order to ensure operational convenience and to avoid disruption of regular activities of bank branches, exchange of Rs 2,000 banknotes into banknotes of other denominations can be made upto a limit of Rs 20,000 at a time at any bank starting from May 23, 2023. RBI has added that the facility for exchange of Rs 2,000 banknotes upto the limit of Rs 20,000 at a time shall also be provided at the 19 Regional Offices (ROs) of RBI having Issue Departments1 from May 23, 2023. Rs 2,000 Banknotes Exchange Deadline The Reserve Bank has said that people can exchange Rs 2,000 banknotes till September 30, 2023. "To complete the exercise in a time-bound manner and to provide adequate time to the members of public, all banks shall provide deposit and/or exchange facility for 2000 banknotes until September 30, 2023," the central bank said in its circular. New Delhi: Sara Ali Khan, who has been busy promoting her upcoming film 'Zara Hatke Zara Bachke', also starring Vicky Kaushal, on Sunday (May 21) visited Ajmer Sharif Dargah, to seek blessings. A video from Sara's visit to Ajmer Sharif Dargah has surfaced online where she is seen offering her prayers and taking blessings. The Saif Ali Khan and Amrita Singh's daughter donned a mint green salwar suit and had hr head covered with the dupatta. She also sported sunglasses and was seen without any makeup. In the video shared by a paparazzi account, the actor is seen tying a thread to a wall of the dargah and praying. However, the actor was mobbed during her visit to the dargah by some unruly crowd who had assembled at the place to catch her glimpse. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Sara Ali Khan (@saraalikhan95)Sara Ali Khan has confessed in several interviews that she loves to travel and the actor is often seen jetting off to exotic locations everytime she is free. The actor is also seen frequently visiting temples and dargahs with her mother Amrita Singh. Sara recently returned to Mumbai after making her Cannes debut. The actor walked the red carpet looking elegant by bringing her 'desi girl' charm at the gala movie event. On the work front, apart from 'Zara Hatke Zara Bachke', Sara has Karan Johar's 'Ae Watan Mere Watan', where she plays a brave freedom fighter in a fictional tale set against the backdrop of the Quit India Movement in 1942. She has also completed shooting for 'Murder Mubarak', which is directed by Homi Adajania. While not much has been divulged about the project, Sara will be seen sharing the screen space with Karisma Kapoor in the upcoming drama series. Backed by Zee Studios, the noir show is based on the book the City of Death by Abheek Barua. Sara Ali Khan is the elder daughter of actor Saif Ali Khan and his ex-wife and actress Amrita Singh. She made her debut in Bollywood with Abhishek Kapoors tragic romance 'Kedarnath' alongside Sushant Singh Rajput. Sara received praises for her performance as Mandakini Mishra 'Mukku' in her debut and even received a Filmfare Award for the same. She also has a brother Ibrahim Ali Khan, who is reportedly all set to make his debut in Bollywood soon. Sara recently revealed that Ibrahim has finished shooting for his debut project. New Delhi: In a surprising revelation, Zomato, the leading Indian food delivery app, has disclosed that a staggering 72% of their cash on delivery orders since Friday have been paid in 2,000 notes. This revelation comes at a significant time as the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has recently announced its decision to withdraw the 2,000 denomination from circulation. Since the announcement by the RBI, people are in a frenzy to dispose of their 2,000 denomination notes as quickly as possible. Long queues have been observed at petrol pumps across India, as individuals seek to rid themselves of these high-value notes. Several posts have emerged claiming that petrol pumps have displayed notices discouraging or prohibiting customers from using 2,000 notes as payment. since friday, 72% of our cash on delivery orders were paid in 2000 notes pic.twitter.com/jO6a4F2iI7 May 22, 2023 RBI Requests Banks To Exchange Rs 2,000 Notes RBI has requested banks to provide deposit and exchange facility of Rs 2,000 notes until September 30, 2023. In the statement, RBI clarified that exchange facility for Rs 2,000 bank notes would be available from May 23. Exchange of Rs 2,000 banknotes into other denominations can be made upto a limit of Rs 20,000 at a time at any bank starting from May 23, 2023. Reserve Bank of India has advised banks to stop issuing Rs 2,000 denomination banknotes with immediate effect though banknotes in Rs 2,000 denomination will continue to be legal tender. Zomato Takes A Dig After Announcement kids: exchange 2000 note at bank adults: order cash on delivery and give 2000 note legends: never had 2000 note zomato (@zomato) May 19, 2023 In a tweet, Zomato took a playful dig at the RBI's announcement regarding the withdrawal of 2,000 notes from circulation. The tweet stated that while kids exchanged 2,000 notes at the bank, adults opted for cash on delivery and paid with 2,000 notes. It concluded by humorously stating that legends never even had 2,000 notes. Assam Board Result 2023: The Assam Board of Secondary Education (SEBA) is likely to release the Class 10, and 12 Result 2023 before the end of this month on the main official website. Candidates who have taken the examination are asked to maintain all of their information on hand so that they can retrieve the results quickly and easily. Soon after the results are officially announced, they will be available on the board's official website, results.sebaonline.org, and sebaonline.org. Candidates should be aware that there has been no official confirmation yet. The class 10 examination was held this year from March 3 to April 1. Candidates who have taken the examination should be aware that in order to obtain their Class 10 Result 2023, they will need to give their roll number as printed on their admit card, as well as other information. Students are urged to get their mark sheets and pass certificates from their respective schools once the results are announced. Assam Board Result 2023: Here's how to download scorecards Visit the official website of the board i.e. sebaonline.org Click on the Assam HSLC 10th result 2023 link, when it releases. Enter the roll number and other required details. Then click on submit. The Assam Board HSLC Result 2023 will be displayed on the screen. View the result and download it. Take a printout of the result for future reference. The Assam Board is yet to release the Class 12 board exam results. The Assam Class 12 examination was held from February 20 to March 20. More than 8 lakh students are eagerly awaiting their results this year. West Bengal Board Result 2023: The West Bengal Council of Higher Secondary Education (WBCHSE), will issue West Bengal HS Result 2023 next week. State Education Minister Bratya Basu has stated that the WB Board 12th Result 2023 will be available on Wednesday at wbresults.nic.in. The results for all three streams, Science, Commerce, and Arts, will be released. Notice issued by West Bengal State Education Minister reads, "The results of the HS Examinations 2023 conducted by WBCHSE will be published on May 24, 2023 through a press conference at 12 Noon. Students will be able to download their results through online portal from 12:30 PM. Hard copy mark-sheets and certificates will be distributed by Council on May 31, 2023. WB 12th Result 2023: Steps to check 1. Go to wbresults.nic.in or any of official websites 2. On homepage, click on the link, 'West Bengal Higher Secondary Examination Result 2023' 3. Enter the required details like roll number and date of birth 4Click on the 'Submit' button. 5. WB HS 2023 result will be displayed on the screen 6. Download it and take its printout WBCHSE HSC 2023 Result date, time WBCHSE HS Exam 2023 result will be out on May 24 Press Conference will be conducted at 12 PM Result Link will be made active on 12:30 PM Students must submit their West Bengal 12th exam roll number, date of birth, and other information to view the results. The results of the West Bengal High School Examinations, which were held between March 14 and March 27, 2023, will be released. West Bengal announced the SSC, Class 10 results on May 19 and the Madrahasa results on May 20. Nationalist Congress Party president Sharad Pawar today reaffirmed his stand that he is not in the race for the next Prime Minister as he won't be contesting the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. Expressing his opinion on the next PM candidate, Pawar said that the opposition needs a leader who can further the development agenda of the country. Pawar also praised former Congress president Rahul Gandhi and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar while talking to reporters. Praising Rahul Gandhi, Pawar said, "Karnataka Assembly election results are the best example of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's Padyatra. Whatever one says about Rahul Gandhi, I am sure that people would strengthen Rahul Gandhi's ideology." Pawar also praised Kumar for his efforts to unite the opposition. "My efforts are for bringing the Opposition together. The same efforts are being made by Bihar CM Nitish Kumar....I am not contesting the next election so where is the question of becoming a Prime Ministerial candidate? I am not in the race to become PM. We want a leader who can work for the development of the nation," said the NCP chief. When asked about seat sharing between opposition parties, Pawar said that no discussion has taken place on the issue yet. "A meeting was held at my residence where it was discussed that leaders from all three parties (of MVA) will decide on it. Uddhav Thackeray, Sonia Gandhi or Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge and I will sit together to discuss it," said Pawar. Sharad Pawar was among the opposition leaders invited by the Congress to attend the swearing-in ceremony of the Karnataka government. The Congress defeated BJP in Karnataka by winning 135 seats in the 224-member assembly. Congress won around 36 of 51 seats that witnessed Rahul Gandhi's Bharat Jodo Yatra. Many opposition leaders including West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Bihar CM Kumar, Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal and Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav have been working to unite the opposition against the BJP ahead of the 2024 Parliamentary polls. KIGALI, May 22 (Xinhua) -- Rwanda on Monday celebrated the International Day for Biological Diversity with a call on the public to reconnect with nature and prioritize biodiversity. The event, organized by the Ministry of Environment in Rwanda's capital of Kigali, featured discussions about the implementation of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework adopted by countries last December as part of efforts to halt and reverse nature loss. Speaking at the event, Rwandan Minister of Environment Jeanne d'Arc Mujawamariya said the country's development agenda recognizes the central role that biodiversity plays in terms of supporting national economic growth. "We cannot develop our nation unless we put the environment at the heart of everything we do." The minister warned against cutting down trees. "We need to reverse this trend, and educate future generations to understand the importance of biodiversity in everything we do for a brighter future," she said. The Rwanda Environment Management Authority (REMA) highlighted that Rwanda's biodiversity plays a critical role in ecosystem services such as ensuring water provision, air for breathing, controlling soil erosion and flooding, as well as climate change mitigation. "Biodiversity is part of our lives. Growing up, I was surrounded by nature and this helped build my passion for protecting the environment and understand the importance of biodiversity. I encourage us all to reconnect with nature and prioritize biodiversity," Juliet Kabera, director general of REMA, told an audience of stakeholders of Rwanda's climate, environment and natural resources sectors. The International Day for Biological Diversity is celebrated this year under the theme "From agreement to action: Build Back Biodiversity" to remind nations that biodiversity is essential to ecosystem function and services delivery. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) ruled Delhi government has been at constant odds against the Centre over administrative control issues including the transfer and posting of Group A officers. In a boost for AAP, the Congress party has said that it will oppose the move in the Rajya Sabha. The AAP already has support from Lalu Yadav's Rashtriya Janata Dal and Nitish Kumar's Janata Dal United. In fact, Nitish Kumar is spearheading the opposition unity efforts and played a crucial role in getting Congress on board to support the AAP cause. Congress Backs AAP Kumar, who met Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday and extended his support to AAP against the Centre's ordinance, held a meeting with Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi today to bolster the opposition unity. Speaking after the meeting, Congress general secretary (organisation) K C Venugopal said that Congress will back AAP in the monsoon session of Parliament against the Centre's ordinance on transfers and postings in Delhi. Other opposition parties including Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress, MK Stalin's DMK and Left parties are likely to back the AAP against the Centre's ordinance. If the opposition parties unite to defeat the government's proposed bill, it will be a booster shot for opposition unity ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. Congress party's support for AAP may prove to be a thaw in the two parties' sour relationship as they have been at odds most of the time. Notably, while the Congress had invited most of the regional parties to the Karnataka swearing-in ceremony, the AAP and the Telangana CM K Chandrashekar Rao's Bharat Rashtra Samithi were few parties who were not invited to the grand event. Opposition Meet Soon Venugopal also said that a 'vast majority' of non-BJP parties will soon meet to discuss their way forward. He said that the venue and date of the expected meeting will be announced in a day or two. After meeting Kumar, Kharge tweeted, "The country will be united now. The strength of democracy is our message. Rahul Gandhi and myself discussed the current political situation with Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar today and took forward the process of giving a new direction to the country." Nitish Kumar has recently met several opposition leaders in a bid to bring them together on one platform with the Congress to take on the BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. What Is The Ordinance Row? The AAP and the Centre have been at the loggerheads over the administrative control of the national capital. While the Supreme Court recently handed over the control of services, excluding those related to police, public order and land, to the elected government in Delhi, the Centre promulgated an ordinance to create a National Capital Civil Service Authority to oversee the transfer of IAS and DANICS cadre officers and disciplinary proceedings against them. What Is National Capital Civil Service Authority? The National Capital Civil Service Authority will be a committee of three members that will decide the transfer, posting and other related issues by a majority vote. The authority comprises the chief minister of the government of the National Capital Territory of Delhi as its chairperson, along with chief secretary and principal secretary, home, who will be the member secretary to the authority. "Notwithstanding anything contained in any law for the time being in force, the National Capital Civil Service Authority shall have the responsibility to recommend the transfers and postings of all the Group 'A' officers and officers of DANICS serving in the affairs of the government of the National Capital Territory of Delhi but not officers serving in connection with any subject matter," read the ordinance. NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi was not in favour of Rs 2000 notes coming into circulation but reluctantly agreed to it after he was told that there was a lack of capacity to print smaller currency notes as demonetisation has to be done in a limited time, Nripendra Misra, former Principal Secretary to PM Modi has said. Nripendra Misra told ANI in an exclusive interview that PM Modi never considered Rs 2000 note as that of the poor and knew "Rs 2000 note has hoarding value instead of transactional value". "PM Modi was not at all in favour of Rs 2000 notes. But, as demonetisation was to be done in a limited time, he gave reluctant permission for it...PM never considered Rs 2000 note as note of the poor, he knew Rs 2000 (note) has hoarding value instead of transactional value," Nripendra Misra said. He said PM Modi was not in favour of currency notes being printed outside the country. Misra said it was decided during the demonetisation exercise, carried out in November 2016, that the currency notes that had been taken out of circulation (Rs 500 and Rs 1000) had to be replaced with new notes in a given period of time. "In the period that the (demonetised) notes were to be deposited and new notes brought out, the capacity to print (new notes) was less and the option was to bring Rs 2000 note. The team that was working made the proposal that Rs 2000 notes will have to be printed in the wake of limited time. The Prime Minister was not at all enthused," Misra said. He said PM Modi felt that the effort was to tackle black money and if a bigger denomination note comes then the capacity to hoard will increase. "When he was told about the capacity to print currency notes, and that even if two-three shifts are held, the target cannot be met..the only alternative left was to print Rs 2000 note for a limited period...the Prime Minister, in principle, was against it but for practical considerations, he reluctantly agreed. There was not an iota of doubt in his mind that when there is adequate capacity in the future, Rs 2000 note should be discontinued," Misra said. "You would have observed that Rs 2000 notes were not being printed since 2018," he added. Misra, who was Principal Secretary to PM Modi from 2014 and 2019, said that RBI has also not been bringing back to circulation "soiled" Rs 2000 notes that came to it from banks. He said RBI has now announced that Rs 2000 note is being withdrawn from circulation and people can exchange it till September 30 in bank branches. Misra said PM felt that Rs 2000 is not for the common man and can somewhere contribute to hoarding if it is not deposited in banks. He said the government has been engaged in the fight against black money. RBI has also said Rs 2000 denomination banknote was introduced in November 2016, primarily to meet the currency requirement of the economy in an expeditious manner after the withdrawal of the legal tender status of all Rs 500 and Rs 1000 banknotes in circulation at that time. The objective of introducing Rs 2000 banknotes was met once banknotes in other denominations became available in adequate quantities. Therefore, the printing of Rs 2000 banknotes was stopped subsequently in 2018-19. The total value of these Rs 2000 banknotes in circulation has declined from Rs 6.73 lakh crore at its peak in March 31, 2018 (37.3 per cent of Notes in Circulation) to Rs 3.62 lakh crore constituting only 10.8 per cent of Notes in Circulation on March 31, 2023. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Friday decided to withdraw the Rs 2000 denomination currency notes from circulation, but added they will continue to remain as legal tender. RBI had advised banks to stop issuing Rs 2000 denomination banknotes with immediate effect. RBI, however, said that citizens will continue to be able to deposit Rs 2000 banknotes into their bank accounts and/or exchange them into banknotes of other denominations at any bank branch up to September 30, 2023. The exchange of Rs 2000 bank notes into notes of other denominations can be made upto a limit of Rs 20,000 at a time at any bank starting from May 23, 2023. NEW DELHI: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar met Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and former party chief Rahul Gandhi here on Monday, the second such meeting in the last one and a half months amid efforts to strengthen Opposition unity to take on the BJP in the 2024 general elections. Kumar met Kharge and Gandhi at the Congress chief's 10, Rajaji Marg residence here. Sources said during the meeting the roadmap for strengthening Opposition unity and a possible meeting of Opposition leaders in Patna was being discussed. Congress General Secretary (Organisation) K C Venugopal and JD(U) chief Lalan Singh were also present during the meeting, which came a day after Kumar and Delhi counterpart Arvind Kejriwal called for opposition unity to take on the BJP. The JD(U) leader met the AAP convenor at his residence here and extended "complete support" to him in the ongoing face-off with the Centre over the control of administrative services. Significantly, Bihar Chief Minister Kumar, Tejashwi Yadav, Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren, Nationalist Congress Party president Sharad Pawar, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin and National Conference president Farooq Abdullah attended the swearing-in ceremony of Siddaramaiah as the Karnataka chief minister on Saturday, in a show of opposition unity. Kumar has been meeting Opposition leaders and regional satraps as part of the unity exercise which is yet to take a concrete shape. Late last month, Kumar had hinted that a meeting of opposition leaders may take place in Patna after the Karnataka assembly polls were over and issues related to forging opposition unity are expected to be discussed at length at that meeting. In Manipur, the situation has again become tense in Imphal following reports of fresh flare-ups and arson. According to reports, curfew has been reimposed in the region after the Meitei and the Kuki communities had a face-off in the New Checkon area of Imphal. Army and paramilitary forces have been called in to control the situation. According to Zee News TV, there are reports of vandalism in the empty houses vacated by the people following the earlier violence. Reports suggest that mob torched two houses in Imphal while two armed miscreants forced people to shut their shops this afternoon. According to police, no casualty was reported due to the fresh arson. So far, two people have been taken into custody. Security forces deployed in the area rushed to the scene and fired teargas shells to disperse the mob resulting in minor injuries to a few people. Following the incident, curfew hours in Imphal East district which had earlier been relaxed were tightened, reported PTI. Normalcy is yet to return completely to violence-hit areas of Manipur even after death of 70 people. Over 1,700 houses were burnt down in the violence. On the other hand, the India Army and Assam Rifles have been working in close coordination with utmost synergy to assure protection to vehicles carrying essential goods to and from Imphal amid the city facing lack of essential supplies. The forces have been working to protect vehicles using NH 37 which is also called "The Lifeline of Manipur". "At any given point of time while the movement of vehicles is being undertaken prophylactic Area Domination Patrols of Army and Assam Rifles, Quick Reaction Teams operating from Company Operating Bases located astride NH 37, aerial surveillance by Unmanned Aerial Vehicles and Cheetah Helicopters, Companies of CRPF, Manipur Police personnel from five police stations alongwith persons from India Reserve Battalion are tasked to ensure security of civilian vehicles plying on NH 37," Indian Army said. (With agency inputs) New Delhi: A day after assuming office as Karnataka Chief Minister, Siddaramaiah on Sunday said he would prefer books over flowers or shawls given by people as a mark of respect at various events. Taking to his official Twitter account, Siddaramaiah said, "I have decided not to accept flowers or shawls from people who often give it as a mark of respect. This is for during both personal and public events." People can give books if they want to express their love and respect in the form of gifts, the Congress leader said. "May all your love and affection continue to be on me," he added. I have decided not to accept flowers or shawls from people who often give it as a mark of respect. This is for during both personal and public events. People can give books if they want to express their love and respect in the form of gifts. May all your love and affection Siddaramaiah (@siddaramaiah) May 21, 2023 Siddaramaiah also asked Bengaluru police to take back zero traffic protocol for him, a decision, he said he took in view of the problems faced by people. "I have taken the decision after seeing the problems faced by the people travelling along the stretch where there are restrictions due to 'zero traffic'," he tweeted. I have asked Bengaluru City Police Commissioner to take back the 'Zero Traffic' protocol for my vehicular movement. I have taken the decision after seeing the problems faced by the people travelling along the stretch where there are restrictions due to 'zero traffic.' Siddaramaiah (@siddaramaiah) May 21, 2023 Siddaramaiah was sworn in as Karnataka Chief Minister in a grand ceremony in Bengaluru on Saturday, while State Congress President DK Shivakumar took oath as his deputy, along with eight legislators as Ministers. A galaxy of opposition leaders, including Chief Ministers of some non-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ruled States, took part in the mega event signifying solidarity with the Congress party to take on the saffron camp in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. Siddaramaiah, 75, became the CM for the second time after his earlier five-year stint from 2013. Subsequently, the new government at its maiden Cabinet meeting, soon after the swearing-in ceremony, accorded 'in-principle' approval to the Congress' five 'guarantees' promised before the May 10 Karnataka Assembly elections. Siddaramaiah, addressing a press conference, cited estimates and said implementing poll assurances would cost the exchequer about Rs 50,000 crore a year. He asserted that the pre-poll assurances would be implemented notwithstanding the financial implications, if any. In the elections to the 224-member Assembly, the Congress scored an emphatic victory by bagging 135 seats, while the BJP and former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda-led Janata Dal (Secular) secured 66 and 19 seats respectively. New Delhi: With her TIME Magazine cover reading The Global Star - Deepika Padukone is bringing the World to Bollywood, Indias most successful and celebrated female superstar has cemented her position as the countrys true global ambassador. The world has recognized Deepika Padukones unshakeable impact across the globe, however, the superstar managed to achieve everything she has in the international arena all while staying deeply connected to her roots. Representing the country and its rich culture overseas, Deepika Padukone has also spelled her name in Hindi text on her Instagram profile - a refreshing change from stars who look to adapt and fit into the fabric of the western culture. Deepika, on the other hand, chooses to display her true and authentic Indian self to the world. While talking to TIME Magazine, whose cover she features on joining the likes of Barack Obama, Oprah Winfrey and others, Deepika said, My mission has always been to make a global impact while still being rooted in my country. This is Indias moment. Theres the India with our roots, our heritage, our history, but theres also a new and young India thats emerging. It's these two Indias coming together that I find really fascinating at this moment. Meanwhile, on the work front, Deepika Padukone will next be seen in Fighter alongside Hrithik Roshan and Project K alongside Prabhas. She was last seen in Shah Rukh Khans Pathaan. New Delhi: After stepping into the magical world of Princess Ariel last week, the beloved youth icon was seen celebrating 'The Little Mermaid' at a special theme inspired party with little girls. With lots of cakes, hugs and love, Janhvi Kapoor indeed relived her childhood and shared a sneak peek of the magical world of Princess Ariel with her fans. She says, "My Friends, Khushi and I have grown up watching and reading about Disney Princesses and Princess Ariel is one of my absolute favourites! I just love her colourful, fun spirit and how she goes about achieving her dreams. I cannot wait to watch the film and relive my childhood with my girlfriends!" Disney India is set to release 'The Little Mermaid' on May 26th, 2023 in English, captivating audiences in theatres with its wondrous tale. On Instagram, Janhvi shared the video which was captioned, "Immerse yourself in the wonders of The Little Mermaid where love knows no bounds and where wishes come true. Watch Princess Ariel in #TheLittleMermaid in cinemas on May 26." In the brief 45 seconds clip, Janhvi walks into a room where two little girls are playing dress up. She tells them that they both look exactly like Princess Ariel and they ask her to tell them the poem. Disney India is set to release The Little Mermaid on May 26, 2023, exclusively in English. 'The Little Mermaid' directed by Rob Marshall, features Halle Bailey as Ariel, Melissa McCarthy as Ursula, Jonah Hauer-King as Prince Eric, Javier Bardem as King Triton, Daveed Diggs as Sebastian, Jacob Tremblay as Flounder, Awkwafina as Scuttle, Noma Dumezweni, and Jude Akuwudike. The film also has talking sea and land creatures including Daveed Diggs as Sebastian the crab, Jacob Tremblay as Flounder the fish, Awkwafina as Scuttle the seagull. Actor Simone Ashley plays one of Princess Ariel's sisters, Indira, who is also a mermaid. Janhvi, who was last seen in OTT released 'Mili', has completed filming for 'Bawaal' with Varun Dhawan and 'Mr and Mrs Mahi' with Rajkummar Rao. The actor will be making her Telugu debut with Jr NTR in 'NTR 30'. New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday expressed grief over the untimely death of Veteran actor Sarath Babu and extended condolences to the late actor's family. Taking to Twitter, PM Modi said, "Shri Sarath Babu Ji was versatile and creative. He will be remembered for several popular works in several languages during his long film career. Pained by his passing away. Condolences to his family and admirers. Om Shanti." Shri Sarath Babu Ji was versatile and creative. He will be remembered for several popular works in several languages during his long film career. Pained by his passing away. Condolences to his family and admirers. Om Shanti. Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) May 22, 2023 Sarath Babu who has worked in both Tamil and Telugu films, died at 71 on Monday in Hyderabad. He was admitted to AIG Hospital, Hyderabad due to some health issues. Sarath Babu acted in more than 200 films across languages including Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada, and Hindi. He was the close friend of superstar Rajinikanth. The duo worked in films like 'Annamalai' and 'Muthu'. Sarath Babu made his acting debut with the Telugu film 'Rama Rajyam' in 1973. Four years later, he got break in Tamil cinema with K Balachander's directorial 'Nizhal Nijamagiradhu', which also starred Kamal Haasan and Sumithra. He rose to fame with roles in films such as 'Mullum Malarum', 'Thisai Maariya Paravaigal', and 'Nenjathai Killathe'. In Tamil, he was recently seen in the film 'Nenjathai Killadhe', in which he co-starred with Bobby Simha. He also had a short role in Pawan Kalyan's 'Vakeel Saab'. He has also acted in a few Kannada, Malayalam, and Hindi films. The veteran actor was honoured with Nandi Awards nine times for best acting in supporting roles. New Delhi: Urvashi Rautela is currently at the Cannes Film Festival 2023. The actor made a stunning appearance in a pink tulle gown designed by Sima Couture, but its her bizarre crocodile necklace that caught everyone's attention. Soon after the Many were left baffled while others were even inspired to create hilarious memes out of it. Urvashi has been turning heads at the prestigious Cannes Film Festival. Known for her impeccable fashion choices and exquisite style leaving fans in awe of her beauty and grace. The actress is updating all her fans with her day to day activities happening at the Cannes Film Festival by sharing the glimpse on her social media and now the actress yet once again shared new pictures on her social media where she is seen stricking a pose with Hollywood actor Julianne Moore. In the latest post, Urvashi Rautela can be seen in a black corset top teamed with matching black bottoms. The embellished top carried ruffled details, giving the actress a chic look. She accessorised her look with a yellow bag and statement earrings. She posed for the cameras with the May December actress Julianne Moore. She captioned the post, "What an unforgettable night in Cannes with @campariofficial @juliannemoore & all marvellous people". Urvashi also added details of her ensemble while her jewellery was by Chanel, she picked a bag by Maison Valentino Bag which costs a whopping amount of 30 Lakh Rupees. Fans of the star have flooded the comments section with compliments. She also added the geotag for Cannes, France - French Riviera. Urvashi Rautela officially joins the rank with Academy award & golden globe winner Julianne Moore while promoting the brand Julianne was impressed by the actress and said that, "Urvashi is one the most beautiful & successful actress in the world. Shes more stunned in person" With her unique charm and magnetic presence, Urvashi has truly cemented her place as the ultimate queen of Cannes.Apart from that the actress will soon be doing the photocall launch of Parveen Babi's Biopic in which Urvashi is going to be seen portaying Parveen Babi's role. SHENZHEN, May 22 (Xinhua) -- German health technology company Siemens Healthineers pledged on Monday an additional investment of over 1 billion yuan (about 142 million U.S. dollars) to establish a state-of-the-art research and manufacturing site in China's tech hub of Shenzhen. It will be Siemens Healthineers' second R&D and production site in Shenzhen, according to the company. "China is of elementary importance for Siemens Healthineers. Through its technology savviness and openness to partnerships and innovation, it is already and will continue to be a strategic innovation driver for us locally, as well as globally," said Bernd Montag, CEO of Siemens Healthineers. "Our decision to invest in a research center as well as in production in Shenzhen bears testament to Shenzhen's innovative capacity and pioneering spirit," Montag said. Siemens Healthcare built its first base in Shenzhen in 2002, and it has since become one of the company's largest research and manufacturing centers. Its businesses include magnetic resonance systems, angiography systems and medical electronic components. Indian Railways has announced that the services of the Howrah-Puri Vande Bharat will remain cancelled today, 22 May 2023. The Indian transporter took the step after a hailstorm damaged the train on Sunday. The semi-high speed on this route sustained damages on multiple fronts after it departed from Bhadrak Railway station in Odisha. Specifically. the windscreen of the main engine as well as the window glass of the compartments, were damaged in the incident while the train was on its way from Puri to Howrah. Following the incident, the South Eastern Railway (SER) arm of the Indian Railways said in a statement, "The train will remain cancelled due to repairs of damages caused by a thunderstorm on May 21, 2023, in Cuttack-Bhadrak section of East Coast Railway (ECoR)." Furthermore, the train got delayed and was able to arrive at its destination 5 hours late than the scheduled time. Also read: Northeast's First Vande Bharat Express Arrives At New Jalpaiguri Station: Check Pics The incident with 22896 Vande Bharat Express occurred between Dulakhapatna and Manjuri Road Station after the thunderstorm damaged the overhead wire of the train. Furthermore, the branches of fallen trees got entangled with the train's pantograph. The incident happened close to the Jajpur Keonjhar Road station at about 16:45 between the stations on Baitarani Road and Manjuri Road. More than three hours passed while the train was stuck there. The railways eventually forced diesel engines into use. The semi-high-speed train arrived at Manjuri Road thanks to the diesel engine. The train normally operated from Manjuri Rd. Many passengers shared the update on social media by going online. While they were stuck in the train, the passengers griped about the lack of electricity. The Puri-Howrah Vande Bharat train, which Prime Minister Narendra Modi kicked off on Thursday, is the first semi-high-speed train operating in Odisha. Ashwini Vaishnaw, the minister of railways for the Union, and Naveen Patnaik, the chief minister of Odisha, attended the ceremony through video conference. New Delhi: A massive fire broke out in a theatre in Andhra Pradesh's Vijaywada where Jr. NTR's 2003 Telugu film 'Simhadri' was re-released. The 2003 Telugu action-drama, which starred Jr NTR, Bhumika Chawla and Ankitha in key roles, was re-released in Telugu states on the occasion of the actors birthday on Friday. The re-release of 'Simhadri' in theatres left his fans excited and they thronged to the halls to watch the film. However, things took a dark turn on Sunday evening when some over-excited fans reportedly burst crackers inside the Vijywada's Apsara theatre hall, leading to fire breakout in the premises. The first two rows of the hall were completely engulfed and damaged in the fire due to the bursting of crackers. A News18 report states that people who had come to watch the show in the theatre, had to be evacuated from the spot. However, there were a few who stood in the balcony and watched the events unfold. A video surfaced on the internet that showed theatre owners trying to bring the fire under control and some police personnels being designated for help. The show had to be cancelled following the fire breakout incident and property destruction. #JrNTR fans burnt crackers in Apsara theatre in #Vijayawada on Saturday as part of celebrating his birthday during his movie #SIMHADRI. Due to fire crackers seats in d theatre were burnt. @tarak9999 @JrNTR_ @APPOLICE100 @JrNTRDevotees pic.twitter.com/wphN7Lh4Zo R V K Rao_TNIE (@RVKRao2) May 20, 2023 The video of the incident at the Vijaywada theatre left netizens expressing their displeasure over the same. A user wrote, "Such behaviour cant be tolerated. Whos going to pay for the property damage? (sic)." "This is very sad. The theatre owner has to face the brunt of some unruly fans (sic)," wrote another. Directed by SS Rajamouli, 'Simhadri' was the filmmaker's second collaboration with Jr NTR after 'Student No 1'. The film had a wide re-release all over Telangana and Andhra Pradesh over the weekend. The release was planned for the fans to celebrate Jr. NTR's 40th birthday in a big way. Jr NTR is currently busy with the shoot of his upcoming film 'Devara', that will mark the Telugu debut of Janhvi Kapoor. He will also be reportedly seen in 'War 2' alongside Hrithik Roshan. New Delhi: Oscar-winning movie 'RRR' actor Ram Charan arrived in Srinagar on Monday to participate in a side event of the third G20 Tourism Working Group Meeting in the Kashmir valley. In a tweet, J&K's Information and Public Relations Department wrote: "Actor Ram Charan arrives at Srinagar airport to attend the first side event on 'Film Tourism for Economic Growth and Cultural Preservation' of the 3rd G20 #Tourism Working Group meeting." The actor hit global headlines when 'RRR' won the Oscar this year for the best original song 'Naatu Naatu' that featured them. The film also bagged the Golden Globe award. He will be among the representatives of the Indian film industry at the summit to discuss film tourism for economic growth and cultural preservation. Ram Charan's fans, who hail him as a global star, see this as another honour for their favourite actor. This is said to be the first time that an actor from Tollywood is representing the Indian film industry at a prestigious global event. The actor also shaked a leg on Oscar-winning song 'Naatu Naatu' from RRR and the video is now going viral. The G20 summit is an annual gathering of leaders from the world's major economies to discuss and address global issues, primarily on economics, finance and global governance. India, which is presiding over the international forum, chose Kashmir to host the Tourism Working Group meeting. This includes a panel discussion on film tourism for economic growth and cultural preservation. The security measures have been heightened in Srinagar. For the 3-day G20 Summit. Kashmir is under a 3-tier security grid for aerial surveillance drone monitoring is put in place. NSG and marine commandos are being deployed around the venue. J&K Police's special operation group (SOG) will be deployed at several places to give security cover to prevent from any terror incident. In Srinagar, graffiti depicting the scenic beauty and colours of Srinagar cover the walls of the city. As of now, the G20 Working group meeting in Jammu and Kashmir will focus on five key priority areas: Green Tourism, Digitalisation, Skills, MSMEs and Destination Management. The meeting aims to strengthen economic growth, preserve cultural heritage and promote sustainable development of the region. India, which is presiding over the international forum, chose Kashmir to host the Tourism Working Group meeting. This includes a panel discussion on film tourism for economic growth and cultural preservation. Ram Charan has been hogging the limelight in recent times due to massive success and international accolades earned by "RRR" in which he teamed up with Junior NTR. The actors hit global headlines when "RRR" won the Oscar this year for the best original song "Naatu Naatu" that featured them. The film also bagged the Golden Globe award. During his visit to the US, Ram Charan had also featured on the popular talk show "Good Morning America". His father and megastar Chiranjeevi had called this a proud moment for Telugu and Indian cinema. Set in the 1920s, "RRR" is a fictitious story based on two revolutionaries who fought against British rule - Alluri Seetharamaraju and Komaram Bheem, played by Rama Charan and Junior NTR, respectively. "RRR", whose cast also includes Alia Bhatt, Ajay Devgn, Samuthirakani, and Ray Stevenson, became one of the all-time highest grossers from India, collecting over ARs 1,200 crore worldwide. New Delhi: WhatsApp has announced that you can now edit your sent messages up to 15 minutes, giving you more control over your conversations. Whether it's a simple misspelling or the desire to provide additional context, this new feature empowers you to make corrections and improvements effortlessly. "For the moments when you make a mistake, or simply change your mind, you can now edit your sent messages," WhatsApp wrote in the blog. ALSO READ | BattleGround Mobile India: Royale Game Returns With Exciting Update News How Will It Work? To edit a sent message, it's as easy as a long-press on the message you want to modify. A menu will appear, and you simply select 'Edit.' You will have up to fifteen minutes after sending a message to make any necessary changes or enhancements. To ensure transparency, edited messages will display the word 'edited' alongside them. This way, the recipients of your messages will be aware that a correction or modification has been made, without the need to delve into the edit history. We believe in open and honest communication, and this feature allows for seamless corrections without compromising the flow of the conversation. As with all personal messages, media, and calls on our platform, rest assured that your messages and edits are safeguarded by our end-to-end encryption. Your privacy and security are of utmost importance to us, and we take every measure to protect your communication. When Will It Roll Out? The rollout of this exciting feature has already begun, and it will be gradually available to users globally in the coming weeks. Stay tuned for the update and get ready to experience the convenience and flexibility of editing your sent messages like never before. We're dedicated to continuously improving your messaging experience, and message editing is just one of the many ways we strive to make your conversations more seamless and enjoyable. Embrace the power to refine your chats, correct mistakes, and enhance your messages effortlessly with our latest editing feature. New Delhi: Aditya Singh Rajput, a popular actor, model and casting coordinator, who is known for 'Splitsvilla 9' , 'Love', 'Ashiqui' and 'Code Red', was found dead at his Mumbai residence on the 11th floor in a high-rise apartment on Monday afternoon. His body was discovered by his friends in the washroom of his house. He was taken to a nearby hospital where he was declared dead on arrival. Sources have pointed to his death as a suspected case of drug overdose. However, an official statement from medical experts is awaited. Aditya, who has been a part of films such as 'Krantiveer' and 'Maine Gandhi Ko Nahin Mara', was of late involved with a production house and was more into casting. He was popular in the Mumbai glamour circuit and was a regular at parties and page 3 events. BEIJING, May 22 (Xinhua) -- On plateaus and mountains as well as in the rainforests, China is building the world's largest national park system to protect biodiversity under the leadership of Chinese President Xi Jinping. From Hainan gibbons to Tibetan antelopes, the population of wildlife has increased in the country's national parks, an achievement worth celebrating on International Day for Biological Diversity, which falls on May 22. Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, has been a strong advocate of protecting biodiversity. Building national parks, a project he has cared about and pushed forward, is an important step toward that end. Addressing the leaders' summit of the 15th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP15) in October 2021, Xi announced China's first five national parks: the Sanjiangyuan National Park, the Giant Panda National Park, the Northeast China Tiger and Leopard National Park, the Hainan Tropical Rainforest National Park and the Wuyishan National Park. Together, they are home to nearly 30 percent of China's key terrestrial wildlife species. WILDLIFE PROSPERING The progress these national parks have made in protecting biodiversity can be seen in the numbers. The population of Hainan gibbons, a rare primate living in the Hainan Tropical Rainforest National Park, has risen to 37 from 30 in 2019. The Sanjiangyuan National Park is now home to more than 70,000 Tibetan antelopes, a signature wildlife species of the park, in contrast to less than 20,000 in the 1990s. New wildlife species have continued to appear, with 28 discovered in the Hainan park from 2019 to 2022, and 12 found in the Wuyishan National Park since 2021. Xi has visited many of these national parks and made instructions on their development. His genuine interest in the cause was evident when he made Wuyishan the first stop of his tour to east China's Fujian Province in March 2021. He gazed into the lush green expanse from the big monitor screen at the park's administration center. Yellow tragopan, cobra, black bear and pangolin, precious animals that were once elusive and mysterious, are now frequently captured on camera. The aim of building a nature reserve system centering on national parks is to keep the ecosystem intact and protect biodiversity, Xi said. Later that year in northwest China's Qinghai Province, he called for accelerated efforts in building a nature reserve system "centering on national parks, based on nature reserves and supplemented by various kinds of natural parks" to better protect the eco-environment and biodiversity. To Xi, China's national parks serve the interests of the Chinese nation and the global ecosystem. During a visit to the Hainan Tropical Rainforest National Park in spring 2022, as he ambled through the leaves of rare indigenous plants, Xi stopped from time to time to study the plants nearby. He dubbed the rainforest "a science museum of flora." "The tropical rainforest belongs not only to Hainan. It belongs to the Chinese people and the Earth," he said. FULL STEAM AHEAD "We have found a path of biodiversity protection with Chinese characteristics," Xi said in a video address to the opening ceremony of the high-level segment of the second part of COP15 last December. Building a nature reserve system centering on national parks has become a key component of that path. To create the world's largest national park system by 2035, China selected 49 candidate areas covering a total of around 1.1 million square kilometers, according to a spatial layout plan made public last December. There are more than 5,000 wild vertebrate species and 29,000 types of higher plants inhabiting these parks, which are expected to incorporate over 80 percent of China's strictly protected fauna and flora. In building the national parks, the country vowed to ramp up the management of natural resources and ecological restoration, coordinate conservation efforts and the development of local communities, set up research agencies to protect flagship species, as well as strengthening monitoring and oversight. The plan covers over 400 county-level regions, demanding the involvement of local governments at all levels. Both the general public and local residents from the selected sites can participate in the construction and maintenance of national parks through franchising, volunteering and engaging in non-profit environmental caretaking. The first five parks have blazed the trail in integrating development and conservation. The Sanjiangyuan National Park, for instance, has encouraged local herdsmen to become environmental caretakers. The list of national parks is growing with at least two additions expected by 2024, which are Qinghai Lake and Qilian Mountains in northwest China. "Areas with the greatest importance to the natural ecosystem, and with the most unique natural landscapes, the most valuable natural heritage and the greatest biodiversity reserve will be included in the national park system over time," Xi said at the leaders' summit of the COP15 in October 2021. GENEVA, May 22 (Xinhua) -- The 76th World Health Assembly (WHA), the highest decision-making body of the World Health Organization, decided on Monday not to include in its agenda a proposal on Taiwan's participation in the annual assembly as an observer. Currently, global health security poses significant challenges, and most assembly member states hope for increased solidarity and cooperation to tackle these issues. Taiwan's Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) authorities have gone against the trend and insisted on Taiwan-related proposals, a political ploy to engage in "Taiwan independence" separatist activities by hyping up its participation in the WHA. Chen Xu, China's permanent representative to the United Nations Office at Geneva, said in a statement that there is only one China in the world, and Taiwan is an inalienable part of China's territory. Taiwan's participation in WHO activities must be handled under the one-China principle. The DPP authorities refuse to recognize that both sides of the Taiwan Strait belong to one China, unilaterally abandoning the political foundation for the Taiwan region to participate in the WHA, Chen said. The DPP authorities hyped up an alleged "international epidemic prevention gap." But they did not mention that under the one-China principle, medical experts from the Taiwan region can participate in the WHO's technical activities, Chen said. He added that the Taiwan region can establish and effectively operate contact points for the International Health Regulations under the one-China principle. Chen stated that the actions taken by the DPP authorities are aimed at creating "two Chinas." Chen emphasized that before the opening of the WHA, nearly 140 countries made clear to China their position of adhering to the one-China principle and opposing Taiwan's participation in the WHA. Nearly 100 countries specifically wrote to the WHO Director-General or issued public statements on the issue. This demonstrates that "a just cause enjoys abundant support while an unjust cause finds little," Chen said. Any attempt to seek "Taiwan independence" under the pretext of the COVID-19 pandemic is doomed to fail. This photo taken on May 21, 2023 shows an exterior view of the World Health Organization (WHO) headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland. The 76th World Health Assembly (WHA), kicking off in Geneva on Sunday, focused on "saving lives, driving health for all," the World Health Organization (WHO) said in a statement.(Xinhua/Lian Yi) GENEVA, May 21 (Xinhua) -- The 76th World Health Assembly (WHA), kicked off here on Sunday, focused on "saving lives, driving health for all," the World Health Organization (WHO) said in a statement. As 2023 marks the 75th anniversary of the WHO, this year's WHA will determine the immediate and longer-term future of the organization, starting with the program budget for the next two years, key decisions about the sustainable financing and changes to improve WHO's processes and accountability. During the 10-day meeting, delegates will deliberate about the critical role that the WHO has in the Global Health Emergency Architecture. The assembly will also review last year's progress, accomplishments and challenges along with future priorities across the key pillars of the WHO's work: Universal Health Coverage, Emergencies, Promoting Health and Well-being. "Peace depends on health, disease in one nation endangers all, achieving the greatest possible health for everyone everywhere relies on cooperation," UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in a video speech at the opening ceremony of the assembly. Since the birth of the WHO 75 years ago, human health has advanced dramatically, Guterres noted, adding that global life expectancy is up over 50 percent, infant mortality is down by 60 percent, and smallpox eradicated. "The COVID-19 pandemic has stalled and even reversed progress in public health. We risk further eroding the enormous gains made over the past decades and backsliding on Sustainable Development Goals," Guterres said. "But this is not inevitable," he stressed, calling on all to "continue to work together and to support the World Health Organization to achieve the highest standard of health for all." While addressing the opening of the WHA, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus recalled the major achievements that the organization had realized during the past 75 years. Tedros said that the organization faces complex challenges as the world's expectations of the WHO have grown enormously. "The road is meandering and rough, but the destination is sure," he said. A logo of the World Health Organization (WHO) is pictured at the WHO headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, May 21, 2023. The 76th World Health Assembly (WHA), kicking off in Geneva on Sunday, focused on "saving lives, driving health for all," the World Health Organization (WHO) said in a statement.(Xinhua/Lian Yi) This photo taken on May 21, 2023 shows an exterior view of the World Health Organization (WHO) headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland. The 76th World Health Assembly (WHA), kicking off in Geneva on Sunday, focused on "saving lives, driving health for all," the World Health Organization (WHO) said in a statement.(Xinhua/Lian Yi) This photo taken on May 21, 2023 shows an exterior view of the World Health Organization (WHO) headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland. The 76th World Health Assembly (WHA), kicking off in Geneva on Sunday, focused on "saving lives, driving health for all," the World Health Organization (WHO) said in a statement.(Xinhua/Lian Yi) A logo of the World Health Organization (WHO) is pictured at the WHO headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, May 21, 2023. The 76th World Health Assembly (WHA), kicking off in Geneva on Sunday, focused on "saving lives, driving health for all," the World Health Organization (WHO) said in a statement.(Xinhua/Lian Yi) This photo taken on May 21, 2023 shows a logo of the World Health Organization (WHO) with the WHO headquarters in the background in Geneva, Switzerland. The 76th World Health Assembly (WHA), kicking off in Geneva on Sunday, focused on "saving lives, driving health for all," the World Health Organization (WHO) said in a statement.(Xinhua/Lian Yi) This photo taken on May 21, 2023 shows the Palais des Nations, in Geneva, Switzerland. The 76th World Health Assembly (WHA), kicking off in Geneva on Sunday, focused on "saving lives, driving health for all," the World Health Organization (WHO) said in a statement.(Xinhua/Lian Yi) Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the World Health Organization (WHO), speaks at the opening ceremony of the 76th World Health Assembly in Geneva, Switzerland, May 21, 2023. The 76th World Health Assembly (WHA), kicked off here on Sunday, focused on "saving lives, driving health for all," the World Health Organization (WHO) said in a statement. (Pierre Albouy/World Health Organization/Handout via Xinhua) Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the World Health Organization (WHO), speaks at the opening ceremony of the 76th World Health Assembly in Geneva, Switzerland, May 21, 2023. The 76th World Health Assembly (WHA), kicked off here on Sunday, focused on "saving lives, driving health for all," the World Health Organization (WHO) said in a statement. (Pierre Albouy/World Health Organization/Handout via Xinhua) Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the World Health Organization (WHO), speaks at the opening ceremony of the 76th World Health Assembly in Geneva, Switzerland, May 21, 2023. The 76th World Health Assembly (WHA), kicked off here on Sunday, focused on "saving lives, driving health for all," the World Health Organization (WHO) said in a statement. (Pierre Albouy/World Health Organization/Handout via Xinhua) NAIROBI, May 22 (Xinhua) -- Fifteen Kenyan youth will participate in the seventh edition of Huawei global ICT competition to be held in China later in the year, the Chinese telecoms firm said in a statement issued in Nairobi, the Kenyan capital, on Monday. The 15 youth beat 4,500 competitors in the national final to test their digital literacy and also represented Kenya in the African contest where they emerged among the top three out of 16 countries in the continent, according to Huawei. Since 2018, the Huawei digital skills contest has attracted 13,000 students, and this year's edition registered over 4,000 students from more than 50 university and mid-level college partners, Huawei said. Kenyan Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi lauded the 15 students for demonstrating impeccable competence in application of digital technologies, key to realization of the country's socio-economic transformation. "Your performance in the national final of the Huawei ICT Competition and in the regional final has made our country proud, whilst also showing that our strategies and investments in education, skills and digital technologies are paying off," Mudavadi said. He added that the government aims to develop digital skills for at least 10,000 youth annually, in line with the National Digital Masterplan, whose implementation is in top gear. In addition, Mudavadi said, Kenya's quest to establish a robust digital superhighway is on course, and will include investment in supportive infrastructure and re-skilling of local youth. Steven Zhang, deputy CEO for public affairs at Huawei Kenya, said the Chinese telecoms firm is committed to bridging the digital divide in the country through training and capacity development of local youth. "Our involvement in supporting the government to expand the country's digital superhighway is born from our belief that it is important for Kenya to build world-class digital infrastructure," Zhang said. In the future, Zhang said, Huawei intends to strengthen its partnership with government, academia, industry and civil society to create a vibrant ICT talent ecosystem, crucial to realizing Kenya's envisaged fourth industrial revolution. So far, over 150,000 students from more than 2,000 colleges and universities in 85 countries and regions across the globe have participated in the Huawei ICT competition, according to the telecoms firm. GUIZHOU, May 22 (Xinhua) -- Four baby Francois' leaf monkeys with golden fur have been born at the Liangqiao Station of Mayanghe National Nature Reserve in southwest China's Guizhou Province. The babies will gradually turn black in a few months. Francois' leaf monkey, also known as Francois' langur, is one of China's most endangered wild animals and is under top national-level protection. It is also one of the endangered species on the International Union for Conservation of Nature red list. The species is found in China's Guangxi, Guizhou and Chongqing. Thanks to a series of ecological restoration and protection measures, the number of Francois' langurs in the Mayanghe National Nature Reserve has been increasing in recent years. Produced by Xinhua Global Service BARCELONA, Spain, May 22 (Xinhua) -- Based on Spain's better-than-expected economic performance in the first quarter, the European Commission on Monday lifted its forecast for Spain's economic growth in 2023 to 1.9 percent from a prediction of 1.4 percent in December. According to the revision, Spain is expected to grow the most in 2023 among EU's four major economies as the forecast for Italy is 1.2 percent, France 0.7 percent and Germany 0.2 percent, while the average for the EU region will be 1.1 percent. Javier Diaz-Gimenez, professor of economics at the Barcelona-based IESE Business School, called the better figure a "magnificent number," saying that "the forecast reflects the reality of a first quarter that went very well, and the start of a second quarter, including an Easter, that went better than expected." Continued high consumer spending in the aftermath of the pandemic, increased tourist revenue, and a relatively buoyant job market jointly contributed to the better performance, Diaz-Gimenez told Xinhua. "If we assume Spanish GDP continues to grow at this rate, we could be talking about more than 1.9 percent," he said, adding "that's great news" in these volatile and complex circumstances. "So far in 2023 nothing negative has happened to the economy and instead we've seen positive news, which is reflected in the spending and the behaviour of people," said Diaz-Gimenez. However, the professor also warned of the uncertainties of external economic and political situation and changes. "Right now no one can predict what will happen with the Ukraine conflict, or whether there will be more problems with the banks, or any other problem like this," he added. Although the European Commission issued better forecast of Spain's economic growth for 2023 and 2024 (2 percent), the figures remain below the Spanish government's previous forecast, which set 2.1 percent and 2.3 percent respectively for 2023 and 2024. "It's also an election year and so there will be more public spending and more public employment," Diaz-Gimenez told Xinhua, expecting more positive economic elements through the year. The Sovereign Wealth Fund Institute (SWFI), the world's most trusted source on institutional investors and global capital, has announced its Global Wealth Conference (GWC), taking place in on May 31 and June 1 in London. The GWC platform has attracted some of these capital sources, which are coming from countries such as the United Arab Emirates and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Sovereign wealth funds globally see the UK as a destination for direct investments. Sovereign wealth funds have directly invested $14.66 billion into the UK in 2022, compared to just $8.205 billion in 2021. Sovereign wealth funds such as Mubadala Investment Company, the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia, Singapores GIC Private Limited, and Canadian pension plans such as CDPQ, the Ontario Teachers Pension Plan, CPP Investments, and others continue to allocate capital directly into the UK based on SWFI transaction data. The conference will be attended by 40 sovereign wealth funds, 50+ family offices from around the world, 30+ pension and public funds, 50+ institutional global asset managers, and 30+ prominent personalities from royal families to policymakers. From Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Ajlan & Bros, one of the largest private sector conglomerates in the Middle East region; Dr Tarek Hajjiri, CEO,DIFC Family Wealth Centre will attend the conference. Commenting on the event, Lakshmi Narayanan, Chairman of the Sovereign Wealth Fund Institute & Michael Maduell, President of the Sovereign Wealth Fund Institute, said: Global Wealth Conference presents an exceptional platform for GCC countries and prominent business entities to highlight and exchange a multitude of business opportunities with institutional investors, fostering capital inflow and forging strategic partnerships. To date, over 60 distinguished Middle Eastern families and institutions have registered, constituting an impressive 20% of the total attendees. The conference will witness the momentous launch of the $20 billion Tourism Infrastructure Fund, dedicated to catalyzing development in the MENA region. The Global Wealth Conference will bring together an impressive array of attendees, including major investors such as sovereign wealth funds, pensions, foundations, official institutions, endowments, large family offices, and other asset owners, alongside top-level industry leaders. This dynamic event will feature a diverse and captivating program, encompassing compelling keynote presentations, engaging panel discussions, interactive workshops, and exclusive private dinners held in historic venues. Participants can eagerly anticipate immersive networking sessions, fostering valuable connections and collaborations. TradeArabia News Service COLOMBO, May 22 (Xinhua) -- Sri Lanka will introduce a new program in June to streamline the issuance of new passports, allowing applicants to receive their passports within three working days, a minister said on Monday. Public Security Minister Tiran Alles, who also oversees the Immigration and Emigration Department, told media that the decision aims to prevent innocent individuals from falling victim to unauthorized brokers operating outside the department. "As an immediate measure, the department has decided to restrict access to applicants only during working hours, thereby minimizing the presence of unauthorized parties," Alles said. Recent incidents involving the arrest of 16 brokers in connection with passport racket prompted these measures, said the minister, emphasizing that only the individual in need of a passport will be permitted to enter the premises. The minister said 50 new centers would be established by the end of June to issue passports, and these centers will facilitate the collection of photos and fingerprints, streamlining the passport acquisition process and reducing delays. Relatives mourn during a funeral of Palestinians killed in an Israeli military raid in the refugee camp of Balata near the West Bank city of Nablus, on May 22, 2023. Three Palestinians were killed and six others wounded in an Israeli military raid in the occupied West Bank on Monday, Palestinian and Israeli sources said. (Photo by Ayman Nobani/Xinhua) JERUSALEM, May 22 (Xinhua) -- Three Palestinians were killed and six others wounded in an Israeli military raid in the occupied West Bank on Monday, Palestinian and Israeli sources said. The Palestinian Health Ministry confirmed in a statement that three men were killed in the refugee camp of Balata near Nablus city and six people were injured, including one with serious injuries. An Israeli military spokesperson said in a statement that during the raid, the forces arrested three individuals suspected of involvement in attacks and confiscated three M-16 rifles and other military equipment. "The armed suspects fired at the soldiers, who responded with live fire," according to the statement. The Israeli forces had also detonated an explosives manufacturing site containing dozens of kilograms of explosives, the spokesperson said. In a statement, the Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates said the recent fatalities "are part of the daily killing of Palestinians in the occupied territories" and called on the International Criminal Court (ICC) to prosecute Israelis responsible for these acts. People carry the bodies of Palestinians killed in an Israeli military raid during their funeral in the refugee camp of Balata near the West Bank city of Nablus, on May 22, 2023. Three Palestinians were killed and six others wounded in an Israeli military raid in the occupied West Bank on Monday, Palestinian and Israeli sources said. (Photo by Ayman Nobani/Xinhua) BEIJING, May 22 (Xinhua) -- At the invitation of Chinese Premier Li Qiang, Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Mikhail Mishustin will pay an official visit to China on May 23-24. Mikhail Vladimirovich Mishustin was born in Moscow on March 3, 1966. In 1989, he graduated from the Moscow Machine Tool Institute (now the Moscow State University of Technology "STANKIN"), with a qualification in system engineering. He completed a Doctor of Philosophy in Economics at the Plekhanov Russian University of Economics in 2003. Mishustin received a Doctor of Science in Economics from the Academy of National Economy under the Government of the Russian Federation in 2010. From 1992 to 1998, he held various positions at the non-profit organization International Computer Club. He served as deputy head of the State Tax Service of Russia from 1998 to 1999. He was Deputy Minister for Taxes and Levies of the Russian Federation from 1999 to 2004. From 2004 to 2006, he worked as head of the Federal Agency for Real Estate Cadastre. He was head of the Federal Agency for the Management of Special Economic Zones from 2007 to 2008. He was president of the UFG Group (OFG Invest) from 2008 to 2010. He served as head of the Federal Taxation Service of the Russian Federation from 2010 to 2020. Mishustin was appointed as prime minister of the Russian Federation on Jan. 16, 2020. He was awarded the Order of Honor in 2012 and the Order For Service to the Fatherland, 4th class, in 2015. Mishustin is married, with three sons. ANKARA, May 22 (Xinhua) -- Turkish National Intelligence Organization (MIT) killed a senior member of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in a cross-border operation in northern Iraq, the semi-official Anadolu Agency reported Monday. Emre Sahin, codenamed "Rodi," was "neutralized" in the Gara region of northern Iraq, Anadolu said, adding that he was responsible for the PKK's communication infrastructure, including the development of encrypted programs. Turkish authorities often use the term "neutralized" to imply that "terrorists" are killed, wounded, or captured in security operations. Sahin joined the ranks of the PKK in 2014, took part in various attacks against the Turkish security forces in Turkiye's southeastern Sirnak province and then crossed to neighboring Iraq in 2019, anonymous security officials told Anadolu. The MIT has intensified its cross-border operations in Iraq recently, particularly in Gara, and killed several other senior PKK members in the region in the past few weeks. The PKK, listed as a terrorist organization by Turkiye, the United States and the European Union, has rebelled against the Turkish government for more than three decades. TAIYUAN, May 22 (Xinhua) -- As late May arrives, the wheat grains begin to plump up, signaling the onset of the Grain Buds season also known as Xiaoman. Grain Buds season is the eighth of the 24 traditional Chinese solar terms, with each term spanning about 15 days based on the position of the sun in the zodiac. An ancient Chinese book describes Xiaoman as the time when the seeds of the grain reach their plump stage but have not yet ripened. With the arrival of Xiaoman, the rivers in southern China begin to rise, while in northern China, the grains of summer crops such as wheat tend to reach their full maturity. In ancient times, Chinese people would eat bitter herbs, ride waterwheels, and worship the silkworm god during Xiaoman. They would also sprinkle bowls of water in the fields, to prepare for farming and expect a good harvest. During the Grain Buds season, if you stroll through the fields, you would be captivated by the gentle sway of the wheat in the breeze, while the enticing aroma of ripening wheat fills the air. "The wheat is currently in a crucial stage and a month away from being harvested," said Xing Yuxian, a farmer in Pingyao County in north China's Shanxi Province, adding that the growth is promising so far and they are expecting a bumper harvest. Xiaoman is not only closely related to agricultural production but also rich in connotations drawn from Chinese philosophy. In Chinese, "Xiao" means little, and "Man" means full. Thus, the combination of these two characters indicates things are not full to their extreme. Xiaoman holds immense philosophical significance within Chinese culture, exerting a prevailing influence. Chinese philosophy cherishes the virtue of moderation, while Chinese paintings emphasize the significance of empty spaces. In the eyes of common people, finding contentment is synonymous with happiness. It can be perfectly summed up in the Chinese verse: "The best state in life lies in finding contentment with little, just like a flower not in full bloom, and a moon not fully round." The name of Xiaoman embodies the profound philosophy embedded within the characters of Chinese people, and their approach to life. Adopting the principles of Xiaoman signifies tolerance, open-mindedness, and a modest mindset. The system of 24 solar terms remains a significant guide for Chinese farmers in their agricultural work. The system is on the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. Enditem TASHKENT, May 22 (Xinhua) -- The summit of the leaders of five Central Asian countries and China in the Chinese city of Xi'an has epochal significance and will open a new era in the cooperation between these countries, an Uzbek expert said on Friday. The summit reviewed the achievements of Central Asia-China cooperation over the past three decades and "will contribute to the deepening of strategic mutual trust between the countries of the region and China, which are friendly neighbors and strategic partners," said Shavkat Alimbekov, a leading researcher at the International Institute of Central Asia in an interview with Xinhua. It is becoming more and more "relevant" to maintain regional security and stability, and explore new directions and mechanisms for cooperation in fields including economy, trade, energy, transport, culture and humanities, the expert said. Regarding plans for developing mutually beneficial cooperation between Central Asian countries and China, Alimbekov emphasized that the summit will further strengthen regional cooperation on the basis of mutual respect, equality and mutual benefit in the future. The countries stand ready to build a China-Central Asia community with a shared future, which meets the interests of all regional parties and contributes to peace and prosperity on the Eurasian continent, he noted. For Central Asian countries, China's solutions in investment, technology, agriculture, water conservancy, industry, machinery manufacturing, transport and other sectors of the economy are of great significance, the Uzbek expert pointed out. Cooperation between Central Asian countries and China within the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is highly important, he said, adding that the two sides have achieved notable results in economic and trade cooperation in the past decade. As a large, representative and inclusive platform for international cooperation, the BRI is of strategic significance to China and Central Asian countries, the expert underlined, saying that relations between Central Asian countries and China are at a high level and both sides are willing to push forward their bilateral ties. The expert believed that in recent years, relations between the countries of the region and China have gained great momentum. Tashkent and Beijing have maintained mutually beneficial cooperation for many years, he said, adding that the dynamic bilateral relations are developing in an all-round way and will be stable in the long run. Guided by leaders of the two states, "relations between Uzbekistan and China have reached a high level," said the expert, noting that the comprehensive strategic partnership will expand and economic ties will be strengthened in the new era. Promoting cooperation between Uzbekistan and China and co-building long-term reciprocal projects in the region are in the interests of all parties, and will help boost regional stability and push for the integration of regional countries into the global economic and logistics systems, he said. The China-Central Asia Summit will effectively inject new impetus into the all-round cooperation between Central Asian countries and China, building a new model of complementary and mutually beneficial cooperation, Alimbekov added. BEIRUT, May 22 (Xinhua) -- The Lebanese government rejects any manifestation that "undermines the state's authority and sovereignty," said Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati on Monday, hinting at the military exercise staged by Iran-backed Hezbollah group on Sunday. "At present, the government is stressing on preserving security stability on all Lebanese territory and not taking any action that may destabilize it," Mikati was quoted as saying in a statement by Lebanon's Council of Ministers during his meeting with UN Special Coordination for Lebanon Joanna Wronecka, who asked about the military drill. The drill, taken place in the southern village of Aramta, included several exercises simulating Hezbollah attacks on military outposts, drone offensives, a parade of motorbike-riding Hezbollah fighters as well as the display of armored vehicles, rocket launchers, mortar artillery, and anti-aircraft weapons. The two officials also emphasized the need to elect a new president for the republic and the role of Lebanese political leaders and parliamentarians in carrying out the required reforms. Lebanon entered a political vacuum after former President Michel Aoun left office when his term ended at the end of October last year. Different parliamentary blocks still fail to elect a new president due to political divisions. Fijian Ambassador to China Manasa R. Tagicakibau has hailed China's efforts in preserving traditional Tibetan culture and lifestyle while boosting economic development in the country's Tibet Autonomous Region. Produced by Xinhua Global Service TOKYO, May 22 (Xinhua) -- A film event dedicated to screening a series of China-themed documentaries shot by Japanese director Ryo Takeuchi is currently underway in Tokyo. At the recent premiere of his documentary "The Yangtze River," Takeuchi expressed his intention to hold the documentary week in Japan. "There are still many biased reports about China in Japan. So I hope that through these films, everyone can see an ordinary and real China that the media does not usually report, or that has not been reported," the documentary director said on Friday. In fact, Takeuchi's story about the Yangtze River started much earlier. Back in 2011, he participated in the filming of a documentary about China's longest river for NHK, Japan's public broadcaster, when he sailed on the river from west China's Qinghai and Sichuan provinces down to Shanghai. For the new production of the Yangtze River, Takeuchi travelled along the 6,300-km river to record how the glacier melts and forms the "first drops of water" of the river and showed the audience the changes that have taken place in China in the past decade through one river. The 129-minute documentary not only showcased the magnificent scenery of China's mountains and rivers but also took a candid look at the great changes of China over the years through the comparison of the interviewees' lives in 10 years, providing insights into the real China by recording people's daily life in straightforward ways. Shiroiwa, a Japanese film viewer, expressed his eagerness to visit China again: "I was fascinated by China when I first visited the country in 2018. I am really happy to see so many places in China through the documentary. Now that I have started learning Chinese, I hope to go to China again soon to see the Yangtze River." More audience said that their understanding of China has changed after watching the documentary. Yamashita, who works in the Japanese financial industry, told Xinhua, "Regarding the Three Gorges, the Japanese media only reported that people were forcibly relocated. But through the documentary, I saw people living a different life through relocation and keeping up with the times." "That really touched me. I hope more Japanese people can go to the cinema to see the film and understand China in a comprehensive way," he said. The documentary gives the audience a real sense of the changes that China's development has brought to the lives of the people. Many Japanese viewers said what impressed them the most in the movie was the change of life for Rinchen Cimu, a Tibetan girl. "Ten years ago, the Tibetan girl who could only greet tourists shyly with a lamb in her arms at the doorstep of her house and had never seen a high-rise building, became a high-end guesthouse operator 10 years later. It's really astonishing," Japanese reporter Ito said emotionally. Takako Tajima from the Japan-China Friendship Association in Kanagawa prefecture said, "Through the documentary, I have seen a broader and richer China and the simplicity and kindness of the Chinese people. I was very moved." "I want to invite the over 500 members of the association to watch it, and I also hope that this documentary can be shown not only in Tokyo, but throughout Japan," she added. Running on May 19-25, Ryo Takeuchi's Documentary Week features four film version of the documentaries "The Yangtze River," "100 Faces of Huawei," "Long Time No See, Wuhan," and "Beyond the Mountain." "I hope that everyone can understand the current China from multiple angles," Takeuchi said in the documentary's promotional page. "Since I have shot films in dozens of countries I really haven't seen any country as interesting and incredible as China." TOKYO, May 22 (Xinhua) -- A man suspected of throwing an explosive device towards Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida last month will undergo a psychiatric evaluation, informed sources said Monday. The Wakayama Summary Court in western Japan has approved the request from prosecutors to keep the alleged assailant, 24-year-old Ryuji Kimura, for psychiatric evaluation, until Sept. 1. Specifically, the prosecutors in the case wish to determine through the psychiatric evaluation whether Kimura can be held criminally responsible for his involvement in the alleged attack. Kimura, from Hyogo Prefecture, is alleged to have thrown an explosive device towards Kishida as the prime minister was about to make a stump speech at a local fishing port in the city of Wakayama on April 15. Kishida was not injured in the attack, but a police officer and another person sustained minor injuries as a result of the attack, according to local media. Kimura was swiftly arrested at the scene on suspicion of obstructing business and was later served a fresh arrest warrant for manufacturing explosives in violation of Japan's firearms control law. According to investigators, Kimura has remained silent since his arrest, but they are trying to determine if he held a grudge against Japan's election system as he had sued the government in June last year, claiming he was unable to run in the upper house election last year due to some restrictions, including age. The latest attack comes less than a year after former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was fatally shot by an assailant with a homemade gun while making a stump speech. Leading Saudi integrated facilities management organization Musanadah has opened its new LEAD (Leading, Education And Development) training centres in the cities of Al Khobar and Riyadh, with few more new facilities planned within this year in Jeddah. As a subsidiary of Saudi-owned diversified services group, Alturki Holding, Musanadah offers comprehensive and customized facilities management solutions to clients throughout the kingdom in the critical infrastructure, governmental, commercial, educational, leisure, residential, hospitality and retail sectors. Musanadah said its new LEAD centres are designed to ensure consistent service delivery standards are maintained across all the companys kingdom-wide client sites. These centers, which are certified by British Institute of Cleaning Science (BICSc), the largest independent, professional and educational body within the international cleaning industry, will see ongoing educational investment for upgrading skills of over 1,400 Musanadah employees. Closely aligned to Saudi Vision 2030 goals, the company has stated effective, on-going staff training and maintaining internationally benchmarked service delivery standards are key to the success of its customer-centric service delivery model. Musanadahs new LEAD Training Centers comprise of bespoke practical training rooms simulating various environments including bathrooms, offices, pantries, technical, commercial, and residential settings with various types of wall and floor materials. Extensive static wall displays of cleaning and equipment materials situated in BICSc dedicated practical rooms provide strong visual cues for students promoting effective knowledge transfer. Classroom style learning facilities and technical workshops complete the facilities. Musanadah Operations Director Vijay Kavasseri said: "Investing in our talented people through ongoing training is a key objective for Musanadah, as well as setting the highest internationally benchmarked standards for the entire Saudi Arabian FM industry." "Successfully providing an effective customer-centric client service is only possible with a strongly staff centric approach. Placing staff and clients at the centre of any FM providers service delivery mission is critical to ensuring optimal customer outcomes," he noted. In 2022, Musanadah won the Customer-centric FM Company accolade at the Middle East Facility Management Association (MEFMA) awards for anticipating and meeting the satisfaction levels of large-scale clients in Saudi Arabia. Pointing out that consistency was key, Kavasseri said: "Operating to BICSc standards ensures we maintain world-class FM standards consistently, regardless of our clients location in the country. Musanadah manages many large-scale and multi-national client accounts, some with over 50 sites located across the kingdom - from Dammam and Riyadh to the Western region, including the remote Vision 2030 heritage site of AlUla." "Staff training conducted at our LEAD Training Centers by BICSc-certified assessors ensures all our client sites receive the same world-class standards," he noted. According to Kavasseri, the company aims to double the size of the company over the next five years. "Musanadahs current annual growth rate of 21% - nearly double the FM industry average in Saudi Arabia - is largely driven by a high client retention rate of over 98% and increased new contract wins from Saudi-owned and multinational clients," he added.-TradeArabia News Service Cambodian and Chinese officials visit an exhibition of projects under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) at the Sihanoukville Special Economic Zone (SSEZ) in Sihanoukville, Cambodia on May 22, 2023. Cambodia celebrated the 10th anniversary of the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), highlighting its great contributions to the kingdom's socioeconomic development and poverty reduction. (Photo by Zhao Yipu/Xinhua) SIHANOUKVILLE, Cambodia, May 22 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia celebrated the 10th anniversary of the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), highlighting its great contributions to the kingdom's socioeconomic development and poverty reduction. Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen and Chinese Ambassador to Cambodia Wang Wentian attended the celebration event, which was held at the Sihanoukville Special Economic Zone (SSEZ), a flagship project of the BRI. Hun Sen said under the BRI, many mega-projects, including roads, bridges, ports, power plants, expressways, special economic zones, airports, and stadium have been carried out in Cambodia. "The BRI has greatly benefited not only Cambodia, but also ASEAN (the Association of Southeast Asian Nations) as well as other participating countries," he told the event with more than 24,000 workers from 175 factories in the SSEZ. BRI, which consists of the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, was proposed by China in 2013 with an aim of building trade and infrastructure networks connecting Asia with Europe and Africa on and beyond the ancient Silk Road trade routes. Over the past decade, 151 countries and 32 international organizations have signed documents under the BRI framework. Hun Sen said that the BRI was designed to promote common peace, development and economic prosperity of the countries in the region and the world. "It has provided mutually beneficial cooperation and win-win results for all," he added. As 2023 marks the 65th anniversary of the diplomatic relations between Cambodia and China, Hun Sen said the bilateral ties have reached the highest ever in history, noting that the "ironclad friendship" between the two countries is "unbreakable." Meanwhile, Ambassador Wang said the SSEZ, the largest industrial zone in Cambodia in terms of size and occupancy, is a model project of practical cooperation between China and Cambodia under the BRI. "This special economic zone has become the locomotive of economic growth in Sihanoukville province and provided 'golden rice bowl' jobs for local residents," he said. At the event, Hun Sen also officially inaugurated the 300-million-U.S.-dollar General Tire Technology (Cambodia) plant, a subsidiary of Chinese tire maker Jiangsu General Science Technology and a newcomer to the SSEZ. This photo taken on May 21, 2023 shows the entrance of the Sihanoukville Special Economic Zone (SSEZ) in Sihanoukville, Cambodia. Cambodia celebrated the 10th anniversary of the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), highlighting its great contributions to the kingdom's socioeconomic development and poverty reduction. (Photo by Ly Lay/Xinhua) BANGKOK, May 22 (Xinhua) -- Thailand's unemployment rate dropped to 1.05 percent in the first quarter of this year from 1.15 percent in the previous quarter, with a strong recovery in its vital tourism industry, official data showed on Monday. This marked the lowest rate in three years as the Southeast Asian country's travel sector, a key source of employment, continued to pick up pace, according to the National Economic and Social Development Council (NESDC). The number of people in the labor force amounted to 39.6 million in the first quarter, representing a 2.4 percent year-on-year increase, mainly due to growth in both the agricultural and non-agricultural sectors, the NESDC said in a report. The NESDC attributed the improved labor situation to an ongoing economic recovery and the continuous growth of the tourism industry, despite a slight decline in employment within the manufacturing sector. According to the report, working hours in the private sector increased 1.5 percent year on year, while the overall wage average rose 1.3 percent compared to a year earlier, indicating higher purchasing power. The agency noted that the annual need for information-technology-related jobs ranges from 20,000 to 30,000. However, there are not enough graduates in this field to meet the demand. The report also indicated that extreme weather due to climate change has a potential impact on farm labor income and employment, as well as cultivation and agricultural output. Greek Prime Minister and New Democracy (ND) party leader Kyriakos Mitsotakis delivers a statement after winning the Greek elections in Athens, Greece, on May 21, 2023. (Photo by Marios Lolos/Xinhua) In Sunday's general elections, the ruling conservative New Democracy (ND) party scored a landslide victory winning 40.79 percent of the votes and thus 146 seats in parliament, but failed to secure an outright majority in the 300-member parliament. ATHENS, May 22 (Xinhua) -- Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis decided on Monday to return the exploratory mandate he had received from President Katerina Sakellaropoulou to form a government following this weekend's inconclusive elections. During their meeting, he called for a second ballot to be held as early as June 25 if possible, according to an e-mailed press release. In Sunday's general elections, the ruling conservative New Democracy (ND) party scored a landslide victory winning 40.79 percent of the votes and thus 146 seats in parliament. The main opposition party, SYRIZA-Progressive Alliance, garnered 20.7 percent of the votes with 71 seats. Supporters of New Democracy (ND) party celebrate at the political party's headquarters in Athens, Greece, on May 21, 2023. (Photo by Marios Lolos/Xinhua) However, the ND failed to secure an outright majority in the 300-member parliament. After the speaker of parliament formally delivered the results to Sakellaropoulou, she launched the procedure foreseen by the country's Constitution, granting the first three-day mandate to the leader of the winning party. "I think that essentially the conditions for the formation of a government from the present parliament do not exist," Mitsotakis told Sakellaropoulou. Hours later, he called the president and told her that he wanted to return the mandate, according to a press release. Sakellaropoulou will now grant three-day mandates to the leaders of the second and third-placed parties, the SYRIZA-Progressive Alliance and the socialist PASOK-KINAL, which received 11.46 percent of the votes with 41 seats. She will receive SYRIZA-Progressive Alliance leader Alexis Tsipras on Tuesday, according to a press statement. If the overall process proves unsuccessful, a caretaker government will lead Greece to new elections. Greek Prime Minister and New Democracy (ND) party leader Kyriakos Mitsotakis (C) celebrates with supporters at the political party's headquarters in Athens, Greece, on May 21, 2023. (Photo by Marios Lolos/Xinhua) In the runoff elections, a revised electoral system will be used. This provides a bonus of up to 50 extra seats for the winning party, facilitating the formation of a single-party government. The frontrunner could gain an absolute majority in parliament with about 38 percent of the votes under this system, according to political analysts. People walk on Lincoln Road in Miami-Dade County, Florida, the United States, Aug. 6, 2021. (Photo by Monica McGivern/Xinhua) "On a seeming quest to silence African-American voices, the governor and the state of Florida have shown that African Americans are not welcome in the state of Florida," says the travel advisory. NEW YORK, May 22 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) on Saturday issued a formal travel warning for the state of Florida, saying the state has become "hostile to Black Americans" under Republican Governor Ron DeSantis, reported i24NEWS, an Israeli-based international 24-hour news television channel, on Sunday. The civil rights organization points out DeSantis' recent controversial policies such as the legislation that he signed last week that restricts spending of public funds on diversity and inclusion programs in state colleges, said the report. "On a seeming quest to silence African-American voices, the governor and the state of Florida have shown that African Americans are not welcome in the state of Florida," the travel advisory was cited as saying. "Due to this sustained, blatant, relentless and systemic attack on democracy and civil rights, the NAACP hereby issues a travel advisory to African Americans, and other people of color regarding the hostility towards African Americans in Florida," it noted. Earlier in April, DeSantis, who is expected to run for presidency in 2024, signed the so-called Stop WOKE Act. It restricts workplaces and schools from discussing race during required training or instruction. The governor has also blocked an Advanced Placement African American Studies course in the state's public schools, citing its lack of "educational value." UNITED NATIONS, May 22 (Xinhua) -- UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Monday implored governments and businesses worldwide to reinforce their commitment and take decisive steps towards building a sustainable future. "Last year's agreement on the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework marked an important step -- but now is the time to move from agreement to action," the top UN official said in his video message for the International Day for Biological Diversity, which falls on May 22 annually. "This means ensuring sustainable production and consumption patterns, redirecting subsidies from nature-destroying activities towards green solutions, recognizing the rights of indigenous peoples and local communities, the strongest guardians of our world's biodiversity, and pushing governments and businesses to take stronger and faster action against biodiversity loss and the climate crisis," he said. Guterres warned that human actions are devastating every corner of the planet and "1 million species" are at risk of extinction, the result of habitat degradation, skyrocketing pollution, and the worsening climate crisis. He called on humanity to "end this war on nature." "Let us work together across governments, civil society, and the private sector to secure a sustainable future for all," said the UN chief. The International Day for Biological Diversity is a United Nations-sanctioned international day for the promotion of biodiversity issues. From its creation by the Second Committee of the UN General Assembly in 1993 to 2000, it was held on Dec. 29 to celebrate the day the Convention on Biological Diversity went into effect. In December 2000, the date was shifted to commemorate the adoption of the convention on May 22, 1992, at the Rio de Janeiro Earth Summit, and partly to avoid the many other holidays that occur in late December. Although every biodiversity day carries its own special significance, this year's global celebrations bring with it a renewed sense of hope with the adoption of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework at the 15th Conference of Parties to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity. To mark this achievement, this year's theme is "From Agreement to Action: Build Back Biodiversity." Now that the world has the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, the focus must quickly shift to its implementation, according to the United Nations. Chinese Ambassador to Algeria Li Jian addresses a reception held by the Chinese embassy in Algeria to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the dispatch of Chinese medical teams to Algeria in Algiers, Algeria on May 21, 2023. Since 1963, China has sent 27 batches of medical teams to Algeria, treated about 27.37 million patients, performed about 1.75 million operations and delivered about 2.07 million newborns. (Xinhua) ALGIERS, May 22 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese Embassy in Algeria celebrated on Sunday the 60th anniversary of the dispatch of Chinese medical teams to Algeria. Mohamed Talhi, secretary-general of the Algerian Ministry of Health, thanked the Chinese medical team for their contribution to the health care development in Algeria. Talhi said since China sent its first medical team to Algeria in 1963, successive Chinese medical personnel have worked with Algerian doctors to provide medical services to Algerians. Talhi also thanked China for its generous support for Algerian medical institutions in terms of volunteer services and medical equipment. Li Bin, president of the Chinese-African People's Friendship Association, said the operation of the Chinese medical team in Algeria fully reflects the mutual trust and sincere friendship between the two peoples, and has become a model of Sino-Algerian cooperation, she added. Chinese Ambassador to Algeria Li Jian said that over the past 60 years, Chinese medical teams have contributed to Algeria's public health care, the two countries' health cooperation and the friendship between the two peoples. Yang Yong, chief of the 27th batch of Chinese medical team to Algeria, said that the Chinese medical team to Algeria will keep innovating new ways of medical assistance, while demonstrating new technology, new methods and new ideas. Since 1963, China has sent 27 batches of medical teams to Algeria, treated about 27.37 million patients, performed about 1.75 million operations and delivered about 2.07 million newborns. Li Bin, president of the Chinese-African People's Friendship Association, addresses a reception held by the Chinese embassy in Algeria to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the dispatch of Chinese medical teams to Algeria in Algiers, Algeria on May 21, 2023. Since 1963, China has sent 27 batches of medical teams to Algeria, treated about 27.37 million patients, performed about 1.75 million operations and delivered about 2.07 million newborns. (Xinhua) Mohamed Talhi, secretary-general of the Algerian Ministry of Health, addresses a reception held by the Chinese embassy in Algeria to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the dispatch of Chinese medical teams to Algeria in Algiers, Algeria on May 21, 2023. Since 1963, China has sent 27 batches of medical teams to Algeria, treated about 27.37 million patients, performed about 1.75 million operations and delivered about 2.07 million newborns. (Xinhua) Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi (R) meets with visiting Sultan of Oman Haitham bin Tariq Al Said in Cairo, Egypt, May 21, 2023. The two leaders agreed on continued coordination and joint endeavors for achieving regional stability and security and highlighted the need to intensify efforts to resolve existing crises in a way that protects the supreme interests of the Arab peoples and preserves their capabilities and gains, the Egyptian Presidency said in a statement. (Egyptian Presidency/Handout via Xinhua) CAIRO, May 21 (Xinhua) -- Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi and visiting Sultan of Oman Haitham bin Tariq Al Said on Sunday met in Egypt's capital Cairo on bilateral and regional issues. The two leaders agreed on continued coordination and joint endeavors for achieving regional stability and security and highlighted the need to intensify efforts to resolve existing crises in a way that protects the supreme interests of the Arab peoples and preserves their capabilities and gains, the Egyptian Presidency said in a statement. It is the first visit of the Omani sultan to Egypt since he assumed power in January 2020. During the meeting, Sisi affirmed Egypt's keenness to promote distinguished relations with Oman in order to achieve the interests of the two peoples and the entire Arab nation, the statement said. For his part, Haitham stressed the importance of opening new horizons for bilateral cooperation in all fields in the coming period, in order to build on the positive results achieved during Sisi's visit to Muscat in June 2022. The two leaders also expressed satisfaction with the continuous increase in trade growth rates, affirming the continuation of strengthening the ongoing efforts in this regard between the concerned authorities in the two countries. Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi (R) and visiting Sultan of Oman Haitham bin Tariq Al Said pose for photos during their meeting in Cairo, Egypt, May 21, 2023. The two leaders agreed on continued coordination and joint endeavors for achieving regional stability and security and highlighted the need to intensify efforts to resolve existing crises in a way that protects the supreme interests of the Arab peoples and preserves their capabilities and gains, the Egyptian Presidency said in a statement. (Egyptian Presidency/Handout via Xinhua) MOGADISHU, May 21 (Xinhua) -- Senior military and police officers of the African Union Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMIS) met with the Hirshabelle State police officers and resolved to increase the fight against al-Shabab in Jowhar in the south-central part of the country. ATMIS Burundi Contingent Commander Jean Claude Niyiburana, who chaired the meeting Saturday to discuss ways of boosting cooperation to secure the Jowhar region against al-Shabab, said they had good exchanges, good discussions on how they can work together, plan operations to fight al-Shabab terrorists effectively. "We agreed that we will continue with such meetings to exchange information and plan operations," Niyiburana said in a statement issued Sunday in Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia. The fight against al-Shabab extremists has become the top priority for both ATMIS and Somali government as the drawdown of troops enters a critical phase. The AU mission said it has stepped up preparations for the withdrawal of 2,000 soldiers by June 30 from Somalia. Niyiburana said the engagement between ATMIS and Somali Police in Hirshabelle State would pave the way for a speedy and successful operation against al-Shabab terrorists. Hirshabelle State Police Commissioner Hassan Di'isow Hassan described the meeting as a positive step toward strengthening joint efforts to degrade al-Shabab and other armed groups. "We discussed ways of fighting al-Shabaab and liberating areas under their control. As you know there are ongoing operations against the militants in Hirshabelle. The areas east of River Shabelle were stabilized and liberated and the aim was to plan on how to liberate the remaining areas west of River Shabelle," he said. Hassan and his team also inspected the joint operations center (JOC) in Jowhar which supports the coordination and planning of operations between the allied forces. The ATMIS Police Reforms Advisor in Jowhar Rogers Chebene said ATMIS and Somali Police had resolved to work closely in countering the threat posed by improvised explosive devices (IEDs) commonly used by the militant group to target civilians and security officers. "The focus is to organize refresher training for local officers who had earlier completed EOD (explosive ordnance disposal) training. They need to be trained on how to use equipment recently donated by UNMAS (United Nations Mine Action Service) to neutralize IEDs planted on roadsides," Chebene said. Other key issues discussed and agreed upon during the meeting included the inclusion of Hirshabelle State police officers in the joint operations center and engaging Somali Police officers in different policing aspects. CAIRO, May 21 (Xinhua) -- Egypt on Sunday condemned Israel's far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir's visit to the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, a flashpoint in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in Jerusalem. "Such provocative behavior is inconsistent with the wisdom and responsibility of officials," the Egyptian foreign ministry said in a statement. Egypt also called on Israel to immediately stop the escalating practices that fuel the tensions in the occupied territories of Palestine. Earlier in the day, Ben-Gvir, escorted by heavy police presence and the internal security agency Shin Bet, visited the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem, holy to both Muslims and Jews. The Israeli minister said he was glad to come up to the compound and thanked the police officers at the site. The visit came days after the Flag March, an annual march by tens of thousands of Israeli nationalists to mark the Israeli annexation of East Jerusalem. Israel gained control of East Jerusalem during the 1967 Middle East war and occupied it despite international criticism. Under a long-held status quo, the site is supervised by the Jordanian Waqf, allowing only Muslim worship. UAE-based Azizi Developments has announced that 98% of the work has been completed on its key residential project, Berton, located within the Al Furjan community in Dubai, and is on track for completion during the second quarter. A 245-unit project, it features a mix of 190 studio apartments, 41 one- and two-bedroom apartments as well as 16 opulent penthouses. The structure, blockwork, internal plaster, tiling, elevator works and facade works are now 100% complete, while the MEP, HVAC, external works, and swimming pool are all at 99%. Overall finishes are 98% complete, it stated. On the key achievement, CEO Farhad Azizi said: "We are immensely proud to have achieved a 98% completion rate for Berton, our prestigious residential development in Al Furjan, at such a rapid pace. With the diligent work of our contractors, the quality of workmanship and materials used are superb." "We are now working towards completing the remaining 2% and look forward to handing over the keys to hundreds of happy families who will make this world-class development their new home," stated Azizi. "With its prime location and modern amenities, Berton caters to the growing demand from both local and international investors seeking a high ROI, he added. CAIRO, May 22 (Xinhua) -- Egypt will import 170,000 cattle and sheep for the upcoming Islamic holiday Eid al-Adha, the Egyptian Agriculture Ministry announced on Monday. The imports include 150,000 calves and 20,000 sheep, the ministry said, adding that in which 45,000 will be slaughtered immediately, and the remaining 105,000 will be fattened. The measure aims to provide sufficient meat at reasonable prices for Eid al-Adha, one of the most important holidays for Muslims, Egypt's Agriculture Minister Al-Said Al-Qusair said in the statement. Al-Qusair added that the Egyptian government is working to release fodder for cattle and poultry in ports to lower their prices in the market. As Eid al-Adha is six weeks away, Egypt is witnessing record-high meat prices, with the price for beef reaching 400 Egyptian pounds per kilogram (about 13 U.S. dollars) in some stores. This year's Eid al-Adha is expected to be celebrated on June 28. NEW DELHI, May 22 (Xinhua) -- There is an enough number of currency notes in the Indian economy for the general public to exchange their bank notes of 2,000 denomination which will be withdrawn after Sept. 30, a senior Indian bank official said on Monday. In response to whether there was any possibility of re-issuing the currency notes of 1,000 denomination, Governor of the Reserve Bank of India Shaktikanta Das said it's a mere speculation. Currency notes of 500 and 1,000 denominations were withdrawn from circulation in November 2016, and instead the 2,000 denomination bank notes were introduced. "We have more than an adequate quantity of printed notes already available in the system," Das told reporters. On the Sept. 30 deadline for the exchange of the 2,000 denomination notes, he said a date was decided so that people take the process seriously and it does not become endless. In a notification issued last week, the RBI announced that 2,000 denomination bank notes would be withdrawn after Sept. 30, and that people can get those notes exchanged at banks across the country with currency notes of other denominations. VIENTIANE, May 22 (Xinhua) -- A two-day event to promote Chinese tea culture has been held in Lao capital Vientiane to mark the International Tea Day, with visitors immersed in tea-making demonstrations, tea-tasting experiences, and cultural performances. Under the theme "Traditional Chinese tea-making technique and related custom," the event was organized by the China Cultural Center in Laos, collaborated with the Culture and Tourism Department of south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. The event included a traditional tea ceremony, a tea art performance and other activities. The event, which was launched last Friday, was sponsored by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of China and the Chinese Embassy in Laos. It drew over 100 representatives of Lao officials, Chinese people in Vientiane, and local residents. Lao Minister to the Prime Minister's Office Khampheng Saysompheng said that he has learned a lot more about Chinese tea culture, tea technology and tea industry, and hoped that the two sides will continue to deepen the traditional friendship between Laos and China with tea as a carrier in the future. The United Nations General Assembly in 2019 designated May 21 as the International Tea Day, and "traditional tea processing techniques and associated social practices in China" was added to UNESCO's intangible cultural heritage list in 2022. *The Group of Seven (G7) ended its three-day gathering on Sunday in Hiroshima amid protests. *G7 statement and other documents hype up China threats, make a truce out of reach regarding Ukraine crisis. *Analysts said that the United States and some of its G7 partners are the major rule-breakers on the world stage. HIROSHIMA, Japan, May 21 (Xinhua) -- The Group of Seven (G7) ended its three-day gathering on Sunday in Hiroshima as crowds of protesters took to the streets against the U.S.-led bloc's latest steps to undermine world peace. Analysts have said that absolute U.S. dominance only creates deeper cracks among the group and beyond. Unity and consensus were elusive during the G7 summit held in the western Japanese city. The summit covered many topics but unfortunately ended with a focus on interfering in the internal affairs of other countries and hindering their development. HYPING UP CHINA THREATS The G7 Hiroshima Leaders' Communique, which was rushed out on Saturday, spilled much ink on China, unwarrantedly depicting the country as a trouble-maker, only stopped short of directly naming it. Japanese scholar Kazuteru Saionji found it absurd to demand China playing by international rules while the United States and some of its G7 partners are the major rule-breakers on the world stage. "In my opinion, it is better to return the exact same words to the G7," he told Xinhua. "It is the United States and G7 nations that should take a responsible attitude and abide by international rules," said the visiting professor at Higashi Nippon International University. A demonstrator holds a placard at Hiroshima's Funairi Daiichi Park in a protest against the Group of Seven (G7) summit in Hiroshima, Japan, May 19, 2023. (Xinhua/Zhang Xiaoyu) The joint statement and other documents adopted at the summit also contained comments on the Taiwan Strait and accusations regarding the East China Sea, the South China Sea, Hong Kong, Xinjiang and Tibet. China strongly deplores and firmly opposes the G7's attempts to smear and attack China and brazenly interfere in China's internal affairs and has objected to the summit's host, Japan, and other parties concerned, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson said on Saturday. "China's internal affairs should be solved by China itself. Intervention is a violation of international rules," said Saionji. Days before and during the Hiroshima summit, U.S. government officials continually mentioned so-called "economic coercion" and "de-risking," alleging that the G7 leaders would adopt a unified approach by releasing "a statement on China." "By dragging the G7 bloc to suppress China under the pretext of de-risking, the country is deliberately undermining free trade and the global economic division of labor system," said Saionji, who expressed the belief that the country is peddling imaginary threats in its own version of world order. According to the Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson, the United States is the true coercer in weaponizing economic and trade relations through unilateral sanctions, decoupling efforts, and disrupting industrial and supply chains. The spokesperson urged the G7 to refrain from becoming an accomplice. AGAINST CURRENT TREND Local observers said that with significantly weakening economic heft, the G7 cannot represent the world. Yet, they still cling to a Cold War mentality and fail to acknowledge current global trends toward peace and stability. A recent report from the International Monetary Fund showed that the contribution of BRICS countries to world economic growth has surpassed that of G7 nations, and the upward trend will continue in the foreseeable future. The BRICS countries will guarantee 32.1 percent of world economic growth this year, compared to G7's 29.9 percent, according to the organization's estimates. Atsushi Koketsu, emeritus professor at Yamaguchi University of Japan, said that with the international community moving toward pluralism, the G7 should take note. "I believe the major developing countries will not act according to the United States. They hope for world peace and stability," said Saionji commenting on Japan's invitation for the so-called "Global South" nations to the summit. People rally in a protest against the Group of Seven (G7) summit in Hiroshima, Japan, May 20, 2023. (Xinhua/Zhang Xiaoyu) Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, who holds the G7's rotating presidency, has been criticized for hosting the summit in Hiroshima, a city once devastated by U.S. atomic bombing, as a political stunt. In the eyes of Saionji, raising the Taiwan question is an unwise move by Japan. "The Taiwan question is one of China's internal affairs. U.S. intervention complicated the situation," said the scholar, adding that meddling in the Taiwan question will surely damage China-Japan relations. Saionji believes East Asian countries are against creating regional tensions and provoking confrontation. Therefore, the United States and Japan's attempt to play the Taiwan card is doomed to fail. LOOMING DISPUTES Rallies and demonstrations against the U.S.-manipulated G7 were held for days at multiple locations across the nation. Placards and banners, such as "U.S. out of Asia Pacific," "Crush the G7 Summit," "No War-themed Conference" and "Hands off on Ukraine," were seen at the demonstration on Sunday in downtown Hiroshima, where clashes between the police and protesters were reported. Protesters rally at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park in a protest against the Group of Seven (G7) summit, in Hiroshima, Japan, May 18, 2023. (Xinhua/Zhang Xiaoyu) During the summit, G7 nations, with the United States taking the lead, vowed to escalate sanctions against Russia and intensify diplomatic, financial, humanitarian and military support for Ukraine in the leaders' communique. "The U.S.-centered bloc's non-stop military support to Ukraine will only make a truce out of reach. I strongly condemn this kind of act," said Koketsu. (Video reporters: Li Guangzheng, Zhang Yiyi, Ji Ze, Yang Yiran, Yu Fuqing, Yao Bing, Shen Danlin; Video editors: Wu Yao, Zhu Jianhui) SEOUL, May 22 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's corporate bond sale rose in single digits last month due to higher funding demand from industrial companies, financial watchdog data showed Monday. The issuance of corporate bonds came in at 20.16 trillion won (15.3 billion U.S. dollars) in April, up 7.8 percent from the previous month, according to the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS). Industrial companies continued to sell medium-term bonds to finance their facility investment. Bonds sold by industrial companies came to 6.34 trillion won (4.8 billion dollars) in April, up 34.7 percent from the prior month. Financial companies-issued bonds shrank 4.9 percent to 12.05 trillion won (9.1 billion dollars), while the issuance of asset-backed securities advanced 34.0 percent to 1.77 trillion won (1.3 billion dollars). Equity financing, including the initial public offering and the rights issuance, stood at 82.1 billion won (62.1 million dollars) in April, down 67.1 percent from a month earlier. SYDNEY, May 22 (Xinhua) -- Protests erupted in several universities across Papua New Guinea (PNG) on Monday morning against a possible defense cooperation pact to be signed between the United States and the island country located in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. Students from the University of Papua New Guinea, the University of Goroka and the PNG University of Technology staged the protests early in the morning, the local Wepio Media Agency reported. Students at the University of Papua New Guinea were asking why PNG, which always observes a friends-to-all and enemy-to-none principle, would sign a defense pact. They also requested that the agreement not be signed until the PNG people are aware of what the country is signing. The focus must not be on security treaties when the country is not at war with anyone, said the students, adding that as a developing country, PNG needs beneficial economic treaties and agreements instead. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and PNG Prime Minister James Marape were scheduled to sign the pact and a maritime security agreement during Blinken's visit to the capital of PNG Port Moresby on Sunday and Monday, said a CNN report. Before that, an alleged draft copy of the defense cooperation agreement that would potentially allow a substantial U.S. military presence in PNG was leaked. But Marape said that the agreement would not give the United States any "exclusive" rights to PNG facilities. LONDON, May 21 (Xinhua) -- A singing contest of Chinese songs for overseas Chinese was held here on Sunday. Organized by London Chinatown Chinese Association, the contest is part of the "Cultures of China Water Cube Cup" Chinese Songs Contest, a global activity designed to introduce Chinese culture and to tell Chinese stories to the world. A total of 20 participants competed in the United Kindom division's final round. In the end, three front-runners from the youth group and the top three from the adult group, as well as the winner from the foreign-friends group, qualified for further competition at the global level. Masayo Ono, a Chinese songs' lover, told Xinhua that she grew up in a Chinese-Japanese family. Although she had taken part in the Chinese speech competition in Japan before, it is her first time being part of the "Water Cube Cup." "I love singing and love learning Chinese ... it was fun to learn one of my favourite songs in Chinese," said Stuart Boother, the winner of the foreign-friends group. His performance evoked an enthusiastic response from the audience. Boother told Xinhua it was his second time competing in the contest, and he hoped to join the contest again next year. Fascinated by Chinese culture, Boother said he went to China to learn Kungfu years ago and recently visited Guangzhou and Guilin in south China. "Today was fantastic. I listened with a lot of happiness and excitement," MP Mark Logan told Xinhua. He regards music as one of the best ways to deepen cultural exchange. The "Water Cube Cup," initiated in 2011, has attracted contestants around the world for more than a decade. It aims at strengthening the link between China and the world through the Chinese culture. CANNES, France, May 22 (Xinhua) -- Chinese filmmakers and actors attending the Cannes Film Festival in Southern France have recently stressed the importance of international communication on promoting film industry development. The 76th edition of the festival runs from May 16 to 27. Films starred by Chinese actors, such as Only the River Flows and The Breaking Ice, are competing in the festival's Un Certain Regard section. Over the weekend, Chinese film director Ning Hao told journalists that "At the Cannes Film Festival, Chinese filmmakers and actors actively promote excellent films and communicate with international film directors, producers and actors to see what they have done. Especially after a period of silence for the film industry during the pandemic, this kind of communication is very important." "When the pandemic started, many of us were confused about the future. But films can also give people hope and strength, that power can be transmitted," Chinese actress Yao Chen said in an exclusive interview with Xinhua. "Now Chinese films are coming back to the international film festivals. We exchange information and present our works to let the world know more about Chinese films. This is very valuable," she said. In recent years, the global film market has seen an increase in the number of Chinese films presented at international film festivals, as well as more intense cross-border partnerships between Chinese and international filmmakers and actors. Chinese actress Huang Lu, shortlisted in several international film festivals, also appeared in Cannes this year. She said the "heat" of the festival has recovered to pre-pandemic levels. "Everyone is full of energy, and many domestic and foreign projects and cooperation are being actively promoted." "The progress and development of Chinese film is rapid, more and more people are willing to pay attention to the industry. Chinese film is based on a very profound cultural heritage, and the industry has been actively communicating with the world," Huang told Xinhua. Regarding the Cannes Film Festival as an important global event and exchange platform, Ning said, "In recent years, the development of the Chinese film market has been obvious. The film itself is an effective way of cultural exchange." "In addition to actively participating in international film festivals, we should also do well in our own festivals, so that the exchange can be more efficient," Ning added. ROME, May 22 (Xinhua) -- Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has returned early from the Group of Seven (G7) summit in Hiroshima to visit Italy's flood-ravaged region of Emilia-Romagna as details from what is being called the worst floods to hit Italy in a century began to be calculated. The north-central Italian region was lashed by more than six months' worth of rain in a 36-hour span on Tuesday and Wednesday last week, leaving at least 14 dead in its wake. More than 36,000 people were evacuated from their homes, and as of Monday, around 5,000 were still being housed in emergency government centers including cinemas, warehouses, and museums. More than 20,000 people in the region were still without power as of Monday, according to media reports. On her visit to the area on Sunday, Meloni said the damage to the region was so far "incalculable." Adolfo Urso, Italy's minister of enterprises, said on Monday that a cabinet meeting scheduled for Tuesday would see the approval of a support package for the region. Also on Monday, Italy's main agri-food sector association Coldiretti estimated that the damage to agriculture and livestock in Emilia-Romagna would be felt for years. The area is a top Italian producer of wheat, strawberries, apricots, peaches, pears, plums, and apples, as well as pork, poultry, beef and other types of meat. It said that around 15 million plants would have to be pulled up and replanted in the region and that at least 400 million kg of wheat has been lost after fields became submerged. It also said that around 250,000 cattle, pigs, sheep and goats were at risk and that around 400 poultry farms had been flooded. Coldiretti estimated that the damage to the agricultural sector alone was worth 1.5 billion euros (1.6 billion U.S. dollars). "The flood that hit the Romagna area also puts biodiversity at risk, with entire productions being canceled after the farmers had managed in recent years to save them from extinction," Coldiretti said in a statement. Meloni departed the G7 summit in Japan early to rush to the scene of the flood, touring the damaged areas in high plastic boots and wading into submerged fields to assess the damage before returning to Rome. She issued a statement vowing to stand by those who suffered from the unprecedented events. "It will be necessary to work on compensation and reconstruction," Meloni said via social media. "For this, a complete estimate and a streamlining of procedures will be necessary and we are ready to do our part." Italy has suffered under the impact of different waves of severe weather for a year and a half, with a dry period over the winter between 2021-2022 giving way to a record-setting drought and high temperatures last summer, resulting in dozens of deaths and slashed national agricultural production by as much as a third. Water levels in many parts of the nation's network of rivers dropped to all-time lows and a lack of snowfall in the winter of 2022-2023 gave rise to concerns that the coming summer could be another difficult one for Italian farmers and travelers in the country. SEOUL: Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, could hold a trilateral summit in Washington in July with US President Joe Biden, and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida ahead of their 3-way discussions in Hiroshima, Japan. an official said on Monday, May 22. "The possibility of holding a South Korea-United State-Japan summit this summer in Washington is being talked about," the presidential official notified. The developmente comes the day after Biden suggested holding such a summit during a meeting with Yoon and Kishida outside of the G7 summit in Hiroshima. To address the mounting crisis caused by China's military and economic aggression, North Korea's nuclear programme, and other factors, the three nations have been stepping up their trilateral collaboration. The three leaders decided to take trilateral collaboration to a new level during their brief meeting on Sunday, according to Yoon's office. The leaders of the three nations will meet in Washington if the meeting goes ahead for the first time, and not on the sidelines of a multinational conference. Another presidential official referred to the leaders' frequent visits to one other's nations, as the leaders of South Korea and Japan do, and said that in the long run, this "could develop into a form of shuttle diplomacy" involving the leaders of South Korea, the US, and Japan. Joe Biden awards Medal of Valour to Indian-origin NYPD cop G7 Meeting: US President Joe Biden arrives to meet PM Modi, video goes viral PM Modi to meet US President Joe Biden on June 22 South Africa: Home Affairs wants Magudumana's application to be struck off court roll Home Affairs Minister, Dr Aaron Motsoaledi, says he wants the court application lodged by Dr Nandipha Magudumanas attorneys to be struck off from the urgent court roll. This after the department had through media reports discovered that there is an urgent court application launched by Dr Magudumana in Bloemfontein challenging her arrest in Tanzania, saying it was unlawful. At a media briefing held in Pretoria, Motsoaledi said the departments Director-General had discovered that the Minister in the court papers was not cited as the respondent in the matter. The Director-General only managed to access the court papers yesterday late in the afternoon. He was shocked to discover that the DHA and I were not cited as respondents in that matter, Motsoaledi said. This, according to Motsoaledi, is despite the fact that on 15 May 2023, there were exchange of correspondence between the Director- General and Motloung INC, attorneys of record for Dr Magudumana. The Director-General immediately addressed a letter dated 21 May 2023 to her attorneys raising objection to the non-joinder of the DHA and I and demanded that the ill-advised application be removed from the urgent roll, Motsoaledi said. In the court papers, Dr Magudumana is challenging the manner in which she was arrested, saying she was unlawfully arrested and abducted. Dr Nandipha Magudumana and Thabo Bester were declared prohibited immigrants in terms of the immigration laws of Tanzania and were therefore as a matter of law, liable to be deported back to their country of origin. I am outlining all these steps because the matters in question are of immense public interest and the DHA has a constitutional duty to adhere to the principles of accountability and transparency, the Minister said. Dr Magudumana and Thabo Bester was arrested in Tanzania after they had fled the country illegally to Tanzania. They are currently on trial at the Bloemfontein Magistrate court. Thabo Bester, known as the Facebook Rapist, was serving a life sentence for rape and murder at the Mangaung Correctional Centre, a private prison managed by multinational security company G4S. - SAnews.gov.za This story has been published on: 2023-05-22. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. Majid Al Futtaim, the leading retail, shopping mall, communities, and leisure pioneer across the Middle East, Africa, and Asia, has opened the newly designed Dubai store for Italian luxury furniture maker Poltrona Frau, with a grand opening celebration last night (May 16). The inauguration included some of the biggest names in design who were invited to experience the craftsmanship of Poltrona Frau firsthand, with a live demonstration by one of the brands skilled artisans, showcasing the manufacturing process of the iconic Chester Sofa. The new 1,000 sqm store in Jumeirah was designed by Poltrona Frau in partnership with Majid Al Futtaim Lifestyle and features a curated selection of historical and contemporary pieces such as the iconic Ouverture Sofa by Pierluigi Cerri and Souvenier DItalie, the modern outdoor collection by Ludovica + Roberto Palomba, said the statement from Majid Al Futtaim. In addition, Ceccotti Collezioni, a Tuscan brand specialised in fine traditional cabinet-making techniques and part of Poltrona Frau since 2018, is featured in the new store with iconic pieces designed by Roberto Lazzeroni such as the iconic sofa D.R.D.P. and the Icolounge armchair. The Fumoir armchair, a treasured historical piece flown in from the Poltrona Frau Museum in Tolentino, was also showcased alongside the Archibald Limited Edition, a stunning collaboration with artist Felipe Pantone, it stated. This juxtaposition of past and present was placed to highlight the brand's rich history and also commitment to pushing boundaries and embracing modern design. The grand opening offered guests an immersive experience, with four dedicated areas showcasing the history of the brand, its commitment to sustainability and Leathership as well as the focus on craftsmanship and quality of materials, it stated. Roberto Lazzeroni, renowned Italian designer and a special guest for the event, also presented his collaboration with Poltrona Frau, which included a curated collection that was displayed at Milans Salone Del Mobile in April. On the store launch, Fahed Ghanim, CEO of Majid Al Futtaim Lifestyle, said: "As we celebrate the grand opening of Poltrona Frau in Dubai we are excited to offer our customers a rare glimpse into the world of Italian luxury furniture." "With its expanded and reimagined space, the new store not only cements the brand's position in the UAE market but also showcases the exceptional quality and craftsmanship that has made Poltrona Frau a timeless icon of luxury," noted Ghanim. "Majid Al Futtaim Lifestyle is proud to bring this unparalleled artisanal experience to our customers in just a few short months following our partnership launch with Poltrona Frau, while also planning for the second store opening set for Mall of the Emirates. This is a testament to our unwavering commitment to elevating the Poltrona Frau brand in the region and highlights the strength of Majid Al Futtaim Lifestyle in delivering exceptional experiences for our customers," he added. The grand opening follows the partnership announcement between Majid Al Futtaim Lifestyle and Poltrona Frau in January this year, and the companys first entry into the Luxury Home category. Poltrona Frau CEO Nicola Coropulis said: "The elegantly redesigned Poltrona Frau Dubai space focuses on creating an unforgettable emotional bond with our customers and instilling a deep sense of fascination with our brand and its history." "As a brand that represents the pinnacle of Italian luxury design, we are proud to partner with Majid Al Futtaim Lifestyle to offer our customers in the UAE and the wider region a truly exceptional experience. With our focus on craftsmanship, quality, and heritage, Poltrona Frau is a natural fit for the region's elite customers seeking exclusive solutions for their homes, offices and public spaces," he added.-TradeArabia News Service New Delhi: Indian security agencies have busted a nefarious conspiracy in Jammu and Kashmir. A terrorist of the terrorist organization Jaish-e-Mohammed has been arrested due to the strict vigilance of the Indian security agencies. The arrest was made by the NIA on Sunday (May 21). According to the report, the name of the arrested terrorist is Mohammad Ubaid Malik, who is also a resident of Kupwara. Ubaid was maintaining a constant connection with the Jaish commander sitting in Pakistan. According to the report, terrorist Ubaid was on the verge of carrying out a major terrorist conspiracy in Jammu and Kashmir. The arrested terrorist was sending information related to the movement of army troops and security forces to his commander in Pakistan. There is news that the terrorists of Jaish-e-Mohammed Mohammad were trying to carry out a major terrorist attack on India, under which all their preparations were going on on a war footing. According to the report, according to what has come out in the investigation of NIA, Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorists should give intelligence information to the Jaish commander sitting in Pakistan, especially in relation to all the actions and movements of the Indian Army and security forces. The NIA has also obtained several incriminating documents from the accused regarding his involvement in promoting terrorist activities in Jammu and Kashmir. Rs.2,000 bank notes Withdrawal is part of currency management: RBI Form has to be filled, ID card has to be shown? 2000 notes will be changed from tomorrow How much loan did Siddaramaiah take in the last term? The action of the new government has started in Karnataka New Delhi: PM Narendra Modi is currently on a tour of Papua New Guinea, where India and the Prime Minister have received a great honor, in fact, the Prime Minister of Fiji, Sitiveni Rabuka, has received PM Modi's international leadership. In view of this, he has been awarded Fiji's highest honor 'Companion of the Order of Fiji' (Companion of the Order of Fiji). Let us tell you that Fiji's highest honor has so far been given to only a few non-Fiji people, in which PM Modi's name has also been included. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been conferred with Companion of the Order of Fiji, the highest honour of Fiji, in recognition of his global leadership. PM, is now among the few non-Fijians, to have received this honour, till date pic.twitter.com/LNYiAF9i0d Amit Malviya (@amitmalviya) May 22, 2023 Significantly, 'Companion of the Order of Fiji' is a very important honor, which is given to those individuals who have made unique contribution towards the nation of Fiji. The Fiji Order, established in 1995, recognizes Fiji citizens and foreign nationals who have shown outstanding service and dedication to the country and its people. Receiving this great honor reflects the recipient's significant influence, which includes outstanding contributions in fields such as politics, business, education, humanitarian work, and cultural endeavors. Sir Michael Somare, former Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea, has also been awarded the 'Companion of the Order of Fiji', who played an important role in strengthening diplomatic relations and enhancing regional cooperation between Fiji and Papua New Guinea. Had played Along with this, Papua New Guinea diplomat Dame Meg Taylor has also been honored, who has been made a 'Companion of the Order of Fiji' for her significant contribution to Fiji and administrative development and promotion of gender discrimination and human rights in Fiji and the Pacific Ocean region. FM appeals to new recruits to inform public about the Rozgar Mela Maruti Suzuki India mulls to infuse over USD5.5 bn to double capacity by 2030 Heavy depression over Bay of Bengal intensifies into cyclonic storm Mocha Kremlin reacts to hostilities in Belgorod Oblast: Putin informed, says press secretary 22 May, 06:15 PM Fighters of the RDK in the Belgorod region of the Russian Federation (Photo: /Telegram) Dmitry Peskov, spokesperson for Russian dictator Vladimir Putin, has responded to reports that saboteurs from the Legion of Freedom of Russia and the Russian Volunteer Corps or RVC have taken control of two villages in Belgorod Oblast. The Kremlin-controlled RIA Novosti news outlet disseminated a statement from Peskov, claiming that Putin has been informed about the incursion by the Russian fighters, whom the Kremlin is attempting to portray as Ukrainian. Peskov said efforts are underway to flush out the saboteurs and eliminate the sabotage group. Video of day Amidst the failed attempts by Russian invaders to fully capture Bakhmut for over nine months, the Kremlin dictators press secretary also sought to assert that the goal of the Ukrainian sabotage in Belgorod Oblast is to divert attention from the Bakhmut area. The Freedom of Russia Legion, in a comment to Russian publication Vazhnye Istorii, stated that Russian forces are attempting to shell them with artillery and conducting airstrikes, but the formation continues to advance. As of 3.30 p.m., the Legion and RVC announced that they had taken control of the settlements of Kozinka and Gora-Podol in Belgorod Oblast and have initiated an assault on the settlement of Gayvoron. Earlier, fighters from the Russian Volunteer Corps, who are engaged in fighting against the Russian occupation army in Ukraine, reported that they had once again entered Russian territory. They released videos alongside signs bearing the names of settlements in regions bordering Ukraine. Andriy Yusov, the spokesman of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine or HUR, commented to Ukrainian media that the Legion and RVC were engaged in the creation of a security zone in Russias Belgorod Oblast to protect Ukrainians. Yusov said that the raid into the Russian region was being carried out exclusively by fighters from the Legion and RVC, who are all Russian citizens. On March 2, 2023, Russian propagandists disseminated a false story alleging the infiltration of a Ukrainian sabotage and reconnaissance group into the territory of Bryansk Oblast. The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine described these statements as bold provocations. The conflicting information provided by propagandists and local authorities included reports of taking local residents hostage, the presence of injured and deceased individuals, and an alleged explosion at a power substation. The Russian Volunteer Corps claimed responsibility for the events in Bryansk Oblast at that time. On April 6, 2023, fighters of the Russian Volunteer Corps claimed they had infiltrated Bryansk Oblast for a second time. They released a video showing a conversation with a local man, asking him about the name of the village they were in. The man responded that it was Sluchovsk, a Russian settlement. The Freedom of Russia Legion is a unit within the Armed Forces of Ukraine, established in March 2022. Both units consist of volunteers from Russia fighting alongside the Ukrainian armed forces. The corps primarily comprises ethnic Russian emigrants who previously resided in Ukraine and other European countries. Were bringing the voice of Ukraine to the world. Support us with a one-time donation, or become a Patron! Follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Google News DUBLIN, May 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Agricultural Tires Market - Global Industry Size, Share, Trends, Opportunity, and Forecast, 2018-2028F Segmented By Application Type (Tractors, Combine Harvester, Sprayers, Trailers, Loaders, Others), By Sales Channel (OEM, Aftermarket), By Tire Type, and By Region" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. Research and Markets Logo Global agricultural tires market has shown decent growth in the past few years, and it is expected to increase at a high rate during the forecasted period, 2023-2028. The agricultural tire market has witnessed growth in the past years owing to the increasing sales of agricultural vehicles. Governments in many countries have plans to invest in the agricultural sector to boost the production of goods to meet the demand of the public. In the US, any agricultural R&D conducted at universities receives funding sources that are supported by federal-state partnerships. The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) has invested around USD 4 billion in the agricultural sector, and this has strengthened the food system. Owing to this investment, the food and supply chain system will also improve, and the sales of agricultural vehicles will increase to strengthen the supply system. On account of such government initiatives, demand for off-the-road (OTR) vehicles is expected to register significant growth over the coming years, as well as the demand for OTR tires is also expected to increase. Development of an Agrarian Economy Several Asia-Pacific countries, including China, India, and Indonesia, rely mainly on agriculture. Furthermore, agriculture contributes significantly to the GDP of African countries such as Benin, Cameroon, Burundi, Comoros, Congo, Burkina Faso, Chad, and Ethiopia. The agriculture sector in emerging economies is expanding as a result of constant modernization and increased use of cutting-edge agricultural techniques. In such developing countries, advanced OTR vehicles such as 4WD and scrapers, track tractors, corn heads, drawn planters, balers, disc harrows, and vertical tillage are being introduced to assist in solving the issues related to manual workers and accomplishing greater productivity. End hunger, agricultural development is one of the most powerful sectors as it provides food to everyone. The growth in the agriculture sector has been seen in the past few years, and it is expected to grow further during the forecast period. Increasing Penetration of Chinese Tire Brands As the sales of agricultural vehicles have increased in various countries across the globe, the demand for OTR tires has also increased. To fulfill the demand for tires, many Chinese players have entered the market as they offer tires at very genuine prices compared to the other market players. Owing to the easy availability of Chinese tires at genuine prices, the demand for Chinese agricultural tires has increased in various countries worldwide, wherein there are many Chinese companies that have been able to maximize their profits by catering to this increasing tire demand. There are many countries that have increased the import of Chinese OTR tires as they are easily available at a lower price and are of better quality. As the demand for Chinese OTR tires has increased, many Chinese companies have started to expand their manufacturing capacity and distribution network in various geographies worldwide. This is one of the primary factors attributable to the growing demand for Chinese OTR tires in the global agricultural tire market. Growing Retread Tire Market The high cost of brand-new OTR tires is a significant limitation that is driving global retread tire sales. Furthermore, when compared to new tire production, tire retreading uses only one-third of the number of petrochemicals and silica. As a result, retread tires are less expensive than brand-new tires, and tire retreading is emerging as a cost-effective solution for OTR vehicle owners nationally and internationally. Retread OTR tires are commonly found in construction, agricultural machinery, mining, and industrial. Furthermore, tire wear and tear is high because of extreme climatic conditions and increased use of OTR tires, which adds to the servicing expenses involved by OTR vehicle owners. The demand for retreaded tires is primarily driven by the different OTR segments to reduce the cost, OTR owners demand retreated tires for their OTR vehicles, and this trend is expected to increase in the coming years. Owing to increasing demand for retreating OTR tiers, new OTR manufacturers many enter the market. Report Scope: In this report, the global agricultural tires market has been segmented into the following categories, in addition to the industry trends, which have also been detailed below: Global Agricultural Tires Market, By Application Type: Tractors Combine Harvester Sprayers Trailers Loaders Other Global Agricultural Tires Market, By Sales Channel: OEM Aftermarket Global Agricultural Tires Market, By Tire Type: Bias Tires Radial Tires Global Agricultural Tires Market, By Region: Asia-Pacific China India Japan South Korea Indonesia Thailand Malaysia Vietnam North America The United States Canada Mexico Europe & CIS Germany Spain Russia France United Kingdom Slovakia Italy Middle East & Africa Saudi Arabia Turkey South Africa Egypt South America Brazil Argentina Colombia Key Topics Covered: 1. Introduction 2. Research Methodology 3. Executive Summary 4. Impact of COVID-19 on Global Agricultural Tires Market 5. Voice of Customer 6. Global Agricultural Tires Market Outlook, 2018-2028F 6.1. Market Size & Forecast 6.1.1. By Value & Volume 6.2. Market Share & Forecast 6.2.1. By Application Type Market Share Analysis (Tractors, Combine Harvester, Sprayers, Trailers, Loaders, and Others) 6.2.2. By Sales Channel Market Share Analysis (OEM, and Aftermarket) 6.2.3. By Tire Type Market Share Analysis (Bias Tires, and Radial Tires) 6.2.4. By Regional Market Share Analysis 6.2.4.1. Asia-Pacific Market Share Analysis 6.2.4.2. North America Market Share Analysis 6.2.4.3. Europe & CIS Market Share Analysis 6.2.4.4. Middle East & Africa Market Share Analysis 6.2.4.5. South America Market Share Analysis 6.2.5. By Company Market Share Analysis (By Value, 2022) 6.3. Global Agricultural Tires Market Mapping & Opportunity Assessment 6.3.1. By Application Type Market Mapping & Opportunity Assessment 6.3.2. By Sales Channel Mapping & Opportunity Assessment 6.3.3. By Tire Type Mapping & Opportunity Assessment 6.3.4. By Regional Market Mapping & Opportunity Assessment 7. Asia-Pacific Agricultural Tires Market Outlook 8. North America Agricultural Tires Market Outlook 9. Europe & CIS Agricultural Tires Market Outlook 10. Middle East & Africa Agricultural Tires Market Outlook 11. South America Agricultural Tires Market Outlook 12. Market Dynamics 13. Market Trends & Developments 14. Porter's Five Forces Model 15. Competitive Landscape 16. Strategic Recommendations/Action Plan A selection of companies mentioned in this report includes Michelin Group Balkrishna Industries Limited (BKT) Apollo Tyres ltd Bridgestone Corporation Continental AG Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company Madras Rubber Factory Ltd The Yokohama Rubber Co., Ltd. Toyo Tire Corporation Zhongce Rubber Group Co., Ltd. For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/koy7jw About ResearchAndMarkets.com ResearchAndMarkets.com is the world's leading source for international market research reports and market data. We provide you with the latest data on international and regional markets, key industries, the top companies, new products and the latest trends. Media Contact: Research and Markets Laura Wood, Senior Manager press@researchandmarkets.com For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470 For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call +1-800-526-8630 For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900 U.S. Fax: 646-607-1904 Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716 Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/539438/Research_and_Markets_Logo.jpg Cision View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/agricultural-tires-global-market-report-2023-increasing-sales-of-agricultural-vehicles-bolsters-growth-301829579.html SOURCE Research and Markets JD.com is building 4,000 apartments for its employees and will rent them out at half the market price. It took the e-commerce giant 3.1 billion yuan (US$440 million) to get the plot in Beijing, and instead of hiring someone else to do the job, the company will be its own developer. Building on success The entity that bought the lot is a subsidiary called Beijing Xinyue. It was registered at the end of last year and has acquired all the licenses needed to build affordable housing. Another two subsidiaries develop and manage residential buildings and shopping malls in Beijing, Shanghai, and Nanjing. JD.com makes no secret of its interest in real estate. Its annual report shows the cash flow from real estate along with whats traditionally considered JD.coms core businesses retail, logistics, and on-demand delivery. In the past six years, JD.com has spent over 2.6 billion yuan on real estate. Land purchases since 2020 amount to 14.5 billion. JD Property, a spinoff that develops and manages industrial parks, filed for IPO on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in March. It has 7.7 million square meters of land and 93.7 billion yuan of assets under its management. Because we need them JD.com has been buying industrial land since as early as 2009. The purchase of a 13,000-square-meter plot in Beijing in 2010 to build what at that time would be the largest e-commerce logistics center in Asia along with another 37,000 square meters of warehouse land in Jiangsu the year before caused widespread suspicion of land speculation. Richard Liu Qiangdong, founder and then CEO, responded that JD.com, which had been renting warehouses all over the place, needed warehouses of its own. JD.com now operates over 30 million square meters of warehouse space. It also owns industrial parks that host data centers, telemedicine startups, and supply chain companies essentially, any digital economy businesses that can potentially benefit JD.com. Beyond industrial parks, the real estate business also owns traditional commercial and residential properties. Its shopping malls often have stores where customers can touch and try out products sold on the JD.com website. The overall size of its commercial real estate assets is relatively small, however. Total square footage is only about 30,000 square meters, which is only about 0.4 percent of that of Wanda, mall developer and operator. Tech city of the future Still at the experimental stage are commercial-residential hybrids. In 2019, the company bought a 180,000-square-meter lot in Dongguan for 1.06 billion yuan to build a mini-city called JD Zhigu (intelligent valley). It will host companies that specialize in AI, cloud, IoT and robotics. There will be apartment towers for employees. Construction of the first phase was completed in 2021. Over 200 companies have signed up. The second phase is being planned. CHEN Yu, a JD.com executive, said in a press conference that these JD Zhigu will bring different parts of JD.coms business empire into an enclosed ecosystem. He conceded that many large developers and tech giants are also trying to build hybrids like this. Huawei, for example, wants one next door in Shenzhen. Tenants of JD Zhigu may benefit from the tech giants' economies of scale, Chen said, or even become suppliers. But this also means when JD.com is not doing well, they are disproportionally exposed. JD.com went into residential real estate rather late and has only made three major land purchases for this purpose. (Companies related to founder Richard Liu have stakes in at least a dozen residential projects in Lius hometown of Suqian.) All of them one is the Yizhuang development in Beijing; the other two are in Shanghai and Suzhou were bought at little or no premium in land auctions. The total value of the land exceeds 17.7 billion yuan. The Shanghai development has already gone on the market. But progress in Suzhou seems to have stalled. The residential land came in a package with another commercial plot, for which the local government has excruciating tenant requirements. DenisTangneyJr / Getty Images/iStockphoto If you're looking to live off Social Security as a couple in Texas, you'll have a lot of options. Outside of the major metropolitan areas, there are numerous cities in Texas that have below-average costs across the spectrum, from rent and groceries to healthcare and utilities. See Our List: 100 Most Influential Money Experts Learn: Demand for Gold Is Up - Here's Everything You Need To Know To determine which cities were the best to live off the average couple's $3,568.58 Social Security benefit, GOBankingRates conducted a study of the 750 largest cities in Texas. Using data from the Social Security Administration, Sperling's Best and the Bureau of Labor Statistics, GOBankingRates compared results with the national averages for the above expenses, which were $23,448 per year ($1,954 per month) for rent, $4,497 per year ($374.75 per month) for groceries, $7,030 per year ($585.83 per month) for healthcare, and $3,921 per year ($326.75 per month) for utilities. From this data, GOBankingRates determined where couples could best live off just their combined Social Security checks. Livability scores for each city, provided by AreaVibes, factored into the final ranking. Here are the results, presented in reverse order. jacoblund / Getty Images/iStockphoto 15. Mission Monthly Necessities Expenditures: $2,772.01 Livability : 77 2023 Average Monthly Rent: $1,567 Mission has a good livability score and lower-than-average costs in groceries, healthcare and utilities. Only the cost of rent keeps the city from ranking higher in the study. Retirement Savings: Here's How Much Cash Baby Boomers Need To Retire in the Next 5 Years Social Security: Proposal for $2,400 Extra in Checks Expanded and Reintroduced in Congress Sarah Elese Dockery / Shutterstock.com 14. Bryan Monthly Necessities Expenditures: $2,605.54 Livability : 73 2023 Average Monthly Rent: $1,354 Groceries and utilities cost about 5-6% below the national average in Bryan, but healthcare costs just a bit more. Take Our Poll: Who Has Given You the Best Money Advice You Have Ever Received? DenisTangneyJr / Getty Images/iStockphoto 13. Brownsville Monthly Necessities Expenditures: $2,562.42 Livability : 73 2023 Average Monthly Rent: $1,341 If you're planning to cook at home a lot in retirement, check out Brownsville. The city has the lowest grocery costs of any city in the top 15, running about 11% below the U.S. average. Art Wager / Getty Images/iStockphoto 12. Baytown Monthly Necessities Expenditures: $2,596.35 Livability : 75 2023 Average Monthly Rent: $1,373 Utilities, groceries and healthcare all cost about 5% below the national average in Baytown, which also has a good livability score. Rents are a bit high for Texas though, even though they are well below the national average. DenisTangneyJr / Getty Images/iStockphoto 11. Wichita Falls Monthly Necessities Expenditures: $2,557.46 Livability : 75 2023 Average Monthly Rent: $1,104 Wichita Falls has cheap groceries, a much lower-than-average rent and a good livability score. But be careful if you need healthcare or spend a lot on utilities, as the average scores here exceed the national average by 29.2% and 10.1%, respectively. Read: 6 Types of Retirement Income That Aren't Taxable Mudman Photos / Shutterstock.com 10. Conroe Monthly Necessities Expenditures: $2,844.77 Livability : 84 2023 Average Monthly Rent: $1,569 Conroe costs a bit more than the average city in this top 15 list, but many residents say it's worth the added cost, as it has a very high livability score. Regan Bender / Shutterstock.com 9. New Braunfels Monthly Necessities Expenditures: $2,982.69 Livability : 88 2023 Average Monthly Rent: $1,705 New Braunfels has among the highest rents in the top 15, but it's complemented by a very high quality of life. Grocery costs are still more than 6% below the national average here, too. DenisTangneyJr / Getty Images/iStockphoto 8. San Angelo Monthly Necessities Expenditures: $2,582.94 Livability : 78 2023 Average Monthly Rent: $1,179 San Angelo combines a very good livability score with quite low rents. Healthcare and utilities are things to watch out for, however, as they cost 21.1% and 6.5% above the national average, respectively. Social Security: No Matter Your Age, Do Not Claim Benefits Until You Reach This Milestone DenisTangneyJr / Getty Images/iStockphoto 7. Abilene Monthly Necessities Expenditures: $2,423.03 Livability : 75 2023 Average Monthly Rent: $1,051 Abilene and San Angelo have very similar characteristics, at least when its comes to cost structure. Both have good livability scores and low rents, but healthcare and utility costs run high. 6. Longview Monthly Necessities Expenditures: $2,487.27 Livability : 78 2023 Average Monthly Rent: $1,262 Longview boasts below-average costs across the board, from rent and utilities to healthcare and groceries. With a good livability score to boot, only slightly higher rents keep Longview out of the top 5. Patrick Feller / Flickr.com 5. League City Monthly Necessities Expenditures: $2,953.55 Livability : 91 2023 Average Monthly Rent: $1,705 Even with its quite-high rent, League City is a top-5 contender in Texas. With one of the best livability scores in the whole state, you're getting your money's worth. Unlike in some other Texas cities, both utilities and healthcare are relatively cheap in League City. Shutterstock.com 4. Pearland Monthly Necessities Expenditures: $3,004.61 Livability : 93 2023 Average Monthly Rent: $1,779 Pearland may be a little pricier than some other locales in Texas, but its extraordinarily high livability score boost it into the top four in terms of overall places to live in the Lone Star State. Related: Suze Orman, Warren Buffett and Other Money Experts Weigh In on How To Best Set Yourself Up for Retirement DenisTangneyJr / Getty Images/iStockphoto 3. McAllen Monthly Necessities Expenditures: $2,538.08 Livability : 81 2023 Average Monthly Rent: $1,329 McAllen's rents aren't the cheapest in Texas, but it boasts a high livability score and the lowest utilities cost of any city in the top 15. vorDa / Getty Images 2. Pharr Monthly Necessities Expenditures: $2,296.52 Livability : 79 2023 Average Monthly Rent: $1,095 Pharr's high livability score and low monthly rent are nearly enough to push it to the top spot in the study. Overall expenditures are just $95.60 more per month than in the top-ranking city. Mig Esc / Wikimedia Commons 1. Edinburg Monthly Necessities Expenditures: $2,200.92 Livability : 77 2023 Average Monthly Rent: $993 Couples retiring on just Social Security can't do better than Edinburg, which combines a low overall cost of living -- and very low rents -- with a good livability score. More From GOBankingRates Methodology: GOBankingRates determined the best cities in Texas for a couple to live on only a Social Security check based on the average monthly benefit for retired workers, $1,784.29 ($3,568.58 for a couple), sourced from Social Security Administration. GOBankingRates first isolated all cities in Texas (that also were one of the 750 largest cities in America) with a 2023 average monthly rent under $1,785. GOBankingRates then used Sperling's Best to find the cost of living index for each listed city, looking at grocery and healthcare index scores. Next, GOBankingRates used data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics 2021 Consumer Expenditure Survey to find the annual expenditure amount for both grocery ("food at home") and healthcare costs for people aged 65 and older in order to find how much a couple 65 and over would spend on groceries and healthcare in each city on a monthly basis. GOBankingRates then added monthly housing, grocery, and healthcare costs together to find where a couple 65 and older could survive on their Social Security or less. In order for a city to be qualified for the study the city had to have a livability score above 70 as sourced from AreaVibes. GOBankingRates scored and combined both livability and monthly necessities expenditure, with the lowest score being best, to determine final rankings. All data was collected and is up to date as of May 9, 2023. This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: 15 Best Places in Texas for Couples To Live Only on Social Security Key Insights Given the large stake in the stock by institutions, Wynnstay Group's stock price might be vulnerable to their trading decisions A total of 21 investors have a majority stake in the company with 50% ownership Recent sales by insiders To get a sense of who is truly in control of Wynnstay Group Plc (LON:WYN), it is important to understand the ownership structure of the business. And the group that holds the biggest piece of the pie are institutions with 55% ownership. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk). Because institutional owners have a huge pool of resources and liquidity, their investing decisions tend to carry a great deal of weight, especially with individual investors. Therefore, a good portion of institutional money invested in the company is usually a huge vote of confidence on its future. Let's take a closer look to see what the different types of shareholders can tell us about Wynnstay Group. View our latest analysis for Wynnstay Group What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Wynnstay Group? 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. Wynnstay Group already has institutions on the share registry. Indeed, they own a respectable stake in the company. This suggests some credibility amongst professional investors. But we can't rely on that fact alone since institutions make bad investments sometimes, just like everyone does. 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 Wynnstay Group, (below). Of course, keep in mind that there are other factors to consider, too. Investors should note that institutions actually own more than half the company, so they can collectively wield significant power. We note that hedge funds don't have a meaningful investment in Wynnstay Group. Close Asset Management Limited is currently the company's largest shareholder with 11% of shares outstanding. With 10% and 5.4% of the shares outstanding respectively, Charles Stanley & Co. Ltd, Asset Management Arm and Schroder Investment Management Limited are the second and third largest shareholders. After doing some more digging, we found that the top 21 have the combined ownership of 50% in the company, suggesting that no single shareholder has significant control over the company. 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. While there is some analyst coverage, the company is probably not widely covered. So it could gain more attention, down the track. Insider Ownership Of Wynnstay Group While the precise definition of an insider can be subjective, almost everyone considers board members to be insiders. Management ultimately answers to the board. However, it is not uncommon for managers to be executive board members, especially if they are a founder or the CEO. Insider ownership is positive when it signals leadership are thinking like the true owners of the company. However, high insider ownership can also give immense power to a small group within the company. This can be negative in some circumstances. Our information suggests that Wynnstay Group Plc insiders own under 1% of the company. It appears that the board holds about UK720k worth of stock. This compares to a market capitalization of UK99m. We generally like to see a board more invested. However it might be worth checking if those insiders have been buying. General Public Ownership The general public-- including retail investors -- own 43% stake in the company, and hence can't easily be ignored. While this group can't necessarily call the shots, it can certainly have a real influence on how the company is run. Next Steps: 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. To that end, you should learn about the 2 warning signs we've spotted with Wynnstay Group (including 1 which shouldn't be ignored) . 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. 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 NoDerog / Getty Images/iStockphoto Recently, the Social Security Board of Trustees released a report that said its cash reserves are expected to run out by 2033. When that happens, the program will only be able to pay for 77% of scheduled benefits. In other words, if Congress doesnt act quickly to address Social Securitys pending shortfall, millions of Americans Social Security checks could shrink drastically a decade from now. Social Security: No Matter Your Age, Do Not Claim Benefits Until You Reach This Milestone See: Demand for Gold Is Up Heres Everything You Need To Know To prevent a Social Security crisis, policymakers and experts have put forward countless ideas hoping to address the issue. But with so many options on the table, which solutions would actually work? How Social Security Funding Works Before we dive into the current proposed solutions for the Social Security crisis, lets first take a look at how the federal government funds Social Security. In simple terms, Social Security dollars come from dedicated payroll tax, which is paid by employers and employees (each contributing 6.2% of wages up to the taxable maximum of $160,200) and the self-employed (contributing 12.4% of their wages). However, this system can only continue to function when there are enough workers to pay current beneficiaries. Why Is Social Security Running Out of Money As mentioned above, Social Security funds are supplied by workers who contribute payroll taxes each year. But with the U.S. population aging, people choosing to have fewer kids and more baby boomers retiring, fewer workers are left to fund the benefits of each retiree. Without reform, the money held by Social Security trust funds could run dry by 2035. See: 6 Big Shakeups to Social Security in 2023 Proposed Solutions to the Social Security Crisis Undoubtedly, Social Security needs fixing. With the current pace that Social Security funds are depleting, millions of senior citizens and retirees could see their benefits slashed by around 20% within a decade. To prevent a Social Security trust fund depletion, the government has two options: increase payroll taxes or reduce benefits. Of course, this is easier said than done, but lawmakers in Washington are currently considering a few solutions to tackle the Social Security crisis. Benefit Reductions If Congress decides to fix Social Security by reducing benefits, it may do so by: Raising the full retirement age. According to the Social Security Administration, you can start receiving your Social Security benefits as early as age 62. However, you wont be entitled to full benefits until you reach your full retirement age which is currently set to 67 for workers born after 1959. By raising the full retirement age threshold to 70 and beyond, Congress hopes to make more workers ineligible for full Social Security benefits for longer slowing down the pace of the Social Security trust funds depletion. Reducing Social Security benefits for high earners. Lawmakers may also adjust the way that Social Security benefits are calculated to reduce the amount higher earners would receive in their golden years. Lowering Social Security Cost-of-Living Adjustments (COLAs). Since 1975, Social Securitys benefit increases have been based on how fast the cost of living is rising. These adjustments to the Social Security benefit amounts are also known as cost-of-living adjustments or COLAs. However, many argue that the cost-of-living adjustments have been too generous and should be lowered to decrease costs and make benefits grow slower. Tax Increases Heres what Congress may do if it chooses to reform Social Security by raising taxes: Lifting the tax cap. In 2023, any income over the earnings cap ($160,200) is exempt from the Social Security payroll tax. By eliminating or lifting this tax cap, Congress could provide more revenue to the Social Security trust fund and keep it solvent for longer. Increasing payroll taxes. Employees and employers currently each contribute 6.2% of wages in taxes to fund Social Security. By increasing this rate, Congress could pump more money into the Social Security trust fund and ensure it remains sustainable for years to come. Taxing fringe benefits. Fringe benefits are perks or extra compensation above an employees stated salary. And certain fringe benefits, such as health and life insurance, are nontaxable. If Congress taxed these dollars, they could improve the Social Security programs solvency. Which Proposed Solution Would Actually Work? So, whats the verdict? Which of these proposed solutions to resolve the Social Security crisis would actually work? According to Nicholas B. Creel, a political scientist and business law assistant professor at Georgia College & State University, Republicans often lean heavily toward the cost-cutting approach of benefit reduction, whereas Democrats are more inclined to consider tax increases to reinforce revenue. Creel said that in the end, well probably have to rely on both strategies given that changes to the program will necessitate a bipartisan compromise to get it passed into law. But in Creels opinion, eliminating or lifting the income cap on Social Security tax seems to be the most sensible option. Currently, the tax exempts all income over $160,200, which means that every dollar earned over that amount is not subjected to the tax. He said, By lifting this cap, Social Security would be able to pay promised benefits for at least another 35 years. Plus, this increase in taxes would only affect the wealthiest 6% of Americans who earn more than $160,200 and can well afford the increased taxes. Creel argues that this tradeoff is worth it in order to ensure that all Americans receive the benefit payments that were promised to them. What Can You Do To Ensure a Fully-Funded Retirement? While we cant fully control what Congress does in the next decade to fix Social Security, we do have control over our own finances. To ensure a fully-funded retirement, start cutting back on your spending and socking away extra cash. And if you need help creating a solid retirement plan, consider working with a financial advisor who can guide you in the right direction. By building a cushy nest egg, you wont have to worry about not receiving enough Social Security benefits to sustain a comfortable lifestyle in your golden years. More From GOBankingRates This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: 6 Proposed Solutions to the Social Security Crisis: Which Would Actually Work? This Monday marked a new highor arguably lowin demonstrating the power of artificial intelligence (AI). A picture depicting a fabricated explosion at the Pentagon, quickly flagged as being AI generated, spread like wildfire across social media. It also appears to have spurred a momentary sell-off in the U.S. stock market. The alarming image, portraying smoke billowing from the iconic building, was disseminated by numerous accounts, including a Russian state-owned media channel. RT, with over 3 million followers, has posted (since deleted) what looks to be an AI generated photo of an explosion near the Pentagon pic.twitter.com/6Bl7X8ZA2M Leonardo Puglisi (@Leo_Puglisi6) May 22, 2023 Interestingly, reports of the false Pentagon explosion also made its way onto non-official Twitter accounts with blue verification checkmarks, further amplifying the confusion and the impact of the falsehoodhighlighting both the importance of rigorous source verification as well as the unsurprising result of Elon Musk's new criteria for account verification. This morning blue check accounts accounts claimed large explosions at the Pentagon. ... then the White House. Russian state media amplified the faked Pentagon image from their gold check account. The images look AI generated, as folks identified. 1/ pic.twitter.com/Bd9uu3jwPZ John Scott-Railton (@jsrailton) May 22, 2023 As the photo went viral, U.S. stock indexes took a minor hit, although markets quickly recovered after the photo was exposed as a hoax. Bitcoin, the leading cryptocurrency, also experienced a brief "flash crash" following the spread of the fake news, slipping to $26500. Yet, Bitcoin is slowly but surely recovering and it is currently being traded at $26,882, according to CoinGecko. Image: Yahoo! Finance The hoaxs impact was significant enough to prompt the Arlington County Fire Department to intervene. "There is NO explosion or incident occurring at or near the Pentagon reservation, they tweeted and there is no immediate danger or hazards to the public." @PFPAOfficial and the ACFD are aware of a social media report circulating online about an explosion near the Pentagon. There is NO explosion or incident taking place at or near the Pentagon reservation, and there is no immediate danger or hazards to the public. pic.twitter.com/uznY0s7deL Arlington Fire & EMS (@ArlingtonVaFD) May 22, 2023 Paving the Road to More AI Regulation This type of online deceit has raised serious concerns among critics of unmitigated AI development. Many experts in the field have warned that advanced AI systems could become tools for malevolent actors worldwide, spreading misinformation and causing online pandemonium. This isn't the first time such trickery has emerged. Viral AI-generated images have previously deceived the public, such as images of Pope Francis sporting a Balenciaga jacket, a fake arrest of President Donald Trump, and deepfakes of celebrities like Elon Musk or SBF promoting crypto scams. Notable personalities have also sounded alarms about the spread of disinformation. Hundreds of tech experts already called for a six-month halt on advanced AI development until proper safety guidelines are established. And even Dr. Geoffrey Hinton, widely known as the 'Godfather of AI', even resigned from his role at Google to voice his concerns about potential AI risks without damaging his former employer's reputation. Episodes of misinformation like this one feed into the ongoing debate surrounding the need for a regulatory and ethical framework for AI. As AI becomes an increasingly potent tool in the hands of agents of disinformation, the consequences can be chaotic. Based on today's events, one question stands out: What if an AI was the agent using the power of social media to spread chaos and control the financial markets? We kind of saw it coming. Almana Group of Hospitals, the first healthcare provider in the Eastern Region and one of the oldest and largest medical companies in the kingdom, has announced the opening of Aziziah Dammam Hospital, its eighth healthcare facility. With a sprawling area of over 75,000 sq m, Aziziah Dammam Hospital is poised to provide medical care to a substantial number of patients each year. The opening is a significant step towards improving healthcare access for the people of Saudi Arabia. The project's completion by the end of 2024 will see the addition of 52 clinics and 185 beds, reflecting Almana's steadfast dedication to enhancing healthcare services. Easy access Equipped with state-of-the-art digital operating rooms, the new hospital will further add to patient convenience by providing easy access for patients, visitors, and ambulances. The ER encompasses equipment and services to cover holistic, integrated, and specialized care designed to achieve the best possible patient outcomes. A key highlight is the fully automated robotic pharmacy built for more efficient dispensing of medications, minimizing human errors, and reducing wait times. Committed to delivering the highest standards of care, the hospitals first phase will see 960 healthcare workers join the Almana workforce, all dedicated to providing specialized treatments meeting the highest standards of care. New chapter Mana Almana, CEO of Almana Group of Hospitals, said: Aziziah Dammam Hospital marks a new chapter for Almana Group of Hospitals commitment and legacy to provide specialized, integrated, and comprehensive care to improve the health and well-being of the Kingdom, in line with Vision 2030. Almana has always strived to provide comprehensive, compassionate care for thousands more patients each year and this new venture is a testament to our unwavering ambition to provide innovative health solutions and services to all our patients wherever they are and whenever they need them. Dr Saleh Al Ahmed, Medical Director, of Aziziah Dammam Hospital, adds: Thanks to the continued dedication and efforts of the team at Almana, we are primed for a remarkable launch of Aziziah Dammam Hospital, further expanding our reach and expertise in the way we care for patients. The new hospital provides patients access to a global network of physicians and specialists to provide the highest quality care and a world-class patient experience built around the best practices at Almana. We aim to do nothing less than redefine health care for the people who count on us every day in Saudi Arabia. Alongside Internal Medicine, General Surgery, Pediatrics, OB-GYN, Orthopedics, Cardiology, Urology, and Pre Anesthesia, a new laboratory and Pathology Department will provide a comprehensive and wide variety of tests and services to ensure that patients are given the utmost care. The hospitals qualified staff will be available 24/7 to assist physicians in diagnosing, establishing a prognosis, and detecting disease through screening, managing, and monitoring patients.-- TradeArabia News Service Alcon in Action, a company-wide community volunteerism initiative, reinforces the companys year-round commitment to community engagement and bolsters Alcons aspiration to improve lives and strengthen communities Thousands of company associates across 30 countries participate in the initiative that inspires associates to make direct, positive impacts in their local communities Follow the activities on Alcon Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn channels with #AiA2023 GENEVA, May 22, 2023--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Regulatory News: Working together to make a brilliant impact in the communities where they live and work, thousands of Alcon associates from 57 locations around the world are participating in Alcon in Alcon (AiA), a company-wide volunteering initiative. AiA expands Alcons year-round focus on increasing access to quality eye care and is an element of Alcons overall social impact and sustainability strategy which focuses on three pillars: Brilliant Lives, Brilliant Innovation and Brilliant Planet. This is the 11th consecutive year that Alcon, the global leader in eye care dedicated to helping people see brilliantly, is engaging in AiA to help address health, hunger, education, and housing needs, and the fifth consecutive year as a standalone company. Through a wide range of activities across 30 countries, including Switzerland, India and the United States,* Alcon associates are serving and strengthening their communities by collectively dedicating thousands of volunteer hours. Partnering with over 100 organizations such as schools, shelters, nursing homes, soup kitchens, and other community partners, Alcon associates are helping to make a personal difference and meet essential needs through both in-person and virtual activities. "We believe Alcon can best serve our community by focusing every day on helping people see brilliantly, so they can live brilliantly," said David Endicott, Chief Executive Officer of Alcon. "All year long Alcon is dedicated to helping build stronger, healthier communities. Alcon in Action brings this commitment to life by inspiring associates from all over the world to come together and make a brilliant impact in their own communities through their volunteer efforts." After recently announcing Alcons expanding partnership with Plastic Bank, which stopped the equivalent of over 30 million water bottles from entering the ocean last year, Alcon associates around the world have been inspired to engage in plastic-collecting activities during AiA. In Geneva, Switzerland, where Alcon is proudly headquartered, teams held a waterfront clean-up challenge. Other campuses across Canada and Singapore are celebrating AiA with activities inspired by Alcon and Plastic Banks partnership. During AiA 2023, Alcon also continues its longstanding partnership with Habitat for Humanity in Fort Worth, Texas, with over 200 associates helping build a home that will provide affordable housing for a local family in need. "I am proud to see our associates come together for AiA with such an intense focus on making an impact on their communities," said Charles Herget, Global Head of Social Impact and Sustainability at Alcon. "We see strong needs for health, hunger, housing and education throughout the world. At Alcon, we are committed to addressing those needs with initiatives like AiA, and ongoing partnerships and programs that help people see and live brilliantly." Alcon also makes a difference with year-round initiatives led by the Alcon Foundation, such as medical missions that help treat patients and train Eye Care Professionals. Alcon has a culture deeply rooted in working together to make a brilliant impact. Alcon associates are dedicated to serving their communities on an ongoing basis and helping bring people around the world better access to quality eye care. About the Alcon Foundation Alcon provides charitable monetary donations (often referred to as grants) to eligible 501(c)3 organizations that offer high-quality programs and services to increase access to quality eye care, promote eye health education, and strengthen the communities in which we live and work. These donations are offered through the Alcon Foundation. To learn more visit: https://www.alcon.com/about-us/corporate-social-responsibility. About Alcon Alcon helps people see brilliantly. As the global leader in eye care with a heritage spanning over 75 years, we offer the broadest portfolio of products to enhance sight and improve peoples lives. Our Surgical and Vision Care products touch the lives of more than 260 million people in over 140 countries each year living with conditions like cataracts, glaucoma, retinal diseases and refractive errors. Our more than 25,000 associates are enhancing the quality of life through innovative products, partnerships with Eye Care Professionals and programs that advance access to quality eye care. Learn more at www.alcon.com. * In addition to Switzerland and the United States, Alcon volunteers are participating in AiA activities in Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, China, Colombia, Ecuador, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Panama, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Russia, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, and the United Kingdom. Connect with us on Facebook LinkedIn View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230519005407/en/ Contacts Investor Relations Allen Trang + 41 589 112 110 (Geneva) + 1 817 615 2789 (Fort Worth) investor.relations@alcon.com Media Relations Steven Smith + 41 589 112 111 (Geneva) + 1 817 551 8057 (Fort Worth) globalmedia.relations@alcon.com (Bloomberg) -- Amazon.com Inc. will face a record 18 shareholder resolutions at its annual meeting this week, with outside groups urging the company to disclose more about its treatment of employees and more closely tie executive compensation to performance. Most Read from Bloomberg Major shareholder advisory firms recommend investors approve calls for assessments of Amazon employees working conditions and freedom to organize, as well as the risks posed by the companys sales of surveillance products. Between them, Institutional Shareholder Services Inc. and Glass Lewis & Co. are urging investors to support five resolutions brought by outside shareholders. The two firms say shareholders should block the re-election of director Judith McGrath, chair of the boards leadership and compensation committee, and recommends a no vote on a symbolic measure to ratify Amazons executive pay. The companys annual meeting of shareholders, held virtually since the beginning of the pandemic, is scheduled for Wednesday. The shareholder resolutions and say-on-pay votes are nonbinding. Investors delivered a rebuke to Amazon in 2022 over its pay practices, only narrowly approving salaries amid concerns about big stock grants awarded to top executives regardless of how well the company performed in subsequent years. The board conducted outreach with major investors following that vote but didnt adjust its plans, which Glass Lewis called significantly concerning. Amazon says its pay practices, which emphasize stock grants, align executives priorities with the long-term health of the company. Spokesperson Glenn Kuper said in an emailed statement that the company disagreed with the recommendations against our say-on-pay proposal and are disappointed that it recommends against any executive compensation at any company that doesnt fit a traditional model. Amazon has for years grappled with activism from shareholder groups, especially on labor and environmental issues. That pressure has grown amid government investigations of injury rates and reporting practices at the companys warehouses, as well as US labor board findings that Amazon repeatedly acted illegally in its efforts to beat back union drives. Amazon has denied wrongdoing. The company, along with rival Walmart Inc., is among dozens of corporations being urged to do more to improve employee health and safety. Last week, a group of Danish pension funds that collectively manage $732 billion threw their support behind a resolution asking Amazon to commission an independent report on labor rights. As active investors we have individually all previously sought to bring to bear our influence on Amazon in order to ensure workers rights, AkademikerPension, which holds Amazon stock worth around $60 million, said in a statement. The new initiative will increase the likelihood of making a real difference both at the coming annual general meeting and over time. Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2023 Bloomberg L.P. By Joyce Lee SEOUL (Reuters) -China's ban on the use of U.S.-based Micron Technology's chips in certain sectors, announced on Sunday, is a stark reminder of risks facing the global chip industry as it braces for escalating Sino-U.S. trade tensions. China's move against Micron, the biggest U.S. memory chipmaker, was widely seen as retaliation for Washington's efforts to restrict Beijing's access to key technology. It came just a day after the Group of Seven (G7) rich nations agreed they would look to "de-risk, not decouple" from China, and as Washington pressures its allies to join it in restricting chip equipment exports to China. Micron, which makes DRAM and NAND flash memory chips, is the first U.S. chipmaker to be targeted by Beijing after Washington over the past year unveiled a series of export controls to block certain chips and chipmaking technologies being used to advance China's military capabilities. While the move could benefit Micron's key rivals - South Korea's Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix - in the near term, analysts said the growing geopolitical tensions cast a shadow over the industry as firms need to navigate rising uncertainties that could impact investment and supply chain management. Such tit-for-tat policies will make investment decisions difficult for all chipmakers, said Kim Sun-woo, analyst at Meritz Securities in Seoul. "Companies have to address both production and sales. It would be better if production and sales happened in the same place, but this will keep dividing the two sides," he said. Just days before the ban, Micron announced a plan to invest up to 500 billion yen ($3.7 billion) in Japan in extreme ultraviolet technology, becoming the first chipmaker to bring the advanced chipmaking technology to Japan. Tokyo is striving to reinvigorate its chip sector, while the United States is increasingly urging its allies to work together to counter China's chips and advanced technology development. Micron, which generated around 11% of its revenue from chip sales in mainland China in the last fiscal year, said it looks forward to continuing to engage in discussions with Chinese authorities, without commenting on whether Beijing's decision might also affect the company's investment plans for Japan in any way. "It takes huge amounts of pre-emptive investment to be a chipmaker, and it takes five years, 10 years to break even on those investments, so putting predictability into jeopardy makes investments difficult," said Changhan Lee, vice chair of the Korea Semiconductor Industry Association. "In the long term, this won't help anybody." STUCK IN THE MIDDLE Although chip factories' costs vary according to capacity, chip type and country, the industry is one of the most capital-intensive manufacturing sectors, requiring construction of clean rooms and purchase of sophisticated chip manufacturing tools. Samsung, for example, spent a total of about 60 trillion won ($45.4 billion) to build two of its chip plants in Pyeongtaek, South Korea. In China, Samsung and SK Hynix, the world's No.1 and No.2 memory chipmakers, have invested billions of dollars in their chip factories, which import some equipment such as etching machines from the United States. When Washington announced restrictions on chipmaking exports to China last October, it issued a one-year waiver for Samsung and SK Hynix so they can import tools without having to apply for a license, but whether that waiver will be extended is not clear. "It's better to set up the most efficient production base considering fixed costs and wages, but a big variable called regulation has been added. It's more complicated," Kim at Meritz said. Analysts recommended accepting the rounds of Sino-U.S. trade war as status quo, while roundabout ways of importing memory chips may emerge in response to any further geopolitical pressure. The White House asked South Korea to urge its chipmakers, the world's biggest memory-chip producers, not to fill any market gap in China if the sale of Micron products were restricted, according to a report by the Financial Times last month. "(Korean chipmakers) are stuck in the middle and being bothered by all sides," said Kim at Meritz. Both Samsung and SK Hynix had no comment. "The U.S.-China hegemony war is here to stay," said Lee Min-hee, an analyst at BNK Investment & Securities. "Now it's chips, later it will be rare earths, raw materials... This is going to continue." ($1 = 1,320.9300 won) (Reporting by Joyce Lee in Seoul and Josh Ye in Hong Kong; Editing by Miyoung Kim and Susan Fenton) KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia, May 22, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- ATFX has recently made another major personnel appointment, announcing the hiring of industry-renowned expert Gonzalo Canete as the Global Chief Market Strategist. The company aims to bring even more exceptional services to its global clients by injecting fresh talent. Prior to joining ATFX, Canete has collaborated with esteemed brands such as Saxo Bank and Hanseatic Brokerhouse. With over 20 years of experience, we believe his extensive professional background and expertise will greatly benefit the new role of "Global Chief Market Strategist" at ATFX. From his previous roles, it is evident that Canete spent over a year working with Saxo Bank's client trading services team, providing market analysis for Spanish media and trading support for institutional partners. He has also served as a trader at Saxo Bank's investment company, catering to CFDs, futures, ETFs, and stock markets. Additionally, he has held positions as a Senior Business Manager and Head of Education, providing market analysis to Spanish media and preparing training programs for clients and investors. We believe that Gonzalo Canete's addition will further enhance our brand's existing analysis reports, online and offline webinars, and salon content, providing greater market services to support our clients. In the upcoming period, we will continue to recruit and select versatile talents with diverse skills and work experiences, harnessing their maximum professional capabilities. ATFX ATFX is an award-winning currency pairs/CFD broker with a global presence offering customer support in over 15 languages. With over 300 tradable financial assets, including currency pairs, precious metals, energy, indices, and shares traded as CFDs, ATFX is regulated by the UK's Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) in Cyprus, the Financial Services Commission (FSC) in Mauritius, and the Financial Services Authority (FSA) in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. (ATFX Website: https://www.atfx.com) Cision View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/apac/news-releases/atfx-appoints-gonzalo-canete-as-global-chief-market-strategist-301830479.html SOURCE ATFX The average startup CEO now makes $142,000 down from $150,000 last year CEOs of startups are taking a pay cut this year due to a slump in venture capital funding, a consulting firm says based on a survey of 400 clients. nicoletaionescu/Getty Images CEOs of early-stage startups now make, on average, $142,000 down from $150,000 last year, WSJ reports. Some CEOs are even cutting their salaries down to zero due to a slump in venture capital funding. CEOs in crypto, e-commerce, and direct-to-consumer industries are most impacted by the pay cuts. The US economy may be approaching a recession soon and CEOs of American startups are feeling the heat. Kruze Consulting, an accounting company for startups, analyzed data from more than 400 of the firm's startup clients to see how their finances have changed amid economic headwinds, the Wall Street Journal first reported. The consulting firm found that the average annual salary for CEOs based in the US, many of whom are early-stage founders, has dropped from $150,000 in 2022 to $142,000 as of this year a four-year low, Kruze told the Wall Street Journal. Some executives are even cutting their paychecks to zero. That's because CEOs of startups are seeking to save money to protect themselves from a dip in venture-capital funding this year. In the first quarter of 2023, global venture funding reached $58.6 billion a 13% drop from the same quarter last year, according to a report from CB Insights, a research firm. As a result, startups are now striking fewer deals are seeing their valuations drop, Kruze told the Journal. "When these companies start getting low on funding, founders will do whatever they can to extend runway," Healy Jones, Kruze's vice president of financial strategy, told the Journal. "But some founders are clearly in a tougher spot than others." But funding hasn't been distributed equally. Startups in the crypto, direct-to-consumer, and e-commerce industries are struggling to attract capital the most, Jones told Insider in an e-mail. "On the flip side, AI is BOOMING," he said. While many CEOs of early-stage startups are taking significant pay cuts, a select few including those in biotech and healthtech have decided to increase their salaries, Jones said. CEOs on the losing end of the funding spectrum will feel the brunt of the pay cuts. "You have a small few who can sacrifice taking a salary for an extended period of time, but for most they need some salary to live and pay their bills," Steven Rosenblatt, co-founder of venture capital firm Oceans, told the Journal. Rosenblatt did not respond to Insider's immediate request for comment before publication. The consulting firm's findings on salary cuts come as CEOs across major corporations are taking pay cuts this year. Tim Cook, the CEO of Apple, is taking a 40% pay cut in 2023, bringing his compensation package down from nearly $100 million in 2022 to $49 million in 2023, according to Securities and Exchange Commission filings in January. The cuts came after Apple shareholders expressed concerns over Cook's hefty salary. That same month, Sundar Pichai, the CEO of Alphabet, Google's parent company, said top executives will take a "very significant reduction in their annual bonus" for an unspecified amount and period of time. The cuts, Pichai said, are "tied directly to company performance." A month later, Eric Yuang, the CEO of Zoom, told his employees he will take a 98% pay cut this year and give up his corporate bonus leaving him with a $10,000 salary. The announcement came after Yuang laid off 15% of his company's employees, or about 1,300 workers. Read the original article on Business Insider (Bloomberg) -- Binance Holdings Ltd. won dismissal from a lawsuit brought by a Texas woman who said she was swindled out of $8 million as part of a crypto fraud orchestrated by a man she met on Tinder. Most Read from Bloomberg The woman, Divya Gadasalli, failed to point to a single fact of how Binance is actually involved in this case to show the court has jurisdiction over the crypto exchange, US District Judge Amos Mazzant ruled Monday. Mazzant, who sits in Sherman, Texas, ruled that while Binance is a foreign corporation with a US-based entity, Binance.US has been barred from operating in Texas. Gadasalli cant show that any of the events leading to her fraud occurred in the state, the judge ruled. Under the order, Gadasallis case against the man she claims stole from her, two of his associates and the crypto exchange Poloniex can continue. Gadasalli and her attorney didnt immediately respond to a request for comment. In March, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission alleged in federal court in Chicago that Binance and its chief executive officer, known as CZ, routinely broke American derivatives rules as the firm grew to be the worlds largest trading platform. Binance should have registered with the agency years ago and continues to violate the CFTCs rules, according to the regulator. The CFTC also alleged that Binance failed to implement an effective anti-money laundering program. Other US regulators and investigators have been probing Binance as well. In her lawsuit, Gadasalli said she met a man she knew as Jerry Bulasa on Tinder, and he convinced her to transfer millions of dollars left by her father, who was murdered in 2015. Bulasa ultimately stole $8 million even as he claimed he was investing in crypto, she claimed. Gadasalli fell victim to a growing type of crypto fraud called pig butchering because emotionally manipulated victims accounts are fattened before being drained. The FBI says people lose hundreds of millions of dollars a year in such frauds. Read More: A Texas Tale of Tinder, Millions in Stolen Crypto and Murder Gadasalli had argued that, despite limitations on where Binance could operate in the US, individuals could use third-party virtual private networks to access the exchange and that the company had promoted such avenues for access. But the judge rejected her argument, writing that the companys advertising for general audiences is too broad to be considered evidence of fault in her case. The case is Gadasalli v. Bulasa, 4:22-cv-00249, US District Court, Eastern District of Texas (Sherman). --With assistance from Francesca Maglione. Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2023 Bloomberg L.P. Bitcoin fell below US$27,000 on Sunday, dipping further Monday morning in Asia as wider macro developments continue to weigh. With the exception of Tron, which traded higher Monday morning, all other top 10 non-stablecoin cryptocurrencies fell. As the Group of Seven summit in Japan concluded Sunday, investors continue to weigh the implications of U.S. debt ceiling negotiations. The rise of Tron as Bitcoin, Ether fall Bitcoin fell 1.95% over the last 24 hours to US$26,669 at 9:30 a.m. in Hong Kong. That decline contributed to a loss of 1.27% over the past seven days, according to data from CoinMarketCap. Bitcoin has so far failed to react positively to lower than expected U.S. consumer price index (CPI) data and to ongoing efforts to raise the U.S. debt ceiling, said Markus Thielen, head of research and strategy at Singapore-based crypto lender Matrixport, in a note. The worlds largest cryptocurrency by market cap has been trading sideways since March, and bar any significant macro news, is unlikely to break US$30,000 anytime soon, Jeff Mei, chief operating officer of crypto exchange BTSE, said. Plus, the ongoing macro uncertainty is dampening retail investors enthusiasm for YOLOing into risk assets right now, while institutional investors are cautiously hedging their bets too. Ether dropped 1.14% in the past 24 hours to US$1,800, down 0.49% over the past week. Solana was the biggest loser among the top 10 non-stablecoin cryptocurrencies. It recorded a 4.22% decline over the past 24 hours and a 6.92% loss for the week. Tron, however, climbed 2.73% over the past 24 hours to US$0.07464, up 7.47% over the past week. Matrixports Thielen suggested this may be related to the announcement on May 11 by Tron founder Justin Sun that he would begin trading in memecoins. Meanwhile, Tornado Cash rose 23.38% in the past 24 hours to US$4.62. The coin had plummeted to as low as US$3.859 on Sunday before recovering. The drop came as the tokens issuer the Tornado Cash decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) fell victim to what appeared to be voter fraud over the weekend. Binance, the worlds largest crypto exchange, said on Sunday that it had temporarily halted trading of the token. Bitcoin Ordinals continue to rise The indexes are proxy measures of the performance of the global NFT market. They are managed by CryptoSlam, a sister company of Forkast.News under the Forkast.Labs umbrella. In the non-fungible token (NFT) market, the Forkast 500 NFT index remained flat at 3,399.6 points in the 24 hours to 10:30 a.m. in Hong Kong. The index was up 1.77% over the past seven days. NFT sales on Ethereum, the most-used blockchain for NFTs, shrank 3.96% in the last 24 hours to US$15.1 million. Sales on the Bitcoin blockchain dropped 18.5% to US$3.54 million, according to Cryptoslam data. The Mutant Ape Yacht Club collection recorded the most sales on Ethereum over the past 24 hours. Its daily sales rose 1.1% to US$1.9 million. With the growing popularity of Bitcoin Ordinals, so-called uncategorized Ordinals Ordinals that are not part of an established collection saw a 29% rise to US$960,597 in sales value over the past 24 hours. US stock futures mixed as talks resume U.S. President Joe Biden spoke at the G7 summitleaders summit on Sunday in Hiroshima, Japan. Image: Getty Images U.S. stock futures were trading mixed as of 11:50 a.m. in Hong Kong, as investors continued to assess uncertainties surrounding the U.S. debt ceiling talks, alongside the outcomes of the weekends G7 summit. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.1%, while the S&P 500 edged down 0.036%. The Nasdaq Composite futures added 0.088%. Market watchers are expecting U.S. President Joe Biden to meet with House of Representatives Speaker Kevin McCarthy on Monday to carry on negotiations related to raising the debt ceiling. A deal would help the nation avoid a potential default on its debt an outcome that would likely prove devastating for U.S. and global markets. During a speech at the G7 summit in the Japanese city of Hiroshima Sunday, Biden unexpectedly drew crypto into the debt ceiling conversation. The president would not, he said, agree to a deal that protects wealthy tax cheats and crypto traders while putting food assistance at risk for nearly a hundred excuse me nearly 1 million Americans. The presidents words offered some indication of the bipartisan nature of ongoing debt discussions between the White House and Congress. Meanwhile, U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen reaffirmed in an NBC interview Sunday that June 1 remains a hard deadline to raise the debt limit. Failure to do so would undermine global trust in U.S. securities as a safe haven for investment, Yellen added. Its not an acceptable situation for us to be unable to pay our bills, she said. Elsewhere, the Peoples Bank of China on Monday morning said that it maintained its key lending rates steady for the ninth straight month, leaving its one-year loan prime rate unchanged at 3.65% and the five-year rate at 4.3%. Even when a business is losing money, it's possible for shareholders to make money if they buy a good business at the right price. For example, although software-as-a-service business Salesforce.com lost money for years while it grew recurring revenue, if you held shares since 2005, you'd have done very well indeed. Nonetheless, only a fool would ignore the risk that a loss making company burns through its cash too quickly. So should Blackstone Minerals (ASX:BSX) shareholders be worried about its cash burn? For the purpose of this article, we'll define cash burn as the amount of cash the company is spending each year to fund its growth (also called its negative free cash flow). The first step is to compare its cash burn with its cash reserves, to give us its 'cash runway'. Check out our latest analysis for Blackstone Minerals Does Blackstone Minerals Have A Long Cash Runway? A company's cash runway is the amount of time it would take to burn through its cash reserves at its current cash burn rate. In December 2022, Blackstone Minerals had AU$21m in cash, and was debt-free. Looking at the last year, the company burnt through AU$41m. So it had a cash runway of approximately 6 months from December 2022. To be frank, this kind of short runway puts us on edge, as it indicates the company must reduce its cash burn significantly, or else raise cash imminently. The image below shows how its cash balance has been changing over the last few years. How Is Blackstone Minerals' Cash Burn Changing Over Time? In our view, Blackstone Minerals doesn't yet produce significant amounts of operating revenue, since it reported just AU$242k in the last twelve months. As a result, we think it's a bit early to focus on the revenue growth, so we'll limit ourselves to looking at how the cash burn is changing over time. Over the last year its cash burn actually increased by a very significant 71%. Oftentimes, increased cash burn simply means a company is accelerating its business development, but one should always be mindful that this causes the cash runway to shrink. While the past is always worth studying, it is the future that matters most of all. So you might want to take a peek at how much the company is expected to grow in the next few years. How Hard Would It Be For Blackstone Minerals To Raise More Cash For Growth? Given its cash burn trajectory, Blackstone Minerals shareholders should already be thinking about how easy it might be for it to raise further cash in the future. Issuing new shares, or taking on debt, are the most common ways for a listed company to raise more money for its business. Commonly, a business will sell new shares in itself to raise cash and drive growth. We can compare a company's cash burn to its market capitalisation to get a sense for how many new shares a company would have to issue to fund one year's operations. Blackstone Minerals' cash burn of AU$41m is about 57% of its AU$71m market capitalisation. From this perspective, it seems that the company spent a huge amount relative to its market value, and we'd be very wary of a painful capital raising. How Risky Is Blackstone Minerals' Cash Burn Situation? As you can probably tell by now, we're rather concerned about Blackstone Minerals' cash burn. Take, for example, its cash burn relative to its market cap, which suggests the company may have difficulty funding itself, in the future. While not as bad as its cash burn relative to its market cap, its increasing cash burn is also a concern, and considering everything mentioned above, we're struggling to find much to be optimistic about. Once we consider the metrics mentioned in this article together, we're left with very little confidence in the company's ability to manage its cash burn, and we think it will probably need more money. On another note, Blackstone Minerals has 3 warning signs (and 2 which don't sit too well with us) we think you should know about. If you would prefer to check out another company with better fundamentals, then do not miss this free list of interesting companies, that have HIGH return on equity and low debt or this list of stocks which are all forecast to grow. 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 LONDON (Reuters) -British state-backed bank NatWest has agreed to buy 1.3 billion pounds ($1.6 billion) worth of its shares back from the government, as it edges closer towards private ownership 15 years after it was bailed out in the global financial crisis. The deal will reduce the government's stake in the former Royal Bank of Scotland to 38.69% from around 41.4%. The bank returned to majority private ownership in March 2022 after a similar block sale, as the government targets fully returning NatWest to private ownership by 2026. NatWest shares gained 0.9% in early trading. "Today's sale is another major milestone in returning NatWest to full private ownership as promised," Andrew Griffith, economic secretary to the Treasury, said in a statement. NatWest said it had agreed to buy the shares at 268.4 pence per share, representing a further loss for taxpayers. The lender was bailed out for 45 billion pounds in 2008 at a price of 502 pence per share. Banking shares have struggled this year through a period of wider industry turmoil sparked by the failure of several U.S. regional lenders and the emergency takeover of Credit Suisse, but have recovered some ground in recent weeks. NatWest shares are up around 15% on this time last year. "The government clearly decided that now is a good moment to sell," said Victoria Scholar, head of investment at interactive investor. Britain's finance ministry in April extended a trading plan enabling a series of smaller sales to investors by two years, as it sought to make progress on the privatisation despite the period of volatility. This is the government's sixth block sale of NatWest stock to date. Britain owned 84% of NatWest at the peak of its ownership in 2008. The government has long argued the rescue was needed and it is not viable to make a profit. Banking analysts at Shore Capital said the transaction, which reduces NatWest's core capital ratio to around 14.4%, had been expected and its forecasts were unchanged. "This transaction reduces government ownership below 40% and demonstrates positive progress on the bank's strategic priorities and the path to privatisation," NatWest CEO Alison Rose said in a statement. (Reporting by Iain Withers and Amy-Jo Crowley, additional reporting by Sarah Young; editing by Kate Holton, Jason Neely and Sharon Singleton) WILLISTON After working 18 years as a public defender, 48-year-old South Burlington resident Rory Malone decided it was time for a mid-life career change. Malone wanted to do something completely different, something that would make him happier. So he pursued his lifelong passion for comic books. In December 2022, Malone opened Champion Comics and Coffee a one-stop-shop for all things nerdy at Taft Corners in Williston. A shelf in the manga section at Champion Comics and Coffee in Williston, photographed April 20, 2023. Champion's offerings include comics, manga, graphic novels, and books, as well as action figures, trading cards, games, and more. While customers browse the packed shelves of the sunny store, they can order coffee and baked goods from Champion's cafe. "We have people that are coming here all the time that read all sorts of things, and we just sort of let them browse the stock, let them sit down, and read," Malone said. "We just have a place that we've styled as a sort of a non-judgmental nerd heaven for people to do whatever they want here." Two of the shelves at Champion Comics and Coffee in Williston, photographed April 20, 2023. A nerd wonderland in Williston Now that the store is several months old, Malone is aiming for Champion to become a major hub for Williston's nerd community. The store hosted a Free Comic Books Day event on May 6, and is planning to host reoccurring events for roleplaying and tabletop games, including Dungeons & Dragons, Magic: The Gathering, and Yu-Gi-Oh. "It appears that Williston has been looking for a place to game, so we want to be able to make sure that we can address that," Malone said. A latte served up at Champion Comics and Coffee in Williston on April 20, 2023. Another reason for Malone choosing Williston as the site for Champion is the city's new zoning regulations for its Taft Corners shopping center, where Champion is located. The regulations are aimed to make the area a more pedestrian-friendly and residential downtown center. "Williston is an area that a lot of people frequent when they come shopping," Malone said. "Because of the location of some of the big-box stores, it draws in people from all over central and northern Vermont in a way that other areas maybe don't." A customer digs through the manga section at Champion Comics and Coffee in Williston on April 20, 2023. From the courthouse to the comic shop Walking away from a career as a lawyer to open up a comic book shop was definitely a gamble, Malone said. Originally from Juneau, Alaska, Malone moved to Vermont to attend Vermont Law School, which he graduated from in 2003, and he's been working as a lawyer ever since until now. "It was and still remains at times a terrifying career change," Malone said. "I walked away from a good career with a steady paycheck to do this." Rory Malone opened up Champion Comics and Coffee in Williston on Dec. 16, 2022. While honest about his fears around his decision, Malone is also quick to talk about the joys of his new career. As a lawyer, Malone often worked with unhappy people who were going through difficult circumstances. Now, Malone gets to talk every day with people who are in a good mood and excited to walk through the door. One of Malone's favorite aspects of the job is serving as a kind of 'comics bartender,' making recommendations to customers based on their interests. He's even made some friends at the store through these connections. "It's been a lot of fun talking to people, learning from my customers about what they like, what they want to buy, what they're looking for," Malone said. "That's been the most fun to me, hands down." If you go to Champion Comics and Coffee: Location: 31 Cottonwood Drive, Suite 106, in Williston. Hours: 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Closed on Mondays. Contact April Fisher at amfisher@freepressmedia.com. Follow her on Twitter: @AMFisherMedia This article originally appeared on Burlington Free Press: Champion Comics and Coffee creates community hub for Williston's nerds Kasih Food, a leading high-quality food production company, recently announced receiving the AA+ Grade for the BRCGS certification. This positions Kasih Food as the first Jordanian food company to receive this prestigious grade and highlights the company's commitment to delivering safe and high-quality food products to customers worldwide. The BRCGS Global Standard for food safety is a comprehensive set of guidelines developed by the British Retail Consortium (BRCGS) to ensure food products' safety, quality, and legality. Food safety It encompasses various aspects of food safety management, such as hazard analysis, critical control points, quality management, supplier management, and product testing. Companies must establish a compliant food safety management system and undergo a thorough audit to obtain certification. The certification is widely recognised by retailers, manufacturers, and food service organisations globally, serving as a testament to a company's commitment to excellent food safety practices. "This is a momentous accomplishment for us at Kasih Food. Achieving an AA+ grade affirms our unwavering dedication to excellence in the safety and quality of our products, nurturing customer loyalty, and thriving in the competitive global market," Mohammad Hamam, Total Quality Management, Kasih Food stated. Kasih Food's remarkable achievements serve as a prime example of the immense potential that Jordanian companies possess to excel.-- TradeArabia News Service (Bloomberg) -- Chevron Corp. Chief Executive Officer Mike Wirth says hes open to more deals after agreeing to buy PDC Energy Inc. for $6.3 billion, but will stay disciplined on price. Most Read from Bloomberg Oil and gas producers are flush with cash after raking in record profits over the past year, leaving the US energy patch ripe for a takeover boom. Companies are looking to bulk up and consolidate, acquiring rivals to secure drilling sites for the future. The PDC tie-up doesnt preclude our ability to do further transactions, Wirth said in a phone interview. But we dont have gaps to fill. Were always looking, but well stay very disciplined as we have been on a number of transactions as we have done over recent years. Though a small deal by Chevrons standards the price is less than the companys first quarter cash flow from operations PDC fits neatly into Wirths plan to grow in areas that fit with its existing assets rather take on large, transformative acquisitions. Chevron was widely praised for buying Noble Energy Inc. for $5 billion in a similar bolt-on deal in 2020 but has come under scrutiny recently for its lack of growth relative to Exxon Mobil Corp. Chevron will pay $72 a share for PDC as it seeks to expand in Colorados DJ Basin, a roughly 14% premium on a 10-day average based on May 19 closing prices, according to a statement Monday. Separately, Exxon Mobil Corp. agreed to sell assets in the Williston Basin to Chord Energy for $375 million amid whats expected to be a busy year of mergers and acquisitions in US shale. We expect more deals such as this going forwards, said Biraj Borkhataria, an analyst at RBC Capital Markets, wrote in a note referring to Chevrons PDC acquisition. The deal will double Chevrons drilling portfolio in the DJ Basin to more than 600,000 acres and nearly triple production in the area to 400,000 barrels a day. The PDC will move the DJ Basin into the top handful of assets that we have worldwide, Wirth said. PDC also has assets next to Chevrons huge position in the Permian Basin of West Texas and New Mexico but they are small and not material to production, he said. Chevron plans to increase its capital spending by $1 billion per year, after realizing about $400 million in cost savings once the transaction closes by the end of the year, pending regulatory and PDC shareholder approval. Its new global spending range will be $14 billion to $16 billion a year through 2027. We have strong equity as a currency, we have a strong balance sheet and this is an accretive transaction that supports that, Wirth said. PDC climbed as much as 9.2% in New York, while Chevron fell 1.1%. PDC shareholders will receive 0.4638 shares of Chevron for each PDC share. The total enterprise value of the deal including debt is $7.6 billion. Chevron said it expects the tie-up to add about $1 billion in annual free cash flow at $70 per barrel Brent oil and Henry Hub natural gas at $3.50 per thousand cubic feet. Morgan Stanley and Evercore advised Chevron, while JPMorgan advised PDC. Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2023 Bloomberg L.P. The main aim of stock picking is to find the market-beating stocks. But even the best stock picker will only win with some selections. At this point some shareholders may be questioning their investment in China Aviation Oil (Singapore) Corporation Ltd (SGX:G92), since the last five years saw the share price fall 43%. The falls have accelerated recently, with the share price down 13% in the last three months. 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. See our latest analysis for China Aviation Oil (Singapore) 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 imperfect but simple way to consider how the market perception of a company has shifted is to compare the change in the earnings per share (EPS) with the share price movement. During the five years over which the share price declined, China Aviation Oil (Singapore)'s earnings per share (EPS) dropped by 17% each year. The share price decline of 11% per year isn't as bad as the EPS decline. So the market may previously have expected a drop, or else it expects the situation will improve. You can see below how EPS has changed over time (discover the exact values by clicking on the image). 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. This free interactive report on China Aviation Oil (Singapore)'s earnings, revenue and cash flow is a great place to start, if you want to investigate the stock further. What About Dividends? It is important to consider the total shareholder return, as well as the share price return, for any given stock. 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. Arguably, the TSR gives a more comprehensive picture of the return generated by a stock. In the case of China Aviation Oil (Singapore), it has a TSR of -35% for the last 5 years. That exceeds its share price return that we previously mentioned. The dividends paid by the company have thusly boosted the total shareholder return. A Different Perspective We're pleased to report that China Aviation Oil (Singapore) shareholders have received a total shareholder return of 3.5% over one year. Of course, that includes the dividend. That certainly beats the loss of about 6% per year over the last half decade. This makes us a little wary, but the business might have turned around its fortunes. I find it very interesting to look at share price over the long term as a proxy for business performance. But to truly gain insight, we need to consider other information, too. Consider for instance, the ever-present spectre of investment risk. We've identified 1 warning sign with China Aviation Oil (Singapore) , and understanding them should be part of your investment process. Of course, you might find a fantastic investment by looking elsewhere. So take a peek at this free list of companies we expect will grow earnings. Please note, the market returns quoted in this article reflect the market weighted average returns of stocks that currently trade on Singaporean exchanges. Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned. Join A Paid User Research Session Youll receive a US$30 Amazon Gift card for 1 hour of your time while helping us build better investing tools for the individual investors like yourself. Sign up here US will run out of cash 'in less than three weeks' - latest updates Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy will hold a pivotal meeting on the debt ceiling at the White House today - AP Photo/John Minchillo Goldman Sachs has estimated that the US will run out of cash within three weeks unless it solves its debt crisis. The investment bank said cash in the Treasury Department would drop below $30bn (24.1bn) by June 8 or June 9, which is the bare minimum for the world's largest economy to meet its obligations. The bank's economists Alec Phillips and Tim Krupa warned the estimate is "subject to substantial uncertainty" so there is "certainly a chance that receipts could slow more than expected and leave the Treasury short of cash by June 1 or 2". The Treasury has been steadily running down its cash balance to meet federal payments, as it is unable to increase its net borrowing from the public, which is constrained by the $31.4trn debt limit. President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy will hold a pivotal meeting on the debt ceiling at the White House today. A default on the US debt would almost surely cause a recession in the American economy, which would have damaging effects on economies worldwide. Read the latest updates below. 06:57 PM That's all folks Thank you for following us today. We'll be back tomorrow with more rolling business coverage. 05:54 PM Can Biden invoke the 14th amendment to avoid a US debt crisis? Joe Biden - Al Drago/Bloomberg Joe Biden is being urged by Democratic allies in Washington to sidestep his Republican rivals and solve the US debt crisis by invoking the 14th Amendment. The President on Sunday said he believed he had the authority to do so. But experts have warned such a move would be fraught with legal risk. My colleague Melissa Lawford and I have written about the 14th amendment, and much more, in an explainer on the debt crisis. You can read it in full here. 04:50 PM Republican Kevin McCarthy in Washington ahead of Biden talks Kevin McCarthy - AP Photo/J Scott Applewhite 04:47 PM US default would cause "worldwide credit crunch" If, like me, you've been reading about the possibility of the US defaulting on its debts with concern, you may also be wondering how things could play out. US President Joe Biden and Kevin McCarthy, the Republican speaker of the House of Representatives, are due to meet for further negotiations at 5.30pm in Washington. (10.30pm UK time.) Lets hope they resolve their differences. But is what is the debt ceiling? And what would a default actually mean? The debt ceiling is the total amount of money that Congress has permitted the US Government to borrow to meet its existing obligations, covering everything from social security to healthcare support, civil servant (including military) salaries and debt interest payments. A failure to raise it would cause a US default on these obligations. That would be extremely bad for the US, according to the White House's council of economic advisers, and also for global financial markets: If the United States does default, the consequences could escalate rapidly and profoundly. The timeframe of these impacts is unclear, since the United States has never defaulted; moreover, the effects of a default would not be confined to the United States. The global economy, which relies on a strong US economy, would begin to slide into a financial crisis and likely, a recession. US Treasury debt is the worlds benchmark safe asset, and its interest rates act as the basis for the pricing of countless financial products and transactions around the globe. The US dollar is also the worlds premier reserve currency. A default would send shock waves through global financial markets and would likely cause credit markets worldwide to freeze up and stock markets to plunge. Employers around the world would likely have to begin laying off workers. Yet as the US national debt - now more than $30 trillion and counting - has ballooned, the issue has become more politically charged. The Republicans want budget cuts to justify raising it again, but Democrats say their proposals are unconscionable. In the past, the parties have managed to reach a compromise. But the current impasse is starting to worry investors. 03:37 PM Handing over That's all from me. My colleague Matt Oliver will guide you through the evening. 03:22 PM How parents are punished if they earn more than 50,000 Parents are given thousands of pounds a year to raise their children in the form of child benefit but for millions of middle class families the benefit is wiped out via a tax charge. Danielle Richardson, Ben Butcher and Bruno Riddy reveal how: Once either parent or guardian earns 50,000 a year, a "high income" tax charge begins to be levied. When the highest earner's wage hits 60,000 the entire 1,248-a-year benefit is handed back to the Government. Our child benefit calculator gives an indication of how much you will lose every year, and over the course of your children's childhoods. For a family with three children, and where a parent earns 60,000 or more, the loss is well over 40,000. The number of families claiming child benefit in the first place has fallen to a record low thanks to the tax charge, which was first introduced in 2013. Back then, the charge only affected those whose income was well into the higher tax bracket. Use our calculator to see what (yet another) frozen tax threshold means for you. 03:07 PM US markets mixed ahead of debt showdown Stocks are struggling for direction as Wall Street waits to see whether the pivotal meeting between Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy will help the US government avoid a potentially disastrous default on its debt. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was 0.3pc lower but the S&P 500 was 0.1pc higher in early trading after coming off its best week since March. The Nasdaq Composite was 0.4pc higher. The stock market is near its highest level since August, but it has been mostly drifting within a tight range for weeks as several big worries weigh. The biggest near-term risk is the possibility of a US default, something that could occur as soon as June 1. Much scrutiny has been on PacWest Bancorp. Its stock rose 8.7pc after it said it agreed to sell a portfolio of real-estate construction loans with about $2.6bn in principal still outstanding to Kennedy Wilson, among other assets. Micron Technology dropped 3.5pc as after China's government said on Sunday that its products have unspecified "serious network security risks" that could affect national security, telling users of sensitive computer equipment to stop buying Micron products. Meta Platforms rose 2.6pc after shaking off news that European regulators hit it with a record $1.3bn privacy fine and ordered it to stop transferring users' personal information across the Atlantic by October. Meta called the decision flawed and unjustified and said it would appeal. 02:57 PM First Republic rescue boosts JPMorgan income forecasts JPMorgan Chase will gain an even bigger benefit from rising interest rates because of its purchase of First Republic Bank. The biggest US bank raised its guidance for net interest income this year to $84bn, excluding its trading business, up from a previous forecast of $81bn, it revealed during a presentation for its investor day. The lender said several "sources of uncertainty remain," including the Federal Reserve's plans and how consumers react to higher borrowing costs. JPMorgan bought First Republic Bank earlier this month after it became the second-largest bank failure in US history and the fourth regional-bank collapse this year. JPMorgan chief executive Jamie Dimon, the only major bank boss from the financial crisis still in command, said last week that "we need to finish the bank crisis" and regulators should "not be surprised constantly". JPMorgan Chase chief executive Jamie Dimon - REUTERS/Marco Bello 02:47 PM McCarthy criticises Biden's spending plans ahead of US debt ceiling talks Republican Speaker Kevin McCarthy has thrown out some fighting talk on the US debt ceiling. The top congressman will meet President Joe Biden to discuss raising the federal government's debt ceiling talks, just 10 days before the US Treasury expects to start running out of money in what would be an unprecedented default upending the global economy. Any deal to raise the $31.4trn debt limit must pass both chambers of Congress before Mr Biden could sign it into law. Staff members from both sides reconvened at Mr McCarthy's office in the Capitol on Sunday evening for talks that lasted about two-and-a-half hours, after the Speaker said he had a "productive" call with Mr Biden earlier in the day. The President also struck an upbeat tone about the conversation, telling reporters "it went well - we'll talk tomorrow," as he arrived back at the White House after a three-day meeting with fellow G7 leaders in Japan. The tone does not feel as in Mr McCarthy's latest tweet: President Biden wants to spend MORE money than the federal government did at the height of the pandemic. American taxpayers just cannot afford to keep borrowing money from China. pic.twitter.com/yBNCLaSUmG Kevin McCarthy (@SpeakerMcCarthy) May 22, 2023 02:42 PM Asking prices hit record high despite property downturn The price of houses put up for sale have climbed at the fastest pace in a year as stabilising mortgage rates enticed buyers back onto the market. Average asking prices jumped 1.8pc in May, hitting a record high of 372,894, according to online property site Rightmove. Househunters are being buoyed by a brighter economic outlook and a steadying of mortgage rates, which spiralled to 14-year highs last year in the turmoil triggered by former Prime Minister Liz Truss's mini-Budget. Nationally, buyer demand is 3pc up on levels seen before the pandemic, despite households being battered by double-digit inflation. Rightmove's director of property science Tim Bannister said: "This month's strong jump in new seller asking prices looks like a belated reaction and a sign of increasing confidence from sellers, as wed usually see such a big monthly increase earlier in the spring season." 02:37 PM US markets open tentatively Wall Street's main indexes opened flat as markets awaited updates on talks about raising the US debt ceiling, while shares of Micron fell following China's ban on its memory chips. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 18.09 points, or less than 0.1pc at the open to 33,408.54. The S&P 500 opened lower by 1.2 points, also less than 0.1pc, at 4,190.78, while the Nasdaq Composite gained 6.54 points, or less than 0.1pc, to 12,664.44 at the opening bell. 02:24 PM Putin's oil shipments rise again despite promise to cut production Russian seaborn oil ship shipments have risen for a sixth straight week despite Moscow promising to cut production as part of Vladimir Putin's energy war. The four-week average for crude flows, which smooth out some of the volatility in weekly numbers, rose again toward nearly four million barrels a day. Flows are now up by 15pc since the first week of April and hit a new high for the period since Bloomberg began tracking them in detail at the start of 2022. With almost all Russia's crude going to China and India, volumes to Asia also climbed to a new peak. More volatile weekly flows edged lower. Russia pledged to cut oil production by 500,000 barrels a day in March, using February output as a baseline, in retaliation for Western sanctions and price caps on its oil exports designed to punish Moscow for the invasion of Ukraine. Vladimir Putin in meetings today - MIKHAIL KLIMENTYEV/SPUTNIK/AFP via Getty Images 02:02 PM Tesco shrinks size of Hellmanns mayonnaise jars Hellmann's mayonnaise has become the latest victim of shrinkflation. Senior business reporter Daniel Woolfson has the story: Tesco has pulled 800g jars of the brand from its shelves and replaced them with 600g versions. The 600g products cost 3.75, compared to 4.30 for the bigger jars that have been axed. While the headline price is lower, the change means Tesco is now charging an extra 9p per 100g for the mayonnaise. The practice of shrinking products, known as "shrinkflation", has become increasingly common as companies battle soaring costs of everything from ingredients to energy and labour. Read more recent examples. 12:56 PM Federal Reserve cannot protect US economy from default, warns bank chief The US Federal Reserve cannot protect the world's largest economy from a debt default, one of its key policymakers has said. Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis President Neel Kashkari was speaking ahead of a meeting at the White House between President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy on the debt ceiling. He also said it is a "close call" as to whether the Fed should raise interest rates next month or pause while it monitors the outlook for inflation. Policymakers have raised rates aggressively over the past 14 months, bringing their benchmark interest rate to a range of 5pc to 5.25pc from near zero. However, with inflation falling, markets are pricing in cuts to US interest rates this year. Mr Kashkari told CNBC: I think right now it's a close call, either way, versus raising another time in June or skipping. What's important to me is not signalling that we're done. If we were to skip in June that does not mean we're done with our tightening cycle, it means to me we're getting more information. Do we then start raising again in July? Potentially. Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis President Neel Kashkari - REUTERS/Brendan McDermid 12:40 PM Frasers Group 'nears deal for ProBikeKit' Mike Ashley's Frasers Group is reportedly in talks to buy cycling goods specialist ProBikeKit. The retail stalwart is near to a deal with the company's owner THG, the London-listed online nutrition and beauty e-commerce business, according to Sky. It was reported that a deal could be finalised and announced this week. Frasers and THG both declined to comment. Shares in Frasers have fallen 1.2pc today, while THG has risen 3pc. 12:25 PM Morrisons brings back loyalty scheme Morrisons has brought back its More Card loyalty scheme to replace its My Morrisons app following a successful trial. The Morrisons More scheme, which replaces the My Morrisons scheme, can be used as a physical card or app and allows customers to earn points from selected products and counters in store and online as well as at Morrisons petrol stations. The supermarket is also bringing back its Morrisons Fivers once a customer has earned 5,000 points, which can be redeemed on a future shop. Members of the loyalty scheme are also offered discounts on certain products and brands. Rachel Eyre, chief customer and marketing officer at Morrisons, said: "Customers have been telling us how much they have missed the Morrisons Fivers and so we've brought them back as part of a radical overhaul of the Morrisons loyalty scheme." Morrisons has unveiled a new More Card - Owen Humphreys/PA Wire 12:08 PM US markets poised for tentative start to the week Wall Street markets are on course to begin the week flat as US debt ceiling negotiations approach crunch time. US President Joe Biden and House Republican Speaker Kevin McCarthy will meet to discuss the debt ceiling today, less than two weeks before a June 1 deadline after which Treasury expects the federal government will struggle to pay its debts. A failure to lift the debt ceiling would trigger a default, likely sparking chaos in financial markets and a spike in interest rates. In premarket trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 were largely flat, while Nasdaq 100 futures down 0.1pc. 11:51 AM No cancellations in 'completely unnecessary' airport strike No flights will be cancelled during this week's "completely unnecessary" half-term strike by Heathrow security officers, the airport said. Members of union Unite working at Terminal 5 will walk out from May 25 to 27 in a dispute over pay. Heathrow said its contingency plans, which include deploying extra staff, have delivered "excellent passenger service" throughout previous strike periods, with "almost all" travellers waiting less than 10 minutes to pass through security. The airport urged Unite to put its proposal of a 10pc pay increase and 1,150 lump sum to a vote of its members, saying: "We know the majority of colleagues want to accept this offer." The union previously said its members have been "crystal clear they are seeking a substantial permanent increase in pay". Heathrow chief executive John Holland-Kaye said: Passengers should not be concerned about strike action by Unite over the half-term getaway. The 15 days of strike action over the Easter peak and coronation weekends have had no impact on the smooth running of the airport, and passengers have not noticed any difference from the normal great service they expect at Heathrow. 11:35 AM EU fine risks carving up the internet, warns Nick Clegg The record fine handed out to Facebook-owner Meta risks carving up the internet into silos, according to Sir Nick Clegg. Meta has said it would appeal the Irish decision which has led to it being fined a 1.2bn (1bn) and told to stop sending European users' data to the US in a spying row. Describing the move as "flawed" and "unjustified," the company also promised to "immediately" seek a suspension of the banning orders, saying they would cause harm to "the millions of people who use Facebook every day". Sir Nick, the former deputy prime minister who is Meta's president of global affairs, said the data-transfer curbs risk carving up the internet "into national and regional silos, restricting the global economy and leaving citizens in different countries unable to access many of the shared services we have come to rely on". EU regulators in December unveiled proposals to replace the previous "Privacy Shield" pact that had been torpedoed by the EU's Court of Justice. This followed months of negotiations with the US, which yielded an executive order by President Joe Biden and US pledges to ensure that EU citizens' data is safe once it is shipped across the Atlantic. Meta's president of global affairs Sir Nick Clegg - KENZO TRIBOUILLARD/AFP via Getty Images 11:19 AM Hunt reprimanded for wrongly implying UK debt will fall The Chancellor has been reprimanded by the statistics watchdog after he claimed debt would fall in the coming years, when it is in fact forecast to rise less steeply than previously estimated. The UK Statistics Authority wrote to Jeremy Hunt after a complaint about a tweet he posted on April 25. The Chancellor said he had "to take some difficult decisions last autumn" on the public finances, added: "But we have made progress. By 2027-28, headline debt levels are reduced by 53.7bn." Dame Angela Eagle, a former Treasury minister who sits on the Treasury committee, wrote to Sir Robert Chote, chairman of the authority, noting that the Office for Budget Responsibility forecasts indicate that public debt will rise between now and 2027-28. Sir Robert acknowledged some readers of the tweet "may have assumed that the Chancellor was referring to the forecast change in public sector net debt between the last full financial year and 2027-28". He said the organisation has "spoken with officials at HM Treasury to emphasise the importance of consistently adopting a transparent and accessible approach to communicating statistics". Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has been reprimanded over a tweet he sent to Dame Angela Eagle - TOLGA AKMEN/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock 10:56 AM Uber diversity chief hosts Dont Call Me Karen talk on white women Uber's head of diversity has been placed on leave after a black employee complained about a "tone-deaf" internal session on white women titled "Don't Call Me Karen". Senior technology reporter Gareth Corfield has the details: Bo Young Lee was placed on leave by chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi last week after a backlash to the event, which was meant to focus on "the spectrum of the American white woman's experience". The event, which referenced the derogatory term for middle aged white women "Karen", featured white Uber employees discussing their own experiences of race and gender. Ms Young Lee, who is a former advisor to Hilary Clinton's failed 2016 presidential bid, encouraged Uber staff to "have an open and honest conversation about race". Read why the session prompted anger among some staff. Ms Young Lee encouraged Uber staff to have an open and honest conversation about race - Uber 10:41 AM Adani shares surge as court finds no evidence of share-price manipulation Adani Group shares have surged in early trading after an Indian court panel that found no conclusive evidence of stock-price manipulation alleged by a US short seller. The 10 Adani stocks have added about $10bn (8bn) to their market value in today's session so far, poised to be the biggest increase since Hindenburg Research's scathing report in January. Flagship Adani Enterprises has surged about 19pc to its highest level since the beginning of February, adding to its 3.5pc gain on Friday. Traders said that trapped short positions were unwound aggressively, and investors were inclined to take new long bets on the group. The Securities and Exchange Board of India told a Supreme Court-appointed panel on Friday that it found no evidence of stock price manipulation or abusive trading patterns providing the group relief against one of the central allegations made by Hindenburg. Investigations are still ongoing. Indian billionaire industrialist Gautam Adani is founder and chairman of Adani Group - REUTERS/Amir Cohen 10:23 AM Pound flat ahead of inflation data The pound is flat against the US dollar ahead of the latest inflation data later this week. Sterling is worth about $1.24 but has fallen 0.1pc against the euro, which is worth just below 87p. Britain will find out on Wednesday if inflation has finally fallen below double digits for the first time since August last year. Meanwhile, aata from property website Rightmove suggests the price of houses put up for sale in the UK climbed at the fastest pace in a year to a new record high as buyers were enticed back by a resilient economy. 09:58 AM Facebook-owner hit with record 1bn fine over handling of user data Facebook's owner Meta has been fined a record 1.2bn (1bn) by Ireland and been told to stop sending European users data to the US, in a spying row that has seen the social networking giant threaten to leave Europe. Technology editor James Titcomb has the latest: Ireland's Data Protection Commission (DPC) announced the fine on Monday morning. It is a record penalty under Europe's GDPR laws. Meta has been fined for transferring European users' data to the US in a way that creates "risks to the fundamental rights and freedoms" of its users, the DPC said. The company will also be forced to stop transferring users' data to America within five months and has been given six months to remove data from US servers. The fine, which eclipses the previous record GDPR fine of 746m given to Amazon in 2021, is the culmination of a years-long campaign from privacy activists who claimed Facebook's data transfers breached European laws because of the extent of US surveillance practices. Read on for details on this breaking story. Meta will be fined 1bn by EU regulators for the way it sends information to the US - REUTERS/Dado Ruvic 09:44 AM Banks at odds over outlook for markets Morgan Stanley's chief investment officer has told investors that stock markets are not on the cusp of a rally - just as rival Bank of America upgraded its outlook. Michael Wilson, among the most bearish voices on Wall Street, said there is too much evidence, both fundamental and technical, pointing to market problems ahead. Hes urging investors not to get carried away in the latest upswing, which saw the S&P 500 briefly push above 4,200 points last week, its highest level since August 2022. He said: "Is this finally the breakout to confirm a new bull market? The short answer is no." However, Bank of America strategist Savita Subramanian is holding to a bullish view, raising her year- end target for the S&P 500 from 4,000 to 4,300 points about 2.6pc above Friday's close. A traders working on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange - Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images 09:30 AM Book now to avoid summer fare surge, says Ryanair Ryanair has urged holidaymakers to book early to avoid surging fares this summer as the budget airline said it was preparing for its busiest ever getaway season. The airline said it would be running its "largest ever schedule", with 3,000 flights a day over summer. Ryanair said that while demand for short haul flights in Europe were still below pre-Covid levels, overall bookings continued to be "strong". "Forward bookings and air fares currently into [summer] are strong and we continue to urge all customers to book early to avoid rising "close-in" prices," the airline said. Fares are already 10pc above pre-Covid levels as a result of surging fuel costs and a lack of available seats across the industry after many airlines went bust or downsized during the pandemic. Chief executive Michael O'Leary said: "To date, summer 2023 demand is robust and peak summer 2023 fares are trending ahead of last year." The average ticket for a seat on one of Ryanair's flights now stands at 41 (36), the company said. Ryanair chief executive Michael O'Leary - REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein 09:17 AM Goldman Sachs predicts new lows for European gas prices European natural gas prices are close to a two-year low as weak industrial demand and ample supplies weigh on prices. Benchmark futures have fallen as much as 4.2pc, dipping briefly temporarily below 29 per megawatt hour, to the lowest level since mid-June 2021. Goldman Sachs has suggested the floor for prices could be the mid-20 range. Mild weather and a steady flow of liquefied natural gas have contributed to the decline as Europe recovers from its energy crisis amid severely curtailed pipeline flows from Russia. Stockpiles on the continent are now almost 66pc full, well above the seasonal average, data from Gas Infrastructure Europe show. 08:58 AM Oil falls as US default fears weigh on markets Oil has declined for a third straight session as investors tracked stop-start negotiations in the US to strike a deal on the debt ceiling. Brent crude has fallen 0.4pc to a little over $75 a barrel after losing almost 2pc over the prior two sessions. President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy will meet later today after negotiators resumed talks. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warned the US may be unable to pay its bills by mid-June. The global crude benchmark is at risk of posting a fifth straight monthly loss in May in what would be the worst run since 2017. In addition to the fallout from the debt-ceiling fight, traders are concerned about the impact on energy demand of China's lacklustre economic recovery and the possibility of a recession in the US. US-produced West Texas Intermediate has fallen 0.7pc toward $71 a barrel. 08:32 AM Markets cautious amid US debt talks London's stock markets have started the week on a lacklustre note as uncertainty over the US debt ceiling negotiations weighed on risk appetite. The blue-chip FTSE 100 has risen 0.2pc to 7,775.22 while the FTSE 250 was listless at 19,289.12. NatWest has risen 0.9pc after the Government sold about 1.3bn worth of in shares of the bank, the sixth tranche it has sold since intervening to rescue the lender, formerly known as Royal Bank of Scotland, in 2008. Dechra Pharmaceuticals shed 8.3pc after the veterinary healthcare firm cut expectations for its annual underlying operating profit. Investors appeared to show scant response to data from Rightmove that signalled domestic house prices rose in May by more than in any other month this year. The real estate sector rose 0.3pc. 08:14 AM Micron shares tumble after China ban Frankfurt-listed shares in Micron Technology fell 6pc in early trading after Beijing banned the US firm from selling memory chips to key domestic industries. China's cyberspace regulator said late on Sunday that Micron, the biggest US memory chipmaker, had failed its network security review and that it would block operators of key infrastructure from buying from the company. The Micron Technology automotive chip manufacturing plant in Manassas, Virginia - AP Photo/Steve Helber 08:06 AM FTSE 100 inches higher London's blue-chip index has begun the week higher after Japan's Nikkei hit a fresh 33-year high. However, concerns about the US debt default talks have kept markets in check. The internationally-focused FTSE 100 has risen 0.1pc to 7,765.94 while the midcap FTSE 250 was flat at 19,280.98. 07:58 AM Allen & Overy lines up multi-billion dollar merger with Shearman "Magic circle" law firm Allen & Overy is planning to merge with New York's Shearman & Sterling to create one of the world's largest legal outfits with $3.4bn in revenue. Lauren Almeida has the details: The new firm, which will be known as Allen Overy Shearman Sterling, will be one of the biggest legal players in the world. It will have nearly 4,000 lawyers spread across 49 offices. The deal will bolster Allen & Overy's presence in the US, as London's elite "magic circle" firms increasingly seek to boost their presence across the Atlantic. News of the deal comes just months after Shearman called off merger talks with rival US firm Hogan Lovells. The firms said at the time that after "careful consideration", a combination was "not in the best interest of either firm". The Allen & Overy and Shearman tie up is subject to a vote from all partners, but if approved will be the first combination of a magic circle firm and an American rival since Clifford Chance merged with Rogers & Wells more than two decades ago. Read what partners said about the new firm, which will be known as A&O Shearman for short. 07:46 AM Wise chief to step down after 'quite horrible accident' Wise chief financial officer Matthew Briers will step down to focus on recovering from a bike accident last year. He will depart by March next year with the company beginning its search for a new finance chief immediately. Mr Briers said: I returned back to work at Wise after a quite horrible accident where I went under the wheels of a bus, and so, with this in mind, my focus will shift to making a full recovery. Wise has been the most exhilarating and worthwhile experience of my working life. I love my team, and the leaders I work with every day. The customers and shareholders are in great hands. Chief executive Kristo Kaarmann, who is himself taking a three month sabbatical after having children, said: "Matt joined us at the time when only around 500,000 people had used Wise and we were losing money. He helped us scale up into a global service that today 16m people and businesses around the world know they can count on." 07:33 AM Ryanair returns to annual profit for first time since pandemic Ryanair rebounded back into bumper annual net profits, boosted by a "strong" post-Covid recovery despite increasing costs. Profit after tax soared to 1.4 billion euros (1.2bn) in year to the end of March, after a net loss of 355m in its previous financial year. The Dublin-based low-cost carrier had narrowed losses in its prior 2021/2022 fiscal year, boosted by the lifting of coronavirus lockdowns. Chief executive Michael O'Leary said: Over the last year we have seen a very strong post-Covid traffic recovery. People have been locked up for two years and wanted to go back to travelling. Revenues more than doubled to 10.8bn (9.4bn) on rising fares, as the group reported "strong market share gains" in Italy, Poland, Ireland, Spain and elsewhere in Europe. Passenger traffic leapt 74pc to 168.6m travellers, with fares 10pc above pre-Covid levels. Ryanair chief executive Michael O'Leary - REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein 07:28 AM Government sells 1.3bn of NatWest shares The Government has sold 1.3bn of its shares in NatWest, bringing its total share in the bank it rescued during the global financial crisis to 38.6pc. It is the sixth block sale of NatWest shares since taxpayers saved the bank in 2008, when it was known as Royal Bank of Scotland or RBS. The Government owned 84pc of the institution at its peak. Treasury Secretary Andrew Griffith said: "Today's sale is another major milestone in returning NatWest to full private ownership as promised. The government has now sold well over half of its shareholding." NatWest - Matt Crossick/PA Wire 07:24 AM China bans US chipmaker Micron in escalating tech battle China has said it found "relatively serious" cybersecurity risks from chips made by US semiconductor giant Micron amid an escalating technology battle between the superpowers. The worlds second-largest economy announced the American manufacturer failed to pass a cybersecurity review because its components caused "significant security risks to our critical information infrastructure supply chain," which would affect national security. Washington has already blacklisted several Chinese tech firms, cut off the flow of sophisticated processors and banned Americans from providing certain help to the Chinese chip industry. In a statement, the US Commerce Department said Beijing's conclusion had "no basis in fact" and Washington will continue to try and limit industry disruptions with its allies. Shares in Micron's biggest industry rivals, Samsung and SK Hynix gained overnight in Seoul. Chinese chip stocks including sector bellwethers Semiconductor Manufacturing International and Hua Hong Semiconductor climbed more than 3pc in Hong Kong. US President Joe Biden had voiced optimism about the China relationship on Sunday at the end of the G7 summit in Japan, saying he expected ties between the two countries will start to "thaw very shortly". The Chinese cyber agency - the Cyberspace Administration of China - said in its statement banning Micron that the country welcomes products and services provided by companies of all countries as long as they comply with its laws and regulations. It said the investigation into Micron products are a "necessary measure" to safeguard national security. It did not detail what the security risks were or identify specific Micron products that are now barred. Micron, which has previously said it stood by the security of its products and commitments to customers, said in a statement that it is evaluating the conclusion of the review. The company is assessing its next steps, adding that it looks forward "to continuing to engage in discussions with Chinese authorities". Micron is assessing its next steps after China's ban on its components - REUTERS/Dado Ruvic 07:03 AM Good morning China has banned Micron Technology from the world's second largest economy, after announcing it failed a cybersecurity review. Beijing claimed its components posed a "significant security risks to our critical information infrastructure supply chain, but the US said the conclusion had "no basis in fact". It comes despite Joe Biden voicing optimism about the US's relationship with China on Sunday at the end of the G7 summit in Japan, saying he expected ties between the two countries will start to "thaw very shortly". 5 things to start your day 1) How the naive golden boy of levelling up got hit with claims of criminality and corruption | Allegations of sweetheart deals cast a long shadow over landmark redevelopment projects 2) Post-Brexit immigration curbs spark pay boom for hospitality workers | High rates of employment and a crippling skills shortage are driving up wages 3) Britains crumbling buy-to-let market is jeopardising house building | A reduction in investors and off-plan purchases leaves developers short of funding 4) Perverse tax system means work doesnt pay, warns Treasury Select Committee chief | Harriett Baldwin's focus is on eliminating quirks in the system that create taxation cliff edges 5) Cheapest rail tickets can no longer be bought at booking offices as passengers forced to go online | Change to hit rail passengers amid continued disruption from industrial action What happened overnight Asian shares rose after Mr Biden said relations with China are expected to improve "very shortly," and as the market awaited possible progress in US debt-limit talks. Hong Kongs Hang Seng Index jumped more than 1pc, led by technology shares. Historically cheap valuations following consecutive weekly declines added further support. The advance led in a region-wide rally that including Japanese and mainland China shares but excluded Australian blue chips. South Koreas Kospi gained as much as 1pc, on track for its sixth daily advance. Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix were among the biggest contributors to the benchmark after China said their US rival Micron Technology had failed to pass a cybersecurity review. Tokyo stocks closed higher, with the key Nikkei index rising to a fresh 33-year high, as active buying by foreign investors overwhelmed profit-taking. The benchmark Nikkei 225 added 0.9pc to 31,086.82, while the broader Topix index ended up 0.7pc at 2,175.90. 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. (Bloomberg) -- China delivered the latest salvo in an escalating semiconductor war with the US, announcing that Micron Technology Inc. products have failed to pass a cybersecurity review in the country. Most Read from Bloomberg In a statement Sunday, Beijing warned operators of key infrastructure against buying the companys goods, saying it found relatively serious cybersecurity risks in Micron products sold in the country. The components caused significant security risks to our critical information infrastructure supply chain, which would affect national security, according to the statement from the Cyberspace Administration of China, or CAC. The results come more than a month after China announced an investigation of imports from Americas largest memory-chip maker. The tech sector has become a key battlefield over national security between the two largest economies, with Washington having already blacklisted Chinese tech firms, cut off the flow of sophisticated processors and banned its citizens from providing certain help to the Chinese chip industry. In a statement, the US Commerce Department said Beijings conclusion had no basis in fact and Washington will continue to try and limit industry disruptions with its allies. Shares in Microns biggest industry rivals, Samsung Electronics Co. and SK Hynix Inc., gained in Seoul. Chinese chip stocks including sector bellwethers Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp. and Hua Hong Semiconductor Ltd. climbed more than 3% in Hong Kong. No one should understand this decision by CAC as anything but retaliation for the USs export controls on semiconductors, said Holden Triplett, founder of Trenchcoat Advisors and a former FBI counterintelligence official in Beijing. No foreign business operating in China should be deceived by this subterfuge. These are political actions pure and simple, and any business could be the next one to be made an example of. Read More: Chinas Micron Probe Is Latest Offensive in Chip War With US The move brings fresh uncertainty to the other US chipmakers that sell to China, the worlds biggest market for semiconductors. Companies like Qualcomm Inc., Broadcom Inc. and Intel Corp. deliver billions of chips to the country, which puts the components inside electronic products that are shipped all over the world. US President Joe Biden voiced optimism about the China relationship on Sunday at the end of the Group of Seven summit in Japan. He said he expected ties between the two countries will start to thaw very shortly. The Chinese cyber agency said in its statement Sunday that, while the country welcomes products and services provided by companies of all countries as long as they comply with its laws and regulations, the investigation into Micron products are a necessary measure to safeguard national security. It didnt detail what the security risks were or identify specific Micron products that are now barred. Micron, which has previously said it stood by the security of its products and commitments to customers, said in a statement Sunday its evaluating the conclusion of the review. The company is assessing its next steps, adding that it looks forward to continuing to engage in discussions with Chinese authorities. Analysts at Jefferies including Edison Lee said in a research report that the CACs decision will likely have a small impact on Micron because it focuses on critical information infrastructure, meaning operations like data centers and cloud computing services with security risks. Most of Microns memory chips sold in China are actually used in consumer electronics, like smartphones and notebooks, they said. We believe this ban is narrowly focused as it applies to only CII operators, they wrote. Therefore, the ultimate impact on Micron will be quite limited. Why Making Computer Chips Has Become a New Arms Race: QuickTake In the meantime, the Boise, Idaho-based chipmaker has been tightening ties with Japan. Its poised to get about 200 billion ($1.5 billion) in financial incentives from the Japanese government to help it make next-generation memory chips in the country, Bloomberg has reported. Prime Minister Fumio Kishida met last week with a delegation of chip executives, including Micron Chief Executive Officer Sanjay Mehrotra. Memory chips were already a flashpoint for US-China tensions. In December, Washington blacklisted Yangtze Memory Technologies Co., a state-backed flash memory maker in Wuhan, effectively capping Chinas capabilities in advanced 3D Nand-style chips. YMTC had been in talks to supply the components to Apple Inc. for the iPhone before that development. Micron is the last remaining maker of computer memory based in the US, having survived brutal industry downturns that forced larger rivals such as Intel and Texas Instruments Inc. to bow out. The majority of Microns products are made to industry standards, meaning the chips can be easily swapped out with those of rival manufacturers, such as Samsung and Hynix. Those two South Korean chipmakers have plants in China. Memory chips also arent usually considered a cybersecurity risk because they dont require any specific software or run code. Theyre mostly basic grids of transistors used for storing data and, as such, havent typically been a vector of attack for hackers. Read More: How China Aims to Counter US Efforts at Containment Micron derived nearly 11% of its revenue from mainland China in its last fiscal year. While thats relatively low compared with other major tech firms, much of the worlds electronics production goes through Chinese factories in some way and Chinas move has the potential to harm Microns customer relationships. The danger is that buyers in China will decide to play it safe after Beijings warning and move away from all of the US firms products. That could in turn divert business to Microns larger rivals, Samsung and Hynix. After a previous tussle, Taiwans United Microelectronics Corp. settled a suit in 2021 brought by Micron accusing it of stealing and leaking its intellectual property to a Chinese partner. The case concerned an allegedly illegal transfer of Microns memory designs in a chip manufacturing deal between UMC and Jinjiang-based Fujian Jinhua Integrated Circuit Co. Beijings latest announcement has already drawn condemnation from some lawmakers. The ruling Communist Party makes it harder each day to do business in the Peoples Republic of China, said Raja Krishnamoorthi, an Illinois Democrat and ranking member of the House Select Committee. Every business across America should be asking: Is it better right now to invest in the PRC, he said, or should it be investing more in the US and our allies and partners? Chinas actions are making this an increasingly easier choice for American businesses, and we in Congress need to make it even easier for them to come back home and reinvest in America, Krishnamoorthi said. --With assistance from Josyana Joshua, Peter Martin, Ian King and Debby Wu. (Updates with US response, share action from the fourth paragraph) Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2023 Bloomberg L.P. (Bloomberg) -- Chinas wheat imports are booming, but one top supplier is missing out: Russia. Most Read from Bloomberg The Asian nation is on track to be the largest buyer of the food staple this season, and Russia is the biggest exporter. While Beijing said last year that it would allow imports from all parts of Russia, trade has been hampered by a slew of issues, including phytosanitary regulations and transport challenges. The future of wheat and meat shipments is likely to feature on the agenda when Russian government officials and executives attend a business forum in China this week, according to Agriculture Minister Dmitry Patrushev. There is work to do. China has been buying a lot of wheat, with total imports surging more than 60% from a year earlier to about 6 million tons in the first four months of the year. Of that, Russia supplied just a trickle 30,000 tons. Wheat is an exception in Chinas buying spree from Russia. Beijings purchases of energy and aluminum have soared as sanctions cut supplies to the West. Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2023 Bloomberg L.P. China ramps up microchip trade war with US as tensions rise over Taiwan FILE PHOTO: A smartphone with a displayed Micron logo is placed on a computer motherboard in this illustration taken March 6, 2023. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo - DADO RUVIC/REUTERS China has banned the US microchip company Micron from the countrys infrastructure projects, calling it a national security risk as it retaliates against the Biden administrations semiconductor restrictions. The announcement from Chinas cyberspace administration comes amid a growing tech war between the two superpowers and as fears mount that a Chinese invasion of Taiwan could cripple the global electronics industry. China on Sunday said Micron, which is the biggest US maker of memory chips, posed serious network security risks as it banned the technology. The US said the restrictions have no basis in fact. Shares in Micron fell by 6pc on Monday morning. The US has made a series of moves to restrict Chinas access to the most advanced microchip technology under both the Trump and Biden administrations. It has also banned the use of Chinese technology manufactured by ZTE and Huawei, citing national security risks, and put pressure on Western allies to enact similar bans. The action against Micron is the first time China has directly retaliated against a US company. Beijing is seen as dependent on US technology, which has until now restricted its ability to respond. Analysts said China was able to withstand a crackdown on Micron because the two other major memory manufacturers, Samsung and Hynix, are both based in South Korea. Seoul said it was willing to allow its domestic manufacturers to ramp up exports to China in the wake of the Micron ban. Both Samsung and SK Hynix, with global operations, will make a judgment on this, Jang Young-jin, South Koreas vice-minister of trade, said on Monday. Ben Barringer, a research analyst at investment firm Quilter Cheviot, said: The companies may now need to navigate what could be politically treacherous waters. Washington has already restricted the export of US technology needed to manufacture advanced microchips to China. Microchips have become an increasingly political issue in recent years as a ready supply of the most advanced technology is seen as crucial for economic advancement and military dominance. Western officials are increasingly concerned about the threat of China invading Taiwan, which is the microchip manufacturing centre of the world. Taiwan, which Chinas president Xi Jinping has vowed to reunite with the mainland, is a hub for advanced chip production. It is feared that China becoming self-sufficient in semiconductors could make it easier for China to invade the island. The US and Europe are investing tens of billions in setting up advanced domestic semiconductor manufacturing, in an attempt to shore up supplies. The Cyberspace Administration of China said: The review found that Micron's products have serious network security risks, which pose significant security risks to China's critical information infrastructure supply chain, affecting China's national security. Responding to the news on Monday, Microns chief financial officer said it could affect a high single digit percentage of total company revenue in the worst-case scenario. A spokesman said: We look forward to continuing to engage in discussions with Chinese authorities. Last week, Rishi Sunak unveiled plans to boost Britains semiconductor industry with a 1bn strategy focused on design and advanced compound semiconductors. However, the UK will not follow the EU and US in heavily subsidising domestic production. 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. One of the best investments we can make is in our own knowledge and skill set. With that in mind, this article will work through how we can use Return On Equity (ROE) to better understand a business. We'll use ROE to examine Service Corporation International (NYSE:SCI), by way of a worked example. Return on equity or ROE is an important factor to be considered by a shareholder because it tells them how effectively their capital is being reinvested. In short, ROE shows the profit each dollar generates with respect to its shareholder investments. Check out our latest analysis for Service Corporation International How Do You Calculate Return On Equity? ROE can be calculated by using the formula: Return on Equity = Net Profit (from continuing operations) Shareholders' Equity So, based on the above formula, the ROE for Service Corporation International is: 30% = US$491m US$1.6b (Based on the trailing twelve months to March 2023). The 'return' is the profit over the last twelve months. Another way to think of that is that for every $1 worth of equity, the company was able to earn $0.30 in profit. Does Service Corporation International Have A Good ROE? By comparing a company's ROE with its industry average, we can get a quick measure of how good it is. The limitation of this approach is that some companies are quite different from others, even within the same industry classification. As you can see in the graphic below, Service Corporation International has a higher ROE than the average (10%) in the Consumer Services industry. roe That's clearly a positive. However, bear in mind that a high ROE doesnt necessarily indicate efficient profit generation. Especially when a firm uses high levels of debt to finance its debt which may boost its ROE but the high leverage puts the company at risk. Our risks dashboardshould have the 2 risks we have identified for Service Corporation International. Why You Should Consider Debt When Looking At ROE Companies usually need to invest money to grow their profits. The cash for investment can come from prior year profits (retained earnings), issuing new shares, or borrowing. In the case of the first and second options, the ROE will reflect this use of cash, for growth. In the latter case, the use of debt will improve the returns, but will not change the equity. In this manner the use of debt will boost ROE, even though the core economics of the business stay the same. Combining Service Corporation International's Debt And Its 30% Return On Equity Service Corporation International clearly uses a high amount of debt to boost returns, as it has a debt to equity ratio of 2.64. Its ROE is pretty impressive but, it would have probably been lower without the use of debt. Investors should think carefully about how a company might perform if it was unable to borrow so easily, because credit markets do change over time. Conclusion Return on equity is a useful indicator of the ability of a business to generate profits and return them to shareholders. Companies that can achieve high returns on equity without too much debt are generally of good quality. If two companies have around the same level of debt to equity, and one has a higher ROE, I'd generally prefer the one with higher ROE. Having said that, while ROE is a useful indicator of business quality, you'll have to look at a whole range of factors to determine the right price to buy a stock. Profit growth rates, versus the expectations reflected in the price of the stock, are a particularly important to consider. So you might want to take a peek at this data-rich interactive graph of forecasts for the company. Of course, you might find a fantastic investment by looking elsewhere. So take a peek at this free list of interesting companies. 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 The up-and-coming stock pickers you should have on your radar Welcome back! Dan DeFrancesco in NYC. I NEED YOUR HELP! Send me questions for a mailbag edition of the newsletter coming on Friday. Submit any questions you have via this Google Doc. (It's anonymous.) No personal finance questions, please. Today, we've got stories on who could take over for Morgan Stanley's James Gorman, fashion tips for working on Wall Street, and how to get a beach house on a budget. But first, we've got some people worth keeping an eye on. If this was forwarded to you, sign up here. Download Insider's app here. Four equity researchers in front of a green background jonna_kim/TD Cowen, Mike Brown/KBW, Stephanie Moore/Jefferies, Alex Perry/Bank of America, Tyler Le/Insider 1. Rising stars of equity research. When it comes to equity research, these analysts are a "strong buy." (I'm sorry. I couldn't help myself.) For a third consecutive year, Insider reporters canvassed their sources to identify the rising stars of equity research. This year's list includes 17 sell-side analysts who are 35 and under. The group hails from big and small shops and covers a variety of sectors. You can check out the 2021 list here and the 2022 list here. Much like determining our list of the top investment bankers in 2022, picking equity analysts this year was an interesting exercise. It's one thing when the market is booming. But when stocks are down, research becomes that more critical. Click here to meet our 17 rising stars of equity research. In other news: morgan stanlety big year james gorman 4x3 Andrew Burton/Getty Images; Samantha Lee/Insider 2. Succession plans at Morgan Stanley. James Gorman, the bank's CEO, plans to step down from his role within the next 12 months. (Hmmm, I wonder who could have predicted that.) Here's a look at the two very different execs vying for his job. And for more on Gorman's legacy, click here. 3. Florals? For spring? Groundbreaking. Save yourself the embarrassment and read our guide to how to dress for success on Wall Street. Check out the tips from a Goldman exec-turned-stylist. 4. PE <3 advertising companies. Private-equity firms were a part of more than half the acquisitions in advertising and marketing in 2022. These are the 14 firms that remain most active in the space. 5. Big banks are pitching products that mirror quant trades with great success. The process, known as quantitative investment strategies, amounts to swaps or structured notes that mirror the trading done by quantitative funds, Bloomberg reports. More here. 6. ESG pays, but not in the way you might be thinking. Finance employees with "ESG" or "sustainability" in their titles typically make 20% more than their peers, according to a Reuters report. 7. Microsoft's VC arm is having a tough go of it. A switch in strategy at M12 that led to changes in its compensation structure has caused an exodus of talent. More on what insiders are saying about the upheaval. 8. When expiration dates are just a suggestion. This TikToker details how he eats out-of-date food, including milk 41 days past its use-by date, without getting sick. It's all part of an effort to reduce food waste. More on why the answer to, "Is this still good?" is typically, "Yes." 9. The case against brainstorm meetings. Free up your calendar and ditch the brainstorm meeting, according to this CEO. Here's why the switch actually helped with idea generation. 10. Beachfront bargains. Looking for a beach house that doesn't break the bank? We've got you covered. These are 10 of the cheapest places to nab a beach house in the US. Curated by Dan DeFrancesco in New York. Feedback or tips? Email ddefrancesco@insider.com, tweet @dandefrancesco, or connect on LinkedIn. Edited by Jeffrey Cane (tweet @jeffrey_cane) in New York and Hallam Bullock (tweet @hallam_bullock) in London. Read the original article on Business Insider OVERLAND PARK, Kan., May 22, 2023--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Compass Minerals (NYSE: CMP), a leading global provider of essential minerals, today announced the signing of a binding, multiyear supply agreement to provide Ford Motor Company (Ford; NYSE: F), a global auto manufacturer, with battery-grade lithium carbonate from its Ogden, Utah, lithium brine development project. "We are excited to formalize a long-term relationship with Ford, one of the most trusted and iconic brands in the automotive industry and a leader in the transition to vehicle electrification," said Kevin S. Crutchfield, president and CEO. "We look forward to building an alliance that will support Fords electric vehicle strategy by providing a reliable, domestic lithium supply." Under the agreement, Compass Minerals will deliver up to 40% of its planned, phase-one battery-grade lithium carbonate to Ford for a five-year term once production begins. As previously announced, the company expects an annual commercial production capacity of approximately 35 kMT lithium carbonate equivalent (LCE) once fully operational, with an initial phase-one capacity of approximately 11 kMT battery-grade lithium carbonate coming online in 2025. "This is an exciting period of innovation and growth for EVs," said Lisa Drake, Fords vice president of EV Industrialization, Model e. "The work we are doing with Compass Minerals is promising and a key part of Fords EV growth and the diversification of our sustainable EV supply chain." Compass Minerals is pursuing the sustainable development of an approximately 2.4 mMT LCE resource on the Great Salt Lake, utilizing synergies with its existing sulfate of potash, salt and magnesium chloride production asset. Lithium will be the fourth essential mineral produced from the same unit of brine, bringing additional efficiencies to the operation and value to all stakeholders, including the State of Utah. About Compass Minerals Compass Minerals (NYSE: CMP) is a leading global provider of essential minerals focused on safely delivering where and when it matters to help solve natures challenges for customers and communities. The companys salt products help keep roadways safe during winter weather and are used in numerous other consumer, industrial, chemical and agricultural applications. Its plant nutrition products help improve the quality and yield of crops, while supporting sustainable agriculture. Additionally, the company is pursuing development of a sustainable lithium brine resource to support the North American battery market and is owner of Fortress North America, a next-generation fire retardant company. Compass Minerals operates 12 production and packaging facilities with nearly 2,000 employees throughout the U.S., Canada and the U.K. Visit compassminerals.com for more information about the company and its products. About Ford Motor Company Ford Motor Company (NYSE: F) is a global company based in Dearborn, Michigan, committed to helping build a better world, where every person is free to move and pursue their dreams. The companys Ford+ plan for growth and value creation combines existing strengths, new capabilities and always-on relationships with customers to enrich experiences for customers and deepen their loyalty. Ford develops and delivers innovative, must-have Ford trucks, sport utility vehicles, commercial vans and cars and Lincoln luxury vehicles, along with connected services. The company does that through three customer-centered business segments: Ford Blue, engineering iconic gas-powered and hybrid vehicles; Ford Model e, inventing breakthrough EVs along with embedded software that defines exceptional digital experiences for all customers; and Ford Pro, helping commercial customers transform and expand their businesses with vehicles and services tailored to their needs. Additionally, Ford is pursuing mobility solutions through Ford Next, and provides financial services through Ford Motor Credit Company. Ford employs about 174,000 people worldwide. More information about the company and its products and services is available at corporate.ford.com. Forward Looking Statements and Other Disclaimers This press release may contain forward-looking statements including, without limitation, statements about the company's lithium development project, including its expected production capacity, timing and sustainability. These statements are based on the companys current expectations and involve risks and uncertainties that could cause the companys actual results to differ materially. The differences could be caused by a number of factors including those factors identified in the "Risk Factors" and "Managements Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" sections of the companys Transitional and Quarterly Reports on Forms 10-KT and 10-Q, as well as the companys other SEC filings. The company undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements made in this press release to reflect future events or developments, except as required by law. The company has completed an initial assessment to define the lithium resource at Compass Minerals existing operations in accordance with applicable SEC regulations, including Subpart 1300. Pursuant to Subpart 1300, mineral resources are not mineral reserves and do not have demonstrated economic viability. The companys mineral resource estimates, including estimates of the lithium resource, are based on many factors, including assumptions regarding extraction rates and duration of mining operations, and the quality of in-place resources. For example, the process technology for commercial extraction of lithium from brines with low lithium and high impurity (primarily magnesium) is still developing. Accordingly, there is no certainty that all or any part of the lithium mineral resource identified by the companys initial assessment will be converted into an economically extractable mineral reserve. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230519005431/en/ Contacts Media Contact Rick Axthelm Chief Public Affairs and Sustainability Officer +1.913.344.9198 MediaRelations@compassminerals.com Investor Contact Brent Collins Vice President, Investor Relations +1.913.344.9111 InvestorRelations@compassminerals.com New consulate in Oklahoma City will serve 'vibrant Mexican community' in Oklahoma About a dozen people received their Mexican passports, birth certificates and other government-issued documents Saturday morning as the new Mexican consulate was inaugurated in Oklahoma City. Dignitaries and elected officials, both local and from Mexico, lauded the consulate's opening as a commitment to continue supporting the growing Mexican American population in the state of Oklahoma. Citizens of Mexico living in the state no longer have to make the trek to cities like Dallas; Little Rock, Arkansas; or Kansas City, Missouri, to receive consular services. Javier Rivera, 21, was one of those receiving his Mexican passport on Saturday. He said this is the first major process he's taken on as an adult. "With the new consulate, the process was fast," said Rivera, who lives in Oklahoma City. "Before, we have to go to Dallas and Little Rock and ... the time to to get the appointment is too hard." Gov. Kevin Stitt and Oklahoma City Mayor David Holt watch Saturday as Minister of Foreign Affairs of Mexico Marcelo Ebrard hugs Javier Rivera, the recipient of the first document, at the inauguration of Oklahoma City's Mexican consulate. Foreign representatives present Saturday included Marcelo Ebrard, Mexico's minister of foreign affairs and 2024 presidential candidate; Consul of Mexico in Oklahoma City Edurne Pineda; Ambassador of Mexico to the United States Esteban Moctezuma; and Mexican Undersecretary for North America Roberto Velasco Alvarez. "This is not the beginning," said Ambassador Moctezuma of the new consulate, located just west of downtown at 1131 W Sheridan Ave. "This is the consequence of a vibrant Mexican community in Oklahoma and Oklahoma welcoming this community." Consulate will 'make a huge difference' for thousands of Mexicans in Oklahoma Mexican Undersecretary for North America Roberto Velasco Alvarez and Oklahoma City Mayor David Holt speak Saturday at the inauguration of Oklahoma City's Mexican consulate. At one time, the Mexican American population in Oklahoma was "small but mighty," said Oklahoma City Mayor David Holt. Today, it is "simply, poderoso," or powerful, he said. "Mexican Americans in Oklahoma City are entrepreneurs," Holt said. "They own restaurants and grocery stores and media outlets. They're teachers and priests, police officers, firefighters and elected officials. Mexican Americans are vital contributors to this dynamic city. "And yet this community is still young. We know its potential is great, and that its strength will only grow ... It will be heartening to know that the Mexican American community finally has this place. This consulate, a place the community can point to that bridges two national identities." Gov. Kevin Stitt joins Marcelo Ebrard, minister of foreign affairs of Mexico; and Edurne Pineda, consul of Mexico in Oklahoma City, on Saturday at the inauguration of Oklahoma City's Mexican consulate. Oklahoma Sen. Michael Brooks-Jimenez, who represents the south side of Oklahoma City, shared the story of how his mother's Mexican family came to Oklahoma a century ago. His great-grandfather came to San Antonio to work on the railroads. His great-grandmother and their four children joined him after a few years, but he died shortly after. The 27-year-old widow and her children traveled in a covered wagon to Oklahoma City, where she had family. The Jimenez family has called Oklahoma City home ever since. Clients wait in line Saturday on the first day of Oklahoma City's Mexican consulate. It's not a unique story, said Brooks-Jimenez, who works as an immigration attorney. "I am flattered that the Mexican government has chosen to be able to give to our town, my hometown, a Mexican consulate," he said. "As an immigration attorney, I can tell you that I've seen thousands of people who are going through the same processes and the same journeys as my family. ... This is gonna make a huge difference for thousands of people in the state of Oklahoma." Oklahoma and Mexican values align Edurne Pineda, consul of Mexico in Oklahoma City, speaks Saturday at the inauguration of Oklahoma City's Mexican consulate. Pineda, consul of Mexico in Oklahoma City, said she has been "amazed to learn about the richness of (Oklahoma's) society, culture and economic activity, and the potential and determination you show to continue moving forward." The support the state has shown of the consulate is a testament to the relevance the migrant community holds in Oklahoma, Pineda said. "A community that works hard, shares your values and commits to working shoulder to shoulder with you to build a better Oklahoma," she said. "There is also a large potential to grow the economic trade, cultural and tourist relations between Oklahoma and Mexico. We want to be a conduit for this. We want to be a bridge that helps Oklahoma understand Mexico better, and Mexico understand Oklahoma better." Gov. Kevin Stitt speaks with Minister of Foreign Affairs of Mexico Marcelo Ebrard on Saturday at the inauguration of Oklahoma City's Mexican consulate. Gov. Kevin Stitt who helped put the consulate in motion through 2021 trips to Washington, D.C., and Mexico City said Oklahomans and Mexicans "can learn so much from each other." "Oklahoma values are Mexican values," Stitt said. "It's hard working, entrepreneurship, family-focused, ... God-fearing." This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Oklahoma City's Mexican Consulate now open for business Brazilian exports to Arab countries during the first four months of 2023 have increased 10.33% to $5.7 billion, as compared to $5.16 billion during the same period in 2022. According to the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce (ABCC) the rise in exports reflect the continued increase in demand for Brazilian products across Arab countries, despite the challenges posed by global economic tensions. The top destination for Brazilian exports during this period was the UAE followed by Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Kuwait, and Iraq. The main exported products from Brazil to the Arab World were sugar, poultry, beef, maize, and soybeans. Beef exports According to ABCC, beef exports from Brazil to Arab countries amounted to $356.06 million, with Egypt topping the list with $115.59 million worth of exports. While exports to the UAE stood at $84.29 million, followed by Saudi Arabia at $83.43 million, Kuwait at $4.7 million and Qatar at $5.43 million. Brazilian poultry meat export to the Arab world from January to April 2023 stood at $1.056 billion. The top Arab country for Brazils chicken meat export was Saudi Arabia $275.76 million followed by the UAE $255.15 million, Kuwait $65.42 million, Qatar $41.03 million, and Egypt $66.04 million. Arab nations have been one of the key markets for Brazilian businesses, with agricultural product such as soybeans, corn, poultry, and beef being the most exported. Osmar Chohfi, President of the ABCC, said: We are extremely delighted to have played a significant role in facilitating the growth in exports to Arab countries, which signifies the potential for strengthening trade and investment ties between Brazil and the Arab world. Our goal has always been to promote business and investment opportunities through our numerous initiatives and programs. Market information We have been able to offer Brazilian businesses vital market information, networking opportunities, and assistance with trade promotion so that they can increase their presence across Arab nations. The current growth we are witnessing is a result of these efforts coupled with the strong demand for Brazilian products. We are devoted to fostering business ties between Brazil and the Arab World as we see enormous unrealised potential in this relationship. In addition, Brazilian imports from the Arab countries reached $3.521 billion during this period. As per ABCC, exports from Saudi Arabia to Brazil stood at $1.036 billion, followed by the UAE which amounted $441 million, Qatar stood at $235 million, Egypt recorded $125 million, and Kuwait stood at $89 million.-- TradeArabia News Service Core Laboratories Inc.'s (NYSE:CLB) price-to-earnings (or "P/E") ratio of 42.9x might make it look like a strong sell right now compared to the market in the United States, where around half of the companies have P/E ratios below 14x and even P/E's below 7x are quite common. However, the P/E might be quite high for a reason and it requires further investigation to determine if it's justified. With earnings growth that's superior to most other companies of late, Core Laboratories has been doing relatively well. It seems that many are expecting the strong earnings performance to persist, which has raised the P/E. You'd really hope so, otherwise you're paying a pretty hefty price for no particular reason. See our latest analysis for Core Laboratories Want the full picture on analyst estimates for the company? Then our free report on Core Laboratories will help you uncover what's on the horizon. Is There Enough Growth For Core Laboratories? In order to justify its P/E ratio, Core Laboratories would need to produce outstanding growth well in excess of the market. Taking a look back first, we see that the company grew earnings per share by an impressive 143% last year. However, the latest three year period hasn't been as great in aggregate as it didn't manage to provide any growth at all. So it appears to us that the company has had a mixed result in terms of growing earnings over that time. Looking ahead now, EPS is anticipated to climb by 50% per year during the coming three years according to the eight analysts following the company. That's shaping up to be materially higher than the 11% per year growth forecast for the broader market. In light of this, it's understandable that Core Laboratories' P/E sits above the majority of other companies. Apparently shareholders aren't keen to offload something that is potentially eyeing a more prosperous future. The Key Takeaway It's argued the price-to-earnings ratio is an inferior measure of value within certain industries, but it can be a powerful business sentiment indicator. We've established that Core Laboratories maintains its high P/E on the strength of its forecast growth being higher than the wider market, as expected. At this stage investors feel the potential for a deterioration in earnings isn't great enough to justify a lower P/E ratio. It's hard to see the share price falling strongly in the near future under these circumstances. And what about other risks? Every company has them, and we've spotted 1 warning sign for Core Laboratories you should know about. Of course, you might find a fantastic investment by looking at a few good candidates. So take a peek at this free list of companies with a strong growth track record, trading on a low P/E. Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned. Join A Paid User Research Session Youll receive a US$30 Amazon Gift card for 1 hour of your time while helping us build better investing tools for the individual investors like yourself. Sign up here Everest Re Group, Ltd. (NYSE:RE) will pay a dividend of $1.65 on the 16th of June. Including this payment, the dividend yield on the stock will be 1.8%, which is a modest boost for shareholders' returns. Check out our latest analysis for Everest Re Group Everest Re Group's Dividend Is Well Covered By Earnings If it is predictable over a long period, even low dividend yields can be attractive. However, Everest Re Group's earnings easily cover the dividend. As a result, a large proportion of what it earned was being reinvested back into the business. Looking forward, earnings per share is forecast to rise exponentially over the next year. If the dividend continues along recent trends, we estimate the payout ratio will be 12%, so there isn't too much pressure on the dividend. Everest Re Group Has A Solid Track Record The company has a sustained record of paying dividends with very little fluctuation. The annual payment during the last 10 years was $1.92 in 2013, and the most recent fiscal year payment was $6.60. This implies that the company grew its distributions at a yearly rate of about 13% over that duration. So, dividends have been growing pretty quickly, and even more impressively, they haven't experienced any notable falls during this period. The Dividend Has Growth Potential Some investors will be chomping at the bit to buy some of the company's stock based on its dividend history. Everest Re Group has seen EPS rising for the last five years, at 9.8% per annum. Everest Re Group definitely has the potential to grow its dividend in the future with earnings on an uptrend and a low payout ratio. An additional note is that the company has been raising capital by issuing stock equal to 10% of shares outstanding in the last 12 months. Regularly doing this can be detrimental - it's hard to grow dividends per share when new shares are regularly being created. We Really Like Everest Re Group's Dividend Overall, we like to see the dividend staying consistent, and we think Everest Re Group might even raise payments in the future. Distributions are quite easily covered by earnings, which are also being converted to cash flows. Taking this all into consideration, this looks like it could be a good dividend opportunity. Investors generally tend to favour companies with a consistent, stable dividend policy as opposed to those operating an irregular one. However, there are other things to consider for investors when analysing stock performance. As an example, we've identified 2 warning signs for Everest Re Group that you should be aware of before investing. Looking for more high-yielding dividend ideas? Try our collection of strong dividend payers. 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 Factbox-The key executives at JPMorgan setting bank strategy after First Republic takeover FILE PHOTO: Reuters interviews JPMorgan Chase & Co. CEO Jamie Dimon in Miami, Florida By Nupur Anand NEW YORK (Reuters) -JPMorgan Chase & Co executives expect the bank's net interest income to rise by $3 billion this year on its takeover of failed First Republic Bank, which has made the biggest U.S. bank even bigger. CEO Jamie Dimon and other top executives are presenting their strategies at an investor day at its headquarters in New York on Monday. The gathering comes at a time when investors are concerned about an economic slowdown, and the possibility the debt ceiling will not be lifted and the U.S. unable to pay all of its debts. Here are biographies of key leaders, based on company documents, statements and Reuters reports. JAMIE DIMON, CEO Dimon has been at the helm for 17 years, steering the bank through the 2008 financial crisis before playing another major role in the industry this year as it was roiled by bank failures. Arguably Wall Street's most prominent executive, the 67-year-old CEO is also a leading voice in corporate America. He is often asked to weigh in on economic, business and public policy issues and presents his views in an annual letter, which ran to 43 pages this year. Dimon is known for being a larger-than-life personality who occasionally curses during public appearances. He has a meticulous attention for detail and sets a high bar for performance among the company's employees. Throughout his tenure, Dimon has repeatedly said he would hand over the reins in five years, but several executives who were viewed as potential successors have left for other opportunities. Dimon, who earned $34.5 million in 2022, also has a financial incentive to stay. The bank's board awarded him a retention bonus of 1.5 million in stock options in 2021 that can only be exercised in 2026. Analysts' questions about the company's succession plans may become more pointed after Morgan Stanley CEO James Gorman said on Friday he would step down within a year. DANIEL PINTO, President and Chief Operating Officer Pinto has spent his entire four-decade career at JPMorgan or its predecessor companies. He was promoted to president and COO in 2018 and ran the bank when Dimon had emergency heart surgery in 2020. Pinto was identified "as a key executive who is immediately ready to step into the role of sole CEO, should the need arise in the near-term," according to a company filing. The executive rose through the trading business, running emerging markets, credit and fixed income. He became the head of its corporate and investment bank in 2014. MARIANNE LAKE, CO-CEO OF CONSUMER AND COMMUNITY BANKING Lake jointly leads the consumer and community bank with Jennifer Piepszak. Lake previously served as finance chief from 2013 to 2019. The consumer division accounts for the bank's largest chunk of revenue, bringing in $16.5 billion in the first quarter. Lake, a two-decade veteran of the firm, "has all of the qualities of a great leader," Dimon has said, such as being demanding, drawing information out of people, recognizing talent and also challenging Dimon when she believes he is wrong. JENNIFER PIEPSZAK, CO-CEO OF CONSUMER AND COMMUNITY BANKING Piepszak, who has been with the bank for nearly three decades, was its chief financial officer from 2019 to 2021. She has held leadership roles across major units, including CEO of its card services and business banking divisions. Lake and Piepszak are among the executives in charge of integrating First Republic Bank after it was shuttered by authorities on May 1. JPMorgan agreed to undertake $173 billion of the failed bank's loans, $30 billion of securities and $92 billion of deposits. JPMorgan has not made acquisitions of this scale since its crisis-era takeovers of Bear Stearns and Washington Mutual. JEREMY BARNUM, CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER Barnum was promoted to CFO in 2021 after leading global research. Dimon has described Barnum as an "extraordinary talent" known for his "deep intellect and integrity." The finance chief joined JPMorgan in 1994, serving in various roles including CFO and chief of staff for the investment bank. In 2005 he was let go in a broader restructuring of the credit-trading business, which had a difficult previous year. He then headed the London office of hedge fund Blue Mountain Capital Management before returning to JPMorgan as a trader in 2007. DOUG PETNO, CEO OF COMMERCIAL BANKING Doug Petno has been at the bank for more than three decades. He runs a unit that has more than 18,000 clients, including mid-sized businesses and corporations, government entities and non-profits and more than 33,000 real estate investors or owners. He previously led JPMorgan's investment banking group covering natural resources. LORI BEER, GLOBAL CHIEF INFORMATION OFFICER Lori Beer is the bank's global chief information officer, a role she took up in September 2017. She managers 57,000 technologists overseeing the lender's technology systems and infrastructure worldwide. She joined the bank in 2014. MARY CALLAHAN ERDOES, CEO OF ASSET AND WEALTH MANAGEMENT Mary Callahan Erdoes leads JPMorgan's asset and wealth management (AWM) business, a unit that oversees over $4.3 trillion of assets for clients that include corporations, governments and others. During her 25 year-stint at the bank, she held several senior roles in the AWM division before becoming its CEO in 2009. (Reporting by Nupur Anand in New York; Editing by Lananh Nguyen, Chris Reese and Lisa Shumaker) (Bloomberg) -- Investors have jacked up sharply the premium they demand to hold US paper thats most at risk of default if Congress and the White House fail to strike a deal on the debt ceiling. Most Read from Bloomberg While broader financial markets remained relatively sanguine still about the prospect of a resolution eventually being found, the yields on securities maturing in early June have leaped once more. The rates on June 6 bills jumped more than 40 basis points on the day to around 5.84% and June 1 instruments were up over 30 basis points at 5.65%, showing that investors are shunning instruments that would be among the first to default if the administration were to exhaust its borrowing headroom early in the window that Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has warned about. The moves come as negotiations between the White House and Congressional leadership grind on, with President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy set to meet later on Monday. They also follow fresh warnings from Yellen, who said over the weekend that the odds of the US being able to pay all of its bills by June 15 are quite low in the absence of a debt-ceiling fix. The Treasury Secretary said in a new letter on Monday that its now highly likely that her department will run out of sufficient cash in early June, and repeated her warning that the moment could come as soon as June 1. Meanwhile, time is running out. The Treasurys combined fiscal resources the cash balance and extraordinary measures used to remain below the $31.4 trillion ceiling continue to dwindle and the window for Congress to get legislation through is narrowing. The amount of cash in the government checking account rebounded to around $61 billion as of Friday, providing a modicum of respite as it seeks to eke out funding until a solution can be found to the ongoing debt-limit impasse. It had just $92 billion of special accounting gimmicks up its sleeve at the end of last Wednesday. If Mondays Biden-McCarthy meeting fails to produce a pathway to an agreement, market volatility could increase on fears that Washington might not reach a deal before the X-date, Stifel strategist Brian Gardner wrote in a note to clients, using the term for the point at which the government says it can no longer be assured of fulfilling its obligations. The chances of reaching a deal by the end of the week are uncertain, given the apparent lack of urgency among significant blocks of lawmakers on both sides of the aisle. Wrightson ICAP projects that the combination of the cash balance and the remaining extraordinary measures numbers will drop below $50 billion on June 1 and fall further to the $25 billion to $30 billion range on June 8 and 9. If that happens, the administration could potentially struggle to make it through to its next big expected infusion of tax receipts around June 15. The June 1 forecast is low enough to be concerning, Wrightson ICAP economist Lou Crandall wrote in a note to clients. The even lower estimates for the following week would probably force the Treasury to take preemptive steps to prepare for potential payment delays. Day-to-day projections for Treasury cash and borrowing room for the first 10 days of June become more important as we get closer to the danger zone, he wrote. Of course, T-bills maturing after the potential so-called X-date when the Treasury runs out of room to maneuver have been trading with a significant yield premium for some time because of concerns about a default. But that premium has grown and the most notable dislocations are for securities those due in June. The cost of insuring US sovereign debt against default with derivatives has also risen, signaling heightened risk, and attention is also beginning to turn to the major credit-rating agencies to see how they might react if the standoff goes down to the wire. Back in 2011, Standard & Poors opted to strip the US of its AAA rating even as a last minute solution to that years ceiling crisis was found, although Moodys Investors Service and Fitch Ratings maintained their top scores for the country. Moodys said last Wednesday that it was hearing the right things out of Washington, but the negotiations in the national capital have, of course, ebbed and flowed since then. From Washington to Wall Street, heres what to watch to gauge how worried observers should be and when they should be concerned. The Bills Curve Investors have historically demanded higher yields on securities that are due to be repaid shortly after the US is seen as running out of borrowing capacity. That puts a lot of focus on the yield curve for bills the shortest-dated Treasuries. Noticeable upward distortions in particular parts of the curve tend to suggest increased concern among investors that thats the time the US might be at risk of default. Right now thats most prominent around early June. Yields pared their advance on Thursday amid optimism about a deal, but that drop has since been reversed. Its not just early June securities that investors are circumspect about. Even if the Treasury can make it past the early June danger zone, there are still risks of a default during the US summer if no legislative fix is found. As a result, sales of slightly longer-dated bills are also lackluster: Mondays offering of three-month bills went off at its highest yield since early 2001. Related Story: Yellen Doubts US Could Still Pay All of Its Bills by June 15 X-Date Predictions Underpinning the various moves in debt markets are differing estimates about when the government might exhaust its options to fund itself commonly referred to as the X-date. While the administration has provided guidance that it might fall short as soon as June, prognosticators across Wall Street have also been running the numbers based on government cash flows and expectations around taxes and spending. Most strategists have pulled forward their baseline estimates to align more with forecasts out of Washington, although some remain hopeful that the Treasury might be able to stretch its resources until late summer. Related Story: Goldman Says Treasury Will Drop Under Its Cash Minimum June 8-9 The Cash Balance The US governments ability to pay its debts and meet its spending obligations ultimately comes down to whether it has enough cash. So the amount sitting in its checking account is crucial. That figure fluctuates daily depending on spending, tax receipts, debt repayments and the proceeds of new borrowing. If it gets too close to zero for the Treasurys comfort that could be a problem. The amount of money the US government has to pay its bills rose modestly at the end of last week, providing a modicum of respite as it seeks to eke out funding until a solution can be found to the ongoing debt-limit impasse. Related Story: Biden-McCarthy Meeting Tees Up Tense Week of Debt-Limit Talks Insuring Against Default Beyond T-bills, one other key area to watch for insight on debt-ceiling risks is what happens in credit-default swaps for the US government. Those instruments act as insurance for investors in cases of non-payment. The cost to insure US debt is now higher than the bonds of among others Greece, Mexico and Brazil, which have defaulted multiple times and have credit ratings many rungs below that of the US. Related Story: US Default Insurance Cost Eclipses Brazil, Mexico as X-Day Nears (Adds Yellen comments, latest Treasury cash balance.) Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2023 Bloomberg L.P. Fluent Cargo launches new FreightTech offering. (Photo: Jim Allen/FreightWaves) Melbourne, Australia-based Fluent Cargo recently launched its multimodal technology focused on advising and educating global shippers on their route planning decisions. Inspired by the traveler site Rome2Rio, leadership founded the company in 2021 to offer a more transparent, user-friendly solution for small to medium-size shippers and freight forwarders. We want [global shipping] to be self-explanatory, easy to navigate and easy for you to find the answer you are looking for, Maja Bernstein, vice president of industry relations at Fluent Cargo, told FreightWaves. We believe enabling the user to see all ocean results, air results, transit times and different route options will help spark the creativity of our industry and help you think differently about what all your routing options actually are. Bernstein, whose father co-founded the company, explained that transparency of choices pairs well with the freight industry just as it does with personal travel. We wanted to create something to expedite what a forwarder has to go through, checking a million different sites or platforms. We want them to choose the best route for their needs so we consolidate as many choices for them as we can, she said. Features available today include route and schedule searching. By simply entering an airport, seaport, city or country, forwarders can see a mix of options, giving them the capability to make the best choice based on all information provided. Fluent Cargos recently launched platform. (Gif: Fluent Cargo) As the company continues to add features, it will provide two-tiered plans for certain premium features, but company officials told FreightWaves they believe they will always have a free plan to inspire freight forwarders to think differently about their supply chains. We know from our survey of how the industry performs pre-shipment research that freight forwarders spend many hours each week searching for routes, carriers, schedules and prices, visiting multiple sites to gather the data, then more time on other sites double-checking their findings. They can do all of that in minutes using Fluent Cargo, said CTO Andy Greig. Watch now: Why ocean container volume recovery wont be fast Throughout the next quarter, customers can expect updates to the system including scheduling a whole week of container pickups, vessel sharing agreements, alliances and feeder network integrations, and routing guidance for river barges, rail options and domestic trucking rates. Bernstein, who gets to take her experience from previous ocean shipping work and translate it into technology, is excited to be involved in developing a tool that can help smaller freight forwarders compete. Seeing the amount of time and information that goes into creating our unique algorithm to be able to parse through all of this data and provide these results in milliseconds. I think it is just really exciting to be a part of this new approach. Articles by Grace Sharkey Read more SAP launches AI solutions for future-proofing supply chains Archlynk acquires WCS Consulting to raise bar on supply chain solutions Robotics firm Mujin unveils automated unloader at ProMat The post Fluent Cargo launches site for freight forwarding transparency appeared first on FreightWaves. By Joseph White, David Shepardson and Ernest Scheyder DEARBORN, Michigan (Reuters) - Ford Motor Co on Monday unveiled an ambitious strategy to profitably ramp up electric vehicle sales but faces a challenge to slash $7 billion in costs and regain credibility on Wall Street. "You're not going to believe us until we start delivering it," Ford Chief Financial Officer John Lawler said at an investor day presentation. "Because we've told you this before. That's the truth. We have and we haven't delivered. So we have to prove it. We can talk about it, but we have to prove it." Ford, whose shares fell 1% at midday, estimated its total costs are $7 billion higher than its competition. Ford also unveiled new supply deals for battery-grade lithium as the U.S. automaker aimed to meet its target of producing 2 million electric vehicles by 2026, closing the gap on market leader Tesla Inc. "We're so far behind on waste and cost," Ford CEO Jim Farley said. In February, Ford predicted a difficult 2023, blaming chip shortages and other supply chain issues and production "instabilities" that raised costs. North American automakers are racing to secure supplies of battery materials to boost EV output as demand surges for environmentally friendly vehicles, and to take advantage of U.S. tax credits. The deals announced Monday mark an expanded bet by Ford on direct lithium extraction (DLE) technology, an emerging crop of unproven filtration technologies aimed at revolutionizing how the metal is produced for the EV industry. Under their terms, Albemarle Corp and Nemaska Lithium will supply lithium hydroxide, a primary ingredient in the cathode of lithium-ion batteries, over five and 11 years respectively. Albemarle will supply more than 100,000 metric tons of lithium hydroxide for about 3 million future Ford EV batteries, the companies said. Albemarle shares rose 1.5% to $207.20. Ford Vice President Lisa Drake said the agreements carried significantly less risk that relying on investments in junior producers. Lithium, a key component in most modern EV batteries, has a higher energy density than traditional battery inputs, allowing batteries to be compact with higher storage capacity, crucial to ensure long distances between charging. Under other deals, privately held EnergySource Minerals will supply Ford with lithium hydroxide from its Imperial Valley, California site, which is expected to be operational in 2025, it said, while Compass Minerals will provide lithium carbonate. Doubts linger on Wall Street about legacy automakers' ability to hit the lofty targets set for EV production. Ford has said it would have a global capacity to build 600,000 EVs by the end of 2023. The U.S. automaker on Monday reaffirmed its full-year forecast of $9 billion to $11 billion of adjusted earnings before interest and taxes and about $6 billion in adjusted free cash flow. It continues to expect its electric vehicle unit to lose $3 billion this year. Ford said its next-generation electric truck will have a 30% lower labor and overhead cost than its current gas-powered truck. Nemaska Lithium is equally owned by the Quebec government's economic development agency Investissement Quebec and lithium company Livent. Ford will be its first customer. Chile's SQM, the world's second-largest lithium producer after Albemarle, signed its own long-term supply agreement with Ford on Monday, though neither company specified the number of years. (Reporting by Abhijith Ganapavaram and Shivansh Tiwary in Bengaluru; Additional reporting by Joe White in Dearborn, Michigan, David Shepardson in Washington and Ernest Scheyder in Houston; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila, Bernadette Baum, Jan Harvey and Richard Chang) ForFarmers N.V. Lochem, 22 May 2023 ForFarmers N.V. (ForFarmers) has repurchased 26,906 shares in the period from 15 May 2023 through 19 May 2023. The shares were repurchased at an average price of 2.91 per share, for a total amount of 78,406. These repurchases were made in accordance with the authorisation granted by the ForFarmers Annual General Meeting of Shareholders on 13 April 2023. The authorisation concerns the buy-back of shares for ForFarmers to fulfil its obligations arising from (depositary receipts for) share-related incentive schemes and obligations from employee participation plans 2022. It concerns a maximum of 625,000 shares, for a maximum amount of 3,125,000. The total number of shares that has been repurchased to date according to these programmes is 126,014 shares, for a total amount of 363,521. Please note that the next share buy-back programme update (for shares purchased between 22-26 May 2023) will be released on 30 May 2023 as 29 May 2023 is a public holiday in the Netherlands. More information about the share buy-back programme is available on the ForFarmers website www.forfarmersgroup.eu/en . This press release contains information that qualifies as inside information in the sense of Article 7 paragraph 1 of the EU Market Abuse Regulation. Download the weekly report regarding progress of share buy-back programme (including the individual transactions) Note to the editor / For additional information: Caroline Vogelzang, Director Investor Relations T: 0031 573 288 194 M: 0031 6 10 94 91 61 E: caroline.vogelzang@forfarmers.eu About ForFarmers N.V. ForFarmers N.V. is an international organisation that offers complete and innovative feed solutions for livestock farming. With its For the Future of Farming mission, ForFarmers is committed to the continuity of farming and further sustainalising the agricultural sector. ForFarmers is the market leader in Europe with annual sales of approximately 9 million tons of animal feed. The company is operating in the Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, Poland and the United Kingdom. ForFarmers has approximately 2,500 employees. In 2022, the turnover amounted to approximately 3.3 billion. ForFarmers N.V. is listed on Euronext Amsterdam. ForFarmers N.V., P.O. Box 91, 7240 AB Lochem, T: +31 (0)573 28 88 00, F: +31 (0)573 28 88 99, info@forfarmers.eu , www.forfarmersgroup.eu FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS This press release contains forward-looking statements, including those relating to ForFarmers legal obligations in terms of capital and liquidity positions in certain specified scenarios. In addition, forward-looking statements, without limitation, may include such phrases as intends to, "expects, takes into account, "is aimed at, ''plans to, "estimated" and words with a similar meaning. These statements pertain to or may affect matters in the future, such as ForFarmers future financial results, business plans and current strategies. Forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, which may mean that there could be material differences between actual results and performance and expected future results or performances that are implicitly or explicitly included in the forward-looking statements. Factors that may result in variations on the current expectations or may contribute to the same include but are not limited to: developments in legislation, technology, jurisprudence and regulations, share price fluctuations, legal procedures, investigations by regulatory bodies, the competitive landscape and general economic conditions. These and other factors, risks and uncertainties that may affect any forward-looking statements or the actual results of ForFarmers, are discussed in the last published annual report. The forward-looking statements in this press release are only statements as of the date of this document and ForFarmers accepts no obligation or responsibility with respect to any changes made to the forward-looking statements contained in this document, regardless of whether these pertain to new information, future events or otherwise, unless ForFarmers is legally obliged to do so. NEWARK, Del., May 22, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- ENT & Allergy of Delaware, a Parallel ENT & Allergy supported practice, proudly announces the recognition of four practice physicians as "Top Doctors" by Philadelphia Magazine for 2023. The Top Doctors recognition is a peer-nominated distinction. ENT & Allergy of Delaware (PRNewsfoto/Parallel ENT & Allergy Partners) Founded in 2010, ENT & Allergy of Delaware is a leader in quality ENT, allergy, and audiology care in the Mid-Atlantic region. The practice has a preeminent team of 17 board-certified physicians, 12 audiologists, and over 140 support staff. ENT & Allergy of Delaware offers comprehensive ear, nose, and throat care. The practice also offers allergy testing and treatment, audiology, and hearing aid services. ENT & Allergy of Delaware's Top Doctors for 2023 Sokun Ky Bhatti, MD Sokun Ky Bhatti, MD is a board-certified Allergist and Immunologist. This is the second year she has earned Top Doctor status in the Philadelphia region. Dr. Bhatti grew up in the Philadelphia area and attended Villanova University where she graduated Magna Cum Laude in Biology. She received her medical degree from Jefferson Medical College and then completed an Internal Medicine residency at University Hospitals in Cleveland, Ohio. She went on to Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center in North Carolina for her Allergy and Immunology Fellowship. After fellowship, she joined the Allergy and Asthma Center of North Carolina where she was a partner prior to moving to the Northeast in 2020. In addition to a busy clinical practice where she sees adult and pediatric patients with a range of allergic and immunologic conditions, she also is a guest lecturer at the University of Delaware Speech Pathology graduate program. Dr. Bhatti is a Fellow of the American College of Allergy and Immunology and a member of the American Academy of Allergy Asthma and Immunology. Kieran Connolly, MD Kieran Connolly, MD is a board-certified Otolaryngologist and Head and Neck Surgeon. This is the fifth consecutive year Dr. Connolly is recognized as a Top Doctor in the Philadelphia region. He has also received Top Doctor recognition in Delaware Today seven times. Dr. Connolly spent much of his childhood in Wilmington, Delaware, but also lived in the Philippines and Japan. He has been in practice in Delaware for 22 years. He received his undergraduate degree from the University of Delaware and went on to receive his medical education at Jefferson Medical College. He completed his residency at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center, where he also served as chief resident. He is a member of the Alpha Omega Alpha and Hobart Armory Hare medical honor societies. He is one of the founding members of ENT and Allergy of Delaware where he had a leadership role since its inception. Dr. Connolly served as the Chief of the Section of Otolaryngology and Head and Neck Surgery at Christiana Care Health System from 2016 until 2023. He is also on the Board of Directors of Delaware Outpatient Center for Surgery. He is an attending physician at Christiana Care and St. Francis Hospital in Wilmington, Delaware. Neil Hockstein, MD Neil Hockstein, MD is a board-certified Otolaryngologist and Head and Neck Surgeon. This is the fifth consecutive year that Dr. Hockstein earned Top Doctor recognition in the Philadelphia region. He also earned Top Doctor recognition from Delaware Today every year since 2009 (13 years). Dr. Hockstein is one of the founders and practice leaders of ENT & Allergy of Delaware. He is a member of the Board of Directors for Parallel ENT & Allergy, a national practice management organization for ENT and allergy practices. Dr. Hockstein is the Medical Director of Surgical Subspecialty Care for the Christiana Care Health System in Newark, Delaware. He is also the Director of Head and Neck Multidisciplinary Care for the Helen F. Graham Cancer Center at Christiana Care. He is an attending physician at Christina Care and St. Francis Hospital in Wilmington, Delaware. Dr. Hockstein is an active volunteer and teacher, and he has been recognized with an impressive list of awards and honors for his work. Most recently he served as a panelist before the U.S. Surgeon General regarding physician burnout. He also served as a panelist before the Delaware Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights on The Covid-19 Impact on People of Color in Delaware. Dr. Hockstein received his undergraduate degree from Johns Hopkins University and went on to graduate with honors from Jefferson Medical College. He completed his residency at the University of Pennsylvania where he served as chief resident. He has published over 45 articles in peer-reviewed medical journals and has lectured across the country on the treatment of sinus disease and head and neck cancer. Professionally, Dr. Hockstein most enjoys the day-to-day care and rapport with his patients. David Kennedy, MD Board-certified Otolaryngologist David Kennedy, MD is known for his work in pioneering endoscopic sinus surgery and minimally invasive endoscopic skull base surgery. Dr. Kennedy has earned Top Doctor recognition 20 years consecutively, which is every year Philadelphia Magazine has given the award. He has also earned Top Doctor status for many years by Delaware Today. Previously Dr. Kennedy served as Chair of the Department of Otorhinolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery and Vice Dean at the University of Pennsylvania where he also continues clinical practice as a Professor. He is a Past President of the American Academy of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery, the American Rhinologic Society, the International Rhinologic Society and the International Symposium of Inflammation and Allergy of the Nose (ISIAN). He is a prior recipient of the AAO-HNS Board of Governors Practitioner Excellence Award. He earned the 2010 National Physician of the Year for Clinical Excellence by Castle Connolly, Publishers of America's Top Doctors. He is included by the American College of Surgeons as one of the 100 most influential surgeons of the 20th Century. About Philadelphia Magazine's "Top Doctors" List Each year, Philadelphia Magazine partners with healthcare researcher Castle Connolly Medical Ltd. to create a definitive list of the best doctors in the Philadelphia region. Castle Connolly has more than 30 years of experience researching, reviewing, and selecting Top Doctors. The goal is to help people find the best health care by connecting patients with best-in-class providers. Castle Connolly's physician-led team of researchers follows a rigorous screening process to select top doctors on both the national and regional levels. Its online nomination process is open to all licensed physicians in America. Participants are able to nominate physicians in any medical specialty and in any part of the country. Castle Connolly's research team thoroughly vets each physician's professional qualifications, education, hospital and faculty appointments, research leadership, professional reputation, disciplinary history and, if available, outcomes data. The Castle Connolly Doctor Directory is the largest network of peer-nominated physicians in the nation. About Parallel ENT & Allergy Parallel ENT & Allergy is a physician-centric practice management organization for ENT and allergy practices. Parallel provides strategic, operational, and administrative support, so physicians can spend less time worrying about the business of medicine and more time caring for their patients. Parallel ENT & Allergy is backed by Trinity Hunt Partners, a growth-oriented private equity firm with deep healthcare experience. To learn more about Parallel ENT & Allergy, or to inquire about becoming a supported practice, visit https://parallelenta.com/. Press Contact: Suz Murphy Parallel ENT & Allergy Marketing smurphy@parallelenta.com 630.667.7587 Parallel ENT & Allergy (PRNewsfoto/Parallel ENT & Allergy Partners) Cision View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/four-physicians-from-ent--allergy-of-delaware-are-recognized-as-top-doctors-by-philadelphia-magazine-for-2023-301831318.html SOURCE Parallel ENT & Allergy Partners (Bloomberg) The US is hurtling toward a credit default that pundits universally agree would be catastrophic for the economy and financial markets. So why is the S&P 500 treading water near a nine-month high? Most Read from Bloomberg Game theory offers some insight, according to analysts at Citigroup. Simply put, investors could unload risk assets now and force negotiators into a deal and then immediately regret that they sold. Holding tight, though, could lead to an impasse that eventually craters the economy and markets. Investors shouldnt be seeking to game the politicians into a solution that is a risky and uncertain proposition at best, wrote analysts led by Nathan Sheets. Rather, with or without an immediate market response, the debt ceiling brings heightened economic and financial uncertainty and other pressures. And investors are well-advised to respond to that reality, as dictated by their investment horizons and appetite for risk. The S&P 500, currently hovering just above 4,200, is around its highest level in nine months, propelled, in part, by news that lawmakers were making some progress on debt-ceiling talks in recent days. President Joe Biden will again meet with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy on Monday. Meanwhile, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said the US is unlikely to reach mid-June and still be able to pay its bills, underscoring the urgency of reaching a deal. The reason that the market has held up is because most people on Wall Street dont believe Congress is that stupid, and that simply this is another example of Congress teaching Hollywood a thing or two about drama, said Sam Stovall, chief investment strategist at CFRA. In the end, they will come to an agreement and I believe that is why the market is remaining fairly resilient only the most bearish of bears, the most cynical of cynics believe that the extremists in DC want us to go into default. Stocks could rally after a resolution has been reached, he added. Since 2011, a meaningful stock-market decline has typically been required to force policymakers to come to an agreement, according to Lori Calvasina, head of US equity strategy at RBC Capital Markets. Those drawdowns have varied anywhere between 5-6% to 10-19% during what she calls higher-drama years. Still, angst around the debt ceiling has given investors a reason to rotate out of growth and into value, helping backstop the S&P 500, she said. If Washington does manage to get a deal done, this will likely remove a key downside risk for the stock market and is likely to cause the bears to quiet down, Calvasina wrote in a note. Others point out that market gains are capped right now thanks to worries around the debt ceiling. The overhang is putting a lid on the market right now, according to Elyse Ausenbaugh, a global investment strategist at JPMorgan Wealth Management. So long as we get a resolution to the debt ceiling which is our base case we do think that its possible in the near-term you actually see the S&P 500 break above our year-end target of 4,300, she told Bloomberg TV. Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2023 Bloomberg L.P. For graduation 2023, Krispy Kreme is giving away free donuts to high school, college seniors Krispy Kreme is giving high school and college graduates a free dozen original glazed donuts. To get their graduation gift, seniors just wear a graduation cap or gown, or Class of 2023 clothing or ring into a participating Krispy Kreme location Wednesday, May 24, while supplies last. There's no "Pomp and Circumstance" needed for high school and college graduating seniors to get a graduation present from Krispy Kreme. Krispy Kreme's present for graduates? A free dozen original glazed donuts. To get their graduation gift, seniors just wear Class of 2023 clothing or swag such as a T-shirt or class ring sure you can wear your formal graduation cap and gown, if you prefer into a participating Krispy Kreme location Wednesday, May 24, while supplies last. It's the fourth consecutive year, Krispy Kreme has honored graduates. This year, the donuts come with a "Dough-ploma" sleeve around the box. "We started this during the COVID-19 pandemic, and we havent forgotten that the lives of this years graduates were heavily impacted by the pandemic," said Dave Skena, Krispy Kreme's global chief brand officer, in a statement. "We are thrilled to celebrate their perseverance and spirit the best way we know how: free Original Glazed doughnuts." After you get your donuts, you can share pictures on social media by tagging @krispykreme and using the hashtag #KrispyKreme. More from USA TODAY Follow Mike Snider on Twitter: @mikesnider. What's everyone talking about? Sign up for our trending newsletter to get the latest news of the day This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Graduation 2023: Krispy Kreme gives graduates a free dozen donuts Brazilian mining group Vale has signed a land reservation agreement with Port of Duqm Company as well as a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Marafiq to establish an integrated industrial complex in the Special Economic Zone at Duqm (Sezad). The upcoming facility will be producing low-carbon products for the steelmaking industry, it stated. The land reservation agreement commissions joint studies to build a Mega Hub in Oman, while the MoU is aimed at providing the project with access to all the utilities and services required for its operations, while promoting the use of clean energy and green hydrogen at the port of Duqm. Vale CEO Eduardo Bartolomeo signed the agreement with Port of Duqms CEO Reggy Vermeulen and the MoU with Marafiq Managing Director Engineer Abdullah Mohammed Al Hashmi. "The signing of these agreements marks a significant milestone in establishing Vale as a leader in sustainable mining," stated Bartolomeo. "We are thrilled about the prospects the planned Mega Hub presents in supporting the steel industrys drive towards greener operations. The Port of Duqm, a growing key industrial hub in Oman, is perfectly positioned to support our expansion plans, and we are excited to demonstrate the potential of Oman and Duqm as an attractive proposition for foreign direct investment," he added. Sezad Deputy Chairman Engineer Ahmed Hassan Al Dheeb said the project was expected to produce raw materials for steel industries. "All parties involved in the project are taking keen interest in enhancing the use of clean energy and green hydrogen in the facilities that will be established," he added. On the deal, Vermeulen said: "We are pleased that the Mega Hub will be established in the Port of Duqm. The strategic location of our port on key international trade routes, its proximity to large regional markets including India, Africa and GCC countries, and its world-class infrastructure make it an ideal location to establish such major industrial projects." "The Port of Duqm is also set to be a future hub for green hydrogen and its derivatives. We are optimistic that it will quickly emerge as a destination of choice for green steel manufacturing," he added.-TradeArabia News Service ~Dignitaries and Distinguished Guests Gathered for an Exhilarating Event, Honoring the Legends of the Past While Celebrating the Future of Jamaica's Tourism~ OCHO RIOS, Jamaica, May 22, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Under the transformational light of a new moon, Sandals Resorts International (SRI) unveiled its latest resort, the all-new 260-room Sandals Dunn's River , with a celebration befitting its legendary lore in Jamaica 's tourism history. The night brought together leaders in the Caribbean, valued members of the Sandals Resorts family, and Jamaica's most quintessential performers including GRAMMY-Award winning artist Shaggy and The Voice winner Tessanne Chin to commemorate the next chapter in the new resort's storied history. The Hon. Andrew Holness, Prime Minister of Jamaica (center); Adam Stewart, Exec Chair of Sandals Resorts; and Dr. Ralph Gonsalves, Prime Minister of St. Vincent & the Grenadines. From L to R: Deryk Meany, GM; Gebhard Rainer, CEO, SRI; Nigel Clarke, Min. of Finance; Mark Golding, Leader of the Opposition; Edmund Bartlett, Min. of Tourism; Karl Samuda, Min. of Labour and Social Security; and Marsha Smith, State Min. in the Ministry of Finance and the Public Service and the Member of Parliament. "This is the place where everything began for Sandals Resorts, and from where we stand, it's a stunning representation of where we're headed," said Adam Stewart, Executive Chairman of Sandals Resorts. "Sandals Dunn's River is the continuation of my father's journey to better. It is a hero's tale about an ambitious boy who began selling fish to local resorts and how he went on to change how people prefer to vacation, making Jamaica and the Caribbean the centerpiece of his efforts. It is an epic story about an incredible person who continues to inspire us to dream bigger, do more, be better. It is the stuff of legends and that is what this evening is all about," said Stewart. Prime Ministers, including The Most Honourable Andrew Michael Holness of Jamaica and The Honourable Ralph Gonsalves of St. Vincent and the Grenadines; Ministers of Government including Minister of Tourism of Jamaica The Honourable Edmund Bartlett; and local dignitaries from across the Caribbean region, as well as other distinguished guests, joined together with Stewart, SRI CEO Gebhard Rainer and other members of the Sandals Resorts team for an official invocation of the resort and a momentous ribbon cutting ceremony, toasting to the future of luxury tourism in Ocho Rios. Prime Minister Holness in his main address recalled his conversation with the late Gordon 'Butch' Stewart about purchasing the property. "It is such an impressive thing to see a dream come to reality and if there is one thing you could say about Gordon 'Butch' Stewart, it's that he was a dreamer. He was also a doer that will bring that dream to fruition, a man who will always get the job done. We are standing here literally living in 'Butch' Stewart's dream," he said. A Tribute to a Legendary Past, A Celebration of the Future Surrounded by the sounds of flowing water and tropical birds and under a canopy of thatched branches invoking the lush Jamaican rainforest, guests were met with cocktails expertly crafted with local ingredients paired with an array of cuisines from the resort's restaurants, including concepts entirely new to the Sandals brand. The evening was a nod to the resort's earlier days as the Arawak Hotel, built in 1957, and originally designed by visionary architect Morris Lapidus, whose joyful, flamboyant designs defined the epitome of 1950s and 1960s Caribbean chic. The event themed the "Return of a Legend," featured an experience and vibe artfully recreated for the event. The outdoor spaces of the luxury all-inclusive resort were transformed into a retro supper club, complete with lounge music, glittering gold accents, vibrant green palms and SWAG servers a new take on the 'cigarette servers' from decades past. Melodies from a 40-member choir from the University of the West Indies, the Edna Manley College and the Ashe Company, featured a spanning tribute to Sandals late founder, Gordon 'Butch' Stewart, honoring a life well lived, a dream realized, and a legacy that will never be forgotten. Echoing the Heartbeat of Jamaica Like the resort itself, whose design inspiration is pulled from the flowing water of the nearby Dunn's River Falls, the event infused and celebrated the soul of Jamaica throughout the festivities. Guests were treated to the sounds of a steel-drum band; ribbon dancers; aerial performances, with costumes matching the vibrancy of the island's culture, in front of a state-of-the-art video mapping of the Falls; as well as local musicians such as the Jamaican instrumental trio, Touch of Elegance. Mimicking the pathway of the flowing water from Dunn's River Falls, entertainers also performed within the pool, floating on original bamboo rafts custom made by Jamaican artisans. An electrifying performance from the renowned cast of STOMP, fresh off their Broadway run, brought the 'beat' of Jamaica to the stage with a wordless percussion spectacle. A Star-Studded Beginning The celebration culminated in awe with a crowd rousing performance from the ever-iconic Mr. Boombastic himself, Shaggy. Capping off the evening, an impressive fireworks display lit up the Ocho Rios sky, and moved by the momentum a lunar after-party continued with a beach bash under a new moon, signaling yet another phase in the story of Sandals Dunn's River. "Now, with the future before us, we stand on solid ground, committed as ever to celebrating our Caribbean heritage and delivering to the next generations of Sandals customers the unsurpassed level of innovation, excitement and unparalleled service they have come to expect and that they so well deserve," Stewart concluded. For more information about the all-new Sandals Dunn's River, visit https://www.sandals.com/dunns-river/ . About Sandals Resorts Sandals Resorts offers two people in love the ease and refinement of the most-awarded luxury all-inclusive vacation experience in the Caribbean. With 17 beachfront settings in Jamaica, Antigua, Saint Lucia, The Bahamas, Barbados, Grenada, and Curacao, each resort reflects the design, cuisine, and unique essence of its island home. From butler service and gourmet dining to top-shelf liquor and luxurious suites, including the Caribbean's first Over-the-Water Villas and Bungalows, Sandals Resorts creates the time and moments necessary for couples to reconnect and focus on what matters most: each other. Notorious for pioneering innovations that constantly evolve and elevate the all-inclusive vacation experience, Sandals Resorts has recently introduced fresh concepts such as the brand's first-ever double infinity pool and an off-site Island Inclusive dining program, while staying true to its Caribbean roots and showcasing the transformative link between tourism and its power to transform lives through its philanthropic arm, the Sandals Foundation. Sandals Resorts is part of family-owned Sandals Resorts International (SRI) which includes family-friendly Beaches Resorts, and is the Caribbean's leading all-inclusive resort company. For more information about the Sandals Resorts Luxury Included difference, visit www.sandals.com . Contact: The Decker/Royal Agency sandals@deckerroyal.com The international cast of STOMP performs their inventive stage show to the beat of Jamaica at the Grand Opening Celebration of Sandals Dunns River. Legendary Jamaican singer-songwriter, Shaggy, invigorates the crowd alongside Jamaican Dancehall artist, Teejay, at the Grand Opening Celebration of Sandals Dunn's River. Floating on authentic bamboo rafts, performers captivated the crowd throughout the evening at the Grand Opening Celebration of Sandals Dunn's River. Aerial view of Sandals Dunns River during the resort's Grand Opening Celebration in Ocho Rios, Jamaica, on May 19th, 2023. Cision View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/a-grand-reveal-and-momentous-return-sandals-dunns-river-celebrates-grand-opening-in-legendary-fashion-301831238.html SOURCE Sandals Resorts IN Groupe will leverage Entrust solutions to modernize an African governments identity credentials, while delivering the flexibility to add additional credential issuance capabilities in the future PARIS & MINNEAPOLIS, May 22, 2023--(BUSINESS WIRE)--IN Groupe and Entrust announced today that they have expanded their partnership to modernize an African governments identity program, bringing greater security and scalability to meet the identity challenges of today and into the future. Governments are looking to build identity programs that can adapt for the future. Additionally, as threat actors become more sophisticated in their attacks, protecting identities from becoming compromised is increasingly difficult and complex. As a result, its important that governments look for identity credential issuance solutions that provide security features that can be layered together, while offering the option to integrate additional capabilities needed to adapt to future needs. IN Groupe is a global leader for identity and trust solutions with customers all over the world. With this partnership expansion, IN Groupe will leverage the Entrust Datacard MX Series Card Issuance System along with its Drop on Demand technology module. This system will enable the move to a more durable and modern card format, while also providing the security features needed in todays threat landscape. Additionally, the modular design of the MX Series will allow the government to incorporate electronic identity credentials into their issuance program in the future. "Securing identities is at the heart of what we do every day at Entrust," said Dan Good, vice president, payments and identity issuance solutions at Entrust. "We are honored to partner with IN Groupe to enable this identity program in Africa and support their goals for the future." "Our customers need technology that can help them find a balance between strong security and the ability to scale from a capacity and feature perspective," said Yann Haguet, Vice President, Identity Strategic Business Unit at IN Groupe. "Because weve had a long-standing partnership with Entrust, we have a deep knowledge of their solutions and are confident that together we can bring to our customers the peace of mind that their identities will be more secure now and into the future." To learn more about how Entrust and IN Groupe partner to provide best-in-class identity programs, visit Entrust and IN Groupe at ID4Africa 2023 on May 23-25 in Kenya at booth H2-01. Find out more about the event here: https://www.id4africaevents.com/2023. For those not attending the event, you can learn more about the identity solutions Entrust offers governments here: https://www.entrust.com/solutions/industries/government. You can learn more about In Groupe identity solutions here: https://ingroupe.com/solutions/citizen-identities-and-credentials About Entrust Corporation Entrust keeps the world moving safely by enabling trusted experiences for identities, payments, and data. We offer an unmatched breadth of solutions that are critical to enabling trust for multi-cloud deployments, mobile identities, hybrid work, machine identity, electronic signatures, encryption and more. With more than 2,800 colleagues, a network of global partners, and customers in over 150 countries, its no wonder the worlds most entrusted organizations trust us. For more information, visit www.entrust.com. About IN Groupe As global specialist in identity and secure digital services, IN Groupe is the trusted partner in the management and protection of sensitive data. By mastering the entire value chain of the identity, IN Groupe has deployed its expertise beyond sovereign identity by extending its solutions and services to professional identities and identity of things. A stakeholder in major issues aimed at improving and securing the right to be yourself in the digital age, the Group regularly intervenes with institutions and organizations involved in the identity ecosystem in Europe. IN Groupes solutions, at the cutting edge of technology, integrate electronic, optical, holographic and biometric technologies, at the service of States, businesses and citizens. The Group operates 4 reference brands, each a leader in their respective markets. IN Groupe for physical and digital identity solutions for governments and administrations, Nexus for secure identity solutions for professionals and objects, SPS for electronic components and package solutions for banking and identity and Surys for optical and holographic components for the banknote and identity market. As a national state printing company, IN Group is a committed player in the most protective and secure digital identity schemes. For more information, visit www.ingroupe.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230521005009/en/ Contacts Ken Kadet Vice President, Public Relations & Communications +1 952.988.1154 Ken.Kadet@entrust.com Dianne Reeves, Marcus Miller, Dee Dee Bridgewater and Christian McBride will be among the artists performing in celebration of International Jazz Day on April 30. This years annual flagship event, the All-Star Global Concert, will be livestreamed from 13 global cities and is being billed as A Jazz Journey Around the World. The concert lineup also includes Sergio Mendes (Brazil), Cyrille Aimee (France), Somi (Rwanda) and Antonio Sanchez (Mexico). Further showcasing jazzs diversity will be acts performing from Beirut, Lebanon; Casablanca, Morocco; Marondera, Zimbabwe; Beijing, China; and Vienna, Austria, as well as Honolulu, New York, San Francisco and Washington, D.C. More from Billboard In announcing International Jazz Days 2023 program, UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay stated, On this International Jazz Day, musicians around the world are once again answering, in great numbers, the resounding call for peace through music. Born out of struggles for justice, jazz inspires us to build a future that reflects its spirit united in the celebration of diversity. Join us on this Jazz Journey around the World and witness the power of music. UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador and concert host Herbie Hancock added, As the worlds largest, most inclusive celebration of jazz music, International Jazz Day unites people across the globe. Jazz has always been about expanding boundaries inspiring musicians toward the future and its infinite possibilities. This year, we are thrilled that the All-Star Global Concert will reflect this expansive identity in a new way, by sharing with our audience a rich palette of sounds on more than a dozen stages in every corner of the planet. The All-Star Global Concert will be webcast worldwide on April 30 (4 p.m. ET/1 p.m. PT) on jazzday.com, unesco.org, hancockinstitute.org and the International Jazz Day YouTube and Facebook pages. Prior to the concert, free educational programs and other offerings will be presented via the same outlets. For more information, visit jazzday.com/events. In the walkup to International Jazz Day weekend, PBS will present International Jazz Day From the United Nations. Highlighting performances from the 2022 All-Star Global Concert by Hancock, David Sanborn, Shemekia Copeland, Gregory Porter, Terri Lyne Carringinton and more, the special will air on April 28 (10 p.m. ET; check local listings). Best of Billboard Click here to read the full article. IBA signs Binding Term Sheet with Medtechnica Ltd for two ProteusONE proton therapy solutions at the Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center in Israel IBA SA Louvain-La-Neuve, Belgium, May 22, 2023 IBA (Ion Beam Applications S.A., EURONEXT), the world leader in particle accelerator technology and the worlds leading provider of proton therapy solutions for the treatment of cancer, today announces it has signed a Binding Term Sheet with Medtechnica Ltd for the installation of two ProteusONE1 compact proton therapy solutions at the Sourasky Medical Center (Ichilov Hospital) in Tel Aviv, Israel. Sourasky Medical Center has been selected by the Israeli Ministry of Health to host the first national proton therapy center in Israel, bringing this cutting-edge technology to hundreds of patients per year. The project is fully financed and IBA expects to receive the first payment in the coming weeks. The integrated solution includes two ProteusONE1 systems as well as a fully integrated quality assurance (QA) hardware and software package from IBA Dosimetry. Once approved by regulatory authorities, IBA will upgrade the two systems with DynamicARC2, IBAs unique Arc Proton Therapy solution. The contract includes long-term operation and maintenance services to be provided by IBA. Sourasky Medical Center expects to start treating patients in 2026. The two side-by-side single room solutions configuration has been designed to optimize clinical availability and patient treatment. Full independence of the two treatment rooms will lead to optimized clinical availability, and full redundancy in case of maintenance or upgrades. The typical end-user price for one ProteusONE system with a multi-year maintenance contract ranges between EUR 45 and 50 million. Olivier Legrain, Chief Executive Officer of IBA, commented: This project further demonstrates our position as a global market leader in proton therapy, with increasing interest from the EMEA region. This will be the first proton therapy system to be installed in Israel and the second two ProteusONE solutions to be installed side-by-side worldwide. This contract also demonstrates that multiple ProteusONE systems are the solution of choice for comprehensive oncology centers, a solution that is scalable, expandable, and future proof. Sourasky Medical Center is renowned for its innovative cancer treatments, and we look forward to supporting the center in our joint mission of providing cancer patients with access to the most advanced treatment options. Professor Ronni Gamzu, Director of the Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center, added: The choice of the IBA ProteusONE solution was obvious when purchasing the worlds most advanced proton accelerators for the National Center for Proton Therapy at the Adelson Cancer Tower that is currently being established at the Ichilov Hospital. With the support of the Israeli Ministry of Health, this is another huge step on the way to establishing one of the most advanced national centers in the world for proton therapy, in Israel. ***ENDS*** About IBA IBA (Ion Beam Applications S.A.) is the world leader in particle accelerator technology. The company is the leading supplier of equipment and services in the field of proton therapy, considered to be the most advanced form of radiation therapy available today. IBA is also a leading player in the fields of industrial sterilization, radiopharmaceuticals and dosimetry. The company, based in Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium, employs approximately 1,800 people worldwide. IBA is a certified B Corporation (B Corp) meeting the highest standards of verified social and environmental performance. IBA is listed on the pan-European stock exchange EURONEXT (IBA: Reuters IBAB.BR and Bloomberg IBAB.BB). More information can be found at: www.iba-worldwide.com About Ichilov Hospital / Sourasky Medical Center Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center (Ichilov) is the largest acute care facility in Israel, treating about 400,000 patients and hosting 1.8 million patient visits per year. A 1500-bed world-class governmental academic medical center, Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center serves a population of one million people, including residents from the greater Tel Aviv area and visitors to the metropolis. About MedTechnica Ltd Founded in 1953, Medtechnica specializes in importing, marketing, sales and technical support of medical devices and equipment. A subsidiary of the Ilex Group (TASE:ILX), the company partners with international blue-chip companies healthcare professionals and purchasing departments to provide them with holistic solutions for the Israeli market. Our customers include HMOs, public hospitals, the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Defense, the Israeli Police Department, and private health institutions and clinics, as well as private customers. CONTACTS Soumya Chandramouli Chief Financial Officer +32 10 475 890 Investorrelations@iba-group.com Olivier Lechien Corporate Communication Director +32 10 475 890 communication@iba-group.com Consilium Strategic Communications Amber Fennell, Matthew Neal, Lucy Featherstone +44 (0) 20 3709 5700 IBA@consilium-comms.com 1 ProteusONE is the brand name of Proteus235 2 DynamicARC is a registered brand of the IBAs Proton Arc therapy solution currently under development phase. Attachment (Bloomberg) -- The new head of Latin Americas top development bank is trying to steer clear of the global US-China competition, avoiding the course of his predecessor who aimed to use the lender to counter Beijings influence in the region. Most Read from Bloomberg Ilan Goldfajn, who became president in December, said in an interview that the Inter-American Development Bank, which lent more than $12 billion last year, is focused on integrating the regions countries through infrastructure and power projects, as well as efforts to protect biodiversity. The stance marks a difference from the approach taken by Mauricio Claver-Carone, the previous president and China hawk who sought to retake ground Beijing had gained through years of lending to the region, including more than $130 billion from state-run banks. We have a mandate for regional integration, Goldfajn said in the interview in his office in Washington. The best we can do in a globally polarized world is to develop regional projects around regional integration. Although the new chief wants to avoid publicly amplifying efforts by the US, its largest shareholder, to counter Chinas rising influence globally and persuade developing nations of the benefits of siding with Washington, he said the bank will still promote its core values of democracy and freedom of speech. The Treasury Department, which leads the US governments engagement with the IDB, declined to comment. Increasing competition between the US and China is most visible over issues including the South China Sea, Taiwan and the alleged spy balloon incident earlier this year. But a quieter battle has been brewing over international financial institutions such as the IDB and World Bank, which have traditionally been driven by US or European influence. In recent decades, China has emerged as a major lender and infrastructure developer across emerging markets, creating a parallel system of finance, debt and influence. Read more: China Becomes Lender of Last Resort for Developing Countries Chinas shareholding at the IDB is less than 1% compared with 30% for the US but membership allows the nations companies to bid for infrastructure projects funded by the bank. China also has 5% voting power in IDB Invest, a private-lending arm, compared with 15% for the US. China is also an important source of trade and investment for many of the countries in the region, including Brazil and Argentina, the IDBs largest stakeholders after the US. Goldfajn, previously the top regional official at the International Monetary Fund and Brazils central bank chief, won the IDB job last year after Claver-Carone was removed over an alleged romantic relationship with a top aide, which he has denied. As part of his focus on regionalism, Goldfajn highlighted a biodiversity initiative to promote conservation of the Amazon, which is spread across eight countries, as well as projects to integrate infrastructure and electricity and share river resources. Goldfajn also said in the interview that governments in Latin America are facing demands for better education, health, transportation and social services, while also having less fiscal firepower after the pandemic and struggling with slower growth rates. You can see it in the streets, you can see it in the election results, he said. There is less patience to obtain better public goods, services and better social outcomes. He added that the bank expects more countries to seek debt-for-nature swaps after Ecuador completed a transaction that will generate more than $1 billion in savings for the government while protecting the Galapagos Islands. At the IMF meetings last month, finance ministers from across the region asked about how they could follow Ecuadors example, Goldfajn said. The IDB provided an $85 million guarantee for the swap. He declined to name any countries. The IDB is also working to prepare the region for climate-change shocks, Goldfajn said, similar to efforts by the World Bank and IMF. That includes both mitigation and contingency financing to deal with disasters, he said. (Updates with response from Treasury Department in sixth paragraph.) Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2023 Bloomberg L.P. Tianjin Pharmaceutical Da Ren Tang Group Corporation Limited (SGX:T14) stock is about to trade ex-dividend in three days. Typically, the ex-dividend date is one business day before the record date which is the date on which a company determines the shareholders eligible to receive a dividend. The ex-dividend date is of consequence because whenever a stock is bought or sold, the trade takes at least two business day to settle. Accordingly, Tianjin Pharmaceutical Da Ren Tang Group investors that purchase the stock on or after the 26th of May will not receive the dividend, which will be paid on the 6th of June. The company's next dividend payment will be CN1.12 per share. Last year, in total, the company distributed CN1.12 to shareholders. Based on the last year's worth of payments, Tianjin Pharmaceutical Da Ren Tang Group has a trailing yield of 7.0% on the current stock price of $2.28. Dividends are a major contributor to investment returns for long term holders, but only if the dividend continues to be paid. That's why we should always check whether the dividend payments appear sustainable, and if the company is growing. View our latest analysis for Tianjin Pharmaceutical Da Ren Tang Group Dividends are typically paid from company earnings. If a company pays more in dividends than it earned in profit, then the dividend could be unsustainable. Its dividend payout ratio is 81% of profit, which means the company is paying out a majority of its earnings. The relatively limited profit reinvestment could slow the rate of future earnings growth. We'd be worried about the risk of a drop in earnings. Yet cash flows are even more important than profits for assessing a dividend, so we need to see if the company generated enough cash to pay its distribution. It paid out more than half (57%) of its free cash flow in the past year, which is within an average range for most companies. It's positive to see that Tianjin Pharmaceutical Da Ren Tang Group'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. Click here to see the company's payout ratio, plus analyst estimates of its future dividends. Have Earnings And Dividends Been Growing? Businesses with strong growth prospects usually make the best dividend payers, because it's easier to grow dividends when earnings per share are improving. If business enters a downturn and the dividend is cut, the company could see its value fall precipitously. Fortunately for readers, Tianjin Pharmaceutical Da Ren Tang Group's earnings per share have been growing at 17% a year for the past five years. It paid out more than three-quarters of its earnings in the last year, even though earnings per share are growing rapidly. Higher earnings generally bode well for growing dividends, although with seemingly strong growth prospects we'd wonder why management are not reinvesting more in the business. Another key way to measure a company's dividend prospects is by measuring its historical rate of dividend growth. Tianjin Pharmaceutical Da Ren Tang Group has delivered 11% dividend growth per year on average over the past 10 years. It's exciting to see that both earnings and dividends per share have grown rapidly over the past few years. Final Takeaway Has Tianjin Pharmaceutical Da Ren Tang Group got what it takes to maintain its dividend payments? It's good to see earnings are growing, since all of the best dividend stocks grow their earnings meaningfully over the long run. However, we'd also note that Tianjin Pharmaceutical Da Ren Tang Group is paying out more than half of its earnings and cash flow as profits, which could limit the dividend growth if earnings growth slows. In summary, it's hard to get excited about Tianjin Pharmaceutical Da Ren Tang Group from a dividend perspective. In light of that, while Tianjin Pharmaceutical Da Ren Tang Group has an appealing dividend, it's worth knowing the risks involved with this stock. Every company has risks, and we've spotted 1 warning sign for Tianjin Pharmaceutical Da Ren Tang Group 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 Its likely targeting your favorite crypto projects on the largest blockchains. But what exactly is Inferno Drainer? Scam Sniffer, a platform specializing in the identification of scams, announced on Friday that the malicious software provider is allegedly linked to thousands of scams resulting in the theft of several million dollars. 1/ Inferno Drainer, a scam vendor specializing in multi-chain scams, has stolen $5.9 million in assets from nearly 4,888 victims through over 689 phishing websites targeting popular projects.https://t.co/OEjdzHm2Ls Scam Sniffer (@realScamSniffer) May 19, 2023 By analyzing off-chain and on-chain data on Ethereum, Arbitrum, BNB Chain, and other chains, the security firm identified 4,888 victims who collectively lost over $5.9 million in cryptocurrencies and NFTs. Hack by chain via Inferno Drainer. Source: Dune. Approximately 1,699 ETH is reported to have been stolen and distributed across five different addresses, each holding between 300 and 400 ETH. The extent of these scams was revealed when a suspected Inferno Drainer member named Mr Inferno appeared in a Scam Sniffer's Telegram group. This led to the discovery of a website promoting the scammer's services. We have a product that provides Web3 malicious website scanning service for platforms, so we identifiy a lot of malicious websites, Scam Sniffer explained to Decrypt. The Telegram channel helped us connect them together. The scammer reportedly charges 20% to 30% of the stolen assets in exchange for their malicious software, which is used to create fraudulent websites. In total, Inferno is reported to have created nearly 689 phishing websites since March 27. This is the data we have based on the on-chain activity, but it could have started earlier, Scam Sniffer told Decrypt. Web3 Is Supposed to Be Secure. What About All These Hacks? It can be seen as a malware-as-a-service' product, they said. They provide the software and the malicious site hosting, and they charge based on the stolen amount. The victim who has suffered the greatest losses is this wallet, which had nearly $400,000 worth of assets stolen. According to Scam Sniffer, the victim attempted to negotiate with the scammer, offering to let them retain 50% of the stolen goods. Last month, a similar type of Scam as a Service called Venom Drainer was already identified by Scam Sniffer. It drained $27M from 15k victims, with the top 5 victims losing $14M in total. 530 phishing sites were created, targeting around 170 brands. Which projects have been targeted? The scammers targeted some of the most well-known brands in the crypto ecosystem, such as Pepe, Collab.Land, zkSync, MetaMask, and Nakamigos, among others. In total, about 220 brands are believed to have been used to deceive users. Despite the bear market, crypto scams are still frequent. A recent study by Crystal Blockchain revealed that 2022 emerged as the worst year on record for crypto fraud, with 120 separate incidents reported. This number represents a 28% increase compared to 2021. However, the total value lost across all incidents in 2022 was less than half of that in 2021 when the total funds lost in crypto scams reached $4.6 billion. This can likely be chalked up to the ongoing bear market which kicked off last May. Decentralized finance (DeFi) breaches are now the most common type of crypto attack, according to the same study. By Stephen Nellis (Reuters) - Intel Corp on Monday provided a handful of new details on a chip for artificial intelligence (AI) computing it plans to introduce in 2025 as it shifts strategy to compete against Nvidia Corp and Advanced Micro Devices Inc. At a supercomputing conference in Germany on Monday, Intel said its forthcoming "Falcon Shores" chip will have 288 gigabytes of memory and support 8-bit floating point computation. Those technical specifications are important as artificial intelligence models similar to services like ChatGPT have exploded in size, and businesses are looking for more powerful chips to run them. The details are also among the first to trickle out as Intel carries out a strategy shift to catch up to Nvidia, which leads the market in chips for AI, and AMD, which is expected to challenge Nvidia's position with a chip called the MI300. Intel, by contrast, has essentially no market share after its would-be Nvidia competitor, a chip called Ponte Vecchio, suffered years of delays. Intel on Monday said it has nearly completed shipments for Argonne National Lab's Aurora supercomputer based on Ponte Vecchio, which Intel claims has better performance than Nvidia's latest AI chip, the H100. But Intel's Falcon Shores follow-on chip won't be to market until 2025, when Nvidia will likely have another chip of its own out. Jeff McVeigh, corporate vice president of Intel's super compute group, said the company is taking time to rework the chip after giving up its prior strategy of combining graphics processing units (GPUs) with its central processing units (CPUs). "While we aspire to have the best CPU and the best GPU in the market, it was hard to say that one vendor at one time was going to have the best combination of those," McVeigh told Reuters. "If you have discrete offerings, that allows you at the platform level to choose both between the ratio as well as the vendors." (This story has been corrected to fix McVeigh's title to reflect that he is no longer interim leader of Intel super computing chip group, in paragraph 7) (Reporting by Stephen Nellis in San Francisco; Editing by Bill Berkrot) Key Insights Using the 2 Stage Free Cash Flow to Equity, Deutsche Lufthansa fair value estimate is 18.72 Deutsche Lufthansa is estimated to be 49% undervalued based on current share price of 9.59 Analyst price target for LHA is 12.67 which is 32% below our fair value estimate Today we will run through one way of estimating the intrinsic value of Deutsche Lufthansa AG (ETR:LHA) by taking the expected future cash flows and discounting them to their present value. We will take advantage of the Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) model for this purpose. Believe it or not, it's not too difficult to follow, as you'll see from our example! Remember though, that there are many ways to estimate a company's value, and a DCF is just one method. If you still have some burning questions about this type of valuation, take a look at the Simply Wall St analysis model. See our latest analysis for Deutsche Lufthansa What's The Estimated Valuation? We are going to use a two-stage DCF model, which, as the name states, takes into account two stages of growth. The first stage is generally a higher growth period which levels off heading towards the terminal value, captured in the second 'steady growth' period. To start off with, we need to estimate the next ten years of cash flows. Where possible we use analyst estimates, but when these aren't available we extrapolate the previous free cash flow (FCF) from the last estimate or reported value. We assume companies with shrinking free cash flow will slow their rate of shrinkage, and that companies with growing free cash flow will see their growth rate slow, over this period. We do this to reflect that growth tends to slow more in the early years than it does in later years. A DCF is all about the idea that a dollar in the future is less valuable than a dollar today, and so the sum of these future cash flows is then discounted to today's value: 10-year free cash flow (FCF) forecast 2023 2024 2025 2026 2027 2028 2029 2030 2031 2032 Levered FCF (, Millions) 1.68b 2.03b 1.92b 1.70b 1.81b 1.76b 1.72b 1.69b 1.68b 1.67b Growth Rate Estimate Source Analyst x4 Analyst x6 Analyst x6 Analyst x2 Analyst x2 Est @ -3.20% Est @ -2.17% Est @ -1.45% Est @ -0.94% Est @ -0.59% Present Value (, Millions) Discounted @ 7.8% 1.6k 1.7k 1.5k 1.3k 1.2k 1.1k 1.0k 926 851 784 ("Est" = FCF growth rate estimated by Simply Wall St) Present Value of 10-year Cash Flow (PVCF) = 12b After calculating the present value of future cash flows in the initial 10-year period, we need to calculate the Terminal Value, which accounts for all future cash flows beyond the first stage. For a number of reasons a very conservative growth rate is used that cannot exceed that of a country's GDP growth. In this case we have used the 5-year average of the 10-year government bond yield (0.2%) to estimate future growth. In the same way as with the 10-year 'growth' period, we discount future cash flows to today's value, using a cost of equity of 7.8%. Terminal Value (TV)= FCF 2032 (1 + g) (r g) = 1.7b (1 + 0.2%) (7.8% 0.2%) = 22b Present Value of Terminal Value (PVTV)= TV / (1 + r)10= 22b ( 1 + 7.8%)10= 10b 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 22b. To get the intrinsic value per share, we divide this by the total number of shares outstanding. Compared to the current share price of 9.6, the company appears quite good value at a 49% discount to where the stock price trades currently. Remember though, that this is just an approximate valuation, and like any complex formula - garbage in, garbage out. dcf The Assumptions The calculation above is very dependent on two assumptions. The first is the discount rate and the other is the 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 Deutsche Lufthansa 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 1.278. 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 Deutsche Lufthansa Strength Debt is well covered by earnings and cashflows. Weakness No major weaknesses identified for LHA. Opportunity Annual earnings are forecast to grow for the next 3 years. Good value based on P/E ratio and estimated fair value. Threat Annual earnings are forecast to grow slower than the German market. Next Steps: Valuation is only one side of the coin in terms of building your investment thesis, and it is only one of many factors that you need to assess for a company. DCF models are not the be-all and end-all of investment valuation. Rather it should be seen as a guide to "what assumptions need to be true for this stock to be under/overvalued?" For example, changes in the company's cost of equity or the risk free rate can significantly impact the valuation. Why is the intrinsic value higher than the current share price? For Deutsche Lufthansa, there are three pertinent elements you should further examine: Risks: For instance, we've identified 1 warning sign for Deutsche Lufthansa that you should be aware of. Future Earnings: How does LHA'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. The Simply Wall St app conducts a discounted cash flow valuation for every stock on the XTRA every day. If you want to find the calculation for other stocks just search here. Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned. Join A Paid User Research Session Youll receive a US$30 Amazon Gift card for 1 hour of your time while helping us build better investing tools for the individual investors like yourself. Sign up here DMCC, the flagship free zone and Government of Dubai Authority on commodities trade and enterprise, has hosted the unveiling of two extraordinary gemstones - Estrela de Fura and Eternal Pink - at its Dubai Diamond Exchange. These gems, unveiled by Sothebys, will be available at an auction in New York on June 8. Estrela de Fura is a 55.22 carat stone that, due to being the largest and most valuable ruby to ever appear at auction, is expected to command in excess of $30 million. Dubai Diamond Exchange, a subsidiary of DMCC, had hosted the unveiling of the rough Estrela de Fura stone in September last year. The Eternal Pink is the most vivid pink diamond to come to market and is estimated to fetch in excess of $35 million. The UAE witnessed a strong 17% year-on-year increase in the value of diamonds traded in 2022, totalling $37.4 billion combined for rough and polished diamonds. This was driven by a 42% rise in the polished category and maintaining a solid growth trajectory through a 7% rise in rough. Building upon its status as a leading global hub for the trade of rough and polished diamonds, Dubai is now looking to add further value to the coloured gemstone industry. Most recently, the Dubai Diamond Exchange had hosted tenders with leading coloured gemstone companies including Belmont Group, Bonas & Co., Fura Gems and Grizzley Mining Company. COO Feryal Ahmadi said: "As one of the worlds largest trade hubs for precious stones, there is no better place than Dubai to unveil these exquisite stones. The emirates leading role in diamonds has been firmly established, and in hosting a range of coloured gemstone tenders so far this year, we are taking concrete steps that will position the emirate in a similar vein within the coloured industry as well." "We are delighted to work with Sothebys once again to present these two marvels to the world at the Dubai Diamond Exchange," stated Ahmadi. Katia Nounou Boueiz, Head of Sothebys UAE, said: "We are honoured that Dubai has been chosen to display these exceptional rarities in our galleries, and to continue to make Sothebys Dubai the leading showcase in the Middle East for the worlds rarest and most valuable diamonds and gemstones." "After being unveiled in Dubai last autumn as an astonishing 101 carat rough, it is especially thrilling to see Estrela de Fura 55.22 in its newly crafted state and return triumphantly to the DMCC as the worlds largest and most valuable ruby to ever come to market. Exhibiting these one-of-a-kind stones both in our DIFC gallery and at the DDE is a clear continuation of our dedication to showcasing the best of the best in the UAE," noted Boueiz. Dev Shetty, Founder and CEO, Fura Gems, said: "In connecting East and West, Dubai has offered Fura Gems the perfect platform to access global markets. The emirates precious stone trade infrastructure has been invaluable to us as we build our status as a premier supplier of coloured gemstones for the global industry." "We are also delighted to work with Sothebys in bringing the magnificent Estrela de Fura ruby to the world, he added.-TradeArabia News Service Long term investing is the way to go, but that doesn't mean you should hold every stock forever. We really hate to see fellow investors lose their hard-earned money. Imagine if you held Andrew Peller Limited (TSE:ADW.A) for half a decade as the share price tanked 77%. We also note that the stock has performed poorly over the last year, with the share price down 36%. Furthermore, it's down 17% in about a quarter. That's not much fun for holders. With that in mind, it's worth seeing if the company's underlying fundamentals have been the driver of long term performance, or if there are some discrepancies. See our latest analysis for Andrew Peller 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). In the last half decade Andrew Peller saw its share price fall as its EPS declined below zero. Since the company has fallen to a loss making position, it's hard to compare the change in EPS with the share price change. However, we can say we'd expect to see a falling share price in this scenario. You can see below how EPS has changed over time (discover the exact values by clicking on the image). We consider it positive that insiders have made significant purchases in the last year. Having said that, most people consider earnings and revenue growth trends to be a more meaningful guide to the business. This free interactive report on Andrew Peller's earnings, revenue and cash flow is a great place to start, if you want to investigate the stock further. What About Dividends? As well as measuring the share price return, investors should also consider the total shareholder return (TSR). The TSR is a return calculation that accounts for the value of cash dividends (assuming that any dividend received was reinvested) and the calculated value of any discounted capital raisings and spin-offs. It's fair to say that the TSR gives a more complete picture for stocks that pay a dividend. In the case of Andrew Peller, it has a TSR of -73% for the last 5 years. That exceeds its share price return that we previously mentioned. The dividends paid by the company have thusly boosted the total shareholder return. A Different Perspective While the broader market gained around 1.5% in the last year, Andrew Peller shareholders lost 33% (even including dividends). 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 12% 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. While it is well worth considering the different impacts that market conditions can have on the share price, there are other factors that are even more important. To that end, you should be aware of the 3 warning signs we've spotted with Andrew Peller . There are plenty of other companies that have insiders buying up shares. You probably do not want to miss this free list of growing companies that insiders are buying. Please note, the market returns quoted in this article reflect the market weighted average returns of stocks that currently trade on Canadian exchanges. Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned. Join A Paid User Research Session Youll receive a US$30 Amazon Gift card for 1 hour of your time while helping us build better investing tools for the individual investors like yourself. Sign up here Ideally, your overall portfolio should beat the market average. But the main game is to find enough winners to more than offset the losers At this point some shareholders may be questioning their investment in Manulife Holdings Berhad (KLSE:MANULFE), since the last five years saw the share price fall 31%. Now let's have a look at the company's fundamentals, and see if the long term shareholder return has matched the performance of the underlying business. View our latest analysis for Manulife Holdings Berhad To quote Buffett, 'Ships will sail around the world but the Flat Earth Society will flourish. There will continue to be wide discrepancies between price and value in the marketplace...' One 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, Manulife Holdings Berhad's earnings per share (EPS) dropped by 8.8% each year. The share price decline of 7% per year isn't as bad as the EPS decline. So the market may previously have expected a drop, or else it expects the situation will improve. You can see below how EPS has changed over time (discover the exact values by clicking on the image). This free interactive report on Manulife Holdings Berhad's earnings, revenue and cash flow is a great place to start, if you want to investigate the stock further. 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. Arguably, the TSR gives a more comprehensive picture of the return generated by a stock. In the case of Manulife Holdings Berhad, it has a TSR of -21% for the last 5 years. That exceeds its share price return that we previously mentioned. And there's no prize for guessing that the dividend payments largely explain the divergence! A Different Perspective We regret to report that Manulife Holdings Berhad shareholders are down 14% for the year (even including dividends). Unfortunately, that's worse than the broader market decline of 1.1%. 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 4% per year over five years. Generally speaking long term share price weakness can be a bad sign, though contrarian investors might want to research the stock in hope of a turnaround. While it is well worth considering the different impacts that market conditions can have on the share price, there are other factors that are even more important. To that end, you should be aware of the 4 warning signs we've spotted with Manulife Holdings Berhad . 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. 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 For many, the main point of investing is to generate higher returns than the overall market. But even the best stock picker will only win with some selections. So we wouldn't blame long term T&G Global Limited (NZSE:TGG) shareholders for doubting their decision to hold, with the stock down 37% over a half decade. And some of the more recent buyers are probably worried, too, with the stock falling 27% in the last year. The falls have accelerated recently, with the share price down 13% in the last three months. So let's have a look and see if the longer term performance of the company has been in line with the underlying business' progress. View our latest analysis for T&G Global To paraphrase Benjamin Graham: Over the short term the market is a voting machine, but over the long term it's a weighing machine. One 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). In the last half decade T&G Global saw its share price fall as its EPS declined below zero. The recent extraordinary items contributed to this situation. Since the company has fallen to a loss making position, it's hard to compare the change in EPS with the share price change. However, we can say we'd expect to see a falling share price in this scenario. You can see below how EPS has changed over time (discover the exact values by clicking on the image). It might be well worthwhile taking a look at our free report on T&G Global's earnings, revenue and cash flow. What About The Total Shareholder Return (TSR)? We'd be remiss not to mention the difference between T&G Global's total shareholder return (TSR) and its share price return. The TSR is a return calculation that accounts for the value of cash dividends (assuming that any dividend received was reinvested) and the calculated value of any discounted capital raisings and spin-offs. T&G Global's TSR of was a loss of 32% for the 5 years. That wasn't as bad as its share price return, because it has paid dividends. A Different Perspective T&G Global shareholders are down 27% for the year, but the market itself is up 6.6%. 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 6% over the last half decade. We realise that Baron Rothschild has said investors should "buy when there is blood on the streets", but we caution that investors should first be sure they are buying a high quality business. I find it very interesting to look at share price over the long term as a proxy for business performance. But to truly gain insight, we need to consider other information, too. To that end, you should be aware of the 1 warning sign we've spotted with T&G Global . Of course T&G Global may not be the best stock to buy. So you may wish to see this free collection of growth stocks. Please note, the market returns quoted in this article reflect the market weighted average returns of stocks that currently trade on New Zealander exchanges. Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned. Join A Paid User Research Session Youll receive a US$30 Amazon Gift card for 1 hour of your time while helping us build better investing tools for the individual investors like yourself. Sign up here ReView optimizes the efficiency of dynamic corporate networks to unlock cost savings ROTTERDAM, Netherlands, May 22, 2023--(BUSINESS WIRE)--RIPE 86 IPv4.Global, a division of Hilco Streambank, the largest, most trusted and transparent IPv4 marketplace in the world, today announced the release of ReView, a new, first-of-its-kind digital IP address audit tool at RIPE 86. ReView was developed in collaboration with 6connect, the authors of revolutionary provisioning and IP address management software. Many organizations have disorganized IP address holdings and are deterred from performing a detailed inventory by the potential time and expense. ReView, a new, free audit tool from IPv4.Global, allows network operators and administrators to quickly and easily gain visibility of their IP address allocations, and more effectively manage their records. ReView allows users to easily understand how their IP addresses are allocated and assigned. While many companies have turned to IP address management (IPAM) software to help them manage IP address allocations in increasingly dynamic networks, a significant proportion still attempt to track their IP addresses manually. Ineffective manual management of IP addresses results in increased risk of service interruptions, creates potential security risks, and makes updates to the network more time consuming. IPv4.Globals ReView delivers the information needed to optimize network efficiency and unlock cost savings. With ReView, organizations can quickly gain a clear picture of their entire address holdings. In addition, a thorough address audit delivers additional financial benefits as address consolidation avoids unnecessary purchases of new addresses and often reveals hidden, unused IPv4 address blocks which can be monetized. "Efficiently utilizing IP address space streamlines operations and reduces costs, sometimes even generating revenue," said Lee Howard, Senior Vice President, IPv4.Global. "Our new audit tool a first-of-its-kind lets network managers review how their address blocks are used, allowing them to renumber if necessary, so they can more efficiently plan to acquire new space or divest unneeded blocks more effectively." With well-organized IP blocks, network administrators can easily group devices with the same rules and permissions into consecutive addresses or blocks, ensuring faster network updates and reducing the likelihood of accidentally creating security risks by omitting devices from updates. Additionally, network expansion is more efficient as new addresses can be rolled out quickly and optimally. Aaron Hughes, CEO at 6connect added: "Our focus is on solving todays network management challenges by helping automate manual processes. This latest digital tool, developed in collaboration with IPv4.Global is another dynamic platform that simplifies the process of IP address discovery, eliminating the laborious process of checking each connected device in turn." To perform an IP address audit using ReView, users need to sign up for a free account, download and run the app from Windows, Apple, or Linux. They then choose their preferred network discovery approach which is performed either via a fully automatic network scan, or by importing configuration details directly to their local ReView app. The app then lists the IP blocks that are in use, allowing users to see how efficiently their IP address blocks are being consumed. For more information: https://ipv4.global/review/ About IPv4.Global IPv4.Global, a division of Hilco Streambank, is the most trusted IPv4 marketplace in the world. We operate the only transparent, public marketplace to ensure our buyers and sellers get the most value for their transactions. Our multi-tiered platform, backed by the most experienced team of transfer analysts, facilitates transactions of varying IPv4 block sizes, ranging from small public to large private transactions. IPv4.Global provides credible, transparent services to our buyers and sellers, making it the most trusted marketplace worldwide. For more information, please visit https://ipv4.global/ About 6connect 6connects SaaS solutions provision, manage and discover IPv6 and IPv4 addresses, DNS/DNSSEC zones, DHCP pools, and networked or virtual assets for service providers and enterprises. Our policy-based, one-click provisioning, discovery and asset management software unifies and automates critical network and virtual asset workflows that underpin cloud infrastructure stability. The 6connect platform is available as a highly scalable cloud or on-premise solution, saves significant amounts of the time normally spent on these tasks, and provides significant operational savings over legacy appliance providers of DDI, IPAM, and cloud infrastructure hardware. https://www.6connect.com/ View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230522005086/en/ Contacts John Walker 404.626.0051 John@chirpPR.COM Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel and Irish Taoiseach Leo Varadkar (Prime Minister) drink a beer together after a diplomatic meeting in Dublin, Ireland, Thursday 24 May 2018. The Belgian PM is on a two days working visit in London and Dublin. BELGA PHOTO DIRK WAEM ... IRELAND WORKING VISIT BELGIAN PRIME MINISTER DAY TWO ... 24-05-2018 ... DUBLIN ... IRELAND ... Photo credit should read: DIRK WAEM/Belga. Unique Reference No. 36673547 ... - DIRK WAEM/Belga Ireland is to force alcoholic drinks to carry cigarette-style health warnings about cancer and liver disease risks in a world first. The country that brought the world Guinness and Jameson whiskey has introduced stricter rules in an effort to address what Irish Taoiseach Leo Varadkar called the country's "deeply problematic" relationship with drinking. All alcohol sold in Ireland from May 2026 must carry warnings about the increased risk of health conditions that come with drinking. The caution will sit alongside information on calorie and alcohol content. The new warnings go beyond current health labelling on beer and wine elsewhere in the world and more closely resemble cigarette health advisories. Hildegarde Naughton, Irelands minister of state for public health, said: "Everyone has a right to be told about the risks associated with a product before we consume it. SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA - AUGUST 01: Cigarette packets with health warnings are displayed in a convenience store on August 1, 2013 in Sydney, Australia. In a plan announced today, the government will increase the excise on tobacco by 12.5 per cent annually over the next four years, raising over AUD$5 billion. The hike is estimated to increase the cost of cigarettes by AUD$5 by 2016, and is the first increase in the tobacco excise since 2010. (Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images) - Cameron Spencer/Getty Images AsiaPac Mr Varadkar told The Rest is Politics podcast on Monday that Ireland had a deeply problematic relationship with alcohol. He said: "I'm somebody who drinks by the way and sometimes I drink too much. And it is a very powerful drug and we don't acknowledge it as that. "It changes your personality and makes people do things they wouldn't otherwise do. "A huge amount of violence in Ireland, public order offences, violence against children, sexual violence is linked to alcohol. A huge amount of long-term illness and we discount that." Alcohol consumption in Ireland has fallen steadily since peaking in 2001. However, heavy drinking is on the rise. 22pc of the countrys population could be categorised as binge drinkers, according to an Irish government survey last year, compared with 20pc in 2021. Rachel Morrogh of the Irish Cancer Society said Dublin was "trailblazing in the area of public health" and Alcohol Action Ireland said it "warmly welcomed" the new law. However, critics said the new policy was not based on hard evidence and would create unnecessary trade barriers within the EU. Cormac Healy, director of Drinks Ireland, said: Unfortunately this is an example of zealotry rather than evidence-based legislation." Dublin, County Dublin, Republic of Ireland, Europe - Richard I'Anson/Lonely Planet Images Italy, France and Spain have all argued that the introduction of Ireland-only labels risks the free movement of goods and puts the country at odds with its EU partners. Rome has argued the new law penalises moderate consumption of alcohol and risks damaging winemakers trade. Mr Healy said: "The Government have been staunch defenders of the harmonised EU market, but is now clearly causing unnecessary tensions with important trading partners. We do not need two labelling systems." Other nations including the UK, US, New Zealand, Australia, Mexico and Cuba have lodged complaints with the World Trade Organisation. The issue will be discussed at the WTO's Technical Barriers to WTO Committee in June. The EU Commission has not objected to the legislation. 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. JPMorgan may turn First Republic sites into 'special branches' for wealthy clients, report says CEO Jamie Dimon said JPMorgan was asked to "step up" by the US Government. Leonardo Munoz/Getty Images JPMorgan Chase bought the San Francisco-based First Republic Bank on May 1 after it failed. The Wall Street Journal reported that it wants to retain a hands-on approach to wealth management. The First Republic deal reignited concerns about big banks becoming too powerful. JPMorgan Chase's takeover of the failed First Republic Bank could boost efforts to develop its wealth-management business, . But despite being the biggest US bank, accounting for more than 13% of deposits and 21% of credit-card spending, JPMorgan has lagged behind some competitors in terms of serving wealthier customers, according to The Wall Street Journal. San Francisco-based First Republic counted many rich tech entrepreneurs as clients running businesses that could one day be floated or sold deals that JPMorgan's investment bank could handle, the newspaper reported. When the deal was announced on May 1, CEO Jamie Dimon said JPMorgan had been asked by the government to "step up" when First Republic failed. It also said the deal was expected to "modestly" benefit the company. Now, executives say they're seeking to integrate First Republic's hands-on approach to wealth-management into JPMorgan. "We want to not break it," Marianne Lake, co-head of JPMorgan's consumer bank, told The Journal. "We have to do it in a way that works for this company." The bank is considering turning First Republic branches into luxurious spaces designed specifically for affluent customers seeking advice on investing and managing their assets, according to the report. It will also need to retain First Republic's financial advisers, The Journal said. However, the takeover has sparked criticism from those who fear the biggest banks are buying smaller rivals to become even more powerful. "The failure of First Republic Bank shows how deregulation has made the too big to fail problem even worse," Sen. Elizabeth Warren tweeted the day the deal was announced. "A poorly supervised bank was snapped up by an even bigger bank ultimately taxpayers will be on the hook. Congress needs to make major reforms to fix a broken banking system." Dimon said the deal was an example of the US system functioning properly. "We need large, successful banks in the largest and most successful economy in the world," he said. "And anyone who thinks that it'd be good for the United States of America not to have that, you call me directly." Read the original article on Business Insider SINGAPORE, May 22, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Lazada Group has launched lazadasolutions.com, the eCommerce platform's new e-learning website that offers users bite-sized, self-guided courses on Lazada Sponsored Solutions (LSS) to anyone, with the option to receive Lazada Sponsored Solutions SMART certification upon the completion of key lesson modules. Lazada is the first eCommerce player in Southeast Asia to launch self-certification programs in the region The website also features case studies of real-world applications of LSS by businesses on the Lazada platform. The website is aimed at brands, sellers and agencies to better understand and utilize LSS, and to gain credibility and recognition for their skill and expertise in growing businesses. "We are pleased to be the first eCommerce player in Southeast Asia to launch and drive self-certification programmes in the region at this scale. Lazada's mission has always been about accelerating progress through commerce and technology, and lazadasolutions.com highlights our commitment to empower our brands, sellers and partner agencies by providing them quality education and certifications to grow and succeed on our platform," Chandana Sunder, Senior Vice President, LazMall Marketing Solutions, Lazada Group. Lazadasolutions.com courses are structured with estimated average completion times for each module, enabling users to learn at their own pace. Lazada Solutions SMART certification programs are free to access on any device so that anyone can get certified regardless of their level of familiarity with Lazada Sponsored Solutions. The website's library of free lessons and study guides are easy to navigate to identify learning modules relevant to each user. Certification to boost credibility Lazada Solutions SMART Certification allows users to authenticate their proficiency in Lazada Sponsored Solutions, and is now available in Beginner level, with Advanced and Expert levels to follow. Users can earn a Lazada Sponsored Solutions digital badge for display on their social profiles such as LinkedIn upon successful completion of a certification assessment. Available soon in five Southeast Asian languages All courses, certifications and education materials are currently available in English, with Simplified Chinese, Bahasa Indonesia, Thai and Vietnamese versions scheduled for release in the second half of the year. Visit lazadasolutions.com now to learn more about Lazada Sponsored Solutions and start your certification journey today! About Lazada Group Lazada Group is Southeast Asia's pioneer eCommerce platform. For the last 10 years, Lazada has been accelerating progress in Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam through commerce and technology. Today, a thriving local ecosystem links about 160 million active users to more than one million actively-selling sellers every month, who are transacting safely and securely via trusted payments channels and Lazada Wallet, receiving parcels through a homegrown logistics network that has become the largest in the region. With a vision to achieve USD100 billion annual GMV, Lazada aims to serve 300 million shoppers by 2030, and be the best at enabling brands and sellers in digitalizing their businesses. lazadasolutions.com empowers users with the skills and credentials to grow businesses on Lazada lazadasolutions.com offers self-guided e-learning courses and certifications to better understand and use Lazada Sponsored Solutions Cision View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/apac/news-releases/lazada-launches-first-southeast-asian-ecommerce-marketing-solutions-self-certification-website-to-empower-businesses-to-grow-301821959.html SOURCE Lazada Group The board of London Security plc (LON:LSC) has announced that it will pay a dividend on the 7th of July, with investors receiving 0.42 per share. This means the dividend yield will be fairly typical at 3.0%. Check out our latest analysis for London Security London Security's Dividend Is Well Covered By Earnings We like a dividend to be consistent over the long term, so checking whether it is sustainable is important. Before making this announcement, London Security was easily earning enough to cover the dividend. As a result, a large proportion of what it earned was being reinvested back into the business. Over the next year, EPS could expand by 7.1% if recent trends continue. Assuming the dividend continues along recent trends, we think the payout ratio could be 45% by next year, which is in a pretty sustainable range. Dividend Volatility Although the company has a long dividend history, it has been cut at least once in the last 10 years. The annual payment during the last 10 years was 0.50 in 2013, and the most recent fiscal year payment was 0.84. This works out to be a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of approximately 5.3% a year over that time. We like to see dividends have grown at a reasonable rate, but with at least one substantial cut in the payments, we're not certain this dividend stock would be ideal for someone intending to live on the income. London Security Could Grow Its Dividend Growing earnings per share could be a mitigating factor when considering the past fluctuations in the dividend. We are encouraged to see that London Security has grown earnings per share at 7.1% per year over the past five years. London Security definitely has the potential to grow its dividend in the future with earnings on an uptrend and a low payout ratio. In Summary Overall, a consistent dividend is a good thing, and we think that London Security has the ability to continue this into the future. While the payout ratios are a good sign, we are less enthusiastic about the company's dividend record. The dividend looks okay, but there have been some issues in the past, so we would be a little bit cautious. Investors generally tend to favour companies with a consistent, stable dividend policy as opposed to those operating an irregular one. Still, investors need to consider a host of other factors, apart from dividend payments, when analysing a company. For instance, we've picked out 2 warning signs for London Security that investors should take into consideration. Looking for more high-yielding dividend ideas? Try our collection of strong dividend payers. Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned. Join A Paid User Research Session Youll receive a US$30 Amazon Gift card for 1 hour of your time while helping us build better investing tools for the individual investors like yourself. Sign up here Key Insights Using the 2 Stage Free Cash Flow to Equity, Nynomic fair value estimate is 35.91 With 33.50 share price, Nynomic appears to be trading close to its estimated fair value Today we'll do a simple run through of a valuation method used to estimate the attractiveness of Nynomic AG (ETR:M7U) as an investment opportunity 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. Believe it or not, it's not too difficult to follow, as you'll see from our example! We would caution that there are many ways of valuing a company and, like the DCF, each technique has advantages and disadvantages in certain scenarios. Anyone interested in learning a bit more about intrinsic value should have a read of the Simply Wall St analysis model. Check out our latest analysis for Nynomic What's The Estimated Valuation? 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 begin with, we have to get estimates of the next ten years of cash flows. Where possible we use analyst estimates, but when these aren't available we extrapolate the previous free cash flow (FCF) from the last estimate or reported value. We assume companies with shrinking free cash flow will slow their rate of shrinkage, and that companies with growing free cash flow will see their growth rate slow, over this period. We do this to reflect that growth tends to slow more in the early years than it does in later years. A DCF is all about the idea that a dollar in the future is less valuable than a dollar today, so we discount the value of these future cash flows to their estimated value in today's dollars: 10-year free cash flow (FCF) forecast 2023 2024 2025 2026 2027 2028 2029 2030 2031 2032 Levered FCF (, Millions) 14.8m 15.3m 15.6m 15.9m 16.1m 16.2m 16.3m 16.4m 16.5m 16.6m Growth Rate Estimate Source Analyst x2 Analyst x2 Est @ 2.21% Est @ 1.62% Est @ 1.20% Est @ 0.91% Est @ 0.71% Est @ 0.57% Est @ 0.47% Est @ 0.40% Present Value (, Millions) Discounted @ 7.1% 13.8 13.3 12.7 12.1 11.4 10.8 10.1 9.5 8.9 8.4 ("Est" = FCF growth rate estimated by Simply Wall St) Present Value of 10-year Cash Flow (PVCF) = 111m The second stage is also known as Terminal Value, this is the business's cash flow after the first stage. For a number of reasons a very conservative growth rate is used that cannot exceed that of a country's GDP growth. In this case we have used the 5-year average of the 10-year government bond yield (0.2%) to estimate future growth. In the same way as with the 10-year 'growth' period, we discount future cash flows to today's value, using a cost of equity of 7.1%. Terminal Value (TV)= FCF 2032 (1 + g) (r g) = 17m (1 + 0.2%) (7.1% 0.2%) = 243m Present Value of Terminal Value (PVTV)= TV / (1 + r)10= 243m ( 1 + 7.1%)10= 123m 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 234m. The last step is to then divide the equity value by the number of shares outstanding. Relative to the current share price of 33.5, the company appears about fair value at a 6.7% 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. Part of investing is coming up with your own evaluation of a company's future performance, so try the calculation yourself and check your own assumptions. The DCF also does not consider the possible cyclicality of an industry, or a company's future capital requirements, so it does not give a full picture of a company's potential performance. Given that we are looking at Nynomic 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 7.1%, which is based on a levered beta of 1.150. 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 Nynomic Strength Earnings growth over the past year exceeded the industry. Debt is not viewed as a risk. Weakness Shareholders have been diluted in the past year. Opportunity Annual earnings are forecast to grow faster than the German market. Current share price is below our estimate of fair value. Threat No apparent threats visible for M7U. Looking Ahead: Valuation is only one side of the coin in terms of building your investment thesis, and it is only one of many factors that you need to assess for a company. It's not possible to obtain a foolproof valuation with a DCF model. Instead the best use for a DCF model is to test certain assumptions and theories to see if they would lead to the company being undervalued or overvalued. If a company grows at a different rate, or if its cost of equity or risk free rate changes sharply, the output can look very different. For Nynomic, there are three fundamental factors you should further examine: Risks: For instance, we've identified 2 warning signs for Nynomic that you should be aware of. Future Earnings: How does M7U's growth rate compare to its peers and the wider market? Dig deeper into the analyst consensus number for the upcoming years by interacting with our free analyst growth expectation chart. Other Solid Businesses: Low debt, high returns on equity and good past performance are fundamental to a strong business. Why not explore our interactive list of stocks with solid business fundamentals to see if there are other companies you may not have considered! PS. The Simply Wall St app conducts a discounted cash flow valuation for every stock on the XTRA every day. If you want to find the calculation for other stocks just search here. Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned. Join A Paid User Research Session Youll receive a US$30 Amazon Gift card for 1 hour of your time while helping us build better investing tools for the individual investors like yourself. Sign up here Building wealth can feel like a mystery. It seems like everyone online knows how to do it, but there is so much conflicting advice out there. From get-rich-quick schemes to crypto traders to meme stocks, its hard to know how it actually works in reality. Im a Financial Planning Expert: Here Are 5 Things You Should Never Spend Money on If You Want To Be Rich Read: How To Build Your Savings From Scratch We decided to tap the experts who know all about building wealth to share the best ways to build wealth the right way, without any tricks or schemes. This is the real way to build wealth from a financial planning expert, not some flashy sales pitch from someone trying to make money off you. Jamie M. Lima, CFP and founder of Woodson Wealth Management, reveals his top seven ways to build wealth. Saving and Investing Saving money may seem obvious, but putting money in a bank account wont make you wealthy. You need to invest to allow compound interest to work its magic and help your money grow. Heres how Lima describes it: Saving and investing is perhaps the most obvious way to build wealth, but its also one of the most effective. By putting your money into a savings account or investing it in stocks, bonds, or real estate, you can grow your wealth over time. The key is to start early and be consistent. Even if you can only save a small amount each month, it will add up over time. And time is really the key. The longer you invest, the longer you have for your money to grow. Compound interest works best over 20+ year periods with regular contributions during the entire period of time. See: 9 Safe Investments With the Highest Returns Living Below Your Means Again, this might seem like simple advice, but in practice, living below your means is the only way to come up with extra funds to invest. You dont build wealth by outspending your earnings, no matter how much you make. Lima is a fan of focusing on the necessities. Living below your means is another important way to build wealth. This means spending less than you earn and avoiding debt. By living frugally and avoiding unnecessary expenses, you can free up money to save and invest. It may not be easy, but its a crucial step in building long-term wealth. Starting a Business If you want to build wealth faster, one of the best ways to do this is to start a business. While there is a limit to how much you can cut from your spending, there is no limit to how much you can earn if you start your own venture. But its risky, too, Lima acknowledges, starting a business can be a risky endeavor, but it can also be a great way to build wealth. By starting your own business, you can create a source of income that has the potential to grow over time. It also allows you to take control of your financial future and build something that youre passionate about. Investing in Real Estate Real estate has long been one of the best ways to build wealth. In todays economy, you can put very little money down, improve the property frugally, and rent it out for both income and price appreciation. It can be risky and many have lost money investing in real estate, but if you have a plan in place, you can use mortgage debt to your advantage. Investing in real estate can be a great way to build wealth Lima said, especially if youre able to buy properties that appreciate in value over time. By renting out your properties or flipping them for a profit, you can generate income that can be reinvested to build even more wealth. Building a Diverse Investment Portfolio Investing in meme stocks might be fun, but building real wealth requires protecting your investments by diversifying. You can still get solid returns, but avoid the downside risk of putting all your money in a single investment. Lima said that building a diverse investment portfolio is important because it helps to reduce risk and maximize returns. By investing in a variety of stocks, bonds and other assets, you can spread your risk and increase your chances of making money over the long term. This is especially important as you get closer to retirement, when you may want to shift your investments to more conservative options. Pursuing Education and Personal Development Learning new skills and working on yourself is always a good return on investment. It can help you grow your income and live a more fulfilling life. Lima shares that investing in education and personal development can also be a great way to build wealth. By improving your skills and knowledge, you can increase your earning potential and open up new opportunities for advancement. This can lead to higher salaries, bonuses, and other financial rewards that can help you build wealth over time. Seeking Professional Financial Advice No matter where youre at in your wealth-building journey, finding a trustworthy professional to help you can speed up your process toward financial independence and building generational wealth. Lima agreed, saying that seeking professional financial advice can be an important step in building wealth. A financial advisor can help you develop a personalized plan for achieving your financial goals, and can provide guidance and support along the way. This can be especially important if youre just starting out or if youre facing complex financial challenges. Bottom Line Building wealth takes time, patience, consistency and, most of all, a willingness to invest in yourself and the market. Its a multifaceted venture thats worth pursuing. Lima puts it this way: All in all, building wealth takes time and effort, but its achievable if youre willing to put in the work. By saving and investing, living below your means, starting a business, investing in real estate, building a diverse investment portfolio, pursuing education and personal development, and seeking professional financial advice, you can build a strong financial foundation and achieve your long-term goals. More From GOBankingRates This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: Im a Financial Planning Expert: Here Are the 7 Best Ways To Build Wealth Serco, an international public services company, has announced the appointment of Jeffrey Miller to the role of Director, Security and Defence in the Middle East. The newly created role outlines Sercos commitment to bolstering its defence capabilities in the region, spanning acquisition and programme management, engineering and modernisation, education, logistics and human capital management across sea, land, air and space. The new Director Security and Defence will drive the defence capabilities of Serco Middle East, building on the companys mission to support governments as an impact partner, to train and create nationalised workforces that are equipped with the skills needed in acquisition, modernisation, logistics support and asset management when it comes to promoting national security. The position further cements Sercos purpose and commitment to working with local talent by harnessing the companys experience working in defence across international markets to help bring national visions to life. Extensive experience Miller, who has been working in the Middle East for more than 20 years, has extensive experience in government relations, acquisition, capability development and organisational development. He previously worked in the US Navy security assistance, Foreign Military Sales (FMS) and Defence Collaboration Services (DCS) in the Middle East, as well as being in active duty for the US Embassy in Abu Dhabi, where he spent three years building up a network of solid military contacts. Prior to his time in the Middle East, Miller spent over 21 years in active-duty service in the US Navy, becoming a qualified Navy SEAL, enlisted Submarine, Surface Warfare Officer and Naval Aviator, and trained to become a helicopter pilot. Before joining Serco Middle East, Miller also completed a Masters in International Law, International Relations and Diplomacy at Paris Sorbonne University Abu Dhabi (PSUAD). Multiple markets Daniel MacGregor, Chief Growth Officer, Serco Middle East said: Jeffs security and defence experience speaks for itself; he has had a career spanning multiple markets, taking on a variety of roles that includes extensive experience working in national security in the Middle East. We are already working with defence clients in the region, and so we are looking forward to using our capabilities to help transfer knowledge, upskill and train the right teams with the right skillsets. Under Jeffs leadership, we are strengthening our commitment as an impact partner in defence and security, and this will further accelerate our overall growth plans to support governments and organisations in the region to realise their national visions. It will also enable us to create employment opportunities for nationals interested in a career in national security, supported by a business with extensive international experience. Miller said: Im looking forward to utilising my experience to drive the growth of Sercos defence and security capabilities in the Middle East, building on its purpose to support governments with their visions for nationalised workforces. Pace of growth The pace of growth in Saudi Arabia and the UAE has been phenomenal, and Im keen to bring in the right capabilities and expertise to help build a critical infrastructure around this. Being based in the region, will enable me to deepen my relationships with governments and defence organisations, and Im looking forward to harnessing the international experience and heritage of Serco in this space to bolster KSA and the UAEs capabilities.-- TradeArabia News Service Key Insights The projected fair value for Mach7 Technologies is AU$0.80 based on 2 Stage Free Cash Flow to Equity Mach7 Technologies' AU$0.53 share price signals that it might be 34% undervalued Mach7 Technologies' peers are currently trading at a premium of 140% on average Today we'll do a simple run through of a valuation method used to estimate the attractiveness of Mach7 Technologies Limited (ASX:M7T) as an investment opportunity by taking the expected future cash flows and discounting them to today's value. We will use the Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) model on this occasion. Models like these may appear beyond the comprehension of a lay person, but they're fairly easy to follow. 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. Anyone interested in learning a bit more about intrinsic value should have a read of the Simply Wall St analysis model. See our latest analysis for Mach7 Technologies The Method We are going to use a two-stage DCF model, which, as the name states, takes into account two stages of growth. The first stage is generally a higher growth period which levels off heading towards the terminal value, captured in the second 'steady growth' period. To start off with, we need to estimate the next ten years of cash flows. Where possible we use analyst estimates, but when these aren't available we extrapolate the previous free cash flow (FCF) from the last estimate or reported value. We assume companies with shrinking free cash flow will slow their rate of shrinkage, and that companies with growing free cash flow will see their growth rate slow, over this period. We do this to reflect that growth tends to slow more in the early years than it does in later years. Generally we assume that a dollar today is more valuable than a dollar in the future, so we need to discount the sum of these future cash flows to arrive at a present value estimate: 10-year free cash flow (FCF) estimate 2023 2024 2025 2026 2027 2028 2029 2030 2031 2032 Levered FCF (A$, Millions) AU$700.0k AU$13.2m AU$12.9m AU$12.8m AU$12.8m AU$12.9m AU$13.0m AU$13.1m AU$13.3m AU$13.6m Growth Rate Estimate Source Analyst x1 Analyst x1 Analyst x1 Est @ -0.89% Est @ -0.04% Est @ 0.56% Est @ 0.98% Est @ 1.27% Est @ 1.48% Est @ 1.62% Present Value (A$, Millions) Discounted @ 7.7% AU$0.7 AU$11.4 AU$10.3 AU$9.5 AU$8.8 AU$8.2 AU$7.7 AU$7.3 AU$6.9 AU$6.5 ("Est" = FCF growth rate estimated by Simply Wall St) Present Value of 10-year Cash Flow (PVCF) = AU$77m 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 7.7%. Terminal Value (TV)= FCF 2032 (1 + g) (r g) = AU$14m (1 + 2.0%) (7.7% 2.0%) = AU$242m Present Value of Terminal Value (PVTV)= TV / (1 + r)10= AU$242m ( 1 + 7.7%)10= AU$115m 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$193m. In the final step we divide the equity value by the number of shares outstanding. Relative to the current share price of AU$0.5, the company appears quite good value at a 34% 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. 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 Mach7 Technologies 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 7.7%, which is based on a levered beta of 0.962. 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. Looking Ahead: Whilst important, the DCF calculation is only one of many factors that you need to assess for a company. DCF models are not the be-all and end-all of investment valuation. Rather it should be seen as a guide to "what assumptions need to be true for this stock to be under/overvalued?" For instance, if the terminal value growth rate is adjusted slightly, it can dramatically alter the overall result. Why is the intrinsic value higher than the current share price? For Mach7 Technologies, we've put together three further elements you should further research: Risks: Consider for instance, the ever-present spectre of investment risk. We've identified 1 warning sign with Mach7 Technologies , and understanding this should be part of your investment process. Future Earnings: How does M7T's growth rate compare to its peers and the wider market? Dig deeper into the analyst consensus number for the upcoming years by interacting with our free analyst growth expectation chart. Other Solid Businesses: Low debt, high returns on equity and good past performance are fundamental to a strong business. Why not explore our interactive list of stocks with solid business fundamentals to see if there are other companies you may not have considered! PS. Simply Wall St updates its DCF calculation for every 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. Join A Paid User Research Session Youll receive a US$30 Amazon Gift card for 1 hour of your time while helping us build better investing tools for the individual investors like yourself. Sign up here Key Insights The considerable ownership by private companies in Malaysia Smelting Corporation Berhad indicates that they collectively have a greater say in management and business strategy Tan Chin Tuan Pte Ltd owns 52% of the company Using data from analyst forecasts alongside ownership research, one can better assess the future performance of a company If you want to know who really controls Malaysia Smelting Corporation Berhad (KLSE:MSC), then you'll have to look at the makeup of its share registry. And the group that holds the biggest piece of the pie are private companies with 54% ownership. 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 take a closer look to see what the different types of shareholders can tell us about Malaysia Smelting Corporation Berhad. View our latest analysis for Malaysia Smelting Corporation Berhad What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Malaysia Smelting Corporation Berhad? Many institutions measure their performance against an index that approximates the local market. So they usually pay more attention to companies that are included in major indices. We can see that Malaysia Smelting Corporation Berhad does have institutional investors; and they hold a good portion of the company's stock. This implies the analysts working for those institutions have looked at the stock and they like it. But just like anyone else, they could be wrong. When multiple institutions own a stock, there's always a risk that they are in a 'crowded trade'. When such a trade goes wrong, multiple parties may compete to sell stock fast. This risk is higher in a company without a history of growth. You can see Malaysia Smelting Corporation Berhad's historic earnings and revenue below, but keep in mind there's always more to the story. Hedge funds don't have many shares in Malaysia Smelting Corporation Berhad. Our data shows that Tan Chin Tuan Pte Ltd is the largest shareholder with 52% of shares outstanding. This essentially means that they have extensive influence, if not outright control, over the future of the corporation. Yew Choo Yeoh is the second largest shareholder owning 2.2% of common stock, and Neoh Choo Ee & Company Sdn Bhd holds about 1.2% of the company stock. While studying institutional ownership for a company can add value to your research, it is also a good practice to research analyst recommendations to get a deeper understand of a stock's expected performance. There are a reasonable number of analysts covering the stock, so it might be useful to find out their aggregate view on the future. Insider Ownership Of Malaysia Smelting Corporation Berhad The definition of company insiders can be subjective and does vary between jurisdictions. Our data reflects individual insiders, capturing board members at the very least. 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 report that insiders do own shares in Malaysia Smelting Corporation Berhad. As individuals, the insiders collectively own RM61m worth of the RM848m company. 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 With a 31% ownership, the general public, mostly comprising of individual investors, have some degree of sway over Malaysia Smelting Corporation Berhad. 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 54%, of the Malaysia Smelting Corporation Berhad stock. It might be worth looking deeper into this. If related parties, such as insiders, have an interest in one of these private companies, that should be disclosed in the annual report. Private companies may also have a strategic interest in the company. Next Steps: It's always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand Malaysia Smelting Corporation Berhad better, we need to consider many other factors. For example, we've discovered 2 warning signs for Malaysia Smelting Corporation Berhad that you should be aware of before investing here. If you are like me, you may want to think about whether this company will grow or shrink. Luckily, you can check this free report showing analyst forecasts for its future. NB: Figures in this article are calculated using data from the last twelve months, which refer to the 12-month period ending on the last date of the month the financial statement is dated. This may not be consistent with full year annual report figures. Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned. Join A Paid User Research Session Youll receive a US$30 Amazon Gift card for 1 hour of your time while helping us build better investing tools for the individual investors like yourself. Sign up here Malaysias market regulator the Securities Commission (SC) has asked cryptocurrency exchange Huobi Global to stop its operations in the country, and pulled up the exchange and its chief executive officer Leon Li for operating a digital asset exchange (DAX) without registration, in an announcement Monday. The SC also urged Malaysian users on the platform to immediately cease trading, withdraw all investments and close accounts. See related article: Malaysia to get its own national public blockchain Fast facts Chris Farrell is a financial columnist and a senior economics contributor at Marketplace, a nationally syndicated public radio program that discusses business and the economy. He has also published five books on personal finance and the economy. See Our List: 100 Most Influential Money Experts Find Out: Demand for Gold is Up. Heres Everything You Need to Know. Recognized by GOBankingRates as a Top Money Expert, here Farrell weighs in on what investments to make in an uncertain market and how to ignore what you cannot control when it comes to your finances. Want to vote for Chris as your favorite money expert? Click here and go to his expert page. What do most people not know about investing that you wish they knew? First, that the essence of investing is uncertainty. How confident are you about the trajectory of the stock market over the coming year, let alone the next 10 years? Knowing that surprise is inevitable with markets, putting money into a portfolio that matches the performance of an index like the S&P 500 is cheap, simple, and savvy. Investors in equity index funds consistently outperform most professional stock pickers. Among the biggest attractions of broad-based index funds is very low fees compared to actively managed funds. Youre not paying money managers to beat the market which, experience and market history show, is difficult to do over time. Second, diversification pays, especially considering that investors cant escape uncertainty about future asset returns. As Don Quixote de la Mancha put it: Tis the part of a wise man to keep himself today for tomorrow, and not venture all his eggs in one basket. Im a Self-Made Millionaire: These Are the 6 Investments Everyone Should Make During an Economic Downturn What should everyone be doing to build their wealth, no matter how much money they currently have? The bedrock insights of personal finance include: save often, keep fees low, prepare for the unexpected, invest in learning and create a margin of financial safety. These ideas have been honed over centuries of dealing with financial uncertainty and upheaval. The principles seem easy enough, but theyre often hard to follow in practice. Life is complicated and messy. That said, the best way to get your financial bearings in uncertain times is to ignore what you cant control, like the direction of the stock market and the economy. Put away all the forecasts. Instead, focus on what you can control. That starts with creating a budget no matter what you earn. Youll learn where your money is going and where you might need to make some adjustments. From that practical base of knowledge, you can make plans to get to where you want to be despite economic and market uncertainty. I would also expand the definition of investment. Too much of the conversation revolves around the markets. Nothing wrong with investing in stocks, real estate, and fixed-income securities. But your valuable asset in good times and bad is your network family, friends, good colleagues and people you respect. Invest in your network. Theyll help you find a job if you get laid off and theyll work with you to advance your career. Investments in job skills and education can also pay off big. More From GOBankingRates Jaime Catmull contributed to the reporting for this article. This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: Marketplaces Chris Farrell: This Is the One Investment That Always Pays Off Miami Mayor Francis Suarez (R) dodged questions on Sunday about whether he would run on a 2024 presidential ticket alongside former President Trump. Its flattering to be in any discussion for the vice presidency or the presidency, Suarez, who is considering his own White House run in 2024, said on CBS Face the Nation. My parents came to this country at 12 and 7 from Cuba, exiled from their country of birth, he added. I never thought in a million years that I would ever be on Face the Nation with you, talking about the possibility of running for president. I think that demonstrates the greatness of this country. Politico Playbook reported last Saturday that longtime Trump advisor Kellyanne Conway had suggested Suarez as a running mate to the former president. Francis Suarez can be POTUS one day. It is up to the voters when that day is, Conway said in a text to Playbook. Ive not been shy about telling President Trump that Suarez should be on the short list for VP should Trump be the nominee. Suarez has previously made less-than-positive comments about the former president, including that he declined to vote for Trump in the 2020 election. What Ive said is that Im aspirational and inspirational, and that if I do run for president, people should vote for me because I represent something different and I can appeal to a different segment of our country, Suarez said on Sunday, when asked about some of his previous remarks. The mayor of Miami also indicated that he is getting much, much closer to making a decision about his potential 2024 run. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. Micron shares tumble 6% after China bans the US giant's microchips - and other semiconductor stocks are swinging too Micron Technology shares fell in premarket trading Monday after China banned the semiconductor giant's chips. Reuters//Kai Pfaffenbach Micron shares fell 6% in premarket trading Monday after China banned its chips. Beijing ruled that the semiconductor giant's products posed a national security risk. Other US-listed chipmaking stocks also slipped, while some Chinese rivals gained. US semiconductor giant Micron Technology's stock price slumped in Monday's premarket after China banned its chips. The stock fell 6% to trade at $64 shortly before 6 a.m. ET after Beijing's latest move, with its Frankfurt-listed shares slipping the same amount Monday morning. Those losses came after China's cybersecurity regulator ordered companies dealing with critical information to stop buying Micron's products on Sunday. The ban is the latest development in an ongoing clash between the US and China over technologies. The Biden administration banned new equipment from China's Huawei and ZTE in November last year on the grounds they posed an "unacceptable risk" to cybersecurity. Beijing hit back by launching a probe into Micron in April, setting the stage for Monday's full-blown ban. The US Department of Commerce slammed China's policy as having "no basis in fact." "This action, along with recent raids and targeting of other American firms, is inconsistent with the PRC's assertions that it is opening its markets and is committed to a transparent regulatory framework," the department said in a statement. Other US-listed semiconductor stocks also traded lower after China announced its ban. Nvidia, Advanced Micro Devices, and Qualcomm all slipped by 1% or more. Meanwhile, several Chinese chipmakers rallied, with Ingenic up 3%. Read more: China is beating the US in the trade war as the yuan makes international gains, Bridgewater's Ray Dalio says Read the original article on Business Insider (Bloomberg) -- Micron Technology Inc.s stock declined after Chinas cyberspace regulator said that its products failed to pass a cybersecurity review, a move that jeopardized the companys sales in a crucial market. Most Read from Bloomberg Beijing warned operators of key infrastructure against buying the companys goods, saying it found relatively serious cybersecurity risks in Micron products sold in the country. The components caused significant security risks to our critical information infrastructure supply chain, which would affect national security, according to the statement from the Cyberspace Administration of China, or CAC. Microns shares fell as much as 5% to $64.76, the biggest drop in more than seven weeks. They regained some ground later in the session, closing down 2.8% at $66.23 in New York. Theyre up about 33% so far this year. A senior Biden administration official said the US was communicating directly with Chinese authorities and trying to get a better understanding of what, exactly, the decision entails. The official, who was granted anonymity to discuss a sensitive diplomatic matter, called the action a retaliation for the stance taken by Group of Seven leaders at their summit in Japan last week to reduce dependence on Beijing for critical supply chains, while also announcing a fresh initiative to counter Chinese economic coercion. The CAC had said about six weeks ago that it was launching a security review of imports from Micron, the USs last major memory chipmaker. Micron has said previously that it stands by the security of its products and commitments to customers. We have received the CACs notice of conclusion of its review of Micron products sold in China, said Micron Chief Executive Officer Sanjay Mehrotra, speaking at a news conference Monday at Microns factory in Hiroshima, Japan. We are evaluating the conclusion and assessing our next steps. We look forward to continuing to engage in discussions with Chinese authorities. The technology sector has become a key battlefield over national security between the two largest economies, with Washington having already blacklisted Chinese tech firms, cut off the flow of sophisticated processors and banned its citizens from providing certain help to the Chinese chip industry. In a statement, the US Commerce Department said Beijings conclusion had no basis in fact, and Washington will continue to try and limit industry disruptions with its allies. Micron remains unclear as to what security concerns exist with its products and has had no complaints from customers, Chief Financial Officer Mark Murphy said at a JPMorgan Chase & Co. conference in Boston Monday. About a quarter of total revenue, in the form of direct and indirect sales through distributors, goes to China-headquartered companies, he said. Micron is trying to work out what portion would be affected by the ban. Holden Triplett, founder of Trenchcoat Advisors and a former FBI counterintelligence official in Beijing, described the move as retaliation for the USs export controls on semiconductors. No foreign business operating in China should be deceived by this subterfuge, he said. These are political actions pure and simple, and any business could be the next one to be made an example of. A Chinese government spokesperson disputed the idea that the decision was political. It is a necessary step for safeguarding national security, Mao Ning of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Monday. That relevant review is for preventing cybersecurity problems and the harms it poses to national key infrastructure and security. Read More: Chinas Micron Probe Is Latest Offensive in Chip War With US The move brings fresh uncertainty to the other US chipmakers that sell to China, the worlds biggest market for semiconductors. Companies like Qualcomm Inc., Broadcom Inc. and Intel Corp. deliver billions of chips to the country, which puts the components inside electronic products that are shipped all over the world. President Joe Biden voiced optimism about the China relationship on Sunday at the end of the G-7 summit in Hiroshima. He said he expected ties between the two countries will start to thaw very shortly. The Chinese cyber agency said in its statement Sunday that while the country welcomes products and services provided by companies of all countries as long as they comply with its laws and regulations the investigation into Micron products are a necessary measure to safeguard national security. It didnt detail what the security risks were or identify specific Micron products that are now barred. Jefferies analyst Edison Lee said that the CACs decision would likely have a small impact on Micron because it focuses on critical information infrastructure, meaning operations like data centers and cloud computing services with security risks. Most of Microns memory chips sold in China are actually used in consumer electronics, like smartphones and notebooks, he and his colleagues said in a report. We believe this ban is narrowly focused as it applies to only CII operators, they wrote. Therefore, the ultimate impact on Micron will be quite limited. Read More: Why Making Computer Chips Has Become a New Arms Race Micron derived nearly 11% of its revenue from mainland China in its last fiscal year. Sanford C. Bernstein said the worst hit to revenue would reach that level, but a more realistic impact will be low-single digit percentage and only in the near term. --With assistance from Lucille Liu and Jenny Leonard. Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2023 Bloomberg L.P. (Bloomberg) -- Mizuho Financial Group Inc. is forging further into US investment banking through a deal to buy Greenhill & Co. as it seeks to accelerate growth. Most Read from Bloomberg The Japanese banking giant agreed to buy Greenhill for $15 a share in an all-cash transaction, which values the firm at $550 million including debt, the firms said Monday in a statement. The lender will retain Greenhills leaders, including Chief Executive Officer Scott Bok, who will be chairman of mergers, acquisitions and restructuring. Mizuho joins its Japanese rivals to expand investment banking tie ups in the US though goes a step further in making an acquisition. Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc. last month said it will expand a tieup with Jefferies Financial Group Inc. to boost US capital markets and M&A advisory businesses. Japans largest bank Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. has a more than decade-old alliance with Morgan Stanley, a deal struck in the heat of the 2008 financial crisis. The $15 a share price represents a 121% premium to where Greenhills stock traded at the close of Friday, before the deal was announced. Shares in the firm jumped 116% to $14.65 at 10:09 a.m. in New York on Monday. The stock as recently as February was trading right around this price, Jerry Rizzieri, the president and CEO of Mizuho Securities USA, said in an interview. Regional banks are down 40%, this stock has taken a pretty big drop, he said. We think were paying a fair price for a premium brand. The deal gives Mizuho another 370 employees, and Greenhill will continue to operate in 15 locations around the world. Most locations overlap with Mizuhos existing locations except Melbourne and Stockholm, according to Rizzieri. Mizuho plans to complete the transaction by the end of the year, and the Greenhill business will be within Mizuhos larger dealmaking division run by Michal Katz, head of banking in the Americas. Read More: Jefferies Shares Surge as Sumitomo Mitsui Agrees to Boost Stake Mizuho is betting the takeover will complement its investment banking teams. We only recently began hiring M&A bankers in the last few years, Rizzieri said. Mizuho offers a full complement of products ranging from debt, equity, capital markets, derivatives, fixed income and equity sales and trading, securitization. The piece thats been missing has been M&A, he said. Mizuho once held a stake in a rival to Greenhill, Evercore Inc., which it picked up in 2008 when the investment bank was trading at less than $13 a share. Mizuho exited the $295 million position in 2015, with the stock more than quadrupling in that seven-year time frame. Deal Slump Deal-making globally has slumped about 44% this year to $973 billion amid economic uncertainty, an antitrust crackdown and tougher financing markets, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. That slump has taken a toll on some M&A focused advisers. Greenhill is currently ranked no. 74 in M&A this year after landing at no. 49 in 2022, the data show. Before the financial crisis, the firm held a top 15 ranking, with its founder M&A veteran Bob Greenhill having been a key dealmaker for everyone from Citigroup Inc. titan Sandy Weill to Sumner Redstone. Mizuhos takeover ends a nearly two-decade run in public markets for the boutique investment bank, which went public in 2004 under Greenhill. Bok was tapped to co-lead the firm three years later, and became sole CEO in 2010. The stock traded at more than $81 per share at the end of that year. In the past decade, Greenhill faced competition from a proliferation of boutiques, with Moelis & Co., Houlihan Lokey Inc. and PJT Inc. also among those going public. Our firm was a pioneer in the concept of the publicly traded independent investment bank, and that format served us well for many years, Bok said in a statement. Now, given the evolution of markets, we believe our clients and employees will benefit from our team becoming part of a larger, more diversified financial institution. --With assistance from Ben Scent and Aaron Kirchfeld. (Updates share price, context on M&A market from fourth paragraph.) Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2023 Bloomberg L.P. Let's talk about the popular Molson Coors Beverage Company (NYSE:TAP). The company's shares saw a significant share price rise of over 20% in the past couple of months on the NYSE. With many analysts covering the large-cap stock, we may expect any price-sensitive announcements have already been factored into the stocks share price. However, what if the stock is still a bargain? Today I will analyse the most recent data on Molson Coors Beverages outlook and valuation to see if the opportunity still exists. Check out our latest analysis for Molson Coors Beverage What Is Molson Coors Beverage Worth? Great news for investors Molson Coors Beverage is still trading at a fairly cheap price. My valuation model shows that the intrinsic value for the stock is $103.33, but it is currently trading at US$62.61 on the share market, meaning that there is still an opportunity to buy now. Another thing to keep in mind is that Molson Coors Beverages share price may be quite stable relative to the rest of the market, as indicated by its low beta. This means that if you believe the current share price should move towards its intrinsic value over time, a low beta could suggest it is not likely to reach that level anytime soon, and once its there, it may be hard to fall back down into an attractive buying range again. What kind of growth will Molson Coors Beverage generate? Investors looking for growth in their portfolio may want to consider the prospects of a company before buying its shares. Although value investors would argue that its the intrinsic value relative to the price that matter the most, a more compelling investment thesis would be high growth potential at a cheap price. However, with a relatively muted revenue growth of 4.8% expected over the next couple of years, growth doesnt seem like a key driver for a buy decision for Molson Coors Beverage, at least in the short term. What This Means For You Are you a shareholder? Even though growth is relatively muted, since TAP is currently undervalued, it may be a great time to accumulate more of your holdings in the stock. However, there are also other factors such as financial health to consider, which could explain the current undervaluation. Are you a potential investor? If youve been keeping an eye on TAP for a while, now might be the time to enter the stock. Its future outlook isnt fully reflected in the current share price yet, which means its not too late to buy TAP. But before you make any investment decisions, consider other factors such as the track record of its management team, in order to make a well-informed buy. So if you'd like to dive deeper into this stock, it's crucial to consider any risks it's facing. Every company has risks, and we've spotted 2 warning signs for Molson Coors Beverage you should know about. If you are no longer interested in Molson Coors Beverage, you can use our free platform to see our list of over 50 other stocks with a high growth potential. 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 More Bang for Your Buck: These 20 Cars Will Last You Twice as Long as the Average Vehicle A car is a major investment, so you'll likely want one that will last for as long as possible. While the average vehicle has only an 11.8% chance of lasting 250,000 miles, some cars have a much greater chance of reaching this milestone. New Car Market: Prices Are About To Plummet Due To Oversupply More: How To Build Your Savings From Scratch Here's a look at the 20 cars that are at least twice as likely to make it to 250,000 than the average car, as identified by iSeeCars.com. Toyota undefinedundefined FCA US LLC undefined FCA US LLC Chevrolet Honda Honda undefined Honda / Wieck MullenLowe / Acura Chevrolet JAMES HALFACRE / Toyota undefined Toyota Chevrolet GMC Toyota Honda North America undefined Ford Toyota Toyota SEAN C RICE / Toyota Ford undefinedundefinedundefinedundefinedundefined This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: More Bang for Your Buck: These 20 Cars Will Last You Twice as Long as the Average Vehicle Abu Dhabi National Energy Company (Taqa) has announced a tie-up with Uzbekistan to explore strategic opportunities for investment in the countrys power sector worth more than $3 billion. These opportunities include new and existing power plants as well as associated power infrastructure. A strategic framework agreement and an implementation agreement were signed by Azim Akhmedkhadjaev, First Deputy Minister of Energy and Sarvar Khamidov, Deputy Minister of Investment, Industry and Trade. The agreements were signed on behalf of Taqa by Jasim Husain Thabet, Taqas Group Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director. Greenfield combined cycle power plant The implementation agreement covers proposals for a greenfield combined cycle power plant with a capacity of approximately 1.5 GW. The new project is set to be developed adjacent to the existing Talimarjan power complex where Taqa has already announced plans to invest in the privatisation of two gas-fired power plants. The new partnership is expected to cover the design, financing, engineering, procurement, commissioning, testing, ownership and operation of the power plant by Taqa. The agreements are also looking at opportunities to invest in existing and further greenfield gas-fired power generation plants with a combined capacity of more than 3GW along with electricity transmission and distribution infrastructure in Uzbekistan. Growth strategy This strategic collaboration between Taqa and the Government of Uzbekistan is another significant milestone in Taqas international growth strategy. These agreements open the door for Taqa to bring its operation and maintenance expertise to Uzbekistan in support of new and existing power generation projects. The company will also support the Uzbekistan Governments process of reform for the sector. In transmission and distribution, the company will bring in international best practice infrastructure development and operation to help the Uzbekistan Government achieve substantial improvements in transmission and distribution network performance, network asset modernisation, customer experience, and collection services. Khamidov said: This partnership and the pipeline of projects builds on the existing opportunities between our countries and our shared interests to invest and support a sustainable and reliable power sector. We look forward to working with Taqa to advance Uzbekistans transformation. Thabet commented: Taqa welcomes the opportunity to leverage its extensive global expertise as part of our collaboration with the Government of Uzbekistan. Working together we can accelerate the sustainable development of the countrys power sector and build on the strong relationship between our two countries. In addition to helping modernise Uzbekistans network and generation sector capabilities, working closely with the countrys leading ministerial agencies will allow us to expand our international portfolio, strengthening our position as a global utilities leader. Renewable projects At the same signing ceremony, Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company, Masdar, a joint venture owned by Taqa, Adnoc and Mubadala signed a joint development agreement (JDA) with Uzbekistans Ministry of Energy (MoE) and the Ministry of Investments, Industry and Trade (MIIT) to develop over 2 gigawatts of solar and wind projects and 500 megawatt-hours of battery energy storage at multiple sites across the country.-- TradeArabia News Service The worst result, after buying shares in a company (assuming no leverage), would be if you lose all the money you put in. But on a lighter note, a good company can see its share price rise well over 100%. For example, the Murray Cod Australia Limited (ASX:MCA) share price has soared 142% in the last half decade. Most would be very happy with that. So let's assess the underlying fundamentals over the last 5 years and see if they've moved in lock-step with shareholder returns. See our latest analysis for Murray Cod Australia Because Murray Cod Australia made a loss in the last twelve months, we think the market is probably more focussed on revenue and revenue growth, at least for now. Shareholders of unprofitable companies usually expect strong revenue growth. That's because fast revenue growth can be easily extrapolated to forecast profits, often of considerable size. In the last 5 years Murray Cod Australia saw its revenue grow at 30% per year. Even measured against other revenue-focussed companies, that's a good result. So it's not entirely surprising that the share price reflected this performance by increasing at a rate of 19% per year, in that time. This suggests the market has well and truly recognized the progress the business has made. To our minds that makes Murray Cod Australia worth investigating - it may have its best days ahead. The company's revenue and earnings (over time) are depicted in the image below (click to see the exact numbers). This free interactive report on Murray Cod Australia's balance sheet strength is a great place to start, if you want to investigate the stock further. A Different Perspective While the broader market gained around 4.9% in the last year, Murray Cod Australia shareholders lost 34%. 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. Longer term investors wouldn't be so upset, since they would have made 19%, each year, over five years. It could be that the recent sell-off is an opportunity, so it may be worth checking the fundamental data for signs of a long term growth trend. While it is well worth considering the different impacts that market conditions can have on the share price, there are other factors that are even more important. For instance, we've identified 2 warning signs for Murray Cod Australia (1 makes us a bit uncomfortable) that you should be aware of. If you would prefer to check out another company -- one with potentially superior financials -- then do not miss this free list of companies that have proven they can grow earnings. Please note, the market returns quoted in this article reflect the market weighted average returns of stocks that currently trade on Australian exchanges. Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned. Join A Paid User Research Session Youll receive a US$30 Amazon Gift card for 1 hour of your time while helping us build better investing tools for the individual investors like yourself. Sign up here (Bloomberg) -- NatWest Group Plc has agreed to buy back 1.26 billion ($1.6 billion) of its shares from the UK government as the Treasury continues to sell down its stake after a bailout during the financial crisis over a decade ago. Most Read from Bloomberg The off-market purchase of 469.2 million shares will be made at Fridays closing price of 268.4 pence, according to a statement Monday. The deal will see the Treasurys voting rights in the lender drop to about 38.6% from about 41.4% previously. NatWests shares were trading up 1.2% as of 11:13 a.m. in London, faring better than the FTSE 100. The government will keep other disposal options under active consideration, including by way of accelerated bookbuilds, when market conditions permit, it said. In April, the government extended a plan to continue selling down its stake in NatWest, which was around 84% at its peak. The latest disposal means the UK has sold more than half its shareholding. This transaction reduces government ownership below 40% and demonstrates positive progress on the banks strategic priorities and the path to privatization, Chief Executive Officer Alison Rose said in a statement. The UK remains NatWests biggest shareholder about 15 years after the government rescued what was then Royal Bank of Scotland in a 45.5 billion bailout. The lenders shares have recovered some of the losses suffered during this years banking turmoil, RBC analyst Benjamin Toms said by phone. The government previously indicated that its breakeven price on the bailout was about 400 pence which NatWests stock hasnt reached in recent years. At this point, the government is arguably just really trying to maximize their returns rather than recoup the original investment in the stock, Toms said. At its first-quarter results last month, NatWests guidance stoked worries that the boost to margins from higher interest rates was starting to fade. The bank is also due to start the search for a new chair as Howard Davies, 72, prepares to step down by mid-2024. Read More: NatWest Chair Davies Says Bank Will Start Search for Successor Goldman Sachs International is acting as privatization adviser to the government, while the trading plan is being managed by Morgan Stanley & Co. International Plc. (Updates with latest share price in third paragraph, chart, analyst comment from eighth paragraph.) Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2023 Bloomberg L.P. Novozymes OneHealth Beijing, May 22, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The 2023 China Gut Conference, held from May 20-22, 2023, successfully wrapped up at the China National Convention Center in Beijing. Under the theme "Innovation, Collaboration, and Symbiosis," Novozymes OneHealth (also known as OneHealth) assembled alongside an international array of authoritative experts and leading biotech companies. They united to exchange ideas on industry trends and to chart a future course for the development of gut health, with their discussions grounded in technological innovation and clinical evidence. OneHealth also utilized this platform to launch its new products and its official website in China. Collaborative and Symbiotic Efforts Driving Mutual Success OneHealth intends to build upon its longstanding partnership with Jiangnan University, facilitating enhanced communication in scientific research and talent exchange, and fostering the global implementation of probiotic-related technologies, with the goal of delivering more scientifically validated biotech solutions to the health industry. In a media interview, Jordan F. Dow, Head of Global Commercial at OneHealth, acknowledged that Jiangnan University was the inaugural academic partner of OneHealth, and the collaboration continues to this day. The partnership has resulted in significant successes, such as SmartGuard (Lactobacillus plantarum CCFM8610), a product capable of removing harmful heavy metals from the body." Dow emphasized that OneHealth remains committed to further collaboration, striving to develop scientifically validated health solutions informed by industry trends, scientific innovation, and extensive research. The next stage of collaborative efforts involves enhancing the promotion and application of OneHealths product worldwide via global clinical trials and strategic marketing. It aspires to cooperate with multiple partners in conducting these global clinical trials, aiming to foster broader international recognition and utilization of Chinese probiotic strains. Launch of New Products: Leading the Segmented Market, Offering Fresh Choices for Gut Health OneHealth, a leader in providing solutions for gastric health, consistently innovates in this specialized field. Their latest effort, the Pylopass 2023 white paper, incorporates expert insights on HP eradication and prevention from "The 6th National Consensus Report on the Management of Helicobacter pylori Infection." The paper also gives a detailed explanation of the bioequivalence of Pylopass PRO, a product made using freeze-drying technology. Interestingly, this paper shows that it's as effective as the traditional inactivated Pylopass solution. This product can be incorporated into localized probiotic applications, expanding its usage possibilities. In response to consumers' evolving demand for more tailored probiotic solutions beyond general intestinal health, OneHealth has introduced a solution for irritable bowel syndrome: IBmeTM, featuring the Bifidobacterium longum 35624 strain. This strain, after being extensively tested in over ten clinical trials in the U.S., U.K., and France with nearly 1,000 participants, has shown positive effects on alleviating irritable bowel syndrome. The strain is now available in China with a proven application formula, setting the stage for swift commercialization. Additionally, OneHealth's global commercial launch of SmartGuard, a Lactobacillus plantarum CCFM8610 strain developed in partnership with Jiangnan University, is generating interest. It is noted for its ability to decrease the body's absorption of harmful heavy metals and provides the dual health benefits of also providing relief from dermatitis. Round Table Forum: Focusing on Market Trends and Joint Development At the OneHealth Satellite Conference, the company hosted a roundtable forum featuring eminent industry professionals, including Professor Zhao Jianxin, Director of the School of Food Science and Technology at Jiangnan University, Professor Yang Ruifu, Chairman of the Committee of Probiotics Prebiotics and Health, Zhang Yusheng, Founder and CEO of Xingshulin Information Technology (Beijing) Co., Ltd, and Xue Yang, CEO of VitalNova Health Group Holdings Limited. The discussions spanned a range of topics, including the evolving trends in probiotics, the intersection of functional and health food, and the significant role Chinese strain research plays in global development. Spotlight on Academic Research: Stimulating Themed Discussions To ensure sustained vitality and competitiveness, OneHealth prioritizes scientific research and development, viewing technological innovation as a key driver of the company's growth. With a watchful eye on the cutting edge of global science and technology, OneHealth consistently strengthens its research and development, focusing on new technologies, techniques, and materials to foster the company's pursuit of excellence. Cheng Xion, General Manager of OneHealth Greater China, delivered a presentation at the conference, providing an analysis of the current probiotic industry landscape. He also shared his insights and future trends in the industry. OneHealth scholars Katy Sorensen and Fiona Kinnear offered in-depth discussions on academic research areas, specifically intestinal health and flora, as well as the brain-gut axis. They presented significant findings on the Bifidobacterium longum 1714 and 35624 combination strains, revealing their notable improvement in the symptoms of intestinal discomfort and associated psychosocial issues related to irritable bowel syndrome. This sharing of cutting-edge academic results promoted discussion on innovative solutions and underscored the importance of applying scientific discoveries to industrial applications. Website Launch: Enhancing Service to the Chinese Market According to data from Statista, the global probiotics market is projected to reach $91.1 billion by 2026. As the industry approaches the $100 billion mark, OneHealth remains dedicated to advancing health innovations, delving deeper into the implications of scientific discoveries, and shaping new paths in the industry to enhance human health. On May 20, OneHealth's Chinese website officially went live, improving communication with our Chinese customers and marking a new phase in cooperation and growth. This platform will provide detailed information about the company, products, and solutions, and will also serve as a convenient place to share its latest scientific insights and developments. Even though the OneHealth Satellite Conference has concluded, OneHealths journey continues. As it looks to the future, OneHealth remains committed to enhancing professional discourse, fostering collaboration and co-creation among industry experts, academics, and researchers, with a collective aim to pioneer new avenues in the realm of health. CONTACT: Tim Brown tim198515@gmail.com Nvidia stock (NVDA) has become a Wall Street darling again, but with that love comes a whole lot of expectation. Shares of the chip giant have exploded 115% year to date, dusting the Nasdaq Composite's seemingly paltry 20% gain. The company's stock is leading the pack among well-known chip-makers: AMD (AMD) shares are up 63% on the year, Intel (INTC) has advanced 14%, and Qualcomm (QCOM) shares have actually lost 3.6%. The stock has even outperformed mighty Apple's (AAPL) 35% appreciation. "Nvidia is trading on heroic valuations which time will tell if they are justified," quipped Deutsche Bank strategist Jim Reid in a client note Monday. To Reid's point, Nvidia's valuation clearly puts the stock in priced-for-perfection territory. The stock trades on a forward price-to-earnings multiple of 63 times, according to Yahoo Finance data. By comparison, the S&P 500 trades on a forward price-to-earnings multiple of 18.8 times. In effect, investors are banking on Nvidia to grow its future earnings by more than three times the rate of the S&P 500. That's a tall order. On a trailing 12-month basis, Nvidia's stock trades on an exorbitant 117 times enterprise value to EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) multiple. Zooming in on the trailing price-to-sales ratio, investors are greeted with a lofty 27 times multiple. Out of the 57 sell-side analysts that cover Nvidia, 77% rate the stock a buy. There are zero sell ratings on Nvidia's stock on Wall Street. So why the major optimism on Nvidia? Look no further than what Nvidia is building on the supercomputing and AI fronts. Microchip and Nvidia logo displayed on a phone screen are seen in this multiple exposure illustration photo taken in Krakow, Poland on April 10, 2023. (Photo by Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images) Monday brought news out of Germany, where Reuters reported the company unveiled a new supercomputer in partnership with Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) at a supercomputing conference. The computer called Isambard 3 is based on Nvidia's new high-powered Grace CPU chips. The Grace CPU chips take aim at similar ones offered by AMD and Intel. Meantime, OpenAI's popular generative AI platform ChatGPT was developed using Nvidia GPUs. And at its GTC conference in March, Nvidia showed off a host of solutions for training and deploying complex models inherent to generative AI. We are seeing an acceleration in demand, Nvidia founder and CEO Jensen Huang told Yahoo Finance Live. Were seeing an acceleration of demand for our DGX AI supercomputers. Were seeing an acceleration of demand for inference, because of generative AI. Wall Street's read is that Nvidia is a "one-stop solution provider" for all things tied to the hot generative AI movement, potentially leading to bumper profits well into the future. "With leading silicon (GPU/DPU/Networking), hardware/software platforms, and a strong ecosystem, Nvidia is well-positioned to continue to benefit from major secular trends in AI, high-performance computing, gaming, and autonomous vehicles, in our view," JP Morgan analyst Harlan Sur wrote in a research note. Added Sur: "Bottom line: Nvidia continues to be 1-2 steps ahead of its competitors in accelerated computing silicon/systems, software, and ecosystems." These Nvidia bulls will be put to the test this week on two fronts. The company's AI technology is rumored to be on display at Microsoft's (MSFT) three-day developer conference that kicks off mid-week. And earnings are out after the close of trading on Wednesday. There is some chatter on the Street that no matter what Nvidia does this week, a pause in the stock price may be warranted due to those aforementioned heroic valuations. Warns Bank of America analyst Vivek Arya: "Post-earnings volatility [on Nvidia] it to be expected given sky-high expectations and the stock's 97% return year to date (vs. Philadelphia Semiconductor Index up 18%)." Brian Sozzi is Yahoo Finance's Executive Editor. Follow Sozzi on Twitter @BrianSozzi and on LinkedIn. Tips on the banking crisis? Email brian.sozzi@yahoofinance.com For the latest earnings reports and analysis, earnings whispers and expectations, and company earnings news, click here Read the latest financial and business news from Yahoo Finance (Bloomberg) -- Oil markets were little changed with traders avoiding decisive action as US lawmakers prepped for final negotiations on the debt ceiling. President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy are set to meet at 5:30 local time Monday for talks on averting a catastrophic US default. West Texas Intermediates more actively traded July contract was little changed near $72. The debt drama in Washington will continue to be the key driver of oil price action as policymakers contend with a hard deadline of June 1, analysts at wholesale-fuel distributor TACenergy wrote in a note to clients. To get Bloombergs Energy Daily newsletter direct into your inbox, click here. The global crude benchmark is down about 5% in May, heading for a fifth straight monthly loss in what would be the worst run since 2017. While leading forecasters like the International Energy Agency expect the market to flip into a sharp deficit, economic concerns in the US and China have made some money managers the most bearish in a decade. Prices have also been weighed down by Russias oil exports staying strong despite a pledge to curb production in retaliation for Western sanctions. Refineries in the country have processed less crude this month due to seasonal maintenance, but the drop in supplies to the facilities was too small to provide concrete evidence that Moscow has fully implemented its output cuts. --With assistance from Sri Taylor. More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com 2023 Bloomberg L.P. The simplest way to benefit from a rising market is to buy an index fund. While individual stocks can be big winners, plenty more fail to generate satisfactory returns. For example, the Engenco Limited (ASX:EGN) share price is down 34% in the last year. That falls noticeably short of the market decline of around 4.7%. At least the damage isn't so bad if you look at the last three years, since the stock is down 23% in that time. Furthermore, it's down 20% in about a quarter. That's not much fun for holders. If the past week is anything to go by, investor sentiment for Engenco isn't positive, so let's see if there's a mismatch between fundamentals and the share price. Check out our latest analysis for Engenco There is no denying that markets are sometimes efficient, but prices do not always reflect underlying business performance. One imperfect but simple way to consider how the market perception of a company has shifted is to compare the change in the earnings per share (EPS) with the share price movement. Unhappily, Engenco had to report a 82% decline in EPS over the last year. This fall in the EPS is significantly worse than the 34% the share price fall. It may have been that the weak EPS was not as bad as some had feared. With a P/E ratio of 61.97, it's fair to say the market sees an EPS rebound on the cards. You can see below how EPS has changed over time (discover the exact values by clicking on the image). This free interactive report on Engenco's earnings, revenue and cash flow is a great place to start, if you want to investigate the stock further. What About The Total Shareholder Return (TSR)? We'd be remiss not to mention the difference between Engenco's total shareholder return (TSR) and its share price return. The TSR is a return calculation that accounts for the value of cash dividends (assuming that any dividend received was reinvested) and the calculated value of any discounted capital raisings and spin-offs. Engenco's TSR of was a loss of 32% for the 1 year. That wasn't as bad as its share price return, because it has paid dividends. A Different Perspective Engenco shareholders are down 32% for the year, but the market itself is up 4.7%. Even the share prices of good stocks drop sometimes, but we want to see improvements in the fundamental metrics of a business, before getting too interested. Regrettably, last year's performance caps off a bad run, with the shareholders facing a total loss of 3% per year over five years. We realise that Baron Rothschild has said investors should "buy when there is blood on the streets", but we caution that investors should first be sure they are buying a high quality business. While it is well worth considering the different impacts that market conditions can have on the share price, there are other factors that are even more important. Even so, be aware that Engenco is showing 5 warning signs in our investment analysis , and 2 of those are a bit concerning... 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 Australian exchanges. Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned. 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 passengers train wifi Free wifi on trains faces the axe under government cost cutting plans to repair the battered finances of Britain's railways. The Department for Transport has told train companies to stop offering free internet coverage unless they can prove that it boosts business. It comes as the Government seeks to wean the industry of billions of pounds in state subsidies and address budget shortfalls post-Covid. The industry relied on 13.3bn of government funding to stay afloat in its most recent financial year, according to figures from the Office of Rail and Road. Spending still outstripped income by 1.5bn across the industry. A DfT spokesman said: Our railways are currently not financially sustainable, and it is unfair to continue asking taxpayers to foot the bill, which is why reform of all aspects of the railways is essential. Passenger surveys consistently show that on-train wifi is low on their list of priorities, so it is only right we work with operators to review whether the current service delivers the best possible value for money. A Transport Focus report, which was based on a survey of more than 15,000 passengers and published in December, found that wifi on trains was of lower priority for ticket holders than value for money, reliability, punctuality and personal security. However, Bruce Williamson, of RailFuture, a passenger campaign group, said the policy was short-sighted. Mr Williamson said: All this is going to do long-term is make rail less attractive, and maybe put people off travelling by train at all. It might even be counterproductive for that reason." Speaking on the Calling All Stations podcast, which first reported that wifi was under threat, host Christian Wolmar criticised the policy for taking away a benefit that the taxpayer has already paid for. He said axing wifi would push commuters to travel by car instead. Network Rail was fined 50m for late trains in 2014 and the money was used to fund a range of passenger benefits, including boosting the rollout of wifi on trains at a cost of 90m. Mr Wolmar said: We, the passengers and the taxpayers, have paid for this already. Much of the wifi network on trains was installed in 2015 and now requires updating or replacing. Mr Wolmar said: It is so illustrative of the wrong type of thinking. He added: I think Mark Harper, the Transport Secretary, is an accountant, and this is a typical accountants view of the world Anybody who knows anything about the railways or goes on any train will see that everybody is on their devices and they want a continuous signal. 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. For many, the main point of investing is to generate higher returns than the overall market. But in any portfolio, there will be mixed results between individual stocks. At this point some shareholders may be questioning their investment in WASGAU Produktions & Handels AG (FRA:MSH), since the last five years saw the share price fall 27%. Now let's have a look at the company's fundamentals, and see if the long term shareholder return has matched the performance of the underlying business. Check out our latest analysis for WASGAU Produktions & Handels 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 WASGAU Produktions & Handels' share price and EPS declined; the latter at a rate of 2.3% per year. This reduction in EPS is less than the 6% annual reduction in the share price. This implies that the market is more cautious about the business these days. The company's earnings per share (over time) is depicted in the image below (click to see the exact numbers). It might be well worthwhile taking a look at our free report on WASGAU Produktions & Handels' earnings, revenue and cash flow. What About Dividends? As well as measuring the share price return, investors should also consider the total shareholder return (TSR). The TSR is a return calculation that accounts for the value of cash dividends (assuming that any dividend received was reinvested) and the calculated value of any discounted capital raisings and spin-offs. So for companies that pay a generous dividend, the TSR is often a lot higher than the share price return. As it happens, WASGAU Produktions & Handels' TSR for the last 5 years was -22%, which exceeds the share price return mentioned earlier. And there's no prize for guessing that the dividend payments largely explain the divergence! A Different Perspective While the broader market lost about 2.1% in the twelve months, WASGAU Produktions & Handels shareholders did even worse, losing 13% (even including dividends). However, it could simply be that the share price has been impacted by broader market jitters. It might be worth keeping an eye on the fundamentals, in case there's a good opportunity. Unfortunately, last year's performance may indicate unresolved challenges, given that it was worse than the annualised loss of 4% over the last half decade. We realise that Baron Rothschild has said investors should "buy when there is blood on the streets", but we caution that investors should first be sure they are buying a high quality business. I find it very interesting to look at share price over the long term as a proxy for business performance. But to truly gain insight, we need to consider other information, too. For instance, we've identified 4 warning signs for WASGAU Produktions & Handels that you should be aware of. 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 German exchanges. Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned. Join A Paid User Research Session Youll receive a US$30 Amazon Gift card for 1 hour of your time while helping us build better investing tools for the individual investors like yourself. Sign up here Key Insights Using the 2 Stage Free Cash Flow to Equity, PolyNovo fair value estimate is AU$2.17 Current share price of AU$1.41 suggests PolyNovo is potentially 35% undervalued Analyst price target for PNV is AU$2.25, which is 3.5% above our fair value estimate In this article we are going to estimate the intrinsic value of PolyNovo Limited (ASX:PNV) by taking the expected future cash flows and discounting them to today's value. The Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) model is the tool we will apply to do this. Believe it or not, it's not too difficult to follow, as you'll see from our example! We would caution that there are many ways of valuing a company and, like the DCF, each technique has advantages and disadvantages in certain scenarios. If you still have some burning questions about this type of valuation, take a look at the Simply Wall St analysis model. See our latest analysis for PolyNovo The Calculation We use what is known as a 2-stage model, which simply means we have two different periods of growth rates for the company's cash flows. Generally the first stage is higher growth, and the second stage is a lower growth phase. To begin with, we have to get estimates of the next ten years of cash flows. Where possible we use analyst estimates, but when these aren't available we extrapolate the previous free cash flow (FCF) from the last estimate or reported value. We assume companies with shrinking free cash flow will slow their rate of shrinkage, and that companies with growing free cash flow will see their growth rate slow, over this period. We do this to reflect that growth tends to slow more in the early years than it does in later years. Generally we assume that a dollar today is more valuable than a dollar in the future, so we need to discount the sum of these future cash flows to arrive at a present value estimate: 10-year free cash flow (FCF) estimate 2023 2024 2025 2026 2027 2028 2029 2030 2031 2032 Levered FCF (A$, Millions) -AU$6.30m -AU$5.90m AU$4.70m AU$28.0m AU$49.0m AU$66.5m AU$83.5m AU$99.0m AU$112.4m AU$123.7m Growth Rate Estimate Source Analyst x2 Analyst x2 Analyst x2 Analyst x1 Analyst x1 Est @ 35.74% Est @ 25.60% Est @ 18.51% Est @ 13.55% Est @ 10.07% Present Value (A$, Millions) Discounted @ 7.3% -AU$5.9 -AU$5.1 AU$3.8 AU$21.2 AU$34.5 AU$43.7 AU$51.1 AU$56.5 AU$59.8 AU$61.4 ("Est" = FCF growth rate estimated by Simply Wall St) Present Value of 10-year Cash Flow (PVCF) = AU$321m 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 7.3%. Terminal Value (TV)= FCF 2032 (1 + g) (r g) = AU$124m (1 + 2.0%) (7.3% 2.0%) = AU$2.4b Present Value of Terminal Value (PVTV)= TV / (1 + r)10= AU$2.4b ( 1 + 7.3%)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$1.5b. To get the intrinsic value per share, we divide this by the total number of shares outstanding. Compared to the current share price of AU$1.4, the company appears quite undervalued at a 35% discount to where the stock price trades currently. Valuations are imprecise instruments though, rather like a telescope - move a few degrees and end up in a different galaxy. Do keep this in mind. dcf The Assumptions We would point out that 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 PolyNovo 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 7.3%, which is based on a levered beta of 0.893. 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 PolyNovo Strength Debt is well covered by earnings. Weakness Shareholders have been diluted in the past year. Opportunity Forecast to reduce losses next year. Has sufficient cash runway for more than 3 years based on current free cash flows. Good value based on P/S ratio and estimated fair value. Threat Debt is not well covered by operating cash flow. Next Steps: Although the valuation of a company is important, it is only one of many factors that you need to assess for a company. It's not possible to obtain a foolproof valuation with a DCF model. Rather it should be seen as a guide to "what assumptions need to be true for this stock to be under/overvalued?" For instance, if the terminal value growth rate is adjusted slightly, it can dramatically alter the overall result. Why is the intrinsic value higher than the current share price? For PolyNovo, there are three fundamental factors you should further research: Risks: As an example, we've found 2 warning signs for PolyNovo that you need to consider before investing here. Management:Have insiders been ramping up their shares to take advantage of the market's sentiment for PNV's future outlook? Check out our management and board analysis with insights on CEO compensation and governance factors. Other Solid Businesses: Low debt, high returns on equity and good past performance are fundamental to a strong business. Why not explore our interactive list of stocks with solid business fundamentals to see if there are other companies you may not have considered! PS. The Simply Wall St app conducts a discounted cash flow valuation for every stock on the ASX every day. If you want to find the calculation for other stocks just search here. Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned. Join A Paid User Research Session Youll receive a US$30 Amazon Gift card for 1 hour of your time while helping us build better investing tools for the individual investors like yourself. Sign up here President Joe Biden, third left, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, center, and other G7 leaders pose for a photo before a working session on Ukraine during the G7 Summit in Hiroshima, Japan, Sunday, May 21, 2023. Other leaders from right to left, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Britain's Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, France's President Emmanuel Macron, Zelenskyy, Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, Biden, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, and European Council President Charles Michel. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, POOL) BEIJING (AP) Access to rare earth minerals and Russias war against Ukraine topped the agenda on French President Emmanuel Macrons historic visit to Mongolia. Macron met with his Mongolian counterpart Ukhnaagiin Khurelsukh on Sunday in the capital Ulaanbaatar and pledged cooperation on the extraction and trade of minerals used in satellites, cell phones and other key technologies. The visit was the first by a French head of state to Mongolia, a landlocked democracy of 3 million people twice the size of Texas sandwiched between Russia and China. Mongolias grasslands, mountains and deserts hold vast deposits of coal, copper and lesser-known minerals vital to the modern economy. Macrons trip followed his attendance at the Group of Seven summit in Japan, where Russia's invasion of Ukraine was a key topic. The conflict is having a global impact, Macron said, referring to high food prices and more refugees. More than 8 million Ukrainians have been forced from their homes, according to the United Nations. "A return to peace on the European continent in compliance with international law, is the ultimate objective, Macron said. I was able to share with the President our will to support a state that is under aggression. Saudi Arabia is a country full of contrasts and change that is preserving the past while embracing a new modern era as tourism increases exploring the countrys key spots, said CNN's Destination in a half-hour show. Along the Tuwaiq mountain range is Jebel Fihrayn, known as the Edge of the World. The influx of tourists to the area have transformed what was a hobby for local tour guide Faisal Almshari into a full-time business. We started the company in 2018. We start with 5-10 people, only on a Friday, and after a few weeks the numbers start to go up to 50 people. And now we are operating every day trips for more than 200 people per week from everywhere in the world, he explains. Almshari says that the growing tourism industry has changed his life: I started just to show my friends, not for business. But now it has changed a lot of things in my life. The government is investing a lot in tourism, and I think there is a good future for the tourism here. Born and raised in Jeddah, award-winning filmmaker Ayman Idriss Tamano takes CNN on a tour of the oldest part of the city Al-Balad. Al Balad has always been home for a lot of artists. This is where you're gonna find your own tribe. This is where you're gonna find a place where you can thrive and hone the necessary skills that you need to master your craft. This place is a home for you, he says. Tamano describes how this historical affinity for the arts is shaping the areas future: Balad has always been a place where we were comfortable with expressing our creativity. And it's very nice to see that it's actually growing into something more official and regulated now. The Red Sea Film Festival, for instance, was first held in Al-Balad. And you have the MDLBEAST, that was also held in Al-Balad. Since 2019, when festivals were first licenced in Saudi Arabia, MDLBEAST has grown to attract more than a million people to its events. Tamano speaks about its future and its impact on the region: We no longer feel like we draw that much inspiration from references from Western music. There's a lot of focus on what we have internally. So it's like we just realised we have culture. In 10 years what would be cool is to have like a new sound to what Saudi music actually is. It's like now there's Western music, but now there's like our music and it competes at the same level. That for me is the dream. Off the coast of Jeddah is the Red Sea. Marine biologist and scuba instructor Tom Slough moved back to Saudi Arabia two years ago to help develop diving tourism in the country. He speaks about his role: This a place that has not really had tourism. People haven't had the chance to visit here, the Red Sea. People have visited places like Egypt. So why not come to somewhere that has the same to offer, if not better, because of the lack of previous tourism. Slough talks about why the Red Sea is especially good for diving: There's some incredible areas of healthy coral, a real diverse array of marine life from fish species, crustaceans, dolphins, whales, sharks. I found a bigger diversity here than I have most places in the world that I've been diving. Slough believes that setting up a new diving industry means that they can implement marine conservation and sustainability from the start. He explains: We can start it with an understanding of what's gone wrong in other countries now where there's often a lot of tourists and a lot of diving tourism, you end up ruining reefs. So, we can start with eco sustainable tourism and start it the right way. Education is key for the future. So, we are really trying to educate people into understanding how important our ocean system is. We want young Saudis to come in. We train them up, educate them, get their love for the ocean out there. Ready To Retire at 50? Heres How To Know if You Can Do It skynesher / Getty Images Retiring at 50 used to be just a fantasy for all but the wealthiest Americans. These days, though, the push to retire early and enjoy life while still relatively young has been gaining momentum. Retirement Savings: Heres How Much Cash Baby Boomers Need To Retire in the Next 5 Years Read: 3 Ways To Recession-Proof Your Retirement Inspired by the Financial Independence, Retire Early movement typically referred to as FIRE more younger workers are striving to reach this lofty goal. But is retiring at 50 really possible, or is it merely the false hope of the social media generation? Here are some concrete, real-world benchmarks you can use to see if you can really do it. You Have a Sufficient Retirement Fund A large retirement fund is the most obvious and important benchmark for determining whether or not you can retire early. Of course, it can be hard to calculate exactly what enough means. For starters, no one knows exactly how long their retirement will last. If you retire at age 50, the New York State Department of Health says that your life expectancy is about 78 if youre a man, or 82 if youre a woman. However, its entirely possible you may live until 90 or beyond, meaning your retirement could last 40 years or more. Thats a long time for money to last, so youll want to make sure you clear these expectations with room to spare. One way to estimate how much youll need is to multiply your current annual expenses by 25. For example, if you currently spend $50,000 per year, by this calculation, youll need $1.25 million in your retirement fund. But if you plan to retire early, youll likely need to bump up this estimate. Spending $50,000 per year for 40 years, for example, would require at least $2 million in savings. Since retiring at a younger age increases the variability of your projections, youll likely want to speak with a financial advisor about your plan. One of the reasons that retiring at age 50 makes financial planning more difficult is that you wont be able to draw from Social Security for at least another 12 years. Access to your retirement funds may also be limited at this early age. This is why a significant portion of your savings must be in readily accessible accounts, rather than locked away in retirement plans. Take Our Poll: What Are You Worth to Your Company? You Have a Sufficient Emergency Fund If youre going to be retired for 30 years or more, its highly likely that you will encounter some emergency expenses along the way. If you dont have a sizable emergency fund in place, you may find yourself drawing from your retirement savings or putting those costs on a credit card. Either choice is bad when it comes to your overall financial planning and will likely delay your projected retirement date. For current workers, experts suggest having three to six months worth of expenses in an emergency fund, but if youre planning on retiring early, you might be better off doubling that amount. Youve Created a Workable Retirement Budget Your retirement budget is likely to look very different from the one you have as a worker. Although every person is different, many retirees find that their transportation and clothing expenses decline but their travel and healthcare costs increase. Whatever the case is for you personally, youll have to create a workable budget that includes realistic numbers. Next, compare this budget with your retirement savings. If your retirement income wont be sufficient to cover your budget, then youre not yet ready to retire. You Have Coverage for Healthcare Needs Good medical insurance is a cornerstone of a solid early retirement plan. If youre retiring, youll likely lose any health insurance you receive from your employer. Youll also be 15 long years away from Medicare coverage if you retire at age 50. At the same time, your healthcare expenses are likely to increase as you age. If you dont have sufficient insurance to pay for the bulk of these costs, youll have to siphon off your retirement savings, and this could prove financially disastrous. The bottom line is that if you dont have adequate coverage for your healthcare needs, you arent in a position to retire at age 50. You Have a Plan To Keep Busy and Mentally Sharp When youre working, you likely have a daily routine that involves both critical thinking and social interaction. When you retire, however, much of that daily stimulus vanishes overnight. This is particularly true if youre single when you retire. Retiring early can have the same effect, as many of your colleagues or social contacts may remain in the workforce and not have as much availability as you do. As a result, you may end up facing boredom or even mental decline. Before you retire, youll want to develop a plan to keep busy and mentally sharp. This can mean different things for different people, from joining social clubs or traveling to volunteering or performing community service. The long and short of it is youll need to fill the void created when you leave the daily routine of your job behind. Without such a plan, you may not really be in a position to retire. More From GOBankingRates This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: Ready To Retire at 50? Heres How To Know if You Can Do It Ignoring the stock price of a company, what are the underlying trends that tell us a business is past the growth phase? Businesses in decline often have two underlying trends, firstly, a declining return on capital employed (ROCE) and a declining base of capital employed. This reveals that the company isn't compounding shareholder wealth because returns are falling and its net asset base is shrinking. In light of that, from a first glance at Genting Berhad (KLSE:GENTING), we've spotted some signs that it could be struggling, so let's investigate. What Is Return On Capital Employed (ROCE)? For those that aren't sure what ROCE is, it measures the amount of pre-tax profits a company can generate from the capital employed in its business. To calculate this metric for Genting Berhad, this is the formula: Return on Capital Employed = Earnings Before Interest and Tax (EBIT) (Total Assets - Current Liabilities) 0.041 = RM3.8b (RM103b - RM9.0b) (Based on the trailing twelve months to December 2022). Thus, Genting Berhad has an ROCE of 4.1%. In absolute terms, that's a low return and it also under-performs the Hospitality industry average of 6.1%. See our latest analysis for Genting Berhad roce Above you can see how the current ROCE for Genting Berhad compares to its prior returns on capital, but there's only so much you can tell from the past. If you'd like, you can check out the forecasts from the analysts covering Genting Berhad here for free. How Are Returns Trending? We are a bit worried about the trend of returns on capital at Genting Berhad. Unfortunately the returns on capital have diminished from the 6.2% that they were earning five years ago. On top of that, it's worth noting that the amount of capital employed within the business has remained relatively steady. Companies that exhibit these attributes tend to not be shrinking, but they can be mature and facing pressure on their margins from competition. If these trends continue, we wouldn't expect Genting Berhad to turn into a multi-bagger. Our Take On Genting Berhad's ROCE In summary, it's unfortunate that Genting Berhad is generating lower returns from the same amount of capital. Investors haven't taken kindly to these developments, since the stock has declined 38% from where it was five years ago. That being the case, unless the underlying trends revert to a more positive trajectory, we'd consider looking elsewhere. On a final note, we've found 1 warning sign for Genting Berhad that we think you should be aware of. For those who like to invest in solid companies, check out this free list of companies with solid balance sheets and high 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. Join A Paid User Research Session Youll receive a US$30 Amazon Gift card for 1 hour of your time while helping us build better investing tools for the individual investors like yourself. Sign up here Key Insights Significantly high institutional ownership implies Rolls-Royce Holdings' stock price is sensitive to their trading actions A total of 19 investors have a majority stake in the company with 51% ownership Recent purchases by insiders To get a sense of who is truly in control of Rolls-Royce Holdings plc (LON:RR.), it is important to understand the ownership structure of the business. With 73% stake, institutions possess the maximum shares in the company. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk). And as as result, institutional investors reaped the most rewards after the company's stock price gained 7.5% last week. The gains from last week would have further boosted the one-year return to shareholders which currently stand at 88%. Let's delve deeper into each type of owner of Rolls-Royce Holdings, beginning with the chart below. Check out our latest analysis for Rolls-Royce Holdings What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Rolls-Royce Holdings? Institutions typically measure themselves against a benchmark when reporting to their own investors, so they often become more enthusiastic about a stock once it's included in a major index. We would expect most companies to have some institutions on the register, especially if they are growing. We can see that Rolls-Royce Holdings does have institutional investors; and they hold a good portion of the company's stock. This implies the analysts working for those institutions have looked at the stock and they like it. But just like anyone else, they could be wrong. 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 Rolls-Royce Holdings, (below). Of course, keep in mind that there are other factors to consider, too. Investors should note that institutions actually own more than half the company, so they can collectively wield significant power. We note that hedge funds don't have a meaningful investment in Rolls-Royce Holdings. Looking at our data, we can see that the largest shareholder is Causeway Capital Management LLC with 7.0% of shares outstanding. In comparison, the second and third largest shareholders hold about 6.5% and 4.4% of the stock. A closer look at our ownership figures suggests that the top 19 shareholders have a combined ownership of 51% implying that no single shareholder has a majority. Researching institutional ownership is a good way to gauge and filter a stock's expected performance. The same can be achieved by studying analyst sentiments. There are a reasonable number of analysts covering the stock, so it might be useful to find out their aggregate view on the future. Insider Ownership Of Rolls-Royce Holdings 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. Insider ownership is positive when it signals leadership are thinking like the true owners of the company. However, high insider ownership can also give immense power to a small group within the company. This can be negative in some circumstances. Our data suggests that insiders own under 1% of Rolls-Royce Holdings plc in their own names. It is a very large company, so it would be surprising to see insiders own a large proportion of the company. Though their holding amounts to less than 1%, we can see that board members collectively own UK3.3m worth of shares (at current prices). In this sort of situation, it can be more interesting to see if those insiders have been buying or selling. General Public Ownership With a 26% ownership, the general public, mostly comprising of individual investors, have some degree of sway over Rolls-Royce Holdings. While this group can't necessarily call the shots, it can certainly have a real influence on how the company is run. Next Steps: While it is well worth considering the different groups that own a company, there are other factors that are even more important. To that end, you should learn about the 2 warning signs we've spotted with Rolls-Royce Holdings (including 1 which makes us a bit uncomfortable) . Ultimately the future is most important. You can access this free report on analyst forecasts for the company. NB: Figures in this article are calculated using data from the last twelve months, which refer to the 12-month period ending on the last date of the month the financial statement is dated. This may not be consistent with full year annual report figures. Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned. Join A Paid User Research Session Youll receive a US$30 Amazon Gift card for 1 hour of your time while helping us build better investing tools for the individual investors like yourself. Sign up here (Bloomberg) -- Russian crude oil flows to international markets still show no sign of the output cuts the country insists it is making. Most Read from Bloomberg Four-week average seaborne shipments, which smooth out some of the volatility in weekly numbers, rose for a sixth straight week in the period to May 19, edging close to 4 million barrels a day. Flows are now up by 15% since the first week of April and hit a new high for the period since Bloomberg began tracking them in detail at the start of 2022. With almost all Russias crude going to China and India, volumes to Asia also climbed to a new peak. More volatile weekly flows edged lower. Russia pledged to cut oil production by 500,000 barrels a day in March, using February output as a baseline, in retaliation for Western sanctions and price caps on its oil exports designed to punish Moscow for the invasion of Ukraine. Those cuts were subsequently extended for the rest of the year, in line with voluntary reductions made by several of Russias OPEC+ partners. Russia continues to stress its commitment to the OPEC+ producer group and the output reductions that the group has agreed.All our actions, including those related to voluntary production cuts, are connected with the need to support a certain price environment on global markets in contact with our partners in OPEC+, President Vladimir Putin said at a meeting with his government via video-link on Wednesday. There is little evidence, though, that the cuts have been implemented as promised. Crude flows to international markets continue to rise and are now more than 1.2 million barrels a day higher than they were at the end of last year. Some of that increase can be attributed to the diversion of crude previously piped to Germany and Poland through the Druzhba pipeline; but that happened in January and February, before the output cut was due to come into effect. The remainder may reflect lower domestic refinery runs during a period of seasonal maintenance.Some analysts have suggested that Russia may have tapped stockpiles to maintain flows, but the country has limited storage capacity at its ports, while tanks at fields, refineries and pump stations are needed for their normal operation, making it unlikely that they could be used in this way for long. Despite the rising crude flows out of the country, a Group of Seven cap on the price of Russian oil is successfully choking off the nations access to petrodollars, according to the US Treasury Department, after Moscow acknowledged problems with government revenue. Russias reliance on a shadow fleet of aging tankers to carry its oil to remaining large buyers notably India and China -- may be starting to encounter difficulties. A major port in China is stepping up checks on older vessels, snarling some cargoes and highlighting concerns around the steady expansion of this group of vessels. Russias Lifelines The combined volume of crude on vessels heading to China and India plus smaller flows to Turkey and quantities on ships that havent yet shown a final destination rose to a new high of 3.81 million barrels a day in the latest four-week period, the highest since Bloomberg began tracking the flows in detail at the start of 2022. As the ultimate destinations of cargoes loading in late January became apparent, flows to China rose to new post-invasion highs, and remained close to those levels in February and the first weeks of March. Historical patterns suggest that most of the vessels currently signaling Unknown Asia destinations and heading for the Suez Canal will end up in India, while those loaded onto very large crude carriers off the north coast of Morocco or, more recently, in the Atlantic Ocean, will head to China. Crude Flows by Destination On a four-week average basis, overall seaborne exports in the period to May 19 were up by 106,000 barrels a day to 3.9 million barrels a day, the highest since Bloomberg began tracking the flows in detail at the beginning of 2022. More volatile weekly flows fell by about 150,000 barrels a day to 3.82 million barrels a day from a revised 3.97 million barrels a day the previous week. Weekly data are affected by the scheduling of tankers and loading delays caused by bad weather. Port maintenance can also disrupt exports for several days at a time. All figures exclude cargoes identified as Kazakhstans KEBCO grade. Those are shipments made by KazTransoil JSC that transit Russia for export through the Baltic ports of Ust-Luga and Novorossiysk. The Kazakh barrels are blended with crude of Russian origin to create a uniform export grade. Since Russias invasion of Ukraine, Kazakhstan has rebranded its cargoes to distinguish them from those shipped by Russian companies. Transit crude is specifically exempted from European Union sanctions. Four-week average shipments to Russias Asian customers, plus those on vessels showing no final destination, rose to 3.61 million barrels a day in the period to May 19. While the volumes heading to India appear to have declined from recent highs, history shows that most of the cargoes on ships without an initial destination eventually end up there or in China. The equivalent of 502,000 barrels a day was on vessels showing destinations as either Port Said or Suez in Egypt, or which already have been or are expected to be transferred from one ship to another off the South Korean port of Yeosu. Those voyages typically end at ports in India or China and show up in the chart below as Unknown Asia until a final destination becomes apparent. The Other Unknown volumes, running at 257,000 barrels a day in the four weeks to May 19, are those on tankers showing no clear destination. Most of those cargoes go on to transit the Suez Canal, but some could end up in Turkey, while other cargoes end up being transferred from one vessel to another, either in the Mediterranean or, more recently, in the Atlantic Ocean. Russias seaborne crude exports to European countries fell to 63,000 barrels a day in the 28 days to May 19, with Bulgaria the sole destination. These figures do not include shipments to Turkey. A market that consumed more than 1.5 million barrels a day of short-haul crude, coming from export terminals in the Baltic, Black Sea and Arctic has been lost almost completely, to be replaced by long-haul destinations in Asia that are much more costly and time-consuming to serve. No Russian crude was shipped to northern European countries in the four weeks to May 19. Exports to Turkey, Russias only remaining Mediterranean customer, were stable at 203,000 barrels a day in the four weeks to May 19. Flows to Bulgaria, now Russias only Black Sea market for crude, fell to 63,000 barrels a day, equaling their lowest since March 2022. Flows by Export Location Aggregate flows of Russian crude slipped to 3.82 million barrels a day in the seven days to May 19, from a revised 3.97 million barrels a day the previous week. A drop in shipments from the Black Sea was partly offset by higher flows from the Arctic. The volumes leaving the Baltic and Pacific ports were unchanged from the previous week. Figures exclude volumes from Ust-Luga and Novorossiysk identified as Kazakhstans KEBCO grade. Export Revenue Inflows to the Kremlin's war chest from its crude-export duty fell by $1 million to $52 million in the seven days to May 19 from a revised figure for the previous week. Four-week average income rose by $1 million to $53 million. The duty rate for May is $1.96 a barrel, based on a Urals price of $51.15 a barrel between March 15 and April 14. The rate for June has been set at $2.21 a barrel, based on an average Urals price of $55.97, which was $23.90 a barrel below Brent during the period between April 15 and May 14. Origin-to-Location Flows The following charts show the number of ships leaving each export terminal and the destinations of crude cargoes from the four export regions. A total of 35 tankers loaded 26.7 million barrels of Russian crude in the week to May 19, vessel-tracking data and port agent reports show. Thats down by 1.05 million barrels, or 4% from the previous weeks revised figure. Destinations are based on where vessels signal they are heading at the time of writing, and some will almost certainly change as voyages progress. All figures exclude cargoes identified as Kazakhstans KEBCO grade. The total volume on ships loading Russian crude from Baltic terminals was unchanged, running at 1.77 million barrels a day for a fourth week. Shipments of Russian crude from Novorossiysk in the Black Sea fell to a four-week low of 334,000 barrels a day. Two cargoes of Kazakhstani crude was also loaded at the port during the week. Arctic shipments jumped to equal their record weekly total of 571,000 barrels a day, with four Suezmax tankers loading in the week to May 19. Eleven tankers loaded at Russias three Pacific export terminals, unchanged from the revised number for the previous week. The volumes heading to unknown destinations are mostly Sokol cargoes that recently have been transferred to other vessels at Yeosu, or are currently being shuttled to an area off the South Korean port from the loading terminal at De Kastri. Most of these are also ending up in India. Some Sokol cargoes are now being transferred a second time in the waters off southern Malaysia. A small number of ESPO shipments are also being moved from one vessel to another in the same area. All of these cargoes have, so far, gone on to India. Note: This story forms part of a regular weekly series tracking shipments of crude from Russian export terminals and the export duty revenues earned from them by the Russian government. Note: All figures exclude cargoes owned by Kazakhstans KazTransOil JSC, which transit Russia and are shipped from Novorossiysk and Ust-Luga as KEBCO grade crude. Note: The next update of this story will be published on Tuesday May 29. From then on we will be moving regular publication of this story to Tuesday, with the weeks running from Monday to Sunday. Historical data will be revised accordingly. --With assistance from Sherry Su. Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2023 Bloomberg L.P. Did you know there are some financial metrics that can provide clues of a potential multi-bagger? Firstly, we'll want to see a proven return on capital employed (ROCE) that is increasing, and secondly, an expanding base of capital employed. Put simply, these types of businesses are compounding machines, meaning they are continually reinvesting their earnings at ever-higher rates of return. Having said that, from a first glance at Sern Kou Resources Berhad (KLSE:SERNKOU) 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? Just to clarify if you're unsure, ROCE is a metric for evaluating how much pre-tax income (in percentage terms) a company earns on the capital invested in its business. To calculate this metric for Sern Kou Resources Berhad, this is the formula: Return on Capital Employed = Earnings Before Interest and Tax (EBIT) (Total Assets - Current Liabilities) 0.023 = RM6.0m (RM329m - RM69m) (Based on the trailing twelve months to March 2023). Therefore, Sern Kou Resources Berhad has an ROCE of 2.3%. Ultimately, that's a low return and it under-performs the Consumer Durables industry average of 10%. View our latest analysis for Sern Kou Resources Berhad roce While the past is not representative of the future, it can be helpful to know how a company has performed historically, which is why we have this chart above. If you're interested in investigating Sern Kou Resources Berhad's past further, check out this free graph of past earnings, revenue and cash flow. The Trend Of ROCE In terms of Sern Kou Resources Berhad's historical ROCE movements, the trend isn't fantastic. Around five years ago the returns on capital were 12%, but since then they've fallen to 2.3%. Although, given both revenue and the amount of assets employed in the business have increased, it could suggest the company is investing in growth, and the extra capital has led to a short-term reduction in ROCE. If these investments prove successful, this can bode very well for long term stock performance. On a related note, Sern Kou Resources Berhad has decreased its current liabilities to 21% of total assets. That could partly explain why the ROCE has dropped. What's more, this can reduce some aspects of risk to the business because now the company's suppliers or short-term creditors are funding less of its operations. Since the business is basically funding more of its operations with it's own money, you could argue this has made the business less efficient at generating ROCE. The Bottom Line Even though returns on capital have fallen in the short term, we find it promising that revenue and capital employed have both increased for Sern Kou Resources Berhad. And long term investors must be optimistic going forward because the stock has returned a huge 255% to shareholders in the last five years. So should these growth trends continue, we'd be optimistic on the stock going forward. One more thing: We've identified 2 warning signs with Sern Kou Resources Berhad (at least 1 which is significant) , and understanding them would certainly be useful. 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. 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 The truth is that if you invest for long enough, you're going to end up with some losing stocks. But the last three years have been particularly tough on longer term Medios AG (ETR:ILM1) shareholders. Sadly for them, the share price is down 55% in that time. And more recent buyers are having a tough time too, with a drop of 30% in the last year. But it's up 6.3% in the last week. It's worthwhile assessing if the company's economics have been moving in lockstep with these underwhelming shareholder returns, or if there is some disparity between the two. So let's do just that. See our latest analysis for Medios To paraphrase Benjamin Graham: Over the short term the market is a voting machine, but over the long term it's a weighing machine. By comparing earnings per share (EPS) and share price changes over time, we can get a feel for how investor attitudes to a company have morphed over time. Although the share price is down over three years, Medios actually managed to grow EPS by 3.7% per year in that time. Given the share price reaction, one might suspect that EPS is not a good guide to the business performance during the period (perhaps due to a one-off loss or gain). Alternatively, growth expectations may have been unreasonable in the past. After considering the numbers, we'd posit that the the market had higher expectations of EPS growth, three years back. However, taking a look at other business metrics might shed a bit more light on the share price action. Revenue is actually up 40% over the three years, so the share price drop doesn't seem to hinge on revenue, either. It's probably worth investigating Medios further; while we may be missing something on this analysis, there might also be an opportunity. You can see how earnings and revenue have changed over time in the image below (click on the chart to see the exact values). We know that Medios has improved its bottom line lately, but what does the future have in store? So it makes a lot of sense to check out what analysts think Medios will earn in the future (free profit forecasts). A Different Perspective We regret to report that Medios shareholders are down 30% for the year. Unfortunately, that's worse than the broader market decline of 2.1%. However, it could simply be that the share price has been impacted by broader market jitters. It might be worth keeping an eye on the fundamentals, in case there's a good opportunity. Regrettably, last year's performance caps off a bad run, with the shareholders facing a total loss of 1.9% per year over five years. We realise that Baron Rothschild has said investors should "buy when there is blood on the streets", but we caution that investors should first be sure they are buying a high quality business. I find it very interesting to look at share price over the long term as a proxy for business performance. But to truly gain insight, we need to consider other information, too. To that end, you should be aware of the 1 warning sign we've spotted with Medios . For those who like to find winning investments this free list of growing companies with recent insider purchasing, could be just the ticket. Please note, the market returns quoted in this article reflect the market weighted average returns of stocks that currently trade on German exchanges. Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned. Join A Paid User Research Session Youll receive a US$30 Amazon Gift card for 1 hour of your time while helping us build better investing tools for the individual investors like yourself. Sign up here Key Insights Significant control over Sime Darby Berhad by sovereign wealth funds implies that the general public has more power to influence management and governance-related decisions 61% of the business is held by the top 2 shareholders Institutional ownership in Sime Darby Berhad is 35% If you want to know who really controls Sime Darby Berhad (KLSE:SIME), then you'll have to look at the makeup of its share registry. And the group that holds the biggest piece of the pie are sovereign wealth funds with 47% ownership. In other words, the group stands to gain the most (or lose the most) from their investment into the company. And institutions on the other hand have a 35% ownership in the company. Generally speaking, as a company grows, institutions will increase their ownership. Conversely, insiders often decrease their ownership over time. Let's delve deeper into each type of owner of Sime Darby Berhad, beginning with the chart below. Check out our latest analysis for Sime Darby Berhad What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Sime Darby Berhad? 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. As you can see, institutional investors have a fair amount of stake in Sime Darby Berhad. This suggests some credibility amongst professional investors. But we can't rely on that fact alone since institutions make bad investments sometimes, just like everyone does. 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 Sime Darby Berhad, (below). Of course, keep in mind that there are other factors to consider, too. We note that hedge funds don't have a meaningful investment in Sime Darby Berhad. Looking at our data, we can see that the largest shareholder is Permodalan Nasional Berhad with 47% of shares outstanding. In comparison, the second and third largest shareholders hold about 14% and 7.9% of the stock. To make our study more interesting, we found that the top 2 shareholders have a majority ownership in the company, meaning that they are powerful enough to influence the decisions of the company. Researching institutional ownership is a good way to gauge and filter a stock's expected performance. The same can be achieved by studying analyst sentiments. There are plenty of analysts covering the stock, so it might be worth seeing what they are forecasting, too. Insider Ownership Of Sime Darby Berhad The definition of company insiders can be subjective and does vary between jurisdictions. Our data reflects individual insiders, capturing board members at the very least. 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. Our data suggests that insiders own under 1% of Sime Darby Berhad in their own names. Keep in mind that it's a big company, and the insiders own RM1.3m worth of shares. The absolute value might be more important than the proportional share. It is always good to see at least some insider ownership, but it might be worth checking if those insiders have been selling. General Public Ownership The general public-- including retail investors -- own 17% 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. Next Steps: It's always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand Sime Darby Berhad better, we need to consider many other factors. To that end, you should be aware of the 1 warning sign we've spotted with Sime Darby Berhad . Ultimately the future is most important. You can access this free report on analyst forecasts for the company. NB: Figures in this article are calculated using data from the last twelve months, which refer to the 12-month period ending on the last date of the month the financial statement is dated. This may not be consistent with full year annual report figures. Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned. Join A Paid User Research Session Youll receive a US$30 Amazon Gift card for 1 hour of your time while helping us build better investing tools for the individual investors like yourself. Sign up here Key Insights Given the large stake in the stock by institutions, Southern Cross Media Group's stock price might be vulnerable to their trading decisions 53% of the business is held by the top 4 shareholders Ownership research along with analyst forecasts data help provide a good understanding of opportunities in a stock If you want to know who really controls Southern Cross Media Group Limited (ASX:SXL), then you'll have to look at the makeup of its share registry. And the group that holds the biggest piece of the pie are institutions with 83% ownership. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk). Because institutional owners have a huge pool of resources and liquidity, their investing decisions tend to carry a great deal of weight, especially with individual investors. As a result, a sizeable amount of institutional money invested in a firm is generally viewed as a positive attribute. In the chart below, we zoom in on the different ownership groups of Southern Cross Media Group. View our latest analysis for Southern Cross Media Group What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Southern Cross Media 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. Southern Cross Media Group already has institutions on the share registry. Indeed, they own a respectable stake in the company. This suggests some credibility amongst professional investors. But we can't rely on that fact alone since institutions make bad investments sometimes, just like everyone does. 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 Southern Cross Media Group, (below). Of course, keep in mind that there are other factors to consider, too. Since institutional investors own more than half the issued stock, the board will likely have to pay attention to their preferences. Southern Cross Media Group is not owned by hedge funds. Our data shows that Orbis Investment Management Limited is the largest shareholder with 22% of shares outstanding. With 15% and 9.9% of the shares outstanding respectively, Ubique Asset Management Pty Ltd and The Retail Employees Superannuation Trust are the second and third largest shareholders. On looking further, we found that 53% of the shares are owned by the top 4 shareholders. In other words, these shareholders have a meaningful say in the decisions of the company. 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. Quite a few analysts cover the stock, so you could look into forecast growth quite easily. Insider Ownership Of Southern Cross Media Group The definition of an insider can differ slightly between different countries, but members of the board of directors always count. 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. Our most recent data indicates that insiders own some shares in Southern Cross Media Group Limited. In their own names, insiders own AU$3.2m worth of stock in the AU$190m company. 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 14% 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. Next Steps: While it is well worth considering the different groups that own a company, there are other factors that are even more important. Consider for instance, the ever-present spectre of investment risk. We've identified 1 warning sign with Southern Cross Media Group , and understanding them should be part of your investment process. If you are like me, you may want to think about whether this company will grow or shrink. Luckily, you can check this free report showing analyst forecasts for its future. NB: Figures in this article are calculated using data from the last twelve months, which refer to the 12-month period ending on the last date of the month the financial statement is dated. This may not be consistent with full year annual report figures. Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned. 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 Three siblings were taken out of school to bake and sell brownies seven days a week outside various businesses to sustain the family in Louisiana, according to court documents. Their stepfather, Darnell Fulton, 38, of Pineville, forced them to work for his brownie-making business through violence, sexual abuse, keeping food from them, degradation and intimidation, federal prosecutors said. When Fulton wasnt pleased with the childrens work performance, hed assault them, according to prosecutors. The violence they endured included waterboarding and getting whipped with a belt, prosecutors said. In the cases latest development, Fulton was sentenced to 35 years in prison on charges of conspiracy to commit forced labor and transporting a minor with the intent to engage in criminal sexual activity, the U.S. Attorneys Office for the Western District of Louisiana announced in a May 19 news release. The judge also ordered Fulton to pay $979,800 in restitution to his victims, prosecutors said. Forced labor, especially when it involves sexual abuse of children, violence, and mental and physical anguish, is heinous conduct that has no place in our society today, Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Departments Civil Rights Division said in a statement. The defendant mercilessly exploited children for his own financial gain and personal gratification, and we will not tolerate it. McClatchy News contacted Fultons attorney for comment on May 22 and didnt immediately receive a response. His sentencing comes after he pleaded guilty to the charges against him in November, McClatchy News previously reported. Form of modern-day slavery Fulton forced his stepchildren to work for him and hand over all profits they made by selling brownies from June 2016 to May 2019, according to prosecutors. At the time, two of his stepchildren were younger than 16, while one was younger than 12, the indictment says. Their biological father was deceased. He had married the childrens mother and had two children of his own with her, according to the indictment. However, his biological children were not forced to work for him. Fultons stepchildren would work late into the night making brownies and would be forced to travel to 20 to 30 different locations each day to sell them, prosecutors said. They sold brownies outside different plazas, car dealerships, law firms, restaurants and parking lots all while having to meet Fultons daily sales quota, according to prosecutors. Despite how much the children worked, they would hardly be allowed breaks, officials said. If they failed to sell enough brownies, theyd be assaulted, according to prosecutors. One method of assault was Fulton forcing his stepchildren to stay in a push up or plank position for hours, prosecutors said. When a child was unable to stay frozen in that position, Fulton would whip them with a belt, according to officials. Fulton made his stepchildren fear serious harm would follow if they stopped working for him, the indictment says. In addition to the forced labor, Fulton also had his stepchildren perform sexual acts with him and brought them outside Louisiana to do so, according to prosecutors. Forced labor is a form of modern-day slavery and we have a duty to protect the most vulnerable of our society, U.S. Attorney Brandon B. Brown for the Western District of Louisiana said in a statement. He had no hesitation in torturing and demoralizing these victims, his own children. Forced labor is also a form of human trafficking, which can be carried out by strangers, acquaintances or even family members, according to the Justice Department. Two 10-year-olds worked at McDonalds without pay sometimes until 2 am, feds say Abused woman was forced to be servant of her husbands family for 12 years, feds say Manager told 13-year-old shed get killed if she refused to work at business, feds say ME Dubai, the magnificent hotel designed by Zaha Hadid, is welcoming guests and visitors to experience its highly anticipated Artist in Residence exhibition in collaboration with renowned artist and illustrator Alena Lavdovskaya. The immersive exhibition showcases Alenas iconic work throughout her 20 years in the industry, encompassing her illustrious career in fashion, advertising, and editorial magazines. ME Dubai will showcase her works until Saturday, June 10th, and promises a captivating experience for guests and visitors. A fashion illustrator, creator of unique workshops, Alena is best known for her glamourous illustrations and sketches. Featuring live models and high fashion looks, the portraits recreate the atmosphere of a real photoshoot and illustrations of the 20th century. Having worked with esteemed maisons such as Christian Dior and fashion magazines such as Vogue and Elle, Alena brings her expansive knowledge and savoir-faire to ME Dubai with an immersive fashion illustration workshop, and intimate lectures, offering guests a peak at her artistic prowess and sensibilities. Alena Lavdovskayas exhibition creates a symbiotic synthesis with ME Dubais fashion-forward architecture and contemporary curves, echoing the runways of Milan and Paris and combining the silhouettes of master couturiers, bringing them to life with her masterful strokes and vivid colours. Weaving in the old with the new, ME Dubai summons the world of haute couture and old-world glamour with Alena's masterful artworks surrounded by Zaha Hadids visionary architecture and sublime curves, a juxtaposition where elegance reigns. Guests, visitors, and connoisseurs of the arts alike are welcome to visit ME Dubais designated gallery space located on the 3rd floor atrium and see firsthand Alenas immersive and glamorous illustrations during her month-long residency. TradeArabia News Service Cant Afford To Live in Americas Most Expensive Cities? Consider These 10 Affordable Suburbs Within 30 Miles Instead shaunl / Getty Images The U.S. suburbs used to be where house hunters would go to find a wide selection of affordable homes, but thats not necessarily the case right now. A recent study from real estate researcher Point2 found that even homes in suburban communities can be priced much higher than nearby cities. See: 5 Expensive Renovations Homeowners Always Regret Find: Demand for Gold is Up, Heres Everything You Need to Know For example, homes in the Charleston, S.C. suburb of Sullivans Island have median prices of $1,400 per square foot 385% higher than the median price in the city. Another 17 suburbs have home prices that are 100% to 212% higher than in nearby cities, the study found. Part of this has to do with people fleeing the cities for suburban areas during the COVID-19 pandemic. This trend swelled suburban populations and pushed up home and rental prices in the suburbs. Doug Ressler, manager of Business Intelligence at Point2 parent company Yardi Systems, pointed to New York City as an example. The worst of the pandemic precipitated a mass exodus from New York City, and many of the expats wound up in Connecticut and didnt go back, Ressler told GOBankingRates in an email. Around 50,000 people who moved to the state during the crisis have put down permanent roots, based on U.S. Postal Service data. But even with more competition for suburban homes, youre still better off buying in a suburb than the city. Point2 analyzed the 20 most populous and expensive U.S. cities 16 of which are located on the coasts (e.g. Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, New York, Boston, Miami and Washington, D.C.). The study determined that 603 of the 777 suburbs within a 30-mile driving distance of the hottest housing markets are priced below the main citys median, based on prices per square foot. In 11 suburbs, the price per square foot is 60% to 65% lower than in the city. Sixty-seven have median prices 50% to 59% lower than in the city. Take Our Poll: Are You Planning To Buy or Sell a House This Year? The East Coast dominates the list of affordable suburbs, with 95 of the top 100 most affordable suburbs located outside of New York, Boston, Miami, and Washington, D.C. Heres a look at the 10 most affordable suburbs in the U.S. based on comparable suburb-city prices, according to the Point2 study: Main City Suburb Pct. Difference Suburb vs. City Price Difference Suburb vs. City (per square foot) Miami Medley, Fla. -65% -$291 New York City Emerson, N.J. -62% -$367 New York City Lodi, N.J. -62% -$366 New York City Mount Vernon, N.Y. -62% -$365 Washington, D.C. Huntingtown, Md. -62% -$311 Washington, D.C. Walford, Md. -62% -$309 New York City Moonachie, N.J. -62% -$362 Seattle Boulevard Park, Wash. -61% -$350 Boston Lawrence, Mass. -60% -$387 New York City Passaic, N.J. -60% -354 More From GOBankingRates This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: Cant Afford To Live in Americas Most Expensive Cities? Consider These 10 Affordable Suburbs Within 30 Miles Instead The simplest way to invest in stocks is to buy exchange traded funds. But one can do better than that by picking better than average stocks (as part of a diversified portfolio). To wit, the SGT German Private Equity GmbH & Co. KGaA (ETR:SGF) share price is 27% higher than it was a year ago, much better than the market decline of around 6.2% (not including dividends) in the same period. If it can keep that out-performance up over the long term, investors will do very well! We'll need to follow SGT German Private Equity GmbH KGaA for a while to get a better sense of its share price trend, since it hasn't been listed for particularly long. With that in mind, it's worth seeing if the company's underlying fundamentals have been the driver of long term performance, or if there are some discrepancies. View our latest analysis for SGT German Private Equity GmbH KGaA There is no denying that markets are sometimes efficient, but prices do not always reflect underlying business performance. 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). A Different Perspective It's nice to see that SGT German Private Equity GmbH KGaA shareholders have gained 28% over the last year. That's better than the more recent three month gain of 3.3%, implying that share price has plateaued recently. Having said that, we doubt shareholders would be concerned. It seems the market is simply waiting on more information, because if the business delivers so will the share price (eventually). While it is well worth considering the different impacts that market conditions can have on the share price, there are other factors that are even more important. Consider risks, for instance. Every company has them, and we've spotted 4 warning signs for SGT German Private Equity GmbH KGaA you should know about. If you would prefer to check out another company -- one with potentially superior financials -- then do not miss this free list of companies that have proven they can grow earnings. Please note, the market returns quoted in this article reflect the market weighted average returns of stocks that currently trade on German exchanges. Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned. Join A Paid User Research Session Youll receive a US$30 Amazon Gift card for 1 hour of your time while helping us build better investing tools for the individual investors like yourself. Sign up here In order to justify the effort of selecting individual stocks, it's worth striving to beat the returns from a market index fund. But the risk of stock picking is that you will likely buy under-performing companies. We regret to report that long term Restaurant Brands New Zealand Limited (NZSE:RBD) shareholders have had that experience, with the share price dropping 46% in three years, versus a market return of about 14%. And over the last year the share price fell 43%, so we doubt many shareholders are delighted. On top of that, the share price is down 10% in the last week. With the stock having lost 10% in the past week, it's worth taking a look at business performance and seeing if there's any red flags. View our latest analysis for Restaurant Brands New Zealand While markets are a powerful pricing mechanism, share prices reflect investor sentiment, not just underlying business performance. 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). During the three years that the share price fell, Restaurant Brands New Zealand's earnings per share (EPS) dropped by 3.9% each year. The share price decline of 19% is actually steeper than the EPS slippage. So it's likely that the EPS decline has disappointed the market, leaving investors hesitant to buy. The image below shows how EPS has tracked over time (if you click on the image you can see greater detail). It's probably worth noting we've seen significant insider buying in the last quarter, which we consider a positive. That said, we think earnings and revenue growth trends are even more important factors to consider. Dive deeper into the earnings by checking this interactive graph of Restaurant Brands New Zealand's earnings, revenue and cash flow. What About Dividends? As well as measuring the share price return, investors should also consider the total shareholder return (TSR). The TSR is a return calculation that accounts for the value of cash dividends (assuming that any dividend received was reinvested) and the calculated value of any discounted capital raisings and spin-offs. Arguably, the TSR gives a more comprehensive picture of the return generated by a stock. We note that for Restaurant Brands New Zealand the TSR over the last 3 years was -43%, which is better than the share price return mentioned above. This is largely a result of its dividend payments! A Different Perspective Restaurant Brands New Zealand shareholders are down 41% for the year (even including dividends), but the market itself is up 6.6%. However, keep in mind that even the best stocks will sometimes underperform the market over a twelve month period. Regrettably, last year's performance caps off a bad run, with the shareholders facing a total loss of 1.4% per year over five years. Generally speaking long term share price weakness can be a bad sign, though contrarian investors might want to research the stock in hope of a turnaround. It's always interesting to track share price performance over the longer term. But to understand Restaurant Brands New Zealand better, we need to consider many other factors. Consider for instance, the ever-present spectre of investment risk. We've identified 3 warning signs with Restaurant Brands New Zealand (at least 1 which is a bit unpleasant) , and understanding them should be part of your investment process. 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 New Zealander exchanges. Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned. Join A Paid User Research Session Youll receive a US$30 Amazon Gift card for 1 hour of your time while helping us build better investing tools for the individual investors like yourself. Sign up here For many, the main point of investing is to generate higher returns than the overall market. But the main game is to find enough winners to more than offset the losers So we wouldn't blame long term TrueBlue, Inc. (NYSE:TBI) shareholders for doubting their decision to hold, with the stock down 38% over a half decade. And we doubt long term believers are the only worried holders, since the stock price has declined 28% over the last twelve months. Shareholders have had an even rougher run lately, with the share price down 16% in the last 90 days. 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. See our latest analysis for TrueBlue 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. By comparing earnings per share (EPS) and share price changes over time, we can get a feel for how investor attitudes to a company have morphed over time. TrueBlue became profitable within the last five years. Most would consider that to be a good thing, so it's counter-intuitive to see the share price declining. Other metrics might give us a better handle on how its value is changing over time. Arguably, the revenue drop of 3.5% a year for half a decade suggests that the company can't grow in the long term. This has probably encouraged some shareholders to sell down the stock. The company's revenue and earnings (over time) are depicted in the image below (click to see the exact numbers). We know that TrueBlue has improved its bottom line over the last three years, but what does the future have in store? It might be well worthwhile taking a look at our free report on how its financial position has changed over time. A Different Perspective While the broader market gained around 6.9% in the last year, TrueBlue shareholders lost 28%. Even the share prices of good stocks drop sometimes, but we want to see improvements in the fundamental metrics of a business, before getting too interested. Regrettably, last year's performance caps off a bad run, with the shareholders facing a total loss of 7% per year over five years. We realise that Baron Rothschild has said investors should "buy when there is blood on the streets", but we caution that investors should first be sure they are buying a high quality business. Most investors take the time to check the data on insider transactions. You can click here to see if insiders have been buying or selling. If you would prefer to check out another company -- one with potentially superior financials -- then do not miss this free list of companies that have proven they can grow earnings. Please note, the market returns quoted in this article reflect the market weighted average returns of stocks that currently trade on American exchanges. Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned. Join A Paid User Research Session Youll receive a US$30 Amazon Gift card for 1 hour of your time while helping us build better investing tools for the individual investors like yourself. Sign up here DEBx Medical is innovating the management of chronic wounds, improving the life of millions of patients the investment will enable the company to expand its global footprint and build a presence in the MENA region DUBAI, UAE and AMSTERDAM , May 22, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- TVM Capital Healthcare, a global specialist healthcare private equity firm headquartered in Dubai and Singapore, is pleased to announce an investment, from its TVM Healthcare Afiyah Fund, of EUR 10 million into DEBx Medical, an Amsterdam-based medical devices company. TVM Capital Healthcare Logo DEBx Medical, founded in 2019, has developed a groundbreaking product, DEBRICHEM, which offers a superior alternative to existing treatments for non-healing chronic wounds. This innovative product is easy to use and highly effective in removing biofilm and curing hard-to-heal wounds. With CE and ISO approvals obtained in February 2021, DEBx Medical has already successfully treated over 5,000 patients, and is about to introduce its product to the market. Chronic wounds pose a significant healthcare challenge, affecting approximately 2.4% of the population throughout their lifetime, and is particularly pronounced in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, where high levels of diabetes contribute to the problem. Hard-to-heal wounds have the potential for poor patient health and quality of life outcomes and represent a substantial cost to healthcare systems. TVM Capital Healthcare's investment in DEBx Medical will enable the company to commence commercialization of its groundbreaking product for the benefit of patients. As part of the firm's investment, DEBx Medical will establish a regional headquarter and a production base in MENA, thereby accelerating the introduction of its innovative wound care solution to the region. Tristan de Boysson, Managing Partner of TVM Capital Healthcare, commented: "With this investment from our TVM Healthcare Afiyah Fund, we will accelerate the market introduction of a product which will transform the management of chronic wounds, and improve the life of millions of patients. This investment is also part of our Fund's strategy of bringing innovative, best-in-class healthcare solutions to the wider MENA region. We are looking forward to working together with the DEBx Medical management team." Bert Quint, Co-founder & CEO of DEBx Medical added: "We founded the company with the aim of innovating wound care, a market that has not seen significant innovation in a very long time. Our product, DEBRICHEM, has the potential to disrupt the chronic wound care market and help patients to heal fast, safely and effectively. After just one single treatment, more than 90% of chronic wounds start healing. TVM Capital Healthcare's investment is testament to our technology, and we are looking forward to bringing our product to market together." About TVM Capital Healthcare: TVM Capital Healthcare is an emerging markets-focused healthcare private equity firm headquartered in Dubai and Singapore, with offices in Riyadh, Boston, Munich, and Ho Chi Minh City. The firm invests expansion and growth capital in healthcare companies with a focus on specialized and tech-enabled healthcare services, digital health solutions and platforms, as well as manufacturing companies in pharmaceuticals, medical devices, and diagnostics. Investment and operating partners as well as a strong group of Senior Advisors have long-standing international track records in healthcare and life sciences investing, active board work, contributions to strategy development and implementation, governance and ESG, healthcare M&A, initial public offerings and deep healthcare operations experience. The firm partners with local Middle Eastern and Southeast Asian management teams to build domestic or regional sector champions and selectively backs companies from Europe or North America for expansion into the firm's target geographies. TVM Capital Healthcare's investment and operating approach combines strong commercial value creation and returns with responsible investing and a comprehensive ESG framework to build impactful, sustainable and well-governed companies, delivering excellent healthcare services, with continued growth and job creation, in a fair and diverse workplace. TVM Capital Healthcare is a U.N. PRI signatory since 2015, a longstanding member of GPCA, a member of 2X Global, a signatory of Ethical Principles in Healthcare (EPiHC) and Investors for Health (I4H), initiatives of the International Finance Corporation of the World Bank (IFC), promoting healthcare growth and ethical principles in healthcare to build transparent and resilient health systems. www.tvmcapitalhealthcare.com About DEBx Medical DEBx Medical B.V. is a Dutch medical technology company dedicated to revolutionizing the management of chronic wounds by enabling their healing, thereby improving the outcomes for millions of patients. DEBx Medical aims to support doctors and their patients from diagnosis through treatment, follow-up care and maintenance of a healthy wound bed. Our core values focus on delivering affordable treatments that are easy to use and implement in daily clinical practice. DEBx Medical was founded in 2019 by CEO Bert Quint, Prof. Dr. Carlo Bignozzi and MD Alberto Cogo with the aim to develop and provide a single treatment to eliminate wound infection in a market that has not seen significant innovation in the last two decades. www.debx-medical.com About DEBRICHEM: DEBRICHEM is a novel desiccant agent used for chemical debridement. DEBRICHEM is an acidic gel certified as a single-use medical device. The product is intended for topical application to an infected non-healing wound, to eliminate infection by removing biofilm and by this infection, then followed by cleaning and dressing. This innovative product is easy to use and highly effective in removing biofilm and curing hard-to-heal wounds. www.debx-medical.com Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2074022/TVM_Capital_Healthcare_Logo.jpg Cision View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/tvm-capital-healthcare-announces-euro-10-million-investment-in-debx-medical-301825857.html SOURCE TVM Capital Healthcare Uber Technologies, Inc (NYSE: UBER) suspended the veteran head of diversity, equity, and inclusion following complaints of racism at a company event. CEO Dara Khosrowshahi and the chief people officer Nikki Krishnamurthy last week asked Bo Young Lee, the head of diversity, to take a leave of absence while determining the next steps, NY Times reported citing an internal email. The employees protested against a pair of events that Uber billed as diving into the spectrum of the American white womans experience and hearing from white women who work at Uber, with a focus on the Karen persona. One event was called Dont Call Me Karen. Also Read: Ubers Q1 Performance Gets 5 Star Rating, Zooms Past Expectations, MAUs Touch 130M Ubers Slack groups for Black and Hispanic employees expressed frustration for the company minimizing racism and the harm white people can inflict on people of color by focusing on how Karen is a hurtful word. The workers felt prioritization of difficulties experienced by white women and that Lee was dismissive of their concerns. Khosrowshahi earned a reputation for successfully shepherding Uber from the aggressive, chaotic culture under former CEO Travis Kalanick with higher diversity initiatives under Lee, who has led the effort since 2018. Ubers first of the two "Dont Call Me Karen" events, in April, involving discussions about race and underrepresented groups, sprung up in the aftermath of the Black Lives Matter protests in 2020. The term Karen is a derogatory term used as slang for a white woman perceived as entitled or demanding beyond the expected scope. Price Action: UBER shares traded higher by 1.31% at $39.72 on the last check Monday. Photo via Wikimedia Commons Don't miss real-time alerts on your stocks - join Benzinga Pro for free! Try the tool that will help you invest smarter, faster, and better. This article Uber's Diversity Leader Faces Heat For Discussions At Company's Racism-Focused Events originally appeared on Benzinga.com . 2023 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. Robert Walters plc (LON:RWA), might not be a large cap stock, but it saw significant share price movement during recent months on the LSE, rising to highs of UK5.60 and falling to the lows of UK4.08. Some share price movements can give investors a better opportunity to enter into the stock, and potentially buy at a lower price. A question to answer is whether Robert Walters' current trading price of UK4.25 reflective of the actual value of the small-cap? Or is it currently undervalued, providing us with the opportunity to buy? Lets take a look at Robert Walterss outlook and value based on the most recent financial data to see if there are any catalysts for a price change. Check out our latest analysis for Robert Walters Is Robert Walters Still Cheap? Great news for investors Robert Walters is still trading at a fairly cheap price according to my price multiple model, where I compare the company's price-to-earnings ratio to the industry average. In this instance, Ive used the price-to-earnings (PE) ratio given that there is not enough information to reliably forecast the stocks cash flows. I find that Robert Walterss ratio of 7.35x is below its peer average of 16.53x, which indicates the stock is trading at a lower price compared to the Professional Services industry. Although, there may be another chance to buy again in the future. This is because Robert Walterss beta (a measure of share price volatility) is high, meaning its price movements will be exaggerated relative to the rest of the market. If the market is bearish, the companys shares will likely fall by more than the rest of the market, providing a prime buying opportunity. What kind of growth will Robert Walters generate? Investors looking for growth in their portfolio may want to consider the prospects of a company before buying its shares. Although value investors would argue that its the intrinsic value relative to the price that matter the most, a more compelling investment thesis would be high growth potential at a cheap price. With profit expected to grow by a double-digit 18% over the next couple of years, the outlook is positive for Robert Walters. It looks like higher cash flow is on the cards for the stock, which should feed into a higher share valuation. What This Means For You Are you a shareholder? Since RWA is currently below the industry PE ratio, it may be a great time to increase your holdings in the stock. With a positive outlook on the horizon, it seems like this growth has not yet been fully factored into the share price. However, there are also other factors such as capital structure to consider, which could explain the current price multiple. Are you a potential investor? If youve been keeping an eye on RWA for a while, now might be the time to enter the stock. Its buoyant future profit outlook isnt fully reflected in the current share price yet, which means its not too late to buy RWA. But before you make any investment decisions, consider other factors such as the track record of its management team, in order to make a well-informed investment decision. If you want to dive deeper into Robert Walters, you'd also look into what risks it is currently facing. Every company has risks, and we've spotted 2 warning signs for Robert Walters (of which 1 is concerning!) you should know about. If you are no longer interested in Robert Walters, you can use our free platform to see our list of over 50 other stocks with a high growth potential. 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 Seasoned Industry Expert to Join UML and for its Growth and Expansion Plans in The Business District of Iskandar Puteri, Johor ISKANDAR PUTERI, Malaysia, May 22, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- United Malayan Land Bhd (UMLand) is pleased to announce the appointment of Andrew Tan You Yuan as General Manager to support the activation of UMCity Medini Lakeside (UMCITY), Iskandar Puteri, which is nearing completion. Tan is a seasoned industry expert with over 25 years of experience in the hospitality and property management sector. General Manager, Andrew Tan (far left) with Director, Michael Cheng (second from the right) and staff members of UMCITY. Bringing a wealth of experience to his new role, Andrew Tan has held various leadership positions in major hospitality and property development companies in Malaysia, Singapore, London and China. He will be a part of the team responsible for overseeing the branding and positioning of UMCITY, a project set to become a world-class destination for conducive business, residential waterfront living and leisure. Included in this 30-acre development are several business hotels, premium offices, a lifestyle retail mall and upscale serviced residences. The entire project is centered around the magnificent 13-acre Lakeside Recreational Park, which is designed to host a variety of events, carnivals and celebrations. UMCity Medini Lakeside's Director, Michael Cheng, added "The management is delighted to welcome Andrew as our new General Manager and confident his expertise will bear success for our flagship UMCITY, which is set to be a game-changer in the Iskandar Puteri area." He added, "With Medini Lakeside, it is not just about building properties, but creating an immersive living experience that connects people, fosters innovation, and promotes sustainable development." Nestled in the heart of the Medini Iskandar Central Business District (CBD), this project boasts a strategic location within reach of Singapore and a myriad of amenities, including Legoland, Educity, Puteri Harbour, and Singapore CBD. It aims to play a vital part in Johor's development, not only through the provision of world-class townships and projects but also by maintaining high standards within the region of Iskandar Malaysia. Tan said, "I am thrilled to be part of such a dynamic company, as UMLand has a proven track record of delivering high-quality developments that enhance the lives of the communities they serve. I am looking forward to working with the team on this landmark development, set to be in full operations by year-end, that will be the pride of Johor." For more information: www.umland.com.my/portfolio/umcity-medini-lakeside/ . Cision View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/apac/news-releases/umland-appoints-andrew-tan-you-yuan-as-general-manager-to-support-the-activation-of-umcity-medini-lakeside-development-301830434.html SOURCE UMCity Medini Lakeside (UMCITY), Iskandar Puteri The Wefunder Partners' Retreat Will Transform The VC Industry For The Better With the Wefunder platform, anyone with $100 can invest in the startups and small businesses that are shaping the future. But thats not all the company does. Wefunder is also well-connected in the venture capital (VC) world, having co-invested alongside tier 1 VC firms such as Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), CRV and Coatue Management. What Is The Wefunder Partners Retreat? The Wefunder Partners Retreat scheduled to kick off on June 20 in Ibiza, Spain will bring together 10 investors with the ambition of changing the venture capital industry for the better, according to the events website. The Wefunder team has put together this three-day retreat to bring together a diverse group of angel investors, venture capital professionals and founders who want to connect with each other, discuss the future of VC and help entrepreneurs access the funding they need to succeed. To stay updated with top startup news & investments, sign up for Benzingas Startup Investing & Equity Crowdfunding Newsletter How Does It Work? Anyone can apply for inclusion via the Wefunder Partners Retreat website. The simple four-step process includes the following: Submit your application online by May 21. Wait to hear whether youre selected for an interview it will only last 15 to 20 minutes. 10 applicants will be chosen by May 28 and notified shortly thereafter. The three-day retreat starts on June 20. But Wait, Theres More! As exciting as this may be, theres more! Except for the cost of travel to and from Ibiza, the experience is free for the 10 candidates who are selected to attend the retreat. Wefunder will pay for lodging, dinners and snacks. No hotels are necessary the mansion has plenty of space to accommodate all attendees. Wefunder is serious about the future of investing, venture capital and entrepreneurship. Wefunder has this to say about why theyre planning such a killer event: We believe that by bringing together a diverse group of investors, we can create a powerful network that will help entrepreneurs access the funding they need to bring their innovative ideas to life. We're passionate about empowering entrepreneurs, and we know that by supporting investors we can help make their dreams a reality. While only 10 people will attend the retreat, the outcome will have a positive impact on many entrepreneurs and investors in the future. See more on startup investing from Benzinga. Don't miss real-time alerts on your stocks - join Benzinga Pro for free! Try the tool that will help you invest smarter, faster, and better. This article The Wefunder Partners' Retreat Will Transform The VC Industry For The Better originally appeared on Benzinga.com . 2023 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. Where Is Our Bonus? Credit Suisse Employees Plan Lawsuit Against Swiss Regulator Over AT1 Bonus Losses Due To UBS Rescue Credit Suisse Group AG (NYSE: CS) employees are reportedly preparing to sue Swiss regulator FINMA after losing $400 million in bonuses partially tied to the bank's AT1 bonds. As a part of the takeover in March, the Swiss regulator ordered CHF16 billion of the lender's AT1 debt to be written down to zero, while shareholders received some compensation. Quinn Emanuel and Pallas, law firms already suing Swiss regulator Finma on behalf of investors who owned Additional Tier-1 (AT1) bonds, have received multiple requests from senior managers at Credit Suisse to take legal action on their behalf, the Financial Times report said. Read: UBS Cites $17B Hit From Rushed Credit Suisse Takeover, Blames Hasty Due Diligence Lawyers are unsure if claims from Credit Suisse employees could be added to the current claim filed against FINMA or would need to be filed independently, the report added, citing sources with knowledge of the matter. "We have been contacted by Credit Suisse managers from around the world to see how we could help them," FT said. "There is a lot of overlap between the two positions, but they are not exactly the same." Credit Suisse had initially asked Finma if the CCAs could be treated differently to AT1s, but employees were told three weeks ago that their awards would be wiped out along with the AT1s. UBS said this week that it would book a $400 million gain from the move once it completed the takeover. Price Action: UBS shares are up 0.10% at $20.11 during the premarket session on the last check Monday. Don't miss real-time alerts on your stocks - join Benzinga Pro for free! Try the tool that will help you invest smarter, faster, and better. This article Where Is Our Bonus? Credit Suisse Employees Plan Lawsuit Against Swiss Regulator Over AT1 Bonus Losses Due To UBS Rescue originally appeared on Benzinga.com . 2023 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. Hong Kong: Sun Dong starts Singapore trip Secretary for Innovation, Technology & Industry Prof Sun Dong began his Singapore trip today by visiting the National University of Singapore. Upon arrival in Singapore, Prof Sun toured the public research university to find out more about its academic achievements and developments. He learnt about the university's focused interdisciplinary research areas, efforts to bring its research dimension to application and commercialisation, its collaborations with industry as well as programmes to create an ecosystem to nurture entrepreneurial talent. Prof Sun then visited the Centre for Quantum Technologies, one of the national research centres of excellence. He viewed its laboratories to understand the country's quantum ecosystem and the centre's research and application of quantum technologies. The tech chief also went to the Mechanobiology Institute - another national research centre of excellence - and its MechanoBioEngineering Laboratory, where he learnt about its research themes and expertise, state-of-the-art facility for collaborative research as well as translation of mechanobiology discoveries to prevent, diagnose and treat human diseases. To consolidate Hong Kong's strengths in scientific research, encourage cross-disciplinary research and promote the development of technology industries, Prof Sun said this year's Budget committed to set aside $6 billion to provide subsidies for universities and research institutions to set up thematic research centres to facilitate transformation of research and development outcomes related to life and health technology. The Government also earmarked $3 billion to promote development of facilities to enhance basic research in frontier technology fields such as artificial intelligence and quantum technology. This story has been published on: 2023-05-22. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. PIF-owned Cruise Saudi has welcomed cruise ship MS Amadea to Saudi waters for the first time in Jeddah. More than 400 international passengers experienced Saudi Arabias unique history, natural wonders and warm hospitality. MS Amadea is operated by German-based travel agency Phoenix Reisen. The stop in Jeddah is part of a 150-day worldwide itinerary, with the ship concluding its voyage in Nice. During its maiden call to Jeddah, a plaque and key exchange ceremony was held with the Cruise Saudi team and the captain of MS Amadea. After Jeddah, the ship travelled further along the Red Sea to Hurghada, Egypt, and continued to Nice for the end of the trip. Cruise Saudi Director, Port, Terminal & Asset Operations, Serafin Blazquez, said: Relationships with global cruise liners, travel agents and tour operators are hugely important to our strategy in growing Saudi as a tourism destination, and were thrilled to have partnered with MS Amadea in welcoming new travellers to experience all that Saudi has to offer. MS Amadea Captain Martin Rittig said: It was a pleasure to visit Saudi for the first time. We received excellent feedback from our passengers and were particularly impressed by the enthusiasm shown by all parties. During the traditional plaque exchange ceremony, you could really feel the passion and motivation from the team. Based on this first experience, we are really looking forward to coming back and to watch Saudi grow as a cruise destination. Launched in 2021, Cruise Saudi was created to develop the infrastructure and services required to scale a full-suite cruise market in Saudi Arabia. The company is responsible for the development and operation of cruise berths and terminals as cruise gateways to key Saudi destinations, as well as scaling cruise services, from marketing to Shorex design and coordination and vessel operations. - TradeArabia News Service Key Insights The considerable ownership by private companies in Zhulian Corporation Berhad indicates that they collectively have a greater say in management and business strategy The top 2 shareholders own 51% of the company Insider ownership in Zhulian Corporation Berhad is 31% If you want to know who really controls Zhulian Corporation Berhad (KLSE:ZHULIAN), then you'll have to look at the makeup of its share registry. And the group that holds the biggest piece of the pie are private companies with 52% ownership. In other words, the group stands to gain the most (or lose the most) from their investment into the company. Meanwhile, individual insiders make up 31% of the companys shareholders. Generally speaking, as a company grows, institutions will increase their ownership. Conversely, insiders often decrease their ownership over time. In the chart below, we zoom in on the different ownership groups of Zhulian Corporation Berhad. Check out our latest analysis for Zhulian Corporation Berhad What Does The Lack Of Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Zhulian Corporation Berhad? Small companies that are not very actively traded often lack institutional investors, but it's less common to see large companies without them. There are many reasons why a company might not have any institutions on the share registry. It may be hard for institutions to buy large amounts of shares, if liquidity (the amount of shares traded each day) is low. If the company has not needed to raise capital, institutions might lack the opportunity to build a position. It is also possible that fund managers don't own the stock because they aren't convinced it will perform well. Zhulian Corporation Berhad might not have the sort of past performance institutions are looking for, or perhaps they simply have not studied the business closely. We note that hedge funds don't have a meaningful investment in Zhulian Corporation Berhad. Zhulian Holdings Sdn Bhd is currently the largest shareholder, with 34% of shares outstanding. The Best Source Holdings Pte Ltd is the second largest shareholder owning 17% of common stock, and Beng Teoh holds about 10% of the company stock. In addition, we found that Meng-Keat Teoh, the CEO has 6.4% of the shares allocated to their name. 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. We're not picking up on any analyst coverage of the stock at the moment, so the company is unlikely to be widely held. Insider Ownership Of Zhulian Corporation Berhad The definition of an insider can differ slightly between different countries, but members of the board of directors always count. 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. It seems insiders own a significant proportion of Zhulian Corporation Berhad. It has a market capitalization of just RM833m, and insiders have RM256m worth of shares in their own names. It is great to see insiders so invested in the business. It might be worth checking if those insiders have been buying recently. General Public Ownership The general public, who are usually individual investors, hold a 17% stake in Zhulian Corporation Berhad. 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 52%, of the Zhulian Corporation Berhad 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: 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. For instance, we've identified 4 warning signs for Zhulian Corporation Berhad (2 are a bit unpleasant) that you should be aware of. Of course this may not be the best stock to buy. Therefore, you may wish to see our free collection of interesting prospects boasting favorable financials. NB: Figures in this article are calculated using data from the last twelve months, which refer to the 12-month period ending on the last date of the month the financial statement is dated. This may not be consistent with full year annual report figures. Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned. Join A Paid User Research Session Youll receive a US$30 Amazon Gift card for 1 hour of your time while helping us build better investing tools for the individual investors like yourself. Sign up here This is why we need to map solutions for Delaware's climate future | Opinion In 1970, the first Earth Day celebration was held. That first year, millions of Americans gathered within their neighborhoods and communities on April 22 and conducted cleanups, demonstrations, and other activitiesmany of which are still held annually to honor the day. But that first Earth Day also marked a rising American awareness regarding our planets fragility. People could see clearly then what some seemingly struggle to see (or willingly acknowledge) today: all of the modern-day advancements, triumphs and booming industrial growth that has benefited the country financially has come with a cost. And that cost, or bounty as famed CBS anchor Walter Cronkite once said, has deadly by-products including fouled skies, filthy waters and littered earth. Cronkites remarks came during a special broadcast about that inaugural Earth Day. Dozens of people gather at 909 Centre Road, Greenville, on Saturday, Jan. 1, 2022, for the last day of the weeklong Occupy Biden event, where attendees camped out near President Joe Biden's home demanding action on climate change. The rising amount of carbon dioxide easily attributed to human activity, as our average atmospheric CO2 concentration now above 410 parts per million compared to 325 in 1970, and 280 before the industrial revolution. Its time to address this crisis, as the impacts of carbon dioxide to our environment and the resulting changes to the planets climate know no geographic boundary, and all Delawareans should appreciate our unique vulnerability. Our states location and low elevation provide the perfect place for sea-level rise to manifest with devastation. Weve worked with Sen. Stephanie Hansen to sponsor the Climate Solutions Act, which would set net emissions reduction targets for Delaware by 2030 (50%) and 2050 (100%) and codify a planning process to guide Delaware in meeting those goals. The CSA will serve as a plan for state agencies to follow, directing the agencies to consider greenhouse gas emissions and prescribing what actions any state agency should take to reduce emissions. The science is clear. We must reduce our emissions by this amount if we want to avoid the worst impacts of climate change. Our wonderous planet is able to remove greenhouse gases naturally, recovering from damage and injury to its environment. However, the more gasses that are added, the bigger and longer that recovery effort becomes. The planets ability to heal itself is just as wonderous as our human ability to heal from a break, strain or other injury. Our injured Earth needs our help. Just as we might aid the bodys natural healing process by reducing or limiting activity detrimental in recovery, so too must we reduce and/or limit mankinds activity proven to be detrimental to the planet. To take it further, in some cases, medication is prescribed to mitigate an injurys lasting impact. For Delaware, the Climate Solutions Act provides medication if you will. These additional and actionable steps are realistic, responsible, achievable and, most importantly tangible. The CSA isnt a mandate for individuals or businesses in Delaware. It is the states prescribed plan to require our state agencies to consider climate change in decision-making, rulemaking, and procurement. In other words, these are statutory targets, everything done at a state level would be in a done in a way that would be proactive in aiding our environment with its own healing. These changes to what we do and how we do things at a state level will ultimately assist in balancing the scales, building on not only our past environmental progress, but also reaffirming our responsibility and continuing commitment to a positive path forward. Action-based changes to our fragile environment wont come quickly, but we mustnt be swayed from making them, as history has proven. Take for example lead-based gasoline. During the mid-20th century leaded gas was identified as one of the primary sources of airborne lead pollution. Regulation aimed at reducing the nations growing smog problem involved phasing out lead from gasoline production in the 1970s. As a result, airborne lead levels plummeted. The CSA is Delawares prescription for doing our part to assist our injured planet. Not only will the CSA provide the path for shrinking the states carbon footprint, but it will also ensure were creating a sustainable future; creating jobs, cleaning the air, improving public health and building our economy. Debra Heffernan represents the 6th District in the House of Representatives and serves as chair of the House Natural Resources & Energy Committee. Sophie Phillips represents the 18th District in the House of Representatives and serves as vice-chair of the House Natural Resources & Energy Committee. This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: Delaware climate solutions Gift this article Share this article paywall-free. The motel that housed civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. on his only trip to Charlottesville has been razed after spending several years in ruins after a gutting fire. After a monthlong demolition process that provided some spectacle at the foot of Carrs Hill on Emmet Street, crews removed the rubble last week. For one of the men who invited King to Charlottesville, the news evokes sorrow but not surprise. Im certainly sad, but things change, Wesley Harris, now a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, told The Daily Progress. Harris and the late University of Virginia professor Paul Gaston invited the future icon of American history to UVa Grounds to speak on March 25, 1963. Just two weeks before King was arrested in Birmingham for peacefully defying a ban on segregation protests, King spoke in Old Cabell Hall Auditorium. Noncooperation with evil is as much a moral obligation as is cooperation with good, King told the crowd. If democracy is to live, segregation must die. It was intellectually, emotionally, the highlight of my life at that point and certainly the highlight of my experiences on Grounds of the University of Virginia, Harris says today. He didnt give us a sermon; he gave a philosophy. King also gave Harris a scare. As Harris, Gaston and Gastons wife walked with King along Newcomb Road, they passed a stone retaining wall at whats now called Brown College. Suddenly, a loud blast like a gunshot rang out. Gaston, who was white, reacted with calm; but the young Black man quickly shielded King against the wall. It turned out it was only a car backfiring, said Harris. Sixty years later, Harris explained why he leapt into action. As a Southerner, I had been exposed to a lot of harmful things done to Black leaders, Harris said. Its sort of built into my generation. You dont think, you act. The group remained unscathed, and King arrived safely at the 40-room Gallery Court Motor Hotel, built beside the railroad tracks in 1951. At the time of Kings visit and until 2005 when the parents of the current owner gave it a makeover the motels unadorned architecture included flat roofs and open-air walkways. Such features were similar to the place where King was assassinated five years later: the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee. But for one man in Charlottesville, the Gallery Court was not just the place where he would meet King; it was also his residence. In 1963, I was junior at Jackson P. Burley High School, and that motel was my home away from home, Richard L. Jones told The Daily Progress sitting on the front porch of his Ridge Street-area home. I was 15 when I started working there during the day, said Jones. I was a bellhop. With dwelling space back home limited because it was shared with another family in a now-demolished house in what became known as the Vinegar Hill urban renewal zone, Jones agreed to sleep in a utility room in the back of the motel. He said he was provided an iron bed between a pair of 500-gallon water heaters. Im blessed they never exploded, said Jones. Subsequently, the night clerk fell ill, so Jones took over as the overnight front desk clerk. Thats how the hardworking high school student came to meet the famed civil rights leader. He came in with his entourage, said Jones, naming Ralph Abernathy, Jesse Jackson and Wyatt Tee Walker. Rev. Walker was the one who came in and checked in, recalled Jones. After about 10 minutes, Dr. King came down the stairs and came into the office. I recognized him, but I didnt make no big conversation because Im in awe. I didnt know how to take it at 17 years old. He asked me, Are you running this motel? And I said, Yes, sir. He said, You go to school? and I said, Yes, sir. He said, When do you go to school? And I said, In the morning when I get off. He said, Oh, really? How old are you again? And I said 17. Jones said that King then asked about his next steps. Finances prevented college, and a hearing impairment prevented him from following his friends into war in Vietnam. So Jones remained in Charlottesville, where he pursued other things, including a 30-year career as a Charlottesville firefighter. Not long before Jones began working there, the Gallery Court was advertising its proximity to a Howard Johnsons restaurant plus TVs and radio clocks in every room. Today, at 78, Jones looks back at his motel work with appreciation. At that time the Gallery Court was the king of the hill, said Jones. You never knew who would come in. Jones recalled that the hotel was integrated, a local rarity back then, and it played host to musicians such as Odetta and the Kingsmen. In recent years, the motel has operated under several names, including the Budget Inn and the Excel Inn & Suites. However, the hospitality was halted on the afternoon of May 4, 2017, when a mysterious fire gutted the building. Until this months demolition, the skeletal rubble has loomed over Emmet Street, a blot on the place that UVa officials have called the universitys front door. Since the mid-1980s, the universitys real estate foundation has been buying both sides of Emmet Street. First to fall was a Chevron station at the Ivy Road intersection in 2011. Next was the building that housed UVa offices and a long-closed restaurant called Buddys. Most recently, UVa tore down the buildings that held the Italian Villa restaurant and the Cavalier Inn. In the same area, the city has recently started its $12.1 million Emmet Streetscape, a state-funded assortment of mobility improvements including wider sidewalks, underground utilities and a new shared-used path across from the Gallery Court site. The Gallery Court is the lone holdout in an area that will link the universitys Central and North grounds. There, along Ivy Road, UVa has amassed over 14 acres where the home for UVas School of Data Science is already rising, as is UVas own 214-room, $130.5 million hotel and conference center. It turns out that the Gallery Court could rise again, but this time as a larger and more upscale enterprise. Vipul Patel, the son of the former owners, has earned city approval to construct a seven-story, 72-room replacement on the 0.58-acre site. While he appears to be the person who hired Pleasant View Developers LLC to raze the structure, Patel declined to discuss his timeline with The Daily Progress. The demolition comes about a dozen years after the demolition of a brick building next door that housed Buddys, a whites-only restaurant picketed just a few weeks after Kings speech and whose owner chose to close rather than integrate. These two demolitions caught the eye of Christine Madrid French, a UVa-educated architectural historian now living in San Francisco. French was in Charlottesville on Friday celebrating her sons impending UVa graduation. What I noticed about that corner was that a very critical part of civil rights history has been erased from Charlottesville, French told The Daily Progress. By the loss of those buildings, the tangible connection to the past is gone. For Harris, the student who shielded King against the stone wall, there is hope of commemoration. In 2017, he and his brother, Bill Harris, also an educator, dedicated the bronze plaque they commissioned to commemorate Kings speech in Old Cabell Hall. And Wesley Harris has expressed an eagerness to do something similar at a new Gallery Court. Now holding a distinguished chair as the Charles Stark Draper Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics at MIT, Harris wants to remember Kings visit to Charlottesville and how it changed the life of at least one young man. It was an existential moment for me, said Harris, as a Black student from the east side of Richmond. Gift this article Share this article paywall-free. While senators were debating the bill, two people a 24-year-old from Omaha and a 36-year-old from Lincoln threw objects over the balcony onto the floor of the Legislature. Both were arrested on suspicion of obstructing a government operation and disturbing the peace. Another person a 25-year-old from Lincoln was yelling repeatedly and refused law enforcement orders to leave the balcony. They were arrested on suspicion of disturbing the peace and trespassing. The Legislature's presiding officer, Lt. Gov. Joe Kelly, then ordered the balconies to be cleared for the remainder of debate. One woman a 56-year-old from Seward refused to leave and was arrested on suspicion of disobeying a lawful order. Then at about 3:25 p.m., a State Patrol trooper observed a person intentionally preventing a sergeant-at-arms from opening a door at the back of the legislative chamber. The trooper told the man to leave the area, and after he did not comply the trooper attempted to arrest him. The man a 40-year-old from Lincoln resisted and was eventually arrested on suspicion of resisting arrest and trespassing. As troopers were attempting to take the man into custody, a woman a 33-year-old from Lincoln approached and tried to push past another trooper. The trooper held her back, at which point she punched the trooper in the chest. She was then arrested on suspicion of obstructing a peace officer. All six were lodged in the Lancaster County Jail. After the arrests, 33 senators voted to shut off a filibuster and send the bill (LB754) that prompted Friday's protests to Republican Gov. Jim Pillen for his signature. In a tweet Friday afternoon, Pillen thanked the Capitol Security troopers for "keeping our senators, legislative staff members, and our citizenry safe while they gathered to exercise their First Amendment rights." And in a statement following the bill's passing, Pillen said the bill would allow trans youth in Nebraska to "grow and explore who they are" without first making "irreversible decisions that should be made when they are fully grown." Because the bill has an emergency clause attached, LB574 will become law a day after Pillen signs it. When it does, gender-affirming surgeries for individuals under 19 would be outlawed in Nebraska, and the Department of Health and Human Services would be required to develop regulations for puberty blockers and hormone therapy. As amended earlier this week, the bill also bans abortions after 12 weeks gestational age, which is marked from a woman's last menstrual period. That's about 10 weeks after fertilization. Opponents raised concerns about the lack of exceptions for fetal anomalies, and that the amendment did not remove criminal penalties for abortion from state statute. Sen. Ben Hansen of Blair, the chair of the Health and Human Services Committee, told Sen. Merv Riepe of Ralston, who raised those concerns, that he would work to remove those criminal penalties in a future legislative session. An amendment from Sen. Lynne Walz of Fremont would have changed 12 weeks gestational age to 12 weeks post fertilization and added "fetal anomalies incompatible with life" to the bill. But that amendment was not considered on Friday. Photos and video: Scene at Nebraska Capitol as lawmakers debate LB574 for final time Gift this article Share this article paywall-free. Its 4:30 a.m. Outside maybe 5 below. Maybe a foot of snow. Inside pitch black. Dead quiet. Except for a young mother scurrying softly about. The one who loves jazz, who plays the accordion, who teaches classical music and conducts the childrens choir. But, on this morning, in the dark and the cold and the dead quiet, she has but one purpose. She is trying to save the life of her only son, gently breast-feeding him in the stillness of the frigid winter morning. The baby boy is only 3 months old. At birth, COVID-19 and pneumonia kept him in the hospital, kept him on a ventilator, kept him slipping in and out of a coma. And now baby Erik is struggling to breathe on his own, to take the food his mother tenderly offers his tiny mouth. They sit face to face in an upstairs bedroom. She watches his breathing, watches his eyes, rubs his tummy, runs her fingers through his hair. The little boy smiles. Suddenly, a loud boom. Then another. The bedroom windows shake and shudder. The little boy starts to cry. The mother runs to a window and looks out and all she can see is that all of the sky draped above all of their beautiful homeland has turned a deep and dark reddish-orange. She runs downstairs and flings open a bathroom window and all she can hear are jet engines, more explosions and the whiny whir of helicopter blades chopping through the red-orange sky. She pulls the little boy closer and runs back upstairs and shakes her husband, a notorious deep sleeper. Hes not happy to be awoken. Another explosion. The husband jumps up and runs to the bedroom window and sees the red-orange flames fanning out across the sky. They race down the hallway to wake up his brother. Youre hallucinating! Go back to bed! Everything is OK! Three more explosions. The brother rolls out of bed, runs to the window and sees what the others already know: The sky is on fire. The two brothers and their wives and their six young children all live together in a two-story home on a lovely acreage and now everyone is awake, panicked, the children screaming and crying. The mothers and fathers race through the house, fumbling about, frantically searching for their phones. Finally, they find them and open them and they all see the same thing: PUTIN ATTACKS UKRAINE. Its Feb. 24, 2022. *** Nine years earlier, the two Ukrainian brothers Paul and Roman had met two Belarusian twin sisters Sniazhana and Sviatlana in a coffee shop at a Crimean seaside resort. All four were on vacation and, bye and bye, the two brothers fell in love and married the beautiful sisters from a country closely allied with Russia. A year later, in 2014, Russia invaded Crimea and seized the Ukrainian peninsula as its own. And so it wasnt long before the lives of the madly-in-love newlyweds became entangled in the regions increasingly complex web of political and religious warfare. The couples and their families lived in a village in the far eastern Kharkiv region of Ukraine about 15 miles from the Russian border. They were among the few Pentecostal families in the area. The brothers father was a Pentecostal pastor. Not long after the Crimean takeover, Russian forces and their allies in the neighboring Donetsk and Luhansk regions of Ukraine intensified their terror campaign against some Christians specifically targeting Pentecostals. Russians, the brothers said, had long viewed the Pentecostal denomination as an American export and so they stepped up their intimidation: assaulting Pentecostals, threatening to kill their pastors and kidnap their children. Before long, the brothers feared the Russian terror campaign would spread to their region. And for several days, Russian allies commandeered a key Kharkiv government building, flying the Russian flag. The brothers soon feared for their fathers life. They wanted him in a country where there was no war, in a city where he and their mother were safe. On the afternoon of May 5, 2015, the brothers hugged their mother and father and cried and cried and said goodbye. Three days later, the parents arrived in a city where Christians were safe, where the mother had relatives: They arrived in Lincoln, Nebraska. Now, almost seven years later, the brothers found themselves in the same fix. The sisters remembered all the World War II stories theyd heard from their grandparents. The brothers remembered all the war movies theyd seen. And now the war was playing outside the house where they lived with their six young sons and daughters. Soon, one thing became clear: They could all stay and starve to death, get shot or blown up. Or leave. But how? Not by bus, as their parents had. Russian war planes had bombed the bus station. And not by train. Russians had blown up the tracks. Days earlier, two cars rested peacefully on their property. One was a newer model that ran beautifully. The other a 1985 Volvo idle for two years. The brothers had sold the good one on Feb. 23 the day before the sky caught fire. So now, the only means of escape, their only chance to avoid bombs and missiles, starvation and bullets, to somehow get 10 people to the safety of the Polish border 700 miles away, came down to one option: a homely, gunmetal-gray, 37-year-old jalopy with no radiator, no heater, four flat tires, a crushed front end and an engine diseased with multiple afflictions. On Feb. 24, Paul slipped the key into the ignition, slowly turned it and nothing. No sound. No pulse. DOA. Then the ace mechanics got to it. Working 5 a.m. to midnight, Paul and Roman feverishly gathered parts strewn about the acreage, using their automotive talents to solve one problem after another. No radiator? No worries. They found an old one that had been lying in the barn for five years and jerry-rigged it to fit the ancient Volvo. Flat tires? No problem. They pumped and patched until they were road ready. A damaged alignment? No sweat. A computer program showed them how to fix it. We did two weeks worth of work in three days, Paul said. After extensive surgery, the car finally sputtered to life so he and his brother limped into a nearby village where they got more engine parts, new-old tires, brake and transmission fluid and swapped a better radiator from a Russian-made Lada. The gas stations were all closed. But luckily, the Volvo ran on diesel. So, the two brothers staggered from farm to farm, where the tractors ran on diesel, begging for a gallon here, a gallon there, some paid for, some donated, filling the tank, stockpiling as much as they could. All the while, their phones told them Russian tanks were closing in, bridges and train tracks blowing up. And in the distance, they watched bombs falling from the sky. Five days had come and gone and the brothers and their wives and the children were all scared and tired and cold and the little boy was still very sick and sometimes the Volvo started and sometimes it didnt. They werent sure what to do. Should they stay and wait longer? Or leave now and risk the car breaking down as they try to escape? They had been praying for days, ever since the red dawn. And now they decided they would seek Gods advice, they would let Him speak to them through a spiritual messenger: a 37-year-old rusted-out clunker, chugging along one cylinder at a time. On Feb. 28, with everyone holding hands, kneeling in the frigid air, they prayed together: God, if this car starts, thats a sign from you that we need to leave now. And if you dont think its time for us to leave then please dont make this car start. Slowly, carefully, Paul inserted the key. He gently turned it and the car revved to life. Thank you, Jesus. *** 5 a.m. March 1, 2022. Everyones up. So much to do. They know many stores will be closed or blown up, so the patched-up jalopy quickly fills with diapers, blankets, clothing, waffles, cookies and water. A neighbor baked a loaf of bread, then slaughtered and roasted a goat, so in go the goat-meat sandwiches. In the back seat, mothers and children are stacked like loaves of bread on a grocery shelf. Moms anchor each end of the bottom row, their two oldest children in between, while the four youngest pile on top, forming a second row. Up front sit pilot and co-pilot. The dawn arrived that Tuesday in a curtain of heavy fog, obscuring sky but not sound. Yes, they were leaving beloved home and homeland but bursting bombs and screeching missiles made one thing clear: It was the right decision. Those first two days, they can never forget. Fog above. Snow below. Minus 5. No heater. They saw where Russian tanks had left snow-packed paths alongside their roadway while all around the same steady drum beat: exploding tank shells, shrieking rocket-launchers, screaming missiles. The children were tired, hungry, frozen and scared. They cried and cried. To calm them, the mothers said: Hey, were going on a vacation! The whole family together! It will be a new adventure! We hope youre as excited as we are. It was a hard sell the children didnt buy. And yet, they also knew how lucky they were. Swathed in thick clothing, blanketed from head to toe, the little boy was struggling in the frigid car. While in the hospital with COVID, hed also developed a bone disease osteomyelitis. His doctor had scheduled a check-up for March 8, but the family had already left. On the appointed day, Russian war planes blew up Eriks hospital, the largest childrens hospital in the area. Said the father: Had we stayed at the hospital for the appointment, wed all be dead. Asking Ukrainian soldiers the safest way ahead, they zig-zagged across their country, stopping at farms to buy diesel, at stores for fruit, cookies, hot dogs and sausage, feeding Erik antibiotics theyd stockpiled from previous hospital visits, avoiding blown-up bridges, watching bombs tumbling from distant war planes. That first night they slept at an aunts house. The second at another relatives. The third, a Christian family took in all 10. On the afternoon of March 6, they knew they were getting close. Up ahead they saw a line of cars and trucks stretching a good 10 miles or more. They saw thousands more massed on foot, lugging whatever they could, all heading west. Their destination now in sight, they felt theyd gone as far as they could by car. So, they left the keys in the ancient Volvo, gathered food and belongings, wrapped themselves in heavy blankets and began trudging toward the Polish border, husbands and wives taking turns carrying the little boy. When they tried to cut in front of the others because Erik was freezing, struggling to breathe, the others cursed them. But they kept trying. Finally, the Ukrainian border guards said: No you have to wait in line like everyone else. At the border, the soldiers inspected documents and enforced rules: For Ukrainian men, if you had three or more children, the soldiers would wave you across. If not, theyd force you to go back and fight. Did the brothers feel guilty about leaving? Yes, said Paul. A part of me felt bad about not staying and fighting. But if we stayed back and died, the mothers would have a tough job taking care of our three kids. It would have been selfish of me not to put my family first, my children. It had been 11 days to remember: Feb. 24-March 6. From the red dawn to the Polish border. They had driven more than 900 miles, forsaken their country for reasons beyond their control. They now stood on foreign soil freezing, starving, sick, scared and exhausted. In short order, they found themselves on a bus, then in a large auditorium filled with portable metal beds, clean sheets, heat and hundreds of other desperate, stranded but alive Ukrainian refugees. The Polish people opened their hearts to us, said the little boys mother, Sniazhana. Soon, they learned of a small Polish village 80 miles away with private quarters for stranded families. So, they went and stayed for 3 months. And it was here they initiated the plan. They knew it would be a long, difficult process a long shot. But they did it anyway: They applied for documents they hoped would get them to the United States. While in the Polish village, a wealthy childhood friend invited them to join his family in Germany. So, in July, the Ukrainian brothers, the Belarusian sisters and their six children arrived by bus in the city of Bremm, where they soon began plowing through paperwork that would allow them to stay. One morning a few weeks later, Romans phone rang. It was good news: The two families had been approved to stay and work in Germany for two years. They were all ecstatic. That same day, they signed up to take German language classes. And they couldnt wait to share the news with their parents in Lincoln. That afternoon, they were playing in a public park, too excited to stay home, not quite believing the good news theyd gotten just hours earlier. Then Pauls phone rang. Guess what? Weve got great news, said a voice on the other end. What is it? asked Paul. Youre coming to America! *** All along, it had been their dream: To reunite the families in America. The brothers were overjoyed. They hadnt seen their mother and father in seven years. But for the sisters, it was more complicated. Their parents begged them to stay in Germany. The daily Russian news reports, they said, predicted the war in Ukraine would soon be over and then the girls and grandkids could all come to Belarus. But the daughters told them the Russian reports were propaganda, all lies the war could grind on for years. The parents and daughters did not believe one another and finally they all stopped talking about the war and what the future held. Said Sviatlana: In our hearts, we both wanted to stay in Germany. It was safe and closer to our parents. But in our minds, we knew that going to America was the smart move. But soon, a problem developed. A major obstacle. One with no easy answer. Little Eriks osteomyelitis had flared up. Bacteria had severely infected the 9-month-olds hip and leg. His German doctor in Koblenz pulled no punches with the parents. The boy is too sick to travel, he told them. He needs to stay on heavy meds, for six weeks, in a German hospital. The mother wondered if a nurse could travel with them on the plane. The doctor said no. He needed to stay in Germany. If you stay, we can cure him, the doctor said. If you go, he might not make it. Enter Oleg Stepanyuk, the godfather of Lincolns Ukrainian community. Oleg arrived in Lincoln in 1996 and started a successful trucking business. He became assistant pastor at House of Prayer, an evangelical church in north Lincoln. Along the way, he also developed a vast network of contacts including several in the Lancaster County Health Department. When Oleg found out how worried the little boys parents were, he reached out to local health officials who quickly lined up a Lincoln doctor to help coordinate the overseas travel plans. Again, the German doctor minced no words to the boys parents: I will only authorize his departure if I see evidence that you have everything organized on the Lincoln end. Almost immediately, German and Lincoln doctors launched a flurry of emails to map out a precise medical game plan. The Lincoln doctor arranged to see the boy the day after their arrival and for him to see a trio of specialists soon after at Childrens Hospital in Omaha. The German doctor signed off on the plan and gave the parents a powdery medicine to mix with water for Erik to drink on the long flight. They landed in Omaha on Aug. 23, 2022 almost exactly six months after the red dawn. A Lincoln church provided a bus to take the large welcoming party to Omaha, where the parents arrived in traditional Ukrainian dress. The mob of mother, father, family and friends rushed to the gate, which soon dissolved into a frenzy of hugs, kisses and tears. Lots of tears. And the same recurring thought, over and over: Is this really happening? Are we all really back together? Can this be real? The next day, a Lincoln doctor examined Erik and set up an appointment at Childrens Hospital. For five days, Omaha doctors did blood work, thoroughly evaluated his hip and leg, pumped him full of antibiotics. Medicaid covered the expenses. Soon, Catholic Social Services in Lincoln jumped in, helping with paperwork, lining up shelter, food, medicine and clothing. Before long, apartments opened up in a large complex and the two families moved in. Almost eight months later, it still doesnt seem quite real: that these two families somehow endured a harrowing journey dodging bombs and missiles and blown-up bridges and now their parents are 10 minutes away, now the brothers and sisters can sit on facing balconies, waving to one another, 6,000 miles from home, from the spot where they resurrected the deceased Volvo. The two brothers who managed to get that 37-year-old Volvo with no radiator, four flat tires and a crushed front end across war-torn Ukraine in the dead of winter have opened two apropos businesses in Lincoln they now work on cars at Pauls Body Shop and R&S Body Shop. The two sisters are staying home with the children, hoping to get drivers licenses so they can drive their kids to the park, make new friends and get more involved with their church. This is a good, safe, calm place, says Sniazhana. The people are so nice and friendly. There are good schools, good food and good medicines. We are so happy here. We are living you have a word for it, but I forget. Her husband remembers. The good life. The Flatwater Free Press is Nebraskas first independent, nonprofit newsroom focused on investigations and feature stories that matter. Top Journal Star photos for May 2023 Gift this article Share this article paywall-free. Governor Jim Pillen is urging Nebraskans to submit nominations for ServeNebraska's ninth annual Step Forward Awards. The Step Forward Awards are the most prestigious awards given to volunteers in Nebraska and celebrate those who go above and beyond to serve their community. Award recipients will be selected by the governor and honored at the 2023 Step Forward Awards ceremony in the fall. Businesses, civic clubs, schools, and other organizations are encouraged to submit the names of individuals they wish to recognize for their efforts. Nominations must be submitted by July 1, 2023. Nomination categories include Adult Volunteer, Youth Volunteer Leadership, Senior Volunteer, Volunteer Group, Corporate Community Volunteer, National Service, Veteran Volunteer, Disaster Volunteer, and Lifetime Achievement. ServeNebraska is governed by an 18-member, bipartisan board appointed by the governor. The commission exists to strengthen communities through collaboration, volunteering, and national service. For more information about ServeNebraska and the Step Forward Awards, or to submit a nomination, visit www.serve.nebraska.gov/awards. Gift this article Share this article paywall-free. Nearly three-quarters of more than 100 law enforcement agencies across much of the U.S. don't reflect the racial makeup of their communities, data supplied by the departments to Lee Enterprises shows. As part of a seven-month investigation by Lee and Type Investigations, agencies were ranked based on the gap between the proportion of officers and leadership in the agency who identify as people of color and the percentage of people of color in the communities they serve. Lee reporters sent surveys to more than 170 law enforcement agencies and then zeroed in on "diverse" communities, defined in this research as places where at least 10 percent of the residents are non-white. Of 105 agencies that provided demographic data and served diverse communities, 76 underrepresented the percentages of people of color in their communities by 10 points or more. Some had gaps of more than 30 percentage points. Diversity underrepresentation in policing Data gathered from October 2022 to May 2023 from nearly 120 law enforcement agencies in 14 states shows frequent disparity in the racial and ethnic makeup of the agencies compared to the communities they are hired to protect and serve. Data gathered from October 2022 to May 2023 from nearly 120 law enforcement agencies in 14 states shows frequent disparity in the racial and ethnic makeup of the agencies compared to the communities they are hired to protect and serve. These are among several key observations drawn from data submitted by state and local law enforcement agencies largely in the Midwest and East, near areas where Lee properties are based. The data show that thousands of people of color live in communities where the force looks nothing like them, despite calls for increased law enforcement diversity that echoed through U.S. streets three years ago following the murder of George Floyd. Twenty of the 105 agencies serving diverse communities have no people of color or only one such person on the force. Also, in nearly half of the 93 agencies serving diverse communities that gave data on leadership, there were either zero or only one person of color in leadership. Why police diversity matters Experts within and outside law enforcement say the continued representation gap the subject of discussions that go back decades underscores existential questions about how police protect and serve people of color. A study released in November by the Bureau of Justice Statistics that collected data in 2020 about interactions with police over the previous year showed that Black people were three times more likely than white people 6 percent vs. 2 percent to have experienced the threat of force or use of nonfatal force during their most recent police contact. The report also showed that during that time frame, Black people had the highest likelihood of experiencing any type of police misconduct (5%), more than double that of white people and Hispanic people combined. While improving diversity doesnt solve issues like excessive force or biased policing, it can begin to cause a shift. The more diverse we are as it relates to race and ethnicity, the more diverse we are also in life experiences, which helps agencies to better inform policies, also better inform their training, and better inform their support systems as well, said Darryl McSwain, chief of the Maryland-National Capital Park Police force and a 2021 finalist for the post of top cop in Lincoln, Nebraska. So I think that's why it's so crucial that we continue to diversify. Most agencies surveyed underrepresent communities of color The Lee law enforcement survey is an update and expansion of a similar effort launched in the Midwest in the summer of 2020 as the nation was reeling from weeks of protests after Derek Chauvin, a white then-police officer in Minneapolis, pressed his knee to the neck of Floyd for more than 9 minutes, according to prosecutors who won a murder conviction against Chauvin. For the current investigation, police and sheriffs departments along with state patrols in more than a dozen states responded to a two-page survey seeking data on topics including the demographic breakdown of the sworn personnel and leadership, the use of body and dashboard cameras, and the number of racial profiling and excessive force complaints. Nearly 120 agencies provided demographic information on race and ethnicity. Most also provided information on the gender breakdown of the department. In 14 of the communities, people of color identifying as Black, Hispanic/Latinx, Native American/First Nation and Asian American/Pacific Islander made up less than 10 percent of the population served. Not surprisingly, the law enforcement agencies there were all or largely white. Lee also received demographic data from 105 agencies serving diverse areas based on 2020 U.S Census data, which Lee also used to draw comparisons with their respective police-force demographics: Seventy-six of the 105 agencies, or about 72 percent, underrepresented their communities of color by 10 percentage points or more. In Martinsville, Virginia, more than half of the community roughly 57 percent was composed of people of color, while people of color accounted for about 12 percent of the force. The largest agency to respond to the survey was the 4,741-member New York State Police. People of color made up about 45 percent of the population in the departments jurisdiction and 12 percent of the force a gap of 33 percentage points. Twenty-eight departments came within 10 percentage points of matching the diversity levels of their communities. They range in size from the seven-member Hebron Police Department in Indiana to the 488-member police department in Madison, Wisconsin. In Hebron, about 12 percent of the population and 14 percent of the force were people of color. In Wisconsins capital, 28 percent of the community and 23 percent of the force were made up of people of color. As a group, the 119 agencies police departments, sheriffs offices and state police that supplied diversity data appear to skew whiter than local law enforcement across the U.S. overall. This is based on part- and full-time personnel numbers provided by the 119 agencies compared with the latest law enforcement demographics for full-time personnel collected by the Department of Justice in 2020. In the 82 police departments in the group, nearly 79 percent of sworn members identified as white versus about 69 percent of full-time sworn officers in local police departments in 2020. Lee found similar disparities among the 31 sheriffs departments in the group. Eighty-seven percent of sworn members identified as white, 16 percentage points greater than the roughly 71 percent of full-time sworn officers in sheriffs departments nationwide who identified as white in 2020, according to the DOJ. So what do all these numbers mean? In Martinsville, Virginia, which describes itself as a city without limits, the lack of diversity on its police force has not gone unnoticed. Of a force of 41 sworn members, the Martinsville police department has four Black officers and one Hispanic officer, said Maj. Chad Rhoads, part of the department's leadership team. I certainly do acknowledge the gap, Rhoads, who is part of the department's leadership team, said. It's certainly not representative of the community, but we want to get it there. But it's just something that we've always struggled with. Rhoads said the department tried attending job fairs at nearby historically Black colleges and universities but got no applicants, a problem it has experienced at college job fairs in general. He said the department does not have a specific program to recruit people of color. It relies on grassroots efforts including using school resource officers to forge connections with students. Of course, Martinsville is far from the only city with a force that does not reflect the population. Sgt. Betsy Brantner Smith, a police trainer and spokesperson for the National Police Association, an educational and advocacy group, links the quest for diversity to law enforcements challenge of attracting applicants overall. Since 2020, American law enforcement, we, have (had) a very difficult time just recruiting and retaining police officers of any race and any gender, said Brantner Smith, who was a police officer for 29 years beginning in 1980. So right now, as a country we're just trying to get people to come to the law enforcement profession. People are leaving in record numbers. They are leaving prior to receiving their retirement, and its becoming a real crisis. Departments are increasing their use of technology and social media and beginning to recruit more broadly to boost ranks, Brantner Smith said, but whether we're talking post-George Floyd or we're talking in general, not everyone is attracted to this profession. Call for police diversity reaches zenith after George Floyd's death Long before Floyds murder sent thousands of protesters into the streets, community activists and private citizens had called for a more just and representative law enforcement system. That chorus reached a crescendo after Floyds Memorial Day 2020 murder and included a 21 pillar proposal outlined in 2021 by the National Urban League, which, among other demands, called on communities and law enforcement leadership to increase diversity and equity in both the leadership and ranks of local, state and federal law enforcement. Most law enforcement leaders and experts interviewed for this story listed similar reasons to push for more diversity in police forces, including helping to establish better relations with diverse communities and having role models who can attract other diverse candidates. If we want to have a relationship with our community, and we want our community to be a part of this ecosystem of public safety, then we want our police force to be reflective of the communities that we're in, said Regina Holloway, vice president of community impact for Axon, maker of equipment for law enforcement, notably Tasers and cameras. I think it's not impossible by any stretch. We want all officers to be equitable across the board, but I do think that there's this opportunity for an officer of color a Black officer, a brown officer to have lived experience that they can relate to community members that are having challenges around public safety, challenges in the community, right? There's going to be a kinship there, possibly, that will create a deeper relationship at the on-site of that interaction. She referred to a study of the Chicago Police Department, published in Science magazine, examining data on officer demographics and behavior from 2012-2015 that found that when compared with white officers, Black and Hispanic officers made far fewer stops and arrests and used force less often, especially against Black civilians. What we know is that Black and brown officers are less likely to stop people for low-level offenses, Holloway added. And they're less likely to have sort of these negative interactions with community. High-profile deaths in 2023 fuel debate over 'biased culture' That assertion fueled major debates earlier this year in two highly publicized deaths of Black citizens following interactions with law enforcement members, most of whom were people of color. In late April, the family of Tyre Nichols filed a $550 million federal lawsuit against the city of Memphis, the citys police department, and what the suit described as unqualified, untrained and unsupervised officers who severely beat the 29-year-old Black man after a traffic stop and brief foot chase Jan. 7, according to news reports and video that was later shared with the public. He was hospitalized and died three days later. Five former Memphis police officers all Black were fired within weeks of the incident. Each faces multiple charges, including second-degree murder, aggravated assault, aggravated kidnapping, official misconduct and official oppression, according to news reports. In Virginia, in a death that conjured images of Floyd pinned beneath Chauvins knee, Henrico County deputy sheriffs piled onto Irvo Otieno, a 28-year-old Black man in shackles suffering a mental health crisis, as he was being admitted to Central State Hospital. He died of asphyxiation, a medical examiner found. Otieno, whose family said he had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder, died March 6 while in custody of the Henrico County Sheriffs Office. Hospital video shows the group pinning him down for close to 12 minutes, and theres no audio. The sheriffs office told Lee it does not use body cameras. Of the seven sheriff's deputies charged with second-degree murder in the case, five are Black, two are white. In fact, Henrico County's sheriff's office was among the most-diverse departments in the Lee survey when compared to the population of the county. People of color made up 49 percent of the population and about 68 percent of the force, for an overrepresentation of nearly 20 percentage points. In the Nichols case, Benjamin Crump, a noted civil rights attorney representing the Nichols family, told ABC News that he believes Nichols was a victim of an implicit bias police culture that exists in America. Crump said Nicholss death occurred despite recent police reform in Memphis because of the institutionalized police culture that makes it somehow allowed that they can use this type of excessive force and brutality against people of color. And it doesn't matter if the officers are Black, Hispanic, or white. Its part of the culture, this biased culture that said this is allowed. Leaders seek change, professionalism and better data Attempts to steer departmental culture in a more inclusive direction often fall to the chief or sheriff. It can be a daunting task regardless of their ethnicity. Jamal A. Simington, chief of the Bloomington Police Department in Illinois, identifies as African American and is the only person of color in leadership in his 123-member department, with less than 10 percent of the force composed of people of color. Thats in a community where 27 percent of residents are people of color. Simington, who said he has been called the N-word and Uncle Tom, thinks leaders must foster and model a culture of professionalism regardless of race. You need the representation with high levels of professionalism, said Simington, who was drawn to law enforcement by family members who served. When asked about the roles of officers of color in the deaths of Otieno and Nichols, Simington said, It does reflect horrible on the badge. It tarnishes everything we stand for, right? It's supposed to be a noble occupation. So the nobility comes from our capability and our mindset on how to treat people [in a way thats] fair and appropriate. That's if you're a person of color or not. There has been limited research on the role of officers' race on their interactions with citizens. The latest report by the Bureau of Justice Statistics on encounters with police did not list the race of the officers involved. A database by the Washington Post tracking fatal police shootings since 2015 shows that Black Americans, who account for about 14 percent of the population, are killed by police at more than twice the rate of white Americans. The database also does not list the race of officers. The Lee survey asked agencies to share numbers for excessive force and racial profiling complaints logged between 2017 and 2022. More than 100 responded. Some declined to provide data or suggested other sources for it. Thirty-nine agencies surveyed said they had no complaints fitting in either category in any of those years. There is also variation in how each agency categorizes complaints. Some responded with numbers for allegations described in broader terms such as "biased policing and use of force. The Greensboro Police Department in North Carolina, which is nearly 70 percent white in a community that is less than 40 percent white, had 121 biased-based policing allegations, including bias other than race, between 2017 and 2022. It also had 14 allegations of excessive force during that same period. Allegations are not always sustained by the department once investigated. In an email, the department said its investigations found that three of four allegations of excessive force were found to be valid in 2021-22, and no allegations of biased policing initiated by citizens were sustained in that period. Stephanie Mardis is captain of the Greensboro Police Departments Professional Standards Division, which handles matters related to internal affairs. She told Lee she recognizes the need for improving diversity in the departments ranks. Having a force that was more representative of the community may not necessarily mean that our complaints will decrease, she said. It may not necessarily mean that we will have less use of force, but on its face, if a police department reflects the community in itself, it inherently gains trust with people from all walks of life. The department gives the public access each year to its complaint numbers via an annual report; however, it does not list the race or ethnicity of the officer. Tracie L. Keesee is COO, president and co-founder of the Center for Policing Equity, which uses data and science to help law enforcement look at harm reduction when it comes to issues of race and reimagine public safety in a way that centers community. She feels there should be more robust, peer-reviewed studies that look closely at the differences in negative outcomes for people of color when interacting with diverse vs. non-diverse departments. The science is so scant, she said. For starters, Keesee said, law enforcement agencies need to better track both the diversity of their members and how they interact with citizens. We want law enforcement departments to start collecting data appropriately, and we want to make it available to everyone so we can do exactly what you're talking about, she added. So we can look at and be able to try to begin to answer those questions." Lee Enterprises reporters Alison Burdo, Lauren Cross, Lizzie Kaboski , Analisa Trofimuk and Patrick Wilson contributed to this report. Research by Emma Davis of Type Investigations. Karen Robinson-Jacobs is a member of the Lee Public Service Journalism team and a Type Investigations reporting fellow. Photos: Scenes from the racial justice protests after George Floyd's death Photos: Reactions across US to guilty verdict in Derek Chauvin trial APTOPIX George Floyd Officer Trial George Floyd Officer Trial George Floyd Officer Trial Minneapolis George Floyd Officer Trial George Floyd Officer Trial New York George Floyd Officer Trial Washington George Floyd Officer Trial Washington George Floyd Officer Trial Washington George Floyd Officer Trial Washington George Floyd Officer Trial Washington APTOPIX George Floyd Officer Trial Washington APTOPIX George Floyd Officer Trial George Floyd Officer Trial George Floyd Officer Trial George Floyd Officer Trial George Floyd Officer Trial Houston George Floyd Officer Trial Minneapolis George Floyd Officer Trial Houston George Floyd Officer Trial George Floyd Officer Trial George Floyd Officer Trial Texas George Floyd Officer Trial New York George Floyd Officer Trial The Royal Commission for AlUla (RCU) will develop a new resort within the Journey Through Time (JTT) masterplan, designed in harmony with the natural environment and aligned with the Sustainability Charter for AlUla, Saudi Green Initiative, and Vision 2030. The Azulik AlUla Resort is a stunning eco-luxury property in the Nabatean Horizon District of the JTT masterplan, tucked into canyons near the AlMutadil Equestrian Village development and Wadi AlFann, an ancient valley that will soon be home to large-scale artworks in the landscape, said RCU in its statement. Slated to launch in 2027, the resort will feature 76 luxury villas of six different varieties, spa, VIP club, welcome lounges, all-day dining, and a SFER IK museum. Operated by Mexican luxury brand Azulik and designed by Roth Architecture, the resort will offer elegant accommodations for guests and provide socio-economic benefits for the AlUla community. Once fully operational, Azulik AlUla Resort will create more than 300 new jobs, said the statement. Along with local materials and contractors sought for construction, most operational supplies will be sought from AlUla and wider KSA to further boost regional economic growth, it added. RCU Vice President (Hotels and Resorts) John Northen said: "Azulik AlUla is centered on the concept of sustainability and connection with the natural and human heritage surrounding this magnificent property." "Along with its proximity to the AlMutadil Equestrian Village and Wadi AlFann, both under development, this resort is one of several assets contributing to AlUlas growth as a leading destination in line with our JTT master plan," stated Northen. "With flowing designs inspired by the natural ecosystem and surrounding sandstone cliffs, the resorts undulating exteriors will utilise natural materials and fibres woven into several layers," he added. According to him, Azulik AlUla Resort will promote connection with AlUlas heritage and the areas ecology and biodiversity. "For example, the development will protect and incorporate nearby ancient rock art inscriptions, and utilise a natural system of existing waterways to feed irrigation and safeguard against floods. No private vehicle traffic will be allowed on-property; instead an all-electric mobility system will be provided, along with horse and camel routes, and hiking trails for guests to enjoy the surroundings," he stated. Azulik Founder and CEO Roth said: "As a Tribe, we feel honoured to bring Azuliks vision to AlUla. It is with gratitude and profound respect that we embark a journey into AlUlas vibrant heritage and culture." "Rooted in its unique natural landscape, we begin a project that is both close to our heart and our brand values. These are our first steps together and Im confident we will walk a beautiful and exciting path," he added.-TradeArabia News Service Today is May 22, 2023 and here is what you need to know: Colorado was the first state in the nation to decriminalize abortion in certain cases in 1967. This year, the state reclaimed its status as a leader for abortion protections. During the 2023 legislative session, lawmakers passed a package of bills designed to protect and increase access to abortion in the state, just over a year after Colorado enshrined abortion as a fundamental right. The three bills were signed into law in April. Senate Bill 188 protects patients and providers of abortion and gender-affirming services in Colorado from penalties from other states. Senate Bill 189 expands health insurance coverage for abortion, sterilization and treatment of sexually transmitted diseases. Senate Bill 190 prohibits what sponsors deem to be deceptive advertising and the use of abortion "reversal" pills in crisis pregnancy centers. "Colorado has really embraced this opportunity to be a national leader," said Kelly Baden, vice president of public policy for the Guttmacher Institute, a reproductive health research and policy organization. "Colorado is part of the pack of states that see that abortion legality is critical, but now also has gone beyond that to recognize that legality alone is not enough." Nationally, 25 states and Washington D.C. have some kind of abortion protections via state laws, state constitutions, executive orders or state Supreme Court precedents, according to the Guttmacher Institute. But with this year's bill package, Colorado joined a smaller group of states taking stronger steps to preserve abortion rights after the Supreme Court overturned federal abortion protections in the Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization ruling in June. The 2023 session saw Democratic lawmakers approve five measures that could move Colorado into a stronger position as a leader on gun safety laws. But the reluctance by Democrats, including Gov. Jared Polis, on an assault weapons ban will likely keep the state off the leaderboard. Two years ago, Colorado got a "C+" from Giffords, the national legal nonprofit that promotes gun safety legislation. While the organization ranked Colorado in the Top 16 of states with strong gun control laws, its middle-of-the-pack grade at that time was due to what it didn't have: waiting periods for firearms sales, a law raising the legal age to purchase to 21, and a requirement for lost or stolen guns to be reported. After passing a law that allowed local jurisdictions to pass stricter gun control laws and adding laws on reporting lost or stolen guns, Colorado improved to a "B" in the 2023 report. Sign up for free: News Alerts Stay in the know on the stories that affect you the most. Sign Up For Free View all of our newsletters. Success! Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. View all of our newsletters. It noted Colorado ranked 14th on strength of gun laws, but had more gun deaths per 100,000 population than any of its peer states. Only two states, California and New Jersey, have earned the highest grade, an "A", from Giffords. Six others earned an "A-" from Giffords in its 2023 report. Twenty-six states are ranked "F," including Colorado border neighbors Wyoming, Utah, Kansas, Oklahoma and nearby Texas. Colorado Springs Mayor-elect Yemi Mobolade, an independent and political newcomer who will step into the mayor's office next month, has maintained over 18 months on the campaign trail and following his decisive runoff election victory that he is neither a Republican nor a Democrat. Though the city's elections are nonpartisan, Mobolade continues to dispute the idea he is a "progressive" or "Democratic-aligned" candidate, despite those claims made by media, political-action committees, his Republican opponent Wayne Williams and others. Mobolade repeated last week that it is an identity "he never gave himself." Voting records The Gazette obtained from the El Paso County clerk and recorder show Mobolade is among the 48.47% of unaffiliated voters in El Paso County. That's compared to 31.17% of county voters who are registered Republicans and 18.22% who are registered Democrats, county clerk's data as of May 15 show. Mobolade, who earned 57.5% of the runoff vote to Williams' 42.5%, according to final unofficial results from the city clerk as of Wednesday afternoon, will be the first mayor not affiliated with the Republican Party since the city began electing mayors 45 years ago. His victory represents a seismic political surprise in Colorado Springs, long known as a conservative stronghold. Top 12 Issues | 2023 LEGISLATIVE SESSION By the time Colorado lawmakers wrapped up their work on May 8, they tackled hundreds of proposals, ranging from mundane to monumental, in a session featuring flashes of acrimony, intraparty dissent and interparty filibustering. But the 2023 session also saw stretches of cooperation and moments of levity, underpinned by the new reality at the state Capitol that Republicans are powerless to stop Democrats when they're united, and the supermajority is deeply fractured on certain issues. And, for the first time since becoming governor, Jared Polis tasted a major defeat on a signature proposal. It was made all the more stunning by coming on the heels of an election that saw him emerge with a sweeping mandate after winning by roughly 20 points. Here are the top issues of the 2023 legislative session. Marianne Goodland salutes the best and brightest from Colorado's 2023 legislative session. There was a lot to say during Colorado's 2023 legislative session. From public testimonies to floor debates, the halls of the state Capitol were at times filled with arguments, laughter and tears as lawmakers worked to pass legislation over the last 120 days. Here are 10 of this year's top quotes from inside of the state Capitol. The last time yall heard from me on this issue I was seething with rage, because the last time that we had a conversation was in the immediate aftermath of the overturning of Roe v. Wade. Yall felt the rage that so many of us experienced in our bodies, in our bones, that the Supreme Court of this nation would so coldly undermine our ability to make decisions about our own bodies. So, I spent a little bit of time this summer being mad. But then, the people you see standing along side me, we stopped being mad and we got to work. What a joy to now be able to present before you a package of three policies. I dont care what other states are doing in their race to the bottom. In Colorado, weve got your back. Sen. Julie Gonzales on a package of bills to strengthen abortion protections I dont know why a resolution on the Equal Rights Amendment, which is a positive turning point in our countrys history where we started to recognize women as equals, turned into demeaning, dismissive and derogatory remarks about me and people like me. Whether you like it or not, I am your colleague. Whether you believe me or people like me should exist, I do exist. And I am your equal in this chamber. My existence is not up for debate. Its not something you can disagree away, and I will not let anyone in this chamber or outside this chamber bully or intimidate me out of my existence. Not today and not ever. Rep. Brianna Titone responding to anti-transgender comments made by Republican representatives during a resolution on the Equal Rights Amendment As a woman, I should be able to be down here and stand with my fellow female colleagues to celebrate and work for equal pay. But no. No, because we cant agree on some language that I wasnt even asked about. ... Today, once again, Im singled out and left out because Im a Republican. Thats disgraceful. Im in a new fight now for equality because of my political affiliation. ... This resolution contains a politically progressive message and is a substitute for genuineness. Call me out all you want, thats how I believe. You did it on purpose and Im still ticked off. Sen. Barbara Kirkmeyer on an Equal Pay Day resolution brought by Democrats that recognized the pay disparity between men and "people who identify as women, trans women, gender-expansive people" "We, as the Ute people, have lost a lot over time up to present day in 2023. Today, the areas that I speak of are about the future government to government relationship. We all claim these lands as our homeland, but let us look at the past history and what has been taken away. All those lost opportunities we shall address, and we shall address them today while looking toward future opportunities. ... Just as a blanket is made, our history of the Ute people should be woven into the history of Colorado." Manuel Heart, chairman of the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe during the tribe's inaugural legislative address I want to tell you a story about a woman I know very personally who was threatened in her home one morning and ran into the bathroom, because it was the only place she could get to safety. ... She locked that door and turned the shower on and just sat there and cried for an hour, praying that she would get out of the bathroom because her two babies were sleeping in their bed. All she could think about was, 'What happens to my babies if I dont get out of this bathroom?' She waited and it was quiet and so she finally thought this was her chance to get out and escape, and she did. If she then chose to go to a gun store and get a gun to protect herself, she should have that right. There is nobody in this body who should take that right away. She should not have to wait three days and pray that he doesnt find her and kill her in the meantime. She should have the right to protect her family and her babies. Sign up for free: News Alerts Stay in the know on the stories that affect you the most. Sign Up For Free View all of our newsletters. Success! Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. View all of our newsletters. Rep. Rose Pugliese on House Bill 1219 to implement a three-day waiting period for firearm purchases "I was wrongfully convicted and sentenced to life without parole at 14 years old. I was exonerated on June 16, 2014. My experience with being interrogated as a young child at the age of 14 years old was terrifying. ... It is an experience that I will never get over. It still haunts me to this very day and every day. In the interrogation room, I felt like I was on a sinking ship in the middle of the ocean with nowhere to go but down. I was lied to by the detectives about being involved in this horrible crime. I was told that I would be going to prison for life if I didn't tell them what they wanted to hear. ... I was tricked by all of their lies. I hope you can stop that from happening to others." Lorenzo Montoya on House Bill 1042 to prevent law enforcement from deceiving minors during interrogations "I was 17 years old living in Laramie, Wyoming when I was sexually assaulted. ... I wasn't old enough at the time to buy Plan B and it wasn't available over the counter for me, either. I will tell you that I've never felt more relieved than when my period came and I knew I wasn't pregnant. But under an amendment like this, I would not be able to seek abortion care after being sexually assaulted and that is not okay in Colorado. In Colorado, we allow people and pregnant women to make their choices about their bodies in consultation with their doctors, their family members, their faith, whoever they want to consult with. ... We are not doing that here in Colorado today." Rep. Jenny Willford on a failed proposed amendment to Senate Bill 189 (to expand health insurance coverage for abortion) that would have only allowed coverage for "medically necessary" abortions "This is an aggressive, immoral attack on the rights and freedoms of all citizens of Colorado. ... This is fascism in every sense of the word. You don't like what you hear so you shut down the debate and the discussion. ... All the majority party had to do was sit and listen until the minority party, a very small minority, ran out of steam. You're still going to get your bills, you're still going to get every single thing done that you want done because you're the supermajority. ... All you had to do was sit and listen, but you can't do that. Because listening to God, truth, righteousness and freedom actually hurts the souls of those who are not in favor of those mentalities. It doesn't hurt their ears, it hurts their souls." Rep. Scott Bottoms on House Democrats limiting debate on gun control bills to one hour after two days of filibustering from Republicans "On the night of Nov. 19, 2022, we lost five precious lives in my district. ... The suspect in this atrocity is very much being held accountable. He will likely never live again outside of state custody. But the lives of Ashley Paugh, Derrick Rump, Daniel Aston, Raymond Green Vance and Kelly Loving are gone forever. ... We have no problem bringing the law down very hard after the fact, after the carnage, after the massacre, after precious lives are gone and cannot be brought back. But to interrupt a major threat and prevent it from occurring at all, is somehow a much bigger lift. ... (The shooter) told us who he was, he said what he wanted to do, he threatened it multiple times. But this state only has an interest in doing something about it after lives are irretrievably lost. We can disarm hate." Rep. Stephanie Vigil on Senate Bill 170 to expand who can seek a "red flag" petition to remove firearms from someone deemed a threat to themselves or to others "Who are you protecting? Who are you fighting for? I know who I'm trying to protect. Our students, our teachers, our families and our community. ... These babies that were just murdered along with their teachers in Nashville, I don't know their party affiliation, but I know they had the right to live. They had a right to take their next breath. But we get so comfortable in our own little environment that we can't see the devastation that's happening in America, across this nation, and right here in Colorado. ... It's going to take the will of this Senate to do what's right for our babies. We need to protect their futures over guns. ... Take off your blinders and see the wreckage that I see." Sen. Rhonda Fields on House Bill 1219 to establish a three-day waiting period for delivery of a firearm after purchase Life has no cruelty worse than counterfeit hope, as portrayed in Steinbecks Grapes of Wrath. Elusive fruit leads the needy to proceed with false expectations. Professed benefactors who fib, exaggerate, renege or demand compensation do more harm than good. Denver Mayor Michael Hancock boldly invites immigrants to Colorado, promising comfort and care because thats who we are. Sadly, as they arrive the mayor sounds unwelcoming. He wants payment if he must deliver on his gestures of goodwill. The mayors latest bitter behavior came Thursday after Texas Governor Greg Abbott sent a busload of Latin American immigrants from the Texas border to Denver. It turns out they need food, shelter, clothing and care. Until the President and his Administration step up and fulfill their constitutional duty to secure the border, the State of Texas will continue busing migrants to self-declared sanctuary cities like Denver to provide much-needed relief to our small border towns, Abbott said. Hancock asked for them. The latest wave comes from Venezuela, run by a socialist government called a brutal authoritarian regime by Colorado Governor Jared Polis. Immigrants escaping socialism seek the benevolence of capitalism, a system that generates surplus services and goods. By contrast, Venezuelas socialist economy leaves grocery stores empty. Capitalism has made the United States so wealthy that major retailers allow criminals to steal. In Venezuela, where government owns the means of production, there is nothing to take. Most Denver dumpsters contain more nutrition than Venezuelan immigrants could dream of back home. It makes common sense to bus Venezuelans from low-income border towns to cities replete with social services, fully stocked store shelves and politicians who speak of equality, equity, sanctuary and compassion for the poor. In a recent meeting with The Gazettes editorial board, Hancock reiterated his desire to support refugees and other desperate immigrants. Being inclusive and welcoming to people who want to come to our city that's who we are, Hancock told us this month. And I always say, if thats what it means to be a sanctuary city then put us in that category. Options to survive spread quickly through penurious regions of Latin America, and Hancock launched this narrative years ago. If being a sanctuary city means that we value taking care of one another, and welcoming refugees and immigrants, then I welcome the title, Hancock said in a 2017 YouTube video. Hancocks sentiment becomes ignoble if he fails to deliver. Abbott reportedly plans to send more busloads, giving Hancock the chance to prove himself sincere to take care of and welcome refugees. The mayor should thank Abbot for helping to fulfill the invitation. Instead, he complains. Hancock last week called immigrant bussing political theater and a stunt. The mayor warns of billing Abbot for Colorados cost to care for and welcome refugees which he vowed to do without mentioning an invoice. Hancocks bitter response makes his sanctuary embrace little more than virtue theater. One must wonder if the mayor cares about immigrants or merely the chance to script as if he does. Either way, people desperate to feed themselves and their children will take offers of help at face value. No one should carelessly give them false hope. Immigrants arrive in Texas every day. Border communities do their best but lack the capacity to care for everyone. So, Abbott accepts Denvers welcoming pledge. McAllen, Texas a major gateway for immigrants and refugees has a GDP of less than $30 million. Denvers GDP well exceeds $200 million. To genuinely help refugees, Abbot sends them to cities with economic prowess and the expressed desire to help. Politicians who profess care and concern must do more than talk. Refugees fighting for their lives have reason to believe words of hope from those who wield great power. Hancock offered welcoming care. Thats why they come here seeking our help. The Colorado Supreme Court clarified on Monday that if someone is charged with multiple drunk driving offenses, what matters is which incident results in a conviction first, not necessarily which offense happens first. Under Colorado law, each subsequent impaired driving conviction receives a harsher sentence. Consequently, prior convictions are important for determining the severity of the punishment. By 6-1, the Supreme Court ruled it is possible for a defendant with two separate impaired driving cases to be sentenced as a second-time offender in the case that, chronologically, began when there was no prior DUI. The law "refers only to 'convictions' a word that is explicitly defined in the statute," wrote Justice Melissa Hart, "with no mention of the underlying 'violation.'" The case of Jacob Woodside raised a question the Supreme Court and Court of Appeals had never addressed before: When a defendant incurs two drunk driving charges on different dates, but the chronologically second offense is resolved before the chronologically first offense, what effect does the sequence have on a "prior conviction?" Prosecutors in Weld County charged Woodside for driving under the influence in August 2021. Nearly three months after that first offense, prosecutors in Grand County charged Woodside with DUI again in a separate case. Woodside ended up pleading guilty to driving while ability impaired in the Grand County case while the Weld County charges were still pending. Woodside was prepared to plead guilty in Weld County, but argued the later charges from Grand County should not count as a "prior conviction" and, accordingly, Woodside should be sentenced for only a first offense. "We believe that if this would be sentenced as a first offense," said prosecutor Erica White at the time, "then the Defendant is getting a windfall, basically, of being able to have two DUIs in a very short span of time and being able to plead to both of them as first offenses." County Court Judge John Briggs agreed with her interpretation, prompting Woodside to appeal directly to the Supreme Court. In 2010, the legislature enacted a law to create increasingly severe punishments for repeat drunk driving offenses, which are misdemeanors until the fourth conviction. A first DUI offense, at the time the law took effect, could result in at least five days of jail and up to 96 hours of community service, while a second offense could result in at least 10 days in jail with 120 hours of community service. A person is a second-time offender if they have a prior conviction "at the time of sentencing." Sign up for free: Springs AM Update Your morning rundown of the latest news from Colorado Springs and around the country overnight and the stories to follow throughout the day delivered to your inbox each evening. Sign Up View all of our newsletters. Success! Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. View all of our newsletters. "One of the reasons you gotta have these multiple-DUI laws is because people who have a tendency to get DUIs have a bunch of them," said Stan Garnett, who was the Boulder County district attorney at the time of the law's enactment. "The intent of the legislature is to provide more severe penalties, enhanced penalties, for people with more than one of these." In responding to Woodside's appeal, the Colorado Attorney General's Office argued that under his interpretation, Woodside would receive two convictions for a "first offense" one for the Grand County case that resolved first and another for the Weld County case that started first. Defendants in Woodside's position could thus "game the system," the state insisted. The Supreme Court's majority agreed that a "prior conviction" was not the same as a "prior offense," and the legislature clearly intended for prior convictions to count against a defendant regardless of when the DUI occurred chronologically. "Woodside is asserting that having pled guilty to two distinct incidents of intoxicated driving, he should be sentenced for two first offenses. But he did not commit two first offenses; he committed two offenses," wrote Hart in the May 22 opinion. "Woodsides interpretation would incentivize gamesmanship by allowing defendants to forestall resolution of an earlier case while resolving a later one to get first-offense treatment in both." Justice Monica M. Marquez saw otherwise. To her, the legislature enacted a framework to punish recidivism more harshly. Imposing a stiffer sentence on a defendant for a chronologically first offense before he became a recidivist is therefore unconstitutional. "In addition to disregarding the plain language of the statute," Marquez wrote, "the majoritys interpretation raises constitutional concerns because it permits a court to sentence a defendants first offense more harshly as a second or subsequent offense based on conduct committed after the offense for which the defendant is being sentenced." To avoid gamesmanship, Marquez suggested the Grand County judge and prosecutors simply should have waited for Woodside's first DUI charge in Weld County to resolve itself. Any logistical challenges that may arise, she added, "cannot trump the constitution." Bruce I. Brown, the former district attorney for Colorado's Fifth Judicial District, said it is not a rare occurrence for people to incur multiple DUI charges in a short period. He believed the majority's conclusion will prevent alleged drunk drivers from exploiting "gaps in the law." "The public interest clearly is aligned with the majority's reasoning appropriate sentencing including treatment for multiple DUI offenders will save lives," Brown wrote in an email. "Any Legislator who would attempt to change this law would be on the wrong side of public safety to a degree that none would venture that far out on a political limb, even if they disagreed with the result." The case is People v. Woodside. Welcome to Court Crawl, Colorado Politics' roundup of news from the third branch of government. The federal appeals court based in Denver finally held the formal swearing-in ceremony for a judge who's actually been on the job for nearly two years now, plus the state's Court of Appeals traveled toward the mountains to hear cases in a high school library. An official welcome to Judge Rossman In 2021, the White House quickly nominated, and the U.S. Senate promptly confirmed, Veronica S. Rossman to be a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit, which has jurisdiction over Colorado and five neighboring states. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Rossman didn't immediately hold a formal swearing-in ceremony, known as an investiture. But on Friday, nearly two years later, the festivities kicked off in downtown Denver. "In my chambers, we are always thinking about how we can better acknowledge the humanity of every litigant that comes before the court," Rossman told attendees. "I firmly believe judges have an obligation to explain to ordinary Americans who our institution seeks to serve what we do." Rossman is the only judge with federal public defender experience to sit on the 10th Circuit, part of the Biden administration's push to diversify the bench by appointing people with historically underrepresented backgrounds. The White House even sent a representative, senior counsel Paige Herwig, to attend the investiture. To date, Rossman is Biden's only appointee to the powerful appeals court. A beaming Rossman addressed the public defenders in the audience, who had come from Colorado and beyond, with an earnest, "Hi, guys! Thank you for the important work you do." She also quoted from American lawyer and social justice advocate Bryan Stevenson, that "the opposite of poverty is not wealth, but justice." Following the ceremony, there was a reception for Rossman in the Byron White U.S. Courthouse, paid for by Rossman herself. Courts in the Community As part of its long-running "Courts in the Community" program, the judicial branch sent a panel of the Court of Appeals to Conifer High School last week, where appellate judges heard oral arguments in two real cases before an audience of students. Afterward, the lawyers and judges gave candid answers to a range of questions about the justice system and how they approach their jobs: On preparing for oral arguments: "I work in an office with about 300 lawyers and have a lot of colleagues who are very generous with their time. We will do a brainstorming session at the very beginning. It will be me and three or four other attorneys. ... Then well have two moot courts and Ill see what questions I get from all of my colleagues." Assistant Attorney General Danny Rheiner The amount of "scripting" needed: "Generally the more likely you think you are to win, the more script you should have prepared because youre gonna get less questions. ... My preparation for this was I think I had two sentences of script." Sarah Schielke, defense attorney The difference between being a trial lawyer and an appellate lawyer: "I dont know the proceedings as well as the trial attorney does, all the conversations that were had about plea deals or all the hearings necessarily that happened. But I think it gives me a chance to look at everything fresh, which is how the judges are looking at it." Deputy State Public Defender Meredith K. Rose On Colorado's merit-based selection system for judges: "In Colorado, I think you would have a lot of the judiciary, if you went to a partisan election, not wanting to become judges. ... At least to me, that seems anathema to what we're supposed to be doing and having independence and trying not to be biased and commenting about decisions that come before you." Judge Sueanna P. Johnson Heard on appeal Stepping out in front of other states' highest courts, the Colorado Supreme Court ruled that a federal law enacted in the early COVID-19 pandemic still requires 30 days' notice of an eviction for people who live in federally supported housing units. The decision appears to be the first of its kind and bolsters the safety net for tenants. Sign up for free: Springs AM Update Your morning rundown of the latest news from Colorado Springs and around the country overnight and the stories to follow throughout the day delivered to your inbox each evening. Sign Up View all of our newsletters. Success! Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. View all of our newsletters. A Summit County judge returned from his mandatory unpaid suspension for misconduct and immediately committed more misconduct. The Supreme Court censured ex-District Court Judge Mark D. Thompson for his threats to jail and embarrass two attorneys who missed a deadline in a civil case. Although the Court of Appeals decided the state needed to redo its four-week trial against a technical college that scammed its students, the Supreme Court said actually, the $3 million judgment against the school may be valid after all. By 5-2, the Supreme Court found it was acceptable to force a defendant to choose between either keeping illegally obtained evidence out of his trial or letting jurors hear testimony that he was insane at the time he committed murder. The dissenting justices slammed the majority's decision as limiting the ability of a mentally ill suspect to defend themselves. The Supreme Court will decide whether it is unconstitutional for someone convicted of murder to be serving a life sentence without parole, even though he wasn't the one who killed the victim. The court is also scrutinizing the practice of one Arapahoe County judge in setting deadlines for prosecutors to provide blood alcohol results in drunk driving cases. A Douglas County magistrate needs to hold a hearing to review the parenting time afforded to a man who has only visited with his children for two hours in the last 2.5 years, the Supreme Court ordered. A woman who died by suicide in the Rio Blanco County jail was being detained pending trial and did not have a conviction. Therefore, the Court of Appeals ruled governmental immunity cannot shield the sheriff's office from being sued for wrongful death. In federal news The 10th Circuit found that an Adams County sheriff's deputy who pulled a man out of his vehicle, kneeled on his chest and fractured his ribs can't be held liable for excessive force. Despite a defendant's efforts to clarify his statements to a Denver detective, the 10th Circuit decided the man clearly said he didn't have a backpack. Consequently, police acted lawfully by searching it without a warrant and discovering an illegally owned handgun inside. Loveland officials had probable cause to suspect a company violated the city charter with its political mailings, a federal judge decided in dismissing the company's lawsuit that claimed violations of its constitutional rights. An Arapahoe County sheriff's deputy failed to prove she was the victim of gender discrimination when she was suspended without pay for 19 months after pleading guilty to a crime, a judge decided. Vacancies and appointments There are three finalists to succeed retiring Pueblo County District Court Judge Larry Schwartz: Magistrate Steven Laman, Sarah Staples and Tayler Thomas. Miscellaneous proceedings Gov. Jared Polis praised the U.S. Supreme Court's decision upholding a California animal cruelty law as constitutional. Aurora has filed a lawsuit against Denver, seeking to compel the capital city to pay its legal costs for litigation arising from the racial justice protests of summer 2020. Aurora sent officers to assist with the demonstrations, which generated multiple excessive force lawsuits. A judge in Denver has declined to immediately intervene in Denver Public Schools' decision to revoke the status of an "innovation zone," which provides flexible programming for students. Going on break Because next Monday is Memorial Day, the Court Crawl will be taking a break until after the holiday. Three Democratic members of Colorado's congressional delegation have once again introduced a bill to establish three new judgeships on the state's federal trial court, which would expand the size of the bench for the first time in four decades. U.S. Sens. Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper and U.S. Rep. Joe Neguse have re-filed the Colorado Judgeship Act, after a previous version of the bill failed to advance in the last Congress. The number of active judges authorized on the U.S. District Court for Colorado has held steady at seven since 1984, even though the state's population has nearly doubled in the last 39 years. Caseload backlogs shouldnt stand in the way of justice. We need to expand the number of judges on Colorados district court so the bench is sufficient for our growing state," said Hickenlooper in a statement. The Judicial Conference of the United States, which is the governing body for the federal courts, has repeatedly recommended Congress give two additional judgeships to Colorado based on caseloads. Data from 2022 showed 558 cases filed per judge on Colorado's federal trial court, a higher number than neighboring states' courts. Neguse has also put forward a second bill that would allow the federal court to hold proceedings in Fort Collins, and would alternatively add just one judge position. While expressing their support for additional judges in Colorado, two of the sponsors indicated they do not back a renewed effort to expand the U.S. Supreme Court. Last week, Democratic members of Congress announced they would reintroduce the Judiciary Act, which would add four seats to the current nine-member court. Some progressives have endorsed expansion of the Supreme Court as a method of diluting the power of the six-member conservative majority. Spokespersons for Bennet and Neguse said the men do not support the bill. Hickenlooper's office did not respond to an inquiry. As a candidate in 2020, he declined to offer a definitive answer on the subject. The city of Colorado Springs plans to issue up to $40 million in private activity bonds to build more than 200 new affordable rental housing units on the city's north side, officials told the City Council during a work session Monday. The Royal Pines Apartments, as they are currently known, will include 232 one-, two- and three-bedroom units. The project is planned at the intersection of North Powers and North Union boulevards and will be marketed toward working families, the city's Community Development Division Manager Steve Posey said. Eighty units each are planned to be built in two four-story buildings across from each other, with another 72 units planned to be built in an adjacent four-story building, a staff presentation shows. Councilmembers generally lauded the project Monday, saying it furthered local efforts to build more affordable housing across the city. The developer, DBG Properties of Portland, Oregon, is proposing to use "income averaging" to provide a number of "very low-income units" offset by other affordable units priced closer to citywide market rent rates, Posey said. The developer specializes in affordable housing projects and built the Academy Heights apartments northwest of Fountain and North Academy Loop. Market rents have increased "substantially over the last year" in northern Colorado Springs, Posey said. One-bedroom apartments in the area are renting for $1,564 a month, two-bedroom units for $1,840 a month and three-bedroom units for $2,204 a month between about $300 and $400 more than rents citywide, according to a staff presentation. Sign up for free: Springs AM Update Your morning rundown of the latest news from Colorado Springs and around the country overnight and the stories to follow throughout the day delivered to your inbox each evening. Sign Up View all of our newsletters. Success! Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. View all of our newsletters. One-bedroom apartments in the Royal Pines Apartments project would rent for about $1,115 a month, two-bedroom units for about $1,336 a month and three-bedroom units for around $1,539 a month, Posey said. The city plans to allot most of the approximately $29.2 million in private activity bonds it will get from the state this year to pay for the project, and will use some remaining bond money leftover from 2022 to finance it, Posey said. "That's an indication we are doing a very good job of getting these funds into the community where they need to be," he said. The process allows Colorado Springs to act as a "conduit issuer" of the bonds, Posey told the council, "simply to provide some tax advantages to the developer." The city can still receive additional bonds at the state level to build other affordable housing projects this year, he said. The City Council expects to consider a resolution declaring the city's intention to issue the bonds at its regular meeting June 13. By Yukiko Toyoda and David Dolan TOKYO (Reuters) -The leaders of the Group of Seven (G7) rich democracies this weekend pledged to "de-risk" without "decoupling" from China, an approach that reflected European and Japanese concerns about pushing Beijing too hard, officials and experts said. U.S. President Joe Biden and other G7 leaders wrapped up a three-day summit in the Japanese city of Hiroshima on Sunday where they took aim at China over "economic coercion" and said they would reduce exposure to the world's second-largest economy in everything from chips to minerals. Differences between G7 members emerged in the run-up to Hiroshima, with the United States calling for targeted controls in investment to China. Germany, France and Japan were all more cautious, given the potential impact on their economies. The diverging outlook came into sharp focus after French President Emmanuel Macron visited Beijing last month and called for the European Union to reduce dependence on the United States. But the language of the G7 communique was tempered by pragmatism, with the leaders noting they did not seek to "thwart China's economic progress and development" and that each country would work in its national interest. "There are differences among the G7 nations in terms of issues such as the U.S. investment restrictions on China," a Japanese government official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. The summit was still able to send a message that transcended those differences, the official said. As talks continued between G7 members, the language of the communique was "made a little more balanced", a French presidential official said. "At the heart of the message we wanted to get across at this G7 was the European position that China is a partner, complements us and is a systemic rival, all presented in G7 language," the official said. ANTI-CHINA WORKSHOP The G7 was also keen to use language that wouldn't alienate members of the "Global South", the non-aligned emerging countries such as India the G7 is trying to woo. "This was an active attempt of G7 not to give China a pretext to complain, not to push the Global South away and to keep the balance within the G7," said Mikko Huotari of the Mercator Institute for China Studies. "That is the right approach." White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters in Hiroshima the United States would lay out its own approach on outbound investment controls after "full consultations" with G7 partners. China rebuked the statement and summoned host Japans envoy in protest. The state-backed mouthpiece Global Times on Monday called the G7 an anti-China workshop. Separately, China on Sunday said it would block U.S. firm Micron Technology Inc from selling memory chips to key domestic industries, a potential sign of further tension to come. "The de-risking approach I think was the easiest way for the G7 to reach some consensus moving forward on China," said Jonathan Berkshire Miller, a director at the Macdonald Laurier Institute, a public policy think tank. "The language shift indicates that U.S. allies understand the risks of deep economic engagement with China but also realise that a complete severance of economic ties is not realistic." Japan, the only Asian member of the G7, arguably has more to lose if China were to retaliate. Last year mainland China was both Japan's largest export market, at $145 billion, and its biggest source of imports, at $189 billion, IMF data shows. After the release communique, the leaders themselves largely spoke in measured terms about China. Biden said he expected a thaw with Beijing "very shortly", while German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said G7 nations would ensure big investments in China continue even as they pare riskier exposure. Biden also said the "de-risking" was aimed at ensuring the United States wasn't dependent on any one country for a necessary product. "They don't want to decouple because it's difficult, it's a lot of trouble, and it's not feasible," said Kunihiko Miyake, research director at the Canon Institute for Global Studies. "It's about doing their best to stop any technology and manufacturing technology that would be an issue for security from reaching China," Miyake said, adding that in substance de-risking and decoupling were the same. There's also the question of whether Beijing sees a distinction between the two ideas. "It's not like China will be fine" because the wording changed to de-risking instead of decoupling, Miyake said. (Reporting by Yukiko Toyoda and David Dolan; Additional reporting by Sakura Murakami, John Irish, Andreas Rinke and Jeff Mason; Editing by Nick Macfie) President Joe Biden celebrated the Department of Interior's "historic" agreement with seven states to advance protections for the Colorado River system. Interior announced the new protections, which will be taken in conjunction with California, Arizona, Nevada, Wyoming, Colorado, Utah, and New Mexico. BIDEN'S EPA OVERHAUL OF US AUTO INDUSTRY WILL FOREVER CHANGE EVERYONE'S LIFE In a statement, Biden called the measures an "important step forward in our efforts to protect the stability of the Colorado River System in the face of climate change and historic drought conditions." "Thanks to my Investing in America agenda, we are deploying record resources to support water conservation and improve the Colorado River's long-term sustainability," the president continued. "This approach will benefit the 40 million people who rely on the Colorado River Basin for agriculture, drinking water, and power, and is a critical step to building a sustainable, resilient future for states, Tribes and communities throughout the West." The Interior Department's announcement centered on a "consensus-based system conservation proposal," agreed to by the federal government and the seven basin states, which will aim to "conserve at least 3 million-acre-feet of system water through the end of 2026." "There are 40 million people, seven states, and 30 Tribal Nations who rely on the Colorado River Basin for basic services such as drinking water and electricity," Interior Secretary Deb Haaland added in a separate statement. "Today's announcement is a testament to the Biden-Harris administration's commitment to working with states, Tribes and communities throughout the West to find consensus solutions in the face of climate change and sustained drought." CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER "In particular I want to thank Deputy Secretary Tommy Beaudreau and Reclamation Commissioner Camille Calimlim Touton, who have led the discussions with Basin state commissioners, Tribes, irrigators, local communities, and valued stakeholders to reach this critical moment," she said. Biden has faced pressure from climate activists and other liberals to recommit to his green energy and environmental platform, specifically after the past year saw the president take significant steps to boost domestic oil and gas production in the face of the war in Ukraine. Original Location: Biden celebrates 'historic' Colorado River protections Washington Examiner Videos Sen. Tom Carper (D-DE) announced Monday that he plans to retire at the end of his fourth term, shaking up a generally Democratic stronghold state with an open U.S. Senate seat in 2024. The decision by Carper, a fixture of Delaware politics, will open his seat for the first time since 2001, when he was elected to the Senate after serving as a state treasurer, governor, and congressman. He has held public office in Delaware since Jimmy Carter was president. His seat is viewed by many as a safe seat for Democrats to maintain control of in the 2024 elections. POLITICAL AND MARKET PRESSURE INCREASES TO RAISE DEBT CEILING "While nothing is forever, the Delaware Democratic Party is blessed today with a bench as strong as any I've ever seen in the 50 years that I've called Delaware home," Carper said during a speech on Monday in Wilmington. "If there was ever an opportune time to step aside and pass the torch to the next generation, it's coming, and it will be here on Jan. 3, 2025." "But, until then, God willing, I'll continue working 60-hour weeks and coming home on the train most nights as long as Martha keeps leaving the light on for me." Carper is the fourth Democratic senator to decide not to run for reelection next year, following Sen. Ben Cardin (D-MD), Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), and Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-MI). On the Republican side, Sen. Mike Braun (R-IN) decided to run for governor instead. There were signs the senior Delaware senator was retiring. After Cardin, Carper had the lowest fundraising total among Democrats whose terms are up next year, raising $195,000 in the first quarter. In Delaware, prominent Democrats such as Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester could enter the race to take over for Carper. She already represents the entire state as the at-large representative, and she is a woman of color. CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER Ahead of the 2024 Senate showdown, Democrats are staring down a map in which they will have to defend 23 seats, including three held by Democratic-aligned independent senators. Republicans only need to defend 11. Original Location: Delaware Sen. Tom Carper retiring after four terms as Democrats try to hold Senate Washington Examiner Videos By Aram Roston and Joseph Tanfani BOCA RATON, Florida (Reuters) - Ukrainian-American businessman Lev Parnas and his business partner were arrested in 2019, accused by the U.S. government of funneling a Russian oligarchs money into American political campaigns. One recipient of Parnas donations -- Florida Governor Ron DeSantis -- has said he was barely an acquaintance. The governor does not have a relationship with these individuals, DeSantis spokesperson at the time, Helen Aguirre Ferre, said in a statement on Oct. 10, 2019. Six days later, DeSantis told reporters that Parnas "was just like any other donor, nothing more than that. But DeSantis and Parnas worked more closely together than the Republican governor has disclosed, according to a detailed account of their relationship Parnas provided to Reuters and 63 previously unreported text messages from DeSantis to Parnas between May and October 2018, as DeSantis campaigned for governor. A jury later found Parnas guilty of campaign finance crimes and other charges. As DeSantis prepares to take a widely anticipated leap into the 2024 presidential campaign this week, the disclosures from Parnas cast new light on the Florida governors relationship with the businessman and the role Parnas played in helping DeSantis gain entree to the circle of former President Donald Trump. DeSantis spokesman Dave Abrams did not respond to specific questions on the existence of the texts and Parnas account of their relationship. This is another recycled narrative that has been proven wrong many times over," he said. DeSantis gave back the contribution after Parnas ran into legal trouble. The text messages reviewed by Reuters show that DeSantis frequently in more than 20 texts appealed to fellow Floridian Parnas for introductions, advice and other fundraising help during his hotly contested campaign for governor. Two sources close to DeSantis during his 2018 campaign confirmed the texters number belonged to DeSantis at that time. The texts also reveal that Parnas served as an intermediary between DeSantis and former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, who at the time was the personal attorney of then-President Trump. In one case, 10 days before the 2018 election, DeSantis sent Parnas a text with suggested wording for a Giuliani tweet in support of his candidacy, the messages show. Giuliani did not respond to questions sent through his attorney and his spokesman. Ferre, DeSantis former spokesperson, did not respond to requests for comment. WE BECAME VERY FRIENDLY Parnas, now 51, shot to prominence in 2019. He was a key figure in the events leading to Trumps first impeachment, working with Giuliani to gather damaging information on Democrat Joe Bidens son Hunter in Ukraine. Accused of withholding aid to Ukraine unless Kyiv investigated Biden, Trump was impeached by the Democratic-led House of Representatives and charged with abuse of power. He was acquitted by the Republican-majority Senate. A federal judge sentenced Parnas last year to 20 months in prison on a separate matter, defrauding investors in a sham company and illegally making donations to U.S. political candidates on behalf of Russian oligarch Andrey Muraviev. Muraviev has been charged in the case but is a fugitive. He declined to comment. Even before his criminal case, Parnas had an unusual resume for a political rainmaker. After moving to Florida from New York in 1995, he worked for penny stock companies that ran into regulatory problems, according to public records. In 2016, a federal court in New York issued a $508,734 judgment against him for defrauding an individual whose family trust lent Parnas money for a movie, called Anatomy of an Assassin, according to the judges ruling. Parnas says he did nothing wrong in that case. Parnas is serving out his sentence under house arrest. Wearing shorts and an ankle bracelet, he spoke with Reuters for several hours at his home in Boca Raton. Parnas says he now regrets his alliance with Giuliani and Trump, believing he was used. He said he shared the texts with Reuters because he feels betrayed by DeSantis, who he says stopped returning texts or calls once he won the governors race. Parnas once considered DeSantis a close confidant, he said. We became very friendly. In 2018, Parnas was a well-known figure in Trumps orbit, often seen with Giuliani. Parnas and his business partner, another Ukrainian American named Igor Fruman, would later pay Giuliani $500,000 for consultant work, Reuters has reported. Parnas said he first met DeSantis on May 9, 2018, about three months before Republican primary elections in Florida. DeSantis, then a three-term U.S. Representative, was locked in a tight primary race for governor with Adam Putnam, Floridas then-commissioner of agriculture. Ron DeSantis approached me at the Trump International Hotel and introduced himself, telling me that he was told to come meet me because I was very close with Donald Trump, Parnas said. Reuters could not establish who told DeSantis to meet with Parnas at the Washington D.C. hotel. While Trump had already tweeted support for DeSantis the prior December, DeSantis wanted a formal endorsement by Trump ahead of the August primary. He told me he heard I was the guy to speak to because of my relationship with Trump, thats how he worded it, Parnas said. Theres no evidence Parnas had any direct influence with Trump. A spokesperson for Trump did not respond to a request for comment. But Parnas conferred frequently with Giuliani. At 9:49 p.m. that day in May 2018, DeSantis texted his cell phone and email addresses to Parnas, according to the messages reviewed by Reuters. Parnas replied by sending his own email address to DeSantis. At their first meeting at the hotel, Parnas described himself as a bit standoffish with DeSantis because he hoped to launch a cannabis business and considered DeSantis hostile to legalized marijuana. In another meeting several days later, also at Trumps hotel, DeSantis told him he was not opposed to expanding medical marijuana use in Florida, Parnas said. Reuters could not independently corroborate the hotel meetings. One frequent hotel patron, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said he remembered seeing DeSantis and Parnas speaking together in the lobby that May or June. The hotel has since been sold. Parnas said Dana Rohrabacher, a former Republican congressman from California, was present at the second meeting where Parnas said DeSantis discussed medical marijuana use. Rohrabacher told Reuters he does not recall the meeting or hearing DeSantis talk about marijuana. What do I remember from five years ago? Parnas says after their second meeting, he told DeSantis that he would try to secure a formal Trump endorsement by promoting DeSantis with Giuliani. Parnas spoke with Giuliani the next day, recommending that he talk with DeSantis and back him, he said. In July 2018, DeSantis publicly expressed support for medical marijuana. MAKE SURE HE GIVES A LOT. Within a week of their second meeting, DeSantis and Parnas began exchanging ideas and gossip about potential donors, the texts show. On May 29, 2018, DeSantis sent Parnas a text introducing his fundraising aide, Heather Barker, and enlisting Parnas help in lining up donors for events in Boca Raton and on Star Island, an exclusive community in Miami. Let me know a good time this week to chat about logistics and date ideas, Barker texted Parnas. Barker requested that Reuters email her questions for this report, but did not respond to the questions. The next month, the texts show, DeSantis asked Parnas for advice on how to handle a potential major donor. Would it be reasonable to ask him to donate $50K? DeSantis asked. I think he did six figures for Trump. DeSantis had done his homework: The donor, South Florida roofing contractor Michael Trussell, had contributed $100,000 to a joint Trump-Republican Party fundraising committee in 2016, campaign records show. Parnas replied by text that he would call DeSantis. On the phone, he told DeSantis that Trussell was an acquaintance and would indeed be good for about $50,000, Parnas said. Ten days after that exchange, campaign finance records show, Trussells roofing firm donated $10,000 to DeSantis, and added another $13,000 before the 2018 election. The firm has contributed another $143,000 since, campaign finance records show. Trussell said he met Parnas once at a Trump fundraiser but had no relationship with him, adding that DeSantis did not mention Parnas when he called seeking a campaign donation. On the evening of June 5, DeSantis reached out to Parnas. Ill swing by Trump Hotel tonight, he said, before I go on Laura Ingraham is that ok? Ingraham is a host on Fox News, the rightwing news and opinion channel. DeSantis appeared on her show that evening. Perfect, Parnas texted back. Parnas said the two met at the hotel and discussed Giulianis support of DeSantis. On June 21, 2018, Parnas company, Global Energy Producers, donated $50,000 to DeSantis campaign for governor. The company was unusual. Although incorporated in early 2018 as an energy investor, it never completed a single deal, according to the U.S. charges against Parnas. After thanking Parnas for the contribution, DeSantis pushed him again to help land a big donor: Robert Pereira, president of construction firm Middlesex Corp. Parnas knew the businessman from past fundraisers in Florida. Now lets bring Robert home! DeSantis wrote. Three weeks later, DeSantis added, Make sure he gives a lot. Pereira later co-hosted a fundraiser for DeSantis with Parnas and his company donated $115,000 to DeSantis 2018 campaign, campaign finance records show. He declined to discuss Parnas with Reuters and did not respond to detailed questions. IM GOING TO HAVE RUDY DO A TWEET Political donations from Parnas company later emerged as part of the criminal case against Parnas and Muraviev, the Russian oligarch who federal authorities indicted for making illegal campaign contributions to boost a planned marijuana business. Justice Department officials said Muraviev tried to influence the 2018 U.S. elections by plotting to send $1 million to candidates and campaigns, hoping to win favor for a cannabis business venture. It is illegal for foreign nationals to donate to American political campaigns. Parnas said DeSantis had agreed to meet Muraviev and knew of the tycoon's ambitions to enter the cannabis business in Florida. The meeting, however, never happened. Prosecutors did not specifically mention the $50,000 donation by Parnas company to DeSantis in their federal case. But they said Parnass donations were part of a scheme that included circumventing campaign finance laws and soliciting money from a foreign national to win influence in Florida. There is no evidence that DeSantis knew of wrongdoing. Parnas defrauded the American public with the foreign donor scheme and lied about the source of funds for political contributions, said a Justice Department statement after Parnas sentencing last year. On June 22, 2018, Trump tweeted a strong formal endorsement for DeSantis. Ron is strong on Borders, tough on Crime & big on Cutting Taxes - Loves our Military & our Vets. He will be a Great Governor & has my full Endorsement! Promoting Trumps support in his mail and TV ads, DeSantis opened a wide lead. On Aug. 28, he won the Republican primary. But going into the general election, DeSantis was the underdog, trailing Democratic opponent Tallahassee mayor Andrew Gillum, the first Black nominee for Florida governor. As a federal corruption investigation into Tallahassees government made headlines, threatening to torpedo Gillums prospects, Parnas sent DeSantis a text on Oct. 26, telling him, Im going to have Rudy do a tweet on Gillum. He needs to hit him on his scandal, DeSantis texted back to Parnas. Can say as a prosecutor this would be an indictable case etc. Parnas texted back a thumbs up emoji and wrote, Tomorrow. The next day, Parnas texted DeSantis a picture of Giulianis tweet. It wasnt exactly what DeSantis suggested but did use the phrasing: As a former prosecutor and Mayor, I ask the people of my adopted State Florida to reject a Mayor with highest murder and crime rates in State During the general election, Parnas attended rallies with DeSantis, taking Giulianis plane from one event to the next. Big day my brother!!! We will win!!! Parnas texted on election day. With Gillum weighed down by the corruption investigation, DeSantis eked out a narrow victory. Parnas was photographed hugging DeSantis that night at the victory party. A jury this month acquitted Gillum of lying to the Federal Bureau of Investigation and failed to reach a verdict on charges that he pocketed campaign contributions. The remaining charges were dismissed last week. Had the FBI not leaked their investigation, which ultimately and correctly ended up in an acquittal, there is no question that Andrew Gillum would be the Governor of Florida today, Gillums lawyers said in a statement. An FBI spokesperson declined to comment. After the election, DeSantis quit responding to Parnas texts. By then, Parnas and his business partner, Fruman, were facing federal scrutiny over their political donations. After Parnas was indicted in October 2019, DeSantis returned his $50,000 donation to the U.S. government. Fruman pleaded guilty to campaign finance charges in 2021 and was sentenced last year to a year in prison. A jury convicted Parnas of campaign finance crimes. He pleaded guilty to fraud related to his "Fraud Guarantee" business, which boasted it could insure people against fraud while defrauding its investors of more than $2 million, according to federal prosecutors. Infuriated at being frozen out, Parnas claims that DeSantis reneged on a promise to give him a place on a gubernatorial transition committee. Finally, he said, DeSantis agreed to a private meeting in January 2019 at a jet terminal at West Palm Beach International Airport. He said DeSantis assured him that Im still his boy, even if he had to avoid associating with him in public. Parnas said he subsequently spoke several times with DeSantis by phone, but they never resumed their close relationship. He says he remains angry at DeSantis. Remember, he was my friend, Parnas said. I didnt just look at him as the governor - he was my friend. (Reported by Aram Roston in Boca Raton, Florida, and Joseph Tanfani in Washington. Additional reporting by Maria Tsvetkova in New York. Editing by Jason Szep) By Kirsty Needham (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said a defence cooperation pact signed with Papua New Guinea on Monday would expand the Pacific island nation's capabilities and make it easier for the U.S. military to train with its forces. Blinken and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi held separate meetings with 14 Pacific island leaders in the PNG capital Port Moresby, pledging support for the region's priorities of health, development and climate change. The United States and its allies are seeking to deter Pacific island nations from forming security ties with China, a rising concern amid tension over Taiwan, and after Beijing signed a security pact with Solomon Islands. Pacific island leaders, whose territories span 40 million square km (15 million square miles) of ocean, have said rising sea levels caused by climate change are their most pressing security priority. Blinken told PNG Prime Minister James Marape that Washington would deepen its partnership across the board with PNG, and that he expected partnerships with U.S. businesses would bring tens of billions of dollars' worth of new investment. After university students protested against the defence agreement on Monday, Marape told a joint news conference with Blinken "there is nothing for us to be fearful about". The accord updated an existing U.S. military relationship, he said, and "has nothing to do with China". "We have a healthy relationship with the Chinese government and they are an important trading partner," Marape said. Marape said on Sunday the defence agreement would see an increase in the U.S. military presence over the next decade, while the U.S. State Department said it would bolster regional security. "The defence cooperation was drafted by the United States and Papua New Guinea as equals and sovereign partners," Blinken said at a signing ceremony. It will expand PNG defence capacity to enhance humanitarian assistance and disaster response, and make it easy for U.S. and PNG forces to train together, Blinken said. In Beijing, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said China had no objection to mutually beneficial cooperation with Pacific island countries such as PNG, but added: "What we need to be vigilant about is engaging in geopolitical games in the name of cooperation, and we also believe that no cooperation should target any third parties." 'KNOW WHAT IS HAPPENING' The U.S. and PNG struck a separate agreement on increasing surveillance of PNG's exclusive economic zone through U.S. Coast Guard patrols, protecting its economy from illegal fishing. The United States will provide $45 million in new funds as it works with PNG to strengthen economic and security cooperation, including protective equipment for the PNG defence force, climate change mitigation and tackling transnational crime and HIV/AIDS, Blinken said. Blinken headed the U.S. delegation in PNG instead of President Joe Biden, who cut short an Asia trip to deal with the U.S. debt-ceiling crisis. Addressing the 14 Pacific island leaders, Blinken said he was carrying an invitation from Biden for them to return to Washington in the autumn for a second summit following an inaugural meeting hosted by the White House last year. Modi told the Forum for India-Pacific Islands Cooperation that India would be a reliable development partner and was committed to a "free, open and inclusive Indo Pacific". "We are willing to share our capabilities and experiences in digital technology, space technology, health security, food security, climate change and environment protection," he said. The Quad leaders of Australia, United States, Japan and India had agreed in Japan at the weekend to increase cooperation with the Pacific, Modi said. In PNG, the United States also signed a renewed strategic agreement with Palau, known as a Compact of Free Association (COFA), and will sign another with Micronesia on Tuesday, under which the U.S. is responsible for the nations' defense and gains continued access to huge swathes of the Pacific. Blinken said Washington looked forward to entering negotiations on a third COFA, with the Marshall Islands, "very soon" and said that under the three compacts the U.S. would commit $7.1 billion over 20 years. Biden's COFA negotiator Joseph Yun told Reuters on Saturday he hoped to finalise a deal with the Marshall Islands in the coming weeks. (Reporting by Kirsty Needham and Praveen Menon in Sydney; additional reporting by Lucy Craymer in Wellington, Liz Lee and Ethan Wang in Beijing and David Brunnstrom in Washington; Editing by Lincoln Feast, Gerry Doyle, Mark Heinrich and Conor Humphries) Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) criticized President Joe Biden for leading the country into "retreat" as he launched his campaign for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination with an optimistic message about the country's future. "Our nation, our values, and our people are strong. But our president is weak. America is not a nation in decline. But under Joe Biden, we have become a nation in retreat," Scott told a crowd Monday in his hometown of North Charleston, South Carolina. "Retreating from our heritage and our history. Retreating from personal responsibility and hard work. Retreating from strength and security. Even retreating from religious liberty and the worship of God himself. EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT TIM SCOTT AHEAD OF HIS BIG 2024 ANNOUNCEMENT "They say opportunity in America is a myth and faith in America is a fraud. But the truth of my life disproves their lies," the senator said. "We are not in decline. We're in a Biden retreat." Scott's campaign pitch as the only black Republican in the Senate, expected to be made at his alma mater, Charleston Southern University, is linked to his personal story as the son of a single working mother and the grandson of a cotton picker, as well as the idea of personal responsibility. "This is the freest and fairest land. Where you and I can go as high as our character, our grit, and our talent will take us. I bear witness to that. I testify to that. That's why I'm the candidate the far Left fears the most," he said. "When I cut your taxes, they called me a prop. When I refunded the police, they called me a token. When I pushed back on President Biden, they even called me the N-word. I disrupt their narrative. I threaten their control. The truth of my life disproves their lies. "Our party and our nation are standing at a time for choosing," he added. "Victimhood or victory? Grievance or greatness? I choose freedom and hope and opportunity." Scott embarks on his presidential bid with an enviable $22 million in cash thanks to his Senate reelection campaign last year. He also has the endorsement of Sen. John Thune (R-SD), Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell's second-in-command, and Sen. Mike Rounds (R-SD). Scott is scheduled to travel to Sioux City, Iowa, on Wednesday and Merrimack, New Hampshire, on Thursday, with his campaign already spending $6 million in ads on television and radio in those states. Democratic National Committee Chairman Jaime Harrison, who is also from South Carolina, charged Scott with aspiring "to govern from the far, conservative Right' as a proud member of the Tea Party, and his extreme record proves it." CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER "Even before he refused to name a policy difference with Trump, Scott was a fierce advocate of the MAGA agenda supporting national abortion bans and championing plans to end Medicare and Social Security as we know them," Harrison said. "As an architect' of Trump's tax law, Scott gifted corporations billions and has been a longtime champion of rolling back regulations on big banks. "There's no question that special interests are celebrating as Tim Scott throws his hat into the 2024 race for the MAGA base," he went on. Original Location: Tim Scott pitches hopeful future in presidential campaign launch: 'We are not in decline' Washington Examiner Videos Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav was greeted by boos and disapproving chants during a speech he gave on Sunday. Zaslav was slated to give the commencement speech at Boston University in the midst of the Writers Guild of America strike. Some 11,500 writers, including some employed by Warner Bros. Discovery, have been on strike since May 2 after failing to negotiate higher wages. As soon as Zaslav was introduced at the BU graduation ceremony, students in the crowd reacted with boos. "Pay your writers, pay your writers," broke out as Zaslav was speaking. Graduating students hold signs in support of the Hollywood writers' strike during an address by David Zaslav, president and CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery, at Boston University commencement ceremonies, Sunday, May 21, 2023, in Boston. (AP Photo/Steven Senne) Steven Senne/AP BIDEN TARGETS TAXES IN DEBT CEILING TALKS: REVENUE IS NOT OFF THE TABLE' Zaslav, who also received an honorary degree during his visit to BU, had previously expressed his opinion on the strike, clarifying that he is "not glad" that the strikes are still going on even if they opened up the door for companies to cut costs. The strikes are the first in 15 years and came after six weeks of failed negotiating. CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER The Warner Bros. Discovery CEO's pay in 2022 was $246,573,481, which ranked him the No. 1 overpaid CEO, according to shareholder advocacy group As You Sow. WGA strikers have a proposal on the table that asks for $47 million from the company, per an email sent out to its members. Across the industry, WGA negotiators are asking for a total of $429 million. WGA saw a near-unanimous vote, with 97.85% voting to strike ahead of negotiations. Original Location: Warner Bros. Discovery CEO heckled during speech by students supporting writers strike Washington Examiner Videos The White House issued a veto threat against a GOP-backed resolution to scrap the administration's student loan forgiveness plan. Republicans are seeking to overturn the forgiveness program, which is currently tangled up in court, using the Congressional Review Act, which gives Congress the authority to dismantle certain regulations within a set time frame. If President Joe Biden deploys his veto power, it will mark his fourth time doing so. EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT TIM SCOTT AHEAD OF HIS BIG 2024 ANNOUNCEMENT "This resolution is an unprecedented attempt to undercut our historic economic recovery and would deprive more than 40 million hard-working Americans of much-needed student debt relief. If enacted, H.J. Res. 45 would weaken America's middle class," the White House said in a statement of policy. Under the student loan forgiveness plan announced last year, borrowers with an annual income of $125,000 or less can have up to $10,000 in federal student loans canceled, while those who received Pell Grants during their schooling can have up to $20,000 wiped out. Liberals celebrated the move with much fanfare. The administration leaned on the 2003 HEROES Act, which bestows executive power to relieve student loan debt in times of national emergency or war in this case, the COVID-19 pandemic. Biden has been winding down emergency pandemic initiatives. Last November, a lower court in Texas halted the program amid pending legal challenges. The Supreme Court is expected to rule on its legality within the coming weeks. The White House estimates that over 40 million people can benefit from the program, and the Congressional Budget Office pegged its cost at $400 billion. "Nearly 90% of the relief provided by the Department of Education would go to Americans earning less than $75,000 per year," the White House added. "Americans should be able to have a little more breathing room as they recover from the economic strains associated with the COVID-19 pandemic." CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER Rep. Bob Good (R-VA) and Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) announced the legislation in March. Republicans have had success at passing resolutions under the Congressional Review Act through the House and Senate to Biden's desk. So far, Biden has been forced to veto legislation to nix a Labor Department rule that would permit retirement plan managers to consider environmental, social, and governance factors, known as ESG, in investment decisions. Then, a rollback in the administration's "Waters of the United States" and, most recently, he vetoed a bill to undo his administration's solar tariff waiver. Original Location: White House issues veto threat against GOP plan to scrap student loan forgiveness Washington Examiner Videos Colorado Gov. Jared Polis was gifted two opportunities to show his support of the states multi-billion dollar agriculture industry and offer an olive branch. He did not. On May 16, the governor joined the West Slope sponsors to inform them he would be vetoing SB23-256. The bill would have ensured that a 10(j) designation was in place prior to wolf reintroduction. The bottom line is the wolves would have been designated as an experimental, nonessential population, rather than endangered. It would have given CPW more flexibility and would have ensured that the management of wolves is led by the state. The sticking point for Polis that led to the veto was the deadline of Dec. 31, 2023. The ballot language required the state to take necessary steps to begin reintroduction by that date. In a Jan. 15, 2021, article I reported that Polis joined a CPW Commission meeting on Jan. 13 where he challenged the commission to fulfill the will of the voters and reintroduce wolves ahead of schedule. Colorado Farm Bureaus former vice president of advocacy Shawn Martini, said rushing a process that is contentious in the area where the law will have an impact ought to require adhering to the process prescribed in the proposition language. Martini said the end of 2023 was but a target. (Polis is) trying sleight of hand and moving the goal post, saying theres nothing that says we cant do it faster other than good sense and prudence and responsible public policy making. Polis went on to say that wolves basically take care of themselves and the introduction planning isnt as difficult as some other species, like the Canadian lynx and black-footed ferret. He also said, the governor of Wyoming is happy to send us some wolves when were ready. I would argue against both of his initial points. As for Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordons willingness to provide donor wolves, hes been clear that his answer is a hard no. In a statement, Gordon said, Wyoming is opposed to sending Wyoming wolves to Colorado because we carefully and scientifically manage our wolf population. We have target population numbers, and reducing those numbers to support a translocation in Colorado may jeopardize those successful management plans. In addition, it is likely that Wyoming wolves may very well desire to return to their home ranges, once again putting them in danger as they would likely traverse unsuitable areas of potential conflict. Of course, all of this occurred before naturally migrating wolves entered the state and handily illustrated just how quickly depredations can overwhelm resources. Just hours prior to vetoing SB23-256, Polis released a statement applauding the SCOTUS decision regarding Californias Prop 12. The National Pork Producers Council and the American Farm Bureau Federation led the challenge to the California law that forbids the in-state sale of whole pork meat that comes from breeding pigs that are confined in a cruel manner. According to California code, confinement is cruel if it prevents a pig from lying down, standing up, fully extending [its] limbs, or turning around freely. Proponents argued the law would benefit animal welfare and consumer health, and opponents claimed that existing farming practices did better than Proposition 12 protecting animal welfare (for example, by preventing pig-on-pig aggression) and ensuring consumer health (by avoiding contamination). Sign up for free: Gazette Opinion Receive updates from our editorial staff, guest columnists, and letters from Gazette readers. Sent to your inbox 12:00 PM. Sign Up View all of our newsletters. Success! Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. View all of our newsletters. The petitioners argued that Proposition 12 violates the U. S. Constitution by impermissibly burdening interstate commerce. Pork producers across the country will be forced to change their production practices, as the California standards are different than any industry standards and the state is home to a negligible percentage of U.S. pork production. It is not unlike Colorados HB20-1343 that forced the hand of egg producers in and out of Colorado. It banned the sale of eggs from hens confined in a manner that conflicts with Colorados standards. At the bills signing, Polis touted how the law would improve the food system, the quality of food for consumers, food safety and animal welfare. Nonsense. The bill came after an extremist group threatened a ballot proposal that would have been even more damaging, and goodness knows extremists know how to get what they want using that avenue. Consumers may recall the $7 per dozen eggs in the grocery store and the empty egg coolers in recent months, due in part to High Pathogen Avian Influenza outbreaks. This law combined with HPAI spelled an egg mess for Colorado not unlike reintroduction and natural migration signaled a wolf mess. Even at the height of supply chain wrecks, often cage free eggs were the only cartons available. That is voting with your wallet. In his statement about the SCOTUS decision, Polis said the suit was an economic threat to Colorados ability to advance laws supported by our communities that protect animal welfare, reflect our values, and keep our farmers competitive, and Im thrilled that todays decision will help protect Colorado consumers and egg producers. Theres no doubt that had Prop 12 been overturned; Colorados extremist-driven cage free law would have been in jeopardy. As has been his custom over and over, the governor has been presented with an opportunity to mend proverbial fences with the ag producers in the state, and he has done exactly the opposite. It is time that reasonable voters recognize the danger of biting the hand that feeds you. Rachel Gabel is a longtime agriculture writer and the assistant editor of The Fence Post Magazine. There is nothing more glorious than work. What a shame the Colorado Legislature keeps making it more dangerous. Lets see if Gov. Jared Polis stands up to the woke mob and vetoes a human resources nightmare bill disguised as protection from sexual harassment. Work is the act of creation. And were happiest when we create. We go to work in the morning and by the time our head hits the pillow at night, something, maybe somethings, come into existence that were not there before. Construction workers create buildings, coders create software, cooks make hamburgers, salesmen make connections between those who have and those who need, even some idiot wrote this dumb column. Work brings dignity, purpose, connection and meaning and though hard and frustrating; its maybe even joyful and fun. But not so much anymore. Now work is dangerous. Yeah, work has always been dangerous, ask anyone in Special Forces or deep-sea welding. But those guys still love their jobs, despite the risks. At least their risks are pretty obvious, flying bullets and body-crushing underwater pressure.But Im guessing those guys dont have to worry about getting fired for accidentally saying the wrong thing. The danger now is for the folks who work in office cubicles, you know, the Dilbert jobs. But when the popular comic strip Dilbert gets canceled from newspapers across the country because of something its creator, Scott Adams, said in a podcast, you can only imagine how dangerous it is to speak in the real cubicle jungle Dilbert ridicules. Of course, there is the growing trans speech censorship at work. Referring to a person by his biological sex and not as he identifies is modern racism, and a fireable offense. Its also where the multiverse doors open as a singular person must be called they on threat of unemployment. If workers are terrified about referring to the wrong singular or plural pronoun, think about how careful they are about anything that could be accused as racist, homophobic or sexually harassing. Sign up for free: Gazette Opinion Receive updates from our editorial staff, guest columnists, and letters from Gazette readers. Sent to your inbox 12:00 PM. Sign Up View all of our newsletters. Success! Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. View all of our newsletters. A buddy told me he had to deal with an HR problem during Halloween where employees were encouraged to come in costume, you know, for fun. Someone not of German descent wore lederhosen as part of his costume. That greatly offended someone of German descent, as it was obviously cultural appropriation. Instead of spending time creating or having enjoyment while creating at work, we now spend our time and energy dealing with this crap. We are scared to speak. People go to work, keep their heads down, do what theyre told. We are scared to be ourselves. We spend our time and energy not creating but going to HR seminars and endless HR investigations instead. The result is no one risks saying much of anything in the office, fearing hair-trigger of those who are eager to be offended. In other words, mass self-censorship. Its the slow death of individuality. Death of the creative spirit, innovation, collaboration and, if it matters, fun. Is it any wonder after COVID so many people dont want to return to the office? Sure, they say its the long commute in, or theyre more productive at home. Might it be its just not nearly as dangerous when they dont have to interact with the if you say something around me, Ill be triggered and get you fired people in their office? No wonder not working is more popular than ever. Working has always been hard. But now does it require stifling your individual spark, your speech as well? Sexual harassment in the workplace is, as it should be, illegal in Colorado. But Senate Bill 172 opens the door to endless investigations of sexual harassment. Beyond giving the Colorado civil rights division more power and heaping more regulatory burdens on employers, including five years of more record keeping, it specifies sexual harassment claims need not be severe or pervasive to constitute a discriminatory or unfair employment practice. Not severe? Not pervasive? So, in other words just about anything can be sexual harassment, and even if there is no damage (not severe), you can still lose your job, or the employer could be forced to pay a big fat settlement. If Colorado keeps going this way, the only people who will be employed will be the easily triggered and the lawyers representing them. Jon Caldara is president of the Independence Institute in Denver and hosts The Devils Advocate with Jon Caldara on Colorado Public Television Channel 12. His column appears Sundays in Colorado Politics. BEMOWO PISKIE, Poland A barrage of shells, rockets and machine-gun fire blasted into distant targets Friday afternoon, filling the air with constant explosions near a critical borderland where former members of the Soviet Union are connected to the rest of NATO by a small strip of land between a Russian province and Belarus, a Russian ally. As Russias war on Ukraine stretches into 15 months, the exercise proved thousands of troops could surge into the area less than 90 miles from Poland's border with Kaliningrad, a Russian province. Exercises like this inspire confidence that we can fight and win said Major Gen. David Hodne of the U.S. 4th Infantry Division from Fort Carson. "Our rocket and cannon artillery can fire together. Our brigades can maneuver together. Our divisions can lead together, Hodne said, speaking to troops after the combined U.S.-NATO exercise. During the finale of the show of force, two Polish F-16s roared across the gray sky, followed later by a handful of American Apache attack helicopters firing rockets, showing how they would work in tandem with ground troops, including those firing tanks, Strykers, Bradleys and other heavy artillery into green, open fields surrounded by the dense woods recently soaked with rain. The massive live-fire demonstration extended far beyond what a ground observer could see, including launches from a High Mobility Artillery Rocket System, or HIMARS, like the ones recently purchased by Poland from the U.S. Some of the blasts rattled a nearby tower as thousands of troops from Croatia, Poland, Romania, the United Kingdom and the United States showed their combined strength at the military exercise called Griffin Shock, where a NATO division command took control of U.S. Army units for the first time. The Multinational Division Northeast took command of about 2,000 U.S. troops from the 2nd Cavalry Regiment who drove Strykers and other heavy equipment from their base in Germany over three days to quickly expand the NATO battle group of about 1,000 troops already in Poland to a brigade-sized force of more than 3,000. The surge of troops met a goal outlined during NATOs Madrid summit in 2022. Polish Minister of National Defense and Deputy Prime Minister Mariusz Blasczak said the exercise shows the close collaboration among NATO forces following a shorter display Friday morning, when Apache helicopters buzzed low over the Polish press corps. It is a very strong message to send to Russia, he said, through a Polish military interpreter. The recent exercise is one of many in the region. Hodne called the exercise deterrence but not an intended provocation, in an interview. We will make no apologies for training for the defense of NATO, he said. Since Russia invaded Ukraine, millions of refugees have fled to Poland and the country has been investing heavily in its military. Polands first HIMARS have already arrived in the country and will be stationed in the northeastern quadrant of the country. Poland is also in discussions to buy 96 Apache helicopters, Blasczak said. The new firepower could help defend the Suwalki Gap, a short, 60-mile border that connects the Baltic states of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia to Poland and the rest of NATO. The three states gained their independence from the Soviet Union in the early 1990s. Following Russia's invasion of Crimea in 2014, NATO has been stepping up defenses in the area, establishing four permanent battle groups in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland. The Polish battle group saw its ranks swell for the exercise at the Bemowo Piskie Training Area with a huge array of international equipment, including U.S. howitzers, enormous M1 Abrams tanks, Polish tanks that can spend five minutes underwater to cross rivers, and U.K. Jackals, light and fast armored trucks with open tops. The 4th Infantry Division headquarters staff planned, oversaw, and coordinated the exercise on an accelerated schedule. The division did not participate as part of the fighting force with artillery; rather, a relatively small group of people worked at high levels on organization and ensuring safety and allowed the NATO division to largely take the lead, Hodne said. For Hodne, the exercise is part of the region maturing from NATO planting political flags into multinational fighting forces. They're living together, eating together, training together. It's really wonderful to see how far they have come since the last time I saw them in 2014, he said. To put the progress on display and bring more than 3,000 people together for the exercise took extensive planning, 4th Infantry Division Majors Katie Haapala and Nick Lund said. Sign up for free: News Alerts Stay in the know on the stories that affect you the most. Sign Up For Free View all of our newsletters. Success! Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. View all of our newsletters. The aircraft, HIMARS and every other major element took hundreds of man-hours to organize, Lund said. For example, originally all the land for training was reserved for other training and the Strykers didnt get the go-ahead to come from Germany until May 12. Everything was in flux for 60 days, Lund said. But it all fell into place, for leaders to watch on the third floor of a tower at a training ground in front of them and on multiple screens to view those training fields out of sight. While overseeing the work, the 4th Infantry Division staff members worked out of a new modular mobile command post made up of multiple, stark white rooms that can be rapidly rolled into place. Up muddy, metal steps, underneath camouflage tenting, soldiers work in the command post on gathering and processing intelligence, tracking all current activity, and ensuring air and ground troops are well-coordinated and dont hurt each other. When you are bringing troops from different countries together that can mean helping to manage technical problems such as computer systems that need to be integrated, working through differing international procedures, and overcoming language and cultural barriers, numerous officers explained. As part of that team, 4th Infantry Division Lt. Col. Chris Colbert, in the Joint Air Ground Aviation Center, planned for safe routes in the sky for Apache pilots. In a battle scenario, those pilots need safe spaces, where they wont be hit by friendly fire, like a hamster tube in the sky to safely enter and exit the battle space. Since the Army has transitioned away from counterinsurgency battles in Afghanistan and is preparing for traditional war, the threat of air defense weapons is much higher, he said. We can't assume that we've got air superiority, air supremacy, Colbert said. At the same time, many nations are more interested in multinational training events to increase their ability to work with allied nations and working with the some of the same people again and again is helping to build relationships, he said. So it's more working with colleagues, as opposed to allies you just never met before, he said. To help establish those relationships, Col. Davius Vaicikauskas, the chief of staff for NATO's Multinational Division Northeast, said they held a strategic barbecue with about 60 people for the exercise. Some of the cultural understanding comes down to understanding terms differently, he said. For example, soldiers from Lithuania, Germany and Poland might understand the term mission command a little bit differently. So we need to build this unity of understanding, he said. In Lithuania, all the efforts to boost military numbers and exercises have been appreciated, he said. Despite the war in Ukraine, they're calm. Because they see that there is a pool of forces constantly exercising and, in case of war, they would be ready, he said. After days of rehearsals and the action-packed roughly hourlong finale of Griffin Shock, the heavy equipment rolled off the training fields in a hurry, the observation room in the tower was completely cleared out in short order, and the modular command post was getting packed up to roll out. But it's just a localized pause in a large continued push for more training across Europe. From April 22 through June 23, a separate training exercise known as Defender 23 will feature more than 7,000 U.S. and 17,000 multinational service members from 20 nations to similarly show how combat power can gather in Eastern Europe. Continued training is key, Hodne said, in his closing statements. "There is no magic on game day," he said. BEMOWO PISKIE, Poland When ground troops, artillery and aircraft gather to show off their firepower, as troops from five nations did in Poland last week, its an intricately planned dance to ensure everyone arrives and no one gets hurt in the blasts. Colorado soldiers in the 4th Infantry Division based at Fort Carson and Colorado natives currently living in Germany as members of the 2nd Cavalry Regiment helped to pull off the exercise, called Griffin Shock, that brought together more than 3,000 soldiers and an international set of military weaponry, including Romanian Gepards, anti-aircraft tanks, U.S. Strykers and Howitzers and Croatian Panzers. Even career soldiers were seeing some vehicles and weapons for the first time, like an impromptu international military convention. The soldiers converged for the exercise required by NATO in the northeastern Polish countryside that the average traveler from Warsaw reached by numerous narrow country lanes that passed through villages, farmland and woods. About 2,000 U.S. soldiers with the 2nd Cavalry Regiment made the trip from southern Germany over about 700 miles over three days in 25 separate convoys. It's a trip that would normally take 12 hours by car. Scheduling such a trip on a short time schedule presented challenges at the heart of the exercise, said Colorado Springs native Maj. Adam David, an operations officer with the regiment The whole point of this exercise was rapid to demonstrate the capability to deploy rapidly and fight essentially on demand, said David, who made the trip in the back of a Stryker as a vehicle commander while also tracking a squadron spread across three of the 25 convoys. He explained his experience as he stood in front of a line of 36-ton Dragoon Strykers, eight-wheeled armored vehicles. It was one of the many rows of military vehicles parked around an observation tower as they came and went from various training grounds. Extensive sets of tents were also set up in the same area for the 2nd Cavalry Division and NATO's Multinational Division Northeast, which was running the exercise. On the way to the training ground one of the regiment's Strykers broke down. But, fortunately, each convoy travels with a recovery vehicle that can move the enormous trucks off commercial roads if they obstruct traffic, David said. Once in Poland, U.S. troops used a tactical voice bridge to share radio traffic with soldiers from other countries. The exercise included troops from Croatia, Romania, the United Kingdom and Poland, in addition to the large contingent of U.S. soldiers. To overcome language barriers, human translators are preferred, but in a pinch, David said, soldiers use Google Translate, a live free translation service, just like tourists. Prepping for the impressive live-fire displays also takes extensive mapping that includes how the ammunition is expected to behave. Each unit turned in a detailed plan of where it is shooting and what weapons it is using so software can model its effects, said Camden Milway, a sergeant 1st class with the 2nd Cavalry Division from Westminster. That allows us to make sure we can position people safely, he explained. Some of the rounds mapped for the exercise included grenade launchers, 81 millimeter mortars, machine guns and Bradley rounds, among many others. Sign up for free: News Alerts Stay in the know on the stories that affect you the most. Sign Up For Free View all of our newsletters. Success! Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. View all of our newsletters. Detailed mapping and an understanding of how ammunition acts allows troops to prepare for combat situations and it builds confidence and trust among them, he said. They can know: I'm safe. And I'm not going to get shot by my own people, he explained. Milway described his work from a tent with rubberized flooring, full of folding tables where soldiers worked on laptops sheltered on some days from the cold rain that pooled in the muddy rutted roads. In addition to the ground weapons, the exercise also featured Apache helicopters from the 12th Combat Aviation Brigade in Germany that buzzed over the training ground numerous times in the lead up to a highly coordinated display for high-profile visitors Friday. The Apaches base for refueling and landing was in an open field, close to a working farm. Ensuring the aircraft and ground troops don't interfere with each other takes rigorous planning, which Colorado Springs native Sgt. 1st Class Steven Cromer, worked on for the 2nd Cavalry Regiment as the regimental fire support officer. He planned how artillery, mortars and close air support will come together relying in part on 3-D digital models to plan how munitions will travel to targets and the safe paths through the air helicopters will take. The models help Cromer determine not only safety but how to have the greatest effect with all the weapons. "It's fun to put them all together, all the pieces of the puzzle," Cromer said. The large number of weapons systems on display was representative of what a surge of more than 3,000 soldiers would bring to a fight, he said. It is one of several major training efforts going on across Eastern Europe this spring, as the war in Ukraine stretches into its second year. The ongoing training is definitely showing results among some Polish tank troops, said Sgt. 1st Class Marc Lloyd, with the 9th Cavalry, who participated in Griffin Shock and was also working with Polish troops on tactics prior. In one exercise, Lloyd said their strategy was on point with a recent lesson. During the exercise, his tank got caught by two BMPs, similar to Bradleys, who kept him from turning his turret and had him backing into the trees. I was pretty impressed. They caught me between the tree line and I don't like getting caught. He also found that spending time with the Polish, trying new foods, new weapons and making friends with the lady at the shop on post who sells snacks has helped make working there more meaningful. It gives you a sense of like, this is why I'm here. We would fight side-by-side if need be, he said. The training and relationship building is happening as NATO is getting tested in ways it hasnt been since the end of the Cold War, said David. "The (2nd Cavalry Regiment) in particular, which has many soldiers who are from Colorado, from Colorado Springs, is (at) the absolute cutting edge of U.S. Army-Europe's efforts to support the NATO alliance and to deter the aggression, he said. The job of a state legislator is to pass laws, but in Colorado, some are more effective than others. To figure out the most and least successful lawmakers of the state's 2023 legislative session, Colorado Politics looked at the bills they prime-sponsored in both chambers and ranked the number of bills passed, percentage of bills passed and percentage of bills with bipartisan sponsorship, according to the Colorado General Assembly's website. Democrats predictably won big this session after the November election increased their hold over the state legislature to a 69-31 split the largest Democratic advantage in 85 years. But while Democrats topped the lists for most bills passed, Republicans led in bipartisanship, a reflection of their need to compromise with the supermajority in order to address their legislative agenda. Plus, some categories that were one-party topics last year featured both this year, and vice versa. On average, each of the 100 lawmakers sponsored nearly 20 bills this year. The House and Senate approved approximately 82% of each legislator's bills, and around 52% received bipartisan sponsorship. Heres how the top and bottom legislators stack up: Most bills passed by number Unsurprisingly, the top three lawmakers on this list are members of the Joint Budget Committee, whose responsibilities include the annual budget package, supplemental funding and about two dozen orbital bills to balance the budget. But unlike last year, JBC members didn't dominate the entire top five. This year, Sens. Faith Winter and Dylan Roberts beat out three JBC members who ranked sixth, eighth and 10th in overall bills passed. First: Sen. Rachel Zenzinger, D-Arvada 83 bills Second: Rep. Shannon Bird, D-Westminster 79 bills Third: Sen. Barbara Kirkmeyer, R-Brighton 49 bills Fourth: Sen. Faith Winter, D-Westminster 45 bills Fifth: Sen. Dylan Roberts, D-Avon 44 bills Least bills passed by number This list includes the House lawmakers that lean the furthest right ideologically, dubbed the far-right four: Reps. Stephanie Luck, Scott Bottoms, Ken DeGraaf and Brandi Bradley. The group often clashed with the Democratic supermajority, debating bills for hours, but not pursuing much legislation themselves. Bottoms, DeGraaf and Bradley and the two Democrats on this list are all first-year lawmakers. This is Luck's second year in a row topping this list. First (tie): Rep. Stephanie Luck, R-Penrose; Rep. Scott Bottoms, R-Colorado Springs; and Rep. Ken DeGraaf, R-Colorado Springs 1 bill Fourth: Sen. Jim Smallwood, R-Parker 4 bills Fifth (tie): Rep. Tisha Mauro, D-Pueblo; Rep. Bob Marshall, D-Highlands Ranch; and Rep. Brandi Bradley, R-Littleton 5 bills Most bills passed by percentage Sen. Rachel Zenzinger, chair of the Joint Budget Committee, also tops this list, passing every one of the 83 bills she introduced this session. Only Democrats achieved this perfect score, including party leaders like House Speaker Julie McCluskie, Senate President Steve Fenberg and House Majority Leader Monica Duran. First-year Reps. Kyle Brown, William Lindstedt and Ruby Dickson also managed to pass all of their bills. First: Sen. Rachel Zenzinger, D-Arvada 100% of 83 introduced bills Second: Sen. Dylan Roberts, D-Avon 100% of 44 bills Third: Sen. Tony Exum, D-Colorado Springs 100% of 18 bills Fourth: Rep. Meg Froelich, D-Englewood 100% of 16 bills Fifth (tie): House Speaker Julie McCluskie, D-Dillon, and Rep. Lindsey Daugherty, D-Arvada 100% of 15 bills Honorable mentions: Senate President Steve Fenberg, D-Boulder (100% of 13); Rep. Monica Duran, D-Wheat Ridge (100% of 12); Rep. Kyle Brown, D-Louisville (100% of 11); Rep. William Lindstedt, D-Broomfield (100% of 11); Rep. Ruby Dickson, D-Greenwood Village (100% of 7); and Rep. Leslie Herod, D-Denver (100% of 7) Least bills passed by percentage The far-right four similarly dominated this category. But they are unexpectedly joined by Democrat Rep. Serena Gonzales-Gutierrez, a leader of the House's progressive caucus. Gonzales-Gutierrez ran for the Denver City Council during the session, winning her race in April. In her last legislative session, Gonzales-Gutierrez had the lowest bill success rate by percentage of any Democrat. Last year, no Democrats were featured on this list. Sign up for free: News Alerts Stay in the know on the stories that affect you the most. Sign Up For Free View all of our newsletters. Success! Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. View all of our newsletters. First (tie): Rep. Scott Bottoms, R-Colorado Springs, and Rep. Ken DeGraaf, R-Colorado Springs 20% of 5 introduced bills Third: Rep. Stephanie Luck, R-Penrose 33.3% of 3 bills Fourth: Rep. Brandi Bradley, R-Littleton 50% of 10 bills Fifth: Rep. Serena Gonzales-Gutierrez, D-Denver 50% of 12 bills Most bipartisan sponsorship by percentage As usual, the minority party swept this category. Holding only 31 seats of Colorados 100-member legislature, it is difficult for Republicans to pass bills without working across the aisle. The Democrat with the most bipartisan sponsorship, Sen. Jeff Bridges, only ranked 20th overall, with 81.6% of his bills having bipartisan sponsorship. Rep. Marc Catlin and Sen. Cleave Simpson have a history of bipartisan legislative success, making this top five last year, as well. First: Rep. Marc Catlin, R-Montrose 100% of 17 introduced bills Second: Sen. Jim Smallwood, R-Parker 100% of 5 bills Third (tie): Sen. Cleave Simpson, R-Alamosa, and Sen. Perry Will, R-New Castle 96.3% of 27 bills Fifth: Sen. Kevin Van Winkle, R-Highlands Ranch 94.7% of 19 bills Least bipartisan sponsorship by percentage Democrats exclusively comprise this list. With a supermajority in the House and a near-supermajority in the Senate, Democrats don't need bipartisan support to pass their bills. However, this list has frequently featured both Republicans and Democrats in the past, including last year. Notably, four of these five lawmakers are House representatives, where Democrats have a stronger majority. Reps. Regina English, Ruby Dickson and Jennifer Parenti are all first-years. First: Rep. Regina English, D-Colorado Springs 0% of 9 introduced bills Second: Rep. Ruby Dickson, D-Greenwood Village 0% of 7 bills Third: Rep. Tammy Story, D-Evergreen 10% of 10 bills Fourth: Sen. Jessie Danielson, D-Wheat Ridge 10.5% of 19 bills Fifth: Rep. Jennifer Parenti, D-Erie 12.5% of 8 bills Most contrarian votes by number A new category this year: Colorado Politics looked at the lawmakers who voted against bills that every other lawmaker in their chamber voted in support of. This happened 57 times this session, with 18 lawmakers at one point being the sole "no" vote on a bill. All of the repeat offenders are included in this list, the bulk of whom are Republicans. Of the 10 unlisted lawmakers who cast contrarian votes only once, six are Republicans and four are Democrats. First: Sen. Mark Baisley, R-Woodland Park 12 lone "no" votes Second: Sen. Kevin Van Winkle, R-Highlands Ranch 11 votes Third: Rep. Stephanie Luck, R-Penrose 10 votes Fourth: Sen. Paul Lundeen, R-Monument 4 votes Fifth (tie): Rep. Scott Bottoms, R-Colorado Springs, and Sen. Janice Rich, R-Grand Junction 3 votes Honorable mentions: Sen. Kevin Priola, D-Henderson and Sen. Julie Gonzales, D-Denver 2 votes Corvallis residents can expect loud clanking starting around Wednesday, May 24, when a contractor at last begins work ahead of tearing up the Van Buren Bridge. A Springfield-based bridge builder is set to start driving metal poles mid-week that will hold up temporary platforms for workers and for detouring traffic around the heavily trafficked Willamette River crossing, according to an Oregon Department of Transportation news release. The ringing metal-on-metal clanging announces the start of a three-year effort to remove and replace the 110-year-old steel truss and timber span that serves as the outgoing connector between downtown Corvallis and Highway 34. Exact impacts to traffic arent immediately apparent. But the state is advising drivers to plan ahead for 10 nights in June, when the Van Buren Bridge will be closed between 7 p.m. and 6 a.m. The state will direct outbound traffic onto the nearby Harrison Boulevard Bridge, repurposing one lane for the detour. Oregon estimates nearly 11,000 vehicles cross the single-lane Van Buren bridge on average each day. Van Buren was the first bridge across the Willamette in Corvallis. The state bought the bridge from Benton County in 1938 and rehabilitated the bridge, removing a truss and replacing some timber after the 1962 Columbus Day Storm. ODOT replaced rivets and removed rust among other repairs in 2007 and repaved the bridge in 2019. But Oregon has eyed replacing the bridge since the early 1980s. Grant funding secured in 2017 will fund the effort that now has snowballed into an $85.1 million project to build a span across the Willamette that will carry modern trucks. The state rolled back the maximum weight it allows on the bridge from 40 tons to 12 tons in 2021, trying to keep commercial trucks from punching through the road surface. A study found Van Buren just cant hold vehicles clocking the weight and length of contemporary commercial trucks. The engineers who drafted Oregons older bridges never envisioned vehicles heavier than 15 tons. The department awarded Hamilton Construction Co. the contract March 13 after the company proffered the lowest of two bids. Hamilton offered to get the job done for $61.4 million. The company has offices in Alaska and Washington but is headquartered in the Willamette Valley. A Pennsylvania-headquartered company, American Bridge, bid about $77.6 million, according to a department bid sheet. American Bridge shuttered its Reedsport manufacturing site in 2013 and maintains offices in California, Florida and New York. Retrofitting the bridge would have cost more than $12 million, according to a 2019 report. A consultant also examined moving the steel truss of the bridge to a local park with $7.1 million anticipated price tags for a move to Orleans Natural Area or Riverfront Community Park; or about $10.3 million in a relocation to Pioneer Park and three other locations. The report estimated demolition would cost Oregon about $4.5 million. Gift this article Share this article paywall-free. "You modeled what the change process should look like, leading with respect and dignity while creating a tidal wave of excitement for the Riverhawks in our school," Mason City High School Principal Dan Long said in his address to the class of 2023. Commencement exercises were held at the Mason City Arena, and saw 233 students celebrate the end of their high school careers and earn their diplomas. The ceremony featured musical selections from the Mason City High School Symphonic Band, who welcomed the graduates with the traditional Pomp and Circumstance and joined by the Concert Choir who performed "For Good" from the musical "Wicked," and led the crowd in singing the Mason City Alma Mater. Mason City School Board President Peterson Jean-Pierre led the presentation of diplomas to the graduates. "When I took my first steps into Mason City High School, I didn't realize that these days would be the best of my life," said Rachel Shipman, selected along with Kale DiMarco to be the student speakers. "As we move forward, let us not be afraid to take bold steps," Shipman said. "Let us embrace our opportunities. Let us meet our obstacles with an open mind and a curious heart." DiMarco, who plans to attend Wartburg College next year to study history and to wrestle, said the biggest challenge he had to overcome was COVID. "All the new hybrid learning we can adjust to, [but] we missed the last part of our freshman year. We were 14 and 15, we missed a lot of learning but also that social development. Overcoming that gave me and I think everyone a lot of confidence." DiMarco, in addressing his classmates, spoke to the power their change can have not just on themselves but on the community. "Let us remember the power of change. ... It can be a tool to create a better future." "Its exciting that we got to be trailblazers. We get to decide what being a Riverhawk means. To me, so far, that means to work hard, no matter what," said DiMarco. From the class of 2023, graduates Alex Bird, Cai Chen, DiMarco, Markus Elsbernd, Cyrus Emami-Ahari, Isabelle Goedken, Kale Hobart, Ellie Kotta, Emma Mehmen, Analeah Swegle, and Ella Turk were honored with an induction into the MCHS Academic Hall of Fame for graduating high school with a perfect 4.0 GPA. This year, $145,775 scholarships were awarded to 97 of the 233 graduates of the class of 2023. When surveyed, 88 students said they planned on attending a two-year college, 36 planned on attending a four-year college, 32 plan to enter the workforce, six plan on serving in the military, one plans to enter an apprenticeship, one plans to pursue a certificate and 18 are deciding on future plans. The class of 2023 memorialized classmate Manuel "Manny" Quiroz with a moment of silence. Quiroz, who died in 2019 while the class was in eighth grade, was honored with his photograph placed by the podium with a floral display. Olivia Schissel said the biggest challenge she had to overcome was switching schools her sophomore year, but after the "initial shock" it was "pretty easy to make new friends and make bonds." Schissel participated in track and field, enjoyed pottery classes and plans on attending University of Northern Iowa. "I'm unsure of my major, but I plan on doing Army ROTC." When asked what advice she would give to the class of 2036, she said, "Have all the laughs and enjoy it while you can, because it goes fast." DiMarco said, "Do things you don't want to do. Nothing easy is worth doing." Senior Ethan Berding gave his advice to the kindergarteners: "Always try to be the best version of yourself." Kyra Iles, who as student senate president helped lead the effort in the name change to Riverhawks, implored the graduates to heed the lyrics from one of their generation's greatest voices: Miley Cyrus. "Always gonna be an uphill battle. Sometimes I'm gonna have to lose. Ain't about how fast I get there; ain't about what's waiting on the other side, it's the climb." Gift this article Share this article paywall-free. On April 2, 1867, the United States declared they would no longer need the services of Private William Wright, Company H, 114th Regiment, United States Colored Infantry. There was an indignity regarding how swiftly and completely the United States Colored Troops units, and the African-American soldiers themselves, were discarded. The soldiers serving along the Rio Grande for a full two years after Robert E. Lee's surrender at Appomattox Courthouse were mustered out at Brazos Santiago, Texas by the thousands. The written record of Willie's muster out documents summarizes the intransigence of the unyielding organizational and systemic attitudes towards Black American soldiers after the Civil War in both the South and the North. You couldn't get farther south than Brazos Santiago Texas without finding yourself in Mexico or the Gulf of Mexico. Willie Wright would have a long journey back home. Upon final muster out in 1867, the soldiers of the USCT had not been paid since 1866. Generally expecting a nest-egg type payment for past services rendered, the paymaster delivered quite a jolt, as the federal government began offsetting salary due by expenses claimed to be owed by these soldiers. Of the $316 dollars of Willie's accrued pay, he ended up with paper money and two Indian Head pennies totaling $41.02. In the coup de grace of rancorous actions, Uncle Sam unilaterally and non-contractually debited his earned salary for: Due US for one canteen lost: 65 cents. Due US for one destroyed and unserviceable haversack-$1.06. Due US for cost of family meals-one month Camp Nelson, KY-$3.10 Due US for cost of provided round-trip transportation to Camp Nelson and return-family burial-$23.26. Due US-two coffins for contraband burial-Camp Nelson-$4.90. Due US for original equipment issue 114th Rgmt USCI-$28.64 Due US for lost ammunition-$4.75. And on and on it went. With no money, no job, and the remnants of his family scattered to places unknown, the question on the mind of freeman William Wright, as well as thousands of his band of brothers was, "What do I do now?" As Willie made his way back to Kentucky, he was sure that Captain Russell would need him back on the Russell Plantation as the foreman. Freemen in droves had the same line of thoughts as they sought to return to the only homes and lives they had ever known. What returning formerly enslaved soldiers found waiting for them, especially in the border states, was the same old book, but a different deadly page. By 1866, the Ku Klux Klan had emerged throughout the old South and was particularly active in Tennessee and Kentucky. By his own oral history, it took Willie Wright over five months to travel the 1,500 miles from Texas to Kentucky. The backlash experienced by African Americans, especially former Union soldiers while they traveled, was swift and brutal. Although the Union military maintained a level of martial law in the South until 1868, the border state of Kentucky was a free for all for violence and discrimination. Captain John Wilcox Russell did not welcome Willie or any of the returning freemen. Seeking to return as plantation foreman, the only deal offered was to sharecrop a plot of tobacco for the Russell family. The only terms offered guaranteed Willie Wright never-ending poverty and financial slavery to the Russell's. Captain Russell was a vocal southern Democrat, also know as "Redeemers." Redeemer Democrats were opposed to the policies of reconstruction. The redemption philosophy part was not only to resurrect, strengthen and expand the antebellum southern culture, but to use states rights based laws to deny African Americans all levels of their freedoms. By 1870 when the first post-Civil War census was enumerated, Willie Wright is shown as a farm laborer living in an old slave cabin on Russell Plantation. He had remarried and found and reclaimed his surviving children. His new wife, a Civil War widow, brought a tassel of kids to the family as well. A new son was born to them in May 1870, who was named Julian, the namesake of Willie's son who had died at Camp Nelson in 1865. Captain John Wilcox Russell, War of 1812 decorated veteran, riverboat captain, politician, plantation owner, millionaire and slaveholder, died in late 1869. The plantation went on with the next generation. The younger Russells were not the "kind" plantation owners as Willie described their father, having been indoctrinated with the belief in racial inequality by the "Redeemers" and preachers of the "lost cause" mythology. In his own words, Willie tells us the rest of this story, "Af'er Cap'n died, I got worried my family be Ku Kluxed, an' steam boated us all, right smart, up the ol' Missip' all the way to I'way." Next Week: The Final Chapter-William Wright Gentleman North Iowa Farmer 1871-1901 Emeraldle EXCEPT wrong assumption not disprove Bunuel wrote: (A) Government deception of the press is often motivated by worthy objectives. reasonable worthy the U.S. government [uses] false or misleading information in support of its policies and programs needless deception skeptical consider this historical analogy why worthy objectives Red light. Bunuel wrote: (B) Without government deception, popular support for worthwhile government policies and programs might well fade. without might well without this deception, Columbus's sailors might well have mutinied lack popular support is Red light. Bunuel wrote: (C) Attacks on the government by the press are often politically motivated. the press indulges in outbursts of indignation over the use of false or misleading information by the U.S. government political on behalf of the press the author of the passage above assumes Green light. Bunuel wrote: (D) Deception for deceptions sake should not be condoned. no one endorses needless deception the author of the passage above assumes condoned endorsed is Red light. Bunuel wrote: (E) A greater good may sometimes require acceptance of a lesser evil. worthy not Red light. exactly Hello, everyone. I am writing in response to a request from, but I see a question above from another member as well, so I thought I would take the time to share my thoughts, in hopes of benefiting the community. Keep in mind, we are dealing with anquestion, so we are looking for an out-and-outanswer. This question also adopts anframework, so we need to find an answer choice that wouldhave to be assumed by the author of the passage. I typically break down a passage line by line, but I think I will incorporate more of the passage in my analyses below toor disqualify four of the five answer choices. How about we start from the top?Analysis: Keep in mind, we are looking for an exception amongassumptions. Does the author assume that the government deceives the press on purpose but does so for acause? The first two lines and the analogy that follows support this notion. Line 1 tells us that, straightened out,. We understand, however, that such action is not(line 2), since the analogy reveals that Christopher Columbus deceived hiscrew and averted a potential mutiny, thereby allowing the mission to succeed, even if the discovery of the New World, rather than India, was happenstance. If the author has asked us to, then thebehind the analogy supports making the assumption in this answer choice. Presumably, the government, like Columbus before, has. This is NOT what we are after.Analysis: We have to read into the analogy a bit more here, but latching onto the keywordsandhelps us get to the bottom of the matter. The passage explicitly states in the final line that. Of course, a mutiny would indicate aof, and again, if we are to ask ourselves why the author of the passage turns to this analogy to illustrate a point, then we can only conclude that this answer choicea valid assumption. Keep looking.Analysis: Line 1 of the passage indicates that. There is nomotivation to be gleaned. To my eye, the press is angry that the government has misled its own citizens, nothing more. Thus, we do NOT have to assume thatthis answer choice, and that fits an EXCEPT condition. Make sure you read the question stem carefully.Analysis: Yes, the passage states in line 2 that, but if anything, the similarity between that statement and this answer choice underscores the notion that, once again,that deception for its own sake is condemnable or should not beor. Others might disagree, but not the author of the passage. Thisan assumption the author makes about the action of deception, and that is not what we are after.Analysis: This is a nice summary of the analogy. Columbus deceived his crew, but it was so that they might remain obedient to his command, and the result was the discovery of the New World. Likewise, the U.S. government might deliberately deceive its citizens, but, to lift some of the language of an earlier answer choice, it is for aend. If the author of the passage didmake this assumption, then there would be no point to the analogy. Thus, this answer choice does not meet the EXCEPT condition.I think that sometimes people approach these questions too quickly, without considering what,, the question is asking. There is simply no justification in the passage to support (C), and that is what we have been tasked to find. Of course, if anyone feels differently, please share your thoughts in an effort to help the community (i.e. serve the greater good).Thank you, and good luck with your studies.- Andrew_________________ Gift this article Share this article paywall-free. A suspect is in custody after a 16-year-old died in a Sunday afternoon shooting, the Danville Police Department reports. It was about 2 p.m. when officers responded to Purdum Woods Apartments in the 1500 block of Richmond Boulevard. Police found a 16-year-old at the K building dead from a gunshot wound, authorities reported. A 19-year-old also was hit by gunfire, but those injuries arent considered life-threatening, police said. Kyon Marquez Herbin, 20, is facing charges of second-degree murder and malicious wounding in the incident. Police said he was arrested in Burlington, North Carolina, where he awaits extradition to Danville. A Virginia law prohibits law enforcement agencies from releasing the identity of juvenile victims. This marks the fourth homicide in Danville this year and the third this month alone. Just a week ago, authorities responded to a call of shots fired at about 11 p.m. May 14 in the 700 block of Hughes Street. When officers arrived, they found 38-year-old Randy Lamar Womack, of Danville, suffering from multiple gunshot wounds, police wrote in a news release. Womack was taken to Sovah Health-Danville where he was pronounced dead. Omar Rashad Chandler, 34, of Danville, is facing a charge of second-degree murder following that slaying. Danville Police Capt. Keith Thompson said last week that incident wasnt a random act of violence. Instead, it was targeted, specific to the individual that received the gunfire. On May 1, 37-year-old Marcus Hairston died in a shooting at Woodside Village Apartments. Two individuals labeled as persons of interest are in custody in connection with that incident. Both people are being held on unrelated charges, authorities reported earlier this month. Danville police officers responded to Woodside Village Apartments in the 1300 block of Piney Forest Road in the early morning hours May 1. When they arrived, they found Hairston shot. Officers administered CPR, but he was pronounced dead at the scene, police said. Two other people suffered non-life-threatening injuries in that incident. That homicide also wasnt labeled as a random act of violence. It was between two groups of people, Danville Police Capt. Keith Thompson told the Register & Bee earlier this month. Members of the Danville Police Department planned a H.E.A.R.T. Walk on Monday in Purdum Woods. The walks Heal and Engage After Recent Trauma are held in areas of recent violence as a way for officers to engage with the community impacted and let neighbors know of resources available. These gatherings arent intended as part of a crime investigation. Anyone who has information on Sundays shooting may contact the Danville Police Department by calling patrol at 434-799-6510 option 4; investigations at 434-799-6508 option 1, and option 1 again; 911; or Crime Stoppers at 434-793-0000. In addition, residents may approach any officer they see, use social media, email crimetips@danvilleva.gov, or use the crime tips app CARE. Gift this article Share this article paywall-free. Because this section is free of charge, community events are subject to run based on available space. Religion items are published on the Saturday church page. Email events to news@registerbee.com. TRAFFIC ALERT DANVILLE: Alternating lane closures are set to begin on Monday on Memorial Drive between West Main Street and the back entrance to the Danville Police Department. The lane closures will allow for replacement of two failed corrugated metal storm pipes with reinforced concrete pipe. The work is expected to be completed in early June. Traffic on Memorial Drive will be maintained throughout the project to the maximum extent practicable. Flaggers will direct traffic as necessary. Whites Construction from Sutherlin is the contractor. Motorists are urged to slow down and be alert to altered traffic patterns, allow more time to reach their destination or consider an alternate route. THURSDAY, MAY 25 TEACHERS ASSOCIATION TO MEET: The Pittsylvania County Retired Teachers Association will meet at noon at Liberty Baptist Church, 18529 Franklin Turnpike, Callands. Lunch reservations must be made by May 20 by calling 434-251-2006. LET'S TALK HISTORY: Lets Talk History: White Rock Hill Conversations. Sessions will discuss White Rock Hill community will be held from 6 to 7:30 p.m. at White Rock Baptist Church Fellowship Hall, 418 Locust Lane. Sponsored by the White Rock Neighborhood Empowerment Association, the sessions are led by local historian Katrice Luck-Brimmer. Two other sessions are scheduled for June 8 and June 22. No fee. Come learn more about this community. Call 434-228-3180. FRIDAY, MAY 26 DAN RIVER BLUEGRASS MUSIC EVENT: Dan River Bluegrass Association Monthly Music Event will be held at 7 p.m. at Danville Community College, 1009 Bonner Ave., with featured band Virginia Carolina Travelers. Admission $5. Please bring canned food items to donate to God's Storehouse. For questions, call 276-638-2742. SATURDAY, MAY 27 PELHAM COMMUNITY CENTER INDOOR YARD SALE: Yard sale will be held from 8 a.m. to noon at 161 Community Center Drive, Pelham, North Carolina. Indoor seller space available for $5 per table; outside space also available for $5 but must provide own table/tent/etc. Call or text 434-489-9747 for more information. WEDNESDAY, MAY 31 BLOOD DRIVE: The United Way of Danville-Pittsylvania County in coordination with the American Red Cross will host a blood drive from 1 to 5 p.m. at 308 Craghead St., Suite 102E. For registration information call (434) 792-3700. SATURDAY, JUNE 3 LAUREL GROVE VOLUNTEER FIRE & RESCUE FUNDRAISER: Fundraiser will begin with a Cruise In from 3 to 6 p.m. at Sutherlin Barn, 10064 Melon Road, with dinner 5 to 7 p.m. and live music by Matt Boswell and the HBB Band. A $20 donation request. For information call 434-250-6809. TUESDAY, JUNE 6 PITTSYLVANIA COUNTY NAACP TO MEET: The Pittsylvania County NAACP meeting will be held at Silver Creek Missionary Baptist Church, 1317 Stony Mill Road, 6 p.m. Pastor, Bruce Featherstone. CLIFTON TAULBERT: "An Evening with Clifton Taulbert: The Entrepreneurial Mindset" at 5:30 p.m. at the Institute for Advanced Learning and Research. Registration through the chamber of commerce's website is required and registration will close on May 30. This is a free community event with dinner provided. THURSDAY, JUNE 8 LET'S TALK HISTORY: Lets Talk History: White Rock Hill Conversations. Sessions will discuss White Rock Hill community will be held from 6 to 7:30 p.m. at White Rock Baptist Church Fellowship Hall, 418 Locust Lane. Sponsored by the White Rock Neighborhood Empowerment Association, the sessions are led by local historian Katrice Luck-Brimmer. One other session on June 22. No fee. Call 434-228-3180. SATURDAY, JUNE 10 RUN FOR JUSTICE: The 22nd annual "Run for Justice" Kid's 2K, 5K walk or run and 10K run community events will commence at Angler's Park and Danville Riverwalk Trail starting at 9 a.m.; late registration at Angler's Park starts at 7:30 a.m.; Kid's Run begins at 9:10 a.m. The annual "Run for Justice" features awards, refreshments and door prizes. Walkers/runners can pick up a registration forms at The Brick Running & Tri Store, 410 Main St. Registration also is available at the Danville Running & Fitness Club Website or at active.com. For more information, call race director and chapter advisor John Wilt at 434-770-8822. THURSDAY, JUNE 22 LET'S TALK HISTORY: Lets Talk History: White Rock Hill Conversations. Sessions to discuss White Rock Hill community will be held from 6 to 7:30 p.m. at White Rock Baptist Church Fellowship Hall, 418 Locust Lane. Sponsored by the White Rock Neighborhood Empowerment Association, the sessions are led by local historian Katrice Luck-Brimmer. No fee. Call 434-228-3180. Gift this article Share this article paywall-free. An investment group announced last week its embarking on an ambitious endeavor likely spanning at least a decade to build a planned community in the Tunstall area of Pittsylvania County. On Friday, a group known as Southside Investing LLC said it had filed paperwork for a rezoning application for a transformative master planned community on 614 acres in the southwestern region, according to a news release. In total, this mixed-use community would sit on about 614 acres east of Martin Drive within the Tunstall district of the county. The group said its ideally situated about 9 miles from the Southern Virginia Megasite at Berry Hill, a site Dan River Region leaders hope to lure a major industry after some recent near misses. Specifically, the group wants to launch the project under the countys Residential Planned Unit Development District. The news release said it would allow for a compact, pedestrian-oriented, mixed-use development with a variety of housing types in addition to other commercial uses. Southside Investing is committed to listening to the voices and needs of county residents, county officials and other stakeholders as it proceeds through the rezoning process in contemplation of fulfilling our vision for a live-work-play community, Tom Gallagher, a spokesman for Southside Investing, said in a statement. To gather input, the group is hosting a community information event at 7 p.m. Thursday at Brosville Volunteer Fire & Rescue located at 11912 Martinsville Highway. Another event is planned for 7 p.m. June 1 at Faith Memorial Baptist Church located at 7450 Martinsville Highway. We have recognized the growing need for housing and the opportunity it presents for ensuring a well-balanced and growing economy for not only Pittsylvania County but also the surrounding region, Gallagher said. Its hard to attract job creators without the continued development of nice communities for folks to live in and which add to the areas great quality of life and are also close to work. The housing shortage was a topic of a summit last year at the Institute for Advanced Learning and Research. In fact, a recent study suggested that Danville alone is in need of about 1,000 new housing options to meet a demand of nearly 4,000 jobs expected to come to the area. In addition to the megasite, a $650 million casino resort is under construction in the Schoolfield area of Danville, a project city leaders have said will transform the region. Vic Ingram, a member of the Pittsylvania County Board of Supervisors representing the Tunstall district, said he started working with the investors last year in what he called a phenomenal project. I am thankful that the investors have chosen Pittsylvania County and more specifically the Tunstall District for such a massive development project, Ingram wrote on social media. While no total housing units are mentioned, the group is looking for a mix of single-family homes, townhouses and apartments, the news release stated. They also want to build facilities for seniors, including a dependent and assisted-living campus. The planned community also would have a hotel, a day care center and community center. As far as retail, a shopping center anchored with a neighborhood grocery store, would round out of the offerings. Additionally, by providing access to open space, recreational facilities, and convenient shopping, a critical goal for the community is achieved by making life as convenient as possible for all residents of western Pittsylvania County, the news release stated. Master planned communities also encourage opportunities for socialization with your neighbors and can foster a tight-knit community, which can be especially beneficial for young families or retirees. The firm said if the project is approved, it could be a key component to attract businesses to the megasite. Southside envisions building a multigenerational community that will assist Pittsylvania County in providing new opportunities for current and future residents, especially for younger generations who have had to often times look elsewhere in the past for viable job and housing options. Gift this article Share this article paywall-free. RALEIGH One of the remaining registered Democrats on a North Carolina Supreme Court whose new Republican majority recently overturned previous decisions on gerrymandering and voter identification announced Thursday that he wont seek reelection next year. Associate Justice Mike Morgans election in 2016 to an eight-year term gave Democrats a majority on the court for the first time in nearly 20 years. The court returned to a 5-2 majority favoring registered Republicans in January after two GOP election victories. Morgan announced his decision not to run in a tweet citing 34 years of judicial service, which includes serving as a Wake County trial judge and state administrative law judge. Looking ahead, Morgan told The Associated Press he was now considering other options that have been afforded him. I feel as though as my public service speaks for itself, and I am in a position now to make an even greater difference in North Carolina in another capacity, Morgan said in an interview. Morgan didnt provide details, but when asked whether that could include a run at another elected position, he said at this stage I am keeping all of my options open. He also couldnt say whether he would serve the remainder of his current term through the end of next year. Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper would appoint someone to fill his seat should he leave early. Court of Appeals Judge Jefferson Griffin, a Republican, already announced months ago that he would run for Morgans seat the only one currently up for election in 2024. The current election sequence means Democrats likely wont have another opportunity to obtain a majority until at least 2028. Shortly after taking the court majority in January, Republicans agreed to reconsider rulings made by the 4-3 Democratic majority that struck down legislative and congressional district maps as illegal gerrymanders and upheld a lower-court ruling that a 2018 photo voter ID law was unconstitutional from racial bias. Just three weeks ago, the courts new iteration overturned the redistricting decisions, determining that the state constitution leaves mapmaking to the General Assembly and lacks limits that prohibit partisan gerrymandering. And at the same time it said the voter ID law was wrongly voided and should be enforced. Morgan and Democratic Associate Justice Anita Earls delivered blistering dissenting opinions in these cases. Morgan, who is Black, wrote in the voter ID dissenting opinion that the majority had emboldened themselves to infuse partisan politics brazenly into the outcome of the present case by rehearing the matter. He also wrote that trial judges had appropriately examined past racial discrimination in North Carolina while making their decision. Morgan said Thursday that while he certainly wished the atmosphere and the orientation of this current court were different, nonetheless I served the institution of the court with pride and with integrity. Current law requires justices to retire at the end of the month that they turn 72. That would have allowed Morgan, now 67, to serve close to three years of a second term had he been reelected in 2024. The governor fills vacancies for such retirements as well. The General Assembly is considering this year legislation that would extend the mandatory retirement age to 76 for appellate court judges. Morgan grew up in New Bern and went to the North Carolina Central University School of Law. He worked in the state Department of Justice for 10 years before being appointed an administrative law judge in 1989. While on the state Supreme Court, Morgan has been known at times to break with Democratic colleagues and side with Republicans on criminal justice matters. Gift this article Share this article paywall-free. A Winston-Salem man was sentenced to prison last week after he pleaded guilty to drug offenses, authorities said. Olajawn Jadaren Hairston, 28, pleaded guilty to trafficking fentanyl, possession with intent to sell and distribute marijuana, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and possession of a stolen firearm, the Forsyth County District Attorneys Office said. Judge Eric C. Morgan of Forsyth Superior Court sentenced Hairston to serve 18 years to 23 years in prison, the district attorneys office said. On Feb. 24, 2022, Winston-Salem police searched for Hairston because he had multiple outstanding arrest warrants, the district attorneys office said. Officers found Hairston leaving the Ramada Inn on Akron Drive. Officers then saw Hairston get into the passenger side of a vehicle, which they followed and stopped, the district attorneys office said. After the stop, Hairston was arrested and searched. Officers found more than 3 ounces of marijuana and two boxes of 9mm ammunition in Hairstons backpack, the district attorneys office said. A stolen 9mm handgun was located on the passenger floorboard where Hairstons feet were before he got out of the vehicle, the district attorneys office said. A hotel key card for room 415 at the Ramada Inn was found in Hairstons pocket. A woman associated with Hairston arrived at the scene, the district attorneys office said. Hairston then yelled at her, telling her to go to his room and get his Doritos. Officers returned to the Ramada Inn and searched Hairstons room, the district attorneys office said. They found a Doritos bag that contained 37 grams of fentanyl and two digital scales used to weigh illegal drugs. Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid drug primarily used as a pain reliever in hospitals. Former Sen. Richard Burr created the guidelines his country would use to prepare for a pandemic. In 2006, Burr sponsored and championed the Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Act (PAPA). The 51-page law created a position to oversee the countrys preparedness plans for a public health emergency, ensure stockpiles of supplies were on hand if an emergency arose and have the means necessary to quickly create a vaccine. On Wednesday, Burr attended the Duke-Margolis 2023 Health Policy Conference to discuss his work on PAPA and what he hopes his colleagues do with the bill now that its up for reauthorization. TOP VIDEOS Top Videos 00:12 01:30 NC Senate votes along party lines tooverride Gov. Coopersveto ofabortion bill It is a little bittersweet to see that PAPA is up for reauthorization, when I wrote it in 2006, Burr told the audience. Weve been through a number of reauthorizations and the great thing was in 2019, when a pandemic hit, we had made the changes that we learned over the progression of PAPA so that it was current. Burr said the challenge now for Congress is to look at what theyve learned following the COVID-19 outbreak and adjust the law accordingly. More than 1.1 million Americans have died from COVID-19. The first confirmed case of the deadly virus was recorded in the U.S. on Jan. 13, 2020. Vaccines first became available in December 2020, but werent approved by the FDA until August 2021. Get unlimited digital access Try 1 month for $1 CLAIM OFFER At the time, Burr, a Republican, represented North Carolina and served as the chair of the Senates Health, Education, Labor and Pension committee until an ill-timed stock trade by Burr and his brother-in-law led to an investigation into whether Burr took part in insider trading due to information he may have had about the pandemic prior to most Americans. He would later be cleared of wrongdoing. Since then, and unrelated to those allegations, Burr retired from Congress and now serves as principal policy advisor and chair of the Health Policy Strategic Consulting at DLA Piper, a global law and lobbying firm. Burr cannot participate in lobbying until after a two-year cooling off period. Mark McClellan, director of the Duke-Margolis Center for Health Policy, told the audience that Burr remains involved in health care emergency preparedness and response. He added that the next step for U.S. preparation and response to another public health emergency is for lawmakers to reauthorize PAPA. The HELP committee began meeting about the bill in May. Burr told McClellan he hopes lawmakers are now looking at what they learned from COVID and focusing on things like scalability, diagnostics and surveillance. He said most crucial to him is that the next version of the bill includes surveillance, diagnostics capabilities and technology. He also hopes lawmakers are learning from his mistakes. I think the one big change that I made, that I got wrong in 2006: I created the assistant secretary of emergency preparedness by statute, Burr said. That person was there to run any pandemic response. Well, I went through four administrations and nobody chose that person to run the response. And within four administrations theres been responses to Ebola, MRSA, SARS and other illnesses besides COVID. I thought that would work and it didnt, Burr said. Under the Dome newsletter News and insider information from the world of politics and government in North Carolina. SIGN UP This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Instead, the assistant secretary is the architect of the preparation, while someone within the White House is tasked with being the combatant commander of a pandemic response so they would speak with the authority of the president. But he added that the assistant secretarys role remains important to frame out the U.S. response to a public health emergency before it happens. The bill lays out exactly what role the assistant secretary takes, coordinating with federal and local agencies and scientists who could create vaccines. He said had the assistant secretary not done the job there would not have been a vaccine within 12 months. He added that the biggest glaring mistake the government made was not being transparent with the data from COVID it was collecting, while still making decisions for parents, hospitals and schools. He said he wishes officials had released more data so that someone like an academic could confirm whether they were making the right choices. Burr also referenced a report that came out of the Government Accountability Office that found gaps in coordination. He said having one person within the White House coordinating the response, instead of the HHS director, might solve that problem and he hopes for a solution before the laws reauthorization. Burr also cautioned Congress that it needs to act quickly to get PAPA reauthorized, saying that if lawmakers wait until after the August recess, when they take a month off from Washington, then it would be next to impossible to get reauthorization before the end of the year. He said after that it would fall victim to 2024 campaigns. Gift this article Share this article paywall-free. LINVILLE, N.C. Grandfather Mountain, the not-for-profit nature park run by the Grandfather Mountain Stewardship Foundation, has announced that tickets for the first evening presentation of the Grandfather Presents 2023 speaker series are on sale now. Ian Shive, an Ansel Adams Award-winning photographer and filmmaker, kicks off these Thursday night presentations on June 8. The new Wilson Center for Nature Discovery will play host to the event. Guests will get to experience a night at the museum atmosphere, the speaker presentation and book-signing/meet-and-greet opportunities. For some, it may be their first chance to check out the new space and exhibits. This seasons Grandfather Presents roster has an emphasis on those who make it their lifes mission to highlight the challenges, opportunities and good work happening around exploration, nature and conservation. In addition to Shive, the lineup also includes: Emmy Award-winning travel TV host and producer Samantha Brown | July 13 Ornithologist, author and illustrator David Sibley | Aug. 31 Appalachian State University Geology Professor and National Geographic Explorer Dr. Baker Perry | Sept. 7 Chief Meteorologist at WCNC-TV Brad Panovich | Sept. 21 The series features Saturday afternoon presentations focused on nature, adventure or conservation-related topics on a local or regional scale, as well. Award-winning author, photographer and filmmaker Ian Shive will present From Americas National Parks to the National Wildlife Refuge System. Shive has authored several award-winning books including The National Parks: An American Legacy (2020), which is where the evenings journey will begin with iconic locations of Americas Best Idea but also an exploration of what National Parks represent today and in the future of conservation. Through the lens of Shives work on Yellowstone National Parks 150th anniversary, to recovery efforts on Channel Islands National Park, in California, the presentation will share two decades of stories in the parks and how they compare to one of Americas other great, protected areas, the National Wildlife Refuge System. There is perhaps no other person in the world who has been to more protected areas in both the parks and refuges than Shive. This will not be Shives first trip to Grandfather Mountain. In 2013, the photographer was part of the speaker lineup at the parks popular Nature Photography Weekend. Shive will also be a speaker at the sold-out June 9-11 Nature Photography Weekend this year. We are thrilled to have Ian return to Grandfather Mountain this June, said Landis Taylor, assistant vice president of marketing and communications for the Grandfather Mountain Stewardship Foundation. Weve been watching his career, passions and influence grow over the last decade, and we are thrilled to have him as a Grandfather Presents speaker. We cant wait for Ian to share the important and dynamic work he does to highlight the significance of protected lands via his rich visuals and storytelling ability. Shive is an Ansel Adams Award-winning photographer and filmmaker whose work documents some of the worlds most pristine environments and brings to the public important conservation stories from around the globe. In March 2021, Shive took audiences to a protected and remote Alaskan archipelago with the launch of his documentary, The Last Unknown, as well as an ASMR experience in our National Wildlife Refuge System with Secret Islands of the Pacific, both now streaming on Discovery+. In 2020, Shive launched a digital series on Discovery Channel titled Nature in Focus, where he explores our planet as host and executive producer. In 2019, the photographer and filmmaker led several expeditions to some of the worlds most remote coral atolls for the giant-screen film, Hidden Pacific, which he directed and produced. Hidden Pacific brings to life in IMAX 3D the vibrant marine national monuments at the far reaches of the Pacific Ocean thriving ecosystems filled with colorful coral reefs, large colonies of birds and threatened species that depend on these habitats for survival. Shives work has been critically acclaimed in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Smithsonian, CNN and countless other media outlets. Since its inception in 2010, Shive has worked as CEO of the company he founded, Tandem Stills + Motion, Inc., a leading health, fitness and environmental media company. He is proud to be a steward of his local communitys injured and vulnerable wildlife as a member of the board at the Santa Barbara Wildlife Care Network. Schedule: June 8, 2023 8 a.m.: Grandfather Mountain opens for the day and VIP ticket holders allowed access to the park 4:45 p.m.: Regular ticket holders allowed to enter the park and head to the Wilson Center for the event 5 - 5:30 p.m.: VIP Reception in one of the classrooms in the Wilson Center (VIP ticket holders only) 5:45 - 6:45 p.m.: Speaker Presentation in the Classroom in the Clouds 6:45 - 7:30 p.m.: Meet-and-Greet or Book Signing with Speaker 7:45 p.m.: Park should be clear of all Grandfather Presents guests Event Tickets New in 2023, two levels of tickets are available for the Thursday night Grandfather Presents programs. A VIP ticket includes park admission for the day and a special reception with the speaker, while a more cost-effective regular ticket includes only the presentation and meet-and-greet after the event. VIP tickets include a VIP reception with the guest speaker that includes heavy hors doeuvres, in addition to the program and meet-and-greet session after the event. Admission to the park for the day is also included. VIP adult tickets are $60 and $51 for members of the Bridge Club, the parks annual membership program. VIP tickets to the event are limited. Regular tickets are a more cost-effective option and include only the speakers program and the meet-and-greet session after the event. Regular adult tickets are $25 and $20 for Bridge Club members. Children, ages 12 and under, are admitted free to the event, with a maximum of four free children permitted per purchase. Tickets are on sale online now. To learn more about Grandfather Presents: Ian Shive and to purchase tickets, visit www.grandfather.com/event/ian-shive. To learn more about the Grandfather Presents speaker series, visit www.grandfather.com/grandfather-presents. Gift this article Share this article paywall-free. GREENSBORO In the Pitonzo family of four, it was Jesse who always saw and felt things differently. His family said that from a young age, he gravitated toward helping those in need, whether they knew him as a friend or were meeting him for the first time. Some of those good deeds have been revealed to his parents and brother in the months after the 26-year-old was stabbed to death. For some, it was Jesses encouragement that led them to pursue an education or a job opening. For others, he helped them financially in tough times. He volunteered at food banks and spent time with elderly people who had no family. He just helped people, said mother Beth Pitonzo, her voice breaking during a recent interview. They all saw him as someone who inspired them. He didnt say a lot, but when he did, they knew it was important. I dont think he ever truly realized the impact he had. She said Jesse was humble and a quiet leader. He wouldnt have described himself this way, but he was a servant leader, Beth said. He paid attention to what people were going through. His father, David, described his son as a gentle soul who was an extremely talented artist and creative spirit. While he was a perfectionist when it came to his own work, Jesse was never competitive or aggressive because he was so frequently focused on helping others, David said. Now the family continues to grieve the loss of Jesse, who was fatally stabbed in the early morning hours of Feb. 15 in the 4700 block of Champion Court. Greensboro police charged Madry Samuel Bell, 26, with first-degree murder and misdemeanor stalking. Bell is jailed without bond and police have not released a possible motive in the slaying. A court hearing in the case is scheduled for today. Its been hard, said Jesses older brother, Michael, about trying to process the death of his only sibling. He would go out of his way to help people. Michael, an engineer, always admired his brothers artistic abilities. He said when it came to carving Halloween pumpkins, Jesse could easily freehand what Michael said he would need a stencil to create. His work looked professional, he said. He would sit for hours and draw and sketch. Some of the things he made were amazing. Jesse, who was born in Las Vegas, also lived in Oregon and New Mexico before his family located to North Carolina in 2012. Wherever he lived or visited, he seemed to absorb the sights of new places through his art and interactions with people, his family said. He always had a different perspective, his father said. He saw things differently the way he saw the world and the way he felt it. Jesses love of music led him to play the trombone and sousaphone while attending Northwest Guilford High School, where he graduated in 2015. According to his obituary, he later learned how to play the electric guitar. He also was successful in the classroom, his family said. He attended GTCC and earned an Associate of Science transfer degree with courses toward a welding certificate in May 2018. He then attended High Point University to earn a bachelors degree in design studies. While looking for a job in his field, Jesse began working at a local Asian restaurant as a server, then took a position in the kitchen. In October 2022, he became part of the culinary staff at Greensboro Country Club. Thats the first time I thought he found an excitement about cooking, said Michael, who recalled a time when Jesse was in middle school and mistakenly microwaved a frozen dinner for 30 minutes. Jesse began taking classes in culinary arts at GTCC in fall 2022 and would have completed his studies this month. He found his passion, said Beth, adding that her son dreamed of opening his own restaurant some day. Although that dream will never be realized, the Pitonzo family wants to memorialize Jesses kindness and empathy through a scholarship at GTCC to help deserving students achieve their own goals. We all felt like it honored that part of him, Beth said. Reforms is not just a skincare company its a destination for those seeking an exceptional & unique experience The firm takes immense gratification from offering unparalleled laser treatments that have been approved by the USA for their unrivaled effectiveness. Reforms highly trained professionals use cutting-edge medical-grade technology and are absolutely meticulous when it comes to testing, efficacy, and safety standards. At Reforms, we believe that everyone deserves access to top-notch aesthetic treatments, without having to break the bank. Our mission is to deliver outstanding results to our clients, all while providing an exceptional experience in a clean and welcoming environment. Our commitment to customer satisfaction is unrivaled, with personalized treatments tailored to meet each individual's specific needs and expectations, says Raja.Reforms is a luxury boutique aesthetic and skincare company, that combines international standards with a sophisticated experience. Using cutting-edge technology and equipment, the company provides personalized recommendations for each individual. As Reforms expands its reach through a new tie-up with a South Korean company, it aims to enhance its already exceptional offerings. Our 10 years of experience in the industry have taught us to always prioritize our clients needs and satisfaction, and we will continue to do so with the highest level of professionalism and expertise, shares Raja. Reforms' dedication to achieving outstanding outcomes is evident in their utilization of exclusive therapies such as lymphatic drainage for body therapy and cutting-edge anti-aging techniques like fibroblasts and plasma pens. Their skincare services, including Korean glass skin, volcanic acne, and skin brightening treatments, are tailored to deliver incomparable solutions to their clients.Reforms' passion for creating a unique offering for clients has led to impressive treatment s like stem cell and cytokine therapies for hair regrowth, and collagen therapies. But Reforms is not stopping there. In the near future, itll be introducing face lifting through Plasma Technology, setting it apart as a pioneer in this groundbreaking technique. Now, Reforms sets its sights on the future, with a steadfast commitment to expanding its reach and bringing exceptional services to even more people. In the next three years, Reforms envisions at least ten more doors opening up, with one already in the pipeline. The firm remains steadfast in its mission to provide innovative and effective treatments and is excited to continue making a positive impact in the aesthetics industry. Gift this article Share this article paywall-free. Helena Democrat Kevin Hamm announced his candidacy for Montanas Eastern U.S. House district this week. Hamm, the chief operating officer of Treasure State Internet and Telegraph, said hes running because Montanans in the Eastern District deserve an alternative to the conservative politics of incumbent Republican Rep. Matt Rosendale. Hamm described Rosendale as constantly voting against issues benefiting the district, like infrastructure. However, its unclear whether Rosendale will seek a third term or make a second attempt to unseat U.S. Senator Jon Tester, a Democrat. I suspect hes going to try to run for Senate against Tester. Hes certainly raising money like thats his goal. You know, more power to him. Whatever Rosendale decides to do, Im not worried about it, Hamm said. What I care about is actually representing the people of Montana. The big thing thats happening in the Eastern District is not just the House race, but the state House, the state Senate races, all these county commission races. We need to make sure that reasonable, smart, understanding, caring voices are heard and are available for voters to choose. The Eastern District is a daunting challenge for Democrats. Rosendale won a comfortable 56% of the vote in 2022. Democrat Penny Ronning, of Billings, picked up 20% of votes in a field of four candidates, including Billings Independent Gary Buchanan, who picked up 21% of the vote. Election data from 2010 to present shows that in five of the last eight U.S. House races, the margin of victory for GOP candidates over Democrats in the counties that now comprise the Eastern district has been greater than 20%. Only once was the margin closer than 15%. But Hamm points to the 35,000 registered voters who didnt cast a ballot in the U.S. House race in 2022. Those voters need to be reached, he said. Hamm was a candidate for Public Service Commission in 2022, a 49-year-old first-timer in a regional race running in a district favoring Republicans by a two-to-one margin. Hamm lost in the primary. You look at whats out there, whats needed, and you step up to the plate. Im in a position where this is something that Im really good at. I have a marketing background, I have a technology background, both of which are needed. The marketing for running the campaign, the technology for actually being in the House and getting some good thinking done about whats happening, and how TikTok actually works. Montana had become the first state to ban TikTok the day before Hamms interview for this article. There is talk about a national ban, as well. Hamm said the ban on a particular app missed the real security and privacy risks of the internet. If you're going to worry about privacy, and you should be, privacy is important, don't get me wrong, Hamm said. But if you're going to worry about privacy, you worry about it with all technology, not just focused on one company because youre xenophobic and want to punish. There are 18 months before the 2024 general election. Hamm said he will travel to every county in the district, to meet with voters. "I got 18 months to get in front of these people. We've got three quarters of the counties in the state of Montana in my district. We have half the people and three quarters of the land. So, we've got a lot to do, Hamm said. But you know, the Democratic Party has just launched a new central committee, (in Sheridan County in northeast Montana). They're very energized, they're super excited to go. We've got a bunch of counties actually stepping up and being like, No, we need to be better. We need to have a little more balance in the world. And so, that's, that's what it amounts to. Gift this article Share this article paywall-free. The Montana Department of Transportation invites the public to comment on a proposed project to repair road surfaces along Interstate 15 slated to begin in 2024. The agency's proposal is to improve approximately 10.5 miles of I-15 from the Jefferson County line north to the Lincoln Road interchange. According to the MDT news release sent out Wednesday, I-15 northbound and southbound lanes will receive new surfacing, as well as the interchanges of South Helena, all ramps, Capitol, all ramps, Cedar Street, all ramps, Custer Avenue, all ramps, and Lincoln Road, southbound off-ramp only. Proposed work includes a new seal and cover, updated pavement markings and bridge deck repair. "The purpose of the project is to extend the service life of the existing roadway," the news release states. Construction is tentatively planned for late summer of 2024 depending on completion of design and availability of funds. No new right-of-way or utility relocations will be needed. "An important part of properly planning for future projects is partnering with the community," the news release states. "The Montana Department of Transportation welcomes the public to provide ideas and comments on the proposed project." Comments may be submitted online or in writing to Montana Department of Transportation, Great Falls office, P.O. Box 1359, Great Falls, MT 59403-1359. Note that comments are for project UPN 10238000. The public should contact Great Falls District Preconstruction Engineer Jim Combs at 406-788-2773 or Project Design Engineer R.J. Snyder at 406-459-5294 with questions or comments. Gift this article Share this article paywall-free. Gov. Greg Gianforte on Monday tapped Billings city deputy attorney Thomas Pardy to take the District Court bench in Yellowstone County. Pardy will succeed District Court Judge Michael Moses following Moses' retirement on July 1. The Howard, South Dakota-raised lawyer has been a civil attorney for the city of Billings office since 2015. He twice operated his own firm in Billings, with a stint as Mountain West Bank's staff attorney in between. Although a civil attorney at the city of Billings, roughly 50% of Pardy's private practice included criminal defense, according to his application submitted to the governor's office. The other 50%, Pardy said, was handling family law, real estate, banking, human resources, contracts, bankruptcy and appeals. Pardy graduated from the University of Montana School of Law in 1998 and in 2018 retired from the Army National Guard with the rank of Master Sgt. after 32 years of service. In 2018 Pardy campaigned for District Court judge in Yellowstone County, losing out to Judge Collette Davies. Pardy said then he supported and would like to join in the work done through veterans treatment courts. Letters Gianforte received supporting Pardy's nomination to the bench included one written by District Court Judge Randal Spaulding of Musselshell County, where both practiced law earlier in their careers. "I appreciate the governor appointing me and I look forward to serving the community," Pardy said Tuesday. Gianforte's appointment follows an advisory committee's recommendation, which forwarded two nominees to the governor for consideration. "Thomas is an accomplished attorney who is committed to the fair, consistent, and objective application of the law and who will interpret laws, not make them from the bench," Gianforte said in a press release Monday. "I look forward to his service to the people of Yellowstone County on the Thirteenth Judicial District Court." This story has been updated to include a quote from Pardy. Gift this article Share this article paywall-free. The Big Hole Rivers trout population is still in decline. Conditions appear dire as ever and the worst seems yet to come. Experts around southwest Montana say that, among the many factors at play, we should be looking at disease and bureaucratic failures as to why the Big Hole is in its continued state of peril. Its clear that change change beyond the stale bickering of outfitters and ranchers within their own echo chambers is needed. Anglers will point to the ranchers with the full ditches and then the ranchers will look at all the fishermen on the river in August, said Pedro Marques of the Big Hole Watershed Committee. And we know those arguments, and it's just not worth (the time). We've been having those discussions for 28 years, and they don't change. Recent data from three sections of the 153-mile freestone river in southwest Montana showed the fewest number of brown and rainbow trout since data was first collected in 1969. Counts in 2021 shed a light on the brown trout problem across southwest Montana, but new data also shows a struggling rainbow trout population. There is a massive local economy that stands to lose a lot, said Big Hole River Foundation executive director Brian Wheeler. Historically, fishing outfitters and ranchers have been at odds with one another when river conditions were subpar, but trout populations would bounce back to some degree. Thats not the case this time around. Both sides make fair points. Outfitters make their money by taking people fishing, and irrigation is a fundamental part of ranching. Whos to say who has a right to make a living for their family and who does not? Every livelihood depends on it, really, Marques said. Its a highly subjective debate. But here are the facts and trends that local scientists and river watchers know to be true. After monitoring the Jerry Creek section of the Big Hole from the Jerry Creek access site to Dewey Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks biologist Jim Olsen and his colleagues estimated less than 1,000 brown and rainbow trout per mile. The Hogback Section of the lower Big Hole is estimated to have between 500 and 700. The popular Melrose section which spans roughly from Melrose to Brownes Bridge near Glen is estimated to have fewer than 500 brown and rainbow trout per mile. For perspective, during the early Aughts there were between 3,000-3,500 browns and rainbows per mile through the Jerry Creek section. Hogback boasted over 2,000 as recently as 2013. Melrose peaked at nearly 3,000 at the turn of the century and maintained an estimated 2,500 brown and rainbow trout in 2015. All three stretches have seen those combined populations plummet after 2017. 1,000 trout per mile through Jerry Creek may not sound too alarming, but Melrose was at that number just four years ago. Also during these studies, biologists have noted a lack of juvenile fish. If browns and rainbows are failing to reproduce, these numbers are unlikely to improve in the immediate future. Following back-to-back years of drought, some die off makes logical sense. Less water and warmer water means less dissolved oxygen for the fish. Other rivers are experiencing a similar downward trend but not quite to the same degree. The tailwater section of the Beaverhead, which had about 1,690 brown trout per mile in 2022, now has an estimated 1,552. The lower portion of the Beaverhead has about 304 browns per mile compared to 426 in 2022. The Ruby Rivers tailwater recently had an estimated 649 brown trout per mile compared to 853 in 2022. There was a slight increase in the lower section of the Ruby with an estimated 257 fish per mile, up from 247 in 2022. While those data points might not seem overly troubling, Matt Jaeger, hydropower, native species and Beaverhead-Ruby program manager, pointed out that the numbers are still historically low. He also suspects there are additional factors at play other than angler abuse, or low flows and subpar habitat resulting from low flows. There's other things that could be contributing to it than just flow, Jaeger said. And it appears that there are. The Big Hole is the most glaring at the moment. We've seen declines nothing on that magnitude of what we've seen now, Olsen said. But in the past, they've really followed water. And so during drought times, populations would decline. But we're talking a 20 to 25% decline. The sharp nosedive we are seeing now, which began in 2017 during good water years, requires a closer look at what could be more complex issues, Olsen said. Poor water isn't helping us at all, either, as far as a potential recovery from that, Olsen said. We've had poor water the last two years, but we were already down in the basement before these bad water years came. Theres even a drought management plan already in place along with strict fishing regulations. So what more can be done? By all accounts, the vast majority of river users are playing by the rules. Given the declining numbers of juvenile trout in addition to the overall population, we wont be out of the woods for years to come. Olsen and others speculate some kind of fungal outbreak is possible. The river had such outbreaks in 2014, 2015 and 2017 that killed a significant amount of fish. Even when there is not an active outbreak, the fungus is always present. Based on recent history its hard to rule out. There was a confirmed fungal outbreak in 2017, about the time when this recent decline began. I don't know that for sure, Olsen said of an active outbreak. But it certainly has been a factor at least in three different cases in the last eight years or so. Olsen is awaiting results from a study he requested on a number of dead, seemingly infected, brown trout he came across during the fall of 2022. Since the fish were already dead, its not 100% accurate to assume that it was an infection that killed them. Once the cause of death is determined, it can then be compared to what is ailing other infected fish. I'm convinced that there's something going on in the fishery, from a disease standpoint, and frankly, I'm frustrated that the FWP doesn't have that data, said Steve Luebeck, vice president of the George Grant Chapter of Trout Unlimited. I know they collected the samples, but they have not analyzed those samples. FWP is not immune to the difficult times our society faces as a whole. Staffing shortages plague many industries, and organizations are being asked to do more with less. Full-time biologists are absorbing the full-time administrative duties of open positions. The Region 3 Fisheries manager position, which oversees southwest Montana and the Big Hole, has been vacant for about a year and a half. Madison-Gallatin Fisheries biologist Mike Duncan has stepped in as acting manager until the position can be filled. Those samples were, I think, going to be included as part of a larger study on potential disease concerns, Duncan said. And so unfortunately due to a lack of staffing in the lab, we haven't been able to get those processed because it takes a pretty specialized pathologist histopathologist just to analyze those. They haven't been processed yet. Fungus is native and always present in the Big Hole. Fish can naturally fend off dangerous fungi or other parasites if theyre healthy. A stressed brown and rainbow trout population will be more susceptible to outbreaks because fungus is generally a secondary infection, Olsen said. But why are the fish so stressed? Brown trout especially are known for resiliency and being able to withstand stressors like warm water. Fishing pressure is probably a knee-jerk response. While harvesting fish caught on the Big Hole is rare, and now heavily restricted, the act of reeling in and handling a panicked trout will leave it stressed once returned to the water. Angler days have doubled on the Big Hole River since 2008. An angler day translates to one person fishing for one day on the river. In 2008, FWP estimated 60,000 angler days on the Big Hole. Now its around 120,000. Pat Munday, professor of science and technology studies at Montana Tech and author of "Montanas Last Best River: The Big Hole and Its People," points out that stress levels in caught and released fish go off the charts. Low water flows arent helping. Trout need cold water to survive, and more is better. Ranchers in the Big Hole Valley rely on water from the river to irrigate the hayfields that feed their cattle during the valleys long winters and are resistant to a federal agency dictating details about withdrawals. Thats part of why the Big Hole Watershed Committee was formed. When the Arctic grayling was on the brink of being federally listed as an endangered species, the last thing locals wanted was a government agency fudging with the long-standing water rights. When you have someone in Denver or Washington, D.C., making decisions, that doesn't sit well in western Montana, generally, Marques said. Before pulling out your scoreboard and marking down points for the ranchers and outfitters (hopefully were past this), you should know there is more to consider. The time of year when fish are feeling the most stress is important as well. Flows in recent years have been lowest during September and into October, when brown trout are spawning. Fall is also a popular time for fly fishermen to target hungry browns by throwing streamers. These low flows going through the brown trout spawn are going to introduce the same kinds of stress levels high temperatures, low flows that stress these fish, Munday said. If there is disease, it's going to exacerbate it. Even without disease, it's going to increase crowding and stress levels as the brown trout are on the reds. Irrigation can also be observed along the Big Hole past growing season and into the fall. Ranchers have this theory of: if they can saturate more moisture into soil in the fall that will give them a boost in the spring, Munday said. Increased algae bloom and other nutrients can also increase stress levels. At night, algae growth will consume oxygen because it is not receiving sunlight, robbing trout of precious oxygen which is already at a premium in warm water. The area above Dickie Bridge known to many as the dead zone develops a thick layer of algae during the summer. Munday predicts that this is increasingly going to be characteristic of the Big Hole generally. Wheeler has also been monitoring water quality. Hes been compiling data from the entire Big Hole for about three years, from Twin Bridges to Wisdom. His samples have found nutrient pollution, also known as eutrophication. Wheeler, who is a guide in addition to being the BHRFs executive director, said that if nutrient pollution was confirmed to be a driving factor in brown and rainbow trout decline, it would explain several issues. Wheeler said it seems nutrient pollution can also exacerbate the effects of Tetracapsuloides bryosalmonae, or T. bryo, which is the cause of proliferative kidney disease (PKD). In addition to devastating population crashes that can result from PKD outbreaks, Wheeler said through his observations during the last three years it appears that nutrient pollution also negatively affects trouts respiration, reproduction and growth. Wheeler and the BHRF have documented elevated levels of nitrogen and phosphorus throughout the river during the past three years. A common cause for elevated nitrogen levels in Montana, Wheeler said, is agricultural runoff. Naturally occurring phosphorus and phosphorus mines in southwest Montana could explain the elevated phosphorus levels. Part of the water quality nutrient issue is also cyclical with lower dissolved oxygen levels, Munday added. And again, that correlates with temperature. The warmer water is, the less oxygen can dissolve in it. These are theoretically fixable problems so long as they are correctly identified at some point and a plan of action can be put in place by state officials, similar to the reaction to the PKD outbreak on the Yellowstone River in 2016. FWP moved with some urgency, Luebeck said. They got samples, they got them analyzed, they diagnosed the problem. They fixed it. There does not seem to be the same level of urgency on the Big Hole. They took samples in the river last fall. It's May. Where's the data? Also similar to the Yellowstone, if the appropriate decisions are made and the ship is righted for Big Hole brown and rainbow trout, the work is not finished. Disease can return, and the river isnt becoming less popular as a recreation destination or less vital as an irrigation resource. And we depend on the State to ensure that a clean and healthful environment is proactively maintained on our behalf, as is explicitly afforded us in the State Constitution, Wheeler said. Mundays main concern is that the large-scale and long-term issue of climate change still looms, regardless of how the current problem is remedied. So just as we've seen with the impacts on our forest beetle kill, fires the EPA predicted significant declines (in Rocky Mountain trout populations) by 2030, Munday said. So I think in some ways were seeing those kinds of predictions about climate come true. Researchers from the University of Montana conducted a study that found declines in Montanas native bull trout and cutthroat trout were driven by climate change. Bull trout were most affected by reduced habitat, while cutthroat were found to be vulnerable to invasive trout species. No such study has been published on rainbow and brown trout on Montana. Wheeler said it is de facto science, noting summer temperatures, rapidly melting snowpack and severe wildfire seasons. Munday said an official study is not likely because brown and rainbow trout are not native species, but added a study on the native whitefish could be telling as to what the Big Hole and other rivers are up against. Our native fish evolved in this habitat and are a key indicator species, he said. Something that's been just horribly really unprofessional, on the part of Fish, Wildlife and Parks to ignore is collecting long-term data and monitoring whitefish populations. FWP Fisheries Division administrator, Eileen Ryce, was not available to comment at the time this story was published. Gift this article Share this article paywall-free. DECATUR Police believe theyve made the streets of Decatur safer with the arrest of several suspects and the seizure of weapons following multiple weekend shootings that left one man with a gunshot wound to the leg. Sgt. Brandon Rolfs with the Decatur Police Department said the arrests were made following a traffic stop on a red saloon car around 11:15 p.m. Saturday in the 1400 block of East William Street. He said members of the police Community Action Team pursued five fleeing young males who had been in the car and chased them down on foot and arrested three of them, seizing three firearms. Two other suspects fled and were being sought, said Rolfs, who was speaking Sunday. He said reports were still being prepared and he could say little more about the arrests and the suspects involved. But he confirmed the vehicle was believed to be linked to a spate of gunfire incidents that started around 8:11 p.m. Friday with multiple shots fired outside a church in the 1500 block of North Clinton Street. Witnesses said they saw a red sedan with tinted windows and they heard five to six shots in front of the church while this vehicle was driving southbound on Clinton Street, Rolfs added. That was followed at 11:19 p.m. Friday with patrol officers responding to reports of shots fired in the 1100 block of North Water Street. Rolfs said a junior high graduation party was taking place at a rented venue at that address when witnesses said a red sedan drove by. Those witnesses initially thought fireworks were being thrown out the car, but then they realized the sound they heard was shooting because windows shattered behind them on the fronts of vacant businesses right next door, Rolfs said. And a 34-year-old gunshot victim with a wound to his right leg arrived in the emergency room of Decatur Memorial Hospital just after 7 p.m. Saturday after he told police he had been shot while standing in the 1300 block of North Union Street. He said he was just talking to people outside when he was shot and he didn't know why anyone would shoot at him, Rolfs said. He heard approximately eight gunshots and the only description he could give was of a red sedan driving by, and he said people must have been shooting out of that vehicle. Shell casings of two different calibers were recovered from the scene. And at about 7:26 p.m. officers were called to the intersection of West Harrison Avenue and North Monroe Street in response to another shots-fired report. Officers spoke with some kids who were in Monroe Park and they said they saw a red car do a U-turn at the intersection of Monroe and Harrison and then head northbound, Rolfs said. And they said they saw a weapon pointed out the window and heard several shots. The sergeant said detectives were busy working all the incidents and he expected there would be more developments as inquiries continued. 2023 mugshots from the Herald & Review Lourash Hirstein Phillip Gehrken Joseph A. Williams Jetrevius O. Jarrett Edwards King-Woods Wilson Derrickson Gift this article Share this article paywall-free. DECATUR Vanity, thy name is not woman it's both men and women caught up in America's love affair with glittering horsepower. They drive amazing machines that scream in chrome and paint, Look at me!, and it was hard to look away Sunday afternoon at the Beginning of the Year Bash, a car show hosted along Decaturs Central Park. More than 25 dream rides dating from decades into the past right up to today were lined up to sparkle in the sun as their owners sought a coveted trophy that would mark their personal chariot as a first among equals. Leading the pack in the loud and proud class was Detroit Iron, a 1965 Plymouth Satellite built for drag racing. Its race red paint scheme overwhelmed the eye and its 528-cubic-inch engine did a similar job on the ears, even when it was just idling. In the quarter mile, you are probably looking at 9.50 seconds, said proud owner Greg Brachear, 59, who lives in Decatur and likes to look good while moving fast. Oh yeah, said his wife, Joyce. Its a head-turner. The couple love driving the wheeled projectile to shows like Sundays event and occasionally giving it a little exercise on the open road. Id say its top speed is about 140 mph, probably, said Greg Brachear with a grin. Its not made to keep going and going, it just gets there real fast. You know, cars like this are just like the Harley-Davidson to me: Its all-American and there aint nothing better. Vinnie and Debra Barbee were the organizers of Sundays show, now in its fifth year, and they clearly know what kind of event to put on the menu to get participants' motors running. Which is just as well, as the show serves as one of a series of fundraisers they organize to bring in crucial cash which pays for the couples annual program of serving a series of community meals to the homeless throughout the year. Their signature barbecue food was on the menu from a catering stand in the park and, with a bright blue sky backdrop making the cars look even better, Vinnie Barbee said they were in for a good day. You know, as a fundraiser, I couldnt think of anything else to do, he added, a self-confessed gearhead himself who owns a Corvette while his wife prefers a rag top, tricked-out Mercedes. This is a show where we can give back to everybody: You can come out and enjoy the cars, eat Vinnies Barbee-Q and know the money we raise helps feed the homeless," said Vinnie Barbee. "You can't go wrong with that. Photos: Eisenhower High School Class of 2023 Commencement Gift this article Share this article paywall-free. NEW YORK British novelist Martin Amis, who brought a rock n roll sensibility to his stories and lifestyle, has died. He was 73. His death on Friday at his home in Florida, from cancer of the esophagus, was confirmed by his agent, Andrew Wylie, on Saturday. Amis was the son of another British writer, Kingsley Amis. Martin Amis was a leading voice among a generation of writers that included his good friend, the late Christopher Hitchens, Ian McEwan and Salman Rushdie. Among his best-known works were Money, a satire about consumerism in London, The Information and London Fields, along with his 2000 memoir, Experience." Jonathan Glazers adaption of Amis 2014 novel The Zone of Interest premiered Saturday at the Cannes Film Festival. The film, about a Nazi commandant who lives next to Auschwitz with his family, drew some of the best reviews of the festival. The Holocaust was the topic of Amis' novel Time's Arrow and Josef Stalin's reign in Russia in House of Meetings, examples of how his writing explored the dark soul. Violence is what I hate most, is what baffles me and disgusts me most, Amis told The Associated Press in 2012. Writing comes from silent anxiety, the stuff you don't know you're really brooding about and when you start to write you realize you have been brooding about it, but not consciously. It's terribly mysterious. Amis was a celebrity in his own right, his life often chronicled by London tabloids since his 1973 debut, The Rachel Papers. His love life, his change of agents, even his dental work were fodder for stories. He was the king a stylist extraordinaire, super cool, a brilliantly witty, erudite and fearless writer and a truly wonderful man, said Michal Shavit, his editor in England. He has been so important and formative for so many readers and writers over the last half century. Every time he published a new book it was an event. Critic Michiko Kakutani wrote of Amis in The New York Times in 2000 that he is a writer equipped with a daunting arsenal of literary gifts: a dazzling, chameleonesque command of language, a willingness to tackle large issues and larger social canvases and an unforgiving, heat-seeking eye for the unwholesome ferment of contemporary life. We are devastated at the death of our author and friend, Martin Amis," Amis' publisher, Penguin, tweeted. "He leaves a towering legacy and an indelible mark on the British cultural landscape, and will be missed enormously. Gift this article Share this article paywall-free. A Winston-Salem man was sentenced to prison Wednesday after he pleaded guilty to drug offenses, authorities said. Olajawn Jadaren Hairston, 28, pleaded guilty to trafficking fentanyl, possession with intent to sell and distribute marijuana, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and possession of a stolen firearm, the Forsyth County District Attorneys Office said. Judge Eric C. Morgan of Forsyth Superior Court sentenced Hairston to serve 18 years to 23 years in prison, the district attorneys office said. On Feb. 24, 2022, Winston-Salem police searched for Hairston because he had multiple outstanding arrest warrants, the district attorneys office said. Officers found Hairston leaving the Ramada Inn on Akron Drive. Officers then saw Hairston get into the passenger side of a vehicle, which they followed and stopped, the district attorneys office said. After the stop, Hairston was arrested and searched. Officers found more than 3 ounces of marijuana and two boxes of 9mm ammunition in Hairstons backpack, the district attorneys office said. A stolen 9mm handgun was located on the passenger floorboard where Hairstons feet were before he got out of the vehicle, the district attorneys office said. A hotel key card for room 415 at the Ramada Inn was found in Hairstons pocket. A woman associated with Hairston arrived at the scene, the district attorneys office said. Hairston then yelled at her, telling her to go to his room and get his Doritos. Officers returned to the Ramada Inn and searched Hairstons room, the district attorneys office said. They found a Doritos bag that contained 37 grams of fentanyl and two digital scales used to weigh illegal drugs. Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid drug primarily used as a pain reliever in hospitals. " " A fighter of the Ukrainian Territorial Defence Forces, the military reserve of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, carries a Kalashnikov machine gun as he walks in the center of Kyiv on Feb. 28, 2022. SERGEI SUPINSKY/AFP via Getty Images For decades, people in the West pronounced the capital of Ukraine with two clear syllables: "KEE-ev." But with the current Russian invasion into Ukraine in the news, you've probably noticed that reporters are saying something slightly different. That's because U.S. and European news agencies are largely using the Ukrainian pronunciation of Kyiv, which is more like one syllable, or maybe two that slide into each other: "KEE-eev" or "KEE-yiv". Note too that most news outlets are using the spelling "Kyiv" rather than "Kiev" for the capital city. The former is closer to the local spelling using the Cyrillic alphabet. Advertisement Martha Wexler, senior editor for NPR's International Desk, gave her colleagues a bit of a break on getting it exactly right. "It's like KEE-eev. But if you say KEEV that is fine," she wrote. So, when did the pronunciation change? It might seem to have just happened in 2022, but the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs launched its CorrectUA campaign using the "KyivNotKiev" hashtag back in 2018. It asked English-language news outlets to change the spelling and pronunciation of Kyiv to reflect its Ukrainian origin. That came just after Russia annexed Crimea (which was part of Ukraine), and Ukraine was eager to remind other countries that it had been independent of the Soviet Union for nearly three decades at that point. The "KEE-ev" pronunciation was the Russian-language version. Speaking of the country's Soviet past, that's another change you've probably noticed. When the country was part of the U.S.S.R., it was referred to as "the Ukraine." After the fall of the Soviet Union, Ukraine gained its independence and dropped the "the" in 1991. Other cities changed spellings as well, including Odesa (which used to be spelled Odessa). "The usage of Soviet-era place names rooted in the Russian language is unacceptable to the people of Ukraine," wrote Ukraine's Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 2018, according to the Kyiv Post. Oleksandra Wallo, assistant professor of Slavic languages and literatures at the University of Kansas, has a YouTube video to help you learn to pronounce "Kyiv" correctly. She advises smiling when you say the word (though the current news can make that tough to do), as it helps get your lips in the right place for the vowels. Now That's Some Stats While we're all in learning mode, let's look at Kyiv as a city. It has 3 million citizens, which makes it the sixth-largest city in Europe. That would put it just behind Los Angeles and ahead of Chicago in the United States, population-wise. Its time zone is seven hours ahead of the U.S. East Coast, so 10 hours ahead of the West Coast. You'll want to keep that in mind when you seem time-stamped news or tweets. " " Anne Bonny (c. 1700-1782) was born in Ireland and, operating in the Caribbean, became the most infamous female pirate in history. Sepia Times/Getty Images There's a quote from John Ford's 1962 western "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance," in which the speaker is referring to Jimmy Stewart's character, Ransom "Ranse" Stoddard but he might as well have been talking about Anne Bonny: When the legend becomes fact, print the legend. Convicted of "Piracies, Felonies, and Robberies ... on the High Sea" in the 1720s, Bonny was a real-life pirate of the Caribbean. Like Blackbeard, she took part in the "Golden Age of Piracy," a time when Europe's colonial powers had to constantly contend with pirates, buccaneers and privateers. It lasted from about 1650 to 1726. Advertisement Even back then, "true crime" narratives were popular among readers. The public was hungry for stories about the exploits of criminals and plunderers who'd terrorized the seaways. Books were written to meet this demand, and a great deal of ink was spent recounting the lives of Anne Bonny and other female pirates from the Golden Age. Unfortunately, in Bonny's case, rumors tend to overshadow the facts. It doesn't help that the latter are somewhat few and far between. Very little information about her life's story was documented firsthand, leaving ample room for speculation. Legend has obscured reality. The European Union fined Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, 1.2 billion euros (HUF 450 billion) and ordered it to suspend the transmission of user data to the United States. This is the largest fine to date imposed on a major technology company in the bloc for breaching the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the Financial Times reported. Irelands Data Protection Commission (DPC), which oversees the General Data Protection Regulation, fined Meta on Monday, saying Facebook broke rules that require platforms to use adequate safeguards when transferring data from Europe to the United States. Instead, the DPC found that the platforms data traffic between the European Union and the United States relied on contractual clauses that failed to address risks to users fundamental rights and freedoms, despite an earlier ruling by an EU court ordering it to do better protect personal data from invasive US surveillance programs. The record EU fine imposed for breach of data protection rules came after the Luxembourg regulatory authority imposed a 746 million euro (HUF 280 billion) sanction on Amazon in 2021. According to the DPC, Facebooks EU operations have five months to suspend the transfer of personal data to the United States and six months to stop processing including storing the personal data of European citizens in the United States. which were previously transmitted in violation of the GDPR. They had previously threatened to withdraw from the community Nick Clegg, Metas president of global affairs, put it this way we are disappointed that we have been fined when we use the same legal mechanism as thousands of other companies that want to provide services in Europe. This decision sets a wrong, unjustified and dangerous precedent for the countless other companies that transfer data between the EU and the US. The fine comes as Meta, which has a market cap of $630 billion, struggles with a decline in advertising amid an economic slowdown that has prompted CEO Mark Zuckerberg to make more layoffs and declare a year of efficiency. Irelands regulator has drawn criticism from privacy activists and other community observers for not being ambitious enough to crack down on big tech companies. It either imposes fines that are considered too low or does not initiate cases in the first place. This is probably why officials in Ireland made this decision Social media platforms have been in limbo since a 2020 EU court ruling ruled that companies seeking to comply with the GDPR cannot rely on the previous EU-US data protection shield as it does not sufficiently protect user data from US against observation. Last year, Meta threatened to withdraw from the EU if the Irish data protection watchdog banned the flow of data between the two parties, which would cause serious disruption to its business. The company is expected to appeal the DPCs decision, during which time a new transatlantic privacy shield could come into effect. In October 2022, US President Joe Biden signed an executive order detailing the actions the White House will take to comply with the new bilateral privacy framework currently under negotiation. Is Hungary crisis-proof? This is answered by Barnabas Virag, MNB Vice President and Tibor Toth, State Secretary of the Ministry of Finance, as well as several other high-ranking financial experts at the Napi.Gazdasag conference. Learn more about the conference! Covering major cities in Java (Surabaya, Semarang, and Yogyakarta), the program, Nokia said, will improve Indosats network performance and capacity. Indosat tapped Nokias AirScale portfolio to modernise its network and enhance capacity and operational efficiency which will support 5G services in Indonesia. Nokia also supported with the design process enabling Indosat to maximise the benefits of network consolidation. This network integration is part of our commitment to deliver a marvelous experience to all our customers. Moving forward, Indosat will continue expanding its network throughout Indonesia because we believe that inclusive internet access will unlock various untapped potentials and improve the nation's economy in the near future, said Indosat president, director, and CEO Vikram Sinha. "Our proven expertise in delivering complex projects played a vital role in the completion of this consolidation project in a timely manner. The program has set a new benchmark for other network consolidation initiatives across the world, said Nokia chief customer experience officer Ricky Corker. Nokia has helped Indosat to optimise the total number of physical sites across its sub-brands, IM3 and Tri by 30%. Indosat has deployed sites in new regions. The combined spectrum assets from both service providers were leveraged, improving the performance for IM3 by up to 42% and up to 170% for Tri. include_once "/home/jwreview/public_html/$theme/includes/sidebar.php"; ?> Did Big Tech just win big at the US Supreme Court? That seems to be the view of most commentators in the wake of Thursday's unanimous decision in two cases that had the potential to challenge the so-called liability shield that protects internet service providers from liability for content posted by their users. But I'm not so sure Big Tech won much at all. All the justices really did was kick the can down the road a bit. When the issue comes before them again and it will, probably soon there are at least four justices who seem willing to weaken or eliminate the liability shield. The cases in question involved separate lawsuits, one against Google and one against Twitter, for allegedly abetting terrorist acts via content posted on their sites. In both cases, the defendants claimed that Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act made them immune from suit. The arguments, which I've analyzed before, are complex. Suffice it to say that when the cases were argued in February, many observers thought the sky was about to fall. A decision against the ISPs, we were assured, would break the internet. In Thursday's unanimous opinions, the justices never addressed the immunity issue. They only ruled that the Twitter plaintiffs hadn't made out a case for abetting, and the Google plaintiffs probably hadn't either. A Big Tech win for now, sure. But next time, the opposite could be true. For all we know, the next case filed in federal court might find a sympathetic judge who decides that Section 230 does not in fact shield internet service providers from liability when their content causes harm. Not a single word in the court's decisions in the Google and Twitter cases would serve as a restraint. And when it comes up again, the Section 230 liability shield is probably in trouble. Justice Clarence Thomas, the court's most senior member, is a well-known skeptic of the view that Section 230 renders the ISPs immune from suit. The court's newest member, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, has questioned whether the it is consistent with what Congress intended to use the provision to protect ISPs from suits when they actually promote (as opposed to merely transmit) troubling content. Other justices, particularly Amy Coney Barrett and Samuel Alito, also seemed to disagree with the broad claims of protection made by the ISPs. SIGN UP FOR THE DAILY JWR UPDATE. IT'S FREE. Just click here. Of course, Congress could act before the issue reaches the Supreme Court again, thus resolving the limits of ISP liability once and for all. After all, Big Tech seems to be hated across the political spectrum these days. During the 2020 campaign, both Donald Trump and Joe Biden called for the provision to be repealed. And congressional action, rather than judicial fiat, would seem the ideal way to settle the argument over what the limits of liability should be. Alas, it's difficult to imagine that the parties could agree on exactly how to reform it. One reason, as the legal scholar Jeff Kosseff has pointed out, is that many members of Congress seem not even to understand what Section 230 does the reason, perhaps, that it is blamed for pretty much anything online that some segment of the public doesn't like. According to an analysis by Brookings, the last time the provision was amended a 2018 revision intended to shut down sex-trafficking sites the effect on the targets was small. The unintended consequences on innocent users were substantial. The members are not alone in their misunderstanding. Even the best of the news media get this one wrong. Kosseff tells the amusing if troubling story of the New York Times having to correct itself on whether it is Section 230 or the First Amendment that protects objectionable speech on social media, and then correct itself again later on whether it is Section 230 or the First Amendment that enables platforms to remove content not meeting their standards. (Hint: In neither case is the right answer the statute.) None of this is to say that Section 230 is perfect as it stands, or that amendments would necessarily be bad. That's a question for another day. Nor am I saying that when the issue arises again, the justices ought to limit the scope of the provision. I'm suggesting only that it's way too early to say that Big Tech has won the fight. Policymaking is a game for long-termers. include_once "/home/jwreview/public_html/$theme/includes/sidebar.php"; ?> Politico ranked Los Angeles the most reliably Democratic city in the next presidential election. Just yesterday, during my errands, I was lectured by a vegan at KFC, an EV driver at the gas station, and the pronoun police at the grocery store checkout stand. What I need is a leaf blower, but for people. Barack Obama asserted in a Netflix interview Monday that Americans now live in two separate realities because of the news coverage by Fox News. Obama feels that the conservative cable news channel spent his entire eight years as president taking shots at him. It was like he'd never left Chicago. Politico said split reaction to the Durham Report shows Americans live in different universes. That's true. Half the country believes the paparazzi were pursuing Harry and Meghan in a high-speed car chase and the other half think Harry and Meghan were pursuing the paparazzi in a high-speed car chase. Prince Harry claims he and Meghan were pursued by paparazzi in a two-hour-long high-speed car chase through New York Tuesday night which he said could have ended in a catastrophe. We all know the cause. On her deathbed Queen Elizabeth ordered James Bond to make it look like an accident. Mayor Eric Adams downplayed Harry and Meghan's story that they were dangerously pursued by paparazzi in New York City Tuesday night. The formerly royal couple claimed that they were in a two-hour car chase through the streets of Manhattan. That was just the Uber driver running from ICE. New York was so teeming with arriving migrants from Mexico Monday the mayor bused them upstate. You notice you never hear news stories about migrants moving into Los Angeles. That's because in L.A. even the homeless have to pay $2,500-a-month rent to Dick's Sporting Goods for the tent. GET ARGUS' DAILY SMILES TO YOUR INBOX. SIGN UP FOR THE JWR UPDATE. IT'S FREE. Just click here. Congress heard FBI whistleblowers testify of the mass investigations of Americans who were in Washington, D.C., on January 6th who didn't storm the U.S. Capitol. After hearing their testimony, I just canceled an engagement in Washington. I'm a comedian, not a terrorist, but try telling THAT to the FBI. FBI whistleblowers testified to a new committee in Congress Thursday investigating the political weaponization of the FBI in recent years. Republicans accuse the agency of being a military arm of the Democratic Party. It's not easy being the FBI Director, J. Edgar Hoover left some very high heels to fill. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed a law banning grade-school drag shows to try to curtail transgender indoctrination of kids. However the new law overlooked old sitcoms. The classic sitcom MASH is owned by Fox which was just bought by Disney, so Corporal Klinger is now a Disney Princess. University of Wyoming's Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority sued its national office for forcing their chapter to pledge a transgender, saying it disrespects women. There was one principle drilled into the heads of my pledge class at my fraternity in the 70s. Never treat a woman like an object, it hates that. Senator Dianne Feinstein returned to Washington after a string of illnesses that plagued her including shingles, encephalitis and Ramsay Hunt Syndrome. The senator is eighty-nine, very fragile and wheelchair-bound. Her staffers maintain that when the senator is dead, she will consider resigning. The Minneapolis Star Tribune reported that police have apprehended a suspect for stealing the famous ruby red slippers that Judy Garland wore in the Wizard of Oz from a museum. The red slippers are worth three million dollars. Which is still not enough to get you arrested for shoplifting in New York. The BBC posted stunning bright and detailed new digital photos of the Titanic on the ocean floor on Tuesday. It reminds me that life is all about perspective. For the 1,500 people who drowned when the Titanic sank in 1912 it was a tragedy, but for the lobsters in the ship kitchen it was a heaven-sent miracle. (COMMENT, BELOW) include_once "/home/jwreview/public_html/$theme/includes/sidebar.php"; ?> Joe Biden became president largely by promising to Make America Normal Again. The shambolic U.S.-Mexico border confirms how Biden shattered that promise. There is nothing normal about the coast-to-coast disaster over which he governs, thanks largely to Bidens deeply abnormal definition of border security. Under Biden, the southern border has become a giant, open-air staging ground from which illegal aliens bludgeon U.S. territorial integrity and national sovereignty. Federal agents busted an Afghan illegal alien on May 10 at Otay Mesa, California, near San Diego. His fingerprints confirmed his spot on the terrorist watch list. This fanatic is hardly alone. Terror-list designees arrested at the border have exploded from three in FY 2020, with Trump fully in control, to 15 in FY 2021, 98 in FY 2022, and 85 through April just halfway through FY 2023. And these were those who were intercepted. Aside from the 183 suspected terrorists apprehended on Bidens watch, how many walk Americas streets today? Who knows? As if the U.S. needed more homeless people, illegal aliens who get waved into America now clog the sidewalks and alleys of El Paso and other cities. SIGN UP FOR THE DAILY JWR UPDATE. IT'S FREE. Just click here. Even more illegals receive court dates for asylum hearings in 2026, 2027, and beyond. What will they do until then? Who knows? Free bus rides whisk illegal aliens to Chicago, where some have slept on the floors of local police stations. A plan to house 250 to 500 illegals in the abandoned South Shore High School enraged predominantly black locals. Send them back! some yelled at a community meeting on the matter. One protesters placard read: Build the Wall 2024. We have no jobs in our community, and we have been fighting for jobs for decades, resident Natasha Dunn told the Chicago Sun-Times. So, please tell me, how is this fair? Rather than instruct illegal aliens on incoming buses to return to the southern border and swim home, Mayor Eric Adams (D New York City) tried housing them in government-school gymnasia. Parents erupted, and Adams backed down. Regardless, he still shoehorns illegals into luxury hotel rooms that cost taxpayers some $258-per-night each. Cost to aliens: $0.00. Midtown Manhattans legendary Roosevelt Hotel is becoming an illegal-alien shelter. Almost 50 percent of those hotel rooms are taken up by migrant asylum seekers that [sic] we are paying for, Adams said. So instead of monies coming from people who are visiting us and spending in our tourism, in our Broadway plays, instead of them using those hotels, we are using those hotels. If you have swallowed the party line of the Democrats, it was the storming of the Capitol by dangerous Trump "insurrectionists" on Jan. 6, 2021. For more than two years, Democrats and their parrots in the liberal media touted 1/6 as the worst thing that has happened to the United States since 9/11. President Biden went even farther, repeatedly claiming that 1/6 was the "greatest threat" to American democracy since the Civil War. But sorry. I don't buy Bidens BS for a nanosecond. Jan. 6, 2021 was definitely not a good day for America. There were violent skirmishes with police outside the Capitol and a lot of window breaking and trespassing inside. Some police were hurt and their attackers have been charged accordingly. But the unarmed mob mostly middle-aged men and women in their finest MAGA gear, a few dozen rightwing nutjobs and a sprinkling of undercover government informants killed no one and was hardly an existential threat to America. Jan. 6 was a big deal, but it will never happen again. It was a one-off, a one-day national embarrassment that played out in front of the whole world. It's over. Done. But what is not over and done is actually the greatest threat to America since 2015 the weaponization of the FBI and the CIA by Democrats to help the 2016 presidential campaign of Hillary Clinton and hurt Donald Trump. The details of that weaponization were reported this week in the long-awaited Durham Report. In its 305 pages, special counsel John Durham confirms what we have known all along that the FBI's upper management was a corrupt gang of Obama/Hillary partisans who abused their powers to harm Trump politically. They broke the law, lied to federal judges, hid information and did whatever it took to ensure that the FBI helped Hillary and hurt Trump before and after he was elected president. Gift this article Share this article paywall-free. LINCOLN U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin unveiled a plan to help address the state's health care worker shortage during a stop in Central Illinois Monday morning. Durbin, speaking with reporters at Lincoln Memorial Hospital, shared his Roadmap to Grow Illinois Rural Health Workforce, a partnership with hospitals, community health centers, medical and nursing schools, community colleges, dentists, physicians and nurses that will organize efforts and provide new funding to address health care workforce shortages in rural Illinois. To aid those efforts, Durbin said he has partnered with Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., on legislation to ensure funding for the National Health Service Corps, a government aid program that supports more than 20,000 primary care medical, dental, and behavioral health providers through scholarships and loan repayment programs. The aim of the program is to expand the country's supply of health care workers, especially in underserved communities. Doctors, nurses, dentists, and oral health clinicians are committed to serving rural areas, Durbin said at Lincoln Memorial Hospital. This historic investment is building the pipeline of new health providers. Residents of rural communities often wait longer to see medical specialists, have fewer physicians and must travel longer distances to access care. Rural residents also face a shortage of mental health providers and more than 2.8 million people in Illinois live in an area with too few dentists. On the state level, the initiative is a collaborative effort between health agencies and universities and colleges throughout the state and is trying to address the staffing shortage of medical professionals. The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated an existing problem and the state will face a shortage of more than 15,000 nurses by 2025. More than half of the state's 195,000 nurses are over the age of 55, according to the American Nurses Association of Illinois. One major issue leading to staffing shortages is the limited educational opportunities for those seeking to enter the workforce. The program seeks to remedy the shortage of nurse educators by providing incentives for nurses to pursue teaching. Currently less than 8,000 nurses graduate in Illinois each year, which is not enough to provide communities with the staffing they need. The initiative also promotes the National Health Service Corps and Nurse Corps scholarship and loan repayment programs, which reduces the financial burden that may keep some students from entering the medical field. "This roadmap that Sen. Durbin has talked about today could really hopefully fill in those gaps that were seeing take place in our community so that we can provide the best type of care that our citizens really deserve, said Dr. Dana Ray, medical director of recovery services for Crossing Healthcare in Decatur and member of the National Health Service Corps. "We are not Chicago, we are not St. Louis," Ray told Lee Enterprises. "For us to be able to get individuals to come into the middle of the state, surrounded by cornfields, we need something thats going to attract them." Ray said that the financial incentives are especially important as Decatur faces a shortage of EMTs, nurses and pediatric providers. The Federal Health Resources and Services Administration provides grant funding to support Area Health Education Centers such as the ones found at Illinois State University, which received $564,386 in federal funds in January. The initiative would expand funding for AHECs and support dual-credit enrollment for high school students interested in the medical field by partnering with local community colleges. The legislation was introduced by Durbin in March. It would reauthorize funding for the program and extend it through fiscal year 2026. Gift this article Share this article paywall-free. CHARLESTON The Charleston and Mattoon police departments and the Coles County Sheriff's Office have each seen their number of officer candidates decrease by more than half in the past 10 years or so. That smaller pool of candidates has been providing just enough qualified officers to fill vacant positions while offering fewer opportunities to create a backup list of candidates or diversify the ranks of those on patrol. More than 94% of the officers in each of those three law enforcement agencies are white. The populations in their service areas are predominately white, but the composition is 84.1% for Charleston, 89.9% for Coles County, and 92.9% for Mattoon. "Just getting people of different backgrounds to apply is a challenge," said Charleston Police Department Chief Heath Thornton of the low number of applicants. Still, top law enforcement administrators in Coles County see opportunities for increasing the number of candidates and recruiting more from different backgrounds. These opportunities include changing candidate requirements, partnering with Eastern Illinois University and Lake Land College, and stepping up marketing efforts. The administrators reported that the Charleston Police Department's average pool of testing candidates decreased from 40-50 to 8-15, the Coles County Sheriff's Office's decreased from 40 to 12, and Mattoon Police Department's decreased from 40-50 to 10-15. "We have had some really good candidates apply, but the numbers have definitely decreased," Thornton said. The Charleston Police Department had been operating with 32 officers but recently hired two more, both women. Thornton said national news coverage of police officers in large cities who have been accused of excessive use of force might have intimidated some prospective candidates and discouraged them from applying. Coles County Chief Deputy Tyler Heleine agreed that news reports of those situations may cause some to shy away from seeking jobs in law enforcement. Heleine also said applicants have had a wide choice of advertised positions in law enforcement, construction and other fields during the worker shortages of recent years. "The competition is pretty substantial but it's not just law enforcement; there are other jobs out there," Heleine said, adding that some trades offer better pay and/or more opportunities for daytime, weekday work than law enforcement. Diversity underrepresentation in policing Data gathered from October 2022 to May 2023 from nearly 120 law enforcement agencies in 14 states shows frequent disparity in the racial and ethnic makeup of the agencies compared to the communities they are hired to protect and serve. Data gathered from October 2022 to May 2023 from nearly 120 law enforcement agencies in 14 states shows frequent disparity in the racial and ethnic makeup of the agencies compared to the communities they are hired to protect and serve. The Coles County Sheriff's Office has 47 officers, including corrections officers at the jail and court security officers. Heleine said corrections has a high turnover rate as some of its experienced officers leave to take higher paying jobs with municipal police departments, but corrections officers staff the jail and provide the main source for the sheriff's office to promote officers to patrol. "That's why, for us, it's so essential to keep our jail staff," Heleine said. He noted that the sheriff's office usually exhausts a new candidate list as soon as it gets one, like its 12 recent candidates. "We are hoping to be pretty close to being able to fully staff the jail with those 12." Heleine said the sheriff's office recently increased its applicant pools from four to 12 during the past year, in part by opening applications to 20-year-olds who will turn 21 in the calendar year in which they are hired. He said this caters to younger candidates who want to "get a foot in the door" in law enforcement and are only planning at that time to get an associate's degree. Chief Sam Gaines said the Mattoon Police Department had required its candidates to have associate's degrees but found this requirement, in place for two years recently, was reducing the number of applicants. Gaines said there are a lot of people with no associate's degree who would make great officers because they are already adept at communicating with people in the field. He also noted that the department's new officers must complete 16 weeks of training at the University of Illinois Police Training Institute, plus meet continuing education requirements. The Mattoon Police Department has 39 officers, and the city is working to get this number up to 42. Gaines said they have so far been able to fill vacant positions with the available pool of candidates while being "pretty selective." He said half the candidates do not make it past the background checks because of their past employment records, criminal history and other issues. "We will go back to being short-staffed before we hire anyone and everyone. We want the best people," Gaines said. He added that settling for lesser candidates can result in agencies getting a "bad apple" within their ranks. Mattoon Police Department recruits candidates for testing through the IO Solutions public safety consulting firm in the Chicago area. All three law enforcement agencies draw job shadowing students, interns and candidates from Lake Land College's longstanding criminal justice program, which has a new crime scene investigations component, and from Eastern Illinois University's still-new criminology and criminal justice program. Thornton said Eastern's program is a great new resource to have for law enforcement agencies in the relatively small communities of Coles County that otherwise have trouble attracting applicants from outside of the area. He said the university's program offers a great opportunity to draw more candidates, particularly from diverse backgrounds. "I really do think it's going to come around," Thornton said. Charleston Officer Erica Roa said she previously was employed at Eastern, where she oversaw an enforcement grant. Roa said she worked closely with local police officers as part of this position and enjoyed the experience, so she applied to become a Charleston police officer 11 years ago. Roa, who works as a school resource officer, said she enjoys talking to community members through her work in law enforcement and being there for people when they are in crisis, noting that police officers often play a counselor role. Roa said she has found that males and females have been equally comfortable talking to her during such crisis times. "As long as you can connect and empathize, they will talk with you. It doesn't matter what gender you are," Roa said. Charleston Police Department has already been setting up booths at job fairs at Eastern and at Western Illinois University, which also has a criminal justice program. Heleine said the sheriff's office has not participated in many job fairs in the past, but it now plans to send representatives to Northwestern University, Southern Illinois University and possibly schools in Indiana. "I am hoping with that it will broaden the applicant pool," Heleine said, adding he would like to see more applicants and a more diverse group of them. State spending analysis: Which states spend the most on policing and corrections? State spending analysis: Which states spend the most on policing and corrections? Which states spend the most on policing and corrections? Democratic and Republican state policing and corrections spending Gift this article Share this article paywall-free. An ambitious, technology-driven economic development initiative would gain up to $1.425 billion in endowment funding from the Republican-sponsored Senate version of the 2023-24 state budget. The nonprofit NCInnovation has as its primary goal the commercialization of research developed and funded within the UNC System, utilizing regional hubs with a rural North Carolina emphasis. Both Democratic Gov. Roy Coopers state budget recommendation and the Republican House state budget proposal support NCInnovation, but with a much lower $50 million dedication. North Carolina is a national leader in research and development funding, but data shows we lag competing states in commercializing that research and turning it into jobs, said Bennet Waters, president and chief executive of NCInnovation. NCInnovation has several high-profile members on its board of directors and management team. Chairman is Kelly King, the former BB&T Corp. and retired Truist Financial chairman and chief executive. Board members also include Stan Kelly, retired president of Piedmont Triad Partnership, UNC System President Peter Hans and N.C. A&T State Chancellor Harold Martin. Im grateful to North Carolinas legislators for their many months of work, King said in a statement. NCInnovations model will be a gamechanger for North Carolina, especially our rural areas that have the human talent, but need support to press forward on commercializing research outputs. Waters said the nonprofit was created by some of the states top business minds to enable a public-private partnership. Our objective is simple: provide local support for talent and research to create jobs and economic opportunities for all North Carolinians. NCInnovation plans a data-center approach with the applied research toward actual market needs, said Sen. Brent Jackson, R-Sampson, during the May 15 unveiling of the GOP Senate state budget. It will help generate homegrown industries and companies to stay in North Carolina and hire North Carolinians for decades to come. Senate leader Phil Berger, R-Rockingham, said during the presentation that the initial funding request for NCInnovation was $250 million a year for 10 years. Our thinking was that it was better to go ahead and endow (NCInnovation) as opposed to an annual appropriation, Berger said. Senate budget writers hedged their funding pledges by placing limitations on how much can be used annually, along with stringent investment and compliance requirements. There have been similar healthcare commercialization initiatives in North Carolina, in particular involving academic medical centers and medical schools, such as Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist and Wake Forest University School of Medicine. NCInnovation has signed memorandums of understanding with four UNC System members: East Carolina University; North Carolina A&T State University; UNC Charlotte and Western Carolina University. First-step goals According to the GOP Senate budget bill, NCInnovation would be charged with developing a network of regional innovation hubs, to incentivize applied research opportunities, and to support the commercial growth and scale of emerging technologies. The nonprofit would enable North Carolina to better compete with other states for the ability to commercialize innovations resulting from in-State, world-class educational and research entities, according to the language. North Carolina will benefit from similar efforts to accelerate commercialization of theoretical and applied science and inventions stemming from the efforts and activities of its educational facilities and other resident research entities, according to the budget bill. According to a 2022 National Commission on Innovation report, North Carolina is a well-recognized leader in research and development. But the outputs of that R&D base dont measure up to its size. Companies that may have been born in North Carolina move to other states to grow in more sophisticated innovation ecosystems. Failure to nurture an innovation ecosystem withholds benefits from a state or transfers them to other states, according to the report. The same multiplier effect applies: one missed opportunity withholds the follow-on jobs and economic benefits that might be created in the future. Legislative intent Jackson said the reasoning for such a major funding push for NCInnovation is the increasing challenge of creating and retaining jobs in rural North Carolina. We need to extend economic vitality to every corner of this state, Jackson said. To do so, we must take a visionary approach. Simply put, we are leveraging our state surplus to help develop homegrown innovations. Its a bid to improve North Carolinas competitive position relative to peer states. Jackson said NCInnovation represents the offspring of a recent review of North Carolinas innovation ecosystem by a national economic research firm. The data revealed good news and bad news, Jackson said. The good news is that our population centers are landing major economic-development projects. North Carolina is an absolute powerhouse on research and development funding at $13 billion annually. However, the outputs of that R&D funding doesnt measure up to the size of our research base, Jackson said. Broad-based support NCInnovation already has several high-profile economic and educational supporters. Jamie Dimon, chief executive of JPMorgan Chase & Co., said in a statement that with business all over the world, we understand that innovation and scale begins locally, which is why we thought it especially important to support North Carolinas entrepreneurial development through NCInnovation. JPMorgan, the nations largest bank by asset size, has been on a major Chase branch and operational push into the Charlotte and Triangle region in recent years. So far, its only committed to one Triad branch in Greensboro. This model holds great promise to expand North Carolinas technology commercialization and serve as a blueprint to expand American innovation, Dimon said. Ward Nye, chairman, president and chief executive of Martin Marietta, said that with a global race under way for applied research products with commercial applications, NCInnovations model seeks to give North Carolina a competitive edge. That may well determine our future growth trajectory. Can it work? NC Innovations can play a notable role in helping rural areas of North Carolina become more relevant locations for advanced technology operations and advancements, said Michael Walden, an economics professor at N.C. State University. There is no question that rural areas in North Carolina indeed, in most states have lagged behind urban areas in economic growth, particularly growth in emerging sectors like technology, Walden said. The question is how to change this. The legislation is based on the notion that public programs can guide economic investments to rural areas. Certainly if the new program is able to help develop the training for local labor to attract these firms, then that is a step forward, Walden said. However, Walden cautioned that as rural residents gain expertise in advanced technologies, what would prevent the trained labor from moving to other areas particularly metro areas? There is more than labor availability needed to attract firms, such as those in the tech industry. High speed internet is at the top of the list. Also, tech firms often like to locate near similar firms for the valuable interactions that can occur. Hopefully, the new program will take a comprehensive approach to economic development in rural areas, Walden said, There certainly are numerous positive features of rural regions to promote such as much lower cost housing, access to open space, less traffic, and a quieter lifestyle compared to the big cities. Gift this article Share this article paywall-free. Three of Old Dominion Freight Line Inc.s top executives, including its next chief executive Marty Freeman, were provided with significant base-salary raises by the companys board of directors. Old Dominion, a top-10 U.S. carrier and one of the Triads largest publicly traded corporations, finished fiscal 2022 at a record $1.38 billion, up 33.1%. According to a regulatory filing Thursday, the board approved the raises Wednesday that go into effect July 1. On Feb. 1, Old Dominion said chief executive and president Greg Gantt would retire June 30 after nearly five years as chief executive. He is expected to remain on the companys board of directors. At that time, the Thomasville trucking company said Freeman would be promoted from chief operating officer to chief executive on July 1. Freeman also will replace Gantt as president. Old Dominion said in its fiscal 2022 proxy filing that Freeman had a 3.6% increase in base salary to $604,204, as well as a 32.3% increase in incentive pay to $5.51 million, and total compensation of $7.85 million, up 25.2%. In Thursdays filing, the board approved increasing Freemans base salary to $956,800, up 58.3%. By comparison, Gantts base salary for 2022 was $917,701, The board promoted Adam Satterfield, its chief financial officer and assistant secretary from senior vice president to executive vice president. As part of the promotion, Satterfields base salary is being raised, also effective July 1, from $510,753 in 2022 to $628,074, representing a 23% increase. The board also raised the salary of Gregory Plemmons, who is being promoted to chief operating officer on July 1. Plemmons currently serves as senior vice president for sales. Plemmons base salary is being raised by 26.7% from $495,619 in 2022 to $628,074. The board also approved an increase to 100% of Plemmons base salary or $628,074 in the performance-based restricted stock unit award target. That increase would go into effect in January. Separately, the board declared Thursday a quarterly dividend of 40 cents a share, payable June 21 to shareholders registered as of June 7. Gift this article Share this article paywall-free. Q: We have seen a grey squirrel with an orange tail in our yard. Is this unusual, or genetic change? J.Y. Answer: Weve had a white squirrel in Walkertown and a white deer in Pfafftown. Now we have a gray squirrel with an orange tail in Winston-Salem. Halley D. Buckanoff, the Wildlife Center supervisor at the North Carolina Zoo, said such colors are not uncommon. Its likely just one of the many color morphs of our eastern gray squirrels. I have some with blonde tails in my area, Buckanoff said. They can be all black to all white with a range of colors in between. Red squirrels are typically only found in the mountains and not in the Piedmont area. Q: The pickup for bulk trash in our zone has consistently been over the July 4th week. Not only is this an eyesore over the holiday, but the items in the road prevent guests from parking for gatherings. How can we get this changed? J.H. Answer: Bulky item pickup began March 6 and goes through Sept. 8. Johnita Campbell, the deputy director of the City of Winston-Salem Sanitation Department, says its not possible to change the schedule. We are unable to make adjustments to our routes due to the complex nature of scheduling the timely collection of bulk materials throughout the city, she said. There are several holidays within the collection period in which any number of neighborhoods may have items out for pick-up. There is one option: If your pickup falls on a holiday, you can take our items to the landfill yourself. We apologize that the display of these items causes the cleanliness of our city to be in jeopardy for a short time; however, citizens are allowed to dispose of their items by taking them to the Solid Waste Landfill located at 325 W. Hanes Mill Road, Campbell said. For more information about the landfill, go to www.cityofws.org/1259/Landfill-Information. Here is some information about the items that will be picked up and the items that will not be picked up: Items that will be picked up include: Appliances, carpet, furniture, mattresses, and toys. Items that will not be picked up: Building materials, car parts, cement, electronic waste, glass, hazardous or infectious waste, lumber, oil drums, paint, rocks, tires, wood, yard waste, and electronics. All types of televisions, computers, monitors, and computer related equipment including printers, keyboards, mice, fax machines and scanners are banned from landfills in North Carolina and will not be picked up. Q: The post office on Town Run Lane in downtown Winston Salem is supposed to have their lobby open to access post office boxes from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturdays. I have found the door locked on several Saturday mornings. I have attempted to address this with the workers there, but it keeps happening. What can we do? K.J. Answer: Philip Bogenberger, a spokesman for the U.S. Postal Service, apologized for the inconvenience. Staff will be reminded to keep doors unlocked during lobby hours, he said. Gift this article Share this article paywall-free. Jim Carrey was quoted about overcoming failure. So was Michael Jordan. But the students who graduated from the Early College of Forsyth at Wait Chapel on Monday have already proven that theyre a pretty resilient bunch when it comes to bouncing back. Take Luis Vazquez, for example. He was a freshman in 2020 when COVID forced Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools to move to remote learning for the remainder of the school year and into much of the following school year. I went from straight As to being a failing student, Vazquez said. Eventually, he pulled himself together, but it wasnt easy. You have to think, This is what I have to do. This is not a want but a need, he said. On Monday, this son of immigrants became the first of his family to graduate from high school in this country, and hell be the first in his family to go to college. Vazquez is headed to UNC Charlotte to study psychology. This is a big deal for my family, he said. Most of the people in my family never came close to college. Vazquez was one of 60 seniors from the Early College to graduate on Monday, the kickoff to the school districts graduation season. After a break of a few weeks, the bulk of graduations will take place on the second weekend of June. Students in the Early College attend campus at Forsyth Technical Community College and graduate with an associates degree. Before the ceremony, science teacher Leigh Ann McDowell filmed each of the students offering words of wisdom to next years incoming class of freshmen. The advice ranged from Dont worry about grades so much to choose your friends wisely. McDowell talked about how the class had persevered through adversity. I could cry I love them so much, she said. They are going to change the world. A few of the student speakers broke down on the podium as they thanked their parents in Spanish. A common theme in all the speeches was the closeness that developed among the students. They talked about going to Camp Raven Knob, SCarowinds and the COVID shutdown. Michelle-Yvette Cruzat, one of three valedictorians and a co-class president, referred to that period as monotonous days spent behind a screen. Once back together in the fall of 2021, the class bonded through hard work. We are leaving a time and place in our life that has greatly shaped us into the humans we are, she said. Her co-president David Calderon Lacayo referred to all the blood, sweat and tears, his classmates poured into their studies. This is our moment, our accomplishment, our time, he said. PHOTOS: Early College of Forsyth graduation Gift this article Share this article paywall-free. DUBAI, United Arab Emirates Near a peak of the Zagros Mountains in central Iran, workers are building a nuclear facility so deep in the earth that it is likely beyond the range of a last-ditch U.S. weapon designed to destroy such sites, according to experts and satellite imagery analyzed by The Associated Press. The photos and videos from Planet Labs PBC show Iran has been digging tunnels in the mountain near the Natanz nuclear site, which has come under repeated sabotage attacks amid Tehrans standoff with the West over its atomic program. With Iran now producing uranium close to weapons-grade levels after the collapse of its nuclear deal with world powers, the installation complicates the Wests efforts to halt Tehran from potentially developing an atomic bomb as diplomacy over its nuclear program remains stalled. Completion of such a facility would be a nightmare scenario that risks igniting a new escalatory spiral, warned Kelsey Davenport, the director of nonproliferation policy at the Washington-based Arms Control Association. Given how close Iran is to a bomb, it has very little room to ratchet up its program without tripping U.S. and Israeli red lines. So at this point, any further escalation increases the risk of conflict. The construction at the Natanz site comes five years after then-President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew America from the nuclear accord. Trump argued the deal did not address Tehrans ballistic missile program, nor its support of militias across the wider Middle East. But what it did do was strictly limit Irans enrichment of uranium to 3.67% purity, powerful enough only to power civilian power stations, and keep its stockpile to just some 660 pounds. Since the demise of the nuclear accord, Iran has said it is enriching uranium up to 60%, though inspectors recently discovered the country had produced uranium particles that were 83.7% pure. That is just a short step from reaching the 90% threshold of weapons-grade uranium. As of February, international inspectors estimated Irans stockpile was over 10 times what it was under the Obama-era deal, with enough enriched uranium to allow Tehran to make several nuclear bombs, according to the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency. President Joe Biden and Israels prime minister have said they wont allow Iran to build a nuclear weapon. We believe diplomacy is the best way to achieve that goal, but the president has also been clear that we have not removed any option from the table, the White House said in a statement to the AP. The Islamic Republic denies it is seeking nuclear weapons, though officials in Tehran now openly discuss their ability to pursue one. Irans mission to the United Nations, in response to questions from the AP regarding the construction, said that Irans peaceful nuclear activities are transparent and under the International Atomic Energy Agency safeguards. However, Iran has been limiting access for international inspectors for years. Iran says the new construction will replace an above-ground centrifuge manufacturing center at Natanz struck by an explosion and fire in July 2020. Tehran blamed the incident on Israel, long suspected of running sabotage campaigns against its program. Tehran has not acknowledged any other plans for the facility, though it would have to declare the site to the IAEA if they planned to introduce uranium into it. The Vienna-based IAEA did not respond to questions about the new underground facility. The new project is being constructed next to Natanz, about 140 miles south of Tehran. Natanz has been a point of international concern since its existence became known two decades ago. Protected by anti-aircraft batteries, fencing and Irans paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, the facility sprawls across 1 square mile in the countrys arid Central Plateau. Satellite photos taken in April by Planet Labs PBC and analyzed by the AP show Iran burrowing into the Kuh-e Kolang Gaz La, or Pickaxe Mountain, which is just beyond Natanzs southern fencing. A different set of images analyzed by the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies reveals that four entrances have been dug into the mountainside, two to the east and another two to the west. Each is 20 feet wide and 26 feet tall. The scale of the work can be measured in large dirt mounds, two to the west and one to the east. Based on the size of the spoil piles and other satellite data, experts at the center told AP that Iran is likely building a facility at a depth of between 260 feet and 328 feet. The centers analysis, which it provided exclusively to AP, is the first to estimate the tunnel systems depth based on satellite imagery. The Institute for Science and International Security, a Washington-based nonprofit long focused on Irans nuclear program, suggested last year the tunnels could go even deeper. Experts say the size of the construction project indicates Iran likely would be able to use the underground facility to enrich uranium as well not just to build centrifuges. Those tube-shaped centrifuges, arranged in large cascades of dozens of machines, rapidly spin uranium gas to enrich it. Additional cascades spinning would allow Iran to quickly enrich uranium under the mountains protection. So the depth of the facility is a concern because it would be much harder for us. It would be much harder to destroy using conventional weapons, such as like a typical bunker buster bomb, said Steven De La Fuente, a research associate at the center who led the analysis of the tunnel work. 25 facts about nuclear weapons 25 facts about nuclear weapons Countries armed with nuclear weapons Trying to stop nuclear proliferation Refusing to agree to the accord Large arsenals of the late 1960s China's "modest" nuclear weapons stockpile Lost bombs and other missing nuclear devices To launch or not in 12 minutes Assassinating Iran's top nuclear scientists Blackout at Iran's nuclear fuel enrichment facility U.S., Iran negotiate nuclear deal Iran steps up uranium enrichment A weapon as large as a minivan Largest weapon in U.S. stockpile Billions for nuclear deterrent $600 billion to modernize nuclear arsenal U.N. tries to ban nuclear weapons U.S. offers a "nuclear umbrella" Withdrawing forward-deployed weapons in the Pacific Estimates on North Korea's nuclear capabilities North Korea unveils enormous new missile North Korea tests nuclear bombs Trump, Kim Jong-un meet in historic summit Second North Korea, U.S. summit held in Hanoi Trump crosses into DMZ separating two Koreas Russia-Ukraine War raises concerns about Russia's use of nuclear arsenal Gift this article Share this article paywall-free. Lincoln Fire and Rescue responded to an apartment fire in south Lincoln that caused an estimated $200,000 in damage on Monday morning, the department said. The fire was reported at 10:48 a.m. at 4401 S 27th St. The residents returned home to find the fire in their Southwood Village apartment, according to Lincoln Fire and Rescue Battalion Chief Aaron Pospisil. Upon arriving at the scene, LFR found the fire coming out of both the north and south sides of the apartment. Pospisil said the damage is limited to the single apartment, which was a nearly total loss. We made a pretty aggressive attack and got the fire put out and thankfully saved any damage to any of the adjoining apartments, Pospisil said. No one was injured. About 40 residents live in the apartment building that was evacuated. Around 12:30 p.m., LFR Battalion Chief Bob Watton estimated the damage at $200,000 after Fire Inspector Jason Relford examined the aftermath. Relford said the fire was caused by items left on the stove by the apartment tenant between 9 and 10 a.m. while dropping her child off at school. 5 most common causes of reported house fires What causes house fires? #5. Smoking materials #4. Intentional #3. Electrical distribution and lighting equipment #2. Heating equipment #1. Cooking Gift this article Share this article paywall-free. In October 2020, three of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Police Department's 26 sworn officers were officers of color, including one Hispanic patrolman and two Black officers. The Nebraska State Patrol fared even worse, with six Black troopers and seven Hispanic troopers on a force of 434 sworn law enforcement agents. On a force of 82 sworn deputies, the Lancaster County Sheriff's Office employed three deputies of color. And 1.7% of Lincoln Police Department officers were Black, while another 4.2% were Hispanic a partial reflection of the community, but not a complete one. If I were to give ourselves a grade, were definitely not getting an A, Lincoln Police's Jason Stille said then. We need to do better. We have definite room to grow. Facing calls for reform in the aftermath of George Floyd's murder at the hands of white police officers in Minneapolis, local police officials vowed to do better while lamenting the challenges of recruiting anyone much less people of color to an increasingly unpopular profession. Nearly three years after Floyd's murder and the racial reckoning that followed, the four major law enforcement agencies that police parts of Lincoln largely tout more racially diverse ranks than they did in 2020, but those forces have shrunk while agencies struggle to recruit Black law enforcement officers at the same pace as other races, according to recent staffing data. When you talk about diversity in law enforcement, were never gonna arrive," said Col. John Bolduc, head of the Nebraska State Patrol. "Were never gonna sit back and say, OK, weve done that. Its constantly gonna be a work (in progress). (But) right now, recruiting anybody is a challenge. So were really working hard to get quality men and women into law enforcement and into our agency specifically. Theres a lot of headwinds that were facing. The four agencies including the State Patrol, UNLPD, the sheriff's office and Lincoln Police Department have launched various new recruiting strategies over the past three years, and three of the four agencies employ more officers of color now than they did in 2020. But three of the four agencies also employ fewer sworn officers in general than they did three years ago a reflection of the tough recruiting market that local law enforcement leaders pinned to various degrees on Nebraska's economy, a rash of retirements and the profession's self-inflicted hits to its reputation, which some leaders, including Bolduc, suggested had been overrepresented in the media. The increased focus on diversity coupled with a shrinking crop of qualified candidates have forced Nebraska law enforcement agencies to strike their own balance between recruiting officers of color and recruiting officers at all. We just have to keep our eye on the ball. And not sacrifice its not an either-or situation. Its kind of an either-and," Bolduc said. "Its like, we have to recruit numbers, but we have to be intentional about diversity. "We can do both at the same time. Im convinced of that. And I think our results are proving that." That balance, though, looks different for each agency. Sheriff Terry Wagner, who has been the top law enforcement official in Lancaster County since 1994, described his priority list differently. Our priority is just to get bodies in the door," he said. "It would be nice to have minority applicants and we have had some and then once we get them in the door, theyve got to test, theyve got to pass the test, theyve got to qualify theyve got to be a qualified applicant, so there are a lot of factors involved. A diversifying field In the years since 2020, three local police agencies with Wagner's sheriff's office being the exception have increased the number of minority officers in their ranks in gains that have largely been made through hiring Hispanic and Asian recruits, according to agency staffing data. The State Patrol which in 2020 employed 17 troopers of color on a force of 434 troopers now employs 23 troopers of color despite a slimmer staff of 415 total, according to data provided by the patrol. Fourteen percent of the agency's recruits since 2020 have been from racial minority groups. So were improving," Bolduc said. "But we still have work to do. The colonel attributed his agency's modest gains to an initiative introduced in 2021 that provided a 2.5% pay bump for bilingual troopers that Bolduc said has helped the patrol recruit Hispanic troopers in particular. The results have been tangible. The State Patrol has added four Hispanic troopers to its ranks since 2020, when the agency employed seven Hispanic troopers a 57% increase in less than three full years. For Bolduc, the addition of four troopers is both a point of pride and shame. But he hopes the upward momentum is self-fulfilling. We hired our first Hispanic female I think four years ago," he said. "I mean, weve been around for 85 years, and the fact that we only just hired our first Hispanic female is disappointing, but weve hired several since then. "So who better to recruit Hispanic females than a Hispanic female trooper? Who better to recruit Black troopers than a Black trooper? Diversity underrepresentation in policing Data gathered from October 2022 to May 2023 from nearly 120 law enforcement agencies in 14 states shows frequent disparity in the racial and ethnic makeup of the agencies compared to the communities they are hired to protect and serve. Data gathered from October 2022 to May 2023 from nearly 120 law enforcement agencies in 14 states shows frequent disparity in the racial and ethnic makeup of the agencies compared to the communities they are hired to protect and serve. In Lincoln where about 78% of residents are white, 4% are Black, 4.6% are Asian and 8% are Hispanic or Latinx progress has charted a similar path. The Lincoln Police Department has added seven officers of color to its ranks over the past three years, a feat that has come despite recruitment and retention challenges that have left the agency increasingly reliant on overtime and 30 officers short of its authorized strength. The department has made most of its gains in diversity through the hiring of four Asian officers and the addition of five mixed-race officers, according to department data. It's unclear if all five of the mixed-race officers have been hired since 2020 or if some were previously counted as one race. In 2020, minority officers accounted for 7.8% of the department's sworn workforce. Now, officers of color represent 10.4% of LPD's ranks. But you should never rest on that," Police Chief Teresa Ewins said. "Because its not about whether the medias gonna ask me questions. Its about how diverse of a department we should be. And the sky is the limit. "We need to represent the communities that live here, and I think thats exactly what were trying to do. So as much as Id like to say, This is great. Were being successful in recruitment. I also want to (say) there is no limit. Across the hall at Lincoln's Hall of Justice the downtown building LPD shares with the Lancaster County Sheriff's Office signs of progress are harder to find. The sheriff's office, which touts a force of 82 sworn deputies, employs the same number of minority deputies now as it did in 2020: three. "Its a constant battle; it really is," Wagner said. "Its something that we are constantly aware of; its something that we try to make inroads of and, once we get them in the door here to apply, theyve got to show up to tests, theyve got to pass the tests, they have to pass the background everybody does." The sheriff's office has contracted with a marketing firm over the past two years in an effort to boost recruiting, but that effort is not specifically focused on recruiting deputies of color, Wagner said. But he said he hopes that applicants of color know there's a place for them at his agency, which is more than 96% white. "I would like to think any minority applicant would know that theyve got as good a chance at becoming a Lancaster County deputy sheriff as anybody else, and they do," he added. "As long as theyre a qualified applicant and they pass and meet standards, theyve got as good a shot as anybody." And when they get sworn in, theyre a Lancaster County deputy sheriff. It doesnt matter whether theyre white, purple, blue or Black. Its were glad to have them. UNLPD employs two more officers of color than it did in 2020, a modest increase, but one that represents nearly 8% of the department's sworn staff of 26. Five of the agency's sworn officers are members of racial minority groups, a cohort that includes Police Chief Hassan Ramzah, who is Black, and who said that matching the racial makeup of the university is an organizational goal for his department, but not one that will be easy to meet. "And so I always say thats a work in progress. Because theres right now, across the country, there are a number of departments that are struggling with finding applicants and qualified police officers to join agencies. In Nebraska, its no different. 'Its like whack-a-mole' UNL's police department is the only Lincoln-based law enforcement agency that hasn't unintentionally downsized over the past three years. During that time, recruiting challenges and a rash of retirements have combined to create a "perfectly bad" recipe for growth in law enforcement, said Bolduc, who has led the State Patrol since 2017. The State Patrol has 19 fewer troopers now than it did in 2020. The county sheriff's office has two fewer deputies than it did then and is four deputies short of its hiring capacity. The Lincoln Police Department has 20 fewer officers than it did in 2020 and is 30 short of its authorized strength. And UNLPD is stuck at 26 sworn officers exactly where it was in October 2020, but five short of full capacity. The shortfall of qualified candidates has left police leaders across the country trying to balance the importance of employing a diverse workforce and employing a full workforce. When it comes down to filling spots, they would rather fill the spot," said Connie Morris, a criminal justice professor at the University of Nebraska at Omaha's School of Criminology and Criminal Justice who spent 25 years as a police officer in Grand Rapids, Michigan, before retiring in 2015. But neither filling police forces to capacity nor meeting desired diversity goals have seemed possible for any local agency. The result has been a juggling act of sorts of local law enforcement leaders, reallocating investigators from specialized units to keep up with call-for-service demand and, in the case of Lancaster County, utilizing court security staff to fill shifts. "Its like whack-a-mole," Wagner said. "It really is. And though most local agencies have found success in adding Hispanic, Asian and mixed-raced officers, they have struggled to hire Black officers in particular. The State Patrol has added one Black trooper in the past three years. The Lincoln Police Department is down to three Black officers from six in 2020. UNLPD has remained steady, with two Black officers among its ranks. And the sheriff's office employs one fewer Black deputy than the two it had on its payroll in 2020. "One in a white department is kind of a lonely place," said Morris, the criminal justice professor. Law enforcement's inability to recruit Black officers in particular is an effect that, for some leaders, lacks an articulated cause. Bolduc acknowledged that the profession "has been our own worst enemy in some cases," but pinned much of the blame on the intense focus on such cases in the media, as well as the "negative rhetoric" surrounding policing hurled from pundits and politicians. For Ramzah, the cause is mostly rooted in the demographics of Nebraska, where only 5.3% of residents are Black. Theres just too few candidates to choose from," he said. "Understanding the whys is really, really hard." Wagner, meanwhile, placed much of the blame on the Black community itself: "Well, you know Ive told minority community leaders that they need to be more supportive of members of their community that enter a traditionally white profession," he said. "What Ive seen in the past are minority members of our agency are ostracized by their communities. So it makes it real difficult for them. But for Ewins, who has led Lincoln's police department since September 2021 after 25 years in the San Francisco Police Department, the rationale is so obvious it hardly needs to be spoken, she said. "I mean, do I really need to say it? I mean, it is and Ive actually said it before it is difficult to (recruit) because the Black community does not trust law enforcement. And we need to build that trust," she said, before referring to the February police killing of Tyre Nichols in Memphis, Tennessee the latest high-profile incident in a growing list of such killings. "And so its really, unfortunately, that simple, is that once again we have to mend that relationship because of what people see on TV and what the reality is in some places. "Its just not Lincoln. Gift this article Share this article paywall-free. Two Lincoln men are in jail and facing felony robbery charges after they allegedly assaulted a 21-year-old man in central Lincoln before taking the man's watch and chain Saturday evening, according to police. Police found 60-year-old Alonzo Green and 28-year-old Troy Williams walking away from the alleged robbery scene at 12th and F streets after witnesses reported the assault at around 8:30 p.m. Saturday, Lincoln Police Capt. Todd Kocian said. The 21-year-old man told police that Green and Williams had assaulted him and taken his watch and gold chain, worth a combined $125, Kocian said. Police found the alleged robbers to be in possession of the items, Kocian said. And Green, a convicted felon barred from carrying deadly weapons, had a 6-inch knife on him, police alleged. Officers arrested the 60-year-old on suspicion of robbery, possession of a deadly weapon while committing a felony, possession of a deadly weapon by a prohibited person and carrying a concealed weapon. Williams was arrested on suspicion of robbery. Police took both men to the Lancaster County jail. Most dangerous cities in Nebraska Dangerous Cities in Nebraska 6. South Sioux City 5. Scottsbluff 4. North Platte 3. Lincoln 2. Grand Island 1. Omaha A note about the numbers Gift this article Share this article paywall-free. Rodney D. Bennett was named as the priority candidate to become the 21st chancellor of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln on Monday. NU President Ted Carter announced Bennett, a 30-year veteran of higher education and former president of the University of Southern Mississippi, as his pick for the position six months after UNL Chancellor Ronnie Green announced his plans to retire. Greens last day as UNLs top leader will be June 30. Bennetts appointment to the position will go before the NU Board of Regents on June 22. In a phone interview, Bennett said UNL is one of our countrys most important universities and said he believes the states flagship campus has a chance to set a new standard for public land-grant universities. I think in some ways some of our institutions have got a little bit comfortable with who they are and what they do, Bennett said. I think we have an opportunity to sort of reaffirm our commitment to the work we do for the people we are serving. Carter called Bennett, the right leader at exactly the right time to move UNL forward, and lauded his appreciation for and understanding of the role of public land-grant universities. While Bennett is the first external hire to lead UNL in more than two decades, as well as the first Black administrator to oversee the states largest university campus, Carter said those factors didnt play into his decision: I was trying to find the best candidate, period. What impressed me the most is (Bennett) understands the importance of the University of Nebraska writ large, but also that the flagship campus plays a critical role in that success as well as the success of the state, Carter said. The NU president also said Bennett is high-energy, a champion for student success, and has a proven track record in growing research expenditures and managing campus facility growth and renewal. Bennett, who was also recently a finalist for a leadership search at Utah State University, said he plans to be an active leader who engages with stakeholder groups from students and faculty to athletics to agricultural interests. I think, overall, student engagement is probably highest on the list, he said. The best time to establish a relationship with a future alum is upon their first arrival. Its important to give them an experience that endears them to the university right away. Bennett also said faculty have the single greatest impact on student success and he wants to empower those employees in support of that mission. A native of Knoxville, Tennessee, the 56-year-old Bennett holds a bachelors and masters degree from Middle Tennessee State University and a doctor of education in educational administration from Tennessee State University. He served as the assistant dean of student life at his alma mater before becoming the dean of students at Winthrop University in South Carolina. Beginning in 2001, Bennett was the dean of students for 34,000 students at the University of Georgia and oversaw a budget of $86 million. Bennett later served as vice president of student affairs at the Athens-based campus from 2004 to 2013, when former NU President Hank Bounds, then the commissioner of the Mississippi Institutions of Higher Learning, tapped him to lead Southern Miss and its 14,000 students. When he was hired, Bennett became the first Black president of a predominantly white university in Mississippi. Shortly after his appointment, however, an EF-4 tornado struck Hattiesburg in February 2013, cutting across a portion of the Southern Miss campus and causing $30 million in damage to several buildings and landscaping. Carter said Bennetts effort to rebuild the campus in the aftermath of the tornado ran parallel to his efforts to address budgetary problems and raise Southern Miss stature in other ways. Bennett implemented a financial sustainability policy and trimmed from the budget, also forgoing a more than $72,000 raise in the process, choosing instead to put that money into an endowed scholarship fund. He also is credited with expanding academic offerings, growing the number of doctoral degrees the university was granting, and increasing its research expenditures, which led Southern Miss to be delegated as a Research 1 university the highest classification available. UNL is also classified as an R1 university according to the Carnegie Commission on Higher Education. Carter said Bennett is also a tremendous community outreach person who will be visible in the community and plans to visit every high school in Nebraska, a move Bennett said was geared toward securing the pipeline of future students to UNL. While Southern Miss charted growth in its academic enterprise and physical infrastructure under Bennetts watch, the university also found itself embroiled in scandal. University officials, former NFL quarterback Brett Favre, the Mississippi Department of Human Services, and a nonprofit crafted a deal to use $5 million in Temporary Assistance for Needy Families funds to build a volleyball facility on Southern Miss campus in violation of federal law. Eight people have been indicted and six have pleaded guilty for their involvement, but recent reporting shows Bennett raised concerns about the project with Mississippis Gov. Phil Bryant, saying Favre needed to honor his agreement, according to court filings. Ive asked Brett to not do the things hes doing to seek funding from state agencies and the legislature for the volleyball facility, Bennett texted in January 2020. I will see for the umpteenth time if we can get him to stand down. The bottom line is he personally guaranteed the project, and on his word and handshake we proceeded. Its time for him to pay up it really is just that simple. On Monday, Bennett said he believes he acted appropriately throughout: I think when anybody sort of pulls back the layers of the volleyball arena, I think what they will see is my behavior and the actions I took from start to finish were within whats expected both from board policy and state law. Bennetts departure from Southern Miss in 2022 was not related to the volleyball stadium scandal, he said. Rather, he expressed to the universitys board he did not plan to seek renewal of his contract and intended to look for a new position. It just so happened that UNL, where Bennett had made several connections, including with regents, former Gov. Pete Ricketts, and Husker Athletics Director Trev Alberts, was soon going to be looking for a new leader. In 2016, for example, he shared a stage with several members of the Board of Regents, then-Gov. Ricketts, and others at Bounds investiture ceremony, where he was the keynote speaker. More than eight years ago, when then-Regent Jim Pillen was conducting background research on Bounds as the NU board was deciding on who to hire as president, he spoke at length with Bennett, he said in a brief interview on Monday. It was Good Friday, the university was shut down, but he gave me two hours to answer my questions, said now-Gov. Pillen. Ive crossed paths with Rodney several different times since then. Hes going to be great for Nebraska, hes an extraordinary human being. Bennetts designation as the priority candidate comes after Green announced his plans to retire at the end of the school year after more than seven years as chancellor. Following Greens announcement, Carter convened a 16-member search committee and hired AGB Search to conduct a rigorous national search to find a replacement. That search was expected to cost roughly $115,000, according to a contract between both entities. On Monday, Carter said there was great response from all over the country to the UNL job, despite there being widespread openings in higher education leadership positions. I wasnt sure how we would attract given that situation, but we had a competitive pool, he said. As the priority candidate under Nebraska statute, Bennett will be subject to a 30-day vetting period before his hiring can be finalized. A series of public sessions will be scheduled for Bennett to meet students, faculty, and staff, the university said. If his hiring is approved by regents no contract has been finalized, but university officials said they intend to be competitive on compensation, particularly among UNLs Big Ten Conference peers Bennett will find a range of challenges awaiting him on campus. UNL has faced dwindling enrollment in recent years due to a combination of larger-than-usual graduating classes and smaller incoming classes, resulting in the lowest number of students on campus since 2008. That has put financial pressure on UNL and required campus leaders to look for ways to trim the campus budget by closing open positions or moving certain programs from state-aided funding to other sources. Bennett will also be involved in managing several ongoing facility projects across UNLs campus, including a planned renovation of Memorial Stadium, a new music building, the opening of the Kiewit Hall at the College of Engineering and more. Bennett and his wife, Temple, have two adult daughters, Colby and Logan. Photos: UNL celebrates largest-ever graduating class Gift this article Share this article paywall-free. An 84-year-old Nebraska prison inmate convicted of attempted sexual assault died Sunday at a Lincoln hospital. Donald Lichtenberg of Omaha was serving a sentence of 18 to 24 years for attempted first-degree sexual assault of a child in Douglas County, according to a spokeswoman for the Nebraska Department of Corrections. He was being held at the department's Reception and Treatment Center in Lincoln. The cause of death has not been determined, the spokeswoman said. Lichtenberg was being treated for a medical condition, she said. A grand jury will investigate Lichtenberg's death. Whenever someone dies in custody, state law mandates that a grand jury conduct an investigation. Photos: Nebraska's new Reception and Treatment Center Gift this article Share this article paywall-free. 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. Gift this article Share this article paywall-free. BURLINGTON The community is grappling with a painful loss as police investigate the death of a Burlington High School student who was struck by a train while riding his bicycle. Jack Meyers, 16, of Burlington died after police say he rode his bicycle in front of an oncoming train about 12:30 p.m. Sunday at the intersection of Adams Street and Bridge Street. Community members Monday built a makeshift memorial of flowers at the crash scene, and passersby voiced deep sadness for the Burlington High School student and his family. My heart goes out to them, neighbor Sharon Twist said. This is something that should never happen. Counselors at Burlington High School, where Meyers was in his junior year, were meeting with students and anyone else who needed assistance in coping with the tragedy. School district spokeswoman Julie Thomas said the high school staff also was reaching out to Meyers family to offer support. Our hearts go out to everyone in the community impacted by this tragic accident, especially to Jacks family and friends, Thomas said. Police said they believe Meyers pedaled his bicycle around the emergency warning system on the Canadian National Railway tracks and tried to cross in front of the approaching train. The train crossing is equipped with both flashing lights and drop-down gates. Police said the teen was heading eastbound when he was struck by a northbound train. Responding to 911 calls that began at 12:38 p.m., police officers and firefighters found Meyers beneath the train. Tim Otto of Burlington said he arrived at the scene a short time after the accident, and he recalled breaking down in tears, along with other spectators and passersby. It was terrible, he said. The incident remains under investigation with assistance from the Canadian National Railway police department, Wisconsin State Patrol and the Racine County Sheriffs Office. Burlington Mayor Jeannie Hefty issued a statement Monday calling Meyers a son and friend to so many, and saying that the community was responding with an outpouring of support for the family. No words can express what this family is going through, Hefty said. We want to let Jacks family know, we as a community are here for you. The police said that Meyers family wanted the public to know that the teenager was a dedicated family member who had a big heart. The mayor also expressed support for the train conductor, the emergency responders and others who may have witnessed the tragedy unfold on a busy street near Downtown Burlington on a sunny Sunday afternoon. On Monday, the railroad crossing became the site of an impromptu memorial, with many people leaving flowers, candles and others gestures of mourning. Otto, who arrived on a bicycle, said he sometimes pedals around the same railroad crossing gates when he is certain he can cross safely before the train arrives. But acknowledging the danger of such actions, he said he may reconsider that approach. It should be an eye-opener for those that try to beat the train, he said. Twist, who lives down the street, walked her dog to the railroad crossing Monday to observe and reflect. She said people do not realize the danger of railroad crossings, including the fact that fast-moving trains simply cannot stop quickly. Twist said schools should teach children about the dangers of ignoring railroad crossing safety guidelines. I think we need more education on how to handle the tracks, she said. I dont want to see another accident happen. IN PHOTOS: Local fire departments practice firefighter safety and survival in Caledonia Firefighters at the house Breaking it down The perfect pose Ready to train Planning it out Plenty of crews Keeping warm Corner Bar & Grill A smoky selfie The size of it It's like a waterpark Putting it out The fire Another view Gift this article Share this article paywall-free. RACINE A Racine Police Department officer reportedly shot and killed a man in an exchange of gunfire after the man allegedly refused to follow law enforcement commands. No identifying information about the man, including his age, is being given. The Wisconsin Department of Justice Division of Criminal Investigation is investigating the incident, which happened Monday morning in the 1800 block of Clayton Avenue, the DCI said in a news release. No law enforcement officers were injured. On Sunday around 10:10 p.m., Mount Pleasant Police Department officers were sent to a Mount Pleasant address after a report of a domestic incident with shots fired. A man left the address prior to officers arriving and drove to the City of Racine. A couple hours later, Racine Police Department officers initiated a traffic stop in the 200 block of Howland Avenue. A man got out of the vehicle, and reportedly ran to a wooded area and hid in tall grass in the 1800 block of Clayton Avenue. Around 12:30 a.m. Monday, officers told the man to come out, but the man refused to follow the commands, the release stated. As officers approached the man, he allegedly began firing shots in the direction of the officers, who fired back and hit the man. The man was pronounced dead at the scene. Three law enforcement agencies were present when shots were fired: Mount Pleasant Police Department, Racine Police Department and Sturtevant Police Department. A K9 from the Sturtevant Police Department was utilized during the incident. Racine County Sheriffs Office deputies arrived later to assist. RPD Assistant Chief Alex Ramirez said responding officers secured the area and evidence. The incident was captured on body-worn cameras, squad cameras and a drone camera, and all video evidence was given to the DCI. All the officers involved have been placed on administrative assignment, following their respective departments policy. DCI is leading the investigation and with help from the Racine County Sheriffs Office, Wisconsin State Patrol, Wisconsin State Crime Lab and a DCI crime response specialist. All of the officers who were involved are cooperating with the investigation, the DCI said. DCI will turn over its reports to the Racine County District Attorney when the investigation concludes. Mugshots: Racine County criminal complaints, May 19, 2023 Today's mugshots: May 19 These are images of people charged with a crime in Racine County. Booking photos are provided by Racine County law enforcement officials. A defendant is presumed innocent unless proven guilty and convicted. Beverly J. Johnson Jr. Beverly J. Johnson Jr., 900 block of High Street, Racine, attempting to flee or elude an officer, felony bail jumping. Leroy A. McAllister Leroy (aka Boobee) A. McAllister, 1100 block of Marquette Street, Racine, possession of narcotic drugs, possession of cocaine. Katie Lynn Nuszbaum Katie Lynn Nuszbaum, 1200 block of Wisconsin Avenue, Racine, felony bail jumping, misdemeanor retail theft (intentionally take less than or equal to $500), possession of THC, obstructing an officer. Kaleb D. Weaver Kaleb D. Weaver, 1100 block of Marquette Street, Racine, manufacture/deliver THC (less than or equal to 200 grams, possession with intent to deliver/distribute a controlled substance on or near a park), maintaining a drug trafficking place, deliver fentanyl (between 10-50 grams, possession with intent to deliver/distribute a controlled substance on or near a park), possession of THC, felony bail jumping. Gift this article Share this article paywall-free. Madison police Capt. Shannon Blackamore knows the key to recruiting a diverse police force is building relationships. He thinks about a criminal justice student of his at Upper Iowa University. They were both from the same part of Chicago, and a mentorship formed. Soon, the student, who like Blackamore is Black, joined the Madison Police Department and has since been promoted to sergeant. "Having him in the class and then seeing him apply and eventually promoted, that was phenomenal," Blackamore said. Blackamore, who leads the Police Department's minority recruiting efforts, said, at a minimum, the academy class should increase the number of diverse recruits by 10%. Ideally, he would like to have a class where the majority of recruits are diverse. While there is still work to do, the department's demographics largely mirror the city's population. Out of an analysis of 105 police departments in the U.S. conducted by Lee Enterprises, Madison is the fourth most representative of the broader community. The city is about 7% Black. The Police Department is about 9% Black. People of color make up 28% of the population and 23% of the police force. Diversity underrepresentation in policing Data gathered from October 2022 to May 2023 from nearly 120 law enforcement agencies in 14 states shows frequent disparity in the racial and ethnic makeup of the agencies compared to the communities they are hired to protect and serve. Data gathered from October 2022 to May 2023 from nearly 120 law enforcement agencies in 14 states shows frequent disparity in the racial and ethnic makeup of the agencies compared to the communities they are hired to protect and serve. After George Floyd was killed in 2020 by a Minneapolis police officer and massive protests decrying racist police practices broke out nationwide, the spotlight turned to the actions and racial makeup of policing agencies. Many vowed to become more representative of the communities they served. While some Wisconsin law enforcement agencies have made progress, others still struggle. Milwaukee, Racine and Green Bay are among the least representative of the dozens of law enforcement agencies. Some activists who have been critical of police say genuine progress is being made, but others who were at the front line of protests in 2020 say fixing racial inequities in the criminal justice system will take more than diversifying police forces. They point to the killing of Tyre Nichols by five Black Memphis police officers in January. The officers face second-degree murder charges. Bianca Gomez of Freedom Inc., a Madison social justice group that had a pivotal role in the 2020 protests, said boosting diversity in a police force does not get to the root cause of policing's disproportionate impact on Black people. Freedom Inc. wants to see direct community control over the hiring and firing of police officers, Gomez said. The creation of Madison's Police Civilian Oversight Board, which can independently investigate the police department, is a step in the right direction but doesn't go far enough, she said. "We need to not shift the people in the institution but shift the institution itself," Gomez said. "I think the call for more Black officers is nothing more than a public relations stunt." Officers not representing or living in the neighborhoods they police continues to be one of the department's biggest problems, said Dennis Franklin of EXPO, a group that organizes people who have been previously incarcerated. "If you're not part of a community, it's really unnerving for the residents in the community to feel comfortable with you," Franklin said. A priority and a struggle As the deacon at the Divine Temple Church of God in Christ in Green Bay, Terry Cook has had a front row seat to relations between the city's police and its Black community. His church has long held regular meetings with police officials. In those forums, citizens can ask law enforcement questions and lodge complaints. In his nearly three decades living in Green Bay, Cook, 59, has heard complaints of Black people being targeted in traffic stops. But overall he feels police in the city are responsive to the community's concerns. "It's not perfect, but they've treated the small nonwhite populations in the city fairly," Cook said. Still, data from the Wisconsin Department of Justice shows that Black people in Green Bay make up a disproportionate percentage of those who get arrested. Between 2017 and 2021, 25% of the people arrested in Green Bay were Black, according to DOJ data. The city is 4.4% Black, according to the U.S. Census. The city's police force is overwhelmingly white: 93%. Police Chief Chris Davis said his department has had "limited success" recruiting people of color. "It's always a priority and it's a struggle I think everywhere in the profession," Davis said, in part because of the "prevailing narrative" about policing in communities of color. To uncover signs of hidden bias, the department has began administering emotional intelligence tests to officer candidates, Davis said. A mental health response program, much like the CARES program in Madison, could serve the city well, he added. Currently, only three officers are trained in behavioral health response, but they do not directly respond to incidents in the field, Davis said. In Racine, Black people made up 62% of the city's arrests between 2017 and 2021, according to DOJ. The city is about 23% Black. Its police force is about 13% Black and 79% white. To remedy gaps in the force, the city's police department is visiting historically Black colleges and universities for the first time in its history, Chief Maurice Robinson said. "We believe that a department that is representative of its population demographics is perceived as fair and impartial in its citizen contacts," Robinson said. "A department that is more racially and gender diverse is perceived as more sensitive to the needs of its citizens," he said. In Kenosha, where the police shooting of Jacob Blake grabbed national headlines and brought unrest, police officials said they have always worked to make inroads with the community. But as in nearby cities, Kenosha police do not generally reflect the community. The force is 84% white, 5% Black and 9% Latino. The city is 64% white, 11% Black and 18% Latino. Of all the suspects police arrest, 41% of them are Black. Lt. Joseph Nosalik said the department is "not naive to sometimes very distinct differences in culture, financial hardships and challenges" that parts of the community regularly face. "We are out there every day with Kenosha," Nosalik said. "Police officers are not the villain that small groups or the media, at times, try to make us be because it fits a narrative or story." One piece of the pie One of the largest law enforcement agencies in Wisconsin, the Dane County Sheriff's Office's more than 400-person agency is about 89% white, 5% Black and about 4% Latino. For comparison, Dane County is about 6% Black and 7% Latino. But like so many other Wisconsin communities, the population of the Dane County Jail reflects the disproportionate impact the criminal justice system has on Black people in Madison and the broader community. On any given day, about 50% of the jail's population is made up of Black inmates. While racial disparities in the justice system are undeniable, unaddressed socio-economic conditions, which affect people of color the hardest, continue to be the root cause of crime, Dane County Sheriff Kalvin Barrett said. "The criminal justice system makes up a piece of the pie of society," Barrett said. "The community also has to focus on things such as affordable housing, affordable education, affordable mental health care, affordable medical care, transportation, entrepreneurship." The county's first Black sheriff, Barrett has prioritized diversifying the force he took over in mid-2021. Those ongoing efforts come amid dire staffing shortages. The Sheriff's Office has 51 vacancies. A fresh class of recruits, though a majority white, sworn in by Barrett in mid-March filled an additional 15 vacancies. To chip away at those vacancies, the Sheriff's Office has overhauled its recruiting process. For the first time, the office is offering perks to recruits who have already worked in law enforcement. Those hires get streamlined through the training process and get their sick leave from previous jobs matched. Other perks for new hires include bonuses for recruits who have earned a college degree. Other recruitment efforts in recent months focused on diversifying the force including visiting career fairs focused on women or people of color in Milwaukee, Platteville and Sun Prairie. "Diversity is something we feel we can always improve on," Barrett said. "We have to identify, qualify and attract the best that's out there that has a servant mentality, meaning they want to come to a place where they are serving their community, serving their partners as well as serving those who are incarcerated in our jail." Conversations in Milwaukee To make better inroads in communities, other police departments in Wisconsin's major cities continue to emphasize the importance of community policing, though a full embrace of the practice is still underway. In Milwaukee, ongoing fact-finding sessions are attempting to help the city's police develop standard operating procedures for its community policing rules. The city's current police chief, Jeffrey Norman, has done a good job making community policing a priority, said Fred Royal, vice president of the NAACP's Milwaukee branch. But the police force needs community policing rules so that the practice doesn't slide into disuse in the years and decades to come. "Theyre at the table," Royal said of the city's police department. "I wish the political will would be more supportive. It tends to wane at times." The community's ultimate goal is to put community groups in charge of responding to mental health issues and homelessness, Royal said. That would free up the police to focus more on serious crime in the city, he added. "At the end of the day if you don't change the culture in policing, and get away from that warrior mentality and become more of a community-oriented policing were gong to have continued lawsuits and continued violations of use of force," Royal said. City residents have given the police force a road map to bettering strained relations, particularly when it comes to making the force more diverse. A 2019 report, drafted in response to a U.S. Department of Justice review of the city's police, recommended that the department needs to reflect the city's majority non-white community, engage the community in the recruitment process, create incentives for hiring and bring on more recruiters. But four years later, the force remains about 64% white. The city's civilian-controlled Police and Fire Commission handles the hiring of sworn staff, noted Assistant Chief Nicole Waldner. The department collaborates with community groups during the training process, she said. The department has one full-time recruitment staffer, who collaborates with community liaison officers on recruiting at events, Waldner said. "I think the community relates better to any kind of department that looks like them," Waldner said. The city's police force has shrunk over the past five years, from 1,917 officers in 2018 to 1,575 today, Waldner said. That hasn't really altered the racial demographics of the force, she added. "If we could do better anywhere it would be outreach through social media," Waldner said. "How do we reach more people and convince them that it's as worthwhile as a factory job?" Grant-funded change In Madison, the police department will soon add six community outreach officers thanks to a U.S. Department of Justice grant. That's on top of a different DOJ grant to fund the establishment of a community policing advisory board. "I hope it instills more trust," Blackamore said. Too often, an officer will bring new ideas and strategies to his work in the community, only to have them disappear when he leaves the force or retires, he said. "What we want to do is reverse that trend and make sure that what the community is producing continues with our support," he said. Community policing efforts in the city have plenty to take on. Like other Wisconsin cities, Black people make up a disproportionate amount of those arrested, 42% in 2021, according to Madison police data. EXPO's Franklin has sat in on community policing panels with Madison police in recent months, something he called a new approach he hadn't seen before from police. But like other activists and community leaders, Franklin doesn't see diversity as the only needed change for police. The city needs more resources to take on mental health problems and substance use, the root causes of crime, Franklin said. "I want to see action," Franklin said. "We can sit around a table all day. It's great we can identify what the problems are, but the elephant in the room is how do we go about tackling some of these issues?" State Journal reporter Chris Rickert, Kenosha News reporters Daniel Gaitan and Joe States and the Racine Journal Times contributed to this report. Police protests: How Madison answered the police killing of George Floyd, in photos Protester confronts officer, May 30 Madison protest turns destructive, May 30 Police spray protesters, May 30 Effects of tear gas, May 30 Medical station, May 30 Standoff with police, May 30 Protesters meet police, May 30 Madison protest turns destructive, May 30 Mayor condemns violence, May 30 Protests May 30, 2020 State Street press conference, May 31 Protests against police, May 31 Second night of protests in Madison, May 31 Cleanup after damage Downtown June 1 Cleanup after latest damage Downtown, June 1 Disrupting traffic, June 1 John Nolen Drive shut down, June 1 John Nolen Drive shut down, June 1 Outside police building, June 1 Agitators spark violence, June 2 Agitators spark violence, June 2 Businesses boarded up, June 2 Clean-up of property damage, June 2 Painting murals, June 2 Braving the rain, June 2 Lighting candles, June 3 Speaking to crowd, June 3 Registering to vote, June 4 Alter to those lost, June 5 Happy birthday to Breonna, June 5 AACC Black Lives Matter Solidarity March, June 7 AACC Black Lives Matter Solidarity March, June 7 Taking a knee, June 8 Defund police, June 8 Youths fueling nighttime protests, June 8 Closure note, June 16 Blocking traffic, June 17 Glow in the dark march, June 17 Juneteenth rally at Olin Park, June 19 Boarded-up State Street, June 22 Confronting driver, June 23 Madison protesters, June 23 Protesters block intersection, June 23 Heg statue toppled, June 23 Forward statue topped, June 23 Empty statue pedestal, June 24 Protecting the Capitol, June 24 Police supporters get opposition, July 2 BLM demonstration, July 4 Gift this article Share this article paywall-free. Nearly 21 months after the U.S. withdrawal from a two-decadelong misadventure in Afghanistan, an increasingly polarized Washington continues to ask the same old questions. Who lost Afghanistan? Was Afghanistan ever Americas to win? Who is at fault for the collapse of the Afghan security forces, which U.S. taxpayers funded to the tune of $89 billion? And could the Biden administration have run a more organized evacuation operation? To the United Nations and Afghanistans international donors, however, all of these questions do nothing to help manage the economic and humanitarian debacle Afghanistan has become. The more important query: Is it possible to help the Afghan population avert further misery without empowering or legitimizing the Taliban? The Talibans radical agenda warrants the group little sympathy. To some former U.S. security officials, stronger economic sanctions against the Taliban are not only appropriate but also absolutely necessary if the international community has a chance of pressuring the group to respect human rights and begin a dialogue with their political opponents. One cant fault the sentiment underlying these recommendations. Any hope the Taliban would markedly change their stripes and govern in a more inclusive way turned out to be premature. Having shed so much blood trying to get back the power it lost, the group had no intention of sharing it with those they defeated. Sporadic discussions with anti-Taliban militia leaders have gone nowhere; whatever armed opposition to Taliban rule exists has limited domestic support. The Taliban rule as they wish. In September 2021, one month after capturing Kabul, the Taliban government banned high school education for women and girls. Last December, women were no longer allowed to enroll in universities. In April, the U.N. advised its female staff to stay home after the Taliban prohibited women from working for nongovernmental organizations. This decision prompted the U.N. Security Council to unanimously approve a resolution on April 27 that condemned the Taliban declaration and urged a speedy reversal of the policy. All of this is occurring as Afghanistans economic situation remains cataclysmic by any conceivable measure. During the war, the country was almost totally dependent on foreign donors for approximately 40% of its gross domestic product and around 75% of its operating budget. So when that foreign aid was suspended after the Talibans takeover, Afghanistans entire economy went down the tubes. Approximately one-third of Afghanistans GDP was wiped out during the Talibans first four months in power. While revenue collection went up considerably last year due to stronger taxation by the Taliban, Afghanistan is highly unlikely to approach previous levels of economic activity as long as the country is cut off from the international banking system. The Afghanistan Central Banks assets remain frozen and under the control of the U.S. The Biden administrations sanctions waiver for humanitarian activity was the right call but is having limited impact. As the World Bank reported in October, Formal payments flowing into and out of Afghanistan remain problematic for all actors including the Interim Taliban Administration (ITA), humanitarian agencies, and the private sector for critical imports such as electricity, food, and medicines. Socioeconomic indicators, meanwhile, are worsening. The U.N. Development Program has found that as many as 34 million Afghans are below the poverty line, a 78% increase from 2020 levels. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres understands that a punitive strategy toward Afghanistan is simply unsustainable, telling reporters after a U.N.-organized meeting in Doha, Qatar, early this month that a strategy of engagement is the better option. But such a strategy wont be successful unless the U.S., Europe and other donor nations buy into the effort not with another infusion of foreign troops but through some common-sense, low-cost proposals. First, there needs to be a general acknowledgment that you cant isolate the Taliban government without penalizing the very people you claim to support. Official diplomatic recognition of the Taliban would be a steep political sell and is therefore off the table. But the Taliban are nevertheless the ones calling the shots in Afghanistan: they have most of the guns, occupy government offices and control the levers of power. That means humanitarian assistance operations, as well as continued access for aid workers and U.N. staffers, cant occur unless the Taliban acquiesces. Bluntly put: The Taliban run the show whether we like or not, and the world needs to devise a way to deal with that reality. Second, the U.S. needs to do a better job clarifying sanctions carve-outs and exemptions to the current sanctions regime. Basic or obtuse guidance from the U.S. Treasury Department will do little to assuage the concerns of financial institutions responsible for processing payments for and on behalf of humanitarian organizations serving the Afghan people. Banks are conservative institutions and will take pains to ensure they dont run afoul of U.S. law. This is precisely why more detail, expressed in clear language, about what activity is and isnt acceptable is vital if sanctions exemptions are to be more than public relations exercises. Finally, the Afghan Fund, established to disburse $3.5 billion in Afghanistans foreign reserves, needs to meet more regularly. The funds four-person board has met only twice since its formation in September, and it has not made a single disbursement decision. The reasons for this are unclear, but it wouldnt be surprising if a big part of the problem is the boards requirement that decisions be approved unanimously. If so, the unanimity rule should be reassessed. Afghanistans dire outlook can be managed only if an at-times uncomfortable pragmatism rules the day. 1. Yes. The charter calls for an appointment process, and the council will pick wisely. 2. Yes. Why spend money on an election? Let the city council do its job, as mandated. 3. No. Voters chose Wilkerson in the first place; they should be able to pick his successor. 4. No. Since theres nearly a year left on Wilkersons council term, the voters should have a say. 5. Unsure. An appointment would follow the charter, but an election seems fairer. Vote View Results Gift this article Share this article paywall-free. The neonatal intensive care units at Bryan Medical Center in Lincoln and Grand Island Regional Medical Center are celebrating a successful patient outcome in which both hospitals collaborated to provide lifesaving care to a mother and her premature baby. Ashley Morris is from Clarks, a small village in east-central Nebraska. Late in her pregnancy, she was diagnosed with preeclampsia, a complication that results in high blood pressure. Left untreated, it can have a negative health impact on both mother and baby. Early delivery is often recommended. On Feb. 3, Morris made the 40-minute drive to Grand Island Regional Medical Center for her scheduled induction. She was kept for observation that night and induced the next day. It was only a few weeks before her due date. The next morning, Morris began the birthing process. During labor, she suffered an unexpected reaction to an epidural. Doctors immediately noted she was in distress. Her baby was also experiencing complications, showing signs of acidosis and encephalopathy. At 9:10 p.m., Morris delivered a baby boy, Jackson, via emergency C-section. He was seven pounds, six ounces and immediately intubated on a ventilator. The NICU team at Grand Island Regional Medical Center recognized Jackson would need a higher level of care. Amy Sytsma, a neonatal nurse practitioner, reached out to the NICU at Bryan Medical Center in Lincoln. She immediately contacted Dr. Craig Sitzman, a neonatologist, who was on call. Sytsma relayed all of Jacksons crucial information. He recommended transferring Jackson to Lincoln. Within minutes, the NICU transport team at Bryan gathered its equipment, jumped into an ambulance and headed west. When members of the team arrived at Grand Island Regional Medical Center, they immediately tended to Jackson. Doctors believed his best treatment option was neonatal therapeutic hypothermia. This method reduces a babys body temperature in order to slow disease progression and improve health. Within three hours of birth, Jackson was in an isolette and actively being cooled. After the emergency C-section, Morris was moved to inpatient care at Grand Island Regional Medical Center. She was not well enough to leave the hospital and travel to Lincoln. Before the NICU transport team left, they wheeled the isolette into Morris' room and she was able to see her son for the first time. Moments later, he was on his way to the Capital City. Once Jackson arrived at Bryan Medical Center, he was placed in a room in the NICU. Sitzman and his team of neonatal experts took over care. For three days, Jackson remained in a cooled state, his body temperature being kept at 72 degrees. Slowly, they raised it, removed the ventilator and stabilized his condition. After five days in the hospital at Grand Island Regional Medical Center, Morris was well enough to be discharged. She immediately made the drive to Lincoln to be reunited with her son. They spent additional time in the NICU at Bryan while Jackson continued to grow. He hit his feeding milestones, and MRI images of his brain were promising. After a few weeks, Jackson was well enough to be transported back to the NICU at Grand Island Regional Medical Center for care that was closer to home. Morris and Jackson have returned to their home in Clarks. Jackson now weighs over 11 pounds. Morris has returned to work part time and spends every free moment with her son to provide him the help and care he needs to continue to grow. Doctors, therapists and medical professionals will continue to monitor Jackson and work with him to ensure he hits those important milestones in the future and overcome any obstacles. "Ashley is thankful for the collaborative care she received from the medical professionals at Grand Island Regional Medical Center and Bryan Medical Center," says a news release from Bryan Health. "It took several important steps to ensure a positive outcome, including a highly trained team, specialized equipment and statewide collaboration." 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 South Africa: President Ramaphosa to attend launch of Phase 2 of Lesotho Highlands Water Project President Cyril Ramaphosa is expected to take a working visit to Lesotho to launch Phase 2 of the Lesotho Highlands Water Project. This was announced by Presidential Spokesperson Vincent Magwenya during a media briefing on Monday to outline the Presidents diary for the next week. His Majesty King Letsie III, President Ramaphosa and Lesothos Prime Minister Samuel Ntsokoane Matekane will jointly launch this project at the Polihali Dam. The launch will commence with a sod-turning ceremony and will be followed by the formal programme. The launch is a critical step on the journey to greater water and energy security for South Africans and Basotho and is a demonstration of the strong relations between our two countries. It is also a demonstration of the human capital and technology we are able to share and deploy jointly as neighbours in the interest of improving the lives of citizens and economic development in both nations, he said. Magwenya reflected on the strong relations the two countries continue to share. South Africa and the Kingdom of Lesotho share a close historic relationship whose substance today entails strengthened economic cooperation between the two countries. The working visit aims to reinforce this relationship in which South Africa and Lesotho are pursuing the common interest of developing the region, creating employment and advancing innovation and technology, he said. Magwenya said the President will next week address the National Assembly during the presentation of the Presidencys budget vote. The President will address the National Assembly on key interventions and programmes of the Presidency including addressing the electicity crisis and growing an inclusive economy. The President will do so as part of presenting the Presidency budget vote which will be debated on by members of Parliament. The President will reply to this debate on Thursday the 1st of June. The President will outline progress recorded during the past financial year in relation to commitments set out in the February 2022 and 2023 State of the Nation Addresses, he said. Magwenya said as the apex of states executive arm, The Presidency is the centre of coordination, oversight and supervision of all spheres of government. The Presidency supports the President and the Deputy President in executing their primary responsibilities to uphold, defend and respect the Constitution of the Republic and to advance social cohesion, among other programmes. President Ramaphosa will underline his vision for a South Africa characterised by inclusive growth and improved living conditions for all South Africans, he said. SAnews.gov.za This story has been published on: 2023-05-22. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. Gift this article Share this article paywall-free. MINDEN The group working to halt the merger of two major irrigation and south-central Nebraska power districts has been attempting to win the support of county boards. Citizens Opposed to the Merger announced the Kearney County Board of Commissioners last week approved a resolution 5-0 opposing the merger of Central Nebraska Public Power and Irrigation District and Dawson Public Power District. One commissioner was absent from the meeting and another abstained from voting. The same resolution went before the Phelps County Board on May 16, but it was tabled when Central representatives explained how the merger would benefit south-central Nebraska. The resolution approved by the Kearney County Board states that the board believes such a merger may negatively impact the residents of Kearney County, particularly farmers who utilize water resources from CNPPID. The commissioners created the resolution to formally express their objection and opposition to the merger, according to a Citizens Opposed press release. The Kearney County Board of Commissioners encourages CNPPID to remain a stand-alone district in order to preserve water resources in and around Kearney County as well as to retain local control of those resources, the resolution stated. Devin Bundage, general manager of CNPPID headquartered in Holdrege, said his power and irrigation district wasn't aware the resolution was on the Kearney County Boards May 16 agenda until the day prior to the meeting. We werent notified, Brundage said. Central has always been very open to helping folks understand what the merger is about and would be happy to speak with anyone who wants to learn more about it. In addition to Kearney County, the resolution was on the May 16 Phelps County Board agenda. Brundage said the Phelps commissioners allowed CNPPID representatives to address the board. We had a chance to tell them what the merger was about. They also had a resolution on the agenda that day, but they tabled it, Brundage said. Dave Rowe of Johnson Lake, chairman of the CNPPID Board, spoke at the May 16 Kearney County meeting in Minden, and, according to Citizens Opposed to the Merger, so did people opposed to the merger. We got there plenty early and attempted to tell them what was going on with the merger, Rowe said. We gave them all kinds of information, and one member was trying to give his rebuttal, but they just went ahead with the vote. There wasnt a lot of truth coming out of the Citizens Opposed. I didnt agree with many of their statements. Rowe said that after three years of researching and discussing the merger, hes more convinced than ever that merging Dawson and Central districts is a good idea. He said he believes the Central board is solidly behind its vote in October to move forward with the merger. He said Kearney Countys three representatives on the Central board each voted for the merger. I just see positives for the whole of central Nebraska, Rowe said. Of all the things Citizens Opposed talked about on May 16, none of them were accurate from my perspective. Farmer Matt Wells, an Citizens Opposed board member, said opposition to the merger has grown. I'm glad we have county leaders who can see the future damage that could be done without local control and have made their opposition known, Wells said. The county board could see that this wouldn't be a good fit for Kearney County because we are served by Southern Power District, as are 80% of Central acres." Kearney County Commissioner Bob Swanson said he has visited with many farmers who oppose the merger. The livelihood of Kearney County is farming, and water is the key, Swanson said. Brundage said the Central staff has begun preparing to resolve the technicality involving the ability to issue general obligation bonds that prevented the Power Review Board from approving the merge. Nebraska statute allows some taxing entities, such as school districts, to issue bonds, but Central and 14 other public power districts in Nebraska cannot issue bonds that are repaid by the public. Brundage said the Central Board has the authority to fix the charter, then Central and Dawson will refile their merger application. Gift this article Share this article paywall-free. LINCOLN Immigrants and refugees contribute 8% of the states overall economic output and have potential to grow into what one policy expert called an economic powerhouse that helps fill unmet workforce demand felt more deeply in Nebraska than many states. Thats a really sizable portion of our economy, Rebecca Firestone, executive director of Nebraskas OpenSky Policy Institute, said of a demographic she described as often hidden and underestimated. And were not tapping full potential. She and other Nebraska policy experts and community leaders commented in light of a new report by the nonprofit, nonpartisan Immigration Research Initiative that delved into state-centric data about the foreign-born. According to the IRI, more than 145,000 immigrants and refugees live in Nebraska. They account for 9% of the labor force and 8% of state earnings. The analysis was based on five-year census data and includes people born in another country and living in the U.S., no matter their legal status. While Nebraskas foreign-born are represented across the economic spectrum, the report revealed a disproportionate share, 37%, working in low-wage jobs such as the service and production industries compared to the 24% share of the states U.S.-born workers who earn the same lower wages. That puts Nebraska among the 10 states with the largest share of foreign-born workers who earn less than two-thirds of the median wage. On the other hand, the IRI data show that 8% of Nebraskas foreign-born workers are in the upper-wage earner category. Inclusive, targeted policies Saying immigration is a key to Nebraska growth, IRI and OpenSky highlight the need for more inclusive and targeted policies to improve opportunities for those who move to the Husker state. OpenSky, a think tank that conducts Nebraska-focused fiscal research, cited a recent study by the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, which said that international residents historically have been a larger component of Nebraska population growth than incoming migration from other states. From the 1990s through 2015, immigration to Nebraska increased annually by about 5%. But starting in 2017, immigration to the Husker state, as well as the nation, fell steadily. Had Nebraska continued to add residents from abroad at the same rate prior to 2016, Federal Reserve economists Nate Kauffman and John McCoy said, the states population by last year may have increased by an additional 19,000 individuals. "If there is an overrepresentation of a group in poverty, that is problematic." Lina Traslavina Stover, Heartland Workers Center The economists said that in addition to wooing talent from across the country, immigration is key to addressing Nebraskas labor shortage, which they said is more pronounced than in many other states. As the labor force for most demographic groups has largely recovered to, or exceeded, pre-pandemic levels, external sources of labor supply may be significant in addressing ongoing worker shortages, said their report on Nebraskas labor scarcity. Josie Schafer of the University of Nebraska at Omahas Center for Public Affairs Research says her census-based research shows foreign-born people in Nebraska with a higher labor participation rate than the states U.S.-born population, about 73% versus 69%. Perhaps more pertinent to the current labor crunch, Schafer said, is that low-wage service and production jobs more likely to be filled by the foreign-born also are the jobs that today have a high rate of openings in Nebraska. So this population is crucial to our economy and filling the jobs we have open, she said. Up to 80,000 jobs unfilled The spotlight on immigration comes as the Nebraska Chamber of Commerce and Industry and an Omaha Together One Community-led coalition also step up efforts to urge a more open door to foreign-born workers. Bryan Slone, president of the statewide business Chamber, says that up to 80,000 jobs are unfilled in Nebraska a challenging scenario for employers given that the state has one of the highest labor participation and lowest unemployment rates in the nation. Slone believes that workforce needs across the country at some point are going to demand that Congress change laws to allow greater flow of legal immigration. It will be a question of which states are able to attract and retain immigrants, he said, adding that Nebraska should be ready with improved affordable housing, child care and other services that entice workers and families. Firestone said Nebraska has room to improve policies that make it easier for new arrivals to thrive. She pointed to two measures before state lawmakers. Legislative Bill 199, for example, proposes to amend Nebraskas drivers license act to provide a driving privilege card for certain foreigners authorized to be in the U.S. Introduced by Sen. Tom Brewer of Gordon, the bill, aimed originally at Ukrainian refugees who settled in Nebraska but are ineligible for an ordinary drivers license, has advanced to the full Legislature for discussion. LB 62, introduced by State Sen. Machaela Cavanaugh, would provide reimbursement for translation and interpretation services under the states medical assistance program. Such services currently are mandated under the Medicaid Program but are not reimbursed. That measure, however, did not make it out of the Legislatures committee stage. A lot of gaps Leah Whitney Chavez, founder of the Omaha-based World Speaks, sees language and cultural gaps so great that she has built a nonprofit around trying to bridge those differences. The organization, founded in 2016, offers language courses, translation and interpretation services, growing to the point of a new headquarters move planned this summer. Whitney Chavez, noting that 109 languages are represented in Omaha public schools, said the area has a ways to go to become a place where non-English-speaking residents can thrive. There are just a lot of gaps in our community, she said, adding that language accessibility services are among those that make an area inviting to new arrivals. Lina Traslavina Stover, executive director of the statewide Heartland Workers Center, said she was not surprised to see the IRI findings, as she said that immigrants do much of the heavy lifting for some of Nebraskas biggest agricultural- and production-based industries. What is concerning to her, though, is when foreign-born workers become an underclass. If there is an overrepresentation of a group in poverty, that is problematic, Stover said. States vary in services and benefits offered to the foreign-born, as well as to subsets of that group who lack permanent legal status. While Nebraska allows undocumented students who attended and graduated from local high schools to pay the same tuition as in-state classmates, it has not taken the step that some other states have: offering state financial aid. The National Legal Immigration Center says that 80% of the nations foreign-born population live in states with tuition equity laws or policies. OpenSkys Firestone said state leaders often talk about how to attract people to Nebraska. Historically speaking, she said, immigrants come to Nebraska. Last year, Nebraska was among the top three states for the share of refugees resettled per capita. Its a potential economic powerhouse for the state, Firestone said. Huskers top nation in refugees per capita over decade Nebraska ranks No. 1 in the nation for the share of refugees resettled over the past decade compared to the overall state population, according to an analysis by the Immigration Research Initiative. Refugees are a subset of the foreign-born. They are people who the U.S. government has determined have a well-founded fear of persecution. Theyve gone through extensive vetting, according to the IRI, and typically have waited years before arriving in the U.S. Each year, a cap on the number of refugee arrivals is set by presidential determination. The IRI said refugee arrivals during President Donald Trumps administration declined from 85,000 in 2016 to 12,000 in 2020. In 2022, the total climbed to 25,000. By the measure of refugee arrivals per 100,000 people in a state, over a 10-year period, Nebraska topped the list, followed by North Dakota, Idaho, Kentucky and South Dakota. For 2022 alone, Nebraska ranked third among states for refugee resettlement per capita. Kentucky was first; Idaho, second. Looking at raw numbers, states that received the most refugees over the 10-year period were Texas, California, New York and Michigan. Top countries of origin for refugees nationally over that time frame include Myanmar (Burma), Iraq, Bhutan, Democratic Republic of Congo, Somalia, Iran, Syria, Cuba and Ukraine. The U.S. refugee resettlement program is a public-private partnership of the Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration, the Department of Health and Human Services and nine national resettlement agencies. ~ Cindy Gonzalez, Nebraska Examiner senior reporter Gift this article Share this article paywall-free. Kenosha County District Attorney Michael Graveley will not pursue charges against Kenosha Police officers who fired at a gunman late last year, praising the officers courage and professionalism in the face of their own peril. The months-long investigation into the officer-involved incident was handled by the Wisconsin Department of Justices Department of Criminal Investigations, as required by law. The night of Dec. 19, 2022, officers with the Kenosha Police Department and the Kenosha County Sheriffs Department responded to a call of an active shooter at a residence in the 1300 block of 56th Street. Upon arrival, police were fired upon by Matthew C. Lopez, 32, and two officers returned gunfire with Lopez, who died at the scene from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head. Before his death Lopez shot at and threatened other bystanders who were injured and transported to area hospitals. No law enforcement personnel were injured during the incident even though Lopez fired at them. According to state authorities, Sgt. Adam Jurgens and Sgt. Brian Miller fired into the residence in an attempt to stop Lopez and save innocent lives. They were placed on administrative assignment during the investigation in accordance with the departments policy. Jurgens and Miller at the time had 14 years and 18 years of law enforcement experience, respectively. The Division of Criminal Investigations was assisted by the Wisconsin State Patrol and the Wisconsin State Crime Lab. Findings of fact The night Lopez opened fire inside the residence at 1324 56th St. he pointed a gun at one woman in the residence and then shot at another, according to Graveleys report. As people in the residence began to flee, Lopez shot a man who was outside the residence and then shot and ultimately killed the last remaining man in the residence. When police responded to the shots fired call, Lopez fired repeatedly at police from inside the residence. As police were entering the residence to stop the active shooter, Lopez shot and killed himself. In the autopsy, the only gunshot wound noted on Lopez was to the head, along with soot consistent with a self-inflicted gunshot wound at close range. Lopez was a convicted felon with prior convictions out of New York for robbery and sexual assault and not allowed to legally possess firearms. Conclusions from D.A. When reviewing all of the available witness interviews, body cam and squad cam evidence, as well as the medical evidence discovered at autopsy, all available evidence points to the same conclusion, Graveley wrote. Officers were faced with a difficult choice. Matthew Lopez was ultimately identified by multiple witnesses as affirmatively either pointing a gun to persons heads, shooting individuals, or shooting at individuals before 911 was called. When officers arrived pursuant to the 911 call, Lopez was identified as the gunman by an individual, who also indicated that she had been fired upon, and officers immediately came under fire from within the residence, Graveley wrote. Graveley said the two sergeants fired at Lopez as he fired from the windows of that residence to preserve the life of officers in direct danger. One patrol officer was in such danger that she had to be extracted by officers carrying a protective shield. Officers exercised appropriate authority in this case. They attempted to protect the lives of fellow officers, as well as the lives of individuals potentially held hostage by Lopez. Both sergeants made decisions to fire shots consistent with concepts of both self-defense and defense of others, Graveley wrote. Each time officers fired shots in this case, they were attempting to protect the lives of fellow officers in an active-shooter scenario, as well as the lives of other individuals in the neighborhood and the lives of whoever was inside the dwelling. Graveley said no criminal charges regarding the officers are appropriate. They acted in an appropriate sometimes heroic fashion, consistent with protection of the public and their duties. As a society, we rightly take note and action when officers act in an illegal or improper fashion, Graveley wrote. We have an equal obligation to recognize when officers act with real courage to protect our lives and community. Ontario Premier Doug Ford, fourth from left, and Canada's Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry Francois-Philippe Champagne, fifth from right, pose with executives of LG Energy Solution (LGES) and Stellantis at the site for the two companies' joint battery plant in the Canadian province in this March 2022 photo. Courtesy of LGES By Park Jae-hyuk The Canadian province of Ontario has offered to share the burden with the country's federal government to give larger incentives to secure the construction of a joint battery plant run by LG Energy Solution (LGES) and Stellantis. The latest development indicates the companies have gained an advantage in their ongoing negotiations, according to industry officials, Monday. The Korean battery maker and the U.S. carmaker stopped building a joint factory in Windsor, Ontario after to Canada did not fulfill its promise of offering higher incentives, while providing Volkswagen with handsome benefits. As a result, the Canadian federal government convinced Ontario to offer additional incentives to let the construction resume. Last week, Ontario Premier Doug Ford apparently accepted the federal government's request and confirmed that the province will put more money on the table in its negotiation with LGES and Stellantis. "This is all about saving jobs and giving people the quality of life they deserve in southwestern Ontario," Ford told reporters last Friday (local time), without disclosing the specific amount of incentives that Ontario will provide. Canada's Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry Francois-Philippe Champagne, who came to Korea last week with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, welcomed Ford's comments, mentioning his meeting with LGES executives here. "I also took the opportunity earlier this week to have dinner with the president of LG Energy Solution in Korea," he said. "Actually we had the dinner for more than two hours, and he even wrote back to me this morning." Last Wednesday, Champagne and LGES President and Chief Risk Management Officer Lee Bang-soo attended the dinner hosted by President Yoon Suk Yeol for the Canadian prime minister, although LG Group Chairman Koo Kwang-mo and LGES Vice Chairman and CEO Kwon Young-soo did not meet the Canadian delegation. "I think we have a common understanding about the way forward," Champagne added. Unifor, a general trade union in Canada, also said it was encouraged by Ford's willingness to put more money into the joint battery plant. It has called on the federal government to take urgent action so that the construction of the plant can resume. As of Monday morning, however, both LGES and Stellantis declined to confirm whether they would resume the construction, given that the result of their negotiation with the Canadian government has not been announced officially. Industry officials expect the two companies to get what they want from Canada, as the country has tried to prevent them from considering the U.S. as an alternative location. When Trudeau visited Korea, he and Champagne also met with the heads of Korea's electric vehicle and battery companies, signaling the Canadian government's strong interest in attracting them. "If LGES and Stellantis pull the plug on their joint battery plant, Canada will lose the opportunity of creating lots of decent jobs," an industry official said on condition of anonymity. Gift this article Share this article paywall-free. The Dunn County Board of Supervisors adopted a resolution Wednesday night asking the state Legislature to approve funding for a $139-million renovation of the University of Wisconsin-Stouts Heritage Hall, a 50-year-old academic building that is used by more than 2,000 students. The Dunn County Board is pleased to support UW-Stout in its request for state funding for the Heritage Hall renovation project with this resolution, said Kelly McCullough, board chair. The university plays a major role in the cultural and economic health of Menomonie and the county as a whole. We hope that our support for this project will resonate with our elected officials, and they will continue to strongly advocate to have the renovation of Heritage Hall included in the 2023-2025 state capital budget. The UW Board of Regents ranked the renovation of Heritage Hall as its No. 1 priority in the Chippewa Valley and the third highest priority for academic buildings across the state, the resolution noted. Gov. Tony Evers included planning funds for the Heritage Hall project in the 2023-25 state budget; however, the county boards resolution asks the Legislature to approve full funding for the project because it is an immediate need and delaying the renovation will add $10 million a year to its eventual cost. A 2020 feasibility study revealed that the buildings systems were in danger of failing without an upgrade, the resolution noted, adding, renovation will renew and modernize instructional environments, optimize operational efficiency, and provide state-of-the-art workforce training and services to students, the community, and employers. The project will include classroom, laboratory and mechanical updates throughout the 133,000-square-foot building. University officials say the renovation will help UW-Stout provide additional employees in critical fields, including mental health and wellness, childcare, education and hospitality and tourism. UW-Stout Chancellor Katherine Frank said she was grateful the county board supported the renovation, adding: As Wisconsin strives to address its service and workforce shortages, our collaboration with Dunn County and our large collection of regional partners will continue to serve as a leading model to grow local, regional, and state-level economies. And with the states financial support, Heritage Hall will enhance its distinct value to the taxpayers, employers and students of Wisconsin. UW-Stout officials said that more than 50% of the necessary planning and design work has been completed, and they have secured more than $13.5 million in external funding associated with the project, which the university has been pursuing since 2007. The full resolution can be found in the County Boards meeting packet at https://bit.ly/41JuBok. More information on the Heritage Hall renovation project is available at https://bit.ly/42Jvej8. Gift this article Share this article paywall-free. Memorial Day, which was first observed May 30, 1868, is the day set aside to honor men and women who died while serving in the United States military. This year Memorial Day is Monday, May 29, and once again communities will be holding services in honor and memory of those who gave the ultimate sacrifice. Viroqua The citys observance begins at 9:45 a.m. with a rifle salute and Taps at the Pioneer Cemetery located on Rock Avenue. The parade begins at 10 a.m. at Viroqua City Hall and ends at the Viroqua Cemetery. Keith Yahn is the parade marshal. A program will be held at the cemetery immediately following the parade. The program will include main speaker Steve Thompson, commander of Viroqua VFW Post 3032, the Viroqua High School band, readings and master of ceremonies Pete Swanson, commander of Viroqua American Legion Post 138. Coon Valley Coon Valley American Legion Post 116 will conduct military rites at six local cemeteries. Honor guard members will assemble at the Coon Valley Legion Hall at 7 a.m. and then proceed to the following cemeteries: Koethe Cemetery, 7:30 a.m.; Trinity Church, Mormon Coulee, 7:45 a.m.; St. Joseph Ridge Church, 8 a.m.; North Ridge Cemetery, 8:30 a.m.; Bethany Church, Esofea, 9:30 a.m.; Coon Valley Lutheran Church, 10 a.m. At 10:30 a.m. there will the parade down Central Avenue from the post office to the Coon Creek Veterans Memorial where the Memorial Day observance program will be held. Participating will be the Coon Valley American Legion, the Chaseburg American Legion, and the Coon Creek VFW. The Westby High School Band and Middle School Band will also participate. The main speaker this year will be Jim Muncsh of rural Coon Valley. Originally from Indiana, Muncshs family moved to Whitefish Bay, Wisconsin, where he graduated high school. He is a graduate of Purdue University with a degree in agriculture and business management. He became an officer in the U.S. Army through the ROTC program at Purdue. He served in Europe during and after the Berlin Crisis. Munsch left active duty and moved to La Crosse to work for the Trane Company International Division. And he became the Commanding Officer of Army Reserve Engineer Company in Onalaska for six years. With his commitments with the army, Trane Company and other business ventures, he has lived in Europe and Japan, and traveled extensively in Africa, Europe and Asia. He moved to his farm in Coon Township in 1978 and converted it to a pastured beef operation, and has a consulting practice in specialty farming enterprises. Jim and Phyllis, his wife of 55 years, enjoy living in the Coon Valley area with their daughter, grandchildren, and now great-grandchildren. Jim has been a member of the Coon Valley American Legion Post for 43 years. Following the program, the Coon Valley American Legion Auxiliary will serve lunch in the Legion Hall. Readstown The villages service will take place in the Readstown/Town of Kickapoo Advancement Building at 9 a.m. The Memorial Day address will be given by Leanne (Granger) Newman of the Womans Relief Corps. Other speakers include Ella Zelhofer presenting her winning Americanism essay and Vicki Joholski-Groom reading Come Visit My Grave. The Readstown Area Historical Society will present the honor roll, and American Legion Auxiliary Post 447 members will lay the wreaths. Musical selections will be performed by the Kickapoo Middle School choir under the direction of Kathryn Miller, and the Kickapoo Middle School band, under the direction of Greg Smith. A rifle salute and Taps will be conducted by Hamilton Harris Post 447. Viola The program will be held at the Viola Cemetery at 11 a.m. In case of rain, it will be held in the Kellogg Shelter or the community building. The guest speaker will be James Jimmy Schweitzer, USN, retired. Other speakers include Ella Zelhoff, a fifth-grader at Kickapoo Elementary School presenting Remember the Wounded Warriors, Vicki Joholski Groom reading Come Visit My Grave. Taps will be played by Bill Doolan. Other participants in the program include Badger Boy and Girls State participants, Jeff Wendorf, Viola United Methodist Church, members of Hamilton Harris Post 447 and the Kickapoo High School/Middle School choir and band. La Farge La Farge VFW Post 9075 will host the villages Memorial Day observance in the high school gymnasium at 10 a.m. Vernon County Sheriff Roy Torgerson will be the guest speaker. The high school band, directed by Karen Fowell, will provide music. De Soto De Soto VFW Post 8123 will be conducting services at the following cemeteries: De Soto, 9:30 a.m.; Walnut Mound, Retreat, 10 a.m.; West Prairie, 10:30 a.m.; Rising Sun, 11 a.m.; Freeman Lutheran, 11:30 a.m.; Ferryville, noon. Westby The Westby American Legion and VFW will conduct ceremonies at the following cemeteries and locations: Our Saviors on Saugstad Road, 8:15 a.m.; Vang Lutheran on Vang Road and Hwys. 14/61, 8:30 a.m.; Skogdalen Lutheran, Timber Coulee, County Hwy. P, 8:55 a.m.; North Coon Prairie, Sunrise Road, 9:15 a.m.; Norseland Nursing Home, 9:30 a.m.; Westby Veterans Memorial, 9:40 a.m., where a short service will be held; Coon Prairie, Coon Prairie Road, 10 a.m.; United Methodist Church, East Ridge Road and Quarry Road, 10:20 a.m.; Bethesda Lutheran, East Ridge Road and Bethesda Road, 10:35 a.m.; Bloomingdale, at the intersection of Church Street and Co. Hwy. S, 11 a.m. Sugar Grove, intersection of County Hwys. P and D, 11:15 a.m.; Dell Methodist Church on Bloomingdale Road, 11:40 a.m. Salem Ridge Methodist Church, 12:10 p.m. followed by lunch at the church. Soldiers Grove Members of William Scoville American Legion Post 220 will hold a ceremony at the village parks veterans memorial at 11 a.m., where Jeff Olson will be the guest speaker. Dinner will be served at the Soldiers Grove American Legion Hall at noon. Memorial Day meals Several organizations are serving meals to commemorate the day. The Our Saviors Cemetery Association will be hosting a freewill pancake breakfast in the heart of the Our Saviors Cemetery on Saugstad Road just outside of Westby from 7 to 8:30 a.m. A meal of pancakes, sausages and cheese curds will be served, with a break for the rendering of honors by the local American Legion and VFW. Serving will then resume until all are served. All contributions received will go entirely toward the upkeep, expenses and beautification of the historic cemetery. The two projects for this year are landscaping and completing the shelters. New Hope United Methodist Church, E2290 State Hwy. 82, Red Mound, will serve a freewill pancake breakfast from 8 to 11 a.m. The menu includes plain or blueberry pancakes, sausage, biscuits and gravy and applesauce. There will also be a bake sale. Women of faith, Faith United Methodist Church, S3297 Salem Ridge Road, La Farge, will be hosting their annual Memorial Day dinner from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., or until the food is gone. The menu includes chicken and noodles, beef and noodles, salads, beans, bread, desserts and beverages. Adult meals are $12, children 7-12 are $7, and children 6 and under eat for free. The meal has been a tradition for more than 100 years. Women of faith will also have raffle tickets available for their raffle drawing, which is July 15. Gift this article Share this article paywall-free. Bail has been set at $1 million for a 31-year-old Onalaska woman accused of killing a 6-year-old boy at a town of Medary residence. Josie M. Dikeman was charged Monday in La Crosse County Circuit Court with a felony count of first-degree intentional homicide in the Feb. 11 death of Alexavier J. Pedrin. She also faces felony counts of chronic child neglect and physical abuse of a child. The cash bond was set by Judge Ramona Gonazlez during an initial court appearance Monday. La Crosse County District Attorney Tim Gruenke argued for the $1 million figure. He said the nature of the crime and Dikemans past history of child abuse makes her a threat to the community. He also accused Dikeman of conversing with witnesses after she was arrested Friday. I fear if she were released shes a risk to any child in her care given her history, Gruenke said. I also think she would continue to try to manipulate the children and either silence them or frame their stories. Defense attorney Chris Zachar said Dikeman is entitled to a presumption of innocence and asked for a cash bond that she can afford. He acknowledged the charges are serious but said his client is a lifelong resident of the area and isnt a flight risk. Zachar also challenged Gruenkes allegations that Dikeman tampered with witnesses. I see no evidence that Ms. Dikeman is attempting to manipulate witnesses, intimidate others, he said. That hasnt been alleged in the criminal complaint. Theres no factual basis for that. Gonzalez said her belief that Dikeman is a flight risk factored into her ruling. Although at this time she has not demonstrated the compulsion to leave faced with the charges, the flight risk is not as light as everyone would believe, Gonzalez said. Prosecutors filed a criminal complaint Monday. It says Dikeman called 911 around 9:30 a.m. the day Alexavier died and reported that her son was on the ground and unresponsive next to an empty Prednisone pill bottle. The La Crosse County sheriffs deputy who arrived at the residence described Dikeman, who isnt Alexaviers biological mother, as calm and conversational. The complaint says Alexavier was already stiff and had shown signs of rigor when a deputy picked him up. He was pronounced dead at 9:45 a.m. An autopsy conducted in Rochester, Minnesota, identified the cause of death as blunt force trauma and that the toxic effect of Alprazolam may have contributed to the death. That pathologist reported that Alexavier sustained blunt force injuries to the head and neck, including a brain injury; blunt force injuries of the trunk, including internal injuries to his liver and pancreas; blunt force injuries to extremities; and dehydration. Alexavier sustained a broken leg three weeks before his death. The complaint says police conducted interviews with family members, who described multiple incidents in which Dikeman was physically abusive toward Alexavier. The complaint says police were at the residence the night before Alexaviers death on a welfare check. A relative reportedly called police and expressed concern about Dikemans history of child abuse. Police reportedly entered Alexaviers bedroom and found him asleep and covered with a blanket. An officer attempted to speak with Alexavier but made no attempt to awaken him. Dikeman reportedly told police that the entire family was recovering from COVID-19. The complaint says the boys father, 33-year-old Derek Pedrin of Onalaska, was arrested at the scene for violating a no-contact order with Dikeman. Dikemans next court appearance is a May 31 preliminary hearing. Gift this article Share this article paywall-free. The Onalaska Police Department has 31 sworn officers, and all but one of them are white. Police chief Charles Ashbeck said he would change that if he could. I do want a police force that is reflective of our community, Ashbeck said. Im not sure how to get to that. Law enforcement agencies in La Crosse County consist overwhelmingly of white men. The racial makeup of police departments across the country became more salient in 2020 after the death of George Floyd in police custody in Minneapolis. Citizen video footage showed a white Minneapolis police officer, Derek Chauvin, with his knee pressed against Floyds neck for nine minutes despite protests from Floyd that he couldnt breathe. Floyd, who was Black, died at the scene. Chauvin was convicted of second-degree murder. According to the 2020 census, La Crosse County is 92% white, and the city of La Crosse is 86% white. But the city and county are growing more diverse, and law enforcement leaders say its important that the composition of their police forces resemble the demographics of their communities. Diversity underrepresentation in policing Data gathered from October 2022 to May 2023 from nearly 120 law enforcement agencies in 14 states shows frequent disparity in the racial and ethnic makeup of the agencies compared to the communities they are hired to protect and serve. Data gathered from October 2022 to May 2023 from nearly 120 law enforcement agencies in 14 states shows frequent disparity in the racial and ethnic makeup of the agencies compared to the communities they are hired to protect and serve. One problem is getting non-whites to apply. I would like to have more diversity within our department, said La Crosse County Sheriff John Siegel. Siegel said his office is exploring initiatives to address the diversity issue. The sheriffs office has 116 sworn officers. Two are Black, two are Asian American and one is Native American. There are no Hispanics. There are 20 female officers, 17 of whom are assigned to the jail. Siegel began his first term as sheriff in January. He said law enforcement faces the challenge of not only reaching out to minorities but finding qualified recruits in general. Like most other employers, law enforcement faces a shrinking applicant pool. One of Siegels first priorities as sheriff is to cast a wide net for potential recruits. Today we have people at a job fair in Platteville a jail officer and one of our captains to talk to the students who are looking to get into this profession, Siegel said. The next step in this is reaching out within the community to talk about what our profession is how we reach out to the community to talk about working at the sheriffs office. Ashbeck agreed that hiring in general has become more difficult. It has definitely been challenging over the last several years, he said. It has been getting harder and harder to find a high number of high-quality candidates. Ashbeck said the hiring process for a sworn officer is long and complex. Increasingly, the department is paying for an applicants training at a law enforcement academy. What weve been finding is more and more candidates do not send themselves through the academy before applying, Ashbeck said. Departments are left sponsoring them at the academies, which means were paying them wages and benefits for the 4 months that theyre in the academy. In the past, candidates would send themselves through it. Once candidates leave the academy, they start a four-month training period in Onalaska. Ashbeck said the most recent hire was selected May 31, 2022, and his first day as a patrol officer on his own was March 5. The lone minority on the Onalaska force is a Native American, and there are two women. Eight percent of the citys population is Asian and 1.1% is Black, but Ashbeck said no Asian American candidate has reached the first stage of testing. It was very difficult before the candidate pool shrunk, and now its unbelievably hard, Ashbeck said. We need to start working with younger populations across all cultures and ethnicities to try to educate them on the value of going into this profession. Were exploring going into the high schools to start working with them at a younger age. Doug Happel, who chairs the city of La Crosse Police and Fire Commission, said Floyds death raised multiple issues, including diversity, racial profiling and how police deal with suspects suffering from mental health issues. Happel said those issues were already being addressed by La Crosse police before Floyd died. I dont think it changed our operating procedures, Happel said. The George Floyd death is a terrible aberration that we believe would never happen in La Crosse. In the city of La Crosse, 85 of the 96 sworn officers are identified as white, or 89%. Twelve are female. Happel said race isnt the determining factor in hiring but added that the commission doesnt ignore the demographic issue. Are we interested in improving the diversity of the force? Yes, Happel said. Where its hard on the commission is that we can only hire who applies. He said the composition of the five-person commission makes it sensitive to diversity issues. The racial breakdown of the commission is three whites, one Hispanic and one Asian-American. The gender breakdown is three female and two male. Happel said the commission has a solid hiring process. Were real proud of our police and fire departments, Happel said. We have an outstanding force. La Crosse Police Chief Shawn Kudron said over the past decade, law enforcement has been the subject of much scrutiny, ranging from use of force to departmental demographics. Kudron touted a 2020 report, La Crosse Police Department: Policies and Practices in the 21st Century. He described the report as a snapshot of our department at that time and a look into the future of policing in La Crosse. He encouraged people to read the document and contact the department with any questions. Siegel said police departments and communities benefit from a police force that mirrors the demographics of a community. It helps people identify with us, Siegel said. The more diverse our department is, the more we understand the community and build a rapport with the community. Midwest law enforcement leaders react to Derek Chauvin trial 1 year after Floyd's death Bloomington, Illinois, Police Department Interim Chief Greg Scott Interim Carbondale, Illinois, Police Chief Stan Reno Coles County, Illinois, Sheriff's Office Chief Deputy Tyler Heleine Decatur, Illinois, Police Chief Jim Getz Macon County, Illinois, Sheriff Tony Brown Mattoon, Illinois, Police Chief Sam Gaines Rock Island County, Illinois, Sheriff Gerry Bustos Griffith, Indiana, Police Chief Greg Mance Lake County, Indiana, Sheriff Oscar Martinez Michigan City, Indiana, Police Chief Dion Campbell Clear Lake, Iowa, Police Captain Michael Colby Mason City, Iowa, Police Chief Jeff Brinkley Mitchell County, Iowa, Sheriff Greg Beaver Scott County, Iowa, Sheriff Tim Lane Winona, Minnesota, Police Chief Tom Williams Winona County, Minnesota, Attorney Karin Sonneman Buffalo County, Nebraska, Sheriff Neil Miller Columbus, Nebraska, Police Chief Charles Sherer Fremont, Nebraska, Police Chief Jeff Elliott Grand Island, Nebraska, Police Chief Robert Falldorf Hall County, Nebraska, Sheriff Rick Conrad Kearney, Nebraska, Police Department Chief Bryan Waugh Lincoln, Nebraska, Acting Police Chief Brian Jackson Lincoln, Nebraska, Police Department Officer Erin Spilker North Platte, Nebraska, Police Chief Daniel Hudson Omaha, Nebraska, Police Chief Todd Schmaderer Scotts Bluff County, Nebraska, Sheriff Mark Overman Dane County, Wisconsin, Sheriff Dave Mahoney La Crosse County, Wisconsin, Sheriff Jeff Wolf Madison, Wisconsin, Police Chief Shon Barnes Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin, Police Chief David Smetana U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland Gift this article Share this article paywall-free. Republican members of the House Appropriations Committee advanced an appropriations bill that would increase spending for the Department of Veterans Affairs by $18 billion from last fiscal year. The Military Construction, Veterans Affairs and Related Agencies bill includes a total of $337.9 billion in funding for the Department of Defense (Military Construction and Family Housing), Department of Veterans Affairs and related agencies. The bill was introduced and passed Wednesday in the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Military Construction and Veterans Affairs. Of the total, $167.2 billion is provided for mandatory programs and $170.6 billion for discretionary funding $16.67 billion for the Department of Defense military construction projects and $152.48 billion for the Department of Veterans Affairs discretionary programs. Funding for the VA is nearly $10 billion more than the Biden administrations request of $142.8 billion. While the bill passed out of the subcommittee, it is still in the markup phase and will need to pass the full Appropriations Committee before heading to the House floor. Republicans said the bill honors their commitment to veterans spending, after a battle with Democrats and veterans organizations over potential reductions to the VA. Concerns over the VA budget were raised after the House passed the Limit, Save, Grow Act last month, which caps all new non-defense spending at fiscal 2022 levels, amounting to a $130 billion topline cut across all federal agencies except the Defense Department. When the Limit, Save, Grow Act was passed last month, the VA released a fact-sheet stating a budget reduction to fiscal year 2022 levels would lead to staff cuts, fewer medical appointments and backlogged benefits. All appropriations bills set up funding for the following fiscal year and are usually passed by the end of September, after approval by both the House and the Senate. Gift this article Share this article paywall-free. Nearly three-quarters of more than 100 law enforcement agencies across much of the U.S. don't reflect the racial makeup of their communities, data supplied by the departments to Lee Enterprises shows. As part of a seven-month investigation by Lee and Type Investigations, agencies were ranked based on the gap between the proportion of officers and leadership in the agency who identify as people of color and the percentage of people of color in the communities they serve. Lee reporters sent surveys to more than 170 law enforcement agencies and then zeroed in on "diverse" communities, defined in this research as places where at least 10 percent of the residents are non-white. Of 105 agencies that provided demographic data and served diverse communities, 76 underrepresented the percentages of people of color in their communities by 10 points or more. Some had gaps of more than 30 percentage points. Diversity underrepresentation in policing Data gathered from October 2022 to May 2023 from nearly 120 law enforcement agencies in 14 states shows frequent disparity in the racial and ethnic makeup of the agencies compared to the communities they are hired to protect and serve. Data gathered from October 2022 to May 2023 from nearly 120 law enforcement agencies in 14 states shows frequent disparity in the racial and ethnic makeup of the agencies compared to the communities they are hired to protect and serve. These are among several key observations drawn from data submitted by state and local law enforcement agencies largely in the Midwest and East, near areas where Lee properties are based. The data show that thousands of people of color live in communities where the force looks nothing like them, despite calls for increased law enforcement diversity that echoed through U.S. streets three years ago following the murder of George Floyd. Twenty of the 105 agencies serving diverse communities have no people of color or only one such person on the force. Also, in nearly half of the 93 agencies serving diverse communities that gave data on leadership, there were either zero or only one person of color in leadership. Why police diversity matters Experts within and outside law enforcement say the continued representation gap the subject of discussions that go back decades underscores existential questions about how police protect and serve people of color. A study released in November by the Bureau of Justice Statistics that collected data in 2020 about interactions with police over the previous year showed that Black people were three times more likely than white people 6 percent vs. 2 percent to have experienced the threat of force or use of nonfatal force during their most recent police contact. The report also showed that during that time frame, Black people had the highest likelihood of experiencing any type of police misconduct (5%), more than double that of white people and Hispanic people combined. While improving diversity doesnt solve issues like excessive force or biased policing, it can begin to cause a shift. The more diverse we are as it relates to race and ethnicity, the more diverse we are also in life experiences, which helps agencies to better inform policies, also better inform their training, and better inform their support systems as well, said Darryl McSwain, chief of the Maryland-National Capital Park Police force and a 2021 finalist for the post of top cop in Lincoln, Nebraska. So I think that's why it's so crucial that we continue to diversify. Most agencies surveyed underrepresent communities of color The Lee law enforcement survey is an update and expansion of a similar effort launched in the Midwest in the summer of 2020 as the nation was reeling from weeks of protests after Derek Chauvin, a white then-police officer in Minneapolis, pressed his knee to the neck of Floyd for more than 9 minutes, according to prosecutors who won a murder conviction against Chauvin. For the current investigation, police and sheriffs departments along with state patrols in more than a dozen states responded to a two-page survey seeking data on topics including the demographic breakdown of the sworn personnel and leadership, the use of body and dashboard cameras, and the number of racial profiling and excessive force complaints. Nearly 120 agencies provided demographic information on race and ethnicity. Most also provided information on the gender breakdown of the department. In 14 of the communities, people of color identifying as Black, Hispanic/Latinx, Native American/First Nation and Asian American/Pacific Islander made up less than 10 percent of the population served. Not surprisingly, the law enforcement agencies there were all or largely white. Lee also received demographic data from 105 agencies serving diverse areas based on 2020 U.S Census data, which Lee also used to draw comparisons with their respective police-force demographics: Seventy-six of the 105 agencies, or about 72 percent, underrepresented their communities of color by 10 percentage points or more. In Martinsville, Virginia, more than half of the community roughly 57 percent was composed of people of color, while people of color accounted for about 12 percent of the force. The largest agency to respond to the survey was the 4,741-member New York State Police. People of color made up about 45 percent of the population in the departments jurisdiction and 12 percent of the force a gap of 33 percentage points. Twenty-eight departments came within 10 percentage points of matching the diversity levels of their communities. They range in size from the seven-member Hebron Police Department in Indiana to the 488-member police department in Madison, Wisconsin. In Hebron, about 12 percent of the population and 14 percent of the force were people of color. In Wisconsins capital, 28 percent of the community and 23 percent of the force were made up of people of color. As a group, the 119 agencies police departments, sheriffs offices and state police that supplied diversity data appear to skew whiter than local law enforcement across the U.S. overall. This is based on part- and full-time personnel numbers provided by the 119 agencies compared with the latest law enforcement demographics for full-time personnel collected by the Department of Justice in 2020. In the 82 police departments in the group, nearly 79 percent of sworn members identified as white versus about 69 percent of full-time sworn officers in local police departments in 2020. Lee found similar disparities among the 31 sheriffs departments in the group. Eighty-seven percent of sworn members identified as white, 16 percentage points greater than the roughly 71 percent of full-time sworn officers in sheriffs departments nationwide who identified as white in 2020, according to the DOJ. So what do all these numbers mean? In Martinsville, Virginia, which describes itself as a city without limits, the lack of diversity on its police force has not gone unnoticed. Of a force of 41 sworn members, the Martinsville police department has four Black officers and one Hispanic officer, said Maj. Chad Rhoads, part of the department's leadership team. I certainly do acknowledge the gap, Rhoads, who is part of the department's leadership team, said. It's certainly not representative of the community, but we want to get it there. But it's just something that we've always struggled with. Rhoads said the department tried attending job fairs at nearby historically Black colleges and universities but got no applicants, a problem it has experienced at college job fairs in general. He said the department does not have a specific program to recruit people of color. It relies on grassroots efforts including using school resource officers to forge connections with students. Of course, Martinsville is far from the only city with a force that does not reflect the population. Sgt. Betsy Brantner Smith, a police trainer and spokesperson for the National Police Association, an educational and advocacy group, links the quest for diversity to law enforcements challenge of attracting applicants overall. Since 2020, American law enforcement, we, have (had) a very difficult time just recruiting and retaining police officers of any race and any gender, said Brantner Smith, who was a police officer for 29 years beginning in 1980. So right now, as a country we're just trying to get people to come to the law enforcement profession. People are leaving in record numbers. They are leaving prior to receiving their retirement, and its becoming a real crisis. Departments are increasing their use of technology and social media and beginning to recruit more broadly to boost ranks, Brantner Smith said, but whether we're talking post-George Floyd or we're talking in general, not everyone is attracted to this profession. Call for police diversity reaches zenith after George Floyd's death Long before Floyds murder sent thousands of protesters into the streets, community activists and private citizens had called for a more just and representative law enforcement system. That chorus reached a crescendo after Floyds Memorial Day 2020 murder and included a 21 pillar proposal outlined in 2021 by the National Urban League, which, among other demands, called on communities and law enforcement leadership to increase diversity and equity in both the leadership and ranks of local, state and federal law enforcement. Most law enforcement leaders and experts interviewed for this story listed similar reasons to push for more diversity in police forces, including helping to establish better relations with diverse communities and having role models who can attract other diverse candidates. If we want to have a relationship with our community, and we want our community to be a part of this ecosystem of public safety, then we want our police force to be reflective of the communities that we're in, said Regina Holloway, vice president of community impact for Axon, maker of equipment for law enforcement, notably Tasers and cameras. I think it's not impossible by any stretch. We want all officers to be equitable across the board, but I do think that there's this opportunity for an officer of color a Black officer, a brown officer to have lived experience that they can relate to community members that are having challenges around public safety, challenges in the community, right? There's going to be a kinship there, possibly, that will create a deeper relationship at the on-site of that interaction. She referred to a study of the Chicago Police Department, published in Science magazine, examining data on officer demographics and behavior from 2012-2015 that found that when compared with white officers, Black and Hispanic officers made far fewer stops and arrests and used force less often, especially against Black civilians. What we know is that Black and brown officers are less likely to stop people for low-level offenses, Holloway added. And they're less likely to have sort of these negative interactions with community. High-profile deaths in 2023 fuel debate over 'biased culture' That assertion fueled major debates earlier this year in two highly publicized deaths of Black citizens following interactions with law enforcement members, most of whom were people of color. In late April, the family of Tyre Nichols filed a $550 million federal lawsuit against the city of Memphis, the citys police department, and what the suit described as unqualified, untrained and unsupervised officers who severely beat the 29-year-old Black man after a traffic stop and brief foot chase Jan. 7, according to news reports and video that was later shared with the public. He was hospitalized and died three days later. Five former Memphis police officers all Black were fired within weeks of the incident. Each faces multiple charges, including second-degree murder, aggravated assault, aggravated kidnapping, official misconduct and official oppression, according to news reports. In Virginia, in a death that conjured images of Floyd pinned beneath Chauvins knee, Henrico County deputy sheriffs piled onto Irvo Otieno, a 28-year-old Black man in shackles suffering a mental health crisis, as he was being admitted to Central State Hospital. He died of asphyxiation, a medical examiner found. Otieno, whose family said he had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder, died March 6 while in custody of the Henrico County Sheriffs Office. Hospital video shows the group pinning him down for close to 12 minutes, and theres no audio. The sheriffs office told Lee it does not use body cameras. Of the seven sheriff's deputies charged with second-degree murder in the case, five are Black, two are white. In fact, Henrico County's sheriff's office was among the most-diverse departments in the Lee survey when compared to the population of the county. People of color made up 49 percent of the population and about 68 percent of the force, for an overrepresentation of nearly 20 percentage points. In the Nichols case, Benjamin Crump, a noted civil rights attorney representing the Nichols family, told ABC News that he believes Nichols was a victim of an implicit bias police culture that exists in America. Crump said Nicholss death occurred despite recent police reform in Memphis because of the institutionalized police culture that makes it somehow allowed that they can use this type of excessive force and brutality against people of color. And it doesn't matter if the officers are Black, Hispanic, or white. Its part of the culture, this biased culture that said this is allowed. Leaders seek change, professionalism and better data Attempts to steer departmental culture in a more inclusive direction often fall to the chief or sheriff. It can be a daunting task regardless of their ethnicity. Jamal A. Simington, chief of the Bloomington Police Department in Illinois, identifies as African American and is the only person of color in leadership in his 123-member department, with less than 10 percent of the force composed of people of color. Thats in a community where 27 percent of residents are people of color. Simington, who said he has been called the N-word and Uncle Tom, thinks leaders must foster and model a culture of professionalism regardless of race. You need the representation with high levels of professionalism, said Simington, who was drawn to law enforcement by family members who served. When asked about the roles of officers of color in the deaths of Otieno and Nichols, Simington said, It does reflect horrible on the badge. It tarnishes everything we stand for, right? It's supposed to be a noble occupation. So the nobility comes from our capability and our mindset on how to treat people [in a way thats] fair and appropriate. That's if you're a person of color or not. There has been limited research on the role of officers' race on their interactions with citizens. The latest report by the Bureau of Justice Statistics on encounters with police did not list the race of the officers involved. A database by the Washington Post tracking fatal police shootings since 2015 shows that Black Americans, who account for about 14 percent of the population, are killed by police at more than twice the rate of white Americans. The database also does not list the race of officers. The Lee survey asked agencies to share numbers for excessive force and racial profiling complaints logged between 2017 and 2022. More than 100 responded. Some declined to provide data or suggested other sources for it. Thirty-nine agencies surveyed said they had no complaints fitting in either category in any of those years. There is also variation in how each agency categorizes complaints. Some responded with numbers for allegations described in broader terms such as "biased policing and use of force. The Greensboro Police Department in North Carolina, which is nearly 70 percent white in a community that is less than 40 percent white, had 121 biased-based policing allegations, including bias other than race, between 2017 and 2022. It also had 14 allegations of excessive force during that same period. Allegations are not always sustained by the department once investigated. In an email, the department said its investigations found that three of four allegations of excessive force were found to be valid in 2021-22, and no allegations of biased policing initiated by citizens were sustained in that period. Stephanie Mardis is captain of the Greensboro Police Departments Professional Standards Division, which handles matters related to internal affairs. She told Lee she recognizes the need for improving diversity in the departments ranks. Having a force that was more representative of the community may not necessarily mean that our complaints will decrease, she said. It may not necessarily mean that we will have less use of force, but on its face, if a police department reflects the community in itself, it inherently gains trust with people from all walks of life. The department gives the public access each year to its complaint numbers via an annual report; however, it does not list the race or ethnicity of the officer. Tracie L. Keesee is COO, president and co-founder of the Center for Policing Equity, which uses data and science to help law enforcement look at harm reduction when it comes to issues of race and reimagine public safety in a way that centers community. She feels there should be more robust, peer-reviewed studies that look closely at the differences in negative outcomes for people of color when interacting with diverse vs. non-diverse departments. The science is so scant, she said. For starters, Keesee said, law enforcement agencies need to better track both the diversity of their members and how they interact with citizens. We want law enforcement departments to start collecting data appropriately, and we want to make it available to everyone so we can do exactly what you're talking about, she added. So we can look at and be able to try to begin to answer those questions." Lee Enterprises reporters Alison Burdo, Lauren Cross, Lizzie Kaboski , Analisa Trofimuk and Patrick Wilson contributed to this report. Research by Emma Davis of Type Investigations. Karen Robinson-Jacobs is a member of the Lee Public Service Journalism team and a Type Investigations reporting fellow. Photos: Scenes from the racial justice protests after George Floyd's death Photos: Reactions across US to guilty verdict in Derek Chauvin trial APTOPIX George Floyd Officer Trial George Floyd Officer Trial Minneapolis George Floyd Officer Trial George Floyd Officer Trial New York George Floyd Officer Trial Washington George Floyd Officer Trial Washington George Floyd Officer Trial Washington George Floyd Officer Trial Washington George Floyd Officer Trial Washington APTOPIX George Floyd Officer Trial Washington APTOPIX George Floyd Officer Trial George Floyd Officer Trial George Floyd Officer Trial George Floyd Officer Trial Houston George Floyd Officer Trial Minneapolis George Floyd Officer Trial Houston George Floyd Officer Trial George Floyd Officer Trial Texas George Floyd Officer Trial New York George Floyd Officer Trial Gift this article Share this article paywall-free. Owning or selling lifelike sex dolls made to resemble children or infants would be prohibited in Wisconsin under a GOP-authored proposal being circulated in the state Legislature. The bill, proposed Monday by Reps. Joy Goeben, R-Hobart, and Ty Bodden, R-Hilbert, and Sen. Jesse James, R-Altoona, would make it a felony to possess, manufacture and sell child sex dolls, according to a memo seeking co-sponsors for the bill. If passed, Wisconsin would join a growing number of states to outlaw such dolls. Goeben said the bill was drafted following conversations with law enforcement, who raised concerns over child sex dolls, which can be built to look like specific children. I have a daughter. I couldnt let it go, Goeben said. We have to do everything we can to protect the children of Wisconsin. The proposed bill would define a child sex doll as an anatomically correct doll, mannequin, or robot, with features that resemble a minor that is intended for use in sex acts, for sexual gratification, or for manipulating children into participating in sex acts, instructing children how to participate in sex acts, or normalizing sexual behavior with children. Unfortunately, these dolls are often found alongside child porn and other illegal items, the lawmakers wrote in the co-sponsorship memo. These dolls can also be modeled to look like real children. Under the bill, the level of felony penalty for possessing, manufacturing or selling a child sex doll would vary depending on if the violation is a repeat offense, the number of dolls found in possession and other past convictions for crimes against children, according to an analysis of the bill by the nonpartisan Legislative Reference Bureau. The bill provides an exemption to law enforcement, physicians, psychologists, attorneys and court officers or those in child therapy if such a doll is in possession for the purposes of their specific duty, according to the LRB memo. The bills co-authors say the measure has been supported by several law enforcement agencies, including the Wisconsin Chiefs of Police, Wisconsin Lodge of the Fraternal Order of Police, Badger State Sheriffs Association and Wisconsin Sheriffs and Deputy Sheriffs Association. Some groups, including The Prostasia Foundation, an organization that seeks to protect children from sexual abuse based on evidence, have said banning the dolls may be unconstitutional. The organization has said such bans could increase instances of child sexual abuse by removing a victimless outlet for people who might otherwise target a child. Similar legislation Similar bills have been floated in other states, with Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs in May signing into law measures to create a new criminal offense barring possessing or selling anatomically correct dolls that resemble children. Similar laws have been enacted in Florida, Hawaii, Tennessee and Utah. At the federal level, the U.S. House of Representatives in 2017 introduced the Curbing Realistic Exploitative Electronics Pedophilic Robots (CREEPER) Act, which proposed banning child sex robots in the U.S. Despite unanimously passing the House, the measure died in the U.S. Senate. Similar provisions were proposed the following year, but the measure never received a floor vote. Most recently, members of Congress earlier this year introduced CREEPER Act 2.0, which is modeled in part after Floridas ban on the sale and possession of child sex dolls. A 2022 article from Arizona State University, which explores the dynamic and implications for the legal response to sex robots, notes challenges that such bans could face. The reports authors note a state or federal ban on child sex dolls may not be permissible under the First Amendment, citing previous U.S. Supreme Court decisions that found a law barring computer-generated child pornography to be unconstitutionally overbroad. In other words, because the digitally fabricated depictions of children were not real children, the connection between the images and actual child abuse was too attenuated, the article notes. The question thus becomes whether the same holding would apply to child sex robots, the authors add. The argument would then be that this pushes the abuser closer to actual abuse of a real child and may increase the risk that the offender will take the next step and abuse a real child. The critical legal question of whether the child sex robot creates a direct enough linkage to abuse of a real child is therefore a close question that has not been addressed by a court. Gift this article Share this article paywall-free. After evading authorities in South Dakota for speeding, a 25-year-old woman from Washington state was arrested Friday in Winona County and ultimately referred for a mental health evaluation. A Winona County sheriffs deputy was running speed radar on Interstate 90 before 9 p.m. Friday when he clocked Danielle Meshel Poirier of Federal Way, Washington, traveling west at 103 mph. After stopping Poirier, law enforcement said she initially provided a false name, had no identification and was uncooperative. The deputy believed Poirier to be under the influence of a controlled substance or having a mental health crisis. During the stop, a drug recognition expert took Poirier through some tests, which law enforcement said were minimal due to Poirier being uncooperative. Additionally, they said Poirier failed the tests she did and had extremely dilated pupils, wasnt communicative and extremely fidgety. Deputies arrested Poirier for providing a false name and date of birth in addition to suspicion of being under the influence of a controlled substance. A warrant was issued for Poiriers blood, and formal charges are pending the results. While booking Poirier, deputies learned South Dakota authorities previously attempted to stop her for going above 100 mph on Interstate 90 but discontinued the chase when she got into Minnesota. Poirier was then stopped again in western Minnesota at a gas station where a state trooper let her continue on her way. After Winona deputies took Poirier into custody Friday, she was released from jail Saturday after the blood test was collected. Just before 5:30 a.m. Sunday, the Winona Police Department received a call of concern for a woman sitting in a lawn chair near Mankato Avenue and Sixth Street in Winona. After learning the person of concern was Poirier, the sheriffs deputy from Fridays arrest assisted on the scene. Poirier was then taken to Winona Health for a mental health evaluation. Deputies initially tried to contact Poiriers family members Friday and were unsuccessful. After trying again, they made contact and learned of Poiriers ongoing mental health concerns. Poiriers family told authorities they did not know why she was traveling east. Winona County Human Services is working to see if there is anything the agency can do in the case. Gift this article Share this article paywall-free. Winona Area Public Schools is moving ahead with planned geothermal HVAC projects at Jefferson and Washington-Kosciusko elementary schools. In three 7-to-1 votes at the Thursday, May 18, board meeting, the board approved contracts for commissioning services, special inspection services and steel supply necessary for the projects to be completed. Board member Pete Watkins cast the sole opposing vote for the contracts. The board split on approving the contracts at its May 4 meeting after board members suggested pausing the projects. A long pause is not a viable option; we turned that stone over, nothing there. Im in full support of moving forward with the projects. said Jim Schul, the board member who suggested pausing the projects at the May 4 meeting. According to a document prepared for the meeting, most raw products for the projects are already being prepared for delivery, and work through June is billed for $3.5 million. Delaying or canceling the projects could lead to consequences including lawsuits from contractors, fees with supply houses and delaying the start of the 2024-25 school year. Work has already been started in the schools basements and first-floor work is slated for this summer, said Charley Sweeney, assistant project manager with Kraus-Anderson, the firm contracted to coordinate the projects. Additional construction is planned for the summer of 2024. Our plan is to make sure that the impact for this next school year is as minimal as possible, said Sweeney at the May 4 board meeting. Artyomovsk (Bahkmut) Is Liberated! May 21, 2023, 2022 (EIRNS)The Russian Defense Ministry issued the following announcement at 5:15 p.m. EDT yesterday: Artyomovsk has been completely liberated as a result of offensive actions by Wagner assault detachments supported by artillery and aviation of the Yug Group of Forces. In its daily update of this morning, the ministry added that Aviation and artillery of the Yug Group of Forces have foiled enemys attempts to counter-attack from the areas of Konstantinovka, Bogdanovka, and Krasnoye (Donetsk Peoples Republic). Russian forces also destroyed a bridge near Krasnoye that was used by Ukrainian troops to bring reinforcements to Artyomovsk. Putin issued his congratulations to the forces involved this morning. The President congratulated the Wagner assault units as well as all service personnel of the Russian Federation Armed Forces who had rendered them the required support and protected the flanks, on the completion of the operation to liberate Artyomovsk, said a statement posted by the Kremlin press service. All military personnel who distinguished themselves in the operation will be recommended for state decorations. Zelenskyy apparently didnt acknowledge the loss of Artyomovsk, when he met with Biden in Hiroshima, this morning. TASS reports that during Zelenskyys interaction with Biden, someone from the audience shouted out a question addressed to the Ukrainian president: Is Bakhmut still under Ukrainian control? The questioner followed by an additional line: The Russian Federation claims to have taken Bakhmut. Zelenskyy replied, I think no. And then added: But you have to understand that there is nothing left there. They destroyed everything. There are no buildings. Its a pity, its a tragedy, but for today Bakhmut is only in our hearts. Ukrainian presidential spokesman Sergey Nikiforov said that Zelenskyy was responding to an additional line. That is, the words I think no refer to the phrase: The Russian Federation claims to have taken Bakhmut. At the same time, Nikiforov glossed over the fact that there was a clear question about whether Artyomovsk remains under Ukrainian control. The president has denied Bakhmut has been taken over, Nikiforov wrote on his Facebook page. There is some caution on what the liberation of Artyomovsk means militarily, however. Alexander Kots, the military correspondent of Komsomolskaya Pravda, noted that while estimates of Ukrainian losses run as high as 50,000 killed in the 244 days of the battle, Artyomosk is still surrounded by heavily fortified Ukrainian positions in Avdeevka, Druzhkovka, Konstantinovka, Kramatorsk, Slavyansk, and other places. Kievs main defensive line in Donbass, he says, runs along this axis. Then theres the question of the much-anticipated Ukrainian offensive. An attack by the Ukrainian armed forces was predicted to take place in the 20s of May, notes the Ukraine Watch Telegram channel. The Ukrainian armed forces have not abandoned plans for an offensive. These plans were prepared, and the equipment and people that have been saved are being brought to the front line. By all indications, activation may begin in the next few days. May 21, 2023, 2022 (EIRNS)In a press briefing on May 20 from Hiroshima, U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan stated that the Biden administration doesnt support Ukraines attacks on Russian territory. The press briefing is posted to the White House website. TASS picked up some of Sullivans comments. During the Q&A, there was this exchange: Q: I wanted to ask you a question about the decision to provide training for pilots to operate F-16s. President Biden, in February, did an interview with David Muir of ABC News. And in that particular interview, he said he doesnt need F-16s now. And then, when he was pressed, he said, Theres no basis upon which there is the rationale, according to our military, now to provide F-16s. Now, I realize youre not providing F-16s, but you are providing training for those F-16s. Whats changed in any way? MR. SULLIVAN: Well, as President Biden said, whether in that interview or right around the same time, we werent moving forward then, but he also indicated that we were not taking it off the table. Nothing has changed. In fact, our approach to the provision of weapons, material, training to the Ukrainians has followed the exigencies of the conflict.... But now that we have delivered everything we said we were going to deliver so we put the Ukrainians in a position to make progress on the battlefield through the counteroffensive, weve reached a moment where it is time to look down the road and to say, What is Ukraine going to need as part of a future force to be able to deter and defend against Russian aggression as we go forward? F-16 fourth-generation fighter aircraft are part of that mix. The obvious first step there is to do the training and then to work with allies and partners and the Ukrainians to determine how to do the actual provision of planes as we move forward.... [Indicates another reporter] Q: Jake, the Presidents concern from the beginning had been that F-16s could be used to help escalate this war, to make it a wider conflict. What assurances, if any, has Ukraine given the United States that they would not use these F-16s or fighter jets in offensive fashion that would target Russian soil? MR. SULLIVAN: So, all of the capabilities that the United States has proven to Ukraine come with the basic proposition that the United States is not enabling or supporting attacks on Russian territory. That will go for the support for the provision of F-16s by any party as well. And the Ukrainians have consistently indicated that they are prepared to follow through on that. And, in fact, we have seen them follow through on that with the provision of Western equipment when we have given it to them. EIR LEAD EDITORIAL FOR MONDAY MAY 22, 2023 Dont Be Tragic! Sleepers, Awake! May 21, 2023, 2022 (EIRNS)The disastrous, thermonuclear Vietnam policy of the United States and NATO, as just reasserted at the G7 Hiroshima summit in the form of the unwinnable Ukraine proxy war, must end not only in the defeat, but, if pursued, in the near-term systemic dissolution of the Anglosphere itselfwhatever the apparent outcome on the battlefield. As Helga Zepp-LaRouche asserts in her Urgent Appeal by Citizens and Institutions from All Over the World to the (Next) President of the United States! Today we are faced with a strategic situation far more dangerous than that at the height of the Cuban missile crisis. Offensive NATO weapon systems are much closer to the border of Russia than Cuba is to the United States. The destructive power of the NATO weapons is even greater, the warning time before their launch shorter, and the trust between the leaders of the big nuclear powers is virtually non-existent, compared to that between Kennedy and Khrushchev. We must awaken, and must bring ourselves, with the aid of principles of Classical drama, to confront the failure of our United States and trans-Atlantic citizenries to, in many cases, even notice the accelerated unfolding of the historical tragedy in which they are now participantsthe ship of fools on which they are presently passengers. With the specter of thermonuclear war now hovering over the global horizon, the unfinished business of the 1963-1983 era of United States foreign policy toward todays Russia, China, and the global majority of the worlds nations, especially as regards questions of war and peace, has now come to center stage. The aborted policy-actions to prevent thermonuclear war, taken by two PresidentsJohn F. Kennedy and Ronald Reagan, one assassinated, the other nearly soin proposing a higher peace approach to the then-extant Soviet Union, reveal the strategic mind-set that must inform our war-avoidance approach today, and without which the human race has no chance of surviving. Kennedys intention was expressed in his Peace Speech at American University June 10, 1963: Total war makes no sense in an age when great powers can maintain large and relatively invulnerable nuclear forces and refuse to surrender without resort to those forces. It makes no sense in an age when a single nuclear weapon contains almost ten times the explosive force delivered by all the Allied air forces in the Second World War. It makes no sense in an age when the deadly poisons produced by a nuclear exchange would be carried by wind and water and soil and seed to the far corners of the globe and to generations yet unborn. The sentiments that he expressed that day, are so different from the present foreign policy of this nation, that they might well be called treason in todays reactionary political atmosphere. They were far from it. They were a change in Cold War axioms, one which the intelligence factions represented by Allen Dulles and Bertrand Russell would not accept. Eight months after the thermonuclear near-Armageddon of the October 1962 Cuban missile crisis, JFK would propose that the nation reverse course toward his, and Americas arch-enemy, the Soviet Union. He would emphasize that the two most powerful nations in the world were, precisely because of their power, therefore also the most vulnerable to complete annihilation. This meant that the two powers must quickly shift the world toward the direction of sanity. For, in the final analysis, our most basic common link is that we all inhabit this small planet. We all breathe the same air. We all cherish our childrens future. And we are all mortal. Today, as in 1963, the survival of humanity demands a higher mode of conflict resolution than total war, or little wars that can turn into total war in a matter of hours, or even minutes. Since JFKs time, ten presidents ago, no American leader, with the exception of the unelected president Martin Luther King, in his nonviolence or nonexistence Riverside Church speech against the war in Vietnam, has successfully challenged Americans to walk the narrow path of peace in the same waywith one exception. On March 23, 1983, President Ronald Reagan ended a nationally televised speech with this formulation: Let me share with you a vision of the future which offers hope. It is that we embark on a program to counter the awesome Soviet missile threat with measures that are defensive. Let us turn to the very strengths in technology that spawned our great industrial base and that have given us the quality of life we enjoy today. What if free people could live secure in the knowledge that their security did not rest upon the threat of instant U.S. retaliation to deter a Soviet attack, that we could intercept and destroy strategic ballistic missiles before they reached our own soil or that of our allies? I know this is a formidable, technical task, one that may not be accomplished before the end of the century. Yet, current technology has attained a level of sophistication where its reasonable for us to begin this effort. It will take years, probably decades of efforts on many fronts. There will be failures and setbacks, just as there will be successes and breakthroughs. And as we proceed, we must remain constant in preserving the nuclear deterrent and maintaining a solid capability for flexible response. But isnt it worth every investment necessary to free the world from the threat of nuclear war? We know it is. The policy of defensive weapons, a policy that, had it been implemented, would have prevented the present situation, which places the world on the brink of thermonuclear Armageddon, from even arising, originated with economist and statesman Lyndon H. LaRouche. That has never been generally reported to the American people up to today; it is suppressed knowledge. That higher peace policy was the reason for the persecution and incarceration of LaRouche and his associates, and is the great secret of the past four decades of thermonuclear strategic policy, and current history. It is not fashionable, nor considered acceptable, to discuss the relationship between the foreign policy axiom shift of JFK in 1963, and the axiom busting proposal of Ronald Reagan to the Soviet Union in 1983. It blows the circuitry of contemporary historical myth-making, but it is nonetheless true: LaRouche proposed it, and Reagan adopted it. It is also true, that unless and until the truths of contemporary history are revealed, from the 1963-68 four American assassinations of John and Robert Kennedy, Rev. Martin Luther King, Malcolm X (and other murders conducted by the International Assassination Bureau in Germany, Italy, etc. in the 1960s and 1970s), to the 1983 true story of the Strategic Defense Initiative and the subsequent persecution and incarceration of Lyndon LaRouche by the United States Department of Justice (which was the precedent for those actions now being conducted against former American Presidents and private citizens), the danger of thermonuclear war, whether sought or unsought, will continue to mount by the day. It is possible to not be tragic, to not repeat the lessons of history. As Robert Kennedys favorite poet, Aeschylus, said: He who learns must suffer. And even in our sleep pain, which cannot forget, falls drop by drop upon the heart, until, in our own despair, against our will, comes wisdom through the awful grace of God. The sleep of Reason produces tragedy. Sleepers, awake! As reported in this Fox News piece, "The Minnesota Senate passed a measure to legalize recreational marijuana in the state for adults ages 21 and older. The measure, approved early Saturday morning, will now head to Democrat Gov. Tim Walz's desk for signature. He is expected to sign the bill into law." Here are some of the particulars: Starting August 1, the bill would allow people 21 and older to carry up to 2 ounces of marijuana in public and possess up to 2 pounds at home. These adults could also grow home plants. But possessing more than those limits or selling the product without a state license could result in criminal penalties and civil fines.... Minnesota would become the 23rd state, plus Washington, D.C., to legalize recreational marijuana. The legislation was approved by the state Senate in a party-line vote, with all Democrats voting in favor. The state House passed the bill Thursday night with five Republicans joining all but one Democrat in approving the measure.... The House had approved the bill in recent years, but the effort was stalled by a Republican-led Senate. That changed this year when Democrats took control of the chamber. The bill would also automatically expunge low-level cannabis convictions and set up a board to consider expungement or resentencing of felony crimes. "Starting right away, we will begin the process of expunging tens of thousands of cannabis convictions," House bill sponsor Rep. Zack Stephenson said on Twitter. "But it took 50 years to create all those convictions, and it will take months, even years, to complete this process." Newly regulated dispensaries, once operational, will be permitted for cultivation, manufacturing and lawful sale of cannabis products, depending on the licenses they are approved for. There will be a 10% gross receipts tax on the products, in addition to existing local and state general sales taxes. Stephenson said in his tweet that he expects it to take up to 18 months before licensed dispensaries would be available to shop in as a new state agency works to set up the legal market. The American space agency NASA is testing a snake-like explorer designed to search for signs of life in hard-to-reach places. The robot is known as the Exobiology Extant Life Surveyor, or EELS. NASA said the robot is equipped to move in ways that traditional explorer vehicles, called rovers, cannot. Engineers at NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in California are leading the development of the explorer. EELS is built to explore on its own, without real-time human control. It is being designed to operate on land, in water and in harsh freezing conditions, NASA engineers said. The current model is now being tested in different environments. Future development will be based on how the current model performs. The team said the idea for the snake-like robot came from NASAs desire to search for signs of life in an ocean on Saturns moon Enceladus. That ocean is thought to exist beneath the moons icy surface. The current version of EELS weighs about 100 kilograms and stretches four meters long. It is made up of 10 identical pieces, called screws, which can turn in different directions. The screws use an auger effect to move along surfaces. Parts of the robot can rise up or down to reach different places for capturing data. The testing has involved screws made of 3D printed plastic as well as metal. The plastic screws have performed better on general surfaces, while the metal ones have been good in ice, the team said. Engineers have already tested EELS in several environments, including sand, snow and ice. Hiro Ono is the lead investigator for JPL on the EELS project. He said in a statement the robots development requires very different methods from those used for traditional spacecraft and explorers. Ono noted that a lot of information exists about how to design a four-wheeled vehicle. There is no textbook about how to design an autonomous snake robot to boldly go where no robot has gone before, he said. We have to write our own. Thats what were doing now. The developers said EELS is designed to operate on its own because of the communications delays that exist between Earth and deep space. So, the team is seeking to make the robots technology able to sense its environment, estimate risk and travel and collect data with science instruments that are still being developed. The team noted that it will also be important for the explorer to be able to recover on its own without human assistance when it experiences difficulties. The projects autonomy lead researcher, Rohan Thakker, compared the EELS technology to that used in self-driving vehicles, but in a much different environment. Imagine a car driving autonomously, but there are no stop signs, no traffic signals, not even any roads. The robot has to figure out what the road is and try to follow it, Thakker said. Then it needs to go down a 100-foot drop and not fall. The team said, in its final form, the robot will contain 48 actuators. Actuators are devices that act as small motors for the EELS robot. The actuators are designed to give the explorer the ability to change into different forms, while operating complex machines and software systems. Thakker compared the actuators to steering wheels on a car. JPLs Matthew Robinson is the project manager for EELS. He said the team is currently putting the most effort into developing the robots movements and autonomous abilities. He said, later, they will consider what science instruments can be put on the EELS. Scientists tell us where they want to go, what theyre most excited about, and well provide a robot that will get them therewe just have to build it, Robinson said. Im Bryan Lynn. Bryan Lynn wrote this story for VOA Learning English, based on reports from NASA Quiz - NASA Tests Snake-Like Robot to Search for Life in the Solar System Start the Quiz to find out Start Quiz ________________________________________________________________ Words in This Story identical adj. exactly the same auger n. a tool made of a twisted rod of metal attached to a handle, used for making large holes in wood or the ground autonomous adj. independent and having the ability to operate on its own bold adj. not frightened of danger figure out v. (phrasal) to find a way of doing something or solving a problem foot n. an English measure of distance equal to about .3 meters motor n. a machine that produces motion or power steering wheel n. a wheel in a vehicle that the driver turns in order to make the vehicle go in a particular direction ___________________________________________________________________ What do you think of this story? We want to hear from you. We have a new comment system. Here is how it works: Write your comment in the box. Under the box, you can see four images for social media accounts. They are for Disqus, Facebook, Twitter Google. Click on one image and a box appears. Enter the login for your social media account. Or you may create one on the Disqus system. It is the blue circle with D on it. It is free. Each time you return to comment on the Learning English site, you can use your account and see your comments and replies to them. Our comment policy is here. On Indonesia's eastern island of Sumba, solar power is providing people with electricity. Having electric lights can mean many things. It can mean being able to work later in the evenings, making more money and having more social gatherings. Before electricity came to the village of Laindeha almost two years ago, the day ended when the sun went down. A few families who could pay for them would start loud generators, which release smoke. Some people connected lights to old car batteries, which would quickly run out or ruin appliances. Children sometimes studied by oil lamps, but these sometimes burned down homes when knocked over by the wind. Then social organizations brought small, solar panel systems to Laindeha and other villages on the island. For Tamar Ana Jawa, it means much-needed extra money. It used to be dark at night, now its bright until morning, the 30-year-old mother of two said. So tonight, I work...to pay for the children. Around the world, hundreds of millions of people live in communities without regular electricity. In Sumba, off-grid solar energy equipment is bringing people limited electricity years before normal power systems reach them. The International Energy Agency (IEA) says 775 million people around the world lacked electricity service in 2022. The IEA says Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia are home to some of the largest populations without electricity. The United Nations and World Bank said in a 2021 report that not having electricity at home keeps people poor. People without power struggle to work in the modern economy, the report said. Indonesia has brought electricity to millions of people in recent years. The World Bank says that, between 2005 and 2020, the country has increased the percentage of people with electricity from 85 to 97 percent. But there are still more than half a million people in Indonesia living without electricity service. There are experts who say off-grid solar programs could be reproduced across the large nation of thousands of islands. They note the energy is renewable. Now, villagers often gather in the evening to continue the days work. They also gather to watch television shows on cellphones that are recharged by solar panels and that help children do schoolwork by providing light. But solar power is still rare in Indonesia. The country wants more solar energy to meet its climate goals. But there has been limited progress. This is because households that are not already connected to a power grid cannot sell electricity back to the company that supervises the power grid. Sumba Sustainable Solutions, based in eastern Sumba, aims to increase solar use. Working with international donors, it provides imported home solar systems. The systems can power light bulbs and charge cellphones. The company says on its website that it provides the equipment for monthly payments equal to $3.50 for three years. The organization also offers solar-powered appliances like wireless lamps and grinding machines. It said it has sent over 3,020 solar light systems and 62 grinding machines across the island, reaching more than 3,000 homes. Similar programs exist in places like Bangladesh and Africa south of the Sahara Desert. The World Bank says these programs help provide electricity for millions. But off-grid solar energy systems like these do not provide the same amount of power as a grid. While cellphones and lights can be charged, the systems do not create enough power to operate devices like a sound system for a church. Off-grid solar projects face problems too, Jetty Arlenda said. He is an engineer with Sumba Sustainable Solutions. The company depends on donors to pay most of the cost of the equipment because villagers could not pay the high cost of the solar equipment at market prices. Villagers without off-grid solar panels continue to wait while Sumba Sustainable Solutions looks for more money from donors. The company wants support from Indonesias $20 billion Just Energy Transition Partnership deal. The deal, signed last year, involves loans and other money from developed nations and international financial companies. There have been problems with villagers failing to make payments. And when solar systems break, they need imported parts that can be hard to find or costly. But for now, villagers like Jawa said the solar systems are making a big difference. Im Dan Novak. And I'm Anna Matteo. Dan Novak adapted this story for VOA Learning English based on reporting by The Associated Press. __________________________________________________________________ Words in This Story generator n. a device that produces electricity usually by from a fuel-powered motor battery n. a device that stores an amount of electricity that some machines can use appliance n. a machine, like a stove, refrigerator or washing machine, that runs on electricity and does household work off-grid adj. not connected to a complex electricity system that provides constant, dependable electrical power across power lines that run from generation centers to homes, businesses and factories recharge v. to connect a device with a battery to an electrical source so the battery can be refilled with electrical charge grind v. to crush or break into small pieces or even powder Gift this article Share this article paywall-free. LEXINGTON Two local students were awarded scholarships from the Nebraska Association of County Officials (NACO). Elijah Boryca Parents: Adam and Becky Boryca County Position: Becky is the Dawson County Clerk of the District Court High School: Cozad High School College: Midland University Major: Agribusiness Zoey Evans Parents: Zach and Lacie Frazho and Jesse and Mary Evans County Position: Zach is a Buffalo County Deputy Sheriff High School: Elwood High School College: University of Nebraska Lincoln Major: Biology and Food Science NACO began its scholarship program in 1999 when it presented six high school seniors with $500 awards each to be used toward their post-secondary educations. Since 2004, NACO has presented twelve high school seniors with $1000 awards each to be used toward their post-secondary educations. The scholarship program is open to graduating seniors whose parent or step-parent is a current county official or employee. Scholarships are available for one year and are non-renewable. To be considered, students must complete the required application form, submit a seven-semester transcript from an accredited Nebraska high school and prepare a written essay on the importance of county government. Scholarship recipients must plan to attend a post-secondary educational institution within the state of Nebraska and may use the NACO scholarship for any costs associated with their continuing education. The Nebraska Association of County Officials is a non-profit organization that serves to represent the interests of all elected and appointed county officials in the state. In its infancy, the associations membership was comprised primarily of commissioners and supervisors. Over time it was expanded to include, serve and represent all 15 offices within county government. The base membership of NACO is each of Nebraskas 93 counties, which voluntarily contribute annual dues for the operation of the association. Each elected and appointed county official in each member county is entitled to the services of NACO by virtue of holding his or her respective office. Chinese authorities say 11 people were killed in a road accident Friday along the China-Vietnam border, including nine Vietnamese citizens. The incident highlights the persistence of human trafficking in the mountainous border region, where there has long been a trade in agricultural goods and workers coming from Vietnam to the relatively poor Chinese province of Guangxi. One of the other victims was Chinese and the nationality of the other has yet to be determined, according to the social media account of the local Jingxi county government. They were among 14 people aboard an off-road vehicle that overturned and fell into a gully, the government said. It said the incident was related to human smuggling. The survivors included the Chinese driver, a Chinese assistant and two Vietnamese citizens, all of whom are being questioned, the government said. Limited job opportunities in parts of Vietnam have prompted some of its citizens to seek their fortunes in countries where wages are higher, including in marginally better-off parts of China, where they work on farms and in factories and where some women have been lured into forced marriages. In 2019, the bodies of 39 young Vietnamese were found in a container truck in southeastern England in an apparent people-smuggling tragedy. MDT/AP The Group of Seven wealthy democracies united in urging China to pressure its strategic partner Russia to end its war on Ukraine and resolve territorial disputes peacefully, and China lashed back. In a joint statement, the G7 leaders emphasized they did not want to harm China and were seeking constructive and stable relations with Beijing, recognizing the importance of engaging candidly with and expressing our concerns directly to China. We call on China to press Russia to stop its military aggression, and immediately, completely and unconditionally withdraw its troops from Ukraine, said the statement issued over the weekend. We encourage China to support a comprehensive, just and lasting peace based on territorial integrity and the principles and purposes of the U.N. Charter, including in direct talks with Ukraine. Cooperation with China is needed given its global role and economic size, the group said, in appealing for working together on challenges such as climate change, biodiversity, debts and financing needs of vulnerable countries, global health concerns and economic stability. But the leaders expressed serious concern about the situation in the East and South China seas, where Beijing has been expanding its military presence and threatening to use force to exert its control over self-governed Taiwan. They called for a peaceful resolution of Chinas claim to Taiwan, which has remained unresolved since the communists gained power on the Chinese mainland in 1949. The statement said there was no legal basis for Chinas expansive maritime claims in the South China Sea, and we oppose Chinas militarization activities in the region. A growing China that plays by international rules would be of global interest, the statement said, alluding to charges that Beijing is undermining the rules-based international order. The G7 also united in voicing concerns about human rights in China, including in Tibet, in Hong Kong and in the far western region of Xinjiang. But the statement also sought to counter accusations that the G7 is seeking to prevent Chinas rise as a global power. Our policy approaches are not designed to harm China nor do we seek to thwart Chinas economic progress and development, it said. The statement highlighted a consensus that efforts to diversify manufacturing supply chains and ensure stable access to strategically vital minerals and other resources is not aimed at unraveling trade ties with the worlds second-largest economy. We are not decoupling or turning inwards, the statement said. At the same time, we recognize that economic resilience requires de-risking and diversifying. We will take steps, individually and collectively, to invest in our own economic vibrancy. We will reduce excessive dependencies in our critical supply chains. The G7 members vowed to take a stand against various types of economic coercion, saying they will counter malign practices, such as illegitimate technology transfer or data disclosure, while also avoiding unduly limiting trade and investment. Chinese officials have reacted to various G7 statements about economic coercion and other issues with outrage. Beijing reacts against brazen interference In a statement, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said the G7 used issues concerning China to smear and attack China and brazenly interfere in Chinas internal affairs. China strongly deplores and firmly opposes this and has made serious demarches to the summits host Japan and other parties concerned. The G7 needs to stop pointing fingers at China on Hong Kong, Xinjiang and Tibet and take a hard look at their own history and human rights record, it said. Taiwan, meanwhile, thanked the G7 for its support. Taiwan will stand alongside with democracies and communities of the world to cooperate in defusing the risks, its leader, Tsai Ing-wen said Saturday. Nowadays, the consensus around the world is very clear, which is the fact that cross-strait issues have to be solved in a peaceful manner. War is not an option, she said at a news conference. Apart from Japan, this years host of the leaders annual summit, the G7 includes the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Canada and Italy and the European Union. The G7 statement was released on the second day of a three-day summit. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy arrived in Hiroshima on Saturday to participate in meetings planned for Sunday. ELAINE KURTENBACH, HIROSHIMA, MDT/AP A report on the patent index regarding the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area was released at a forum held on Saturday in south Chinas Guangdong Province. The report on the patent index was released by the National Science Library of the Chinese Academy of Sciences at a session of the Greater Bay Area Science Forum. It was based on the patent data gathered and revealed the characteristics and development trends of the Greater Bay Areas scientific and technological innovation. The Greater Bay Area has seen a surge in patent applications, with dominance in overseas invention patents licensed nationwide. Between 2017 and 2022, overseas invention patents in Greater Bay Area accounted for more than a quarter of the countrys total overseas invention patents licensed, said the report. The report added that enterprises play a pivotal role in driving technological innovation in the Greater Bay Area. From 2017 to 2022, the number of invention patent applications by enterprises in the Greater Bay Area accounted for 73.44 percent of the areas total patent applications. Data showed that the Greater Bay Area boasts technological advantages in industries such as next-generation information technology, new energy vehicles, and new materials. Initiated by the Alliance of International Science Organizations and hosted by the Guangdong provincial government, the Greater Bay Area Science Forum is taking place from May 20 to 23 in Guangdongs cities, including Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Foshan. MDT/xinhua Three lawmakers expressed their concerns over protections for casino intermediaries during the first reading of the casino credit bill last week. Ron Lam, Pereira Coutinho and Leong Sun Iok the latter being a trade unionist questioned the government about the bills future effectiveness in protecting creditors. In response, director Adriano Marques Ho of the Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau (DICJ) assured lawmakers that currently, casino intermediaries have a well-operating mechanism. They are able to evaluate how much they will lend to each customer. He added that casino license holders have an even better mechanism to acknowledge their customers credit levels. Adding to Hos reply, Secretary for Economy and Finance Lei Wai Nong said that creditors have their own risk assessment system. Except in scenarios stipulated under Article 11 of the bill about confidentiality obligations, creditors are allowed to exchange intelligence on debtors. He suggested that further discussions may be conducted at the Standing Committee. While replying to Lams question on shared access of the bank debtor intelligence platform, Lei said that at the current stage, there is no plan to implement such an arrangement. Coutinho also asked whether the currency exchange market can be liberalized to ease illicit currency exchange in casinos. The secretary underlined that doors are opened to casino operators to operate such businesses, but that applications must be made in advance. Coutinho suggested that the blossoming of the illicit currency exchange business in local casinos is due to the lack of competition in legal operations. There are four gasoline brands used by international cars in Macau, but they provide fuel at exactly the same prices product-wise for unleaded, diesel and premium unleaded products. Despite this, the secretary pledged that further crackdowns will be conducted to ensure the orderly administration of the casino environment. The bill was passed unanimously and will then be reviewed by the Second Standing Committee. The government should order financial institutions to implement stricter or more secure measures when their payment cards are bound to consumption platforms, lawmaker Ron Lam has suggested. In his latest written inquiry, the lawmaker addressed the problem of abuse of debit or credit cards. He revealed that he had from time to time received requests for assistance concerning this matter. While urging the government to do more in this regard, the lawmaker recapped that years ago, cases related to payment card data being recorded via the installation of illicit card readers at ATM card slots had occurred across the city. However, after the local monetary authority followed its Hong Kong counterparts practice of ordering financial institutions to replace magnetic strip cards to chip cards by a fixed deadline, as well as deactivating by a default overseas withdrawal function, such cases had disappeared in Macau, the lawmaker added. Therefore, he suggested that the local monetary service gatekeeper once again follow their Hong Kong counterpart, by requiring financial institutions to introduce a wider range of methods to verify their customers intentions to bind their payment cards to a new device or app. According to Lam, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority suggested two-way text messages, confirmation through institutions apps, as well as calls returned to the institutions. The Hong Kong authority requires institutions to adopt this new measure no later than the end of May. He also said it was important that financial institutions handle payment card abuse with fairness. For example, he revealed, some banks did not honor monetary losses caused by payment card abuse. As such, he hopes the local monetary authority can follow its Hong Kong counterpart to require financial institutions to handle affected customers with empathy. The number of cases related to the misuse of payment cards recorded from 2020 to 2022 was 411, 663 and 174, respectively over each of the years. The number of such cases in Hong Kong in 2021, when it had a population of more than 7.4 million people, was 700. Alondra Ruiz Vazquez and her husband were comfortable in Periwinkle Mobile Home Park for a decade, feeling lucky to own their mobile home and pay about $450 a month for their lot in a city with spiraling rents. But now they and dozens of other families have until May 28 to leave the Phoenix park, which nearby Grand Canyon University purchased seven years ago to build student housing. Two other mobile home communities are also being cleared this spring for new developments in a city where no new parks have been built in more than 30 years. Im here, well, because I have nowhere to go, said Isabel Ramos, who lives at Periwinkle with her 11-year-old daughter. I dont know whats going to happen. The razing of older mobile home parks across the United States worries advocates who say bulldozing them permanently eliminates some of the already limited housing for the poorest of the poor. Residents may have to double up with relatives or live in their cars amid spiking evictions and homelessness, they warn. Mobile homes are a much bigger part of our affordable housing stock than people know, said Mark Stapp, who directs Arizona State Universitys masters degree program in real estate development. Once its gone, a lot of people will have no place to go. A recent survey by the National Low Income Housing Coalition showed a U.S.-wide shortage of 7.3 million affordable rental homes for extremely low-income renters, defined in Arizona as a a three-member household making $28,850 or less. Industry groups estimate that more than 20 million people live in some 43,000 mobile home parks across the United States. We are in the deepest affordable housing crisis weve ever experienced, said Joanna Carr, acting head of the Arizona Housing Coalition. Housing for many people is getting completely out of reach. Its very dire. Ken Anderson, president of the Manufactured Housing Industry of Arizona, said trying to bring an old park up to modern standards can be cost-prohibitive for owners, requiring replacement of electrical and sewage infrastructure for newer homes. At least six such communities have been torn down in Arizona in the last 18 months, he said, adding that Grand Canyon University bent over backwards to help residents more than other park owners. A lot of these parks are 70 years old, said Anderson, noting an uptick in demolitions of older communities for redevelopment. Its going to be a big problem down the line. Efforts under way to revitalize old mobile homes have limits. Despite their name, most arent truly mobile, and moving them can be very costly. The oldest homes are often too decrepit to move at all. The Department of Housing and Urban Development recently announced $225 million in grants to governments, tribes and nonprofits to preserve mobile homes, but the money can only be used to replace, not repair dwellings built before 1976, which are common at older parks. Vermont earlier this year announced a mobile home improvement program to be funded by $4 million in federal money. It aims to help park owners prepare vacant or abandoned lots for new mobile homes, and help mobile homeowners install new foundations and make their dwellings more habitable. In Riverdale, Utah, the last of about 50 families at Lesleys Mobile Home Park must leave by the end of May for construction of new apartments and townhouses. The state laws dont protect us, said Jason Williams, who sold his mobile home for half what he asked for and will now live in a motorhome. Some old parks werent originally envisioned as permanent housing. Florida City Campsite and RV Camp was built decades ago for vacationers headed to the Florida Keys or the Everglades. But the dilapidated park eventually became home to retirees on fixed incomes and young families on government assistance. Florida City, the southernmost municipality in Miami-Dade County, sold it two years ago for a new townhouse project. Cities often dont like older parks because unlike other housing they dont generate property taxes for municipal services. Rundown parks can also be eyesores, depressing the worth of nearby properties even as the value of the land the mobile homes sit on has increased exponentially. In Phoenix, Grand Canyon University said in a statement it waited as long as it could to build new student housing after buying Periwinkle in 2016. Now, with the need to expand, the University has raised funds to provide multiple layers of assistance to tenants at Periwinkle. The university said it initially gave residents six months to leave, then extended the deadline to 13 months. It offered free rent for the first five months of this year, early departure compensation, relocation assistance and some household goods. Many park residents are Spanish-speaking immigrants earning minimum wage as landscapers or restaurant workers. There are also retirees living on Social Security. We havent found anything under $1,800. Thats way above what we can afford, Ruiz Vazquez said of apartment rents. She said the couples mobile home is too old to move and must be abandoned. Its really taken a toll on our health, mental state of mind. Maricopa County, home to Phoenix, has a housing shortfall of more than 74,000 units. Zillow.com currently lists the median monthly rental price for all bedrooms and property types in Phoenix at $2,095. More than 20 families have moved out of Periwinkle in recent months, leaving behind weed-strewn lots. The rusting hulks of several mobile dwellings with rotting wooden stairs were left behind. Residents wanted an additional 18-month eviction moratorium or a zoning change to stave off their departure indefinitely. The Phoenix City Council this spring decided to let the eviction proceed, but set aside $2.5 million in federal funds to help mobile home park residents facing eviction in the future. CEO Mike Trailor of the nonprofit Trellis, who once headed the Arizona Department of Housing, said the organization is working with the university to help Periwinkle families find apartments and arrange to move mobile homes that can be moved. ANITA SNOW, PHOENIX, MDT/AP * Space endeavors Macao Science 1, the citys first space science satellite program, was launched yesterday, paving way for collaborative endeavors with the mainland * Casino credit bill | Lawmakers worry over protections for casino intermediaries * Report: GBA has seen a surge in patent applications, with dominance in overseas invention patents licensed nationwide * Lawmaker Ron Lam calls for better supervision on credit card binding * G7 urges China to press Russia to end war in Ukraine, respect Taiwans status, fair trade rules * The Conversation DOWNLOAD PDF Monday, May 22, 2023 edition no. 4250 Under the guidance of their professor Cai Zhanchuan, the undergraduate students Yu Ziqiao, Zhu Yingqi and Tang Qingfeng from the School of Computer Science and Engineering, within the Faculty of Innovation Engineering of MUST, have won an Honorable Mention after participating in the 39th Mathematical Contest in Modeling. For many years, the School of Computer Science and Engineering, Faculty of Innovation Engineering of MUST, has maintained a mathematical modeling guidance team to provide students with specialized training lectures and pre-competition guidance. The international contest gathered a total of 20,858 teams from more than 20 countries, including the United States, the UK, Germany, Canada, Australia, and others. The Mathematical Contest in Modeling aims to provide college students with opportunities to cooperate as a team, exercise their ability to analyze problems, solve problems, and write. The Final Report on Electoral Activities for the 2021 legislative elections was recently released by the Commission of Electoral Affairs (CAEAL). I will not comment on the content of the document, but rather on two short paragraphs (page 55), which I transcribe here: The current Electoral Law does not provide clear sanctions for acts that incite or encourage voters to vote blank or produce null votes. CAEAL considers that these acts obviously aim to disrupt electoral procedures and destroy electoral equity, proposing to establish the respective sanctions. The day after, I read in some newspapers that by sanctions, they should understand the possible criminalization of BNS (Blank, Null, and Spoiled) votes. I dont know if anyone from CAEAL mentioned that. In any case, the idea of penalizing advocates of this type of voting is frightening, even in an electoral system where only a tiny fraction of the deputies are elected by direct and universal suffrage. The concern of CAEAL is understandable, but one mistake cannot be corrected with another. In the last election, a group of candidates was disqualified by CAEAL and excluded from the election. The decision was criticized and condemned in various instances, including the European Union, Chinas trading partner, and the United Nations Human Rights Commission in July 2022, citing a violation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). It should be noted that China is a member of the UN and even holds a permanent seat on the Security Council. It is worth mentioning that there are no grounds for sanctioning the promotion of the BNS ballots. In any fair, democratic, and decent electoral system, this is a legitimate option for voters, possessing its own significance. For the Constitutional Court of Colombia, the blank vote constitutes a valuable expression of dissent with political effects through which the protection of the freedom of the voter is promoted. (Decision c-490/2011). It is therefore untrue to claim that BNS votes disrupt procedural or electoral equity. Some academics attribute their appearance to France, particularly the legislative elections of August 21 and September 4, 1881, in which an unusual number of votes under these conditions were recorded (Ihle & Deloye, RFSP, 1991). It is certain that their existence is deeply rooted in democracies to the extent that in some countries, constitutional parties have been created with the explicit message of promoting blank ballots. In Spain, the party Escanos en Blanco states in its electoral program that its elected representatives will not take office or receive any subsidies, seeking to leave the parliamentary seats empty in order to force a change in the electoral system and the current system of representation. In other circumstances, such as Peru and Brazil, the Shining Path, a Marxist-Leninist movement, in 1983, and the Brazilian Communist Party, under the leadership of Luiz Carlos Prestes in the 1950 elections, called for blank votes as a form of protest against electoral fraud and democratic drift. Noble causes. Other examples of appeals for blank voting come from the USA (Boston 1985), Argentina (Voto bronca, elections of 2001, 1957 with Peron), and Spain in 2004, during the Basque Country elections. In France, there is also a Party for Blank Votes (Parti du Vote Blanc), and in Quebec (Canada), there is the Null Party (Parti-nul). As far as I know, in the USA in 2012, only the Republicans tried to eliminate blank voting from the ballots in Nevada (Superti, 2016). Each electoral system has its own rules, although there is no news of democracies or direct and universal suffrage systems sanctioning the call to blank, null, or abstention votes, either through fines or imprisonment. In Portugal, in the first elections after the Carnation Revolution in 1974, the Armed Forces Movement called for blank voting and intended to derive political consequences from it. There was no problem, and the democratic regime was consolidated. Regarding their meaning, BNS votes can have various interpretations, but in the case of deliberate null and blank votes, many see them as a perfectly non-violent form of protest aimed at expressing voters dissatisfaction with the poor political offer, the low quality of candidates, and as a manifestation of a sense of political corruption or simple dissatisfaction with the electoral rules. If voters believe that the electoral mechanisms are flawed and the candidates unprepared, they should be able to express as much legally and peacefully. In countries like Ukraine and Russia, until dictator Putin eliminated it, the ballot even listed the option Against all or None of the above (Superti 2016, Alvarez et al. 2018). In India, the Supreme Court (Writ Petition (C) No. 161 of 2004, September 27, 2013) has held that Not allowing a person to cast vote negatively defeats the very freedom of expression and the right ensured in Art. 21 i.e., the right to liberty. () The voter must be given an opportunity to choose a none of the above (NOTA) button, which will indeed compel the political parties to nominate a sound candidate. And in countries such as Greece, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Colombia, Peru, and even Mongolia, where elections must be repeated with new candidates if blank votes reach the level of 10% (David, 2022), this form of peaceful and legal political intervention is accepted. In Macau, there is no discussion about the possibility of institutionalizing this option on the ballot. However, to think that sanctioning the appeal to cast a blank or null vote is a possibility is sad. It is not part of the inherited juridical-political matrix. CAEAL or the Macau SAR Government should not be afraid of voters. It is a bad sign when this happens, because only bad rulers fear popular scrutiny. What matters is making abstention, blank voting, and null voting, in cases where it is not due to a filing error, less attractive by reducing their numbers and increasing participation. However, this can only be achieved by improving the electoral system, information, transparency, and the quality of the political offer. That is, by having better electoral programs and candidates who are well-prepared and ethically irreproachable. Political disaffection is not combated by prohibition, fines, or criminalization; especially not in authoritarian regimes. Such approaches constitute a mistake and are not characteristic of civilized political societies. Political disaffection is combated by inclusivity, better policies, and more competence, making the electoral system more dynamic and competitive. (Urdanoz Gamusa, 2012). Driving people away from participation, penalizing free and democratic political struggle, imposing fear and self-censorship on the expression of free opinion, and silencing people does not improve the legitimacy of any political-electoral system, no matter how bad it may be. It does not strengthen institutions and it does not increase love for the country and the party. Just as in love, in politics it is necessary to have a serious and healthy relationship with the partner (the people), which cannot be achieved through violence. In each historical moment, institutions and politicians must win the soul of the people through kindness, or else they will prove themselves incompetent for the task. The Chief Executive should consider this option before accepting CAEALs suggestion. Sergio de Almeida Correia , Lawyer and political scientist Gift this article Share this article paywall-free. Todays beer labels have a lot to say about what is actually inside the beer can or bottle your eyes are drawn to. More often than not, fancy words are included on these labels and are being thrown around left and right with little to no avail in helping the consumer understand what they are reading. And in todays social media-dominated world, you would think more breweries would take advantage of the space to help educate their consumer. Some of these chosen words are as much a part of the packaging aesthetic and marketing toolkit as the brewery logo, color scheme and beer style but what do they mean? Read on for a few of the trendy words currently inhabiting the beer world and a small amount of discourse to help you understand just what it means for the beer you are about to enjoy. Decoction What it is: A traditional mashing technique used during the production of wort. Where you will see it: Most often as a part of the beer style like a double decocted pilsner or as a part of the description of process. The brewing process is far from simple, but at the heart of it all is the biochemical transformation of sugar to alcohol. The sugars necessary to create alcohol come from the malt during mashing, the process in which the grain is boiled and heated to specific temperatures in order to break down cell walls and expose the available protein and starches. The resulting sugar liquid is called wort and this is the glorious product that becomes beer once hops and yeast are added and the yeast eat the sugar and convert it to alcohol. Decoction mashing is a lengthy, traditional European technique used during the production of wort that is nowadays deemed by many as unnecessary due to the advancement in brewing technology and modified malt availability. When a beer has been once, double and even triple decocted, the thick part of the mash has been separated from the liquid and heated, recombined back with the liquid to raise the overall temperature of the mash, one, two or three times to initiate specific enzymatic activity. But why decoct your mash? According to Chicago-based Dovetail brewer Jenny Pfafflin, A decoction boil with a direct-fire kettle allows for a Maillard reaction similar to the browning you get when you grill or toast which adds a further depth of flavor to the malt profile and a fuller body, making it enticing sip after sip. Thiolized yeast What it is: An engineered yeast strain meant to ignite the thiols naturally occurring in malt, hops and grapes. Where you will see it: Most often in the beer name, like 3 Sheeps Cosmic Punch or Cabin Brewing and Untitled Art collaboration Thiolized IIPA, in the description or in the list of ingredients. Thiols are organically occurring, aroma-driving compounds and can be most exciting for hoppy beer drinkers. Thiols have been recently discovered in certain hop varietals and contribute to the overall intensity of juicy, fruity aromatics of dry-hopped beer. More specifically, tropical fruit scents like guava, pineapple and grapefruit. Chicago-based lab and industry partner, Omega Yeast, has contributed much to the working knowledge base of thiols and their precursors and has engineered a handful of yeast strains that help showcase these powerful palate pleasers by transforming the thiol precursors found in hops (and malt!) into free thiols for an imbibing nose party. Thiolized yeast is a really neat innovation because it can act as another tool for brewers to add layers of fruit character (aka, thiols) into their beers, said Shana Solarte, technical writer at Omega Yeast. [Yeast] strains with this capability can harness potential from raw ingredients and crank out tropical flavors so intense that brewers could even tone down their aroma hop rates and let the thiols shine. If you are a hazy IPA drinker, or someone looking for a beer with explosive tropical fruit notes, keep your eyes out for breweries making beer with Omegas Star Party, Helio Gazer and Cosmic Punch ale yeasts and Lunar Crush lager yeast they just might be indicated in the beer name itself. Terpenes What they are: A naturally occurring hydrocarbon chain found in plants. Where you will see them: Most often as a part of the beer style description or list of ingredients. The legalization of cannabis and the national rise in cannabinoid products, like CBD water, is having a positive impact on beer innovation. Terpenes the naturally occurring aroma and flavor driving chemical compounds found in both Humulus lupulus (hops) and Cannabis sativa, both species in the family Cannabaceae make beer danker by driving cush-like flavors of tropical fruit, pine and resin. You already know how deep my love runs for Fair State Brewing Co-ops Legalize Big Doinks, but it seems necessary to mention the beer again as it is a perfect example of terpene expression. We love our terps at Fair State Brewing, said Phil Kuhl, Wisconsin, Illinois and Michigan market manager for Fair State. Purified terpenes unlock a breadth of flavors that we would otherwise not be able to use. They expand the brewers [artistic] palette and allow us to make much more interesting beverages from our THC seltzers and hop waters that use hop terps to the Grapefruit Cush and King Louis XIII terpenes we use in Legalize Big Doinks. So, not only do you have a beer exploding with dank aromatics from the hop bill alone, as obvious in year-round available Big Doinks, but you get a blast of keef stickiness from the additional plant-based terpene blend added to the liquid right before packaging to make it the older, much more chill big sister: Legalize Big Doinks. Terpenes are making your West Coast IPA more, well, West Coast and I am here for it. Bottle-conditioned What it means: The beer was naturally carbonated in the bottle. Where you will see it: As a statement on the label or in the description of process. Also sometimes annotated as bottle refermentation or package-conditioned, bottle-conditioning is having a moment with the rise in popularity of barrel-aged and farmhouse-style beers. Instead of being forced carbonated with CO2, beer that is bottle-conditioned is bottled still with a carefully dosed solution of sugar and live yeast that, over time, naturally carbonates in the package, much akin to Methode Champenoise, or how Champagne gets its bubbles. This allows the beer to carbonate at its own pace, develop a deeper flavor profile and mature over the course of several months. At Supermoon we package condition 99% of the beer we make, including clean beers like our lagers for sensory (subjective) and quality (objective) benefits, stated Rob Brennan, co-founder and brewer for Supermoon Beer Co. in Milwaukee. From a sensory standpoint, we find this process offers our final product a silkier, softer and more attractive head of foam and an unmistakably unique mouthfeel and carbonation profile. The beer is preserved in a definitively higher quality condition resulting from the oxygen scavenging yeast eliminating most or all dissolved oxygen in the package. Both of these resulting benefits are nearly impossible to replicate with a force carbonated counterpart. CTZ hops What they are: The acronym for Columbus, Tomahawk and Zeus hop varietals. Where you will see them: Most often in the list of ingredients. This trio of hops are virtually genetically identical to one another, can be used interchangeably, but are often seen being used together, most often in the bittering process of American-style beers like West Coast IPAs and pale ales due to their high alpha acid content. Despite their bittering tendencies, CTZ hops are no stranger to being used additionally in the dry-hopping process and each will contribute a slightly different nose if used independently. Columbus exhibits a vibrant citrus fruit forward and herbal character, Tomahawk brings a mellow tropical and floral note and Zeus is pungent and spicy. You can see why these three get used together as often as they do. Go forth into the beer drinking world and imbibe with confidence, fellow beer connoisseur. Let me know if there is more beer terminology, lingo or styles I can help clarify for you. Best cities for beer drinkers Best cities for beer drinkers Pittsburgh takes the lead for most beer-friendly cities Data and Methodology Gift this article Share this article paywall-free. A 32-year-old man died of gunshot injuries outside a Far East Side bar early Sunday, Madison police reported. The shooting happened outside Lush Lounge, 3769 E. Washington Ave., police spokesperson Stephanie Fryer said in a statement. Police initially didnt say how the unidentified man was injured. The man died at a local hospital after he was injured about 1:30 a.m. Sunday, Sgt. Matthew Olson said in a statement. The man's identity and cause of death will be released by the Dane County Medical Examiner's Office, Fryer said. Olson had described the incident as a weapons offense that the departments Violent Crimes Unit is investigating as a homicide. More than 20 detectives are working on the case, interviewing people who were in the area and reviewing digital evidence, Fryer said. Chief Shon Barnes in his blog on Monday said the incident was reported as a shots-fired call. The killing is Madisons sixth homicide this year. Police ask that anyone with information on the incident contact them at 608-255-2345. Tipsters may remain anonymous by contacting Madison Area Crime Stoppers at 608-266-6014 or P3Tips.com. Individuals contacting Crime Stoppers can receive a reward of up to $1,000 for tips that lead to an arrest. Gift this article Share this article paywall-free. A 32-year-old man was killed with an unspecified weapon on the Far East Side early Sunday, Madison police said. The man died at a local hospital after he was injured about 1:30 a.m. Sunday in the 3700 block of East Washington Avenue, Sgt. Matthew Olson said in a statement. Olson described the incident as a "weapons offense" that the departments Violent Crimes Unit is investigating as a homicide. The victim's name had not been released, and police have not said what type of weapon was involved. The killing is Madison's sixth homicide this year. State Journal reporter Lucas Robinson contributed to this report. Gift this article Share this article paywall-free. Demonstrating that birds can be observed anywhere, fourth-graders at Harvest Intermediate School in DeForest took part in the Great Wisconsin Birdathon right on their school grounds. Armed with binoculars, field guides and birding journals they created, the students walked outside their school thats on a parcel bordered by a swath of woods. They followed the Upper Yahara River Trail that runs next to the woods and leads to a creek bed. An area on the school grounds is designated for native prairie plants, and a retention pond attracts birds drawn to water. I kind of think its important because if there is not as many birds there could be something going on and thats why, fourth-grader Maggie Loeffelholz said about the birdathon. Fourth-grader Charlie Bair was one of several students interested in finding their life birds, a species that a birder sees and identifies in the wild for the first time. The previous week the class saw birds on the retention pond, but fourth-grader Addison Kinning said she figured it was too sunny for them on this outing. Fourth-grader Rowan Sherrick said the birdathon will help determine such things as which birds are rare and which ones need more help. The birdathon is part of a bonus science unit that Sisler said he sneaks in by putting the pedal to the metal when teaching the required curriculum earlier. It is just something I am interested in, and the kids have always taken to it. The kids really love it, and so do I, Sisler said. Fourth-grader Kaylee Anderson said bird watching is fun and something shed like to continue doing. The Great Wisconsin Birdathon began April 15 and runs through June 15, the peak of spring bird migration. It is a walk-a-thon-style fundraiser in which participants log bird sightings instead of miles, and donations can be a certain amount or a pledge per bird species spotted. Teams or individuals taking part in the annual birdathon, coordinated by the Natural Resources Foundation of Wisconsin, choose their own birding experience from birding in their backyard to traveling to a birding hotspot. Most teams choose to compete over a 24-hour period, but some opt to bird over the course of a weekend, a week or the entire span of the birdathon. Each year, the birdathon raises more than $100,000 for Wisconsin bird conservation projects through the Natural Resources Foundation of Wisconsins Bird Protection Fund. Last year, the money supported creating piping plover habitat, rearing whooping crane chicks, spreading awareness about Connecticut warblers, community initiatives for bird-friendly neighborhoods, engagement of new and underrepresented voices in the birding community, building collaborations to protect Wisconsin Important Bird Areas and protecting neotropical migrants on their long journeys to Central America. The foundation has two grant programs for environmental education, Go Outside Fund and Teachers Outdoor Fund the 12 pairs of binoculars used by Sislers students comes from that initiative. The birdathon is both a fundraiser and a citizen science event, said Soumika Gaddameedi, the foundations event and donor relations coordinator. The foundation keeps track of which bird species are seen throughout the event and encourages people to submit their trip report on eBird, a citizen science tool by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology that tracks where and when birds are seen. In the schools case, the students are recording how many species they found but not taking part in the fund-raising aspect. Called the Harvest Habitat Heroes team, the students will get out generally a couple of times a week during the length of the birdathon. The students have seen more than 20 species so far and have a goal of observing at least 25. Sisler has found the students are generally not concerned about seeing a species that typical bird watchers would seek out, and they enjoy spotting birds like the American robin, red-winged blackbird and bluebird. They have never looked for these birds deliberately before, he said. Students get excited when they find different colored birds, and they quickly become their favorite, he said. Im trying for a cardinal, fourth-grader Harper Marty said about looking for her favorite bird. Fourth-grader Sydney Klossner said her favorite bird was the robin. Another classmate, Xavier Leale, drew a turkey in rainbow colors for the cover of his journal because he said that is the first one that comes to mind when he thinks of a bird. Harvest Habitat Heroes is one of three classroom teams signed up so far this year, Gaddameedi said. Its a really great way for them to learn to appreciate birds and then go on to have an attachment for bird watching and conservation in general, she said. We try to encourage curiosity rather than (expecting) they perfectly identify birds. ... Birds can be kind of overwhelming in that sense you have to get it right and we dont want that to be a barrier for anyone. Besides birding outings, the extra science curriculum called Sislers special birding unit includes creating the journal and playing a bird identification game, which Sisler created with cards, in the classroom. Students also spend time on discussion topics like why their favorite bird is special to them and how bird watching is helpful to the environment. If you are gaining an appreciation for wildlife, you are more apt to take care of the natural world for the rest of your life, Sisler said. To register for the birdathon, visit WIBirdathon.org, which also has a link to the Facebook page where team recaps are posted. Resources for classroom birdathon teams can be found at wisconservation.org/classroom-birdathon. School Spotlight: Adventures in learning, inside and outside the classroom Each Monday, the Wisconsin State Journal features a story about learning in Wisconsin. Here are School Spotlight stories from the past year. Gift this article Share this article paywall-free. Editors note: The Childrens Museum of the Magic Valley Launch a Legacy capital campaign is ongoing to raise funding for a 14,000-square-foot building in downtown Twin Falls. This is the fifth in a weekly series of stories from the museum about its mission to serve the Magic Valley. Information: 208-536-3455; info@cmmv.org In our series of articles on the Childrens Museum of the Magic Valley, we have talked about how childrens job is play. And while they play, they imagine and discover new things, about themselves and about others. We have also discussed the types of play on our blog at https://cmmv.org/blog/. When we are inclusive in our play, or teaching children to be inclusive, there is an incredible energy that is created. We all have a story to share that is beautiful, and allowing those stories to be written together is the essence of what it is to be human. Malcolm Forbes said diversity is the art of thinking independently together. CMMV aims to celebrate the immense diversity of our community. The Magic Valley shares 28 languages with 28 different cultures. Twin Falls and the surrounding areas have embraced over 4,200 refugees just between 1982-2013, with a projection of welcoming 170 more in 2023. Heres one way to stir up more magic in our valley: Build a childrens museum KIGGINS: Childrens museums left a lasting impact on my daughters childhood, and thats why Im rooting for the ongoing effort to bring such a place to the Magic Valley. With so much richness in our community, CMMV aims to inspire children to celebrate and value all the different cultures. When community respect and appreciate one anothers cultures, we rise together in unity encouraging cooperative play and self-discovery. CMMV stands with the Association of Childrens Museums in their commitment to honor diversity and part of our mission is to help families teach, practice and promote diversity with respecting the diverse ways that children learn and develop. As we learn and grow together, while the growth of our community expands with so many different cultures, one may wonder why this is important to CMMV. Our children deserve the opportunities to develop with an expansive view and perspective of life experiences for all. Its about respecting humanity and embracing culture. With this growth there is a need for more resources and spaces that invite culture. Our museum will do just that, with diversity in the arts, festivals and languages. Unique learning experiences designed specifically for children and their caregivers will offer inclusion in education and growth. Next week: Accessibility Gift this article Share this article paywall-free. When should a challenger to an Idaho legislator, or an outsider seeking to overcome the odds in running for a major office in the state, start their campaign? Its an easy answer: Yesterday. By which I mean, a lot earlier than most candidates tend to get started. In the case of a legislative candidate, theres a case to be made for waiting to go public until after the off-year legislative session is complete. Since that session is done for the year (well, maybe not, but at least so far as we know), theres no reason not to get a campaign in order. For statewide office, the timeframe for an effective outsider campaign should be much longer. Much. The work of a challenger that mostly means Democrats in Idaho, of course, but also to a degree Republican primary challengers is more vast and difficult, if the serious objective is to win, than most candidates imagine at first. Lots of time is needed to research the political situation (in microscopic detail), to develop local support and organizations and through all that, funding and external support. There is such a thing as local and grass roots support and campaigning, but people who lack the advantages of fame and money need a lot of what else can make that happen: Time. Which is why some note ought to be given to a gubernatorial candidate who did launch her campaign, in a formal sense at least, this month. For governor. In the election to be held in 2026. If that sounds wildly premature, reread the above paragraphs. Quote The work of a challenger that mostly means Democrats in Idaho, of course, but also to a degree Republican primary challengers is more vast and difficult, if the serious objective is to win ... The candidate in question is Terri Pickens, who was the Democratic nominee for Idaho lieutenant governor in 2022. An attorney (and you pick up her professional demeanor quickly), she was born and raised in Pocatello, attended the University of Idaho, and has practiced law in Lewiston and Boise. Running for lieutenant governor last year, she was unopposed in the Democratic primary but lost the general election to Republican Scott Bedke, taking 30.5% of the vote. In the long tale of Idaho general election contests, none of that is especially remarkable. What shes done now, starting with filing paperwork to run in an election 3 1/2 years out, is unusual. So is her ambitious plan to start work on building that campaign right away, and through the next three years: She has said the filing is not just a statement of intent to run, but the beginning of a campaign to be built out over the next 1,000 days or so. She has a statement of intent that sounds strong enough to represent a starting point and call to action: This year, we saw some of the meanest, most extreme, cruel laws proposed and enacted in Idaho. Lawmakers are dead set on taking away our freedoms. I am taking time to see how much support is out there for a governor candidate who understands that freedom isnt just a word on a flag. With enough support to give me a credible shot at winning, I will run for governor and I will win. Of course, the unknowns for that far out are considerable. Theres no certainty, for example, who the Republican nominee will be. Will incumbent Brad Little run and if he does, can he hold off Attorney General Raul Labrador, whos widely presumed to be a candidate then? Or might someone else materialize? Were talking about years into the future, after all. A lot of water will pass under bridges between here and there. None of this is a prediction that Pickens will win: Democrats have lost eight straight elections for governor since their last win, and none were even very close. Theres not a lot of recent history to back up a favorable prediction. But trend lines never last forever. And if someone eventually is going to break this one, then this is how you do it: Starting far earlier and campaigning overwhelmingly. Keep a watch on this. Gift this article Share this article paywall-free. And so castles made of sand, melts into the sea, eventually. Jimi Hendrix. I hope you know who Jimi Hendrix is, or was. In this song from the late 1960s, he is lyrically speaking of broken relationships, failed dreams, and missed opportunities. As I listened and relistened and read the lyrics, the thought of this metaphor expanded in my mind to current times and trends. Of what is our castle of Idaho or our United States made? How close to the shore might it be? Will it eventually fall, melt or slip into the sea? Prominent national news carries the threat of our federal government defaulting on our debt. I know some of this is political posturing using the media of both left and right to make their points, but what if? In my mind, that would be pretty darn close to the federal castle crumbling into the sea. In this specific example, I was reminded of a book I just finished about President Andrew Jacksons administration. He is remembered as being responsible for a fair amount of expansion of the executive power of the presidential office. This is not necessarily a good thing to have on ones resume. Quote There are events within the Idaho GOP that, if left unchecked, have the potential to create more division than already exists within its ranks. One of his major accomplishments, however, was to actually pay off the national debt that had been incurred by the young republic in gaining its independence. I did not find facts on the amount of debt, no doubt much much lower than current levels, but still the principle remains sound. He used revenues raised by a protested tariff on goods produced, mostly in the southern states. This tariff was soundly and loudly protested by the southern states, with South Carolina taking the lead. Threats of nullification and succession were shouted and threatened from the cotton fields. This proved to be prophetic, as three decades later, South Carolina would indeed be the first state to secede from the Union and thus begin the bloody Civil War. Then I turn my thoughts to Idaho. My beloved Idaho. Could or would any sector or faction within the ranks of Idaho politics ever go so far as South Carolina did? Not impossible, I suppose. But I prefer an impossible probability over a possible improbability. There are events within the Idaho GOP that, if left unchecked, have the potential to create more division than already exists within its ranks. Do I really believe it would go so far as to bring nullification petitions forward or a movement for Idaho to secede from the United States? No, I do not. But ... I am worried about the trend I see from last Januarys winter meetings. Several rules were either passed or moved to the upcoming summer meetings in June that have a negative, alienating effect on specific demographics of party membership and eventually, Idaho as a whole. For example, an effort is being presented to remove the Young Republicans and the state IFRW (Idaho Federation of Republican Women) as voting members of the state executive committee. I know the leadership has its reasons, but I do not agree with them. Why on earth would party leadership choose to derogate, disenfranchise and alienate members of their own party? Other than to consolidate power by only allowing similar thinking and like voting sheep into their ranks? What happened to democracy and one person, one vote philosophy? What happened to the idea of a representative government? Why are party leaders across the country including Idaho, Montana, Louisiana and North Carolina censuring or informally reprimanding members of their Legislatures for not voting in line with their wishes? Shouldnt the general electorate play that role at the ballot box? The optics of this heavy-handed management are not good and, in politics, the optics and public sentiment are everything ... sometimes. Notice I have asked several questions without giving definitive answers. My suggestion is to start with simply stopping the attacks, the divisive efforts that seem to consume not just Idaho but the nation. Let all participate and consider all viewpoints. A return to the compromise and concessions that lie at the base of our institutions might be a good idea. Aristotle said, It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it. I will apply this to my argument above. All opinions and people should be considered or entertained. Where is the harm in that? Especially if it keeps our castle intact. Fitch Ratings said Monday it affirmed the Philippines credit rating at investment-grade of BBB but revised the outlook on the countrys long-term foreign-currency issuer default rating from negative to stable on resilient economic growth. The revision of the outlook to stable reflects Fitchs improved confidence that the Philippines is returning to strong medium-term growth after the Covid-19 pandemic, supporting sustained reductions in government debt/GDP, after substantial increases in recent years, Fitch said in a statement. The international debt watcher said the revision also reflected its assessment that the Philippines economic policy framework remains sound and in line with BBB peers, despite its low scores on World Bank Governance indicators. It said the revision comes despite some relative deterioration over the last years in credit metrics that previously had been strengths, including in government debt/GDP and net external debt/GDP. We forecast real GDP growth of above 6 percent over the medium term, considerably stronger than the BBB median of 3 percent, after a record outturn of 7.6 percent in 2022, reflecting normalization of activity after the pandemic and the governments investment program. It noted that growth moderated to 6.6 percent year-on-year in the first quarter of 2023, with the post-pandemic recovery boost fading. Ongoing reforms to the business environment and investment regulations create upside potential for growth, it said. Fitch said it expects the general government deficit to narrow to 2.8 percent of GDP in 2023 and 2024, from an estimated 3.3 percent of GDP in 2022 and 4.6 percent of GDP in 2021. This is consistent with a narrowing of the budgetary central government deficit to 5.7 percent of GDP by 2024 from 7.3 percent of GDP in 2022 and 8.6 percent of GDP in 2021. Fitch said the gradual pace of consolidation reflects the authorities focus on fostering economic growth and development. It said the narrower general government deficits compared with central government deficits reflect the surpluses of local government units and social security funds. The government is projecting a CG deficit of 5.1 percent of GDP by 2024, with most of the consolidation coming from spending efficiency gains and capital spending reductions. Fitch said neither would be fully realized in its opinion. We consider the fiscal revenue targets unambitious and expect them to be exceeded, as in recent years. However, spending will also likely exceed budgeted amounts. Overall budget balance outturns have tended to be close to targets in recent history, it said. Fitch also predicted that GG debt/GDP would decline to about 52 percent by 2024 on strong nominal GDP growth and narrowing fiscal deficits, after inching up to 54 percent in 2022. It said this is broadly in line with its projections for the BBB median, although the Philippines used to be stronger than the median. The government maintained its CG debt/GDP target of below 60 percent by 2025 and 51 percent by 2028. In our view, the 2022 debt outturn was flattered by a CG deposit drawdown of nearly 3 percent of GDP, which we do not believe can be repeated, it said. Fitch expects the current account deficit to narrow to 2.3 percent of GDP (about $11 billion) by 2024, from an estimated 4.4 percent of GDP (nearly $18 billion) in 2022, reflecting mainly a falling hydrocarbon import bill, which accounted for the spike in the CA deficit in 2022. Small structural CA deficits will likely persist in the medium term, even as the commodity shock subsides, on strong domestic demand and the governments infrastructure buildout, it said. Please enable JavaScript to view the comments powered by Disqus. Jomoo Philippines, in collaboration with Max-i-mum, partners with ESC Development for a sustainable project in Puerto de San Juan Beach Residences. They also join forces with Mariposa Mews for eco-friendly construction practices. The signing of their respective contract was formally done on May 18 at the Sofitel Hotel. It was graced by other known personalities and firms in real estate development such as Palafox and Associates and FCLaranang Development Corporation. Jomoo, acquiring its name from joyful, obligation, more, obtain, oasis, is a company whose products and services are aimed to promote a healthy and smart lifestyle, which entails energy and nature conservation, and environmental awareness. Currently, it has 16 research and development (R&D) centers around the world, a distributorship in more than 120 countries, more than 10,000 high-end showrooms, and more than 300,000 sales outlets. Jomoo has become one of the top 500 Asian Brand with a brand value of over $16 billion, as well as the worlds leading technology bathroom brand with 15 smart manufacturing plans in Germany, France, and China. Jomoo is a company whose products and services are aimed to promote a healthy and smart lifestyle, as evident in their employees and partnerships Considering the state-of-the-art quality, technology, and affordability of Jomoos products, SC Development & Management Corporation has contracted its services to provide all the necessary bathroom fixtures, materials, and accessories for Puerto de San Juan Beach Residences. Puerto de San Juan Beach Residences is an expansion of the renowned Puerto de San Juan Beach Resort Hotel, which has been a popular destination for both foreign and local tourists since the 1990s. This unique project stands as the tallest and largest building under construction in San Juan, La Union. The project, designed by Palafox Associates, incorporates the natural elements of the site, such as the sun, sea, sand, and surfingthe famous tourist activity in the area. It can be reached via a roughly three-hour drive from Balintawak, Quezon City, using the Tarlac, Pangasinan, La Union Expressway (TPLEX). The travel time is expected to be further reduced as TPLEX is planned to be extended all the way to San Juan, La Union. With its unique, modern, and state-of-the-art products, Jomoo will help create Puerto de San Juan Beach Residences into a tourist haven that comes into harmony with the local environment. Indeed, tourists who seek relaxation, adventure, and encounter with nature the sun, the waves, the wind, and the sand can now enjoy a unique and unforgettable experience. Representatives of Puerto de San Juan Beach Residences, an expansion of the renowned Puerto de San Juan Beach Resort Hotel The use of environment-friendly materials, application of sustainable development principles, as well as superb design allows an intimate appreciation and experience of the sea, the town itself, and the mountains surrounding it, while living at the same time in a place that practically promotes their sustainability and conservation. Smart technology and sustainability Being an environmentally conscientious developer, Mariposa Mews has found the right partner in Jomoo. Their business and development principles do not only coincide, but more so their respective products, technology, and services perfectly complement each other. Mariposa Mews uses eco-friendly materials such as Autoclaved Aerated Concrete, mainly made of recycled materials, instead of using the traditional hollow blocks in order to minimize the use of cement and water, thereby reducing carbon emission by fifty percent. Moreover, its building practice mainly focuses on mitigating and avoiding environmental harm by ensuring fresh air filtration and eco-friendly insulation, non-use of volatile organic compounds (VOC) to eliminate harmful chemicals in the construction materials, as well as the application of low impact of air conditioning. Mariposa Mews uses eco-friendly materials to breathe new life to their projects This partnership with Mariposa Mews will undoubtedly infuse new vitality into all its living spaces, turning them into healthy homes located in the heart of a highly urbanized area in Metro Manila. This is accomplished by adhering to the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) standards, the current benchmark for green building ratings. This certification process rates every stage of the propertys design and development for feasible building practices, underscoring the efforts to lessen environmental harm and ensure efficient use of energy. Please enable JavaScript to view the comments powered by Disqus. Johannesburg, South Africa An outbreak of cholera has killed at least 10 people near South Africas capital of Pretoria, health authorities said Sunday, urging the public to be extra vigilant. The Department of Health in Pretorias Gauteng province said 95 people visited a local hospital since Monday showing cholera symptoms, including diarrhoea, stomach cramps and nausea. Lab tests on Sunday confirmed at least 19 were cases of cholera, the department said in a statement, adding 37 people were still undergoing treatment. The victims included a three-year-old child and nine adults. Nomantu Nkomo-Ralehoko, the provincial head for health, said additional staff, including medics and nurses, were being mobilised to deal with the outbreak, which was centred in Hammanskraal, an area north of Pretoria. We would like to reiterate and urge the public to avoid known or suspected contaminated food, water and surfaces and wash hands thoroughly with soap before handling food or after using the bathroom, said Nkomo-Ralehoko. Cholera is contracted from a bacterium that is generally transmitted through contaminated food or water. Earlier, the city of Pretoria urged residents of Hammanskraal and surrounding areas not to drink from the tap, adding water tankers were being supplied. Cholera has experienced a global resurgence since 2021 after a decade of steady decline, according to the United Nations, which this week warned one billion people in 43 countries were at risk. The disease is not endemic in South Africa. But the country reported a few cases this year on the back of outbreaks in nearby Malawi and Mozambique the two most heavily affected countries in 2023, according to the UN. The World Health Organisation has blamed the global rise in cases on poverty, conflict and climate change. Please enable JavaScript to view the comments powered by Disqus. Khartoum, Sudan Air raids, gunfire and explosions rocked Sudans capital on Sunday ahead of a one-week ceasefire agreed by rival generals, the latest in a series of truces that have been systematically violated. The ceasefire is focused on enabling humanitarian assistance to civilians. It is to take effect at 9:45 pm (1945 GMT) on Monday, the United States and Saudi Arabia said in a joint statement late Saturday after talks in the Saudi city of Jeddah. In a deserted neighbourhood of Khartoum North, Hussein Mohammed hopes that, finally, the guns will silence. The United Nations says fighting has driven nearly 650,000 Khartoum residents from their homes, but Mohammed has remained, sheltering in place with his sick mother. We hope that this time mediators can monitor that the ceasefire is implemented, he told AFP. A joint US-Saudi statement acknowledged the multiple truce violations since fighting began on April 15 and said this time is different. The agreement reached in Jeddah was signed by the parties and will be supported by a US-Saudi and international-supported ceasefire monitoring mechanism, the statement said. Fighting pits the Sudanese army, commanded by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, against the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), led by Burhans former deputy Mohamed Hamdan Daglo. The UN, African Union and East African bloc IGAD all welcomed the latest truce, which comes after around 1,000 people lost their lives. More than one million have been uprooted, internally or by crossing into neighbouring countries. Millions more are trapped with sporadic access to water, electricity or medicine. Many have been separated from their families by unrelenting gunfire. For Sawsan Mohammed, who lives in the capitals south, the ceasefire if implemented will be my first chance to see my mother and father in Omdurman, just a bridge across the Nile River, she told AFP. Aid efforts Aerial footage last week showed a hellish scene in the Omdurman Market area, a heavily built-up district where multiple fires burned and people ran on rubble strewn streets. The United Nations aid chief, Martin Griffiths, has decried important and egregious breaches of an agreement signed by the warring parties on May 12 in Jeddah to respect humanitarian principles and allow in badly needed aid. A UN report on Sunday said there had been at least 11 attacks against humanitarian premises in Khartoum, and four new attacks against health facilities since the May 12 signing. That agreement is an integral part of the latest ceasefire deal, a text released by the United States says. Along with Khartoum, the western region of Darfur has seen some of the worst violence. The UN has reported hundreds of people killed in West Darfur and on Sunday said all 86 gathering sites for displaced people in El Geneina have reportedly been burnt to the ground. We do not trust the warring sides, said Adam Issa, a shop owner in El Geneina, West Darfur. Every time they announce a truce and they go back to fighting. We want a permanent ceasefire, not a temporary truce. Darfur is still reeling from a conflict that erupted in 2003 when former autocrat Omar al-Bashir unleashed the feared Janjaweed militia which formed the basis for the RSF to crush a rebellion by ethnic minority groups. Burhan on Friday officially sacked Daglo from the position he held on a governing council formed after they launched a coup in October 2021. Their putsch derailed a transition to civilian rule put in place following Bashirs overthrow in 2019. End the war Former rebel leader Malik Agar, who replaced Daglo as the councils vice president, on Saturday said he was determined to try to end the war. He also directly addressed Daglo, whose dispute with Burhan over the RSFs integration into the regular army led to the war. Sudans stability can only be re-established by a professional and unified army, Agar said. Residents of densely-populated neighbourhoods have accused RSF fighters of widespread break-ins and looting. In the Vatican on Sunday, Pope Francis welcomed the partial agreements reached so far but called on the international community to spare no effort to ease the suffering of the population. With most banks shuttered, warehouses and factories looted, attacked and burned, and fuel in scarce supply, access to food across Sudan is becoming increasingly difficult. Aid agencies have been ramping up their response, despite the challenges. Currently, 25 million people more than half of the population need humanitarian aid, the UN said. The head of the global bodys Sudan mission, Volker Perthes, is to brief the UN Security Council on Monday. Sudan was also on the world stage at Cannes, where director Mohamed Kordofanis Goodbye Julia became the first Sudanese film featured in the Official Selection. Kordofani said he felt honoured and proud but also guilty, because while I am on the red carpet, people are trying to flee the bombs. Please enable JavaScript to view the comments powered by Disqus. (L-R: Engr. Emer Rojas, President of New Vois Association of the Philippines; Dr. Alesha Thai, medical oncologist from Australia; Dr. Joline Lim, medical oncologist from Singapore; Dr. Jack West, medical oncologist from the USA; Dr. Rosario Pitargue, President of the Philippine Society of Medical Oncology (PSMO), and Jojo Flores, cancer survivor and advocate) In the Philippines, cancer is the second leading cause of death but, medical experts stated that there is hope as new medicines and treatments are available to prolong survival and improve the quality of life of cancer patients. However, the big question is how do we make these innovative therapies accessible to every Filipino cancer patient? MSD in the Philippines Hope From Within cancer advocacy campaign successfully organized the media forum Making Cancer Care Innovation Accessible to Every Juan, which served as a platform to address the urgent need for improved and accessible cancer care in the country. Local and foreign medical experts, Philippine legislators, and patient advocates shared insights on the importance of collaboration and dialogue among key stakeholders to pave the way for a future where every Filipino can have access to the best possible cancer care. The state of cancer care in the Philippines I believe the financial aspect is an important consideration. It is a known fact that our health system is not as robust as those in Western countries. While the government has initiated some projects and established access sites where patients can obtain chemotherapy drugs and targeted treatments throughout the country, there are still challenges. Not all drugs are covered, and it can take a significant amount of time, sometimes even years, for a drug to undergo the necessary processes, including health technology assessment before patients can access it in the Philippines, said Dr. Rosario Pitargue, President, Philippine Society of Medical Oncology. As a result, those who can afford it often seek treatment in other countries like Singapore. Unfortunately, even if the drug is available locally, the cost can be prohibitive for patients, especially those in the Class B income bracket. Some patients even express that they would rather allocate the money intended for their treatment to their families instead. Despite the challenges, Dr. Pitargue emphasized that cancer is no longer a death sentence. New-generation treatments and diagnostic tools are available, providing hope for patients. Efforts are being made to improve access to treatments and support cancer patients in the Philippines. Foreign experts underscores importance of innovative cancer treatments We have recognized that lung cancer is not a single homogeneous population, but rather consists of various subgroups defined by specific biomarkers, mutations, and other characteristics. This understanding has led to the realization that lung cancer is comprised of multiple types of cancer, each requiring personalized treatment approaches, explained Dr. Jack West, thoracic oncology specialist from Los Angeles, California. By utilizing targeted therapies, which are often in pill form or involve immune-based therapies to activate the immune systems ability to recognize and combat cancer cells, we have achieved significantly improved outcomes for many patients. These approaches generally result in fewer side effects compared to traditional chemotherapy, although there are instances where chemotherapy still plays a role. The field of lung cancer treatment has undergone a significant transformation. Previously, patients typically had a survival time of just a few months, but now we see more cases of successful cures and many more patients living for several years. This progress is largely attributed to the implementation of routine biomarker testing at the time of initial diagnosis, which allows us to characterize the specific features of cancer and determine the optimal treatment for each individual patient. Cancer survivor and advocate Jojo Flores; Dr. Joline Lim, medical oncologist from Singapore; Dr. Rosario Pitargue, President of Philippine Society of Medical Oncology (PSMO); Dr. Alesha Thai, medical oncologist from Australia; Dr. Jack West, medical oncologist from USA; broadcast journalist Nina Corpuz; and Engr. Emer Rojas, President of New Vois Association of the Philippines In the case of head and neck cancer, similar to lung cancer, the prognosis has historically been very poor. A few years ago, when chemotherapy was the primary treatment option for advanced head and neck cancer, the chances of surviving five years were only one in 20. This meant that the average survival time was around nine to 12 months, explained Dr. Alesha Thai, head and neck medical oncologist and clinical scientist at Peter MacCallum Cancer Center, Austin Health in Melbourne, Australia. However, in recent years, there have been significant advancements in the field, particularly with the introduction of new drugs like immunotherapy. As a result, oncologists in Australia are now observing a notable increase in the number of patients who survive beyond five years, with approximately one in four or one in five patients achieving this milestone. There are numerous new treatments available nowadays, and credit must be given to the research and collective efforts of the global community in advancing these options. Singapore is fortunate to have access to many of these new drugs. The government provides reimbursement for 90% of these drugs to ensure their affordability, said Dr. Joline Lim, a consultant and clinician scientist at National University Cancer Institute in Singapore. However, there is still a small portion, about 10% of drugs, that may not be financially feasible for the general population, requiring patients to bear the cost themselves. Nonetheless, overall, we can maintain a high standard of treatment, whether through immunotherapy or the emerging class of antibody-drug conjugates. These advancements have had a significant impact on breast cancer therapy, along with the innovative utilization of chemotherapy in novel ways and combination with other treatments. Innovative medicines focus on improving the patients quality of life. In cases of stage four cancers, such as breast, lung, or head and neck cancers, where a complete cure may be unlikely, the focus remains on improving the well-being of the patients. Patients are often informed by healthcare professionals that the complete eradication of cancer may never be achievable and that it may persist indefinitely. However, the objective is to convert it into a chronic disease, akin to diabetes or high blood pressure, wherein patients can effectively manage it with a daily pill or periodic treatments, enabling them to lead fulfilling lives. Improving access to innovative cancer medicines In his keynote speech, AnaKalusugan Representative Ray Reyes highlighted legislative efforts and proposed bills aimed at addressing these issues, including the provision of free medical checkups, funding for healthcare through taxation, and the establishment of regional specialty hospitals. The goal is to ensure access to quality healthcare and support for all Filipinos affected by cancer. We already have coverage for chemotherapy as part of our government program, but targeted treatment and immunotherapy are not yet included. Through ongoing collaboration with experts, the private sector, and the government, we aim to strengthen this mutually beneficial relationship, ensuring that every Filipino can benefit from improved access to innovative cancer medicines, said Cong. Reyes. When it comes to improving cancer care in the Philippines, there are various priorities and considerations that need to be addressed. Firstly, one of the key priorities is to ensure viable and accessible availability of medicines, while also focusing on affordability. This is closely tied to the second aspect, which is improving access to innovative cancer care. Additionally, the third priority is strengthening primary healthcare services, particularly by implementing nationwide cancer screening initiatives within community-based programs. Lastly, an essential element is establishing a comprehensive and robust registry or database to enhance the tracking and management of cancer cases over time, shared Jojo Flores, head and neck cancer survivor and advocate. Furthermore, Engr. Emer Rojas, President of the New Vois Association of the Philippines, emphasized the importance of funding in addressing the cancer gap. I believe we have sufficient funding through the 2012 law. Annually, we generate approximately Php 59 billion from tobacco and alcohol. If we allocate a significant portion of this revenue to address the cancer gap, we can expedite the implementation of cancer control laws and ultimately save more lives, said Engr. Rojas. In the face of the urgent need for accessible cancer care in the Philippines, MSDs media forum, served as a beacon of hope and collaboration. The forum acknowledged that cancer, specifically lung cancer, breast cancer, and head and neck cancer, continues to pose significant challenges for many Filipinos. However, the insights of esteemed foreign medical experts showcased the remarkable progress made in cancer treatment and care. The advancements in lung cancer treatment, the transformative therapies for head and neck cancer, and the innovative approaches to managing breast cancer have all contributed to improved outcomes and higher survival rates. It is firmly believed that cancer is no longer a death sentence, and it is crucial to ensure that every Filipino has access to these life-saving innovations. Please enable JavaScript to view the comments powered by Disqus. Gift this article Share this article paywall-free. Look for lightnin in the air Sunday night at Pops Farm in Axton. Thats when longtime rock favorite Marshall Tucker Band will perform at Rooster Walk 13. The band originated with a group that met in high school in Spartanburg, South Carolina, vocalist and tambourine player Doug Gray said. Different initial performers phased in and out for a variety of reasons before officially picking the members in 1971. In 1972 the six-person outfit chose their name The Marshall Tucker Band from a name they had found inscribed on the key to their rehearsal space. The band didnt know who Marshall Tucker was for a couple of years after they christened their band after him, Gray said. After about six to eight months of rehearsing in the space a promoter approached them with the opportunity to open for another band. All of the sudden we were offered a show and it happened to be a show opening for The Allman Brothers, Gray said. From there the band took off. They found out later that Marshall Tucker was a blind piano tuner who went to the South Carolina School for the Deaf and the Blind where he met his wife. The Tuckers moved to Columbia, South Carolina, where they had a daughter. Tucker passed in January of this year at the age of 99 years. Gray said Tuckers daughter keeps in touch with the band to this day. The current band is made up of Gray on vocals and tambourine; B.B. Borden on drums; Ryan Ware on bass and vocals; Marcus James Henderson on keyboard, saxophone, flute and vocals; Chris Hicks on guitar and vocals; and Rick Willis on guitar and vocals. They play southern rock music that incorporates elements of blues, country and jazz. I listened to just about every kind of music that there was, Gray said. We had country music in the band who liked country music, we had rock and roll and I like rhythm and blues. So when we all got together we were kind of like a fusion. Whatevers leftover you throw it in a pan and thats what we did, Gray added. And Marshall Tucker Bands what came out of it. The band has a collaborative songwriting process where if one member has some good lyrics or ideas they bring it to the other members where it will then be put to music. If it works itll work and if it doesnt work then we can it, Gray said, though the band doesnt continuously put out new music, having been lucky enough to have had almost every song they have recorded professionally, Gray said. Theres a meaning behind every one of them You just have to come see and listen to the music, Gray said about whether or not the music has an overlying theme or message. We did very upbeat songs and every one of em meant something. Gray said he doesnt really have a favorite song they play because at 330 songs theres so many of them but if he had to pick it would be Fire on the Mountain. Their songs have been covered by an array of artists and are featured in over 30 movies, and the band has over 30 studio albums. The band is touring all the time, he said, having played 190 performances since June of last year. Its kind of been a nice ride for us, Gray said. Ive heard a lot about it [Rooster Walk], Gray said. Im kind of all jacked up to play. He said he looks forward to experiencing what the festival is all about and seeing Crawford & Power, whom the band has played with multiple times, perform. The festival will be from Thursday through Sunday at Pops Farm, 675 Hobson Road in Axton. Tickets and additional information are available at roosterwalk.com. The Marshall Tucker Band will perform from 6:30-8 p.m. Sunday at the Lawn Stage. Sao Tome and Principe assumed from Friday the chairmanship of the United Nations Standing Advisory Committee on Security in Central Africa (UNSAC), with the archipelagos Prime minister calling for determination in favor of peace and stability in the region. This is the third time that Sao Tome and Principe takes on the presidency of the organization, succeeding the Republic of Congo. The handover of the presidency took place during the 55th UNSAC ministerial meeting held in the Sao Tomean capital under the theme climate security in the perspective of conflict prevention and consolidation of peace and stability in Central Africa, which the Sao Tomean prime minister considered current, transversal and of universal concern. Patrice Trovoada stressed that much has been done during the 30 years of UNSACs existence, but there is a long way to go, so he called for a reflection imbued with realism and a dispassionate discussion, capable of allowing improvements and advances. This appeal becomes even more relevant due to the fact that the Democratic Republic of Sao Tome and Principe is responsible for taking over the reins of the work in the next six months, stressed the Head of the Sao Tomean government. Patrice Trovoada noted that despite the various potentialities, Central Africa continues to be one of the regions that houses many poor people, many vulnerable populations climatically and cant get off the bottom of the worlds human development indicators, although it is one of the richest on the planet. The old conflicts remain, while other extra-regional and extra-continental conflicts contaminate us, terrorism and transnational crime is in clear progress, climate change and the chaotic exploitation of our agro-forestry and fishery resources have generated more hunger, more migration and more intercommunity violence, while the population has stopped believing and opts for emigration, drugs or terrorism, indicated Patrice Trovoada. The Prime Minister of Sao Tome considered that there are solutions to these challenges and they are in the tons of paper sheets of reports, the most diverse, produced by undisputed experts from the most diverse organizations. The Cape Verdean President, Jose Maria Neves, called for an independent audit of the Dr. Batista de Sousa Hospital (HBS) in Mindelo, Sao Vicente island, recalling the death of seven newborns in recent weeks. As this is an abnormal situation and considering the systematic complaints from HBS users, I think it is advisable to conduct an independent audit for a thorough organizational assessment and to present relevant recommendations, the Head of State wrote in a message this 21st of May on his official Facebook social network account. I have been following with concern the news of the death, in these days of May, of seven newborn children at HBS. I know that the Ministry of Health and the Hospital itself are making inquiries to identify the causes of these deaths and take appropriate measures. And this is essential to put an end to the concerns of the citizens, he added. The Cape Verdean Ministry of Health announced on May 16 that it was conducting an inquiry into the deaths of five newborn babies this month at HBS. After becoming aware of the occurrence of deaths of five newborn babies, in May, in the neonatology service of Dr. Baptista de Sousa Hospital, and, guided by the need to clarify the real causes that led to the deaths, the Ministry of Health, through an order of the Minister of Health orders to establish an investigation, said the ministry in a statement. The investigation, it added, intends to ascertain facts such as the medical, nursing and care provided to mothers and newborn babies, as well as good safety and quality practices in the provision of care to patients. It also intends to find out the causes behind the deaths of babies in what is the second largest hospital in the country and the technical and administrative procedures adopted in issuing death certificates and in communicating with parents and relatives. The Mozambican police detained for 20 hours a young man in the city of Pemba, provincial capital of Cabo Delgado, for being in the street with protest posters, an arrest contested by activists and denounced on social networks. Milo Samuel was arrested last Friday at the first police station in Pemba and was returned to freedom on Saturday, after the mobilization of activists who brought a lawyer to the police station. Milo left without making a statement, driven by police into a vehicle in which he was taken home. I dont want to be displaced anymore was read on one of the posters held by Milo Samuel in one of the main streets of Pemba, in a reference to about one million people who had to flee to that city and other places due to armed attacks in the interior of the province. On another poster was written We want district elections. The elections were postponed by initiative of the ruling party Frente de Libertacao de Mocambique (Frelimo). Abudo Gafuro, a social activist who followed the case, described that there were also two other posters in which the young man complained about the difficulty in getting a job, because they always demanded some experience, and in which he wrote that to have an opportunity you need to be a party member. They are trying to silence civil society, said the activist, commenting on the police action, launching an appeal for openness, freedom of expression and demonstration. Abudo Gafuro questions whether it is a crime to demonstrate freely, obeying the rules and norms of the Constitution and its article 51. There are some who are not at ease, nor comfortable with that, he stressed. The police in Pemba referred clarifications to an opportune moment, mentioning only that Milo Samuel did not obey legal procedures for the purpose of a public demonstration. Martin Rodriguez, political and business tycoon opposed to Benin President Patric Talon, has laid to April military agreement between the West African country and Rwanda from which the eastern African State will send troops to help combat terrorism. Both Talon and Paul Kagame in mid last month in capital Cotonou oversaw the signing of several agreements between their two countries, including military cooperation per which Kigali will send troops to Benin to help curb terrorism. In an interview with Be Africa, Martin Rodriguez argued that the true purpose of the agreement is covered and is meant to protect the regime led by Talon. Why would President Talon seek military support from a country with no significant experience in fighting jihadist terrorism? he asked. Benin, like many countries in the region, has been grappling with insecurity and terrorism in the north. Several attacks have caused mayhem in the ranks of the army and civilians. Rodriguez posits that Benin does not need the presence of foreign troops to overcome terrorism. The country needs alternative solutions that integrate socio-economic needs of populations. Jihadists also recruit locally. They recruit from those who are unemployed, frustrated, those who are revolted to be able to carry out their fight (), he said. To fight jihadism, there must be harmony between the populations that are supposed to be protected and the State. There must be complicity. A people divided internally is a vulnerable people, he added. Ukraine expressed on Monday its support for the autonomy plan, presented by Morocco in 2007, as a serious and credible basis for the successful settlement of the Sahara issue. This position was expressed by the Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, on a working visit to the Kingdom, during a joint press briefing with the Minister of Foreign Affairs, African Cooperation and Moroccan Expatriates Nasser Bourita, after their talks in Rabat. Kuleba also said that Ukraine and Morocco both know the value of sovereignty and territorial integrity. The Ukrainian top diplomat also said that Ukraine supports the efforts of the UN Secretary-Generals Personal Envoy for the Sahara, Staffan de Mistura, to find a realistic, sustainable and mutually acceptable political solution, in accordance with the resolutions of the UN Security Council. He said that the resolution of the Sahara issue is essential for regional security and peace. 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: Participants in a new study trusted medical advice generated by artificial intelligence more when their doctors expressed support of the new technology. Credit: University of Arizona Artificial intelligence-powered medical treatment options are on the rise and have the potential to improve diagnostic accuracy, but a new study led by University of Arizona Health Sciences researchers found that about 52% of participants would choose a human doctor rather than AI for diagnosis and treatment. The paper, "Diverse Patients Attitudes Towards Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Diagnosis," was published May 19 in the journal PLOS Digital Health. The research was led by Dr. Marvin J. Slepian, Regents Professor of Medicine at the UArizona College of MedicineTucson and member of the BIO5 Institute, and Christopher Robertson, professor of law and associate dean for strategic initiatives at the Boston University School of Law. The research team found that most patients aren't convinced the diagnoses provided by AI are as trustworthy of those delivered by human medical professionals. "While many patients appear resistant to the use of AI, accuracy of information, nudges and a listening patient experience may help increase acceptance," Slepian said of the study's other primary finding: that a human touch can help clinical practices use AI to their advantage and earn patients' trust. "To ensure that the benefits of AI are secured in clinical practice, future research on best methods of physician incorporation and patient decision making is required." In the study, participants were placed into scenarios as mock patients and asked whether they would prefer to have an AI system or a physical doctor for diagnosis and treatment, and under what circumstances. In the first phase, researchers conducted structured interviews with actual patients, testing their reactions to current and future AI technologies. In the second phase of the study, researchers polled 2,472 participants across diverse ethnic, racial and socioeconomic groups using a blinded, randomized survey that tested eight variables. Overall, participants were almost evenly split, with more than 52% choosing human doctors as a preference versus approximately 47% choosing an AI diagnostic method. If study participants were prompted that their primary care physicians felt AI was superior and helpful as an adjunct to diagnosis or otherwise nudged to consider AI as good, the acceptance of AI by study participants on re-questioning increased. This signaled the significance of the human physician in guiding a patient's decision. Disease severityleukemia versus sleep apneadid not affect participants' trust in AI. Compared to white participants, Black participants selected AI less often and Native Americans selected it more often. Older participants were less likely to choose AI, as were those who self-identified as politically conservative or viewed religion as important. The racial, ethnic and social disparities identified suggest that differing groups will warrant specific sensitivity and attention as to informing them as to the value and utility of AI to enhance diagnoses. "I really feel this study has the import for national reach. It will guide many future studies and clinical translational decisions even now," said Slepian, who also holds a J.D. "The onus will be on physicians and others in health care to ensure that information that resides in AI systems is accurate, and to continue to maintain and enhance the accuracy of AI systems as they will play an increasing role in the future of health care." More information: Christopher Robertson et al, Diverse patients' attitudes towards Artificial Intelligence (AI) in diagnosis, PLOS Digital Health (2023). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pdig.0000237 Journal information: PLOS Digital Health 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: Stimulus overview. Pictures in the left column show the different stimuli used during the imagined eating trials, while pictures in the middle and right columns show the stimuli used for the food-related outcomes. The rows indicate studies 13, where M&Ms were used for studies 12 and Skittles were used for study 3. Credit: Appetite (2022). DOI: 10.1016/j.appet.2022.106421 The internet is overflowing with pictures of food: On news sites, social media and the banner ads that pop up everywhere. Many of the food images are uploaded to sell specific foods. The idea is that the images on Facebook or Instagram will make us yearn for a McDonald's burger, for example. In other words, the image awakens our hunger. New research from Aarhus University now shows that the images can actually have the opposite effect. At least if we see pictures of the same product repeatedly. A number of experiments reveal that we can get a sense of satiety if we see the same image more 30 times. Tjark Andersen, who recently defended his Ph.D. at Department of Food Science at Aarhus University, explains more. "In our experiments, we showed that when the participants saw the same food picture 30 times, they felt more satiated than before they had seen the picture. The participants who were shown the picture many times also chose a smaller portion than those who had only seen the picture three times, when we subsequently asked about the size of portion they wanted," he says. Tricking your brain into feeling full It may sound strange that the participants felt full without actually eating anything. But this is really quite natural, explains Tjark Andersen. How we think about food has a large influence on our appetite. "Your appetite is more closely linked with your cognitive perception than most of us think. How we think about our food is very important," he says. "Studies have shown that if you make people aware of different colors of Jelly Beans, even if they have eaten all they can in red Jelly Beans, will still want the yellow ones. Even if both colors taste completely the same." Within brain research, these findings are explained with so-called grounded cognition theory. For example, if you imagine putting your teeth in a juicy apple, the same areas of the brain are stimulated as if you actually take a bite of an apple. "You will receive a physiological response to something you have only thought about. That's why we can feel fully satisfied without eating anything," he says. Overview of the three studies and their contribution toward the overall aims. Credit: Appetite (2022). DOI: 10.1016/j.appet.2022.106421 A large online experiment Tjark Andersen and his colleagues are not the first to discover that we can get feel full by looking at pictures of food. Other research groups have previously shown this. The novel aspect of the research from Aarhus University is that they examined the number of repetitions neededand whether variation in the images removes the sense of satiety. "We know from previous studies that images of different types of food don't have the same effect on satiety. That's why you can really feel full after the main course but still have room for dessert. Sweet things are a completely different type of food," he says. To investigate whether variation in food completely removes the sense of satiety, Tjark Andersen and his colleagues designed a number of online experiments. They ended up getting more than 1,000 people through their digital experiments. First they showed a picture of just orange M&Ms. Some participants were shown the picture three times, others 30 times. The group that saw the most pictures of M&Ms felt most satiated afterwards, explains Tjark Andersen. "They had to answer how many M&Ms between 1 and 10 they wanted. The group which had seen 30 images of orange chocolate buttons, chose a smaller amount than the other two groups." Afterwards, they repeated the experiment. This time with M&Ms in different colors. The colors did not change the result. Finally, they replaced the M&Ms with Skittles. Unlike M&Ms, Skittles taste different depending on the color. "If color didn't play a role, it must be the imagined taste. But we found no major effect here either. This suggests that more parameters than just color and flavor have to change before we can make a effect on satiety," he explains. Could be used as a weight loss strategy Since 1975, the number of overweight people worldwide has tripled. According to the WHO, obesity is one of the biggest health challenges facing humans. And the reason why we become overweight is that we eat too much food, especially too much unhealthy food, while not exercising frequently enough. This is where Tjark Andersen's results come into the play. Perhaps they can be applied as a method to control appetite, he says. "Think if you developed an app based on a Google search. Let's say you wanted pizza. You open the app. Choose pizzaand it shows a lot of photos of pizza while you imagine eating it. In this way, you could get a sense of satiety and maybe just stop wanting pizza." Perhaps his results can best be used to ensure that you don't start a meal. The participants in the study only chose slightly fewer Skittles or M&Ms, corresponding to fewer than 50 calories. "You won't save many calories unless you completely refrain from starting a meal. But perhaps the method can be used for this as well. It'd be interesting to investigate," he says. Social media are overflowing with food Tjark Andersen and a number of other researchers are studying how food advertisements on social media affect us, because we are constantly being confronted with delicious food. In 2016, an American research group tried to find out how many advertisements with food we encounter on average when we are on social media. The researchers monitored a number of young people and mapped out the content they met. On average, the young people saw 6.1 food-related posts in 12 hours. The vast majority of the posts were pictures of foodand more than a third were about desserts or other sweet food. The internet and, in particular, social media can be a contributory factor in our becoming increasingly overweight. But it may also be the solution. Only the future will tell. The paper is published in the journal Appetite. More information: T. Andersen et al, Imagined eatingAn investigation of priming and sensory-specific satiety, Appetite (2022). DOI: 10.1016/j.appet.2022.106421 Journal information: Appetite This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain A new study by UC Davis MIND Institute researchers and others finds that an autism screening tool used widely in the U.S. and around the world is effective but has limitations. The findings highlight the need for providers to use their own judgment and be clear with parents about the limits of the tool, called the M-CHAT-R/F (Modified Checklist for Autism in Toddlers, Revised with Follow-Up). The researchers analyzed more than a dozen studies of the screening tool from around the world, which included tens of thousands of children. Their work was published today in Pediatrics. The M-CHAT-R/F is a tool commonly used by pediatricians to screen children for autism around the world. It includes a set of questions that providers ask parents or caregivers about their child's development, and usually takes about five minutes to administer. If the child receives a positive screening result, a provider usually recommends further evaluation. The team found that the tool commonly flagged children as positive for autistic traits, who, after a full assessment, did not receive an autism diagnosis, though most did have other developmental challenges. In addition, a significant portion of children who were flagged as negative for autistic traits were later diagnosed with autism. "Although the M-CHAT-R/F has a clear role in autism screening, these results remind clinicians that a positive screen is not equivalent to an autism diagnosis," said lead author Aishworiya Ramkumar, assistant professor in the Department of Pediatrics at the National University of Singapore. Ramkumar is also a former ITPND (International Training Program in Neurodevelopmental Disabilities) fellow at the MIND Institute. "When clinicians counsel parents and caregivers after a positive screening they must be clear that the child still needs to have a definitive assessment." Autism is a developmental disability which includes brain differences. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention one in 36 U.S. children has autism. Autistic individuals may communicate, learn and behave differently, and their abilities can vary widely. In the U.S., the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends autism screening at both 18 and 24 months of age. "Screening tools help to identify children who are most likely to have developmental concerns. These children can then receive diagnostic evaluations and, if appropriate, can get the educational, therapeutic and social support they need to maximize their potential," said Van Ma, a developmental-behavioral pediatrics fellow at the MIND Institute and a co-author of the paper. Study design and results The meta-analysis included 15 studies, covering a total of 49,841 children from 10 countries. Studies took place between January 2014 and November 2021 and included standard scoring of the M-CHAT-R/F and a diagnostic assessment for autism following the screening result. Among all children, the pooled predictive value, or accuracy of the M-CHAT-R/F at correctly identifying autism, was 57.7%. This means that there was a 57.7% chance of an autism diagnosis following a "positive" screen. The number varied when children were sorted into groups. For example, in children who had a higher likelihood of autism, such as those with an autistic sibling, the predictive value was 75.6%. Among children with no increased likelihood, the predictive value was 51.2%. The overall negative predictive value was 72.5%. This means that nearly a quarter of those flagged as "negative" following screening received an autism diagnosis after further assessment. Ramkumar emphasizes that providers should not view the screening tool as definitive. "Clinical assessment is important, regardless of the M-CHAT-R/F results. It's also critical to remember that not all children with autism have features in early childhood and instead, they may become apparent only later. A negative screening at a single point in time does not necessarily rule out autism," she said. The M-CHAT-R/F is the most common autism screening tool, but most previous studies have focused on or included earlier versions of it in their analysis. "Early diagnosis of autism is critical for improved outcomes, so we thought it was very important to review the utility of this widely used tool in screening for autism in young children," Ramkumar explained. "We realized the value of compiling a large sample size to guide clinicians regarding use of the M-CHAT-R/F." Ramkumar notes that they only included studies where children who screened as negative for autism also received a full diagnostic evaluation, rather than just assuming that they did not have the condition. However, most studies had small numbers of children who fit this profile. What do the findings mean for health care providers? The M-CHAT-R/F is a tool that is frequently used in pediatric offices at the 18- and 24-month well child visits," said senior author on the paper Heidi Feldman, professor and chief of the Division of Developmental-Behavioral Pediatrics at Stanford University. "It is so important for clinicians to think carefully about the results of the screening test, to neither unnecessarily concern parents nor to inaccurately reassure parents." The authors all emphasize that individual provider judgment is key. "I think the most important takeaway from this study is that the M-CHAT-R/F is a screening tool with limitations," Ma explained. It has a role in screening for autism but is not meant to replace clinical judgment and comprehensive diagnostic assessment." More information: Ramkumar Aishworiya et al, Meta-analysis of the Modified Checklist for Autism in Toddlers, Revised/Follow-up for Screening, Pediatrics (2023). DOI: 10.1542/peds.2022-059393 Journal information: Pediatrics Provided by UC Davis MIND Institute This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain Georgia's new 988 mental health hotline service, which launched last summer, was recognized on Friday as a model for other states. But some Democratic lawmakers in the Legislature say last-minute budget cuts made by the governor's office could hamper the planned expansion of 988. At a town hall on Friday to discuss the future of the hotline, national leaders held up Georgia as an example of what's working. The success with 988, a national hotline for people experiencing a mental health or substance abuse crisis, has been a bright spot for a state that's traditionally lagged in providing that care. And yet, as demand for the 988 hotline grows, lawmakers said the state will need more people to staff the phones and further expand the types of services being offered. Amid fears of a looming recession, when Gov. Brian Kemp signed the budget he told agencies to ignore millions of dollars that the Legislature had wanted to include. The early budget included $2.2 million in funding to expand 988, as well as wage hikes for mental health professionals. Democratic lawmakers are now worried the loss of that money will primarily hurt people in the midst of a mental health crisis. "What is clear is that the work and focus to improve our mental health services across Georgia have been derailed," said Rep. Mary Margaret Oliver, a Democrat in the state Legislature. When it comes to 988 specifically, the results in Georgia are strong. On average, Georgia is answering calls to its hotline in fewer than 10 seconds, and has earned high marks in how it handles the number of callers, even as intake continues to climb. Call volume is up 12% for a nine-month period ending in March 2023, according to the Georgia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities. The hotline model that the state relies on uses best practices: like 24/7 crisis intervention by phone and texting; teams of trained professionals who are responding quickly to people in distress; and places that provide both short- and long-term care. "This state is a star, and this state is one that should be lifted up as an example," said Monica Johnson, a director overseeing the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at the federal level, said at a town hall event at Georgia State University in Atlanta. Before this, Johnson served as the interim commissioner at DBHDD in Georgia. Those call numbers are only expected to rise. The 988 number has not been widely promoted yet, but DBHDD Commissioner Kevin Tanner said in an interview that his agency will be working to spread the word in the coming months. The state agency will predict future call volume in Georgia and those estimates will also influence the agency's budget request for the 2024-25 budget year. "I am very optimistic," Tanner said of 988 in Georgia. "We have been able to keep up with demand and improve our answer time." Kemp's instruction for the state to not spend 988 funds was because the money was earmarked for administrative funding to 988 rather than direct response services for those in crisis. So far, call volume has not increased to a level that requires additional support over the existing levels, according to Kemp's budget instructions. Another budget cut that some Democratic lawmakers took issue with was millions of dollars in wage hikes for mental health professionals. "These wage increases were going to be targeted to the greatest need," said Sen. Sally Harrell, a Democrat. But the budget did include other gains for mental health, including increased overall funding for the department and more money for mobile crisis servicesthe trained professionals who are dispatched to people who call 988 in distress. A key advisor to Kemp defended the governor's decision on Wednesday, as well as his record on mental health: not only has the state been funneling more money into mental health services issue under the governor's tenure, but Kemp did what he had to do to ensure the state's fiscal health. Cody Hall, adviser to Gov. Brian Kemp, said there was about a $200 million hole that the General Assembly choose not to fund in the latest budget, and that the state can only pull so much money from its reserves before the Wall Street credit ratings agencies take notice. The state now has a record $5.2 billion in reserves. "This year, there was a larger hole than usual," Hall said on the Georgia Public Broadcasting radio show "Political Rewind." "What the governor is trying to do is make sure that we are planning our budget process years in advance and that if there is an economic downturn ... we are prepared and we're not asking agencies to come in and make 5%, 10% or 15% budget cuts." Georgia often has ranked towards the bottom of surveys that measure how state's deliver mental health care. But the governor and lawmakers have made strides in improving access. Last year, lawmakers overwhelmingly passed a 76-page overhaul of the mental health care system, which was a priority of then-House Speaker David Ralston, who died in November. The law aims to ensure that insurance companies cover mental health care the same way physical health care is covered. Lawmakers also greatly increased funding for mental health services. However, this year's effort to improve Georgia's mental health care system stalled in the Senate: House Bill 520 focused on addressing a shortage of mental health providers and streamlining the way agencies share information about patients, including what the bill called "familiar faces" that law enforcement and mental health providers see time and time again. The bill overwhelmingly passed the House but failed to get a vote in a Senate committee. As for 988, Tanner said that going forward, the state will need to continue building out the entire mental health system. "We got a lot of work to do, but we have the team that's up to the challenge and in a state that's having serious conversations," Tanner said. "We are going to continue to be a leader in this area." 2023 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: PRISMA Flow Diagram.CSG denotes Cooperative Study Group; IPD, individual participant data; PRISMA, Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses; and RCT, randomized controlled trial. Credit: NEJM Evidence (2023). DOI: 10.1056/EVIDoa2300034 Sepsis is a global health priority affecting 55 million patients worldwide and causing 11 million deaths annually. Treatment for sepsis may include prompt recognition, source control, antibiotics, fluids, vasopressors, and adjunctive therapies. Corticosteroids have been evaluated as adjunctive therapy for septic shock for more than 50 years. Despite this substantive body of research, uncertainty persists about the effects of corticosteroids on mortality. In a study publishing in the New England Journal of Medicine: Evidence, an international team of researchers from UC San Francisco, Raymond Poincare AP-HP Hospital, Versailles SQY University, Paris-Saclay University and Inserm, and the George Institute for Global Health in Sydney, studied the role of hydrocortisone in the management of adult patients with septic shock. They found that while the effect of hydrocortisone was modest in terms of overall survival, it was associated with a decrease in the need for vasopressor drugs and improvement in survival when used in combination with other corticosteroids. The study, coordinated by first authors Romain Pirracchio, MD, MPH, Ph.D., UCSF Professor of Anesthesia, Djillali Annane, MD, Ph.D., and senior author Anthony Delaney, MBBS, MSc, Ph.D., was designed to evaluate the role of corticosteroids in the management of patients with septic shock and the contradictory effects on mortality as recorded in past research and treatment. The research team performed a meta-analysis of the effect of hydrocortisone on patients with septic shock by pooling individual data from studies conducted between 1998 and 2019 including adult patients with sepsis or septic shock who received intravenous hydrocortisone at a maximum daily dose of 400 mg for at least 72 hours, or a placebo. Individual patient data were available for 17 studies, and 7 of these provided 90-day mortality data. The primary endpoint was 90-day all-cause mortality. Secondary outcomes included mortality in ICU and discharge from hospital, at 28 and 180 days, and number of days without the need for vasopressor drugs to maintain cardiovascular function, without a ventilator, and the number of days without vital organ failure. The researchers found that hydrocortisone was not associated with a significant reduction in mortality for patients with septic shock compared to placebo. Hydrocortisone was, however, associated with a significant increase, on average of 1.24 days, in the number of days without the need for vasopressor drugs. The study also suggests that the association of fludrocortisone, a corticosteroid with a strong action on the regulation of water and sodium, with hydrocortisone might reduce mortality. "For the first time, the effects of hydrocortisone for the treatment of patients with septic shock could be studied by analyzing individual data from the main randomized trials published to date," said Pirracchio. "This study shows that if the effect of hydrocortisone on the mortality of septic shock is modest, this treatment makes it possible to spare the exposure of patients to vasopressor drugs and to prevent their complications. The combination of fludrocortisone with hydrocortisone seems to provide a greater benefit in terms of survival." More information: Romain Pirracchio et al, Patient-Level Meta-Analysis of Low-Dose Hydrocortisone in Adults with Septic Shock, NEJM Evidence (2023). DOI: 10.1056/EVIDoa2300034 Journal information: NEJM Evidence 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: Mental health programs to combat increasing stress among first responders need strengthened, according to West Virginia University research. Credit: WVU/Aira Burkhart Controlling traumatic situations is synonymous with the daily duties of first responders, yet many mental health programs to combat the increasing stress they encounter are lacking. That's why West Virginia University researchers are identifying steps policymakers and community members can take to aid front-line workers. "With elevated risk for suicide and other mental health issues among first responders, we have a significant public health problem," said Michael Fisher, assistant professor in the WVU School of Public Health Department of Health Policy Management and Leadership, who led a study analyzing mental health and first responders in one state. "These issues rarely make front-page news and may not always garner widespread support and financial resources. This situation began to change amid the COVID-19 pandemic, but policymakers and the public need to be informed about these issues so that appropriate policies, programs and resources can ensue." Results of the study led researchers to offer five recommendations: link first responders with culturally competent clinicians; establish one or more centralized organizations to coordinate policy and programming activities; examine models of regional collaboration; expand mental health policy and program research and evaluation efforts; and pass legislation to advance mental health policy and program coordination and implementation. Two federal proposalsthe Fighting Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Act and the Helping Emergency Responders Overcome Acthaven't gained traction. However, measures on state and local levels are showing promise and those are the ones Fisher and his team want to hold up as examples. "I wanted to investigate some of those activities," Fisher said. "There is a dynamic landscape of emerging approaches to mental health prevention and treatment for first responders, but there is still so much to be learned, both about the effectiveness of specific approaches and about the landscape of programs available or, in some cases, not available." Fisher chose to focus on Ohio for the study because it is one of the few states where extensive support measures for first responders have been enacted. In 2021, legislation was passed to examine expanding eligibility for workers' compensation benefits for first responders suffering from PTSD. The same year, Ohio implemented a state-level office focused on the well-being of first responders to coordinate specialized support and training. The study, published in the Community Mental Health Journal, elicits perspectives on policy and programmatic activities for front-line personnel. Joining Fisher in the study was Catherine D. Lavender, Department of Occupational Therapy & Occupational Science, College of Health Professions, Towson University. "We were not looking to quantify or evaluate aspects of policies or programs, but instead seeking to understand contextual factors influencing policy or program development and implementation," Fisher said. "We had two research questions guiding our study. First, how are Ohio's first responder communities advancing mental health policies and programs? Second, what are the opportunities and challenges faced by these individuals?" Between March 2021 and June 2022, researchers interviewed firefighters, emergency medical service professionals and law enforcement officers employed in Ohio. Their insights revealed increases in job stress and first responder deaths by suicide as factors intensifying the need for mental health programs and policies. At the same time, they said a decrease in mental health stigma opens the door for more people to seek help. Most participants said they saw a heightened workload, often because of staffing constraints. On top of that, situations such as violent crime and drug overdoses added to their stress. Although they were able to complete their duties, they recognized it came with an emotional, physical and mental cost. For example, these pressures can result in compassion fatiguephysical and mental exhaustion and emotional withdrawal experienced by those who care for sick or traumatized people over an extended time. While nearly all interviewees cited mental illness stigma as a concern for first responder professions, they noted a decline in those levels as colleaguesparticularly the younger onesare more open to peer discussion. However, they said a divide still exists with some first responders thinking they will appear weak or face job-related repercussions if they admit to mental health struggles. The size of departments or jurisdictions played a role in the types of mental health support available, participants said. Access to programs ranged from extensive peer support to health-focused apps that connect them to resources. While small or rural departments sometimes face barriers to robust programming, others benefit from collaborations and less formal resources they term as "mutual aid agreements for mental health." Insurance coverage for obtaining mental health treatment also reportedly varied, depending on the size and resources of the jurisdiction. Fisher plans to use the study as preliminary data for future research which could focus on several themes raised by participants that he believes warrant further investigation. "I hope this study, in conjunction with other research on first responder mental health and well-being, can raise awareness and inform policy and program development," Fisher said. More information: Ensuring Optimal Mental Health Programs and Policies for First Responders: Opportunities and Challenges in One U.S. State, Community Mental Health Journal (2023). DOI: 10.1007/s10597.023.01121.1 This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Credit: CC0 Public Domain Nationwide shortages of two dozen chemotherapy drugs are leading to rationing and delays in treatment for cancer patients, local and national authorities say. "The most critical drugs that are being used to cure cancer, potentially, are just in short supply," said Dr. Rupesh Parikh, an oncologist at Comprehensive Cancer Centers of Nevada. There are shortages of 23 chemotherapy drugs used to treat a wide range of cancers, according to data from the University of Utah Drug Information Service. Most of these are inexpensive generic drugs used for decades that serve as "the backbone of so many chemotherapy regimens," said associate chief pharmacy officer Erin Fox, whose team at the university tracks drug shortages. The shortage in chemotherapy drugs is the worst it has been since 2011, she said. Overall drug shortages are the worst since 2014 for reasons that include curtailment of manufacturing and increased demand. Parikh said the chemotherapy drug shortage, which has ramped up over the past 12 months, is now at critical mass. "Never in my entire life did I imagine that I would have to ration chemotherapy to some of my patients, and that's what's happening," he said. "It's sometimes causing delay of care. Sometimes you have to ration these medicines to patients who need it most, which in America is unheard of." Some of these drugs don't have substitutes and when they do, the substitutes may also be in short supply, he said. One such drug is cisplatin, which Fox said is used to treat a range of cancers, from testicular cancer to head and neck cancer to cervical cancer. Carboplatin, a substitute for cisplatin, also is in short supply. These drugs are used as part of many chemotherapy regimens, meaning their shortage "could potentially affect a large number of people," Fox said. This particular shortage stems from problems with the factory in India that manufactured 50% of the U.S. supply of cisplatin and 20% of the supply of carboplatin. The plant also made 50% of the supply in the U.S. of methotrexate, another common cancer drug. In November, FDA inspectors found major quality control problems at the Intas Pharmaceuticals plant that shut down production. Inspectors found plastic bags stuffed with newly shredded documents related to the potency of the drugs, among other issues, an FDA report states. "That factory has not yet fixed things enough to restart making products," Fox said. "We really need the other companies to ramp up their supply, but that's not always a fast process." Some of the generic drugs in short supply are used in tandem with ground-breaking cancer therapies. "When these really, really miracle drugs can't be given because we can't even give the traditional chemotherapy, that's even more frustrating," said Michael Ganio, senior director of pharmacy practice and quality with the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists. Parikh said these shortages mean that doctors are faced with prioritizing drugs for patients at highest risk who could potentially be cured by them over those whose lives would only be extended, he said. Cancer doctors are "the most innovative people in the world," he said, and will find other ways to treat their patients, such as getting them into a clinical trial for a new drug. But the approach is less than optimal. Said Ganio, "One of the No. 1 predictors of outcome in a patient is getting the chemotherapy on schedule at the full dose. It's just devastating to have to tell a patient we either have to move you to a different regimen that may have poor outcomes or it may have more side effects." According to Parikh, the hardest thing to tell patients is that their drugs are unavailable anywhere. "UCLA, they don't have the drug available," he said. "Johns Hopkins, they don't have the drug available. The drugs are just not available in the entire country." Certain drugs, such as ADHD medications and a diabetes drug used for weight loss, are in shortage because of heightened demand for them. But with the generic cancer drugs, a key factor behind their scarcity is the thin profit margin for making them, authorities say. "The biggest challenge here is profitability," according to Christina Madison, an associate professor of pharmacy practice at Roseman University of Health Sciences. "They're older medications, which means they're off patent and they're generic," she said. "And because of that, they don't make as much money for the manufacturer" as new brand name drugs, meaning there's less incentive to keep making them. New drugs, which typically have patents that prohibit others from selling copies of the same drug, garner higher prices that offset the expense of animal and human studies of their safety and effectiveness. Because of the thin profit margins for the generic drugs, "we're not seeing the investment in facilities and equipment and processes," which leads to issues such as contamination and loss of quality, Ganio said. The FDA released a report in 2018 that found a lack of incentive to invest in quality as a root cause of drug shortages. A lack of transparency in regard to variations in drug quality among manufacturers has the effect of driving prices down, he said. To address drug shortages, legislation has been introduced in Congress that would give the FDA a heads-up if a manufacturer sees six consecutive weeks of increased demand for a drug, Ganio said. The FDA is working with manufacturers of chemotherapy drugs to expedite the release of their products. Importing drugs from manufacturers currently not selling their drugs in the U.S. is an option. Ganio's opinion is that the chemotherapy drug shortage won't quickly be resolved. "I would say this is not going to improve for a couple months at least," he said. "And I hate saying that." 2023 Las Vegas Review-Journal. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Indications and pricing for stem cell secretome-based interventions offered by the direct-to-consumer businesses. A Types of cosmetic or medical conditions treated by the direct-to-consumer businesses. B Pricing of the marketed interventions. Credit: Stem Cell Research & Therapy (2023). DOI: 10.1186/s13287-023-03335-2 Scientists are calling for tighter regulation of stem cell treatments, after finding hundreds of clinics worldwide offering unproven "therapies" for conditions as varied as hair loss and Parkinson's. Researchers at the University of Reading and the Universiti Sains Malaysia have identified 114 companies in over 20 countries offering unproven, unregulated, stem-cell derived products to consumers. They are calling on regulators to halt these products until they can be proven safe and effective in clinical trials. The findings have been published in the journal Stem Cell Research & Therapy. Dr. Darius Widera, an Associate Professor at the University of Reading and lead author of the research, said, "Companies that sell untested and unproven health promises are little more than modern snake-oil salesmen. The vast majority of the stem cell treatments offered are not yet, and may never be, backed by research that supports therapeutic use. "This may put potentially vulnerable and sometimes desperate people at risk of losing large amounts of cash for treatments that don't work or are even dangerous. Regulators must act now to protect people." No completed trials One of the latest fads in stem cell therapeutics is the use of secretomes, extracellular vesicles, and exosomes, derived from stem cells. Rather than using whole stem cells, clinics are using the products that are produced by those cells. There is some evidence that these products have a similar potential to support regenerative medicine as adult stem cells. Currently, 433 clinical trials have been registered on the ClinicalTrials.gov database, the researchers found. Very few have been completed, and these products are thus far poorly regulated. They are only being offered in private clinics. No state health provider has yet approved their use. The U.S., Mexico, United Arab Emirates, and Malaysia, combined, have more than half of the clinics worldwide, the researchers found. The scientists found four clinics in the U.K. offering treatments based on stem cell products at the time of conducting their research. However, they say more have since appeared in the U.K., and are potentially advertising similar services. The researchers found that 63 of the companies offered interventions of secretomes from stem cells derived from one of a number of sources, not related to the consumer. Thirty companies had treatments using secretomes from the client's own cells. Twenty-one companies didn't disclose what type of cells their treatments are derived from. Most of the companies didn't disclose the particular tissue the cells were found in, the study finds. Of those that did, the most common source was blood, followed by amniotic fluid, fat tissue, bone marrow, and umbilical cord. Skin care to autism Skin care, anti-aging, and hair loss were the most common targets for intervention, but significant numbers of clinics were also claiming to treat autism, arthritis, Parkinson's disease, diabetes, or Lyme disease. Some did not disclose which "chronic diseases" they claim to treat. A handful mentioned neuropathies, rare immune system conditions, COVID-19, or Alzheimer's. Dr. Widera said, "At best, consumers are gambling their money, in amounts from $99 to $20,000, on treatments for which there is no reliable evidence. At worst, these treatments could be harmful. "Any medical procedure carries a risk. People can develop allergic reactions and infections, and there are sometimes very serious side effects from having an unproven product introduced to your body." Dr. Graeme Cottrell, a co-author of the study at the University of Reading said, "There is also huge potential for exploitation. People who live with chronic or degenerative conditions, and their loved ones, desperately want to find something that will offer some relief from symptoms. They are often woefully under-served by the available therapies and treatments and are willing to try pretty much anything that sounds like it might work. "As scientists, we can offer our evidence-based opinion on the treatments being offered, but we don't have the power that regulators do. It is vital that regulators in all the affected countries catch up swiftly." More information: Atiyeh Asadpour et al, Uncovering the gray zone: mapping the global landscape of direct-to-consumer businesses offering interventions based on secretomes, extracellular vesicles, and exosomes, Stem Cell Research & Therapy (2023). DOI: 10.1186/s13287-023-03335-2 Gift this article Share this article paywall-free. MONDAY, May 22, 2023 (HealthDay News) -- For the first time ever, researchers have recorded specific brain activity associated with real-world chronic pain, using electrode implants to figure out which regions become active when people are in agony. The results provide further evidence that chronic pain is essentially different from short-term pain, by showing that such pain is processed in a separate region of the brain, said lead researcher Dr. Prasad Shirvalkar, an associate professor of anesthesia with the University of California, San Francisco. Chronic pain tended to be processed by the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC), a region rarely studied in pain medicine. This region is associated with decision-making, emotion and reward. On the other hand, short-term pain signals appeared to be managed by the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), which already has been extensively implicated in the emotional processing of pain. It reveals that chronic pain is not just a more enduring version of acute pain. It's actually a fundamentally different interplay with different circuits, Shirvalkar explained. The hope is that as we understand this better, we can actually use this information to develop personalized brain stimulation therapies for the most severe forms of pain. For the study, researchers implanted electrodes into the brains of four people suffering from neuropathic pain, which is caused by damage to the nervous system itself. Three of the people had chronic pain following a stroke, while the fourth had phantom limb pain. The electrodes specifically targeted the OFC and the ACC, since prior studies had found that both regions light up during acute pain experiments, Shirvalkar said. In the past, when people have tried treating chronic pain with brain stimulation, they've really targeted brain circuits focusing on the physical touch dimension, physical pain, Shirvalkar said. We thought it's likely that circuits in the brain that represent the emotional parts of pain or even the cognitive parts of pain may be more important for understanding what individual patients are going through. Several times a day, the participants were asked to rate the pain they were experiencing how strong, what type, how it made them feel emotionally. The patients then clicked a remote-control device that recorded their brain activity for about 30 seconds, providing a snapshot to compare to their self-reported pain, Shirvalkar said. Using computer analysis, the researchers found that chronic pain tended to rely more on the OFC, causing sustained changes in brain waves there that constitute a biomarker for chronic pain. Further, they found that they could use activity in the OFC to predict a patients self-reported chronic pain state. We learned that chronic pain can successfully be tracked, can actually successfully be predicted in the real world while patients are walking their dog, while patients are at home, when they get up in the morning, when they're going about their lives, Shirvalkar said. We actually developed an objective biomarker for that type of pain. The researchers also applied heat to areas of the participants bodies, to track how their brains responded to short-term (acute) pain. In two of the four patients, brain activity could predict pain responses but the ACC appeared the region most involved in managing acute pain. Because these electrodes can also deliver deep brain stimulation, the hope is that researchers can figure out a way to create a pacemaker for the brain that modulates oncoming chronic pain, Shirvalkar explained. We are recruiting for a clinical trial to try to develop this therapy in patients, he said. The target is to get six patients for the next trial phase, and then move on to 20 or 30 patients. It also might be possible to develop a less invasive way to monitor a persons chronic pain, using a wearable device that assesses signals from these brain regions, Shirvalkar noted. The knowledge gained from this study also might help direct less invasive ways to manage chronic pain, said Dr. Desimir Mijatovic, a pain medicine physician with the Cleveland Clinic, in Ohio. There already are some treatments that are being tried, things like transcranial magnetic stimulation, which can actually target these parts of the brain and try to alter the way that they're functioning, Mijatovic said. It's an external magnetic signal that gets applied to the brain and tries to change the way the electrical signals are sent. This study maybe can provide more information on how to do it or how to target certain parts of the brain. The new study, published May 22 in the journal Nature Neuroscience, adds more weight to the understanding that chronic pain acts very differently than acute pain, said Dr. David Dickerson, chair of the American Society of Anesthesiologists Committee on Pain Medicine. Clinically they are very different phenomenon, acute pain being protective and chronic pain being something that's pathologic, Dickerson said. Chronic pain is not something that protects us. It's actually our protective machinery going awry. And what we're seeing here is that it's actually even in a different part of the brain. More information The Cleveland Clinic has more about chronic pain. SOURCES: Prasad Shirvalkar, MD, PhD, associate professor, anesthesia, University of California, San Francisco; Desimir Mijatovic, MD, pain medicine physician, Cleveland Clinic, Ohio; David Dickerson, MD, chair, American Society of Anesthesiologists Committee on Pain Medicine; Nature Neuroscience, May 22, 2023 Gift this article Share this article paywall-free. The layoffs at Missoula tech company Cognizant-ATG last week impacted between 20-25 workers, two sources within the company told the Missoulian. Before last week, Cognizant-ATG employed roughly 300 people in town, so the cuts represent somewhere in the neighborhood of about 8% of the total workforce. Cognizant is a multinational company headquartered in New Jersey. In 2018, Cognizant began the process of acquiring ATG (Advanced Technology Group). That merger was officially completed late in 2022, according to employees at the company. The Cognizant-ATG Customer Success Campus, two shiny new buildings, were built in the Old Sawmill District in 2022. The grand-opening celebration featured Montana Governor Greg Gianforte. In a statement, a Cognizant official said the company is still planning to have a strong presence here. Cognizant maintains its strong commitment to Missoula, Montana, and the University of Montana," said Jeff DeMarrais, the chief communications officer for Cognizant. "As reported in the latest Economic Impact study, the contributions made by ATG/Cognizant to the Missoula area economy remain substantial. The companys economic contributions since 2017 have more than tripled in terms of employment, and grown fivefold in terms output, exceeding $122 million in 2021. While we do not comment on employee matters, we can confirm that there were a few roles eliminated during a recent restructuring. Last week, the Missoulian reported that three high-level executives at Cognizant-ATG were laid off. That included Tom Stergios, the senior vice president of strategy. Stergios founded the Missoula Solutions Center of ATG in 2011 and built up the office in downtown Missoula to over a hundred employees. One employee said that Stergios and another executive, Holly Colbert, were able to attend a farewell party inside the building two days after they lost their jobs. The company has been a success story for Missoula's economy, paying higher-than-average wages to local workers. Many of the employees are Salesforce consultants, but there are other types of jobs as well. According to CrunchBase, roughly 240,000 tech workers have been laid off in the United States since the start of 2022. Even the largest companies like Meta have seen lots of job losses. According to a recent press release from the company about its first-quarter 2023 earnings, Cognizant has initiated a NextGen program aimed at simplifying its operating model, optimizing corporate functions and consolidating and realigning office space to reflect the post-pandemic hybrid work environment. "Our drive for simplification will include operating with fewer layers in an effort to enhance agility and enable faster decision making," the release stated. "We expect the savings generated by the program to help fund continued investments in our people, revenue growth opportunities and the modernization of our office space." The company expects to record costs of about $200 million in employee severance payments in 2023 and 2024, along with roughly $200 million of costs related to the consolidation of office space. "We expect the personnel-related actions of this program to impact approximately 3,500 employees, or approximately 1% of our workforce," the release said. Gift this article Share this article paywall-free. Gov. Greg Gianforte last week vetoed a bill that wouldve reimbursed Lake County for providing law enforcement services on the Flathead Reservation. The veto kicks the question of reimbursement to the courts, as a lawsuit regarding the dispute is pending in District Court. Rep. Joe Read, R-Ronan, who sponsored the bill, said the governors decision is probably not a wise one. "I guess the drama will play out in court," he said. House Bill 479 would have appropriated $2.5 million to the Department of Justice each year in the biennium to provide money to Lake County to offset costs for law enforcement activities on the reservation. And an amendment would create a task force to publish reports and provide recommendations based on their findings. The bill came in response to Public Law 280, which grants certain states criminal jurisdiction over some reservations. Since 1963, per an agreement between the state and tribes, Lake County law enforcement has collaborated with the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes under the law. But Lake County has alleged for years that it has not been reimbursed for doing this job, and commissioners say Public Law 280 places a burden on taxpayers. In his veto letter, Gianforte wrote about the history of Public Law 280, saying that since it was adopted, it was clearly understood that the cost of exercising state criminal jurisdiction within a Public Law 280 reservation would be borne by the counties in the same manner as all counties bear responsibility for exercising state criminal jurisdiction. When Lake County consented to the implementation of Public Law 280 in 1965, it agreed to bear the corresponding costs, the letter continues. Gianforte in his letter called Public Law 280 a success, and said Lake County wants all the benefits of exercising jurisdiction under Public Law 280 while shifting all financial responsibility to the state. Gianforte criticized the Legislature saying it failed to address the underlying issue of financial responsibility for the implementation of Public Law 280. He said the bill grants $5 million to Lake County without any conditions or requirements not even a requirement to apply the funds to Public Law 280 costs. Lake County Commissioners could not immediately be reached for comment. And the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes have not taken a formal stance on the matter. What happens now? Lake County Commissioners in January voted to withdraw from Public Law 280. Their decision is set to take effect this month. If the county did withdraw from the agreement and the state assumed jurisdiction over the Flathead Reservation, the state would likely need to provide a police force, detention center and court facilities, among other things. Sen. Greg Hertz, R-Polson, estimated these startup costs would cost the state more than $100 million. Lake County in July sued the state, alleging the state should reimburse the county and pay for past services rendered. Attorneys for the State of Montana in December submitted a motion to dismiss, alleging the countys claim fails, in part, because Montana law authorizes the requirement that Lake County be responsible for the costs it now seeks to avoid. And earlier this month, the court issued an order in response. Whats in the lawsuit order? The Montana Eleventh Judicial District Court on May 4 issued an order, granting the states motion to dismiss two counts brought by Lake County and denying the states motion to dismiss one count brought by the county. Lake County Commissioner Gale Decker said he thought the courts order was favorable to our position that we deserve reimbursement for some of the Public Law 280 costs. Specifically, Lake County has criticized Public Law 280 for being an unfunded mandate. The state countered that there was no mandate in the first place, as the county consented to the agreement. Citing parts of the Montana Code Annotated and a record reflecting the 1965 agreement, the court granted the states motion to dismiss the unfunded mandate count. The court also granted the states motion to dismiss Lake Countys claim concerning unjust enrichment, which refers to when one person or entity is enriched at the expense of another in a way that the law sees as unjust. In this case, the state argued that it would be inequitable for the county to bring this claim after consenting to enforce Public Law 280, and the court agreed. Lastly, the court denied the states motion to dismiss Lake Countys count of declaratory judgment, and this count will proceed to trial. Here, attorneys for the state argued that the initiation of withdrawal by Lake County commissioners moots the countys claim that asks whether the state is responsible for reimbursement and therefore should be dismissed. The court found that because the resolution to withdraw from the agreement does not take effect until May 26 and gives the governor six months to issue a proclamation, clearly Lake Countys claims are not moot. Read said the court's order shows "the county has been allowed to go forward with its lawsuit." (Gianfortes veto) places the state in a position where they may find themselves liable for the entire amount," he said. "I guess he drew a line in the sand on this issue, and now its at the mercy of the court and at the mercy of the county commissioners. Lance Jasper, an attorney representing the county, said with the veto, "all the politics are gone now." "Now we get a decision from an unbiased party," he said. "This should not be a political game played by the governor." The state is expected to file a timely response, and the suit is set for an in-chambers rule on July 19 at 8:30 a.m. at the Flathead County Courthouse. Gift this article Share this article paywall-free. Salish Kootenai College has launched a summer term, allowing students to continue their education during the break. The tribal college also extended its 50% tuition offer for the new term, allowing students to pursue their academic goals at a smaller cost. The term begins on June 12, and students can complete prerequisite courses, earn extra credit or explore new subjects. Located in Pablo, Salish Kootenai College offers one-, two- and four-year programs and serves about 800 students from 68 tribal nations. Tribal colleges provide Native and non-Native students an affordable path to higher education and bring employment opportunities to rural communities statewide. To learn more, visit skc.edu/summer-class-list. Gift this article Share this article paywall-free. You just cant make this stuff up. Here we are only weeks after Montanas chaotic 90-day legislative session ended and guess what? The Republicans, who held a two-thirds supermajority in both the Senate and House are lamenting the lack of due diligence they gave to the laws they passed and by which all Montanans must now live. First, lets put it in perspective. There were two Republicans for every Democrat in the session. Given that historic domination, the majority could do anything it wanted without a single Democrat vote. They could and did pass the budget with whatever they wanted while basically ignoring what Democrats may have wanted. They could and did pass any bill, regardless of its cost, because they controlled the appropriation process top to bottom. They could and did give away huge chunks of the states fiscal surplus in tax breaks to the already wealthy. They could and did gut the laws that protect Montanas legendary environment, lands, air, fish and wildlife in total disregard of the states constitutional mandates to the contrary. They could and did hide behind a phony Freedom Caucus to do just the opposite take away Montanans existing freedoms. They made a mockery of our states long-standing reputation as a tolerant live and let live state in favor of live like we tell you to live. They could and did close the Capitols galleries to members of the public, so we couldnt even observe their actions during debate. They could and did kill any Democrat bill before it even cleared committee although the Democrat agenda was so pitiful it didnt take much effort on the GOPs part. And they could over-ride the governors veto without a single Democrat vote. It was a one-party rules all session since the GOP held the Legislature, the governors office and the attorney generals office with the secretary of state tossed in for good measure. But now, with the post-session confessions flowing, it blatantly points out that the Republicans who were totally in charge failed to prudently manage their power. They basically let their members run wild. And the cost of that blunder? As reported: "Lawmakers lament lack of 'due diligence' on historic volume of legislation," in which GOP Speaker Pro Tem Rhonda Knudsen made a stunning confession: I think we had too many bills. Given there were 4,634 bills requested, 1,698 introduced, and 905 passed, that seems like a firm grasp of the obvious. And the result? We didnt have enough bandwidth to hear those bills well enough, to debate those bills well enough. In every committee that I was a part of, I felt like we had to rush our agenda, rush through those bills, and we didnt give them the due diligence that they deserved. Speaker of the House Matt Regier tried to blame lack of staff, saying: I dont think we can do another session with that bandwidth and our capacity that were at. Bandwidth? Leaving the techno-babble bandwidth dodge aside, lets call it what it was a complete failure to properly manage his supermajority caucus, the exact duty with which the Speaker of the House is solely responsible. Meanwhile, the Senate is now engaged in a similar finger-pointing exercise of blame and counter-blame. Why? Because their procedural gaffe has left them incapable of voting to override the governors veto of the popular marijuana tax revenue bill that was supported by 130 legislators. And again, who is actually to blame? Hilariously, theres no one but themselves to blame because they were 100% in charge. You really cant make this stuff up...nor ignore the GOPs increasingly evident inability to prudently govern. Gift this article Share this article paywall-free. The Big Hole Rivers trout population is still in decline. Conditions appear dire as ever and the worst seems yet to come. Experts around southwest Montana say that, among the many factors at play, we should be looking at disease and bureaucratic failures as to why the Big Hole is in its continued state of peril. Its clear that change change beyond the stale bickering of outfitters and ranchers within their own echo chambers is needed. Anglers will point to the ranchers with the full ditches and then the ranchers will look at all the fishermen on the river in August, said Pedro Marques of the Big Hole Watershed Committee. And we know those arguments, and it's just not worth (the time). We've been having those discussions for 28 years, and they don't change. Recent data from three sections of the 153-mile freestone river in southwest Montana showed the fewest number of brown and rainbow trout since data was first collected in 1969. Counts in 2021 shed a light on the brown trout problem across southwest Montana, but new data also shows a struggling rainbow trout population. There is a massive local economy that stands to lose a lot, said Big Hole River Foundation executive director Brian Wheeler. Historically, fishing outfitters and ranchers have been at odds with one another when river conditions were subpar, but trout populations would bounce back to some degree. Thats not the case this time around. Both sides make fair points. Outfitters make their money by taking people fishing, and irrigation is a fundamental part of ranching. Whos to say who has a right to make a living for their family and who does not? Every livelihood depends on it, really, Marques said. Its a highly subjective debate. But here are the facts and trends that local scientists and river watchers know to be true. After monitoring the Jerry Creek section of the Big Hole from the Jerry Creek access site to Dewey Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks biologist Jim Olsen and his colleagues estimated less than 1,000 brown and rainbow trout per mile. The Hogback Section of the lower Big Hole is estimated to have between 500 and 700. The popular Melrose section which spans roughly from Melrose to Brownes Bridge near Glen is estimated to have fewer than 500 brown and rainbow trout per mile. For perspective, during the early Aughts there were between 3,000-3,500 browns and rainbows per mile through the Jerry Creek section. Hogback boasted over 2,000 as recently as 2013. Melrose peaked at nearly 3,000 at the turn of the century and maintained an estimated 2,500 brown and rainbow trout in 2015. All three stretches have seen those combined populations plummet after 2017. 1,000 trout per mile through Jerry Creek may not sound too alarming, but Melrose was at that number just four years ago. Also during these studies, biologists have noted a lack of juvenile fish. If browns and rainbows are failing to reproduce, these numbers are unlikely to improve in the immediate future. Following back-to-back years of drought, some die off makes logical sense. Less water and warmer water means less dissolved oxygen for the fish. Other rivers are experiencing a similar downward trend but not quite to the same degree. The tailwater section of the Beaverhead, which had about 1,690 brown trout per mile in 2022, now has an estimated 1,552. The lower portion of the Beaverhead has about 304 browns per mile compared to 426 in 2022. The Ruby Rivers tailwater recently had an estimated 649 brown trout per mile compared to 853 in 2022. There was a slight increase in the lower section of the Ruby with an estimated 257 fish per mile, up from 247 in 2022. While those data points might not seem overly troubling, Matt Jaeger, hydropower, native species and Beaverhead-Ruby program manager, pointed out that the numbers are still historically low. He also suspects there are additional factors at play other than angler abuse, or low flows and subpar habitat resulting from low flows. There's other things that could be contributing to it than just flow, Jaeger said. And it appears that there are. The Big Hole is the most glaring at the moment. We've seen declines nothing on that magnitude of what we've seen now, Olsen said. But in the past, they've really followed water. And so during drought times, populations would decline. But we're talking a 20 to 25% decline. The sharp nosedive we are seeing now, which began in 2017 during good water years, requires a closer look at what could be more complex issues, Olsen said. Poor water isn't helping us at all, either, as far as a potential recovery from that, Olsen said. We've had poor water the last two years, but we were already down in the basement before these bad water years came. Theres even a drought management plan already in place along with strict fishing regulations. So what more can be done? By all accounts, the vast majority of river users are playing by the rules. Given the declining numbers of juvenile trout in addition to the overall population, we wont be out of the woods for years to come. Olsen and others speculate some kind of fungal outbreak is possible. The river had such outbreaks in 2014, 2015 and 2017 that killed a significant amount of fish. Even when there is not an active outbreak, the fungus is always present. Based on recent history its hard to rule out. There was a confirmed fungal outbreak in 2017, about the time when this recent decline began. I don't know that for sure, Olsen said of an active outbreak. But it certainly has been a factor at least in three different cases in the last eight years or so. Olsen is awaiting results from a study he requested on a number of dead, seemingly infected, brown trout he came across during the fall of 2022. Since the fish were already dead, its not 100% accurate to assume that it was an infection that killed them. Once the cause of death is determined, it can then be compared to what is ailing other infected fish. I'm convinced that there's something going on in the fishery, from a disease standpoint, and frankly, I'm frustrated that the FWP doesn't have that data, said Steve Luebeck, vice president of the George Grant Chapter of Trout Unlimited. I know they collected the samples, but they have not analyzed those samples. FWP is not immune to the difficult times our society faces as a whole. Staffing shortages plague many industries, and organizations are being asked to do more with less. Full-time biologists are absorbing the full-time administrative duties of open positions. The Region 3 Fisheries manager position, which oversees southwest Montana and the Big Hole, has been vacant for about a year and a half. Madison-Gallatin Fisheries biologist Mike Duncan has stepped in as acting manager until the position can be filled. Those samples were, I think, going to be included as part of a larger study on potential disease concerns, Duncan said. And so unfortunately due to a lack of staffing in the lab, we haven't been able to get those processed because it takes a pretty specialized pathologist histopathologist just to analyze those. They haven't been processed yet. Fungus is native and always present in the Big Hole. Fish can naturally fend off dangerous fungi or other parasites if theyre healthy. A stressed brown and rainbow trout population will be more susceptible to outbreaks because fungus is generally a secondary infection, Olsen said. But why are the fish so stressed? Brown trout especially are known for resiliency and being able to withstand stressors like warm water. Fishing pressure is probably a knee-jerk response. While harvesting fish caught on the Big Hole is rare, and now heavily restricted, the act of reeling in and handling a panicked trout will leave it stressed once returned to the water. Angler days have doubled on the Big Hole River since 2008. An angler day translates to one person fishing for one day on the river. In 2008, FWP estimated 60,000 angler days on the Big Hole. Now its around 120,000. Pat Munday, professor of science and technology studies at Montana Tech and author of "Montanas Last Best River: The Big Hole and Its People," points out that stress levels in caught and released fish go off the charts. Low water flows arent helping. Trout need cold water to survive, and more is better. Ranchers in the Big Hole Valley rely on water from the river to irrigate the hayfields that feed their cattle during the valleys long winters and are resistant to a federal agency dictating details about withdrawals. River in Peril: The Big Hole River under threat Author Pat Munday once referred to the Big Hole River as Montanas Last Best River. And it's a river that's threatened by climate change, among other issues. Thats part of why the Big Hole Watershed Committee was formed. When the Arctic grayling was on the brink of being federally listed as an endangered species, the last thing locals wanted was a government agency fudging with the long-standing water rights. When you have someone in Denver or Washington, D.C., making decisions, that doesn't sit well in western Montana, generally, Marques said. Before pulling out your scoreboard and marking down points for the ranchers and outfitters (hopefully were past this), you should know there is more to consider. The time of year when fish are feeling the most stress is important as well. Flows in recent years have been lowest during September and into October, when brown trout are spawning. Fall is also a popular time for fly fishermen to target hungry browns by throwing streamers. These low flows going through the brown trout spawn are going to introduce the same kinds of stress levels high temperatures, low flows that stress these fish, Munday said. If there is disease, it's going to exacerbate it. Even without disease, it's going to increase crowding and stress levels as the brown trout are on the reds. Irrigation can also be observed along the Big Hole past growing season and into the fall. Ranchers have this theory of: if they can saturate more moisture into soil in the fall that will give them a boost in the spring, Munday said. Increased algae bloom and other nutrients can also increase stress levels. At night, algae growth will consume oxygen because it is not receiving sunlight, robbing trout of precious oxygen which is already at a premium in warm water. The area above Dickie Bridge known to many as the dead zone develops a thick layer of algae during the summer. Munday predicts that this is increasingly going to be characteristic of the Big Hole generally. Wheeler has also been monitoring water quality. Hes been compiling data from the entire Big Hole for about three years, from Twin Bridges to Wisdom. His samples have found nutrient pollution, also known as eutrophication. Wheeler, who is a guide in addition to being the BHRFs executive director, said that if nutrient pollution was confirmed to be a driving factor in brown and rainbow trout decline, it would explain several issues. Wheeler said it seems nutrient pollution can also exacerbate the effects of Tetracapsuloides bryosalmonae, or T. bryo, which is the cause of proliferative kidney disease (PKD). In addition to devastating population crashes that can result from PKD outbreaks, Wheeler said through his observations during the last three years it appears that nutrient pollution also negatively affects trouts respiration, reproduction and growth. Wheeler and the BHRF have documented elevated levels of nitrogen and phosphorus throughout the river during the past three years. A common cause for elevated nitrogen levels in Montana, Wheeler said, is agricultural runoff. Naturally occurring phosphorus and phosphorus mines in southwest Montana could explain the elevated phosphorus levels. Part of the water quality nutrient issue is also cyclical with lower dissolved oxygen levels, Munday added. And again, that correlates with temperature. The warmer water is, the less oxygen can dissolve in it. These are theoretically fixable problems so long as they are correctly identified at some point and a plan of action can be put in place by state officials, similar to the reaction to the PKD outbreak on the Yellowstone River in 2016. FWP moved with some urgency, Luebeck said. They got samples, they got them analyzed, they diagnosed the problem. They fixed it. There does not seem to be the same level of urgency on the Big Hole. They took samples in the river last fall. It's May. Where's the data? Also similar to the Yellowstone, if the appropriate decisions are made and the ship is righted for Big Hole brown and rainbow trout, the work is not finished. Disease can return, and the river isnt becoming less popular as a recreation destination or less vital as an irrigation resource. And we depend on the State to ensure that a clean and healthful environment is proactively maintained on our behalf, as is explicitly afforded us in the State Constitution, Wheeler said. Mundays main concern is that the large-scale and long-term issue of climate change still looms, regardless of how the current problem is remedied. So just as we've seen with the impacts on our forest beetle kill, fires the EPA predicted significant declines (in Rocky Mountain trout populations) by 2030, Munday said. So I think in some ways were seeing those kinds of predictions about climate come true. Researchers from the University of Montana conducted a study that found declines in Montanas native bull trout and cutthroat trout were driven by climate change. Bull trout were most affected by reduced habitat, while cutthroat were found to be vulnerable to invasive trout species. No such study has been published on rainbow and brown trout on Montana. Wheeler said it is de facto science, noting summer temperatures, rapidly melting snowpack and severe wildfire seasons. Munday said an official study is not likely because brown and rainbow trout are not native species, but added a study on the native whitefish could be telling as to what the Big Hole and other rivers are up against. Our native fish evolved in this habitat and are a key indicator species, he said. Something that's been just horribly really unprofessional, on the part of Fish, Wildlife and Parks to ignore is collecting long-term data and monitoring whitefish populations. FWP Fisheries Division administrator, Eileen Ryce, was not available to comment at the time this story was published. Gift this article Share this article paywall-free. Just two years after winning $5,000 in General Mills Neighborhood to Nation Recipe Contest, a Greensboro baker has won $20,000 in another General Mills contest. Venee Pawlowski of Black Magnolia Southern Patisserie in Greensboro won the $20,000 Grand Prize in The Biskies Contest from General Mills Foodservice. The Biskies Contest was open to chefs, owners and employees of commercial restaurants, challenging them to create a biscuit-based entree, side or dessert using Pillsburys new Southern Style Unbaked Biscuits and two or more additional ingredients. In addition to the $20,000 Grand Prize, the contest awarded $5,000 each to three runner-ups. Pawlowski took the top prize with her upside-down apple praline biscuit, described by General Mills as a fluffy buttermilk biscuit layered with brown sugar roasted apples, served with bourbon buttermilk sweet biscuit ice cream and topped with bourbon caramel, pecan pralines and salted toffee. Judges called Pawlowskis recipe an innovative twist on a simple classic, adding that the biscuit shines as the star of the dish, blending perfectly with unexpected flavors. They also said that the addition of ice cream takes this dessert to a whole new level of deliciousness! Pawlowski previously had won a $5,000 prize for her bourbon banoffee pecan cinnamon rolls. Pawlowski said in a telephone interview that she was very surprised to win again especially because she almost didnt enter. I actually entered the very last day. One of the PR reps (for General Mills) who I had met before was in town for her daughters swim meet, and she came by and said I should enter. She said she thinks her biscuit was a hit with the judges because it is a twist on the nostalgic comfort food of apple pie and ice cream but taken to another level. Tarte tatin (a French apple tart) is one of my favorite desserts, and this is essentially a play on tarte tatin and everyone loves the apple-pie and ice-cream experience, she said. And then I add toffee and bourbon my go-tos for a yummy dessert. Pawlowski is one of many bakers in the area who was prompted by the pandemic to pursue her dream of starting her own business. Back in 2020, Pawlowski had been working at Greensboro Country Club when the pandemic shutdown led to an extension of her maternity leave. She then starting selling at Green Bean coffee shop and directly to customers through her Facebook page. Two years ago, she was baking in her home. But since then she has opened a retail location in Revolution Mill, at 1162 Revolution Mill Drive. Black Magnolia baked goods are also sold at such locations as Common Grounds coffee shops, Cille & Scoe, Dannys Restaurant and Sleepy Headz Coffee. Pawlowski said that the contest win comes just as she is planning to go on maternity leave. Im due any day now, she said. But she said that, looking down the road, the contest earnings will help Black Magnolia with some expansion plans. Weve started expanding into breads. And right now were just a pickup corner, but wed like to be more of a sit-down business. We would like to be a full-service coffee bar. For more information about the General Mills Foodservice Biskies Contest, including the complete list of winners, visit generalmillscf.com/resources/promotions. For more information about Black Magnolia Southern Patisserie, visit blackmagnoliagso.com. Gift this article Share this article paywall-free. Local resident excels in TV news job (Monday, May 21, 1973) When the television dial is set on Channel 3, WBTV, Morganton is well represented. Morgantons contribution to WBTV in Charlotte is Florence Avery, television traffic supervisor. She is responsible for the scheduling of everything that goes on the air at Channel 3, and she will tell you that the TV business is tough, demanding, hard work, but also very rewarding. Avery attended Olive Hill High School and graduated from Morganton High School in 1968. She then attended Kings College in Charlotte for two years. Shortly after graduating from Kings, she took a job as an accounting assistant at WBTV in the stations financial department. Today, she holds one of the most responsible positions at WBTV. Something unique is always happening at the station, and Averys job allows her to talk to people from all over the nation. She meets and works with many different people, from sales representatives to engineers, actors to producers, business leaders and ordinary people. She occasionally makes appearances in commercials or on the summer talk show, Lets Talk TV. When asked if a girl can make it to the top in the highly competitive business world of WBTV, Avery said, Yes, if you are willing to work hard and not be afraid to take the opportunities when they arise. High school band to give last concert ever (Tuesday, May 22, 1973) The last concert ever to be presented by the Morganton High School band will be held at 8 p.m. Thursday in the Morganton High School auditorium. An outstanding program is planned by both the high school band and the West Concord band. Both bands are under the direction of C. Ravon Smith. Various special band awards will be given out at the program. All people who have ever been in the MHS band and attend the concert will be asked to register as they arrive and will be recognized during the evening. The band will conclude the concert with the Morganton High fight song and alma mater. When the program is ended, the MHS band will be no more, since next year, MHS students will attend Freedom High School. Play to be performed in sign language (Monday, May 21, 1973) The Drama Club of the North Carolina School for the Deaf will present William Shakespeares Julius Caesar at 7:30 p.m. Thursday in the main building auditorium on campus. The public is cordially invited, with a special invitation extended to high school students in Burke County and any adult who loves drama. Two things are unique about the Drama Club at NCSD: the actors are deaf and the plays are performed in American Sign Language. Just as everyday speech must be more loud and clear in the theatre, the deaf actor must find larger, clearer signs than those of everyday to communicate with a deaf audience. Although the production of Julius Caesar is primarily for a deaf audience, it also is for a hearing audience that does not understand sign language. For this part of the audience, readers who time their speech to the action on stage will provide the translation of the sign language. Many of the student actors will graduate from NCSD in a few weeks and will be going to college. The selection of Julius Caesar to produce this spring was a student choice. Their interest in the play stems from their study of it in relation to their academic work. Former Morgantonian named Teacher of the Year (Friday, May 25, 1973) Rose Tate Vaughan, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Richard Tate of Morganton, was the recipient of the 1973 Teacher of the Year award at the 35th annual convention of the North Carolina Association of Business Colleges, held May 18-19 in Asheville. Vaughan, instructor and chair of the Department of Secretarial Sciences at Durham College, graduated magna cum laude from North Carolina Central University, where she earned bachelors and masters degrees in business education. She was listed in the Whos Who Among College Students in 1962 and was a member of the Alpha Kappa Mu national honor society. Also cited were Vaughans work with the Durham Human Relations Commission during Human Relations Week and her continuous efforts in coordinating the Durham College secretarial courses. Organization names Pilot of the Year (Wednesday, May 23, 1973) On Thursday evening, the Pilot Club of Morganton announced the selection of Frances Rollins as its Pilot of the Year. She was chosen for her outstanding work as a club member for her many activities in connection with Pilot projects. Lillian Houck, president, presided at the clubs last dinner meeting of the year. In her report of the years activities, she disclosed that the club had participated in many civic affairs, had accomplished several projects and had gained five new members. She presented 14 members with key rings bearing the Pilot insignia for their perfect attendance. Gift this article Share this article paywall-free. A group of local environmental organizations came together to clean up a portion of Wilson Creek in an effort described as epic. The area of land that was cleaned was several acres of a 93-acre tract along the lower end of the creek that Duke Energy sold at a discounted rate to the Foothills Conservancy of North Carolina for conservation, according to Grayson Barnette, marketing and communications coordinator for the land trust. After inspecting the property, Foothills Conservancy discovered it had been used as a dumping site for years, and some areas had acquired significant amounts of trash, Barnette said. The conservancy knew they would need some help in cleaning up the area, so they reached out to people they knew had the same mission to preserve local natural resources. Foothills Conservancy has previously partnered and has a longstanding relationship with several local nonprofits, including A Clean Wilson Creek, Latinos Aventureros en las Carolinas, Catawba Riverkeeper Foundation and Wild South, Barnette said. Foothills Conservancy and A Clean Wilson Creek have had a partnership to help clean sections of Wilson Creek and promote conservation in the region. FCNC has also partnered with Latinos Aventureros for group outings, tree plantings, trail building and other cleanups. Catawba Riverkeeper is a strong partner that we often collaborate with for river and watershed-related conservation projects. Wild South has worked to restore areas across FCNCs service area, and we have partnered with them in the past as well. All of the groups turned out in force March 26 in a Herculean cleanup effort described by Wes Waugh, a member of A Clean Wilson Creek, on the groups Facebook page. An estimated 13,840 pounds of debris and dumped tires were removed by a motivated gathering of folks, representing five regional nonprofit organizations, Waugh wrote. To be specific, there were 216 total tires removed, averaging 50 pounds (each, totaling) 10,800 pounds of just tires. This is nearly seven tons of trash removed from a wilderness area and a North Carolina National Wild and Scenic River in one day. Representatives from the other groups that participated shared their thoughts on the effort: I cant imagine better confirmation that Foothills is on the right track here. Were seeing a broad cross-section of the community coming together to help this project move forward. There will come a time in the future when these accomplishments are taken for granted, but the example these folks are setting is a story that needs to be told.Kevin Massey, executive director, Wild South This was a great example of what can happen when nonprofits and the community unite to protect, restore and conserve the waters of the Catawba-Wateree River Basin. Without collaboration, Catawba Riverkeeper would not be able to effectively execute our mission. There is more work to be done but you couldnt ask for a better start!Grant Buckner, Catawba Riverkeeper Foundation Im simply happy to see our communities coming together toward accomplishing the same goal. Wilson Creek is a special place for many of us. I saw unity, passion and love for each other and nature.Sandra Aguirre, founder of Latinos Aventureros Both Barnette and Waugh said the groups will continue to make efforts to keep the area clean and educate visitors on how to preserve its natural beauty. Every volunteer that attended the cleanup is a local to this area, and we all deeply care about the beautiful environment we live in, Barnette said. The most important aspect is cleaning the trash and spreading the word to our neighbors about why its important to respect the surrounding environment. He explained how visitors to the area can help keep it clean. You make a plan to take things with you, make a plan to keep up with the trash, Barnette said. One of the easiest ways to do so is just simply to buy trash bags for your trip. If you wouldnt want trash to be there whenever you arrive, why leave it for the next crowd? Its as simple as bringing back what you took with you. Our friends at A Clean Wilson Creek have helped provide infrastructure in the form of additional trash bins, dumpsters, and even providing trash bags. For those who would like to get involved in the ongoing cleanup effort, there are a lot of opportunities. All of the organizations are nonprofit groups currently seeking additional volunteers to help their respective missions, Barnette said. If youre interested in a diversity of environmentally related volunteer opportunities, Foothills Conservancy can help. If you want to clean Wilson Creek specifically, A Clean Wilson Creek is the best organization to help. If youd like to help with water conservation across the entire Catawba River basin, Catawba Riverkeeper Foundation is the place for you. He said A Clean Wilson Creek will continue to hold cleanup events in the area, and that the Foothills Conservancy looks forward to partnering on future efforts in that respect. Waugh is excited about the results of the massive cleanup and the power of collaboration in creating positive change moving forward. Now, we collectively get to work on addressing the issues that created this mess over decades, Waugh said. No easy task, but removing seven tons (of trash) in one day wasnt easy either. When unified, we can accomplish almost anything. In several years, we anticipate this area is going to be a clean and beautiful addition to the outdoor recreational public land available in western North Carolina. Gift this article Share this article paywall-free. Henry Nickel emigrated from his native Heilbronn, Germany, in 1869 when he was 17 years old. His father was a butcher in Germany, and Henry followed that profession in America, first in New York City and then in many places around the United States over the next nine years before landing in Butte in 1878. In Butte he worked for Saul Ornsteins meat market for a year before establishing his own butchering business and sales operation. Initially on East Granite, Nickel & Heits advertised in 1879 that their City Meat Market carried beef, mutton, veal, fresh pork, sausage, fish, and game at the lowest figures, delivered anywhere about town. From about 1884 to 1894 the meat market was at 42 North Main Street, but in August 1894 Nickel moved it to 18 West Park, where it continued for several years as the Butte Meat Market. By 1896 Henrys shop was one of 46 meat markets in Butte. After Henry Nickel died in 1900 at age 47, his widow Elizabeth sold the Butte Meat Market to Moses Ornstein, son of Henrys first employer in Butte. Moses and his brother Emil had several meat market businesses in Butte, but Moses largely retired about 1910. Henry Nickel dabbled in mining, largely without success, although he had interests in Madison Countys Toledo Mine as well as the Homestake Mine until controlling ownership was sold to Augustus Heinze. Nickel retained a one-quarter interest, valued at $18,000 in 1900 and amounting to more than half of his estate when he died. The Homestake Mine was in Woodville Canyon across from the southern tip of Rampart Mountain. The Nickel family lived at 114 (later #150) West Granite. Their two-story Italianate home stood just east of the original one-story Carpenters Union Hall, which was replaced in 1906 by the present structure. The house was built before 1884 and still stood, somewhat modified, as late as 1978 when it held the Cabin Bar. It was demolished about 1980 and the site is a parking lot today. Henry Nickel had at least two brothers in Butte, Gus, who lived at 217 North Alabama and owned a saloon at 108 West Park, and Robert, an architect who designed the Iona Cafe standing vacant today on Main Street across from the Metals Bank, and the Haller Block, todays Hummingbird Cafe. Robert lived at 522 West Granite, which is still standing. Gift this article Share this article paywall-free. One person is dead and another injured after Meagher County authorities received an early morning call Sunday reporting a gunshot wound at a residence in White Sulphur Springs, the sheriff said. Deputies and medical officials responded and two people were transported to Mountainview Medical Center, Meagher County Sheriff Jon Lopp said. One person was declared dead after resuscitation efforts, the other person is receiving medical treatment. No names were released of the people involved. Montana Department of Criminal Investigation is assisting the Meagher County Sheriffs Office with the investigation. At this point there are no outstanding suspects, and there is no risk to the public as a result of this incident, Lopp said. The Meagher County Sheriffs Office asked the public to respect the privacy of the victims family "while they work through this difficult time." Our thoughts and prayers go out to all who have been affected by this tragedy, Lopp said in a posting on the departments Facebook page. Anyone with any information should contact the Meagher County Sheriffs Office at 406-547-3397. Gift this article Share this article paywall-free. BAMBERG, S.C. Years before the Bamberg County Hospital closed in 2012, and the next-closest hospital in neighboring Barnwell shut its doors in 2016, those facilities had stopped delivering babies. These days, theres not even an ultrasound machine in this rural county 60 miles south of Columbia, much less an obstetrician. Pregnant women here are left with few options for care. Federally qualified health centers offer prenatal services in nearby Fairfax and Barnwell, but only when a pregnancy is uncomplicated and only through about 34 weeks of gestation. During the final weeks of pregnancy, women must transfer their care to the nearest obstetrician, often in Orangeburg, which can be 20 miles away or more, depending on where they live in Bamberg County. Some women travel farther to hospitals in Aiken or Beaufort, where health outcomes are better. Most of our women are driving an hour or more from their homes to an OB provider, said Tracy Golden, a doula and senior program manager for the South Carolina Office of Rural Health. Although the regional hospital in the city of Orangeburg delivers babies, the birth outcomes in the county are awful by any standard. In 2021, nearly 3% of all Black infants in Orangeburg County died before their 1st birthday. Nationally, the average is about 1% for Black infants and less than 0.5% for white infants. Meanwhile, Orangeburg Countys infant mortality rate for babies of all races is the highest in South Carolina, according to the latest data published by the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control. By 2030, the federal government wants infant mortality to fall to 5 or fewer deaths per 1,000 live births. According to annual data compiled by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 16 states have already met or surpassed that goal, including Nevada, New York, and California. But none of those states are in the South, where infant mortality is by far the highest in the country, with Mississippis rate of 8.12 deaths per 1,000 live births ranking worst. Even in those few Southern states where infant mortality rates are inching closer to the national average, the gap between death rates of Black and white babies is vast. In Florida and North Carolina, for example, the Black infant mortality rate is more than twice as high as it is for white babies. A new study published in JAMA found that over two decades Black people in the U.S. experienced more than 1.6 million excess deaths and 80 million years of life lost because of increased mortality risk relative to white Americans. The study also found that infants and older Black Americans bear the brunt of excess deaths and years lost. That makes Black infant mortality in the South a complex regional crisis that should alarm everyone, not just future parents, said Georgina Dukes-Harris, senior director for social care at Unite Us, a national technology company focused on societal needs. Birth outcomes for mothers and infants are a leading indicator of population well-being and they run much deeper than health care: They reflect politics. Theyre a direct product of generational poverty and racism. They reveal our priorities, Dukes-Harris said. Often, babies die under circumstances that states, communities, and parents can help control, like making sure infants dont suffocate in beds or in unsafe cribs, or extending health coverage so that young women can afford to see a doctor before they become pregnant. In many of these respects, the South is failing. This is something that has to change, Dukes-Harris said. An Urgent Problem With No Easy Solution Public health officials are still trying to parse the long-term impact of the covid-19 pandemic, but infant death rates in South Carolina were higher than the national average long before the health care landscape changed in 2020. And a report published by the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control in April shows the rate for non-Hispanic Black babies who died at a rate nearly 2 times that of non-Hispanic white infants in South Carolina in 2021 is growing worse. The death rate among infants born to Black mothers in the state increased by nearly 40% from 2017 to 2021. Thats just not acceptable, said Edward Simmer, director of the South Carolina health department. Its absolutely an urgent problem to me. Its a problem, though, without an apparent solution. Multimillion-dollar programs to improve South Carolinas numbers over the past decade have failed to move the needle. To make things more complicated, separate state agencies have reached different conclusions about the leading cause of infant death. The state Department of Health and Human Services which administers Medicaid, the health coverage program for low-income residents, and pays for more than half of all births in South Carolina claims accidental deaths were the No. 1 reason babies covered by Medicaid died from 2016 to 2021, according to Medicaid spokesperson Jeff Leieritz. But the state health department, where all infant death data is housed, reported birth defects as the top cause for the past several years. Accidental deaths ranked fifth among all causes in 2021, according to the 2021 health department report. All but one of those accidental infant deaths were attributed to suffocation or strangulation in bed. Meanwhile, infant mortality is a topic that continues to get little, if any, attention, especially in the South. A group called the South Carolina Birth Outcomes Initiative meets regularly to talk strategy, but this consortium of the states top doctors, nurses, health insurers, and hospital leaders cant solve fundamental problems, like teaching parents safe sleep habits or connecting all pregnant women to basic prenatal care. According to the Medicaid agency, nearly half of Medicaid-enrolled babies who died before their 1st birthday in 2021 were born to mothers who received no prenatal care. Theres good work going on. Its just in little patches. Its just not spread out enough to change our overall numbers, said Rick Foster, a retired physician and former chairman of one of the Birth Outcomes Initiatives working groups. Expanding Access to Maternal Care South Carolina and several other states recently extended postpartum Medicaid coverage for women who give birth, which means their coverage remains in place for one year after delivery. Historically, Medicaid coverage was cut off 60 days after having a baby. Some experts believe expanding Medicaid coverage to single, working adults who arent pregnant and dont have children something most Southern states have failed to do would also help curtail infant deaths. A woman who is healthy when heading into pregnancy is more likely to give birth to a healthy baby because the health of the mother correlates to the health of the infant. But many women dont qualify for Medicaid coverage until they become pregnant. Even when they become pregnant and are newly eligible for Medicaid, it isnt unusual for women in South Carolina to put off seeing a doctor until the third trimester, physicians told KFF Health News. These women cant afford to take time off work, cant find child care, or dont have a car, among other reasons. Telehealth could improve access if the states broadband network were better, said Simmer, the state health department director. The department could also invest in a fleet of mobile vans that provide prenatal care. Each costs just under $1 million, he said. Ultimately, South Carolina needs more doctors willing to practice in rural areas. Fourteen of its 46 counties lack a single OB-GYN, Simmer said. We dont have providers where we need them, he said. To that end, he added, the state might consider using student loan forgiveness programs as an incentive for new medical school graduates to practice in rural areas of the state, where obstetricians are scarce. Meanwhile, two programs aimed at improving infant mortality in South Carolina, which were backed by millions of dollars in public and private funding over the past decade, were unsuccessful in hitting the goal. The Nurse-Family Partnership, for example, which pairs expectant South Carolina mothers with nurses for at-home visits, didnt have a statistically significant effect on birth outcomes, according to an analysis of the multiyear project, published by the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. CenteringPregnancy, a separate program that offers small-group prenatal education to pregnant women, also failed to improve birth outcomes, said Amy Crockett, a maternal-fetal specialist in Greenville and one of the lead investigators for the state initiative. Crockett said she recently returned about $300,000 in grant funding to the Duke Endowment, a nonprofit that funds health, faith, and education initiatives in the Carolinas, because the evidence to support ongoing CenteringPregnancy projects simply wasnt there. Its not the silver bullet we thought it would be, Crockett said. Its time to move on. Birth outcomes experts agreed that racism and poverty lie at the heart of this difficult problem, which disproportionately threatens Black infants and mothers in the rural South. Research shows that white doctors are often prejudiced against Black patients and minimize their concerns and pain. In South Carolina, the maternal mortality rate increased by nearly 10% from 2018 to 2019, according to the latest data, which found that the risk of pregnancy-related death for Black mothers was 67% higher than for white mothers. Upon review, the state health department determined 80% of those pregnancy-related deaths were preventable. Disparities related to both infant and maternal deaths deserve urgent attention from both the federal and state governments, said Scott Sullivan, division chief of maternal-fetal medicine at Inova Health System in Northern Virginia. Hospitals also bear a huge responsibility as doctors and health care providers must learn how to fairly and adequately take care of Black women and children. The idea that were going to solve 400 years of racism in an hours worth of bias training is a cruel joke. Systems have to remodel their approach, Sullivan said. Its going to take funding, and its going to take a sustained effort. KFF Health News is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFFan independent source of health policy research, polling, and journalism. Learn more about KFF. USE OUR CONTENT This story can be republished for free (details). Gift this article Share this article paywall-free. A Webster City man was given a five-year suspended sentence on May 19 after pleading guilty to one count of lascivious acts with a child, a Class D felony that can being up to five years in prison. According to a news release from the Muscatine County Sheriffs Office, Raymond Dale Hutchison, 75, a former Muscatine resident, is also subject to a special sentence under Iowa Code 903B.I committing him to a lifetime supervised release as if on parole following a period of imprisonment and subject to a lifetime registration as a sex offender. The release says that in March 2021, the sheriffs office began an investigation after a subject came forward to report she had been sexually assaulted in 2001 at the age of 8. Hutchison was identified as the subject. The alleged act was said to have taken place in Muscatine. During the investigation, law enforcement was able to corroborate the subjects allegations and collect evidence that showed Hutchison had sexually abused the subject. A warrant was issued and Hutchison was arrested in April 2021 in Hamilton County. In November 2022, he pleaded guilty. The Muscatine County Sheriff office was assisted by the Hamilton County Sheriffs Office. Gift this article Share this article paywall-free. When Kamryn Yanchick graduated, she hoped to decorate her cap with a beaded pattern in honor of her Native American heritage. Whether she could was up to her Oklahoma high school. Administrators told her no. Yanchick settled for wearing beaded earrings to her 2018 graduation. A bill vetoed this month by Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt, a Republican, would have allowed public school students to wear feathers, beaded caps, stoles or other objects of cultural and religious significance. Yanchick, a citizen of the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma and descendent of the Muscogee Nation, said she hopes the legislature tries again. Being able to "unapologetically express yourself and take pride in your culture at a celebration without having to ask a non-Native person for permission to do so is really significant," said Yanchick, a Native American policy advocate and a former intern with the American Civil Liberties Union of Oklahoma. For Native American students, tribal regalia is often passed down through generations and worn at graduations to signify connection with the community. Disputes over such attire have spurred laws making it illegal to prevent Native American students from wearing regalia in nearly a dozen states including Arizona, Oregon, South Dakota, North Dakota and Washington. High schools, which often favor uniformity at commencement ceremonies, take a range of approaches toward policing sashes, flower leis and other forms of self-expression. Advocates argue the laws are needed to avoid leaving it up to individual administrators. Groups like the Native American Rights Fund hear regularly from students blocked from wearing eagle feathers or other regalia. This week in Oklahoma, a Native American high school graduate sued a school district, claiming she was forced her to remove a feather from her cap at a ceremony last spring. When Jade Roberson graduated from Edmond Santa Fe High School, the same school attended by Yanchick, she would have liked to wear a beaded cap and a large turquoise necklace above her gown. But it didn't seem worth asking. She said a friend was only able to wear an eagle feather because he spoke with several counselors, consulted the principal and received a letter from the Cherokee Nation on the feather's significance. "It was such a hassle for him that my friends and I decided to just wear things under our gown," said Roberson, who is of Navajo descent. "I think it is such a metaphor for what it is like to be Native." When Adriana Redbird graduates this week from Sovereign Community School, a charter school in Oklahoma City that allows regalia, she plans to wear a beaded cap and feather given by her father to signify her achievements. "To pay tribute and take a small part of our culture and bring that with us on graduation day is meaningful," she said. In his veto message, Stitt said allowing students to wear tribal regalia should be up to individual districts. He said the proposal could also lead other groups to "demand special favor to wear whatever they please" at graduations. The bill's author, Republican state Rep. Trey Caldwell, represents a district in southwest Oklahoma that includes ancestral land of Kiowa, Apache and Comanche. "It's just the right thing to do, especially with so much of Native American culture so centered around right of passage, becoming a man, becoming an adult," he said. Several tribal nations have called for an override of the veto. Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr. said the bill would have helped foster a sense of pride among Native American students. Muscogee Nation Principal Chief David Hill said students who "choose to express the culture and heritage of their respective Nations" are honoring their identity. It means a lot that the bill was able to garner support and make it to the governor, Yanchick said, but she wishes it wasn't so controversial. "Native American students shouldn't have to be forced to be activists to express themselves or feel celebrated," she said. Influential Indigenous Americans you might not know about A closer look at Indigenous history Tecumseh Red Cloud Edmonia Lewis Susan La Flesche Picotte Allan Houser Charlie Parker Maria Tallchief Mildred Loving Ben Nighthorse Campbell Wilma Mankiller Joy Harjo Charlene Teters Louise Erdrich John Herrington Deb Haaland Kent Monkman Lila Downs Sharice Davids Tommy Orange Gift this article Share this article paywall-free. WATERLOO Police are investigating a Sunday night stabbing that ended with the death of a Waterloo woman. The name of the deceased and other details werent immediately available Monday morning. A person at an apartment at 217 Fereday Court called 911 shortly after 9 p.m. Sunday saying they were performing CPR. Police and paramedics arrived on the scene and found the stabbing victim, who is a resident of the apartment. She was taken to UnityPoint Health-Allen Hospital where she was pronounced dead. Investigators questioned two apparent witnesses who were at the address. They were released, and no charges have been filed. The investigation continues. Noah Roy is an upcoming writer who has authored novels and owns a content creation agency. He spoke to Arts Lounge about his craft and projects. Briefly introduce yourself. I am Noah Roy Kibet, a contemporary Kenyan author and a digital content specialist. I believe I am one of the best storytellers cropping up in Kenya. As an author, I tell authentic Kenyan stories with a Kenyan soul. I create unique experiences that endear your brand to readers and potential investors. I am an Accounting and Finance graduate from the Co-operative University. Share your life experience. I was born and raised in a normal Kenyan family. I attended normal schools and had a normal life. I am doing the normal things that Kenyans do to survive, well, apart from being an author, which I think is abnormal. Describe the books you have written and the motivation for each. I have authored two books. My first book is called Here, I stand. It is a memoir. The story follows the life of an ordinary Kenyan boy who dreams of becoming an icon. The book accounts my life through hurdles into achievements of life. The motivation behind this story is to encourage the kids and people who have been doubted and written off by society that we can resurrect from the wrecks of life to become better and more valuable human beings. My second publication is Woman beneath her feet & other short stories. It is an anthology of short stories from some of the best contemporary Kenyan storytellers. The anthology is an amalgamation of modern and some universally well-packaged fictional narratives with compelling yet relatable themes ranging from love, family, identity, and life pre- and post-pandemic. In this, I have desired to become a distinction in the market segment. What is the market response so far? So far, so good. Becoming a writer in an age where Kenyans dont read is very hard. However, I can boldly say Kenyans have been supportive. They have embraced me and my art in ways I could not imagine. They have bought my books in throngs. They have inspired my growth into a best-selling Kenyan author at 24. It is my wish and prayer that it can only get better. What is the expectation and hope in your writing career? I have more significant expectations. I want to be one of the best-selling African authors. I want to write more exciting books, and hope one of my books will be used as a set book in schools. I also expect many Kenyans to pick up the habit of reading. A reading nation evolves and grows its values. What other businesses/Jobs do you undertake? I work at Centum Learning Africa as a digital content specialist, where I launch the roles of researching content and consumer trends, developing content strategies, and creating content for Airtel Africa in both print and digital media. I also own a content creation agency that ghost-writes Kenyan stories and writes memoirs and biographies. How did you get the resources to write and publish books? As an accountant passionate about savings, my professionalism has taught me money-saving tips and investment analysis. The books are printed from my savings. Who is your inspiration? My bosses Esther Nyaga and Erick Mwivithi. They always tell me: If you are doing something, never leave it unfinished. If you feel like doing then do it. Whatever happens, happens for the best. Lyllyan Lutta, a clinician specializing in skin and venereal diseases at Busia County Hospital, recently opened up about a personal experience where she gave a chance to a man she had rejected for almost a decade only for him to leave her for her colleague. Tell us about yourself. Im Lyllyan Lutta, a dermato-venereologist working at Busia County and Referral Hospital. I specialize in skin and venereal diseases. My passion lies in working with children and adolescents living with HIV. Above all, I am a born-again Christian, dedicated to living for Christ. Youve walked through a journey of depression. What caused it, and how was your recovery? It all started in May 2020 after a devastating breakup. After rejecting a man for nearly a decade, we fell in love in 2019. Our relationship was joyful, and we shared many happy moments together. However, in February 2020, things took a turn for the worse. The man I loved changed, becoming ignorant, arrogant, and careless. Eventually, he ended our relationship and moved on with my colleague. This heartbreak led me into a state of deep depression. My recovery journey began three months later, in August 2020, when I realized that my life had come to a standstill. I experienced signs and symptoms of depression, such as neglecting self-care, declining productivity, and isolating myself from friends and family. Despite reaching an acute stage, I made the mistake of confiding in friends who did not support me, worsening my situation. In February 2021, my physical health deteriorated, resulting in a six-month journey of medical appointments and misdiagnoses. Finally, in September, a neurologist diagnosed me with Guillain-Barre Syndrome (GBS). Through physical exercises and counselling sessions, I made remarkable progress in my recovery. You later developed complications caused by drugs. Can you share more about it? Unfortunately, in August 2022, I fell critically ill and was rushed to a nearby health facility. My condition was dire, and I was referred to Eldoret for specialized treatment. I underwent emergency surgery due to peritonitis resulting from perforated ulcers. The procedure lasted six hours, followed by a week on life support in the High-Dependency Unit (HDU). By Gods grace, I eventually recovered, walking away from this experience with a renewed appreciation for life. This journey sounds incredibly challenging. How far have you come? It has been an arduous journey, but with professional assistance and support from a few true friends, I have come a long way. I no longer dwell on the past or complain about it. Despite facing additional challenges, such as the loss of my sister earlier this year, I have learned to accept situations as they come. Currently, I am focused on self-love, personal growth, and embracing life while being cautious in dating. Courtesy: Turning Point/ Nairobian In an effort to combat corruption and promote transparency in the compensation process for government projects, the Ministry of lands will now be in charge of Land valuation. President William Ruto made the announcement during a prayer service in Isiolo on Sunday. He voiced his concern about the prevailing corruption within the National Lands Commission (NLC), which has resulted in unfair compensation for land acquired for government initiatives. Valuation of government projects for compensation will no longer be done by the National Lands Commission. It will be done by the Ministry of Lands to eliminate corruption. It is not proper for the NLC to value and compensate at the same time, said Ruto. The President castigated the National Lands Commission (NLC), describing it as a breeding ground for corruption. He unequivocally vowed to take decisive action to bring an end to the prevalent malpractices within the commission. National Lands Commission has become a market for corruption and over-valuation and this must stop. Corruption wont have room in the compensation for government projects, he said. Nerima Wako, a prominent political analyst and Executive Director of Siasa Place, shared her insights with the Standard on the state of the country and key requirements for it to progress. What can you say has been the greatest impact of your organisation, Siasa Place, since its inception? There have been several, such as getting youth involved in public participation forums and attending them frequently, and meaningfully engaging, they have drafted many memos, and last quarter we had a total of 18 petitions and supported youth to push for resources to go toward youth programmes and initiatives in the country, and it has resulted in millions allocated in the budget. Young people are able to highlight their issues, and organise themselves. Some have been appointed to particular boards and committees, some have managed to produce research documents and carry out social audits. We have had three vie for political positions, and as we speak we have great partners who are now members of county assemblies. Additionally, one of our petitions is recorded in Kenya Law, Petition 190 & 193 of 2019, contesting the appointment of Mary Wambui Munene as the Chairperson of the National Employment Authority. The case was based on the individual not meeting the required constitutional and statutory qualifications and experience for appointment to the position of the Chairperson and also the gazette notice did not meet the laid down substantive and procedural constitutional requirements applicable in public service appointments. From your point of view as a political analyst, do you think Raila Odingas causes are for the interest of Kenyans or there is some other agenda? The fact that Raila is practising his constitutional right to demonstrate should be of interest to all Kenyans. We are all protected by the constitution, and peaceful demonstration is a right. Whether there are personal interests, maybe, but the protection of our constitution needs to always remain. Politics is all about interest, however, Kenyan politics tends to focus heavily on individual interests. There are systems in place in other countries to limit personal interests or at least hold political leaders accountable if personal interests are discovered. One of our values in the organization is constitutionalism and the constitution of Kenya talks about power belonging to the people. Our focus is always having the people at the core of decisions and less about individual interests. Do you think Dr William Rutos government is on the right track? If not, where do you think they are going wrong? We need to be careful about utterances that are being made by the administration. When one is in power, they are put on a pedestal and a symbol of national unity, they are to be the bigger person because they represent the people and serve an office. They cannot have unreasonable, outlandish and immature speak whenever they want. Also, the focus of the administration is on the wrong things. Things are tough for the Kenyan people and it will continue to be so for the next months, so people want to see a government that is working more and speaking less, minimalist. People are concerned about issues, and a country with a high youth population and limited opportunities requires a government that is working tirelessly and valuing frugality. Based on what happens in every general election, perhaps we need to find a way of accommodating a presidential run-up? Some have suggested a parliamentary system. And there are plenty of reports that have reviewed the issues with our electoral management bodies. However, the intention to implement the recommendations is lacking. How best should the corruption menace be handled in the Kenyan context? Seeing corruption cases actually being charged. Kenyans have lost trust in independent institutions that are supposed to protect them. When very key positions are now presidential appointments it becomes tough to bite the hand that feeds you. We have seen so many cases abruptly dropped and no one really paying the price for being corrupt. And people who have pending cases still being given the green light to vie for political office. Vying for an elective seat should be a privilege and not a sanitizing station. Do you think we need the international community to solve the political woes bedevilling us at the moment? No, foreign interference is not what we need. Perhaps partnership and support, but not control. Even foreign countries have their own woes to be focusing on, and our solutions have to be home-grown and managed by us. If Raila and Ruto dont get to solve the differences, where do you think the country will be headed to? They have to find a resolution. No country can prosper in instability. Your parting shot? Politics is everything around us, and people need to be engaged on what is happening around them, especially young people and thats why we call ourselves Siasa. Find something you are passionate about and choose to engage in it. By pretending an issue is not there does not solve the problem, the reality is that it exists and it is calling for our concern and participation. President William Ruto has announced that the government has developed a comprehensive plan to address youth unemployment in the country. Ruto highlighted several key areas of focus, including digital jobs, agricultural aggregation, industrial growth, and the housing program, which aims to generate employment opportunities for millions of young people. Acknowledging the urgency of the issue, Ruto emphasized the importance of a deliberate and strategic approach to tackle unemployment. He expressed confidence in the current governments plan, which he said is designed to comprehensively address this challenge. We must have a deliberate plan on how to sort out unemployment. The plan the government of now has a comprehensive intentional plan on how to sort out unemployment, said Ruto The housing program is going to provide at least 1 million jobs for the young people of the republic of Kenya, he added Additionally, he outlined the governments commitment to establishing ICT hubs nationwide, which will serve as centers for technology innovation, training, and employment opportunities in the digital sector. Recognizing the crucial role of connectivity, President Ruto also shared that his administration is undertaking the rollout of a vast network of fiber optic cables, spanning one hundred thousand kilometers, to enhance connectivity and facilitate digital advancement. President Ruto spoke on Saturday during the centenary anniversary celebration of Limuru Girls High School. He was joined by Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua, National Assembly Majority Leader Kimani Ichungwa, Kiambu Governor Kimani Wamatangi, and other esteemed leaders. The Senate Committee investigating the Shakahola massacre has urged the government to deploy more search and rescue personnel to expedite the ongoing rescue operation in the Shakahola forest, where 235 bodies have been unearthed thus far. Led by Tana river Senator Danson Mungatana, the Committee characterized the scene as horrifying and an act of genocide. Following their visit to the site and a brief meeting with the security team overseeing the rescue and exhumation efforts, Senator Mungatana addressed the press, stating that the committee is fully committed to uncovering the truth of the matter and informing the Kenyan public about the actual events that took place. These are not statistics we have come face to face with the depth of our people who died here, we have come face to face with the skeletons of people who were found here, we have come face to face with the ugly side of radicalization and the misuse of religion, he said. Mungatana said they will visit various locations across the country where Pastor Paul Mackenzie allegedly had branches of his Good News International Church. The senators appealed to Kenyans, regardless of their location, to come forward with any information that could help unravel the mystery surrounding the radical teachings of Pastor Mackenzie. We have been able today to visit the place known as Galilea where Mr. Mackenzie was having his house, we have been able to see where he would institute punishment and judgement to his followers in the name of religion, he said. For the remaining days of the 90 days we will execute this mandate and we will come up with a good report and we are promising Kenyans this will not happen again, he said. The committee chairman highlighted that they had received credible information suggesting the existence of external influences behind the cultic teachings, and they pledged to thoroughly investigate the matter. Mungata also clarified that the committees role was not that of a judicial commission or a court, but rather to gather all the information they could in order to create a legislative framework governing the operations of religious institutions. This framework would be part of their report. The Tana river Senator acknowledged that locals had reported their concerns to the police but no action was taken. Mungatana said the are waiting for a report from the Department of Police dealing with international affairs, which would form an integral part of the Senate report. Any individuals mentioned in the report would face legal consequences in accordance with the law, he added. Accompanying Mungatana were Vice Chair and Nominated Senator Shakila Abdalla, Migori Senator Eddy Oketch, Tabitha Mutinda (nominated), Faki Mohamed (Mombasa), William Cheptumo (Baringo), Veronica Maina (nominated), Kisii Senator Richard Onyonka, and Hamida Kibwana. Gift this article Share this article paywall-free. Download the Napa Valley Register's free news app Easily access the very latest local news that matters in an app built for you. Read, see, and hear exclusive commentary, stunning photography, Actress Jennifer Garner and other high-powered donors lent Hollywood panache to a fundraiser that raised over $1 million to expand cancer screenings for Napa Valley's farmworkers and firefighters. The St. Helena Hospital Foundations second annual Rockout/Knockout Cancer event, created by stylist and philanthropist Elyse Walker, drew Garner and other benefactors to St. Helenas The Charter Oak restaurant Thursday night. A live auction featured a package of 26 Napa Valley magnums, including cult wine brands like Screaming Eagle and Scarecrow, that sold for $50,000. A dinner for six at The French Laundry in Yountville sold for $55,000. Last years event proceeds of $1.4 million bring the total raised over two years to more than $2.4 million. Proceeds will support Adventist Health St. Helenas Martin-ONeill Cancer Center and provide free Galleri early cancer detection blood tests to Napa County firefighters, whose work heightens their risk of developing cancer. The money will also fund a pilot program to provide Galleri tests to Napa County farmworkers. Garner, who hosted the event, called early detection the single biggest ally we have against cancer. Early detection is the difference between a bad phone call and a catastrophic one, Garner said. Its the difference between a hard month, six months, year, year and a half, or living in fear absolutely for the rest of your life. Walker, who operates a St. Helena boutique, created the event. She became friends with Garner after serving as her stylist on the 2001 pilot of the ABC series Alias, which went on to make Garner a star. When Garner was set to appear on the cover of Self magazine in 2002, she asked Walker to host a party at her store in Los Angeles. Realizing they had both lost people close to them to ovarian cancer, Walker and Garner bonded over a shared interest in cancer research and prevention. They agreed to incorporate a fundraiser for womens cancer research into Garners Self cover party. From there I was hooked, Walker said. In 2004 she launched the Pink Party in Los Angeles, which went on to raise more than $11.7 million over 10 years for Cedars-Sinais Womens Cancer Program. Garner hosted three Pink Parties. Walker recalled how her mother started having digestive problems at the age of 40. It took nine months for her to be diagnosed with stage 4 ovarian cancer. She died 18 months later, leaving her family in a state of emotional paralysis, Walker said. She and her husband, David, moved to the Napa Valley in 2019 for peace and quiet, she said, but it turned out she wasnt ready to give up the fight against cancer. She joined the St. Helena Hospital Foundation board in 2022 and organized last years Rockout/Knockout Cancer event, which raised over $1.4 million. Walker said she was inspired to raise more money to fight cancer after meeting people like Dr. Candace Westgate of Adventist Health St. Helena. Westgate said one in two males and one in three females will get cancer in their lifetime. Farmworkers exposure to pesticides and other chemicals heightens their risk of developing cancer, she said. Firefighters have a 9% greater risk of developing cancer compared with the general population and a 16% greater risk of dying from cancer, she said. Even the clothes (firefighters) put on are carcinogenic, Westgate said. Every day they walk into our homes and protect us and our pets from fires. They put their lives on the line there, but also later down the road with the increased risk of cancer. Instead of a one-size-fits-all approach, Galleri early detection blood tests are part of a precision cancer prevention plan individualized to each persons unique risk factors, Westgate said. Garner said its on us to provide early cancer detection for firefighters who save lives and property, and for farmworkers who help produce our food and wine. Why not start here in this incredibly philanthropic town? Garner said. This mutation increases a womans breast cancer risk nearly as much as BRCA. What to know Does the PALB2 mutation increase a womans risk of cancer? How can the PALB2 gene be detected? Like other gene mutations, PALB2 can be detected through genetic testing, either through a blood or saliva test. And, yes, breast cancer caused by PALB2 can be detected through mammograms and MRIs just like other gene mutations such as BRCA1 and BRCA2, Blake said. Is breast cancer treatment different for people with PALB2? People with PALB2 are slightly more prone to develop an estrogen receptor negative breast cancer, which increases the likelihood that their cancer may need to be treated with chemotherapy, Blake said. Perez said PALB2 patients also share some characteristics: The women developing cancer are usually younger (theyre premenopausal), they might have lymph node involvement, and their diagnosis is usually triple-negative breast cancer or bilateral breast cancer. The tumors are usually bigger, too, due to the late diagnosis. And while standard breast cancer treatments do exist, such as mastectomy and chemotherapy, some patients will undergo new treatments that are being tested in clinical trials. What can women with a PALB2 mutation do to their lower risk? Gift this article Share this article paywall-free. Download Napa Valley Register news app today! Your story lives in the Napa Valley. Get in-depth stories from the Napa region and beyond including news, sports, features and politics. Gov. Gavin Newsom wants to spend hundreds of millions of dollars in the next four years to provide Narcan, the nasal spray with naloxone that can yank someone out of an opioid overdose, to combat the deadly rise of fentanyl in California. But many community groups that routinely hand out the lifesaving medication fear their workers could soon be facing layoffs, with the disappearance of a key grant that helped pay for day-to-day expenses at "harm reduction" organizations across the state. If that grant money goes away, "we're dead," said Tom Ewing, executive director of the Sierra Harm Reduction Coalition in El Dorado County. Such groups hand out clean syringes and other supplies to help people who use drugs avoid dangerous and deadly infections. In California, they have played an outsized role in handing out Narcan and injectable naloxone to the people most likely to use it: As of early May, they had received 31% of the free doses allotted through a California program, but accounted for 60% of the overdose reversals using that medication that had been reported. "It's clear that they're the best people to do it," said Mary Sylla, director of overdose prevention policy and strategy for the National Harm Reduction Coalition, an advocacy group that received some of the funding to assist grantees. If California does not ensure funding for people who routinely get naloxone to those who need it, the risk is that "we're going to end up with a lot of Narcan sitting on shelves in Sacramento." The California Harm Reduction Initiative grant program provided $15.2 million to support dozens of programs after state lawmakers approved the money four years ago. The median annual grant was $112,500 nearly half the median budget for groups that received the money, an analysis by the research group RTI International found. Many harm reduction programs across the state have relied on the grants to pay for staff and other day-to-day expenses. In El Dorado County, Ewing said the state grant was the only funding that the Sierra Harm Reduction Coalition had gotten, save for small donations. It has just two employees, including Ewing himself, who works part time as its executive director. "It made us into a viable organization that effectively supported our community," providing mobile services such as Narcan distribution at least five days a week, Ewing said. "I am now giving out probably 2,000 to 3,000 doses of Narcan a month. I'm giving out 120,000 syringes a year" and collecting used ones to prevent litter, he said. The group has helped scores of people annually who decided they wanted to stop using drugs entirely and seek treatment, regularly assists people with getting health insurance, and has found places for them to live, Ewing said. It also provides test strips for people to check their drugs for fentanyl. "We take care of people every single day," he said. "We are the people on the street who actually listen to what's going on." Community programs that got the grant money trained more than 22,000 people to prevent deaths with naloxone between 2020 and 2022, according to the California Department of Public Health. They handed out naloxone to 73% more people than programs that did not get the state money, the RTI analysis found. That grant money runs out later this year, and Newsom has not suggested any new funding to replace the program in his budget plans. That is "counterproductive," said Braunz E. Courtney, executive director of the HIV Education and Prevention Project of Alameda County. His organization has used the grant money to pay workers for its Black Drug Users Health Hub, which connects people to a range of services including medications to help with addiction treatment. The result would be "to cut programs that are already funded to do overdose prevention, education and naloxone distribution," Courtney said. In the face of the overdose crisis, the governor has proposed spending more than $220 million over four years on the state program that provides free naloxone; putting $30 million into efforts to develop a cheaper, generic version of the nasal spray; and additional spending to expand access to test strips that detect fentanyl, among other efforts. "The governor is working closely with the legislature to develop this year's budget and fight the ongoing opioid epidemic," Newsom spokesperson Brandon Richards said in a statement, pointing to a plan unveiled by the governor earlier this year to tackle the opioid crisis. When asked about concerns that harm reduction groups that hand out naloxone may have to cut employees because of the loss of the grant money, Richards pointed to state investments in training and supporting health care workers, including those focused on substance use disorders. Newsom ramped up his proposed spending on naloxone significantly when he revised his budget plan in May, compared to his initial proposal in January. As California stares down a budget deficit, Newsom has proposed paying for such programs with money from legal settlements with opioid manufacturers. Harm reduction groups rallied in Sacramento this month, arguing that the California Harm Reduction Initiative funding must be extended to save lives. To sustain harm reduction programs, the National Harm Reduction Coalition is pushing for California to devote $61 million to the community groups over four years, possibly by tapping the opioid settlement funds. State Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, is one of the lawmakers championing the $61 million budget request. "I'm really appreciative that the governor is proposing to invest aggressively in Narcan," Wiener said, calling it "incredibly important." But "we need to get Narcan into people's hands. And you do that through community infrastructure" such as staff "that can push the Narcan out." Other groups and agencies do get free Narcan to hand out through the state distribution program, including police and fire departments and schools. But harm reduction groups have a specific mission of serving people who use drugs, aiding them without judgment, which helps them reach people reluctant to go elsewhere, said Jenna Haywood, co-chair of the End the Epidemics coalition, which is focused on HIV, sexually transmitted infections, viral hepatitis and overdoses. "Stigma is the No. 1 barrier for a lot of people to enter into any kind of service, to receive health care, or to get resources like naloxone," Haywood said. Photos: Napa Valley Faces and Places, May 21, 2023 UK Minister for Europe Leo Docherty will make his first visit to Armenia to further strengthen bilateral relations, Armenian News-NEWS.am has learned from the UK embassy in Armenia. The UK Minister will engage in high-level talks with Armenian Prime Minister and Foreign Minister. The Minister for Europe will reiterate UK support for Armenias democratic and economic reforms. He will urge for a peaceful resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. During his first visit to Armenia this week (22-23 May), the UKs Minister for Europe, Leo Docherty, will urge for a peaceful resolution to the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh as negotiations continue between Armenia and Azerbaijan. He will call on both sides to continue substantive negotiations to resolve all outstanding tensions including the closure of Lachin Corridorin a peaceful and sustainable way. He will also say that immediate action needs to be taken to restore the flow of goods and people into Nagorno-Karabakh. Ahead of the visit, Minister Docherty said: The conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh is affecting thousands of people, and while we are supporting humanitarian efforts, the only way this will end is through both sides continuing to engage fully in good faith negotiations. The UK is committed to supporting Armenias democratic and economic reform agenda. I am proud that the UK is funding programmes to protect freedoms and boost prosperity. While in Yerevan, Minister Docherty will reiterate the UKs long-standing support for Armenias democratic and economic development. During meetings with the Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, he will also discuss security, defense and the strengthening of trade relations. He will announce the launch of a Strategic Dialogue that will take place between the two countries later this year as well as underline a desire to sign a Comprehensive Enhanced Partnership, an agreement which will enhance our countries economic relationship. In addition, Minister Docherty will meet Members of Parliament and the Minister of Economy. He will also visit representatives from across civil society and business, including companies with ties to the UK. The Minister will discuss opportunities to strengthen the UK-Armenia trading relationship and grow both of our economies. Minister Docherty will visit a Research and Training Centre at the Armenian Parliament and a project developing the textiles industry. They are both part of the UKs program to support Armenia. The UK funded programmes worth nearly 4 million supporting Armenias democratic and economic reform agenda in 2022. As well as contributing to humanitarian efforts related to Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, UK funding is also supporting Armenias efforts towards green transition; tackling disinformation by promoting media self-regulation and effective cooperation with the state authorities in regulating the sphere; promoting conflict resolution through facilitation of dialogue, enabling healthy debate and promoting the Women, Peace and Security Agenda. The Union of Freedom Fighters of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) has issued a statement in response to the publications and threats about the demilitarization of Artsakh spread in the information field of Azerbaijan. The statement reads as follows: "In the last few days, calls and ultimatums regarding military aggression against the people of Artsakh and the disarmament of the Artsakh Defense Army have been circulating in the pro-government information field of the Azerbaijani authorities, about which the official circles of Azerbaijan have repeatedly made false claims and statements. Apparently, the Azerbaijani propaganda machine is trying to prepare the ground for another aggression against the people of Artsakh with an informational attack, which is motivated by the need to protect the supposedly Azerbaijani population in the occupied territories of Artsakh. Noting that in 2020 in the military-political situation created as a result of the war, and especially under the conditions of the blockade, Azerbaijan continues to present increasing ontological threats to the people of Artsakh, militarizes the occupied territories of the Republic of Artsakh at a high rate, turning them into a training ground, we emphasize that the main factor restraining these dangers is the Defense Army of the Republic of Artsakh, formed exclusively from the citizens of the Artsakh Republic and carrying out only self-defense function. The authorities of Azerbaijan are well aware that the Defense Army, formed in the war of the 1990s, realized the indisputable right of self-defense of its own people, which is fixed by the fundamental documents of international law. By exercising the right to self-defense, the Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh has protected the life, right to self-determination, freedom and independence of each of its citizens. The Union of Artsakh Freedom Fighters emphasizes that any demand to disarm the Defense Army is unacceptable and illegal, and the Union and the entire people of Artsakh stand by the Defense Army. We declare that the only source of instability in the region is the armed forces of Azerbaijan, which frequently engages terrorists and mercenaries in military operations, as well as violates all norms of international humanitarian law. We expect that, in order to ensure peace in the region, the international community will take active steps to prevent the aggressive militarization of Azerbaijan and further terrorist acts." The military and political situation in our region continues to be tense; the Armenian government considers the promotion of the peace agenda as the primary method to overcome this tension. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan of Armenia stated this during his press conference Monday. "Intense negotiations are underway on the peace and relations establishment treaty with Azerbaijan, and we hope to reach an agreement on the text and sign it as soon as possible. The perception of the international community is more and more inclined to the resolution that Armenia and Azerbaijan should recognize each other's territorial integrity of 29,800 square kilometers and 86,600 square kilometers, respectively, without reservations, and that a dialogue should take place between Baku and Stepanakert regarding the rights and security of Nagorno-Karabakh Armenians. "We agree with this logic and conduct the negotiations with this logic, emphasizing that the international mechanisms for guaranteeing the Stepanakert-Baku dialogue are extremely important. At the same time, I am convinced that the strategic guarantee of ensuring Armenias security is peace, which is possible by normalizing relations with all neighbors. This is not an easy process at all, but I believe it is what our people want and expect. "Economic and budgetary indicators, I believe, are the reaction of the public and the economy to the peace agenda adopted by our government," said the Armenian PM.